USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 46
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John D. Stewart received a collegiate education at St. Mary's college, Maryland,
and after graduating from that institution in 1839, went into business with his father, at Cincinnati, Ohio. He remained there three years, and in 1842 removed to Tyrone Forges, Blair county, where he entered the employ of Lyon, Shorb & Co., as clerk and book-keeper. In this capacity he continued for a period of five years, after which he came to Tyrone, and has resided here con- tinuously ever since. He was among the earliest residents of Tyrone, and erected a house and opened out a general store. He soon began dealing in lumber, which he continued for a considerable time. He has also dealt in real estate for about ten years, and then engaged in the jewelry business, which he has successfully conducted to the present time. He now carries a fine stock, and has a prosperous trade. Ile has been a member and local preacher of the Meth- odist Episcopal church for a period of forty years, and during that time has labored zealously for the advancement of the inter- ests of his church and the betterment of humanity. Ile has undoubtedly accomp- lished much good, and will long be remem- bered by the people of this section. On August 23, 1862, he was appointed chap- lain of the 125th Pennsylvania infantry, and served as such until his discharge, May 23, 186 -. His brother, Jesse S. Stewart, was a member, and 1st lieutenant of Co. A, of the same regiment, and was killed in action at the battle of Chancellorsville, Vir- ginia.
In 1846 Rev. John D. Stewart was united in holy matrimony with Margaret Shell, of Birmingham, Huntingdon county, this state, and this union was blessed by the birth of a family numbering fourteen sons and daughters, only six of whom now sur- vive: Alice, the widow of Samuel Burton ;
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John A., who married Kate Martin, and is now manager of his father's jewelry store in Tyrone; Laura, the wife of W. F. Men- inger, a clothier of Tyrone; Jessie ; Charles, married Zura B. Gray, and is now engaged in the merchant tailoring business at Ty- rone; and Harry L. The others died in early life.
In his political affiliations Mr. Stewart was a whig previous to the advent of the Republican party, but upon its organization in Pennsylvania he became a member of that party, and has supported its general policy ever since. He has never taken an active part in the heated contests of politi- cal campaigns, however, believing that this was unnecessary in fully discharging the sacred duties of patriotism and good citi- zenship.
R OSANNA (MOCK) DIEHL, who re- sides in the vicinity of Newry, and en- joys the respect of her neighbors, is a dauglı- ter of Joseph and Sarah (Wentz ) Mock, and was born near St. Clairsville, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, May 25, 1838. Her paternal grandfather, Peter Mock, passed the greater part of his life in Bedford county, where he was extensively engaged in agricultural pur- suits. Politically he was a democrat. Jo- seph Mock (father) was a native of Indiana county, where he resided until his death, in 1888. By occupation he was a farmer, and gave the Democratic party a hearty support. He was an attendant of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and was united in mar- riage with Sarah Wentz, of Bedford county, by whom he had a family of three sons and seven daughters : Daniel, Frederick, Simon, Mrs. Rosanna Diehl, Mary, Catherine, Mar- garet, Barbara, Sarah, and Susan.
In 1855 the subject of this sketch married
Isaac Diehl, of Blue Knob, Blair county. Ile was engaged in the lumbering business, which he followed for a period of ten years at Blue Knob, and at the expiration of that time he removed to Allegheny forge, where he continued in the same business for nine years. He then came to Newry, where he resided until his death, on August 27, 1888. Possessed of business tact, he met with suc- cess. ITis industry, and the advice and as- sistance of Mrs. Diehl, were the means of securing him success and one of the most comfortable homes in the vicinity of Newry. Isaac Diehl was a supporter of the Demo- cratic party, and an attendant of the Evan- gelical Lutheran church. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Diehl was born a family of fourteen children, of whom were : Sarah (deceased ), born July 5, 1857; Joseph, born on Christ- mas day, 1858, married Louie Kelly, and now resides at Newry, where he is employed as a clerk in a mercantile establishment; Mary, born March 10, 1861, married Frank Kauff- man, and died in 1890; Daniel S., born January 16, 1863, married Tillie Fink, and is a lumberman in Clarion county ; Amos F., born November 20, 1864, married Minnie Ilolland, and is now a resident of West Virginia, where he is engaged in the oil business; David, born November 7, 1866, married Jennie Adams, and resides near No. 10 Plane, where he is employed at the Portage Iron works; Isaiah -twin brother of David-died February 2, 1867; Jerome, born March 10, 1869, married Mary Bur- key, and is a resident of No. 10 Plane; Martha, born April 1, 1871, and wife of HIarry Peck, of Duncansville, who is en- gaged in the general mercantile business ; Orlena, born May 6, 1873, married William Moudy, who is engaged in the mining busi- ness in Cambria county ; Clara Elizabeth,
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born March 16, 1875 ; Julius W., born Feb- ruary 19, 1878, and died in 1880; Cora, born April 26, 1880, and is at home.
