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 81
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Thomas Hudson, father of Captain Hudson, was born in 1806, in Lancaster county, Pa., and passed his youth there, being fourteen years old when he moved with the family to West-
moreland county. He learned the trade of cabinetmaking, and afterward also engaged in farming. He continued to live in Westmore- land county for some years following his mar- riage, in 1855, coming to Armstrong county, where he followed his trade for a time. In 1863 he engaged in farming, settling on a place in South Buffalo township, where he spent the rest of his life. He became quite well known in the community, serving as overseer of the poor and in other township offices. Mr. Hudson married Mary Kunkle, who was born in 1811, in Westmoreland county, of German parentage; she could not speak English at the time of her marriage. To this union were born six sons and two daughters, of whom James M. is the youngest. The father died at the age of seventy-five years, the mother at the age of eighty-six, in Kittanning, and they are buried in the McVill cemetery. They were members of the Presbyterian Church, and he was a
James M. Hudson was born March 15, 1852, at Garvers Ferry, in Westmoreland county, opposite Freeport. He was but a young child when the family settled in Arm- strong county, where he received his schooling. He was only a boy of nine years, however, when he commenced work on the river, begin- ning as a cook and working up until he became captain and pilot of steamboats, in which capacity he has been engaged for twenty-six years, for twenty years of this time on the Allegheny river. He has been a resident of Kittanning since 1901, and has long had his business headquarters there. He is now in partnership with his sons, the firm name being J. M. Hudson & Sons, and they deal exten- sively in sand and gravel. They have several sand dredge, being well equipped to handle the large business they have built up. Captain Hudson is indeed a self-made man, and a rep- resentative member of a family whose opera- tions on the Allegheny river have made them well known over all this part of Pennsylvania. From 1864 he and his brothers were interested in oil boating, and they have all acquired ex- tensive interests on the river, owning so much stock in craft of all sorts that it is said their investments constitute two thirds of all on the river outside of Pittsburgh.
Captain Hudson married Catherine Bowser, daughter of Noah Bowser, an early settler of Armstrong county, and to them were born six children : Charles T., Thomas Noah, Herbert P., Mabel Gertrude, Grover Cleveland and Henry Arthur. The mother died Jan.
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19, 1901, and is buried in the McVill ceme- from Yorkshire, England. Prior to 1649 an tery. In June, 1909, Captain Hudson married Edward Jessope settled in New England. (second) Mary Brodhead, who was born in Kittanning, daughter of Frank and Sarah (King) Brodhead, and granddaughter of George Brodhead, being a descendant of Gen- eral Brodhead. By this union there is one child, Paul Brodhead. The family home is at No. 225 Maple street, where Captain Hudson owns a fine modern brick residence. He is a prominent member of the First M. E. Church, with which he has been connected for thirty- nine years, and has served faithfully as trus- tee and steward. Politically he is a Democrat.
CHARLES JAMES JESSOP, M. D., founder and organizer of the Kittanning Gen- eral Hospital, at Kittanning, Armstrong Co., Pa., a physician and surgeon of eminence, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec. 2, 1851.
The Jessop family, from which he is de- scended, was among the earliest settlers in America. There are as many as twenty-five ways of spelling the name, that used by this branch of the family being considered the older English form.
In recalling the notable deeds of members of the family, it is interesting to know that the first public railway in England was established by William Jessop and that the principal law adviser of the ministry during the reign of Queen Anne was Judge William Jessop, whose writings may be found among the Harleian manuscripts. To Richard Jessop of Broom Hall, son of William Jessop, of Rotherham, was granted a coat of arms July 17, 1575. The same has been in the possession of and used by the descendants of Edward Jessup in their various and widely separated branches for a century or more. It is a shield with six trans- verse bars, alternately silver and blue, each sil- ver bar with three red stars. The crest is a dove standing on an olive branch, in natural colors. For the reason that the Jessops of Maryland spelled their name the same as Richard Jessop of Broom Hall, using the older English form, they reason that their earlier ancestors very likely came from the same part of England as he to whom the coat of arms was granted, and so claim an equal right to the use of the same.
John Jessup was the first of the name in America. He came here prior to 1641 and was a landed proprietor in Wethersfield, Conn., where his name appears on the record as John Gossope. With about twenty others he Charles Christopher Jessop, the eldest of founded the town of Stamford, which he these children and the father of the Doctor, helped to build. It is probable that he came
Thirty years later William Jessop established himself in Maryland. One of the friends of William Penn bore the name of Joseph Jes- sop ; he was of great assistance to Penn during his dealings with the Indians. A Thomas Sid- ney Jesup, Major General of the United States Army, was born in 1788, and although too late to take part in the Revolutionary war par- ticipated in the war of 1812. Gen. Winfield Scott said of him after the battle of Chip- pewa, "He deserved everything which con- spicuous skill and gallantry can win from a grateful country."
