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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
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A HISTORY
OF THE
JUNIATA VALLEY AND ITS PEOPLE
UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF
JOHN W. JORDAN, LL.D. Librarian of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
VOLUME III
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK LEWIS HISTORICAL: PUBLISHING COMPANY
1913
IST
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 63020P ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS. R
1914 A L
4
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
fare of his city, and is there held in esteen as an honorable business man and good citizen.
Ile married ( first) in July, 1879. Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Campbell of Huntingdon. She died December 20, 1886; issue: 1. Elmer N., born January 18, 1881, now a bookkeeper for the Bayer-Beaver Company; he married Mabel Isenberg; children: Frederick Allen, Geneveive Isenberg. 2. Florence, deceased. 3. Herbert, deceased. Mr. Rupert married ( second ) May 30, 1889, Laura C. Garver, daughter of George Garver, died January 14, 1913, and his wife, Anna Bare, who survives him; children : 4. J. Lillian, born December 17, 1893, graduate of Huntingdon high school, class of 1911, and the Business Department of Juniata College, 1913. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rupert and their daugh- ter, J. Lillian, are members of the Church of the Brethren, which he serves as deacon.
SWIGART William Emmert Swigart, son of William J. and Carrie M. (Miller) Swigart, was born June 5, 1883, in Hunt- ingdon. Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. He de- scends from German-Swiss ancestors, the first of whom emigrated to the United States when the country was yet young. The family has for generations been closely identified with the best interests of Penn- sylvania, and particularly Huntingdon county, and the Juniata Valley section.
He obtained his early mental discipline in the common schools of the borough, and later matriculated at Juniata College. He entered the teachers' department, and graduated with distinction in 1900. In 1906 he graduated, after having taken a classical course. Previous to leaving the halls of learning he entered pedagogy as a profession, and for one year engaged with signal success in teaching. He had in the meantime acted as special agent for the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, and in 1907 he, with John W. Harshbarger as partner, engaged in the insurance business on a large scale, representing many of the most important and soundest companies in the United States. His patrons declare that he has one of; the best, conducted :agencies in the Juniata Valley. Mr. Swigart is regarded as one of the foremost citizens of Huntingdon. Pennsylvania, where he resides, In his business dealings he is scrupulously exact and fair, and. has won' a success which is most
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
creditable, as it has come to him as the result of his own business acumen and personal merit. In politics he is a Progressive, aiding that youngest of political parties in every manner in his power, but he has never held nor aspired to office. He has been a member of the Board of Health of Huntingdon, on which he did faithful work for the public good. He and his wife are members of the Church of the Brethren, supporting it generously. He married, June 6, 1907, Eva Workman, daughter of Mrs. Jemima Workman, formerly of Ohio, but who now makes her home in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. She is of straight Eng- lish and German descent. Children: I. John, born August 30, 1908. 2. Dorothy, born July 1, 1912.
Wilfred Osborn Neff, a well-known citizen and public offi-
NEFF cial of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, is a descendant of a family with a most interesting history. The Neff family, now so numerous in various parts of Pennsylvania and in some localities in the west, had its origin in Switzerland, where there are very many of the name, especially in Canton Zurich. There they belong, as their descendants in America take pleasure in pointing out, to the most sub- stantial class, whose lot in life is neither poverty nor riches, but useful activity with consequent prosperity. They are said to be among the most prosperous and best educated artisans of Europe, and that traits of heroism and intellectual aspirations are still latent is clearly proved by incidents of family history which are handed down from genera- tion to generation. The Neffs in America are able to trace their ancestry to the earlier half of the sixteenth century. In the struggles for liberty in the little land of Switzerland they bore their share bravely, and have transmitted their admirable qualities to their descendants. The earliest known ancestor, Adam Neff, with his trusty sword, rescued the standard of Zurich from the hands of the invaders at the battle of Cappel, October 11, 1531. In the next century Barbara Neff lent new luster to the name by the martyrdom she suffered for her devotion to the Reformed faith. In later times Felix Neff, the "pastor of the high Alps," is fondly remembered: for his short life of Christian zeal and fidelity to his flock, scattered over the: Alpine heights, and for his missionary labors in spreading the gospel among the destitute and igno- rant dwellers in remote hamlets. "Paul Neff, a celebrated publisher of
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
Stuttgart, Germany, is another of this famous family. The picture of St. Isaac of Dalmatia, in the cathedral at St. Petersburg, is by the cele- brated painter. Timoleon Carl von Neff, who died in Russia in 1879.
