Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 19

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 19
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 19
USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 19
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 19

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On April 5, 1852, Mr. Holt was united in marriage with Miss Letitia T. Askey, who was born in Clinton county, Penn., in 1831, and died in January, 1894. They became the parents of the following children: Oscar, a coal miner, re- siding in Snow Shoe township, Centre county; Ida, deceased wife of John R. Gilliland, who is now filling some official position at Washington, D. C .; John Edgar, an extensive lumber merchant of Northumberland, Penn., who married Alice Gardner; Frank H., who is a noted marksman, and is now superintendent of a sawmill at Panthers Run, Centre county; Laura, deceased wife of WilliamLoveland, also deceased, who was proprietor of an axe factory in Lamar, Clinton Co., Penn .; Samuel and Wilber H., both con- tractors, of Panthers Run; and Harry, who is attending the Sunbury Commercial College. For his second wife Mr. Holt, on January 9, 1896, married Miss Mary H. Denlinger, a native of White Hall, Cumberland Co., Penn., and a daughter of Prof. David and Mary A. (Diffendal) Denlinger, natives of Lancaster and Cumberland counties, respectively. Her paternal grand- father, Jacob Denlinger, was a farmer of Lancas- ter county, where he spent his entire life. Abra- ham and Elizabeth (Washmood) Diffendal, the maternal grandparents, were also natives of the Keystone State, the former born in Adams county, and the latter in Cumberland county.

Prof. David Denlinger spent his entire life as a teacher, following that profession up to within a week of his death, which occurred March 26, 1892, when he was seventy years of age. He was the principal of White Hall Academy, which he founded, and conducted for seventeen years. It was later converted into the Soldiers' Orphan School, which he disposed of in 1865, and next had charge of the Union Seminary at New Berlin, Penn., for five years. During the following six years he was principal of the Cedar Hill Semi- nary at Mt. Joy, Penn., which position he re- signed in 1879, and then went to Manchester, Md., where he became principal and proprietor of the Irving Institute, which he successfully conducted up to the time of his death. He was a distin- guished professor, with remarkable ability as an instructor, and the schools which he conducted took high rank among the educational institu- tions of the kind.

Mrs. Denlinger is still living, at the age of

seventy years, and now makes her home with her surviving children. A brief record of the family is as follows: Anna E. died at the age of five years; Mary H. is the wife of our sub- ject; John W. has for the past twenty years been a leading attorney of Lancaster, Penn .; Austin F. is a practicing physician of Lansford, Penn .; Lillie D. is the wife of Walter Snyder, a mer- chant of Pottsville, Penn .; David W. is private secretary for the general superintendent of the freight department of the Central railroad, with headquarters at Mauch Chunk, Penn .; Clara B. is the wife of Howell Souder, of Tamaqua, Penn., who is stenographer and private secretary of W. D. Zehner, general superintendent of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co .; Laura K. is residing in Tamaqua; and Alice I. is the wife of Howard Ring, a farmer of Baltimore county, Maryland.

Mr. Holt has ever taken a prominent part in public affairs, is a recognized leader of the Dem- ocratic party in his community, and has repre- sented Centre county four years in the State Legislature. He has also filled many minor offi- ces, including those of clerk of election, which he held nine years, school director, thirty-three years, and justice of the peace, one year. For a great many years, in connection with his lumber trade, he engaged in surveying. He is now serv- ing as president of the Salt Lick Gas Co., of which A. C. Hechendorf is secretary and treas- urer. He is now endeavoring to secure a large fortune left in England by the Holt family, which amounts to millions of dollars. Since at- taining his majority he has affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, now belonging to the Blue Lodge and Chapter of Bellefonte; for the past twenty-five years he has been an elder in the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a consistent and active member. Mr. Holt is a genial, court- eous gentleman, a pleasant, entertaining com- panion, and has many stanch and admiring friends among all classes of men. As an energetic, up- right and conscientious business man, and a gen- tleman of attractive social qualities, he stands high in the estimation of the entire community.

W ILLIAM A. BUCKHOUT, M. S., profes- sor of botany and horticulture at The Pennsylvania State College. Centre county, was born at Oswego, N. Y., December 26, 1846. He attended the public schools of that place until 1864. In 1866 he entered the second class of Agricultural College, from which institution he was graduated in 1868, and that year returned to engage in post-graduate study of botany. From

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1869 to 1871 he was occupied in farming at Os- wego, N. Y. In the latter year he returned to Agricultural College, and was engaged as in- structor in natural science, and later was elected professor of the same. In 1888 he was ap- pointed, by the Governor, a member of the State Forestry Commission.

