BIO: John WOLF, Centre County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by JO Copyright 2009. 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. _____________________________________________________________________ JOHN WOLF, a representative and prominent citizen of Potter township, Centre county, was born August 21, 1824, upon a farm near Sprucetown, where the birth of his father occurred October 22, 1796. The family, which is quite numerous in Penn's Valley, was founded in Centre county, by Peter Wolf, the great-grandfather of our subject, who came from Carlisle, Penn., in the latter part of the seventeenth century. He had previously visited what is now Centre county, and being impressed with the locality returned to Cumberland county, where he owned considerable property, 292 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. which he at once disposed of with the intention of buying in Centre county. He received Continental money for his property in Cumberland, and by the time he got to Penn's Valley he found it was worthless to pay for his land there. He located in the portion of Potter township which was known as Wolf's Den, wild wolves being very plentiful in that neighborhood, and with the aid of his family succeeded by improvement in securing a home. The deed to the land was obtained by Abraham Wolf, June 18, 1810 (after the death of his father), grandfather of our subject, and a portion of it is now in the possession of John Wolf, the subject of this review. Abraham Wolf, who throughout life followed the occupation of farming, was married in Cumberland county, Penn., to a Miss Shauffner, and to them were born seven children - three sons and four daughters - namely: (1) Catharine, who married (first) John Hennigh, and (second) Phillip Grove. There was one daughter by her second marriage, who when about seventeen years of age, along with two other children, during the absence of their parents in Penn's Valley, at a camp meeting, was burned to death, their house it is supposed being set on fire by some men who were fishing at night by the aid of light from pine knots. Mrs. Grove, some years after her husband's death, went to live with her son, Jacob Hennigh, in Illinois, and there died. (2) Peter was the father of our subject. (3) Peggy married John Decker, and died in Potter township. (4) Jacob's death occurred in Illinois. (5) Polly K. married James McBride, and died in Venango county, Penn. (6) John, who was twice married, died in Kansas. His first wife was Mary Wagner, a cousin of our subject (daughter of his mother's sister); she died when her first child, a daughter, was born, and both were buried in one coffin. They resided at Sprucetown, Penn., and the interment was made in Egghill cemetery, the second grave made there. (7) Elizabeth married Samuel Friese, and resides in Wisconsin. The parents of this family passed away in Centre county, and lie buried in what is now known as Tusseyville cemetery (then the Loop cemetery), Potter township. Peter Wolf, the father, was a weaver by trade, which occupation he followed through the winter season, while in the summer he engaged in farming. He married Sally Ream, of Penn township, Centre county, after which he located upon the old home farm of his father (at that time deceased), taking the farm at the appraisement. Here his wife died in 1831, and her remains were interred in Tusseyville cemetery. To this marriage there were born five children: Mary, who married Samuel Harter, and died in Iowa; Margaret, the wife of George Newcomer, of Iowa; John, the subject of this sketch; George a prominent citizen of Freeport, Ill., who served for one term as judge in Stephenson county, and died in September, 1896; and Peter, a resident of Dakota, Ill. After the death of his first wife, the father married Catharine Karr, of Union county, Penn., who also died on the old homestead, and lies buried at Egghill. Two children were born to this union: Leah, who died when young; and Catharine (now Mrs. Thomas Toot), of Bellefonte, Penn. After the death of his second wife, the father broke up housekeeping, and died at the home of his son, Peter, near Dakota, Ill., at the age of eighty-six years. He was a tall, robust man, and was successful in his farming operations, succeeding in accumulating a comfortable competence. In early life he was a Lutheran, but later joined the Albright Church; in politics he regularly supported the Democratic party. John Wolf began his education at the Long Bridge school, in Potter township, under the instruction of Timothy Ladd, who came from the State of Maine. He was a cripple, and had always to keep his seat, being unable to walk. Mr. Ladd returned to Maine, and lived to be ninety-six years of age. This was a subscription school. The first free school that Mr. Wolf attended was at Egghill, one of the best country schools of the township, his teacher, at that time, being William Toner. When about seventeen years of age, he left home to learn the cabinet-maker's trade, in Millheim, under Samuel Harter. During his apprenticeship of two and one-half years, he received only his board and clothes and a two-weeks' vacation in harvest, at which interval he worked for fifty cents per day, thus securing spending money. For some time he continued to follow that trade, and when it was dull, he worked at carpentering. He went to Pittsburg, Penn., after the big fire there, in the spring of 1845, but not finding desirable employment, he, along with five other men and a woman, went by boat to Cincinnati, Ohio. The fare from Pittsburg to Cincinnati was seventy-five cents each, and provisions twenty-five cents each, the trip, which occupied two days and two nights, thereby costing the party one dollar