USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 41
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he was graduated from that institution, and located at Carrolltown, Cambria county, for the practice of his profession. Later he entered Hahnemann Homeopathie college, and in 1870 was graduated from that well known medical school. For several years he remained at Carrolltown, and then re- moved to Ebensburg, where he practiced for six years. At the end of that time he returned to Carrolltown, and remained there engaged in general practice until 1883, when he came to the city of Altoona, and has built up a large practice here. Having studied two systems of medicine, and be- lieving that each has points of superiority, he combines the two in his practice.
In 1868 Dr. Oatman was united in mar- riage to Regina H. McDermitt, a daughter of Bernard MeDermitt, of Cambria county. To them was born a family of six children : William J., a druggist in the city of Al- toona; Robert M., engaged as a traveling salesman ; Stella G., Charles J., Genevieve K., and Ernest J .- the four last named now living at home with their parents.
In politics Dr. Oatman is a democrat, but has never taken an active part in political movements, preferring to devote his ener- gies to the more congenial field of medi- cine and kindred subjects. Ile is a member of Fred C. Ward Post, No. 468, Grand Army of the Republic; also of the Union Veteran Legion at Altoona.
ENRY A. KIMBERLING, an in-
dustrious and prosperous citizen of Frankstown township, is a son of Samuel and Mary (Confer) Kimberling, and was born at Point View, near Canoe Mountain, in Catharine township, Blair county, Penn- sylvania, May 9, 1842. His paternal grand-
father, John Kimberling, was a farmer by occupation, and resided for many years at the base of the Loop mountain, where he operated the flouring mill now known as the Mentzer mill. IIe was a republican in politics at the time of his death, and had been thrice married. His first wife was a Miss Stambaugh, by whom he had one child. He married for his second wife Lena Geesey, by whom he had two children. His son, Sammel Kimberling (father), was born June 20, 1818, in the beautiful valley at the base of the Loop mountain, in Frankstown township. In early life he was engaged in boating on the Juniata canal, afterward worked at Spang's furnace, and was suc- cessfully engaged in farming on the Good farm, near Cove mountain, and in the Tur- key valley, where he died in 1869, aged sixty years, two months and twenty-five days. He was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and a republican in poli- tics, and had served as supervisor of his township. IIe married Mary Confer, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and died in 1890. They reared a family of six chil- dren, two sons and four daughters: Henry A., Samuel L., Tillie, IIettie M., Lizzie, and Laura R. Mrs. Kimberling was a daughter of Jacob Confer, who was of Irish descent, and a resident of Turkey valley, Blair county.
Henry A. Kimberling was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools, and has always followed farming and stock raising in Frankstown township.
In 1867 IIenry A. Kimberling was united in marriage with Catherine Geesey, and their union has been blessed with one child, a son named William, who was born Octo- ber. 12, 1868, and is assisting his father in farming. Mrs. Kimberling is a model house-
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keeper, and an amiable and entertaining woman. She was born at Frankstown on March 26, 1840, and is a daughter of Jacob Geesey, who was born in 1802, in New York, from which he removed to Dutch valley, and afterwards to the farm now oc- cupied by Mr. Kimberling, where he died. Jacob Geesey married Margaret Gast, by whom he had twelve children : Mary M., dead; Catherine, dead; Michael, married; Margaret, dead; Sarah, dead; Susan, mar- ried; Elizabeth, married; Harriet, married; Catherine Kimberling; Nancy Jane, mar- ried; Lydia, dead; and Maria E., married.
In politics Henry A. Kimberling is a re- publican. He gives close attention to his farm and business affairs, and believes that whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.
