A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume III, Part 23

Author: Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 564


USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume III > Part 23


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(V) John Wesley McAlevy, son of William and Elizabeth (Duff) McAlevy, was born November 26, 1874, in Barree township, Hunting- don county, Pennsylvania. He attended the common schools of the township near his home, and on leaving them he engaged in farming, finally settling on a place that included eighty acres that was bequeathed him by his father in Barree township. He has improved it and brought it up to a high state of productiveness by careful management. The place is well stocked and in conjunction with agriculture he has a small, up-to-date, modern dairy, and disposes of his product in State College, Huntingdon county. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He gives his franchise to the Republican party, and under it has held local offices. Mr. McAlevy upholds the family tradi- tion for honor, honesty and fair dealing. He ranks among the best citizens of the county.


On February 17, 1904, he married Minnie F. Singleton, daughter of George and Lillian Singleton. Children: I. William, born Feb- ruary 14, 1905; at school. 2. Charles Richard, born June 2, 19II. 3. Margaret Lillian, born July 6, 1912.


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Pierce Young, of Water Street, Pennsylvania, has behind


YOUNG him an ancient and honorable German lineage. The fam- ily has lived for generations in and near Würtemberg, Germany, where the members of it have contributed to the wealth of the kingdom by their labor. Many of the family followed the occupa- tion of farming, while others were shoemakers, weavers, while still others held minor government official positions.


(1) Peter Young was born in Würtemberg, Germany, and there lived and died. He was a prosperous farmer and also held the im- portant government position of road supervisor. Among his children was Balthazar, of whom further.


(II) Balthazar Young, son of Peter Young, was born in Würtem- berg, there grew up, received his education and married. He adopted weaving as his trade and followed it until his death, of typhoid fever, in 1854, in the town of Rexingen. He and his wife were members of the Roman Catholic church. He married Anna Wentz, of Würtem- berg, who died in 1854, within two weeks of her husband, also of ty- phoid fever. Children: 1. Melchoir, was born in 1838, and was six- teen years old at the time of the untimely death of his parents. In the fall of 1857 he, with his two younger brothers, emigrated to the United States. He located at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, where he lived un- til his death, which occurred in 1862, while he was employed in a tan- nery. 2. Peter, was born in 1839; he emigrated to the United States in 1857. He resumed his apprenticeship at cabinet-making, which he began in Germany. He enlisted for the three months' service in the civil war and at the expiration of that time he returned to Pennsyl- vania ; made his home in Altoona, where he again did cabinet-making. For a number of years he was employed in the car-building department of the Pennsylvania railroad, and from which occupation he has since retired. He married in Pennsylvania, and is the parent of five chil- dren, all of whom are married. 3. Pierce, of whom further. 4. Ingle- bert was born in 1849, and was a boy of five when his parents died. He was virtually adopted by an uncle, who treated him with such kindness and consideration that he never desired to leave him, and never followed his three elder brothers to America. He finally took orders in the Roman Catholic church, and is today a priest in Germany.


(III) Pierce Young, son of Balthazar and Anna (Wentz) Young,


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was born in Würtemberg, Germany, January 17, 1842. He attended the schools of his native city, and received an excellent education. After the death of his parents in 1854 he was under the care of relatives, and was apprenticed to a shoemaker for the purpose of learning the trade. In the fall of 1857, when he was but fifteen, he sailed with his two brothers for the United States. He located with them at Hollidays- burg, Pennsylvania, and soon thereafter he again took up shoemaking. In 1859 he moved to Water Street, Pennsylvania, and was employed by John Allbright for two years. On May 10, 1861, at the age of nine- teen, he established his own shop, and by close attention to business and an earnest desire to please, soon built up a thriving patronage, which increased as the years went by until he is now the largest shoe manufac- turer in the county. He has been constantly employed in shoemaking for fifty-two consecutive years, and in former years supplied many of the surrounding country towns with shoes. He purchased an old house, remodelled it, and there lived modestly with his family. He is a Democrat by conviction and votes with that party, and has served as supervisor and school director. Like his wife, he is a member of the Lutheran church and has been janitor for fifteen years. He is one of the most highly respected men in his section, and is one of the leading representatives of its industrial and commercial interests. His success is the more creditable as it has come to him as the result of foresight, executive ability and discrimination, coupled with honesty and courtesy.


