BIOS: File 7 - Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Blair Co, PA: Samuel T. Wiley, Philadelphia, 1892. Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja Typing and proofreading by subscribers to the RootsWeb PABLAIR mailing list, as noted on individual transcriptions. Copyright 2001. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/ _________________________________________ Biographies in File 7, listing the page where they appear in the book: Berlin, Samuel, page 355 Blose, Joseph U., page 345 Buchanan, Alexander, page 352 Earlenbaugh, Henry R., page 354 Flanigan, John, page 343 Fraser, William Mark, page 351 Gilson, Thomas B., page 344 Gwin, James Hervey, page 355 Hearn, John, page 357 Kelly, P.H., page 341 Kimberling, Henry A., page 359 Neff, Daniel J., page 348 Neff, John K., page 349 Oatman, James Johnston, page 358 Reed, John G., page 361 Robinson, Charles M, page 338 Smith, Alfred A., page 342 Smith, Judge Samuel, page 347 Smith, Rev. Thomas P., page 360 Stultz, Daniel, page 353 CHARLES M. ROBINSON, a member of the architectural firm of Smith & Robinson, at Altoona, and a young man who has already distinguished himself in his profession, is the only son of James T. and Elizabeth (Crockett) Robinson, and was born at Hamilton, Virginia, March 3, 1866. Samuel Turner Robinson (grandfather) was a native of Virginia, and the family can be traced back in that State to times ante-dating the war of the revolution. It occupied a position of respectability and honor in the early annals of that Commonwealth. James T. Robinson (father) was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, and now resides at Bellwood, this county, where he is manager of the Robinson Machine Company, which is engaged in the manufacture of the patent electric street railway trucks. This wonderful invention was patented and is now entirely controlled by Mr. Robinson, and in addition to its manufacture, his company produces all kinds of machinery and iron work. He married Elizabeth Crockett, by whom he had a family to two children, one son and a daughter: Charles M., the subject of this sketch, and Nellie, living at home with her parents. Charles M. Robinson received his education in the high school at Welland, Ontario, Canada, and afterward took a special course in civil engineering. After completing his education, he entered the employ of the Beech Creek Railroad Company as timekeeper, where he remained one year, and then, removing to Michigan, entered the office of D. S. Hopkins, an architect at Grand Rapids, where he applied himself to the practical study of architecture. He became familiar, not only with the various styles wrought out by the master builders of past ages, but with the principled underlying the beauty and utility of each, and the best work done by modern designers of business structures and palatial residences. After leaving Michigan, he spent one year in the office of Architect Peebles, at Pittsburg, this State, and then, in 1889, formed a partnership with George T. Smith, under the firm name of Smith & Robinson, architects, at Altoona, and has ever since been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in this city. He is also a director in the Robinson Machine Company, of Bellwood. On June 24, 1891, Mr. Robinson was united in marriage with Annie W. Custer, a daughter of B. F. Custer, of Altoona, chief clerk in the motive power department of the Pennsylvania railroad. Mr. Robinson is too much absorbed in business to give much attention to practical politics. He is a member of the Mountain Lodge, No. 281, Free and Accepted Masons. The firm of which Mr. Robinson is a member, although young in years, has now an assured standing in its line, and presents a record of unusual success. They have recently closed a successful contest for furnishing plans for the new Blair county alms house, in which their competitors were such distinguished architects as Lonsdale, of Philadelphia, who drew the successful plans for the Pennsylvania world's fair building at Chicago; and A. S. Wagoner, of Williamsport, whose plans for the same building won second prize from the world's fair commissioners. The drawings for the Blair county alms house, which won the firm this victory, were made by Mr. Robinson personally. Soon after the Johnstown flood, this vigorous young firm opened a branch office in that town, where they have done work calculated to reflect credit on the profession. Among their triumphs may be mentioned the Johnstown Opera house, and Markleton sanitarium, which are as complete and perfect in their way as any structure in central Pennsylvania. The school buildings of Altoona and Johnstown, Tyrone Opera house, and the magnificent stone residence of Charles Von Lunen, have won them deserved reputation. They have done all architectural work for the school board of Altoona since the organization of the firm. They are wide-awake, up with the times, energetic in business, enthusiasts about their profession, and may be depended on to maintain the high rank they have achieved, and become more widely known with every passing year. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas P. H. KELLY, of Altoona, is the special representative for central Pennsylvania of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and city editor of the Altoona Times. He was born on the 15th of August, 1863, in County Donegal, province of Ulster, in northwestern Ireland, and is a son of James and Margaret Kelly. He was reared in his native land until he was thirteen years of age, in 1876, when he came to the United States. He received his education in the National schools of Ireland, the parochial schools of Altoona, and St. Mary's academy, of Marion, Kentucky. Leaving school, he learned the trade of machinist in the Altoona machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in whose employ he remained until 1890. In that year he quit his trade to accept service with the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and was given a position in their New York city office, where he showed such aptitude for the insurance business that he soon, by close application and study, mastered its principles and the successful methods of its management. He was then sent back to Altoona as a special agent for an important district composed of six counties of central Pennsylvania. He has served in that position faithfully and efficiently ever since. P. H. Kelly is a member of St. John's Catholic church of Altoona, of Alpha Branch, No. 598, Catholic Knights of America, and of Columbus Branch, No. 120, Young Men's Institute. He is a member of the Emerald Beneficial association of Altoona, and although but a young man, yet he has served seven years as an officer of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania of that organization. He is a democrat in politics, and while giving a hearty and active support to the cardinal principles of his party, yet does not allow any detail of his extensive business to suffer by neglect or inattention on his part. On April 15, 1892, he accepted the position of city editor of the Times, and in that capacity has shown great aptitude as a journalist. He has traveled extensively, and few men enjoyed a larger acquaintanceship in professional, business and social spheres. Prompt, accurate and reliable, Mr. Kelly is making a success out of his valuable and important business. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas ALFRED A. SMITH, a resident of Tyrone, and senior member of the mercantile firm of Smith & Son, is a son of Jacob and Ann (Baird) Smith, and was born in Logan valley, Blair county, Pennsylvania, February 21, 1837. The Smith family in Blair county was founded by John Smith, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch. John Smith was born near Hagerstown, in western Maryland, where he was an extensive farmer for several years. He came to Logan valley in 1807, served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and died near the city of Altoona in 1850, when about eighty years of age. He was an old-line whig in politics, a farmer by occupation, and a member and officer of the Methodist Episcopal church, in whose interest he was always an active and prominent worker. His son, Jacob Smith (father), was born in Maryland, February 25, 1805, and was brought, at two years of age, by his parents, to Logan valley, where he was reared, educated, and resided until his death, which occurred September 18, 1883, at seventy-eight years of age. His principal business was farming in Logan valley, in which his family were among the early settlers. He was an old-line whig and republican in politics, and was a Methodist in religious belief and church membership. Like his father before him, he was an officer and active worker in his church for its advancement, and the dissemination of Christianity in the community. In 1825 he wedded Ann Baird, daughter of John Baird, of Frankstown, and who died in 1863, aged fifty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Smith reared a family of six children, four sons and two daughters: Elizabeth, now dead; John A., who resides in the city of Altoona, where he is engaged in the general merchandise business; Allen D., enlisted in Co. I, 110th Pennsylvania infantry, at Hollidaysburg, in March, 1865, and died in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 23, 