HENRY SPHAR. The Sphar family have been identified with the history of Washington county for many years. Mattern Sphar was born in Switzerland, and in company with two brothers and one sister, immigrated to America at the age of seventeen years, about the year 1760. He first settled in Williamsburg, Va., and on April 21, 1767, took the oath of allegiance under King George. He was there married to Margaret Shively, and in 1780 came to Washington county, Penn., and purchased of one Col. Cooke 200 acres, on the Monongahela river, in what is now Washington county. He took an active part in the Whiskey Insurrection, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He died about 1822, leaving three children, namely: John, Mattern (who moved to Adams county, Ohio, thence to Indiana), and Henry (who lived in this county). John Sphar was born in 1777, in Loudoun county, Va., and when but three years of age came with his parents to Washington county, Penn., where he received a subscription-school education in Allen township. When a young man he was married to Susanna Redd, a native of Washington county, Penn., and they settled on a farm in Allen township, and reared the following children: Mary, wife of John Shively, of Guernsey county, Ohio; Jacob, first married to Susan Wood, who died, and he was then married to Charlotte Wilson; Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Dunlevy; Daniel, married to Mary Speer, and lived in Kentucky; Ann, wife of William Spah, of Indiana; Barbara, wife of William Hollingshead; Mattern, married to Margaret Coyle, of Ohio; Sarah, widow of Joseph Beazell, of Allen township; Rachel, married to Robert Gailey, of Clarion county, Penn.; John, married to Lucy Ann Scott, and Henry, whose name opens this sketch. Of this family three are yet living, viz.: Sarah, John and Henry. The father voted with the Whig and Republican parties, and served as supervisor of the township. He and his wife were members of the Baptist Church. He died in 1856, having been preceded by the wife and mother in 1852. Henry Sphar was born in 1820, on the old homestead in Allen township, Washington county, and was the youngest child in his father's family. He attended the log-cabin school of the period, furnished with puncheon floor, slab seats, and other meager articles. On November 5, 1843, he was united in marriage with Margaret, daughter of William and Ruth (Jackman) Gregg, early pioneers of Washington county. Mrs. Sphar died May 28, 1844 leaving one son, William G., who is married to Ruth Gregg, and is living in Allen township; he has three children: Annie Bertha, George Henry, and Maggie Pearl. On June 15, 1847 Mr. Sphar married, for his second wife, Mary Jackman, a native of East Pike Run township, and daughter of Dixon and Elizabeth (Phillips) Jackman. Mr. and Mrs. Sphar are living on a farm in Allen township containing 100 acres of land, and he makes a specialty of raising fine Spanish Merino sheep, also keeping a good grade of cattle. In political opinion he is a Republican, and is a member of the school board. He and his wife are active workers in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Mount Tabor.

Text taken from page 1344 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed February 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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