BIOS: File 18 - 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 18, listing the page where they appear in the book: Beyer, Francis D., page 411 Bush, Edward A., Very Rev., V.F., page 478 Casanave, Germain, page 263 Collin, John B., page 409 Condron, James, page 482 Ellsworth, Josiah F., page 483 Haines, Edward R., page 472 Hammond, William S., page 444 Hogue, Davis A., M.D., page 481 Hutchison, Joseph M., page 412 Laughman, Daniel, page 474 Leet, Hon. Jonathan, page 410 McCarthy, Samuel L., M.D., page 447 McKee, Alexander J., page 471 Patterson, James, page 262 Raugh, David A., page 473 Reamey, Daniel K., page 476 Snyder, William C., page 414 Waring, Robert, page 449 Weaver, John H., M.D., page 477 FRANCIS D. BEYER, senior member of the well-known planing mill firm of F.D. Beyer & Co., of Tyrone, and a leading prohibitionist of Blair county, is a son of Aaron and Lydia (Ramey) Beyer, and was born at Spang's Mills, Antis Township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, October 23, 1831. His paternal grandfather, Rev. David Beyer, was of German descent. He was born near Frederick Town, Maryland, September 7, 1763, and was left at an early age, by the death of his parents, to do for himself. In 1797 he came to Sinking Valley, and built a brick house and saw and grist mill. He was a noted miller, and his flour, when sold in Baltimore, always brought the highest price. In 1833 he sold his property, and removed to Antis township, near Tipton, where he purchased land and erected the old Beyer mill, which he operated until his death in 1841. He united with the Methodist Episcopal church in 1809, was afterward licensed as a local minister, and preached for many years without pay or recompense. He was an old-line whig in politics, and a strong anti-Mason. He served for many years as a justice of the peace, and married Sarah Crum, of near Belton, Maryland, by whom he had thirteen children, six sons and seven daughters. At his death he left nearly one hundred descendents, and his sons, Abraham and Aaron became the owners of his mill and home property. Aaron Beyer (father), the youngest son, was born August 23, 1811, in the old brick house, erected in 1797 by his father. He learned the trade of miller which he followed at various places until 1833, when he removed to Antis township, where he built the present Beyer mill, which he operated for many years, besides conducting a hotel for a short time. He was successively an old-line whig, republican and prohibitionist in politics. He was a member, trustee and class leader of the Methodist Episcopal church for nearly half a century. In 1886 he removed to Altoona, where he died in 1887, when in the seventy-sixth year of his age. His life was devoted to useful work, and the moral and religious improvement of his community. On January 12, 1831, he married Lydia Ramey, daughter of Frederick and Martha (Keller) Ramey, who was born March 4, 1811. To their union were born thirteen children: Francis D., Elizabeth J., Martha A., Rev. James S., who served three years in the Union army, then spent fifteen years preaching in Virginia, and is now stationed in Clinton county as a member of the conference of central Pennsylvania; Catherine B., served as a nurse in the army, and is now at Herkimer, New York; Angeline, Emeline, Mary A., Sanford D., who enlisted in Co. B, 110th Pennsylvania infantry, and was killed March 25, 1865, in front of Petersburg; A. Wesley, Sarah B., Lydia R., and William M., whose sketch appears in this volume. Francis D. Beyer received his education in the common schools and Cassville seminary, and then learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed for several years. He helped to erect the first houses built in Altoona, and afterward erected a waterpower planing mill near the old homestead. He then built the steam planing mill at Tyrone, which is now operated by Mr. McCamant. In 1869 he erected another steam planing mill at Tyrone, which he operated until 1873, when it was burned, and then he rebuilt and enlarged it into his present large saw and planing mill establishment, which is operated by the firm of F.D. Beyer & Co., of which he is the senior member. He employs a force of thirty men, does an extensive general planing mill business, in addition to which he is actively engaged in contracting and building. On December 23, 1856, he married Lizzie, daughter of the late Simon Blake, of Martinsburg, and to their union were born ten children: Grace T., wife of Frank Waring, a member of the firm of F.D. Beyer & Co.; Vida S., married to Dr. J.S. Baer, of Camden; Samuel B., married Madge, daughter of Rev. George Leidy, of Huntingdon, this State, and is a partner with his father in the planing mill business; George K., married Carrie Penny, and is engaged in the fruit growing and poultry business at Vineland, New Jersey; Aaron F.; Charles W.; Laura K.; and four others who died in infancy. Francis D. Beyer is a steward, trustee and class leader of the Second Methodist Episcopal church of Tyrone, to which he is a most liberal contributor. In politics he was formerly a republican, but is now a prohibitionist, and is usually chosen as a delegate to the prohibition State conventions. He is an honorary member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Mr. Beyer is a prominent representative of the planing mill business of Tyrone, which has been commensurate in its increase with most of the other industries of the borough. Earnest and active in the cause of Christianity and prohibition, he ranks high as an honorable man and a useful citizen. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Christy Stiles VERY REV. EDWARD A. BUSH, V. F., a courteous and scholarly gentleman and the present pastor of St. John's Catholic Church of Altoona, was born at Montreal, Canada, June 5, 1839. He came to the United States in 1850, after the death of his parents. His preparatory studies were made at St. Francis and St. Vincent colleges, of Pennsylvania and Bardstown, Kentucky. He then entered St. Michael's Seminary, of Pittsburg, under the presidency of Very Rev. James O'Connor, D. D., afterwards Bishop of Omaha, and commenced his theological course, which he finished at the same institution, where he had Rev. James Keogh, D. D., as his professor of divinity. After the completion of his theological course, he was ordained to the priesthood on February 7, 1863, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Domenec. After ordination he remained at the seminary as professor of theology until January 7, 1864, when he was appointed Rector of St. Francis College, Loretto, Cambria county, where he remained in the discharge of the duties of that position up to the spring of 1868. He then went to St. Michael's Seminary, where he was professor of theology until March, 1870, in which month he was appointed Rector of St. Michael's Church at Loretto, where he was faithfully engaged in pastoral labors for twenty years. At the end of that time, in the spring of 1890, he became Rector of St. John's Catholic Church of Altoona, and during the same year was appointed Vicar Forane by Rt. Rev. R. Phelan, D. D., Bishop of Pittsburg. St. John's Catholic congregation was organized in 1852 by Rev. John Walsh, of Hollidaysburg, and its pastors since then have been: Rev. John Tingg, 1854; Rev. John Walsh, 1876; Very Rev. Thomas Ryan, 1880; Revs. T. Briley, T. P. Smith, and J. O'Reilley succeeded in turn as acting pastors till 1890, when Very Rev. Edward A. Bush became pastor. The first church building was a small frame structure, erected in 1854, which was succeeded in 1875 by the present substantial and commodious brick structure on Thirteenth Avenue, near Thirteenth Street. As has been said, the early history of this church is one of small beginnings, but the earnest and self-sacrificing labors of its pastors have brought it up to its present prosperous condition. Its membership, under the efficient and practical labors of Father Bush, has increased to nearly two thousand souls. Father Bush is a fine theologian and an active and energetic pastor, and has labored faithfully and with good success for the mental and moral advancement of his large and important congregation. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com GERMAIN CASANAVE, owner of the Casanave business block, and the proprietor of the largest and leading saddlery establishment of Altoona and central Pennsylvania, was born at Escot, France, April 23, 1848, and is a son of John F. and Julia (Casaurancq) Casanave. John F. Casanave was a native and life-long resident of France, where his active years were spent as a school teacher in the established public schools of that country. In religion he was a member of the Catholic church, in whose faith he had been reared, and died in 1887 when well advanced in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He married Julia Casaurancq, who like himself, was a native of France and a member of the same church. She died in France in 1886, aged fifty-five years. They were the parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters. One of their sons Francis D. Casanave, learned the trade of machinist, and in 1863 came to the United States, where he is now resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana, at which place he is superintendent of the motive power of the Pennsylvania Company. Germain Casanave was reared in the land of his nativity, and received his education in the efficient schools of his province. Leaving school he learned the trade of harness maker and saddler, and in 1870 came to Pennsylvania where during the spring of the next year, he commenced for himself in Altoona in the harness and saddlery business. Since then he has enlarged his establishment, which is situated at No. 1328 Eleventh avenue, and added to his stock until he now is recognized as the leading representative in his line of business in the county. His extensive stock consists of double and single harness, both heavy and light, bridles, saddles, collars, whips, robes, blankets, nets and horse clothing of every description and of the best workmanship. Anything in his line of business is made to order and all kinds of repairing is done with neatness and dispatch under his personal supervision. He makes a specialty of fine harness, and by first class work and fair dealing has made his establishment the favorite source of supply for an extensive section of country around Altoona. He also fills many orders from a distance and his establishment is the oldest of its kind in Altoona. On February 21, 1878, Mr. Casanave married Mary M., daughter of Nicholas Kurtz, of Altoona. She died October 24, 1986, and left four children, three sons and one daughter: Nicholas J., Anthony J., Joseph D. and Mary J. Germain Casanave is a democrat in politics but no politician and is a member of St. John's Catholic church. He has always manifested a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of his adopted city, and has just completed the erection on eleventh street of the Casanave block, one of the largest and most handsome brick business blocks of Altoona. Mr. Casanave is a man of fine business qualifications, of persistent energy, and unusual success in life, and stands high as a citizen of the country. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Michele R. Eyer Chynna10@aol.com JOHN B. COLLIN, a prominent Pennsylvania railroad official, and a resident of Altoona from 1858 until his death, in 1886, was a man of fine education, great force of character, and of decided convictions. Mr. Collins was born in Malmo, Sweden, September 28, 1831, his father being a professor of Greek and Latin in a Swedish university of Gothenburg, in 1848. During the years 1849 and 1850 he was employed in the machine shops of Messrs. Nydgist & Hohn, Trollhalten, Sweden, coning to this country July 31, 1851. He had been in America one month, when, on September 1, 1851, he entered the machine shops at Lowell, Massachusetts, where he remained until July 3d of the succeeding year. On July 5, 1852, he became an employee in the machine shops at Lawrence, Massachusetts, and there remained until May, 1858. In the same month and year he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in the Altoona machine shops, upon the recommendation of Thomas P. Sargent, assistant purchasing agent of the company, and here he remained until January 1859, when he returned to the Lowell, Massachusetts, machine shops, and in these shops he worked until August, 1860. From this month in 1860, until February 1863, he was employed by the Atlantic works in Boston, and in that month came back to Altoona again, and here held a position in the office of the engineer of bridges of the Pennsylvania railroad, where he stayed until October of the same year. Returning to the Atlantic works in October, 1863, he worked there until 1864. During 1863, while in Boston, Mr. Collin worked on a monitor for the government. From October, 1864, until April, 1866, the deceased was general foreman of the Altoona shops, and during the months of April, May and June, in the last named year, traveled in the west. On July 1, 1866, he was made mechanical engineer of the Pennsylvania railroad, with office in Altoona, and in this position he remained until his death, which occurred at nine o'clock Saturday morning, February 20, 1886, from atrophy of the liver. He was identified with Altoona's business interests, was president of the Altoona Gas Company, and beside his handsome residence in the First ward, was the owner of considerable real estate in the Seventh and Eighth wards. He possessed the confidence and esteem of the head officers of the railroad company, and in his death that corporation lost an excellent officer. He was a member of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal church, and private funeral services were conducted at his late residence, on Fifteenth avenue, by Rev. Allan Sheldon Woodle, after which Mr. Collin's remains were interred in the Presbyterian cemetery of Hollidaysburg. On May 15, 1883, Mr. Collin married Kate Leet, and to their union were born two children: John B. and Carl W. Mrs. Collin, who is an intelligent and interesting woman, still resides at her tasteful and beautiful home on Fifteenth avenue. Mrs. Kate (Leet) Collin is a daughter of Hon. Jonathan D. Leet, a prominent man in western Pennsylvania. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Christy Stiles JAMES CONDRON, one of the prominent business men of Blair county and a large real estate owner and lumber dealer, residing in Hollidaysburg, is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Lochard) Condron, and was born September 12, 1813, in Frankstown township, Blair county, Pennsylvania. The family is of French descent, and was planted in America at a very early day. James Condron (grandfather) was a native of Lancaster county, this State, and removed to what is now Blair, but was then Huntingdon county, settling near Frankstown. Later he went to Ohio, locating in the vicinity of the city of Columbus, where he died. Jacob Condron (father) was also born in Lancaster county, but came with his father's family while yet a lad to what is now Blair county, and was reared on a farm near Frankstown, where he continued to live until 1839, when he removed to Indiana county, and resided there until his death, which occurred in the spring of 1865, when he had attained the age of seventy-seven years. He was a farmer and carpenter, and built a great many barns for the farmers of his locality. He also constructed boats or arks to transport flour and grain on the Juniata River, and in times of high water would run these loaded boats to Columbia. After removing to Indiana county he was exclusively engaged in farming. He was a whig in politics, and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He married Elizabeth Lochard, by whom he had a family of children. She was a native of Fort Littleton, this State, and died in Indiana county in 1872, aged eighty-two years. She also was a life-long member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. James Condron was principally reared in the township of Frankstown, where he attended the common schools-taught at that time in log school houses-until he had attained the age of sixteen years, when he secured a position as clerk in the general store of Washington Webb at Canoe Creek, this county. He remained with Mr. Webb about five years, and then went to Rockhill Furnace as acting manager of the store and furnace owned by James A. Bell, and continued in that position for three years. In 1841 he formed a partnership with Samuel Good, under the firm name of Good & Condron, and embarked in the general mercantile business at Canoe Creek, this county. This partnership continued until 1844, when Mr. Condron withdrew, and removing to Frankstown, began a general merchandise business at that place in his own name. Here he found a field for his energy and fine business ability, and was not long in organizing a large and lucrative trade. He handled flour, feed and grain in large quantities, and sent several boats loaded with grain to the city of Philadelphia. He shipped as high as twenty thousand bushels of wheat from his store in one year. In 1857 Mr. Condron removed his headquarters to Hollidaysburg, where he has resided and been engaged in business ever since. In addition to his general store he began operating the ore mines here, and successfully conducted this combined business until 1870. He also began handling lumber shortly after removing to Hollidaysburg, in which trade he is still engaged. In addition to all his other enterprises he became a dealer in real estate, and has bought and sold about fifteen thousand acres of Cambria county farming and timber lands. He still owns some twenty thousand acres of this land, on which is located a steam saw mill, at Dysart Station. This station stands on his land, and is now surrounded by quite a village. He has been a large and very successful dealer in lumber for many years. He has also been something of a contractor and builder, having erected many fine houses in Hollidaysburg, among them being the opera house in that city. In 1846 Mr. Condron united in marriage with Ellen Jones, a sister of C. B. Jones, of Hollidaysburg. To their union was born a family of children, three of whom survive, two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son, Angus B., is engaged in the lumber business with his father, and the other, Joseph B., is proprietor of a large planing mill in the same city, and also deals extensively in lumber. The daughter, Delia C., is employed in the pension office at Washington, D. C., where she has held a responsible position for several years. In politics Mr. Condron is a stanch republican. He is one of the veterans who voted for William H. Harrison for president in 1840, and for his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, for the same office in 1888. He is a member and trustee of the Presbyterian Church of Hollidaysburg. He has been one of the directors of the Crescent and New York Railroad since its organization. He is a pleasant, affable gentleman, has accumulated a handsome fortune, and resides in a modest but elegantly appointed brick residence in the city of Hollidaysburg, where he is surrounded by all modern conveniences and the comforts and luxuries which so fittingly crown an active and successful business career. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com JOSIAH F. ELLSWORTH, of Williamsburg, a worthy descendant of one of the old and highly respected families of the United States, has probably erected more first-class flouring mills than any other man in the Keystone State. He is a son of Thomas and Margaret (Gibson) Ellsworth, and was born near Shippensburg, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, July 18, 1827. The Ellsworth family in America was founded in 1863 by Arthur Ellsworth, one of three brothers who came from Wales in that year to one of the New England States. The paternal great-grandfather of Mr. Ellsworth was a lineal descendant of Arthur Ellsworth, and was a member of the celebrated Tea Party of American history, who threw the tea overboard in Boston Harbor in 1773. He served throughout the Revolutionary War, and his son, Arthur Ellsworth (grandfather), was born in Connecticut, where he died at an advanced age in 1830, and left several children, one of whom, Thomas Ellsworth (father), was born in Connet county, that State, in 1795. In early life he came with several capitalists to eastern Pennsylvania, where they built a saw mill and engaged in the lumber business. He had an interest in this lumber enterprise, and died in 1835, at Hancock, Maryland, where he had gone for the purpose of developing some new lumbering territory. Thomas Ellsworth was a man of good business ability, and had fine prospects for a very successful career in lumbering at the time of his death, when he was only in the prime of manhood. He married Margaret Gibson, who died in 1884, aged eighty-three years, and was a daughter of John Gibson, a Scotch-Irishman from the north of Ireland, who settled at Kennedy, Cumberland county, where he followed school teaching until his death in 1820, at an early age. Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters: Margaret E. Coan, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania; John W., who owns a large cattle and horse ranch at Slack's Canon, Monterey county, California, where he now resides; Charles B., a harness maker of Johnstown, this State; Josiah F.; and Harriet, who died in 1848, in Wapello county, southeastern Iowa. Josiah F. Ellsworth received his education in the early common schools of Cumberland and Blair Counties, and at seventeen years of age was bound as an apprentice to J. S. Shull, of Blair county, for a term of four years, to learn the trade of millwright. At the end of his apprenticeship he became foreman on the millwrighting contracts of J. B. Anderson, of near Alexandra, Huntingdon county, but soon left his employ and commenced work for himself, which he followed continuously until 1864. In that year he engaged in contracting, which he pursued very successfully for twenty-eight years, when (1892) he retired from actual business. In March, 1851, Josiah F. Ellsworth married Mary J. Irwin, who was a daughter of Thomas and Catherine Irvin, of Williamsburg, and died July 6, 1870. On January 7, 1873, he wedded Elizabeth P., daughter of Charles and Rachel Biddel. By his first marriage he had six children, of whom two sons and one daughter are living: Elmer E., president of the Riverside Milling company, of Little Falls, Minnesota; Grier M., a clerk in the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad company at Altoona; and Carrie S., wife of Charles Ramey, a real estate agent of Hays City, Kansas. In politics Mr. Ellsworth was a republican until a few years ago, when he identified himself with the Prohibition party. He has been a ruling elder for twenty years of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is a member. He is a member of Juniata Lodge, No. 282, Free and Accepted Masons, of Hollidaysburg, and of Orphan Home Lodge, No. 315, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Williamsburg. Mr. Ellsworth, in addition to his property at Williamsburg, owns a farm of two hundred and thirteen acres of good land on Clover Creek. Josiah F. Ellsworth was remarkably successful as a contractor and mill builder, and his work was so excellent in durability and quality that his services were in great demand beyond his own county. He erected the large flouring mill for the Cambria Iron company at Johnstown, this State, the flouring mills of Brown & Biddle, at Johnson City, Tennessee, besides the commodious and well appointed mills of D. M. Bare, of Roaring Spring, and fifty-seven other improved roller process flouring mills in the Juniata Valley and other parts of Pennsylvania. As evidence of his expedition, in connection with his thorough workmanship, it is only necessary to state that he built the sixty mills referred to in about thirteen years. Mr. Ellsworth is an intelligent gentleman, a good citizen, and a man who stands high in his community. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com EDWARD R. HAINES, a Union soldier of the late Civil War, and now an active and successful builder and contractor of Altoona, is a son of Reuben and Mary E. (Mitchell) Haines and was born in Buffalo township, Perry county, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of May, 1847. His paternal grandfather, Lawrence Haines, was of German descent, and came from the eastern part of Pennsylvania to Perry county at an early day in the present century. He was a wagon maker by trade, and died in Perry county. His son, Reuben Haines (father), was born in Perry county, where he died in March, 1874, when in the fifty-third year of his age. He was a wagon maker by trade, a democrat in politics, and a Lutheran in religious faith and church membership. He owned a good farm, which he cultivated in addition to following the wagon making business. He married Mary E. Mitchell, who was a native of Perry county, where she died in March, 1866, when in the fortieth year of her age. Mr. and Mrs. Haines were the parents of several children. Edward R. Haines was reared on his father's farm in Perry county, and received his education in the common schools. He assisted his father on the farm and in the carpenter shop until March, 1865, when he enlisted in Co. B, 77th Pennsylvania infantry. He served until January, 1866, when he was honorably discharged from the United States service at Victoria, Texas, but was not paid off till he arrived at Philadelphia on his way home. After returning from the army to Perry county, he learned the trade of carpenter with his father, for whom he worked until the autumn of 1872, when he engaged with a canal company, and worked during the winter on the repair of a canal which they owned and operated. In 1873 he came to Altoona, where he worked at carpentering until 1874, when his father died, and he returned to Perry county. He then assumed charge of his father's shop, in which he conducted the wagon making business until 1881, when he sold the shop and removed to Mifflintown, Juniata county, where he engaged in the bottling business for a few months, after which he went to Roanoke, Virginia, and worked at house carpentering and in the machine shops of that place until 1885. In that year he returned to Mifflintown, and the next fall came to Altoona, where he followed carpentering until February, 1891, when he formed a partnership with D. J. Orner, under the firm name of Orner & Haines, and they followed contracting and building up to March 1, 1892. Mr. Haines then purchased his partner's interest, and is still engaged in the contracting and building business. In 1870 Mr. Haines was united in marriage with Mary E., daughter of Joel Orner, of Perry county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Haines have been born three children: Howard H., Joel W., and William H. Edward R. Haines in political matters is independent, and supports measures and votes for men without regard to party. Active, energetic, and reliable in whatever he undertakes, he is now in the midst of a very successful business career. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com WILLIAM S. HAMMOND. The law as a profession has many able representatives in Pennsylvania, and in the central part of the State has drawn to its ranks men of education and ability, and among those in Altoona who have made a life study and a life work of the profession of law is William S. Hammond. He is a son of Henry K. and Jane (Davis) Hammond, and was born on the farm of his paternal grandfather, William Hammond, opposite Cove forge, in Catharine township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1851. The Hammond and Davis families are among the old and early settled families of the county, and while the former is of English-Irish lineage, the latter is of English blood alone. William Hammond and William Hammond, Jr., the grandfather of William S, Hammond, were natives of Virginia and became early settler on the territory of Blair county. William Hammond Jr. was a forgeman by trade, but was engaged chiefly in farming during the latter part of his life. He was a republican in politics and died in 1871, aged seventy one years. His son, Henry K. Hammond (father), was born in 1822 and followed farming in Woodbury township until 1890, when he came to Altoona, where he has been living a retired life ever since. While a resident of Woodbury township, in addition to farming, he was manger of Franklin forge for ten years and in 1855 and 1856 was in the mercantile business with Adolphus Patterson, at Williamsburg. He was a republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian church, and married Jane Davis, a native of this county and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, who died in 1866 in the forty-fourth year of her age. She was a daughter of George Davis, who was native of Huntingdon county, afterward became an early settler of this county, and served as a soldier in the American army along the northern frontier during the war of 1812. William S. Hammond was reared on the farm, and received his education in the common schools, Wil1iamsburg academy, and Dickinson seminary, of Wil1iamsport, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in a classical course at commencement, in June, 1874. Leaving school he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and was appointed clerk in the motive power