USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III > Part 62
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The father, Alexander Troxell, was born in what was then known as White township (now Reade), Cambria county, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1837, the son of Abraham and Nancy (Glass) Troxell, both natives of what is now Reade township. Both the Troxell and Glass families belong among the pioneer settlers of White township, Cambria county, Pennsylvania. Alexander Troxell was about six years of age when his father died, and his mother reared the family of six children, she re- maining a widow to the time of her death, living to the advanced age of ninety-two years and a few months.
When Alexander reached manhood. he acquired the old homestead on which he was reared. He lived there until abont 1870, when he re- moved to an adjoining farm which he had acquired, and where he has since resided. He is one of the prosperous and highly respected farmers of Reade township. In polities he is a staneh Republican, and while he has never held office of his own seeking, yet he has been elected to many of the loeal positions in his township. He was a mem- ber of the Fifty-third Pennsylvania Regiment of Volunteers during the Civil war, taking part in many of the important engagements. He is a member of the United Brethren church, and has been for many years an officer in the church. His wife. Mathilda (Gates) Troxell, was born in Blair eounty, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1839, daughter of Levi and
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Nancy Gates, both natives of Blair county. Their people were among the pioneer band who first made a settlement there.
Charles E. Troxell acquired his education in the common schools, and when he was grown to manhood drove a team for six years, and the following three years worked in the mines. In 1890 he engaged in the mercantile business at Glasgow, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, with G. L. Glasgow, under the firm name of Glasgow & Troxell. In 1897 this partnership was dissolved, when Mr. Troxell purchased the busi- ness of A. J. Willhide, of Glasgow, which he successfully conducted up to December, 1901, when he disposed of his business, having that autumn been elected to the office of prothonotary of Cambria county, taking his office in the month of January, 1902. He was re-elected in 1902, and is now serving his second term. Prior to his election to office, he was prominent in politics in Reade township, being elected constable in 1885, holding to the spring of 1894, when he was elected to the office of justice of the peace and this he resigned to assume the duties of his present office. Mr. Troxell is a member of the Lutheran church, and in every laudable way is a representative man of his county.
In 1882 Mr. Troxell married Anna Flemming, of White township, Cambria county. To Mr. and Mrs. Troxell were born four children, two of whom are deceased. . The surviving children are Ralph and May. Mrs. Troxell died in 1891. In 1897 Mr. Troxell married Susan Glas- gow, of Reade township. The result of this union is one child, Hilda.
FRANCIS CALLISTUS SHARBAUGH, an attorney-at-law, and the present official court stenographer for the Forty-seventh judicial district of Pennsylvania, was born at Carrolltown, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1872, son of John W. and Mary (Sherry) Sharbaugh, and is one of a family of six children, five of whom sur- vive: Edward W .; Harriet M., single and resides at home; Francis C., of whom later; Lawrence A., at home; Mary M., wife of George Hipps, editor of the Carrolltown News.
Jacob Sharbaugh, grandfather of Francis C. Sharbaugh, was a native of Germany, and among his children was John W., father of Francis C. Sharbaugh, who was reared on the farm and followed that calling, together with blacksmithing, which trade he mastered early in life. About 1880 he removed to Carrolltown and engaged in the mer- cantile business, with which he has since been connected. He is a good business man, and influential in the Catholic church. Politically he is a Democrat. He is known for his liberality in all charitable causes. He married Mary Sherry, born August 15, 1848, died May 5, 1877. She was from Allegheny township, near Loretto, Cambria county, and was the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Kay) Sherry. Peter Sherry born January 30, 1804, died September 1, 1885; his wife, Elizabeth (Kay) Sherry, born November 6. 1802, died August 20, 1891. The Sherry family was among the early settlers of this county, the ancestors locating soon after the McGuires made their settlement. After the death of his wife, in 1877, Mr. Sharbaugh married Cath- erine Yinger. of Carrolltown, by whom he has had seven children, three of whom survive: Gertrude, Pauline Thelma and John, all at home.
Francis C. Sharbangh was educated in the public schools of Car- rolltown, at the Iron City College. Pittsburg, and at St. Vincent's Col- lege of Westmoreland county. Pennsylvania, graduating from the latter with the class of 1891. He was admitted to practice law at the several courts of Cambria county. February 6, 1896: the supreme court of state, October 13. 1902. and is a graduate of the law department of
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Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. He is an expert stenog- rapher and was appointed court stenographer by Hon. A. V. Barker, May 1, 1901, and re-appointed January 6, 1902, by Hon. F. J. O'Con- nor. His home is at Ebensburg, where he also maintains a law office. He is a member of Couneil No. 522, K. of C., and attends the Holy Name church.
