BIOGRAPHY: Dr. George A. SLICK, Cambria County, PA 

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From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 476-8
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DR. GEORGE A. SLICK, one of Johnstown's leading dentists, is a son of George R. 
and Mary A. (Cressman) Slick, and was born in Johnstown, this county, March 14, 
1868. His great-grandfather, John Slick, was a native of Frederick city, 
Maryland, of Swiss-German lineage. At an early day in the history of the county, 
he removed to St. Clair township, Bedford county, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer 
by avocation and a man of fine physique. William Slick, grandfather of the 
subject of this biographical sketch, was born in Frederick city, about the time 
of the Declaration of Independence in America, and died in Johnstown in 1866, at 
the advanced age of ninety-three years. He came into what is now Cambria county 
in 1806, and purchased a considerable tract of land, upon which is now located 
that portion of the city of Johnstown extending from Market square to the 
"Point," or the confluence of Stony creek and the Conemaugh river. He was a 
tanner by trade, and built and operated a tannery, which was located upon the 
present site of the Carnegie Free Library. He sold out in 1812 and removed to 
the present site of Geistown, three miles southeast of Johnstown. This section 
was then a wilderness. He purchased a large tract of land, and with 
characteristic pioneer industry and determination began the clearing of a farm 
and the establishment of a home. Upon this farm he lived until 1866, when he 
disposed of his land, which at that time consisted of three large farms, and 
removed to Johnstown, where he spent the remainder of his days. He was an old-
line whig, politically, but became a republican upon the organization of that 
party in 1856. He was a man of many strong traits of character, a great reader, 
and possessing a peculiarly retentive memory he became the possessor of a great 
store of information of an historical nature. Of strictly temperate and moral 
habits, his services and counsels were frequently sought in matters requiring 
calm judgment, and for at least twenty years served as justice of the peace of 
Richland township. He was a believer in the religious tenets of the sect of John 
Wesley, and the first class of Methodism ever established in Cambria county was 
in his home, on December 25, 1827.
     He was twice married. His first marital union was with Rebecca Hemphill, 
who died in 1846, and in 1847 he married Rachel Benson, widow of William Benson. 
His children were of the first union and were as follows Annie; Eliza, was the 
wife of William Makin; Robert, died at the age of twenty-six years of smallpox; 
John, Benjamin Franklin, uncle of our subject, whose sketch appears elsewhere; 
William, a surveyor of Johnstown; Nancy, wife of John Amsbough; Julia, wife of 
Robert E. Rodgers; Rebecca, died young; Joseph, a resident of Johnstown, and 
George R., the father of the subject of this sketch.
     George R. Slick was born in Geistown in 1829, and died June 4, 1889, a 
victim of the memorable flood of that year. He received his education in the old 
subscription schools of his boyhood days. At an early age he learned the trade 
of a puddler, and followed it during the primitive days of its existence, when 
the old-style methods were in vogue. Politically he was a republican.
     He married Mary A. Crissman, who was born May 20, 1827, and died April 18, 
1896. Her father, Andrew Crissman, was one of the early pioneer settlers of 
Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and died in New Paris, that county. He was a 
farmer, and in politics was a staunch democrat of the old Jeffersonian type. He 
was a man of excellent judgment, had a keen insight into business affairs, and 
was eminently successful in all his undertakings.
     Dr. Slick is one of a family of four children, three boys and one girl: 
Wellington R., a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the employ of Henry 
C. Roelof, a hat manufacturer of that city; Harry W., general manager of the 
Singer Manufacturing company in Johnstown; Fannie S., the wife of John M. Rose, 
an attorney of Johnstown and an ex-member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and 
George A.
     George A. Slick received his early education in the public schools. On 
leaving school he entered the employ of the Cambria Iron company as a clerk in 
the time office, and later as a clerk in the general office, remaining with this 
company about six years. He then registered as a student in the Pennsylvania 
College of Dental Surgery at Philadelphia, from which institution he graduated 
March 8, 1894. He immediately located in Johnstown, where he has since practiced 
his chosen profession with uniform success. He is a member of the C. N. Pierce 
Dental society and the Phi Sigma Dental fraternity, and was secretary of the 
class in which he graduated, and in political affairs supports the principles of 
the Republican party. In June, 1896, he celebrated his marriage with Miss 
Stineman, a daughter of the Hon. Jacob C. Stineman, a member of one of the old 
and representative families of the county, whose sketch will be found elsewhere 
in this work.