ANDERSON HOOTMAN, a well-read and intelligent citizen of Amwell township, is a grandson of David Hootman, who was of German birth, and as a soldier in the pay of the British came to America during the Revolutionary war. No sooner did an opportunity offer, however, than the brave young German deserted from the British ranks and enlisted as a drummer boy with the patriots in their struggle for liberty. After the close of the war he remained in America, locating on a farm in Donegal township, Washington Co., Penn., where as a true patriot he resided from 1780 until his death, which occurred in 1859. The young soldier appreciated liberty so highly that he never drew any pay for his service in the cause of liberty. After settling on his farm he married, and had children as follows: sons Henry, Jacob, John, David and Christopher; daughters Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Shaler and Mrs. Deeds. Mr. Hootman was a Democrat, and held several offices in the district in which he resided. David Hootman, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1793 in Donegal township, where he passed his youthful days. He attended the rate school in the neighborhood of his home, and became a well-informed and successful man. When about the age of seventeen years he learned the blacksmith's trade, and after serving an apprenticeship of four years he opened a shop on the Monongahela pike at the then well-known "Parkinson House." In 1815 David Hootman was united in marriage with Nancy, daughter of Benjamin Parkinson, of Nottingham township, and she bore him nine children, viz.: sons Benjamin, David, John, Christopher, William and Anderson; and daughters Clarinda, Polly and Nancy. David Hootman began life with 6 1/4 cents, and at his death his estate was valued at $40,000. For years he was captain in the State militia, and at one time he was a candidate for the State Legislature, but, having been prominent in advocating the Jefferson doctrine, he was defeated. He and his wife were for many years members of the Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church.
Benjamin Parkinson, father of this Mrs. David Hootman, took a very active part in the Whiskey Rebellion, which rising was the cause of the repeal of the excise law, a statute at that time too grievous and burdensome for the then West to bear. The document containing Parkinson's pardon, granted by George Washington, is still in the possession of the Hootman family.
Anderson Hootman, the subject proper of this brief memoir, was born on February 27, 1832, in Nottingham township, this county, and spent his early youth on the home farm, receiving his education in the common schools of his district, and remaining under the parental roof until he was twenty-five years of age. In 1859 he was married to Emily Leysa, of Somerset township, and the names of the children born to this union are David A., Mary F., John E., Lizzie B., Maximilian, Nancy K., William A., Franklin W., Osceola (deceased), O. Vern and Harry H. Some time after his marriage Anderson Hootman moved to Monongahela City, and engaged in mercantile business, but sickness in the family compelled him to close his store and return to the farm. Twenty-four years ago he came to his present home, where he has since remained industriously engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has accumulated a comfortable property on the Cumberland pike in Amwell township, and also owns one hundred acres in South Strabane township. Mr. Hootman has always been a patriotic Democrat, and as a close observer of the financial issues of the country, is now in favor of a Third, or People's, party, in order to protect the mass of American industry, as he is of the opinion that the two great national parties have diverged too far from the cause his grandfather fought for. Mrs. Hootman and a portion of the family are members of Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church.
Text taken from page 959 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed March 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]