Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 50

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 50
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 50
USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 50
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 50

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Despite his shrewdness and caution in busi- ness affairs, Mr. Bierly has at times met with re- verses, one individual alone causing him a loss of $5,000, which would have been greater had he not sought the protection of the courts. Quiet and unassuming in manner, he yet impresses one as a strong character, and his influence among those who know him is great. He is a stanch adherent of the principles of the Democratic party, but in local affairs he disclaims the neces- sity for partisan bonds, and votes for the best man. He speaks with manly pride of the help- ful influence of his estimable wife, attributing no small portion of his success in life to her. Their two sons are a credit to them, and the money so freely spent in giving them a thorough education was well invested.

PROF. H. E. BIERLY was born in the house now owned by Hon. Henry Meyer, Rebersburg, Penn. , 1 ! January 28, 1866. He attended the common schools of Miles township, until he was eighteen : years of age, not having a chance to attend the ,

summer schools on account of too much work on the farm. He then determined toget a better edu- cation, and in 1884 entered Union Seminary (now Central Pennsylvania College), New Berlin, Penn. This institution he attended most of the time be- tween. the years 1884-1888, during which time he nearly completed the classical course and pre- pared himself for Princeton University, which he

entered in 1888 as a member of the class of '92. He spent five years at Princeton University, four as an under-graduate, taking the "A. B. course," and one year as a post-graduate, studying physi- ological psychology under Prof. Ormond, also the philosophy of religion, under the same professor. The next year, 1893-94, he was unanimously elected "Professor of the Natural and Physical Sciences" in Belleview Collegiate Institute, at Caledonia, Mo., where he taught one year, at the expiration of which time the Institute was par- tially closed. The next year he attended Har- vard and Boston Universities, studying metaphys- ics under Prof. Royce and cosmology under Prof. James, of Harvard University, and comparative theology and history of religious history of Chris- tian doctrine, in the School of Theology, of Bos- ton University. It was then that he became acquainted with Pres. G. Stanley Hall. John Fiske, Joseph Cooke, Professors Carpenter and Davids, of Oxford University. This year in Bos- ton, and as a student of both of these Universi- ties, was of the greatest value in his educational history. The next year he was "Professor of Mathematics and Science" in Missouri Military School, Mexico, Mo., which was destroyed by fire at the expiration of that year. During the following year he was engaged in writing a thesis. on the " Origin and Development of the Concep- tion of God ", also in child-mind investigations in central Pennsylvania, in connection with Pres. G. Stanley Hall, of Clark University, Mass., and Prof. Earl Barnes, of Leland Stanford University. Cal. At present (1898) he is professor of phil- osophy and science in Virginia College for Young Ladies at Roanoke, Va., one of the best of the Southern female colleges, in which he occupies a very responsible position, next to the presidents thereof.

As a student Prof. Bierly became intensely interested in philosophy, through Sir William Hamilton's lectures on metaphysics, the various works and writings of James McCosh, primarily. and through the edited works of Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel, having a natural inclination to speculative studies. At the same time he is greatly interested in biology, through a Natural History Society, which was organized by Prof. H. N. Conser, Ph. D., at Central Pennsylvania College, and which led him to reading of nearly all the works of Darwin, Huxley, Romanes and Herbert Spencer. It was the works of James McCosh that took him to Princeton University, whose lectures on metaphysics he attended in his freshman year, this being the last course on that subject given by McCosh, with whom he as a student was very well acquainted, and upon

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whom he called quite often, having received spe- cial recognition, encouragement and kindness from McCosh while alive. While a student of Princeton University he made a special study of philosophy and biology, having taken all the branches the university offers on both philosophy and biology. He took honors in the latter sub- ject, and was offered a fellowship in osteology by the Chicago University, which he, however, did not accept, as he did not desire to give so much time in that particular line of investigation, hav- ing decided to make the study of philosophy a life vocation. He attended and was a member of the World's Congress of Philosophy held at Chicago during the World's Fair, at which time he became personally acquainted with Prof. Josiah Royce, professor of philosophy in Har- vard University, who has been his private ad- viser and director in philosophy ever since.

