USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85
In 1876 he married Maggie McCune, daugh- ter of Samuel McCune, of Blairsville. They have two children, a son and daughter: John L. and Charlotte McCune Cunningham.
WI ILLIAM S. DAUGHERTY, ex-deputy sheriff and ex-prothonotary of Indiana county, and the proprietor of the well-known
Daugherty planing-mill, is one of the active and progressive business men of the borough. He is a son of James R. and Mary A. (Hart) Daugh- erty, and was born at Saltsburg, Indiaua coun- ty, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1846. His paternal grand father, Hugh Daugherty, was a native of Lycoming county, Pa., and removed in 1799 to Westmoreland county, this State, where he settled on the site of Irwin, in what is now North Huntingdon township. His maternal grandfather, William Hart, was of Scotch descent, and settled in Indiana county, where he resided till his death. James R. Daugherty (father) was born and reared in Westmoreland county until he was fourteen years of age, when he came to the site of Salts- burg to work upon the construction of the old Pennsylvania canal, and there are but few men living now who were engaged upon that work. In 1863 he was elected sheriff and removed to Indiana, where he has resided ever since. In 1866 he became a member of the firm of Cole- man, Ewing & Co., who were engaged in the planing-mill business, but withdrew in 1872 to fill a secondterm as sheriff, and three years later purchased the planing-mill of which he had for- merly been part owner. In 1889 he disposed of this mill property to his son, the subject of this sketch. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and a stanch republican, and has held im - portant offices of Indiana borough. He has also been a trustee of the Indiana Normal school for sixteen years. For nearly thirty years he has been one of the leading citizens and prominent business men of the county. In 1839 he married Mary A. Hart, daughter of William Hart, and who was born in 1820, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. Their family consists of eight children : Robert J., a member of Co. C, 9th regiment Pa. Vols., who died of exhaustion in the Seven Days' fight; William S., Martha, wife of John P. St. Clair; James, Frank, Annie, John and Silas C.
William S. Daugherty was reared in the
105
INDIANA COUNTY.
county and received his education in the com- mon schools and Saltsburg academy. Leaving school, he learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed for three years. At the end of this time he embarked in the drug business, in which he was engaged, with more or less regu- larity, until 1872, when he became deputy sheriff under his father, and at the expiration of the term of the latter he was successively em- ployed in the same capacity by sheriffs William C. Brown and Daniel Ansley. His third term as deputy sheriff having expired in 1881, he was elected prothonotary of Indiana county in that year, and re-elected in 1884. In 1888 he retired from the prothonotary's office, and in 1889 became superintendent of the erection of the West Indiana school building. Late in the fall of the last-named year he purchased his present planing-mill from his father, and since then has devoted his time and energies princi- pally to supplying the wants of his many patrons and meeting the demands of his constantly- increasing trade. This planing-mill is a large two-story frame building, which was erected in 1856, and has been greatly enlarged and much improved since. The power is furnished by a thirty horse-power engine ; eight men are con- stantly employed, and the large quantity of work which is turned out is first-class in every particular. The building is fitted throughout with all needed conveniences for the planing- mill and lumber business. Mr. Daugherty manufactures and deals in rough and worked lumber of all kinds, consisting of flooring, weather-boarding, ceiling and bill lumber. He also handles doors, sash, mouldings and brack- ets, and furnishes, on short notice, anything that can be made in a well-regulated planing- mill. He not only enjoys a home trade, but ships work to many points throughout the southern part of the county.
On September 19, 1876, he married Martha V. Sansom, daughter of John Sansom, and sister of James B. Sansom, late editor of the
Indiana Democrat. They have two children, Hart B. and Ross S.
William S. Daugherty is a member of Pal- ladium Lodge, No. 346, I. O. O. F., Indiana Lodge, No. 21, A. O. U. W., and Indiana Lodge, No. 346, F. and A. M. In the Masonic frater- nity he is also a member of Zerubabel Chapter, No. 162, and Pittsburgh Commandery, No. 1. In politics Mr. Daugherty is an influential re- publican, who, besides the county offices which he has satisfactorily filled, has served his borough for ten years as school director. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is one of the leading citizens and foremost busi- ness men of the county.
RANK DOUGLASS, an enterprising citi- zen, a reliable business man and a pros- perous merchant of Indiana, is a son of Barna- bas and Elizabeth (Oaks) Douglass and was born in Green township (near Cherry Tree), Indiana county, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1863. His paternal grandfather, Barnabas Douglass, was born in Ireland, came to Indiana county when a young man, and followed farming until his death, which occurred March 15, 1845, when he was seventy years of age. In 1823 he built, on the Susquehanna river, the Douglass grist and saw-mill, now known as " Garman's Mills." He settled in Green township in 1825, when it was almost all woods, and wolves would chase their stock to the cabin door. His mater- nal grandfather, Stephen Oaks, was born in Maine and came from the " Pine Tree State" to western Pennsylvania in 1837, where he was engaged in farming in Indiana and Cambria counties until he died, in 1874, at seventy-eight years of age. He was the eldest of nine sons, and when a boy went with his father to what is now East Sangerville, Piscataqua county, Maine, where, thirty miles from human habitations, they cleared out a farm. The moose was their principal dependence for meat. Barnabas Doug-
106
BIOGRAPHIES OF
lass (father) was a native of this county. He was a prosperous farmer of Green township, where he owned a farm of two hundred acres of land, and in connection with farming handled stock and followed lumbering. He was a dem- ocrat, a member of Cherry Tree Baptist church and died November 29th, 1875, aged seventy- two years. He married Elizabeth Oaks, who was born in Maine in 1822, and came with her parents to this county about 1837. She is an earnest, zealous and active member of Cherry Tree Baptist church.
Frank Douglass was reared on a farm in his native township. He received his education in the common schools and the State Normal school at Indiana. While attending the nor- mal school he taught several winters in the common schools. In 1884 he formed a mer- cantile partnership with Barto Beringer, under the firm name of Beringer & Douglass, and they built the dwelling-house and store-room now occupied by Mr. Douglass, on Second street, near the normal school, Indiana, Pa. On December 5, 1884, they opened a store and the firm continued until February 23, 1888, when McLain Davis purchased Mr. Beringer's in- terest and the new firm of Douglass & Davis ran about six months. Mr. Davis was suc- ceeded then by R. O. Barber and the firm of Douglass & Barber continued about six months, when Mr. Douglass bought out Mr. Barber's interest. Since that time Mr. Douglass has continued to gradually increase both his stock and his patrons.
October 31, 1889, he united in marriage with Bertha Neal, daughter of J. Milton Neal, of Jacksonville, this county.
In politics Mr. Douglass is a democrat. He is a pleasant and courteous gentleman and has a wide circle of friends. He has a neat and tasteful store-room which is well filled with a good stock of general merchandise, including special lines of dry-goods, groceries, boots, shoes and notions. He also deals extensively in
country produce and pays out a considerable amount of money for the large quantities which he ships every year. He is noted for handling the best shingles in the county. He has the agency of Indiana county for Lister's Agricul- tural Chemical works, of Newark, N. J., which fully explains the cause of his present large trade in commercial fertilizers.
"A UGUSTUS DRUM was a son of Simon Drum, of Greensburg, Pa., and was educated at Jefferson college, Pa. He studied law under John B. Alexander, at Greensburg, and located in Indiana in 1831. He was a successful lawyer, and a gentleman of pleasant social qualities and a fine literary taste.
" He was a member of the Democratic party, and took a decided part in politics, and to some extent was a newspaper writer. He served in the State Senate and in Congress. He died on the 17th day of September, 1858, aged forty-three years."
M ARTIN EARHART, the accommodating and popular proprietor of the " American House," and president of the "Library Hall," of Indiana, is a son of John and Catherine (Shumaker) Earhart, and was born near the tunnel in Conemaugh township, Indiana coun- ty, Pennsylvania, on the last day of April, 1834. John Earhart, a man of sterling worth and generous disposition, was born in eastern Pennsylvania in 1797, and commenced life for himself by hauling goods over the "Old Pike " from Philadelphia to Pittsburglı. In 1850 he left teaming and removed to Saltsburg, where he ran the Earhart house for twenty years, and during all that time he was identified with the interests of Saltsburg and exerted himself un- tiringly in everything that pertained to the public weal of the place. He was kind and generous to the poor, wliose wants he alway
107
INDIANA COUNTY.
relieved with great willingness as well as with great cheerfulness. He contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of Saltsburg, in which he owned a considerable amount of prop- erty, besides his farm in Conemaugh township. He was a lutheran and a republican, and served his town most acceptably in many places of honor and trust. In the midst of a life of ac- tivity and usefulness he was summoned from time to eternity and passed away April 14, 1864, when in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His wife was Catherine Shumaker, of Boiling Springs, Armstrong county, Pa. She was a life-long member of the Lutheran church and died July 4, 1861, aged 54 years.
