D. S. Bastress    

D.S. BASTRESS, farmer, post-office Mercer, was born December 16, 1818, in Lycoming County, Penn., to Solomon and Elizabeth (Slonaker) Bastress, natives of Montgomery County, Penn., and the parents of six children: Peter, Margaret, Harriet, Elizabeth, D.S. and Sarah. Our subject was educated in the schools at Jersey Shore, Penn. He began to learn the silversmith’s trade at that place, and finished at Williamsport, where he followed the business until 1838, when he went to Columbus, Ohio, and prosecuted his trade. It was then the custom to put teeth in gold plates, and Mr. Bastress was employed by dentists to make the plates, and in that way learned dentistry. In 1840 he came to Mercer, and soon after opened up a shop for himself. He practiced dentistry in Mercer for thirty years, and did work for citizens at Warren, New Castle, Franklin, Sharon, Butler and Greenville. He was married in 1846 to Mary A. Satterfield, daughter of Elijah and Sarah A. Satterfield, by whom he had eight children: Elizabeth, Fidderman, David, Emeline, Henry, Maggie and two deceased. Mrs. Bastress died December 7, 1883, and a Mercer paper said the following in giving a notice of her death: "We cannot chronicle the death of this lady without a word of tribute to her worth. She was born August 11, 1827, near Milford, in the State of Delaware, and when quite young her father removed with his family to Mercer County, where the deceased had resided ever since. She was a woman remarkable for her quiet, uniform Christian spirit, patient under all the cares and labors incident to a large family, thoughtful, prudent and kind in everything. She was greatly beloved in all of the relations of life. She had long been a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Mercer, and her life was a continual testimony of the genuineness of her faith and the power of divine grace. Her experience during her illness was of profound peace with her Maker, and her death was like her life, in quiet trust. Her memory is very precious to her family and a large circle of friends." Mr. Bastress came to his present farm in 1870, and has resided here since. He owns the house in Mercer where Hon. John A. Bingham was born. In politics he is a Democrat.

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.