USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 37
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William Bigler was mainly educated in the printing office, his advantages prior to 1829 having been exceedingly limited. He re- mained with his brother until his apprentice- ship was completed and then, with characteris- tic determination, although practically with- out funds and at that time with absolutely no influential friends, went to Clearfield and there founded the Clearfield Democrat. He was thus entirely dependent upon the ability with which he could interest an unknown con- stituency in his efforts to advance the princi- ples of Jacksonian Democracy. At first hc was his own complete office force and his ini- tial efforts would have been more or less amusing had they not been tragic. However, it was this spirit of persistency and enterprise that first attracted the public, which later read. admired and bestowed confidence and what was then necessary, gave substantial support to the venture. This newspaper introduced
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him into public affairs and his manner of handling the grave questions of the day edito- rially aroused the political leaders and hence- forward until his final retirement, he was more or less in the public eye.
Athough in 1836, Mr. Bigler disposed of his newspaper in order to give his full atten- tion to large lumbering interests with which he became connected in association with his father-in-law. A. B. Reed, he was not per- mitted to withdraw from public attention and he was more than once offered the nomination for the state legislature. Although he con- sistently declined these marks of public ap- proval for a time, in 1841 he accepted the nomination to the State Senate and was elected by a very large majority, and in 1844 was re-elected and served two terms and was twice elected speaker. This period was one of great moment to the State of Pennsylvania and the speeches and efforts made by Senator Bigler for the passage of a law of taxation to meet the public indebtedness and pay the in- terest on the state debt, also for the procuring of the passage of a law for abolishing impris- onment for debt, and also for the passage of the laws regulating questions of internal im- provement, all testified to the public spirit, ability. and true conception of public duty, that marked him as a statesman and a sincere friend of the people.
In 1848 Senator Bigler's name was pre- sented to the Democratic convention as a can- didate for governor, but internal conflicts of personal interests resulted in the election of another candidate. In 1849 he was appointed revenue commissioner, and in 1851 he was nominated by his party for governor, by ac- clamation, and was triumphantly elected, and this honor came to him before he had reached
his thirty-eighth year. It is an interesting epi- sode to record that his election as governor of Pennsylvania was simultaneous with the elec- tion of his brother, John Bigler, to the same high office in California.
Governor Bigler's administration was just such as the acts of his public life had indicated prior to this. He believed in and advocated the old-time virtues of economy, efficiency, in- dustry and integrity in dealing with public af- fairs as with private interests and he had the support of all the people with the exception of a class that existed then as now, which sought special privileges and had counted on the executive granting them, and found out their mistake in their estimate of his charac- ter. The annals of the state tell how faith- fully and fearlessly he faced these private in- terests and how conscientiously and courage- ously he carried out the laws according to the constitution. In March, 1854, he was again unanimously nominated for goveronr, but the strain of public cares had told on him and he made no personal canvass and in the contest was defeated by the Know Nothing party. In January. 1855. he was elected to the United States Senate. where he served with great credit to himself and his state for six years, and it was during this period. in 1857. that, as a member of the committee on commerce, he made an elaborate report concerning the con- struction of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama, a scheme considered then by the country at large as dangerous and entirely visionary. In that, as in many other public projects, Senator Bigler was a man ahead of his times. In 1860 he was a member of the Democratic convention that assembled at Charleston, where he opposed the nomination of Judge Douglas, and he was temporary
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chairman of the convention at Chicago, in 1864, which nominated George B. McClellan. In 1868 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in New York, which nominated Horatio Seymour. In 1872, he was nominated a delegate-at-large to the con- vention for the revision of the constitution. but later he voluntarily withdrew his name, but subsequently, for political reasons con- sented to fill the vacancy caused by the resig- nation of S. H. Raynolds, and took a leading part in the deliberations of that body. He was associated closely with party affairs of large importance up to 1875, after which he withdrew more or less in order to give his at- tention to local matters beneficial to his county and to his individual interests.
On March 23, 1836, William Bigler was married to Maria J. Reed, who was born in Clearfield county, Pa., a lady well qualified to both advance his public prestige and to adorn his home and rear a happy family. Of their children but one survives, a son, Harry F. Bigler, who is president of the Clearfield Steam Company and a director in the Center County National Bank.
Distinguished as were his public services, William Bigler's memory is tenderly pre- served by those who knew him best for the personal qualities which added to their pride in him and also made him generally beloved. His death occurred at his home on August 9. I880.