He married (first) in 1863, Wilhelmina Garner, born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, who died December 16, 1879, aged thirty-four years. He married (second) in 1881, Mary Eva Buckley. Children by first marriage: 1. Gilbert Lloyd, died aged eleven months two days. 2. Harry, died aged four years eleven months. 3. John, died aged one year four months. 4. Jennie, married M. B. Shade; died July 10, 1889, aged twenty-one years five months. 5. Adam G., lives in Evans- burg, Pennsylvania, where he is employed by a local telephone com- pany ; married Lucy Davis; children: Verda, George, Walter, Martha, and one two years old, name not known. 6. Charles, employee of tele- phone company in Joliet, Illinois; married May Richardson; child, Joyce Pierce. 7. Sallie M., married M. B. Shade after death of her sister Jennie, his first wife; died January 9, 1901, leaving three chil- dren : Wilmina, Mabel and Erma. Children by second marriage: 8.


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Henrietta, married Thomas Galley; child, Thomas Jr. 9. Gertrude, married Isaac Black; child, Helen. 10. Anna, unmarried. 11. Jessie, married Chester Doyle; child, Hazel. 12. Mary. 13. William, died in infancy. 14. Carl. 15. Inglebert. 16. Alvin.


For many years Frank and Scott Wible have been con-


WIBLE nected with the upbuilding of Three Springs, Huntingdon county, and they have just reason to be proud of the fact that to their efforts can be traced many a substantial enterprise or ad- vancement contributing greatly to the growth and prosperity of this section of the state. In every sense of the word they are representa- tive citizens and business men of marked capacity. It is to the inherent force of character, commendable ambition and unremitting diligence of the Wible brothers themselves that they have steadily advanced in the business world until they now occupy a leading place among the active and representative men of Juniata Valley.


Scott Wible, the younger of the brothers, was born in Springfield township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, February 4, 1876, a son of John G. and Evaline ( Madden) Wible, both of whom were likewise born and reared in Huntingdon county. The paternal grandparents of the Wible brothers were John G. and Susan (Glant) Wible, natives of Juniata Valley. The senior Wible was a farmer by occupation and he passed his entire life in Huntingdon county, where death called him in 1908. In the maternal line the Wible brothers are grandsons of Richard and Elizabeth (Locke) Madden, the former of whom was a decidedly progressive farmer in Huntingdon county. John G. Wible Jr. early availed himself of the advantages afforded in the public schools of his home locality and he received his preliminary discipline as an agricul- turist on his father's farm. After reaching years of maturity he pur- chased a farm in Springfield township and at the time of his demise, in December, 1908, he was the owner of a finely improved estate of one hundred and five acres. In politics he was aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and for three terms he served with distinction as road supervisor, great improvement in the public thor- oughfares having been accomplished during his régime. He was like- wise a member of the local school board for several terms. He mar- ried Evaline Madden and to them were born nine children, whose names


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are here entered in respective order of their birth: Allison, Edward, Ellen (deceased), John W. (deceased), Frank, Scott, Charles, Lily F. and Jesse.


To the public schools of Springfield township, Scott Wible is in- debted for his primary education, which was later supplemented with a course of study in the State Normal School at Orbisonia. For seven terms thereafter he was engaged in teaching school, and in 1900 he turned his attention to the sawmill and lumber business, following that line of enterprise for the ensuing ten years. In 1905 he began farming as a side issue, and with his brother Frank purchased a tract of three hundred and twenty acres a half mile distant from Three Springs. During the intervening years to the present time he has greatly im- proved this estate and on the same is most successfully engaged in di- versified agriculture. He was one of the organizers of the First Na- tional Bank of Three Springs, and is now a stockholder and director in the same. Politically, he is a member of the Progressive party, and he has been the able incumbent of the office of auditor of Springfield and Clay townships. He is now ( 1913) a member of the election board and of the town council in Three Springs, where he is known as a thor- oughly alive citizen and strictly reliable business man. He is unmarried.