On July 12, 1876, Prof. Buckhout was mar- ried to Miss Mary L. Harkness, of Philadelphia, and their children are: Albert T., Nathan W., William H., Margaret W. and Carolyn Reed.

Prof. Buckhout is the botanist of the Agri- cultural Experiment Station of the College, where a farm of one hundred acres is devoted to experi- ments upon crops, soils, etc., the results of which experiments are published in bulletins and dis- tributed free by the Station.

W ILLIAM FORSMAN HOLT, a wealthy mine operator residing at Philipsburg, is a leading spirit in the varied activities of the com- munity. His family has been prominent in this section from the days when the unbroken forests marked the "frontier line," and Col. John Holt, who settled in Bald Eagle Valley in 1782, is said to have been the first white man who followed the Indian trail to Snow Shoe to hunt game.

To go back to the origin of the family in America we find from Gilliland's sketches of the Snow Shoe region that a son of Sir John Holt, of England, emigrated to the New World and set- tled in the Cumberland Valley before the Revolu- tion. It is supposed that he was killed by the Indians, as he was never heard from after leaving home for a business trip to Philadelphia. He left a son, Thomas, and two daughters, who were among the first settlers at Lewistown, Penn. Thomas Holt had four sons and three daughters. Of the sons, William, the ancestor of Judge Holt, postmaster-general during President Buchanan's ministration, migrated to Kentucky; James was killed by Indians; Thomas went to Ohio, and John was the settler in Bald Eagle Valley, the ne of hunting leading him to enter the Snow shoe region, and it was his custom to spend a few weeks in the fall of each year in this pastime. !lr gained his title of "colonel " in the Revolu- Sonary war, and took part in several battles, among them being the engagement at German- :.. w11. He died in the summer of 1831 in his wenty-sixth year. Eight children survived: 'our sons-Thomas, James, John, Robert-and : or daughters-Mary (who married Jacob Barn- hitt .. Elizabeth (Mrs. Henry Barnhart), Jane .wife of Frederick Antis), and Nancy (Mrs. James Patterson).

John Holt, our subject's grandfather, married Mary Harbison, daughter of John Harbison, an Englishman, who settled at Milesburg in the early days, and whose numerous descendants are among leading people of the locality as members of the Baird, Holt, Swanzy, and McKibbin fami- lies and others equally well known. Mrs. Mary Holt was a woman of more than ordinary mental powers, while her devoted Christian life and sym- pathetic care for the sick and afflicted, whether rich or poor, won the esteem of all who knew her. John Holt and his wife were both natives of Bald Eagle Valley, and it was not until the spring of 1822 that he located in the Snow Shoe region, being the third settler there. He selected for his home a picturesque and fertile tract of land about a mile equidistant from Betchtol and Askey, and engaged in farming and lumbering. His life was one of great usefulness, and he was universally respected, being frequently called upon to serve in township offices, including that of justice of the peace, which he held for many years. His wife died July 9, 1867, at the age of seventy-two, and November 23, 1869, he breathed his last at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Hugh- ey, in Princeton, Ill., while on a visit. His re- mains were brought home and now rest in Snow Shoe Cemetery. This estimable couple reared a family of three daughters, and two sons: Will- iam, our subject's father; and Hon. J. H. Holt, a prominent citizen of this section, at one time a member of the State Legislature.

William Holt was born in Bald Eagle Valley. He married Mary Forsman, a native of White Deer Valley, Lycoming Co., Penn., and daugh- ter of William Forsman, a lumberman, and his wife, Eliza (Buchannan), who were both born in that locality, coming to Centre county in the pioneer days, but later moving to Illinois, where they spent their last days. William Holt set- tled in Snow Shoe township, Centre county. in 1822, and was prominently connected with the development of his locality as a farmer and lum- berman. He was the only person who was killed in the accident on the Snow Shoe railroad, June 11, 1878. As he was on his way to a po- litical meeting the train, a local freight with a coach attached. broke through a trestle and fell sixty-four feet. His death was a great blow to his family, and caused sincere mourning through- out the community. He belonged to the Ma- sonic order, and was a Knight Templar. His widow now resides at Philipsburg. They had the following children: Sue is the deceased wife of Capt. John Gillen, lieutenant of the Watch in the Patent Office, at Washington, D. C .; Isa- bella, widow of C. G. Hirlinger, resides in Phil-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ipsburg; Charles H. is a successful physician at Grand Rapids, Mich .; William F. is mentioned more fully below; Clara died at the age of eight- een; Sarah M. died when three years old; Lida married Frank Whitman; a merchant at Pied- mont, W. Va .; Maud married Harry McD. Lo- rain, of Philipsburg, and died in February, 1897; Norman A. is a storekeeper at the Snow Shoe mine.

