Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania, Part 47

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 47
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 47

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H. Lee Goerman, on April 3, 1889, united in marriage with Amanda Schwalm, a daughter of John Schwalm, Sr., of Leechburg. Their union has been blessed with one child, a daugh- ter, named Vera A.

In politics he is an aggressive democrat, fully believing in the principles of his party, and considering no half-way course in their presen- tation. He is a member and deacon of St. John's Lutheran church.

The Globe is a quarto sheet, 30 by 44 inches. It bears the headline of being the leading dem- ocratic paper in Armstrong county, while its edi- torials are strong enough to please the most rad- ical democrat. With six columns to the page, it gives interesting general news, selected miscel- lany and crisp items of local interest, gleaned by its special reporters and numerous corre- spondents. Mr. Goerman has aimed to make the Globe a faithful exponent of democratic principles as well as a newsy local paper, and has succeeded admirably in his attempt.

S. L. GOERMAN. The press to-day has a wonderful influence over the people, whose character it moulds to a large extent and whose policy it controls to a great degree. The news- papers of Kittanning are among the important educational influences of Armstrong county and prominent among them is the Globe. S. L. Goerman, one of the proprietors and the active business manager of this paper, is the second son of Leonard and Leah (King) Ghoer- man, and was born on the old Goerman Home-

stead in Allegheny (now Gilpin) township, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, January 23, 1862. The Goerman family made its appear- ance in this country about the close of the Napoleonic wars in Europe, when Leonard Goerman, Sr. (grandfather), came to Westmore- land county, Pa. He afterwards became a res- ident of Allegheny township, where he reared a family of children, one of whom was Leonard Goerman (father). He was an influential citi- zen, a consistent member of the Lutheran church and a successful farmer. (For a more detailed family history see sketch of H. Lee Goerman.)

On the farm where he was reared, S. L. Goerman was trained to agricultural pursuits, and during that period of time received his education in the common schools of the neigh- borhood. At twenty-two years of age (1884) he became a clerk for his father and elder brother in their store at Kelley's station, where, on New Year's Day, 1885, he was commissioned postmaster, a position which he still holds, not- withstanding his pronounced democracy. One year later he was appointed ticket aud freight agent by the A. V. R. R., but only served until the fall of 1887, when he resigned in order to remove to Butler, Pa., where he purchased a lot and erected a house which he occupied for one year. He then bought a half-interest in the Globe, of which he became and has remained business manager up to the present time. He is a member of White Rock Lodge, No. 979, I. O. O. F., and St. John's Evangelical church, of which his wife is also a member.

April 19, 1885, he united in marriage with Anne Haney, a daughter of Jacob Haney, of Pittsburgh, Pa. They have two children: Amy and May. Mrs. Goerman is a graduate of the Pittsburgh Central High school and taught for two years in the public schools of her native city. She is an accomplished alto singer and is a member of the choir of St. John's church. At fourteen years of age she sang in

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the Bingham street M. E. church of Pitts- burgh, where she led the alto part of the music.

In politics S. L. Goerman is an unswerving democrat. He ranks high as one of the young progressive business men of Kittanning. Since becoming business manager of the Globe he has given his time and energy to the improvement and upbuilding of his paper, whose wide circu- lation to-day is the record of its influence and the result of his successful efforts.

H. J. HAYS. One who stands well with his own political party and so high with the citizens of this county as to be thrice-honored with a nomination for and an election as register aud recorder of Armstrong county, is H. J. Hays, a prominent and leading citizen of Kit- tanning. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, May 5, 1846, and is a son of J. P. and Caroline (Weigand) Hays. J. P. Hays was born April 9, 1825, in the kingdom of Bavaria, which is now a part of the German empire, and in 1832 accompanied his father, Adam Hays (grandfather), to Pennsylvania where the latter located near Allentown and engaged for some time in the lumber business, after which he removed to Punxsutawney and then to Pittsburgh. J. P. Hays (father) was a man of far more than ordinary business ability and was soon engaged in several lines of trade in Pittsburgh, among which were merchandis- ing, lumbering and the tobacconist business. He was a republican from principle, who took a prominent part in political matters, yet never sought any office within the gift of his fellow- citizens. He was a plain and unassuming man who gave his time chiefly to his different busi- ness interests. He was a member of the I. O. O. F., Improved Order of Red Men, Knights of Pythias and the Lutheran church. He moved to Kittanning in 1852, and in 1870 was elected coroner for a term of three years. He died August 10, 1887, aged sixty-two years.

