History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III, Part 7

Author: Storey, Henry Wilson
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 940

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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

and was never so happy as when entertaining his friends. In his death, which occurred February 23. 1889. the city lost one of its best citizens. . The Johnstown Tribune said editorally: "In the death of Mr. Conrad Suppes, Johnstown loses one of its oldest, wealthiest and best citizens. HIe was a man foremost in all worthy enterprises; a kind genial com- panion who will long be missed and mourned in business and social circles."

Conrad Suppes was thrice married : first to Alice Andrews, at Johns- town, Pennsylvania, on March 2. 1848, by the Rev. T. Shaw. She was born in Plymouth, England. September 8, 1826; died in Johnstown, January 31. 1873. By this marriage were born the following children : 1. Charles H., see sketch. 2. Anna Margaret. see sketch of Hay family. 3. Theodore William, born November 22, 1853: died August 25. 1855. 4. Max M., born February 18, 1856: is now manager of the National Tube Company's plants at Lorain. Ohio. He married Anna E. Mark McConihe, of Troy. New York, July 12, 1882: their children are : Florence Andrews, Max M .. Clara Rogers, Arthur Scott and Chester A. 5. George Plitt, born January 1. 1859: married Sarah Ellen Osborne, of Johnstown, June 3, 1879, and their children are : George Osborne. Margaret Alice, Conrad Theodore, Francis Agnes and Chauncey Osborne. The father is the proprietor of the Suppes Forge and Foundry Company ; proprietor and manager of the Rowena Stone and Sand Company, of Rowena, Pennsylvania. 6. Conrad Theodore. born July 4. 1861: died November 24. 1861. 7. Elizabeth King, married John S. Unger, April 28, 1892. and their children are: William Suppes and Alice Suppes. Mr. Unger is assistant general manager of the Homestead Steel Works. Howard Axle Works and the Carrie Blast Furnaces of the Carnegie Steel Company. 8. Alice May. see John H. Waters sketch. 9. Gertrude Fritz. see Dr. George W. Wagoner sketch.

For his second wife. Conrad Suppes married at Johnstown. July 21. 1874. Caroline Kress, born in the Grand Duchy of Hessen, Germany, October 29, 1831: died October 19, 1877, without issue: Rev. R. A. Fink. D. D., performing their marriage ceremony.

For his third wife, Mr. Suppes married in New York City, Septem- ber 9. 1878, Frieda Fildebrand. of Stolp. in Pomern, Germany. By this marriage one ehild was born, Frieda Bertha. born September 5, 1879; she married John Price Jones, of New York City, December 5, 1905.

Concerning the geneaology of Mr. Suppes' first wife, Alice Andrews, it may be stated that on the paternal side :

(I) Richard Andrews was born in England, January 18, 1757;

died Deeember 11, 1833. He married Grace who was born in England, January 18. 1758. died February 4. 1832. Their eleven children were all born in England as follows: 1. Grace, born September 14. 1778; 2. Richard, born Angust 14, 1781: 3. George, born June 8. 1783; 4. John, born April 10, 1785: died Jannary 1, 1806: 5. Elizabeth, born April 20. 1787 ; 6. Edmund, born April 9. 1789; died July 8. 1843; 7. Alice, born March 27, 1791; died Jannary 1, 1826; 8. Samuel, born March 2, 1793: 9. Mary, born November 11, 1794; 10. Henry, born August 24, 1796: 11. Florence, born March 22, 1800.

(II) Samuel Andrews, son of Richard and Grace Andrews, was born in England, March 2. 1793, and died November 20, 1857, at Johns- town, Pennsylvania. He came to the United States in 1830. In England he married Ann King, born in England. 1803. and died February 17, 1845, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. They were the parents of the fol-

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

lowing children: 1. Samuel, born October 10, 1822. deceased; 2. Ann, born September 10, 1824, married Washington Edwards, of Creekside. Indiana county, Pennsylvania; 3, Alice, born September 8, 1826, at Plymouth, England; died January 31, 1873, at Johnstown: 4. George, born September 16, 1829. deceased: 5. Edmund, born May 13, 1832. deceased ; 6. James Richard King, born August 29, 1834: died May 4, 1838; 7. William Allison, born March 6, 1837. deceased : 8. Elizabeth King, born September 22, 1839, married Captain William B. Bonacker, and resides in Lakeland, Polk county, Florida: 9. Richard, born Oeto- ber 11, 1841, unmarried and resides at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; 10. Charles, born November 2. 1843: died May 26, 1844. Of this family, Samuel, Ann, Alice and George were born in England and the remainder in America.

