History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 95

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 95
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 95
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 95

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).

Four years later, 1857, he was married to Miss Sarah, daughter of Valentine Shaffer, one of the prominent farmers of the township. Since com- ing to Frieden's Judge Snyder has led a quiet, uneventful life, devoting himself wholly to his business and the cares of his family. While he has taken a proper interest in political matters, he has never been an office-seeker, although he has been called upon to fill several positions of trust and responsibility. For ten years he served his fellow townsmen as magistrate, and in 1881 he received the republican nomination for asso- ciate judge, and was elected by a handsome majority. In this position as in others he has discharged the duties of his office with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all. Deprived of an education in books, he has nevertheless proved an apt pupil in that other school in which the teachers are observation and ex- perience, and is in every way well qualified for the position he holds. Social, genial and courteous, he is highly esteemed as a man and citizen. He is an exemplary member of the Lutheran church.

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of children. How long he was a resident of Baltimore is not known, but presumably for quite a number of years. Here his first wife died, and after her decease he removed tc North Carolina, where he was again married to a lady by the name of Allen. By this union there were eight children-four boys and four girls, Isaac being the third son.

The elder Husband took a prominent part in matters of public import, and identified himself with an organization known in history as the "Regulators," who were opposed to Gov. Tryon in his efforts to collect exorbitant taxes. Although of Quaker proclivities, he was an influential member in this body. He was several times arrested and imprisoned, and after the battle of Alamance, in which the Reg- ulators were defeated, he escaped in disguise to Maryland. Vigorous efforts were made to cap- ture him, and large rewards were offered for his apprehension, but owing to his shrewdness and daring were unsuccessful, and he reached Hagerstown in safety. Not feeling secure, he soon took his departure for the "far west." Several years previous to this time an old friend and schoolmate, by the name of Isaac Cox (a hunter), had come to this section ; and although Mr. Husband had no definite idea as to his pre- cise location he determined to find him. By good luck he learned of his whereabouts, and after a long and tedious journey, without a com- panion or arms of any description save a hunt- ing-knife, he reached Buffalo creek in safety, where he found a man by the name of Good, who had built a cabin and made some slight improvements. From this individual he learned of a party of hunters of whom his friend Cox was a member. After a few days' rest he again started out, and was rewarded by finding a hunter by the name of Sparks, whose cabin was about a half mile north of Somerset. From him he obtained information of his friend Cox, whom he found without difficulty. He built a cabin in the near vicinity of Cox's camp, where he remained until his return to Hagerstown some two years later. This was in June of 1771. Being favorably impressed with the country to which he had in such an unexpected manner found his way, he soon began to purchase the claims of the hunters, and in this way became the original proprietor of all the lands immediately north of the present borough of Somerset. In 1778 he returned to Hagerstown, and the following

year returned with his family and settled on what has since been known as the "Husband farm." During the revolution he was a mem- ber of the supreme executive council of the province. He made the second assessment of the township of Brother's Valley, which then embraced the present county of Somerset. During the "whisky insurrection," although he counseled submission to the laws, he was taken prisoner and conveyed to Philadelphia, where he died in 1795. At the time of his decease he was a large landholder and one of the most prominent citizens of the county, and his name is attached to nearly all the initial events in its history. His will, in which he bequeathed his property to his family, is the first one on the county records.

He reared a family of eight children, four boys and four girls, all of whom excepting Isaac (who was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1771) removed to different states. The widow and her daughters and her son John emigrated to Kentucky, where they died. Isaac, at the time of his father's demise, was a young man of twenty-four years of age. By the con- ditions of his father's will he came into posses- sion of a tract of, land of about four hundred acres, situate about one and a half miles south of Somerset. In company with his brother John he built a mill on this tract. John, how- ever, soon disposed of his interest and, as be- fore stated, removed to Kentucky with his mother. Isaac, like his father, was an active, energetic man, and identified himself largely with the interests of the county. His decease occurred in 1856, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He married Miss Ann, daughter of Phillip King, and reared a family of seven chil- dren : Mary, Emma, Phebe, Herman, William, David and Phillip. Of the daughters, all are living with the exception of Mary. Of the sons, all are deceased excepting David and Phillip. The latter resides in Iowa ; the former is a prominent farmer in Somerset.

EDMUND KIERNAN.

