Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 1912


Grist Family Biography

The earliest record of this family is of Joseph Ghrist, who married and left issue including a son, James T. Ghrist.

(II) James T., son of Joseph Ghrist, was a tailor of South Brownsville, where he died in 1903. In political affiliations he was a Democrat, and in religion a Methodist. He married Anna Eliza, born September 15, 1840, died April 11, 1887, daughter of John and Sarah (Niman) Porter. Children: 1. William D. 2. Arthur H., of whom further. 3. Sarah M. 4. Anna, born in 1878, died in infancy. 5. Caroline, born in 1880, died in 1899.

Anna Eliza (Porter) Ghrist was a descendant of the English Porters, who trace to William de la Porte, a Norman knight who came to England with the Conqueror. This branch settled in Ireland. John Porter, her father, was a pattern maker and made many of the patterns used for casting the machinery used in the early steamboats. He also made the patterns for casting the parts of the old iron bridge between Brownsville and South Brownsville, said to have been the first iron bridge built in the United States. Both John Porter and wife died in South Brownsville. Children: Mary Jane; Anna Eliza (of previous mention); Ella; Margaret; Emma; Caroline J.; William; Ada; Jessie G.; Elizabeth, and George S.

(III) Arthur Homer, son of James T. Ghrist, was born at South Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1869. He was educated in the public schools, and early became interested in steamboating. From 1888 to 1897 he was engineer on boats plying the Monongahela and Ohio rivers. He also went south and spent a season on the lower Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. In 1897 he left the river and established a meat market in South Brownsville which he conducted until 1903, very successfully. He then sold his business and went west to the state of Colorado, where for over a year he engaged in mining enterprises in the gold mining district at Cripple Creek. He then returned to South Brownsville whence, after a short period of steamboating, he made a trip to Nicaraugua, Central America. On his return he engaged in coal mining and is now operating the A. H. Ghrist mine, Domestic Coal Supply Company, at South Brownsville, and meeting with successful results. This mine was first opened in 1815. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and active in Sunday school work. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Brownsville Lodge, No. 60, Free and Accepted Masons, and to Uniontown Lodge of Perfection, fourteenth degree, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. In politics he is a Republican.

Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1912.





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