Frank Wible, elder brother of Scott, was born in Springfield town- ship, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1872. After com- pleting the prescribed course of study in the district schools of his na- tive place, Mr. Wible was matriculated as a student in the State Normal School, at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, in which excellent institution he was graduated in 1900. Prior to graduation he taught school for several terms and he likewise taught afterward-in all some fifteen terms. In 1905 he and his brother Scott purchased a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, near Three Springs, which they have since been conducting on a profitable basis. Mr. Wible helped organize the First National Bank of Three Springs, in 1912, and he is now vice- president and a member of the board of directors of that substantial financial institution. He is likewise interested in the lumbering busi- ness, under the name of Scott Wible & Brothers, and has money in- vested in other local enterprises. He is a Progressive in his political faith, and in a fraternal way is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1908 Mr. Wible was united in marriage to Miss


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Luetta Kirkpatrick, a daughter of Mary Kirkpatrick, and a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Wible have two chil- dren, Graee and Kermit.


Active and enterprising, it is to be hoped that the Wible brothers will long continue to move in the sphere of usefulness in which they have won marked success. Socially, they are genial and courteous, and well liked among their fellow-citizens. Thorough business men, loyal friends and in every sense gentlemen, their careers in life are well begun.


The original home in America of the Enyeart family,


ENYEART now of Pennsylvania, was Virginia, where the immigrant ancestor settled and founded the branch bearing the name in Huntingdon county. The first of the line of whom we find authentic record is William, soklier of the revolutionary war, who was a large land owner and farmer at Raystown Branch, culti- vating land, part of which he had purchased from the government, the remainder being granted him for service in defense of the colonial cause. His life was typical of the period, conflicts with the hostile Indians in the semi-wilderness being no uncommon occurrence. He was a famous hunter, a dead shot, and in those days, when the home larder was largely supplied by the musket of the man of the house, his family was never without bear or deer meat, while such luxuries as wild turkeys or rabbits were plentiful. In the formation of the political system of Huntingdon county he played a prominent rôle, his opinions and suggestions frequently carrying a point or offering a means of set- tlement. In the more complicated political maneuvers of to-day he would probably be known as the "boss" of his district and yet the au- thority he wielded was only a result of the dependence placed in him by his less gifted colleagues. He held the office of auditor in a large distriet, his influence reaching throughout that portion of the state, always striving for an efficient and representative form of government in the commonwealth, then in its infancy. He was a devout member and regular attendant of the Protestant Episcopal church. He died, September 2, 1828, having been twice married, his first wife bearing him five children, his second sixteen.


(II) David, fifth child of William Enyeart, was born at Rays-


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town Branch, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1787, died January 10, 1857. He obtained his education in the public schools of the days, which although thorough, were rather elementary in their course of study, inclining rather to the imparting of fundamental knowl- edge than to the pursuit of higher education. He followed the farmer's occupation throughout his entire life, owning and cultivating land in Hart's Log Valley. He fought in the American army in the war of 1812-14. He was prominent politically in the county, although never attaining the eminence in that line gained by his honored father, and was a member of the Reformed church. He married, September 12, 1812, at McConnellstown, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, Margaret Householder, and had eight children.


(III) Isaac V., son of David and Margaret (Householder ) Enyeart, was born in Raystown Branch, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1824, died July 26, 1886. He obtained a public school edu- cation in the place of his birth, and later engaged in general farming in Hart's Log. On March 28, 1851, he moved to Cromwell township, Huntingdon county, there purchasing two hundred acres of land, which is still held in the family. His father passed the latter years of his life here, his declining days brightened and cheered by the loving and de- voted care of his son and daughter-in-law. On this farm Isaac Enyeart raised a great deal of fine stock, dealing heavily, and breeding some of the best blooded stock in the state. He married, April 13, 1847, Mar- garet Isenburg, born November 10, 1826, died April 2, 1903; children : I. Calvin, born January 17, 1848. 2. Prudence, born May 29, 1849, died October 30, 1850. 3. David Rittenhouse Porter, of whom further. 4. Elizabeth, born February 26, 1852, died June 3, 1852. 5. Mary, born October 12, 1853. 6. Lydia Anna, born May 20, 1857. 7. Wil- liam Reed, born February 12, 1859. 8. Howard Lewis, born Septem- ber 27, 1860. 9. George B. McClellan, born May 23, 1862, died March 15, 1905. 10. Lydia Grove, born October 17, 1864. II. John, born July 21, 1855, died August 14, 1856. 12. Margaret, born October 3, 1867.