A. B. SHAW, vice president of the County National Bank and one of its board of directors, is a member of one of Clear- field County's old and honorable families. He was born in Clearfield County, Pa., No- vember 12, 1830, and is a son of Richard and Mary (Irwin) Shaw.
Richard Shaw was long a prominent citi- zen of Lawrence Township. Clearfield County, serving with honor in a number of public capacities, at times being a justice of the peace, and also associate judge. He was a native of Ireland, born in County Derry in 1792, one of seven children, and his par- ents were Archibald and Mary Shaw. Rich- ard Shaw was young when his parents emi- grated to America, settling first in Chester County, Pa., moving later to Mifflin County and in 1810, to Clearfield County. In 1816, Richard Shaw was married to Mary Irwin, a native of Philadelphia, and eight of their children reached maturity. The mother died in 1874 and the father in 1876.
A. B. Shaw was reared in his native county and was educated in the district schools and the Clearfield Academy. He secured a business training under his fath- er's eye, becoming a clerk in the latter's store and later becoming also interested as was his father, in lumbering. In 1853 he opened up a general lumber and mercantile business at Shawville, which he continued for twenty-two years. returning to Clear- field in 1875. He became interested also in the coal industry to some extent and owns probably 1,000 acres of rich coal land in Clearfield and Cambria Counties. At dif- ferent times he has accepted stock and served on directing boards of successful commercial enterprises, his name. at all times, being a business asset. In 1882, he was elected vice president of the County National Bank of Clearfield, a financial in- stitution then of seventeen years standing and he has continued his association with it up to the present.
Mr. Shaw was married in 1859, to Miss Agnes Aurand, who was born in Snyder
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County, Pa., and eleven children were born to them, namely : Clara W., Bertha A., Mary Jane, Edgar, Fannie G., Calvin B., Agnes F., Annie, Charles M., Mattie V. and Gussie E., who died in infancy. Mr. Shaw and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he is a Dem- ocrat.
CLARK HILEMAN, one of the sub- stantial business men of Madera, Pa., who is largely interested in the lumber industry in Clearfield County, was born in Indiana County, Pa., September 17. 1856, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Ruffner) Hileman.
William Hileman was a son of John and Elizabeth Hileman. His business interests throughout life were connected with Jum- bering. He married Elizabeth Ruffner, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Ruffner, and the following children were born to them : Lorenza, who married Oliver Lewis; Ellen, who married Benjamin Tonkin ; Joseph S., who is deceased ; Jane, who is the wife of Robert Smith; Clark; James S .; Charlotte, who is deceased, was the wife of James Kethearth: William S .; A. C .; Scott; Isabel, who is the wife of Russell Eaton; and Liberty, who is the wife of William Ruther.
Clark Hileman obtained his education in the district schools which he attended through the winter sessions until he was eighteen years of age, after which he went to lumbering and worked in the woods un- til 1887. He then embarked in the hotel business at Madera in which he continued for twenty-one and one-half years. dispos- ing of his interests in that line in August.
1908. Since then he was given the main part of his attention to the lumber indus- try, owning a saw mill and lumber yards, and he also owns other property at Madera and additionally is a stockholder in the Ma- dera Water Works and a director of the Madera National Bank.
On December 18, 1890, Mr. Hileman was married to Miss Minerva Grove, a daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Johnston) Grove, and a granddaughter of Andrew and Re- becca Grove and of William and Rebecca Johnston. The parents of Mrs. Hileman are residents of Huntingdon County. They are members of the Lutheran church. Mrs. Hileman is the fourth born child of her par- ents, the others being: Martha, who is the wife of James McElroy ; Mary Alice, who is the wife of Jacob Smith ; Elmira, who is the wife of Jeremiah Kyles; Laura, who is the wife of Samuel Smith ; Maggie, who is the wife of William Blythe; Martin Luther ; Ida, who is the wife of Harry Green : An- drew Harvey : Dora E., who is the wife of Clarence Snare : Bessie Rebecca, who is the wife of Bert McCall: Minnie, who is the widow of David Blythe: Lydia, who is the wife of John Worth ; Henry Ellsworth, and William Oscar. Mr. and Mrs. Hileman have no children of their own but they reared a little girl, Bertha May, born May 8, 1891. from infancy to young womanhood, and she is now the wife of Albert Rung. Mr. and Mrs. Rung have one son, Harold Albert, who was born February 14, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Hileman attend the Presby- terian church. In politics he is a Republi- can, as was his father, and for four years he served in the office of township super- visor.
