History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III, Part 8

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

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Vol. III-4

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

vessel, and was three days out at sea before the captain of the ship knew that he was on board. Of his brothers who were concerned with David in this affair, Robert was beheaded, Gilbert imprisoned for life, and Samuel eseaped to Scotland.

On his arrival in this country David Wakefield first settled in Path Valley. between the Tuscarora and Conecocheague mountains, in Perry (then Cumberland) county, Pennsylvania, where some of his younger children were born. After living there about fifteen years he settled on the north of the Conemaugh, opposite Squirrel Hill, then in Cumber- land county, but now Indiana county, and where now stands the village of Centerville, Pennsylvania. Two years later, finding his title to the land defective, he moved five miles northwest to near the head of the west branch of Richard's Run, in Wheatfield township, somewhere be- tween the years 1788 and 1794. There David died and is buried. After his death his widow removed to Mercer county to live with a daughter, and died there.

Thomas Wakefield, eldest son of David and Mary Jane (Wade) Wakefield married Elizabeth Morton, niece of John Morton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Wakefield en- listed from Chester county in the Continental army under General Washington, and among other services he spent the terrible winter that so tried men's souls at Valley Forge. Children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Morton ) Wakefield: 1. Robert Wakefield, married his aunt, Mary Wakefield. 2. James Wakefield, born April 25, 1787; married first, Martha Moore; married second, Susan Sanderson ; died August 31, 1846, near Allegheny City. 3. John Wakefield, married first, Mary Bracken : married second, - ; removed to High Prairie, Illinois, and died there. 4. Thomas Wakefield, married Elizabeth Haymaker. 5. David Wade Wakefield, born February 3, 1796; married first, Susanna Wilson : married second, Angust 25, 1818, Mrs. Kate Conrad. He was a farmer, millwright and contraetor, and died in Indiana county, Penn- sylvania, December 18, 1878. 6. Samuel Wakefield born March 6, 1799, died September 13, 1895. 7. Mary Wakefield, married Dill Sanderson. Their son, Colonel Thomas Sanderson, is a prominent lawyer of Youngstown, Ohio. 8. Elizabeth Wakefield, married John McNutt, and died in Indiana county, Pennsylvania. 9. Catherine Wakefield, born, June 1, 1810, died April 17, 1899, at Rock Island, Illinois; married Dr. John Farrell.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Wakefield, sixth son and child of Thomas and Elizabeth (Morton) Wakefield, a distinguished clergyman of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church for more than half a century, a scholar of eminent abilities and an author of wide repute, was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. March 6, 1799. When he was one year old his parents removed to Westmoreland county and located three miles from Armagh, a small Irish village; and still later moved farther west in the state and made a home for himself and his family in a wilderness region. When very young Samuel was put to work, and at the age of seven years he assisted in cultivating the land. In that wild country the opportunities for acquiring even a rudimentary education were almost wholly lacking, and on that account the boy was compelled to rely entirely on his own efforts to obtain instruction in the primary branches ; but he was determined to gain an education at some cost, and fortunately possessed the native force of character to accomplish that difficult task. The particular occasion which determined him in this direction was that on which he and several other lads were sent to the

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

mill with grain for grinding. While waiting for their work to be done, the other boys amused themselves with reading the handbills posted near the mill, much to the chagrin of young Samuel, for he could not read a single word ; and that day he carried home a determina- tion to acquire an education. In such an undertaking, under similar conditions, no one was ever more successful than Samuel Wakefield, for without tutors and almost without assistance of any kind he estab- lished for himself a systematic course of study, adhered to it nobly, and continued it into the higher collegiate branches. In 1813. then being fourteen years old, he enlisted as a drummer boy in a company serving at Black Rock, near Erie, in this state, in the second war with Great Britain. At seventeen he established and successfully conducted a subseription school in the Ligonier Valley, near Fort Palmer, and at eighteen he was licensed as a local preacher by the quarterly conference of the Methodist Episcopal church; and in that capacity he taught and preached for fourteen years. In 1834 he joined the Pittsburgh confer- enee and served in the regular ministry until 1880, when he was placed on the superannuated list. West Newton, Pennsylvania, was his last regular appointment, and he afterward lived in that town until his death. His honorary degree of Divinitatis Doctor was conferred by Allegheny College in 1854, and that of Legum Doctor by the same in- stitution in 1856.