(IV) David Rittenhouse Porter, third child and second son of Isaac V. and Margaret (Isenburg) Enyeart, was born in Hart's Log Valley, Huntingdon county, December 6, 1850. He obtained his education in the common schools of his native township, and until he was fifteen years


O.S. Comeand


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of age assisted his father on the home farm, accepting at that time a position in the general store of Orbison & Miller at Orbisonia, remaining in the employ of this firm for about four years. He then was engaged by M. Starr & Company of the same town, and continued with them for about five years, leaving to enter the employ of P. P. Deweese & Com- pany, general merchants at Rockhill. After two years with this concern he obtained an appointment as assistant freight agent of the East Broad Top Railway Company at Orbisonia, and held this position for two years. At the end of this time he concluded that the opportunities for advancement and recognition were greater on the road than in the com- pany's offices, and accordingly made application for a position as fire- man, which, because of his previous service with the company and his creditable record, was readily granted. After three years of this life he left railroad employ, never to return, and entered his former field of activity, the mercantile business, forming a partnership in Orbisonia with Jacob Brodbeck, which, however, was discontinued after six months. In 1882 Mr. Enyeart opened a general store in a building erected for the purpose, later opening a hardware store, which is now conducted by his son, William Rutter Enyeart. On February 17, 1913, Mr. Enyeart sold his mercantile interests and retired from active business. During his residence in Orbisonia he had acquired one hundred and sixty acres of land in the surrounding country, which he has since sold. His career after his decision as to what should be his life work, has been full of creditable success, and the experience he gained in his earlier unsettled occupations has been invaluable in his business life. He has retired at an age when many men are still hard at work in the harness and has the pleasure and satisfaction of seeing a business of his founding, surviving and flourishing in other hands. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Patriotic Order Sons of America, and a Democrat in politics, having been councilman, mem- ber of the school board, county auditor, and having held numerous other local offices. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.


He married, January 31, 1871, Jane E. Rutter, born September 10, 1848; children: 1. William Rutter ; married, at Huntingdon, May 14, 1895. Rene B. Rutter, born December 18, 1877; children: Frederick Frank, born June 1. 1896, died August 7, 1897, and Ned Porter, born September 28, 1897: William Rutter Enyeart is at present manager of


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the hardware business founded by his father. 2. Franklin, born May 10, 1873, died August 20, 1873.


Juniata Valley, Pennsylvania, figures as one of the most PARK attractive, progressive and prosperous divisions of the state, justly claiming a high order of citizenship, and a spirit of enterprise which is certain to conserve consecutive development and marked advancement in the material upbuilding of this section. This district has been and is signally favored in the class of men who have contributed to its development along commercial and agricultural lines and in the latter connection Clay Park, the subject of this review, de- mands recognition, as he is now actively engaged in farming operations in the vicinity of Three Springs, Huntingdon county, where he is the owner of a fine tract of five hundred acres of land. He is well known as a man whose business methods demonstrate the power of activity and honesty in the commercial world.


