Drawn by Maude Winder from Grove City, PA.
Shaler High School was erected on a portion of the Wible Homestead.
(Notice the terrain similarities on sketch and photo.)
The following is from the introduction from the Wible history:
From "Wibles of Western Pennsylvania" by Mae McFerrin Hines and
Isabelle Hovis Parker (1980; Grove City):
"ANDREW and HARRISON WIBLE, the subjects of this sketch, farmers of Shaler
township, were born on the old Wible homestead, this county, the former Dec.
6, 1812, and the latter March 5, 1818. Their parents were Andrew and Mary
(Smith) Wible, who were born in Lancaster county, Pa. He (Andrew) was born
about the year 1766, came to East Liberty when a young man, where he was a
teamster; later he went to Pittsburgh, where he hauled the pickets used in
building the blockhouse at Fort Pitt, James Sample and Robert Anderson
hewing the logs.
In 1801 he came to the north side of the Allegheny river, where he bought a
government tract of 228 acres, and settled down to the pursuit of farming.
Andrew Wible reared a family of twelve children, viz. John, Susan, George,
Adam, Katie, Andrew, Sally, Harrison, Mary Ann, William, Eliza Jane and
James, of whom but six are now (1889) living, three boys and three girls. He
was one of the first settlers on the north side of the river, when Indians
and wild animals were still plentiful. At one time he was employed laying
out roads and stopped with some Indians to eat his dinner, which consisted
of hominy. He relished his meal very much until he found a piece of bear's
paw with the hair on it in the hominy, which spoiled his appetite for that
meal. Wolves were plentiful, also deer, of which he shot a great many. He
and his son John were once chased by a panther, and it came so close behind
them before reaching the house they could hear its teeth snapping together.
He was quite a prominent man in those days, and was for some years a
director of the county poor. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and
politically was a democrat, taking quite an active part in politics. He and
his wife were Presbyterians, and he was noted for his honesty and integrity.
Of the three sons now surviving him, Andrew and Harrison each occupy a part
of the old homestead, the part on which the first buildings stood being
occupied by Charlotte, the widow of James Harrsion Wible, brother to Andrew
and Harrison.
Andrew married, Dec. 20, 1818, Mary, daughter of John and Ellen (Davis)
Thompson, and they had six children; John, Mary J., Ellen, James A., Sarah
B. and Andrew. John died in infancy and Sarah B. (Voegtly) in her
thirty-forth year. Mrs. Wible died July 7, 1871, aged fifty-nine years. She
was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which her husband and children
are also members. Mr. Wible is still living, in the enjoyment of hale and
hearty old age. Politically he is a democrat.
William Wilson Wible Family -- 1895
Harrison Wible was married, March 14, 1841 to Rachel, daughter of William
and Jane Wilson, and they had eight children, viz. Mary (deceased), William
W., Jennie E., James A., Lucinda Jane (deceased), Rachel, Harry, Charlotte.
Mrs. Wible died Dec. 26, 1881, aged sixty-two years. Mr. Wible is a robust
man, and still takes an active part in the pursuit of farming. He and his
family are all members of the Presbyterian Church; politically he is a
republican. " - written probably in the 1890's (Phil Marsh)
Please feel free to share this with anyone who might find this of interest. Thank you. -- Phil Marsh, Portland, Oregon. To contact Phil, his E-Mail is: [email protected] (please remove the language "-nospam-" before sending).