BIOS: File 15 - 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 15, listing the page where they appear in the book: Allen, J. Wesley, M.D., page 516 Amies, Edwin M., page 522 Arthur, Richard, page 532 Aultz, Capt. Ambrose M., page 527 Bell, G. Thomas, page 535 Brandt, Frank, page 539 Bunker, Benjamin M., page 517 Crosthwaite, D. Wilmot, M.D., page 518 Forney, Elsworth S., page 528 Graffius, H. Price, page 526 McCoy, Gen. Robert A., page 533 McFeeley, William J., page 525 Mohr, John H., page 515 Reifsnyder, Joshua L., page 537 Sink, Amandus G., page 521 Stahl, John B., page 520 Stone, William, page 536 Stultz, Harry L., page 531 Winn, James E., page 519 Yerger, Paul, page 601 J. WESLEY ALLEN, M.D., who served as assistant surgeon of the 148th Pennsylvania infantry during the late civil war, is one of the oldest and most efficient physicians and surgeons in active practice in the city of Altoona and in Blair county. He is a son of Dr. James McCormick and Elizabeth (Butler) Allen, and was born in the town of Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1838. His paternal grandparents, Jacob and Jane (Spottsford) Allen, were natives of the far-famed highlands of Scotland, which they left shortly after their marriage to seek a home in the distant America, of which they had heard so much. They settled, prior to 1808, in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, where they resided until death called them out of this world. Jacob Allen (whose family name in Scotland was formerly written Allan) was a man of good taste and fine talent as an artist. He was a scenic painter by profession, and a choice specimen of his work is to be seen in the beautiful frescoing of the Catholic cathedral of the Monumental City. His son, Dr. James McCormick Allen, was born in Baltimore in 1808, and studied dentistry, which he afterwards practiced in St. Louis, Missouri, and other cities beyond the Mississippi river. He returned, after a few years sojourn in the far west, and settled in Carlisle, in Cumberland county, where he has resided ever since. He was way master and general freight agent for several years of one of the railroads at Carlisle. He was an old-line whig and a know-nothing, and in 1852 helped to organize the Republican party, which he has supported ever since. While never asking for any office, he has always been active in politics, and a few months ago his party elected him an alderman of Carlisle, which office he is still holding. Dr. Allen is a member of the Presbyterian church, and married Elizabeth Butler, who is a member of the same Butler family of which one branch furnished so many brave and able officers to the American army during the revolutionary war. They reared a family of four sons and two daughters, of whom three sons are dead. J. Wesley Allen grew to manhood in the town of Carlisle, and at the completion of his academic studies, entered Dickinson college, of Carlisle, from which he was graduated in the class of 1858, with the degree of A.B., and afterward received the degree of A.M. After graduation, having made the choice of medicine as his life vocation, he entered, in August, 1858, the office of Drs. J.J. Ziegler and A.F. Harmon. When he had completed with them the required course of reading he entered the Medical university of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1861. After graduation he practiced for three or four months, and then entered the Federal army as assistant surgeon of the 148th Pennsylvania infantry, and saw active and severe service under Gen. W.T. Sherman in the West and in the Army of the Potomac, before the defenses of Richmond and Petersburg, in the latter part of 1864 and the early spring of 1865. The 148th was commanded during 1863 and 1864 by ex-Governor James A. Beaver, whose leg Dr. Allen helped to amputate in the last named year. Dr. Allen had his horse shot from under him and received two slight wounds in one of the battles before Petersburg, and after Lee's surrender was honorably mustered out of the United States service. He then came to Altoona, where he opened an office and where he has remained ever since, in active, continuous and successful practice. He is a well read and progressive physician and a skillful and successful surgeon, and ranks among the best physicians of central Pennsylvania. Dr. Allen was married to Anna J., a daughter of Rev. William R. Mills. To this union have been born two children; Oakes, who is a pattern-maker at Altoona, and Walter. Dr. Allen is a member of White Cross Lodge, No. 354, Knights of Pythias, which was organized in Altoona on March 28, 1872. He is also prominent and active in the Masonic fraternity. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 260, Free and Accepted Masons, St. John's Chapter No. 171, Royal Arch Masons, St. John's Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar, and Syria Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Pittsburgh. He is a democrat in politics, and served three years as a member of the board of health of Altoona. Dr. Allen has always given whole-hearted and vigorous support to his party and its principles. A few years ago he was put forward by the democrats of Blair county as one of their candidates for the house of representatives of Pennsylvania, and although the republican majority was nearly twenty-five hundred at that time, yet Dr. Allen cut it down to one thousand, and was highly complimented on the remarkable strength which, as a candidate, he had developed. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM EDWIN M. AMIES, a rising young lawyer of Altoona, who has already won a fine position at the bar, and is active and influential in local politics, is a son of Oswald A. and Elizabeth C. (Mather) Amies, and was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 19, 1859. His grandfather Amies was of French extraction, a native of Delaware, and a large paper manufacturer at Brandywine, furnishing great quantities of paper to the United States government. He died in 1889, at his home in Philadelphia, aged eighty-eight years. He was a republican in politics, and had retired from active business several years prior to his death. Oswald A. Amies (father) was born in Philadelphia, and after attaining manhood engaged in the manufacture of paper at Brandywine, a suburb of Wilmington, Delaware. He was thus engaged in 1861, when that historic shot was fired at Fort Sumter which startled the country like a peal of thunder from a clear sky. Catching inspiration from the spirit of patriotism that baptized the northern States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Mr. Amies enlisted in Co. D, 68th Pennsylvania reserves, and at the expiration of his term of three months re-enlisted for three years, and served until the battle of Gettysburg, where, on July 3, 1863, he was killed in action while engaged with his regiment in heroically opposing the advance of the invading Confederates. He was a republican in politics, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was thirty years of age at the time of his death. By his marriage with Elizabeth C. Mather he had a family of children. She was born in Philadelphia, and died in that city in 1882, after an active and useful life spanning half a century. She was an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and honored the faith she professed. Edwin M. Amies was reared and educated in the city of Philadelphia, graduating from Gerard college with the class of 1876. On March 4th of that year he entered the law office of Alexander & Herr, at Altoona, this county, and after reading law for four years was admitted to the Blair county bar in December, 1880. He at once opened a law office in the city of Altoona, and has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession in this county. In February, 1882, he was elected city recorder of Altoona, and faithfully discharged the duties of that office for a period of five years. He is a deep student in law, and has won an honorable standing at the bar. On November 2, 1881, Mr. Amies was wedded to Laura Bower, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Bower, of Lancaster county, this State. She is a lady of intelligence and refinement, and is very popular among her large circle of friends and acquaintances. In politics Mr. Amies has always been a stanch republican, and has taken an active and prominent part in political affairs, being a local leader of recognized ability and influence. He is pleasant and affable in manner, impressive in appearance, and quick in thought and action. He is a member of Logan Lodge, No. 490, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Mountain Chapter, No. 189, Royal Arch Masons. He is also a member of Lieutenant Pott's Camp, No. 12, Sons of Veterans; Blair Lodge, No. 281, Knights of Pythias; Altoona Lodge, No. 102, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and the Independent Order of Hetasophs. In all these benevolent and fraternal organizations he stands deservedly high, and as a citizen takes rank with the most intelligent and progressive of his county, while his position at the bar gives promise of a brilliant and useful future career. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM RICHARD ARTHUR, one of the proprietors of the well-known and popular livery stable of Duke & Arthur, of Altoona, is a son of George and Susan (Homer) Arthur, and was born in Union Township, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, April 6, 1831. His paternal grandfather, John Arthur, was born and reared in England, and came to Pennsylvania when a young man. He served in the revolutionary war, and died in Union township, Bedford county, when well advanced in the ninety-fourth year of his age. He was an old-line whig, a strict Lutheran in religious belief, and married and reared a family. His son, George Arthur, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1799, in Cambria county. In early life he went to Bedford county, from which he removed, in 1851, to Altoona, this county, where he resided until his death, which occurred in February, 1888, when in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He was a machinist by trade, and worked for several years for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was a whig and republican in politics, a member of the German Reformed church, and married Susan Homer, a native of Cambria county, and a member of the Reformed church, who died in 1886, at seventy-eight years of age. Richard Arthur was reared principally in Bedford county, received his education in the common schools, and in 1851 came to Altoona, where he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as an engine repairer from October, 1851, to June, 1890, when he formed a partnership with Charles A. Duke, and engaged in his present livery business. In 1853 Mr. Arthur married Catherine E. Hall, daughter of Adolphus Hall, of Logan township. To their union have been born three children, one son and two daughters: Florence E., Orlando A., and Mary R. The firm of Duke & Arthur have their large livery, feed and sale stable on Ninth street, between Green and Chesnut avenues. They have one of the largest and finest livery stables in the city for the accommodation of the equine race, and keep fine riding and driving horses, first-class buggies and carriages, and make a specialty of cabs for weddings and funerals. Richard Arthur is a republican in politics, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and one of the foremost men in his line of business in the county. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM CAPT. AMBROSE M. AULTZ, who commanded a company in the 205th regiment Pennsylvania volunteers during the late civil war, was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, in 1844. He was a son of Samuel Aultz, who is now a retired farmer of Blair county. Captain Aultz commenced the study of law with Judge Banks, of Altoona, and shortly after entering the office the dark days preceding Gettysburg and Vicksburg came, and he relinquished his legal studies to respond to his country's call for men in her hour of peril. He enlisted as a private in a regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers, and after the expiration of his nine months' term of service he re-enlisted in the 205th regiment, in which he served until June 2, 1865, when he was mustered out of the United States service at Alexandria, Virginia. Upon entering the 205th regiment he was commissioned second lieutenant. Soon afterward, for bravery on the battlefield, he was promoted to captain, and commanded a company until the close of the war. At the battle of Petersburg, the color-bearer falling mortally wounded, Captain Aultz picked up the colors, and in the act of planting them on the enemy's works, was shot down. He was not fatally wounded, yet had to be carried off the field. He was greatly beloved by his men on account of his many principles, superb bravery, and tender solitude for those under his command. He was deservedly popular throughout the regiment, and was known as the "boy captain." After the war he came to Tyrone, where he was engaged in business until his death, which occurred February 17, 1874. He was a democrat in politics, and had always been an active and energetic worker for the success of his party. In 1873 Captain Aultz was honored by his party with a nomination for the house of representatives of Pennsylvania, and received a handsome vote in a county which was then republican by a large majority. On June 8, 1869, Captain Aultz was united in marriage with Elizabeth Sneeringer, a daughter of Pius Sneeringer, a prominent and highly respected citizen of Tyrone, whose biography appears in this volume. To Captain and Mrs. Aultz were born two children: Marie Louise and Ambrose M. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM G. THOMAS BELL, ex-sheriff of Blair county, and a prominent republican and active business man of Altoona, is a son of William and Elizabeth (Good) Bell, and was born on the farm and in the house where he now resides, in Pleasant valley, one-half mile from Altoona, in Logan township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, June 10, 1845. The Bells are of Scotch-Irish descent, and the paternal grandfather of ex-sheriff Bell was William Bell, sr., a native and life-long resident of Lebanon county. His son, William Bell (father), was born in 1801, and learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed for some time. He then engaged in contracting and building, and soon came to Blair county, where he had taken a contract to construct the Crooked dam, on the Juniata river, for canal purposes. After the construction of the dam, he removed, in 1839, from Williamsburg to the farm upon which the subject of this sketch now resides, where he followed agricultural pursuits until 1868, when he retired from active life and came to Altoona, in which city he died on August 26, 1877, at seventy-six years of age. He was an old-line whig and republican in politics, and was one of the first three commissioners of Blair county, serving by appointment from June to October, 1846, and afterward by election from October, 1846, to October, 1847. He was one of the founders and first ruling elders of the Second Evangelical Lutheran church of Altoona, and while an unassuming man, yet was firm in his convictions of right and duty. He commanded the esteem of the community in which he resided, and married Elizabeth Good, of German descent, and a daughter of Peter Good, a well respected citizen of Logan township. Mrs. Bell, who was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, died July 29, 1866, when in the fifty-fifth year of her age, and was survived by six children, four sons and two daughters; David, of Logan township; Rev. Peter G., (see his sketch elsewhere in this volume); Capt. James M., of the 7th United States cavalry; Mrs. E. P. Miller, of Kansas; G. Thomas, and Mrs. Lewis Walton, of Altoona. G. Thomas Bell grew to manhood in his native township, received his education in the common schools, and has always resided on the home farm, which he now owns. At seventeen years of age, in 1863, he enlisted in the State militia for three months, and at the expiration of his term enlisted in Co. A, 205th Pennsylvania infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. He was in the fight at Fort Steadman, and the several battles around Petersburg and Richmond during the winter of 1864-65, and was present at Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. After the close of the war he returned to his farm, and in 1867 made a tour of the west, southwest, and California, from which he sailed for home by the way of Panama, and reaching Altoona in March, 1868. After returning home he became somewhat interested in aerial navigation, and made two successful balloon ascensions from Altoona, in one of which he was carried forty-five miles in forty-five minutes, and one in which he ascended to the height of 18,500 feet. In 1879 he received the republican nomination for sheriff, and was elected over his democratic competitor by a thousand majority. Mr. Bell served throughout his term with energy, faithfulness, and efficiency, and at its close returned to his farm, where he has resided ever since. In 1875 Mr. Bell married Emily Husfield, a daughter of Henry Husfield, of Blair county, and who died August 26, 1881, in the 26th year of her age. On June 30, 1883, Mr. Bell was united in marriage with Lizzie, daughter of John Pennock, of Altoona. G. Thomas Bell is a member of Logan Lodge, No. 490, Free and Accepted Masons; White Cross Lodge, No. 354, Knights of Pythias; Stephen C. Potts Post, No. 62, Grand Army of the Republic. He is now actively engaged in the real estate business, and has served for several years as director of the Clearfield, Northern & Altoona railroad. In addition to farming and his real estate business, he takes considerable interest in horses, and is a stockholder and president of the Driving & Exhibiting association. Mr. Bell is one of the substantial farmers and representative business men of Blair county, and has always been active, energetic, and successful in all of his various business enterprises. He is a man of strong will power, yet always pleasant in manner and easily approached. He takes an active part and wields considerable influence in the political affairs of his county. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM FRANK BRANDT is one of that reliable and substantial class of men whose success in life has depended upon their own efforts. He was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1862, and is a son of William and Rosanna (Wade) Brandt. The Brandts are of German descent, and Frank Brandt's paternal grandfather was a native of Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania, where he was employed for many years as a member of different brass and instrumental bands, which traveled in various sections of the United States. His son, William Brandt (father), was born in this State in 1812, and embarked in the saw and grist mill business in Cambria county, where he remained until 1868, when he removed to his present home on the Dry Gap road, one and one-half miles from Altoona. After coming to Blair county he conducted a grocery in Altoona for some years, at the end of which time he retired from the pursuits of active business life. He has been successful in his various enterprises, has an excellent farm where he resides, and owns a productive farm and good flouring mill in Cambria county. He is a democrat and Catholic, and married Rosanna Wade, who was born in Butler county in 1830, and is a member of the same church as her husband. They reared a family of children. Frank Brandt was reared in Cambria county and the city of Altoona, received his education in the public schools, and learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed regularly until 1886. In that year he engaged in contracting and building, which business he has followed continuously and successfully ever since. In 1881 Mr. Brandt was united in marriage with Annie M. Burkhart, daughter of James M. Burkhart, of Altoona. To their union have been born four children: Bertha M., Annie, Elma V., and Catherine E. Frank Brandt has given close attention to his business, which he has gradually increased from year to year until he now has a large and remunerative patronage. His planing mill is on Twenty-first avenue, while his office, shop and lumber yards are at No. 1628 Twentieth avenue, where he furnishes estimates of all kinds of work in his line of business. He handles shingles, lath, pickets, moldings, door frames and mantels. Mr. Brandt resides on Twentieth avenue, in Logan township, just beyond the city limits, owns considerable real estate, acquired by his own exertions, and has met with good success as a contractor and builder. He is a democrat in politics, a Catholic in religious belief and church membership, and an energetic and thorough-going business man. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM BENJAMIN M. BUNKER, for many years a prominent carpenter, contractor and builder of Altoona, and senior partner in the well-known firm of Bunker, Orr & Flick, whose handiwork is seen in many of the more substantial structures of that city, is a son of Isaiah W. and Isabella (Maizh) Bunker, and was born in the city of Hollidaysburg, this county, on the 30th of October, 1847. The Bunker family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and has long been settled in the State of Delaware, where Isaiah W. (father) was born and reared. In the spring of 1840 he removed to Pennsylvania, locating at Hollidaysburg, Blair county. In that city he resided until 1855, when, having lost his wife, he went east and remained until the civil war came on. He then enlisted in the Union army and served for a term of three years. At the close of the war he came back to Pennsylvania, and lived in Blair county for a number of years. He died in 1886, at the Soldiers' home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a stanch democrat in politics, a blacksmith by trade, and married Isabella Maizh, by whom he had a family of children. She was born in Huntingdon county, this State, and died in Blair county in 1854. Benjamin M. Bunker was reared principally in the city of Hollidaysburg, and educated in the public schools there. After leaving school he became an apprentice and learned the trade of carpenter. In 1866 he removed to Tyrone, this county, where he remained for a period of five years, employed in the line of carpentering and building. In 1871 he came to Altoona, where he has resided ever since. For a time he worked at his trade, but in 1883 he formed a partnership with J.S. Booth, of this city, under the firm name of Booth & Bunker, and the firm began operating a planing mill, and engaged in contracting and building. This combined business was vigorously and successfully prosecuted by that firm until 1886, when Mr. Booth retired, and Mr. Bunker became associated with G.W. Rhine, under the style of Bunker & Rhine. They carried on the business of contracting, building and furnishing builders' supplies until 1890, when the firm dissolved. Soon afterward Mr. Bunker became a partner with J.C. Orr and J.S. Flick, under the firm name of Bunker, Orr & Flick, and they succeeded to the business of the old firm. This firm is composed of practical men, who thoroughly understand their business in all its details, and the energy and ability they possess, evinced by the substantial work they do, has given them a reputation as first-class builders. They employ an average force of fifty men, and turn out great quantities of finished lumber from their planing mill, in addition to their constantly growing business in the line of contracting and building. In 1870 Mr. Bunker was married to Louisa Glint, of Hollidaysburg. To this union has been born a family of five daughters: Elizabeth B., Bertha M., Annie C., Gertrude M., and Louisa-all of whom are living at home with their parents. In his political affiliations Mr. Bunker is a republican, giving his party a general support on National and State issues, but inclined toward independence on local politics, and too liberal in his views to ever become a partisan. He is a member and trustee of the Baptist church at Altoona, and earnest in his support of all church interests. He has always taken an active part in Sunday school work, and is now serving as superintendent of the Sabbath school connected with his church. He is a pleasant, affable gentleman, and deserves the respect and esteem so willingly accorded by his friends and neighbors. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM D. WILMOT CROSTHWAITE, M.D., is a graduate from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, who has been a practicing physician since 1881, and has built up a large and lucrative practice in the city of Altoona. He is a son of Hiram V. and Anna M. (Blair) Crosthwaite, and was born February 22, 1857, at Bellefonte, Centre county, Pennsylvania. The family is of English extraction. Mr. Crosthwaite (grandfather) lived most of his life in Centre county, this State, to which he removed when a young man. He was a wheelwright by trade, married, and had a family of children. He died in Centre county at an advanced age. His son, Hiram V. (father), was born September 3, 1825, and was a native of Centre county, Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood, and received a good common school education. In 1863 he removed to Blair county, and located at Altoona, where he still resides. He is a blacksmith and engine builder by trade, and in politics a stanch republican. He married Anna M. Blair, and to their union was born a family of two sons and a daughter: Anna, married J.E. Wingard, of Columbus, Ohio, who is in the employ of the Panhandle railroad; B. Herbert, who studied medicine, graduated from the Keokuk Medical college, and is now practicing at Bennington, Ottawa county, Kansas; and D. Wilmot, the subject of this sketch. Dr. D. Wilmot Crosthwaite was reared and educated in Altoona, and, after graduating from the High school of this city, embarked in the drug business here. He was thus engaged for a period of seven years, when he entered the office of Dr. G. E. Brehman, now deceased, and began the study of medicine. Later he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, and was graduated from the medical department of that institution in 1881 with the degree of M.D. He shortly after opened an office in the city of Altoona, where he has met with a good degree of success. He makes a specialty of obstetrics and diseases of women, and is winning reputation as a skillful and successful physician. He is a close student of his profession, and endeavors always to keep abreast of the advancing knowledge of medicine, and its application to the cure of disease. On January 2, 1880, Dr. Crosthwaite was united in marriage to Ida F. Elliott, a daughter of Christopher H. Elliott. This union has been blessed by the birth of one child, an only daughter, named Annetta M. W. Dr. Crosthwaite is a republican in politics, and while taking little part in the heated contests between opposing parties, he steadily exerts his influence and casts his vote in favor of the general policy of his party. He is a member of the Altoona Academy of Medicine and Surgery, of the Blair County Medical society, and the American Medical association. He is also a member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Improved Order of Heptasophs, and Knights of Pythias. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM ELSWORTH S. FORNEY, a prominent real estate dealer of Altoona, and a member of the plumbing firm of Forney Brothers, is the youngest son of John B. and Eliza (Richey) Forney, and was born in the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1863. The Forneys came from old German stock, the grandfather of Elsworth S. having left the Fatherland when a youth, to settle in Bedford county, Pennsylvania. There he grew to manhood and married, and later in life became the proprietor of a distillery, which he operated for some years. He also owned a fine farm in Bedford county, and was prosperous and successful in business. He died there in 1854, at the advanced age of sixty-five years. He married and reared a family of children. John B. Forney (father) was born in Bedford county, this State, but removed to Altoona, Blair county, in 1863, where he has resided until now. In early life he learned the trade of wagon maker, and has followed that occupation most of his life. He also engaged to some extent in contracting, and served as a private for six months during the civil war. In 1888 he was elected on the democratic ticket to the position of alderman from the Second ward, for a term of five years. He is now serving in that capacity, and takes an active interest in politics. He is a member of the German Reformed church, and by his marriage to Eliza Richey had a family of four children: Harry F., Blair E., Cora B., and Elsworth S. Mrs. Forney is a native of Bedford county, a member of the German Reformed church, and is now in her forty-ninth year. Elsworth S. Forney was reared in Altoona, receiving a good English education in the public schools of that city, and after completing his studies learned the trade of carpenter. He followed that occupation in a general way for nearly four years, when he was offered and accepted a position in the car shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Altoona, in which he remained for more than five years. He then took a course of training in the Mound City Business college at Altoona, after which he spent some time traveling in the west, visiting a number of the leading towns and cities in the western States. In 1887 he returned to Altoona, and for a short time was employed in his father's wagon-making shop, but in the fall of that year embarked in the gentlemen's furnishing goods business in that city. He was building up a good trade, with every prospect of financial success, when during the following summer a disastrous fire destroyed his store and stock, compelling him to resume work as a carpenter. He went to work again in the railroad shops in Altoona, but one year later became a member of the firm of H. F. Forney & Bros., who were in the plumbing business there, and has been connected with that firm to the present time. The firm is composed of the three brothers, Harry F., Blair E., and Elsworth S. Forney. They do an extensive business, generally conceded to be the largest of its kind in the city. In 1889 Mr. Forney began dealing in real estate in connection with the plumbing business, and now handles considerable property of that kind, having made some important deals. He is a stockholder in both the Standard and Mutual building and loan associations of Altoona, and is serving as a director in each of these organizations. He is also a member and the manager of a trust company of that city, formed for the purpose of buying and selling real estate. On December 16, 1888, Mr. Forney was wedded to Ada Overdorff, a daughter of Isaac and Mary E. Overdorff, of Johnstown, this State. He is a member of the German Reformed church, and of Camp No. 31, Patriotic Order Sons of America, in which latter he has filled the chair of vice-president, and has represented his camp in two State conventions of the order. Politically Mr. Forney is a straight democrat, always giving his party and its principles a uniform support. He is very popular with his party associates, and was elected to the office of assessor for the Second ward of Altoona in 1888, and was the democratic candidate for councilman from that ward the following year, but was defeated by a small majority. He has been a member of the democratic county committee for three years, and three times a delegate to the county conventions of the Democratic party. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM H. PRICE GRAFFIUS, a resident of Altoona, and the junior member of the well known legal firm of Shaw & Graffius, is a son of Abraham and Rachel (Sisler) Graffius, and was born at Yellow Springs, Blair county, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1861. The Graffius family is one of the most widely known families of Huntingdon county, and its numerous descendants are now widely settled throughout central Pennsylvania. Martin Nicholas Graffius, the founder of the family, was born May 2, 1722, and died May 20, 1790. His eleven children, who were born between 1746 and 1770, were: Nicholas, Peter, Rebecca, John, Abraham, Mary, Elizabeth, Catherine, Martin, and Jacob. Nicholas, the eldest child, married Elizabeth Coryell, by whom he had eleven children: Jacob, Martin, Abraham, Catherine, Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Susan, Hettie, Charlotte, and Lydia. John, the third son of Martin Nicholas Graffius, settled on the Raystown Branch, in Huntingdon county, where he reared a family of children, of whom three were sons: Abraham, Jacob, and William. Abraham Graffius (father), was born on the Raystown Branch in 1827. In 1840 he came to Catherine township, where he remained until 1866, when he removed to Petersburg, Huntingdon county, at which place he has resided continuously ever since. While reared on a farm and trained to farming, yet when he came to commence life for himself he engaged in stock dealing, which he followed successfully for many years. Through stock-dealing he became widely known throughout Huntingdon and adjoining counties, but of late years he has retired from active business, and is living a quiet life at Petersburg. He is a republican in politics, but never took any prominent or active part in political affairs, as his time was given to his business. He married Rachel Sisler, who was born in Catherine township in 1836, and is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. H. Price Graffius was reared principally at Petersburg, Huntingdon county, and received his education in private and normal schools. He attended the Shippensburg Normal school, of Cumberland county, for some time, and then entered the Lock Haven Normal school, of Clinton county, from which educational institution he was graduated in the class of 1881. After graduation he taught two terms at Petersburg, and then read law with George B. Orlady, of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar December 14, 1885, and after making an extended tour through the western States and territories, he came to Altoona, where, on December 1, 1886, he entered into his present law partnership with Edmund Shaw, under the firm name of Shaw & Graffius. They have a very fine practice, and Mr. Graffius gives the closest of attention to all cases intrusted to his care and management. June 3, 1890, Mr. Graffius was united in marriage with Cora Roush, daughter of Mrs. S. A. Roush, of Altoona. Their union has been blessed with one child, a son, named Edmund Shaw. H. Price Graffius is a member of Oak Hall Lodge, No. 783, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. He is a republican in politics, and has always been active in the interests of his party, as well as being a believer in its cardinal principles. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger Lindastree@AOL.COM. GEN. ROBERT A. McCOY. But for the late civil war the courage and military ability of many men would never have been known. To this class belongs Gen. Robert A. McCoy, one of the active and successful business men of Tyrone, whose privilege it has been to achieve distinction on different battlefields of the Republic. He is a son of Hugh E. and Margaret (Reeder) McCoy, and was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1835. His paternal ancestry in the United States dates back to 1787, when his grandfather, John McCoy, came from the province of Ulster, in the historic north of Ireland, and settled in Bucks county. He subsequently removed to near Ebensburg, Cambria county, where he resided until his death. He was a farmer by occupation, married, and had three sons and two daughters. One of these three sons was Hugh E. McCoy, the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Cambria county in 1807, and in early life removed to Lycoming county, where he was engaged for many years in the manufacture of woolen goods, and where he died in 1884, when in the seventy-seventh year of his age. He was a man of good education for that day, and spoke fluently the German and Welsh languages. He was a democrat of the Jacksonian type, and in 1831 married Margaret Reeder, by whom he had nine sons and one daughter, all of whom are in the western States except Gen. Robert A. and Andrew, who resides near the old homestead in Lycoming county. Six of these sons served in the Union armies during the late civil war: Gen. Robert A.; John, who went out in a Kansas cavalry regiment; Captain Charles, of the 106th Pennsylvania volunteers; Henry, a sergeant in the 106th Pennsylvania, who was captured and incarcerated in Andersonville, where he was killed trying to escape; Peter R., a sergeant in the 18th Pennsylvania cavalry regiment; and Lieutenant Allen, who served in the 61st Pennsylvania volunteers and the Hancock Veteran Legion. General McCoy, on his maternal side, traces his ancestry back six generations to Charles Reeder, who in 1719 settled on the old Canaan farm in Upper Makefield township, Bucks county, where he lived until his death. He was an active and well-to-do farmer, a pious and earnest member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and married Eleanor Merrick, by whom he had thirteen children, whose descendants are very numerous in the counties of Bucks, Philadelphia, Delaware, and Montgomery. His son, Merrick Reeder, was the father of Charles Reeder, whose eldest son, Charles, was one of the forlorn hope of one hundred who drew the British at Baltimore within range of the guns of Ft. McHenry and away from the city. Another son was Andrew Reeder (grandfather), who left, in 1816, his native township and the home of his childhood to settle in Muncy valley, Lycoming county, where he followed farming. He married Anna Kimball, of Mercer county, New Jersey, who was of the Presbyterian faith, and by this act of marrying without the membership of the Society of Friends, he ceased to be a Quaker. He reared a family of five sons and two daughters, one of whom was Margaret, the mother of Gen. Robert A. McCoy. Robert A. McCoy was prepared for college in the select school of Prof. A.B. Putnam, of Hughesville, Lycoming county, but did not take a collegiate course on account of entering the office of Johnson & Mullen, of Ebensburg, to read law. He was admitted to the bar of Cambria county at the June term of court in 1860, and was engaged in the practice of his profession until June 12, 1861, when he enlisted in Co. A, 11th Pennsylvania reserves, and served for three years. He was commissioned second lieutenant, to date from June 12, 1861, and was successfully promoted to adjutant, major, lieutenant-colonel, brevet-colonel, and brevet-brigadier-general. He participated in the battle of Mechanicsville, and in the next struggle, at Gaines Mill, on June 27, 1862, he was captured and held as a prisoner in Libby prison for two months. Immediately after his exchange he joined his regiment, and on August 30, 1862, he was wounded at the second Bull Run battle, and remained in the Seventh avenue hospital in Washington city for over a month. He then rejoined his regiment, where he served for nearly eighteen months on special duty as assistant adjutant-general of the Third division, Fifth army corps, Pennsylvania reserves volunteer corps division. He was in the daring but fruitless charges at Fredericksburg, and took part in the battles of Rappahannock Station, and Mine Run, and Gettysburg, the pivotal battle of the war. When Grant assumed command of the Army of the Potomac he was in the thick of the great conflicts during the bloody battle month of May, 1864, and took an active part especially in the Wilderness battles, and at Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna River, and Bethesda Church. At the expiration of his time he was sent to Pittsburg, this State, where he was honorably discharged, in June, 1864. At Harrisburg, November 29, 1866, General McCoy married Emma Wallace, a daughter of W.Q. and Eleanor (Wigton) Wallace, of Harrisburg. She was born September 16, 1846, and passed away at Tyrone on February 3, 1891. To General and Mrs. McCoy were born two sons: Wallace Reeder, who died September 30, 1881, and Robert Wallace, who passed away February 3, 1891. General McCoy is a republican in politics, and served as assistant inspector-general of Pennsylvania in 1864. He was private secretary to Governor Curtin, and served for a time as chief clerk in the Land Department at Harrisburg. He has been cashier of the Blair County Banking Company, of Tyrone, since 1874. He is president of the Juniata Mining and Manufacturing Company, and a member of L.S. Hoopes & Company, and the coal firm of Leveright, McCoy & Company. He is a member of the Loyal Legion and the Union Veteran League of Tyrone, and is well known as a public-spirited citizen. He is plain and unassuming, yet dignified in appearance, and has won a competency and an honorable position by honesty, correct business methods, and a due regard for his fellow-citizens. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM WILLIAM J. McFEELY, Manager of the Franklin house at Altoona, proprietor of the White Hall hotel in the same city, and one of the many successful young business men of this county, is a son of Joseph P. and Julia A. (Nagle) McFeely, and was born in Clearfield township, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, on the 29th of November, 1858. The family is of Irish origin, and was planted in America by Bernard McFeely (grandfather), who was born in the Emerald Isle about 1798, and came to the United States while yet a boy. He located first at Carlisle, Cumberland county, where he was among the early settlers of Clearfield township. There he continued to reside until his death in 1873, at the advanced age of seventy-five years. He was a farmer by occupation, and spent nearly all his active life in the cultivation of the soil. He served as a soldier in the war with Mexico, and was a democrat in politics. In religion he was a Roman Catholic, and married and reared a large family, among his sons being Joseph P. McFeely (father). The latter was born in Clearfield township, Cambria county. There he was reared and received such education as was afforded by the country schools of that day. He became a farmer, and was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits until his early death, when only twenty-two years of age. In politics he was an ardent democrat, in religion a strict member of the Catholic church, and a man of energy, enterprise and ability. He married Julia A. Nagle, by whom he had a family of children. She was a native of Clearfield township, Cambria county, and resides with her son, William J., being now in her fifty-fifth year. She is a member of the Catholic church. Her father, John Nagle, maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Cambria county, and a farmer. He settled in Clearfield township at an early day, when his nearest neighbor was sixteen miles away, and purchased and cleared out the farm on which he lived until his death. In later years he became very prosperous, and was widely known and highly esteemed. He served in the war of 1812, and also in the war with Mexico. He was a man of powerful physical development, active and energetic in disposition, and lived to be a centenarian, dying at his home in Cambria county. Until after his ninety-ninth birthday he remained very active, and was only confined to the house for three months previous to his death. He was of Iirish descent, a democrat in politics, and a Catholic in religion. William J. McFeely was reared on the farm in Cambria county until after he was twelve years of age, when he removed to Blair county. He received a primary education in the common schools, but his most valuable knowledge has been obtained in the practical school of actual life, where he has been a student of men and things for many years. When a young man he went into the lumber regions and worked at whatever he could get to do, and was thus employed until 1884, when he engaged as clerk in a hotel. He remained there one year, after which he became clerk in the Brandt house, of this city, for a period of five years. In February, 1890, he embarked in the business on his own account, and opened the hotel known as the Franklin house, at No. 906 Seventeenth street, which he is still managing. In August, 1891, he purchased what is now known as the White Hall hotel, located on Sixteenth street, between Union and Twelfth avenues, Altoona. This is a large and commodious structure, with livery stables attached, and Mr. McFeely expects to take charge of this hotel some time during the present season (1892), and will thereafter devote his best energies to the entertainment of the traveling public in his own building. He has had a wide experience in the hotel business, and has been very successful and popular in his management. On November 6, 1883, Mr. McFeely was united in marriage with Annie E. Lutton, of Cambria county, this State, who died June 14, 1884. On the 12th of July, 1887, he wedded Katie Kehough, of the city of Altoona. To this last union have been born two children, one son and a daughter: Mary J. and William J., Jr. In his political affiliations Mr. McFeely is a democrat, and gives his party a hearty support. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church of this city, and stands high as a business man and citizen. Transcribed and submitted for the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM JOHN H. MOHR, LL.B., a graduate from the law department of the University of Michigan, and a rising young lawyer of the Blair county bar, residing at Altoona, is a son of John and Mary (Pote) Mohr, and was born in the city of Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1857. The Mohrs, as the name would indicate, are of German stock. John Mohr (father) was born in Hesse, Germany, about 1835, but leaving his native land came to the United States in 1853, and two years later settled at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, where he lived until 1858, when he removed to Bloomfield township, Bedford county, and now resides there. While yet a young man he learned the trade of cooper in his native place, and has followed that occupation much of the time since coming to America. He and all his family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church. Politically he is a republican, and has held several local offices where he lives. He married Mary Pote, a native of Bloomfield township, Bedford county, this State, by whom he had a family of children. She is now in the sixty-fifth year of her age, while her husband is her junior by eight years. John H. Mohr, although born in this county, was taken by his parents to Bedford county when only one year of age, and there grew to manhood. He attended the common schools while a lad, and in 1880 entered the State Normal school at Millersville, from which institution he was graduated in 1884, with the degree of B.E., and two years later was granted the degree of M.E. When only seventeen years of age he began teaching in the public schools, and for several years continued to thus employ his time in the winter season, while working at the cooper trade or in the mines during the summer. Immediately after his graduation from the Normal school he taught for two years at Lancaster, this State. In the summer of 1886 he went south as superintendent of a large lumber and lime business in the Shenandoah valley, Virginia. In the fall he returned to Pennsylvania and spent the winter teaching at Roaring Springs, this county. In the spring of 1887 he went to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was employed by the same firm for which he had previously worked, as superintendent of their business at that point. He remained with them until October, 1888, when he came back to Bedford county, and was engaged in teaching for two winters. On May 6, 1889, Mr. Mohr passed his preliminary examination, and was registered as a student of law at Altoona. He entered the office of A.V. Dively, where he read law during the three following summers, and in October, 1889, matriculated in the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated on June 25, 1891, with the degree of LL.B. On May 25, 1891, while yet a law student at Ann Arbor, he was admitted to practice in the circuit courts of Michigan, and on the 9th of the following June was admitted to practice in the supreme courts of that State. Soon after his graduation he returned to Pennsylvania, and on August 24, 1891, was formally admitted to the Blair county bar, and has been in active and successful practice here since that time. In politics Mr. Mohr is a stanch republican, and keeps well posted on current political questions, but is too much wedded to his chosen profession to take any great part in the heated contests which mark the flood tide of practical politics. He has been earnest and thorough in his preparation for the bar, and comes to it with a mental equipment which promises soon to place him in the forefront of his profession. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM JOSHUA L. REIFSNYDER, for many years a prominent contractor and builder of Altoona, whose handiwork may be seen on nearly all the important streets of this city, is a son of Philip and Elizabeth (Lauchman) Reifsnyder, and was born in the old historic county of Chester, this State, on the 15th of June, 1821. The paternal great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Andrew Reifsnyder, a native of Germany, who emigrated to America in 1744. The vessel on which he came over set sail early in June, and arrived at Philadelphia in September of that year. He settled near Germantown, Philadelphia county, this State, on territory included in Montgomery when the latter county was created, in 1784. He was a farmer by occupation, married and reared a large family, among his sons being Peter Reifsnyder (grandfather), who was born in Montgomery county. He was reared on his father's farm and inured to honest toil. After attaining manhood he married, purchased a farm in his native county, and spent his life there, engaged in the cultivation of the soil. He became prosperous, and lived in that county, until his death, at an advanced age. Among his sons was Philip Reifsnyder (father), who was born and reared in Montgomery county, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812. At the close of that war he removed to Chester county, where he resided until his death. He was among the early navigators of the Schuylkill river, and for some time was engaged in boating coal down that stream to Philadelphia. It was while on one of these trips that he met his death, being accidentally drowned in the Schuylkill river above Reading in 1827.He was a member of the German Reformed church, and a man of great energy and enterprise. He married Elizabeth Lauchman, a native of Montgomery county, by whom he had a family of children. She was of German descent, a member of the Lutheran church, and died in 1835. Joshua L. Reifsnyder was reared partly in Chester and partly in Montgomery county. His education was obtained in the common schools of that day. He remained on the farm until he had reached his eighteenth year, when he became an apprentice under his uncle, Jacob Reifsnyder, and learned the wheelwright's trade. For a period of five years he worked at that business, and then learned the trade of carpenter with Theodore Skeem, remaining with Mr. Skeem between two and three years. He subsequently embarked in business for himself as a carpenter, contractor, and builder at Pottstown, Montgomery county, and remained there until the spring of 1852, when he removed to Altoona, this county. Here he engaged in contracting up to 1857, when he was compelled to abandon the business on account of his health. Having regained his health to some extent, he once more began contracting, and followed that business until 1880, when he embarked in the hardware trade in this city. For more than five years he devoted his time and energies to that business, but in 1886 disposed of his store and again took up contracting and building. He now controls a large and prosperous business, and has erected many fine houses in the city. Examples of his skill in this line may be seen in the Central hotel, the Arlington house, and many other large and substantial structures which add to the architectural beauty of Altoona. He owns some valuable real estate in this city. In 1843 Mr. Reifsnyder united in marriage with Christiana Hartenstein, a daughter of Jacob Hartenstein, of Montgomery county, this State. She died in August, 1884, leaving four children, one son and three daughters: Isabella, wife of John P. Levan, of Altoona; Hannah, wedded to Edward Hoyne, also of this city; LeBarron, a clerk in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company; and Ida Catherine, who married Ambrose Zeek, now residing in the city of Altoona. In 1885 Mr. Reifsnyder was again married, this time wedding Mrs. Flora (Brow) Boorland, of Huntingdon county, this State. He has no children by this last marriage. Politically Joshua L. Reifsnyder is a democrat, and has always given his party a hearty support on questions involved in State or National politics. In local affairs, however, he is inclined to be more independent, and supports the men or measures which, in his judgment, will serve the public interest best. He is a firm friend to popular education, and has served for nearly a dozen years as a member of the school board of this city. For two years he was a member of the common council of Altoona, and is a pleasant, affable gentleman who makes friends wherever he is known. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM AMANDUS G. SINK, proprietor of the Central hotel at Altoona, and for many years prominently identified with the interests of the city, is a son of Christian B. and Catherine (Gable) Sink, and was born October 26, 1838, in Olick township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. The Sinks are of Scotch origin, but have been residents of the United States since a very early day. Christian B. Sink (father) is a native of Chester county, this State, where he grew to manhood, and received the education afforded by the schools of that period. While yet a young man he removed to Berks county, and was married there to Catherine Gable, a native of that county, by whom he had a family of children. She died in 1857, aged thirty-seven years. About 1840 Mr. Sink removed from Berks county to New Hanover township, Montgomery county, where he remained until 1853, when he located in Altoona, and has ever since been a resident of Blair county. While in Montgomery county he was engaged in the hotel business and in merchant tailoring, but after removing to Altoona he embarked in general merchandising, and was thus employed for a number of years. He now resides on his farm, near this city, in his seventy-seventh year, and is quite active for a man of his age. In politics he is a democrat, and for many years has been a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was very successful during his long and active business career, and in addition to his property in Blair county, now owns considerable real estate in the State of Ohio. Amandus G. Sink came to Altoona with his father when about fifteen years of age. His early education was received in the common schools of Montgomery and Blair counties, and he afterward took a course of training, extending over two years, in Washington college. In 1856 he began reading medicine with Dr. Christy, of this city, and was thus engaged for a period of three years, when his health failed, and he retired to the farm. He remained on the farm about four years, and then engaged in the butchering business in Altoona, which he followed successfully until 1879. In that year he embarked in the general mercantile business, and after conducting it for two years became manager of the Central hotel, which he had erected in 1872-73, and is still engaged in this occupation. This hotel is a large, four-story structure, one of the finest in the city, and is widely popular with the traveling public. In 1864 he enlisted in the construction corps connected with the Federal army, and was on duty for nine months, traveling all through the south. He has been highly successful in his various business enterprises, and, in addition to his hotel property, is now proprietor of the Standard Furniture Company's store, in this city, and owns a fine hay and fruit farm in Logan township, this county, besides considerable real estate in Ohio. In 1863 Mr. Sink united in marriage with Sallie J. Bonsall, a daughter of Amos Bonsall, of the city of Philadelphia. To this union was born one child, a son, named Edgar A. Politically Mr. Sink is a democrat, and gives his party an unvarying support, but his popularity among his fellow citizens is such that he was elected to a seat in the select council of Altoona, in the spring of 1892, from the First ward, although his party is in the minority in that ward by nearly one hundred and sixty votes. He also served in the common council of this city from 1868 to 1872. For the last two years he has been president of the Altoona Driving Park association, and is a member of the German Reformed church. He is an intelligent, companionable gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM JOHN B. STAHL, the editor and one of the proprietors of the Daily Times, of Altoona, a leading democratic paper of central Pennsylvania, is a son of John and Rachel (Shute) Stahl, and was born at Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1854. His paternal grandfather, Henry Stahl, was a native of Germany, and in early life came to Lewistown, Mifflin county, where he died in 1878, at seventy-six years of age. He was a republican in politics, and of his family of sixteen children, nearly all are living to-day, and three of the sons served in the late civil war. His son, John Stahl (father), was born in Mifflin county, and came, in 1848, to Hollidaysburg, which he left in 1855 to remove to Altoona, where he died in 1864, when in the forty-fifth year of his age. He learned butchering and brick making in early life, but after coming to Blair county was engaged in the hotel business. When he came to Altoona he commenced the erection of a hotel on the site of the Globe house, but made a great mistake in allowing himself to be persuaded that the city was declining, and sold his partly erected hotel. After this he conducted the Mansion, Leonard, and Arcade hotels, of Altoona. He was a democrat before, and a republican after, the late civil war, and had been identified for several years before his death with the Evangelical Lutheran church. He married Rachel Shute, a native of Mifflin county, and a Lutheran. After Mr. Stahl's death, Mrs. Stahl, in 1877, married George D. Randolph, and still resides in Altoona. John B. Stahl was reared at Altoona, where he received his education in the public schools. Leaving school he entered the printing office of the Tribune and learned the trade of printer. In 1883 he became the general agent for the paper, and on November 27, 1891, formed a partnership with D.L. Potter, Joseph J. Sansom, and Charles A. Greer (all former printers on the Tribune), under the firm name of Potter, Stahl & Co. They purchased the Daily Times, and have issued it successfully ever since. It is an eight column quarto, contains all of the local news of the city, besides giving everything of State and National interest, together with much choice and valuable miscellaneous matter. It is one of the leading democratic papers of central Pennsylvania, has already a circulation of two thousand, with the best prospects for a continued future increase, and has been mainly brought up to its present high standard and large circulation through the persevering efforts of Mr. Stahl, who expects soon to issue a weekly sheet in connection with the daily. On March 22, 1883, Mr. Stahl was united in marriage with Eva Keesbury, of Altoona. In politics Mr. Stahl is a strong and popular democrat. He was city auditor for three years, has served for five years, and was reelected in 1888 for five years more, as clerk of the select council, which, at that time, was a largely republican body, and was barely defeated in 1883 for mayor of the city, on account of being too young a man for the position. Mr. Stahl was chairman of the city democratic committee, and has frequently been a delegate to State democratic conventions. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM WILLIAM STONE, one of the prominent and active business men of Blair county, and a member of the well-known foundry and machine shop firm of McLanahan & Stone, of Gaysport, is a son of Andrew and Susanna (McFarlane) Stone, and was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1819. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Stone of Philadelphia, married Mary Tybout, a member of the respectable and well-to-do Tybout family of eastern Pennsylvania. They were the parents of two children: Andrew and William. Andrew Stone (father) was born June 12, 1796, and died August 12, 1846, aged fifty years. He followed the plumbing business, and married Susanna Mcfarlane, who is now in the ninety-fifth year of her age. She is a daughter of Capt. John McFarlane, who commanded a vessel and traded between Philadelphia and Havana, Cuba, where he died. He married Rebecca Rowan, a daughter of George and Amelia (Severns) Rowan, and their children were: Susanna (Stone), Robert Williamson, George Rowan, and Margaret Amelia. Captain Mcfarlane had a brother, Walter, and a sister, Charlotte, and his father-in-law, George Rowan, died with yellow fever in 1798. His widow, Amelia Rowan, remained a widow, and lived to be ninety-six years of age, and of her people, the Severns, nothing is known beyond the fact that they removed to the Genessee valley in New York. William Stone was reared in Philadelphia, and received his education in schools taught by his aunt, Charlotte McFarlane, a Mr. Watson, in Catherine street, above Third, and a Mr. Clevenger, at the corner of Locust and Twelfth streets, in Philadelphia. He assisted his father in the plumbing business, and at fourteen years of age became an apprentice to Levi Morris & Co. to learn the trade of iron moulder. He served seven years and three months with this firm at the junction of Schuykill, Seventh and Market streets, and on August 1, 1840, left Philadelphia to come to Hollidaysburg, where he worked for his uncle, George R. McFarlane, until the death of the latter, in 1853. He then became foreman of the Gaysport foundry of McLanahan & Jack, and served as such from August, 1853, until 1856, in which year he became a partner of Mr. McLanahan, and they