BIOGRAPHY: Ulysses S. CROYLE, Cambria County, PA
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From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 164-5
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Ulysses S. CROYLE
ULYSSES S. CROYLE, of near South Fork, is a worthy descendant of the old and
well-known Croyle family of Cambria county. He is a son of Joseph and Barbara
(Moyer) Croyle, and was born on the old homestead in the western part of Croyle
township, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1865. Of sturdy and
honorable ancestry, the Croyle family of the United States has well sustained in
every section of the Union where its members are settled, its old world
reputation for industry, strength and integrity. The founder of the family in
this country settled near Hagerstown, Maryland, and from there nine of his
descendants, and all brothers, served as soldiers in the Continental armies
during the Revolutionary War. They were all men of great strength and fine
physique, and Thomas, the youngest and smallest, yet over six feet in height,
removed to Bedford county, which he afterwards left to settle in Summerhill
township, this county, where he built a grist mill in 1824, and had his nearest
neighbor at Ebensburg. He owned the tract of land on which the village of
Summerhill is located, and the township of Croyle was named in honor of him. He
was a consistent member of the Evangelical church, and to his marriage was born
four children: Samuel, Frederick, Mrs. Mary S. Stineman, and Mrs. Elizabeth
Patterson. Frederick Croyle, the next to the eldest child, was a native of
Summerhill, and a life-long farmer of Croyle township, and where he owned and
cultivated a large tract of land.
He was an extensive and leading farmer for his day, and, like his father
before him, held membership in the Lutheran church, while in politics he
supported the Whig party. He was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden
name was Knepper, bore him four children: Joseph; Samuel, a farmer of Kansas and
now dead; May, wife of Henry Ketner, of Kansas; and Susan, now deceased, who was
the wife of Peter Varner, and resided in Ohio. For his second wife he married
Rebecca Stineman, by whom he had one child, Philip S., a resident of South Fork.
Joseph Croyle, the eldest son by the first marriage, was born in Summerhill,
August 3, 1824. He owned a fine and well-improved farm of two hundred and forty
acres in the western part of Croyle township, was an active and prominent
business man, and for many years had been a stockholder and director of the
South Fork Coal and Iron company. He was a member and deacon of the Lutheran
church, a whig and republican in politics, and had served for several years as a
member of his township school board. His life was one of activity and
usefulness, and its earthly labors closed on March 30, 1894, when he died on his
farm.
Joseph Croyle married Barbara Moyer, who was a daughter of Philip Moyer,
and is living on the farm. To Joseph and Barbara Croyle were born four sons and
five daughters: Wendall and Frederick, of south Fork; Elizabeth, wife of Edward
Hull of Summerhill; Annie, at home; Henry, a blacksmith at Summerhill, Amanda,
now deceased; Ellen, who married William Reighard, a farmer of Croyle township;
Ulysses S.; and Alice, at home.
Ulysses S. Croyle was reared on his father's farm, received his education
in the South Fork public schools, an since has been engaged successfully in the
congenial and healthful pursuits of an agriculturist. He owns a good farm, and
is also manager of his father's farm, which he has kept up to the high standard
of its old-time fertility and productiveness.
He takes a keen interest in whatever pertains to the farm and its
improvement, while its every labor is both a duty and a pleasure to him. He has
made farming the business of his life, and moreover has made it a profitable and
pleasant vocation. Although his career has not been noticeable for any new
departures in farming, he has kept pace with the latest inventions and
improvements that are made available in aiding the farmer. Mr. Croyle in
political matters affiliates with the Republicans, and while not found prominent
among party leaders or workers upon every trivial occasion, yet is not
indifferent to office when his township's interests are concerned. He has
served for several years as a member of the township school board, and takes an
intelligent interest in education. Born and reared in the faith of the
Evangelical Lutheran church, in which his ancestors have lived and died for
nearly two centuries, he has been a member of Summerhill Lutheran church for
twelve years. In addition to his church he takes a deep interest in beneficial
associations, and since 1887 has held membership in South Fork Castle, No. 101,
Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor.
On April 11, 1889, Mr. Croyle was united in marriage with Marinda Miller,
whose father, Alexander Miller, is a resident of Johnstown. Mr. And Mrs. Croyle
have four children: Miller H., Frank A., Arthur S., and Harry F.