William Jessop, great-great-grandfather of Dr. Charles James Jessop, probably came from Manchester (although it is also stated that he came from Sheffield), England. to Maryland while the latter was still a colony. He was a collier and so described himself, and became manager of the iron works of the Baltimore Company. This company owned extensive tracts of land in Baltimore county. In 1753 and by deed of June 11, 1756, he acquired title to two parcels of land on which he erected a dwelling. He married Margaret Walker, of Dorchester county, Md., who with six chil- dren survived him. He is described by his grandson as being tall and athletic, and of an impetuous nature. William and Margaret Jessop were the parents of six children : Elizabeth, born Sept. 17, 1750, married to George Teal in 1770, died Sept. 12, 1814; Wil- liam, the date of whose death is unknown, was born July 28, 1755; Nicholas, born July 5, 1757, died Sept. 12, 1807; Charles, the great-grandfather of Dr. C. J. Jessop, and of whom more will be said later, was born Nov. 6, 1759; Esther, born May 21, 1762, married John Ford, and died May 11. 1803 ; and Abra- ham, born March 18, 1768, died July 30, 1831.
Charles Jessop, the great-grandfather of Dr. C. J. Jessop, the subject of this sketch, was born Nov. 6, 1759, and is described as being a man of remarkable beauty of the manly type. He married April 13, 1786, Mary, daughter of David and Elizabeth Gor- such, and died April 2, 1828, survived by eight of fifteen children, the issue of the marriage. His widow died in 1830, at the age of sixty- five years. Of the eight children, Charles, the eldest, was Dr. C. J. Jessop's grandfather. He married Jemima Buck, by whom he had eight children. He died about 1884.
was born March 20, 1817, in Baltimore, Md.
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On May 6, 1847, he married Eliza Sin Clair, arms and crest done in gold and colored enam- who was born in Carlisle, England, Dec. 30, els, and which had been willed to him as a 1823. He spent his youth and early manhood lineal descendant of the knight to whom the in Baltimore, later locating in Pittsburgh, arms were granted (before the Conquest), was sold by an unappreciative son to a Pitts- burgh jeweler, who had so little idea of its value that he destroyed it to use the material. Thus a rare and finely wrought specimen of the ancient craftsman's art was lost forever to those who esteemed it most. where he engaged in the tannery business at a place adjoining the present site of Mercy Hospital. Here he remained in business until 1854, when he came to Kittanning, where he bought property, the present home of his youngest son, Dr. S. A. S. Jessop. The re- mainder of his life he lived in practical retire- ment from active business affairs. His death occurred Nov. 7, 1887, when he had reached his seventy-first year. He was survived by his wife and three children, Mrs. Jessop dying June 12, 1895. Charles Christopher and Eliza Jessop were the parents of five chil- dren, four of whom were born in Pittsburgh, viz .: Mary J. and Samuel, who died in early infancy ; Dr. Charles James Jessop, the sub- ject of this sketch, born in Pittsburgh Dec. 2, 1851 ; Mary Jemima, born April 30, 1854, who died in Kittanning Dec. 21, 1909; and Dr. Samuel Adams Sin Clair Jessop, born in Kit- tanning Sept. 10, 1856. The latter is practic- ing medicine with his brother. The father of these children was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, while the mother was an Episcopalian.
We find that "Of those athletic figures in armor on horseback around William, Duke of Normandy, on that famous October day, 1066, nine at least were Sin Clairs. They moved in the inmost circles of his gallant surroundings." Dr. Jessop is a member of the St. Clair fam- ily of Scotland which was founded in the middle ages by Sir Walderne de St. Clair, a Norman knight, who married Margaret, daughter of Richard, Duke of Normandy. Their second son, William, became prince of the Orkney Islands under the king of Norway, and high chancellor of Scotland under the royal house of Bruce. The St. Clairs were among those who wrested the Magna Charta from King John. In 1741 the St. Clairs ex- changed their lofty title and island domains for the earldom of Caithness, which they still hold under the anglicized name of Sin Clair. Two of the descendants of one of these earls, through a younger son, were Gen. Arthur St. Clair and his cousin James St. Clair, Sr., the former of whom was president of the Conti- nental Congress in 1787 and commander in chief of the United States Army in 1791.
