Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....Zuern, Joseph 1816 - 

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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com August 1, 2005, 12:08 am



Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



JOSEPH ZUERN, an esteemed citizen of Shamokin, Pa., was born February 19, 1816,

in what is known as the Irish Valley, Northumberland County, Pa., and is a son

of Solomon and Elizabeth (Cherry) Zuern.



  The grandfather on the paternal side of the family was Michael Zuern, who was

a native of Germany, whence he came to the United States, and died in a little

village about five miles west of Shamokin, Pa., where he was engaged in

mercantile business.



  Solomon Zuern, the father of our subject, lived at Irish Valley until about

1817, when he removed with his family to Ohio and resided there about seven

years; then he returned to Northumberland County, where he followed agricultural

pursuits until his death. He married Elizabeth Cherry, and to them were born six

children who grew to maturity, and three who died in infancy. Hester, the

eldest, was the wife of Samuel Hummel, both are now deceased; Samuel, deceased;

Joseph, our subject; William, deceased; Daniel, deceased; and Mary Elizabeth,

now deceased, who was married twice, first to Nathaniel Morgan, and after his

death, to John Shipp.



  Joseph Zuern, our subject, was a year old when his father moved to Ohio; upon

his return with his parents to Pennsylvania, he began his education in a

subscription school which was taught in an old log school house in the Irish

Valley, attending but a limited time, however, perhaps one month in the winter

time. When he was fourteen years of age he went with his uncle, Jacob Scholl, a

tailor in the neighborhood, and worked for him at tailoring for four years.

Then, after working-six months on a farm for wages, he learned the blacksmith's

trade with his brother-in-law, Samuel Hummel, and they worked in the Black Rock

tunnel at Phoenixville when the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad was being built

in 1835, doing the first blacksmithing work in connection with the building of

that tunnel. After learning this trade he went to what was known as the Big

Tunnel on the Catawissa road then in the process of construction, and later went

to Pottsville, thence to the Falls of Schuylkill, where he did the first work on

the first bridge built across the Schuylkill River by the Philadelphia & Reading

Railroad Company. On January 8, 1841, he removed to Shamokin and did general

blacksmithing work until 1851, when he formed a partnership with Paul Ammerman,

under the firm name of Ammerman & Zuern, and engaged in mercantile business, in

which he continued for two years, when they engaged with a third person in the

coal producing business for about three years. Giving up that line of work our

subject established a flour, feed and provision store, which business he pursued

uninterruptedly for twenty-seven years, when at the end of that time, in 1881,

he retired from active business life. Mr. Zuern has -always been a stanch

Democrat, and in the 4o's was appointed postmaster under the administration of

President James K. Polk, but at the end of his term he resigned his position.

Since 1836 he has been a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and has been

prominent in the church government, holding at various times the offices of

deacon, elder, and trustee.



  Mr. Zuern has been twice married. His first wife was Mary Ann Teatsworth, and

to them were born four children: Charles, born November 9, 1843, and died when

three days old; Clarissa, born March 8, 1845, who is the wife of William M.

Smith, and they are now living in Altoona, Pa.; Alvin, born March 22, 1848, who

is a tinner and resides in Shamokin, Pa.; Henrietta, born August 9, 1850, the

wife of Frank K. Sausser, a tinner by trade. After the death of his first wife

our subject married Mary Ann Sober, July 6, 1854, and by this marriage there

were also four children: Austin Eugene, born May 15, 1855, and died February 1,

1897; Alice Rosalie, born January 10, 1858, now deceased; Lizzie Maria, born

March 25, 1862, deceased; and Edwin Owen, born May 8, 1866, and now engaged in

the jewelry business in Shamokin, Pa.







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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