From: Commemorative and Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and Many of the Early Settlers. Illustrated. Chicago: J..H Beers & Co., 1898

Transcribed by Kate Maynard, 2008.

JOSEPH GILLILAND has for a number of years done a successful and lucrative business along the lines of general merchadising and milling in Potterdale, Clearfield county, and as the result of his untiring labors, his ambition, his energy and well-directed efforts, he is to-day the possessor of a handsome competence and a good home, where he spends his leisure hours, enjoying the society of his family and friends in the midst of all the comforts that go to make life worth living.
    The Gilliland family was founded in America prior to the Revolutionary war, by Scotch-Irish emigrants, and in 1800 Joseph Gilliland, the grandfather of our subject, took up his residence in Centre county, coming from Chester county, Penn. He was among the very first settlers of Penn’s Valley, where he purchased land of the Potter family, who had obtained a large tract from the government and sold the same in small amounts. To the cultivation and improvement of his farm he devoted his attention for the remainder of his life.
   John Gilliland, the father of our subject, was born in 1806, and, being a cripple, was consequently given good educational advantages, as he was unable to assist in the work on the farm. His principal teacher was Timothy Ladd, also a cripple. At the age of eighteen years Mr. Gilliland commenced teaching,which profession he successfully followed for eighteen years, and then, in connection with a partner, bought the mercantile interest of the Penn Valley Trading Company. The business proved very profitable until the panic of 1857, which caused the failure of the firm, and he moved to Clearfield county, making his home upon a farm until his death, in 1888.  He was a very intelligent, moral, upright man, who stood high in the estimation of his fellow citizens, and took a prominent part in public affairs, always voting with the Democratic party. He held some of the most important of the township offices, but cared nothing for political distinction. In religious belief both he and his wife were Presbyterians, and took quite an active part in Church work.
   John Gilliland was married to Miss Lydia Smith, who was born in 1808, in Centre county, and died in 1889. Six children blessed their union: Hannah; Joseph; William S., a prominent physician of Karthaus; Edward I., a farmer and merchnat; Mary; and Robert C., who resides in Snow Shoe, Centre county.
   The maternal grandparents of our subject were William and Hannah (Little) Smith. The great-grandfather, William Smith, Sr., was an officer in a Pennsylvania regiment in the war of the Revolution, and after its close located upon a farm in Lancaster county, this State, where, in connection with its operations, he also operated a mill. He was quite a popular man of the community, served as justice of the peace, which was an important office at that time, being the same as county judge, and was also county coroner. William Smith, Jr., being well educated, engaged in teaching when a young man, and in 1784 commenced merchandising at Warriors Mark, Huntingdon Co., Penn., where he conducted his store until coming to Centre county, in 1808. He located in what was known as Smithfield, now a part of the city of Bellefonte, and there followed mercantile pursuits for a number of years, but later he again taught school. His death occurred at Boalsburg, Centre county.
   Joseph Gilliland, of this review, was born January 6, 1841, in Centre county, and received a good common-school education. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Clearfield county, and remained with them until his marriage in May, 1866, Miss Adeline Yothers becoming his wife. Her parents, Joseph and Elizabeth (Reiter) Yothers, were honored pioneers of Karthaus township, Clearfield county, where her father developed a good farm from raw land, and also engaged in milling. His death occurred in 1872. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church, and the parents of eleven children -- Mrs. Maria Corley; Mrs. Isabel Patterson, of Illinois; John; Henry; Daniel, deceased; Mrs. Sophia Heckendorn; Reuben, a resident of Kansas; Adeline; Christian, deceased; Joseph; and Mrs. Mary Heichel. Mrs. Gilliland departed this life December 30, 1878, and left two daughters -- Lydia E., at home; and Clara B., wife of J. Haney, of Pottersdale, Pennsylvania.
   In October, 1880, Mr. Gilliland was again married, his second union being with Miss Lucetta B. Lucas, of Snow Shoe, Penn., a native of Centre county, and the ninth in order of birth in a family of ten children. Her father, John Lucas, was an early settler of Centre county, and a veteran of the war of 1812, having served his country on board of Commodore Perry’s fleet, and in that memorable engagement on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, he was wonded. On his reutrn home he was ever after called “Perry John” to distinguish him from the many other Johns among his kindred; he died September 27, 1858, aged sixty-nine years, leaving, as an heirloom to his family, the medal that a grateful Congress voted the survivors of Perry’s victory, on which is engraved the laconic dispatch of Perry, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” Five of the six sons of “Perry John” served in the war for the Union, viz., Nelson, McCalmont, Isaac, Thomas and Jesse. Nelson was killed at second Bull Run; McCalmont died in camp at Langley, Va.; Thomas died of disease contracted in the service after having been discharged; Isaac and Jesse are still living. The only other living member of this noted family besides Mrs. Gilliland, is Martha, wife of Rev. Thomas Cameron, of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania.
   “Perry John” Lucas was an enterprising, prosperous man, who was quite successful in his farming operations, and acquired a large interest in coal mines, but at his death his heirs were cheated out of most of the property.
   For three years after his first marriage, Joseph Gilliland operated rented land, and then engaged in hotel keeping at Salt Lick, Clearfield county, for two years. On selling out there in 1873, he removed to Three Runs, where  he secured a position with J. W. Potter in his store and mill, and continued to work for him until May, 1877, when, in conjuction with a partner, he purchased his employer’s store and rented the mill. In 1882 he bought his partner’s interest and continued the business alone until Septemeber, 1883, when his brother became a member of the firm., Selling out in 1888, he removed to Salt Lick, so that he might care for his mother, and after her death, which occurred the following year, he and his brother bought the entire property, including the store, stock of goods, mill, and 194 acres of land, which they to-day own. Our subject is one of the most energetic and progressive business men of the county, and his success is well merited. In 1877 he was appointed postmaster of Three Runs, which position he continued to fill until April, 1881, when he resigned; but on his return to that place the following year, he was re-appointed, and still acceptably fills the office. In connection with his other property he also owns sixty acres of land which is under cultivation, and upon which is found a good grade of coal and fire clay. His life has been one of industry and preserverance, and the systematic and honrable business methods that he has followed have won him the support and confidence of many. In politics he has always been a Democrat, has served in a number of township offices, and for one term of three years was auditor of Clearfield county. His wife is a member of the Methodist Church.

