offices, among which may he mentioned: Director, treasurer and secretary of the school board for many years; assessor and tax collector of Upper Yoder township.; He was the collector for both the county and town of Cambria borough in 1S62, and his public services have always been of the highest character.
He married, 1882, Rachel Ream, born in Cambria county, daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Flegle) Ream, and they have had three children, of whom but one is living at the present (l906) time: Mary Jane.
MICHAEL D. BEARER, of Ebensburg, present deputy sheriff of Cambria county, was born April 20, 1864, in Susquehanna township, son of John Bearer, and grandson of Joseph Bearer, who in 1816 landed with his family in Philadelphia, having left Alsace, then a province of France, on account of the international disturbances by which the country was at that time agitated.
Upon landing on American soil the family were penniless, save for the little money which they carried with them. In their native land they had been the owners of much realty, but chose to abandon all for the sake of living in peace. Several of the sons had reached man's estate, and soon became independent. One of them, Louis, embarked with a party for Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where several of his descendants are engaged in the manufacture of tacks. Another son, Ignatius, departed for what was then known as the "Wild and Unexplored West," and was never afterward heard from. Still another son, Joseph, settled in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he soon became an influential citizen, being the proprietor and manager of the Farmer's Hotel. Subsequently he held the office of treasurer of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.
John Bearer, son of Joseph Bearer, the emigrant, was born in 1821, in Hagerstown, Maryland, and was prominently before the public as an official in various capacities. From 1859 to 1862 he served as county commissioner, and in 1861 was made a justice of the peace, an office which he held for twenty-five years. During his earlier years he was a schoolmaster, many of the present residents of north Cambria county having been numbered among his pupils. During his long life he was a great reader of weekly and daily newspapers and was a thoroughly well-informed man.
John Bearer married Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Luther, who was of German birth, and when a young man emigrated to the United States, settling in Cambria county. He was one of the early stage-drivers between Pittsburg and Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and also owned and cultivated a somewhat extensive farm in Carroll township. He was a member of the Roman Catholic church. Christopher Luther married, in Cambria county, and their children were: Sarah, deceased; Mary, also deceased; Ellen, widow of Zephaniah Weakland, lives at Hastings; Elizabeth, widow of John Bearer; Kate, wife of Peter Wible, of Altoona, and Levi, deceased. Mr. Luther delighted in the chase, and was simple in his habits, always living close to nature. It was probably owing, in no small degree, to this fact, that he attained the extraordinary age of one hundred and four years, and that his vigor was such, at that advanced period of life, as to enable him to walk three miles to church.
John and Elizabeth (Luther) Bearer were the parents of the following children: Lewis J., of Susquehanna township, married Lena
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