Through his mother, Eliza (Sin Clair), who was a native of Carlisle, England, Dr. Jessop is related to one of the oldest families in the United Kingdom. She was a daugh- ter of Samuel and Bettie (Adams) Sin Clair, the latter of the distinguished Adams family of Carlisle, England, where she was born. James St. Clair, Sr., was a Revolutionary soldier and grandfather of former Senator St. Clair, of Pennsylvania. His parents were natives of the North of Ireland, and he was born in 1741 in eastern Pennsylvania. He lived nine miles from York, Pa., where he owned a valuable farm and mill, and he was not only a prosperous citizen of his time but an earnest sympathizer with the Colonial cause, serving throughout the Revolutionary war. His wife's maiden name was Miller. James St. Clair, Sr., died in York county in 1806, at the age of sixty-five years. She was drowned at sea, in a shipwreck in the English channel, and six weeks later her body was found and identified on the coast of Scotland, where she was buried. Samuel Sin Clair was a great historian, a polished and cul- tured man, and a gentleman farmer of wealth and position, owning a large landed estate in County Derry, Ireland, known as the "Six town lands." He was a member of the Church of England. His brothers remained at the old manor house in County Derry, Ireland, near Tubermore, which is still standing, but he came to this country at an early day, first to Dr. Charles James Jessop has thus far spent the greater part of his life in Kittanning. He received most of his earlier education in the public schools and academies of that place. Having decided upon entering the medical profession, he went to Pittsburgh, where he studied medicine with Dr. John Dickson. Fol- lowing this he entered Jefferson Medical Col- Pittsburgh and thence to Armstrong county, Pa., where he bought several hundred acres of land near Kittanning at what is known as Blanket Hill. There he lived to vigorous old age, dying of pneumonia when ninety-three years old. He left a large estate, and was survived by six children, three sons and three daughters, all of whom lived to old age. A lege, of Philadelphia, where he was graduated prized heirloom, a facsimile of the Sin Clair with high honors March 11, 1874, taking the 27
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capital prize in anatomy. Dr. Jessop has spe- cialized in this branch of his work, and as an expert is the equal of any anatomist in the State. After graduation, he spent one year as resident physician of Mercy Hospital, Pitts- burgh, where he gained much valuable ex- perience, and he is now the oldest surviving resident physician of that hospital. He began the independent practice of his profession in Kittanning in 1875, and has been unusually successful. Six years later he took his brother, who had lately taken up the profes- sion, into the office with him, thus carrying out plans cherished by them for years. Kit- tanning General Hospital, now a very import- ant institution of this part of the State, was founded by Dr. C. J. Jessop May 8, 1898. Dr. Jessop has been chief surgeon since the or- ganization of the hospital, a well-merited honor, and his brother is also on the surgical staff. He was formerly president of the Arm- strong County Medical Society ; acted as presi- dent of the United States Pension Board for thirteen years; and also as president of the Board of Health for many years. He has like- wise been surgeon for the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company for eighteen years. Always a public-spirited man, he exerted himself to se- cure the abolishment of a toll over the Al- legheny river, which resulted in the bridge being condemned and made free. Dr. Jessop is one of the five who donated the property upon which the Nealton Brick Works now stands; the company which operates same (Kittanning Brick and Fire Clay Company ) manufactures the finest grade of bricks, which Union.
Fraternally Dr. Jessop is a member of the Blue Lodge No. 244, F. & A. M., and Orient Chapter No. 247, R. A. M., both of Kittan- ning, and also of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in the same city. He presented this latter order one of the finest, if not the finest, collections of Indian relics in the State of Pennsylvania. This collection was secured by Dr. Jessop through untiring efforts and the expenditure of much time, money and energy. The Kittanning lodge is deservedly proud of same.
Both as a professional man and as a cit- izen Dr. Jessop has always had in view the betterment of humanity, and those who have come within the range of his influence have been benefited thereby. It is such men as he who maintain high standards of efficiency in medical circles and the professional work gen- erally.
Aside from his professional interests Dr. Jessop is very fond of hunting and fishing. He is an enthusiastic sportsman in every sense of the word, and being one of the best shots in Pennsylvania is always sought after by all sportsmen at the various shooting tourna- ments, local and State.
OSCAR SLOAN MARSHALL, attorney at law at Rural Valley, was born Nov. 25, 1858, in Wayne township, three miles south of Dayton, son of William W. and Jane (Coch- ran) Marshall.
William Marshall was the great-grandfather of Oscar S. Marshall.
Joseph Marshall, son of William Marshall, was born May 20, 1780, near Ebenezer, Indiana Co., Pa., where he lived until 1802, when he moved to Glade Run, in Wayne township. Here he cleared a field, and the following year built a cabin on it. This same field is now the site of the Dayton fair grounds. Joseph Marshall became a heavy landowner, and cleared off nearly all of his property. In 1822, with his brother James and George McComb, he built a mill which was one of the first in this section. Later Mr. Marshall bought the inter- ests of his partners, and continued to carry on find a ready sale in all the States of the the mill alone until 1832, when he traded the
On June 5, 1895, Dr. Jessop married Emily Clark Campbell, daughter of Judge James Campbell, of Clarion county, Pa. (now de- ceased). Two children were born to them: Emily Mary, born Aug. 4, 1896, and Charles Hallock, born Nov. 2, 1898. The latter died Margaret Marshall, daughter of James Mar- two days after birth, being followed by the mother Nov. 12, 1898.
property for a farm in the same township. He was very well known in his day. He was a great hunter, and later in life was fond of telling stories of his deeds of valor while hunt- ing bears, panthers, wildcats, deer and other wild animals. On March 18, 1806, he married shall, of Indiana county, and she died July 26,
1842. On March 10, 1846, he married (second) Jane Ewing. His children were all born of his first marriage, and were as follows : Elizabeth W., James, Katie, William W., Margaret J., Joseph T., Maria C. and John Lewis. The father died Nov. 1. 1859.
William W. Marshall, son of Joseph Mar- shall, was born Aug. 3, 1813, and in young manhood engaged in milling, but in 1840, he settled on a farm in Wayne township which he had previously purchased, and lived upon this property until his death, which occurred. in April, 1885. A strong Democrat, he was
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
often called upon to represent the principles of Iowa. He taught school for five terms, three his party in various township offices, serving of them in Iowa and two in Armstrong county. Following this he entered the law office of ex- Judge Calvin Rayburn, of Kittanning, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1886. Politi- cally Mr. Marshall is a Democrat, like his dis- tinguished father, and served as postmaster of Kittanning from 1895 to 1899. He then estab- lished himself as a newspaper man, owning the Record, which he published for two years, and then consolidated with T. G. Hosick, who had founded the Advance, at Rural Valley, on Jan. 1, 1901, the plant of the former paper being moved to Rural Valley. Eventually the Record was discontinued, the Advance being issued by the firm of Marshall & Hosick, and later by Marshall & Keeler. In 1908 Mr. Mar- shall disposed of his interest in the paper and plant. as auditor, constable, assessor and tax col- lector. In addition to his other interests he was agent for farm machinery, and traveled through Armstrong county in behalf of the company he represented. In 1860 he was the nominee for commissioner of Armstrong county, but his being a Republican district was not elected. Mr. Marshall was a well-educated man, and during his younger life taught school to some extent during the winter months, be- coming very popular as an educator. His services were often required in the settling up of estates, and he was frequently made admin- istrator. During 1870 he made a trip to Iowa, but was not sufficiently interested to invest in land there, foreseeing that a long period must elapse before returns could be made. Mr. Marshall rendered a number of public services For eighteen years he made Kittanning his home, and during that time was active in civic affairs. In 1889 he was elected burgess of the city, and served for one term. Since 1908 he has confined himself to the practice of his profession and the writing of insurance at Rural Valley, representing the Rural Valley Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he is secretary, the president being J. J. John- ston. to the people of Armstrong county, and in 1846 was one of a committee appointed by the State Legislature to locate a road from Indiana, Pa. to Clarion, Pa., a distance of over fifty miles. The work of selecting the pro- posed route consumed thirty days. It was he who conceived the idea of writing a history of the Marshall family, which work was car- ried out by his son, O. S. Marshall. Without doubt William W. Marshall was one of the foremost men of his period and locality, and always led in any enterprise he undertook.
On April 5, 1838, Mr. Marshall married Jane Cochran, who died July 16, 1907, and both are buried in Glade Run cemetery in Wayne township, where their useful lives were rounded out. Their children were: Lucinda C., born May 6, 1840, married John H. Kells, who died soon thereafter, and she married (second) James Newcom, and they reside in Kansas ; David F., born March 20, 1842, a tan- ner, enlisted for service during the Civil war, and died in the army, Feb. 11, 1863, at Camp Humphreys, near Falmouth, Va .; F. P., born Dec. 4, 1844, served in Company G, 22d Pennsylvania Infantry, enlisting in the State service Sept. 16, 1872, for State defense, and now lives at Rural Valley, Pa., (he is unmar- ried) ; Robert M., born Jan. 5, 1848, a farmer, died in January, 1906; Mary J., born July 17, 1850, married Asbury M. Leas, and died in 1883; Oscar Sloan is the youngest.
Oscar Sloan Marshall married Hannah E. McIntire daughter of George W. McIntire, of Echo, Pa. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall: Nora B., who married C. C. Farren, cashier of the Rural Valley National Bank; W. W., who is an electrician; and Lucile C., who is attending school.
Since settling in Rural Valley Mr. Marshall has been prominently identified with its history, for he has been councilman and president of the board, and has served as solicitor for the borough. Fraternally he is a member of the Elks, and Odd Fellows of Kittanning, and is much interested in the development of these orders.
In 1884 Mr. Marshall published a history of the Marshall family of this section, which is very valuable and interesting, not only to members of this connection, but to outsiders who can trace the various lines, and appreciate the care and work given to this production.
Oscar Sloan Marshall attended the township JOSIAH W. KLINGENSMITH, one of the best known citizens of Parks township, Armstrong county, was born there June 20, 1841, on the farm where he now lives. school, and Glade Run Academy during the sessions of 1875, 1876 and 1877, and in the fall of the latter year went to Iowa, where he re- mained five years, during which time he was The Klingensmith family is of German graduated from Lenox College, at Hopkinton, origin, and was founded in this country by
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Peter Klingensmith, great-grandfather of
marched to Antietam, where they took part in Josiah W. Klingensmith, who on coming from the battle. They were also at Fredericksburg Germany settled in Armstrong (then West- moreland) county, in what is now Gilpin town- ship. He was one of the pioneers in his section.
George Klingensmith, son of Peter, was born in 1779 in Westmoreland county, and in 1830 removed to Armstrong county, being one of the pioneer settlers in what is now Parks town- ship. He built a log house in the woods and cleared his land for agricultural purposes, con- tinuing to follow farming until his death, which occurred in 1857. He and his wife, who was also a Klingensmith, of Westmoreland county, were members of the Forks Church, where they are buried. They had three chil- dren, two of whom died in infancy.
(both engagements), the Wilderness and Get- tysburg, in which Mr. Klingensmith took part after a forced march of thirty-six hours, during which time his company was not allowed to cook any food. He was under fire and in ac- tion there for the greater part of twenty-four hours. On May 5, 1864, at one of the Wilder- ness fights, he was wounded in the left hand by a musket ball, and was sent to Lincoln hos- pital at Washington, where he remained until August. On Dec. 24, 1864, he was discharged on account of disability, and he has never fully recovered the use of his hand.
After returning from the army Mr. Klingen- smith took up farming, to which he devoted all his time until 1874, when he opened a store on his farm. It soon became a prosperous bus- iness center, and he continued in the business until 1892, when he sold it to his sons. Mean- time, in 1881, Dime postoffice was established
Adam Klingensmith, son of George, was the only one of his parents' family to reach matur- ity. Born in Westmoreland county, he was only eight years old when brought by his parents to Armstrong county, and was all his life en- at the store, and he received the appointment gaged in farming in Parks township, where he as postmaster. From February, 1886, until died Sept. 8, 1874, aged sixty-one years, eight Mr. Klingensmith's reappointment in 1889, the place was filled by a Democrat. Since retiring from the mercantile business he has given all his time and attention to his farm property. which has increased to such an extent that he now owns about twelve hundred acres in Arni- strong county, including a number of farms besides his home place in Parks township of fifty-six acres, another of ninety-eight acres in that township, and one of 180 acres in Kis- months, twenty-six days. He was an active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Bethel, which he served officially as deacon. In politics he was a stanch adherent of the Democratic party. His wife, Anna M. (Kirk- land), born Aug. 20, 1806, in Mckeesport, Al- legheny county, was a daughter of John Kirk- land, a native of Scotland, who came to this country and settled in Pennsylvania, where he followed boating on the Monongahela river be- kiminetas township. Two hundred and seventy tween Mckeesport and Pittsburgh. In 1812 acres of his land is underlaid with a vein of he fell overboard from a flatboat on which he was employed as poler and was drowned. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Klingensmith had the follow- ing children: William, Mary L., Josiah W., Nathaniel K., Eden, John and Caroline E.
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