USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 99
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George W. Robbins was born in Dauphin county, Pa., in 1815, and went to school at Milton. Pa., and from there came to Pike township. Clearfield county, in 1840. There he married Margaret E. Bloom, a daughter of John and Susanna Bloom, and they lived on a
small farm in Pike township until after the birth of all their children, eight in number, namely: Zephaniah, Mary Jane, Lewis C., Annie. Eretta, Sarah, B. F., and James H. George W. Robbins owned two acres of land in Pike township, on which Mrs. Isaac Cald- well now resides. In 1869 he moved on the farm which is now owned by his son, Lewis C., about twenty acres of which was cleared, and his subsequent life was devoted to farm- ing. He was a member of the Presbyterian church at Curwensville. In politics he was a stanch Democrat all his life. His death oc- curred at the age of sixty-seven years and his burial was in the McClure cemetery, near Curwensville.
Lewis C. Robbins attended the Robbins school in Pike township and also the public schools of Curwensville, after which he as- sisted on the home farm and about 1874 be- came the owner of his present property. He has his land all under cultivation with the ex- ception of ten acres and has erected adequate and substantial buildings.
On May 11. 1876. Mr. Robbins was mar- ried to Mrs. Jennie A. (Wolfe) Frye, widow of William Frye and daughter of Charles and Margaret (Ambrose) Wolfe. Mrs. Robbins' father was born in Dauphin county. Pa., and lost his life through accident, at Glen Hope, Clearfield county, at the age of fifty-six years. His wife was born in Center county and died aged thirty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe had four children: Isaac A., William A., Franklin P. and Jennie A. They were mem- bers of the Presbyterian church. By her first marriage. Mrs. Robbins had one daughter, Emma F., who is the wife of Thomas Wil- liams of Wilkensburg. Mr. and Mrs. Wil- liams have children, Mary Margaret, Ethel G.,
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Mabel, Eugene, Dorothy, William P. and his native land a fugitive, having taken part in Ruth. To Mr. and Mrs. Robbins two children have been born, George W. and James W. The former married Minta Lord, and they have six children: Lewis, Morris, Emma T., Eve Marie, Leata Margaret and Hazel Irene. George W. Robbins and family reside on the home farm. James W. Robbins married May Cathcart, a daughter of Wesley and Nora Cathcart, of Knox township, and they have had five children : Verda, Howard Leroy, An- drew, Arthur D., and Wesley W., Verda and Wesley W. being the only survivors. Wil- liam W. Robbins and family live in the state of Washington.
In politics Mr. Robbins is a Democrat and he has frequently been elected to township of- fices by his fellow citizens and has served dis- creetly and honestly and with so much effi- ciency that on several occasions, against his will, he has been elected township collector. declining to serve. He has resided on his present farm ever since his marriage. He has never sold possible coal deposits. Mr. Robbins takes an interest in the Grange and attends its sessions at Olanta, having been a member for some years. With his family he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOHN O'CONNOR, one of the efficient and trusted employes of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, with which he has been identified since he was thirteen years of age. for the past thirty-five years has held the re- sponsible position of express messenger and baggage master. He was born June 22. 1848, in Ireland, the eldest of a family of six chil- dren born to his parents, Patrick and Anna (Naughton) O'Connor. Patrick O'Connor was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1816. He left
the Irish Rebellion and was a leader among the patriots. With his wife and infant son, John being then eight months old, he took passage on a sailing vessel that required seven weeks to make the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. He was not only a man of courage and daring but he was capable and energetic in business and had been in the United States but a short time before he was employed by the contracting firm of McAvoy & Purcell, at Pack Saddle, Cambria county, Pa., where he remained and assisted in the grading of the railroad until that contract was finished. He moved then into Indiana county, locating five miles north of Blairsville, moving from there to Indiana borough and worked on Black Creek until that branch of the railroad to the county seat was completed. Mr. O'Connor then went back to Blairsville and went into contracting on his own account and in 1857 moved to Retort, where he had been engaged as contractor to construct four miles of road from Retort to Summit. This work being fin- ished he then moved to Tyrone and completed the road from there to Vail and afterward to Powellton. Mr. O'Connor was so capable and so honest that he gained the respect, confidence and esteem of all those who had business re- lations with him and there were many outside his immediate family, who mourned him when his death, in 1861. terminated his busy life. He had many admirable qualities and among these his strong family affection was a leading one. He had had his own way to make but he never forgot those he had left behind in the old country and as soon as fortune had favored him to a sufficient extent, he sent for the old father and later for his three brothers and three sisters, all of whom joined him in Penn-
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sylvania. He married Anna Naughton, also two years and then moved to Tyrone for one a native of Queens county, Ireland. She died year. In the meanwhile he built his present attractive two-story residence at Osceola Mills, which he has occupied since January 7, 1909. in 1887, at New Castle, Pa., where her burial took place. They had the following children : John, Michael, Patrick, Lizzie, Ellen and Mary. Michael followed railroading all his life. He was accidentally killed by being blown from a bridge, in 1881, on the low grade division of the Allegheny Valley Rail- road. Patrick has also followed railroading and is now a passenger conductor on the above mentioned railroad. He resides at Driftwood. Lizzie, who is the widow of John Ryan, lives at New Castle. Pa. Ellen, who also lives at New Castle, is the widow of William Green. Mary married William Pitzer and they live at New Wilmington, Mercer county, Pa.
