USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III > Part 31
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After his return to civil life Dr. Overdorff began the study of medi- cine. attended lectures at Cleveland, Ohio, and devoted his entire time and attention to study. In 1870 he entered upon the practice of his profession at Adamsburg, Cambria county. Pennsylvania, in 1873 moved to Scalp Level in the same state. and finally settled in Johnstown, where he has since practiced with success and distinction. He is a member of the Cambria County Medical Association, and belongs to Ewing Fisher Post. No. 30. Department of Pennsylvania, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been surgeon for many years. He is also a member of the Mystic Chain of Mount Castle, No. 77, and has been connected with the Knights of the Golden Eagle sixteen years, the American Mechanics thir- teen years and the Domestic Chain eighteen years. He has been for thirty- two years a member of the Evangelical church, in which he has held many offices. In politics he is a stanch Republican.
Dr. Overdorff married. in 1870. Rose A., daughter of Samuel Low- man, of Jacksonville. Indiana county. Pennsylvania. Mrs. Overdorff is an active member of the Woman's Relief Corps, No. 27, Auxiliary to Ewing Fisher Post.
GUSTAVUS A. ZIMMERMAN. M. D., one of the best known physi- cians and druggists in Johnstown. Cambria county. Pennsylvania, is a rep- resentative of an old and honored family of Germany. His grandfather, Casper Zimmerman, was a manufacturer of spinning wheels in Germany, and spent his entire life in that country.
Henry Zimmerman, son of Casper Zimmerman. mentioned above. was born in Birden Kopf. Germany. April 24, 1822. He was an attendant at the schools of his native town until he had attained the age of fourteen vears, when he was apprenticed to learn the trade of cabinet making. When drafting was going on in his town for recruits for the German army, he drew a blank, but was extremely anxious to enlist as a volunteer. He was prepared to run away and carry out his intention, when his mother sent him to America in order to prevent his doing so. He landed in Baltimore, Maryland, and immediately traveled on to Johnstown. Cam- bria connty, Pennsylvania, where he already had a brother. who had pre- ceded him to this country. and there followed his trade of cabinet making. When the Cambria Iron Works were started. he became one of their em- ploves. and in those days seventy-five cents to one dollar per day was considered an excellent remuneration. Money was not so plentiful as it is at present, and people were more economical in the use of it. He was among the first settlers of Johnstown. His first home after his marriage was built in Conemaugh borough. but. not liking the location, they erected another on the present site of the Zimmerman home. He next built a house at the corner of Locust and Jackson streets, which was destroyed
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by the flood of May, 1889. He was an active, public-spirited citizen, and an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, whose principles he stanchly upheld upon every occasion. He was a member of the German Lutheran church, and a learned scholar in Bible lore. IIe took an active and beneficial interest in educational matters, and was the leading spirit in introducing many improvements in the educational system of the city. He was a charter member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Johnstown. His death occurred in 1880, and his remains were interred in Grand View cemetery. He married, April 10, 1842, in Johnstown, Louisa Burgraff, born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, January 6, 1830, daughter of Casper and Dorothea (Fronheiser) Burgraff. Casper Bur- graff was a manufacturer of cloths in Germany, and came to America with his family in 1839. At that time they were obliged to travel from their native town to Bremen in stage coaches, and at Bremen took passage in a vessel which landed them at Baltimore, Maryland, after a voyage of eight weeks. They continued their journey directly to Johnstown, where a brother of Mrs. Burgraff resided. Mr. Burgraff engaged in mercantile pur- suits, establishing himself in business at the corner of Railroad and Clin- ton streets, where he associated himself with a partner, William McKee, who later took charge of the business alone. Mr. Burgraff died in 1881. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman were: 1. George C., of Cone- maugh township, foreman in the Cambria Steel Works; he married Mary Britten. 2. Gustavus A., see forward. 3. Crissie A., resides at home. 4. Malinda, died at the age of three years. 5. Theodore Frank, born 1855, was educated in the public schools of Johnstown and in St. Vincent's Col- lege at Latrobe. He took up the study of law under the preceptorship of John Linton, of Johnstown, and was admitted to the Cambria county bar. He had built up a large and lucrative practice, and was highly esteemed in legal and civic circles, when he lost his life in the flood of May, 1889. He was in the stable at the rear of the house, together with his brother, Milton, and they were trying to take the horses and other cattle to a place of safety, when they were carried away by the flood. His body was re- covered ten days later : that of his brother was not seen again. 6. William H., born September 14, 1859, died January 31, 1906. HIis education was acquired in the public schools of Johnstown and in Duff's Business College in Pittsburg. Upon his return from Pittsburg, he found employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as bill clerk in the freight offices. Subsequently he entered the employ of the Cambria Steel Company, and still later that of the Johnson Company. He removed to Pittsburg in the fall of 1892, and again entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, this time in the transfer offices, and remained with them for a period of twelve years. He returned to Johnstown, re-entered the employ of the Cambria Steel Company, and was in their employ up to the time of his last illness. He married Jennie M. Morgan. 7. Amelia, married John Hellstrom, of Wheeling, West Virginia. S. Jessie, married John Winans, of East Liberty, Pennsylvania. 9. Herbert, resides in Springfield, Ohio. 10. Milton, lost his life.in the flood, as previously stated.
