USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 56
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In 1846 Mr. Condron united in marriage with Ellen Jones, a sister of C. B. Jones, of Hollidaysburg. To their union was born a family of children, three of whom survive,
two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son, Angus B., is engaged in the lumber business with his father, and the other, Joseph B., is proprietor of a large planing mill in the same city, and also deals extensively in lumber. The daughter, Delia C., is em- ployed in the pension office at Washington, D. C., where she has held a responsible position for several years.
In politics Mr. Condron is a stanch re- publican. He is one of the veterans who voted for William H. Harrison for president in 1840, and for his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, for the same office in 1888. He is a member and trustee of the Presbyterian church of Hollidaysburg. He has been one of the directors of the Crescent and New York railroad since its organization. Ile is a pleasant, affable gentleman, has accum- ulated a handsome fortune, and resides in a modest but elegantly appointed brick resi- dence in the city of Hollidaysburg, where he is surrounded by all modern conveniences and the comforts and luxuries which so fittingly crown an active and successful business career.
JOSIAH F. ELLSWORTH, of Wil-
liamsburg, a worthy descendant of one of the old and highly respected families of the United States, has probably erected more first-class flouring mills than any other man in the Keystone State. IIe is a son of Thomas and Margaret (Gibson) Ellsworth, and was born near Shippensburg, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, July 18, 1827. The Ellsworth family in America was founded in 1683 by Arthur Ellsworth, one of three brothers who came from Wales in that year to one of the New England States. The paternal great-grandfather of Mr. Ellsworth was a lineal descendant of
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Arthur Ellsworth, and was a member of the celebrated Tea Party of American history, who threw the tea overboard in Boston har- bor in 1773. He served throughout the revo- lutionary war, and his son, Arthur Ellsworth (grandfather), was born in Connecticut, where he died at an advanced age in 1830, and left several children, one of whom, Thomas Ellsworth ( father), was born in Connet county, that State, in 1795. In early life he came with several capitalists to eastern Pennsylvania, where they built a saw mill and engaged in the lumber busi- ness. He had an interest in this lumber enterprise, and died in 1835, at Hancock, Maryland, where he had gone for the pur- pose of developing some new lumbering territory. Thomas Ellsworth was a man of good business ability, and had fine prospects for a very successful career in lumbering at the time of his death, when he was only in the prime of manhood. IIe married Mar- garet Gibson, who died in 1884, aged eighty-three years, and was a daughter of John Gibson, a Scotch-Irishman from the north of Ireland, who settled at Kennedy, Cumberland county, where he followed school teaching until his death in 1820, at an early age. Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters: Margaret E. Coan, of Car- lisle, Pennsylvania; John W., who owns a large cattle and horse ranch at Slack's Canon, Monterey county, California, where he now resides; Charles B., a harness maker of Johnstown, this State; Josiah F .; and Harriet, who died in 1848, in Wapello county, southeastern Iowa.
Josiah F. Ellsworth received his educa- tion in the early common schools of Cum- berland and Blair counties, and at seventeen years of age was bound as an apprentice to
J. S. Shull, of Blair county, for a term of four years, to learn the trade of millwright. At the end of his apprenticeship he became foreman on the millwrighting contracts of J. B. Anderson, of near Alexandra, Hunt- ingdon county, but soon left his employ and commenced work for himself, which he followed continuously until 1864. In that year he engaged in contracting, which he pursued very successfully for twenty-eight years, when (1892) he retired from actual business.
In March, 1851, Josiah F. Ellsworth married Mary J. Irvin, who was a daughter of Thomas and Catherine Irvin, of Wil- liamsburg, and died July 6, 1870. On Jan- uary 7, 1873, he wedded Elizabeth P., daughter of Charles and Rachel Biddel. By his first marriage he had six children, of whom two sons and one daughter are living : Elmer E., president of the Riverside Milling Company, of Little Falls, Minnesota ; Grier M., a clerk in the offices of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company at Altoona ; and Carrie S., wife of Charles Ramey, a real estate agent of Hays City, Kansas ..
