John A Balsiger
JOHN A. BALSIGER, sheet roller in the great works of the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, at Leechburg, was born April 6, 1870, in Madison township, Armstrong County, Pa., son of George A. Balsiger and grandson of Samuel Balsiger. His great-grandfather was born in Germany, and after emigrating with his family to America settled first in Kentucky, from there moving to Ohio, and later in life coming to what is now Madison township, Armstrong county.
Samuel Balsiger was born in Germany, and was nine years old when he accompanied his parents to the United States. He succeeded to the ownership of his father�s farm of over 100 acres in Madison township, and continued to live there until the close of his life, his death occurring in 1891, at the age of seventy-seven years. He was buried in the Kellersburg cemetery, in Madison township. He had children as follows: John, who was a soldier in the Civil war, now living at Butler, Pa.; George A.; Samuel E., who resides in Illinois; J. L., of New Kensington, Pa.; Annie, who married Jonathan Keller; Sarah, who married Henry Keller; and William, who died on the old homestead.
George A. Balsiger, son of Samuel and father of John A., was born in December, 1846, in Madison township, and grew to manhood on the home farm, where he resided until his death, Aug. 4, 1912. He was one of the leading men of Madison township and served in almost all of the local offices, having been school director, supervisor and auditor, elected to these offices on the Republican ticket. He was one of the ruling elders of the Presbyterian Church. George A. Balsiger married Susan J. Shoemaker, daughter of John Shoemaker, originally of Lebanon county, but later of Armstrong county, and three children were born to them: John A.; Mary R., wife of O. C. Meredith; and William, a farmer in Kiskiminetas township, Armstrong county.
John A. Balsiger attended public school in Madison township and the Clarion Normal School, and afterward taught school in his native township for five years. In April, 1895, he came to Leechburg and entered the Kirkpatrick & Co. rolling mill, which is now a part of the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company�s plant, and has worked up to the position of sheet roller, an important and responsible one, in which he has served since 1901.
On April 6, 1892, Mr. Balsiger was married to Rosella Collingwood, daughter of Clinton Collingwood. This family is of English extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Balsiger have six children, namely: Nellie A., Mary E., Hazel J., G. DeWitt, Elinor M. and John A., Jr. Mr. Balsiger owns his comfortable residence on Main street. He is a member and trustee of the Presbyterian Church. Politically he a Republican.
Source: Pages 776-777 Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 1998 by Kathy Zagorac for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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