Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 63

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 63

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After receiving a common school education Simon F. Maxwell learned the trade of black- smith and worked successfully at blacksmithing for sixteen years, from 1866 to 1882. He was engaged in market gardening for several years. In 1887 Mr. Maxwell was elected commissioner . of Westmoreland county, in which capacity he is serving at the present time.

On March 16, 1869 he married Miss Maggie HI. Lose, daughter of Henry and Sophia (Porch) Lose of Pleasant Unity. Mr. Lose was a good blacksmith and was a son of Henry Lose, Sr., who was a fine mechanic in his day and did all the difficult work in his section.

Simon F. Maxwell sought to enter the Union service during the late civil war but was re- jected on account of being too young. Three of his brothers, William T., Josiah and David served in the Union armies. S. F. Maxwell is a strong democrat, one who stands up stoutly for his political faith and is active in work for demo- cratie success. He has been auditor, tax col- lector and assessor of his native township. The knowledge of public affairs that he acquired while serving in these different local offices has been very valuable to him since he was inducted into the office of county commissioner. He has served very acceptably as a county official and has always endeavored to promote the best in- terests of the county. He is a good business man, a desirable citizen and an influential church member. He is an efficient county official and is a deacon in the Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian church which was organized in the year of " American Independence."

EV. SAMUEL D. McCONNELL, D. D., whose mother and sister reside at New Alexandria, is a native of Salem town- ship, and is a son of David and Agnes (Guthrie) McConnell. His grandparents, David MeCon- nell and Rebecca Kirkpatrick were among the Scotch-Irish settlers who crossed the Alleghenies into Westmoreland county after the close of the Revolutionary war. Like hundreds of others they came from Ireland just before the war, stopped for one generation in Lancaster county and then joined in the new movement to the backwoods. Having arrived in Westmoreland county they took up a large tract of land lying along the Whitehorn, a branch which puts into

Det. Maywell

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Loyalhanna creek some miles below New Alex- andria. To David MeConnell were born twelve children, all of whom lived to marry. The sons were : Daniel, Thomas, David and Samuel, and of the whole family only Samuel is now living. For many years David and Thomas lived in old Congruity, but Thomas moved late in life to Missouri where he died. Samuel was one of the pioneers in California where he lived twenty years, then returned to Pennsylvania and now resides in Oil City. David McConnell lived all his life on the farm in Salem township which he inherited from his father. In his early life he was like most educated men of his time, a school teacher. A teacher of men he remained all his life and his influence for good is still felt in that community. When a young man he married Agnes Guthrie, a daughter of William Guthrie, one of the early Scotch-Irish settlers on the Beaver Run and a descendant of Captain Brownlee who was killed at the burning of Hannastown. David McConnell and his wife had ten children, seven of whom survive. Their father died in 1868 but their mother is still liv- ing. The eldest son, William, married Dorcas Reed and lives at Saltsburg. Pa., where he is an elder in the Presbyterian church and a justice of the peace. The only other son is Samuel D. McConnell, D. D., who is the rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal church, Philadelphia, Pa., and one of the leading divines of that church in the United States. The daughters are : Martha, Mary J., Margaret Kincaid (Mrs J. C. Steele), Agnes (deceased), Samantha and Lucinda (Mrs. A. H. Sligh). The MeConnell family for more than a century have been identified with the his- tory and interests of Westmoreland county and have always been characterized by strict integ- rity, good citizenship and all the qualities of a pious, God-fearing people. With its members. to know the right is to do it, let the consequence be what it may. Inhabited by such sturdy and upright citizens, it is not remarkable that this county has forged her way to the front and now

stands second to none in intellectual and moral worth.

