USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 66
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The second sheriff elected was Thomas Reese, democrat, who in 1849 defeated David Denlinger, a whig. William Reed was the next sheriff, being elected in 1852. To him belongs the distinction of having conducted the first hanging in Blair county, that of James Shirley, who in a fit of drunken jealousy, bru- tally murdered his wife on the farm since owned and occupied by John Sell, at Leamers- ville.
George Port was elected sheriff in 1855 over Samuel McCamant. He also had a man to hang, the event taking place on August 21, 1857. At the election in 1858, James Funk, of Duncansville, was elected. He proved a pop- ular official and was afterward honored with other offices of trust, being a member of the
board of county commissioners, when he died about eleven years ago. He was the last of the old line democrats to be sheriff, for at the elec- tion in 1861, Samuel McCamant, who had been a whig, but who was now a member of the new republican party, was elected. In 1864, M. L. Bechtel, who is yet living at Mar- tinsburg, was elected on the democratic ticket, had just returned from the Union army minus an arm, and his high character and patriotism put him through.
John J. McKeage, a democrat, was elected in 1867. H. B. Huff, who lived within the memory of most voters of the city, was elected in 1870. He was a popular official, and was one of a number of brothers who have attained much prominence in the political world.
Major Alexander Bobb, of Martinsburg, was elected in 1873, and his term coupled with his predecessor's term, was eventful in that a panic occurred and local option was experi- mented with during their terms. Major Bobb is still living.
James M. Stiffler was elected in 1876 and in his term he had a panic to contend with. James H. Cramer was the nominee of the Democrats but he was about 500 votes short of Stiffler. Sheriff Stiffler in later years served three terms as director of the poor. Mention has been made of G. T. Bell's election in 1879. George Fay, father of Attorney F. H. Fay, was elected in 1882 over Mercer Gray of Gays- port by a majority of 1, 145. He officiated at the third and last hanging in the county, that of Dr. Lewis U. Beach, who was hanged Feb- ruary 12, 1885.
In 1885, Graham M. Meadville, of Antis township, but who in later years moved to Oklahoma, was elected. His opponent was R. Alex. McKnight, who fell short by 1, 130 votes.
John Orr, father of William H. Orr, who today holds the post his honored father once filled, was elected in 1888. Hezekiah L. Brown had exactly 2,000 votes less than Mr. Orr.
The campaign of 1891 was one of the warmest ever waged in the county and when the votes were counted it was discovered that T. Durbin Hughes, democrat, had defeated
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Clarence D. Beegle, the republican nominee by a majority of 425. The election of 1894 and 1897 resulted in the election of G. T. Bell and A. L. Hare, respectively, as above referred to. In 1900 C. D. Beegle again received the republican nomination and was elected by a large majority over his opponent, U. T. Hen- derson, of Tyrone. The election in 1903 and 1906 have also been referred to.
The present sheriff is William H. Orr, of Al- toona, son of Sheriff John Orr. He previously held the position of deputy sheriff under his father and under Sheriff Hare.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
Valentine Lingenfelter, appointed June, 1846. William Bell, appointed June, 1846. William McCormich, appointed June, 1846. John K. Neff, elected October, 1846. Edward McGraw, elected October, 1846. William Bell, elected October, 1846. Jacob Hoover, elected October. 1847. David Caldwell, elected October, 1848. Jacob Burley, elected October, 1849. Samuel Dean, elected October, 1850. John Bennet, elected October, 1851. John Lowe, elected October, 1852. John Campbell, elected October, 1853. John Roller, elected October, 1854. James Hutchison, elected October, 1855. David M. Confer,* elected October, 1856. John R. McFarlane, elected October, 1857. Enos M. Jones, elected October, 1858. George L. Cowen, elected October, 1859. George Koon, elected October, 1860. James M. Kinkead, elected October, 1861. David Shock,t elected October, 1862. George W. Hewit, elected October, 1863. Robert Waring, elected October, 1864. John C. Biddle, elected October, 1865. Robert R. Hamilton, elected October, 1866. Joshua Roller, elected October, 1867. David Henshey, elected October, 1868. Jacob Walter, elected October, 1869. David S. Longenecker, elected October, 1870. Samuel Morrow, elected October, 1871. David Aurandt, elected October, 1872. John Clark, elected October, 1873. Alexander Caruthers, elected November, 1874. John Halfpenny, elected November, 1875. Jonathan Slippy, elected November, 1875. Samuel B. Confer, elected November, 1878. John Hileman, elected November, 1875. James McIntosh, 1878, 1882, 1885. John S. Calvert, 1881, 1885. Joshua H. Roller, 1881.
