BIO: Thomas A. APPLEBY, Huntingdon 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/pafiles.htm ********************************************************** __________________________________________________________________ Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley: Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry, Pennsylvania, Containing Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and Many of the Early Settlers. Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, pages 353-355. __________________________________________________________________ THOMAS A. APPLEBY, Mount Union, Huntingdon county, Pa., was born May 2, 1843, son of the late John and Priscilla (Montague) Appleby. His great-grandfather, John Appleby (1), was of English ancestry, came to Pennsylvania before the Revolutionary war and settled in the Tuscarora valley two miles east of Shade Gap, Dublin township, Huntingdon county. His occupation was that of a farmer, and he experienced all the dangers and privations of frontier life. He was one of the original contributors to the fund raised in October, 1808, to support the Presbyterian church at Shade Gap, of which he was one of the original members. John Appleby (2) grandfather of Thomas A. Appleby, was born about 1782, two miles east of Shade Gap. He was reared on the home place and made farming the occupation of his life. His wife, Mary Moreland, was a native of Ireland. Their children were: William, who married Elizabeth Speer; Thomas, who died aged twenty-two years; John; Alexander, who resides near Shade Gap; Mary (Mrs. Henry Likely); Ann Eliza (Mrs. John Taylor); Margaret Ellen, resides near Shade Gap; and Rosanna, who died young. The only ones now living are Alexander and Margaret Ellen. Mr. Appleby was a Presbyterian, and like his father, was subscriber to the fund raised in 1808 to support the church at Shade Gap, of which he was an elder. He died about 1852, aged seventy years. His wife died in 1870, aged eighty-nine years and six months. John Appleby (3), father of Thomas A., was born in 1813, on the old family homestead near Shade Gap. He was brought up on the farm and received a common school education. In his young manhood he learned carpentry, at which he worked for a number of years, and then purchased a farm in the neighborhood of his boyhood home, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted the remaining years of his life. He died July 14, 1856, from the effects of a kick of a horse. He was a Whig, but joined the Republican party at its organization. He held various township offices, among them being those of supervisor and of school director. He was a member, and for a number of years previous to his death, a deacon of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Appleby married Priscilla, daughter of Daniel and Jane (Cluggage) Montague. Daniel Montague was born near Orbisonia, Pa., and was of Scotch descent. His wife, Jane Cluggage, was a daughter to Thomas Cluggage. Her father, Thomas Cluggage, and uncle, Robert Cluggage, were officers in the Revolutionary army. The deceased children of Daniel and Jane (Cluggage) Montague were: Priscilla; Alexander; Isabella; Daniel; Nancy; Margaret; James; and Jonathan. Those living are as follows: George, who resides in Illinois; Thomas, who resides near Shade Gap; and Rebecca (Mrs. John B. Peterson), who lives near Burnt Cabins, Pa. John and Priscilla (Montague) Appleby were the parents of the following named children: Daniel C., who served as a lieutenant of Company I, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was wounded at the battle of North Anna; Thomas A.; John S., now steward of the Huntingdon county poor-house, at Shirleysburg, Pa.; James M., of Mount Union; and George S., postmaster of Decorum, Huntingdon county, Pa. Mrs. Appleby died June 20, 1892, aged seventy-seven years. Like her husband, she was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church and led the life of a sincere Christian. Thomas A. Appleby attended the common schools of his native township in his youth, and also took a course in Milnwood Academy, which he completed when he was twenty years old. On September 1, 1864, he enlisted in Company K, Two Hundred and Second Pennsylvania Volunteers, served under the Stars and Stripes for nearly a year and was honorable discharged August 3, 1865. During the winter that followed he served his country no less effectually, though less conspicuously, in the school room as a teacher. In 1866 he became a clerk for the firm of Blair & Appleby, general merchants at Shade Gap. In 1867 he came to Mount Union and embarked in business as a partner in the firm of B. X. Blair & Co. After two years the firm was changed to Blair & Appleby, by the retirement of D. C. Appleby, a brother of Thomas A. Appleby, the latter continuing as a partner of the firm until 1876. In 1869 he was appointed postmaster of Mount Union, and held the office until 1885. In 1883 he embarked in business for himself, and during the years since intervening, has built up a large trade. He carries on a general store, and is one of the oldest merchants in Mount Union. Mr. Appleby is a progressive and public-spirited citizen, and every enterprise calculated to promote the welfare of the community finds in him a willing and earnest supporter. He was prominently identified with the organization of the De Frehn Chair Company, the leading manufacturing enterprise of Mount Union, of which he is the secretary. He is a staunch Republican, and has taken an active interest in promoting the party's success in Huntingdon county, having served on the Republican county committee. He has also served as a member of the Mount Union borough council, and of the school board. Thomas A. Appleby has been twice married. His first marriage, to Martha S., a daughter of James and Mary (Glenn) McNeal, took place October 27, 1870. To this union there were born two children: John C.; and Katherine, now a teacher in the Tyrone public schools. Mrs. Appleby, who was a faithful and active member of the Presbyterian church, died October 28, 1876, aged thirty-four years. In 1878 Mr. Appleby married as his second wife Miss Kate McNeal, a sister of his first wife. They are the parents of the following named children: James D.; Martha P.; Charles R.; Janet L.; and Nellie R. Mr. Appleby was ordained an elder in the Presbyterian church in 1873; has been superintendent of the Sunday-school at Mount Union since April of the same year, and for many years has been a member of the committee on Sabbath-schools of the Presbytery of Huntingdon county to the general assembly at Saratoga, N.Y. James McNeal, paternal grandfather, and Hugh Glenn, maternal grandfather of Mrs. Appleby, were members and supporters of the Shade Gap Presbyterian church from its organization. The Appleby family are justly proud of their patriotic record. As already stated, the father and uncle of Mr. Appleby's mother were officers in the Revolutionary army. He and his brother Daniel C. served in the late war, as did also David C. and Thomas, sons of his uncle William Appleby, and John McGinley, a son of his uncle, Alexander Appleby. The two former served in Company I, One Hundred and Forty- ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, "Bucktail Regiment," and the latter in the Two Hundred and Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. Two of his mother's brothers were also in the Union army, viz: George Montague, who served in the Forty-sixth Illinois, and William, who served in the Two Hundred and Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. Hugh Glenn, his wife's grandfather, was a soldier during the Revolutionary war and did a patriot's duty in achieving American independence. Robert McNeal, a brother of Mrs. Appleby, was a member of the One Hundred and Forty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was shot through the arm at the battle of the Wilderness. He is now an elder in the Shade Gap Presbyterian church.