USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 30
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 30
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His biographical motto and caution is,-
" Praise me not too much,
Nor blame me, for thou speakest to the Greeks, Who know me."
227
INDIANA COUNTY.
J TAMES C. MOORE, the present popular burgess of Saltsburg, deservedly ranks as one of the most energetic and thorough-going business men of the county. He is a son of William and Jane (Robinson) Moore, and was born at Saltsburg, Indiana county, Pennsylva- nia, December 19, 1848. The Moore family is of Scotcli-Irish descent. William Moore was born in 1810, in Butler county, and after arriv- ing at manhood came to Saltsburg, where he engaged in tlie tinning business, which he has followed ever since. He has widened his field of business from time to time, and is now the principal partner in one of the largest and most successful business houses of Saltsburg. He is a member and elder of the Presbyterian church, a prohibitionist in politics and a deserving and prosperous business man who enjoys the good- will and respect of all who know him. Hc married Jane Robinson, of Indiana county, who was a presbyterian in faith and died in 1884, aged seventy-two years. To their union were born one son and three daughters: Jas. C., Sarah E., Kate J. and R. Mary Moore.
James C. Moore was reared at Saltsburg, where he received his education in the public schools and academy of that place. Leaving school in 1871, he went to Baltimore, where he became a time clerk in the office of the North- ern Central R. R., and served as such until 1875, when he was compelled to resign on account of impaired health. Returning home, he was shortly afterward admitted into partner- ship with his father in the stove and tin busi- ness, to which they soon added a large stock of hardware. The firm-name was William Moore & Son and continued as such until January, 1886, when they admitted Ira C. Ewing into partnership with then and have done business since then under the firm-nanie of William Moore, Son & Co. They are wholesale and re- tail dealers in their various lines of business. Their extensive establishment extends from No. 44} to No. 46 on Salt Street. They carry a
large and complete stock of hardware, paints, oils and glass and have a full and varied assort- ment of tin, copper and sheet-iron ware. Another department is devoted to every style and variety of stoves, grates and house furnish- ing goods which are first-class in every respect. They make a specialty of tin, irou, slate and felt roofing and have a remunerative trade that extends beyond Saltsburg and the limits of the county.
In 1875, Mr. Moore married Maggie G. Logan, who was a daughter of Margaret I. Logan, of Parker City, Pa., and who died in 1886, leaving three children: Alice, Logan and Mary. On May 2d, 1888, Mr. Moore united in marriage with Jennie E. Ewing, daughter of Matthew Ewing, of Jacksonville. To this second union has been born one child, a daugh- ter: Helen.
James C. Moore is a member and treasurer of the Saltsburg Presbyterian church, of whose Sunday-school he is superintendent. He is re- corder of Loyal Lodge, No. 165, K. of -H., treasurer of Diamond Council, No. 248, Jr. O. U. A. M., and secretary of Kiskiminetas Castle, No. 28, K. of G. E. He is a member of the board of trustees of Saltsburg cemetery and of the board of managers of the Memorial institute. He is a pronounced republican in politics, yet stands so high as a business man and is so popular that his borough, which is strongly democratic, has twice elected him as burgess, which office he now holds. He has also served as school director and filled various other borough offices. Mr. Moore has been emphatically the architect of his fortune and in his lines of business stands second to none in the county. Courtcous, kind and accommodat- ing, yet le is firm in his convictions of right and cannot be swerved from what is just and honest. Genial and popular, he enjoys an honor accorded to but few men in being clected to a responsible position by the votes of his fellow- citizens of a political faith adverse to his own.
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228
BIOGRAPHIES OF
M ARTIN V. PATTERSON, junior mem- ber of the Saltsburg Flouring-mill com- pany and a man of wide and successful exper- ience in the oil fields and lumbering business of western Pennsylvania, was born in Franklin township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, December 12, 1839, and is a son of Martin and Anna (Kidd) Patterson. Martin Patterson was a native of county Down, Ireland, and settled in Westmoreland county, where he died in 1865, aged sixty-nine years. He was engaged extensively in farming, was a member of the Presbyterian church, and in political matters, after he came to the United States, was identi- fied with the Democratic party until his death. Ere he sailed for America he married Anna Kidd, of his native county, who was a presby- terian in religious faith and who died in 1874, aged seventy-seven years. They were a highly respected couple in the community in whichi they resided and by all who knew them. They reared a family of five sons and five daughters.
