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 23
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Absalom Reynolds was born at Kittanning in 1818, and was a son of his father's first marriage. He inherited the hotel property, and for many years was the proprietor of the "Reynolds Hotel." In political faith he was a Republican, filling several important offices, among them that of county treasurer. He was assistant postmaster under his father. Like his father he was a man of high stand- ing and wide influence, and associated with important affairs. He married Margaret Heiner Mechling, daughter of Sheriff John Mechling and his wife Ann Eliza (Heiner), whose father was a soldier in the Revolution- ary war. Mrs. Reynolds was born in 1825 and died in 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds became the parents of the following children : Anna, who died when nineteen years of age; Edwin, who died when six years old; Harry ; and Jessie, the wife of Tyson Hileman.
Harry Reynolds was reared in Kittanning, receiving his early education in the grammar and high schools of the city, and later at- tended the Edgwood Boarding School, at New Brighton, Pa., and finally the college preparatory school at Princeton, N. J., which later was removed to Merchantville, near Cam- den. He has taken up the business of his father and grandfather, and for over thirty- one years has owned and operated the hotel
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that bears the family name. His grandfather's while they were on the ocean on their way old clock (wall sweep) still used in the hotel to this country and was buried at sea. The following children were born to them after their arrival in this country: Andy, Joseph, William, James, Sarah Jane, Margaret and Mary, all now deceased. is a historic timepiece, for by it the sittings of the court were timed in the early days when the hotel was known as the "Kittanning Inn," the janitor or court crier coming over from the courthouse-then directly opposite the "Inn," which stood on the site now occu- pied by the "Reynolds Hotel"-to get the time to ring his bell for the opening of court. The
William Gillis received his early education in the common schools, such as they were in his day, and later attended a commercial school at night. He learned the trade of woolen clock even occupies the same location. Mr. manufacturer on Cobb creek, fourteen miles Reynolds also owns a desk on one drawer of which is written and signed: "This desk was the first piece of furniture made in Kittan- ning, and was made in the year 1804, by Isaac Townsend." Mr. Reynolds is a member of the B. P. O. Elks, belonging to Lodge No. 203, Kittanning.
In 1876 Harry Reynolds married Sarah A. Reynolds, daughter of William Reynolds, who married a Welty. They have one child, Mar- garet, now the wife of Philip S. Merrill, presi- dent of the George B. Merrill, Jr., Lumber Company, of Jackson, Miss., and son of George B. Merrill, of Williamsport, Pa., founder of that company. Mr. and Mrs. Philip S. Merrill have three children living: George B., Jr., Harry Reynolds and Philip S., Jr.
WILLIAM GILLIS, late a resident of Valley township, Armstrong county, was for a number of years engaged in business there as a woolen manufacturer, and he was promi- nently identified with the township govern- ment, serving his fellow citizens in many official capacities. Mr. Gillis was a native of Bucks county, Pa., born Nov. 14, 1808, son of Joseph Gillis and grandson of William Gillis. The family is of Irish origin.
William Gillis, the grandfather, had the tion he was a member of the German Re- following children: Nancy, Mrs. McKnight, Violet, Mrs. Lockheart; Joseph; and John. All came to America.
Joseph Gillis, son of William, was born in Ireland and was married there to Margaret Hamilton, also a native of that country. Com- ing to America they made their home at Phil- adelphia, where Mr. Gillis was engaged as a merchant and weaver. In his later years he would recount the story of the first train of cars which entered the city, and which was drawn in by horses, as the people were afraid some one would be run over, or that the sparks from the engine would set fire to buildings. He was a Whig in politics, and held some offices in the city. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Gillis in Ireland, but it died
from Philadelphia, under the instruction of Dennis Kelley. After following this work in Philadelphia for a time he became manager of the woolen mills at Craigsville, Armstrong county, and next ran a woolen factory in Pine Creek (now Boggs) township, for Major White, with whom he remained about two years. He then bought a tract of eleven acres on Pine creek, in Valley township, where he established a home and passed the remainder of his life. He erected a mill 30 by 30 feet in dimensions, three stories high, run by waterpower, and enjoyed a prosperous trade, doing custom work as well as manufacturing for the general market. He took the wool as it came from the sheep's back, and turned out the finished product, cloth and other woolen productions. The mill is now a picturesque ruin. As he prospered, Mr. Gillis bought a farm, and he was ranked among the substan- tial men of his locality. He was quite active in politics, supporting what he knew to be the best men and measures in local affairs, and the Republican ticket on national issues. He held almost all of the township offices, was the first president of the election board of Valley township, was particularly active on the school board, and acted as justice of the peace for many years. In religious connec- formed Church, to which his wife also belonged.
