USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III > Part 25
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Mr. Thomas married, October 5, 1899, Martha Lucile, daughter of James and Charlotte A. (Stoner) Newcomb, of Westerville, Ohio. They are the parents of one son-James Frederick Thomas, born June 22, 1901.
FRANK SHIVELY DECKERT, ticket agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and a veteran of the Civil war, was born in Waynesborough, Pennsylvania, February S, 1839. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Deckert was a native of Chambers- burg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania. His son, William Deckert, was a hatter by trade and made men's hats at Waynesborough for many years. Later he took up the insurance business and removed to Woodbury. later to Martinsburg and from there to Mt. Pleasant, sometime in the fifties, settling at Blairsville, where he died about 1876. He married in Waynes- borough, Eliza Shively, of an old family of the place. She died at Blairsville, about 1903. Their children were: John W., deceased, lived in Philadelphia. Julietta, married R. S. Davis and resides at Blairs- ville. Frank Shively, see forward. Susan C., married Samuel Ebberts and lives in Swissvale, Pennsylvania. Maria, died unmarried. Lida, married John Winn and lives in Blairsville. John W., died single. Charlotte, unmarried, lives at Blairsville.
Frank S. Deckert received a good common school education at the towns of Waynesborough and Blairsville. When he was about twenty-one years of age he commenced to learn the trade of tinner, and during the time he went to Altoona to look for work, which was scarce then, he left the trade and found work in the country for a while. He finally arrived in Pittsburg, where he procured work and there finished his
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trade. He continued as a journeyman tinner until the breaking out of the war, when he believed his duty called him to the service of his coun- try. August, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty- ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, which was immediately sent to the scene of the second battle of Bull Run to help bury the dead. He was with the regiment at the battle of Fredericksburg, and in all of their skirmishes and battles, including deadly Gettysburg. After the battle of Fredericksburg he was sent to hospital, for a short time, but soon re- turned to his regiment. After the battle of Gettysburg he was transferred to the veteran corps, which engaged in considerable skirmishing in the vicinity of Annapolis and Washington, but was involved in no other active service during the remainder of the war. He was mustered out August 1, 1865, arriving home the same month.
Soon after his return he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as assistant freight and ticket agent at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, where he remained a year and a half, going from that point to Natrona, Pennsylvania, as agent. He spent about the same length of time there, and in September, 1868, came to Johnstown. After three or more years the business so increased that a division of the work had to be made, and he was given the duties of freight agent, which posi- tion he held until June 1, 1901, when he assumed the position of ticket agent, which place he still fills, having been in the employ of the one company for forty years. Politically Mr. Deckert is a Republican, and in church relation he is identified with the Methodist Episcopal de- nomination.
Mr. Deckert married January, 1868, Jennie, daughter of Thomas Leslie, of Natrona. Their children are: Lillian B., married Logan and resides at Johnstown. Frank Edgar, married, resides at Cleveland, Ohio. Thomas Ebbert, still at home.
DAVID PALMER WEIMER, of Johnstown, assistant district at- torney of Cambria county, was born May 7, 1873, at Hillsview, West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, son of Samuel A. Weimer, and grand- son of David S. Weimer, who was descended from German ancestors, and settled in Somerset county, where he passed most of his life as a farmer. Shortly before his death he moved to Westmoreland county.
David S. Weimer, born December 14, 1814, a son of a Somerset county farmer, married Catharine Hartman, and their children were: Susannah, married Frank Walter. Lydia, wife of George W. Beck, soldier in Civil war; children, Warren E., Samuel, Bert and Georgia. Eliza. Levina C., widow of John T. Beam, also Civil war veteran; chil- dren, Carson W., Claire and Myrtle. Daniel, deceased. Franklin, mar- ried and lives on old David Weimer farm. Samuel A., of whom later. The death of David S. Weimer, the father, occurred January 1, 1875, at the age of sixty years.
Samuel A. Weimer, son of David S. and Catharine (Hartman) Weimer, was born March 14, 1846, in Somerset county, near Rockwood, and was sixteen years old when his parents moved to Westmoreland county. He was educated in the common schools, in which he taught from the age of fifteen to that of twenty-five. From that time until he went to Johnstown, in 1880, he worked at the carpenter's trade, also cultivating a small farm which he owned near Hillsview. In Johnstown he was for two or three years employed as a carpenter by J. J. Strayer, after which he engaged in business as a contractor and builder in partner- ship with William Livingston and Frank Smith. Shortly after he pur-
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has held at Dunbar, Pennsylvania, for the last twenty years. He mar- ried Margaret Ferry, daughter of George and Martha Ferry, whose family runs back for several generations in Ireland. Margaret (Ferry) Bowden was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, April 7, 1841, and she was educated in her native country, espousing the Presbyterian faith.
