daughter of J. A. Shoemaker, of Ebensburg, and their family consists of three children: Mercia, Albert and Katherine. While the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Evans were still almost in their infancy, they and their father suffered the irreparable loss of the wife and mother, who passed away June 29, 1886.
The death of Mr. Evans, which occurred June 19, 1906, left vacant, in the household, in social and professional circles, and in the community, a place which all felt it would be well-nigh impossible to fill. His funeral was said to be the largest ever held in Ebensburg, being attended, not only by the Cambria County, Bar Association and the various other organizations with which he was identified, but by an immense concourse of people, almost every town and district in the county being represented. The services were held at the First Congregational church and were conducted by the Rev. J. Twyson Jones assisted by the Rev. Samuel Craig. Mr. Jones, who was the pastor of the church, and a personal friend of Mr. Evans, paid a touching tribute to his memory as a man, a statesman and a citizen. His eulogy as a lawyer has been pronounced by a member of the legal fraternity who resides in a neighboring county: "I had known him for many years, and desire to say that I knew no lawyer anywhere, at home or abroad, for whom I had such profound respect. To know him as I did was to have a greater respect for the noble profession of which he was an honorable member."
NEAL SHARKEY. Among those who lost not only their worldly possessions but also their loved ones in the disastrous flood that swept over the city of Johnstown in the year 1889 was Neal Sharkey, who lost the hotel of which he was the proprietor, also his daughter Mary, four years old. He was born in Mallaugh Duff, Donegal county, Ireland, November 15, 1846.
Neal Sharkey, grandfather of Neal Sharkey, was a farmer by occupation. He married (first) Mary Cannon; (second) Mary Devine; (third) Mary McGarvey. Philip Sharkey, father of Neal Sharkey, was the child of the first marriage. He was a native of Ireland, from whence he brought his family to the United States in 1868, settling in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and was employed as laborer with the Cambria Company up to his retirement from active pursuits. He and his wife were devout members of St. John Gaulbert's Roman Catholic church. He was a stanch adherent of the principles of Democracy. He married Ann Rogers, daughter of Murty and Grace (Sharkey) Rogers, the former of whom was a farmer by occupation, and died in county Donegal, Ireland. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sharkey, as follows: Mary, wife of Patrick McColouge, of the Fourteenth ward of Johnstown; Murty, died at the age of thirty years; Neal, of whom later; Owen, died in infancy; Dennis, died at the age of nineteen; Frank, died at the age of seventeen; Patrick, a resident of the Fourteenth ward of Johnstown. Philip Sharkey (father) died at his home in the Fourteenth ward of Johnstown, January 28, 1894, aged eighty-seven years. His wife, Ann (Rogers) Sharkey, preceded him in death, passing away September 22, 1885.
Neal Sharkey spent his boyhood days on the homestead farm in Ireland, and attended the national schools until he was fourteen years of age. In 1866 he left his native land and set sail for the United States, joining his brother Murty, who resided in the city of Johnstown, having previously emigrated. Neal Sharkey sailed from Liverpool, England,
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