Wilmore, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Wilmore is a borough in Cambria County
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 252 at the 2000 census.
of Altoona, Pennsylvania
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the borough has a total area of 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²), all of it land.
of 2000, there were 252 people, 89 households, and 64 families residing in the borough. The population density
was 745.7 people per square mile (286.2/km²). There were 96 housing units at an average density of 284.1 per square mile (109.0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 100.00% White.
There were 89 households out of which 40.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples
living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.40.
In the borough the population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 14.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 106.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $31,719, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $30,357 versus $17,813 for females. The per capita income
for the borough was $12,075. About 4.8% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.7% of those under the age of eighteen and 5.0% of those sixty five or over.
Godfrey Wilmore was born 1751 in or near Cumberland, Allegheny County, Maryland [8] and died April 2, 1815 in Wilmore, Pennsylvania; buried St. Michael’s Cemetery, Loretto, Pennsylvania. Godfrey married Mary Higgins, who was born 1747 in Ireland and died Aug 28, 1822 in Wilmore, PA; buried St. Michael’s Cemetery, Loretto, Pennsylvania.
Godfrey was a freed slave of African descent. Mary was either an indentured servant or a redemptioner and was of Irish descent. Both his and Mary Higgins’ servitude was documented within Harford County, Maryland. Godfrey is said to have been a man of above average intellect, who could read and write. This is referenced numerous times within Cambria County, Pennsylvania documents by the notation that Godfrey Wilmore wrote the document and witnessed it by his signature, whereas the other parties sign by their mark “ X “. In that he was a slave, the fact that he could read and write is remarkable and suggests that he may have been a “house slave” or a supervisory slave laborer. Even more remarkable is that it is further said that he was an energetic man who worked enough extra, outside of his servitude, that he was able to buy his freedom. Documents go on to say that he then bought the remaining time of indentured servitude of his white wife Mary Higgins. Further it is also noted that due to his education, Godfrey becomes the first teacher in the area that surrounds Wilmore Pennsylvania.
According to the "Souvenir of St. Michael's Parish, Loretto, Pa." - On or about 1800 (?), this family traveled from Harford Co., Maryland, along the Conocacheague Valley , west word through Cumberland, Maryland, and eventually coming to settle in a place then known as "Jimmy Rhey Place" (1909- John Mangus resides). This Family was a charter pioneer in the formation of Summerhill Township (1810) and very likely a charter pioneer in the formation of Cambria County (1804). The family moved but once more, to a farm approx. 1 mile south of the town of Wilmore (1909- James H. White Farm). Godfrey built the first sawmill in this section of the County on the Little Conemaugh River, below the town of Wilmore, Pennsylvania. This water driven saw mill was subsequently washed away and rebuilt about 800 yards east of the present (1910) Pennsylvania Railroad Depot.
Mary (Higgins) Wilmore was a Catholic. Godfrey Wilmore, on the other hand, was a Baptist and well acquainted with the Sacred Scriptures. Father Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin
, a Catholic priest, who was a former Russian prince, visited the Wilmore household with a view to reconciling the differences of religion within the family and it was said that they had many earnest, controversial conversations, which eventually resulted in Godfrey's conversion to Catholicism.
In 1829, Sylvester Welch's Corps of Engineers was running the lines of the Allegheny Portage Railroad through Summerhill Township and they came across “… a little village which they marked on their map "Guinea", an appellation which the Irish laborers who built the road adopted until the matter was made a subject of complaint to Fr. Gallitzin, who from the altar denounced this insult to a family for whom he had the greatest respect.
It was said that he Father Gallitzin would chastise any person who would call the town by that opprobrious name and he declared that it should be known as Jefferson..." in honor of our third President. This is further referenced within the will of Bernard Wilmore, the oldest son of Godfrey and Mary Wilmore, that he lists the town of Jefferson as his home.
It was Bernard, with the help of his nephew Martin Wilmore (son of James and Catharine Wilmore) who laid out the town-site of then Guinea, changing the name, because of the promptings of Father Gallitzin, to Jefferson (June 4, 1831). On June 10, 1831 the contract was let for Section 15 of the Old Portage Railroad, which ran through Jefferson. By the time of its completion in 1834.
Jefferson, as the name of the town, never caught on. The 6th Post Office in the County, established in Aug. 1832 along with the train depot were forever referred to, by the residents, as Wilmore's Post Office and Wilmore's Station respectively. In 1859 the town was formally incorporated into a Borough under the name of Wilmore and there were 20 homes.
Mary Wilmore,who was a daughter of Godfrey and Mary Wilmore, married James Young. He was educated, could read and write and was a contractor and the person who built St. Bartholomew's Church- the present day Gothic structure in Wilmore which replaced the small stone church. St. Bartholomew's Church was built in 1854. Even though Bernard Wilmore, at the time of his death (1844), had left a small parcel of land, in the center of town, to Father Gallitzin to be used as a church. Father Gallitzin's executors sold the property and it is currently where the Evangelical Lutheran Church now stands.
Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Cambria County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It comprises the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 143,679....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 252 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Wilmore is located at 40°23′14"N 78°43′5"W (40.387311, -78.718118), about 17.5 miles WSWWSW
WSW may refer to:*WSW, the SAME code for a Winter Storm Warning*Wall Street Week, a business show on the US Public Broadcasting Service *War§ow, a video game*West-Southwest, a compass point for "Boxing the compass"...
of Altoona, Pennsylvania
Altoona, Pennsylvania
-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the borough has a total area of 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 252 people, 89 households, and 64 families residing in the borough. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 745.7 people per square mile (286.2/km²). There were 96 housing units at an average density of 284.1 per square mile (109.0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 100.00% White.
