USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume III > Part 13
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He married, February 14, 1907, Mabel S. Loudon, a native of Juniata county, and a daughter of James Loudon (see Loudon, this work ). Mr McMeen has three children: Ruth Loudon, Naomi Ray, and Pauline Ida.
Samuel Watts, father of Mrs. James Nelson McMeen, and his wife, Mary Ann Kauffman, were probably natives of Greenwood township, and moved to Lost Creek soon after marriage. They were among the prosperous and substantial families of the township. Children: 1. Cath- erine S., married James Nelson McMeen (see McMeen V). 2. Lizzie, died in infancy. 3. Calvin Blythe. 4. Wesley W. 5. Samuel D. 6. Addison. The family is widely scattered over the United States and also appears in Canada.
The Peightal family, of Pennsylvania, of which PEIGHTAL James Peightal, of McConnellstown, Huntingdon county, is a member, has been resident in the state for a number of generations, and have borne their share bravely in the upbuilding of its prosperity.
(I) John Peightal came from Berks county, Pennsylvania, with his family, about 1822, and settled near Grafton, Huntingdon county, Penn- sylvania, where he bought a considerable amount of land. In those early days traveling was done by wagon, and the journey was a long and fatiguing one. He engaged in farming, and also opened and con- ducted a hotel, which was considered a very fine one for those days. He was still very young when he died, his death being the result of in- juries he had received at a barn raising. He married Sarah -- , who
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died shortly after their arrival in Huntingdon county. They had four sons and two daughters.
(II) Samuel, son of John and Sarah Peightal, was born in Berks county, and came to Huntingdon with his parents. He married Mar- garet Fink, a daughter of Valentine and Elizabeth (Fuke) Fink, who came to this country in the early thirties and settled at Yellow Creek, Bedford county, Pennsylvania. They had children: Elizabeth, mar- ried Andrew Smith; Margaret, married Mr. Peightal; Sarah, married Daniel Grove; John, was murdered in 1869; Isaac, lived to an advanced age; Henry, reached old age in Walker township; Samuel, died in McConnellstown. Mr. and Mrs. Peightal had children: Sarah, mar- ried William Kyper; John F., died in Nashville, Tennessee, of disease contracted while in service as a member of Company K, 78th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry ; James, see forward; Calvin, of Hunt- ingdon; I. N., of Greencastle; H. R., of McConnellstown; Elizabeth, married Thomas Davis; Mary E., married J. W. Loyd; Maggie, mar- ried John S. Loyd, of Walker township; W. M., a merchant of McCon- nellstown.
(III) James, son of Samuel and Margaret (Fink) Peightal, was born in Woodcock Valley, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1847. He was edu- cated in the district schools near his place of residence and, at the age of seventeen years, enlisted in the Union army, in August, 1864, in Com- pany H, 208th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged June 1, 1865. He engaged in general farming in Walker township, and removed to McConnellstown in 1892, where he is still active in the same occupation. His political opinions are inde- pendent as far as local matters are concerned, but Republican in what- ever concerns the national situation. For a period of twenty-five years he has served as a justice of the peace, and has also held a number of minor offices. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows of Huntingdon, of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, of McCon- nellstown, and of the Grand Army of the Republic.
He married, November 29, 1870, Sarah A. Flenner, of Indiana county, and had children : Elsie, married C. A. Shock; Ira S., in the banking business at Leslie, Missouri; J. C., is a banker of Seymour, Missouri; Stewart, died at the age of eighteen years; Marjorie, died in her third year.
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The Wolfe family, of Pennsylvania, is of direct German WOLFE origin, and is probably connected with the famous Ger- man family of the same name in Heidelberg, from which have descended so many illustrious men. The first of the Wolfe family came from the Fatherland in 1771, and located in Berks county, Penn- sylvania, Tulpehocken township. At the call to arms to fight the English, in 1776, he was among the first to enlist. He was of vast assistance to his different commanders in interpreting for them and the Hessian soldiers who had been sent by the king of England against the Colonials. After the war of the revolution was over he returned to Pennsylvania and resumed farming. Among his children were: An- thony, of whom further; Leonard, moved to New York and there died ; a third son became a citizen of Baltimore, Maryland; and a fourth set- tled in Ohio, when that country was yet young.