Prof. Bierly is a member of the Pennsylvania German Society, and of several Psychological and Scientific Associations. He contributes a series of articles on the various conceptions of God for "The Preachers Helper." Just now (1898) he is more extensively engaged in child- mind investigations than ever, with Pres. Hall, Prof. Earl Barnes, Prof. Royce, also contributing a series of articles on child-mind study for several child-study magazines. He has also addressed and lectured before quite a number of teachers' associations and institutes in Missouri, Pennsyl- vania and Virginia on various, but mostly psycho- logical, subjects. During the Bryan campaign in 1896, on account of not being hard pressed for work, he became very much interested in pol- itics, through his cousin, Hon. Willis R. Bier- ly, of North Dakota. On acceunt of the Demo- cratic party splitting, Mr. Bierly was requested by the foremost politicians of the county to take a hand in politics and rally the Silver forces, as he did, and has done valuable service for his Val- ley and the county, having been elected presi- dent of the Bryan and Sewall Club of Brush Valley, which was composed of about two hun- dred members. He is a member of the M. E. Church, which he joined while a student of Princeton University. He was one of the three first members of the M. E. Church at Kreamer- ville, and rendered very effectual services in the building up of the Methodist Church at this place. having been appointed for this especial work, lasting several years, by the Quarterly Con- ference (Methodist).

Edwin S. Bierly, the younger, was born at Rebersburg, Penn., in 1869. A few years after his birth his parents moved on a farm two miles southwest of Rebersburg, where his early boy-

hood was spent. After attending the schools of Brush Valley he in 1888 spent one winter terin at Central Pennsylvania College with his brother Elmer. Here he completed the junior year of the Elementary (Normal) Department with the class of 1891. Being unable to pursue his stud- ies until January of 1891, he then was admitted into the Junior class of the State Normal at Lock Haven. At the middle of the spring term he was compelled to leave the Normal through sick- ness (the measles) contracted through his chum. He then returned to Central Pennsylvania Col- lege, and completed the " Elementary (Normal) Course" with the large class of 1892. Aft- ter attending Central Pennsylvania College sev- eral more terms as a student of the scientific course, he, on the following year, entered Dick- inson College, Carlisle, Penn., where he remained during the winter term of 1895; but had to leave college on account of sickness before the expiration of the college year. He then remained at home the greater part of the year on ac- count of sickness and then entered Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport; but after being.there six weeks he was again compelled to leave school through lack of health. Shortly afterward he was appointed general book agent for the " Min- ter Book Company", Harrisburg, Penn., and was quite successful in this work in the summer of 1896. On October 8, 1896, he was married by Rev. Faus, his M. E. pastor, to Miss Sadie Er- hard, a daughter of Cyrus and Catherine Er- hard, of Rebersburg. Mrs. E. S. Bierly was and is a dressmaker by trade, but worked almost all the time in Lock Haven. She is a very in- dustrious and ambitious young woman, and high- ly respected by all. She has a good common- school education, having attended the Normal Se- lect School conducted by Supt. C. L. Gramley. at Rebersburg. The following year he and his wife spent with his parents until January, 1898. when he regained his health and returned to Dick- inson Seminary as a student of the Theologica! Department.

In politics, he too is a " chip off the old block namely a Democrat. He is a member of the M E. Church, and has always taken an active part in Church work at Kreamerville, his home Church. as one of the principal officials.

A BRAM V. MILLER. Among the citizens of mark in Centre county no one is more worthy of consideration than the gentleman whose name introduces this biography. In day of peace he has not only proved a valued member of society, but on Southern battle fields during

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the dark days of the Rebellion he fearlessly fought for the old flag and the cause it repre- sented. He is now, however, living retired at his pleasant home in State College, surrounded by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, who delight to show their appreciation of his sterling worth and many excellent traits.of char- acter.

The Miller family was among the very earli- est settlers of Pennsylvania, locating on the banks of the Delaware river about 1675, several years before William Penn took up his residence here. Later members of the family made their home at what is now Downingtown. Reuben Miller, the grandfather of our subject, was a resident of Chester county, this State, and was a miller by trade as well as by name. He married Thoma- zine Valentine, and had eight children: William, who became a wealthy citizen of Kentucky, and whose daughter is now living in Harrisburg, Penn .; Robert V .; Isaac; Mordica, who also lived in Kentucky; Mrs. Eliza Thomas; Mrs. Mary Ann Harris; Mrs. Jane Harris; and Mrs. Rachel Miles.

