USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 63
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dence of A. Gocellis, at Falls Creek, which cost $35,000; and the Normal School build- ing at Dayton, Pa. He is a large employer of skilled labor and his men work under the best industrial conditions. He furnishes estimates on any department of building and his facilities are such that he is able to suit all tastes and purses. He is vice president of the Falls Creek Planing Mill, which was established in 1904, with Mr. McHarl as president. He maintains his office at his residence, No. 314 E. Webber Street, Du- Bois.
In 1888 Mr. Work was married to Miss Zelda Colkitt, a daughter of John and Mary (Hoover) Colkitt, and they have three chil- dren : Wilburg, Nora J. and Emma D. Mr. Work is a member of the United Presbyte- rian church. He is very active in the cause of temperance and is chairman of the Prohi- bition party at DuBois. He is a director in the Y. M. C. A. and also is a director in the Citizens' Loan Association.
JAMES W. McGEE, proprietor of the McGee lumber mill in Bell township, was born on the old McGee homestead in this township, May 6, 1846, son of Thomas A. and Mary (Holmes) McGee. He is a grandson of the Rev. James McGee, who with his wife, whose name in maidenhood was Mary Barnhart, came to this section from Center county in 1826. James McGee was the first postmaster at McGee's Mills, when the first mail route was established between Curwensville and Indiana in 1833 and the postoffice has been conducted by one member of the family or another ever since. The first grist mill in this locality
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was built by Thomas A. McGee, and the McGees were charter members in 1860 of the pioneer M. E. church in Bell township. When Troutdale Grange, No. 677, was or- ganized in 1876, H. McGee was its first sec- retary, all of which shows that the family have taken an active and leading part in local affairs ever since their first settlement here in the first half of the 19th century.
Thomas A. McGee, father of our subject, was born in Center county, Pa. His wife, Mary, was the daughter of John and Mary (Atkinson) Holmes. Their family in- cluded three other children besides James, namely: William, who is engaged in the lumber business in California; Henry H., who is a farmer and lumberman residing in Bell township; and Susannah, who is the wife of W. T. Mahaffey, of Clearfield, Pa.
James W. McGee, after his school studies were over, became connected with the lum- ber industry, working for his father, and he has since continued in the business, operat- ing timber lands in this section. For the past fifteen years also he has been inter- ested in timber lands in the South. He has enjoyed a gratifying degree of prosperity and is numbered among the prosperous citi- zens of his township He is well advanced in the Masonic order, belonging to the lodge at Curwensville, the Chapter at Clearfield, Bellfonte Commandery, and the Shrine at Pittsburg.
He was married to Esther E. McGee, of Indiana county, Pa., who was born Febru- ary 2, 1850, at Homer City, that county, daughter of Robert McGee. Mr. and Mrs. McGee are the parents of children as fol- low's : Isabella, is the wife of Charles Sprenkle of Kane, Pa., and has five chil-
dren; William is a bookkeeper residing in Philadelphia and is married; Margaret is the wife of Z. McFarland, of Clearfield county, and has two children; Roger K., is a civil engineer residing in Pittsburg ; Helen S. is a school teacher at Hastings, Pa. ; Ruth is attending the normal school at Indiana, Pa. ; Walter resides at home.
Mr. McGee is a Democrat politically and an active worker for his party. He has served on the school board and in other of- fices. When a young man he had some ex- perience on the river and on one occasion conducted a raft down the river to Lock Haven without assistance, he being the en- tire crew. He has always shown himself a man of activity and resource and is uni- versally recognized as one of the useful citizens of the township.
FRANK SMITH, one of Lawrence town- ship's busy, enterprising and successful men, is in the lumber and saw mill business, owning a portable mill and leasing large tracts of land for his purposes. He was born December 20, 1869, in Girard township, Clearfield county. Pa., and is a son of Isaac and Fanny Smith.
The father of Mr. Smith was a man of con- siderable prominence in Clearfield county, serving many years as a justice of the peace and as secretary of the township school board. and at the time of his death, in January, 1905. owned Soo acres of land, the timber on which is worth $8,000, many hundred acres also be- ing rich in coal deposits. His widow survives and resides on the home farm in Girard town- ship.
Frank Smith obtained a public school edu- cation in Girard township and then went into the lumbering business, in fact has been in-
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terested in this industry from boyhood, having begun by cutting, hauling, and rafting timber to be taken to market via the Susquehanna river. He followed this business, going down the river each year for eighteen succes- sive years, spending the summers in the bark woods, always working by contract where possible.
