USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 25
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 25
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MICHAEL FRANCIS RILEY.
Michael Francis Riley, station agent at West Salisbury, is a son of James Riley, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to the United States at the age of seventeen and settled in Arm- strong county, Pennsylvania. He married, in 1856, Esther, daughter of William Kennedy, of Freeport, Pennsylvania. Esther came to this country with her three sisters when quite young. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Riley were as follows: Catherine Gertrude, born 1857, wife of James Linnan, of Kit- tanning, Pennsylvania; Michael Francis, see forward; John, born, 1861, married Minna Shibely, of Connellsville; James K., born 1863, married Sarah Ross, of Craigsville; Anna, born 1865, wife of Frank Ketterer, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania;
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William, born 1867, married Mary Verlohr, of Rosston, Penn- sylvania; and Julia, born 1869, wife of Miller Clark, of Craigs- ville, Pennsylvania.
Michael Francis Riley, son of James and Esther (Ken- nedy) Riley, was born December 15, 1859, at Kittanning, Arm- strong county, where he attended the public schools until the age of sixteen. During the next two years he was employed by the Allegheny Valley Railroad Company, and from that time until the age of twenty was a student at St. Vincent's College, near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1879. He then worked as a fireman on the Allegheny Valley railroad until September, 1882, and then moved to West Salisbury, where he has since been station agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Salisbury, and owns the Mountain Tonic Company, of West Salisbury, in which place he also conducts a shoe store. He was at one time judge of elections for the township, being the first Democrat to hold that office in thirty years. He is a member of St. Michael's Roman Catholic church at West Salisbury.
Mr. Riley married, September 19, 1887, Missouri Elizabeth (born January 13, 1869), daughter of Dennis and Mary Wag- ner, of Salisbury. Mrs. Riley descends from one of the old Somerset county families, the Wagners. Dennis Wagner was a son of Peter Wagner, who was all his life a hotel keeper in the county. Dennis Wagner's wife was Mary Loechel, of an- other old county family. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Riley are: James, born April 10, 1889; Edward, December 14, 1890; George, February 7, 1893; Robert, January 14, 1895; Maurice, October 25, 1897; William, March 15, 1900; Mary Esther, May 15, 1902; Margaret Elizabeth, September 26, 1904.
CHARLES ADEN WILT.
Charles Aden Wilt, of Salisbury, is a grandson of The- ophilus Wilt, who was born in Loudon county, Virginia, and was a farmer. As a young man he moved to Allegheny county, Maryland. His wife was Delila Duckworth, of Maryland, whose ancestors came to this country from Germany and set- tled at what is now Elizabeth, New Jersey, being owners of the site of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Wilt were the parents of the following children: John W. (see forward), Eliza, Goulda, Ellen, Jane, Thornton, William, George, Salem, Martha and Peter.
John W. Wilt, son of Theophilus and Delila (Duckworth) Wilt, was born April 16, 1834, in Allegheny (now Garrett) county, Maryland, and, like his father, was an agriculturist. The family are members of the Methodist church. He was a
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Democrat. He married Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of John Kooken, of Allegheny county, and their children were: John Albert, married Zelphia Blocker; Daniel Morris Lincoln, mar- ried Louisa Blocker; Emily Catherine, wife of Lewis Pope; Charles A., see forward; Rebecca Ellen, wife of Frederick Broadwater; Mary Martha, died August 4, 1903, was wife of William Green; Sarah Elizabeth, wife of Guy Cain; Isaac Columbus, married Belle Cassiday; and James Harvey, mar- ried Cora Titus. Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth (Kooken) Wilt died November 15, 1902. John W. Wilt resides in Westernport, Maryland.
Charles Aden Wilt, son of John W. and Sarah Elizabeth (Kooken) Wilt, was born August 7, 1866, in Garrett county, Maryland, where he attended the public and normal schools of the county. From 1885 to 1891 Mr. Wilt taught in the schools of his native county, and afterward worked in various places at lumbering and farming until 1893. He then went into into the real estate business, remaining in Garrett county, and in December, 1896, moved to Salisbury, where he continued in the same business and also conducted a variety store until December, 1904, when he sold the store to C. T. Hay. Mr. Wilt now gives his attention to real estate, and also manages a farm of sixty acres in Elk Lick township. He is interested in sev- eral outside enterprises. He is now serving as president of the town council. He affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, votes with the Democrats and is a member of the Lutheran. church.