Clay Park was born in Clay township, Huntingdon county, Penn- sylvania, October 29, 1872. His parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Madden) Park, were both born near Three Springs, Pennsylvania. The Park family is one of old English lineage, the founder of this particular branch having been an early settler in New Jersey. Later various mem- bers of the name drifted west and settled near Hares Valley, Pennsyl- vania. James Park, paternal grandfather of Clay Park, was a farmer by occupation and followed that calling in Huntingdon county. Jacob Park was educated in the public schools of Three Springs, and after engaging in diversified agriculture for a number of years he turned his attention to the butcher business, in which he was profitably engaged for twenty-five years. During the last fifteen years of his life he owned and conducted the Park Hotel, an up-to-date hostelry at Three Springs. His demise occurred in 1899. He was a member of the Church of God, a Republican in politics, and for several years served as school director in his home community. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Madden, became the parents of the following children: Lu- cinda, Harmon, Alexander, Amanda, Clay and Scott.


To the excellent public schools of Three Springs, Clay Park is in- debted for his preliminary educational discipline, which was later sup- plemented with effective normal training at Orbisonia and with a course


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of study in the Valparaiso University, at Valparaiso, Indiana. He taught school for eleven winters, six of which were spent at Three Springs. In 1898 he engaged in the general mercantile business at Three Springs and during the ensuing twelve years built up a splendid business. In 1910, however, he decided to engage in farming, and in that year pur- chased a tract of five hundred acres eligibly located in the borough of Three Springs. The same is well improved, and on it a specialty is made of raising high-grade cattle and horses. In the same year Mr. Park bought a flour and feed mill, which he operates, and he also deals extensively in real estate. He was the original promoter of the First National Bank of Three Springs, and is now a member of the board of directors in that well organized institution. He is well known as a man of his word, and all his business dealings have been characterized by fair and honorable methods. In politics he was formerly a Republican, but since the last presidential campaign he has given his allegiance to the principles of the Progressive party. He has filled a number of public offices in Three Springs, and for three years was auditor of Hunting- don county. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and with the Patriotic Order Sons of America.


In 1893 Mr. Park was united in marriage to Miss Alice Hudson, of Three Springs. The family consists of the following children : Carl, Ora, Margaret. Raymond, May, Lillian, Edith, Rex, and Harold. Mr. and Mrs. Park are both devout Baptists, and in the faith of that church they are rearing their children.


MADDEN John Madden, uncle of Clay Park, a sketch of whose career precedes this one, has been living retired at Three Springs since 1906. He grew up a farmer and followed that occupation during the entire period of his active career. He was born in Clay township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1837, and is a son of Richard and Elizabeth (Locke) Madden, both natives of Springfield township, Huntingdon county. The paternal grandparents of John Madden, were James and Elizabeth (Lane) Mad- den, probably natives of McConnells Cove, Fulton county, Pennsylvania. The Madden family originated in Ireland, whence the original immi- grant came to America and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, later coming to Pennsylvania. James Madden was an agriculturist by vocation, and


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for many years he was located in Cromwell township, Huntingdon county, moving thence to Springfield township, in which latter section he owned a finely improved place of one hundred and fifty acres. He died in 1855, aged seventy years. He was twice married, first to Eliza- beth Lane, and (second) to Ellen Stains. The first marriage was fruitful of ten children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth: Richard, James, John, Hugh, Ruben, Abram, Hannah, Charlotte, Eliza and Dutton. The youngest of the above children lived to the patriarchal age of ninety years. By his second wife James Mad- den had the following children: Liberty, Oliver, Gildeon, Daniel, Rob- ert, Melinda and Rosanna. The father of Elizabeth Lane Madden was Richard Lane, an early settler in Huntingdon county. On the maternal side John Madden is a grandson of John and Margaret (Ramsey) Locke, the former of whom settled in Locke's Valley, in Springfield township, Huntingdon county, about the year 1800, and the latter of whom lived to be ninety-three years of age. Children of John and Mar- garet (Ramsey) Locke: Selea, in whose honor the postoffice of Selea was named, he reached the great age of ninety-three years; William; Philip, now living at the age of ninety-six years; Simon, Jane, Eliza- beth and Eveline.


Richard Madden, father of John Madden, was a farmer in Spring- field township, where he owned between four and five hundred acres of land ; he died in that section in 1860. The names of his children follow : Elizabeth Jane, John, Margaret, Charlotte, Eveline, Amon (died in civil war of typhoid fever ), Amelia, Richard, Enoch and Wealthy.




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