BIO: John C. DIEHL, Clearfield County, PA
 
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From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania,
and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr.,
Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, page 733.
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  JOHN C. DIEHL, justice of the peace, a general farmer in Chest township, and a 
leading factor in Democratic politics in this section, was born August 28, 1861, 
in Greenfield township, Blair county, Pa., and is a son of Samuel and Mary 
(Mock) Diehl, and a grandson of John Diehl, whose father had founded the family 
in Blair county.
  Samuel Diehl was born April 19, 1839, in Greenwood township, Blair county, 
where he followed farming and lumbering until 1886, when he came to Clearfield 
county and established a blacksmith shop and to some extent continued to be 
interested in lumbering in Chest township.  His death occurred January 2, 1910, 
while visiting a son a Tyrone.  He was a member of the Lutheran church.  He 
married Mary Mock, who was born in May, 1840, and was a daughter of Joseph and 
Mary Mock, who were born in Bedford County, Pa., and a granddaughter of Mary 
Ritchie.  To Samuel Diehl and wife the following children were born:  George M., 
of Cambria County; Joseph, of Tyrone, Pa.; Fred, of Chest Township; Frank, of 
Beccaria Township; Edward, of Irvona, Pa.; Blair, of Jordan Township; Mary Jane, 
wife of E. Kearns, of Cambria County; Catherine, wife of E. F. Claar, of Bedford 
County; and Rosanna M., wife of George Arford, of Puritan, Pa.
  John C. Diehl attended school through boyhood in Blair County and for some 
thirteen years afterward was engaged in work in the woods near Altoona and then 
engaged in lumbering and farming on the Frank Campbell place in Chest Township.  
He then moved to Wilson Run and built a sawmill there which he subsequently sold 
and in 1893 built a second mill, near North Camp, which he operated for three 
years.  After selling that mill he settled down to farming on his present place 
in Chest Township, where he has a well improved property and is in the enjoyment 
of a large degree of comfort.
  Mr. Diehl was married to Miss Margaret Miles, who was born in May, 1866, in 
Jordan Township, Clearfield County, and is a daughter of George I. and Elizabeth 
(Leonard) Miles, who came from Center County to Clearfield County and settled in 
Chest Township.  To Mr. and Mrs. Diehl eleven children were born, namely:  
Samuel M., who lives in Cambria County, married Cora McGarvey, and they have one 
child; Jonas who assists his father; Ward, who is a resident of Irvona, Pa.; and 
Dana K., Mary Elizabeth, Evida A., Robert L., Ralph, Laura J., Melvin G. and 
Chester Calvin, all of whom are residing at home.
  Mr. Diehl has been an active and interested citizen ever since coming to Chest 
Township.  He has always endeavored to bring about improvement and progress in 
the public schools and has served on the school board at different times, has 
also been constable and township supervisor, and in 1907 was elected a justice 
of the peace in Chest Township.