Columbia County PA Archives Biographies.....CATHCART, Andrew B. 1844 - living in 1899
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  File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
  Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com July 5, 2005, 1:56 pm
  
  Author: Biographical Publishing Co.
  
  ANDREW B. CATHCART, ex-postmaster and an honored and highly esteemed citizen of
  Bloomsburg, was born in the house in which he now resides December 22, 1844. He
  is a son of Robert and Sarah (Barkley) Cathcart, a grandson of Andrew and
  Margaret (Russell) Cathcart, and great-grandson of William Cathcart.
  
    William Cathcart was of Irish descent, and was born in County Down, Ireland,
  May 2, 1728. In company with his brothers, Joseph and John, he left his native
  country and immigrated to the American shores, landing July ii, 1749. Andrew
  Cathcart, a son of William Cathcart, was born April 21, 1774, and died in 1833.
  He resided in Washingtonville, Derby township, Montour County, Pa., and was a
  watchmaker by trade. In 1799 he was joined in marriage to Margaret Russell, who
  bore him the following children: Sally; Robert; Mary, who died in infancy; Mary;
  Jane; and John R.
  
    Robert Cathcart, the father of our subject, was born in Washingtonville,
  Montour County, Pa., in 1803. He learned the watchmaking trade and worked with
  his father several years. In 1832 he moved to Bloomsburg, where he again took up
  his former trade. He purchased of Henry Weaver an old log cabin, remodeled and
  covered it with clapboards, and lived there the remainder of his life. He and
  William G. Hurley owned all the land between Market and Fishing Creek streets
  north of First street. They built a cocoonery, imported silkworms and
  manufactured silk. The process was all by hand and the old building in which the
  cocoonery was located is still standing and has since been rebuilt into a
  dwelling house. Our subject has in his possession many skeins of raw silk. Mr.
  Cathcart was wedded to Sarah Barkley, who was born in 1808. They reared a family
  of two children: Margaret Jane was the wife of Calvin Achenbach, who was a
  regular in Company A, 6th Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf., during the Rebellion, and was
  wounded in the battle at South Mountain, which wound later caused his death; and
  Andrew B., our subject. Mr. Cathcart entered the world of rest in 1884, at the
  age of eighty-one years, and his wife passed to the unknown in 1896, aged
  eighty-eight years.
  
    Andrew B. Cathcart attended the public schools of his native town and during
  his youthful days learned the profession of a druggist, and subsequently worked
  for L. N. Moyer of Bloomsburg for many years. From 1881 to 1888 our subject
  served as deputy postmaster under Postmaster Beckley, and in 1889 he was
  appointed postmaster and served four and one-half years. He has since lived in
  comparative retirement, looking after his business interests. For some time past
  he has served as secretary of the Bloomsburg Water Company. Known far and near
  for the excellence of his judgment, his unswerving integrity in business
  transactions, and his generous liberality, Mr. Cathcart cannot but have the
  esteem and confidence of the community. He has been first and foremost in all
  good works and has taken a leading part in the material development of the town
  and the county, besides contributing largely to moral, social and charitable
  objects.
  
  
  Additional Comments:
  Extracted from:
  
  Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District
  Published by 
  Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)
  
  
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