BIO: Alfred James HARBER, 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, pages 945 & 946.
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  ALFRED JAMES HARBER,* a successful merchant and representative citizen of 
Blain City, Pa., was born July 15, 1859, at St. Augustine, Cambria county, Pa., 
and is a son of Henry and Anna Maria (Cramer) Harber.
  Henry Harber was a carpenter by trade and in his day was considered an expert 
and skillful workman.  He built the first Catholic church at St. Augustine, and 
later engaged there in the hotel business.  He died in 1869.  He married Anna 
Maria Cramer, who was born in October, 1821, and still survives.  Of the family 
of twelve children born to Henry Harber and his wife, Alfred James is the 
youngest and there are three sons and three daughters living.  Kate is the wife 
of F. S. Burgone, of Ashville; Christiana is the wife of Henry Shepherd, a 
merchant at Homestead; Peter is a farmer in Dakota; and Robert is a painter at 
DuBois.  The parents came from Germany about 1839 and lived in the city of New 
York for a short time and moved from there to Cambria County, Pa., and later to 
Williamsport and Altoona.  The father died at St. Louis, Mo., and the mother 
lives with her youngest son.
  Alfred James Harber attended the public schools at Altoona, to which place the 
family moved after leaving St. Augustine, and afterward worked in a blacksmith 
shop there until 1883, when he came to Blain City.  Here he embarked in the 
general mercantile business, on his present site, and in point of time engaged, 
is the oldest merchant in the place.  He has devoted himself very closely to the 
development of this business, has carefully watched markets and has kept closely 
in touch with the wants and tastes of his customers with the result that he has 
prospered.
  Mr. Harber was married in 1879 to Miss Edith Grenoder, who was born at 
Altoona, a daughter of Martin and Eva Grenoder, and five sons and one daughter 
have been born to them, namely:  Joseph, who is a telegraph operator, residing 
at Irvona, Pa., married Mame Clarkson; Leo Martin, who is a telegraph operator, 
resides at Bellwood; Esther Christina, who is a teacher in the Blain City public 
schools; Alfred J., who is a student at St. Vincent College, Beatty, is captain 
of the college base ball team; and Clair and Claud, both of whom are in school.  
Mr. Harber and family are communicants of St. Basil's Catholic church, at Blain 
City.  He is a member of the Brotherhood of America and of St. George's Society.  
In politics a Democrat, he has been something of a leader in this section in his 
party, served four years as postmaster, during the first administration of the 
late President Cleveland and for four years was treasurer of Beccaria township.  
Both as a business man and as a personal factor, Mr. Harber stands high in the 
estimation of his fellow citizens.