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 AVID F. McMURTRIE, of the firm of McMurtrie & Goodman, contractors and builders, of Charleston, is a native of Lycoming County, Pa., and was born on the 20th of January, 1836. He is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Pensil) McMurtrie, who were natives of Union County, Pa., the father being born in 1796, and the mother in 1808. The name of the grandfather was John, who was born in Scotland, and came to America prior to the Declaration of Independence, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, in which he was wounded in the left leg by a sabre cut. The father of the mother of our subject was Joseph Pensil, a native of England, who came to America while it was yet a colony, and was engaged as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The paternal grandfather had a family of seven sons and three daughters, and the maternal grandfather had a family of three sons and four daughters. Samuel McMurtrie, the father, was a boot and shoe maker by trade, which occupation he followed all his life. He died in 1883, and the mother in 1856; they were both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which denomination he was a Class-Leader. They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom lived to attain man and womanhood. Until he was fourteen years of age, David F. McMurtrie attended school during the winter months, and at that age went to work in a woolen factory in Union County, Pa., where he remained for two years. He then served an apprenticeship of three years to the carpenter’s trade in Milton, Northumberland County, and then worked in Union County, at his trade for two years. In 1861 he came to Attica. Ind., where he engaged at the occupation of a carpenter for seven years. In 1869 he moved to Charleston, Ill., where for two years he worked at carpentering, and since that time has been engaged as a contractor and builder. In 1860 Mr. McMurtrie was married to Miss Elizabeth Shrader, of Union County. Pa., a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Minder) Shrader. After coming to Charleston, he purchased two lots in the southwestern part of the town, upon which he built a house, and in 1885 he purchased three lots upon Jackson street near the I. & St. L. R. R., on which he built the residence he now occupies. Since locating in Charleston. Mr. McMurtrie has been successful in his business. He employs from two to five men, and all the work he performs shows that he is a master in the business. He is a member of the Democratic party, the I. O. O. F., Masonic fraternity, and a stockholder in the Loan and Building Association of Charleston; and in all of these organizations he takes a lively interest. He is looked upon as one of the worthy and substantial citizens of Charleston. |
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