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 II > Part 16
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The Calhouns, Mr. Porter's ancestors through his grandmother, Mrs. Nancy (Cal- houn) Porter, trace their ancestry to Ireland, from which country James Calhoun, a native of County Donegal, came to America, settling in Lancaster county, Pa., prior to 1776, during the early part of the Revolutionary war. He enlisted for service on the Colonial side, and was wounded in one of the battles. After peace was declared he came to Indiana coun- ty, Pa., and was one of the earliest school teachers in that county, where he remained only a few years, however, removing thence to Boggs township, Armstrong county. Here he weaver by trade, but followed farming. By his first wife, Ellen (Templeton), he had two children, Samuel and William. After her
Judge John Calhoun, son of James and Mary (Walker) Calhoun, was born Jan. 16, 1784, in Armstrong township, Indiana Co., Pa., and removed with his parents to Arm- strong county when young, spending nearly all his life in Boggs and Wayne townships. He learned the trade of carpenter, but for many years was actively engaged in farming in Boggs and Wayne townships, having pur- chased a large tract of land near Dayton. On Aug. 30, 1811, he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of a militia regiment, and on March 30, 1818, was appointed by Governor Snyder, captain of an Armstrong company. In party connection he was originally a Whig, later a Democrat, and he was always active in poli- tics. For thirty years he served as justice of
Governor Porter associate judge of Arm- strong county to serve out the unexpired term of Judge Beatty, deceased, and afterward was reappointed by Governor Shunk. ,His services in this capacity, which began in 1840 and ter- minated in 1849, were highly creditable to him- self and satisfactory to all concerned. In early life a Seceder in religious connection, Judge Calhoun became a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, and one of the founders of both the Glade Run and Concord Presbyterian Churches, in each of which he held the office of elder. His death occurred when he was in his ninety-first year.
Judge Calhoun married Elizabeth Anthony, daughter of a German farmer of Indiana county, Jacob Anthony, whose wife's maiden name was Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony had three sons and three daughters. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun : Noah A., born Dec. 26, 1806, a farmer of Wayne township, died in 1889; William J., born July 22, 1809, a carpenter and farmer, was also of Wayne township, (his son James Robert died while a soldier, at Wheeling, W. Va.) ; Mary, born in 1812, married Thomas Ritchey, of Wayne township, and both are deceased ; Nancy, born Sept. 18, 1814, was the wife of Samuel H. Porter; James Roberts, a farmer there and afterward moved to Day- ton, where he became a prominent citizen, serving as burgess (his son Ephraim A. was
passed the remander of his life. He was a born March 25, 1817, in Wayne township, was
death he married, for his second wife, Mrs. killed at the battle of the Wilderness) ; Sarah Mary Walker, mother of the celebrated spy, A., born Oct. 4, 1819, married James Calhoun, Col. Robert Walker, and by this union there of Boggs township; Samuel S. N., born March were several children, one of whom was John. 22 (or 23), 1823, in Wayne township, is de- Her maiden name was Adams or Abrams.
ceased; Hon. John K., born Feb. 26, 1825, be- came a lawyer, served in 1856 and again in 1858 as a member of the Pennsylvania Assem- bly, in 1863 was captain of Company G, Emergency Men of Kittanning, and died when comparatively a young man. All this family were deceased in 1883 but Noah A., James R., and Samuel S. N. The mother died in Sep- tember, 1828, and Judge Calhoun married for his second wife Catherine Marshall, by whom he had one child, Elizabeth, who married Rob- ert Anthony, of Frostburg, Jefferson Co., Pennsylvania.
In Smith's history of Armstrong county, under Wayne township, we find: "The earli- est purchase of land from the Holland Land Company, by George Beck, 145 acres, 52 perches, for $209, by deed dated Sept. 21,
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
1813, being part of the lands covered by war-
Republican State convention in 1909, and rant No. 3,046, on which he erected many elected to the House of Representatives in years ago a two story brick residence, being November, 1910. Fraternally he is a life the first of the kind in this region. Noah A. member of Philanthropy Lodge, No. 225, F. Calhoun's deed for a portion of this land cov- ered by that warrant is dated the next day, Sept. 22, 1813, 197 acres, 140 perches, consid- eration $247.35."
& A. M .; of Greensburg, Pa .; Orient Chap- ter, No. 247, R. A. M., of Kittanning, Pa .; Pittsburgh Commandery, No. I, K. T .; Penn- sylvania Consistory, S. P. R. S., thirty-two, Pittsburgh, Pa .; and Syria Temple, A. A. O.
