Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 32

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 32

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On September 18, 1873, he was married by Rev. N. P. Hacke to Amanda Walthour, daughter of Michael Walthour, a well-known hotel keeper of the county. They have seven children, five sons and two daughters : Emmet Ray, Clarence, Maude, Morrill Clyde, Joseph Caldwell, Jr., Mabel Clara and Charles.

J. Caldwell Morrow is a strong democrat, a member of Scottdale Lodge, No. 885, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Maccabees and the Methodist Episcopal church. He was the first local editor of the Scottdale Tribune, corresponded for different papers throughout the United States and was favorably known as a press reporter. In 1872 Mr. Mor- row engaged in auctioneering and has continued successfully in that line of business ever since. Ile has sold goods in sixty counties of Pennsyl- vania, thirteen different States of the Union and in selling goods has traveled in and through

Photo by Springer.

WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

twenty-three States. His success as an auc- tioneer has been wonderful, almost phenomenal. Ile isa large and fine-looking man, weighing 245 pounds, intelligent , courteous, tall and command- ing. He stands high in his community as a gentleman and is deserving of the success he has won.

B ENJAMIN F. OVERHOLT. The ma- terial resources of " southwestern Penn- sylvania" have never found their equal elsewhere. Of these are the great beds of Connellsville coking coal of world-wide fame. Among the many operators who have been en- gaged in manufacturing the unsurpassed coke of this famous region is Benjamin F. Overholt, who is a grandson of " the late Abraham Over- holt, the immediate progenitor of the large family bearing his name in Westmoreland county, and who made that name a household word, not only in western Pennsylvania but in almost every region of the country." Benjamin F. Overholt is the eldest son and second child of Henry S. and Abigail (Carpenter) Overholt and was born near Scottdale, East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pa., July 19, 1848. The Overholts of Pennsylvania trace their German lineage through Martin Overholt, who came from Germany to Bucks county, this State, about 1809 and died in 1846. One of his children was Henry Overholt (great-grand- father), who was born in 1789. He married Ann Beitler, by whom he had five sons and seven daughters. In 1800, accompanied by his entire family, he removed to Westmoreland county and settled on a tract of land now known as the Overholt homestead in West Overton. He died in 1813 and his widow passed away in 1835. Ilis eleventh child' was the widely and favorably known Abraham Over- holt (grandfather), who was born in Bucks county, Pa., in 1786. He learned and followed the trade of weaving until 1810, when he en-

gaged in farming. Two years later he pur- chased one hundred and fifty acres of the homestead farm, including a log distillery, for seventy-five hundred dollars, and entered upon a long and successful business career. He built a stone distillery; erected a brick mill and in 1859 replaced them both with one of the largest and best equipped distilleries in Pennsylvania. He died January 15, 1870, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. "As a business man he was distinguished for the order with which he conducted all his affairs, for his firmness and de- cision, for promptness, great energy and punc- tuality." He was kind, straightforward and public-spirited. He advocated at an early day the present common school system of Pennsyl- vania, was an ardent republican and in every way wasentitled to the distinction of being a prominent and honored citizen of western Pennsylvania. In 1809 he married Maria Stauffer, who died in 1874. They had six sons and two daughters, of whom three are living. The eldest son, Heury S. Overholt (father), was born August 10, 1810, and died June 18, 1870. On Feb- ruary 10, 1846, he was united in marriage with Abigail, daughter of B. F. and Mary (Sarver) Carpenter, of Versailles township, Allegheny county, Pa. Their children are: Sarah A., wife of A. S. R. Overholt; B. F., Maria C., Abigail C., wife of Dr. J. R. Smith, of Cleve- land, Ohio ; Abram C., of Scottdale; Henry C., of Cleveland, Ohio; and Jennie C., wife of Nathaniel Miles (see his sketch). Mrs. Over- holt is of German descent, was born March 13, 1824, and resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Henry S. Overholt was a very honorable and successful business man. He was an active republican and a straightforward man. He was his father's book-keeper until 1844, when he went into part- nership with his father in the mill and distillery and continued in that business until his death in 1870.

Benjamin F. Overholt was educated in the common schools, Westerville University (Ohio),

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and the Mt. Pleasant Institute of this county. Ile attended Bryant and Stratton's Business college at Philadelphia, Pa., and graduated with the honors of his class. On leaving school he engaged in the distillery business with his father until the death of the latter in 1870. In 1872 he and A. S. R. Overholt purchased the dis- tillery and ran it until 1873, when they sold it. They engaged in the manufacture of coke in 1873 and in 1878 sold their sixty-two ovens to A. C. Overholt & Co., who added forty-eight additional ovens to the plant. In the last men- tioned year B. F. Overholt became the present general manager of A. C. Overholt & Co's coke business.