He married Catharine Weigand, who is a daugh- ter of Henry Weigand, of Pittsburgh, and re- sides now at Kittanning. To their union were born six children : H. J., P. W., a physician of Humboldt, Nebraska; Caroline, Anna, who died at nine years of age ; W. B., a jeweler and watch-maker, and F. E., a clerk for his brother in the recorder's office.

H. J. Hays was rcared principally at Kit- tanning and received his education in the schools of that place. In 1866 he registered as a law student with Jackson Boggs, and after having completed the required course of read- ing he was admitted in 1869 to the bar of Armstrong county. From 1869 to 1872 he was a clerk in Alderman Strain's office of Pittsburgh. He then returned to Kittanning, where he was elected a justice of the peace, an office which he held continuously by election and appointment for over ten years. In 1881 Mr. Hays was elected recorder of records of Armstrong county. His legal knowledge and nearly fifteen years of practical experience as an alderman's clerk and as a justice of the peace, peculiarly fitted him for the office of register and recorder. He transacted the business of his office in such an acceptable manner as to be re-elected in 1884, and losing none of his popu- larity during his second term he was nominated in 1887 and elected for a third term, which will expire during the present year (1890). He was elected chairman of the republican county com- mittee. He is a member of Kittanning Lodge, No. 344, I. O. O. F., Kittanning Lodge, No. 168, I. O. H., and Washington Grange, of tlie Patrons of Husbandry, Order of Solon, Kit- tanning, and Jr. O. U. A. M.

May 2, 1883, le united in marriage with Isabella Hague, a daughter of Frederick Hague of Kittanning.

H. J. Hays has served for an exceptionally long period as prothonotary and in that time has conducted the business of his office very . correctly and with satisfaction to the people of

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the county. But perhaps the best test of the public appreciation of Mr. Hays' ability as a public official and his high standing in the county is to be found in the simple fact that after serving one term as register and recorder the people elected him for a second and after that for a third term. He has filled his office hon- orably, is one of the prominent men of the county and has a wide circle of friends.

HP TEILMAN BROS. James M., William M. and John F. Heilman, the members of the well-known and prominent planing-mill and general contracting firm of Heilman Bros., of Kittanning, are sons of Peter and Elizabeth (Remaley) Heilman and were born on their father's farm in Kittanning township, Arm- strong county, Pennsylvania. Their paternal grandfather, Frederick Heilman, was born and reared in Dauphin county, this State, and upon attaining his majority came to Kittanning town- ship, where he was engaged in farming until his deatlı, at the age of fifty-six years. He was a whig in politics, a lutheran in religious belief, and married Margaret Elinger, a native of Armstrong county, by whom he had several children. His eldest son, Peter Heilman (father), was born in July, 1819, on the home farm, on which he died February 25, 1878. He was a highly successful farmer, operated a large brick-yard on his land and was a stirring business man. He was elected county commis- sioner in 1871, and was a member of the board which erected the present handsome and durable jail, of which Armstrong county is justly proud. It is 50x114 fect in dimensions, constructed of stone, brick and iron, and was completed in 1873 at a total cost of $252,000. Its foundation is 24 fect deep, down from the surface and seven feet wide at the bottom. Those who are com- petent to judge have pronounced it one of the finest and strongest jails in the United States. At the expiration of his term as county commis-

sioner Peter Heilman returned to his farm and resumed his agricultural pursuits, which he fol- lowed until his death. He was a republican, and served as an enrolling officer during the late war. He also served as school director and was an officer for many years in Emanuel Lutheran church, of which he was a highly esteemed and very liberal member. His first wife was a Miss Hellfrick, by whom he had two children. For his second wife he married Elizabeth Remaley, who is a daughter of An- thony Remalcy, of Kiskiminetas township. They reared a family of ten children. Of these chil- dren are James M., William M., Reuben, a hardware merchant; Eliza, Edward, in the hard- warebusiness ; John F. and Frank and Curtin A., furniture dealers of Greensburg, Pa.

James M. Heilman was born September 26, 1848. He received his education in the common schools, and became a contractor, in which busi- ness he was soon joined by his brother William F. In 1878 they admitted their brother, John F., and formed the well-known firm of Heil- man Bros. In connection with their extensive contracting they erected a large planing-mill, whose various machinery is driven by a fifty- liorse-power engine They build a first-class grade of houses and do over $100,000 wortlı of business yearly in Armstrong, Allegheny, But- ler, Venango and Westmoreland counties. James M. Heilman is a republican and a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and the I. O. O. F. He married, on February 22, 1872, Eliza, daughter of Sharon Quigley, of Boggs township, and has two children : Sharon P., a medical stu- dent, and Arthur M.

