USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 44
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J. F. KLINE, who is engaged in general farming and stock raising on a farm of 100 acres in Bradford township, Clearfield county, Pa., is one of the prominent and influential citizens of the township, and was born in 1857 in Goshen township, this county, a son of G. R. and Rebecca (Ogden) Kline. G. R. Kline was born in Lawrence township, Clearfield county, Pa., a son of Solomon Kline, who was one of the early pioneers of this county. The
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father of our subject was reared in Lawrence township, and spent his declining years in Un- ion township, where he died in 1889. Our subject's mother died when he was but one week old.
J. F. Kline grew to maturity in Lawrence township and attended the Pine Grove school there. After finishing his education he en- gaged in logging and was engaed in that busi- ness continuously until four years ago, when he purchased his present farm of 100 acres in Bradford township. Here he carries on gen- eral farming and stock raising and is one of the progressive and enterprising farmers of the township. Mr. Kline is a director and has been treasurer of the Bradford township school board for the past year, and during his residence in Girard township. served in almost all the township offices.
In 1880 Mr. Kline married Ida J. Mains of Bradford township, and a daughter of David Mains, who was a well known agriculturist of Bradford township. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kline: Blanch: Maud, died in 1884, aged one and a half years: Pearl. died at the age of two and a half years: Guy ; Fanny, married Clem Bellott of Girard town- ship, and is the mother of two children, Chris- tine and Guy: Olive V., married Walter Lu- zier, and they have one son, Kennith; Ruth; Walter; Harry: and Jacob.
F. W. SCHMITT, who has been proprietor of a bakery at Clearfield. Pa., for the past sixteen years, was born August 5, 1873. at Philadelphia, Pa., and is a son of Fred and Caroline ( Kienzle) Schmitt.
he began working in his father's bakery, where he learned the trade, and subsequently conducted the business himself. In 1894 the family came to Clearfield. Pa., and opened a bakery, locating in their present quarters in 1902. He carries on a wholesale and retail business, the Butternut and Figola being his two leading brands. Mr. Schmitt is a mem- ber of the B. P. O. E., is religiously a member of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics is identified with the Democratic party. He has one sister, Catherine, who is the wife of F. D. Souders.
JAMES H. CROYL. now a leading busi- ness man of Ramey, Pa., senior member of the firm of Croyl & McCully, general merchants, was born January 3. 1862. in Huntingdon county, Pa., and is a son of Henry and Cath- erine (Gettys) Croyl.
Henry Croyl was born in Huntingdon county and was a son of Casper Croyl, who was born in Germany. Henry Croyl was a general farmer and was a well known and re- spected man. He married Catherine Gettys, who was a daughter of Patrick Gettys, a na- tive of Ireland. To Henry and Catherine Croyl the following children were born: Mar- garet, who is the wife of D. T. Kantner; Mar- tha, who is the wife of Hugh Stoddard; Sam- uel; Ella, who is the wife of Solomon Mc- Cully ; William; Robert; Marion, who is de- ceased ; James H. : Ada, who is the wife of H. B. Stevens; and Junie, who is the wife of Frank Johnston.
James H. Croyl obtained his education in the public schools and afterward worked for ten years at the carpenter trade. In 1871 he established his home at Ramey, where he was
F. W. Schmitt was very young when his parents moved to Troy. Indiana, and he was there reared to man's estate. At an early age postmaster for ten years and for three years
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was a clerk in a store. In 1909 he started into a general mercantile business at Ramey, in partnership with his nephew, L. K. McCully. and they are doing a large business and carry all the assortment of goods usually found in a well managed store of this kind.
Mr. Croyl was married in June, 1895, to Miss Laura Beyer, a daughter of Thomas and Virginia (Warren) Beyer. The parents of Mrs. Croyl have lived at Ramey for the past twenty-five years, coming from Tyrone, P'a., when this place was but a village. To Mr. and Mrs. Beyer the following children were born: Laura; Myrtle, who is the wife of James Sharer; Florence, who is the wife of Joseph Cassidy ; and Clinton and Percival. Mr. and Mrs. Croyl have five children: Vir- ginia, Kathleen, Robert, George and Mildred. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Croyl is a Republican and he has served as a councilman of Ramey borough and has been school director and tax collector.
ANTHONY HILE, deceased, whose use- ful life was prolonged into advanced age, was long a leading citizen of Lumber City, Pa., and was one of the men of ample fortune then living in Clearfield county. He was born in Northumberland county, Pa., in 1815, and died in Clearfield county in 1904. His parents were Henry and Mary (Johnson) Hile.
