Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 49

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 49

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S. Il. Weaver was educated in the Third Ward school of Allegheny City and the Western University of Pennsylvania. Some time after completing the scientific course at the university he became (1876) general manager for A. J. Pentacost of Pittsburg, who was engaged ex- tensively in the real estate business. In 1878 he was engaged to fill a vacancy as invoice clerk for the Union Malleable Iron Works, but in three months was made bookkeeper which posi- tion he held until 1884, when he became gen- eral manager for Slack & Shoals, who were engaged in the steamboat building and planing mill business. In 1888 he came to Westmore- land county and on September 1 of that year be became a member and general manager of the Jeannette Planing Mill Company. Their business has met with well-deserved success under the efficient management of Mr. Weaver. The box shop of the works employs forty men and turns out one thousand boxes per week. The lumber and carpentering departments now employ one hundred men and use ten cars of lumber per week. The output of the planing- mill will be doubled when the glass-works put in their new tanks. The sawdust is shipped to Pittsburg.

In 1881 he married Bella Shoals, daughter of

James A. Shoals, who is a member of the firm of Slack & Shoals. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have two children-James A. and Clara.

S. Il. Weaver is a republican but gives little attention to politics and devotes his time prin- cipally to his extensive and rapidly increasing business. Ile is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Jr. O. U. A. M. and A. Y. M. In the last named order he has passed through chapter and commandery and is a thirty-second degree Mason. The Jeannette Planing Mill Company has been largely instru- mental in promoting the material interests of that place, which is " queen of the glass cities of the world." A full force of experienced workmen are employed, and under Mr. Weaver's personal supervision is produced the superior work for which the mill is noted. He is a man of business ability and successful experience. He is full of energy and push and is one of the busiest men at Jeannette to-day.

EORGE WURZEL, an enterprising citi- zen of Jeannette, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., South Side, December 4, 1854, and is a son of Henry and Apollonia Wurzel. His grandfather Wurzel was a native of Germany, a prominent man in his community and a burgo- master in his native town. Henry Wurzel (father) was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and immigrated to the United States about 1834, locating at Pittsburg. Ile was a shoemaker until a few years prior to his death, when he became a taxidermist. Politically he was a democrat and his chosen religious denomination was the Catholic church, of which he was a de- voted member. Ile died in 1888.

George Wurzel is the second of seven children and was educated in the public schools of the Twenty-ninth Ward, Pittsburg, and in Schaeffer's Business college. For seven years he worked in King's glass works and then went to the nut works of Oliver Bros. & Phillips, remaining

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there sixteen years; then took charge of a grocery store for Mr. Diebold and has been in that business ever since. Dichold & Wurzel created on Main street the first business house of any kind in Jeannette, and through the affa- bility of Mr. Wurzel the firm has built up one of the largest trades in the county. Under the Cleveland administration George Wurzel was postmaster at Jeannette, receiving the appoint- ment November 12, 1888. In 1889 he was sent to the democratic State convention by an almost unanimous vote and in the recent cam-

paign was exceedingly active in the interests of his party, as in fact he always is.

George Wurzel was united in marriage with Helen, a daughter of John Tragesser, one of the pioneers of the South Side, Pittsburg, by whom he has two children : Clara, aged eleven, and Leo, aged five years. Mr. Wurzel is a pleasant and extremely active business man, faithful to his friends and courteous and obliging to all. He will in the near future open a branch store at Grapeville which will no doubt be as successful and popular as the Jeannette store.

Irwin North Huntingdon

OHN O. BLACKBURN. Among the most important branches of commercial business is that of general merchandise, and this essential industry has an experienced and able representative at Larimer in John O. Black- burn, who is one of the most successful and prominent business men of that place. He is a son of William and Susan (Kee) Blackburn and was born in the city of Pittsburg September 22. 1853. His parents are natives of the north of Ireland, who immigrated to the United States in 1845 and were residents of Philadelphia for several years They next removed to Pittsburg, where they lived for over thirty years and were engaged in the dairy business. In 1872 they removed to a farin in Pem township, this county, which Mr. Blackburn bought. He is a' republican in politics and has now retired from business. His wife is active for her years and is a consistent member of the United Presby- terian church.

