Cyrus J Kepple
CYRUS J. KEPPLE, of Apollo, a businessman of long and honorable standing, was born Nov. 17, 1831 in Westmoreland county, Pa., son of George and Isabella (Hoffman) Kepple.
George Kepple was born in Westmoreland county in 1806, and came of German ancestry on the paternal side, and English on the maternal side. His wife was born in 1809 and passed away in 1863, the mother of eight children. Cyrus J. Kepple was the eldest of this family, and all his brothers became farmers. One brother and one sister are still living. At the time of his death George Kepple owned 100 acres of land situated between Leechburg and Cochran Mills. The Lutheran Church had in him a consistent member , and he also served it as elder. His death occurred in 1869, and he is remembered as a man of unblemished character, kind and charitable to all, extending a ready sympathy to the unfortunate. Although his educational advantages had been limited, he was a man of considerable ability, and held various township offices, and he advocated the establishment and maintenance of good schools. Until the Civil war he was a Democrat, but thereafter a Republican.
Cyrus J. Kepple attended the common school in his home neighborhood until he was sixteen years old, and then devoted all of his time to assisting his father on the farm. When he was twenty years of age he began learning the cabinetmaker�s trade at New Salem, serving three years as an apprentice. He then embarked in the business for himself, opening a shop. When the introduction of Machinery-made furniture interfered with his trade he confined himself to the undertaking branch which he had established, and still continues in that line. In 1870 he moved to Armstrong county, and after being in business by himself for a time entered into partnership with Robert Young, under the firm style of Kepple & Young. They handled furniture and carried on an undertaking business until the association dissolved in 1880, Mr. Kepple continuing the furniture and undertaking branch, while Mr. Young took charge of the hardware trade which they had built up. Mr. Kepple�s establishment is one of the oldest and reliable in this section, and as a furniture dealer he handles the finest grades of walnut, oak, ash and maple parlor and bedroom sets, sideboards, lounges, etc., as well as the more ordinary qualities. His large store is on Fourth street. As a funeral director he is widely known, people sending for him from all over the county; his knowledge, experience, professional skill and sympathetic understanding of the requirements of his work in that line have made him a friend of many who have called upon him in times of bereavement.
On May 7, 1857, Mr. Kepple was married to Caroline Keck, in Westmoreland county, Pa., daughter of Isaac Keck, a soldier of the Revolution, who served with General Washington at Valley Forge. Mrs. Kepple, who was born March 26, 1832, died April 24, 1900, aged sixty-eight years. Six children were born of this marriage: Sarah Isabelle, born April 21, 1858 ; George S., born Sept. 13, 1863 ; Cyrus W., born Jan. 6, 1869 ; Bessie Eltes, born Sept. 10, 1870, and Isaac Newton and Anna, both deceased. Mr. Kepple is a member and elder of the Lutheran Church, belongs to Mineral Point Lodge, No. 615, I.O.O. F., and in political faith is a Democrat. Mr. Kepple distinctly remembers the time when boats to Pittsburgh ran on the Kiskiminetas river.
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CYRUS W. KEPPLE was taken into partnership with his father in 1891, the style becoming C.L. Kepple & Son, under which name the business is still conducted. He, too, is a member of the Lutheran Church, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and Knights of Malta. Politically he is an active Democrat, having been committeeman of his ward in Apollo for some years, and he has served in the borough council. On Aug. 21, 1892, at Pittsburgh, occurred the marriage of Mr. Kepple to Ida Brewer. One child has been born to them, Harold, on May 1, 1898.
The Kepple family is one of the most highly honored in Armstrong county. During the many years Mr. Kepple has been an undertaker he has been called upon to care for over one thousand bodies , and his patrons hold him in highest esteem not only for the value of his professional services, but because of his tact and consideration. As citizens both father and son are known to be men of high character, who take a deep interest in the welfare of their community and are anxious to promote its further development.
Source: Pages 871-872, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed December 1998 by Pamela Clark for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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