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ELISHA M. DAVIS, dairyman and her death occurring February 23, 1871. farmer, residing one and one-half miles They were buried in the Friends' cemetery near Grampian. southwest of Grampian, Clearfield County, owns 173 acres of finely cultivated land, ly- ing in Penn Township. He was born on an adjoining farm, in Penn Township, May 26, 1838, and is a son of Joseph Davis, a grandson of Elisha Davis and a great- grandson of Caleb Davis.
Joseph Davis, father of Elisha M., was born at Tyrone, Pa., January 6, 1790, a son of Elisha and Alice Davis, natives of Wales, who emigrated to America and settled at Tyrone. Joseph Davis was married Octo- ber 16, 1823, to Rebecca Moore, who was born December 5, 1798, a daughter of James and Lydia Moore. To Josephi and Rebecca Davis the following children were born: Lydia, June 13, 1824; Rachel, October 29, 1825; Esther, June 30, 1826 (died July 16, 1866) ; John, July 26, 1829; Eliza, Novem- ber 28, 1830 (died May 22, 1877) ; James, October 6, 1832; Hannah, September 27, 1834; Joseph, June 9, 1836; Elisha, May 26, 1838; and Abraham, born September 10, 1840 (died of fever while serving in the Civil War, October 1, 1862,-the youngest of ten children).
After marriage Joseph Davis, Sr., settled on a tract of 150 acres of wild land in Penn Township, Clearfield County, eighty acres of which he cleared. This farm is now the property of William Pentz. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were members of the Society of Friends. Joseph Davis was never embroiled in politics, living a quiet, industrious, use- ful life and passing away May 12, 1868, at the age of seventy-eight years with the re- spect and esteem of all who had known him. His estimable wife survived but a few years,
Elisha M. Davis attended school in Penn Township until he was about eighteen years of age and then went to work as a teamster in the lumber regions in Penn Township. He continued thus engaged more or less for 20 years before and after his marriage, in 1861, when he settled on the home farm for a time and then purchased his present one of Thos. Hoover. He has 100 acres of his land cleared and under a fine state of cultivation, being one of the most progres- sive and one of the successful farmers in this section of the county. Mr. Davis also operates a dairy and keeps first class stock. He has made many improvements on his farm and these include the erection of all the substantial buildings now standing, and the arrangement of his attractive surround- ings. He is a stockholder and charter mem- ber of the Farmers and Traders Bank of Clearfield, Pa.
On September 12, 1861, Mr. Davis was married to Katherine Hoover, who was born near Curwensville on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, January 13, 1840, a daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Price) Hoover, her parents coming from old pio- neer families of this section. It is said that Grandfather Price was killed by the Indians. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis nine children were born, namely : William E., Elias C., Rebecca Ellen, Lydia Jane, Nathan Thomas, Alice, Myrtle May, Vincent Pearl and Elisha Claire. William E. Davis was born June 14, 1862, and resides in Brady Township. He was married April 24, 1884, to Susanna Rishell and they have had six children:
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Vida Hoyt, Oral, Salome, Katherine. Mar- Kenneth. Mr. Davis is a clerk in the County National Bank. garet and Leo, the last named dying at the age of eleven months. Elias C. Davis was born September 11, 1863. He was married October 22, 1890, to Edith Wag- oner, a daughter of Edw. Wagoner, of Ramey, Pa., and they have two children. Alton C. and Elisha W. Rebecca Ellen Davis was born November 10, 1864, and was married June 14, 1888, to George M. Rishell and they had the following children : O. Clifford, Hilda C., Frances Esther, Elisha B .. Frederick, Corhuis Arden, Joseph D. and Lydia Jane. The oldest and youngest are deceased and the mother of these children died July 26, 1906, and was buried at Trout- ville, Pa. Lydia Jane Davis was born October 11, 1867, and was married October 3, 1887, to E. B. Albert. They reside near Woodland, Pa., and have one son, Edwin B. Nathan T. Davis was born August 12, 1869 ; was married June 25, 1896, to Mamie Cur- rier and has two children, Twilla Elizabeth and Elma Katherine. Alice Davis was born February 1, 1871, and died March 26, 1873. Myrtle May Davis was born May 1, 1874, and was married September 16, 1894. to R. P. Kester. a lecturer for the department of State Institutes of Pennsylvania. They have two children, Elisha Howard and Latricia Mott. Vincent Pearl Davis was born May 4, 1878, and was married June 16, 1909, to Vadna Violet Warden, who was born October 8, 1888, a daughter of Clar- ence and Lottie Warden, of Johnstown, Pa., and they have one son, Edward Laverne. Elisha Claire Davis was born April 22, 1881. and was married July 26, 1905, to Gertrude May Slick, of Richmond, Ind. They have two children: Francis Everett and Alton
For many years Elisha M. Davis has been prominent in the Grange movement, has assisted in the organization of a number of local granges and served two terms in the State Department of Agriculture of Penn- sylvania. He has also served as president of the Clearfield County Agricultural Society. He and his wife are members of the Society of Friends and he is superin- tendent of the sabbath school at Grampian.