Among the many prominent citizens who have lived and died in Somerset county no one is more justly entitled to a conspicuous place in these biographical sketches than Edmund Kier- nan ; yet perhaps no one among them all cared less or strove less for what men commonly call fame. He was emphatically a man of affairs,

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and one of the most prominent and singularly successful business men in this section of the state. He made business a study, and life and experience were a constant development of business capacity. He did not wait for oppor- tunities ; he created them. Out of the un- promising materials of an inland rural village he developed sources of income, thrift and enter- prise. He seemed to be predestined to succeed, and whether his field of labor was, limited or extended, success was assured ; and he was as certain, in the end, to embrace all that his cir- cumstances and surroundings would admit of, even if a whole community must be built up to accomplish that result.

He was the eldest of eight children, and was born in Strasburg, Franklin county, Pennsyl- vania, October 11, 1815. In 1820 the family removed to Somerset, where the parents passed the remainder of their days.

By the death of his father he was thrown wholly upon his own resources ; and although in his minority and without educational or other advantages, he evidenced the possession of those traits of character that in after years became prominent factors in his successful career. He commenced life at the bottom round of the ladder, as clerk in the store of Samuel Elder, at Jenner's Crossroads. A condition of success in any pursuit in a majority of cases is adaptation. This, in the individual instance of Edmund Kiernan, was peculiarly true. He was admirably adapted by natural inclination and talent for the duties which he had undertaken ; and in a short space of time the boy became the sole proprietor of the busi- ness, which he conducted with signal success for a period of forty years, during which time, by reason of the probity and integrity of his char- acter, he enjoyed the unlimited confidence of all who knew him.

In 1853 Mr. Kiernan was married to Rebecca S., daughter of Joseph Biddle Earl; to them were born four children-two sons and two daughters. In 1875 he disposed of his mercan- tile interests and removed to Somerset borough, where he resided until his decease, which oc- curred on March 17, 1883.

Throughout his life he was a great student, thoroughly conversant with history, English literature and politics. His interest in politics was no more nor less than that of the citizen desirous of promoting the best interests of the

state, and his earnest convictions, fearlessly maintained, exerted a wide influence. It was in private life, however, and in the familiar in- tercourse of friends, that he is best remembered. His courtesy to all, joined to the natural dignity of the man, stamped him at once in the minds of all with whom he came in contact as a gen- tleman in the truest sense of the word, while his well-stored mind and fine conversational powers lent a charm to his acquaintance that drew around him a circle of warm and admiring friends. Thus not only his successful career in business, but his clear judgment and broad com- mon sense, his kindness of heart, his integrity and force of character, his extensive informa- tion, and his general worth as a citizen, made him conspicuous among the people of Somerset county.

ABSALOM J. CASEBEER.

Absalom J. Casebeer, for many years one of the prominent and successful merchants of Som- erset, was born in Somerset township, February 15, 1829. The family are of German extraction, and were among the first settlers in this region. The date of their immigration is not known, but was undoubtedly soon after or during the rev- olutionary war. Absalom Casebeer, the father of the subject of this memoir, was born near Somerset in 1783. He was a weaver and farmer; his death occurred in 1853. Absalom J. was reared on the farm of his father, and received a good English education, which he made practi- cally useful to himself and others by teaching. In 1852 he commenced merchandising in com- pany with J. O. Kimmel. Two years later Mr. Kimmel retired. Several changes were subse- quently made, but in 1877 Mr. John K. Nable became a partner, and this partnership continued until the death of Mr. Casebeer, which occurred January 15, 1882. Mr. Casebeer was a man of good business capacity; he was possessed of those elements of character which combine to make a man successful in almostany calling in life. Keen discrimination, sound judgment and strict integ- rity were the salient points in his character, and no one perhaps possessed the latter trait to a greater degree than he did. Throughout his whole career as a business man he was everywhere known as one strictly honorable in all his deal- ings. Like most self-made men, he started in life with a mere pittance; and although for many years in ill health, he accumulated a well earned competency and an untarnished reputation. He

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was a man of inflexible purpose and strong con- victions, and his opinions, when once formed, he adhered to with great tenacity. He never de- sired political preferment, but always exhibited a marked interest in political matters. During the war of the rebellion he was a stanch friend of the government ; and had it not been for the fact that he was incapacitated for military ser. vice by reason of a severe gunshot wound re- ceived in early manhood, and from which he never recovered, he would probably have entered the service, but he gave liberally of his means for the prosecution of the war, and to rebels or their sympathizers he was an implacable enemy. It is related of him that on one occasion during the war he was buying goods in Baltimore, and overhearing a conversation between some mem- bers of the firm, in which they expressed them- selves as being in sympathy with secession, he immediately settled his bill with the remark that he never should buy another dollar's worth. of goods in Baltimore.

