Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 ed
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

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GENEALOGICAL

AND

PERSONAL HISTORY OF

BEAVER COUNTY

PENNSYLVANIA

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF

JOHN W. JORDAN, LL. D. Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME I

NEW YORK LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY

1914

Francis S. Reader.

FOREWORD

T HE present work, "Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania," presents in the aggregate an amount and variety of genealogical and personal information and portraiture unequaled by any kindred publication. No similar work concerning Beaver County Families has ever before been presented, and it contains a great amount of ancestral history never before printed. The object, clearly defined and well digested, is threefold:

First. To present in concise form the history of Beaver County Fam- ilies of the Colonial Days.

Second. To preserve a record of its prominent present-day people.

Third. To present through personal sketches the relation of its promi- nent families of all times to the growth, singular prosperity and widespread influence of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

There are numerous voluminous histories of the State. What has been published, however, relates principally to civic life. The amplification neces- sary to complete the picture, old and nowaday, covering Beaver County, is what is supplied by these Genealogical and Personal Memoirs. In other words, while others have written of "the times," this work is a chronicle of the people who have made this magnificent region what it is.

Unique in conception and treatment, this work constitutes one of the most original and permanently valuable contributions ever made to the social history of an American community. In it are arrayed in a lucid and dignified manner all the important facts regarding the ancestry, personal careers and matrimonial alliances of those who, in each succeeding genera- tion, have been accorded leading positions in social, professional and busi- ness life. It is not based upon, neither does it minister to, aristocratic prejudices and assumptions. On the contrary, its fundamental ideas are thoroughly American and democratic. The work everywhere conveys the lesson that distinction has been gained only by honorable public service, or by usefulness in private station, and that the development and prosperity of the region of which it treats have been dependent upon the character of its citizens, and in the stimulus which they have given to commerce, to indus- try, to the arts and sciences, to education and religion-to all that is com- prised in the highest civilization of the present day-through a continual progressive development.

The inspiration underlying the present work is a fervent appreciation of the truth so well expressed by Sir Walter Scott, that "there is no heroic

poem in the world but is at the bottom the life of a man." And with this goes a kindred truth, that to know a man, and rightly measure his character, and weigh his achievements, we must know whence he came, from what forebears he sprang. Truly as heroic poems have been written in human lives in the paths of peace as in the scarred roads of war. Such examples, in whatever line of endeavor, are of much worth as an incentive to those who come afterward, and as such were never so needful to be written of as in the present day, when pessimism, forgetful of the splendid lessons of the past, withholds its effort in the present, and views the future only with alarm.

Every community with such ample history, should see that it be worthily supplemented by such Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of its leading families and prominent citizens. And, it should be admitted, the undertaking possesses value of the highest importance-in its historic utility as a memorial of the development and progress of the community from its very founding, and in the personal interest which attaches to the record made by the individual. On both these accounts it will prove a highly useful con- tribution to literature, and a valuable legacy to future generations. Out of these considerations the authors and publishers have received encouragement and approval of authorities of the highest standing as genealogists, his- torians and litterateurs. In the production of this work, no pains have been spared to ensure absolute truth-that quality upon which its value in every feature depends. The material comprising the genealogical and personal records of the active living, as well as of the honored dead, have been gathered by men and women experienced in such work and acquainted with local history and ancestral families. These have appealed to the custodians of family records concerning the useful men of preceding generations, and of their descendants who have lived useful and honorable lives. Such cus- todians, who have availed themselves of this opportunity of having this knowledge placed in preservable and accessible form, have performed a pub- lic service in rendering honor to whom honor is due, and in inculcating the most valuable and enduring lessons of patriotism and good citizenship.

No other region in the United States presents a field of more peculiar interest for such research. Its history reaches back to the beginning days of the Nation. It is exceedingly rich in Indian antiquities, and here the abori- gines have left many of their most indelible marks. It was the scene of historic events during the French occupation, and here The Great Washing- ton, as a young man, came to take part in scenes which led to the French expulsion. The immigrant settlers in this region were of the best blood and sinew. They fought valiantly and endured the most dreadful privations in the early days, and later they were a part of the very backbone of the Patriot Army in the Revolution. Later yet, the sons of these worthy sires bore their full share in the maintenance of the Union, shedding their blood upon many a glorious field, including that of Gettysburg, in their own State, destined to form a brilliant page in the history of the Nation to the

end of time. The restoration of peace after the close of the Civil War witnessed a remarkable development, and has made this region one of the most wonderfully valuable in the whole land, its natural resources and the products of its labor entering into every phase of commercial and industrial life.

