USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II > Part 121
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also holds membership in Reynoldsville Lodge, No. 824, I. O. O. F.
On the 19th of December, 1900, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Bowser to Jennie McIntosh, born in Scotland, but who was only one year old when her parents immigrated to America and established their home in Jeffer- son county, where she was reared and edu- cated. Mr. and Mrs. Bowser became the parents of five children, of whom the first and the last, Ralph and George, died in childhood. The surviving children are Belva, Helen and Alexander.
Mrs. Bowser is a daughter of Alexander and Jane (Patterson) McIntosh, representa- tives of sterling old families of Scotland. Mr. McIntosh was born in that land in the year 1843, and was there reared and educated. He stayed in Scotland until 1881, when he came with his wife and children to the United States and settled at Barclay, Bradford Co., Pa., but within a comparatively short time he removed to Jefferson county and located at Reynolds- ville. He was here actively identified with coal mining operations and he is now living retired at Newcastle, Lawrence county, this State, his wife having passed away on the 2d of Feb- ruary, 1911. They became the parents of : Alexander, Mary, William. John, Margaret, Jennie and Catherine, all of whom are living except Alexander and all were born in Scot- land except Catherine, who came after the family home had been established in Penn- sylvania.
OMER B. DEPP is one of the enterprising and successful business men of the metropolis of his native county and is well entitled to representation in this history. In the borough of Punxsutawney he conducts a general trans- fer business and his effective service and per- sonal popularity have been the means through which his substantial and prosperous enter- prise has been developed.
Mr. Depp was born on the family home- stead, in Perry township, this county, April I, 1878. On other pages appears a sketch of the life of his father, Aaron Depp, and in the same is given adequate record concerning the early history of this well known and highly honored pioneer family. Omer B. Depp is indebted to the public schools of his native township for his early educational discipline, which was sup- plemented at Waynesburg College for a time. After leaving college he continued his associa- tion with the work of the home farm until he assumed the position of weighmaster for the R. & P. Coal & Iron Company, at Walston.
He continued with this company for a period of eighteen months, and then purchased the old homestead farm of his father, in Perry township, where he continued his operations as an agriculturist for two years. On the Ist of April, 1905, he sold the farm to Matthew Cochran, its present owner, and then moved to Punxsutawney, where he purchased the business of the Pantall Transfer Company, at No. 209 North Findley street, his father hav- ing been associated with him in the business until 1910, under the firm name of Omer B. Depp & Company. In 1910 he purchased his father's interest in the enterprise, which he has since conducted individually with notable suc- cess. He has large and well equipped barns, has fifteen horses in commission, operates two large trucks in addition to lighter transfer wagons, and gives employment to an average force of fifteen men, his business being the most important of its kind in Punxsutawney. Mr. Depp is known as a progressive business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen, is a Republican in his political allegiance, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with John WV. Jenks Lodge, No. 534. F. & A. M., at Punxsutawney.
In 1903 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Depp to Bessie Means, a daughter of Harry Means, of Frostburg, and they have two chil- dren, Lex M. and Martha J.
JOHN L. SCHALLER, whose attractive home is in MeCalmont township, near the vil- lage of Anita and four miles north of Punxsu- tawney, was born at Pittsburgh, Pa., June 30, 1857, a son of John K. and Catherine (Schuell) Schaller.
John K. Schaller was born and reared in the Kingdom of Bavaria, and as a young man came to the United States and found employ- ment in the steel rolling mills in Pittsburgh. There he married Catherine Schnell, whose father, George Schuell, established his home in McCalmont township, Jefferson county. About the year 1871 Mr. Schaller came with his family to the same township, purchasing the farm now owned and operated by his son John L. Henry Elpel had owned and im- proved the place and established a well equipped tannery, which Mr. Schaller operated many years, until his death. at a venerable age. In 1900 coal mining was initiated and the excellent Freeport vein underlying the place was leased to operators who pay sub- stantial royalties. Many farmers of this sec- tion sold their coal rights at so much per
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acre, but Mr. Schaller had the good judgment to make provision for payment in royalties, thus receiving far greater financial returns, and the present owner has largely invested in high-grade real estate mortgages. The Freeport vein has been nearly exhausted, operations being now conducted in the develop- ment of the smaller veins. This field has three distinct veins, only two of which are of suffi- cient thickness to repay active development work. John K. Schaller continued the active management of the farm until his death, which occurred Sept. 25, 1907, his age then being seventy-three years, four months, ten days. His widow passed away Feb. 26, 1914, aged seventy-nine years. ten days and they rest in Circle Hill cemetery. Both were earnest communicants of the German Lutheran Church at Punxsutawney. He was an up- right, industrious citizen, loyal and public- spirited. Including the erection of the present house, in 1886, and the barn in 1874, he made many improvements on his place. Of two chil- dren, John L. is the elder, and Amelia is the wife of George Schwartz, of Grange.
