USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 28
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 28
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George Wilkinson was reared on his father's Indiana county farm and at Blairsville. He re- ceived his education in the subscription schools of his day and learned the trade of stone-mason and bricklayer, which he followed for three years. He then began contracting, in which business lie was actively engaged until a few years ago.
Mr. Wilkinson superintended the building of the masonry work on the West Penn Branch R. R. from the intersection to Blairsville, and, with his brother Dennison, built all of the sub- stantial brick houses of Blairsville, which were erected prior to 1876. In 1872 he assumed charge of his present hotel, the well-known Union House.
At an early age Mr. Wilkinson became in- terested in military matters, and on August 12, 1849, was commissioned by Gov. Johnson as captain of the "Blairsville Blues." Nine years later Gov. Packer commissioned him captain of the " Washington Blues," and on June 6, 1859, issued a commission to him as lieutenant-col- onel of the First regiment Uniformed Militia
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of Pennsylvania. In 1861 lie was sworn into the Union service with the rank of - lieutenant- colonel, and was placed in command of a force stationed at Alexandria, Va., in charge of a camp for wounded soldiers and escaping southern negroes. After three months' service in this position, and seeing no opportunity of being transferred to the front, he resigned and re- turned home.
In 1835 he married Mary Ann Geer, daughter of James Geer, of Indiana county. In 1843 Mrs. Wilkinson died, leaving one son, Albert, who is also dead. In 1844 Mr. Wil- kinson re-married, his second wife being Nancy J. Brown, a daughter of Samuel Brown, of In- diana county, and who has borne him five children, of whom four are living: Gilmore, Charles, Freeman and Elizabeth, wife of Delos Hetrick, who is a druggist at Indiana.
Col. Wilkinson is a charter member of Pal- ladium Lodge, No. 346, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was organized thirty years ago. He is an earnest methodist and contrib- uted more to build the present Methodist Epis- copal church of Blairsville than any other man . in the county.
In 1855 he removed with his family to La- crosse, Wis., but, not liking the country, after a six weeks' residence returned to Blairsville. He went by boat, and when on the Mississippi river, opposite Keokuk, Iowa, a terrific storm came up and they would have been destroyed if Col. Wilkinson had not (when every other man refused) swam to the Iowa shore with a line by which the boat was brought to land. His hotel, the Union House, was erected in 1855 and en- larged in 1876. It now has twenty-two rooms and is thorough in all of its appointments and arrangements for accommodating the traveling public. Mr. Wilkinson started in life with nothing but his trade and good health and is now the largest tax-payer of Blairsville, be- sides owning a valuable farm adjoining the borough.
M ARTIN M. WILSON. It is as a business man of phenomenal success that Martin M. Wilson is now best known, after having successively won a reputation in telegraphy and in the wider field of railway management. He was born at Blairsville, Indiana county, Penn- sylvania, February 4, 1854, and is a son of John H. and Eliza J. (Morford) Wilson. The Wilson family, as the name clearly indicates, is of Scotch origin and James Wilson, the grand- father of Martin M. Wilson, was born near Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). He came to Blairsville, where he followed contract- ing until the breaking ont of the Mexican war. He then entered the United States service as the commander of a wagon train. He was with the Army of the Center, under Gen. Scott, from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, in which vi- cinity he died with yellow fever. One of his sons was John H. Wilson (father), who was born at Blairsville, Indiana county, Pennsylva- nia, January 20, 1834, and died at his home at Blairsville, on July 6, 1862, aged twenty-eight years. He learned the trade of carpenter, and was actively engaged, during his life-time, as a carpenter and bridge-builder. He was a repub- lican in politics and latterly a consistent mem- ber of the Blairsville Methodist Episcopal church. He was a stirring and energetic man, who had many friends within the circle of his acquaintance. He married Eliza Jane Morford, who is a daughter of Stephen and Amy (Davis) Morford and was born in August, 1835, at Blairsville, where she now resides and is a member of the M. E. church. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were the parents of two children: Martin M., and John E., a carpenter and bridge- builder.
