Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 69

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 69

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years; and the four children who died in in- fancy were Oran, Nancy, Matthew and Eliza- beth.

Samuel and Rebecca (McCrea) Daniels, parents of James Wesley Daniels, were born in 1778 and 1782, respectively. The father served as a soldier in the war of 1812 and his death occurred in 1843; the mother passed away in 1847.

James Wilson Daniels was reared to ma- turity on the farm which he now owns and occupies, and his early education was acquired in the public schools of the locality. He has from his youth been closely identified with agricultural pursuits, and he also was actively concerned with lumbering operations for many years, his alliance with this industry having continued until about 1908. He gave his at- tention principally to the manufacturing of lumber, and operated a sawmill in Elk county for five years. He purchased standing tim- ber, and for a number of years did an exten- sive lumbering business, having cut between six million and seven million feet of lumber, but now concerns himself almost exclusively with the management of his fine farm of 260 acres, and is known and honored as one of the substantial citizens of his native county. His political allegiance is given to the Re- publican party, and he has served as super- visor of Barnett township for several terms, this office being held by him at the present time. He has also served as director of the poor for the township and as a member of the school board.

On Sept. 1, 1891, Mr. Daniels was married to Ida May Truby, then eighteen years old. She was born and reared in Barnett township. where her father, John Truby, was a prosper- ous farmer ; her mother was Samantha Kahle. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels have two children : Twila, who was graduated from the Clarion State Normal School, is now a popular teacher in the public schools of Latrobe, Westmore- land Co., Pa .; Claire is a member of the class of 1920 in the normal school at Clarion.

WILLIAM E. JOHNSON, late of Punx- sutawney, lived retired for several years be- fore his death, and his widow still occupies the old home there, one of the most respected residents of the borough, where her husband was also held in the highest esteem. Mr. John- son was a successful man of the type prop- erly called self-made. for he attained stand- ing and prosperity solely on his merits and through his own efforts. It was not until his later years that he located at Punxsutawney,

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and his business career there covered only a decade, but it was long enough to make the townspeople thoroughly acquainted with his high character, substantial qualities and real worth as a man, which made him so desirable a citizen. The Johnson family was estab- lished in this country by his grandparents, Thew Johnson, Sr., and his wife, natives of England, who came to America during the first years of the nineteenth century, and spent the remainder of their lives in Pennsylvania.

Thew Johnson, Jr., father of William E. Johnson, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1795, and was eight years old when he accom- panied his parents to this country. He grew up in Elk county. Pa., followed farming and lumbering, and died in 1867, after an indus- trious, unassuming life. He married Sarah Coleman, a native of Pennsylvania, who sur- vived him many years, passing away in May, 1889, when almost ninety years old.

William E. Johnson was born Nov. 6. 1826. in Elk county, Pa., and lived at home until twenty-five years old, meanwhile helping to support the rest of the family as well as him- self. His parents were not in affluent cir- cumstances, so he had to begin work early, and consequently had not even the best school ad- vantages then afforded, which were none too good. He was allowed to attend school only on rainy days when work outdoors was im- possible, yet he managed to secure the rudi- ments of an English education, and he made the best possible use of what knowledge he gained. His youthful training was entirely in the line of work on the farm and in the woods. and when he began for himself he continued lumbering and farming until 1867, when he opened a general store at Benezett, Elk county. Though it was a venture into a new field he made a success of it, continuing it until 1885. and soon after its establishment he became postmaster at Benezett, filling that position for sixteen years. In 1886 he removed to Punxsutwney, Jefferson county, where he also engaged in general merchandising, forming a partnership with John H. Fink, under the firm name of Johnson & Fink. They did a whole- sale as well as retail business, and prospered steadily. Mr. Johnson remaining with the house until July, 1896, when he sold his in- terest to J. B. Eberhart and retired. The Eberhart department store, which had its in- ception in the Johnson & Fink store, is now a leading mercantile house in this section of Jefferson county and the largest establishment of the kind at Punxsutawney. Mr. Johnson had valuable real estate holdings in Punxsu-

tawney, including the handsome brick resi- dence at No. 114 North Penn street where he continued to reside until his death, and which his widow still occupies. It is a sub- stantially built and well appointed dwelling, one of the most desirable homes in the borough. His death occurred there July 27, 1904, and he is buried in Circle Hill ceme- tery. Politically he gave his allegiance to the Republican party.

