Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 70

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 70

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George A. Harris obtained his boyhood schooling in Canada. He was thirteen years of age when he left home in order to go to sea and followed life on the water until he was twenty-one years of age. He came to Penn- sylvania at that time and worked as a coal miner until 1905, when he embarked in the mercantile business at Ramey. In 1907 Mr. Harris was elected to the office of justice of the peace and in 1909 was elected burgess and has two more years to serve. He is giving the borough a good business administration, ap- plying to public matters the same methods by

MR. AND MRS. JACOB L. KUNTZ

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which he has been able to advance his personal interests. In politics he is a Republican.

On December 2, 1885, Mr. Harris was married to Miss Sarah Ann James, who was born in Ohio, the eldest daughter of John D. and Mary Ann James, natives of Wales. They had five other children: John D., Hattie, Jennie, Mary Ann and Catherine. To Mr. and Mrs. Harris five children have been born, namely : John W., Mary Ann, Sarah, Helen and George J. The family attends the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Mr. Harris belongs to Lodge No. 990, Odd Fellows, at Houtzdale, to the P. of H., and to the L. O. O. M., at the same place. He has shown himself to be a man of unusual foresight and energy and of- ficially and personally is held in high regard by his fellow citizens. He is a member of the volunteer fire department, of which he is a trustee. His residence, which is situated on Main street, is one of the finest in the place.

JACOB L. KUNTZ, whose farm of 173 acres, lying one mile north of Troutville, Pa., is justly considered one of the best in Brady Township, Clearfield County, is one of the representative men of this section and has been a member of the council of the borough of Troutville ever since he moved to the place from the country, some nineteen years since. Mr. Kuntz was born May 17, 1844, in Lycoming County, Pa., and is a son of Lewis and Su- sanna (Boob) Kuntz.

· Lewis Kuntz was born in 1800, in Bavaria, Germany, where he learned the milling busi- ness. In 1827 he emigrated to America and settled first at Allentown, Lehigh County, Pa., where he operated a mill. From there he moved to Hughesville, in Lycoming County, where he conducted a mill for a Mr. Lyon

for a time and then bought a farm located within six miles of Hughesville, which he sold six years later and moved to Clearfield county, at which time he bought the present Jacob L. Kuntz farm, paying $400 for the place. The only improvement was a log cabin and the land was mainly covered with timber. Six years later he put up a comfortable frame house which stood until 1903 when it was re- placed by a modern ten-room brick structure, which was erected by its present owner. Later in life Lewis Kuntz purchased an adjoining farm and there he died in 1884. He was an excellent business man and was ever a highly respected citizen.

Lewis Kuntz was twice married, first at Mifflinburg, Union county, to Susanna Boob, who was born in Union county, Pa., and died in Clearfield county in 1871, aged sixty-six years. His second marriage was to Margaret Zilliox, who survived him. His children were all born to his first marriage and they were seven in number, as follows: Sarah, who married Henry Kriner and both are deceased; Elizabeth, who is now deceased, was the wife of David Reems; Henry, who died when three years old; John W., who lives at Troutville; Carolina, who is the wife of Jacob Schwem, of Sagamore, Pa .: Jacob L .; Catherine, who is deceased: Emanuel; and Franklin P., the last named having left home thirty years ago, and never since communicating with his family.

Jacob L. Kuntz was three years old when he was brought to Clearfield county, his par- ents making the trip in a big wagon that con- veyed also their household belongings from Lycoming county. He grew to manhood in Brady township and at irregular times at- tended the old fashioned country school but as there was so much work to be done on the

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farm in those days, all the sons had to give help as soon as their strength permitted. Mr. Kuntz remained at home and in 1869 bought the homestead from his father and continued to reside on it until 1892, when he moved to Troutville. All the pine timber and coal on the place have been sold but there is still a val- uable tract of hard-wood timber that com- mands a high price at the present time. Mr. Kuntz owns a comfortable residence in this borough and has other property at Troutville which is also improved.

Mr. Kuntz was married February 3, 1870, to Miss Caroline Knarr, who is a daughter of Henry Knarr and a member of one of the old and substantial families of the county. They have three children, namely: Henry M., who manages his father's farm in Brady township, married Elizabeth Weber and they have had three children-Carrie, Jacob L. and George R .: Mary Alice, who died aged one year ; and Clara, who is the wife of Harry London, of Troutville. Mr. and Mrs. London have two children: Carrie Gladys and Freeda. Mr. Kuntz and family are members of the Re- formed church of which he has always been a liberal supporter. In politics he is a Demo- crat and has served six years on the school board. He belongs to the Grange and to the Odd Fellows.

