BIOGRAPHY: Abel LLOYD, 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. 172-3
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ABEL LLOYD, an influential citizen of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, and a grandson of 
the Rev. Rees Lloyd whose history appears above, is a son of John and Jane 
(Tibbott) Lloyd.
     The father of Abel Lloyd was born in Wales in all probability and was 
brought to Ebensburg, where he was left by his father who went west and died in 
Ohio. The son, who continued to live in Ebensburg, was a wheelwright of 
considerable mechanical skill, and employed himself in making old-fashioned 
spinning wheels and reels. He also showed a superior knowledge of electricity 
for his day.
     In religion he was first a Congregationalist, and afterwards a member of 
the Christian church. He was a democrat and prominent in the political life of 
his section, having served as county commissioner and as the first postmaster at 
Ebensburg.
     His family consisted of the following children: John, died young; Rachel, 
died while a child; Jane, who married Richard Evans; Rees J., who lived and died 
in Ebensburg; Abel, the subject of this sketch; and John, a merchant, whose 
sketch appears elsewhere.
     Abel Lloyd was educated in the common schools and at the Ebensburg academy. 
When a young man he learned the trade of a cabinetmaker, but he never followed 
it. For one year he taught school in Cambria township, the next year he engaged 
in the mercantile business in Ebensburg, and the next he was employed as a 
salesman and manager at what was then known as No. 4, on the old Portage road, 
in this county.
     Later he took a position with a large commercial house in Pittsburg, where 
he remained about seven years, when the company with which he was connected took 
the Conemaugh and Johnstown furnaces, in which they had a large interest, in 
order to protect themselves against loss. Mr. Lloyd was sent to these furnaces 
as a general superintendent, and there he introduced several new ideas which 
were successful and which contributed to a large degree toward the advancement 
of the enterprise.
     Afterward he removed to Ebensburg where he has lived ever since. In 1861, 
when the Ebensburg and Cresson railroad was being constructed, he was chosen 
secretary and director, and managed the grading, etc. The Pennsylvania company 
leased the road for nine hundred and ninty-nine years, agreeing to operate it 
whether it paid or not.
     Mr. Lloyd was chosen by the Pennsylvania company as their agent, and has 
remained in that capacity to the present time. In addition to this he has been 
largely engaged in real-estate and other speculations. One of the most important 
of these ventures was the building of the large summer hotel in Ebensburg near 
the station.
     Prior to the Civil War, Mr. Lloyd was a democrat and took an active part in 
the Douglas, Breckenridge campaign, but the issues of the war caused him to 
transfer his influence to the Republican party.
     Now, however, he is independent in politics. It was during the aforesaid 
campaign that he was elected county commissioner, serving the full term with 
credit to himself and entire satisfaction to the public. Aside from this he has 
never sought nor held office.
     He is a member of Summit Lodge, No. 312, at Ebensburg, of Oriental 
Commandery, No. 60, and the Knights Templar, at Johnstown, being a charter 
member of the latter, and honored and respected in all his fraternal relations. 
The wife of Mr. Lloyd was Ann Gardner, a lady of English extraction, who resided 
in Pittsburg at the time of her marriage.
     To their union have been born the following children: Mary J., wife of Carl 
Rivinius, a jeweler of Ebensburg; J. Gardner, a man of large political 
following, who is at present serving his third term as county commissioner of 
Cambria county; Maggie A., married to F. A. Speller, agent of the Pennsylvania 
railroad, at Shadyside, Pennsylvania; Ann, married to Mathiot Reade, an attorney 
of Ebensburg; Isabella and Martha, who live at home; Abel, Jr., an employee of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad company and William, deceased.
     The facts of a man's life are the best evidence of his character. The facts 
in the life of our subject show him to be a self-made man of upright character, 
universal ability, and of great influence in his community.