USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 51
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
active interest in the success of his party. By his marriage with Mary Lowry he had a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters.
Fleming Holliday was reared principally in what is now the city of Hollidaysburg, and received a fair English education in the subscription schools still in vogue in his boyhood days. After leaving school he commenced life as a clerk in a country store at Bellwood, where he remained about nine years. He then accepted a position as salesman in a large mercantile establish- ment in Philadelphia, and in 1858 went to Colorado. He assisted in laying out the original town of Denver, and remained in Colorado, engaged in various enterprises, until 1860, when he returned to Pennsyl- vania, and shortly afterward became active in the formation of Co. A, 110th Pennsyl- vania infantry, and was made second lieu- tenant of that company. They drilled for four months at Camp Crossman, Hunting- don county, where Mr. Holliday was pro- moted to the rank of first lieutenant, and then went to Camp Curtin, from which place they were assigned to General Lan- der's division, and moved forward into West Virginia in January, 1862. With his company, Lieutenant Holliday participated iu the battles of Winchester, Cedar Moun- tain, Thoroughfare Gap, the second en- gagement at Bull Run, and numerous other skirmishes and minor contests. He was honorably discharged at Washington in October, 1863, and returned to Philadel- phia, where he was employed as clerk and salesman for a period of six years, after which he went to Deadwood, now S. Dakota, and later into Montana, engaged in prospect- ing. He had some lively experience with Indians while in the northern part of Mon-
tana. On leaving that State he, in company with three others, built a skiff and descended the Big Horn river to its confluence with the Yellowstone, thence down that river to the Missouri, and down the Missouri to Bismarck, North Dakota. In all this trip, mostly through a wild and unsettled terri- tory, they never saw an Indian. Leaving Bismarck, Mr. Holliday came to Michigan, and for a time acted as superintendent of a saw mill in the lumber regions of that State. Sickness, however, compelled him to re- linquish that position, and he returned to his old home in this county, where he has ever since resided. He is now paymaster for the Great Bend Coal Company at Bell- wood, and ranks with the widely known and most highly esteemed citizens of Blair county.
In November, 1850, Mr. Holliday was united in marriage with Mary Ann Bell, a daughter of John Bell, of Mary Ann Forge. By this union he had one child, an only son, named Robert Lowry, who is now superintendent of the Philadelphia, Wil- mington & Baltimore division of the Penn- sylvania railroad. Mrs. Holliday died in 1851, and Mr. Holliday afterward married Anna Mary Dysart, a daughter of William P. Dysart, of Tipton. To this second union was born a family of three children, one son and two daughters. The son, William D., is now assistant general freight agent of the Big Four railroad, with headquarters at St. Louis, Missouri, and the daughters, Mary Fleming and Elizabeth, are living at home with their parents.
ON. ARCHIBALD McALLISTER,
an ex-member of Congress, is one to whose virtues, manliness, and genius the
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
history of Blair county should give ample space, as well as to record his enduring ser- vice to the county, and his honorable career in business life. He was a son of John C. and Frances ( Hanna ) McAllister, and was born at Fort Hunter, near Harrisburg, Dau- phin county, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1813. His paternal great-great-grandfather, Archibald McAllister, came from Scotland to America in 1746, and settled at Big Spring, Cumberland county. He married Jane McClure, and had eight children. His second son, Richard (great-grandfather), went to York county, where he bought a large tract of land called "Diggs' Choice." He was a man of eminence and distinction ; was made lieutenant of the district by the council of Philadelphia, and had large juris- diction. He laid out the town of McAllis- ter, now Hanover, York county; became quite wealthy in the iron and mercantile business, and married Mary Dill in 1748. During the latter part of 1775 the men of York county, as recommended by Congress, were enrolled in militia companies. The companies were consolidated into five bat- talions to form a regiment of minute men, and Richard McAllister was made colonel. In 1776 Col. Richard McAllister's regiment was sent to join General Washington, and fought gallantly on Long Island. Col. Richard McAllister died October 7, 1795, and his remains were buried in Mount Oli- vet cemetery, Hanover. Archibald (grand- father), son of Col. Richard McAllister, was a captain in the revolutionary war, and at the age of twenty fought at Monmouth and Germantown. In 1785 he bought Fort Hunter, in Dauphin county, and lived there the rest of his life, where three succeeding generations of his descendants lived and died, and their remains sleep in a private
cemetery. He owned nearly a thousand acres of land in one tract, was wealthy, and while a practical farmer, yet devoted some time to fancy and theoretical farming. He was one of the three largest landholders in the eastern part of the State, and was a strict Presbyterian and a strong Jacksonian democrat. He served in the revolutionary war under the direct command of Washing- ton, from whom he afterward received many letters, which are still in the family. He died in 1832. His first wife was Eliza- beth Hayes, by whom he had no issue, and after her death he married Elizabeth Car- son, by whom he had six children. His son, John C. McAllister (father), was a life- long resident of Fort Hunter, where he died in 1862, at seventy-three years of age. He was a prosperous farmer, a strong demo- crat, and an influential Methodist. He served as canal commissioner and as flour inspector, and married Frances Hanna, by whom he had twelve children, nine sons and three daughters. Mrs. McAllister, who was a zealous and working member of the Methodist Episcopal church, was a daugh- ter of John Hanna, whose father, Rev. John Hanna, married a daughter of John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg.