John J. Bowden obtained his education at the common schools, and has had a varied career as a railroad man. He has been in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company all of his active life. He began as a telegraph operator, on the South Western Pennsylvania railroad, where he was employed from 1882 to 1895, then was appointed relief agent for the Pittsburg division of the Pennsylvania system, serving until No- vember, 1900, when he was appointed passenger agent at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and transferred to freight agent at the same point, May, 1901. Ever since old enough to vote he has always cast a Republican ballot. In church relations, believing that the faith of his forefathers was good enough for him, he is identified with the Presbyterian church. Mr. Bowden is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being past master and junior warden of Cambria Lodge No. 278, and Portage Chapter No. 195. He is also a member of the Roval Arcanum, having held various offices in this society, in his old home town-Dunbar, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Bowden married, October 6, 1886, at Mckeesport, Pennsyl- vania, Olive May Stewart, a graduate of Mckeesport high school, daughter of William and Anna (Soles) Stewart. William Stewart was born in Mckeesport, Pennsylvania, 1841, son of Samuel Stewart, whose birth and death occurred in Mckeesport, the former in 1803 and the latter in 1875. Mrs. William (Soles) Stewart, wife of William Stewart, born October 1. 1845, married, at Mckeesport, Pennsylvania. October 17, 1862, William Stewart. She was a daughter of Lewis and Catherine (Caven) Soles. Lewis Soles was born in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, March 7. 1812: he assisted in building the First Presbyterian and Meth- odist Episcopal churches of Mckeesport, and was a member and trustee of the latter : he was adjutant-general of the Seventh Battalion of Allegheny county ; his son George served through the Civil war and spent six weeks in Libby Prison. He married, May 13. 1837, Catherine Caven, born January 21. 1819. a descendant of the Caven family who came from county Cavan, Ireland. in the seventeenth century. Sheriff Caven, of Westmoreland county, is also a member of this family. Mr. and Mrs. Bowden are the parents of two sons: William Ray, born June 5, 1888, at Dunbar. Pennsylvania, graduated at the Dunbar high school and is now an inspector. Earl Stewart, born June 1, 1889, at Dunbar, Penn- sylvania, is still attending to his school duties.
ALBERT TRENT, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, superintendent of the works order department of Cambria Steel Company, and who outside of business life has been for many years actively identified with Sunday school and temperance work in Cambria county, is a native of Friedens, Somerset county, Pennsylvania. born March 17, 1856, son of William Nathan and Margaret (Reitz) Trent, and comes of German and Ameri- can ancestors. His father, William Nathan Trent, was born in Shanks- ville, Somerset county, in 1827. He was educated in common schools, in business life was a farmer. in religion a member of the Progressive Brethren church, and in politics first a Republican and afterward a strong Prohibitionist. His wife, Margaret (Reitz) Trent, was a daugh- ter of George Reitz, who came to America from Germanv.
Albert Trent acquired his higher education in Juniata College in
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Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and after leaving that institution taught ten terms in the public schools of the state. He then came to Johnstown and for the next two years engaged in mercantile pursuits, and in 1885 entered the employ of Cambria Steel Company in the capacity of clerk. Since that time he has been in the company's service and now holds the responsible position of superintendent of the works order department. Originally he was a Republican, but more recently has earnestly advocated and supported the principles of Prohibition. For two terms he held the office of burgess of Westmont. While he is zealous in the cause of temperance, Mr. Trent is still more active in Sunday school work. He is a member of the Progressive Brethren So- ciety, and for the last six years has served as moderator of the Pro- gressive Brethren State Sunday School Organization of Pennsylvania ; secretary of the Cambria County Sabbath School Association during the past three years, and superintendent of the Somerset Street Brethren Sunday school for the last twenty-four years.
