A Partial Transcription of Paul Herbert Stahlman's Manuscript entitled

~ "The Stahlman's of Jefferson County 1837 - 1975" ~

I've just started transcribing the family history documents that my grandfather, Paul Herbert Stahlman, of the Jeremiah Stahlman line, spent his spare time working on in the last years of his life. 

He was an individual who was interested in many things in life, recording "Stahlman Family History" being one of his main concerns as his drew to a close.

At a time before the internet was available, Paul Herbert Stahlman, among others, spent a lot of time in hand written correspondence and inquiries to what relatives could be identified and traced into our "Stahlman Family History". 

His research into our "Stahlman Family History" resulted in him writing his "Stahlman Family History of Jefferson County 1837 - 1975". He never had it published, nor widely distributed it, so now I have assumed the privilege of transcribing and sharing his writings for prosperity. 

I just wish he was still with us to see the advances that have been made in the way that family history research can be handled. I'm sure he would have taken to the internet the way a duck takes to water. 

Even though he was a simple farmer, part time coal miner, and dedicated father and husband, he was always interested in what developments were happening around him and I know he would have been thrilled to see the development of the internet and the way it can now allow us to research and develop our family histories.

The following is an as accurate of a transcription as I can make of his manuscript. I've edited it as accurately as possible to reflect information uncovered since it was written, in the spirit of making it as accurate as possible, but without loosing the theme he originally wrote it in.

Its only partially transcribed at this point, so I will continue with that work and hopefully get all his notes included here. I have used his information to add to my personal "Stahlman Family Tree Maker" files. Those files are only posted to this website to a limited number of generations (four) for the sake of privacy of living individuals. You will have to contact me to see additional information I have accumulated.

- Steve Stahlman

~ "The Stahlman's of Jefferson County 1837 – 1975" ~ by Paul Herbert Stahlman 1975

Dedication and Acknowledgements

This book or sketch is dedicated to the memory of those of the past, and also that least we forget; to those of the present and the future; to those of the past century or those of the old who contributed much to the development of our country; to those of this century who are the ones who saw some of the old and carried on into the new; to the ones who cooperated with me and made it possible for me to write this; among others some are:

Some of the members of different families will be left out for lack of information and some criteria may not be entirely correct but nevertheless, it is our "Stahlman History".

- By Paul Herbert Stahlman, 1985

Introduction 

~ "The Stahlman's of Jefferson County 1837 – 1975" ~

In order to write a Sketch or History, it is necessary to have a starting place or beginning.

The start of this History was October 16, 1751, when Jacob Stahlman arrived at the Port of Philadelphia from Germany. On the same day he applied for and was granted citizenship from the British government.

It is supposed that he settled in what was then Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Who his wife was, the writer does not know.

In 1778 we find a young man supposed to be a son of Jacob in the Lancaster County Militia. He was Private John Stahlman. His commanding officer was Colonel Alex Lowery.

As John Stahlman was our ancestor who was born in Pennsylvania, he will be referred to as the first generation. He was born about 1758. After the Revolutionary War, John acquired large land holdings in what is now Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and also owned two grist mills and one saw mill in Mahantonga and Hegins Valleys. One grist mill was built in 1801 at Hunsingers Mills; there is still a mill on this site. 

John Stahlman married Eleanor Nellie McCrorey. John Stahlman died in 1823. To the union of John and Eleanor were born six sons and four daughters:  

About 1836 – 1838,  all of the sons of John Stahlman, except Solomon, came to Clarion County, Pennsylvania and settled in Red Bank and Limestone Townships.

Henry Schuckers, the husband of Nancy Ann Stahlman, after her death, came to Jefferson County and settled at Emerickville. John Stahlman Jr., about 1850, moved from Clarion County to Jefferson County to Eldred Township. Samuel, son of John Sr., died in 1848 and is buried in the Salem Frogtown Cemetery.

The above is my knowledge of the children of John Stahlman, my known ancestor of which I descended from his son, Jeremiah. 

The children of Jeremiah and Catherine (Young) Stahlman to my knowledge were: 

(Margaret and Elizabeth Shaffer were sisters)

The following is to be my partial summary of and stories I recollect about the Stahlman's of Jefferson County. It will be mostly of the Stahlman’s who lived in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania and of what I recollect and have gathered from those I acknowledged. I write this for posterity. 

- Paul Herbert Stahlman 1975

Index of The PHS Stories and Histories (Prepared by Steve Stahlman)

1.    Joseph C. Stahlman, MD 

Was of the fourth Generation, and he was born September 20, 1858, a son of Solomon and Katherine (Keck) Stahlman. Solomon was a son of Jacob of the second Generation.