apiece, the woman doing the cooking for them, and at the end of their journey they still had some provisions left over. While in Cincinnati Mr. Wolf worked for one week for his board; then he worked tow weeks in Dayton, Ohio, and after paying for his board had just $2.25 left. Later he found employment in COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 293 the harvest fields in Perry county, Ohio, at fifty cents per day. From Ohio he went with another man, helping him for his expense in taking horses to Washington, D.C., where he had the pleasure of seeing President Polk, and from there he returned on foot to his old home in Potter township. To this Mr. Wolf adds the following: "On my way from Ohio to Washington, D.D., I traveled through Maryland and Virginia, and was there an eyewitness to some of the effects of slavery. I saw one woman and her daughter (about eight years old) driven away, while the husband and father had to remain behind. The little girl cried for her 'papa' to go along, but not being sold with the 'lot', he could not go. It was this selling and breaking up families that was so hard for the poor slaves, otherwise they were cared for better than the free negroes, or even most poor white people are". While on this trip Mr. Wolf saw the first railroad cars that his eyes ever beheld. They were on the road from Baltimore to Cumberland, Md. In the spring of 1846 he went to Freeport, Ill., in company with his sister Margaret, and her husband, finding board and doing the cooking on the way, the journey being made in a wagon. Their trip was one that took them six weeks to make. This route was by way of Chicago, in which city they passed along Lake street, which was the muddiest piece of road on the route from Centre Hill, Penn., to Freeport, Ill. During the summer at Freeport he assisted in roofing the first brick house in the city. During the following winter and spring he worked at the carpenter's trade in Plainfield, Will Co., Ill., for $10 per month and board, and in 1847 went with surveyors to the Black river valley in Wisconsin, before that State had been admitted to the Union, and while there were still Indians there. The country was very wild, the party walking for days and days through dense pine forests and over swamps. In the fall of 1847 Mr. Wolf returned to Potter township, Centre Co., Penn., where, on January 1, 1852, he was married to Miss Rebecca P. Sankey, who was born in 1828, in Nittany Valley, Clinton county, a daughter of James and Rebecca (Pennington) Sankey. Three children blessed their union: (1) Virginia, wife of David R. Sweetwood, of Potter township; they have four children - Charles M., Franklin W., Jennie A. and Verna C. (2) James, who died at the age of twenty-three years. (3) Sally, who was twice married, the first time to James Lee, by whom she had one son - Rufus Lee; her second husband is Jacob Kamp, of Lock Haven, Penn., by whom she has two children - Edna C. and John W. The mother of this family died in December, 1876, and was buried in the Sprucetown cemetery. Later, the father married Miss Jennie E. Kohler, and they have one child - Mary M., at home. Our subject had purchased property near the Sprucetown Church, where for two years after his first marriage he made his home working at carpentering, then removing to a farm owned by his father, and located in the northwest part of Potter township. On this farm, years before the Indians left the Valley, they killed a white man and took a young lady a prisoner. During the eleven years he resided on that place, Mr. Wolf followed farming exclusively. In 1865 he purchased a portion of the old Wolf homestead near Sprucetown Church, and erected thereon good and substantial buildings, where he continued to reside until his removal, in 1890, to his present place adjoining the farm. Tenting his farm, he has now practically laid aside business cares, and is enjoying a well- earned rest. Mr. Wolf began life without means, and may properly be numbered among the self-made men of Centre county, who have attained a good position among their fellow citizens by the exercise of their native resolution and industry. At the time he started for Illinois he had just thirteen dollars in money to go on. To secure a competence he has also kept in view the good of the community, and he is one of the first men to be approached in the inauguration of any enterprise tending to build up the township and the welfare of its people. He cast one of the only two votes deposited in Potter township for Fremont in 1856, and also supported Lincoln at each election; but for the past twenty years he has been a Prohibitionist. During the Civil war (in the last draft made in 1865) he was drafted, but sent another man in his place, paying him $550. He keeps himself well posted in regard to current events, especially matters pertaining to prohibition, and justly deserves to be numbered among the honored and valued residents of Centre county. He has never united with any Church. The following account of a trip made by Mr. Wolf, as one of a surveying party, from Freeport, Ill., into Wisconsin in 1847 when the country was new, in thus graphically described by him: "We started from Freeport, Ill., went on foot with two horses with pack-saddles to the Mississippi river, which we crossed on a ferry-boat to Dubuque, Iowa. We had to wait there nearly a week before there was any boat going up the river. While there I saw the first Indians coming east to Indiana, where they had a Reserve. The chief could talk some English and told us there was no game in Iowa, and couldn't 294 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. live there. They crossed the river on the ferryboat, which required several trips. After the first