Martin V. Patterson was reared on the farm and attended the public schools of his native township. In 1861 he commenced life for himself as an oil-well driller, but soon became a contractor, and as such was actively engaged, until 1870, in the different oil fields of western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia. In the last named year he embarked in western Pennsylvania in the lumber busi- ness, which he continued in up to 1881, when he came to Saltsburg, where he engaged in the flouring-mill business, which he has followed with good success until the present time. In 1885 he formed a business partnership with John Hershey, and they purchased the Saltsburg Flouring-mill which they have operated suc- cessfully until the present time. They have a large trade and manufacture high and fancy grades of roller flour which they export to some extent beyond supplying the home demand for the same. Mr. Patterson is a member of Saltsburg Presbyterian church, Williamson
Lodge, No. 431, Free & Accepted Masons; Local Branch, No. 141, Order of the Iron Hall; Kiskiminetas Castle, No. 223, Knights of the Golden Eagle; Saltsburg Commandery, No. 22, K. G. E .; Saltsburg Council, No. 381, Royal Arcanum ; Loyal Lodge, No. 165, Knights of Honor; and Diamond Council, No. 248, Jr. Order of United American Mechanics. In politics he is a democrat, has served one term as burgess and was a member of the school board for six years, besides serving, for some time, in the town council. Martin V. Patterson is a man of good judgment and busi- ness ability, as is attested by the marked success that has attended his different enterprises. He is thorough-going in business, but pleasant and agreeable in manner, and is one of Saltsburg's substantial and progressive citizens.
June 15, 1876, he united in marriage witlı Annie L. Watt, daughter of Hon. Isaac Watt, of Homer City, who served one term as asso- ciate judge of the courts of Indiana county. To Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have been born two children: Harry C. and Grace R.
ROBERT A. PAUL, the present postmaster of Saltsburg, has been successfully and honor- ably engaged, for nearly forty years, in different business enterprises. He was born in what is now Bell township, Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, June 6, 1829, and is a son of John and Sarah (Thompson) Paul. The Paul family is of Scotch-Irish extraction, and its American progenitor came in an early day to eastern Pennsylvania. Robert A. Paul's paternal grandfather was Squire Samuel Paul, who came from east of the Alleglienies to what is now Bell township, Westmoreland county, where he served for many years as a justice of the peace and where he died in 1840, at sixty- five years of age. John Paul (father) was born in 1802, and is quite an active man for his advanced age of eighty-eight years. He has
229
INDIANA COUNTY.
always followed farming in his native township, is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he has always taken an active part, and in political affairs yields his support to the Re- publican party. He married Sarah Thompson, a daughter of Samuel Thompson, a farmer of Washington township, who died in 1836, aged about sixty-five years. Mrs. Paul was an esti- mable woman, a zealous presbyterian and passed away Jannary 27, 1890, when in the eighty- sixth year of her age. Mr. and Mrs. Paul celebrated their golden wedding in 1874 and continued the celebration of their marriage an- niversary for fifteen succeeding years.
Robert A. Paul was reared on the farm. After attending the schools of his neighborhood he learned the trade of mill-wright, which he followed for thirteen years. He was then en- gaged in the general mercantile business at var- ious places until 1869, when he came to Salts- burg, where he accepted the superintendency of the Kier Bros.' Fire-brick works, which posi- tion he held for ten years. He then resigned (1879) to engage in his present fire insurance and agricultural implement business. He is an active republican in politics, was appointed by President Harrison, on April 3d, 1889, as post- master of Saltsburg, and has discharged the duties of his office in a very creditable manner ever since.
October 1, 1850, Mr. Paul married Mary A. Cochran, danghter of Hon. Michael Cochran, who was a prominent man in his day, and who served, with great credit, as associate judge of Armstrong county for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Paul have one child living: John L., who is engaged in the fire insurance business with his father.
In 1863 Mr. Paul enlisted in company I, 54th regiment Pennsylvania Militia, whichi helped largely to capture Gen. John Morgan in Ohio. After an active service of ninety days Mr. Paul was honorably discharged and re- turned home. Robert A. Paul is a member and
trustee of the Presbyterian church. His busi- ness interests are chiefly at Saltsburg, where he has always been active and successful in the different commercial enterprises in which he has been engaged. He is a man of his word and has wrought out for himself a position in life which commands respect.
