USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 13
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 13
USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 13
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 13
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On April 29, 1873, he was admitted to the Bar of Centre County, and began an independent practice in which hesucceeded remarkably, build- ing up a large business in connection with the Orphans' Court. He continued his professional work until about two years before his death, which ended at a comparatively early age, a life that seemed destined to reap higher honors. He was prominent in the councils of the Republican party in this State, though never anxious for official position. He was an active member of Gregg Post, and of the Masonic fraternity, hold- ing rank in the latter as past master of the lodge, and-past high priest of the Chapter. He acquired his military title as assistant adjutant-general of the 5th Division of the National Guard of Penn- sylvania, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He served in this capacity, and subsequently as as- sistant adjutant-general of the 4th and 2nd Brigades of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, almost continuously from 1873 to 1887, upon Gen. Beaver's staff. In these relations, asin all others he sustained in life, he was faithful, dili- gent and conscientious in the discharge of every duty.
"As a member of the Bar his strength was in his conscience, and in his ability, by close and searching analysis, to reach the foundation prin- ciples of the subject, and when he reached a con- clusion, he was irresistible in following to the legitimate results what he believed to be right. He devoted himself without stint to the interests of his clients. It can be said without reserve that in all his relations, personal and professional, he was absolutely honest.
"As a citizen he was faithful in the discharge of every duty. He followed his convictions as he followed the flag of his country, without waver- ing, and with an eye single to what he felt to be duty. His chairmanship of the committe, who had in charge the conduct of the campaign at the time of the submission of the constitutional amendment prohibiting the manufacturing and sale of intoxicating liquors, is an illustration of the manner in which he followed his convictions. and of the faith in which he met and discharged every duty. As the result of that campaign.
which was due very largely to his leadership, and to the active work of his associates on the committee, the county gave a majority of 2,000 in favor of the prohibitory amendment."
Col. Keller was a member of the Reformed Church, and was sound in faith, and believed that the cause of temperance and sobriety was one of God's laws. He had been a Sabbath- school superintendent, deacon and elder in his Church. He always had the welfare of Belle- fonte at heart-was one who always did his part toward its prosperity.
In May, 1866, Col. Keller married his first wife, Miss Martha E. Huestis, a native of Ver- mont, who was born January 5, 1842, and died March 17, 1876. A second matrimonial union was formed, in 1878, with Miss Martha E. R. Schroeder, of Reading. Penn., who survives him. By the first marriage there were four children, of whom Harry is the eldest. (2) William H. is now a successful attorney at Lancaster, Penn. He is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall Col- lege, where he took the highest honors of his class, and of Columbia Law School. His wife, formerly Miss Anna Dickey, is a daughter of Hon. Oliver J. Dickey, who for many years served as Congressman from the Lancaster Dis- trict, and was at one time a law partner of Thad- deus Stevens. William Keller has two children -Daniel S. and Elizabeth. (3) Martha E. died in 1892, at the age of twenty. (4) Ellen Mar- garetta died in infancy. There were three chil- dren by the second marriage: Daniel S., Jr., Rose Louise and John S., all of whom are now living.
HARRY KELLER is a native of Washington, D. C., where he was born December 22, 1866. He was carefully educated, his course in the public schools being supplemented by further study in a private school. Making early choice of the legal profession under his father's guidance, he began his preparation; but his course was par- tially interrupted from 1887 to 1890 by a term as clerk in the office of the adjutant-general at Harrisburg. Returning home, he was admitted to the Bar, April 16, 1891, and at once began to practice with his father. Since the death of his father he has continued alone, and while making a specialty of practice in the Orphans' Court he has also a large general practice. He is a stead- fast Republican in politics. Socially he is prom- inent, and belongs to the F. & A. M., the R. A. and the K. T. On May 7. 1891, he was married to Miss Anna Orvis, daughter of Judge John H. Orvis, of Bellefonte. Four children have blessed this union-John Orvis. Martha (who died at the age of six months), Henry, Jr., and Ellis Orvis.
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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B ERNARD LAUTH (deceased) was an in- ventor of note, and for a period one of Cen- tre county's most successful iron manufacturers. He was a genius in the mechanical line, and his inventions crowned him with glory and pecuniary
success. He was a broad-gauged, public-spirited business man, who spent several hundred thou- sand dollars in improvements to develop the iron interests of the country.
