Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2, Part 102

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1266

USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 102
USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 102
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 102
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 102

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).

Although John Smathers started out in life for himself in limited circumstances, by industry, economy and good business ability he became one of the most extensive farmers and stock deal- ers of Jefferson county, where he located in 1853. For a few years he resided in Oliver town- ship, and tlien removed to the farm in Ringgold township, where his widow and son, Charles, are still living. He gave each of his children a large 1

and valuable farm, or its equivalent, all of which property he had acquired through his own un- aided efforts and good management. Enterpris- ing and progressive, he was numbered among the valued citizens of the community, was a firm supporter of the Democratic party, and an active and consistent member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. On January 30, 1850, he was mar- ried to Miss Anna Jones, and they became the parents of seven children, namely: Wilson J., born March 28, 1851, inarried Maggie Fulton, and is now a leading physician of Du Bois, Penn. ; M. Fillmore, born September 8, 1853, married Maggie Wilson, an ex-school teacher, and is en- gaged in farming and stock raising in Ringgold township; Emily A., born May 25, 1860, died at the age of two years and nine months; Winfield S., born April 1, 1858, married Amanda Yaney, and is engaged in merchandising in Worthville, Jefferson county; J. Curtis, born June 23, 1863. married Mattie Campbell, and follows farming in Indiana county, Penn .; Charles, born September 10, 1866, wedded Mary Buck, and operates the old homestead farm; and Anna A., born March 7, 1870, died April 16, 1870. The family isone of prominence, its members holding high posi- tions in social and business circles.

MRS. SMATHERS, a most estimable lady, was born in Beaver township, Jefferson county, March 9, 1829, and is a daughter of John and Lydia (Grinder) Jones, of Huntingdon county, Penn., who at an early day came to Beaver township, Jefferson county, where the father followed agri- cultural pursuits. He was a son of Thomas Jones, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to the New World in early life, first locating in Mary- land, whence he removed to Westmoreland county, Penn., and later to Beaver township. Jefferson county, where he was numbered among the early settlers.

To John and Lydia (Grinder) Jones were born the following children: Doris, deceased wife of James Guthrie, a carpenter of Summerville, Penn. ; Louisa, widow of Charles Jaycox, of the same place; Richard, deceased; John, a farmer of Beaver township; Anna, widow of our subject : Emily, widow of Abraham Flemming, of Shan- nondale, Penn. ; Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Hand. an agriculturist of Nebraska: David, who was killed in the army: Thomas, who is conducting a boarding house in Seigle, Penn .; Reilly, who also laid down his life on the altar of his country during the Civil war; and Elias, a prominent farner of Beaver township. The parents of these children have also passed away, the father dying in 1861, aged sixty-three years, the mother in 1892, aged eighty-seven, and both were in-

- 1

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1087

terred in the Beaver township cemetery. They were faithful members of the Cumberland Pres- byterian Church, and in politics Mr. Jones was an ardent Republican.

N ATHAN MILLER, an agriculturist of Gas- kill township, was born in Arnistrong coun- ty, Penn., November 10, 1817, a son of Henry and Mary (Smith) Miller. The father was born in Westmoreland county, and after his marriage removed to Jefferson county in 1849, locating in Gaskill township, where he purchased 175 acres of land, covered with pine and hard-wood timber. He built a round-log house and a log barn, en- gaged in lumbering and cleared about thirty acres of his place. His death occurred in 1870.

Lavina, born in Armstrong county, May 12. 1824, makes her home with her brother Nathan. (6) Mary, born in Armstrong county, October 19, 1826, died on the old homestead in Jefferson county. She had two children-Susanna Eliza- beth married Nelson Messie Best, of Indiana county, and Benjamin Franklin married Sarah Catharine Wineberg, of Indiana county. (7) Laah, born November 30, IS28, died on the old homestead. (8) John, born in Indiana county, November 27, 1830, married Annie E. Best, and resides in his native county. They have three children-Nelson; Mary S., wife of Franklin Craft, of Indiana county, Penn. ; and Emma M .. wife of James Toy, of the same county. (9) Eli, born in White township, Indiana county, June 7. 1833, wedded Mary Vandivinder, and had the following children-Mary E., wife of Orin Coff- man, of Iowa; Eli W., who married Laura King, and lives in Indiana county; William, who married Laura Best, and resides in Indiana coun- ty; Clorinda J. and Hanie, who died in child- hood; and Lavinia, who died in infancy. The father of these children for his second wife mar- ried Mrs. Amelia Smyers, and they now reside i in Punxsutawney. By his second union he has | three children-Clara, wife of Otto Sheiffer, of Ridgway; Mrs. Myrtle Read, of Punxsutawney: and Haseltine, wife of John Smouth. of Punxsu- tawney. (10) Reuben, born in Indiana county, August 14, 1836, died there at the age of fifty- nine years. He was the youngest of the family. and never married.

