BIO: Clement DALE, Centre County, Pennsylvania

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Wayne Barner 

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania: Including the 
Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion: Containing Biographical 
Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Etc. 
Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1898.
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, pages 88-89

CLEMENT DALE [portrait], of Bellefonte, in whom is worthily represented the 
fourth generation of a family that has reflected honor to citizenship and credit 
to the name for upward of a hundred years in Centre County, is the son of 
Christian and Eliza (Neff) Dale.
  Clement Dale was born on his father's farm at Oak Hall, Centre County, 
February 25, 1851 and on the farm where his father and all of his children were 
born, and where now reside children of the fifth generation, who likewise were 
born there. Until the age of twelve years he attended the public schools of the 
neighborhood, then a private school at Rev. Dr. Hammil's, a neighbor; at the age 
of sixteen he went to the Boalsburg Academy, and was there prepared for college 
under the tuition of G. W. Leisher, working ad interim on his father's farm, who 
taught his children habits of industry and economy, as well as to direct their 
lives into channels that would lead to usefulness and honor, in the various 
walks of life. In the fall of 1870 young Dale entered the freshman class of 
Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, and was graduated in a classical course in 
June 1874. After his graduation he came to Bellefonte, read law in the office of 
Judge Furs& and was admitted to the Bar August 29, 1876. He immediately opened 
an office in Bellefonte, on the site of the building he now occupies, and in 
which he has continued to conduct the practice of the law from that day to this. 
Mr. Dale, though only in middle life, with years of service ahead of him, has 
already attained success, not only financially, but as a man and citizen. His 
life has been an exemplary one, always in the line of right in all questions 
pertaining to the elevation of the morals of the community in which he has 
lived. A member of the Lutheran Church, he has ever taken a great interest in 
the cause of Christianity, and given much time and contributed largely to the 
upbuilding of his Church in Bellefonte, in the service of which he has labored 
as a Sabbath- school teacher and superintendent, and the policy of which Church 
at large he has helped to shape. He was twice chosen a delegate to the General 
Synod of the Lutheran Church of the United States of America, the first time 
when it met in June, 1881, at Altoona, Penn., and the second time in June 1895, 
at Hagerstown, Md. This honor was conferred by the District Synod, comprising 
the counties of Centre, Clinton, Union, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry. He is at 
present a trustee in his home Church; a director in the Theological Seminary at 
Gettysburg; and also a trustee of the Bellefonte Academy.
  Mr. Dale has been active in politics, and has contributed largely to the 
success of the Republican party in Centre County, having been an available 
speaker and worker during the campaigns. In 1877 he received the nomination of 
the Republican party for the office of District Attorney, and was paid the 
following compliment by the press:        
  "We favor the election of Mr. Dale because we believe he is the best fitted 
for the position. He is a rising lawyer at our Bar, and, what is important, he 
is honest-no money which may pass through his hands will be misappropriated. His 
record is pure and spotless, and, if he is elected, every citizen may feel 
confident that no defalcation will arise through any negligence or want of 
honesty on his part.
  "Mr. Dale is so well known in the county that no word of recommendation that 
we can utter can add anything to his popularity. He belongs to one of the oldest 
and most respectable families in our midst, was born here, as were also his 
father and grandfather before him. He is a 

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 89

young man of untarnished reputation, a thorough scholar, a reliable and 
trustworthy gentleman, and, if elected to the office to which his friends aspire 
to elevate him, will make one of the most efficient officers this county ever 
had. With such a candidate in the field, it would seem as though his success 
ought not to be a question of doubt. There is no candidate yet mentioned by any 
man or party that offers a cleaner record, a more honorable name, or who, if 
elected, would reflect more honor or more credit upon the people whom he 
serves."
  In 1880 Mr. Dale was elected by a decided majority to the office of Chief 
Burgess of Bellefonte, and very acceptably to the people and with credit to 
himself, served the borough in that capacity. For ten years he had been the City 
Solicitor of Bellefonte, which long term of service is of itself a sufficient 
evidence of his capability and popularity. Having descended from Revolutionary 
stock, he belongs to a patriotic family, having lost one brother in the Civil 
war, and had another who distinguished himself and added honor to the family 
name in that struggle. Mr. Dale, himself, was but a lad at that time, too young 
for service, but for the last decade or more there has hardly passed a 
Decoration Day that his voice has not been heard proclaiming the heroism and 
sacrifice made by the "boys in blue." Our subject is a self-made man, and to him 
is due the position in life he occupies - a useful citizen and a lawyer whose 
energy, integrity, ability and honorable life adorn his profession.
  On May 15, 1884, Mr. Dale was married to Miss Sarah Davis Wilt, of 
Philadelphia, and their children are: Mary Edith, born February 28, 1886, died 
suddenly in Philadelphia, June 22, 1889; Arthur Clement, born September 24, 
1889; and Marion Ethel, born September 6, 1891. Mrs. Dale is a native of 
Allegheny, Penn., a daughter of Benjamin and Susannah H. (Dobbs) Wilt, natives 
of Blair and Butler Counties, Penn., respectively. When a child of five years of 
age, Benjamin Wilt's parents, George and Margaret Ann (Kuhns) Wilt, moved to the 
vicinity of Kittanning, in Armstrong County, Penn., and there passed their 
lives; both were born in Blair County. Mrs. Dale's grandparents on her mother's 
side were Francis Dobbs and Sarah (Davis) Dobbs, the former a native of Ohio, 
and the latter of Lancaster county, Penn. After their marriage they lived at 
Kittanning. Originally the Wilts and Kuhns were from Germany, and the Dobbses 
and Davises from England. The children of Benjamin Wilt and wife were: Sarah 
Davis; Mary E., deceased; Lemuel and Edwin M. The father was for many years a 
merchant at Kittanning, and, during Mrs. Dale's childhood moved to Philadelphia, 
where he also engaged in business, and where he was reared and educated. He died 
in 1888.