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Ezra Gregory “E. G.” Topper and a class of young students in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
The History of Adams County, Part III, page 327 lists Ezra Gregory Topper as one of the first teachers of the county’s first Catholic School. He was a teacher in Adams County, Pennsylvania for many years. He also taught for a while in the city of Washington, D. C.
In Somerset County, many of the children of Peter Andrew Topper went through periods of time as teachers. His eldest sons, Sylvester and John Michael Topper, both were teachers as young men. Son, Francis Topper, was a teacher for a period of forty years. Rosalia Topper was a teacher before her marriage to T. J. Mattingly. Joseph Mathias was a teacher in Somerset County, before becoming New Baltimore’s Postmaster. Mary Louisa Topper wed Francis Suhre, and their son, Ambrose Suhrie, became a teacher and school principal at the age of 21. Peter Topper revered education in a way that made each of his children value its worth.
In Somerset County, Martine Topper, daughter of Walter Howard Topper and Anna Maria Martin, was a teacher who wed another teacher, Lloyd Keller. Lloyd became a supervising Principal Bedford Joint School System.
In Cambria County, Florence Costlow, daughter of Margaret Mae Topper and Charles B. Costlow, was consecrated as a sister of Mercy as Sister Charles Mary. After her education at Misericordia College, Dallas, Pennsylvania and graduate studies, at Catholic University, Washington, D.C, she taught grade school for 14 years and at Mount Aloysius Academy & College for thirty-six years.
Anna Elizabeth Topper, daughter of Francis Topper and Elizabeth Costlow, was a teacher at Dunlo and St. Michael’s for a period of forty-seven years.
Madeline Topper, another daughter of Francis Topper and Elizabeth Costlow, who married Thomas Foust, also was a teacher of forty years.
Mary Ann Topper, daughter of Edward Thomas Topper and Rachel Maus, wed Robert B. Smith, and for many years was an elementary school teacher.
Wilson Jack Topper was a teacher in Westmoreland County before he enlisted in Company C, Eleventh Regiment, as a Pennsylvania Volunteer in the Civil War.
Anna Mary Shrum who was wed to Edward Henry Topper, Jr. was a teacher and substitute teacher until she was 85 years old.
Going back to Adams County, Ruth Ann Spangler, daughter of John Spangler and Annie Louise Topper was a skilled teacher of French and Spanish, educated at Gettysburg College, Columbia University, Temple University, and the Sorbonne, in Paris, France.
My two favorite Topper teachers were found in Philadelphia, PA. Their father had his roots in New Baltimore, Somerset County. John Albert Topper left New Baltimore to go to Thomas Jefferson Medical School. There, he met his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Butler and his two oldest daughters became teachers. Both died recently. Each died at an age in excess of 95 years. My aunt, at birth, Catharine Mary Topper, started her teaching career in the Philadelphia School System and went on to earn her Doctorate in English from the University of Pennsylvania in English in 1959, afterwards she taught at Immaculata College and Holy Family College, in Philadelphia. Catharine met her husband of 57 years, Anthony Iannarelli, when they were both teachers at Sulzberger Junior High School in Philadelphia.
Dr. John A. Topper’s middle child, Gertrude Elizabeth Topper, was wed to William Joseph Hoben. At Immaculata College, she studied English and education courses. She graduated from the college in 1930, the beginning of the Great Depression. She applied for a teaching position in the Philadelphia public school system, but the waiting list for jobs was particularly long during the 1930’s. So she continued her education and received her Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She returned to teaching after the birth of her children. Initially she taught at a Catholic grade school in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, then went on to teaching English and Latin at John Bartram public high school in west Philadelphia. Gertrude Topper Hoben, my favorite Topper teacher, was my mother. Pictures of Catharine and Gertrude Topper appear below.
Catharine Topper
Gertrude Topper