Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 125

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 125

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John W. Smith spent most of his early life at Smithport and attended the public schools at that place and at Paola. Kans., spending several years in the latter State during his young manhood. He taught school there for twenty-six months, and then engaged in farm- ing. After he had been in Kansas for five years his father wanted him to return and operate the homestead place in Indiana county, Pa. Thereupon he devoted the next five years to its cultivation. Then for six months he was at Covode, Indiana county, in 1895 re- moving to Punxsutawney, where he has since made his home. lle purchased the store of J. A. Montgomery in November, 1895. and has since conducted the business successfully, enlarging his facilities and stock as necessary. Now he carries a large line of staple goods. comprehensive and well chosen, and his store at No. 110 Oakland avenue is popular with a large circle of patrons residing in Punxsu- tawney and the surrounding territory. Mr. Smith has endeavored to place the best goods and service possible within reach of his cus- tomers, who have shown their appreciation by long continued and loyal support. Further- more. his townsmen have shown their faith in his integrity and ability by choosing him a member of the council, in which he has served for several years, justifying their regard by his disinterested protection of their interests in all the deliberations of that body. His religious connection is with the First Methodist Church. and he is a member of its official board.

Mr. Smith married Sarah A. Bowers. daughter of the late Jacob K. Bowers, and sis- ter of Harry K. Bowers. An account of the Bowers family will be found elsewhere. Mr.

and Mrs. Smith have one son, Wayne Bowers, who was born Jan. 12, 1890, and is now en- gaged in the practice of dentistry in Pitts- burgh. He studied for a time at Bellefonte, l'a .. and then took a course at the University of Pittsburgh, from which institution he was graduated in June, 1915, with the degree of 1). D. S. : he is now dentist for the H. J. Heinz Company at Pittsburgh. Dr. Smith, well known as "Red" Smith among his college friends, made a fine record as an athlete dur- ing his collegiate years, and was especially prominent as a football player. At Bellefonte he was captain of the football team for two seasons, and captain of the University team one year.

NORMAN BENNETT WHELPLEY is a prosperous farmer and contractor of Snyder township, where he has acquired valuable land and engaged in its cultivation, besides doing considerable building and other work in that line. A number of substantial structures in and about Brockwayville and at other places testify to his workmanship and trustworthi- ness, which have gained him a secure place in the confidence of his patrons. His conscien- tious efforts to please have been thoroughly appreciated, winning him their personal esteem.

Mr. Whelpley is a son of Elijah Whelpley and grandson of James Whelpley, who was born Oct. 16. 1800. and lived and died in New York: his wife, Maria, born Sept. 30, 1806, also died there. They had the following children : Elijah ; Silas, born Nov. 11, 1831. who married Lucy Welch; Amos, born July 10. 1833. who died young; Daniel, born May 24. 1837, who married ; and Hiram, born Nov. 20, 1841, who married Alice Welch.

Elijah Whelpley was born April 12, 1828, in Cattaraugus county, N. Y .. and settled in western Pennsylvania during young manhood. In the early days he followed lumbering, raft- ing on Clarion river, making shingles, and en- gaging in other occupations of the pioneer settlers to make a living until the land became productive. On Aug. 11. 1853. he married Emily Prindle, who was born July 7. 1834, in Connecticut, daughter of Bennett Prindle, and by tradition a relative of President Tyler. Mr. and Mrs. Whelpley died in Brockwayville at eighty and seventy-five, respectively. The following children were theirs. Amos Merton. born July 2. 1854. married May Cook, and died in Brockwayville Nov. 8. 1893: Buddie B. and Amor R. died in childhood: Norman B. is next : Fred E .. born Dec. 6. 1866, on the

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place where he still resides, married Martha Rebecca Hughes ; Phoebe Adeline died young. Norman Bennett Whelpley was born July 21. 1864, on the old home place in Snyder town- ship, and attended the Frost school. He left school when eighteen years old, and soon after- wards learned the trade of stonemason with George Steele, at Brookville, with whom he served a full apprenticeship. He has ever since taken contracts, and has been engaged in the construction of a number of important build- ings. The Buzzard home (now the McCul- lough place ; at Brockwayville, the Bond & Cooper store and various church and school buildings may be mentioned as samples of his

Mr. Whelpley lives upon a sixty-seven-acre farm one and three-quarters miles from Brock- wayville, purchased from Edgar Smith ; he also owns another tract of land in the opposite direction from Brockwayville. He has man- aged his agricultural interests as thriftily as his building operations, his early training in farm work proving of great practical value in the conduct of this property. Though at- tentive to business he has found time for other interests, and has been a valued member of Cicero Lodge. No. 897. I. O. O. F., having passed all the chairs repeatedly, and repre- sented that body several times in the grand lodge. On political questions he is a stanch Republican.

