Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 24

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 24
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 24
USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 24
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 24

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wedded William McClelland; Mary H., her daughter by the first marriage, married W. H. Patterson; another daughter, Eliza, married Dr. Joseph B. Ard, of Lewistown, whose heirs owned the old Potter place in White Deer, Union county. (4) Margaret. the youngest daughter, married Edward Crouch, of Dauphin county.

JUDGE JAMES POTTER, son of Gen. : James Potter, was born at his father's place on Conoco- cheague creek, Antrim township (now Franklin county), July 4, 1767, a son of the second mar- riage. On December 15, 1788, he married Mary Brown, daughter of William Brown, the first set- tler at Reedsville, Mifflin county, and in 1789 es- tablished himself at Potters Mills. On the death of his father, he acquired large land interest, and carried on a store, mills and distillery at that place, and succeeded him as deputy surveyor of the Sixth District in the Purchase of 1784. In connection with Capt. Samuel Montgomery, of Carlisle, he owned the site of Lewistown, and laid out that village in 1790. On October 2. 1790, he was commissioned one of the judges of the several courts of Centre county, which office he held during life. In 1807 he was appointed major-general of the Tenth Military District. Judge Potter died November 2, 1818, when he was aged fifty-one years; his widow, Mary Pot- ter, who was born June 15, 1770, died January 6, 1823. Their children were: James, born December 1, 1789; William W .; George Lati- mer; Mary, married to Dr. William . I. Wilson: John; Peggy Crouch, married to Dr. Charles Coburn; Martha Gregg, married to Abraham Valentine; and Andrew Gregg.

JAMES POTTER, son of Judge James Potter, was born at Potters Mills, Centre county, De- cember 1, 1789. On December 20, 1814, he married Maria Wilson, daughter of Gen. William Wilson, and by her he had the following chil- dren: James, Susan (married to O. P. Duncan), William W., John, Dr. George L. and Andrew Gregg. For his second wife, James Potter mar- ried Susan Irvin, widow of Thomas Duncan (de- ceased), by whom he had children as follows: Thomas D., Irvin W., Maria (married to Dr. Hendricks), Annie A. (married to Dr. W. C. Spaulding), Jacob Lex, Charles H., and Mary Ellen (married to Simeon H. Crane and residing in Chicago). The father of these, in connection with his brother John, was extensively engaged in mercantile and manufacturing business. In 1856 he removed to Watertown, Wis., and aft- erward to Madison, Ind., where he died March 22, 1865.

WILLIAM W. POTTER was born at Potters Mills, Centre county, March 8, 1819. He at-

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tended the academy of Rev. David Kirkpatrick, D. D., at Milton, and later was engaged with his father in the mercantile and milling businesses, in the transaction of which he made frequent visits to Philadelphia on horseback. He resided, re- spectively, at Potters Mills, Linden Hall, Centre Furnace, Milesburg, Iron Works and Bellefonte, and at his death, July 7, 1884, he was agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., at Bellefonte. He was held in high esteem by his employers and the community. which was manifested by the re- spect shown him at his death, when all places of business were closed during the funeral services. On February 6, 1844, he was married to Sarah Irvin, youngest daughter of John Irvin, of Lin- den Hall, and of their two children, John Irvin, the elder, who was born November 23. 1844, succeeded his father as agent of the Pennsylva- nia Railroad Co., which position he occupies at the present time. George Latimer Potter, the younger son, was born at Potters Mills, April 6, 1847. He attended school at State College (Centre county), Lawrenceville (N. J.), and Washington and Jefferson College (Washington county, Penn.), but as his health failed he did not complete the college course. He read med- icine for one year, but owing to an accident by which his father lost an arm, he took up the lat- ter's work, which he continued in until 1874, when he was obliged to relinquish it on account of failing health. In 1874 he engaged in the insurance business, and has since made that his permanent work. On June 21, 1876, he was married to Elizabeth J. Sanderson, daughter of W. C. Sanderson, of Eagle Mills, Clinton county, and they have two daughters: Marguerite, born July 29, 1877; and Sarah Irvin, born March 14, 1883. Through her mother, Mrs. Potter is a descendant of the famous Indian scout, Robert Copenhoven. The family attend the Presbyte- rian Church, in which Mr. Potter is an elder.

