Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania, Part 40

Author: Wiley, Samuel T., editor. cn
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Philadelphia, Gresham
Number of Pages: 1160

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had a family of six children, William M., Louis A., C. Frederick, Annie, Mary E., and Lenora' I. Mrs. Fraser died on the 10th day of April, 1881.

William M. Fraser obtained his instruc- tions in the common schools of Saxton, Bedford county, this State, until the age of fourteen, when he attended night school at the same place and also at Houtzdale, Clear- field county. Compelled by circumstances to labor during the day, but with a deter- mination not to be kept down by unpro- pitious surroundings he began the battle of life on such lines as commended themselves to his youthful mind and started in to get an education. He not only acquired a good ordinary English education, but to that he added a knowledge of civil and mining engineering, in which profession he is en- gaged. For a time he worked with his uncle, L. MacDonald, of Huntingdon, and then went to Houtzdale. Here he entered the employ of Fraser & Hartman, the senio: partner being his father. He continued with this firm for some time, but on Janu ary 12, 1878, he resigned his position and embarked in the business on his own ac count. In company with his brother, Loui A. Fraser, he began the publication of : weekly paper, the Houtzdale News, which was conducted for eighteen months. Thi publication ceased, afterward. As one of : company, he again entered the journalisti field, this time with the Houtzdale Observer There was more glory than money in thi venture, so, in 1883, the paper passed int the hands of B. W. Hess. Later he die posed of it to White Nixon, who still pub lishes it.

Mr. Fraser moved to Altoona in 1884 and has since resided in that place. He i engaged as engineer of the City & Parl

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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

Railroad Company, of Altoona. IIe is also mining engineer and manager of the J. C. Martin coal estate of Cambria county. In October, 1891, he completed a fine map of the city of Altoona and its suburbs. In constructing this map he, at considerable labor and expense, secured nearly all the original plots of the city and its various ex- tensions. These drafts he retained. The possession of these papers, and the fact that he does fully nine-tenths of the engineering of the city (outside of the engineering in the city engineer's forces), makes him the best informed man in the city on matters of this kind. Besides the engagements men- tioned above, he has a prosperous and growing general business.

On October 26, 1880, Mr. Fraser was wedded to Ida M. Evans, a daughter of Al- bert Evans, of the city of Altoona, and their union has been blessed of a family of three children, one son and a daughter, Walter R. and Bertha P., still living. In his political affiliations Mr. Fraser is republican, but . exercises a great deal of independence, par- ticularly in local politics. He is connected with a large number of fraternal organiza- tions, being a member of Pacific Lodge, No. 450, Knights of Pythias; Houtzdale Lodge, No. 990, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; Unity Lodge, No. 2, Independent Order of Good Templars ; Moshannon Tribe, No. 255, Improved Order of Red Men ; Per- severance Division, No. 26, Sons of Tem- perance; and of the Star of Bethlehem, being the duly appointed State deputy for the last order.

ALEXANDER BUCHANAN, an old

and highly respected citizen of Dun- cansville, is a son of George and Catherine ( Blair) Buchanan, and was born on Fertile

Plain, in the Juniata valley, Blair county, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1812. George Bu- chanan was born in 1782, in Maryland, learned the trade of gunsmith, and in early life removed to Hollidaysburg, which he afterward left to settle at the foot of the Allegheny mountains, and then removed to Duncansville, where he died in 1865. He was a democrat, and a Presbyterian, and followed gunsmithing until a few years be- fore his death. IIe married Catherine Blair, and to their union were born five children, four sons and one daughter: Thomas and John, twins, of whom the former died in 1877, and the latter in the succeeding year; William, who died in 1840; Alexander; Ann M., widow of Rob- ert Morrow, who died in 1892. Mrs. Bu- chanan, who died in 1816, was a descendant of the old Blair family, after which Blair county is named, and which was founded by Captain Thomas and William Blair, who were among the largest landholders of cen- tral Pennsylvania. Her father, Thomas Blair, was a prominent and useful citizen, a strict and active member of the Presbyterian church, and, with other members of his family, was instrumental in securing the construction of the Philadelphia & Pittsburg turnpike over the mountains, and did the engineering through the gap of the moun- tain. Capt. Thomas Blair served in the revolutionary war, and put up the first mill in the county, at Blair's Gap, which did grinding for families twenty and twenty-five miles away. His children were : Hon. John, Alexander, Ruth, who married a Mr. More, and Catherine. Hon. John Blair married, and his sons were John Hadden, William, and Maxwell, all of whom died unmarried.