In 1851 Mr. Johnson married Ann Murray, of Elk county, who died in 1856 leaving one son, William Sheldon, late of Punxsutawney. In 1858 Mr. Johnson married ( second) Abigal Sophia Winslow, who was born in 1838, and is a direct descendant of the Winslows who came over in the "Mayflower." Her grandfather, Carpenter Winslow, was a ship carpenter by occupation, and lived in the State of Maine. Her father, Carpenter Winslow, was born in Maine in 1793, and there married Beulah Keen, who was born in that State in 1796. They subsequently settled in Elk-county, Pa., where they passed the rest of their lives. Mrs. Johnson is the youngest of their family of fourteen children and the only survivor. Her maternal grandfather, Mr. Keen, also of Maine, married Silania Wordsworth, a native of Maine and a direct descendant of the Wordsworths who came in the "Mayflower," though not on her first voyage.

Three daughters were born to William E. and Abigal S. Johnson: Ella E. is the wife of William E. Zierden, of Philadelphia, Pa., and has a family of nine children, Abbie S., Edith, Ernst, Emma, Leonard. Grace. William. George and Margaret; Emma E. married Thaddeus C. Zeitler, who is a flour and feed merchant of Punxsutawney, and has three children, Emma. Ella and Mary; Adda died when thirteen months old. Mrs. Johnson holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Punxsutawney and takes a sincere interest in its welfare. In the course of a long residence there she has acquired many pleasant friendships, being widely and favor- ably known in and around the borough.

REV. E. M. DIETRICH, present pastor of St. Peter's Reformed Church, Punxsutawney. was born in Center county, Pa. He is a grad- uate of Franklin and Marshall College, class of 1909, and of the Eastern Theological Semi- nary, class of 1912, was ordained to the min- istry June 28, 1912, and before coming to Punxsutawney served the Red Bank charge, Hawthorn, Pa., for three years and seven months. He has been pastor of St. Peter's

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since early in 1916. (See Chapter XVII, Churches. ) He was married in 1916 to Mrs. Mary C. Sloan.

ADAM GUMBERT was an honored pio- neer whose sterling character and notable achievements make it appropriate to enter in this work a tribute to his memory. The clos- ing years of his life were passed on his old homestead in Beaver township, seven miles south of Brookville, where his death occurred Dec. 3. 1909. His cherished wife passed away March 10, 1891, and their remains find a rest- ing place in the old Cliff churchyard, in which cemetery the first person to be interred was a man named Morrison who was killed while assisting in the raising of the first little log church building some sixty years ago.

Mr. Gumbert was born July 1, 1822, in Pennsylvania, son of William and Margaret (Peck) Gumbert, whose marriage was sol- emnized June 12, 1817. The latter, according to family records, apparently died at the birth of her eighth child, Henry, who was born Sept. 27. 1830. William Gumbert was born Aug. 28, 1799, as a member of one of the Colonial families of Pennsylvania, and of the eight children of his first marriage Adam was the third. The eldest son, George, born April 16, 1818. is more specifically mentioned on other pages, in the sketch of his son Manoah ; Elizabeth. the elder daughter, was born Oct. 1, 1819: William, Jr., born May 14. 1824, was the father of Jeremiah Gumbert and is men- tioned in the review of the career of the lat- ter ; David was born Dec. 1, 1825; John. Jan. 23. 1826; Sarah. Dec. 27. 1827: and Henry, Sept. 27. 1830. In October. 1830, left with a family of motherless young children. Wil- liam Gumbert, Sr .. wedded Sarah Hallowbow. who died in the State of Wisconsin July 26. 1864. The names and respective birth dates of the children of this marriage are here indi- cated: Ann, March 22, 1832; Hannah. Dec. 23. 1833: Lavina, Aug. 28, 1835 : Daniel. May 12. 1837: Amelia, Oct. 26, 1839: Mary. Aug. 30, 1841 : Jeremiah, June 23. 1843. In Wis- consin William Gumbert contracted a third marriage, and after the death of his third wife he returned to Jefferson county. Henry, the youngest child of the first marriage. was a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, was wounded and captured. and died as a result of his injuries in the infamous Andersonville prison. William and his son David died but a week apart.