W ILLIAM F. SMITH, prothonotary of Centre county, and clerk of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and of Oyer and Terminer, is one of the most able and popular officials whom the administration of county affairs has called to Bellefonte. Born and reared upon a farm in Penn township, Centre county, he has from youth displayed the qualities which mark the typical American, and, by his work as a teacher and farmer in early manhood, he strength- ened and developed those traits which have brought him success in a wider sphere of use- fulness.

Mr. Smith is of Scotch-Irish blood, on the

paternal side, but his ancestors crossed the ocean at an early date. Francis Smith, his grand- father, was born in Union county, Penn., but later settled in Penn township, Centre county, where he died at the age of eighty-two years. True to his descent, he was a forceful, independ- ent character, and as an Old-time Democrat never hesitated to declare his convictions. The late John B. Smith, our subject's father, was a native of Centre county, having first seen the light in Penn township, October 3, 1824. He was a blacksmith by trade, and made his home at Millheim, where he departed this life October 18, 1892, leaving an honored memory as an up- right man and faithful citizen. .. His widow, Mrs. Amelia Gilbert Smith, who was born in Snyder county, Penn., January 8, 1830, survives him and resides at Millheim.

William F. Smith, the only child of his par- ents, was born February 3, 1851 .. and the district schools at Millheim furnished him an elementary education. Not content with that, he sought wider opportunities, walking a long distance morning and evening during three successive terms to attend Penn Hall Academy, and later he studied at Aaronsburg Academy, two miles distant. The County Normal School at Rebers- burg, where he spent two terms. gave him special training for the work of teaching, and this call- ing he followed successfully for fourteen winters in succession. As indisputable evidence of his ability in this line we may mention that his work was done in his native township, among those who had no glamor of novelty to blind them in their criticisms, five terms being passed at Mill- heim Grove and eight in his home district. Dur- ing seven years of this time he employed his spare moments at the blacksmith's trade, and he afterward engaged in farming, which he followed for about ten years. He has also been in the life-insurance business, and has traveled over several States in that interest. As school director and assessor of his township he did good service, strengthening public confidence in his ability, and when he was nominated for the office of prothon- otary by the Democrats in the fall of 1892, he was elected by a majority of 805. He was in- stalled January 1, 1893, and so well did he per- form his duties that he was renominated by ac- clamation at the close of the term, and again elected.

Mr. Smith married Miss Margaret E. Kim- port, who was born in Harris township, Centre county, September 19, 1850. They have one daughter living, Anna M. Smith, Another, Mary I., passed from earth at the age of one year and eight months.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

OHN T. JOHNSTON, late a venerable citi- zen of Bellefonte, Centre county, in the pub- lic affairs of which city he figured promi- nently for upward of a third of a century, and who at the time of his death was chief clerk in the Department of Internal Affairs at .Harrisburg, Penn., was a native of Centre county, born in the village of Pine Grove Mills, October 20. 1829.

John and Charlotte Johnston, his parents, were natives of Pennsylvania, born, the former o'n November 12, 1790, and the latter on Febru- ary 14, 1801. To them were born five children, of whom our subject was the youngest. The par- ents during the latter's infancy moved to the headwaters of Spruce creek, now known as Rock Springs, where the mother died July 9. 1832. About 1835 the father moved to Bellefonte, where he engaged in the mercantile business, in which he continued until his death, which oc- curred October 13, 1839.

John T. Johnston received his education at the common schools and academy at Bellefonte. His mother dying when he was but an infant, and his father when he was ten years of age, he was thus left an orphan early in boyhood to be- gin alone the battle of life, the greater part of which struggle took place in Bellefonte, where, later, his victories were achieved, and where his every vote had been cast. At the age of fifteen he entered the office of the Democratic Whig, then published by John K. Shoemaker, for the purpose of learning the art of printing, and in the spring of 1851 he became a partner with Mr. Shoemaker in the publication of that paper. He entered politics as a Whig, and was the last chairman that that party ever had in Centre county. During the years of 1854-55, he took an active part with the American or Know-noth- ing party, and in 1856 espoused the cause of the Republican party, advocating through the col- umns of his paper the election of Fremont and Dayton, the first candidates of that party for President and Vice-President, respectively, of the United States. He was chosen chairman of the Republican Committee of the county eight times, and was also very active, zealous and consistent in the support of the principles of his party, and its candidates, although he never "hunted with a brass band." In the winter of 1855 he was ap- pointed to a clerkship in the State Department at Harrisburg, under the administration of Gov. James Pollock. After serving several months he resigned and returned to Bellefonte, when he took sole charge of the Whig, which he con- tinued to publish until June, 1858. He was clerk to the town council of Bellefonte for a number of years, and was president of the school