B. F. Overholt was married July 16, 1884, to Florence M. Osterhout. They have one child, a son, who is named William II., and was born April 9, 1886. Mrs. Overholt was born at Glenwood, Susquehanna county, Pa., July 19. 1859, and is the daughter of William HI. Osterhout, of Ridgway, Elk county, Pa.

B. F. Overholt is a member of Lodge, No. 518, Order of Solon, at Greensburg, l'a. He is an active republican, has been successful in his various business enterprises and is a prominent and favorably known citizen of Scottdale.

J FAMES P. OWENS is a son of Jonathan and Sarah A. Owens (nee Donohue), both natives of Bedford county, Pa. Jonathan Owens was a wagon and carriage manufacturer at Centreville, Bedford county, where he sue- cessfully carried on that line of business for many years. Ile was a devoted member of the Catholic church and died at New Baltimore, Somerset county, Pa., in 1866 at the age of forty-nine years. He was a stanch democrat and an exemplary citizen during his whole life. Ilis wife died in 1874 in Cumberland, Mary- land, at the age of fifty-six.

James P. Owens is a native of Bedford county, Pa., and was born at Centreville, March 19,

1853, where he remained till at the age of twelve years when he removed with his parents to New Baltimore, thenee to Cumberland, Maryland. There he was engaged as a puddler from 1871 to 1874. He continued to reside at Cumber- land, however, till the year 1880, when he came to Westmoreland county and located at Scott- dale where he was engaged in the iron business up to 1884. In 1886 he was appointed by President Cleveland postmaster at Scottdale and took charge of the office September 1, 1886. HIe has since very capably and acceptably filled the office and is the present incumbent. He is an active and influential democrat, a consistent member of the Catholic church and has served for three years as member of the town council.

Ile was married in 1879 to Eva, a daughter of Casper Glos, of Cumberland, Maryland. To their marriage have been born five children, of whom three are living-one son and two daugh- ters: James R., Margaret L. and Annie M. Mary E. died at the age of five years in 1885 and Edgar died in 1888, at the age of four or five months.

James P. Owens is a striking example of a self-made man Starting in life with nothing he has overcome the many obstacles that arose in his way and has won respectable recognition socially as well as in the business world. He is a stockholder in the natural gas company at Scottdale, and is also a stockholder in the build- ing and loan association at Scottdale. Mr. Owens belongs to that class of young men who give to a town or community the business pros- perity it may possess.

FOHN S. PARKER. Too much cannot be said of the representative and leading busi- ness men of Scottdale, for it is to their intelligence and enterprising spirit that the borough owes its present prosperity, and its oldest and among its most prominent and influ- ential merchants is John S. Parker, whose busi-

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ness career there dates from 1873, when the town was founded. He was born near West Newton in Sewickley township, Westmoreland county, Pa., January 28, 1842, and is a son of John S. and Jane (Grayham) Parker. His father, John S. Parker, was born in Ohio, then a part of the " Northwest Territory," in 1792. While yet a young man he left Ohio, which was then the western frontier of civilization, and came to Westmoreland county, where he engaged in the mercantile business. He opened a store at West Newton, and meeting with good success he established a second store at Reagantown and was one of the early and well-known merchants of Westmoreland county. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, a member of the Presbyterian church and died at Reagantown in 1857. His wife, Jane (Grayhamn) Parker, was a native of this county, a member of the Presbyterian church and a woman of remarkable business ability. After his death she took charge of the Reagantown store and with the assistance of her two sons conducted it successfully for many years. She was born in 1802 and died in Feb- ruary, 1882, an octogenarian in years.

John S. Parker was trained from boyhood to mercantile pursuits. Ilis education was obtained in the schools of Reagantown and West Newton. Ile assisted his mother in conducting the store at Reagantown until 1872. In February, 1873, he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, James B. Smith, and engaged in the mercantile business at Scottdale under the firm name of Parker & Smith. They began merchandising upon a small scale but gradually increased their stock and gained custom until 1881, when they were among the leading merchants of the place. During the same year Mr. Smith withdrew and S. B. McMillan and George C. Parker became members of the firm. The name was then changed to J. S. Parker & Co. and so continued till 1884, when Mr. McMillan retired and the firm name became J. S. Parker & Bro. This firm has continued successfully until the present

time, commands a large and extensive trade and occupies a large brick store builling of four rooms or departments, which are heavily stocked with everything to be found in a first-class general mercantile establishment. On Novem- ber 11, 1869, John S. Parker was married to Pauline Ruff, daughter of Jonas Ruff, of Mt. Pleasant township, this county. Their family consists of five children living : Harry, Frank, Jennie G., Effie M. and John C.

