Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 121

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036

USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 121

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The parents of Mr. Grau were natives of Germany. They came to America in 1843, and as the father was a scientific tailor, he easily found employment in New York and there introduced his system of cutting and subsequently had classes in the same. In 1848 he moved with his family to Philadel- phia, where he also introduced his system and followed his trade until 1850. It was his aim, however, to become the owner of farm land and with this end in view he pushed farther west and in the above year reached Williams- port, Pa., buying a tract of 106 acres, at Blooming Grove, six miles from Williams- port. He had not been reared, however, to an agricultural life and in 1857 he moved to Cincinnati, where he died from the effects of wounds received during his period of service as a soldier in the Civil War-Co. A, Ist Ky. Reg. He continued to work at his trade al- most until the last, passing away in 1874, aged fifty-four years. He was a soldier un- der Colonel Guthrie, of the First Ky. Vol. Inf., in the campaign through the Kanawha Valley and was seriously wounded at Pitts- burg Landing. His widow survived into old age, having reached her ninety-second birth- day when she passed away in 1907. She was a typical German woman, possessing the many admirable qualities that pertain to that

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class. Their children were: Phillip J .; George M., who is a graduate of Wittenberg College, at Springfield, O., and is a Lutheran minister, now stationed at Lucas, O .; Louise, who died in 1879, at Covington, Ky. (was the wife of Leonard Seaman) ; Samuel, who died in the fall of 1909, at Cincinnati, was a locomotive engineer; Rose, who is the widow of James Mitchell, who operated a candy fac- tory at Cincinnati; and John, who is a candy maker by trade, his last place of residence be- ing Raleigh, N. C.

Phillip J. Grau first attended a school at Blooming Grove, three miles from his home, and known as the Gravel Hill school-house, and the time spent there was practically all he ever devoted to general study. After the family moved to Cincinnati he entered upon an apprenticeship as a millwright with John E. Little and during the three years he worked there he discovered his natural in- clinations and, following his father's advice, he then served two years in the great engine manufacturing shops of Lane & Bodley, at Cincinnati. From there he went to Indian Territory and erected a saw and grist mill for the Creek Nation, of which he was engineer. He also was engineer of the Cincinnati Gas Works, in 1872 was chief engineer of the Hall Lock and Safe Company, and in the fall of 1873 he came east as erecting engineer for Kelly & Ludwick and took charge of all the machinery the company put up in the Centen- nial buildings, at Philadelphia. After this he placed the machinery in the Lafayette Hotel, Philadelphia, and then took charge of the ice machinery in the Burgner & Engles Ice plant. All these enterprises demanded the greatest accuracy, dexterity and technical knowledge. He then went with the ship-building firm of Naffey & Levy, on the banks of the Delaware River. This was in 1879. This firm con- structed the Holden patent ice machine then considered the finest on the market. Mr. Grau went from there to San Francisco, where he was called to erect an ice plant for the Mutual Ice Company ; he built one at Tuc- son, Ariz .; one at San Rafael, Cal .; and one at Guymas, Mex., and another at Matzland,

Mex. In the meanwhile he had been busy with his experiments and had invented nu- merous bits of machinery and some valuable machines and the first patent he secured was for a feed water purifier for which he received the Scott legacy medal in 1885 from the city of Philadelphia, also a silver medal from the Franklin Institute, and he then returned to Philadelphia. Later he received a patent for a low water alarm for steam boilers and also a smoke consumer. He was with the Web- ster Bros. Heater Co., now in Camden, N. J., as erecting engineer prior to coming to Ty- rone, in March, 1892, in order to accept his present position. He has proved a valuable citizen and stands very high in the esteem of the people among whom he has made his home for nineteen years.

Mr. Grau was married in 1872, to Miss Isa- bel Farnsworth, a daughter of Charles and Catherine Farnsworth, of New York. They have had two children, Catherine and Mar- garet, the latter of whom died when aged one year and eleven months. The elder, Catherine, is the wife of Rev. J. J. Bullen, a minister of the Baptist Church, now stationed at El Paso, Tex. For seven years he had charge of a church at Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Bullen have two daughters, Isabel and Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Grau are mem- bers of the First Baptist Church at Tyrone. He is identified with the order of Heptasophs. Nominally he is a Republican but believes that if a change in political views could be brought about in the country so that the office should seek the men, instead of otherwise, many of our public problems would be solved.

