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 76
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Cummins and had two children; and Sidney day of his college life by Matthew Brown, the Ellen, who remained at the old homestead. (3) John Oliver, born Sept. 8, 1811, died Oct. 29, 1889. With the exception of twelve years' residence in Center county, Pa., he passed his life in his native valley. On March 1, 1843, he married his cousin, Margaret R. Camp- bell, daughter of John and Jane (Oliver) Campbell, granddaughter of Judge Oliver, of McVeytown, and a descendant of John Camp- bell who settled with Robert in the Kishaco- quillas valley in 1774. She died in December, 1843, and on Oct. 16, 1845, he married Eleanor Jackson, whose death occurred June 15, 1850, in her twenty-fourth year. His third wife, whom he married Jan. 22, 1856, was Chris- ten R. Barr, born Aug. 12, 1814, died Sept. 29, 1892. His children were: Anna Mary, born May 2, 1847, who married Oliver Ather- ton Hurne and had two children ; and James Douglas, born March 30, 1849, who married Kate Marshall and had three children. (4) James is mentioned below. (5) Rachel Jane, born May 22, 1819, died suddenly March 3, 1868, unmarried.
venerable president of Jefferson College, testi- fies to his industry, scholarship and high moral character, and states that he will receive the degree of A. B. at the next commencement. Some of his classmates, like himself, became eminent in professional life. Only a few sur- vived him. Soon after graduation he com- menced to read law with E. S. Benedict, a successful practitioner at Lewiston, Pa., and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1840, passing the examination very creditably. As the erection of Clarion county ( from parts of Armstrong and Venango) was then being considered, he decided to locate there as soon as the matter was settled, and set out for his chosen field in August, 1840, making the jour- ney on horseback. Clarion county was then considered the "far west." The town of Clarion was a pioneer place-"having the ap- pearance of a camp meeting in the woods." The room given him at the "Loomis House" had a sheet hung up for a door, and similar makeshifts took the place of sash and glass in the windows. Dr. James Ross, with whom James Campbell, son of John and Rachel (Oliver) Campbell, was born in the Kishaco- quillas valley in Cumberland (now Mifflin ) county, July 25, 1813, and lived to the age of seventy-nine years, dying Aug. 3, 1892, at Clarion, Pa. Like most farmers' sons, he spent his boyhood in work on the home place and attendance at the district school. But he early resolved to enter some pursuit more congenial to his tastes than farming. His father, himself a man of strong mind, appre- ciated the fact that his taste in reading had shown an inclination toward the higher and more substantial books, and he determined to give him a classical education. In 1831. when a youth of eighteen, he left home to enter the Germantown Normal Labor School at Philadelphia, and his experiences for a num- ber of years thereafter are not only typical of the times, but show how earnest he was, and what sacrifices he made to secure the learn- ing he so coveted. He started out from home on foot, walking to Reading, from which place he proceeded to Philadelphia by stage. After studying a short time at Germantown he went to Lafayette College, at Easton, Pa., and he had ridden into town, introduced him to a number of the citizens, and he remained a short time, returning to his old home with- out having made any definite plans. But on Oct. 23d he again set out for Clarion, with fifty dollars in cash-his entire earthly pos- sessions. This time he came by stage, and put up at the "Great Western," a new hotel. The room west of its barroom was the general sitting place of all the lawyers, not one of whom had an office at the time. It was more than a month before Mr. Campbell became established in a place of his own, renting the front part of a house. He furnished it with a bench and three chairs, some boards for bookshelves, and a second-hand stove, and his first case was the first case tried in Clarion county after its organization as such. This first court was held in November, 1840, and as there was no courthouse it was conducted in a carpenter shop. The first day of that court twenty-six lawyers were admitted to the bar, so although there were advantages of starting in a new county it will be seen that Mr. Campbell had plenty of competition to contend with. His professional life and sub- returned home after a year's absence. At sequent career on the bench form a part of Christmastime, 1832, he set out for Jefferson the history of the county. In the fall of 1861, without solicitation on his part, he was made an independent candidate for president judge of the Eighteenth Judicial district (composed of the counties of Mercer, Venango, Clarion, Jefferson and Forest ), and elected by a hand- College, at Canonsburg, Washington Co., Pa., where he continued his studies until his grad- uation, in the fall of 1837, meantime going home but twice. A paper highly prized in the family, given him voluntarily on the last
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
some majority. The district was a large one and the work laborious, Venango county being then the center of the oil development, which occasioned a large increase in population and brought up many new and difficult legal prob- lems, which had to be solved without the guidance of precedents. "The oil business, then in its infancy, furnished more novel and complex questions for the courts of Venango county than any court, prior to the time, in the State was required to face and decide. A new industry, involving millions of dollars in single transactions, and bristling with new law points, developed many disputes and contro- versies which were brought into court for adjudication and settlement. Judge Campbell grappled with these questions as a master of legal principles." During the sixties his dis- trict was divided, cutting off Venango county, but it is interesting to note that the most in- portant decree he made, in a case involving nine million dollars, though set aside by his successor was sustained by the Supreme court. Judge Campbell served his term of ten years on the bench with distinguished ability and fairness. He held as high as thirty-two weeks of court in a year, traveling hundreds of miles by stage coach between the various county seats in his district.
