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/748

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COI.UMBIA AXD MOXTOUR COUNTIES

ber of the Enterprise M anufacturing Com]>any at Danville. H e became one of the most esteemed citizens o f his adopted place, where he was honored with election to the office of buigess, and he served at one time as associate judge o f Momour county. He married Fhcbc Ellen Girton, like himself a native o f West Hemlock township, and site lived to the age of ei^hty-onc years, dying in December. 1903. H is death occurred in October, 1898, when he was eighty years old. John Edwin Moore received his education at (he public schools and at DanviUe Academy under P rof. Benjamin J . Pratt. He then be­ gan an apprenticeship to the carpenter s trade, seizing three years, from 1870, with Voris, Haigh & G i ^ r, a fte r which he foUowed the trade fo r six years in DanviUe, l^hiladelphia and Je rse y Shore, P a. In 1879 he entered the lumber business in W est Virginia as superin­ tendent for Shoop & Clartc, remaining there until 1885. Returning to DanviUe he bought out the hardware business o f Dennis B r i ^ t, in the Opera House block, and carried it on until 1900. meantime also acquiring lumber interests o f his own in PennsyK’ania, West Virginia and Virginia. H e is president of the Moore Tim ber Company o f Moore City, Fla., and head of the J . E . Moore Lum ber Com­ pany o f DanviUe, composed o f himself and his son Edwin. In 1881 Mr. Moore married Matilda E. Murphey, o f l*arkesbuig. Chester county, Pa., daughter o f Dr. Andrews and Elizabeth (Thom pson) Murphey. T hey have had five children, three o f whom died in infancy. The surv'ivors arc Edwin and Elsie, the latter liv­ ing at home. She was bom in March, 1888, received her early education in the public schools at Danville, and in 1907 entered Bryn M aw r. graduating in 1 9 1 1. T he son, bom at Danville in October. 1886, received his pre­ paratory education in the public schools at DanviUe and look his college course al Prince­ ton, graduating in 1909. He is now in busi­ ness with his father. M r. Moore belongs to the Mahoning Presbyterian Church, which he is serving as clilcr and member of the ses­ sion. H is fam ily on both sides fo r years has been associated with that denomination. R A L P H R. JO H N, a leading attorney o f Bloomsburg. was bom Dec. 20. 1870, in Main township, Columbia Co., Pa., and is a son o f Jo n as Vcsley ami Sarah C. (B row n ) John, the fam ily being one of the oldest and most numerous in the State of Pennsylvania. The earliest known member o f this family

w as Griffith John, who was bom in Pem ­ brokeshire, South W ales, in 1683. With many others o f his locality he emigrated to Pennsyl­ vania, taking passage in a slow-going sailing vessel, and a fte r several months on the A t­ lantic landed at Philadelphia. Feb. 1 1, 1709. He proceeded to one of the Welsh townships, which w as a part o f a district then known as the “ W ebh Barony,” a section settled prin­ cipally by Welshmen, who were called " Y e Ancient Britons." On Ju ly 23. 17 14 . he was married to Anna, d a u ^ te r o f Robert W il­ liams, called the "K in g o f Goshen.” .-bout 17 15, under the auspices o f Da d Lloyd, kcc])cr of the Great Seal, the township o f Uwchlan, Chester county, was settled, and among the first purchasers o f fam ts were Griffith John, Noule Butler, Robert Benson, Cadwallader Evans, and some others whose names arc not recorded. Griffith John had six sons and six daughters, all but one o f whom grew to maturity. H is son Griffith John was the progenitor of the family in NorthumbcrLind county, while the other sons settled in central and western counties of the State. One of these, John John, settled in .Armstrong county. Isaac John, the first of the family to settle in Columbia county, arrived in 1778. He bought a laigc tract o f land, c le a r ^ a part o f it of the trees and brush, built a house o f logs and cultivated the ground until his death. He niarricd M aigaret Brong, and they reared these children; Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, D aid, (icorgc, and five daughters whose names arc not known. Abraham John, the son, w as also a fam ier. and spent his life on the fam ily homestead, completing the clearing of the land begun by his father. B y his w ife M ary (F lic k ) he had seven children: Stacy, George, Iliram, Lovina, .iigcliiie, M ary A . and Sarah J . Stacy John, grandfather o f Ralph R . John, was bom in 18 13 on the old homestead, reared 10 farming and followed that calling all o f his life. H e died in 1879, leaving a large estate, which had been held successively oy three generations, each o f whom added to and inipro%‘ed it. H e married M ary Y’ocum, daugh­ ter o f John Yocum, a prominent fam ier of Roaringcreek tow n ^ip, and (heir children w e re : W’illiam, who died in childhood: Jonas W esley, father o f Ralpli R .; S a ra h : Frease: Britton; and Minerva, who married .-aron Coovcr. Jo n as W esley John, was bom on the okl homestead Sept. 12. 1840, and during hts youth assisted his father on the farm and at­