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 7
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Mr. Campbell married Elizabeth Lang, daughter of Hugh Lang, an officer in the Brit- ish army, who served all through the Penin- sular campaign, resigning just before the battle of Waterloo. His wife, Elizabeth Thom- son, was a member of an old Ayrshire family of Scotland. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, Elizabeth Mckenzie and Daniel Mckenzie. Mr. Campbell died June 21, 190I.
Elizabeth Mckenzie Campbell married Os- car Frederick Hammar, a native of Sweden, who came to the United States when nineteen years old. He had taken a course in mechan- ical engineering, and came to this country to get new ideas and enlarge his experience, not intending to stay. He first lived in Boston, becoming naturalized, and made his permanent home here, and has been associated with a number of firms as mechanical engineer in Bos- ton, Providence, R. I., with the H. C. Frick Company at Scottdale, Pa., and afterward with the Westinghouse Electric Company at East Pittsburgh, resigning his position with that concern in 1902. After his retirement he took up painting, in which he has met with remark- able success, his ability being so much appreci- ated by the leading artists that he is considered the best copyist at the Corcoran Art Gal- lery in Washington, D. C. Mr. Hammar is a man of thorough education, an accomplished linguist, knowing the Swedish, German, French and English languages, and he has studied music from childhood, being a fine per- former on the piano and flute. Mr. and Mrs. Hammar have no children. They are members of the Holy Innocents Episcopal Church of Leechburg, of which Mr. Hammar is senior warden.
DANIEL MCKENZIE CAMPBELL, son of Colin and Elizabeth (Lang) Campbell, is associated with some of the leading industrial and financial interests of Leechburg, where he occupies a position of high influence. He was born April 2, 1861, in Glasgow, Scotland, where he was educated, undergoing the rigor- ous mental discipline characteristic of Scottish educational institutions. He took a thorough course in analytical chemistry at Anderson's College, Glasgow, and remained in his native city until the following year. In 1883 he came to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he took a position as assistant chemist with the Pittsburgh Steel Casting Company which he held for one year.
He then became chief chemist for Kirkpatrick & Co., Limited, at Leechburg, Pa., in which concern his father held a large interest and was then acting as chief superintendent. After a year here Mr. Campbell became chief chemist for the nail works and blast furnace of the E. & G. Brooke Iron Company at Birdsboro, Berks Co., Pa., where he remained four years. Returning to Leechburg he assumed the duties of superintendent in the Russia sheet iron de- partment of the plant of Kirkpatrick & Co., Limited, and remained with that concern until it disposed of its plant, real estate and good will to the American Sheet Steel Company. Prior to this time he, with several others con- nected with Kirkpatrick & Co., Limited, or- ganized the West Leechburg Steel & Tin Plate Company, to manufacture strips and bands. Lately the firm name has been changed to the West Leechburg Steel Company, consisting of J. W. and J. L. Kirkpatrick, James Lippincott, and D. N. Campbell, all old Kirkpatrick & Co., Limited, employees. These men are continu- ing the reputation their fathers established for high business qualities and capacity in the management of large interests. As treasurer and a heavy stockholder in the West Leech- burg Steel Company Mr. Campbell takes just pride in the modernly equipped establishment which has done much more for Leechburg than affording employment to many of its citi- zens, for it is one of the substantial concerns whose location here has attracted considerable other capital. Further, he has given direct proof of his faith in the town by investing heavily in other local institutions, and pro- moting them whenever his influence is neces- sary. He is president of the Farmers' National Bank of Leechburg, and among his outside interests may be mentioned the National Fire- proofing Company of Pittsburgh, of which he is a director; he is also a member of the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange. He is well fitted for responsibilities of an industrial and finan- cial nature, and his practical scientific experi- ence during the earlier years of his business career has proved of inestimable value where judgment must be based on expert knowledge. His many strong qualities and characteristic strictness in attending to all obligations have made him a trusted leader in all circles into which his activities have drawn him.
As a Mason, Mr. Campbell belongs to the blue lodge at Leechburg, chapter at Kittanning and Tancred Commandery, No. 48, K. T., of Pittsburgh.
On Sept. 4, 1895, Mr. Campbell married Margaretta C. Parr, daughter of Col. John G. Parr, a distinguished officer of the Civil war.