The following is the record of his family: Jacob Miller, the eldest, born in Westmoreland county, December 8, 1813, married Annie Snyder, of Armstrong county, and removed to Gaskill township, Jefferson county, where he purchased a farm on which he lived until 1872. He then sold and removed to Parkersburg, W. Va., where he bought a farm, making it his home until his death in 1873. He left five children-Bardon, of West Virginia; Malinda, wife of William Beaty, of Indiana county; Isabel, wife of David Camp- bell, of Indiana county; Daniel. a soldier of the Union army, who died in Indiana while on his way home from the war; and Mary A., who be- came the wife of Thomas Logan, of Indiana county, and removed to the West, where Mr. Logan died some years ago, after which his Nathan Miller, whose name opens this article. was born in Armstrong county, November 10. IS17, and came with his parents to Gaskill town- ship, Jefferson county, where he aided in the ar- duous task of developing a new farm. As his father failed to pay for the land, he agreed with Mr. Davis, the land agent, to take the property, making payments thereon from time to time. He was married in 1851 to Annie E. Sheesley, a daughter of Ludwig and Sophia Sheesley, of Gas- kill township. and after his marriage he removed to his present farm, whereon he has made his home continuously since. He at first built a substantial hewed-log house, which in 1885 was replaced by a large two-story frame residence, supplied with all modern improvements. In 1874 he built a large frame barn. His land is richly cultivated, and the improvements upon his place stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. widow returned to Gaskill township, Jefferson county, where she died, leaving a daughter, Annie E., now of Marion, Penn. (2) Henry, born October 21, 1815, in Arinstrong county, married Jane Long, and located in Indiana coun- ty, where he died in 1895, while his wife died in 1897. They had one son, Benjamin F., who is married to Mary Coon, of Indiana county, and lives on the old homestead in that county, Laura became the wife of Wesley Roof, of In- diana county, and died some years ago, leaving a family. (3) Nathan is the third of the family. (4) James, born on November, 26, 1821, married Ruth Cochran, who died some years ago, and he now lives with his married daughter, Perline, in Indiana county. He had nine children-Wash- ington married a Miss Peeler; Alexander married a Miss Cunkle; Jefferon married a Miss Walker; Perline (the eldest daughter) married a Mr. Car- To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born three children: (1) Labana, born June 23. 1853. was educated in the public schools, and has always resided upon the home farm. Mary and Sophia ney, of Indiana county; Matronna married a Mr. Louman; Jane married a Mr. McGoughey; Nancy married a Mr. Hall; Clarra married a Mr. Flem- ing; and Addeth married a Mr. Thompson. (5) + (twins) were born October 1, 1855. The former

1088

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

is the wife of David Scheesley, a farmer of Gas- kill township, by whom she has five children- Emanuel, Andrew, Sophia, Annie and Ellen. Sophia Miller is the wife of Robert R. Long, whose farm adjoins the Miller homestead. They have ten children-James E., who married Dielie Bare, of Indiana county, and resides on his father's farm; W. L., Mary J., Annie E., Lavana A., Nathan R., Henry M., Gettie Ellen, Ettie May and William Riley, all at home.

Nathan Miller is numbered among the pioneer settlers of the county, and he has been a prom- inent factor in the development of Gaskill township. He aided in the arduous task of devel- oping new land and bringing about a civilization equal to that of the older districts of the State. In politics he is a Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church, taking a very active part in its work.

G EORGE W. KIPP, one of the leading lum- bermen of Jefferson county, a resident of Cortez, is well worthy of prominent mention in the pages of this work.

