USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 17
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 17
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
151
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
as the fence belonged to people who were in sympathy with the north. The men refused to carry back the wood and Sergeant Armbrust coincided with them. The general then relieved him of his command, and he went back to his company at Fred- ericksburg. They were within fifty yards of the enemy when they were told to unsling their knapsacks and go into action on the double-quick. It was at this place that Adjutant James Noon was shot down at Mr. Armbrust's side. Mr. Armbrust volunteered to take a squad of men and get Adjutant Noon's body from the battlefield. He was given permission to do so and succeeded in accomplishing his purpose. Adjutant Noon's body was interred at Fredericksburg and was later removed by his brother Philip. After this battle Mr. Armbrust's time of service had expired, but he, with the rest of the company, voted to remain in active service until after the battle of Chancellors- ville, which took place a month later.
After being discharged, Mr. Armbrust communicated to E. M. Stanton, secretary of war, that if more men were needed he would raise a company. Secretary Stanton answered that to all appearances they were needed, and Mr. Armbrust opened a recruiting office and paid all the expenses for the recruits and the office for a period of about two months. There was dissen- sion in the company about electing the officers, and finally he received orders from Secretary Stanton to disband the com- pany. Mr. Armbrust was never reimbursed for his expenses in connection with raising this company.
Mr. Armbrust next enlisted in a company which was then forming under the command of Captain Paul Stackhouse. They were ordered to Camp Cadwalader, near Philadelphia, and were there examined. Mr. Armbrust was rejected because of some artificial teeth. He was determined to enlist, however, and went to a recruiting office in Philadelphia, where he was examined and accepted. He was put into the Stackhouse com- pany at his request and was one of the first to be supplied with a uniform. The company was attached to the One Hundred and Ninety-eighth Regiment, commanded by General Sickles, and after a few days were ordered to Washington. They were loaded on a special train of two cars. On the way Mr. Arm- brust filled the post of brakeman, as the one on the train had left, and, although somewhat puzzled by the signals at times, he managed to attend to the brakes without any serious hitch, and the train reached Washington safely. They were then sent down the Potomac river to Chesapeake bay, where he was put on guard duty on deck. They went up the James river, passed City Point and stopped at Bermuda Hundred, at General But- ler's encampment, but soon returned to City Point and joined
------
152
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
General Meade's army. While there the regiment tore up the tracks of the Weldon railroad and burned the ties to heat the rails and bend them. At the battle of Hatcher's Run, Mr. Arm- brust was one of those who stormed the breastworks. He was also engaged in the battle of Poplar Spring Church. While at Hatcher's Run the election for the presidency of the United States took place. Sergeant Armbrust was elected judge of election, his opponent being Colonel Stackhouse.
Some two or three weeks after this Sergeant Armbrust re- ceived an order from General Sickles to report to him with a detachment of two men from each company, twenty men in all. General Siekles then ordered him to take his men over to Gen- eral Humphrey's headquarters. This he did, and General Humphrey ordered him to take the squad down to the division hospital and report to Lieutenant Ackerman or to Captain Mal- vin. Lieutenant Ackerman, after having seen that they had noon rations issued to them, ordered Mr. Armbrust to take his men back to their respective companies, where they were to leave their guns, and then to return. He carried out the or- ders, and when he returned was appointed ambulance sergeant, First Regiment, Second Division. He had in his charge four ambulances, nine horses, four stretchers and twenty men. He held this position until after the review at Washington. In the spring they received orders to get ready to leave. They then fought in a number of battles, General Sickles being wounded in the battle at Five Forks. They were present at Appomattox Court House when Lee surrendered. There Mr. Armbrust's horse was stolen and he was never reimbursed for it. After the review at Washington they were sent to Camp Cadwalader, Philadelphia, and were there mustered out. Major Armbrust was a Democrat before the Civil war, but since that time has been a Republican. He was at one time constable in Armstrong and Cambria counties; was also deputy sheriff, in 1848, of Armstrong county.
Mr. Armbrust married (first) Mary Ann Wallace, daughter of Hugh Wallace, at Greensburg, in 1840. Mrs. Armbrust died January 17, 1875. They had one child, James P., born October 31, 1844. He married (second) Mrs. J. A. Scott, of Bedford county, in 1878. She died January 17, 1895, exactly twenty years after the death of his first wife. He married (third) Oc- tober 31, 1895, Henrietta, widow of John Fisher, of Meyers- dale. Mr. Armbrust is now in his eighty-seventh year, is in possession of all his faculties and is as vigorous mentally and physically as many men twenty years his junior.