He was a great reader, and his mind was stored with a rich fund of general information. Among his friends he was extremely social, and by them highly esteemed for his generosity and public spirit.

In 1858 'Mr. Casebeer was. married to Miss Mary, daughter of John A. Snyder, of Somerset, where she was born. The result of this union was ten children, all of whom are living.

CHAPTER LXVII. SOMERSET TOWNSHIP.

Its Residents at the Beginning of the Century - Names of a Few Pioneer Families - Personal Mention of Present Residents and their Ancestors - Villages - Religious History.

T THIS township was formed in the early part of 1796 from Quemahoning and Milford. Its territory has since been considerably reduced by the formation of other districts; still it is the largest township in the county, and the most densely populated. . In 1880 its inhabit- ants numbered three thousand two hundred and seventy-six, exclusive of those in the borough of Somerset, and in 1882 its tax-payers were eight hundred in number. It is a healthful re- gion, and famed for the excellence of its dairy products. The people are chiefly engaged in the pursuits of agriculture.

In 1800, four years after the organization of the township, the taxables of the village* and township were mentioned as follows : Peter Ankeny, John Althouse, David Ankeny, John Armstrong, Sr., Christian Ankeny, who settled southeast of the town in 1778; Adam Adams, Abraham Ankeny, George Anderson, James Allen, John Anewalt, Samuel Benford, Jacob Beam, Jacob Berkey, John Barron, George Barron, Joseph Buatt, Christian Brallier, Emanuel Brallier, Philip Barron, Adam Berkey, Samuel Berkey, Christopher Beam, John Bell, John Bricker, Benjamin Brown, Daniel Baer, Conrad Beymer, John Baker, Jacob Bruner, Dewalt Bonebreak, Michael Baker, Jacob Beigle, James Black, Jacob Brindle, James Boyd, Conrad Beymer, Jr., Jacob Berkey, Charles Bush, Peter Cupp, Michael Cover, Jacob Cover, John Chorpenning, John Camp- bell, Samuel Clark, Solomon Casebeer, William Campbell, Mary Cross, Adam Cundle, Christian Casebeer, Adam Cline, Abraham Carver, Chris- tian Carver, Alexander Cummins, Jacob Craff, Jonas Cline, Henry Darr, James Dunning, George Dorne, Mary Emmert, George Emmert, Josiah Epsy, Esg., Dr. William Gore Elder, Ludwig Fisher, Ernst Fisher, Peter Friedline, Ludwig Friedline, Adam Flick, Joseph Francis, Daniel Ferner, Abraham Faith, Abraham Fox, George Fackler, George Flick, Gabrid Forsythe, Nicholas Ferrence, Conrad Frank, William Findley, Peter Fox, John Fisher, Jacob Faith, Samuel Fleming, Henry Grindle, Mary Gehr, Henry Glessner, Jacob Glessner, Abraham Good, John Good, Jacob Good, John Grindle, Henry Giesey, D.D., Killian Gehr, Matthias Gorsht, Abraham Hess, Peter Hess, Abraham Hess, Adam Horner, John Herring, George Hemminger, Ludwid Hart, Jacob Hicks, Adam Hurraw, Simon Hogle, Valentine Houpt, Jr., Jacob Huff, Andrew Hemminger, John Hager, Conrad Hoveny, Walter Hughes, Nicholas Hull, David Howard, Benjamin Hull, Cornelius Hen- line, John Hipple, Christian Hipple, Henry Hipple, Isaac Husband, Valentine Houpt, Sr., Jacob Hoover, Andrew Hipple, Michael Hugus, Thomas Johnson, William M. Jones, Lewis Kei- fer, John Keiser, Adam Kerper, Polly Kooser, George King, Thomas Kennedy, Conrad Keiser, Kennedy Keller, Daniel Keiser, Peter Kimmel, John King, John Kurtz, Peter Lenhart, Christian

.The names of those who are known to have been residents of the village at that time are printed in italics.

