BIO: John I. BLOOM, Clearfield County, PA
 
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From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania,
and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr.,
Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, pages 548 - 552.
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  JOHN I. BLOOM, a highly respected retired farmer of Pike Township, Clearfield 
County, Pa., owns 165 acres of valuable land on which he was born March 22, 
1831.  His father was John Bloom and his grandfather was William Bloom the 
latter of whom was the founder of this large and prominent family in Clearfield 
County.
  John Bloom was born in New Jersey, in January, 1786, and accompanied his 
father to Center County, Pa., and later to Clearfield County.  He became a 
farmer in Center County and was there married to Susanna High, who was born in 
that county, a daughter of John High, June 7, 1788.  After marriage, John Bloom 
bought this farm of 165 acres, in Pike Township, from Matthew Taylor, of Center 
County, this land then being included in that county.  It was entirely 
undeveloped and so dense was the forest that then covered it that John Bloom was 
forced to join in with other settlers to make a road through this section of 
country in order that they might reach Curwensville.  John Bloom was a man of 
much enterprise and became a citizen upon whom rested public cares to some 
degree as his neighbors relied upon his judgment and often sought his advice.  
He was a Democrat in his political views and at one time was tax collector for 
the whole county.  His death occurred June 30, 1872.  He married as stated above 
and his widow survived but two years afterward, her death taking place May 26, 
1874.  Their burial was in the McClure Cemetery.  They were members of the 
Presbyterian church.  Eleven children were born to John and Susanna Bloom, as 
follows:  Mary, who was born September 22, 1806, married Thomas Spackman, and 
died November 7, 1876; Effie, who was born July 17, 1809, was the wife of Peter 
Mays, of Knox Township, and died in August, 1900; Katherine, who was born 
February 22, 1811, died December 1, 1859; Abraham, who was born May 20, 1813, 
married Elizabeth Kyler and died December 1, 1862; Matthew, who was born May 12, 
1816, married Sarah Polhamus and died in June, 1900; Margaret, who was born 
August 22, 1818, was the wife of George W. Robins, and died December 26, 1878; 
George, who was born March 2, 1821, married first Hannah Carson, and second, 
Jennie Replow, and died in February, 1905; David, who was born May 18, 1823, 
married Mary Sloss, and died September 30, 1897; Sophia, who was born April 8, 
1826, died in December, 1906, her first husband being Martin Hoover, and her 
second, James Leech; Abigail, who was born July 12, 1828, married John B. 
Garrison; and John I. Bloom, of Pike Township, the youngest of the family and 
one of the two survivors.
  In boyhood, John I. Bloom first attended the cross roads school which was near 
the Price farm, a log building with very primitive accommodations.  Later he 
attended the Bloomington school for three winter months.  He then helped his 
father and brothers to clear off the land and to place it under cultivation.  
Being the youngest, he remained on the homestead and after his brothers settled 
on farms of their own and his father grew old, he took over the entire 
management.  When he came into full possession he erected the present 
comfortable and substantial farm buildings.  The land is all cleared with the 
exception of forty acres of valuable timber.  A coal bank on the farm is leased 
to the Bloomington Coal Mining Company and its output is 400 tons daily.  Until 
he retired from active labor, Mr. Bloom carried on general farming and was 
always considered a careful and judicious agriculturist.  He has practically 
spent his entire life on this farm.  During the Civil War he was twice drafted 
for military service but on both occasions was declined on account of physical 
disability.
  Mr. Bloom was married August 22, 1854, to Miss Mary Frantz, who was born May 
5, 1838, in Clarion County, Pa., a daughter of George Frantz and Eliza (Taylor) 
Frantz.  Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bloom:  J. Showers, Jefferson, 
Eliza, Alice, Blake, Lucy, Frank, Annie, Howard and Willard.  J. Showers Bloom 
was born December 11, 1855.  He married Elizabeth McHenry and they had four 
children:  Lavada (deceased); Winfield; Alverda, who is the wife of John 
Shaffer; and Lloyd, who married Pearl Bloom.  Jefferson Bloom was born July 26, 
1857.  He married Mary Peterman and they had three children:  Margaret, who is 
the wife of Abraham Holden; Grove who married Belle Hart; and Lura, who married 
Calvin Rowles.  Eliza Bloom was born June 8, 1860, married C. M. Bloom, and they 
have three children:  Thaddeus, who married Ella Byers; Milford, who married 
Clara Murphy; and Edna, who lives at home.  Alice Bloom was born November 17, 
1864 and married David Crider.  Blake Bloom was born June 8, 1866, married Sarah 
Evans and they have one child, Rossie, who is a school-teacher in Clearfield 
County.  Lucy Bloom was born March 29, 1870, and died November 9, 1899.  Frank 
Bloom was born March 30, 1872, married Luella Wise and they have three children:  
Roland, Wilfred and Harold.  Annie Bloom was born March 9, 1876 and married O. 
B. Wise.  Howard Bloom was born August 2, 1879 and married Della Rowles.  
Williard Bloom was born November 21, 1881, married Emma J. Bloom and they have 
one son, Donald.  Mr. and Mrs. Bloom are members of the Presbyterian church.  He 
is a Democrat in politics and for sixteen years served in the office of 
constable.  He is a member of generation.  When John Bloom moved first the 
Bloomington Grange.
  Mr. Bloom is a very entertaining conversationalist, having an excellent memory 
and a wide acquaintance with the other old families of this section which have 
also assisted in its development.  He also recalls much that his father told him 
and many of these tales of early times possess interest for the present to 
Clearfield County he settled near the river where a tannery now stands.  One day 
a stranger came up the river and visited him with a tale of a valuable silver 
mine that he and some comrades had discovered in this vicinity, when they had 
made a hunting trip through this region, twenty years before.  At that time, he 
represented, that five hunters had each carried off twenty pounds of silver to 
their distant homes and all intended to return but he was probably the only one 
who ever came.  After showing John Bloom a piece of the ore he said he had 
picked up, Mr. Bloom consented, for hire, to assist him in finding the location 
of the mine, which the stranger represented as being between Rock Lick and 
Peewee's Nest.  They had no ax with which to blaze their path and thus they lost 
their way.  Mr. Bloom and the stranger worked over two acres of land but without 
results and if there ever was a silver mine in that locality it probably is 
still there.  Among his father's possessions which Mr. Bloom has carefully 
preserved and one that he treasures highly, is a rifle that undoubtedly is 200 
years old.  It was given to John Bloom by an old pioneer.  Its present owner has 
used it, in his earlier years being considered a fine shot and has brought down 
birds from a great distance.