USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 76
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Mr. Bailey was joined in marriage with Mary E. Neaper, of Pike Township, and they. have three children: Paul, who mar- ried Catherine Kelley, resides in Lawrence township: Clarke, and Chester. The re- ligious connection of the family is with the M. E. Center Church, of which Mr. Bailey is a trustee.
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ROBERT H. McGARVEY, one of the representative citizens of Chest Town- ship, a general farmer operating 180 acres, was born on this place, the old Anthony McGarvey homestead, June 10, 1855, and is a son of Anthony McGarvey.
After he had finished attending school, Mr. McGarvey engaged in farming for his father until 1881 and then went to Utah- ville, where he was in a lumber business for eighteen months. He moved from there to Jordan Township, where he fol- lowed farming for one and one-half years and in 1884 moved to Ansonville. In 1885 he moved to Gazzam, Pa., where he con- ducted a mercantile business and was post- master for three years, when he returned to the homestead and conducted opera- tions here until 1893, when he moved to Cambria County, where he resumed mer- chandising and also was again appointed postmaster. In 1894 he was elected a jus- tice of the peace for that borough and served for five years. In 1900 he again came back to the farm and has done a large amount of clearing here, cutting timber for the saw mill. He has been an active business man for so many years and at dif- ferent points that he is widely known.
Mr. McGarvey was married first, in May, 1879, to Miss Emma McQuown, who died February 2, 1888, at the age of thirty-one years, eleven months and three days. He was married second, June 25, 1890, to Miss Anna Martha Fowler, a daughter of Rob- ert and Eliza (Fleming) Fowler, and a granddaughter of James and Sarah Fowler and William Fleming and wife, all natives of Ireland in the older generation. The parents of Mrs. McGarvey settled in Chest
Township in 1849, where the father fol- lowed farming during all his active years, his death occurring in 1899, at the age of seventy-one years. The mother of Mrs. McGarvey lives at Ansonville. The Fow- ler family consisted of the following chil- dren : Sarah, who is the wife of J. W. Straw, of Jordan Township; Richard James, who is deceased; John Fowler, who lives in Cambria County, married Eva McCully ; Emma, who died in infancy ; William, who is in the lumber business in West Virginia ; and Mrs. McGarvey, who is the third in order of birth.
To Mr. and Mrs. McGarvey nine chil- dren have been born, namely : Minta Ellen, born September 24, 1891 ; Olin A., born De- cember 6, 1892; Lois Edna, born May 9, 1894; Genevieve Marie, born November 24, 1895; Alvin Delmont, born November 29, 1897; Hazel Eliza, born March 9, 1900; Joel Wilson, born April 22, 1903: Olive Delrose, born November 13, 1904, and Del- ma Belle, born December 8, 1907. Mrs. McGarvey is a member of the Methodist Protestant church. Mr. McGarvey has been identified with the Masonic fraternity since 1897, attending lodge at Ebensburg, Pa. In politics a Republican, he has fre- quently been the choice of his party for office.
JOHN W. YOUNG, who satisfactorily combines general farming and coal operat- ing on a tract of seventy-one acres of ex- ceedingly valuable land, which he owns in Ferguson Township, Clearfield County, Pa., has given his property the pleasant name of Clover Root farm and as such it is known all over the county. He was born
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in Center County, Pa., March 24, 1848, and is a son of Albert and Mary (Wagoner) Young.
Albert Young came to Clearfield County with his wife and six of their children, two having previously died in Center County. Three of the family survive, namely : John W., Mrs. Mary Kester, and Mrs. Sophia McMurray, all of whom live in Clearfield County. Albert Young bought fifty acres of land in Ferguson Township, the same now being owned by his son, which was entirely unimproved. He cleared the land and cultivated it according to the old and systematic methods of the Dutch, among whom he had learned farming. The land responded to his care and it is now con- sidered some of the most productive soil in the township, Mr. Young producing 100 bushels of corn to the acre and other crops with corresponding yields.
