USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
.
278
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
ingdon county, and came with his father to HIuston township, where he died March 18, 1885, aged eighty years, five months, and twenty-two days. He was a carpenter by trade, but was principally engaged in agri- cultural pursuits, and resided on his father's farm until his death. He was an old-time democrat, had held most of his township's offices, and served very acceptably as a school director and a road supervisor. Mr. Acker was an elder of the German Re- formed church, and married Elizabeth Garner, who was born May 21, 1835, and died January 21, 1874, aged fifty-nine years, two months, and two days. To their union were born eight children, of whom five are living : Susan Myers, Sarah, Nancy Dinner, Adam, and De Walt G.
De Walt G. Acker was born and reared on the old Acker homestead, on a part of which he has always resided. He received his education in the common schools of his native township, purchased one hundred and nine acres of the home farm, and has been engaged in farming ever since. He is a strong democrat, and a useful member of the Reformed church, like his father and grandfather before him, and has well earned the reputation of being an industrious farmer and good citizen.
On February 24, 1887, De Walt G. Acker was united in marriage with Sarah Imler, daughter of Solomon Imler, of Roaring Spring.
C EORGE F. JACKSON, a leading fur- niture dealer in Altoona, and a prom- inent secret society man, who is widely known as a pleasant, affable gentleman, and ranks among the best citizens and most enterprising business men of Blair county, is a son of William and Rebecca (Taylor)
Jackson, and was born June 16, 1845, in Upper Oxford' township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. The Jacksons are of Scotch- Irish origin, and were formerly residents of Virginia, from which State a branch of the family removed to Maryland at an early day. In Cecil county, that State, William Jackson (father) was born about 1815. There he grew to manhood, and received such education as was afforded by the country schools of that day. While yet a young man he removed to Pennsylvania, and settled in Chester county. He was a carpenter by trade, and pursued that occu- pation in Chester county until his death, in 1864, at the early age of forty-nine years. He was a democrat in politics, and a regular attendant of the Presbyterian church, to the support of which he contributed liber- ally. He married Rebecca Taylor, a native of Lancaster county, this State, by whom he had a family of eight children. She still survives her husband, and now resides in her comfortable home at Gloucester City, New Jersey, in the sixty-fourth year of her age. For many years she has been a de- voted member of the Presbyterian church, and is held in great esteem by a large cir- cle of friends.
George F. Jackson was reared principally in Chester county, and received a good practical English education in the public schools of the old Keystone State. After leaving school, following the early bent of his inclinations, he became an apprentice with his father, in Chester county, and learned the combined trades of carpenter and cabinet maker. In the spring of 1865, when only nineteen years of age, he went to Wilmington, Delaware, where he ob- tained employment at his trade in the car shops of Jackson & Sharps. He remained
-
.
-
279
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
at Wilmington until the fall of 1871, when he removed to Altoona, this county, and accepted a gang foremanship in the car shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany in this city. He remained in the em- ploy of that company for a period of eleven years, but in the spring of 1882 resigned his position and engaged in the furniture business in Altoona on his own account. Ile had a wide acquaintance with the people here, and by strict attention to the wants of customers, an excellent knowledge of his business, and the energy and enterprise necessary to success, he soon had a large and lucrative trade. His establishment is located at No. 606 Seventh street, where he carries a mammoth stock of fine furniture, occu- pying three floors of a building thirty by fifty feet in dimensions. He personally looks after the details of his extensive busi- ness, and has been very successful.
On December 28, 1871, Mr. Jackson was united in marriage with Alice J. Jones, a daughter of Rufus and Caroline Jones, of Wilmington, Delaware. This union was blessed by the birth of a family of five chil- dren, one son and four daughters: Violet S., Daisy E., Clarence E., Elda M., and Edna A., all of whom are living at home.