* Jacob Barnhart appointed to fill unexpired term of David M. Confer.
t Mr. Shock enlisted in army and Joseph Irwin ap- pointed.
John Wigaman, 1885, 1888. Jacob B. Cowen, 1888, 1890. C. Blythe Jones, 1888, 1890. M. H. Fagley, 1890, 1893, 1896. John Hurd, 1893. James Funk, 1893, 1896. John A. Smith, 1896, 1899, 1902. Martin H. Mackey, 1899, 1902. John R. McFarlane, 1902, 1905. James C. Hughes, 1899. Andrew J. Farrell, 1905.
W. Howard Harpster, 1905, 1908. Robert F. Bankert, 1908. Calvin Walter, 1908.
CLERKS TO COMMISSIONERS.
Joseph Baldrige, 1862. J. C. Akers, 1884. J. D. Weyandt, 1890. W. Scott Hostler, 1894.
CORONERS.
Joseph C. Morgan, elected 1847.
James Funk, elected 1855.
William Fox, elected 1858.
Jacob Weidensall, elected 1864. John W. Humes, elected 1869.
George S. Mitchell, elected 1880. William H. Glenn, elected 1886. Michael Poet, elected 1889, 1892. James Foust, elected 1895, resigned 1896. T. C. McCartney, appointed 1896 and elected 1898, I90I.
W. Thomas Blackburn, 1904, 1907.
SURVEYORS.
Henry C. Nicodemus, elected 1862.
John M. Gibbony, elected 1875.
Francis Cassidy, elected 1878. Samuel Ketterman, elected 1883.
O. M. Irvine, elected 1886.
H. C. Love, elected 1889.
William M. Frazer, elected 1895.
J. Luden Henry, elected 1901.
N. Scott Gwin, elected 1904.
DIRECTORS OF THE POOR.
William Bell, 1849. Joseph Fay, 1849. J. A. Landis, 1849. Edward McGraw, 1851.
Jacob Igow, 1851.
John G. McKee, 1851.
John Bennet, 1852.
George Cowen, 1852.
C. Stoner, 1853. David Fleck, 1854. Caleb Guyer, 1855. M. Wike, 1856. Samuel Shryver, 1857.
George Weaver, 1858. John B. Riddle, 1859. Peter Good, 1860. William Burley, 1861. David Aurandt, 1862.
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Jacob Nicodemus, 1863. Samuel Jones, 1864. Samuel Moore, 1865. Stephen Hammond, 1866. Samuel Smith, 1867. David Crawford, 1868. Jacob Stiffler, 1869. Abraham Loudon, 1870. Andrew Biddle, 1870. John M. Bush, 1871. James M. Johnston, 1871. F. D. Young, 1872. Albert Wilson, 1873. Joseph Riddle, 1874.
David Bell, 1875. Edward Bell, 1876. John S. Biddle, 1877. David Bell, 1878, 1881. Jacob C. Mattern, 1879. Eli Smith, 1880.
William Richards, 1882. John Loudon, 1883, 1886, 1889. '
John A. Crawford, 1884, 1887, 1890.
Alexander J. McKee, 1888, 1891.
Joseph Robison, 1885. James M. Stiffler, 1893, 1896, 1899.