W. C. RALSTON, D.D.S., of Saltsburg, In- · diana county, Pa., was born May 30, 1848, in Derry township (near Blairsville), Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania ; is a son of John Ralston. His grandfather, William Ralston, came with his parents from Ireland when five years of age and settled in Salem township, Westmoreland county, was reared in the bounds of Congruity, became a member of that church in his yontlı, and in manhood served as ruling elder. He died in 1852, aged sixty-seven years. His son, John Ralston (father of Dr. W. C. Ralston), was born in 1809, in Salem township, Westmoreland county, Pa., where he spent the greater part of his life. In 1838 he married Elizabeth Mason, daughter of Tlios. Mason (ex-county surveyor of Westmoreland county). He purchased the old homestead (his father's farm), where he remained for thirty-two years, and in the spring of 1884 removed to Saltsburg, where he died November 9th of the same year. He was a successful farmer and a man who took a great interest in the cause of education and temperance, and was rewarded by seeing all his children prepared to fill places of uscfulness in life. He was a Presbyterian in religious faith and a republican in politics. His wife, Elizabethi Ralston, was born July 2d, 1815, and died July 10th, 1887; their remains lie side by side in Edgewood cemetery, Salts- burg, Pa.
W. C. Ralston was reared on his father's farm near Congruity and received his education in the public schools and Elder's Ridge and Logan academies, and also is a graduate of
230
BIOGRAPHIES OF
Duff's college, Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1879 he entered the dental office of Dr. Wangaman, Greensburg, Pa., and pursued the study of dentistry for two years; he afterwards attended the Baltimore dental college, from which he graduated March 4th, 1882, as one of a class of sixty-seven members. He then located at Saltsburg, where he has remained ever since in the successful practice of his profession.
On September 11th, 1884, he united in mar- riage with Annie M. Deery, only child of Archie Deery, of Saltsburg, Pa., who was a man of irreproachable character and high stand- ing in Saltsburg, where he had been president of the First National bank for many years and until his death, September 16th, 1890. On December 21st, three months later, his wife joined him in the eternal world. To Dr. and Mrs. Ralston have been born two children: Sarah E. and Anna M.
Dr. Ralston is a republican and is a member of the Saltsburg Presbyterian church. He owns some desirable real estate, and, besides being an excellent workman in his profession, is a man of business ability who stands well with the public.
ROBERT STEWART, a retired business man of Philadelphia, now resident of Saltsburg, and a very highly respected citizen of Indiana county, is a son of William and Catherine (Potter) Stewart, and was born in Paisley, Scotland, September 1, 1833. Wil- liam Stewart was a native of county Tyrone, Ireland. In 1830 he moved to Scotland, where he remained until 1841, when lie came to the United States, and located in Philadelphia. In 1857 lie engaged in the carpet manufacturing business for himself, at which he continued very successfully until within a few years of his death, when he retired from the business cares and toils of life on account of ill health. He died in 1877, aged seventy-nine years. He
was very successful in business and carried on an extensive establishment. He and all of his family were members of the Covenanter church. He was a whig and afterwards a republican in politics. In 1827 he married Catharine Potter, a native of county Tyrone, Ireland, and by whom he had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Mrs. Stewart died in 1881, in the eighty-second year of her age.
Robert Stewart came to the United States with his father in 1841. He was reared in Philadelphia and received his education in the public schools of that city. In 1857 he and his brother Arthur formed a partnership with their father in the carpet manufacturing busi- ness under the firm-name of William Stewart & Sons, and their house soon attained a posi- tion of influence in business which it success- fully held for over a quarter of a century, and until the dissolution of the partnership between the brothers, in 1885, when Mr. Stewart with- drew from the firm. This firm, during its con- tinuance, manufactured a splendid assortment of carpets of every kind and grade from the finest ingrain venetian carpets, rugs and cur- tains, down to the plain and useful varieties. In April, 1889, Mr. Stewart came to Saltsburg, where he owns some valuable property. He also owns a farm of three hundred and sixteen acres of land in Loyalhanna township, West- moreland county, which he bought in 1880, and where he expects to make his permanent home some time in the future. This farm is under- laid with valuable minerals and ranks as one of the finest farms of that township. In 1866 Mr. Stewart married Mary, daughter of John Stewart, of Philadelphia, and their union has been blest with three children, one son and two danghters : Elizabeth, William and Catherine.
