Benjamin Oswald
BENJAMIN OSWALD, of Ford City, Armstrong county, clerk to the county commissioners, and present burgess of his town, was born in 1842 in Kittanning.
Benjamin Oswald, son of Benjamin and Sarah A. (Brinham) Oswald, was educated in the public schools of Kittanning. At an early age he began work in his father's printing office there, his brothers Marshall B. and J. B. Oswald also engaging in the printing business at the same plant. Thus he was employed for several years. In 1861 he joined the Union army, enlisting in Company K, 78th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and during his three years' service was fortunate enough to escape being injured or captured. At the time of his discharge, in 1864, he was holding the office of sergeant. Returning to Kittanning, he resumed the printing business. In 1888 he removed to Ford City, which at that time was a hamlet containing only a few houses, and here for a time was in the employ of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, with which concern he remained for about five years. At the end of that period he was appointed clerk to the county commissioners, and he has held that position continuously up to the present--a service of eighteen years. In 1909 he was honored by his fellow citizens with election to the office of burgess of Ford City, and has since served in that capacity. He is a stanch Republican in political connection. Needless to say he is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of his community, where he has proved his usefulness in every position in which he has been placed. He is a member of the G. A. R. and of the M. E. church.
In 1870 Mr. Oswald married Delilah A. Sheldrake, daughter of Joshua Sheldrake, of Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Source: Page 579, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed January 1999 by Connie Mateer for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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