Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 119

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II > Part 119

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Mr. Park has always placed proper import- ance upon the social activities of the com- munity, and has done his share toward main- taining good standards of local government. He has not had any ambition for office. but has served as school director for twenty years in all, at various times. On political questions he has been a Republican. His church connec- tion is with the Mount Tabor Presbyterian con- gregation. When twenty-three years old Mr. Park was married to Mary Morrison, daughter of John Morrison, of Clover township, living near Baxter. She was twenty-one years of age at the time. Two of the children born to them died in childhood, the others being : Minnie, married Tobias Kiehl, and died leav- ing two daughters, Mary, now ( 1916) a girl of sixteen years, having been reared by her pa- ternal grandparents, and Minnie, an infant when her mother died. now fourteen years of age, by her maternal grandparents. Margaret is the wife of Harry Edeburn, who is employed in the Leathers store at Brookville. Martha became the second wife of Tobias Kiehl, who is a farmer in Eldred township. Harry, who is on his father's farm, married Ellen Hoey, and they have three children. William Earl gradu- ated from the Clarion (Pa. ) State Normal School, taught school in Jefferson and Clarion counties, and is now a practicing dentist at Columbus, Ohio. Stewart George graduated from the high school at Sigel and is now teach- ing school in Jefferson county.

GEORGE L. SANDT is now living in re- tirement at Brookville, where practically all his active business years were spent. Some thirty-five years ago he established there the drug business which is still being operated as the Sandt Drug Company, and throughout his connection with the commercial life of the borough maintained high standards which gained him a reputation above reproach and earned him a place among the most estimable citizens of the town.

Mr. Sandt is a native of Northampton county, Pa .. born in 1852, at Easton, son of William G. and Saluma ( Frankenfield ) Sandt. The parents were both born in Pennsylvania, and were old-time residents of Northampton county, where they died in 1915, the mother on March 27th, the father on Dec. 15th. Wil- liam G. Sandt was a lifelong farmer.

George L. Sandt was given excellent school advantages, being sent to the Easton Academy. and he began work in the line which he always followed with C. Lawall, druggist. After some preliminary experience in his establish-

ment he took the regular course at the Phila- delphia College of Pharmacy, graduating from that institution in 1876. In 1879 he came to Brookville, to clerk for Dr. Mcknight & Brother, the leading druggists there, and two years later, in company with his father-in-law. Bernard Verstine, he founded what is now known as the Sandt Drug Company, and which was continued as a partnership concern until 1893. when Mr. Sandt became sole owner. He continued to conduct it under his own name until 1912, when he sold out to his daughter and son-in-law. the McAninches, who are now carrying it on under the old policy. Mr. Sandt has since lived retired, enjoying a period of leisure after many years of close application to business. He became widely known in and around Brookville, where his townsmen hold him in the deepest respect, and though he lias never shown any disposition to participate actively in public affairs he is considered one of the most public-spirited residents of the borough, one who can be counted upon for support in vital issues when the general wel- fare is at stake. He is a Republican on poli- tical questions. Socially he holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and is a Lutheran in religious connection.

In 1880 Mr. Sandt married Mary T. Vers- tine, daughter of Bernard and Harriet (Van Overbeck ) Verstine, and they have had four children : Valletta is the wife of George Gerg and their home is in Toronto, Canada ; Harriet is married to E. H. McAninch, who now con- duets the Sandt drug store ; Walter J., married to Gertrude Buzzard, is now established at Erie, Pa., engaged in the electro plating busi- ness; Lewis Earle, who died June 22, 1913. had become well known as an aviator and skilled mechanic, flying a Curtiss machine ; in 1012 he flew across Lake Erie, had a record of fourteen minutes in a flight from Brook- ville to Punxsutawney, and was the first to fly over the city of Pittsburgh. Mrs. Sandt is a Roman Catholic.

