History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 113

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 113
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 113
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 113

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).

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549

ELK LICK.

Jost J. Stutzman, whose long and faithful ser- vice.in the common schools of this county cause him to be gratefully remembered, was born in Brother's Valley township. . His father was an early German settler, who removed to Ohio with his family. In 1820 Jost J. returned to Somer- set county and located in Summit township, re- moving. thence to, Elk Lick, where. he died in 1867. He first taught near Meyersdale, and afterward in Salisbury. He followed teaching for forty-five years, and was among the first and best of the teachers of this section. He was a man of fine intellect and great natural abilities. He served two terms in the state legislature. Mr, Stutzman was twice married ; first, to Eliza- beth Gerber, and, second, to Elizabeth De Haven. His children were : Joseph J., Alexander, Chris- tian G., Franklin, Ann M. (deceased), Ellen S. (Keim), Alice (Livengood) and Edith C. (Beachy). Joseph J. was the first county superintendent of schools in Somerset county ; he is now a government clerk at Washington. Alexander was twice elected to the state senate. Christian G. is a practicing physician in Salis- bury.

The Lepleys were early settlers in this county, as can be, ascertained elsewhere in this work.

Jacob George Rauch came from Hagerstown, Maryland, and settled in Brother's Valley in 1781. He was one of the early justices of the peace. Jacob G. Rauch had one son, John, who died in 1849, aged seventy-three years. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. John, son of John, was born in 1801 and died in 1872. He followed farming on the old homestead in Brother's Val- ley, and served one term as county commissioner. He married Catharine Bowman, and was the father, of Henry, Mary A. (Hay), Caroline (Bittner), . Rosanna (Hanger) . and Isabelle (deceased).

George Folk came from one of the eastern counties, and settled in this township. He fol- lowed farming, and died young. He married Catharine Saylor, and their children were : Jacob (deceased), .Samuel, Magdalena and Lydia (Miller). Jacob was born in this town- ship. in. 1817, and died in 1872. He married Barbara. . Gingrich. . Children : Jeremiah J., Samuel, Henry (deceased), Ananias, Catharine, Caroline (deceased) and Elizabeth. Jeremiah J. is @Tfarmer. in this township.

Nicholas Keim came from Eastern Pennsyl- vania to this county soon after the revolutionary

war, and settled near Davidsville, in Conemaugh township. He moved to Elk Lick in 1810, and died in 1838. He was married three times, and was the father of twenty-four children .. John, his eldest child, was born in Conemaugh town- ship in 1792, and came to this township with his father. He is still living, and is the oldest man in the township. In 1813 he married Barbara Livengood, who was born in 1789, and. recently died. Seldom does it fall to the lot of the historian to chronicle the life of a couple so aged as Mr. and Mrs. Keim. They are the par- ents of ten children : Henry, John J., Elizabeth (dead), Susan (dead), Catharine (Bockes), Mary (dead), Diana (Engle), Nancy (Miller), Barbara (Speicher) and Sarah (Hoffman). Henry and John J. are farmers in this township.

Jonas Keim was born in Conemaugh township in 1808, and came to Elk Lick in 1810. He was one of the first to agitate the subject of free schools, and was twice elected to the legislature, the second time on an independent ticket. He also served as associate judge of the county. Judge Keim was an extensive stock-dealer, and one of the foremost business men of the township. He died in 1865. Noah G., one of his sons, was a soldier in the late war. Christian L., another. son, was taken prisoner by the rebels while driving stock in Southern Pennsylvania. At the time of his capture he had five thousand dollars upon his person. As he was being taken to prison he met his brother-in-law, who was. passing, on parade, and, by quickly handing the money to him, it was saved. He was. confined in Libby prison for five months. Silas C. Keim, also. a son of Jonas, died in 1882. He was a German Baptist preacher for twenty years, and . was also engaged in farming, stock-dealing, merchandising and banking. His son, N. George Keim, is a German Baptist minister and. school teacher.