John S. Parker, in addition to being the senior member of the firm of J. S. Parker & Bro., of Scottdale, is a partner in the dry goods house of Hurst & Co., of the same place. Ile built one of the first houses erected in Scottdale, is a stockholder in the "Scottdale Iron and Steel Company, limited," and has always taken an active part in every measure calculated to ad- vance the material interests or contribute to the prosperity of the borough. Mr. Parker is a member and trusteee of the First Presbyterian church, a successful business man, a public- spirited citizen and a highly respected member of the community in which he resides.

AMES HI. POOL, of the firm of Zearley & Pool, planing-mill men, of Scottdale, Pa., was born November 26, 1854, in Hemp- field township, Westmoreland county, Pa., and is a son of Samuel and Sophia (Bierer) Pool. Ilis grandfather, Zachariah Pool, was a native of eastern Pennsylvania, but in his younger days crossed the mountains and located in West- moreland county, where he carried on farming until his death in 1881, at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. Samuel Pool (father) is a native of Westmoreland county, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until a few years ago when he retired from active business. Ilis wife having died in 1887, he now resides at Greensburg with his son, Z. T. Pool; he is seventy years of age and a member of the Eng- lish Lutheran church. Mr. Pool has always

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been a very active and energetic man and very successful in business. John Bierer (maternal grandfather) was a native of Germany, and came to America, locating in Westmoreland county, Pa., of which he was one of the earliest settlers, there being but few people in the neigh- borhood of Greensburg when he arrived in that section. He died in 1849 at a ripe age.

James H. Pool remained at home on his father's farm, attending school in the winter and working in the summer until he was seventeen years old; he then went to Greensburg, learned the carpenter's trade and worked at it for five years, having located at Manor station some eight miles from the county seat. In the fall of 1879 he went to Scottdale and formed a part- nership with S. J. Zearley, the firm name being Zearley & Pool. They engaged in the planing- mill business which they have run successfully ever since. They do an immense business and execute some of the finest work to be seen in the county (see sketch of Mr. Zearley). Mr. Pool is a member of the Lutheran church at Greens- burg, and is one of the most enterprising citi- zens of Scottdale, taking an active part in every- thing that tends to build up and advance the interests of the town.

James II. Pool was married September 24, 1885, to Ellen, a daughter of A. L. Rainer, of Scottdale, and their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, whom they have named Edna, which signifies " pleasure."

OIIN I. ROGERS, of the firm of J. I. Rogers & Co., of Scottdale, was born July 26, 1855, near Springfield, Fayette county, Pa., and is a son of Dr. Joseph and Elizabeth (Johnston) Rogers. (For ancestry see sketch of Dr. Alexander J. Rogers.)

John I. Rogers was reared near the mountain village of Springfield, attended the common schools and at the age of seventeen entered Mt. Pleasant Institute and pursued his studies there

for one and one-half years. After a summer's experience with an engineering corps he returned home and took charge of his father's mills at Fayette Furnace, remained there two years and in 1878 went to Scottdale as clerk in the gen- eral store of E. H. Reed, in whose employ he remained for seven years. In 1885 he became a partner in the concern and the firm name was changed to J. I. Rogers & Co. (Limited). Mr. Rogers was made manager, secretary and treas- urer of the firm and has held these responsible positions ever since. The firm is one of the old- est, largest and most substantial in Scottdale, does an immense trade and fully deserves the liberal patronage it has been receiving. John I. Rogers is a member of Marion Lodge, No. 562, F. & A. M. and adheres to the political faith of the Republican party. He is an agreeable gentle- man of fine appearance and physique and pos- sesses business qualifications of a high order. Although thirty-four years of age Mr. Rogers has successfully withstood the assaults of Cupid and is yet basking in the sunshine of " single blessedness."