There were 89 households out of which 40.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.40.
In the borough the population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 14.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 106.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $31,719, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $30,357 versus $17,813 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the borough was $12,075. About 4.8% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.7% of those under the age of eighteen and 5.0% of those sixty five or over.
History
In the book Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania by William J. Switala. Switala makes reference to Wilmore, Pennsylvania being a part of this anti slavery movement. - Johnstown -Wilmore-Ebensburg-Burnside Route. "From Johnstown, the fugitive slaves moved northeasterly through the heavily wooded valleys and gullies of the Appalacian Mountains. The more well known of the two routes … proceeds from Johnstown all the way to Ebensburg, following the trace that eventually became I-219. Blockson mentions a stop along the route at the hamlet of Wilmore, a small black community located about eight miles south of Ebensburg and near Portage. Godfrey Wilmore, a former slave from Maryland, is reported to have founded the community."Godfrey Wilmore was born 1751 in or near Cumberland, Allegheny County, Maryland [8] and died April 2, 1815 in Wilmore, Pennsylvania; buried St. Michael’s Cemetery, Loretto, Pennsylvania. Godfrey married Mary Higgins, who was born 1747 in Ireland and died Aug 28, 1822 in Wilmore, PA; buried St. Michael’s Cemetery, Loretto, Pennsylvania.
Godfrey was a freed slave of African descent. Mary was either an indentured servant or a redemptioner and was of Irish descent. Both his and Mary Higgins’ servitude was documented within Harford County, Maryland. Godfrey is said to have been a man of above average intellect, who could read and write. This is referenced numerous times within Cambria County, Pennsylvania documents by the notation that Godfrey Wilmore wrote the document and witnessed it by his signature, whereas the other parties sign by their mark “ X “. In that he was a slave, the fact that he could read and write is remarkable and suggests that he may have been a “house slave” or a supervisory slave laborer. Even more remarkable is that it is further said that he was an energetic man who worked enough extra, outside of his servitude, that he was able to buy his freedom. Documents go on to say that he then bought the remaining time of indentured servitude of his white wife Mary Higgins. Further it is also noted that due to his education, Godfrey becomes the first teacher in the area that surrounds Wilmore Pennsylvania.
According to the "Souvenir of St. Michael's Parish, Loretto, Pa." - On or about 1800 (?), this family traveled from Harford Co., Maryland, along the Conocacheague Valley , west word through Cumberland, Maryland, and eventually coming to settle in a place then known as "Jimmy Rhey Place" (1909- John Mangus resides). This Family was a charter pioneer in the formation of Summerhill Township (1810) and very likely a charter pioneer in the formation of Cambria County (1804). The family moved but once more, to a farm approx. 1 mile south of the town of Wilmore (1909- James H. White Farm). Godfrey built the first sawmill in this section of the County on the Little Conemaugh River, below the town of Wilmore, Pennsylvania. This water driven saw mill was subsequently washed away and rebuilt about 800 yards east of the present (1910) Pennsylvania Railroad Depot.
Mary (Higgins) Wilmore was a Catholic. Godfrey Wilmore, on the other hand, was a Baptist and well acquainted with the Sacred Scriptures. Father Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin
Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin
Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin was an emigre Russian aristocrat and Catholic priest known as The Apostle of the Alleghenies. Since 2005, he has been under investigation for possible canonization by the Catholic Church...
, a Catholic priest, who was a former Russian prince, visited the Wilmore household with a view to reconciling the differences of religion within the family and it was said that they had many earnest, controversial conversations, which eventually resulted in Godfrey's conversion to Catholicism.
In 1829, Sylvester Welch's Corps of Engineers was running the lines of the Allegheny Portage Railroad through Summerhill Township and they came across “… a little village which they marked on their map "Guinea", an appellation which the Irish laborers who built the road adopted until the matter was made a subject of complaint to Fr. Gallitzin, who from the altar denounced this insult to a family for whom he had the greatest respect.
It was said that he Father Gallitzin would chastise any person who would call the town by that opprobrious name and he declared that it should be known as Jefferson..." in honor of our third President. This is further referenced within the will of Bernard Wilmore, the oldest son of Godfrey and Mary Wilmore, that he lists the town of Jefferson as his home.
It was Bernard, with the help of his nephew Martin Wilmore (son of James and Catharine Wilmore) who laid out the town-site of then Guinea, changing the name, because of the promptings of Father Gallitzin, to Jefferson (June 4, 1831). On June 10, 1831 the contract was let for Section 15 of the Old Portage Railroad, which ran through Jefferson. By the time of its completion in 1834.
Jefferson, as the name of the town, never caught on. The 6th Post Office in the County, established in Aug. 1832 along with the train depot were forever referred to, by the residents, as Wilmore's Post Office and Wilmore's Station respectively. In 1859 the town was formally incorporated into a Borough under the name of Wilmore and there were 20 homes.
Mary Wilmore,who was a daughter of Godfrey and Mary Wilmore, married James Young. He was educated, could read and write and was a contractor and the person who built St. Bartholomew's Church- the present day Gothic structure in Wilmore which replaced the small stone church. St. Bartholomew's Church was built in 1854. Even though Bernard Wilmore, at the time of his death (1844), had left a small parcel of land, in the center of town, to Father Gallitzin to be used as a church. Father Gallitzin's executors sold the property and it is currently where the Evangelical Lutheran Church now stands.