BIO: John P. Lafferty, 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 An All-Around Man of Affairs JOHN P. LAFFERTY Owes His Advanced Position in Altoona's Business and Religious World to His Own Push, Energy and Intelligence PROBABLY because the event was unusual and nothing like it had come into his life prior to that time, one of the earliest recollections of the writer was an amateur theatrical performance or, as it was then called, "a school exhibition," at Hamilton's School House very early in the "sixties." And of all the acts of that somewhat long drawnout show, he remembers just one feature. That was a boy some years older than himself, singing, "O das is true, I speaks mit you. I'm goin' to fight mit Seigel." The little boy thought it was at once very funny and warlike, and ever afterward the singer was something of a hero in his eyes. There was something so hearty in the tone and contagious in the smile of the youthful soloist and comedian, that ever since it has been hard for him to take John P. Lafferty seriously. However, he has not been a joke by any means, for he has been engaged in very serious business indeed. For some time he was a butcher and then he became a funeral director, a pillar of the church and an all-around man of affairs. But none of the weighty or serious affairs of life have had the power to paralyze his funny bone or take away his cheerfulness. He still wears the smile that won't come off. That happy disposition his envelops him like a garment and all the wear and tear of time touches not its perennial fibre. He is the same smiling, genial personage that he was a half century ago. Life has not been all "beer and skittles" with him at that. Whatever he is he owes to his own inherent good qualities, and his own intelligence, push and energy. There was not much luxury or many of the soft things of life between Sandy Run and Pottsgrove Mill in the days of his youth, and the rugged sides of Brush Mountain were typical of the paths of the boys who trod the rocky road along its foot. Very early in his pilgrimage he learned the mysteries of charcoal burning, varying that occupation with picking huckleberries and hoeing corn and potatoes, in ground from which the stones were gathered to build the fences. But don't imagine that he was unhappy or had no amusements. He was of the sort that would have found fun in far less prolific ground, and there was always something of interest in his environment, and, of a truth, there were no boys in that community who found much to complain of. At whatever age they might be, there were a thousand interests that challenged their attention. For was not the earth and the fulness thereof theirs for the taking? In the summer time, the fields were green, the groves shady and the streams cool. They were not barred from mountain or meadow, from brook or spring. In the autumn, the lowlands were full of squirrel, pheasants and rabbits, and the mountains of larger game. Rifle and shotgun and trap could always be profitably employed, or at least there was always sufficient wild game to give zest to the chase. The constant outdoor life brought strong physiques and caused the red blood to flow until there was such a joy in mere living that external conditions did not matter much. The social life of the community knew few lines of demarcation and there was but little viciousness. In the democracy of untrammeled boyhood, there was no caste of social position, religion or nationality. Whatever prejudices may have been acquired in later years, there were none in those halcyon days, and as was evidenced by a recent gathering, the boys of that community still remember the relations of their lives' springtime rather than any conditions by which they were later surrounded. But the subject of this sketch had the capacity for greater things. He was not to be bound to so narrow an environment as the farm, furnace or ore mines of his immediate vicinity offered, and after a year or two spent as an employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, he got into the butchering business, first with others and then on his own account. His canny business instincts and energetic nature served him well. His industrious habits and healthy powers of persistance engendered by his early surroundings and training sustained him in his arduous work and his happy disposition and friendly or attitude toward all men were bound to bring him prosperous trade. As his opportunities widened, he was intelligent and shrewd enough to take timely advantage of them, and having faith in the future of the growing town, he made profitable local investments. When he changed his vocation from that of butcher to funeral director, he took a step forward, in the sense that his sympathetic and cheerful nature fitted him to the situation, for if ever a man possessed the ability to change a gruesome situation to a comparatively cheerful one, John P. Lafferty was that man. His presence brought sunshine and his voice gave cheer. There was that in his tone that inspired confidence and brought a token of brighter days. He was something more than a perfunctory manager of funerals, and had that quality that rendered his presence agreeable to the sorrowing. The truth is, that it would have made little difference what occupation in life he might have selected, he would have made the best of the situation, so great was his adaptability to circumstance. But aside from his business life, he has been in every way a good and worthy citizen. One of the founders of the Grace Lutheran Church, he has done much for the faith of his fathers and the community in general. Without any desire for social or religious prominence, he is always dependable, one of the steady shining lights that produces constant results. His business sagacity has served the religious and social bodies with which he has been identified in a way that has redounded to their best interests, and his general character gives weight and dignity to any enterprise with which he may be associated. When his life's work shall have been ended, he will live in the memory of not only immediate family and friends, but in that of the community at large, as an honorable man and a worthy citizen, who has done his best to show a reason for his existence. #