Hon. Archibald McAllister received his education at Carlisle, and then was success- ively general manager of Paradise, Martha, and Middletown furnaces, of Dauphin and Blair counties. In 1842 he became man- ager of Springfield furnace, which position he held until his death. He died July 18, 1883, and his remains were interred in Mountain cemetery.
On December 2, 1840, Mr. McAllister married Henrietta, daughter of Hon. Sam- uel and Sarah ( Provence ) Royer, of Spring- field Furnace, now Royer. To their union
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
were born five children. Mrs. McAllister was born September 5, 1822, and still re- sides at her beautiful home at Royer, where she has one of the finest farms in the county. Iler paternal ancestors, the Royers, are of German descent, and the family in Penn- sylvania was founded by two brothers, Sam- uel and Sebastian, who settled at Royer's ford, Montgomery county, from which Sam- uel's son, Daniel, who was a tanner, re- moved to near Waynesboro, in Franklin county, and afterward to Blair county, where he built Springfield furnace in 1815. Ile married Ann Stoner, and his son, Hon. Samuel Royer, the father of Mrs. McAllis- ter, was born near Waynesboro, Franklin county, and died at Springfield furnace in 1860, aged sixty-five years. He was a prominent iron master, and, with his brother John, erected Franklin and Cove forges, where they made charcoal iron. He was an influential man, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a whig, and repre- sented Huntingdon county, in 1832, in the legislature. He was also a member of one of the constitutional conventions. He mar- ried Sarah Provence, by whom he had six children, and after her death married Mrs. Martha (Patton ) MeNamara, by whom he had three sons and one daughter.
Hon. Archibald McAllister was a man of fine physique, standing over six feet in height, of commanding yet dignified appear- ance, and whose face was said to have borne a striking resemblance to that of Daniel Webster. He was a Methodist, but con- tributed liberally to all denominations, and was extremely popular in central Pennsyl- vania. He was a man of great executive ability, and supported the Democratic party until about 1880, when he became a prohi- bitionist, and was prominently identified
with that party until his death. Archibald Mc Allister represented the Seventeenth Congressional district in the Thirty-eighth Congress, from 1863 to 1865, with ability and distinction and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He served on the military committee, and was one of the few demo- cratic members of the house who supported President Lincoln's emancipation proclama- tion. He was never afraid of his belief, and faith and courage with him always stood together, and stood him well in hand in his Congressional career, as it is difficult now to realize the duties and responsibili- ties of a member of Congress during the late civil war. Mr. McAllister was a clear headed and able manager, whose industry and comprehensive grasp of details in any matter made him invaluable alike in Con- gress, or in any business enterprise in which he engaged.
WILLIAM S. HAMMOND. The law as a profession has many able repre- sentatives in Pennsylvania, and in the cen- tral part of the State has drawn to its ranks men of education and ability, and among those in Altoona who have made a life study and a life work of the profession of law is William S. Hammond. He is a son of Henry K. and Jane ( Davis ) Hammond, and was born on the farm of his paternal grandfather, William Hammond, opposite Cove forge, in Catharine township, Blair county, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1851. The Hammond and Davis families are among the old and early settled families of the county, and while the former is of English-Irish lineage, the latter is of En- glish blood alone. William Hammond and William Hammond, jr., the grandfather of William S. Hammond, were natives of
Engia IR. Rice & Sono Philie.
