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 20
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Mr. Gault was married Feb. 27, 1862, to wagonmaker and followed it, though for Emma H. Rutan, daughter of Hezekiah Rutan, of Allegheny county, Pa., and they have three children, namely: Harry R., who is associated with his father in the mercantile business, married Retta C. Titzell, and they
about ten years before his death he gave the greater part of his attention to farming. He was a man of considerable prominence in his locality, serving as a school director and in other offices, and for twenty years he was have three children, James A., Margaret and justice of the peace in Allegheny township. Harry; May Banks is the wife of Floy C. He was an active member and liberal sup- Jones, an attorney at Kittanning; Laura is porter of the Lutheran Church. His death the wife of Harry McKenna.
Mr. Gault is a thirty-second-degree Mason, belonging to Blue Lodge, No. 244, Chapter No. 247, Kittanning, Tancred Commandery, Pittsburgh and Consistory at Pittsburgh.
NEWTON H. SLONAKER, one of the proprietors of the Hyde Park Foundry & Machine Company, at Leechburg, Armstrong Co., Pa., belongs to an old Pennsylvania fam- ily of this section, and was himself born in Westmoreland county Nov. 6, 1870, son of John Slonaker. The family is of German origin.
Michael Slonaker, the pioneer of this family in Westmoreland county, resided near Salem, now Delmont. His family consisted of seven children : George ; Daniel; Sallie; Esther, who married Conrad Hawk, a great-uncle of Mrs. Newton H. Slonaker; Katy, Mrs. Houser ; Mrs. Fennel, and Mrs. Borts (originally Boartz).
Daniel Slonaker, son of Michael, was the grandfather of Newton H. Slonaker. He was born in eastern Pennsylvania, and came enced foundry and machine men. Starting in with the family from east of the mountains to Westmoreland county. About 1829 he came to near Markle, Westmoreland county, where he bought a tract of 200 acres and followed farming the rest of his life, dying on that property. He was married at what was then Salem, now Delmont, to Mary E. Kepple, of near Salem; she had a sister, Mrs. Fink. To Daniel and Mary E. (Kepple) Slon- aker were born six children, namely: George; shop of the same size. The firm is prepared
occurred May 16, 1905, when he was aged sixty-six years, three months, nineteen days, and he was buried in Upper Burrell township, Westmoreland county. His wife, Elizabeth Bole, who is a native of Armstrong county, still survives, residing in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county. They had the follow- ing family : Delia L., Anna M., Newton H., D. Homer, C. F. Burton, Catherine J., Char- lotte. E., and a child that died when three days old.
Newton H. Slonaker attended public school in Allegheny township and also at Leechburg, and up to the age of nineteen years worked mainly at farming. About that time he en- tered the employ of the Leechburg Foundry & Machine Company, to learn the machinist's trade, proved an apt pupil, and remained about five years. He then entered the business for himself, becoming an active member of the Hyde Park Foundry & Machine Company, or- ganized in 1895, his associates being James Fox, Thomas McCausland, James Lees and George Shaner, all but the last named experi- a small way, they soon acquired a valuable equipment, being prepared to make large cast- ings and machinery. At present the output comprises rolling mill machinery and chilled rolls, and a general class of foundry machine work is done, employment being given to 150 men. Besides the pattern shop and power house there are two buildings, the foundry, 80 by 280 feet in dimensions, and a machine
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
to do any kind of work in this line, and its two daughters, all born in Virginia: Henry, high standing and extensive operations have who died in Illinois; John, who died in West- a recognized value in the prosperity of the town. Thomas McCausland is president of the firm, James Lees vice president, N. H. Slonaker secretary and treasurer. In January, 19II, Mr. Slonaker was elected a director of the First National Bank of Leechburg, succeeding the late George W. Thompson. moreland county, Pa .; Jacob, who died in Westmoreland county; Baltzer, who died in Greenfield, Pa .; Daniel, who died in West- moreland county; Catherine, wife of Philip Walters; and Elizabeth, wife of John Jon- ston. The father of this family died July 5, 1837, in Allegheny township, Westmoreland Mr. Slonaker was married Sept. 7, 1893, to Cora I. Trout, daughter of William R. and Jerusha (Maggie) (Lang) Trout, and they Co., Pa., and the mother died in December of the same year; they are buried in the Poke Run Churchyard. Mr. and Mrs. Trout were have had the following children: Charles T. members of the Methodist Church.
