Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 29

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 29
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 29
USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 29
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 29

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Dr. Andrews, who was born April 2, 1861, in Columbia county, was the only child of his par- ents. The public schools of Lock Haven afforded him good preliminary training, and after grad- uating from the high school he took the scientific course in the State Normal School there. Pur- suing his studies further, he was graduated from Dickinson Seminary in 1884, from the scientific course, receiving the degree of B. S., and in 1888 he obtained the degree of M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. From boyhood he had had an inclination for the medical profession, and before leaving Lock Haven to attend school

he had begun to read medicine with Dr. Walls, of that city.

An excellent opening for practice he found at Peale, Clearfield county, as surgeon for the Clearfield Coal Co., and there Dr. Andrews re- mained three years. In 1891 he located at Philipsburg, and in his six years of residence there has established an extensive practice among the best people of the community. Among his professional confreres his talents are recognized, and he is a member of the County and State Medical Associations, and of the West Branch Medical Society. He is surgeon at the State Cottage Hospital in Philipsburg, and has been on the medical staff of same since it was organized in 1892.

In 1888 Dr. Andrews was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Jones, an attractive young lady of Philipsburg, daughter of Alfred Jones, a prom- inent hardware merchant. One daughter, Ruth, brightens their home. In politics the Doctor is a stanch Republican; socially he is a member of of the F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F., both of Philipsburg.

C URTIN C. TAYLOR. Among the highly respected and honored citizens of Spring township, Centre county, no one is more worthy of consideration than the gentleman whose name opens this sketch. Here his entire life has been passed, his home having always been within a half mile of his present residence at Pleasant Gap. In that village he was born October 24. 1824, but in the years that have since come and gone he has witnessed many changes in the sur- rounding country, which was then but sparsely settled and few improvements made.

George Taylor, father of our subject, was also a native of Centre county, born in Half Moon township, whence at an early day he removed from Bellefonte, to the foot of the mountain, locating at the place now known as Pleasant Gap, where he kept the toll-gate and conducted a hotel in which our subject was born. He died at Unionville, Penn .. twelve miles west of Pleasant Gap, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years. He was by birth a Friend, and always adhered to the faith of that society. By his wife, Mary Dunlap, he had two children: George (our sub- ject), and Thomas, now a resident of Unionville, Centre county.

In the old tavern at Pleasant Gap, Curtin C. Taylor spent the days of his boy hood and youth, and his educational privileges were very limited as the school house nearest to his home was two miles distant. In 1844 he was united in mar-

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riage with Miss Harriet Noll, who was born in Dauphin county. Penn., November 26, 1824, a daugliter of George and Mary (Smith) Noll, na- tives of Lebanon and Berks counties, Penn., re- spectively. Her father lived to the age of sev- enty-five years, while her mother was sixty-nine years of age at the time of her death. In their family were four children: Harriet, the wife of our subject; John, deceased; Sallie, wife of Henry Harman, of Ross county, Ohio; and Em- manuel, a resident of Sunbury, Penn. Four children-two sons and two daughters-grace the union of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, as follows: (1) George, an iron molder, living in Bellefonte, Centre county, married Kate Wian, and has four children-Jennie, Hallie, Willie and Mary. (2) Mary is the wife of John Griffith, of Pleasant Gap, by whom she has four children-Hallie, Walter, Harry and Millie, (3). Irvin, also a res- ident of Bellefonte, married Jessie Gross, and has three children-Harry. Curtin and Charley. (4) Carrie is the wife of Abner Armstrong, and . has one son-Curtin.

After his marriage, Mr. Taylor worked by the month for a time, and was then for thirty-six years employed on the turnpike. On April 1, 1896, he was appointed toll-gate keeper, which position he is now acceptably filling. He has never cared to travel, and has never yet been on a railroad train. He is an earnest Democrat in politics, while his wife is a member of the Meth- odist Church. They are quietly passing down the hill of life, enjoying the esteem and confi- dence of their neighbors and the affection of their children and many friends.

J ARED Y. DALE, M. D., of Lemont, Centre county, has descended from one of the early families of Buffalo Valley and of Centre coun- ty, where for several generations its representa- tives have been prominently identified with the history of this section.

