Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/468

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

A fte r that he made his home at HIkland, Tioga county. Pa., for a few years. In 1887 Dr. ( i r i c r married Susie Parkhurst, daughter o f Jo el and Martha Parkhurst. o f Klktand, Pa. Mrs. (*rier died in 18 9 1, at O n e v a, Switzerland. Nine years later Dr. G rier married M ary Thrush Ely, o f Peoria, III, daughter o f Thaddeus and Ixiuise (E risby) E ly. the former engaged in the banking business in that city. Dr. G rier is a member of the Franklin Lit­ erary Society, and the Phi Kappa Sigma fra­ ternity. His work in the church and in the field o f education has been of the highest value, and he is recognized as one of the lead­ ers o f thought in a community where the name o f G rier is synonymous with mental ability and high moral character. R U F U S K IN (J P O L K, at the time o f his death representative in Congress for the Sev­ enteenth district o f Pennsylvania, and |>art owner and manager of the Structural Tubing Works, o f Danville, was born .Aug. 23, iSfio, at Columbia, M aury Co., Tcnn. He was a son o f Gen. Lucius K, Polk, an officer of the Con­ federacy, ami a gnnul-nephew o f Jam es Knox Poik, eleventh president of the United States, whose remains lie i>eside those o f his wife u|ion the capitol hil! in Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas Polk, great-grandfather o f Rufus K . Polk, was a native o f Mecklenburg county, N. C., and was one of the signers o f that famous dci*la ration o f imte|)en(lence which antedated the Colonial one by more than a year. H is son. C o l William Polk, w as the grandfather o f R u fu s K . Polk, and ser%*ccl in the w ar with l^ngland which rcsultc<l from the two decb rat ions of the tax-ridden Colonies who dcsireil to relieve themselves of the yoke of the mother countr)*. Jam es K . Polk, presi­ dent of the United States, was another son of Thomas I'olk. I^ucius E . Polk, father o f R u fu s K . Polk, was a cotton planter licforc the C ivil w ar in Arkansas and Tennessee. During that great St niggle he attained the rank o f brigadier general, as did his brother l.eoniled lo carry. H e was thought at the time to Ik dea<l but later was rescued, badly injurefl. his injuries causing his death Dec. I, i8<;2, at A s HwochI, Tcnn. He nurried a g ra n d d a u ^ lcr o f Jam es Ja c k ­ son, w'hosc pak1li.1l residence, “ T he Forks,” was famed throughotii the South for its

princely hospitality to visitors o f Florence. A la. F ou r sons and one daughter came to the union of these two noted families, and Rufus K. Polk w as one of them. R u fu s K. Polk attended the schools of M aury county, seven miles from Columbia, Tenn., and at the age o f seventeen entered l^high University, at South Bethlehem, Fa., from which institution he graduated in 1887 with the degree o f bachelor o f science. H av­ ing an offer of the |>o$ilton o f chemist at the Montour Iron & bteel Company, Danville, Pa., he took a post-graduate course at L e h i^ ill chemical and mechanical engineering, for one year, after which he entered upon his duties in the rolling milts. H e served as as* saycr for that company until Ju n e 15, 1890, when he went to O hio to assume charge of the furnaces of the Hocking Valley Iron & C a il Company. Remaining in Ohio but a year, he then returned to Danville to take the sujKrinteiidcncy of the North Branch Steel Company, which he held for seven years. During this time he was rapidly developing in business ability, and the pleasing jiersonaliiy fo r which he w*as so marked became more evident. On Feb. 17, 1898, he assisted in or­ ganizing the firm o f Howe & Polk, successors to the .Mahoning Rolling Mill Company, and their establishment later became the present Structural Tubing Works. Under the man­ agement of Mr. Polk the works rapidly dcvcl0[>c4l into one of the chief industnes o f D an­ ville, at the time o f his <lcath employing four humtrerl and fifty men. Mr. Polk’s la la its were too versatile to l)C confiiietl to the iron business, so in li^jo he bought an interest in the Danville Sun and the JntcUiffcncer, o f tx)th o f which he later became sole owner. He discontinued the S u n on Jan. I. 1(^ 2, and then lictMme h alf owmer of the M orning S rtc s, Such was his success that it would seem sufficient for a man o f ordinary calilKT, hut Mr. Polk was not content with the honors o f an iroimiaster and a newspatierman. H e took a |H^ition on the boanl o f water com ­ missioners o f Danville, serving from Septem ­ ber, 1KS4, to lan uaiy, It was due to his efforts that the town (ici*amc the possessor of the excellent filtration plant it now usc.<. In the spring o f i8<)8, when the SpanishAmerican w ar broke out. M r. Polk left his business interests, his family and his asso­ ciates in DanviUe to enlist in Cooqianv F. 12th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, becoming lieutenant, and later one of the staff o f ('ten* eral Gobin. l i e had come o f a line o f soldiers ami had promiscti his brothers to enlist in any