DEV. THOMAS P. SMITH, a schol- arly gentleman, and the energetic and efficient pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart, of Altoona, is a son of Patrick and Julia ( Clonan ) Smith, and was born at Gallitzin, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1859. Patrick Smith was a native of Ireland, and came, about 1852, to Cambria county, where he was engaged in the general mercantile business for nearly thirty years. He died at Gallitzin, March 20, 1882, when in the fifty-first year of his age. His knowledge of business affairs was derived from actual observation and experience. The safe and reliable methods which he employed in conducting any com- inercial enterprise, recommended him as a fit and capable man to handle the financial affairs of his county, and he was frequently urged by his friends to allow his name to be used as a candidate for county treasurer, but he peremptorily declined in every case,
as his private business always possessed a charm for him, greatly superior to the al- lurements of office or public life. He was a democrat in politics, and although averse to holding any office, yet he deemed it a duty that every man owed to his country to give close attention to political affairs. He married Julia Clonan, who was born in Ireland, and still resides at Gallitzin. Mr. and Mrs. Smith reared a family of twelve children, of whom two sons are dead. Those living are: Revs. Thomas P. and Matthew, twins, of whom Rev. Father Matthew took a full course at St. Michael's and St. Vincent's, a theological and philo- sophieal course at the Cleveland seminary, and is now engaged in active ministerial duties in the diocese of Pittsburg; James A., a traveling salesman, of Gallitzin ; Ed- ward F., married Annie Feany, and is in the grocery business in Altoona; M. Jen- nie, a sister in the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph, of Altoona; Mary, at home ; Joseph, a merchant of Gallitzin; Anna, a sister of the order of St. Joseph, at Altoona ; Catherine, and Elizabeth.
Thomas P. Smith was reared in Cambria county. He attended St. Michael's sen- inary, of Pittsburg, and St. Vincent's sem- inary, of Westmoreland county, and then entered the Grand seminary, of Montreal, from which excellent institution he was graduated in the class of 1882. On July 6, 1882, he was ordained to the priesthood by Rt. Rev. John Twigg, and was soon there- after appointed an assistant to Father Ryan, of St. John's church, of Altoona. He found a responsible field of labor, as that church had a membership of over four thousand, but he labored diligently and with success until 1888, when he took charge of the parish of Ebensburg, in Cambria county,
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where he labored faithfully for the good of his people for two years. IIe then, in the summer of 1890, returned to Altoona and took charge of the congregation of the Sacred Heart.
On July 13, 1890, he held his first serv- jees in an old Methodist church, on the corner of Seventh avenue and Twenty- fourth street, and in a short time purchased two lots extending two hundred and fifty feet on Sixth avenue and one hundred and twenty feet on Twentieth street. On this ground he has erected the present handsome and commodious church edifice of the con- gregation of the Church of the Sacred Heart. This church is a brick structure, 60x120 feet in dimensions, and two stories in height, and is neat and tastefully fur- nished throughout. The lower story is used as a church, and has been finished in the best of taste, with fine altars, elegant pews, and a splendid organ. The upper story is divided into six school rooms, in which the sisters of the order of St. Joseph have now a parochial school of three hun- dred and three pupils. The corner-stone of this church was laid March 19, 1891, and the work was pushed forward with such rapidity that it was dedicated ou October 18th of the same year, by the Rt. Rev. R. Phelan, assisted by several worthy fathers. It cost over twenty-eight thousand dollars when finished, while the cost of the grounds and other buildings make the entire prop- erty worth forty thousand dollars.
Under the zealous and energetic labors of Father Smith, the Church of the Sacred Heart, which was organized July 1, 1890, has increased in numerical strength until it now numbers seventeen hundred members. llis school, which is now in a highly flourishing condition, he organized on Sep-
tember 9, 1891, in rooms on the corner of Seventh avenue and Thirteenth street. Father Smith, in his present field of labor, has won the love of his congregation and the respect of all who know him, and the sphere of his influence is destined to widen with the years in his efforts to lift his people to a higher ideal of life.