HENRY HICKMAN, a successful general farmer and respected citizen of Huston town- ship. Clearfield county, Pa., in which is situ- ated his productive farm of 116 acres, situ- ated about three miles from Penfield and known as Sunrise Farm, was born in Prussia- Germany, November 16, 1857. His parents were August and Augusta ( Baker) Hickman, both of whom died in Germany, where the

father was a farmer. Almost all of the chil- dren still reside in Germany.

Henry Hickman grew to military age in his native land and then entered the German army and served three years and four months as a member of the second company in the 13th Regiment. After that he worked in the roll- ing mills until 1885, when he came to America and shortly afterward located at Penfield, Clearfield county, Pa. For one year he was employed in a tannery and during this time he looked about for a tract of land that would suit his fancy and then purchased sixty-five acres of his present farm in Huston township and has been engaged in farming ever since. He cleared his first purchase and gradually added to its acreage and continued to improve the place, in 1907 putting up his present com- fortable residence. Mr. Hickman has shown himself to be a practical, prudent man and through his industry and good judgment has made himself independent.

In 1881 Mr. Hickman was married in Ger- many to Miss Augusta Kincher and they have two children, both born in Germany, namely : Henry, who married Blanche Fossler, and has four children-Henry, Jacob, Sophia and Ed- ward; and August, who is also married and has one son, Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Hick- man are members of the German Lutheran church. He casts his vote with the Democratic party. For some years he has been identified with the order of Red Men.

J. S. McQUOWN, a representative citizen of Lumber City, Pa., who has been interested in lumbering for many years and is an expert timber estimator, was born March 2, 1848, in Indiana county, Pa., and is a son of John and Hannalı ( Wall) McQuown.

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J. S. McQuown was early made an or- phan, his father dying in Indiana county when the son was but eleven years of age and the mother's death following in the next year. He attended school and academy at Covode, Indiana county, and afterward taught one term of school at Richmond in his native county. He then came to Grampian, Clear- field county, and worked at making square timber and later began rafting on the river, for thirty years serving as a pilot. For several years he operated a saw-mill at Bower, for J. W. Bell, and then moved to Lumber City, where he resided for five years, afterward buying eighteen acres of land near Lumber City, from Caleb Moore. This land he has improved with substantial buildings. For twenty years Mr. McQuown has followed the difficult calling of timber estimator and in this capacity he has been called to twenty-three States of the Union, and also in the interest of an eastern syndicate, visited the Bahama Islands, as a professional expert. He has esti- mated tracts that have sold for immense sums and is not surprised at a million-dollar prop- osition.

In 1876 Mr. McQuown was married to Miss Rebecca Amich, who was born at Big Run, Jefferson county, Pa., a daughter of John and Sophia Amich, and they have five children : Edna, who is the wife of William Hepfer, of DuBois, Pa .; Alta, who is the wife of E. B. Ferguson, of Clearfield: Wayne S., who mar- ried Daisy Folks; J. Roe, who is a teacher in the schools of Clearfield county; and C. R., who is a telegraph operator for the New York Central Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. McQuown are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

ROBERT HENDERSON, deceased, was a successful lumberman for many years in Geulich township, Clearfield county, Pa., where, shortly before his death, he had pur- chased a farm of 148 acres, to which he retired and on which he died in the following year. He was born in 1840, in Center county, Pa., and his death occurred January 12, 1899. His parents were David and Mary ( McMonni- gal) Henderson. His brothers and sisters were: Samuel, John, Milton, William, Eva, Mary, Malinda and Anna.

Robert Henderson was married January 2, 1873, to Miss Elizabeth Laughlin, who sur- vives and resides at Ramey, Pa. Her parents were William and Margaret (Hooper) Laughlin. Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin had the following children: Elizabeth, William, Mi- chael, Richard, Mary, Anna, Ellen and Nora. Mr. and Mrs. Henderson became parents of the following children: William A .; Mary G., who is the wife of J. R. Straw; Anna L., who is a teacher in the Ramey schools; and David R.

