USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Armstrong County, Pennsylvania her people past and present, embracing a history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I > Part 66
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
339
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
George Strode. They had nine children, and of stone, large and spacious, the arched door- lived in Chester county, Pa. (15) Esther married Samuel Painter and had seven chil- dren. They lived in Chester county, Pennsyl- vania. way of the main entrance fashioned after Kentmere Hall, one of the ancestral homes of the Gilpins in England. But the design is typically colonial, and the place, well pre- Most of the children of Joseph Gilpin died before the Revolution came on, but his son George, then living at Alexandria, Va., at once entered the army, becoming colonel of the Fairfax militia. Washington knew him, and he accompanied the General, was with him in the battle of Dorchester Heights, Mass., and remained with him until the close of the war. Later Colonel Gilpin was intimately associated with Washington in navigation investigation being made regarding the Po- tomac river, and the close friendship of the two men endured until the death of Wash- ington ; Colonel Gilpin was one of the pall bearers at his funeral. served as it has been, stands to-day as a fine specimen of the architecture of that period, and a reminder of the good old days of hos- pitality. The grounds, carefully laid out many years ago, retain most of their former beauty. The trees and shrubbery bear evidence of great age. Within the house, it is easy to con- jure up visions of the attractive social life and delightful entertainment the place afforded. Even the kitchen, with its huge fireplace, re- calls its part in the profusion which was the rule in such households. On the whole, it is a picturesque, romantic old habitation. On the side back from the river is the old family burying ground, the last resting place of many departed ancestors of the Gilpins. It is sur- rounded by solid granite walls, and the mounds are marked by substantial grave- stones hearing odd inscriptions, many of which came from England. Gilpin Manor is now owned by Oliver W. Gilpin, of Kit- tanning, Pa., who inherited it from his grand- father, Dr. John Gilpin.
Many grandsons of Joseph Gilpin fought on the side of freedom in the Revolution, but one, Thomas Gilpin, of Philadelphia (son of Samuel), was so thoroughly a Friend in his beliefs that he suffered arrest on suspicion of lacking patriotism rather than take up arms. With twenty others like-minded he was exiled from Philadelphia, Sept. 11, 1777, and taken to Winchester, Va., where he died March 2, 1778. His uncle, Col. George Gilpin, inter- ceded for him and endeavored, ineffectually, however, to procure his liberty.
Samuel Gilpin, eldest son of the emigrants, Joseph and Hannah (Glover) Gilpin, was born in England, June 7, 1693, and passed his early life at Birmingham, Chester Co .. Pa. Thence he removed to Concord, Pa., and sub- sequently, in 1733, to Cecil county, Md., in which .State most of his posterity have since resided. He settled at what became known as Gilpin's Falls, Elkton, in the Great North- east, on a tract of seven hundred acres pre- viously purchased. He married Jane Parker, daughter of John Parker, of Philadelphia, and they had a family of seven children ; many of their descendants continue to reside at Elk- ton and in that vicinity, and there still stands the old Gilpin Manor House, the historic old homestead built by Joseph Gilpin (eldest son of Samuel), in 1760, and remodeled in later years-the abode of the Gilpin family from the time of its erection to the present. This interesting old mansion is described in the "Story of Gilpin Manor." It stands on the banks of the Big Elk, about one mile north- east of the town of Elkton, in a part of the original tract of Belleconnell, and almost hid- den in a park of trees. The mansion house is
Joseph Gilpin (2), eldest son of Samuel Gil- pin and grandson of Joseph, the emigrant, was a patriotic and public-spirited citizen. He represented Cecil county in the Provincial con- vention of the early days, was one of the fore- most of Cecil's patriot leaders in the Revolu- tion, and for years was chief justice of the courts. On Nov. 8, 1764, he married Elizabeth Read, and died March 30, 1790, leaving, be- sides his large landed estate in Cecil county, Md., property in western Pennsylvania and Virginia.
John Gilpin, son of Joseph (2), became the owner of Gilpin Manor, by his father's will. He represented Cecil county in the Assembly for several years, and was a presidential elector three successive times, first when John Adams was elected, and twice for Jefferson. He mar- ried Mary Hollingsworth, daughter of Col. Henry Hollingsworth, of Revolutionary fame.