C. MCCURDY, M. D., an intelligent and skillful physician of Livermore who has successfully practiced his profession in Allegheny, Butler and Westmoreland counties for over eight years, was born in Butler county, Pa., May 8, 1855, and is a son of Dr. R. L. and Mary E. (Redick) MeCurdy. Dr. R. C. MeCurdy is of Scotch-Irish descent. His pat- ernal grandfather, John MeCurdy, was a native of this country and was a resident of Indiana county, this State, for many years. His mater- nal grandfather, Rev. John Redick, was a pioneer Presbyterian minister who lived during the lat- ter part of his life in Armstrong county, Pa. His father, Dr. R. L. MeCurdy, was born in October, 1824, near Ebenezer, Indiana county, this State, and lives at Freeport, Pa., where he has been a resident since 1859. He is an active republican and a strict member of the Presby- terian church. He married Mary E. Redick, who was born near what is now known as Slate Lick in Armstrong county, Pa. To Dr. and Mrs. MeCurdy were born six children : Eliza- beth, wife of Capt. A. S. Warner of Creighton, Pa .; Dr. R. L., Etta, telegraph operator at Natrona, this State; Luella G .; Calvin W., who is one of the faculty of Curry University, Pittsburg : and Mary DeBure. who is a teacher in the ladies' seminary at Washington, Pa.

Dr. R. C. McCurdy was reared chiefly at Freeport where he attended the common schools. Hle then entered Witherspoon institution and took the four years course of that educational institution. Ile read medicine with his father at Freeport, entered the medical department of Wooster University, Ohio, where he remained but a short time and then went to the college of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Mary- land, from which well-known institution he was graduated March 3, 1882. In the same year he located at New Texas, Allegheny county,

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where he practiced for three years, then removed to Butler, Pa., and remained at that place for two years. In 1887 he came from Butler to Livermore, where he has been successful in building up a large and remunerative practice. Dr. MeCurdy is a stanch republican and a strong presbyterian. Ile is a member of the Iron Hall Order, and the Jr. Order of United American Mechanics at Tunnelton.

June 14, 1884, he married Maggie M. Weir, daughter of Judge A. D. Weir of Butler, Pa. The Weirs are of Scotch-Irish origin.

Dr. R. C. McCurdy is a well-read and skillful physician. Ile is a nephew of Rev. T. A. Mc- Curdy, D. D., who is a distinguished divine of the Presbyterian church and president of Mc- Alister college, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The MeCurdy family is Scotch-Irish in origin, pres- byterian in religious belief and all of its present members are republican in political opinion.

OHIN J. MCCARTHY, a resident of Unity township and an able and experienced coke- yard foreman, is a son of Henry and Mary (Moreland) McCarthy and was born at Greens- burg, Westmoreland county, Pa., December, 1, 1856.

This county has been for over half a century one of the favorite sections of Pennsylvania to which emigrants from Ireland repair. In 1842 among those who left the " Emerald Iste" to better their condition in the United States was Henry MeCarthy (father), a native of county Derry. He had landed at New York and pushed as far westward as Westmoreland county, where he located at Greensburg. He imme- diately sought for employment and became a section foreman on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. After serving in this capacity for many years he was offered and accepted the position of yard foreman at the Morgan Mines of II. C. Frick & Co. These mines are in Fayette county, Pa., and he served until his

death which occurred December 12, 1884, when he was in the forty-fifth year of his age. Ile was a democrat in his political views and a de- vont member of the Catholic church. He was married in the old Catholic church at Greens- burg to Mary Moreland, who was a native of county Tipperary, Ireland, and came to this county in 1864. She died March 13, 1886, aged forty-six years. To Henry and Mary Mc- Carthy were born several children.

John J. McCarthy was reared in Westmore- land county, received his education in the com- mon schools and at an early age was em- ployed as a section hand of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and continued as such for three years. Ile then became a yard foreman at coke works and has served in that capacity at different coke works ever since. He thoroughly understands his business, has always rendered satisfaction to his employers and been popular with the yard hands. He is a democrat who always gives a full and hearty support to his party. He is a strict member of the Catholic church and resides in Unity township.

He was married in Connellsville, Fayette county, Pa., on January 27, 1877, to Mary Quinn, daughter of James and Margaret (Boyd) Quinn, who are natives of county Roscommon, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy are the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters : Charles B., Henry and Maggie, twins, Nellie, Theresa and Clarissa, twins. Mrs. MeCarthy is a member of the Catholic church.