The maternal line of Mrs. Alice ( Andrews) Suppes, is as follows: (I) James King. of England, married Elizabeth Wyatt in that country, and among other children born of this union was Ann King.

(II) Ann King, born in England, 1803, married Samuel Andrews of England.

(III) Alice Andrews, third child of Samuel and Ann (King) Andrews, married Conrad Suppes, of this sketch, at Johnstown, Penn- sylvania.

CHARLES H. SUPPES, son of Conrad and Alice (Andrews) Suppes, was born November 30, 1848. in the city of Johnstown, Penn- sylvania. at the residence of his parents on Main street. Here he spent his boyhood days, and attended the public schools, also Professor Trea- bert's German school, and Nazareth Hall at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, completing his education at the latter named institution.

Hle then went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and there spent some time learning the confectionery trade. From there he went to Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, and engaged in the wholesale commission business continuing for a short period. He then returned to Johnstown and opened up a wholesale grocery, which he later sold to his father. Conrad Suppes, and brother-in-law, John B. Hay. About this time he was also engaged in a retail ice business with his father, but shortly after- ward purchased his father's interest and conducted the business alone for many years, selling out to W. K. and Evan M. du Pont, in 1899. Subsequently he established and carried on an extensive wholesale ice business, which he sold to parties in Greensburg. Jennette and other towns. Since 1899 Mr. Suppes has given his entire attention to his large real estate interests. He is one of the heaviest property owners in the city. He is a Democrat, and is identified with the German Lutheran church.

Mr. Suppes married. November 6. 1873. Rebecca Elizabeth Jackson, daughter of Cornelius Hendry and Mary ( Stokes) Jackson. Mrs. Suppes attended the public schools of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a school in Salem, Ohio, and graduated from the Steubenville (Ohio) Female Seminary. Mr. and Mrs. Suppes reside in a beautiful home in the Eighth ward, erected by Charles H. Suppes in 1900, on property which was a part of the originial farm of his father, Conrad Suppes. Mr. and Mrs. Suppes had children: Alice Lee, Charles Hulbert, Jr., Mary Stokes, Kate R., Elizabeth Jackson, Clara Troemmer. Nancy Moore, Walter R., Richard Andrew. William JJackson and Frederick Stokes.

Cornelius Henry Jackson, father of Mrs. Suppes, a descendant of an Irish ancestry, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, May 13. 1820,

THE

JOHN DIBERT

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

died in Canton, Ohio, February 8, 1906. He was a son of Abner Jack- son, who was born on a farm in Genesee county, New York, a son of Lyman Jackson, who was a pensioner of the Revolutionary War. Abner Jackson married Phosa Hendry, born in Genesee county, New York. Cornelius H. Jackson was a graduate of Allegheny College, at Mead- ville, Pennsylvania, was a Methodist minister, and was instrumental in building the Methodist church in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, of which he was pastor from 1861 to 1865, in the latter named year giving up the ministry and removing to Canton, Ohio. He married Mary Stokes, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Starr) Stokes. Joseph Stokes came from Stokes-on-Trent, England. The Starr family is one of the old and very prominent New England families. Cornelius H. and Mary (Stokes) Jackson were the parents of the following children: Infant; Cora, married Alvin C. Kanneberg; Rebecca Elizabeth, wife of Charles H. Suppes: Kate, married Walter E. Rukenbrod: William A., died un- married.

JOHN DIBERT. The family of which the late John Dibert, for many years prominently identified with important business interests of the city of Johnstown, was a representative, was of French origin, the original form of the name being De Bert. This was changed to Dybird when the family took refuge in Holland in order to escape the persecu- tious inflicted on the Huguenots in the early days of the history of France. The family was transplanted from the Old to the New World by the great-grandfather of John Dibert, whose name was supposed to have been David, who settled first in New York, from whence he re- moved to Chester county, Pennsylvania, and the name then took the present form of Dibert.

David Dibert, son of the immigrant ancestor, resided in Adams county. Pennsylvania, from whenee ho removed to Bedford county at a very early day, and subsequently to Cambria county. He followed the occupation of farming. was highly respected and honored in the com- munity, and discharged every duty in a way that reflected credit upon himself. His wife. Elizabeth Dibert, bore him several children, among whom was John Dibert.