James Kelso came from the Cumberland val- ley to this township in 1824. He was a farmer and a minister of the German Baptist denomi- nation. His son, Jonathan, the only one of his children now living in this county, is bishop of the German Baptist church.

The following settlers were among the earliest in the township : Joseph Markley, William Tissue, Ebenezer Griffith, John Hochstetler, Jacob Maust, Peter Livengood, Peter Beachy, John Christner, John Fike, Patrick Sullivan (grandfather of Judge J. S. Black), John Fadley,

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550

HISTORY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

Peter Shirer, Martin Weimer, William Lietseel, Solomon Glotfelty, Lemuel Engle and John Hendricks.

The first gristmill in the township was built by John Fike on the Casselman river, a mile northeast of Salisbury. Joseph Markley oper- ated the first distillery, about 1790.

Christian Fahrney built the first woolenmill in 1813. It remained in operation until 1867. Thomas McCloskey built a woolenmill in 1841, which is now owned by his son Jacob.

The first church in the township was erected by the Reformed and Lutheran congregations in 1813. The first minister was Rev. Henry Giesy.

SALISBURY.

The town of Salisbury was laid out by Joseph Markley in 1794. Douglas Baker was the sur- veyor. The first house was built by Peter Shirer and Martin Weimer. About 1814, Peter Shirer and Peter Welfley bought fifty acres of land and laid off an addition to the Markley plat. All that part of the town lying north of the middle alley on the Markley plat belongs to this addition. About 1850 John Smith bought land of the Shirer heirs, and laid out an addition on the west end of Union street, This addition was for many years known as Jerusalem. In 1870 J. W. and A. P. Beachy laid out an addi- tion to the south of the Markley survey, and upon it a number of buildings have since been erected.

Peter Shirer kept the first store in the place `on the lot now owned by Michael Hay, Esq.

The first pottery in the southern part of the county was established at Salisbury, by Peter Welfley.

The first hotel was kept by John Welsh, prior to 1800. Adam Glotfelty was the first black- smith.

Salisbury grew but little until after the rail- road was built. It was incorporated as a borough in 1862. In 1870 its population was only two hundred and ninety-one. In 1883 the estimated population of the borough was eight hundred. The business of the place is represented by the following summary : Five general stores, one drugstore, one hardware-store, one shoestore, two harness-shops, one tinshop, one foundry, one gunsmith, two blacksmith-shops, one car- riageshop, one planing-mill, two livery-stables, three hotels. Salisbury also supports a graded school, three churches and two physicians.

The first and only bank in this town was started in 1871, by Silas C. Keim and Jacob D. Livengood, under the firm name Keim & Liven- good. The business was closed up in 1878.

Peter Welfley, grandfather of W. H. Welfley, of Somerset, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, but grew to manhood in Cumberland, Maryland. He located in the present town of Salisbury about 1812. His wife was Eva Weimer, and their children were : Israel, Jacob, Martin, Henry, Baltzer, David, Catharine (Glot- felty) and Margaret (Lowry). Peter Welfley was a potter, and established the first pottery in this section.

Christian Shockey, a native of Germany, emi- grated to America prior to the revolutionary war. He served through the war and was wounded at the battle of the Cowpens. A British soldier attempted to sever his head from his body with his sword, but was himself killed by Shockey's bayonet. Shockey, however, re- ceived a severe wound in his arm, it receiving the blow intended for his head. He settled at Salisbury among the early pioneers, and for many years followed school-teaching. He died about 1830. Barbara, his daughter, married Jonathan Kemp, an 1812 soldier, who was born at Salisbury in 1793, and was the mother of Harrison H., Levi and Albert, living; and Margaret A. (King) and Drucilla (Grimes), dead.

