Good evening, listmembers! In going through some old newspapers at the library in Bellefonte I happened across an article which detailed the local LYON family. I have transcribed it here in hopes that it will benefit our listmembers. NOTE: While the author of the following write-up is not identified, I feel confident in listing it as the late Hugh T. Manchester, at that time editor of the "Centre Democrat" and well-known historian of Bellefonte and vicinity. Hugh died in 2001 at the age of 75. >From the CENTRE DEMOCRAT of 15 March 1962: "LYON Family of Centre County from Ireland "Pennsylvania is the Keystone State. Centre County is the center of the 'Keystone' - made so by the vast iron ore interests which were responsible for the formation of the county 162 years ago. "On St. Patrick's Day 1962 it is worthy of note to relate the part the Irish played in establishing the great iron furnaces which once dotted the Centre County landscape. Representative of the illustrious group was the Lyon family who established 'Pennsylvania Furnace' in 1813, near the Centre and Huntingdon County line. Out of their action came the great firm of 'Lyon - Shorb' which left its imprint on not only Centre County, but the United States at large. "John Lyon was a native of County Fermanagh, Ireland, and came to the Province of Pennsylvania in 1763. He settled in that area which today is Milford Township, Juniata County. With him to Pennsylvania came the three sons of his brother, James, who remained in Ireland. One of the three sons was Benjamin Lyon, the direct ancestor of the Lyon family which established 'Pennsylvania Furnace.' "John Lyon died in 1780 and was buried in the graveyard of the Tuscarora Presbyterian Church, Juniata County, which he founded in 1773. His wife, whom he married in Ireland, was Margaret Armstrong, sister of the famous Pennsylvania Frontier Soldier, Colonel John Armstrong. Colonel Armstrong was married to Rebecca Lyon, John Lyon's sister. She died in 1793 and is also buried at Tuscarora. "The Lyon name is very prominent in the Colonial history of Pennsylvania. William Lyon, son of John and first cousin to Benjamin, helped to lay out the city of Carlisle in 1751. His wife was Alice, daughter of Colonel Armstrong. Elizabeth Lyon married John McVey, after whom McVeytown in Mifflin County is named. The Lyon name is also prominent in the history of Chambersburg and Bedford County. "Benjamin Lyon, who was born in Ireland in 1752 and came to Pennsylvania with his Uncle John at the age 11, had a distinguished Revolutionary War career. He was with Benedict Arnold when the latter led his famous expedition to Canada in vain, but gallant effort to capture Quebec. He also fought with Washington at Long Island, the Brandywine, and Germantown. "Benjamin's son, John, the founder of Pennsylvania Furnace, was born August 11, 1782 in the Tuscarora Valley, located in what is now Juniata County. He died at Allegheny City (now part of Pittsburgh) in 1868. "John Lyon headed the great firm of 'Lyon & Shorb' which had works in Centre, Huntingdon, Blair, and Clarion counties. The firm's principal office was in Pittsburgh. Mr. Lyon's residence, however, was at Pennsylvania Furnace. "John Lyon, the great iron pioneer, was married four times. His first wife, whom he married on April 29, 1808, was Jane Maclay, 1782-1809. She was the daughter of William Maclay and is buried at Paxtang, Dauphin County. "John Lyon's mother-in-law and father-in-law were prominent citizens of the Commonwealth. Mrs. Maclay was the former Mary McClure Harris, daughter of John Harris, founder of Harrisburg. William Maclay was a noted Pennsylvania Colonial officer in the French and Indian War and in 1772 laid out the town of Sunbury. During the Revolution he fought at Trenton and Princeton. In 1789, he was named the first United States Senator from Pennsylvania. His colleague and fellow-senator on this occasion was Robert Morris, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and who with Prince Talleyrand, once owned great land ____ in Centre Furnace while the latter was in exile in America and it is from Colonel Patton's home that the great French statesman journeyed to Bellefonte to visit the James Harris family, upon which occasion, when seeing the Big Spring, he exclaimed, 'La Bell Font!' Mr. Lyon married Miss Patton Sept. 7, 1814. She died at the age of 26 in May of 1817 and is buried in the Union Cemetery in Bellefonte. [NOTE: It appears that I missed several lines where the above dash is noted.] "The third wife of John Lyon was Margaret A. Stewart. He married her July 20, 1820. She was the daughter of Samuel Stewart of Dauphin County, prominent Revolutionary Soldier and a pioneer in Dauphin County history. The third Mrs. Lyon died May 26, 1835 in Pittsburgh and is buried there. Out of this union there came nine children, among them: "Samuel Stewart Lyon, elected chief burgess of Bellefonte in 1877. He married Ann Valentine, daughter of Abram Valentine of the noted Bellefonte iron firm of 'Valentine and Thomas.' Their daughter, Mary Lowrie, married Ellis Orvis of Bellefonte, who was judge of the Centre County courts from 1905 to 1915. Mrs. B. O. Harvey, of Benner Road, Bellefonte, is a daughter of this union. "George W. Lyon, whose wife was Anna C. Porter. Their son was John Porter Lyon, pioneer Bellefonte auto dealer. His wife was the late Eleanor Mitchell of Bellefonte. Their children were the late Mrs. Deborah Dobelbower of Bellefonte, and George Porter Lyon, who resides in Bellefonte at 111 W. Curtin St. "Margaret Elizabeth Lyon married the Rev. Robert Hamill, D.D., who for many years was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Lemont. "Mary A. Lyon, wife of J. Robert Lowrie, an attorney who resided at Warriors Mark. His father was Walter Lowrie, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, 1819-1825. "John Lyon's fourth wife was Ann Parr Hubley. They were married in 1838. She outlived her husband by 16 years, dying at the age of 96 on November 13, 1884. She is buried in the Union Cemetery at Bellefonte. Mrs. Lyon was the granddaughter of Michael Hubley, who signed the famous 'Treaty of the Six Nations' (Iroquois Indians) at Lancaster, Pa., in July of 1748." Justin Justin Kirk Houser Genealogist and Historian of Central PA and Beyond View my homepage: http://members.aol.com/JKHouser84/index.htm Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio/Hrynio (and others) President, Bellefonte Area HS Class of 2003 Student Representative, Bellefonte Area School District Board of Education Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) Member, Valley View United Methodist Church (near Bellefonte, PA) "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"