Rosanna ( Mock ) Diehl owns three hun- dred acres of good land, and has a nice and comfortable home. She is an intelligent, pleasant and energetic woman, and has a wide circle of friends, and is highly re- spected by all who know her.
JONATHAN H. BURLEY, the senior member of the business firm of Burley & Graham, is a descendant of the old pioneer Burley family of Sinking valley, whose pro- genitor was descended from Lord Burleigh, of England. He is a son of Joseph and Mary (Hopkins ) Burley, and was born October 3, 1822, in the house in which his grandfather lived and his parents were married, and in which he was married the second time, in Antis township, Blair (then Huntingdon ) county, Pennsylvania. The Burleys are of English extraction, and the name Burley was originally written Burleigh, as they are descended from Lord Burleigh, who figured so conspicuously in English history during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Prior to the American revolution, three of his descend- ants, who were brothers, came to America and settled respectively in New England, Virginia, and New Jersey. The brother who settled in New Jersey was Isaac Bur- ley, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. In 1768 he came to Sinking valley, where he died, and of his children, Isaac was killed in Ohio by Indians, Joseph died young, Jacob went to West Virginia, and John (grandfather) remained in Sink- ing valley. John Burley was a farmer by occupation, and died in 1823. He married
Elizabeth Roller, who died at ninety-three years of age, and was a daughter of Jacob Roller, a native of Holland, who set- tled in Sinking valley with his family of seven sons and two daughters. The sons were: Jacob, who was killed by Indians in Tyrone township, as is related elsewhere in this volume; John, Henry, Baltser, and Caleb, who went west, and Philip and Peter, who remained in Huntingdon county. John and Elizabeth ( Roller ) Burley had six sons and two daughters, of whom were: Joshua, Jacob, John, Joseph, and William. Joseph Burley (father ) was born in Sinking valley, May 1, 1798, and died at Tyrone, June 17, 1873. He was a stone mason by trade, a farmer by occupation, a whig and republican in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. On January 10, 1822, he married Mary Hopkins, who was born October 8, 1790, in Chester county, and died January 12, 1875, at Tyrone. They had four children, three sons and one daughter : Jonathan II .; Sanford D., a millwright, who married Susan Phillips, and resides in Tyrone; Martin, of Tyrone, who served in the Federal army from 1861 to 1865, as a soldier in the 14th Pennsylvania infantry for three months, and then as a corporal in the 2d Pennsylvania cavalry for three years; and Margaret, who married William Neveling, and is now dead.
Jonathan Burley received his education in the old subscription schools of that part of Huntingdon which is now Blair county, and leared the trade of cabinet maker at the village of Warrior's Mark. IIe then worked as a journeyman until the fall of 1851, when he came to Tyrone, where he engaged in the dry goods and grocery business, which lie followed for three years. At the end of that time, in 1854, he opened a cabinet
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making and furniture establishment, which he operated until 1863, when he associated with himself as a partner in the store and furniture business Frank Cramer, under the firm name of Burley & Cramer. This firm lasted until 1881, when Mr. Cramer retired, and Martin Burley came into the new firm, which continued until March, 1891. In September of that year Mr. Burley formed a partnership with Samuel Graham, under the firm name of Burley & Graham, under- takers.
Jonathan II. Burley has been twice mar- ried. On January 9, 1851, he married Susanna, daughter of John A. and Edith Neveling, and who died May 20, 1867, and left four children : Edith; Melissa, wife of Dr. II. J. Evans, a homeopathie physician of Altoona; Mary Etta, and Bertha. Mr. Burley was re-married on March 16, 1870, to Elizabeth J. McFarland, who was a daughtter of Alexander and Jane McFar- land, of Antis township, and died Septem- ber 4, 1874, leaving one child, Jennie, who attended the Indiana State Normal school of Indiana, this State, and Chambersburg college, and is now a teacher in the public schools of Tyrone.
