ELLS PRITNER BARRETT, of South Bethlehem, Armstrong County,
coal miner, was born in Madison township, this county, Aug. 17, 1872, son of
Daniel W. and Emeline (Duncan) Barrett, both natives of Armstrong county.
William Barrett, his grandfather, was born near Ore Hill Furnace,
Armstrong county, and followed the occupation of agriculturist.
He had a farm in Madison township, which he cleared and improved, and
he died there. His wife was a
Miss Austin, and they were the parents of six children: David, deceased;
John, deceased; Daniel W., deceased; Martha, who married Silas Bish; Rachel,
deceased, who married Edward Gardner; and William.
Daniel W. Barrett, son of William, was born and reared on the
homestead and his death occurred there Sept. 8, 1911, at the age of
sixty-three years. His entire
life was spent on the home farm, where he followed the same work as his
father. He was industrious and
persevering and became a well-to-do farmer of his day.
He married Emeline Duncan, a native of Armstrong county, daughter of
Jacob Duncan, a pioneer farmer of Madison township, and they reared a family
of seven children: Ells P.;
Florence, who married William Anthony; Annie, who married Leonard Powell;
Estella, who married Braden McDauley; Ross; Otto, and Ralph, the last named,
deceased.
Ells P. Barrett was brought up in Armstrong county, and educated in
the common schools. At the age of seventeen he became employed as a coal miner,
and he has ever since followed that line of work in Mahoning township,
making his home in South Bethlehem since 1903.
There he owns a comfortable home with pleasant surroundings and
enjoys the comforts of life. He
has been a hard-working man and has gained all he now enjoys by honest
labor. He married in 1894
Olive, daughter of Solomon T. and Alice (Mock) Shumaker of Mahoning
township, and they have two children, Alice B. and Gaylord. Mr. Barrett is a
member of the F. O. E. He has
served for three years on the school board of South Bethlehem, and is a most
public-spirited citizen. In politics he is a Republican.
Mrs. Olive (Shumaker) Barrett comes of Revolutionary stock.
Her great-great-grandfather, John Shumaker, a native of Germany,
served in both the Indian and Revolutionary wars.
His wife was Mary Ann Baker, and they settled about 1770 in
Westmoreland county, Pa., and died there.
Philip Shumaker was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Barrett.
He was born in Westmoreland county Jan. 25, 1784, and in 1814 settled
in Mahoning township, Armstrong county, where he died April 10, 1860.
His wife was Elizabeth Rose, born Nov. 18, 1790, died June 12, 1863.
Joseph Shumaker, son of Philip and Elizabeth (Rose) Shumaker, born in
Mahoning township, was a farmer, and a minister of the German Baptist Church
for twenty years. His death
occurred in December 1860, when he was aged forty-one years.
Solomon T. Shumaker, son of Joseph, is a prominent man in his
locality. He follows farming in
Mahoning township, where he owns and occupies a part of the old homestead
farm where his grandfather settled in 1814.
He married Alice Mock, and they are the parents of Olive, Mrs. Ells
P. Barrett.
