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 83
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Peter Heilman, Sr., occupied a high posi- tion in his community, was an active Luther- an, and was one of the two who were most active and liberal at the time of the organiza- tion of the first church here. He and his wife were both noted for their worth as Christian workers and neighbors. She, too, was a weaver, famed all over this section for her skill, and she was a remarkable woman in many other ways. She was strong physically, handsome of feature and finely built, her small feet and hands, with their tapering fin- gers, being much admired. She and her hus- band were noted for their health and whole- some good nature, which made them univer- sally loved, and bequeathed to their descend- ants a heritage which has made them average well with any family in the county, for strength, independence, honesty and intelli- gence, for their posterity have shown many of their excellent characteristics. Their fam- ily consisted of twelve sons and daughters: Gertrude married Jacob Beaser (or Pieser) and had a family; Christina married Joseph
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Beaser (or Pieser), brother of her sister Ger- trude's husband; Mary ( Polly) married Fred- erick Tarr; Susanna married John King, grandfather of the present judge elect; John married Elizabeth Yount; Daniel married Lydia Yount; Solomon married Hannah Yount ; Frederick married Margaret Ehinger ; Robert died in boyhood; Margaret married John Stitt; Elizabeth (who was a cripple) died; Jacob married Susanna Waltenbaugh.
Daniel Heilman, son of Peter Heilman, Sr., was the Doctor's grandfather. He lived in Kittanning township, following farming un- til his death, which occurred in 1852, when he was fifty years of age. His wife, Lydia (Yount), was a daughter of Daniel Yount (Yunt or Aundt), and belonged also to a fam- ily of pioneers of this township whose mem- bers were among the large land holders there. The name is written Yundt in old records, and in German Aundt. Mr. and Mrs. Heilman had the following children : Solomon, Daniel, George, Samuel (born Aug. 29, 1822, died June 27, 1888), Isaac, Simon, Harry, Eve (married George Sheaffer), and Lydia (Mrs. George Eimon), and Susie and Elizabeth, who died young.
Solomon Heilman, son of Daniel, married Elizabeth Schreckengost, who was the daugh- ter of Benjamin and Susanna (Oury) Schreckengost, and came of honored and sub- stantial pioneer stock of Armstrong county. Her father was a large landowner. The Schreckengosts claim descent from the Ger- man nobility and were entitled to a large landed estate in Germany.
Uriah Oury Heilman, son of Solomon, be- gan his education in the common schools and later attended Elderton Academy and Thiel College, at Greenville, Pa. Then he taught school for three years, during part of this time also reading medicine with Dr. James Carnahan, at Cochran Mills, in Burrell town- ship, and he continued his medical studies at the University of Wooster, Ohio; then he read with Dr. M. Alter, of Kittanning, son of the great Dr. David Alter, of Freeport, taking a special course in chemistry and microscopi- cal work. Entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., he was grad- uated therefrom in April, 1881, and received a special diploma from Prof. John S. Lynch, of that institution, for work in diseases of the heart, throat and lungs. Locating in Parks township, Armstrong Co., Pa. (Dime post- office), he remained there engaged in practice for five and a half years, at the end of the period removing to Philadelphia, where he at-
tended lectures at the University of Pennsyl- vania and Jefferson Medical College under Samuel Gross, Sr., Bartholow, Da Costa, Ag- new, Ashhurst, Pepper and Wood, taking a post-graduate course at Jefferson. In 1887 Dr. Heilman came to Leechburg, where he has ever since been actively engaged in practice. His success has been won by hard work and conscientious devotion to the needs of his pa- trons. Personally and professionally his standing is the highest.
On April 7, 1881, Dr. Heilman married Esther M. Heckman, who was born in what is now Parks township, Armstrong county, daughter of Gideon and Sarah (Schumaker) Heckman and granddaughter of Abraham Heckman, a pioneer of Armstrong county, who married Esther Klingensmith, a member of another pioneer family.
Daniel Schumaker, maternal grandfather of Mrs. Heilman, was also a pioneer settler in Armstrong county, and had children: Jo- siah, who died aged twenty-four, unmarried ; Eliza, who married Thomas Young; Sarah, Mrs. Heilman's mother ; Rev. Isaiah W ; Mar- garet, who married Josiah Schaul; Lucinda, who married Isaac E. Shumaker; Mary, who married Charles W. Webster; Rev. L. J .; Rev. Albert; John; and Joseph, who was a soldier in the Civil war.
Seven children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Heilman ; Rena May graduated from the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia, and practiced at Leechburg for nearly seven years, until her marriage to Alexander P. Lindsay, an attorney of Pittsburgh, Pa. (they have one son, Alexander H.) ; Marlin W., a graduate of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, now engaged in practice at Tar- entum, Pa., married Martha Grant, of Frank- lin, Pa .; Grace Goldie is a graduate of Bryn Athyn Seminary, near Philadelphia, and of the Western Conservatory of Music, Pitts- burgh, and is now engaged in teaching music in Pittsburgh and Leechburg; Otho Ward graduated from the University of Pennsyl- vania in Arts and Science (B. S.) and is now engaged in teaching in the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa .; Bessie, a graduate of the Bryn Athyn Seminary, took a three years' course under Prof. Wilber H. Green in literature and vocal music, and is en- gaged in teaching; H. Glenn is attending Leechburg high school, from which his broth- ers and sisters also graduated; Carroll Ver- non died when eleven years old, of rheuma- tism of the heart, brought on by exposure.
Dr. Heilman and his wife are members of
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the General Church of the New Jerusalem, a number of years. He was a friend of the East End, Pittsburgh.
JOHN F. WHITWORTH, corporation dep- uty secretary of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania, has held that position continuously since 1901, but has maintained his home at Kittanning, where he had practiced law for a number of years.
Mr. Whitworth was born Feb. 12, 1854, at Apollo, Armstrong county, where he received his early education in the common schools. He also studied under private teachers, and took his professional course at the law department of the University of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Armstrong county bar in 1878 and has been in practice ever since, having long made a specialty of corporation law, in
which branch he is a recognized authority. He Mrs. Richard Whitworth had four children : has written six works on corporation law which Richard, Smith, Alice and Sarah. Mrs. Whit- worth died in America. Mr. Whitworth mar- ried for his second wife a Miss Grant, of Balti- more, who bore him two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, both born at Baltimore. have had a wide circulation and a number of semi-legal works on the Bible. Until 1901 Mr. Whitworth practiced at Kittanning, where he acquired a wide patronage, and he has since been engaged at Harrisburg, having in that year accepted the position of corporation dep- uty secretary of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania. He has continued to maintain his · home, however, at Kittanning, his residence being at No. 403 North Mckean street, where he spends his weekends with his family. Mr. Whitworth has always been a stanch Repub- lican and active in the work of the party, and before entering upon his work at Harrisburg served as county chairman. On June 26, 1884, Mr. Whitworth married Maude Reynolds, daughter of Thomas Hamilton Reynolds and granddaughter of Richard Reynolds. A full sketch of the Reynolds family appears else- where in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Whit- worth have been born the following children : Henrietta, a student in Damrosch Conserva- tory, New York, and John Ford, a student in high school at Kittanning, Pennsylvania.
John F. Whitworth is a descendant of George Whitworth, who was minister from England to France at the time of the Napoleonic wars, and came from an English family of distin- guished capacity, many of whose members have become known as successful professional men and manufacturers. The family history in England can be traced back to an early period. Samuel Whitworth, great-grandfather of John F. Whitworth, was an eminent civil engineer. Richard Whitworth, grandfather of John F. Whitworth, was born in England, where he became engaged in business as a man- ufacturer of cotton goods, continuing thus for
father of John Bright, also a cotton manufac- turer. After he had been in business for some years in England, Richard Whitworth came to the United States, in 1812, settling in Balti- more, where he erected and operated two large mills, and also owned twenty-two brick houses there. Some trouble arising with his employ- ees, strikers burned all his property to the ground the eve before Christmas, 1837. Be- fore he left England he married Mary Butter- worth, also a native of that country, whose father was a prominent squire of the county in which he resided, and whose brother was a captain in the English army and fell in the bat- tle of Corunna, in Spain, under the celebrated Sir John Moore. Many of her ancestors were members of the medical profession. Mr. and
Smith Whitworth, father of John F. Whit- worth, was born in Lancashire, England, and was two years old when he came to America with his parents in 1812. He was educated at Baltimore. About 1840 he came to Apollo, Armstrong county, Pa., where he was exten- sively engaged in the boating business for some years. He then turned his attention to the manufacture of flour and the mercantile busi- ness, and in 1858 became a member of the firm of Cass, McClintock & Co., who purchased the works of the Kiskiminetas Iron Company and manufactured nails and iron for several years. In 1885 Mr. Whitworth retired from active business life, and he died at Apollo in 1893. He was a stanch Republican and a strong tem- perance man. He never would accept any office except that of school director, which he held for many years. His business life was a very successful one, and he continued his inter- est in commercial matters throughout his life. He was a great reader, had at retentive men- ory, was well versed in history and literature, and followed closely the current news of the day. He was one of the oldest members of the Apollo Lodge No. 437, F. & A. M., in which he took a deep interest. Mr. Whitworth married Henrietta L. Ford, daughter of John and Jane (Sanson) Ford, the latter a sister of Rev. James G. Sanson, a noted minister of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. John Ford, father of Mrs. Henrietta L. (Ford) Whitworth, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his son J. J. Ford, as well as
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
other close relatives of John F. Whitworth, had the following children: Washington, served in the Union army during the Civil war. Samuel, Robert, John, Margaret, Nancy Jane, Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Rosana, Montgomery and Anthony. Smith Whitworth: Alice married Rev. David K. Nesbit, now deceased, a Presbyterian min- ister, located at Peoria, Ill .; Richard S., a physician and surgeon of Saltsburg, Pa., mar- ried Sadie Wilson; John. F. is mentioned above; James S., attorney at law, residing at Vandergrift, Pa., married Carrie Orr, daugh- ter of Samuel Orr, of Kiskiminetas town- ship, Armstrong county, Pa .; Mary died Sept. 25, 1890, at the age of twenty-five years, and is buried at Apollo.