Martin M. Wilson was reared at Blairsville and received his education in the public schools of that place. He then learned telegraphy and was engaged as a telegraph operator in Alle- gheny city, on the Pa. R. R., before he was six- teen years of age. So assiduously did he apply
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himself to the duties of his position that he soon became a safe and expert operator. In the midst of making a very creditable record as a telegraph operator, he was transferred to clerical work and for twenty years was em- ployed as chief clerk and assistant agent in various offices along the line of the Pennsylva- nia railroad, and also as chief clerk and pay- master for the entire division from January, 1879, to January, 1890. On January 1, 1890, he resigned his position with the Pennsylvania Railroad company in order to give needed at- tention to his own individual business enter- prises, some of which were assuming propor- tions of considerable magnitude. Among the many enterprises in which he has been inter- ested for several years is the Cheswick Land company, of which he is secretary, the Wood Alcohol company, in which he is a director, and the Bagdad coal company, of which he is secre- tary. But the largest and one of the most important enterprises in which he has invested is the Feldmann Quarry company, which owns four hundred acres of land, of which one hun- dred is underlaid with the Ligonier granite blue stone. Mr. Wilson is general manager of this company and steadily employs a force of one hundred and fifty men in quarrying this rock and shipping it to different points throughout the United States. It is well adapted for a building stone and when properly dressed re- sists well the action of the weather and presents a handsome appearance. This quarry is located on the Bolivar Branch of the Pennsylvania railroad, and from it he ships, on an average, three thousand blocks of stone per day, which is mainly used for paving.
On September 3, 1879, Mr. Wilson married Anna Maher, daughter of William Maher, a banker of Blairsville. To this union have been born three children, one son and two daughters : Ralph M., Mary Ida and Louisa E.
M. M. Wilson is a member of the Blairsville town council, Blairsville Council, No. 831,
Royal Arcanum, and Blairsville Assembly, No. 82, Royal Society of Good Fellows. He is a republican in political opinion. He is a natural and persistent hard worker and has always been remarkably successful. Mr. Wilson is a notable example of an enterprising, wide-awake, self-made man. Whatever he is and whatever he has accomplished is due to his own energy and effort. It has been chiefly through his agency that several of the companies, with which he has been connected for several years, have entered upon their present careers of in- creasing prosperity and wealth.
TSAAC WYNN, a prosperous business man of Blairsville, and one of the leading brick manufacturers of the county, is a son of Jonathan and Mary (Bitner) Wynn, and was born at Blairsville, Indiana county, Pennsyl- vania, November 2, 1837. His father, Jona- than Wynn, was born March 1, 1804, in Som- erset county, and came, when a young man, to Blairsville, where he followed brickmaking in the summer and shoemaking in the winter. He was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and a republican in politics. He was an upright and energetic man, and at the time of his death, in 1851, was in the very matured prime of manhood. He married Elizabeth Bitner, February 5, 1829, who was a daughter of John Bitner, and was born September 9, 1807, in Westmoreland county, in the beauti- ful, historic and far-famed "Ligonier Valley." She was a consistent member of the Lutheran church, and passed away February 4, 1867, when in the sixtieth year of her age.
Isaac Wynn received his education in the public schools of Blairsville. When·but a boy he commenced working in his father's brick- yard, and has continued in the brickmaking business ever since. In 1860 he bought the old homestead of his brothers and their heirs, together with the brick-yard, which furnishes
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an excellent quality of clay for red paving and building brick, and for which he finds a ready sale. In the spring of 1890 he took his only son, Henry T., in partnership with him, under the firm-name of I. Wynn & Son. They have enlarged the brick-yard to its present capacity, and are able to manufacture many thousand bricks per day. They employ fifteen men, and have a constant demand for their brick both at home and abroad.
On December 21, 1869, he married Fannie Triece, daughter of Henry Triece, and their marriage has been blest with eight children, one son and seven daughters : Heury T., Net- tie, Lillie Belle, Susan, Blanche, Ida, Mary, Hannah and Annie Laurie, who died January 2, 1887.
Isaac Wynn is a republican, but is not a bigot or extremist in political matters. He is a member of Keystone Lodge, No. 1, Chosen Friends. His brick works arc well fitted with all modern machinery and everything necessary for the manufacture of first-class brick, and Mr. Wynn, being a practical brickmaker him- self, is enabled to give his business an intelli- gent, close and thorough supervision. He has a pleasant and comfortable home at Blairsville, where he always welcomes and hospitably en- tertains his many friends.
M TAJOR WILSON KNOTT was a son of Joseph and Isabella (Wilson) Knott, and was born in Derry township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1789. Mrs. Knott was a daughter of Col. James and Isabella (Barr) Wilson, who were pioneer settlers of western Pennsylvania.
