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 90
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Benjamin W. Wyant attended common school in his youth and later studied at sum- mer schools. Upon leaving home he went o Lawrenceburg, now Parkers Landing, Armstrong county, where he was engaged for three years in supplying water to the town. He then married and settled down to farming on the Ezekiel Dickey place, in Washington township, part of which he now owns and occupies, making his home there for about six years. At the end of that period he moved to the Grange Hall, in Washington township, where he conducted a general merchandise store for eight years, from that location returning in 1889 to the Dickey farm, buying forty acres of that property. Mr. Wyant now lives on this place, and not only culti- vates that tract but also another of 140 acres, in which latter he owns a quarter interest. All result of his own enterprise and industry, and its well-kept condition is the best comment on his methods and ideas. It is very valuable, being not only good for agricultural purposes but underlaid with deposits of limestone, fire clay. iron ore and coal.
Mr. Wyant has been a prominent worker in the interest of the Republican party in his locality and at present lines up with the Pro- gressives ; he is township committeeman. He has been honored with election to various offices, in which he has given great satisfac- tion, having been supervisor for seven years
(Bokher ) had the following children : Adam, Bartholomew, John, Martin, Henry, and school director for sixteen years. He is Fred, Jacob, Catherine, Julia Ann, Susan, also an interested church worker. When Christina and Elizabeth.
thirteen years old he united with the Church of God, later transferring to the united Presbyterian Church at Cowansville, in which he held membership for twenty-six years. When this church dissolved. in 1912. he again united with the Church of God, joining the Limestone Church, his family also becoming members of that congregation. He is an elder in this church, and has served as Sunday school superintendent at the Brushvalley Church.
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born May 22, 1880, who is married to Horace E. Nichols and has one child, Kenneth, born Feb. 12, 1907 ; John Finlay, born July 7, 1883 ; Samuel Blair Reed, born May 3, 1886; Anna Sophia, born Jan. 16, 1890; and Benjamin Franklin, born June 26, 1892.
WILLIAM SHARP McCREIGHT, M. D., of Elderton, Armstrong county, was a practicing physician at Pittsburgh for over twenty years, and has recently returned to his native locality. He was born Dec. 12, 1864, in Plum Creek township, son of James and Jane M. (Carrell) McCreight, and grandson of Andrew and Ann (Sharp) McCreight. The latter was the daughter of Capt. Andrew Sharp, who fought in the Revolutionary war and for his services in the army was granted a tract of land in Indiana county, Pennsyl- vania.
James McCreight, son of Andrew, was born Oct. 20, 1812, near Shelocta, Indiana county, and removing to Plum Creek township settled at the forks of Plum creek and Crooked creek; living in that township until 1832. Later he moved with his parents to Paradise settlement, about four miles from where Rey- noldsville now stands. He soon returned to Plum Creek township, and for seven con- secutive winters taught school in a log cabin on what is now the Kimmel farm, on Plum built many barns, also following farming. In the early forties he bought a farm near the junction of the north and east branches of Plum creek, where he resided until his death, in 1888. In politics he was a Republican. He was one of the organizers of the United Pres- byterian Church at Elderton, and was one of the two elders. In 1859 he married Jane M. Carrell, and they had a family of eight chil- dren: Andrew W., who died in infancy ; James Edwin, a builder, now living in Texas (he married Dora Hutchinson, of Kittanning. and had one child, John William, who died in January, 1914) ; William Sharp; Anna Mary, who died in 1900, in Elderton; Thomas, who died in infancy ; John Ralston, an attorney of Washington, Pa., who is married and has one child ; Jane Agnes (twin of John R.), who married Taylor Rankin and lives in Crawford county, Pa., (she has two children, one son and one daughter ) ; and Emma Bell, who died in infancy.
William Sharp McCreight received his pre- liminary education at Atwood, Armstrong county, and the State normal school at Indiana. He took his medical course at what
is now known as the University of Pitts- burgh, graduating March 26, 1891, and in 1893. became one of the instructors at that institu- tion, with which he was connected in that capacity for six years, until 1899. He had commenced practice in Pittsburgh, and remained there for twenty-one years after his graduation, but he has become tired of city life, and in 1912 returned to the locality where he spent his early life, settling in the borough . of Elderton. He has had a very. successful career, both as an instructor and in general practice, and has many friends in and around Elderton who are glad to welcome him into their midst.