On his present farm John L. Schaller has maintained his home since he was a lad of fourteen. His early education was principally acquired in the public schools of Pittsburgh. He is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are zealous members of the German Lutheran Church at Punxsutawney, of which he is treasurer, succeeding his father.
On the 14th of October, 1914. Mr. Schaller married Mrs. Sarah Melissa ( McAninch) Smith. widow of Greer Smith, of Knox town- ship. She is a daughter of Sylvester and Rosanna ( Hines) McAninch, and was born and reared in Knox township. Her brother, Henry McAninch, with his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary Oct. 24. 1916, the occasion having been a memorable one. Mrs. Schaller has three other brothers : Edgar, who remains in Knox township, and Miles and Samuel, now residing in California. She was twenty years of age when first mar- ried, and resided on the old Smith farm, in Oliver township, until the death of Mr. Smith, Aug. 19. 1912. To them were born nine chil- dren: David resides at Brookville: Wilson died at the age of six years; Eugene main- tains his home at Greenville. Pa .: Mond re- mains with his mother; Florence is the wife of Guy Banghman, of Putneyville: Ruth is the wife of Blake Matson, of Greenville : Patil resides at Greenville : Samuel died at the age of ten years: and Don remains with his mother.
FREDERICK M. WALKER is a venerable and honored pioneer citizen of Jefferson county who has contributed his quota to its civic and industrial development and prosper- ity, and for fully half a century has resided on his present farm in Winslow township, now in- cluded in the borough of Sykesville. This place he reclaimed from the forest and the labors of past years are clearly shown in the general appearance of the fine old homestead. It is one of the most productive and well im- proved farms of the locality.
At a point nine miles distant from Stutt- gart, Kingdom of Wurtemberg. Germany, Frederick M. Walker was born Nov. 22, 1839, a son of Christian and Catherine (Ulrich) Walker, who were born and reared in that sec- tion. Christian Walker, in company with his wife and three children, immigrated to Amer- ica in 1847 ; the voyage was made on an old- time sailing vessel, and thirty-seven days elapsed ere it reached the port of New York. Proceeding to Philadelphia, where they re- mained two weeks, they then set forth for Clearfield county, and the father and one son, Frederick M., then a sturdy lad of eight years, walked the entire distance to the site of the present village of Troutville, Clearfield county. In his native land the father had not only served ten years in the German army but had also become a skilled workman at the cooper's trade. After establishing his residence in Clearfield county he worked at his trade to a certain extent, but his attention was given largely to the reclaiming and improving of a tract of 118 acres of wild land which he there purchased. He brought a portion of his farm under cultivation, but died when in the prime of life, at the age of fifty-four years. His widow reached the venerable age of sixty- two years. Of the children, Frederick M. is the eldest : Catherine became the wife of Fred- erick Lott, and Mary the wife of August Graff ; Barbara, the first child born after the immi- gration to America, became the wife of Paul Wald ; Pauline married Henry Wingert : Gus- tavus A. died April 7. 1887. aged thirty-two years.