William A. and David R. Henderson own and operate a first class livery at Ramey, own- ing their buildings and stock and are among the representative business men of the place. In their political views, like their father, they are Republicans. The heirs of Robert Hen- derson own the well improved farm in Geulich township, 108 acres of which is cleared and under cultivation, and they also have a fine residence at Ramey. The family belongs to St. Lawrence Catholic church at Houtzdale, Pa.

T. C. HOYT, proprietor of Hillside Farm, which contains seventy-eight acres and is sit-

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uated in Huston township, Clearfield county, Pa., at Hickory Kingdom, five miles west of Penfield, is one of the leading men and pros- perous farmers of this section. He was born on his father's farm at Hickory, Huston town- ship, December 19, 1844, and is a son of Wil- liam H. and Lydia Ann (O'Neill) Hoyt.

William H. Hoyt was born at Cheshire, Mass., November 7. 1819, a son of Dr. Wil- liam and Roby (Mason) Hoyt, and a grand- son of Seth Hoyt, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. William H. Hoyt was six months old when his parents brought him to Clearfield, which was then a settlement of three houses. He became a farmer, first in Elk county and later moved back to Clearfield county and bought a farm from the English company in Huston township, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring at Hickory, January 2, 1902. He married Ly- dia Ann O'Neil, who was born in Upper Can- ada. June 4, 1825, and accompanied her par- ents to the United States when fifteen years of age. She survived until July 3, 1902, both of her two children surviving her, namely : Theodore C. and Lydia Maria, the latter be- ing the wife of D. Newell, of DuBois, Pa.

T. C. Hoyt grew to manhood according to the manner of country boys, attending school and giving his father help on the farm. In 1870 he bought his farm from his father and has since carried on general agriculture. The larger part of the land he cleared himself and he erected all of the substantial farm build- ings. The location of the land is excellent and gives the place its pleasant-sounding name. Mr. Hoyt grows excellent crops and raises stock for his own use and has bountiful or- chards.

to Miss Margaret Beer, who died July 4, 1896. Five children survived her, namely : Edson D., married Agnes Henderson, and they have four children-Emmett G., Margaret I., Theodore C. and Mary Olive; Amanda, married M. S. Dunlap, and they have one child, Gladys M .; George W., married Vida Davis, and they have four children-Ruth, Josephine, John P. and Catherine; Mary, married Charles Ber- key, and they have six children-Charles E., George R., Margaret D., Agnes M., Harry D. and Dorsey W .; Raymond E., who is post- master at Tyler, Pa .. married Anna Dodd, and they have one child, Dorsey.

Mr. Hoyt was married secondly, April 13, 1898, to Mrs. Salinda (Beer) Burns, daugh- ter of William Beer and widow of James Burns. Mrs. Burns had two children: Mary C., who is the wife of Lewis Sherwood and has three children-James B., Frances Louise and Edna May; and Edith, who married Wil- liam R. Henderson and has three children- James L., Mabel C. and Albert.

In politics Mr. Hoyt is a Republican and he has frequently been selected by his party for important township offices. For seventeen years he served on the school board, for three years was overseer of the poor and for nine years was assessor. He has always been much interested in the Grange, of which he is a member. For forty-six years he has been a class leader in the Methodist Episcopal church and for twenty-seven years was superinten- dent of the Sunday school.

HARRY E. WAGNER, owner and pro- prietor of a general store at Ramey, Clearfield county. Pa., was born in this county in 1868 and is a son of William and Harriet (Wes-

Mr. Hoyt was married first, June 20, 1867, ley) Wagner.

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William Wagner has spent his life in Clear- field county and during his active years fol- lowed lumbering. He has always been identi- fied with the Democratic party. He married Harriet Wesley, who was born also in Clear- field county and died about 1880. To William Wagner and wife four children were born: Harry E .; Edith, who is the wife of E. C. Da- vis ; Frank; and Chace.

Harry E. Wagner attended the public schools and since then has been almost contin- uously engaged in the mercantile business. In 1895 he started for himself, in a small way at first, but has shown much business ability in the development of his enterprise, carrying now a large and well assorted stock and occu- pying a commodious building which he erected in 1904. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Wagner is now serving in the borough coun- cil and formerly was auditor and for a num- ber of years was a member of the school board. He is well known all over Gulich township and is numbered with the honorable and successful business men of this section.

