Bedford County PA Archives Biographies.....Weisel, Abraham 
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Judy Banja jbanja@msn.com May 2003


ABRAHAM WEISEL, one of the foremost citizens of Colerain, 
Bedford County, was born in this township, February 14, 
1844, a son of Abraham, Sr., and Elizabeth (Mann) Weisel.  
On the maternal side he comes of Revolutionary stock, his 
great-grandfather Mann having fought during the struggle for 
American independence under General Washington.
  Abraham Weisel, Sr., was born in Bedford County, 
Pennsylvania.  He followed the trade of a cooper when a 
young man, but afterward became widely known as a miller, 
carrying on business for many years.  He operated 
grist-mills in different sections of the county, having one 
at Bedford Springs for fifteen years, one in Wolfsburg, one 
known as "the Patterson Mill," and for a time also he had 
control of the plant known as "the old Poor House Mill."  In 
the early part of his life he enjoyed the distinction of 
being the first superintendent of the celebrated Bedford 
Mineral Springs.  During the latter part of his life he 
devoted his energies to general farming in Colerain, where 
he was for years one of the most influential citizens.  He 
was a self-made man.  In 1842 he represented Bedford County 
in the State legislature, having been elected on the 
Democratic ticket, which he always supported.  He served in 
various township offices with fidelity and ability, and was 
also active in religious work, being a member and an Elder 
of the Reformed church.  He died at his home in Colerain, 
August 26, 1890, full of years and honors.  The maiden name 
of his wife, who was born and bred in Bedford County, was 
Elizabeth Mann.
  Abraham Weisel, Jr., received his elementary education in 
the public schools of the county, after which he attended 
the Allegheny Male and Female Seminary at Rainsburg, Pa., 
under Professor J. W. Hughes, several terms, and for a time 
was a student at a private normal training school in 
Bedford, Pa., conducted by County Superintendent H. W. 
Fisher.  Subsequently for a period of about twenty- five 
years he was engaged as a teacher in his own and adjoining 
townships, a position for which he was well qualified.  He 
taught a select school at Boydstown, then a suburb of 
Bedford, but now included within the borough limits.  During 
the term of 1874-75, he had charge of the intermediate 
department of the Everett schools.
  Mr. Weisel began his career as school teacher at Spruce 
Hill school-house, in Snake Spring township, on December 4, 
1865.  Commencing with a low-grade "provisional 
certificate," by hard study and close attention to his 
duties he worked his way up till he soon took rank with the 
leading teachers of the county, having received in regular 
order from the proper school authorities the different 
grades of teachers' certificates - namely; provisional, 
professional, and permanent.  Since retiring from the work 
of school teaching, he has devoted himself, with 
well-directed energy and with gratifying success, to 
agricultural pursuits.  He has a farm of two hundred and ten 
acres of land, on which he raises an abundance of the crops 
common to this part of the country.  He is also engaged to 
some extent in stock-breeding.  An active supporter of every 
good cause, Mr. Weisel continues to take special interest in 
education of the young, and as School Director of Colerain 
township, an office in which he is now serving his third 
term, he has rendered valuable service.  He has also been 
Township Clerk and Township Auditor a number of terms, 
positions which he has filled most creditably.  In politics 
he is identified with the Democratic party.  In the Reformed 
church, of which he is a member, he is now serving as Elder, 
having virtually succeeded his father, who served in that 
capacity many years.
  Mr. Weisel and Malinda C. Hartman, a daughter of A. J. 
Hartman, of Loysburg, Pa., were married on May 13, 1875.  
They have ten children, namely: S. Estella, a teacher in the 
public schools of Bedford County; Elizabeth A.; Henrietta 
C.; Theodore H.,; Martin B.; Mary G.; William A.; Lloyd S.; 
James H.; and Elsie M. C.


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