Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 43

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 43

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Mr. Bowers is one of the third generation in Jefferson county of a family which has been resident here since his grandfather, Andrew Bowers, came to this region early in the nine- teenth century, and which has always been known for high character and substantial citi- zenship. Andrew Bowers was born at Har-

risonburg, Va., about 1800, and was a youth when he and his three brothers, John, Philip and William, decided to come to Pennsylvania, se.tling in the western end of the State. He first located at what is now the town of Clear- field. in 1818, but did not remain there long, making a permanent settlement within a short time in Gaskill township, Jefferson county. Here he purchased a tract of land upon which he established his home, clearing his property and following agriculture and lumbering throughout his active years. He got out con- siderable square timber. Game was plentiful in this region then, and Mr. Bowers acquired more than a local reputation as a hunter, kill- ing many panthers, bear and other wild ani- mals with his flintlock gun. He remained on his farm until his death, which occurred in 1884, and he is buried in Mount Pleasant cemetery in Gaskill township. In Clearfield, Pa., he married Susan Zinn, who was born at Bellefonte, Centre Co., Pa., and they had the following children: Jacob K., Cinderella, Catherine, Jane and James.

Jacob K. Bowers, father of Levi E. Bowers, was born July 11, 1829, on the homestead place in Gaskill township, Jefferson county, and ac- quired sturdy self-reliance under the trying conditions of his early years in a primitive country. Like his father he became a farmer and lumberman, and he was also a noted hunter in his day ; he killed the last wolf slain in Gaskill township. The homestead property came into his possession, and there he always made his home, his widow still occupying that place. Mr. Bowers married Ellen Rhoads, daughter of George Rhoads, and she is now ( 1916) seventy-four years of age. His death occurred Jan. 15, 1906, and he is buried in the Circle Hill cemetery at Punxsutawney. He was a member of the Protestant Methodist Church and active in its work. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob K. Bowers : Anna M. married Jacob Spraw; Harvey G. is an extensive coal and lumber operator of Jef- ferson county ; Sarah A. is the wife of J. W. Smith ; Martha married Milton E. Cessna, who is a lumberman of Plumville, Pa .; Levi E. is mentioned below ; William A. is mentioned elsewhere in this work ; Lucy E. married Mead Sutter, and they live with her mother on the old homestead in Gaskill township ; Catherine died in infancy.

· Levi E. Bowers was born Feb. 7. 1871, in Gaskill township, where he obtained his edu- cation in the public school near home. When fourteen years old he did his first regular work in the lumber woods there, and has been occu-

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pied in the same line practically ever since, so that his experience has been of the most prac- tical order. lle entered into partnership with his brother Harvey G. Bowers in 1896, in the lumber business, and they were together until 1901, when he became interested in the Punx- sutawney Planing Mill Company, having bought the plant. Subsequently he sold a half interest in that concern to his brother William, who still holds stock in it. In 1916 Levi E. Bowers sold his share in the company and joined his brothers Harvey G. and William A. Bowers in the purchase of a large tract of timberland in Gaskill township, to whose oper- ation Levi E. Bowers is now giving all his time. Mlr. Bowers has become widely and fa- vorably known through his long connection with the Punxsutawney mill, the reputation he acquired there being one of his most valued assets in his present operations. Socially he hold, membership in the B. P. O. Elks, in which he has many friends.

Mr. Bowers married Ida Mary Gaston, daughter of James T. Gaston, who was a pio- neer lumberman and prominent farmer of Canoe township, Indiana Co., Pa. They have one child. Alma Hazel, who is now the wife of Dr. Guy M. Musser, a prominent physician of Punxsutawney. The family are Presby- terians in religious association.

CHARLES S. LORD, editor of The Star, Reynoldsville, became owner in August, 1910; previously associated as employe for thirteen years. For five years secretary of the Rey- noldsville Business Men's Association.

