My Genealogy Hound

THOMAS A. LINDSAY, proprietor of the hotel at Bowmansdale, Cumberland county, comes of good Scotch ancestry, and has inherited many of the sterling traits of that hardy race. Industry and steady persistence have marked his successful career; and his pleasant social disposition has been a marked factor in his popularity in the role of “host.”

Thomas Lindsay, his grandfather, was a woolen manufacturer in Scotland, and upon his emigration to this country, he settled in Newville, Cumberland county, where he carried on the wool business. Nothing more is known in the Lindsay family regarding his history, with the exception that he died at the age of eighty years, and was buried near Newville.

James Y. Lindsay, son of Thomas and father of Thomas, was born in Newville. After completing his school days, and while still a young man, he engaged in the woolen business with his father. Later he moved to Cincinnati, and for the remainder of his life lived there. In the early part of the War of the Rebellion, he enlisted in Company C, 12th Kentucky Infantry, attached to Gen. Thomas’ division, and at the end of three years he was honorably discharged for disability contracted during his term of service. During his life he took an active interest in politics, as a Republican, and held many offices in the city of Cincinnati. In religion, he followed the footsteps of his ancestors, and was a Presbyterian. In early life he married Elizabeth Callen, from the well known Callen family of Franklin county. He died in Cincinnati, at the age of sixty-three years, leaving the following children: Mary J. Eckels, living in Mechanicsburg; Ella Hauck and Samuel P., both living at home; and Thomas A.

Thomas A. Lindsay, the subject of the sketch, was born July 3, 1865, in the city of Cincinnati. Part of his schooling he received in that city, and part in Mechanicsburg, as the family moved to the last named place, when he was quite young. After his school days were completed he learned the leather business, polishing and netting, with James Huston. After spending seven years at that trade, he learned cigar making, and for a number of years pursued that occupation throughout the coal region. In 1893 he engaged in the hotel business at Shepherdstown, and in 1897 he sold out and bought the property and hotel he now occupies in Bowmansdale. Careful consideration for the comfort and convenience of his guests, and the homelike atmosphere that pervades the hostelry, have combined to make it a most popular resting place.

Mr. Lindsay was married to Laura Blaine, a member of the Blaine family of Perry county. Mr. Lindsay was formerly a Republican, but of late years has been found in Democratic ranks. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, and they are prominent in the social life of the community.