Upon coming to Jefferson county William Gumbert. Sr .. settled in Beaver township, on

the old homestead now owned by Clover Baughman. In 1855 he became a pioneer in Buffalo county, Wis., and in that State not only lost his second and third wives but also met with financial reverses, the result being that he returned to Pennsylvania and passed the. closing years of his life among his chil- dren, where his sons George, David, William and Adam and his daughter Sarah had re- mained. Sarah became the wife of George Doverspike, and her home was near Put- neyville, Armstrong county, at the time of her death. David died near New Bethlehem. in Armstrong county, and George, William and Adam were residents of Jefferson county till the close of their lives.

On Oct. 3, 1850, Adam Gumbert married Nancy Butler, who was born at Dayton, Arm- strong county, Nov. 25, 1828. They soon settled on a pioneer farm in Beaver town- ship, only a few acres of which had then been reclaimed from the forest, and their first home was a log house that was built in a single day. The young couple had for their supper the first night in their new home only pota- toes, and the furniture in the little domicile was all homemade, including the old cord-bed- stead. Cooking was done at the old-fashioned fireplace and some time elapsed ere more ad- vanced culinary facilities were provided. The present house was erected in 1876, the barn about three years previously.

Adam Gumbert reclaimed his farm to culti- vation, labored early and late, and never fal- tered in his ambition to wrest a due measure of prosperity from the hands of fate. For several years he added to his income by tak- ing contracts for the getting out of timber in the forests, and as a young man, in Armstrong county. he worked at charcoal burning near the iron mines, his compensation averaging from fifty to seventy-five cents a day. It was through his own labors that he earned the money with which to purchase his farm, and among his early activities was included work on the canal at Conneaut. Ohio. On the farm he and his neighbor, Joseph L. Millen, became close friends, and they were associated as partners in lumbering operations. The char- acter of Adam Gumbert was that of a strong and noble nature, and he commanded the high regard of all who knew him. He was influ- ential in community affairs, served as town- ship supervisor and as school director. and attended and supported the Methodist Epis- copal Church at old Beaver Run. of which his wife was a zealous member. All of their children were born on the old homestead and

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concerning them we have the following brief data : David, who was born Sept. 4, 1851, re- mains on the old farm; Rebecca Jane, born June II, 1853, likewise remains at the old homestead; James G., born Oct. 3. 1855. is

a successful contractor and builder in Pittsburgh; George, born July 26, 1857, is now a resident of Portland, Oregon ; Martha M., born Oct. 22, 1859, is the wife of Andrew Ross, of the Beechwoods; Mar- garet M., born June 24, 1862, remains on the old homestead; Ellen G., born Dec. 28, 1864. died Oct. 23, 1875, and her funeral was the first held in the Cliff Methodist Episcopal Church.

DAVID GUMBERT passed the period of his childhood and early youth on the farm which he now operates and in the ownership of which he is associated with his brothers and sisters. The district schools found him en- rolled as a pupil at such times as his services were not in requisition for the work of the farm. As a young man he was at intervals employed on neighboring farms. and he not only worked in the lumber woods of Elk county but also became a minor contractor in the getting out of timber. In 1876 he worked in the lumber woods near Brandy Camp. Elk county, and received for his services twenty dollars a month. His association with the lumber industry continued for thirty years, and for several years he gave special atten- tion to the hauling of hemlock bark. He spent one year in the lumber camps in Buffalo county, Wis .. on the Mississippi river, where he was associated with the Beef Slough Lum- ber Company. About the opening of the twentieth century. in accordance with an agreement made with his brothers and sisters, he assumed the management of the old home- stead, which comprises one hundred acres, and here he resides with his two maiden sisters, all being well known in the neighborhood, where they have a host of friends.

SYLVESTER R. MILLIRON. who is now living virtually retired at his attractive home near the borough of Brookville. belongs to one of the oldest and most honored pioneer fami- lies of Jefferson county, with whose history the name has been closely identified for more than ninety years. He was born May 22, 1844. in a log house in Pinecreek township, son of Dan- iel and Margaret ( McKinley) Milliron, whose marriage was solemnized May 12. 1842.