WILLIAM B. WARREN, president of the Stewart Coal Company, at Knox Dale, has been identified with coal mining in Pennsyl- vania since early youth, his experience has covered its every department and he is a recog- nized authority in all details of the work. His ability as an executive has been brought to bear in connection with various important mining enterprises and he finally secured an interest in the Stewart Coal Company, his alliance con- tributing largely to the success of its operations in this section of the State.

Mr. Warren was born at Hasland, near Chesterfield. Derbyshire, England, on the 9th of July, 1867, and he lacked only a few weeks of being nineteen at the time of the family's immigration to America. His parents, with their seven sons and two daughters, arrived in the port of New York City on the 17th of June. 1886. and the father, John Warren, who had become a coal miner in his native land

when a lad of eleven years, made provision for following the same occupation. He established a home at Antrim, Tioga Co., Pa., where he remained until 1888, when he came with his family to Jefferson county and, on the 15th of January, located at Adrian, where he long continued his activities as a coal miner, though he passed his closing years at Horatio, his wife having survived him by several years. One of the sons, Frederick, engineer at the electric light plant at Punxsutawney, is well known for his exceptional musical talent and enjoys more than local reputation as a player of the slide-trombone. Albert, another of the sons, resides in Indiana county, and is a street car operative.

W. B. Warren attended the schools of his native land, but before he had entered his teens he was a boy worker in the coal mines. After his arrival in the United States he found em- ployment in the mines of Tioga county, Pa., whence he came to Jefferson county in 1888. In the coal field at Adrian he worked in the mines, and through ability and fidelity won advancement to the position of foreman; the company employing him maintained a force of seven hundred men. Mr. Warren received in 1903 his state certificate as a mine foreman and continued in the employ of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Company for eighteen years, during much of this time being superin- tendent of No. I mine. Later he served in the same capacity at the company's No. 2 mine until it was closed, when he was transferred to the Eleanora shaft and remained eight months. Thereafter he served as foreman in various mines and in 1905 went to DuBois, where he had supervision of the work of three hundred mien for the ensuing five years. He had in the meanwhile become interested in the Stewart Coal Company, to which he has given his en- tire time and attention since 1910, with resi- dence and headquarters at Knox Dale. He ex- hibited the utmost care to avoid accidents in mines over which he had supervision and those of his company have been notably exempt from casualties. The experience of Mr. Warren has covered service in shafts, slopes and drifts, and thus he has become thoroughly fortified in accurate knowledge of every detail of the coal- mining industry. The arduous labors which he has at times performed have but given sta- bility and alertness to his physical constitu- tion, and in former years he had an enviable record for athletic prowess. While a resident of DuBois he became affiliated with the lodge of F. & A. M.

At Adrian, Jefferson county, when twenty-

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three years of age, Mr. Warren wedded Mar- garet Reid, whose brother William is now treasurer of the Stewart Coal Company and manager of Timblin mines, owned and oper- ated by this corporation. Mr. and Mrs. War- ren have an attractive home at Knox Dale, a center of gracious social life, the two children being especially popular in social activities in the community. Of the children the elder is Ruth, who remains with her parents, and the younger is Clarence, who graduated from the Pennsylvania State Normal School at Indiana with the class of 1916. He gained distinction as the champion high jumper in the athletic department of the institution ; he has received medals in contests on the athletic field, and has won victories as a hurdle runner, besides being an enthusiast in baseball, in which connection also he has proved his prowess.

HARRY B. KING, M. D., bears a name honored at Reynoldsville and all over that part of Jefferson county. As son and successor of the late Dr. James C. King, who practiced here for almost half a century. he has the respon- sibility of sustaining the family prestige in citi- zenship and professional worth, a task of no small magnitude, for his father had few peers in public spirit which would stand any test. He was always willing to go out of his way to advance any project which favored the gen- eral good, and frequently furthered such pur- poses at the sacrifice of his own interests. His personality was linked with the inception and development of the most important meas- ures taken in Reynoldsville during his long residence there, but it would be difficult to as- sign the reason for his popularity definitely either to the good he did in the course of a busy practice or outside of its duties.