Mr. Wilt married, November 26, 1896, Rachel, daughter of Dennis Wagner, of Salisbury, and they are the parents of two sons and a daughter-Charles Dennis, Mary Elizabeth and Rea Ernest.
NORMAN B. KEIM.
The family of which Norman B. Keim, of Elk Lick, is a representative, was planted in Somerset county by Nicholas Keim, who came hither from eastern Pennsylvania soon after the Revolutionary war, and settled near Davidsville, in Cone- maugh township. In 1810 he moved to Elk Lick township and there passed the remainder of his life. He was thrice mar- ried and was the father of twenty-four children. His death oc- curred in 1838.
John Keim, eldest child of Nicholas Keim, was born January 6, 1792, near Berlin, Somerset county, and was a child when his parents moved to what is now Johnstown. He gath- ered walnuts in what is now a populous part of the city, but which then boasted but one house, that being owned and occu- pied by a Mr. Johns, and also used for a school. The only mill
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in that part of the country was six miles away. The dwelling of the Keims was a small building scarcely more than a hut, and some idea of its state may be formed from the fact that a man named Christian Yoder, who was one night the guest of the family, and who, on account of the limited space, was obliged to sleep in the garret, had his slumbers seriously dis- turbed by the playful antics of a number of rats and the con- tinual. noise of a rattlesnake.
Mr. Johns, mentioned above, laid out part of the city of Johnstown, and after selling his building lots, bought a farm seven miles away. While living there he was robbed of four hundred dollars, which was quite a fortune for that time and place. A short time after this he died, and the Keim family moved to Elk Lick township, taking up their abode on what is now known as the J. J. Keim farm, the place being then owned by John Hendricks, who lived in a log house which is still standing. Peter Livengood lived on the adjoining farm, which is now the property of Jeremiah B. Keim, a grandson of John Keim. The site of Peter Livengood's house is now occupied by the residence of Michael Hay, and is included within the limits of Salisbury. A century ago it was the only house in the immediate vicinity, and the place was called Shirestown. Berkley lived at Berkley's Mills, and Beechley close to what is now Meyersdale, but was then Meyers' Mills. These two, John Berkley and John Beechley, were preachers of the denomination known as the Brethren, Dunkard or Ger- man Baptist, and services were held in Peter Livengood's house. There was no mill nearer than twenty-five miles, and schools, when held at all, met in private houses. John Keim's first teacher is remembered as "Jack Griffith."
John Keim married, April 11, 1813, Barbara, born in 1789, daughter of C. L. Livengood, and lived in the old Hendricks place until 1815, when he moved to Fayette county, remaining there until 1824. In that year, at the request of his father, he returned home and purchased ninety acres of the homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Keim had children: Henry; John J., see for- ward; Elizabeth, deceased; Susan, deceased; Catharine, wife of Lewis Bockes; Mary, deceased; Diana, wife of Solomon Engle; Nancy, wife of Henry Miller; Barbara, wife of Jeffer- son Speicher; and Sarah, wife of Philip Hoffman. Both Mr. and Mrs. Keim lived to be over ninety.
John J. "Keim, son of John and Barbara (Livengood) Keim, was born July 2, 1826, in Elk Lick township, and was a farmer. He married Diana, daughter of Jonathan Berkley, by whom he was the father of the following children: Jere- miah B., Ezra, Norman B. (see forward), Nancy and Caroline. After the death of the mother of these children, Mr. Keim mar-
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ried Sarah Beachly. the issue of the marriage being Lucinda, Martha, Harvey and Mary.
Norman B. Keim, son of John J. and Diana (Berkley) Keim, was born November 11, 1856, in Elk Lick township, where he attended the public schools until the age of sixteen He was the assistant of his father in the management and Jabors of the homestead until 1880. In 1885 he purchased of his father a portion of the home farm consisting of ninety-six acres. On this land he has since made his home, devoting him- self to its cultivation and to the raising of stock. He is a Re- publican and a member of the Progressive Brethren church.
Mr. Keim married, November 20, 1885, Sadie, daughter of Jacob J. Meyers, of Berlin, Pennsylvania, and their chil- dren are: Meyers Victor, born January 16, 1887; Florence May, September 8, 1888; John Earle, September 29, 1890; and Robert N., May 28, 1903.
JOSEPH M. WEISEL.
Joseph M. Weisel, a well-known citizen of Rockwood, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and who has been in business there for many years, traces his descent back to Germany. His great-grandparents emigrated from Germany to this coun- try and were among the early settlers, making their home in the wilds of Pennsylvania when there were neither roads nor railroads in the state.