Mr. Sharbaugh married Malvina Anastasia, daughter of Andrew and Mary M. Eckenrode, ncc Gannter, November 18, 1896. Mrs. Shar- baugh's father was a well-known merchant of Carrolltown, now de- ceased. His widow still lives at Ebensburg, with her three daughters, Estella, Myrtle and Vera. all single. The other children were: Ida May, intermarried with Holden W. Chester, merchant of Carrolltown; Etta, married Frank A. Donahue, present postmaster of Carrolltown; William H., of Altoona; Ella May, wife of L. M. Buck, cashier of the Hastings Bank at Hastings, Pennsylvania, and Malvina A., wife of Mr. Sharbaugh. Mr. and Mrs. Sharbaugh are the parents of the following children : Frances Vernita, Leah Irene, Marian Rose and Alice Anastasia.
GEORGE MARSHALL READE, son of Hezekiah and Susan (Shrum) Reade, was born in the Ligonier valley, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, May 29, 1819.
He was reared on the farm of his father, where he was engaged in assisting the latter to the best of his ability. His education was a good one, acquired in the common schools and the academy, and he decided upon the law as his lifework. He commenced his studies in this direction in the office of James Potts, of Johnstown, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Cambria county. October S, 1851. He imme- diately began the active practice of his chosen profession in Ebensburg, and continued it there with great success until his death, June 22, 1892. Early in life he had formed habits of close and thorough study, allow- ing not a moment of his time to be wasted. This contributed not a
little to his success in later life. The powers of concentration of thought, thus early formed, enabled his to plead his cases in a clear and convincing manner. which made him an acknowledged leader in his profession. For years before his death he practiced extensively in the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and was engaged in every prominent case that came up in the county courts. His judgment and powers of discrimination were remarkable. He was called to the management of cases in the higher district and circuit courts, and here he soon dis- tinguished himself. He was an eloquent, forceful orator, and the beauty of the language employed was as great a pleasure as the arguments were convincing and logically presented. Few of his efforts have been preserved, but his life is identified with the history of his county, and the record of it may be read with profit by all who seek eminence ju legal circles. He was equaled by few as a representative of his pro- fession. In 1879 the citizens of White township, in this county, insti- tuted proceedings in court to erect a new township out of part of White township : due proceedings were held in court, and September 1, 1879, it was ordered by the court that a new township be formed in accordance with the request of the inhabitants of said White township. The friends of Mr. Reade in that part of the county, as a mark of re- spect to him, petitioned the court to designate the name of the new township "Reade." The court. September 1, 1879, made a decree accordingly, and the new township was named Reade.
At a meeting of the members of the Cambria county bar, held
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August 8. 1892. the following memorial was adopted in respect to his memory :
IN MEMORIAM.
"The Bar of this County is called upon again to mourn the loss of one of its able and successful members, George M. Reade, Esq., hav- ing departed this life on June 22, 1892.
"Mr. Reade was admitted to the Cambria County Bar on the 8th of October, 1851. At the time of his admission the way of the young lawyer was a hard one, for he had to combat sneh able men as Judge Thomas White, John G. Miles, Henry D. Foster, William Banks, Rob- ert L. Johnston and others, some of whom were in the zenith of their power and practice as lawyers at this Bar, and others, who, by an ad- herence to the principles of the profession, won a place in the legal history of our courts. He entered the field with an indomitable will, a fixedness of purpose and a resolution to fight the battle. He was a close student all the days of his professional career, and was seldom confronted in the trial of a cause with a legal proposition which he was unable to answer and support by authorities. His practice was a large and varied one, and his industry, ability and zeal in behalf of his clients secured him a lucrative one. He possessed one of the largest and finest law libraries in western Pennsylvania, and it was his delight to sit among his books and gain pleasure and profit from their contents. His great legal contests were not confined to the courts of the county alone : he was well known in the Supreme Court of the State, and in the United States Courts. He was for many years the Honored Presi- dent of our Bar Association, and, at the time of his death, Chairman of the Examining Committee. His death was sudden, though not un- expected. and now we mourn the loss of a professional brother and friend, the community one of its most valued eitizens, and above all, the family an affectionate father and brother.
"Resolved, That a copy of this memorial be presented to the Court of Common Pleas of this County, with a request that the same be spread upon the records, and that a copy be suitably engrossed and transmitted to his family."
Mr. Reade married, April 25. 1855, Cassandra Mathiot, of Ross Furnace. Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. She was a daughter of Colonel Jacob D. Mathiot, a manufacturer of iron at Ress Furnace. He represented his county in the legislature in 1833-34. The Mathiots are of French deseent, and one of their ancestors held a high position at the French court. The father of Colonel Mathiot, George Mathiot, served with distinction in the war of the revolution, and one of his brothers, Ilon. Joshua D., was an eminent lawyer in Newark, Ohio, rep- resented his district in congress in 1841-42, and deelined re-election. The mother of Colonel Mathiot was Ruth (Davies) Mathiot. His grandparents were Jean and Catherine Margaret (Bernard) Mathiot, who emigrated from France to this country in 1754. The children of George Marshall and Cassandra (Mathiot ) Reade were: Helen, and Mathiot, born in Ebensburg. Cambria county, Pennsylvania, March 28, 1858.
FRANCIS A. SHOEMAKER. one of the ablest attorneys at the Cambria county bar, is a representative of an old and honored family of the state of Pennsylvania.
. Edward Shoemaker, father of Franeis L. Shoemaker, was born in
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, 1909
A.T. Strittwalter
O. a. Strittmatter A. C. Strittmatte
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1797. His youth and young manhood were spent in his native city, but after his marriage he re- moved to Roseland, Cambria county, Pennsylvania. He was engaged in business as a real estate agent and broker for the Fisher-Barton lands and for real estate owners who controlled large tracts of land in the county. In addition to this he was engaged in the mercantile and lumber business, and was postmaster of Roseland from 1826 until 1839. He removed to Ebensburg, Cambria county, during the latter year. Politically he was an old line Whig, and upon its disruption he affiliated with the Republican party. His early religious training was that of the Quakers, but after settling in Cambria county he became a Roman Catholic, and remained faithful to those doctrines until his death, April 22, 1867. He married (first) Jane Falls, of Baltimore, who lived but a few years after her removal to Cambria county. He married (second), 1831, Mary Hanson, and had children : Ellen, now deceased, was wife of William Murray. Charles, deceased. Edward. Henrietta, widow of Major C. W. Wingard, late paymaster in the United States army. Francis A., see forward. Theodore. Albert, now deceased. Henry A., ex-prothonotary of Cambria county. John, de- ceased. Samuel A. Mary A., widow of Captain Rhodes, of the United States army.
Francis A. Shoemaker, third son and fifth child of Edward and Mary (Hanson) Shoemaker, was born at Roseland, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1839. He had the advantage of an excellent edu- cation, and was graduated from college in June, 1856. For a few years he turned his attention to surveying. and then decided upon the study of the law. These studies he commenced under the preceptorship of Hon. R. L. Johnston, now deceased, formerly judge of Cambria county. He was admitted to practice at the bar of Cambria county, June, 1860, established himself in Ebensburg, and has been a successful practitioner there ever since. His mind is one of a strietly legal bent, and in the unraveling of an intricate case he has few equals in the county. He is an able, eloquent speaker, and his praetice is a large and Inerative one. He gives his active support to the Democratic party, but has never sought nor held political office. He is a member of the Roman Cath- olic church, and prominently identified with it.
Mr. Shoemaker married, May 15, 1861, Eliza Tammany, daughter of Henry Tammany, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Shoemaker died Jannary 5. 1898. He subsequently married Marguerite Jean Beat- tie, born in Scotland.
ALOYSIUS T. STRITTMATTER, of Hastings, was born June 21, 1859, in Carrolltown borough, a son of Peter and Maria (Long) Stritt- matter, and a grandson of Andrew Strittmatter, born in 1774, in Baden, Germany.
In 1818 Andrew Strittmatter emigrated to the United States, and finding on his arrival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that the tide of immigration was setting westward. he proceeded to Cambria county and made his home in Carroll township, where he rented a small place which was cultivated chiefly by his wife, he himself being employed at fifty cents a day. During the first year with the help of his thrifty wife he saved one hundred dollars and purchased the first one hundred aeres of what eame in the course of time to be a large farm, on which he passed the residue of his days. Before his migration to this country Mr. Strittmatter had been a soldier, serving under Napoleon and pass-
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ing through all the horrors of the Russian campaign. As a citizen of Cambria county he served a number of terms as assessor and tax col- lector of his township. In religion he was a Roman Catholic, and in politics a Whig.