Alexander Buchanan was reared on a farm, received a practical education, and

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OF BLAIR COUNTY.

followed farming for several years, and then was engaged for eight years in the iron business with his brothers, Thomas and John, manufacturing charcoal blooms of iron at Allegheny Forge. He was also in the mercantile business for four years, and after quitting the iron business resumed farming, which he has followed more or less actively until lately in the suburbs of Duncansville, of which he has been a resi- dent since 1845. Some years ago he owned several acres of land at Duncansville, of which he has sold off many building lots which are now in the borough limits of the town.

On April 19, 1837, Mr. Buchanan married Mary M. Everett, who is a native of Herki- mer county, New York, and was born in 1808. To their union were born two chil- dren : Agnes, who died in 1842; and Anna M., who passed away in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan are said to be the oldest married couple in the county.

Alexander Buchanan is a democrat in polities, and a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Buchanan is a man of quiet manners, consistent morality, and of liber- ality.

b ANIEL STULTZ, a resident of near Royer, and one of the substantial farm- ers of Freedom township, is a son of Jacob and Salome ( Smith) Stultz, and was born in Allegheny township, Blair county, Penn- sylvania, February 11, 1840. Jacob Stultz was born in January, 1803, near the river Rhine, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Ger- many, and died in Freedom township, this county, May 19, 1887. Ile was reared and educated in Baden, which has always been an agricultural, pastoral, mining, and man- ufacturing State of Germany. Ilis inclina-

tions were toward agricultural pursuits, and he followed farming until 1837, when he came to Allegheny township, this county, where he remained until 1842. In that year he removed to Freedom township, where he purchased a tract of land and cleared out a farm. He was a republican in politics, and always took an active part in the affairs of the Evangelical Lutheran church, of which he had been a member for many years before his death. He married Salome Smith, a consistent member of the Lutheran church, who passed away in Juniata township, September 21, 1887, when in the eighty-second year of her age. They reared a family of twelve children, of whom nine are living: Salome, wife of John Ehrenfelt, a blacksmith, of Freedom town- ship; Jacob, a farmer; John, of Duncans- ville; Leah, wife of Levi Wilt, a farmer, of Juniata township; Daniel; Catherine, who married Charles Bozner, a puddler, of Dun- cansville; Elizabeth, wife of Aaron Richey, a blacksmith, of Freedom township; Michael H., who resides on the homestead, and is engaged in farming; and Samuel, now a farmer in Kansas.

Daniel Stultz was reared on the home farm, received his education in the common schools of Freedom township, and has fol- lowed farming ever since. In 1880 he re- moved to his present productive farm of one hundred and fifty acres of tillable land, where he has given his time and attention to grain and cattle raising.

On March 11, 1862, Mr. Stultz married Susanna, daughter of William and Mary Morgan, of Juniata township. To Mr. and Mrs. Stultz have been born ten children: Annie L., wife of John Isenberg, a farmer of Frankstown township; Charles G., a farmer of Huston township; Martha M.

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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

(deceased ), wife of S. C. Royer, a farmer of Woodbury township; Martin, of Royer, who is engaged in farming; Elizabeth A .; Sa- lome; Norman; Rhoda E .; Catherine L .; and George E .; also a grandson, Samuel Stultz Royer, son of Martha (deceased).

Daniel Stultz is a republican in politics, and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He is a well respected citizen of his community, and a careful and successful farmer, and has served his township accept- ably as a school director.

H ENRY R. EARLENBAUGH, one

of the younger business men of Al- toona, and a leading dealer in general mer- chandise of that city, is a son of Andrew and Nancy (Rice ) Earlenbaugh, and was born in Taylor township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, December 14, 1858. The Earlenbaugh family is of German descent, and Henry Earlenbaugh, sr., the paternal great-grandfather of Henry R. Earlenbaugh, came from Germany, and settled in Blair (formerly Bedford ) county, where he lived · until his death. His son, Andrew Earlen- baugh, sr. (grandfather), was born in 1792, in Taylor township, where he followed farming until his death, in 1853, when in the sixty-first year of his age. He owned a large farm, married, and reared a family. Of his sons one was Andrew Earlenbaugh (father), who followed farming in his native township until 1889, when he sold his farm and removed to his present comfortable home at Martinsburg. Ile is a republican in politics, and a German Reformed in re- ligious faith. He married Nancy Rice, daughter of David Rice, who was born in Taylor township, where he owned a good farm and a grist mill on Plumb creek, and

died near Martinsburg, Taylor township, in 1886, at seventy-eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Earlenbaugh reared a family of twelve children, nine sons and three daugh- ters.