ELI GARBER,* foreman or boss machine tender for the Morrison & Cass Paper Manu- facturing Company, at Tyrone, Pa., has been connected with the manufacturing of paper for the past forty-one years and has had ex- perience at different points. He was born Feb- ruary II, 1856, at Roaring Spring, Blair County, Pa., and is a son of Daniel and Cath- erine (Schrader) Garber.

Daniel Garber was born in Germany and came to America when twenty-four years of

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age, having previously lived in the city of Berlin, where he had learned the shoemaking trade. For a time he lived at Philadelphia and then became an employee of a shoe fac- tory in York County. He married there and he and his wife came then to Blair County, crossing the mountains on the old Portage road and finally settled near Roaring Spring, where he died in 1881, aged seventy-five years and his wife in 1897, aged eighty-three years. Ten children were born to Daniel and Catherine Garber, five sons and five daugh- ters, not all of whom, however, reached ma- ture years but nearly all of those who lived to establish homes of their own, settled in Blair County. John Garber, the eldest, who is now in his seventy-second year, was a brave sol- dier in the Civil War. He is now superin- tendent of the pulp mill, connected with paper manufacturing, at Roaring Spring, and has been identified with the same company since before the War of the Rebellion. Henry Garber is connected with the Berwin White Car Company, at Hollidaysburg. Frank Garber is with the paper mill at Roaring Spring. Ellen is the wife of Enoch Snyder, of Roaring Spring, and Susan is the wife of Samuel Morgan, of the same place. Eliza- beth is deceased. Catherine and Mary are also deceased, the former of whom was the wife of Anthony Hearn, and the latter the wife of Thomas Waldron. Eli is the subject of this sketch.

Eli Garber attended the public schools of Roaring Spring until he was thirteen years of age, when he entered the paper mill operated by Morrison, Bear & Cass and continued to work there from 1869 until 1872, when the plant was destroyed by fire caused by a boiler explosion. It was rebuilt and continued to be operated under the name of Morrison, Bear & Cass. In the fall of 1880, Mr. Garber came to Tyrone and in the spring of 1881 went to Lock Haven but in the same year the paper plant there burned down and he re- turned to Roaring Spring and was made ma- chine tender in the paper-mill, and performed the duties of that position for two years when he was promoted to be superintendent, where

he remained until 1889. From then to 1905, he was machine tender, and then became tower foreman or boss machine tender. There is very little about paper manufacturing of which Mr. Garber is ignorant, having climbed step by step until he now occupies a very re- sponsible position. He is one of the oldest paper men in this section, in point of years of experience.

In 1876 Mr. Garber was married to Miss Sadie Bowers, a daughter of John K. Bowers, of Roaring Spring. He and wife are mem- bers of St. Matthew's Catholic Church. They enjoy a pleasant home which is situated at No. 1255 Pennsylvania Avenue, Tyrone. He votes with the Democratic party.

FRANK JOSEPH MILLER, proprietor of the Keystone Hotel, is a member of an old and respected family of Tyrone. He was born at Ironville, near Tyrone, Pa., March I, 1860, and is a son of Cyril and Annie Miller, both natives of Germany, and moved with his parents, when two years old, to Tyrone where the remainder of his life has been spent.

Cyril Miller was a stone mason and con- tractor. He was born in Neusladt, Bavaria, Germany, July 9, 1824, where he remained until he had reached the age of manhood and learned his trade. He married Miss Anna Reinhart, soon after which happy event they decided to make the trip across the ocean to America. Mrs. Miller was born March 17, 1834. They came to America in a sailing ves- sel and were nine weeks on the water before landing at the port of New York City. Cyril Miller left his wife in New York and came on to Ironsville, where his brother, Constantine Miller, then resided. The Pennsylvania Rail- road had not yet been completed. Mrs. Mil- ler also had a brother, John Reinhart, at Ironsville. Later, Cyril Miller sent for his wife who joined him at the above place, he having, in the meanwhile, secured work as a stone mason in the construction of the rail- road bridges for the Pennsylvania company. From Ironsville, in 1862, Cyril Miller moved to Tyrone and located with his family in the Keystone Hotel. For a number of years he

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had charge of the masonry on the Lock Haven branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, after which he engaged in general contract- ing. In 1871, with his brother, Constantine Miller, he contracted for and placed the stone work in the Long bridge across the Potomac River, at Washington, D. C. With his brother-in-law, John Reinhart, he built four miles of the Lewisburg Railroad. His last big contract work was the building of Lock No. 4, on the Kanawha River, in West Vir- ginia. He erected four bridges for the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company in Pittsburg. Mr. Miller handled many large contracts at Tyrone, helped to put in the first gas house here and put in the sewers for the first water works.

