Individual Details
Abraham Elder
(27 Jul 1754 - 27 Jul 1827)
History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania; John Blair Linn; Philadelphia; Louis H. Everts; 1883, pp. 308-309.
Abraham Elder, the first settler [Half-Moon Township, Centre County] in the year 1784, migrated from Franklin County, and located upon a tract of land now lying near the village of Stormstown, and owned by J.A. Hunter, who married one of Abraham Elder's granddaughters. Mr. Elder came probably to prospect more than anything else, for he came alone, considering, no doubt, that he had better get a taste of life in the woods before asking his family to share it. He found an abandoned cabin, the earlier temporary home of some hunter, and making it his abiding place for the summer, made a small clearing and put in crops of turnips and wheat, so that by the time his family came there would be something in the way of subsistence for them to start upon. Mr. Elder was a lonely tenant of an unbroken wilderness.
An Indian path marked the way through the woods, but other thoroughfares there were none. In the fall Mr. Elder returned to his family in Franklin County, reported the result of his mission, and announced that in the spring they would push forward to take possession of the new home in the woods, and make of it a permanent habitation. Accordingly, in the spring Mr. Elder and his family, together with his brother David and family, set out upon horseback (conveying also by that method their household effects) for Half-Moon valley.
Upon his previous visit Mr. Elder had selected for his brother David a tract now the home of G. Dorsey Green, in Patton township. They went there for the purpose of preparing a home for David, but they had not begun when they received a visit from a fierce-looking Irishman (whose name has not been preserved), and from him the announcement that if they had come to stay they had better make up their minds to leave, for he lived, he said, only a mile removed (at the locality now known as Fillmore), and wanted no neighbors that near to him. There was some discussion as to the advisability of abandoning the location at the whim of an unpleasantly-disposed Irishman, but calm judgment suggested that the Irishman might be troublesome, and it was therefore thought best to leave him in peace. Mr. Elder found his old settlement undisturbed and his wheat crop promising. He put his family into the old hut, and set about making it more comfortable. In a day or two David looked about for a site, and eventually settled upon the place later taken up by George Wilson, and now owned by John Wilson. David did not take kindly to the situation, and after a not very satisfactory stay of a few years he moved into Huntingdon County.
Abraham Elder built a new home of logs, a better and larger home than the hunter's hut. Upon the same site he erected in 1808 a fine stone mansion, regarded in that day as an imposing structure. In 1832 his son Robert put on a stone addition, and as thus completed the house still stands, and serves as the home of J.A. Hunter.
Abraham Elder was a man of energetic temperament and liberal enterprise. He put up on the run near his house a saw-mill, carried on a distillery, and erected a grist-mill in Bald Eagle valley, near Port Matilda, on the site of the Woodring saw-mill. He hauled his flour to Baltimore and brought back goods in exchange. When the road to Pittsburgh was opened, Mr. Elder established a tavern in his house, and kept also for sale a small stock of goods for the accommodation of his neighbors and the traveling public. The tavern-stand, known far and near as "Elder's," was the first halting-place after leaving Bellefonte, and a place much patronized by freighter, haulers of iron, and other wayfarers. It was on the direct route from Bellefonte to Pittsburgh, and bore for a time much traffic, especially by reason of the transportation of iron from Centre County and [westward] to Pittsburgh.
Mr. Elder maintained the tavern-stand about twenty-five years. It was a favorite place for public meetings, general trainings, and similar gatherings, and rarely lacked for some enlivening incident. From his tavern Mr. Elder constructed a roadway over the Ridge into Bald Eagle valley, and by that route took in his supplies and held communication with his mill. Soon after coming to the valley he bought not only the land upon which he originally located in 1784, but the tracts now owned by P.B. Waddle and Elijah Chambers, on Buffalo Run. He used to say that when he settled in Half-Moon his nearest neighbor on the east was the unpleasant Irishman already alluded to, at what is now called Fillmore.
