BIOS: William Lowrey RININGER, Quemahoning, Somerset County, PA File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sharon Trosan Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/somerset/ ________________________________________________ BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Vol. XXXII, Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania. Boston, Biographical Review Publishing Company: 1899, pp. 247-248 William Lowrey Rininger, proprietor of the Rininger Woollen Mill at Stoyestown, Somerset County, Pa., is a successful manufacturer and a prominent citizen of the town of Quemahoning. He was born in the neighboring town of Paint, October 5, 1841. His father, Frederick Rininger, was a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, but his paternal grandfather, George Rininger, was born and reared in Germany. Crossing the Atlantic and coming to Pennsylvania when a young man, George Rininger settled in Bedford County, where he followed farming until his death. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Hine, were born eleven children, four girls and seven boys, of whom but one child is now living, William, a resident of St. Clair township, Bedford County, Pa. Frederick Rininger, the eldest son of his parents, was born February 23, 1805, on the old home farm in Bedford County. He died in Paint township, Somerset County, December 21, 1886. He was engaged in farming in his native place until 1838, when he removed to Paint township as one of its first settlers. Here he established himself as a manufacturer of woolen goods, and met with such gratifying success that he continued his occupation until his decease. Industrious, prudent, and a wise manager, he accumulated a large property, and was a typical representative of the self-made men of his time. He belonged to the Albright church, and was always identified in politics with the Republican party. On September 11, 1834, he married Sarah, daughter of James and Mary (Slick) Barefoot. She was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, October 10, 1814, and died March 13, 1879, in Paint, Somerset County. Of their nine children, seven are now living, a brief record being as follows: James B., born June 16, 1835, married Jane Dunham, and they have four children - Albert, Emma, Huldah, and Frank; Frederick H., born December 15, 1838, married Elizabeth Blough, by whom he has five children - Charles, Ellen, Oliver, Lona, and Frederick; William Lowrey is the subject of this sketch; Samuel R., born March 21, 1845, married Elizabeth McGraw, and has seven children - Mealey, Mary, Bertha, Fannie, Carrie, Elite, and Margret; Mary A., born November 21, 1847, is the wife of Labias Blough, and has four children - Frederick, Ross, Clara, and Alpha; Henry A., born March 28, 1850, married Lucinda Oaks, and has three children - Agnes, Nettie, and Carrie; and Joseph P., born June 9, 1852, married Catherine Weaver, and has nine children - Annie G., Charles O., Della M., Daisy M., James E., Daniel O., Effie E., Walter C., and Joseph E. William L. Rininger obtained his early education in the Custer and Hoffman Schools of Paint township, and at the age of seventeen years began working in his father's woolen mill. On August 1, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Forty-second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and under Captain Adam Grimm served until the close of the war. On June 27, 1865, he received his honorable discharge in Washington, D.C. Besides participating in many skirmishes, he took an active part in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, White House Landing, and Gettsyburg. On returning he resumed work for his father, with whom he continued six years or more. In 1874 he entered the Stanton Woollen Mills in Quemahoning, where for ten years he was in the employ of William S. Morgan, a well-known manufacturer. In 1884 he established the Rininger Woollen Mill at Stoyestown, and has since carried on an extensive business in the making of woolen goods, gentlemen's suitings, carpets, etc., and is now one of the leading manufacturers of this part of Somerset County. On October 1, 1868, Mr. Rininger married Ellen Rhoda Shaffer, daughter of Aaron and Annie Margret (Bender) Shaffer, she being the fourth of a family of ten children, of whom six are living, as follows: William B., Annie E., Mrs. Rininger, Simon P., Mary A., and Samuel G. Mr. Shaffer, a lifelong farmer, is now living in Johnstown, Pa. His wife, who died at the age of sixty-eight years, was a member of the Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Rininger have five children, of whom the following is the record: Ross M., born July 16, 1869, married Myrtle May Specht, and has two children - Ellen J. and Meredith R.; Sarah G., born July 21, 1872; William M., born March 8, 1875; Aaron Shaffer, born March 24, 1876; and Hattie Margret, born February 1, 1881. Politically, Mr. Rininger is a straightforward Republican, and both he and Mrs. Rininger are active members of the Lutheran church.