In 1893 Mr. Smith purchased 300 acres of timber land lying along the West Branch of the Susquehanna river and spent several years in profitably clearing same and in 1908 sold the land to Isaac Stage of Clearfield. Pa. In 1897 he bought one hundred acres of land in West Keating township, Clinton county. When this was cleared he sold, in 1910, to James McGonigal. He has some 750 acres of timber land under lease at the present time, keeps three of his own teams at work and gives constant employment to from five to twelve men. For two years after his mar- riage he resided at Clearfield, where he built a residence and a store and engaged in business as a merchant. He then sold the store to E. L. Shirey and resumed his lumbering inter- ests, first in Bradford township, then in Gra- ham township and later in Lawrence township. Before coming to this section he had already cut more than 2.500 acres of land. Mr. Smith is a practical lumber man and his advice is worth taking concerning everything pertain- ing to this industry. In 1909 Mr. Smith pur- chased 124 acres of coal land in Boggs town- ship, which promises to be profitable when de- veloped.
Mr. Smith married Miss Ora Holt, a daugh- ter of Reuben and Margaret (Forcey ) Holt, and they have one son, Leslie Clair. In poli- tics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Clearfield lodge of Odd Fellows.
ISAAC BEISH, who is one of the best known residents of Boggs township, where he has lived since he was three years old, is also one of the most substantial, being the owner of 235 acres of valuable land here. He was born in Bradford county, Pa., May 7, 1844, and is a son of John and Rachel (Lyons) Beish.
John Beish was a very enterprising business man and was well enough educated to be a successful school teacher for a number of years and to administer in the office of a jus- tice of the peace, in Clearfield county, for thirty years. He also was a lumberman, a farmer, and proprietor of a hotel. He mar- ried Rachel Lyons and they had the following children born to them: Orrila. Isaac, J. J., Emma, and Mary. Emma married Harry Butler, and Mary married John Bumbarger.
Isaac Beish obtained his education in the country schools, in reading, and in association with others. and is a well informed man and one whose judgment is relied on by his fellow citizens. They have elected him. on the Dem- ocratic ticket, to numerous township offices and at present he is serving as school director and as tax collector, and has also been town- ship supervisor. His business interests have always been along the lines of farming and lumbering. .
In 1867 Mr. Beish was married to Miss Ellen Jane Bennehoof, who died in 1900, her burial being in the Bigler cemetery, in Brad- ford township. To Mr. and Mrs. Beish the following children were born: John: Isaac; Lenora, who is deceased: Emma, who is the wife of Ellsworth Ruffner; Lavina, who is the wife of James Twoey: William; Clara, who is the wife of Harvey Knepp: and Howard and Rhoda. Mr. Beish is interested in sev-
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY
cral fraternal organizations, belonging to the Knights of Pythias and the Jr. O. U. A. M .. and is also a member of the Grange.
WILLIAM M. CATHCART, one of Clear- field County's most highly respected retired farmers and substantial citizens, resides on the line separating Knox and Pike Townships and is one of the largest landowners in this section. In addition to 312 acres lying in Knox Town- ship and a one-half interest in 100 acres more in that township, he owns 160 acres lying part- ly in Knox and partly in Pike Township. Mr. Cathcart was born at Ansonville, Clearfield County, Pa., February 24, 1827, and is a son of David J. and Keziah ( Wilson) Cathcart.
David J. Cathcart was born in Ireland but from the age of twelve years spent his life in Clearfield County, Pa. When he reached man- hood he married Keziah Wilson, who was born in New Jersey, and nine children were born to them, namely : Eliza Ann, William M., James, Martha, Mary, Ellen, Amelia, Sarah and Wilson. After marriage David J. Cath- cart and wife located at .Ansonville, where he engaged in farming, shoemaking and teaching school. Later he acquired a farm of 312 acres in Knox Township, the same now owned by his son, William M., and lived on this place until his death, at the age of seventy-seven years and his burial was in private grounds on his own place. His wife lived only to be fifty- five years of age and her burial was in the same place. They were members of the Methodist
Episcopal church. On account of an injury to his knee, Mr. Cathcart did not succeed in clearing more than thirty acres of his land.