153
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
PETER LINCOLN LIVENGOOD.
Peter Lincoln Livengood, of Salisbury, is a lineal descend- ant of the Rev. Peter Livengood, who emigrated from Switzer- land to New Jersey, and after remaining two years returned to the Fatherland, but after a brief sojourn came to America with the intention of here making his home. He settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania, but shortly moved to Elk Lick township, Somerset county, where he was one of the pioneers. He mar- ried, in Berks county, Barbara and was the father of fifteen children. His wife died in her ninetieth year and he survived to the age of one hundred, lacking six days. Chris- tian Livengood, son of Peter and Barbara Livengood, became one of the prominent and wealthy farmers and stock raisers of the township. He married Elizabeth Forney, whose father was a schoolmaster and soldier from Darmstadt, Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Livengood were the parents of fifteen children, all of whom lived to advanced ages, as did their parents.
John C. Livengood, son of Christian and Elizabeth (For- ney) Livengood, was born in Elk Lick township and was a farmer. For some time he held the office of supervisor. He mar- ried Mary Hershberger, of Fayette county, and their children were: Samuel J., see forward; Jeremiah, John, Peter, Alex- ander, Eliza, Nancy, Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary.
Samuel J. Livengood, son of John C. and Mary (Hersh- berger) Livengood, was born May 1, 1830, in Elk Lick town- ship, and in early life was engaged in agricultural pursuits. Later he became a merchant in Salisbury, then removed to Grantsville, Garrett county, Maryland, where he engaged in merchandising and in farming. In 1874 he returned to business in Salisbury, retiring in March, 1877. He served one term as county auditor, was a number of times school director and held various other borough offices. He was a deacon in the German Baptist church and a lifelong Republican. Mr. Livengood mar- ried, in 1850, Nancy, daughter of Peter Lichty, of Elk Lick township, and the following were their children: Ananias, born May 9, 1851; Urias, died in childhood; Mary, born January 28, 1854, died March 11, 1877; she was wife of M. C. Horner, of Summit township; Nancy, born December 24, 1856; Fanny, born February 22, 1859, wife of the Rev. A. D. Gnagey, of Al- toona, Pennsylvania; William, born March 22, 1861, married, in 1887, Louisa Eisfeller, of Toledo, Ohio, and lives at Seattle, Washington; Peter Lincoln, born December 14, 1863, see for- ward; Sarah, born April 18, 1867, wife of Oliver Heitzman, of Palouse. Washington; Jonas, born September 13, 1868, married Laura Hooper, of Canada, and lives at Santa Cruz, California; and Annie, born November 24, 1872, resides at Palouse, Wash-
154
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
ington. Mr. Livengood, the father of the family, was instantly killed by a fall of coal in a coal mine, August 2, 1882. Mrs. Nancy Livengood died July 25, 1898.
Peter Lincoln Livengood, son of Samuel J. and Nancy (Lichty) Livengood, was born December 14, 1863, in Garrett county, Maryland, and received his education in the public schools of that place and of Salisbury, Pennsylvania. At the age of eighteen he left school and thereafter worked at farming, lumbering and mining until November, 1886, when he went to Nebraska and there learned the printer's trade. From 1887 to 1891 he edited the Carleton Times, of Carleton, Nebraska. He then returned to Salisbury and founded the Somerset County Star in 1891, which he has since successfully edited. Since December 24, 1898, he has been postmaster of Elk Lick. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party. He is a member of the Knights of Maccabees.
Mr. Livengood married, February 14, 1889, Minnie V., daughter of F. J. Green, of Carleton, Nebraska, and they have been the parents of the following children: Alma Grace, born January 13, 1890; Florence, November 28, 1891; Robert, No- vember 14, 1892, died December 12, 1892; Ada Irene, February 9, 1894; Minnie Iona, December 14, 1897; William Samuel, Sep- tember 8, 1900; and Theodore Franklin, August 19, 1903.
FREDERICK ROWE.
Frederick Rowe, of Meyersdale, mine owner and coal op- erator, recognized as a master of his calling, is of English birth and ancestry and comes of a family which has long been identified with coal interests. His grandfather, Peter Rowe, was the first of the family to come to the United States, first settling in Ohio and then removing to Illinois, where both he and his wife died. In this country he labored successfully as a miner, utilizing the valuable experience of his youth in his native land. He married, in England, Hannah Vickers, and they were the parents of twelve children, five only of whom came to maturity. Some of the sons came with the father to America and followed his calling.
