Samuel S Mateer
SAMUEL S. MATEER, a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Boggs township, Armstrong county, lives on the farm formerly owned and occupied by his father, and is a member of the third generation of his family in this county, where his grandparents John and Margaret (Montgomery) Mateer, settled at an early day.
John Mateer was a native of Cumberland county, Pa., and on coming to Armstrong county settled in Franklin township, where his children were born, viz.: John, Robert, Samuel, Montgomery, Anthony, Rosana, Nancy and Margaret. In 1855 John Mateer, the father of this family, left Armstrong county and moved out to Wayne county, Ill., where he died. He was a Democrat in politics.
Samuel Mateer, son of John, was born Nov. 27, 1818, in Franklin township, Armstrong county, and died in 1900 in Boggs township. Farming was his principal business throughout life, but in early life he was also a drover, dealing extensively in stock, which he drove to the eastern markets. He bought the place of 200 acres in Boggs township now owned by his son Samuel, at a time when there were neither roads nor bridges in the vicinity, and the tree under which he pitched his tent the first winter, while he cleared a place for his house, is still standing. In the spring he went for his young wife, who he had married the previous August, 1843, and they worked together to improve the property, in time being able to build a fine house and barns. Mr. Mateer was a Democrat and took a prominent part in the public affairs of the locality, holding the office of justice of the peace for twelve years and serving faithfully in various township offices, including that of school director. Being a carpenter, he in 1859 built the schoolhouse which still stands on the farm and is known by his name. He also contributed liberally toward the building of the Presbyterian Church of Concord, and was one of the trustees of that congregation. He helped to secure good roads in his neighborhood. He was the promoter of the Pine Creek furnace, and in company with James E. Brown, of whom he purchased his farm, established the furnace where the station of that name now stands. Thus he was associated with many movements which marked the progress of his community. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity.
In August, 1843, Mr. Mateer married Elizabeth Ambrose, who was born April 2, 1823, daughter of Benjamin Ambrose, a farmer of Westmoreland county, who came to Franklin township, Armstrong county, where he reared his family of four sons and three daughters. Mr. Ambrose was a Whig and a Presbyterian. Mrs. Mateer died in 1904. She and her husband had the following children, all born on the home farm in Boggs township where their son Samuel S. now lives: James E. B., born May 24, 1844, is a farmer of Boggs township (he married Esther S. Lowry); John Harvey, born July 31, 1846, is a farmer of Boggs township; Robert M., born Oct. 5, 1848, graduated from Jefferson Medical College and was a prominent physician of Elderton, this county, until his death, Jan 18, 1900 (he married Mary Donnelly); Benjamin Franklin, born Dec. 25, 1850, is a retired farmer living in Kittanning; Samuel S. is mentioned below; Annie Jane, born Oct. 25, 1855, married William C. Calhoun, a farmer of Boggs township; Margaret, born March 18 1858, married Findley P. Wolff, an attorney of Kittanning, and died June 24, 1910; Mary Elizabeth, born Dec. 10, 1860, is the widow of Joseph Banks; Ambrose M., born July 16, 1863, is a merchant at Ford City, this county; Alexander Montgomery, born Oct. 26, 1867, is a farmer of Boggs township. Besides their own large family Mr. and Mrs. Mateer raised Daniel Cogley, who was born Sept. 7, 1839, and whom they took into their home as an orphan boy of nine years. He still resides on the old homestead with Samuel S. Mateer. He was a Union soldier during the Civil war, enlisting in August, 1862, in Company K, 155th Pennsylvania Regiment, and serving three years with the Army of the Potomac; after his discharge he returned to the Mateer farm in Boggs township.
Samuel S. Mateer was born on his present farm Mary 1, 1853, and there he remained throughout his early life, assisting his father. He was educated in the local district schools. He now owns the old homestead property intact, and his progressive methods and skillful management entitle him to a place among the leading farmers of this section. He is one of the substantial citizens of his township, and highly esteemed wherever known.
On Oct. 20, 1861, he married Mary Houser, who was born Mary 3, 1862, in Boggs township, daughter of Henry and Esther (Zimmerman) Houser, of Goheenville. They have had three children, born as follows: Margaret, June 5, 1893; Elizabeth Bell, April 10, 1898; and Martha, Jan. 22, 1903. Mr. Mateer is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He is in sympathy with the Democratic party on political questions, but takes no part in such matters, never aspiring to office. His home is the abode of hospitality, and as a neighbor and friend he is well liked in his section.
John and Christina (Clever) Houser, Mrs. Mateer's grandparents, were early pioneers of Wayne township, Armstrong county. They were married in 1824, and had the following children: Henry, George, Daniel, Jacob, John, Sarah, Mary, Levina and Catherine. The mother of this family was born Sept. 4, 1804, in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland county, Pa., daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Clever, who once lived in Center county, this State, later in 1800, moving to Westmoreland county. When Christina was ten years old she walked with the family to the Rupp settlement, now the site of Echo, Armstrong county. She was always strong and hardy, and lived to the unusual age of one hundred years. Her father, Henry Clever, was the only one of the Clever family to escape being massacred by the Indians, he having been away from the home at the time the massacre occurred.
Henry Houser, son of John and Christina (Clever) Houser, was born in Wayne township, Armstrong county, and settled in the northern part of Boggs township on a tract of one hundred acres then only partly improved. He added another one hundred acres, and devoted the remainder of his life to the improvement of the place, where he lived until his death, in 1900, at the age of sixty-eight. His wife, Esther (Zimmerman), died in 1888, at the age of fifty-eight. Their children were: Sarah Jane, John, Jeremiah, Mary (Mrs. Samuel S. Mateer), Daniel, William and Margaret.
Source: Pages 795-796, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed October 1998 by James R Hindman for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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