Montour-Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....Baldy, Peter (Sr.) before 1814 - 1880

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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com August 6, 2005, 2:52 pm



Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



PETER BALDY, Sr., who was one of the most prominent men of Danville, was a son

of Paul and Catherine (Beam) Baldy, and was born in Sunbury, Northumberland

County, Pa. In 1814 he left the town of his nativity and located in Danville

where he followed his trade, that of a blacksmith, for several years. He

subsequently engaged in the general merchandise business, at which he was very

successful and at which he continued the rest of his life. He was a

public-spirited man and did much for the borough of Danville. He organized the

first bank of Danville in 1848 and served as its president until his demise. He

was a liberal supporter of the volunteer soldiers of Danville, especially of the

Baldy Guards under Capt. Ramsey, and the Fencibles under Capt. Shreeve. He did

considerable building in the village. He retired from active business duties

some twenty years before his death, which occurred November 24, 1880. He was

always deeply interested in religious works. When young he was an active member

of the Lutheran Church, but in 1828, when Christ Episcopal Church was built, he

became one of its first vestrymen. His son, Peter Baldy, Jr., was the first to

be baptized in the church, and afterwards he became the organist. Peter, Sr.,

was one of the main supporters of the church and in 1844 presented it with a

large bell. He bequeathed $5,000 for the support of the clergy of that church,

$500 to the Sunday School, and $50,000 for a suitable memorial to himself and

his beloved wife. His will was executed to the letter, and as a result one of

the most beautiful churches in Eastern Pennsylvania was erected at Danville. His

companion in life was Sarah Hurley, a daughter of Daniel and Martha Hurley, who

passed to her eternal rest in November, 1875, in the eighty-fifth year of her

age. They were the parents of the following children: Edward Hurley, Martha

Hurley, Mary Catherine, Peter, Jr., Hurley, and Ellen Ann.



  Edward Hurley Baldy was a man of scholarly attainments and graduated from

Princeton College before he was of age. He then took up the study of law with

Josiah Comly, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-two years. He

then began to practice in the village of Danville, and was one of the most

successful lawyers of the county. He was a shrewd and energetic man and was an

eloquent orator. His reputation extended throughout the state and he acquired

high standing in the foremost ranks of his profession. He was an enterprising

man, and, like his father, took an active interest in the welfare of Danville.

He succeeded his father as president of the Danville National Bank. In company

with Charles Paxton he laid put a tract of land which is to-day within the

corporate limits of the borough. He was attorney for all of the early

manufacturing plants in the eastern part of the state. He accumulated a fortune.

In 1872 he erected a handsome stone residence on West Market street, one of the

finest in the town at that time. After living a long and useful life he was

called to his final rest in 1891, at the age of seventy years. He was united in

the bonds of wedlock to Mary Jennison, a daughter of William Jennison, who was

for many years connected with the Pennsylvania Iron Works of Philadelphia, but

finally located in Danville, residing on the site of the present Methodist

Episcopal parsonage. Five children blessed this union, namely: Mary J. (Grove);

Kate G. (Watson); Edward H., Jr., and Emily, deceased; and William Jennison, a

well-known attorney and real estate dealer of Danville, who succeeded his father

as president of the Danville National Bank. Mrs. Baldy died at the age of

twenty-six years. Her husband formed a second matrimonial alliance with

Henrietta C. Montgomery, who came from one of the early families of

Pennsylvania. She is descended from one Robert Montgomery, who, with his wife

Sarah, emigrated from Ireland at the age of thirty-two years and located on the

present site of the city of Harrisburg, Pa., where he engaged in the cultivation

of the soil. His son, John, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, and was but four

years old when he came to America with his parents. He lived in the vicinity of

Harrisburg all his life, and his death resulted from an accident in 1792, at the

age of fifty-eight years. As a result of his union with Christina Foster he

became the parent of a son, David, the grandfather of Mrs. Baldy. David

Montgomery married Agnes Shaw, by whom he had the following children: Eliza;

John G., the father of Mrs. Baldy; Margaret; William S.; David B.; Robert F.;

Christina; Nancy; and Caroline B. John G. Montgomery was born on January 28,

1805, and after reaching maturity Studied law under the direction of Judge

Cooper of Danville. He was a prominent lawyer of Danville and lived an active

life until his demise, in 1857. His first marriage was with Deborah B. Kerr, a

daughter of Jacob Kerr, and after her death he married Henrietta Cooper, a

daughter of his former preceptor, Judge Cooper. This union resulted in the

following issue: Agnes; Alice; Elizabeth; Henrietta C.; Margaret; John C.; and

Caroline. Mrs. Baldy died in 1864, leaving five children: Sarah. Hurley, the

wife of Dr. Irving H. Jennings, a record of whose life appears below; Dr. John

Montgomery of Philadelphia, who is without doubt one of the best physicians of

the state of Pennsylvania; Alice, who married a Mr. Hartman; Henry Waller; and

Henrietta Cooper. Edward H. Baldy was again married, his third union being with

Alice Montgomery, a sister of his second wife.





Additional Comments:

  Extracted from:

    

    Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District

    Published by 

    Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)





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