Dr. John Gilpin, son of John and Mary (Hollingsworth) Gilpin, prepared early for the medical profession and commenced prac- tice in Elkton, but before 1830 came to Arm- strong county, Pa., and settled at Kittanning. Here he lived and prospered for a period of thirty years, becoming one of the most promi- nent citizens in that vicinity. Soon after his arrival he began to secure local property, be- coming one of the large landowners of the
340
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
section, and he was one of a small coterie (including Judge Joseph Buffington, the elder, James E. Brown, and Gov. William F. John- ston, the Doctor's father-in-law), known as John Gilpin & Co., though its members were supposedly silent partners. It became famous as the real estate trust of its day, the combina- tion of capital and influence which enabled them to control the local market. Buyers and sellers had to go to one or the other, though they bid against each other as a matter of form. In 1834-35 Dr. Gilpin erected one of the first brick buildings in Kittanning, a large mansion on the north side of Market street, a short distance above Mckean, on Jacobs' Hill, so called because in the rear of the site, at the northern end of the stone wall in the garden, stood the powder magazine of the Indian chief Jacobs, under his house and fort, which was blown up by Col. John Arm- strong in 1756. This old mansion, at one time the home of Alexander Reynolds, forms a part of the "Alexander Hotel." A man of superior intelligence and education, Dr. Gilpin was a member of the old school, a scholar, and a leader in the activities in his day. For many years he was senior warden of the Episcopal Church. In 1860 he returned to his early home at Elkton, Md., being the owner of Gilpin Manor House and the estate of 480 acres adjoining, and he expended considerable money restoring and improving the property. There he passed the remainder of his life, dy- ing there July 9, 1868.
He is interred there with his ancestors, in the old family burying ground. By his first marriage, to Nancy Monteith, Dr. Gilpin had four children : Martha, who married Major Carroll; Mary, who became the second wife of Major Carroll, after her sister's death ; John, mentioned below; and Thomas, an at- torney of Philadelphia, who died when a young man of twenty-five years. By his suc- ond wife, Ann (Johnston), Dr. Gilpin had no children.
JOHN GILPIN, eldest son of Dr. John Gilpin, was one of the most successful lawyers of the last generation. Born Oct. 8, 1839, at what is now the "Alexander Hotel," Kittanning, he attended public school until he was fourteen years old, after which he was sent to Elders- ridge Academy, which in those days had the reputation of being one of the best college preparatory institutions in Pennsylvania. He was under the special care of Rev. Dr. Donald- son. He was a notably good scholar and care- ful student. Entering Union College, at Sche- nectady, N. Y., he was graduated therefrom
when about twenty years old, with high hon- ors, and returning home at once commenced the study of law, in pursuance of an ambition he had had from boyhood. He began his studies with Hon. Chapman Biddle, promi- nent lawyer of Philadelphia, and entered the law department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, graduating about 1859-60. In 1861 he was admitted to the bar at Philadelphia, and then returned to his native town, obtaining admission to the Armstrong county bar in De- cember of the same year. From that time on he was devoted to the practice of his profes- sion. As a law student he had manifested the same industry and methodical habits which marked his devotion to preparatory studies, and during his active legal career he was often spoken of as a technical lawyer. But those who knew him best regarded this rather as a tribute to his accuracy, resulting in his ex- treme thoroughness in the preparation of his work, rather than from any tendency to ob- serve the letter of the law more than its spirit. No detail was too insignificant to receive his attention, and his remarkable success was laid upon a foundation of completeness which could not be shaken. His reputation was such that he retained all the clients who came to him, and his patronage was so wide that he soon took his place among the leaders of the local bar. He had the honor of being elected a member of the Constitutional convention which met in November, 1874. and formulated the con- stitution of that year, and his learning, to- gether with his ability as a debater, brought him great renown in connection witth his work in that body, which was composed of leading lawyers, lawmakers and financiers. His fellow members showed the greatest esteem for his able and efficient efforts, and upon his return home he was given a vote of thanks by his fel- low citizens for the creditable manner in which he had represented them.