John O'Connor obtained his schooling in the various places in which the family lived and immediately after the death of his father went to work, being employed on what is known as the branch road of the Pennsylvania system just before it was completed to Phil- ipsburg. He was then promoted to be track- walker, and for three years he walked twenty- four miles each day. His next position was at Powellton where he had charge of the coal wharf until the station was completed at Os- ceola, when he was made baggage man. About 1865 he began as a freight brakeman, on a freight train that had one passenger car at- tached and in 1875, when the regular passen- ger train was established, he was brakeman on that train until 1876, when he was made bag- gage master and express messenger. In 1881 he moved to Philipsburg and from there in 1889, to Belsena, Clearfield County, and from there in 1892, to Osceola and three years later back to Philipsburg. On October 1, 1905. he moved to Lock Haven, where he resided for
On April 20, 1873, Mr. O'Connor was mar- ried at the Catholic parsonage, to Miss Isa- bella J. McClellan, who was born at Union- ville, Center county, Pa., the eldest daughter of William and Christina Jane ( Myer) Mc- Clellan. William McClellan was born at Ridgeway, Elk county, Pa., and his wife in Sugar Valley, Center county. All their chil- dren were born at Unionville, except the youngest. They were: Isabella J., who is Mrs. O'Connor; Mary, now deceased, who was the wife of H. P. Antis, also now de- ceased; George, who lives in Kentucky; Su- san, who is the wife of Albert Lyons, of Ly- onsville, Center county; Ellen, who is the wife of Frank Smart, of Keating Summit, Potter county, Pa .; John W., who lives in Jefferson county, Pa .; Harry B., who is in business at Cleveland, O .; Lydia, now de- ceased, who was the wife of Wallace Wood- ward, of DuBois, Pa .; and Creighton, who died at the age of thirteen years.
Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor have had seven children, namely: William P., who is train dispatcher for the B. & O. Railroad at New Castle, Pa. (married Della Lewis, of Youngs- town, O.); Edward, who lives at Green River, Wyo .; Frank, who died of diphtheria, a fine youth of sixteen years; Elsie, who is the wife of Donald Reading, and lives at Philadel- phia ; Harvey Raymond, who is a resident of Chicago, Ill .; Charles Sherwood, who is ser- geant of marines, in the United States ser- vice, attached to the admiral's flag ship, the Connecticut, and has been in the navy for seven years; and Nell, who is the wife of
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Lewis Simler, of Johnstown, Pa. Mr. O'Con- nor is a member of the Catholic church, while Mrs. O'Connor was reared a Presbyterian. He is a member of the order of Railway Trainmen.
The father of Mrs. O'Connor served in the Civil war and when he entered the army the family moved to a farm near Unionville, Pa. He returned from his military service with in- juries from which he never recovered and died on the farm eighteen months later. Mrs. Mc- Clellan then moved with her family to Heck- ley, in Center county, and later to Osceola Mills, in Clearfield county. Subsequently she married Louis Walkey. Her death was caused by a fall on the ice. She lived for three weeks after the accident, passing away on March 6, 1910, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor. Mrs. O'Connor's people all came originally from Ireland and like Mr. O'Con- nor's have been more or less connected with railroading and have filled positions of im- portance with the trustworthiness that is a characteristic of the Irish people.
