USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 66
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dwelling was burned December 9, 1885. In the following year he erected his present fine store- room and dwelling. His store has been bur- glarized three times within the last ten years. From 1857 to 1882 he was ticket and freight agent at St. Clair station, Penna. railroad house, and in 1880 the station was burned. HIe lost considerable by that fire.
On April 18, 1858, he united in marriage with Elizabeth Burd, daughter of Simeon Burd of Derry township. They have had seven child- ren, of whom five are living : Clara Belle, born April 26, 1860 ; Frances IIarriet, born October 13, 1865; Alex. Sherden, born February 3, 1868 ; John Cameron, born July 3, 1873 ; and Jacob Simeon, born July 3, 1876. On July 3, 1884, Clara Belle Smith married John Snell of St. Clair and they have three children : Lancelot Herbert, born May 17, 1885; Cecil Ethelbert, born April 8, 1887 and Harriet Belle, born October 21, 1889.
Jacob II. Smith is a republican in politics and has always met with good success in his various business enterprises.
ILLIAM SMITHI, SR., an honorable and respected citizen of the county and the oldest man in Unity township, is a son of John and Catharine (Shockey) Smith and was born on the farm on which he now re- sides in Unity township, Westmoreland county. Pa., February 12, 1800. His grandfather, Philip Smith, was of German descent and came in 1770 from eastern Pennsylvania to Unity township. He was a farmer and cooper and married Mary Armel of this county. One of their sons was John Smith (father of Win. Smith), who was born in 1772 and died in 1807 when only thirty-five years of age. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and married Catha- rine Shockey who was born in 1769 and lived to be fifty-two years of age. They had seven chil- dren, of whom six grew up to be men and women.
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William Smith, Sr., received his education in the rural schools. At eleven years of age he entered the store of his uncle, Jacob F. Smith, as a clerk and remained with him two years. In 1813 he went to clerk in the register's office at Greensburg, remaining there six weeks, then clerked in Pleasant Unity in 1814 and 1815 ; in the year 1816 clerked in Donegal, in the year 1817 and 1818 in Youngstown, in 1819 engaged in farming which he has followed ever since. He owns over two hundred acres of land in his farm which is two and one-half miles from Beatty station. He has been an extensive far- mer and stock-raiser. Mr. Smith is a republican and has been a member of Unity Presbyterian church for over sixty years.
He was married on the 5th of September, 1822, to Elizabeth Rings, daughter of Michael Rings, of Unity township. They reared a family of thirteen children, of whom seven are living : Rev. George B., who is a very successful Pres- byterian minister in Iowa and served three years as a soldier in the 53d reg. Pa. Vols., under Meade and Grant; William T., born in 1830, married Maria Wilson of Illinois, March 2, 1862, traveled over a large portion of the United States, visited England and France and is one of the scientific and progressive farmers of the county, whose library is well filled with standard works of literature, science and agriculture and whose farm is equipped with the latest and most improved farming machinery, and has in its rich pastures some of the finest stock to be found in the county ; Noah, who is engaged in farming ; Catharine, wife of John Roadman of Illinois; Susan, widow of William Gardiner and resides . in West Latrobe ; Mary, at home, and Sarah, who is married to David D. Miller, a farmer of Mt. Pleasant township. One of his sons who died was Ezra, who was a soldier in the 53d Pa. reg. Ile received wounds at the battle of White Oaks from which he afterwards died in the hos- pital at Baltimore and his body was brought home by his father and buried in Unity cemetery.
For a man of ninety years of age Mr. Smith is remarkably well preserved in body and mind. He is active on his feet and has a good memory of everything of importance that has occurred in the county for three-quarters of a century. Ile remembers Greensburg when it had but few houses and only one church, which was a log building. He has witnessed the birth and growth of nearly all the great American industries of the age and all of the wonderful modes of modern travel and astonishing methods of heating and lighting buildings by natural gas and electricity. Within the period of his life have occurred three great wars of the American Republic, and he has memory of twenty-one of the twenty-three chief executives of the land and has voted at seven- teen presidential elections.
OBERT M. SMITH, of Unity township, is one of the young, energetic and suc- cessful traveling salesmen of western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern Mary- land. He is a son of Nathan W. and Annie F. (Martin) Smith, and was born on the farm on which he resides in Unity township, Westmore- land county, Pa., May 21, 1862. His grand- father (Edward Smith) was born in Dublin, Ire- land, and immigrated during the last quarter of the eighteenth century to America. He soon came to Westmoreland county where he loca- ted one-half mile southwest of the site of Latrobe in Unity township, on the farm which was inherited by his son, Nathan W. Smith, and is now owned by the subject of this sketch. He was an industrious farmer and died in 1847 aged seventy-three years. His . son, Nathan W. Smith, was born and reared on the home farm which he tilled until his death, January 3, 1890, when he was in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He was a successful farmer, an honest man, an obliging neighbor, a true friend and an affection- ate father. Ile married Annie F. Martin and
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reared a respectable family of sons and daugh- ters. Mrs. Anna F. Smith was a member of the Presbyterian church and died in 1883, aged 48 years.