James C. King was born March 17, 1841. in Clarion county, Pa., son of Jacob and Sarah A. (Corbett) King. His father was a native of Center county. Pa., but was only a youth when he removed to Clarion county, where he mar- ried. Though he learned the miller's trade in early life he followed it but a short time, farm- ing being his principal occupation throughout life. Retiring in 1892 he settled at Reynolds- ville, where he and his wife spent the remain- der of their days, both reaching advanced age.

James C. King spent the first fifteen years of his life on the home farm, meantime attend- ing the local district schools. Then for three years he was a student in the academy at Day- ton, Armstrong county, after which he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. R. B. Brown, of Summerville, Jefferson county.

He continued under this instructor until he entered the medical department of the Uni- versity of New York City, from which insti- tution he graduated in 1865, beginning practice the same year at Rockdale Mills, Jefferson county. After eighteen months at that loca- tion he removed to Reynoldsville, which was the scene of his labors until his death, which occurred March 10, 1912. He continued in active medical practice to the last, filling a large place in the hearts of the community by his devotion to its physical welfare even at the expense of his convenience and comfort. Coming so close to the inner lives of his fellow citizens, he also learned their needs for intel- lectual and social growth, and thus it was that his interest in the general good broadened and deepened until it was one of the strongest in- fluences in his life. He gave many years of devoted service on the school board; was a member of the council, and officially or un- officially showed unselfish concern for the best interests of the borough. At the time of his death he was vice president of the First Na- tional Bank. He belonged to the county and State medical societies. The Doctor was not partisan in local matters, voting as he thought best in borough elections, but on questions of national policy he was a Democrat.

In 1869 Dr. King married Elizabeth A. Coleman, of Clarion county, whose death oc- curred in 1906. Eight children were born to this marriage, namely: Edith died young ; Ifarry B. is the eldest son ; Dr. R. De Vere is a dentist at Reynoldsville ; Malcolm died young ; Charles L., a mining engineer, was taken sick in Mexico and died in Reynoldsville in 1910; Kathryn M. is unmarried ; Frank D., a mining engineer, is located at Kittanning, Pa .; J. Craig, a dentist, is in the service of the United States army, at present stationed in Panama. Dr. and Mrs. King, the parents, were members of the Baptist Church, and he held the office of trustee.

Harry B. King, eldest son of Dr. James C. King, was born in October, 1872, at Reynolds- ville, where he acquired his elementary educa- tion in the public schools. Later he attended Cook Academy, at Montour Falls, N. Y., tak- ing his professional course at Jefferson Medi- cal College, Philadelphia, and graduating in May, 1895. The next year he spent at St. Mary's Hospital. Philadelphia, at the close of that experience returning to Reynoldsville to enter upon regular practice. With his father's strict ideals of duty and obligation to man- kind before him, he had high standards to fol- low, but the trend of his own inclinations has

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been in the same direction, leading him to com- mendable efforts in all his relations with his fellow men. He holds membership in the Jefferson County Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and keeps in touch with their various activities. His only fraternal connec- tion is with the B. P. O. E.

Dr. King was married Aug. 29. 1915, to Virginia Daniels, of Hawthorn, Clarion Co., Pennsylvania.

JOSEPH S. HAMMOND has maintained his residence at Reynoldsville since 1892 and has identified himself closely and influentially with the affairs of this thriving community, where he is known and honored as a public- spirited citizen and representative man of affairs. He is superintendent of the Reynolds- ville & Falls Creek railroad, is vice president of the First National Bank of Reynoldsville and has been long and prominently connected with the coal mining industry in western Penn- sylvania. He is one of the interested princi- pals in the Widnoon Coal Company and during his residence in Jefferson county he has given loyal support to measures and enterprises tending to advance civic and material progress and prosperity in this section of the Keystone State.

Mr. Hammond was born and reared in Westmoreland county, Pa., and during the major part of his active career he has been associated with coal mining and railroad enter- prise. He served 17 years as a member of the board of education at Reynoldsville, and for three years of that period was president of the board. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Masonic fraternity.

Mr. Hammond wedded Ida B. Black, and they have five children: Gertrude L., Cather- ine J., Margaret Louise, Thomas M. and Ida B.