Henry R. Earlenbaugh was reared on the farm, and received his education in the Martinsburg High school and the Indiana State Normal school, of Indiana, Pennsyl- vania. Leaving school he engaged in teach- ing for six years, and then became a clerk in the mercantile establishment of J. E. McDowell, of Altoona. At the end of one year, in 1882, he left the employ of Mr. McDowell to engage in the general mer- cantile business, which he has followed successfully ever since. His establishment is at No. 330 Lexington avenue and Fourth street, and originally was but a room 20 x 50 feet in dimensions, but his trade increased so rapidly that he was compelled to build an addition, and now has one of the finest retail stores in the city. He employs four salesmen, carries everything in the line of dry goods, notions, footwear, groceries and provisions, and has a thorough knowledge of the wants and requirements of his numer- ous patrons. In 1890 he added a furniture room, 30 x 50 feet in dimensions, to his es- tablishment, and it is stocked to its utmost storage capacity with parlor, chamber, din- ing room and kitchen furniture, sofas, lounges, wardrobes, chairs and tables.

On December 25, 1884, Mr. Earlenbaugh married Susan B. Fisher, daughter of Henry Fisher, of Loysburg, Bedford county, and to their union have been born four chil- dren, one son and three daughters: Roy C., Hattie B., E. Gertrude, and Bertha May, who died October 8, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Earlenbaugh are members of Christ Re- formed church of Altoona.

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OF BLAIR COUNTY.

In politics Henry R. Earlenbaugh is a republican, who always yields his party a hearty support. He is a member of Elwood Castle, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and Lodge No. 124, Knights of the Mystic Chain.

SAMUEL BERLIN, for many years a prominent druggist of Tyrone, who re- tired from active business in 1887, is a son of Joseph and Mary ( Haneman) Berlin, and was born February 28, 1819, at Ab- bottstown, Adams county, Pennsylvania. Ile received his limited education in the subscription schools of that village. The facilities for obtaining an education in that early day were very meagre. On the 10th of September, 1843, he united in marriage with Mary M. Shane, of Littlestown, Adams county, this State. The only fruit of this union was a daughter, Virginia Josephine, who died in infancy.

Mr. Berlin went to Littlestown, Adams county, in 1844, and engaged in the drug business. IIe successfully conducted this enterprise in Littlestown for a period of ten years, and then disposed of his drug store at that place and removed to Tyrone, this county, where he at once embarked in the same line of business. Always careful and accurate in his transactions, and ener- getic and progressive in his business meth- ods, he soon won the confidence of the gen- eral public.

In his party affiliations Mr. Berlin is a republican, and has always upheld the car- dinal principles of that political organiza- tion, believing that therein lay the true basis of just government. He was elected and served as a member of the first council of the borough of Tyrone, and during the civil war occupied the position of burgess of

the town. Office holding, however, was not in his line, and he found far greater pleas- ure in strictly attending to the business to which he had devoted his life. He is now spending his declining years in peace and plenty at his handsomely appointed home in Tyrone, respected by his neighbors and many a friend who cherishes the memory of the associations of by-gone days.

JAMES HERVEY GWIN, one of the

Mountain City's business men, and who is engaged in the lumber business in the counties of Blair, Clearfield, Jefferson, and Indiana, is a son of Alexander, sr., and Sarah (Hallman) Gwin, and was born in what is now Logan township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, October 16, 1845. His pater- nal grandfather, John Gwin, was a native of Scotland, and some time prior to the revo- lution came to Philadelphia. IIe served in the American army during the revolution- ary war, at the close of which he married a woman who had resided in Philadelphia while the British troops held that city and Washington lay at Valley Forge. He 'moved to Franklin county, and afterward to Burgoon's Gap, which is now known as the famous horseshoe curve on the Pennsyl- vania railroad. ITis son, Alexander Gwin (father), was born in Franklin county in 1791. IIe learned the trade of millwright, and erected the first water mill built on the head waters of the Juniata river, at a point on that stream about one mile above the present Juniata shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, where his widow now resides, now Gwin Station, on the Altoona, Clearfield & Northern railroad. He died in 1856, when in the sixty-fifth year of his age. Ile was an old-line whig in politics, a

