Bios: Alexander Stewart OKESON of Academia, Juniata Co.PA

************************************************************************
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in
any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons.  Persons or organizations desiring to use this material,
must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal
representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb
archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to
the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.

http://www.usgwarchives.net
***********************************************************************

Source: Biographical Encyclopedia of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry
Counties, 1897: Pg 815-816. Transcribed by Dr. William L Baran 5/10/2002.
e-mail WBaran@prodigy.net

**********************************************************************

A. STEWART OKESON, Academia, Juaniata County, PA., was born in Beale
township, Juaniata County PA.  He is a son of Samuel and Margaret A.
(McKennen) Okeson.  His paternal grandparents were Nicholas Albertson and
Susan (Silverthorn) Okeson, two of whose children were:  Samuel and William,
father of Mr. William B. Okeson of Chicago, IL.  Samuel Okeson was born at
the old Okeson Homestead in Beale township, November 15, 1805.  He attended
the common schools, which were afforded him a limited education; but for this
deficiency in early oportunities he compensated to a great extent by reading,
of which he was very fond.  After leaving school he worked for his father on
the farm. At his father's death, the homestead being bequeathed to him, Mr.
Okeson made many improvements upon it, chief among which was the erection of
a stone house and frame barn, among the first of the kind in the valley.
Besides farming, he dealt very successfully in live stock. He visited the
State of Illinois, and there bought a large tract of land at $1.25 per acre,
which he afterwards gave to his sons. Although not an office seeker, Mr.
Okeson always took an active part in politics, first as a Whig, and
afterwards as a Republican. He was a trustee of the Young Ladies' Seminary of
Tuscarora, which was originally held in a stone building, erected in 1848; for
its accommodation, Mr. Okeson built a large and convenient frame house. He was
active and influential in the erection of a house of worship for the Lower
Tuscarora Presbyterian church, at Academia, of which he was a member, and a
trustee. The brick used in the building was made on his farm. Mr. Okeson was
also teacher and superintendent of the Sunday school of that congregation.
Samuel Okeson was twice married; his first wife was Jane Black, of Perry
county, their children being as follows: George B., farmer, of Brown county,
Kan.; Nicholas A. deceased, was a soldier in the Union Army in the late war;
and Samuel B., who also served during the war, in the First Pennsylvania
Cavalry, and died in 1871. Mrs. Jane (Black) Okeson died in 1843. Mr. Okeson
afterwards married Margaret A., daughter of Patrick McKennen, a farmer and a
justice of the peace of the Tuscarora valley; she is of Scotch-Irish descent.
The children of this union are: Mary J., married to Dr. J. M. Bregee, both
deceased; Elizabeth C.; and A. Stewart. Samuel Okeson died on the homestead,
September 29, 1865; Mrs. Okeson, his widonw, a venerable lady, resides at
Academia.
  A. Stewart Okeson, also born on the home farm, received his education in
the public schools of the valley, and at the Tuscarora Academy, there he
studied for several years, and was prepared for college by the late Dr. J. H.
Shumaker.  In 1870 he turned his attention to mercantile business. At the end
of three years he sold out his interest, and became a fire and life insurance
agent, in which occupation he has passed more than sixteen years. The
companies which he represents are the Palatine (Fire) of Manchester, England;
Citizen (Fire) of New York; the Allemania (Fire) of Pittsburg, PA.; the
Teutonia (Fire) of Allegheny, PA.; the Lebanon (Fire) of Jonestown, PA.; the
German (Fire) of Pittsburg; and the Penn Mutual Life of Philadelphia, PA.  
In the prosecution of this business Mr. Okeson travels over several counties,
meeting with much success.  As a real estate broker he has visited the west,
where he owns five hundred acres of land; he has traveled through Kansas,
Illinois, and Iowa.  It was owing to the efforts of Mr. Okeson that a
postoffice was established at Okeson, PA.  He is a member and the secretary
of the board of trustees of the Tuscarora Academy.  He is a supporter of
Republican principles, but does not seek office.  Mr. Okeson is a member of
Victoria Lodge, No. 911, International Order of the Oddfellows (IOOF) of
Patterson, PA.
 On February 1, 1876, A. Stewart Okeson was married at Harrisburg, PA, by
Rev. William A. West, to Linda, daughter of James F. and Catherine (Weaver)
McNeal, a native of New Bloomfield, Perry Co., PA.  Mr. McNeal was a tanner;
he and his wife are both deceased. The children of this union are: Ella M.
died February 9, 1891; Alma V.; Blanche L.; Margaret A.; all the daughters
are students at the Tuscarora Academy; and Fred M.  Mr. Okeson is a member of
the Presbyterian church at Academia, PA  
     

Copyright (c) 2002 by Dr. William L. Baran.  This copy contributed for use in
the USGenWeb Archives.  e-mail WBaran@prodigy.net