Politically Mr. Jackson is a democrat, and is now serving his second term as school director. IIe is chairman of the school board's building committee, and served as such while the new school buildings were in course of construction. IIe is also a director in the Standard Building and Loan association of Altoona, and a member of the Third Presbyterian church, in which he has been trustee and treasurer for a number of years. He is also prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of Mountain Lodge, No. 281, Free and Accepted Masons; Moun-
tain Chapter, No. 189, Royal Arch Masons; Mountain Council, No. 9; Mountain Com- mandery, No. 10, Knights Templar; Syria Temple, A. A. O. N., Mystic Shrine, of Pittsburg; and the Gourgas Grand Lodge of Perfection, S. P. R. S., thirty-second degree. He is also a member of Veranda Lodge, No. 532, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of Elmo Castle, No. 54, and Elmo Commandery, No. 30, of the order of Knights of the Golden Eagle, and now holds the commission of captain on the general staff of that commandery.
JAMES R. HUMES, M. D., of Holli- daysburg, is one of the widely known and most successful homeopathic physicians . of Blair county and central Pennsylvania. He is a son of John V. and Elizabeth (Randolph ) Humes, and was born in Alle- gheny county, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1847. The Humes family is one of the old Scotch-Irish families of the United States, and James Humes, the paternal grandfather of Doctor Humes, was a native of West- moreland county. Ile removed to Alle- gheny county, where he purchased a farm, on which a portion of the borough of Taren- tum now stands. He was a democrat up to Lincoln's second administration, when he became a republican, and of the ten sons whom he reared all but one are republicans. He died in 1865, aged seventy-two years. His son, John V. Humes (father), was born in Westmoreland county, and removed to Allegheny county, where he has resided ever since. Some six years ago he retired- from farming and active business life, and has made his home since that time in Taren- tum. Hle is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a republican in
280
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
political opinion, and has held several of his township's offices. Ile married Elizabeth Randolph, who is a native of Allegheny county, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She is a daughter of Ichabod Randolph, who left his native land of Wales and became a farmer in Allegheny county, where he died in 1840, aged eighty years.
James R. Humes was reared on his father's farm near Tarentum, and received his educa- tion in the common schools, Tarentum academy, and Curry institute of Pittsburg. He taught school for four years, and in 1871 entered the office of Dr. C. H. Lee, of Tarentum, as a medical student. After completing the required course of reading, he entered Hahnemann Medical college, of Philadelphia, from which well known homeopathic institution he was graduated in the class of 1874. Immediately upon graduation he opened an office at Etna, Al- legheny county, but during the latter part of 1874 came to Hollidaysburg, where he has remained until the present time, and has a wide and remunerative field of practice.
On June 6, of the centennial year, Doctor Humes united in marriage with Martha M. Huey, of Tarentum, Allegheny county. To Doctor and Mrs. Humes have been born two children, one son and one daughter: Inez A. and John H.
In politics Doctor Humes is a republican, and has served two terms as a member of the borough council. He is a steward and member of the Hollidaysburg Methodist Episcopal church, of whose board of trustees he is secretary and treasurer. He is a men- ber of Juniata Lodge, No. 282, Free and Accepted Masons; Mount Moriah Chapter, No. 166, Royal Arch Masons; and Moun- tain Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar.
He is a member of Hollidaysburg Lodge, No. 119, and Apalachian Encampment, No. 69, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of Hollidaysburg Assem- bly, No. 11, of the Artisans Order of Mutual Protection. Dr. James R. Humes came to Hollidaysburg after it had been abandoned by several physicians of his school, and under this discouraging outlook, by perse- verance, skill, energy and untiring applica- tion, he deserves the success which he has won. He now enjoys a large practice and the confidence of his patients. Doctor Humes is a member of the State Homeo- pathic Medical society, and by reading and study endeavors to keep abreast of the med- ical advancement of the age.
A RTHUR W. MECHEN, now chief clerk in the office of the master me- chanie of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany at Altoona, who left his native country to aid in the preservation of this Union during the dark days of our late civil strife, is a son of Arthur and Catherine (Lassam) Mechen, and was born November 19, 1842, at Shoreham, Sussex, England. Arthur Mechen (father) was a native of Guildford, England, and died in that country in 1863, at the age of fifty-five years. IIe was a hardware dealer, and a member of the Congregational church. By his mar- riage with Catherine Lassam he had a fan- ily of four children. She was also born in England, and lived there until her death, in 1864, at the advanced age of sixty years.
