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 67
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Among others of the family noted in public life are Charles Gilpin, three times mayor of Philadelphia ; Edward Woodward Gilpin, for many years chief justice of Delaware; and most honored in Baltimore has been the late
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
President Bernard Gilpin, of the Merchants' Miss Elizabeth R., and three sons, Thomas, and Manufacturers' Association, who bore the Elisha R. and William H. McConnell, now deceased, were the fruits.
same name as that of the Apostle of the North.
When a young man he connected himself THOMAS .McCONNELL, SR., grand- father of Oliver W. Gilpin, attorney, of Kit- tanning, died Monday, March 12, 1888. The following account of his life and work was with the Methodist Episcopal Church of this place, but subsequently transferred his rela- tions to the First Presbyterian Church of Kit- tanning, with whose Sabbath school, either as written by his personal friend, Col. J. B. a teacher or a member of the Bible class, he Findley.
On the 3Ist of January, 1813, Thomas McConnell, Sr., was born near Blairsville, Indiana Co., Pa., and he spent his earlier years on a farm. Early he had been sent to the native village school, where he acquired the elements of such an education as was then to be obtained, for the teacher's knowledge was limited to but a few common principles. These he soon had pressed upon his susceptible mind, and their lessons he subsequently largely im- proved by the acquisition of a cultivated taste for conversation, reading, study and reflection. Few men were ever as happily endowed in conversation. Nature fitted him in appear- ance, grace, intelligence, manners, deportment, culture and congenial conversational powers for that which he was-the exemplar of a true Christian gentleman. He had a wide cir- cle of friends and admirers. Few men ever passed through so long a life with so few opponents. If he ever had an enemy it was never known.
In his early life his business training was under his father. In later years he was en- gaged in several enterprises. He was one of the firm of Brown, McConnell & Patterson, a member of Brown, Phillips & Co., the senior member of McConnell & Reed, and of McCon- nell & Co., also a member of Campbell. McConnell & Son, and other firms whose styles and titles cannot at present be recalled. When the oil fever broke out at Parkers Land- ing, he became interested in many of its large business projects, and was largely concerned and successful therein.
From the organization of the Kittanning Bank, in 1857, until its successors, the First National Bank and Kittanning National Bank of Kittanning, were dissolved, he was one of the directors. In the council of the borough his influence as a member, interested in behalf of prudent administration, was exercised on many an occasion where wise counsel was needed.
was connected until about two years before his death, when declining age caused him most regretfully to withdraw. As a Bible student he was indefatigable in the investigation of the lesson. He never came unprepared. He had independent opinions of his own, which he never was either at a loss to express or afraid to disclose : while his uniform urbanity of manner and gentlemanly like deportment, as well as his well known courteous treatment of and deference to the opinions of others. gained for him an influence and a respect which will still continue to grow green in the memory of all his former associates and fel- low members of the community to whom he was so well and so favorably known, and by whom so universally honored in every relation of his long and useful life.
HORATIO LEE GOLDEN. attorney at law, was born in Kittanning borough in a house about on the site of his present office. on the north side of Market street, near the "Hotel Alexander," on the 13th day of Octo- ber. 1860. He is the eldest son of the late Edward S. Golden, Esq. He was educated at a private school in Kittanning, known as Lambeth College, and, to some extent, in the public school of said borough, and later at- tended St. Paul's School, Concord. N. H., for two years, to prepare for college. He entered Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., and was graduated in the spring of 1883. He studied law in the office of his father. Edward S. Golden, together with Hon. J. W. King, pres- ent judge of Armstrong county, and R. A. Mccullough, Esq .. and was admitted to the bar of Armstrong county in the year 1885. Since that date he has practiced generally in the several courts of Pennsylvania and United States courts. He belongs to a family of law- ers. Not only was his father a lawyer, but his brother, Harry C. Golden, Esq., is also an attorney, and his daughter, Janet Golden. who graduated at Vassar College in the year 1913, is registered as a student at law and is studying in the office of her father. He was
His marriage with Miss Olive Robinson, daughter of Elisha Robinson, Esq., of Parkers Landing, was a source of domestic happiness, married Oct. 13. 1887. to Mary Allen Mac- of which two daughters, Mrs. John Gilpin and Lure. niece of the late Hon. John M. Greer.
