daughter of John B. and Mary M. (Lion) Heindl, of St. Mary's, and they have one son, Richard Albert. Mr. Weis is a member of the Catholic Church, and in politics is independent.

G. A. WESCOTT, foreman of the Gazette office, took charge of the office in 1886. For three years prior to this date he had charge of the Ridgway Advocate, and was connected with that office for five years. He was born at Portland, nine miles below Ridgeway, in 1860. His father, Roderick Wescott, is an old resident of this county, having settled in the Wilcox neighborhood as one of the pioneers.

D. R. WILMARTH, of the firm of D. R. Wilmarth & Co., publishers of the Elk County Gazette, St. Mary's, which journal was established in 1868, is a son of Frederick and Frances A. (Rolfe) Wilmarth, mention of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume. D. R. Wilmarth was born in Pittsburgh, February 11, 1866, but was brought to Rolfe, Elk county, when only two years of age. From that point the family moved to St. Mary's, in 1881, and here, in August, 1884, our subject entered the law office of Harry Alvan Hall, under whom he pursued his legal studies until April, 1887, when he and his preceptor bought the Gazette, of which Mr. Hall became the editor and Mr. Wilmarth the business manager and local editor. In January, 1890, Mr. Hall retired. from the editorship and ownership of the Gazette, and Mr. Wilmarth became its sole proprietor. The paper, like its owner, is an advocate of the Democratic party, and has met with success in a pecuniary way, as well as popularity with the reading public. Mr. Wilmarth is a member of Washington Camp, No. 376, P. O. S. of A., of Ridgway, Penn.

FRANK WILMARTH, book-keeper for Hall & Kaul, St. Mary's, was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1861, a son of Frederick and Frances A. (Rolfe) Wilmarth, the latter a daughter of the late H. M. Rolfe, of Pittsburgh. Lyman Wilmarth, the grandfather of Frank Wilmarth, was an early pioneer of Elk county, Penn. (then part of Jefferson county), having come here in 1832 from the State of New York, and, in conjunction with Arthur Hughes (now living in Cleveland, Ohio, at an advanced age) and George Dickinson (now deceased), built a saw-mill at Ridgway, which in those days was considered a large concern, as it consisted of three sash saws. In order to get the necessary machinery for the mill to its proper location, they had to cut their own roads through the wilderness a greater part of the way, and their first prospecting trip was made partly on horseback and partly on foot. Lyman Wilmarth married Lemira Dickinson, sister of Judge Dickinson, and they had nine children, five of whom were born in Elk county, Penn. Mr. Wilmarth once wrote a very interesting history of Elk county, from the time of its first settlement (about 1811) up to 1866, which history was published in the county paper in the latter year. His death took place at Earley, Elk county, in 1867. Fred Wilmarth was born in Ridgway, Elk county, in 1837, and lived there when the then hamlet was forty miles away from any other settlement. From 1845 until 1864 he was an absentee, and on his return, the then thriving borough was within eleven hours' ride of Philadelphia. Frank Wilmarth, whose name heads this sketch, has been with the firm of Hall & Kaul since 1881, and is held in high esteem by the firm and the public generally. He was married in 1888 to Jennie M., daughter of Salyer Jackson, of Elk county.

CHARLES SEYMOUR WILMARTH, bank cashier, St. Mary's, was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., November 4, 1862, a son of Frederick and Frances A. (Rolfe) Wilmarth, and has been a resident of Elk county all his life, with the exception of about five years spent with his grandparents in Pittsburgh. In May, 1878, he entered the employ of the Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon

Railroad Company, as a telegraph operator, and in the spring of 1880 he entered Duff's Commercial College, Pittsburgh, from which institution he graduated the following summer. In May, 1883, he became cashier of the St. Mary's Bank of Hyde, Hall & Co., and has rendered the utmost satisfaction to his employers ever since. January 4, 1887, Mr. Wilmarth married Miss Annie B. Denny, daughter of W. F. and Elizabeth J. (Wellendorf) Denny, and this union has been blessed by the birth of two children: Anita D. (aged two years) and Frances C. (aged eight months). Mr. Wilmarth has always been a strong Democrat, but, although a very popular young man, has never sought official position, nor has he ever been a candidate for one.

C. G. WILSON, M. D., St. Mary's, was born in Milton, Northumberland Co., Penn., September 5, 1848, and is a son of William and Sarah (Brown) Wilson. He was reared in his native State and educated at Jersey Shore Academy, Jersey Shore, Penn., and at Princeton College, Princeton, N. J. In 1870 he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. D. H. Hunter, of Watsontown, Penn., attending a course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., the same year, and also a course at the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in 1872. In 1873 he re-entered Jefferson Medical College, and was there graduated in 1874. The same year he began the practice of his profession in Watsontown, Penn., and in July, 1876, located in St. Mary's, where he has since remained and built up an extensive practice. The Doctor married Tillie, daughter of Hon. J. M. and Susan (Hackenberg) Follmer, of Watsontown, Penn., and they have two children: Jay (now aged fourteen years) and Effie May (now aged four years). Dr. Wilson is a member of the American Medical Association, the State Medical Society, the Medical Society of Elk and Cameron counties, and is surgeon for the P. & E. R. R.; is also a medical examiner for many of the leading life insurance companies, including, the Travelers' of Hartford, Mutual Life of New York, Union Central of Cincinnati, Ohio; Keystone, of Allentown, Penn.; Northwestern, of Milwaukee, Wis., and others. In politics he is a Democrat.

SEBASTIAN WIMMER, civil engineer, St. Mary's, was born in Thalmassing, near Ratisbon, Bavaria, Germany, January 5, 1831, and is a son of George and Theresa (Hahn) Wimmer, and a nephew of the late Arch-abbot Boniface Wimmer, O. S. B. He was reared in Munich, Germany, from 1833 to 1851, and was educated in the Polytechnic school at that place, from which he graduated in 1849. On June 2, 1851, he landed in New York, but located in Westmoreland county, Penn., for awhile, and finally secured, at Pittsburgh, Penn., a position with Hastings & Preisser, city engineers, from June, 1852, to November 15, 1852. He then went to New Orleans, remaining there six months, when he returned to Pennsylvania, and secured from Chief Engineer Milnor Roberts, in June, 1853, the appointment of assistant engineer in the building of the Allegheny Valley Railroad, having charge of the second division, from Tarentum to Kittanning. In October, 1856, Mr. Wimmer went to Minnesota, but came back and married Miss L. H. Blakely, at Pittsburgh, February 12, 1857; then returned and located in St. Paul, where, soon after (May, 1858), he was appointed assistant engineer of the Minneapolis & Cedar Valley Railroad, which position he held until August, 1859. He then returned to Pittsburgh, where he left his family, and again proceeded to New Orleans, with a view of locating there, but on account of sickness was compelled to relinquish that idea; came again north, and graduated soon after from the Iron City Commercial College and accepted the position of bookkeeper at Saint Vincent Abbey, Westmoreland county, Penn., during which

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time he was instrumental in having a post-office and telegraph office established there, and was appointed its first postmaster. During 1862 he was surveying on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company aline from Garland, on the P. & E. R. R., to Enterprise, Titusville and Oil City; was transferred in June, 1863, on behalf of the same company, to St. Mary's, Elk Co., Penn., to take charge of Edward Miller and Milton Courtright's contract" to complete the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad between Whetham, sixteen miles west of Lock Haven, and Warren, Penn., a distance of 143 miles. After finishing this railroad, he set out, March 29, 1865, for Mexico, via Cuba, and there took charge of the mountain division of the Vera Cruz & Mexico City Railroad, remaining over two years, then went to London, England, to settle the affairs of the company. On his return to Pennsylvania, he took charge of the eastern forty-five miles of the Low Grade division of the Allegheny Valley Railroad. After completing that work in June, 1874, he became a candidate for the legislature from the Elk county district; was elected, and served two successive sessions. In 1877 Mr. Wimmer was appointed chief engineer of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, after completing which, he was appointed chief engineer of the New York & Northern Railroad in 1879, acting in that capacity up to 1882; then revisited Mexico, and on his return became chief engineer of the Erie & Wyoming Valley Railroad (Penn.). In 1888 he built the Yonkers Rapid Transit Railroad, from Van Cortlandt to Getty's Square, at Yonkers, N. Y., and made surveys for the New York & Northern Railroad at and near Croton Lake. Mr. Wimmer is a stockholder in the Clearfield Coal Company, and has extensive landed interests in Minnesota; is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York City, and politically is a Democrat.