Robert V. Miller, the father of our subject, was a native of Chester county, and after the. death of his father he went to Alexandria, Va., and lived with his uncle, Mordica Miller, until 1815, at which time he came to Centre county with his uncles, Valentine Bros., and worked in an iron store at Bellefonte. He hauled iron from that city to Pittsburg, thence carrying it by rafts and arks on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Louisville (Ky.), Natchez and New Orleans. Subsequently he went to Lexington, Ky., and there kept an iron store for Valentine & Thomas, of Bellefonte, Penn., and was engaged in pros- pecting for a time; he also for a brief space kept an iron store in Louisville, Ky. Returning to Centre county, he for some time prior to 1827 was proprietor of the Mill Hall Iron Works in partnership with his brother Isaacand his brother- in-law, Joseph Harris, but on October 29, that year, he joined the regular army, enlisting in Company A, First Regiment of Artillery, U. S. A., and was stationed at Camp Holback, under Capt. (later Gen. ) W. J. Worth, and First Lieut. W. A. Patrick (who was provost marshal general of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil war), until the fall of 1830, when he returned to Centre county, and engaged in the iron business for sev- eral years. He was also the owner of 300 acres of valuable land in the county near Pleasant Gap, which he left to his children. He died from ex- citement on the 7th of July, 1863, three days after the battle of Gettysburg, in which two of his sons participated.

Robert V. Miller was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Lytle, a native of Centre county, and they became the parents of twelve children, as follows: Reuben, who died at the age of four months; one that died in infancy unnamed; Will- iam, a civil engineer, who died while surveying for a railroad in Honduras, Central America: Eliza, a resident of Bellefonte: Abram V., sub- ject of this sketch; Isaac, who is living retired near Bellefonte; Thomazine, a resident of Phila- delphia; Jacob, who was killed in the battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862, and was buried at home: Mary Ann, who is living with her brother, Robert V .; Clarissa, wife of Henry Pennington, of Abilene, Kans .; Jane, wife of Alfred Russell, who is also a resident of Abilene, and is serving as county clerk; and Robert V .. a contractor of Bellefonte.

Our subject was born April 24, 1838, in Spring township, Centre county, and there se- cured a good practical education. After leaving the schoolroom he engaged in teaming until the breaking out of the Civil war. On April 15, 1861, spurred on by a spirit of patriotism, he be- came the second to enlist in the Bellefonte Fen- cibles, and took part in the first battle of the war, that of Falling Waters, July 2, 1861. On the 26th of July he was honorably discharged and re- turned home, where he recruited for the 45th P. V. I., the Second Pennsylvania Cavalry and the 57th P. V. I.

In the winter of 1861 Mr. Miller again en- listed, becoming a member of the First Pennsyl- vania Cavalry, and participated in the battles of Falmouth, Strasburg. Mt. Jackson, Cross Keys and Fort Republic. While on picket duty in 1862 he had an arm and several ribs broken, which caused his confinement in the hospital at Washington, D. C., for some time. Rejoining his regiment, he took part in the engagements of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, and was dis- charged December 28. 1863. On the 29th of the following February, however, he again en- listed, this time in the 184th P. V. I., and with that command was in the battles of Bethesda Church. Cold Harbor and Petersburg. In the first attack on the Weldon Railroad he received a shot in the shoulder, one in the leg, one in the head, and a piece of shell took off a part of his lower jaw, together with eleven teeth. For

twenty-four hours he lay on the battle field in this condition, when he was finally found and taken to City Point, Va., and thence to Camp- bell Hospital, Washington, D. C. On May 12, 1864, he had been commissioned first lieutenant of Company E, 184th P. V. I., and with that rank was mustered out. His army record is one

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of which he may be justly proud. for he was ever found at his post of duty and in the thickest of the fight.

On September 29, 1865, Lieut. Miller was married to Miss Jane Potter, and of the four children born of their union, the births of three occurred in Iowa. John, born March 18, 1866, and Robert, born July 23, 1867, both died in in- fancy; and Elizabeth, born October 13, 1868, and George P., born October 1, 1871, are at home.