On his voyage to this country Andrew Strittmatter became ac- quainted with Mary Myers. also a native of Baden, and on their ar- rival in Philadelphia they were married by the bishop of the diocese. Their children were: Frank, married Elizabeth Huber; Mary, wife of John Illig; Catherine, married Peter Huber; Peter and Paul (twins), the former mentioned later and the latter married Elizabetlı Sherry; Andrew, married Catharine Zurn; Frances, married John Kirsch; Joseph and Augustus (twins), the former died of yellow fever in Texas, 1859, and the latter married Margaret Zurn. Mr. Strittmatter, father of these children, died in 1864, and his widow passed away in 1876.
Peter Strittmatter, son of Andrew and Mary (Myers) Strittmatter, was born in 1825, near Carrolltown borough, learned the trade of car- penter, and worked as a contractor and builder from 1845 to 1888, at the same time cultivating his farm. Since the latter year he has given his exclusive attention to his farm, which lies one mile south of Patton and comprises two hundred acres underlaid with coal, which is as yet unsold. He has held the office of assessor, and for nine years served as one of the school directors of Carrelltown borough. He is a mem- ber of the Roman Catholic church, and a Democrat in politics. Mr. Strittmatter married Magdalene Koch, and two children were born to them: Mary. known as Sister Maura. and Catharine, wife of Simon Schrift, of New Germany, and mother of the following children: Anna, wife of Benjamin Kibler; Pios, of New Germany; Barbara, wife of Thaddeus Kibler; Lucy, wife of Laurence Lancy; Regina, Lizzie, Peter, Andrew, Monica, Martina and Amelia. The death of Magdalene (Koch) Strittmatter occurred about 1850. Mr. Strittmatter married (second) Maria. daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Schwab) Long, and their children were: 1. Joseph, died at the age of thirty-two. 2. John B .. married Mary F. Kaylor. had three children : Edwin, Hilda and Joseph. 3. Aloysius T., of whom later. 4. Paul A .. married Sophia Hoover, had nine children: Dennis, student at St. Vincent's College, Mandus. Clair, Omar. Otto, Mary, Panline, Germain, Casimir. 5. Barbara, died in the convent at Carrolltown. 6. Helena, wife of Leonard Holtz, had ten children : Rosa, Paul, Anna, Edwin, Hilda and Dennis (twins), Walter. Bertha, Charles and Marie. 7. Anthony C., married Catharine Fahey, had four children : Margaret. Charles, drowned at three years of age, William and Ella. 8. Elizabeth, teacher in Benedictine convent. known as Sister Catharine. 9. Isador, married Frances Hoover, has three children : Walter, Lewis and Emery. 10. Peter, married Margaret Huber. 11. Thomas, of Philadelphia. organizer of the Quaker City Cut Glass Company which took the first prize at the St. Louis exposi- tion, also an attorney-at-law. 12. Cecilia, teacher in convent, known as Sister Scolastica. 13. Anna, a nun. known in the convent as Sister Hedwidge.
Aloysius T. Strittmatter, son of Peter and Maria (Long) Stritt- matter, was reared on a farm and instructed by his father in the trade of carpenter, which he followed from 1876 to 1888. During two of these years he was engaged in contracting and building as a member of the firm of Strittmatter & Sons. In 1888 Mr. Strittmatter, Sr., re- tired and his sons-Aloysius T., Paul A. and Anthony C .- entered into
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partnership at Hastings as contractors and builders. They built a saw mill, a planing mill and a lumber yard, which they still operate and where they are conducting an extensive and lucrative business. All the brothers have served the borough in the offices of councilman, school director and assessor. They are members of the Roman Catholic church, and adhere to the Democratic party.
Aloysius T. Strittmatter married, September 25, 1888, Rosalia, danghter of Peter and Catharine (Hass) Helfrich, and their children are: Rudolph E., born April 17, 1890, student at St. Vincent's College. Modestus P., born January 16, 1892. Leo A., born February 26, 1894. Marie M., born May 22. 1897. Innocence A., born April 20, 1899. Anna R., born Jannary 26, 1902, died in childhood.