Henry Hile was born in New Jersey but he married in Northumberland county, Pa., and all of his children were born there, Anthony being nineteen years of age when the family came to Penn township, Clearfield county. At that time this region was a wilderness and was covered with a timber growth that became the foundation of many a fortune. Lumber City
was appropriately named, for lumbering was the main industry and a part of the town was built on a section of the Hile farm.
Anthony Hile followed farming and lum- bering for a number of years. His qualifica- tions for office were recognized by his fellow citizens and he served carefully and honestly in almost all of the township offices, having been school director, constable, supervisor, as- sessor, collector and supervisor of the poor. He was a member of the Baptist church. In 1839 Anthony Hile married Miss Emily Bloom, a daughter of James and Mary ( Pass- more) Bloom, early residents of Pike town- ship, and they had the following children born to them, some of whom have passed away but have left descendants: James H., D. W., John N., Eli B., Martha J., Lewis B., Fanny, Ada M., William B., Mary E. and .Amanda L. Anthony Hile, who perpetuates the name of his grandfather, is the eldest son of James H. Hile, and is assistant cashier of the Curwens- ville National Bank at Curwensville, Pa.
FRANK B. REED, sole owner and propri- etor of the Clearfield Machine Shops and Foundry, is at the head of a large enterprise and is numbered with the representative busi- ness men of Clearfield, Pa. He was born in this city, April 26, 1853, and is a son of George Lattimer and Sarah ( Weaver) Reed.
George Lattimer Reed was born in Clear- field county, Pa., in 1823, and died December 23, 1905. He was a son of Alexander Bow- man Reed, who came to Clearfield county as a pioneer and became interested in large tracts of timber land and spent the remainder of his life in this county. He had the following chil- dren: Maria, who became the wife of Gov. William Bigler, once chief executive of Penn-
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sylvania; Rebecca, who became the wife of John F. Weaver; and George Lattimer. George L. Reed was interested with his father in lumbering and together they owned vast tracts of valuable timber, and later engaged in brick manufacturing; he was also one of the founders and owners of the Clearfield Machine Shops. He was a man of fine business ca- pacity and was well known all over this sec- tion. He married Sarah Weaver, who sur- vived him, her death occurring in 1908. She belonged to a prominent old family of Center county. Six children were born to them, as follows: Frank B .; Alfred B .; Elizabeth R., who died in 1910; Virginia, who is the wife of J. W. Chambers, of Williamsport, Pa .; Ed- ward B. and George B.
Frank B. Reed enjoyed excellent school ad- vantages, from the public schools of Clear- field entering a preparatory school at Law- rencevillé, N. J., and going from there to La- fayette College, at Easton, Pa. He then en- tered the machine shops in which his father had an interest, desiring to gain a practical knowledge of the business and continued until he secured the same, the works then being op- erated by the firm of Bigler, Young & Reed. In 1880, Frank B. Reed became manager of the plant and through his technical knowledge and energy has done much to place this among the leading industrial plants of the city.
A history of the development of this busi- ness is interesting. The Clearfield Machine Shops were established in 1867, by Ai F. Boynton and George S. Young, on the pres- ent site, with accommodations sufficient for the carrying on of a small amount of manufactur- ing, the product then being machinery for saw mills. It was not until the brick industry be- came of greater importance than the lumber
business in this part of Pennsylvania, that the company started their present line of produc- tion-machinery for the manufacture of fire brick. In the meanwhile ownership of the works changed, Mr. Boynton selling his in- terest to Hon. William Bigler and George L. Reed, and in 1880, Mr. Young sold his inter- est to W. H. Mulhollon and at the same time a part of the George L. Reed interest was as- signed to Frank B. Reed, the firm style then becoming Bigler, Reed & Co. In 1901 Frank B. Reed bought the entire interests of the other members of the firm, retaining the services of Mr. W. H. Mulhollon as superintendent. The Clearfield Machine Shops and Foundry are located on the corner of Fourth and Pine streets, Clearfield, with business office on Fourth street north of Pine. From the first the business has had steady growth, its present equipments being perfect of their kind and the railroad facilities being such as to enable rapid shipment in any direction. Employment is given to sixty skilled mechanics and other la- borers.