JOHN G. REED, a well kown and highly esteemed citizen of Blair county, who has spent many years in the useful occupa- tion of house painting, and later became a popular restaurant keeper, is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Glazier ) Reed, and was born August 13, 1839, in the house which is now his. residence, in the city of Hollidaysburg. His grandfather, Samuel Reed, was one of the early settlers at Black Lick, Indiana county, and died there at the age of nearly eighty years. Joseph Reed (father) was born at Black Liek in 1807, came to Blair county in 1830, and located in Hollidays- burg, purchasing the lot on which John G. now resides. There were but few houses in the town at that time, and Mr. Reed lived to see it grow and improve until it became a city of between three and four thousand inhabitants. He died from heart failure on December 21, 1891, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-four years. He was a chairmaker and painter by trade, and for many years had a prosperous trade in that line. IIe continued the manufacture of chairs here until machine-made furniture drove him out of the business. He was a man of vigorous constitution, always led an active stirring life, and made and painted his last chair only a few days before his death. In polities he was a whig, and voted for William II, Harrison for president, but
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later became a republican. He was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church for nearly half a century, and always took an active interest in church affairs. He had a be- nevolent disposition, was always kind and helpful to the poor, and stood high in the estimation of his neighbors. IIe was a member of the "Washington Greys," a military organization in the time of Henry Clay. He married Elizabeth Glazier, by whom he had a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters: John Gla- zier, the subject of this sketch; Catherine McCormick Reed, born October 28, 1837, and died September 15, 1839; Benjamin Franklin Reed, born August 18, 1841, died March 20, 1852; Harriet Reed, born August 18, 1843, died March 11, 1844; Albert Clay- ton, who enlisted and served as a soldier in the civil war, and died April 6, 1886, at the age of forty-one years; Charles II., a painter by trade, who resides at Hollidaysburg; and Sarah Johnston, who lives with her brother, John G. Their mother was a na- tive of Huntingdon, in the county of that name, and a devoted member of the Pres- byterian church until her death, July 23, 1852, at the age of forty-two years. Her father, John Glazier, was a potter by trade.
John G. Reed grew to manhood in the city of Hollidaysburg, and received a good English education in the common schools here. After leaving school he learned the trade of house painter with his father, and worked with him for some time. When his father became too old for the business, Mr. Reed succeeded him, and successfully car- ried on the business until 1877. In that year he abandoned house painting and opened a first-class restaurant in the city of Hollidaysburg, on November 22, which soon became popular, and is extensively
patronized, being the finest restaurant in the city.
Politically Mr. Reed is a republican, and has always taken a very active part in the arena of practical politics. He is a member and past master of Portage Lodge, No. 220, Free and Accepted Masons. He has never been married, and is a very pleasant gen- tleman, with a wide circle of personal friends.
M ARY RITTMAN, a woman of fine business ability, and the proprietor of the Mountain City brewery, was born in Altoona, and is a daughter of Michael and Mary (Falter) Fischer. Michael Fischer was born in 1828, in the kingdom of Ba- varia, Germany, and in 1852 came to Ilolli- daysburg, which he left the next year to settle in Altoona, where he has resided ever since. He is a member of St. Mary's Cath- olie church of Altoona, and a democrat in political opinion. He married Mary Falter, who was born in Bavaria, and reared in the faith of the Catholic church, in which she lived and died. She passed away May 2, 1887, when in the fifty-fifth year of her age. Mr. and Mrs. Fischer had ten children, five sons and five daughters.
Mary ( Fischer) Rittman was reared at Altoona, and received her education in the public schools of that city.
She was married in 1873 to Charles Haird, who was a native of Germany, and who followed brewing until his death. They had two children : Mary and Frank. Mr. Haird was a democrat, and a member of the German Catholic church, and died in 1886, at thirty-seven years of age. After his death she was married, on the 27th of November, 1889, to Daniel Rittman, who was a native of Germany, and came, in
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1886, from Cleveland, Ohio, to Altoona. Ile was a brewer by occupation, and ran the Mountain City brewery for three years be- fore his death, which occurred on the 25th of April, 1890, when he was in the thirty- fifth year of his age. Mr. Rittman was a democrat in politics, and a member of St. Mary's Catholic church. Ile was an indus- trious and energetic man, and had many friends who mourned his early death.
The Mountain City brewery, which is located on Fourth avenue, between Four- teenth and Fifteenth streets, and was origin- ally a frame structure that was erected by Mrs. Rittman's first husband, burned down in 1889, and Mrs. Rittman replaced it with the present large and commodious brick brewery, which stands on the site of the de- stroyed building. The premises occupied by the plant covers a considerable area of ground, upon which are erected all the necessary buildings for brewing and malt- ing. The ice and storage houses are spa- cious and well arranged, and the product of the brewery is sent into market in good condition. Mrs. Rittman is conducting the plant most successfully, and has a steady and constantly increasing demand for her beer on account of its superior quality.
Mrs. Rittman has shown herself to be an intelligent woman of unusual business abil- ity and energy, and is a consistent and use- ful member of St. Mary's German Catholic church of Altoona.