Michael Diveley was born in Berlin, Somerset county, in 1783. He learned the tanner's trade in Berlin with his father, Martin Diveley. In 1808 Michael settled in Salisbury, where he put in operation the first tannery in the place. He served one year in the war of 1812. Entering the service as a sergeant, he was afterward pro- moted to the rank of captain. In 1816 Capt. Diveley was elected lieutenant-colonel of the Somerset county brigade ; in 1821 he was elected brigadier-general of the 12th Military Division, composed of the counties of Bedford, Somerset and Cambria. In 1815 he was appointed justice of the peace, which office he held until his death in 1840. He married Julia Schwartz and was the father of Josiah, Edward (deceased). Michael, William, Eliza (Glotfelty), Ann M. (Livengood), Catharine (Smith), Mary A. (Glotfelty), Harriet (Miller), Caroline (Smith), Elizabeth (Hay) and Lydia (Hazelbarth). Josiah is the proprietor of a drugstore in Salisbury, managed by his son, M. L.

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a.P. Brachy.

ABRAHAM P. BEACHY.

As will be ascertained in another place in this vol- ume, the Beachy family have borne an important part in the settlement and development of this portion of Somerset county, as they were among the early settlers.

Abraham P. Beachy, who bears the name of his grand- father, who was the first one of the family to locate in the county, is a son of Peter A. and Ann (Livengood) Beachy. He was born January 23, 1828, and reared on the old homestead, which is now in his possession, and he resides in the old stone house, around which cling so many tender associations and recollections, which was built by his grandfather, in 1809. But few farms in the county have remained intact in the possession of a member of the family for three generations, as has this home-farm.

Mr. Beachy attended the subscription school of the well-known Jost. J. Stutzman, when a humble log cabin protected him and his pupils from the inclemency of the weather, and thus obtained a common-school edu- cation. In those early days no idlers could be found in the community, and, as a consequence, Mr. Beachy was early taught habits of industry and thrift, which have resulted in his financial advancement.

Having worked his father's farm of two hundred and forty acres on shares for three years, it was purchased by him, and from this time on he has been uniformly success- ful in his career as a farmer. To his original purchase he

added others, until he at one time was the owner of some six hundred acres, and engaged extensively in gen- eral farming, cattle-raising and dairying. He and his brother John W. still jointly possess two hundred and fifty-seven acres adjoining Salisbury, on the south, they having laid out a portion of the farm into city lots, now graced by numerous dwellings.

Mr. Beachy also possesses a section of fine farming iand in the State of Nebraska, and is one of the wealthy, honored and respected citizens of his native place. He is a man of sterling worth, and had he been ambitious for political honors, could have filled important offices, he refusing all overtures looking toward political pre- ferment, preferring the quiet of home life with its pleasant surroundings, to a public one. A staunch friend of education, he has held the office of school- director for seventeen years, and materially assisted in maintaining good schools.

January 23, 1848, he was married to Christiana, daugh- ter of Samuel C. Lichty, who departed this life July 14, 1880, in the fifty-first year of her age. They became the parents of seven children, six of whom survive, viz .: Samuel, Lucinda, Ann (Beachly), Peter A., Lloyd and Alice. All reside in this county but Peter A. and Mrs. Beachly, who live in Nebraska.

March 17, 1881, he was united in marriage to Matilda Yoeder, daughter of Henry Yoeder. Mr. Beachy is a deacon in the German Baptist church, of which his for- mer wife was a member, as well as the present.

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ELK LICK.

John Smith, a native of Dauphin county, settled in Salisbury in 1833. He is a cooper by trade, but followed the mercantile business in this place for nineteen years. His son, Michael F., now a merchant in Salisbury, has followed the same business a number of years, and has been engaged in the grocery trade here since 1881. In 1870 he was census enumerator of the township and borough.

Simon Hay, a native of Germany, was an early settler in Brother's Valley, where he followed farming and milling. He died about 1842, aged one hundred and three years. One of his sons, Peter S., was born in Brother's Valley in 1789, and died in 1845. He married Elizabeth Walker and was the father of David (deceased), Michael, Philip, Peter S., Valentine, Mary (Young), Susan (Walker), Elizabeth (Kink), Catharine (Weller) and Caroline (Sayler). David was a member of the legislature in 1858-9. Michael has served as justice of the peace in Elk Lick township.