He

ERNEST J. WIMMER, attorney at law, St. Mary's, was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., September 15, 1859, and is a son of Sebastian and Lavinia H. (Blakely) Wimmer. In 1871 he went to St. Vincent's College and graduated from that institution in 1878. In New York City he was an employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in the office of James McCrea, in the capacity of shorthand writer, for seven months. In the office of Calvin Goddard, Thomas Edison's secretary, he filled the position of shorthand writer and telegraph operator at the same time for the N. Y. City & N. R. R. another year. entered Columbia Law School, and graduated in New York City in 1881, and was admitted to the bar in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1882. Eight months were then spent traveling in Europe. On his return he was admitted to the bar of Elk county, and has been in continuous practice since. His talents were soon recognized, and he was elected district attorney in 1885. He convicted William C. Bush, in 1886, of murder in the first degree, but the sentence of the man was afterward commuted to imprisonment for life. In 1888 Mr. Wimmer was re-elected district attorney of Elk county. He has been a resident of St. Mary's since 1863. Mr. Wimmer had the honor last fall of having the largest majority given to any candidate, except one, running over 200 ahead of Cleveland. He is an accomplished newspaper man, and his reputation at the bar is of a high order. Mr. Wimmer was the publisher of the St. Mary's Herald for nearly two years, but in 1889 withdrew from the newspaper business, and has ever since devoted himself entirely to the duties of his profession. JOSEPH F. WINDFELDER, grocer, saloon-keeper and manufacturer of pop, St. Mary's, was born in that borough, August 13, 1852, a son of Joseph and Mary (Weis) Windfelder. His father, who was a native of Bavaria. Germany, came to this country and settled in 1846 in St. Mary's, where he commenced in the brewing business, erecting the first brewery in the town.

He was

now known as St. Mary's Brewery, which he operated up to 1874. also engaged in other lines of business, and served as treasurer of Elk county one term. His family consisted of twelve children, of whom six survive: Joseph F., Mary W., Josephine (Mrs. Frank Fey), Louis, Maggie and Isadore. The subject of this notice was reared and educated in St. Mary's, and began business for himself as proprietor of a restaurant and saloon (in which he is still engaged), embarking, in connection, in the grocery business in 1874, and in 1884 in the manufacture of pop and other soft drinks. Mr. Windfelder married, October 13, 1874, Kate, daughter of John Kaul, of St. Mary's, and by her has five children: Rosa and Mary (twins), Albert, Andrew and Irene. Mr. Windfelder is a member of the Catholic Church; in politics a Democrat, and was deputy treasurer of Elk county under his father's administration.

LEONARD WITTMANN, manufacturer of and dealer in carriages, St. Mary's, was born in Bavaria, Germany, December 4, 1841, and is a son of George and Barbara (Fisher) Wittmann, who came to this country and located in St. Mary's in 1845. The family soon after moved to a farm in Benzinger township, same county, which they cleared and improved, as well as part of another farmı. The parents both died in St. Mary's. Their children were three in number, of whom the subject of this sketch is the only survivor. Mr. Wittmann was reared and educated in St. Mary's, and in 1858 he began the trade of a general blacksmith. After working in twenty-three different shops, during a period of seven years, he, in 1866, started a shop of his own in St. Mary's, which, with the exception of two years, he has conducted ever since; from 1873 to 1877 he was in the hardware business with George Weidenboerner. On June 27, 1865, Mr. Wittmann married Mary S., daughter of Charles and Mary (Herzog) Fischer, of St. Mary's, and by her has seven children living: Mary B., Josephine M., Edward G., Annie, Albert J., Louis B. and Henry J. Mr. Wittmann and family are members of the Catholic Church. Politically he is a Democrat, and has held the offices of councilman six, and school director nine years in succession.

HENRY YAGER, member of the firm of Yager & Co., harness manufacturers, St. Mary's, was born in Roda, Sachsen-Altenburg, Germany, March 18, 1850, and is a son of Julius and Christiana (Roediger) Yager. He was reared in his native country, and served an apprenticeship of three years at the harness and upholstery trades, after which he worked nine years as a journeyman, and then for three years conducted business on his own account. In 1881 he came to America and located in St. Mary's, where he worked three years in the harness shop of Albert Weis; then embarked in business for himself in conjunction with Andrew Kaul, under the firm name of Yager & Co., and they are now doing a successful and continually increasing business. Mr. Yager was married, December 12, 1878, to Bertha Prueger, a native of Dorna, near Roda, Sachsen-Altenburg, Germany. This lady died September 10, 1884, the mother of three children: Anna, Paul and Emelia, the last of whom died when six weeks old. April 5, 1885, Mr. Yager took for his second wife Katharina Leutung, also a native of Germany, and to this union one son, Frederick, was born July 18, 1886. Mr. Yager is a member of the Lutheran Church, and in politics is a Democrat.