USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 54
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 54
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George M. Hunter was reared in Allegheny county and at Apollo. He received his educa- tion in the common schools and at an early age commenced life for himself as a clerk and spent seven years as such in several stores at Apollo and in the oil regions of this State. In 1881 he entered the employ of Laufman & Co., and learned the trade of shearman, which he has pursued ever since. He was with Laufman & Co. until they were succeeded by the Apollo Iron and Steel company, and then entered the employ of the latter company, with whom he has been until the present time.
August 3, 1883, he united in marriage with Rosa Jack, daughter of A. X. Jack, of Apollo. To their union have been born four children : Rosa Marie'and Albert Lew Hunter and two who died in infancy.
George M. Hunter is a republican and a member of Apollo Methodist Episcopal churchi, and of Apollo Lodge, No. 437, Free and Accepted Masons of the jurisdiction of Penn- sylvania.
W ILLIAM C. HUNTER, the proprietor of the Apollo Hotel and a man of varied and successful business experience, is a son of Adam and Margaret (Fleming) Hunter, and was born at Apollo, Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania, February 8, 1851. The Hunters were among the early settlers of Westmoreland county. Col. Robert Hunter (great-grand- father) served in the Revolutionary war, lived at Hannastown when it was burned by the Indians, in 1782, and married Anna Sloan, by whom he had several children. One of his sons was Kennedy Hunter (grandfather), who
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was born in 1778, at Hannastown. He removed to Crawford county, and afterwards located on Crooked run, this county, where he remained until he came to Apollo. He was a democrat and a presbyterian and lived to be ninety-one years of age. He married Margaret Fiscus, who lived to be eighty-five years of age. They had eight children, of whom five are living. (For fuller ancestry see sketch of Robert Orr Hunter). One of their sons was Adam Hunter (father), who was born in 1826, and at an early age became a boatman on the Pennsylvania canal.
In the course of a few years he left the canal and embarked in the general mercantile business, which he continued until his death, which occurred in 1857, when only in the thirty- first year of his age. He evinced good business ability and tact, and gave promise of a successful business career. He married Margaret Fleming. They were the parents of four children : John M., an oil operator at Edenburg, Pa .; William C., Margaret, wife of Rev. Milton Porterfield, of Illinois ; and Sarah M., married to Samuel Beck, of Apollo.
William C. Hunter was reared partly on a farm, and attended the common schools and the public schools of Apollo. For several years before he attained his majority he lived with Ex-Sheriff Watson. At twenty-one years of age he engaged in mining coal, which he fol- lowed for eight years, and then came to Apollo, where he worked for two years at puddling in the rolling- mill. Leaving the mill, he purchased a grocery store, which he conducted, with very good success, for four years. In September, 1887, he purchased the " James House," which, after thoroughly refitting, he opened as the Apollo Hotel. It contains thirteen rooms, besides the sitting-rooms, dining-room and kitchen. Mr. Hunter's extensive business experience and his courteous attention to the wants of his guests have made him popular and successful as a hotel-keeper. He has a large
trade, holding all his old patrons and constantly gaining new ones.
He married Phebe Buckerstaff, daughter of Alexander Buckerstaff, of Irwin, Pa. They have had seven children, of whom five are : Margaret Minerva, Mina Gertrude, Howard Clinton, Robert Owen and Charles.
W. C. Hunter is democratic in principles and always gives a hearty support to his party. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men and Royal Arcanum.
R OBERT ORR HUNTER is an old and well-known citizen of Apollo, who has been successfully engaged in the hardware busi- ness for over forty years. He is a son of Ken- nedy and Margaret (Fiscus) Hunter, and was born on Crooked creek, Allegheny township, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1817. When the Revolutionary struggle for independence commenced on Lexington common and the tidings of New England's spirited resistance to ministerial tyranny was borne to eastern Pennsylvania, one among the many in that section to take up arms in the cause of the Colonies was Col. Robert Hunter, of Hunter's Valley. At the expiration of his term of enlist- ment he came to Hannastown, Westmoreland county, where he was residing when it was given to the flames by the Indians, on July 13, 1782. He was a prominent and influential cit- izen in the "Hannastown country," where he dealt largely in stock. He was a Jeffersonian democrat and a strict presbyterian. He married Anna Sloan, dangliter of Capt. John Sloan, a Revolutionary soldier, who was killed at the siege of Yorktown. Several sons and daugh- ters were born to them, and one of their sons was Kennedy Hunter (father), who was born at the old Hannastown, of frontier fame, in 1778, and died at Apollo, Oct. 1, 1869, when in the ninety-first year of his age. He removed to Crawford county, where he enlisted
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as a soldier of the war of 1812. At the end of his term of service he re-enlisted and served at Baltimore when that city was threatened by the British, in 1814. From Crawford county he removed to Crooked creek, where he dwelt for many years, and was engaged in farming and in' buying and driving stock to the eastern markets. . About 1845 he came to Apollo, where he resided until his death, in 1869. He was a democrat and a presbyterian, and married Margaret Fiscus, who was a daughter of Abraham Fiscus, of Westmoreland county, and died in Plum Creek township, in 1832, at eighty-four years of agc. To them were born eight children, of whom five are living.
Robert Orr Hunter received his education in the old subscription schools. At nine years of age he became an errand boy on the old Penn- sylvania canal, along which he worked until 1835. He then learned the trade of tailor, which he followed for seven years, and at the end of that time rented a boat on the Ohio canal, which he ran until 1844. He then opened a tin and stove storc, although possessed of but sixty dollars capital, and succeeded so well that he increased his capital sufficiently to engage in the grocery business, in which he met with good success. In 1850 he returned to Apollo, where in the succeeding year, he em- barked in his present prosperous hard- ware business. His establishment is on the corner of North street, where he keeps a full line of hardware, including builders' supplies, tools and household and shelf-ware.
December 20, 1849, Mr. Hunter married Margaret J. Kline, who is a daughter of Ber- nard Kline, of Westmoreland county, this State.
Robert Orr Hunter is steadfast in the demo- cratic faith of his forefathers, and supports the party of Jefferson and Jackson. He became a member of the Masonic fraternity in 1851, and has served as treasurer of Apollo Lodge, No. 437, Free and Accepted Masons. He owns
some valuable property in Apollo, and a very fine farm, which is but a short distance beyond the borough limits. Robert Orr Hun- ter, now having passed his three-score and ten years, can look back over half a century of his active and useful life spent in serving and accommodating the public.
S YAMUEL JACK, a prominent advocate of the cause of temperance at Apollo, was born near White Rock Eddy, in what was then Allegheny township, Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania, April 26, 1820, and is a son of John and Mary Ann (Smith) Jack. The Jack family is of Irish descent. While William Jack (great-grandfather) and his wife were on board the ship coming to America, their son, James Jack, was born. They settled at White Rock Eddy, where they lived the remainder of their lives. James Jack (grandfather) was a teanı- ster the most of his life, driving a pack team from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and Balti- more. He was an uncompromising democrat. He married Mattie Morrison, of Irish descent, by whom he had eight children. He died at the advanced age of ninety years. John Jack (father) was born near White Rock Eddy, April 27, 1788, learned the trade of shoemaker, but after his marriage he gave up that occupa- tion and went to farming. He voted the dem- ocratic ticket all his life and was a strict mem- ber of the Presbyterian church. Thoroughly honest, a kind neighbor and a faithful friend, his death, which occurred on Oct. 27, 1858, was deplored by the whole community. His wife was Mary Ann, daughter of Archibald Smith, who, with his wife, Molly (Anderson) Smith, emigrated from Ireland to the United States, becoming early settlers of Armstrong county. John Jack had seven children.
Samuel Jack, after receiving his education in the subscription schools of the county, learned the trade of cooper, which he followed for thirty
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years. For two years he acted as superintend- ent of an oil company. In 1866 he opened a lumber-yard, in connection with his planing- mill, in Apollo. For twenty-four years his eldest son was in partnership with him, but in the spring of 1890 he sold one-fifth interest to three of his sons, thus making himself and four sons equal partners. The firm of Samuel Jack & Sons has for many years conducted an exten- sive business, controlling exclusively the whole of the lumber trade in Apollo.
On April 14, 1840, he married Catherine, daughter of Daniel Beck, a soldier of the war of 1812. To them have been born ten chil- dren, of whom six are living: Daniel, S. S., Mathew A., Mary Jane, David R. and Henry F.