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
at one time judge of Butler county. In pol- man of his day. His wife, Susanna (Heil- itics II. L. Golden is a Republican. He is a man), belonged to an old and substantial member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Kit- tanning, l'a., having for some years been junior warden of said church, and a member of the board of trustees of the Diocese of l'ittsburgh.
JOSEPH HAMILTON STIVENSON, ex- mayor of Leechburg, a prominent merchant of that borough who has long been classed among its leading citizens, belongs to an Arm- strong county family of Revolutionary de- Elizabeth, consort of Mr. Peter Heilman, of scent. Old members of the family claim Kittanning township, in the seventy-ninth descent from Peter Stuyvesant, of New Am- year of her age."
sterdam (now New York).
Mr. Stivenson's great-grandfather was a shoemaker, going from house to house to work at his trade. His children were Joseph (eldest son), John, William, Tobias, Hannah (married Jacob Lynch), and Nancy (married an Olinger ).
Joseph Stivenson, grandfather of Joseph H. Stivenson, was a soldier in the second war with England, 1812-15, enlisting in an Arm- strong county company which went to Black Rock, N. Y. He served as a private. By occu- pation he was a farmer. His family consisted of five sons and four daughters, namely : George, a mason and stonecutter of Kittan- ning, married Nancy Hunter; John was the father of Joseph Hamilton Stivenson ; Daniel, a carpenter, was killed on the railroad across the isthmus of Panama while on his way to California (he was unmarried) ; Joseph, a teamster, of Kittanning, married Sarah King, daughter of Isaac King; Jacob, a carpenter, married Esther Schreckengost (he was a pri- vate in the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry dur- ing the Civil war) ; Lydia married Thomas Morrison, and they moved to River Styx, Medina Co., Ohio: one daughter married a Martin, who went to California and was lost track of, never being heard from again ; Chris- tina married George Yount and lived in Kit- tanning (he was a private in the 14th Penn- sylvania Cavalry during the Civil war) ; Mar- garet died in young womanhood.
John Stivenson, son of Joseph, followed farming all his long life. He died May 6, 1894, aged seventy-two years, six months. In religion a devout Lutheran, he served as dea- con of his church for many years. He mar- ried Flora King, daughter of John and Susan- na (Heilman) King, and granddaughter of Matthias King. John King was a pioneer set- tler in Armstrong county, owning and residing on property in what was then Kittanning (now Burrell) township still held in the fam- ily. He was a prominent and much esteemed
family of this section, being a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth ( Harter) Heilman, pio- neers of Armstrong county who settled in what is now Manor township in 1796. Peter Heilman died in 1833, aged eighty-three years, his wife in January, 1831, aged sev- enty-nine years, and they are buried in the old Heilman graveyard, on his homestead place. The Kittanning Gasette had the fol- lowing notice: "Died Jan. 21, 1831, Mrs.
The various members of the Heilman fam- ily are recorded in the assessment lists of 1807 as owners of mills, distilleries and large tracts of land, and the Heilman whisky, made by Jacob Heilman, was celebrated in its day. The family of Peter Heilman consisted of twelve children. More extended mention of the Heilmans will be found elsewhere in this work.
