D. C. Oyster    

D. C. OYSTER, president of the Ridgway bank, was born in Horton township, Elk Co., Penn., in 1840. His father, Daniel Oyster, who was a native of Northumberland county, same State, located, in about 1832, in what is now Horton township, where he engaged in farming, and also erected a saw- and grist-mill. He was postmaster several years, and was so serving at the time of his death, in 1852. His family consisted of three sons, two of whom are living (one having been drowned in Lake Erie in 1884), and four daughters, all living. D. C. Oyster, the subject of these lines, was given good educational advantages, and after leaving school, he bought the old homestead farm, also became proprietor of a hotel and was appointed postmaster at Hellen. In 1871 he was elected sheriff of Elk county, and served until 1874; was re-elected in 1877, and served until 1880. He sold the homestead, in 1872, to the Lake Erie & Western Coal & Railroad Company, for $35,000, having moved to Ridgway in 1871. In 1874 he was appointed cashier of the Ridgway Bank, which position he held until January, 1890, when he was elected president. Mr. Oyster has been a member of the council since the organization of the borough, with the exception of one term. He is one of the substantial business men of Ridgway, and is connected with various important enterprises in the borough. He is president of the Hamilton Wagon Company, the Ridgway Publishing Company, the New Era Gas Company, and of the Manhattan Machine & Novelty Company. He was one of the organizers in 1875 of the Ridgway Light & Heat Company, which has proved very successful; is a member of the firm of J. H. McEwen & Co. (machine shops), the Oyster & Short Lumber Company, D. C. Oyster & Co. (lumber), and the Ridgway Lumber Company, which manufactures 20,000,000 feet of lumber annually. Mr. Oyster owns numerous extensive tracts of timber-land, being one of the largest land-owners in Elk county, as well as owner of extensive tracts in the adjacent county of Jefferson. In 1884 he built a fine brick residence on the corner of Court and Center streets, opposite the court-house, which is one of the model residence properties in the city. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs, and his popularity is shown by the fact of his election and re-election to official positions in one of the strongest Democratic counties in the State, although he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. Mr. Oyster married, July 4, 1867, Mary E., daughter of Frederick Mohney, of Clarion county, and they have two children: Frank B. and Hattie L. The entire family are members of the Congregational Church. Mr. Oyster is a member of the F. & A. M., Ridgway Lodge, No. 379, of Elk Chapter, No. 230, of Knapp Commandery, No. 40, K. of T., and of Bloomsburg (Columbia county) Consistory.

History of the counties of McKean, Elk and Forest, Pennsylvania : with biographical selections, including their early settlement and development, a description of the historic and interesting localities, sketches of their cities, towns, and villages, portraits of prominent men, biographies of representative citizens, outline history of Pennsylvania, statistics, etc. Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1890, pages 738-739.  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.