SAMUEL O. THOMAS, M. D., one of the successful medical men formerly of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, now of Carrolltown, was born in Carroll township, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, July 30, 1875, son of James J. and Mathilda (Glasser) Thomas.
The father, Hon. James J. Thomas, formerly a member of the house of representatives in the Pennsylvania legislature, and an agricult- urist, was the son of John and Mary A. (Campbell) Thomas, born at Kaylor Station, Cambria county, Pennsylvania. September 27, 1838. The Thomas family is one of the many honest, honorable families of the United States that trace their trans-atlantic ancestry to Wales. Thomas Thomas, a paternal ancestor of Dr. Samuel O. Thomas, was a soldier in the English army; he was stationed in Ireland, where he married and resided until his death. Michael Thomas, one of the descendants of the Welsh soldier, was born and reared on the Emerald Isle and held an office under the English government. In 1820 he came to Cambria county, Pennsylvania. settling in Munster, where he lived until his death in 1835, aged eighty-five years. He married a Miss Mulhern, who was a member of an Irish family, and by whom he had eight children- four sons and four daughters. The second born to them was John Thomas, the grandfather of Dr. Samuel O. Thomas, whose birth oc- curred in county Donegal, 1792, and who came with his parents in 1820 to Cambria county, Pennsylvania, where he died on his farm at Kaylor Station, September, 1887, when lacking but five days of being a cen- tenarian. He was well educated, taught school in Ireland and farmed in this country, coupled with teaching in Cambria and Indiana counties. He quit teaching in 1864. Many of the successful men of this part of the state ascribe their success to the training under him. He voted for every presidential nominee of the Democratic party from Andrew Jack- son down to 1884, and although a man of standing and influence he never sought office and seldom held one. He was postmaster at Munster under Van Buren. He was a member of the Catholic church. In 1836 he was married by the illustrious Father Gallitzen to Mary A. Campbell. who died 1870, aged fifty-seven years. Her maternal grandfather was one of the first settlers of the county. Her father, Patrick Campbell, tras a native of the North of Ireland, coming to Cambria county in 1807. To Michael and Mary Thomas were born three sons and eight daughters. including Hon. James J. Thomas.
Hon. James J. Thomas attended the public schools long enough to learn to spell, and then received his education at the hands of his father in private instruction. He was reared on the farm, and in 1858 became a teacher in the common schools, where he taught with few intermissions until 1892. At the same time he made agriculture a special study.
Vol. III-28
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April 22. 1867, he married Tilla Glasser, daughter of Frank Glasser, of St. Boniface, Cambria county, who was one of the early German set- ilers of the county. Six children were born of this union: John F .. Mary L., Annie, Samuel, Emma and Otto. The father was a Catholic and in politics a Democrat. He has held most of the offices of any im- portanee in a local way, and in 1877-78 was a member of the state leg- islature. Under Cleveland's first administration he was storekeeper in the United States revenue department. In 1892 was re-elected to the legislature, and in the sesson of 1893 was appointed by Speaker Thomp- son as member of the congressional committee. His work in the leg- islature was one of much importance, especially to the farming classes. He was for many years a member of the State Board of Agriculture.
Dr. Samuel O. Thomas received his education at the common schools and under private tutorship, under his father, who was one of the promi- nent edneators of Cambria county. When eighteen years of age he be- gan teaching, continuing five years. During the latter part of this period he took up the study of medicine. In the autumn of 1898 he en- tered the Baltimore Medical College, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1902, being unanimously elected president of his class. As a distinction he was given a mark of honor in his regular diploma, be- cause of his proficiency in his studies. He was appointed resident physi- cian of the Maryland General Hospital, serving one year as a member of the medical staff, and following this was appointed on the medical staff at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburg. He remained there about one year and then came to Ebensburg. In the spring of 1905 he took a post- graduate course at the New York Post Graduate School and Hospital.
ALEXANDER J. WATERS, a justice of the peace, residing in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, was born in that borough, in the house in which he now resides, October 21, 1857, son of Edmund J. and Mar- garet (Tibbott) Waters. He was one of five in a family, three of whom survive: Elizabeth, wife of William L. Emigh, of Summerhill town- ship, Cambria county ; Alexander J. of whom later; Margaret, widow of Martin L. Kruis.
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