William M. Cathcart remembers his early school days at Glen Hope, when logs roughly hewn served as seats in the primitive cabin
where he learned his first lessons. He was twelve years old before he ever saw a real school house, at Turkey Hill, where he at- tended one month. His opportunities were meager, as his services were needed on the farm in the summers and in the woods, getting out timber, in the winters. After his first marriage he settled on a part of the homestead farm and made use of the buildings then standing, but these were later destroyed by fire and he erected new ones. In 1885 he moved to Olan- ta but continued to partially look after his farm interests, although his son, Edward Cathcart, was the general manager of the farm industries. Mr. Cathcart sold some land adjacent to Olan- ta, two acres to a coal copmany, which has been divided into lots and improved; one acre to John Otter: two acres to Charles Norman and one and three-quarter acres to a company at the mines, contracting in the sale of this land that only reputable people shall be admitted as res- idents, in this way insuring a first class citizen- ship. Mr. Cathcart has leased an open coal bank on his farm to the firm of Brown, Snyder & Co. He has had other interests, at one time owning 160 acres of land in California, which he sold, and both he and wife are stockholders in the Curwensville National Bank.
Mr. Cathcart was married first to Martha Jane Read, in June, 1859, a daughter of Ross Read, formerly of Lawrence Township. She died in May, 1893, and her burial was at Mt. Zion Cemetery in Knox Township. She was a member of the Presbyterian church. The five children born to this marriage were as fol- lows: Edward who is now deceased, married Alice Ferguson, and three of their children sur- vive: Edith Ann, who died at the age of eight years : Mary Alice, who died at the age of four years: Emma Olive, who died aged six-
WILLIAM M. CATHCART
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
teen years; and Harry Allen, who is now asso- ciated with his father, relieving him of many responsibilities, resides in Pike Township. He married Rhoda Norris and they have three liv- ing children. In August, 1897, Mr. Cathcart was married to Miss Rebecca Dunlap, a daugh- ter of John and Martha ( Read) Dunlap. Mr. and Mrs. Cathcart are members of the Lutheran church at Olanta. In politics he is a Repub- lican but has never consented to accept any office of a public nature.
JACOB W. CORP. who is engaged in the butchering business and also owns eighty acres of farm land situated one mile east of Luth- ersburg, in Brady township, Clearfield county, Pa., is one of the representative citizens of this township, of which he has been clerk for the past thirty years. He was born in Brady township, in 1839, and is a son of Henry and Mary Corp, natives of Germany.
In 1837 the parents of Mr. Corp came to America and located near Luthersburg, on what is now the Knarr stock farm, having five children at that time, three more being subse- quently born to them. The family record is as follows: Henry W. and Frederick, both of whom are deceased; Elizabeth, deceased. who was the wife of Henry L. Weaver, also deceased: Adam and Lavina, both of whom are deceased, the latter having been the wife of John W. Owens, also deceased: Eliza Ann, deceased, who was the wife of William Wil- son, also deceased: Jacob Walter; and George, who was born in 1841 and now lives in Mis- souri.
The mother of Jacob W. Corp died when he was three years old and his father was ac- cidentally killed by a horse, in 1857. From 1842 until 1855 he grew up in the family of
Peter Arnold and learned practical farming and also was given school opportunities. In 1859 he attended the Clearfield Academy and afterward taught school in Brady and Union townships for some four years, through the winter seasons. In 1870 he started in the butchering business on his farm at Coal Hill, and for twenty years supplied meat to the lumbermen on Anderson Creek, driving his own wagon and frequently covering thirty miles a day. He still operates his wagon and deals quite extensively in livestock. This farm was a wilderness when he bought it from J. M. Armagost but Mr. Corp has cleared it all with the exception of four acres and has put up all the substantial buildings. He is a tire- less worker and through his good manage- ment and business foresight, has a great deal to show for his industry.
On October 3, 1861, Mr. Corp was married to Miss Mary Welty, a daughter of David Welty, of Union township, and they have had these children : Hannah, who is the wife of Os- car Seyler and they have two children-Feli- cia and Eugene: David, who died young; Ira M., who died at the age of eighteen years : Net- tie, who married David Bonsol, and they have four children-Ivan, Oleeta, Oscar and Wal- ter: Eva, who lives at Grampian; Willis, who died at the age of fourteen years; Mary, who married Edward H. Harmon (they have six children-Florence, Raymond, Ralph. Bessie, George and Grace, and live at Helvetia) ; James N., who married Pearl Neff (they have three children-Walter, Melvin and William, and live at Luthersburg). Mr. Corp and fam- ily are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he has been superintendent of the Sunday school for thirty years. Formerly he was an active member of the order of Amer-
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY
ican Mechanics and served three years in the is the widow of W. R. McPherson, of Clear- office of deputy state councilor. He votes as his judgment approves, in local matters and in National affairs gives support to the Prohi- bition party. Mr. Corp is also a member of Pomona Grange.