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Lint, Jacob Leamer, John Lint, John Lyberger, Conrad Lint, Jr., Jacob Loud, Conrad Lint, Chris- tian Livingstone, Henry Lint, Henry Logwood, Jacob Lowman, Rev. Frederick William Long, D.D., John Leech, Esq., Thomas Leech, Alexan- der Lynn, Killian Lichtenberger, Christian Liv- ingstone, John Letman, Henry Lephandt, Jere- miah Miller, Peter Millhouse, John Millhouse, Henry Millhouse, Henry Metzger, Abraham Money, Abraham Miller, John Marteny, Fred- erick C. Mooke, Daniel Moore, Marcus Metzger, John Murrow, Fredrick Mostoller, Abraham Morrison, George Miller, Peter Metzger, John Mong, John Noftziger, John Neil, Abraham Neff, Adam Ney, Henry 'Omweg, Alexander Ogle, Esq., Samuel Oats, John Putnam, Sarah Penrod, Michael Pile, Casper Pile, Martin Phillips, Isaac Penrod, Joseph Parks, Esq., Henry Pence, Peter Pisel, Israel Penrod, Fletcher & Philson, Robert Pearson, James Pugh, George Pile, John Peterson, Henry Pile, William Read, George Ray, John Roan, Philip Rinehart, Christian Rice, Christian Rosendale, Morgan J. Rheese, Esq., Jacob Saylor, Melchoir Sees, George Stickler, James Smith, James Shanks, John Stickler, John Shaw, John Schrock, David Showman, Adam Schneider, Jacob Schneider, Godfrey Stahl, Jacob Switzer, Simon Shaffer, John Shaffer, Henry Shaffer, David Simpson, Henry Swager, Adam Swager, Jacob Schmucker, John Schmucker, Henry Shaffer, Thomas Swank, Casper Swank, Jacob Swank, Michael Saylor, Philip Smith, Jacob Shaffer, Henry Shaffer, Henry Schnei- der, Christopher Speight, Peter Smith, Fred- erick Shenaman, Daniel Shilling, John Shull, Henry Stahl, Michael Stein, Jacob Shaf- fer, Sr., Jacob Switzer, Jr., Henry Shaffer, Nicholas Smith, Matthias Scott, Alexander Smart, Peter Switzer, Peter Schneider, George Siderberger, Peter Switzer, Jr., John Thomas, Benjamin Thomas, George Tedrow, Michael Tedrow, James Trent, George Thorn, John Tay- lor, Rudolph Ulrick, Christian Umburn, Joseph Weigley, Esq., Abranam Whipkey, John Weimer, George Weimer, John Washabaugh, David Wright, John Wright, Andrew Woy, Thomas Wright, Jacob Williard, Jacob Weldy, John Wells, Esg., John Winters, John Webster, John Whipkey, Abraham Walter, George Young, Ludwig Young, John Yorty and Jacob Zimmerman.

The Ankenys, Adamses, Browns, Bruners,

Bells, Campbells, Flicks, Glessners, Johnsons, Husbands, Hunters, Millers, Penrods, Reads, Rices, Switzers, Trents, Wellses, Walterses and Wrights were all very early settlers, and are known to have been residents in the central part of the present county of Somerset before the beginning of the revolutionary war.

James Trent (the grandfather of Samuel and Urias Trent, present residents of Somerset township) was a native of England, and settled in what is now Somerset township just before the beginning of the revolutionary war. His sons were Samuel, James, Stephen, Nathan, William and George. Samuel, the eldest son of James, was born in this township in 1792. He followed farming ; was also a contractor during the building of the Bedford and Somer- set turnpike. He died in Maryland in 1858. Early in life he married Miss Mary Knupp. The children born of this marriage were Harrison, Samuel, Daniel, Urias, Aaron, Moses, Nancy, Sarah, Mary and Barbara E. During the late war Daniel and Moses served as volunteers in Somerset county organizations. Samuel and Urias are well-known farmers in the township at the present time.

John Chorpenning, a descendant of the French Huguenots of North Carolina, came here from Hagerstown, Maryland, during the revolution- ary war, and settled on the farm where Samuel C. Livengood now resides, about one and one- half miles southwest of the town of Somerset. His children were Henry, George, Michael, Jacob, David, Rosanna and Catharine.

Daniel Miller came (with his father Henry) from Franklin county, Pennsylvania, to this part of Bedford county in 1784. He settled on or near the site of the present town of Meyers- dale. His trade was that of a wagonmaker. He died in Summit township at the age of sixty- six years, in 1848. His wife, before marriage, was Miss Mary Long. Their children were Jacob D., Gabriel, Daniel D., Josiah, Ephraim, Manasseh, Rachel (Lichty), Lydia (Meyers), Susannah (Lichty), Mary (Meyers) and Magda- lena (Saylor). Jacob D. Miller was born in what is now Summit township in 1809. He learned the wagonmaking business with his father and followed that occupation, as well as farming, for many years. He now resides in Somerset township. His wife was Miss Bar- bara Saylor. The children born to them were Edward S., Joseph and Daniel (twins), Eli,

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HON. CHRISTIAN C. MUSSELMAN.

Hon. Christian C. Musselman was born December 23, 1826, in Sum- mit (then Elk Lick) township, on the homestead of his grandfather, Frederick Walter. The latter then owned the site of the present town of Garrett, known at an early day as "Dumb Corner." Mr. Musselman commenced life on the lowest round of the ladder. At the age of fourteen years he went to learn the trade of a shoe- maker, but the vocation was not congenial. The country was not then favored with a free-school system, and he had to educate him- self as best he could. At the age of seventeen years he began teaching, alternating a term in winter by labor on the farm during the remainder of the year. After having taught successfully twenty-seven terms, he abandoned the schoolroom and returned to his favorite vocation - farming. He married Miss Eliza, daughter of Christian Saylor, and is the father of nine children. Harvey C., his youngest son, graduated with honor at the Indiana State Normal School, and assumed the principalship of the Ursina schools, where he died. Three sons and five daughters are still living, and, like their father, nearly all have been engaged, at various times, in teaching. He was one of the original members of the first county agricultural society, and held every office in the gift of the organiza- tion. At the present time he is the general superintendent of a new association called the Somerset County Agricultural and Industrial Society, and is the sole owner of the Fair grounds and buildings. His public and official career has been a successful one. He officiated as the presiding officer of the first teachers' association and institute held in Somerset county. The institute referred to was convened at Friedensburg by the first county superintendent of schools, Joseph J. Stutzman. Mr. Musselman was also chosen moderator at the time of the great debate on the subject of baptism, etc., held at Mechan- icsburg (now Summit Mills), in 1849, between ministers of the Luth- eran and Brethren or German Baptist denominations. He was a whig while that party existed, but when it became a thing of the past, his ideas of right and wrong very naturally carried him into the ranks of the republican party, and by that party he was elected assessor and school director of Somerset township. In 1863, he was the candidate of his party for the office of assemblyman, and, though his opponent-Chauncey F. Mitchell, editor of the Somerset Democrat, and a soldier-made an extraordinary run, was elected.

He was again nominated, without opposition, for the succeeding term, and triumphed over A. J. Co!born, Esq., the democratic candi- date, by a majority of twelve hundred and fifty-one. He also repre- sented the republicans of his county in the state convention held at Harrisburg in 1864. During his legislative career he made himself conspicuous by the firm and decided stand taken in opposition to unnecessary adjournments, extravagant appropriations, and his advocacy of measures for economy and retrenchinent, even to the extent of opposing the increase of his own salary, as was proposed. In the famous repeal of the charter of the Pittsburgh & Connells- ville railroad, he was one of the few who stood firm against repeal, and the great power used to influence legislation, standing almost alone, even in that section of the state through which this great thoroughfare was then located and partly constructed. In 1877 he was elected associate judge of the county, and served five years. In 1878 he was elected one of the directors and made treasurer of the Somerset & Cambria Railroad Company. The following year the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company purchased the above men- tioned road, and Mr. Musselman was the only member of the old board of directors retained, Gen. William H. Koontz and him- self being chosen as the directors, under the new management, from Somerset county. In 1877, also, he was elected by the Somerset County Agricultural Society to represent them in the State Board of Agriculture for the terin of three years. He was reflected in 1880, and again in 1883. His practical knowledge of agriculture has made him a very prominent member of this board. Through his instru- mentality six extensive cheese and butter factories were recently established in this county. He was one of the incorporators of the "Buffalo Valley Lime Company, limited," on the Buffalo Valley rail- road, near Garrett, of which he became the first chairman and gen- eral superintendent. But perhaps the most commendable dleed yet performed by Judge Musselman was the donation of five hundred dollars to the Somerset County Home for the Poor, the interest of which is to be applied annually to the purchase of useful and inter- esting books and newspapers, for the use of the inmates of the Home. This was the first and, to this time, the only donation made to Som- erset county for benevolent purposes. In conclusion, it might be added that Mr. Musselman is emphatically a self-made man, for he has raised himself by his own efforts from poverty and insignificance to wealth, honor and distinction.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 95

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

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