In March, 1893, Mr. Wagner was married to Miss Josephine Westover, a daughter of David and Hannah (Baldwin) Westover, res- idents of Clearfield county. Mrs. Wagner has the following brothers and sisters: Aaron, Joseph, Cecelia, Elizabeth, Dessie, Anna and Sadie. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner have four chil- dren: Edward, Lazeffa, Bernice and Marie. Mr. Wagner and family attend the Methodist Episcopal church. He is identified fraternally with the Masons at Osceola and the P. O. S. of A., at Ramey.

JOSEPH A. DOLL, owner and proprietor of the South Fork Farm, containing forty-five acres, situated in Huston township, Clearfield

county, Pa., two and one-half miles west of Penfield, was born in Alsace Loraine, now Germany, September 4, 1847. He is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Leitzick) Doll, natives of the same place, where they spent their lives, the father being a farmer. They had seven children: Frank, Jacob, Joseph A., George, Alice, John and Mary.

The first twenty years of his life Mr. Doll spent on his father's farm, after which he spent five years in the German army, being a member of the 4th Marines. During the French and German war he was stationed with his company on an important island near the African border. At the close of this war that continued for three years he was honorably discharged and was paid the sum of $1,600, covering the five years of service during which he had proved a brave and obedient soldier. After a short visit home, in 1873 he came to America, the journey consuming twenty-four days at that time. He located first at Wil- liamsport, Pa., where he worked in a lumber yard for some months and then came to Clear- field county and worked for one year on the grading of the Pennsylvania road-bed. Mr. Doll then decided to engage in farming and rented land near his present farm in Huston township, from William Woodward, where he remained for five years. He then pur- chased his first five acres of his South Fork farm, from Edward Bunday, and to the orig- inal purchase continued to add from time to time, buying from John DuBois. He erected all the buildings and otherwise improved the place. His land is well watered by Bennetts Branch Creek, that runs through the farm, which is also crossed by the B. & S. Railroad. Mr. Doll was married April 31, 1877, to Miss Margaret Barner, who was born in

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Clearfield county, a daughter of Gebhardt however, and he next made a line around Barner. Mr. and Mrs. Doll have three chil- dren: Frank, Edward and Arthur, who assist in managing and operating the farm. Polit- ically Mr. Doll is a Democrat and is serving in his ninth year as road supervisor, having been elected and re-elected without solicitation on his part. He is identified with the local Grange. With his family he belongs to the Roman Catholic church. He is one of Huston township's most respected citizens.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER REAMS, who is one of the best known citizens of Decatur township, Clearfield county, Pa., where he has lived since he was nine years old, was born December 25, 1836, at Phil- ipsburg, Center county, Pa., in a building on the present site of the Coal Exchange Hotel. His parents were John and Frances (Karney) Reams.

another fifty-acre claim, at what is now known as Hudsonville, and this land he disposed of for $25 to John Gearhart. The next claim he took was one of ninety acres, it being the same on which his son, Curtis Reams, now lives. This place, with the help of his boys, he cleared off, destroying tim- ber at that time which, if now standing, would represent a fair fortune. One trou- ble that the early settlers all experienced was the difficulty of protecting their stock from the wild animals that then were nu- merous in the forest, and even human be- ings were not always safe in the primitive log cabins. There was a time when a roar- ing fire was built in the cabin when John Reams and wife and children lay down on their beds of hemlock boughs at night, as the only way of preventing the dangerous visits of wolves and panthers. John Reams and wife died and were buried in the Crain cemetery, half a mile from Osceola, in De- actur township.

Both parents of Mr. Reams were born in Penn's Valley, Lycoming county, Pa., where they married. After the birth of two children, they moved to Philipsburg. The Eight children were born to John and Frances Reams, as follows: Samuel, who died in infancy; Frederick, who also died young; Lydia, who died in 1910, aged ninety years (was the wife of William A. Bloom) : Sophia, deceased, who was the wife of Andrew Baughman ; Curtis, who re- sided in Decatur township, but died Thurs- day, April 20, 1911, aged 87 years, and was buried beside his wife at Osccola; John, who also lives in Decatur township: Mary Ann, now deceased (was the wife of Andrew Gardner, of Tyrone) ; and William Alex- ander. present thriving borough was then but a small settlement and there was not enough work in the place to keep an active man, like John Reams, profitably and continu- ously employed, therefore he accepted work as far away as Warrior's Mark, in Hunt- ingdon county, and walked the distance to and from. In 1845 he moved to Decatur township, Clearfield county, and took up an improved claim, where the old brick plant was located, near Osceola Mills, where he had about fifty acres. This land he soon sold but received only $10 in cash, money being exceedingly scarce at that time in William A. Reams, who was the young- this section. He was quite enterprising, est child of his parents, had but few school

