[p. 953] who resides on his well improved and valuable farm of 100 acres, which is situated in North Beaver Township, some three miles southwest of Mahoningtown, is a representative of one of the old established families of this section. He was born on the farm on which he lives March 3, 1874, and is a son of Henry and Maria (Alexander) Dinsmore.
Henry Dinsmore, the great-grandfather, came to America from Ireland in 1794. Mathew Dinsmore, son of Henry, was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and in his childhood was taken by his parents to Fayette County, and in 1814, when he was seventeen years of age he accompanied them to North Beaver Township and settled on the farm which is owned by Edwin H. Mathew Dinsmore married Christina Patterson, who was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of John Patterson, who, in 1800, moved also to North Beaver Township, settling on the farm which is now the property of George D. Patterson. Mathew and Christina Patterson had seven children, namely: Mrs. Isabella Scott Kelso, deceased; John, deceased; Henry, father of Edwin H.; Mary C., deceased, wife of Robert Hopper, also deceased; Eliza J., widow of Thomas P. Martin, residing with Edwin H., Christina Ann, deceased, wife of James Hopper, also deceased, and Harvey Mathew, who died while serving as a soldier in the Civil War.
Henry Dinsmore, father of Edwin H., was born on the present farm and in the same house, which is something of a landmark, July 23, 1826, and here his life closed in 1902. He married Maria Alexander, who died in 1892, Edwin H. being their only child. He obtained a good common school education, and since reaching man's estate has been continuously engaged in farming until the present. He has made many improvements and adopted more modern and less laborious methods of cultivating his land than were in use in his father's day, but he has not materially changed the stanch old home residence. It was built of logs in 1815, and these have been covered with weather-boards and a better or more comfortable dwelling can scarcely be demanded. It is probably the oldest residence in the township. Mr. Dinsmore married Susan Gebhart, who is a daughter of Joseph Gebhart, and they have one son, William.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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