In the preparation of this work, the publishers have had cordial and intelligent assistance. Grateful acknowledgment is made to John W. Jordan, LL.D., librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; and also to Francis S. Reader, editor and proprietor of The Beaver Valley News, author of "Life of Moody and Sankey," "History of Fifth West Virginia Cavalry," "Some Pioneers of Washington County, Pennsylvania," "History of New Brighton, Pennsylvania," "History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania," "His- tory of Newspapers of Beaver County, Pennsylvania," "History of Schools of New Brighton, Pennsylvania."

In order to ensure greatest possible accuracy, all matter appearing in this work has been submitted in typewritten manuscript to its subscribers, for revision and correction.

THE PUBLISHERS.

BEAVER COUNTY

Francis Smith Reader, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, is READER the son of Francis Reader and Eleanor Bentley Smith, and comes of a long line of American ancestors. The earliest known of this family branch is of one Samuel Reader, who married Eliz- abeth, daughter of William Palmer, of the Ravenshaw estate, near Solihul, in Warwickshire, England. They moved to Houiley, where they had seven children. Of these, William, born November, 1752, married Mary White, of High Cross Rowington, in 1782, and in 1784 they moved to Houiley. They were F. S. Reader's grandparents, and had thirteen chil- dren. In 1804, William Reader determined to go to America, and he sold his farming stock by auction at Houiley, March 12-13, 1804. They left Liverpool, June 11, 1804, on the American ship "Washington," and reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 15, after a voyage of 65 days, a part of which was very stormy and dangerous. All the family came to America except the eldest son, William. The family remained in the neighborhood of Philadelphia for some weeks, and in the fall bought a wagon and some horses and started for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, undergoing the hardships incident to the traveling of that day, over the mountains and through the wilderness everywhere, happy in the thought of founding a home of their own among the people of the free and promising new country. At Pitts- burgh he made inquiries for land, and selected a farm on the Monongahela river, in Nottingham township, Washington county, Pennsylvania, Feb- ruary 1, 1805, containing 200 acres, for which he paid $8 an acre. In a letter to his son William, in London, he described its improvements as "a new house which cost $1,000, a barn, stable, and some other out-build- ings, and a whiskey distillery, which proved the ruin of the family that formerly owned it, for they all but two died for the love of it." One of their neighbors was John Holcroft, from Lancashire, England, a prominent figure in the "Whiskey Insurrection" in western Pennsylvania, and was reputed to be the notorious "Tom the Tinker" of that period. Charles Reader, one of the sons of William Reader, painted a portrait of Holcroft which is yet in existence. William Reader had great faith in Mr. Holcroft, and turned to him as the adviser of his family in his property interests, while he made a business trip to his old home in England, and some of their descendants intermarried. William Reader died in 1808, and the

PENNSYLVANIA

property passed to his widow and children. Francis Reader, eleventh son of William Reader, born September 23, 1798, was the father of Francis S. Reader.

