USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 22
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 22
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Thompson, and his family, that on the evening of the day in which they arrived upon their land in Rayne township, he, without even a cabin for shelter, conducted family worship, seated with older members of the family upon fallen timber in the woods, and the younger children in their arms. His farm was selected from the northern portion of this tract of land, and after his death, Oct. 13, 1809, and the death of his wife, Jan. 25, 1815, it was oc- cupied by his son, James, and his daughter, Margaretta, neither of whom ever married. James died Feb. 13, 1849, and Margaretta was burned to death Feb. 23, 1864. Of his other children, Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, who married Henry Van Horn in 1815, resided in East Mahoning township, where she died Feb. 13, 1858. Her children were Mary C., Dorcas L., James T., Tabitha L., Robert T., Isaiah V. and Harry A. JOHN, the youngest son, wlio married Mary Mccluskey in 1810, settled and lived upon a farm west of his father until his death, Mar. 27, 1859. His family were Mary Jane, Matilda, Eliza A., Robert and Marga- retta. Martha, the eldest daughter, resided with her husband, Hugh Cannon, upon a farm which was the southern portion of the original tract settled upon in 1795. She died Sept. 5, 1848, and was the mother of seven sons aud one daughter : William, Robert, John, Fergus, James, Joseph, Hugh M. and Mary T. Hugh, the eldest son, continued his residence on the middle portion of the same tract (wliere he per- manently settled in 1795), until his death, June 13, 1829. ROBERT THOMPSON, his wife and above-named six sons and daughters, lived beyond 'three-score and ten,' except Hugh, who died in his 63d year, and their last resting- place is in the cemetery near Gilgal church, where they all worshiped. Hugh Thompson was an intelligent, large-hearted citizen, whose life was that of exemplary manhood. His wife was of Scotch descent, although born in Ire- land-the fifth child of James and Mary Thom-
son, who, in 1793, emigrated from Westmore- land county, Pa., to Nicholas county, Kentucky. She was a 'born lady,' gentle, wise and practi- cal; in personal bearing attractive and im- pressive.
" The family of Hugh and Martha Thomp- son were two daughters and seven sons: Mary, born Oct. 10, 1792, married John Fenton, died Oct. 5, 1829; Jane C., born July 26, 1794, married John B. Henderson, and died May 1, 1837; Joseph, born Jan. 12, 1797, married Euphemia Moorhead, was at one time associ- ate judge of thiis connty, and died Oct. 27, 1882; James, born July 24, 1799, married Ann Ayers, died May 9, 1837, whilst in Phil- adelphia buying a stock of merchandise ; Rob- ert, born Dec. 13, 1801, married Mary Lea- sure, died Jan. 10, 1879 ; John, born June 1, 1804, married Ellen J. Patton, was a well- known and prominent citizen of Ebensburg, Pa., where he died Dec. 5, 1879 ; William C., born April 2, 1807, married Harriet Furgeson, near Mansfield, Ohio, and afterwards moved to Steuben county, Indiana, where he died May 31, 1890 ; Hugh A., born April 1, 1810, mar- ried Elizabeth Munholland, was for two terms prothonotary of Clarion county, Pa., afterwards clerk in State department under ex-Governor Curtin, more recently cashier of First National bank, Indiana, Pa., and died April 23, 1886 ; Samuel H., born March 5, 1814, married Flora A. Stewart, April 12, 1838.