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BIOGRAPHY AND :HISTORY

conscientious and active member of the Presbyterian church, and a man who was strict and careful in his family discipline, as the welfare of his children interested him more than his business affairs, in which he was successful. He married Mrs. Sarah (Hallman ) Kough, a widow, who had by Mr. Kough three children, one of whom, Elizabeth, is now Mrs. Elizabeth Reese, of Frankstown. To Mr. and Mrs. Gwin were born six children, five sons and one daugh- ter: Sarah, who died at the age of eleven years; Major George H., of Altoona, who enlisted as a private in Co. B, 3d Pennsyl- vania infantry, April 20, 1861, for a term of three months, and was honorably dis- charged July 30, 1861, on the expiration of his term of service, and on August 26, 1861, reenlisted as second lieutenant in Co. F, 76th Pennsylvania infantry, for a term of three years, was wounded in the right leg at Pocotaligo, South Carolina, October 22, 1862, received another wound in the right arm at the mine explosion in front of Petersburg, July 30, 1864, and was honor- ably discharged at the expiration of his term of service at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, November 28, 1864, with the rank of brevet major from November 28, 1864, and was engaged in the mercantile business in Al- toona from 1865 to 1891; Maxwell, who served in Co. K, of the same regiment, from November, 1864, to the close of the war, and now resides on the old home farm; Sergeant Alexander Crawford, who was killed in the first assault on Fort Wagner,' in July, 1863; and James Hervey.

Alexander Crawford Gwin, the third son, who fell at Fort Wagner, was very patriotic as a school boy, and displayed fine ability as an artist. When the guns of Sumter broke the stillness of peace he was among

the first to respond to President Lincoln's call for troops. Ile first enlisted April 20, 1861, for three months, in Co. B, 3d Penn- sylvania infantry, at the expiration of which time he reënlisted in September, 1861, as a private in Co. F, 76th Pennsylvania in- fantry, then known as the Keystone Zou- aves, and was promoted to first sergeant. He participated in all the skirmishes and battles of his regiment until he was killed. He was a brave and daring soldier, was complimented highly by his superior offi- cers for coolness, bravery, and fine soldierly bearing at the battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina, where his captain and many of his company were killed. He fell in the fore front of the first attack on Fort Wag- ner, July 11, 1863, and his remains sleep in an unknown grave on Morris island, South Carolina, as his family have never found where his body was buried.

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James ITervey Gwin was reared on the home farm, and received a common school education near his home. Shortly after he entered upon his last term the teacher re- resigned on account of sickness, and the school directors employed him to teach out the term, which he did with satisfactory re- sults to all concerned. After the close of his school he learned telegraphy in the rail- road office at Altoona, and served as a tele- graph operator on the Pittsburg division of the Pennsylvania railroad for two years. He then (1873) resigned his position on account of night and Sunday work, and embarked in the general mercantile busi- ness, which he followed in Altoona until 1881, when he engaged in the lumber busi- ness. In 1890 he withdrew from all part- nership operations, and since then has widened out his field of work until he now operates two steam saw mills advanta-

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OF BLAIR COUNTY.

geously located in favorable sections of Jefferson and Indiana counties. He has his main office in the Masonic Temple, Al- toona, and a mill and lumber yard at Ilill- man Station, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, on the Pennsylvania & Northwestern rail- road. He finds a ready market for his lun- ber in Altoona, and receives orders from different parts of the State. He has a large and rapidly increasing business.

In politics J. II. Gwin is a straight re- publican. He is unmarried, and has been for several years a member of the First Presbyterian church.

Mrs. Sarah Gwin (mother), or known as " Aunt Sally," now (June, 1892,) in her eighty-sixth year, retains her health re- markably well, being the oldest citizen of that locality. From early days she has taken an active part in the education of the young, in the Sunday-school, church, and prayer meetings. She was one of the first members in organizing the first Sunday- school on the Juniata, meeting in a log school house with slabs for benches. A member of the Presbyterian church at Hollidaysburg, nine miles distant, since the organization of the First Presbyterian church in Altoona, in the year 1855, she has been a member of this church, attend- ing services regularly, until age prevents her doing so. Mrs. Gwin, during the dark days of the war, from 1861 to 1865, when moth- ers sacrificed so much for their country's cause, was very patriotic for the Union and defense of the "old flag," and as the years go by always on all National holidays dis- plays the stars and stripes about her quiet country home. Living now in the evening of life in the enjoyment of a firm faith and trust in her Savior.

