Sullivan County PA Archives Biographies.....Sick, Joseph 1844 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 31, 2008, 10:27 pm Author: Thomas J. Ingham (1899) JOSEPH SICK. - The self-made man is a product of America. In this "land of the free" where effort is untrammeled, and where industry wins advancement that is crowned with a just reward, the man of ambition and enterprise frequently rises from humble surroundings to a position of affluence. Of this class Joseph Sick is a representative, and his prosperity is certainly well deserved. He is now proprietor of the Cherry Mills, located in the village of that name, in Sullivan county, Pennsylvania. In Cherry township he was born July 26, 1844, his parents being Charles and Hannah (Reinfried) Sick. He remained on his father's farm until seventeen years of age, and then went to the pine woods, whence he returned with eighty dollars, of which he gave his father seventy-five dollars. His father told him he might keep his earnings from that time on, if he would save them, and so with an added incentive for industrious effort, he continued to provide for his own maintenance. He attended school from January 1, until March 1, 1862, and then, borrowing a dollar and a half from his brother, went to Hillsgrove, Pennsylvania, where he worked for several months, for twenty dollars per month. He next located at Westport, Clinton county, Pennsylvania, where he worked on the river in connection with a lumber mill, receiving three dollars per day in compensation for his services. Later he worked on a boom at Williamsport for a few months, after which he spent a short time in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, lumbering and rafting until his enlistment in the Union army. On the 2d of August, 1863, Mr. Sick offered his services to the government, at Lock Haven, joining Company C, Two Hundred and Seventh Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Captain James W. Fredericks. He served until June, 1865, when he was mustered out at Harrisburg. He was never wounded, but while building a stable for his colonel's horse, in front of Petersburg, cut his foot, which necessitated him remaining in the hospital for five weeks. He then rejoined his regiment, took part in the charge on Petersburg, and participated in the engagements at Dutch Gap, Poplar Grove Church, Weldon Railroad and others. He was a brave and loyal soldier, always found at his post of duty. After receiving an honorable discharge, Mr. Sick returned to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where his two brothers were employed, and there worked on a boom until his removal to Lock Haven, where he remained until Christmas, of 1865. He then returned home, and on the 6th of April, 1866, purchased of Benjamin Sylvarie an eighty-acre farm. In 1891 he bought of Mrs. Haycock the mill which he now owns and operates - a water-mill of twenty-horse power, which was built in 1846. It was operated by Mr. Sick's son until 1894, when he assumed the active management. In 1888 he purchased another farm, of eighty-four acres, of Patrick Finan, and has both tracts of land under a high state of cultivation, the rich fields yielding to the owner a golden tribute in return for the care which he bestows upon them. On the 28th of August, 1866, in Colley township, Sullivan county, Mr. Sick wedded Miss Emily S. Gravely, who was born in Cherry township, in 1848, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Yonkin) Gravely. Her father was a native of Germany, and came to America when two years of age, with his parents, the family locating in Cherry township, Sullivan county, which district was then an almost unbroken wilderness. Upon the farm which he there developed, his wife, son and daughter are yet living. In 1833 he married Elizabeth Yonkin, who was born in Pennsylvania, May 18, 1816, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Haines) Yonkin. Mr. Gravely followed farming throughout his entire life, and died in Cherry township, October 14, 1883, his remains being interred in the Germany cemetery at Dushore. He gave support to the Democratic party, and was a member of the Lutheran church. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gravely are E. Catherine, who died in 1896; William H., who died suddenly in Dushore, in September, 1898; Jacob J., a farmer of Cherry township, who married Elizabeth Henshaw; Mary, who resides with her mother on the old homestead; Emma, wife of Joseph Sick; George, who is also on the homestead farm; Lewis, an agriculturist of Cherry township; and Wellington, a partner of Lewis. Mr. and Mrs. Sick had a family of seven children: Lloyd H., who wedded Mary Stoup, and resides on his father's farm; Elizabeth V., who died at the age of seventeen; Frank W., at home; Guy, a blacksmith at Lovelton, Pennsylvania; Horace J., a student in the seminary at Selin's Grove, Pennsylvania; Edgar and Arthur - both at home. The family is one of prominence in the community and the members of the household enjoy the hospitality of the best homes in this section of the county. Mr. Sick is an intelligent, progressive citizen, a reliable and enterprising business man, and commands the respect of those with whom he has been brought in contact. He votes the Republican ticket and has served as constable of Cherry township and has filled other offices of trust in the county. He is at the present time a director of the Home Insurance Company; is also the oldest mail carrier in this section, carrying mail from Dushore and back - his regular trips aggregating as much as a journey around the world. In 1886 Mr. Sick ran for sheriff of this county against a Democratic majority of about five hundred. He was defeated by a majority of only about thirty-six, this being a wonderful record for a Republican candidate here, but one that shows the popularity of this esteemed gentleman in Sullivan county. When he was twenty-one, he had of his own savings over one thousand dollars, which he had earned after he left home, at the age of seventeen years. In all the relations of life he has ever been true to the trust reposed in him, and in this volume, he well deserves mention. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Sullivan County Pennsylvania by Thomas J. Ingham Compendium of Biography The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago: 1899 This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 6.7 Kb