"MAJOR SAMUEL H. THOMPSON, the young- est in the above family, began business life as a merchant, but on account of the great financial crisis of that period he afterwards engaged in farming. The farm on which he first lived nearly twenty-four years was bought by John- ston Lightcap in 1861, and in 1862 he moved upon a larger farm above Kellysburg, on Thompson's run, which he had purchased from Daniel Stanard, Esq. His death occurred there August 15, 1865, and the death of his wife May 11, 1869. His sons, T. St. Clair and
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Wm. Laird, now own and occupy the southern portion of this farm. . Major Thompson was a man of clear conception, strong moral courage, sound judgment and generous disposition. So- cially, he was agreeable, humorous and witty ; firm in his opinions, yet tolerant and liberal; always found on the moral and progressive side of public issues, as well as fearless and consist- ent in the expression and practice of his con- victions. These characteristics, with his mental ability and readiness, enabled him to be equal to any occasion in the discussion of all public questions, in which he was always well and thoroughly informed. In determining upon public men and measures he 'hewed close to the line,' and when quite a young man became an intense hater of the institution of human chattel slavery, despised the position of the North as errand-boy and lick-spittle for the South in that agitation, cut loose from the polit- ical associations of family and friends and took a forward part in the Anti-Slavery movement of that period, when the principal arguments used against such men by the dominant political parties were social ostracism, epithets, slander, rotten eggs, mob law, the destruction of their printing-presses and the occasional killing of an editor to make proceedings more effective. He was secretary of about the first Indiana county anti-slavery organization ; afterward its nominee for prothonotary when their strength was less than one hundred votes in the county, and was also connected with the underground railroad system. To use one of his own ex- pressions on the subject, he 'denied the right of any man to own, hold in bondage or dispose of human beings as chattels unless a bill of sale was first produced from Almighty God, properly executed and signed.' His son, Hugh S., re- members that wlien quite a small lad a squad of escaping slaves, two of them mothers with babes in their arms, called at his father's one morning for food and directions about the roads; some days later two grim-looking strangers on
horseback, with large whips in their hands, passed where he was at play on the road-side and inquired 'if any black people had gone along there lately.' Not understanding the matter, and not knowing that the men were slave hunters, he very innocently told them all about it, right along. But it was the only and last 'pointer' he ever. gave men and women- stealers, for upon telling his father of the affair at dinner that day he received some instructive reproof and an explanatory admonition that en- lightened him considerably.
"The subject of this part of our sketch was also quite active in educational affairs, serving as director when the school system had its early trials, and was one of the original board of managers of the Marion select school, which has been a successful institution during the last one-third of a century. At the time of his death he was one of this county's auditors, elected on the republican ticket. He will be remembered, too, as one of tlie founders of Smyrna United Presbyterian Congregation, near Georgeville, and one of its ruling elders for over twenty years. His family were eight sons and one daughter: Hugh S., J. Stewart, Archie S., J. Wilson, F. St. Clair, Reynolds E., Robt. Alexander, Elizabeth H., now living with her husband, Dr. G. W. Simpson in Santa Barbara, Cal., and Wm. Laird Reynolds died March 29, 1877. Four of these sons-all of the family old enough and physically able- were volunteer soldiers during the late war, Stewart, Archie, Wilson and St. Clair, the last- named being one of the youngest from this county, and with his regiment amongst the first to enter Richmond. ARCHIE and WILSON were in important and perilous positions in U. S. Signal Service, where they occasionally met with Gen. Grant and other army officers; and after being discharged in Angust, 1865, they ar- rived home only a few hours before their father's death, when the dying patriot was only able to give utterance to one of his last expressions,
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in clear accents of thankfulness, 'My country has been saved. My boys are home.'
"His wife was the daughter of John Stewart, an old time merchant. Many are yet living who remember this excellent woman's wisdom and kindness, the richness of her womanly worth, her remarkable correctness in judgment of human nature and the practical affairs of life, and the unsurpassed degree of her faith in God and His promises. She, with her husband and son Reynolds, lie in Oakland cemetery, Indiana, Pennsylvania."
H TON. JAMES TODD. Every county de- pends for much of its progress, as well as prosperity, upon its intelligent, patriotic and energetic business men. Indiana county, ever since its organization in 1803, has had able and experienced business men to fill her offices of trust and responsibility. Among those of this class who was faithful to every trust reposed in him was Hon. James Todd, an honored citizen of Indiana and a prominent man in the political history of Indiana county. He was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1788, and died at Indiana, this county, in 1872, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. In 1789 he came to this country with his parents, and they made their home in Chambersburg, Franklin county, for some years. They afterwards removed to Westmoreland county, where he was reared on a farm, endured all the privations of frontier life and received the limited education of that day.
In 1815 James Todd removed to this county, and was engaged in farming until 1844, when he came to Indiana, where he engaged in the mercantile business, which he followed success- fully as long as he lived. He was a whig and afterwards a republican, and took an active part in political matters. He served as county com- missioner in 1828, and as county treasurer in 1833 and in 1834. In 1837 he was elected as a
member of the Pennsylvania Constitutional con- vention of 1838, and served very creditably in that distinguished body.
