Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania, Part 55

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 55
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 55

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H UGH KIRKWOOD, a skilled iron-worker and an intelligent and industrious citizen of Apollo, was born near North Washington, Washington township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1849, and is a son of William and Mary (Byerly) Kirkwood. His paternal grandparents were Hugh and Mary (Thompson) Kirkwood, both natives of northern Westmoreland county ; and the latter a daughter of William Thompson, who served in the Revolutionary war. His maternal grand- parents were Andrew J. and Anna (Smith) Byerly, respectively natives of Westmoreland and Fayette counties and the former was a son of the celebrated Andrew Byerly, of frontier fame, who was among the first, if not the first white man to settle in Westmoreland county. The Kirkwood, Thompson, Byerly and Smith families are among the old settled families of southwestern Pennsylvania and a fuller and more complete history of them will be found in the sketch of W. T. Kirkwood, which is given in this volume.

At six years of age Hugh Kirkwood came with his parents to Apollo, where he received his education in the public schools. At twelve

years of age he commenced to work in the nail mill and has been an iron worker ever since. He was a heater for seven years in the rolling- mill at Scottdale and ten years in Apollo and Sharpsburg, Pa., rolling-mills. In 1882 he secured his present position of sheet roller with the Apollo Iron & Steel company and thorough- ly understands his business of sheet rolling.

On January 7, 1873, he married Mattie E. James, who was a daughter of Jesse James, of Apollo, and died May 2, 1877, leaving two children : Mary Elizabeth, born December 9, 1873; and Charles Francis, born Angust 20, 1875. Mr. Kirkwood was re-married on July 8, 1880, to Maggie E. Artman, daughter of Eli Artman, a farmer of Kiskiminetas township. By his second marriage he has five children, of whom four are living : Florence Everson, born February 6, 1881 ; Grace Josephine and Nellie Louise, born December 30, 1884; and Robert Smith Byerly, born July 16, 1888.

Hugh Kirkwood is a republican politically, and although ever ready to respond to any call for work in behalf of his party yet is no aspirant for any political office. He is a mem- ber of the Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel workers and the Jr. Order of United American Mechanics, and is also a Master Mason. Mr. Kirkwood is a persistent worker. Whatever he does he does well and he loses no time from his business. To close application to business a portion of his success in life is attrib- utable. Mr. Kirkwood has built himself a very fine residence where he now lives on the corner of Wood and Terrace avenues. His house is after the most modern and approved plans of architecture.

W1 ILLIAM T. KIRKWOOD, a descendant of two of the early settled families of the Allegheny Valley, and a great-grandson of An- drew Byerly, the most famous scout of Pontiac's war, is one of the reliable business men and trust-

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worthy citizens of Apollo. He was born at Northı Washington, Washington township, Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, December 14, 18-, and is a son of William and Mary (Byerly) Kirk- wood. On the paternal side, his grandfather, Hugh Kirkwood, was in all probability a na- tive of what is now Washington township, Westmoreland county. He was a prosperous farmer, an ardent whig and a zealous member of Poke Run Presbyterian church, which was organized in 1783, and is by far the largest, most wealthy and harmonious of all the rural churches in the Blairsville presbytery. He was a man of high standing and great influ- ence in his community. He married Mary Thompson, a member of the old and well- known Thompson family of Westmoreland county, whose father, William Thompson, served in the Revolutionary war, and was a son of Samuel Thompson, an early settler and large land-holder in his section of West- moreland county. One of their sons, Wil- liam Kirkwood (father), was born within two . miles of North Washngton, that county, in January, 1820. He received a good educa- tion, excelled in mathematics, and was a very fine penman. At fourteen years of age he commenced teaching, which he retired from in a few ycars to engage in mercantile busi- ness. In 1855 he came to Apollo, where he accepted a position with the mercantile firm of Chambers & Crawford, which he left in a few years to remove to Natrona, Pa. He was there engaged with the Pennsyl- vania Salt Manufacturing company until Sep- tember 3, 1864, when he enlisted in Battery H, 204th regiment, Pa. Vols., or 5th Heavy Artillery, and served until June 20, 1865, when the regiment was mustered out at Pitts- burgh, Pa. He then returned to Apollo, and became book-keeper at Rogers & Burch- field's iron works, which position he held until his death, on February 14, 1866. He was an active republican and an earnest member of

the Presbyterian church. His life was one of industry, integrity and patriotism. He married Mary Byerly and reared a family of five chil- dren, of whom four are living: Hugh (see sketch), William T., James (see sketch) and Mattie. 1