W. F. Holt, the subject proper of this sketch, was born at the old homestead in Snow Shoe township, Centre county, December 14, 1856, and there his youth was mainly spent, his ele- mentary education being supplemented by a course of study during 1874 and 1875 in the Normal School at Millersville, Lancaster Co., Penn. At his father's death he was appointed administrator of the estate, and at present he is the attorney for the estate. . Until 1892 he was engaged in the lumber business; but since that date his time has been occupied with his exten- sive coal operations. In June, 1894, he organ- ized the Snow Shoe Mining Co., of which M. D. Kelley has since become president, with T. B. Budinger, treasurer, and which he as manager has successfully conducted. The mine has a ca- pacity of from 250 to 300 tons per day.

Mr. Holt has an interest in the old home- stead, and at times resides there. He has never married. Socially, he is prominent, and he be- longs to Bellefonte Lodge, F. & A. M., and Mo- shannon Commandery. K. T., of which he is at the present time E. C. In politics he is a Dem- ocrat.

C ILEMENT DALE, of Bellefonte, in whom is worthily represented the fourth generation of a family that has reflected honor to citizen- ship and credit to the name for upward of a hundred years in Centre county, is the son of Christian and Eliza (Neff) Dale.

Clement Dale was born on his father's farm at Oak Hall, Centre county, February 25, 1851, , and on the farm where his father and all of his children were born, and where now reside chil- dren of the fifth generation, who likewise were born there. Until the age of twelve years he at- tended the public schools of the neighborhood, then a private school at Rev. Dr. Hammil's, a neighbor; at the age of sixteen he went to the Boalsburg Academy, and was there prepared for college under the tuition of G. W. Leisher, working ad interim on his father's farm, who taught his children habits of industry and econ- omy, as well as to direct their lives into channels that would lead to usefulness and honor, in the various walks of life. In the fall of 1870 young

Dale entered the Freshman class of Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, and was graduated in a classical course in June, 1874. After his gradu- ation he came to Bellefonte, read law in the office of Judge Furst, and was admitted to the Bar August 29, 1876. He immediately opened an office in Bellefonte, on the site of the build- ing he now occupies, and in which he has contin- ued to conduct the practice of the law from that day to this. Mr. Dale, though only in middle life, with years of service ahead of him, has al- ready attained success, not only financially, but as a man and citizen. His life has been an ex- emplary one, always in the line of right in all questions pertaining to the elevation of the morals of the community in which he has lived. A member of the Lutheran Church, he has ever taken a great interest in the cause of Christian- ity, and given much time and contributed largely to the upbuilding of his Church in Bellefonte, in the service of which he has labored as a Sab- bath-school teacher and superintendent, and the policy of which Church at large he has helped to shape. He was twice chosen a delegate to the General Synod of the Lutheran Church of the United States of America, the first time when it met in June, 1881, at Altoona, Penn., and the second time in June, 1895, at Hagerstown, Md. This honor was conferred by the District Synod. comprising the counties of Centre, Clinton, Un- ion, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry. He is at pres- ent a trustee in his home Church; a director in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg; and also a trustee of the Bellefonte Academy.

Mr. Dale has been active in politics, and lias contributed largely to the success of the Repub- lican party in Centre county, having been an available speaker and worker during the cam- paigns. In 1877 he received the nomination of the Republican party for the office of District Attorney, and was paid the following compli- ment by the press:

" We favor the election of Mr. Dale because we believe he is the best fitted for the position He is a rising lawyer at our Bar, and, what i- important, he is honest-no money which may pass through his hands will be misappropriated His record is pure and spotless, and, if he elected, every citizen may feel confident that the defalcation will arise through any negligence ": want of honesty on his part.

