USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume III > Part 22
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(IV) William Watson, son of William Roberts and Eliza J. (Van- devander) Strickler, was born at McConnellstown, Huntingdon county. Pennsylvania, March 19, 1864. He obtained an education in the public schools of Huntingdon. He engaged in newspaper work as an appren- tice in 1881 on the Huntingdon Monitor under the editorship of Mr. S. E. Fleming, Esq., where he remained until 1883, when he accepted a position as compositor on the Huntingdon Globe, but resigned from
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this position some months later, and in 1884 accepted a position with Mr. J. C. Blair, a manufacturing stationer, in the job printing depart- ment, where he worked and mastered the different branches of the art, such as pressman, die stamper and embosser. The business prospered exceedingly and it was incorporated later as the J. C. Blair Company, and by efficiency and steady application to his work, Mr. Strickler was promoted to the position of foreman of the stock printing department, in which is executed the beautiful colored designs which appear upon the writing and other tablets manufactured by this well known estab- lishment, which now have a world-wide reputation, they being pioneers in that line of work, and the largest manufacturing stationers in the business at the present time. Mr. Strickler is a stockholder in the com- pany, this proving a double incentive for increasing the efficiency and earning capacity of his department. Mr. Strickler is a past chancellor of Blue Cross Lodge, No. 295, Knights of Pythias; past president of Washington Camp, No. 321, Patriotic Order Sons of America; past archon of Standing Stone Conclave, No. 134, Improved Order of Hep- tasophs, and is also ex-district deputy supreme archon of the same order.
Mr. Strickler married, July 16, 1885, Laura Jeanette, daughter of Jackson and Delilah (Bell) McIlroy. Children: I. Harry William, born May 2, 1887; he attended the public schools and Juniata Business College, graduating from the latter named institution, December 22, 1904; until 1911 he was assistant production manager of the J. C. Blair Company, when he resigned his position to accept one with the American Multigraph Sales Organization, of Chicago, where he remained for about one year, then accepted a position as house salesman with the Neidich Process Company, of Burlington, New Jersey, in which he is serving at the present time ; he married, in 1908, Irma, daughter of Thomas and Annie (Martin) Gahagan, and they have one son, Richard Gahagan, born April 27, 1909. 2. Gracie Jeanette, born January 7, 1889, died November 10, 1896.
The first member of this family of whom we have WILLOUGHBY definite information is William Willoughby, who was born in England, emigrated to America, and made his home in Juniata county, Pennsylvania. He became the owner of several parcels of land, which passed into the possession of his chil-
Frank Willoughby
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dren. He married Sarah, whose family name is not on record. Chil- dren : William. John, James, Andrew, Armstrong, Robert, Henry and Sarah.
(II) Armstrong, son of William and Sarah Willoughby, was born in 1805, and died Angust 4, 1865. He was educated in the common schools of his time, and established himself in the mercantile line of business in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in which he met with excellent success. He purchased extensive tracts of land, and was connected with many important enterprises. He supported the princi- ples promulgated by the Whig party, and when the Republican party was organized, he transferred his political allegiance to it. He served as mayor of the town in 1860. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. He married Catherine, born 1813, died 1900. a daughter of Thomas and Martha King, the former a tailor by trade. who had other children: William H., a court crier; Anna; Margaret ; Sarah, married John Shaffer, who was at one time sheriff of the county ; Elizabeth ; Mary ; Mariah. Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby had chil- dren : Henry Clay, a tailor by occupation, served in the civil war ; John, also a soldier in the civil war : Samuel B., a clerk, a soldier in the civil war; George, deceased: Frank, see forward; Charles, resides in Bed- ford; Margaret, married Alfred Tyhurst, editor of the Huntingdon Globe, who was postmaster at the time of his death, his wife finishing the unexpired term and being reappointed for a term of four years by President Arthur, and they were parents of several children, one living, Mary L.
(III) Frank, son of Armstrong and Catherine ( King) Willoughby, was born in Huntingdon, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. June 27, 1853. He was of a naturally bright and studious disposition, and his record at the public schools which he attended was an excellent and satisfactory one. January 1. 1871, he entered upon his apprenticeship as a printer, and conchided this in March, 1875. For a period of seven years he was associated with Hugh Lindsay, in the publication of the Semi-Weekly News, and later entered the employ of the J. C. Blair Company, at Huntingdon, with which he is still associated, this making a period of more than thirty years. He is now one of the stockholders of this company, and for many years his position has been a most re- sponsible one. He is also a stockholder in the Grand Theater, at Hunt-
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ingdon. His political affiliations are with the Washington party, in whose interests he has been active, and he has served as a member of the town council. Mr. Willoughby and his wife are members of the Pres- byterian church.