LEXANDER J. ROGERS, M. D. Among the prominent physicians of Westmoreland county whose skill and success have won them reputation and honora- ble standing is Dr. Alexander J. Rogers, who served in the ranks of the grand old Army of the Potomac and is the oldest resident physi- cian of Scottdale. He is a son of Dr. Joseph and Elizabeth (Johnston) Rogers and was born at Fayette furnace, Fayette county, Pa., Octo- ber 12, 1834. Maj. James Rogers (grandfather) was a native of Virginia, who emigrated in an early day to Fayette county, Pa. Ile was among the first iron masters of western Penn- sylvania.

Hle afterwards erected on Bush Creek, Ohio, the pioneer forge of that State. He and Col. Paul of Fayette county, Pa., had several adven-

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tures with Indians and served in an expedition against the Indians of Ohio. Maj. Rogers was successful in his furnace and forge ventures and died at an advanced age in the fourth decade of the present century. Dr. Joseph Rogers (father) was a native of Fayette county where he prac- tieed medicine for fifty-five years. Ile was a graduate of the Medical University of Pennsyl- vania. Ile was largely and successfully engaged in the iron business, served as elder in the Presbyterian church, was an old line whig and all his descendants are republicans. He died in the spring of 1874, aged eighty years. He was married in 1831 to Elizabeth Johnston. They had five sons and seven daughters. Mrs. Rogers' father, Alexander Johnston, came from Ireland. He was one of the early merchants of Connellsville, Pa., and purchased large tracts of land at that place and at Zanesville, Ohio. He served for years as elder in the Presbyterian church, was instrumental in building the first church of that denomination at Connellsville, and set aside a large sum of money to be paid to the Presbyterian ministers of his adopted town. Alexander Johnston only lacked eight years of a century when he died in 1863.

Dr. Alexander J. Rogers was reared at Fayette Furnace, received his education at Dun- lap's Creek Presbyterian academy near Merritts- town, Pa., and was graduated in 1856 from that institution. In 1857 he joined a party going to California, was at " Pike's Peak " and Frazier's river, and camped on the site of Denver city when there was but one house there, which had been built and was then occupied by Capt. Lari- mer of Pittsburg. In 1861 he returned home and enlisted in the Federal army. He was a member of Co. F, eleventh reg., Pa., Vols. IIe participated in all the battles of his regiment until the seven days fight on the peninsula, when at Gaines' Mill he was wounded in the hand and right leg and taken prisoner by the confederates. He was confined on Belle Island till the following October, then exchanged and

discharged from David's Hospital, Long Island, in 1865.

On July 4, 1864, he was married to Margaret McCormick, daughter of Noble MeCormick, of Connellsville, Pa. They have one child, Walter D., who is now a student at the celebrated Uni- versity of Virginia.

One of Dr. Rogers' brothers was the late Dr. James K. Rogers, who held the following of- ficial positions during the late war : surgeon, by appointment of President Lincoln ; lieutenant- colonel under commission of President Johnson ; corps surgeon under Gen. Heintzelman, and assistant medical director of the department of Missouri. He was a man of excellent intellect and great generosity ; was a good physician, an eminently accomplished surgeon, and died at Connellsville, Pa., March 18, 1870, aged thirty- eight years.

AJ. GEORGE H. SEWELL, chief clerk of the Charlotte Furnace Com- pany, of Scottdale, was born June 20, 1849, in Baltimore, Md., and is a son of Rev. Thomas and Mary (Burnett) Sewell. Rev. Thomas Sewell was born in 1804 at Easton, Talbot county, Md., and is a lineal descendant of Pocohontas. In his early life he was a chair- maker and carried on an extensive chair manu- factory at Baltimore until 1835, when he was appointed Collector of the Port in Baltimore. After eight years in this position he was chosen cashier of the Franklin bank in the same city, retained the position for a number of years and then embarked in the commission and real es- tate business, which he carried on extensively throughout the south and acquired considerable wealth, but the war came on, which caused so great a decline in his southern property that almost his entire fortune was swept away. Mr. Sewell was the inventor of Sewell's celebrated cement, which he manufactured until his death. For about twenty years during the latter part of

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his life he was an itinerant minister of the M. | Cumberland city. He owns valuable property E. church. He married in 1825 Mary J., a on Loucks avenue, Scottdale, and is one of the good business men of the place. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church of Scottdale. Mr. Sewell is leader of the choir, which is considered one of the best in western Pennsylvania, containing twenty-one voices, two cornets, clarionet and flute. daughter of Samuel Burnett, of Baltimore, who was born in 1807, and who bore him ten chil- dren : Thomas II., Ann R., Samuel B., Mary J., Sarah A., Elizabeth B., James T. and George II. Thomas Sewell died in 1867 and his widow in 1887 at the age of eighty years. Rev. George Sewell (grandfather) was an ordained minister of the M. E. church and died at Easton, Md., in 1820. Ilis first license is now in possession of George H. Sewell, his grand- son.