As previously noted, Frederick M. Walker was a lad of eight years when he came with his parents to the United States. At intervals he attended the pioneer schools of Clearfield county. He remained at the parental home until his marriage, when he was twenty-three. and for a short time thereafter he continued to assist his father on the old home farm. He then purchased from his father-in-law, Elijah Zufall, a tract of seventy-two acres of heavily
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timbered land in Winslow township, which constitutes his present farm, and when the borough of Sykesville was organized the entire homestead was included in the same, three acres of the land having been sold by Mr. Walker for the establishing of the present Sykesville cemetery. Mr. Walker is now the oldest citizen of this attractive borough and has been influential in community affairs for many years, with secure place in the popular con- fidence and esteem. He reclaimed his land to cultivation, and this involved active lumbering operations in pioneer days. Like others of the early sixties, Mr. Walker had a full share of experience in felling timber and rafting down the streams to Pittsburgh; down Stump creek and the Mahoning and Allegheny rivers. After clearing his land he made it available for cultivation. and he has never given up agriculture, through this medium having achieved independence and prosperity, so that he finds the evening of his long and useful life rich in the rewards of toil and endeavor. He had his full quota of pioneer experience, and within a comparatively short distance from his present attractive home he killed several deer many years ago. His political support is given to the Democratic party. Fostering no ambi- tion for public office still he has given effective service as school director, of which position hie was the incumbent six years, besides having served as treasurer of the school board much of this time. Both he and his wife have long been earnest and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their home is a commodious and attractive brick residence which he erected a number of years ago, and all other improvements on the farm are of the best order.
In 1863 Mr. Walker was married to Chris- tina Zufall, daughter of the late Elijah Zufall. one of the honored pioneers of this section of the state. Of their children, the eldest is Pauline, who now resides in New York City ; Mary is the wife of Alvin George, of Kittan- ning, Armstrong county; Henry, who has charge of the old homestead farm, married Sarah Frantz ; George F. is a locomotive engi- neer and resides at Kittanning: Barbara is the widow of William London, of Whittaker, this State: James Irvin is a successful carpenter and paperhanger at Mount Pleasant, West- moreland county : John died in childhood : Gustavus A. Walker, an able lawyer, is en- gaged in the practice of his profession at Kit- tanning: Clarence is engaged in business at Sykesville ; Effie is the wife of Oren Couch, of
Schwenkville, Montgomery county; Emma died at the age of eight years.
JAMES A. STEWART may consistently be designated as one of the able exponents of agricultural and livestock industry in his native county. His fine farm is eligibly situ- ated in Warsaw township, one mile south of Richardsville, and he is one of the substantial and highly esteemed citizens and progressive men of affairs in that township, a native son to whom it is gratifying to give consideration in this history.
James Alvah Stewart was born in Perry township, Jefferson county, March 1, 1850, son of James Paul and Frances (Howard ) Stewart, the former born at Brookville and a member of one of the pioneer families. The mother was a native of Connecticut. The pa- ternal grandfather settled at Brookville when it was little more than a primitive hamlet in the midst of the forest, and he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in this county. James Paul Stewart was reared and educated under the conditions and influences of the pioneer era. At one time he owned and operated at Brookville a flour mill that was later known as the Taylor mill. Later he developed one of the productive farms of Perry township, and there continued to reside until his death, at the age of sixty-eight years, his old homestead being now owned by Samuel Lee and John Grant Stewart, the former of whom is superintendent of the County farm and the latter conducting a general store at Grange, on a corner of the old farm. The widow of James Paul Stewart long survived him and was more than eighty years of age at the time of her death.
James A. Stewart is indebted to the public schools for his early education, which was somewhat limited. He continued to be asso- ciated with the work of the home farm until he was eighteen. Then he entered upon a practical apprenticeship to the trade of cabinetmaker. in the Bartlett chair factory at Pekin, where he remained four years, becoming a skilled artisan in the manufacture and finishing of chairs. The tangible rewards of his labors during this period were shown in his posses- sion of a house and lot and four hundred dol- lars in cash. Under these conditions he felt himself amply fortified for the assuming of connubial responsibilities, and at the age of twenty-two, in Warsaw township, was married to Mary E. Rhines, a young woman of eighteen. Mrs. Stewart was born in Elk county, and was an infant when her father brought the family
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to Jefferson county and established his home on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Stewart.