On October 26, 1876, Mr. Reed was mar- ried to Miss Rebecca W. Shaw, a daughter of Archibald Shaw, and they have had five chil- dren, namely: Scott B., who died when aged twenty-two years: Alfred B., who was mar- ried in 1909, to Miss Edith Dill, and they have one son, Fred Bowman; Robert B., who is a member of the faculty of the Syrian Protest- ant College, at Beirut, Syria, being professor of Economics, and is a graduate of Princeton College. Harvard College and the Auburn Theological Seminary; Philip, who is a mem- ber of the class of 1910, at Princeton College ; and one who died young. Mr. Reed and fanı- ily are members of the Presbyterian church. In his views on public questions he is a Demo-
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crat, but has never entered into politics to any great extent. The family residence is situated at No. 724 S. Second street, Clearfield, l'a. It is a hospitable home and many pleasant so- cial functions take place there.
JOHN T. FOULKE, one of the represen- tative business men of Houtzdale, Pa., where he has been in the hardware business since 1904, under the firm name of J. T. Foulke & Company, was born in Clinton county, Pa., in 1877, and is a son of George C. and Annie D. (Myers) Foulke.
George Foulke was born in Huntingdon county. Pa., and is now a resident of Indiana. Prior to coming to Houtzdale, in 1880, he worked as a tinner at Renova and Salona in Clinton county, and went from there to Lock Haven and then to Houtzdale. He married Annie D. Myers, who was born in Clinton county, near Millhall. She died after the fam- ily came to Houtzdale. They had seven chil- dren, namely: Laura, who is the wife of Wil- liam Dalton, of Bruceville, Ind. : Minnie, who died in childhood; Maude, who is the wife of W. R. Gallagher, and they live at Smith Mills ; John T .; Carrie H., who lives at Smith Mills ; and Annie and Manning, both of whom died in childhood.
longs to the Elks at Phillipsburg, to the Odd Fellows and Brotherhood of America, at Houtzdale, and is an advanced Mason, identi- fied with the Blue Lodge, at Osceola, the Chapter at Clearfield, the Commandery at Phillipsburg, the Consistory at Williamsport, and the Mystic Shrine at Altoona. He was reared in the Methodist Episcopal church.
MICHAEL J. COX, owner and proprietor of the McCartney House, at McCartney, Pa., has been in the hotel business at this place for some ten years and is well known to the trav- eling public. He was born in Knox township, Clearfield county, Pa., April 16, 1863, and is a son of William and Mary Cox.
The parents of Mr. Cox spent their lives in Clearfield county, where the father engaged in farming. They reared the following children: Mary, John, Maggie, William, Michael J. and Elizabeth. William and Michael J. are twins.
Michael J. Cox was reared on his father's farm and attended the country schools. He then went into the woods and continued a lum- berman until 1901 when he came to McCart- ney and purchased the McCartney House. This is a quiet, well kept hotel, one in which the comfort of the guests is carefully looked after while the charges are very moderate.
After the close of his school days, John T. On October 15, 1891, Mr. Cox was married to Miss Sarah McCrossin, who is a member of one of the substantial old families of Clear- field county. They have two children : Luella and Frances. They are members of the Cath- olic church. In politics Mr. Cox is a Demo- crat. He belongs to Tyrone Lodge, No. 212, B. P. O. E. Foulke went out on the road for a couple of years and also was a clerk in a hardware store and thoroughly learned the business. In 1904 he established himself at Houtzdale under the firm style of J. T. Foulke & Company, in hard- ware, plumbing and tinning, and has built up a good business. He is a Republican in his political views and takes an active interest in the election of first class men to office, deem- J. B. LYTLE, who carries on general farm- ing this the duty of a good citizen. He be- ing on a tract of 100 acres in Lawrence town-
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ship, Clearfield county, Pa., is one of the pro- 1890 he sold the coal interests on the land to gressive farmers and highly esteemed citizens Kerr and Betts, later known as the O'Shanter Coal Company. of the township, and was born December 31, 1839, on the old home farm in Lawrence township, a son of James and Jane ( Burch- field ) Lytle.
James Lytle, father of our subject, was born in 1806 in Center county, Pa., and ob- tained his education in the district schools of that county. In early manhood he left Cen- ter county and with his brothers, six in num- ber, worked on the Erie Pike. Upon its com- pletion he located at Curwensville, Pa., where he was employed ten years by John Irwin and during that period was married to Jane Burch- field of Juniata county, and to them were born seven daughters and two sons. He subse- quently located on a farm owned by John Ir- win and from there removed to a farm of 100 acres, which is now owned by the subject of this record. He cleared the greater part of this land with the aid of his two sons, and placed it in a state of cultivation, although his own time was greatly devoted to lumbering. He was politically a Democrat, although in no sense of the word a politician, and his religious connection was with the Presbyterian church. James Lytle died on the farm in Lawrence township in 1864 and both he and his wife were buried at Curwensville, Pa.
John B. Lytle received his educational train- ing in the common schools at Curwensville, Pa. and in Lawrence township. He has al- ways remained on the home farm, and after the death of his father continued his home there in order to help provide a living for the family. He has always followed general farming, and after his marriage made various improvements on the farm, and erected the buildings, which are now on the place. About
Mr. Lytle was united in marriage with Celia Leonard, a daughter of Robert Leonard, of Clearfield, Pa., and their union resulted in the following issue: Jennie, wife of J. W. McDowell, of Butler, Pa .; James Leonard, who married a lady of Baltimore, Md .; O. C., a resident of Lewiston, who married Eliza- beth Green, of Scranton, Pa .; Josephine, who teaches in the schools of Portland, Oregon; and C. C. Lytle, who is at home. The family attends the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. Mr. Lytle is, politically, a Demo- crat, and fraternally a member of the K. of P. No. 383, of Glen Richey.
HON. JOHNSON W. POTTER, M. D., deceased, who was widely and favorably known throughout Pennsylvania, having po- litical prominence, large business interests and high professional standing, retired from busi- ness activity before his long and unusually busy life came to a close. He was born in Clarion township, Clarion county, Pa., March 6, 1835, and died March 31, 1898.
Johnson W. Potter grew to the age of eigh- teen years on his father's farm and from there went to Indiana county where he remained one year in a mercantile establishment and then came to Clearfield county as a teacher and as a student of medicine. Through the influence of Governor Bigler, the young man received an appointment which made it possi- ble for him to become a student in the Na- tional Medical College at Washington, D. C., where he continued his medical studies through 1859 and 1860, and then entered upon the practice of medicine in Clearfield county.
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Eight years of hard country practice broke down his health and for this reason he gave up his profession and then turned his atten- tion to lumbering and merchandising. He started a store at Three Runs, in Karthaus township, and increased his interests here by crecting a saw and grist mill, and operated them for a number of years. The village of Pottersdale was named in his honor and he was a merchant and postmaster there. In 1877 he purchased a farm of fifty acres, sit- uated in Covington township, which he im- proved with fine buildings, and in 1883 he erected a first class hotel and also went into the mercantile business at Karthaus village.
Long before this, however, Dr. Potter had become a prominent factor in politics. He was an earnest, thoughtful man, with firm convic- tions of right and wrong irrespective of party ties, and when urged to accept public office consented from a sense of duty. In 1868 he was first brought forward as a candidate for the lower house of the state legislature, but in that contest he was defeated by Hon. Thomas P. Mccullough. In 1873 he was an inde- pendent candidate, being the nominee of the Independent Democrats, but received hearty support also from the ranks of the Repub- licans. His selection practically terminated the oppressive political rings in Clearfield county. In 1874 he was again nominated but with- drew during the campaign and from that time took no further active interest in political life.
At New Bethlehem, Clarion county. Pa., in 1858, Dr. Potter was married to Miss Ala- manda Hoffman, and they had eight children born to them. Mrs. Potter resides in her handsome residence at No. 10 N. Front street, Clearfield.
WILLIAM WINGERT, of Luthersburg, farmer and lumberman, and one of the most substantial residents of Brady township, where he owns much valuable property, including 1,500 acres of both timbered and farm land, is one of the successful and representative men of this section. He was born March 9, 1842, near Punxatawney, Jefferson county, Pa., and is a son of Frederick and Mary Margaret (Laudaman) Wingert.
