John H. HOFIUS
Birth:
16 Mar 1801
Salem Twp., Mercer, Pennsylvania, Usa
Death:
17 Jul 1874
Hickory Twp., Mercer, Pennsylvania
Burial:
19 Jul 1874
Oakwood Cem., Sharon, Mercer, Pennsylvania, Usa
Marriage:
17 Feb 1846
Mercer, Pennsylvania
Father:
Mother:
Sources:
Paul Vaughan Hofius Family Records
Notes:
CENSUS:1850,Hickory Twp,Mercer,Pa.,20 Sep.,p.73 ,gives age as 48
DEATH:Record, Mercer County Courthouse, Mercer,Pa.,Volume 8,Pg 200
RELATIONSHIP-WILL: of Father,George Hofius, Will Book2, pg 351, Mercer,Pa.
CENSUS:1860,Hickory twp,Mercer,Pa,p.235,11 Jul, gives age as 59 yrs.
Twice married & the father of a large family
John the second son of George was born in 1801 and raised on the homestead farm. He and his brother Henry were willed the west half of the homestead, by their father George - approximately 210 acres. The Ormsby Works #1 was sunk in 1859 on John's farm by Enoch Filer for J.W. Ormsby & Pierce a 115 ft., shaft with a hoisting apparatus that was the first where steam was used in the valley. The coal was taken to the canal by a tram road until 1865 when a "T" rail was laid on the track and a locomotive put on. The coal was then shipped by the Erie & Pittsburgh Railway and the canal until the canal was abandoned about 1871. This bank became exausted in 1871 the year a terrible accident occured at the shaft. Five were decending when the wire rope broke and 4 were killed in the fall with the fifth who recovered.
He died in 1874 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetary, Sharon, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Mary Dugan had 8 children - 3 sons and 5 daughters. He was twice married. His second marriage was to Maria Bears. By this marriage he had 6 children - 1 son and 5 daughters.
In the 1830 census his name was spelled Hofis and he was living in Shenango Township with a family of 5. In the 1840 census his name was spelled Hofus and he was living in Hickory Township with a family of 10. In the 1850 census his name was spelled Hofius and he was living in Hickory Township with a family of 7. In the 1860 census his name was spelled Hofins and was living in Hickory Township with a family of 6. At the time his real estate was valued at $5,000 and his personal property at $490. In the 1870 census his name was spelled Hofius and was living in Hickory Township with a family of six.
His very nice home where he and Mariah lived is shown in the first addition of the Mercer County, Pennsylvania History Book. It was still standing up into the 1950 at then the corner of route 62 and route 18. It was removed to make way for a service station and presently is the site of Bank.
John H. Hofius was the twin brother of Mary Hofius.
Mariah BEARS
Birth:
1823
New York
Death:
4 Apr 1882
Cedar Rapids, Linn, Iowa, Usa
Burial:
9 Apr 1882
Oakwood Cem., Sharon, Mercer, Pennsylvania, Usa
Father:
Blocked
Mother:
Blocked
Notes:
CENSUS:1850, Hickory Twp,Mercer, Pa., 20 Sep,p.73
CENSUS:1860,Hickory twp,Mercer,Pa,p.235,11 Jul,
DEATH: record, Mercer Co. Courthouse, Volume 8, p. 266.
Mariah and John H. Hofius had 6 children.
In the 1880 census she appears as Mariah Hofius and with a family of 2. This census also shows that her father was born in Conneticuit and mother born in New York.
Per the Sharon Herald death announcement of 4/14/1882 she passed away at her daughter's home Mrs. Wade in Cedar Rapids, Iowa whom she was visiting after a short illness. This announcement has her age between seventy and eighty years of age.
Maria's tombstone shows that she was born in 1832.
Children
Marriage
1
Mary HOFIUS
Birth:
24 Apr 1838
Hickory Twp?, Mercer, Pennsylvania
Death:
Marr:
Notes:
CENSUS:1860 Census,Hickory twp,Mercer,Pa,p.235,11 Jul,
CENSUS:1850, Hickory Twp,Mercer, Pa., 20 Sep,p.73
Her birth date has also been given as 5-20-1840.