William Wagner came from Adams county to Salisbury about 1800. He was a saddler and worked at his trade many years. He died in this town. His children were John (deceased), Elijah, Peter, Baltzer, Henry, Philip, Charlotte, Sarah and Julia A. Philip was a soldier in the late war. Peter is a stonemason. His son Dennis enlisted in March, 1865, in Co. G, 88th regt. Penn. Vols., and served until June, 1865. He has been keeping hotel in Salisbury since 1872.

Oliver W. Boyer, a native of Maryland, came to Salisbury in 1848, and has since followed the business of a carpenter. In 1862 he was an enrolling officer of the seventy-third district. In 1875 he was elected county commissioner by the republicans. Mr. Boyer also served one term as justice of the peace in this borough. His son, Lloyd C. Boyer, has been engaged in blacksmithing in Salisbury since 1869.

Arthur Mckinley was born in Hancock, Maryland, in 1809. He came to Salisbury in 1844, and engaged in harnessmaking, which occupation he still follows. Mr. Mckinley was appointed postmaster in 1870, but resigned in 1872 in favor of his son Stephen R., who is the present postmaster. Mr. Mckinley has served as superintendent of the Union sabbath school for twenty-eight years.

LODGE.

Salisbury Lodge, No. 982, I.O.O.F., was insti- tuted March 10, 1882, by D.G.M. C. N. Hickok.

The officers and charter members were as fol- lows : W. H. Boucher, N.G .; C. Wahl, V.G. ; D. O. Mckinley, S .; S. A. Wagner, A.S .; L. C. Boyer, T. ; D. F. Coleman, P. M. Wahl, E. M. Statler, W. H. Fair, D. Wagner, D. E. McCauley, J. M. Hay, Geo. Bodes, Rev. R. Smith, W. H. Lambert, H. D. Koontz, P. P. Rutter, Sam'l Koontz, Sam'l Leochel, C. G. Stutzman. The lodge is in a flourishing condition.

St. John's Reformed Church .- The publishers have been unabled to obtain the date of the or- ganization of this church. The following names have been furnished as the original members : Solomon Glotfelty, Clement Engle, Peter Hutzel, James Boyd, Adam Fowler, Philip Hare and Henry Gorlitz. The following pastors have officiated : - Voicht, Henry Geisy, William Conrad, Henry Huepper, John McConnel, George Fickes, A. B. Koplin, W. A. Gring, A. B. Koplin (second pastorate) and C. U. Heil- man, the present pastor.

The church edifice was erected at a cost of three thousand dollars. It is probable that services by traveling ministers of the Reformed church were held here about one hundred years ago. Immediately prior to the erection of the church edifice, services were held in the house of Solomon Glotfelty, two miles east of Salisbury. The church, which is now in a flourishing con- dition, has two hundred and ten members, with a Sunday school of one hundred and twenty-five members.

St. Paul's Reformed church, of Elk Lick township, was organized October 22, 1859, by Rev. A. B. Koplin. At this time David Hay and Benjamin Wilhelm were elected elders, and Reuben Kretchman and Peter Wilhelm, deacons. The other original members were Anthony Zimmerman, his wife and sister. In 1868 the present fine church-building was erected at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars, which was largely contributed by the Wilhelm family. This family bequeathed the balance of their large estate to the theological seminary and Franklin and Marshall college of Lancaster,' Pennsylvania. A portion of the estate was eventually secured by their heirs. The follow- ing pastors have officiated in the order here given : Revs. A. B. Koplin, W. A. Gring, A. B. Koplin and C. U. Heilman. The church, under the faithful and efficient ministrations of its present pastor, C. U. Heilman, is in a most flourishing condition, and has two hundred and

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HISTORY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

twenty communicants and a Sunday school of one hundred and twenty-five scholars. Prior to his death, Elder David Hay gave the church one thousand dollars as a poor-fund.