Mr. Lauth was lineally descended from Dr. William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was beheaded in 1645 by an arbitrary decree of Parliament during the troublous times in the lat- ter years of the reign of Charles I. Archbishop Laud's widow, with eleven sons, migrated to Alsace, and the name of the family, through the idiom of the German language, changed to that of Lauth. Here in this province, August 23, 1820, our subject was born. He came with his parents and grandparents to America, arriving at Pittsburg, Penn., in the spring of 1831. The worldly possessions of the family at this time did not exceed ten dollars. The father went to work at fifty cents a day, and Bernard, not yet having completed his eleventh year, went to work in Dr. Peter Shoenberger's iron works at one dollar per week. He commenced at the lowest round in the business ladder, pulling up the furnace door, he passed through every stage until he became a boss roller, and was enabled to earn as high as twenty-eight dollars per day.
At these works he remained seven years. and was then employed as boss roller at the works of Hoke & Hartman on the east side of the river, with which concern he remained until 1844. In 1847 he commenced business for himself at Zanes- ville, Ohio, and in company with others built a rolling-mill. He was at Zanesville some five years, when he removed to East Birmingham, Pittsburg, and in connection with his brother built a rolling-mill: this enterprise developed into the immense "American Iron Works " of Lauth & Jones, until the former retired and the firm be- came Jones & Locklin. While thus engaged in 1857 Mr. Lanth made his invention for the manu- facture of cold-rolled shafting. The one-half of the shafting used in the great Centennial building at Philadelphia, in 1876, was rolled at these works. Mr. Lauth sold his right to Jones & Laughlins for one hundred thousand dollars, and then went to England. While there he made his second important invention, which he patented in the United States-for rolling plates-Lauth's three high-plate rolls. He had his family with him in Europe for four years, in order to give his children good educations. Mr. Lauth's third invention was a continuous mill for rolling band
iron of every description, for hoops, bands, etc. Its value may be judged from the fact that he sold a half-interest in it to the Bethlehem Iron Company for seventy-five thousand dollars and a royalty of fifty cents per ton.
Mr .. Lauth made his fourth invention in 1866; it was for straightening and angling beam iron mostly cold. On his return from Europe he be- came engaged in business at Reading, Penn., where he built a sheet-mill for rolling sheets and plates, which was finished just as the war closed. In 1871 he removed from Reading to Howard, and took hold of the iron works there which were in a dilapidated condition. He remodeled and renewed them almost entirely, built new and handsome dwelling houses, erected a beautiful Catholic chapel, and, with a new rolling-mill erected in 1882, had one of the best iron works in Centre county. They consisted then of rolling- mills, two charcoal blast furnaces and forge. pud- dling furnace, etc., and in the premises known as the Howard Iron Works there were 612 acres of land, and 528 acres of ore land appurtenant. Upward of two hundred thousand dollars was ex- pended in improvements, and the works gave employment to over two hundred men. He was a most active and energetic business man, and kept pace with the advancing world in which he moved. He was greatly interested in politics. but took no active part, never having any desire to hold public position. He was a Republican. His death occurred at his country home near Howard June 25, 1894; for several years he had been failing in health, and when the end came it came peacefully, for he died in his chair and as though just falling into a sleep. He possessed a tender heart, was ever willing and ready to do anything that would help his neighbor. By faith he was a Roman Catholic, and was consistent in his belief. He was one of eight children, the others being: John N., Catherine, Magdalene. Barbara, Josephine, Mary and Caroline, all of whom are now dead excepting the last named.
In 1840, Mr. Lauth was married to Miss Elizabeth Wilhelm, and their children are: (1) Bernard C., born September 21, 1840, married Magdalene Berg, of Pittsburg. (2) John N . born Deceniber 14, 1842, married (first) a Mrs Smith. of Pittsburg, and (second) a Mrs. Dr Knoor. (3) Mrs. M. L. Comerford, who makes her home with her mother, and has three chi! dren-Mary Louise. Arthur A. and Bernard 1 .. (4) Mrs. Caroline Comerford, a resident of Pitts- burg, who has three children-William B . Elizabeth and Caroline. (5) Mrs. Elizabeth C. Greth, of Reading, Penn., the mother of five sons and one daughter-Charles B., Bernard !.