John W. Young attended the country schools in boyhood but as soon as he was old enough to profitably handle a farm im- plement, there was work for him to do. He carries on general farming. occasionally doing a little trucking and giving some at- tention to raising stock. For the past twelve years he has been operating a coal bank which is on the old homestead farm, and has the third opening on the 32-inch vein of coal, taking out some ten thousand bushels of coal annually. Mr. Young and his son do the most of the mining them- selves and also do the delivering. They own some fifty acres of this rich coal land. Twenty acres of the farm is covered with second growth timber.
with his wife Elizabeth, were old residents of Ferguson Township. Mr. and Mrs. Young have been the parents of thirteen children : Elizabeth, Lydia, George, Minta, Albert, Mollie. Sadie, William, Erla, Dove, Leslie, Ruth and Imo. Elizabeth was married to Charles Strong : had one child, is now de- ceased. Lydia married Walter Maurer; they have three children. George is mar- ried to Bertha Witherite: they have seven children. Minta married John Lang : have seven children. AAlbert married Alice Wil- liams; have four children. Mollie married Clark Witherite: they have four children. Sadie married Clark Woods and they have five children. William married Lucy Wil- liams, and they have two children. Dove has been recently married to Warren Cur- rey. Erla, Leslie, Ruth and Imo still re- side at home. Mr. Young and family at- tend the Baptist church at Kerrmoor, of which they are members. In politics he is a Democrat.
THOMAS E. KEEN, who has earned his present life of ease and now lives in com- fortable retirement on his valuable farm of ninety-nine acres, which is situated in Sandy Township, about two miles south- west of DuBois, is an honored veteran of the great Civil War and a member of the Grand Army Post at DuBois, Pa. He was born September 11, 1833, at a small lum- bering village, known as Union Mills, in the State of Maine, and was the eldest of a large family born to Alby and Nancy ( Es- terbrooks) Keen, natives of Maine. The father was a millwright and lumberman.
When Thomas E. Keen was fifteen years
Mr. Young married Miss Mary McCrack- en, a daughter of Green MeCracken, who, of age he shipped as cabin boy on a sailing
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vessel and during his several years on the water, crossed the Atlantic Ocean several times. He was still a young man when he came to Pennsylvania and at first was em- ployed at Harrisburg and came from there to Williamsport, where he found summer work in a saw mill and winter employment in the woods. Later he spent some time at lumbering but before the outbreak of the Civil War, had returned to Williamsport. He was one of the first of the patriotic young men of that place to enlist, on April 23, 1861, becoming a member of Co. D, IIth Pa. Vol. Inf., contracting for three months, and this regiment was the first one sent to the front. At the expiration of his first term he reenlisted, entering Co. A, 177th Pa. Vol. Inf., for nine months and during this time he was promoted to be second sergeant and served as such through- out this enlistment. The end of the war seeming then to be far away, he enlisted for a third time, entering Co. B. 7th Pa. Vol. Cav., in which he continued until the close of the Rebellion. Although he was ever at the post of duty and took part in many battles and long and dangerous marches, he was never wounded, his near- est approach being when his canteen was shot from his side. He was captured but once, on August 23, 1865, but was dis- charged three weeks later according to general orders from the War Department.
At the close of his honorable military service, Mr. Keen returned to Williams- port and resumed work in the lumber camp. He secured employment at the Stark- weather & Munson Lath Mill, and later at DuBois in the DuBois Mill, where he had charge of the lath and picket mills Du-
Bois was then a very small place, being given over entirely to lumbermen but they proved to be such a solid and reliable class of men that in a very short time every in- dustry and line of business was represented, schools and churches were built and the vil- lage developed the population of a town and soon grew to the importance of a bor- ough. Mr. Keen has watched all this growth with much interest and can tell of it all in a very entertaining way. In 1875 he moved to his present farm, which he had bought from John DuBois, for $20 per acre, being able to pay for the same by selling the timber off the place. At first he content- edly lived in a log shanty, which, with a log barn, were the only improvements on the place, but later he built his present comfortable farm-house and substantial barn, both being of modern style of con- struction. He engaged in cultivating his land until recent years, when he shifted his heavier responsibilities to the shoulders of his son, William E. Keen.
