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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA

christianity. In connection with church he is a member of the Holy League.     March 1, 1859, Miss Mary M., Daughter of Thomas Bendon, of Gallitzin township, this county, became his wife. To their marriage union have been born fourteen children: Harry A., who is in the hotel business at Nicktown, this county; Utha C. and W. A., of Carrolltown; Mary Ellen, wife of C.O. Stultz, a butcher of Carrolltown; R. Augusta, deceased; Andrew R., deceased; Mary A., deceased; Rudolph, deceased; James W., painter, of Elyria, Ohio; Beno M., a farmer of this county; Rose A., wife of Francis Bearer, of Spangler, this county; A. L., Urban, and John, at home.     Demetrius A. Luther is descended from an honorable ancestry, and is highly respected and honored in the community in which he lives, and as sheriff of the county, no less than in the private affairs of life, he discharged every duty in a way that has reflected credit upon himself and with entire satisfaction to those he represented. WILLIAM B. DIBERT, an enterprising hardware merchant of Johnstown, belongs to a family that has for several generations taken a prominent part in the history and development of Johnstown. The family is of Holland-Dutch origin, and was transplanted from the Old to the New World by the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Numbers of the family settled at a very early day in Bedford county, whence John Dibert, grandfather, removed to Somerset county, and settled at what was afterwards called Diberville, in honor of its oldest and most prominent settler. He remained in Somerset county, engaged in the pursuits of

an agriculturist and a tanner and distiller until about 1816, when he removed to what is now Johnstown, and resided there the remainder of his life, dying at the age of forty-five years.     Coming to Johnstown, he engaged in the hotel and mercantile business, invested largely in real estate, and became one of the most wealthy and prominent citizens of the place. His son, John Dibert, father of William B., received a fair education for business in the mercantile establishment of his father, and devoted himself to mercantile and banking pursuits all his life. In about 1850 he founded the hardware house now owned and operated by the subject of this sketch. On August 1, 1869, he formed a partnership with John D. Roberts, and founded the banking firm of John Dibert & Co., which was successfully conducted until Mr. Dibert's life was lost, and the business house demolished, in the great flood of May 31, 1889.     William B. Dibert is the son of John and Martha (McClain) Dibert, and was born in Johnstown, January 5, 1857. At the age of sixteen he began a mercantile career, when he took a clerkship in the store of his father. He remained with him until the latter's death, when he succeeded to the business, and has successfully conducted it ever since. In 1878 Mr. Dibert and Lizzie, a daughter of Rev. James A. Lane, of Johnstown, were married and their marriage has been blessed in the birth of three daughters: Florence L., Laura L., and Mary E. THOMAS DAVIS, a real-estate agent of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, is of Welsh descent, his ancestors on both sides of the family having emigrated from Wales. He is a son of Richard and Elizabeth (Roberts) Davis. His grandfather, William Roberts,

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