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Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are members of the phia), Pa., and was the widow of Thomas Holy Innocents Episcopal Church of Leech- burg, of which he is a vestryman and lay read- er. They have four children : Elizabeth Lang, Donald McKenzie, Alexander McKenzie and Douglas Mckenzie.
COL. JOHN GILCHRIST PARR, de- and Edward Lawrence. (2) Margaretta Cor- ceased, who commanded the 139th Regiment, rey is the wife of Daniel Mckenzie Campbell, a prominent business man of Leechburg, Arm- strong county. (3) John Beaton is the young- est living child of Col. John G. Parr. (4) Wil- liam Brooks died in infancy. The mother, Mrs. Emma P. (Smith) Parr, died in Phila- delphia, Oct. 22, 1881. Pennsylvania Volunteers, during the Civil war, was a resident of Kittanning, Armstrong coun- ty, where his memory is honored not only by his family and veterans who served with him in the army, but by all who knew him. Named for his maternal grandfather, John Gilchrist, a soldier of the Revolution, he came from that substantial Scotch-Irish stock which has been so important an element in the development of Pennsylvania, and from which he derived their characteristic qualities of intellectual strength, high morality and strict integrity.
Colonel Parr was born Dec. 9, 1823, on his father's farm near New Alexandria, West- moreland Co., Pa., son of James B. and Han- nah C. (Gilchrist) Parr, the latter a daughter of Maj. John and Eleanor Gilchrist, the former of whom died in the mountains, on the way from New Jersey to Westmoreland county, and was buried on the mountains; his wife and several children proceeded to Greensburg, Gilchrist died May 10, 1844, when about sev- enty-five years old.
When a young man John G. Parr went out to Illinois. He had studied surveying and learned the painter's trade, so he was not at a loss for employment. Making his home with his sister Elizabeth, Mrs. George Oyler, at Freeport, Ill., he was married there to Han- nah Agnew Wiley, who died March 22, 1859, leaving two children, Bernard (who died at Leechburg when fifty-three years old, unmar- ried) and an infant of nine months ; the latter died shortly after the mother. Colonel Parr then returned to Pennsylvania, settling near Leechburg, at his sister's, where he had been but a short time when the Civil war broke out. He raised Company C, of the 139th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, was elected captain of the company, and later became col- onel of the regiment, serving as such to the close of the war. At the battle of Cold Har- bor he lost his right hand, but soon after re- joined his company, and subsequently became colonel.
Sparhawk, of Philadelphia. To this union were born children as follows: (I) Lucy mar- ried Dr. Henry Wilson Temple, at present a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, and they have five children, John Parr, Martha Agnew, William Jameson, Henry Marshall
John Smith, great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Emma P. (Smith) Parr, came to America from Ireland with his wife Susanna in 1720, at which time they had five children, the young- est of these, Robert, having been born at sea during the voyage. They made their home in what was then called the Brandywine set- tlement in Chester county, Pa., became promi- nent members of the Brandywine Manor Church, and prospered, Mr. Smith appearing among the holders of real estate in 1753. He died Dec. 19, 1765, aged seventy-nine years, his wife Dec. 14, 1767, at the age of seventy-six. They had fifteen children in all.
Robert Smith, the child of John and Susan- and she taught a young ladies' school. Mrs. na Smith, born at sea in 1720, died in Decem-
ber, 1803. The first public record which relates to him shows him as one of the subscribers to the support of Rev. Andrew Boyd, pastor of the Brandywine Church, 1747 to 1758. In 1757, before his marriage, when the Indians became restless and aggressive along this whole Pennsylvania border, Sergeant Smith is re- corded as "going to Reading to be qualified," but there is no record that the command to which he belonged was called into action. When next his name appears in the records of the times all of his family of eleven children except the youngest had been born and he was a man of fifty-five years. He did important work for the Colonial cause during the Revo- lution. In August, 1775, he was thanked by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsyl- vania for a model of a machine to be used in handling chevaux-de-frise to be sunk in the Delaware, and he was soon afterward directed by council to report on the merits of rival plans for his work that had been submitted by Govett and Guion. After the spring freshet of 1776 had subsided, so that the river was advantage, the council took up the defensive work in earnest, and in June of that year he
On Nov. 5, 1867, Colonel Parr married low enough to allow the work to proceed with (second) Mrs. Emma P. (Smith) Sparhawk, who was born at Manayunk (near Philadel-
John & Dan John 4. Var
W THIT'S LEFT AFTER LOSING HIS RIGHT JAN.
WITH HIS RIGHT
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
was instructed to take charge of and sink the Matthew Stanley, whose wife was her hus- proposed obstruction in the channel. For near- band's niece, but the latter part of her days was spent- at the home of her son, Joseph Smith, in Philadelphia. Her wedding ring is still in existence, a plain gold band bearing the inscription on the inside, "As God decreed, so we agreed." ly a year he remained in charge of this under- taking, during which time he was also engaged in planning the earthworks which were also used in the same line of defense. The Com- mittee of Safety ordered, in January, 1777, that the committee appointed to view Liberty Jonathan Smith, son of Robert, early left his birthplace in Uwchlan township, Chester county, and entered, probably about 1782, the office of Maj. John Beaton, then register of wills and recorder of deeds for Chester county. On April 25, 1786, he was sworn clerk to Thomas Smith, of the State Loan Office, of which his father, Col. Robert Smith, was a trustee. When Col. Persifer Frazer, afterward father-in-law of Jonathan Smith, succeeded Major Beaton as register of wills and recorder of deeds in 1786, Mr. Smith again went into that office, becoming the deputy register and recorder. He was subsequently an accountant in one of the United States offices in Philadel- phia, to which city he removed in 1792, and he was appointed first teller in the first United States bank incorporated, in 1791, and which transacted its business in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, from 1791 to 1797. For a num- Island "repair as soon as season will permit with Robert Smith, John McNeal and David Rittenhouse, and lay out such works as they shall think sufficient, and that those gentlemen employ such persons as may be necessary to complete the work." During those years Mr. Smith was called into counsel to assist in pre- paring his native State for self-government, and he sat in the convention which on Sept. 28, 1776, adopted the first State constitution of Pennsylvania, an important and thoughtful document, which is said to have the distinc- tion, among other advanced positions taken therein, of having been the first to enact re- ligious liberty into the law. Mr. Smith had the responsible position of county lieutenant of Chester county until March 21, 1786, and besides attending to the duties of same served as sheriff of the county, to which office he was elected March 29, 1777, and again Nov. ber of years Jonathan Smith held a highly in- 21, 1778. He served one term in the State fluential position. Possessing a cheerful na- ture, and blessed with a plentiful sense of humor, he was not only looked up to for his substantial qualities, but admired for his many lovable traits. It was said of him, in matters concerning the feelings of others his delicacy was careful and self-denying. His large- hearted hospitality made his house at all times Legislature, 1785, and was one of the trustees of the State Loan Office, whose function it was to manage the indebtedness of the State, until 1787. At that time, when sixty-seven years old, he retired from public life. He had the title of colonel. His career was one which reflects the highest credit upon his intellect and integrity, and he was remembered as a the resort of friends from all parts of the man of upright and decided character. His country. He was a handsome man, as is shown life was prolonged for sixteen more years. He by his remaining portraits. had grown very heavy, weighing 250 pounds. Mr. Smith was a staunch Presbyterian, a sup- porter to the end of his life of the Brandywine Manor Church, and from 1776 a ruling elder of that congregation.
Vaughn, born June 5, 1690, died May 24, 1750; his name first appears on record in Chester county in 1718. His wife, born 1700, died in 1791, was a daughter of Rowland Parry (born about, 1665, died 1737), who lived at Haverford, Delaware Co., Pa. Mrs. Robert Smith survived her husband a number of years, dying March 18, 1822. After his death she spent part of the time at the home of Gen.
Jonathan Smith married Mary Ann Frazer, who was born Feb. 4, 1774, and died Feb. 9. 1845. She was a daughter of Persifer Frazer, of Thornbury township, Delaware Co., Pa., from whom she inherited considerable land in western Pennsylvania, where he had located
On Dec. 20, 1758, Robert Smith married Margaret Vaughn, who was born Nov. 1, 1735, some of his Revolutionary land warrants. daughter of John and Emma ( Parry ) Vaughn, of Red Lion, Uwchlan township, Chester coun-
Among the children of Jonathan and Mary Ann (Frazer) Smith were Dr. Beaton Smith ty, both of Welsh Baptist families. John and Gen. Persifer Frazer Smith, of Mexican war fame, afterward lieutenant governor of some Western State.
Dr. Beaton Smith, a distinguished physician of Philadelphia, married Mary Anna Huddle- son, and their daughter. Emma P., married Thomas Sparhawk, and (second) Col. John Gilchrist Parr.
Persifer Frazer, father of Mrs. Mary Ann (Frazer) Smith, was a merchant in early life,
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
and an ironmaster. Soon after the outbreak of ing honorably discharged in 1863. His wife the Revolutionary war he was commissioned belonged to a pioneer family of Armstrong county. Seven children were born to their union : Rebecca, wife of William H. Cur- ran; Milton B .; Jane Catherine, wife of T. H. McCamey; Thomas A .; Jessie, wife of Nelson H. Thompson, and James. captain of the 4th Regiment, Pennsylvania troops, under Col. Anthony Wayne, and con- tinued in the service several years, being in the campaign which led to Burgoyne's sur- render, and at the battle of the Brandywine, immediately after which he was taken prisoner by the British. He escaped after six months of captivity in Philadelphia, and was present with his command at the battle of Monmouth, L. I. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and resigned from the army Oct. 9, 1778, be- cause he could not procure the righting of what he considered the injustice done him by Congress in promoting his junior officers over his head while he was held prisoner. After- ward he was appointed clothier general of the army, but did not accept. In 1781 he was elected brigadier general in the service of the State of Pennsylvania, and he was further honored by election to the State Legislature in 1781, 1782 and 1784. Later other public hon- ors came to him, in his election at different times to such high offices as justice of the court of Common Pleas, county treasurer, and register of wills and recorder of deeds of Chester county. He was of Scotch-Irish ex- traction, his parents, John and Nancy (Smith) Frazer, having come to this country from Glas- lough, County Monaghan, Ireland; the earlier ancestors were from Scotland. John Frazer became a merchant in Philadelphia. Persifer Frazer married Mary Worrall Taylor, who was born April 8, 1745, and died Nov. 30, 1830. Her parents were John and Sarah (Worrall) Taylor, of Thornbury, Delaware Co., Pa., the former an ironmaster and a large landowner.
THOMAS A. KERR, of T. A. Kerr & Co., general merchandise, Parkers Landing, Pa., was born in Slippery Rock township, Butler Co., Pa., Nov. 2, 1854, son of Thomas and Eliza (Forsythe) Kerr. The father was born in Ireland and the mother in Armstrong county, Pa. The former came to the United States in 1833, when thirteen years old, first locating in Lawrence county, Pa., where he learned the stone-cutting trade. After attain- ing his majority he settled at Slippery Rock, where he married, purchased a farm of sev- enty-five acres, and conducted it in conjunc- tion with working at his trade until his death, which occurred in 1870.
Thomas A. Kerr was reared on the home- stead in Slippery Rock township, and secured his education in the public schools. At the age of sixteen years he went to New York City and secured employment with an ice company, with which he remained for one year. He then worked as a teamster one year more, when he went on the road as trav- eling salesman for a hardware firm of Clar- ion, Pa. For five years he continued to work in that capacity, and then embarked in a gen- eral mercantile business for himself at Eau Claire, Butler Co., Pa., continuing it for eight years. In 1888 he located at Parkers Landing, where he also engaged in general merchandising as a member of the firm of J. F. Cochran & Co. This association con- tinued until 1892, when Mr. Kerr purchased Mr. Cochran's interest, and the firm became T. A. Kerr & Co. Later this became Kerr & McCamey, but on Jan. 25, 1910, Mr. Kerr bought out his partner's interest, and took W. B. Spear into partnership with him, the style becoming T. A. Kerr & Co. This firm has been one of the leading mercantile es- tablishments of the city.
Mr. Kerr was married to Annie Miller, daughter of William Miller, of Slippery Rock, and by her he had one son, Charles W., now pastor of a Presbyterian church at Tulsa, Okla., where he has been located since 1898. Mr. Kerr married (second) Sarah J. Pat- ton, daughter of William Patton, of Slippery Rock. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are members of the Presbyterian Church of Parker City, of which he has been a ruling elder since 1901. He belongs to Parker Lodge, No. 782, I. O. O. F. In addition to his other interests, Mr. Kerr is president of the Parker City Water Company, a stockholder and vice president of the State Bank of Parkers Landing. For one term he served as a member of the city council, and in politics is a Democrat.
REV. JOHN WILLIAM SCHWARTZ, A. M., D. D., pastor emeritus of the Luth- eran Church at Worthington, Pa., and St. He served nine Mark's, in Washington township, was born months as a soldier in the Civil war, enlist- at Gettysburg, Pa., Jan. 8, 1834, son of ing in 1862 as a member of Company K, William P. and Isabella P. (Sharretts) 137th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, be- Schwartz, both of whom belonged to fam-
.
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ilies of good old Pennsylvania Dutch stock. Gettysburg Theological Seminary, and at
William P. Schwartz, father of Dr. one time was president of that board. He Schwartz, in early life entered the United has represented his synod at the general synod oftener than any other member of this body, and at the present time is a member of the examining committee of the synod. States navy and served in the Mexican war, and subsequently served in the United States army during the entire period of the Civil war. He died at Norfolk, Va., after forty years in the service, in 1867.
As a boy John William Schwartz was employed in a drug store at Gettysburg, Pa., and his work secured him the personal interest of his employer, through whom he was enabled to attend Pennsylvania College while still earning his salary. He was grad- uated from this institution in 1856, and three years later, in September, 1859, was licensed by the Lutheran Synod to preach the gospel, which he has been doing ever since, and bids fair to continue for years to come. For one year he served his Synod in the capacity of exploring missionary and labored in the Wyoming valley, living at Berwick, Pa., and later, for five years, was an instructor in an academy at Johnstown, Pa. From there he went to Martinsburg as a teacher in the academy at that place, and in connection with this work he served two congregations in the neighborhood. In June, 1867, he came at the call of the Lutheran Church at Worthington, Armstrong Co., Pa., to be its pastor, and served in this capacity until Oct. 1, 1911, when on account of severe illness, he resigned after a con- tinuous pastorate of over forty-four years. He was at once unanimously elected pastor emeritus by his parish. In December, 1912, having regained his health, he resumed his pastorate in the same charge.
When Dr. Schwartz came to Worthing- ton he found this church with one hundred and fifty members. St. Mark's Church to- day has over two hundred members. The old church edifice was replaced by the pres- ent modern structure, including a fine chapel, which is used for all church meet- ings and gatherings other than the regular church services. But few ministers have had more successful pastorates than Dr. Schwartz. He has been permitted to In many ways, at different times, parish- ioners of Dr. Schwartz have endeavored to show appreciation of his services and friend- ship of a personal nature, and one testi- monial of this kind will forever be remem- bered by the recipient. In the spring of 1906 Hon. E. D. Graff gave Dr. Schwartz a tour watch over the spiritual welfare of many from the time he confirmed them, later mar- ried, and confirmed and even married their children and baptized their grandchildren. He has served the synod and the church in many distinguished positions. For three successive years he was president of the of the Holy Land, Egypt and the Mediter- synod and for some twenty years was a ranean ports, and his congregation voted member of the board of directors of the him a vacation of three months with con-
In no way does Dr. Schwartz appear to better advantage than in his attitude toward the young men in the synod, who have had great reason to appreciate his general care and kindness of heart, and everyone finds in him a friend with true fatherly interest. His intense zeal for his church, his active life in her service and his continued useful- ness, justifies the smiling assertion he made not long ago: "I am seventy-eight years young." In truth he has not grown old with the passing years, although, perhaps, he has had the usual discouragements and disap- pointments of life, and in addition has borne those of others as every pastor is called upon to do. However, he is yet active, aggressive and just as zealous over every church inter- est and enterprise as is the youngest brother and there are many who recognize the value of such worthy enthusiasm. His name is a household word in Lutheran homes in this section of Pennsylvania, and there are scores of families who take a personal interest in his welfare and ministers all over the church connection who have found strength in his fellowship and pray for its continuance. The evening of life sheds around him a beautiful light.
Dr. Schwartz was married Dec. 26, 1859, to Catherine C. Gemberling, daughter of Samuel and Eliza Gemberling, of Selins- grove, Pa., and five children were born to them, two of whom survive: Eliza Belle, who is the wife of Rev. Montraville M. All- beck, and William W. Mrs. Schwartz died August 6, 1888. The second marriage of Dr. Schwartz took place April 22, 1891, when he was united to Philomena Keller, daughter of Gottleib and Hannah (Hearst) Keller, natives of Germany. Two children were born to the second marriage, Frederick K. and Mary Josephine.
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tinued salary, at the same time presenting him a well filled purse for all incidental ex- penses. It is needless to add that this gen- erosity was appreciated, and the beloved pastor returned from his travels invigorated in mind and body.
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