After his marriage Mr. Stewart assumed charge of the Rhines farm, but two years later, upon the death of his father, he transferred his field of operations to a part of the old home- stead of the Stewart family, in Perry township. There he continued his activities for ten years, at the expiration of which he purchased the interest of the other heirs in one hundred acres of the Rhines farm, to which he and his wife returned. He sold twenty-five acres somewhat later, his present landed estate com- prising seventy-five acres. When Mr. Stewart assumed control of this farm every field had an undue showing of stumps, and his first efforts went toward their elimination, about five years having elapsed ere he had eradicated the stumps and brought the fields to their present attractive condition and fruitfulness. He has further shown his enterprise and thrift by remodeling and improving all of the build- ings, now having one of the model farms of Warsaw township. Mr. Rhines had planted a fine orchard, of more than one thousand trees, four hundred of which are still bearing abun- dantly. Mr. Stewart gives his attention to diversified agriculture and to the raising of live stock of good quality. He is considered a loyal and public-spirited citizen, and has served twelve years as director of the poor for War- saw township and nine years as school director. With the establishing of the County Home or infirmary the townships were relieved of the direct responsibility of providing for their poor, the centralization of this work of charity being a great improvement. Mr. Stewart is a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party has always stood. Socially he is affiliated with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Mrs. Stewart is an earnest member of the Baptist Church. Of the three children the eldest is Myrtle Edith, wife of H. M. Cochran, of Union township, at present a member of the board of county commissioners ; Earl Lytton is in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Oakmont, Allegheny county ; Doyle Alvah is associated with his father.
Andrew Stean Rhines. father of Mrs. Stewart, reclaimed and improved his farm, comprising about one hundred acres, and the present barn was erected by him in 1858. A substantial house was on the place when he purchased the property. Mr. Rhines possessed splendid energy and initiative, was influential in civic and business affairs and was associated
in the ownership of the grist and woolen mills at Richardsville. Mr. Rhines was well known in the business world, having been one of the wealthiest and most successful lumbermen of his day. He was a man of clean Christian character. always ready to do right by God and man. Perhaps no man ever transacted so much business in the county as he and had so few enemies. He was very prosperous and equally liberal, and when the Richardsville Baptist Church was founded, furnished most of the material, etc., with his own money, given with a cheerful heart. After the church was erected he furnished it with what was then nearly unknown, an organ, the instrument be- ing today one of the oldest organs in this part of the country. Aside from being so promi- nent in other circles, and loved by all who knew him, he was a faithful husband and an indul- gent parent, loved by his wife and little chil- dren. However, their happiness was of short duration. On the first day of September, 1865, while driving down the hill at Richardsville, he was thrown from his buggy near the place where the M. E. church now stands, his head striking the root of an oak stump lying near the road, the root penetrating the brain above the left ear. Dr. McKnight and nine other physicians made every effort to save his life, and did succeed in giving him temporary relief for three months, but he grew weaker day by day, and died Dec. 7, 1865, when but thirty-six years of age.
On Nov. 8, 1851, Mr. Rhines married Caro- line Chamberlin, who was born in Potter county, Pa., March 7, 1830, daughter of Peter Chamberlin, who moved with his wife and family to Jefferson county when she was a small child, locating on the farm now owned by Pearl Cyphert. She had a number of brothers and sisters, only one of whom, George Chamberlin, of Richardsville, survived her. She spent her girlhood days on the home farm, experiencing the common lot of the pioneer residents of this region, and she and her hus- band spent their early married life in the lum- bering districts of Elk and Jefferson counties. Nine children were born to this marriage, six of whom were living at the time of the mother's death, namely : Matilda, wife of William J. Godwin, of Butler, Pa .; Mary E., Mrs. James A. Stewart : Theodosia, Mrs. A. N. Bowdish, of Brookville; Laura, wife of William H. Shaffer, who owns and operates a portion of the old Rhines homestead; A. Jud- son, a prosperous farmer of Warsaw town- ship, and Andrew Grant, who lives near Pe- trolia, Butler county. Mrs. Clara Alice Culver
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(who went out to Kansas), Andrew and Rosanna died before the mother, who reached the remarkable age of eighty-one years, three months, twenty-one days, passing away July 5. 19II. She was buried in the cemetery at Richardsville. Thirty-one grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren also survived her. When her husband died Mrs. Rhines was left with a family of seven children, the eldest but thirteen years of age, and she reared them in the most exemplary way, keeping them all together until they were grown. After her family had grown up, married and gone from home she married Jacob Vasbinder. When he died she came back to the old homestead, and spent her remaining days among her children. She was a woman of strong Christian charac- ter, and in her last years took great enjoyment in reading her Bible and hymn book.
