A. U. Christley    

A. U. CHRISTLEY, farmer, post-office Balm, was born August 31, 1826, in Springfield Township, to William, who was born in 1796, to George and Elizabeth (Snyder) Christley, natives of Westmoreland County, Penn., from whence they came to this county in 1812 and settled in Liberty Township. There the grandparents of our subject died, and had William, John, Polly, married Stephen Cooper, and is the only one of the children living; Catharine, Michael, Elizabeth, George, Samuel B. and Curtis. William Christley was educated at the country cabin schools in Westmoreland County, and learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, which he followed until 1832. His father was also a cabinet-maker. Our subject has in his house several pieces of furniture which were made by his father and grandfather. William was married September 25, 1817, to Magdalene Uber, who settled at an early day where Benjamin Uber now lives. William located on a farm near London, in Springfield Township, at his marriage, and in 1832 came to the farm where our subject now resides. He built a log cabin, and later a small frame house, which is yet standing. He died March 4, 1858, and his widow February 2, 1867. They were members of the German Reformed Church at Blacktown. Their children were: Catharine, married Thomas Courtney, April 11, 1843, died January 17, 1864; Mary E., married A. H. P. Black, December 15, 1840, died January 30, 1864; Sarah A., married W. J. Tinker, September 24, 1863, died December 23, 1879; Margaret, married A. T. Black, October 3, 1846, died April 24, 1875; George S., died August 10, 1869; and A. U. Our subject was educated in the district schools and the log cabin. One of his early teachers was James Mathers. This man used the old Western Calculator, and when he could not get the answer in the book in his solution of a problem, he would put his answer on the work and write "corrected by James Mathers". Mr. Christley worked for his father until 1850, when he formed a partnership with Jacob Snyder, in the general mercantile business, at North Liberty. In four years he sold to Snyder, and after a period of a few months in the employ of Mr. Snyder engaged in farming on the old place. He was married January 21, 1864, to Martha W. Morris, daughter of George and Harriet (Winton) Morris, natives, the father of Westmoreland County and the mother of Onondagua County, N.Y. Mrs. Morris was born March 4, 1817, and married October 16, 1839, in Mercer County. Her husband died in 1881. They had Martha W., born August 26, 1840; Albert, married Mary Hosack, and lives in Mercer; Mary, married Cyrus Hosack; Isabella, dead; Sarah, married George Snyder, and lives in Buffalo, N.Y.; William. Mr. Morris was a member of the Congregational Church, and Mrs. Morris lives with our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Christley have three children: Anna E., Ida B. and William G., all at home. Mr. Christley is the owner of over 300 acres of good land, and is one of the wealthiest and most respectable citizens of the township. He is a stanch Republican, and he and his family are members of the Center Presbyterian Church.

History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present : including its aboriginal history, its early settlement and development, a description of its historic and interesting localities, sketches of its boroughs, townships and villages, neighborhood and family histories, portraits and biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, statistics, etc. : also, a condensed history of Pennsylvania. Chicago, Ill.: Brown, Runk & Co., 1888.  Read this book on line - Free Trial  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com.