USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 46
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 46
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formerly a teacher, but uow with the Standard Oil company ; H. K., in the U. S. railway mail service betweeu Pittsburgh and New York; Jennie, wife of S. W. Hamilton, of Apollo ; Hon. Samuel B., and Nannie, a teacher in the Parker City schools.
Samuel B. Cochrane was reared on a farm. He received his education in the common schools, Dayton academy, Edinboro' Normal school, and Central college, Indiana, Pa., from which latter educational institution he was grad- uated in the scientific department in 1883. From 1877 to 1883 he taught in the common schools to obtain the meaus to educate himself. After graduating he became principal of the Cumberland schools of Indianapolis, Indiana, and in the year 1885 was elected principal of the Freeport public schools of this county, which position lie held for three years. In 1888 he helped found the teachers' Review, and Training school of Kittanning, which opened its career of usefulness in 1889 with an attend- auce of two hundred and fifty students.
He was elected as a member of the Pennsyl- vania legislature and served in that body on the important and hard-working committees on edu- cation, railroads and manufactures. His course as a legislator was so satisfactory to his party that he was re-nominated as the republican candidate in 1890. He resides with his mother, who lives one mile from Kittanning. Hon. Samuel B. Cochrane is a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M., the I. O. H. and Master of Lodge No. 239, F. and A. M. He is an earnest republican and au active school man. He has made his own way in the world and has achieved honorable success and his present high standing by his own efforts.
G NYEORGE T. CRAWFORD, a prominent and influential business man of Kittau- ning, and one of the successful oil producers of western Pennsylvania, is a desceudent of the
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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
old and well-known Crawford family, which was one of the substantial and conspicuous Seotch- Irish families of Westmoreland county. He was born in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, Pa., July 28, 1822, and is a son of Major George Thompson and Elizabeth (Parks) Crawford. The Crawfords are descended from George Crawford (grandfather), who came to Allegheny county, Pa., and purchased a fine body of farming land, which was heavily un- derlaid with eoal, along the Monongahela river, below Mckeesport. He afterwards removed to Westmoreland county, where he bought the Pine Grove lands in Allegheny township, and erected a grist and saw-mill. He was a demo- erat, served as justice of the peace, and married Jane Beatty, by whom he had two sons and five daughters. John, the eldest son, inherited the Allegheny county estate, and Major George T. became heir to the Westmoreland county lands and mills. Major George T. Crawford was born January 17, 1799, and died September 13, 1839, when in the very prime of life, with every indication of a long career of usefulness and honor before lıim. In addition to his farm and mills he operated a carding-machine and condueted a store. He was a Jacksonian demo- crat, served as justice of the peace and held a commission as major in a militia regiment. He was elected as a delegate from Westmoreland county to the constitutional convention whichi gave Pennsylvania the Constitution of 1838. In religious belief Major Crawford was a pres- byterian, and a member and trustee of old Warren church of that denomination. He was a tall and shapely man of commanding appear- ance. His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Parks, by whom he had six children : George T., Robert P., near Parnassus, Pa .; Samuel, of Kittanning; Sarah J. (deceased), wife of Hon. John V. Painter; John T. and James B. (dead). Mrs. Crawford died in 1833, and he afterwards married Louisa Cochran, daughter of Samuel Cochran, of Allegheny
Co., by whom he had one ehild, which died in infancy. Major Crawford was of Seotch-Irish deseent, and possessed all the praiseworthy characteristics of that iron and self-willed raee.
George D. Crawford was educated in the old subseription seliools, Dr. Kilpatrick's seleet school, and Jefferson college, at Cannonsburg, Washington Co., Pa. Leaving college, lic taught school for one year and then engaged in farming, which he followed for several years. He then, while retaining the general manage- ment of his farns and milling interests, em- barked in the mercantile business in Clarion county, Pa. Removing from Clarion county in 1852, he became a partner with A. & H. J. Arnold in merchandising at Kittanning. He successfully pursued these different lines of business until 1865, when the ever-flowing fountains of petroleum in Venango and Butler counties, of this State, began to attraet the at- tention of capital and enterprise. He visited the last-named county, which is the greatest eoal-oil region of the world, and being favor- ably impressed with its then newly-developed petroleum territory, he made investments and became one of its suceessful oil producers. He is superintendent of the Branch Creek Oil com- pany, has an interest in the Bear Creek Refin- ing company, and owns considerable stock in other fields. In 1852 he removed to Kittan- ning, where he has resided ever since, and taken a deep interest in its welfare and prosperity. He is secretary and treasurer of the Kittanning Gas company, and treasurer and superintendent of the Kittanning Cemetery association. His time is prineipally devoted to the management and supervision of his various and extensive business enterprises, from his farming interests in Westmoreland to his oil investments in But- ler county, this State.
