BIO: Anthony J. BEAVER, Huntingdon County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lana Clark Copyright 2006. 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 261-262 __________________________________________________________ ANTHONY J. BEAVER, Grantsville (P.O. Aitch), Huntingdon county, Pa., was born in that part of Hopewell township now called Lincoln, September 27, 1832, son of Samuel and Hannah (Shultz) Beaver. Anthony Beaver, grandfather of Anthony J., was born at South Mountain, Franklin county, Pa., and was a cooper and farmer. He removed from Franklin to Blair county, where he was engaged in farming; from Blair county he removed to Hopewell township, Huntingdon county; there he continued to farm. His wife was Miss Clapper, of Blair county, and their children were: John; Samuel; Henry; Anthony; Elizabeth; Mary; Catherine; Hannah; Esther; and Annie. Both grandparents died in Hopewell township. Their son, Samuel Beaver, was a cooper and carpenter, and resided in Penn township. During the latter part of his life, he was also a farmer. He owned and farmed over 100 acres of land in Penn township, on which he built a house and made various improvements. He was a Democrat; he was elected to the school board, and held other township offices. Samuel Beaver was married in Hopewell township, to Hannah, daughter of Henry Shultz, a farmer of Hopewell, now Lincoln township, where he settled in 1797. Mrs. Beaver was a native of that township. Their children are: Sarah A., died young; Jackson, deceased; Anthony J.; Susanna, deceased; John, deceased; Henry, deceased; David, deceased; Samuel, of Williamsport, Pa.; William, of Penn township; Mary (Mrs. Franklin Snare), of Penn township; Hannah C., deceased; and two that died in infancy. Mrs. Beaver died in 1869; Mr. Beaver, May 18, 1885, in Penn township. He was a member of the Reformed church, in which he was an elder. Having been educated in the public and subscription schools of Penn township, Anthony J. Beaver continued on the home farm, attending to its cultivation, until he reached his majority. He then farmed with his brother Jackson, in the same township, for two years. The war for the Union had now broken out; the stalwart young patriots of Pennsylvania were all astir, and, touched with the same generous glow, Mr. Beaver enlisted in Company C, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, Captain Wintrode's well-remembered company, under Col. J. R. Brooke. It was in September, 1861. Proceeding to the seat of war with his regiment, Mr. Beaver was in most of the engagements fought by the army of the Potomac; the Seven Days battle, Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard, Harrison's Landing, the Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, besides several skirmishes. In the retreat from the Rapidan, he was struck by a piece of shell, which caused the loss of his right arm, and was in the hospital at Grace church, Alexandria, Va., from that time, October 14, 1863, until the following March. He was then attached to the Veteran Reserve Corps, and remained in Washington, D.C., until August, 1865. Mr. Beaver was then discharged, and returned to his home in Penn township, where he has ever since resided. In the same year, he was elected associate judge on the Republican ticket, by a vote which, in his own township, only lacked a single one of being unanimous. He served two terms in this office; then, in 1871, he bought a farm of 205 acres in Penn township, which he tilled for twelve years, building upon it a dwelling house, etc., and planting an orchard. In 1884, he removed to Grantsville, Penn township, where he had purchased a fine brick dwelling, and where he has ever since lived in well merited leisure and comfort. He is a Republican, and has taken an active part in politics, but has held no township office, though he has been judge of elections. Mr. Beaver enjoys the respect and kind regards of his neighbors and acquaintances. Anthony J. Beaver was married in Altoona, Pa., in 1869, to Martha, daughter of David Shoup, a stone mason, of German descent. Mrs. Beaver was born in Tod township. Their children are: Milton S., printer, of Huntingdon, Pa.; Annie (Mrs. Joseph E. Beatty), of Huntingdon, Pa.; Samuel H., a student at the Normal School, in Huntingdon; and Mary I., at home. Mr. Beaver is a member of the Reformed church, in which he is an elder.