In 1862 Cyril Miller purchased the Key- stone Hotel and while still engaged in con- tracting conducted also the business of the hotel until 1870, when he erected the residence on what is now known as the Seager property, located on Pennsylvania Avenue, and moved his family to the same, after leasing the hotel. In religion he and family worshipped in the Catholic faith. He was liberal to both church and charity. In politics he was a Democrat and was a man of original ideas and honest in his dealings with his fellow men. Cyril Mil- ler became a citizen of the United States, re- ceiving his papers on October 29, 1855. He had a host of friends in Tyrone and in other parts of the country. His death occurred Au- gust 20, 1878. He is well remembered and was well liked by the older citizens of Tyrone. His widow, Annie Reinhart Miller and mother of F. J. Miller, lived until 1901 and endeavored to keep the family together after the death of her husband. She was loved and respected by all who knew her and she was de- voted to her family and church. The follow- ing children were born to Cyril and Annie Reinhart Miller : John, Mary, Henry, Frank J., William, Annie, Edward.

John Miller, who was secretary and book- keeper for his father, married Miss Julia Virginia Schrewsberry, of West Virginia, and they both are now deceased, survived by one daughter, Mary. Mary Miller is the

widow of George Barnick, formerly a drug- gist at Tyrone, who died October 20, 1888, leaving one daughter, Theresa, who resides with her mother on East Tenth Street, Ty- rone. Henry Miller was killed in the yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in 1879. He was unmarried. William Miller has been a resi- dent of Kansas City for the past fifteen years and is a photographer there. He married Miss Clara Smythe. Annie Miller makes her home with her brother, Frank J. Miller, at the Keystone Hotel. Edward Miller, the youngest of the family, was born in 1873, and is a photographer. He was with his brother, Frank J., at the Keystone Hotel, from 1893 until August, 1908, when he purchased the Aladdin Theater, a moving picture show at Tyrone, in which business he is successfully engaged at the present time. He married Miss Myra Gates, of Tyrone.

Frank J. Miller, as noted above, was only two years old when his parents moved into the Keystone Hotel. When old enough he attended the parochial schools of Tyrone and in 1875 entered St. Joseph's College at La- trobe, Pa. In 1878, after the death of his father, he went as a shipping clerk, with Dan- iel Harris, photographer, who employed a number of other men. Mr. Miller worked for Mr. Harris in this capacity for two years. When twenty years old he went to Harrisburg and there entered the studio of Charles Schriver and learned photographing, after which he started on the road for himself, with a crew of men, enlarging pictures. He de- voted two years to that business traveling through Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Mr. Miller met with much success until the high waters along the Ohio River had placed many of his customers in such financial condition that they were unable to receive and pay for . much of the work he had done for them. Somewhat discouraged he returned to Tyrone where he worked with his brother, J. E. Mil- ler & Co., as a photographer. From 1891 until 1893 he conducted a cigar store and pool room in Tyrone. On March 1, 1893, he took charge of the Keystone Hotel where he has been in business ever since. In 1908 he pur-

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chased the interest of his brothers and sisters in the property and has since made many substantial improvements on the property in the way of refurnishing and renovating. He is a practical hotel man and has succeeded in this business. His manner is pleasant, oblig- ing and accommodating.

Mr. Miller was married June 4, 1902, to Miss Elise Justine Foin, a daughter of Desire G. and Natalie (Montreuill) Foin, formerly of Bellwood, Pa. Mr. Foin, who died Janu- ary 1, 1910, was a native of France, born in Paris. In 1872 he emigrated to Canada, where he was married. Mrs. Miller has one sister, Mrs. E. M. Wiley, of Bellwood. The mother of Mrs. Miller died April 5, 1907. Mrs. Miller is well educated and speaks and writes the French language as well as a native. During the season of 1910, Mr. and Mrs. Mil- ler visited France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and while abroad attended the Passion play at Ober-Ammergau. They also spent several weeks in Paris, visiting nearly all the places of interest, and also found much to claim their attention and admiration in the ancient and historic city of Strausburg. Mr. Miller's familiarity with the German lan- guage and Mrs. Miller's knowledge of French, obviated many difficulties attending travel in foreign lands. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of a bright and loveable little daugh- ter, Justine, who is aged seven years, and who adds much sunshine to an already happy home. They are communicants of St. Mat- thew's Roman Catholic Church, Tyrone, and are liberal in its support. Mrs. Miller was the organizer and is one of the officers of the L. C. B. A. In politics, like his father, Mr. Mil- ler is a Democrat. Few men, if any, have more friends and are better liked in this place than the subject of this sketch. He is fair in his dealings with his fellow man and bears an enviable reputation for honesty and business integrity.