CHURCHES.

Lutheran .- St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, Salisbury, Pennsylvania, was probably organized about 1809. There are no records earlier than 1849. At that date Rev. Samuel B. Lawson was pastor; Joseph Diveley and Peter Welfley, elders; Caspar Lochel and George Lowry, deacons; Mr. and Mrs. Rosen- baum, Matthew Diveley, Polly Livengood, Eliza- beth Hay, Edward Diveley, Mr. and Mrs. Brewer, Catharine Lochel, John Stone and wife, Christopher Wald and wife and Conrad Yomer, members. From 1849 the pastors have been : Revs. Samuel B. Lawson, M. F. Pfähler, 1853-7; John Forthman, 1857-8; M. F. Pfähler, 1858-72; J. A. Koser, 1872-8; J. Milton Snyder, 1878 ; Reuben Smith, 1879, present pastor. The cor- ner-stone of the first church was laid in 1809. The congregation now has eighty-three members and the sabbath school one hundred scholars.

Rev. Reuben Smith, pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, is a native of Centre county. He received an academical education in Stark county, Ohio, then learned the blacksmith's trade and worked at it until twenty-six years of age. He then began the study of theology and in 1858 was licensed to preach by the East Ohio Synod, and in 1861 was ordained to the ministry. In 1870 he became pastor of New Centreville charge, in Somerset county, where he remained four years. He was afterward pastor of Hooversville, this county, and of Pine Grove Mills, Centre county, In 1879 he became pastor of the Salisbury charge.

Centre Evangelical Lutheran church, situated in Elk Lick township, was organized May 17, 1849. The first officers and original members were: Elders, Godfrey Welltrout and John Burk- holder; deacons, Benjamin Bockes, Christian Christner and Jacob Swarner; William M. Vought, Baltzer Walter, Adam Harmon, Samuel Rayman, John Obler, Daniel Johnson, Sr., Daniel Wetzel, Susan Johnson, Lucinda John- son and Mary Johnson. The house of worship was, completed in 1850. For list of pastors, see St. John's church, Salisbury. The congre- gation has forty members and the sabbath school forty-five scholars.

Evangelical Association .- The church of the Evangelical Association, in Salisbury, was or- ganized by Rev. Jacob Boas in 1836. The first class-leader and sabbath-school superintendent was John Smith. The pastors have been : Revs. Jacob Boas, Moses McLean, Simon McLean, J. W. Seibert, - Thomas, - Doll. Aaron Bowers, - Eberhart. The church was erected in 1851, at a cost of seven hundred dollars. The congregation numbers seventy-three mem- bers. The sabbath school consists of sixty scholars.

Brethren .- Elk Lick congregation of the Brethren or German Baptists is situated in Elk Lick and Addison townships. It was formed as a separate congregation in 1877, the original, or Elk Lick, congregation being divided into three organizations - Elk Lick, Summit and Meyersdale. The first church officers were : Jonathan Kelso, bishop; Nathaniel Merrill and Silas C. Keim, elders ; S. J. Livengood, S. J. Lichty and J. W. Beachy, deacons. The pastors have been : Jonathan Kelso, N. Merrill and S. C. Keim ; the latter died in 1882. The present ministers are : J. Kelso, N. Merrill, Lewis Peck and N. George Peck.

The earliest and most prominent lay members of the church at the organization were S. C. Lichty, John Peck, Joseph Maust, Jacob Liv- engood, John Wright, J. W. Beachy, A. P. Beachy, J. J. Keim, Samuel J. Lichty and S. J. Livengood. The first meeting-house was erected in 1848, at a cost of six hundred dollars. The present churches are two: the first, built in West Salisbury in 1878, at a cost of three thousand two hundred dollars ; the second, built in Addison township in 1881, at a cost of twelve hundred dollars. The congregation numbers one hundred and eighty-five mem- bers. There are two sabbath schools-West Salisbury with one hundred scholars and Addi- son with forty scholars.