Born in Pike county, Penn., March 28, 1847, Mr. Kipp is a son of John and Hannah (Correll) Kipp, natives, John of Philadelphia, Penn., and Hannah of Sterling, Wayne Co., Penn. They were married at Sterling. Penn., and shortly thereafter moved to Pike county, where they passed the rest of their days, the father dying in October, 1892, at the age of seventy-five years, the mother in June, 1889, aged sixty-nine, and they are laid to rest in Kipp Town cemetery, in Pike county. They were members of the Meth- odist Church, and Mr. Kipp, in his political pre- dilections, was a Democrat. He carried on farm- ing and lumbering, also operating a sawmill in connection with the lumber business. To this honored couple were born children as follows: Isaac, a blacksmith by trade in Wayne county, Penn .; Horace, a lumberman in Wayne county; Benjamin, who operated the old homestead mill in Pike county until fire destroyed the place; George W., our subject; John, an attorney of Milford, Penn. ; Mary, married to S. Vangorder, of Scranton, Penn. : Susan, wife of Thomas Gil- pin, a farmer and lumberman of Pike county; Margaret, married to Horatio Simons, a mer- chant of Wayne county, Penn. ; Thomas died when young; Elizabeth, married to George Banks, a farmer of Pike county; and Baxter, a fariner and lumberman. also of Pike county. Isaac Kipp, great-grandfather of our subject, a farmer by occupation, died in Pike county.

George W. Kipp, whose name opens this

sketch, was reared on his father's farm, receiving his education in the public schools of his native township. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age. He then for six years was engaged in the lumber business in Lu- zerne county, Penn .; thence, at the end of that time, removing to Wayne county, where for three years he conducted a gristmill and general mer- chandise store. From there he went to Brad- ford county, in the same State, the lumber in- dustry occupying his attention five years; thence to Sullivan county, Penn., where he again en- gaged in the lumber business, his residence being part of the time in Monroeton, Bradford Co., Penn., and part of the time in Luzerne county. In April, 1894, Mr. Kipp removed from Kings- ton, Penn., to his present home in Cortez, Jef- ferson county, in which year he built the mill here. Some idea of the magnitude of his busi- ness may be gained from the fact that he handles about fifteen million feet of lumber per annum, and sometimes ships one and one-half million feet in a month. He is also at this time extensively en- gaged in lumbering in other localities. He owns one-half of the stock in, and is the president of, the Towanda Water Works, the company being composed of George W. Kipp, of Cortez. and E. F. Kizer, of Towanda, Penn. The timber for the lumber manufactured at the mill here is taken from 6,200 acres of woodland in Mc- Calmont and Oliver townships, Jefferson county. The Home Lumber Co., in which our subject is active, is composed of D. H. Clark. E. F. Kizer and G. W. Kipp.

On July 15, 1872, in Wayne county, Penn., our subject was married to Miss Adelaide M. Kizer, of Lackawanna county, Penn., born in Lu- zerne county, Penn., a daughter of Jacob Kizer, a farmer and lumberinan of Lackawanna county, Penn., and two children have blessed their union: Margaret and Beatrice, both at home. The family are identified with the M. E. Church. while in social standing Mr. Kipp is a thirty-sec- ond degree Free Mason. He has always been loyally interested in the progress of any com- munity wherein he has made his home, and as a stanch Democrat has taken an active interest in politics, although his influence has been used for his friends rather than for himself. He has served a three-year term as a commissioner of Wayne county.

T HOMAS REYNOLDS, SR .. deceased. In a few favored communities there have been characters peerless in life, whose matchless deeds and ideal worth transcend the flight of time, and

Szo Hr Kippo

يكلمة

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1089

grow rich and mellow as the years speed on to- ward eternity. It may be that a more fitting estimate of the strength and nobility of the character of Thomas Reynolds may be formed to-day than at the time of his death, less than a score of years ago.

It is well within the bounds of modest dic- tion to make the plain, unvarnished statement that his was a master mind, resourceful and fer- tile in expedient. Wedded until death to the principles of unflinching truth; gifted with crys- tal insight into human motives; righteously in- dignant at wrong and oppression, deep and broad in mental grasp; and, withal, possessed of a wonderful reserve force, rarely called into action. In stature he was above six feet in height, and in physique he was knit from the stock of sturdy pioneers, yet to these he added a grace of carriage and a charm of manner as rare as it was attractive. Looking to the ancestry of Thomas Reynolds, it was American for four gen- erations, extending back over two hundred years to the early settlement of New Jersey, when an honored family of Chichester, England, of noble : lineage, was engrafted upon the human life of a new continent. In the year 1661, more than a century before the immortal Declaration of Inde- pendence, Henry Reynolds, after a tempestuous voyage of twenty-two weeks from England, landed upon the hospitable shores of the New World. He first settled at Burlington, N. J., and later at Chester, Penn., he and his descend- ants becoming extensive free holders of land. now incorporated in the City of Philadelphia. Ten children were born to Henry Reynolds and luis wife Prudence, and the third of these was Francis, born August 15, 1684. Samuel Reyn- olds, son of Francis and Elizabeth Reynolds, was born January 31, 1735, and married Jane Jones, daughter of John and Mary (Goodwin) Jones, born in 1734. Samuel died February 26. 1786, his wife in 1779. Of their seven children. Thomas Reynolds, the eldest, was born January 2, 1759. He married Nancy Reynolds, and to them were born the following seven children: Mary, Jane, Abram, Samuel, Tilton, William and Thomas. The youngest of these, Thomas, the subject of this sketch, was born on the par- ental homestead. near Parkesburg, Chester county, Penn .. September 19, 1807. Such, in brief, is his paternal ancestry. His father, Thomas, died July 7, 1837, aged seventy-eight years, his mother January 5, 1845.