AZOR L. KEAGLE, who conducts a gen- eral merchandise store in the village of Rath- mel, Winslow township, was born at Butler, the judicial center of the Pennsylvania county of the same name, Jan. 21, 1861.
Dr. Henry Keagle, his father, was born at Liberty, Tioga county, and was a dentist by profession. Dr. Keagle practiced his profes- sion at Butler for several years, and there his death occurred. The maiden name of his wife was Lydia Bastian, and she was a representa- tive of an old and honored Pennsylvania fam- ily ; she passed the closing years of her life at Rathmel. Henry Keagle had brothers and sis- ters as follows: Isaac, Jacob, Solomon, Abra- ham. Uriah, Levi, Mary Ann and Josephine. Dr. and Mrs. Keagle became the parents of seven sons, and of the number Azor L. is the younger of the two surviving; his brother, Clark H., an engineer, is now a resident of Corning, New York.
Azor L. Keagle acquired a good common school education and as a youth gained experi- ence as clerk in a mercantile establishment in Tioga county. In 1888, at the age of twenty- seven years, he came to Jefferson county and was given a clerical position by the Bell, Lewis & Yates Coal Company. At the expira- tion of a year he became manager of the com- pany's general store at Rathmel and in this position he continued after the corporate title had been changed to the Jefferson-Clear- field Coal & Iron Company. Ile manifested distinctive resourcefulness and executive ability in this connection and remained in the employ of this important corporation until 1902, when he established his present thriving general merchandise business at Rathmel, his long ex-
perience having admirably fortified him for its development and upbuilding. On the 14th of November, 1916, he was appointed postmaster of Rathmel, and in this office he is giving an efficient and acceptable administration. Mr. Keagle is a Progressive in politics and in a fra- ternal way is actively affiliated with the Royal Arcanum. As a disciple of Izaak Walton he has demonstrated his skill and found a medium of pleasing recreation, especially in whipping the streams of this section of the State for the wily trout. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church. Mrs. Keagle has been a member of DuBois Chapter, D. A. R., for the past ten years, tracing her lineage back to William Butler, aide de camp to Gen. George Washington in the Revolutionary war.
In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Azor L. Keagle to Stella A. Headley, daughter of Rev. G. W. Headley, an able and honored clergyman of the Christian Church ; after hold- ing pastorates in Luzerne county he removed to Tioga county, where he continued his zeal- ous services in his high calling until the time of his death. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Keagle the following brief data are entered: George S. resides in Ernest and is manager of the Jefferson & Clearfield Coal & Iron Co. there; Edna is the wife of Thomas Rey, and they reside in Indiana county ; Claude Il. resides at New Kingston ; Albert B. lives at Butler: A. Leroy remains at the parental home; Vera is a member of the class of 1917 in the training school for nurses at the hospital in the borough of Indiana.
AARON DEPP, one of the representative farmers and influential citizens of Perry town- ship, was born on the ancestral farm near Frostburg, that township, Aug. 15, 1852, and is of the third generation of the family in Jefferson county.
Peter Depp, his grandfather, was born in Ireland, and as a young man became a pioneer settler of Jefferson county. He owned forty acres of heavily timbered land one mile north of Frostburg, and reclaimed a farm from the wilderness, both he and his wife, who was of German lineage, passing the remainder of their lives there. They are buried in Frostburg cemetery. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and a man of industry. intelligence and sterling integrity, his name meriting enduring place on the roll of the honored pioneers. His eight children, all deceased. were: Samuel, Henry, Peter, Jr., William, John, Nancy, Mary and Sarah. William served in the Civil war, being first lieutenant of Company I, 105th Pennsyl-
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