Daniel Milliron was born in Westmoreland county. Pa., Aug. 10, 1816. His father. Sam- uel Milliron, came with his family to Jef-

ferson county in 1824, settling in the dense forest on the south side of Red Bank creek, one mile below the present borough of Sum- merville. Here he reared his children under the conditions and influences of the early pio- neer days, and about the year 1856 accom- panied his son Samuel to Minnesota, in which State he passed the remainder of his life and measurably repeated his Pennsylvania pioneer experiences. Of the sons who attained to ma- turity it may be noted that John settled at Big Run, Jefferson county, where he died at a ven- erable age : Jacob was a young man when he removed to Illinois, where he passed the re- mainder of his life; Daniel, father of Sylves- ter. was the next in order of birth ; Samuel, Jr., went with his father to Minnesota, as before noted. and became a pioneer settler near Lake Pepin, passing the rest of his life in that State ; Jonathan settled near Quincy, in Missouri, in 1859, and remained a resident of that State until his death ( his son IIulett served as a Confederate soldier in the Civil war). Of the daughters little information can be given save that Betsy, who became the wife of David Moore, was venerable in years at the time of her death, which occurred at Summerville ; and that a second daughter. whose husband bore the name of Matter, was a resident of Illinois at the time of her demise.

Daniel Milliron was a lad of about eight years at the time when the family home was established in the wilds of Jefferson county, and here he gained his full quota of experi- ence in the labors and hardships of pioneer life, though he waxed strong in mind and body under the strenuous discipline. As a young man he wedded Margaret Clover, whose sister was the wife of Hiram Carrier. a well known pioneer of the county. Mrs. Milli- ron did not long survive her marriage. and she left one child, Mary Adeline, who was born in 1840. and who is now the wife of Peter Reed, of North East. Erie Co .. Pa. In 1842 Daniel Milliron married Margaret McKinley. daughter of Joshua Mckinley. an honored pioneer of Union township. Mrs. Milliron attained to venerable age and was a resident of Emerickville, this county, at the time of her (leath. Mr. Milliron died in 1889. at his old homestead near that village.

In the year 1846 Daniel Milliron established his home in the midst of the forest a half mile south of Emerickville, his old farm now being owned by William Wetzel. When he became owner of this property he found the tract cov- ered with a heavy growth of pine timber. and his initial work of reclamation involved the

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cutting down of the forest trees, which he manufactured into square timber and rafted to Pittsburgh. He thus reclaimed seventy- five acres, and became one of the substantial farmers of the county. The barn which he erected in 1863 is still standing and is in an excellent state of preservation. Mr. Milliron served more than a score of years as justice of the peace, being the incumbent of this office at the time of his death, and was a re- vered and influential figure in the community life. His political tenets were indicated by his earnest advocacy of the cause of the Dem- ocratic party, and both he and his wife were pioneer members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Emerickville. In the early days Mr. Milliron hauled merchandise and other supplies from the Allegheny river to Jefferson county, and he was the owner of the first good team of horses introduced into Pinecreek township, where also he brought in the first two cookstoves, one for his own home and the other sold to a neighbor. With true pioneer skill he manufactured his own worksleds and various farm utensils and accessories, and for this purpose he kept himself well supplied with tools.

Of the children of Daniel and Margaret (McKinley) Milliron, Sylvester R. is the eld- est : Albert G. is a retired merchant at Reynoldsville, this county: Amos A. lives re- tired at Falls Creek: Daniel E. died at the age of twenty-eight. from an attack of typhoid fever: George B. died in a hospital at War- ren, this State ; Willard J. died at the age of thirty years, in Montana; Isabella Emma is the wife of Oscar Bennett, and they reside in Long Island City, N. Y .; Margaret Ellen was the wife of Joseph Shugers and was a resident of Emerickville, at the time of her death. in 1914, aged fifty-three years; Tere- miah succumbed to an attack of typhoid fever when he was a youth of twenty-three.

The founder of the Milliron family in America was an English soldier brought over to serve his country, but whose princi- ples led him to desert from the English army and join the American forces. One of his brothers likewise came to America as a sol- dier, and the ancestor of the Millirons of Tefferson county was given a grant of fonr hundred acres of land at the head of Crooked creek. in Westmoreland county. Pennsylvania.

