My Genealogy Hound

ANDREW and HARRISON WIBLE, the subjects of this sketch, farmers of Shaler township, were born on the old Wible homestead, this county, the former Dec. 6, 1812, and the latter March 5, 1818. Their parents were Andrew and Mary (Smith) Wible, who were born in Lancaster county, Pa. He (Andrew) was born about the year 1766, came to East Liberty when a young man, where he was a teamster; later he went to Pittsburgh, where he hauled the pickets used in building the blockhouse at Fort Pitt, James Sample and Robert Anderson hewing the logs. In 1801 he came to the north side of the Allegheny river, where he bought a government tract of 228 acres, and settled down to the pursuit of farming. Andrew Wible reared a family of twelve children, viz.: John, Susan, George, Adam, Katie, Andrew, Sally, Harrison, Mary Ann, William, Eliza Jane and James, of whom but six are now (1889) living, three boys and three girls. He was one of the first settlers on the north side of the river, when Indians and wild animals were still plentiful. At one time he was employed laying out roads and stopped with some Indians to get his dinner, which consisted of hominy. He relished his meal very much until he found a piece of bear’s paw with the hair on it in the hominy, which spoiled his appetite for that meal. Wolves were plentiful, also deer, of which he shot a great many. He and his son John were once chased by a panther, and it came so close behind them before reaching the house they could hear its teeth snapping together. He was quite a prominent man in those days, and was for some years a director of the county poor. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and politically was a democrat, taking quite an active part in politics. He and his wife were Presbyterians, and he was noted for his honesty and integrity. Of the three sons now surviving him, Andrew and Harrison each occupy a part of the old homestead, the part on which the first buildings stood being occupied by Charlotte, the widow of James. Andrew married, Dec. 20, 1838, Mary, daughter of John and Ellen (Davis) Thompson, and they had six children: John, Mary J., Ellen, James A., Sarah B. and Andrew. John died in infancy, and Sarah B. (Voegtly) in her thirty-fourth year. Mrs. Wible died July 7, 1871, aged fifty-nine years. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which her husband and children are also members. Mr. Wible is still living, in the enjoyment of a hale and hearty old We. Politically he is a democrat. Harrison Wible was married,March 14, 1843. to Rachel, daughter of William and Jane Wilson, and they had eight children, viz.: Mary(deceased), William W., James A., Lucinda Jane (deceased), Rachel, Harry, Charlotte, Jennie E. Mrs. Wible died Dec. 26, 1881, aged sixty-two years. Mr. Wible is a robust man, and still takes an active part in the pursuit of farming. He and his family are all members of the Presbyterian Church; politically he is a republican.