Resuming private practice, Judge Camp- bell continued to devote much of his time to legal work for almost fifteen years thereafter, retiring from professional cares in the spring of 1886 to give all his time to his private inter- ests, which demanded considerable attention. For almost forty-six years he had been con- nected with the bar of Clarion county, and he stood at the head of his profession, com- manding the esteem of his fellow lawyers by his sterling traits of character as well as by his undisputed professional attainments. The re- markable "memorial" of the Clarion County Bar Association is unusual enough to deserve recording here.
The death of Honorable James Campbell, the Nestor of the Clarion Bar, on the morning of Wednesday, August 3d, 1892, at the age of seventy- nine years, makes it proper that our Bar, of which he was long the leader, should give a public expres- sion of its sentiments upon the sad event.
We have often been called upon to express our sorrow for the death of a member, but we have never before followed to the grave one who was so prom- inent in life or lamented in death,-one so ripe in years, fruitful of good deeds and crowned with honors, and so universally esteemed by the com- munity in which he has resided for more than half a century.
respect for the memory of our deceased brother and by our great admiration of his many sterling quali- ties of mind and heart.
Starting in the race of life with little of this world's goods, but blessed with robust health, a stal- wart frame, indomitable will, great industry, unques- tionable integrity, a wholesome ambition and a lib- eral education, he turned these advantages to a good account, and soon won for himself a place in the front rank of the Bar, followed by a place on the Bench, where he justly acquired a reputation as an honorable and upright Judge.
In his worldly business he achieved an enviable success, and in his civil, social and domestic rela- tions he has left behind him a still more enviable good name as citizen, neighbor, friend, son, brother, husband and father.
Possessed of a vigorous intellect, he was studious in his habits and scholarly in his tastes; and the ex- tensive course of reading to which he loved to devote much of his leisure, gave him a comprehensive knowledge and broad culture, and this added to his genial nature and happy power of expression made him a conversationalist of more than ordinary capa- city to entertain and instruct those who had the pleasure and privilege of his acquaintance and com- panionship.
In common with the entire community we mourn his loss, and we deeply sympathize with his family in their bereavement.
JAS. BOGGS, B. J. REID, W. L. CORBETT, W. W. BARR, J. H. PATRICK, DAVID LAWSON, JOHN W. REED, Committee.
Order of the court.
And now Aug. 8, 1892, on the presentation of the within memorial as a further mark of respect to the memory of our deceased brother, it is ordered that this memorial be recorded on records by the Pro- thonotary of this county, and that a copy of the same with these proceedings be made and presented to the family of the deceased; and as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, it is ordered that the Courts adjourn until Tuesday morning, the 9th day of August, 1892, at 9 o'clock a. m.
By the Court, E. HEATH CLARK, Pres. Judge.
Though he withdrew from legal work in the last years of his long life, Judge Camp- bell was actively engaged with his own affairs up to within a few days of his death, at the beginning of his eightieth year, and was hale and hearty in spite of the arduous career he had led. He not only attended to business, but continued the reading he always enjoyed so thoroughly and kept up his social relations with the many in business, professional and literary circles whose friendship he possessed. All the affairs of the community enlisted his interest and sympathy. He was a valuable citizen in every sense of the word, associated with the most progressive movements of his locality, and ready always with his aid and influence, which was invariably exercised for good. At the organization of the Clarion State
No mere compliance with a time honored custom dictates this memorial. It is inspired by a sincere Normal School he was elected president of
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
the board of trustees and filled that office un- til his death, being indefatigable in his labors in behalf of the institution, which profited greatly by his friendship and activities. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, a "working" member of the committee which built the first Presbyterian Church, for which, as an old account tells us, he "rolled stone, shoveled sand, and, as a lawyer, kept off credi- tors until money could be raised to pay for the church." In politics he was an ardent Republican, and though he did not unite with the Prohibition party, he was an advocate of temperance and himself a total abstainer.
The Clarion Jacksonian at the time of Judge Campbell's death said: "Judge Camp- bell was so prominently and favorably known in this county, that it seems difficult to write or say anything about him that would be news to our readers. He prospered with the growth of the town and county.
Clarion has lost a good man and an eminent citizen. Long will our citizens re- member the genial countenance and manly presence of Judge Campbell."
On May 10, 1847, Mr. Campbell was mar- ried to Nancy Jane Hallock, who was born in September, 1824, fourth daughter of Rev. John Keese and Melissa (Griffith) Hallock, both of whom were natives of Peru, Clinton county, N. Y. She was a descendant of Peter Hallock, who came to this country from England in early Colonial days, landing at Hallock's Neck, Southold, Long Island, in 1640. From him her fine is through William, John, Peter, Peter (2), Peter (3) and John Keese Hallock. Eight children were born to James and Nancy Jane (Hallock) Campbell: (1) Mary Rachel, born Feb. 19, 1848, married Dec. 21, 1871, Rev. Thomas Johnston Sherrard, a native of Steu- benville, Ohio, born Feb. 25, 1845. He was the sixth son and twelfth child of Robert An- drew Sherrard, grandson of John and Mary (Cathcart) Sherrard (the former of whom came to America in the fall of 1772) and great-grandson of William and Margaret (Johnston) Sherrard, who lived at Newtown- limavady, County Derry, Ireland. Rev. Thomas Johnston Sherrard, who died in July, 1905, was for a number of years pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church at Chambers- burg, Pa. He and his wife had four children, born as follows: Virginia, June 4, 1873 (mar- ried in June, 1905, William Hallock Johnson, Ph. D., of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania) ; Hallock Campbell, June 22, 1875 (married Oct. 1, 1909, Jane Anne Barnard, of Pittsford, N. Y.) ; Mary Campbell, Aug. 30, 1879 (all
born at Mifflintown) ; and Robert Andrew, July 30, 1885 (born at Honeybrook, Pa.). (2) James Hallock, born Aug. 10, 1850, died July 10, 1851. (3) Elizabeth Lyon, born May 4, 1852, died in November of that year. (4) Robert Douglas, born March 21, 1854, is a lawyer and makes his home at Clarion. On Oct. 1, 1878, he married Sarah Henderson, daughter of Hon. Joseph Henderson, of Brookville, Pa., and they have had children : James Henderson, Helen Templeton (died in December, 1900), Robert Douglas (who died in the Philippines in 1908), Ruth Hallock and Sara (born in July, 1897). (5) John Keese, born July 8, 1856, married Feb. 21, 1883, Elizabeth F. Sloan, of Limestone, Clarion county, eight miles south of Clarion. They have had children born as follows: Jane Wil- son, Sept. 5, 1886; James Sloan, June 18, 1888; Mary Hallock, Dec. 25, 1890 ; Margaret Nancy, March 18, 1894. (6) Harriett Hallock, born Dec. 8, 1858, died March 17, 1909. She mar- ried March 10, 1885. Ross Reynolds, a lawyer of Kittanning. Armstrong county, Pa., who died Oct. 1, 1908. They had two children, Emily Campbell (wife of Oliver W. Gilpin, an attorney of Kittanning) and Isadora Hallock. (7) Emily Clark married Dr. Charles J. Jes- sop of Kittanning, June 5, 1895, and died Nov. 12, 1898. She had two children. Emily Mary and Charles Hallock, the latter dying in November, 1898, when three days old. (8) Virginia, born Sept. 5, 1866, died Nov. 15, 1871.
Mrs. James Campbell, the mother of this family, lived at Clarion. She died Feb. 2, 1909, and is buried in Clarion.
ABSALOM WOODWARD, SR., father of the first wife of David Reynolds, was among the earliest emigrants to the southeastern part of Plum Creek township, Armstrong county, which was then in Armstrong township. He came hither from Cumberland county, Pa., in 1788, and settled near what is now Idaho. The first assessment list of Plum Creek town- ship (1811) contains his name as the only inn- keeper. He is spoken of as a hardy and energetic man and an enterprising and public- spirited citizen,, and the various records in which his name appears substantiate this. At the first court held in the county. in Decem- ber, 1805, the petition of "sundry inhabitants of this county, setting forth that a bridge was much wanted across Crooked creek in Alle- gheny township at or near the place where the road from Absalom Woodward's to Sloan's ferry crossed that creek and praying the ap-
.