During the late civil war S. S. Jack, the second son, enlisted in the regimental band of the 11thı regiment, Pa. Reserves, September 11, 1861; was discharged in 1862, and the follow- ing year re-entered the service, joining Co. G, 63d regiment, Pa. Vols. He served in this regiment until January 2, 1865, when he was discharged on account of a severe wound in the left hand, received in the battle of Spottsyl- vania Court-House, May 12, 1864. From 1866 to 1882 he assisted his father in the lum- ber business. For the last eight years he has been in the employment of the Apollo Iron & Steel company,-at present chief clerk in their office. He is a stanch republican, and has been elected by his party to various offices of public trust. He is a member of the board of school trustees, and one of the directors of The Apollo Mutual Building & Loan association. He is also a member of Charles S. Whitworth Post, No. 89, G. A. R., and an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church. On February 23, 1865, he married Hannah Ulam, daughter of Simon Truby, and has two daughters: Lillie May, wife of T. J. Baldrige, and Carrie Belle. The Jack brothers rank among the solid men of Apollo.
During his early manhood, Samuel Jack was a whig, and after that party went down he joined the republicans, but since 1884 he lias advocated the cause of the Prohibition party, working incessantly for its success, and intends to vote anti-saloon till he dies. He is a stew- ard and a member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church. In the di- rection of the public welfare of the borough, he has filled the offices of burgess and school director. After the cares and turmoil of a busy life, surrounded by their children and children's children, Samuel Jack and his faithful wife are calmly waiting their last summons.
G YENERAL SAMUEL McCARTNEY JACKSON. Among those sons of Arm- strong county whose privilege it has been to achieve distinction in civil as well as military life, is Gen. Samuel McCartney Jackson, an active and successful business man of the county and of Apollo, with whose interests he has been closely identified by over a quarter of a century's residence and active business life within its lim- its. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Mc- Cartney) Jackson, and was born near Apollo, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, September 24, 1833. The Jackson family is of Irish descent and has always been prominent in the southern part of the county from its earliest settlement. James Jackson (grandfather) came from Ireland to Pennsylvania with his parents, who were at Hannastown (1782) when it was burned by Indians, and finally settled in Kis- kiminetas township. James Jackson died at eighty-four years of age and his eldest son, John Jackson (father), was born October 12, 1797, and died January 8, 1853. John Jack- son was the builder of his own fortune and became one of the wealthy, honorable and highly respected men of the county. On October 5, 1826, he married Elizabeth Mc- Cartney, of Scotch lineage, who was born Oc-
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tober 10, 1805, and died August 9, 1880. She was an amiable Christian woman and was the mother of ten children, of whom the second son and fourth child was Gen. S. M. Jackson.
Samuel M. Jackson was reared on a farm and at sixteen years of age entered Jacksonville academy in Indiana county, but one year later the death of his father compelled him to leave school and lose his long contemplated liberal academic education. He was well read in history and biography and took an active part in the State Militia, in which he had obtained his enrollment at thirteen years of age. Effi- ciency as a soldier secured him successive pro- motion until he was commissioned as a captain. When the late war commenced Capt. Jackson immediately proffered his services to the gov- ernment and recruited Co. G, or the Apollo Independent Blues, of the 11tlı Pa. Reserves, of which he became captain when it was mus- tered into service. On July 2, 1861, he was promoted to major and on October 28th, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. April 10, 1863, he was promoted to colonel of his regi- ment. He served gallantly through his three years' term of service, received two slight wounds, and was conspicuous at Gaines' Mill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, in the Wilder- ness and at Spottsylvania Court-house and Bethesda Church. He particularly distin- gnished himself at South Mountain, Freder- icksburg, Gettysburg and the Wilderness, where the conflicts were of such a nature as to try officers and men to their utmost, and espe- cially to test the bravery, decision and skill of the former. At Spottsylvania he commanded a brigade and was brevetted brigadier-general for gallant conduct. At Gettysburg he was thrown forward on the bloody ground where the third corps had been driven back, and supports from several corps which had been sent to the relief of the third liad been terribly broken. The position there taken was held, and the entire
field was subsequently regained. At the battle of the Wilderness, while in command of his own and the 2d regiment, he was cut off from the balance of the division by a strong force of the enemy, but rallying his men about him, he charged the hostile lines, and by a circuitous route reached the Union front, where he had for several hours been given up as lost. The appreciative regard of the officers and men of the 11th regiment for their colonel was indicated by their presenting him with a superb gold-encased and jeweled sword, to- gether with sash and spurs, the presentation speech being made on behalf of the regiment by Capt. Timblin.