JERRY HEGARTY, of Bigler Town- ship, Clearfield County, Pa., a one-half owner of 250 acres of fine farm land, was born in Bigler Township, on the home farm. in July, 1846, and is a son of James and Jane (Boyle) Hegarty. The parents were natives of Ireland and came to Clearfield County when young married people and spent their lives here.
Jerry Hegarty was the fifth born in his parents' family and with .his brothers and sisters attended the district school through boyhood. He has followed farming and lumbering during the greatest part of his life and there is a coal mine on the farm, of which he is half owner. In 1878 Mr. Hegarty was married to Miss Mary White- side, who is the youngest daughter of Robert and Nancy (Alexander) Whiteside. He was born in Ireland and she in Clear- field County and both were well known people. They had six sons and two daugh- ters: John D., William A., Isaac, Samuel, Robert, Boaz. Agnes and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Hegarty have had five children : Vida, Vincent, Blaine, Dora and Verna. The eldest daughter died at the age of twenty-
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one years. Mr. Hegarty and wife attend the Presbyterian Church. He votes with the Republican party. He is one of the representative men of Bigler Township and commands the respect of his fellow citizens, having always carried on his undertakings according to sound business principles with due regard to the rights of others.
MICHAEL HURD, M. D., a leading physician and surgeon at Mahaffey, Pa., well known professionally over a wide ter- ritory in Clearfield County, was born in this county, at La Jose, in Chester Township, and is a son of Henry and Catherine Hurd.
Henry Hurd, father of Dr. Hurd, was born in Vermont, and was a son of Elias Hurd. In 1842, Henry Hurd came to Clear- field County, where he taught school, after which he purchased a farm in Chester Township and engaged in farming and lumbering. They are both living on the homestead in Chester Township.
Michael Hurd attended the Chester Township schools and those of La Jose, later spent three years as a student in the graded schools at New Washington and two years in the Curwensville Normal School. In 1879 he entered Jefferson Med- ical College, Philadelphia, and was gradu- ated there in 1883. Dr. Hurd located first at Newburg, not far from his birthplace, and continued to practice there until May, 1909, when he moved to Mahaffey, where he has built up a very large practice and has been welcomed as a citizen of enterprise and worth.
In 1878, Dr. Hurd was married to Miss Orie E. Curry, who is a daughter of Austin Curry, a well known farmer and lumber-
man of Chest Township. Dr. and Mrs. Hurd have had nine children born to them, several of whom died when aged about three years. The survivors are: Nellie, who is the wife of Frank Markle, of Ma- haffey; Lena, who is the wife of James Cardell, of Westover, Pa. (they have three children-Vernon, Paul and Cliffton) ; Vella, who is a popular and successful teacher in the graded schools at Mahaffey, being a graduate of the Lock Haven Normal School: and Denay, Curry, and Gard. Those deceased were Austin, Sue and Zoe. Dr. Hurd is a member of various medical organizations and belongs also to the P. O. S. A. at Newburg.
J. E. GEARHART, a progressive, enter- prising and representative business man of Clearfield, Pa., manager of the Gearhart Knitting Machine Company and of the Key- stone Vacuum Cleaner, is a member of one of the old settled families of the county.
His great grandfather, John Gearhart, emigrated from Germany about the middle of the seventeenth century. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, after- ward settled at Buffalo Run. Centre Co., Pa. He married Miss Catharine Gray, who lived to the age of 97 years. To John and Catharine were born ten children, whose names were as follows,-Jacob, John, Adam, Christ, Elias, Peter, Susanna, Eve, Betsey and Catharine. These have all died long ago.
