Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria County Pennsylvania, p.418

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418 BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA

Elmer E. Davis had but limited advantages for securing an education; the schools of his youth were not of a high order, and were slow to adopt new methods. He says he never used a grammar or a geography in school. Then, too, in youth he was afflicted with the asthma, which operated against him. However, by his own efforts, through careful general reading and close observation, he has secured a good practical education. When but fifteen years of age he began life on his own account, and engaged to drive a bread wagon for a bakery in Johnstown. He served in this capacity for the following five years, and then opened a confectionery and cigar store in Johnstown, taking his brother, J. Price, as partner. They conducted the business under the firm name of Davis Bros. After a year and a half's experience, they purchased the bakery with which he had been connected, and added this line to their business. After two years J. Price Davis sold his interest to Golden Walters, and the firm then became Davis & Walters. In 1888 Mr. Davis purchased his entire interest, and conducted the business until 1889, when his property was all destroyed by the memorable flood. On recovering from the effects of this disaster he became a broker, handling grain, flour and feed, etc., also traveling in connection with his business until he was appointed deputy sheriff under Sheriff D. W. Coulter, January 1, 1895.
    In political opinion he adheres to the principles of the Republican party, and has always taken an active and prominent part in local affairs.
    May 8, 1890, he married Miss Ella Tremmellon, and to this marriage have been born the following children: Donald Tremmellon, born May 1, 1891; Martha Jane, born January 12, 1893, and Russel, born April 1, 1896. GEORGE M. WERTZ, a farmer of Stony Creek township, and one of the county commissioners of Cambria county, is a son of Jacob and Mary (Hoffman) Wertz, and was born on the old homestead in Cambria county, July 18, 1836.
    The Wertz family is one of the old families of Pennsylvania, having settled in this State prior to the Revolutionary war. The family is of German origin, and was one of the colonial families of Pennsylvania. Conrad Wertz, the great-grandfather of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, emigrated to America in 1735. He was quite a young man, and located in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where as a miller he carried on business in his own and surrounding vicinity. Here his son, John Wertz, grandfather of our subject, was born; he remained in Franklin county until 1785, when he removed to Stony Creek township, this county, then Shade township, Somerset county. He learned the trade of a blacksmith, and followed this avocation in connection with his farming pursuits. He died in Shade township, Somerset county.
    Jacob Wertz (father) was born on the old homestead, in Shade township, and attended the district schools of those early days when educational facilities were quite limited. It was his privilege to be enrolled as a pupil in the first school-house built in that part of Somerset county. On leaving school he assisted his father on the farm, which he continued to manage after his father's death. While he was not a politician, yet he took an active and intelligent interest in all local affairs, was identified with the old-line whigs, and in later years was a staunch republican. He married Miss Mary Hoffman, and to this marital union thirteen children were born, six of whom are now living. He died in 1888.

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