Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 101

Author: Swoope, Roland D. (Roland Davis), 1885-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 101

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

After the close of his military service, Mr. Lewis returned to Port Matilda and worked there in a saw mill until 1867, when he came to what was then Morris but now is Cooper township, Clearfield county, locating on a tract of ten acres, one mile south of Kylertown, where he has carried on general farming.

Mr. Lewis was married August 3, 1868, in Morris township, Clearfield county, by An- drew Hunter, J. P., to Miss Philicy Dillen, a daughter of George R. and Catherine (Mer- ritt) Dillen, the latter of whom was a cousin of the late General Merritt, of the U. S. A. Mrs. Lewis was born November 18, 1850, in Morris township, to which her father had

moved March 26, 1829, from the Bald Eagle Valley, Center county. He died in Clearfield county in 1875, at the age of seventy-four years, being survived by his widow until 1885, she also being seventy-four years old. George R. Dillen was a Democrat in politics and filled numerous township offices. Mr. Lewis now has in his possession the old Morris town- ship record book, which was started in 1836 and is complete as to the affairs of the school board from 1842 until 1870. It is very inter- esting as it marks the development of the township as to school privileges and incident- ally of other matters of progress. Mrs. Lewis is one of a family of fourteen children, there being seven sons and seven daughters born to her parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have nine living chil- dren, namely: Ora Etta, who was born No- vember 18, 1869, married A. E. Fifield, of New York, and after his death was married secondly to E. C. Shobert, of Brookville, and now lives in Caledonia, Pa .; Ida W., who was born August 12, 1871, married A. P. Mingle, of Philipsburg, Pa., and they reside at Al- toona, Pa .: Hannah Gertrude, who was born May 27, 1874, married George Kelley, of Johnstown, Pa., and they live at Altoona ; Mel- ville Ralph, who was born June 22, 1876, is an employe of the Whitmer Steel Company, of Hawk Run; Luella Kate, who was born July 14, 1878, married Rufus E. Cole, of Philipsburg, and they reside at Clearfield ; Rhoda Amber, who was born January 21, 1884, is the wife of Isaac E. Lucas, and they live at Winburne; Susan Alta, who was born April 28, 1886, married William Mckinney ; Edward Thorne, who was born November 5, 1889, lives at home: and Sarah Ruth, who was born March 6, 1894, and resides with her

896

HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY

parents. Two children died in infancy : Jay Clyde and Ark Neal.

For forty-four years Mr. Lewis has been a citizen of Cooper township and is known practically by every one. His comfortable res- idence he erected in 1888. He has occupied himself with agriculture but for the past twenty-five years he has been a public auction- eer and in this capacity is frequently in differ- ent parts of the county. He has been a Demo- cratic voter ever since reaching his majority and has always been more or less active in poli- tics and exerts considerable political influence. In the fall elections he was elected a jury com- missioner on the Democratic ticket but has never been especially anxious for office. He enjoys attending political conventions and has to his credit, five Republican gatherings of this kind in the state and eleven Democratic. On many occasions he has shown political wisdom that has been of great assistance in furthering the ambition of his friends, while he has refused offices for himself. Mr. Lewis was reared in the Baptist faith and has always tried to live according to the precepts learned at his mother's knee. In peace as well as in war he has lived usefully and uprightly and is worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.

REV. ANTHONY HOUST .* who has been pastor of the Sacred Heart Slavish Ro- man Catholic Church at Houtzdale. Pa., for the past nine years, is a man of scholarly at- tainments and an authority on many branches of church history. Rev. Father Houst was born in Bohuslavitz, Austria-Moravia, and was educated in his native land at Munich, at Gaya College, and at Nicholsburg. After complet- ing his studies at Munich, he was ordained on September 26, 1882, at Southburg, Austria.

Father Houst then came to America landing at New York, on December 8, 1882, where he remained for three months. He then went to Louisville, Ky., for six months, after which he spent eleven years at St. Louis, Mo. His next call was to Long Island City, N. Y., where he labored for one year, going then to Fayette- ville, Tex., for nine months, and for two years afterward, had charge of the Bohemian church

at Pittsburg, Pa. Another year was passed at Yonkers, N. Y., and from there he came to Houtzdale, in 1902, becoming pastor of the Sacred Heart church. Here he has a con- gregation of more than 300 and the larger number of these are honest, hard-working peo- ple, who own their own homes and willingly contribute to the support of the church in which they desire to rear their children. Father Houst takes a personal interest in all his par- ishioners and encourages them in their prudent acquisition of property. The church property has been much improved since Father Houst took charge and its accommodations are mod- ern in character. His people are mainly con- nected with the mining regions and the larger number live outside of Houtzdale, this scat- tering making the duties of the priest more onerous than they would otherwise be, but through his tender spiritual care and his watchfulness over their daily lives, he has greatly endeared himself and the church is well supported. Father Houst has found time to do considerable literary work and in 1890 pub- lished a complete history of the Bohemian Catholic Church in the United States. He is a member of the Catholic Slavish Union.