H. H. Pensyl, 1899, 1902, 1905, 1908. Martin Ounkst, 1895, 1898. A. Lee Fleck, 1900, 1903, 1906. S. H. Shoemaker, 1905, 1908. Thomas L. Coleman, 1909.
COUNTY AUDITORS.
Charles E, Kinkead, 1846. William P. Dysart, 1846.
James Wilson, 1846. William Reed, 1847. James L. Gwin, 1848. David Tate, 1849. Jacob Walter, 1850. George W. Smith, 1851.
James A. McCahan, 1852. Samuel Smith, 1853. Henry Lingenfelter, 1854.
John Hagerty, 1855. John W. Tippery, 1856.
Samuel Morrow, 1857.
A. C. McCartney, 1858. Joseph R. Hewit, 1859. A. M. Lloyd, 1860. R. M. Messimer, 1861. L. Lower Moore, 1862. David Henshey, 1863. John A. Crawford, 1863. Alexander Knox, 1864. George W. Reed, 1864. M. D. Thatcher, 1865. Abraham Robison, 1866. James McKim, 1866. D. E. McCahan, 1867. S. A. Fulton, 1868. George W. Hoover, 1868.
William H. Canan, 1869. J. D. Hicks, 1869. William H. Calvert, 1870. John C. Robinson, 1871. Jacob J. Noffsker, 1872. Martin Bell, Jr., 1873. Alexander Knox, 1874. Charles E. Butler, 1875. J. Ross Mateer, 1876. B. F. Custer, 1876. J. E. Hagey, 1876.
S. C. Baker, 1879.
A. C. Clapper, 1879.
J. H. Isett, 1879. Aden T. Wilson, 1881.
Henry C. Lorenz, 1881.
James H. Patterson, 1881.
W. L. Shellenberger, 1884.
Geo. R. Stiffler, 1884, 1887, 1890.
A. J. Filler, 1884, 1887.
David Koch, 1887. David D. Coleman, 1887, 1893, 1896.
David G. Hackett, 1890.
Walter W. Wood, 1893.
H. C. Lorenz, 1893, 1896, 1899.
J. E. Gilliland, 1896, 1899.
John Clingerman, 1899. Howard M. Sell, 1902, 1905.
William Roberts, 1002. William Hayes, 1902, 1905, 1908.
George W. Weaver, 1905. H. B. Calderwood, 1907, 1908.
Martin L. McCartney, 1908.
JAIL WARDENS.
The office of jail warden was created by act of assembly, approved by Governor John F. Hartranft, April 10, 1873. Aden B. Baird, who had been turnkey under Sheriff H. B. Huff, was the first warden, having taken charge on January 1, 1874. He failed of reappoint- ment in October, 1874, because it was dis- covered that he was under twenty-one years of age, and consequently ineligible. John Mc- Clure was appointed in 1874 and served five years; he was succeeded by John B. Kephart, who served fourteen years or until the autumn of 1893, when Martin K. Baird was appointed. After nine years of service, he was succeeded by J. Calvin Lang, who served until January, 1910, when John B. Riddle was appointed. The act of assembly places the appointing power in the hands of the county commis- sioners, subject to the approval of the court.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE LOST BROTHERS OF THE ALLEGHENIES.
The sad and pathetic event to which this final chapter is devoted occurred many years ago in Bedford county, near the Blair county line, but, with the incidents attending it, it ex- cited as much interest in Blair as in Bedford county-an interest that has not yet wholly died out. The pathos of the story, derived in main part from the characters of the chief actors in it-two little children of tender age- is intensified by many contributing elements- the mental agony of the parents, the prolonged and fruitless search participated in by the en- tire community for miles around, and, finally, by the strange and, to many, inexplicable man- ner in which the lifeless bodies of the little victims were discovered. The story, as it here appears, is reprinted, with the author's kind permission, from a pamphlet published by Mr. Jas. A. Sell, of Hollidaysburg, in connection with the memorial services held May 8, 1906, that date being the fiftieth anniversary of the finding.