F ROF. JAMES A. STEWART, a suc-
cessful educator, has been ever active in the line of his work, and has been largely instrumental in raising the standard of edu- cation at Hollidaysburg to a higher plane. lle is a son of William and Mary E. (Por-
ter) Stewart, and was born in Shaver's Creek Valley, Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania, September 23,1834. James Stewart (grandfather) was of Scotch-Irish descent, and in all probability was a native of Ches- ter county, from which he removed when he came to Huntingdon county, where he settled in the neighborhood of Petersburg. His life was one devoted to agricultural pursuits, in which he was very successful. In politics he at first was a Jacksonian democrat, but at the beginning of Jack- son's second term he became an old-line whig. He was a member of the Presby- terian church, and married Jeannet Gray, by whom he had a family of eight sons and four daughters.
William Stewart ( father ) was born in 1807, in Shaver's Creek Valley, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1862. IIe was also a farmer by occupation, a supporter of the Democratic party, and an elder in the Presbyterian church. He mar- ried Mary E. Porter, of Shaver's Creek valley. To their union were born one son and one daughter: Annie M., married George W. Wilson, and is now a resident of the old homestead, in Huntingdon county ; and James A.
James A. Stewart received his education in the Millwood academy and at Airyview, Juniata county, and afterward entered Jef- ferson college, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1858. In January, 1859, he removed to the " Old North State" (North Carolina ), where he took charge of the Robeson institute, which he success- fully conducted until the beginning of the late civil war. IIe then returned to Hunt- ingdon county, where he was engaged in teaching during the greater part of his time until 1865, when he and S. S. Jack
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took charge of the Sewickley academy, in Westmoreland county, where he remained two years. During the years 1868 and 1869, he taught in West Nottingham acad- emy, Maryland, teaching for Rev. S. A. Gailey. During the next year he had charge of the public schools of Milton, Pennsylvania, and for four years was prin- cipal of Logan academy, at Bellwood, this county. At the end of that time, in 1874, he removed to Hollidaysburg, where he conducted a private school, preparing boys for college, professional life, and business, until 1886, when he was elected principal of the public schools. He is still occupying the latter position. This school has attained a high standard, and many of its graduates have become successful business or profes- sional men, or educators, in the different parts of our country.
On December 29, 1859, Professor Stewart was united in marriage with Martha J. Murphy, of Washington county, and to them have been born nine children : Mary E., a teacher in the public schools at Gays- port; Margaret, Idalette, Frances, Blanche, Ernest, W. E., who married a Miss Keely, and is an employee of Wood, Morrill & Co., of Gaysport; and two who died when quite young.
Mr. Stewart supports the Democratic party, and is an elder in the Presbyterian church. He takes great interest in the work in which he is engaged, and many of his pupils are now engaged in business and professional life, and have been successful. There is a pleasure comes to him, which only those who have experienced can know, when he sees the fruits of his labor thus demonstrated, and when he enjoys the gratefulness and friendliness of those whose success is partly due to the intellectual and
moral training which they received at his hands. Professor Stewart has kept abreast of the times in the rapid and wonderful advance of teaching, and reflects credit on the profession to which he has given the best years of his life.
HARI ARRY SLEP was born in Hesse Cas- sel, Germany, October 24, 1836. When ten years old he came to America with his grandmother and uncles, and lived in Me- chanicsburg, Cumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, for four months, when he obtained a situation as printer's devil from George Bergner, who published the Vaderland's Wächter, at Harrisburg, the capital of Penn- sylvania. He served his employer well for six years and six months, when he was considered a full fledged jour printer. The young man had certainly improved his time. He had not only endeavored to master the "art preservative," but he had succeeded, without going to school, in ob- taining a fair English education by employ- ing his evenings in the search for knowl- edge. Mr. Henry Gilbert, a well known hardware dealer of Harrisburg, who had known the German boy Harry from the time he came to Harrisburg, said, on one occasion, to the writer, that "the young German seemed to put his whole soul into the trade, and when asked what he ex- pected to make of himself, his answer would be, 'Be a master printer some day, own an office, run a German newspaper, and have on my tombstone the inscription, 'He was an artist printer.' Of course," said Mr. Gilbert, "I would laugh at the ideal of the young, penniless fellow, but encourage him to stick to that purpose." As already stated, at eighteen years of age the subject