On October 5, 1859, he married Mary Eliza Portsmouth, daughter of Jolin and Eliza Ports- moutlı, who are now residents of Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have three children, two
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
sons and one daughter : James B., who is with the Oil Well Supply company of Pittsburgh, Pa .; John Portsmouth, who is engaged in farming in North Dakota; and Elizabeth Agnes.
In politics Mr. Crawford is a republican, and very seldom fails to vote for all the nominees of his party. He is a member of the Masonic Frater- nity, and is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason. He is a member and trustee of the First Presbyterian church of Kittanning, and served as a member of the building committee which erected the present splendid church edi- fice, which is fully in accord with "the æsthetic taste of this age of progress and improvement." It is said to be one of the finest church struc- tures in Pennsylvania, and reflects great credit on the fine taste and good judgment of its building committee. For over thirty-eight years Mr. Crawford has been a resident and respected citizen of Kittanning, with whose business interests he has been identified for many years.
YEORGE B. DAUGHERTY. One of the G most important branches of industry at the present day is that of the manufacture of fire- brick, and a deservedly popular as well as a leading plant in that line of business is the Av- enue brick-works of Kittanning. Its energetic proprietor, George B. Daugherty, is a man of excellent business qualifications. He is a son of James and Mary (Ehenger) Daugherty and and was born at Kittanning, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1835. His pater- nal grandfather, Patrick Daugherty, came during the last years of the eighteenth century from Ire- land to the site of Kittanning. He was a farmer and a catholic and traded considerably with the Indians. During the war of 1812 he en- listed in the American army, was stationed at Black Rock, N. Y., and with four other soldiers crossed the lake, where he was shot and
killed by the Indians. His remains were brought home aud interred at Kittanning. He was the first soldier ever buried there with the honors of war. His nicely-made and finely- engraved steel-box, in which he carried flint and punk for kindling fires, is now in the posses- sion of the subject of this sketch. He had four daughters, whose combined ages were nearly four hundred years. James Daugherty (father) was born on the site of Kittanning about 1800 and died March, 1855. He was a brick-layer by oc- cupation, but was largely engaged in brick-mak- ing and manufactured most of the brick used for building purposes at Kittanning for many years. He married Mary Ehenger, a native of Lancaster county, and reared a family of several sons and daughters. Mrs. Daugherty was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and died in 1880, at the advanced age of ninety-two years.
George B. Daugherty was reared at Kittan- ning where he received his education in the public schools. Leaving school he assisted his father in the brick business until the death of the latter in 1855. In 1860 Mr. Daugherty established his present Avenue brick-works and has been successfully engaged in the manufac- ture of brick ever since.
In 1858 he married Agnes Hilberry, a native of Indiana county. They have eight children, four sons and four daughters : Wil- iam B., Alexander R., George H., John, Dora B., Lettie, Emma and Dellie.
In politics Mr. Daugherty is a republican and besides serving several terms as a member of the town council has been overseer of the poor at Kittanning for the last thirty years. He is a member of Lodge No. 244, Free aud Accepted Masons. He was instrumental in building the first county home for the poor in Armstrong county and in various ways has con- tributed to the improvement of Kittanning. The Avenue brick-works cover quite an area and are equipped with first-class machinery. Mr. Daugherty employs a constant force of
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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
twenty men and manufactures red-pressed and fire-briek, lime, cement, tile and chimney tops. He is always crowded with orders as his briek are a superior artiele and have in the market a high reputation for durability and excellence of manufacture. In addition to brick manufac- turing he has been largely engaged in contract- ing and building. He built the brick work of the Armstrong and Clarion county jails, the Indiana county court-house and has built most of the large brick buildings of Kittaning which have been erected during the last twenty- five years. Besides his property at Kittanning, lie owns a farm of one hundred and twenty-nine aeres of well iniproved land in Valley town- ship. He has always made the most of his op- portunities, has achieved snecess in his different enterprises and has been closely and promi- nently identified for over a quarter of a century with the business interests of Kittanning.
