Westmoreland County PA Archives Biographies.....Austraw, George F. November 30, 1843

************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 12, 2018, 1:39 pm

Source: See Below
Author: See Below

GEORGE F. AUSTRAW, a Union veteran of the late civil war and a prosperous
merchant of Millwood, was born in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland county, Pa.,
November 3O, 1843, and is a son of John M. and Hannah (Freeman) Austraw. John M.
Austraw was a saddler by trade. He was one of the first teachers who organized
music classes in Bedford, Somerset and Westmoreland counties, and was
accidentally killed while engaged in erecting a saw mill. The saddle horse of
the team which he was driving toward the saw mill stumbled and fell and crushed
Mr. Austraw to death against a tree. He married Hannah Freeman, a daughter of
George Freeman, of Cook township, who was an early settler in the Ligonier
Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Austraw were the parents of eleven children: Eliza, widow
of Edward O'Connor; Martha (dead); Agues (deceased); Susan (dead); John F.,
Samuel M.,Mary Ann, wife of A. W. Akers, of Topeka, Kansas; James, Harrison and George F.
Mrs. Austraw died October 17, 1870.

   George F. Austraw was reared in the Ligonier Valley and attended the schools
of Ligonier. On August 18, 1864, he enlisted in Co. K, two hundred and eleventh
reg. Pa. Vols. and participated in the battles of Hatcher's Run, Ft. Steadman
and Petersburg, besides several minor engagements and sharp skirmishes. At
Petersburg, on April 2, 1865, he was wounded by a gun-shot in the right thigh
from which he has never fully recovered. Shortly after being wounded he was
taken to the field hospital and then to City Point, from thence was sent to
Carver hospital, Washington City, where he remained until July 10, 1865, when he
was honorably discharged from the service of the United States On September 18,
1865, he came to Millwood and secured a clerkship in a store at that place which
he held until 1868, when he erected a storeroom and engaged in his present
mercantile business at Millwood. In 1871 he erected a very fine dwelling. July
11, 1868, he was appointed postmaster and has served in that capacity ever since
with the exception of six months in 1887. He has a varied and comprehensive
assortment of dry goods, groceries, notions and everything usually found in a
first-class general mercantile establishment.

   George F. Austraw was married on March 41, 1870, to Agnes V. Raum, Millwood,
Derry township. Their union has been blessed with two children: Alice M., born
January 4, 1875, and Annie Laura, born November 2, 1876.

   In politics Mr. Austraw has always been a republican. He has been successful
in the mercantile business and enjoys a good trade. Mrs. A. V. Austraw's
mother's maiden name was Anna Barton, from Bedford county. The Barton family is
a very old one in the history of this county; they were originally English and
settled in the State of New Jersey prior to the Revolution, during which
conflict they took an active interest. Col. Barton commanded at the capture of
Tinicum island below Philadelphia. The eminent Dr. Burton, so long a professor
in Jefferson Medical college, now deceased is a descendant. Miss Anna Barton, M.
D., is one of the instructors in the Women's Medical college of Philadelphia.
Dr. Barton, of Homestead, is a full cousin of Mrs. Austraw.

   He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Derry, and P. A. Williams Post,
No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from
Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Compiled and Published by John M. Gresham & Co.
Samuel T. Wiley, Chief Assistant
1890




This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/

File size: 4.1 Kb