He married Elizabeth Mahaffey, 1808, who died in 1842, aged fifty-five years, and two years later he married for his second wife Mrs. Lavina (Woodward) Johnson, who died in 1857, aged fifty-one years. He had ten children, four sons and six daughters, nine of whom grew to man and womanhood, and their descendants are widely scattered over different parts of the country.
Hon. James Todd was a self-made man. He was kind to the poor and liberal to the churches and all worthy objects. He was a member and ruling elder of the Presbyterian church, as were both of his wives, and he now sleeps by their side in Oakland cemetery. One of his children is Mrs. M. T. Landis, widow of Dr. S. S. Landis, and now resident of Indiana.
D. HARRISON TOMB, one of the young and successful members of the Indiana bar, and one of the present auditors of the county, is a son of David and Angeline (Kil- len) Tomb, and was born in East Wheatfield township, Indiana county, Pa., May 23, 1857. The Tomb family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and the founder of the American branch of the family was David Tomb, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was born and reared in county Antrim, Ireland, which he left in 1792 to settle on Black Lick creek, where he and his brother John patented a tract of over two thousand acres of land. He was a farmer and resided near Armagh, the oldest town now in the county, and which was named for Ar- magh in Ireland. Indians were still plenty at that time, and one of their grave-yards was on Mr. Tomb's farm. He was an exemplary member of the United Presbyterian church, and died in 1837, aged seventy-four years. One of his sons was David Tomb (father), who was
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born in East Wheatfield township, in 1809, and died October 24, 1889. He was an extensive farmer and live-stock dealer, was a stanch democrat, and served as justice of the peace for four terms. He had held various other of his township offices, was an acknowledged leader of his party and stood high in the estimation of all who knew him. He was a good scholar, a man of sound judgment and well informed on the current events of his day. At the time of his death he owned four hundred acres of land, of which two hundred was well-improved and the other half well-timbered and heavily underlaid with coal. He married Angeline Killen, a na- tive of East Wheatfield township, and a daugh- ter of James Killen, of Scotch-Irish descent, and whose parents came, about 1790, from the north of Ireland. Mrs. Tomb was born in 1825, is a member of the Presbyterian church and resides on the home-farm with her son, D. V.
To Mr. and Mrs. Tomb were born three sons and one daughter.
D. H. Tomb was the eldest son and was reared on the home farm. He received his elementary - and academic education in the common schools and the State Normal school at Indiana, Pa., from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1878. He then entered the sophomore class of Washington and Jefferson college and attended that well-known educational institution for two years. Leaving college, he engaged in teaching, and was principal for some time of the Woodvale public schools, of Johnstown, Pa. In 1885 he commenced reading law with W. L. Stewart, Esq., was admitted to the Indiana county bar in October, 1887, and since then has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. In 1888 he was elected, on the democratic ticket, an auditor of Indiana county, which gave a large republican majority at that election. In 1889 he ran for district attorney ; but, while leading his ticket, was unable to overcome the increased republi- can majority of that year.
November 5, 1888, Mr. Tomb united in mar- riage with Maggie B. Rankin, daughter of William and Nancy Rankin, of Montgomery township. Mr. and Mrs. Tomb have one child, a son-David Rankin.
D. H. Tomb has always labored earnestly and effectively in the interests of the democratic party. He is a member of the Indiana Presby- terian church. Mr. Tomb is a courteous and honorable gentleman, well-read in his profes- sion and active in its practice. He always gives the closest attention to the business of his clients and is meeting with good success.
R EV. ADAM F. TONER, a polished, cour- teous and cultured gentleman of fine edu- cation and good taste, and the present earnest, progressive and successful pastor of St. Ber- nard's Catholic church of Indiana, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1856, and is a son of Clement and Barbara (Orth) Toner. His parents were natives of Prussia, where they were reared in the faith of the Catholic church, with which they united at an early age. In 1845 they came to the United States and located in Pittsburgh, this State, where they resided for many years. Clement Toner is a roller by trade, and after some years of economical and honest labor in Pittsburgh secured means suffi- cient to purchase the well-improved farm which he owns in Hampton township, Allegheny county, Pa. He was one of the originators of St. Mary's Catholic church at Sharpsburg, Allegheny county, of which he was an influen- tial and liberally contributing member for many years. He is now in the seventieth year of his age, and has retired from the pursuits of active life. For the last two years he has resided with his son, the subject of this sketch. His wife, Barbara (Orth) Toner, passed away from this earth on August 31, 1888, when in the sixty-sixth year of her age, and her remains
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are entombed in the cemetery of St. Mary's Catholic church, of which she was an active and devout member for many years.
