History of Johnstown Mentioning Cauffiels

History of Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Contributed by Becky Lovingood

About 1900 a street was cut through the Von Lunen Grove on Grove Avenue. A large beautiful yellow brick and green shingle house was built on the corner of Ohio Street and Grove Avenue by Mr. Cunningham, an executive of the Berwind White Coal Company of Windber. Then the Methodist congregation decided to build a large graystone church on the corner of Grove Avenue and Ohio Street. They bought the land also where the Bowling Club stood. My father bought the Bowling Club building and moved it to a lot on Grove Avenue beside Sam’s Run. He added to the building and made two small apartments which he rented.
After a while Mr. Daniel Cauffiel built a large red brick home on Grove Avenue, and across the stree the Watkins family built a triple house…After Mr. Daniel Cauffiel and family located on Grove Avenue, Mr. Daniel Cauffiel went to Huntsville, Alabama, to supervise laying of street railway tracks for the DuPonts. Later, about 1900, the Du Pont Company engaged Mr. Cauffiel to employ a group of local men to go with him to Nevada, to Death Valley, to buy the land that contained Borax. While in Death Valley they all went to visit the famous Scotty’s Castle. When the men came back, they used to come to our store and tell of all their experiences on this trip. Among the men was Mr. Daniel Deshong and Mr. Howard Miller.In the early 1890’s only a few families lived in Ferndale. The Vickroys lived on Ferndale Avenue and the West and Weimer families lived on Vickroy Avenue. Over in Riverside there were a number of Blough families who farmed the whole area. Mr. Roger Blough became one of the presidents of the United States Steel Company. To get across the Stonycreek River to Moxham or to go to Johnstown, they took the stones out of the river and made a ford and then drove their carriages and farm wagons over through the river. The ford was south of the present Riverside bridge.

Mayor Joseph Cauffiel

While Mr. Joseph Cauffiel was Mayor of the City of Johnstown, Theodore Roosevelt came to Johnstown. There was a large parade and Mayor Cauffiel drove Mr. Roosevelt in his large Stanley Steamer car at the head of the parade, and they then drove to Roxbury Park where Mr. Roosevelt addressed the huge crowd. Later Mr. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States….Becky Lovingood is a direct descendant of Elizabeth Barefoot’s daughter Mary Barefoot who married Daniel Cauffiel, and she is a niece of Mayor Joseph Cauffiel.