Robert Stewart is a republican politically, and was a school director at one time in Phila- delphia. He was very successful as a business man of Philadelphia, and is recognized as one of Saltsburg's most enterprising citizens.
231
INDIANA COUNTY.
TAMES P. WATSON, a leading director of the Saltsburg Glass company, is one of the foremost business men and most enterprising citizens of Indiana county. He is a son of Thomas and Rebecca P. (Wilson) Watson, and was born in Young township, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1857. His pa- ternal grandfather, Matthew Watson, was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, in 1763, and set- tled, in 1793, in the northern part of Westmore- land county. In 1800 he removed to Cone- maugh township, this county, where he lived to be nearly ninety-three years of age. He was a man of unsullied character, and " Watson's Ridge " was named in honor of him. His first wife died soon after his arrival in this country, and he afterwards married Margaret McClel- land, of Scotch-Irish descent, and a daughter of James McClelland, who came, in 1783, from Scotland to Conemnaugh township. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were the parents of twelve chil- dren : John, Thomas, Matthew, Jr., Mary, William, Alexander, Robert, James, Jane, Isa- bella, Ann and Margaret. (For a fuller sketch of Matthew Watson, see sketch of M. C. Wat- son, of Indiana.) The second sou, Thomas Watson (father), was born in 1800, on the site of Harrison City, Westmoreland county. He was a carpenter and boat-builder by trade, worked on the old Pennsylvania canal for many years, and owned a fine farm of three hundred and twenty-five acres of land in Young township. In 1872 he came to Salts- burg, where he died in June, 1887, when in the eighty-eighth ycar of his age., He was a republican and a strict presbyterian, and mar- ried Rebecca P. Wilson, of Allegheny county, who was born in 1815, and is a member of the United Presbyterian church of Saltsburg, where she now resides with the subject of this sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were the parents of five sons and three daughters.
James P. Watson was rcared in Young town- ship, and received his education in the common
schools and Elder's Ridge academy. Leaving school, he followed farming until 1888, when he came to Saltsburg, where, in November, 1889, he became a member of the present Salts- burg Glass company. This company purchased the plant of the old Saltsburg Glass company, and with the characteristic energy for which they are noted, immediately remodeled, enlarged and improved the works. They now manufac- ture fine prescription ware and bottles of all kinds. They give constant employment to seventy-five men and boys, and have added largely to the business prosperity of Saltsburg. When the project of starting the old glass-works was discussed, Mr. Watson was the first to enter heartily into the matter, and was largely instru- mental in forming the present company and pushing forward the enterprise until it was an assured success.
In politics Mr. Watson is a republican. In religious faith he is a United Presbyterian and a member of that church at Saltsburg. He owns a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Young township, besides his business investments in Saltsburg. In financial as well as business matters he has been prominent for some years, and is now serving as a director of the First National Bank of Saltsburg. James P. Watson has contributed as largely as any other citizen of his native borough to its pres- ent prosperity. He is a respected citizen, a popular business man, who has been faithful to every trust reposed in him, and ranks high wherever he is known as a man of well-known integrity.
R OBERT H. WILSON, of Saltsburg, is oue of the most scientific, practical and suc- cessful civil engineers of this State, and during his professional carcer had charge of some very importaut engineering operations connected withi municipal and industrial development of the connty. He was born in South Bend township,
232
BIOGRAPHIES OF INDIANA COUNTY.
Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, July 9, 1851, and is a son of James D. and Nancy (Wray) Wilson. His paternal great-grandparents, Wil- son, born respectively in Franklin and Adams counties, were among the earlier settlers of Washington and Allegheny counties, as were also his father's maternal grandparents, Hender- son, who were natives of Lancaster and Chester counties. His paternal grandfather, Hugh M. Wilson, married Mary Henderson, a grand- daughter of the Rev. Matthew Henderson, one of the pioneers of Washington county, Penn- sylvania, and a participant in the original move- ment which culminated in the establishment of Jefferson college.