In politics Mr. Burley was formerly a whig, but is now a republican. He was the first burgess of Tyrone, which position he held for eighteen months. He served two terms as school director, and also two terms as a member of the town council. He has always resided in the county, excepting the years 1844, 1845 and 1846, which he spent in Cleveland and New Orleans. Mr. Burley is a man of good judgment in financial mat- ters, has a large trade in his particular lines of business, and in every public office which he has held he has rendered good service with credit to himself.
JOHN HALTON, proprietor of a ma-
chine shop in Altoona, is of that class of substantial men who give to a city or town much of the business prosperity it may possess. Ile is a son of John S. and Jane (Darby) Halton, and was born in County Meath, province of Leinster, Ire- land, August 15, 1844. John Halton, sr., was born in 1816, in one of the rural dis- triets in County Meath, which is northwest of the ancient city of "Dublin, and in the eastern part of Ireland, where for centuries the only vocation open to the poor, or the man of limited means, has been the tillage of the soil, although on every hand in this beau- tiful island is an eternal contrast of wealth and poverty. John Halton, sr., grew to manhood and became a farm hand in his na- tive country, where agriculture was the only industry to which common people could re- sort for a livelihood. At thirty-four years of age he had saved, by care and economy, sufficient means to leave a country cursed by land monopoly and political greed, and seek a home in a land where all industries are open to the efforts of every one. He settled at Altoona, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1879, when in the sixty- third year of his age. Of the numerous families who were at and, around Altoona when he came but three remain at the pres- ent time. Mr. Halton was a hard-working man, a democrat in politics, and a zealous niember of the Catholic church. He mar- ried Jane Darby, who was born in the same year and in the same county, and reared in the same religious faith as himself, and who died in 1881, at the age of sixty-five years. They reared a family of children.
At six years of age John Halton was brought by his parents to Altoona, where he grew to manhood, and received his
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
education in the common schools. Leaving school he learned the trade of machinist, which he followed for fifteen years in the machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. At the end of that time, in 1872, he engaged in the business for him- self, and opened his present machine shop. His establishment is thoroughly fitted up for his particular line of business, and
nothing but first-class work is allowed to go out from the shops. He has a large trade, which is constantly increasing. He is a democrat in politics, and a member of . the Catholic church. Mr. Halton is a skilled mechanic, a man of good judgment, and has acquired a competency through his own unaided efforts. IIe believes in building up his own city, and has invested largely of his means in city property, which is now considered to be worth over forty thousand dollars.
In 1876 Mr. Halton was united in mar- riage with Mary Rodgers, daughter of An- drew Rodgers, of Philadelphia, this State, and their union has been blessed with two children : Mary R. and Edward R.
M AJ. FRANCIS M. BELL, who made
a splendid record as an officer during the civil war, served for nine years as post- master at Tyrone, and is now engaged in the grocery business in that city, is a son of John and Margaret (Johnson ) Bell, and was born near Spruce Creek, Centre county, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1826. John Bell ( father) was a native of County Ty- rone, Ireland, but emigrating to America in early manhood, located in Centre county, Pennsylvania, and passed the greater part of his life at Spruce Creek, that county. In
later life he removed to Molesburg, same county, where he died, in 1836. He was a merchant, and accumulated considerable property. Ile was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and always active in support of the various inter- ests of his church, serving as steward and class-leader for a number of years. IIe married Margaret Johnson, by whom he had a family of seven children : James, deceased; Mary Jane; Johnson, also dead; Francis M., the subject of this sketch; Margaret Ann, deceased; Washington Irv- ing; and one now dead.
Maj. Francis M. Bell was reared on a farm, in Centre county, this state, and re- ceived his education in the common schools of that early day. After leaving school, he engaged in farming for a time. In 1845 he removed to this county, and six years later located where Tyrone now stands, being here when the first house was built. He soon embarked in general merchandis- ing, and followed that business successfully until the breaking out of the great civil war. When echoes from the opening thunders of that gigantic struggle reverber- ated among the hills and along the valleys of the old Keystone State, the latent patriot- ism of her people flamed up, and the spirit of military ardor which had slept for years suddenly stood forth as in revolutionary times. Among the peaceful citizens who woke to find the blood of soldiers coursing through their veins, and were quickly trans- formed into members of the finest volunteer army that ever marched to the tap of a drum, was Francis Marion Bell. IIe sac- rificed his business for love of the stars and stripes, and regardless of financial induce- ments, of the tender ties binding him to home and friends, became a member of Co.