From: Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens by Roland B. Swoope, Jr. Published by
Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL., 1911

Transcribed by Kate Maynard, 2008

   JOSEPH GILLILAND, a leading member of one of the prominent old families of Centre and Clearfield Counties, Pa., who is engaged in a general mercantile business at Karthaus, was born January 6, 1841, at Sprucetown, Centre County, Pa., and is a son of John and Lydia (Smith) Gilliland.
   John Gilliland was born at Spring Mills, Centre County, July 15, 1806, and his death occurred March 5, 1888. His parents were Joseph and and Catherine (Cowden) Gilliland, and his grandfather was James Gilliland, a native of Ireland. The Gillilands moved from Chester into Centre County, where Joseph Gilliland settled, acquiring land in Potter Township, which was the old family homestead and was retained as such until 1906, when it was disposed of. John Gilliland lost a leg in early youth but nevertheless he became a useful and very active man and although he was forced to use a crutch, became so accustomed to its use that he could walk faster than others who had full use of both limbs. For eighteen years he taught school, riding back and forth on horseback. He then went into the mercantile business, buying the Penn’s Valley Trading Company, under the firm name of Boozer & Gilliland, which later became J. & R. Gilliland and continued until 1857, when he took up residence in Karthaus Township, where he had up to this time, conducted a branch store. In politics he was a Democrat. He married Lydia Smith, who was born March 11, 1808, in Boalsburg, Centre County, Pa., and died in Karthaus Township, Clearfield county, January 22, 1889. She was a daughter of William and Hannah (Lytel) Smith.
   William Smith, the grandfather of Mrs. Gilliland, was an officer in a Pennsylvania regiment in the Revolutionary War and afterward engaged in farming and also operated a mill, in Lancaster County, where his son, William Smith, Jr., was born. The latter engaged in teaching during his early manhood and later conducted a store at Warrior’s Mark. In 1808 he settled at Smithfield, now a part of Bellefonte, where he followed merchandising for a time and later resumed teaching. His death occurred before the marriage of his daughter, he and his wife passing away at Boalsburg.
   Four sons and two daughters were born to William and Lydia Gilliland, namely: Hannah Catherine; Joseph; William Smith; Edward I., who was engaged in numerous business enterprises at Pottersdale prior to his death, on July 19th, 1906; Mary Ann, who lives at Karthaus; and Robert Cowden, who resides at Snow Shoe, Centre County.
   Joseph Gilliland attended school at Centre Hill until he accompanied the family to Karthaus Township, in 1857. After his marriage in 1866, he engaged in farming near Salt Lick and worked at lumbering during the winter seasons. He continued to live on that farm until the fall of 1869 and then removed his residence to a hotel at Salt Lick, continuing his farm activities and also operated the hotel from 1860 until 1873, when he sold the same. He then became a clerk for Dr. J. W. Potter, at Pottersdale, remaining until 1877, when he disposed of property he still owned in this vicinity and then engaged in operating a mill and general store in partnership with his brother-in-law, Joseph Yothers. In the spring of 1882 he bought his partner’s interest and continued the mill and store for six years, when he sold to R. L. Potter and returned to Salt Lick. In 1889 he bought store buildings there and with his brother, Edward I. Gilliland, conducted a mercantile business until the spring of 1898, when he disposed of the same to James Hunter, and then moved to Lock Haven, where he lived until October 31, 1908, then moving to Karthaus. In the following March he bought his present store from Joseph A. Heckendorn and still continues in the mercantile business at this point. During his residence at Lock Haven he was in the cigar manufacturing business and while there he and Aaron Kyler established the second laundry in that city. He has always been a man of business enterprise and is widely known through this section of the state.
   Joseph Gilliland was married May 17, 1866, to Miss Adeline Yothers, who was born in what is now Karthaus Township, and died December 30, 1878, and her burial was at Keewaydin, Covington Township. She was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Reiter) Yothers, people of German extraction, who came to Clearfield from Centre County. Two daughters were born to this marriage, Lydia Elizabeth and Clara Bell. The latter is the wife of James Heaney and they live at Vintondale, Cambria County, and they have four children: Adeline G., born October 24, 1892, who died at the age of one year; Anna Lucetta, born August 1, 1894; Joseph G., born March 12, 1898; and Mabel E., born November 30, 1904.
   Mr. Gilliland was married secondly in October, 1880, to Miss Lucetta B. Lucas, of Snow Shoe, Centre County. Her father, John Lucas, was in the War of 1812, and was wounded in the battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, and was afterward known as Perry John Lucas. He was awarded a medal by Congress as one of Commodore Perry’s veterans. His death occurred in September, 1858, at the age of sixty-nine years. In National politics, Mr. Gilliland votes with the Democratic party but in local affairs is independent. From 1877 until 1881 he was postmaster at Pottersdale. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.