USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 25
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Joseph E. Gibbs attended the public schools of Mt. Pleasant, and then entered the Mt. Pleasant Institute for a year, leaving that insti- tution at the age of eighteen years. Prior to entering the institute, however, he was engaged two years as clerk or salesman in a store; he was subsequently employed for four years in the same capacity. In 1883 he started a livery and feed
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stable, which he is still running. He has been very successful and is doing an excellent busi- ness. Mr. Gibbs, who is a deserving and in- dustrious young man, is a member of Mt. Pleas- ant Lodge, No. 850, 1. O. O. F., and of Mt. Pleasant Council, No. 592, Royal Arcanum.
IRAM ANDERSON GILSON, a useful and respected citizen of Mt. Pleasant, and a careful and efficient carriage trimmer, is a son of William and Ellen ( Alexander) Gil- son, and was born in Tuscarora Valley, Juniata county, Pa., on new year's day, 1837. William Gilson was a native of Juniata county. IIe was a miller by occupation, and about 1845 he re- moved to Manchester, now a part of Allegheny city, Pa., where he resided a number of years, from thence to New Florence, Westmoreland county, where he died.
Hiram A. Gilson came with his parents to Manchester, where he received his education in the public schools of that place. At the age of fourteen years he entered the work-shop of Phelps, Carr & Co., of Allegheny city, and learned the trade of carriage trimmer. After completing his trade he remained and worked for that firm for six years. In 1857 he went to Greensburg where he was engaged at his trade for four years. In 1861 Mr. Gilson came to Mt. Pleasant, engaged in carriage trimming and has continued at that business ever since. In 1882 he removed his family to the last named place and now proposes to make it his future home.
In 1859 Mr. Gilson married Maria Hughes, of New Derry, this county, by whom he had two children ; William and Frederick. Mrs. Gilson died in 1863, and Mr. Gilson married for his second wife, Mary J. Brown, of Bedford county, Pa., who bore him two children : Clar- ence and Harry. Mrs. Mary J. Gilson died in 1871, and Mr. Gilson, in 1875, united in mar- riage with Mrs. Margaret (Hutchinson) Guffey, !
of near West Newton, Westmoreland county, Pa. To this third union six children have been born-all daughters and living : Nellie, Mollie, Emma, June, Irene and Lilly.
Hiram A. Gilson is a good workman in his special line of business. He has had years of profitable experience as a carriage trimmer, and his work as such gives good satisfaction. He is a member of the Mt. Pleasant Methodist Episco- pal church and member of Mt. Pleasant Lodge, No. 198, Ancient Order of United Workmen.
HARLES A. GRAUL, of German de- scent, and the leading baker and confec-
tioner of Mt. Pleasant, is the son of Leopold and Christiana (Wiedeman) Graul, and was born in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pa., February 7, 1856. Leopold Graul was born and reared near Dessau, the capital of Anhalt Dessau, an agricultural duchy of Ger- many. In 1850 he immigrated to the United States and located in Pittsburg, where he was married about 1853 to Christiana Wiedeman, who was a native of Hanover, a province of Prussia. In 1855 he came to Hempfield town- ship, where he resided fifteen years and was principally engaged in huckstering. By fair and honorable dealing he became very popular with the farming population of Westmoreland county. In 1870 Mr. Graul returned to Pitts- burg, where he is employed as janitor and general overseer of Odd Fellow's hall building, " south side," Pittsburg, the largest building of its kind in the city.
Charles A. Graul was educated in the com- mon schools of Hempfield township, returned with his parents to Pittsburg in 1870, and one year later went to the bakery of John A. New, " south side," to learn the trade of baker and confectioner. At the end of his first year's apprenticeship his employer could not furnish him with sufficient work of the grade that he was then capable of performing, but secured for young
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Graul a suitable place where he was enabled to perfeet himself in the several branches of his trade. After working for nine years in Pittsburg he came to Mt. Pleasant and formed a co-partner- ship with J. P. Werkman, Jr. They opened a bakery and confectionary which they operated till October, 1883, when Mr. Graul purchased his partner's interest and removed to his present place of business on Church street. Ilis sales- room is well adapted to the purpose for which it is used, and contains everything useful or desira- ble in his line of business. Mr. Graul operates the most complete bakery every established in Mt. Pleasant and has never lacked an exten- sive or remunerative patronage since he came there.
On February 7, 1883, he was united in mar- riage with Anna Plank, of Pittsburg. Their union has been blessed with two children : Carl, born January 7, 1884, and Walter, born April 25, 1886.
C. A. Graul is a member of the Reformed church and in political matters is a republican. He is a member of Moss Rose Lodge, No. 350, I. O. O. F., Mt. Pleasant Lodge, No. 198, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Mt. Pleas- ant Council, No. 592, Royal Arcanum, and is a member of borough council from the first ward.
IEUT. JAMES HARKINS, M.D., a young man who has made his own way through life and a prominent young phy- sician of Mt. Pleasant, was born at Blairsville, Indiana county, Pa., September 6, 1863. He is a son of Peter and Mary (Morton) Harkins, the former of whom was born in Ireland and the latter in Blairsville, Indiana county, Pa. Peter Harkins was engaged as foreman on the West Pennsylvania railroad. At the breaking out of the rebellion he entered the army as a private in Company D, 206th reg. of Pa. Vols., and was in active service till 1865. He re- turned home and soon afterward died from the
effects of exposure and hardships he endured for over four years.
Dr. James Harkins at an early age was left an orphan, and when he was six years of age entered the Soldier's and Orphan's school at Phillipsburg, Beaver county, was transferred to Jumonville, Fayette county, September 1, 1876, where he remained until he was sixteen years old. He then left Jumonville, began the study of medicine at Mt. Pleasant under Drs. Heath and Goodman. In 1884 he entered the Eclectic Medical college at Cincinnati, and from this favorably known school he was graduated in the class of 1885. In the same year he located in practice at Mt. Pleasant ; he is now successfully engaged in his profession and is also the pro- prietor of one of the leading drug stores of the place. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans and Division Surgeon of Pennsylvania, and ranks as Major. In recognition of his thorough knowledge in military tactics and of military drill he was, in 1889, elected by his comrades second lieutenant of company E, 10th reg. of the National Guards of Pennsylvania. Dr. Harkins, by his own perseverance and energy, is honorably winning his way to the front ranks of his profession.
Ś AMUEL W. HUSBAND, of Mt. Pleas- ant, was born June 19, 1850, near Tarr's station, Westmoreland county, Pa., and is a son of David and Sarah ( Mathias) Husband. David Husband, a native of this county, was born June 5, 1805, and was by occupation a farmer ; he also worked for a number of years at the cooper trade. For a number of years he was the assessor of his township (East Hunting- don) and stood high in the estimation of all who knew him, his character commanding the respect of all. He died November 20, 1881.
Samuel W. Husband received his education in the public schools of his township and the Mt. Pleasant Institute. After leaving school he
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entered the army of pedagogues and taught the "young idea how to shoot," but after a single year's experience in the school-room he aban- doned the profession, hoping to engage in some more congenial and lucrative occupation. At the age of twenty-five years he went to Oberlin, Ohio, where he attended the school of telegraphy for several months and then returned home, re- maining there several years. In 1881 he went to Newton, Illinois, where he stayed some six months assisting his brother in his business. Returning to Mt. Pleasant he entered the ser- vice of the B. & O. R. R. company, in which he has remained continuously since 1882, and now holds the responsible position of freight and ticket agent at Mt. Pleasant, where he is also agent for the U. S. express company.
Samuel W. Ilusband was married February 27, 1888, to Amanda, a daughter of Herman Christner, of Garrett, Somerset county, Pa., and they have one child, Benjamin, who was born November 15, 1888.
APTAIN W. N. JORDAN, the popular burgess of Mt. Pleasant and one of the prominent citizens of that progressive borough, was born at Everett, Bedford county, Pa., November 9, 1827, and is a son of Samuel and Catharine (Myers) Jordan. His parents were natives of Bedford county, Pa. Samuel Jordan, with his family, moved in 1840 from Bedford to Somerset county, Pa., where he re- mained for eight years and was engaged in farming. In 1848 he removed to Westmoreland county and settled in Mt. Pleasant township. where he resided until his death, which occurred in Mt. Pleasant borough in 1854.
Captain William M. Jordan attended the ordi- nary schools of his day and at thirteen years of age removed to Somerset county, where he worked on his father's farm until he was twenty years of age. From 1847 to 1861 he was en- gaged in teaming, staging and foundry business.
On June 8, 1861, he enlisted in Co. B, twenty- eighth reg., Pa. Vols., was elected first lieu- tenant and promoted to the captaincy of Co. B, on May 1, 1862. He was wounded at Antietam, also at Chancellorsville, and resigned on account of disability in 1868. In the same year he was appointed by the Goverment Horse Inspector, and was alternately stationed at Pittsburg, Albany, N. Y., and the city of New York. In 1865 he returned to Mt. Pleasant and en- gaged in livery and selling and buying horses. Gov. Geary appointed him notary public and he has held the appointment ever since. For several years he has been elected to the office of burgess of Mt. Pleasant. For eight years he has been a member of the council and is at present the secretary of the same.
On October 6, 1858, he was married to Miss Belinda S., a daughter of William Teyman, of Somerset county, Pa. To their marriage have been born four children : May E., born June 9, 1859, the widow of N. W. McMaster ; Jesse D. K., born July 19, 1861; William T., born June 22, 1864 (deceased); and Grace L., born December 18, 1866.
Capt. Jordan has made an excellent record as burgess of Mt. Pleasant, and has always rendered satisfaction in the various positions of trust and responsibility which he has held at different times. He is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic and has been a delegate to six National Encampments.
S AMUEL C. KELLEY, a self-made man and a prominent young lawyer of Mt. Pleasant, was born at Mt. Pleasant, Pa., on August 1, 1858, and is a son of Samuel and Mary (Cunningham) Kelley, who were natives of Westmoreland county, Pa. Samuel Kelley (father) was a practicing physician ; he was well and favorably known in Westmoreland county. He was born in Beaver county, Pa., in 1814, was educated in Hookstown, l'a., attended lec-
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tures at Jefferson Medical College at Philadel- phia, Pa. In 1860 he emigrated with his family to Morgantown, W. Va., where he was appointed by the goverment Medical Examiner and sta- tioned at Grafton, W. Va. Hle died June 27, 1864, leaving a wife and six children in limited circumstances.
Samuel C. Kelley, at the age of nine years, left home and went to live with his uncle, John Chestnut, of Beaver county, Pa., where he re- mained five years. In 1873 he returned to Morgantown, attended the public schools of that place, and worked on the farm in summer to assist in the support of his mother and family. By hard work and great perseverance he was enabled to enter the University of W .Va. in 1877, where he remained as a student for four years, and was graduated from the law depart- ment in the class of 1881. He was admitted to Monongalia (W. Va.) county bar on June 14, 1881, and immediately entered into successful practice of the law. On April 3, 1882, he came to Pennsylvania and located at Mt. Pleasant, where he owns a fine home, has several thousand dollars in profitable investments and is other- wise well fixed and comfortably situated in life. By his assiduousness and close attention to his duties as an attorney he has gained the reputa- tion of being a safe and successful counsellor. Hle gives considerable of his time to his criminal practice, is a good speaker and is making a good record as a lawyer. He is a member of the Dow Collecting Bureau and looks after the interests of five other collecting agencies. On November 7th, 1885, he was admitted to practice before the Supreme court of Pennsylvania, and is also a member of the Supreme court of West Virginia. Although he began to practice law in Westmoreland county on borrowed capital he has been signally successful. Ile is an active and ardent republican, always ready to work in the interests of his party and is a strong advocate of temperance. His fidelity to the principles of his party has been duly appreciated by his friends, |
who have earnestly solicited him to become their candidate for the Legislature, but he declined the honor, preferring the practice of law to the field of politics. For four years he has served as school director of his borough and has always shown great interest in the advancement of education. He is Secretary of the Order of "I. O. II." and is also an active member of the "I. O. O. F." He is a member of the Baptist church and takes quite an interest in Sunday school work; he is president of the Milk Can and Tin Ware Factory of Mt. Pleasant, Pa.