JOHN HEARN, an industrious citizen

and successful farmer, of Blair township, and a former resident of Hollidaysburg, near which he still resides, was born in County Meath, province of Leinster, Ire- land, in 1815, and is a son of William and Julia ( MacAvoy) Hern. William Hern was reared in the city of Dublin, once the cap- ital of Ireland. He received his education in the schools of his native island, and after working for several years in the vicinity of Dublin, he came, in 1851, to Hollidays- burg, where he died, in 1853, at the age of eighty-one years. He was a hard working man, and a Catholic in religious faith and church membership, and married Julia MacAvoy, who died in 1852, when in the seventy-sixth year of her age. Mr. and Mrs. Hearn were the parents of six chil- dren, four sons and two daughters: Cath- erine, William, Thomas, John, Fannie and Philip.

John Hearn spent his boyhood and grew to manhood in the old and beautiful city of Dublin, around which cling so many ro- mantic and tragic memories of Irish history. IIe received his education in the primary schools of Dublin, and was variously en- gaged at work until July, 1848, when he came to Hollidaysburg, at and near which he has resided ever since. After coming to Blair county he worked in the mines for several years and acquired sufficient means to purchase some property at Hollidays- burg, which he afterwards exchanged for his present valuable farm of ninety-eight acres of land, which is situated two miles from the county seat. He has improved his farm and brought it up to a high state of cultivation and productiveness. He also owns a good house and twelve acres of

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land, which adjoins his farm. Mr. Hearn has established for himself a comfortable home by economy and good management, und by many years of hard, honest toil, and is now well prepared to enjoy the comforts of life. IIe is a democrat in politics, and a member of St. Mary's Catholic church, of Hollidaysburg.

On April 4, 1859, Mr. Hearn married Mary Welsh, of Hollidaysburg, and they are the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters: Jeremiah, John, Thomas, William and Anastatia (twins), and Mollie.

J AMES JOHNSTON OATMAN, M.

D., a graduate from two medical col- leges, and a physician who has been in prac- tice since 1867, is a son of Joseph and Eliza (Johnston ) Oatman, and was born Decem- ber 24, 1839, at Williamsburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania. The Oatmans are descended from old German stock, but have been set- tled in this State for several generations. Jacob Oatman (grandfather) was a native of Lancaster county, a farmer by occupa- tion, and spent a long and active life in cul- tivating his ancestral acres. He died in that county at an advanced age. He mar- ried and reared a family of four children. His son, Joseph Oatman (father), was the only boy. He was born in Lancaster county in 1810, but removed to Williamsburg, then Huntingdon county, and in 1847 to Indiana county, where he still lives, being now almost eighty-two years of age. He spent his active life in tilling the soil, and became well-to-do. In politics he is a Cleveland democrat, and has always been active in support of the principles of democracy. While a resident of Williamsburg he served as assistant canal commissioner. By his

marriage to Eliza Johnston he had a family of five sons and two daughters.

James Johnston Oatman was reared prin- cipally in Indiana county, this State, and educated in the common schools of that county. In securing an education he had many obstacles to encounter, being obliged to walk two and a quarter miles to the little school house where he received instruction. He persevered, however, gathering informa- tion from every available source, and before he was fifteen years of age was placed in charge of the school during the necessary absence of the regular teacher. Three months before reaching his sixteenth birth- day he was teaching the most advanced school in his township, having secured the best certificate granted in the county that year. He taught six terms in Indiana county, which brought him down to the be- ginning of the great civil war. Like so many of the brave and patriotic young men of that day, he turned his face from the peaceful employments of civil life to en- counter the perils of the tented field. He enlisted in Co. B, 11th Pennsylvania re- serves, in 1861, and served three years. At the battle of Peach Orchard he received a serious wound in the head, fracturing the skull and exposing the brain, and was left on the field for dead. Later he fell into the hands of the Confederates, and for three months was an inmate of Libby prison. When the war was over, and he had been discharged, he returned to Pennsylvania and taught one year, having been elected to the position of principal of the Iligh school at Ebensburg, Cambria county. He then began reading medicine with Dr. R. S. Bunn, of Ebensburg, which he continued for three years, attending Jefferson Medical college during the winter months. In 1867

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Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania, Part 40

Author: Wiley, Samuel T., editor. cn Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Philadelphia, Gresham Number of Pages: 1160

Author: Wiley, Samuel T., editor. cn
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Philadelphia, Gresham
Number of Pages: 1160