GEORGE W. MEGARY, an accommodat- ing, prosperous and popular merchant of Pleasant Unity and a man of twenty years' successful business experience in the city of Baltimore and in Westmoreland county, was born in Baltimore, Md., March 1, 1850, and is a son of James W. and Eliza (Myers) Megary. His grandfather, Patrick Megary, was a native

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and resident of Huntingdon county in which he followed hotel-keeping. His son, James W. Megary, went in early life to Baltimore where he became a very active and successful business man. In that city he owned and conducted two large stores, one of which was a grocery and provision and the other a wholesale shoe-store. Hle was an officer of high rank in the Jr. O. U. A. M. and served once as Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of Maryland to the Grand Lodge of Jr. O. U. A. M. of the United States. He died in Baltimore in 1863, aged 43 years. He married Eliza Myers, who was a member of the Presbyterian church and died in 1889 at sixty-eight years of age.

George W. Megary was reared in Baltimore until he was eleven years of age when he went with his parents to Mifflin county, Pa., where he remained for six years. At seventeen years of age he returned to Baltimore and learned the trade of painting which he followed until 1882. In 1879 he came to Pleasant Unity, where he has resided ever since. On April 30, 1885, he was appointed postmaster at Pleasant Unity by President Cleveland and served very creditably as such until April 1, 1889, when he resigned. In January, 1888, he purchased the store of Thomas Hanna and has continued successfully in the general mercantile business ever since. He has a large, conveniently arranged and well fitted up mercantile establishment. His stock is complete and has been carefully selected in the Eastern cities with an especial view to accommodate the needs of the trade at Pleasant Unity. Ilis goods are first-class in quality, reasonable in price and varied in assortment to suit the wants of his numerous patrons. He is a member of the Lutheran church, A. Y. M. and K. of P. In politics Mr. Megary is a democrat.

In 1877 he married Lottie Shaffer, of Frank- lin township. Their union has been blessed with four children : Bessie, Viola, Blanche and Bertha.

AMES SULLIVAN MILLER, M. D., was a resident of Derry and a physician of thirty-five years continuous and successful practice.

Ile was a son of Dr. M. L. and Hannah (Simpson) Miller and was born at Perryopolis, Indiana county, Pa., April 10, 1833. IIis paternal grandparents came from Ireland and settled in this State during the first half of the present century. His father, Dr. M. L. Miller, read medicine and engaged in active practice about 1828. He met with good success at the different points at which he located. After sixty years of continuous practice he retired from his chosen profession and is passing the evening of a well-spent life at Blairsville, Pa. Ile married Hannah Simpson and reared a family.

Dr. James S. Miller attended the common schools and in 1847 entered Elders Ridge academy, from which excellent educational insti- tution he was graduated in 1849. Hle read medicine with his father, attended lectures at Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia, and was graduated from that celebrated institution March 10, 1855. After graduation he located at New Derry, where he practiced continuously until 1881. In that year he removed to Derry station on the Pennsylvania railroad, where he remained in the active practice of his profession until his death in 1890.

In 1855 Dr. Miller united in marriage with Emily J. Spicer of Akron, Ohio. To their union were born six children: of these are Rev. Charles M., who graduated at Allegheny college, spent four years in India, where he had charge of the Seamen's llome in Calcutta and performed other missionary work under the auspices of a Board of Missions, and is now the popular and able pastor of Trinity M. E. church, Pittsburg, Pa. ; Harry M., Laura L., Noble J., who died at three years of age, and Frank W. Mrs. Miller is a daughter of Minor and Doranda Spicer, who were natives of Con-

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necticut and removed to Ohio, where the former died about 1850 and the latter passed away in 1869.

Dr. J. S. Miller was successful in his career as a physician, had a large practice and was surgeon for one division of the Pennsylvania Central railroad.

On Monday, April 7, 1890, the inhabitants of Derry were surprised and shocked to hear that Dr. James S. Miller had suddenly died that day about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. His loss was deeply felt by a wide circle of sorrow- ing friends and the surrounding community.

UGHI W. MITCHELL, one of the self- made men of Mt. Pleasant township and the proprietor of a mill on Little Sewick- ley creek, is a son of Hugh M. and Mary (Newill) Mitchell and was born in Mt. Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa., July 28, 1841. Among the many long settled families of Mt. Pleasant township is the Mitchell family. One of its descendants in the latter part of the eighteenth century was Thomas Mitchell, grand- father, who owned a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of choice land. Of his children one was Ilugh M. Mitchel, (father) who was a farmer by occupation, a democrat in politics and a presbyterian in religious belief. He served for many years as constable of Mt. Pleasant town- ship and was always prompt in the discharge of every duty of that office. He married Mary Newill, daughter of James Newill, who was a farmer and a miller. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were the parents of seven children.

Hugh W. Mitchell was reared on a farm and attended the connuon schools. Leaving school he learned the trade of miller which he has followed ever since. He owns and operates the flouring mill which was built by his grandfather Newill, on Little Sewickley creek. Hle also owns some land adjoining the mill. In politics Mr. Mitchell has always been a firm believer in

the principles and leading measures of the Republican party. He is rather active in local political matters but has never aspired to office. Ile is a steady, thorough-going business man and a reliable citizen.

HIARLES MUIILENBERG, one of the veteran survivors of the old one hundred and forty-second reg. of Pa. Vols. and a comfortably-situated farmer of Mt. Pleasant township, is a son of Henry Muhlenberg, a native of Germany and was born September 30, 1838, in Hanover, then a province of the king- dom of Prussia but now a State of the German empire. His grandfather Muhlenberg was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. Ile was a life-long resident of Prussia, where he married and had two children, Frederick and Henry, who both immigrated to the United States and settled in western Pennsylvania. Frederick Muhlenberg resides in Somerset county where he married Susan Capes and is engaged in farming.

Henry Muhlenberg, the father of the subject of this sketch, came to Somerset in 1850 but soon removed to Fayette county, this State, where he remained until his death. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and after his arrival in this country he affiliated with the Democratic party for whose nominees he always cast his ballot.

Charles Muhlenberg received his education in the excellent public schools of Prussia. He came with his father to Somerset county in 1850. Ile commenced life for himself as a common day laborer but soon removed to Fayette county, Pa., where he purchased a small farmu of twenty-eight acres which he cul- tivated for twelve years. In 1884 he disposed of his land and bought his present farm of sixty acres which is situated three miles east of Mt. Pleasant in a good farming section of country. Mr. Muhlenberg has greatly im-

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proved his farm and is successfully engaged in raising grain and stock. He is a democrat in politics and a member and deacon of the Evangelical Laitheran church. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. F., one hundred and forty-second reg. Pa. Vols., and served until the close of the war. He participated in numerous engagements and skirmishes and took part in the terrific battle of Fredericksburg. February 28, 1868, he united in marriage with Lydia Boyer, a daughter of Samuel Boyer, who is a descendant of the early settled and numerous Boyer family of Somerset county.

WEN MURPHY, one of the leading coke oven contractors of the " Connells- ville coke region," and the proprietor of the Murphy house at Youngstown, is a son of Patrick and Mary (Woods) Murphy and was born in county Monaghan, Ireland, in 1861. Ilis parents are natives of Ireland and members of the Catholic church. Ilis father, Patrick Murphy, was reared and educated in his native country where he has always remained. He is an extensive farmer and a very active and thorough-going business man. He was born in 1827 and is now in the sixty-third year of his age. Ile married Mary Woods and has several children.

Owen Murphy was reared on his father's farm and attended the pay schools of his native county, in which he received a good business education. Leaving school he learned the trade of stonemason and bricklayer. In 1881 he came to the United States and located at Broad Ford, Fayette county, Pa. He remained there for one year during which period of time he worked at his trade for the II. C. Frick Coke Company. At the end of that time he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked for eighteen months. He then returned to Peun- sylvania and located at Mount Pleasant, this county, where he resided until 1889 when he 1

removed to Youngstown and has continued to live there ever since. He is now engaged in the erection of a very large hotel which when com- pleted will be a very fine building and a great. improvement to Youngstown. It is modern in design and no expense is being spared to make it first-class in every respect. It will contain a large number of rooms besides dining and sample rooms, pantries, store room and office. It is a two-story frame and will be complete in all its equipments and arrangements.

November 6, 1885, he married Lizzie Mc- Mahon of Mount Pleasant. Their union has been blessed with two children, both daughters : Mary Edna and Annie Agnes.

Since he came to this county, Mr. Murphy has been largely engaged in contracting. Ile built 150 coke ovens at Broad Ford, 300 at Cupalo, 1000 at another point and 603 for the Hostetter Coke Company. In politics he is an aggressive democrat. In religion he is an earnest member of the Catholic church.