Representatives of three generations of the Neff family came to this country about 1717-Francis Neff, his sons, Francis Jr., Henry and Daniel, and the sons of Daniel, also named Henry and Daniel. They settled near Little Conestoga creek, in Lancaster county. Hans Hein- rich, or John Henry Neff, brother of Francis Neff, the first regularly educated physician in Lancaster county, appears to have settled here somewhat earlier. He was widely known throughout the country and spoken of with respectful affection as the "old doctor." The descend- ants of Franz or Francis Neff are spread throughout Lancaster and Huntingdon counties, and in Ohio, Virginia, and other parts of the United States. The family has become allied by marriage with some of the most prominent families in the country. The early settlers of this name were generally Mennonites, or members of the Reformed church. Governor Gordon, of Pennsylvania, says of them (Colonial Records, Vol. III, page 296) : "That they came into the province under a particular agreement with the late Honourable Proprietor, Wil- liam Penn, at London," under whom they took up lands, and that they "have generally so good a character for honesty and industry as de- serves the esteem of this government, and a mark of regard for them."
(I) Isaac Neff, grandfather of Wilfred Osborn Neff and a descend- ant of the Francis Neff mentioned above, lived near Petersburg, Penn- sylvania, where Neff's Mills now stands. He was a merchant and a miller. In political matters he gave his allegiance to the Republican party, and he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. He married Susan Neff, who was his first cousin, and they had chil- dren: Edwin John, see forward; William A., died in Cleveland, Ohio; Frances M., married John McMullin, and died in Iowa; Isaac, is a vet- eran of the civil war and now lives in Ohio; Susan, married John Mor- ton, and resides in Philadelphia : Lizzie, who died in infancy.
(II) Edwin John, son of Isaac and Susan (Neff) Neff, was born in Petersburg, Pennsylvania, February 6, 1825. at Neff's Mills, Hunting- don county, and died on his farm at Warriors Mark, in the same county, May 27, 1893. He was a miller by trade, but was obliged to abandon
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
this occupation, as the constant inhalation of the mill dust seriously affected his health. In place of this he engaged in agriculture, of which he made a decided success. During the civil war he was in service for nine months, enlisting in 1864 in the Ninety-first Pennsylvania Volun- teers. He participated in no actual engagements, but was almost in danger of starvation at Appomattox. He was a Republican in his political views, and he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church.
He married Mary Ellen Harris, born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and died at Warriors Mark in 1894. Her parents were both natives of Ireland and settled at Manor Hill, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, where he was a distiller. They were members of the Catholic church, and he was a Democrat. Their children were: John, a distiller, died unmarried at Monroe Furnace, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania ; Catherine, married John Isenburg, at Petersburg; Charles, a farmer of Manor Hill, Pennsylvania, was in service four years during the civil war; Mary Ellen, mentioned above; William, in the provision business, died at Harrisburg; Reuben, a farmer living in Tyrone, Penn- sylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Neff had children: I. Wilfred Osborn, see forward. 2. Frances, never married. 3. William A., was a farmer and married (first) Lettie Beck, (second) Laura Beck. 4. Edwin J., mar- ried Annie Fetterhoof, of Huntingdon county. 5. Carrie May, married H. L. Grazier, a farmer of Huntingdon county. 6. Susan E., married Ernest Addleman, a veteran of the Spanish-American war.
(III) Wilfred Osborn, son of Edwin John and Mary Ellen ( Har- ris) Neff, was born at Warriors Mark, Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania, January 17, 1859. He was educated in the public schools of War- riors Mark, and at the Birmingham Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1874. For some years he was engaged in farming, aban- doning this occupation in 1891 in favor of work on the railroad for the period of one year. He then received an appointment to an official position in the Pennsylvania State Reformatory at Huntingdon, which he filled very acceptably for twenty-one years, but in May, 1912, was obliged to take a leave of absence on account of illness. He took up his residence in Huntingdon in 1891, and has resided there since that time. He is Republican in political matters and has held a number of township offices. He is a member of Warriors Mark Presbyterian
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
Church, and of Lodge No. 152, Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Tyrone, Pennsylvania. Mr. Neff has never married.