The first public religious meetings in Half-Moon valley were held at Mr. Elders' house; not long after he built his log cabin the Presbyterians of the valley used to gather there occasionally for worship. Mr. Elder filled considerable space in local history during his life in Half-Moon, and commanded high esteem as a man of more than ordinary prominence. He died in the old stone mansion in July, 1827, aged seventy-three. Susan Elder, wife of Abraham, died in Half-Moon township May 7, 1831, aged seventy-two. Her remains were placed in a coffin with the body of her deceased husband, which was disinterred agreeably to a wish expressed before his decease, and conveyed to the Presbyterian churchyard on Spruce Creek.
Their children were three in number, and of them two were sons--James and Robert. James died on the homestead in 1854, leaving no children. Robert grew to be one of the best-known and most popular citizens of Centre County. When he came to Half-Moon valley, in 1785, he was but three weeks old, and rode in his mother's arms upon the back of a packhorse. The cradle in which he was rocked during his babyhood was a hollowed gum log furnished with crude rockers. That ancient but valued relic is now preserved among the treasures of Mr. John A. Hunter's family, as is the cradle in which all of Robert Elder's children were rocked.
Mr. Elder was conspicuously distinguished as a man of generous impulses and kindly disposition. He was always ready to succor the needy, and a strong friend and support to such as deserved the assistance for which they asked. He died in 1871, at the ripe age of eighty-six, upon the spot that had for that number of years been his home. At his death he owned upwards of eight hundred acres of land. His wife was one of George Wilson's daughters. Of his six children, the living are Mrs. John A. Hunter, of Half-Moon; Mrs. Jacob Gray, of Patton; and George W. Elder, of Lewistown.
Abraham Elder, the first settler [Half-Moon Township, Centre County] in the year 1784, migrated from Franklin County, and located upon a tract of land now lying near the village of Stormstown, and owned by J.A. Hunter, who married one of Abraham Elder's granddaughters. Mr. Elder came probably to prospect more than anything else, for he came alone, considering, no doubt, that he had better get a taste of life in the woods before asking his family to share it. He found an abandoned cabin, the earlier temporary home of some hunter, and making it his abiding place for the summer, made a small clearing and put in crops of turnips and wheat, so that by the time his family came there would be something in the way of subsistence for them to start upon. Mr. Elder was a lonely tenant of an unbroken wilderness.
An Indian path marked the way through the woods, but other thoroughfares there were none. In the fall Mr. Elder returned to his family in Franklin County, reported the result of his mission, and announced that in the spring they would push forward to take possession of the new home in the woods, and make of it a permanent habitation. Accordingly, in the spring Mr. Elder and his family, together with his brother David and family, set out upon horseback (conveying also by that method their household effects) for Half-Moon valley.
Upon his previous visit Mr. Elder had selected for his brother David a tract now the home of G. Dorsey Green, in Patton township. They went there for the purpose of preparing a home for David, but they had not begun when they received a visit from a fierce-looking Irishman (whose name has not been preserved), and from him the announcement that if they had come to stay they had better make up their minds to leave, for he lived, he said, only a mile removed (at the locality now known as Fillmore), and wanted no neighbors that near to him. There was some discussion as to the advisability of abandoning the location at the whim of an unpleasantly-disposed Irishman, but calm judgment suggested that the Irishman might be troublesome, and it was therefore thought best to leave him in peace. Mr. Elder found his old settlement undisturbed and his wheat crop promising. He put his family into the old hut, and set about making it more comfortable. In a day or two David looked about for a site, and eventually settled upon the place later taken up by George Wilson, and now owned by John Wilson. David did not take kindly to the situation, and after a not very satisfactory stay of a few years he moved into Huntingdon County.
Abraham Elder built a new home of logs, a better and larger home than the hunter's hut. Upon the same site he erected in 1808 a fine stone mansion, regarded in that day as an imposing structure. In 1832 his son Robert put on a stone addition, and as thus completed the house still stands, and serves as the home of J.A. Hunter.