When Judge Boggs went on the bench, in January, 1875, Mr. Gilpin received a share of his practice. His work kept increasing, in fact, until he found it was greater than he could handle, and in 1880 he formed a part- nership with J. H. McCain, an able, active and industrious lawyer, with whom he was asso- ciated until his death. Their personal as well as business relations were established on a most congenial basis. In fact, Mr. Gilpin was on friendly terms with all whom he knew. He had a naturally companionable disposition, was genial, whole-souled and easily approached, and was a most entertaining talker. He had none of the aloofness which sometimes char-
341
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
acterizes men who have attained success. Un- less actually engaged with a client, he was always ready to stop what he was doing to en- ter into a conversation, and he often dropped into the offices of his friends for a friendly chat. However, he was conservative until well acquainted with people, and those who knew him best prized the privilege of associating with him. With a mind enriched by wide read- ing, an intelligence developed and strengthened by years of hard work in an exacting profes- sion and unusual opportunities for the obser- vation of his fellow men and their proclivities, and yet with a wholesome outlook upon life maintained by the good nature within him, he was never tiresome or heavy, but thought and said things agreeable to listen to and worth remembering.
As to his .standing among the members of the bar, none enjoyed more prestige. To quote from an article published in the Union Free Press at the time of his death : "He was universally esteemed by his companions of the bar. Having reached the sun-crowned heights of his profession, he generously dispersed with a lavish hand any information on abstruse law questions sought by younger members of the bar. The cheerfulness and hearty good will with which he gave any information endeared him to the profession with whole-souled and genuine friendship. So generous was he, that often, it is said, when he was in the midst of a difficult case and surrounded by his books and briefs, he would lay them aside and give but on the other hand extended throughout the a willing ear to a brother lawyer who had some difficult questions in hand. He would even get down his books on that particular sub- ject and look for authorities. Thus his gen- erosity and good nature gained for him a warm place in the hearts of the members of his profession."
The following character sketch of Mr. Gil- pin is from the same article: "It is not an easy matter in a sketch so short as this to give a comprehensive conception of a man of Mr. Gilpin's attainments. He was an original character. His habits, his manners and his way of doing everything were so different from those of other people. He marked out for himself the path of his career and relig- iously walked therein. He had naturally a The late Judge W. D. Patton, county judge of Armstrong county and president of the Armstrong County Trust Company, of Kit- tanning, said of him: "John Gilpin was one of the leading lawyers of this part of the State, a thorough student, a technical law- yer, careful, analytical, and a hard worker. legal mind. This he trained and cultivated with great and untiring study and energy. With him labor was the touchstone by which genius towers to its lofty heights. For the purpose of storing his mind with all the prin- ciples of the law. he grew a midnight student o'er the dreams of its sages, and sought to bor- He had the respect of all members of the bar
row from their lights such attributes of learn- ing as would more surely aid him in ascend- ing the shining course that loomed up before him. The love of his profession lured him on to those inspiring toils by which man mas- ters men, and reaches the goal to which his ambition aspires. In his study of Blackstone and other classical writers he had mastered the fundamental principles of the law, and had fixed in his mind those great landmarks of jurisprudence, so that the practice of law be- came to him a pleasure. Grasping complex questions with great vigor, his clearness of conception gained for him a speedy solution. Having a broad mind and being in no sense a one-sided lawyer, he studied both sides of his case, and with that clear and accurate mind of his solved with remarkable power and cer- tainty the questions the law involved. In his arguments to the court on law points his dic- tion was concise, his logic forcible, and his arrangement most methodical, making his argument clearly convincing. To the jury he presented the facts of his case in that plain and common sense manner which any man of an ordinary mind could understand, and which usually crowned his efforts with success. Thus he climbed the heights of his profession and joined that long and illustrious line of legal lights that have adorned the practice of this ennobled science. There was no branch of the law with which he was not conversant. His fame was not bounded by his own county, State.
"Aside from Mr. Gilpin's legal attainments, he was a man possessed of a great fund of general information. His knowledge of his- tory and science and literature was astonish- ingly great. Hardly any questions could arise on which he had not an opinion or of which he knew nothing. It seemed a pleasure and a pastime for him to drink from the whole fountain of human knowledge. The conse- quence was that he was a man who was able to take a comprehensive view of any question propounded to him. He improved the privi- leges of living in the evening hours of the nine- teenth century."