department, which position he held until 1877, when he resigned. At the same time that he entered the service of the railroad company he also registered as a student of law with Neff & Clark, who were the solicitors at Altoona for the Pennsylvania railroad and gave all of his spare time to the study of his profession. When he had completed the required course of reading he resigned his position on the railroad, and in March 1877 was admitted to the Blair county bar. Immediately after admission he opened an office in Altoona, where he has built up a good law practice. From 1884 to 1890 he was in partnership with W. P. Mervine, under the firm name of Mervine & Hammond, but since the last named year has continued by himself, and now practices before the different courts of this and other counties, in which he tries successfully a large number of important and intricate cases. Mr. Hammond is a republican in political sentiment and a member of the Presbyterian church. He is also a member of Cresson Council, No. 108, Junior Order of United American Mechanics, which was organized in Altoona on September 21, 1870. In the political field he was always yielded a cheerful and hearty support to the nominees and principles of his party, and served in 1888, as a delegate from the twentieth congressional district to the National republican convention at Chicago, which nominated Benjamin Harrison as a candidate for the presidency of the United States. On June 20, 1875 Williams S. Hammond was united in marriage with Annie M. Hileman, of Altoona. To their union have been born six children, five sons and one daughter: William S. jr., Mary J., Paul, James Blaine, George Davis, and John. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Esther McDermott emamcd@erols.com DAVIS A. HOGUE, M. D., a resident physician of Altoona since 1891, and who was for sixteen years prior to that time one of the most prominent and successful physicians of Clearfield county, is a son of Joseph and Sarah Ann (Calwell) Hogue, and was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1854. During the early years of the last century, religious persecution distracted Scotland, and many left its shores and came to America, where they could enjoy the freedom of religious worship. Among the number who bid farewell to their Scottish homes on this account and settled in the province of New Jersey, was a Mr. Hogue, of whom Dr. Davis A. Hogue is a lineal descendant. This Mr. Hogue, like the majority of the Scottish Dissenters and Covenanters who came to America to secure religious freedom, was interested in the intellectual education of his children as well as in their moral and religious training. It is most probable, but not certain, that he married in his native land of Scotland, and one of his sons, of whom there is nothing preserved to show whether he was a native of the old world or born in the new, entered Princeton College, from which he was graduated. From this son, whose Christian name cannot be obtained, and of whose history, after leaving Princeton, but little is known, beyond the fact that he was a good citizen, was descended Joseph Hogue, father of Dr. Hogue. Joseph Hogue was born in 1809, in Northumberland county, in which he was reared and received his education. Leaving school he was engaged during the remainder of his life in the general mercantile business in Northumberland and adjoining counties. He was a whig during the earlier years of his life, and when that party went down under the reverses that it suffered in 1852, he identified himself with its successor, the Republican party, which he supported until his death. He was appointed as a postmaster under a whig administration, and held that office continuously for a period of over thirty years. He was a man of business ability, and died in 1868, when in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He married Sarah A. Calwell, and to them was born a family of six children, four sons, and two daughters who died when quite young. The sons are: Daniel C., a former nail manufacturer, but now a lumber dealer of Watsontown, Northumberland county, who served nine months in the 131st Pennsylvania infantry, in whose ranks he remained until the close of the war; Dr. Davis A.; Edmund B., who has been in the employ of railroad companies for several years, and is now serving as a conductor on the Wilkesbarre railroad; and Dr. James H., of Altoona, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Davis A. Hogue spent his boyhood days at home, and received his education in the common schools at Loretta, Cambria county. Leaving school he read medicine in the office of his uncle, Dr. G. W. Calwell, of Glen Hope, Clearfield county, and then entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1875. Immediately after graduation he returned to Glen Hope, where he practiced with his uncle, Dr. Calwell, for one year, and then went to Maidera, in Clearfield county, where he remained for two years. At the expiration of that time he removed from Maidera to Houtzdale, a town of nearly two thousand inhabitants, in the same county, where he soon built up a large practice, and remained there for thirteen years. In the spring of 1891 he came to Altoona, as being a wider field for the practice of his profession than what he had enjoyed at Houtzdale, and his expectations have not been disappointed, as he has already a good and rapidly increasing practice. On November 3d, of the Centennial year, Dr. Hogue was united in marriage with Maggie Feltwell, daughter of Joshua Feltwell, of La Jose, Clearfield county. To their union have been born three children, two sons and one daughter: Grace, Dan and Davis (deceased). Dr. Davis A. Hogue is a democrat in politics. The encouraging success which he has won in Altoona has been secured by his ability and skill as a physician, and is such as attended his long and active practice in Clearfield county. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com JOSEPH M. HUTCHISON, third in the lineal descent from Hon. Joseph Hutchison, the founder of the Hutchison family in Blair county, and an upright and substantial citizen of Juniata and Logan township, is a son of John and Sarah (Kelley) Hutchison, and was born on the farm on which he now resides in Logan township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1824. His paternal grandfather, Hon. Joseph Hutchison, was a native of Ireland, and in early life came to Pennsylvania, where he settled in Northumberland county, which he represented for two terms in the legislature. He was a democrat and Presbyterian, and on his maternal side was relative of President James Buchanan. He married Jane Gilford, who was born on the Biddle farm near the site of the present county home, and whose father took up the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch. She was captured by Indians and held captive for two weeks. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchison were the parents of eight children, of whom one was John Hutchison (father), who was born in Northumberland county and died March 13, 1865, aged sixty nine years, nine months and ten days. In 1823 he came to the farm on which he resided until his death. He was a democrat, had held several township offices and was familiarly known as Judge Hutchison on account of generally serving as judge of the election board of his voting precinct. At an early age he united with the Presbyterian church, of Warriors Run, in Northumberland county, and afterward was a member of Frankstown church until 1852, when he and several others organized the First Presbyterian church of Altoona, with which he worshipped until his death. The Presbytery of his church printed a beautiful tribute of his life in memoriam, wherein they said: "He died in the full hope and assurance of a blissful and glorious immortality in Heaven. Mr. Hutchison, throughout his life, possessed and manifested an equable and amiable disposition, combined with great firmness of purpose, a sound and discriminating judgment and remarkable freedom from captiousness or censoriousness. He was no fault-finder, but ever disposed to exercise the judgment of charity toward those from whom he differed. He seemed to dislike and avoid publicity, and delighted in the pleasures and duties of home. He was cheerful and hospitable at home, kind and considerate toward his neighbors, of unquestioned integrity, and an excellent citizen. He greatly loved his church and her ordinances, and was a regular attendant upon them. As a member of Session he was always calm, considerate, and disposed to study and practice those things that make for peace, yet firm and immovable when satisfied that discipline should be exercised. When it had been determined to erect the first church edifice in Altoona, Mr. Hutchison was selected as one of the building committee, and was faithful and active in the performance of his duties on that committee; and when the present church was built, he was among the most liberal in his contributions to it. He was an uncompromising Union man, and took a lively interest in the efforts of the Federal government to suppress the great rebellion and maintain the Union. Few men die to whom so few faults could be attributed, or of whom so little evil could be spoken. John Hutchison was highly esteemed and respected by all who knew him while living, and, being dead, his memory is precious". He married Sarah Kelley, a member of the Presbyterian church, who died in 1888, aged eighty-eight years. She was a daughter of James Kelley (maternal grandfather), a native of Buffalo valley, Centre county, and a resident of Perrysburg, Ohio, whose father, Col. Andrew Kelley, was born at Buffalo Cross roads, in Centre county, where he owned five or six farms. John and Sarah (Kelley) Hutchison reared a family of five children, of whom three are yet living, two sons and one daughter: Robert, of Juniata; Joseph M.; and Caroline, wife of Oliver Hagerty, of Logan township. Joseph M. Hutchison was reared on the farm, received his education in the schools of his neighborhood and has followed farming successfully ever since. He owns a part of the home farm through which the Pennsylvania railroad runs, and on which a portion of the village of Juniata is built. He also runs another farm which is part of the old Bell tract in Antis township, besides some valuable property at Juniata and in Altoona. In connection with farming Mr. Hutchison operates a saw mill during a part of the year. In November, 1865, Mr. Hutchison married Sarah J. Lafferty, daughter of Joseph Lafferty, of Logan township. They have five children, four sons and one daughter: Amanda W., wife of John K. Hamilton; James K., R. Bruce, J. Mortimer, and William Fay. Joseph M. Hutchison is a democrat in politics, and a member of the First Presbyterian church, of Altoona, and Juniata Grange, No. 889, Patrons of Husbandry. Within the last few years Mr. Hutchison has retired from all active business except the supervision of his farms and saw mill. He is thoroughgoing, straightforward, and honest in his business transactions, has always been active and industrious, and is a gentleman of excellent standing in his community. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Christy Stiles DANIEL LAUGHMAN, one of the most successful coal operators and the senior member of the firm of D. Laughman & Co., is a son of Daniel, Sr., and Catherine (Fetterow) Laughman, and was born on the bank of Big Conewango Creek, in York county, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1826. Daniel Laughman, Sr., was born on the east bank of the Susquehanna River in 1797, removed from Big Conewango Creek in 1831 to Harrisburg, and from there went, in 1851, to Darke county, Ohio, where he died in 1869, at the age of seventy-six years. He was a shoemaker by trade, but was mainly engaged in farming. He was a prosperous farmer, an active member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and a strong Jacksonian democrat, who was always genial and jovial in political campaigns, during which he did much effective work in the interests of his party. He married Catherine Fetterow, who was born on Big Conewango Creek, and stood high wherever she was known as an amiable, Christian woman. She was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church from her childhood, and in 1875 came to reside with the subject of this sketch, at whose house she died in July, 1888, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. She was a very active woman, kept her strength and mental powers well up to the time of her death, and had seen much of pioneer life. Mrs. Laughman was a daughter of Michael Fetterow, who was a native of Wales, and came to York county, from which he went out as a soldier in the War of 1812, and in which he died upon his farm in 1826, when in the eighty-first year of his age. Daniel Laughman was reared near Harrisburg, and received a limited education in the early free schools of Pennsylvania, but which he has largely supplemented by reading and observation. Leaving school he was employed until 1850 as a clerk in different general mercantile stores of Harrisburg, and then engaged in the confectionery and bottling business, which he followed for two years, when his health became impaired by close confinement and he left the capital of the State for a visit to his parents in Ohio and a tour of the great west. Somewhat improved in health by his trip he returned to Harrisburg, and in order to more fully recruit himself physically by an outdoor life, he became (early in 1853) a brakeman on the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. On May 1st, of that year, he was promoted to conductor of a freight train, which he ran until September, 1859, when he resigned, without having a single accident happen to his train in all that time, a fact which drew forth the warm commendation of the officers of the railroad company. In the succeeding month of October-having removed to Altoona in 1854-he engaged in the clothing and gentlemen's furnishing goods business, in which he continued until 1868, when he disposed of his establishment and stock of goods. During a portion of this time, from 1859 to 1864, he acted as agent of the Adams Express company. In the following year, after retiring from the clothing business, he formed a partnership with James H. Dysart, under the firm name of James H. Dysart & Co., and purchased a coal mine in Cambria county, from which they shipped coal until 1881, when Mr. Dysart died. Mr. Laughman then purchased the interest of his late partner from the heirs of the latter, and continued operating the mine until 1881, when he admitted his son-in-law, J. Chester Wilson, to partnership with himself, under the firm name of D. Laughman & Co. They mine and ship a large amount of coal to both eastern and western markets. Mr. Laughman is also interested in several other coal mines. In 1850 he married Mary A. Jones, daughter of John Jones, and who died in 1872, leaving four children: Annie M., wife of J. Chester Wilson, of Philadelphia, who is a member of the firm of D. Laughman & Co.; William D., now assistant foreman in the telegraph and electrical shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad company at Altoona; Ira, who was a bright young man and a very fine singer, died March 1, 1885, while attending the Union Theological Seminary of New York City, where he was preparing for the work of the ministry; and Jennie, who is still at home. On April 3, 1873, Mr. Laughman was united in marriage with Ellen, daughter of John Miller, formerly of Hollidaysburg, and by his second marriage had two children, a son and a daughter: John M., who died May 10, 1881, at the age of seven years; and Clara W. Daniel Laughman is a republican in political affairs, served as treasurer and councilman of Altoona before it became a city, and since then held the office of jury commissioner for one term. He is a deacon and the treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church of Altoona. He is one of the most substantial and highly respected citizens of his city, resides in a beautiful home at No. 1010 Lexington Avenue, and has won his own way in life from early manhood, when his only capital was natural ability and a pair of willing hands. He is a member of Mountain Lodge, No. 281, Free and Accepted Masons; Mountain Chapter No. 189, Royal Arch Masons; and Mountain Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com HON. JONATHAN LEET, was born in Washington county in 1817, and died in Altoona in 1882. He was well educated, and a lawyer by profession. He served as postmaster at Washington, this State, under James K. Polk, and one of his clerks in the post-office was James G. Blaine, late secretary of State under President Harrison. He was a democrat, served as commissioner on the western division of the old canal, acted as a justice of the peace for a short time, and in 1850 was elected, and served a second term. His father, Jonathan Leet, was a native of England, and one of the early settlers in one part of Washington county. He surveyed at Pittsburg and Little Washington when part of their present sites were covered with huckleberry bushes. He was a finely educated man, took up large tracts of land, was one of the surveyors of the Old Pike, or National Road, and died in 1850, at eighty-seven years of age. Hon. Jonathan Leet married for his first wife Mary A. Callahan, who was a native of Claysville, Washington county, and a Presbyterian in religious belief. She was the first graduate of French's Female seminary at Washington, this State, and died in 1851, at the early age of thirty-two years. They had three children, two sons and one daughter: Dr. J.T. Leet, of Hollidaysburg; Mrs. William L. Marlin of Albany, New York; and Callahan M., of Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Leet's second wife was Mary J. Saunders, daughter of Maj. Jacob Saunders, who was a mayor in the war of 1812. By his second marriage he had two children, a son and a daughter: William C. Leet and Mrs. Kate Collin. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Christy Stiles SAMUEL L. McCARTHY, M.D., a graduate of Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia, who for many years was a physician in Huntingdon county, and since 1884 in successful practice in the city of Altoona, is a son of John R. and Eleanor (Lane) McCarthy, and was born March 28, 1844, in Brady township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, Henry McCarthy, was native of Ireland, but came to America when a boy and finally located in Brady township, Huntingdon county. He was a farmer by occupation, married and reared a family, of whom John McCarthy (grandfather) was one. John R. McCarthy (father) was born in the Kishacoquillas valley, Huntingdon county, and was one of a family of five sons and one daughter, born to John McCarthy. The sons all became school teachers, and one of them, Charles R., is still living in Huntingdon county, where he served at one time as associate judge of that county. John R. taught school for a number of years, but finally settled down to farming, in which occupation he was very successful, accumulating a handsome fortune. For a time he resided in Huntingdon county, but later removed to Mifflin county. He was an ardent republican in politics, a member of the Presbyterian church, and married Eleanor Lane, a daughter of James Lane, by whom he had a family of ten children: James, a liveryman in Huntingdon county; John S., enlisted in the 125th Pennsylvania infantry, and was killed in the first day's fight at the battle of Antietam; Dr. H. C., a graduate of Jefferson Medical college, now practicing at Altoona; Samuel L., the subject of this sketch; Edward S., graduated from Princeton college, read