Joseph Hamilton Stivenson was born March 27, 1851, in Kittanning township, this county, within one and a half miles from the original homestead of John King, his maternal grand- father, and on his grandfather King's birth- day: He assisted with the farm work at home and attended school winters until eighteen years old. When a young man he taught during the winters, having made the most of his opportunities for securing an education, for besides going to public school he was a student at select school for two terms. When twenty-one years old he entered the employ of a man who was engaged in huckstering, con- tinuing with him two and a half years, after which for four years he was engaged at work in rolling mills. He was next weighmaster at a coal tipple for eight months, at the end of which time he embarked in the mercantile business at Leechburg, where he has since conducted a general store. His trade has in- creased steadily through the third of a cen- tury he has done business in the borough, and his honorable methods and capable manage- ment of his own affairs have led him into other avenues of usefulness. His fellow cit- izens, with just appreciation of his value to the community, have called upon him for various public services, and he has been coun- cilman for three years, burgess three years and constable five years, still acting in the latter capacity. He is also marshal of the borough. An active member of the Lutheran Church, he has served in the office of dea- con, having taken a useful part in church
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
work as in all other things which enlist his er. During this time he was reading law in interest and attention. All in all, he has led the office of Hon. John Gilpin and G. S. a worthy life, whose activities have not been Crosby, and he was admitted to the bar in limited to promoting the success of his own September, 1887. enterprises. In his early youth he harvested
Having realized the great economic value with the sickle and did other work in the of the typewriter, upon its introduction to manner typical of the times. He sowed flax, the world, he at once purchased one, became pulled it, threshed the seed out, rotted the remarkably expert upon that comparatively wood on the grass (by watering, to make the wood brittle), then broke it by hand with the old sword brake, and scutched it, after which it was made into linen which wore well. In those days many people spun and wove all their cloth and there was no shoddy in those clothes. clumsy pioneer machine, and began at once to improve upon it. The culminating event of his career was the invention of the first visible typewriter, which he soon developed into a practical instrument and later put upon the market, being at the head of a com- pany he organized for its manufacture. This machine was the progenitor of all the modern visible machines of the world. Mr. Daugh- erty is now engaged, in his leisure moments, in devising an adding typewriter for one of the largest of the great manufacturing firms of that giant industry. He has taken out nearly a hundred patents on typewriters and computing machines and is frequently con- sulted as a constructive expert.
On July 4, 1872, Mr. Stivenson married Harriet Smail, daughter of Peter and Polly (Klingensmith) Smail, both descendants of local pioneer families, and granddaughter of Jacob Smail, a civil engineer, who was a large landowner in which is now Bethel township. He married a Klingensmith of Westmoreland county. Mrs. Stivenson is like her husband a member of the Lutheran Church. They have one son, Robert F., born August 12, 1879, now engaged in merchandising in Leech- burg as his father's partner. He married Grace Gosser, daughter of Albert M. and Susanna (Hill) Gosser. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., B. P. O. Elks and Knights of the Maccabees.
JAMES DENNY DAUGHERTY was born in Kittanning, Pa., Oct. 17, 1855, his He is now county solicitor and held that posi- father being one of the descendants of the tion for six years once before.
pioneers of the town, born in Kittanning. His
mother was Anne Riley, a native of Ireland. ents upon "Denny," as his friends call him,
Mr. Daugherty's early education was acquired in the public schools, but was delayed by the necessity of obtaining a livelihood. He worked in a brickyard during the daylight hours and recited at night to the late Robert W. Smith, the historian, from whom he ob- tained a basic knowledge of Latin and math- ematics which has served him well in the later years of his success. Finally, through severe economy, he was enabled to attend the Eldersridge Academy, and Mount Union Col- lege, Ohio, from which latter institution he graduated.
From boyhood he had been a lover of books and had a keen interest in mechanics and new discoveries. When the Graham system of shorthand writing came into popular use, he was one of the first to avail himself of the opportunity to acquire a rapid method of tran- scribing speech, and soon became noted as a was also selected in 1905 to present the larg- fast and accurate reporter. So great was his est flag in the world to the city of Pitts- repute that he was made official court report-
burgh.
During the time he was developing the typewriter Mr. Daugherty had found spare moments to perfect himself in legal lore, and in 1898 he was appointed referee in bank- ruptcy by Hon. Joseph Buffington, a position which he still holds. He has a law office in Kittanning, and is often retained as a pleader in important cases, where his native elo- quence can be made available before the jury.
Nature was lavish in her bestowal of tal-
for not only is he gifted as a mechanic, and learned in the law, but his inborn eloquence and poetic temperament are traits which have endeared him to his friends, and made him a terror to his adversaries. Not only have these talents gained recognition in the sec- tion where his life has been spent, but in many political campaigns his clear and pen- etrating voice has resounded from the rostrum in defense of the principles of his party. He was one of the few speakers selected for service in the campaign of the lamented Wil- liam McKinley, for whom Mr. Daugherty had a strong personal friendship. When that martyred president's memorial services were held, Mr. Daugherty was selected to deliver the address, and the poem written and recited by him on that occasion has still power to bring tears to the eyes of the reader. He
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Mr. Daugherty was married Jan. 1. 1878, to Eliza L. Field, a native of Canada, whom he met at college, and has three children : Mary E., a graduate of Margaret Morrison branch of Carnegie Technical Institute, Pitts- burgh, in domestic science ; Nancy L., por- trait painter, now in Paris, France, and J. D., Jr., engaged in the automobile business.