J. L Mccarthy 16.0,
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
Virginia, and became early settlers on the territory of Blair county. William Han- mond, jr., was a forgeman by trade, but was engaged chiefly in farming during the latter part of his life. He was a republican in politics, and died in 1871, aged seventy- one years. His son, Henry K. Hammond (father), was born in 1822, and followed farming in Woodbury township until 1890, when he came to Altoona, where he has been living a retired life ever since. While a resident of Woodbury township, in addi- tion to farming, he was manager of Franklin forge for ten years, and in 1855 and 1856 was in the mercantile business with Adol- phus Patterson, at Williamsburg. He is a republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian church, and married Jane Davis, a native of this county and a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, who died in 1866, in the forty-fourth year of her age. She was a daughter of George Davis, who was a native of Huntingdon county, afterward became an early settler of this county, and served as a soldier in the Amer- ican army along the northern frontier during the war of 1812.
William S. Hammond was reared on the farm, and received his education in the common schools, Williamsburg academy, and Dickinson seminary, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in a classical course at commencement, in June, 1874. Leaving school he entered the em- ploy of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany, and was appointed clerk in the motive power department, which position he held until 1877, when he resigned. At the same time that he entered the service of the rail- road company he also registered as a student of law with Neff & Clark, who were the solicitors at Altoona for the Pennsylvania
railroad, and gave all of his spare time to the study of his profession. When he had completed the required course of reading he resigned his position on the railroad, and, in March, 1877, was admitted to the Blair county bar. Immediately after ad- mission he opened an office in Altoona, where he has built up a good law practice. From 1884 to 1890 he was in partnership with W. P. Mervine, under the firm name of Mervine & Hammond, but since the last named year has continued by himself, and now practices before the different courts of this and other counties, in which he tries successfully a large number of important and intricate cases. Mr. Hammond is a re- publican in political sentiment, and a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church. He is also a member of Cresson Council, No. 108, Junior Order of United American Mechan- ies, which was organized in Altoona on September 21, 1870. In the political field he has always yielded a cheerful and hearty support to the nominees and principles of his party, and served, in 1888, as a delegate from the Twentieth congressional district to the National republican convention at Chicago, which nominated Benjamin Har- rison as a candidate for the presidency of the United States.
On June 20, 1875, William S. ITammond was united in marriage with Annie M. Hileman, of Altoona. To their union have been born six children, five sons and one daughter: William S., jr., Mary J., Paul, James Blaine, George Davis, and John.
S AMUEL L. MCCARTHY, M. D., a
graduate of Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia, who for many years was a physician in Huntingdon county, and since
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
1884 in successful practice in the city of Altoona, is a son of John R. and Eleanor ( Lane) McCarthy, and was born March 28, 1844, in Brady township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. His great-grand- father, Henry McCarthy, was a native of Ire- land, but came to America when a boy and finally located in Brady township, Hunting- don county. He was a farmer by occupa- tion, married and reared a family, of whom John MeCarthy (grandfather) was one. John R. McCarthy ( father ) was born in the Kishacoquillas valley, Huntingdon county, and was one of a family of five sons and one daughter, born to John McCarthy. The sons all became school teachers, and one of them, Charles R., is still living in Hunting- don county, where he served at one time as associate judge of that county. John R. taught school for a number of years, but finally settled down to farming, in which occupation he was very successful, accumu- lating a handsome fortune. For a time he' resided in Huntingdon county, but later removed to Mifflin county. He was an ar- dent republican in politics, a member of the Presbyterian church, and married Eleanor Lane, a daughter of James Lane, by whom he had a family of ten children : James, a liveryman in Huntingdon county ; John S., enlisted in the 125th Pennsylvania infantry, and was killed in the first day's fight at the battle of Antietam; Dr. H. C., a graduate of Jefferson Medical college, now practic- ing at Altoona; Samuel L., the subject of this sketch; Edward S., graduated from Princeton college, read law, and is now in the insurance business in New York ; Charles Rufus, a large furniture dealer at Huntingdon, this State; William B., graduated from Jefferson college, Cannons- burg, and is engaged in business with his
brother, Charles Rufus, at Huntingdon ; Jerusha C., married A. Pollock, a farmer living in the suburbs of Huntingdon; Ame- lia A., married Samuel Ebert, a wealthy farmer of Perry county; and a daughter who died in infancy. The mother of these children, Mrs. Eleanor McCarthy, was one of a family of eight children, born to James Lane, the others being : Samuel, a merchant, now deceased; William, a prominent law- yer of the city of Philadelphia; James R., a minister of the German Baptist church, now of Huntingdon county; Frank, who served as captain of a company during the ; civil war, and is now a prominent and pop- ular citizen of Huntingdon county ; Mary, living at Huntingdon, this State; Belle, married William Porter, and now resides in Illinois; and Martha, deceased.