At the close of his term of service Col. Jack- son was mustered out and returned to his home and the pursuits of business life. He was engaged for some time in the oil business in Venango county, but returned to Armstrong county in 1869, and was elected on the republican ticket as a member of the Pennsylvania legisla- ture. In 1870 he was re elected and during both terms made a creditable record as an efficient and faithful legislator. Four years later his services were again demanded in a public capacity and he was once more called from pri- vate to public life, being elected to the State senate to represent the Forty-first District, composed of the counties of Armstrong and Butler. His services in the State senate were so acceptable that he was tendered a re-nomi- nation, which he declined. In April, 1882, he was appointed by President Arthur as col- lector of internal revenue in the Twenty-third District, composed of the counties of Beaver, northern part of Allegheny, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, Jefferson, Clearfield, Blair and Hunt- ingdon. He assumed the duties of this office July 1, 1882, and served until July 1st, 1885, when he was removed by President Cleveland, on account of his politics, since which he has been twice the choice of his county for Congress. . In local affairs he has always been active at
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Apollo. He secured the passage of the act authorizing the building of a free bridge at Apollo and has always been interested in every important measure of public improvement. Since 1871 he has been interested in the bank- ing business, and in 1886 he became a stock- holder and treasurer of the present well-known sheet iron firm of P. H. Laufman & Co.
He has been twice married. His first wife was Martha J. Byerly, of Westmoreland county, whom he married in 1860 and who died in 1864, leaving two children : Mary Gertrude (Townsend) and Lizzie Virginia (Hammitt). December 29, 1869, Gen. Jackson united in marriage with his present wife, who was Mary E. Wilson, daughter of Col. John M. Wilson, of Clarion county. By his second marriage he has had five children : Frank Wilson, John Howard, Bessie, Mamie (dead) and Emily Louise.
Gen. Jackson is a member of the Presby- terian church and a member of session. He was cashier of the Apollo Savings bank when it was organized in 1871, and has been presi- dent since 1885 of that institution, which has a capital of $50,000. In 1886 he became inter- ested in the benefits to be derived by his town and county from the erection of sheet iron mills at Apollo, and after he and others had agitated the subject, the present firm of P. H. Laufman & Co., limited, was formed with a capital stock of $150,000. They keep in constant operation three large mills. (See sketch of W. B. Lauf- man). He became a stockholder of this com- pany and was elected treasurer, in which capacity he lias served until the present time.
During his busy life Gen. Jackson has wit- nessed the little river village of his boyhood, whose industries and interests were those of a centre of a moderately prosperous agricultural district, grow to a town of over two thousand people, the home of varied industries, the most important of which he was largely instrumental in establishing and has been incessantly perse-
vering in developing to their present highly prosperous condition.
CYRUS J. KEPPLE, a successful cabinet- maker, furniture dealer and undertaker of Apollo, is the eldest son of George and Isa- bella (Hoffman) Kepple, and was born near Delmont, in Salem township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1831. The Kepple family is of German descent, the great- grand-father of Cyrus J. Kepple having come from Germany to America. His son, George Kep- ple (grandfather), was born near Manor church in Penn township, Westmoreland county. George Kepple (father) was born near Delmont, where he lived on a farm nntil his marriage, and afterwards removing to a farm near Cochran's mills, in Burrell township, Armstrong county, on which, in 1869, he died, at the age of seventy years. In earlier years he was a democrat, but after the rebellion he joined the republican party. He was for many years a member and officer of the Lutheran church, and always evinced a deep interest in the work of the church. He was one of the founders of the old Bethel Lutheran Church, in 1848. In 1830 he mar- ried Isabella Huffman (now dead), who was a daughter of Adam Huffman, a soldier in the war of 1812. They had eight children, of whom six are living.