GEORGE W. DOVERSPIKE, a respected 5 and substantial citizen, a careful and re- liable business man and the capable and effi- eient cashier of the Farmers' National bank of Kittanning, is a son of Daniel and Margaret (Beck) Doverspike, and was born on his father's farm, on Mahoning ereek, in Mahoning town- ship, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1844. His paternal grandfather, John Doverspike, was a native of Germany, where he was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church, of which he was a strict member. In early life he came to this county, where he purchased a tract of land near Putneyville and followed farming. His wife was Catherine Knight, of Clarion county, Pa., who bore him four sons and one daughter. He assisted each of his sons to seeure a good farm. The eldest son was Daniel Doverspike (father), who was born within one mile of Putneyville, January 9, 1818, and is one of the prosperous farmers of
that section. He is a member and officer of the Lutheran church and a democrat, but takes no aetive part in politics. He married Margaret Beck, daughter of Daniel Beek, of this county. They have had five sons and four daughters, of whom eight are living.
George W. Doverspike was reared near Put- neyville. He received his education in the common schools and Glade Run academy. Leaving school, he was engaged in farming for several years, during which time he taught four terms in the common schools.
In 1868 he came to Kittanning and was em- ployed by James E. Brown, and for several months was engaged in superintending wharf- ing, assisting in surveying of lands, and then served eighteen montlis as a elerk in the store known as the old iron store on Water street, run then in connection with the Kittanning Woolen- mills, and sleeping, while thus engaged, at night in " The First National bank building." From night watchman he was successively pro- moted to clerk, book-keeper and assistant cashier in that bank. Upon the organization of the Farmers' Bank, in 1884, he was elected as its cashier and has served ereditably in that im- portant position ever since. He has well im- proved his excellent opportunities for studying the seienee of banking and is considered as a safe and conservative financier.
On June 4, 1873, he married Margaret B. Hastings. They have one child, a daughter, named Anna B. Doverspike. Mrs. Margaret Doverspike is a daughter of William W. Hast- ings, who was born near Bellefonte, Pa., in 1804, removed to Kittanning in 1824, and died Sept. 12, 1874. He was a tailor by trade, but was principally engaged during his life-time in the dry goods business. He was a republican and a presbyterian and served for two terms as county commissioner, ineluding the time of the building of the present court-house. His wife was Margaret, daughter of David R. Johnston, an early settler at Kittanning and bore him
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
eight children, of whom three are living: Susanna, Margaret and William B.
In politics George W. Doverspike is a repub- lican. He is a member and elder of the First Presbyterian church of Kittanning, of whose Sunday-school he is the efficient superintendent. He was a member of the committee which selected the present site of the church and, on account of his special fitness for the position, was placed on the finance committee, which secured the necessary means for the erection of the beautiful church structure in which the congregation now worships.
WILLIAM W. FISCUS, the present popu- lar sheriff of Armstrong county, a wounded veteran soldier of the Army of the Potomac, and a well-qualified man for the duties of public life, is a son of Abraham and Eliza- beth (Martin) Fiscus, and was born on the Fiscus homestead, two miles north of Kittan- ning, in Valley township, Armstrong county> Pennsylvania, May 30, 1844. The Fiscus family is of French origin and traces its ances- try back to France, from which country the paternal great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch emigrated to the United States during the latter half of the eighteenth century. The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Abraham Fiscus, followed farming in West- moreland and Armstrong counties of this State. He owned a large farm in what is now known as Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland county. He afterwards removed to Armstrong county, was a stirring and active farmer and married Miss Aukaman, by whom he had several children. His son, Abraham Fiscus, was born in Burrill township, this county, in 1791 and died August, 1858, when in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He was a farmer by occupation, took great pride in keeping his farm neat and clean and was a popular man in the community in which he resided. He was a member of the Lutheran
church, a republican in politics and served as one of the first officers of Valley township when it was organized in 1855. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812 and was on the northwestern frontier under the command of Gen. William Henry Harrison. His first wife was a Miss Ourie, of Armstrong county, who bore him seven children, of whom six are living. After her death he married Elizabeth Martin, who was a daughter of John Martin, a well-to-do farmer of what was then Allegheny township, this county, and died in 1859, aged about sixty-eight years. By his second marriage he had eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the fifth in order of age.
William W. Fiscus was reared in his native township and received his education in the com- mon schools and a select school near Leechburg, which he attended for one year. In 1862, at the age of eighteen years, he enlisted in Co. C, 139th regiment, Pennsylvania Vols., was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg and after being in the hospital for some time was discharged. In the early part of the autumn of 1864 he enlisted in Co. H, 204th regiment of Pa. Vols., and served until the close of the war, when he was mustered out of the United States service on June 18, 1865. He participated in all the skirmishes and engagements in which his regiment was engaged and always discharged in a satisfactory manner all duty which fell to a soldier's lot in a camp, during the march or on a battle-field. After the war he was engaged for about nine years in mining and then entered the rolling-mill at Leechburg, where he was a heater for eight years. In 1884 he was a republican candidate for treasurer of Armstrong county and was elected by a handsome majority. He filled that office with satisfaction during his term. In 1888 he was nominated for sheriff, ran away ahead of his ticket and was elected by a majority of nine hundred and forty-five to suc- ceed a democratic incumbent of that office. As sheriff he has conscientiously endeavored to serve
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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
the best interest of the county and its citizens, and according to public opinion has made a very good record. All public moneys ever entrusted in his hands have always been faithfully and accurately accounted for by him. A man of good judgment and recognized business ability, he is active and clear-headed in whatever he undertakes, and has made a conscientious and successful public official. He is a member of Apollo Lodge, No. 437, A. Y. M., of Mineral Point Lodge, No. 615, I. O. O. F., J. A. Hunter Post, No. 126, G. A. R., Encampment No. 62, U. V. L., and a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church. He is a strong republican and an active worker for his party. He has the inter- ests of labor at heart, and always worked for the true rights of the laboring class, was for many years a member of the Amalgamated Iron and Steel association, and was elected a delegate to national conventions of that body held in Cleveland, 1881, Chicago, 1882, and Philadel- phia, 1883.
On the 26th day of December, 1865, he united in marriage with Mary E. Ross, a daughter of Joseph E. and Elizabeth (Beck) Ross, of Arm- strong county. To Mr. and Mrs. Fiscus have been born ten children, of whom eight are living: Barbara B., a graduate of Indiana Normal school, an artist of considerable ability and now a student of medicine; Mary E., a student in the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Mass .; William W., Jr., assisting his father ; Calvin C., Carl P., Ross E. and Moss P. (twins) and Narka E.
William W. Fiscus has been the architect of his own fortune, and by honorable means has acquired a competency of this world's goods and a prominent place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens.
GEORGE M. FOX, proprietor of the oldest 5 undertaking and embalming establish- ment at Kittanning, is one of the undertakers,
who nobly went to the aid of the Johnstown sufferers in 1889, and without pay helped pre- pare the dead for burial. He is a son of George and Alice (Hildebrand) Fox, and was born at Leechburg, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1836. Of the different Fox families scattered throughout western Pennsylvania, and that were resident west of the Allegheny moun- tains prior to the present century, was the one from which George M. Fox is descended. His grandfather, John Fox, was a native of Ger- many, and came to this county, where he fol- lowed blacksmithing until his death in 1820. George Fox (father) was born in Armstrong county in 1800 and died at Clinton in 1869. He was a boatman on the Pennsylvania canal from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and when the oil excitement came he engaged in boating oil down the Allegheny river. After some years he left the oil region and then spent a portion of his time in fishing in the Allegheny and Kiski- minetas rivers. He was an old-line whig until the organization of the Know-Nothing party when he became a democrat. He was an attendant of the Presbyterian church, and mar- ried Alice Hildebrand, who was born at the arsenal in Pittsburgh, in 1808, and died in War- ren county, June 14, 1888. They had thirteen children : George M., William, May Iona, George W., John, Annie, Harriet, Angeline, Maggie, Susan, David, Alice and one whichi died yonng. Mrs. Fox's father, Comey Hilde- brand, was a native of England, came early in life to Pittsburgh, where he was in the garri- son for a while and then settled at Freeport, at which place he died in 1845. He spent much of his time on the Allegheny river, learned several of the Indian languages and served as an interpreter for some of the Indian tribes. He was a great favorite with the Indians and could have been a very large land-holder.
George M. Fox was reared on a farm and received his education in the early common schools of Pennsylvania. Leaving school, he
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
learned plastering, to which he served an apprenticeship of two years. He then went to Memphis, Tenn., where he was engaged in the ice business for two years, but the commencement of the late war caused him to return to Penn- sylvania, where he followed boating oil on the Allegheny river until 1866. Two years later he came to Kittanning, where, in 1870, he embarked in the undertaking business which he pursued successfully until the present time. In addition to his large and well-stocked under- taking establishment, he has attached an embalming department. He does all kinds of embalming and has a patronage that extends over a wide area of surrounding country.
George M. Fox, on May 5, 1864, married Kate H. Lloyd, daughter of Ebenezer Lloyd, who had been his predecessor in the undertaking business at Kittanning.
George M. Fox is a member of Ariel Lodge, No. 688,I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 493, E. A. U., and the Methodist Episcopal church of Kittan- ming. He is a republican in politics and has served as a member of the town council. Mr. Fox owns houses in this borough, besides some other property. When the news of the Johns- town flood came to Kittanning, he and his nephew, Lloyd Green, repaired to the scene of the great disaster and gave together five weeks of their time, gratuitous, in preparing the dead bodies for burial.
H. LEE GOERMAN. The press has been rightly called a prophet of free and beau- tiful thought, and it has been appropriately said of it that it turns its volumes and papers into influences of diffused and illimitable power. Of the live and progressive democratic papers of Western Pennsylvania is The Kittanning Globe, edited by H. Lee Goerman, who is a son of Leonard and Leah (King) Goerman. He was born in what is now Gilpin township, Arm- strong county, Pa., February 15, 1864. His
grandfathers, Leonard Goerman, Sr., and Simon King, were soldiers in one of the continental European wars, and both fought under the im- perial eagles of Napoleon Bonaparte, the " man of destiny," the latter (King) being a survivor of the historical freeze-out at Moscow. Leonard Goerman, Sr., came to Pennsylvania, where he first settled at Delmont, in Westmoreland county, but subsequently removed to Allegheny township and purchased a farm on which he spent his remaining years of life. Hisson, Leon- ard Goerman (father), was born in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1826, and at five years of age was brought by his parents to the United States. His first employment was farming, which he always followed excepting four years that were spent in the general mercantile business at Kelley station. He is a successful farmer, an earnest democrat and a member of the Lutheran church, in which he has served in all of its various local offices. He is an ardent supporter of popular education, has been school director for several terms and always labored zealously for the advancement of his township's public schools. He is an active member of the grange, in whose councils his opinion is often sought. He married Leah King, who was born in Butler county, and is a daughter of Simion King, a native of Germany, and one of Napoleon's vet- erans, who came to Western Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Georman are the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom six are living : John N., en- gaged in the mercantile business at Kelley sta- tion ; Simon L. (see sketch), H. Lee, Sadie E., Willianı G., engaged in farming, and Melissa.
H. Lce Goerman received his education in the common and select schools of the commun- ity in which he was reared. He early displayed a taste for the "art preservative of all arts," and at fifteen years of age purchased a hand- press and opened a small job office. He next started the Centre valley Enterprise, but soon merged that sheet into the Leechburg News and shortly formed a partnership with J. M.
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Schwalm for the publication of the Leechburg Albatross (now Advance). He sold out his interest in the Albatross, in October, 1886, and in April, 1888, leased The Kittanning Globe, which he and his brother purchased in Novem- ber following, and have successfully edited and published ever since. The Globe was founded by R. A. Mccullough in 1884.
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