F. S. Reader's ancestors on his mother's side were all early settlers of this country, antedating the Revolution in each case. The Scotts and Ag- news were Scotch-Irish, while the Smiths, Wallaces and Hopkinses were pure Scotch. The earliest settler in this country of all the families was Hugh Scott, who settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1670. Rebecca Scott, granddaughter of Hugh, married James Agnew as his second wife. James Agnew was born October, 1711, and settled in what is now Adams county, Pennsylvania, in 1734. He was a descendant of the old Agnew family, whose place was at Straurear, in the southwest part of Scotland, the history of which is given from A. D. 99. James and Rebecca Agnew had a family of nine children, of whom Anne, born October 3, 1753, be- came the wife of Rev. John Smith, May 12, 1772. Rev. John Smith was born in 1747, near Stirling, Scotland; was graduated at the University of Glasgow, studied theology with Prof. Moncrieff, and is believed to be a descendant of the convenanting martyr, Walter Smith, who suffered death in 1681. He was ordained in 1769 by the Associate Presbytery of Stirling, volunteered to go as a missionary to America, and became a member of the Pequea, Pennsylvania, Presbytery, June 4, 1771. He was installed May 6, 1772, pastor of the Middle Octoraro Church in Lancaster county, remain- ing there until 1796, when he was installed as pastor of the Chartiers As- sociate Church, Canonsburg, Washington county, Pennsylvania, remaining until 1802, after which he served for some time in Alexandria, Virginia, and later lived on a farm near Canonsburg, where he died, March 25, 1825. A church historian has said of him: "In mental force, in theological learn- ing and in pulpit power, Mr. Smith had few equals, and perhaps no su- periors, among all the ministers with whom he was ecclesiastically asso- ciated, and soon after the Union of 1782 he was designated by the Associate Reformed Synod as a suitable person to take oversight and instruction of its theological students." The Union of 1782 was that of the Associate (Seceders) Presbytery, and the Reformed (Covenanters) Presbytery of Pennsylvania, of which he was declared to be "one of the fathers" by the Associate Reformed Synod of America in 1838. Rev. John Smith and wife had nine children, of whom James Agnew Smith, born September 3, 1787, married Martha Wallace, daughter of Colonel William Wallace, September 7, 1809. They were the grandparents, on the mother's side, of Francis S. Reader.

Colonel William Wallace and wife, Elizabeth Hopkins Wallace, whose daughter Martha married James Agnew Smith, had a long line of ancestors in Maryland, who came from Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, Scotland. The first record of the Wallaces in Maryland was of one Matthew Wallace, who was granted a patent in 1694 for a tract of land in Somerset county, called Kirkminster. He had at least three sons, one of whom was attracted

BEAVER COUNTY

by the Scotch colony called "New Scotland," within the limits of the Dis- trict of Columbia, and settled there. The first mention of James Wallace in this section was August 8, 1710, and he is believed to be the father of James and William Wallace, who founded "Brothers Industry," a planta- tion of 1,429 acres, in Prince George county, in 1722. This tract lies back of Cabin John bridge, about two miles from where that famous creek enters the Potomac river. It is one of the traditions and family tenets of these Wallaces that they are descended from Sir Malcolm Wallace, the Knight of Elderslie, father of Sir William Wallace, the great Scotch pa- triot, through one of his other sons, of whom he had three, and the claim seems to be well founded, thus tracing the ancestry of the family to the early part of the twelfth century, when Richard, son of Galieus of Wales, known as "Richard the Welshman," went into Scotland and founded the family of Wallace, and is the progenitor of all the Wallaces in Scotland and Ireland, and their descendants in America and other lands. His first. grant of land was in Ayrshire, while his great-grandson, Sir Malcolm Wal- lace, was at Elderslie in Renfrewshire. It is from the Elderslie branch that the Wallaces of Virginia and Maryland claim descent.

James Wallace, of "Brothers Industry," married Mary Douglass, of Scotland, and they had five children. Their daughter Eleanor married John Hopkins, a Scotchman of the same county. They had eleven chil- dren, some of whom moved to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and be- came very prominent. Elizabeth, a daughter of John Hopkins, married William Wallace, son of William Wallace, brother of James Wallace. Thus it appears that William Wallace married the daughter of his cousin, Eleanor Wallace Hopkins. William Wallace and Elizabeth Hopkins were married in Montgomery county, Maryland, July 11, 1779, and soon after their marriage moved to what is now Somerset township, Washington county, Pennsylvania. They built a stone house about two miles from Bentleysville, in 1779 and 1780, which is yet standing, where their family of six children were born. Their youngest daughter, Martha, born September 5, 1788, married James Agnew Smith. Colonel Wallace owned several tracts of land in Somerset and Bethlehem townships, one called "Wallace's Industry," and another "Wallace's Bargain," over 1,700 acres in all. He also had a grist mill, was a planter and stock grower, and owned at one time four slaves, but never was a distiller. William Wallace was a soldier in the Re- volutionary war, serving in Captain Richard Smith's company of militia, for the service of the "Flying Camp," in Maryland, in the campaigns of General Washington in 1776-77, and perhaps later; and in the "Rangers of the Frontier" after moving to Washington county, Pennsylvania. After the Revolution he was a prominent figure in the militia of the state. In 1782 he was a private, in 1784 an ensign, and became colonel of militia in 1791 or 1792. His title of colonel was derived from this office in the militia, as he held no office in the Revolutionary army so far as is known. Colonel Wallace was prominent as a politician as well as a soldier. June 30, 1788,