S® AMUEL MUSICK, a veteran soldier of the Army of the Potomac, and a prominent merchant and one of the leading business men of Lycippus, is a son of Peter and Eliza- beth (Seanor) Musick, and was born in South Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pa., December 29, 1845. The Musick family of Westmoreland county was founded by David Musick, grandfather, who was born in North- umberland county, Pa., in 1773. At thirteen years of age he came to this county where he followed farming as an occupation. He was a strict member of the Evangelical Lutheran church and stood high in the community in which he resided as an honest and upright man. Ilis son, Peter Musick, father, was born near Adamsburg, August 1, 1807, and died Decem- ber 20, 1889, at the advanced age of eighty- two years. Ile was a cooper by trade and in 1854 removed to Unity township where he pur-

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chased a farm and resided till his death. Hle wasa plain, unassuming man and a consistent member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He married Elizabeth Seanor by whom he had several children. One of their sons is Darwin Musick, the editor of the Greensburg Record and who has made that paper a power in the polities of Westmoreland county. (See his sketch in Greensburg.) Mrs Elizabeth Musick sur- vived her husband but two weeks and died in the eighty-first year of her age. She was a daughter of Philip Seanor, who was of German descent and settled in Hempfield township at an early day. He was a farmer by occupation and a Lutheran in religious belief.

Samuel Musick was reared on a farm and at- tended the common schools until he was sixteen years, of age when he enlisted in company B, one hundred and forty-second reg. Pa. Vols., and served from August, 1862, until he was was discharged at Boston, Mass., July 6, 1865. Ile participated in several engagements and at the battle of Fredericksurhg received three severe wounds-one in the face, another in the chest and a third in the right leg His wounds un- fitted him for further active service and when partly recovered he was transferred to the veteran reserve corps in which he served until the close of the war. He then returned home and in 1871 embarked in the lumber business in In- diana county, Pa., which he pursued for ten years. In April, 1885, he removed to Lycippus where he has resided ever since. In May, 1887, he engaged in his present general mercantile business. He has a good store-room and a large and first-class stock of dry goods, choice family groceries, notions, hardware, &c. He enjoys a fine trade and is popular as a merchant.

In 1868 he united in marriage with Elizabeth Brinker, daughter of Abraham Brinker, of Hempfield township. They have eight children, three sons and five daughters : Minnie M., Peter A., Ida O., Thurman C., Abraham B., Sarah C., Viola M. and Verna E.

Samuel Musiek owns considerable property in and around Lycippus. He is a democrat in polities, a member of the Evangelical church and is a representative business man of his section of the county.

OSHUA NEWILL, a well-known farmer of Mt. Pleasant township and a grandson of Robert Newill, one of the early pioneers of Westmoreland county, is a son of James and Susanna (Derby) Newill and was born in Mt. Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa., August 14, 1821. His grandfather, Robert Newill, was born in Maryland and became one of the carly pioneers of Westmoreland county. He patented two hundred and eighty acres of land in Mt. Pleasant township where he resided until his death. He was a farmer by occupa- tion and a democrat in politics. He married Polly George, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. One of these sons was James Newill (father), who was reared on his father's farm, of which he became the owner and on which he resided until his death. Politically he was of the same faith as his father before him. He married Susanna Derby, who bore him nine children, seven sons and two daughters.

James Newill was reared on a farm. IIe received a good business education and then engaged in farming and stock-raising, which business he has followed ever since. His well- improved farm of one hundred and fifty acres is a part of the original tract which was patented by his grandfather Robert Newill. Politically Joshua Newill is a republican and has served his township as school director.

He was married to Cynthia Long, a daughter of George Long, of Mt. Pleasant township. Mr. and Mrs. Newill are the parents of eleven children : Mary, born May 21, 1847, and is the wife of John Lemmon ; John, born February 6, 1849, and resides in Nebraska ; Elizabeth, born ! January 20, 1852, and is the wife of J. P.

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Springer, of Hempfield township ; Martha, born October 4, 1854; Franklin, born June 16, 1857, married Hettie Shaffer ; Susanna, born March 17, 1860 ; David N., born April 15, 1862, mar- ried Minnie Myers and is a lawyer at Greens- burg; Jackson B., born December 8, 1864, married Carrie Johnson and resides at Kecks- burg; Presley, born January 9, 1868, a student at Mt. Pleasant; Jennie, born January 16, 1870 and Harlan, born June 14, 1872.

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 63

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