1865, from disease contracted in the Federal army; Martin, now dead; Alfred A.; and Lucinda (deceased). Alfred A. Smith grew to manhood in Logan valley and received a good common school education in his native township. He then attended an academy for a short time and engaged in teaching,, which he followed for eight consecutive winters. At the end of that time, in 1863, he embarked in farming in Logan valley, and after an experience of five years as a farmer he came, in August, 1868, to Tyrone, where he engaged in the grocery business with his cousin, D. A. Smith, under the firm name of D. A. Smith & Co. The firm afterward became Smith & Gray, when Z. B. Gray succeeded D. A. Smith, and continued as such until 1884. In that year Mr. Gray retired, and Mr. Smith admitted his son, A. Edwin, as a partner, under the present firm name of A. A. Smith & Son. They have a large and remunerative trade, and carry in stock staple and fancy groceries, canned goods, delicacies, and confectionery, besides provisions and dried fruits. Mr. Smith is an energetic and practically experienced business man, and knowing the wants of his patrons has successfully sought to meet them in the careful selection of his sell assorted stock. His store is at No. 20 Tenth street, and has been arranged to meet the demands of his business. In politics Mr. Smith is a republican, and has served for the last three years as president of the school board, and two years previous as a member of the town council. In religious belief he is a Methodist, and has been for several years a member, steward, and class leader of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Tyrone. He is a member and past grand of Tyrone Lodge, No. 152, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member and past grand patriarch of Encampment No. 279, of the same order. He has been diligent and successful in business, is a man of sound judgment and known integrity, and as a town officer has always been faithful in the discharge of his duties. On December 27, 1859, Alfred A. Smith married Amelia Turnbaugh, daughter of Henry and Catherine Turnbaugh, of Logan valley. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have eight children, six sons and two daughters: T. Clark, a printer in the Herald office; Judson S., now engaged in the drug business in Tyrone; A. Edwin, in the grocery business with his father; Anna M.; Bertha J.; Harry M., a druggist; Jesse G., a clerk in the postoffice; and Amber G. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas. JOHN FLANIGAN, a contractor and builder of Altoona, whose skill and ability is seen in many of the substantial structures in this city, and who is otherwise identified with the business interests of the Mountain City, is a son of James and Mary (Deven) Flanigan, and was born June 29, 1840 in county Louth, Ireland. His father and mother were both natives of the Emerald Isle, and resided in their native land until 1853, when they emigrated to the United States, and in June of that year located at Altoona, Blair county, Pennsylvania. Her they lived until death closed their earthly career. James Flanigan (father) died at his home here, October 18, 1886, aged seventy-two years. H was a member of the Roman Catholic church, in politics a straight democrat, and a laborer by occupation. By his marriage to Mary Deven he had a family of seven children. She was a member of the Catholic church, and died May 1, 1880, aged sixty-seven years. John Flanigan came to Altoona with his parents in 1853, when about thirteen years of age. His education was obtained in the Catholic and night schools, and after leaving school he learned the carpenters' trade, and has continued to work at that trade ever since, except a short term of service as a soldier during the civil war. He served as first corporal in Co. E, 3d Pennsylvania infantry, enlisting in 1861, at the first call for troops. After returning from the army he secured a position in the shops of the Pennsylvania railroad, and was with the company until 1869. Since 1879 he has been engaged in contracting and building on his own account in Altoona, and during that time has erected many fine houses in this city, including several large brick edifices. He also superintended the building of the large brick structure known as the St. Joseph academy, at Greensburg, this State. For several years he was engaged in the lumber and coal business in this city, but now has his coal and lumber yards leased to other parties. On Mary 20, 1866, Mr. Flanigan was united in marriage with Mary, C. Rockett, a daughter of Michael Rockett, of Indiana county, this State, and to this union was born a family of eleven children, five sons and six daughters: James F., Joseph C., William M., and Mary M. are living. Those dead are: Regina, Gertrude, Cecelia, Josephine, Nellie, George, and Harry. Politically Mr. Flanigan is a democrat, and has served in the common council of the city of Altoona. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and is highly respected as a citizen. Although starting in life with nothing but his trade, he has, by energy and steady application to business, acquired a handsome competency, and in addition to his other interests in this city, he owns considerable valuable real estate. He is courteous in address, and well liked by his neighbors and all who know him. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas THOMAS B. GILSON, the veteran railroad supervisor residing at Hollidaysburg, who enjoys the distinction of being about the oldest employee, in point of service, now connected with the great Pennsylvania system, is a son of William and Phoebe (Alexander) Gilson, and was born March 5, 1813, in what was then Mifflin but is now Juniata county, Pennsylvania. The Gilsons are of English extraction, but the family was planted in the United States at an early day, and this branch of it has resided in the Keystone State for several generations. Thomas Gilson (grandfather) was born on territory now included in Juniata county, at the foot of Tuscarora mountain, and became familiar with the hardships and privations endured by the early settlers. After attaining manhood he built a flour mill, which was the first mill of the kind ever erected in that county. Previous to that time the settlers were compelled to cross the Blue mountains into Cumberland County to get their wheat ground. He was accidentally drowned in Tuscarora creek, in 1813, when about sixty years of age. William Gilson (father) was born in what is now Juniata county in 1782, and died at Florence, Westmoreland county, in 1858, aged seventy-six years. He was a member and elder of the Presbyterian church, a democrat in politics, and by occupation a miller. He was a stirring, energetic, Christian man, and became prominent in his community. The greater part of his active and useful life was spent in Westmoreland county, where he was well liked by all his neighbors and acquaintances. He married Phoebe Alexander, by whom he had a family of ten children. She was a native of Mifflin county, this State, a member of the Presbyterian church, and closed her earthly pilgrimage in 1841, after a life which spanned half a century. The Alexanders were of Scotch-Irish descent, and came to America about 1736, settling in Pennsylvania, where the family has become quite numerous. Thomas B. Gilson grew to manhood in Juniata county, receiving his early education in the little log school houses so well remembered by our older citizens. On account of having to work in the mill during the day time, he was compelled to depend largely on night schools and his own efforts in pushing his studies during the later years of his boyhood. He utilized every advantage that came within his reach, however, and persevered until he had acquired a good practical English education. Later he learned the carpenter trade, and in 1848 accepted a position as foreman on the bridge work of the Pennsylvania railroad. He acted as foreman of bridge work for this company until the road was opened for business, at which time he was appointed supervisor of the division extending from Huntingdon to the Portage road. When the road was opened farther he was transferred to Johnstown, where he remained a few years, and was then sent to New Florence. Here he was stationed about six years, after which he became supervisor of the Mountain division, with headquarters at Gallitzin, and occupied that position until 1871. In that year the Hollidaysburg & Morrison's Cove branch was completed, and Mr. Gilson was made supervisor of that line and removed to Hollidaysburg. He still occupies this responsible place, and has won a wide reputation as a able, experienced, and practical railroad man. He is now about the only person connected with the Pennsylvania railroad who started out with it during its construction, and has spent forty-one years in discharging the exacting duties of supervisor for that corporation. Mr. Gilson was married in 1832 to Mary Ann Behel. Her death occurred in 145. Of the six children born to this union but one survives, Samuel L. In 1847 Mr. Gilson married for his second wife Jane Boyd, a daughter of Hugh Boyd, of Ohio. To them was born a family of three children, only two of whom survive, one son and a daughter: William J., now employed as a telegraph operator; and Laura J. In politics Mr. Gilson is a republican, and in years gone by has given his party an active support. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Hollidaysburg, and has served as trustee and steward of his church for many years. He is a pleasant, affable gentleman, modest and unassuming, and is greatly respected by all who know him. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas JOSEPH U. BLOSE, M. D., of Altoona, a physician who stands well in his profession for ability and skill, is a son of William and Elizabeth (Shaw) Blose, and was born in North Mahoning township, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1856. His paternal grandfather, Michael Blose, was a native of Germany, and during the first quarter of the present century settled in Westmoreland county, where he remained but a short time. He then removed to Armstrong county, where he died. He was a miller by trade, and married Sarah Wangaman. One of the sons born to him in his Armstrong county home was William Blose, father of Dr. Blose. William Blose, in 1850, removed to North Mahoning township, in the adjoining county of Indiana, where he has resided ever since. He owns a good farm, is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics has been a republican since the disruption of the Whig party. Near the close of the late civil war he enlisted in Co. B, 67th Pennsylvania infantry, and served for six month, at the end of which time he was honorably discharged from the Federal service. He was born January 21, 1825, and married Elizabeth Shaw, who is a native of Ireland, and whose father, Thomas Shaw, came from County Down, Ireland, to Armstrong county, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Blose have reared a family of ten children, seven sons and three daughters: Calvin, who learned the trade of carpenter, which he is now following at Punxsutawny, this State; Rev. Daniel A., who graduated from Lewisburg university, too the theological course of Auburn seminary, and is now pastor at the Presbyterian church at Beardstown, Illinois; Dr. Joseph U.; William T., who learned the trade of carpenter, and is now a resident of Big Run, Jefferson county, where he has been engaged for some time in the manufacture of chairs and building supplies; Prof. James Miles, a graduate of Oberlin university, of Oberlin, Ohio, who is now director of music in the Waynesburg Conservatory of music, and has lately been elected to a high position in a leading musical institution of the United States; Benjamin F., who learned telegraphy, and is now an operator at Glasgow, Montana; Sarah, wife of Phineas Work, a well-to-do and comfortably situated farmer of West Mahoning township, Indiana county; Jennie, at home with her parents; and Ella, wife of Charles Perritt, foreman of the boiler works of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad Company, at Emsworth, Allegheny county. Joseph U. Blose grew to manhood on his father's farm, and after receiving his elementary education in the common schools of his native township, took a classical course at Glade Run academy, of Armstrong county. Leaving school he became a medical student in the office of Dr. John W. Morrow, of Marchand, that county, who was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature in 1891 and 1892. After completing his required course of reading he entered Columbus Medical college, of Columbus, Ohio, from which institution he was graduated on February 26, 1880. Late in the spring of that year he opened an office at Pine Flats, Pennsylvania, where he practiced until January, 1882, when he went to Cherry Tree, Indiana county, at which place he remained four years. On November 15, 1886, he came to Altoona, where he has been engaged ever since in the active and successful practice of his profession. He is well read, pleasant and courteous as a gentleman, and well liked as a citizen. In 1875 Doctor Blose was united in marriage with Lillie T. C., daughter of the late Gen. Samuel E. Grown, who entered the civil war as a subordinate officer, and by successive promotions reached the rank of brigadier-general. To Dr. and Mrs. Blose have been born three children: Edith Edna, born July 26, 1877; Tina Mary, born June 25, 1882; and Ethel, born April 10, 1891. Doctor Blose has always been a republican in politics, and is at the present time a member of the city board of health and of the staff of the Altoona hospital. He is also a member of the Altoona Academy of medicine and surgery, the Blair County Medical society and the Medical society of the State of Pennsylvania. While Doctor Blose has always been a close student in the line of his professional work, yet he keeps well informed upon the current events of the day, and the important movements in the different professions. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas JUDGE SAMUEL SMITH, a worthy and highly respected citizen of Hollidaysburg, and who has discharged each and every duty of the different public positions which he has held with probity, courage and ability, is a son of William and Brittanna (Duncan) Smith, and was born in Scotch valley, Blair county, Pennsylvania, November 28, 1817. The founder of the Smith family in Blair county was Elder James Smith, who was born in the historic north of Scotland, and settled in Scotch valley in 1785. He was a farmer by occupation, a federalist in politics, and married and reared a family of industrious and respectable children. He was one of the first elders of the Frankstown, Presbyterian congregation. He was an honorable and upright man, and ranked high in the Presbyterian church, where the elder's office has been held by a succession of pious and efficient men, of whom she may be justly proud, as patrons and pillars of the truth. His son, William Smith, the father of Judge Samuel Smith, was born in Ireland in 1783, and two years later was brought by his parents to Scotch valley, where he resided until his death, in 1849, at seventy-five years of age. He was a farmer by occupation, a federalist in politics, and in church membership a Presbyterian. He was industrious, energetic and straightforward, lived a worthy Christian life, and dying, left behind him a good name and a life record worthy of imitation. In civil as well as religious affairs he commanded respect and attention, being honored by appointment and then by election, by his fellow-citizens of Frankstown township, with the office of justice of the peace, which he held for over forty years from his appointment, in 1813. He married Brittanna Duncan, who passed away June 6, 1851, when in the sixty-second year of her age. They reared a family of seven children, all of whom are dead except the subject of this sketch. Samuel Smith was reared on his father's farm, received a good English education, and then engaged in farming, which he followed successfully until April 23, 1891, when re removed to Hollidaysburg, where he as resided ever since. He owns a beautiful, well improved and highly productive farm in Frankstown township, beside his tasteful property in the borough of Hollidaysburg. On February 9, 1841, Mr. Smith married Elizabeth Brotherlin, who died May 25, 1856, and left six children: Thomas, now dead; Margaret B.; William C.; Martha J., who married James Moore, and is now dead; Elizabeth M., wife of R. C. Tussey, of Jersey City, New Jersey; and Clara, who married Calvin King, of Altoona, and is now dead. Judge Smith was re-married on Mary 5, 1859, to Rachel H. Ross, and to this second union were born four children; one that died in infancy; James R., a farmer of Frankstown township; Samuel, who died young; and Nannie L., now dead. In politics Judge Smith is a republican. He has been honored by his fellow-citizens with various important and responsible township and county offices. He has served his township as supervisor, auditor and school director, and held the office of county auditor for one term, and in 1853 and again in 1867 was elected ad director of the poor. In 1875 he was elected as associate judge of Blair county, and served until the expiration of his term of office, in 1880, with credit to himself and honor to the county. Judge Smith has been a deacon in the Presbyterian church since 1856, and is recognized as a courteous gentleman and a public-spirited citizen. In all his relations of life he has been honorable and just, and has always been scrupulously prompt in meeting his engagements. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas DANIEL J. NEFF, one of the foremost lawyers of Pennsylvania, and the oldest lawyer of Altoona in practice before the courts of Blair county, is a son of Daniel and Mary (Huyette) Neff, and was born in Porter township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1831. The Neff family was conspicuous in the early history of Lancaster county and eastern Pennsylvania. Some time prior to the year 1715 two brothers, Francis and John Henry Neff, came to Pennsylvania and settled in Lancaster county, near the present site of the city of Lancaster. Both were large landed proprietors, and John Henry Neff was the first educated physician of Lancaster county. When the boundaries of townships were fixed, upon June 9, 1729, one of the lines of Manheim township was thus defined: "Thence down the said creek to the 'Old Doctor's Ford,'" referring to Dr. Neff's ford, the site of which was the present bridge crossing of the Pennsylvania railroad over the river at the eastern boundary of Lancaster city. Francis Neff, who was the progenitor of all the Neffs of Huntingdon and Blair counties, in the State of Pennsylvania, purchased lands on a stream known as "Neff's Run," in Lancaster county, and the mansion house and estate wherein he resided have remained in the line of his descendants to this day. One of his grandsons, John Neff, was married to Fanny Kauffman, and emigrated to Huntingdon county, where his son, Daniel Neff, father of Daniel J., was born January 19, 1793. Mr. Neff's maternal ancestor, Louis Huyette, emigrated from France, and settled in Washington county, Maryland. His son, John Huyette, when eighteen years of age, came to Hart's Leg valley, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in 1795, and took possession of the lands, then comparatively a wilderness, which his father had purchased for him, and which was deeded to Louis Huyette from William and Thomas Penn. John Huyette married Elizabeth Grove, and among their children were three daughters: Mary, Susan, and Catharine. Mary Huyette was married to Daniel Neff on the 25th of November, 1819. They reared a family of five sons and three daughters, Daniel J. Neff being the sixth child in the order of birth. Daniel J. Neff attended the schools of Alexandria and Huntingdon academy, and then entered Marshall college, of Mercersburg, this State, from which he was graduated in the class of 1851. Three years later he left home, and after reading law for some time with Hon. S. S. Blair, of Hollidaysburg, entered the Poughkeepsie Law school, of New York State, where he also studied under the private tutorship of Homer A. Nelson, a prominent lawyer of that town, afterward secretary of state of New York. After completing his law course at Poughkeepsie he returned home, and in 1856 was admitted to the Blair county bar. In that year he opened an office at Hollidaysburg, but soon removed to Tyrone, which place he left in 1860 to come to Altoona, where he has resided ever since. He found but two lawyers in Altoona - L. W. Hall (with whom he associated as a partner) and a Mr. Boyer, both of whom in a hew years passed out of the ranks of the legal profession of the county. In a comparatively short time Mr. Neff secured a good practice, which in a few years so increased as to equal in extent the practice of any attorney in central Pennsylvania. On September 24, 1873, Mr. Neff married Susanna B. Gray, daughter of Levi Gray, of Altoona. A daughter, named Pauline Louise, is their only child. In politics Mr. Neff is a republican. He practices before the supreme court of the State, as well as the United States and county courts. He was one of the founders of the Blair County Bar association, and takes a deep interest in the advancement of his profession. In 1868 he was appointed solicitor to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which position he still holds. He is at present, and has been for some years, the head of the well known law firm of Neff, Hicks & Ambrose. Aside from his practice he has been interested to some extent in financial affairs, and was one of the incorporators of the Second National bank of Altoona, of which he is a stockholder. Daniel J. Neff studies his cases closely, even down to their minutest points, and examines everything that can have any possible bearing upon the cause of his client. He is a logical reasoner, a good judge of human nature, and a clear thinker, and always presents his client's case in a masterful manner. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas JOHN K. NEFF, a worthy descendant of an old and honorable family, and whose active and useful life was intimately connected with the material development of Williamsburg and Blair county, was born near Petersburg, on the Juniata river, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, March 26, 1802, and was a son of Jacob and Barbara (Kauffman) Neff. He was d descendant of Francis Neff, who left Switzerland between 1682 and 1700 and settled under William Penn in Pennsylvania, where he became the founder of the Neff family from whom all the Neffs of the Keystone State are descended. A member of the Lancaster county branch of the family was Jacob Neff (father), who settled at Petersburg, in Huntingdon county, where he died. He married Barbara Kauffman and reared a family of seven children, all of whom are dead: Daniel, Jacob, Susan Neff, Mary Stoner, Barbara Burkett, Nancy Neff, and John K. John K. Neff received a practical education in the early schools of his day, and was engaged in farming until 1829, when he came to Williamsburg, where he and his father-in-law, Major Huyette, bought the village mill. In addition to operating the mill they engaged in the general mercantile business, and were thus actively and successfully engaged for several years. In connection with milling and merchandising Mr. Neff carried on a considerable business in "arking" on the Juniata river, before the old Pennsylvania canal was completed. He was active in all interests calculated to advance his town and county, and kept pace with the progress that was born of canal and railroad. In 1857 he turned his attention to iron manufacturing, and became the leading member of the firm of Neff, Dean & Co., which built in that year Juniata furnace at Williamsburg. From this time on he increased the sphere of his business operations. Having, in 1865, sold Juniata furnace to the Williamsburg Manufacturing Company, he sought for a wider field for the active employment of his ability and energy, and in 1869 found it in the then new risen iron industry of the south. In that year he became the head of the Rome Iron Manufacturing Company, of Rome, Georgia, which established the extensive iron plant of that place, and which comprises a large rolling mill and nail factory. His wisdom in founding this enterprise has been well attested by the continued success and present prosperity of the company, and the development of Rome into one of the great manufacturing and industrial centres of the new south. He was more or less actively engaged in his business affairs from 1869 until his death, in 1876. On November 27, 1827, Mr. Neff married Susanna Huyette, daughter of Major John Huyette, a native of Maryland, and an early settler in Huntingdon county. Mrs. Neff was born January 1, 1806, in Hart's Log valley, and still resides in the old mansion at Williamsburg, where she has survived nearly all of those who were her neighbors when she came to the village. To Mr. and Mrs. Neff were born ten children, seven sons and three daughters: Reuben, now dead; Abram K. (deceased); William L., who lives in Fayette county, and is in the employ of the Cambria Iron Company; Milton, who died some years ago; Joseph, dead; Elizabeth H., widow of Peter Van Devander; Albert J., a graduate of West Point, who died at Fort Smith in 1868, aged twenty-seven years; Emma C. Patton, married M. V. B. Ake, and to whom were born two sons - Edwin L. (deceased), and Clarence N., who still resides with his parents in Cedartown, Georgia. Elizabeth H., the eldest daughter, on December 12, 1858, married Peter Van Devander, and to their union were born five children: Herman N., who lives in Polk county, Georgia, is engaged in the iron business, was married in 1888 to Miss Louise Calhoun, of Georgia, and to this union were born two children, Belle Elizabeth and Karl Calhoun; Abraham H., who lives in Fayette county, and is in the employ of the Cambria Iron Company; Mary H., married to John W. Wheatley, and resides in Spokane, Washington, where Mr. Wheatley is engaged in the practice of law - two children bless their union, Ricarda Elizabeth and Paul Van Devander; Albert M., who is engaged in the wholesale grocery business in Spokane, Washington; and Georgia B. Peter Van Devander was an active and thoroughgoing business man, whose career was cut short by death October 16, 1874, when he was in the forty-fifth year of his age. He was a civil engineer by profession, and for several years previous to his death was largely interested in the iron business. He was the first superintendent of Etna furnace, Georgia, and had made many friends in the Empire State of the south by business ability and energy. John K. Neff was a republican in politics, and for twenty years had been an efficient official in the Presbyterian church. He had traveled extensively through different States of the Union, crossed the continent twice, and thus learned much of men and things by observation. His summons from toil to rest came on December 20, 1876, when his spirit passed from time to eternity. His remains lie entombed in a well chosen and beautiful lot in the Presbyterian cemetery at Williamsburg. It was written of him by one who knew him will that: "John K. Neff was a man of warm impulses, cheerful temperament, and enlarged ideas. Ever alive to the needs of the hour, he was ever ready to exercise judicious enterprise in the development of advanced thought where is concerned business prosperity. He lived respected, and died sincerely mourned. His record is a valuable heirloom to his posterity, to whose heart, many of the lessons of which he was the teacher, may be proudly and profitably taken." Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas WILLIAM MARK FRASER, a prominent civil and mining engineer of Blair county, is the eldest son of Donald St. George and Janette (MacDonald) Fraser, and was born April 13, 1859, at Everton, Wellington county, in the British province of Ontario, Canada. William Russel Fraser, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Scotland, and his youth was spent in Edinburgh, his native city. Passing through the several schools, he began the study of medicine, and after spending the required number of years at Edinburgh university, received his diploma from that celebrated institution, and within sight of her walls built up for himself a large and successful practice. After several years he crossed the Atlantic, and finally settled in Frederiction, the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, where he continued the practice of his profession for a number of years, and then returned to Edinburgh with his family, where he died in the year 1844. He married Mary Anne Needham, by whom he had a family of five children. His eldest son, Donald St. George Fraser, was born in Frederiction, New Brunswick, on the 23d day of April, 1833, and now resides in Staunton, Virginia, where he is engaged in his profession of civil and mining engineer. He came to the United States in 1861. By his marriage with Janette MacDonald he had a family of six children, William M., Louis A., C. Frederick, Annie, Mary E., and Lenora I. Mrs. Fraser died on the 10th day of April, 1881. William M. Fraser obtained his instructions in the common schools of Saxton, Bedford county, this State, until the age of fourteen, when he attended night school at the same place and also at Houtzdale, Clearfield county. Compelled by circumstances to labor during the day, but with a determination not to be kept down by unpropitious surroundings he began the battle of life on such lines as commended themselves to his youthful mind and started in to get an education. He not only acquired a good ordinary English education, but to that he added a knowledge of civil and mining engineering, in which profession he is engaged. For a time he worked with his uncle, L. MacDonald, of Huntingdon, and then went to Houtzdale. Here he entered the employ of Fraser & Hartman, the senior partner being his father. He continued with this firm for some time, but on January 12, 1878, he resigned his position and embarked in the business on his own account. In company with his brother, Louis A. Fraser, he began the publication of a weekly paper, the Houtzdale News, which was conducted for eighteen months. This publication ceased, afterward. As one of a company, he again entered the journalistic field, this time with the Houtzdale Observer. There was more glory then money in this venture, so, in 1883, the paper passed into the hands of B. W. Hess. Later he disposed of it to White Nixon, who still published it. Mr. Fraser moved to Altoona in 1884, and has since resided in that place. He is engaged as engineer of the City & Park Railroad Company, of Altoona. He is also mining engineer and manager of the J. C. Martin coal estate of Cambria county. In October, 1891, he completed a fine map of the city of Altoona and its suburbs. In constructing this map he, at considerable labor and expense, secured nearly all the original plots of the city and its various extensions. These drafts he retained. The possession of these papers, and the fact that he does fully nine-tenths of the engineering of the city (outside of the engineering in the city engineer's forces), makes him the best informed man in the city on matters of this kind. Besides the engagements mentioned above, he has a prosperous and growing general business. On October 26, 1880, Mr. Fraser was wedded to Ida M. Evans, a daughter of Albert Evans, of the city of Altoona, and their union has been blessed of a family of three children, one son and a daughter, Walter R. and Bertha P., still living. In his political affiliations Mr. Fraser is republican, but exercises a great deal of independence, particularly in local politics. He is connected with a large number of fraternal organizations, being a member of Pacific Lodge, No. 450, Knights of Pythias; Houtzdale Lodge, No. 990, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Unity Lodge, No., 2, Independent Order of Good Templars; Moshannon Tribe, No. 255, Improved Order of Red Men; Perseverance Division, No. 26, Sons of Temperance; and of the Star of Bethlehem, being the duly appointed State deputy for the last order. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas ALEXANDER BUCHANAN, an old and highly respected citizen of Duncansville, is a son of George and Catherine (Blair) Buchanan, and was born on Fertile Plain, in the Juniata valley, Blair county, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1812. George Buchanan was born in 1782 in Maryland, learned the trade of gunsmith, and in early life removed to Hollidaysburg, which he afterward left to settle at the foot of the Allegheny mountains, and then removed to Duncansville, where he died in 1865. He was a democrat, and a Presbyterian, and followed gunsmithing until a few years before his death. He married Catherine Blair, and to their union were born five children, four sons and one daughter: Thomas and John, twins, of whom the former died in 1877, and the latter in the succeeding year; William, who died in 1840; Alexander; Ann M., widow of Robert Marrow, who died in 1892. Mrs. Buchanan, who died in 1816, was a descendant of the old Blair family, after which Blair county is named, and which was founded by Captain Thomas and William Blair, who were among the largest landholders of central Pennsylvania. Her father Thomas Blair, was a prominent and useful citizen, a strict and active member of the Presbyterian church, and, with other members of his family, was instrumental in securing the construction of the Philadelphia & Pittsburg turnpike over the mountains, and did the engineering through the gap of the mountain. Capt. Thomas Blair served in the revolutionary war, and put up the first mill in the county, at Blair's Gap, which did grinding for families twenty and twenty-five miles away. His children were: Hon, John, Alexander, Ruth, who married a Mr. More, and Catherine. Hon. John Blair married, and his sons where John Hadden, William, and Maxwell, all of whom died unmarried. Alexander Buchanan was reared on a farm, received a practical education, and followed farming for several years, and then was engaged for eight years in the iron business with his brothers, Thomas and John, manufacturing charcoal blooms of iron at Allegheny Forge. He was also in the mercantile business for four years, and after quitting the iron business resumed farming, which he has followed more or less actively until lately in the suburbs of Duncansville, of which he has been a resident since 1845. Some years ago he owned several acres of land at Duncansville, of which he has sold off many building lots which are now in the borough limits of the town. On April 19, 1837, Mr. Buchanan married Mary M. Everett, who is a native of Herkimer county, New York, and was born in 1808. To their union were born two children: Agnes, who died in 1842; and Anna M., who passed away in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan are said to be the oldest married couple in the county. Alexander Buchanan is a democrat in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Buchanan is a man of quiet manners, consistent morality, and of liberality. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas DANIEL STULTZ, a resident of near Royer, and one of the substantial farmers of Freedom township, is a son of Jacob and Salome (Smith) Stultz, and was born in Allegheny township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1840. Jacob Stultz was born in January, 1803, near the river Rhine, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, and died in Freedom township, this county, May 19, 1887. He was reared and educated in Baden, which has always been an agricultural, pastoral, mining, and manufacturing State of Germany. His inclinations were toward agricultural pursuits, and he followed farming until 1837, when he came to Allegheny township, this county, where he remained until 1842. In that year he removed to Freedom township, where he purchased a tract of land and cleared out a farm. He was a republican in politics, and always took an active part in the affairs of the Evangelical Lutheran church, of which he had been a member for many years before his death. He married Salome Smith, a consistent member of the Lutheran church, who passed ways in Juniata township, September 21, 1887, when in the eighty-second year of her age. They reared a family of twelve children, of whom nine are living: Salome, wife of John Ehrenfelt, a blacksmith, of Freedom township; Jacob, a farmer; John, of Duncansville; Leah, wife of Levi Wilt, a farmer, of Juniata township; Daniel; Catherine, who married Charles Bozner, a puddler, of Duncansville; Elizabeth, wife of Aaron Richey, a blacksmith, of Freedom township; Michael H., who resides on the homestead, and is engaged in farming; and Samuel, now a farmer in Kansas. Daniel Stultz was reared on the home farm, received his education in the common schools of Freedom township, and has followed farming ever since. In 1880 he removed to his present productive farm of one hundred and fifty acres of tillable land, where he has given his time and attention to grain and cattle raising. On March 11, 1862, Mr. Stultz married Susanna, daughter of William and Mary Morgan, of Juniata township. To Mr. and Mrs. Stultz have been born ten children: Annie L., wife of John Isenberg, a farmer of Frankstown township; Charles G., a farmer of Huston township; Martha M. (deceased), wife of S. C. Royer, a farmer of Woodbury township; Martin, of Royer, who is engaged in farming; Elizabeth A.; Salome; Norman; Rhoda E.; Catherine L.; and George E.; also a grandson, Samuel Stultz Royer, son of Martha (deceased). Daniel Stultz is a republican in politics, and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He is a well respected citizen of his community, and a careful and successful farmer, and has served his township acceptably as a school director. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas HENRY R. EARLENBAUGH, one of the younger business men of Altoona, and a leading dealer in general merchandise of that city, is a son of Andrew and Nancy (Rice) Earlenbaugh, and was born in Taylor township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, December 14, 1858. The Earlenbaugh family is of German descent, and Henry Earlenbaugh, sr., the paternal great-grandfather of Henry R. Earlenbaugh, came from Germany, and settled in Blair (formerly Bedford) county, where he lived until his death. His son, Andrew Earlenbaugh, sr. (grandfather), was born in 1792, in Taylor township, where he followed farming until his death, in 1853, when in the sixty-first year of his age. He owned a large farm, married, and reared a family. Of his sons one was Andrew Earlenbaugh (father), who followed farming in his native township until 1889, when he sold his farm and removed to his present comfortable home at Martinsburg. He is a republican in politics, and a German Reformed in religious faith. He married Nancy Rice, daughter of David Rice, who was born in Taylor township, where he owned a good farm and a grist mill on Plumb creek, and died near Martinsburg, Taylor township, in 1886, at seventy-eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Earlenbaugh reared a family of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters. Henry R. Earlenbaugh was reared on the farm, and received his education in the Martinsburg High school and the Indiana State Normal school, of Indiana, Pennsylvania. Leaving school he engaged in teaching for six years, and then became a clerk in the mercantile establishment of J. E. McDowell, of Altoona. At the end of one year, in 1882, he left the employ of Mr. McDowell to engage in the general mercantile business, which he has followed successfully ever since. His establishment is at No. 330 Lexington avenue and Fourth street, and originally was but a room 20 x 50 feet in dimensions, but his trade increased so rapidly that he was compelled to build an addition, and now has one of the finest retail stores in the city. He employs four salesmen, carried everything in the line of dry goods, notions, footwear, groceries and provisions, and has a thorough knowledge of the wants and requirements of his numerous patrons. In 1890 he added a furniture room, 30 x 50 feet in dimensions, to his establishment, and it is stocked to its utmost storage capacity with parlor, chamber, dining room and kitchen furniture, sofas, lounges, wardrobes, chairs and tables. On December 25, 1884, Mr. Earlenbaugh married Susan B. Fisher, daughter of Henry Fisher, of Loysburg, Bedford county, and to their union have been born four children, one son and three daughters: Roy C., Hattie B., E. Gertrude, and Bertha May, who died October 8, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Earlenbaugh are members of Christ Reformed church of Altoona. In politics Henry R. Earlenbaugh is a republican, who always yields his party a hearty support. He is a member of Elwood Castle, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and Lodge No. 124, Knights of the Mystic Chain. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas SAMUEL BERLIN, for many years a prominent druggist of Tyrone, who retired from active business in 1887, is a son of Joseph and Mary (Haneman) Berlin, and was born February 28, 1819, at Abbottstown, Adams county, Pennsylvania. He received his limited education in the subscription schools of that village. The facilities for obtaining an education in that early day were very meagre. On the 10th of September, 1843, he united in marriage with Mary M. Shane, of Littlestown, Adams county, this State. The only fruit of this union was a daughter, Virginia Josephine, who died in infancy. Mr. Berlin went to Littlestown, Adams county, in 1844, and engaged in the drug business. He successfully conducted this enterprise in Littlestown for a period of ten years, and then disposed of his drug store at that place and removed to Tyrone, this county, where he at once embarked in the same line of business. Always careful and accurate in his transactions, and energetic and progressive in his business methods, he soon won the confidence of the general public. In his party affiliations Mr. Berlin is a republican, and has always upheld the cardinal principles of that political organization, believing that therein lay the true basis of just government. He was elected and served as a member of the first council of the borough of Tyrone, and during the civil war occupied the position of burgess of the town. Office holding, however, was not in his line, and he found far greater pleasure in strictly attending to the business to which he had devoted his life. He is now spending his declining years in peace and plenty at his handsomely appointed home in Tyrone, respected by his neighbors and many a friend who cherishes the memory of the associations of by-gone days. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas JAMES HERVEY GWIN, one of the Mountain City's business men, and who is engaged in the lumber business in the counties of Blair, Clearfield, Jefferson, and Indiana, is a son of Alexander, sr., and Sarah (Hallman) Gwin, and was born in what is now Logan township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, October 16, 1845. His paternal grandfather, John Gwin, was a native of Scotland, and some time prior to the revolution came to Philadelphia. He served in the American army during the revolutionary war, at the close of which he married a woman who had resided in Philadelphia while the British troops held that city and Washington lay at Valley Forge. He moved to Franklin county, and afterward to Burgoon's Gap, which is now know as the famous horseshoe curve on the Pennsylvania railroad. He son, Alexander Gwin (father), was born in Franklin county in 1791. He learned the trade of millwright, and erected the first water mill built on the head waters of the Juniata river, at a point on that stream about one mile above the present Juniata shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, where his widow now resides, now Gwin Station, on the Altoona, Clearfield & Northern railroad. He died in 1856, when in the sixty-fifth year of his age. He was an old-line whig in politics, a conscientious and active member of the Presbyterian church, and a man who was strict and careful in his family discipline, as the welfare of his children interested him more than his business affairs, in which he was successful. He married Mrs. Sarah (Hallman) Kough, a widow, who had by Mr. Kough three children, one of whom, Elizabeth, is not Mrs. Elizabeth Reese, of Frankstown. To Mr. and Mrs. Gwin were born six children, five sons and one daughter: Sarah, who died at the age of eleven years; Major George H., of Altoona, who enlisted as a private in Co., B, 3d Pennsylvania infantry, April 20, 1861, for a term of three months, and was honorably discharged July 30, 1861, on the expiration of his term of service, and on August 26, 1861, reenlisted as second-lieutenant in Co. F, 76th Pennsylvania infantry, for a term of three years, was wounded in the right leg at Pocotaligo, South Carolina, October 22, 1862, received another wound in the right arm at the mine explosion in front of Petersburg, July 30, 1864, and was honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of service at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, November 28, 1864, with the rank of brevet major from November 28, 1864, and was engaged in the mercantile business in Altoona from 1865 to 1891; Maxwell, who served in Co. K, of the same regiment, from November, 1864, to the close of the war, and now resides on the old home farm; Sergeant Alexander Crawford, who was killed in the first assault on Fort Wagner, in July, 1863; and James Hervey. Alexander Crawford Gwin, the third son, who fell at Fort Wagner, was very patriotic as a school boy, and displayed fine ability as an artist. When the guns of Sumter broke the stillness of peace he was among the first to respond to President Lincoln's call for troops. He first enlisted April 20, 1861, for three months, in Co. B, 3d Pennsylvania infantry, at the expiration of which time he reenlisted in September, 1861, as a private in Co. F, 76th Pennsylvania infantry, then known as the Keystone Zouaves, and was promoted to first sergeant. He participated in all the skirmishes and battles of his regiment until he was killer. He was a brave and daring soldier, was complimented highly by his superior officers for coolness, bravery, and fine soldierly bearing at the battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina, where his captain and many of his company were killed. He fell in the fore front of the first attack on Fort Wagner, July 11, 1863, and his remains sleep in an unknown grave on Morris island, South Carolina, as his family have never found where his body was buried. James Hervey Gwin was reared on the home farm, and received a common school education near his home. Shortly after he entered upon his last term the teacher resigned on account of sickness, and the school directors employed him to teach out the term, which he did with satisfactory results to all concerned. After the close of his school he learned telegraphy in the railroad office at Altoona, and served as a telegraph operator on the Pittsburg division of the Pennsylvania railroad for two years. He then (1873) resigned his position on account of night and Sunday work, and embarked in the general mercantile business, which he followed in Altoona until 1881, when he engaged in the lumber business. In 1890 he withdrew from all partnership operations, and since then has widened out his field of work until he now operates two steam saw mills advantageously located in favorable sections of Jefferson and Indiana counties. He has his main office in the Masonic Temple, Altoona, and a mill and lumber yard at Hillman Station, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, on the Pennsylvania & Northwestern railroad. He finds a ready market for his lumber in Altoona, and receives orders from different parts of the State. He has a large and rapidly increasing business. In politics J. H. Gwin is a straight republican. He is unmarried, and has been for several years a member of the First Presbyterian church. Mrs. Sarah Gwin (mother), or known as "Aunt Sally," now (June, 1892,) in her eighty-sixth year, retains her health remarkably well, being the oldest citizen of that locality. From early days she has taken an active part in the education of the young, in the Sunday-school, church, and prayer meetings. She was one of the first members in organizing the first Sunday-school on the Juniata, meeting in a log school house with slabs for benches. A member of the Presbyterian church at Hollidaysburg, nine miles distant, wince the organization of the First Presbyterian church in Altoona, in the year 1855, she has been a member of this church, attending services regularly, until age prevents her doing so. Mrs. Gwin, during the dark days of the war, from 1861 to 1865, when mothers sacrificed so much for their county's cause, was very patriotic for the Union and defense of the "old flag," and as the years go by always on all National holidays displays the stars and striped about her quiet country home. Living now in the evening of life in the enjoyment of a firm faith and trust in her Savior. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas JOHN HEARN, an industrious citizen and successful farmer, of Blair township, and a former resident of Hollidaysburg, near which he still resides, was born in County Meath, province of Leinster, Ireland, in 1815, and is a son of William and Julia (MacAvoy) Hern. William Hern was reared in the city of Dublin, once the capital of Ireland. He received his education in the schools of his native island, and after working for several years in the vicinity of Dublin, he came in 1851, to Hollidaysburg, where he died, in 1853, at the age of eighty-one years. He was a hard working man, and a Catholic in religious faith and church membership, and married Julia MacAvoy, who died in 1852, when in the seventy-sixth year of her age. Mr. and Mrs. Hearn were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters: Catherine, William, Thomas, John, Fannie and Philip. John Hearn spent his boyhood and grew to manhood in the old and beautiful city of Dublin, around which cling so many romantic and tragic memories of Irish history. He received his education in the primary schools of Dublin, and was variously engaged at work until July, 1848, when he came to Hollidaysburg, at and near which he has resided ever since. After coming to Blair county he worked in the mines for several years and acquired sufficient means to purchase some property at Hollidaysburg, which he afterwards exchanged for his present valuable farm of ninety-eight acres of land, which is situated two miles from the county seat. He has improved his farm and brought it up to a high state of cultivation and productiveness. He also owns a good house and twelve acres of land, which adjoins his farm. Mr. Hearn has established for himself a comfortable home by economy and good management, and by many years of hard, honest toil, and is now well prepared to enjoy the comforts of life. He is a democrat in politics, and a member of St. Mary's Catholic church, of Hollidaysburg. On April 4, 1859, Mr. Hearn married Mary Welsh, of Hollidaysburg, and they are the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters: Jeremiah, John, Thomas, William and Anastatia (twins), and Mollie. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas JAMES JOHNSTON OATMAN, M. D., a graduate from two medical colleges, and a physician who has been in practice since 1867, is a son of Joseph and Eliza (Johnston) Oatman, and was born December 24, 1839, at Williamsburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania. The Oatmans are descended from old German stock, but have been settled in this State for several generations. Jacob Oatman (grandfather) was a native of Lancaster county, a farmer by occupation, and spent a long and active life in cultivation his ancestral acres. He died in that county at an advanced age. He married and reared a family of four children. His son, Joseph Oatman (father), was the only boy. He was born in Lancaster county in 1810, but removed to Williamsburg, then Huntingdon county, and in 1847 to Indiana county, where he still lives, being now almost eighty-two years of age. He spent his active life in tilling the soil, and became well-to-do. In politics he is a Cleveland democrat, and has always been active in support of the principles of democracy. While a resident of Williamsburg he served as assistant canal commissioner. By his marriage to Eliza Johnston he had a family of five sons and two daughters. James Johnston Oatman was reared principally in Indiana county, this State, and educated in the common schools of that county. In securing an education he had many obstacles to encounter, being obliged to walk two and a quarter miles to the little school house where he received instruction. He persevered, however, gathering information from every available source, and before he was fifteen years of age was placed in charge of the school during the necessary absence of the regular teacher. Three months before reaching his sixteenth birthday he was teaching the most advanced school in his township, having secured the best certificate granted in the county that year. He taught six terms in Indiana county, which brought him down to the beginning to the great civil war. Like so many of the brave and patriotic young men of that day, he turned his face from the peaceful employments of civil life to encounter the perils of the tented field. He enlisted in Co. B, 11th Pennsylvania reserves, in 1861, and served three years. At the battle of Peach Orchard he received a serious wound in the head, fracturing the skull and exposing the brain, and was left on the field for dead. Later he fell into the hands of the Confederates, and for three months was an inmate of Libby prison. When the war was over, and he had been discharged, he returned to Pennsylvania and taught one year, having been elected to the position of principal of the High school at Ebensburg, Cambria county. He then began reading medicine with Dr. R. S. Bunn of Ebensburg, which he continued for three years, attending Jefferson Medical college during the winter months. In 1867 he was graduated from that institution, and located at Carrollotown, Cambria county, for the practice of his profession. Later he entered Hahnemann Homeopathic college, and in 1870 was graduated from that well known medical school. For several years he remained at Carrolltown, and then removed to Ebensburg, where he practiced for six years. At the end of that time he returned to Carrolltown, and remained there engaged in general practice until 1883, when he came to the city of Altoona, and has built up a large practice here. Having studied two systems of medicine, and believing that each has point of superiority, he combines the two in his practice. In 1868 Dr. Oatman was united in marriage to Regina H. McDermitt, a daughter of Bernard McDermitt, of Cambria county. To them was born a family of six children: William J., a druggist in the city of Altoona; Robert M., engaged as a traveling salesman; Stella G., Charles J., Genevieve K., and Ernest J. - the four last named now living at home with their parents. In politics Dr. Oatman is a democrat, but has never taken an active part in political movements, preferring to devote his energies to the more congenial field of medicine and kindred subjects. He is a member of Fred E. Ward Post, No., 468, Grand Army of the Republic; also of the Union Veteran Legion at Altoona. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas HENRY A. KIMBERLING, an industrious and prosperous citizen of Frankstown township, is a son of Samuel and Mary (Confer) Kimberling, and was born at Point View, near Canoe Mountain, in Catharine township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1842. His paternal grandfather, John Kimberling, was a farmer by occupation, and resided for many years at the base of the Loop mountain, where he operated the flouring mill now known as the Mentzer mill. He was a republican in politics at the time of his death, and had been thrice married. His first wife was a Miss Stambaugh, by whom he had one child. He married for his second wife Lena Geesey, by whom he had two children. His son, Samuel Kimberling (father), was born June 20, 1818, in the beautiful valley at the base of the Loop mountain, in Frankstown township. In early life he was engaged in boating on the Juniata canal, afterward worked at Spang's furnace, and was successfully engaged in farming on the Good farm, near Cove mountain, and in the Turkey valley, where he died in 1869, aged sixty years, two months and twenty-five days. He was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and a republican in politics, and had served as supervisor of his township. He married Mary Confer, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and died in 1890. They reared a family of six children, two sons and four daughters: Henry A., Samuel L., Tillie, Hettie M., Lizzie, and Laura R. Mrs. Kimberling was a daughter of Jacob Confer, who was of Irish descent, and a resident of Turkey valley, Blair county. Henry A. Kimberling was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools, and has always followed farming and stock raising in Frankstown township. In 1867 Henry A. Kimberling was united in marriage with Catherine Geesey, and their union has been blessed with one child, a son named William, who was born October 12, 1868, and is assisting his father in farming. Mrs. Kimberling is a model housekeeper, and an amiable and entertaining woman. She was born at Frankstown on March 26, 1840, and is a daughter of Jacob Geesey, who was born in 1802, in New York, from which he removed to Dutch valley, and afterwards to the farm now occupied by Mr. Kimberling, where he died. Jacob Geesey married Margaret Gast, by whom he had twelve children: Mary M., dead; Catherine, dead; Michael, married; Margaret, dead; Sarah, dead; Susan, married; Elizabeth, married; Harriet, married; Catherine Kimberling; Nancy Jane, married; Lydia, dead; and Maria E., married. In politics Henry A. Kimberling is a republican. He give close attention to his farm and business affairs, and believes that whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas REV. THOMAS P. SMITH, a scholarly gentleman, and the energetic and efficient pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart, of Altoona, is a son of Patrick and Julia (Clonan) Smith, and was born at Gallitzin, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1859. Patrick Smith was a native of Ireland, and came, about 1852, to Cambria county, where he was engaged in the general mercantile business for nearly thirty years. He died at Gallitzin, March 20, 1882, when in the fifty-first year of his age. His knowledge of business affairs was derived from actual observation and experience. The safe and reliable methods which he employed in conducting any commercial enterprise, recommended him as a fit and capable man to handle the financial affairs of his county, and he was frequently urged by his friends to allow his name to be used as a candidate for county treasure, but he peremptorily declined in every case, as his private business always possessed a charm for him greatly superior to the allurements of office or public life. He was a democrat in politics, and although averse to holding any office, yet he deemed it a duty that every man owed to his country to give close attention to political affairs. He married Julia Clonan, who was born in Ireland, and still resides at Gallitzin. Mr. and Mrs. Smith reared a family of twelve children, of whom two sons are dead. Those living are: Revs. Thomas P. and Matthew, twins, of whom Rev. Father Matthew took a full course at St. Michael's and St. Vincent's, a theological and philosophical course at the Cleveland seminary, and is now engaged in active ministerial duties in the diocese of Pittsburg; James A., a traveling salesman, of Gallitzin; Edward F., married Annie Feany, and is in the grocery business in Altoona; M. Jennie, a sister in the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph, of Altoona; Mary, at home; Joseph, a merchant of Gallitzin; Anna, a sister of the order of St. Joseph, at Altoona; Catherine, and Elizabeth. Thomas P. Smith was reared in Cambria county. He attended St. Michael's seminary, of Pittsburg, and St. Vincent's seminary, of Westmoreland county, and then entered the Grand seminary, of Montreal, from which excellent institution he was graduated in the class of 1882. On July 6, 1882, he was ordained to the priesthood by Rt. Rev. John Twigg, and was soon thereafter appointed an assistant to Father Ryan, of St. John's church, of Altoona. He found a responsible field of labor, as that church had a membership of over four thousand, be he labored diligently and with success until 1888, when he took charge of the parish of Ebensburg, in Cambria county, where he labored faithfully for the good of his people for two years. He then, in the summer of 1890, returned to Altoona and took charge of the congregation of the Sacred Heart. On July 13, 1890, he held his first services in an old Methodist church, on the corner of Seventh avenue and Twenty-fourth street, and in a short time purchased two lots extending two hundred and fifty feet on Sixth avenue and one hundred and twenty feet on Twentieth street. On this ground he has erected the present handsome and commodious church edifice of the congregation of the Church of the Sacred Heart. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas JOHN G. REED, a well know and highly esteemed citizen of Blair county, who has spent many years in the useful occupation of house painting, and later became a popular restaurant keeper, is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Glazier) Reed, and was born August 13, 1839, in the house which is now his residence, in the city of Hollidaysburg. His grandfather, Samuel Reed, was one of the early settlers at Black Lick, Indiana county, and died there at the age of nearly eighty years. Joseph Reed (father) was born at Black Lick in 1807, came to Blair county in 1830, and located in Hollidaysburg, purchasing the lot on which John G. now resides. There were but few houses in the town at that time, and Mr. Reed lived to see it grow and improve until it became a city of between three and four thousand inhabitants. He died from heart failure on December 21, 1891, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He was a chairmaker and painter by trade, and for many years has a prosperous trade in that line. He continued the manufacture of chairs here until machine-made furniture drove him out of the business. He was a man of vigorous constitution, always led an active stirring life, and made and painted his last chair only a few days before his death. In politics he was a whig, and voted for William H. Harrison for president, but later became a republican. He was a member of the Presbyterian church for nearly half a century, and always took an active interest in church affairs. He had a benevolent disposition, was always kind and helpful to the poor, and stood high in the estimation of his neighbors. He was a member of the "Washington Greys," a military organization in the time of Henry Clay. He married Elizabeth Glazier, by whom he had a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters: John Glazier, the subject of this sketch; Catherine McCormick Reed, born October 28, 1839; Benjamin Franklin Reed, born August 18, 1841, died March 20, 1852; Harriet Reed, born August 18, 1843, died March 11, 1844; Albert Clayton, who enlisted and served as a soldier in the civil war, and died April 6, 1886, at the age of forty-one years; Charles II., a painter by trade, who resides at Hollidaysburg; and Sarah Johnston, who lives with her brother, John G. Their mother was a native of Huntingdon, in the county of that name, and a devoted member of the Presbyterian church until her death, July 23, 1852, at the age of forty-two years. Her father, John Glazier, was a potter by trade. John G. Reed grew to manhood in the city of Hollidaysburg, and received a good English education in the common schools here. After leaving school he learned the trade of house painter with his father, and worked with him for some time. When his father became too old for the business, Mr. Reed succeeded him, and successfully carried on the business until 1877. In that year he abandoned house painting and opened a first-class restaurant in the city of Hollidaysburg, on November 22, which soon became popular, and is extensively patronized, being the finest restaurant in the city. Politically Mr. Reed is a republican, and has always taken a very active part in the arena of practical politics. He is a member and past master of Portage Lodge, No. 220, Free and Accepted Masons. He has never been married, and is a very pleasant gentleman, with a wide circle of personal friends. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Donna Thomas