The pioneer life in those early days developed strong types of character. The father of our subject was a man whose mind was attuned to the voices and moods of nature :. within his mem- 69

ory were stored the rudimentary facts and prin- ciples which then constituted an education. He was a man of deep thought, and carved for his own mental nurture a system of philosophy. To his children he was a friend and companion, and under his tutelage young Thomas developed those trained and thorough methods of thought which he always afterward displayed. Crude as the educational methods and advantages of that day may have been, Thomas Reynolds acquired a a broad and deep mental grasp, and particularly did he excel in the gift of language. As was the wont in those times the boy must learn a trade, and it fell to his lot to become a proficient cur- rier and shoemaker. He followed these trades honestly and faithfully, but his mind overleaped his work and soared to other and higher realms. Teaching was a more congenial avocation, and for the task he was eminently qualified. Visiting New York at the suggestion of relatives, with a view to beginning in a metropolitan life a career for himself, the air seemed close and stifling, as he expressed it. " the streets were too narrow." And in 1835 this ardent lover of nature fled froin the civilization to the free air and primeval for- ests of Western Pennsylvania. His brothers, Tilton and William, had preceded him thither, and were comfortably located on lands that are now the site of Rathmel village. Samuel, another brother, came later and sojourned for a time in the same locality.

For a few years Thomas lived with his brother William, when not engaged in other communities in teaching school, in shoemaking, or in follow- ing his favorite sport of hunting. He was a social favorite, tall and straight as an arrow, genial in manner, yet tireless and determined in whatever he undertook; much as he loved to rove, his practical mind persuaded him of the necessity of a more commercial life. He built a small tan- nery on land now occupied by James A. Cathers. and after his marriage, in 1842, to Juliana Sinith, he located permanently on the present site of Reynoldsville, and built a tannery and sawmill near where the Reynolds residence now stands. They were the only manufacturing industries in that vicinity from 18440 to 1860. His brother. Tilton, in 1839, located on the sunimit of the mountain above Rathmel, and with his brother. William, started a inercantile establishment and secured a post office. It was called Prospect Hill. In 1848 the post office was removed by Tilton Reynolds to his brother Thomas', two and a half miles west of him. The Post-office Department, February 23, 1850, took notice of the change and christened the office Reynolds- ville, in honor of its then incumbent, and con-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1090

tinued Thomas Reynolds postmaster thereof. Thus the town received its name. Although he had quite a little village started, yet it was called by the post office as Prospect Hill till the post- master-general named it in his honor. Mr. Rey- nolds had previously surveyed Winslow township, and named it in honor of his friend, Judge Wins- low. He was a guiding spirit in the little settle- ment. For many years, and until his death, he acted as postmaster. He induced the first phy- sician to locate in the village, and in various ways contributed to its advancement.

Yet, while public spirited in an eminent de- gree, Mr. Reynolds repeatedly declined office. The subject of personal advantage in a public capacity was repugnant to his nature, and the postmastership, which clung to him so long, was borne as a duty rather than an honor or a posi- tion of gain, for the emoluments in those days were not commensurate with the time and atten- tion required. The death of this distinguished pioneer occurred May 16, 1881. To many he had seemed eccentric, for he was not understood. His life was fashioned on heroic lines. Beneath an inscrutable exterior burned deep emotions, an uncompromising detestation of shams and hypoc- ricies, a keen wit, a broad humor, a sympathy for humanity. He was gentle and tender as a woman, yet firm and unyielding for right and truth. Of a nature like his were martyrs made.

