BIOGRAPHY: James H. GEER, 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. 124
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JAMES H. GEER, assistant chief engineer of the Cambria Iron company, is a son of 
James and Phoebe Jane (Patch) Geer, and was born August 2, 1843, in Blairsville, 
Indiana county, Pennsylvania. James Geer, his grandfather, was one of the 
earlier settlers in the vicinity of Blairsville, whence he removed to Erie, this 
State, where he died. His father was born in Blairsville, Indiana county, and 
died on the old homestead in the same county.
     The life of James H. Geer has been one of practical activity. He attended 
the common and select schools of Johnstown, and when about fourteen years of age 
connected himself with the Cambria Iron company, that wonderful practical 
university from the work shops of which so many men have gained that mental 
discipline and mechanical skill that can but command success. He entered the 
pattern-making department, taking his first lessons in that course which has led 
up to his present responsible position. He remained in that department until 
1862, when, yielding to his patriotic impulses, he enlisted in defense of the 
Flag. He entered the service in company A, of the One Hundred and Thirty-Third 
regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, and served for a term of ten months. At the 
end of his military service he spent about seven years throughout the West, 
following, for a time, his trade, and, for a time, general mechanical pursuits. 
In 1870 he returned to Johnstown and entered the pattern-making department of 
the Cambria Iron company, where he was kept one year, and was then placed in the 
drawing-room. In 1881 he was made master mechanic, a position he held until 
1884, when his capabilities were rewarded by being promoted to the position he 
now holds.
     He married Anna, a daughter of Peter Fought, formerly of Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania, and later of the State of Illinois. To this union have been born 
the following children: Albert M., Harry R., Erastus I. (in the employ of the 
Cambria Iron company), Frank D., and James, at school.
     James H. Geer is talented as a mechanic, thorough-going and progressive in 
whatever he undertakes, and possesses that genius of generalization so 
indispensable in the direction of a vast enterprise. He has been a member of the 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers since 1884.