Mr. Wingert's parents came to this country from Germany, being accompanied by four children-Henry, George H., Frederick and Margaret-which constituted their entire fam- ily at that time. They settled temporarily in Jefferson county, Pa., until Frederick Win- gert, the father, had had the time and oppor- tunity to find a more permanent settlement. This after a while he did in Brady township, Clearfield county, where he purchased sixty- two acres of wild land. This whole region at that time was practically a wilderness, and in the clearing of a farm Mr. Wingert, the elder, found himself confronted by a task that made large demands upon his strength and resolu- tion. But the early settlers of this region were, as a rule, men not easily appalled, and Mr. Wingert was worthy to rank with the best of them. He soon got to work, therefore, made a small clearing for a beginning and built thereon a small cabin of round logs, the cracks being plastered inside and outside with mud or clay, as was the pioneer custom. This humble domicile had but one door, which, as it was then impossible to obtain nails without going to great trouble and expense, was hung on wooden hinges otherwise secured and was furnished with a wooden latch. Before the door was hung, however, it was necessary to fill the doorway with bundles of straw, to keep
WILLIAM WINGERT
MRS. LOUISA S. WINGERT
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out the cold, as it was now getting late in the inches long, with a good average width and fall. The cabin contained one small window, a five-eighths butt. The store keepers would build arks, load them with shingles and float them down the river on the spring floods to Middletown and other markets. The shingles were not paid for by the store keepers until after the latter had received their returns from the dealers down the river, and even then they paid only about one-third in cash and the rest in trade. Pine, oak and chestnut, of the finest quality, were among the commonest kinds of timber. consisting of nine lights of 6 x 8 glass panes, and in one end was a fireplace. The cabin was a story and a half in height and the roof was put on without a nail. In place of a stairway to the upper portion, two upright poles, supplied with pegs for steps, led to an opening in the ceiling, by which means the family ascended to the half story above. At first they were without even a stove or a time piece, or even chairs: but necessity is the mother of invention, and substitutes for these For a considerable period the Wingerts had neither horse nor wagon. When they first set- tled here they had a cow from which they raised a calf to be used as an ox, and then, buying another calf, they had a yoke of cattle to do the work of pulling and hauling. In- stead of a cart or wagon they used a sled, which the father constructed entirely of wood, no iron or nails being used in it; and this was made use of winter and summer. things, which would nowadays be considered absolutely essential, until Mr. Wingert was able to provide them. The crowing of the cocks announcing the dawn, told them when it was time to get up, for there was no lying in bed after there was light enough for them to see to work by, and for the rest of the day until evening, the sun was their clock. For a long time the only roads were cow paths through the woods.
In this cabin home three more children were born-Peter, Jacob and David-the birth of William, our direct subject, having occurred, as we have seen, while the family were so- journing in Jefferson county. The family now numbered ten members and as the sons grew up, each had his duties assigned him. The little clearing was still further enlarged each year ; some of the timber after being felled was burned, as there was no market for it at that time. Much of it, however, owing to the dif- ficulty of felling, was simply killed by having a ring cut clear around through the bark, and it was then left to rot on the stump. A small quantity was made into shingles, which were sold to store keepers at from $5.50 to $6.00 per thousand. These shingles had to be 26
Before long Mr. Wingert bought 100 acres more land, paying for it gradually in hand- shaved shingles, which he made in the winter, attending to the farm work, with the help of his elder sons, in the summer time. He raised enough grain and produce for the family needs on the land already cleared, continuing to prosecute the work of clearing the rest of his purchase, destroying the timber, except such kinds as would split easily for shingles. Such timber, for which there was then no market, would now be worth a large sum.
Having now made a fair start in the estab- lishment of a homestead, he began the erection of a new and more commodious dwelling. This in itself was a task of some magnitude, as there were then no planing-mills in the vi- cinity and everything had to be done by hand,
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the axe and adze being the tools chiefly em- ployed, though the saw and plane were used, the latter in smoothing the lumber for the floors. Logs were hewed on four sides for the uprights, which were carried up two sto- ries. The joists were also planed by hand, as well as the linings and partitions, which were planed on both sides. Nails at that time were very high, $8.00 per hundred. By this time, in addition to their oxen, they had a horse team, Mr. Wingert having previously bought a cheap mare from which a colt was raised, the two animals forming the team, and proving useful in many ways. On the completion of the new house, the family moved into it, the event being a red letter day in the family his- tory. It was regarded by all their neighbors as a good house, and cost them quite a little in money, to say nothing of the heavy labor in- volved. Thus, step by step, and year after year they moved forward to an improved con- dition of life, each member of the family do- ing his full part as he became old enough. The boys all grew to manhood on the homestead, and as the elder ones became of age the father made arrangements with them for their con- tinued stay at home, agreeing to give them each $100 per year in land, besides food and clothing. As the land at that time was selling at $4.00 per acre, it took four years of hard work to pay for 100 acres of land. This ar- rangement was continued until most of the sons owned 100 acres-excepting only the three youngest. These, on the father's final retirement from active labor, received their portion in cash, which, owing to the increase in the value of land, amounted to about $1,000 apiece, Peter becoming the possessor of the old homestead, on the condition that he should contribute one-third to the support of his
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