Since 1874, Lieut. Miller has served as United States gauger and store keeper for his collection district, and in the fall of 1895 was the Repub- lican candidate for prothonotary. Although the county was Democratic, by Soo, he was beaten by only 69 votes. In 1896 he was the candidate for sheriff of Centre county on the Republican ticket, and was beaten by only 16 votes with the largest vote ever polled in the county. He is a noble type of the citizen soldier, equally true to his country on the battle field or in the peaceful surroundings of his home, and his family may well feel proud of his honorable and manly rec- ord.

OHN M. DALE, of Bellefonte, is of the fifth generation of the Dale family who have lived in Centre county.

Christian Dale (1), his great-great-grandfa- ther, came to this country, arriving at Philadel- phia in 1749. In 1772 he cleared and was living on that part of a tract of land known as Col. Slifer's farm, near the iron bridge in the vicinity of Lewisburg, the land in 1772 being owned by Ludwig Derr. Mr. Dale resided in Buffalo Val- ley, in which he was one of the first settlers dur- ing 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 a 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, aged seventy-two years; his wife, Rachel, passed away in December, 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 comparatively wealthy. leaving to their children fine farms, and the in- heritance of names made noble by a long life of toil and hardships. Their children were Henry, Philip, Felix, Frederick, Christian, Cornelius. Mary (she married Nicholas Straw, a soldier of the Revolution), Eve (she married Peter Earhart), and Rachel (she married Lewis Swinchart). Of

these, Christian and Frederick removed to Ohio. Henry was born in Northampton county, August 29, 1758; he was 'a soldier of Washington at Trenton and Princeton in 1776-1777, and served in military tours under Capt. Forster, of Buffalo Valley. Felix Dale, son of Christian (1), was born February 2, 1767, and died March 12, 1833. in the sixty-seventh year of his age; his wife, who was Catherine Dorothy Pinogel, died April 15, 1844, aged seventy years, and both lie buried in the Dale graveyard. By their side is a stone bearing the inscription:

Maria Elisabeth Bindnogle, died August 11, 1822, aged 86 years.

She was likely the mother of the wife of Felix Dale. The Pinogels were from near Harrisburg, Penn., where there was a settle- ment bearing the family name. We find the name Pinogel on record in Londonderry township, Dauphin county, as early as 1780. Felix Dale inherited from his father's estate the mill property, and by occupation was a miller and farmer. He had two sons, David and Felix. David Dale was born in the vicinity of Dales' Mills in January, 1798. He received such school- ing as the neighborhood schools of his youth af- forded, 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 mechanical line. building his own carding machine, which branch of the woolen-mill business, together with a hemp- mill he added to the grist and saw mill business that had descended from his forefathers. He was a man of good judgment and business qual- ifications, and made a success of life. The Dales for generations were Lutherans, and David was not an exception to the rule. He married Mar- garet, a daughter of Maj. Frederick Hennigh. who resided below Aaronsburg, Centre county. Both lie buried in the cemetery at Boalsburg. David dying July 13, 1854, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and his wife, Margaret, on Jan- mary 11, 1804, aged sixty-five years. Of the nine children, William, the eldest, was the father of the subject of this sketch.

WILLIAM DALE was born at the home farm. where he grew to manhood, assisting in the work on the farm and about the mill. Subsequentis . he was employed in the woolen-mill at ().ik Hall, where he learned the business under John Irvin. In 1800 he was married, and in compet . tion with a Mr. McCarns, located at Neshat- nock, Lawrence Co., this State, where they were for several years engaged in carrying on at wood

...

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en-factory. Mr. Dale then returned to Dales' Mills, and, in connection with his brothers. con- verted the old flouring-mill at that point into a woolen-mill, where he was engaged in business for several years; then sold his interest and lo- cated at Lemont, where his widow now resides, and where his death occurred December 20, 1871, when he was in his forty-seventh year. Like his father and forefathers, he was an indus- trious, upright and honest man, and a highly re- spected citizen. He was a Christian man, ad- hering to the faith of his ancestors, that of the Lutheran Church. In politics he was a Repub- lican. His wife was Mary M. (daughter of John and Sarah Thompson Mitchell), born in the neighborhood where she now resides, and their children were: John M., born November 10, 1861; and Edgar, who died in infancy.