Dr. Stahlman attended Rimersburg Academy, Reed Institute, Duffs Business College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He taught school seven years in Clarion County, Pennsylvania then, deciding to be a doctor, entered Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated in 1887. 

He started to practice medicine in Richardsville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Stahlman, during his first year of practice, rode horseback and also gradually became the owner of a fine string of driving horses and carriages. He was not only a good doctor, but was also active in church and community affairs, serving on the School Board. He also liked music and photography. On March 15, 1882, Dr. Stahlman married Mary Elizabeth McGlhoes. Dr. and Mrs. Stahlman were the parents of two daughters:

1. Norma married J. C. Painter of Springdale and died in 1925. They had no children.

2. Calla L. Stahlman, now retired, was a teacher of foreign languages in the Vandergrift High School. She has traveled in Asia, Europe, Mexico and America. She has done a lot of genealogical research. She has translated records from German into English for the "Daughters of The American Revolution" of which organization she is a member; with nine proven ancestors. She is also an authority on church history. She now resides in Vandergrift.

Dr. Stahlman left Jefferson County in 1899 and moved to Vandergrift where he continued to practice medicine until almost 91 years of age. Dr. Stahlman died August 14, 1949 in his home in Vandergrift and is buried in the Vandergrift Cemetery.

2.    Jacob Stahlman

was a son of Moses and Christina Stahlman and a grandson of Jeremiah Stahlman, was born in Clarion County, Pennsylvania in 1851. He died 1928.

Jacob was married to Polly Brocious. After their marriage they moved to Jefferson County near the village of Ringgold. Jacob was a farmer and a good natured person and liked to laugh. He wanted his five sons to have a good education and he  sent them to school. This was a remarkable family. 

They organized a band known as the "Five Brothers Band", with Jake playing the bass drum. A story is told about Jake. He had gathered material to build a new house, but always had an excuse about starting it. The boys, being good workmen, one summer, convinced Mom and Dad to go on a vacation for three weeks. When they came home the new house was pretty well completed. The sons of Jacob and Polly Brocious Stahlman were:

 1.    Cal A. Stahlman, 1877 – 1944, who was married to Alice Mauk

2.    Boyd

3.    Charles E.

4.    Jacob Earle

5.    James M.

Cal attended Clarion State Teachers College, taught school numerous years and twice was a candidate for Jefferson County Superintendent of Schools, but lost the elections by a close margin. 

Afterwards, Cal moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania where he was a teacher and afterwards was a “Minister of The Gospel”. He was president of the “Stahlman Reunion” for around forty years. He had collected material for a “Stahlman Family History” which appears to have been lost. 

1.        Cal and Alice (Mauk) Stahlman were the parents of two children:

a.   Mary Jane, a school teacher, married Don Kester. They have two sons, Charles A. Kester and William D. Kester.

b.  William J. Stahlman, a son of Cal and Alice, is a teacher in the Milroy, Pa. Schools. William married Marian Dulaney. They have two sons: William Ray and Dorm Arthur.

2.         Boyd was married to Anna Elizabeth Snyder. Boyd was a carpenter by trade and died from the result of a fall in 1907.  Boyd and Anna had no children.

3.         Charles E. Stahlman, 1884 – 1959, was married to Nettie Mauk. He attended Clarion State College and taught school for a number of years, later becoming a Evangelical Lutheran Minister and served charges in Big Run, Ambridge and Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. He is survived by one son Raymond of Saltsburg, and two daughters, Sarah Helen Shields, of Ambridge, and Alice Claire Megrow, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

4.         Jacob Earle Stahlman, 1886 - 1920, married Mary Belle Lehman. Jacob Earle Stahlman was a railroad employee and died as a result of a train wreck and resulting pneumonia. He is buried in the Ohl Cemetery in Beaver Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Jacob and Mary were the parents of one son son, Jacob Earle Stahlman, Jr., who died in infancy, 1913, and Myrtle Irene Stahlman, born 1916, who married Harold Day in 1938. Myrtle and Harold are the parents of four children:

            a.      William Edwin Day

b..     Patricia Ann Day

c.      Richard Eugene Day

d.      Sally Jo Day  

5.        James M. Stahlman, 1888 – 1961, the youngest son of Jacob and Polly (Brocious) Stahlman, attended a trade school in the eastern part of Pennsylvania and was an artist and painter. He married Minnie Louella Shaffer. James lived in Beaver, Pennsylvania. Their children were:

a.   Evelyn Laurella, born 1911, married William Edwin Rodemoyer, Jr.

b.   James Elwood Stahlman, born 1922, married Thelma Lucille Bromley. They live in Zelinople, Pennsylvania and have the following children:

1.    Sharon Lynn Stahlman

2.    Linda Lee Stahlman

3.    Donna Lou Stahlman

               4.    Betty Lou Stahlman, born 1930, married Louis Guy Monwaring.

3.    Douglas Stahlman

Douglas Stahlman, born 1862 - was a son of Gabriel and Ester (Keck) Stahlman. 