(II) Anthony Wolfe, son of the German immigrant, was born in Soppota, Berks county, Pennsylvania, probably soon after the revolu- tionary war. He received such education as was obtainable at that time, but was taught German by his father. He became a farmer, took up much wild land, cleared and improved it, and was one of the wealthy men of his day. He settled in Center county, and there established Wolfe's store, known far and wide as the one place where all kinds of useful articles could be bought ; also operated a saw and grist mill. It more nearly approximated the present-day department store than any of its competitors, in that the line of goods carried were those in de- mand at that time. He also erected a mill, which proved a blessing, not only to himself, but to his neighbors, and people in adjoining counties. He was the parent of a large family, among them being Henry, Jacob, and John, of whom further.
(III) John, son of Anthony Wolfe, was born in Center county, Pennsylvania. He was reared on his father's farm in Center county, Pennsylvania. He became a farmer on reaching maturity, and lived in the county of his birth until his death. He was a Democrat, voting the ticket all of his life. He was also a member of the Lutheran church. He married Barbara Wise, the daughter of a neighboring farmer, also of German extraction. There were many children in the Wise family. but a brother. Thomas, is the only one of whom there is any definite knowledge. Children of John and Barbara (Wise) Wolfe: I.
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Samuel. 2. William. 3. Daniel. 4. Israel, of whom further. 5. Su- san (Mrs. Joseph Hoy), of State College. 6. John. 7. Elizabeth ( Mrs. Peck). 8. Allie (Mrs. Harvy Corman). 9. An infant, died soon after birth. 10. Frank, killed in the battle of Pool River, during the civil war. II. Charles.
(IV) Israel, son of John and Rebecca (Wise) Wolfe, was born February 12, 1831, in Center county, Pennsylvania, and died in 1907, at Madisonburg, Pennsylvania. He was one of the best educated men of his day, attending both public and private schools, and besides an English education he was also educated in German. He became a mer- chant tailor, which occupation he followed with great success during his active life at Madisonburg. He was a staunch Democrat, and held many elective offices in his township. He was a devout member of the Reform church, and was active in its support and upbuilding. He married Sophia Frazier, born January 24, 1833, in Center county, daughter of Jacob and Rebecca ( Bender) Frazier, residents of Center county many years, where he was a millwright. Children, besides Sophia: Sarah (Mrs. Blint) ; Susan (Mrs. George Frederick) ; Eliza- beth (Mrs. William Rockey), moved to Nora, Illinois; Daniel, a farmer in Center county, later moved west; William, a dealer in stock in Iowa; Lewis, a farmer in Iowa. Children of Israel and Sophia (Frazier) Wolfe: I. Emma, died, aged four years. 2. George, rural route agent at Spring Mills, Center county. 3. Lewis Elry, of whom further. 4. Thomas, deceased, was in employ of The Osborn Implement Company. 5. Anna B., married Charles Brown, of Center county, a blacksmith.
(V) Lewis Elry Wolfe, M. D., son of Israel and Sophia (Frazier) Wolfe, was born April 9, 1866, in Madisonburg, Center county, Penn- sylvania. He received a liberal education in the public schools of his native town, after which he matriculated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Maryland, graduating with distinction in 1891. He began the practice of medicine in Snyder county, Pennsyl- vania, remaining eighteen months. He was offered a lucrative practice in Millmont, Union county, Pennsylvania, where he stayed three years; after which time he was in Beavertown, Snyder county, with a year in Freeburg and two years in Lancaster county. He next located in Mar- klesburg, Huntingdon county, remaining there until the present time (1913). He ranks as one of the most expert surgeons in that section
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of the state, and one of the most careful and conscientious practitioners. He has built up a large and exceedingly lucrative practice, and is a part of the professional, social and religious life of Marklesburg. He was a Democrat until the question of free silver was injected into the party, when he became a Republican, holding what he deemed the public good was above all party lines. Since the organization of the Progressive party he has given to it his allegiance. He has held many local political offices, but has never sought or electioneered for them. He was for- merly a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was connected with the Knights of the Golden Eagle. He is a member of the county, state and national medical associations. His wife and elder children are members of the Lutheran church.
