USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 18
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 18
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WILLIAM F. WOOD.
William F. Wood, a contractor, of Somerset, was born in Syracuse, Onondaga county, New York, March 20, 1854, a son of I. G. and Helen O. (Phillips) Wood, whose family con- sisted of five other children, namely: George E., Clinton R., Fredrick, Minnie B., and May. I. G. Wood (father) was born in Auburn, Cayuga county, New York, in 1831, died in Syra- cuse, New York, in 1902; he served as cashier in the Mer- chants' Bank in Syracuse for a number of years. His wife, Helen O. (Phillips) Wood, was a native of Syracuse, daughter of George Phillips, who was also born in Syracuse, New York, a descendant of a family of English origin, who, upon their arrival in this country, settled in Syracuse, New York.
William F. Wood acquired his preliminary education in the common schools of his neighborhood, and later pursued ad- vanced studies at the Courtland Preparatory School. He then served an apprenticeship at the trade of carpenter, in the mean- time learning the architect scroll work, and being thus well equipped has succeeded in his vocation of contractor, which he followed for several years in Kansas City, and which he is now following in Somerset, Pennsylvania. He has superintended
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the construction of many large public buildings in the following states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, lowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, including the court houses in Marion county and Clinton county, Iowa; the postoffice at Davenport, Iowa; the court house at Parkersburg, West Virginia; Stark county, Indiana; Ottawa county, Ohio; many large structures in Chicago, Illinois; a court house at New Martinsvule, West Virginia; the capitol annex of West Vir- ginia; hospital for the state of Ohio at Gallipolis; court house at Fairfield, Nebraska; the great horticultural hall of the St. Louis exposition; building at Kansas City, Missouri; and is now working on the Trust Company's building and the three hundred thousand dollar court house at Somerset, Pennsyl- vania. He has also superintended many large structures in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and worked at various points in Col- orado.
He is a willing supporter of the Republican party, and in religious convictions both himself and his wife are adherents of the Universalist faith. While a resident of Kansas City, Mis- souri, he was a member of the city council and chairman of the county central committee in 1886. In civic society matters he is up-to-date, belonging to the Order of Elks, No. 198, at Parkers- burg, West Virginia; is also a member of Chicago Lodge No. 765, of the Masonic fraternity. He is fully interested in all the measures that tend towards the growth and success of his adopt- ed city-Somerset, Pennsylvania,-of which he is in all respects a representative citizen.
Mr. Wood married (first), March 11, 1874, Louisa Cronk, the granddaughter of Hiram Cronk, who attained the extreme old age of one hundred and five years, and who, at his death, was the oldest veteran of the Revolutionary war. By this union the following children were born: Emma J., wife of Ralph Young, of Kansas City, Missouri; Lanra Nette, wife of George M. Pettit, of Chicago, Illinois; Helen F., unmarried; Grace, wife of - -; Minnie B., wife of - -; Clinton R., unmarried. Louisa (Cronk) Wood, the mother of these children, died Sep- tember 20, 1900. For his second wife Mr. Wood married, in 1902, Frances L. Miller, daughter of Emanuel Miller, of St. Joseph, Missouri.
JACOB S. PICKING, JR.
Jacob S. Pieking, Jr., a leading druggist of Somerset, Som- erset county, Pennsylvania, was there born October 30, 1879, the son of Jacob S. and Maria L. (Imhoff) Picking. He is of German descent. His father is a native of Jenner township, Somerset county, born January 22, 1848. He engaged in the hotel and livery business, and is now living a retired life. His
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wife, Maria L. Imhoff, was born February 12, 1848, in Somerset. They have seven children, viz .: Barnet, Milton, Joseph, Flor- ence, Jacob S., of whom later; Marion and Robert.
Jacob S. Picking, Jr., was educated in the public and high schools of his native place, and deciding to engage in the drug business, he found employment in a drug store, where he was occupied for three years. He then entered the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and in 1901 was graduated from that in- stitution with the degree of Doctor of Pharmacy. After a year and a half spent in the service of John M. Toney, he located in Berlin, Somerset county, and was there engaged for two years in the conduct of a drug establishment. He subsequently re- moved his business to Somerset, being located on Main street, where he enjoys a generous and ever increasing patronage.
Mr. Picking married, October 1, 1903, Miss Ruey F. Boyd, born August 16, 1881, in Franklin county, daughter of Alexander and Emma (McCreary) Boyd. Alexander Boyd was a con- tractor of Plate Glass Works. He and his wife had children as follows: Frank, Charles, Grace, Samuel, Ruey F. (Mrs. Pick- ing), Effie and Ford. Mr. and Mrs. Picking have one child, J. Wilfred Boyd, born June 29, 1905.