Douglas went to school in the State of Indiana, was well educated and taught school. He moved to Tennessee, where he married. The name of his wife, Marion Alsobrook, as known to to the writer; his wife died early and he left his two sons, Glen Elmo and unknown, with relatives and came back to Jefferson County where he got into an altercation with some of his neighbors and got hit on the head with a slab.

After this he thought he was a Prophet mentioned in the Bible but not named. He built a Tabernacle in the woods and would preach to anyone, anytime, who would go near him. He started to carve "Scripture on Rocks" in the woods about a mile from Jefferson Manor. It has been called by some people as a myth; "The Legend of the Stahlman Rocks". It is no myth; it is real.

It is said the lettering on the Rocks are perfect and that there are several hundred of them, also some lettering carved on beech trees. Several years ago, a Pittsburgh newspaper sent a news reporter to Brookville to find out about the Rocks. A Mr. J. A. Edwards was the guide who showed him the Rocks. There was an article in a Pittsburgh paper with a photo entitled "Sermons on the Rocks."

No doubt some time in the future the Stahlman Rocks will be a tourist attraction. 

It was the writer's privilege to meet Douglas over 50 years ago when he came to see my father, Simon P. Stahlman, his first cousin. Though only a young lad at the time, I remember Douglas very clearly. 

Douglas was a tall, straight man, very good looking and neat in appearance and I would say in his late 50's. The conversation was mostly about Religion and I could not see much difference between him and some other preachers I have heard. I could not truthfully say he was a Fanatic as some may think, whatever he was. 

He left a monument; "The Rocks”. Only a person's body dies, his Name and Spirit lives on. Some people become great after death and time. 

They finally took Douglas to an institution where he died.

4.    Charles O. Stahlman 

Charles O. Stahlman, was a son of Gabriel and Crissie (Hepler) Stahlman, son of *Felix, of Jacob, of the second generation. Charles O. married Florence Moore, yet living in Clarion, Pennsylvania. 

Charles’ sisters are Ella L. , married to Warren Silvis, and Clara M. Stahlman.

Charles and Crissie Stahlman lived for a while in Falls Creek, Pennsylvania. Charles attended Clarion State College and was a salesman. Charles and Crissie had five children:

1.    W. Pershing, deceased.

2.   Lucille, who married a Maul, of Clarion, Pa.

3.   Anna Kathryn, who married a George, of Clarion, Pa.

4.   Dale Stahlman, of Mercer, Pa.

5.   Darrel Stahlman, born 1916, deceased, who married Betty Collett. Darrell was mayor of New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and was the owner of the New Bethlehem Trucking Company. Darrell and Betty’s children are:

a.      Gerald Stahlman, of Altivista, Virginia

b.     Robert Stahlman, of New Bethlehem, Pa.

c.      Allen Stahlman, of New Bethlehem, Pa.

d.      Judy, who married Charles Miller, of Mayport, RD 2, Pa.

Note: * revised to Felix from Solomon based on notes from T. Smith.

5.    W. Pershing Stahlman 

1918- 1959, was a son of Charles O. and Florence (Moore) Stahlman. His ancestry goes back to Jacob Stahlman of the second generation of Clarion County, Pennsylvania.

During World War II, W. Pershing served in the United States Navy in the South Pacific Theatre. He married Kathleen McKinley. They were the parents of five children; Cheryl, Perry, Valerie, Rhonda, and Kathy.

Pershing was in the coal business on a large scale and also was a partner in the Gould-Stahlman Ford Sales Company  of Brookville, Pennsylvania and was also a director of the Brookville Bank and Trust Company. He was injured in the crash of his own plane in February 1959, which resulted in his death, three days later. He is interred in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, in Corsica, Pennsylvania. He had two brothers, Darrell, of New Bethlehem, and Dale, of Jamestown, Pennsylvania. His two sisters are Mrs. Lucille Maul and Mrs. Anna Katheryn George, both of Clarion, Pennsylvania.