History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III, Part 82

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III > Part 82

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On the 9th of February, 1850. John Thomas married Mrs. Mary Griffith, daughter of William and Lucinda (Reighart) Griffith, and widow of the late Isaac Griffith. of Somerset, Pennsylvania. William Griffith was born in Bedford county, and his wife, Lucinda Reighart, was also born there. By her first marriage Mrs. Griffith had one son, Isaac Grif- fith, who is now head bookkeeper of the firm of John Thomas & Sons.

572

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

Children of John Thomas and Mary Griffith, his wife: 1. William. mar- ried Nettie Brenheiser. 2. James Philip, married Elizabeth Siter. 3. Anne died in infancy. 4. Harry, married Susan Groff, now deceased ; married, second, Emna Keiper. 5. Warren, married Elnora Dibble, now deceased : married, second. Edith Creamer. 6. Charles, married Kath- erine Brinker. 2. Catherine, married Richard Knmler, and lives in Dayton, Ohio. 8. John. Jr., married Martha Newcomb of Westerville. Ohio.

JOSEPH G. THOMAS. sixth child and fifth son of John Philip Thomas and Elizabeth Memor. his wife, was born on his father's farm near Greensburg. Pennsylvania, February 18, 1838. He was given the somewhat limited education afforded by the common schools of the vicin- ity in which his youth was spent, and he left home at the age of eleven years to work for farmers of the neighborhood, mainly in the vicinity of Hannastown, but was soon afterward brought home by his elder brother. However, soon again he became possessed with a desire to work on his own account and accordingly left home to drive a team on the work of construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad between Greensburg and Lat- robe. at Carr's Tunnel. There his wages was ten dollars per month and board, and he worked for the contractor about one year, then went back home and attended school for a short time, but afterward came to Johns- town and learned the carpenter's trade.

The next day after Fort Sumter was fired on Mr. Thomas enlisted in the Johnstown Zouaves under Captain Suter. On April 12, 1861, his company went to Harrisburg and was mustered into service with the Third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Colonel Powers commanding. Soon afterward the regiment started for Washington. but the Confeder- ate troops having burned the bridges at Cockeysville. thirteen miles west of Baltimore, the men were halted for a time, then returned to Little York in Pennsylvania. thence marched to Chambersburg. Virginia. and from there to Williamsport in Maryland. The first engagement in which the regiment took part was at Falling Waters, from which place it pro- ceeded to Martinsburg, Virginia, where it was held until the expiration of the three month's term of enlistment and then returned home for mus- ter ont.

In September of the same year (1861) Mr. Thomas re-enlisted in Company I. of the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. and with that command encamped at Harrisburg through the winter. In the spring of 1862 it went to Washington. remaining in the defenses for a short time, after which the several companies were sent out on detached service to guard the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. This duty was kept up more than a year, but immediately afterward the regiment marched into the Shenandoah Valley and participated in the battle at Newmarket, in which Captain Bonacker's company I lost half of its men. Mr. Thomas was in all the battles and skirmishes in which his company took part and was not sick or off duty for a single day. At the expiration of his three years' term of enlistment. in 1864, he again entered the serv- ice. and was with his regiment at High Bridge. Virginia. when that com- mand was captured by the enemy just previous to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. . However. in the course of a few days the captured men were released and returned to the Union lines. Mr. Thomas served all told four years, three months and twenty days. In the engagement at Snicker's Gap he was shot through the right foot and the left leg. which kept him in the hospital three weeks and through lack of attention nearly

THE NEW YORK PUBLI LIBRARY Astor Lenox and Tilden For Nations. 1909

Geo . W. Thomas !

Janeph Is Thomas

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

Astor Lenox ano Tilden touraz* ons. 1909

573

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

cost him his foot. At Newmarket he was "scratched," and after that bat- tle counted thirty-two bullet holes in his clothing.

After his final discharge Mr. Thomas returned to Johnstown and in the course of a year went to work at his trade, continuing until after the flood disaster of 1889, when he retired on account of impaired health. In 1894 he was appointed city weighmaster of Johnstown, which office he still holds. He is a member and adjutant of the Union Veteran Legion, Camp No. 60, of Johnstown; Mountain Castle, No. 77, Knights of the Mystic Chain, and of Johnstown Conclave, No. 140, Improved Order of Heptasophs.