342
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
-and his ability as a lawyer would have been recognized and respected anywhere."
Judge Joseph Buffington said of him: "John Gilpin was one of the most astute and thor- oughly trained men in the science of plead- ing and his knowledge of black-letter law and of the fine shades of distinction in all mod- ern decisions, was comprehensive and keen. His mind was singularly acute. He was a daring practitioner and would risk the out- come of his case on technical points, and sel- dom failed to carry them through success- fully. A man of strong personal feeling, he made his client's cause his own. He possessed a withering power of sarcasm, and in his ad- dresses to the jury could strip his adversary's case with merciless logic and argument. In his preparation of a case he was thorough and tireless, and a busy court week would find the light burning in his office long after midnight. He inherited mental qualities of a high order from a long line of distinguished ancestors."
Mr. Gilpin died Nov. 2, 1883, before his prime, perhaps before he had attained the heights of his professional possibilities. He was survived by his wife, Olive ( McConnell), whom he had married in 1873, and by their two children, Oliver W. and Mary Elizabeth Adele. Mrs. Gilpin was the eldest daughter of Thomas McConnell, and her ancestors were of Scotch-Irish origin. The McConnell fam- ily settled at Kittanning in an early day. Oliver W. Gilpin is mentioned below. Mary Elizabeth Adele Gilpin was married in 1908 to Samuel Howard McCain, a prominent at- torney of Kittanning.
Mr. Gilpin was a prominent Mason, a past master of his lodge, etc., nevertheless he showed his liberality of mind as well as purse by providing in his will for an annual contri- bution of $100 to the Catholic Church, to be continued as long as the church rang its bell for an hour on the anniversary of his birth. The church has never failed to perform this acknowledgment of his generosity. He and James Mosgrove owned the square where the first interments were made within the borough limits, on the east side of McKean street, be- tween Arch street and the alley north appro- priated by the former owner, Dr. John Arm- strong, for burial purposes.
OLIVER W. GILPIN, member of the firm of Buffington and Gilpin, attorneys at law, Kit- tanning, was born in that borough Sept. 4, 1874, and there received his early education in the public schools, graduating from high school in 1890. He then entered Phillips Academy, at Andover, Mass., graduating from that institu-
tion in 1893, in which year he became a student at Harvard, taking a full course and receiving his A. B. degree in 1897. His law studies were carried on at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1901. The same year he received admis- sion to the bar at Philadelphia, at Pittsburgh and in Armstrong county. Then he took a trip to Europe, returning to this country in 1903, after an extended tour, and settling down to law practice, to which he has since been devoted. Forming a partnership with Orr Buffington, the representative of another local family whose members have become famous in the legal profession, under the firm name of Buffington and Gilpin, he has worked hard and attained honorable standing among his fellow practitioners. Mr. Gilpin was admitted to practice in the Federal court and State Su- preme court. He has been honored with the vice presidency of the Armstrong County Bar Association. Mr. Gilpin is associated with local business enterprises as a director of the Armstrong Electric Company and as vice pres- ident of the Armstrong County Trust Com- pany. He is a member of the Union Club at Pittsburgh and of the University Club of that city, and of the Phi Gamma Delta fra- ternity at Philadelphia. He belongs to the Protestant Episcopal Church.
On Feb. 16, 1909, Mr. Gilpin was married, at Palin Beach, Fla., to Emily Campbell Rey- nolds, of Kittanning, Pa., granddaughter of Judge James Campbell, of Clarion county, Pa., and daughter of the late Ross Reynolds, of Kittanning.
A second emigration in the Gilpin family took place in 1783, when John Gilpin, son of Rev. William Gilpin, born at Scaleby Castle and vicar at Boldre, came to Philadelphia and married Ann W. Sims of that city. He shortly removed to Nova Scotia, married twice, and had thirteen children, all of whom either set- tled in British provinces in America or re- turned to their ancestral homes, so that this branch of the family cannot be considered as part of the American house.