MORRISON FAMILY.
The following treats of the family to which belongs Walter Luther Morrison, a music dealer of Somerset borough, who was born August 23, 1865, son of John Henry Morrison. The Mor- risons originally emigrated from Scotland.
(I) John Morrison, of Scotch parentage, was born in 1795 and died on the old Morrison homestead in Jefferson township, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1865, aged sixty- nine years, eight months and twenty-three days, the record reads. He bought the above named homestead in June, 1807, and the grandsons have in their possession the deed which was written on "sheep-skin." But three transfers have been made on this land from the United States patent to the present owners, Walter L. and F. W. Morrison, grandsons of John Morrison. This farm is situated about seven miles from the borough of Somerset, Pennsylvania. John Morrison married Rachel Ted- row. born August, 1802, died August 6, 1882. By this issue were born Mary Ann, Catharine Jane, David King, Rebecca K., Sarah A., Missouri, John Henry, born August 24, 1842, Hen- rietta Minerva, born January 17, 1846.
(II) John Henry Morrison, son of John and Rachel (Ted- row) Morrison (1), born August 24, 1842, on the homestead above described in Jefferson township, Somerset county, Penn- sylvania, was educated in the common schools and has followed farming all his life. Politically he is a Republican. In their
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religion the family are Lutherans. He died November 5, 1905. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and Royal Arcanum lodges at Somerset. He married, November 3, 1863, Alice Ann Mason, born February 17, 1840. By this union the issue was: Bina Elmira, born September 6, 1864, married Harry Brough, a farmer; Walter L., born August 23, 1865, music dealer at Som- erset, married Maggie E. Fox; Edith Minerva, born November 23. 1866, married Samnel Stoffer, a Lutheran minister, now re- siding in Canada; Rachel Rebecca, born May 10, 1868, married Ed. E. Morrison, a merchant; Mary Ann, born September 8, 1869, died in infancy; Thomas Monroe, born September 16, 1873, married Edna MeCleary; Freeman Ward, born January 6, 1875, married Stella Jorder; Nettie Jane, born September 4, 1876, married George Countryman; Myrtle Grace, born Febru- ary 8, 1880, with her parents at home in Jefferson township.
Of the Masons it may be said in this connection that they came from England. The grandfather, Thomas Mason, died January 16, 1874, aged almost seventy years. His wife, Rebecca (Long) Mason, died March 11, 1886, aged sixty-six years and six months. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mason were: Alice A., Harrison H., born April 7, 1842; Edith, Jenny, Lewis, Amanda, Thomas, James, Flora-Jennetta.
(III) Walter Luther Morrison, son of John Henry and Alice Ann (Mason) Morrison, born August 23, 1865, received an education such as was afforded in the district schools of his na- tive township, Jefferson, Somerset county, Pennsylvania. He was reared to farm labor and after he left school went to Car- roll and Lee counties, Illinois, where he farmed about a dozen years. While in Illinois he was employed by Miller, the music dealer of some note, at Dixon, of that state. He was with him five years, after which he went into the music trade on his own account at Lanark, Illinois. In January, 1901, he returned to Somerset, Pennsylvania, where he established the first exclusive music house of the place. In 1902 George W. Knepper became his partner, but a year later he withdrew and I. T. Holland be- came partner and they are both proprietors of what is styled the "Morrison Music Company," whose place of business is No. 34 Main street, Somerset, Pennsylvania. Their trade is exten- sive and reaches out over Somerset. Cambria, Bedford, West- moreland and Fayette counties, Pennsylvania, as well as over into the state of Maryland. Among the pianos handled by this firm are the "Weber," "Steck," "Emerson," "Schaeffer," "Wheelock." "Stuyvesant," "Keller." They also handle the best of automatic instruments and carry a full line of organs and sewing machines. Eight men are employed and five teams are kept busy in the rural district. Mr. Morrison is a member of the United Evangelical church. He protects his family by a
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membership in "old line" and fraternal insurance companies, being a member of the Woodmen of America.