JOHN E. GEIST. There is no one index that more effectively indicates the civic and material status of any community than that afforded by the character and operations of its financial institutions, and in this important do- main of business activities Brookville, the thriving and attractive judicial center of Jef- ferson county, is signally favored. One of the leading financial institutions of the county is the Brookville Title & Trust Company, which exercises most benignant functions that touch the civic as well as the business interests of the county and which is a recognized conservator

of progress and prosperity in the community. Of this stable and popular institution John E. Geist is secretary and treasurer, and his promi- nence and influence as a representative busi- ness man and popular citizen of his native county clearly demonstrate the consistency of according to him specific recognition in this publication.

John E. Geist was born in the borough of Worthville, Jefferson Co., Pa., on the 3d of March. 1869, and is a scion of one of the old and honored families of the Keystone State. His grandfather, Samuel Geist, was born in Northumberland county, where he was reared and educated, and as a young man he became one of the early settlers of Jefferson county. He acquired a tract of land in what is now Worthville borough, and there developed one of the fine farms of the county, this old home- stead having continued to be the abiding place of himself and his wife until the close of their lives, and the names of both meriting high place on the roll of the sterling pioneers of this county. Of their children the eldest was An- drew. now deceased; Nancy became the wife of Jacob Shick; Samuel, Jr., father of him whose name introduces this review, was the next in order of birth.

Samuel Geist. Ir., was born at Worthville, Jefferson county, at a time when that place was still known as Geisttown, the family name having been applied to the little hamlet until a post office was there established, when the present cognomen was adopted. He was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm and early gained the sturdy discipline of which was begotten enduring appreciation of the dig- nity and value of honest toil and endeavor. lle was long one of the representative expo- nents of agricultural industry in his native county. He has been not only prominently identified with farming, but was for some time engaged also in the lumber business, and for about forty years conducted at Worthville a prosperous general merchandise business, be- sides which he served as postmaster of the vil- lage and also as a member of the school board. He is now living virtually retired. after long years of earnest and effective endeavor, and he and his wife are numbered among the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Worthville, the while their circle of friends in the county is limited only by that of their ac- quaintances. Both are active and valued mem- bers of the German Reformed Church in their home town, and in politics Mr. Geist gives stanch allegiance to the Democratic party. As

Joseist

TIR NEW YORK FULLIC LIENARY

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a young man Mr. Geist wedded Miss Rebecca Shrauger, born and reared in Ringgold town- ship, and whose father, the late Francis Shranger, was one of the substantial farmers and honored citizens of that section of the county. Of the children of Samuel and Re- becca Geist the eldest is Cora, the wife of Wil- liam H. Yoder, of New Kensington, West- moreland county ; John E., was the next in order of birth ; Annie is the wife of Floyd Din- ger, and they reside on the old Geist homestead in Worthville : Mollie died at the age of six years.

John E. Geist was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Worthville, and also spent several years at Rimersburg Academy, Rimers- burg. Clarion county, and Grove City College, Grove City. Mercer county. That he made good use of the opportunities thus accorded him is indicated by the fact that he proved him- self eligible for the pedagogic profession when seventeen years of age, and was for five years successfully engaged in teaching in the schools of Beaver and Ringgold townships. After his retirement from the schools Mr. Geist estab- lished his residence in Brookville, where he was employed the first year as a clerk in the gen- eral store of A. D. Deemer. Then, in 1894, he became bookkeeper in the National Bank of Brookville, and his effective service gained him in 1900 promotion to the office of assist- ant cashier. In this position he continued until 1903, when he became assistant secretary and treasurer of the Brookville Title & Trust Com- pany, with the affairs of which he has since continued to be actively identified. His ad- vancement to his present important post, that of secretary and treasurer, occurred in IOII and his ability and personal popularity have been influential in furthering the development of the substantial business controlled by this important institution of Jefferson county. In addition to his duties in connection with bank- ing affairs Mr. Geist has given some time and attention to the lumber business, having been a member of the firm of Taylor, Moore & Co., who operated in Elk county from 1896 to 1912; and he is a director and treasurer of the Black Warrior Lumber Company, who have exten- sive operations in Alabama.