The MITCHELL and THOMPSON families were of Scotch-Irish origin, and have resided in Cen- tre county for nearly a century. JOHN MITCHELL (I), the grandfather of Mrs. Dale, presumably from Scotland or Ireland, lived for many years in Mifflin county, and died there. His children were: Susannah married Frank McCoy (grand- father of the present Frank McCoy, of Belle- fonte); Mary married William Thompson; Eliza- beth married a Roderick; Samuel; David; Rob- ert; William; James and John. The latter and David, during the war of 1812, located in Cen- tre county, John on a farm in the vicinity of the present village of Lemont, where he followed agricultural pursuits throughout life, dying Jan- nary 18, 1865, in the seventy-sixth year of his age; and David, in Ferguson township. John Mitchell married Sarah Thompson, and their children were: Moses Thompson married Maria Lock, of Mifflin county; John Hutchinson mar- ried Nancy Johnson, of Boalsburg; Nancy Cul- bertson died young; William also died young; Susan Margaret, unmarried; and Mary M. (Mrs. Dale), all of whom are now dead excepting the last named. John Mitchell, after the death of his wife (which occurred March 5, 1832), mar- ried again, the second wife being Letitia Patton. of his neighborhood, but formerly from Lancas- ter county. The Mitchells were men of influ- ence in the county, and the best of citizens. David married a daughter of John Barron, a woman of rare intelligence and much ability. John B., one of her sons, was treasurer of Centre county. Of Scotch-Irish parentage, the elder Mitchells' Presbyterianism was inherited from a long line of ancestors. The father of Sarah Thompson) Mitchell emigrated from the North of Ireland about the year 1745. and Matthew Louden, her maternal grandfather, was one of the

Scotch Covenanters who were driven from home by persecution. The Thompsons were residents of Mifflin county before coming to Centre county early in the present century.

John M. Dale was born at Neshannock Falls, Lawrence Co., Penn., on the 11th of November, 1861. His parents removed from there to the old homestead in Centre county about three years afterward, and continued to reside there. He entered The Pennsylvania State College in 1878, and graduated with the class of 1882. The same year he began the study of law and, in 1883, entered the law offices of Beaver & Gep- hart at Bellefonte, and, under their direction. read law and was admitted to the Bar of Centre County on the Ist of January, 1886. Directly after his admission to the Bar, he went to Lock Haven, where he engaged in the practice of law in connection with Capt. W. C. Kress, of that place, now the State Law Reporter.

On April 12, 1886, Mr. Dale returned to Belle- fonte and entered the office of his former precep- tors, and, on the election of Gen. Beaver, in the fall of 1886, to the gubernatorial chair, he be- came a member of the firm, which was styled Beaver, Gephart & Dale. This partnership con- tinued until November 1, 1893, when Mr. Gep- hart withdrew, in order to give his entire time to the Valentine Iron Co., and the new Central Railroad Co., of Pennsylvania, of which he was chosen general superintendent. Gen. Beaver having returned to Bellefonte upon the expira- tion of his official term, and once more actively engaged in the practice of law, a new firm was formed under the name of Beaver & Dale. This firm continued the practice of law until the first of July, 1895, when, owing to the fact that Gen. Beaver was appointed to the Bench of the Supe- rior Court of Pennsylvania, it was dissolved. and Mr. Dale has since been practicing law alone. Mr. Dale has always been a Republican in pol- itics, and has taken considerable interest in the success of the Republican party. He was con- nected with the County Committee in 1889 and 1890, and in 1891 was elected chairman of the County Committee, in which capacity he served for one year.

On the 18th of October, 1888. he married Miss Florence G. Fox. a daughter of Thomas J. E. Fox, of Leesburg, Virginia, and their chil- dren are: Virginia Dale, who was born in 1801. and John M. Dale. Jr., who was born in 1893.

I ISRAEL WEAVER, one of the progressive and enterprising agriculturists of Haines township; is a worthy representative of one of the honored

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pioneer families of Centre county, his grand- father, John Weaver, having located in that township at a very early day in its history, and there reared a large family. He was a weaver by trade, and also engaged in farming, owning a valuable and well-improved farm at the time of his death.

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Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 50

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