He married, in 1872, Sarah, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Morrison, and they have had children: Edgar, who is in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a molder, at Altoona, Penn- sylvania; Katherine T., married Dr. Alvin Waite; Frank, died at the age of six years ; Claude D., also in the employ of the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company ; Elizabeth, married W. S. Tyson, manager of the H. K. Mulford Company, wholesale drug establishment in Kansas City, Mis- souri; Martha, married J. C. Corbin, manager sales department H. W. Gerlock Foundry & Machine Works, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania; Jack, in the employ of an insurance company in Huntingdon; Watson, is in the employ of the Bell Telephone Company in Kansas City, Missouri; Clair, in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company ; Margaret, at home. Mr. Willoughby has always been enterprising and progressive in his business management, and his engaging manner and social dispo- sition have won for him many friends in the community. He is a mem- ber of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, Washington Camp, No. 321, of Huntingdon. Pennsylvania.
Mr. Willoughby's maternal great-grandfather King served in the revolutionary war, and also in the war of 1812.
The family of Heffner is of German descent, and for
HEFFNER generations they have been farmers, and progressive ones, in Pennsylvania. Ellsworth Heffner, a miller and farmer of McConnellstown, Pennsylvania, is an honored member of this family.
(I) John Heffner was born April 7. 1797, died September 16, 1881. He lived in Walker township for many years. and was there engaged in farming. By occupation he was a farmer. He married and had children: I. Benjamin F., born December 6. 1820, died February 2, 1894: he married (first) January 10, 1843. Eliza Lichenthaler, born May 25, 1821, died December 26, 1865; he married (second) August 14, 1866, Eliza (States) Simpson, born May 28, 1832, died February 12, 1896, widow of John Simpson. 2. Nancy, born September 10,
S
Ellsworth 8. H office
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1822. 3. Adam, born August 26, 1824. 4. Elizabeth, born July 10, 1826. 5. Rebecca, born March 21, 1828. 6. Andrew, born October II, 1829, died August 26, 1872; he was a miller and farmer, and mar- ried, September 23, 1852, Jane Yocum; children; Mary Jane, born August 4, 1853, died January 21, 1888, married, March 22, 1882, J. Stewart Africa; Rachel, born November 27, 1855, married, November 29, 1900, William D. Lincoln; John, born November 17, 1857, died April 21, 1907, was a miller; Jane, born October 27, 1860, married, February 13, 1881, William Miller, who lived most of his life in Illinois and South Dakota : Rebecca, born August 26, 1864; Thomas, born May 3. 1867, married, September 10, 1891, Margaret Lang. 7. John, see forward. 8. Peter, born September 23, 1833; married, October 30, 1856, Inez Stover, born September 14, 1837. 9. Catherine, twin of Peter, died September 29, 1881 ; she married September 23. 1852, John De Arment, born October 12, 1830, died September 3, 1864. 10. Rachel, born September 22, 1836, married Abraham Baker. 11. Mary Ann, born July 29, 1838. 12. Margaret, born October 28, 1840. 13. Wil- liam, born January 7, 1843, died in infancy. 14. Orlady, born March 30, 1844, was a soldier during the civil war.
(II) John, son of John and Eliza (Lichenthaler) Heffner, was born July 21, 1831, and died May 11. 1895. He obtained the water rights a little to the south of McConnellstown, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and there erected a grist mill in 1865, which he operated until his death in 1895. He also owned and cultivated a farm of one hundred and twenty acres at the same place, and was a dealer in finely bred horses. He was drafted at the time of the civil war, but when he arrived at Hollidaysburg and found that the company had left, he hired a substitute. A very short time prior to his death he purchased a herd of Durham cattle in Somerset county, and brought it home. He was a member of the Reformed church. He married Sarah Wicks, born February 9, 1831, died June 24, 1897. Of their five children, three lived to maturity: 1. Ora A., married (first) H. C. Poschman, and (second) C. N. Miller ; both she and her husband were undertakers ; she died in May, 1906, in East Liverpool, Ohio. 2. Ellsworth E., of whom further. 3. Elizabeth W., married Harry Watson; children : Fred, Pearl, Martha, Eleanor, and Catherine, deceased.