purchased Mr. Jack's interest in the foundry, which they operated up to March, 1863, when it was destroyed by fire. Mr. Stone and J. K. McLanahan then formed a partnership, and have continued in business ever since. The firm is now McLanahan & Stone-the present members being J. King McLanahan, S.C. McLanahan, William Stone, and A.T. Stone. Their present plant, on land bought from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, is thoroughly equipped with all necessary buildings and the latest of machinery. The company employs from ninety to one hundred men, of which many are highly skilled workmen. They make a specialty of steam engines, blast furnace and rolling mill work, besides mine cars, iron and brass castings, ore washers, elevators, revolving screens, conveyors, ore jigs, and machinery for all purposes, in addition to general machinery repairs. They have a large trade, furnish nothing but first-class work, and are favorably situated to fill the many orders which they receive from different parts of Pennsylvania, the south, and adjoining States. In 1845 Mr. Stone married Martha Thomas, daughter of John and Lucinda Thomas, of Huntingdon, this State. They have five children: Andrew, George R., Edward E., Jennie E. Bell, and Mary A. Stone. William Stone is a democrat in politics. He is of that class of self-made men of which Pennsylvania is justly proud. He landed at Hollidaysburg in 1840 with but thirty-seven cents, which was taken from him a few days after his arrival, but nothing daunted with having to commence at the lowest rung on the ladder, he slowly worked his way up through losses, occasioned by fires and other sources, until he has won honorable standing and an important position among the leading business men of the county. He is one of Hollidaysburg's most active and successful business men, and his exertions have contributed largely to the material prosperity of that town and county. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM HARRY L. STULTZ is a reliable citizen and a well known business man of Duncansville who has succeeded in increasing the business interests of his town and vicinity. He is a son of John and Jane (Curry) Stultz, and was born March 4, 1861. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Stultz, in 1846 came to Duncansville, where he died in 1881. By occupation he was a farmer, and devoted the greater part of his life to agricultural pursuits. He married and had a family of eleven children, nine of whom are still living. In politics he supported the Republican party, and in church membership he was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. John Stultz (father) came to Duncansville, and he was also a farmer by occupation, in which pursuit he was at first engaged at McKeesport Gap, and later in the vicinity of Hollidaysburg. He was a democrat, and attended the Evangelical Lutheran church. He married Jane Curry, and to them were born eight children, all of whom are now living: Lavina, who, in 1886, married Thomas Ellsworth, a carpenter, who is employed by Mr. Plummer, of Altoona, as manager of his shops at that place; Annie V., Ida J., and Elizabeth M., are unmarried; William K., who is a partner with his brother in business at Duncansville; John C., the present manager of his father's farm near Duncansville; and James McClellan. Harry L. Stultz began business life for himself as a dealer in agricultural implements at Eldorado, Blair county, where he remained four years. Meeting with great success he removed to Duncansville, where he has since resided, and is recognized as the leading merchant in the sale of agricultural implements, buggies, wagons, and different kinds of fertilizers. His annual sales amount to fifteen or twenty thousand dollars, and his business occupies three buildings, in one of which are kept fertilizers, and in the other two is kept a full line of buggies, wagons, and agricultural implements of all kinds. One of these buildings is 24 x 86 feet, another is 20 x 50 feet, and the third is 20 x 30 feet in size. On October 27, 1887, Mr. Stultz was united in marriage with Louisa V. Graham, of Allegheny Furnace. To this union has been born one son, Paul G., who was born November 13, 1888. In politics Harry L. Stultz supports the Democratic party, and is a firm believer in the principles and policy of his party. He is a member of the council of Duncansville borough, and owns considerable stock in the Building and Loan association of that place, of which he is treasurer. He is a member of the Hall association of his town, and has always been among the foremost in advocating those protective and progressive measures calculated to advance the prosperity of his borough. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM JAMES E. WINN, ex-city treasurer of Altoona, and the senior member of the present reliable insurance firm of Winn & Nicholson, who represent first-class fire, life, and accident companies, is a son of William and Mary (Capstick) Winn, and was born in Altoona, Blair county, Pennsylvania, April 6, 1853. His paternal grandfather, James Winn, was born in Yorkshire, one of the northern and most productive counties of England, in 1794, and died at Sheffield, that county, in 1880, aged eighty-six years. He was a carpenter by trade, and married and reared a family of children. His son, William Winn, was born in 1824 in the great manufacturing town of Sheffield, which is noted all over the world for its celebrated cutlery. He learned the trade of pattern maker, which he followed in England until 1849, when he came to Pennsylvania and settled at Huntingdon county. He soon came to Altoona, where he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a pattern maker, and has remained with them ever since. He is now the oldest man on their pay roll in years of service. He is a democrat in politics, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church of Altoona. He married Mary Capstick, and to them have been born a family of children. James E. Winn was reared in Altoona, and attended the common schools until he was fifteen years of age, when he became a clerk in the Altoona postoffice. At the end of six years' service in that capacity he was appointed assistant postmaster, and held that position for twelve years, when he resigned to accept the nomination for city treasurer. He was elected, and at the end of his term of office was reelected for a second term, which he served with credit to himself and satisfaction to the city. When he retired from the office of city treasurer, in 1890, he purchased a half interest in the insurance business of A.F. Kerr, which had been established in 1871. Mr. Kerr sold his remaining half of the business to W.L. Nicholson, and the firm became Winn & Nicholson. Their office is at No. 1,228 Eleventh avenue, and they have a large fire, life, and accident insurance business. They represent the following old and well known companies of the United States, England, and Germany: Insurance of North America, of Philadelphia; Phoenix, of Hartford, Connecticut; Union, of Philadelphia; Allemannia, of Pittsburg; Royal, of Liverpool, England; Sun, of London, England; London & Lancashire, of Liverpool, England; Hamburg-Bremen, of Germany; and Travellers' Life and Accident, of Hartford, Connecticut. They are also agents for the Anchor and American lines of steamships plying between this country and Europe. Mr. Winn has built up a large and first-class patronage by attention to his business and fair dealing with the public. His many years of continuous experience in the postal service, and as city treasurer, has specially fitted him for his present line of business, in which he has won success by executive ability and strict integrity. He is a member of Hancock Lodge, Knights of the Mystic Chain, and Centennial Castle, Knights of the Golden Eagle. Mr. Winn married Margaret S. Grant, daughter of John and Eliza Grant, of Blairsville, Westmoreland county. To Mr. and Mrs. Winn have been born four children, two sons and two daughters: Robert, James, Mary, and Grace. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb Archives by Linda Shillinger LindasTree@AOL.COM PAUL YERGER settled in the township, on the Macamey place, in 1791. Margaret was his wife. He, as well as his brothers Adam and Jacob, served in the American army during the revolutionary struggle. His father, Andrew Yerger, emigrated from Prussia to America in 1728, and settled five miles north of Pottsgrove, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Andrew was the father of a family of nine sons and two daughters, of whom Philip (the father of Jeremiah Yerger, at present a resident of Woodbury township) was the youngest son. Jeremiah Yerger was born at Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, in the year 1797. The following year his father, with his family, removed to Chester county, Pennsylvania, where Jeremiah remained until the fall of 1814, when he came to Woodbury and settled here. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Judy Banja