" Mr. Dale is so well known in the county that no word of recommendation that we call utter can add anything to his popularity. 11 belongs to one of the oldest and most respectaby families in our midst, was born here, as were als his father and grandfather before him. He is

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

young man of untarnished reputation, a thorough scholar, a reliable and trustworthy gentleman, and, if elected to the office to which his friends aspire to elevate him, will make one of the most efficient officers this county ever had. With such a candidate in the field, it would seem as though his success ought not to be a question of doubt. There is no candidate yet mentioned by any inan or party that offers a cleaner record, a more honorable 'name, or who, if elected, would re- flect more honor or more credit upon the people whom he serves."

In 1880 Mr. Dale was elected by a decided majority to the office of Chief Burgess of Belle- fonte, and very acceptably to the people and with credit to himself, served the borough in that capacity. For ten years he had been the City Solicitor of Bellefonte, which long term of serv- ice is of itself.a sufficient evidence of his capa- bility and popularity. Having descended from Revolutionary stock, he belongs to a patriotic family, having lost one brother in the Civil war, and had another who distinguished himself and added honor to the family name in that struggle. Mr. Dale, himself, was but a lad at that time, too young for service, but for the last decade or more there has hardly passed a Decoration Day that his voice has not been heard proclaiming the heroism and sacrifice made by the "boys in blue." Our subject is a self-made man, and to him is due the position in life he occupies-a useful citizen and a lawyer whose energy, integ- rity, ability and honorable life adorn his pro- fession.

On May 15, 1884. Mr. Dale was married to Miss Sarah Davis Wilt, of Philadelphia, and their children are: Mary Edith, born February 28, 1886, died suddenly in Philadelphia, June 22, 1889; Arthur Clement, born September 24, 1889; and Marion Ethel, born September 6, 1891. Mrs. Dale is a native of Allegheny, Penn., a daughter of Benjamin and Susannah H. (Dobbs) Wilt, natives of Blair and Butler counties, Penn., respectively. When a child of five years of age, Benjamin Wilt's parents, George and Margaret Ann (Kuhns) Wilt, moved to the vicinity of Kit- fanning, in Armstrong county, Penn., and there passed their lives; both were born in Blair coun- ty. Mrs. Dale's grandparents on her mother's side were Francis Dobbs and Sarah (Davis) Dobbs, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Lancaster county. Penn. After their marriage they lived at Kittanning. Originally the Wilts and Kuhns were from Germany, and the Dobbses and Davises from England. The chil- fren of Benjamin Wilt and wife were: Sarah Davis; Mary E., deceased; Lemuel and Edwin

M. The father was for many years a merchant at Kittanning, and during Mrs. Dale's childhood moved to Philadelphia, where he also engaged in business, and where he was reared and educated. He died in 1888.

C CHRISTIAN DALE (I), the progenitor of the Dale family here in Centre county, came to this country, arriving at Philadelphia, in 1749.

Ludwig Derr, in 1772, owned the tract of land on which Lewisburg now stands, and that year Christian Dale was living on that part of the land known in 1877 as Col. Slifer's upper farm near the iron bridge, which place Dale cleared in 1772. He resided in Buffalo Valley, in which he was one of the first settlers, during the stirring. times of the Revolution. In 1790 he removed to the end of Nittany Mountain, now College township, Centre county, where in 1796 he built a gristmill and sawmill. He was one of those sterling old Germans to whom Pennsyl- vania owed so much, and whose walk in life was measured by the rule: "Be just and fear not". He died in July, 1805, at the age of seventy-two years ; his wife Rachel passed away in Decem- ber, 1808, aged seventy-six years, and their remains rest in the old Dale burying ground on the hill back of Lemont. These pioneers came to a vast wilderness, poor, and died at a ripe old age, comparatively wealthy, leaving to their children fine farms, and the inheritance of names made noble by a long life of toil and hardship. Their children were: Henry, Philip, Felix, Frederick, Christian, Cornelius, Mary (wife of Nicholas Straw, a soldier of the Revolu- tion), Eve (wife of Peter Earhart), and Rachel (wife of Lewis Swinehart). Of these, Christian and. Frederick moved to Ohio ; the descendants of the others are living in Centre county-they are quite numerous and have always been exem- plary citizens. Henry Dale, the eldest child, was born in Northampton county, in 1758. He was a soldier with Washington at Trenton and Princeton, in 1776-77, and served in militia tours under Capt. Forster, of Buffalo Valley. On November 19, 1787, he married Rebecca Weberin, and their children were: Samuel, born November 23, 1788 ; Henry, born November 17. 1793 ; and John, born November 25, 1797. His second wife was Phillena whom he married April 22, 1804 ; she died September 11. 1836. The children by this union were : Christian, born December 20, 1806, and Henry (2), born April 2, 1813. The father of these children died in the vicinity of Oak Hall March 14, 1844, aged eighty-six years. The gun, pow-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

der-horn and fork, carried by him in the Revolu- tionary war, are in the possession of Clement Dale, Esq., of Bellefonte.