(III) Ellsworth E., son of John and Sarah (Wicks) Heffner, was
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born in McConnellstown, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1861. He attended the public schools to good advantage until he had attained the age of sixteen years, then learned the milling trade under the supervision of his father, and has been identified with milling and farming interests since that time, with the exception of two years, when he rented the mill to others. He is engaged in general and dairy farming, and also purchases large quantities of grain. He has ground as much as two thousand bushels of custom work per month, besides his merchant milling. He is a Republican in his political views, but has never desired public office. His religious affiliations are with the Reformed church, and fraternally he is connected with the Patriotic Sons of America. He married in Cromwell township, November 8, 1888, Ida E. Myers, born March 21, 1867. (See Myers forward). Children : 1. Alma Maude, born November 29, 1891 ; married, June 25, 1910, W. Ralph Ward; one child, Margaretta. 2. Woodburn Wayne, born May 9, 1897. 3. Vida Alleta, born November 1I, 1898, died June 9, 1899.
(The Myers Line).
(I) Nicholas Myers, who was an early settler in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, was a farmer by occupation, and removed to Juniata county, Pennsylvania, where he died, near Mifflin. He was a Mennonite in religious faith, and married Eckelbarger.
(II) Samuel, son of Nicholas and (Eckelbarger ) Myers, was born in Lebanon county, and removed to Juniata county with his father. He settled at Lost Creek Valley, where he engaged in farming and owned large parcels of land. He was a member of the Dunkard church. He married Rush, and they had children: I. John R., a farmer, who died in Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio. 2. Samuel, lived and died near McVeytown, where he was a farmer. 3. David, also a farmer, died in Juniata county. 4. Michael, see forward. 5. Susan, married Jacob Eby, and died in Tuscarora Valley, Juniata county, Pennsylvania. 6. Hannah, married (first) Mr. Busbey, (second) Wil- liam Pannebaker, and died at Honey Grove, Pennsylvania. 7: Cath- erine, married John G. Gluck, and died near Shirleyburg, Pennsylvania. 8. Sarah, married Samuel Lutz, and died in German Valley, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania.
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(III) Michael, son of Samuel and (Rush) Myers, was born January 8, 1803. He was a farmer, and in 1842 removed to Hill valley, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, where he purchased a farm on which he resided until his death, January 20, 1886, and which is still in the family. He had enjoyed but few educational advantages, but na- tive refinement of taste and wholesome ambition led him to make up for that deficiency by his own exertions, and he became well grounded in different branches of study, especially in mathematics and in the Scrip- tures. Early in life he became a Bible student, and all through life the Bible was his dearest book. When still a young man he felt that he should look to God for guidance ; in response to this feeling he united with the Brethren church, and was ever afterward a follower of the Lord and Master. He was laid to rest by the side of his wife in the cemetery in German valley. A remarkable fact in the history of this patriarch is the number of his descendants, there being thirteen children, eighty-one grandchildren, and thirty-five great-grandchildren.
He married, 1826, Catherine Holzapple, born in 1802. She was the daughter of Adam and Catherine ( Mertz) Holzapple, Mennonites, the former born in Lebanon county, and engaged in trade at McAlisterville, Juniata county ; and they had children: Abraham; Samuel; Henry ; Leonard; Frederick; Elizabeth, who married David Myers; Catherine, mentioned above; Sarah, married John Book; Susan, married George Strayer. Michael and Catherine (Holzapple) Myers had children: 1. Mary, married Benjamin Rhodes, and died near McVeytown, Pennsyl- vania. 2. Enoch X., see forward. 3. Ephraim, died in Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. 4. Reuben, was a farmer and wagon builder and also died in Shirleysburg. 5. Sarah, married Joseph Allen and resides in Iowa. 6. Jeremiah, died in Kansas at about the age of thirty-five years. 7. David, deceased, was a member of the police force in the Pennsyl- vania depot in Harrisburg. 8. Rudolph, see forward. 9. Seth, a minis- ter in the Dunkard church, who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 10. Catherine, widow of William Lukens, lives in Altoona. 11. John G. Z., a physician who lives at Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania. 12. Michael, lives on a farm near Brumbaugh Station. 13. Clara Belle, married Ephraim Wright, and died at Broad Top.
