Bedford County PA Archives Biographies.....Nycum, Simon
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Judy Banja jbanja@msn.com May 2003


SIMON NYCUM, one of the prominent citizens of East 
Providence, Pa., is a prosperous farmer, enterprising 
business man, and able financier, residing at Ray's Hill.  A 
son of the late John Nycum, he was born December 25, 1818, 
in Snake Spring, Bedford County, where his paternal 
grandfather, William Nycum, was a pioneer settler.
  John Nycum removed from Colerain township, this county, 
where he lived a few months, to Ray's Hill in 1820 or soon 
after.  A man of untiring energy, willing to seize every 
advantageous opportunity to improve his financial condition, 
he bought a tract of land in East Providence, Pa.; and in 
addition to general farming, he also established himself as 
merchant, and opened a hotel at Ray's Hill.  He managed each 
industry with ease, and in 1838 further enlarged his 
operations by erecting a tannery on his farm near his store. 
 This he conducted several years in conjunction with his 
other work.  He also found some time to devote to local 
matters, serving as Auditor of the township several years.  
In his early life he was a Whig and later one of the 
stanchest supporters of the Republican party.  He died in 
1879, aged eighty-one years.  Of his union with Mary 
Shatzer, of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, several children 
were born, three of whom survive, namely: Simon, the subject 
of this biography; Andrew J., of Everett, Pa.; and John, of 
Chicago, Ill.
  Simon Nycum came with his parents to Ray's Hill when about 
three years of age.  A year or two later he began to prepare 
for the battle of life by entering the subscription school 
of the district, which was held in a rude log house, 
furnished with slab seats that were supported by wooden 
pegs, the writing desks for the older scholars being made of 
boards fastened up against the sides of the building.  He 
afterward completed his education at an academy in the town 
of Bedford.  While yet a youth he learned the necessary 
details of general farming on the parental homestead, on 
which the larger part of his life has been passed.  He also 
assisted his father in the tannery, and by the time he was 
of age was so thoroughly acquainted with its management that 
he was given the sole charge of it.  He superintended its 
operations several years, after which he resigned his work 
to his father.  From 1840 until 1847 Mr. Nycum conducted a 
hotel in addition to farming, and from 1847 till 1867 he ran 
a grist and flour mill, known as Nycum's Mill, on Brush 
Creek, East Providence township.  About the year 1848 he 
built a tannery near the mill.  This he operated for twenty 
years or so, in the meantime neglecting not the care and 
improvement of his homestead property.  During these latter 
years he was engaged largely in agricultural pursuits.  The 
success he has met in his various lines of industry shows 
that he possesses versatility of talent and a marked degree 
of executive ability.  When the Bedford County  almshouse 
was established, Mr. Nycum was one of the seven men 
appointed by the governor to select a suitable site and 
superintend its construction.  In politics he is an 
uncompromising Republican.  Fraternally, he is a member of 
Ray's Hill Lodge, I.O.O.F., to which he has belonged ever 
since its organization.
  On February 13, 1838, Mr. Nycum married Mary A., daughter 
of Joseph Sparks, an early settler of East Providence, Pa.  
She died February 6, 1892, having borne him ten children, 
namely: Martha, deceased; William H., a resident of Kossuth 
County, Iowa; John Q., of Ray's Hill; George W., of Mount 
Carroll, Ill.; Henry C., of Wilkinsburg, Pa.; Joseph W. S., 
of Wilkinsburg; Simon F., of East Providence township, Pa.; 
Mary E., wife of the Rev. John W. Poffenberger, pastor of 
the Lutheran church at Vandergrift, Westmoreland County, 
Pa.; Susan E., wife of John S. Hershberger, of Everett, Pa.; 
and Albert L., of Bedford, Pa.  Mr. Nycum is a Deacon of the 
Lutheran church, of which Mrs. Nycum was also a member.


Source: Bedford Biographical Review, 1899, Bedford Co., Pa