SAMUEL LANE MCCARTHY, M. D., a man of professional eminence in central Penn- sylvania, and for a quarter of a century a leading physician and surgeon at Altoona, was

born in Brady Township, Huntingdon County, Pa., March 28, 1843, and is a son of John R. and Eleanor (Lane) McCarthy. As the name indicates, the McCarthy family orig- inated in Ireland, but it has been an Ameri- can family name since the days of Dr. McCar- thy's great-grandfather, who made his home in Brady Township, Huntingdon County, where successive generations of -the family were born. Its male members have been di- vided largely between agricultural and pro- fessional occupations.

In early manhood, John R. McCarthy, father of the subject of this sketch, was en- gaged in teaching school, but subsequently de- voted himself to agricultural pursuits. In his later years he removed from Huntingdon to Mifflin County. He and his wife, Eleanor (Lane) McCarthy, who is still living, aged 95 years, were the parents of ten children, Sam- uel Lane being the fourth in order of birth. The parents were members of the Presby- terian church. In his political views John R. McCarthy was a Republican-at least after the organization of that party. A man of character, ability, and clear convictions, he was well fitted for public life and could doubtless have attained prominence in the po- litical arena, had his inclinations led him in that direction.

Samuel Lane McCarthy began his literary education in the district schools, but, unlike some of his classmates, he did not allow it to end there. By self-application he attained a fair mastery of the classic tongues and other of the higher branches of study forming part of the curriculum of our great universities. In 1867 he began a course of medical reading under the direction of Dr. George W. Thomp- son, and from under his guidance entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, where he was creditably graduated in 1870. He began practice in his native county, where he remained until 1884, when he came to Al- toona. Here he has successfully built up a large, lucrative and high class practice. His professional ability is widely recognized and has been enhanced perhaps, as much as from any cause, by his very successful treatment of

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typhoid fever, of which disease he has made a close study. He is frequently called to at- tend cases of various kinds outside the city. He is an expert bacteriologist and has a deep knowledge of that wonderful but terrible germ world to which modern science has traced the cause of so many dread diseases.

Dr. McCarthy was married June 28, 1867, to Miss Lettie Way, a daughter of Robert Way, who was a native of Center County, Pa. They have had three children: one who died in infancy, Ida Blanche and Samuel Lloyd. Ida Blanche, who became the wife of Frank M. Mccullough, has one child, Harold, now aged fourteen years. She is widely known as a talented vocalist, in addition to her natural gifts having had the advantage of instruction from several noted masters of the vocal art. Dr. McCarthy and wife are mem- bers of the First Presbyterian Church of which he is an elder. Much of the success of Dr. McCarthy he ascribes to the zeal, the honor- able ambition, sympathetic courage, wise counsel and sustaining influence of his de- voted wife. Through the trials and triumphs of 44 years she has stood by his side, and alike in joy and sorrow has shared his expe- riences, comprehended his purposes and dem- onstrated the possibility of that ideal com- radeship which rounds out life and proves the truth of the Divine declaration that it is not good for man to be alone.

Samuel Lloyd McCarthy, the Doctor's son, is now, like his father, engaged in the prac- tice of medicine in Altoona. He was gradu- ated from the local high school in 1896, then from Washington and Jefferson College, at Washington, Pa., and from Jefferson Med- ical College in 1905. On October 6, 1906, he married Miss Marion Miller, a daughter of Hon. Thomas Miller, of Media, Pa., now re- tired. They had one son, Edgar F., who died in infancy. Dr. Samuel Lloyd McCarthy re- sides at No. 1333 Eighth Avenue, Altoona. The elder Dr. McCarthy, our direct subject, with his wife and daughter, enjoy a beauti- ful home at No. 1331 Eighth Avenue. The Doctor's offices are at No. 714 Fourteenth Street, Altoona.

FRANK MALCOLM WARING, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Tyrone, Pa., and for the past twenty years identified with the banking business in this borough, was born at Tyrone, June 12, 1874, and is a son of Edmond and Lydia (Beyer) Waring.