Adam F. Toner was reared in Pittsburgh, where he received his elementary and academic education. In 1873 he went to St. Vincent's abbey and college, near Latrobe, Westmoreland county, where he took a seven years' classical course. He then took a full philosophical and theological course at St. Vincent's and the Grand seminary of Montreal, Canada. On August 21, 1885, he was ordained to the priest- hood by Rt. Rev. Richard Phelan, D.D., being the first to be ordained by the newly consecrated bishop, at St. Vincent's abbey, and was ap- pointed as assistant pastor of St. Peter's church at Mckeesport, Allegheny county. After two years' faithful and successful service there he was assigned to his present field of labor at Indiana. On August 31, 1887, he assumed charge of St. Bernard's Catholic church of Indiana and has remained its pastor ever since. The first Catholic families at Indiana came about 1814, and in 1845 the first Catholic church of that place was erected. It was a frame structure, costing about six hundred dollars and the congregation was served by priests from St. Vincent's, in Westmoreland county. Among the ministers who acted as missionary laborers to Indiana, was the sainted Rt. Rev. Boniface Wimmer, the founder of St. Vincent's abbey and the order of St. Benedict in North America. The present brick church of St. Bernard's was begun in 1869, and was dedicated on May 26, 1871. It is of the order of Gothic architecture and is in the form of a cross. It is 57x94 feet in dimensions, will seat six hundred people and cost twenty-two thousand dollars. When Rev. Toner came to the charge it included about sixty families, but under his labors it has increased to eighty-five families.
The church was badly out of repair, but with his characteristic energy and perseverance he began a series of much-needed and valuable
improvements which has placed St. Bernard's among the most beautiful, attractive and finely- furnished churches of western Pennsylvania. He has heated the church, the parsonage and all other buildings on the premises with steam, and secured natural gas for fuel in the heating boilers of the buildings ; he has had water put in every room of each building, and has had water- plugs placed at all necessary points. He has drained the grounds, put in sewerage and contrib- uted in many other ways to the healthfulness, the beauty and conveniences of St. Bernard's. All these improvements have been paid for and the charge is in a flourishing condition. He has been largely instrumental in organizing a literary society and in founding an extensive library, which has a reading-room attached for the young folks. A room is also provided where they can indulge in healthful and inno- cent games. A very fine orchestra has been organized from the congregation, and is known as St. Bernard's orchestra.
Rev. Toner is laboring earnestly and success- fully for the intellectual education and culture, the moral growth and the spiritual welfare of his people, and commands the respect of all' who know him.
TAMES M. TORRENCE, M.D., a veteran soldier of the 105th Pa. Vols. and a phy- sician in active practice at Indiana, was born at Punxsutawney, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1845, and is a son of Judge James and Mary (Caldwell) Torrence. Hugh Tor- rence (paternal grandfather) was a native of Ire- land and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He came from Ireland to Pennsylvania and was one of the early settlers near Manor Station, West- moreland county, where he resided until his death. He was a presbyterian in religious belief. William Caldwell (maternal grandfa- ther) was of Irish descent and resided at Indiana, where he reared a large family and where he
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died. Judge James Torrence (father) was born in Westmoreland county, learned the trade of tanning in Allegheny city, and followed that business for twenty years. He came to Punxsu- tawney when a young man, and successfully operated a large tannery in the centre of the town until 1866, when he retired from active business except dealing in real estate. In 1859 he was elected associate judge of that county, on the republican ticket and served for three years. He began life without any capital, and by close attention to business is now worth sixty or seventy thousand dollars, besides owning some real estate in his town. He is an active republican and a member of the Presbyterian church. He married Mary Caldwell, who was a native of Indiana and a member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian church. She died in 1858, aged thirty-nine years.