George A. Weisel, father of Joseph M. Weisel, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and followed the occupa- tion of farming. Ile married Lydia A. Korns, and they have three children-Joseph M., of whom later; Charles A., born July 7, 1883, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he was educated in the common schools, attending there until he was seventeen years of age. He then tried various occupations for a time, as follows: Motorman on the street cars in Pitts- burg for one year; on the police force in the same city for one year; then to Rockwood and became associated with his brother in the meat business. He married, September, 1904, Annie Wilkens. The third child was S. W.
Joseph M. Weisel, eldest son and child of George A. and Lydia (Korns) Weisel, was born in Somerset county, Pennsyl- vania, March 23, 1881. He enjoyed the advantages of a good education in the common schools of Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania, which he attended until he was seventeen years old, and then worked on the farm of his father for the next three years. He then entered the employ of D. W. Bitner, near Con- nellsville, where he remained for eighteen months in order to get a practical knowledge of the meat business. After that he was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad for about
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two years, and then returned to Rockwood and bought out the meat business of George Holtzhur, and is still engaged in the same business. He married, November 20, 1904, Elizabeth C. Wolfersberger, daughter of David H. and Catherine (Klemp- felder) Wolfersberger.
JOHN H. LEIGHTY.
John H. Leighty, proprietor and manager of the Hotel Merchant, in Rockwood, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was born in Mooreland, Garrett county, Maryland, April 26, 1860. He received his education in the common schools of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and attended these until the age of twenty years. He then learned the trade of brick and stone mason, which was also the occupation of his father, and followed that until 1895. He then turned his attention to the butcher busi- ness, commencing in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and for the next three years was thus occupied. He then rented a hotel at Ruffsdale, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, conducted that for one year, and then removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he opened a saloon, but gave this up after about eight months. started a hotel and kept it for two years. He then removed to Rockwood, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, rented the Hotel Merchant, which he is still managing with success. He is genial and courteous to all and is very popular, having made many friends since he first took up his residence in the town.
He has been twice married. His second wife was Mary Smith, born in Scotland, June 23, 1860.
CHARLES H. WOLFENBERGER.
Charles H. Wolfenberger, a coal operator of Rockwood, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was there born August 12, 1872, a son of David H. Wolfenberger.
Charles H. Wolfenberger received his education in the common schools of his native place. He left school when he was eighteen years of age and entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad at the Rockwood station as night clerk, ticket agent, and also attended to the express. After three years so engaged he was promoted to baggage master and occupied that position for eight years. In the fall of 1901 he embarked in the coal business, in which he has since been engaged and in which he has met with the greatest success. Politically Mr. Wolfen- berger is a sound and loyal Republican, and is now serving as burgess of the town. He is also a notary public, and holds membership in the B. of R. T. and Royal Arcanum. He is now building a beautiful modern home at Rockwood.
He married, November 29, 1892, Annie Gertrude Parks, daughter of George and Annie Parks, of Rockwood. They have
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two children, Charles O). and Lilian Ethel Fern. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church and he has been deacon for several years. He and his wife are teachers in the Sunday school and Mr. Wolfenberger is assistant superintend- ent of the Sunday school.
ROBERT O. CRIST, M. D.
Dr. Robert O. Crist, of Boswell, was born September 16, 1878, at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and is the son of the Rev. G. W. Crist, who was born April 17, 1848, in Perry county, Pennsylvania. He received his literary education and the train- ing for his profession as a minister of the Lutheran church at Gettysburg College and Theological Seminary. From 1888 to 1895 he had charge of the Jennerstown congregation, including Mount Zion, St. James and Stanton's Mills. Rev. Crist mar- ried Anna B. Orr, born February 10, 1851, in Huntingdon coun- ty, Pennsylvania, granddaughter of Hugh Alexander, a repre- sentative of an old Virginia family, who came to Pennsylvania about 1790 and settled in Clearfield county.
Dr. Robert O. Crist, son of G. W. and Anna B. (Orr) Crist, laid the foundation of his education in the common schools and spring normal schools of Somerset county, afterward attending the Millersville State Normal School. He received his medical education in the University of Maryland. During the Spanish- American war he enlisted in the army as a member of the hos- pital corps department and served ten months, being mustered out February 28, 1899. In 1903 he returned to Somerset county and settled at Boswell, where he has since been engaged in the active practice of his profession.
