BIOS: File 16 - 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 16, listing the page where they appear in the book: Books, Benjamin F., M.D., page 439 Burkholder, Thos. J., page 436 Crawford, Isaac, page 431 Donnelly, Rev. James E., page 438 Dunmire, William Worth, page 434 Elliott, C.B., M.D., page 428 Hartman, Eldon W., page 427 Kipple, Andrew, page 432 Lamade, Louis G., page 437 Landis, Aug. S., page 418 Morrison, John S., page 416 O'Connor, Rev. John B., page 423 O'Reilly, Rev. Nicholas J., page 435 Powell, William J., page 430 Pruner, Edwin J., page 429 Rhodes, John M., page 424 Shaw, Hon. Edmund, page 425 Smith, David A., page 422 Taylor, Dr. James R., page 415 Wolf, Adam J., page 433 BENJAMIN F. BOOKS, M.D., one of the young and successful physicians of Altoona, and a graduate of Hahnemann Homeopathic Medical college of Philadelphia, is a son of Solomon and Nancy Katharine (Wright) Books, and was born in Mifflintown, the county seat of Juniata county, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1859. His paternal great-grandfather, Michael Books, was born in France. At some time during the last century he left the home of his childhood and came to Pennsylvania, where he found sufficient advantages in Berks county to induce him to settle there. He married, but whether in France or Berks county, is not know. He gave his fortune, which he had made in Chester county, to the American cause in the revolutionary war, and received for it Continental money, or script, which became worthless in his hands. He then removed to York county, but in a short time purchased a tract of land in Kiscoquilles valley, Mifflin county, to which his family would not remove. Sometime after this he went to Dauphin county, where he died, and where his remains were interred in a cemetery at Harrisburg. He had six children, four sons and two daughters. The sons were: Jacob, Peter, John and Henry. Henry Books (grandfather) removed in early life from York to Juniata county, where he purchased a farm on Cocolamus creek. He married Catharine Hemperly, of Dauphin county, and they reared a family of eleven children. Solomon Books (the youngest son and father of Dr. B. F. Books) learned the trade of chair and cabinet maker with John Schuaier, at Mifflintown, where he has resided since 1848. He afterward bought out Mr. Schuaier, and manufactured furniture, which he sold along the Pennsylvania canal by boat. His health afterward failed, and he was appointed in the mail service, in 1861, by Abraham Lincoln, and remained in the service until September 21, 1864, when he was hurt in the big railroad wreck at Tharpsanton; was one year before he could do anything. In 1865 he was appointed by Mr. Lincoln to organize and run the first postal cars run in Pennsylvania, and held that position until Andrew Johnson came into power by the death of President Lincoln. Mr. Johnson had him removed, and in 1869 he was appointed by President Grant as postmaster of Mifflintown, which he held until President Garfield was assassinated, and then he was removed by President Arthur. Since that time he has been engaged in the wholesale lumber business. He married Miss Nancy C. Wright, daughter of David Wright, in 1855. They had seven children: Ida J., Charlotte M., Dr. B. F., Lincoln, William, Catharine, and Curtis, of whom the latter four died when young. Mr. Books is a staunch republican in politics, and handles large quantities of railroad ties and lumber of all kinds, which are brought from different parts of the Juniata and Susquehanna valleys. Benjamin F. Books received his education in the public schools of Mifflintown, and then, having selected medicine as his profession, he entered the office of Dr. D. C. Smith as a medical student. When he had finished reading under the preceptorship of Dr. Smith, he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and pursued his studies in the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical college for one year. At the end of that time he entered the Hahnemann Medical college of Philadelphia, from which institution he was graduated in the spring of 1883. During that same year he located at Lewiston, Pennsylvania, where he practiced until 1885, when ill-health compelled him to relinquish his practice. He then went to Colorado, where in three years he fully regained his health. In 1889 he returned to Pennsylvania, and on November 18th of that year opened an office in Altoona, where he has been in successful practice ever since. October 4, 1884, Dr. Books was united in marriage to Sarah Kauffman, a daughter of Jonas Kauffman, of Mifflintown, Juniata county, this State. To Dr. and Mrs. Books has been born a family of two children: Blanche and Edwin. Dr. Books is a republican in politics, yet takes no prominent part in political affairs, and devotes his time and attention to the study of his profession and the care of his practice. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com THOMAS J. BURKHOLDER, a prosperous merchant, and who established the first store in Juniata, whose post office is Kipple, is a son of John J. and Lydia (Trout) Burkholder, and was born in Antis township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1851. The Burkholder family is of German descent, and were among the early settled families of Pennsylvania. John J. Burkholder, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Bedford county, this State, and died at his home in Antis township, August 21, 1885, when in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Early in life he settled in Antis township, where he followed farming and dealing in horses on an extensive scale for many years. During the late civil war he purchased large number of horses for the United States government. He was a republican in politics, and lived an active, useful life. Mr. Burkholder had twelve children, of whom were: P. G., a farmer of Antis township; Margaret J., wife of A. S. Marks; Mary E., who married Norval Hawk, of Juniata; David M., who was born in 1844, stood six feet five and one-half inches in height, weighing two hundred and twenty pounds, and while serving in Captain Huff's company, was mortally wounded by a sharp shooter when in the act of cooking his breakfast, after the battle of Cold Harbor; Julia A., who married H. A. Rossman, of Chambersburg, and died in October, 1874; Henry C., a farm manager, near Houtzdale, this State, for the Clearfield Coal Company; Lowanda, widow of Daniel Ainsworth, who died from cold contracted while attending the centennial at Philadelphia; Thomas J.; W. Lloyd, an assistant foreman in the car repair shops at Altoona; Vinetta, wife of James P. Funk, a cigar and tobacco dealer of Philadelphia; and J. M., who resides on the home farm. His widow, Mrs. Lydia (Trout) Burkholder, was born in 1817, and still resides on the home farm in Antis township. She is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and her father, John Trout, was an early settler and large landholder of Antis township, where he died. Thomas J. Burkholder was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools, and followed farming until 1874, when he came to Altoona to enter the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a laborer. In a short time he was given charge of the wheel and axle platform, which position he held up to 1885, when he resigned to give his time fully to the mercantile business, in which he had embarked in partnership with R. J. Buchanan, in 1881, at Juniata. This was the first store in Juniata, and was operated on a small scale until the village began to attain some size. Mr. Burkholder purchased his partner's interest in 1885, and now has a large establishment, heavily stocked with dry goods, groceries, provisions, flour, feed, and everything else to be found in a first-class general mercantile store. Mr. Burkholder delivers goods promptly, deals fairly, and has a large patronage. In 1874 he married Minerva J. Buchanan, a daughter of John Buchanan, of Huntingdon county, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, who died November 9, 1999, leaving six children: John Lester, Dossy M., Laban E., Lydia E., Myrlee A., and Paul I. On January 14, 1890, Mr. Burkholder was united in marriage with Martha J., daughter of William and Sarah Chesney, of Huntingdon county, and by this second union has one child, a son, named Lee Plummer. Thomas J. Burkholder is a republican in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of whose board of trustees he is president. He is a charter member of Hancock Castle, No. 124, Ancient Order Knights of the Mystic Chain; Belleview Lodge, Nov. 497, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Washington Camp, No. 402, Patriotic Order Sons of America. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com ISAAC CRAWFORD, one of the most substantial and reliable business men of Tyrone township and northern Blair county, is a descendant of the old pioneer Crawford family, planted in Pennsylvania prior to the revolutionary war by James Crawford sr., of Adams county. He is a son of Capt. James and Eunice (Tubbs) Crawford, and was born on the farm where he now lives, near Arch Spring, in Sinking valley, Tyrone township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1829. He paternal grandfather, James Crawford, sr., was a native of that wonderful and historic north of Ireland, whose hardy and adventurous sons bore so honorable and prominent a part in winning the independence of the Thirteen Colonies. James Crawford, sr., first settled in Adams county, but hearing frequently of the fertility of the wonderful valley drained by the blue waters of the beautiful Juniata, he soon abandoned his home in eastern Pennsylvania and came to Sinking valley, settling on the farm where his grandson, Isaac Crawford, the subject of this sketch, now resides. The revolutionary war opened a short time after he had settled in Sinking valley, and the Indian raids made into the Juniata valley compelled him to return to Adams county. After the colonies had won their independence and peace was declared, Mr. Crawford came back to Sinking valley, where he died in 1822, at seventy-three years of age, while Eleanor his widow, survived him seven years, dying in 1829. They had a family of eight children, three sons and five daughters: Thomas, Capt. James, Armstrong, Mary, wife of Charles Cadwallader; Betsey, married James McNeil; Margaret, wife of Robert Adams; Eleanor, wife of Thomas Wallace; and Nancy, who married Mark Graham. Capt. James Crawford (father), the second son, was born in Adams county in 1778, and died in Sinking valley in 1848, aged seventy-three years. He was a farmer and a whig, like his father before him, and was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church. He was commissioned by the governor of Pennsylvania as a captain of a militia company, which he commanded for many years. Captain Crawford, in 1818, married Eunice Tubbs, who was born in 1797, and died in 1886, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. They were the parents of eleven children, five sons and six daughters: Thomas, James, Lucinda, Mary, Elizabeth, Isaac, Foster, Anna, Ellen, John A., and Emma. Isaac Crawford was reared on the farm, received his education in the schools of his neighborhood, and commenced life for himself as a farmer. In a short time he branched out in other lines of business, and purchased the Arch Spring property, which consisted of several acres of land, a flouring mill, store and several dwellings. He did a very large and successful business at Arch Spring until 1887, when he disposed of the entire property, which had become very valuable by that time, and removed to his present home farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land, where he has resided ever since. Mr. Crawford also owns a farm of one hundred and forty acres, which is but a short distance from where he resides. He is a member of the well known mercantile firm of Templeton & Crawford, of Tyrone. They deal in dry goods and groceries, carry a large and complete stock of goods in every department of their house, and enjoy an extensive and remunerative trade. Isaac Crawford is a republican in politics, and although actively interested in political affairs at an early day, and ever holding that interest until the present time, yet the career of business which he mapped out for himself in early life, and which he has so successfully pursued ever since, has demanded and received the principal part of his time, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Mr. Crawford is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is an example of the success which crowns patient industry and untiring effort in the business world. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com REV. JAMES E. DONNELLY, a courteous, accomplished and scholarly gentleman, and the present efficient pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church of Hollidaysburg, is a son of Edward and Ann (Mahan) Donnelly, and was born in County Longford, Ireland, December 20, 1850. Edward Donnelly was born and reared in Ireland, where he had two brothers, James and Thomas, who were well educated men and efficient priests. He received a classical education, and in 1865 came to Brooklyn, New York, where he was engaged as an accountant for a number of years. He then removed to Pittsburg, ths State, where he died in 1885, aged seventy-three years. He was an expert accountant, and married Ann Mahan, a native of Ireland, and died in Pittsburg in 1887. They had a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters: Edward, of Brooklyn, who is a contractor in the business of unloading ships; Patrick, a machinist of Pittsburg; Rev. James E.; Ellen, wife of James Tracey, a resident of Pittsburg; and Mary, widow of James Cormick, and now a resident of Iron City. James E. Donnelly pursued his studies for some time at St. Xavier's college, of New York city, under the charge of the Jesuits, then went to St. Michael's college, of Toronto, Canada, which he left after a few months to enter St. Michael's seminary, of Pittsburg, at which he completed his theological course. On June 10, 1873, he was ordained to the priesthood by Rt. Rev. Bishop Dominec, of Pittsburg, and was appointed as an assistant to the Rev. William Pollard, the then venerable and scholarly pastor of St. John's church, Pittsburg--south side. After three years of efficient service he was promoted to a higher and more responsible position, and given charge of the churches of Parker and Petrolia, which he labored faithfully with until he was appointed pastor of the Freeport church, of Armstrong county. He served the latter congregation until he was made the director of St. Francis college, of Loretta, this State, where he remained for several months, and at the end of that time was assigned as pastor of the Catholic churches of Johnstown and Gallitzin. His labors in that field were very pleasant and profitable until November 4, 1889, when he assumed charge of St. Mary's Catholic church of Hollidaysburg, which he has arduously and faithfully served ever since. The history of St. Mary's church is one of interest. Prior to 1800 Doctor Gallitzin visited a few Catholics, who were residing at Frankstown. Fathers Heyden and Lemeke visited the neighborhood of Hollidaysburg between 1800 and 1840, but it remained for Father Bradley, of Newry, in 1841, to gather the few members of his church and establish Catholicism in Hollidaysburg. He erected the present church edifice, which was dedicated March 17, 1844. It is a fine and substantial brick building, 63 x 87 feet in dimensions and well furnished throughout. Father Bradley was succeeded by Rev. R. A. Wilson, whose successor, Rev. John C. Brady, was in turn succeeded by Father John Walsh, who served from 1848 to 1876, and under whose pastorate the school building, hall and parsonage were built, and a beautiful chime of bells placed in the tower of the church. Father Walsh was succeeded by his brother, Rev. Thomas Walsh, and after him in regular succession as pastors of the church came Fathers J. E. Reardon, Haggerty, Kettle, and James E. Donnelly, the present pastor. Father Donnelly has labored very arduously and with good success for his church, and under his charge the congregation has increased rapidly, until now it numbers seven hundred and twenty members. The parochial school employs four teachers, and enrolls nearly two hundred pupils. The church, parsonage and school hall are all fine buildings, and in December, 1853, when the papal nuncio, Cardinal Cajetan Bedini, passed through Hollidaysburg, he stopped and administered confirmation in St. Mary's church. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com WILLIAM WORTH DUNMIRE, now proprietor and editor of the 'Independent Loyal American' at Altoona, who has acquired considerable reputation as a writer, and in former years was a well known minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, is a son of Gabriel and Ann (Aultz) Dunmire, and was born March 29, 1847, near McVeyton, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. The Dunmires are descended from an old German family, this branch being planted in America by Henry Dunmire (grandfather), in 1784, and soon afterward settled in Mifflin county, where he lived until the shadows of death closed around him, in 1849, after an existence of four score years less one. He was a farmer by occupation, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His son, Gabriel Dunmire (father), was born in Mifflin county in 1809, and now resides on the old homestead, being in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He is still active and vigorous, and can yet do a good day's work. He is a prosperous farmer, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a republican in politics. He had four sons in the Union army during the civil war. His wife was Ann Aultz, a native of Mifflin county, who is now dead, dying in her eighty-second year, and had nearly all her life been a devoted member of the church to which her husband belongs. She was of Scotch-Irish descent. William Worth Dunmire grew to manhood on a farm owned by his father in Mifflin county. He was familiar with farm work, and always ready to bear his part in any necessary labor. His early education was obtained in the common schools of his native county, and later he received a classical training at Dickinson seminary, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After leaving school he studied at home for one year, and in 1871 entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, becoming a member of the Central Pennsylvania conference. He traveled as an itinerant minister for a period of sixteen years, becoming acquainted with every phase of the work of his church, and had signal success on all his charges. In 1882 he embarked in journalism, establishing the Williamsburg 'Independent' while pastor of the Methodist church at Bellwood, which he continued for over three years. On May 8, 1885, he issued the first number of the 'Evening Independent' at Altoona, which, from the start, became a lively and strong paper, and is now engaged in the publication of a daily and weekly paper in that city known as the 'Independent Loyal American'. As a writer he is terse and vigorous, and his newspaper work has become known as among the best in this part of the State. On Sunday, July 30, 1870, Mr. Dunmire was united in marriage to Rosa C. Vail, a daughter of Dr. Steven M. Vail, formerly a resident of one of the New England States, the founder of the first theological seminary in the United States, and during the presidency of General Grant was consul at Bavaria, Germany. To this union has been born a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters: Harvey, Benson, Mary, Emma, Ida, Willie and Charlie (twins), and Roy. Mrs. Rosa C. Dunmire was educated at Dickinson seminary, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, graduating from that institution in 1869. Her mother was a student in several of the dead languages, but died of cancer a few years since. In politics Mr. Dunmire is strictly independent, and conducts his paper on independent lines. He is noted for his patriotism, and in his writings and public addresses is a vigorous defender of all our cherished American institutions-the free schools, free speech, free press. In argumentative discourse, and in platform oratory, he is earnest, strong, clear, and convincing. All his life he has been strictly temperate, never drank whiskey, beear, or ale, does not drink tea or coffee, only as a medicine, but drinks cold water the year through, has a wonderful amount of good health, and weighs two hundred and forty-seven pounds, and has most excellent natural eyesight. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com C. B. ELLIOTT, M.D., who holds a diploma from Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia, and has been in successful practice at various places during nearly two decades, was born at Mount Savage, Maryland, on the 23rd of April, 1851. His paternal grandfather, John Elliott, came from the north of Ireland, and settled in Ligonier valley, Westmoreland county, in 1797. C. B. Elliott's parents were John and Catherine (Miller) Elliott, both natives of Somerset county, Pennsylvania. John Elliott was a large lumber dealer, and removed to Blair county about 1856, where he resided and did business until 1885. He died in 1891. He was a republican and abolitionist in politics, and was connected with the "underground railway," by which many slaves from the southern states made their way to freedom in the Dominion of Canada. When the civil war came on he took an active part in mustering troops for the field, and was instrumental in raising several companies of infantry for service in the Union army. He married Catherine Miller, by whom he had a family of three children: C. B., the subject of this sketch; Jack M., now in the coal and lumber business in Coalport, Clearfield county; and Laura B., who married John Weller, ex-county superintendent of schools in Somerset county, who, in 1891, was elected to the State assembly by the republicans of that county. Mrs. Catherine Elliott is still living, being now in her sixty-fourth year. C. B. Elliott received his education in the seminary at Tipton, Blair county, which he attended for three years, and then took up the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Clark, then of Bellwood, now of Tyrone. After reading for some time with Dr. Clark, Mr. Elliott matriculated at Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia, and was graduated from that institution on March 14, 1873, with the degree of M. D. For two years he remained in the hospitals of Philadelphia for the purpose of familiarizing himself with all phases of disease and the most approved methods of treatment. Leaving that city, he located at Osceola Mills, Clearfield county, where he practiced until that town was destroyed by fire and Dr. Elliott lost all he possessed. Nothing daunted, however, he came to Altoona, where he opened an office, and was engaged in practice for a period of two years, when he returned to Clearfield county and practiced at Coalport until he was again burned out. He then went to Philadelphia and remained a year, taking hospital dispensary instructions, after which time he returned to Altoona, where he has ever since devoted his time and attention to the general practice of his profession with gratifying success. Dr. Elliott has at different times taken several special courses of instruction in leading medical institutions, and in his practice makes a specialty of diseases of the eye, ear, and throat. He has a well earned reputation as a surgeon, and his success has been so uniform in his specialties he has acquired considerable reputation as a specialist, while establishing his standing as a general practitioner. In his political predilections Dr. Elliott is a republican, but too broad minded and liberal in his views to be a bitter partisan. In religious beliefs he is a protestant. On September 4, 1880, Dr. C. B. Elliott was united in marriage with Laura M. Cherry, daughter of John W. Cherry, of Altoona. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com ELDON W. HARTMAN, an efficient and successful business man, and a prominent and useful citizen of Woodbury township, is a son of Benjamin and Penina M. (Wilson) Hartman, and was born at Manor Hill, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1847. The Hartman's are of German descent. Benjamin Hartman was born April 5, 1805, near Ickesburg, Perry county, from which he removed in 1840 to Huntingdon county, where he was variously employed until 1870, in which year he went to Springfield Furnace, at which place he died August 31, 1880, aged seventy-five years. He was engaged, until 1861, in merchandising at Manor Hill, Neff's Mills, and Cottage, and was postmaster at the last named place. He followed stock dealing to some extent in early life, and was engaged in farming for some years before his death. He was a republican, was well known and popular throughout Huntingdon county, and married Penina M. Wilson, by whom he had nine children, of whom five grew to manhood and womanhood: Mary E., wife of John A. Martin, a blacksmith and farmer of Royer; Eldon W.; Henry W., who married Mary Holliday and is president of the Hartman Manufacturing Company, of Beaver Falls and Pittsburg Company, of Pittsburg, and laid out the town of Elwood City, Lawrence county, where he now resides; Jesse L., who married Ella M. Dennison, and lived at Hollidaysburg. He has been prominently engaged in the iron business, and is now prothonotary of Blair county; and Frank R., who married Jane Carl, now dead, and lives at Elwood City. Mrs. Penina M. (Wilson) Hartman was born in 1817, near Masseyburg, Huntingdon county; she was the first to die out of a family of nine children, the youngest of which was fifty-five years old at the time of her death. Her parents both lived to be nearly ninety years of age, and the Wilson family is one among the old and early settled families of Huntingdon county. Eldon W. Hartman passed his boyhood days in his native county, teaching school in the winter and going to school in the summer. He received his education at Tuscarora academy, Juniata county. Leaving school, he sought to especially qualify himself for business, and entered the Iron City Business college, of Pittsburg, from which he was graduated at the completion of his course. Returning from Pittsburg, he was engaged in teaching until the autumn of 1867, when he went to Springfield, Lynn county, Iowa, where embarked in the drug business. A year later he disposed of his drug store, and, in the latter part of the year 1870, became a clerk in a hardware store at Port Royal, Juniata county, where he remained one year. He then served, until July, 1874, as a passenger brakeman and assistant agent on the Pennsylvania railroad, and at the end of that time became a book-keeper for the Cambria Iron Company, at the Springfield mines, which position he held until July,1890, when he quit their employ, and has since resided at the old Royer homestead, at Springfield Furnace. On December 18, 1878, Mr. Hartman was united in marriage with Anna M. Royer, daughter of Samuel and Martha Royer, of Springfield Furnace. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman have one child, a son named Royer P., who was born September 4, 1879. Eldon W. Hartman is an unswerving republican who warmly advocates the cardinal principles of his party, and has served as a school director of Woodbury township for fifteen years. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of Williamsburg, of which he is a steward and trustee. He is also a member of Juniata Castle, No. 105, Knights of the Golden Eagle, of which order he is district grand chief of the Third division of Blair county. Mr. Hartman is pleasant, intelligent, and agreeable. He is a man of sound judgment and correct business principles, and has always been successful in whatever enterprise he has been engaged. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com ANDREW KIPPLE, foreman, at Altoona, of the car shops of the freight department of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in whose employ he has seen forty-one years of active and continuous service, is a son of Jacob Kipple, and was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1830. Andrew Kipple was reared in Dauphin county, received his education in the common schools, and then learned the trades of carpenter and cabinet maker, to which he served an apprenticeship of three years under a first-class workman. On July 14, 1851, he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a workman in their car-building shops at Harrisburg, from which he was transferred, in 1853, to Altoona, where he first worked in the car and machine shops, and afterward served for two years as a gang leader in the passenger car shops. On the 28th of September, 1857, he was appointed by Christian Hostetler as foreman of the shops of the freight department, which position he has held ever since. In 1857 Mr. Kipple married Rachel Sweigart, daughter of Peter Sweigart, of Dauphin county, and they have four children living: Oliver, William, Andrew and Charles. Andrew Kipple is a republican in politics and has served as a member of he city council. He is a member of Verandah Lodge, No. 532, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member and trustee of Eighth Avenue Methodist Episcopal church of Altoona. He owns some desirable real estate in the city, and is a director of the Altoona Street Car Company and the Clearfield, Northern & Altoona Railroad Company. Mr. Kipple is an intelligent and industrious citizen, and a skilled and efficient workman. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com LOUIS G. LAMADE, editor and proprietor of 'The Deutscher Volksfuehrer (The German Peoples' Leader)', of Altoona, the only German paper published in the Juniata valley, is a son of Dietrich and Caroline (Zuepfle) Lamade, and was born in Goelshausen, near Bretten, Germany, August 22, 1854. His parents were natives of Baden, and strict members of the Evangelical Lutheran church. They came to the United States in the spring of 1867, and settled in Williamsport, where Dietrich Lamade died on January 1, 1869, when he was in the forty-fourth year of his age. His widow, who was born in 1826, is still a resident of Williamsport. To Mr. and Mrs. Lamade were born fourteen children, nine of whom are still living: Dietrich and Fred are the publishers of the celebrated Pennsylvania Grit, of Williamsport; John, who is superintendent of a large planing mill at Bay Mills, Michigan; Charles, a foreman of the same mill; Louis G.; William, now learning the printing business in the office of the Grit; Barbara, wife of Fred Kiessling, a merchant tailor of Williamsport; Kate, who married Henry Tally, of Bay Mills, Michigan; and Elizabeth, wife of Andrew Waltz, a contractor and builder of Williamsport. Louise G. Lamade was reared in Germany until he was thirteen years of age, when he came with his parents to Willismsport. He received the principal part of his education in his native land, and after a few months residence in Williamsport he entered a printing office, where he remained for eight years. During the latter part of this time he was foreman successively of the Poitomist and the Times. He left Williamsport and went to Scranton, this State, where he worked at his trade for six months, and then journeyed to Harrisburg, which he left in a short time for Newark, New Jersey, at which place he remained but a few months. He then went to New York city, where he followed his trade until 1880, when he came to Altoona and became foreman on the Call, which position he held until 1881. In March of that year he purchased his present paper, Deutscher Volksfuehrer (The German Peoples' Leader), from Henry Slep, who is now proprietor of the Mirror. The Volksfuehrer was first issued by Mr. Slep March 28, 1878. It is an independent weekly paper, published on Friday of each week, and has a wide circulation among the German population and those able to read German in this and adjoining counties. It is a six column folio, carefully edited, and contains much valuable information in addition news of general interest and local happenings. Mr. Lamade has added a job printing department to his office, and is prepared to do all kinds of work in that line. In the summer of 1881 Louis G. Lamade married Frances, daughter of Leonard Soller, of Altoona, and they have a family of four children, two sons and two daughters: Carl, Lizzie, Katy, and Louis. In politics Mr. Lamade is a democrat and served as jury commissioner from 1889 to 1892, and during 1885 as alderman from the Fourth ward by appointment of Governor Pattison. He is a member of the German Lutheran church of Altoona, and of the several German singing societies of the city. He is also a member of Vandalia Lodge, No. 227, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mystic Castle, No. 91, of the Ancient Order Knights of the Mystic Chain, as well as holding membership in several benevolent associations. He takes an interest in the material prosperity of Altoona, and has been treasurer of the Germania Building association for several years. Mr. Lamade is well qualified as an editor, and has been successful in establishing a first-class paper of extended circulation and independence in political affairs. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com AUG. S. LANDIS, who for thirty-five years has been a leading member of the Blair county bar, and for more than a quarter of a century the treasurer and solicitor of Hollidaysburg borough, is a son of Dr. Joseph A. and Maria L. (Holcomb) Landis, and was born June 4, 1834, at Pennington, New Jersey. The Landis family is of original German descent, having been planted in America at a very early day by one of the name who came from Prussia and settled in Hunterdon county, New Jersey. There Henry Landis (grandfather) was born and reared, but while yet young man removed to Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where he married a daughter of David Cumming, a Scotch Quaker, who was among the earliest pioneers of that county, coming from Inverness, Scotland. At one time Henry Landis was a saddler in Philadelphia, and later a hotel keeper in Baltimore. He died about 1860, in Baltimore, but his wife survived him twenty years, dying in 1880, aged ninety-two. Joseph A. Landis (father) received an academic education, and in 1825 began the study of medicine with Dr. Nathaniel Potter, a professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the University of Maryland. He graduated from that institution in 1828, and began practice at Pennington, New Jersey. In 1836 he went to Alexandria, Louisiana, where he practiced one year, and then, at the solicitation of Dr. Bramwell, who was retiring, came to Hollidaysburg and took charge of his large practice. From 1837 to 1868 Dr. Landis continued to practice in this city and surrounding country. In the latter years he removed to Philadelphia, where he was engaged in hius profession for six years, and then returned to Hollidaysburg. He was one of the original founders of the Blair County Medical society, a member of the Philadelphia Medical society while living in that city, and after his return here served as president of the Blair county society. He was frequently sent as delegate to the State Medical society, and served for many years as physician to the county prison. In 1861 he served as a volunteer surgeon at Mount Pleasant hospital, Washington, District of Columbia. He was one of the county poor directors at the time of the erection of county alms house, and served five years as physician of that charity. He was prominent in the organization of the Hollidaysburg Gas Company, and for several years its president. In October, 1831, Dr. Landis married Maria L., daughter of Jacob Holcomb, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and this couple lived to celebrate their golden wedding in October, 1881. To them was born a family of two sons and three daughters. Dr. Landis died November 20, 1886, at his home in Hollidaysburg, being then in his eighty-second year. His wife died August 27, 1884 on her eighty-fourth birthday. Augustus S. Landis came to Hollidaysburg with his father's family when only three years of age, was reared and received a common school and academic education in this city. In 1851 he centered the sophomore class at Jefferson college, Cannonsburg, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1853. Upon his return home from college he was appointed principal of the Hollidaysburg academy, but resigned in the following year to begin reading law with the Hon. Samuel Calvin, one of the pioneer jurists of Hollidaysburg. At the April term, 1857, Mr. Landis was admitted to the bar, and the following summer opened a law office in Hollidaysburg. Incident to his law practice he was for some years associated editorially with the Hollidaysburg 'Standard' during which he rendered valuable services to that journal with his trenchant and versatile pen. His writing was generally commended for its force and vigor, while his keen insight and sound judgment enabled him to lead public opinion and exert great influence. In the spring of 1860, at the solicitation of friends, Mr. Landis became a candidate for the office of treasurer and solicitor of Hollidaysburg, and was elected at the ensuing election. He has been annually reelected ever since. No better evidence could be offered of his zeal and fidelity in the discharge of official duty. In 1868 he became a member of the Hollidaysburg school board, and by reelection has remained connected with it to the present time. In October, 1872, he was elected a delegate from the Twenty-first Senatorial district to the constitutional convention which sat in Philadelphia the following year, and framed the present constitution of Pennsylvania. The district was composed of the counties of Blair, Bedford, Somerset and Fulton. His colleagues were Hon. Samuel L. Russell, of Bedford, and Hon. J. W. Curry, of Altoona. His law preceptor, Hon. Samuel Calvin, was elected during the session of the constitutional convention to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon H. N. McAllister, of Bellefonte. In the work of the convention Mr. Landis took and active and important part. In 1884 he was the delegate from this district to the National democratic convention at Cincinnati, that nominated General W. S. Hancock to the presidency of the United States. On the death of Judge Clark, of the supreme bench, the bar of this and adjoining counties urged Governor Pattison to appoint Mr. Landis to the vacant seat, but the appointment was given to C. H. Heydrick, of Venango county. Among other important services rendered to his party, Mr. Landis has several times represented this county in State democratic conventions. He was one of the original projectors of the enterprise which resulted in giving Hollidaysburg its present water supply. From the inception of the plan to the final completion of the water works he devoted his energies with untiring zeal to promoting its progress, and its success is justly considered as very largely due to his efforts. He has for years been prominently identified with various leading enterprises, notably the Hollidaysburg and Gap Iron Works Company, the Hollidaysburg Gas Company, and Hollidaysburg & Bedford Plank Road Company. He is an able advocate and active promoter of every movement calculated to advance the interests or develop the resources of his town and county, and has done much to leave his impress on the history of this section. In November, 1865, Mr. Landis was united in marriage to Eleanor Porter, youngest daughter of the late John Porter, of Alexandria, Huntingdon county, of which county Mr. Porter was one of the best and most widely honored citizens. In January, 1864, Mr. Landis became a member of the First Presbyterian church of Hollidaysburg and was chosen a ruling elder in January, 1868. In October, 1869, he was elected superintendent of the Sabbath school connected with this church, and continued in that position till 1888, when he resigned. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com JOHN S. MORRISON, a leading and respected citizen of Tyrone, was one who commanded the highest esteem of those who knew him, for he exemplified the real manliness of manhood and the true dignity of citizenship. He was a son of Hon. John and Anna (Shaver) Morrison, and as born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, December 21, 1837. Hon. John Morrison was a native of Lancaster county, and came to near Aughwick Mills, Shirley township, Huntingdon county, were he died in 1862, at the age of fifty-one years. He was a prosperous farmer, and a leading citizen of that county, having served three years in the senate and three years in the house of representatives of Pennsylvania. He also served one term as judge of the courts of his county, and stood high as a man and a citizen. He was a republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and married Anna Shaver, by whom he had six children, three sons and three daughters. John S. Morrison was reared on the farm and received his education in Cassville and Shade Gap academies. At the age of nineteen, having completed his course of study, he returned to the farm. His ability for management was so evident at this early age that his father, having retired from active business life, gave him complete control of all his interests. On September 2, 1864, John S. Morrison enlisted in Co. K, 202d Pennsylvania infantry, which he was instrumental in organizing, and was the first lieutenant of his company. He served for almost a year with distinction in the civil war, winning promotion, and was mustered out with his regiment August 3, 1865. He spent only a short time at home after his return from the army, leaving Huntingdon county in the latter part of 1865 for Roaring Spring, Blair county. His settlement at Roaring Spring marks the starting point of his subsequent successful business career. In 1865 he joined with others in organizing the firm of Eby, Morrison & Co., and engaged in the manufacture of paper. In 1867 a terrible accident happened at the mill, caused by a boiler explosion, by which the plant was almost completely destroyed. Mr. Morrison's indomitable will was here brought into play, and in the face of the most harassing difficulties the mill was rebuilt and again put into operation. In 1876 the firm name was changed to Morrison, Bare & Cass, the partners being J. S. Morrison, D. M. Bare, and Joseph K. Cass. Mr. Morrison resided at Roaring Spring most of the time from 1865 to 1880, spending perhaps two years of that time in Pittsburg, where he was also interested in the large paper warehouse of Morrison, Cass & Co. In 1880 Morrison, Bare & Cass built their large paper mill at Tyrone. Mr. Morrison at once removed to this place, and gave the Tyrone mill his personal supervision from its beginning until his last illness. In 1882 a disastrous fire totally destroyed this extensive plant, but with the energy always characteristic of the man, he permitted no time to pass idly by, and the work of rebuilding, on a much larger scale than before, was immediately begun. As a result, Tyrone has the present large paper mill, built entirely of brick, at the north end of Main street, which gives employment to over two hundred hands. The firm name was changed January 1, 1886, to Morrison & Cass, D. M. Bare retiring and assuming the ownership of the Roaring Spring mill, while Messrs. Morrison & Cass relinquished their interests at Roaring Spring and devoted their attention to the Tyrone plant. A few weeks previous to his death Mr. Morrison organized the Morrison & Cass Paper Company, to take the place of the firm. He was president of this company, which was organized that he might free himself to a large extent from the care of active management, and give him opportunity to look after his many other large business interests. He was largely instrumental in the organization of the First National Bank of Tyrone, in the past summer (1885), and of this institution he was president and a director. He was also a stockholder and director in the Howard Plate Glass Company, of Pittsburg. With A. A. Stevens, he was associated in the ownership and operation of coal lands in the Cambria region. Besides these interests, he also owned valuable Chicago real estate, and had other business connections in the west. Mr. Morrison was a republican in politics, and although no politician, yet always took an active interest in the political issues of the day. On October 16, 1886, the spirit of John Shaver Morrison took flight from earth. He had suffered an organic disease of the liver for over six months, until death came to release him from his pain. He remains were interred in Mount Union cemetery, of Huntingdon county, and one who knew him well in life wrote truthfully of him after death: "The character of John S. Morrison was one of sturdy integrity and unwavering tenacity of purpose. He was a positive man, having liberal views in regard to men and measures. His was a friendship to be valued. With a mind incapable of deceit, he detected the good points in those with whom he came in contact, and he was ever warmly devoted to his friends. As a business man, his energy and wonderful will won for him the proud position which he occupied. He was a self-made man. To his town he was truly a benefactor, and to him the people of Tyrone heartily gave the credit and honor which were justly due to one to whom Tyrone's growth and prosperity is so largely owing. Dark seems the hour when those whom he had loved, and by whom he had been beloved, are called to the stern realization that he is no more--that the parting is the final one in this world. The beauty of his life, which lives forever after him, is his enduring monument. The remembrance of the good which he has accomplished shall be to the sorrowing ones a comfort that will temper the bitterness of the hour." Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com REV. JOHN B. O'CONNOR, a scholarly and courteous gentleman, and the assistant pastor of St. John's Catholic church of Altoona, is a son of Daniel and Mary (Brown) O'Connor, and was born in the town of Killarney, County Kerry, providence of Munster, Ireland, June 24, 1824. His parents were natives and life-long residents of Ireland, where the name O'Connor has been prominent for several centuries. John B. O'Connor was reared in his native land, and attended the excellent National schools of Ireland. At seventeen years of age he left the parental roof and came to America and entered the Foxcroft academy, Maine; then went to Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts. After completing his collegiate course he came to St. Michael's seminary, Pittsburg, and then he entered the Baltimore Theological seminary, from which well and favorably known institution he was graduated in 1854. On September 22d, of the same year, he was ordained to the priesthood, at Pittsburg, by Bishop Michael O'Connor, and was immediately assigned pastoral work at Temperanceville, west side, Pittsburg, where he was actively engaged for several years. At the end of that time he was stationed at Cameron's Bottom, Indiana county, and served that charge acceptably until 1873, when he was given important pastoral work in Altoona, in the discharge of whose responsible duties he was successfully engaged for one year. He then obtained leave of absence for six months and visited his native land, from which he had been absent in the new world for nearly the third of a century. After returning from Ireland he took charge of the Sugar Creek congregation, in Armstrong county, until he removed to and took charge of the Coylesville church, Butler county, where he remained up to 1889. In that year he was appointed assistant pastor of St. John's Catholic church, of Altoona, where he has faithfully labored ever since. St. John's church was organized in 1852, and its present commodious church edifice was erected by Bishop John Tuigg, in 1871. It was dedicated on June 24, 1875, the feast of St. John, for whom the church was named, by the Right Rev. M. Domenec, then bishop of the diocese. The present membership of the church is nearly five thousand, and in this wide and most important field Father O'Connor has been most earnestly laboring for the last three years. He is scholarly, energetic, and zealous in the cause of the church and civilization, and has been very successful in his pastoral labors of thirty-seven years in central and western Pennsylvania. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com REV. NICHOLAS J. O'REILLY, an accomplished and scholarly gentleman, and the present efficient pastor of St. Mark's Catholic church, of Altoona, is a son of Michael J. and Mary (Reilly) O'Reilly, and was born in Ballyjarnesduff, County Cavan, Ireland, February 28, 1858. His parents were natives of the old and well known city of Belfast, on the Langan river, and in the counties of Antrim and Down, Ireland. Michael J. O'Reilly was a well educated man, and after completing a full law course in Ireland came to Ballyjarnesduff, where he was successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession until his death, in 1861. He married Mary Reilly, and to their union were born two children: Rev. Nicholas J., and Martin P., who is a graduate of New York university, of New York city, and is now engaged in the drug business in the metropolis of the new world. Nicholas J. O'Reilly was reared in Newfoundland, and received his education at Laval university, of Montreal, Canada, from which institution of learning he was graduated in 1883. In that year he came to Altoona, where he became a private secretary and assistant to Rev. John Tuigg, bishop of the diocese of Pittsburg. He served faithfully in that capacity until the death of Bishop Tuigg, December 7, 1889, when he assumed full charge of St. John's charge, with its membership of nearly five thousand, and continued as its pastor up to April, 1890, since which time he has been pastor of St. Mark's church. In January, 1889, Father O'Reilly purchased the ground upon which St. Mark's church stands, and proceeded, in June, 1890, to the erection of the present fine church of that name. It is a handsome brick structure, 62 x 118 feet in dimensions, with capacity to seat twelve hundred people, and cost in the neighborhood of forty thousand dollars. It is neat and tasteful in design, handsome in appearance, finished in hard wood throughout the interior, and is well furnished. St. Mark's church has a membership of eighteen hundred and has constantly increased in numbers and prosperity under the charge of its present pastor, Rev. Nicholas J. O'Reilly. In addition to erecting this church, Father O'Reilly has established a school which now has over two hundred and thirty pupils, and has increased so fast in numbers that he contemplates the erection of a large and first-class school building. By his integrity, scholarship, energy and successful labors for the moral improvement and spiritual welfare of his people, Father O'Reilly commands the respect of the public, and enjoys the confidence of his congregation. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com WILLIAM J. POWELL, an industrious citizen and skillful iron worker of Hollidaysburg, was born in Monmouthshire county, at the village of Pontypool, Wales, June 28, 1856. His father died when he was very young, and his mother married James Barnes as her second husband. William J. Powell, at ten years of age, was brought by his aunt, Mrs. Jane Williams, and her husband, Thomas Williams, a molder by trade, to Bonton, New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Williams afterward removed to Allentown, this State, and now resides at Sharon, Mercer county. William J. Powell received his education at Allentown, Pennsylvania. At an early age he entered a rolling mill and learned the trade of roller, which he has followed ever since. In 1885 he came to Hollidaysburg, where he has resided ever since, and has been in the employ of the Hollidaysburg Iron & Nail Company. In 1876, at Sharon, Mercer county, Mr. Powell married Margaret Goodwin, of Brookfield, Ohio, who died March 1, 1889, and left three children: George, Thomas, and William. On February 10, 1891, Mr. Powell was united in marriage with Mary Hitchings, of Hollidaysburg, and by his second marriage has one child, named John, who was born November 26, 1891. In politics Mr. Powell is a democrat, while in religious faith and church membership he is a Presbyterian. He is reliable and energetic, and ranks high as a skilled workman. He is a member of Lodge No. 11, Artisans' Order of Mutual Protection, and Portage Lodge, No. 220, Free and Accepted Masons, of Hollidaysburg. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com EDMUND J. PRUNER, of Tyrone, who has been engaged extensively in the lumbering business since 1857, is a son of David L. and Sarah (Denny) Pruner, and was born at Bellefonte, Centre county, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1840. The name of the family was originally written Bruner, and was changed to its present form of spelling, as Pruner, by David I. Pruner. Peter Pruner, or Bruner, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Holland, settled on Manhattan Island, New York, and was among the very first Dutch settlers in that locality. He married, and one of his sons, Peter, jr. (grandfather), came to Jonestown, Lebanon county, this State, and subsequently removed to Wolf's Store, Miles township, Centre county, where he followed his trade of miller until his death. He was a Jacksonian democrat in politics, and married a Miss Wolf, by whom he had four children, two sons and two daughters. One of these sons, David Pruner (father), was born March 4, 1804, at Wolf's Store, Centre county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared and educated. In 1816 he went to Buffalo run, near Bellefonte, and learned the trade of carpenter. In 1819 he removed to Bellefonte, where he followed carpentering, contracting and building up to about 1835 or 1836. His death occurred in 1880. He constructed portions of the old West Branch canal, and erected many of the present homes of Bellefonte. He was a man of energy and foresight, and in 1854 purchased the Osceola property, then a dense wilderness, and obtained a charter for the Tyrone & Clearfield railroad, which was located through the Osceola trace, and was built by Mr. Pruner and several others whom he interested in the railroad, to Phillipsburg, Centre county, which was afterward continued to Clearfield by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was a democrat until 1854, and after that a republican, and was appointed, by Gov. David R. Porter, as a justice of the peace, which office he held by appointment and election for twenty consecutive years. In 1826, at Bellefonte, he was married, by Rev. James Lynn, to Sarah Denny, and to them were born eight children, five sons and three daughters: Margaret, now dead; Mrs. Mary Shrom, of Bellefonte; Mrs. Sallie Hoffer, widow of John Hoffer, of Bellefonte; William, accidentally killed by falling from a loaded wagon at Tyrone, in 1859; Lieutenant Daniel, who enlisted for three months in 1861, then re-enlisted in the 11th United States infantry, was transferred to the 22nd cavalry, and participated in nearly all of the battles of the Army of the Potomac until 1864, when he died from the effects of exposure; Joseph, who enlisted, in 1861, in Captain Bell's company, and was afterward transferred to the signal service corps of the Army of the Potomac; Edmund J.; and Robert, who enlisted in the 45th Pennsylvania infantry, was transferred to the cavalry service, and after the war was struck and killed, in 1884, by a locomotive in the Tyrone railroad yards. Mrs. Pruner was a daughter of Peter Denny, who came with his uncle from England to America, about the close of the revolutionary war, on the ship Roebuck, and settled in Cumberland county, this state. From there he removed to a farm near Bellefonte, and on which he died in 1818. He served in the American army during the war of 1812, and married Margaret McCauley, by whom he had seven children, three sons and four daughters. Mrs. Margaret Denny was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and crossed the ocean with her uncle, who settled in Cumberland county. She died at Bellefonte in 1859, at the ripe old age of ninety-four years. Edmund J. Pruner received a common school education, and in 1853 became a clerk in a general mercantile store at Bellefonte, where he remained two years, when he went to Philadelphia to enter the employ of Pomeroy, Lincoln & Co. He continued in the employ of that firm until 1857, when he came to Tyrone, where he engaged in the general mercantile and lumber business, in partnership with Jacob Burley, under the firm name of Pruner & Burley. In the lumber business they ran several steam portable saw mills, and filled large bills of contracts, which they had with the United States government and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. They conducted a very successful business, both in merchandising and lumbering, until 1868, when they dissolved partnership, and since that time Mr. Pruner has been engaged in looking after his real estate, western land and railroad interest. He is a self-made man, and has achieved his success in business life by his own unaided efforts. In politics Mr. Pruner is a staunch republican, and while ever ready to work for the interests of his party, yet is no politician. Mr. Pruner came to Tyrone from Philadelphia in 1857, and has been a resident of Tyrone ever since. He was one of the original stockholders in the Northern Pacific railroad, and was with it until the road was completed from Duluth to the Missouri river and to Bismarck, four hundred and fifty miles west of Lake Superior. He sold out his interests before Jay Cooke failed, in 1873. He has also been interested in and one of the promoters of Kansas railroads. He is a member of Juniata Lodge, No. 282, and Mt. Moriah Chapter, both of Hollidaysburg, and a life member of each; also a life member of Kadosh Commandery, No. 29, Knights Templar, of Philadelphia; and of the Philadelphia Consistory of Ancient Scottish Rite Masons, thirty-second degree. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com JOHN M. RHODES, a substantial and popular citizen of Mines and Huston township, and in all probability the oldest stock dealer in Blair county, although not an old man, is a son of Abraham and Eliza (McGraw) Rhodes, and was born in Huston township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1840. The Rhodes are of German descent, and Mr. Rhodes' paternal grandfather, Daniel Rhodes was born in Lancaster county, and at an early day took up a tract of three thousand acres of land in Huston township and Morrison's Cove. He was a democrat in politics, an active member of the Mennonite church, and one of the leading and prominent men in his part of the county. He was the largest landowner in his time in his section, and died at Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, in 1852, aged eighty-nine years. He married twice, a Miss Funck being his first wife, while his second wife was Betsey DeRush, by whom he had nine children, six sons and three daughters. His son, Abraham Rhodes (father), was born on the old Rhodes farm and died on Piney creek in Huston township, January 20, 1882, aged eighty-one years, eleven months and thirteen days. He was a farmer by occupation, and a democrat in politics, and was prominent in local affairs. He served as a school director for fifteen years in succession, was a justice of the peace for several years, and took an active part in the support of his party. He was a member and deacon of the reformed church, married Eliza McGraw, and had a family of eight children, one son and seven daughters. Mrs. Rhodes is a daughter of William McGraw, who was a native of Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, where he kept the Goat hotel for a number of years before his death, which occurred at sixty-one years of age. He was a mill burr manufacturer, a democrat in politics, and a strict member of the Catholic church. He married Jane Thompson, by whom he had three children, two sons and one daughter, of whom only Mrs. Rhodes is living. John M. Rhodes was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools, and has always followed farming. He was general agent in the fire and stock insurance business for ten years, and during eight years of that time represented the Little York Stock Insurance Company, whose business in Blair county he established and built up to respectable proportions. Mr. Rhodes is a very fine judge of horses, cattle, and sheep, and is probably the oldest stock dealer in the county, as he commenced buying sheep and cattle at fourteen years of age. He owns a good farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres of productive land. On November 4, 1859, Mr. Rhodes married Barbara, daughter of Adam and Susan (Garner) Fouse, of Huston township. Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes have been the parents of three children: Adam, now dead; Sarah J., wife of David B. Barnett; and John F., who married Lemma Hazzard, of Saxton, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and is engaged in painting of every description and the manufacture of fancy brackets. John M. Rhodes has been one of the most successful veterinary surgeons in this part of the country, and owns a general merchandise store. He is a conservative republican in politics, and has served as supervisor and school director, although refusing at different times to become a candidate for public office. He is a member of the Reformed church, is pleasant, cheery, and industrious and has the respect and goodwill of all who know him. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com HON. EDMUND SHAW, a leading lawyer of Altoona, and a wounded Union officer of the late civil war, is a son of John and Mary (Waring) Shaw, and was born near Philipsburg, Centre county, Pennsylvania, December 4, 1836. His paternal grandfather, Robert Shaw, was a native of the celebrated north of Ireland, which has sent such a stream of substantial and fearless people into the territory of the present United States during the past two centuries. About the year 1795, two brothers, Archibald and Robert Shaw, emigrated to America from County Derry, Ireland, and settled in the Kishacoquillas valley, in Mifflin county. Archibald Shaw married and was the father of seven children, namely: John, Richard, Archibald, Robert, Mary, Margaret, and Jane, all of whom settled in and about Clearfield, in Clearfield county. Robert Shaw, the other brother, was twice married, and by his first wife, (Miss McIlvaine) had five children: Richard, Jane, James, Mary Ann, and John; and by his second wife (Miss Mary Crissman) had four children: Adam, Robert, Archibald and Margaret. The body of his first wife is buried in the cemetery at Reedsville, in Mifflin county; that of his second wife in the old cemetery at Phillipsburg in Centre county, and his own body was buried in the " Friends Grave Yard," in Half Moon valley, Centre County. John Shaw, the father of the subject of this sketch, was the youngest son by the first wife of Robert Shaw, and was born, in the third year of the present century, in Mifflin county, and died at Phillipsburg, in Centre county, May 9, 1869, aged sixty-six years. John Shaw was a cabinet maker by trade. He removed to Phillipsburg, in Centre county, when quite a young man, and there followed his trade until about 1835, when he purchased a tract of land in Decatur township, Clearfield county, and was then engaged in farming until within a few years of his death, which occurred at Phillipsburg, where he had purchased a residence, and had retired from active business life. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics was a democrat, and had held several of the most important township offices. He was twice married. His first wife was Jane Ann McGirk, of Phillipsburg, who died without children, a year or two after marriage. His second wife was Mary Waring, a daughter of William Waring, of Phillipsburg, Centre county, who had removed to that place in 1821, from Hereforshire, England. Mary Waring was born in the year 1809, on June 21st, and was the youngest daughter of seven children. She was brought in the year 1821 to Pennsylvania by her parents. She was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church in early life, but afterward entered with the Presbyterian church, and died November 19, 1878, at the age of sixty-four years. Of the eight children born unto John Shaw and Mary (Waring) Shaw four are living: Edmund; Harvey; Mary J., of Washington; and Alfred, of the same city. Edmund Shaw was reared on the home farm near Phillipsburg, and his education was received in the common schools, Cassville Seminary, and the Millersville State Normal school in Lancaster county. Leaving Millersville he taught one term of school at Curwensville, in Clearfield county, and on September 16, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Co. K, 110th regiment Pennsylvania volunteers, for a term of three years. He was successively promoted to corporal sergeant, and sergeant-major of the regiment, which latter rank he had when severely wounded at Chancellorsville and unfitted for further military duty and deprived of the chance of future promotion in line of field service. He first saw active service in the battle of Winchester, March 23, 1862, and was in all of the skirmishes and battles of his regiment through the Shenandoah valley, and with the Army of the Potomac to the battle of Chancellorsville, where he was wounded, taken prisoner, and held for two weeks by the Confederates. He was then paroled, and remained in the Union hospitals at Falmouth, Virginia, and Chestnut Hill hospital, Philadelphia, until January, 1864, when he was so far recovered from his wounds as to be able to be detailed for duty as a clerk in the provost-marshal's office in Washington city, where he served until he was honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of enlistment, September 16, 1864. He then returned home, and afterward entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in the law course in 1867. During the same year he went to the city of Martinsburg, Berkeley county, West Virginia, where he was admitted to the bar in the early part of 1868. He practiced law there for nearly five years, and for the last two years of that time was prosecuting attorney of Berkeley county, having been elected to that position on the republican ticket. In 1873 Mr. Shaw came from Martinsburg to Altoona, as a more inviting and wider field for the practice of his profession, was admitted, December 17th of that year, to practice in the court of Blair county, and the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and has since then built up gradually his present fine and extensive practice. On December 14, 1869, he married Mary E., daughter of Dr. David R. Smith (deceased), of Newburg, Cumberland county, this State, who was a very prominent physician of his town and county and the Cumberland valley. Edmund Shaw practices before the county, State and United States courts, and always handles his clients' cases in a masterly manner. He is a republican in politics, and in religion is of the Presbyterian faith. In municipal affairs he has always taken a deep interest, and was a member of the celebrated Committee of Forty-eight in Altoona, which was organized in 1882. He has ever taken an active part in politics, and served his city for one term as a member of the city council. In 1884 Mr. Shaw was nominated by the Republican party as one of their two candidates for the legislature from Blair county, and at the ensuing election was chosen by the usual majority of his party. In 1886 he was re-nominated by the republicans, and on November 2d of that year received the highest vote cast for any republican candidate in the county at that election. He served creditably during his second term, was a member of the two chief committees--judiciary, general and municipal corporation--and watched carefully the interests of his county and constituents. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com DAVID A. SMITH, an active business man of Tyrone who has achieved success in the lumber business of Blair county, is a son of George A. and Margaret (Williams) Smith, and was born near Bellwood, Blair county, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1838. His paternal grandfather, John M. Smith, was born near Hagerstown, in the western part of the State of Maryland, and in 1807 came to the vicinity of the site of the present city of Altoona, where he died in 1847, when seventy-eight years of age. He was a farmer by occupation and a whig in politics, and a Methodist in religious belief and church membership. He married Mary M. Maine, by whom he had ten children, six sons and four daughters. One of these sons was George A. Smith, the father of the subject of this sketch. George A. Smith was born in Blair county, where he grew to manhood in the present townships of Antis and Logan. When he came of age to do for himself he removed to near Bellwood, where he was engaged in farming until his death in 1880, at seventy years of age. He was a farmer by occupation, a whig and republican in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he had served as class leader, trustee, and steward, and was active in church work and had faithfully, energetically, and efficiently served in every office which his church had ever called him to fill. He was a hard-working man and a useful citizen in the community where he had resided for over half a century. In 1831 he married Margaret Williams, and to them were born four children, three sons and one daughter: John M., now dead; David A., Adolphus H., who is unmarried and resides on the home farm; and Margaret, wife of Henry McMullen, a successful farmer, who resides in Missouri. Mrs. Margaret (Williams) Smith was a