Hooversville Area Historic Society
E-mail address:
Location:
100 Church Street, Hooversville, PA 15936
Hours:
First Saturday of the month from 8 AM to 10 AM
By appointment only
Description:
Jonathan W. Blough was born November 8, 1825 on a farm near the Plank road toward Stoystown to Peter Christian Blough and Christiana (Faith) Blough. When he was 30 years old, he bought a farm a bit north of his home near the intersection of Janidlo Road and Koontz Road two miles northwest of Hooversville. They had four daughters and two sons: Mary Jane Blough (2 May 1853 - 25 Aug 1893), Sarah Blough (1855 - 11 Nov 1863), Perry John Blough (22 Mar 1859 - 21 May 1920), Ellen Blough Shaffer (21 Sep 1861 - 20 Sep 1922), Andrew John Blough (23 Mar 1863 - 21 Nov 1863), and Annie Blough Herring (9 Jul 1868 - 5 Jan 1961).
He retired from farming at the age of 75, and moved to Hooversville with his wife Susanna (Boger) Blough to live in the house where Ronald Fish presently lives, across from the Brethren Church, and across from where his daughter Ellen and her husband Elias Shaffer had built a home. Ellen and Elias had a son Herbert, and two daughters, Nellie and Mabel. Herbert and his wife Mary (Brubaker) Shaffer raised their children there - Leah, Miriam, and Lois, and Lois Litzinger lived there after her father Herbert passed away.
Jonathan was a Brethen minister, like his son Perry John Blough, and attended the Pine Grove Church from its beginning, then moved to the Hooversville Church when he moved to Hooversville.
In his retirement, he wrote a personal history, as well as keeping a diary, providing us with a glimpse into life in the 1800s and early 1900s in the Hooversville area. What follows is the beginning of his story, and more is on a separate page.
From museum website