It is frequently difficult in tracing the genealogies of American families to find an unbroken family tree connecting them with their English ancestors. There is usually a ragged break at the date of emigration to America, where links, other than circumstan- tial, are wholly lost, but the Gilpin annals in both the Old and New World have been so carefully kept that the exact line of descent is followed even unto the present generation in
343
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
the United States. The records include ex- Royal Academy. The late Henry Dilworth tracts from a genealogical chart accompany- Gilpin, of Philadelphia, attorney general of the United States under Van Buren, and at one time acting secretary of treasury, pos- sessed the same artistic perceptions. He was a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, and his kinsman, Mr. Jordan Stabler, of Baltimore, is prominently associated with the artistic cir- cles of that city, and his home is beautified by many rare old pictures. ing a manuscript entitled "Memoirs of Dr. Richard Gilpin, of Scaleby Castle, Cumber- land, written in the year 1791 by Rev. William Gilpin, vicar of Boldre, together with an ac- count of the author and a pedigree of the Gil- pin family." This manuscript was published in 1879 by the Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. George Gilpin, nephew of the Ambassador to The Hague, also contributed researches con- cerning the family tree, as did Sir Daniel Flemming, noted in the sixteenth century for his genealogical researches into the history of Westmoreland. Alan Chambre, recorder of Kendal, likewise extended his inquiries into the antiquity of the Gilpin family, and to these are added the genealogical collections at Scale- by Castle.
The American annals of the family have also been most carefully and interestingly compiled by Dr. Joseph Elliot Gilpin. Much of this accuracy is doubtless due to the marked literary attainments for which many members of the family have been distin- guished. The Apostle of the North was a prolific and forceful writer, and many of his ecclesiastical essays are held in high esteem. Rev. William Gilpin, M. A., prebendary of Salisbury and vicar of Boldre, in the New Forest, near Lymington, dedicated to Queen Charlotte in 1786 a volume illustrated by him- self upon the picturesque beauties of West- moreland and Cumberland. Rev. William Gil- pin is believed to be the original of Dr. Syntax, hero of the delightful tale in verse that de- scribes the adventures of a simple-minded, pious, henpecked clergyman who leaves home in search of the picturesque.
The songs and ballads of Cumberland were edited by Sidney Gilpin, of Derwent Cottage.
The artistic temperament was also, and still continues to be, strongly developed in the fam- ily. The pictures of Rev. William Gilpin sold for £3,200, the whole of which he devoted to the establishment of schools in his parish, where his memory is regarded with almost sacred reverence.
Sawry Gilpin, a descendant of Dr. Richard Gilpin, who bought Scaleby Castle, was a men- ber of the Royal Academy, renowned for his paintings of horses and distinguished for the untamed beauty of expression he imparted in his pictures of animals. It was Ann Gilpin, sister of Thomas Gilpin, of Warborough, who married Thomas West and became grand- mother of Benjamin West, president of the
A leaning toward the religious life is in- dicated by the many divines in the Anglican Church of this blood. Besides the Apostle of the North (who, aside from the Archdeaconry of Durham, refused preferment many times) that list includes several bishops and many of its clergy, not to speak of that fighting Quaker, Thomas of Warborough, who laid down his sword of steel to take up the sword of spirit. In America is included Dean Gilpin of Halifax Cathedral, who is a member of the family. A poet of the period of the Reformation has said concerning the Gilpins: "The race that once went bravely forth to slay the wild boar in his den now meets the bigots in their wrath and boldly claims the rights of men."
Members of the family have become equally distinguished in statesmanship. Queen Eliz- abeth's minister plenipotentiary to The Hague was a brother to Bernard the Apostle. Col. George Gilpin, son of Joseph and Hannah (Glover) Gilpin, founders of the American branch of the family, held an important gov- ernment position under George Washington. The late Gov. William Gilpin, of Colorado, did equal service as a statesman in another field. Sent in his boyhood to England, he was a classmate of Gladstone. He also had Haw- thorne as his tutor, and returning to the United States he entered West Point, from which in- stitution he was graduated. The spirit of ad- venture and progress so deeply rooted within the Gilpin family led him to a life of obser- vation and exploration in the West, and em- bodied in a report brought before Congress in 1845 he called the attention of that body to the immense possibilities and value of the western country of the United States. Ban- croft says of Gilpin's report: "Coming just at this time, on the eve of the settlement of the Oregon question, the Mexican war and ac- quisition of California, its influence and im- portance cannot be estimated."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.