In domestic relations it may be said that Mr. Morrison married, January 14, 1886, at Fair Haven, Illinois, Maggie E., daughter of Henry and Sarah (Senneff) Fox, born May 14, 1867, at Fair Haven, Illinois. Her paternal grandfather was Godfrey Fox, of German descent. In the family of Henry and Sarah Fox were born the following children: Mrs. Elizabeth Miller, Mary Flick, Mina Sinflinger, Mrs. Eliza Longfellow, Mrs. Anna McMillen, Elias B., William H., Maggie Ellen (Mrs. Walter L. Morrison), Cyrus Edwin, and three who died in in- fancy, John, Elsie and Sarah Alice. To Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Morrison have been born: Hazel May, February 8, 1887, died October 10, 1897; Clarence Guy, May 15, 1889; Helen Grace, February 21, 1898; Harry Edwin, June 16, 1900. The living of these children are all in the public schools of Somerset, obtain- ing a good education.
CHARLES H. FISHER.
Charles H. Fisher, wholesale dealer in books, stationery, etc., at Somerset, Pennsylvania, is a native of Edinburg, John- son county, Indiana, born November 17, 1845, the son of Benja- min Franklin and Amanda M. (Schell) Fisher. Though a Hoosier by nativity, Mr. Fisher is in blood and brain and nerve of good old Pennsylvania stock.
Benjamin Franklin Fisher, father, was born in York, Penn- sylvania, and was of Holland ancestry. He married in 1844, in Somerset, Pennsylvania, Amanda M. Schell, a member of the old and highly esteemed Schell family, of Bedford and Somer- set counties, Pennsylvania. On the maternal side Mr. Fisher comes from the Schneider family, who were the original settlers at, and who laid out, the town of Somerset. Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fisher moved to Akron, Ohio, thence to Edinburg, Indiana. A few months after settling in the latter place Mr. Fisher died. His wife and son, Charles H., returned at once to Somerset, where the boy was reared from the age of eighteen months to early manhood.
Charles H. Fisher received a common school education, and had the benefit of special home and normal training under one of the most efficient and eminent educators of the state, Pro- fessor Joseph J. Stutzman. At the age of fifteen Mr. Fisher was a teacher in the common schools and an assistant in the normal schools of the county. September 12, 1861, when still lacking two months of being sixteen years of age, he enlisted at Pittsburg in the Union army, in Captain W. L. Foulke's com- pany of infantry, and a few days later was mustered into the service at Harrisburg as a member of Company B, Forty-sixth
Chas. It. fisher
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Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. The regiment at once went to the front, its first smell of powder being at the battle of Ball's Bluff. His regiment was in constant active service and participated in the battles of Cedar Creek, Winchester, Cedar Mountain, second battle of Bull Run, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Lookout Mountain, and marched through Georgia to the sea with Sher- man. May 2. 1863, in the second day's fighting at the battle of Chancellorsville, Private Fisher was left lying on the field of carnage with a wound through both thighs, made by an ounce musket ball. The bone of the right thigh was broken entirely apart and badly shattered. A year in the hospitals of Wash- ington and Philadelphia resulted, when his three-year term of enlistment having expired, he was mustered out of the service. May 20, 1865, he left Somerset for the then boundless West, and for over twelve years followed the varying fortunes of a pros- pector, gold miner, and restless, adventurous traveler. During this time he traversed the country from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, and from the British line to the Isthmus of Panama. Those were the days before the Union Pacific Rail- road was built; millions of buffaloes roamed the great plains, and the Indians were numerous and hostile. The gold and silver mining camps of the Rocky mountains were filled with a rest- less, aggressive and hardy class of men, and amid such sur- roundings, embracing many exciting and dangerous experi- ences, Mr. Fisher's early character was formed. He spent six months among the Mormons of Utah in the palmy days of. Brigham Young, when polygamy flourished at its height, and in fact went to Utah to study the peculiar tenets of Mormonism. During his six years' residence in California he filled several official positions of trust and responsibility, for which his su- perior abilities qualified him, and which abilities naturally at- tracted public attention. At this time of life his mind was much of a literary bent, and his contributions to newspapers were ex- tensively copied and favorably commented upon. In 1878, tak- ing steamer at San Francisco, he returned east by way of Pan- ama, and has since uninterruptedly resided in Somerset, Penn- sylvania. April 1, 1880, he engaged in the book, stationery and news business, since which time he has been conducting an ex- tensive wholesale store, his trade extending into the surround- ing counties and states.