Dr. Dale is of Revolutionary stock. The early history of the family is given under the head of Christian Dale (1) elsewhere. Felix Dale, son of Christian Dale (1), and the grand- · father of our subject, was born February 2, 1767. and died March 12, 1833, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He married Catherine Dorothy Pinogel, of the family of Pinogels, of Pinogel's Church, near Harrisburg. Penn. As early as 1780 we find the name of Pinogel on record in Londonderry township. Dauphin county. Felix Dale and wife had two sons: David and Felix. The mother of these died April 15, 1844. Felix

Dale, Sr., inherited from his father's estate the mill property, and by occupation was a miller and farmer.

DAVID DALE, the father of Dr. Dale, was born at Dales' Mills, January 8, 1798. He re- ceived such schooling as the neighborhood schools of his youth afforded, and became a miller by occupation, also carrying on agricultural pursuits in connection with the milling business. He was a man of practical ideas and a genius in a me- chanical line, building his own carding machine, which branch of the woolen-mill business, to- gether with a hemp-mill, he added to the grist and saw mill that had descended from his fore- fathers. He was a man of good judgment and business qualifications, and made a success of life. The Dales for generations were Lutherans, and David was not an exception. In politics he was a Whig. On May 6, 1824, he married Miss Margaret Hennigh, born January 11, 1799, a daughter of Major Frederick Hennigh, who re- sided just below Aaronsburg. Centre county, and their children were: (1) William, born Febru- ary 20, 1825, a woolen-factory man, married Mary Mitchell, daughter of John Mitchell, of Harris township, and their only surviving child- John M .- is practicing law at Bellefonte. Will- iam died December 20, 1871, aged forty-six years. (2) Felix, a farmer, born November 26, 1826, married Rache Jane Mitchell, born in 1833, daughter of David Mitchell, and died in 1891. Felix dying in 1892; no issue. (3) Thomas, born May 6, 1828, and died in 1889; married Mary Boal, a daughter of Hon. George Boal, of Boals- burg, Centre county, who died in 1892 without issue. Thomas Dale was an intelligent gentle- man and a very capable business man. He was a man of high sense of honor, and was greatly esteemed by all who knew him. He was a woolen-factory man, merchant and farmer. (4) Abner, born November 17, 1829, a minister of the German Reformed Church, was educated at Marshall College, in Mercersburg: married Sarah Adams, of Butler county, where he died in 1875. His widow, and one son, David E., who survived him, are still living in the town of Butler. (5) Mary M. Dale, born March 3. 1832, died July 24. 1875, in her forty-fourth year. (6) David. born February 13, 1834, who was engaged in the woolen-manufacturing business at Dales Mills, and died unmarried, July 25, 1880. (7) Cornelius, born February 7, 1836. a farmer, mar- ried Georgianna, daughter of William Furey, of Bellefonte; they reside on the old homestead. and have four daughters living-Enima, Cor- nelia, Mary and Ethel, of whom, Emma married Edward Lingle. (8) Alfred, born January 21.

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1838, a coachmaker, married Lila Bartol. and died in Tyrone, Penn., in 1876, of disease con- tracted while in the war of the Rebellion. He had one daughter, Florence, who is living in Philadelphia with her mother. (9) J. Y. Dale, the subject of this sketch. David Dale, Sr., died July 13, 1854. in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and his wife, Margaret, died January II, 1864, in her sixty-sixth year; both are buried at Boalsburg, in Harris township. Mrs. Dale was identified with the German Reformed Church.

Dr. J. Y. Dale is a native of Centre county, born at the old homestead at Dales' Mills, Octo- ber 31, 1840. In boyhood he assisted in the work on the farm and in his father's mills. He went to the common schools in the neighbor- hood, attended the academy at Boalsburg, and for two years pursued classical studies under the tuition of his brother, the clergyman, then read medicine with Dr. Benjamin J. Berry at The End of the Mountain, a graduate of the University of New York, and one of the most widely known and prominent physicians of the county. Later, young Dale attended the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, froin which he was graduated in the spring of 1863; and while a medical student he had valuable experience in the military hospitals at Philadelphia and Pittsburg. In April, 1863, he located for practice in partner- ship with Dr. E. Greene, at Bellefonte, and in May, 1864, on the death of Dr. Berry, who had been engaged in practice at The End of the Mountain (now Lemont), for thirty-four years, he removed to that place, where he has ever since been actively engaged in the pursuit of his pro- fession, amid the scenes of his boyhood and among the descendants of the friends and ac- quaintances of his ancestors. Dr. Dale was pro- fessor of Anatomy and Physiology, and lecturer on Hygiene at the Pennsylvania State College, 1867-71. He is a member of the American Medical Association; of the State Medical Soci- ety of Pennsylvania; of the Clinton County Med- ical Society; of the Centre County Medical Soci- ety, and of the West Branch Medical Association, of which he is now (1897) the president. This Association, which was organized in 1892, is made up of inembers in good standing of county societies in affiliation with the State Medical So- ciety of Pennsylvania, in the counties of Cam- eron. Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Lycom- ing, Northumberland, Potter, Tioga and Union. He is Deputy Inspector for the State Board of . Health. He is also a member of the Shake- speare Society. of New York, and of the State College Scientific Association; and is a Free- mason, connected with the Blue Lodge, Chapter

and Commandery at Bellefonte. In politics he is a Republican.

