USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 76
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 76
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Engene L. Brown attended the public schools, Oakland academy and Clarion seminary, and then learned the trade of tinner at Putney ville. In May, 1882, he opened `a hardware store at Putneyville, but in November of the following year he embarked in the drug business with Dr. Klingensmith, under the firm-name of Brown & Klingensmith. In May, 1877, Dr. Klingensmith died, and Mr. Brown formed a partnership with Mr. D. I. Shick, which lasted until February, 1888, when they dissolved bus- iness. Since then Mr. Brown has continued in the drug business successfully up to the present time. He manufactures all kinds of handles, which he sells direct to the trade. He owned a printing establishment at one time and did a large amount of job work.
September 11, 1879, he married Nora Alva Putney, a daughter of Thompson Putney, of Put- neyville. To their union have been born four children, two sons and two daughters: Tillie H., Nellie A., Ralph E. and Lloyd O.
Eugene L. Brown is a republican in politics. He is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church of Putneyville, of which both he and his wife are esteemed members. He is a mem- ber of Lodge No. 735, Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Putneyville, and Lodge No. 245, Knights of Pythias, of which latter organ- ization he has been keeper of the records and seals since its organization in May, 1889.
SAMUEL CATHCART, of Mahoning 2 township, is one of the old and well-known citizens of northern Armstrong county. He is
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a son of Robert and Jane (Thom) Cathcart, and was born in Mahoning township, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1805. His father, Robert Cathcart, was born in Westmore- land county, about 1774, but in early life removed to Sugar Creek township, this county, and prior to 1805 came to Mahoning township, where he was engaged in farming until his death, in 1848, at seventy-four years of age. He was one of the first, if not the first, white settler in the township. He was an old-line whig, a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and married Jane Thom, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Craig) Thom. To Mr. and Mrs. Cathcart were born fourteen children. Mrs. Cathcart's father, Joseph Thom (maternal grand- father), was a native of county Down, Ireland, from whence he came to Pennsylvania and set- tled on Jacob's creek, Westmoreland county. In 1820 he went to the State of Indiana, where he afterwards died. He was a farmer by occu- pation, and a member of the Presbyterian church.
Samuel Cathcart was reared on his father's farm, received a good business education, and has been engaged in agricultural pursuits in Mahoning township ever since leaving school. He owns one hundred acres of good farming and grazing land, upon which he resides.
In February, 1832, he married Annie Reed. To Mr. and Mrs. Cathcart were born seven children : Robert, Jane, James, Joseph, Ma- tilda, Catherine and Margaret. After the death of Mrs. Cathcart, in 1848, Mr. Cath- cart united in marriage, December 7, 1848, with Mrs. Margaret J. Brown, a daughter of Moses McClain. To this second union have been born five children, of whom three are liv- ing: Sarah, Isabelle and Samuel B. One of Mr. Cathcart's sons by his first marriage, Robert Cathcart, enlisted in 1861 in Co. D, 103d regi- ment, Pa. Vols., and served until April 19, 1864, wlien he was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville, where he died on August 29,
1864, and his grave there bears the number 7176. His step-brother, William Scott Brown, enlisted in 1861 in Co. D, 103d regiment, Pa. Vols., served eight months, and died of measles at Yorktown. James I. Brown, wlio enlisted July, 4, 1861, in Co. D, 62d regiment, Pa. Vols., was wounded on the 13th of December, of the same year, at Fredericksburg and came home, but as soon as he recovered from his wound he served a short time in the Home guards, after which he enlisted, in January, 1864, in the 3d Pa. Heavy Artillery, and served until his death, January 27, 1865.
In politics Samuel Cathcart is a stanch re- publican, and has filled the office of constable of Mahoning township for six years, and filled other offices of profit and trust. Mr. Cathcart distinctly recollects seeing Indians near his father's farm when there where but three white families in Mahoning township-the Cathcarts, Blakeleys and Parkers.
J AMES FOWLER was one of the most useful citizens as well as one of the most successful business men of Armstrong county, and his death was sincerely mourned by the many poor, whom he had befriended, as well as the large circle of his friends and acquaint- ances. He was a son of John and Frances (Turner) Fowler, and was born in Parker township, Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1817. John Fowler was born in Bucks county, on the day when American Independence was declared, and came to Westmoreland county, where, in 1802, he married Margaret Carson, who died in 1803 and left one child. He was a carpenter and millwright and removed from Westmore- land to Butler county, where, in 1807, he mar- ried Frances Turner and reared a family of six children, of whom three were James, Sarah and Margaret C.