MILES R. PORTER, who was born in Lawrence township, Clearfield county. Pa., May 12. 1853. is a representative citizen and prosperous farmer of Pike township. where he owns 150 acres of fine land, situated two miles east of Curwensville. His parents were Rob- ert and Jemmima ( Read) Porter.
Robert Porter was born in County Tyrone. Ireland, on November 25. 1815. and came to America in 1835. AAfter a few months spent in Philadelphia, Pa., he came to Lawrence township. Clearfield county, where he found employment as a farmer in the summers and as a lumberman in the winters. He was indus- trious and saving and after his marriage, July 6. 1844. bought 125 acres of land in Lawrence township, three and one-half miles south of Clearfield. For five years prior to that he had rented land and when he moved from the farm in Lawrence township he bought and settled on the farm of 150 acres in Pike township, which is now owned by his son, Miles R. Por- ter. He came here in 1873 and continued to live on this farm until his death, in May, 1898. He was a Democrat in politics and served as school director and road supervisor. As long as he was strong and active he was a hard worker and cleared 100 acres of his first farm. The present one was already cleared when he purchased it. He married Jemmima Read. who died in January. 1903. They were members of the Presbyterian church. The following children were born to them: Elizabeth, who
field ; Emma, who is the widow of R. A. Hol- den, of Clearfield; W. A., who married Susan Conly, of Wilmington, Del; Miles R .; Robert F., who is a practicing lawyer of Kansas City, Mo .: James M., who is a resident of Clear- field: Helen J., who is the wife of James Conly, of Wilmington, Del.
Miles R. Porter attended the Pine Grove school in boyhood. He then spent two years in the high school at Clearfield and attended Normal School two terms. Later he took a commercial course in a business college in Philadelphia, after which he became a school teacher and met with much success in this line of work, having taught in Chest township in Bigler, Woodland and Winterburn. He was principal of the school at the latter place for one term. Mr. Porter then went into the lumber business and for ten years was inter- ested in a saw and shingle mill on Clearfield Creek. After his marriage he settled on this farm and for ten years before his father's death was its manager. In 1904 his house was destroyed by fire and the present substantial one was erected by him the same year. Mr. Porter carries on general farming and also operates a small coal mine on his place.
On June 1. 1898, Mr. Porter was married to Miss Mary K. Bryan, a daughter of Judson and Anna (Longwell) Bryan. Mrs. Porter was born at Savona. N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Porter have two children: Katharine R., who was born October 8. 1899; and Eleanor A., who was born August 30. 1909. They are members of the Presbyterian church at Cur- wensville. Mr. Porter being an elder and a trustee. He is one of the township's substan- tial men, being. a stockholder in the County National Bank, and also of the Farmers and
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
Traders Bank, both of Clearfield. He has been identified with the Democratic party since manhood. Mr. Porter has been a member of Pittsburg Consistory for many years, and he belongs to the Grange at Curwensville.
SAMUEL M. JONES, superintendent of Red Jacket Junior mine, of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, in Boggs township, Clearfield county, Pa., is a thoroughly experienced man in his line of work and is also a representative and substantial citizen of Blue Ball, where he owns considerable real estate. He was born in Franklin county, Pa., August 22, 1857, and is a son of John T. and Sarah Jane (Neal) Jones.
John M. Jones was born in Franklin county, Pa., which was his home through life. He was a son of Samuel Jones, and a grandson of James and Polly Jones. James Jones was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. John T. Jones was a farmer by occupation. He was a loyal and patriotic citizen and served three years in the Civil war. He married Sarah Jane Neal, a daughter of Henry Neal. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jones are now deceased. They were highly esteemed people in their neighbor- hood and were consistent members of the Re- formed church. They had the following chil- dren born to them: Irene D., who is the wife of Rev. Joseph R. Jones, who is pastor of a church of the United Brethren faith, at Balti- more, Md .; Mary S., who is deceased, was the wife of Henry Wright ; Samuel M. ; Susan E., who is the wife of B. F. Guyer; Sarah J., who is now deceased, was the wife of Alexander Hoover; J. H. K .; and Ellen C., who is the wife of B. A. Jones.
