| Notes |
- COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD page 496
Charles C. Loose was Annie Loose’s brother.
CHARLES C. LOOSE. One of the chief benefits of biographical research is found in the examples thus brought to life of men who, by persistent and well-planned effort, have won substantial success. The story of the life of C. C. Loose, now a prominent resident of Rebersburg, Centre county, and one of the most prosperous business men of Brush Valley, is a case in point.
He is a native of Millheim, Centre county, and a son of Samuel Loose, a well-known carpenter and builder of Rebersburg, whose skillful work is shown in many important structures in this section, including the German Reformed church at Madisonburg. The grandfather of our subject was Abraham Loose, a cooper, who followed that trade for many years in Lebanon county, Penn., where he also owned and cultivated a farm of thirty or forty acres. Later he sold this and rented a farm in Dauphin county, six miles from Harrisburg, but his last days were spent on a farm near Hogstown, Cumberland Co., Penn., where he died at a ripe old age. His wife, Elizabeth Petry, died some years before him at the same place. He was an industrious man, although he never accumulated much property.
He stood well in the community where he made his home, and was a consistent member of the German Reformed Church. In politics he was a Democrat. Of his large family of children all lived to adult age, and all married. There were thirteen in number, as follows: Daniel, John, Dennis, Samuel and Joe (twins), Henry, Elias, Catherine, Elizabeth, Mary, Susannah, Sarah and Matilda. Two are still living — Dennis, at Millheim, and Henry, at Elkhart, Indiana.
Samuel Loose was born in Lebanon county, August 1, 1819, and received but meagre education in his youth. The schools of his native county were all German, and when he went to Dauphin county, where the instruction was given in English, he had to begin again in all branches.
Among so many boys his help was not needed at the farm, and in April, 1S38, he returned to Lebanon county to learn the carpenter's trade with his brother Daniel. In the spring of 1839 the latter moved to Aaronsburg, Centre county, where the young apprentice completed his term.
He spent one summer at farm work in Cumberland county, and then came back to Centre county, and followed his trade at Millheim until 1847, when he removed to Morrow county, Ohio. Here he located upon a farm, and in addition to the work of the place carried on his trade successfully. In 1850 he returned to Millheim, and after some years he settled in Brush Valley, where he again engaged in farming in connection with his other business. With advancing years and increasing wealth he decided to make his home in Rebersburg, where he might the better enjoy the fruits of his years of toil. His sterling qualities of character won the respect of all who met him, and as a citizen he was influential in a quiet way. Although he was not a politician, he was a stanch Democrat. He died in October, 1896.
On January 2, 1845, Samuel Loose was married, in Millheim, to Miss Elizabeth Brickley, who was born January 18, 1821, in Union county, Penn. Her family is noted for intellectual ability, several of her brothers being Evangelical ministers, and one a physician.
Eight children were born of this marriage, their names with dates of birth being as follows:
Sarah C., December 11, 1845, married John Ocker, of Miles township; Mary L., July 22, 1848, died March 13, 1849;
Annie E., September 28, 185 1, is now Mrs. Thomas Walker, of Miles township;
Magdalena, June 13, 1853, died January 14, 1857;
Agnes, September 7, 1856, married Titus Gramley, of Spring Mills;
Charles C, April 14, 1858, is the next in the order of birth;
Alice R.; August 14, 1859, is the wife of Charles Gramley, of Kane county. 111.;
and Ellen M., September 18, 1861, is now Mrs. Calvin Mallory, of Miles township.
The mother of this family, who was a devout Christian, and a member of the Evangelical Church, died February 6, 1889, and her remains now lie buried in Rebersburg cemetery. Samuel Loose for his second wife married Miss Lydia Bierly, of Miles township, who is yet living.
The early boyhood of our subject was spent in Miilheim, where he attended school for a time, his first teacher being Miss Lizzie Cook. After the removal of the family to Miles township, he attended the country schools near his father's farm, and in 1876 he attended the County Normal School at Milesburg for a term, preparing for teaching. In the fall of 1878 he took charge of a school at Madisonburg, where he taught two terms, and afterward he taught one term in the Harter school, in Miles township.
On March 4, 1879, Mr. Loose was married in Millheim to Miss Ella Harter, a native of Miles township, and a daughter of Emanuel and Alvina (Bierly) Harter. He began housekeeping on his father's farm, which he rented from the spring of 1880 to the spring of 1884, when he moved to Rebersburg and engaged in mercantile business, remaining four years. With capital secured by the sale of his stock and goodwill he began the lumber business. His first purchase of timber land was in the mountain north of Rebersburg, and his timber cut from it was sawed up at another man's mill. Later other tracts were bought, and Mr. Loose engaged in milling on his account. Since then he has often had as many as three mills at work, two of his own and one leased, and he now operates extensively in Union and Centre counties, employing on the average thirty men the year round. In 1891 he built his present home, and his grounds, which were merely a vacant lot when he bought them, are now beautifully laid out and adorned. He owns two houses in Rebersburg and considerable farming land in Miles township. He also has 135 acres of farming land near Rebersburg with 250 acres of timber land in connection.
As a Democrat, Mr. Loose has been active in local politics, and has held township offices at various times. Thoroughly progressive in his ideas, he is in sympathy with all movements which he thinks beneficial to the community. He has served several years as school director, and is now in his fifth year as secretary of the board. He is also one of the stockholders of the Millheim Electric Telephone Co., and president of the Rebersburg Water Co. This last organization was chartered in the fall of 1896, prior to which one-third of the town of Rebersburg was formed into a company and furnished water for themselves, while two-thirds of the town were without water. Mr. Loose was one of the eight men who applied for a charter, and after same had been granted was the chief one to effect a compromise between the two companies (not without much opposition, however), so to-day the entire town is consolidated into one company, satisfactory to all.
Mr. and Mrs. Loose are prominent members of the United Evangelical Church, and at present he is superintendent of the Sunday-school, and trustee in the Church, to which he is one of the most liberal contributors. He is a charter member of Rebersburg Lodge No. 1031, I. O. O. P., a member of Bellefonte Encampment, I. O. O. F., and belongs to the Rebersburg Grange. [5]
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1851 - 1920 (68 years)
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