A. S. MOTTER, photographer, Ridgway, was born in Mifflin county, Penn., January 5, 1848, is a son of Peter and Sarah (Steele) Motter, natives of Pennsylvania. He remained upon the home farm until 1870, when he came to Indiana county, Penn., where he worked as a laborer. In 1883 he went to Brookville, Penn., where he learned the art of photography, and same year came to Ridgway, where he established himself in business, and is now conducting a fine gallery, with a constantly increasing patronage. Mr. Motter married, May 20, 1870, Miss Sarah Updegraff, of Beaver township, Jefferson Co., Penn., and they are the parents of one child, Nettie.

W. H. OSTERHOUT, proprietor of the Eagle Valley Tannery, Ridgway, was born in Wawarsing, Ulster Co., N. Y., August 17, 1832, and is a son of Daniel and Catherine (Boggs) Osterhout, also natives of the county named above. Work upon his father's farm, the manufacture of lumber, peeling of bark and attending school occupied his boyhood and youth until he reached the portal of manhood, in 1853. In that year he entered the Lackawack Tannery, owned by Henry Bange, of New York City, in which he served an apprenticeship until the spring of 1856, when he proceeded, in company with G. W. Northrup and Gilbert Polen, to Canadensis, Penn., there to assist in building a tannery, with a view to taking charge of it, but before its completion he was taken sick and had to return home. He then again entered the Lackawack Tannery, where he completed his trade. He afterward took a course of study at Liberty Normal School, and while there received a proposal from Hon. Jackson S. Schultz, to go to Glenwood, Susquehanna Co., Penn., in order to take charge of the Glenwood Tannery, then owned by Schultz, Eaton & Co., and here, December 26, 1857, began his experience in the management of a tannery. August 17, 1858, Mr. Osterhout married Miss Helen Connine, daughter of Maj. Richard Connine, of Wawarsing; the only child by this union, Florence M., is the wife of B. F. Overholt, of West Overton, Penn. Mr. Osterhout continued to act as foreman at Glenwood until September, 1862, when, with A. A. Eaton, he purchased the Glenwood tannery, the partnership continuing until April 1, 1864, when Mr. Osterhout purchased Mr. Eaton's interest, transferring the same to Eli Rightmyer. After two years of prosperous business Mr. Osterhout bought Mr. Rightmyer's interest, and conducted the business alone until February 1, 1870, when he sold the entire establishment to Black, Burhans & Clearwater. In the fall of 1870 the subject of these lines removed to Ridgway, where he bought 135 acres of land from J. S. Hyde, and built his extensive Eagle Valley Tannery and other buildings, aggregating a model establishment, complete in all its appointments, and famous on that account throughout the tanning world. The barkmill building has four mills, which have the capacity of grinding sixty cords of hemlock bark per day, or 18,000 cords a year. The leach-house is attached to the mill building, forming with it an L, and contains twenty-eight square leaches, 163x18x7 feet. The liquid is pumped from the leaches by force-pumps, driven by a thirty-five-horse-power engine; the cooler-house contains ten coolers fifteen feet square and six feet deep; the boiler-house contains the large furnaces and ten boilers, each twenty-two feet long and four feet in diameter, and here is made all the steam for driving the engines and heating the tannery, store, and Mr. Osterhout's dwelling. The main building comprises the beam-house, handlers, yard, scrub-room and rolling-room, and the machinery used is driven by a sixty-five-horse-power engine. In and about the tannery about 160 men are employed; the capacity of the tannery is 250,000 sides per annum, the daily cost of running this immense business being $2,200, and the capital invested runs up into hundreds of thousands of