Also "The North American Land Com- pany possessed of several large tracts of land N. M. S., of Pittsburgh.
in this township, covered by warrant dated Dec. 2, 1793. That company was organized in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 20, 1795, by written articles of agreement. It consisted of Robert Morris, the great financier of the Revolution- ary struggle; John Nicholson, who was com- missioned comptroller general of Pennsylva- nia, Nov. the 8th, 1782, and escheater general Oct. 2, 1787, and James Greenleaf, and those who should become purchasers, owners and
AMOS L. ZIMMERMAN, who has inter- ests that identify him with the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, is a well-known resident of Apollo, Pa., to which place he came in 1882. He was born Feb. 22, 1838, in Alle- gheny township, Westmoreland Co., Pa., son of Daniel and Rebecca (Waugaman) Zimmer- man.
Daniel Zimmerman was a man of sterling holders of shares in the company. At the character and for many years was prominent meeting of the shareholders, held Dec. 31, in the affairs of his community. He was 1807, Henry Pratt, John Ashley, John Vaughn, Robert Porter, John Miller, Jr., and James Greenleaf were constitutionally elected presi- dent, managers and secretary of the company. The earliest purchasers of the tract covered by warrant No. 4,578 were Andrew Walker, Noah A. Calhoun, May 1, 1840, John Cal- houn and Samuel Porter, June 24th, and the same day, for $1, five acres to Jacob Kammer- diener and Jacob B. Hettrich, trustees for the German Reformed Church." public-spirited and broad-minded, and few men did more in his day to advance the educa- tional interests of his section. He was a school director for a protracted period and served also in the office of tax collector. As a farmer he gave much attention to the improvement of his cattle and stock, and at the time of his death, in 1876, owned about two hundred acres of fine farm land in Westmoreland county. He married Rebecca Waugaman, who died in 1886, and of their eleven children there are but two survivors, Amos L. and his oldest brother, Jacob, the latter a superannuated minister of the Lutheran Church and a resi- dent of Westmoreland county.
GEORGE W. LARKINS, Ford City, Arm- strong Co., Pa., was born in Flemington, Clinton Co., Pa., Jan. 1, 1861, son of John Larkins and Eliza (McGill) Larkins. He was Amos L. Zimmerman attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, and then enjoyed academic training for four years more, afterward remaining on the home farm until the outbreak of the Civil war. On June 8, 1861, he enlisted for service in Company G, IIth Pennsylvania R. C., and served for one and a half years, during this time experiencing many of the hardships incident to army life. His regiment was encamped near Washing- ton, D. C., until after the first battle of Bull Run, when it was attached to General Meade's brigade and moved to the front, afterward narrowly escaping capture by the Confeder- ates. Mr. Zimmerman was taken sick after this and was placed on a boat to be sent to a hospital at Point Lookout, Md., and after treatment there was discharged on account of disability, Dec. 25, 1862. He had done all that he could, performing cheerfully every duty as- educated in public and private schools, and worked at the drug business, and on dams and bridges on the Susquehanna and Baldeagle rivers, until he went West. There he was employed on the Santa Fe railroad, and was a practical miner of gold and silver in the mines of New Mexico, Arizona and Califor- nia. Returning to Pennsylvania, he was mar- ried to Jennie W. Bell, daughter of Samuel and Martha (Adams) Bell, in 1891. In 1892 he engaged in the mercantile business at Jean- nette, Pa., and in 1897 removed to Ford City and built the first business place in the new part of the town, there continuing in the mer- cantile business. He has been a member of the Ford City council since its organization, act- ing as president of that body for the past fifteen years and still holding that office. He is a director of the First National Bank of Ford City. Mr. Larkins was a delegate to the signed him as long as health permitted. After
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
recuperating he went to work in the oil fields at Oil City, Pa., and continued for three years, in 1867 becoming a contractor on the Valley railroad. In 1882 he came to Apollo and went to work in the iron mills, and after they were sold, in 1897, became manager of the rolling mills. After the big plant was moved to Van- dergrift he became inspector of pays in 1902. He is still with the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company.
Mr. Zimmerman was married Sept. 17, 1863, at Pittsburgh, Pa., to Dessemiah Ash- baugh Ross, a daughter of Joseph and Eliza- beth Ross, and of their thirteen children seven survive, namely : Rebecca, born Dec. 6, 1865; Edwana, born July 2, 1873; Abbie, born Dec. 7, 1877; Grace, born Sept. 29, 1881 ; Ralph, born Nov. 14, 1883 ; and Paul and John, twins, born Oct. 18, 1886. Abbie, of the above fam- ily, married William M. Gracey, who served two years in the engineer corps in the United States service in the Philippine Islands. Miss Zimmerman joined him there and they were married in 1903, returning to the United States in 1906, just in time to reach San Francisco in its period of earthquake. Fortunately they escaped injury. Mr. Gracey was subsequently appointed by the Treasury department at Washington treasurer of one of the provinces in the islands. Mr. and Mrs. Gracey have made a recent visit to their relatives in Penn- sylvania.