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Philip, Harrold, Robert, and Louise (who died at four years of age). (6) Mrs. Josephine Wil- helm, of Buffalo, N. Y., whose children are- Grace, Walter, Louis, Paul and Elizabeth. (7) Mrs. Cameron Burnside, of Philadelphia, who has one daughter-Rachel.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Wilhelm) Lauth is a native of the village of Roeschwoog, near the river Rhine, Alsace, then a province of France, born September 30, 1821; she is the daughter of Mathias and Magdalene (Huck) Wilhelm. When she was six years of age her parents, with their family, came to America, being forty-seven days on the ocean en route. They located at Pitts- burg, Penn., where the father for many years. was engaged in the hotel business, keeping a tavern first on Third street, called the "Sun," and subsequently one on Penn Ave., where he died. His children were: Mathias, Elizabeth, Magdalene, Francis, Catherine (1), Mary, Caro- line. Catherine (2), Josephine and Jacob. All are now dead excepting Elizabeth, Francis. Catherine (2) and Josephine. Mrs. Lauth is now passing the evening of her life in her com- modious and comfortable home near Howard, enjoying the fruits of a well-spent life.
C ALVIN M. BOWER, a prominent lawyer and citizen of Bellefonte, was born in Haines township, Centre county, Penn., April 20, 1849. a son of Jacob Bower, who was a prosperous and well-to-do farmer living near the village of Woodward. The mother was a daughter of Jacob Motz, of Woodward; both parents being members of two of the oldest and most prom- inent families of that section of the county.
The subject of this sketch spent his early days as a farmer's boy, working on his father's farm during the summers and attending the pub- lic schools during the winter months. In No- vember, 1866, he entered the Aaronsburg Acad- emy to prepare for college. In the following spring he went back to his father's farm, and re- mained there until the fall of 1867, when he re- turned to the academy and spent the winter at his studies. In the spring of 1863 he again returned to the farm, and remained at work (ex- cept for five months spent in teaching a term of school in the neighborhood) until August, 1870, when he entered Central Pennsylvania College, At New Berlin, Penn.
During the time spent on the farm he was a faithful student, making use of his spare time in finishing his preparations for college. He remained at college until October, 1871. when he came to Bellefonte to begin the study of law. He entered the law office of Orvis
& Alexander, then one of the most noted law firms in central Pennsylvania. There he pur- sued his studies with the same zeal that charac- terized his school work, and in December, 1873. he was admitted to the Bar of Centre county.
Immediately upon his admission to the Bar he was offered and accepted an interest in the law firm with whom he had been a student, and in January, 1874, he became a member of the firm of Orvis, Alexander & Bower. When Judge Or- vis, the senior member of the firm, was appointed to the Bench, the remaining members of the firm continued the practice under the firm name of Alexander & Bower. This partnership continued for a period of eleven years, during which time they were engaged in most of the important cases tried in Centre county. Mr. Bower was soon rec- ognized as a careful and conscientious lawyer, and soon attained an influential position at the Bar. He early acquired a large practice at the Orphans' Court, and was looked upon especially strong in this class of cases. The firm during its existence had a large practice, and taking an active part in the work soon became one of the leading lawyers of the county. One of the strongest evidences of Mr. Bower's ability as a lawyer is the fact that when Judge Orvis retired from the Bench he chose him as his law partner. The law firm of Orvis, Bower & Orvis, consisting of Judge Orvis, Mr. Bower, and Ellis L. Orvis, was organized January 1. 1885. This partner- ship at once came into prominence, and was rec- ognized as one of the leading law firms of Penn- sylvania. Mr. Bower has always taken an active and prominent part in their practice, and his success has placed him prominently among the leading lawyers of the State. For many years he was concerned in the trial of many of the im- portant ejectment cases tried in Centre county. and he is recognized as a well-equipped lawyer in this important branch of the law. The rec- ords of the court in the central part of the State show the extent of his practice, and the supreme court reports, for years, attest his prominence at the Bar, showing that he frequently appeared be- fore that tribunal in the leading cases from the the courts to which his practice extended.