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IIISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
pointment of viewers," .was presented, and gomery (mother of Sheriff Montgomery), they reported the following March that a Mrs. William D. Barclay, Mrs. James Todd, Mrs. William Clark ( mother of Sheriff Clark ) and Mrs. Johnston. Jane, Mrs. Montgomery, was the last survivor of this family, and was living in 1883, in her eighty-first year. Of the sons, Robert owned a farm and gristmill, and we find that his steam gristmill in Plum Creek was destroyed by fire Dec. 29, 1838, to- bridge was much wanted, but the probable ex- pense ($450) was too much for one or two townships to bear. This was the first applica- tion for a county bridge made to the first court held in the county. As no agreement could be reached at the time Mr. Woodward in Sep- tember, 1806, made what must have been a very large offer for the times-to advance the gether with two carding machines belonging money that might be appropriated for the to James C. Fleming, and 1,800 bushels of structure. Though the matter was carried grain which the people of the surrounding through all the formalities and reported fa- country had deposited there.
vorably, it is not shown whether the bridge afterward constructed was erected at public or private expense. On Sept. 21, 1814, the county commissioner issued an order for $137; $33 for repairing the bridge across Crooked creek at Mr. Woodward's house, and on Sept. 24, 1818, another petition from the inhabitants of Plum Creek township appears in the court records, for steps to be taken toward replac- ing the bridge, which had been swept away by the flood in February. The second school- house within the limits of the township was erected on land belonging to Mr. Woodward, about fifty rods east of what was known as Idaho mill, in the southeast part of the town- ship. He was also active in religious matters, giving largely of his means to the aid and sup- port of church work. He built a log church near Smith Bend. A generous man in all the relations of life, he was considered a faithful friend by all who knew him, and was highly esteemed by all his neighbors for his many admirable qualities. The ancient map of Arm- strong county shows a tract of 290 acres in Plum Creek township to have been "seated by him ; a tract of 157.5 acres survey (sic) to him" and seated by George Smith; a tract of 302 acres surveyed to George Campbell and subsequently owned by Mr. Woodward. He came to own 191 acres of the Robert Elder tract (afterward owned by his son Robert). On March 18, 1823, he conveyed to his daugh- ter Mary, wife of David Reynolds, the consideration expressed in the deed being "good-will and affection," a tract which had been conveyed to him by James Carnahan. On Jan. 1I, 1858, III acres, 24 perches of this tract was conveyed by her son Alexander Rey- nolds to Martin John.
Absalom Woodward died in 1833. He was survived by eight of his thirteen children, two of whom died in early life. His sons were Robert, Sharp, and Absalom, his daughters Mrs. David Reynolds, Mrs. Leonard Shryock, Mrs. Richard Graham, Mrs. Anthony Mont-
BECK. The Beck family, one of the old- est and best known in Armstrong county, has a record dating back many years in the history of Pennsylvania. Its representatives have been men of honor and reliability, who have borne their part in the material develop- ment of the several communities to which their business instincts took them. Many of these men have devoted their attention to agri- cultural pursuits, but some have made a suc- cess along other lines.
Jacob Beck, born in 1780 in Westmoreland county, Pa., was one of the pioneers of Arm- strong county, settling in what is now Wayne township, near Echo, where he bought a large farm. This he cleared and developed. At the same time he owned and operated an old- style carding machine. His remaining days were spent on this farm, where he died July 2, 1855, aged seventy-four years, six months, seven days, and he is buried at Echo. His first wife was Catherine Wegley, and after her death he married (second) Barbara Clev- er, who died Jan. 15, 1858, aged seventy-three years, eleven months, sixteen days. By his first wife Jacob Beck had the following chil- dren: Elizabeth, who married Christ Sox- man; George, who died in St. Louis, where he had done business, as an ironmaster (go- ing there in his younger days, with very little, he'and Mr. Corbett entered into a partnership in the iron business, and he died a bachelor. leaving a fortune of some eighty-five thousand dollars) ; Jacob, who died at Dayton ; John ; Katie, who married Thompson Boyle; Dr. Adam, who died in Wayne township; and Si- mon.