law, and is now in the insurance business in New York; Charles Rufus, a large furniture dealer at Huntingdon, this State ; William B., graduated from Jefferson college, Cannons burg, and is engaged in business with his brother, Charles Rufus, at Huntingdon; Jerusha C. married A. Pollock, a farmer living in the suburbs of Huntingdon; Amelia A., married Samuel Ebert, a wealthy farmer of Perry county; and a daughter who died in infancy. The mother of these children, Mrs. Eleanor McCarthy, was one of a family of eight children, born to James Lane, the others being: Samuel, a merchant, now deceased; William, a prominent lawyer of the city of Philadelphia; James R., a minister of the German Baptist church, now of Huntingdon county; Frank, who served as captain of a company during the civil war, and is now a prominent and popular citizen of Huntingdon county; Mary, living at Huntingdon, this State; Belle, married William Porter, and now resides in Illinois; and Martha, deceased. Samuel L. McCarthy was reared in Huntingdon county, and attended the common schools of his neighborhood, laying the foundation on which he continued to build by his own unaided efforts, until he had acquired a good English education, and a fair knowledge of the Latin language. He began reading medicine with George V. Thompson in 1867, and later, entered the Jefferson Medical college at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1870. He soon after began practice in Huntingdon county, and for a period of sixteen years was successfully engaged in his profession in that county, principally at Mill Creek. In 1884 he removed to Altoona, and has been in general practice in that city ever since. He has always been a careful student of his profession, keeping abreast of the latest thought in the field of medicine, and is very popular as a citizen. He was successful from the start, and has acquired property worth not less than forty thousand dollars. In his many years of practice, Dr. McCarthy has never lost a case of typhoid fever. On the 28th of June, 1867, Doctor McCarthy was wedded to Lettie Way, who taught school and music, and who was a daughter of Robert Way, then of Ohio, but formerly of Centre county, Pennsylvania. To their union was born a family of two children, one son and one daughter. The daughter, Ida Blanche, is a very fine vocalist, one of the best in this part of the State, having devoted much time and attention to the cultivation of a voice naturally musical and sympathetic in effect. She has delighted large public audiences by her wondrous musical talents, and charmed all who have heard her rich melodious tones. She graduated from the Altoona school in the class of 1889. Her brother, S. Lloyd, appears to have inherited great talent, is a youth of brilliant promise, and is going through school very rapidly. In politics Doctor McCarthy is a republican, but the exacting duties of his profession leave him little time for other lines of thought or effort, and he has contented himself with discharging the simple duties of good citizenship, while others dissipated their energies in the turmoil attending practical politics. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and takes an active part in the support of all the interests of his church. As has been intimated, Doctor McCarthy takes rank among the most successful men of central Pennsylvania, and he ascribes much of that success to the zeal, ambition, sympathetic courage, wise counsels and sustaining influence of his devoted wife, who, during the trials and triumphs of a quarter of a century of married life, has stood by his aide like a guardian angel, and alike, in joy or sorrow, has shared his experience, comprehended and strengthened his purposes, and demonstrated the possibility of that ideal comradeship which rounds out life and seals the truth that "it is not good for man to dwell alone." Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Esther McDermott emamcd@erols.com ALEXANDER J. MCKEE is one who deserves credit for the success he has attained in business life. He is a son of Alexander J., Sr., and Margaret (Jones) McKee, and was born at Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, January 7, 1850. Alexander McKee (grandfather) was of Scotch-Irish descent, but was a native of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and died at Lewiston, where, up to the time of his death, he was engaged as a tanner. He was a faithful attendant of the Presbyterian church, and was united in marriage with Anna Woods, who died some time afterward, and he then married Catherine Johnston, by whom he had a family of four sons and five daughters. Alexander J. McKee, Sr. (father), was born in Ferguson valley, Mifflin county, and passed his boyhood days upon the farm. Later he became a boatman on the old Pennsylvania canal, and in 1837 he removed to Hollidaysburg, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1873. He married Margaret Jones, a daughter of John Jones, who was born in Blair county, and who was the son of David Jones, a native of Wales. John Jones (maternal grandfather) married a Miss Galbraith, and to them were born six children, of whom the mother of Alexander J. McKee is the eldest, and now resides at Hollidaysburg. John Jones was a hotel-keeper, and died in Frankstown in 1833. Politically he was a supporter of the Whig party. Alexander J. McKee received his education in the public schools of Hollidaysburg, and entered upon the scenes of active life without any capital. His father dying, the responsibility of the maintenance of the family rested upon him. At the age of ten years he became engaged as a peddler, which business he pursued during the Civil War. At the close of the war he came to Hollidaysburg, where he was employed as a puddler in a rolling mill. In 1873 there was a great stagnation in business in the iron trade, which compelled him to abandon his position. He then purchased a stock of fire-shovels, which he sold for about a year, and at the expiration of that time he began to sell notions, and was thus employed for ten years. In 1882 he entered into partnership with John W. Cleber, and was engaged in the dry goods business at Hollidaysburg until 1890, when he bought out the interest of Mr. Cleber, and has since conducted the establishment very successfully. He is located at No. 70, corner of Allegheny and Montgomery Streets. He occupied two floors of a large brick building, 40x60 feet in dimensions, which is filled with a first-class stock of dry goods. He employs four clerks, and enjoys an extensive trade. On April 1, 1875, Mr. McKee was united in marriage with Catherine Carner, a daughter of Charles Carner, of Hollidaysburg, and to their union have been born three children: Francis H.; Edith E., who died at the age of seven years and six months; and Esther B. In politics Mr. McKee is a republican, and was elected director of the poor in November, 1888, and was afterward re-elected. He is now serving his second term as councilman of the borough of Hollidaysburg. Since 1871 he has been a member of Hollidaysburg Lodge, No. 119, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past grand. In religious belief Mr. McKee is a Lutheran, and is treasurer of his church. He is a wide-awake, enterprising man, and takes an active part in all matters pertaining to his line of business. As a director of the poor he was ever interested in their comfort and welfare, and his efficiency as a public official was well attested by his re-election. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com JAMES PATTERSON, who saw a quarter of a century of active business life on the old Pennsylvania canal, and who, since 1876 has been successfully engaged in the grocery, undertaking, grain, and lumber business at Williamsburg, is a son of Henry and Leticia (Early) Patterson, and was born at Maghera, county Derry, Ireland, November 25, 1826. His paternal grandfather, James, was a native of Scotland, and during a time of religious persecution in that country in the latter part of the eighteenth century he removed to Maghera, county Derry, Ireland where he followed farming until 1826 when he died at the age of fifty five years. His son Henry Patterson (father) was born at Maghera about the year 1800 and died at the same place in 1865. He followed farming until 1835 was then employed by the home mission society in counties Armagh, Derry and Donegal for ten years and at the end of that time engaged in farming and dealing in grain, which business he pursed until his death. He married Leticia Early who did in 1850 at forty-eight years of age and left a family of ten children of whom the subject of this sketch is the second. Mrs. Patterson's father, John Early was born in Scotland, which he left on account of religious persecution and settled at Tubemore, county Derry, Ireland where he followed farming until his death. James Patterson was reared at Maghera received his education in the schools of that town and assisted his father on the farm until he attained his majority, excepting a few months spent in a visit to Scotland, the land of his forefathers. At twenty one years of age in 1848 he left Ireland for the United States and after a voyage of six weeks arrived at New York from which place he went to Philadelphia where he learned the trade of carpet weaver. Two years' work at carpet weaving so impaired his health by close confinement that he sought for physical recuperation by out door labor and engaged in boating on the old canals between Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Baltimore which he followed for twenty five years the last eight years of which time he ran wholesale grocery boat between Philadelphia and Hollidaysburg. The next year (1877) after leaving the canal Mr. Patterson continued the undertaking business. In the same year he formed a partnership with George Fay under the firm name of Fay & Patterson and they dealt in lumber, grain and coal until January 8, 1892 when they dissolved partnership, and Mr. Patterson purchased his partners interest, and had continued successfully in business since. On April 21, 1859 Mr. Patterson married Rebecca daughter of David W. Vinacke of Williamsburg who is fourteen years younger than her husband. To their union have been born twelve children: Mollie, Clara, Samuel, Jennie, Charles, Georgie and George who are dead; and Annie, Florence, James, Rose and Franklin still living. James Patterson was a democrat until 1884 since which time he has been an active prohibitionist. He is a deacon of the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church of which all of his family, except the younger children, are members. Mr. Patterson has been for several years a member of Orphans Home Lodge No. 315, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a trustworthy gentleman thoroughly reliable and highly esteemed. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Michele R. Eyer Chynna10@aol.com DAVID A. RAUGH, an industrious and substantial citizen, and a reliable and prosperous furniture dealer of Bellwood, is a son of Solomon and Hannah (Geissinger) Raugh, and was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1842. The Raughs were among the early German families of eastern Pennsylvania, and Henry Raugh (grandfather) was a native of that part of the State. He settled near the county-seat of Huntingdon county, where he followed farming until his death. He was a carpenter by trade, and married Mary Fink, a native of Huntingdon county, by whom he had a family of eight children, of whom were Jonathan, Sally, and Solomon. Solomon Raugh was born in Woodcock Valley, Huntingdon county, about 1812, followed milling during the active years of his life, and died near Alexandria, in his native county, in February, 1877. He was an industrious man, and a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Hannah Geissinger, a daughter of John Geissinger, a miller and farmer of near McCauleystown, Huntingdon county, who served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and married Hannah Sellers, who lived to see her ninety-fourth birthday. Solomon and Hannah (Geissinger) Raugh reared a family of six sons: John, who was a soldier in the late war and is now dead; William, went west and is now engaged in farming in Iowa; Sellers, a miller by trade, served as a soldier in the 125th Pennsylvania infantry, and is now a resident of Bellwood; James, served in the late Civil War as a private in the 53d Pennsylvania infantry and participated in the Battle of Gettysburg; Oliver M., a coach maker by trade and a resident of Iowa; and David A. David A. Raugh was reared on the farm and attended the common schools. Leaving school he learned the trade of miller, which he followed successfully for thirty years in Huntingdon county and at Bellwood. He came to Bellwood in November, 1882, and in 1891, about five months previous to retiring from milling, he embarked in his present furniture business. His establishment is a two-story structure, 21x50 feet in dimensions, well arranged and heavily stocked with all kinds of parlor, library, dining-room, and office furniture in all the leading and most fashionable designs. Mr. Raugh is a reliable dealer, and the honorable way in which he conducts his business meets the commendation of his patrons. Although but fairly launched in his business, yet his trade is already very flattering and promises to increase to large dimensions in the future. David A. Raugh is a republican in politics, a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Bellwood, and a reliable and successful business man. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Bellwood. Mr. Raugh married Susan Smith, who died and left six children: Mary, who died at eighteen years of age; James, now dead; Carrie, wife of Calvin Elder, of Bellwood; Patience, who married Charles Lytle; Samuel, and Clarence. After his first wife's death Mr. Raugh was united in marriage with Ella Aurandt, and to this second union have been born two children: Daisy and Sellers. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com DANIEL K. REAMEY, the proprietor of the American House at Hollidaysburg, and one of the most widely known and active business men of his section of the county, is a son of Frederick Reamey, and was born at Tyrone Forges, Huntingdon (now Blair) county, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1812. His paternal grandparents came from Alsace, France, and settled near Reading, Berks county, where the father followed his trade of forgeman. Frederick Reamey (father) was five years old when his parents came to Berks county, where he learned the trade of hammerman, which he followed at Tyrone and Spang's Forges, excepting while he served in the War of 1812, until old age compelled him to retire to his farm in Sinking Valley, where he died. In 1806 he married a daughter of Daniel Keller, who built the first mill near Petersburg, and who died at the Falls of the Ohio, at nearly one hundred years of age, after having achieved considerable distinction as an inventor. Mr. and Mrs. Reamey reared a family of twelve children, of whom Daniel K., the subject of this sketch, was the fourth in order of age. Daniel K. Reamey had to assist his parents and did not even receive the privileges of the crude and primitive schools of his boyhood days, but having an ambition to secure an education, he learned to read and write and acquired some knowledge of arithmetic after he attained his majority. By reading and observation he added continually to his stock of knowledge until he became a fair scholar and a well-informed man. When sixteen years old he learned the trade of carpenter under Thomas Maitland, of Birmingham. Afterwards he worked in Philadelphia, Mobile, Alabama, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. In 1836 he went to Hollidaysburg in the employ of Jacob Taylor, carpenter and builder. Two years later he became a master builder himself. Among other structures he built the Hollidaysburg Female Seminary, the seminary at Williamsport, the first courthouse of Blair county, the Lutheran church at Hollidaysburg, and the Methodist Episcopal churches in Hollidaysburg and Altoona. About the year 1856 Mr. Reamey purchased the American House at Hollidaysburg, which he has continuously conducted as a hotel for the last thirty years. He is a man full of energy, as his success in business evidences. Like all men he has his likes and dislikes, his friends and his enemies, and too often was not given credit for his many acts of charity. He is a man who has traveled extensively during his lifetime, having been in every state and territory of the United States, and in Canada, Mexico and South America. About ten years ago he also took an extensive trip through Europe. He can relate many reminiscences of his travels which are both interesting and instructive. In 1844 the bankrupt law swept from him fourteen thousand dollars, and left him five thousand dollars in debt. He refused to take the benefit of that law himself, and afterwards paid every dollar of his indebtedness. At one time in early life Mr. Reamey was captain of the Hollidaysburg Grays, and during the late war gave time and attention and means in aid of the Union cause for which he never would receive any compensation. On June 29, 1842, Mr. Reamey married Mary, daughter of Lazarus Lowry. To this union were born the following surviving children: Mrs. D. D. Horrell, of Henrietta, Pennsylvania; Mrs. L. S. Hoopes, of Hollidaysburg; Lazarus Lowry Reamey, a lieutenant in the United States Navy; and Mary R. Reamey. Mr. Reamey's first wife died October 17, 1870, and he married, in October, 1877, Mary E. Gardner, who is a daughter of Ex-Sheriff Gardner, of Adams county. Daniel K. Reamey is a republican in politics, and has won a competency in life by his own unaided efforts. His success is not phenomenal, yet is remarkable, as few men would have overcome the obstacles which he encountered and mastered in early life. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com WILLIAM C. SNYDER, a man of business ability and successful railway experience, and trainmaster of the Altoona division of the Pennsylvania railroad, is a son of the Rev. Henry and Isabella C. Snyder, and was born at Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1844. The Snyder family is of German descent, and has place among the old families of the United States. His great-grandfather Snyder was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and of the Westmoreland county branch of the Snyder family but meager information can be obtained. Rev. Henry Snyder (father) was born in 1812, in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared and received his education. He united with the Methodist Episcopal church, and was afterward ordained as a minister. He was active and successful in his sacred calling, but according to the system of his church in stationing their ministers, was never stationed more than two years at a time on any circuit. Under this system he served on several circuits in western Pennsylvania and in Ohio, and in 1868, while in charge at Deersville, Ohio, he died at that place, when in the forty-eighth year of his age. He was a republican in politics, and married Isabella Clark, a native of Mt. Pleasant, and a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, who died in 1847, aged thirty-six years. William C. Snyder was principally reared in Uniontown and its vicinity, in Fayette county, this State, and received his education in the common schools. He was engaged in clerical work in the mercantile business until 1877, when he became ticket, freight and express agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Uniontown, which position he held for three years. At the end of that time he was made assistant trainmaster of the Pittsburg division of the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad, and stationed at Conemaugh, where he remained one year. He was then transferred to Altoona, where he held the same position until 1890, when he as made trainmaster of the Altoona division of the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad, and has held that position ever since. On March 6, 1873, Mr. Snyder married Maria E. Litman, daughter of George W. Litman of Uniontown, who was then one of the editors and proprietors of the Genius of Liberty, which ranks among the ablest democratic papers of western Pennsylvania. Mrs. Snyder died during the latter part of 1873 and left one child, a son named Charles, who is still living. Mr. Snyder was re-married, on February 4, 1875, to Jennie E. Barre, of Uniontown, and has two children by his second marriage: Mary L. and Nora V. William C. Snyder is an unswerving democrat in politics, but takes no active part in political matters. He is pre-eminently a business man, and has given his time to business pursuits, in which he has always confined his efforts to the particular line of business in which he was engaged at any time. While unassuming and quiet, yet he is energetic, determined and thoroughgoing in whatever he undertakes. He occupies a position whose duties are now as numerous and important as they ever were in the trying times of war, or during the immense travel of the centennial year. Industry, energy and integrity have been the factors of Mr. Snyder's success in business life. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Christy Stiles ROBERT WARING, who has served as justice of the peace at Tyrone for the third of a century, and has been all active and useful citizen of Blair county for many years, is the second son of William and Ellen (Roberts) Waring, and was born April 22, 1821, in Herefordshire, England. His paternal grandfather, William Waring, was also born in Herefordshire, in the year 1760, but emigrated to America in 1821, and settled on a farm in Decatur township, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. This farm was located just across the county line from Philipsburg, and had been selected by his son, Samuel, the previous year as a home for the family. Mr. Waring married Given Hancorn, a native of Herefordshire, England, by whom he has a family of six children: William (father of Robert), deceased; Edmund, still living; Samuel, deceased; Elizabeth, who married John Dale, and who is also dead; Thomas, lately deceased; and Mary, who became the wife of John Shaw, but is now dead. All these children were born in England, and all except William (father) came to America. William Waring (the grandfather) was a farmer all his life, and died on his farm, near Philipsburg, in January, 1837, at the age of seventy-seven years. He was a member of the Episcopal church, and was instrumental in having a church erected in the town of Philipsburg. There are now more than one hundred and fifty of his descendants residing in the State of Pennsylvania. William Waring (father) was born in Herefordshire, England, in 1794, and was a prosperous farmer of that county, accumulating a competency - which is not an easy thing for an English farmer to do - and retiring from active life many years before his death. He married Ellen Roberts, and to them was born a family of seven children: William G.; Robert, the subject of this sketch; Fanny, who became, the wife of Samuel Graham, of New York city; Mary A., wedded to William Lee, and residing at Milesburg, Centre county, this State; Emma, deceased; Rev. Edmund H., a Methodist minister, of Osceola, Iowa, who is also a phonographer; and Catherine, who married John Eckley, now of Tyrone. In 1855 Mrs. Waring died at her home in Herefordshire, England, and some time later Mr. Waring untied in marriage with Mary Fluck. Robert Waring remained with his father in England until his fourteenth year, when he and his sister, Fanny, came to America, and joined their relatives in New York city. He remained for a time with his uncle Edmund's family, but later became a member of his grandfather's family, in Pennsylvania. He received only a common school training in his youth, but by diligent study and a wide range of reading has added to his early education until he has become a man of broad and comprehensive knowledge. After coming to Pennsylvania he began teaching in the common schools during the winter months, and worked on a farm in the summer time. He remained in Centre county for eighteen years, but in 1851 removed to Tyrone, this county and has resided here ever since. After coming to Blair county he engaged in the nursery business, which he continued until 1865, and in February of that year enlisted in Co. F, 77th Pennsylvania infantry, and served with the Army of the Cumberland until the close of the war. After being discharged he returned home and engaged in farming for a number of years. He is now overseer of Tyrone cemetery, and is also engaged in market gardening to some extent. On the 22d of May, 1845, Mr. Waring was wedded to: Lucy Wheland, a daughter of Michael Wheland, of Penn's Valley, Centre county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Waring was born a family of nine children, five of whom died in infancy. Those living are: R. Newton, a phonographer and bridge designer, now in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in the superintendent's office, at Tyrone; Lucy D., who also studied phonography; May, who attended the New England conservatory of music, at Boston, and is a teacher of vocal and instrumental music; and Luther, who is attending the Lutheran seminary, at Gettysburg, preparing himself for the ministry. In politics Robert Waring was a whig until the Republican party came into existence, when he joined that politic organization. He served as county commissioner from 1863 to 1866, and was jury commissioner in 1867 and 1870. He has been assessor and has been school director of Snyder township for twelve years, and also served as district superintendent of schools when that system was in vogue. The third of a century has passed since he was first elected to the office of justice of the peace in Tyrone, and so satisfactory has been his administration of its duties that his people have regularly re-elected him to the position ever since and he may justly claim to being one of the oldest justices in the State of Pennsylvania. He is member of the Evangelical Lutheran church at Tyrone, and has served it as deacon and elder for a number of years. In his more active days he was a progressive and prominent church worker. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Esther McDermott emamcd@erols.com JOHN H. WEAVER, M.D., a physician of Altoona in active and successful practice, is a son of Henry and Hannah (Rubaker) Weaver, and was born at Luray, Blair county, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1831. His paternal great-grandfather, Jacob Weaver, was of German descent, and served as a fife major in the American Revolution. At the close of that struggle he settled twelve miles west of Philadelphia, where he was approached upon one occasion by an Englishman who wanted to buy his claim against the United States for revolutionary services, but he indignantly declined to accept the offer. He afterwards removed to Centre county, and died at Newry, this county. He was a carpenter and cabinet maker by trade, and was an early settler of the section of Blair county in which he lived. Of his sons, one was Henry Weaver (father), who was born at Newry, Blair county, in 1808, and died in Altoona, December 23, 1877. He was a carpenter and cabinet maker by trade, and in 1867 removed from Newry to Altoona, where he continued to reside up to the time of his death. He was a member of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Altoona, and married Hannah Rubaker, who was a daughter of Abraham Rubaker, and died in 1872. They reared a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters: Dr. John H.; Margaret; Samuel, a carpenter of Whitesville, who served as a soldier in the Federal Army during the late Civil War; Philip, who also served in the Federal Army; Eliza; Jane; Mary Martha, and Calvin B., who resides at Allegheny Furnace, this county. John H. Weaver grew to manhood in his native neighborhood, and received his education in the common schools. He read medicine for a few months with Dr. Stewart, of Perryville, Jefferson county, and in 1861 came to Altoona, where he was engaged in building operations for some time. He then resumed his medical studies under the tutelage of Dr. Finley, and at the end of eighteen months entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1873. Immediately after graduation he returned to Altoona and practiced until 1874, when he went to Claysburg, where he remained five years. At the end of that time he returned to Altoona, where he has been in active practice ever since, excepting the year 1887, which he spent in Caroline county, Maryland, in which he had purchased a large farm about the commencement of that year. Dr. Weaver is a republican in politics, and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Altoona. Dr. John H. Weaver married Susanna C. Blose, daughter of George Blose, of Westmoreland county. To Dr. and Mrs. Weaver have been born five children, three sons and two daughters: Martin Luther, who married Maggie Zeth, and is a farmer and fruit grower of Caroline county, Maryland; Maria Marinda, wife of Samuel S. Richards, of Altoona, who is agent for the Bear Creek Oil Refining company; George, who died young; Mary Jane, married to Samuel L. Shaw, a saddler and harness maker by trade; and Charles H., who died young. Transcribed and submitted to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Lisa McLaughlin lmclaughlin3@neo.rr.com