Gustavus A. Zimmerman, M. D., second son and child of Henry and Louisa (Burgraff) Zimmerman, was born in Johnstown, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1850. His preparatory education was ac- quired in the public schools of his native city, and he then became a student at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated in 1873. He then spent some time in traveling through various states, filling positions as clerk in drug stores in the larger cities, and thus gain- ing a varied experience in the compounding of drugs and medicines which
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was of great advantage to him in his future carcer. He then returned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, and continued his studies until 1878, when the degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him. He is the oldest alumnus of that institution in the city of Johnstown at the present time (190}). He returned to his native city and immediately began the active practice of his profession, establishing an office on Locust street, and at the expira- tion of three years decided to take a post-graduate course in the study of medicine. He accordingly returned to Philadelphia, re-entered the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, remaining there for one year. He next proceeded to Ebensburg, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, July 2, 1882, where he again established himself in the practice of his chosen profession, suc- ceeding to the patronage of Dr. Griffith. Subsequently he purchased the drug business of Dr. Lemon, which was known as one of the oldest phar- macies in that section of the state, having been established in 1847. Dr- Zimmerman carried on this business very successfully and profitably for three years, and then sold it to Dr. Thomas Davidson, while he removed to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he again took up the practice of medicine. He remained there until 1888, when he returned to Johns- town and opened a drug store in the Hulbert House, which was destroyed by the memorable flood of May, 1889. Undaunted by this stroke of ill fortune, Dr. Zimmerman opened another store in one of the temporary structures raised in the park by the flood commissioners, and he was the pioneer in the business world of the time. He continued this business in this building until 1892, when the buildings were torn down. He then removed his business to the Wolf Block on Franklin street, remained there seven years, then removed to the Zimmerman Block, and continued in business there for three years, when failing health caused him to sell his business to G. G. Messenger & Co. The next three years were devoted to the practice of medicine. and the manufacture of "Dr. Zimmerman's Rem- edies," which are in constant and popular demand. He decided to re- enter the drug business in 1900, and opened a store at Dale, on Bedford street, Johnstown, where he has built up a large and profitable trade, and is now president of the Board of Health of Dale borough.
Dr. Zimmerman married December 19, 1883, Jennie A. Davis, daugh- ter of Edward and Sarah (Griffith) Davis, of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, and they have had children : 1. Ethel Jean, graduate of Maryland College Lutherville, Maryland. 2. Edward Henry, student at Johns Hopkins College.
JORDAN ROSS HORNE, principal of the Cypress Avenue School, Moxham, Johnstown, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, who is well and favorable known throughout the educational circles of the state, is a de- scendant of a family whose members were active in the defense of the colonies, when their safety depended upon the loyalty and endurance of a small body of brave men.