board two years. During the years 1859-60 he served as clerk to the commissioners of the county, and in the fall of the latter year was elected prothonotary, being the first and only Republican ever chosen to that office in the county. During the session of 1866 he served as a transcribing clerk in the Senate at Harris- burg, and in the years 1867-68 he filled the posi- tion of chief clerk in the Internal Revenue office of the then Eighteenth District of Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1869 he was appointed post- master at Bellefonte, and served in that capacity until July 1, 1885-a period of over sixteen years. In May, 1887, he was appointed railroad clerk in the Department of Internal Affairs at Harrisburg, and entered upon the duties of that position on June I of that year. One of the Bellefonte papers, referring to the death of Mr. Johnston, said: "In all the different positions of honor and emolument held by Mr. Johnston, covering more than a third of a century, it can be truthfully stated that he performed his whole duty intelligently, honestly,-faithfully and well. He could always be relied upon, was never weighed in the balance and found wanting."

On February 19, 1852, oursubject was married to Miss Mary A. Mckinney, a most estimable lady, who was a resident of Bellefonte, and al- though at times she and her husband were called upon to bear their share of the vicissitudes of life -its afflictions and sorrows-their union proved an entirely happy one. Six children were born to this marriage, namely: Edward C., who died when four years of age; Augustus C., who died in in- fancy; Eliza F., who is now Mrs. Roland Kelly, of Beaver Falls, Penn. : Finley E., who married Kate Kellond, resides at Hastings, Mich., and has two children-Edward and Lida M .; George B .. who married Lillie Aikens, resides at Beaver Falls. Penn .. and has two children-Jennette A. and Mary Ann; and Harry E., an electrician, who married Sadie J. Walker, of Bellefonte, who died June 19, 1897.

Mrs. Johnson, the widow of our subject, I- the daughter of Samueland Eliza ( Flack) Mckin- ney, and was born at Bellefonte, Penn., her ta- ther being of Scotch descent and her mother of Irish parentage. The mother died at the hom of Mrs. Johnston in Bellefonte in 1885. the father having died when Mrs. Johnston was a child .: ten years. He left four children, namely: Nancy J. married Edward McBride, and died at Jame -- town, N. Y., leaving seven children; John is - fariner, married, has four children, and reside- in Texas; Samuel, a tailor by trade, died at Al- toona unmarried; and Mrs. Johnston, who was the second child in the order of birth.

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H ON. LEONARD RHONE. . "Life," says a well-known writer, "is meaningless unless it is universal and coherent." It is in a helpful relation to our time, a sympathetic union with the surrounding current of thought, feeling and purpose, that we can realize the worth of our own identity. To consciously ally one's self with any of the mighty movements that are shap- ing the future, is to invest life with new dignity and power. The present is a time of combina- tions for varied aims, for man sees more and more clearly his weakness, as an individual as compared with his strength in union with others. One of the most significant and hopeful signs of the times is the awakening in that large body of hitherto isolated workers, the agriculturists, of this desire for united effort for their mutual good. The organization known as the Patrons of Hus- bandry is already a power in the nation, and if its force is wisely directed and energetically ap- plied the results must be momentous.

In the subject of this biography, who has been for seventeen years the master of the Penn- sylvania State Grange, the farmers of this State have found a progressive, yet cautious, leader. He is prominent also in the National Grange, in which he is chairman of the executive commit- tee, and he has attended every annual meeting since 1880. His work in originating the Grange picnic and exhibition at Centre Hall, which meets annually in September, and lasts one week, has produced great and lasting benefit to the order. Every year sees an increase in attendance and exhibitions, and the opportunity for conference among the farmers is prized more and more.

