BIOGRAPHY: James SAYERS, Mifflin County, PA

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The Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley, Comprising 
the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry, Pennsylvania.
Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, Volume I, pages 533-534.

  JAMES SAYERS, general merchant, Ryde Station, Wayne township, Mifflin county, 
Pa., was born April 6, 1848, in Wayne township, Mifflin county.  He is a son of 
Grier and Margaret (Walls) Sayers.  Grier Sayers was born in Centre county, near 
Half Moon, and followed farming.  In 1831 he removed to Mifflin county, settling 
in Wayne township, where he bought a farm, and made upon it considerable 
improvements.  Here he passed the remainder of his life.  He was married in 
Wayne township to Margaret Walls, of Irish descent, born in Oliver township, 
Mifflin county.  They had eight children, as follows:  William, a railroad 
employee at McVeytown;  John, residing in Kentucky;  Jane, widow of Samuel 
Shade, of Wayne township;  Mary, wife of William Temple, of Altoona, Pa., an 
engineer of the Pennsylvania railroad;  Robert, who died in the army, in 1861;  
James, of Wayne township;  Jackson;  and Henry;  the last two reside in the same 
township.  Grier Sayers was a Democrat.  He was a member of the Presbyterian 
church.  Amongst the offices which he held was that of school director.  He died 
in 1870;  his wife in 1878.
  James Sayers received his education in the schools of Newton Hamilton, and 
spent his boyhood on the farm, where he remained until the death of his father, 
after which he took charge of the homestead and cultivated the farm for eight 
years.  He then spent six months in Kansas, working for Mr. E. B. Pursell, a 
warehouse owner, after which he returned to Pennsylvania.  He was next employed 
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for twelve years, at Ryde Station, as an 
engine cleaner.  He then bought a farm in Juniata county, and after cultivating 
it for one year, he sold it and returned to Ryde Station.  In 1894, he embarked 
in a general mercantile business, in which he has been eminently successful.  
His store is in the building of the Jr. O. U. A. M. Hall.
  James Sayers was married in 1878, in Bratton township, to Tillie Clipper, born 
in Bratton township, daughter of Henry Clipper.  They have one child, Clarence 
U., who is now attending school.  Mr. Sayers is a Democrat, and in favor of 
silver.  He is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is 
prominent in church matters, being a Sunday-school superintendent;  he has been 
class-leader for the past six years, and is a church trustee.  He is an active 
member of Shank's Run Council, No. 433, Junior O. U. A. M., and is the chaplain 
of the council, and one of the trustees.  Mr. Sayers was the treasurer of the 
building committee, when the council erected, at a cost of $1,200, the beautiful 
hall which it now occupies.