Mr. Bower has always been an uncompro- mising Democrat, faithfully devoted to the prin- ciples of his party. These principles, as laid down by Jefferson, Jackson and Tilden, have always found in him an earnest and faithful supporter. As early as 1875 he was chairman of the Demo- cratic County Committee, and by his untiring work succeeded in effecting an organization that brought out a full party vote, resulting in a ma- jority of 1. 500 in the county for the Democratic
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nominee for governor. He has frequently been a delegate to State Conventions, and in 1880 he was honored with a place on the Electoral ticket. In 1894 he was unanimously nominated by his party for President Judge of the 49th Ju- dicial District, then comprised of the counties of Centre and Huntingdon. In the disastrous cam- paign of that year he was defeated with the rest of the Democratic candidates, but he ran 1, 529 votes ahead of his ticket in the district. When Mr. Bower was nominated, one of the Demo- cratic papers in the district said: "The nomi- nation comes to him without a contest. His eminent position at the Bar in this section of the State makes him the natural candidate of his party, and he is conceded by Democrats and Republicans alike to be the strongest Democratic nominee to be found in the district." In the following year the Democratic County Committee instructed the delegates from Centre county to present Mr. Bower's name before the State Con- vention for the nomination of Justice of the Superior Court, and passed a resolution instruct- ing the delegates to use all honorable means to secure his nomination. Huntingdon and other counties took similar action, and it soon became evident that there was a strong sentiment in his favor in various sections of the State. His friends made a strong fight for his nomination, and he was only defeated by an unfortunate ruling of the chairman of the Convention, which gave the nomination to Judge Magee, of Pitts- burg, by twenty-eight majority.
Mr. Bower is a prominent and an active member of the Reformed Church. Frequently he. has been a delegate to Classis and Synods, and has filled various other positions with credit to himself and honor to the Church. While he is thoroughly devoted to his Church, he is inter- ested in the cause of religion without regard to denominational lines. He has also been active in Sunday-school work, and is at present district and county chairman of the State Sabbath-school Association. He has also been an active worker in the cause of education. For years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Frank- lin and Marshall College, at Lancaster, Penn .. and as a mark of appreciation of his work for the college, and his literary attainments, that insti- tution some years ago conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. He owns one of the finest libraries in Bellefonte, and by earnest and careful study he has become as prominent in lit- erary circles as he has in his profession. Judge Orvis, when on the Bench, fittingly recognized Mr. Bower's legal and literary attainments by appointing him a member of the examining com-
mittee; and he is in point of service the oldest member of that committee, having been reap- pointed by Judges Hoy, Furst and Love, and is the President of the Board.
Mrs. Bower is a daughter of John Meyer, of near Rebersburg, and a lady of culture and re- finement. She is particularly noted for her love of plants and flowers, and the home of the fam- ily on the extreme eastern end of Linn street is one of the finest in Bellefonte. The grounds surrounding the house are one mass of vines and flowers, all under the immediate care of Mrs. Bower. The only child, John Jacob Bower, is a student of Franklin and Marshall College, a member of the class of 1898.
Socially, Mr. Bower is of a retiring disposition. absorbed in his books and his profession; yet he has acquired a large circle of acquaintances, and formed strong friendships. He is a representa- tive of one of the oldest families in Centre county. and his ancestors on both sides were some of the earliest settlers in the eastern end of Penn's Valley. Many of the Bowers and Motzes still re- side in that section of the county, and some of them own and occupy the lands where their an- cestors settled about the time of the Revolu- tionary war, the title thereto not having passed out of the family name in which it was originally acquired.
Jacob Bower, the great-grandfather of Calvin M., and the son of John and Catherine Bower. came into what is now Haines township from Hanover township, York county, in 1776. He married Christena Nease, daughter of Philip Nease. John Motz, the great-grandfather of Mr. Bower on his mother's side, came to the site of Woodward from Penn township, in what is now Snyder county, in 1786. He bought land under date of April 29, 1785, and is credited with being the first settler on the town site named. Shortly after locating, he built a mill, and in a small scale manufactured soda. He was highly educated. a sculptor by profession, and had to leave the Fatherland in consequence of his devotion to the cause of liberty. At his death he left quite a valuable collection of books on Church history. astronomy, etc. His wife's maiden name was Mary Whitmer.
D AVID F. FORTNEY, postmaster at Belle fonte, and a prominent member of the Cen. tre County Bar.
