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From: "Candace Roth" <>
Subject: Josiah WOY
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 17:05:14 -0400


"History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania" Bedford County by E. Howard Blackburn; Somerset County by William H. Welfley; v.3, Pub. The Lewis Publishing Company, New York/Chicago 1906, pg. 373/4

"Josiah WOY.
Josiah Woy, a prosperous farmer of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was there born in Somerset township, November 8, 1842, a son of John and Catherine (Wendell) Woy. His paternal grandfather was Andrew Woy, a native of Germany, who came to this country, settling in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in a very early day of its settling. It is said that on his journey to America the vessel in which he sailed commenced to leak, and only for Mr. Woy's skillful work in repairing it, all the passengers would probably have been drowned. The maternal grandfather of Josiah Woy was Isaac Wendell, who lived to the age of one hundred and three years. He was a millwright by trade and built the dam and mill at Sprucetown which still stand. The story is told that when he was a boy of fifteen he was captured by the Indians, with whom he lived for over twelve years. He was a distinguished hunter and excellent marksman, and after twelve years was enabled to escape from the red men, and get !
back once more to civilization.
Josiah Woy obtained a common school education in Somerset county, and immediately turned his attention to the occupation of farming, and this he has followed in connection with mining and saw milling all his life. He now resides on a fram in Somerset township, which is one of the prettiest and most highly cultivated in that section. Politically Mr. Woy is a strong defender of the principles of the Republican party, and he and his family are members of the Lutheran church.
In 1864 Josiah Woy was united in marriage to Sarah Frank, who was born September 1, 1840, a daughter of the late Henry and Elizabeth (Will) Frank. Their children were: 1. John, born October 27, 1866; married Nora Cunningham; they have two children, Eugenie and Ruth. 2. Frank, October 7, 1868; married Mary Zinn; they have three children, Marion, Magdalena and Florence. 3. Wilson, May 17, 1871; married Nellie Spangler. 4. Minnie, May 4, 1873; married C. E. Walker, and they have three children, Leland, Harold and Ernest. 5. Mary, October 11, 1875; married Ward Saylor, and they have one child, a son, Kenneth. 6. Sarah, October 2, 1878; married Chauncy Weimar."

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