Arthur W. Mechen was reared on the Isle of Wight, and received a good common school education. After leaving school, he started in to learn the grocery business, but on account of an accident was compelled to
381
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
give it up. Some time later he became an apprentice to the printers' trade, and worked at that business until the winter of 1863, when he left his home and came to the United States for the purpose of entering the Federal army. He enlisted in Co. H, 6th Pennsylvania cavalry, at Philadelphia, in 1864, for a term of three years, and served until the end of the war, being dis- charged June 10, 1865, at Cloud's Mills, Virginia. After the close of the war he was employed successfully in New York, Philadelphia, and other cities, in various clerical positions. In 1868 Mr. Mechen returned to England, and there married. Six years later he, with his family, returned to the United States, and secured employ- ment in the city of New York, where he remained some eight months, and was then offered and accepted a position with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In April, 1875, he came to Altoona in the capacity of clerk in the store-house of that company, and in 1878 was transferred to the office of the master mechanic in charge of the Al- toona machine shops. In 1882 he was made chief clerk in this office, and has continued to discharge the duties of that position ever since. He is careful and accurate in his transactions, and has proved himself to be "the right man in the right place."
By his marriage Mr. Mechen had one child, a daughter named Amy, who is now the wife of J. Victor Wallberg, a mechanical engineer in the employ of the Maryland Steel Company, at Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Mechen regularly attends and con- tributes to the support of the Episcopal church of Altoona, though not at present connected with any religious denomination. In politics he is independent, supporting only the men and measures that commend
themselves to his judgment as being best calculated to subserve the public welfare. Ile is a member of Stephen C. Potts Post, No. 62, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he is now serving as adjutant. Mr. Mechen is a pleasant gentleman and a good citizen, and is justly entitled to the high esteem in which he is held by his neighbors and friends.
M ATTHEW S. HUNTER, one of the most prominent business men of Holli- daysburg, who receives many large building contracts in the eastern part of the State, is a son of Andrew J. and Elizabeth (Simp- son ) Hunter, and was born at Coleraine Forges, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, May 3, 1834. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Hunter was a cousin of Governor Por- ter, and was born and reared in Hunting- don county, where he died. He owned a large tract of land in the vicinity of Coler- aine Forges. He was a whig in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married a Miss Montgomery, a relative of General Montgomery, who fell before Quebec in the revolutionary war. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch crossed the Atlantic as a soldier under General Braddock, and was taken captive at the ill-fated battle of the Monon- gahela by the Indians, but made his escape through the friendship of one of the red warriors. He remained in America, and served as a soldier in the Continental army during the revolutionary war. Andrew J. Hunter (father) was born at Sligo Forges, Huntingdon county, and in 1853 removed to Hollidaysburg, where he died in 1865. By trade he was an engineer and pattern maker. In politics he was at first a whig, afterward a republican, and was a faithful
282
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1826 he married Elizabeth Simpson, and to their union were born one son and six daughters.
Matthew S. Hunter received his educa- tion in the common schools, learned the trade of pattern maker, which -he followed until 1885, when he built the planing mill which he now operates at Hollidaysburg. He contracts for all kinds of house build- ing, and does a great deal of special work for many different firms in the eastern part of the State. At the beginning of the civil war he enlisted in Co. A, 3d Pennsylvania infantry, and served for a term of three months.
On May 7, 1862, Mr. Hunter married Ellen Barr, and to their union have been born three sons and four daughters : Frank, a partner in the planing mill business at Hollidaysburg with his father, married Ollie Miller; John B., married Nancy Gardner, and is also a resident of Hollidaysburg; Ralph, a resident of the same place, mar- ried Clara Smith; Irene, Harrietta, May E., and Ella C.
Politically Matthew S. Hunter is a re- publican,' although at local elections he is inclined to be rather independent, and sup- ports the best qualified candidate, irre- spective of party. Ile was formerly a Free Mason, and in all of his business transac- tions he has earned the reputation of being a fair and honest man.
