George Dorn

GEORGE DORN, deceased, who was a leading business man of Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, was born January 1, 1818, in a pleasant little valley in Northern Germany, near the river Rhine, in the ancestral home of the Dorns, under the great confederation of states that formed an interregnum of the German empire from 1815 to 1835. 

He was carefully trained to habits of industry, honesty and economy, and received his education in the rural schools of the fatherland. At the age of eighteen he conceived the idea of emigrating to this country, in quest of more profitable employment than he could then secure in Germany. In 1836 he located in Pennsylvania, and after a considerable struggle for work obtained employment on the Pennsylvania turnpike. Although young in years his excellent deportment and display of good judgment in the care of teams secured for him the responsible position of stable manage at Turtle creek, where he had charge of all the horses used on one section of the pike. After a few years service at the latter place he removed to Greensburg, where he assumed control of the pike stables, continuing until the building of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, which monopolized the trade and travel of the state, and the old pike, unable to enter into competition, was soon abandoned as a public highway, becoming a local thoroughfare. In consequence of this great change in mode of travel, Mr. Dorn engaged in a new line of business, opening a large livery stable at Greensburg. As a liveryman he met with remarkable success, and with his usual energy soon controlled the leading livery stable in western Pennsylvania, not including Pittsburgh, and was for over thirty years one of the most widely known and popular liverymen in his section of the state. In addition to this line of work he was interested in various other industrial enterprises in the county. George Dorn was a self-made man, worth over $100,000 at the time of his decease, all of which he acquired by honest industry an frugalilty. His business obligations were always promptly met and his contracts honorable fulfilled. He was popular and well liked both as a citizen and business man on account of his generous nature and sterling integrity. His life was on of activity and event ; he enjoyed none of the educational advantages of the present era, nevertheless he was a man of varied information, endowed with a strong mind, the hewer of his own fortune and honest architect of his own fame. In 1881 he sold the lot where the present jail building stands. Politically he was strong Democrat, and ever evinced a lively interest in all pertaining to the welfare of the community. he was member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and was noted for his charity to the poor. He was an excellent linguist, speaking with fluency and ease the German, French and English languages. 

George Dorn married Elizabeth Mayberry, of Ligonier, and they had children : Julia, married John Long, a son of Samuel Long, who was a highly respected citizen of Hempfield township ; George, bookkeeper for Lewis Tranger for many years, died 1872 ; John, one of the owners of the Greensburg brewery ; Jacob, died in young manhood ; Harry Markle, died August 17, 1895 ; and Louis Tranger, who has been a partner in the Greensburg Brewing Company for the past seventeen years, doing a very successful business. The death of George Dorn occurred July 2, 1885, and was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends. Mrs. Dorn Passed away March 1, 1891. 

Source: Pages 11 & 12 History of Westmoreland County, Volume II Pennsylvania by John N. Boucher. New York, The Lewis publishing Company, 1906. 
Transcribed April 21, 1999 by Marilynn Wienke for the Westmoreland County History Project 
Contributed for use by the Westmoreland County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/westmoreland/)

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