dollars. Mr. Osterhout attends to many of the details with an accuracy that is astonishing, and as a business man he certainly has few equals. In addition to his immense tannery he has a store, managed by C. E. Holaday, where he carries a stock of general merchandise, his sales amounting to about $70,000 per year. His beautiful residence, which is built in the form of a Greek cross, stands in the center of a handsomely terraced yard, commanding a fine view of the works, of the valley and of Ridgway. The residence of his foreman is a pleasant, home-like house, and on the terrace adjoining is the house of his brother, C. D. Osterhout. On the grounds are also a boarding house and forty tenement homes, arranged along wide streets, lined with handsome shade-trees. The buildings are located at the junction of the Philadelphia & Erie and Ridgway & Clearfield Railroads. The entire cost of constructing the dwellings, store and tannery buildings was about $200,000. In 1870 Mr. Osterhout bought from J. S. Hyde the hemlock bark on 1.700 acres; from J. S. Schultz, 4,000 acres, and from other parties 3,000 acres. He has since bought 5,000 acres and the bark on 12,000 acres, making a total bark acreage of 25,700. Notwithstanding the many cares of the great concern which he manages, Mr. Osterhout has found time to serve the people in various local offices, such as county commissioner, school director and supervisor, and he is one of the trustees of the Warren Insane Asylum. He is a director in the Ridgway Gas & Heat Company, and in the Tanners' Mu tual Fire Insurance Company, of Pennsylvania; is also a member of the Hamilton Wagon Company, of the firm of Osterhout & Ely, dealers in lumber, and of the Ridgway Publishing Company. He and his family are members of the Congregational Church; in politics Mr. Osterhout is a Republican. In January, 1889, Mr. Osterhout, in order to diminish his cares and give him time for travel, etc., formed an incorporated company, known as the Eagle Valley Tanning Company, he being its president, Mr. G. W. Childs, treasurer, and C. D. Osterhout, secretary.

C. D. OSTERHOUT, secretary of the Eagle Valley Tanning Company, and member of the firm of Osterhout & Campbell, proprietors of the Eagle Valley store, Ridgway, Penn., is a native of Lackawack, Ulster Co., N. Y.; was born October 9, 1847, and is a son of Daniel and Catherine (Boggs) Osterhout, natives of Ulster county, N. Y. The subject of our sketch was reared on a farm, and received his primary education at the common schools of his native town, subsequently taking a course at Monticello Academy. Mr. Osterhout has been in the tannery industry most of the time since his first experience in business, and for a period of seven years he was foreman of his brother's Eagle Valley Tannery at Ridgway, and in 1888 he became a stockholder in the new firm, the Eagle Valley Tanning Company, of which, as stated above, he is now secretary, the other officers being W. H. Osterhout, president; J. S. Schultz, vice-president, and G. W. Childs, treasurer. He is likewise a member, as also stated at the head of this sketch, of the firm of Osterhout & Campbell, general merchants. In 1874 Mr. Osterhout was married to Miss Lizzie, daughter of William and Cynthia Parks, and to this union have been born three children-two daughters: Nellie H. and Florence M., and one son, William P. The family are members of the Congregational Church. Mr. Osterhout is a member of the F. & A. M., and in politics is a Republican.

D. C. OYSTER, president of the Ridgway bank, was born in Horton township, Elk Co., Penn., in 1840. His father, Daniel Oyster, who was a native of Northumberland county, same State, located, in about 1832, in what is now Horton township, where he engaged in farming, and also erected a saw- and grist-mill. He was postmaster several years, and was so serving at

the time of his death, in 1852. His family consisted of three sons, two of whom are living (one having been drowned in Lake Erie in 1884), and four daughters, all living. D. C. Oyster, the subject of these lines, was given good educational advantages, and after leaving school, he bought the old homestead farm, also became proprietor of a hotel, and was appointed postmaster at Hellen. In 1871 he was elected sheriff of Elk county, and served until 1874; was re-elected in 1877, and served until 1880. He sold the homestead, in 1872, to the Lake Erie & Western Coal & Railroad Company, for $35,000, having moved to Ridgway in 1871. In 1874 he was appointed cashier of the Ridgway Bank, which position he held until January, 1890, when he was elected president. Mr. Oyster has been a member of the council since the organization of the borough, with the exception of one term. He is one of the substantial business men of Ridgway, and is connected with various important enterprises in the borough. He is president of the Hamilton Wagon Company, the Ridgway Publishing Company, the New Era Gas Company, and of the Manhattan Machine & Novelty Company. He was one of the organizers in 1875 of the Ridgway Light & Heat Company, which has proved very successful; is a member of the firm of J. H. McEwen & Co. (machine shops), the Oyster & Short Lumber Company, D. C. Oyster & Co. (lumber), and the Ridgway Lumber Company, which manufactures 20,000,000 feet of lumber annually. Mr. Oyster owns numerous extensive tracts of tim ber-land, being one of the largest land-owners in Elk county, as well as owner of extensive tracts in the adjacent county of Jefferson. In 1884 he built a fine brick residence on the corner of Court and Center streets, opposite the court-house, which is one of the model residence properties in the city. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs, and his popularity is shown by the fact of his election and re-election to official positions in one of the strongest Democratic counties in the State, although he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. Mr. Oyster married, July 4, 1867, Mary E., daughter of Frederick Mohney, of Clarion county, and they have two children: Frank R. and Hattie L. The entire family are members of the Congregational Church. Mr. Oyster is a member of the F. & A. M., Ridgway Lodge, No. 379, of Elk Chapter, No. 230, of Knapp Commandery, No. 40, K. of T., and of Bloomsburg (Columbia county) Consistory.

