BIOS: John A. WOY, Listie, Somerset County, PA

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History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania; Bedford County by E. 
Howard Blackburn; Somerset County by William H. Welfley; v.3, Pub. The Lewis 
Publishing Company, New York/Chicago 1906, ppg. 485/6

John A. WOY.

The Woy family, represented in the present generation by John A. Woy, Listie, is 
of German origin.  John A. Woy was born in Quemahoning, Somerset county, 
Pennsylvania, March 6, 1836, son of John and Sarah (Keifer) Woy, and grandson of 
Henry Woy, who was a native of Somerset township, Somerset county, was a farmer 
by occupation and a Democrat in politics.
John Woy (father), also a native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was a 
shingle-shaver by trade, and by giving careful attention to same was enabled to 
provide a comfortable home for his family.  By his marriage to Sarah Keifer the 
following named children were born: Elizabeth; Henry, who died May 15, 1905; 
Mary; Nancy; John A., see forward; Charles; George; Sallie, deceased; and 
Catherine.
John A. Woy received his education in the common schools of Somerset county, 
completing his studies at the age of fifteen years.  He then gave his attention 
to farming for a few years, after which he served an apprenticeship at the trade 
of stone-mason, and for several years thereafter followed that occupation.  In 
1861 he enlisted in Company B, Fifty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
and served for three years and one month, participating in the principal battles 
and engagements.  He returned to his home in Quemahoning township, where he has 
since resided, and by giving close attention to all his business affairs and by 
hard work and good management has secured for himself a comfortable home.  His 
political views are Republican.
Mr. Woy married, August 20, 1869, Rachel Smith, born 1836, daughter of Henry and 
Rebecca Smith, and the issue of this union was four children: Anna; Maggie; 
George, deceased; and Luther.  Mrs. Woy, the mother of these children, passed 
away June 23, 1888.  Mr. Woy married, June 29, 1893, Frances Shoffer, daughter 
of Jacob and Maria (Davies) Shoffer, and one child was the issue, Emma, born 
June 12, 1894.  Jacob Shoffer, a descendant of a German ancestry, was born in 
Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was a farmer by occupation, and he and his wife 
were the parents of eleven children: Margaret, deceased; George, deceased; 
Henry; Amanda, deceased; Frank, deceased; Jane, deceased; Harriet; Marie; Simon; 
Francis; and James, deceased.