Samuel L. McCarthy was reared in Hunt- ingdon county, and attended the common schools of his neighborhood, laying the foundation on which he continued to build by his own unaided efforts, until he had ac- quired a good English education, and a fair knowledge of the Latin language. He be- gan reading medicine with George W. Thompson in 1867, and later, entered the Jefferson Medical college at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1870. He soon after began practice in Huntingdon county, and for a period of sixteen years was successfully engaged in his profession in that county, principally at Mill Creek. In 1884 he removed to Altoona, and has been in general practice in that city ever since. He has always been a careful stu- dent of his profession, keeping abreast of the latest thought in the field of medicine, and is very popular as a citizen. He was successful from the start, and has acquired property worth not less than forty thousand
RESIDENCE OF S. L. MCCARTHY, M. D.
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
dollars. In his many years of practice, Dr. McCarthy has never lost a case of typhoid fever.
On the 28th of June, 1867, Doctor Mc- Carthy was wedded to Lettie Way, who taught school and music, and who was a daughter of Robert Way, then of Ohio, but formerly of Centre county, Pennsylvania. To their union was born a family of two children, one son and one daughter. The daughter, Ida Blanche, is a very fine vocalist, one of the best in this part of the State, having devoted much time and attention to the cultivation of a voice naturally musical and sympathetic in effect. She has delighted large public audiences by her wondrous musical talents, and charmed all who have heard her rich melodious tones. She grad- uated from the Altoona school in the class of 1889. Her brother, S. Lloyd, appears to have inherited great talent, is a youth of brilliant promise, and is going through school very rapidly.
In politics Doctor McCarthy is a republi- can, but the exacting duties of his profes- sion leave him little time for other lines of thought or effort, and he has contented him- self with discharging the simple duties of good citizenship, while others dissipated their energies in the turmoil attending practical politics. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and takes an active part in the support of all the interests of his church. As has been intimated, Doctor
McCarthy takes rank among the most suc- cessful men of central Pennsylvania, and he ascribes much of that success to the zeal, ambition, sympathetic courage, wise coun- sels and sustaining influence of his devoted wife, who, during the trials and triumphs of a quarter of a century of married life, has stood by his side like a guardian angel, and
alike, in joy or sorrow, has shared his ex- perience, comprehended and strengthened his purposes, and· demonstrated the possi- bility of that ideal comradeship which rounds out life and seals the truth that "it is not good for man to dwell alone."
ROBERT WARING, who has served as justice of the peace at Tyrone for the third of a century, and has been an active and useful citizen of Blair county for many years, is the second son of William and Ellen (Roberts ) Waring, and was born April 22, 1821, in Herefordshire, England. His paternal grandfather, William Waring, was also born in Herefordshire, in the year 1760, but emigrated to America in 1821, and settled on a farm in Decatur township, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. This farm was located just across the county line from Philipsburg, and had been selected by his son, Samuel, the previous year as a home for the family. Mr. Waring married Given Hancorn, a native of Herefordshire, En- gland, by whom he had a family of six children : William (father of Robert), de- ceased; Edmund, still living; Samuel, de- ceased; Elizabeth, who married John Dale, and who is also dead; Thomas, lately de- ceased; and Mary, who became the wife of John Shaw, but is now dead. All these children were born in England, and all ex- cept William (father), came to America. William Waring (the grandfather) was a farmer all his life, and died on his farm, near Philipsburg, in January, 1837, at the age of seventy-seven years. He was a member of the Episcopal church, and was instrumental in having a church erected in the town of Philipsburg. There are now more than one hundred and fifty of his
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
descendants residing in the State of Penn- sylvania.