Amish .- This denomination has had an organ- ization in the southern part of the county from the earliest settlement .; no records have been kept. Among the old members were Daniel Hershberger, Jacob Kinsinger, Joel Miller, John Stephanus, William Bender and Deacon Elias Hershberger. The present ministers are M. J. Beachy, Daniel Hershberger, Elias Yoder and Daniel Lee. All the early meetings were held in private houses, many opposing the erection of churches. The present meeting-house. was.

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Peter A. Hay

THE HAY FAMILY.

The Hay family are of German extraction. The family emigrated from Germany in 1768. We first learn of them in the eastern portion of the state, where Simon Hay resided, engaged in his trade of a weaver.

While temporarily engaged in the labor of threshing grain with a flail, he made the acquaintance of a man named Countryman, who assisted him in his labors. Countryman possessed a large tract of land in Brother's Valley township, and offered such inducements to Mr. Hay as to cause him to emigrate there and purchase a tract of three hundred acres. At this time the face of the country was almost in a state of nature, settlers being few and far between, and their clearings but "little holes in the wilderness," from which they harvested but meager crops for a subsistence. They then packed their grain to Wells Creek, Maryland, to have it ground, while salt, an indispensable necessity, was brought from Winchester, Virginia. Not discouraged by the outlook, Mr. Hay set manfully to work clear- ing his farm, performing the most arduous labors in so doing. At this time each new settler was heartily welcomed as a desirable ac- cession to their numbers, and all would turn in and assist him in erecting his log cabin. Being a man of great energy and enterprise, Mr. Hay erected a gristmill, so much needed, and afterward a full- ing-mill, which he successfully conducted to both his own and his neighbors' advancement. Having well performed his mission, he departed this life at the ripe age of one hundred and three years, in 1842. He became the father of nine children, as follows: Mary, Elizabeth, Catharine, Susan, Valentine, Michael, Jacob, George and Peter 8.

Peter S., who was born in 1789, succeeded his father in the posses- sion of the farm, and after the death of his brother Valentine, who operated the gristmill, this also came into his possession by pur- chase. This mill is still doing duty in the township, although out of possession of the family. Mr. Hay personally engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in 1845, his life

having been a quiet and most honorable one. He married Eliza- beth Walker. She survived her husband many years, her death not occurring until 1880. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hay were members of the Reformed church. Of their twelve children, ten grew to manhood and womanhood's estate, viz .: David (deceased), Michael, Phillip, Peter 8., Valentine, Mary, Susan, Elizabeth, Catharine and Caroline.

Peter S. Hay was born August 8, 1882, and, in common with other farmers' sons, attended the schools of their neighborhood. Owing to his father's death, the farm passed by purchase into his brother Phillip's possession, for whom he worked for a time, and then went to Jenner township and taught school. Desiring to embark in the mercantile business, he laid the foundation for a successful career as a merchant by clerking for two years in a country store in Lav- ansville. In 1853 he came to Salisbury, and in connection with his brother Michael opened up a general store. They continued in business until 1865, when Michael retired, since which time the sub- ject of this sketch has continued in business alone. His present business house was erected in 1854, and has been used as a store con- tinuously ever since. One year during his business career he handled twenty-five thousand dollars' worth of butter and another year three hundred barrels of maple sugar, which conveys an idea of the large production of both these products. Prior to the building of the Con- nellsville railroad their supply of goods was conveyed by teams from Cumberland. Mr. Hay has been quite successful in business affairs, having accumulated a handsome competency, and is now one of the oldest merchants in the county, who has been contin- uously in business, which embraces a period of thirty years. Mr. Hay has always done his full share in contributing to the general weal. his influence always being given on the side of right. He is a man whose identification with any community is productive of good. Politically and religiously he is identified with the democratic party and the Reformed church. In 1854 he was united in marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Michael Dively, who was born in 1834. They have four children living : Harvey (a merchant at West Salis- bury), Morris R., Jennie and George C.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 113

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 967

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967