His wife survived him seven years. She had been a worthy helpmeet. Juliana Smith was the descendant of William Smith, who emigrated to America from Gloucester. England, in 1635. and settled in Boston. Here he was one of the victims of that religious persecution, which forms the one blot in New England Colonial his- tory, and for his faith was driven from his new home. With forty sympathetic Boston families. he settled at Hempstead, Long Island, in 1639, and finally perished by Indian hatred and treach- ery. From this ancestry the line of descent to Mrs. Reynolds was through Abraham Smith, Isaac Smith, 1657-1746. who died at Hemp- stead Plains; Jacob Smith, 1690-1757; Isaac Smith, who was born in 1722, and emigrated from Queens to Dutchess county in 1669. Jacob Smith, 1746-1810; Uriah Smith, 1771-1819. and Valentine Hulet Peters Smith, 1796-1860, the father of Mrs. Reynolds. Valentine H. P. Smith married Rebecca Sprague, daughter of John Sprague, of Chateaugay, N. Y. Of their four chil- dren, Juliana was the third. She was seven years old when her father emigrated from New York to Jefferson county, l'enn., and her girlhood was spent under the hardships of pioneer life. She possessed the Christian virtues in an eminent de-

gree, though a member of no Church, and as the wife of Thomas Reynolds, whom she married in early womanhood, she was renowned for the sweet graces of charity and good will, and during the Civil war her sympathies and efforts were actively exerted in behalf of the Union soldiers, and her eldest son, a mere lad, was tearfully given to his country's service. For meritorious service he rose to the rank of captain. Mrs. Reynolds died at Covington, Kentucky, July 7. 1888, succumbing to a surgical operation for the removal of a cancer from her face; her remains repose beside those of her husband in Beulah cemetery, on part of the Reynolds farm.

Seven children were born to Thomas and Juliana Reynolds, as follows: Tilton, born Oc- tober 26, 1843. He enlisted as a member of Company H, 105th P. V. I., and was commis- sioned its captain. He married Ida McCalister. and lias two children-Ruth and Arthur: Arthur Parke, born December 5, 1845, died December 12, 1874; Clara E., born April 11. 1848. She married G. J. Scott, a prominent citizen of Jef- ferson county, and after his death wedded E. D. Seely, of Reynoldsville; Margaret, born June 9. 1850. She married W. W. Gorsline, and has one child, Reynolds; William S., born April 7. 1853. He married Ella Yarrington, and is a noted artist now residing in New York City: Thomas, born September 25. 1856; and John Daugherty, born September 1, 1858, married Gertrude Dolan in 1884, and died March 19, 1886.

Thomas Reynolds, the youngest living child. and his sister, Margaret, are now living on the old home farın. Thomas has lived amid the

. clustering memories of the homestead except one year which was spent in Covington, Kentucky. He has inherited the sterling traits of both par- ents, and is one of the keen, progressive young business men of the county. Besides general farming, he conducts a lumbering trade. and is also interested in real estate, coal and other large and kindred pursuits. His sister is one of the cultured women of the community, and pre- sides with dignity and hospitable grace at the beautiful ancestral home.

J AMES ALEXANDER CATHERS. One of the prominent and influential residents of Winslow township, Jefferson county, has lived in this vicinity from his early youth. He came with his parents when the country was yet virgin, and helped bear the burden of its preparation for settlement. Mr. Cathers has been closely identified with the natural and largest interests

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1091

of this vicinity, has engaged extensively in farm- ing and lumbering, and is now living a retired life.

His great-grandfather Cathers and a brother came to America together, the brother finally settling in the South. Two of his great-grand- sons now reside at Omaha, Neb., where they are bankers and prominent business men. The great-grandfather of our subject was married to a Miss Wallace, whose brother was a general in the Continental ariny during the war of the Revolution, and fought gallantly for the inde- pendence of the colonies. Our subject's great- grandmother Blake, whose maiden name was Smiley, had a brother, Robert Smiley, who was a colonel in the war of the Revolution; also fought in the Indian war, and was shot through the lungs by an Indian, but, being a large and powerfully built man, recovered.

. James Alexander Cathers was born in Clarion county, a mile from the present town of that name, April 24, 1828, the son of Robert and Nancy (Thompson) Cathers. Robert Cathers was born in Somerset county, and became a prominent citizen of Clarion county. and later was identified with important industries of Jef- ferson county. His parents were Joseph and Rachel (Blake) Cathers, who were of Scotch- Irish extraction, and were also early residents of Juniata county, and who spent the closing years of their lives in Clarion county. James and Nancy (Murray) Thompson, the maternal grand- parents of our subject, were natives of Ireland and became early settlers of Clarion county. James Thompson was drowned in the Juniata river, while coal-boating.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2, Part 102

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1266

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1266