Though he has had no desire for public of- fice or for the activities of practical politics Mr. Geist was, without any solicitation on his part. elected borough treasurer in 1912, which official position he still holds. He is dis- tinctively progressive and loyal in his civic at- titude, and gives his political support to the cause of the Republican party. He and his 14

wife are members of the Presbyterian Church and popular factors in the social life of the community.

In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Geist to Miss Ella Hopkins, daughter of Jacob and Mary ( Haugh ) Hopkins, of this county, and the one child of this union is a winsome daughter, Mary Catherine.

HENRY C. DEIBLE has been a resident of Reynoldsville for somewhat more than forty years and has long held secure status as one of the representative business men and honored and valued citizens of this important borough of Jefferson county. He has shown the best type of civic loyalty and liberality and has been called upon to serve in various posi- tions of public trust. For the past several years Mr. Deible has been a member of the board of education of Reynoldsville, he served four years as president of the borough council, and on the 5th of February, 1915, as a stalwart in the local camp of the Democratic party, he became postmaster at Reynoldsville, of which position he has since continued the efficient and popular incumbent.

Henry C. Deible was born in Warren county, Pa .. in the year 1852, and is a son of Jacob and Magdalena ( Peters) Deible, both of whom were born in the district of Alsace-Lorraine, France, which was wrested from France in the Franco-Prussian war in 1871. Jacob Deible was reared and educated in his native land and arrived in the United States on the Ist of May, 1847. He established his home in Warren county, Pa., where he devoted the re- mainder of his active career to farming and where his industry and good management brought him a goodly measure of independence and prosperity, the while both he and his wife had at all times the confidence and esteem of all who knew them. These sterling pioneers continued to maintain their home in Warren county until their death, the father having passed away at the age of eighty-two and the mother at the age of eighty-four years. Of their nine children only five attained to years of maturity : Emeline, John, Salome, Jacob and Henry C. The parents were devoted com- municants of the Lutheran Church and their lives were lived in harmony with the Christian faith which they thus professed.

Henry C. Deible gained his early education in the schools of his native country and con- tinned to assist his father in the work of the home farm until he had attained to the age of sixteen years, when he went to the village of Ridgway, Elk county, and entered upon a prac-

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tical apprenticeship to the trade of wagon- maker, in which he became a skilled artisan and finally engaged in business for himself at Ridgway. There he had a wagon shop for a few years, and on the Ist of April, 1875, as a young man of about twenty-three years, he came to Jefferson county and engaged in the work of his trade in an independent way. During the long intervening years he has con- tinued his well equipped wagon and carriage shop at Reynoldsville, and his skill and effect- ive service have retained to him a large pat- ronage. He gives a general supervision to his wagon shop, but the major part of his time and attention is accorded to his official duties as postmaster, his administration having proved able and uniformly acceptable. As a Demo- crat it may be stated that he has been influen- tial in the party's councils in Jefferson county. He and his family are communicants of the Lutheran Church, and in the Masonic frater- nity he is past master of John M. Read Lodge, No. 536, F. & A. M., at Reynoldsville, besides being affiliated with Jefferson Chapter, No. 226, Royal Arch Masons, at Brookville, and a member of the commandery of Knights Templar at Ridgway, Elk county. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Reynoldsville and a member of its board of directors.

In the year 1878 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Deible to Josephine Loree, who likewise was born in Warren county, and in conclusion of this review is given brief record concerning their children : Gertrude is the wife of Dr. Lloyd L. Means, who is engaged in the practice of dentistry at Reynoldsville, and they have two children, Alton and Joseph- ine. Eugene, who holds a clerical position in the First National Bank of Reynoldsville, mar- ried Bertha Bowser and they have one child, Henry. Lucile is the wife of Walter Simpson, of Punxsutawney, and they have one daughter, Mary. Herman, who has the active manage- ment of the wagon business established by his father many years ago, married Mary Bryan and their two children are Lloyd and Charles.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 43

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