April 18, 1868, Joseph G. Thomas married Ellen Dull, daughter of Jonathan and Eliza Dull, of Somerset and Bedford counties. Their children: John A., born February 1, 1868, married Hattie Roeric, and died September 24, 1899. Clara, born October 30, 1869, married Frank Muller, lives in JJohnstown. Joseph Emil, born June 8, 1823, died March 23, 1874. Frank, born August 16, 1875, married Claire Poling, a druggist of Myersdale, Pennsylvania. Mary, born February 7. 1879. married H. F. Kahl, and lives in Johnstown. George Washington, see forward.

George Washington Thomas was born February 22, 1883, in Johns- town. He was edneated in the public and graded schools of Johnstown and after leaving school, in 1898, went to Meyersdale and was employed in his brother's drug store a little more than four years. Having grounded him- self in pharmacy and having acquired a good understanding of the drug business in general, he matriculated at the department of pharmacy of the Ohio Northern College at Ada, Ohio, where he took the full two years' course and was graduated with the degree of Pharmacy Graduate, July 17, 1903. Soon after graduating from the college Mr. Thomas pur- chased the drug store and business formerly conducted by J. Carl Wake- field & Co., at the corner of Franklin and Haynes streets in Johnstown, of which he has since been sole proprietor.

At Joplin, Missouri, August 8, 1904, Mr. Thomas married Ina Rise- ling, daughter of Levi and Martha Ann Riseling, by whom he has one daughter, Annellen Thomas, born October 11, 1905. Levi Riseling, father of Mrs. Ina ( Riseling) Thomas, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, December 18, 1832, his father having been born in Ger- many. He was brought up on a farm, received a common school educa- tion and left home at the age of nineteen years to make his own way in life. He first went to Jackson county, Illinois, and there learned the trade of a cabinet maker. Early during the late Civil war he enlisted in Company K, Seventy-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and after three months' service was discharged for disabilities. He then went to Baxter Springs. Kansas, and with a partner (Joseph Benoist) carried on a farm and conducted a hardware store. In 1873 the firm moved to Joplin, Missouri, where Mr. Riseling soon became sole proprietor of the business and continued it until 1884, when he sold a part interest and the active management of the undertaking. He also became largely interested in lead and zine mining properties in that part of the state, and at the time of his death was a man of much property and considerable wealth. He was an influential man in the community in which he lived and a prominent Royal Arch Mason. He married (second). December 25. 1873. Martha Ann Hybarger, by whom he had four children: Lizzie. wife of William Halyard of Joplin, Missouri ; Ina, wife of George W. Thomas, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania : William, of Joplin, Missouri, and Edward, also of Joplin. Levi Riseling died January 12, 1901, and his wife Martha Ann died Angust 3, 1904.

574

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

CHARLES HOCHSTINE. Charles Hochstine, a veteran steel- worker of Roxbury, Johnstown, was born March 11, 1858, in the eighth ward of that city, son of John Hochstine, who was born in 1828, in Hesse- Darmistadt, Germany. and in 1856 emigrated to the United States. He settled at Bens Creek, Upper Yoder township, Cambria county, where he was engaged in coal-mining. He afterward moved to Johnstown and operated mines in the eighth ward, being for a time engaged in business as a butcher. The last years of his life were spent in retirement, his withdrawal from active business taking place twenty years before his death. John Hochstine married Christianna Smith, and their children were: Henry. Susan, wife of John Middersheim. William, married Amanda Frazer. Charles, of whom later. John, married the widow of Thomas Anderson.

Charles Hochstine, son of John and Christianna / Smith) Hochstine, grew up in the eighth ward of Johnstown, obtaining his education in the public schools. He began his active career as a helper of his father in the latter's coal mines, and afterward found employment IIr ne rolling de- partment of the Cambria Steel Works. After working a number of years for this company, he entered the service of the Lorain Steel Company, at Moxham, remaining some time, and then moved to Akron, Ohio, where for five years he was engaged in the hauling business. Ultimately he re- turned to Johnstown, and again found employment with the Cambria Steel Company. Subsequently he once more went into the hauling busi- ness, and is now employed by his brother, John Hochstine. His home is at Roxbury, where he has a comfortable and attractive residence. He ad- vocates strongly Jeffersonian principles in politics. He is a member of the Evangelical church.