William Waring (father) was born in Herefordshire, England, in 1794, and was a prosperous farmer of that county, accumu- lating a competency -which is not an easy thing for an English farmer to do-and retiring from active life many years before his death. IIe married Ellen Roberts, and to them was born a family of seven chil- dren : William G .; Robert, the subject of this sketch; Fanny, who became the wife of Samuel Graham, of New York city; Mary A., wedded to William Lee, and re- siding at Milesburg, Centre county, this State; Emma, deceased; Rev. Edmund II., a Methodist minister, of Osceola, Iowa, who is also a phonographer; and Cath- erine, who married John Eckley, now of Tyrone. In 1855 Mrs. Waring died at her home in Herefordshire, England, and some time later Mr. Waring united in mar- riage with Mary Fluck.
Robert Waring remained with his father in England until his fourteenth year, when he and his sister, Fanny, came to America, and joined their relatives in New York city. Ile remained for a time with his uncle Edmund's family, but later became a a member of his grandfather's family, in Pennsylvania. He received only a common school training in his youth, but by diligent study and a wide range of reading has added to his early education until he has become a man of broad and comprehensive knowledge. After coming to Pennsylvania he began teaching in the common schools during the winter months, and worked on a farm in the summer time. Ile remained in Centre county for eighteen years, but in 1851 removed to Tyrone, this county, and has resided here ever since. After coming
to Blair county he engaged in the nursery business, which he continued until 1865, and in February of that year enlisted in Co. F, 77th Pennsylvania infantry, and served with the Army of the Cumberland until the close of the war. After being dis- charged he returned home and engaged in farming for a number of years: He is now overseer of Tyrone cemetery, and is also en- gaged in market gardening to some extent.
On the 22d of May, 1845, Mr. Waring was wedded to Lucy Wheland, a daughter of Michael Wheland, of Penn's Valley, Cen- tre county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Waring was born a family of nine children, five of whom died in infancy. Those living are : R. Newton, a phonographer and bridge designer, now in the employ of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, in the super- intendent's office, at Tyrone; Lucy D., who also studied phonography; May, who at- tended the New England conservatory of music, at Boston, and is a teacher of vocal and instrumental music; and Luther, who is attending the Lutheran seminary, at Get- tysburg, preparing himself for the ministry.
In politics Robert Waring was a whig until the Republican party came into ex- istence, when he joined that political organ- ization. He served as county commissioner from 1863 to 1866, and was jury commis- sioner in 1867 and 1870. He has been assessor, and has been school director of Snyder township for twelve years, and also served as district superintendent of schools when that system was in vogue. The third of a century has passed since he was first elected to the office of justice of the peace in Tyrone, and so satisfactory has been his administration of its duties, that his people have regularly re- elected him to that position ever since, and he may justly claim
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
to being one of the oldest justices in the State of Pennsylvania. Ile is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church at Tyrone, and has served it as deacon and elder for a number of years. In his more active days he was a progressive and prominent church worker.
E. R. C. BLACKBURN, D. D. S., is a
well known dentist of Altoona, who received his degree from the Pennsylvania college of dental surgery in Philadelphia, and has been in practice since 1874. He is a son of John G. and Rebecca ( Rouzer) Blackburn, and was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1845. The Blackburns are of old English Quaker stock, and came into Pennsylvania about 1750, just before the beginning of the French and Indian war, and before there were any set- tlements west of the Alleghenies. Thomas Blackburn (grandfather) was born in Bed- ford county, this State, and spent his long and active life in agricultural pursuits in that county. He was a Friend or Quaker in religion, and a farmer by occupation. His son, John G. Blackburn ( father), was also a native of Bedford county, and died there in 1881, having attained the ripe old age of four-score years. He was reared in Bedford county, and received what was regarded as a good education in that day. He became a farmer, as his father had been, and spent his life in the cultivation of the soil. He was a Quaker in church membership and served as elder in his denomination for many years. He was a republican in politics, and married Rebecca Rouzer, by whom he had a family of twelve children. She was a native of Bedford county, an elder in the Society of Friends, and died in 1881, in the seventy- ninth year of her age. Two of their sons,
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