************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ JOSEPH S. AKE, who is one of Woodbury Township's most highly respected citizens is also one of the most substantial, being the owner of 435 acres of valuable land. He was born October 20, 1820, in Catherine Township, Blair County, Pa., and is a son of Joseph and Nancy (Vinache) Ake. The parents of Mr. Ake were natives of Blair County, but were of Prussian parentage. They were people of good standing, owned their homestead and supported the Methodist Episcopal church. They had eight children: William, Henry, Joseph S., Catherine, Rosanna, Elizabeth, Clara and Martin. When Joseph S. Ake was a boy, school opportunities were not so general as at the present day but his advantages were as good as were those of any of his companions. When he was nineteen years of age he started out to manage a farm for himself and in 1840 he settled on his present farm in Woodbury Township. During many years while he was in the prime of manhood, he carried on extensive farm operations and through thrift, prudence and industry, became a man of ample fortune. He has always been regarded with respect by his fellow-citizens and can look back over a long, peaceful and useful life. Mr. Ake married Miss Margaret Cahill, a daughter of Leonard and Rachel Cahill. Her father was a prominent farmer in this section and he and wife were of Irish ancestry. To Mr. and Mrs. Ake the following children were born: Sophia M., who is the wife of D. J. F. Arnold and they have one son, Harvey Arnold; and P. W., who manages his father's large property. P. W. Ake married Mary Deffenbaugh, a daughter of James E. and Elizabeth Ann Deffenbaugh, and they have four children, as follows: James Howard, who is pastor of the Methodist church at Berwick, Pa.; Anna, who is the wife of David Chalmer Stone, of Williamsburg; and Harry F., and Joseph Edgar.