EDWARD H. FLICK, now resident of
Altoona, and a member of the Blair county bar, is a son of John and Elizabeth (Sharbaugh ) Flick, and was born in Cam- bria county, Pennsylvania, August 16, 1860. Ere the star of the great Napoleon had
begun to wane o'er the snows of Russia, and while Alsace still remained an integral part of the empire of France, one of the families that resided in that province was the Flick family, one of whose members was John Flick. He grew to manhood in his home near the waters of the beautiful Rhine, in what is now a part of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine, a province of the present German empire, and at nineteen years of age, in 1830, emigrated from Alsace to Cambria county, this State, where he settled at Carrollton, which has been his place of residence ever since. During the earlier part of his life he was chiefly engaged in farming, but of late years he has not been active in agricultural pursuits or in any line of business. Although an octogenarian in years, he still retains his memory well, while his mental powers have not been im- paired by his advanced age. He is a mem- ber of the Catholic church, and a democrat in politics, and married Elizabeth Shar- baugh, who was born in the same Rhine- land province as her husband, and died at Carrollton in the fall of 1869, when in the forty-seventh year of her age.
Edward HI. Flick was reared in his native town of Carrollton, and received a classical education at St. Vincent's college, a flourish- ing literary institution of Latrobe, West- moreland county, and western Pennsylvania, which was founded in connection with St. Vincent's abbey by the Rt. Rev. Boniface Wimmer, of sainted memory. Leaving college he determined upon the profession of law as a life vocation, and entered the office of A. V. Barker, then a prominent . lawyer of Ebensburg, Cambria county, and now president judge of the courts of that county. Upon the completion of his course of reading he was admitted to the bar of
283
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
Cambria county in the spring of 1883, and practiced at Carrollton until the spring of 1884, when he came to the city of Altoona, where he has been continuously and suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of his profession up to the present time.
On June 30, 1891, Mr. Flick united in marriage with Annie, daughter of John O'Connor, of Pittsburg.
Edward H. Flick is a straight democrat in politics, and a member of the Catholic church. He was elected city solicitor for Altoona city on April 18, 1892, for a term of two years, commencing with the first Monday of May, 1892.
JOHN CLAPPER, a farmer of Franks- town township, and a descendant of one of the old Scotch-Irish families of Blair county, is a son of George and Catherine (Fornwalt) Clapper, and was born near Flowing Spring, Frankstown township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, December 5, 1835. The Clappers of this county are of Scotch-Irish extraction, and Manuel Clap- per, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Scotland, which country he left in the latter part of the eighteenth century to settle at Franklin Forges, in what is now Catharine township. lle followed farming, and married and reared a family of five children, two sons and three daughters. One of these sons was George Clapper (father), whose life was given to agricultural pursuits. He was born at Franklin Forges in 1806, and died near Flowing Spring, October 8, 1869. He was a whig and republican in political affairs, and a prominent and useful member of the United Brethren church. In May, 1823, Mr. Clapper married Catherine Forn-
walt, who died November 5, 1885, at the age of eighty-two years. They reared a family of eleven children, of whom five are yet living, three sons and two daughters.
John Clapper was reared on the farm and carefully trained to agricultural pursuits. He received his education in the common schools at Canoe Creek, and then engaged in farming, which he has followed in Franks- town township continuously and very suc- cessfully ever since.
March 22, 1872, Mr. Clapper was united in marriage with Sarah Walls, daughter of Eli Walls, of Frankstown township. To their union have been born four children, of whom two are living: James M., and Mercy M.
In politics John Clapper supports the principles of the Republican party. He tills a productive farm of 10.52 acres, and raises good crops of grain. Mr. Clapper is a steady, industrious man, and a successful farmer, and his paternal ancestors were of that resolute and enterprising Scotch-Irish race which settled in Pennsylvania, where they aided in the defense of the frontier against the Indians, and became a thrifty element of population.