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opportunities in his youth, his education having been mainly acquired through read- ing and contact with others. He went into the woods to work while still young and for many years was in the employ of John M. Chase, and was foreman and acted in other capacities. He also was a pilot on the Sus- quehanna River, a position requiring both physical courage and skill, and rafted from Glen Hope to Marietta, Pa., and Peach Bottoms. He spent twenty-five years on the water and during four or five seasons was a cook on the log rafts and efficiently performed the duties of this necessary posi- tion on log drives that went as far as Wil- liamsport. For the last twenty-four years Mr. Reams has been opening fire clay and coal mines for the Philipsburg Coal and Land Company, which has its office in New York City, his duties taking him all over Decatur township and into Center county. He was exceedingly active until 1908, since when his duties have not been quite so ex- acting but still earns a very substantial sal- ary with the company with which he has been so long identified.

Mr. Reams was married October 28, 1860, to Miss Sarah Miles, who was born one mile from Madera, Pa., in what is now Big- ler township, Clearfield county. She is a daughter of Lyman and Margaret (Hite) Miles, her father belonging to an old Maine family which came to Clearfield county in pioneer days. Her mother was reared in Huntingdon county, Pa. To Lyman and Margaret Miles the following children were born: Mary, who married Lemuel Alex- ander (both now deceased) ; George, who is deceased: Martha, who married John Cathcart (both now deceased) : Sarah, who

is the wife of William A. Reams; and Henry, Edward, Walker and James, all of whom live at Madera, Pa. Mrs. Reams is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Reams is nominally a Democrat but is an independent voter in local matters and he has been elected at different times to al- most all the township offices. He is a mem- ber of the order of Golden Eagles.

Mr. Reams is a very entertaining conver- sationalist and his recollections of condi- tions and events which at one time pre- vailed in this section bring pictures of those days easily to the imagination. Reared in a but partially settled neighborhood, his boyhood was spent amid surroundings that belong to a long past time. Wild game as well as savage animals abounded in the for- est at that time, and in his day of youthful strength, he was a great hunter and prob- ably killed more deer than any other man in either Clearfield or Center counties. He remembers that he killed his first deer when he was only eleven years of age and since then more than 400 have fallen before his accurate marksmanship. Indeed, in those early days, it was necessary for some mem- ber of the family to be more or less of a hunter, as the meat that sustained life had to be found either in the forest or in the streams, which latter, in his day, were full of trout. He also excelled as a fisherman and he tells in an amusing way how his good wife, one season, attempted to keep count of the fish he caught, but after her tally reached 1,300 she grew tired and per- haps the total would have doubled the amount. Amusements were not wanting, however, in what. to the present genera- tion, seems must have been a life of more

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or less constant toil, but the friendly feeling that existed among people at that time brought about much sociability and visit- ing. The present day commercialism was not known and people were more consid- ered for their worth than their worldly pos- sessions. Hospitality was universal and a stranger was kindly welcomed, his wants attended to and he was sent on his way. It is but natural that Mr. Reams should re- call the old days as he looks back so many years and sees the wonderful changes that have taken place in every direction. In all the practical development in his immediate neighborhood he has shared and has done his full duty as a citizen.

C. P. CARR, justice of the peace in Pike township, where he owns a valuable farm of 100 acres, situated three and one-half miles northeast of Curwensville, Pa., was born June 6, 1855, in Bradford township, Clearfield county, Pa., and is a son of Ben- jamin and a grandson of Asil Carr.

Asil Carr was probably born in New York, and when he came first to Pennsyl- vania settled at Red Bank, in Clarion county. Possibly he married there, his wife's name being Katherine, and when he moved to Lawrence township, near Center Church, he was accompanied by his wife and four sons and one daughter, bearing the following names: Benjamin, Alexan- der, Richard, William and Jane. He spent the remainder of his life in Lawrence town- ship, mainly engaged in work as a mill- wright, and built many dams on the river. His death occurred at the age of seventy years and his burial was at Center Church.

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Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 70

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