On April 18, 1885. Mr. Whelpley was mar- ried to Annie Bover. who was born in the Beechwoods, in Winslow township, March 6. 1860. daughter of Philip and Frances J. (Quil- len) Boyer, who were then living on the old Smith farm near MeGees Mills. When she was seven years old her parents moved to Snyder township, where she attended the Frost public school, her first teacher being Emma Craven. Five children have come to Mr. and Mrs. Whelpley: Alfred LeRoy, born in 1887. who died when five years old; Floyd Earl, born Sept. 18, 1807: Guy Milton, born March 22, 1900 ; Norman Stanley, born Oct. 29, 1904 ; and Philip E .. born Dec. 6. 1906. Mrs. Whelp- ley is an earnest member of the Methodist

Episcopal Church at Brockwayville and one of its devoted workers, taking an active part in the furtherance of all church enterprises, particularly those of especial interest to the women of the congregation.

HARRY MEAD JORDAN, late of War- saw township, was a well known resident and a descendant of an old family of this section. Born Aug. 9. 1863, at Oliveburg, this county, he was a son of Joseph N. and Elizabeth (Law) Jordan, grandson of Samuel Jordan and a great-grandson of Robert Jordan, who came to this country from Ireland. He located in Indiana county, making his home on a farm work, which has stood the test of time. He was . on the ridge between Smicksburg and Perrys- a member of the building committee in charge of the erection of the Odd Fellows hall, and in that capacity discharged his duties faithfully. Besides contracting for cement, stone and tile laying, Mr. Whelpley has done house moving, and in everything shows a desire to carry out the wishes of his patrons. It has proved to be good business policy, for the extent and im- portance of the work intrusted to him has in- creased steadily, keeping him constantly busy.

ville. During the Revolutionary war he was a teamster in the Continental army. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-three years. Of his large family, five were born to his first wife, Hannah ( Hill) ; Alexander, Samuel. Joseph, James and Margaret ( Mrs. Isaac Mat- son ). By his second wife, Catherine ( Pounds), he had eight children : Robert, Hannah ( Mrs. James W. Bell), Nancy (Mrs. Enoch Crissman ). Mary (Mrs. George Mogle ). Mattie ( Mrs. John McHenry ), John ( married Martha Sharrard), Margaret (Mrs. Griffin Rowland) and William (married Eliza Riddle), who lived at Frostburg and was the last survivor of the family.

Samuel Jordan, son of Robert. was born in Indiana county in 1792, and there married Lida Cochran, a native of Mifflin county, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Cochran, who removed from Juniata county to Indiana county, and thence after a few years to Jeffer- son county, where they were prominent among other pioneer citizens. In 1815 Samuel Jordan and his wife removed from Indiana county to a tract of land in Jefferson county which they supposed was open to settlement, but finding later that it had been taken up they went into Oliver (then Perry ) township, purchasing 160 acres for a dollar and a quarter per acre. Mrs. Jordan died in 1864, aged sixty-four years, and she and her husband are buried in Olive cemetery, near their old home. In early life they joined the Presbyterian Church, but after his wife's death Mr. Jordan joined the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church. They reared a large family: Isaac C., who married Leanna Steffy : Hannah H. married John McBrier, of Rose township, and survived him: Robert, a fariner of Jefferson county. married Elizabeth Fetterhoff : Sarah married James Cary and ( second) John McPherson, of Clearfield ; John, of Perry, married Nancy Bell ; Joseph

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N. ; William .A., a farmer of Oliver township, married Mary J. Reed ; and James B., of Punx- sutawney, a veteran of the Civil war, ex-county commissioner and county auditor, who married Anna M. Smith.

Joseph N. Jordan, son of Samuel, lived in McCalmont township. He married Elizabeth Law and survived her ; they were the parents of Harry M. Jordan.

Harry M. Jordan enjoyed excellent school- ing, of which he made good use, and when a young man of nineteen began teaching in Polk township, which he continued a few years. When. twenty-two he married Mary M. Humphrey, daughter of Matthew Humphrey, of Warsaw township, and thereafter operated the Humphrey farm until 1900. In that year he went to Wisconsin, being one of a com- pany engaged in extensive lumber opera- tions at Rib Lake, in which vicinity he spent practically all of the next five years. He acted as foreman for the company, employing about two hundred men and cutting as high as one hundred and twenty-five thousand feet of lumber a day; he was also engineer on the company's road laid to haut logs. Not meeting with the success he had expected, he returned to his old home at the end of five years' ex- perience. in 1905, and spent the remainder of his days upon the farm, looking after its culti- vation until he lost his health, in 1908. He was an invalid for over two years before his death, which occurred April 5, 1911. Mr. Jor- dan was a man of more than average intelli- gence and possessed also uncommon executive ability and the faculty of applying himself to whatever he had in hand. Ile had a prosper- ous and creditable career and his death was regarded as a distinct loss to the community.

