BIOS: John R. BOOSE, Milford, Somerset County, PA

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Vol. XXXII, Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of 
Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania. Boston, Biographical Review 
Publishing Company: 1899, ppg 251-252.

  John R. Boose, a prosperous farmer of Milford, Somerset County, Pa., was born 
in Brother's Valley, Pa., August 4, 1847, son of John A. and Mary A. (Rauch) 
Boose.  His paternal grandfather, whose name was Rudolph, came to Pennsylvania 
from Ohio, and settled in Summit township.
  Rudolph Boose married Susanna Walker, and had ten children, namely: John A., 
who is no longer living; Henry, Jacob, and Samuel, who reside in Lima, Ohio; 
William, a resident of Nebraska; Andrew, of Summit; Susan, now Mrs. J. S. 
Phillippi; and Franklin, Eliza, and Rudolph, Jr., all deceased.
  John A. Boose, son of Rudolph, was a native of Summit and by occupation a 
teamster.  Settling in Brother's Valley, he died there at the age of twenty-one 
years, before the birth of his son, John R., the special subject of this sketch.  
His wife, whose maiden name was Mary A. Rauch, was a daughter of John and 
Catherine (Bowman) Rauch and grand-daughter of John Rauch, Sr., who served as a 
soldier at Black Rock, near Buffalo, during the War of 1812.  John Rauch, Sr., 
moved from the vicinity of Hagerstown, Pa., to Brother's Valley, and there his 
son John was born.  John and Catherine Rauch were the parents of the following 
named children: Mary A.; Henry, who died in 1897; William, who died young; 
Catherine residing in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, the widow of Leonard 
Bittner, who died in 1898; Rosanna, widow of Simon Hanger, residing in Brother's 
Valley; and Isabella, who married Aaron Bittner, and died in 1878.  Mrs. Mary A. 
Boose married for her second husband David Hay, by whom she had one son, Norman 
D. Hay.
  John R. Boose began his education in the common schools of his native town, 
and completed his studies at the County Normal School.  Owing to the death of 
his father he was reared in the family of his maternal grandfather, John Rauch, 
with whom he resided until twenty-three years old, and assisted in the carrying 
on the farm.  In 1871 he entered mercantile business in partnership with H. S. 
Coleman at Garrett, this county; and, purchasing his associate's interest a year 
later, he in 1874 moved his stock to Pine Hill, where he kept a general store 
until 1879.  Closing out his business, he was engaged in farming at Brother's 
Valley until the spring of 1884, when he removed to his present farm of one 
hundred and sixty-seven acres, located near Rockwood borough in Milford 
township.  He carries on general farming energetically, and also does quite a 
large business as a dealer in fertilizers, agricultural machinery and 
implements.  He has served with ability as Assessor, Justice of the Peace, Tax 
Collector, and upon the Election Board.  In politics he is a Republican.
  Mr. Boose contracted his first marriage in January 1869, with Sarah Hay, 
daughter of John G. Hay.  She died in the autumn of that year, leaving a 
daughter, Sadie I., who married Harvey J. Walker, of Brother's Valley.  Mr. 
Boose married in 1872 Anna M. Turner, daughter of Lewis A. and Maria (Egulf) 
Turner, the former of whom is now residing in Berlin.  Her grandparents were 
Andrew and Anna (Kegg) Turner, and their children were: Lewis A., Catherine, 
Maria, Julia Ann, John and Margaret.  To Mr. and Mrs. Boose have been born nine 
children, namely: Harvey A., who married Nora Fiske, of Milledge, Ill., and is 
now located in Carroll County, Ill.; Ellis C., who married Emma C. Miller, of 
Rockwood, and resides at Rockwood; Norman T., a book-keeper in Philadelphia, 
Pa.; Ira C., who died in 1891; Howard R. and Oscar L., who are residing in 
Rockwood; Budd B., now in school; Homer E., who died in 1892 and Jennie B., who 
is attending school.
  Mr. Boose is secretary of Rockwood Council, No. 801, Royal Arcanum, and 
belongs also to the Knights of Maccabees.  He has been a member of the Standing 
Committee and superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Lutheran church at 
Rockwood ever since its organization in 1885.