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Bio Edward Rider Musser
EDWARD RIDER MUSSER, coal merchant and mining engineer, at Tyrone, Pa., is a member of an old and representative family of Pennsylvania, which traces its ancestral lines generations back to Germany. Edward Rider Musser was born January 7, 1859, at Marengo, Center County, Pa., and is a son of Samuel and Nancy (Rider) Musser. Samuel Musser was long one of Center County's most respected citizens. He was born in Union County, Pa., in 1830, and died at Tyrone, in Blair County, in 1904, having rounded out a useful and blameless life of seventy-four years. His parents were William and Catherine (Hess) Musser, who moved into Center County in 1834 and spent the remaining years of their lives there. Samuel Musser was reared on his father's farm and agricultural pursuits claimed his entire attention through life. In early manhood he was united in marriage with Nancy Rider, who was born at Gatesburg, Center County, Pa.; and was a daughter of Michael and Barbara (Crider) Rider. Her parents were members of one of the pioneer families of Lebanon County from which section they moved to Center County. To Samuel and Nancy Musser eleven children were born, to whom the following names were given: Ella, Anna, Edward Rider, William Franklin, Adda, Michael Irwin, Emma Frances, John Howard, Barbara Bella, Marshall Clemson and Walter Scott. With one exception all survive. Dr. William Franklin Musser, the second son, died of tuberculosis in 1905. He first engaged in medical practice at Williamsburg and then moved to Tyrone. Ella, the first born of the family, is the widow of J. T. Reamy, formerly of Unionville. Her home is at Tyrone. Anna is the wife of Dr. L. M. Houser, of Pennsylvania Furnace, Huntingdon County, Pa. Adda is the wife of William Vantries, a farmer near Union Furnace, Huntingdon County. Michael Irwin is a general merchant at Union Furnace and resides at Tyrone. Emma Frances is the wife of E. E. McClintock of the firm of McClintock & Musser, manufacturers and wholesale dealers in candy at Tyrone. John Howard is in the mercantile business at Union Furnace but lives at Tyrone. Barbara Bella is the wife of Rev. Curry H. Love, of Clifton, Ari. Marshall Clemson is a member of the above named firm of McClintock & Musser, at Tyrone. Walter Scott is a physician and surgeon at Tyrone. Samuel Musser, the father of the above family, was reared in the Lutheran Church but later united with the Presbyterian body and in that faith he and wife reared their children, setting them an example of virtuous living. Although by no means a politician, Samuel Musser kept well informed concerning public affairs and cast his vote intelligently. He was identified with the Republican party. Edward Rider Musser attended the public school and academy at Pine Grove Mills and later the Stone Valley Academy. He was reared on the home farm and taught school for five winters and when not so engaged, worked at the carpenter trade. For six years he was agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Scotia Station. He took a course in mining engineering in the Scranton School of Correspondence and for sixteen years was mine superintendent and mining engineer for the Cymbria Coal Company of Barnesboro, Pa., located in Cambria County, and for one year engaged, in the same capacity, with a company in the southwestern part of Virginia. For the past two years. Mr. Musser has been in business at Tyrone, establishing himself here on April 23, 1909, as a dealer in coal and builders' supplies, with location at No. 1537 Logan Avenue. He is also superintendent of the Colonial Coal Mining Company. On September 22, 1886, Mr. Musser was married to Miss H. Elizabeth Gardner, a daughter of Henry and Letitia Gardner. Mr. and Mrs. Musser are the parents of six children: Mary Eleanor, Samuel William, Edward Rider, Jr., David Walter, George Daniel and Harriet Elizabeth. The family residence is at No. 1335 Logan Avenue, Tyrone. Mr. Musser is a member of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Republican. He is prominent in Masonic circles and belongs to Summit Lodge, No. 312, F. & A. M., Ebensburg, Pa.; Mountain Chapter, No. 189, Altoona; Mountain Commandery, No. 10, Altoona; and Jaffa Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Altoona. He belongs also to Allegheny Gateway Lodge, No. 187, Odd Fellows, at Tyrone.
Sell, Jesse C., Twentieth Century History of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and Representative Citizens, Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold, 1911, pp. 938-939.
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