James M. Torrence was reared principally in his native town until he was twelve years of age, when he entered the Messenger printing-office at Indiana and served an apprenticeship of two and one-half years. Before he was sixteen years of age he enlisted in Co. K, 105th reg., Pa. Vols., served as a company clerk for eight months and then entered the ranks. In 1863 he re-enlisted and served until the close of the war. He was in all the battles of his regiment, was present at Lee's surrender and was wound- ed at Chancellorsville in the left hand and in the side of the head (June 17, 1864) in front of Petersburg. After the war he attended the Iron City Business college and fitted for college at Glade Run and Dayton academies. He entered Mt. Union college, which he left (1869), when in the senior class, to read medicine with his brother-in-law, Dr. J. W. Hughes, of Blairs- ville. Completing his course of reading, he entered Jefferson Medical college, from which he was graduated in the class of 1873. In the same year he located at Indiana, where he has continued in the successful practice of his pro- fession ever since.
In 1880 he married Ida, daughter of E. P. Hildebrand, a native of Berlin, Pa., and a man of high standing, who was twice prothonotary of the county and died while serving as justice of the peace, July 29, 1889, aged sixty-seven years. Dr. and Mrs. Torrence have three chil- dren : Helen, James Monroe and Arthur Hildebrand.
In politics Dr. Torrence is a republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and the Indiana County Medical society, and well sustains the reputation which he has earned as a courteous gentleman and a skillful physician.
NDWARD G. VOGEL. In modern progress the trade of the tailor has advanced to the plane of a fine art. Among the leading mer- chant tailors in this section of the State is Edward G. Vogel, who is a graduated fashion- able and artistic cutter and a member of the firm of Vogel Bros., which was established in 1839. He is a son of Paul and Helen (Laurent) Vogel, and was born at Indiana, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1863. Paul Vogel is a native of the kingdom of Bavaria, now a powerful State of the great German empire. He came in 1847 to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he remained for two years and then removed to Indiana, which he has made his home ever since. He learned the trade of tailor in the "Fatherland," and was engaged in the merchant tailoring business until within the last two years. He was born in 1827 and is a son of John and Maria Vogel, of Bavaria. In 1849 he founded the present merchant tailoring establishment of Vogel Brothers. His partners were his brothers George and Wolfgang. George Vogel died February 8, 1876, and Wolfgang Vogel retired from the firm in 1884. Their places in the firm were occupied by his sons. Paul Vogel is a strict Catholic, a stanch democrat and married Helen Laurent, daughter of Joseph and Barbara
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Laurent, of Butler county, this State. They have nine children, eiglit of whom are living: Frances, Ed. G., Celia M., Theo. A., Joseph A., John W., Laurent J. and Stella A. Mrs. Vogel is a devoted member of the Catholic church.
Edward G. Vogel was reared at Indiana, where he received liis education in the public and catholic schools of that place. Leaving school, he learned the trade of tailor with his father, after which he went to Pittsburgh, where he worked with some of the best tailors of that city ; and in order to perfect himself in his chosen trade, he then attended a celebrated cutting school in New York city, from which he grad- uated. After perfecting merchant tailoring in its higher and finer branches he returned and assumed charge of his father's establishment. Under his management it soon acquired an en- viable reputation and a large increase of custom. Vogel Bros. are located on North 6th street, oppo- site the court-house, employ the best workmen in the county and carry a large assortment of cloths, suitings, vestings and piece goods which are from English, French, German and domes- tic looms. Their goods are in the latest designs and patterns and are of the choicest products to be secured in either foreign or domestic mar- kets. The perfect accuracy with which gar- ments are cut and fitted and the artistic skill of finish are features of the establishment, which is noted for fitting clothes, stylish goods and ex- cellent workmanship. Mr. Vogel is a perfect genius in the art of cutting, a man of sound judgment, good taste and unquestionable skill and personally supervises every detail of the several departments of his flourishing business. He is a democrat and a member of the Catholic church, in whose faith he was reared and by whose teachings he has been guided in life.
Edward G. Vogel was married, on October 16, 1888, to Kate D. Doberneck, daughter of Frank and Mary Doberneck, of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Vogel have one child, a son, named Paul Vogel, Jr., who was born July 14, 1889.
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