JOHN WALTER BLOOM,* a prosperous farmer in Ferguson Township, who owns fifty acres of excellent land which is situated three miles west of Kerrmoor, Pa., was born at

897

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

Bloomington, in Pike Township, September 19, 1866, and belongs to one of the old county families.

Mr. Bloom was reared on the home farm and attended the Curry school-house where all his boyhood schooling was obtained. He contin- ued to help his father on the home place until his marriage, after which he lived at Blooming- ton for three years and then bought his present farm, formerly known as the Lewis farm. He has it all under cultivation with the exception of fifteen acres still in timber.

On April 15, 1896, Mr. Bloom was married to Miss Alvina Lewis, who was born on this farm, May 27, 1873, a daughter of T. H. and Elizabeth ( McCracken) Lewis. T. H. Lewis was born in Pike Township, near Curwens- ville, a son of Washington Lewis, whose last years were spent at Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, where he died at the age of eighty-four years. The father of Mrs. Bloom was a car- penter by trade and also owned and operated this farm. He married Elizabeth McCracken, who died June 8, 1900. They had the fol- lowing children: Ella, Mary, Alvina, Eliza, Margery, Amanda and two that died young. Mr. and Mrs. Bloom are members of the Bap- tist church. In politics he is a Democrat. They have four children: Lillian, William, Eliza and Harry. Mr. Bloom is a member of the Grange at Kerrmoor. He is a good citi- zen, law abiding and public spirited, but he has never been willing to accept political office.

SAMUEL R. MOORE,* whose business is that of a mining engineer, is professionally connected with ten mines at Madera, Pa., and is well known all through this section. He was born in Blair County, Pa., and is a son of Charles W. and Emma (Hewitt) Moore.

Charles W. Moore, who is one of Madera's well known business men, was born in 1845; in Blair County, Pa., a son of Jesse Moore, who was an early settler there. Charles W. Moore was married in 1873 to Emma Hewitt, who was born at Hollidaysburg, Pa., and of their family of six children, Samuel R. is the eldest.

Samuel R. Moore attended the public schools but was more ambitious than many of his schoolmates and made better use of his oppor- tunities. Finding that his talents and inclina- tion lay in the direction of his present profes- sion, he applied himself to the study of the same under the superintendence of the Inter- national Correspondence School of Scranton, Pa., completed the course and immediately made practical use of his knowledge. His present position he has filled for the past two and one-half years.

In 1897 Mr. Moore was married to Miss May Williamson, who was born in Tioga County but was reared in Jefferson County, Pa., a daughter of Peter and Anna (Bolan) Williamson. She is the youngest of a family of six children, the others being: Frank, who is deceased: Thomas; John William; Cather- ine, who is the wife of George Kline ; and Anna, who is the wife of Noah Treharne. Mr. and Mrs. Williamson were members of the Cath- olic church. To Mr. and Mrs. Moore five children have been born, namely: Lilly, John. Charles, James and Ellen. The political views of Mr. Moore make him a Republican. With his family he attends the Presbyterian church. He belongs to Masonic bodies at Punxsutawney and Williamsport.

W. S. CARR, president of the Curwensville Rural Telephone Company, is one of Pike

898

HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY

Township's substantial citizens and lives on his farm of sixty-five acres, which lies three miles northeast of Curwensville, Pa. He was born on this farm, September 17, 1857, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth ( Williams ) Carr, and a grandson of AAsil and Katherine Carr.

W. S. Carr attended the Pleasant Grove at Curwensville. school during the winter sessions until he was about eighteen years of age, after which his winters were mainly spent in the lumber re- gions, while he devoted his summers to farm work. As there was no necessity for him to leave the homestead he remained on it and since coming into possession, at the death of his parents, has done a large amount of im- proving. He has cleared about one-third of the farm by himself and now has it all under cultivation with the exception of ten acres in standing timber. The buildings erected by his father had became a little dilapidated but he repaired, rebuilt and otherwise improved them. Perhaps his farm is underlaid with a vein of coal but he has no open bank nor has he ever leased any land.