James Fowler was reared on the farm and obtained liis education in the schools of his
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
neighborhood, which at that day were far in- ferior to those of the present day. He learned the trade of carpenter and-cabinet-maker, which he followed for several years. In 1851 he came to Armstrong county, purchasing and settling upon tweuty-nine acres of rough, unimproved land in what is now Hovey township. This he cleared and brought into good condition, hand- ling some of the timber upon it (and much more besides) in a saw-mill, which he put up iu 1852, and which he operated for six years. In 1859 he weut across the Allegheny and leased a hotel at Foxburg, which he carried on for seven years. In the mean time it had beeu found that the lands in the northwestern part of Armstrong county were valuable oil territory, and he sold his hotel lease and began leasing his land in small parcels to the operators who thronged into the country. Soon some test wells were put down and petroleum found in abundauce. He received from one-sixth to one- quarter of the oil produced upon his land as royalty, and it was only a comparatively short time before he had $40,000 in the bank as a re- sult. Not long afterward he and the Messrs. Fox, of Foxburg, established the ferry at that place, which proved a profitable investment. The amount of travel, however, became so great that an iron bridge was thrown across the river to accommodate it, and in this he invested about twenty thousand dollars. He retained his interest in this until it was sold to the railroad company. Mr. Fowler had, in addition to the place where he resided, a good farm of about a hundred and twenty-eight acres in Kittanuing township, a farm in Plum Creek township, and a valuable property at Manorville. He ranked among the most enterprising citizens of the county, was a mau of large usefulness to the people amoug whom he lived and his friendly and kindly disposition made him generally esteemed.
On February 22, 1844, he united in marriage with Anu L. Leonard. To their union were
born six children, of whom four lived to maturity : Marion L., Charlotte A., who mar- ried Phillip Foust, of St. Petersburg, Clarion county, and died in August, 1888, aged forty- two years; James T., married to Hanuah E. Roof and resides on the home farm; and Nelson M., who married Jennie R. Reed and lives near Manorville, where he owns and con- ducts a drug store. Mrs. Fowler is an amiable and pleasant woman, has been a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years and resides upon the home farm.
James Fowler was a republican and an earu- est member of the M. E. church. In 1876 he was stricken down with a paralytic stroke, from which he never recovered, and on April 18, 1886, his spirit passed from earth. His remains lie entombed in a beautiful cemetery, but his life-work will long be remembered in his com- munity, where he labored successfully for the benefit of his fellow-citizens, as well as for his own interests.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH K. HAMILTON, a , resident of New Bethlehem and a leading and influential citizen of Mahoning township, is a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Brunton) Ham- ilton, and was born in Mifflin township, Alle- gheny county, Penusylvania, July 7, 1817. James Hamilton (grandfather), was a native of Ireland, and lived and died in the laud of his birth. One of his sons, Samuel Hamilton (father), learned the trade of cabinet-maker and emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania, where he settled in Mifflin township, Allegheny county. He purchased a farm of three hundred acres of land, and gave his entire attentiou to farming. He cut timber and built a grist and saw-mill, which he run for several years. He then turned his attention again to agricultural pursuits, which he followed until his death, which occurred in 1848, when he was in the
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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
seventy-sixth year of his age. He was a whig and afterwards a republican, and was for a number of years justice of the peace for Mifflin township. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church, with which he had united in Ireland. His first wife either died at sea or soon after arriving in America, and left three children. Mr. Hamilton married for his second wife Rebecca Brunton, and to their union were born six children, five sons and one daughter.
Joseph K. Hamilton was reared on a farm, and after receiving a common-school education worked on his father's farm until April 1, 1855, when he removed to Mahoning township, where he purchased his present farm of two hundred and fifty acres of land, which he cultivated un- til the fall of 1890, when he retired from active life. Since then he has resided in a comfortable and pleasant residence, which he built at New Bethlehem. On November 13, 1861, he en- listed in Co. D, 103d regiment, Pa. Vols., of which he was elected captain. His twin sons, Samuel and John, enlisted as privates in the same company. The captain and both his sons were taken down, at Yorktown, Va., with fever, of which Samuel died June 1, 1862. Captain Hamilton was compelled to resign on April 9, 1862, on account of physical disability resulting from his attack of fever.