Dr. Wakefield was the founder of a large number of Methodist Episcopal churches throughout western and southwestern Pennsyl- vania, and was one of the most zealous, determined and self-sacrificing workers for the promotion of the doctrines of that church this state ever has produced. After being licensed to preach his first location was at West Newton, and notwithstanding the opposition and coldness with which he was received by those of other denominations, he continued his labors at that place until he had established a flourishing society of Methodists there, and had won the friendship of many persons who at the time of his settlement had not given him a warm Christian welcome. He was a good Hebrew, Greek and Latin seholar, and his attainments in systematie theology were of high order. He was author of "Wake- field's Systematic Theology." which was first published about the time of the end of the late Civil war. That work is still recognized through- out the Methodist church as an excellent authority, and is used as a text-book in several theological seminaries of that denomination and various others as well. He also abridged and prepared for publication "Watson's Theological Institutes," which was done at the request of a committee of the Methodist Episcopal publishing house in New York city : but the committee on learning that Dr. Wakefield was preparing his own work on that subject did not publish the revision. In September, 1893, at the ripe old age of ninety-three years, he prepared for the press and published a volume of sermons entitled "Gospel Tidings." He also wrote a work on moral philosophy, but it was not published during his lifetime. More than this, he was author of an English gram- mar which bore his name and was pronounced by competent judges a work of decided merit, and which later was adopted as a text-book by many schools.

Dr. Wakefield's musical talents and tastes were of the finest quality and early showed him the need of improvement in this important part of church service. To this end he was author in 1828 of "Wakefield's Saered Musie," and he wrote and published in all seven different works on that subject : "Ecclesiastical Harmony," "American Repository of

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

Saered Music." "Western Harp," "Christian Harp," "Minstrel of Zion," "Sacred Choral" (in German), and "Seleet Melodies." For more than half a century these works have been universally and de- servedly popular in Methodist Episcopal churches of the United States. And in addition to his literary and musical ability Dr. Wakefield pos- sessed considerable mechanical genius, which he also devoted to his church. He constructed with his own hands the first pipe organ ever used west of the Allegheny mountains. At an early day also he in- vented and patented a system of tailoring.

On August 21, 1821. Dr. Samuel Wakefield married Elizabeth Hough, daughter of Paul and Catherine (Weigle) Hough, of Westmore- land county. She died September 29, 1894, being then in her ninety- second year; Dr. Wakefield died September 13, 1895, in his ninety- seventh year. On the occasion of the celebration of the golden wedding of David H. Wakefield, eldest son of Dr. Wakefield, the New York World said of his father :

"Rev. Samuel Wakefield is one of the most wonderful men of the present century. His entire life has been one of activity. He has been minister, author. tailor, farmer. and representative of his district in the Legislature during the Civil war. * Dr. Edward Everett Hale years ago recognized Dr. Wakefield's ability and commented upon it in one of his works. Dr. Wakefield was the earliest expounder of the theology of the Methodist church in North America, as Wesley was in *

England. * * All his elothing was the product of his own skillful hands after he had reached the fourth score milestone of life's journey. At seventy years he shod his own carriage horses. He has made several violins and other musical instruments of excellent workmanship, which are now treasured as relies by various members of his family. In the early part of this (the nineteenth) century Dr. Wakefield preached on a cirenit of three hundred miles. There were no railroad trains, and stage coaches did not pass except at long intervals through the country which he had to eover, and which he did well cover. He rode to and fro on horseback, preaching every day in the week at different log cabins to which the faithful for miles around would flock on foot, on horse- back, and in Conestoga wagons."

Children of Rev. Dr. Samuel and Elizabeth (Hough) Wakefield : 1. David Hough, born August 16, 1822; married Mary Covert; was a teacher and farmer. county commissioner, and justice of the peace forty years. 2. Rev. John S., born August 6, 1824: married, May 27, 1845, Martha Boyd, of Fayette county. Pennsylvania : he was a clergy- man of the Methodist Episcopal church from 1852 until his death at East End. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1901. 3. Mariah, born January 29. 1827 ; married Martin Overholt. She died at Irwin, Penn- sylvania. and he at East Liberty, Pennsylvania. 4. Kate, widow of John Coulson; now living at Pawnee City. Nebraska. 5. Samuel C., married first, Clara MeMaster: married second, Carrie Bowman: a farmer living at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. 6. Elizabeth, widow of David Hassler: lives at Indianapolis, Indiana. 7. Ella, born June 21, 1839; married John Brown, of West Newton, Pennsylvania; died in 1905. 8. Dr. Alfred N .. see forward. 9. Mary Emma, born June 21, 1845 : married Bela W. Sheplar; lives in Golden City, Missouri. 10. Dr. James Byron, born October 29. 1847; married Jennie Singer, lives in Jeanette, Pennsylvania.