(I) Henry Horne, great-grandfather of Jordan Ross Horne, was born in the province of Horn. Hesse-Cassel, Germany. He was a mem- her of a troop of Hessians whose services were sold to England by the Duke of that province in order to help the British quell the troubles in the American colonies. He was sent to America and was one of the Hessians who were captured at the battle of Trenton, and was held a prisoner at Morristown Heights. When he obtained his release he immediately joined the American forces under Washington and served them bravely and well. He acted as a special aide and spy, became a member of a cavalry troop, and
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was famed for his fine horsemanship. Upon the close of hostilities he took advantage of his revolutionary claim and obtained a large tract of land in Virginia, a part of which is now (1906) within the limits of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. He was industrious and intelligent in his management of this and was considered a very prosperous land owner. His sons subsequently removed to the north, some of them settling in Bed- ford county, Pennsylvania, and some going still farther west. He mar- ried Elizabeth Mackelfish, and among their children were: Andrew, of whom see forward; John, who made his home in Bedford county, Penn- sylvania ; Eckert, who purchased large tracts of land in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, near Schellsburg, and became a farmer. The well known family of this name in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, of which, the late Joseph Horne, proprietor of the large department store, was a member, is de- scended from Eckert Horne.
(II) Andrew Horne, son of Henry (1) and Elizabeth (Mackelfish) Horne, was born about the year 1774, and died 1873. He took up his resi- dence first at Sehellsburg, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, then removed to Alum Bank, in the same county, where he acquired considerable land and devoted himself to farming. In this he was very successful and was later the proprietor of several fine farms. He was a devoted Christian, and was one of the organizers of the Methodist church in Bedford county. It was through his efforts that a building was erected devoted to religious services, and this was named "Horne's Church" in his honor. This was a modest building of logs and stood on the site of the present church edi- fice. The original building has recently been restored by the Horne family, and the late Joseph Horne, of Pittsburg, contributed generously towards effecting this end. Andrew Horne was prominent and influential in both the religious and civic affairs of the community. His death was sudden, occurring while he was attending divine worship. He was asked to address the congregation, but asked to be excused as he was not feeling well. He arose from his seat and was about to leave the building when he collapsed and fell dead on the church steps. He was universally re- spected and loved, and his death was deeply and earnestly regretted. He married Elizabeth Tipton, and had children: 1. Josiah, married and re- moved to Iowa. 2. Eliza, married George Yeagher. 3. Elizabeth, twin of Eliza, died in childhood. 4. William, went west and died there. 5. An- drew M., see forward. 6. Ann Maria, now residing in Alum Bank, Bed- ford county, born 1833. married Samnel Banfort. 7. Daniel J., born 1831, married AAnna Taylor, is now residing in New Paris, Bedford county, Pennsylvania.
(III) Andrew Monroe Horne, third son and fifth child of Andrew and Elizabeth (Tipton) Horne, was born near Schellsburg, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, April 19, 1828. died January 25, 1903. He mar- ried Catherine Cook. and had children: 1. Elizabeth, died young. 2. Rev. William, married Lena Dennison and had children : Harry. Cleo, Lulu and Howard. 3. Mollie, married C. L. McClelland, and has chil- dren : Mabel and Andrew. 4. Ida, married J. F. Morris, of Middleburg, Pennsylvania, and has children: Jessie and Beth. 5. Annie, married William Hamilton and has children: Edgar, John and Carroll. 6. Lena. married C. B. Oldham. 7. Jordan Ross, the particular subject of this sketch. S. Anstie. 9. Albert. 10. Edgar.
(IV) Jordan Ross Horne, second son and seventh child of Andrew Monroe (3) and Catherine (Cook) Horne, was born at Alum Bank, Bed- ford county, Pennsylvania, October 28, 1878. His boyhood and youthful days were spent on the family homestead and he acquired a good education
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in the public schools of his district and at the Slipping Rock State Nor- mal School. Later he took a business course in the International Corre- spondence School at Washington. District of Columbia, and accomplished a great deal by assiduous home study. He commenced teaching in the public schools of his county in 1897. continued this occupation for a period of three years, the last of which was in charge of a school at Glade Mills. Butler county, Pennsylvania. In the meantime he pursued a course of study during the summer vacations so that when he entered the State Normal School he was able to do so as a senior. While there he was elected as first assistant superintendent of the model school. Upon the completion of his studies at the Normal school he returned to AAlum Bank, where he was appointed to the position of principal of the public school. At the end of one year he resigned this position and accepted the principal- ship of the Woodvale School at Johnstown, remaining here for two years. and was then transferred to Moxham (Seventeenth ward ) and offered the position of principal of the Cypress avenue public school. This he ac- cepted and is filling with credit to himself and benefit to those under his care. He is possessed of rare executive ability and progressive ideas. Although ready to adopt any new idea which seems to promise well for his pupils. yet he gives any measure careful and deliberate thought before introducing it. He has a keen sense of justice, and while firm even to sternness, is greatly beloved by his pupils. He is active in the church affairs of his town. and is the leading tenor in the Methodist Episcopal church choir. being blessed with a very fine tenor voice. He is of cheerful. pleasing demeanor, and is very popular in social circles.