On Feb. 14, 1832, Mr. Gillis was married in Philadelphia to Mary McMullen, who was born Sept. 15, 18II, and died July 21, 1897. He passed away Jan. 7, 1900. They had the following children: (1) James Hamilton, born Sept. 14, 1833, died in March, 1901. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in the 9th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. He married Mary Jane Davis, who survives him, and they had children: James M., now deceased; Eliza, deceased; William L .; H. Lincoln; Grant; Samuel, deceased; Joseph, deceased ; Charles F .; and Clarence. (2) Eliza Jane, born May 29, 1836, has never married, and she and her sister Margaret live on the
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old home place at the mill in Valley town- the youngest of the family of the late Wil- ship. (3) Sarah Ann, born July 1, 1838, is liam and Mary (McMullen) Gillis. He was born in Armstrong county Oct. 1, 1854, and there received his education in the common schools. After his marriage he settled upon the farm belonging to his father, a tract of thirty-six acres in Valley township, which he now owns, and he has since added to his hold- ings another tract of forty acres. He has improved the property in many ways, car- ries on general farming, owns and operates a sawmill. He is also interested in stock rais- ing, being a very successful breeder of Angora goats. There is a good gas well on the farm, in operation, and altogether Mr. Gillis has enough irons in the fire to keep him busy and to show that he is a man of energetic and enterprising disposition. He is courteous by nature and pleasant to meet, and is favor- ably known among a wide circle of neighbors and friends. In politics he is identified with the Republican party. the widow of Joseph Shannon, who died Aug. 22, 1882. They had these children : Mary A., William T., James M., Harry C., and Mar- garet, the last named deceased. (4) William B., born March 18, 1840, served during the Civil war in the 9th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He married Virginia Crawford, and they reside in Fayette county, Pa. They have had a family of six children: Harry, Minnie, Ore, Lizzie (deceased), Theodore and Mary. (5) Mary Frances, born May 27, 1841, married William McKinzie, a veteran of the Civil war, and both are now deceased, her death occurring in May, 1909. They had one child, Joseph, who is deceased. (6) Mar- garet Olive, born March 9, 1844, has never married, and lives with her sister at the old home. (7) Phoebe Isabella, born Aug. 13, 1845, is the widow of Fred A. Snyder, who died at Cygnet, Ohio, in September, 1897, aged fifty-six years, and she makes her home In 1885 Mr. Gillis married Sarah Hill, who was born March 6, 1860, and they have be- come the parents of six children : Maud, born Oct. II, 1886, was married Feb. 19, 1910, to D. I. Himes, of New Kingston, Pa .; Icey Dell was born Jan. 11, 1888; James H., born 23, 1851, married Robert P. McCoy in 1869, Dec. 13, 1890, was married May 10, 1911, to Maggie Yokey; Mary May was born April 21, 1892; William L., May 10, 1896; Hobart G., Feb. 27, 1898. at Muncie, Ill. They had the following chil- dren: Maude, May, William, Emma (de- ceased), Mary (deceased), Theodore and Harry. (8) John, born Jan. 16, 1847, died March 1, 1848. (9) Martha Ann, born April and six children were born to them, Mary Eliza (born May 23, 1870, now deceased), W. H. (born March II, 1873, deceased), Olive B. (born Nov. 1, 1875), Guy Wayne' (born Jan. 9, 1878), R. Alice (born June 26, 1880) and Maude Eliza (born April 26, 1883). The father died June 13, 1893, and Mrs. Mc- Coy subsequently married William Holmes, of Boggs township, by whom she has no chil- dren. (10) Joseph W., born Oct. 1, 1854, lives on part of his father's farm.
SAMUEL E. AMBROSE, M. D., of Rural Valley, Armstrong county, has lived in that locality from youth and has a high personal and professional reputation in the community where he has found his life work. Aside from his duties as a physician he has inter- ested himself in many things affecting the appreciated by his fellow citizens, who recog-
John McMullen, father of Mrs. Mary general welfare, and his work has been highly
(McMullen) Gillis, was a son of Reynold and Ann (Buchanan) McMullen, of Ireland, the nize his worth in all the relations of life.
former of whom was a landowner, and was the only one of their family to come to America. He was married in Ireland in 1814 and coming to America not long afterward settled in Philadelphia, where he resided the remainder of his days. He was a mason and contractor. His wife, Frances (Cloose), was also born in Ireland, daughter of John Cloose, a country gentleman, who was a landowner and office holder in Ireland. Frances had but one sister, Kate. John and Frances (Cloose) McMullen had three children, Mary (Mrs. Gillis), Robert and Ann.