Martin Earhart was reared on his father's farm until he was sixteen years of age, when he went with his parents to Saltsburg and as- sisted them in the hotel. He received his edu- cation in the common schools, and in 1857 engaged in the livery business at Saltsburg, which he followed for five years. He then came to Indiana, where he formed a partner- ship with his brother Solomon, who was the proprietor of a large livery stable. In the spring of 1865 he withdrew from the firm, re- moved to West Indiana and opened a hotel, which he conducted until 1876. In that year he purchased the present well and favorably known " American House," which he has con- ducted successfully ever since. This hotel, which is on the corner of Philadelphia and Eighth streets, was originally a private dwell- ing-house. In 1865 Solomon Earhart added an additional story to it and opened it as the " Continental Hotel." In 1876 Martin Ear- hart became the owner, added the rear wings to the building and changed the name to the " American House."
December 29, 1859, he married Celia M. Curry, daughter of John R. Curry, of Blairs- ville. To this union have been born seven children : John A., William M., Frank H., Celia G., married to A. H. Chesley, of Pitts-
burgh ; Charles E., Flora M. and Harry E. Mrs. Earhart was born January 9, 1839, and passed away on September 16, 1890. She was a woman of many excellent traits of character, and her funeral was attended by a large con- course of her friends and acquaintances.
In the various improvements which have been undertaken for the advantage and pros- perity of Indiana Mr. Earhart has always taken an active part. He is a stockholder of the In- diana water-works and a stockholder and presi- dent of Library Hall, which was erected for public entertainments. He is a republican and attends the Presbyterian church, to which he is a liberal contributor. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., the Iron Hall order, the Knights of Honor and the Improved Order of Hepta- sophs. He was a member of the school board which erected the present fine school building of West Indiana. His hotel is well arranged and convenient in all of its appointments, while its proprietor cannot be surpassed by any land- lord in the State for making his guests com- fortable.
TTON. JOHN P. ELKIN, an active and suc- cessful young lawyer, a potent factor in the present rapid development of the coal fields of Indiana county, and a prominent republican leader in the Thirty-seventh Senatorial Dis- trict of Pennsylvania, is a son of Francis and Elizabeth (Pratt) Elkin, and was born in West Mahoning township, Indiana county, Pennsyl- vania, January 11, 1860. The Elkin family of Ireland has long been resident in the north- ern part of the "Emerald Isle." One of its numerous descendants was Francis Elkin, the great-grandfather of Hon. John P. Elkin. He lived to be eighty-nine years of age, and his wife, Elizabeth Elkin, was a daughter of Joseph Hill, who died in 1844, at the remark- able age of one hundred and seven years. Their son, William Elkin (grandfather), was born in
108
BIOGRAPHIES OF
1803, married Martha Beattie and came to Pittsburgh in 1850. Four years late he re- moved to West Mahoning township, where he still resides, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years. Their son, Francis Elkin (father), was born at Omagh, county Tyrone, Ireland, May 4, 1830, and came, in 1850, to Pittsburgh, where he learned the rolling-mill trade. He soon removed to West Mahoning township, and, after farming for some years, he became a resi- dent of Smicksburg, where he built a foundry and opened a store. In 1874 he went to Wells- ville, Ohio, and, in company with others, founded the American Tin Plate company, and erected the first mill in this country which ever manufactured tin plate. In 1875 he returned to Smicksburg and resumed his mercantile busi- ness, in which he continued until his death, Dec. 12, 1882, when in the fifty-second year of luis age. He was a member and vestryman of the Protestant Episcopal church of Smicksburg, and built the present church edifice of that re- ligious denomination at that place. He was a republican, and served his township as school director. Prompt as a business man, honorable as a citizen and scrupulously honest in all of his dealings, he was highly esteemed by all who knew him. He married Elizabeth Pratt, who was born in 1833, in Queens county, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1851. She still resides at Smicksburg, and is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.
