USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 45
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MeLead Ht. Thompsonr
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
393 4,K
Samuel, a farmer, who married Mattie Brown; Frederick (deceased); Mary, wife of George Loose, a farmer of Millerstown; Fannie, who married Levi II. Brumbaugh, a farmer; Annie, wife of Calvin Burket, who is engaged in farming; Levi, married Annie Brumbaugh, and is assisting his father in farming; John, who is managing his father's farm in Huston township, and married Elizabeth Stonerook; Minnie, wife of Levi Settle, of South Woodbury town- ship, Bedford county; and Matilda, now dead.
In farming Mr. Rhodes has met with good success, and by his own efforts and judicious management has acquired a com- petency.
M CLEOD W. THOMSON, of Altoona,
who is regarded as an authority on engineering and the manufacture of steel, in the central part of the state, and now chief engineer of maintenance of way for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, is a son of Samuel and Mary (Kyner) Thom- son, and was born in the Cumberland val- ley, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, March 25, 1843. Among the elements of pioneer population in eastern and central Pennsylvania, the Scotch, while not so numerous as the Irish, German, or Scotch- Irish, yet were prominent in civil, military, and educational affairs. Among those Scots who came to the province of Penn prior to the revolutionary war was Alexander Thomson, the paternal great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Alexander Thomson was born five miles out from Glas- gow, Scotland, and married and reared, in his native country, a family of thirteen children. In 1773 he came, with eleven of his children, to Pennsylvania, and settled
in Franklin county, by advice of Dr. With- erspoon, of Princeton college, with whom he was well acquainted. He was a Scotch Covenanter, and a man of influence in his community, where he was highly respected as a consistent Christian and a reliable man. He was a farmer, lived to an ad- vanced age, and gave name to the village of Scotland, this state, in honor of his native country. Three or four of his sons served in the revolutionary war, and one of them, John Thomson (grandfather), purchased the home farm, on which he resided until his death. His son, Samuel Thomson (father), was born in 1803, and followed farming in the Cumberland valley until 1854, when he removed to Fayetteville, in his native county, and assumed charge of the Fayetteville Ladies' seminary, of which he was principal until his death, which occurred December, 1857, when in the fifty- fourth year of his age. He was a whig in politics, and an elder of the Reformed Presbyterian church, and a man of fine education, having studied under a cele- brated private tutor. He also studied for some time with a view to entering the min- istry, but afterwards was compelled to abandon his contemplated idea of a minis- terial life. He married Mary Kyner, a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church, who was born in Franklin county, and passed away in May, 1882, aged seventy- five years.
McLeod W. Thomson was reared in his native county, and at seventeen years of age entered Princeton college, from which he was graduated in the class of 1863. In October of that year he enlisted as a private in Co. II, 21st New Jersey infantry, and two months later was detailed as chief clerk of division, at the headquarters of
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
the Sixth corps of the Army of the Poto- mac. After nine months service as chief clerk, he received an appointment as aid on the United States coast survey, on which he served for two years, and then entered the school of mines of Columbia college, from which he was graduated in 1867. Im- mediately upon graduation he went to the Bessemer Steel works, of Troy, New York, where he spent a few months in closely studying the manufacture of steel, and then took charge of the steel manufacturing plant of the Collins Company, of Connecti- cut, which he successfully managed until 1870, when he accepted the position of auditor for the Selma, Rome & Dalton Rail- road Company, of Alabama. At the end of two years he resigned, and came as far north as Cumberland, Maryland, where he organized a company which erected a steel works, of which he acted as manager until 1879. In March of the ensuing year he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and was engaged in surveys and construction of ways on the western division of the road until June, 1881. He was then transferred to Altoona, as assistant engineer of maintenance of way, and served as such until August 1, 1883, when he was appointed to his present po- sition of chief engineer of maintenance of way.
On April 20, .1871, Mr. Thomson was united in marriage with Emma Garver, daughter of Samuel Garver, of Corker Ilill, Franklin county. To their union have been born three children : William Paton, Samuel G., and McLeod.