He married (first) in 1888, Alice Smull, born in Center county, Pennsylvania; died in 1905; married (second), in 1906, Grace Grove, of Marklesburg. Children by first marriage: 1. John, born in 1889; educated in the public schools ; attended the Valparaiso University ; after his vacation did not return to school, owing to an urgent offer of a posi- tion with the Huntingdon & Broad Top Railway Company ; after sever- ing his connection with the railway he accepted a position with the Western Union Telegraph Company, at Newark, New Jersey. 2. Blanche, born in 1892; educated in the public schools, graduated with honors in spring of 1913 from Millersville Normal School. 3. Charles, born in 1894; an employee of the Western Union Telegraph Company, at Newark, New Jersey. 4. Helen, born in 1897, at home. 5. Lewis, born in 1899, at home. Children by second marriage : 6. Mildred, born in 1907. '7. Benjamin, born 1909, died aged two weeks. 8. Evelyn, born 1912.
The ancestor of this branch of the Phillips family is PHILLIPS James Phillips, who came to Virginia early in the eighteenth century from the south of Wales. He mar- ried a Miss Griffin and settled in the county of Stafford.
(II) William, only son of James Phillips, was born in Stafford county, Virginia, in 1746, and died about the year 1800. He married Elizabeth Fowke, who bore him twelve children, many of them living to old age.
(III) John Hilton Phillips, son of William Phillips, was born in
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Alexandria, Virginia, in 1797, died in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in 1840. He was a man of good education, and was an expert carpen- ter and cabinetmaker. He came to Pennsylvania when young, settling first in York county, where he married, then lived in Middletown until 1839, when he moved to Huntingdon county, settling at Alexandria, where he died two years later. He taught school during his latter years and was so engaged at the time of his death in Alexandria. He was a Democrat in politics, and a man of influence in his different homes. He married Mary Ann Shope, born in York county, Pennsylvania, January I, 1805, who survived him and married (second) James Ross of Ebens- burg, Pennsylvania : she died December 31, 1886.
(IV) William Malcolm, only child of John Hilton and Mary Ann (Shope) Phillips, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1826. He was educated in the public schools of Middletown, Pennsylvania, and at the age of thirteen years accompanied his parents to Alexandria, Huntingdon county, where his father died two years later. He worked at different employments, obtaining a good business training, and about 1845 started a small confectionery store in Alexandria, which he con- ducted a few years, then purchased a tannery, which he also operated as successfully. He continued both store and tannery, and as prosperity came he added a line of jewelry and enlarged the store. In 1861 he built a large store building, which he opened as a general store, and suc- cessfully conducted until 1895, when he retired to a well-earned com- petency. At this time he was one of the oldest merchants in the town, having been in continuous business for half a century. During those years and since his retirement he has been actively interested in many enterprises, but perhaps his closest connection has been with the First National Bank of Huntingdon, of which he has been a director for thir- ty-two years, or since its organization as a national bank. He also served many years as vice-president and on the death of its president, William Dorris, he was elected to succeed him as president, an office he now holds. He is a wise, conservative banker, and as a business man has been enterprising. upright and successful. He is held in high esteem in the town which has been his home since boyhood and where his life has ever been known to all men. He has also stood for upright- ness in business, as well as private life, while his hand has ever been extended to help the less fortunate. He was strongly opposed to sla-
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very, and warmly supported the Union cause during the civil war. He was a Republican for many years, then transferred his allegiance to the Prohibition party, taking an active interest in both. He was the Pro- hibition candidate for associate judge of Huntingdon county, and has in every way used his best efforts in behalf of the cause of legal prohi- bition of the liquor traffic. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, as was also his wife.
Mr. Phillips married, November 20, 1849, Susan Moore, who died April 4, 1897, aged sixty-nine years, daughter of Major William Moore, an old resident of Alexandria. Children: 1. Anne M., born October 25, 1850, died September 13, 1911; married Samuel Hatfield; no chil- dren. 2. Mary, born August 10, 1852, died November 10, 1911 ; mar- ried James Dysart ; children : Paul and Susan. 3. John, born May 3, 1854; married Eliza Bucher ; children: Walter, Susan, George Irvin, Marion, John (deceased), Eliza, William C. and David. 4. William Moore, born February 7, 1857, died 1873. 5. Caroline, born January 27, 1859; married John L. Porter, and resides in Tyrone, Pennsyl- vania ; one child, Susan, deceased. 6. George, born November 14, 1860, died June 7, 1899, at Boulder Springs, Montana ; married Susan Bu- cher; children: William M. and Robert S. 7. Charles, born June 5, 1865; now a salesman, residing at Tyrone; married Nora De Long; they have one child, Harry M.