John P. Elkin was reared at Smicksburg ; he attended the State Normal school at Indiana and was graduated from that favorably-known institution of learning in the class of 1880. He taught in the common schools of the county for several terms, both before and after his gradu- ation. He began his career as a school-teacher when but fifteen years of age. Many of the boys and girls who went to his schools are now occupying positions of trust in many parts of the country. As a teacher he had the reputa- tion of being a decided success. Desiring
another field of work, he quit teaching, and de- termined upon the profession of law, and in 1882 entered the law department of the univer- sity of Michigan, and was graduated from tliat famous institution in 1884, where he carried off the honors of his class, being the orator at the closing exercises. After his graduation he pur- sued the study of law in the office of the able law firm of Watson & Telford, and was ad- mitted to practice in the several courts of In- diana county in September, 1885. Since then he has been engaged in the active practice of his profession at Indiana. In 1884 he was elected as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In 1886 he was re-elected and ran two hundred and seventy-one votes ahead of the republican ticket, headed by James G. Blaine. During his first term he came into notice by championing the oleomargarine act, which became a law after a very exciting con- test, between the farmers on one side and the manufacturers of bogus butter on the other. He was chairman of the Committee on Constitu- tional Reform, and as such had charge of the Constitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of intoxicating- liquors. He was a member of the sub-committee which drafted the amendment afterwards submitted to a vote of the people. He also served on the committees on judiciary general, retrenchment and reform and library. In 1887 he was a delegate to the State conven- tion which nominated Hart for State treasurer and Mitchell for the supreme bench. In 1890 he was a delegate to the Republican State con- vention which nominated Hon. George W. Del- amater, of Crawford county, for Governor of the "Keystone " Commonwealth. This was one of the fiercest contests in the State, and was won after a three months' canvass.
He united in marriage, on the 17th day of June, A. D. 1884, with Adda P., daughter of John Prothero, president of the First National Bank of Indiana. To their union has been born one child, a daughter, named Helen P.
109
INDIANA COUNTY.
The subject of this sketch is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church at Indiana. He is president of the Indiana School board and a member of the board of trustees of the State Normal school. His fine law practice and sig nal success in the political field have not taken his entire time or attention, for he lias been largely instrumental, with several others, in de- veloping the Cush creek coal region, and secur- ing the construction of the Cush creek branch of the Jefferson & Clearfield R. R. He is a director of the Homer & Susquehanna railroad, which is now being surveyed with a view of connecting the Cush creek branch with the Indiana branch of the P. R. R. He is also connected with the Gilpin Coal company and various other local enterprises. The coal and coke industry is among the gigantic industrial enterprises that are centred in Western Penn- sylvania. Its growth has been as wonderful as its history is marvelous. Fifty years ago it was known, but to-day it is one of the fore- most industries of the United States. Some of its rich fields are those of Indiana county, which are being developed by Mr. Elkin and other public-spirited men of this section. John P. Elkin is of the sturdy Scotch-Irish stock. He has a high standing at the bar, wields great influence in the political field, and has been, throughout the few short years of his public life, a thorough business man of earnest will and vast industry. He is pre-eminently the architect of his own fortune, as he inherited nothing save a strong body and good mind, and his remarkable success is an evidence of what those imperial qualities-energy and de- cision-can accomplish for their fortunate pos- sessor.
FRANK T. EMPFIELD, a courteous and pleasant gentleman and the present clerk of the board of commissioners of Indiana county, is a son of Isaac and Clarissa (Churchill)
Empfield, and was born at Greenville, Cherry Hill township, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, March 26, 1860. Among the many reliable German settlers of eastern Pennsylvania were the Empfields, and one of their descendants, who settled in Indiana county during the early years of the present century, was Peter Emp- field, the grandfather. of the subject of this sketch. He followed farming, reared a very respectable family of children and died in 1870, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. His son, Isaac Empfield (father), was born in Brush Valley township, November 20, 1818, and died July 5, 1872, when in the fifty-fourth year of his age. He was an extensive farmer of his native township and owned about six hundred acres of land. He became a resident of Green- ville when a young man and was prominent and influential in the affairs of that place as long as he lived. In addition to the management and supervision of his farms he kept a first-class hotel and livery stable at Greenville, and dealt largely in stock. As a republican and a presbyterian he was active in religious and political matters in his section of the county. His wife was Clarissa Churchill, who still re- sides at Greenville and has been for over twenty years a member of the Presbyterian church.