Mr. Rhone was born at the Rhone homestead near Centre Hall, July 21, 1838, and was mainly educated at the old Fairfield school in that vi- cinity. In 1857-58, he attended Kishacoquillas Seminary one year, but it is to his own observa- tion and private reading that his wide range of information is due. In the winter of 1858-59 he taught the Tusseyville school. Reared as a farmer boy, and later engaging in agriculture as an occupation, he has always been in complete sympathy with the tillers of the soil, and his at- tention was early attracted to the need of union among them for mutual instruction and informa- tion, and definite work for desired ends. From the organization of the Patrons of Husbandry he has always been an active member. His first official position was connected with the State society, but he was elected master of Pomona Grange of Centre county in 1875, re-elected five times, and in 1877 was chosen master of Centre Hall Grange. In April. 1874, he was appointed first deputy of the county by the then master of

the State Grange, and this position he held until 1878, when he was elected overseer of the State Grange, and two years later was elected to his present post. In the latter year he was elected trustee of State College, and nominated by the Greenbackers to the Legislature, but the latter honor was declined, as was a similar nomination in 1882. In that year heserved as a delegate to the National Convention of Agriculture under ap- pointment by Gov. Hoyt, and later he was named byGov. Hastings as a member of the State Board of Agriculture. In 1885 the Democrats nomin- ated him for the Legislature, and the special is- sues of that time overcoming his disinclination for political life, he accepted, was elected, and in 1887 became his own successor.

Mr. Rhone owns 215 acres of excellent land, and its fine condition shows that he is as strong in practice as in theory. In 1864 he was married to Miss Mary Margaret Sankey, daughter of the late James Sankey, Esq., of Potters Mills, and their union has been blessed with two clever and attractive daughters: Miss Mae V., a graduate of . the seminary at Lutherville, Md., is now chief clerk in the Department of Zoology of Pennsyl- vania at Harrisburg. Miss Florence S. was grad- uated from Lewis Academy at Wichita, Kans., in 1893, with first honors, and at present assists her father as his private secretary. The family is prominent socially, and Mr. Rhone is identified with the Masonic lodge at Centre Hall. He be- longs to the Lutheran Church at Tusseyville, but his wife is a devout Methodist in faith.

Mr. Rhone comes of our best pioneer stock, as is shown by the fact that his beautiful farm near Centre Hall has now been owned and occu- pied by the Rhone family for more than a cen- tury. The first of the name to leave the ances- tral home in Hamburg, Germany, was John Rhone, or Rahn, our subject's great-grandfather. who was born in that city in 1698, during a win- ter so severe as to be referred to in the history of the Fatherland as "the cold winter." There is now no record of his ancestry, and nothing is known of his immediate relatives except that two brothers came to America some time after his emigration, one locating in the East, and the other in the South.

John Rhone was a youth when he first came to America, and after spending a few years in Pennsylvania he returned to his native land. where he married, his bride accompanying him on his second voyage to the New World. At that time emigrants were forbidden to carry money out of the country, on account of some movement political, commercial or military, and in order to evade the edict our pioneer invested

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his patrimony in Bibles and merchandise, which he brought with him. A few copies of these Bibles still remain and are cherished in the family as priceless heirlooms.

On his return to Pennsylvania, John Rhone located in Tulpehocken township, Berks county, near the Norskill Lutheran Church, where he followed the blacksmith's trade for many years. At the close of the Revolutionary war he moved to Franklin county and engaged in farming. While there his first wife died, but he afterward re-married. He was a temperate man, a consist- ent Christian, and a strict Lutheran in faith. He died in March, 1823, at the extraordinary age

of 125 years-extending over portions of three centuries. To the last he retained his strength of mind and body, and when 105 years old he paid a visit to his native land. Hisremains were interred at Pleasant Hall, Franklin county, with those of his wives. He had eighteen children, most of whom lived to maturity, and some at- tained great age, one daughter dying in Cumber- land, Md., when 103 years old. But little is known of the others.

The founder of the Centre county branch of the family was Michael Rhone, one of the elder sons of this modern patriarch. He was born in Berks county, Penn., June 8, 1759, and received a liberal education for the time in the parochial school of the German Evangelical Church near his home. The Revolution was in progress dur- ing his early manhood, and his father being en- gaged in furnishing supplies to the army, he assisted in this business, often undergoing great danger and suffering in conveying provisions to camp, especially during the memorable winter at Valley. Forge. He was of temperate habits, and possessed unusual strength and endurance, his well-proportioned frame with its powerful sinews seeming capable of any task. When peace was restored, he traveled for several years in what was then the " wild west." most of the time be- ing spent in Pennsylvania and New York.

