Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 24

Author: Gresham, John M. cn; Wiley, Samuel T. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia [Dunlap & Clarke]
Number of Pages: 1422

USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 24

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R. M. J. 'Zahniser was educated in the com- mon schools of Pennsylvania, then in the infancy of their existence. In 1850 he engaged in the drug business at Mercer, and successfully continued therein for seventeen years. In 1867 he retired from the drug trade to engage in the lumber and plaining-mill business. In 1879 he

removed from Mercer to Somerset county, Pa., where he with others purchased a large tract of timber land and was engaged for three years in converting this timber into lumber. In 1881 he became a resident of Mt. Pleasant, where he was engaged for five years in operating a large lumber trade. In 1886 Mr. Zahniser removed to Greensburg and engaged in the lumber busi- ness. He is now the senior partner of Zahniser & Co., the leading lumber dealers of Greens- burg and Westmoreland county, and proprietors of the Central planing-mill. They furnished all kinds of rough and dressed lumber, and deliver it in car-load lots to any point on the South west or Pennsylvania railroad. In their yards adjoining the freight depot they carry a heavy stock of siding, flooring, lath, doors, frames, sash, shingles, moulding, etc. The mill and office are on West Otterman street and have telephonic communication with all important points throughout Westmoreland and adjoining counties.

In 1859 Mr. Zahniser married Lizzie Hirst, of Mercer county. They had five children, of whom three are living : Harry II., born April 17, 1863, a partner in business with his father ; Dr. Frank R. (see his sketch) ; Bertha (dead) ; Mary, born January 30, 1878, attending school, and an infant daughter (dead). Mrs. Zahniser died August 13, 1883, and Mr. Zahniser was re-married on March 14, 1885, to Lillian Sheriff, daughter of William W. Sheriff. By his second marriage he has one child : Richard Sheriff Zahniser, born February 14, 1886.

R. M. J. Zahniser is a man of good judgment and clear business insight, as is attested by the extensive business he controls and the marked success that has attended his different enterpri- ses. He is a republican but is conservative and liberal in his political views, has never aspired for any office, nor has no ambition for any politi- cal prominence. Ile is a gentleman, a member of the Presbyterian church and is one of Greens- burg's substantial and influential citizens.

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RANK R. ZAHNISER, D.D.S., a young and successful dentist of Greensburg, is a son of R. M. J. and Lizzie ( Hirst) Zah- niser, and was born at Mercer, Mercer county, Pa., April 15, 1865. Richard M. J. Zahniser, a son of William Zahniser, is a native of Mer- cer county, Pa. He was engaged in the drug business at Mercer, Pa., for several years. On October 21, 1859, he was married to Lizzie Ifirst, daughter of J. T. Hirst, of Mercer, Pa. In 1886, he removed to Greensburg and en- gaged in his present extensive and flourishing lumber business. He was a member of the firm of Zahniser & Co., who are extensive lumber dealers and proprietors of the Central planing mill on West Otterman street. Mr. Zahniser is a member of the Presbyterian church, a repub- lican in politics, a successful business man, and sufficiently energetic in advancing his business

interests to establish telephone communication with all parts of the county.

Frank R. Zahmiser was educated in the com- mon schools of Mercer and Mt. Pleasant college. In 1886 he studied dentistry with Dr. I. S. Waugaman, of Greensburg, Pa., attended lectures at the Pennsylvania Dental college at Phila- delphia, in 1887 and 1888, and was graduated March 1, 1889, from that institution, which is so well and favorably known both in the United States and Europe. This college is recognized in all foreign countries, where its graduates need no recommendation or endorsement. On April 1, 1889, he opened an office in Greensburg and entered into the practice of his profession. He is a republican but takes no part in politics. Dr. Zahniser has an extensive practice, is skilled in his profession and is a pleasant and agreeable gentleman.

Mount Pleasant

ILLIAM J. HITCHMAN. One of the leading bankers of southwestern l'enn- sylvania, and a prominent and well- known and publie spirited citizen of Westmore- land county, is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, and whose great business ability, incorruptible integrity and political influence have made him a potent factor in the material development and political life of Mt. Pleasant and the southern part of the county. William J. Hitchman is a representative member of a class of able and distinguished financiers of western Pennsylvania who will compare favor- ably with the leading bankers of any like area in the United States. Among them were Hon. Jasper M. Thompson and James T. Bedburn, of Fayette county, and still serving beside Mr. Ilitchman are Col. George F. Huff, of West- moreland county, and the Mellon Brothers, of Pittsburg. William J. Hitchman Tas born at Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Pa., July 8, 1838, and is the only child of Major John and Mary (Thompson) Ilitchman.