JEROME POWELL, of the firm of J. & E. C. Powell, merchants, Ridgway, was born in the borough and county of Warren, Penn., in 1827, a son of Richard and Margaret M. (Holden) Powell. In 1850 he moved to Ridgway, where he established the Elk County Advocate, continuing its publication until 1855. He then embarked in mercantile pursuits, and later also in the manufacture of lumber, in both of which branches he is still engaged. In 1865 he associated with himself, in the mercantile business, Mr. Robert V. Kime, which firm was widely known under the firm name of Powell & Kime during the succeeding twenty-two years, Mr. Kime then retiring from the firm, but still continuing as active manager of the business. Mr. Edgar C. Powell, son of the senior member of the firm, then entered as partner, and the business is now conducted in their large three-story double brick store, on the same spot of ground, under the firm name of J. & E. C. Powell. In politics Mr. Powell is a Republican. Although in no sense an office seeker, preferring his own private business instead, he has held several local offices of some importance. In 1854 he married Miss Amanda E. Horton, who died in 1888, leaving two sons, named, respectively, Edgar C. and Robert J. Powell, both of whom are now living in Ridgway. The name of Mrs. Powell's father was Isaac Horton; her mother's maiden name was Lucy Warner.

H. M. POWERS, attorney at law and insurance agent, Ridgway, Penn., was born April 20, 1842, in Sweden, Oxford Co., Me., and is a son of Jacob S. and Charlotte (Kimball) Powers, the former a native of Sweden, Me., and the latter of Bridgeton, Cumberland county, same State. He received his early education in Sweden, and completed it at Fryeburg, same county, to which place the family removed in 1854. In 1862 he commenced the study of law at Portland, Me., in the office of Hon. Josiah Drummond, then attorney-general for the State, and in the fall of 1864 he was admitted to practice at the bar at Portland. Late in the year 1865, Mr. Powers came to Ridgway, where he remained during the following winter, being here admitted to the practice, and in April, 1866, he removed to Springfield, Ohio, where, in 1867, he was admitted to the bar. In March, 1870, we again find Mr. Powers in Elk county, whither he had returned, this time engaged in lumbering in Spring Creek township, where he built a saw-mill. In this he continued about a year, and then located in Ridgway, where he has been connected with the Ridgway bank and in the law and insurance business since 1873. Mr. Powers was united in marriage December 29, 1869, with Mary A., daughter of John S. Webster, of Fryeburg, Me., and they have one child, Blanche Webster. The subject of our sketch is a member of Pythagorean Lodge, No. 11, F. & A. M., of Fryeburg, Me. He is a Republican in politics, has been chairman of the Republican county committee several terms, and in 1884, was a Republican candidate for member of the assembly. In educational matters he takes an active part, having been, ever since Ridgway became a borough, a member of the school board, of which he was president several years.

GEORGE A. RATHBUN, attorney at law, Ridgway, is a native of Le Roy, N. Y., born in 1837, and was reared and educated in his native town, attending the public schools, and also a private academy. In his youth he began the study of surveying, with the intention of making it his life-work, and in 1859 was employed as civil engineer and surveyor on the Sunbury & Erie (now Philadelphia & Erie) Railroad. Before that he had determined to study law for a profession, and in 1856 commenced reading under the instruction of C. F. Bissell, of Le Roy. In 1863 Mr. Rathbun was admitted to the bar, and began his practice at Le Roy, but in December, 1864, he returned to Ridgway, Penn. Here, in 1865, he was appointed deputy recorder, which position he held until 1866, when he was elected prothonotary and recorder, without a dissenting vote, holding the office three years. On December 1, 1869, Mr. Rathbun became associated in the practice of his profession with the Hon. Henry Souther, which partnership continued until February, 1871, at which date Mr. Souther was appointed to the bench by Gov. Geary, Mr. Rathbun being left to continue practice alone. In March, 1869, he was admitted to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and in October, 1885, to the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Rathbun is a lawyer of much ability, and has met with well-merited success. He has never sought political preferment, his main interest being a successful practice; and he has achieved his early ambition to an enviable degree, as he now stands at the head of his profession. He is public-spirited, and favors all projects that will materially improve his city and county. Mr. Rathbun is president of the Elk County Bar Association, and is chairman of the examining committee. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Olive Branch Lodge, No. 39, and of Le Roy Chapter, No. 183, at Le Roy, N. Y. He received the Templar degrees in Knapp Commandery, K. T., at Ridgway in 1871. Mr. Rathbun was married in December, 1866. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church; in politics he is an old-time Democrat.