On Aug. 20, 1885, Mr. Jordan married Mary M. Humphrey, who survives him with their three children : Martha, now the wife of Purl MeCracken ; Leon ; and Ethel, the last named attending high school. Leon is a professional musician, having taken a course in Chicago under a noted teacher of wind instruments, and is now an instructor in the same line, during the school year of 1915-16 having served in that capacity in the Indiana ( Pa.) State Normal School.

Mrs. Jordan has proved herself a woman of noteworthy business talents. During her girl- hood she assisted her brother in his store for two years, and the management of the Humph- rey homestead. upon which she continues to reside, has been practically in her hands for the last sixteen years, looking after it during her husband's absence in Wisconsin, and dur-

ing his illness was obliged to resume the man- agement. The property is devoted to general farming, and has been developed along modern lines, being in excellent condition. She has lived there all her life.

FRANK C. SHAFFER owns a very desir- able property in Beaver township where his life has been spent, and which has long been in the possession of the Shaffer family, whose founders in this region were among its pioneers. The name has been associated with agricultural and lumbering interests, with wholesome influence in educational progress, in behalf of good government, and in fact with the best development of this section in all respects. His great-grandparents, Phelda and Elizabeth Shaffer, were among the first settlers in Ringgold township, where they made a loca- tion in 1840, coming from Northumberland county. Building a log cabin in the wilder- ness, they spent the remainder of their lives on the farm which they developed. They were Lutherans in religious connection, and lie buried in the cemetery at St. John's Church. Their family consisted of eleven children.

Isaac Shaffer, son of Phelda and Elizabeth Shaffer, was the grandfather of Frank C. Shaffer. He was born in what is now Schuyl- kill county, where he lived until after his mar- riage to Christina Geist, daughter of Andrew Geist. a Revolutionary soldier. Mr. Geist was born in Pennsylvania, east of the mountains, and lived to the age of ninety-seven years, dying at Wolfs Creek, Northumberland Co. In 1835 lsaac Shaffer and his wife made a set- tlement in the woods in Beaver township, Jef- ferson county, where their grandson Frank C. now lives, transporting themselves and goods with one single and two double teams; the journey occupied nine days. Mr. Shaffer had purchased eighty acres at a dollar and a half an acre, paying part of the price down. He did much toward the improvement of this tract. building a barn which is still standing, over fifty years ago. Though he followed the weaver's trade in his younger years, he gave it up as his agricultural operations became more extensive and profitable. He died at the age of sixty-nine years, three months, his wife surviving until 1883. when she died at the home of her son Isaac, aged eighty-five years, five months. twenty-five days: they were buried in the Lutheran cemetery in Beaver township. Mr. Shaffer was a devout member of the Lutheran Church, and a Democrat in his political convictions. The following chil- dren were born to this couple: Lida, died in

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childhood; Solomon ; Harriet, died at the age of twenty years; Lucy A., married Eli Thomas, of Beaver township, whom she sur- vived; Christina married Joseph Thomas, a carpenter, of Beaver township; Rebecca married John Reitz, of Warren, Pa., whom she survived ; Isaac; Abraham engaged in the lumber business at Mannsville; George became a farmer and lumberman in Ringgold township; John followed blacksmithing at Apollo; Sarah, married John Mowrey, a farmer of Ringgold township; Jacob was a lumberman on Sandy creek, Jefferson county.

Isaac Shaffer, son of Isaac and Christina Shaffer, was born Feb. 15, 1831, in Northum- berland county, and was four years old when his parents came to Jefferson county, settling at what is now Zion, in Beaver township. His farm of 107 acres (now owned by his son Frank C. Shaffer) was part of his father's holdings; he bought half of it from his father ( who then moved to an adjoining farm), in- heriting the other half upon the death of his mother, and erected the present dwelling in the early seventies. For a time he lived in Ring- gold, where he settled between 1859 and 1861. All his life he was a lumberman and farmer, principally the former, being one of the leaders in that business in Beaver township and one of the most successful operators on Sandy creek. It is said he was often heard to wonder how the people of this region were going to live when the timber was gone. He had part- ners at different times, buying timber rafts of others, and cleared considerable land on his own account. lumbering from a 220-acre lot which he owned on Sandy creek, and from a lot at Coolspring in company with a Mr. Al- corn. His eldest son later bought the latter tract. which is in Oliver township, and is liv- ing at Coolspring. One spring he lost eight timber rafts and two saw log rafts at one stroke in the Sandy, and once he had a lot of logs destroyed by fire on the bank of that stream: he ran his timber to Pittsburgh. Mr. Shaffer also dealt largely in stock on his farm. For many years his house was a popular place of public entertainment, though he took out a license for that purpose but once. Before the advent of the railroad commercial men invari- ably stopped there, and they continued the practice even until recent years. Thus Mr. Shaffer was one of the most widely known men of the locality and stood high in the confidence of all his associates, his honorable conduct toward all gaining him merited respect and esteem.