Mathew Ambrose, the Doctor's grand- father, was an early settler in what is now East Franklin township, Armstrong county, and was killed when a young man. His widow moved out to Illinois, where she passed the remainder of her life. Their children were John, Frank and Joseph R.
Joseph R. Ambrose, son of Mathew, was born in East Franklin township, and there followed farming for some years. Removing to Cowanshannock township in 1874. he set- tled one mile west of Rural Valley, and farmed there until ten years before his death. He
JOSEPH W. GILLIS, who is engaged in farm- then made his home in the town of Rural ing and sawmilling in Valley township, was Valley, where he died Jan. 16, 1910, at the
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
age of seventy years. He is buried there. and has acted for many years as president of Mr. Ambrose married Margaret A. Dough- the school board. erty, daughter of Robert Dougherty, who was born in Lancaster county, Pa., and they became the parents of the following children : Thomas H .; Benjamin F .; Samuel E .; Grant W .; Margaret J., who died Nov. 15, 1907; Laura K., married to G. L. Stewart, D. D. S., of Rural Valley; and James G. The mother of this family died Dec. 5, 1897, and was buried at the West Glade Run Church in East Franklin township.
Samuel E. Ambrose was born June 23, 1864, at Kittanning, Armstrong county, and re- ceived his early education in the public schools, attending at Rural Valley after the family moved to Cowanshannock township, and later becoming a pupil at the aademy there. He also went to the Glade Run Academy for one term, and then attended school at Edinboro, Erie county, for one year. Returning home he took up school teaching, which he followed for six years in Cowanshannock township and one term in Allegheny township. For a year after this experience he was a student at Grove City College, and in the fall of 1895 entered Baltimore Medical College, where he took the full course, graduating in the spring of 1898. He began independent practice in September of that year, at Rural Valley, where he has since been successfully engaged. He merits the large patronage which he has en- joyed, for he has worked hard to give his patients conscientious attention and to main- tain the high standards of his profession. He is pension examiner at Dayton for his district, and is a member in good standing of the Arm- strong County Medical Society and the State Medical Society. As a public-spirited citizen he has taken part in many movements cal- culated to promote the general good, and he has been directly interested in several under- takings affecting the material welfare of the town and vicinity. In 1903 he was one of the organizers of the Rural Valley National Bank, and in 1908 was elected a director of that institution. He is also a director of the John- ston-Beyer Hardware Company of Rural Valley, a substantial commercial house of that place.
JAMES G. ALLISON, M. D., of McCain, in Manor township, Armstrong county, has been practicing at that location since 1899 and has been following his profession in this county ever since his graduation from medical college. He was born Dec. 13, 1867, in Cen- ter township, Butler Co., Pa., in which county both his parents, William and Rachel (Gil- land) Allison, were born and reared. The father is still residing there; he has been a farmer all his life. The mother died in the year 1905.
James G. Allison attended public school in Butler county and the academy at West Sun- bury, after which he entered Westminster College, at New Wilmington, Pa., leaving that institution in 1891. That year he became a student at the University of Wooster, in Ohio, remaining there one year, after which he took up his medical studies in Baltimore (Md.) Medical College, completing the course in the spring of 1895. He began practice that year at Slate Lick, Armstrong Co., Pa., in part- nership with Dr. J. C. McKee, with whom he was associated for three and a half years, in 1899 locating at McCain, in Manor township, where he has since resided. He has been quite prominent among his fellow practitioners in this section, having served as president of the Armstrong County Medical Society, and he is also a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. Dr. Allison has built up a large practice, and stands high in the confidence of his fellow citizens in all the relations of life. He is a member and elder of the United Presbyterian Church at Kittanning. In fra- ternal connection he is an Odd Fellow.
In 1898 Dr. Allison married Elizabeth Ferguson, daughter of Thomas Ferguson, and they have a family of three children: Mary, James and William T.
JOSEPH M. STEIM, M. D., of Kittan- ning, is the son of Richard A. and Ella M. Steim, born July 15, 1877.
Richard A. Steim, the father, a resident of as a progressive hotel owner and a successful coal operator. He married Ella M. Mefford, a native of Armstrong county, daughter of
Dr. Ambrose married Charlotte M. Petti- Kittanning since childhood, is widely known grew, daughter of Dr. John M. Pettigrew. They have no children. The Doctor and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church and among its active workers, he serving at Milton Mefford, and they have three children, present as trustee. In politics he is identified Joseph M., Richard D. and Charity Marie. with the Republican party. He is serving as Dr. Joseph M. Steim received his early one of the school directors of the borough, education at the public schools of Kittanning,
Fragers G. 4
Justeine M.A.
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
W. (4) Margaret, born Dec. 29, 1783, mar- ried Eliphalet Irwin, and had children: Han- nah, Jane, Mary, John, James, Samuel, Wil- liam, Marshall, Benjamin and Joseph. (5) John, born Dec. 25, 1785, first learned the hat- ter's trade, but he later took up farming. He married Jane Stewart and they had two chil- dren, John S. and Sarah. (6) Scott, born May 10, 1788, served in the war of 1812. He married Jane McClure and they had children : William C., John M., Jane S., Samuel, Eliza, Maria and Thomas H. (7) James, born July 20, 1790, married Martha Kirkpatrick, who died Feb. 17, 1832, the mother of four chil- dren, John, William K., Martha H. and Mar- garet K. By his second marriage, to Mrs. Martha (McConnell) Stewart, he had nine children, David M., Jane S., James, Samuel P., Prudence, Thomas E., Elizabeth, Mary and Amanda. (8) Samuel, born Oct. 29, 1792, died Jan 4, 1881. He is mentioned at length elsewhere in this work. (9) Mary, born Nov. 29, 1794, married William Cochran, a native of Armstrong county, Pa., and had a large family: Nancy, Jane, Eliza M., John, Mary, William M., James L., Samuel, Rob- ert, David Sloan, Levi and Sarah Ellen.
(II) James Marshall, second son of Wil- liam and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall, was born in 1752. He emigrated to western Pennsylvania when a young man, and is bur- ied at Ebenezer, Indiana county. He died Jan. 27, 1807. In 1785 he married Eliza- beth Whiteside, who was born in 1764, and died in 1788. She is buried at the Sewickley settlement. She left two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. In 1796 he married for his second wife Margaret Thompson, who was born April 13, 1764, and died Oct. 2, 1832; she is buried at the Glade Run cemetery in Armstrong county.
(II) Margaret Marshall, only daughter of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Mar- shall, was born in 1754, and in 1770 became the wife of Thomas McGaughey. He was
a native of Scotland, born in 1746. They had Catherine (Wilson) Marshall, was born Aug.
eight sons: John, William (died young), Thomas, Alexander, James, Archibald, Sam- uel and William (2).
(II) William Marshall, third son of Wil- liam and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall, was born June 3, 1756, and married Cath- erine Wilson in 1779. Moving to western Pennsylvania, they settled on a tract of land in what is now Black Lick township, Indi- ana county, but being unable to secure a title to this property they moved in 1803 to Arm- strong county, making their home in what is
now Wayne township. They were the first white settlers in that region, and they had no neighbors within five miles. The location was on Glade run, on what is now the site of the Dayton fair grounds, and Mr. Marshall cleared land and built a cabin. In 1813 he moved with his family to the place where the home of his son William, afterward stood, built a house, and there passed the remain- der of his days. Here he died April 28, 1831, and he was buried in the Glade Run ceme- tery. He was one of the organizers and first elders of the first Presbyterian Church es- tablished at Glade Run, near Dayton, and in his barn was preached the first sermon ever delivered in the neighborhood. Mrs. Mar- shall, who died in 1817, is buried upon the farm of Benjamin Irwin in Wayne township. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall had a family of nine children : Joseph, Elizabeth (or Betsy, Mrs. McClelland), Margaret Benjamin Urban or Irwin), Mary (or Polly, Mrs. Abel Finley), William, John, James, Robert and Samuel.
(II) Archibald Marshall, fourth son of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Mar- shall, was born March 29, 1762, and in 1787 married Margaret Wilson, half-sister of Catherine, his brother William's wife. About 1800 they moved out to western Pennsylvania, and some time later settled in Armstrong county, near Dayton. He died in 1835, his wife in 1837. They had the following chil- dren : Catherine, William, Joseph, John (born in 1794, who married Elizabeth Stewart), Margaret, Archibald, James and Samuel.
(II) Samuel Marshall, youngest son of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Mar- shall, married Mary Sterling May 26, 1791, and they resided in Indiana county, Pa. Their children were: Mary, Walter, Joseph, Eliza- beth, Jane, William S. and Sarah (twins), Archibald, Samuel S., Rebecca and John.
(III) Robert Marshall, son of William and
19, 1799, in what is now Indiana (then West- moreland) county, in the vicinity of Clarks- burg. After his marriage he and his wife settled on Glade run, where he built a log house about one and a half miles south of what is now Dayton borough. The property was then woods, and he cleared some of the land and ran a distillery. He then bought and moved to a large tract at what is now the site of Dayton borough, and built a house a half mile from town, residing there for some time. At both these places he followed farming.
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
He also bought grain and other farm prod- county, with her niece, Mrs. Samuel P. But- ucts which he hauled to Phillipsburg, Old ler. No children were born to the second Town, and Curwensville, and exchanged for marriage. merchandise. In 1850 Mr. Marshall took his John D. Armstrong, father of Mrs. Mary Jane (Armstrong) Marshall, was a native of Ireland. He and his wife Ellen (Lindsey) came to America with their family of five children in 1839 and settled in Wayne town- ship, Armstrong Co., Pa., near Belknap, Mr. Armstrong buying a farm which he cultivated during the remainder of his active life. He died there. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong after their arrival in Wayne township, Margaret Ellen, who died young; the others, the five whom they brought to America, were: James L., Henry H., Sarah, Mary Jane (Mrs. Marshall) and John B. sons William and Thomas H. into partner- ship with him in the management of his grow- ing interests. They had a general store in Dayton, one of the first established there, and about four hundred acres of land, William and his father looking after the farm and Thomas H. devoting his time to the mercan- tile end of the business. On April 9, 1868, Robert Marshall sold his real estate to his sons, but he retained his interest in the store until his death. There were few men who did more notable work for the advancement of this section than he accomplished in his lifetime. The cause of education always had a hearty supporter in him, and he gave the ground on which the building of the Dayton Academy stood and was the promoter of that institution. He was one of the originators of the Dayton Soldiers' Orphans' School and its heaviest stockholder. A member of the Associate or Seceder Church, he was one of the founders of the church of that denomi- nation at Glade Run, and its house of wor- ship and burying ground were located upon land donated by him for that purpose. After its formation he became a member of the U. P. Church, being one of the organizers of that church at Dayton and taking an active part in its work. In politics he was origin- ally a Whig, later a Republican. Mr. Mar- shall died Oct. 1, 1881, in the village of Day- ton, where he resided from the time of his second marriage.
On Dec. 4, 1821, Mr. Marshall married Mary Hindman, who was born June 6, 1801, daughter of Rev. John Hindman. Mrs. Mar- shall was a native of the same locality where her husband was born and reared. They had the following children: William; Thomas H .; Catherine, who married John Wilson Marshall (son of John, grandson of Archi- bald and great-grandson of William, to whom his wife traced her line) ; Caroline, Mrs. William Sloan; Emeline, who died unmar- ried; Jonathan, who died when seventeen years old; Mary, widow of David Lawson, living in Wayne township; and Rebecca K., widow of Rev. Samuel C. Reed, a U. P. min- ister, now making her home at Beaver, Pa. The mother of this family died Dec. 29, 1869, and Mr. Marshall married for his second wife, July 25, 1871, Mary Jane Armstrong, who was born Sept. 14, 1834. She now makes her home in Wayne township, Armstrong
(IV) Thomas Hindman Marshall, son of Robert and Mary (Hindman) Marshall, was born July 29, 1824, about a mile and a half from Dayton, near where the U. P. cemetery now is. He became familiar with farm work from boyhood, and followed it until the part- nership between his father, his brother Wil- liam and himself was formed in 1850. The stock owned by this firm consisted of the per- sonal property on a farm of about four hun- dred acres and the store they established in Dayton, Thomas H. Marshall being prin- cipally engaged in looking after the manage- ment of the store. In 1861 a half interest in the store was sold to John Campbell, and thereafter until Mr. Campbell's death the firm name was J. Campbell & Co. William and Thomas H. Marshall then bought back the Campbell interest and the firm was known as W. & T. H. Marshall until William Marshall died, when his son C. R. Marshall succeeded to his interest, the firm from that time being continued as C. R. & T. H. Marshall. Since the spring of 1908 it has been conducted under the name of C. R. Marshall.
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