Simon Beck, son of Jacob, was born at the homestead in what is now Wayne township, in 1825. In early life he attended Meadville College, and taught school for several years, being a well-informed man. Securing the homestead, he operated it for many years and also ran the carding machine. Finally he re-
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
moved to Echo, where he built the fine home in which he died Sept. 7, 1899, aged seventy- three years, nine months, twenty-eight days. He also taught singing school and was active in the work of the Methodist Church, to which he belonged, and which his father had founded at Echo. Simon Beck married Margaret Kline, daughter of George and Elizabeth ( Kep- pel) Kline, and by this marriage had the fol- lowing children: Hannah E., who married Joseph Baum, and died in 1907, aged fifty- three years; Joseph K., living in Kittanning; Catherine, who married Wesley Bowser, and died in September, 1910; John A .; Margaret, who married William H. Cogley ; Emma, who married William Schrecengost, and died Nov. 27, 1891, aged thirty-one years, eleven months ; Sadie, who married John A. MeIntire ; William G., mentioned below ; Susan M., who married S. J. McElwain of Echo; Simon H., of Echo ; Jacob G., late of Echo, who was killed in a pumping station at Musgrove on the B. R. & P. railroad March 7, 1909; Adam, who died when seven years old; Alonzo C., and Ida F., who married Wililam H. McElhaney, of Kit- tanning. Mrs. Beck died Feb. 8, 1891, aged fifty-seven years. She and her husband lie side by side in the M. E. cemetery at Echo. He married (second) Margaret Wadding, by whom he had no children, and who is now making her home at Echo. Mr. Beck was a man of strong personality and striking appear- ance, being six feet two inches in height. He always took an active part in all the affairs of his locality. A skilled penman, he taught writing, and was often called upon to engross public documents, which are still in existence as proof of his ability in this line.
John Beck, another son of Jacob Beck, and brother of Simon Beck, was also born on the homestead. He followed farming, clearing off a good property and building a log house, which he later replaced with a more sub- stantial residence. Ilere he lived until 1873. when he moved to Dayton, where he built the house in which he died June 1, 1876, in his fifty-seventh year. Like other members of the family, he is buried at Echo. He was a con- sistent member of the Methodist Church at Echo, and active in promoting its good work. Politically he was a Democrat. John Beck married Lavina Geiger, daughter of Benjamin and Esther (Turney) Geiger, of Westmore- land county, near Greensburg, and she sur- vives her husband, making her home at Day- ton, Pa. The following children were born to John Beck and wife: Benjamin F., who lives at Eddyville, Pa. ; Sarah ; Mary, who died
after marrying Caston Spenser and going to live in Tennessee, where her death occurred ; George, who lives on the homestead of his father; Lucy, who married Martin L. McIn- tire, of Wayne township; Adam B., who died young ; and Annie, who lives with her mother.
KLINE. George Kline, the maternal grand- father of Alonzo C. Beck, was born in West- moreland county, Pa., and later settled at Livermore. He was a shoemaker by trade, but later, going to Echo, bought a farm of 160 acres of land in that vicinity. This prop- erty he cleared. His wife was Elizabeth Kep- pel, daughter of John Keppel, and member of another prominent family in Westmoreland county. Mr. and Mrs. George Kline had chil- dren as follows: John; Andrew; George ; Jacob; Sarah, who married John Schrecen- gost ; Mary A., who married George McIntire, and died at Echo; Margaret, who married Simon Beck ; Hannah, who married John Kin- ter ; Henry, who is living at Wilkinsburg, Pa. ; Elizabeth, who died young; Catherine, who married George Beck and (second) John Sox- man ; Rosanna, who died young; and Susan, who married Robert Rimer.
ALONZO C. BECK, member of the mercantile firm of Kinter & Beck, of Dayton, Pa., was born at Echo, Wayne township, Feb. 28, 1877, son of Simon and Margaret (Kline) Beck, above. During his boyhood Alonzo C. Beck attended school in his home township, later going to Dayton Union Academy for three sessions. Following this he embarked in busi- ness at Rural Valley, but after a year came to Dayton and established himself in a furni- ture business. Within a year he sold this business, and, forming his present partnership with A. W. Kinter, the firm of Kinter & Beck was brought into existence. The partners handle furniture, hardware, harness, stoves and similar goods, being the largest dealers in their line in Dayton. They control an im- mense trade from Dayton and contiguous ter- ritory, and during the dozen years of its life the firm has shown a steady and healthy growth.
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