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THOMAS P. GHEER, proprietor of the leading planing mill at Bellwood, 
and a prominent contractor and builder of that village, is a son of John 
and Amelia (Patterson) Gheer, and was born September 4, 1851, near 
Bellwood, in Antis township, Blair County, Pennsylvania.  His paternal 
grandfather, Jacob Gheer, was a native of Cumberland county, this State, 
born in 1774, and was of old German stock.  He lived in Cumberland 
county until 1839, when he removed for a few months to a farm near 
Worcester, Montgomery county, but not liking the location, he returned 
to Perry county, and in 1840 settled in Sherman's valley, near 
Landisburg, where he purchased a farm and resided until his death, 
February 8, 1859, at the advanced age of eighty-five years.  He was a 
farmer, and devoted his entire live to agricultural pursuits.  In 
politics he was an old-line whig, but after Jackson's first term as 
president, his admiration for Old Hickory led him to espouse the cause 
of democracy, and he was thenceforward an ardent Jacksonian democrat.  
Jacob Gheer was twice married, first to Anna Margaret Thomas, by whom he 
had four sons and four daughters, and after her death wedded Sarah 
Fleming.  By this second marriage he had a family of five children.  Of 
the first family of eight children, all are now deceased except John, 
the father of the subject of this sketch.  He was born November 7, 1814, 
near Mechanicsburg, Cumberland county, this State, and when seventeen 
years of age learned the trade of cabinet making.  He worked at that 
trade continuously for nearly sixty years, and became widely known.  In 
1843 he removed to Blair county, and in 1874 located in the village of 
Bellwood, building and occupying the first house erected west of the 
Pennsylvania railroad.  In politics he was a democrat until James K. 
Polk became president of the United States, when he identified himself 
with the then almost unknown Republican party, and has remained as 
adherent to that political organization to ht present time.  Perhaps it 
would not be too much to claim for him that he is the oldest republican 
now living in Blair county.  He has served as justice of the peace, both 
in Antis township and the borough of Bellwood.  He is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church of Bellwood, and has held official position 
in his church since 1844.  In 1840 he was married to Amelia Patterson, a 
native of Williamsburg, this State, by whom he had a family of three 
children: Jane Margaret, a teacher by profession, who went to Japan in 
September, 1879, as a representative of the Women's Foreign Missionary 
society of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is now stationed at 
Nagasaki; Anna M., who married Daniel A. Hicks, a locomotive engineer on 
the Pennsylvania railroad; and Thomas P., whose name heads this sketch.  
After the death of Mrs. Gheer, in 1851, Mr. Gheer united in marriage 
with Mary A. Bell, a native of Carlisle, Cumberland county.  Thomas P. 
Gheer, was reared in Antis township, this county, and his education was 
obtained in the common schools of his neighborhood.  After leaving 
school he learned the cabinet makers' trade with his father, and worked 
at that occupation about two years.  In 1873, he located at Bellwood as 
a contractor and builder, and has been successfully engaged in that 
business at that place ever since.  In 1878 he erected his present 
planning mill, located on Second street, where he manufactures his own 
building supplies and does a large general business.  His trade in this 
line has grown to such an extent that he now regularly employs about 
seventy-five men.  His contracting business is also the largest in the 
borough.  In both lines he has been eminently successful, but here, as 
in every other important enterprise, success has been won by 
indefatigable industry and constant watchfulness.  On May 27, 1875, Mr. 
Gheer was united in marriage to Ada Renner, a daughter of Abram Renner, 
of Petersburg, Huntingdon county, this State.  To Mr. And Mrs. Gheer has 
been born a family of four children, two sons and two daughters: Martha 
M., John R., Charles W., and Amy. In his political affiliations Mr. 
Gheer has always been republican, and has served one term, 1889, as 
burgess of the borough of Bellwood.  He is an active and influential 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has served as 
superintendent of the Methodist Sunday-school in Bellwood for a period 
of nearly ten years.  He is a member of Bellwood Lodge, No. 819, 
Independent Castle, No. 128, Knights of the Golden Eagle.  He is also a 
member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America. Transcribed and submitted 
to the Blair County, PA, USGenWeb archives by Tina Erb  mtkaiy3@aol.com