Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens"

PERRY W. DRAUCKER, whose valua-

ble farm of 100 acres is situated in Brady

township, about two and one-half miles east

of Luthersburg, owns also a one-half interest

in 250 acres of timber land, lying in Union

township. He was born on his Brady town-

ship farm, April 5, 1849, and is a son of Isaac

and Mary (Bloom) Draucker, the youngest

son and the next youngest child born in a fam-

ily of fifteen children.

Perry W. Draucker spent his boyhood on

the home farm and assisted his father to clear

it. In early manhood he learned the harness

making trade, working for two years under

Levi Flegal, at Luthersburg, and later worked

at this trade in Clarion county. After his mar-

riage he bought the home farm and also the

hotel which had been established by his father

on the stage route and had been operated by

his mother after the death of the father. Mr.

Draucker conducted the hotel, under license,

until 1894 when he moved to DuBois, where

he took charge of the old DuBois House, on

the east side of the borough, and continued

there for three years, moving then to Clear-

field, where he operated what was then known

as the Manton House but has been conducted

as the Hotel Dimeling, for six years. When

he gave up that hostelry he took charge of the

Windsor Hotel, at Clearfield, and remained in

the hotel business three years more and then

returned to the farm. This is valuable land

both as to productiveness in the way of agri-

culture and also on account of a vein of coal

underlying. In 1884 Mr. Draucker sustained

the loss of his building from fire, but he at

once rebuilt and his handsome residence is one

of the finest in the township, containing four-

teen rooms, heated by a modern furnace and

equipped with a cold and hot water system.

On August II, 1870, Mr. Draucker was

married to Miss Margaret Clark, a daughter

of William and Jane (Rafferty) Clark. The

father and mother of Mrs. Draucker were both

born in Ireland and he was twenty and she

fifteen years of age when they came to Amer-

ica. They lived at Grampian, Pa., for many

years, where the father died in 1857 aged

forty-nine years and the mother in 1893, aged

seventy-seven years. Margaret Clark was the

second born in her parents' family, the others

being: James B., John, Edward, William,

Joseph, Sarah Jane, Mary A. and Thomas

Augustus. John and Edward are deceased.

Sarah Jane is the wife of George Erick and

Mary A. is the wife of Harry Yost.

Mr. and Mrs. Draucker have had four chil-

dren : Maude, Mary, Blanche and Frank. Maude

married Austin Kirk, who is deceased and is

survived by five children: Vivian, Draucker

and Blanche, twins, Joseph and Margaret B.

Mrs. Kirk lives at DuBois. Mary, who is now

deceased, married Joseph Smiley, also de-

ceased, and they are survived by two children,

Helen Dorothy and Lois, both of whom live

with their grandparents. Blanche lives at

home, and Frank is in a railroad office at Du-

Bois. In politics Mr. Draucker is a Demo-

crat. He is a member of a number of the

leading fraternal organizations, including: the

Odd Fellows, at DuBois; the Elks at DuBois;

the Knights of Pythias at New Salem, and the

Red Men at Clearfield. He is one of the well

known representative and substantial men of

Brady township.

PW was living with his grandchild Lois Smiley Rafferty in 1936, where he suffered a stroke. His grandson in law Fred Rafferty found him prone in the barn. He picked him up and carried him to the residence. PW died in the home he was born only a few days later.