Mr. Carr was married first in December, 1882, to Miss Mary Thompson, who died in 1893. Her burial was in the cemetery at- tached to the Center Methodist Episcopal Church, of which she was a member. She was survived by a son, Benjamin Frank, who re- sides at Karthaus, Clearfield County, Pa. He married Fannie Shearer and they have one daughter, Florence. Mr. Carr was married secondly in September. 1896, to Miss Orie Bloom, a daughter of Z. M. and Charlotte Bloom, and they have eight children, namely: William, Blair, Melvin, I'hillip, Elizabeth, Edith, John and Edna. Mr. Carr and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is identified with the Republican party and

has frequently served in political positions, having been judge and inspector of elections and several times a delegate to the county conventions of his party. He is a member of the local Grange, of which he has been over- seer, and he belongs to the Order of the Moose,

FRED B. LEAVY,* proprietor of an un- dertaking establishment, is also engaged in the coal and livery business at Clearfield, Pa., and has been a lifelong resident of Clearfield Coun- ty. He was born December 20, 1877, in Clearfield, Pa., a son of Augustus B. and Mar- tha (Merrill) Leavy.

Hugh Leavy, grandfather of our subject, was a native of County Donegal, Ireland, and was one of the pioneers of Clearfield County. Pa. His cousin, Father Leavy, was a priest, and traveled through this circuit, and it was he who asked Hugh Leavy to come here and build the Roman Catholic Church. It was a brick building and the first Catholic Church erected in this section of the country. Hugh Leavy married Sarah Wrigley, who was born in Lawrence township, Clearfield County, Pa., and they reared a family of seven boys and two girls, all now deceased.

Augustus Leavy was born and reared in Clearfield County, Pa., and was the second eldest of the nine children born to his parents. He spent his boyhood on his father's farm and later with his brother James engaged exten- sively in the lumber business, having been mem- bers of the well known firm of Leavy, Mitchell & Company. He and his brothers also ran the old stage for a time. Mr. Leavy married Martha Merrill, who was a daughter of Wil- liam and Rebecca ( Reed) Merrill, and to them were born eight children: Lillian; William J .;

899

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

Hugh, deceased; Rebecca, who married Ed- to O'Shanter, where he lived for one year, go- ward Ditmer of Indiana, Pa .; Fred Bernard, our subject : Mary Catherine; and Cecil P. Mr. Leavy died September 9, 1910, and is stil! survived by his widow, who is the only surviv- ing member of her famliy.

Fred Bernard Leavy was educated in the local schools of Clearfield, and in 1897 formed a partnership with his uncle James L. Leavy, with whom he established an undertaking and coal business. After the death of his uncle on June 20, 1903, he became sole owner of the business and in 1907 graduated from the Pitts- burg School of Embalming, and the following year from the H. S. Eckles School of Embalm- ing of Philadelphia. Mr. Leavy has his office and residence on the corner of Second and Cherry streets, and owns his own funeral cars. He is fraternally a Mason; and belongs to the B. P. O. E .; M. O. O. L .; I. O. O. F .; K. G. E .; O. U. A. M., and is religiously a member of the Presbyterian church.

STACY. BOWMAN,* farmer and coal op- erator and president of the Bloomington Rural Telephone Company, is one of Pike Town- ship's prominent and substantial citizens and resides on his farm of ninety-seven acres, which is situated two and three quarter miles south of Curwensville, Pa. Mr. Bowman was born April 3, 1865, in Knox Township, Clear- field County, Pa., and is a son of Jonathan and Eliza Bowman.

Stacy Bowman attended the McCalm school in Lawrence Township when he was a boy and then accompanied his parents to Pike Township. his father purchasing the A. A. Long farm, which is now owned by Samuel and Paul Bowman. Stacy Bowman remained on the home farm until his marriage, when he moved

ing then to Olanta for a few months, after which he came to the farm he now owns. This place remained under his management for three years, when he moved on the George Bowman farm in Knox Township, one year later re- turning to O'Shanter, where he operated a meat market for one year. In 1900, he moved back to this farm, which he purchased. Mr. Bow- man operates a coal bank, having a daily out- put of from seventy-five to 100 bushels. Mr. Bowman and family have a very comfortable residence, although it is one of the oldest in the township, having been built in 1822. On June 17, 1903, Mr. Bowman was made post- master of Bloomington and conducted the office in this residence until the introduction of rural mail delivery, in 1907.

