USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 67
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Samuel R. Schmucker received his edu- carion in the Williamsburg schools and
Gettysburg college, and then entered his father's store, where he remained until 1855. In that year his father removed to Tipton, Iowa, and he went with him and remained there until 1858, when he returned to Williamsburg to become manager of Cove forge for his uncle, John Royer, which position he held up to the time of Mr. Royer's death in 1885. He and others then purchased the forge and store, and a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres across the river from Williamsburg, and . has successfully operated them ever since.
On August 20, 1850, Mr. Schmucker married Patience, daughter of James and Matilda Defenbaugh, of Williamsburg. To Mr. and Mrs. Schmucker have been born five children, three sons and two daughters : Edgar, who died of pneumonia January 18, 1892; Frank, superintendent of Schmucker & Co.'s limestone quarry at Piney creek ; Elliott, who died in 1882; Mary M., and Juniata.
Cove forge was built in 1811 by John Royer, and in 1821 was purchased by his nephew John Royer, and George Schmucker, who operated it until 1854, when John Royer, who was one of the most highly respected men that ever lived in Woodbury township, became sole proprietor, and ran it until his death in 1885. It then passed into the hands of Schmucker & Co., and was washed away in the high water of 1889, together with the dam which had been built in 1830. The old stone mansion on the homestead was built in 1815, and is still in a good state of preservation.
The firm of Schmucker & Co. employ about three hundred men, and at the pres- ent time devote most of their operations to the quarrying and shipping of limestone and building rock. They ship over sixty
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
cars of limestone per day, and are kept Very busy to fill orders which they receive. Mr. Schmucker is the senior member of the linn, and ranks as one of the best and most successful business men of the county. He is a pleasant and intelligent gentleman, and has a beautiful home on the right bank of the Blue Juniata. IIe was formerly a republican, but is now a prohibitionist in politics. He is a member of the Evangeli- cal Lutheran church at Williamsburg, of which all his family are members. Samuel R. Schmucker has had an active career in various lines of business usefulness. In- heriting nothing but an honored family name and the high qualities of character for which the Schmuckers were noted, he commenced life with little else but health' and energy, and soon commanded success, and by ability, judgment, and wise fore- sight has won his way to the front rank of the business men of the county.
ETER BURKET, a native of York county, came to Sinking valley about the time of the revolution, settling on the farm afterwards owned by his grandson, Ephraim Burket. Of his five sons, Jacob moved to Jefferson county, where he died at the age of ninety-one years. He was the father of Peter Burket, of Warrior's Mark township. A sister married David Mong. Peter, the second son of Peter, sr., died on the homestead in the valley; Sam- uel lived and died in the Tuckahoe valley ; John, a tanner, resided for a time on the Martin Funk place, removing to Centre county; David became a resident of Shir- leysburg. The Burkets of Huntingdon and Blair counties are descendants of the above families.
JOHN SELL, a prosperous farmer of
near Freedom, and whose family was among the early settled families of the Juniata valley, is a son of Daniel and Rachel (Detwiler) Sell, and was born in Morrison's cove, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 6, 1836. The Sells are of German de- scent, and Mr. Sell's paternal grandfather, Abraham Sell, was born near Littlestown, Adams county, Pennsylvania, and came to what is now Blair township, where he set- tled below Brook's mill, on the Juniata river. He was a cabinet maker by trade, and was one of the early settlers of the Juniata valley. He married and had five children, three sons and two daughters: Jacob, John, Catherine, Eve, and one whose name was not furnished. John Sell ( father), was born in 1810 in Blair township, and has been a life-long resident of the Juniata valley. He has always followed farming, is a republican in politics, and has served his township as a school director. He is a member of the Dunkard, or German Bap- tist church, in which he was a deacon for several years, and now, at eighty-two years of age, is still hale and hearty. He married Sarah Detwiler, who was born in 1813, and is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. Sell were born nine children, eight sons and one daughter: Gabriel Miller, now in Nebraska; John; Joseph, a farmer in Nebraska; Dan- iel, engaged in farming in Missouri; Rev. James, a farmer of Freedom township; Rev. Brice, farming in Freedom township; David, a farmer of the same township; Simon, also a farmer of Freedom township; and Catherine, who died in infancy.
John Sell passed his boyhood days on the home farm, and received his education in the common schools of his native township. Leaving school he assisted his father on the
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
farm until 1856, when he engaged in farm- ing for himself, and purchased his present desirable farm of one hundred and forty- three acres of good farming land in Free- dom township.
