BIO: Anthony J. BEAVER, Huntingdon County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lana Clark 
<myclarkhistory@hotmail.com>

Copyright 2006.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm 
**********************************************************
__________________________________________________________  

Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley: 
Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry, 
Pennsylvania, Containing Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens and Many of the Early Settlers.  Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. 
Runk & Co., 1897, pages 261-262 
__________________________________________________________  

  ANTHONY J. BEAVER, Grantsville (P.O. Aitch), Huntingdon county, Pa., was born 
in that part of Hopewell township now called Lincoln, September 27, 1832, son of 
Samuel and Hannah (Shultz) Beaver.  Anthony Beaver, grandfather of Anthony J., 
was born at South Mountain, Franklin county, Pa., and was a cooper and farmer.  
He removed from Franklin to Blair county, where he was engaged in farming; from 
Blair county he removed to Hopewell township, Huntingdon county; there he 
continued to farm.  His wife was Miss Clapper, of Blair county, and their 
children were: John; Samuel; Henry; Anthony; Elizabeth; Mary; Catherine; Hannah; 
Esther; and Annie.  Both grandparents died in Hopewell township.  Their son, 
Samuel Beaver, was a cooper and carpenter, and resided in Penn township.  During 
the latter part of his life, he was also a farmer.  He owned and farmed over 100 
acres of land in Penn township, on which he built a house and made various 
improvements.  He was a Democrat; he was elected to the school board, and held 
other township offices. Samuel Beaver was married in Hopewell township, to 
Hannah, daughter of Henry Shultz, a farmer of Hopewell, now Lincoln township, 
where he settled in 1797.  Mrs. Beaver was a native of that township.  Their 
children are: Sarah A., died young; Jackson, deceased; Anthony J.; Susanna, 
deceased; John, deceased; Henry, deceased; David, deceased; Samuel, of 
Williamsport, Pa.; William, of Penn township; Mary (Mrs. Franklin Snare), of 
Penn township; Hannah C., deceased; and two that died in infancy.  Mrs. Beaver 
died in 1869; Mr. Beaver, May 18, 1885, in Penn township.  He was a member of 
the Reformed church, in which he was an elder. 
  Having been educated in the public and subscription schools of Penn township, 
Anthony J. Beaver continued on the home farm, attending to its cultivation, 
until he reached his majority.  He then farmed with his brother Jackson, in the 
same township, for two years.  The war for the Union had now broken out; the 
stalwart young patriots of Pennsylvania were all astir, and, touched with the 
same generous glow, Mr. Beaver enlisted in Company C, Fifty-third Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, Captain Wintrode's well-remembered company, under Col. J. R. Brooke.  
It was in September, 1861.  Proceeding to the seat of war with his regiment, Mr. 
Beaver was in most of the engagements fought by the army of the Potomac; the 
Seven Days battle, Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard, Harrison's Landing, the Second Bull 
Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, besides several skirmishes.  In 
the retreat from the Rapidan, he was struck by a piece of shell, which caused 
the loss of his right arm, and was in the hospital at Grace church, Alexandria, 
Va., from that time, October 14, 1863, until the following March.  He was then 
attached to the Veteran Reserve Corps, and remained in Washington, D.C., until 
August, 1865.  Mr. Beaver was then discharged, and returned to his home in Penn 
township, where he has ever since resided.  In the same year, he was elected 
associate judge on the Republican ticket, by a vote which, in his own township, 
only lacked a single one of being unanimous.  He served two terms in this 
office; then, in 1871, he bought a farm of 205 acres in Penn township, which he 
tilled for twelve years, building upon it a dwelling house, etc., and planting 
an orchard.  In 1884, he removed to Grantsville, Penn township, where he had 
purchased a fine brick dwelling, and where he has ever since lived in well 
merited leisure and comfort.  He is a Republican, and has taken an active part 
in politics, but has held no township office, though he has been judge of 
elections.  Mr. Beaver enjoys the respect and kind regards of his neighbors and 
acquaintances. 
  Anthony J. Beaver was married in Altoona, Pa., in 1869, to Martha, daughter of 
David Shoup, a stone mason, of German descent.  Mrs. Beaver was born in Tod 
township.  Their children are: Milton S., printer, of Huntingdon, Pa.; Annie 
(Mrs. Joseph E. Beatty), of Huntingdon, Pa.; Samuel H., a student at the Normal 
School, in Huntingdon; and Mary I., at home.  Mr. Beaver is a member of the 
Reformed church, in which he is an elder.