FRANK W. EVANS*, who owns the old homestead farm of 190 acres, which is sit- uated in Graham township, has lived here all the thirty-nine years of his life, his birth hav- ing taken place in 1871. His parents were Henry and Catherine Evans. Henry Evans was also born in Clearfield county. His busi- ness was farming but a large part of his time was taken up in performing public duties, his fellow citizens electing him many times to township offices, thus showing appreciation of his sterling traits of character. He died on this farm in 1910, having survived his wife for five years.
schools of Graham township. He has given his entire attention to farming and stockrais- ing and conducts large agricultural operations according to the best approved methods. He was married in 1900 to Lucia A. Maines, a daughter of D. A. Maines and wife, who are old residents of Bradford township. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have three interesting children, Ethel, Hazel and Catherine. Mr. Evans is a representative citizen, one who takes an inter- est in township matters, serving occasionally in office, and at all times lending his influence to promote good government, local educa- tional advancement, good roads and all the other movements which are designed to add to the general welfare.
C. A. THORP, justice of the peace and general farmer, resides on his valuable farm of 180 acres, which is situated in Greenwood township. He was born on this farm June 29, 1843, and is a son of William T. and Christianna (Bear) Thorp, and was an only child.
William T. Thorp was a farmer and school teacher and was appointed school examiner for teachers. He erected all the buildings now standing on the above mentioned farm and spent many useful and pleasant years here. His death occurred when he was seventy-three years of age.
C. A. Thorp attended school in Greenwood township or Bell township as it was then called, after which he spent many years fol- lowing farming during the summer seasons and engaging in lumbering in the winter time. He is cultivating eighty acres of his farm and has fine pasturage for his stock.
In 1864 Mr. Thorp was married to Miss Frank W. Evans was educated in the Hannah Johnson, a daughter of James John-
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son, and they have had the following children : Ida, who married Harry Mitchell, a son of David Mitchell; William T., who married Vinnie Kirk; John, who married Eva Rank; James, who is deceased; Walter, who married Katherine Cooper; Rentz, who married Mary Kerr; Lulu, who is the wife of J. B. Gember- ling, of Philadelphia; Charles, who married Julia Bell, daughter of Frampton Bell: Hoyt. who married Vaughn Thompson; and Fran- ces, who is talented in music of which she is a teacher. In politics Mr. Thorp is a Democrat, as was his father, and he is serving in his third term as a justice of the peace. He has been an active member of the Grange for 35 years, and is a representative citizen of Greenwood Township.
ELMER B. SMITHI, who conducts a dairy business on Scribner avenue, DuBois, Pa., and is a prosperous merchant and respected citi- zen, has been a resident of Clearfield county since 1882 but was born in Clarion county, Pa., June 1, 1864. His parents were Isaac and Mary (Fulmer) Smith.
Isaac Smith was born in Clarion county, a son of John Smith, who had early settled near Reedsburg. Isaac Smith owned his farm in Clarion county and spent his life there, his death occurring in 1896. He married Mary Fulmer, who died in 1892. They had eight children born to them: John, Calvin, Elmer B., Addison, Emma, David, Louetta and Dan- iel. Of the above, Addison is deceased. Emma is the wife of J. J. Brown.
Elmer B. Smith obtained his education in the country schools and remained at home un- til he was eighteen years of age and then came to DuBois. IIis first employment here was with the B. R. & P. Railroad, after which he
engaged in lumbering for John DuBois and still later he bought a farm of forty-two acres, in Brady township, which he still owns. Sub- sequently he sold his cattle and returned to DuBois, purchasing at that time the lot on which he built and then embarked in the dairy business.
On September 8, 1888, Mr. Smith was mar- ried to Miss Louella Nolder, a daughter of the late George Nolder, and they have had seven children, namely: Lon, Fred J., Ver- non, Grace, Avenell, Yvone and Aileen. Mr. and Mrs. Smith attend the Methodist Episco- pal church. In politics he is a Democrat but he takes only the interest of a good citizen in political affairs.
FRANK REED COOKER,* a well known agriculturist of Clearfield County, Pa., who is carrying on operations on his excellent farm of seventy acres situated in Huston Township. near the Elk County line, was born in Phila- delphia, Pa., March 4, 1846, a son of Samuel and Lydia (Reed) Cooker.
