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John M Schrecengost
JOHN M. SCHRECENGOST, of Rural Valley, Armstrong county, who is employed as
fieldman by the American Natural Gas Company, was born at that place July 20,
1871, son of Zephaniah C. and Sarah A. (Houser) Schrecengost. The parents are
also natives of Armstrong county, where this family has been represented for
several generations. The name is variously spelled. The family is of German
origin, the first of his ancestors to come to America, Jacob (known as Yock)
Schrecengost, having been a native of Germany; he settled in eastern
Pennsylvania.Conrad (or Coonrod) Schrecengost, Sr., son of Jacob, also born in Germany,
was the great-grandfather of John M. He came to America with his father, and
lived for some time in Bucks or Berks county, Pa., removing west to what is
now Armstrong county in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He
purchased land in Kittanning (what is now Valley) township, and not only
followed agricultural pursuits, but mechanical work also, being a gunsmith by
trade. He could use a gun as well as make one and was a famous hunter in his
day. His death occurred at his homestead. He was a Federalist in politics and
in religious belief a Lutheran, being a member of the church. His wife,
formerly a Miss Zortman, was like himself a native of Germany. Of their nine
children, six sons and three daughters, we have record of three sons: Coonrod,
Jr., who married Susanna Oury; John, and Daniel.Mr. Schrecengost married Mary Crum, who was born in 1799 and died in 1885.
Her father was a German farmer of Plum Creek township, this county, and they
had a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters: Emanuel Z., who
was four times married, his wives being Sarah Hartman, Annie McCurdy, Mary
Richards and Malinda Foster, respectively; Zephaniah C., of Plumville, who
married Sarah Houser, (second) Nancy Hartman, and (third) Sarah E. Lewis;
Solomon S., who served during the Civil war (in 1864-65) in the Army of the
Potomac (he never married); Daniel W., of Indiana, Pa., who married Mary
Ohlinger (he enlisted in Company M, 139th Pennsylvania Volunteers,
and served until the close of the Civil war; he was wounded at the battle of
the Wilderness); Aaron C., who married Katherine Hill; Margaret, who married
Samuel Stoops; Mary, deceased; and Isabella.Zephaniah C. Schrecengost, father of John M., was born Oct. 23, 1830, and
died March 24, 1909, at Plumville, Indiana county, in his seventy-ninth year.
He huckstered from Plumville to Dubois, Pa., and for many years was engaged in
the hotel business at Rural Valley and Plumville. His first marriage was to
Sarah A. Houser, a daughter of Daniel Houser, a pioneer of Valley township,
and she died Jan. 5, 1873, the mother of five children who attained maturity:
Anna B. married to Allison Roscoe, of Dubois, Pa., ; Elmer E., married to Mary
Hoover; Ira Grant, married to Nellie Stuchell; Maggie C.; and John M. Another
son, Burt C., was born to his second wife, Nancy (Hartman).John M. Schrecengost received his education at the common schools, Glade
Run Academy and the Rural Valley Select School. He began work as a farmer, but
in 1902 entered the employ of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, with whom he
remained a few years, in 1906 changing to the American Natural Gas Company. He
is engaged as fieldman, and is a thoroughly reliable worker. He is a respected
resident of his community, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Democrat.On Nov. 28, 1912, Mr. Schrencengost married Alice Fulton, daughter of
William H. and Elizabeth (Henderson) Fulton, of Armstrong county, the former
of whom died July 15, 1907; Mrs. Schrecengost was but sixteen months old when
her mother died.Source: Pages 766-767 Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 1998 by Kathy Zagorac for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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