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of this sketch was free, for he had been indentured by his next of kin, and then sought out offices where he could increase his knowledge of the art. At twenty years of age he embarked in the newspaper busi- ness, in company with Lawyer MeLaugh- lin, at Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The paper, The Gazette, now The Journal, was a six-column weekly paper, and being in a small town, the patronage was insufficient to keep two bodies and souls alive, and at the expiration of about a year the young aspirant for journalistic honors retired from the firm. In the fall of 1858 he was make-up on the Legislative Record, printed at the Telegraph office at Harrisburg, and soon after this was German make-up in the State printing office. Then he worked a short time on the Baltimore Sun, but soon re- turned east, and in 1860 took charge of the Patriot office at Harrisburg, but the labors were too great, the hours too long (from 9 A. M. until 4 the next morning), and he sought work in Philadelphia, with success. In 1865 he was persuaded to travel as a lecturer and advertising agent for a pano- rama, "The Old World," but before a month passed funds gave out, and Mr. Slep landed in Williamsport, this State, with only fifty cents and his stiek and rule in his pocket. Obtaining employment at his trade here, he remained for several months, when he re- turned to Harrisburg and took a situation in Mr. Theo. F. Scheffer's job office, re- maining there until he was offered the foremanship of the Meadville Republican job office. When that office was sold to another gentleman, Mr. Slep returned cast and worked again for Mr. Scheffer at Harris- burg, until he was offered the foremanship of the Altoona Sun office. This was in the spring of 1871. Altoona was then a small
railroad town, but the ambitious jour printer judged from the amount of work done by the ever increasing number of men em- ployed in the railroad shops, that Altoona would grow, and that a good run of job printing would be required, and an opening for a German newspaper was in the near future, so he determined to make his second effort to establish an office for himself. On October 20, 1872, the first job was turned out from the Mirror office -the name was chosen with a view to giving that name to the English paper when it should be born, and it came to light on June 13, 1874, fol- lowed by a German paper styled Der Deutsche Volksfuehrer, on March 28, 1878. The Evening Mirror, as its name indicates, was a daily, only four pages, four columns to the page, and cost subscribers only one cent a day. Of course there were many discourage- ments and obstacles to overcome during its first two years, but they were manfully met, and the Mirror was paying very well, up to the railroad riots in July, 1877. IIere the paper had to take the unpopular side of the questions at issue-the destruction of rail- road property -and it gave out no uncer- tain sounds, and in the heat of the prejudices of the people, the majority of whom were railroad employees, and who were the paper's subscribers - over two thousand -it had to succumb. The paper was sold for a mere trifle to other parties, but the job office was retained, and in a few years the debts in- curred in trying to save the Mirror (over $2,000) were all paid, and a new grip was taken by Mr. Slep and his two sons, Will and Edward, now of valuable service to him in the business. On June 16, 1888, the Mirror again appeared as an evening paper, four pages, six columns to the page, at one cent a copy, followed the next year by the
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Saturday Mirror, double the size of the daily Mirror, at one dollar a year, or both papers for twenty-five cents a month. The Mirror moved right along, and now has the largest circulation of any paper in Blair county. The Mirror is issued from its own commodi- ous building, 25 x 60 feet, three stories high, specially built for the business. It is fitted up with the latest styles of job and news- paper materials, the fastest newspaper press in the county, with the latest improved electric motors, folding machines, etc., and thus the "young, penniless fellow," as Mr. Gilbert termed him, has realized his expec- tations of becoming "some day a master printer, own an office and run a news- paper." He not only published one paper, but between the years 1873 to 1888, over twenty-five publications have been printed at the Mirror office. Among them the fol- lowing are mentioned in the record kept by the office : Altoona Baptist, in 1873; Moun- tain Echo, 1874; Living Age, 1874; The Mirror Hand-Book, 1875; The Home Base, 1876; Musical Advocate, 1877; The Gospel Trumpet, 1878; The Beacon ( Baltimore), 1878; The First Venture (poems), 1879; The Literary American, 1879 ; Altoona Advance, 1879; The Mechanic, 1880; Youths' Mirror, 1880; Bookkeeper and Penman, 1880; Our Work (religious), 1880; History of Altoona and Blair County (book), 1880; Sunday Morn- ing, 1881; Y. M. C. A. State Notes, 1882; The- Sunday News, 1883; Sabbath School Review, 1888; The Mountain. Signal; Town Talk; Church Home; By-the- Way; The Courier ; and others. Some of the papers are still published, but the most have been discon- tinued, their projectors having learned that it requires more than ambition to run a newspaper successfully.
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