He was reared on a farm, and soon after attaining his majority became captain of a company which he commanded during the war of 1812. After nearly two years' service in that war he returned to his native county, and in 1830 came to Blairsville, where he resided
for several years. He then removed to New Jersey, but returned to Blairsville in 1849 and remained there until his death, in 1856.
In 1812 he married Rebecca Wallace, who was a daughter of Peter Wallace, of " Wallace Fort," and died in 1867, aged eighty-one years.
Major Knott served for several years as a major in the Pennsylvania Militia. Major Knott was superintendent for nine years of the Morris canal in New Jersey, where he served as postmaster of Newark city for four years. In 1849 he returned to Blairsville, of which he was appointed postmaster and served as such until his death, in 1856.
EV. J. A. STILLINGER, V.G., was born in Baltimore, Md., April 19, 1801. His father was born in York county, Pennsylvania, his grandfather in or near Philadelphia, and his great-grandfather in Cologne, Prussia. The latter came to Pennsyl- vania during the proprietary of William Penn. He assisted in forming the congregation and building the little chapel of St. Joseph's on Fourth street, Philadelphia. His mother was born in Baltimore, her father being born in France, and her mother in York county, Penn- sylvania. He resided with his grandfather and grandmother, and was about three years old when they took him to themselves. In 1816 he was employed in a German printing office iu Chambersburg, where he learned to read German by setting type. In 1817 he engaged in the printing office of Robert G. Harper, in Chambersburg, and remained three and a half years. In November, 1820, he entered the college of St. Mary's, Emmettsburg, Md., where he remained ten years. In November, 1830, lie was ordained a priest, and his first mission was to the Mountain congregation and Liberty, remaining till November following, when he was appointed to the Church of Sts. Simon and Jude, of Blairsville. He also at-
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tended to the Church of St. Vincent and all Westmoreland county for many years. In 1834, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties were added to his charge. In 1842 the bishop sent him to visit all the Catholic settlements as far north as the New York line. There were only three officiating priests in western Pennsylvania at that time.
" After a vigorous ministry of forty-three years, this devoted disciple of the church was
found dead, after celebrating the morning Mass, September 19, 1843, in the sacristy of the church. A fit monument to his many years of service is the wonderful growth of the church in western Pennsylvania, and to him, as a faith- ful missionary, much of the substantial growth of the period from 1840 to 1873, is due. His many virtues will never be forgotten by the people, not only of Blairsville, but of the county and the western portion of the State."
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SALTSBURG.
Historical and Descriptive .- Saltsburg, one of the principal towns of the Conemaugh Val- ley, is in the southwestern part of the county. It is situated on the right bank of the Cone- maugh river, near the site of an old Indian village, and derived its name from the salt works in that section of the county. It is twenty miles southwest of the county-seat, ten miles northwest of Blairsville, two hundred and six miles from Washington City, and one hun- dred and seventy-five miles from Harrisburg. It was laid out in 1817, and received corporate honors April 16, 1838. The history of its site is given by Caldwell as follows : "The first survey in the vicinity of Saltsburg bears the date of June 20, 1769, and the application was made April 3, 1769, by William Gray. The tract was called 'Gray's Mount,' and was con- veyed to J. Montgomery, May 8, 1772. The survey is numbered '363,' and the tract is de- scribed as 'situate westward of " Black Leg's Town," and on the north side of a small run, including several small springs.' An Indian trail is shown on the plat as proceeding toward Fort Pitt. The survey is signed 'Robert Mc- Crea, D. S.'
"In the same year an application was made for a survey for a large tract lying between 'Black Leg's creek' and Kiskiminetas and Conemaugh rivers (on part of which Saltsburg was afterwards located), by Hugh and Thomas Wilson, to whom, we are informed by Wood- end, the warrant and patent were afterwards granted."
