BIO: John M. DALE, Centre County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Millich Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/ http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/1picts/commbios/comm-bios.htm _____________________________________________________________________ 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. _____________________________________________________________________ JOHN M. DALE, of Bellefonte, is of the fifth generation of the Dale family who have lived in Centre county. Christian Dale (1), his great-great-grandfather, came to this country, arriving in Philadelphia in 1749. In 1772 he cleared and was living on that part of a tract of land known as Col. Slifer's farm, near the iron bridge in the vicinity of Lewisburg, the land in 1772 being owned by Ludwig Derr. Mr. Dale resided in Buffalo Valley, in which he was one of the first settlers during the stirring times of the Revolution. In 1790 he removed to the end of Nittany Mountain (now College township, Centre county), where in 1796, he built a gristmill and a sawmill. He was one of those sterling old Germans to whom Pennsylvania owed so much and whose walk in life was measured by the rule - "Be just and fear not." He died in July, 1805, aged seventy-two years; his wife, Rachel, passed away in December, 1808, aged seventy- six years, and their remains rest in the old Dale burying ground, on the hill back of Lemont. These pioneers came to a vast wilderness, poor, and died comparatively wealthy, leaving to their children fine farms, and the inheritance of names made noble by a long life of toil and hardships. Their children were Henry, Philip, Felix, Frederick, Christian, Cornelius, Mary (she married Nicholas Straw, a soldier of the Revolution), Eve (she married Peter Earhart), and Rachel (she married Lewis Swinehart). Of these, Christian and Frederick removed to Ohio. Henry was born in Northampton county, August 29, 1758; he was a soldier of Washington at Trenton and Princeton in 1776-1777, and served in military tours under Capt. Forster, of Buffalo Valley. Felix Dale, son of Christian (1), was born February 2, 1767, and died March 12, 1833, in the sixty-seventh year of his age; his wife who was Catherine Dorothy Pinogel, died April 15, 1844, aged seventy years, and both lie buried in the Dale graveyard. By their side is a stone bearing the inscription: Maria Elizabeth Bindnogle Died August 11, 1822 Aged 86 years. She was likely the mother of the wife of Felix Dale. The Pinogels were from near Harrisburg, Penn., where there was a settlement bearing the family name. We find the name Pinogel on record in Londonderry township, Dauphin county, as early as 1780. Felix Dale inherited from his father's estate the mill property, and by occupation was a miller and farmer. He had two sons, David and Felix. David Dale was born in the vicinity of Dales' Mills in January, 1798. He received such schooling as the neighborhood schools of his youth afforded, and became a miller by occupation, also carrying on agricultural pursuits in connection with the milling business. He was a man of practical ideas and a genius in a mechanical line, building his own carding machine, which branch of the woolen-mill business, together with a hemp mill he added to the grist and saw mill business that had descended from his forefathers. He was a man of good judgment and business qualifications, and made a success of life. The Dales for generations were Lutherans and David was not an exception to the rule. He married Margaret, a daughter of Maj. Frederick Hennigh, who resided below Aaronsburg, Centre county. Both lie buried in the cemetery at Boalsburg. David dying July 13, 1854, in the fifty-seventh year of his age and his wife, Margaret, on January, 11 1864, aged sixty-five years. Of the nine children, William, the eldest, was the father of the subject of this sketch. WILLIAM DALE was born at the home farm, where he grew to manhood, assisting in the work on the farm and about the mill. Subsequently he was employed in the woolen-mill at Oak Hall, where he learned the business under John Irvin. In 1860 he married and in connection with a Mr. McCarns, located at Neshannock, Lawrence Co., this State, where they were for several years engaged in carrying on a wool- COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA 241 En-factory. Mr. Dale then returned to Dales' Mills, and, in connection with his brothers, converted the old flouring-mill at that point into a woolen-mill, where he was engaged in business for several years; then sold his interest and located at Lemont, where his widow now