On September 29, 1870, Dr. Dale married Matilda Allport, of Phillipsburg, formerly of Morrisdale, Clearfield county, born June 23, 1845. a daughter of James and Matilda (Hunter) Allport, and their children are: Frederick, born August 7, 1871, graduated at the Pennsylvania State College in 1893, served one year in the regular army, and is now a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania; Katharine, born July 27, 1874. is at home; David, born February 26, 1876, is a student of the Pennsylvania Col- lege at Gettysburg; and Edith, born July 4, 1878, is at home. Dr. Dale's family are members of the Episcopal Church.

Mrs. Dale, too, is of Revolutionary stock, and has descended from pioneers of the State and of Centre county. There is a family tradi- tion that the first of the Hunters to come to America was the son of a family of note, who had married a Miss Craig, a governess, and for that reason was disinherited. He located in what was then Lancaster county, but which sub- sequently became Dauphin county. They had three sons: Andrew, Robert and David. After the father's death, the widow made her home with a Miss Craig. her sister, until the Revolu- tion. Robert and David went into the war, but Andrew being only nineteen, this relative would not let him go, but he ran off and entered the service, and for this act of theirs all three were disinherited by their aunt. After the war the three sons returned to Dauphin county. The mother married a Mr. Crane, whose son became Secretary of State. Andrew Hunter married Rachel Moore, and their children were: Eliza- beth, born December 2, 1781; John, born March I. 1783; William, born July 24, 1786; Andrew, born July 25. 1788; Nancy. born April 12, 1791; Robert, born October 8. 1793: James, born March 1, 1798; and Craig, born August 27, I Soo. Andrew Hunter removed with his family to what is now Centre county (his brother, Robert, ac- companying him), prior to July 25, 1788, the date of birth of his son, Andrew, which occurred in Potter's Fort in what is now Potter township. Subsequently the family removed to Slab Cabin, a branch of Spring creek (so called from a cabin built of slabs that stood on the banks of the creek), and there resided many years. The par- ents finally removed to Indiana county, where they died. Robert, the brother, moved to Ohio.

Major Andrew Hunter, the son of the pio- neer, and the grandfather of Mrs. Dale, married Mary Evans, daughter of Eliezer and Christiana (Bard) Evans, and their children were: Matilda,

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

born April 1, 1814; and Catherine, born October 16, 1819. Major Hunter died July 11, 1870, and his wife on November 19, 1868, and their remains rest in the Spring Creek graveyard. Their daughter Matilda was married on Novem- ber 29, 1831. to James Allport, and their chil- dren were: James C., born January 19, 1833; Mary A., born December 16, 1834; Samuel C., born August 2, 1838; Catherine, born December 1I, 1841; Matilda, born June 23, 1845; and Ho- bart, born March 3, 1848. James Allport was born at Hartley, Worcestershire, England, May II, 1799, and was brought up by his uncle Charles, who was a commissary-general in the English army. James went with his uncle in his campaigns, and was educated by private tutors, who were sometimes Protestants and sometimes Roman Catholics. He was with his uncle in the Peninsular war in Spain, and also accompanied him in the campaign with the "Iron Duke," which resulted in the defeat and final overthrow of Napoleon at Waterlco. The boy James was an eye witness of the battle of Waterloo, and brought away many interesting relics of the bat- tlefield, which are still in the possession of the family. Through the influence of his uncle he was pensioned by the English Government, which pension was to descend to his heirs so long as he or they remained subjects to the Crown. After making America his permanent home Mr. Allport became a naturalized citizen of the United States, declaring that he would not for any pension forego his rights as a citizen of the land of his adoption. In 1816 his uncle sent him to New York, as an importer of hardware, which business he followed until 1828, crossing the ocean sixteen times. Prior to 1828 the firm of Corp, Ellis & Shaw, with whom he had been doing business, failed, and he was compelled to take of them, as pay for money due him, large tracts of land in Clearfield county, near Phillips- burg. In 1828 he came from New York to see his lands, and after a short time passed in look- ing over the country he returned to New York. The following year he again visited his lands, and in the midst of the forests he built a cabin, and alone commenced life in a new country. He was married as before stated, and to his home in the wilderness took his young bride on horse- back.