On December 26, 1881, he was married to Letitia E., daughter of Uriah Hickox, of La- trobe. Their marriage has been blessed with two children : Charles H., born October 17, 1882, and John Logan, born January 3, 1885.
O HIARLES LARRISON KUHN. Among those who, upon the solid founda- tion of integrity, ability and enterprise have erected fine superstructures of moral, social and financial worth and who have been the " architects of their own fortunes," is Charles Larrison Kuhn, a skilled pharmacist and the leading druggist of Mount Pleasant. He was born August 19, 1852, in the borough of Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Pa., and is a son of James and Mary J. (Larrison) Kuhn. His paternal great-grandfather was born in Germany, but left the " Fatherland " and crossed the Atlantic to seek his fortune in the " new world." He landed on the shores of America and settled in Pennsylvania at the age of fifteen years. George Kuhn (grand- father) was born December 2, 1807, in the beautiful and historic Ligonier Valley, where he followed his trade of shoemaking, which was in early days more lucrative than the mercantile business. He married Sarah Peter- son, whose father removed to this State from Orange county, N. Y., about 1813. ITis son James Kuhn (father) is by trade a miller,
6 L Kuhn Play
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which occupation he followed for nearly a quar- ter of a century. During this time, by strict attention to business and careful investment of his savings, he secured for himself a competency sufficient to enable him to retire from the active pursuits of life. lle resides at Mount Pleas- ant, where he owns considerable real estate. He is a democrat in political faith and a member of the Baptist church.
Charles L. Kuhn, after leaving the public schools of Mount Pleasant, in which he received a good education, was employed for a time in the grocery business and then engaged in card painting in the city of Pittsburg, continuing in that work for about five years. He returned to Mount Pleasant in 1872, and in 1875 engaged in the drug business. Entering the college of Pharmacy at Pittsburg, in 1878, he completed the course of study and graduated from that in- stitution in 1880. He is now proprietor of an excellent drug store, carrying about $5,000 worth of stock and owns valuable real estate in Mount Pleasant. Mr. Kuhn is one of the lead- ing young business men of the county, and his , marked success has been due almost entirely to his own energy, care and good judgment.
" Riches are oft by guilt or baseness earned,"
but such an assertion can never be made to ap- ply to Mr. Kuhn, for his honesty and his honor are beyond question. True, he possesses ambi- tion, though not of the kind referred to by Mil- ton, when he says in Paradise Lost :
" To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; "
but rather that ambition which, as Addison says :
" Pushes the soul to such actions as are apt to procure honor and reputation to the actor."
Charles L. Kuhn has been twice married : his first wife was Catharine Shaffer, of this county, who died in 1875, the year of her marriage ; he was again married in May, 1879, to Lizzie, a daughter of Samuel Mellinger, of Mount Pleas-
ant township, this county, and this union has been blessed with four children : Roy, born Feb- ruary 7, 1882; Cora, born April 23, 1884; Myrtle, born July 23, 1886, and Charles, born June 4, 1889.