John O. Blackburn received his education in theexcellent public schools of Pittsburg. Leaving school, he entered Duff's Commercial Business college and took the thorough course of that well-known institution. In 1877 went west, spent four years in California, returning in 1881 he formed a partnership with his brother, James C., and they engaged in the grocery business at Larimer under the firm name of J. C. Blackburn & Brother. After five years John O. Blackburn bought out his brother's interest and included the grocery in a general

mercantile store, which he then established and has continued to conduct it till the present time.

He was united in marriage in December, 1889, with Daisy Daum, daughter of Simon Daum, of Stewart's station.

In politice Mr. Blackburn is a republican. Ilis large mercantile establishment is conducted on correct business principles and in conse- quence has met with popular favor and com- mands a patronage that is most desirable as well as extensive. Ile is a man of good taste and judgment, and has a choice and well-selected stock of general merchandise which fills up all the available space of his large store and ample warerooms. He is an energetic and active busi- ness man, thoroughly understands merchandising in all of its details and generally succeeds in whatever he undertakes. Mr. Blackburn's political preference is for the Republican party, which he always supports with his ballot and his influence.

EORGE BROWN (deceased). The late George Brown was a highly respected citizen and a popular merchant of Irwin. He was born in Northumberland county, Eng- land, March 20, 1851, and was a son of Thomas and Mary (Whitehead) Brown, who are still living in their native county in England.

George Brown was reared and educated in Northumberland county, England. In 1881 he immigrated to the United States, where he loca-

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ted at Connellsville, Fayette county, Pa., and remained two years. In 1883 he came to Irwin i and engaged in mining, but finding that his health would not allow that kind of work he en- gaged in the general toy and music business. Once started in this, his last vocation, he rose rapidly in means and the confidence of all until his store could not be equalled in any town of the size of Irwin. He was a member of the Sons of St. George and the Presbyterian church, with which he united in England. While yet a comparatively young man he was stricken down by the hand of death and in October, 1888, passed to his eternal home.

George Brown was married April 21, 1878, to Jane Dryden, who was a daughter of George Dryden, and a native and resident of Northum- berland county, England. They had one child, George W. After Mr. Brown's death his widow, who is a woman of uncommon business ability, continued the store and has increased the stock and the trade. By her husband's death Mrs. Brown was left with a small child in a strange land, but instead of going back to her people and friends in England, as ninety-nine out of a hundred women would have done had they been placed in her situation, she resolved to make her own way in life. She took charge of the store, surprised every one by the success she achieved, and now displays a very large and excellently-selected stock of goods. Mrs. Brown is a thorough and capable business woman whose large trade has been gained by close attention to the wants of her patrons as well as by business ability.

George Brown had gained many friends at Irwin. Those who were well acquainted with him in his daily walks in life paid many warm tributes to his memory. The Irwin Standard in its issue of October 9, 1888, says : " The un- looked-for death on Friday evening of our es- teemed and valuable friend, George Brown, caused many expressions of grief from our citi- zens. Ile was a useful, influential and highly

respected man. His remains were interred in the Union cemetery, where a large concourse of people that followed him to his last resting place -spoke better of his earthly good qualities than we can. He was a genial, thorough-going, honest, zealous and influential citizen. The whole community feels that it has lost a man of sterling worth."

ILLIAM HI. CARROLL, the popular foreman of the south side mines at Irwin, is one of the many sons of the Emerald Isle who honored the land of his adop- tion, not forgetting that of his birth. He is a son of William and Maggie ( Hamilton) Carroll, and was born in county Kerry, Ireland, on the 24th day of June, 1841. In 1867 his father came to Greensburg from Ireland where he re- sided until his death, which occurred in 1873. Ile was eighty years old at his death. He mar- ried Maggie Hamilton, a member of the cele- brated Hamilton family, to which Alexander Hamilton belonged. They all protested against the Catholic religion.

William II. Carroll, the subject of this sketch, was reared on a farm, educated in the national schools of Ireland and received a classical educa- tion at Bally Donohoe school from Daniel Col- lins. In 1866 he shipped from London on a merchantship to visit Africa and sailed along all its coasts where he remained a short time, then went to the Ivory coast and finally to Cape Coast Castle where he remained until 1868. In the latter part of that year he came to Greensburg and was engaged as clerk in the grain depot of Donohoe & Kuhns. In 1873 he embarked in the mining business and has since held the position of mine foreman in the employ of the Westmoreland Coal Company.