load had gone the chief knew what the price was for each Indian, pony and so on. He then got his money ready for the next load, and he appealed to Mr. Strohm, who was also from Centre county, Penn., and myself to see whether he was correct in his count, and said to us 'whiteman will cheat Indian.' We finally got a chance to go on a steamboat as far up the river as LaCrosse, Wis., which was as far as the boat went. We had to stay there several days (As boats seldom went farther up the river). At that point, and at that time there were seven little buildings only, in all were kept flour, whiskey and some few groceries. The day after we arrived at LaCrosse, we were looking around, and were told by those keeping one of the largest stores there, that all of them were out of flour and whiskey. The day before when the boat came they all got a new supply, and he had retailed one barrel of whiskey and half a barrel of flour, mostly to the Indians, as there were scarcely and white people at that place. The boss of our party hired a small boat, about thirty feet long, which we pushed along with long poles, which reached the bottom of the river. There was one place the water was so deep that we could not reach the bed of the river and we had to cross over to the Iowa side, and had to paddle the boat with our hands and with little bits of boards that happened to be on the boat. We were taken some distance down stream and the same occurred in getting back to the Wisconsin side, where we found the mouth of the Black river. "The second evening after, on Black river, we stopped to get our supper, there came a few Indians to us and wanted some whiskey, but we had none. We had two barrels of mess-pork, which they thought were barrels of whiskey, so we had some trouble to make them understand the situation as they could not speak English, and we couldn't talk to them only by motions. They could say 'whiskey,' and would point to the barrels and to their mouths. They went away, but soon returned and brought a few more Indians with them, and a large fish weighing about thirty pounds, and also about a gallon of whortleberries which they wanted to trade for whiskey. We showed them the barrel of port that we had opened, but they insisted for us to open to other barrel. Finally we got them convinced that we had no whiskey. We gave them some pork, bread and some money for the fish and berries, and then they left in peace. After we got up the river we stopped at a lumber camp and then we went about seven miles south of the river where some surveyors had been before we went there. They had run the land into townships, and we were to run the section lines. At one place we got on a high ridge, one side of which was straight up and down, and on looking around to see the sights I stepped on a big rock that lay nearly on a balance over- hanging the other rocks. This nearly pitched me over, but I stepped back and told Strohm that it wouldn't take much to tumble it over, which we did with very little lifting, and when it struck below it broke into many pieces, which we could see rolling down into the valley. I just thought we would put it out of the way for somebody might go there some time, and step on it as I did, and tumble over. Well we did not finish the surveying as one of our men got hurt in one of his legs, and we had nothing with us to doctor him with, so the boss took him to the river, and he went home. After this I did his work (which was that of flagman) and my own, too (which was marking lines and corners). About a week later one of the chain carriers ran away. He went to the Black river, where he picked up a little boat and went back to Galena, Ill. Mr. Strohm and I helped him away without the boss knowing it, we were both tired of the job; then we could not go on with the work, so the four of us that were left started for Freeport, Ill., on foot with the two horses. We were four days in getting to the first little settlement, and we had only taken provision for three days, the distance being some ninety miles, so the last day we had nothing but coffee. The settlers were out of flour, but had a little cornmeal and milk, so we had mush and milk for supper. The settlers had sixty miles to go for flour. The next day we got to another settlement and soon were provided for." The reason for Mr. Wolf's going to Illinois was that in the east there was little work to be found at such wages as would satisfy him. Wages were low. He had been offered work at his trade at eight dollars per month, but he was to furnish his own tools, and was required to pay his board on Sundays, and his laundry. He had been offered six dollars a month and board to drive a team, but this he declined as the hours were long - from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. - with other unsatisfactory features about it. This was in the spring on 1846. That same year, while in Chicago, he applied to a cabinet-maker for work, and was offered employment at piece work as follows: for making a breakfast table, seventy-five cents; for making a bedstead, forty cents; and all other kinds of work in proportion. At that time it took a workman two days or longer COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 295 to make a table, so Mr. Wolf figured that at such prices he could make about thirty-eight cents per day. These prices were without board and lodging, which was three dollars per week. On Mr. Wolf's stating that he did not see how men could work for such prices, his reply, in substance, was that foreigners coming to that city would do it as they could live on about five cents a day. Mr. Wolf could then do about as much work as any other man, but he could not live on five cents a day or compete with men who did.