Western Pennsylvania is a very mountainous country. The Appalachian system crosses it from south to north. The Alleghany range is a part of this system, and is from fifty to eighty miles wide. It is very irregular in its construction, consisting of knobs and ravines of various heights and depths in almost endless variety.
Between the peaks there are fine slopes and fertile valleys of larger or smaller proportions. In its primitive state the mountain was densely covered with timber. In places, even on the elevations, there were swamps which were overgrown with briars and laurel, forming a deep tangle of underbrush. This was the
favorite retreat for the wild animals when chased by the hunter. It was not safe for persons unacquainted to venture alone far into this wilderness. They would lose their bear- ing, become bewildered and have difficulty to find their way out.
The pioneer settlers were mostly hunters and lumbermen who blazed their way into the un- explored forests, erected small cabins by piling up logs, notched together at the corners and covered with clapboards,-boards split from trees. People who were brought up in such homes usually staid by them, or pushed farther on and opened up a new place with some im- provement ; and thus one generation succeeded another until some places became fairly well settled, and small towns sprang up. But much of the mountain proper yet remains in its virgin state.
Samuel Cox and wife were natives of Bed- ford county, Pa. They were mountaineers by birthright. Hearing of the broad plains free from rocks that awaited settlers in the west, they concluded to quit the hills of their native state and go to a more inviting field. With their four children they located, in 1855, some- where in the state of Indiana. Here sickness overtook them, and, in the interests of their children's health, they were advised to return to their old home. In the autumn of the same year they returned and pushed into the wilder- ness and took up their temporary abode in an old vacated cabin, in view of making a pur- chase of a tract of land surrounding it. Here they lived lonely but happily through the winter. On the morning of April 24, while they were at breakfast, the dog treed some
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game in the surrounding woods, and Mr. Cox started in pursuit with his trusty rifle. His two little boys, Joseph and George, aged re- spectively five and seven years, unknown to him followed.
The mother, thinking they were with their father, gave herself no concern, until he re- turned. And here begins a tragedy that moved more hearts to sympathy and moistened more eyes with tears and stamped itself more in- delibly on the minds of the people of this com- munity than any other thing that ever occurred in central Pennsylvania. The terrible Johns- town flood, that was not many miles away, where millions of dollars' worth of property and thousands of lives were lost in thirty minutes' time, was not even a parallel.
The parents meeting with no success, gave the alarm and neighbors turned to assist, and the search was continued day and night with constantly increasing numbers for fourteen days.
By this time the crowd had swelled to about five thousand people. They were divided into companies of fifty each, and given under charge of some man well acquainted with the moun- tains. They spread out and worked in the most systematic manner possible. They searched by day and kept campfires burning at night. No clue was found, and where the chil- dren could be was a mystery so dark and deep that it baffled the wisdom of all.
The interest was becoming intense. Three counties were thoroughly aroused and from more distant points volunteers were pouring in. The altitude of the mountain causes it to be much cooler than it is in the valleys just east. More snow falls in the winter and con- tinues longer in the spring. It was cool and damp all the time the little boys were gone, and several nights were freezing cold.
Bobs creek rises north of this and flows in a southerly direction. It is the headwaters of the Raystown branch of the Juniata river. The spring rains and melting snows increased the volume of water, making it a wild dashing stream about thirty feet wide. There were no bridges in the vicinity. The Cox family lived
several miles on the west side of the stream. It was the united opinion of all who saw it that the children could not have crossed it, and they confined their search to the west side. In fear that they might have fallen into the stream, it was thoroughly searched.
