Portrait of Jean Moore Lemon, donated to the park by her descendants, on display in the Lemon House Fancy Parlor.
NPS
A brief chronology of the Lemon House and Lemon Family was prepared while researching furnishings for the Lemon House. Related research continues.
Samuel Lemon (1793-1867)
Born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in 1795 of Scotch-Irish roots, Samuel Lemon seemed destined to lead a notable public life. His grandfather served under General George Washington in the War of Independence, and his father fought in the War of 1812. Samuel himself enlisted in the volunteer militia and served as a private. His best work seems to be as a tavern keeper and general businessman.
Jean Moore Lemon (1797-1880)
Jean Moore of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, appears to have been a well educated, highly efficient inn keeper. She and her husband, Samuel, operated several taverns, some written materials credit her with keeping the account books. In her published obituary she was honored for her charity, sympathy, and generous nature. She and her husband had six children, Robert M., William, Jane E., John A., Margaret A., and Samuel H. Lemon.
Robert M. Lemon (1822-1863)
The eldest of the children born to Samuel and Jean Lemon married Eliza Blair in 1849. Their 6 children included Margaret, Irene, Jennie, Roberta, David, and Mary P. Lemon. Robert worked as a coal merchant and operated a successful business. His public work included serving on the Hollidaysburg Town Council and member of the Pennsylvania Militia during the Civil War. Robert's death at age forty-one, only four months after this discharge from the Militia, may have been related to injuries received during his military service.
William Lemon (around 1826-1846)
William Lemon was born around 1826 and died on August 3, 1846 in Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
Jane Eliza Lemon (1827-1856)
The Lemon's first daughter, Jane was born in Pennsylvania in 1827. She died on December 18, 1856 and is buried in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
John A. Lemon (1827-1895)
John followed in his father's footsteps as a coal merchant and railroad contractor. He went beyond these local ambitions into the political arena. John served as aid to Governor John W. Geary of Pennsylvania in 1867, moved on the being elected Chief Burgess of Hollidaysburg, and then in 1871, State Senator. Except for a brief service as Auditor General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, John remained a state senator until his death in 1895 at the age of sixty-eight. He and his wife, Barbara Walker, had seven children: Charles S., Olive, Samuel H. John A., Margaret J., Katharine M., and Jean Moore Lemon. The family penchant for naming children with similar names makes tracing the family tree difficult. A child of Jean Moore Lemon married Joseph Gifford, and from this line comes the only known direct living relative (great grandchild) of Samuel and Jean Lemon.
Margaret A. Lemon (1830-unknown)
The only known records pertaining to Margaret are the 1850 US Census where she is described as eighteen and female, and the announcement of her marriage to John C. Osterloh in 1852. She was not eighteen in 1850 because that would have made her birth in 1832, the year Samuel H. was born. Margaret's life after her marriage remains a complete mystery. She was not mentioned in her father's will (1866), nor counted among her mother's survivors in 1880.
Samuel H. Lemon (1832-1903)
Samuel H. Lemon remains almost as much a mystery as his older sister, although his birth and some of the activities and whereabouts of his later life have been recorded. In the 1850 and 1860 censuses he classified his profession as "Gentleman." At some time he moved to Philadelphia and was married. Later records (1895) list his wife as Mary E. and there is no record of children.
This information comes from a report of Historical Data prepared under contract by Anna Coxe Toogood in the 1980 Historic Furnishing Report, The Lemon House, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site and from research by Steve Kleiner.