Mr. Daugherty has had a standing offer to go upon the lyceum platform as a lecturer and entertainer, and several times has been mentioned as available material for Congress, but so far neither of these has appealed to him.
i
SAMUEL S. BLYHOLDER, a leading citizen of Bethel township, who has a thriving general merchandise business at Center Val- ley, has been identified with the activities of his part of Armstrong county in various rela- tions, and is a man whose ability and sincere devotion to his responsibilities have won him a high place in the esteem of his fellow citi- zens. He has been prominently associated with the advancement of farming interests along the most modern lines, and has done excellent work in this connection. As the holder of various public offices he has given great satisfaction to all concerned.
Mr. Blyholder was born in Gilpin (then Allegheny) township, Armstrong county, April 30, 1849. His father, John George Blyholder, was born in 1806 in Wittenberg, Germany, and the family there is now almost extinct. He came to this country in 1831, settling in Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., Pa., where he engaged in farming. In 1842 he moved to Gilpin township, Armstrong county, where he rented land for a number of years, in 1859 purchasing the farm later
at the age of seventy-three. She was a daugh- ter of Isaac Bouch, a native of Armstrong county, whose parents were pioneers of this county.
Samuel S. Blyholder grew to manhood on his father's farm in Gilpin township, mean- time attending the elementary schools of the neighborhood and the Irwin high school. He made a specialty of vocal music, which he afterward taught for ten years. He did not devote all his time to that, however, having commenced farming, in which he has always maintained the deepest interest. In 1881 he embarked in the hardware business at Leech- burg, after his father's death, in 1883, dis- posing of that and purchasing the homestead farm, where he settled and devoted himself to farming. This place comprises 165 acres of valuable, highly improved land, well equipped with the most approved appliances for the conduct of general farming; a steam chopping mill and other advanced machinery have long been included among his imple- ments. He has been identified with the most advanced movements for raising agriculture to the level of the most scientific pursuits, has represented Armstrong county for sixteen years on the Pennsylvania State board of agri- culture, is manager of the Armstrong County Farmers' Institute, and has for many years been a prominent member of the Patrons of Husbandry, belonging to Mount Joy Grange, No. 537. He has held many county and State offices in the Grange, and is at present over- seer of the State organization, and he has organized many granges, in his own and other counties. . He is a recognized authority on agricultural questions.
Mr. Blyholder has from early manhood been actively interested in the success of the owned and occupied by his son Samuel. He Democratic party in this region, and his became one of the substantial residents of the efficient work has been appreciated not only locality, held various township offices, and was in the organization, but by his fellow citizens generally, who have supported him for vari- ous offices regardless of party lines. He has served his township as school director and auditor and is still holding the former posi- tion, also acting as justice of the peace, which office he has filled for eighteen years in Bethel and Gilpin townships. In 1878 he received the nomination of his party for State Legisla- ture, and although the county was then Republican by a thousand majority he was beaten by only fifty-four votes. He was the first Progressive candidate for Congress in 1896, when he was nominated to run for rep- resentative of the then Twenty-first Congres- sional district. His nomination was unso- a prominent member of the local Evangelical Church, in which he held office. In politics he was a Democrat. He died in 1883, when he was in his seventy-seventh year. He was married twice, first to Rosanna Bierer, by whom he had seven children, of whom three are living : A. B., a farmer, of Raymore, Mo., who has a family of nine children; J. B., a merchant, at Irwin station, Pa., who has seven children; and Dr. Caleb, of Pittsburgh, who has one son. His wife dying he married (second) Mrs. Rachel (Bouch) Conman, who was born in 1817 in Kittanning town- ship, Armstrong county, and they had two children, Samuel S. and Maggie, the latter deceased. Mrs. Blyholder died Aug. 30, 1890, licited on his part, and though defeated, as
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
was expected in a strong Republican district, he ran ahead of his ticket. He is one of those Progressives who believe in exercising, per- petuating and guarding the principles of gov- ernment of the people, by the people, and for all the people, and is recognized as a sincere worker toward the betterment of conditions not only in his home community but all over the country.