EDGAR M. IKE, M. D., one of the young and promising physicians of Altoona, is the only son and child of Jerry and Ada (Burket) Ike, and was born at the cross roads near Warrior's Mark, in Warrior's Mark township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1867. Ilis father, Jerry Ike, was born in Huntingdon county in 1842, and received a good literary education, which he supplemented by a thorough business course at the Iron City Commercial college of Pittsburg, from which
284
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
he was graduated with high standing. In the latter part of the year 1867 he removed to Tyrone, where he was engaged in the general mercantile business until 1892, dur- ing which time he served as principal of the Tyrone schools for three years. In the spring of the last named year he came to Altoona, where he has resided ever since. Near the close of the late great civil war he volunteered in a Union regiment that was being recruited, but before he was mustered into the United States service he was pros- trated by a severe attack of rheumatism, from which he did not fully recover until the last Confederate army had surrendered, and peace was restored in the land. He is a republican in politics, and has been an active member of the United Brethren church for nearly a quarter of a century. While at Tyrone he served as a member of the town council, but refused the nomination for burgess, although he allowed himself to be placed before the public as a candidate for school director, and such was his popu- larity that but four votes were cast against him in the city of Tyrone. He comes of a rather long-lived race of people, and his mother, whose maiden name was Catherine Branstetler, was of German descent, and lived to be eighty-one years of age. Mr. Ike married Ada Burket, a daughter of Peter Burket, of Warrior's Mark, who for- merly followed farming and tanning, but is now living a retired life. They have but - one child, the subject of this sketch.
Edgar M. Ike was reared at Tyrone, where he attended and , was graduated from the high school of that place. He then entered Lebanon Valley college, of Lebanon county, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1885. Leaving college, he was engaged in the
drug business during 1886, during which time he determined upon medicine as his life vocation. He read with Dr. Burket, of Tyrone, and then entered Jefferson Medical college, of Philadelphia, and was graduated from that institution on the 4th of April, 1888. After graduation, he spent some time in the office of Dr. Charles Wilson, a specialist in the diseases of women. In the autumn of the year 1888 he came to Altoona, where he has remained ever since and has a good practice.
He was united in marriage with Emma, daughter of William Gough, who was well connected in his native country of England, and died on the ocean while returning to his home here from a visit to that country.
Doctor Ike is a member of the United Brethren church, and in polities a republi- can. In addition to the practice of his profession he deals to some extent in real estate, and serves as president of the Altoona Carpet Cleaning and Upholstering Com- pany, which he helped to organize.
DAVID A. YON, a Union soldier of the late civil war, and now actively engaged in the grocery and marble business in Altoona, is a son of William and Mary (Sherfey ) Yon, and was born near Yellow Springs, Catharine township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, January 23, 1840. The Yons are of German descent, and settled in north- ern Maryland during the last century. Wil- liam Yon, the father of David A. Yon, was born in 1782, in Frederick, one of the mining and agricultural counties of northern Mary- land, and came, in 1835, to this county, where he died at his home near Eldorado, in Logan township, in 1858, when in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He was a
285
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
prosperous farmer, a consistent member of the Dunkard church, and a strong republi- can in political opinion. He married Mary Sherfey, a native of Frederick county, Mary- land, and a member of the Dunkard church, who died in 1878, at seventy-eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Yon reared a family of eleven children, three sons and eight daugh- ters.
David A. Yon was reared on the farm, and like the majority of farmers' sons of that day, received his education in the common schools. At eighteen years of age, in 1858, he left home to enter the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in whose service he remained, excepting one year spent as a soldier in the Union army, until 1883, when he resigned his position to en- gage in his present grocery business in the Mountain City. His grocery store is well arranged, and he keeps in stock fancy as well as staple family groceries, and all kinds of goods usually to be found in grocery houses. He has steadily increased his stock from year to year, and commands a good and remunerative trade in his part of the city, besides having many patrons from the surrounding country. Mr. Yon is also en- gaged in the marble business in Altoona, as a member of the firm of T. E. Moffit & Co.
In 1879 David A. Yon married Sarah Riling, daughter of Levi Riling, of Logan township. They have three children, one son and two daughters: Scott I., Fannie M., and Clara R.
In political affairs Mr. Yon is a republi- can, but is no extremist. In 1864 he enlisted as a private in Co. D, 188th Ohio infantry, and served until 1865, when he was honor- ably discharged from the Federal service at Columbus, Ohio, and returned home to re- sume his former employment on the Penn-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.