Westmoreland County PA Archives Biographies.....Austraw, George F. November 30, 1843 ************************************************ 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 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 12, 2018, 1:39 pm Source: See Below Author: See Below GEORGE F. AUSTRAW, a Union veteran of the late civil war and a prosperous merchant of Millwood, was born in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland county, Pa., November 3O, 1843, and is a son of John M. and Hannah (Freeman) Austraw. John M. Austraw was a saddler by trade. He was one of the first teachers who organized music classes in Bedford, Somerset and Westmoreland counties, and was accidentally killed while engaged in erecting a saw mill. The saddle horse of the team which he was driving toward the saw mill stumbled and fell and crushed Mr. Austraw to death against a tree. He married Hannah Freeman, a daughter of George Freeman, of Cook township, who was an early settler in the Ligonier Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Austraw were the parents of eleven children: Eliza, widow of Edward O’Connor; Martha (dead); Agues (deceased); Susan (dead); John F., Samuel M.,Mary Ann, wife of A. W. Akers, of Topeka, Kansas; James, Harrison and George F. Mrs. Austraw died October 17, 1870. George F. Austraw was reared in the Ligonier Valley and attended the schools of Ligonier. On August 18, 1864, he enlisted in Co. K, two hundred and eleventh reg. Pa. Vols. and participated in the battles of Hatcher’s Run, Ft. Steadman and Petersburg, besides several minor engagements and sharp skirmishes. At Petersburg, on April 2, 1865, he was wounded by a gun-shot in the right thigh from which he has never fully recovered. Shortly after being wounded he was taken to the field hospital and then to City Point, from thence was sent to Carver hospital, Washington City, where he remained until July 10, 1865, when he was honorably discharged from the service of the United States On September 18, 1865, he came to Millwood and secured a clerkship in a store at that place which he held until 1868, when he erected a storeroom and engaged in his present mercantile business at Millwood. In 1871 he erected a very fine dwelling. July 11, 1868, he was appointed postmaster and has served in that capacity ever since with the exception of six months in 1887. He has a varied and comprehensive assortment of dry goods, groceries, notions and everything usually found in a first-class general mercantile establishment. George F. Austraw was married on March 41, 1870, to Agnes V. Raum, Millwood, Derry township. Their union has been blessed with two children: Alice M., born January 4, 1875, and Annie Laura, born November 2, 1876. In politics Mr. Austraw has always been a republican. He has been successful in the mercantile business and enjoys a good trade. Mrs. A. V. Austraw’s mother’s maiden name was Anna Barton, from Bedford county. The Barton family is a very old one in the history of this county; they were originally English and settled in the State of New Jersey prior to the Revolution, during which conflict they took an active interest. Col. Barton commanded at the capture of Tinicum island below Philadelphia. The eminent Dr. Burton, so long a professor in Jefferson Medical college, now deceased is a descendant. Miss Anna Barton, M. D., is one of the instructors in the Women's Medical college of Philadelphia. Dr. Barton, of Homestead, is a full cousin of Mrs. Austraw. He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Derry, and P. A. Williams Post, No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic. Additional Comments: Extracted from Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Compiled and Published by John M. Gresham & Co. Samuel T. Wiley, Chief Assistant 1890 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/westmoreland/bios/austraw676gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb