Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania, Part 35

Author: Wiley, Samuel T. ed. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Philadelphia [J.M. Gresham & co.]
Number of Pages: 652

USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 35
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 35

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being from the counties Armagh and An- trim, who arrived in America on the 21st of July, 1792. They located in western Peun- sylvania, eight families arriving on the present site of Armagh in the early portion of August of that year. These eiglit families were from an Associate Reformed church, in the county Armagh, and were composed of James Graham, Margaret J., his wife, and four children by a former husband; a Mr. Parker, David Tomb (a brother of Mrs. Graham), wife, one child and a sister, Mary Tomb; James Anderson and wife; A. Fec, wife and one child, Elizabeth ; Alexander Carnahan, wife and four children; James Leslie and wife; James Luke and wife; and Hugh Junkins and wife. The site of Armagh was partially covered with a thin and scrubby growth of oaks, and was like in ap- pearance to an old field on a hill. Armagh, Armaghada, in the Irish dialect, means a field on a hill, hence its name."

BIOGRAPHICAL.

TTON. JEREMIAH MURRY BURRELL, in honor of whom a township in each of the counties of Indiana, Armstrong and West- moreland was named, was the third president judge of the courts of Indiana county.

" Jeremiah M. Burrell was born at Murrys- ville, Westmoreland county, Pa., September 1, 1815. He was the son of Dr. Benjamin Bur- rell, who came from an eastern county and settled at Murrysville in the practice of his profession, and in 1814 married Saralı Murry, daughter of Jeremiah Murry, Esq., a merchant and large landholder. Jeremiah was the only child of this marriage, and after receiving such elementary education as the village school af- forded, entered a classical school taught by a Rev. Mr. Gill, about three miles from his native village, and in which he studied Latin and the

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mathematics, and prepared for entering college. After a full course of collegiate training at Jef- ferson College, Cannonsburg, Washington county, Pa., he graduated with honor. His father having died, and young Burrell having decided to enter into the legal profession, his mother removed to Greensburg, where he en- tered the office of Richard Coulter, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and after the due course of reading was admitted to the bar, and rapidly made progress into a good practice, which became a large one. He pos- sessed splendid powers of oratory, which im- pressed his audiences in the very beginning of his career. While studying law he had stumped the county as a democratic politician, com- ' manding great admiration, and making count- less profitable acquaintanceships, which served him when he entered upon professional practice. He conducted the practice of the law with assiduity, faithfulness, and constantly increasing success for some years.

" Some time about 1839 he bought the Penn- sylvania Argus, and became its editor. In the hot political campaign of 1840 he established his name as a writer of high ability, and made a State reputation for the paper. Some of his articles on political topics were copied in other papers all over the Union. Horace Greeley in the Log Cabin, on the side of the opposition, took issue with some of the articles, and gave them still wider circulation by replying to them in the fulminating style which later made him one of the most celebrated political jour- nalists of the age. In the campaign of 1844 he was one of the most efficient speakers and writers in the State in behalf of Colonel Polk, his political friends pitting him against such men as Thomas Williams, who was afterwards selected by Congress to deliver the eulogium upon Abraham Lincoln. He was subsequently elected to the State Assembly. Here he soon distinguished himself, and there was a heated rivalry between him and Thomas Burnside, Jr.,

a son of Judge Burnside of the Supreme Court, and a son-in-law of Simon Cameron, then a democrat, for the position of leader of the Democratic party in the House. In this com- - petition Burrell was victorious, and it is admit- ted by both friends and political opponents that he was the ablest partisan and the most eminent. orator in the Pennsylvania Legislature.

"In 1847 he was appointed judge of the Tenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and in February, 1852, took his seat as judge of the same court under election (as elsewhere stated in detail), and held the post till 1855, when he was appointed by President Pierce judge of the Territorial District of Kansas. Leaving his family in Greensburg, he went to Kansas and entered upon his professional duties in a time of great excitement over the slavery question. Judge Burrell entertained what was known as Douglass' 'Squatter Sovereignty ' policy in re- gard to that territory, and which involved the proposition of the right of citizens of any State to take with them into the territories south of the Missouri Compromise line, without interfer- ance or opposition by others, whatever was regarded as property in their own State. If this policy was a mistaken one, it must bc remembered that it was entertained by many able statesmen of the times, which were those of great political distress in the land, when no man was found wise and prophetic enough to foresee what one of the several conflicting propo- sitions or policies of that day would prove the best or most expedient for the country, or be, all things considered, actually the most just. Judge Burrell's instincts and education in- clined him to refined consideration for the rights of all men, and nothing but a supreme reverence for the Constitution of his country could have allured him to lose sight for the moment of the great question of positive and equal justice to and among all races of men.

" Suffering from malarial fever in Kansas, Judge Burrell returned to Greensburg in 1856,

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and after a sickness of some months' duration, died at his home, surrounded by his family, on the 21st day of October of that year.

" He married Miss Ann Elizabeth Richard- son, daughter of William H. and Henrietta D. (Hubley) Richardson, of Greensburg. Of this union were six children,-Sarah M., William Richardson, deceased ; Henrietta H., Benjamin, Mary R. and Jeremiah M."

"NEN. CHARLES CAMPBELL, of Black

Lick township, was of Scotch-Irish parentage, and a native of the Conecocheague Valley. He migrated to what was afterward known as Campbell's mills, in this township, about 1772.

The data at our command are so meagre that adequate justice cannot be done to his memory. A scant record exists of his captivity among the Indians and British. The positions of trust and responsibility which he held in the county and on the frontier indicate in some de- gree the estimation in which he was held by the citizens and State authorities. He died in 1828, at the age of eighty-two. For many years he was an elder in Bethel Presbyterian church.

His connection with the militia of the county and district was both honorable and effective. He died as he lived, respected by all who knew him. His first wife was Margaret Clark, and his second was Mrs. Elizabeth Ram- sey. The children were: Barbara, Michael, Rebecca, Sarah, Mary, Jane, James, Margaret, Fennwell, Eliza, Charles and Thomas.

" Mrs. Mary (Cummins) Campbell has several tea-spoons over one hundred years old, that were used by Gen. Campbell. Matilda, daugh- ter of the late Charles Campbell, has Gen. Camp- bell's gold watch; this is an unique specimen old mechanism. It is marked ' M. and A. No. 5106.'"

RICHARD W. H. DAVIS, a pioneer in the

field of brick-making machinery, is des- tined soon to be widely known as an inventor through his valuable machine for pressing brick, which is being rapidly and successfully intro- duced throughout the country. He was born at Brady's Bend, Armstrong county, Pennsyl- vania, April 28, 1851, and is a son of Richard and Alice (Williams) Davis. His parents were natives of Wales and came to Brady's Bend in 1840. Richard Davis was a cabinet-maker by trade, but after arriving at Brady's Bend was employed, for eight years, as a furnace manager by the Brady's Bend Iron company. In 1849 he went to the then new discovered gold fields of California, where not meeting with the degree of success which he anticipated, he embarked for Australia. Landing in that great island-continent, he was variously em- ployed until 1854, when he was drowned in crossing a river and his body was never rc- covered. His widow survived him until 1876, when slie passed away.

Richard W. H. Davis received his education in the common schools of Brady's Bend town- ship and a college of Alliance, Ohio. Leaving college, he was engaged as a clerk in a mercan- tile house at Alliance, in which he remained for twelve years. In January, 1887, he came to Indiana county, where he was employed as general manager of the Black Lick Manufactur- ing company, which position he has held ever since. In February, 1890, he was elected justice of the peace and has already in the rightful en- forcement of the laws become a terror to evil- doers.

At Alliance, Ohio, in 1874, he united in marriage with Louisa Shaffer. They have two children living: Howard and Stella.

In politics, Mr. Davis is a republican. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is a cousin of Capt. Jones, the great inventor, of Braddock, Pa., who was realizing $75,000 pcr year out of his inventions at the time of his

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death. Mr. Davis has given some time and at- tention to the consideration of useful inven- tions, and has succeeded in perfecting a machine for pressing brick which is a great labor-saving invention. On November, 1889, a patent (No. 328,899) was issued to him for this machine, which, on account of its excellent work and its great saving of time and labor, is destined to soon become an indispensable adjunct to cvery first-class brick-making establishment in the United States. This machine has been severely and successfully tested and has re- ecived merited commendation after cachi and every trial. The man who has felled a forest or has tilled a field has not lived in vain, yet often a comparatively simple invention repre- sents all the possible labor of many life-times. The machine invented by Mr. Davis for press- ing brick will perform the labor of many men, fills a long-felt want in an important industry and will soon come into universal use through- out the United States.

JOHN E. KELLY, one of the useful citizens and a prosperous merchant of the progres- sive town of Black Liek, is a son of John and Anna (Evans) Kelly, and was born in Brush Valley township, Indiana county, Pennsyl- vania, April 11, 1841. His paternal grand- father, James Kelly, was a native of Ireland and settled in Centre township at an early day in the history of Indiana county. His maternal grandfather, Hugh Evans, was born in Wales, and, after attaining his majority, came to Penn- sylvania, where he settled in Indiana county. John Kelly (father) was born and reared in Centre township, in which he resided until his death, in 1847. He was a steady and indus- trious farmer, as was his father before him, and married Anna Evans, who was a native of the eounty.

John E. Kelly was reared on a farm and re- ceived three months' schooling. He has made

up largely for liis laek of educational privi- leges by reading and self-study. He learned the trade of shocmaker at Mechanicsburg, where he established a shop at the expiration of his ap- prenticeship, and was engaged in the shoemak- ing business until 1873. In that year he eame to Black Lick, where he operated a shoe-shop until 1886. In 1880 he embarked in the gen- eral mercantile business, which he has suceess- fully pursued ever since. He has continually increased his mercantile investment until lie now carries a well-selected stock of goods which is worth over three thousand dollars. His trade has rapidly increased since 1880, and he now does a business of twelve thousand dollars per year. He is a democrat in politics and served, for several years, as constable of Me- chanicsburg. He was commissioned as post- master at Black Lick by President Cleveland, and held that position for some time. He is a member of the Baptist church, has always been interested in religious affairs and contributes to the support of his own and other churches. In addition to his store, he owns a valuable house and lot. By untiring industry, fair dealing and good management he has been able to seeure a competency.

In 1860 Mr. Kelly married Britania Hile- man, of Mechanicsburg. To their union have been born four children, three sons and one daughter : Thomas B., Alonzo B. (born June 1, 1869, and now engaged in the mercantile busi- ness with his father), John E., Jr., and Franees.

EDWARD J. MILDREN. The fact that most of the great resources of Indiana eounty are being developed with home eapital, and by citizens of the county, is a matter of gratifieation to Indianians. One of the leading and most important industries of Indiana county and Pennsylvania to-day is the manu- facture of fire-brick, and a representative man- ufaeturer in that line of business is Edward J.

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Mildren, the proprietor of the Black Lick Man- ufacturing company. He was born in Sheffield, Cornwall county, England, in March, 1837, and is a son of Jacob and Jane (Jennings) Mil- dren. Jacob Mildren was born March 2, 1808, in Cornwall county, England, where, on No- vember 29, 1834, he married Jane Jennings, daughter of Edward Jennings, and in 1848 came to Armstrong county and purchased his present farm near Brady's Bend. He has always followed farming and met with good success in that line of business. He is now in the eiglity-second year of his age, while his wife has seen her seventy-ninth birthday, and both are in good health. He is a son of Richard Mil- dren (born September 9, 1750), who married Mary Lory, and whose father (Richard) was a son of Richard Mildren, Sr., whose father (James) was a son of Richard Mildren, who was a very wealthy and influential man in Cornwall county about 1650.

Edward J. Mildren was reared on a farm and received his education in the public schools of England and the common schools of Penn- sylvania. At twenty two years of age he was manager for one year of an iron and blast fur- nace owned by the Tennessee Iron and Coal company. He then returned to Pennsylvania and went to Cambria county, where he took a contract for hauling ore out of one of the large coal mines of that county. He worked from forty to one hundred mules, and held this con- tract for fourteen years, when he resigned it, in 1873, to succeed the firin of Kinter, Hadlaije & Guthrie, in the proprietorship of the Black Lick Manufacturing company. The works ara one and one-fourth miles east of Black Lick station, with which they are connected by a tram railway. They were erected in 1869 for the purpose of manufacturing fire-brick and tile. After Mr. Mildren came in possession he en- larged the yard to twice its original size and increased the capacity of the works. In 1874 he added another clay-mill and a twenty-five

horse-power engine. The next year he erected two crown kilns, and since then has been con- tinually enlarging and improving his works. A large machine-shop and a thoroughly-equip- ped foundry have been attached to the works, which are used exclusively for the manufacture of fire-brick. Mr. Mildren employs from one hundred to one hundred and seventy-five hands, and does over $100,000 worth of business per year. These works are fully equipped with all the latest machinery and apparatus necessary for the prosecution of the business, which is conducted in all of its branches by experienced and skilled workmen. The fire-brick of the Black Lick Manufacturing company are of the finest quality. They are used for building purposes and in blast furnaces, glass-liouses, coke-ovens and iron aud steel-works all over this county, and are shipped to Mexico, where they are in great demand for their durability and excellence. The capacity of the works at the present time is forty thousand bricks per week. Mr. Mildren brings to his aid, in con- ducting this enterprise, years of business ex- perience, as well as an intimate knowledge of the wants of his numerous patrons. He is favorably located to secure low freights and to make prompt shipments to every part of the country. The reasonable inducements which he offers to the public have secured him the present extensive patronage which he eu- joys in his line of business. In 1873 he opened his present mercantile establishment, in which he always carries a stock of from five to eight thousand dollars' worth of goods.

In 1859 he married Mary Davis, daughter of Richard Davis, formerly of Brady's Bend, Armstrong county. They have one adopted daughter, Edna, who is the wife of L. H. Shannon. Mrs. Mildren is a member of the Presbyterian church, while Mr. Mildren was reared in the episcopalian faith.

Edward J. Mildren is a republican in poli- tics. In Masonry he has passed through lodge

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and chapter, and is a Knight Templar. He possesses a high sense of honor and a marked individual independence, and has always been true to himself and his engagements. He is distinguished for promptness and fearlessness in the discharge of every duty devolviug upou him.

R OBERT ROBINSON, SR., of Cone- maugh township, was born in county Antrim (Mahara), Irelaud, in the year 1739. In. November, 1769, he married Rachel Wier, who was born in the same county in 1738. They, with his father and mother, two brothers, two sisters and brothers-in-law, emigrated to America, landed at Philadelphia in July, 1770, and in a short time moved to Marietta, later going up to Harrisburg with all his family. He was one of the masons who built the John Harris 'House,' (now Cameron House) Har- risburg. In a short time he, with the balance of his family, moved up to Franklin county, to Conococheague (Conikagig) creek, where he helped to build a mill (now a tub factory). Some time from 1777 to 1778 he, with his family, moved west of the mountains, to 'Big Sewickley,' Westmoreland county.

"Soon after 1780 they, with their three sons and two daughters, moved from Sewickley to the north side of the Kiskiminetas river, in Armstrong township, Westmoreland county, near the mouth of Lick Run, on lands called 'York,' in the midst of numerous Indiaus. While living in that insecure cabin the writer's father got his first schooling, at night. Mr. John McDowell was the teacher. In a short time they made their way north one mile (no roads), put up a building twenty-four by twen- ty-eight feet, two stories high, and used it as a stockade. No windows or doors were there for a time. The second log from the puncheon floor had four feet of it cut out for an entrance. The building is still standing, having been built nearly one hundred years. It is situated on

part of the 'York' lands. The aged parents lived there till 1820, when they went to their son John's on a visit, half a mile north, on the 'Iconium ' lands. On Friday, October 31, 1823, she died, in her eighty-fifth year. She was buried in the Robinson river-hill grave- yard. On Thursday, June 23, 1836, he died of palsy, in his ninety-seventh year, and was buried in the same river-hill."

R ROBERT ROGERS, one of the early pioneers of East Wheatfield town- ship, came from county Donegal, Ireland, to the Conococheague Valley, Pennsylvania, and there met George Findley, who had had for a few years an improvement in the Conemaugh Valley, the same as now occupied by George F. Mathews. Together they went to this portion of what is now Indiana county. The date is unknown, but the warrant of the original tract of fifty-seven and one-fourth acres is dated September 29, 1772, and was surveyed October 28, 1774, and was described as situated 'on the north side of Conemaugh, on the path leading to Black Lick, two miles from Robert Gibbs', in Westmoreland county.' Mrs. Martha Rogers, widow of Isaac Rogers, a grandson of Robert, the pioneer, is residing on the original homestead. Robert Rogers' wife was Sarah Kyle, and their only child was Isaac, who died in 1822. Mrs. Martha Rogers has Robert Rogers' old Bible; it was printed at Berwick, England, in 1711. The tract of land upon which Rogers' mill is situated was warranted March 11, 1786, and the survey was made September 7, 1786, the number of acres being three hundred and thirty-eight and three- fourths."

A LFRED K. STONEBACK. Indiana county's future success is largely based on her rich farming lands, her wealth of tim-

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ber and her immense deposits of coal, iron ore and limestone. Among those who are earnestly engaged in developing her material resources is Alfred K. Stoneback, justice of the peace and a leading real estate agent of Black Lick. He was born at Zieglersville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1863, and is a son of John and Ottillia (Beerer) Stoneback. John Stoneback was born in Montgomery coun- ty in 1834, is a son of David Stoneback, who was a member of the State legislature, from Montgomery county, in 1859-61, and came to Black Lick in 1871. He has always been ac- tively engaged in business pursuits, and at the present time owns several hundred acres of valuable timber and farming land in this and adjoining counties. He married Ottillia Beerer, daughter of Joseph Beerer, of Montgomery county, a native of France. They are the parents of five children, one son and four daughters.

Alfred K. Stoneback was reared in Mont- gomery county and at Black Lick. He at- tended the common schools of Montgomery and Indiana counties, and entered Blairsville acad- emy, where he remained for four years. Lcav- ing school, he engaged in his present business of farming and lumbering. He is a democrat, has always taken an active part in politics, and during 1888 served as mercantile appraiser. In 1887 he was elected as justice of the peace of Burrell township for a term of five years, and so far, in the discharge of the duties of liis office, has given general satisfaction. In addi- tion to five hundred acres of land which he and his father own in Indiana county, he owns over four hundred acres of choice mineral land in Cambria county. He has bought and sold a great deal of real estate, making a specialty of mineral and timber lands. He has won his way to an honorable place in the ranks of the progressive and successful business men of this part of the State, and is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, justice of the peace in Indi- ana county.

POUND FAMILY.

The Pound family is one of the oldest and best families in western Pennsylvania, and is descended from Thomas Pound, of Saxon or Scandinavian parentage, from north Holland or Denmark, who came in 1635, at the age of twenty-one years, from Amsterdam, Holland, to London, England, and from thence to Plym- outh Colony. He and his wife, one of the children who came in the Mayflower in 1620, had among their descendants Adonijah Pound, of Tarrytown, Westchester county, New York, who evidently lost his life in the Revo- lutionary war. Adonijah Pound was married to Hannah Collier, evidently sister of Sarah (Collier) Harper and Thomas Collier, and a direct descendant of William Collier, a London merchant, who came to Plymouth Colony in 1633, and was assistant governor for thirty years. Adonijah and Hannah (Collier) Pound were the parents of Joseph Pound, a soldier of distinction in the Revolutionary war. Joseph Pound was born in 1750 and died April 4, 1813. He married Sarah Tichinger, who was born in 1757 and died April 8, 1813. She was a sister of Dr. Thomas Tichinger and Rachel (Tichinger) Collier, wife of Thomas Collier. Joseph and Sarah (Tichinger) Pound were the parents of six children : Stephen, born in 1777, married to Catherine Stiffitch ; Sarah, Hanna, Eunice, wife of Jolın Eggen, Hardin county, Ky. ; Elsic, wife of Thomas McIntyre, Armstrong county, Pa., and Joseph. At the close of the Revolutionary war they came from Basking ridge, Morris county, New Jersey, to Derry township, Westmoreland county, Pa., near Salem Presbyterian church, of which they became members, and where their youngest son was born. They finally located on "Tunnell Hill."

Joseph Pound was born December 21, 1795, and died October 2, 1881. He was a man of strong character, highly respected and without

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a known enemy. In early life he boated salt from the Conemaugh river to Cincinnati, but his distinctive occupation was farming. He was an ardent democrat of the Jacksonian school. Joseph Pound was a member of Salem Presby- terian church for nearly seventy years, and per- sistently declined to ever hold any office in the church. He was married to Mary Drummond, who was born in 1807 and died February 26, 1845. They were the parents of nine children : Joseph, born May 12, 1830; Mary, born Sep- tember 9, 1831, died July 16, 1832; Sarah, born May 11, 1833; John D., born December 13, 1834 ; Ellen, born September 18, 1836, and is the wife of John Drummond; Hannah, born March 10, 1838 ; Mary, born December 21, 1839, died January 15, 1889; Stephen C., born July 25, 1841, and William, born April 6, 1843, died October 19, 1876. Joseph is a suc- cessful farmer of Centre township, Indiana county, Pa .; he was married first to Jane Rob- bins, daughter of Daniel and Nancy (Reynolds) Robbins; second to Julia Wilson, daughter of Daniel and Letitia (Henderson) Wilson, and third to Ellen Coad, daughter of Henry and Diana (Blackler) Coad. Sarah married Alex- ander McCurdy, son of Alexander H. and Mary (Doty) McCurdy, and among their children are Rev. Irwin Pound McCurdy, pastor of South- western Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, and Joseph A. McCurdy, a successful lawyer of Greensburg. John D. and Hannah still reside on the old homestead on " Tunnell Hill." John D. is a successful business man and farmer, and was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, in Captain Weaver's company (A), 54th regiment, Pa. Vols. Stephen Collier was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and served successfully in Capt. H. L. Donnelly's company (G), 135th be found.

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania, Part 35

Author: Wiley, Samuel T. ed. cn Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Philadelphia [J.M. Gresham & co.] Number of Pages: 652

Author: Wiley, Samuel T. ed. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Philadelphia [J.M. Gresham & co.]
Number of Pages: 652