Mr. Al'port at once identified himself with the Democratic party, and was a sturdy advocate of its principles, and became one of its leaders in Clearfield county and the surrounding country. The first railroad speech made in Phillipsburg was delivered by him, when the question was first being agitated, and in favor of its construc-

tion. In the later years of his life his lower extremities were partially paralyzed, which greatly impeded his physical but not his mental activity. It prevented him from taking the active part in public affairs which his qualifica- tions so well fitted him to fill. The Allports trace their genealogical line back to the time of Charles the Second, and it was their ancestors who hid that monarch in the oak-tree, when pursued by the minions of Cromwell. After the King ascended the throne, he bestowed on the family the coat of arms which still distinguishes them in the mother country. Mr. Allport died October 4, 1854. His widow still resides at Phillipsburg.

Referring to the Evans and Bard branch of the ancestry of Mrs. Dale: Eliezer Evans came to Centre county in company with Gen. Philip Benner, as a bellows-maker, doing the General's work in that line, and also such work at the other forges built at about that period, and for years afterward in Centre county. The date of Gen. Benner's coming to the county was in 1792, and he was from Chester county. The Evans family came from the vicinity of Morgan- town.

Eliezer Evans was born December 17. 1758, and died August 6, 1820; his wife, Christiana Bard, was born February 12, 1771, and died April 25, 1824; both are buried in the Spring Creek graveyard. Their children were: Jeremiah, born August 27, 1792; Sarah, born December 8. 1793; Mary, born December 25. 1795; Joseph. born May 24, 1798; Susan, born November 6, 1800; Enoch, born June 2, 1803; Jane, born April 22, 1805; Ruth, born August 18, 1807; Christian, born June 7, 1810; Elizabeth, born March 3, 1813. Christiana Bard was the daughter of Michael and Susanna (Sprogle) Bard. Sus- anna Sprogle was the daughter of John Henry Sprogle, an English clergyman, who died in Berks county, Penn. He was descended from an English nobleman, and his body was sent back to England. A memoir of his life and ministry was published.

TOHN GUNSALLUS, who is now retired from active business, is one of the prom nent and representative citizens of Snow Shoe township. Centre county. Throughout his business career he was engaged in various enterprises, and by sound judgment, excellent management and fair deal- ing. acquired sufficient property to enable him to give up business cares and enjoy the result of his former labor.

Mr. Gunsallus was born in Snow Shoe town-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ship, Centre county, December. 19. 1837, and is a son of Meese and Ruth (Lucas) Gunsallus, natives of Clearfield and Centre counties, respect- ively. The former came to Centre county in 1820. and was here employed as a farmer and coal mine operator until his death, which occurred in 1882, when he was aged seventy-eight years. His wife passed away in 1889, at the age of seventy-six years. She was the daughter of John P. Lucas, a farmer of Centre county, while the paternal grand- father of our subject, James Gunsallus, was an agriculturist of Clearfield county.

Eight children blessed the union of the parents of our subject: Lovy, deceased wife of William Mckinney, a miner of Clearfield county; John; Adeline, wife of Richard Miles, superintendent of a stationery store and bindery in Harrisburg. Penn .; Samuel, who was killed during the Civil war; Taylor, a coal miner of Ehrenfeld, Cambria county; Mattie, wife of Gust Holt, a lumberman of Snow Shoe; Ellen, wife of William R. Haines, who is engaged in the liquor business in Clarence, Centre county; and Eliza, wife of James Moore, a shoe merchant of Irvona, Pennsylvania.

John Gunsallus, the subject of this review, remained under the parental roof until the out- break of the Rebellion, when, in April, 1861, he enlisted for three months in Company B, 10th P. V. I., and in September following enlisted in Company G, 5 1st P. V. I., under Capt. Snyder. He took part in many of the most important bat- tles of the Civil war, including those of Roanoke, Newbern (N. C.), Cedar Mountain, second battle of Bull Run, Cold Harbor, Antietam, Spottsyl- vania, Wilderness, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad. Black and White Stations, Jackson (Miss.), and Knoxville (Tenn.). He also participated in vari- ous skirmishes, and was twice slightly wounded, both times in front of Petersburg. On July 27. 1865, he was honorably discharged and returned home with an enviable war record. He served as a private until after the battle of Antietam, Md., when he was made a corporal; later he was appointed orderly sergeant of the company. On January 1, 1864, he with his regiment re-enlisted to serve during the war, and soon after he was promoted to the second lieutenancy; later he was promoted to first lieutenant, and mustered out as such. During the period of his service he was never in the hospital or away from his regiment.

Mr. Gunsallus resumed work on his father's farm, where he remained a short time, and also engaged in lumbering. Subsequently he went to West Union, Iowa, where he rented a farin for a Wear, after which he returned to the county of his nativity, and once more engaged in lumber- 'ntg, following that pursuit for four years. He

next engaged in cutting prop timber for the coal mines for fourteen years. and later followed min- ing for about a year, and is now living retired.

On October 11, 1865, at West Union, Iowa, John Gunsallus was married to Miss Pamelia A. Lucas, who was born in Centre county, Penn., in July, 1840, and is the only survivor in the family of eleven children of Samuel and Rachel (Leech) Lucas, who died at West Union. Iowa, where the father carried on agricultural pursuits. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gunsallus, namely: Samuel, a teamster at Winburne: Maggie, deceased wife of Charles French, an in- surance agent of Philipsburg, Centre county; Anna, who is the widow of John Houston, and is residing with our subject; Harry, a clothing mer- chant of Snow Shoe; Edith, at home; Nora, who died when young; and Ruth, at horne.

In his political affiliations, Mr. Gunsallus is an ardent Republican, and has served his fellow citizens in the capacity of supervisor four terms, and tax collector three terms. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F: and the Encampment. of the Knights of Pythias, and of the order of American Mechanics. He is a public-spirited, enterprising man, one who takes an active inter- est in everything which seems to promise a bene- fit to the community, and enjoys the esteem and confidence of all who know him.

W ILSON POTTER ARD, M. D., although but comparatively a few years established in Woodward, Centre county, has built up a practice which places him among the leading physicians of Penn's Valley. He is a native of Lewistown, Penn., born April 15, 1845. and is descended on the paternal side from an old Scotch family. his ancestors having crossed the Atlantic before the Revolutionary war, in which members of the family played a gallant part.

Joseph B. Ard, M. D., grandfather of our subject, was born September 18. 1784, and prac- ticed medicine successfully in Lewistown for a number of years: but on retiring from active life he settled in Philadelphia, where his death oc- curred February 27. 1861. his remains being taken to Lewistown for burial. He accumulated a large estate. and at the time of his death was worth several hundred thousand dollars.

George Ard. our subject's father, was born in Lewistown, May 14. 1814, and enjoyed through- out his life the advantages of inherited wealth. He was a large man of good build. In politics he was a Democrat, and in his younger days manifested much interest in the party. His wife, Emeline ( Harvey), was a daughter of Nathan

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Harvey, of Mill Hall, Penn. They had four children: Eliza, who married Francis Shoe- maker, a wholesale druggist of Philadelphia; Jo- seph B., now a resident of Pine Grove Mills, Centre county; and Wilson P. (our subject) and Ellen (twins), the latter of whom married R. K. Lovett, and resided for a number of years in Paris, France (she died in Charleston, S. C.). The mother passed away in 1846, the father on August 20, 1892, and the remains of both were interred at Lewistown. Mr. Ard left a good in- heritance to his children, and during their youth provided them with more than ordinary educa- tional advantages.

Dr. William P. Ard attended the schools at Lewistown and Philadelphia, and the academies at Tuscarora and McVeytown, Penn., spending several years in the latter institution. His med- ical studies were begun under the preceptorship of Prof. W. H. - Pancoast, of Philadelphia, and his degree of M. D. was obtained from Jefferson Medical College in 1880. Thus prepared for his professional work, the Doctor located at Bis- marck, Lebanon Co., Penn., remaining more than a year, but in the fall of 1882 he removed to Woodward, Centre county, where he estab- lished a large and lucrative practice. He was married in Reading, Penn., to Miss Amanda B. Moser, a native of that city, and a daughter of Franklin Moser, a prominent farmer, and this union has been blessed with children as follows: Laura E., Joseph B., George, Wilson S. and Mary M. Mrs. Ard is a leading member of the Reformed Church, and their charming home is a social center.

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Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 29

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