John Rowe, son of Peter and Hannah (Vickers) Rowe, was born in Durham, England, in 1834. He worked in English coal mines until 1870, when he came to the United States, working at mining in Ohio and Illinois. He subsequently came to Penn- sylvania, settling in Meyersdale, where he is living a life of pleasant and well earned retirement. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and in politics is a Republican. He married, in England, in January, 1860, Frances, a daugh- ter of William and Nancy James, and to them were born twelve children, six in England and six in the United States: Fred-
155
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
erick, see forward; Thomas, a miner, living in Illinois; William and Peter, miners, residing in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania; Frances, wife of Benjamin Green, of Meyersdale; Hannah, died in infancy; Jane, wife of Frank Beynon, of Meyersdale; Han- nah, wife of John Finnegan, of Meyersdale; Barbara, wife of George Seihl, of Meyersdale; John and Matthew, miners, liv- ing in Meyersdale. The parents of this family, now in their declining years, have the great satisfaction of seeing their large family honorably and usefully established in life, and all, with the exception of Thomas, living near them. Only once has the family circle been broken, their second daughter, Hannalı, dying in infancy.
Frederick Rowe. eldest child of John and Frances (James) Rowe, was born in the county of Durham, England, December 5, 1860. He was ten years old when he accompanied his par- ents to the United States, and here he attended the public schools, supplementing the education he had received in his native land. At an early age he began working in the coal mines, and followed his occupation industriously until he was twenty-five years old. He was ambitious to fit himself for a higher place in life than that of an ordinary miner, and he studied to qualify himself for the position of fire and mine boss, and in due course presented himself for examination, which he successfully passed in Allegheny county, Pennsylva- nia, where he served efficiently for five years in the capacity of mine foreman. Having accumulated some means, he then acquired an interest in a coal mine at Meyersdale, Pennsyl- vania, and became an operator on his own account, and from that time has been actively engaged, and coming to be known as one of the leading operators of this portion of Pennsylvania. His principal interests include the ownership and operating of the Mystic mine, on the Salisbury branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad; part ownership of the Fairview Coal Company; presidency of the Elk Lick Coal Company; a directorship in the Erie Coal and Coke Company, the Bessemer Coal and Coke Company and the Livengood Coal and Coke Company, and the vice-presidency and general managership of the Pittsburg and Somerset Coal Company. He takes an active and useful part in community affairs and has been for nine years a member of the Meyersdale borough council, of which body he is now president. He is a staunch Republican and has twice been the candidate of his party for the legislature. He is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and of its official board. He has taken high rank in the Masonic order, and is affiliated with the following bodies: Meyersdale Lodge, No. 554, F. and A. M .; Meyersdale Chapter, R. A. M .; Uniontown Commandery, No. 49, K. T. He is also a member of Jaffa Temple, A. A. O.
156
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
N. M. S., of Altoona, and the Royal Arcanum, Meyersdale. Mr. Rowe has his business offices in Center street, Meyersdale, and his family residence is at Beachley street.
Mr. Rowe married, June 1, 1882, Clara E. Burnside, a daughter of James L. and Emma (Underwood) Burnside, liv- ing near Kankakee, Illinois, her father being a builder. She was born February 9, 1861, was educated in the public schools and at Onarga Academy, and was for some time engaged as a teacher in Illinois schools. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Rowe are the parents of the following named children: Clyde, born October 23, 1883, su- perintendent of mines at Freeport, Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania; Clarence, born September 19, 1886, foreman of mines at Meyersdale, Pennsylvania; Frederick E., born January 4, 1889, just entering Wesleyan College, where he will fit him- self for the legal profession; Harry, born December 9, 1891; Llewellen H., born November 12, 1893; Ralph Waldo, born July 24, 1895; Clara E., born August 2, 1899; Frank Ehlen, born July 2, 1902.
THOMAS WILLIAM GURLEY.
Thomas William Gurley, a resident of Meyersdale, Somer- set county, Pennsylvania, and prominently identified with the commercial and financial interests of that community, traces his descent back to the time of William the Conqueror, who had as his confidential adviser in legal and spiritual matters a De Gourley, the earliest known ancestor of the Gurley family. The name Lycurgus, which occurs so frequently in this family, prob- ably owes its use to the fact that this ancestor was the law giver to a king, as Lycurgus of olden times was a law maker. This De Gourley was rewarded by William the Conqueror with large estates in Scotland.