On March 14, 1866, Mr .- Keen was mar- ried to Miss Susan J. Pass, who is a daugh- ter of Charles Lloyd and Mary (Kulp) Pass. Her grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and was a member of the Pass family of ironworkers, at Phila- delphia, that recast the Liberty Bell. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Keen and they also have a goodly number of grandchildren and have also lived to see their name perpetuated into the third gen- eration. The family record is as follows : Elizabeth May, who is the wife of Frank Carbaugh, residing in Sandy Township, and they have ten children and are grand- parents ; Alba, who married Della Dickson,
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lives at DuBois, and they have five chil- dren; Charles 1., who was accidentally drowned when eight years of age ; William E., who married Lottie Skinner, operates the home farm and they have eight chil- dren; Winnifred, who resides in Sandy Townshop, married Grace Spafford and they have two children: Amanda G., who is the wife of Charles F. Liddle, of Sandy Township, and they have four children; and Rewel W., who resides at DuBois, married Sadie Thompson, and they have two children. Mr. and Mrs. Keen are well known and at their hospitable home enter- tain many guests. In earlier years Mr. Keen was an active member of the order of Knights of Pythias. He is a Republican in politics and keeps well posted as to party affairs and prospects as well as to all that is taking place in this great country which his soldierly valor helped to preserve intact. :
MISS MARGARET HOYT, who is a representative of one of the best known and most substantial families of Clearfield County, Pa., continues to reside on the old Hoyt farm of 400 acres, situated in Green- wood Township, in which she owns a one- third interest. Miss Hoyt was born at Cur- wensville, Pa., December 10, 1836, and is a daughter of Dr. and Mary ( McClure) Hoyt.
Dr. Hoyt came of Connecticut stock, of the same family that, as history tells us, ninety days before the signing of the Dec- laration of Independence, July 4, 1776, had prepared a similar declaration and had is- sued it. This fact indicates that the Hoyts were men of enterprise, patriotism, and courage and the same traits have been mani- fested in the later generations.
The father of Miss Hoyt was born Sep- tember 12, 1793, at Hudson, N. Y., a son of Phineas and Julia Anna (Pennoyer) Hoyt. He was afforded excellent educational ad- vantages and appears to have spent his boy- hood and youth in study, at one time being a pupil at Dartmouth College. He studied medicine with Dr. Woodward and Dr. White, in Otsego County and received his medical degree in 1818, locating for practice in Half Moon Township, Center County, Pa. Shortly afterward he moved to Pike Township, Clearfield County, making the trip on horseback, and carrying his posses- sions with his medicines in his saddlebags, which have been preserved by his daughter, Miss Hoyt. He engaged in medical prac- tice and later engaged also in merchandis- ing at Curwensville. In 1842 he moved to Greenwood Township, near Lumber City and Kerrmoor, where he built a mill in 1843, which he later deeded to his son, David Hoyt. He acquired about 1000 acres of fine timber land in Clearfield County. He lived into honored old age, his death occurring in February, 1885. He was widely known and was universally respected.
Dr. Hoyt was married in January, 1820, to Miss Mary McClure, a daughter of Thomas McClure, of Pike Township, Clear- field County. They lived in Pike Township, near McClure's Cemetery, until after the birth of four children, and then moved to Curwensville, where the six younger chil- dren were born. The family record is as follows: Hiram, who was born in 1821, died in 1824; Julianna, who was born in 1823, died in 1824: Harriet, who was born .April 9, 1825, died in February, 1906; David Wil- son, who was born April 13, 1828, died in
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1889; Elizabeth M., who was born May 29, vember 9, 1850, in Indiana County, Pa., and 1830, is the widow of Martin Watts, to is a member of one of the old and substan- tial families of that county. She is a daugh- ter of John and Sarah (DeArmy) Telford, and the widow of John WV. Telford, who was one of the most respected citizens of West- over. whom she was married January 18, 1854; Mary E., who was born November 2, 1832, married Martin Stirk, and died December 4, 1863 ; Margaret, who was born December 10, 1836; Christianna, who was born Sep- tember 21, 1840, died August 21, 1843; and two sons, died in infancy. The mother of the above family died in September, 1886. Both she and husband were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. For many years their hospitable home was the center of a great deal of the pleasant social life of the time in this section.
Miss Margaret Hoyt was the seventh born in her parents' family. She remembers attending school in one of the early build- ings standing on Filbert Street, Curwens- ville, where Mr. Ross was the teacher, and also a subscription school taught by Miss Goodfellow. After her parents moved to the present farm in 1842, she had school opportunities in Ferguson Township and recalls William T. Thorp, Sr., as a favorite teacher. Her father's house always being one of lavish hospitality, distinguished guests were often entertained and around the generous board or at the fireside she heard all the important questions of the day discussed. Miss Hoyt still retains much in- terest in what is going on in the world and is a very capable business woman. In ad- dition to the land interest already men- tioned, she is a stockholder in several banks.