The founder of the American branch of the Knode fam- KNODE ily, of Pennsylvania, was born in Germany, but was of Swiss descent. He emigrated to Maryland, where he set- tled, lived and died. He was a farmer, and gave attention to stock raising, and it was he who first imported Swiss cattle into this country. He was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. Among his children was Jacob, of whom further.
(II) Jacob Knode, son of the German-Swiss emigrant, was born in Maryland, on his father's extensive plantation. He was probably edu- cated in Maryland, though it was the custom before and after the revo- lutionary war to send the children back to the Fatherland of their parents to acquire learning. He was a farmer, married in Maryland, and lived and died there. Among his children was Henry, of whom further.
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(III) Henry, son of Jacob Knode, was born in Washington county, Maryland. He was a farmer, like his forbears. He moved, in Septem- ber, 1810, to Porter township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and here died. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served as lieuten- ant. On his nine hundred acres of land in Huntingdon county he raised all kinds of farm products. He also devoted a part of his time to stock, of which he made an unqualified success. He was a Democrat during his younger days, but voted the Republican ticket after the organization of that party. He erected a barn in 1825 on his place, which is still standing. He was one of the progressive men of his day. He was ex- ceedingly loyal to the Union, and at the outbreak of the civil war he saw many of his descendants enlist. He married Mary Huyett, of Mary- land, of German descent. Both lived to be very old, he dying at the age of eighty-seven years, in Porter township. Children: Lewis, of whom further ; and Daniel P., Jacob, Joseph, William, and daughters Maria and Amelia.
(IV) Lewis, son of Henry and Mary (Huyett) Knode, was born in Washington county, Maryland, in 1810, and moved with his parents when quite young to Porter township, Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania. He was educated in the common schools of the township. He purchased a portion of the Knode estate, and later acquired the rest. He has remained a farmer all of his life, devoting his time to tilling the soil and raising stock. At the time of his death he resided in Hartslog Valley.
He married Sarah Roller, born in 1818, near Spruce Creek, in Canoe Valley, Huntingdon county. Children : I. Mary Jane, now Mrs. Neff. 2. Anna M. 3. Calvin. 4. Roller, deceased. 5. Lewis Good, of whom further. 6. Jacob N. 7. Amelia, deceased.
(V) Lewis Good Knode, son of Lewis Henry and Sarah ( Roller) Knode, was born November 19, 1849, in Hartslog Valley, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. He received his preparatory education in the public schools, and then attended a preparatory school. Finishing his course, he taught three terms successfully, but, preferring a less sedentary life, he engaged in farming. He purchased land, and now has one hundred and ten acres of highly fertile cleared land on which he farms and raises Polled cattle, Cotswold sheep, Berkshire hogs and Percheron horses. He is one of the advanced farmers in his district, progres-
Leurs G. Kmode
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sive and up-to-date. He voted the Republican ticket until recently, when he became a Progressive.
He married, in 1887, Ada Work, who died December 24, 1899: married ( second) Ellen Miller, in May, 1904; she died in February, 1906. Children by first marriage: Allen; Harry, at home.
The Hoover family, of Huntingdon county, Pennsyl-
HOOVER vania, is of direct German descent. The immigrant progenitor came with a group of Palatines about 1760. Landing in Philadelphia, they made their way into the interior, and there at once began to contribute to the wealth of the province of Penn- sylvania by becoming farmers. Hoover most probably located in what is now known as Huntingdon county, as the family has lived in that vicinity for generations. Among his descendants was Ludwig, of whom further.
(I) Ludwig Hoover, the first of whom there is any definite knowl- edge, was born on the Hoover farm, near Grafton, Penn township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and there lived and died. It was a large and fertile place, and, with the aid of his numerous sons he did general farming. He was a Democrat when that party was in the zenith of its political power. He and his family were members of the Lutheran church, many of the latter in time becoming adherents of the Reformed church. He married twice; by the first marriage there were four children, while by the last the issue was three children. Among the children of the first marriage was Jacob G., of whom fur- ther mention follows.