William T. Kirkwood, on his maternal side, traces his ancestry back four generations to Andrew Byerly, the famous Indian scout of Col. Bouquet at the battle of Bushy Run, and whose name is inseparably connected with the pioneer history of western Pennsylvania. He was a native of Lancaster county, and settled on Bush creek in 1759. He married Beatrice Guldin, a native of Canton Berne, Switzer- land, who was a brave and charitable woman, and who, during Pontiac's war, once fled from her home (at night, with her children, through the wilderness to give the alarm of an Indian in- vasion) to Ft. Ligonier, a distance of over twenty miles.

Andrew Byerly had several sons, one of whom was Andrew Byerly, Jr., who was born near the site of Irwin, Pa., about 1793. He was a prosperous farmer, a Jeffersonian demo- crat and a member of Long Run Presbyterian church. He married Anna Smith, who was a daughter of Robert Smith, of Fayette county, and passed away shortly before her husband's death. They had five children, of whom two are living: Robert, who lives near Harrison City, Pa., and Mary, who married William Kirkwood, and is the mother of William T. Kirkwood.

After attending the public schools of Apollo, William T. Kirkwood became a workman in the iron-mills of Rogers & Birchificld. In a few years he left there and served successively for some time as a clerk in the stores of Chambers & Co., and Rogers & Birchfield. He then went on the West Penn. R. R., as a passenger conductor on an express train, and at the end of five years left the railway ser- vice to accept a position as traveling salesman

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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

for the firm of Richardson & Co., of New York. Since 1882 he has been engaged with the Apollo Iron and Steel company as a sheet roller.

He is a republican in politics. In Masonry he has passed through lodge and chapter, and is a member of Tancred Commandery, No. 48, Knights Templar, of Pittsburgh.

W. B. LAUFMAN. The rapid growth and great value of the manufacturing indus- tries of western Pennsylvania during the last two decades is one of the astonishing facts in the commercial history of the United States, and in the iron industry no company has been more successful or has placed superior products on the market than P. H. Laufman & Co., limited, of which W. B. Laufman is secretary. He was born in Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1849, and is a son of P. H. and Mary Ann (Berlin) Laufman. His paternal great-grandparents were Philip and Mary (Spottswood) Laufman, both natives of Carlisle, Cumberland county. They settled at Chambersburg, Pa., where Mr. Laufman died at eighty-seven years of age and where his wife passed away in 1836, when in the sixty-second year of her age. Of the sons born unto them one was David Laufman (grandfather), who was born in the first year of the present century and died at Southampton furnace when only thirty-four years of age. He had served as deputy sheriff of Franklin county, was an iron-master and at the time of his death was one of the proprietors of Southampton furnace. He married Susan Harrington, who died in 1854, aged fifty-three years. She was the only child of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Shriver) Har- rington. The father of Nicholas Harrington was the second son of Lord Harrington of England, and after serving as a captain in the English army came to this country where he was killed in Ohio, in St. Clair's defeat. One

of David Laufman's sons was Philip Harring- ton Laufman (father), who was born at Cham- bersburg in 1822, and removed in 1840 to Pittsburgh, where he was successively a mem- ber of the hardware firms of Huber & Lauf- man and Laufman & Brother. During his residence in Pittsburgh, he was a member of the select council and board of education as well as being one of the five commissioners who erected the present system of water-works of that city. He came to Apollo in 1876 where he purchased an interest in the Apollo rolling- mill. It was built in 1856 and manufactured nails until 1861, when it commenced the produc- tion of sheet-iron and after changing ownership several times was purchased by Messrs. Lauf- man & Co., in 1876. The iron made is of ex- cellent quality and finds a ready sale in all the markets. The mill has seven puddling furnaces and five charcoal fires for sinking wrought scrap iron; two trains of rolls; one steam hammer striking a fifteen ton blow; one set of bar rolls, and one pair of cold rolls. In 1880 the full capacity of the mill was 65 tons of fin- ished iron per week and has now risen to 300 tons per week. Equipped with all the recent appliances and possessing abundant railroad facilities, their prudent and intelligent manage- ment has made their iron a staple article in the market. In 1886 the firm of P. H. Laufman & Co. erected their present sheet-iron and sheet- steel works and became manufacturers of a fine sheet-iron and decarbonized sheet steel which are well-known for their superior qualities and which sell readily and in large quantities in New York and St. Louis, where a continuous de- mand exists for them. These works (Apollo Sheet Iron mills) cover one and one-half acres of ground and the company employs one hun- dred and fifty men, of whom over one hundred are Americans. Their yearly business aggre- gates three hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Laufman has just completed his copper plating works at a cost of ten thousand dollars. In

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1848 he married Mary A. Berlin, daughter of Philip and Mary (Cover) Berlin. To Mr. and Mrs. Laufman were born two sons, Wilmer B. and Philip H., and six daughters.

W. B. Laufman was reared and educated in Pittsburgh and engaged at an early age in busi- ness, for which he showed a decided aptitude. He came with his father to Apollo in 1876 and they are the principal stock-holders in the iron manufacturing company of which they are members. The officers of the company are P. H. Laufman, chairman; Gen. S. M. Jackson, treasurer; and W. B. Laufman, secretary.

On May 25, 1876, W. B. Laufman united in marriage with Beatrice Lawson, of Pittsburgh. To this union have been born four children, three sons and one daughter: Harry B., Clifford L., Wilmer S. and Trixie.

To conduct an extensive business successfully, as Mr. Laufman has conducted his, requires good mental and physical qualifications and a strong and active mind with practical common sense. He is a thorough business man. He and his father, by the establishment and opera- tion of their extensive iron mills, have con- tributed largely to the prosperity of Apollo.

W ILLIAM McBRYAR, M.D. A physi- cian who has attained deserved distinc- tion within the sphere of his profession is Dr. William McBryar, of Apollo. Of Scotch-Irish descent he has inherited the sturdy independ- ence, high sense of honor and tireless energy of that determined race. He was born in Wash- ington township, Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, November 29, 1822, and is a son of James and Elizabeth (Dickey) McBryar. Nathaniel McBryar, paternal grandfather of Dr. McBryar, was one of those sturdy, upright and intelligent Scotch-Irish presbyterians, who came from county Down, Ireland, to the northern part of Westmoreland county during the closing dec-

ades of the last century, when wolves and Indians infested that section of the country.

He was one of the founders of the Poke Run Presbyterian congregation, and donated to it the ground (five acres) upon which its first church building was erected, for the privilege of occupying forever a specified pew in the church. He served as a teamster in the west- ern army during the war of 1812. He was a whig in politics after that party came into ex- istence. He married a widow Thompson, by whom he had three children: David, a daugh- ter, who died in infancy, and James. James McBryar (father) was born July 18, 1784, and died Oct. 3, 1870. He helped his father to build the first grist-mill ever erected in the northern part of Westmoreland county, and toward the close of his long and useful life he removed from his farm, in 1868, to Apollo, Armstrong county. He was a man of incor- ruptible integrity, and, like his father before him, was an old-line whig and a strict member of the Presbyterian church. On June 20, 1811, he married Elizabeth Dickey, who was born in Franklin county, April 22, 1788, and died in 1872, when in the eighty-fifth year of her age. To them were born four sons and four daugh- ters, of whom four are living : Samuel, Dr. William, Mary and Sarah, wife of J. D. Mc- Quilkin. Those deceased are: N. L. Mc- Laughlin, Margaret, Watson and David D.

William McBryar was reared on his father's farm, and desiring a better education than that which was afforded by the schools of his neigh- borhood, he entered, on May 1, 1844, Rich- mond Classical institute, of Jefferson county, Ohio, from which he was graduated in Septem- ber, 1847. On November 1st of that year he commenced reading medicine under Dr. John Dixon, of Allegheny city (afterwards of Pitts- burgh), with whom he remained until October 18, 1849, excepting one winter spent in teach- ing. He then attended a course of lectures in the medical department of the University of

JA TW or Bust

y. MBryjar M.D.

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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

the city of New York, and in July, 1850, en- tered into partnership with Dr. John McNeal, of New Salem, Westmoreland county, where he practiced until April 1, 1852. He then went to near Congruity church, which location he left in June to become a partner of Dr. Allison, of Saltsburg, Pa. In September, 1852, he re- turned to the University of New York, and was graduated from the medical depart- ment 'n 1853. On April 19th of that year he came to Apollo, where he has been in active, continuous and successful practice ever since.

October 4, 1855, he married Sarah J. Callen, daughter of Matthew and Jane (Paul) Callen. Dr. and Mrs. McBryar have been the parents of five children : Lizzie J. (deceased); James C. (deceased); Ada M., William Lyle, who married Margaret J. Johnson, October 25, 1888 ; and Hattie Dickey. Mrs. McBryar's maternal grandparents were Squire Samuel and Jane (Porterfield) Paul ; the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Cumberland county, and both of Scotch-Irish descent.

Dr. McBryar is a republican in politics. While never neglecting the duties of his large practice, he has always been interested in the progress, growth and prosperity of Apollo. He was prominent in organizing the Apollo Sav- ings bank, of which he has always been a di- rector. He has also been identified with edu- cational interests beyond his town, serving at one time as president of the board of trustees of Kittanning academy, and likewise in finan- cial affairs he is interested beyond this county, having served as president of the Dubois Savings bank, of Clearfield county, which he took an active part in organizing in 1880. At home he has given much of his time in the interests of the material prosperity of his town. He was largely instrumental in sccuring the present iron bridge at Apollo, and was also prominently identified with its construction. Dr. McBryar is president of the Westmoreland

and Armstrong county Mutual Fire Insurance company, and is medical examiner for the Penn Mutual Life Insurance company, of Philadel- phia, and the Equitable Life Assurance society, of New York. Dr. William McBryar has always been obliging, kind and affable, yet firm and decided in character, and, like his fore- fathers, a stanch presbyterian, taking an active part in church affairs, as a member of session and also of the board of trustees in Apollo Presbyterian church.

P. S. McMULLEN, a rising young architect and builder, and president of a leading builders' and contractors' company of Apollo, is a son of George H. and Salome (King) McMullen, and was born in Manor township, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, May 3, 1861. His father, George McMullen, was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., and is a carpenter by trade. He removed to Apollo, and was a clerk in a store there for a short time, but dur- ing most of his life has followed his trade. He lias always been a prominent democrat, and taken an active part in local politics. He has served several terms as overseer of the poor. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is as energetic in the discharge of the duties incumbent upon him as a member of the churchı, as he is in the transaction of his business affairs. He married Salome King, daughter of Henry King, of Kittanning, by whom he had seven children : H. D., a carpenter of Pittsburgh ; J. H., who is in the railway service; P. S., of Apollo; Kate, Hannalı, Eliza and Susie.

P. S. McMullen received a good education in the common schools of Westmoreland county, Salem academy and a seminary. He afterwards took a special course of training in polyteclı- nics in the Western University, of Allegheny city, Pa., in order to fit himself for liis voca- tion as an architect. He taught school seven terms, the last two terms, a teacher's select

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BIOGRAPHIES OF

school in Apollo. In 1886 he opened a store in Apollo for the sale of hardware and build- ers' supplies, in connection with which he runs a planing-mill, and has built up a good trade. In 1890 he was elected president of a company then organized as contractors and builders. He is also the architect for the company, and although this organization has just been com- pleted, they have already contracted to put up buildings which will cost forty thousand dollars. He is secretary of the National Saving and Loan association, of Apollo.

On July 5, 1887, he married Martha Wil- lard, a native of Westmoreland county. Their union has been blest with one child, a daughter: Beatrice.

For several years, Mr. McMullen has been actively and successfully engaged in his profes- sion as an architect. In the different buildings which he has planned, he has displayed fine taste, as well as artistic skill and good judgment.

ROBERT EMMETT MCCAULEY, M.D. One of the most useful and profound of human pursuits is the medical profession, and of Armstrong county's progressive and success- ful physicians, one is Dr. Robert Emmett McCauley, of Apollo. He was born in Wayne township, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1844, and is the seventh and young- est son of William and Patience (Smith) McCauley. William McCauley was a native of Ireland, where he learned the trade of brick- layer. He came in early life to Virginia, where he located at Petersburg, and in the course of a few years acquired quite a number of slaves and a considerable amount of prop- erty. He met with a reverse of fortune through some extensive contracts in which he was largely interested, and in order to retrieve his financial condition he came to Pennsyl- vania, where he eventually settled in Wayne township, this county. He was born in 1795

and died in 1865, when in the seventieth year of his age. He received a first-class education in one of the best schools of Ireland and although working continuously at bricklaying during his lifetime, yet always kept himself well informed upon all religious and political subjects of interest. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and in the field of politics was an ardent supporter of the prin- ciples and policy of the Republican party. He married Patience Smith, a granddaughter of Col. Richard Smith, a native of England, who was one of the first settlers of Long Island, New York. Mrs. McCauley was born in 1801 and passed away in December, 1889, when rap- idly nearing her eighty-ninth milestone on the pathway of life.

Robert E. McCauley was reared on a farm until he was ten years of age, when his par- ents removed to Kittanning, where he attended the academy of that place until he was eighteen years of age. In 1863, he enlisted in Co. C, Burdan's 2d United States Sharpshooters, and served two years. His company were sharpshooters, and he participated in the Wilderness fights, in one of which, on May 5, 1864, his brother Charles (Co. B, 105th Pa. Vols.) was killed. After passing safely through the terrific struggles of the Wilder- ness, he took part in the battles of Cold Harbor, Mine Run, Spottsylvania and the engagements in front of Petersburg. When the war closed he returned to Kittanning, resumed his literary studies and attended Dayton academy for one year. He then read medicine with Dr. Banks of Long Island, and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, from which he was graduated with high standing in the class of 1871. Immediately after gradu- ation he came to Apollo, where he opened an office, and has been actively, continuously and successfully engaged ever since in the practice of his profession.

January 11, 1872, he united in marriage with

Robh &Mcauley mo

Marília M Cauley.

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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

Mattie Carpenter, daughter of Samuel Carpen- ter, of Westmoreland county, Penna. To their union have been born five children: Patience, who died at the age of six years; Elizabeth, Mary Ivy, Roberta and William Wallace.

In politics he is a republican. He is presi- dent of the school board of his borough, for whose schools he has labored earnestly, faithfully and successfully. Dr. McCauley is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has been a past commander in that organization. He has always had the honor, welfare and use- fulness of his profession at heart, and has always given the closest of attention to the numerous cases of his practice. He is a mem- ber of the Armstrong County Medical society, and has always commanded the respect and good-will of the members of his profession. Dr. McCauley has ever been active in all move- ments for the improvement of his profession in the county, and has always endeavored to keep pace with the progress and development of medical science.

J TAMES D. McQUILKIN, of Scotch-Irish descent, and one of the well-known and highly respected citizens of Apollo, is a son of Daniel and Martha (Patterson) McQuilkin, and was born two miles from Delmont, in Saleni township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1823. The McQuilkins were originally from Scotland, but went over into the historic north of Ireland, and were among the sturdy Scotch-Irish who became early set- tlers of Westmoreland county. James McQuil- kin (grandfather) was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, came from Ireland to America in 1780, and settled in Salem township, Westmore- land county, at the head of Beaver run. He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian church, was one of the founders of the church of that denomination at Salem, and was largely instrumental in the formation of the congre-

gation and erection of the church edifice. He settled the estates of scores of the people, and for over a quarter of a century did the principal part of the conveyancing for that section of his county. He was a stanch democrat in politics, a stern presbyterian in religious faith, and a man whose public and private life was unsullied by a dislionorable act. He died in 1802. In 1780 he married Ann Robinson, who was born in the "Big Cove" of Pennsylvania. They had ten children. The third son, Daniel McQuil- kin (father), was born in 1787, and married Martha Patterson, daughter of Henry Patter- son, a native of Ireland, by whom he had seven children, three of whom are living: Jane, Martha N. and James D. He was a successful farmer, a strong democrat and a consistent mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, and died in 1831, in the forty-fifth year of his age.

James D. McQuilkin was born on the farm where his father died, and received a good edu- cation. He was successfully engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until March, 1875, when he sold his homestead farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres and came to Apollo. He is a fitting representative of that wonderful Scotch- Irish race known all over the world for its in- tegrity, thrift and uprightness. He possesses, seemingly, some of the power of Midas, of whom it is recorded in mythology that everything he touched turned to gold, and every enterprise in which he embarked was crowned with success.

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania, Part 55

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