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MRS. LAVINA TELFORD, a well known and highly esteemed resident of Westover, Chest Township, was born No-
John Stake, father of Mrs. Telford, was born in 1812, in Franklin County, Pa., and in early life accompanied his parents, Fred- erick and Elizabeth (Read) Stake, to In- diana County. John Stake was a farmer and during his entire life from the age of twelve years, he lived in Indiana County. He was a member of the Evangelical church. He married Sarah De Army, who was born in 1813, in Indiana- County, and was a daughter of William and Betsey (Bowers) De Army, early residents of Brush Valley. The mother of Mrs. Tel- ford died July 16, 1895, the father having passed away March 20, 1886. They had eight children, three of whom survive: La- vina ; Elizabeth, who is the widow of James Moos, of Groveton, Pa. ; and Jeremiah, who is a farmer near Cherry Hill. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Telford was a trans- porting agent in the early days before rail- roads had been built in Indiana County and carried both individuals and merchandise from both east and west.
Lavina Stake grew up under the careful and judicious training of a wise and tender mother and from the age of nine years until her marriage, was the mother's main assist- ant in the duties of the household. In 1873 she was married to John W. Telford, who was born in Indiana County, Pa., May 3. 1841, and died in 1884. His parents were Alexander and Elizabeth (Wareham) Tel-
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY
ford, of Black Lick, Pa. One sister and one brother of Mr. Telford survive : Mary, who is the wife of Joseph Westover, residing at Mahaffey: and James, living in Indiana County.
John W. Telford was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served with effi- ciency and was honorably discharged. His burial was the first soldier's interment in the Westover Cemetery. He was a suc- cessful business man and was engaged both in farming and stock dealing. A part of Westover bears the name of Telford, in his honor. He was never interested to any great degree in politics, but he was a con- sistent member of the Baptist church and a liberal supporter of the same. Mrs. Telford has passed almost all of her married life at Westover and has a wide circle of friends here. She is interested in church and social affairs and to some degree is a business woman, very capably taking care of her own interests.
ELI L. PASSMORE, who has been the owner of the farm on which he was born, September 12, 1849, ever since he was six- teen years of age, is one of the substantial, reliable and representative men of Green- wood Township, Clearfield County, Pa. His parents were Joseph A. and Caroline (Hoover) Passmore.
Joseph A. Passmore was born in Bailey Settlement, in Pike Township, Clearfield County, where he had but limited school opportunities. After his marriage he lived in Bell, now Greenwood Township, where he was the third settler to begin the clear- ing of land. He lived here until after the birth of all of his children, but died in Mc-
Kean County, November 17, 1908. In poli- tics he was a Democrat. He married Caro- line Hoover, who was born in Brady Town- ship, Clearfield County, February 27, 1827, a daughter of Peter and Mary Hoover. She died October 5. 1901. They both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Lumber City. They were united in marriage in 1848 and were permitted to spend sixty years together. Seven chil- dren were born to them, namely: Eli L .; Allen, who was born June 13, 1851, and died May 1, 1855; Warren, who was born April 2, 1853. is a resident of Mckean County ; Peter, who was born November 11, 1856, died August 24, 1857: Mary Theresa, who was born June 27. 1858, died August 3, 1907, and was the wife of John Derrick ; Frampton B., who was born November 5, 1860, died July 6, 1907; and Lewis H., born July 29, 1863, who died June 23. 1864.
In Mr. Passmore's boyhood the nearest schoolhouse was a log structure, which he attended irregularly for two years and there laid the foundation of his education. In 1859 he had additional advantages in the Bell township school but his assistance was soon required on the home farm and books had to be put aside. When he was not more than ten years old he had to walk back and forth to Curwensville to carry merchandise and frequently in those days did not reach home with the heavy load on his back, until after night. He was not much more than ten years old when he began lumbering on the river and continued increasing his op- erations and usefulness as he grew older, until the industry was no longer profitable as a business. When sixteen years of age he came into possession of the homestead,
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107 acres lying along the west branch of the Susquehannah River, one-half of which is still in valuable timber. He has always been a man of industry and even yet, when he can have plenty of assistance, declines to become a mere figurehead, still carrying on his farm work with vigor and according to his own methods. All the comfortable buildings on the place he has put here, sup- planting the earlier ones erected by his father.