A. S. ROSS, merchant tailor, Ridgway, son of James H., Sr., and Martha Ross, was born in McVeytown, Mifflin Co., Penn., in 1858. In 1870 his parents moved to York, Penn., where he completed his education. After leaving school, he worked for his father, who was proprietor of the National Hotel at York, and after the death of his father succeeded him in business. In 1877 he came to Ridgway and entered the employ of J. S. & W. H. Hyde, and for a time had charge of their mercantile interests at Brockport, and later at Ridgway. He then began the manufacture of brick, and made the brick placed on the market in Elk county. In 1879 he embarked in the general mercantile business at Ridgway, and now has one of the best stores in that place. He is a supporter of Democratic principles, was elected justice of the peace in March, 1882, and served four years, resigning the office in 1886. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Elk Lodge, No. 379; Elk Chapter, No. 240, and Knapp Commandery, No. 40. January 27, 1880, Mr. Ross married Jennie Stout, of Lock Haven, a daughter of Parley Stout.

A. G. ROUNSEVILLE, druggist, Johnsonburg, Quay P. O., was born in Coudersport, Penn., June 17, 1868, and is a son of A. and M. (Holland) Rounseville, who were among the first settlers in Potter county. They were the parents of seven children, of whom A. G. is the third son. He was educated in Coudersport, and entered the drug store of M. S. Thompson when quite young, where he remained one year; then for six months had charge of a drug store for Drs. Breisneck & Hastings, at Costello, Penn., afterward going to Austin, and working for N. H. Hastings. In 1886 he went to Kansas City, Mo., where he entered the laboratory of the medical college, and in 1887 he was appointed president of his class, under the name of Bifer. The same year he engaged with Park, Davis & Co., of Kansas City, Mo., as general manager of their wholesale and retail drug store, remaining there for some time, when he returned to Coudersport, Penn., and studied medicine a short time with Dr. Mattison. In 1888 he came to Johnsonburg, to work for M. A. Lillibridge & Co., in the drug business; they failed, and July 16, 1889, he bought the stock, and is now conducting a prosperous business.

PHILIP SCHIRK, harness-maker, Ridgway, a son of Jacob and Catherine (Schuler) Schirk, natives of Germany, was born in Warren county, Penn., January 4, 1845, and remained at home with his parents until February 2, 1864. when he entered the United States service, and was assigned to Company D, One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, serving until July 19, 1865. He then returned to Warren, where he learned the harness-maker's trade. He married, November 15, 1870, Miss Amelia Reig, of Warren, and they are the parents of four children: Hattie L., Alice A., Leona C. and Katie M. Mr. Schirk came to Ridgway in 1879, where he worked for Jacob Butterfuss, and in 1886 established the shop he now owns. He is a member of Ridgway Post, No. 370, G. A. R.

W. H. SCHRAM, proprietor of the "Hyde House," Ridgway, is a native of Belfast, Allegany Co., N. Y., born June 1, 1826, and is a son of John Schram, a wheelwright by trade. The subject of these lines received his education at the district schools of Cuba, in Allegany county, to which town the family had removed. In the spring of 1834 his father came to Ridgway, where he built the Dickinson mill, and the following winter he brought his family to the place. At this time the number of families in Ridgway did not exceed twelve, and of the members of these families, besides the Schrams, there are now living here only two, Mrs. Houk and Mrs. Dill. John Schram died in 1837. His son, W. H., commenced life for himself at the early age of eleven years, and for some time followed various occupations in New York and