(I) Thomas Gurley, the great-grandfather of Thomas Will- iam Gurley, was by occupation a teacher in the schools of Mary- land. He took an active part in the political affairs of his time, serving as justice of the peace and as sheriff of Frederick county, Maryland. In his religious belief he was a Presbyterian of the most orthodox sort, and instructed his family in the striet ob- servance of the scriptures as interpreted by John Calvin. He was married three times and among his children was a son, Thomas.
(II) Thomas Gurley, son of Thomas Gurley (1), was born in Frederick county. Maryland, and received an excellent edu- cation. He took up the study of law and was admitted to prac- tice at the bar of Frederick county, Maryland, and became a prominent and successful lawyer. Shortly before the commence- ment of the Civil war, in 1860, he abandoned his profession, re-
157
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
moved from his native county, and settled in Allegheny county, in the same state, where he undertook the management of the Bottlerun tannery. then owned by the De Ford Company. Ten years later he died at his home in that county of heart disease. His political support was given to the Democratic party, and he was a member of the Lutheran church. He married Amanda Stull, of Frederick county, Maryland, and they had children: Amanda, married Thornton Hendrickson, a farmer on the old National Pike, near Cumberland, Maryland; Lycurgus Frank- lin, see forward; Malinda, married Martin Dickens, a miller of Dickens Mills, Maryland; Charlotte, married Charles Eyler, a farmer of Frederick county, Maryland; Jefferson, a merchant of Cumberland, Maryland, who married Emma Brotemikle; Ellen, married Leonard Rice, a farmer, near Cumberland, Mary- land.
(III) Lycurgus Franklin Gurley, second child and eldest son of Thomas (2) and Amanda (Stull) Gurley, was born at Frederick, Maryland, July 17, 1840. He received a good com- mon school education, displaying remarkable aptitude as a scholar, and was offered a scholarship in an institute of learn- ing, which he declined, preferring a commercial career. He ac- cepted a position as clerk in a store at Bottle Run, Maryland, and held this for several years. He then purchased a farm in Allegheny county, Maryland, to the cultivation and improve- ment of which he devoted his entire time and attention since that period, and on which he resides at the present time. His religious convictions are deeply rooted and he is actively iden- tified with the Lutheran church, which he serves in the capacity of deacon. His political affiliations are with the Democratic party. He married Rose Ann Frantz, daughter of William Frantz, of Allegheny county, Maryland, and had children: Clara L., resides in Cumberland. Thomas William, see forward. Charles R., a farmer of Allegheny county, married Bessie Twiggs, and has two children. Frank, unmarried, cultivates the home farm. May, married Winters Wentling, a blacksmith near Cumberland, and has one son. Lycurgus, unmarried, a well known physician of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, making a specialty of diseases of the eye. Jessie, married Ira Long, principal of the Bedford high school, Bedford, Pennsylvania, and has chil- dren: Sarah and Lycurgus. Howard, a watchmaker in the Hamilton watch factory, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Oscar, unmarried, assists on the home farm. Two children who died in infancy.
(IV) Thomas William Gurley, second child and eldest son of Lycurgus Franklin (3) and Rose Ann (Frantz) Gurley, was born in Allegheny county, Maryland, August 26, 1867. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native
158
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
county, and he subsequently spent three years at Wilson's Acad- emy, in Cumberland, Maryland, from which he was graduated in 1887. Upon the completion of his education he determined to learn the jeweler's trade, and after a time was apprenticed for three years to L. C. Rossler, a jeweler of Cumberland, Maryland. He completed his apprenticeship in 1892 and then spent one year in travel-four months abroad and eight months in the United States and Canada. He then located in Meyers- dale, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and there opened a jew- eler's store, November 10, 1893. He was very successful in this business undertaking, carrying a complete line of the finest goods, and enjoying a large and ever increasing patronage, and has continued it up to the present time (1906). In 1898 he added to his stock a complete line of sporting goods, and in the same year purchased the corner property on Center street, known as the Gurley Block, which he now occupies, and in which he also resides. He is interested in many other business enter- prises; is a stockholder in the Livengood Coal and Coke Com- pany of Meyersdale, and has large real estate holdings. Early in 1906 he opened an automobile repair shop and garage. He has taken a great interest in automobiles since their first ap- pearance in this country, and built the first car that crossed the Alleghenies. This was in 1898. He now owns several cars and takes frequent trips in them. Mr. Gurley is fraternally asso- ciated with the following organizations: Meyersdale Lodge No. 554, Free and Accepted Masons, Meyersdale; Hebron Chap- ter No. 272; Johnstown Commandery No. 61, Altoona; Jaffa Shrine, and Harrisburg Consistory. In religious faith he is a Lutheran and in politics a Republican.