William D. Kinsloe, M.D., of Huntingdon county. KINSLOE Pennsylvania, descends from a family long established in the Keystone state. He is the son of H. C. and Elizabeth Kinsloe, and was born July 30, 1872, at Newton Hamilton. He was educated in the public schools, Bucknell University and Hahne- mann Medical College, from which he graduated with distinction in 1895. He moved to Denver, Colorado, where he entered upon the prac- tice of medicine, remaining two years. At the expiration of that time he went to Alaska and again took up his profession. He returned to Pennsylvania and entered the mercantile business at Newton Hamilton, in which he continued for six or seven years, or until 1910. He next entered a partnership with A. B. Galbraith, under the firm name of The Huntingdon Milling Company. They leased the old Isenberg Mill oppo- site the city of Huntingdon, in Smithfield township, and have conducted an eminently successful business since its inauguration. Besides doing a general milling business, they handle all kinds of grain, hay, coal, flour and feed. In addition to local business they ship their produce to many places. They have five or six competent men in their employ. Dr. Kinsloe has in charge the disposing of their products. He is a Repub- lican, an Elk and was a member of the Greek letter fraternity Sigma Chi at college and still holds his membership.
The history of this branch of the Hall family begins in HALL Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, with Laban Hall, of Eng- lish parentage, who came into the county from Maryland when a young man. He there became a farmer and stock raiser, living in both Penn and Tod townships. He was a Whig in politics. and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He died in 1831 in Tod township. He married Jemima Antha Clark, who died in Henderson. Children: 1. Antha, married Jacob Fink, a farmer. 2. James, a blacksmith. 3. Thomas L., born in Penn township, died January 6, 1866, a stonemason and farmer. He enlisted in the nine months' service men ; went to the front with the 125th Regiment, Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company I; was wounded in the left arm
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
at the battle of Antietam, September, 1862, and honorably discharged. He married Catherine Harker. 4. Elijah, a farmer. 5. Laban (2) (of whom further). 6. Mary, married John Sparr. 7. Sarah, twin of Mary.
(II) Laban (2), son of Laban and Antha (Clark) Hall, was born in Penn township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in 1831, died June, 1882. He was educated in the public schools and all his life was a farmer of Huntingdon county. He enlisted in the Union army in 1864 in Company L, 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was in service in North Carolina at the time of the surrender of General Johnston. He was honorably discharged at the close of the war and returned to his Huntingdon county farm. He was a Democrat in politics, serving as school director and in other township offices. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and both he and his wife belonged to the Lutheran church. He married in 1851 Christina, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Focht) Hettrick, both born in Blair county, Penn- sylvania-he a blacksmith and farmer, both he and his wife belonging to the Lutheran church. Their children were: George; Christina; Philip; Jacob, a soldier of the civil war, serving in Company I, 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry; Samuel; John L .; Catherine, married William Hern; Elizabeth, married John Hall; and Solomon, married. Children of Laban (2) Hall: Josiah C., of whom further; Jacob, born in 1854, a farmer; George, born 1856, died 1863; William, born 1862, now an employee of the Pennsylvania railroad; Harry, born in 1864, now a retired merchant; Alice, born 1866, married Henry Musser and resides in West Virginia.
(III) Josiah C., eldest son of Laban (2) and Christina (Hettrick) Hall, was born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1852. He was educated in the public schools and spent his early life on the home farm. He then learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed in Huntingdon county for about five years. He then entered the employ of the Pennsylvania railroad as bridge carpenter, later moving to Hunt- ingdon, where he has since been engaged in contracting and building. He is well established as an honorable, capable builder and has erected many of the residences and blocks in Huntingdon and vicinity. Mr. Hall is a Democrat in politics, serving in the city council and as school director. He is a member of Mount Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
Masons, and has taken all the degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry up to and including the thirty-second. In religious faith he is a Presby- terian.