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D, 3d Pennsylvania infantry, and was im- mediately elected and commissioned as lieu- tenant of his company. He served with that company for three months, and then went to Harrisburg with one hundred and forty-six men, most of whom he had re- cruited, and enlisted in the 125th Pennsyl- vania infantry, being commissioned captain of Co. A, of that regiment. With that rank he served during the term of their enlistment, and when the company was mustered out of the service, Captain Bell immediately re-enlisted in the 46th in- fantry, and was at once elected and com- missioned major of the regiment. With his command he participated in the battles of Falling Water, Antietam, Chancellors- ville, South Mountain, and numerous minor engagements and skirmishes. The division with which he served was hurried forward as reinforcements at the battle of Freder- icksburg, but arrived on the ground too late for actual participation in that contest. After the downfall of the Confederacy and the discharge of Mr. Bell from the service of the United States, he returned to Penn- sylvania, and entered the employ of the great corporation known as the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company, being stationed at Tyrone, where he served in various ca- pacities, and finally became baggagemaster at that place. IIe remained with the rail- road company for a period of fourteen years, and in 1876 resigned his position to become postmaster at Tyrone, to which office he had been appointed by President Hayes. He served acceptably as such through two administrations, and for more than a year after the close of his second term. In 1885 Major Bell engaged in the grocery business at Tyrone, and has con- tinued in that line ever since, meeting with
good success, and now controlling a large and prosperous trade.
Major Bell married Mary Davison, a daughter of John Davison, of Tyrone. To this union was born a family of eleven chil- dren : John A., William, and Ella, deceased ; Harry F., married and resides at Tyrone, and is a brakeman on the Pennsylvania railroad ; Beverly W., deceased; Anna, at home; Asbury W., dead; Jane G., Carrie, and Elsie, living at home with their pa- rents ; and one which died in infancy.
Politically, Major Bell has always affili- ated with the Republican party, and in the main has given that party an unqualified support on all measures of public policy, especially on questions relating to the pro- tection of American industries. In local affairs he has sometimes chosen to exercise a greater degree of independence. He has served as a school director, assessor, and member of the council of Tyrone, and in these positions, as in all the relations. of life, has conscientiously discharged his duty, and won the respect and esteem of his fel- low-citizens.
DR. CHARLES LONG was born in South Woodbury township, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, September 12, A. D. 1841. His father was a farmer of a pro- gressive turn, a man of influence in his community, and a warm friend of popular education in his day. Ile reared his family in quiet upon his farm, and gave both his sons and daughters a liberal education in some of the then available select schools and academies.
Charles attended Cassville seminary, lo- cated at Cassville, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and subsequently took a course at the Millersville State Normal
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
school, at Millersville, Pennsylvania. After teaching in the public schools in his native county, and at the Franklin Collegiate in- stitute, at Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, he engaged himself, as a student of medicine, with Dr. Samuel II. Smith, of Woodbury, Pennsylvania, and entered the medical de- partment of Union university, at Albany, New York, and graduated with the class of 1867. Immediately after graduation, he located at New Enterprise, near his native home, and engaged in the practice of his profession. In the fall of 1869 he became a student in Bellevue Medical college, New York, and graduated with the class of 1870. Returning to New Enterprise, he resumed his practice, and continued uninterruptedly until September 1, 1888, when he sold out to Dr. II. M. Griffith. After spending three months in the dispensaries and clinics in Philadelphia, he went to New York, in January, 1889, and spent one year in the post-graduate school and clinics in the dif- ferent dispensaries of that medical center, as an assistant and student. In February of 1890, he came to Altoona, and opened an office on Eleventh street, near Twelfth avenue, where he is now located, and en- joying a lucrative practice.
The Doctor is a republican in politics, a pleasant and courteous gentleman, well known, wide-awake, and progressive, in the vigor of manhood, with the prospect of yet many years of usefulness in store for him.