Sylvester R. Milliron gained his early edu- cation in the pioneer schools, and as a bov and youth was actively associated with the reclaiming and development of the old home- stead near Emerickville. At the age of sev-

enteen he gave up all personal interests to tender his services in defense of the Union. In September, 1861, at Brookville, he enlisted in Company E, 18th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which became a part of the 3d Bat- talion and was attached to the Army of the Cumberland. He participated with his com- mand in the various engagements in which it was involved during a period of about two years, and then, on account of physical dis- ability, received an honorable discharge on the 13th of February, 1863, while at Nash- ville. Tenn. He was corporal of his company. and while incapacitated for field service during the latter part of his military career gave effective service as hospital quartermaster. After receiving his discharge Mr. Milliron returned to the parental home, where he re- mained until the time of his marriage. Rebecca Olds becoming his wife Sept. 24, 1865. Mrs. Milliron was born in Clinton county, Pa., March 1. 1846, daughter of William and Cath- erine ( Pfeiffer) Olds, and was nineteen years of age at the time of her marriage. She was reared in Pinecreek township, and remembers well when the family home was little more than a clearing in the midst of the forest. She profited fully by the advantages of the pioneer schools, and one of her early teach- ers was David Baldwin, who, venerable in years, attended the Milliron reunion that was held at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds at Brookville on the 21st of August, 1916, the occasion having called forth an assembly of seventy-nine persons and having been greatly enjoyed by all.

After his marriage Mr. Milliron applied himself diligently and effectively to lumber- ing operations. He contracted for the felling of timber and hewing the same into squared logs, the product then being rafted down the streams to Pittsburgh. In this connection he gained marked reputation as a successful pilot of such rafts, and he continued his association with lumbering activities in Jefferson county until 1873. when he removed to Elk county and carried on operations along the course of the Clarion river. He was successful as a contractor in this line of industrial enter- prise, continuing his association with the same until about twenty years ago. He had been retained as pilot of lumber rafts on the smaller streams as well as the rivers, and had taken rafts as far down the Ohio river as the city of Cincinnati. On one occasion he had charge of the piloting of a raft that comprised two million feet of timber, requiring the services of twenty-eight men as assistants to the skill-

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ful pilot. In the eighties Mr. Milliron re- turned to the old homestead on which he was born, but two years later he purchased a farm adjacent to that of the County Home or in- firmary, two miles east of Brookville. This farm comprises 150 acres, with about eighty acres under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Milliron cleared and otherwise improved a considerable portion of this farm, removed the stumps from the various fields and erected a number of good buildings, including a mod- ern frame house and a large barn. In IOIL he rented his farm and removed to his pres- ent attractive little home, just east of Brook- ville, where he and his devoted wife are pass- ing the evening of their lives in peace and prosperity, surrounded by a host of loyal friends. Mr. Milliron has never deviated in allegiance to the Democratic party, and has been at all times public-spirited. He served several terms as supervisor, besides holding the position of township assessor and other local offices. He is a member of the G. A. R. Both he and his wife have long been active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At the county fair grounds, on the 24th of September, 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Milli- ron celebrated their golden wedding anniver- sary. on which occasion more than one hundred of their kinsfolk and close friends assembled to pay them tribute. This vener- able couple have the distinction of having forty-seven grandchildren and three great- grandchildren.

To Mr. and Mrs. Milliron were born six sons and six daughters, those reaching ma- turity being: Charles is a successful farmer in Elk county; Carrie is the wife of Ross Sager, who is a machinist by vocation, and they reside at Warren, this State; William died in 1908, at the age of thirty-seven years, the victim of typhoid fever; Martha is the wife of Frank Vasbinder and they reside in Pittsburgh ; Albert is now engaged in farming in the State of Virginia; Jennie is the wife of William Crow, of Clarksburg, that State; Addie is the wife of Foster Shoup, of But- ler county, Pa .; Margaret is the wife of Jos- eph Crawford, of Brookville, her husband being a locomotive engineer : Henry likewise is a railroad engineer and resides at Brook- ville: Kozie is the wife of William Rhines, of Ridgway, Harry is a representative farmer in Pinecreek township.

JAMES M. FROST has shown in his inde- pendent career as a progressive farmer the same valiant spirit and resolute purpose mani-

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 69

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