Christian Dale (3), son of Henry Dale, died at his home near Oak Hall, November 7, 1885. His birth occurred December 20, 1806. His an- cestors had bought a large tract of land, which they cleared and converted into several large farms. Christian Dale (3) often said to his children and others, that he well remembered when there was no land cleared between Le- mont and Bellefonte except a small piece where William Grove lived in 1885-a short distance from Lemont. By strict integrity and close economy Mr. Dale accumulated a large amount of wealth, and his personal influence was of the purest, and extended all over this section of the country. He had a memory stored with more unwritten or traditional history than, perhaps, any other man in Centre county. He often re- marked to his children that where he used to play when a child there he saw his grandchildren play, meaning more particularly at a beautiful spring of sparkling water, that finds its way from the ground near the old homestead. He took great delight in gathering his children, as well as grandchildren, around him, and relating incidents of early and pioneer life. Many an incident was related by the venerable old man that will be re- · membered through life by those who listened. In politics he was a Republican, and in 1883 was the nominee of the party for the office of associ- ate judge. His popularity in the county was evidenced by the large vote he polled. He re- ceived the vote of many Democrats who full well knew him to be a man eminently qualified in every respect for such an important county office. He was a consistent member of the Lutheran Church from youth up, and always contributed freely toward all religious and charitable pur- poses. The high esteem in which he was held by all who knew him could not be more forcibly manifested than by the large number of friends that attended the funeral, which was one of the largest in that part of the county for many years. Mr. Dale was described as "a tall, portly, gray- haired old gentleman, and as fine a type of man- hood as one can well imagine." On June 20, 1826, Mr. Dale was married to Hannah Shoene- berger, who died April 7, 1844, in her fortieth year. Their children were: Susan, born April 29, 1827, married John Musser, of near Filmore; Henry, born November 9, 1828, deceased; George, born August 1, 1831, resides near Lemont ;. William J., born June 22, 1833, lives near Pleas- ant Gap; Christian, born October 6, 1835, is deceased; Solomon, born October 21. 1837,

served in the Civil war in Company A, 148th P. V. I., and was lost at the battle of Spottsyl- vania Court House, May 12, 1864; Mary C., born October 1, 1839; Catherine married John Musser, Jr .; Philip S., born May 31, 1842, resides near Oak Hall; and Martin L. and Margaret L. (twins), born April 3, 1844. By a second mar- riage, this time to Eliza Neff, there were born: Austin W., who is now living on the old home- stead; Alfred A., born July 29, 1849, of Belle- fonte; and Clement, born February 25, 1851. The mother of these died November 4, 1874, in the sixty-second year of her age.

Capt. Christian Dale (4), son of Christian (3), whose death occurred at his home in Benner township, on December 1, 1895, in the sixty- first year of his age, like his ancestor of the Revolution, was a patriot. He was born and raised on the old homestead, where he worked through the summer season, and taught school during the winters. On the breaking out of the Civil war, he offered his services to his country, enlisting at Boalsburg, and was made fourth cor- poral Company G, 49th P. V. I. On January 11, 1863, he was transferred to Company C, and promoted to sergeant. On December 24, 1863, he re-enlisted as a veteran; on March 4, 1864, he was commissioned a second lieutenant, and De- cember 18, following, was promoted to first lieu- tenant. On May 17, 1864, he received a shell wound, and on June 9, 1865, he became captain of Company H. He participated in every en- gagement in which his regiment took part, and his record was a brilliant and daring one through- out the war. At the close of the war he re- turned with the regiment, and, coming home, re- sumed the life of a farmer. He started a grist- mill on his place near Pleasant Gap, which was known as Logan Mills. For many years Capt. Dale was secretary of the Centre County Fire Insurance Company, P. of H. He was a mem- ber of the Union Veterans Legion No. 59, of Bellefonte, and was their colonel in 1894; he was also a member of Post No. 95, G. A. R., of Bellefonte. Capt. Dale was a man of firm de- cision of character, and took a common-sense view of everything. He had a kind word for everybody, poor or rich, and was a Christian man. His wife, who was Catherine Musser, and whom he married in 1867, preceded him to the grave, dying in 1890.

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Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 19

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1358

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1358