John Gearhart, the second in order and grandfather of J. E. Gearhart, was born in 1789. He married Miss Lydia Shivery. He served in the War of 1812 and was there when his eldest son David was born. He
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moved to Clearfield County in 1820. He died in 1871 having lived to the age of 82, and his wife Lydia died at the age of 90 within a few days. To John and Lydia Gearhart were born eleven children, one dying in infancy, the other ten living to a ripe age, whose names were as follows,- David, Sarah, Catharine, who is yet living at the advanced age of 95. John S. the father of J. E. Gearhart, Susanna, Andrew, Jane, Enoch, Hannah, and Jacob, who is yet living.
John S. Gearhart was born April 20th, 1818, on his father's farm near Philipsburg, Clearfield Co. He also was an agriculturist and spent the greater part of his life on his farm situated in Boggs Township, two miles northwest of Blue Ball, in Clearfield County, where his death occurred Mar. 26, 1903, at the age of eighty-four years. He was twice married, first to Lydia Showalter, whose death occurred July 3, 1850, when their youngest son, J. E. Gearhart, was fifteen months old. J. E. Gearhart was born April 22, 1849. There were three other children born to this union, namely : William, who was a gallant soldier in the Civil War, a member of Co. E. 45th Pa. Vol. Inf., and who died of starvation in the Confederate prison at Salisbury, N. C., December 10, 1864; Ellis, who died at the age of twenty-one years; and Lloyd, who is a resident of Clearfield. The second marriage of John S. Gearhart was to Eliz- abeth Smith, whose death preceded that of her husband by four years, she dying Feb. 14. 1898. Eight children were born to this marriage, namely: George S., who lives in Clearfield ; John W., who owns the home farm in Boggs Township; A. Clark,
who lives in Blair County ; Samuel, whose business is carried on at Clearfield; Lydia J., who is the wife of Charles Rickets, of Altoona ; James, who is a resident of Brad- dock, Pa .; Charles, who died when seven- teen years old; and Lewis, who lives at Pittsburg, Pa.
Joseph Emery Gearhart grew to man- hood on the home farm and obtained his education in the country schools. After he reached manhood he went to work for the lumber firm of Hoover, Hughes & Co., at Bellefonte, Pa., with operations near Phil- ipsburg, and remained with them for nine years, and during that time shipped the inost of the lumber that was used in the erection of the buildings for the great Cen- tennial Exposition. From youth Mr. Gear- hart has been more or less interested in mechanics and has invented many devices and utensils of practical use, some of which having been patented, are now manufact- ured in large numbers. He worked on a knitting machine until he perfected every part of it and received a patent and in 1889 opened a small shop at Blue Ball for its manufacture. The machine was so well re- ceived that by 1890 the business liad out- grown his quarters at Blue Ball and he then moved to Clearfield and erected his present plant on Nichols Street, and also a factory in Canada. Under the name of the Gear- hart Family Knitter, with ribbing attach- ment which produces seamless hosiery, Mr. Gearhart's invention is sold in all countries and with its attachments has been patented in the United States and in thirteen foreign countries. In connection with knitting ma- chines, Mr. Gearhart manufactures and has on the market, The Keystone Vacuum
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Cleaner, and this invention promises to equal his others in popularity. Mr. Gear- hart is a natural mechanic but he attributes a measure of his success to the instruction he received from his father-in-law, the late John Middleton, who was an expert ma- chinist and gunsmith as his father before him had been, the latter manufacturing guns during the Revolutionary War for the Patriot army.
Mr. Gearhart was married July 6, 1871, to Miss Mary E. Middleton, a daughter of John Middleton, who came to Clearfield from Cambria County. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gearhart, namely : Sophia, who is the wife of James Gleason, a leading member of the Clearfield bar, residing at Du Bois, and they have one son, James Joseph; Leonard A .; Ada B., who married Dr. George R. Irwin, of Clear- field and they have four children-Robert, Dorothy, George and Joseph ; John R., who resides in Clearfield, married Blanche Cardon and they have one son, William; Edna, who married B. R. Freer of Chicago and they have one child, Marjorie; Jessie P., who is the wife of George A. Cardon, of Pittsburg; May, who married J. Emmett Harder, of Clearfield and they have one son, John Emmett; and Emery J., who is con- nected with an advertising house, at Chi- cago, Ill.
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