On June 24 he married Rosanna Murphy, who is a native of Camanbane, county Derry, Ireland, and their union was blessed with two children : William M., who died November 28, 1887, and Mary E., a charming young lady.

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W. H. Carroll is a member of the Catholic church and a splendid example of a self-made man. His domestic life is singularly happy and he may always be found at home when re- leased from business cares at the family fireside. He is a genial companion but never intrudes himself upon those around him. He holds his old time friendships singularly sacred. He has a bright future before him.

ILLIAM F. CARUTHERS, who has been especially identified with the de- velopment of the coal industry in the vicinity of Irwin, was born in Chester county, Pa., November 5, 1814, and is a son of Isaac and Sarah (Davis) Caruthers. Isaac Caruthers, a native of Montgomery county, was born about the beginning of the Revolutionary war, in which two of his uncles served throughout the entire contest, one of them being under the command of Gen. Wayne, familiarly known as " Mad Anthony." About the beginning of the present century Isaac Caruthers moved to Ohio where he purchased and lived on a farm which is now the site of part of West Zanesville. Ile was twice married, his second wife being Sarah Hindman, of Westmoreland county, who died but a few years ago. Jason D., who is a resident of Lan- caster county, and William F. are the only chil- dren that survive their father, who departed this life in 185%.

William F. Caruthers was educated in the subscription or pay schools that existed in the days of Andrew Jackson, and worked on the farm until he attained the age of twenty-five when he abandoned agricultural pursuits and tried railroading a few years. This not suiting his tastes he entered the arena of trade and en- gaged in the mercantile business. In 1853 he came to Irwin for the purpose of developing the coal mines in the surrounding neighborhood and was superintendent of the company, operating the works until 1856 when the Westmoreland

Coal Company bought them. Mr. Caruthers was superintendent of this company from the time it purchased the works till 1872 when he concluded to resign. The company, however, were loth to part with his valuable services and elected him paymaster and superintendent of farms and buildings, which position he held for five years and then on account of declining years resigned with the intention of retiring from business cares and anxieties. Shortly after this, however, he was prevailed upon to take charge of the "winding up" of the affairs of the Youghiogheny Coal-Hollow Coal Company, and in three years succeeded .in closing up its affairs to good advantage. Since that time (1880) he has been leading a retired life, attending only to the affairs of his farms.

In 1843 Mr. Caruthers married Martha Atlee Spear, of Columbia, Lancaster county, who died in 1876, leaving one son, Charles H., who resides in Huntingdon county, Pa. In 1879 he remar- ried, his second wife being Catherine A. Kenney, of this county, who has borne him four children : William F., born January 22, 1881; Carroll, born August 17, 1882; John Little, born July 9, 1886, and Bayard, born June 2, 1889.

While living in Columbia, Lancaster county, William F. Caruthers was elected justice of the peace ; he was appointed postmaster at Irwin in 1855 by President Pierce and served till 1860, being the second of Irwin's postmasters. Mr. Caruthers has an elegant and well-furnished home, owns large and valuable tracts of land and is a stock-holder in the Westmoreland Coal Com. pany. He is an exceedingly pleasant and social gentleman and possesses business abilities of so high an order that so prominent a corporation as the Westmoreland Coal Company was very re- luctant to accept his resignation after twenty-one years of service. In politics Mr. Caruthers is a Jacksonian democrat. He voted twice against William Henry Harrison, once when he was suc- cessful and once when he was defeated by Martin Van Buren. Mr. Caruthers also voted once

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against the grandson of "Tippecanoe," and judging from his present health and vigor he will live to cast his ballot for several presidents yet to come.

ICHAEL CLONESSY, one of the en- ergetic and successful business men of Irwin and who has been pre-emi- nently the architect of his own fortune. was born in county Clare, Ireland, August 20, 1814, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (McCallen) Clohessy. Thomas Clohessy was descended from the old and well-known Clohessy family which was scattered throughout the counties composing the province of Munster. He was born in County Clare in 1807. His occupation was farm- ing and his acres were always well tilled. Hle was steady and industrious and was a consistent member of the Catholic church. He married Mary McCallen who was a native of county Clare and a member of the Catholic church. After his death she remained in Ireland for eleven years, then immigrated to this county and settled in North Huntingdon township. She died at Irwin in 1876, aged fifty-eight years and her remains were buried in the Catholic ceme- tery at Greensburg.