William M. Heilman was born April 7, 1850, and is the second partner in the firm. He mar- ried Emma, daughter of Robert Anderson, and has five children living : Harry, Frank, Maudc, Walter and Blanche. He is a republican and a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows fra- ternitics.

John F. Heilman, the junior partner of the

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firm, was born March 26, 1854. After attend- ing the common schools he entered Duff's Busi- ness college, and was graduated from that institution in 1878. He then joined his brothers in the firm of which he has been a member ever since. He married, on December 23, 1880, Christina Granninger, of Kittanning, and has three children : Mary E., Herbert G. and Ruth A. He is a republican in politics and a member of the Reformed church of Kit- tanning and the Masonic fraternity. He is a man of recognized business ability and possesses energy and push, the same as his brothers, James M. and William M.

℮

TOSEPH R. HENDERSON, a prominent and well-known lawyer of the Kittanning bar, and a successful and popular republican leader of Armstrong county, enjoys the proud distinction of having been one of the youngest boys who served in the Union armies during the late civil war. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Fleming) Henderson and was born near Dayton, in Wayne township, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1848. He traces his ancestry back to the Hendersons of the north of Ireland, who were a brave, daring and hardy race of people and whose descend- ants have been more or less prominent in civil and military affairs wherever they have settled. Thomas Henderson (paternal grandfather) left Ireland on account of the part he took against the English government in his native country. One of his friends, an ardent advocate of Irishı independence, was hanged one day in his pres- ence, and he immediately came to America to avoid the certainty of imprisonment and a probability of execution. He was married in Ireland and his wife was drowned some years after their arrival in this country in the Loyal- lianna creek, near Saltsburg. He was an old time presbyterian, who was devoted to the re- ligious faith of his forefathers. He reared a

family of three sons and several daughters. One of his sons is Joseph Henderson, of Blairsville, Indiana county, Pa., while another was John Henderson (father), wlio was born on Conneaut Lake, in Crawford county, Pa. In 1807 he moved with his father to Westmoreland county, where they settled near New Alexandria and where the latter died. About 1830 John Henderson remov- ed to near the site of Dayton, this county, when that section of country was a perfect wilderness, with but here and there a solitary clearing and a lone settler's cabin. By hard labor he cleared out a fine farm, on which he resided till his death. He was a republican and had been an elder in the Presbyterian church for over forty years. His wife was Elizabeth Fleming, a daughter of Thomas Fleming, who was a mem- ber of the old and respected Fleming family of Indiana county. They had five children, three sons and two daughters : Joseph R., Isabella, wife of William Lamb, of Peabody, Marion county, Kansas ; and Sophia M., a teacher in the public schools of Kittanning, and two who are dead.

Joseph R. Henderson was reared on his fath- er's farm. He received his education in the public schools and Dayton academy. At thir- teen years of age he ran away from home and went to Philadelphia, where he enlisted, Febru- ary 23, 1864, in Co. K, 14th Pa. Cavalry, but his parents demanded and secured liis release. He afterwards enlisted (1864) in Co. I, 112th regiment, Pa. Vols., but was transferred to the 19th New York Independent Battery, and on account of not being able to engage in the marches was made powder monkey. He served creditably for eighteen days in the Wilderness fights and in all the battles from Spottsylvania to Lee's surrender at " Appomattox Court- House." He was discharged January 20, 1866, and was one of the youngest boys who served in the late war. He returned home, attended Dayton academy, taught several terms and spent one year (1870) at West Point Military

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academy. But having a decided taste for legal pursuits, he abandoned the profession of arms and in 1873 entered the law office of Hon. Ed- ward S. Golden. At June term, 1875, lie was admitted to the Armstrong county bar and since then has been one of the well-established and successful lawyers of Kittanning. In poli- tics he is an ardent republican, served as chair- man of the republican county committee of Armstrong county, and was a delegate to the State convention at Harrisburg, in Juue, 1890. In 1876 he was elected district attorney, which office he filled efficiently. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Lodge No. 244, F. and A. M., and the First Presby- terian church of Kittanning.

He was married on April 18, 1888, to Sallie E. Barnaby, daughter of A. M. Barnaby, of Brady's Bend, this county. They have one child, a son, who is named Marcus Hender- SOIl.

Joseph R. Henderson is very fond of music and art and is able to appreciate the finished productions of the one and the masterpieces of the other. Through life he has met withi good success. As a lawyer he ranks high at the Kit- tanning bar. As a public speaker he is pleas- ant, entertaining and eloquent. He is a logical and forcible reasoner, and before a jury always makes a strong impression. He is clever and generous, is public-spirited and progressive, and while not seeking every opportunity to push himself forward, yet is popular throughout his county and wherever he is known.

A LBERT G. HENRY. Laurentius pro- duced the germ and started the growth of the art of printing, Guttenberg cultivated it and Schaeffer beheld it blossom in his hands. From that day on its growth has been rapid and wouderful. Of the press of this county a paper that deserves especial mention is the Armstrong Republican, whose editor, Albert G.

Henry, has been engaged in journalism for over a third of a century. He was born at Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Hon. Thomas and Sarah Henry. Hon. Thom- as Henry was born in Ireland, in 1780, and was brought by his parents, in 1783, to Beaver, Pa., where he resided until his death, in 1849. In the war of 1812 -he raised a company of which he was elected captain, and which he took as far as Erie, where he was taken very ill, and was brought down the Allegheny river in a skiff to Pittsburgh. After a long spell of sickness he recovered, and in 1818 established the Beaver Argus, which he afterwards dis- posed of to his son William, who published it for twenty-five years. He was a prominent citizen and a man of influence in Beaver county, in which he served, at different periods, as reg- ister and recorder, prothonotary, treasurer and sheriff. He represented his county for two years in the Pennsylvania legislature, was elected to Congress in 1836, 1838 and 1840; and at the expiration of his last term of service he declined a re-nomination on account of ill health. While in Congress he served on several important committees, was a personal and intimate friend of Joshua R. Giddings, and pursued a course that was highly satisfactory to his party. He was an old-line whig, who advocated a strong tariff, and was prominent in the councils of the whigs of his county. He was engaged for some time in the mercantile business at Beaver, where he served for twenty-five years as an elder in the Presbyterian church. The family consisted of ten children.

Albert G. Henry received his education at Beaver academy and then learned the printing business with his brother William, who was then editing the Beaver Argus. He purchased a half-interest in the paper, and in connection with Michael Weyand, who bought the other half, edited it until 1855, when he sold his interest. He then went to Pittsburgh, and after two years spent in the mercantile business,

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BIOGRAPHIES OF .

he removed to Davenport, Iowa. In 1858 he returned to Beaver, which he left eight years later to take charge of the Armstrong Democrat. He changed the name to that of Armstrong Republican and has continued to publish it until the present time. It is one of the two republi- can papers of the county, and while fully alive to all the leading political issues of the day yet its columns are filled with the latest town and county news. It also contains carefully se- lected reading matter for the fireside and the farm.

On Sept. 23, 1852, he married Nancy M., daughter of William Miles, of Blair county, and a granddaughter of Gen. John Mitchell, once prominent in Pennsylvania politics. Of the five children born unto them three are liv- ing: Frank Dalzel, associated with his father in the newspaper business; William, part owner of the Republican and chief of the Indian divi- sion of the treasury department in Washington City ; and Annie M., widow of P. R. Mere- dith.

A. G. Henry was a whig, and cast his first vote for Zachary Taylor. He is a republican and attends the Presbyterian church, and de- votes his time principally to the editing and management of his paper.

YHARLES NEWTON HENRY, ex-county C auditor and ex-deputy sheriff of Armstrong county, and one of the reliable and energetic business men of Kittanning, was born in that part of Armstrong which is now included in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1830, and is a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Kirk- patrick) Henry. Among the natives of Scot- land who were pioneer settlers of Derry town- ship, Westmoreland county, was Capt. John Henry (grandfather), who commanded a com- pany during the Revolutionary war. In 1849 he moved to what is now Clarion county, where he died. He married a Miss McConnell, of

near Shippensburg, in the Cumberland Valley, this State, and left a family of eight children. One of his sons, Charles Henry, served in the war of 1812. Another son (the eldest), Robert Henry (father), was born in 1785, on his father's Derry township farm, and came in 1804 to Red Bank township (now Monroe township, Clarion county) township, where he followed farming until his death, in 1858. He was six feet two inches in height, owned over seven hundred acres of land and raised large quantities of grain. He was a Jacksonian democrat, a prominent elder in the Presbyterian church and an upright man who strictly observed the old-time Sab- bath. He was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, by whom he had eleven children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the tenth. She came with her father, Moses Kirkpatrick (maternal grandfather), from Ireland to Westmoreland county. After her death Mr. Henry married Nancy McElhany, who bore him three children.

Charles N. Henry was reared in Clarion county, where he worked on the farm and at- tended the common schools until he was seven- teen years of age, wlien he went to learn the trade of tanner. At the end of a two years' ap- prenticeship he engaged in tanning and farming, which he followed for several years. In 1870 he came to Kittanning, where he engaged in his present livery business. In politics Mr. Henry has always been a democrat, and cast his first presidential ballot for James Buchanan. He acted as deputy sheriff under Sheriffs Alex- ander Montgomery, Sr., and John B. Boyd, and in 1886 was elected as one of the audit- ors of Armstrong county. He discharged well the duties of that office. He was a candidate on the democratic ticket once for sheriff, and was so popular as to be defeated by only seventy-two votes in a county whose republi- can majority is seldom less than fifteen hun- dred. He has held several important mail contracts in the county. He is a member of

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the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of Honor.

January 2, 1855, he married Susan Turney, daughter of Daniel Turney and cousin to Hon. Jacob Turney, of Greensburg, and a granddaugh- ter of Rev. Michael Steck, who was one of the pioneers of lutheranism west of the Alle- ghenies. They are the parents of three chil- dren : Clara, wife of Irvin Blaney ; John Tur- ney, in the livery business at Craigsville ; and Louisa Caroline.

In the livery business Mr. Henry has made it an object to please his patrons by the best of attention, as well as by furnishing them with first-class conveyances and fine driving and rid- ing horses. All business enterprises of which he has had the management have been conducted according to correct business principles, and with satisfaction to all who were interested.

ROYD S. HENRY, the present popular and successful prothonotary of Armstrong county, is the youngest man who has ever been honored with an election to that important office in the county. He was born six miles west of Kittanning, at the village of Worthington, Arm- strong county, Pa., February 14, 1858, and is the youngest son of David and Mary (Scott) Henry. His paternal grandfather, James Henry, was born and reared to manhood in the historic north of Ireland, where he married Sarah Richmond, and, two years afterward, came to western Penn- sylvania. He was a stonemason by trade, a United Presbyterian in religious belief, and a republican in political sentiment. He died in 1882 at an advanced age, having survived lıis wife four years. He had nine children, of whom two sons, David and James, enlisted as soldiers in the late war. David Henry (father) · was born in Ireland, August 4, 1824, shortly before his parents came to this country. He was engaged in farming till 1861, when he was one of the first to enlist from this county in

response to President Lincoln's call for troops. He became a member of Company D, 100th regiment, Pa. Vols., better known as the " Roundhead " regiment, which was so famous in the war annals of the Great Rebellion. He served with his regiment in all of its numerous skirmishes and many battles, until it had passed through the fiery ordeal of the Wilder- derness fights, and was drawn up before Cold Harbor. In the magnificent and terrific Union charge upon the fortified works at that place he was among the foremost of his regiment to scale the Confederate breastworks, on which he was cut down by a sabre-stroke in a hand-to- hand encounter. He was a model soldier in every respect, and ranked as one of the bravest men in the Army of the Potomac. He fell nobly in the defence of his country's liberties, and his memory will ever be respected and honored in his adopted county, while his name is inscribed on the roll of fallen heroes whom the Republic will honor for all time to come. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, a man of high standing in his community, and one of the early agitators of the slavery ques- tion in Armstrong county. On June 19, 1845, he married Mary Scott, who was born April 10, 1825, and passed away in 1861, when in the thirty-sixth year of her age. She was a daughter of Joseph Scott, who was a native of Scotland, served in the war of 1812, and died in Butler county on March 4, 1866, His wife was Elizabeth Boyd, who was born January 4, 1801, and died November 9, 1834. To Mr. and Mrs. Henry were born seven children, of whom five are living : James H., a farmer of Republic county, Kansas ; Elizabeth, who resides at Polaud, Ohio ; Mary, wife of George Kirk, a machinist, of Pitts- burgh, Pa .; Sarah, married to John White, likewise a machinist of the " Iron City," and Boyd S.

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania, Part 47

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