Alfred Newlon Wakefield. physician and surgeon of Johnstown, and the pioneer physician of that part of the eity in which he now

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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

lives, was born on his father's farm near Mt. Pleasant, in Westmore- land county, December 7, 1842. At the age of six years he removed with his parents to Pittsburg, where they lived two years and during that period he attended public school in an old two story frame building on Marbury street, now known as Duquesne way. The family then re- turned to the farm, which was soon sold, and another was purchased in Rostraver township, near West Newton, to which place he was taken when about ten years old. Here he attended public school dur- ing the winter, and at other times worked on the farm until he was about seventeen, when he became a student at West Newton Academy and pursued the regular course of study of that school for three years.

In 1861 he began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. David Porter, an old and distinguished practitioner of Rostraver, but after two years of continuous reading in his office he was com- pelled to change his preceptor on account of Dr. Porter's retirement from practice and his removal from the county. However, he finished the prescribed course of preliminary study with Dr. H. S. Lindley, of Ligonier, and in 1865 went to Philadelphia and became a special stu- dent of anatomy under Professor Forbes. a distinguished practitioner of medicine and teacher of anatomy of that city, and for many years a member of the faculty of the Jefferson Medical College. In the fall of 1866 he matriculated at the Western Reserve University Medical Department at Cleveland, Ohio, took two courses in that institution, and was graduated with the degree of M. D. March 4, 1868.

Having come to the degree in medicine, Dr. Wakefield returned to his native county and began his professional career by purchasing the practice and good will of Dr. D. W. MeConaughy, of Madison, in which place he lived four years. In 1872 he sold out, in accordance with the custom of that period. and removed to Johnstown, where he has since lived, and where he has been recognized for many years as one of the leading men of his profession in Cambria county. He was the pioneer physician in that part of the city which is known as the South Side, and for seven years was the only medical practitioner on that side of the river, where now besides himself are eight others. In the flood of 1889 his residence with all household and office furniture were washed away or ruined, but with his family he escaped to the hills, where he at once began the work of relief for those less fortunate than himself. He established the first dispensary opened during that disas- trous period, and it was the last one to be closed.

Dr. Wakefield became a member of the Cambria County Medical Society soon after its reorganization, and was its president in 1889. By direction of the society he received and disbursed to twenty-seven physicians relief money to the amount of $6,967.60. He is one of the directors of Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital, member of its sur- gical staff and chairman of its executive committee, a permanent mem- ber of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society. and a member of the American Medical Association. On the 1st day of July, 1894, the board of trustees of the Medico-Chirurgieal College of Philadelphia elected him a censor of that institution, with all the privileges and honors of that office. For several years he was physician to the out- door poor of the vicinity of Johnstown. and it is doubtful if there is any professional man in all Cambria county who has given more serv- ice in answer to the calls of charity than has Dr. Wakefield. He was for four years United States Examining Surgeon for Pensions, and was the first president of the Johnstown Board of Health on its organiza-

HISTORY OF CAMBRLI COUNTY.

tion in 1890. During his second term in that office and under his per- sonal supervision the Municipal Hospital was planned and erected.

Dr. Wakefield has been married twice. In October, 1865, he mar- ried Missouri B. Matthews, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, by whom he had two children-Carl Wakefield and Morrison Wakefield. the latter of whom died in infancy. Carl Wakefield is a graduate of the Western Pennsylvania College of Pharmacy, class of 1906. Missouri B. Matthews Wakefield died in 1873, and on January 21, 1875, Dr. Wakefield mar- ried Clara Wagoner, daughter of Rev. George Wagoner and Mary Henri. his wife. and a sister of Dr. George W. Wagoner, of Johnstown, of whom mention will be found elsewhere in this work. Three chil- dren were born of the second marriage-Earl. Mary and Jessie Wake- field. Earl Wakefield is a civil engineer with the Pennsylvania Coal Company, and is now at Cresson, Pennsylvania : Mary married Fletcher P. Hartshorn. head book-keeper of the Canton Hardware Company of Canton, Ohio, of which company he is a member; and Jessie, the youngest child, died in infancy.

