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John A Klingensmith
JOHN A. KLINGENSMITH, of Mateer, Armstrong County, general merchant,
belongs to a family of successful business men who have made the name well and
favorably known throughout this section. He was born Nov. 22, 1868, in Parks
township, this county, son of Josiah W. Klingensmith, grandson of Adam
Klingensmith and great-grandson of George Klingensmith.The Klingensmiths are of German descent. George Klingensmith was born in
1779 in Westmoreland county, Pa., and in 1820 removed to what is now Parks
township. He lived there until his death, in the year 1857.Adam Klingensmith, only child of George Klingensmith, above, was born in
1812 in Westmoreland county, and came with his parents to Armstrong county. He
also followed farming in Parks township, on the place where his father
settled, and died there in 1874, in his sixty-third year. He was an active
member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, serving as deacon of the
congregation at Bethel. In politics he was a stanch Democrat. He married Anna
M. Kirkland, a native of McKeesport, Allegheny county, who died in 1881, in
her seventy-sixth year; she was a member of the Lutheran Church. Her father,
John Kirkland, was born in Scotland, and came to Pennsylvania in an early day.
He followed boating on the Monongahela river between McKeesport and
Pittsburgh, and his death, which occurred in 1812, was caused by drowning when
he fell overboard from a flatboat on which he was employed as a poleman.
Besides Josiah W., mentioned below, Adam Klingensmith and his wife had
children as follows: William married Belle Kirtendol and moved to Kansas,
where he was an extensive farmer (he is now deceased); Lucetta married John
Grantz (who is now deceased) of near Kelly Station, this county; Nathaniel,
who married Elizabeth Baker, owns half of the original homestead; Eden, who
married Caroline Baker, was killed in a sawmill about 1900; Caroline married
Andrew Lambing, and died about 1880.Josiah W. Klingensmith was born June 20, 1841, on the farm in Parks
township, where he remained until his death, in October, 1912, being a member
of the third generation of that family to occupy that place. He was reared on
this farm, and obtained his education in the common schools of the home
township. During the summer of 1857 he engaged in boating on the Pennsylvania
canal, following that work for a few years. Then for five years he was engaged
as a farm hand. In 1862 he enlisted, becoming a member of Company C, 139th
Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (Colonel Parr), for three years. He
helped to bury the dead who had lain for eleven days on the battlefield of
Second Bull Run. After that his regiment moved on to Sharpsburg, Md., joining
the 6th Corps of the main army, and marched to Antietam. Mr. Klingensmith was
in all the engagements in which his regiment took part, seeing active service
in field at Antietam, Fredericksburg (both battles), Chancellorsville, the
Wilderness and Gettysburg — in fact all the principal actions of the Army of
the Potomac. He participated in the battle of Gettysburg after a forced march
of thirty-six hours, during which time his company had not been allowed to
cook any food, and was under fire and in active service during the greater
part of twenty-four hours. On May 5, 1864, he was wounded in the left hand by
a musket ball, at one of the wilderness fights, and was sent to Lincoln
hospital, at Washington, where he remained until August. On Dec. 24, 1864, he
was discharged on account of disability, and he has never fully recovered the
use of his hand. He was in the hospital at the time of Lee’s surrender.After his return home from the army Mr. Klingensmith engaged in farming,
which he followed until 1874. At that time he opened a store on his farm, and
when the post office of Dime was established, in 1881, he was appointed
postmaster and had the office in his store. He served in that position until
February, 1886, when a Democrat was appointed, but in 1889 he again succeeded
to the place and continued to serve until 1893, when Cleveland again became
president. When Mr. Klingensmith commenced business in 1874 he had $240 in
money, fifty-eight acres of land and a pair of horses. With that limited
capital he extended his interests until he became one of the most prominent
business men in his section, owning various farms besides his home place of
over fifty acres–1,300 acres in all, including the homesteads of his father
and of his wife’s family. Some of his holdings were in Parks township, some in
Kiskiminetas township, and part of the land is underlaid with valuable coal
deposits.Mr. Klingensmith was from early manhood an active member of the Republican
party, and became one of its leaders in Parks township. When that township was
formed he was elected assessor. He was a member of the Boiling Springs
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and for sixteen years served as a member of the
church council.In 1866 Mr. Klingensmith married Lucinda Knappenberger, daughter of John
Knappenberger. She is now (1912) seventy years old. Eight children were born
to this union: (1) Mary A., deceased, was the wife of William Ayres, a farmer
of Canada, and had two children; her son is deceased, and her daughter lives
with an aunt in California. (2) John A. is mentioned below. (3) Francis
William, a prosperous merchant at Dime, Armstrong county,, is married and has
two children, Paul and Marion. (4) Nannie B. married C. F. Bartz, a ranchman,
of Imperial county, Cal. They have no children. (5) Susan M. married H. E.
Gilchrist, a farmer and teacher, of Burrell (now Bethel) township, Armstrong
county, and has five daughters. (6) Olive L. (Ollie) married Harry Lafferty, a
farmer, of Kiskiminetas township, and has three children, two sons and one
daughter. (7) Josiah Wylie was killed by a boiler explosion Nov. 22, 1910. He
married Nellie Riggle and they had one child, a daughter. (8) S. Myrna married
Frank Riddle, formerly a mill man at Leechburg, now a farmer of Parks
township.The Knappenberger family, to which Mrs. Klingensmith belongs, is of German
origin. The first of the family to come to America arrived here in 1748, in
the ship “Christmena,” landing at Philadelphia. The family gradually
centered in Westmoreland county, Pa., at Manordale. Mrs. Klingensmith had four
brothers, Daniel, Jacob, Augustus and Henry, all still living except Daniel.John A. Klingensmith, eldest son of Josiah W. Klingensmith, was reared on
the farm in Parks township which has long been in the family. For fourteen
years, from 1885 to 1899, he ran a peddler’s wagon, which he found very
profitable. From 1899 to 1902 he followed teaming in the gas fields, from 1902
to 1904 had a general store at Dime, Pa., and from 1904 to 1910 worked at the
carpenter’s trade. For the last four years, since 1910, he has had a general
mercantile establishment and acted as postmaster at Mateer, where he has built
up a thriving trade. Mr. Klingensmith has been quite active in local public
affairs, and has served his township officially as tax collector, supervisor
and assessor. He was tax collector for six years, and made the remarkable
record of never carrying over one cent of tax from one year to the next. Like
his father he is an uncompromising Republican. He is now the owner of the old
Knappenberger homestead, as well as other lands.On Oct. 16, 1890, Mr. Klingensmith was married to Levina Brown, of Parks
township, daughter of Samuel Brown a farmer. Seven children have been born to
this union, three dying in infancy. The survivors are: Grace, born Oct. 26,
1891, married to H. S. Smeltzer; Ruth, born April 30, 1894; Rosena, April 3,
1896; and Cevilla, March 14, 1898. The family attend the Lutheran Church. Mr.
Klingensmith is a member of the I. O. O. F. and W. O. W.Source: Pages 790-791, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed October 1998 by James R Hindman 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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