Josiah Gehr

biography

Josiah Gehr, a son of that remarkable man, Baltzer Gehr, was born at Sadsbury, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1822. When twenty years of age Mr. Gehr took a trip to Canada with a contractor for canal work, and, after his return, worked on a farm for two years. He then bought forty acres of wild land, which he cleared and which cost him three hundred and fifty dollars, and afterward bought fifty acres more, and this has since been his home. In connection with his farming interests Mr. Gehr operated a sawmill from 1850 until 1855. Since selling the mill, Mr. Gehr has devoted himself wholly to his farming interests and has been especially successful in the breeding of Norman horses. in November, 1852, Mr. Gehr married Miss Elizabeth Wilson, daughter of Benjamin and Esther Wilson. Benjamin Wilson was born in 1782 and, coming from New Jersey in 1801, he settled in Hayfield and later, in 1820, in Sadsbury, where he lost his wife. He eventually married a second time, and his wife, Esther, died in 1867. Mr. Wilson himself lived until 1845. Their only son, Stewart Wilson, is a prominent banker of Linesville. There are five children in Mr. Gehr’s family: Esther is the widow of Walker Jackson, of Harmonsburg, who was an importer and breeder of Norman horses; Fannie married Calvin Brown, of Harmonsburg; Bertie is now Mrs. Emmet. W. McArthur, and her husband is mayor of Meadville; Alice, married Frank Van Liew, cashier of the Bank of Linesville; and Linnie, married Mr. Frank Meyers of Sistersville, in western Virginia. Mrs. Gehr is a member of the Methodist church at Shermansville, which her husband is largely instrumental in supporting. Mr. and Mrs. Gehr are among the best known and highly respected people in the community. They are the happy possessors of a fine farm and home, which are the scene of a most lavish and charming hospitality.

Our county and its people: a historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania by Samuel P. Bates, 1899, page 702.