Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....Forrester, Philip M. 

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Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



PHILIP M. FORRESTER, a prominent citizen of Upper Augusta township,

Northumberland County, now living on the old Forrester homestead, was born April

4, 1836, and is a son of James and Sarah (Mettler) Forrester.



  The paternal grandfather was John Forrester of New Jersey, who married Jane

Beatty, also of the same state. About 1800 they located on the tract of land in

Upper Augusta township, now known as the old Forrester place, where the subject

of our sketch now resides. There were but few improvements and little cleared

land on the tract. Mr. Forrester set to work and, after clearing many acres of

forest land, built a small house and made many improvements in general. There he

lived the remainder of his life and carried on farming, also teaching school

several years in the township. Mr. Forrester was greatly interested in

educational matters, and he gave the land for and helped to erect a school house

on his farm. He was a very bright and intelligent man and was greatly loved by

his neighbors. He was a Methodist and prominent in church affairs. He died at

the age of seventy years and was much mourned by all. His children were: Esther,

who married Michael Moore; Betsey, who married Henry Kline; Ann, the wife of

Isaac Kline; Sarah, who married Jacob Heller; James B., the father of our

subject; and Jane, who died unmarried.



  The maternal grandfather was Henry Mettler of New Jersey who located at an

early date in Rush township, Northumberland County, and followed farming, and

also was local preacher. He had seven children as follows: Nancy, who married

Henry Kline; Hannah, wife of B. Kase; Mary, the wife of James Eackman; Sarah,

our subject's mother; John, who married Elizabeth Laycock; Ralph, who married

Mary Houseworth; and William, who married Elizabeth Clark.



  James B. Forrester, the father of our subject, was born October 13, 1796, in

Trenton, N. J., and died at the age of seventy-five years, while his wife lived

to the age of eighty-seven years. Their children were as follows: Francis, born

December 3, 1819, died at an early age; George, now deceased, married Barbara

Smith, and later Ella Savage; William, born May 14, 1823, deceased; John, born

January 18, 1824, deceased; Samuel B., born October 18, 1827, and died young;

Henry M., a farmer living in Muncy, Pa., born March 16, 1829, married Susan

Farr; Jane, born September 10, 1830, deceased; Ira M., a retired farmer residing

in Danville, Pa., born May 12, 1833, first married Malinda Eckman and secondly

Sarah Roberts; Elizabeth, born March 24, 1834, married David Anderson and they

live in Winnebago, Ill.; Philip M., our subject; Capt. Charles W., born December

23, 1838, who is western superintendent of the Star Union Line, and has his

headquarters at Chicago,—he served three years in the war of the Rebellion;

Sarah, born September 19, 1841, married Peter Moore, and died in 1876; James E.,

born November 18, 1843, now living in retirement at Selinsgrove, Pa., who

married Rebecca Caldwell and later Mary Emery. The children were educated in the

public schools, some attending school at Sun-bury and Williamsport, Pa.



   Our subject, Philip M. Forrester, lived at home until October 8, 1861, when

he enlisted in Company I, 58th Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf., at Sunbury, under the

command of Col. Richter Jones and Col. Readman. Mr. Forrester served under Capt.

Jackson and Capt. Beyers, and fought in the battles of Suffolk, Va., Little

Washington, N. C, and Cold Harbor, Va., taking part in many skirmishes. After

three years, four months and twenty-four days in the army, he was discharged at

Harrisburg, Pa., February 27, 1865, when he returned to his home, remaining

there until his marriage. January 19, 1869, he married Sarah Ellen Clark, of

Rush township, who was born December 31, 1839. She was a daughter of William and

Jane (Moore) Clark. Mr.1 Clark was born in Upper Augusta township, followed

agricultural pursuits in Rush township, and died in August, 1878, at the age of

seventy-nine years. His wife, a native of Rush township, died in 1888, at the

age of eighty years. They had seven children, as follows: Lukins C., who married

Mary Kinnie, and lives in Fayette, Ia.; Asenath, who married John Bird, now

deceased; Hamilton, a retired farmer residing in Catawissa, Pa., who married

Margaret Redder; Mary, the wife of J. D. Clinton Kase, a retired farmer at

Elysburg, Pa., whose life history is given elsewhere in this work; Margaret, the

wife of John Wallize, a retired farmer of Rush township; William, also a retired

farmer in Rush township, who wedded Ellen Kase; and Sarah Ellen, the wife of our

subject.



  Philip M. Forrester, the subject of this biography, has resided since 1865 on

the old homestead which consists of 123 acres, and he has made many improvements

on the place. He has twenty-one head of stock, and since August 16, 1882, has

operated a milk route in Sunbury. He also carries on general farming. Mr.

Forrester is a stanch Republican and has held many township offices. He is a

member of William A. Bruner Post, No. 335, G. A. R., of Sunbury. He attends the

Methodist Church at Kline's Grove. Mr. Forrester is highly respected and has a

large number of firm friends. His union with Sarah Ellen Clark has been blessed

with five children: Gertrude, born May 22, 1870, now living at home; Charles R.,

born October 8, 1871, who married Mazie Haughawout, of Rush township, and they

are the parents of two children, Margaret Ellen, born October 18, 1895, and

Lilian Grace, born October 20, 1897; William C., born March 24, 1874, now living

at home; Sarah,-born October 4, 1878, also at home; and Elizabeth, born

September 16, 1881, who is at home. Charles R. assists his father in the dairy

business.





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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