daughter of Thomas Williams, a democrat and Methodist, who married Mary Coleman and reared a family of six sons and four daughters, near Bellwood, where he owned a large farm, on which he died in 1845, when about seventy years of age. Mrs. Smith was born in 1812 and passed away in 1842, and after her death Mr. Smith married in 1843, for his second wife, Catherine Nail, who bore him three children who grew to maturity: Lavina, Catherine, and G. Blair. David A. Smith spent his boyhood days near Bellwood. He received a common school and academic education, and then was engaged in teaching and farming for six years. At the end of that time he relinquished teaching and followed agricultural pursuits until 1867, when he came to Tyrone, where he was engaged in butchering, merchandising, and various other lines of business for fifteen years. In 1882 he embarked in the saw mill business in Blair county, in which useful pursuit he had continued successfully up to the present time. David A. Smith has been twice married. His first wife, whom he married May 24, 1860, was Mary M. Creek, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Creek, of Clarion county, and who died January 18, 1862. On August 16, 1863, Mr. Smith wedded Sarah J., daughter of James and Margaret Coleman, and has by his second marriage a family of ten children, three sons and seven daughters: Sanford C., who married Irene Calderwood and is a fireman on the Pennsylvania railroad; Ina R., Edith M., wife of John Copenhaver, a druggist of Tyrone; Allen D.; Cora M.; George C.; Sarah G.; Florence E., living and Paulina and Mary M., who died in infancy. David A. Smith is a republican in political opinion, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since he was fifteen years of age. Among the many kinds of business there is none more useful or important than the lumber business, whose prosecution is essential to the building up and growth of town or city, as well as being necessary to the improvement of the farm and plantation. Mr. Smith has been energetic and successful in the lumber business and commands a large trade, which he built up by close attention, honorable methods, and fair dealing. He is a pleasant, genial, and generous, an excellent neighbor, and a true friend, and is well deserving of the popularity which he enjoys wherever he is known. His success in life has been achieved by energy, determination, and persistent and patient effort. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com DR. JAMES R. TAYLOR, a veteran of two wars, and a dentist who has been in successful practice for nearly a quarter of a century, now located in the city of Altoona, is a son of David and Elizabeth (Postlewait) Taylor, and was born September 15, 1830 near Newton Hamilton, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. The Taylors have long been residents of the Keystone State, and their ancestry is traced back to John Taylor, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. David Taylor (father) was a native of Westmoreland county, this State, but removed to Mifflin county when a young man, and lived there until his death, in 1842, at the early age of forty-one years. he was a millwright by occupation, and widely known in connection with his work in that line. His death was due to an accident, by which he was caught in the waterwheel of a saw mill upon which he was working, in Mifflin county. Politically he was whig, though never taking an active part in politics. He was a man of powerful constitution and unusual strength, and is said to have been able to handle any man in the county, though quiet and reserved. He married Elizabeth Postlewait by whom he had a family of six children, of whom four are yet living. She was a native of Mifflin county, a member of the Presbyterian church, and lived a useful and consistent Christian life; dying in 1867, after an existence extending three years beyond half a century. James R. Taylor grew to manhood in Mifflin county, attending the common schools of his vicinity, in which he acquired a good practical education in all the ordinary English branches. When less than seventeen years of age he enlisted in Co. M, 2d Pennsylvania volunteers, and went with that regiment to Mexico, where he was in active service for fifteen months, and engaged in several of the principal battles of that war. He was with the force that captured the city of Mexico, and marched into that city with the victorious American army on his seventeenth birthday, September 15, 1847. After the war was over Mr. Taylor returned to Pennsylvania, and began the study of dentistry at Williamsburg, with Dr. A. McKamey, who had commanded the company with which Mr. Taylor had served in Mexico. When he had acquired sufficient skill in the dental line he located in Mifflin county, and practiced for a time, but in 1875 removed to Franklin county, locating at Mercersburg, where he opened a dental office and practiced until 1882, when he came to the city of Altoona. Here he has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession to the present time. In September, 1864, Doctor Taylor enlisted and served as sergeant-major in the 205th Pennsylvania infantry, attached to the second brigade, third division, ninth army corps, under the command of General Hartranft. In this capacity he served until the close of the civil war, being seriously wounded by the explosion of a shell, while on duty in front of Petersburg, Virginia. He was honorably discharged from service at Alexandria, that State, in June, 1865, and immediately returned to Pennsylvania, where he took up the thread of civil life where he had laid it down to enter his country's service, and was soon enjoying a good dental practice. On December 18, 1860, Doctor Taylor was united in marriage with Ruth L. Henderson, daughter of James Henderson, of Cassville, Huntingdon county. To them was born a family of six children, four sons and two daughters: M. Louise, Thomas V., E. Dawson, Maggie C., J. Virgil, and David II. Mrs. Taylor died May 15, 1886, aged forty-seven years, and greatly esteemed by her wide circle of friends. Doctor Taylor is a staunch republican, but in no sense a politician, taking little part in the turmoil of politics. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and of Lieutenant Potts Post, No. 62, Grand Army of the Republic. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com ADAM J. WOLF, a highly respected citizen of Hollidaysburg, and a man whose honesty and industry won for him a large trade while he was in the cabinet making and undertaking business, is a son of Joseph and Mary (Fohman) Wolf, and was born at Assamstadt, Baden, county of Boxberg, Germany, December 21, 1821. The paternal ancestors of Adam J. Wolf were born in Germany, and died in their native country. Joseph Wolf (father) was a cabinet maker by trade, and married Mary Fohman, who was a daughter of Dr. Carl Fohman, a native of Baden, Germany, and a physician by profession. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf reared a family of five sons and four daughters, all of whom were born in Germany. The daughters are all deceased. Of the sons, Valentine resides in Germany, and the others, who came to America, were: John, who located in Duncansville, and after living there many years passed the last few years of his life in Pittsburg, where he died; Francis, settled in Duncansville, where he resided until his death; Joseph, removed to Texas, where he lived for a number of years; and Adam J., now of Hollidaysburg. Adam J. Wolf received his education in the schools of Germany, where education has attained a high standard of excellence. At the age of twenty-two years, in the year 1843, he crossed the Atlantic, and after residing two years in Philadelphia, he removed to Hollidaysburg and worked as a journeyman cabinet maker, shortly thereafter he started in business for himself. By thrift and economy and attention to business, he accumulated sufficient to purchase and build cabinet and undertaking rooms on Allegheny street, just opposite where he now resides. His present residence adjoins the large and commodious building known as Wolf's Hall, built in 1879. Other buildings in the town which he erected bear evidence of his enterprise. After being a number of years in the furniture and undertaking business, he afterward transferred it to his oldest son, William, who still continues therein. Since Mr. Wolf quit the furniture and undertaking business he has lived a retired life in Hollidaysburg, although his sons usually consult him in business enterprises. On January 7, 1850, he married Mary Elizabeth Hurm, a daughter of Godfred Hurm, of Weildorf, Germany. To their union was born a family of six sons: William, now engaged in cabinet making and undertaking business at Hollidaysburg, having succeeded his father; Henry A., who has been a hardware dealer in Altoona for several years, and is now doing business at 1318 Eleventh avenue, as a partner in the Altoona Hardware and Supply Company; Salem Joseph, also engaged in the hardware business in Altoona, to which he removed from Hollidaysburg the present year, previously and since 1876 doing principal hardware business in Hollidaysburg; his father being associated with him till 1884; Adam Richard, in 1880 started into the hardware business in Altoona, and lately disposed of his interest in the Altoona Hardware & Supply Company, with the intention of started in the wholesale business; Charles E., is also a resident of the Mountain City, and engaged in the hardware business at No. 1108 Eleventh avenue, and has made a thorough success of the same; and Frank X., who died at the age of sixteen years, in the year 1875. His five sons living are all married, and Mr. and Mrs. Wolf have already many grandchildren. In political sentiment Mr. Wolf closely adheres to the Republican party, but has never aspired to any office. He is one of the oldest members of St. Mary's Catholic church of Hollidaysburg. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Annie Whiteman, PABLAIR List Administrator Annie2ws@aol.com