HERBERT H. WEAVER. assistant general manager of the Cam- bria Steel Company. of Johnstown. Cambria county, Pennsylvania, is one of the best known men in this industry in that section of the country, and is one of the most prominent citizens in every direction of the county. His paternal ancestors were natives of New England. who emigrated to the Genesee valley and from there to northern Pennsylvania. His ancestors on the maternal side were natives of Germany.
Samuel Elder Weaver. father of Herbert H. Weaver, was born in the upper Ally valley, near Kittanning. in 1837. He removed to Johnstown. where he passed the remainder of his life. He was for many years assist- ant superintendent of the Wood, Morrell & Company's store. which has recently been merged in the Pennsylvania Traffic Company. He married Louisa Domm. born near Berlin. Somerset county. Pennsylvania, in 1855. daughter of Casper Domm. Casper Domm was born in Hesse-Darmstadt. Germany, in 1805. emigrated to the United States in 1825. and settled in Berlin. Somerset county. He removed to Johnstown in 1874, where he resided until his death. which occurred in 1891, at the age of eighty-six years. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver were: 1. Walter S., in the employ ofthe Cambria Steel Company. 2. Herbert H .. the subject of this sketch. 3. Frank R .. died in 1880 at the age of seventeen years. 4. Lulu M .. married M. G. Moore.
IIerbert H. Weaver, second son and child of Samuel E. and Louisa (Domm) Weaver. was born near Dixon. Illinois. January 1. 1859. He received but a limited education in the schools of his native township. but by his own efforts. his diligent application at home. and keen powers of observation. as well as by contact with the business world. he has acquired a fund of general knowledge which is scarcely equalled by that of any of his associates. He found employment with the Cambria Steel Company as office boy in 1873. rose to the position of clerk in the general
THE NEW OK PUPLI LPARY
Astor, Le & no To don Fourun' ons. 1900
Alexander McNeever
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office in 186, and one year later was made assistant cashier. He became assistant general manager in 1889, and holds that position at the present (1906) time. He has been very actively identified with many and varied business interests which have all tended to the advancement and improve- ment of the city. He is the founder of the Independent Telephone Com- pany, its organization being entirely his own idea, founded on the fact of the exorbitant rates charged by the Bell Telephone Company. He secured the co-operation of about eighty of the subscribers of the older company, and they at once took the necessary steps for the organization of the Inde- pendent Telephone Company, which has been an unqualified success. Among those who were concerned in this undertaking may be mentioned : Dr. W. B. Lowman, George Brown, deceased, P. S. Fisher, Dr. Charles Hannan, and George Kruger. Mr. Weaver took charge of the administra- tion of affairs, though having had no previous experience in this field, and acted as superintendent. His remarkable executive ability was instru- mental in making this a prosperous undertaking, and it is now one of the strongest companies in that section of the country, with its lines extend- ing to adjoining counties. Mr. Weaver has always been a member of the board of directors since its inception in 1894. He was also one of the organizers of the Pittsburg and Johnstown Long Distance Telephone Company, which connects these two cities and touches at all intermediate points of any importance. He has been on the board of directors since its organization. He was one of the organizers of the City Light, Heat and Power Company of Johnstown. He was one of six who purchased the holdings of T. L. Johnson in the Johnstown Street Railway, of which they later disposed to P. C. Dupont. He is one of the organizers of the Johns- town Trust Company, and is a member of the board of directors. He is also a director in the Consumer's' Gas Company of Johnstown. These are but a few of many projects which he has formulated and actively pushed in the interests of the city of Johnstown. He has always kept well abreast of the times, and wherever an opportunity arose which he could turn to the benefit of the city he exerted himself to the utmost to do so. He has also been actively engaged in the building interests, has erected one of the finest homes in the city proper, and in 1904, in the short period of seven months, he had erected one of the finest houses in that section of the country, at Westmont, Upper Yoder township. He is an active member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, having served as trustee and deacon, and represented the church at the General Synod. His family are also regular communicants there. He joined Company H, Fifth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, in 1880, and has risen from the rank of private to that of first lieutenant. He was appointed an aide on the staff of Governor Beaver, an office which he held until he resigned from the service in 1885. He is a most progressive and enterprising man in every sense of the word. He is very popular and has many friends in military, business and social circles.