In his political relations Mr. Fisher accords allegiance to the Democratic party, and has ever taken an active interest in party affairs. He has served four terms as chairman of the Democratic committee, and has been the party's represent- ative at the state conventions numerous times. During his ineumbeney as county chairman, through his efficiency in the
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presidential campaign of 1880, his party east in the county the largest vote it had ever attained. and which has never since been equalled. A patriotic, public-spirited citizen, Mr. Fisher has at all times been willing and ready to lend his assistance to all enterprises tending to advance the interests of the com- munity. He helped organize the First National Bank of Som- erset, and was elected one of the first directors; he was one of the prime movers in establishing the Electric Light Company, of which he is treasurer and director. He is also largely in- terested in the opera house, and in fact is always to the front when public improvements and interests are concerned.
He married, October 3, 1882, Emlie Coffroth, daughter of William B. Coffroth. Two children have blessed this union: Helen C., born September 3, 1883, and Chauncey Mitchell, March S, 1885. The standing, socially, of Mr. Fisher and his family is with the best citizens of Somerset county, as well as other parts of the state, their antecedents as well as their natural merits securing for them the highest esteem.
ALONZO CHAMBERLAIN.
Alonzo Chamberlain, now a nonagenarian, but all through his active life in three states-New York, Maryland and Penn- sylvania-has been prominent in the political and business world, and an important factor in the development of Somerset county, was born in Austerlitz, New York, January 16, 1817. He comes of pure revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Jonathan Cham- berlain, was a soldier under General Gates, fought at the battle of Saratoga and saw the surrender of Burgoyne, and died aged eighty years. Among the children of Jonathan Chamberlain was a son David, born about the year 1750, at Hillsdale, New York, and a farmer in his native state all his life. He inherited the patriotic ardor of his sire and was a volunteer in the war of 1812 with the rank of lieutenant. He was an active and devout member of the Presbyterian church, in which he served as elder. He was a pronounced Democrat and an admirer and follower of Thomas Jefferson. He married Sarah West, daugh- ter of Abner West, a native of Connecticut. She lived to be over ninety years of age, and was also a Presbyterian. Their children were ten in number, six of whom arrived at maturity, namely : Clarinda, Harriet, Eliza and Alonzo, twins; Caroline, and Emmeline.
Alonzo Chamberlain obtained his education in the district schools of his day, supplemented by much study and reading. He taught in the county schools for six winter terms and thus added greatly to his own store of knowledge. He spent a few years in mercantile life in Austerlitz, and in 1856 removed to Maryland, where he entered the service of the American Coal
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Company at Lonaconing, Allegheny county, and became super- intendent of the company, a position he retained until 1870. In that year he organized the Maryland Coal Company with a capital of one million dollars, and was the first president of the company. Mr. Chamberlain, appreciating the value of Somer- set county coal properties and foreseeing the great possibili- ties of this section, associated himself with other prominent business men and purchased coal property at Meyersdale. This company was known as the Cumberland and Elk Lick Coal Company, and for twenty-five years Mr. Chamberlain was man- ager of their extensive mines. In 1899 he retired from active business, and has since lived a quiet, contented life at his com- fortable home on Main street, Meyersdale.
Always a Democrat, Mr. Chamberlain has been an active politician and even yet retains a deep interest. In 1853 he was elected a member of the legislature of the state of New York and served with credit, declining a renomination. In the stormy days of 1861 in Maryland, he was elected as a Union man to the legislature of that state. After taking up his resi- dence in Pennsylvania, he sought no public office but was elected again and again to the common council of Meyersdale, serving in all fourteen consecutive years, until he absolutely declined re-election. He was high in the councils of the Democratic party and a warm personal friend of General Alexander Coff- roth, the Democratic war horse of the county and ex-congress- man.
Mr. Chamberlain married, in 1873, Elizabeth Piper, of New Hampshire. Two children blessed his marriage: Walter Scott, who died in August, 1893, and Charles A., who died in infancy. Mrs. Chamberlain died in 1893. Now past ninety Mr. Chamberlain is a fine, healthy example of a well-preserved American gentleman. Smiling and courteous he gives little evidence of the great weight of years he carries. With none of near kin around him, he awaits the final summons with a calm dignity. conscious of a life of well meant endeavor and a conscience void of offense toward all men. He is known and loved by all.
GEORGE BENJAMIN MASTERS, M.D.
George Benjamin Masters, M.D., a practicing physician of Rockwood, born at Berlin, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1856, traces his ancestry to George Masters, who came to this country from England when a young man, settled in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, where his death occurred at the advanced age of about eighty-eight years. His time and attention was especially devoted to educational work, and for many years he followed the vocation of school teacher. He
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was a member of the Lutheran church. He was twice married, one of his wives having been a Miss Hull.