At the time of the birth of David Fortney (father of David F., the subject of this review ). February 12, 1807, his father, whose name, too was David, resided at Cornwall, in Lebanon
David 7. Forthey
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
county, this State. When a young man of twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, David (2) came to Centre county, and, as was the cus- tom in those days, became an apprentice to learn the trade of a carpenter under John Kim- port, a brother-in-law. After he had learned the trade, he for many years followed the business of a carpenter, and very many of the large bank- barns and dwelling houses in Penn's Valley, built from 1840 to 1856, were constructed by him or by his assistance and with his labor. He was a man of great energy, an excellent mechanic, a good citizen, large hearted, honest, kind and of the most tender disposition. He was a great band to take care of and look a ter the sick, and was very frequently called upon by neighbors in times of sickness and distress, to help to care for. their sick. He married Susan Sellers, a native of York county, Penn., who was born February 17, 1812, a daughter of Daniel and Hannah Sel- lers. Daniel Sellers, her father, soon after her birth, entered the army in the war of 1812, and died in the service, whether from wounds or dis- ease contracted in the service is not now certainly known. To this marriage were born six children: (1) Mary, who married William Stover, died April 23, 1877. (2) John H., who was a mem- ber of Company D, 148th P. V. I., entering the service of the United States in August, 1862, along with his brother, David F., and serving throughout the war; his death occurred April 3, 1887, from disease contracted in the army. (3) James G. is a successful and prosperous farmer near Pine Grove Mills, Centre Co., Penn. (4) David F., the subject of this sketch. (5) George William, a faithful and devout minister of the Gospel in the Luthern Church, (6) Sarah Ellen, a lovely girl of fifteen, the first of the family called upon to pass over the dark river, dying April I, 1863. This date also recorded the death of the father, David Fortney, Sr., who died just eleven hours after the daughter, both dying from what was then called "spotted fever". They were buried on the same day, April 3, 1863, in one grave. The wife and mother died at the home of her son James in Ferguson township, July 19, 1883, full of years and good deeds. She had been early consecrated to God by her parents in the sacred or linance of baptism, and at the time of her death had been a consistent Christian and member of the Lutheran Church for fifty years. After her husband's death, she generally passed the winters at the home of her son, David F., in Bellefonte, and the summers at the old farm with her son James. She was a sincere woman, kind- hearted, generous and thoughtful, exemplary in life, she became endeared to all who knew her.
Her influence for good was remarkable, and she filled a place in the family and Church from which she has long been missed. Her son in an obit- uary notice thus speaks tenderly and beautifully of "Mother".
The early training of the family devolved almost entirely upon her. For weeks at a time, and almost continually, father was from home, of necessity, following his trade. She met the duties and responsibilities thrown upon her with un- faltering courage and firm faith that, if she did well her part, the end would also be well. She left nothing undone that would add to the interest, happiness or welfare of her chil- dren. To say that she was a good mother, a royal woman, and give the words all the force the language will imply, is but to feebly express her crowning glories.
David F. Fortney, practically speaking, was reared among agricultural pursuits. His early education was such as the neighboring schools of the township afforded. He was in attendance at the academy at Pine Grove Mills, during which time he walked over three miles each way every day in the week, and was never tardy. While at the academy in August, 1862, young Fortney, with others, the principal included, enlisted for the war in Company D, 148th P. V. I., under the command of Col. James A. Beaver, afterward Governor of Pennsylvania, and now judge of the Superior Court. In less than a year, however. the young man Fortney was discharged from the service for disability arising from fever contracted while therein. He then returned to Pine Grove Academy for some months, and later taught a five-months term of school at White Hall school house, in Ferguson township, receiving $20 per month for his services. From April 20, 1864, to the last of September, 1866, he attended what was known as Vermillion Institute, at Hayesville, Ohio, which was in charge of Rev. S. Dieffen- dorf, and was an excellent school, where he re- ceived quite a liberal education in higher mathe- matics, sciences, and in the Latin and Greek languages. On returning from Hayesville, he taught one termof school in Decatur township. Clearfield county. Early in life he made up his mind to be a lawyer, and with this end in view. he attended school, and taught probably longer than he otherwise would have done. In the spring of 1867 he entered the law office of Hon. John H. Orvis, of Bellefonte, and while reading law did, for his board, whatever work was to be done on his preceptor's place of some three acres, which comprised an orchard and garden. He was admitted to the Bar April 30, 1869, having practically worked his own way through school. and maintained himself by working part of the time while studing law.
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