One of the sons of Hugh M. Wilson was James D. Wilson, the father of the subject of this sketch. James D. Wilson was born in Allegheny county, November 5, 1818. On March 24, 1847, he married Nancy Wray, who is a daughter of Robert and Abigail Wray, and was born in Armstrong county, August 11, 1825. In April, 1847, Mr. Wilson moved to his present farm of one hundred and eighty acres near Olivet village, in South Bend town- ship, Armstrong county, which was purchased by his father in 1838 and then contained only one hundred and twenty acres. Mr. Wilson has given his time chiefly to farming except four years during which he was engaged in milling. He has served as a director of Apollo Savings bank for many years and is the last remaining one of the original members of Olivet U. P. church, of which his wife and children became members. Mr. and Mrs. Wil- son have been the parents of six children : Robert H., Mary L., born June 5, 1854 ; Abi- gail, born Sept. 18, 1856; Hattie, born April 27, 1864 ; and Hugh and Sarah, born respectively in 1849 and 1860, both of whom died in in- fancy. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, now well advanced in years, are in the enjoyment of the fruits of their many years of honorable and useful labor.
Robert H. Wilson was reared on the home
farm. He received his education in the com- mon schools, Elder's Ridge academy and the Western University of Pittsburgh, in which he studied civil engineering. Leaving the univer- sity, he entered upon the active practice of his profession, and met with such a mea- sure of success that eventually his services were sought for by parties throughout the entire western part of the State. In 1889 his business had increased so in volume that he was compelled to seek assistance in order to take care of it, and accordingly associated in partner- ship with himself, Albert Smith, of this county, under the firm-name of Wilson & Smith. They have offices at Saltsburg and Washington, Pa. In 1888 Mr. Wilson came to Saltsburg, where he has resided ever since.
On December 5, 1878, he married Ellen Blakely, daughter of James Blakely. To their union have been born five children : Florence, Karl, Zora, Irene and Robert.
Robert H. Wilson is a republican in politics and served as county surveyor of Armstrong county from 1879 to 1882. He is a member of the U. P. church and has served for many years as a trustee of Elder's Ridge academy. Hc has made a specialty of town and city work for some years, and his firm now has charge of large sewerage and water systems and is actively engaged in conducting the surveys of several important coal fields and the construction of some extensive colliery plants. At this time they have charge of the sewerage and paving at Washington and Monongahela City, Pa., besides having just completed a series of surveys em- bracing over six thousand acres of coal land and making extensive surveys of various gas fields. He is engineer in charge of the surveys and developments of the Maher Coal & Coke company of Blairsville, Pennsylvania. Mr. Wilson has kept abreast of the times in his chosen profession and enjoys the respect of his professional brethren and the confidence of a large and increasing clientelage.
HOMER CITY.
Historical and Descriptive .- Homer City is six miles south of the county-seat and is the largest town on the Indiana Branch railroad between Indiana and Blairsville Intersection. It is situated on Yellow creek, a short distance from the confluence of that stream with Two Lick creek. It was laid out in 1854, incorpo- rated as a borough in 1872 and is the great centre of the lumber trade of the county. It is situated not very far from the geographical centre of Centre township, and in population is the fourth of the towns of Indiana county. Homer City is in the Blairsville or Third Great Coal basin. The Upper Freeport coal bed of the Lower Productive coal measures is well ex- posed along Yellow creek and in the valley of that stream near Homer City are the nearest coal mines to Indiana. Limestone is abundant, and "as here developed, the Mahoning sandstone furnishes excellent building material, not only for heavy foundations, but equally well for pur- poses of decoration. This is fully shown by the handsome court-house building at Indiana, in the erection of which all the sandstone em- ployed was taken from the Mahoning deposit above Homer City. The rock is easily tooled, stands weathering well, and can be cheaply raised in the Tearing Run region, being present in prodigious quantities above water level."
Homer City is situated on land which is a part of two tracts; one patented in the name of John Allison, and the other to John and Wil- liam Cummins. About 1800 Allison had a mill on Yellow creek just below the present
dam (1880) in that stream. He afterwards built a second mill, to which a saw-mill and carding-machine was attached. Some years after the mill was established the site of the town was a contestant for the county-seat, and in all probability would have been successful if it had not been for the liberal offers of Mr. Clymer in favor of Indiana. In 1832 John Mullin opened a store on the east side of what is now Main street. Hugh Devers soon opened a second store and several houses were erected. The town was laid out in 1854, by William Wilson, who named it in honor of the poet Homer. The next year the Indiana Branch railroad was completed to the town and it began to improve rapidly. Stores, mills, shops and tanneries were established, and in 1872 it had attained to a size sufficient to become a borough under the name of Homer City. On February 11, 1876, the post-office was changed from Phillips' Mills to Homer City, and a dec- ade later many of its present industries were started.
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