In politics Mr. Ellsworth was a republi- can until a few years ago, when he identi- fied himself with the Prohibition party. He has been a ruling elder for twenty years of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is a member. He is a member of Juniata Lodge, No. 282, Free and Accepted Masons, of Hollidaysburg, and of Orphan Home Lodge, No. 315, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Williamsburg. Mr. Ellsworth, in addition to his property at Williamsburg, owns a farm of two hundred and thirteen acres of good land on Clover creek. Josiah F. Ellsworth was remarkably successful as a contractor and mill builder, and his work was so excellent in durability
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
and quality that his services were in great demand beyond his own county. He erected the large flouring mill for the Cambria Iron Company at Johnstown, this State, the flour- ing mills of Brown & Biddle, at Johnson City, Tennessee, besides the commodious and well appointed mills of D. M. Bare, of Roaring Spring, and fifty-seven other im- proved roller process flouring mills in the Juniata valley and other parts of Pennsyl- vania. As evidence of his expedition, in connection with his thorough workmanship, it is only necessary to state that he built the sixty mills referred to in about thirteen years. Mr. Ellsworth is an intelligent gen- tleman, a good citizen, and a man who stands high in his community.
G EORGE ZEIGLER is a good citizen and an industrious business man, and is one whose success in life has been the result of honest efforts well executed. He is a son of Henry and Amelia ( Baronner) Zeigler, and was born in the province of Bavaria, Germany, June 24, 1863. Michael Zeigler (grandfather) was a native of Akre, Germany, where he lived until his death. Ilis son, Henry Zeigler, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1824, in Bavaria, of which province he is still a resident. He has become successful as a wholesale and retail merchant, and on Feb- ruary 16, 1860, he married Amelia Baron- ner, by whom he had a family of five chil- dren : John and Joseph, who still reside in Germany ; Theodore and Henry, residents of Altoona; and George.
George Zeigler received his education in his native country, and leaving school, learned the trade of shoemaker. At thirty- seven years of age he had a desire to see
the United States, and in 1880 he crossed the Atlantic, and soon after reaching New York he located at Hollidaysburg, Penn- sylvania, where he has resided ever since. For a time he was engaged as a laborer at the furnace there, and afterwards was em- ployed as a shoemaker. In 1885 he started in the shoemaking business for himself, and a year later established a retail shoe store, which he has ever since conducted very successfully.
Mr. Zeigler was united in marriage with Margaret E. Riley, and to their union have been born two sons and two daughters: Henry, Joseph, Amelia and Madalena.
In political sentiment Mr. Zeigler is a close adherent of the Democratic party, and takes great interest in political affairs. In religious creed he is a faithful adherent and member of the Catholic church. Hav- ing entered upon the scenes of active life with but little capital, his industry and perseverance have earned him what he has, and he is now in comfortable circumstances, with a promising business future before him.
FRANK G. PATTERSON, a rising young attorney of Altoona, who pos- sesses unusual business qualities, and has already become prominent and successful, is a son of Thomas and Isabella ( MeConaghy) Patterson, and was born July 26, 1863, at Newry, Blair county, Pennsylvania. His father, Thomas Patterson, was a native of Ireland, born in the city of Dublin, in 1814. In 1854 he bid farewell to his native land, and embarked for the United States, settling that same year at Newry, this county, where he has resided ever since. Ile is a farmer by occupation, and has spent a long and active life in the cultivation of the soil and
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
in fruit growing. He has been successful and prosperous, and now owns a fine farm of one hundred and forty acres, well im- proved and supplied with commodious farm buildings, including a handsome residence. Ile is a member and elder of the Presby- terian church at Duncansville, and in politics a stanch republican. Ile married Isabella MeConaghy in Ireland, by whom he had a family of children. She was born near Dublin, is a member of the Presbyterian church, and now in the seventy-first year of her age.
Frank G. Patterson was reared on his father's farm at Newry, helping in the farm operations during the summer and attending the public schools in the winter season. After leaving the common schools of his native place he took a course in the State Normal school at Millersburg, and then engaged in teaching in Blair county for some years. While still teaching he began reading law, and having completed the course and passed the necessary examina- tion, he was admitted to the bar in October, 1886, and at once began the practice of his profession at Altoona. He formed a part- nership with Thomas H. Greevy in April, 1888, under the firm name of Greevy & Patterson, and has ever since been engaged in general practice in the city of Altoona. In 1889 Mr. Patterson was instrumental in organizing the Altoona, Clearfield & North- ern Railroad Company, and is now serving as president and general manager of that road. It extends from Altoona to Dough- erty, a village lying fifteen miles northwest of Altoona, and is an enterprise which has already done much for the improvement and development of this section of the county, and promises to become still more import- ant, as it is being extended to Coalport,
twelve miles beyond Dougherty. Mr. Pat- terson also organized the Richland Coal Company in 1891, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. This company has opened mines in the large coal fields at Dougherty, and is now shipping coal in large quantities. Mr. Patterson is serving as secretary of the company, and is also secretary of the Altoona Land and Im- provement Company, which is doing a large business in real estate.
In his political affiliations Mr. Patterson is a republican, and takes an intelligent interest in all public questions. He is un- married, and while very popular in social circles, takes rank among the most enter- prising and successful young business men of the county. While devoting consider- able time and attention to outside enter- prises, he keeps a firm hand on his legal business, and stands well at the bar.
C RVILLE J. FAY, one of the deserv- ing and successful young business men of the borough of Hollidaysburg, is a son of George and Martha (Fluke) Fay, and was born in the borough of Williamsburg, Woodbury township, Blair county, Penn- sylvania, March 14, 1861. The Fay family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and Joseph Fay, the paternal grandfather of Orville J. Fay, at ten years of age was brought to the old Fay homestead, a part of which is now within the borough limits of Williamsburg. Ile was a farmer by occupation, and a Presbyterian in religious faith and church membership, and died at the age of seventy- five years. Ilis son, George Fay (father), was born in 1829, on the old homestead, where he has always resided. While man- aging his farm in early life he determined
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
upon a business career, and has been more or less engaged in business pursuits until within the last year, when he retired from active life. He was manager of the Wil- liamsburg Manufacturing Company for many years, and about 1876 formed a part- nership with a Mr. Patterson, under the firm name of Fay & Patterson, for the pur- pose of handling and dealing in grain at Williamsburg, where they did a very good business until 1892, when Mr. Fay withdrew from the firm. He is a republican, has served his borough as school director, and was sheriff of Blair county for one term, from 1882 to 1885. Hle has always been active in business and politics, and married Martha Fluke, who was born in the borough of Williamsburg, and passed away in 1863. Mr. Fay has a good home, with comfortable surroundings, and is well situated to enjoy life.
Orville J. Fay was reared at Williams- burg, and received a good business educa- tion in the common schools. At about fifteen years of age he secured a position in a Philadelphia store, which he held for a short time, and then returned home. In 1878 he came to Hollidaysburg and became a clerk in the general mercantile store of Wood, Morrell & Co., with whom he re- mained for four and one-half years. At the end of that time, in 1883, he determined to enter into business for himself, and formed a partnership with John D. Love, under the firm name of Fay & Love. They opened a grocery store on Allegheny street and in the very center of Hollidaysburg, where they did a good business for two years, at the end of which time Mr. Fay purchased the interest of his partner, and has continued to operate the store success- fully ever since. He carries a large and
carefully selected stock of groceries, both staple and fancy, and everything is to be found in his store that the most fastidious housekeeper could require for her table. Ile has been gradually increasing his stock, and aims to supply his patrons with stand- ard goods of absolute purity. In politics he is a republican, and while not taking any prominent or decided part in political mat- ters, yet has always heartily supported his party, and served one term as a school direc- tor of East Hollidaysburg. Orville J. Fay in religious opinion has always held to the faith and teachings of the Presbyterian church, of which he has been a member for several years. For a young man his suc- cessful business career has been remarkable.
In 1885 he married Alice Elliott, daugh- ter of John Elliott, of Hollidaysburg, and their union has been blessed with two chil- dren, a son and a daughter : Lillian E. and Orville C.
H ON. THEODORE BURCHFIELD,
ex-member of the house of representa- tives of Pennsylvania, and the present mayor of Altoona, is one who, early in life, was thrown upon his own resources, and who, by ability, energy, and will has achieved success and won his way to prom- inence and honorable standing. He is a son of Robert and Martha ( Zelner) Burch- field, and was born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1842. His paternal great-grandfather, Aquila Burchfield, was one of seven brothers of English descent who came from Maryland to central Penn- sylvania, and four of them served in the Continental armies during the revolution- ary war. Robert Burchfield, sr. (grand- father), was born and reared in what is now Juniata county, of which he was a life-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
long resident. He was a prosperous farmer for his day in the Juniata valley, and mar- ried and reared a family of children, of whom one was Robert Burchfield ( father), who followed milling until his death, in 1850, at the early age of thirty-eight years. Robert Burchfield was a democrat in poli- ties, and an attendant of the Presbyterian church, and married Martha Zelner, who was a native of Juniata county, in which she died in 1876, aged sixty-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Burchfield were the parents of six children, four sons and two daugh- ters. Mrs. Burchfield was a daughter of Emanuel Zelner (maternal grandfather), who was of German descent. He was born in Lancaster county during the latter part of the eighteenth century, and after having arrived at the age of manhood sought to make for himself a home in Juniata county, which was then but thinly settled. He purchased a tract of land, and by hard toil and patient industry succeeded in having an excellent and well improved farm before his death summons came to him, when he was in the ninety-first year of his age.
Theodore Burchfield was reared princi- pally at Mifflin, in Juniata county; re- ceived his education in the common schools, and learned the trade of printer in the office of the Harrisburg Telegraph. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in Co. F, 126th Penn- sylvania infantry, but was promoted to cor- poral, and honorably discharged as such on May 20, 1863. In July, 1864, he reenlisted as a corporal in Co. K, 196th Pennsylvania infantry, and served as such until Novem- ber 17, 1864, when he was mustered out of the service. He participated in all the skirmishes and battles of his regiment while he was in the service, and was wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville by a buckshot
passing through the calf of his left leg. After returning home from the army the second time he was not permanently em- ployed at any kind of work until the spring of 1865, when he entered the job office of the Daily Tribune, of Altoona, of which he became foreman in 1870. Ten years later he was elected by the republicans as a mem- ber of the legislature, and at the end of his term, in 1882, was reelected. During his second term in the legislature he intro- duced, and had passed, a bill appropriating fifteen thousand dollars toward the erection of a hospital at Altoona, an institution badly needed and now highly appreciated by the sick and maimed. From the close of his second term, in 1884, he gave his time closely to the supervision of the Tribune office, until the spring of 1890, when he left the printing establishment to assume the duties of mayor, to which office he had been elected at the preceding election.
On December 24, 1867, Mr. Burchfield married Anna M. Gable, daughter of Wil- liam Gable, of Altoona. To their union have been born ten children, four sons and six daughters : Horace M., who died in in- fancy ; Herbert E., Nellie L., Jessie M., Charles J., who died in infancy ; Edith L., Mary A., Emma L., Raymond T., and Ruth J.
Theodore Burchfield is a republican in politics, and a member of the First Meth- odist Episcopal church of Altoona. IIe is a member of Logan Lodge, No. 490, Free and Accepted Masons; White Cross Lodge, No. 354, Knights of Pythias ; Juniata Lodge, No. 246, Ancient Order of United Work- men; Altoona Lodge, No. 132, Improved Order of Heptasophis; Washington Camp, No. 54, Patriotic Order Sons of America; and Lieut. S. C. Potts Post, No. 62, Grand
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
Army of the Republic, of which latter organization he has been commander for the last four successive terms. On June 3, 1871, he enlisted as a private in the Na- tional Guard of Pennsylvania, and passed through all the grades of office up to that of colonel, and is now serving on his third term as colonel of the 5th regiment. Col- onel Burchfield has always been active in the municipal affairs of Altoona, and has been an untiring worker in the interests of the Republican party of Blair county.
DAVID MURRAY, the well known hotel man of Blair county, who for seventeen years has been proprietor of the popular hotel known as the Murray house, is a son of Jerry and Mary Murray, and was born December 24, 1830, near Sandy Hook, Maryland. His father was a native of Ireland, but emigrated to America in 1827, settling in the State of Maryland. In the spring of 1831 he removed to Franks- town, in what is now Blair county, Penn- sylvania, and one year later located in · Hollidaysburg, where he resided until his death, in 1843, at the age of fifty-five. Ile was a democrat politically, and a member of the Roman Catholic church. He was a laborer, was employed on the Portage rail- road for a time, and later in a foundry at Hollidaysburg. He married a lady who was also a native of Ireland, and died in 1831, when their son, the subject of this sketch, was only three months old.