ILTON SUTTON KUHN, an enter- prising druggist of Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Pa., was born there February 15, 1857, and is a son of James and Mary J. (Larrison) Kuhn. ( For ancestral history see sketch of Charles L. Kulmn).
M. S. Kuhn received his education in the public schools of his native town and at Mount Pleasant Institute, where he took a course in Latin and chemistry. During the next six years he was engaged as clerk in the drug store of his brother, Charles L. Kuhn, and from 1881 until 1883 he was with his father, James Kuhn, in the grocery and queensware business at Mount Pleasant. In March, 1886. he pur- chased the drug store of Josiah Strickler, and ever since that time has been successfully con- ducting the business in all its branches. Mr. Kuhn is a member of Logan Council, No. 145, Jr. O. U. A. M., and is one of the bright young business men of Mount Pleasant. Ile is a descendant of one of the early settled families of the county-a family whose members have always maintained a high standing among their fellow-men.
OHN LYTLE KYLE, a native of Frank- lin county, Pa., was born April 24, 1834, and is a son of William and Jane (Lytle) Kyle. His grandfather was a native of Ireland, immigrated to the United States in early life and settled in Franklin county, Pa. William Kyle (father) was born December 8, 1805, and was by trade a saddle and harness maker, but de- voted part of his time and attention to the super- vision of work on a farm until the fall of 1846,
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when he moved with his family to Burlington, | (Smouse) Leonard. His grandfather, John Iowa, where he died June 20, 1847.
Jane Kyle (mother) died September 11 of the same year; the family returned to friends in Westmoreland county.
John L. Kyle attended the public schools of his native county and worked on a farm until sixteen years of age, when he located at Greens- burg, this county, where he learned the trade of carriage builder with Adam Stark & Son, at which he worked for some time. February 1, 1862, he enlisted in Co. K, eleventh reg., Pa. Vols. and served three years and five months, receiving in 1865 a promotion to first lieutenant. During his whole service he was with the Army of the Potomac and participated in the battles in which that army was engaged. At the bat- tle of Gettysburg he was taken prisoner but escaped before the close of that memorable fight. When the war ended he returned to Greensburg and resumed work at his trade. In 1870 he re- moved to Mount Pleasant where he continued in his chosen occupation. He is a member of Philanthropy Lodge, No. 225, A. Y. M., and of Urania Chapter, No. 195, R. A. Masons, both of Greensburg : he also belongs to Mount Pleasant Lodge, No. 198, A. O. U. W., and has for thirty-six years been a member of the M. E. church.
John L. Kyle was married April 15, 1858, to Emily, a daughter of the late Joseph Har- vey, of Harvey's Five Points, Salem township, this county. The fruits of their union are four children : Teresa, who now resides in Cawnpore, India ; Fannie and Maggie, who reside with their parents in Mount Pleasant, and Joseph H. Kyle, who died September 30, 1871.
J OHN -D. LEONARD, one of those who were wounded in the terrible battles of the Wilderness and an industrious citizen of Mt. Pleasant, was born in Bedford county, Pa., May 8, 1842, and is a son of John and Barbara
Leonard, Sr., was born and reared in Adams county, Pa., where he continued to reside as long as he lived. He was an old whig, a member of the Catholic church and was a ship carpenter by trade. llis maternal grandfather, Smouse, was a native of Germany. He immigrated to. America and settled in Blair county, this State, where he lived until his death. He was a farm. and day-laborer and was a democrat in political opinion.