ANDERSON H. WALTERS. editor of the Johnstown Daily and Weekly Tribune, and President of the Tribune Publishing Company, is the son of Dr. W. W. and Eliza (Jones) Walters. He was born at Johnstown. Pennsylvania, May 18. 1862. For a history of the family, the reader is referred to a sketch of the Walters family in this work.

Anderson H. Walters was educated in the public schools of Johns- town, Pennsylvania, being a graduate of the high school in 1878. He then had two years service with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, as a telegraph operator and clerk in the freight office. The next twenty- one years of his career was spent with the Johnstown Water Company and the Johnstown Gas Company. He held positions successively as meter inspector, clerk, collector, assistant superintendent, superinten- dent and secretary. In April, 1902, he purchased the printing and publishing business, with the plant, of the Johnstown Tribune from George T. Swank and organized the Johnstown Tribune Publishing Company, of which he is the president and treasurer, and the editor of the Daily and Weekly Tribune. The Daily was established in 1873, the oldest daily paper in the city: it is also the only evening paper of Johnstown. The Weekly Tribune was established in 1853, the leading weekly in western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Walters is a Republican, and was made borough auditor when but twenty-one years of age. Was member of the common council, 1898-1902. In 1900-03 was a member of the state Republican commit- tee and the chairman of the Republican city committee in 1896-99. He is an attendant of the Presbyterian church, and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Knights of Pythias, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and Heptasophs. He is wholly a Johnstown man, having been born, reared and educated in that city. where he has ever devoted his time and best talents toward the upbuilding of the place, including its schools and other public institutions.

October 20, 1887, Mr. Walters was united in marriage to Jessie Octavia Woodruff, who was educated in the public schools. Her par- ents were Hon. L. D. and M. M. W. Woodruff. Her father was a mem- ber of the Pennsylvania state legislature and was the mayor of Johns- town from 1899 to 1902. Mrs. Walters is a descendant on the maternal side from Thomas Lynch, one of the signers of the Declaration of In- dependence.

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

DANIEL J. JONES, who was so closely connected with the early- day Welsh settlement in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, very befit- tingly finds a prominent place in this connection. As a preface to this memoir the following, an autobiography of him, will be given :

"Daniel J. Jones, the son of John and Elizabeth Jones, born March 9, 1806, at the farm called "Moelifor," in the parish of Llan- arth, county of Cardigan, South Wales, Great Britian. Baptized in my infancy in the parish church of Llanarth by Rev. Hughs, rector; joined the Welsh Presbyterian Church in 1821, in the fifteenth year of my age, at 'Ffoesffin Church.' My father and mother were members of the Wesleyan connection in a church called 'Chapel Vicar,' in the parish of Llanarth. I was a blacksmith by trade. I came to this coun- try (America) in 1837. Left behind me my wife and four children in Wales. The reason why I left them behind was if I should not like the country, I could return to my native land. But I did like the new country well and I am thankful to my Heavenly Father that I was inclined to come to it. In 1839, I sent for my family. They came to Pittsburg in August, all alive and well. Great sickness was in the ship they came over in; fifteen children were buried in the ocean. In April, 1840, we moved from Pittsburg to the town of Ebensburg, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, where I and my wife are now, De- cember 16, 1869."

Daniel Jones and Mary Davis were married February 17, 1830, in the parish of "Henfynwy," county of Cardigan, South Wales, Great Britain. According to his own account, Daniel Jones was a son of John, ap (meaning son of) Daniel, ap John. ap Evan, ap John, ap Evan, having his record for six generations. His father, Jones Jones, was a maker of ships anchors, and had an interest in ship carrying merchandise along the coast. A sister died in infancy. His brother, Joseph Jones, became a minister of the Gospel, and resided in Aber- aeron all his life. Michael Jones, another brother, was a ship cap- tain, and was lost at sea on a voyage between Liverpool and Quebec. Michael Jones, the founder and president of Bale College, was an uncle, and the sons and grandsons of this Michael Jones were the founders of the famous "Welsh Colony" in Patagonia, South America.

