You are here:  Cambria > Books > Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia

OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. 369

    An epitome of Dr. Yeagley's character might be given in the words of Chaeroneia, uttered upon a similar occasion: "He died in ripening years, having gained the love and provoked the emulation of his contemporaries. He had been dutiful to his parents, obliging to all with whom he had to do, a scholar, and, to comprise all in a word, he was a lover of his fellow-beings. He was respectful to all who deserved it at his hands, gracious, hospitable and courteous, and beloved by all. He was still in the prime of life, and yet had filled up a just measure of living."


ISAAC B. BARNHART, an intelligent, enterprising and progressive farmer of Upper Yoder township, this county, is a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Sell) Barnhart, and was born February 6, 1846, in Yoder township, near Roxbury, this county. The trans-Atlantic ancestry of the Barnharts can be traced to the German Empire, but the paternal grandfather, David Barnhart, was born in this country, and settled at an early day in what, at that time, was a part of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, now in Cambria county, where he located on a farm, and followed the avocation of a farmer for many years.
    Michael Barnhart, father, was born in Quemahoning township, Somerset county, in 1809. He attended the old subscription schools of his boyhood days, and then engaged in farming, to which pursuit he always directed his attention. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and lived a straightforward and honest life in the community in which he resided. He was a republican in politics, but, while taking an active part in local politics, would never hold any office. His marriage with Elizabeth Sell resulted in the birth of seven children, four sons and three daughters, all of

whom are living, except the oldest daughter, who died in 1893. He died in November, 1889, and, although he had reached the advanced age of eighty years, his mental faculties and physical powers were unusually well preserved.
    Isaac B. Barnhart was reared on the old homestead in Yoder township, and received his education in the common schools of that locality. On leaving school he worked on his father's farm until 1864. In the latter year he entered the rolling-mill of the Cambria Iron company, under Alexander Hamilton, where he remained for eighteen years. In 1882 he removed to his present home in Upper Yoder township, and adopted the pursuits of a farmer, which avocation he has followed until the present time. In 1895 he sold ten acres of his farm to the Roxbury Driving association, which they have since converted into a driving park.
    In politics he adheres to the principles of the Republican party, and has been an active supporter of the maxims of that party. He has at various times filled nearly every local office in his community. He has filled the office of school director several terms, and at various times has served on the election board, and is at the present time judge of that board. He is prominently identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, and takes an active interest in its advancement.
    In 1869 he was married. The union has been blessed in the birth of ten children: Mary, Charles, Herbert, Lizzie, Myrtle, Curtis, Ralph, Irene, Horace, and Freddie.


H. W. S. 0'BRIEN.--The city clerk of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, H. W. S. O'Brien, son of Morgan and Catharine (Tooney) O'Brien, was born April 7, 1857, at Franks-


Previous page Title Page Contents Image Index Next page

Last Updated:
Copyright © 2000, All Rights Reserved
Lynne Canterbury and Diann Olsen