Samuel Cooker, whose parents were born in Holland, was born near Philadelphia, and in that city was for a long period the proprietor of a store. In 1850 he went with a party of men from the Quaker City overland to Cali- fornia in search of gold, and eventually lost track of his children, all of whom had been bound out young to his different relatives. His wife died at Pennsburg. Montgomery County, at the age of sixty-five years. The children of Samuel and Lydia ( Reed) Cooker were: Lu- cinda, who married Noah Grove, both now be- ing deceased : William, a member of Company C. 5Ist Pa. Vol. Inf., who lost his life in the battle of Petersburg; Benjamin, a member of the same company and regiment, who died at
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Andersonville Prison; Harry, who was also a daughter, Beatrice, and is residing at Latrobe, soldier in a Pennsylvania regiment; Emma, Pa. Mr. Cooker is a member of the Grange and a popular comrade of the G. A. R. He is a Republican in politics. who married William Hutt of Philadelphia ; Hannah, who married William Reed of Phila- delphia : Frank R .: two who died young; and Samuel, who resides in Huston Township.
When he was but a boy. Frank R. Cooker was put out on a farm in lower Montgomery County, and he worked thereon until his en- listment, in June, 1862, in Company A, 138th Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf., under Captain Fisher, and he served three years, being mustered out at the end of the war at Harrisburg. He served his country like a brave soldier and in the long marches, skirmishes and battles proved himself a cheerful and reliable comrade. After the war had closed he went back to Montgomery County, and in 1867 located in Clearfield Coun- ty, which was then still heavily timbered. He worked for a time for old David Horning, and then for quite a period rented farms, but event- ually, in 1878, he purchased his present farm from J. B. Hewett. At that time there was only a house located on this property, but Mr. Cooker has made all the necessary improve- ments, and has his land cleared and well cul- tivated, making it one of the finest tracts of its size in the township. The B. & S. Railroad runs on the south and east boundaries of Mr. Cooker's farm, this being the Bennett's Branch division of that line.
On March 14, 1877, Mr. Cooker was mar- ried to Miss Selinda Hewett, daughter of J. B. Hewett and granddaughter of Ebenezer Hewett, one of the pioneers of Clearfield County. Mrs. Cooker died in 1890, having been the mother of two children, namely : Harry, who married Nora Reeda and is liv- ing with his father; and Irving, who married Gertrude Hadley, by whom he has had a
PETER MCDERMOTT, a prominent citi- zen of Morris township, where he holds the office of road supervisor, is also engaged in business as a representative of the Prudential Life Insurance Company, covering the district lying between Philipsburg and Winburne, in- cluding the intermediate points. He was born in County Galway, Ireland, October II. 1865, a son of Jolin and Nora (Tolly) McDermott. The father, who is also a native of County Galway. Ireland, is still living in Cambria County, Pa., being now 81 years old. His wife, the mother of our subject, died February 13, 1908, at the age of 74 years. She was a daughter of John and Cecelia (Mel) Tolly. The parents of our subject were married in County Galway, the father being a farmer in his native land. He was a son of John Mc- Dermott who, with his wife died in Ireland.
The children of John and Nora ( Tolly) Mc- Dermott were nine in number, as follows : Thomas, a resident of Nanty Glo, Cambria County, Pa., a miner ; Patrick, also engaged in mining at Nanty Glo, Pa .: John, who died at the age of thirty years at Hook Run, Morris township, this county ; Peter, the subject of this sketch; Cecelia, wife of Thomas Harding, of Hook Run, Pa .; foreman for a telephone com- pany at Jersey City; Martin, who for a num- ber of years was a mine foreman at Nanty Glo. but who recently moved from Hastings, where he was in the hotel business and purchased the Home Hotel at Nanty Glo, Pa .; Luke Joseplı, a U. S. railway clerk, residing in Tyrone, Pa., and running between New York City and
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Pittsburg; and Ellen, wife of George Myers, good citizen should, but does not always do, of Nanty Glo.
The brothers, Thomas, Patrick and Peter, came to America in 1885, and later sent for the other members of the family. They located first at Osceola Mills, Pa., where they worked at mining, coming to Hawk Run in 1890.
Peter McDermott attended the public schools of his native place in Ireland. He was reared on a farm and came to America at the age of twenty years. He worked for ten years at min- ing and during this time held office in the labor organizations of his district. In 1896 he ac- cepted a position with the Prudential Life In- surance Company, and has never changed his district since starting with the company. He is a member of the order of Red Men, Tribe No. 96, I. O. R. M. of Morrisdale Mines. Hc is a communicant of St. Agnes R. C. church of that place. Since coming to this country he has always been known as a staunch Democrat and has been active in the councils of his party. He came within two votes of the pop- ular majority for the nomination on the Demo- cratic ticket for representative of Clearfield county, and is now serving in his fourth year as road supervisor, having been elected in a township of 150 or more Republican majority. He numbers some of his strongest friends and supporters among the members of the Repub- lican party, a convincing proof of the fact that he commands the public confidence in high measure and has a record of which he need not be ashamed. He has been a township resident since February 18, 1887, and for 26 years a resident of the county, and he has never had a law suit during this entire period. Mr. Mc- Dermott is a ready conversationalist and a man well informed on current events. He takes much interest in public affairs, as indeed every
and his sterling qualities are widely recognized.