Dr. Crist married, May 14, 1903, at Ridgely, Maryland, Bessie McDougall Sinclair, who received her education in the high schools and the Peabody Institute of Baltimore, subse- quently studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston. Mrs. Crist's parents are residents of Winnipeg, Canada.
GEORGE F. KIMMEL.
George F. Kimmel, a representative citizen of Somerset, was born in Jefferson township, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, December 30, 1837, a son of Samuel R. and Mary (Flich) Kim- mel and grandson of John and Mary (Barker) Kimmel. John Kimmel (grandfather) was born in Stony Creek township, Somerset county, and after his marriage to Mary Barker, a native of Milford, Somerset county, removed to Somerset, where his death occurred in 1858. Their children were: Samuel K., deceased ; George, deceased; Frederick, deceased; Lucinda, de- ceased; Sarah, deceased; John, deceased; Singleton, deceased ;
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Ludwick, David, Elizabeth Hay and Rosa. Samuel K. Kim- mel (father) was born in 1808 and died in 1854; he married Mary Flich, born in 1808, and their children were as follows: George F., John H., David F., Irvin W., William S., Elizabeth, and Sophia, deceased.
George F. Kimmel obtained his education in the common schools of Somerset county, attending the same until he attained the age of sixteen years. For a number of years thereafter he followed the occupation of teaming, his route being between Somerset, Pennsylvania, and Cumberland, Maryland, after which he turned his attention to the hotel business, continuing the same for five years. He then purchased a farm, consist- ing of two hundred acres, at Milford, near Gebhart's, whereon he successfully conducted general farming for thirty years, and. in the fall of 1897 he removed to Somerset, where he still re- sides. In 1890, during his residence in Milford, he was elected to the office of county commissioner, and re-elected to the same in 1897, this fact attesting to the high esteem in which he was held by his follow townsmen. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, the principles of which he believes to be for the best form of government.
On April 12, 1861, Mr. Kimmel married Barbara Sechler, born in Milford township, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1837, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Dull) Sechler. Jonathan Sechler was born in 1800, was a farmer all his life and died in Milford township, Somerset county, in 1870. He was a son of Daniel Sechler, a native of Milford township, Som- erset county, and a prosperous farmer thereof. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel, namely: Carrie, Elizabeth, Emma, Edward, Martha; John, deceased, and Ross, deceased.
COHEN BROTHERS.
This notice treats of the firm of Cohen Brothers, of Somer- set, Pennsylvania, where they are the proprietors of the lead- ing department store in men's, women's and children's wear- ing apparel.
The eldest brother, Morris Cohen, a native of Warsaw, Rus- sia, came to the United States with his parents when three years of age, in 1873. In 1894 he came to Somerset county, engaging in business at Scalp Level, conducting a general store. Soon thereafter he became the pioneer merchant at Windber, put- ting in the first stock of goods in that place. He was there long before the railroad was completed or the coal interests devel- oped. His goods were freighted by teams from Johnston, then the nearest railway station. In a short time he had branch stores located at Berlin, Meyersdale and Salisbury. After a successful business career of about five years at these points
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he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law at Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where a large store was oper- ated. The business of the now well known firm of "Cohens" was established at Somerset first by the enterprise and busi- ness genius of the younger brother, Fred Cohen, who came to the borough in 1900 and rented, for a single month, a one-story frame store building on the site of their present magnificent department store on South Main Cross street. The store was twenty-five by sixty-three feet, in which was placed a very small stock of men's furnishings and clothing. At first he did not meet with the hearty co-operation of the public, who were un- justly prejudicial, but by his manly conduct and superior meth- ods of doing a legitimate business, with plenty of judicious ad- vertising, he soon forged his way to the front ranks and built up an excellent trade.
In 1901 the older brother, who had already invested in this business, came on and became an active partner with him, and in 1904 Charles C. Shafer erected the fine, modern-constructed business house they now occupy. It is three stories high and is finished and furnished throughout with all that present-day art and mechanical ingenuity can produce. In size the build- ing is forty-three by sixty-three feet and has fourteen-foot ceil- ings surfaced with beautifully designed metallic sheetings. The rooms are brilliantly lighted by sixteen incandescent lights and a special feature of the lower salesroom is the spacious show windows. The arrangement of these window displays was a new departure in the borough of Somerset and are still supe- rior to any others and speak eloquently of the genius of decorat- ing displayed by I. Cohen, a younger brother, who has charge of this department.