At Kittanning, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1883, Albert Trent married Sarah Alice Dougherty, daughter of Daniel Augustus, chemist and merchant, and Sarah Jane (Fiscus) Dougherty. Children of Albert and Sarah Alice (Dougherty) Trent: Walter Dougherty, born in Johns- town, October 24, 1884. Margaret, born in Johnstown, June 2, 1886. Nellie, born in Johnstown, June 2, 1889. Albert Lee, born in Johns- town, June 11, 1892. Marion, born in Johnstown, January 6, 1897. Helen, born in Johnstown, April 21, 1901.
JOSEPH E. SEDLMEYER, the efficient cashier of the United States National Bank at Johnstown, was born April 11, 1857, son of Joseph and Walburga (Brandel) Sedhmeyer. The father came from Furth, Bavaria, about 1845, settled in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he worked at the construction of the South Fork Dam, at the Mill Creek furnace and the Cambria Iron Company's ore mines, until they ceased to operate. As a stone mason he worked for the Cambria Iron Company until the great flood of May 31, 1889. He was a devout Catholic and reared his family in the same religious faith. He died December 8, 1898. He married Miss Walburga Brandel, of Viehhausen, Germany. She came to this country with Mr. Sedlmeyer, and they were married in the church then standing on Church street, Johnstown. The date of her birth was 1822, and that of Mr. Sedlmeyer was 1820. Her parents died when she was but a child-hence but little is now known of them.
Joseph E. Sedlmeyer, of this notice, was educated at the parochial schools of Johnstown, was a student at St. Vincent's College, Latrobe, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, from 1871 to 1875. He taught school at St. Joseph's for four months, and was in the employ of George T. Swank, postmaster, until December, 1878. The last named month he entered the First National Bank at Johnstown and was there employed until June, 1901, when he accepted the position of cashier of the United States National Bank and has held such responsible place ever since. In polities Mr. Seidlmeyer is an Independent Republican. In religious faith he has ever been a Catholic. He has been a member of various so- cieties, including the Maccabees, belonging to Tent No. 238, at Johns- town. As a business man and citizen who acts for the general good of his home city, Mr. Seidlmeyer stands high and bears the good will and respect of every one with whom he comes in contact.
Concerning his domestic relation it should be said that he married at Cleveland, Ohio, May 19, 1891, Minnie E. Fries, daughter of John
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and Elizabeth (Pfarr) Fries, both of Bavaria, Germany. The father was. a hotel keeper in Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Sedlmeyer received her education at the parochial schools. She is one of the four surviving chil- dren of her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Sedlmeyer have the following chil- dren : Zita R., born March 11, 1892. IIelen C., born January 13, 1894. Mary E., born September 1, 1895. Lucy B., born March 18, 1899. They were all born at Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
GEORGE B. STINEMAN, of South Fork, one of the founders of that borough, its first burgess and first postmaster, and for many years one of its foremost business men, was born May 17, 1837, in Adams (then Richland) township. His father and grandfather were both Jacob Stineman, and his great grandfather, Christian Stineman, is recognized as the founder of the family in the United States. During the latter half of the eighteenth century Christian Stineman, then eighteen years old, emigrated from Holland and took up his abode in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a tailor, subsequently moving to Bed- ford county.
Jacob Stineman, son of Christian Stineman, the founder, migrated in 1803 from Bedford county and founded a new branch of the family in Cambria county. He settled first in Conemaugh township and after- ward in Richland township, making his home on the South Fork in what later became Adams township. He was one of the pioneers of southern Pennsylvania, settling in that then frontier region before the county itself was organized, and at a time when the tide of western emi- gration and settlement was just beginning to set in that direction. On the bank of South Fork he built a cabin, opened a farm to cultivation and also built and carried on a mill. Jacob Stineman married, in 1805, Elizabeth Ling, of Bedford county, and their children were: Christian, born 1806, died 1827; John, born 1808, died 1882, in Wabash, Indiana; Jacob, of whom later; Leah, born 1813, wife of Samuel Flenner; Eliza- beth. wife of Adam Kibler, moved to the west about 1840; Sarah, wife of Peter Glunt, also moved to the west about 1840; Daniel, moved to Bedford county, where he died; Margaret, married (first) Frederick Croyle, (second) Valentine Bailey, and died in 1899; Elias, went to Mar- shalltown, Iowa, where he died at seventy-nine years of age; Philip, died in Conemaugh : Susannah, wife of Alexander Wysel, moved to Missouri in early '50s; Samuel, born 1828, died 1855; and a daughter, died in infaney. Jacob Stineman, the father, died September 28. 1853, in Adams township, having lived a full half century in that region.
Jacob Stineman, son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Ling) Stineman, was born on the homestead, in Adams township, and there passed his entire life. He was one of the leading citizen farmers of his neighborhood, filling many of the local offices, and was a devout member of the Luth- eran church. Jacob Stineman married Mary, daughter of Thomas Croyle, a native of Germany who settled in 1798 in what afterward became Cam- bria county. Hle was one of the pioneers of that region, settling where Sumnerhill now stands, and working at different times as a tanner, a cooper and a farmer. He was a man of influence in the community, his example being always on the side of right. Croyle township was named in honor of himself and his descendants. Jacob and Mary Croyle Stine- man were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, deceased : Joseph P., died April, 1904, in Philadelphia : George B .. of whom later ; Daniel T., killed at Hatches Run, Virginia, February 9, 1865 (Danie!
Seo.B. Sineman
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Astor, Lenu> ano Il con Four 'atons. 1569
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T. Stineman Post No. 560, G. A. R., was named in his honor) ; Jacob C., whose sketch follows this; and Mary Ann, wife of Joseph S. Stull.
George B. Stineman, son of Jacob and Mary (Croyle) Stineman, passed his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, working in the summer and in the winter attending the common school. He gained a good elementary education and later taught school three terms, being thus engaged until the breaking out of the Civil war. September 14, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company I, Fifty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was advanced through various grades of promotion to the rank and commission of first lieutenant. Before the final muster out he had been recommended for a captaincy, but Lee's surrender came before the commission was issued. In Feb- ruary. 1864, his company was consolidated with Company C of the Vet- eran Volunteer Infantry. He participated in no fewer than thirty-seven well-contested battles, besides numerous skirmishes and minor engage- ments. At High Bridge. Virginia, April 6, 1865, he was captured by the enemy, but was released three days later. April 9, 1865, that being the day of the surrender at Appomattox.
Returning home, at the close of the war, Mr. Stineman began busi- ness life as a lumberman, and built the first dwelling-house in the now pleasant borough of South Fork, of which place he was a pioneer. The structure was swept away with hundreds of others in the valley at the time of the awful flood of May 31, 1889. After three years spent in lumbering pursuits he turned his attention to farming, having, during the period mentioned, conducted, in company with his brother. J. C. Stineman, an extensive business in cherry and ash lumber. At the end of five years of farming he returned to South Fork, and for the next nineteen years engaged in mercantile pursuits, his efforts being crowned with gratifying success. During fourteen years of this time he was also engaged in coal operations under the name of the South Fork Coal Works, transferring his business November 30, 1892, when he retired from active pursuits. In 1902 he was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of South Fork, being made its first president, a position which he held until his death, September 3, 1906. This banking house was organized with a capital of fifty thousand dollars and was opened for business February 2. 1903, since which time it has been engaged in general banking.
For many years Mr. Stineman was numbered among the staunch Republicans of Cambria county, and held various township offices, among them that of county auditor. He always evinced a deep interest in educational matters, and for some ten years was a member of the board of education in South Fork, during three of those years acting as treasurer of the board. He also served eight years as treasurer of the borough of South Fork. He was the first burgess of the borough of South Fork after its incorporation and received the first appointment as postmaster of that place. an office which he held for thirteen years. He was also, in many other ways, identified with the best interests of the borough.
He belonged to D. T. Stineman Post. No. 560. G. A. R .: Cambria Lodge. No. 278. F. and A. M .: South Fork Castle, No. 61. A. O. K. of M. C .: South Fork Lodge, No. 101. K. P., of which he was for fourteen vears master of exchequer, and South Fork Lodge, No. 838, I. O. O. F .. in which for seventeen years he served as treasurer. He was a member of the United Evangelical church, serving for the last thirty-four years: as trustee and for twenty-eight years as chairman of the board. In 1899.
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when the board of the Pittsburg Conference was established, he was chosen one of the five trustees of which it was composed, and served from the beginning until his death as its treasurer, being re-elected at the close of each term. For six years he served as class leader and for thir- teen years as superintendent of the Sunday school.
Mr. Stineman married, September 13, 1866, Martha Ann Paul, and the following children have been born to them: 1. John William, born May 30, 1867, cashier of First National Bank of South Fork. 2. Sarah Jane, born June 1, 1868, died August 13. 1901 : she was the wife of Dr. A. A. Pringle, left three children. Ethel F., Jessie F., and Allison S. 3. Minnie M .. born June 1, 1868, died August 13, 1868; was twin to Sarah Jane. 4. Milton E., born December 11, 1869, died September 7, 1880. 5. Ida L., born September 18, 1871, wife of William L. MeClaran, a druggist of Glassport, Pennsylvania, had two children : Robert M .. living. and Ruth, deceased. 6. Retta O., born March 11, 1874, died May 3, 1874. 7. Rosina V., born May 2, 1876, died May 28, 1899. 8. George L., born October 18, 1879, stationary engineer, resides at home. 9. Chester A., born Angust 7, 1881, at home, assists his father in conduct of affairs. 10. Anna P .. born July 27, 1883, wife of W. W. McNeil, of Al- toona, Pennsylvania. 11. Jacob H., born November 18, 1885, clerk for Pennsylvania railroad at South Fork. 12. Marguerite Essie. born April 11. 1888, died February 10. 1906. 13. Eugene N., born Febru- ary 5, 1892, at home.
HON. JACOB C. STINEMAN, of South Fork, state senator rep- resenting the Thirty-fifth senatorial distriet of Pennsylvania, was born April 9, 1842, in Adams (then Riehland) township, and is the third in lineal deseent to hear the name of Jacob which has been transmitted to him from both his father and his grandfather.
Jacob C. Stineman passed his youth and young manhood on the homestead in the labors of which he was trained to assist. He was edu- cated in public and select schools and at the early age of sixteen began teaching. a calling he followed with gratifying success for four years. Early in the Civil war he enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hun- dred and Ninety-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command until the close of the conflict. In the course of his service he was promoted to the rank of corporal and later to that of sergeant, which he held when mustered out. After his return home he was for a few years engaged in agricultural pursuits, and in 1868 began work as a coal miner. This was his first step in business life and proved to be the foundation of his later successful career, affording him an op- portunity to acquire a thorough knowledge of the coal-producing indus- try from its very beginning and to know bv actual experience the 'rela- tion of miner and producer. From the hard work of a miner Mr. Stine- man soon passed to the position of a mine boss, then to that of superin- tendent of the same mines in which he had previously worked, and in 1873 acquired lands on which he began coal mining operations on his own account. Subsequently he extended his interests in other lands, also his production, otherwise inereased his interests and eventually be- came an extensive owner and operator, one of the largest individual pro- ducers of soft eoal in all Pennsylvania. He is president of the Stineman Coal & Coke Company, and director in the Stineman Coal Mining Com- pany, the South Fork Fire Brick Company and the South Fork Water Company. He is also director in the South Fork National Bank and the Second National Bank of Altoona ; president and director of the South
The Delt Fal Ang L
Al Stimer
THE NEW YORK PUBLI( BRARY
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Fork Electric Light Company, and stockholder in the First National Bank of Ebensburg. In the organization of most of these institutions he was largely instrumental. He was formerly a director of the Citizens' National Bank of Johnstown, and a stockholder in several other corpor- ate companies of Cambria county.
From the outset of his political career Mr. Stineman has been iden- tified with the Republican party. In 1885 he stood as the Republican candidate for the office of sheriff of Cambria county, and although de- feated at the polls led the party ticket. In 1888 he was again the can- didate of his party for the same office, and was clected by a good plurality in a county which is generally considered safely Democratic. In 1889 he was a delegate to the Republican state convention, and in 1891 was chair- man of the Cambria County Republican committee. In 1892 he was elected to the state legislature, and in 1894 re-elected. During the legis- lative session of 1893 he was a member of the house committees on mines and mining, judiciary (local), iron and coal, printing, and fish and game. In November, 1896, having served through two sessions in the lower house, Mr. Stineman was elected to a seat in the state senate, rep- resenting the Thirty-fifth senatorial district, comprising Cambria and Blair counties, and has been re-elected at the end of each succeeding term to the present time. In all his service in the State legislature has cov- ered a period of fourteen years, and in whatever capacity he has been called upon to serve, his duty has been performed faithfully, fully and to the entire satisfaction of the people he has been chosen to represent. Mr. Stineman was the founder, first commander and has always been a mem- ber of Daniel T. Stineman Post, No. 560, G. A. R., of South Fork. He also belongs to Cambria Lodge, No. 278, F. and A. M., South Fork Lodge, No. 10, Knights of Pythias, the I. O. O. F., of Willmore, and the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He is a member of the United Evangelical church in which he serves as trustee.
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