William J. Hitchman is of English lineage on his paternal side and of Scotch-Irish descent on the maternal. When George III sat upon the throne of Great Britain, Mr. ILitchman's paternal great-grandfather came to America as an officer in an English regiment. He became in- terested in the condition of the Colonies and sympathising with them in their struggle for political liberty, he soon resigned his commission and identified himself with the Colonial cause, but

refused several important military commands in the Continental army during the Revolutionary struggle. His delicate sense of honor would not allow him to draw his sword against the country whose uniform he had worn and whose pay he had received for many years. His extreme sensitiveness with regard to fine points of perso- nal honor seems to have been inherited by his descendants in every generation from his day down to the present time. Ile resided in Vir- ginia, and one of his sons, William Hitchman (grandfather), removed from the " Old Domin- ion " to Redstone creek, in what is now Fayette county, Pa., and which then was supposed to belong to Virginia. Ile married Nancy Gilles- pie, who was an estimable woman and a member of a well-respected family. He soon removed from Fayette county to near Mt. Pleasant, where he afterwards died on the Robert Hitch- man farm. He was the founder of the Hitchman family in Westmoreland county. He had six sons and two daughters : Major John, James, Robert, Samuel, David, Gillespie, Ellen and Elizabeth. Major John Hitchman (father) was born in 1789 and died in 1846. Major Hitch- man was a man of mark and stood high during his day in the military circles of this section of the State. When the war of 1812 broke out he enlisted in a company commanded by Capt. Reynolds, was commissioned first-lieuten- ant, and was ordered with his regiment to Baltimore, Maryland, where he served until the close of the war. In 1828 he was elected

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brigade-inspector in the Pennsylvania militia with the rank of major and served in that posi- tion until 1836. He was engaged for several years in mercantile business and died in March, 1846, aged 57 years. Hle united in marriage with Mary Thompson, who was a descendant of the old and highly respected Thompson family of the Cumberland Valley. She was a woman of decided force of character, of many graces, and of superior Christian worth, with intelligence and culture far beyond her time in the section where she resided. She was born at Mercers- burg, Pa., February 18, 1799. On March 30, 1870, her spirit winged its flight from earth and her remains lie entombed with those of her husband in Mt. Pleasant cemetery.

William J. Hitchman was not eight years of age when his father died in rather straightened circumstances, and he was reared at Laurelville. It is the opinion of those who have an undoubted right to speak upon the subject, that Mr. Hitch- man owes to his excellent mother much of the better part of his manhood and the greater portion of his success in life. She carefully disciplined him in early years and instructed him in all those right and noble principles of action which have distinctly characterized his mature manhood. In his case, as in most cases in any country, the men of ability and success in war, in statesmanship, in commerce, in litera- ture, in science and art and religion had mothers of high character and fine intelligence. He spent most of his boyhood at Laurelville, which was a small village at the foot of Chestnut Ridge, where he was actively employed and carefully trained to business in the mill, the store and the shop, and before his seventeenth birthday was acting as village school teacher. He thus laid the foundations upon which he afterward built the superstructure of his subse- quent successful life. Ile taught school for several years and completed his academic course at his native town, which has always been noted for its fine educational advantages. While

teaching he always took an active part in teachers institutes, and in every move calculated to advance the cause of education. Although possessed of tastes and qualifications for law and politics, yet he turned from those inviting fields and planned for himself a business career which he knew slow plodding was necessary at the start to secure permanent and lasting success.

But a few years elapsed however until Mr. Hitchman moved forward with rapid strides in the business world. Ile has daily widened the sphere of his commercial operations, and pre- served under the most trying circumstances all the manly traits of an honorable man, which are too often wrecked in the great struggle for ma- terial wealth. IIe is largely interested in the banks of Mt. Pleasant, has investments in other enterprises and owns a large amount of real estate.

An important event in Mr. Hitchman's life occurred on January 2, 1861, when he united in marriage with Elizabeth Shields, daughter of James Shields. Their union has been blest with six sons and two daughters : James S., Edward T., Arthur, John D., Walton M., Will- iam M., Mary and Alice E. His domestic life has been most fortunate and remarkably happy. His wife has been a helpmate to him in the grandest sense of the term, and in no small degree has contributed to his prosperity as well as added to the comfort and happiness of his home.