This, the most commanding business house of the place, was leased to Cohen Brothers for a term of ten years, with op- tional rights thereafter. The several departments occupy the first and second floors, while the third is sub-leased to the Young Men's Christian Association. One can scarcely name an article of men's ladies' or children's wearing apparel not to be found in this stock, which is superbly kept and sold to a large patronage by from six to ten salesmen. Their trade ex- tends over a radius of about twenty-five miles. They have won the implicit confidence of all classes by keeping faith with the people and always carrying out to the letter their motto of "refunding the purchase price for any article that for any cause may not prove satisfactory to the customer." By a sys- tem of sensible, practical and ever attractive advertising the name "Cohen" has been indelibly stamped on the entire trad- ing community and has come to be a true magnet to purchas- ers.
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Morris Cohen was born in Warsaw, Russia, February 8, 1870, son of Aaron Cohen and wife. He was married at Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1898, to Ida Levinson, daugh- ter of Israel and Anna Levinson. By their union three sons were born: Aaron, December 17, 1898; Abram, August 1, 1900; Fred, July 17, 1902. Morris Cohen is a member of the order of Knights of Pythias at Salisbury, Pennsylvania, the Royal Arcanum at Windber and the Modern Woodmen of America at Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
Fred Cohen was born at Newark, New Jersey, February 14, 1879. He attended the common schools of Wilmington, Dela- ware, until he was about eleven years old, but by perseverance and keen observation has come to be a well-informed man. His business career commenced when less than thirteen years of age, when he served faithfully as an errand boy in Philadel- phia. He next entered the great soap house of that city which manufactures the celebrated "Fels Naptha" brand of soap. He was soon promoted to clerk for one of the proprietors and finally became a salesman and advertiser in the introduction of this commodity, traveling from the coast of Maine to Illinois and through the southern states. He commenced at three dol- lars a week and left the road at $1,500 per year and all ex- penses. Fred Cohen is an honored member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Somerset, is past grand of Lodge No. 438 and an active member of the degree team. He is also con- nected with the Royal Arcanum Lodge, No. 985, and is present regent of the council. Being a keen business man, he naturally found a membership in the Modern Woodmen of the World for the protection it gives in the way of life insurance beneficia- ries.
He married, September 17, 1899, at Newark, New Jersey, Lydis Corniss, who was graduated as a trained nurse in a training school. Her parents were Gerson and Frances Corniss. To them have been born Elmer, June 28, 1900, and Dora, June 5, 1905. The last named was the first girl born in the Cohen family for three generations.
DAVID H. WOLFERSBERGER.
David H. Wolfersberger, a well known business man of Rockwood, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, formerly a farmer and now a popular hotel proprietor, is a representative in the present generation of a family that settled in the United States many years ago. The family originally came from Germany and brought with them habits of thrift and industry from the "Fatherland" that characterize their descendants to the pres- ent day.
Philip Wolfersberger, father of David H. Wolfersberger,
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was born October 18, 1802, died March 20, 1887. He was a suc- cessful farmer and merchant, having conducted a general store for a number of years. He married Elizabeth Stauffer, born April 8, 1809, died July 19, 1859, and they had children as fol- lows: David H., of whom later; Mary, born September 21, 1836; Elizabeth A., May 8, 1838; Amelia Barbara, September 10, 1839; twin daughters, July 27, 1841; Philip S., December 4, 1842; John M., January 7, 1847 ; Hannah L., October 15, 1848.
David H. Wolfersberger, eldest child of Philip and Eliza- beth (Stauffer) Wolfersberger, was born in Union Deposit, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, February 3, 1835. He received his education in the common schools of Dauphin county and attended them until the age of sixteen years, acquiring a very good education. At that time he commenced working in his father's general store as clerk, retaining this position for four years, at the end of which time his father sold out. April 6, 1856, he removed with his father to what was then called Min- eral Point (now Rockwood), and finally went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to take a course of study in a commercial col- lege. From this he graduated in 1857, went to Monroe Forge, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and engaged in clerking for a period of eight months, returning to Rockwood and again work- ing in a store for his father for the next four years. He then went back to Monroe Forge, remaining there for six years, re- turned to Rockwood in 1871 and engaged in the grocery business, which he followed for eleven years. In 1882 he opened a hotel, which became an exceedingly well patronized place, and is con- ducted on strictly temperance principles up to the present day. He is progressive and methodical in his business management and enjoys great popularity.
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