On April 10, 1890, Mr. Bowman was mar- ried to Miss Maud E. Wise, a daughter of Moses and Elmira J. Wise. Moses Wise was born in Center County, Pa., October 17, 1817, a son of Conrad and Margaret ( Rote) Wise. Moses Wise was a boy when he came to Clear- field County, where he spent the remainder of `his life. He cleared a farm of almost 100 acres and died there. On June 22, 1847, he married Elmira Bloom, a daughter of Abra- ham. Bloom. Her death occurred in 1870. To this marriage nine children were born, six sons and three daughters, the survivors being : John L., Amos Albert, Oliver B., Mrs. Thomas Lord and Mrs. Stacy Bowman. The Wise family has been one of considerable prominence in this section for years. The grandfather of Mrs. Bowman was born in Germany in 1780. When he moved from Center to Clearfield County, he purchased land that was later lo- cally known as the Lorenzo Price farm. Moses Wise, father of Mrs. Bowman, on leav-

900

HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY

ing home, purchased the farm formerly owned being one of the large landowners of the by Samuel Thomas, who built the old log house county. It was heavily timbered and wild still standing, in 1855. Later he sold to Da- vid Arnold, from whom Moses Wise bought. The latter was a well known lumberman. He moved to Altoona some years before his death, which occurred at the home of our subject August 17, 1910, and his burial was in the Bloomington Cemetery. He was a member of the Lutheran church and was an example of Christian manhood. game was plentiful. Guy L. Johnson recalls his mother relating that on numerous occa- sions she saw as many as nine deer leaping over the lane fence near the house, on their way to the deep woods. Mr. Johnson mar- ried Sarah Dillon, who was born in 1831 and died December 7, 1902. To them five sons and three daughters were born, namely: Charles, who died at the age of fifty-four years, was survived by his widow, formerly Addie Brya- ton; E. A., who is postmaster at Grass Flat ; Mary, who is the wife of William Pelton, a farmer near Munson Station; Bertha, who is now deceased, was the wife of Willard Mar- shall; M. Grant, who owns property and lived in Cooper Township until the spring of 1910, has been a resident of California since then, married Orpha Ralston, and they have one child; Andrew Curtin, who resides on his farm in Huntingdon county, married Matilda Ray- mond : Guy L .; and Helen, who is the wife of E. C. Hipple, of Cooper Township.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bowman, eleven children have been born, as follows: Verna, who is the wife of Frank Soulsby: Clyde, who died September 17, 1893; and Pearl, Lloyd, Goldie, Hazel, Moses Harold, Erla, Lynn, Levada and Stacy .Albert. Mr. Bowman and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In his political attitude he is an independent Democrat, and has served four years as a school director in Pike Township. He belongs to no fraternal organization except the local Grange. Mr. Bowman is known as an up- right, honorable man in every relation of life and is a worthy representative of Pike Town- ship's best citizenship.

GUY L. JOHNSON, residing on his farm near Grass Flat, Cooper Township, was born on this farm December 1, 1870, and is a son of Abiah D. and Sarah (Dillon) Johnson. In addition to farming, Mr. Johnson has been a funeral director since 1899.

Abialı D. Johnson, father of Guy L., was born in Bradford County, Pa., November 9, 1828, and came to Clearfield County in 1852 and purchased the farm on which he still re- sides. It contained 125 acres but a part has been sold in town lots of Grass Flat. He bought the land of Samuel Christ, the latter

Guy L. Johnson attended school in his na- tive locality until he was about eighteen years of age and since then has more or less con- ducted operations on the home farm. As a funeral director he is known all through this section, being well equipped for the business and conducting it on all occasions, with befit- ting dignity and efficiency.

In 1900 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Zella Hoover, who was reared in Cooper township, a daughter of Gilbert and Margery (Zimmerman) Hoover. They have one son and two daughters: Vaughn, Ivy and Vera. Mrs. Johnson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Johnson is deeply in- terested in the Grange and had much to do

901

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

with organizing this agricultural order at business, operating through Michigan. Indi- Grass Flat. For three years he has served as a useful member of the school board and is in- terested in everything pertaining to the wel- fare and advancement of this section. Polit- ically he is a Republican and fraternally he is an Odd Fellow.

