BIOGRAPHY: Joseph A. FICHTHORN, Mifflin County, PA

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The Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley, Comprising 
the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry, Pennsylvania.
Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, Volume I, pages 482-483.

  JOSEPH A. FICHTHORN, Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pa., was born in Lewistown, 
December 15, 1832, son of Daniel and Margaret (Smith) Fichthorn.  His great-
grandfather, Andrew Fichthorn (1), was a gunsmith, and had a brother of the same 
handicraft as himself;  both served as artificers in the Revolutionary army.  
Andrew Fichthorn (2), grandfather of Joseph A., married Catherine Hartman, of 
Alsace township, Berks county, Pa., in 1803.  He lived to an advanced age, 
spending his latter days in Reading, Pa.  Their children were as follows:  John, 
of Reading, born in 1805, had children;  Daniel, born in 1806;  George, of 
Reading, born in 1808, served for many years as clerk to the commissioners of 
Berks county, had four daughter and two sons;   Sarah, born in 1809;  Charles, 
of Reading, born in 1810, had two sons;  Catherine (Mrs. Henry), born in 1812, 
has a son and a daughter;  Susan (Mrs. William Call), born in 1814, has one 
daughter;  William, of Reading, born in 1816, died aged forty-five, had a large 
family, but only one son;  Lewis, born in 1818, died in early manhood, left a 
daughter, Louisa, married and resides at Pine Grove, Pa;  Henry, born in 1820;  
and Andrew, born in 1822, is a harness maker at Reading, and has two sons and 
two daughters.  The maternal grandfather, Philip Smith, was a stone mason, and a 
number of the bridges and culverts in the vicinity of Lewistown were built by 
him.  He died at the age of forty-five;  his wife died at the venerable age of 
ninety-four.
  Daniel Fichthorn, born August 29, 1806, received his education in the schools 
of Reading.  When eighteen years of age he chose the trade of a hatter, which he 
learned in his native town.  He came to Lewistown, and for a time followed 
brick-making, building and shipping on the Pennsylvania canal.  Two years were 
spent in Ohio, when he returned to Lewistown, and established himself as a 
contractor and builder.  The houses on East Market street occupied by J. I. 
Quigly and H. C. Jackson, the building of the Fame fire engine company, the 
Lutheran parsonage, and other structures were erected by Mr. Fichthorn.  His 
industry and perseverance were rewarded with abundant success.  He was actively 
interested in all that pertained to the welfare of the community, and gave 
liberally to the churches of the town.  He was a Whig, and later a staunch 
supporter of the Republican party.  Daniel Fichthorn married Margaret, daughter 
of Philip and Martha (Robinson) Smith;  she was born in 1809.  Their surviving 
children are:  Joseph A.;  Daniel, of St. Peter, Minn., proprietor and editor of 
the St. Peter Tribune, was for fourteen years a printer in Indiana, and for a 
number of years an editor in Iowa, married a lady of Indiana and has one 
daughter, Minnie;  Lewis, born November 3, 1839, married Susan Lytesol, of 
Spring Mill, Centre county, Pa., died March 30, 1897, had children, Joseph, 
Lewis and Roswell;  Ellen (Mrs. Daniel Barr), of Harrisburg, has a daughter, 
Ellen Gertrude;  Catherine (Mrs. Joseph R. Cordes), of Pittsburg, Pa., has 
children, Frank, Charles and Ellen;  William Augustus;  Andrew, whose death at 
the age of eighteen was caused by an accident;  Jane and Charles died in 
infancy.  Daniel Fichthorn died August 28, 1858;  his wife died aged eighty-two.  
They are buried in the old Methodist graveyard at Lewistown.
  Joseph A. Fichthorn, after attending the district schools, became a student at 
the academy at Lewistown.  Choosing the trade of tinsmith he served an 
apprenticeship of three years under Daniel Eisenbise and Abraham Blymyer.  He 
then followed boating for two years on the Pennsylvania canal;  went in 1858 to 
Minnesota, and for one year engaged in lumbering;  then returned to Lewistown, 
and resumed his trade.  On April 16, 1861, at Harrisburg, he enlisted with the 
first volunteers, known as the Logan Guards, and was assigned to Company E, 
Twenty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers.  In Baltimore, this company was attacked 
by the mob.  Discharged July 29, 1861, he re-enlisted June 27, 1863, in Company 
A, Thirty-sixth Pennsylvania Militia, and was in service until August 11, 1863.  
Being drafted August 17, 1863, he enlisted July 14, 1864, in Company H, One 
Hundred and Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served until November 4, 
1864.  He again enlisted February 6, 1865, was assigned to Company C, Seventy-
eighth Pennsylvania (Veteran) Volunteers, stationed at Nashville, Tenn., served 
until the war closed, and was discharged at Nashville, September 11, 1865.  
Returning to Lewistown, he engaged in the tin and hardware business, which he at 
the present time conducts with much success.  Mr. Fichthorn has always taken an 
active interest in local affairs;  he gives liberally to the churches;  his 
position in the community is one of influence and respect.  He is a Republican.  
In 1878 he was elected to the office of county treasurer, and served three 
years.  He is a member of Lodge No. 155, K. of P., at Lewistown, and Ougpatonga 
Tribe, No. 6, Independent Order of Red Men at Lewistown.
  Joseph A. Fichthorn was married September, 1853, to Sophia, daughter of Peter 
and Sarah (Lively) Hoover, of Lancaster, Pa.  Their children are:  Daniel, died 
in early life;  Andrew, of Norristown, Pa., a minister of the Lutheran General 
Synod, and a graduate of the Pennsylvania Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, 
Pa.;  William, married Mary Couch, of Lewistown, who died March 2, 1897, leaving 
children, James and Susan Willis;  Sarah (Mrs. J. Irvin Quigly), of Lewistown, 
has one son, Richard Fenton;  and Joseph, a graduate of the University of 
Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, and a civil engineer with the Shiffler Bridge 
Company, at Pittsburg, Pa.  Mr. and Mrs. Fichthorn are members of the Lutheran 
church.