Michael Clohessy was reared in Ireland where he attended the excellent schools of that country until he was sixteen years age when he accompanied his mother to the United States. He located at Irwin where he has resided ever since. He began the struggle of life for him- self by engaging as a water-boy at the Standard stone quarry where he received fifty cents per day for his work. He soon left the quarry to become a miner in the employ of the Westmore- land Coal Company. In a few years he had saved a small sum of money which he invested in merchandise and opened a store at Painters- ville in 1870. He met with fair success but only remained three years when he sold his store and made arrangements to engage in the hotel business. Hle purchased his present hotel pro-

perty at Irwin in 1873. After thoroughly re- fitting, repairing and remodeling the house ho opened it as a hotel which he has successfully conducted ever since. In the spring of 1884 he purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty-one acres of well-improved land on the pike, one mile east of Irwin. This farm is heavily under- laid with coal and in 1889 he added seventy- seven acres of adjoining land to his first purchase and now has a valuable tract of two-hundred and twenty-eight acres besides other property which he owns in the borough. Ile is a member of the Catholic church, active worker in the Demo- cratic party and has frequently served as a cen- tral committeeman and as a return judge of the primary elections.

Hle united in marriage 1869 with Alice Chambers, daughter of the late Patrick Cham- bers. To their union have been born six chil- dren, four sons and two daughters: Thomas, Michael, Jr., John, William, Catherine and Mary. Mrs. Clolessy was born in Ireland and came to this country with her father when she was young.

Besides the supervision of his hotel and the management of his well-stocked farm, Mr. Clohessy is interested in several enterprises calculated to benefit and improve his borough. One of these is the Irwin Gas and Water Com- pany of which he is a stock-holder. He has been closely identified with the growth and prosperity of Irwin since becoming one of its citizens. Within the last year he has enlarged the field of his business operations and has in process of erection on his farm a brick factory. This es- tablishment when completed will cost $10,000 and will furnish work for a large number of hands, besides adding to the prosperity of Irwin and the county.

EORGE W. FINK, one of the successful young business men of Irwin and a mem- ber of the drug firm of Sowash & Fink, is a son of Daniel B. and Susan ( Kemerer) Fink,

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and was born in Penn township, Westmoreland county, Pa., October 30, 1864. Among the oldest resident families of Penn township are the Finks. The subject's great-grandfather, Michael Fink, was born in the above-mentioned township, where he followed farming and died at the age of eighty-four years. One of his sons was Jacob Fink (grandfather). He was a farmer, a faith- ful member of the Lutheran church and lived to be seventy-six years of age. He had five children : Samuel, who lived to be twenty-two years of age and died of fever on the day on which he was to have been married; Lucy. who died of fever at twenty-one years of age ; Daniel B. (dead) ; Jacob, a farmer, who had ten chil- dren, of whom five are living, and Michael, like- wise a farmer, who had ten children, of whom six are dead. Daniel Fink, father, was born in 1841, and like his father and grandfather before him was a farmer. He was an earnest Lutheran and died of fever in 1865 when just entering into active life. His widow afterwards married John Holtzer, and lives at Manor station. She is a daughter of Jacob Kemerer, a farmer of Penn township, who died in the eighty-second year of his age.

George W. Fink was reared on a farm and attended the common schools of his native town- ship until he was sixteen years of age. He then entered Greensburg seminary where he re- mained for two years. Leaving the seminary he taught a district school in Penn township for one winter term of live months. In 1883 he became a clerk in the drug store of George Sowash at Irwin. After fifteen months of ex- perience as a clerk he entered into partnership with Mr. Sowash in the drug business. Their drug establishment is located on Main street at Irwin, and they do business under the firm name of Sowash & Fink. They have one of the largest drug houses in the western part of the county, and command a trade that extends far beyond the limits of Irwin and North Hunting. don township. Mr. Fink is a democrat and a !

member of the Presbyterian church. IIe is a member of Irwin Council, No. 794, Royal Ar- canum, Irwin Conclave, No. 175, I. O. H., and Irwin Lodge, No. 53, Order of Solons.