He married (first), June 5, 1895, May Gunter, daughter of John Gunter, of Frostburg, Maryland, and had two children: Edith, born May 10, 1896, and Sarah, May 4, 1899. Mrs. Gur- ley died May 19, 1899. He married (second), January 1, 1902, Anna Thomas, daughter of W. W. Thomas, of Lansford, Penn- sylvania, and they have two children: Thomas William, Jr., born October 12, 1902, and Lycurgus Franklin, September 12, 1905.
LUTHER A. SMITH.
Luther Auxer Smith, a resident of Meyersdale, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was born August 4, 1833, at Elizabeth- town, Lancaster county, the son of Conrad and Catherine (Auxer) Smith, the latter a daughter of Michael Auxer, of Switzerland.
Conrad Smith was born in 1772 in Dauphin county. He was the owner of considerable land at Elizabethtown, which he afterwards sold for building lots. He married Catherine Auxer, June 20, 1830, and they were the parents of two chil-
159
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
dren: Michael A., who died in infancy, and Luther A., of whom more hereafter. Conrad Smith was a Democrat and a member of the Evangelical church. He was captain of the Elizabethtown Blues and served in the war of 1812 and fought the British at the time Proctor burned Washington. He died January 22, 1856; Catherine, his wife, died April 16, 1850, aged fifty-two.
Inther A. Smith attended the subscription schools of Lan- caster county until 1846, when he entered the academy at Mari- etta, Lancaster county, graduating in 1850. He then removed to Philadelphia, where he found employment as bookkeeper at the Red Line Hotel, and was thus engaged until 1854. In that year he returned to Lancaster county and taught school until 1860, when, July 1, he went to Grantsville, Maryland, and there engaged in teaching until the breaking out of the Civil war. He enlisted in Company A, Tenth Pennsylvania Reserves, which was the first company to go to the front from this section, and was under the command of Captain R. P. Cummings, of Somerset. This company went through twenty- three battles, and Mr. Smith participated in all except two, being forty-three times under fire, and in all engagements dis- tinguishing himself for his fearlessness and intrepidity on the field of action. He was wounded and partially paralyzed on the third day of the second battle of Bull Run, and was there- fore unable to participate in the battles of Antietam and Fred- erieksburg. He was eonfined with his wounds for some time, but was able to accompany the regiment on the march toward Gettysburg, which was then ealled the "stiek in the mud march." Owing to the paralysis of his left side the arniy surgeon re- fused to allow him to remain, and he was sent to the Point Hospital, where he became clerk to Dr. Davis, who had charge of the Third Brigade Hospital. Some of the battles in which Mr. Smith fought are as follows: Drainesville, Seven Days before Richmond, Second Battle of Bull Run, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna River and Bethes- da Church. The whole regiment was mustered out under fire at the last place, June, 1864.
Mr. Smith afterwards passed the commissioned officers' examinations at Washington, District of Columbia, but sur- geons refused him, owing to physical disabilities. He returned home June 26, 1864, and in the following month engaged in teaching in the normal school at Salisbury, Pennsylvania, con- timing until the fall, when he became associated with the W. and J. Smith store at Salisbury as bookkeeper, remaining until 1867. He then resumed teaching, being engaged in the normal schools in the late summer and fall and the regular schools in the winter seasons. He was appointed to the office of principal
160
BEDFORD AND SOMERSET COUNTIES
of all Salisbury schools, and filled this office creditably. He continued his school work until April, 1872.
In 1872 he embarked in the newspaper business. In com- pany with Mr. George S. Suhrie he started the Salisbury In- dependent, a six-column, four-page paper. The first copy ap- peared February 1, 1872. In June of the following year they purchased the Dale City Record, published at Meyersdale, and changed the name to the Valley Independent. Mr. Smith very successfully edited these papers until October, 1873, when they discontinued the first named, and moved the printing office to Meyersdale. The business failed in the panic of 1877 and the whole establishment was purchased the following year by J. W. Hawk, who after a short time removed it to Connellsville. In the meantime Mr. Smith organized the Meyersdale Commer- cial Company by floating stock, all of which was taken by local business men and bought back by Mr. Smith early in 1882. He is a progressive, enterprising business man, and is held in the highest confidence and esteem throughout the community. The Commercial is an earnest, forceful paper and an instrument of power in the community. Editor Smith is a Republican in politics, and interested in all party affairs. In religious faith he affiliates with the Meyersdale Reformed church. Frater- nally he holds membership in the F. and A. M., G. A. R., and is quartermaster and past commander of Michael C. Lowry Post of Meyersdale.
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.