Impossible as it seemed to be for the children to cross the stream, the decision was to begin on the morning of the fourteenth day to search on the eastern side. Before this was begun another episode broke in that adds another chapter to the already strange and mysterious occurrence. Mr. Dibert, who lived some miles east of the mountain, was kept from assisting in the search through sickness. One night he had a remarkable dream about the lost ones. He told no one about it. It was repeated the third time. Feeling that it was a revelation to him, he told his brother-in-law, Mr. Wysong, who was familiar with the place. The two started out in what was to Mr. Dibert a strange country, to follow the trail of his dream. It ran in this way: By passing a certain contour of the mountain they would find a dead deer, then a little shoe, then a small beech tree that had fallen across Bobs creek, over which the children had passed. So they went from one object to another, which were all found as they appeared in the dream. Farther on an old birch tree, close by a hemlock in a deep ravine by a little stream of water, is standing, and there the dream ended with the lost ones found, And, true enough, when the spot was reached, here the little brothers lay. The small beech tree that spanned the stream had been seen in the search, but being so small where it touched the opposite shore, and lying eight or ten feet above the water, where the stream was about thirty-five feet wide, it was deemed to be an impossible crossing place.
A little patch torn from one of their gar- ments was found on a snag of the tree, and was a circumstance that confirmed beyond a doubt, that this was their crossing place. It will be observed that the searching was all done on the wrong side of the stream.
For fourteen days all work was stopped. The plows stood still in the furrows; the
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HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY
builders laid down their tools; the miner came out of the mines; the woodsman laid aside his saw and axe; the merchant closed his store, and all entered the forest as volunteer searchers. Mothers and sisters out of sympathy for the heartbroken mother, and pity for the suffering boys, baked and sent out bread and delicacies for the men who braved the elements to search for the lost. Thus men and women, young men and maidens, mingled in the work, in sympathy, in prayers and in tears over the cruel fate that cast a shadow deeper and more mysterious than ever came over this fair land and finds its equal hardly once in a century.
It will never be known how long the chil- dren wandered around before they died. They were about five miles from home. From ap- pearances, the younger died first. His head was pillowed on a stone and his brother lay a little more indifferent with one hand in the water.
Few mothers indeed have the experience of this one. Kind friends did what they could to comfort her, but soon found that there could be no comfort. She persistently cried for her little boys and never closed an eye in sleep while they were gone.
It is a sad, yet a sweet service, for a mother to minister to the wants of her dying child. But here are two little boys alone in a wilder- ness, suffering-who knows what ?- loneliness, fear, cold and hunger, with a loving, heart- broken, grief-stricken mother only a few miles away. Their piteous cries unheard, with no loving touch to soothe the pangs of death. Let us hope some kind angel ministered to them and that their little lives went out in sweet- ness.
"It must be sweet in childhood, to give back The spirit to its Maker; ere the heart
Has grown familiar with the paths of sin, And sown to garner up its bitter fruits."
An old king once sat with a company of in- vited guests in his hall, dimly lighted and open at both ends. A bird flew in and out again. An old man present compared the bird's flight
to our passage through the world. We come out of darkness into the dim light of this life, and when the brief journey is completed, and we go into the darkness of the unknown future. So with these little boys; they came into this great hall of life and staid long enough to know the sweetness of a mother's love. And this was all they did know. They knew not whence they came, or whither they were going, or why the journey must be made, or why it must end so soon and so sadly, attended with so much suffering. Their only prayers were their piteous cries as they lifted up their inno- cent, helpless hands, and marked their foot- steps with their bleeding feet.
. This is the history of every life. The only difference is in the point of time. It takes some a little longer to make the journey. But every life, no matter how rich in love, or spark- ling with joy, will at last come to its close and become a tragedy attended with a deep and sad mystery that weeping friends on the earthly side can never solve.
Here is our only comfort :
"In hope of heaven I find relief, Although my heart is bound with grief, A balm for every wound is sent With Christ my Shepherd I'm content.
"I'll hold the hand that leadeth me O'er life's eventful, troubled sea ; And pray for strength to live aright, Tho' curtains dark obscure the light."