Bernard Verstine. Mrs. Sandt's father, was born in Belgium May o. 1820, and there passed his early years. On Sept. 1, 1849, he sailed for America, landing at Philadelphia Dec. 24th, and thereafter had a remarkable career. which covered forty years of business pros- perity in Pennsylvania. For a short time he was at New Flanders, near St. Marys. Elk county. in September, 1851, coming to Brook- ville, where he became one of the most promi- nent citizens. After some experience in lum- bering he began to operate on his own account. and in partnership with Judge Philip Taylor

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came into control of valuable timber tracts in Jefferson county. He also had individual holdings and sawmill interests, and eventually became a partner in the firm of Carrier, Vers- tine & Klein, who operated the North Fork mill. When he severed active association with the business, in 1891, he removed to Detroit, having acquired large interests in that State, and there spent the rest of his life, dying Jan. 28, 1911. His remains were brought back to Brookville for interment. Various local enter- prises had his hearty support, he having been one of the organizers of the Brookville Water Company, in 1883 ; he was one of the organi- zers of the Brookville Fair Association in 1879.

In February, 1851, Mr. Verstine married Harriet Van Overbeck, like himself a native of Belgium, and six children were born to them: Mary T., wife of George L. Sandt ; Caroline, wife of Dr. William H. Mahneske, of Pittsburgh (both deceased) ; Henry, now in charge of his father's estate at Detroit, mar- ried Rebecca Heihold; Frank L., a leading business man of Brookville, married Rosa Pearsall; Charles E., now living retired at Detroit, married Alice Kerstetter ; and Mal- colm, who died at Detroit in 1913 (he was buried with his father in the Brookville cem- etery ).

SAMUEL A. WEAVER, late of Perry township, was truly a pioneer resident at what is now the town of Valier, for when he came here with his parents in 1847 the family occu- pied the first house built there, living there until they could build a home of their own. This old dwelling is yet standing. The Weavers played an important part in the open- ing up and development of the neighborhood and Samuel A. Weaver's familiarity with its early history was considered authoritative. He was asked to contribute to a series of "Early Recollections" published in the Punxsutawney News, and the chapter of his life formed one of its interesting features.

Mr. Weaver was born at Newry, Blair Co., Pa., Dec. 23, 1835, a son of Henry Weaver. They made a settlement in Perry township, at what has since become the site of Valier, but the whole region was then a wilderness, with little to indicate the approach of civiliza- tion. Two of Henry Weaver's family are still living: C. B. Weaver and Mrs. M. M. Warsing, the latter a resident of Altoona.

When only a boy Samuel A. Weaver learned the trades of carpenter and cabinetmaker, which calling he followed about sixty years at Valier. He died Dec. 2, 1915, when near-

ing the close of his eightieth year, after a brief illness. Of fine character and upright principles, he was an active influence for the advancement and betterment of his com- munity, and accordingly esteemed among its best citizens. llis funeral services were con- ducted by Rev. Stumpf, pastor of the Lutheran Church at Smicksburg, to which denomination Mr. Weaver belonged, and the interment was at the Valier cemetery.

Mr. Weaver had a long and congenial mar- ried life, having married in 1858 Rachel E. Bell, who survives him, and with whom on Oct. 19, 1915, he celebrated the fifty-seventh anniversary of their wedding. Of the nine children born to this marriage five survive their father: Harry J., a resident of Valier; Henry A., of Cloe; Mrs. I. Gabrielson and Mrs. Charles Anderson, of Fordham; and Mrs. Thomas Olson, of Plumville, Indiana county. There are thirty grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren living.

Mrs. Rachel E. (Bell) Weaver is a daugh- ter of Squire Jolin Bell, the first white settler of Perry township, whose intimate connection with the industrial and political history of this part of the county is a fair indication of his forcefulness and intellectual strength, which dominated the fortunes of this section for a number of years. Born in Virginia Jan. 28, 1770, he was descended from a race of Scotch origin which spread into Ireland, England and Wales and thence to America. John Bell was but an infant when his parents, Robert and Jane Bell, moved to Cumberland county, Pa., where they did not remain for long, however, making a permanent home in the Sewickley settlement, Westmoreland county, where they reared their family. Squire Bell continued liv- ing in that county until after his marriage to Elizabeth Welsh, about the year 1800, mov- ing to the vicinity of the present town of Indi- ana. He was the first man to be elected to the office of constable in Indiana county. Thence in 1809 he came into Jefferson county, arriving in the month of May and locating on a tract of land in what is now Perry township, lying north of Mahoning creek, now owned and occupied by James J. Hamilton. He was the first permanent settler there, and for miles around him was nothing but the wilderness, inhabited by wild beasts, except for the stray- ing bands of Indians, who made occasional excursions into the region. There is a tradi- tion extant that John Bell once killed an Indian not far from his cabin, fearing he was on the premises with treacherous intent. The nearest road to the crude log cabin which he built

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was four miles away. His nearest neighbor was nine miles distant until 1812, when Archi- bald Haddon located within a mile and began clearing land.

As the settlement of the country proceeded, John Bell was recognized as a logical leader, his intelligence and integrity commending him to the confidence of his fellow citizens. In 1818 he received the appointment of justice of the peace for Jefferson county from Gover- nor Findley, and filled the office at least a quarter of a century, efficiently discharging its numerous duties, which in those days fre- quently inchided performing the marriage ceremony. His business affairs prospered, for he was industrious and a capable manager, and did well at farming, supporting his household in comfort. But for many years his rifle was the mainstay of the table, and as game was plentiful there is no doubt that there was a sufficiency of flesh at all seasons. It is a mat- ter of record that he killed (in Jefferson county ) two panthers, ninety-three wolves. three hundred and six bears and over eight hundred deer. His daughter, Mrs. Rachel E. Weaver, who resides at Valier, has many of the articles which once graced the humble home of her parents, including a durable homemade walnut cradle : a grandfather clock ; a bureau of walnut, beautifully inlaid ; a poster bedstead ; chairs ; and the spinning wheels with which she and her mother converted into yarn wool for the family clothing. On the wall are her father's commissions as justice of the peace, issued in 1818 and 1845.

Squire Bell was gentle and kindly in his social relations, and his unlimited hospitality was proverbial. The latchstring to his cabin door was always out, and for many years the Indiana legal fraternity, in its annual pilgrim- ages to Brookville, made the Squire's home a stopping place, receiving a welcome which could not be surpassed for warmth and sin- cerity. He died in Perry township in May, 1855. in his eighty-sixth year. More of his history, and particularly of his connection with the early development of the county, will be found in the historical section of this work, in Volume I.

JOB E. MORGAN, general merchant at Walston, was for many years prominently identified with coal mining, and had the dis- tinction of cutting the first coal at the now large and important mines at Walston. He was also the first permanent resident of the village, with whose development and upbuild- ing he has been closely concerned. No citizen

is more public-spirited or has a stronger hold upon popular confidence and esteem than this sterling pioneer.

Mr. Morgan was born in Wales, June 25. 1839, son of Evan and Margaret ( Perkins) Morgan, who passed their entire lives in that country, the father following farming. Job E. Morgan was the only one of the immediate family to come to America and is now the only living representative of his generation. four brothers, Evan. Thomas, William and Samuel ( of whom he was next to the young- est ), and an only sister, Mary Ann, having died in Wales. He was reared and educated in his native land, and was thirty years of age when he severed the home ties and set forth to seek his fortune in the United States. He first located at Hyde Park, near Scranton, Pa., where he became a miner in the anthracite fields. Later he went to Carbon Run, Brad- ford county, remained there until 1880, and then came to Jefferson county and established his home at what is now Walston, where, as an expert miner and executive, he had charge of cutting the first coal and opening the mines. Mr. Morgan continued mining operations un- til 1891, since when he has been engaged in general merchandising, in which he has built up a large and substantial trade, to which end his personality and popularity contributed largely.

The ability and civic loyalty of Mr. Morgan have made him an influential figure in the com- munity, which he served five years as post- master. Ile and his wife were charter mem- bers of the Congregational Church, in which he served many years officially as deacon. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he is well fortified in his opinions concerning governmental policies. In 1906 Mr. Morgan revisited his native land, and at his birthplace found much pleasure in renew- ing the memories, friendships and associations of youth.

In the year 1869 Job E. Morgan was united in marriage with Elizabeth Watkins, also a native of Wales, and of their children Henry died when four years old; William is a resi- dent of Butler county, this State; Malinda is the widow of John Hinds and resides at Creek- side, Indiana county ; Thomas is a resident of .Allegheny county ; Elias is associated with his father in the store, which is the leading mer- cantile establishment of Walston.

DAVID K. MOORE, of Summerville, has found time in the course of an energetic career for practically all the activities of the com-

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munity in which he chose to make his home. His interest and sympathies never have nar- rowed to the enterprises affecting him alone, for he has derived . great pleasure gathering into his life the experiences growing out of contact with others. Thus his usefulness has been extended into all the local channels of social and public service, to say nothing of the material value of his successful business operations.

Mr. Moore was born near Summerville, in Clover township, Jefferson county, Jan. 15, 1847, son of David L. Moore and grandson of Joseph Moore, who came to this country from Ireland in young manhood, settling in western Pennsylvania. Here he first married a Miss Jones, who was the mother of David L., dying when her son was but two years old. The father remarried in Ohio, where he died. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812.

David L. Moore was born Nov. 28, 1811, in Clarion county, Pa. Soon after his marriage he engaged in lumbering and became a skill- ful woodsman and expert hewer. His home was at Summerville from 1854 until his death, which occurred Jan. 17. 1889. His wife, Elizabeth (Milliron), died some years later, at the age of eighty-four. Their family con- sisted of seven children, four sons and three daughters, three of the sons surviving at this writing (1916). Joseph living at Ridgway, Pa., and W. E., a well known lumberman of Clarion.

David K. Moore has been more or less in- terested in lumbering throughout his life. He has also been extensively engaged in agricul- ture, at present owning two fine farming properties, one where his son Malcolm is now following general farming and dairying. Mr. Moore has also made a feature of modern dairying, in which he has been very prosperous and makes the most of the fertile lands in his possession by the practice of up-to-date methods of cultivation.

As a citizen Mr. Moore has not failed in sharing the responsibilities of public affairs, having given efficient service in the offices of school director, councilman and burgess. He is a director of the Union National Bank of Summerville, which has been thoroughly re- habilitated through the support of substantial citizens of the vicinity. With his wife he holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church and aids faithfully in its work. On political questions Mr. Moore is allied with the Republican party.

On Feb. 19, 1874. Mr. Moore was united in marriage with Martha C. Carrier, daughter of

Darius and Eliza (Hetrick) Carrier, and they have had four children, two sons and two daughters: Olive Elizabeth, born Aug. 27, 1875. married Don M. Larrabee, an attorney of Williamsport, l'a., and has a family of three children, Don, David and Amsden ; Darius C., born Jan. 6, 1879, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, practicing at Monaca, Pa., married Nellie Jackson, daughter of a Methodist minister of Ohio: Mary Milli- cent: born March 16, 1881, is the wife of J. Roy Patrick, of Bellevue, Pa., clearing house agent, and they have one son, David Roy ; David Malcolm, born May 22, 1885, married Anna Wallwork; they have one child, Eliza- beth.

HARRY F. SPRANKLE has been estab- lished in business at Punxsutawney from his early manhood, and stands well among the prosperous merchants of that borough. Hon- orable methods and skilled services to his pa- trons have won him a high name in and around the town, where he is favorably known to a large circle of business and personal acquaint- ances, all of whom respect him for his upright and reliable character.

The Sprankle family has been in this sec- tion of Pennsylvania for several generations. The great-great-grandfather came from Ger- many and settled in York county, Pa. His son, Frederick, the great-grandfather of Harry F. Sprankle, settled at an early day in what is now Oliver township, Jefferson county, com- ing from York county. He was one of the pioneers in the section mentioned, where he built the well known Sprankle mill. Later he settled on a farm in the adjoining county of Indiana, where he died. He was widely known in both counties.

George Sprankle, son of Frederick, was born on the old home farm in Indiana county, fol- lowed farming and lumbering, then the chief industries in this region, and died in the year 1855. His children were: Maggie, John F., W. H. and George, all deceased but Miss Maggie Sprankle, who is still residing at Trade City, Indiana county.

John F. Sprankle, son of George, was born on the old home place in Indiana county, and was reared there, following agricultural work during his early life. Subsequently he became interested in contracting and building, which he followed for many years, in 1888 removing to Punxsutawney, where he continued it until his death, which occurred July 3, 1909. By his marriage to Martha Campbell were born five children: Harry F .; Burt, of Youngs-

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town, Ohio; Ruth, assistant cashier of the County National Bank, Punxsutawney ; Charles and Grier, of Punxsutawney.

Harry F. Sprankle was born June 26, 1866, at Trade City, Indiana Co., Pa., where he spent his early life, attending public school at Trade City and later becoming a student at the Covode Academy. In his young manhood he taught school for three years, two at Trade City (one year as principal of the schools there ) and one at Smicksburg, Indiana county. After that he turned to carpenter work, at which he was engaged for some time, spending a few years in his father's employ. He left to embark in the furniture and undertaking business at Punxsutawney. As a merchant and undertaker he has endeavored to satisfy his customers in every respect, and in order to qualify more thoroughly took a course at the Philadelphia Training School for Em- balmers and in 1907 discontinued the handling of furniture. His methods are up-to-date, and his painstaking efforts to give patrons all the benefits of modern science in undertaking have been greatly appreciated. He carried an ex- cellent furniture stock, selected with care and taste, being prepared to cater to a discriminat- ing trade. The store is at No. 103 South Find- ley street. Mr. Sprankle is well known socially, belonging to the local lodge of B. P'. O. E., the Red Men and the Knights of Pythias. His religious connection is with the First Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. Sprankle married Christina Miller, (laughter of the late Adam B. Miller and a sis- ter of Horace G. Miller, owner and editor of the Punxsutawney News. They have had two children, Miller and Howard.

JACOB LEONARD SHAFFER, of Sykes- ville, has given evidence of possessing broad elements of character and intelligence in his all-around career, covering so many of the interests of human life. The workings of his energetic nature have never been confined in any one channel. Endowed with business talent beyond the ordinary. and the executive capacity to give his ideas substantial form, he has engaged in various undertakings which have stimulated the industrial development of his community to its most important activities. But he has not stopped there. His keen vision has enabled him to foresee its requirements for growth and social evolution, and in oppor- tunities for aiding both he has found agreeable diversion from business cares. The disinter- ested spirit which has prompted his partici- pation in such matters has been a basis of con-

fidence which makes his cooperation welcome to all classes of his fellow citizens. As a candidate for office he has had gratifying sup- port, and he has not been a disappointment to his constituents in any respect, honoring every position for which they have chosen him.

The Shaffer family is the oldest at Sykes- ville, which was at one time known as Shaffer. City, Henry Shaffer, the father of Jacob L. Shaffer, having owned the greater portion of the borough site and conducted important busi- ness operations there. The grandfather, Peter Shaffer, was a native of Somerset county, Pa., and died in Fayette county in 1847, aged fifty- five years. He married Susan Shaffer, who was, however, no relation, a native of West- moreland county, and she survived him many years, dying in 1877 at the age of eighty, in Fayette county. They had a large family, viz .: Beckie, who married Elijah Zufall, both deceased; John, who died on the old homestead ; Elizabeth, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Wimer; Samuel, who lived on the old homestead in Fayette county ; Peter, who also settled there; John, of Henderson township, Jefferson county ; Henry ; Leonard, a farmer of Fayette county ; Susan, who mar- ried Rev. Simon Fulton, of Fayette county ; Mary, twin of Susan, who married Isaac Miller and ( second ) Jeremiah Stoffer, a farmer of Fayette county; and Flora, de- ceased, who was the wife of George Meyer, of Fayette county.

Henry Shaffer was born Feb. 19, 1837, in Fayette county, and remained there with his parents until eighteen years old. Then he went west to Henry county, Ill., where he did farm work for four years and on his return to Pennsylvania settled in Jefferson county, and purchased two tracts of land comprising 118 and 135 acres, respectively, paying three dollars per acre. The greater portion of Sykesville is built upon these lands, which were woodland when he settled here and much of which he cleared and farmed. He also engaged extensively in lumbering, owning a sawmill and rafting timber down to Pittsburgh. lle was the first settler at the site of the pres- ent borough of Sykesville, and his intelligence and business activities made him a leading citizen of this section, where he remained to the end of his days. His death occurred April 15, 1913. and he is buried at Sykesville.

In 1863 Mr. Shaffer married Barbara Smith, daughter of Jacob and Christiana ( Philippi) Smith, of Big Run, Pa. ; she died in the fall of 1878, aged thirty-three years, the mother of the following children: Christiana, wife of

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 119

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 972

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972