(II) Jacob G., son of Ludwig Hoover, was born in 1831, in the Hoover homestead, near Grafton, Huntingdon county. He received a limited education in the common schools of Penn township, Hunt- ingdon county, and was reared on the farm, remaining a farmer all of his life. He was one of the able men of his township, and greatly respected. He was a Democrat by conviction, voted with and worked indefatigably for the party. At one time he was supervisor, in which capacity he gave the utmost satisfaction to the township. He and his family were members of the Reformed church, in which he was an active participant. He married Antha Ellen Black, born in 1841, near Broad Top City, Pennsylvania. Like her husband she was reared on
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a farm, and descended from an old and important family in that sec- tion. Children: Henry; George, of whom further; Joseph, Lewis, El- mer, Anna, Orbison, Alice, Oscar, Elizabeth and Frederick.
(III) George Hoover, son of Jacob G. and Antha Ellen (Black) Hoover, was born February 26, 1863, on the Hoover homestead, in Penn township, near Grafton, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. He received his mental training in the township schools, and was reared on the farm. On reaching maturity he entered the lumber business, which he pursued with great success until his retirement five years ago from active participation in it. He is a strong Democrat, support- ing that party and its principles in every manner whatsoever. He is one of the representative, progressive citizens of Grafton, and is held in high regard.
"A truly great life," says Webster, "when Heaven
LOWRIE vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a temporary flame, burning bright for a while and then expiring, giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with power to enkindle the mass of human mind ; so that, when it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire, from the potent contact of its own spirit." A truly great life, lived in the unconsciousness of true nobility, was that of J. Roberts Lowrie, for many years a prominent business man and an honored citizen of Warriors Mark, Pennsylvania, where his demise occurred December 10, 1885, at the age of sixty-three years.
The founder of the Lowrie family in America was John Lowrie, a native of Scotland, whence he emigrated to Pennsylvania in the pioneer period of this commonwealth. He settled in Sinking Valley, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and there was engaged in farming and milling enterprises for a number of years, eventually removing to Butler county, where he passed to eternal rest. He had a sturdy con- stitution and a Godly heritage to give his children. Prior to coming to America he married Amelia Cameron, of the clan Cameron, in Scot- land, and several children were born to this union, among them being three sons, namely: Matthew, at one time mayor of Pittsburgh; Wal- ter, mentioned below; and John, who died young. Mr. and Mrs.
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Lowrie were devout members of the Presbyterian church and in its faith they reared their children.
Walter Lowrie was born in Scotland and was brought to America by his parents when he was a child of but eight years of age. After reaching man's estate he began to study under the tutelage of the Rev. John H. McPherrin. At various times he taught school in order to defray his expenses for a higher education. He established his home at Butler, Pennsylvania, and from that district was elected to the state senate. In 1818 he became a member of the United States senate and he served in that capacity with the utmost efficiency for a period of two terms, at the expiration of which he was secretary of the senate for some years. He resigned the latter position in 1836 in order to accept the office of secretary of the board of foreign missions on its organiza- tion, and immediately removed to New York City, which metropolis represented his home until his demise, in 1868. He was wonderfully gifted as a linguist and as an orator, and after entering the mission work of the church all his energies were devoted to bettering condi- tions in that department. He gave three sons to foreign mission work and also one grandson, Rev. J. Walter Lowrie, D.D. His life was one of broad understanding and zealous adherence to duty. He exercised a commanding influence over men, not as the result of a conscious an- bition or of a studied purpose, but rather from an instinctive homage the world awards men of exalted character and incorruptible princi- ples. Possibly if he had cherished more personal ambition he would have filled a broader place than that which he occupied, for, in the requisites of mental gifts and wide attainments and high moral con- ceptions, he had few superiors, and was fitted to adorn any place within the gift of his fellow-citizens. But he chose a sphere more congenial to his tastes than dizzy elevation would have given. Hon. Walter Lowrie was a man swayed by a conscience enlightened by the truth and spirit of God. His ambition to be right and do right was the para- mount incentive, and he counted not the cost in the attainment of so noble an end.
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