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 24

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 618

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 24

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After Mr. Campbell acquired an interest in the store Thomas H. Marshall devoted his time mostly to farming, and when in the spring of 1868 Robert Marshall dissolved the real estate partnership with his sons, selling his real estate to them, Thomas H. Marshall bought about 136 acres of land-the west end of the Marshall farm, adjoining and around Dayton, including the land upon which his grandfather, William Marshall, had settled in 1803. From this nucleus his landed posses- sions grew until he had some six hundred acres of fine farming land near the town. As an agriculturist he held his place among the most progressive in the vicinity, his land im- proving and increasing in value steadily under

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

his intelligent management and cultivation. in the U. P. cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Mar- His buildings were a credit to their owner, shall were the parents of five children: Silas W. is mentioned at length below; David D. is mentioned below; Robert Neal, a farmer at Parnassus, Westmoreland Co., Pa., mar- ried Mary Marshall, of Allegheny City; Clark Hindman pursued the collegiate and theologi- cal courses at Princeton University, and is a U. P. minister now located at Evans City, Pa. (he married Elizabeth Stewart, of Parnas- sus) ; Mary Samantha, married Elmer E. Good, and they reside in Nebraska. his barn at Dayton being one of the largest and best in the county and his stock as fine as could be wished. He gave considerable attention to raising blooded stock, especially hogs and sheep. His farming operations were carried on on an extensive scale, affording employment to many men. He also conducted in Dayton one of the best tanneries in Arm- strong county, and butchered a number of cattle yearly. He had an interest in some eleven hundred or twelve hundred acres of land in Forest county, this State. About a quarter of a century before his death he be- came interested in the Maple Creek Lumber Company at Redclyffe, Forest county, where he spent considerable time, the company hav- ing over five thousand acres of timberland there. He was interested in the Enterprise Lumber Company. Many enterprises look- ing to the betterment of the community had his hearty indorsement and material support. The Dayton Agricultural and Mechanical Association, the Dayton Normal Institute, the Dayton Union Academy ( founded by his father) and the Dayton Soldiers' Orphans' School all felt his influence as patron. He

was treasurer of the Soldiers' Orphans' School from its organization, and took the first contract for the erection of buildings- that of getting out the stone for the founda- tions. He was one of the first subscribers for stock when the First National Bank was organized at Dayton in 1901. Mr. Marshall continued his business activities until his death, which occurred in his eighty-fourth year. Though he never cared for the honors or responsibilities of public office he did not evade his duties as a citizen, served as justice of the peace for two terms, from 1864 to 1874, and filled other positions of trust. He was a Republican on political questions. For many years he was one of the leading mem- bers of the United Presbyterian Church at Dayton and one of its chief supporters., A leader in everything which enlisted his in- terest or sympathy, his death, which occurred Jan. 25, 1908, at Redclyffe, was considered a loss to the entire community. He was buried in the U. P. cemetery south of Dayton.

(V) SILAS W. MARSHALL, son of Thomas H. and Rosetta P. (Neal) Marshall, was born Dec. 2, 1851, at Dayton, Armstrong county, and is the oldest resident (not in point of age) of that borough. He received his educa- tion in the local schools, and from the be- ginning of his business career was associated with his father in his farming and lumbering operations. Thus he had excellent practical training under an able master, and his own natural inclinations were well developed and given wide scope. He owns the old home- stead of Dayton, this property now compris- ing ninety acres, and has several other farms in this section, as well as woodland holdings. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank at Dayton and one of its origi- nal board of directors. All in all, he is de- servedly ranked among the leading men of his borough and vicinity, his large interests making him an influential factor in the pros- perity of this region. He is a man of high personal standing, has served the borough many years as councilman and school direc- tor, and in his private as well as his official capacity has done much to advance the pub- lic welfare. His religious connection is with the U. P. Church, and he is a Republican in politics.

On Feb. 25, 1874, Mr. Marshall married Agnes Craig, daughter of John and Mary (Brown) Craig, of Indiana county, Pa. They have had the following children: Emma is the wife of John A. Blair, an attorney at law, of Pittsburgh, Pa .; Edith died aged four- teen years; Almina Mae is the wife of Dr. J. C. Borland and they reside at Falls Creek, Jefferson Co., Pa .; Clark Craig, who is as- sistant cashier of the First National Bank of Dayton, married Alice Williams; Ernest R. died aged three years, five months, six days; Helen is at home.

On March 14, 1850, Mr. Marshall was married to Rosetta P. Neal, who was born Sept. 26, 1827, daughter of Robert Neal, of (V) DAVID DUFF MARSHALL, son of Thomas H. and Rosetta P. (Neal) Marshall, was born Aug. 21, 1857, in the borough of Dayton, where for the past twenty years he Cowanshannock township, this county, and died after a brief illness May 13, 1906, in her seventy-ninth year. She was a lifelong member of the U. P. Church, and was buried has been engaged in the milling business as

John Lo Stockdill

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

proprietor of the Sterling Mills. He obtained his education in the common schools and at Dayton Academy. After commencing work he was with his father for some time, until six years after his marriage, when he went to Centerville, Crawford Co., Pa., at which point he was interested in his present line. He remained there for two years and then for a few months was in Forest county. Re- turning to Dayton he broke ground for his present mill April 17, 1891, and for a short time was in partnership with David Ellis, under the firm name of Marshall & Ellis. In July, 1892, he bought the interest of Mr. Ellis and has since conducted the mills alone. The Sterling Mills are equipped with full rol- ler process, and the product is flour, feed, meal, etc. Mr. Marshall makes a specialty of pure buckwheat flour, and deals in all kinds of grain. The mill is provided with a fifty- horsepower boiler and a thirty-five-horsepow- er engine. There is a large demand for the products of the mill, and Mr. Marshall has had a steadily increasing trade from the be- ginning, his business methods and treatment of his patrons winning and holding customers from a considerable radius. He has taken considerable interest in local institutions, in- cluding the Dayton Normal Institute, and has been quite active in the borough government, having served as school director and being at present a member of the council. He is a Republican in politics, and like the members of his family generally a member of the U. P. Church; he is a faithful worker in the Day- ton congregation, holding the office of elder.

On Dec. 25, 1878, Mr. Marshall married Ida May Haines, only child of William and Elizabeth (Good) Haines, and they have had three children: Clair H., who died when five years old; Mabel V., who is at home; and Thomas Ralph, at school. Mr. Marshall built his fine residence in 1892.

1379 we find William and Johannes de Stock- dale, from whom it is supposed the Stockdales of England, the North of Ireland, the United States and elsewhere are descended. King James desiring that the escheated counties in the North of Ireland be peopled with Eng- lish, a branch of this family took land there and gave up all claim to titles and interests in England, as did the Musgraves, St. Clairs and others, whose names underwent similar muta- tions, becoming Musgrove, Sinclair, etc., as Stockdale was changed to Stockdill.

George Stockdill, grandfather of John L. Stockdill, was a native of County Donegal, Ireland, born Oct. 1, 1784, and was of Scotch- Irish extraction. Coming to the United States in June, 1822, he arrived soon after in Kittan- ning and first made a settlement in Franklin township, Armstrong Co., Pa. In 1829 he purchased a tract of 103 acres in Mahoning township, which he cleared and improved, and there he made his home until his death, which occurred July 9, 1857, when he was seventy-three years old. He was a Whig in politics, and in religion a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. On March 16, 1809, he married Margaret Clark, who was born in 1785 in County Donegal, Ireland, and died Jan. 9, 1871, aged eighty-six years. They had a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, namely: James; Mary Ann, who married George Reedy; Thomas; Wil- liam; Margaret, who married Joshua Foster ; Elizabeth, who married Peter Zimmerman; Rebecca, who married John Foster; Joseph, and George. Joseph and George succeeded to the ownership of the homestead, and George bought his brother's interest in 1861.

George Stockdill was born June 26, 1827, in Franklin township, Armstrong county, and passed practically all his life upon his father's homestead, dying there May 9, 1872, in his forty-fifth year. Though he passed away in his prime he had accomplished much, he and JOHN LINCOLN STOCKDILL, a promi- nent farmer and large landowner of Mahon- ing township, Armstrong county, was born his brother Joseph having added to their origi- nal land holdings until they had 220 acres, upon which they made many improvements, there April 15, 1861, on the farm where he and in 1861 George purchased his brother still resides, in what is known as the Cove. Joseph's interest in his farm. In 1859 he This family has been settled in the county for almost a century, and its members have been noted for their high-principled, earnest, useful lives, as desirable associates in all their social and business relations. erected the fine brick residence now occupied by his son John L. Stockdill. Like his father he was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and in political sentiment he was a Republican, and he held several local offices The English name of Stockdale (Stock- dill, Irish), is derived from "stock," fixed, and "dale," town or place, i. e., fixed town or seat. It is an ancient Norman name, brought to England when the Conqueror came. In of trust. He was a charter member of the I. O. O. F. lodge at Putneyville. He mar- ried Martha Elizabeth Foster, like himself a native of Armstrong county, who was born Aug. 7, 1826, daughter of Thomas and Cath-

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

erine (McCauley) Foster, who were born in Thom Hardware Company at Tarentum, Pa .; Ireland and on coming to Pennsylvania set- the other two, Dessie E. and George Preston, the latter born Aug. 29, 1899, are at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Stockdill are members of the Presbyterian Church at Goheenville. He is a Republican in politics, and socially belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees (New Bethlehem Lodge, No. 170) and is a Scottish Rite Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree in the latter frater- nity ; he holds membership in New Bethlehem Lodge, No. 522, F. & A. M., Coudersport Chapter, R. A. M., and the Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Coudersport. tled in Armstrong county, being pioneers and highly esteemed residents of what is now Wayne township. In the early days they raised their own flax and wool, and wove it into cloth for their clothing. Mr. Foster was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Wayne township. He and his wife had eight children, four sons and four daughters. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. George Stockdill, namely: Margaret C., born Nov. 25, 1849, died Aug. 21, 1861; Mary Jane, born Sept. 30, 1867, married Jacob Mil- ton Spence, a farmer of Wayne township; Martha E. is deceased; Margery F., born Dec. II, 1856, married Rev. Joseph P. Calhoun, a Presbyterian minister, now of Knoxville, Tenn .; Rebecca E. is deceased; John L. is mentioned below ; George W. L. died in 1869.

HON. EDMUND D. GRAFF, late of Worthington, was a man of large business interests, political prominence and individual character. He was born at Worthington in 1846, son of Peter and Susan (Lobingier) Graff, and always maintained his home in Armstrong county.

John Lincoln Stockdill was reared to man- hood on his father's farm and has always re- sided there. He had the advantages afforded John Graff, his grandfather, was born in 1763, in Germany, and grown to manhood when he emigrated to the United States. For a time he lived in Lancaster county, Pa., and then moved to Westmoreland county, where in the local schools, the public school at Oak- land and Glade Run Academy, and acquired a thorough common school education. After leaving school he taught for one term, but farming has been his life work and he has the remainder of his life was passed. He been highly successful in his chosen line. He owned a farm and also a distillery and was was willed a share in the homestead and pur- a man of some consequence in his community, chased the interest of the other heirs in the His wife, Barbara Bouns, who was born in Crawford county, Pa., was captured by a wandering band of Indians and carried into the forest by them, when eight years old, and probably would never have succeeded in es- caping had it not been because of the grati- tude of another Indian, who had been pre- viously befriended by her people. The story is one of great interest. She lived to old age amid peaceful surroundings.

property, to which he has added another fifty acres, now owning 270 acres in one tract, which he keeps under excellent cultivation. His enterprising nature is apparent in every- thing he undertakes. He not only engages in general farming, but owns and raises fine stock, and buys and sells teams. Recently he erected a fine barn at a cost of three thousand dollars, and he is also making extensive im- provements about his dwelling, all the sur- roundings of this fine property showing his interest and good judgment. The place is well equipped with modern machinery, and no de- tail essential to its management is neglected. Mr. Stockdill has been chosen to various township offices, the ability with which he has conducted his own affairs winning him univer- sal confidence among his fellow citizens.

On Sept. 26, 1882, Mr. Stockdill was mar- ried to Annie O. Alcorn, daughter of Thomas and Martha (Reed) Alcorn, farming people of Wayne township, and member of one of the old families of Armstrong county. Three children have been born to this union : Thomas Merrill, born Feb. 18, 1888, was educated at Little Washington, Butler county, and at Dayton, this county, taught school for seven terms, and is now clerking for the W. B. to live until his death. In 1840 he became

Peter Graff, son of John and father of Ed- mund D., was born May 27, 1808, and died April 9, 1890. His earliest recollections were of soldiers marching home from the war of 1812 and of their tales of prowess. He had but limited educational advantages and when sixteen years old became a clerk in his broth- er Henry's store at Pleasant Unity, West- moreland Co., Pa. Later he entered into partnership with E. G. Dutihl & Co., com- mission merchants of Philadelphia, and also became a partner in the firm of J. Painter & Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., in the wholesale gro- cery trade, and in addition he was extensively interested in the iron trade in Armstrong, Venango and Clarion counties. In 1844 he moved his place of residence to Buffalo Mills, Armstrong county, where he continued

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

a member of the Lutheran Church, in whose work he was active for half a century, and for fifty years served as superintendent of the Sunday school. He married Susan Lob- ingier, and they had the following children: Baily; Anna, who married W. H. Kirkpat- rick; Elizabeth, who died March 24, 1842;

the late Dr. C. H. Graff, a brother of Ed- mund D. Graff, a man of brilliant parts, the father, Peter Graff, endowed a professorship in Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa. From 1900 Edmund D. Graff served on its Joseph; Susan L., who married Andrew C. board of trustees and at the time of his death was president of this body.

As a public man Mr. Graff was well known Charles H .; Sarah Jane, who married C. B. to his fellow citizens in Pennsylvania. Po- Linton; J. Frank; Edmund D .; Philip M., litically a Democrat, he was one of the three and Peter.

Edmund D. Graff secured an excellent dis- trict school education which prepared him to enter the Western University at Pitts- burgh, where he was graduated with his de- gree of B. Ph. in 1868. For some time after- ward he was occupied in the office of Graff, McDivitt & Co., manufacturers, at Pittsburgh, and later succeeded to his father's interests in the woolen mills at Worthington. In 1880 he became interested at Duluth, Minn., in lumber manufacturing, as senior member of the firm of Graff, Little & Co., and ever after- ward continued to be the actual as well as the nominal head of that large concern. In 1889 the business was incorporated as the Scott- Graff Lumber Company, of which he was president and one of the main stockholders. This company's plant is on the oldest saw- mill site at Duluth, the mill having been re- built and remodeled at different times in or- der to accommodate the increasing demands of the business, which have been phenome- nal and in accord with the growth of the city of Duluth. Mr. Graff had a multiplicity of business interests, and he was either officially or financially, and generally in both ways, connected with various large industrial en- terprises. He was interested in the Howe Lumber Company, of Tower, Minn., which he helped to organize, and of which he was president until the burning of the company's mill caused a cessation of activity there for a time. In 1900 the Tower Lumber Company was incorporated and he became the largest stockholder and a member of the board of directors. He was also a stockholder in the First National Bank of Duluth, and a direc- tor of the First State Bank of Tower, Minn. At Worthington, Pa., he was a director and stockholder in several banks, the senior part- ner of the firm operating the Buffalo Woolen Mills.

In 1901 Mr. Graff was married to Melvina Wolfe, of Adrian, Pa., a daughter of Jacob Wolfe, and they resided at Worthington, Pa. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and served several years as a mem- ber of its board of trustees. In memory of

members of his family who have served in the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, in 1884, that nominated Hon. Grover Cleveland for the presidency. He died June 3, 1912.

GEN. SAMUEL McCARTNEY JACK- SON, "Colonel" as the old members of the IIth Regiment loved to call him, was one of the sons of Armstrong county whose privi- lege it has been to achieve distinction in civil as well as military life. He was an active and successful business man of the county, located at Apollo, with whose interests he was closely identified for many years. He was a son of John and Elizabeth (McCart- ney) Jackson, and was born on the farm where his father settled, near Apollo, Arm- strong county, Sept. 24, 1833.

The Jackson family is of Irish descent and has always been prominent in the southern part of the county from its earliest settle- ment. James Jackson, the General's grand- father, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania with his parents, who were at Hannastown (1782) when it was burned by the Indians, and finally settled in Kiskiminetas township. James Jackson died at eighty-four years of age, and his eldest son, John Jackson, born Oct. 12, 1797, died Jan. 8, 1853. John Jack- son was the builder of his own fortune and became one of the wealthy, honorable and highly respected men of Armstrong county. On Oct. 5, 1826, he married Elizabeth Mc- Cartney, of Scotch lineage, who was born Oct. 10, 1805, and died Aug. 9, 1880. She was the mother of ten children, of whom the second son and fourth child was Samuel Mc- Cartney.

Samuel M. Jackson was reared on the farm, but he early craved something more than farm life seemed to offer, and at the age of sixteen he entered the Jacksonville Academy, in Indiana county, where he hoped to get that training which he considered the basis of a useful life. The unexpected death of his father, however, compelled him to leave school one year later and abandon his cher-

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ished desire for a liberal academic educa- advancing with a terrible and resolute purpose tion. However, he became well read in his- to carry the hill. General Crawford's orders tory and biography. At an early age he displayed an active interest in military affairs, and when only twelve years old he was en- rolled as a drummer boy in the State militia, evincing in childhood those talents which were afterward of incalculable value to his country in the hour of her sore distress. For efficient service he was promoted, step by step, until he obtained a captain's commission, and when the dark clouds of rebellion broke Captain Jackson was one of the first to proffer his services in the great struggle to maintain one flag and a united country. He recruited Com- pany "G" or the Apollo Independent Blues, of the IIth Pennsylvania Reserves, and was commissioned its captain when it was mus- tered into the service. His signal ability as a soldier could not long remain unnoticed. On July 2d, 1861, he was made major of his regiment. On Oct. 28th he was promoted to the office of Lieutenant-colonel, and on April 10, 1863, he received the sword and com- mission of a colonel. The talents of the man were so marked, his character and bearing so distinguished, that advancement in the service was as steady as the flow of the ir- resistible tide. At the head of a brave regi- ment he proved himself a gallant officer, and through the whole three years' service was a conspicuous figure in all the campaigns in which his regiment was summoned to duty .. At the battles of Gaines' Mills, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericks- burg, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and Bethesda Church, General Jackson and his regiment showed the fight- ing worth of Pennsylvania blood, rendering particularly distinguished service at South Mountain, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and in the Wilderness. At Spottsylvania he com- manded his brigade, and so well and ably did he bear himself in this battle that he was breveted a brigadier-general for gallant and meritorious conduct. It is a striking coinci- dence, and worthy of note, that this noble life went out on the anniversary of this sanguinary battle, which won for him his high- est military rank. But it was at Gettysburg that General Jackson so eminently displayed his keenness of judgment and powers of com- mand. On the second day's fight the 11th Reserves lay in the front on the slope of Lit- tle Round Top, overlooking the terrible val- ley of death from which the 3d Corps had been driven back. Supports sent to the re- lief of the 3d had been fearfully broken, and the enemy, flushed with success, was steadily

had been to remain in position and hold the hill at all hazzards. This seemed impossible. Moments then were as vital as hours. There was no time to await orders from superiors. . General Jackson, quick to see and realize the danger of delay, on his own responsibility ordered the regiment forward, and was at once followed by the commands in the rear. Down the slope they charged, and hurling themselves like thunderbolts on the columns of the confident and unsuspecting enemy they fought them foot by foot back across the valley of death, across Plum run and into the wheatfield, regaining the entire field so nearly and irretrievably lost. It was here that General Crawford rode up in rear of the regiment, and with much excitement com- plimented them in most extravagant terms, saying, "Colonel Jackson, you have saved the day; your regiment is worth its weight in gold sir."

At the battle of the Wilderness, General Jackson again displayed his signal ability to command, and his ready power to meet any emergency, however trying. While com- manding his own and the 2d Regiment, he suddenly found himself cut off from his divi- sion by a strong force of the enemy. Thus isolated from the Union forces and sur- rounded by a confident foe, the situation pre- sented but one of two alternatives-death or surrender. But General Jackson had never learned how to surrender. The chance of cutting his way through the enemy's lines, desperate though it was, was promptly ac- cepted, and at the head of his brave troops, with an unequaled valor, broke through the Rebel forces, and by a circuitous route reached the Union front, where for several hours they had been given up as lost.

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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 24

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 618

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 618