In politics Mr. Thomson is a straight republican. He is a member of the Second Presbyterian church of Altoona, and has a a pleasant and comfortable home in the
Mountain city, where he is highly respected as a man and a citizen. He is easily ap- proached, a fine looking man, and has be- come very popular in the county. Mr. Thomson has had large and valuable rail- way experience for one of his years, and has developed fine executive ability from the various and varied steel manufacturing enterprises which he has successfully man- aged. He is well known as an efficient engineer, and for his aptitude and success in bringing about system and carrying on work by method.
WILLIAM M. HARE, a leading live stock dealer of Altoona, and a man who by energy, enterprise and good busi- ness judgment has succeeded in accumulat- ing a competency of this world's goods, is a son of William and Matilda ( Goodman) Hare, and was born at Allensville, MifHin county, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1842. William Hare ( father ) was an orphan boy, who grew to manhood in Mifflin county, with none of the usual advantages for obtaining an education or getting a start in the world. In his composition, however, was force, ability, and a determination to make something of himself in defiance of adverse circumstances. He picked up such education as was possible for a poor boy compelled to work for his own maintenance, and as soon as opportunity offered, set in to learn the trade of tailor. IIe thoroughly mastered that trade, and locating in the village of Mill Creek, Mifflin county, en- gaged in tailoring, and successfully con- ducted that business until 1850, when he removed to Blair county. On coming to this county he purchased a farm in Cath- arine township, and devoted his latter years
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
to agricultural pursuits. He was an exten- sive farmer, and met with good success -due principally to the care and energy with which he conducted all farm opera- tions. IIe believed that whatever was worth doing at all was worth doing well, and his fields were kept in the finest state of culti- vation. He died October 15, 1881, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and greatly re- spected by a wide circle of friends and ac- quaintances. IIe was a leading member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, having connected himself with that denomination when only twenty years of age. In poli- ties he was a whig and republican, and served as justice of the peace in his town- ship. He married Matilda Goodman, a na- tive of Lancaster county, this State, who died January 17, 1883, in the sixty-fifth year of her age. She also was a faithful and devoted member of the Lutheran church, and greatly beloved by all who knew her.
William M. Hare was reared principally on his father's farm in Catharine township, and obtained his education in the common schools of his neighborhood. He remained on the farm with his father until twenty- two years of age, when he came to Altoona and engaged in the butchering business. Ile continued in that line until November 18, 1889, when he disposed of his butcher- ing business and began dealing in live stock, purchasing cattle and hogs in the west and shipping them to the eastern markets. Mr. Ilare is a natural judge of fine stock, and handles from five to six car loads of cattle and hogs every week. IIe has been ex- tremely successful in this business, and has accumulated a handsome fortune. In 1882 he erected the elegant brick structure on Chestnut avenue, where he now resides, and which ranks among the finest houses in
the city of Altoona. He also purchased and now owns the old homestead in Cath- erine township, where his boyhood days were passed, beside other valuable property in Al- toona, and a fine farm adjoining the city.
In 1864 Mr. Hare was united in marriage - with Harriet Lafferty, a daughter of Joseph Lafferty, of Logan township, this county, and to this union was born a family of seven children, two sons and five daughters : Anna, Bertha, Amanda, Samuel, Harry, Helender, and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Hare are taking great pains in the careful educa- tion of their children, all of whom have developed considerable artistic taste. The rooms of their home are embellished by a number of fine paintings, done by the deft fingers of their charming daughters.
In politics Mr. Hare is an ardent repub- lican, and an active worker for his party's success. He also takes a deep interest in all movements calculated to advance the prosperity and development of his town, or benefit his fellow citizens.
H ENRY D. ACKER, an intelligent cit- izen and prosperous farmer of Huston township, is a son of Henry and Margaret (Dilling) Acker, and was born in Huston township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 7, 1860. The Ackers are of German descent, and Henry Acker, sr., the paternal grandfather of Henry D. Acker, was born and reared in Huston township. He was one of the early settlers in the Clover creek section. Ile was a democrat, a member of the German Reformed church, and reared a family of eleven children. Ilis son, Henry Acker (father), was born October 19, 1807, and died January 9, 1874, when in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Ile was a democrat in politics, tilled a farm adjoining
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.
the homestead, and married Margaret Dill- ing, a daughter of Casper Dilling (maternal grandfather), who was born in Germany, and settled in Huston township, where he followed farming until his death. He was a democrat, a member of the German Bap- tist church, and married and reared a family of thirteen children, of whom nine are still living. Mrs. Margaret (Dilling) Acker was born in 1821, and resides upon the farm. To Henry and Margaret Acker were born eight children, four sons and four daughters : Susan, wife of Martin Hoover, a merchant of Fredericksburg; Elizabeth; Sarah, who married Daniel Greaser, a farmer; Levi; Henry D .; Jane, wife of John H. Brum- baugh, who is engaged in farming ; William D., who died in 1881; and one now dead.
Henry D. Acker passed his boyhood days on his father's farm, received his education in the common schools of his native town- ship, and engaged in farming, which he has followed successfully ever since. In 1884 he purchased his present farm of sixty-two acres, which lies one-half mile from Drab post-office. His farm is productive, and he keeps it in a good state of cultivation.
On July 24, 1884, Mr. Acker married Sarah, daughter of Christian and Catherine Weidner, of Huston township. To Mr. and Mrs. Weidner have been born eight children : Christina (deceased); Reuben, Leonard, Dewalt, Caroline, Sarah, Christian, and Louise.
In politics Mr. Acker is a democrat, and has served his township as tax collector. Hle has always taken an active part in the affairs of the German Reformed church, of which he has been a member and deacon for several years. He has been successful in his business affairs, and commands the respect of all who know him.
G HARLES GEESEY, a lawyer in suc- cessful practice in Altoona, and who served for three consecutive terms as pro- thonotary of Blair county, is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Koofer) Geesey, and was born at Frankstown, in Frankstown town- ship, Blair county, Pennsylvania, April 10, 1850. Ilis paternal and maternal ancestors were among the earliest settlers of York county, to which section they emigrated from Germany. His grandfather, Conrad Geesey, moved from York to Blair county early in the nineteenth century, and made his home in Frankstown township. . Ilis son, Henry Geesey ( father), married Eliza- beth Koofer, and was by turns during his life a farmer and mechanic near Franks- town village. His children numbered nine, of whom the youngest was Charles, of whose youthful industry and energy it may be remarked that he so improved the lim- ited educational advantages offered by home schooling, that at the age of seventeen, while attending the district school, he was requested to take charge of the MeCune school, in Frankstown township. For four years thereafter he employed his winters in school teaching, and his summers in prose- cuting his own studies at the Juniata Col- legiate institute, and under Professors Cort, Alexander, and Marsden. After that he devoted his time exclusively to teaching until June, 1881, having thus occupied the educational field as an instructor for a period of fourteen years, of which the last seven or eight years were passed in the grammar and intermediate departments of the public schools of Altoona. It may be here ob- served that Mr. Geesey's father intended him for the ministry, and sought to ineline him that way ; but the young man having no taste for the profession, the effort was
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a. C. Stevenar
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
soon abandoned. In 1868 he experimented in the study of dentistry with Dr. J. W. Isen- berg, of Altoona. It needed, however, only a brief experience to convince him that dentistry was not to his liking. At the age of twenty he set out to master the profes- sion of the law, and he expected to follow his inclination to the end of a thorough course. Circumstances forbade it, for he was soon compelled to turn his best ener- gies towards such employment as should provide him subsistence, and thus he re- gretfully relinquished his one favorite pur- suit. In 1876 Mr. Geesey was put forward as a candidate for nomination to the office of county register and recorder. The nom- ination, which was made under the Craw- ford county system (by the people), went against him, but only by a majority of one hundred and forty-five votes. In June, 1881, Mr. Geesey entered the office of the locomotive shops at Altoona as clerk. He bad by this time won conspicuous notice as a man of progressive, intelligent spirit, and being put forward as a candidate for nomi- nation before the republican convention to the office of prothonotary of Blair county, he was carried to the front, although six other candidates opposed him. The elec- tion that followed was hotly contested, the opposition being led by J. P. Stewart, democrat, and W. R. Donald, labor reform. Although the democrats had for the three preceding terms chosen their candidate for prothonotary, the republican champion bore his colors to the fore on this occasion, after a remarkably close struggle. He was elected in 1882, and again in 1885 and 1888, and served acceptably and with credit to him- self during his three terms. At the expira- tion of his first term he passed the pre- liminary examination to read law, registered
as a student with Martin Bell, then district attorney, and was admitted to the bar at the December term of 1891. After admis- sion he opened an office in Altoona, where he is building up a good practice.
In October, 1871, Mr. Geesey married Anna B. Smith, daughter of William C. Smith, at one time a well known citizen of Mechanicsburg, Indiana county. They have six children, three sons and three daughters : Bessie, wife of Guy R. Singafelt, a book- keeper in a wholesale establishment of Chi- cago; Roy, Charles, Edna, Walter, and Grace.
Charles Geesey is a member of the Second Evangelical Lutheran church of Altoona. He has a nice residence at No. 914 Sixth avenue, while his law office is situated in the Simmons block. He is a member and worshipful master of Juniata Lodge, No. 282, Free and Accepted Masons; king in Mt. Moriah Chapter, No. 166, Royal Arch Masons; a member of Mountain Council, No. 9, Royal and Select Masters, and Moun- tain Commandery, No. 10, Knights Tem- plar. Mr. Geesey is also a member of the Improved Order of Heptasophs. He is pop- ular with the public, and his perseverance, industry and integrity warrant him success in the future, such as he has achieved in the past.
A DIE ALLEN STEVENS. The bar in Pennsylvania is exceptionally good and has always received full recognition. In making up the roll of the leading and successful lawyers of central Pennsylvania, place must be accorded to the name of Adie Allen Stevens, of Tyrone, who enjoys the popular distinction of being one of the ablest members of the Blair county bar, and has been prominently identified for the last decade with the material development and
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prosperity of Tyrone. He is a son of James and Catherine (Agnew) Stevens, and was born at Tuckahoe, Blair county, Pennsyl- vania, August 20, 1845. His paternal grand- father, James Stevens, was born and reared in Ireland, which he left during the first quarter of the present century to make a home for himself in Huntingdon county, this State, where he married Elizabeth Broombaugh, the grandmother of the sub- ject of this sketch.
On the maternal side, Mr. Stevens' grand- father, Daniel Agnew, was born in the old and historic city of Belfast, Ireland. He came to America at the age of fifteen years, finally locating in Huntingdon county, Penn- sylvania. He afterward removed to Sink- ing valley, Blair county, where he was en- gaged in farming during the remainder of his lifetime. He died in the year 1835, aged fifty-three years. He was a linen weaver by trade, a farmer by occupation, and a Jacksonian democrat in politics. He was a Presbyterian in religious faith and church membership, and married Catherine E. Newber, by whom he had six sons and six daughters, all of whom are dead except Catherine, the mother of the subject of this sketch.
James Stevens (father) was born at Franklin Forge, Huntingdon county, Feb- ruary 24, 1818, and died in the city of Al- toona, November 15, 1846. He received his education in the early public schools, and learned the trade of shoemaker, which he followed until his untimely death. On No- vember 18, 1841, he married Catherine Agnew, who was born in Sinking valley, Huntingdon county, August 12, 1824, and is now a resident of Tyrone. They had a family of two children : Samuel F., who en- listed as a soldier in Co. F, 76th Pennsyl-
vania infantry, and was killed at Fort Wag- ner on July 11, 1863; and Adie Allen, the subject of this sketch.
Adie Allen Stevens was reared in Blair county, and was thrown upon his own re- sources when but a mere youth. He at- tended the public schools at Altoona and in Antis township until he was fourteen years of age, when, through necessity, he left school to enter the gallery of a photographer in Altoona, and learned photography, which he followed until 1864, when he enlisted as a soldier in the First battalion of Pennsyl- vania volunteers, which was called into ser- vice for one hundred days to aid in repel- ling Lee's threatened invasion of the Key- stone State. At the expiration of his term of service he reenlisted in the 15th Penn- sylvania cavalry, and served until the down- fall of the Southern Confederacy. IIe was in the Army of the Tennessee, and served as a dispatch bearer and orderly at the headquarters of his brigade. After being honorably discharged, at the close of the war, he returned to Blair county, where he resumed photography, and was engaged in that line of work at Duncannon and in Altoona until 1869. In the meantime his attention had been drawn to the study of law, for which he always had a natural lik- ing, but without means to carry out, and during the spring of 1869 became a law student in the office of Hall & Neff, of Altoona, with whom he read until March 20, 1872, when he was admitted to the Blair county bar. After admission he im- mediately came to Tyrone, where he has remained ever since in active and successful practice. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme court of Pennsylvania in 1874, and in the United States district and circuit courts at Philadelphia in 1875. During his
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
term at the bar he has been counsel on the part of many of the most important suits tried in the Blair county courts.
