Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 630] the manager of Big Run Mill of Alborn & Son, located in Shenango township, not far from New Castle, was born in Franklin township, Beaver Co., Pa., Oct. 11, 1865, and is a son of Henry C. and Caroline (Young) Alborn, and grandson of Augustus and Christiana (Elias) Alborn.
Our subject's grandmother was born near the village of Fuerstenhaagen, Germany, where her parents lived and died. Augustus Alborn was a miller when a resident of Germany, but after coming to this country in the summer of 1846 he followed agricultural pursuits. Landing in Baltimore, Md., after a long sea-voyage of 51 days from Bremen, he went direct to Pittsburg, and thence to Beaver County to the home of kinsfolks, who had preceded him to the New World. Commencing with fifty-five acres he succeeded so well that he came at length to own one hundred acres besides. His death took place in December, 1885, when he was aged seventy-eight years. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church.
Henry C. Alborn was born in Germany, and was the oldest of five children born to his parents, three of whom were born in the Fatherland; he was seven years old when his parents brought him with them to the United States. He was educated in Butler County, and remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-five years old. He then began for himself, first on a farm, which he rented from his father, and then on a farm of 100 acres which he purchased in Perry township, this county. He next transferred the scenes of his labors to Franklin township, near his father, where he operated a farm of seventy-five acres for ten years. He bought his present farm in 1874 of ninety-six acres in Shenango township, and has since devoted himself to general mixed farming and to cider-making. His wife, who was born in the village of Deutchweiler, Rheinfels, Bavaria, was a daughter of John and Mary (Miller) Young, the latter a daughter of Jacob Miller, a tailor by trade, who lived and died in Germany. John Young came to the United States in 1852, and at once became a resident of Butler County where his uncle lived. A year after his arrival he bought a farm of fifty-six acres, and made it his home until his death in 1858, aged fifty-two years. Six children were born in the family of our subject's parents, as follows: Mary Ellen, deceased; Caroline, the wife of Rev. Ivan Dietrich of Allegheny City, to whom she has presented four children—Theodore, Hilda, Luther, and Herman; Charles F., the subject of this brief biography; Henry; Tillie, and Frank. Our subject's parents are members of the Lutheran Church, and his father votes the Democratic ticket.
Charles F. Alborn lived in Franklin township, Beaver County, until he was eight years old, when the family moved to Lawrence County, and made its home on what was known as the McEwen farm. He attended school in Beaver and Lawrence counties until he was eighteen years of age, and remained at home until he was twenty-three, when he learned the business of milling at Big Run Mill, under the instruction of E. D. Failer. After the mill was burned, Mr. Alborn and his father bought the mill site, including the dam, pond and water rights, besides eight acres of adjoining land, and erected the present mill, which is fully equipped for making the finest of bolted flour, as well as grinding feed and other grist. The mill is fitted out with suitable machinery and engines, so that the water power may at any time be reinforced or entirely supplanted by steam-power. As the entire product finds a ready local market, the firm is not required to look elsewhere for trade. Mr. Alborn is orderly, systematic and a great "hustler," and the result of such valuable characteristics aiding him in his work is that the business is prospering and yields handsome profits to the firm.
Mr. Alborn was married Jan. 21, 1892, at the residence of the bride's parents, to Annie M. Weinschenk, daughter of George G. Weinschenk, whose life sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Three children have blessed this union: Carrie Alice; Emanuel Henry; and Carl Louis, They are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Alborn has independent views in politics.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
Previous Biography | Table of Contents | Next Biography
Explanation/Caution | Lawrence Co. Maps | Lawrence Co. Histories
Updated: 26 Jul 2001