BIOS: Jeremiah MAURER, Stoyestown, 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, pp 169-171.

  Jeremiah Maurer, a well-known farmer of Stoyestown, Somerset County, was born 
in Quemahoning township, July 24, 1831, a son of Jacob Maurer.  His grandfather, 
Philip Maurer, was born and educated in Germany, where he learned the tailor's 
trade.  Coming to America in the latter part of the last century, he settled in 
Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and for a few years followed his trade in 
Brother's Valley.  He afterward bought land, and was thenceforth engaged in 
agricultural pursuits until his death.  The maiden name of his wife is not 
known, but they had five children, of whom Jacob was the third.
  Jacob Maurer was born in 1791 in Brother's Valley, where as a young man he 
learned the carpenter's trade, and also worked as a cooper some of the time, 
making butter kegs.  He served throughout the War of 1812, and subsequently 
worked at his trades in Brother's Valley and Quemahoning.  He bought large 
tracts of land in these townships, and in his later years was extensively 
engaged in farming.  To each of his sons he gave a farm, one of them William, 
receiving a deed of the old homestead in Quemahoning.  Jacob Maurer outlived the 
scriptural threescore years and ten, passing away August 8, 1866.  His wife, 
Elizabeth Walker, a daughter of George and Catherine (Coleman) Walker, was born 
in Brother's Valley in 1798, and died in Quemahoning in October 1884.  Both were 
members of the Lutheran church, and in politics he was a Republican.  They had 
eleven children, ten of whom are living, namely: Jonas, Isabelle, Henry, Mary, 
Caroline, Catherine, Jeremiah, William, Rosanna, and Elizabeth.
  Jonas, whose first wife was Elizabeth Zimmerman, bore him five children, all 
now deceased, subsequently married Mrs. Mary Bowman, born Cover, by whom he had 
one child, Michael, who married Rose Barnhardt.  Isabelle is the wife of Jacob 
Miller, and has three children, two of whom are living - Henry and Ellen.  Henry 
married Nancy Zimmerman, and has one child living, Jane.  Mary, wife of George 
Friedline, has one child, Josiah.  Caroline married William Berkey, of whom a 
brief sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume.  Catherine, wife of Samuel 
Stufft, has six children - Eliza, Ellen, Annie, Newton, Irving, and Julia.  
William married Nancy Korns, who has borne him six children - Alexander, Laura, 
Matilda, Ellsworth, Elizabeth, and Harry.  Rosanna is the wife of Isaac Barron, 
and has six children - Amanda, Albert, Lizzie, Irving, Isaac, and Carrie.  
Elizabeth, wife of John J. Emert, has two children - Ross and Carrie.  George, 
who died October 31, 1897, was three times married.  His first wife, Eliza 
Zimmerman, left three children - Josiah, Mary J., and Joanna; and by his second 
wife, Harriet Ankeny, he had two children - John and Robert A.  His third wife, 
Ann Jane Bechtel, bore him one son, Frank.
  Jeremiah Maurer received an excellent education, and in his early manhood he 
taught school a few terms in Jennerstown, where he subsequently carried on 
general farming thirty years.  In 1883 he took possession of his present snug 
little farm in Stoyestown, where he has followed his independent calling until 
the present time.  In October, 1862, while living in Jennerstown, Mr. Maurer 
enlisted as a private in Company E, One Hundred and Seventy-first Pennsylvania 
Volunteer Infantry, and for meritorious conduct was promoted first to Orderly 
Sergeant and then to Second Lieutenant.  At the expiration of his term of 
service in August, 1862, he received his honorable discharge from the army, and 
resumed farming at his old home.  He is one of the leading Republicans of this 
part of Somerset County, and in addition to holding various local offices of 
trust he represented his district in the State legislature in 1895 and 1896.  He 
is very active in religious affairs, being now a trustee of the Lutheran church, 
of which he has been an Elder and trustee several years, and to which Mrs. 
Maurer also belongs.
  On January 12, 1854, Mr. Maurer married Susan Bowman, who was born in 
Quemahoning, Pa., June 13, 1833, a daughter of John and Mary (Lohr) Bowman.  Her 
father, who was a farmer, died at the age of eighty-two years, and her mother at 
the age of seventy-seven.  Both were members of the Lutheran church.  They 
reared nine children, of whom eight are living, as follows: Susan, now Mrs. 
Maurer; Henry, who married Mary Baltzer, and has five children - Emma, Luther, 
Ellen, John, and Martha; Benjamin, who married Susan Naugle, and has four 
children - Ross, George, Melissa, and Harry; Elmira, wife of Joseph Kocher and 
mother of six children - Clara, Jeremiah C., John, George, Charles and Ellen; 
Eliza, who is the widow of Samuel Swank, and has two children - Emma and Mary; 
Mary Jane, wife of Jonathan A. Giffin and mother of one child, Foster; Barbara, 
wife of Charles Weigle and mother of three children - Flora, Eliza, and Louise; 
and John, who married Catherine Berkey, and has six children - Nora, Annie, 
Mary, Carrie, Olive and Royal C.  Noah, the third child, enlisted in Company D, 
one Hundred and Forty-second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, was mustered into 
service as Orderly Sergeant, and was afterward promoted to Lieutenant and then 
to Captain.  At the front of Petersburg, in 1865, while leading his company, he 
received a wound which proved fatal.  He married Elmira J. Hite, whom he left 
with one child, Joseph.
  Mr. and Mrs. Maurer have three children, the following being their record:  
Jacob E., born October 27, 1854, now a Lutheran minister located in Maryland, 
married Annie Harris, and has four children- Margret, Ruth, Winifred, and 
Theodore C.; Edmund B., born April 23, 1856, now a farmer in Jennerstown, 
married Ida Sipe, and has eight children - Marion, Helen, Ralph, Lillie, Edith 
B., Louise, Bowman J., and Howard E.; John L., born March 13, 1860, now a farmer 
in Black Hawk, Ia., married Elizabeth Miller, by whom he has three children - 
Earl F., Harlan J., and Charles M.