December 16, 1860, Mr. Sell married Susanna, daughter of David and Mary Isen- berg, of Mill Creek, Huntingdon county. To Mr. and Mrs. Sell have been born seven children, five sons and two daughters: Harry, of Altoona; Lafayette and Maybury, who are engaged in the grocery business at Tyrone; Blair; Brooklyn; Juniata, wife of James Leighty, a carpenter of Duneans- ville, and Bertha.
In political affairs Mr. Sell supports the Republican party. He is a member of the Dunkard, or German Baptist church, in whose interest his family all take an active part. John Sell is a quiet, industrious man, an active and prosperous farmer, and a well liked and highly respected citizen.
JOHN STERN, a prosperous farmer of North Woodbury township, is a son of Peter and Mary ( Baster) Stern, and was born near Woodbury, Bedford county, l'ennsylvania, October 11, 1832. Ilis pa- ternal grandfather, Peter Stern, sr., was a native of Lancaster county, and after ar- riving at his majority he removed to near Dennis creek, in Bedford county, where he followed farming until his death. He was a republican during the later years of his life. He married, and reared a family of eight children, four sons and four daugh- ters: Jacob, Peter, John, David, Nancy, Susan, Barbara, and one whose name was not furnished. Peter Stern, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born about 1812 near Bedford, in Bedford county. He
removed from Bedford to Blair county, and settled near Martinsburg, where he followed farming until his death. He was a repub- lican in politics, and a member of the River Brethren church, and married Mary Baster. They had a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters : Elizabeth, Jacob, John, Samuel, Andrew, Peter, Rebecca, and one other.
John Stern was reared on his father's farm near Woodbury, in Bedford county, received his education in the early common schools, and has always been engaged in farming where he now resides. He owns a farm of one hundred acres of well improved land in North Woodbury township.
John Stern married Elizabeth Kauffman, daughter of Frederick Kauffman, and to their union have been born six children, four sons and two daughters: David, who died in 1888; Anna, who passed away in 1867; William K., a farmer of Ore Hill, who married Anna Guyer; Frederick K., Calvin K., and Mary J.
In politics Mr. Stern is a stanch repub- lican, whose support of his party, its prin- ciples, and its nominees has always been hearty and unswerving. IIe is a useful and active member of the River Brethren church, and is one of that class of sub- stantial and law-abiding citizens upon which the prosperity of any community so largely depends.
JACOB BROMBACH, who was an or-
phan, came to America from Germany some time between the years of 1740 and 1750, and located in the Conococheague settlement, Washington county, Maryland. Subsequently he married a Miss Angle, a German Baptist, and finally joined that church himself, having been a Lutheran
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previously. During Braddock's campaign he served as a packman, his religious con- victions not permitting him to take part as a combatant. He finally became the owner of about six thousand acres of land, lying in the present counties of Bedford and Blair, the Springfield furnace property be- ing a portion of it. He died in 1799, and was buried on the paternal homestead, four miles north of Hagerstown, Maryland.
Of Jacob Brombach's seven sons, John settled in Morrison's Cove, on the head- waters of Yellow Creek, soon after 1780. Samuel Ullery, a son-in-law, and the first Dunkard preacher to locate in the cove, also came at about the first time. David, another son of Jacob, was the father of a large family.
T THOMAS H. GREEVY, of Altoona,
one of the prominent and leading law- yers of central Pennsylvania, and now a contestant for the seat of Edward Scull in the fifty-second Congress of the United States, is a son of Luke and Mary (King) Greevy, and was born in the city of Bir- mingham, England, April 4, 1850. Ilis parents were natives of County Roscommon, Ireland, and after marriage removed to Birmingham, where Mr. Greevy sought for inore profitable employment in that great manufacturing centre of England than he could obtain in his own native island. After several years' residence in Birming- ham, Luke Greevy, in 1856, came to Penn- sylvania, where he settled in Williamsport, and resided there until his death, in 1869, at fifty years of age. His employment was that of a clerk in mercantile houses, and was said to have been very accurate and efficient in his special line of work. He
was a member of the Catholic church, and a strong democrat in politics, and held sev- eral borough offices in the city of Williams- port. ITis widow was born in 1822, and still resides in Williamsport, where she is a member of the Catholic church at that place.