John Dibert, son of David and Elizabeth Dibert, resided at Dibert- ville. Somerset county, which was named in honor of him, its oldest and most prominent citizen, and there gave his attention to farming and the operating of a mill of which he was the owner, also to the pursuits of tanning and distilling. About 1816 he removed to Johnstown, where he purchased a farm upon which is now located the Sixth ward of the city. Here he built the Dibert homestead at the corner of Franklin and Dibert streets. and this building would have been destroyed by the great flood of 1889 had it not been so strongly built. It was raised by the waters to the tops of the trees and carried away about one hundred feet from its foundation. Ile engaged in the hotel and mercantile business, invested largely in real estate, and became one of the most wealthy and prominent citizens of the city. He married Rachel Blangh, who bore him eight children: David, whose history appears in the sketch of Scott Dibert. his son, elsewhere in this work: Jacob, died 1849; John. see forward: Sarah, widow of Dr. Henry Yeagley. resides in Janeaster, Pennsylvania ; Mary, married Rev. John D. Knox, a Metho- dist clergyman, resides in Topeka, Kansas; Samuel, died retired, in Johnstown, July 1. 1904; Elizabeth, married Mahlon W. Keim, resides in Johnstown; Charles A., a retired citizen of Oakland, California.

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

John Dibert, the father of the family, died in 1849, aged forty-five years. in the full prime of manhood; he was a member of the Lutheran church. His wife survived him many years. passing away about the year 1878: she was a member of the Methodist church.

John Dibert, son of John and Rachel (Blaugh) Dibert, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1831. He started out in his business career about 1848, after obtaining a practical education, as a clerk in his father's dry goods store, the firm trading as Dibert & Osborn at the corner of Franklin and Main streets, under the old Man- sion House, now (1906) the present site of the shoe store of Seott Dibert. About a year later, at the time of the death of his father. John Dibert, Jr., went into business for himself a few doors further up Main street, dealing in general merchandise. which business continued until about 1870, a period of about twenty years, when the firm of Dibert, Wayne & Company was formed to deal exelusively in hardware, which business superseded the old business of general merchandise. About 1875 this firm was dissolved and Mr. Dibert continued in the hardware business alone under the name of John Dibert to the time of his death, May 31, 1889, in the great flood that almost completely devastated the city of Johnstown. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank, in which he held the position of director for a number of years. About 1874 he started a private banking business at the corner of Franklin and Main streets, opposite his father's old business corner, under the firm name of John Dibert & Co., his partners being his eldest son. John H. Dibert and John D. Roberts. Mr. Dibert was actively connected with the First Presbyterian church, and was one of its largest contributors. In politics he was a strong Republican of the old fashioned kind, and was active in Masonry and a Knight Templar. He was a man of sterl- ing qualities, of the real robust honesty, one who had the confidence of all his business acquaintances, and among friends their respect and admiration, and with his family he was a very kindly and affectionate nature, generous almost to a fault. To describe his eharaeter can best be done by quoting the words of a friend of his used after his death : "Jolin Dibert was one of nature's noblemen.

Mr. Dibert married. July 4, 1850. Martha G. MeLain, daughter of George McLain, a large real estate owner and dealer of Johnstown. The children of this marriage were: John H. Dibert. George W. Dibert, William B. Dibert. Frank G. Dibert, Mary D. Snowden, Rachel D. Ellis and Susan D. Weaver.

SCOTT DIBERT, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a leading manu- facturer, and prominently identified with other important business interests, is a representative of an old French family, the original form of the name being De Bert. Huguenots in religion, at the time of the Revocation of the Ediet of Nantes, in order to escape persecution, they voluntarily expatriated themselves, taking refuge in Holland, where the family name took the form of Dybird. The ancestor of the American branch of the family (which here became known as Dibert) came from Amsterdam and settled in New York, thence removing to Chester county, Pennsylvania, his descendants dispersing to the west and eentral portions of that province. His christian name was probably David, and has been retained throughout several generations. His son David lived in Adams county, whenee he removed to Bedford and then to Cambria county : he was a farmer. He married Elizabetli

John, son of David and Elizabeth Dibert. was a farmer and mill

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

owner in Somerset county. residing at Dibertsville, which was named for him, and was probably place of his birth. IFe removed to Johnstown. where he bought a farm upon which is now located the Sixth ward of the city. Here he built the Dibert homestead at the corner of Frank- lin and Dibert streets, and where subsequently lived David Dibert. The building would have been destroyed by the great flood of 1889. had it not been so strongly built. It was raised by the waters to the tops of the trees and carried away about one hundred feet from its foundation. John Dihert married Rachel Blaugh, and they reared a family of eight children: 1. David, of whom further. 2. Jacob, died 1849. 3. John, a banker, of Johnstown: drowned in the flood of 1889. 4. Sarah, widow of Dr. Henry Yeagley: resides in Lancaster, Penn- sylvania. 5. Mary, married Rev. John D. Knox, a Methodist clergy- man ; reside in Topeka, Kansas. 6. Samuel, died retired, in Johnstown, July 1, 1904. 7. Elizabeth married W. Mahlon Keim : resides in Johns- town. 8. Charles A., resides in Oakland, California, retired. The father of this family died in 1849, a comparatively young man; the mother survived him many years. and died. about 1878. She was a Methodist in religion, and her husband was a Lutheran.

David Dibert, eldest child of John and Rachel (Blaugh) Dibert, was born in Dibertsville, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, September 24, 1826. He was reared upon the paternal farm. and educated in the distriet schools. On attaining his majority he married and carried on the tanning business in Shade, Pennsylvania, where he lived about three years, and about 1851 removed to Johnstown. There his large abilities found a fruitful field. and he entered upon a career of honor and auspicious usefulness, to the community at large as well as to him- self. For the first few years he condueted a tannery in the Fifth ward and later opened a general store at the corner of Franklin and Somerset streets, and still later a similar establishment at the corner of Frank- lin and Main streets, where Scott Dibert's shoe store is now located, and where the brick block was built in 1889, the year of his death. He was one of the organizers and original trustees of the Johnstown Sav- ings Bank of which his son Frank was the first cashier, and in various other business and financial enterprises. He was owner of three product- ive farms in the vicinity of Johnstown, and owned considerable prop- erty in Greenwood county, Kansas. He took a deep and intelligent inter- est in educational affairs, and served usefully upon the school board for several years. He was one of the charter members of the Grand- view cemetery. With his family he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a member of the board of trustees for many years, and of the committee having in charge the erection of the new church edifice. In polities he was a Republican, but never an aspirant to official station. He passed his later years in pleasant retirement, but never ceased the activities which Jay outside his business, and which were ever near his heart efforts of splendid christian manhood and ideal citizenship. He gave liberally of his time, influence and means to church work, and was unstinting in his benefaetions, which he be- stowed with a silence and modesty which was one of the principal char- acteristics of his retiring nature. Many a poor widow held him in rev- erent regard for his tender sympathy and aid, and many a young man owed his beginning in business and home-making to his counsel and substantial assistance.

Mr. Dibert married Lydia Griffith, born at Jenner Cross Roads. July 24, 1830, daughter of Allen Connelly and Mary Rhoades (Shaffer)

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

Griffith. She was of Welsh ancestry, and according to family tradition was descended from those Griffiths who sat on the throne of Wales. Members of the family resided in Liverpool and Chester, England, and one. William Eliot Griffith, loaned to the English government the money for building the first bridge across the river Thames. His nephew William, founder of the American branch of the Griffith family. came with William Penn, and, although Friends in religion, some of their descendants took part in the Revolutionary war. His son Jesse, residing in Somerset county. Pennsylvania, married Lydia Connelly, and they were the parents of Allen Connelly Griffith, born in the same county.

David and Lydia ( Griffith) Dibert were the parents of ten chil. dren : 1. Frank, connected with the Pennsylvania Developing Com- pany, also treasurer of the above and the Santa Fe Central Railroad. resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico: married Anna M. Ammon, of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania : four children. 2. Scott, of whom further. 3. John Walter, deceased, buried in Johnstown: married Clara C. Bolsinger ; two children. 4. Bertha, widow of Francis Huber Torrens: resides in Johnstown; no children. 5. Mary Rachel, married Francis J. Tor- ranee : resides in Allegheny, Pennsylvania ; one child. 6. Florence May. at home: unmarried. 7-8. Grant and Sheridan, twins; Grant married Nannie Eva Armstrong; reside in Pittsburg; three children: Sheridan died at age of two and a half years. 9. Anna June. married William J. Bates; reside in Pittsburg: three children. 10. David, married Lucy Julia Wilson : reside in Pittsburg: one child. The father of this family died in Ridgeview Park. Pennsylvania, August 29, 1889, and the mother died December 23. 1901: both are buried in Grandview cemetery, Johnstown.