resides, and where his death occurred December 20, 1871, when he was in his forty-seventh year. Like his father and forefathers, he was an industrious, upright and honest man, and a highly respected citizen. He was a Christian man, adhering to the faith of his ancestors, that of the Lutheran church. In politics he was a Republican. His wife was Mary M. (daughter of John and Sarah Thompson Mitchell), born in the neighborhood where she now resides, and their children were: John M., born November 10, 1861; and Edgar, who died in infancy. The MITCHELL and THOMPSON families were of Scotch-Irish origin, and have resided in Centre county for nearly a century. JOHN MITCHELL (1), the grandfather of Mrs. Dale, presumably from Scotland or Ireland, lived for many years in Mifflin county, and died there. His children were: Susannah married Frank McCoy (grandfather of the present Frank McCoy, of Bellefonte); Mary married William Thompson; Elizabeth married a Roderick; Samuel; David; Robert; William; James and John. The latter and David, during the war of 1812, located in Centre county, John on a farm in the vicinity of the present village of Lemont, where he followed agricultural pursuits throughout life, dying January 18, 1865, in the seventy-sixth year of his age; and David, in Ferguson township. John Mitchell married Sarah Thompson, and their children were: Moses Thompson married Maria Lock, of Mifflin county; John Hutchinson married Nancy Johnson, of Boalsburg; Nancy Culbertson died young; William also died young; Susan Margaret, unmarried; and Mary M. (Mrs. Dale), all of whom are now dead excepting the last named. John Mitchell, after the death of his wife (which occurred March 5, 1832), married again, the second wife being Letitia Patton, of his neighborhood, but formerly from Lancaster county. The Mitchells were men of influence in the county, and the best of citizens. David married a daughter of John Barron, a woman of rare intelligence and much ability. John B., one of her sons, was treasurer of Centre county. Of Scotch-Irish parentage, the elder Mitchell's Presbyterianism was inherited from a long line of ancestors. The father of Sarah (Thompson) Mitchell emigrated from the North of Ireland about the year 1745, and Matthew Louden, her maternal grandfather, was one of the Scotch Covenanters who were driven from home by persecution. The Thompsons were residents of Mifflin county before coming to Centre county early in the present century. John M. Dale was born at Neshannock Falls, Lawrence Co., Penn., on the 11th of November, 1861. His parents removed from there to the old homestead in Centre county about three years afterward, and continued to reside there. He entered the Pennsylvania State College in 1878, and graduated with the class of 1882. The same year he began the study of law and, in 1883, entered the law offices of Beaver & Gephart at Bellefonte, and, under their direction, read law and was admitted to the Bar of Centre County on the 1st of January, 1886. Directly after his admission to the Bar, he went to Lock Haven, where he engaged in the practice of law in connection with Capt. W. C. Kress, of that place, now the State Law Reporter. On April 12, 1886, Mr. Dale returned to Bellefonte and entered the office of his former preceptors, and, on the election of Gen. Beaver, in the fall of 1886, to the gubernatorial chair, he became a member of the firm, which was styled Beaver, Gephart & Dale. This partnership continued until November 1, 1893, when Mr. Gephart withdrew, in order to give his entire time to the Valentine Iron Co., and the new Central Railroad Co., of Pennsylvania, of which he was chosen general superintendent. Gen. Beaver having returned to Bellefonte upon the expiration of his official term, and once more actively engaged in the practice of law, a new firm was formed under the name of Beaver & Dale. This firm continued the practice of law until the first of July, 1895, when owing to the fact that General Beaver was appointed to the Bench of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, it was dissolved, and Mr. Dale has since been practicing law along. Mr. Dale has always been a Republican in politics, and has taken considerable interest in the success of the Republican party. He was connected with the County Committee in 1889 and 1890, and in 1891 was elected chairman of the County Committee, in which capacity he served for one year. On the 18th of October, 1888, he married Miss Florence G. Fox, a daughter of Thomas J. E. Fox, of Leesburg, Virginia, and their children are: Virginia Dale, who was born in 1891, and John M. Dale, Jr., who was born in 1893.