In religious matters Mr. Blyholder is a Lutheran, and he has been an earnest worker in the local church and in the denomination generally, where as in every other relation of life he has been called upon for various impor- tant services. He has been deacon and trustee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Leechburg, which he has represented in the Synod and General Council, 'has been a mem- ber of the committee on missions of the Pitts- burgh Synod, and a member of the board of trustees of Thiel College, at Greenville, Mer- cer Co., Pa. Socially he belongs to Leech- burg Lodge, No. 377, B. P. O. Elks.
On Dec. 30, 1880, Mr. Blyholder was mar- ried to Anna D. Sweeney, daughter of Wil- liam and Margaret (Johnston) Sweeney, of Westmoreland county, Pa., and member of an old family of Westmoreland county, Pa. They have had a family of six children : Orrin C., Elma M. (deceased), Mary F., Samuel W., Adela A. and Eula I.
HARVEY G. SHAFER, of Red Bank township, Armstrong county, is an extensive dealer in produce, giving most of his time and attention to that business, and he is also inter- ested in farming, raising only a percentage, however, of the vegetables, fruits, etc., which he handles. His home is in Red Bank town- ship, where the family has long been settled, and where he was born in a log house near New Salem, Aug. 10, 1866. Samuel Shafer, his great-grandfather, was an early settler in western Pennsylvania, and was a farmer by occupation.
Christian Shafer, son of Samuel, was born in Northampton county, Pa., and located in Armstrong county in young manhood, hecom- ing one of the prosperous farmers of this region. He and his wife, Magdalena (Fuer- inger), had twelve children (of whom seven survive) : Lewis; George, who died in in- fancy ; John C., deceased; Israel; Samuel, deceased; Levi, who died young; Susanna ; Elizabeth ; Mary, who died young: Cather- ine ; Caroline, and Sarah. The father died in 1881, the mother surviving until 1893. They were consistent members of the Evangelical Church.
Israel Shafer, son of Christian, was born May 1, 1845, in Red Bank township, Arm- strong Co., Pa., and was educated in the pub- lic schools of Red Bank township and at Day- ton Academy. In 1863 he enlisted in Com- pany G, 78th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infan- try, and served capably until the close of the war. Two of his brothers. Lewis and John, were also Union soldiers, both being in the same regiment as he. Returning to Arm- strong county after the close of the war, Mr. Shafer engaged in farming in Red Bank township, and in 1886 entered the wholesale produce business at Kittanning, in which line he has been engaged ever since. He has been very successful in this undertaking, and ranks among the prosperous business men of the county. In 1899 he was the Republican candidate for county treasurer, and was elected by a good majority, serving one term of three years in that office. On Sept. 30, I911, he was nominated by his party as a can- didate for county commissioner, was elected, and is now filling that office.
On Jan. 25, 1866, Mr. Shafer married Catherine Shick, daughter of John Shick, of Armstrong county. Mr. and Mrs. Shafer became the parents of nine children : Harvey G., Amos C., William (deceased), Reed, Lil- lian (deceased), Nellie R. (wife of Dr. J. D. Sedwick, a dentist), Wallace H., and two who died in infancy. Mrs. Shafer died in 1890, and is buried at New Salem. The en- tire family early became members of the Evangelical Church, to which Mr. Shafer is a liberal contributor.
Harvey G. Shafer was educated in the schools of Red Bank township. He worked for his father on the farm where he still makes his home, and to which the family came from Dry Ridge when Harvey was four years old. He has been here ever since. The prop- erty consists of eighty-six acres, seven still in timber. There is an old orchard four acres in extent, and a new orchard of ten acres planted in 1907 with winter fruit. Mr. Shafer be- lieves in the economy of improving his sur- roundings, and his home contains all of the up-to-date appliances, while his farm is well equipped for present-day farming. The house he occupies was built by his father in 1884. In his earlier manhood Mr. Shafer spent about three winters working in the mines, there being little to do on the farm at that time of the year, but he has been in the produce business for twenty-three years, buy- ing most of his stuff in carload lots. His farm is operated by hired help entirely, Mr. Shafer devoting his energies principally to the
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