Thomas HI. Greevy was brought, at six years of age, by his parents from Birming- ham, England, to Williamsport, this State, where he received his education in the public and commercial schools of that city. Leaving school he was engaged for a short time in the field of journalism, and pub- lished and edited the Labor Reform Journal, of Williamsport, which was a weekly sheet, and advocated the views suggested by its name. In 1871 he left the editorial desk to enter upon the study of law. He com- menced reading with Samuel G. Morrison, of Williamsport, but completed his course with Frank P. Tierney, of Altoona, and was admitted to the Blair county bar on January 29, 1874. After admission to the bar he commenced the practice of his pro- fession in Altoona, where he has remained ever since. He has built up a very fine law practice in this and adjoining counties, and has earned quite a reputation for the skill- ful and successful manner in which he handles difficult and intricate cases. Ile is a Jacksonian democrat, and a member of the Catholic church.
On November 3, 1874, he married Kate G., daughter of Peter MeNally, formerly of Hollidaysburg, and they have two children : Helen and Walter.
The political career of Thomas H. Greevy commenced in 1877, when he was elected as city recorder of Altoona, which office he held until 1882. In the meantime he had served as a delegate to several democratie
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State conventions, and in 1888 was a dele- gate to the Democratic National convention which nominated Grover Cleveland for the presidency of the United States. In 1888 Mr. Greevy was the democratic nominee for Congress in the Twentieth Congres- sional district, and was defeated by Edward Scull, who only received 4,200 majority, while the average republican majority in the district at the same election was 4,700. In 1890 he was renominated by the demo- erats for Congress in the Twentieth dis- triet, composed of the counties of Cambria, Blair, Somerset, and Bedford. The certifi- cate of election was given to Hon. Edward Scull, the republican candidate, and Mr. Greevy took immediate steps to contest his opponent's seat in the Fifty-second Con- gress. The testimony which he has taken in the case is comprised in three volumes of two thousand six hundred pages of fine print. This is the greatest contested case that has appeared before Congress since the famous case of Curtin and Yokum, in 1877.
Thomas HI. Greevy has always been act- ive in the political field, and is an efficient and persistent worker for the success of the Democratic party in city, State, and Na- tional affairs.
EORGE W. RHINE, a prominent contractor and builder of Altoona, and who was with Sherman in his famous march to the sea, is a son of James and Mary A. (Bartley) Rhine, and was born near Mifflin- town, in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, March 10, 1849. His paternal grandfather, George Rhine, was a native of Germany, and came to Pennsylvania, where he settled in Juniata county and followed farming until his death, in March, 1854. He married, and
of the sons born to him in his Juniata county home, one was James Rhine, father of George W. Rhine, whose name appears at the head of this sketch. James Rhine was reared on the farm, trained to agricul- tural pursuits, and received his education in the subscription schools of that day. He cultivated a farm in Juniata county, on which the village of Patterson now stands, and in 1868 removed to Altoona, where he was in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company until his death, which occurred on November 27, 1877, when he was in the sixty-second year of his age. He was a Presbyterian in religious faith, and a democrat in political opinion, and always active in the interests of his party. He married Mary A. Bartley, who was born in Juniata county in 1823, and is a member of the Presbyterian church of Altoona. They reared a family.
George W. Rhine spent his boyhood days on the farm, and received his education in the common and some private schools of his neighborhood. At fifteen years of age he went to learn the trade of carpenter with his uncle, Calvin Bartley, but in a short time ran away to enter the Union army. IIe enlisted, in 1864, as a private in Co. I, 76th Pennsylvania infantry, was with Sherman in his famous march from the mountains of Georgia to the Atlantic seaboard, and served until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged from the service in 1865. IIe then returned home and finished learning his trade, at which he worked until 1868, when he came to Altoona, and was engaged in the contracting and building business for eighteen years. At the end of that time, in 1886, he formed a partnership with B. M. Bunker, under the firm name of of Bunker & Rhine, and embarked in the
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
planing mill business, which they followed until 1890. On April 26th of that year Mr. Rhine purchased his partner's interest, and has continued to successfully operate the mill up to the present time.
June 30, 1870, he was united in marriage with Sallie C., daughter of Benjamin Sheaf- fer, of Elizabethtown, Lancaster county. Mr. and Mrs. Rhine have one child, a daughter, named Lizzie May.
George W. Rhine is a democrat in poli- tics, but is no extremist, and has served four years as a member of the common council of his city. He is a regular at- tendant at the services of the Evangelical Lutheran church, to which he is a liberal contributor. IIe is a member of Stephen Potts Post, No. 62, Grand Army of the Republic. In his planing mill he employs a force of fifty men, and keeps on hand all kinds of lumber and every description of planing mill work to accommodate his nu- mnerous patrons. In contracting and build- ing Mr. Rhine has met with good success, and besides the many buildings which he has erected in Blair county, he built (1884) the town hall, public school building and market house of Roanoke, Virginia. He is a man of considerable observation, having traveled all through the south and south- west, and spending two years in Virginia and one in Texas. Mr. Rhine is a pleasant and agreeable gentleman, whose successful business career has been largely due to his own energy, industry and good management.
D) G. BURKHOLDER, an industrious and comfortably situated farmer of near Fostoria, is a son of John J. and Tydia ( Trout) Burkholder, and was born ut St. Clairsville, Bedford county, Pennsyl-
vania, December 20, 1839. The Burk- holder family has been resident of Bedford county for many years, and George Burk- holder, the paternal grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born and reared in that county, which he left in 1849 to set- tle in Antis township, this county, where he died at Elizabeth furnace. He learned the trade of millwright, which he followed until his death. He was a hard-working man, an old-line whig in politics, and mar- ried Hannah Smith, by whom he had twelve children, all of whom are dead but two: Henry, of Altoona, and Sarah, wife of Harrison Ammon, a farmer of Antis township. One of his sons, John J. Burk- holder (father), was born near St. Clairs- ville, in Bedford county, in 1812, and came with his father to Blair county in 1849. He was a millwright by trade, and a repub- lican in politics. He purchased a farm of fifty acres of land in Antis township, and followed farming and working at his trade until his death, which occurred August 31, 1886, when he was well advanced in the seventy-sixth year of his age. In 1837 he married Lydia Trout. To Mr. and Mrs. Burkholder was born a family of ten chil- dren, six sons and four daughters : Perry G., Margaret J., wife of Tony Mark, of Logan township; Henry ; Lloyd, now dead ; Mary E., wife of Norval Hock, a machinist of Bellview, this county; Thomas; Julia, now dead; Levanda, deceased; Martin, and Lloyd (2).
Perry G. Burkholder grew to manhood on the farm, received his education in the common schools of Antis and Logan town- ships, and then was engaged in working on a farm until 1861, when he embarked in farming for himself, which he has followed continuously up to the present time. In
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1880 he purchased his present farm of one hundred and eighty acres of land, near Fostoria, and which he brought into a fine state of cultivation and productiveness. Ile is an excellent farmer, and has been in- terested to some extent for the last few years in raising live stock, making a spe- cialty of horses and cattle. Mr. Burk- holder is a stanch republican in politics, ard while not an extremist, yet always takes an active part in the interest of his party, and has served his township for sev- eral years as supervisor.
Mr. Burkholder was united in marriage with Eliza J., daughter of James and Polly Mulholland, of Tipton, Antis township. Mrs. Burkholder died, and left two chil- dren: George and Frank. In 1866 Mr. Burkholder wedded again, and by his second marriage has five children, four sons and one daughter: Henry, of Altoona; Margaret, wife of Robert Hildeman, a car- penter of Altoona; William, of the same city; Walter, and Jabish.
JOHN Q. BAKER, a comfortably sit- uated farmer of near Newry, is a son of Andrew and Jane (Fraker ) Baker, and was born in Pennsylvania in 1849. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Baker was Potter Baker, who died in Bedford county. Ile married and reared a family, and of his children one was Andrew Baker (father), who was born in Bedford county in 1807. After attaining his majority he came to near Newry, where he remained for a few years, and then removed to Catfish, Pennsylvania. He was a gunsmith by trade, a democrat in politics, and a Lutheran in religious belief. He married Jane Fraker, a daughter of
Andrew Fraker. Mr. and Mrs. Baker were the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters : William, Elizabeth, Joseph, Thomas, Charles, Mary, and John Q.
John Q. Baker was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools, and has been engaged in farming ever since. He assisted his father for some years on the farm of the latter near Newry, and purchased near the same place his pres- ent farm of fifty-seven acres of land, which was formerly known as the Ingram hotel stand property. His farm is well adapted to grain growing and grazing. He is a strong democrat in politics, who believes in an aggressive policy upon the part of his party as the surest means of achieving success in either county, State or National compaigns. He is an untiring worker in whatever he undertakes, and has been very successful in the management of his farm and business affairs, to which he gives the greater part of his time and attention.
Mr. Baker was united in marriage with Clara McClaskey, daughter of William Mc- Claskey. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have six children, four sons and two daughters: William A., Nevada May, Ella J., Blair A., Harry M., and Eldon.