Abraham Elder was a man of energetic temperament and liberal enterprise. He put up on the run near his house a saw-mill, carried on a distillery, and erected a grist-mill in Bald Eagle valley, near Port Matilda, on the site of the Woodring saw-mill. He hauled his flour to Baltimore and brought back goods in exchange. When the road to Pittsburgh was opened, Mr. Elder established a tavern in his house, and kept also for sale a small stock of goods for the accommodation of his neighbors and the traveling public. The tavern-stand, known far and near as "Elder's," was the first halting-place after leaving Bellefonte, and a place much patronized by freighter, haulers of iron, and other wayfarers. It was on the direct route from Bellefonte to Pittsburgh, and bore for a time much traffic, especially by reason of the transportation of iron from Centre County and [westward] to Pittsburgh.
Mr. Elder maintained the tavern-stand about twenty-five years. It was a favorite place for public meetings, general trainings, and similar gatherings, and rarely lacked for some enlivening incident. From his tavern Mr. Elder constructed a roadway over the Ridge into Bald Eagle valley, and by that route took in his supplies and held communication with his mill. Soon after coming to the valley he bought not only the land upon which he originally located in 1784, but the tracts now owned by P.B. Waddle and Elijah Chambers, on Buffalo Run. He used to say that when he settled in Half-Moon his nearest neighbor on the east was the unpleasant Irishman already alluded to, at what is now called Fillmore.
The first public religious meetings in Half-Moon valley were held at Mr. Elders' house; not long after he built his log cabin the Presbyterians of the valley used to gather there occasionally for worship. Mr. Elder filled considerable space in local history during his life in Half-Moon, and commanded high esteem as a man of more than ordinary prominence. He died in the old stone mansion in July, 1827, aged seventy-three. Susan Elder, wife of Abraham, died in Half-Moon township May 7, 1831, aged seventy-two. Her remains were placed in a coffin with the body of her deceased husband, which was disinterred agreeably to a wish expressed before his decease, and conveyed to the Presbyterian churchyard on Spruce Creek.
Their children were three in number, and of them two were sons--James and Robert. James died on the homestead in 1854, leaving no children. Robert grew to be one of the best-known and most popular citizens of Centre County. When he came to Half-Moon valley, in 1785, he was but three weeks old, and rode in his mother's arms upon the back of a packhorse. The cradle in which he was rocked during his babyhood was a hollowed gum log furnished with crude rockers. That ancient but valued relic is now preserved among the treasures of Mr. John A. Hunter's family, as is the cradle in which all of Robert Elder's children were rocked.
Mr. Elder was conspicuously distinguished as a man of generous impulses and kindly disposition. He was always ready to succor the needy, and a strong friend and support to such as deserved the assistance for which they asked. He died in 1871, at the ripe age of eighty-six, upon the spot that had for that number of years been his home. At his death he owned upwards of eight hundred acres of land. His wife was one of George Wilson's daughters. Of his six children, the living are Mrs. John A. Hunter, of Half-Moon; Mrs. Jacob Gray, of Patton; and George W. Elder, of Lewistown.
Events
| Birth | 27 Jul 1754 | Pennsylvania |  | ||
| Death | 27 Jul 1827 | Halfmoon, Centre, Pennsylvania | |
Families
| Spouse | Susanna Ardery (1759 - 1831) |
| Father | Robert ELDER (1730 - 1807) |
| Mother | Elizabeth WATT ( - 1759) |
| Sibling | David ELDER (1752 - 1823) |
Endnotes
1. , Elder Web Site (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
2. Ancestry.com, Web: Pennsylvania, Find A Grave Index, 1682-2012 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012).
3. Ancestry.com, Web: Pennsylvania, Find A Grave Index, 1682-2012 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012).