On May 13. 1852, Mr. Shaffer married Re-

becca Geist, who was born Jan. 13, 1834, in Schuylkill county, daughter of George and Barbara ( Kessler ) Geist, and she survived him ten years, his death occurring Jan. 8, 1902, hers on Dec. 24, 1912. They had the follow- ing family : Ellen, who died in childhood ; La- fayette, formerly a merchant of Coolspring ; George, who died in young manhood ( he was engaged at the time of his death as a teacher in Ringgold township) ; Catherine, who mar- ried C. 11. Smith, and died at Panic; Jane, who married Henry Tedrick, and died near Stanton ; Frank C. ; and Minnie, wife of W. R. Musser, of Clarion county.

Frank C. Shaffer was born March 3, 1865, on the farm where he still resides. He had the excellent advantages of the public schools, and the benefit of competent training under his father, whom he succeeded in the owner- ship of the home farm. He follows general agricultural pursuits, and keeps considerable stock. In every branch of his work Mr. Shaf- fer has exhibited the progressive traits ever characteristic of his family, and in his business and other relations to the community is justly regarded as one of its most substantial citi- zens. Practically all his time is devoted to his agricultural interests.

On April 9, 1891, Mr. Shaffer was married to Della Reitz, who was born in Beaver town- ship, at the place where her parents yet live, and was twenty-one years old at the time of her marriage. Three children have been born of this union, Meda, Alta and Carrie, all at home.

TALBERT LOCKWOOD has during a comparatively short residence at Brockway- ville become thoroughly identified with local activities, and has established himself on a sound footing among business men of the bor- ough, having shown a degree of enterprise which entitles him to the prosperity he has met. As a dealer in milk and ice he is known to most of the householders, and is as much respected for his high personal character as for his reliability as a tradesman.

Mr. Lockwood belongs to an old established family in Jefferson county of French extrac- tion, being a grandson of Ezra and Lois (Owens ) Lockwood, the latter a native of New York State, where the family formerly resided. They settled on a farm at Warsaw, and there Mrs. Ezra Lockwood died. Of their large family were six sons whose names all be- gan with "L." viz .: Lewis Lawrence, Leon- ard Lee, Levi Lambert, Lyman Luther, Lester Lafayette and Livingston Leroy.

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Lester Lafayette Lockwood, the last sur- vivor of this family, was born Oct. 11. 1831, in Steuben county, N. Y., and was nine years old when he accompanied his parents to War- saw, Jefferson county, where the rest of his life was spent. He made his home on the farm where his father settled, and died there July 31, 1907, after an industrious, prosperous ca- leer. He was a prominent resident, esteemed as one of the worthiest citizens and a man of useful life and high character. He married Chloe Goodaar, who was born in Pennsyl- vania and was of French descent, her father having come ,to the United States when but thirteen years old to escape military service ; her mother's maiden name was Rebecca Carr. Mrs. Lester L. Lockwood is still living on the home farm with her son John. Of the chil- dren born to her three died in infancy, and the rest survive, namely : Talbert : Electa, wife of Joseph Stallman, of Galeton, Pa .; Joseph, of DuBois, who married Miss Augusta Book- man ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Henry Waunk, of Shaw- mut ; Daniel, of Warsaw, who married Eliza Bullers ; Amy, Mrs. Frank Jackson, of Shaw- mut ; Mary, Mrs. A. H. Miner, of Brockway- ville ; Chloe, Mrs. A. A. Shelly, of Brockway- ville : John, of Warsaw, who married Martha Wilkins ; and Sophia, Mrs. H. W. Martin, of Kushequa, Pennsylvania.