Frank T. Empfield was reared to manhood at the pleasant village of Greenville. He re- ceived his education in the public schools and the academy of that place. Leaving Greenville academy he engaged in farming which he fol- lowed for two years and then (1884) embarked in the drug business at Greenville, in which he continued successfully until 1888. In Decem- ber of that year he was offered, and upon signi- fying his willingness to accept, was elected to his present position of clerk of the board of commissioners of Indiana county. Since then he has given his time and attention to the many and various duties of his office, in which he lias acquitted himself very creditably.
June 18, 1890, he united in marriage witlı
110
BIOGRAPHIES OF
Ruth Porter, daughter of the late Colonel Daniel S. Porter, who was, during his life- time a well-known citizen and attorney of Indiana.
Frank T. Empfield is a member of the Cos- mopolitan, the leading club of Indiana, and various other social organizations. He is a de- cided republican in his political opinions and his work so far in the commissioner's office has been satisfactory to the public.
D
AVID HALL, D.D. It is the privilege of few men who are engaged in the work of the Christian ministry in this State to be so highly respected as the Rev. David Hall, D.D., the pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Indiana since 1874. Of him it is re- corded in the standard historical work of the Presbyterian church of the United States, that "his ministry in Indiana has been largely blessed " and that "he is greatly beloved and admired by his people." David Hall, D.D., is a son of David and Margaret (Hindman) Hall and was born at Slate Lick, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, December 13, 1828. Of the numerous Hall families in the United States, which have produced eminent divines of the Presbyterian church, one is the Hall family of Indiana county, which was founded by Capt. David Hall, who was a native of England and came with his parents to Westmoreland county when quite young. He became an early settler of Armstrong county, served as a captain in the war of 1812 and participated in several Indian expeditions into the Western Reserve of Ohio, where he afterwards took up several large tracts of land. He married Jane Jackson and died March 27, 1836, at the age of 74 years. His son, David Hall, was born October 27th, 1792, and died at Slate Lick, May 18th, 1884, when rapidly nearing his ninety-second mile-stone on the pathway of life. His first
business was manufacturing salt in the Kis- kiminetas Valley, which he soon abandoned to engage in farming. He was an old-time demo- crat, an extensive farmer, an upright, truth- ful man and an exemplary member of the Presbyterian church. He was remarkable for strength of purpose, Christian charity and moral firmness. He married Margaret Hindman, who was a daughter of James and Mary (Mc- Clellan) Hindman, and a member of the Presbyterian church. She was born June 25, 1793, in Armstrong county, where she died March 15, 1864.
Rev. David Hall was reared on a farm until he was sixteen years of age. He received liis elementary education in the subscription schools, attended Kittanning academy and at sixteen years of age entered Jefferson college, at Can- nonsburg, Pa., from which institution he was graduated with honors on March 30, 1850. Leaving college, he served for eighteen montlis as assistant principal of the Witherspoon insti- tute, a presbyterian academy at Butler, Pa. At the end of this time he resolved to devote his life to the cause of Christianity and entered the Western Theological seminary, of Allegheny, Pa., to prepare for the work of the ministry. After three years of hard and profitable study, he was graduated May, 1854, with high standing in his class. In the mean time, June 20, 1854, he was licensed by the presbytery of Allegheny, Pa., but wishing to be thoroughly prepared for his work, he went, after his graduation at Allegheny, to Princeton Theological seminary, where he spent one year as a resident graduate and took the post- graduate course of that thorough and efficient institution. Returning from Princeton, he was called as co-pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Columbus, Ohio, serving with Rev. Dr. James Hoge. He remained there about one year, then accepted a call from his native county and was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Allegheny on November 5, 1856,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.