ROBERT DUDLEY TONKIN,* manager of the Cherry Tree Iron Works, and one of the leading business men of this part of Clearfield county, was born in Burnside township, this county, July 10, 1880, son of Vincent and Margaret J. (Hughes) Tonkin. His paternal grandparents, John and Mary (Hicks) Ton- kin, came to America in 1831 from Cornwall, England, settling first in Baltimore, Md. Lat- er they removed to Germantown, Pa., where they remained one year, removing at the end of that time to Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pa. In 1838 they came to Clearfield county, settling in the vicinity of Cherry Tree, where John Tonkin carried on, farming and lumber- ing until about 1861. He died at the age of 84 years and his wife at that of 83. He was a member of the Whig party in politics, and he and his wife belonged to the Episcopal church.

ana and Ohio and shipping his cattle to the eastern markets, driving as many as 150 head at a time. After 1865 he was engaged in lum- bering near Cherry Tree up to 1885. During that time he was superintendent for the large timber firnı of Hopkins & Ervin, but later went into business for himself and so continuing until his final retirement. In 1903 he built the largest machine foundry in northern Pennsyl- vania. He was one of the charter members and vice president of the First National Bank of Cherry Tree, and was also interested in va- rious tracts of coal and timber land through- out this section. In politics a Republican, he was an active worker for his party.

Vincent Tonkin was married October 22, 1879, to Margaret J. Hughes, who was born March 14, 1853 at Cherry Tree, Pa., a daugh- ter of Robert and Elinor (Douglass) Hughes, natives of Cambria county. Robert Hughes, who was a tanner by trade, carried on his bus- iness for a number of years at Ebensburg, Pa., and subsequently built the first tannery at Cherry Tree, which he operated until 1878. He died in 1888 at the age of 65 years. Vin- cent Tonkin's death occurred March 22, 1908, at Cherry Tree. By his marriage with Elinor Douglass there were the following children : Robert Dudley, subject of this sketch; Vivian S., residing at home; Maxie E., wife of R. McConnell, of Cherry Tree ; Vincent Ord, who married Octo O. Nottey; Alice D., a teacher living at home: A. Worth, attending school.

Vincent Tonkin, son of the above and fa- ther of this sketch, was born in Cornwall, Eng- land, January 5, 1830 and was a babe of 18 months when he accompanied his parents to America. When old enough he engaged in the lumber business with his father, and he subsequently bought the old homestead of 300 acres, which he conducted until 1899, when he Robert D. Tonkin, after attending Mt. Union College, at Alliance, Ohio, began in- dustrial life in the foundry and machine busi- ness, first at Cresson, Pa., and subsequently in engaged in the mercantile business. He also at some time subsequent to 1866 engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes by hand. purchasing large quantities of leather. He his father's foundry at Cherry Tree. In was also for some years engaged in the cattle course of time the management of this latter

902

HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY

plant devolved upon him and he has since con- when only eighteen years of age he was made tinued to hold this responsible position, having proved his capacity as a thoroughly practical foundryman. He is also interested in the First National Bank, and is a director of the Cambria Title, Savings & Trust Co. of Ebens- burg, Pa.

Mr. Tonkin was married June 20, 1905 to Birdis Sechler, who was born August 7, 1880, a daughter of Joseph and Emma (Stough) Sechler, of Cherry Tree, where her father holds the office of postmaster. Onr subject and wife have been the parents of two chil- dren: One that died in infancy ; and Joseph Dudley, born April 5. 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Tonkin are members of the Presbyterian church, and are people well known and highly esteemed in this part of Clearfield county, Mr. Tonkin, indeed, having a wide business ac- quaintance, both throughout the county and elsewhere.

T. D. SMAIL,* a leading citizen of Cur- wensville, a member of the borough council and proprietor of a grocery store on Susque- hannah Avenue, was born in Monroe County. Pa .. January 8, 1862, and is a son of David and Barbara Smail.

David Smail was a farmer and also followed the blacksmith's trade. He was a worthy Christian man and a member and elder of the German Keformed church. To him and his wife Barbara, eleven children were born, three of whom are now deceased, and T. D. is the only one of the eight survivors to have his home in Clearfield County.

T. D. Smail obtained his education in the public schools of Eldred Township, Monroe County. His first work was done on the Le- high Valley farm, near Wilkesbarre, Pa., and

manager of that farm, a position he occupied for two years. On November 9. 1888, Mr. Smail came to this section and bought three teams of horses and went to work for Robert Bloom in the lumber regions. One year later he bought another team and worked one year for himself, then sold his horses and for a time was in the employ of the Irwin sisters and later worked for the Curwensville Lumber Com- pany. In 1891 he began working as a deliv- eryman for F. J. Dyer & Co., continuing until 1905, when he embarked in business for him- self at his present stand where he has pros- pered and built up a fine trade. He carries a full line of both fancy and staple groceries and deals honestly and fairly with his customers.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 101

Author: Swoope, Roland D. (Roland Davis), 1885- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Swoope, Roland D. (Roland Davis), 1885-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1040