October 13, 1886, he married Agnes J. Bowman. They have two children : John Scott and Frances B. Mrs. Fink is a daughter of W. S. Bowman and a granddaughter of Windom Brown, who lives at North Wales, Pa., and has reached the rare age of ninety-five years. None of her paternal uneles or aunts are married. She has four brothers and three sisters : Edward, a Presbyterian minister at Ebensburg, Pa. ; Laura, Winfield, Kitty, wife of J. O. Martin ; John, Gertrude and George.

George W. Fink is one of the energetic and successful business men of Westmoreland, who preferred to remain in his own county and strive for success instead of seeking for position and wealth in western States or territories.

CON. HENRY DONNELL FOSTER. One who was prominent in political life and connnanded the undivided respect of all parties and without whose biography the his- tory of Westmoreland county would be incom- plete, was Hon. Henry Donnell Foster, a cousin of John C. Breckinridge and a relative of Stephen C. Foster, the great musical composer. Henry D. Foster was born at Mercer, Mercer county, Pa., December 19, 1808, and was a son of Samuel Blair and Elizabeth ( Donnell) Foster. He was of Scotch-English and Dutch descent. The Fosters were driven by persecution from Scotland to the north of Ireland. Of this stock was Alexander Foster, who immigrated in 1725 from the "Emerald Isle " to New Jersey. His son, Rev. William Foster, settled in Chester county where he died in 1780, aged forty-one years. He married Hannah Blair, who was a descendant of the English Lords Townley and left a family of eight children. The eldest son was Samuel Blair Foster, the father of the sub-

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ject of this sketch. Samuel Blair Foster was one of the most eminent and brilliant lawyers of his day. He married Elizabeth Donnell, daugh- ter of Judge Donnell of Northumberland county.

Henry D. Foster received his education at a college at Meadville, read law with his uncle, Alexander W. Foster of Greensburg, and was admitted to the Westmoreland county bar, Au- gust 26, 1829. He soon rose to an eminent po- sition in his profession and ranked as one of the greatest lawyers and jury pleaders of Pennsylva- nia. For nearly half a century he was engaged in the practice of his profession. He was a co- temporary with Black of Somerset, Ewing of Fayette and Gov. Johnson of his own county. They were a quartette of lawyers and jurists who honored and gave fame to the " Keystone State." From the field of his legal labors and triumphs Henry D. Foster was often called by the Democratic party and made its honored rep- resentative in the State Legislature and Na- tional Congress. He served in the congresses of 1842, 1844 and 1870 and was defeated for those of 1800 and 1868. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature during the sessions of 1857 and 1858. He was the democratic can- didate for governor in 1860 and afterwards would have been elected to the U. S. Senate but for a defection in democratie ranks. He was several times offered a nomination for a judge- ship of the supreme bench when his party was in power in Pennsylvania, which he always de- clined. In 1879 he removed to Irwin where he resided until his death, October 16,1880, when in the seventy-second year of his age.

He married Mary Jane Young, daughter of Judge John Young. They had five children, all daughters : Mary de C., Elizabeth D., 1 Frances F., Emily F .. and Hetty B.

Henry D. Foster made for himself a brilliant record while he served in Congress, and one of his logical and eloquent speeches won the un- qualified praise of John Quincy Adams. He !

was a man of great intellect, of noble impulses and unswerving honesty, admired and beloved by his friends and acquaintances and respected and honored by all who knew him. Eminent as a lawyer and jurist and distinguished as a states- man and political leader, Henry D. Foster needs no eulogy here to add to the brightness of the fame he enjoyed while living, or monody to fitly sound the regret with which all who knew him received the tidings of his death.

HARLES W. GAUT, one of Irwin's most enterprising men, was born in Se- wickley township, this county, in the year 1853, and is a son of Robert and Catherine (Goehring) Gaut. Robert Gaut was born in Mt. Pleasant township in 1802. He was raised a farmer and removed to Sewickley township where he married and bought two farms, on which he lived till his death which occurred in 1859. He married Catherine Gochring in the year 1846. This union resulted in the birth of seven children : Martha M. is the wife of George W. Byerly, of Circleville; Henrietta is married to Silas McCormick, Esq., of Irwin; Robert is unmarried and resides with his mother in Irwin. John Gaut (grandfather) was born in Ireland, immigrated to this country and settled in Mt. Pleasant township. He was the father of nine children, the two eldest being born in Ireland.

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 49

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