David Murray was brought to Hollidays- burg by his father when only two years of age, and lived there until 1842, attending the public schools of this city. When twelve years of age he secured employment on the Pennsylvania canal as a driver, be-
tween Hollidaysburg and Pittsburg, and between that city and Philadelphia. He remained with the company several years, being promoted from one position to an- other, until he finally came to own several boats and mule teams himself, and ran them from here to Philadelphia and Balti- more, on the Union canal and down the Schuylkill river. For a time he was en- gaged exclusively in transporting grain from this section to the city of Philadel- phia, and altogether was in the boating business for nearly twenty years. In the fall of 1862 the United States impressed his boats at Baltimore, and for seven months he was in government employ, transferring soldiers and army supplies. In 1863 he closed out his boating interests, and the following year enlisted in Co. A, 103d Pennsylvania infantry, under Colonel Lay- mond, of Pittsburg, and served until the close of the war, being mustered out at Harrisburg in July, 1865. He returned home, and was employed in a rolling mill for some time, but in 1871 embarked in the hotel business, which he has successfully managed for more than twenty years. In 1875 he purchased the property now known as the Murray house, and has been the pro- prietor and personally conducted this hotel since that time. He also owns a fine farm, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres of valuable and finely improved land in the township of Frankstown, beside other real property in the city of Hollidaysburg.
In 1864 Mr. Murray was united in mar- riage with Louisa Cruse, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Cruse, of this county. To this union was born a family of ten chil- dren, nine of whom are now living : William, David A., Catharine, Drusilla, Elizabeth, Maud, Musetta, Annie, and Florence,
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Politically Mr. Murray is an ardent dem- ocrat, and while not an aspirant for official station of any grade, is an active and influ- ential worker for the advancement of den- ocratic principles and the triumph of dem- ocratic policy. He and all his family are members of the Roman Catholic church. Ilis career as a business man has been active, enterprising and successful, and illus- trates what may be accomplished by energy and perseverance, even in the face of ad- verse circumstances.
M ARY ELIZABETH NOWELL, M.
D. The honorable and high position which the medical profession has always occupied in the history of central Pennsyl- vania is a matter of just pride to the people of that important section. The medical profession has been progressive there for the last quarter of a century, as it has been elsewhere in the great Keystone Common- wealth, and one who has there kept pace with the march of medical progress is Dr. Mary Elizabeth Nowell, a successful physi- cian of Altoona. She is a daughter of Rev. William and Rachel A. ( Sheckell ) Nowell, and was born in Anne Arundell county, Maryland. Her paternal grandfather, Gil- bert Nowell, married Eleanor Stallings, and one of their sons was Rev. William Nowell. He was a well educated man, served accept- ably as a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church for fifty years, and died in 1884. IIe married Rachel A. Sheckell, a daughter of Enoch and Sarah (Smith) Sheckell, and one of his sons, Dr. J. Fletcher Nowell, received a classical education, grad- uated from the Hahnemann Medical college of Philadelphia, and is a resident of Green Castle, Cumberland valley, Franklin county,
this State, where he now has a large and lucrative practice.
Mary E. Nowell was reared in the Mary- land home of her father, and attended Fort Edward institute, New York, from which institution of learning she was graduated in the class of 1867. She afterwards took a course at Claverack college, on the Hud- son river in New York, and then was en- gaged for eight years in teaching in the schools of the city of Wilkesbarre, this State. She then resolved upon medicine as a life vocation, and became a student in the Woman's Medical college of Pennsyl- vania, at Philadelphia, from which she was graduated in 1884. Dr. Nowell took a special course on heart and lung troubles under Drs. James B. Walker and Edward T. Bruen; on skin diseases under Dr. Louis A. Duhring, and on diseases of the eye and catarrhal affections of the nose and throat under other eminent physicians. At the close of each spring term Dr. Nowell, dur- ing the three years of her student life, re- mained in Philadelphia, spending her vaca- tions in taking practical instruction at the woman's hospital on the various operations and methods required for the successful treatment of the various diseases peculiar to women, and few hospitals afford such an opportunity as this one for the study of uterine diseases. After graduating, she went to the Maternity hospital on Staten Island, where she had a large experience in obstetrical practice, and also an oppor- tunity of studying children's diseases in all their phases, as there were at that time nearly five hundred children under the care of that institution. She also took a special course on the eye and a special course in gynæcology. Thus thoroughly, intellegently and specially qualified for her profession,
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