Mr. Hochstine married Minnie Myers, and the following children were born to them: John, died in infancy ; Ralph, Walter, Bessie, Ruth, Fax and Melvin. Mrs. Hochstine is a daughter of Jacob Myers, who was born in 1836, at Scalp Level, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, where he lived as a farmer for many years. afterward moving to Johnstown and engaging in the dairy business. Jacob Myers married Elmira Barnhart, and the following were their children: Henry. died in infancy. Minnie, wife of Charles Hochstine. Laura, wife of Nathaniel Blongh. Emma. wife of William Blough. John, married Emma Kaufman. Benjamin, married Annie Shaffer. Webster. Mina. Jacob Myers, the father of the family, died in 1886, aged fifty years.

JOHN HENRY BOYLE, member of the board of auditors of Cam- bria county, Pennsylvania, now engaged in agricultural pursuits. formerly actively engaged in railroading, traces his descent to both Ireland and Scotland.

Daniel Boyle, father of John Henry Boyle, was born in Buffalo, New York. about 1827, and was of Irish and. Welsh extraction. His father was of Irish descent. while his mother was a native of Wales. He was reared and educated in Buffalo, learned the trade of a stone mason, and as early as his eighteenth year entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and was associated with that company for upward of thirty years. He was employed upon the construction of bridges and tunnels throughout the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and later had charge of the construction of many of the tunnels for this company. While still connected with the Pennsylvania railroad system. he pur- chased a farm in Croyle township, Cambria county, on which he located bis family, and on which he died in 1877. He was a highly esteemed

575

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

member of the community in which he lived. He was a strong Democrat, and a member of the Catholic church.

He married Sarah MeGough, and had twelve children-nine sons and three daughters-of whom six sons are now (1906) living: Dennis W., of Altoona, Pennsylvania. John Henry, see forward. Frank. of Derry, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Daniel A., of Altoona, Penn- sylvania. Charles, Sedalia, Missouri. Edwin, at home.

John Henry Boyle, second surviving son and child of Daniel and Sarah (MeGough) Boyle, was born in Gallitzin, Cambria county, Penn- sylvania, August 15, 1856. He was reared at home, and acquired his education at the public schools of his native township. At the age of twenty years he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany in the capacity of brakeman on the Pittsburg division. He was as- sociated with this company for thirteen years, being advanced through the minor positions in the short period of eight years, and promoted to the position of conductor. This position he held for five years, and was then transferred to the motive department of the road. in the Juniata shops. At this time his wife died and he left the employ of the company, returning to the homestead farm, which he and his brother Edward had purchased some time previously. He and his brother Edward, who is unmarried, have resided on the homestead since that time. their mother superintending the household affairs. In politics Mr. Boyle is a Demo- crat, and has been an important factor in the conclaves of his party. He has served two terms as supervisor of his district, and in the fall of 1905 was elected to his present office as member of the board of anditors of Cambria county. He is a member of the Catholic church. He takes an active interest in all matters concerning the public welfare of the com- munity, and is ready at all times to do all that lies in his power to further the ideas that tend to the improvement or advancement of the community in any way.

Mr. Boyle married, in 1891, Lucretia Dodson, daughter of Samuel Dodson, of Claysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, and they have had two children : Mary V., and Edna C.

LEWIS W. KAUFFMAN, formerly a well known educator in Cam- bria county, Pennsylvania, now a prosperous farmer, and a member of the board of auditors of Cambria county, traces his descent back to the beautiful land of Switzerland.

Daniel Kauffman, father of Lewis W. Kauffman, was born in Som- erset county, Pennsylvania. December 29, 1829. His parents were both natives of Switzerland. His father was a farmer and removed to a farm in what is now the seventeenth ward of Johnstown. Cambria county, Pennsylvania, while Daniel was a very young boy. Here he grew up to manhood and adopted farming as his life work. Although he made seven removals, he resided continuously in Cambria county. in Croyle township. for thirty years, and makes that town his home at the present time. He is a veteran of the Civil war, and served with great bravery in the Eighty- third Regiment. In politics he has always been a stanch Republican, and has for several years been a member of the school board. He is a mem- ber of the Mennonite church, and is greatly interested in all its affairs. He is highly esteemed in the community as a man of integrity and worth.

He married Sarah Wissinger, born in Cambria county, in 1831. danghter of Lewis Wissinger, formerly a well known farmer of Conemangh township, who died about 1895, at the advanced age of one hundred and two years. His father had been a soldier in the war of the revolution.

576

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Kauffman had seven children. of whom five are now living: Noah, a resident of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. John, lives in Beaverdale, Pennsylvania. Jonas, resides in Croyle township, Cam- Iria county, Pennsylvania. Ella, married Graff English, of Croyle town- ship. Cambria county, Pennsylvania. Lewis W., see forward.

Lewis W. Kauffinan, youngest of the surviving children of Daniel and Sarah ( Wissinger) Kauffman, was born in Richland township, Cam- bria county, Pennsylvania. January 22, 1864. He had the advantage of an excellent education, first in the public schools of his native township. later in the Ebensburg Normal School, and finally in the Delaware Busi- ness College, in Delaware, Ohio. He began his business career as an edu- cator in 1887, and for the next seven years he taught in the schools of Cambria county. He then abandoned teaching as a profession, and took charge of his father's farm, which he has since that time managed and supervised with great success. He is practical and progressive in his methods of work, and is always willing to give any new invention a fair trial, and if it is a worthy one he introduces it on his farm, which is a model of neatness and scientific cultivation. His political affiliations are Republican, and he entertains broad and liberal views. He was elected a member of the board of auditors of the county in 1902, and was re- elected to the office in 1905. He has served as secretary of the school board of his district for five years, and is known and esteemed as a valua- ble and public spirited citizen, who begrudges neither time nor labor where the welfare and advancement of his town is concerned. Mr. Kauff- man is unmarried.

ARTHUR F. STOTTS, M. D., an honored member of the Cambria County Medical Society, practicing at Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, was born June 6. 1875. He is the son of Stillman Stotts and wife. Stillman Stotts is a native of Ohio, born 1847. He was the son of

Stotts, who lived in Muskingum county, Ohio, and was a farmer and reared a family of fifteen children. In time of the Civil war, Stillman Stotts enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio Volunteers, in 1862, as a private soldier under General Meade. He par- ticipated in the battle of Weldon Railroad, was wounded and sent to Grant's Memorial Hospital. When recovered he joined the regiment and followed them in their fortunes to the end of the war. He was at the battle of Gettysburg, was with Grant at Petersburg and saw the surren- der of Lee to Grant. He was discharged at Baltimore in 1865. He re- turned home and engaged in the real estate business. In 1881 he moved to Marshalltown, where he carried on the real estate business and was justice of the peace for nine years. His health was so impaired in the service of his country that he could not do hard labor. He was Repub- lican in politics, and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He belonged to John M. Thomas Post. No. 34, of the Grand Army of the Republic, at Marshalltown. He died January 1, 1901. He married May Josephine Wine, of Muskingum county, Ohio, and they were the parents of three sons.

Dr. Arthur F. Stotts was educated at the schools of Marshalltown, Iowa, and the high schools of Depauw University. Indiana, of Green- castle. He graduated from that institution in 1894, and took a two years' course at Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, and two years at the Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. graduating May 26, 1899. On account of ill health he was at Reynoldsville. Jeffer- son county, for twenty months. Upon his return he was made house

577

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

surgeon for the Medico-Chirurgical Hospital for four months, then came to Cambria county, September 15, 1901, since which time he has prac- ticed medicine and surgery. Ile is a member of the county medical so- ciety and also of the State and American Medical Societies. He belongs to Johnstown Lodge, No. 538, Free and Accepted Masons : the Knights of Pythias of Marshalltown, Iowa. Lodge No. 38. In polities he is Re- publican, and in religion accepts that of the Methodist Episcopal faith. Among the positions of trust held by him is Republican county commit- teeman, school director, etc. He is now the surgeon for the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company.

Dr. Stotts married Caroline A. Greene, of Pennsylvania, December 7, 1904. Mrs. Stotts is the daughter of S. P. Greene and wife.

MORRIS L. WOOLF, of the firm of Woolf & Reynolds, Johnstown, is a resident of New York city. IIe is the son of L. M. Woolf, who be- gan business in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as a clothing merchant on Main street. The site was where John Thomas & Sons are now located. Ile was a man of more than ordinary ability, and soon became known as of one of Johnstown's leading business factors. He was prominent in every public work and improvement, and really a true philanthropist. In the spring of 1883 he admitted his son, Morris L., into partnership with him, when they removed to the present site of Woolf & Reynolds. The great flood wrecked the building and ruined the stock, but they at once re-opened. In the spring of 1892 the Senior Woolf withdrew, and the son conducted the business until the spring of 1899, when he took as his partner, Thomas E. Reynolds, under the firm name of Woolf & Rey- nolds (incorporated), with M. L. Woolf as president ; Thomas E. Rey- nolds, treasurer; George Fiig, Jr., vice-president ; John W. Cook, secre- tary, with Harry Uhler as one of the stockholders.

GEORGE K. KLINE. Among the business factors of every city there are always some men of more prominence than others, and such a one is George K. Kline, of the city of Johnstown, who is among the lead- ing dry goods merchants of the place. He was born in Indiana, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, October 13, 1863, the son of Wellington B. and Annie M. (Custer) Kline. His ancestors are of German and French origin, and were among the early settlers of eastern Pennsylvania. His grandfather, George Kline, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1807, and died in Indiana county, February 5, 1876, aged sixty-eight years. He was a merchant and a hotelkeeper. The subject's father, Wellington B. Kline, was born in Berks county, in 1840; in 1853 he moved to Indiana and became one of the founders of the mercantile house of Marshall & Kline, one of the largest dry goods houses in that part of the state. This partnership existed until the death of his part- ner, when he came to Johnstown and entered into partnership with his son, George K. Kline, under the firm name of W. B. Kline & Son.

George K. Kline received his education in Indiana, graduating from the high school there in 1875, after which he took a course in the Indiana State Normal school. In 1878 he accepted a position as elerk under his father, remaining with that firm until 1891, when he came to Johnstown, forming a partnership with the firm heretofore named. Since operating under his own name his store has become one of the finest in the city.

In his church relations Mr. Kline is identified with the Presbyterian denomination. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, being connected with Indiana Lodge, No. 313, Free and Accepted Masons;

578

HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

Zambabel Chapter, No. 162, Royal Arch Masons, of Pittsburg; Com- mandery No. 1, Knights Templar, Syria Temple, Mystic Shrine, Pitts- burg : and William Penn Council, Royal Arcanum, of Indiana.

Mr. Kline was married August 5, 1891. to Sarah, daughter of James Morley. of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. By this union one son was born, James Morley Kline, born May 3, 1892.

WILLIAM GEORGE WASHINGTON HEADRICK, who for the past twenty-five years has been an engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and for thirty-one years has been in the continuous employ of this com- pany, is a representative of the third generation of his family in this country. He is of English. Frish and Scotch descent.

John Headrick, grandfather of William George Washington Head- rick, and the first member of the Headrick family to come to this coun- try, was born in England. His first location for a place of residence was in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained but a short time, removing from there to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and from thence to Johnstown, Cam- bria county, Pennsylvania. There he established himself in the hotel business on the Island, where he conducted a hotel which was the finest of its kind in Johnstown. After a number of years he retired from this line of business and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in West Taylor township, near Conemaugh. His son William took this farm off his hands at the expiration of several years and he returned to the hotel, which he conducted in a very popular manner until his death at the age of sixty-seven years. It was exceedingly well patronized, and seemed the natural stopping place for emigrants who were seeking homes in this locality or in the western states. John Headrick married Mar- garet McConnell, and they had children: 1. William J., see forward. 2. John, married Kenny of Johnstown, died in Homewood,

Pennsylvania. 3. Belle, married David Bee, of Kernsville, Pennsylvania. 4. George, was in active service during the Civil war: resides in Home- wood, Pennsylvania, and married Eliza Pitcairn. 5. David, married Gochmour. 6. Jane, married Harry Forkler and resides in Homewood, Pennsylvania. . Charles C., of Conemaugh borough, mar- ried Mollie Surgeon. 8. Mary, married (first) John Noble, who lost his life in the mines. Married (second) Rev. Price, and re- sides in the western part of the state. 9. James, of Homewood, Pennsyl- vania, married Mary Exstine. 10. Kate, married William Snowden, of Conemaugh.

William J. Headrick, eldest child of John and Margaret (McCon- nell Headrick, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. 1831. He was but a few years of age when he removed with his parents to Johnstown, Pennsyl- vania, and his preliminary education was acquired in the schools on the Island, and was completed in Dickinson College, Carlisle. He displayed great musical ability, received excellent instruction on the violin, and be- came an expert in playing on that instrument. He was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade with "Judge" Heasley, of Johnstown, and followed this occupation until within ten years of his death, which oc- curred November, 1891. In addition to this he cultivated a farm very successfully. He gave his political support to the Democratic party, and served as justice of the peace in East Taylor township for a number of years. He and his wife were devout Presbyterians, and are buried in the Headrick cemetery. on the old Headrick farm, in East Taylor township, the land for this purpose having been donated by John Headrick, the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III, Part 82

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