Cyrus J. Kepple received his education in the old school-house in the Heckman neigh- borhood, afterward working for his father on the farm until he was ninetcen years of age, when he went to learn the trade of cabinet- maker. This trade, together with carpenter- ing, he followed in connection with his furni- ture and hardware store, until 1878, when lie closed out the hardware department, and has been in the furniture, undertaking and embalm- ing business ever since. He has been success- ful in his various enterprises and acquired a competency.
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On May 7, 1857, he married Caroline Keck, daughter of Isaac Keck. They have had six chil- dren : Belle, married Edward Melhorn, of Freeport, sou of Rev. J. K. Melhorn, and has two children ; Isaac Newton, who married Auna Stewart, aud died July 9, 1890, from the effects of a gunsliot wound, and left six chil- dren ; George S., married Emma Gumbert, and has two children ; Cyrus, in the store with his father ; Bessie Alice, the youngest child, and Auna Mary, who was born in 1860 and died February 18, 1866.
During the late war he was out with the one hundred day men, repelling the Confederate raids in Pennsylvania. In elections he sup- ports the democratic ticket. He has been a member of the Lutheran church since boyhood, and for several years has been an officer iu that church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has twice been sent as a representative of his lodge to the R. W. Grand Lodge of that order of Pennsylvania. Cyrus J. Kepple is one of the substantial citizens of Apollo. He is hon- est aud industrious, a faithful husband, a kind father, and a man whose integrity is unques- tioned.
JAMES KIRKWOOD, secretary and treas- urer of the Apollo Foundry compauy, and a man of energy, ability and enterprise, was born in North Washington, Washington township, Westmoreland county, Pa., Septem- ber 7, 1854, and is a son of William and Mary (Byerly) Kirkwood. The Kirkwood family of Westmoreland aud Armstrong counties is de- scended from Hugh Kirkwood, who was an early settler near the site of North Washing- ton, and was an exemplary member of the old Poke Run Presbyterian church. He was allied by marriage with the early-settled Thompson family of his section. The Byerly family, with its many branches, traces its aucestry to Andrew Byerly, who bore such a conspicuous part at the
battle of Bushy Run, which Parkman (the historian) classes as one of the " decisive battles of the world." Andrew Byerly was the soldier selected by Washington, at Fort Cumberland (now Cumberland, Md.) in 1755, to contest a race with a celebrated Indian runuer, aud Byerly triumphantly justified the young Virginia colonel's selection, by easily distancing the sav- age. Andrew Byerly married Beatrice Guldin, a brave aud energetic woman, who was a uative of Switzerland, and well acquainted with Col. Bouquet before he left his Alpine home to euter upon his subsequent distinguished military career. A more complete genealogy and history of James Kirkwood's paternal and maternal ancestry will be found in the sketch of William Kirkwood, of Apollo.
James Kirkwood was reared at Apollo, in whose public schools he received his education. His first employment was in a brickyard, which he soon left to accept a clerkship in a store. After four years he left the store and became book -keeper for Rogers & Burchfield, in whose employ he remained nearly four years. At the eud of that time lie went to Pittsburgh, where he had charge of a set of books for eighteen mouths. He theu entered the service of John- son, Eagey & Earl, wholesale grocers, and was with them six years, four years of which time were spent as a traveling salesman. In the spring of 1889 he came to Apollo and assisted in organizing the Apollo Foundry company, whose works went into operation on July 31st, 1889. He has served as secretary and treas- urer of this company until the present time. The company employ a force of twenty-five men, and manufacture ingot moulds and every description of rolling-mill castings and brasses. Their works cover a considerable area of grouud. Their buildings are equipped with all the latest improved machinery necessary for the successful prosecution of their business.
May 28, 1885, he united in marriage with Henrietta Power, daughter of James B. Power,
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of near Harmersville,-Allegheny county. To their union have been born two children : Wil- liam Power, born May 10, 1886, and Helen Losey, born September 18, 1888.
James Kirkwood has always been a republi- can in politics. He is a member of Franklin Lodge, No. 221, F. & A. Masons, of Pittsburgh, Royal Arcanum, and Darling Council, No. 250, Jr. Order of United American Mechanics. He is active and progressive, is a self-made man, and has won by his own efforts the ample suc- cess of which he is deserving. He has labored faithfully in the establishment of his present business enterprise, and the continuance of his company's career of progress and success is full of promise of future gain to Apollo.
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