He married, in 1874, Anna, daughter of John and Eva Nunier, the former a carpenter and builder. Children: 1. John Herbert, born June 25, 1876; graduate of Huntingdon high school; graduate of Juniata College, class of 1895; graduate of University of Pennsylvania, class of 1899; now an architect, residing in Huntingdon. He married, in 1901. Ada Moore, and has Hilda and Beatrice. 2. George, born 1878; graduate of Huntingdon high school; engaged for several years as a clerk in Pittsburgh, Johnstown and Altoona, Pennsylvania ; now engaged in business with his father; married Freda Hess, and has a daughter Virginia. 3. Edith, born 1883; graduate of Huntingdon high school, and spent one year at Juniata College, two years at Wilson College. 4. Loyce, born 1886; graduate of Huntingdon high school; spent one year at Juniata College, then five years at Wilson College, whence she was graduated.
This branch of the Reed family descends from James Reed,
REED of Scotch descent, who came from Lancaster county, Penn- sylvania, to the Buffalo Valley.
(Il) William, son of James and Jane (Ogleby) Reed, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, about 1775. He settled in Union county, Pennsylvania, where he became a prominent farmer and a lead- ing member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Jane Gil- lespie, and reared a large family. Both he and his wife died at the Union county farm.
(III) James, son of William and Jane (Gillespie) Reed, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, died in Hartleton, Pennsylvania. He spent his active years on the paternal farm in Union county, and after the death of his father purchased a part of the homestead from the heirs. Later he bought the remaining portion and there lived until sixty years of age, then moved to Hartleton, where he lived retired until his death. He was a very pious man, and for forty-five years was an elder of the Presbyterian church, bringing up his children in strict accordance with his own rigid faith. In political faith he was a Whig, warmly supporting the anti-slavery movement, and uniting with
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
the Republican party when that organization was first formed. He took an active part in civic affairs; served as school director, and by his influence aided in all progressive movements. He married Mar- garet Wiley, whose grandparents came from Scotland, settling in Union county, Pennsylvania. Grandfather Wiley was a well-educated man, a school teacher, and served as an officer in the revolutionary army. Both were rigid Presbyterians. Children of James and Margaret Reed : I. Uriah, a practicing physician, died at Jersey shore, Pennsylvania. 2. Jane, married (first) Paschal Chambers, (second) David Kleckner, and died in Davis, Illinois. 3. Harriet, died in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, unmarried. 4. Catherine, died in Jersey Shore, unmarried. 5. John, died in youth. 6. Robert, married Caroline Bergstresser, of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and settled in Tiffin, Ohio, where he died, a farmer. 7. Sarah, married Joseph Richard, whom she survives, a resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 8. Mary Ann, married Alexander Clemens, and resides in Rocky Ford, North Dakota. 9. William, of whom further. 10. Susan, married George Hicks, and resides in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. II. George, a retired druggist of Vineland, New Jersey. 12. David, a farmer of Waterford, Colorado.
(IV) William, ninth child of James and Margaret (Wiley) Reed, was born near Laurelton, Union county, Pennsylvania, February 21, 1839. He obtained his early education in the township schools, then attended Mifflinburg Academy two terms, finishing his studies at New Columbia (Pennsylvania) Normal School, which he attended two terms. He taught several terms in the public schools, but the call to arms in 1861 found him ready to march to the defense of the imperilled Union. He enlisted in June, 1861, in Company H, 8th Regiment Missouri Vol- unteer Infantry, being at that time in Illinois, and crossing to Missouri to enlist. He served three years, and saw war in all its horrors. He fought at Fort Donelson, Russell's House. Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, siege of Corinth, Jackson, and in many other engagements between the armies of the north and south. At Vicksburg he was one of the immortal one hundred and fifty men who, forming a "forlorn hope," by a desperate charge cap- tured an important point and made the capture of a line of breastworks possible. This charge ranks in military annals as one equalling any made at Gettysburg, even that of Pickett, in the final effort to dislodge
THE NEW YOU' PUBLIC LISRON
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
the Union forces. The survivors of the charge were awarded a bronze medal for their bravery, and in 1911 those still surviving received in its place a gold medal, attesting the high honor in which they are held. Mr. Reed values this as one of his greatest treasures, and nothing he possesses has a higher value to him than the mute testimonial of the part he bore in defense of a united country.