In 1817 the salt industry attracted the atten- tion of Andrew Boggs (father of Judge Boggs, of Kittanning), and he purchased a large por- tion of the site of Saltsburg and laid it out in lots, which were readily bought. The first house was built in 1819, on the lot now occu- pied by the Presbyterian church. The first tavern was opened in 1820 by John Williams, by some authorities, while others credited Jas. Fitzgeralds as being the first hotel-keeper. In 1827 John Carson opened a tailor shop, and two years later George Johnston established a store. Dr. Kirk patrick was the first physician to practice in the town, but Dr. Benjamin Ster- rett was the first resident physician. For the succeeding fifty years after his location we find account of the following physicians at Saltsburg: John McFarland, 1833; Thomas Murray, 1837; D. R. Allison, 1844; Dr. Kier; Robert McConnoughey, 1850; H. G. Lomison and Dr. William McBryar, 1852; Jas. Morgan, 1853; H. S. Snowdon, 1854; Dr. Cunningham; S. T. Reddick, 1860; W. F. Barclay, 1866; J. L. Crawford, 1868; Thomas Carson, 1874; M. R. George and Dr. Bain, 1875, and W. S. Taylor, 1876. The leading resident physicians of Saltsburg are: Dr. W. B. Ansley, who came in 1877, and Dr. Thomas Carson, who located in 1874. In 1829 the Pennsylvania canal was completed to Saltsburg, and on May 15th of that year the "Pioneer" and "Pennsylvania" canal-boats of David Leech's line arrived at the town. During the existence of the canal the town grew rapidly in population and was an
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
important point on the canal as well as being the centre of the salt trade of the county, which, in 1842, amounted to seventy thousand bushels of that article. The abandonment of the canal and the decline of salt manufacturing retarded the growth of Saltsburg until 1887, when the opening of coal mines and the establishment of other industries gave a new lease of life to the town.
Saltsburg is west of the third or Indiana an- ticlinal axis and lies in the Fourth Great Coal basin west of the Alleghenies. On the Cone- maugh river this basin is more than fifteen miles wide. "Prolonged northeast it narrows somewhat by the approach of its sides, but fifty miles to the north its dimensions are very near the same as they are on the Conemaugh.
"For convenience of discussion I have di- vided the basin into two parts, calling all that east of the sub-anticlinals and between them and the Indiana Axis, the Marion sub-basin, from the town of Marion, situated in the northern part of the trough; and have denominated as the Saltsburg sub-basin the portion lying be- tween the anticlinals and the Armstrong county line.
"The Saltsburg anticlinal comes up through Westmoreland county, to cross the Conemaugh river between White's station and Kelly's, nearly three miles above Saltsburg. Northeast of this it bends slightly and runs under a high barren Measure plateau.
"It is seen, and for the last time, on Crooked creek, which it crosses near Chambersville, about three miles northeast of McKee's mill.
"At Saltsburg, as at Blairsville, the Pitts- burgh coal bed crosses the Conemaugh Valley from Westmoreland into Indiana county, to run upward along the gently sloping floor of the Saltsburg sub-basin as far as West Lebanon. Below Saltsburg on the Conemaugh more than one hundred feet of Upper Productive rocks are presented in the hills; and in this condition the basin continues without much change north-
eastward from the river for about ten miles, when the entire Upper Productive group is thrust into the air under the influence of the rising synclinal.
"The manufacture of salt at Saltsburg dates from a period early in the present century, but the salt industry has never been very extensive- ly carried on in the valley of the Conemaugh, and what little salt is at present produced is consumed principally in the country round about. The only works now in operation (1878) in this immediate region are those of Messrs. Waddle and Wining, close to Kelly's station, the salt water there used coming, as before stated, from the sandstone of Formation X, the top stratum of which here underlies the river bed by about six hundred feet in depth ; no detailed record of the rocks pierced in drill- ing the holes was kept. In every case the bor- ing was begun a few feet below the Upper Freeport coal. The supply of the salt water is unfailing, and sufficient for all the demands made upon it. As it comes from the rock it is not specially strong, and the reduction process consequently occupies considerable time. In the end, however, a good clean white salt is pro- duced."
By one account the Saltsburg Presbyterian congregation was organized in Conemaugh town- ship in 1796, and by another statement it did not come into existence as a church at Saltsburg until 1824. One historical writer gives the fol- lowing of the churches of the place up to 1876 : "Thomas Davis organized the church. Rev. Jos. Harper was the first pastor. The church was not finished until the spring of 1831. On the first day of April, same year, it was con- sumed by fire. The present brick structure, on the same site, was built soon after. In com- mon with the growth of the town other societies were formed, and churches were built succes- sively,-Methodist Episcopal church, built of frame, in 1841; first pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Phillips. Associate, now U. P., built of brick,
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in 1843; church organized by Rev. Hanse Lee; first instituted pastor, Rev. Oliver P. Katz, in December, 1861. Catholic church, built of brick, on margin of borough in Cone- maugh township, in 1843; first officiating priest, Rev. Stillinger. Universalist church, built of frame, in 1870; first advocate of doc- trine in church, Rev. Andrew Getty. U. P. church, rebuilt of frame, in 1870. Baptist church, built of brick, in 1843; first settled pastor, Rev. Thomas Wedell."