In 1792 Michael Rhone removed from Berks county to Haines township, Centre county, then a part of Northumberland county, where he purchased a tract of land and began to clear it for a farm. For some reason he sold the place two years later, and went to the present home- stead, which he purchased from Jacob Straub, September 15, 1794. This place was a part of the first survey in that Valley, the Manor of Not- tingham survey, made September 23 and 24. 1766, and the land had previously been deeded to Straub on June 24. 1794, by John Penn, the younger, and John Penn, the elder, by their at- torney, Anthony Butler, of Philadelphia, as

shown by documents in the recorder's office in Lewistown, Penn. The deed to Michael Rhone was recorded at Bellefonte.

Before leaving Berks county. Michael Rhone married Miss Catherine Elizabeth Wagner, who was born October 24, 1769. She seems to have been amply endowed with physical strength and a spirit capable of overcoming all hardships, while her foresight is revealed by the fact that she car- ried in her pocket a package of seeds of various kinds, from which came, a few years later, ex- tensive orchards of apple, pear, peach, plum and cherry trees, covering about twenty acres. Many of these trees are still standing. When the pio- neers settled at their new home it was in its primitive state, except for a small log cabin covered with clapboards, an insignificant stable and a few acres ready for tilling. The location was beautiful, however, and an excellent spring added to the attraction of the place as a resi- dence, modern methods of obtaining a bountiful supply of water being then unknown. It was known as the Indian spring, and bands of Red men frequently camped there, a "trail " running past it from Logan's Gap to Tussey mountain. This ancient path was visible for many years after the aborigines left the region, and arrow- heads and other relics were often found near by.

The land proved fertile, and Michael Rhone and his good wife found themselves. in later years, the owners of one of the best farms in all that section. In 1805 a better house was erected, 30x40 feet in size, with a stone founda- tion, and having its logs deftly notched at the corners. It was two stories high, with an im- mense fireplace on each floor, and a high stone chimney stood outside at either end. A barn was built in 1810, and about 1820 the present substantial and commodious barn was erected. Intelligent, progressive and upright, Michael Rhone was universally esteemed, and his home was the center of a generous hospitality, which has been continued by its later occupants. In August, 1836, his faithful wife, who had shared his early labors and his well-earned reward, passed away at the age of sixty-seven, and he followed her on September 16, 1844, in his eighty-sixth year, both being interred at Tussey- ville, Centre county, in the cemetery of Eman- uel's Church (Luthieran), of which they had long been members.

They had two sons-John and Jacob-and seven daughters, two of whom did not live to maturity. Anna Maria married John Sholder. and moved to Ohio, where they and their only child died. Jane married Joseph Crotzer, of Potter township, Centre county, and had a large

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family. Katherine married Jacob Grossman, and moved to Lena, Ill., where several children survive them. Nancy married David Harshber- ger, near Zion, and left a numerous family. Elizabeth married John Rishel, of Gregg town- ship, Centre county. John Rhone, who was born in 1800, married Miss Bottorf, of Pine Grove Mills, and settled in Clinton county, engaging in lumbering and other occupations. Some of his descendants still reside in that county.

Jacob Rhone, our subject's father, was born in September, 1807, and spent his entire life on the homestead. Although the local schools fur- nished his only educational advantages, he se- cured an excellent fund of knowledge by individ- ual effort, being a constant reader of the best literature. He was a leading worker in local affairs, always favoring beneficial enterprises, and was especially prominent in religious mat- ters as a member of the Lutheran Church, serv- ing as an elder for a number of years. An ardent Democrat, he possessed much influence in political affairs, and was often a delegate to county conventions.

In 1846 Jacob Rhone purchased the home- stead from the other heirs, but on March 19, 1853, he was suddenly called from earth, a vio- lent attack of typhoid pneumonia baffling the skill of his physician. He had just been elected justice of the peace, but his commission had not yet been signed by the governor. His wife, formerly Miss Sarah Karstetter, survives him, and in taking up the management of the estate at a critical time, and successfully carrying forward the plans for the new residence then in process of erection, showed remarkable sagacity and ex- ecutive ability. In rearing their numerous family to take honorable and useful places in so- ciety she won yet more notable distinction. She was born in 1811, the daughter of Leonard Karstetter, who resided at the confluence of Penn and Pine creeks, in what is now Penn township, Centre county. Her twin sister is still living, and they are probably the oldest pair of twins to be found in the county, if not in the State. Mrs. Rhone conducted the farm until April 1, 1869, when it was taken in charge by our subject, who afterward bought out the other heirs.

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Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 24

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