On March 4, 1841, Captain Hamilton mar- ried Eliza Eyman, of Mifflin township, Alle- gheny county, Pa., and to their union were born twelve children, of whom only two sons and two daughters are living. After the death of Mrs. Hamilton, on May 28, 1881, he mar- ried on March 16, 1883, for his second wife, Mrs. Catherine Ridgeway, a daughter of Joseph Hines, of Clarion county. She was one of thirteen children, and one of her brothers, John, enlisted in 1861, in Co. E, 62d regiment, Pa. Vols., was wounded at Hatcher's run, and again at Gettysburg, where he was cap- tured by the Confederates, but re-captured by
the Union forces before he had been taken from the battle-field. By her first husband, Mrs. Catherine Hamilton had seven cliil- dren, five sons and two daughters : Clarissa A., wife of W. M. Cribbs, of Du Bois; John (deceased ; M. E. Ridgeway living at Drift- wood, Pa .; Cassius (deceased); Frankie (de- ceased); Ida, wife of Harvey Kuntzelma; and Joseph (deceased).
Captain Joseph K. Hamilton was a whig until 1856, when he became one of the first re- publicans in the county. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, of which he has served as clerk. He has always been industrious, prominent and successful in whatever business he has been engaged and now enjoys the fruits of his many years of honest toil.
PETER C. HETRICK. The lumber business is an important industry, and among the leading lumber manufacturers in the northern part of the county is Peter C. Hetrick, of Put- neyville. He is a son of John and Catharine (Reedy) Hetrick, and was born in Mahoning township, Armstrong county, Pa., February 15, 1840. Nicholas Hetrick (grandfather) was a native of Germany, from which he emigrated to Pennsylvania and settled, first at German- town, but afterwards removed to Bellefonte. He remained there a short time and then came to the site of Dublin in Mahoning township. He made the latter part of the trip in a canoe. At Dublin he and his family cleared a tract of land and met with many adventures with bears and other wild animals. They had for their nearest neighbor Philip Shoemaker, who lived near the site of Oakland. He afterwards removed to the mouth of Red Bank creek, where he died. He had four children by his first wife, and married for his second wife a Miss Nolf, by whom he had five children, three sons and two daughters. He was a member of
34
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
the Lutheran church, and one of his sons, John Hetrick (father), was born in 1813 near Caldwell furnace, where he followed farming for many years. He now resides at Oakland. He is a republican in politics, and a member of the German Baptist church. He married Cath- erine Reedy, a daughter of John Reedy, a farmer of Armstrong county, who lived and died near Goheenville, where he was a member of the Lutheran church, and where he reared a large family. To Mr. and Mrs. Hetrick were born thirteen children, nine of whom are still living, and two of whom, Peter C. and Joseph, served in the late civil war. Joseph enlisted in 1863 in Co. M, 14th Pa. Cavalry, served till the end of the war and participated with his regiment in Sheridan's campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley. After the death of Mrs. Hetrick, Mr. Hetrick married Mrs. Catharine (Rhodes) Anthony, and to this second union have been born four children, all of whom are living.
Peter C. Hetrick received a common-school education, and learned the trade of carpenter. For several years he engaged in lumbering, and about the year 1873 he built a saw-mill, run by water-power, on Price's run. In 1875 he sold this mill and purchased a portable saw- mill, which he operated from Red Bank town- ship to Furnace Hollow, near where, in 1877, the mill and lumber-yard were burned, thereby causing him a loss of some five thousand dol- lars. He then moved to Putneyville and pur- chased another portable saw-mill, whichi he operated until lie was again burned out in 1884. By the second fire he lost some eight thousand dollars. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. K, 155th regt., Pa. Vols. (Zouaves), and served till the close of the war, participating in the battles of Antietam, second battle of Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Raccoon Fording, and the battles of the Wil- derness, in one of which he was captured by the Confederates and sent to Andersonville,
where he suffered all the privations of prison- life until he was exchanged.
On March 19, 1868, he married Maria Shoe- maker, daughter of Jessie Shoemaker. They have three children : Carrie, Clodie and Jennie.
Peter C. Hetrick is a reliable citizen and a member of the German Baptist church.
TOSEPH W. JAMES, M.D., the inventor and manufacturer of James' widely-known and standard proprietary medicines, and a practicing physician at Brady's Bend, is a son of James and Agnes (Williamson) James, and was born at Aaronsburg, Haines township, Centre county, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1826. His father, James James, was born in Delaware in 1784, was a merchant at Millheim, in Centre county, for some time, and removed to this county in 1837. He attended the Presbyterian church, and in politics was a democrat. He died December 7th, 1854, aged seventy years. In 1825 he married Agnes Williamson, a daughter of John Williamson, of Salina, Cen- tre county, Pa., and they had five children : Dr. Joseph W., Robert M., born in 1829, and an oil producer and insurance broker, who married Susan Kirkpatrick, of Westmoreland county, a sister of Judge Kirkpatrick, of Pitts- burgh ; Elizabeth, born in 1832, and wife of Dr. T. C. McCulloch, of Oil City, Pa .; Barbara J., born in 1835, and married Dr. S. B. Van Valzah, of Durand, Ill. ; and Samuel C., who was born in 1838 and died in 1844.
Dr. Joseph W. James was reared in Centre and Armstrong counties, and received his edu- cation in the schools of Millheim in the former, and of Freeport in the latter county. Leaving school, he was engaged in teaching at Freeport for three years, and then worked for several months on the daily Sun, of Pittsburgh. In 1842 he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. T. B. Williamson, but completed his course of reading with Dr. David Alter. He
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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
attended lectures at Jefferson Medical college and Pennsylvania Medical college, in the years 1846 and 1847. He then returned to Freeport, and in the spring of 1847 com- menced the practice of his profession at Brady's Bend. In March, 1851, he went to California and became connected with the " Mokelumne Hill mine company," in which venture he was pecuniarily successful. He returned to Brady's Bend the following year and resumed the prac- tice of medicine, which he has pursued success- fully ever since. He is the inventor, proprietor and manufacturer of " James' Stillingine and Sarsaparilla," "James' Cherry Tar Syrup," "James' Hair Tonic," " James' Soothing Syrup Cordial," " James' Rheumatic Linament," and " James' Liver Pills."
On October 13, 1853, he married Margaret Templeton, daughter of William Templeton, of Greenville, Mercer county, Pa. To their union have been born five children : Ida, born July 18, 1854, and wife of C. H. Shepley, a drug- gist of Blairsville, Pa. ; Dr. W. D., of Chicago, who was born September 13, 1856, was grad- uated from the University of Maryland and married Olive Abrams, daughter of James Abrams, of Rimersburg, Pa .; Robert C., born September 15, 1859, employed by the Standard Oil company of Chicago, and married to Laura Hershberger, of Johnstown, Pa., Emma E., born July 27, 1862, and wife of J. V. Sloan, a Harvard law student; and Edwin C., born January 28, 1867.
Dr. Joseph W. James is a republican in pol- itics. He is a member of Lockard Lodge, No. 1534, Knights of Honor, and a member and trustee of the Presbyterian church at Brady's Bend. He has been engaged to some extent in oil operations, and was the pioneer in the Millerstown region, but for the last few years has given his time and attention to the practice of his profession, and the introduction of his remedies, which are sold largely throughout Pennsylvania and in adjoining States.
R
DICHARD JENNINGS, the present burgess
of Queenstown, is one of those who have been closely identified with the oil production of Pennsylvania for the last two decades. He is a son of Edward and Jenifer (Gundry) Jen- nings, and was born in Cornwall, England, De- cember 23, 1819. One hundred and twenty years before the Christian era a wheel driven by a jet of steam, revolved in Egypt's mighty capital, and more than nineteen succeeding cen- turies were numbered in the flight of time be- fore this whirling toy upon the banks of the dark Nile developed into the mighty steam-en- gine of modern civilization, under the hands of Boulton and Watt. Both desired to have their first low-pressure engine built; they naturally sought for one of the best mechanics of the age, and employed John Jennings, the paternal grand- father of Richard Jennings. John Jennings was born in Sussex county, England. He was a member of the Church of England, and mar- ried Mary Newlan. They had seven children, three sons and four daughters. The sons were: John, Edward and Thomas. Their second son, Capt. Edward Jennings (father of Richard Jen- nings), was born in Cornwall, England, in 1774, and was killed in April, 1820, by the breaking of a rope in a mine of which he was superin- tendent at the time. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in 1801 mar- ried Jenifer Gundry, a daughter of Henry and Mary Gundry. To Mr. and Mrs. Jennings were born nine children, four sons and five daughters, of whom three are still living. Henry Gundry (maternal grandfather) was born in Cornwall, England, about 1740, and died in 1819. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and married Mary Ivy, by whom he had eight children, two sons and six daughters.
Richard Jennings was reared in Cornwall and attended the excellent private schools of that place. He commenced life for himself as a miner and rose successively from position to
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
position in the mines until he became general mine superintendent. In 1841 he located at Brady's Bend, where he remained until 1868, when he came to Queenstown. For the last twenty years he has been one of the prominent oil producers of Pennsylvania.