(IV) Dr. Rudolph Myers, son of Michael and Catherine ( Holzap-
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ple) Myers, was born near Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1840. He was but two years old when his family removed to Huntingdon county. His boyhood days were spent upon the farm, and he attended the public schools of Cromwell township. Later he studied at Shirleysburg Academy, under the tuition of Professor J. B. Kidder. His academic course ended, he began to read medicine with Robert Baird, M.D., of Shirleysburg, matriculated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1860, and at the Bellevue Medical College, New York, in 1862. He was graduated from the latter institution in 1863. In the following month Dr. Myers began the practice of medi- cine at Three Springs, Huntingdon county ; he removed in December, 1864, to Burlington, Indiana; in 1868 to Keedysville, Maryland; in 1872 to Grafton, Huntingdon county ; continued to practice during his residence at each of these places. For thirty-three years since 1879 he has been continuously in practice in Huntingdon. He is a member of the Huntingdon County Medical Association, and was its president at one time; a member of the state and American medical societies; and he has served one term as a school director. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Baptist church, in which he is a deacon. In his political opinions Dr. Myers is an Independent Republican. Dr. Myers mar- ried, in Shirleysburg, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1864, Mary A., born April 19, 1843, daughter of Amon and Wealthy Lovell, of Trough Creek Valley. Children: I. Ethelda Alleyne, born July 5, 1865, died September 12, 1865. 2. Ida May, born September 20, 1866, died in infancy. 3. Alice Gertrude, born January 20, 1869; mar- ried E. P. Jones, and now lives in Milton, Indiana; children: Mary L., deceased; Ernest, John Posey. 4. Lena Lovell, born May 14, 1872; is a graduate nurse of Jefferson College Hospital. 5. Ernest Roland, born September 1, 1875; graduated from Bucknell University, and from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia; now practices medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan province, Canada; married Lillian Dowler.
(IV) Enoch X., son of Michael and Catherine (Holzapple) Myers, was born August 22, 1830. He married (first) August 26, 1852, Nancy Garver, born July 29, 1835, died January 21, 1877. He married (sec- ond) January 10, 1878, Harriet Garver, a sister of his first wife.
(V) Ida E., daughter of Enoch X. and Nancy (Garver) Myers, married Ellsworth E. Heffner (see Heffner III).
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An enterprising and progressive agriculturist in Cromwell HEGIE township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, is Jacob R. Hegie, who is the owner of one hundred acres of farm land and three hundred acres of mountain land in the vicinity of Orbi- sonia. He was born in Tell township, Huntingdon county, this state, the date of his nativity being March 12, 1845. He is a son of Jacob and Susan ( Wiser) Hegie, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in Shade Valley, Huntingdon county, and the mother in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. The founder of this family in America was John Hegie, a native of Switzerland, whence he immi- grated to this country in the early colonial epoch of our national his- tory. He registered under the king of England at Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, and went thence to Lancaster county, where he purchased a large tract of land from William Penn's heirs, the same having been located near Manheim.
Jacob Hegie Jr. was a son of Jacob Hegie Sr. and Margaret (Mi- chael) Hegie, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former having been born in Lancaster county. Jacob Hegie Sr. was a mere youth at the time of the war for independence, but nevertheless he served as a revo- lutionary soldier and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, at which time he was eighteen years of age. He enlisted with a troop of cavalry in Philadelphia. After the close of the war he went to Adams county, this state, and located just above Huntingdon, where his brother Adam had previously settled. His original intent in going to that section was to hunt, but he was caught in a storm at Tus- carora and found refuge from it at the home of Andrew Michael. Be- coming agreeably impressed with that locality, he remained there all winter, following the trade of cooper and eventually marrying Mar- garet Michael, daughter of the above Andrew. Subsequently he pur- chased land in Shade Valley, in Huntingdon county, and there followed farming until his demise, at which time his property was divided among his sons, namely: Abram, Jacob, Andrew, John and Joseph ; there was also a son David, who was dead at the time the property was divided. Following are the names of his daughters: Katherine, Hannah, Mary, Susan, Elizabeth, Margaret and Julia. Mr. Hegie was an Andrew Jack- son man, and he was one of the political leaders of his community. He was well known as a patriotic citizen, and was ever ready to lend a
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helping hand to the poor. In addition to his other talents he was a good builder, and helped erect many of the early schoolhouses.
Jacob Hegie Jr. was born in the year 1798, and he received a fair education in the pioneer schools. He was a farmer by occupation and lived and died on an estate given him by his father. He passed to eter- nal rest at the patriarchal age of ninety-one years, his demise having occurred in 1889. He was recognized as an active and progressive citi- zen in his home township of Tell, and was a devout communicant of the Catholic church, in which faith he reared his children. He married Susan Wiser, a daughter of John and Barbara Wiser, early settlers near Shade Gap, where Mr. Wiser worked at his trade, that of carpenter. Mr. and Mrs. Hegie had seven children: Jacob R., Abram, Andrew (deceased), Mary, Elizabeth, Catherine and Hannah.