Samuel M. Jones was educated in the public
schools in Franklin county and in a Methodist college at Mt. Pleasant, Ia. He then entered the employ of the McCormick Manufacturing Company and became general agent of the Western District, with headquarters at Chi- cago, continuing as such for two years. Mr. Jones returned then to Franklin county for a short time but in 1882 came to Clearfield county. He engaged in farming on a tract of sixty-five acres, in Boggs township, which he owns, afterward taking up his present line of work and has been either mine foreman or mine superintendent ever since. He still owns his farm of 157 acres, in Franklin county, and has a half dozen pieces of improved real estate at Blue Ball.
Mr. Jones was married August 19, 1885, to Miss Allie Johnston, a daughter of Charles Johnston, who now is a resident of Wiscon- sin. Mrs. Jones has one brother, John John- ston. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had fourteen children born to them, all of whom survive ex- cept the eldest, Maggie E. The others are: Jolın V .. Clara Bertha, Harvey E., Bessie V., Earl Mckinley, Sarah, Ida May, Irene, Theo- dore Roosevelt, Paul W., Nora E., Harry P. and Lester. The eldest son, John V., is a sol- dier in the U. S. Army and at present is sta- tioned at Honolulu. Mr. Jones and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a Republican in politics and has served in public office at various times, for a number of years being a member of the school board and twice its president since coming to Blue Ball. He is president of the Clearfield Directors Association and has served in the office of justice of the peace. For many years he has been identified with the Odd Fellows and belongs to the Encampment as well as the
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY
lower branch, and he is a member also of the Elks, the Junior O. U. A. M., and the I. O. O. F.
WILLIAM H. BROWN. a lifelong resi- dent of Clearfield county and a representative business man of DuBois, engaged in the gro- cery business in this borough, is located on the corner of Weber and Church streets. He was born on his father's farm in Huston township, Clearfield county. Pa., October 11, 1861, and is a son of Charles and Mary A. (Goss) Brown.
Charles Brown was born in Armstrong county. Pa. He was a farmer and lumberman for many years and was a well known man in Sandy township. Clearfield county. He mar- ried Mary A. Goss, who was born in Indiana county. Pa., and they both died in Clearfield! county. They had three children: George W., who lives in Sandy township: Samuel I .. who lives in Union township, and William H.
William H. Brown was reared on the home farm and attended the country schools and later the summer sessions of the normal school at Grampian, Pa., after which he taught school for six terms. He then returned to the home farm in Sandy township and later he and his father opened a general store at Sabula, Clearfield county, and afterward, William H. Brown conducted a similar business at Home- camp. In 1905 he came to DuBois and started in the grocery business and moved into his present well arranged quarters in 1909. He carries a large stock of both staple and fancy groceries and conducts his business along those lines which have brought him the confidence and patronage of the best people of the bor- ough.
Mr. Brown was married December 23. 1884, to Miss Hannah Lantz, a daughter of Michael Lantz, of Indiana county, and they have had seven children, namely: Leota, who is the wife of Thomas H. Armstrong, of Ta- coma, Wash .; and Ethel, James, Hazel, Clair, Laviness and Willella. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the German Reformed church. In politics he is a Republican. His only fra- ternal connection is with the P. O. S. of A. Mr. Brown owns a very attractive residence at No. 334 Olive avenue, DuBois.
PROF. H. J. BARRETT, principal of the public schools of Curwensville, Pa., and a can- didate for the office of county superintendent of Clearfield county, Pa., is well known as an educator in different sections and enjoys the confidence and esteem of the people of this borough to a large degree. He was born at Portsmouth. O., January 7, 1870, and is a son of John HI. and Ruby G. Barrett, both of whom are deceased.
H. J. Barrett was educated at Ironton, O .. Wooster University and the University of Chi- cago, after which he became principal of the schools of Toronto, O., where he remained for three years. In 1902 he was called to Cur- wensville and has been remarkably successful in raising the public school standards and in increasing efficiency. He has thirteen teach- ers under his charge and has succeeded in in- spiring them with his own ambitions.
Prof. Barrett was married to Miss Lucinda Lamb, who died in AApril, 1905, and was bur- ied at Wheelersburg, O., her birthplace. She is survived by two children: Elise May, who is with her father, and Katherine Marcia, who is with her grandfather, Willard Lamb, at
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