Dr. McCreight was married, Feb. 12, 1902, to Louisa Dorothy Rado, of Pittsburgh, daughter of Henry and Pauline Rado. They have had one child, Jean Dorothy, born June 28, 1905, at Pittsburgh.
EDWIN E. SCHAEFFER, now sole owner of the business conducted under the firm name of James Schaeffer & Son, of Kittanning, the leading marble and granite dealer of the bor- ough, has been identified with that business all his active life and became associated with his father at Kittanning in 1904. He is one of the best known men in his line in this section of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Schaeffer was born Dec. 26, 1876, in creek. He learned the carpenter's trade and Kittanning township, Armstrong Co., Pa., son
of James and Catharine (Simpson) Schaeffer. At the age of thirteen years he began to learn stone cutting at Kittanning, being thus engaged for a period of four years. He then spent three years at Apollo, this county, after which he located at Verona, Allegheny county, where he remained three years. He then gave up the granite work for employment in a mill at Apollo, where he was engaged for one fall, after which he did sandstone cutting at Apollo and in the vicinity for one year. For the next three years he was at Blairsville, Indiana Co., Pa., in the employ of C. F. Murray, who has a large business at that point. In January, 1904, he settled at Kittanning, doing business with his father as junior member of the firm of James Schaeffer & Son until recently, when he became sole proprietor of the business which will be continued under the old name. It has been located on Union avenue through- out this period, and the extensive plant has been developed, equipped and enlarged as the demands of the constantly increasing trade require. Everything is up to date and conven- ient, and there are facilities for doing the work in the most modern way, this establish-
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
ment not only keeping up with the times, but being the first to adopt new methods and put new ideas into practice.
Mr. Schaeffer is well known in local fra- ternal circles, belonging to the B. P. O. Elks, I. O. O. F., Foresters, Independent Americans and Woodmen of the World.
CLARK. Several members of this old and highly respected family of Armstrong county are now living at Elderton, Alexander Clark and his sisters, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Irwin, being well-known residents of that borough. Their father was Alexander Armstrong Clark.
Joseph and Margaret Clark, the founder of this family in America, came to this country from the North of Ireland in 1737 and set- tled near Carlisle, in Pennsylvania. He was a direct descendant of an Irish nobleman.
James Clark, son of Joseph and Margaret, born in 1742, died in 1824, was an officer in the Continental army. He married Barbara Sanderson.
Joseph Clark, son of James and Barbara (Sanderson), lived in South Bend township, Armstrong Co., Pa., his family and another occupying a blockhouse together, for protec- tion against the Indians. His wife, Nancy (Todd) was a member of the same family from which Abraham Lincoln's wife was de- scended.
Alexander Clark, son of Joseph and Nancy (Todd), engaged in farming in Plum Creek township, Armstrong county, he and his broth- er owning 975 acres there, ranging from South Bend township to what is now the bor- ough of Elderton, most of which they cleared themselves. Alexander Clark settled there in 1820. He married Jane Armstrong, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States when eight years old, and they had a family of ten children, three sons and seven daugh- ters, of whom only two daughters now sur- vive.
ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG CLARK, son of Alexander and Jane (Armstrong), was born June 3, 1831, and was a worthy representa- tive of the honored old family from which he came. He married into an equally prominent family, his wife, Catherine (Rupert), being one of the ten children of Michael Rupert, a prosperous farmer of Plum Creek township. Betsy Ross, who had the honor of making the first United States flag, was one of Mrs. Clark's blood relations. George Smith, her uncle, was a leading man of his day, serving several terms as sheriff of Armstrong county, and was an extensive landowner, having a
farm of over five hundred acres. Four chil- dren, one son and three daughters, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander A. Clark :
(1) Anna, born Sept. 14, 1852, married James Irwin, member of an old and prominent family of Whitesburg, Armstrong county. Mr. Irwin died in November, 1891. Seven children were born to this union. Mrs. Ir- win is assistant postmistress at Elderton. She was engaged in teaching for five years.
(2) Elizabeth B., born Sept. 10, 1854, re- ceived her education principally at the Elder- ton Academy. She taught school for five years. On July 9, 1878, she married James Leightner, of Ohio, member of a respected family of Painesville, that State, and they had two children: Sadie May, born April 13, 1879, married George Felmley, of New Ken- . sington, Westmoreland Co., Pa., and has three children, Roxie Elizabeth, Clark Wesley and Charles Howard; Mr. Felmley was formerly in the lumber business, but is now engaged in dairying and the raising of high-class stock, owning some very valuable cows and fancy bred colts. Alexander Clark Leightner, born Aug. 11, 1881, is farming on his own land in Plum Creek township; he married Emma Mulberger and they have two children, John Alexander and Hulda Adeline. Mrs. Leight- ner married for her second husband David Miller, of Plum Creek township. They had no children. Mrs. Miller is postmistress at Elder- ton and one of the most capable business wom- en of that borough. She has been engaged in the general mercantile business there for a period of thirty-two years, and has not only built up and maintained a good trade, but has through good management and thrift acquired the ownership of the building in which the business is conducted. She attends the United Presbyterian Church.
(3) Alexander Clark, born Oct. 14, 1857, is now doing business as a hardware merchant at Elderton, being senior member of the firm of Alexander Clark & Son. He married Belle Gibson, daughter of the late Lewis Gibson, a prominent and wealthy operator in the Penn- sylvania oil fields, who died at Elderton. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Clark have had seven children, and two of their sons are professors at Pittsburgh, being well-known workers along educational lines.
(4) One daughter died when one year old.
CHARLES B. PETERS, member of the firm of McKelvey & Peters, who carry on a thriving planing mill business at Rural Valley, was born July 28, 1878, two miles south of
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that borough, son of James S. and Mary A. ing served as steward and Sunday school (Cooper) Peters.
James S. Peters came to Cowanshannock township, Armstrong county, from Phila- delphia, and buying 400 acres of land about two miles south of Rural Valley there spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1890. He was a member of the Methodist Church, as- sisting generously in its support and work, holding various offices. In politics he was a Republican. He is buried in the Rural Valley cemetery. Mr. Peters was twice married, his first wife being Susan Smith, and their union was blessed with five children : Arabella R., Eudora J., Susan V., Samuel F. and Isaac Wilbert, the two latter surviving. His second marriage was to Mary A. Cooper, to which union the following children were born : James M., Mary I., Charles B., Etta May (who died young), Frank E., Robert J. (deceased) and Howard O.
Charles B. Peters received a good public school education, attending high school at Rural Valley and Whitesburg. After learning the carpenter's trade he followed farm work for five years, and for the next five years was engaged as traveling salesman, selling ma- chinery for the International Harvester Com- pany and the Empire Grain Drill Company. His territory was in Armstrong county. After this experience he was engaged in the paint- ing business for two years before entering his present line, the lumber and planing mill business. On March 18, 1908, he formed the association with E. L. McKelvey which has since been maintained under the firm name of McKelvey & Peters, who have a well equipped plant and are engaged as manufacturers and dealers in siding, ceiling, flooring, molding. bill stuffs, windows, doors, frames, turned work, everything, in fact, which may be pro- duced in a first-class shop of the kind. They make a specialty of custom work. The estab- lishment is well patronized by contractors in the locality, and has a high reputation for the good grade of its work.
The success Charles B. Peters has had as a business man has won him the confidence of his fellow citizens in a high degree, and he has been chosen to various local offices, hav- ing served as member of the school board, auditor and road master, in all these positions doing characteristically good work and show- ing commendable public spirit. On Nov. 4. 1913, he was elected burgess of Rural Valley borough. He is a Republican on purely politi- cal questions. He is a member of the M. E. Church, in which he has been very active, hav-
teacher. Socially he is a member of Rural Valley Lodge, No. 766, I. O. O. F., and of the Volunteer Fire Company of Rural Valley, of which he has been secretary for many years. On Oct. 19, 1898, Mr. Peters ,was married to Mary E. Wagner, daughter of Jacob and Mary Wagner, of Plum Creek township, this county. They have six children: James B., Jacob D., William M., Berten E., Thelma Elizabeth and Owen Clair.
ISAAC D. DOVERSPIKE, deceased, was born Feb. 6, 1842, in Mahoning township, this county, son of Daniel and Margaret (Beck) Doverspike, and died Sept. 16, 1911. A man of large and varied interests, all his affairs were conducted on a liberal basis that came to be regarded as characteristic of him in time. His gift for putting through large deals and handling extensive concerns entitled him to the confidence which he held and never dis- appointed, and kept him in high standing in the business world.
The name Doverspike is found in early records of Armstrong county in that form and also Dauberspike. It was originally written Daubenspecht, and the family is of German origin. The ancestors of the American branches in this region came with William Penn in 1682 to Philadelphia, where they owned land now included within the city limits. Some of them moved to Luzerne county, Pa. There were two Doverspikes (Daubenspikes) in the war of the Revolution, Philip and Jacob, for in Volume VI. Penn- sylvania Archives, Northampton County in the Revolution, page 490, Muster Roll of Capt. William Meyer's Company. 6th Bat- talion, we find the name of private Philip Daubenspeck, who it appears enlisted early and served his time. and then in 1782 re- enlisted as a substitute for George Krum. In Volume VIII, Pennsylvania Archives, North- ampton County in the Revolutionary War, pages 444-445. 2d Company, Capt. William Mover. we find mention of Sergt. Jacob Doverspike, in the general class roll in 1780.
According to an old history Jacob Dauben- speck came with his wife from Luzerne county. Pa .. in 1796, and settled in Parker township, Butler county, later removing to what is now Clarion county. They had five sons and two daughters, Mrs. Arner and Mrs. Geiger. The place where Jacob originally settled in Butler county passed into the posses- sion of his sons George and Philip, of whom the latter lived and died in Butler county : his
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wife was named Mary, and they had a son George, born in Butler county in 1790.
George Daubenspeck, Sr., brother of Philip and son of Jacob, served as a soldier in the War of 1812. With his wife, Ann Margaret (Meals), and their family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, he came to western Pennsylvania in 1795, to a tract of land two miles west of what is now Bruin, in Butler county. He came through the woods on horseback and over lands still thickly pop- ulated by Indians, built a log cabin, and soon began to clear away the forest. For meat they had venison, varied with fish, and for some time all "store goods" had to be brought over the mountains. In an account of the Daubenspeck reunion held in Bruin Park, in Butler county, Aug. 19, 1913, it is related that "There are at present twenty farms all adjoining each other, owned by descendants of the first Daubenspecks landing here" (But- ler county). "This may not be said of an- other clan in Pennsylvania. These farms are all underlaid with coal, all produce oil or gas but two. These lands are elevated and picturesque, well watered, and by some said to be among the most beautiful spots in the State. As a clan they are hardworking, sober and industrious, and are found not only on farms here, but among the professions."
George Daubenspeck, Sr., had nine children, namely: George, Jr., Philip. Lewis, John, Henry, Mary (wife of Jacob Milliron, of Armstrong county), Catherine (married Francis Hilliard and moved to Nebraska). Christene Ann (married Christian Hepler, of Clarion county) and Elizabeth (married Christian Smathers, of Clarion county). After the death of the mother Lewis, John and Henry went with their father to Arm- strong and Clarion counties, where the name is now written mostly Doverspike. The other two sons, George and Philip, bought their George Daubenspeck, Sr., and the three sons lowing statement found on page 80 of the history of Clarion county published in 1887: "The first settlement made on Red Bank creek between 1809-1815 was by Henry Nueh, Colin McNut. Sr., and the Doverspike fam- ily." George "Doverspike," Sr., was a pioneer in that part of Armstrong county now included in Clarion county, having been a taxable of Toby township (the three original divisions of Armstrong county were Allegheny, Buffalo and Toby townships) in 1807, with his sons John. Henry and Lewis, the latter marked as scent.
a single man. The father ( George, Sr.) died in 1858 in his eighty-second year.
In 1807 also John Doverspike, son of George, Sr., and grandfather of the late Isaac D. Doverspike, was a taxable in Toby town- ship. Mention of this John Doverspike as a resident in 1816 on land in what is now Ma- honing township, Armstrong county, is found, and he was a taxpayer in that township in 1817. But there is nothing regarding the date of his advent in this county or township. In Smith's history of Armstrong county we find that John Daubenspike's name appears on Tract No. 320, covered by warrant No. 3119- one of the few that appear on the map of the original tracts which were between the Ma- honing and Red Bank creeks. He settled on it in 1816, and was assessed on the Plum Creek township list for the next year with 130 acres, at $130. The Holland Land Con- pany did not obtain their patent for this tract until Nov. 3, 1827. They conveyed to him ninety-two acres and IIO perches of it June 24, 1830, then in Wayne township, for $150: and fifty-six acres and forty-six perches of it March 21, 1832, for $28.75. On page 356, same volume, we find that among the early settlers in Mahoning township was John Doverspike, and on March 12, 1840, Willink & Company conveyed to John Doverspike 121 acres and 120 perches, for $303: and that Daniel Doverspike purchased land in Mahon- ing township and owned it until 1856.
John Daubenspike (now written Dover- spike) was reared in the faith of the Lutheran Church, of which he remained a strict mem- ber, and he was one of the earnest Christians whose influence in the early settlement of this region was a powerful force for good. He followed farming so successfully that he was able to assist each of his sons to secure a good farm. He married Catherine Knight, of Clarion county, Pa., and they had a family father's land and remained in Butler county. of five children, four sons and one daughter.
Daniel Doverspike, eldest son of John, was mentioned are evidently referred to in the fol- born Jan. 9, 1818, on his father's land within
one mile of Putneyville, and spent all his life in Mahoning township, where he died: he is buried in the Eddyville Union graveyard. He owned two hundred acres of valuable land and engaged in general farming. Mr. Dover- spike was an official member of the Lutheran Church, and in political sentiment a Democrat. He married Margaret Beck, from Crooked Creek, this county, daughter of Daniel Beck, and granddaughter of George and Elizabeth (Holsapple) Beck, who were of German, de- George Beck settled at an early day
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in eastern Pennsylvania, probably in Mont- the old Fleming farm, which through neglect had depreciated in value. Understanding reclamation work, Mr. Doverspike was able to improve the property in every respect, although he resided on the farm for only a year, as he resumed his mercantile operations at Eddy- ville. In conjunction with his store, which controlled a very large trade, he operated a gristmill, and introduced the roller process at Eddyville. Besides he handled produce to a large extent, buying eggs by the carload lots, and recrating them for shipment for the mar- ket. For some years he dealt in lumber on the same extensive scale, specializing in square timber, having the logs cut and prepared in the forests and floated down in large rafts. He was perhaps the best known and most ex- tensive lumber dealer in Armstrong county, or indeed in western Pennsylvania. For more than a quarter of a century he made Eddy- ville his headquarters. In 1891 he moved to Wilkinsburg, and in association with Dr. Beatty engaged in the cold storage business on Penn avenue, Pittsburgh, one year later mov- ing to Kittanning, where he put up the egg storchouse. After a year there he returned to Eddyville. In 1902 he went back to Kit- tanning. where he built the fine home in which he resided until his death. In the last three years of his life Mr. Doverspike branched gomery county, but soon came to Crooked Creek, Armstrong county, where he resided until his death. He was a farmer and a gun- smith, a mechanic of genius in his line, and built and operated a gun and powder factory on the Kittanning road, not far from the county seat. In the old history previously men- tioned we find that the Becks became quite well known as manufacturers of gunpowder of the finest grade, willow charcoal being used in its composition. Beck's powder had a high reputation both at home and abroad, being of uniformly good quality, and of such fine tex- ture that it ignited quickly. It was as early as 1811 that George Beck, Sr., commenced the manufacture of powder near the mouth of Pine run, on the George Risler tract, which was continued by him and his sons until Thursday, June 29, 1826, when an explosion of about fifty pounds of powder in the mortar occurred, caused, it was supposed, by a spark from one of the pounders. John and Daniel Beck were at the time employed at the mill. The latter was thrown out of the door and so injured that he afterward died. The former was severely but not fatally injured. A part of the roof was also carried away by the ex- plosion, but the building was saved. Large quantities of powder made by the Becks were transported to Pittsburgh in canoes. Some out into a new line, that of building flatboats. of the Kittanning merchants made prominent mention of it in their advertisements. George Beck was a member of the Lutheran Church. He and his wife had a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters.
Daniel Doverspike and his wife had a large family, viz .: Catherine married Jacob Long, of Red Bank township ; Anthony is mentioned elsewhere in this volume ; George W. married Margaret Hastings and is mentioned else- where : Isaac D. is mentioned below : one child died in infancy : Levina, deceased, married William Wolf : Christina married Hugh Kells. who is deceased ; Mary is deceased ; Leah mar- ried Chambers Rugh, of Kittanning : John M. married Emma Bittinger, of Mahoning town- ship, this county.
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