EDWARD BELL, a worthy descend- ant of the old and honored Bell family of Blair county, is a son of David and Margaret (McKnight) Bell, and was born at Bell's Mills (now Bellwood), Antis town- ship, Blair county, Pennsylvania, December 12, 1830. The Bell family is one of the oldest families in Blair county and the Juniata valley, and was founded by John Bell, who was born in Scotland in 1733.
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OF BLAIR COUNTY.
He was enticed on board a ship when but a mere youth and brought to America. After being resident of various places he came to Sinking valley. He had various encounters with Indians, and frequently had to fly with his family to Lowery's fort for safety during the revolutionary war. Ile died at Bell's Mills March 15, 1815, at the age of eighty- two years. His wife, Elizabeth Bell, died July 13, 1813, when in the sixty-eighth year of her age, and was the first person whose remains were interred in the Logan valley cemetery. Their son, Edward Bell (grandfather), was born on March 17, 1769, and about 1800 removed to the site of Bell's Mills, which was named in honor of him. He erected a grist mill, a distillery, and a saw mill, and in 1830 was the owner of three thousand six hundred and seventy- four acres of land. In the last named year he and his sons built Mary Ann forge, and two years later Elizabeth furnace. He re- tired from active life in 1842, and died April 14, 1852, at eighty-three years of age. Ile was a millwright by trade and a demo- crat in politics, and served for many years as a justice of the peace. He purchased and ground, between 1800 and 1830, large quantities of wheat, which he shipped to Baltimore. He built the first mill in Antis township, and in 1822 erected the first brick house at Bellwood and in the northwestern part of Blair county, from briek which he made on his own farm. At sixteen years of age he performed a term of military service in the Indian wars in Canoe valley. He was one of the most active, influential, and prominent men of Blair county in his day, and married Mary A. Martin, by whom he had nine children, suven sons and two daughters: James N., John, Samuel, David, Martin, Addie K.,
Franklin B., Mary Ann, and Elizabeth. Ilis son, David Bell (father), was born at Bell- wood, June 23, 1805, and died there on March 28, 1841, at the early age of thirty- six years. IIe followed farming, cleared a large farm of two hundred and thirty-six acres, and was a partner with his father in the latter's iron enterprises. He married Margaret MeKnight, who died July 8, 1889, aged eighty years. They had five children, three sons and two daughters: Edward; John P., who married Agnes Greenland; Richard M., killed in Butler's advance on Richmond, May 14, 1864, when in the twenty-fourth year of his age; and Mary A. and Henrietta, who are both dead.
Edward Bell was reared on the farm, re- ceived his education in a common school in an old log house in Antis township and the schools of Huntingdon and Lewisburg, and in 1850 came to the farm where he has re- sided ever since. He has a fine farm of one hundred and thirty acres of choice and fertile land.
In 1865 Mr. Bell was united in marriage with Annie Graham, daughter of James and Mary Graham, of Juniata county. To Mr. and Mrs. Bell have been born eight children : Margaret, wife of W. H. Bentley, of Bellwood; J. Graham (dead); Eliza, Mary, and Edward, jr., who are attending Lewisburg college; Richard, Addie K., and Allan C.
Edward Bell is a republican in politics, has always been active in the support of his party, and has served for several terms as a member of the school board of his town- ship. He is a member and deacon of Logan valley Baptist church, has always been recognized as an intelligent and courteous gentleman and an honorable and honest business man.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
C HRISTIAN A. RHODES, one of Hus-
ton township's older citizens and most substantial farmers, is a son of Abraham and Catherine ( Bare ) Rhodes, and was born in Huston township, Blair county, Pennsyl- vania, April 10, 1819. ITis paternal grand- father, Abraham Rhodes, sr., was born in Woodbury township, where he cleared out a large farm of three hundred acres of land. Ile followed farming in a day when all farm work was performed by manual labor of the hardest kind, as agricultural labor-sav- ing machinery was unknown to the farmers of his day and generation, while the tools and implements which they used were of the crudest kind. He was a hard - working and honest man, and followed farming until his death. He was a democrat in politics, an active member of the Presbyterian church, and married and reared an industrious family of children. His son, Abraham Rhodes (father), was born in Catharine township, and followed farming on Clover creek, near Rebecca furnace, until his death. He was a republican in politics, and a member of the Mennonite church of Clover creek, and married Catherine Bare. To their union Were born ten children, six sons and four daughters, all of whom are dead except two: Jacob, a farmer of Huston township; and Christian A.
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