When William J. Hitchman attained his majority he was neither the master of wealth, actual or in expectation, but entered the great world of active life with noble resolves, aspiring genius and all-conquering will, born of desire as well as necessity for effort.

The successful, honorable and wealthy busi- ness man is one of the most valuable integrals of a nation's strength, for he is a potent factor of the nation's capital and labor; and it is honorable to be wealthy when wealth is honorably acquired, as it has been by Mr. Hitchman, and is used, as

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it has been by him, for landable and noble pur- poses. He has been identified with the Repub- lican party ever since its organization, and and always gives a warm, cordial and effective support to the measures of the party of Lincoln, Grant and Garfield. In his own section he is recognized as a political leader of rare ability, and one who is well versed in the history and princi- ples of the two great political parties of to-day. He has been constantly enlarging the boundaries of his knowledge in every direction until he is now well informed in history, biography and literature, as well as being a recognized and standard authority upon all subjects in relation to banking. By commendable industry, patient perseverance and strict integrity William J. Ilitchman has carved out for himself a successful, distinguished and enviable career. He is now in the full prime of matured manhood, enjoying good health, possessing all the desired comforts of life, and surrounded by a host of warm and admiring friends who are justly proud of his success and his high standing in the county, and who fully appreciate his. great moral worth as a man and a citizen.

OIIN Q. ADAMS, a leading furniture dealer and undertaker at Mt. Pleasant and successor of M. J. Rumbaugh & Co., of that place, was born April 13, 1851, in Tyrone township. Fayette county, Pa., and is a son of Henry and Margery (Reece) Adams. George Adams (paternal grandfather) was a farmer and one of the early settlers of Westmoreland , county. IIenry Adams (father) was superin- tendent of coke works in Westmoreland county, Pa., for some years, but of late years has given his attention to farming. He was a soldier in the late Civil War. He enlisted in Co. F, 168th reg., Pa. Vols., and served his term of enlist- ment.

John Q. Adams was educated in the common schools of Tyrone township, Fayette county,

Pa., and at the age of eighteen years entered Mt. Pleasant college, where he remained two years. After leaving college he taught in the common schools; two terms in Fayette and five terms in Westmoreland county. He then entered the employ of J. M. Cochran as mana- ger of the Buckeye Coke Company's store, which position he successfully filled for two years. He was next employed as book-keeper and pay-master for J. M. Cochran and served in that capacity with Mr. Cochran's successors for some time. After eight years' service as book-keeper he removed in 1887 to Mt. Pleas- ant, where he bought out the furniture and undertaking establishment of J. M. Rumbaugh, and is now successfully conducting this busi- ness.

John Q. Adams was married June 7, 1876, to Miss Angeline, daughter of the late Michael Truxal, a well-to-do farmer of East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pa. Three children have blessed their union : Allie C., Erma T. and Rush.

John Q. Adams is president of the school board of the borough of Mt. Pleasant, a member of Lodge No. 885, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Royal Arcanum and Improved Order of Ileptasophs. He is a good business man and has a large and carefully-selected stock of late and stylish furniture, embracing all kinds and qualities of everything needed in his line of business. He has a large trade and is doing a good business. Ile is a member of the United Brethren church.

AMES BERKLEY ANDREWS, of Mt. Pleasant, is a son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Berkholder) Andrews, and was born February 9, 1836, in Fayetteville, Franklin county, Pa. His grandfather, Andrews, was of Scotch descent and lived at Strasburg, Frank- lin county, where Lewis Andrews (father) .was born April 5, 1803. The latter was a merchant

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and was in business for many years at Fayette- ville, but retired from active life in 1856. Mrs. Mary Andrews (grandmother), who died in 1866 at Strasburg, Pa., at the advanced age of 105 years, was " born two years before the end of the French and Indian war, four years before the famous Stamp Act was passed, fifteen years before the Declaration of Independence, thirty- eight years before the death of Washington, and 100 years before the breaking out of the Re- bellion."

James Berkley Andrews attended the common schools of his native town, and at the age of seventeen years began to learn the tin-smith trade at Chambersburg, Pa., remaining there until 1855. Ile then went to western Pennsyl- vania and settled at Mt. Pleasant, Westmore- land county, in October, 1856, having pre- viously worked at his trade both at Bedford and Somerset, Pa. At Mt. Pleasant he opened a tin-smithing shop, and together with his sons is still conducting a large and prosperous business. Mr. Andrews has been a member of the borough council for three years, is identified with the Methodist Episcopal church and stands high in the community where he resides. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, A. O. U. W., K. of II., and the I. O. O. F.

James B. Andrews was married August 23, 1860, to Cynthia Ann, a daughter of Thomas Shipley, of Baltimore, Md. They have four children : William Lewis, born October 3, 1866; George Berkley, born November 8, 1870 ; Charles Vinton, born November 9, 1877, and Mary Shipley, born July 10, 1881. Mrs. Andrews, who was a most estimable lady, died on the 8th of July, 1888.

ILLIAM BOWERS, a merchant of Mt. Pleasant, and one of her leading citi- zens, was born March 22, 1847, in 'Ty- rone township, Fayette county, Pa., and is a

son of Jacob and Catharine (Myers) Bowers. Jacob Bowers was born in Lancaster county, Pa., of German parents, and carly in life re- moved to Fayette county, where he engaged in the mercantile business which he continued for a number of years. He was one of the first operators and dealers in coke in the Connells- ville region and continued in the coke business more than eighteen years. Upon the completion of the Pittsburg and Connellsville R. R., it was from his plant that the first car of coke was shipped over it to Pittsburg. In 1868 Mr. Bowers retired from the coke business and moved on to his farm in Dunbar township, but in 1872 he left Fayette county and located at Mt. Pleasant, this county, where he opened a general store ; he died in May, 1879.

William Bowers attended school for a short time only, beginning work at his father's coke plant carly in life, and continuing there for fifteen years, being in his father's store full five years of that time. He then worked on the farm a few years, and in 1871 engaged with John M. Cochran, of Fayette county, as a clerk, remaining in that position two years. In 1873 he went to Mt. Pleasant, where he and his brother David purchased their father's stock of merchandise and continued the business estab- lished there by him the preceding year. In 1882 William Bowers bought his brothers' in- terest in the store, and thus became sole owner of the clothing establishment, which he has ever since conducted with success. Mr. Bowers is a member of the Moss Rose Lodge, No. 350, I. O. O. F., and is an active member of the church of God.

William Bowers was married May 20, 1875, to Rachel, a daughter of Abraham Hodskin, of Mt Pleasant, and they have six children : Re- becca Ann, born May 29, 1876; Alva Curtis, June 14, 1879; Homer, February 4, 1883; Jesse, May 8, 1885; Irene, May 24, 1887; and James Wade, January 9, 1889.

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WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

YRUS P. BRECHBILL, a man of ex- tended western travel, a merchant of many years business experience and a well known notion and fancy ware dealer of Mt. Pleasant, is a son of Samuel and Lydia (Barger) Brechbill, and was born at Mt. Pleas- ant, Westmoreland county, Pa., April 12, 1837. Ilis father, Samuel Brechbill, was a tanner by trade, followed tanning for some years and then engaged in the drug business.

Cyrus P. Brechbill was educated in West- moreland college, now the " Western Pennsyl- vania Classical and Scientific Institute," of Mt. Pleasant. He afterwards entered Duff's Com- mercial college, Pittsburg, Pa., and was gradu- ated from that institution in 1855. In the same year that he completed his business college course he entered the employ of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Co. as baggage master and remained with them for three years. In 1858 he went to the " Pacific Slope" where he located in the State of California and was en- gaged in the mercantile business for twelve years. From 1870 to 1872 he was employed as commissary for a United States engineer corps which left IIelena, Montana, in the former and was occupied until the latter year in making surveys on the Yellowstone river. Early in 1872 Mr. Brechbill returned to Mt. Pleasant after an absence of nearly fifteen years in the "Great West," and engaged as a clerk in the general mercantile store of Isaac Stauffer, with whom he remained for four years. In 1876 he became bookkeeper for the firm of Low & Hus- band, and serrved in that capacity until 1880. On May 31, 1880, he established his present general notion and fancy ware store and hasmade a success of his business. His store is eligibly located and well stocked and he does not lack for patronage.

On November 10, 1874, Mr. Brechbill united in marriage with Sarah A. Rumbaugh, daughter of Peter Rumbaugh. They have two children : Nellie G., born February 22, 1876, and Harry Paul, January 21, 1885.

C. P. Brechbill has served two terms as as- sessor of Mt. Pleasant borough. He has been true to every business or political trust placed in his hands and has always labored faithfully in whatever he was engaged.

POHN B. COLDSMITHI was born Decem- ber 18, 1857, at Mt. Pleasant, Westmore- land county, Pa., and is a son of John and Sarah (Brehan) Coldsmith. John Coldsmith was a native of eastern Pennsylvania, but re- moved to Mt. Pleasant when yet a young man. Although a hatter by trade he did not confine his attention exclusively to the hat business, but engaged also in the grocery line. He served the borough of Mt. Pleasant for some time in the capacity of councilman and acquitted himself with credit.

John B. Coldsmith received his education in the public schools of his native borough and in Mt. Pleasant Institute, which he attended several terms. At the age of eighteen years he was em- ployed as clerk in a drug store, where he remained but a short time, leaving this position to learn the trade of paper-hanger. He worked at his trade as a journeyman for a few years and then engaged in business as a dealer in wall paper and queensware. For some time Mr. Coldsmith has given much of his time and atten- tion to the interests of the bands of Mt. Pleas- ant ; he is a member and manager of the "Star Band" of that place. For years he has been manager of concerts and theatrical performances, and was for a time manager of the " old Opera ITouse," and since the completion and opening of the " Grand Opera House " he has been its manager. He is a member and commissary ser- geant of Co. E, tenth reg., National Guard of Pennsylvania ; belongs to I. O. O. F., and Heptasophs.

John B. Coldsmith was married July 22, 1884, to Sanizai Bingaman, of Meyersdale, Somerset county, Pa., and they have three child-

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ren : Blaine B., born January 27, 1887; an infant son, born November 14, 1889, and Blanche E. Coldsmith, born August 22, 1885, died September 17, 1886.

ASSIUS M. GALLEY, a descendant of a highly respectable family and an enter-

prising business man, was born at Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1861, on the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, and is a son of Cyrus and Harriet (Clark) Gal- ley. Cyrus Galley was a Pennsylvanian whose birth-place was in Fayette county, where the name of Galley is found in the list of earliest settlers, and the Galleys there of the present generation are foremost among the steady and reliable citizens of that county. Early in life Cyrus Galley learned the trade of blacksmith, but soon after completing his apprenticeship he removed to Mt. Pleasant, where he engaged with Gibson Kemp and learned the trade of carriage maker. About 1865 he formed a partnership for the manufacture of carriages under the firm name of Galley, Mechling & Co. This firm while remarkably successful in the sale of their work also enjoyed an excellent reputation as skilled mechanics. Cyrus Galley was born November 20, 1836, and died January 19, 1883. Ilis wife was Harriet Clark, a daughter of Samuel Clark, of Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland county. They had nine children.

Cassius M. Galley was reared at Mt. Pleas- ant, where he received his education. When seventeen years of age he entered the carriage manufactory of Galley, Mechling & Co., where under the special instruction and care of his father he learned the trade of carriage manufac- ture; he was also carefully instructed in the management of that business and in the personal supervision of the works in every detail. Upon the death of his father in 1883 he and his brother, Orion Galley, bought out the interests of their father's partners and organized under

the firm name of Galley Brothers. The well- established business of the reliable old firm lost nothing from being transferred into the hands of the new firm. They have not only held the former substantial patronage but added to it by the latter new support, won by skilled work, in- creased facilities and fair dealing.

Cassius M. Galley was married on February 18, 1885, to Ida May Roadman, daughter of Samuel and Annie Roadman, residing at Mt. Pleasant. Mr. and Mrs. Galley have two child- ren: Anna May, born January 3, 1886, and Blanche, June 1, 1888.

C. M. Galley is a member of Moss Rose Lodge, No. 350, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was chartered April 16, 1849, and Mt. Pleasant Council, No. 592, organized in May, 1881. Although young in years Mr. Galley has demonstrated his ability as a success- ful and thorough business man.

OSEPII E. GIBBS was born January 27, 1860, in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Pa., and is a son of John G. and Rebecca E. (Berger) Gibbs. His grandfather, Joseph E. Gibbs, a native of Bedford county, Pa., came to Mt. Pleasant, this county, where he located and carried on his trade-that of wagonmaker. John G. Gibbs was born April 21, 1824, in Bedford county, and while yet a youth came with his parents to Mt. Pleasant. After leaving the common schools he, under the instruction of his father, learned the trade of wagonmaker, at which he worked until 1884. He is still living and resides in Mt. Pleasant.

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 24

Author: Gresham, John M. cn; Wiley, Samuel T. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia [Dunlap & Clarke] Number of Pages: 1422

Author: Gresham, John M. cn; Wiley, Samuel T. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia [Dunlap & Clarke]
Number of Pages: 1422