Edmond Waring, who is a retired resident of Tyrone, has spent the greater part of his life here. Formerly he was interested to a considerable extent, in horticulture. He is a son of William Griffith Waring, who was one of the early settlers and large real estate owners at Tyrone and in many ways was a man of unusual worth and prominence. He was born in County Hereford, England, one of a family of five brothers and sisters, there being still one survivor, Edmund, who is a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, at Osceola, Ia. Of the five brothers and sis- ters, four died within a period of three years, the youngest being eighty-two years old. William Griffith Waring was ninety years of age at the time of his death, in 1907. He came to America prior to 1840, married a Miss Coble, of Center County, Pa., and later acquired much land in Blair County, estab- lishing a nursery near Tyrone and buying much of the ground on both sides of what is now Washington Avenue. In England he had been a classmate of Isaac Pitman, the founder of the system of short-hand writing, and after he came to America he represented Mr. Pitman for a time and later, with his son George Waring, founded the Waring School of Short Hand, an improvement on the Pit- man system. He was the first superintendent of the Pennsylvania State College, known then as the Farmers' High School, which was later incorporated with the former title. Much of his time was devoted to his nursery and orchards. He was a stockholder in and a regular contributor of the New York Tri- bune.

Edmond Waring married Lydia Beyer, who died in 1892. She was a daughter of Aaron and Lydia (Ramey) Beyer, a granddaughter of David Beyer, who came to Pennsylvania in 1800, from Frederick County, Md., and

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settled on what is now known as the Breid- enbaugh farm, in the upper end of Logan Val- ley, and there erected a mill, now known as the Fuoss mill. Frederick Ramey, the ma- ternel great-grandfather of Frank M. War- ing, was an iron worker and he located at what is known as Tyrone Forges. Later he purchased a farm in Sinking Valley on which he located. His brother, Daniel Ramey, con- ducted a hotel at Hollidaysburg for many years. To Edmond Waring and wife ten children were born and all of them survive, residing in different sections of the country.

Frank M. Waring attended the public schools at Tyrone until he was sixteen years of age and then became a clerk in a bank and was advanced in that institution until he was cashier. He resigned that position in Novem- ber, 1902, in order to organize the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Tyrone, of which he has been cashier since its organization. The confidence of his fellow citizens was notably shown at this time, as it required but ten days for him to raise the funds among them to cap- italize this institution.

Mr. Waring was married on June 25, 1895, to Miss Jessie Calderwood, a daughter of the late James Monroe and Cinderella (Hemler) Calderwood, of Tyrone. They have five chil- dren: Helen, Monroe C., Frederick, Thomas Lincoln and Dorothy, all now in school. Mr. Waring is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, at Tyrone. He is an ac- complished vocalist and many times sings in church affairs, not only at home but elsewhere, his services in this direction being highly val- ued. He is one of the managers and the treasurer of the E. J. Pruner Home for Friendless Children, at Bellefonte, Pa., the founder of which was the late Col. E. J. Pruner. He is also treasurer of the Business Men's Association, at Tyrone. He is one of the active members of the Y. M. C. A., be- longing to its social committee, for which his natural gifts well qualify him, and he belongs also to the Heptasophs and to the Modern Woodmen of America, being the local head banker of the last named organization. He is a zealous Prohibitionist and has taken a

very active part in temperance work, lends his influence to everything that promises to elevate the public mind, and, in fact, is a man and citizen of whom any community might well be proud.

GEORGE D. DILLING,* a well known and highly respected resident of Huston Township, was born in this township Decem- ber 28, 1829, and here resides on his valuable farm of 200 acres, which is devoted to gen- eral agriculture. He is a son of Casper Dil- ling, who was born in Huston Township, this county, after his father (also named Casper) had come here from Germany. The Dilling family is one of the early and prominent ones of this part of Blair County.

George D. Dilling has been a life-long resident of Huston Township and has wit- nessed many wonderful changes in local con- ditions. New methods of farming have come into vogue, owing to the introduction of ma- chinery, and many comforts and conveniences have been brought within the reach of resi- dents in the agricultural districts, which once were entirely confined to the dwellers in the cities. Mr. Dilling has always led an ab- stemious and busy life and has survived many of his old neighbors. His land is probably as valuable, acre for acre, as any in Huston Township. He is a member of the Church of the Brethren, at Martinsburg.

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Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 121

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Number of Pages: 1036

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036