BIO: Samuel J. CLOYD, Huntingdon County, PA

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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 335-336.
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  SAMUEL J. CLOYD, Orbisonia, Huntingdon county, Pa., was born in that 
borough December 15, 1833, son of John and Harriet (Rutter) Cloyd. The 
family name is Scotch-Irish; Mr. Cloyd's grandfather came to this 
country from Ireland; his grandmother was a native of Scotland. His 
father, John Cloyd, was born in Centre county, Pa., in 1810, and grew 
up in his native place. He afterwards settled near Orbisonia, Pa., 
where he pursued his calling, that of cabinet-maker and carpenter. He 
was married to Miss Rutter in Cromwell township. Their children are: 
Eliza Jane (Mrs. John L. Ripple), deceased; Samuel J.; and Thomas, 
grocer, of Orbisonia. John Cloyd died in Orbisonia in 1841; his wife 
long survived him, living to the age of eighty-four; for many years 
before her death she had her home with her son Samuel.
  Samuel J. Cloyd was educated in the common schools and at Milnwood 
Academy, Shade Gap, Pa. he was about seven years of age when his father 
died, and he lived among strangers, attending school and working on the 
farm, until he was fifteen. At that age he began to learn carpentry and 
cabinet-making, serving an apprenticeship of three years, the first 
year at $2 per month, the second at $2.50, and the third at $3. Mr. 
Cloyd continued to pursue this vocation until his enlistment in the 
Twelfth Pennsylvania Reserves, Company I, at Orbisonia, in March, 1862.
  Having been mustered into service at Harrisburg, Pa., March 24, the 
company left that place for the front on April 7, joined their regiment 
at Alexandria, Va., and proceeded to Manassas Junction. A month and a 
half later they went by steamboat down the Rappahannock, and took part 
in the Seven Days' battle; then retreated to Bells Landing, on the 
Potomac, thence marched successively to Falmouth, to Warrenton, and to 
Bull Run, where they participated in the second engagement of that 
name. They were then for a short time in camp near Washington, on the 
Virginia side of the Potomac river. The battle of South Mountain was 
their next engagement, and the next, September 17, 1862, was Antietam, 
where Mr. Cloyd was wounded by a minie ball in the right arm above the 
elbow. His arm was amputated in an old farm-house on the battle-field, 
and he was then sent to an improvised hospital, in an old mill in the 
near neighborhood. Two or three weeks later, he was sent home, and 
after recovery, was discharged.
  Having obtained a position as school teacher, Mr. Cloyd taught for 
two months; at the end of that time, he received his appointment as 
clerk in the Ordnance Department, at Washington, D.C., and served in 
that capacity for eighteen months. Among the recollections of that 
period of his life are some which Mr. Cloyd may possibly regard as 
partial, though slight, compensation for the suffering and sacrifice 
involved in his patriotic service. His residence in the capital brought 
him within sight and hearing of many of the foremost men of the 
country. He heard an oration by the celebrated Frederick Douglas; he 
also heard Henry Ward Beecher. On one occasion, he was present when the 
renowned Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist Episcopal church, preached in 
the hall of the House of Representatives. President and Mrs. Lincoln 
were also in the audience. Many were moved to tears by the Bishop's 
eloquence; and more than once did the expression of the President's 
homely, but earnest countenance, and his moist eyes, bear witness to 
the tenderness and susceptibility of his feelings.
  At the close of his engagement in Washington, Mr. Cloyd returned to 
Huntingdon county, and in 1869, he was elected county treasurer for a 
term of two years, after which he bought the hundred-acre farm upon 
which he has ever since resided. He supervises its cultivation, but 
does no active work. Mr. Cloyd is a staunch Republican, and has held 
many minor township offices.
  Samuel J. Cloyd was married in 1889, in Cromwell township, to 
Elizabeth Miller. Their children are: Ralph Emerson; John Raymond; and 
Walter Scott. Mr. Cloyd is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Orbisonia.