GEORGE C. ROSS,* who is president of the Ferguson Township School Board, is one of the extensive farmers and representative and substantial citizens of this section of Clear- field County, Pa., where he owns 230 acres of valuable land, which lies three miles south of Kerrmoor. He was born at Mountain Dale, Cambria County. Pa., and is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Miller) Ross.
Joseph Ross was a farmer in Cambria Coun- ty when the great Civil War broke out. He en- tered the Union army and it is supposed that he died a soldier's death. He married Mar- garet Miller, who was born in Blair County, Pa., and they had four children: Harry, who resides at Falling Timber, Cambria County, Pa .; J. M., who is deceased; Hannah Belle, who is deceased ; and George C. After all rea- sonable doubt of the death of her first husband had been removed, Mrs. Ross married Philip Holland and they had one son, James Holland, who now lives in Cambria County. Mrs. Hol- land died at the age of sixty-five years and her burial was at Mountain Dale, in Cambria Coun- ty. She was a member of the Brethren church.
George C. Ross had very few advantages of any kind in his youth and a period of two years covered all the schooling he ever had. He was only a boy of twelve years when he came to McGees Mills, Clearfield County and he worked on a farm in that neighborhood for three years. after which he went into the woods and was in the employ of the Clearfield Lumber Company for eight years. Having acquired some cap- ital by his hard work he then went into a store business with Milton Braton, at Faunce, Pa .. but fire destroyed their stock. Mr. Ross
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started up again for himself but subsequently is a grandson of John Kantz, Sr., a native of sold out and then came to his present farm in Germany, who died in Indiana county, Pa. Ferguson Township, which was the old fam- ily homestead of his father-in-law, Isaac Moore.
Mr. Ross was married September 12, 1894, to Miss Roxie Moore, who was born September 27, 1878, on this farm and in the present res- idence, and has always lived near here. Her father, Isaac Moore, was also born in Fergu- son Township, where he spent his life, his death occurring at the age of thirty-nine years, in 1884, and his burial was in the Zion Baptist Cemetery in Ferguson Township. He married Esther Straw, who was also born in Ferguson Township and now lives at Marron, Pa. They had six children, namely: Minnie E. and Har- riet, both of whom are deceased; Olie, who is the wife of Howard Williams, of Ferguson Township; Daisy, who is the wife of Reuben Summers, of Marron, Pa .; Roxie, who is the wife of George C. Ross; and Elah, who is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ross have nine chil- dren: Carrie, Clayton, Harry, Inez, Esther, Mildred, Alta, Wilbur and Ruby. Mr. and Mrs. Ross attend the Baptist church.
Mr. Ross and family have resided on the present farm since April 5, 1906. He carries on general farming and raises stock for his own use. Politically he is a Republican, is a mem- ber of Kerrmoor Grange, Ferguson Township. and is a stockholder and a member of the board of directors of the La Jose and Fergu- son Telephone Company of Ferguson Town- ship.
REUBEN B. KANTZ, a prosperous farmer and lumberman of Burnside township, was born in Indiana county. Pa., October 7, 1848, a son of John and Sarah (Baker) Kantz. He
John Kantz, Jr., was born in Lancaster county, Pa., August, 1818. He removed to Indiana county in 1847, and to Burnside town- ship, Clearfield county in 1851, finding employ- ment at the old Patchin mill, in the locality called Slabtown, and he was subsequently en- gaged in lumbering and saw-mill work for a part of his time each year, farming during the summer. His wife Sarah was a daughter of Philip Baker of that part of Snyder county then known as Union county. She survived her husband, dying in 1892, while his death occurred in 1894. Their family consisted of six children, namely: Philip, formerly a sol- dier, but now living retired at Clearfield, Pa .; Susanna, who is deceased; Reuben B., the sub- ject of this sketch; Emma, who is the widow of John Irwin ; Anna, wife of S. Heilman ; both living in Tacoma, Wash .; and George D., who resides on the old homestead.
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