llis father, John Leonard, was born in Adams. county about 1812. He was a day laborer, an old line whig, an earnest member of the Catholic church, and died in in Bedford county, to which he had removed from Adams county. He was twice married. His first wife having died he afterwards married Barbara Smouse, by whom, he had seven sons and five daughters, four of these sons entered the Union service during the. late war : John D., Jerome who enlisted in Co. E, fifty-fifth reg., Pa., Vols. in 1861 was in many hard battles and died in 1864 from wounds received in front of Petersburg ; Adam,. who went out in 1863 and served till the close of the war, and Henry, who enlisted in 1862 in. Co. E., one hundred and thirty-eighth reg., Pa., Vols., and participated in all the battles of the army of the Potomac from that time on until it was disbanded. John D. Leonard received his education in the common schools and then learned the trade of plasterer. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. E, one hundred and thirty-eighth reg., Pa., Vols., and served until 1865. IIe. was in the battles of Brandy Station, Mine Run and the Wilderness fights, in one of which he was wounded in the shoulder and was disabled entirely from active service during the remain- der of the war. In 1865 he returned home and resumed his trade of plastering which he has fol- lowed ever since. In 1868 he moved to Mt. Pleasant where he has continued to reside till. the present time.
lle was united in marriage with Louise Cold -.
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smith, a daughter of John Coldsmith, of Mt. Pleasant. They have been the parents of eight children : William, Heath, deceased ; Edgar, dead ; Ella, deceased ; Minnie, Mary, Lulu and John.
John D. Leonard was originally a republican but is now a prohibitionist. He is a member of the Baptist church, Moss Rose Lodge, No. 350, I. O. of O. F., Council No. 592, Royal Arcanum and Grand Army of the Republic.
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ULIUS LEWY, one who has conducted large business enterprises in Germany and Sweden and who is now a prominent busi- ness man of Mt. Pleasant, was born at Tessin, a town in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg- Schwerin, Germany, April 11, 1834, and is a son of Ileinman and Henrietta (Nathanson) Lewy. Heinman Lewy was born in 1794 and at six years of age lost his father, but his mother, a spirited and intelligent woman, placed him at a first-class school where he received a good practical education. At sixteen years of age he entered into his first and important busi- ness enterprise, which was no less than the con- tract to supply the French army, then encamped at Tessin, with certain kinds of provisions- especially cheese. Young Lewy, finding cheese a scarce article in his own duchy, went to the Province of Holstein, a distance of four hundred miles, where he secured a large quantity of cheese and had it conveyed by a large number of" six horse teams to Tessin. The business push that he exhibited in this instance secured him the confidence of the public, and in fulfilling his army contract he laid the foundation of his sub- sequent successful business career. ITis next enterprise and the main business of his life was wool-dealing at Tessin. He bought and sold wool on a large scale, purchasing large quanti- ties and sold it to the leading markets of Sweden. He was also engaged in the dry goods business.
Julius Lewy received his rudimentary educa-
tion in the gymnasium at Gistrow, where he re- mained for two years. He then returned home and was placed under the care of a celebrated private tutor for three years. At thirteen years of age he was placed in a dry goods store where he served an apprenticeship of four years, and as was the custom of that country he received at the expiration of his fourth year a sum of gold equivalent to one hundred dollars of United States money. At the expiration of his term of service he returned home well prepared and fully qualified to enter on and assume the re- sponsible duties of manager and purchaser in his father's dry goods establishment. This position he held for ten years. At the end of this period of active and successful service he purchased the store of his father and conducted it for four years, when he sold out in order to embark in a business enterprise in Sweden. In 1866 he and his brother removed to that country, where they engaged in business at Norrkoping as deal- ers in wool and dye stuffs for the manufacture of cloth. They continued with fair success in business for three years. In 1869 Julius Lewy proceeded to Hamburg where he opened an office as broker in wool and pelts. After two years residence in that free city of North Germany he sailed in March, 1871, for New York city and landed in the ensuing month of April. He soon secured a position as bark inspector at a tannery situated in the interior of the Empire State where he remained for over two years. In August, 1873, Mr. Lewy came to Mt. Pleasant. which he had previously selected as a favorable point for business, and where he became a dealer in wool and hides. He also embarked in the clothing business and successfully pursued these two lines of business for ten years. In 1883 he engaged in his present prosperous en- terprise, that of manufacturer of foundry facings.
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