The first bridge was the toll bridge erected in 1842. The county bridge over the Loyalhanna was built in 1847 and the Western Pennsylva- nia railroad bridge was erected in 1885.
The old burial-ground, on the river, laid out in 1810, was succeeded by the Presbyterian grave-yard of 1817. Edgewood cemetery con- sists of ten acres of ground beautifully laid out in streets, avenues and lots. The ground was purchased in 1868, for fifteen hundred dollars. In it stands " The Soldiers' Monument." The base of the monument is five feet high, upon which rests the die and cornice six feet high, and on the cornice rests the obelisk, which is twenty- five feet high. The names of the soldiers from the immediate vicinity who gave their lives in the service of their country are enclosed in a box in the base of the monument.
The Saltsburg academy was established in 1851 as the sixth academy between the Alle- . gheny river and the Allegheny mountains. Daniel Walter started a carriage shop which was purchased in 1848 by Hail Clark and others. In 1857, Mr. Clark became sole pro- prietor and now has one of the largest and best equipped carriage factories in the State.
The burgesses of Saltsburg from 1838 to 1878 have been: Dr. Thomas Murray, 1838; Alexander White, 1840; Dr. John McFarland, 1841; Thompson McCrea, 1843; James R. Daugherty, 1845; David Henderson, 1846; James R. Daugherty, 1848; Alexander Flem- ing, 1849; James M. Hart, 1851; William
McIntire, 1853; William R. Sprague, 1854; J. S. Robinson, 1855; James M. Hart, 1856; James Moore, 1858; R. A. Young, 1859, James R. Daugherty, 1861; W. I. Sterrett, 1862; John Earhart, 1863; Alex. Fleming, 1864; Hail Clark, 1865; Alex. Fleming, 1866; James Moore, 1867; S. H., Martin, 1869; Hail Clark and W. I. Sterrett, 1870; James B. Robinson, 1872; R. A. Young, 1873; George W. Freet, 1874; R. J. Portser, 1875; James Hart, 1876.
Saltsburg's most important source of income at present is the Fairbanks and Foster coal mines. They are located about a mile and a half from the town and not far from the line of the West Penn railroad. The two compan- ies employ about three hundred and twenty-five miners. Many of the miners own their own homes, and there are no company stores or any system of orders in vogue. The men are for the most part Americans and, although not paid as high wages for mining as those at some other points, they manage to live comfortably and subsist without strikes. They come to Saltsburg for their supplies, and their trade keeps business lively. The capacity of the Fairbanks mines is at present about thirty-five cars daily, but this is likely soon to be in- creased. The Foster mines will also increase their present capacity of twenty-five cars. Both plants are finely equipped, having their own line of cars for shipping. Their markets extend to Canada. The mines are equipped with the latest improved apparatus, such as electric drills and steam subways. The coal is conveyed from the mines to the tipples, a dis- tance of from one to two miles, by means of dinky engines, owned by the company. As a result of these almost constant improvements the coal companies have not been paying very heavy dividends. But the stock-holders can see in these added facilities increased assets and a better foundation for future prosperity. In connection with the Fairbanks mines are a
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number of coke ovens, operated by the Salts- burg Coke company. Their product is large but never in excess of orders.
The Saltsburg Glass company was organized about a year ago, taking the then-idle plant down along the river and completely overhaul- ing it. New buildings were put up, a ten-pot furnace substituted for the small one previously used, and elevator, box factory and other auxil- iaries and conveniences provided. The output of the works is about one hundred gross of bot- tles per day. The prescription trade is the principal line, but a number of specialties, such as catsup and sauce bottles for Allegheny firms, are turned out in large quantities. Any one having the pleasure of going through the works will be very much surprised at their extent and completeness. The furnace room, the centre of interest, is sixty feet square. The mold room adjoining is twenty by thirty feet and is well stocked. The packing room is eighty feet long by forty feet wide, having re- cently been doubled in size, and is a model of convenience. The factory employs eighty men and boys. Of these twenty-one are expert glass- blowers. The other employes are generally from Saltsburg, and many are boys.
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