2
Clarissa HOFIUS
Birth:
30 Aug 1849
Hickory Twp., Mercer Co., Pennsylvania
Death:
1860
Marr:
Notes:
CENSUS:1850 Census, not in 1860 census
CENSUS:1850, Hickory Twp,Mercer, Pa., 20 Sep,p.73
3
Alice HOFIUS
Birth:
25 Jan 1852
Hickory Twp?, Mercer, Pennsylvania
Death:
Mar 1879
Marr:
Notes:
CENSUS:1860,Hickory twp,Mercer,Pa,p.235,11 Jul,
4
Birth:
28 Feb 1854
Hickory Twp?, Mercer, Pennsylvania
Death:
18 Apr 1914
Kossuth Co., Iowa - at Home
Notes:
CENSUS:1860,Hickory twp,Mercer,Pa,p.235,11 Jul,
Joseph appears in the 1880 census with one child (Henry) in South Hickory Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. His occupation was given as a Farmer and his father born in Pennsylvania and mother born in New York.
In 1876 he concluded to push westward and seek his fortune, and went to Denver, Colorado. But he did not like the prospects there and so returned as far as Kossuth County, Iowa where his cousin, the late Fletcher Hofius lived. He remained there a year, durinG which time he wooed and won Miss Mamie Thompson, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Thompson. After the marriage the young couple went to the groom's home in Pennsylvania and lived there four years, after which they retuned to Kossuth and bought the farm north of town where they had since lived and made it one of the most comfortabvle and attractive homes in the county. This farm consisted of two hundred and forty acres.
Mr. Hofius was a prominent man as a farmer and in social life. He held the office of county auditor for two terms and held many township offices, and for several years was secretary and manager of the Algona Coopderative Creamery Company, and it was to his good business foresight and attention to business that much of its success was due.
Joseph was a member of the Baptist Church and fraternally was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United Workment and the Modern Woodmen of America. He was a Democrat.
5
Birth:
10 Mar 1857
Hickory Twp., Mercer Co., Pennsylvania
Death:
10 Nov 1882
Notes:
CENSUS:1860,Hickory twp,Mercer,Pa,p.235,11 Jul,
6
Mary HOFIUS
Birth:
5 Dec 1846
Hickory Twp., Mercer Co., Pennsylvania
Death:
Marr:
7
Julia Lula HOFIUS
Birth:
26 Feb 1865
Hickory Twp., Mercer Co., Pennsylvania
Death:
7 Jan 1945
Los Angeles, Los Angeles., California
Marr:
Notes:
Julia after her fathers death went to live with her brother Joseph in Iowa approximately 100 miles north of Kingsley, Iowa. She later married, in Iowa a gentleman named Belton. They had children. After her husband died she moved to California. In 1937 her last known address was Gardenia, California. Julia also went by the nickname of Lulu.
According to the 1880 census Julia was 14 years old and living with Mariah Hofius in South Hickory Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Her father is listed as being born in Pennsylvania and her mother born in New York.
Her birth date has also been given as 7/26/1865 in Ancestry.com.
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John H. Hofius - Mariah Bears
John H. Hofius
was born at Salem Twp., Mercer, Pennsylvania, Usa 16 Mar 1801.
His parents were George Hofius, Sr. and Jane Clark.
He married Mariah Bears 17 Feb 1846 at Mercer, Pennsylvania . Mariah Bears was born at New York 1823 .
They were the parents of 7
children:
Mary Hofius
born 24 Apr 1838.
Clarissa Hofius
born 30 Aug 1849.
Alice Hofius
born 25 Jan 1852.
Joseph B. Hofius
born 28 Feb 1854.
Laura Annis Hofius
born 10 Mar 1857.
Mary Hofius
born 5 Dec 1846.
Julia Lula Hofius
born 26 Feb 1865.
John H. Hofius died 17 Jul 1874 at Hickory Twp., Mercer, Pennsylvania .
Mariah Bears died 4 Apr 1882 at Cedar Rapids, Linn, Iowa, Usa .