Benjamin Masters, son of George Masters, the immigrant ancestor, followed the occupation of farming throughout the active years of his life. He was also a noted deer hunter, having shot over one hundred. He was a very pious man, of great industry and good judgment, a member of the Lutheran church. and served in the capacity of poor house director and county commissioner. His wife, Mary Masters, who was loved by everybody with whom she came in contact, and who faith- fully and conscientiously performed the duties of wife and mother. was a constant reader of the Scriptures whenever at leisure, reading the same in the German language. Benjamin Masters died June 23, 1877, aged seventy-three years, and his wife. Mary Masters, died December 17, 1871, aged sixty-seven years. Their children are as follows:
1. Cyrus, born February 25, 1825, died in some western state. 2. Emanuel, born November 9, 1827, of whom later. 3. Elizabeth, born August 31, 1830, became the wife of Hugh Auman. by whom she had a large family. 4. George Benjamin, born November 29, 1834. 5. Peter, born December 17, 1838, was engaged in the retail shoe business at Toledo, Ohio, where his death occurred; he left a wife and two sons. 6. Mary Jane, born July 2, 1846, became the wife of Harry Stutzman. to whom she hore a large family; they reside in Somerset county, Penn- sylvania. 7. Angeline, born April 12, 1849, became the wife of Jackson Saylor, to whom she bore a large family; they reside in Somerset, Pennsylvania.
Emanuel Masters, second son of Benjamin and Mary Mas- ters, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, November 9, 1827. He received a common school education, after which he learned the trade of harness and saddle maker, and for many vears was a manufacturer of those articles in the town of Berlin, Pennsylvania. He was elected to fill the offices of postmaster and justice of the peace, in which capacities he served with credit and distinction. He is a consistent member of the Luth- eran church, and his political allegiance is given to the Repub- lican party. He was united in marriage to Mary Jane Lane, born in Berlin, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Peter and Mary Lane, American born, who came to Somerset county from Adams county, Pennsylvania. Peter Lane was a harness and saddle manufacturer, and was a soldier and cap- tain in the war of 1812. The children of this union were as follows :
1. Elverna, born March 19, 1852, died from diphtheria in childhood. 2. Martha Jane, born May 8, 1854, became the wife of Theodore Flato, of Berlin, Pennsylvania, where she now re-
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sides, in good health, and they are the parents of a number of children. 3. George Benjamin, born March 5, 1856, of whom later. 4. Mary Adaline, born March 14, 1858. 5. Lizzie Cordelia, born October 16, 1860, unmarried, resides with her aged father in Berlin, Pennsylvania, where for many years she has con- ducted a millinery store; she is a member of the Lutheran church, as is also her sister, Martha Jane. 6. Ellen Amanda, born March 5, 1863, widow of Dr. Frank B. Walker, who died at Ligonier, Pennsylvania, in early manhood, with the promise of a brilliant future. He left one son, John, who has been ap- pointed to West Point, and who, with his mother, resides in Ber- lin, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Walker is associated in the millinery business with her sister, Lizzie C. Masters. The mother of these children, who was a consistent member of the Lutheran church, and a faithful wife and mother, died December 17, 1871, aged sixty-seven years.
George Benjamin Masters, only son of Emanuel and Mary Jane (Lane) Masters, received his early education in the pub- lic and normal schools of Berlin, Pennsylvania, and this was supplemented by a course at Mount Union College, Ohio. After teaching school at Pine Hill, Pennsylvania, one term, and in Bedford county, he began the study of medicine under the di- rection of William A. Garman, M. D., of Berlin, Pennsylvania, and received his medical degree in 1879 from the Medical Col- lege of Ohio, at Cincinnati, Ohio. He entered upon the practice of his profession at Somerset, Pennsylvania, in 1880, where he remained but one year. He then removed to Shanksville, Penn- sylvania, and after a residence of about one and one-half years there, he, with his family, moved to Illinois, in which state he practiced until 1885, when he returned to Pennsylvania, locat- ing at Rockwood, where he has since resided and engaged in the active practice of his profession. Dr. Masters keeps in touch with the advanced ideas along the line of his profession by mem- bership in the County, State and American Medical Associa- tions. He has held various borough offices, serving in town council and as school director. Dr. Masters is a Lutheran in religion, a Republican in politics, and a member of the Royal Arcanum, and Modern Woodmen of America. For a number of years he has served as local surgeon for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad.
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