In November, 1849, he married Annie Evans, who died in August, 1850, and in April, 1851, he married for his second wife, Catherine Evans, who was born at Merthyr Tydvill, Wales, May 19, 1831. To this second union were born eleven children : E. H., born August 10, 1852, and now an oil producer in Allegheny county ; Annie, born January 23, 1854, and wife of N. F. Sloan, of Pittsburgh ; Mary C., born April 9, 1857, and married Charles Grif- fith, of Johnstown, Pa .; John E., born December 29, 1859, and died April 15, 1860 ; Richard M., born September 10, 1861, and now an oil producer of Bradford, Pa .; John G., born July 28, 1864, and now an oil producer at Butler ; Jenifer G., born September 21, 1868 ; Sarah E., born October 8, 1870; Laura J., born April 11, 1873, and Evan D., who was born August 8, 1877.
Richard Jennings is a member of Kittanning Lodge, No. 244, F. and A. M., and a member and vestryman of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is a democrat in politics and was elected burgess of Queenstown in 1880. Mr. Jennings is well-informed on the leading industries of the day and liis life has been one of activity and success in the business world.
NICHOLAS KEENER, an enterprising and successful farmer and butcher of Brady's Bend, is a son of Sebastian and Mary Keener, and was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1844. His father, Sebastian Keener, was born in Ger- many about 1808, and emigrated from the Fatherland to the United States and settled at Mount Oliver, in Pittsburgh, where he followed coal-mining for some years and then engaged
successfully in buying and selling stock. He was a member of the Catholic church at Pitts- burgh, when he died in 1853. He married and had four children, three sons and one daughter : Catherine, who was born in 1840, and is the wife of Charles Sellers, a glass-blower of South Side, Pittsburgh ; Philip, born in 1842, and now an iron-worker at South Side ; Nicholas, and John, who was born in 1846, and is now engaged in the butchering and grocery business at New Bethlehem, Pa.
Nicholas Keener attended the public schools of Pittsburgh, and in 1862 removed to Brady's Bend, where he has since followed successfully the butchering business. He is also engaged in farming. He owns and cultivates thirty acres of land in Brady's Bend township and two hundred acres of land in Sugar Creek township. He enlisted in a regiment of Pa. Vols. and served three months.
February 12, 1867, he married Catherine Uhl, daughter of Augustus Uhl, a mine-over- seer of Brady's Bend. To this union have been born eleven children, five sons and six daugh- ters : an infant, born December 6, 1867, and died in early infancy ; Mary A., born December 25, 1868 ; Augustus, born January 18, 1871 ; Frank, born January 22, 1873; Nicholas, Jr., born January 31, 1875; Daniel, born April 18, 1877; Ella, born May 8, 1879; Maggie, born September 22, 1881; Catherine, born Decem- ber 1, 1883; Philip, born April 10, 1885, and Annie, born November 6, 1888.
Nicholas Keener is a member of St. Patrick's Catholic church at Brady's Bend, and is an un- compromising democrat. Mr. Keener's excellent judgment of weights and measures accounts for some of his success in the cattle and butchering business. He has strength of purpose and keen perception, and has never been led into vision- ary or impracticable business projects. He has always been fortunate in his investments in property, and has acquired a competency by in- dustry and economy.
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ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
SIMON NOLF, a comfortably situated farm- er of Mahoning township, is one of the veterans who fought on Lookout mountain amid the clouds and under Thomas when he crushed Hood. He is a son of Casper and Eve (Hetrick) Nolf, and was born in what was then Red Bank township, Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania, April 4th, 1826. His paternal grand- father, Nolf, was born in Germany. He canie to the eastern part of Pennsylvania, from whence he removed to Red Bank township, where he was engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1830 or 1840, when he attained the advanced age of one hundred and three years. He was a Lutheran and a demo- crat. Casper Nolf (father) was born in eastern Pennsylvania and removed to Clarion county, where, after a stay of some time, he left to come to Mahoning township. He was there engaged in farming until his death, in 1863, at ninety- two years of age. He was a democrat, and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He married Eve Hetrick, whose father was a native of Germany and passed the greater part of his life as a soldier. He first served in the German army and after being discharged from the troop in which he was a private, he came to Pennsylvania, where he enlisted in the Ameri- can army, in which he served until the close. of the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Nolf were the parents of nine children.
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