(now a student at the Pennsylvania State Jacob Trout, son of Baltzer Trout, was born College, a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Jan. 28, 1789, in Virginia, and when a child fraternity ), Paul N., Margaret E., Lee J., Joseph C., Mary L. and Walter D., all sur- viving except Lee J. and Joseph C., who died came with his father to Westmoreland county, where he followed farming in Allegheny town- ship from 1832 until he retired because of young. Paul and Margaret have unusual artistic ability, painting in oil. Mr. Slonaker is a member of the Hebron Lutheran Church and is serving on the church council, and is also librarian of the Sunday school. In poli- tics he is a Republican, and in November, 1913, was elected councilman. He is a past master of the Leechburg Lodge, No. 577, F. & A. M., and also belongs to Orient Chapter, No. 247, R. A. M., of Kittanning; Tancred Commandery, No. 48, K. T. of Pittsburgh ; and Coudersport Consistory. He holds mem- bership also in both branches of the Odd Fellows. his advancing years. He owned 137 acres, and had a well improved farm, which he cul- tivated intelligently, the place showing the result of his good management. Outside of his farm work he was not particularly active in the community except in his connection with the Lutheran Church, of which he was a prominent member, taking a leading part in its work. He died June 5, 1868. Mr. Trout married Mary A. Hawk, daughter of Daniel and Magdalena (Bricker) Hawk. A large family was born to this union: William R .; Baltzer, who is deceased; Jacob, deceased ; Mrs. Slonaker's paternal great-great-grand- father came to this country from Germany, in company with one of his brothers, and first settled at Germantown, near Philadelphia. They separated, and the family never after- ward succeeded in locating the brother men- tioned. The great-great-grandfather mar- Daniel, living in California; Henry, living in Iowa; David P., a dentist, of Leechburg; Mary A., who married George H. Goodsel ; Harriet, deceased; Jennie, unmarried; Mel- vina R., who married Cochran Vantine; Je- mima, unmarried; and Caroline E., who died young. Some of the sons served during the Civil war, Henry, who enlisted from West- ried in Philadelphia, and after living there for moreland county, being captured and confined some years went to the Colony of Virginia, in Libby prison.
William R. Trout, eldest son of Jacob, was born Sept. 26, 1829, in Washington township, Westmoreland Co., Pa., and was reared upon the farm, where he remained until twenty- four years old. He was educated in the com- mon schools and at Leechburg Academy, and
where he died. His son, Baltzer Trout, great- grandfather of Mrs. Slonaker, was born at Germantown and went with his father to Vir- ginia, near Winchester. He was a stonemason by trade. During the Revolution he served as a soldier in the Colonial forces, was with Washington at Yorktown, and in his later · taught school for fourteen years, for six terms years received a pension for his services. He of the time being engaged in Armstrong was married in Virginia, his wife being Eliza- county, the balance in Westmoreland county. beth Ridenour (Ritinour), sister of William, For several years he followed farming on and in 1806 removed to Westmoreland county, part of the old homestead in Westmoreland county, Allegheny township, and since he re- tired from agricultural pursuits, in 1904, he has made his home at Vandergrift, Pa. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church at Leechburg, and teaches in the Sunday school.
Pa., among the pioneers of that region, set- tling in the woods three miles from Delmont. There he cleared a tract of land and con- tinued to make his home for eighteen years; his place is now known as the Branthouver farm. His family consisted of five sons and He was made a Mason at Freeport, Pa., in
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
agriculturists, with successful results; was the first man in Armstrong county to raise alfalfa, of which he cuts three crops a year; and has planted seven acres of apples and peaches on his place, now having a promising orchard. He is prominently associated with the various organizations which promote such interests and advocate wise progress, belonging to the Percheron Society of America, the American Importers' and Breeders' Association, of Plainfield, Ohio, the American Association of Importers and Breeders of Belgian Draft Horses, and the Kittanning Fair Association, of Kittanning, Pa., of which latter he is presi- dent. Fraternally he belongs to the Masons and Elks. Though not active in politics he is interested in the success of the Republican party, and his religious connection is with the First Presbyterian Church of Kittanning, of which he is an elder.
On March 23, 1893, Mr. Wilson married Lurene Rumbaugh, a native of Kittanning, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Rum- baugh, and they reside at No. 315 North McKean street, Kittanning. They have had three children: Elizabeth, Josephine and John, the latter dying when seven months old. The daughters are attending public school.
HIRAM H. WRAY, editor of the Leech- burg Advance, was born in, Kiskiminetas township, Armstrong county, Jan. 24, 1848, at the little settlement of Shady Plain. He is a son of John Manners and Anna Margaret (Townsend) Wray, and a grandson of Robert Wray, son of Daniel, the Wray family being of Irish descent. His grandfather on the maternal side, Robert Townsend, was of Eng- lish descent, and his grandmother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Hine, was Ger- man, but both were natives of this country.
Daniel Wray, great-grandfather of Hiram H., was born about 1754 in County Antrim, Ireland, and coming to America in the latter half of the eighteenth century settled first in Mercersburg, Franklin county. Soon there- after he went to Mount Pleasant, Westmore- land county, where he purchased 200 acres of land. A portion of that town is now built upon this farm, although at that time it was a wilderness, infested by wolves, who fre- quently attacked his sheep, driving them up to the cabin door. Daniel Wray was a devout Presbyterian and in politics was a Whig. About the year 1781 he married Elizabeth Mckibben, by whom he had seven children, James, Elizabeth, John, Jane, Margaret, Wil- liam and Robert.
Robert Wray, grandfather of Hiram, was born Dec. 8, 1784, near Mercersburg, Frank- lin Co., Pa., and in 1800 moved with his father to the site of Saltsburg, Indiana county. After a time his father's health became poor and Robert had to assume entire charge of the farm. So well did he carry out the task that he succeeded in paying for the place and putting it into a fine state of cultivation. Part of the purchase money was raised by salt making, at a well he had bored. A tract of this land is still owned by his daughter Abi- gail M., so that the title has been in the Wray family for 133 years. In 1812 Robert Wray married Abigail Manners, daughter of John Manners, a native of Washington county. John Manners was born in 1760 and moved to Kiskiminetas township, Armstrong county, in 1810, buying a farm of 200 acres across the river from Avonmore, Westmoreland county. He was a devout Presbyterian and took part in the suppression of the famous "Whiskey. Insurrection." In 1785 he married Sallie Couch, and their children were : Joseph, Eliza- beth, Nathan, Margaret, Nancy, George, Polly and Abigail (Mrs. Robert Wray). To Robert Wray and his wife were born eleven children : Sarah, born July 9, 1814, mar- ried Robert Smith, and died June 13, 1860; Daniel, born April 1, 1816, married Sarah France; John M. is mentioned below; Eliza- beth, born Jan. 1, 1820, married John A. Ewing and resided at Olivet; William H., born Dec. 2, 1821, married Susan Townsend; Margaretta, born Feb. 29, 1824, is deceased ; one child died in infancy July 15, 1824; Nancy, born Aug. II, 1825, married James D. Wilson, of Olivet; Robert was born Feb. II, 1827; Anna J., March 16, 1830; and Abi- gail M., July 29, 1832.
John M. Wray, father of Hiram H. Wray, was born Nov. 23, 1817, near Saltsburg, In- diana county, and was reared in Kiskiminetas township, where he attended school in the old log structures of the times. Soon after he grew to manhood he began to farm for himself, following this occupation for the greater part of his life. Between 1857 and 1860 he was in partnership with Henry Town- send in the store at Olivet, and again in 1865 with the same partner, finally transferring half the business to Hiram, his son, when the firm became J. M. Wray & Son. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church at El- der's Ridge and in politics an adherent of the Republican party, filling a number of township offices. On July 19, 1839, he mar- ried Anna Margaret, daughter of Mr. and
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Mrs. Robert Townsend, of South Bend town- ship, and to this union were born eight chil- dren : Harriet, born Nov. 9, 1840, now de- ceased, who married B. H. Scott; Clara E., born in 1842, who married T. M. Marshall; Abigail, born Aug. 14, 1844, now deceased, who married D. P. Alexander, former post- master at Apollo; Hiram Hultz, of whom this sketch is written; Anna M., born June 18, 1850, now deceased; Robert T., born May 4, 1853, now in Tyrone, Okla .; Mary A., May 15, 1856; and Emma E., born Dec. 24, 1859, who is now deceased.
Hiram H. Wray was given as good an edu- cation as the old-time schools afforded. He first went to the old subscription school held in a log building on the Hart farm, and then to the school at Shady Plain. After a few terms at Elder's Ridge Academy, in Indiana county, near the line of Armstrong, he took a course at the Iron City Commercial College, Pittsburgh, from which he graduated in 1864. His first business experience was gained in his father's store at Olivet, and from there he went to the mouth of the Mahoning, in Armstrong county, to keep the books in Jere- miah Bonner's large store and steamboat ware- house. From 1865 to 1868 he held this posi- tion, the latter part of the time being agent for the Adams Express Company, they oper- ating over the Allegheny Valley railroad, just completed to that point. He also was agent for the old Good Intent line of stage- coaches. In 1868 he returned to Shady Plain to enter into partnership with his father in a store under the firm name of J. M. Wray & Son, and continued to be associated with the firm until 1872, when he came to Leechburg to take charge of the books of the store of Beale, Rogers & Burchfield. He held this responsible position until 1875, when he pur- chased an interest in the then firm of Ash- baugh & Co., the name being afterward changed to Ashbaugh & Wray. The place of business was opposite Leechburg and was for a time one of the principal stores of this sec- tion, drawing trade from both Armstrong and Westmoreland counties. In 1887 he sold out his interest in the store, as well as the Leech- burg Enterprise, which he had purchased from J. T. Robertson in 1875, and went to Kansas City, Mo., to enter the contracting and roofing business, with his brother Robert T., who had been located there.
business he entered the employ of the West Penn Steel Company. Mr. Wray was a char- ter member with seven others of the first nat- ural gas company chartered in Pennsylvania -the "Leechburg Light & Fuel Company." He remained with the steel company until they sold out to the United States Steel Com- pany in 1900. In February, 1901, he pur- chased the Leechburg Advance from D. K. Hill, who had succeeded Edward Hill as edi- tor. He has been editor and manager of this publication ever since, now almost thirteen years, and the paper has been enlarged and improved, the circulation having nearly trebled and the mechanical conveniences greatly improved. The result under his edi- torship has been very gratifying both to him- self and to the readers of the paper, as his knowledge of the intimate details of the his- tory of the town and county and thorough business experience make him peculiarly fitted to conduct a newspaper that is acceptable to all classes of readers. Though Mr. Wray politically is a Republican, the paper is con- ducted as independent.
When the first Leechburg Bank was or- ganized Mr. Wray was one of the directors; and with five others completed the organiza- tion of the Leechburg Milling Company. The first to introduce the "gradual reduction" system of flour making east of Chicago, this mill is still in operation. He has been con- nected and identified with numerous other industries.
Mr. Wray was united in marriage Sept. 7, 1880, to Alice M., daughter of the late John and Eliza (Sampson) Harrison, of Harrison township, Allegheny Co., Pa. To this union six children were born, as follows: Edith Marrion, who died in infancy ; John Harrison, who died of diphtheria in Kansas City, in No- vember, 1892, when in his eleventh year; Perry Hutchison, now in the employ of the American Sheet & Tin Plate Company, Van- dergrift, Pa .; Homer Henry, who died at Gettysburg, Nov. 21, 1913, from an abscess from an unknown cause (he was in his jun- ior year at Pennsylvania College and a young man of great promise) ; Stanley Manners, at this writing-December, 1913-in his sopho- more year in Pennsylvania College; and Al- fred Townsend, the youngest of the family, now in the Leechburg high school.
Mr. and Mrs. Wray live in the same house, although with many modern improvements, in which they began housekeeping when first married, thirty-three years ago, located on the
Mr. Wray's residence in Kansas City was not intended to be permanent and after five years he returned to Leechburg. After spend- ing a few years in the insurance and other corner of Second street and Siberian avenue.
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
They, together with their sons, are members of the First Presbyterian Church and other organizations. Mr. Wray is one of the first members of the Leechburg Lecture Associa- tion, which is the second oldest in the United States. He was its first secretary in 1874. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania State Editorial Association and National Edi- torial Association, and of the Pittsburgh Press Club.
John Harrison, Mrs. Wray's father, was of English descent and related to the well- known Featherstone family. He came to America at the age of nine and was reared to manhood at Germantown, Philadelphia. He emigrated to Allegheny county, where he was noted as a farmer and as an importer and breeder of English and Scotch draft horses, an occupation which he followed until his death in 1879. Mrs. Wray's grandfather Sampson, on her mother's side, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution.
A friend of Mr. Wray says: "Few men are more intimately known throughout west- ern Pennsylvania, indeed throughout the State, than 'Hi' Wray. His varied business connections have put him in contact with many men of prominence and stability. As a news- paper man he stands in the front rank, and his pointed pen has invited and encouraged an acquaintance and wide friendliness which many with greater opportunities may never hope to attain. As an evidence of his popu- larity, he was, in the convention of newspa- per men held in Harrisburg in the fall of 1912, chosen president of the executive com- mittee for the State of Pennsylvania, and his crown was no less lustrous when yielded to his successor."
AUGUSTUS T. PONTIUS (deceased), for a number of years a prominent resident of Parker City, Armstrong county, where he was well known in his various official and busi- ness relations, was a native of this county, born at Dayton, Dec. 24, 1841, son of Ezra Pontius.
Andrew Michael; George, and Frederick.
John Pontius, born Aug. 16, 1751, in the Tulpehocken valley in Berks county, Pa., served in the Revolutionary war from that county, being a private in the company of Capt. Peter Grube, Jr., Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, of which Samuel Miles was colonel. He enlisted April 28, 1776 (Vol. II, Page 239, Pennsylvania in the Revolutionary War; Archives, Second Series). His home in Berks county was not far from Philadelphia, and thence he moved to Huntingdon county, where he remained but a short time. In 1816 he came with his son Jacob to Armstrong county, Pa., settling in Wayne township, and died near what is now Dayton in 1836; he is buried in the Presbyterian cemetery. He was reared a Lutheran, and became a member of the Methodist Church. In politics he was a Whig. His wife, Barbara (Cotterman), born Sept. 24, 1753, died in March, 1810, and is buried in Berks county. They had the fol- lowing children: John married Elizabeth Root; Catherine became Mrs. Everhart; Esther married John Beyer; Jacob married Elizabeth Lias; Susan married John Lias.
Jacob Pontius, son of John and Barbara (Cotterman) Pontius, was born Nov. 3, 1783, in Berks county, Pa., and came to western Pennsylvania from Huntingdon county in 1816, settling in Wayne township, Armstrong county, with his family. He had come out to this region the year previous and bought 400 acres of land, over a portion of which the borough of Dayton has since been extended. He died in 1845. He was a Methodist in religion and a Whig in politics, voting that ticket when he and one other man were the only Whigs in their section. When he came to Armstrong county the region in which he settled was very sparsely inhabited, and very little improvement had been made. Many of the settlers gave more attention to hunting than to clearing their lands. Jacob Pontius, however, was very industrious and enter- prising, and he brought up his children in the same way. He started a tanyard upon his farm, taking into partnership a young man who knew the trade, and under whom his son Wesley later learned the business.
The Pontius family has been established in America for several generations. The first of the family in this country, one John Pon- tius, came from Alsace-Lorraine, France, in Jacob Pontius married Elizabeth Lias, who was born Sept. 15, 1789, and whose father was a German; Mr. Lias moved from eastern Pennsylvania to Huntingdon county, where he followed farming until his death. Mrs. Pontius died in 1842. She was the mother of nine children, born as follows : Elias, Dec. 25, 1738, when twenty years old, having been born in 1718. He settled in Tulpehocken township, Berks Co., Pa. In 1743 he married Anna Catherine Zellers, daughter of John Zellers, a French Huguenot, and they had a large fam- ily, the sons being : John Henry, born in 1744; John Peter, born in 1747; John, born in 1751; 1811; Wesley, July 31, 1813; Ezra, Dec. 15,
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
1814; Mary Ann, April 20, 1817; Eliza Jane, 1872 to 1880 he was engaged in the fire in- July 12, 1819; Catherine, July 16, 1821 ; Maria, March 20, 1823; Margaret, Nov. 15, 1826; and John, Jan. 30, 1828.
Ezra Pontius, son of Jacob Pontius, was born in Huntingdon county and passed prac- tically all his life in Wayne township, Arm- strong county, where he followed farming and also engaged in merchandising, and although his early advantages were few his natural ability made him quite a successful man. He died in 1888. Mr. Pontius was a Whig and Republican in politics, and in religion a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he served offi- cially for forty-five years, in the capacities of steward and class-leader. He was twice married, his wives, Emily Turney and Eliza Turney, being cousins, the latter the daughter of Jacob Turney, a dry goods merchant at Kit- tanning. Mrs. Emily (Turney) Pontius, his first wife, born in 1822, died in 1862, a mem- ber of the M. E. Church. She was the mother of all his children, viz .: Augustus T., Albert C., John M., Maria N., Margaret N., Robert G., Harry L. and Emma O.
surance business at Parker City and Kittan- ning, settling in the former place in 1876. In 188I he was commissioned postmaster at Parker City, under the Garfield administra- tion, and continued to serve until 1885, when he was removed under the Cleveland admin- istration, for making political speeches. In 1887 and 1888 he served as mayor, and he was a member of both the common and se- lect branches of the borough council. His record as a public official was uniformly high. After leaving the post office, he engaged in the mercantile business, which he continued successfully until his death, which occurred April 4, 1891, at Parker City. He was buried in the M. E. cemetery there, but within a year his body was removed to Emery Chapel Ceme- tery, Dayton, and rests with his kindred. He served as steward of the Parker City M. E. Church, in which he was choir leader for sev- eral years. He was a member of good stand- ing of the G. A. R. and the I. O. O. F.
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