BIO: Daniel FLISHER, Centre County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by JRB 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. _____________________________________________________________________ DANIEL FLISHER, one of the old and honored residents of Potter township, Centre county, was born June 12, 1811, in Lower Paxton, Hanover township, Dauphin Co., Penn., a son of Daniel and Catharine (Keller) Flisher. He is the fourth in order of birth in their family of seven children - three sons and four daughters - the others being as follows: Elizabeth, who married John Osman, and died in Centre Hall, Centre county; Michael, who died in Stone Valley, Huntingdon Co., Penn.; Polly, who married Daniel From, and died in Nebraska; Susan, who married Dr. James Powley, and died at East Liverpool, Ohio; John, who died in Carrollton, Ohio; and Katy, widow of John Gentzle, of Penn township, Centre county. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, died about 1818 in Upper Paxton, Lykens Valley, Dauphin county, whither he had removed during the infancy of our subject. He left a good farm of 160 acres, but a small debt of $900 rested upon it, and the times being hard had to be sold for $1,000, and afterward was sold for $90 per acre by the sheriff. His death was caused by falling from a hay mow, which injured him internally. He was a brave and loyal man, and had served as a soldier in the war of 1812. About 1823 the mother, with her children, came to Centre county, where her brother, Jacob Keller, had previously located. They came the entire distance in a covered wagon, and narrowly escaped being drowned while crossing the Susquehanna river at Liverpool, Penn., after a freshet when the water was very high. The few dollars that the family possessed was invested in a small tract of land near Tusseyville. The mother died at the home of her daughter in Gregg township, Centre county, at the age of seventy-three years. The privileges afforded our subject for securing an education were very poor. He had just begun the study of arithmetic when he was forced to lay aside his books and aid in the support of the family. By experience and observation, however, he has acquired a good practical knowledge. At the age of eleven years he was hired out by his mother, at first receiving only fifty cents per month, although he did all the plowing on the farm. When sixteen years of age, he began learning the shoemaker's trade in Potter township, under his brother, Michael, and after mastering the business worked at the same for about fifteen years in that locality. Before he had attained his majority, Mr. Flisher was married near Spring Mills, Centre county, to Miss Polly Boone, who was born in Berks county, Penn., in 1812, and they became the parents of seven children, namely: William, who died at the age of twenty-three years; Jared, a resident of Jamestown, N.Y.; Eliza J., now Mrs. William Jordan, of Adams county, Ohio; Isaiah, a traveling salesmen of Philadelphia, Penn.; Catharine, at home; Uriah S., of Los Angeles, Cal.; and Ellen, who married Julian Fleming, and died in Centre Hall, Centre county. The wife and mother died in January, 1876, and was buried in Tusseyville cemetery. On April 10, 1879, in Centre Hall, Mr. Flisher was again married, this time to Miss Mary A. Shirk, a native of Potter township, and a daughter of Joseph and Eliza (Benner) Shirk. Before her marriage she successfully carried on dressmaking. She is a most excellent woman, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. After his first marriage, Mr. Flisher lived for a short time with his widowed mother, and later rented a small house, which was so meagerly supplied with household goods that his young wife had not even a dough tray. For several years he gave his entire time and attention to his trade, and after embarking in farming also did odd jobs at shoemaking. The first property he owned consisted of forty acres of land in Potter township, near Colliers, which he operated until 1844, when he sold the same and purchased eighty-five acres, known as the Flisher home farm. Upon that place he continued to reside until 1879, when he removed to Centre Hall and bought his present comfortable home. He is 286 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. the owner of two fine farms in Potter township, aggregating over two hundred acres, one of which, a tract of over one hundred acres, cost him $105 per acre; he also has 450 acres of timber land. Mr. Flisher has been a stanch Democrat in politics since casting his first Presidential vote for Andrew Jackson, and has never missed a Presidential election. His recollection of the issues of the various campaigns is remarkable, and, for his years, not one man in a thousand retains their mental faculties, or is as active in body as our subject. As a systematic farmer he was foremost among the best of Potter township, and still continues to manage his business interests. He has held different township offices, and at the present time is serving as overseer in Centre Hall. When a young man he was elected captain of a militia company, but being of a retiring nature he declined the honor. Reared by a Christian mother, religious influences have clung to him, and he has long been a faithful and active member of the Reformed Church, of which for years he has been elder, and has also served as deacon. The object of respect by young and old, Mr. Flisher is greeted with affection and esteem, and in his declining years is enjoying the reward of a well-ordered life, and one in which he has exerted himself to do good to those around him.