George HI. Sewell was reared in Baltimore, attended the public schools and then entered Gallagher's college, Baltimore, Md., from which he graduated in 1862. Ile then enlisted for service in the army as a drummer of Co. B., first Maryland reg., but was transferred to the government secret service in which he remained until the end of the war. In 1867 he in con- nection with Col. Cooper was instrumental in quelling the " negro riots " at Baltimore. After the war Mr. Sewell followed carpentry for nine years, and in 1874 entered the service of the B. & O. R. R. as " trace agent," with headquarters at Cumberland, Ma., where he remained till 1881, when he engaged as general clerk for Everson, Macrum & Co., at Scottdale, Pa. At the dissolution of the firm he became chief clerk for the Charlotte Furnace Company of the same place which position he still retains. He is an active worker in the interests of the Republican party, and is now chairman of the republican association of Scottdale. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, in which he is district deputy, grand chancellor, inspector general of the Uniform Rank and is one of the staff of Brig. Gen. S. S. Simmons. He is district grand chief of the Knights of the Golden Eagle and secretary of the Independent Order of Heptasophs ; also a member of Scottdale Council, No. 102, Jr. O. U. A. M., and of Chosen Friends Lodge, No. 32, I. O. O. F., of

George II. Sewell married in 1872 Jennie, a daughter of Samuel Horn, of Allegheny county, Md., who was born in 1855, and who is the mother of four children, all living: W. Lowry, born October 29, 1873; Thomas II., born De- cember 4, 1875; Nora V., born May 12, 1878, and Marion E., born June 1, 1881.

ILLIAM F. SHOTTS, D. D. S., is a son of Elias and Catherine B. (Eisa- man) Shotts, and was born in Hemp- field township, Westmoreland county, Pa., Jan- uary 8, 1861. Elias Shotts was a native of this county and for many years resided in Hemp- field township, not far from Greensburg. Ile belonged to the Lutheran church. He died in 1867 at the age of thirty-four years. His widow survives him and now resides at Greensburg; she, too, is a native of Westmoreland county.

Dr. W. F. Shotts was born on a farm and at ten years of age left rural scenes to enjoy village life at Adamsburg, to which place his mother moved. After a public school education had been received he entered the State Normal school at Indiana, Pa., where he remained two years, from 1877 to 1879. He then took a course in Iron City Commercial college at Pitts- burg, and for the next five years we find him engaged in farming and clerking in this county. In May, 1885, he began the study of dentistry with Dr. George Culbertson, of Greensburg, Pa., and in February, 1887, he graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery at Philadelphia. In the following May he located at Scottdale, where he has succeeded in building

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up a large and lucrative practice. Ile is a skill- ful practitioner and his work is satisfactory in every respect. Dr. Shotts is regarded as one of the best dental surgeons of the county. Ile is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Inde- pendent Order of Heptasophs; belongs to the Lutheran church and is yet enjoying " single blessedness." He is energetic, upright and reliable and is on a fair way to fame and for- tune.

OBERT SKEMP, although a son of England, yet so intimately has he iden- tified himself with the development of Westmoreland county, that she claims him by right of adoption. He was born at Bilston, South Staffordshire, England, January 3, 1858, and is the son of Robert Skemp who was a dry- goods merchant of that place.

Robert Skemp was reared at Bilston where he received a good business education and was trained at an early age to commercial pur- suits. His first employment was as a clerk in his father's store. From behind the counter he passed at the age of twenty to a clerkship in the Regent iron works and subsequently became cashier and assistant manager of that establish- ment. In April, 1887, he emigrated from Eng- gland to Pennsylvania and was immediately em- played by W. H. Everson & Co., as assistant superintendent of the Scottdale iron works, but had not fully entered on the duties of that posi- tion when the business of the firm was brought to a close. When their successors, the Scottdale iron and steel company, came into possession of the works, they felt the need of Mr. Skemp's practical experience and business ability and his services were secured. He was made assistant superintendent in October, 1887, and six months later was placed in charge of their entire works as general superintendent. These iron works are one of the most important industries of Westmore- land county. The business of the firm extends to every part of the United States and is in a highly

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 32

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