Danie! J. Jones attended Dr. Thomas Phillips' Academy at New- addlwyd, where the advantages were very good for that period. Dr. Phillips took particular interest in him, both because he was very bright, and because the wife of Dr. Phillips was a cousin of Daniel's mother. He learned the trade of blacksmith, and after his marriage settled by the sea at Aberaeron, where four children were born. The shop was built near the house, and in 1890 was still standing, but the encroachments of the sea had rendered it uninhabitable.

He came to America in June, 1837, and in August, 1839, his family came, joining him at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. On account of hard times ship irons were not in demand at Pittsburg and he decided to go to Ebensburg, which he christened "Dolan Aeron," after his old home in Wales. "Dolan" meaning "the banks," and "Aeron," a river in Wales. In 1848, the family returned to the town, for a few years, and later moved back to the farm where Mr. Jones lived the re- mainder of his days. He was loved and respected by his family, the church and the whole community. In December, 1877, his first wife having died about two years before, he married Betsey Jones, living on an adjoining farm, where he lived for a short time. Mrs. Jones died some years prior to her husband's death.

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

Daniel J. Jones was identified with every movement for the edu- cation and good of all the common people. He was one of those Welsh- men who bore a prominent part in the pioneer movement among the wilds of early-day Cambria county, and helped to develop the land and create an influence for good, which has been felt all over the county. He was one of the organizers of the Calvanistic church in Pittsburg; organized and helped to build the Calvanistic church at Ebensburg. He became an elder and a leader in all church affairs. His advice was sought and his judgment adhered to on many an occasion. His com- fortable home was the centre of church interest and delight of all visit- ing ministers, who ever found a royal welcome. Many wayfarers and unfortunates he befriended in the days when was in existence the "old Pike." When at home in Wales, he drank the home-brewed ale, and his good quart mug is in existence yet, but when the Father Mathew's temperance movement swept the country, he became a total abstainer, and ever afterward this mug was used solely for an ornament.

Strong in body and erect in stature was Daniel J. Jones, with light hair and blue eyes. At work at his forge and making the sparks fly, the picture called to the mind the "Village Blacksmith" of our Long- fellow. He was elected a justice of the peace, but did not find it prof- itable, as he discouraged litigation. He was essentially a man of peace, being often called upon to decide some matter of disagreement between parties, preferring to do this rather than see them go to law. Upon the history of the people and the happenings of the new country, he was so well informed that many appeals were made to him to decide matters of land and law; and his sterling integrity was so well ac- knowledged that his decisions were always accepted as final, both in civil and religions matters. His honest, upright life was an example to be followed by his descendants. He died on the farm, September 20, 1894, and was buried two days later, in Lloyd's cemetery, Ebensburg. His pall bearers were his two sons and four grandsons.

His children were: 1. David, J., born at Aberaeron, Wales, April 30, 1831, connected with various mercantile institutions in Ebensburg and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, at present is assistant treasurer of the Cambria Steel Company. January 17, 1854, he married Prudence Amanda Wherry, born in Ebensburg, July 20, 1830; by this union were born-William Jackson, May 23, 1865, died in infancy; Caroline, born April 27, 1856, died aged three years; Amelia Thompson, born July 24, 1858, married John H. Crouse, lives in Johnstown; Leighton Wherry, born October 12, 1860, married Elizabeth Kilpatrick, a physi- cian of Johnstown; Florintine, born December 26, 1862; married Ella Nora Myers, lives at Ebensburg; Winnie, born November 26, 1865, lives in Johnstown: Nannie, born February 20, 1868, married William M. Reed, lives in Johnstown; Henry Martin, born January 22, 1870, lives in Johnstown. 2. John P., born in Aberaeron, June 21, 1832. On April 21, 1855. he married Hannah E. Rodgers, of Ebensburg, re- moved to Terra Alta, West Virginia, where she died. In November, 1895, he married Mrs. Anna Albright, who survives him. He was a prominent business man; he died September 20, 1900. Issue by the first marriage was: Harriet Belinda, born June 3, 1856, a prominent physician of West Virginia : Seott Thomas, born May 10, 1858, now the cashier of the Garret National Bank, Oakland, Maryland; he married Rheua Posten; Adaline. born June 14, 1860, married W. T. White, lives at Terra Alta, West Virginia ; Evaline, born December 19, 1889; Cora Clemintine. born May 27, 1868, married Charles A. Renard, lives

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History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III, Part 8

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