Scott Dibert, second child of David and Lydia (Griffith) Dibert. was born in Johnstown. Pennsylvania, November 1. 1852. IFis educa- tion was received in the excellent public schools of Johnstown, followed by a year's course at Duff's Business College at Pittsburg. Having de- cided to engage in the shoe trade he went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he spent one year in the shoe factory of Knott. Roney & Dibert, the second largest makers of shoes in that city. his unele, A. C. Dibert, being a member of the firm. In April, 1871. he returned to Johnstown, opening a retail shoe store at No. 215 Main street, which location he held until the great flood of 1889. The same year he completed the unfinished work of his father in erecting the fine structure at the corner of Main and Franklin streets, which is owned by the Dibert family, and is occupied by Scott Dibert. where he has built for himself a large and growing business in the sale of fine grade of shoes. Besides the shoe business. Mr. Dibert is largely interested in numerous other op- erations, including that of banking. He is a stockholder and director and was one of the organizers of the United States National Bank ; owner of the Park Palace livery; is the president and sole owner of the Mt. Union Siliea Brick Company of Mt. Union, Pa .. which has a capacity of fifty thousand silica brick per day, and is also the president of the Savage Fire Brick Company. with works at Keystone Junction and Williams, Somerset county. and at Hyndman. Bedford county. He is one of the directors of the Johnstown Light, Heat and Power Company, and is the sole owner of the Mt. Union Light and Power Company, as well as a large realty owner. In politics he is a Republican, and has served his eity for four years as councilman from the seventeenth ward.

He was married. January 31, 1879, to Annie Rosensteel, daughter

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

of William H. and Elizabeth Ligget ( Robinet) Rosensteel, of Johns- town. by whom were born three daughters: Marian, and Elizabeth Lydia, at home; Annie Rosensteel, wife of Herman E. Baumer, an at- torney of Johnstown, and they are the parents of two children-Her- man Dibert and Scott Dibert.

WAKEFIELD FAMILY. The surname Wakefield, under the various spellings of the times, appears frequently in very early Eng- lish history; as Wacansfel, a. town in county Berks, under grant of King Athelbard: the towns of Wacarfeld and Wackarfield; in "Dooms- day Book." A. D. 1086. as Wachefeld and Wachefelt: Thomas de Wake- field, chancellor and sub-dean of York, 1301; Henry de Wakefield, arch- deacon of Canterbury, lord treasurer of England, 1375, and many others.

Of the Wakefields who settled in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey nearly if not quite all immigrated direct from Ireland, and are descendants of a common ancestor who came from England before the middle of the seventeenth century. This ancestor was John Wake- field, an officer of the English army stationed in Ireland for the pur- pose of protecting a forcibly established colony there. Tradition says he shared with this colony a division of land, and that trouble was encountered in holding the granted estate until the complete subjuga- tion of Ireland by Cromwell in 1649-1650.

A John Wakefield is mentioned officially first in 1637; again, John Wakefield is enrolled among the 1,649 commissioned officers who served Charles I before the 5th of June, 1649, in the various wars of Ireland. The official records therefore confirm the assumption that this John Wakefield was the original progenitor of this branch of the family; and it is also a fair assumption that he was one of two brothers (the other being "Alderman Thomas Wakefield, Ulster's Office, Dublin, buried in St. Werburgh's Church, February 19, 1658"), mentioned in "Burke's General Armory of England, Scotland. Ireland and Wales." The armorial bearings clearly indicate his descent from the Wakefields of Pomfret, Kingston-on-Hull and Seassey, Yorkshire, England.

It is believed that this John Wakefield was the father of Dr. Albert Wakefield, a surgeon of the staff of William of Orange. On the Irish invasion of the latter, William was severely wounded at the battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690. Dr. Albert Wakefield dressed the wound so skillfully and so won his confidence and good will that on the comple- tion of the conquest at the battle of Aughrim, July 12, 1691, by Wil- liam's request an estate comprising the site of the battleground was granted him and is now the property of the male line of descendants. A lineal descendant still possesses a piece of the waistcoat worn by William on the memorable occasion referred to.

Dr. Albert Wakefield had an only son, Robert, who in turn had, possibly among other children, three sons-Robert, Matthew and An- drew Wakefield. Robert (2) lived on the family estate on the road between Aughrim and Ballinsloe, Galway county, Connaught, Ireland, where he died. His eldest son, David Wakefield, born on the estate, married Mary Jane Wade, daughter of Jeremiah Wade, a wealthy landed proprietor of that region.

David Wakefield immigrated to America between 1768 and 1773. With his brothers he had been implicated in the plot against Catholic rule in Ireland, and when detected David was concealed by his wife in a hogshead of clothes with which she embarked on an American bound

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History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III, Part 7

Author: Storey, Henry Wilson Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 940

Author: Storey, Henry Wilson
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 940