John Parkhill Shallenberger, sales-
man for the firm of James Cochran Sons &
Co., of Vanderbilt, Fayette county, Pa., was
born October 8, 1856, in the town of East
Liberty. He is a son of Abraham and An-
gelina (McBurney) Shallenberger. Abraham
Shallenberger was born near Broad Ford in
Fayette county, January 30, 1824. He boated
sand and stone for many years down the
river; was also a farmer and dealer in horses
and cattle and was an active and successful
trader. The paternal grandfather was Abra-
ham Shallenberger, who owned a large farm
and was by trade a blacksmith. He was a
native of Fayette county. He owned and ran
a shop near Broad Ford, Fayette county.
The Shallenbergers are of German descent,
and are pioneers of the county. Angelina
(McBurney) Shallenberger, the mother of the
subject of this sketch, was a daughter of Rob-
ert and Malissa (Wilgus) McBurney, of East
Liberty, Fayette county. The great-grand-
father was Robert McBurney, a native of
Ireland, who came to this country about the
period of the Revolutionary war and landed
in Baltimore, Md. He married, April 5,
1797, !Miss Annie Burford, a native of Eng-
land, and a lady of royal descent. They located
1004
in East Liberty, Fayette county, about 1798.
Eleven children were born to Abraham and
Angelina Shallenberger : John P., the subject
of this sketch (the oldest) ; Sarah, Mahssa,
died when one year old; Amanda Jane, wife
of Samuel J. Moore, of Lexington, Ky. ; Eliz-
abeth, wife of Charles Martin, of Connells-
ville, Fayette county. Pa. ; Mary Katherine,
wife of Ulysses Grant Blair, residing near
Perryopolis, Fayette county, Pa. ; Carrie,
died when a mere child ; Frances, wife of
Grant Leighty, of Dunbar township ; Robert
McBurne}', married Miss Lou Means, of
Fayette county, and resides at East Liberty;
Abraham A., is single and resides with his
mother at Vanderbilt ; Harry, single, resides
with his mother. The father of the subject
of this sketch died July 12, 1895, at the age
of seventy-two years. The mother of Mr.
Shallenberger resides at Vanderbilt, and is
sixty-one years old. The parents and nearly
all the family were, and are members of the
Disciple church at Vanderbilt. Mr. Shallenberger
was educated in the public schools of
Vanderbilt. When twenty-one years of age
he left school to engage in farming. He
worked two years in the store of John
D. Frisbee. He spent three years traveling
and in that time was over twenty-three
States. He then entered the employ of W.
J. Rainey, where he was engaged in the mercantile
business for eight or nine years. He
has been in the employ of James Cochran
Sons & Co. for eight years, except one
year of the time when he was appointed
by the commissioners of Fayette county
as mercantile appraiser for the county.
Mr. Shallenberger is a member of and
deacon in the Christian church at Van-
derbilt, and is a member of the Junior Order
of American Mechanics, the Royal Arcanum,
the Knights of the Mystic Chain and Order
of Americus. Mr. Shallenberger, as were his
ancestors on both sides, is a Democrat. He
married Miss Carrie Winter Bogardus,
daughter of Philip and Phoebe (Lincoln) Bo-
gardus, of Uniontown. Four children, two
sons and two daughters, have been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Shallenberger: Edith, Phoebe,
William Franklin and Herbert Moore. Mr.
Shallenberger is a member of one of Fayette
county's oldest, best and most respected families,
and he is a man of pleasant address and
strong business judgment.