When the boys were found signals were given by tolling bells and tooting horns, and responded to by thousands of human voices. The untiring searchers turned in hot haste to the place. The news was joyful, but every heart was sad that life had gone. The little bodies were wrapped in blankets, placed on a sled, and the homeward journey was begun. While they were passing over the rocky roads through the dense wilderness to the earthly home, the uncaged and dovelike spirits were away on the cloudy fields of ether, joining in the songs which angels know. They are happy
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and free from the snares of earth. But, oh, think of the mother, who, after spending so many sleepless nights sitting in the loneliness of her forest home, waiting in this awful sus- pense, receiving to her arms the lifeless forms of her darling boys, who through innocence, dependence and affection, had brought so much sunshine into her life.
Time moved slowly and heavily. At length the train bearing the precious trust drew up to the cabin door. Here, gentle reader, we will let the curtain drop. What is behind is too sad and sacred to be expressed in words.
"Take them, O death, and bear away Whate'er thou can'st call thine own, Thine image stamped upon this clay Doth give thee that, but that alone.
"Take them, O grave and let them lie, Folded upon thy narrow shelves, As garments by the soul laid by, And precious only to themselves.
"Take them, O great eternity, Our little life is but a gust, That bends the branches of thy tree, And trails its blossoms in the dust." -
The forest where the children wandered and were found, remained in this primeval state until recently. The heavy timber is being con- verted into lumber, and a railroad has pene- trated the very ravine where the children were found. It was suggested by someone that there should be a reserve of the land and trees. where this remarkable occurrence took place. The owner very generously donated the ground and very soon the project of erecting a monument with appropriate inscriptions was started and soon consummated. The cost was one hundred and twenty dollars. Contributions flowed in, and it would have been an easy matter, es- pecially since the dedication, to raise money for one more costly.
May 8, 1906, was the fiftieth anniversary of the finding, and of the fulfillment of a re-
markable dream. The monument was erected, and the day was set apart for the memorial services. There was a great gathering of people. Men, women and children by the thousands, some from quite a distance, came to this sacred spot. All were anxious to see the monument and the tree under which the children lay, and to touch the stone the younger had for his dying pillow. Sadness filled every heart, and many were moved to tears. All seemed to catch the inspiration, and here the angel of death took two little innocent suf- ferers to the sweet home of the blessed Jesus, who said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven."
The erecting of monuments is a common thing but they are mostly dedicated to great events, or to men of renown, or where battles are fought, or leaders of armies have fallen. This, however, is an exception. The world can hardly show a parallel. They were little innocent children. They were unknown to the world. They came from a humble home,- very much so indeed. A more secluded and out-of-the-way place would be hard to find. Their death moved the hearts of thousands of people in their day, and the memory of them lives and moves the hearts of people fifty years after, to go to the expense of this monument to tell to generations following what occurred at this sacred spot.
Ours is a sinful world,-a wicked, unfeeling world; but there are times when we rise above the dust and smoke of the world's passion and strife and see humanity in its better light. There is, let us trust, a better day for our fallen race. If two little boys going to wander for a few days in the mountains, and then to lie down by a little brook to die, have the power to move and hold a people for fifty years and touch a generation not then born that they will come many miles with evidences of tender hearts, surely this points to the coming of a brighter day.
"Hope is singing, ever singing; Singing in an undertone, Singing as if God had taught it,
'It is better farther on.'"
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HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY
Fifty years have come and gone, and some of us who were children then are beginning to feel the weight of time. Those who helped to search for the lost ones have mostly passed "His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower." over the mystic river and through the dark valley that separates this world from the next. Those who are left are stooped with age and are leaning heavily on their canes and wearing silver locks about their heads. The lady who conveyed the news of the finding to the mother is still living, but has exchanged the blushing charms of maidenhood for the furrows that fifty years scored on her countenance. She has about covered the span allotted to mankind, and is waiting, in faith and hope for the call to join the dear ones who have gone before and to enjoy the happy recognition that awaits them beyond the vale and mist that hangs . "And all whose hopes are centered there about the earthly side.
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