BIO: Thomas H. HARTER, Centre County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by JRB Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/ http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/1picts/commbios/comm-bios.htm _______________________________________________________________________ Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania: Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Etc. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1898. _______________________________________________________________________ 160 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. THOMAS H. HARTER. A definite purpose in life, pursued with resolute, vigorous will, is the distinguishing mark of a successful career, and no one who reads the following biography can fail to join the many friends of the able and energetic editor of the Keystone Gazette, of Bellefonte, in their confidence in his future. Mr. Harter's early perception of the path best suited to his talents was the first step, and a most important one, in the pathway to prosperity and honor, and his alert, forceful and judicious use of all the resources at hand has already. placed him in a position to command success. A ready writer, an efficient manager, and a thoughtful student of every phase of human life and effort, he is well equipped for his chosen work, and we may add also that his characteristic honesty - fearless, outspoken, clear- sighted honesty - has had much to do with his building up and maintaining his influence. Mr. Harter belongs to a representative "Pennsylvania-Dutch" family, and his history is an in- COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 161 teresting one. He was born May 28, 1854, at Aaronsburg, Centre county, upon a farm which formerly belonged to his grandfather, Andrew Harter, a pioneer of what is now Haines township, Centre county, who came from Lancaster county, Penn., about the year 1800, and located at the lower end of Penn's Valley in the primeval forest, clearing and improving his property after the custom of that early day. For some twelve years a blanket took the place of a door in his humble home, and oiled paper served as glass for the windows. Wild beasts from the surrounding woods were frequent visitors, and one night his large bull-dog was thrown over the fence by one. Andrew Harter and his wife, Sallie (Rupp), had seven children: George (who died in Penn township, Centre county), Andrew, Jacob, William, John, Mrs. Henry Swartz and Mrs. George Noyer. William Harter, our subject's father, was born at the old homestead near Aaronsburg in 1812, and passed his life there in agricultural pursuits, his death occurring in 1885. He was a Democrat in politics, and in religious faith was a Lutheran. He married Miss Rebecca Hess, who was born in Penn's Valley, Haines township, Centre county, in 1815, and is still living in Aaronsburg. Our subject was one of twelve children: (1) Israel, a resident of Canal Fulton, Ohio; (2) Anna (Mrs. Fred Kurtz), of Centre Hall, Penn.; (3) Jonathan, a retired farmer in Millheim; (4) Sarah (Mrs. Mench), who resides at the old homestead; (5) John, a resident of Osceola, Crawford Co., Ohio; (6) William, a butcher at Hartertown, Union Co., Penn.; (7) Daniel, a tanner at Smithville, Ohio; (8) Rebecca (Mrs. Levi Murray), of Centre Hall; (9) Andrew, a tanner at Rockford, Ill.; (10) Aaron, the chief engineer of the Harrisburg electric light works; (11) Thomas H., our subject; and (12) Kate (Mrs. Samuel Campbell), of Millheim. The eldest of these is upward of sixty years of age, and the youngest thirty-six, all living, only one death having occurred in the family in sixty years. Thomas Harter's education was not obtained without difficulty, as his parents objected to much learning for fear that it "might make him a rascal." Perhaps we may find here the basis of that sensitive conscience, inherited and developed, which makes him so careful to avoid the least misrepresentation as to known facts. Conscious of his own rectitude, and not sharing his parents' fear of perversion, the lad kept up his search for knowledge, obtaining his books by employing his spare moments on the farm in the service of others. He attended school until 1871, when he went to Smithville, Ohio, to learn the tanner's trade with his brother Dan, and while there he pursued his studies at the Smithville Normal School. On his return in 1872, he learned the printer's art with his brother-in-law, Hon. Fred Kurtz, of the Centre Hall Reporter, and then attended Penn Hall Academy for a year. In 1876 he purchased the Nevada, Ohio, Enterprise, a weekly paper of limited circulation, which he soon established on a paying basis. But he longed to plant his feet on his "native heath," and in 1882 he sold the Enterprise and bought the Post, of Middleburg, Snyder county. This also was in an unsatisfactory condition, but his industry and zeal again worked wonders, and the paper soon came to be recognized as one of the most sprightly and interesting of its class. The advertising increased, and the Post was enjoying well-earned prosperity, when, desiring a wider field, Mr. Harter disposed of it and, in March, 1894, purchased the Keystone Gazette, at a bargain. His success there was a certainty from the first, and the increased popularity of the paper is no surprise to those who knew the efficiency of its new proprietor and editor. Mr. Harter is the author of the famous "Boonastiel" letters, in the Pennsylvania-Dutch dialect, which were begun in the Middleburg Post, and later published in book form in answer to a demand from the public for their preservation in accessible form. As a critic has said, it is a volume of legend, story and song, full of fun and philosophy, and every chapter points a moral or adorns a tale. One thousand copies have been issued, and a second edition will soon be prepared which will, no doubt, be illustrated. In 1876 Mr. Harter married Miss Mary Izora Musser, daughter of James Musser, a well-known citizen of Harterton, Union county. In his political affiliations our subject is a Republican, but although firm in that faith he has never taken part in partisan work as a candidate for office, wishing to deal with the principles rather than the machinery of the organization. Socially, he is a member of the F. & A.M. His chief recreation is hunting and fishing, for which he has inherited a liking, and his cheery nature is always ready to take advantage of the pleasures which lie within his reach.