He married, September 23, 1884. Jennie Nitterauer, daughter of Rev. Cornelius Nitteraner. a minister of the Lutheran church, who was located at Blairsville until his death. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver were: 1. Louisa D., born July 4. 1885. 2. Frank R., Novem- ber 28, 1887. 3. Alan M., September 15, 1891. 4. Gertrude M., April 15. 1898. 5. Janet H., December 1. 1903, died February 10, 1906.
ALEXANDER MCKEEVER. The Mckeever families of Pennsyl- vania and Delaware are of either Scotch or Irish descent, and have lived in this country through several generations. The American ancestor of
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the family, whose christian name is lost, came to the country many years ago and settled in Delaware, where his son Alexander was born. The latter was a brick and stone mason and contractor, but he died compara- tively young, about 1834, at the age of thirty-five years. It is evident that he was a man of some consequence in his time, and there are many sub- stantial structures now standing in Delaware which were built by him. It was he who built the stone wall around the old Swede church at New Castle. He and his family were all Presbyterians.
Alexander McKeever married Jane Foster, whose brother, William Foster, was an old-time stage driver on the Philadelphia turnpike, an im- portant thoroughfare of travel and transportation three-quarters of a cen- tury and more ago. Alexander and Jane (Foster) MeKeever had three children: 1. James, married Rebecca Mason, who survives him and now lives in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 2. Samuel, born 1823. died 1884. 3. Mary, married George Arnold. Both are now dead.
Samuel Mckeever, second child of Alexander and Jane (Foster) McKeever, was born in Wilmington, Delaware, July 18, 1823, died in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, September 25, 1884. His father died when Samuel was eleven years old, after which he went to live with the family of a Mr. Bracken. The latter was a brick mason and taught Samuel his trade, and he made it his chief occupation in business life. Having be- come a practical workman he was given charge of the bricklayers engaged on the work of construction of various iron works: first for Mordecai Moore at Norristown, Pennsylvania, then for James Hooven at Spring Mill, and in 1853 was at Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where he lived four years. April 17, 1857, he came to Johnstown and took charge of the bricklaying department of Cambria Iron Company, and ultimately was made superintendent of that part of the company's operations, in which capacity he continued to the time of his death in 1884. In politics Mr. Mckeever was originally a Whig and later a Republican. In 1863 he en- listed in the Emergency Militia, a special military organization created by Governor Curtin to resist Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania terri- tory. He was not a church member, but attended the Lutheran church in Johnstown and contributed to its support.
Samuel MeKeever married, January 27, 1844, Eleanor Love, daugh- ter of Robert and Lydia ( Hart) Love. of Wilmington, Delaware. Mr. Love was by occupation a book printer of Lancaster. Pennsylvania. He served in the American army during the second war with Great Britain. Eleanor Love was born in Philadelphia. July 16, 1821, and afterward lived in Wilmington. She died in Johnstown, July 16. 1906. Children of Samuel and Eleanor (Love) Mckeever: 1. James R., married Latilla Mvers. who survives him and now lives in Morrellville, a suburb of Johnstown. 2. Kate: married Howard McKeever and is now a widow living in Johns- town. 3. Charles H., married Rebecca McGarry; both are dead. 4. Alex- ander, now of Johnstown. 5. Samuel A., assistant foreman of the brick- masons' department of Cambria Steel Company ; unmarried. 6. Eleanor. of Johnstown : unmarried.
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