C ICERO M. EWING, M. D., one of the leading physicians of Blair county, who has been in successful practice at Tyrone for nearly twenty years, is a son of Andrew and Drusilla (Scott) Ewing, and was born Au-
gust 14, 1840, in the Ligonier valley, West- moreland county, Pennsylvania. The fam- ily is of Scotch-Irish extraction. Robert Ewing (grandfather) was a native of West- moreland county, this State, a farmer by occupation, and died on his farm there in 1854, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. IIe served in the war of 1812, and during the early Indian disturbances in his vicinity, when the whites were forced to retreat to Fort Ligonier. He was a mem- ber and elder of the Presbyterian church, and married Elizabeth Salisbury, by whom he had a family- of seven children, five sons and two daughters. Andrew Ewing ( father) was born on the old homestead, and lived there for a number of years, when he re- moved to Ligonier, where he continued to reside until the time of his death, he being one of the victims of the Johnstown flood in 1889. He and one son had started to visit his sons, John Ewing and the subject of this sketch, at Tyrone, and on reaching Johnstown was engulfed in the malstrom that wrought such ruin in the Conemaugh valley as to render it historie for all time to come. Like many another unfortunate who lost life in that terrible disaster, his remains were never recovered, and no one knows where his dust reposes. In polities he was a democrat, and an active and influ- ential member of the Presbyterian church at Ligonier. He was twice married. First to Drusilla Scott, in 1837, to whom were born two sons and a daughter: Louisa, de- ceased ; Cicero M., the subject of this sketch ; and John, who married Mary Hoover, re- sides at Tyrone, and is a traveling salesman for W. T. Allen & Co., clothiers, of Phila- delphia. Mrs. Drusilla Ewing died March 8, 1843. Mr. Ewing then wedded Ruth Clark, and to this union were born six chil-
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J. B. Colline
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dren, three of whom died in infancy. Those who survive are : Jackson S., a druggist, of Tyrone, who is also at present engaged in the furniture business; Sarah J., married Samuel Overcosh, a farmer, of Westmore- land county; and Elizabeth D., married Edward Lohr, a carriage manufacturer, of Latrobe, Westmoreland county. The mother still survives, and resides with her daugh- ter, Sarah Overeosh, at Ligonier.
Cicero M. Ewing received a good educa- tion in the common and select schools of his native county, and at the age of twenty- one years began reading medicine with Dr. L. T. Beam, of Ligonier, who perished in the Johnstown flood .. Later he entered the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical univer- sity, from which he was graduated Febru- ary 22, 1866, and began the practice of medicine at Strongstown, Indiana county. He remained there for nearly three years, when he removed to Greenville, same county, where he practiced until April, 1873, at which time he located in Tyrone. Here he has ever since been engaged in general practice, and on account of his thorough knowledge of his profession, and his great skill in combatting disease, he has become deservedly popular as a physician, and enjoys a large and lucrative practice.
In the fall of 1861 Dr. Ewing enlisted at Ligonier as a private in Co. E, 11th Penn- sylvania infantry (Captain MeCurdy's com- pany ), but remained with the company only six weeks before being discharged on ac- count of physical disability. In 1865 he again enlisted, this time in Co. E, 211th Pennsylvania infantry, and was assigned to duty as acting hospital steward. Ile aided in the organization of this company, and was tendered the position of second lieu- tenant, but declined the proffered honor,
preferring to serve in the line of his pro- fession.
On December 25, 1866, Dr. Ewing was united in marriage to Mary Roberts, of In- diana county, and to them were born two children : Cora E., and Jesse, the latter now deceased. Mrs. Ewing died in 1871, and two years later Dr. Ewing wedded Mary Duncan, also a native of Indiana county. To this union have also been born two chil- dren : Cecil A., and May D.
In politics Dr. Ewing is a stanch repub- lican, and has served one term as school director. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Ty- rone, of which he is now trustee, and which he served as steward for twelve years in succession. His career as a physician has been successful and honorable, and he is eminently worthy of the wide popularity he enjoys.
JOHN B. COLLIN, a prominent Penn-
sylvania railroad official, and a resident of Altoona from 1858 to his death, in 1886, was a man of fine education, great force of character, and of decided convictions. Mr. Collin was born in Malmö, Sweden, Sep- tember 28, 1831, his father being a profes- sor of Greek and Latin in a Swedish uni- versity of Gothenburg, in 1848. During the years 1849 and 1850 he was employed in the machine shops of Messrs. Nydgist & Hohn, Trollhalten, Sweden, coming to this country July 31, 1851. He had been in America one month, when, on September 1, 1851, he entered the machine shops at Lowell,"Massachusetts, where he remained until July 3d of the succeeding year. On July 5, 1852, he became an employee in the machine shops at Lawrence, Massa- chusetts, and there remained until May,
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