After receiving an honorable discharge at the expiration of his three years of service, Mr. Reed returned to Pennsylvania, locating in Hartle- ton, where for two years he engaged in mercantile life as senior member of Reed & Lucas. He next located in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, where for eleven years he was a drygoods merchant. In 1879 he located in Huntingdon, opening a drygoods store on Penn street. His business soon outgrew the Penn street store and was moved to more suitable quarters in the Opera House block, where for six years a successful business was conducted. In 1892, a still larger store being needed, Mr. Reed erected a four-story brick block fifty by ninety-two feet on the ground, to which he moved on its completion in that year, and where he yet remains in successful business operation. In 1903 the firm name became William Reed & Sons Company, its present style and title. A wise, careful, yet progressive man of affairs, Mr. Reed has not only founded but has carried to success one of the strong, reliable commer- cial houses of Huntingdon. While the burden has been largely shifted to younger shoulders, he is yet the guiding master spirit. Nor has he been simply a worker for personal gain. The city of his adoption has profited by his public spirit, and no movement for the betterment of Huntingdon, either in civic or in industrial advancement, but has had his active support. He served nine years as a member of council, and for many years as a member of the board of trade, using his best efforts in bothi bodies to further the cause of progress. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics is a Republican.
Mr. Reed was one of the founders of the "Huntingdon Home for Orphan and Friendless Children," a philanthropy with which he has been actively connected since its foundation, over a quarter of a century ago, and he is president of its board of managers. The direct impulse that led to the establishment of this home came from his wife, Mrs. Margaret Ellen (Glover) Reed, whose tender sympathy, extending be- yond her own household, urged her husband to go in the early dawn
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of a bitter cold day in January, 1881, to look after a family of poor children on the outskirts of the town, and from which act, so remindful of the "Good Samaritan," grew the commendable charity above men- tioned. This seed, sown by a tender-hearted woman, has brought forth a harvest the value of which cannot be overestimated, although she did not live to see the full fruition of her hopes, and the editor of this work takes a genuine pleasure in reproducing (and entirely without solicitation) from a contemporary publication the history of "The Home," as a tribute to the memory of its inspirer, and as an incentive toward charitable deeds :
"A BIT OF HISTORY .- Whatever may have been the preliminary thought with reference to an institution for the care of poor children in Huntingdon, the direct impulse to the movement was given by a woman whose tender sympathies extended beyond her own immediate house- hold.
"When Mrs. Ellen (Glover) Reed urged her husband, Mr. William Reed, to go in the early dawn of a bitter cold day to look after a family of poor children on the outskirts of the town, she set moving a combi- nation of activities which resulted in what is now known as the 'Hunt- ingdon Home for Orphan and Friendless Children' and all its branches. It was in the evening of that same day, in the store of Mr. Reed, after a discussion of the experience of the morning that a 'Home' or a place of temporary care for these children was suggested.
"This event occurred in the early days of January, 1881. Such re- lief as was possible was given the family in its uncomfortable quarters at the time, and an effort was made to enlist the town in the establish- ment of a home, or an association for the care of these and other cases. There was no lack of sympathy, but the question that stood in the way of progress was one of finance.
"Hearing of the movement to do something for children, a good woman in another county gave twenty cents, and another in an adjoin- ing state offered $25. A collection amounting to $4.25 was taken up in a prayer meeting. A small house was rented, and across the crackling. snow crust, at sunset, March 1, the first little girl, sick with pneumonia, was carried into the little brown house on Sixteenth street, and the 'Home' was a reality.
"Funds came from unexpected sources in unexpected ways. Then the children of the county were taken on contract, leaving a large amount to be raised from private sources. To the credit of public sentiment it may be said that for twenty-five years never passed a month when all bills for current expenses were not met, and when at the completion of
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