Mr. Passmore was married January 23, 1870, to Miss Carrie Hall, who was born at Center Corner, Lawrence Township, Clear- field County, February 26, 1843, a daughter of John and Nancy (Passmore) Hall, and a granddaughter of Abraham Passmore. Mrs. Passmore was educated in the old brick academy at Curwensville and the old academy at Slearfield, and was a success- ful teacher in the schools for four terms, teaching one term in each of the townships of Bradford, Knox, Huston and Bell. To Mr. and Mrs. Passmore nine children have been born, as follows : Charles A., who mar- ried Gertrude Hyatt, and resides at Ken- shaw, Pa .; Walter, who lives in Mckean County, married Olive Porter; Alice, who died at the age of four years ; Maggie, who is deceased; Alta, who is the wife of Roy McClure, of Curwensville ; Lulu, who is the wife of Clarence McCracken ; Ellis and Ira, twins, the latter of whom married Sadie Bailey; and George. Mr. Passmore and family are members of the Baptist church.
GEORGE B. WACHOB, one of the leading men of Brady Township, master of Pomona Grange, and owner of 100 acres of valuable land which is situated one mile
north of Luthersburg, is one of the most successful and enterprising farmers, stock men and dairymen in this section. He was born March 22, 1859, in Armstrong County, Pa., and is a son of James C. and Mary Ann (Gorley) (Miller) Wachob.
James C. Wachob was born at what is known as the Stone House, near Ringgold, Jefferson County, Pa., grew to manhood there and was first married to Mrs. Mary Ann (Gorley) Miller. She was a widow and had four children: William, James, Lewis and David Miller. From Jefferson County James C. Wachob moved with his family to Armstrong County and from there to Indiana County, where his wife died, in February, 1869. They had four children : George Barnard, John, Thomas and Rus- sell, Thomas being now deceased. James C. Wachob was married second, to Mary Rider, who still lives on the old farm. His death occurred in 1901, when he was aged fifty-nine years. To James C. Wachob's second marriage, three children were born: Maggie, wife of John Shaffer; Sarah, wife of William Shaffer ; and James. In his early manhood, James C. Wachob drove a stage covering the distance between Clarion and Bellefonte, and it sometimes happened that he spent twenty-four hours on the top of his conveyance, during periods of bad weather. Later he purchased a farm in North Mahoning Township, Indiana County, Pa., and devoted the remainder of his life to its cultivation.
George B. Wachob was quite small when the family moved to Indiana County but he recalls that the journey was made in an old four-horse English box-wagon. The loss of his mother was deeply felt and he attended
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY
school but a short time afterward, deciding to leave home and make his own way in the world. He was only fourteen years of age at that time. His first employer was his uncle, John Gorley, who was a farmer in Indiana County, and he paid his nephew wages of $9.25 a month. This good uncle also gave him a cow, which was the begin- ning of his business in livestock. After leaving his uncle he worked at farming for three years for the late John T. Kirkpatrick, at Barnard, in Armstrong County, after- ward following rafting and lumbering at Big Run. He then went to Luthersburg and engaged for a time in teaming for the pottery, under Joseph Silers and Mr. Kirk. In 1890 he returned to Armstrong County, where he followed farming for one year, and then worked three years in a saw mill, for D. H. Waggle, in Clinton County, Pa. Prior to this he had kept hard at work but had not been able to lay much money aside, but during his stay in Clinton County, he was able to save $600, and this was his real start.
It was just about this time that Mr. Wachob bought two small pigs of full blooded stock, from the well known stock- man, L. B. Silver, of Cleveland, had them shipped to Renova and then brought them to his present place. He named one of these William Breckenridge and the other Made- line Pollard, taking names that were then prominently before the public. The former proved a prize winning animal at the sub- sequent fair at Grampian, and later dressed 824 pounds.
In 1895 Mr. Wachob started into the dairy business and has the oldest milk route in DuBois, and supplies the best class
of residents as well as the hotels and most exclusive restaurants. He does a very large milk business and has shown much enter- prise in other directions. One of his lines is the manufacture of a certain brand of sausage, which he puts up in a very attrac- tive style, enclosing the edible in a hygienic wrapper. This product cannot be supplied fast enough for its market. He has about forty head of fine blooded cattle, beginning his herd with Pauline Paul stock, Holsteins, purchased from the Hayes stock farm of Cleveland, O. Later he introduced a full blooded Jersey strain. In 1910 he went to New York and there bought cattle from Stephenson & Son and from Stephenson Bros., large and well known cattle dealers. Later in the same year, Mr. Wachob and his son purchased six head of cattle from the Mudget farm, New York. In 1897 Mr. Wachob built the first silo in Brady Town- ship, to which he has added and this method of preserving green food the year through has kept his cattle in the very finest condi- t1011.
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