Joseph Mersky    

Joseph Mersky, a well known and progressive merchant of West Brownsville, president of the borough council of that place, a director of the West Brownsville Chamber of Commerce and in other ways prominently identified with the commercial and civic interests of that section of Washington county, is a native of Russia but has been a resident of Pennsylvania since the days of his childhood. He was born February 17, 1883, a son of Simon and Annie (Lener) Mersky, both of whom also were born in Russia, and their last days were spent in the city of Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania, where Simon Mersky was for years in the mercantile business. He was born July 15, 1858, and died on August 25, 1900. His widow survived him for more than eight years, her death occurring on November 8, 1908. She was born December 8, 1846, and was thus in her sixty-second year at the time of her death. They were members of the Jewish congregation.

For some time after the arrival of the Merskys in this country they made their home in Lancaster, this state, and it was there that Joseph Mersky got his schooling and acquired a familiarity with the language of his adopted country. When eleven years of age he began his mercantile career, going to work as an egg candler in the store of John Fite, a Pittsburgh merchant, thus starting in “at the bottom”.

Though but fifteen years of age when the Spanish-American war broke out in the spring of 1898, before that short but decisive struggle had come to an end he had enlisted his services in behalf of the army and was serving as a soldier, with the troops at Mount Gretna, when peace was declared, so that he did not get into active service. Continuing his interest in mercantile operations Mr. Mersky presently engaged in the general merchandise business on his own account in Pittsburgh and was thus occupied in that city until 1908, two years after his marriage, when he moved to West Brownsville and here opened a general mercantile establishment which he ever since has been carrying on. long recognized as one of the leading merchants of the town. In addition to his general mercantile interests Mr. Mersky has other interests of a substantial character and is the owner of the up-to-date building in which the West Brownsville post office is located. He is a republican, has long taken an interested and helpful part in local civic affairs and since 1913 has been rendering public service as a member of the borough council, of which body he is the president. He also is a director of the local Chamber of Commerce and has done well his part in advancing the interests of that progressive and public-spirited body. In his fraternal relations he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Khorassan and he and his wife are members of the Jewish congregation of Brownsville, Mrs. Mersky being a member of the Ladies Aid Society of that congregation and a member of the local Council of Jewish Women.

On September 3, 1905, in Philadelphia, Joseph Mersky was united in marriage to Miss Emma Rosoff and they have four children, namely: Rosa, born August 25, 1906, who was graduated from the South Brownsville high school in 1925; Morris, born December 13, 1909, a member of the class of 1926, Brownsville high school; Myer, born January 13, 1912; and Milton, born March 18, 1919. Mrs. Mersky was reared in Philadelphia and in the schools of that city received her education. She is a daughter of Louis and Annie (Pecarsky) Rosoff, both of whom were born in Russia, the latter in the city of Kieve, and they are now living in Philadelphia. Louis Rosoff is a retired merchant of that city. He is a republican and he and his wife are members of the Jewish congregation.

History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1926; Forrest, Earle Robert, Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., pages 217-218.  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.