Mr. Zimmerman and family are members of the Lutheran Church. Fraternally he is asso- ciated with the Masons and the Elks and be- longs also to the G. A. R.
ALBERT M. GOSSER, late of Leechburg, was one of the progressive citizens who con- tributed much to the upbuilding of that bor- ough, where he passed practically all his life. The Gosser family has been settled there since 1840. Albert M. Gosser was born Jan. 14, 1834, at Adamsburg, Westmoreland Co., Pa., son of William Gosser, and died March 29, 1913.
ing children: Jacob, a soldier of the war of 1812, who died in Missouri; William; Daniel, who located at Baltimore; Henry, who went to Nebraska; Adam; Frederick, who died after reaching maturity; Ann Mary; Susanna, and Catherine.
John Gosser, brother of Adam, was a resi- dent of Westmoreland county, Pa., dying near Adamsburg. He left a large family.
William Gosser, one of the sons of Adam Gosser, was born Nov. 1I, 1803, in North- ampton county, Pa., and was a boy when his father settled at Adamsburg. He learned the trade of blacksmith, which he first followed at Adamsburg, in 1840 removing thence to Leechburg, Armstrong Co., Pa., where he con- tinued in the same line of work. He retired from active labor about eight years before his death, which occurred in 1888, when he was in his eighty-fifth year. Mr. Gosser became a. well-known and much respected citizen of Leechburg, where he served as burgess and councilman, giving great satisfaction to his. townsmen. He was a lifelong Democrat, and in religion a member of the Lutheran Church.
On Nov. 27, 1827, Mr. Gosser was married to Susanna Kistler, who was born July 4, 1808, and died Nov. 29, 1838, at Adamsburg. She was a member of the Lutheran Church. Five children were born to this union: Louisa, June 28, 1830; Daniel, Feb. 18, 1832; Albert M., Jan. 14, 1834; Adam, May 18, 1836; Wil- liam, Oct. 10, 1838 (died Dec. 8, 1838). By his second marriage, to Lucy Punt, Mr. Gosser had the following children: Jacob, born Nov. 22, 1842; Commodore Perry, Feb. 2, 1845; David, Sept. 4, 1847; Darius, Dec. 29, 1849 (died Dec. 12, 1852) ; Franklin P., July 7, 1852 (died Oct. 9, 1860) ; Anna M., April 18, 1855; Sarah E., April 5, 1858; Harry, May I, 1861 ; Amanda, Nov. 16, 1864.
Albert M. Gosser was only a child when the family came to Leechburg, and there he was reared, receiving his education in the common schools. When a young man he learned the trade of marble cutter at Greensburg with his cousin, Capt. Daniel Kistler, and he continued to follow that line of work for about ten years, establishing an extensive business, in West- moreland, Armstrong and Indiana counties. As it did not agree with his health he gave it up and purchased a boat, the "Spartan," which he operated on the Allegheny river, he himself acting as captain. This was dur -. ing the period of the early oil excitement in Venango county, and supplies sold at high
Adam Gosser, his grandfather, was born in Northampton county, Pa., whence he emi- grated with his family to Westmoreland county at an early date. Later he removed to Erie, Pa., where he remained for a short time, removing from there to Pittsburgh and even- tually returning to Adamsburg, where he had a contract for construction work on the Greens- burg and Stoystown turnpike. He also fol- lowed farming, and he lived to good old age, dying at Adamsburg. Adam Gosser was twice prices, but the construction of the Allegheny- married, and he was the father of the follow- Valley railroad destroyed the profitable riv-
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
er trade. Selling his boat in 1867, Mr. Gos- ser returned to Leechburg, and in company with his brother Daniel engaged in the gen- eral store business at Freeport. He soon bought his brother's interest and in 1868 es- tablished the business at Leechburg. In 1871 he sold his store and removed to Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, where in 1872 he erected a fine residence on a high plateau overlooking the Kiskiminetas valley and Pennsylvania railroad. In 1883 he again entered mercantile business at Leechburg, that year erecting his large three-story brick building on Market street, at Bridge alley. He carried a large and comprehensive stock, having a fine line of dress goods, clothing, shoes and carpets, and was considered the leading merchant of the borough until his re- In 1858 Mr. Gosser married Susan Hill, daughter of Israel Hill, of Armstrong county, who was a well-known salt manufacturer in this section. Four sons and four daughters were born to this union: Newton H., is en- gaged in business as a furniture dealer at Apollo, Armstrong county; Emma D. mar- ried Henry Kepple; D. Homer attended com- mercial college at Buffalo, N. Y., was en- gaged for a time as clerk in his father's store, and died in 1909 at Pittsburgh, Pa., aged forty-five years (he married Alberta Lind- say and they had four children, one son liv- ing, Harold) ; Franklin I. graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and is now engaged in practice as an attorney at Pittsburgh; Lidie K. mar- ried Albert Manning; Lottie E. married Lee tirement, in 1901. He was one of the best Randel; Grace L. married Bert Stiveson ; Wil- liam A., who is living at Gosser Hill, having charge of his father's estate, married Bertha Vogel.
known business men in this district during his active career. Besides the store building men- tioned Mr. Gosser erected what is known as the "Gosser Block House," a three-story and basement building constructed of cement blocks which is considered one of the most substantial structures in Leechburg. The blocks, which he made, were the first cement blocks manufactured in this vicinity, and he also designed the building, which was the first of this kind of construction in the locality. The store of J. J. Long and the Nickelodeon theatre are located in the building, and the rest of the space is used for residential pur- poses, it having been erected originally as an apartment house. It contains twenty-five rooms. Mr. Gosser erected twenty-five houses in all, at Leechburg and Gosser Hill. He long continued to make his home on the fine place on Gosser Hill previously mentioned, in 1904 building his late residence in Leechburg, on Main street.
Mr. Gosser was always public-spirited and active in movements affecting the general welfare, and though he did not seek office he was a candidate for the State Legislature in 1884, while a resident of Westmoreland county. It was mainly through his efforts that the bridge across the Kiskiminetas river, at Leechburg, connecting Armstrong and West- moreland counties, was made free. Mr. Gos- ser did not think it was fair that the residents of Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, and Leechburg, Armstrong county, should pay toll on their own bridge when they were also paying taxes to maintain the bridges else- where in their counties, and after a long and persistent campaign succeeded in having the toll removed, in June, 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. Gosser early joined the Luth- eran Church, in the work of which he was very active, and served as superintendent of the Sunday school. In political sentiment he was a Democrat.
Mrs. Albert M. Gosser was born Sept. 30, 1839, at Hills Mill, in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, Pa., of which township her parents, Israel and Catherine (Shaffer) Hill, were lifelong residents. Her grand- father, Squire John Hill, was a typical pio- neer of the kind whose strength, energy and resources made possible the settling of his region. He was a descendant of Jacob Hill, the immigrant ancestor of the family in America, who came to this country at the time of the Palestine emigration in the early years of the eighteenth century. The history of the Hill family goes back to the time when they were Protestant refugees in Switzerland, prob- ably French Huguenots. Later they had gone down the Rhine, making common cause with the French Huguenots, and after the revoca- tion of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 they were in the Palatinate in the Hunricher mountain district and near Coblentz, where they were called Switzers. Tiring of the unsettled con- dition of the country resulting from religious wars and persecutions, they came as stated to America, where they are called Pennsylvania Dutch.
Jacob Hill, ancestor of Mrs. Gosser, settled in Maxatawny township, Berks county, and was one of the founders of the Moselem Stone Lutheran Church in that county. He had
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
three sons, Daniel, Frederick and John Jacob. to advance the affairs of the community as John Jacob Hill, the eldest son of Jacob, the emigrant ancestor, was born about 1716, and on July 3, 1739, married Maria Appolo- nia Merklin (or Merkle, as the name is now spelled). They settled in Windsor township, Berks county, and had a family of ten chil- dren, Anna Maria, Anna Catarine, John Chris- tian, John Jacob, Magdalena, John, John Peter, John Jacob, John Frederick and John Casper. A remarkable thing is that the sons all have John prefixed to a second name ex- cept the one born June 20, 1751, who was simply named John. A number of these sons came West and probably some of them settled in Westmoreland county. One of them, it is not known which, as among so many Johns one may lose his identity in a century or more, was married to Magdalena Hower, and had three children, John, Jacob and Hannah. The father of this family was captured by a party of marauding Indians while returning home from a distance with a load of fruit trees he had procured for planting, and was taken well as the ability to make his own under- takings prosper, he was a man of notable worth in his day. He had various interests which brought him a good income for the time and were of value to the neighborhood, and there were few citizens of his time and place who did as much for the general welfare. His activities and generosity in behalf of school facilities, his services as justice of the peace, which office he continued to hold for a num- ber of years, and his various business enter- prises, especially "Hills Mill," brought him into contact with the majority of the residents of his section, and he was as well respected as known. However, he was the victim of a foreigner who thought he had a grievance against the Squire. This man, a Hungarian doctor named Shultz, had been called to treat the Squire's daughter Leah, who was an in- valid. He fell in love with the girl and wanted to marry her, but she was indignant and alarmed at his proposal and complained to her father and brother. The Squire ordered
with other captives to a point up the Alle- the Doctor to cease his visits and attentions. gheny river locally known as Hickory Flats. This infuriated him so that he threatened to
All that is known of his fate is from the tradi- tional account of a Mrs. McVeigh, one of his neighbors, who was taken at the same time, and who by some means was enabled to return to the settlements. He was made to run the gauntlet, which he did successfully, and while he was standing by watching the fate of the others Mrs. McVeigh fell, and was being clubbed, when he ran through a second time, picked her up and carried her through, doubt- less saving her life. She said that by such deeds of strength and daring he had gained some favor in the eyes of the Indians, had been allowed some freedom, and had been able to perfect a means of escape, having se- cured and concealed a canoe on the river bank. He intended to leave a certain night, and that day confided his plans to a fellow prisoner, a German, offering him the chance of escape, too. The German, to gain favor, revealed the plans to the Indians, who tied Hill securely to a tree, and left him to what- ever form of death the wilderness might bring. He was tortured from time to time until he died, but at the risk of her life Mrs. McVeigh would take him water.
burn the barn and kill all the family then at home. In March, 1847, he made the attempt, but only succeeded in burning the barn and in blowing up the Squire's office, a small building in which two of the boys, Salem and Shiloh, slept. That night a neighbor boy was with them. The boys were awakened by the light of the burning barn, so they were up at the time of the explosion of the powder Shultz had placed in the building, through a broken window, for the purpose of killing them. The force of the explosion was such that the boys were thrown in different directions. The one end of the building and the door were blown out, but the boys were not seriously injured. Shultz, however, did not fare so well. He had been about to break into the house where the other members of the family were sleeping, but heard the boys getting up and fearing the powder would not do its work until the boys had left the building, he had gone back to the door, with a rifle, and a butcher knife, to meet the boys when they would open the door ; he just got there in time to receive the full force of the door as it was blown outward by the explosion, and was so badly injured that he was disabled for a time, being thrown back against the garden wall, where some of the people discovered him. His face, too, was very much lacerated by the
Squire John Hill, grandfather of Mrs. Gos- ser, was born Feb. 25, 1772, and was ten years old when his father was captured by the Indians. He died Jan. 8, 1848. Active and energetic throughout his long life, intelli- butcher knife, which he was holding between gent and farseeing, and with the disposition his teeth. By this time the inmates of the
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
house were aroused, and it was necessary for died when fifteen years old; Seni, who died all to give their attention to saving the house, young; and Salem, who married Hettie Kuhns. (It would appear there was also a daughter Sarah, Mrs. Jonathan Waltz.) The brothers Eli, Levi and Jacob engaged in the manu- facture of salt, drilling the third well in this section for the purpose. They drilled alto- gether about eight wells, becoming extensive manufacturers in their line. Eli, Levi, Dan- iel and Hiram also engaged in the mercantile business at Leechburg, being extensively in- terested in that line for about four years.
as the roof was already ignited by specks from the barn. The house was saved without being very much damaged. Salem was prevented forcibly from attacking Shultz, though when the latter cried for water no one would give him a drink until Mrs. Hill, the Squire's wife, said he should have it and went to the spring herself. The next day Shultz was taken to Kittanning, and lodged in jail. He had his trial at the June term of court, and was found guilty of arson, and sent for life to the peni- Israel Hill, son of Squire John Hill, was the father of Mrs. Gosser. He was born June 16, 1820, on the old Hill homestead in Gil- pin township, and died there Jan. 28, 1878. He was a salt manufacturer and later a farmer. He married Catherine Shaffer, who was born Jan. 22, 1821, and died March 26, 1879, on the old home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Hill were members of the Hebron Lutheran tentiary, where he died. The barn he at- tempted to destroy was the largest in Alle- gheny township, which then comprised what is now three townships, Gilpin, Parks and Bethel. At the time it was burned it con- tained one thousand bushels of wheat, besides other grain, farm implements and horses. Such a calamity was a heavy burden for a man already worn by many years of toil in Church. They had a family of seven children, a frontier life, and may have hastened his death.
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