PENNSYLVANIA

he was appointed Associate Judge in Washington county, by the Supreme Executive Council of the State, for the term of seven years; was elected fourth sheriff of the county, November 9, 1790, for three years; and was elected as a representative to the House of Representatives of the State, October 2, 1794, serving three terms. In the "Whiskey Insurrection" he was at a meeting held in Pittsburgh, August 27, 1792, and was appointed chairman of the committee on correspondence, but so far as the records show, took no offensive part in the movement. He was a stipend payer in Rev. John McMillan's Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church, and was a man of great influence in his day. The coat-of-arms of the Elderslie line of Wallaces is as follows, and it is practically the same as that adopted by the Wallaces of Virginia: "Az. a lion rampant arg. within a bordure, counter compony arg. and az .- crest, an ostrich holding in his beak a horseshoe ppr."

Francis Reader, son of William and Mary Reader, married (first) De- cember 25, 1832, Catherine James, daughter of William James, a Revolu- tionary soldier. They had two children, Samuel James Reader and Eliza Matilda Reader. The mother died May 19, 1836, and the children were left in care of her sister, Eliza James. Mr. James and his daughter and two children moved to Wellsburg, Virginia, in 1839, thence to La Harpe, Illinois, in 1841, and in May, 1855, removed to Indianola, Kansas, where they selected land. Eliza M. Reader, born December 15, 1833, was married to Dr. M. A. Campdoras, a French surgeon, February 22, 1858, and had the following children: Leon S., J. Katherine, Frank Reader, Virginia J., Grace R., Velleda M., and Irene M. He served in the Civil war as assistant surgeon of the Second Regiment, Indian Home Guards, and was wounded at the battle of Cane Hill, November 28, 1862. Samuel J. Reader, born January 25, 1836, married, December 17, 1867, Elizabeth E. Smith, of La Harpe, Illinois, and had three children-Ruth and Frederick A., deceased, and Elizabeth, born October 9, 1871. He was a private in Company G, Second Regiment, "Kansas Free State Army," during the "Border Ruf- fian War" in 1856, being with "Old John Brown" a short time. He par- ticipated in the battle of Hickory Point, Kansas, September 13, 1856, and the next day returned home. In the civil war he was second lieutenant of Company D, Second Regiment Kansas State Militia, and later quarter- master of the regiment. October 22, 1864, he was in the battle of Big Blue River, was captured, and escaped October 25. He retired from service October 30, 1864. Francis Reader married (second) January 10, 1842, Eleanor Bentley Smith, whose ancestors are briefly noticed in preceding pages. They settled in Greenfield, now Coal Center, Washington county, Pennsylvania, where they had three children-Francis Smith, born No- vember 17, 1842; Martha W., born October 22, 1844, and Eleanor M., born October 5, 1846. The mother died of typhoid fever February 8, 1847. She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. After the death of the mother, the children lived with their grandparents, James A. Smith and wife, and the father, with his sisters, Harriet and Martha

BEAVER COUNTY

Reader, lived on adjoining farms in Union township until his marriage with Mrs. William Duvall Jackman, January 8, 1849, when the family was re- united. The new mother was a noble woman and a true mother, but was called by death December 8, 1854.

Francis Reader was reared on his father's farm, and, in addition to the work of farming, he learned the trade of carpenter and millwright. Being of a studious turn of mind, and especially fond of mathematics, he applied himself to study and learned civil engineering. All his studying was done after the day's work, mastering the few books he could get pos- session of. After settling in Greenfield he followed his trade as carpenter for about twenty years. June 11, 1844, he was elected justice of the peace, an office he held for thirty-two years. When not employed at his trade he gave his time to surveying and the duties of justice, which included conveyancing in its different forms. He surveyed nearly all the coal mines in the neighborhood, many of the farms, and laid out the town of Newell, across the river from Greenfield, and his work was regarded as so correct that what he did was accepted as final and binding. On October 28, 1862, he was elected deputy surveyor general, now county surveyor, of Wash- ington county, though it was politically opposed to him, and served three years. In mental ability, strength of character, honesty of purpose, up- rightness of life and fairness to others, he was without a superior in the neighborhood, and he was freely consulted by his neighbors on all subjects, and had their full confidence. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church .and a prominent Mason. During the Civil war both of his sons and two of his sons-in-law served in the Union army. His daughter, Martha W. Reader, was married December 25, 1867, to William F. Morgan, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was born April 12, 1843, and was a member of pro- minent families of the Monongahela valley, a descendant of Colonel Ed- ward Cook, one of the most prominent men in Western Pennsylvania dur- ing the Revolutionary period. Mr. Morgan served in the Civil war in the Sixty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers until March 25, 1863, and re-enlisted August 9, 1863, in a Pennsylvania battery of light artillery, and served until the close of the war. He was an elder of the Presbyterian church, and a worker in the church and Sunday school. His wife was also a member. Both are deceased. They had the following children: Harry Reader, born January 11, 1869; Frank E., born March 28, 1871; Pearl A., born August 9, 1874; Katherine E., born May 18, 1879; Mary Eleanor, born April 29, 1885, and Grace H., born May 31, 1887, deceased. His other daughter, Eleanor M., was united in marriage with Rev. Oliver Gans Hertzog, October 28, 1869, who was born April 9, 1844, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. His ancestors on his father's side came from Holland to Maryland before the Revolution. On his mother's side he traces his an- cestry to George Baltzer Gans, who came from Germany to Philadelphia in 1719. Mr. Hertzog began teaching at twenty years of age, and was educated" at the State Normal School, California, Pennsylvania, and Be-

PENNSYLVANIA

thany College, West Virginia. He was baptized into the Baptist church at sixteen years of age, united with the Disciples of Christ at twenty-one, and entered upon the work of the ministry at twenty-five. He has served and built churches in many places in New York and Canada, and September 1, 1891, became financial secretary of Hiram College, Ohio, and resigned to work with the missionary board of the church, and later retired. Their children-Frances, born April 1, 1871; Fred Reader, born October 17, 1872; Oliver Russell, born June 4, 1884, and Eleanor May and Carl Wil- lard-died in infancy.

Francis S. Reader received his schooling in the public schools, and a short course in Mount Union College, Ohio, and a commercial course in Iron City College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His summers were generally spent with relatives in the country, and he worked some time with his father at the carpenter trade. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was clerk in a store and assistant postmaster of his native town. Preceding the war he was an interested listener to the arguments for and against slavery, and his sympathies were enlisted on the side of the Abolitionists. The feel- ing was intense, but he kept his counsel, determined to stand by his country.

When Fort Sumter was fired upon, he joined with his neighbors in forming a military company, which was organized April 27, 1861, but was not accepted by the state on account of the quota being filled. Governor Pierpont, of reorganized Virginia, asked this company to serve in his state, and the invitation was accepted, the company being mustered into the United States service July 10, 1861, at Wheeling, Virginia. Later it was sent to Beverly, Virginia, where it was designated as Company I, Second Virginia Infantry. The regiment retained this name until June, 1863, when it was mounted, and then named mounted infantry, and later the Fifth West Virginia Cavalry. As infantry the regiment served under General John C. Fremont in the Shenandoah Valley campaign against "Stonewall" Jackson, and under General John Pope in his campaign in Virginia, and other campaigns in Western Virginia. As cavalry it served under General William Averell in his famous campaigns in Western Virginia. In July, 1863, Francis S. Reader was detailed by special order to General Averell's headquarters, and in the spring of 1864 to General Franz Sigel's headquarters in the Shenandoah valley, and on the retirement of General Sigel was transferred to General David Hunter's headquarters, and was connected with the Assistant Provost Marshal's de- partment. He was captured in General Hunter's famous expedition to Lynchburg, Virginia, in June, 1864. His term of service having about ex- pired he, with others, was ordered to form the advance guard for a com- mand in charge of a wagon train returning to the Kanawha Valley. He and other comrades were cut off and captured June 20, 1864, near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and taken to Lynchburg, Virginia, where they were imprisoned in a tobacco warehouse. From here they were taken

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Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 ed Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 ed
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: