BIO: John Fraser, Tillard Pen Pictures, 1911, Blair County, PA Contributed April 2003 for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/ _________________________________________ Pen Pictures of Friends and Reminiscent Sketches by J. N. Tillard Altoona, PA: William F. Gable & Co., Mirror Press, 1911 He Made The New Land His Own JOHN RODGERS FRASER Has Demonstrated The Power of The Stranger Within The Gates to Grasp The Situation and Make Good THE development of the United States and the North American Continent has been one of the marvels of history, the phenomenon of the ages. Never before in the same space of time did any country rise from savagery to take its place in the forefront of civilization and lead the van in the march of progress. Four hundred years ago the vast territory was a wilderness, inhabited only by a few wandering savages, under the most primitive conditions of life, and when we consider the slow developments of the past, the story of our rise and progress seems little less than miraculous. Many causes have contributed to the total results, and there are diversified opinions as to the principal forces that have wrought so marvelously in the starting of a new land toward an unknown destiny at a time when the world was so old. Out of the womb of the ages has sprung this latest child of a world-weary race, endowed with a virility that bids fair to create a new epoch in the history of men. Was it the character of the men themselves, or the free environment and the necessities of the situation that evolved so much? Perhaps both were factors in the general results, but it seems certain that more than anything else the unrestricted and continuous infusion of new blood into the body politic was a main factor in keeping up the strenuous pace that has enabled us to distance all competitors, and while still the youngest among nations to stand forth a giant in all that pertains to material progress and strength. Effete conditions and sterile national life only come when walls of exclusion are built and the hard lines of caste are immovably fixed in the social and economic life of the people. Ever since the United States, with "decent respect to the opinions of mankind," declared itself a free and independent country and invited all nations, kindreds, tribes and tongues to come in and avail themselves of its boundless opportunities, there has been a continuous influx of men and women from the old world whose purpose in coming was to improve their own condition, and while so doing they must of necessity do something for the country of their adoption. Some of them may have proven undesirable, but for the most part we have been at least able to assimilate them, and they have all helped to push the ship of state along. The gentleman whom we shall briefly attempt to sketch today was not born here, but, though arriving when a mere boy, he speedily took hold with such a tenacious grip that he soon made himself an integral part of the nation's life, and as a unit in the midst of the great mass has done his full share in promulgating the doctrines of a large humanity. John Rodgers Fraser was born in Glasgow, Scotland, June 19, 1841, and when he was seven years old set sail, with his parents, on the vessel General Hinkley, for the new world, and after a voyage of six weeks landed in New York, in October, 1848. They traveled by boat to Hartford, Conn., and then, in the absence of railroads, by wagon to the factory town of Tarrifville. Two years later the boy went to work as a draw boy in a carpet factory for the sum of twenty-five cents per day. Ever since that time until two years ago, when he was retired from the local railroad shops, he has been an active, hard-working American and a credit to the land of his adoption. His father moved about several times from one factory town to another, in both the "Wooden Nutmeg" and "Bay" States, finally settling in Thomsonville, Conn., where he remained until the Civil War, when he came to Altoona. The boy, however, struck out for himself when he was twelve years old, working in several textile factories in the New England States until the great financial panic of 1857, when he went to Hartford, Conn., and engaged in the painting business. He remained there until the whole country was aroused by the call for troops to suppress the rebellion, and then the nineteen-year-old boy was among the first to run to the Old South Church, in Hartford, and enlist in the ranks of the three months' men, who expected to settle the trouble out of hand, and on April 18, 1861, he was mustered into Company A, First Connecticut Troops, and marched away. They did not settle the unpleasantness so quickly as they thought, but their time having expired by the time the battle of Bull Run was fought, they returned a trifle wiser and sadder, but, so far as young Fraser was concerned, still undaunted. He was mustered out on August 1, but was mustered in again in September, this time in Company B, Eighth Connecticut Regiment, and the term of enlistment was for during the war. They had made up their minds that the other fellows were some fighters themselves and they were going to see it out. Mr. Fraser saw it out, and a history of what he saw and suffered would make a big book, but it ended at last, and on December 18, 1865 Sergeant Fraser was discharged at Hartford and hastened to his old home at Tarrifville to see the girl he had left behind him four years before. They were married on Christmas and immediately came to Altoona, whereby the town gained a good citizen. On January 2, 1866, he went to work for the late John W. Webber, then foreman of painters on the Middle Division, Pennsylvania Railroad. The following September he was transferred to the paint shop, in the car department, where he stayed many years. He was made gang foreman and remained in the department until 1892, when he went to the newly built Juniata Shops, taking up his residence in that borough. While he resided in this city he was always active in all the affairs of the community. While employed at Twelfth Street, he built a little house, in 1867, at Seventeenth Avenue and Thirteenth Street, one of the first houses in that locality, and which still stands. When he followed the car shops to Fourth Street, he built two houses in what was then Logantown, when houses were very scarce in that vicinity. His interest in political matters was very keen, and his adherence to the Republican party steadfast and unwavering. In the early eighties he was Republican County Chairman and was a member of the first select council in the city, being chairman of the highways committee, when the bridges were built across the railroad east of Twelfth Street. He was the sort of councilman who was always to be found on the job, doing his utmost for the good of the community. When he moved to the little Borough of Juniata, sixteen years ago, he became straight-way interested in its affairs and was almost immediately elected a member of its council, and for nine years was justice of the peace. He has been for many years the Juniata correspondent of city papers and is just now furnishing the local happenings in that flourishing village for the columns of the Mirror. He has already traveled further in life's journey than most men and has passed through many vicissitudes, but is still hale and hearty. While his hair is white and his step scarcely so springy as when he marched to war, his days of usefulness are by no means over. He has much to be proud of as he reviews the past, and the future should contain no terrors. #