May 30, 1869, in the city of Altoona, Mr. Stevens married Emma, daughter of Max- well K. Howe, of this county, and to their union have been born four children, two sons and two daughters: May, George B., Irene (deceased ), and James Howe.
On April 1, 1885, A. A. Stevens asso- ciated with himself G. Lloyd Owens in the practice of law, and the firm has continued until the present time.
For the last decade Mr. Stevens has taken an active and leading part in many of the important business enterprises of Tyrone. He is one of the organizers and directors of the First National bank of Tyrone, which was established in August, 1890. He is a member of the firm of W. M. Holmes & Co., manufacturers of lime and shippers of lime stone, and has an interest in the Richland bituminous coal mines, of Cambria county. He is secretary of the Tyrone Gas & Water Company, and a stockholder in the Home Electric Light & Heat Company, and in several other business enterprises. Mr. Stevens is also active in religious and edu- cational matters. He is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Ty- rone, of which he is a trustee and the superintendent of its Sunday-school, and has served two terms as a member of the city school board, being elected to that position irrespective of party. In politics Mr. Stevens was a republican up to 1869, when he became a prohibitionist, and has been an earnest worker and recognized leader in the cause of prohibition ever since. Adie Allen Stevens helped to organize the Prohibition party in Pennsylvania, served as chairman of its State committee from
1886 to 1889, and is now a member and vice-chairman of the National committee of the Prohibition party of the United States, and is one of its recognized leaders. Ile be- came a Good Templar many years ago, and is now a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and the Right Worthy Grand Lodge of the world of the Independent Order of Good Templars. No citizen of Tyrone has ever been more interested in its prosperity, or taken part more freely in any movement calculated to advance its material and social welfare than Mr. Stevens. Com- mencing life without capital or influence, he has won ample fortune and honorable position by ability, energy, and persistent effort-a fair example of the pluck of American boyhood.
R EV. JOHN D. STEWART, propri- etor of one of the leading jewelry stores at Tyrone, and a man whose life has been active and useful to his fellow-citi- zens in this part of the old Keystone state, is the eldest son of William C. and Jane (Dunlap) Stewart, and was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, February 23, 1824. The Stewarts are descended from an ancient Scotch family, and have long been residents of Pennsylvania. William C. Stewart (father) was born in Centre county, Penn- sylvania, about 1775, and was a brother of S. C. Stewart, the Tyrone banker (whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume). He was educated in his native county, and after leaving school became a clerk in a mercantile establishment there. After some time he embarked in merchandising on his own account, and was thus engaged for several years, when he became a partner in the iron firm of Lyon, Shorb & Co., of this
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
county, and continued his connection with that firm until 1846. He then removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of iron, steel, and nails. This business he successfully con- ducted until his death, in 1850, after an active life spanning three-quarters of a cen- tury. His three sons-John D., William C., and Jesse S., -were all engaged in business with him at Cincinnati, the firm name being Stewart & Sons. IIe was a whig and republican in politics, but cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson. He took great interest in the political movements of his day, and was active and influential in local politics. He was a prominent mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, holding membership in and regularly attending the church of Dr. Lyman Beecher, the father of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in which church he was a pew-holder at the time of his death. He married Jane Dunlap, by whom he had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom were: Laura, John D., William C., Jesse S., and Ella. Mrs. Stewart was a daughter of Maj. John Dunlap, who was a native of Scotland, but emigrated to America about 18-, and settled in Centre county, this state, where he was engaged in the iron business for many years, at Valentine Iron works, near Milesburg. He owned and operated the iron works, and died in that county. He was a democrat in politics, and a slave-owner. He married and reared a large family. After the death of Mrs. Stewart, William C. Stewart ( father) mar- ried Mrs. Mary Methenberger, of the city of Philadelphia, and to this union was born one child, who died in early life.
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