JOHN HARVEY MATEER has lived at his present home in Boggs township for over forty years, having settled there in the spring of 1872. He is a well-to-do farmer and stock raiser, has held the office of tax collector of his township, and is a citizen who commands the highest respect of all who know him. Mr. Mateer was born July 31, 1846, on the old Mateer homestead in Boggs township, and be- longs to a family of Scotch-Irish origin which has been in Pennsylvania for several genera- tions.
James Mateer, the founder of this branch in America, was born in Ireland and was of Scotch-Irish parentage. Crossing the Atlantic with his wife, Mollie (Sharon), and family, he settled in the Cumberland valley in Penn- sylvania, seven miles from Harrisburg and one mile from Mechanicsville, obtaining land from the Penns on which he made his home and devoted himself to farming. There he reared his family. He served in the Revolu- tionary war.
Samuel Mateer, son of James and Mollie Mateer, always followed farming, remaining on the old home place, where he died in 1805. He married Rosanna Quigley, and they reared a family.
Samuel Mateer, son of John, was born in November, 1818, in what is now East Franklin township, Armstrong county, and was raised there. Later he located in what was then Pine (now Boggs) township, where his son Samuel S. Mateer now lives, and there passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1900. Farming was his principal business through- out life, but in his early years he was also a drover, dealing extensively in stock, which he drove to the eastern markets. He bought the place of 200 acres in Boggs township now owned by his son Samuel at a time when there were neither roads nor bridges in the vicinity, and the tree under which he pitched his tent the first winter, while he cleared a place for
his house, is still standing. In the spring he went for his young wife, whom he had mar- ried the previous August, 1843, and they worked together to improve the property, in time being able to build a fine house and barns. Mr. Mateer was a Democrat and took a promi- nent part in the public affairs of the locality, holding the office of justice of the peace for many years and serving faithfully in various township offices, including that of school director. Being a carpenter, he in 1859 built the schoolhouse which still stands on the farm and is known by his name. He also contrib- uted liberally toward the building of the Con- cord Presbyterian Church, and was one of the trustees of that congregation. He helped to secure good roads in his neighborhood. He was the promoter of Pine Creek Furnace, and in company with James E. Brown, of whom he purchased his farm, established the furnace where the station of that name now stands. Thus he was associated with many movements which marked the progress of his community. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity.
John Mateer, son of Samuel, was a native In August, 1843, Mr. Mateer married Elizabeth Ambrose, who was born April 2, 1823, daughter of Benjamin Ambrose, a farmer of Westmoreland county, who came to Franklin township, Armstrong county, where he reared his family of four sons and three daughters. Mr. Ambrose was a Whig and a Presbyterian. Mrs. Mateer died in August, 1903. She and her husband had the following children, all born on the home farm in Boggs township where their son Samuel S. now lives : James E. B., born May 24th, 1844, is a S. Lowry) John Harvey, born July 31, 1846, of Dauphin county, Pa., thence removing in 1806 to Armstrong county, settling in Frank- lin township, close to what is now Montgom- eryville, on land now owned by the Shawmut Railway Company. He obtained 250 acres of land in what is now Washington township, then all in the woods, and developed a desir- able property, putting up a substantial brick house and frame barn, and making many im- provements which added to its value. In 1855 Mr. Mateer left Armstrong county, moving out to Wayne county, Ill., where he farmer of Boggs township (he married Esther (lied in 1866. In politics he was a Democrat. He married Margaret Montgomery, and they is a farmer of Boggs township; Robert M.,
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
born Oct. 5, 1848, graduated from Jefferson and they have two children, Evelyn Cleda, born Medical College and was a prominent physi- April 25, 1909, and Ivan Lloyd, born Feb. 28, 1912. (3) Iva Blanche, born March 7, 1882, is a teacher in Kittanning. (4) Delbert H., born Jan. 29, 1884, married Olive Roney, daughter of George Roney, and their children are Clair Franklin, born Oct. 28, 1906, and Harry Elmeyer, born Jan. 29, 1907. Their home is in Kittanning. (5) Finley Ambrose, born April 30, 1888, married Beulah Orr, daughter of John Orr, and has one child, Mildred Genevieve, born Aug. 28, 1910. They reside in Kittanning. cian of Elderton, this county, until his death, June 18, 1900 (he married Mary Donly ) ; Ben- jamin Franklin, born Dec. 25, 1850, is a re- tired farmer living in Kittanning; Samuel S., born May 1, 1853, married Mary Houser ; Annie Jane, born Oct. 25, 1855, married Wil- liam W. Calhoun, a farmer of Boggs town- ship; Margaret, born March 18, 1858, married Findley P. Wolff, an attorney of Kittanning, and died June 24, 1910; Mary Elizabeth, born in December, 1860, is the widow of Joseph Banks, and is living in Kittanning; Ambrose M., born July 16, 1863, is a merchant at Ford City, this county; Alexander Montgomery, born Oct. 26, 1867, is a farmer of Boggs township. Besides their own large family Mr. and Mrs. Mateer raised Daniel Cogley, who was born Sept. 7, 1839, and whom they took into their home as an orphan boy of nine years. He still resides on the old homestead with Samuel S. Mateer. He was a Union soldier during the Civil war, enlisting in August, 1862, in Company K, 155th Pennsylvania Regiment, and serving three years with the Army of the Potomac; after his discharge he returned to the Mateer farm in Boggs town- ship.
James Calhoun, Mrs. Mateer's great-grand- father, was a native of County Donegal, Ire- land. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. His first settlement in this country was in Lancaster county, Pa., but soon after the close of the Revolution he removed to Indiana county, remaining there, however, only a few years; he was one of the early school teach- ers of that county. Thence he removed to Boggs township, Armstrong county, where he passed the remainder of his life. In religious belief he was a Seceder. In Lancaster county he married (first) Ellen Templeton, by, whom he had two children, Ellen and William. In Indiana county he married (second) Mrs. May (Abrams) Walker. He reared a large family of children.
John Harvey Mateer was reared and edu- cated in Boggs township, where he has passed Mrs. Mateer's grandfather, Hon. John Cal- houn, was born Jan. 16, 1784, in Indiana or Armstrong county, Pa., spent nearly all his all his life. In the spring of 1872, shortly be- fore his marriage, he came to the farm he has since owned and occupied-a fine tract of 196 life in Wayne township, and died in May, acres to which he has added seven acres since he settled upon it. The improvements, in- cluding the commodious and substantial build- · ings, are practically all his own work, and the fine condition of the property is the best com- ment on his up-to-date and intelligent manage- ment. Besides carrying on general farming, he raises fine dairy stock and Percheron Nor- man horses, in which latter he takes particu- lar pride. Though he has not sought public honors he has been elected tax collector and served with the greatest satisfaction to all con- cerned. In political connection he is a Dem- ocrat, in church connection a Presbyterian.
On Jan. 30, 1873, Mr. Mateer married Clara L. Calhoun, who was born Sept. 26, 1846, daughter of James Robert and Nancy (Cochran) Calhoun. Five children were born to this union: (1) Robert C., born Jan. 3, 1874, is unmarried. (2) Samuel Lee, born March 19, 1877, now resides in East Frank- lin township, Armstrong county, on the farm formerly owned by O. N. Wilson. He married May Sechrist, daughter of Andrew Sechrist,
1874. He was long one of the most respected citizens of Armstrong county. In early life he was a carpenter, but in his later years engaged in farming. For thirty years he held the office of justice of the peace in district No. 7, being first appointed in 1822 under Governor Hiester, and he was three times commissioned assistant judge, first in 1840 to serve out an unexpired term, in 1842 for a full term by Governor Porter, and again by Governor Shunk, in 1848. He was active in public matters and political affairs during the greater part of his mature life. He was a Whig until late in life, when he became a strong supporter of the Democratic party. He was one of the first militia captains in the State, commissioned March 30, 1813, by Gov- ernor Snyder ; on Aug. 30, 1811, he had been commissioned lieutenant colonel. In early life a Seceder, he later joined the Presbyterian Church and was among the founders and . elders of the Glade Run and Concord Churches. Mr. Calhoun was twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth Anthony, whom he
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
married in 1806, died Sept. 1, 1827, the mother tanning, was born in Kittanning township, of eight children, born as follows: Noah A., this county, Sept. 8, 1864, son of John M. and Dec. 26, 1806 (died in 1889) ; William J., Elizabeth (Stark) Patton. July 22, 1809 (deceased, a carpenter and John M. Patton was born in Armstrong county, where he was reared, and developed into a farmer. In 1864 he enlisted in the 78th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, but later was transferred to the 109th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served un- til the close of the war. His death occurred in January, 1890, and his widow survived un- til 1904. They had eleven children: Mary E., deceased; Sarah, deceased; Margaret, de- ceased; Elizabeth E, ; John S .; Dr. James M., a physician of Vandergrift, Pa .; Rebecca, widow of Dr. A. E. Heilman, deceased ; How- ard, deceased; William A .; Thomas S., de- ceased ; and Samuel M. farmer of Wayne township) ; May (Mrs. Thomas Ritchey, of Wayne township), Jan. 15, 1812 (deceased) ; Nancy (wife of Samuel H. Porter), Sept. 18, 1814 (deceased) ; James R., March 25, 1817; Sarah (Mrs. James Cal- houn, of Boggs township), Oct. 4, 1819; Sam- uel S. N., March 22, 1823; John K., Feb. 26, 1825. All the daughters married farmers, and all the sons became farmers except John K., who was an attorney. Six of the grandchil- dren of John Calhoun were in the Civil war, Ephraim (son of James R. Calhoun), James Robert (son of William J. Calhoun), Willian D. Porter, John A. Ritchey, John A. Calhoun and John C. Calhoun. On Jan. 1, 1828, he married (second) Catherine Marshall, who was born Oct. 8, 1788, and died April 26, 1865. They had one child, Elizabeth C., born Oct. 30, 1830, who married Robert Anthony, of Frostburg, Pa., son of Levi and Mary (Miller) Anthony.
James Robert Calhoun was born March 25, 1817, in Armstrong county, and settled there, on a farm in Wayne township, where he lived until 1882. He then retired and removed to the borough of Dayton, where he died Feb. 15, 1904. Mr. Calhoun was one of the most progressive farmers of his day, and took par- ticular pride in his valuable live stock. He was one of the managers of the Dayton A. M. Association. In his day he was a prom- inent supporter of the Democratic party in this section of the county, served as tax col- lector, school director (twelve years), road supervisor (four years), one term as council- man of Dayton and several terms as burgess. He and his wife were members of the Pres- byterian Church for over fifty years. He mar- ried April 8, 1841, Nancy S. Cochran, daugh- ter of William and Mary (Marshall) Coch- ran, and their children were: Ephraim A., born July 5, 1843, and who in 1862, became a member of Company K, 155th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was killed at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864; Elmira A., born Jan. 6, 1845; Clara La- vina, Mrs. Mateer ; Jefferson C., born in May, 1849; and Leander S., born Oct. 25, 1850. Mrs. Calhoun was born Dec. 20, 1816, and died May 12, 1906.
WILLIAM A. PATTON, county superin- tendent of public schools of Armstrong coun- ty, and one of the desirable citizens of Kit-
William A. Patton attended the public schools of Kittanning township; Elderton Academy, and Edinboro normal school, from which he was graduated in 1889. In 1897 he entered Grove City College, from which he was graduated in 1899. In the intervals be- tween his academic courses he taught school, in order to earn the money to carry on his studies. Among other places, he was sta- tioned in Kittanning township, at Utica, Pa., Cochranton, Crawford Co., Pa, and Parker City, Pa. In 1900 he was appointed princi- pal of the Elderton Academy, and served as such for eight years, bringing that institution up to a high standard. In 1908 he was elected county superintendent of schools of Arm- strong county, and was reelected to the same office in May, 1911. Fraternally he is a mem- ber of the Roval Arcanum and Sons of Vet- erans. His religious connection is with the Presbyterian Church.
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