Talbert Lockwood was born Feb. 14, 1856, in that part of Warsaw township known as "Egypt." and grew to manhood on the home farm. During his boyhood the local schools were still of primitive character, and the "Egypt" school was fully three miles distant, so what education he acquired was gained under difficulties. The dense timber through which he had to travel to reach the schoolhouse was the haunt of wild animals, including panthers, and at times the trip was really hazardous. But he attended school when not needed at home, and as he grew older gave all his time to assisting his father, with whom he remained until he attained the age of nine- teen. In 1877 he started out for himself, going to Edenburg. Clarion county, during the oil excitement. He there wove carpets for his aunt. Elizabeth Williams, earning good wages for a year and three months, after which he made and cobbled shoes for six months. Ilis next employment was in the woods in Hallton. Elk county, where he made and hauled ties, peeled bark, etc., for the next thirty-three vears. Meantime, for four and a half years, he had a store at Hallton. Thence he removeo to Hicks Run, where he got out ties, etc., for two years, removing to Brockwayville in 1909

where he bought a piece of land and com- menced operating a milk route which is his . present occupation. He soon bought a share in the Hygienic Ice plant and is now sole owner. Mr. Lockwood owes his advancement to industry and good management, and his steadily increasing trade is also the result of systematic attention to his customers. He de- votes all his time to his business, taking no part in outside matters. In politics he is a Republican in principle.

Mr. Lockwood was married at Ridgway to Emma Parrett, of Elk county, and they are the parents of four children : Maud, Sidney, Wal- ter and Pearl. The eldest son, Sidney, was born Jan. 2, 1898, at Hallton. Elk county, and was educated in the public schools of that place and at Emporium and Brockwayville. When seventeen years old he left school and entered the employ of his father, whom he is still assisting. Walter, the second son, born at Hallton Sept. 9. 1900, is also in his father's employ. Pearl, the youngest son, born at Hall- ton in April, 1904, is attending school at Brock- wayville.

WILLIAM H. H. MANNERS, living in retirement at Brookville, has admirably ac- quitted himself in the practical affairs of life and is a successful representative of agricul- tural and lumbering industry.

William Henry Harrison Manners was born on a pioneer farm in Oliver township, now owned by John Colter's descendant, on the 4th of November, 1841. His grandfather, Joseph Manners, likewise a native of the State, came from Westmoreland county, becoming one of the first settlers in Oliver township. Three miles southeast of Coolspring he obtained 160 acres of heavily timbered land and began the herculean task of hewing out a farm from the forest. He reclaimed his land to cultivation. being among the vigorous and successful farmers. This sterling pioneer survived his wife and passed the closing period of life with his son John, near Sprankle Mills, his re- mains being laid to rest in the cemetery of the Perry Church. Their children were: Thomas, John, Eliza, Mary, George, Hannah. Nancy Jane. Sarah and Margaret. Eliza was the wife of Robert Gaston, while her sister Mary wedded his brother, David Gaston. George in turn took their sister, Mary Gaston ; Ilannah became the wife of Robert McNutt ; Nancy J. married Thomas Wadding; Sarah married Jacob Fisher : Margaret's husband was John Jones.

John Manners was born near Saltsburg, in

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Westmoreland county, on the 15th of January, 1812, and continued his activities as a farmer there until the autumn of 1840, when he set- tled on the farm where William H. H. was born. In 1842 he removed to the 160-acre John Reinerd farm in Knox township, which was then covered with heavy timber. He hung the family clock to a nail driven into a tree until he could build a board shanty to serve as a temporary place of habitation, erect- ing in the succeeding autumn a more pre- tentious domicile, a log house, 20 by 24 feet. He reclaimed much of the land from the forest during the next sixteen years, removing to Oliver township, where he purchased a com- paratively well improved farm about one mile above Sprankle Mills. He developed this homestead into one of the valuable farms of the county and there continued his residence many years, though his declining days were passed with his son William, where he died on the 8th of May, 1895, the remains of him- self and wife resting in Zion cemetery. John Manners gained distinction as a hunter, one autumn killing within four days fifteen deer. His wife was Susanna Fiscus, daughter of William and Jane ( Heinman) Fiscus, of Westmoreland county, who proved a loyal companion and devoted mother. Of the chil- dren the eldest was Nancy Jane, wife of An- drew Seiberling, both now deceased; Harriet married Levi Cochran, and both are dead; John, Jr., enlisted in Company I of the famous 105th Pennsylvania Regiment, was captured at Savage Station, confined in Libby prison until paroled in August, 1862. and died at For- tress Monroe in September of the same year of privation and exposure, his remains rest- ing in a soldier's grave; William H. H. was next in the family ; Albert died at Brookville, when about thirty-five years of age; Hannah was the wife of John Miller, and died young ; Martha died when thirteen; Joseph resides at Anita : Mary is the wife of Daniel Doverspike, of Pierce county, Wisconsin.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 125

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