To the public schools of Tell township, Huntingdon county, Jacob R. Hegie, the immediate subject of this review, is indebted for his pre- liminary educational training. His boyhood and youth were spent on his father's farm, in the work and management of which he was an important factor. In young manhood he turned his attention to lum- bering, and in 1893 he opened a general merchandise store at Johns- town. Subsequently he returned to farming, and he now resides in Cromwell township, Huntingdon county, where he has one hundred acres of fine land under cultivation and likewise owns a tract of three hundred acres of mountain land. He is a Democrat in his political affili- ations, and for the past six years has been the efficient encumbent of the office of road commissioner. December 24, 1864, when but nine- teen years of age, Mr. Hegie enlisted for service in Company C, 67th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, entering the Union army at Hollidaysburg. He saw considerable hard service during the last stages of the war and participated in battles at Hatcher's Run and on the South Side railroad. He was struck at one time with a shell, but the same did not penetrate his knapsack and he was uninjured. He was honorably discharged from service July 10, 1865.
June 7, 1868, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hegie to Miss Mary Krugh, a daughter of Michael Krugh, of Dublin township, Hunt- ingdon county. This union has been prolific of the following children : Martin (deceased), Bruce, George, Jeanette (deceased), Otmer and Arthur (both foundrymen), Martha, Anna, Rose and Clara. The
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Hegie family are devout Catholics in their religious faith and they have contributed much to the good works of that church. The old farm is noted for its good cheer and genial hospitality and the individual mem- bers of the family are popular in the social life of the community.
McALEVY John Wesley McAlevy, of Barree township, Hunting- don county, Pennsylvania, descends in a straight line from colonial and revolutionary ancestry. The immi- grant progenitor was John McAlevy, of Scotch-Irish extraction, who came to America about 1650. He settled in the wilds of the colony of Pennsylvania, took up land, cleared and improved it, erected a log house and outbuildings, and there lived and died. He defended himself and family from the raids of his red neighbors, who were particularly rapacious and predatory at that time. He had a large family, among them being many stalwart sons whose descendants are widely scattered over Pennsylvania. General William McAlevy was one of his descen- dants, and one of the most famous ones. He built McAlevy's Fort, and in it made a stand against the enemy. Among the immediate posterity of General McAlevy was his grandson Samuel, of whom further.
( III) Samuel McAlevy was born, lived and died in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. Little is known of his life except that he was a farmer on a large scale, a man of importance in his community and a good citizen. He and his family were members of the Presbyterian church. He married Susan Hamlin, of English extraction, whose fam- ily was among the first to be established in Pennsylvania. Children: 1. John, a soldier in the civil war, enlisted in 22d Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry. 2. Miles, an iron worker. 3. William, of whom further. There were others, but their names are unknown.
(IV) William McAlevy, son of Samuel and Susan ( Hamlin) Mc- Alevy, was born August 29, 1840, in Barree township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, on the McAlevy homestead, and died in the county of his nativity, August 15, 1904. After receiving his education in the common schools of the township near his home, he followed the family occupation of farming. He purchased four hundred acres of land in Huntingdon county, cleared it, erected houses on it and im- proved it, making it within a few years one of the show places of the county. He took great pride in his stock and always had the best. Be-
1
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sides his farm he owned coal land on Stone mountain, near Greenwood Furnace. Mr. McAlevy was a valiant soldier in the civil war. At the call to arms he enlisted, August 20, 1861, in Company B, 49th Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served out his enlistment. He and his family were members of the Presbyterian church, and gen- erous in their support of it. He married, September 16, 1868, Eliza- beth Duff, born September 14, 1847, in Huntingdon county, daughter of James and Margaret Duff, both of whom were of Scotch-Irish extraction. Mr. Duff was a stone mason, and followed it until his death. They were both members of the Presbyterian church, inheriting their love for the kirk from their forbears. Children of William and Elizabeth (Duff) McAlevy: I. Harriet C., at home, a trained nurse. 2. Mary, married Henry Lightner. 3. Bessie, resides in Clinton, Iowa. 4. John Wesley, of whom further. 5. Nora B., married Dr. Charles Bigelow, of Clinton, Iowa. 6. Stella, married B. P. McMahan, a mer- chant of Huntingdon county. 7. Rosella, married LeRoy Porter Pain- ter, of State College, Pennsylvania. 8. Augusta, stenographer; after graduating from school taught for several terms.
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