Robert M. Smith was reared on the farm which he owns and which has been in his family for over a hundred years. He received his edu- cation in the common schools, and since he was twenty-one years of age has been chiefly en- gaged in traveling for some of the leading im- plement houses of Pittsburg, and he manages his farm which he makes his home and upon which he spends his time when not on the road. He is an active but conservative republican and for the last year has served as tax collector of his township. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Jr. Order of American Mechanics and Patrons of Husbandry. He is well informed upon agricultural subjects as well as practically acquainted with everything in the line of labor- saving farm machinery. Mr. Smith is a mem- ber of Unity Presbyterian church and is well liked by all who know him.
In November, 1886, he married Mary S. Chambers, daughter of Jesse Chambers, of Unity township, who is a descendant of one of the oldest and thrifty families of the county. They are the parents of two children : Elizabeth J. and Robert M.
EWIS T. SMITHI, M. D., an energetic and successful physician of Pleasant Unity, a prominent member of several leading secret and beneficial societies and presi- dent of the " Westmoreland Agricultural and Industrial Association," is a son of William and Sarah (Trauger) Smith and was born in Unity township, Westmoreland county, Pa., Septem- ber 11, 1846. His family came into the county at an early day and among his ancestors who resided in Unity township was his grandfather, Henry Smith, who was a farmer and died in
1872. He was a farmer, a democrat, a member of the Reformed church and reared a very respectable family of children. William Smith (father) was one of the most prosperous farmers of his day and in methods of farming he far exceeded any of his neighbors. He was a strong democrat, a Lutheran in religious belief, an active Sunday-school superintendent and died in August, 1877, when in the fifty-eighth year of his age. He was a man who had many friends and but few enemies. He married Sarah Trauger, who was born in 1829 and is a mem- ber of the Lutheran church. Dr. Lewis T. Smith was reared on a farm and received his education in Sewickley academy and Muhlen- berg college. He was principal of Sewickley academy for two terms and taught school for twelve years. He migrated westward and spent three years on the Pacific coast. Ile commenced reading medicine in 1869 while in California and attended lectures at Jefferson college, Philadelphia, from which institution he graduated in the class of 1876. Immediately after graduation he located at Youngstown where he practiced for one year. He then came to Pleasant Unity and has continued to practice successfully at that place until the present time.
In 1874 he married Hattie Speer, of Phila- delphia, who was born in Prussia and is a daughter of the late Alexander F. Speer, who was a native of England. Dr. and Mrs. Smith have five children, two sons and three daughters : Stella M., Martha K., Sarah O., George W. and Charles T.
Dr. L. T. Smith is a democrat in politics. HIe is a member of the Chosen Friends, Knights of Pythias, Patriotic Sons of America, and is master of the county grange of Patrons of Husbandry and a department commander and State officer in the G. A. F. Ile is a member and elder of the Evangelical Lutheran church and stands high in his community as a physician and a citizen.
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HIRISTIAN HI. SMITHI, a successful machinist of Mt. Pleasant township, is a son of William and Sarah (Trauger) Smith and was born October 31, 1851, in Unity township, Westmoreland county, Pa. (for ancestral history see sketch of his brother, Dr. L. F. Smith and that of George Trauger). William Smith (father) was born in Unity town- ship June, 1820. He was a democrat and a prominent member of the Lutheran church in which he held the various offices of elder, deacon, trustee, Sunday-school superintendent, etc. IIc was an ardent supporter of the church and a faithful follower of her precepts. He had eleven children : L. T., a physician of Pleasant Unity ; Christian II., Martha C. (dead), Jennie, wife of George Culbertson, a dentist of Greens- burg; Susan, wife of J. C. Giffen, a jeweler of Greensburg ; Ella (dead), Rebecca and William, who both died in infancy ; Laura (dead), Kizzie and one that died in infancy.
Christian HI. Smith received a common school education and possessing the talent for a ma- chinist he turned his attention to acquiring that trade in which he is quite successful, owing to his own efforts. A natural machinist and a skilled workman, he builds wagons, pit-cars and anything in fact in that line. His business has grown to large proportions and he has been quite successful, owning at present six acres surrounding his place of business and half a dozen dwelling-houses. Mr. Smith is a demo- crat and with his wife belongs to the Lutheran church.
Christian Smith and Ada Gordon were married July 23, 1885, and their union has been blessed with one child, born August 26, 1888, and named Ella Smith.
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ILLIAM B. SNODGRASS, ex-register and recorder of Westmoreland county, was born in Derry township, two miles east of New Alexandria, January 19, 1829, and
is a son of John and Anna (Mason) Snodgrass. Ilis grandfather, William Snodgrass, was of Scotch descent and a farmer of Lancaster county, Pa. He married Ellen Beggs, a native of Ireland, by whom he had five children : John ; Mary, wife of John Tittle; Sarah, mar- ried to John Long; Elizabeth, wife of Andrew Campbell, and Margaret. William Snodgrass and family came to this county about 1800 and settled in Derry township, where Mr. Snodgrass purchased considerable land. He died about 1814, and his widow survived him thirty years. John Snodgrass (father) was born in Lancaster county, Pa., not long prior to the year 1800, and was but a babe when brought by his parents to this county, where he continued to reside until his death in November, 1878. During his life he became one of the most prominent business men in western Pennsyl- vania. "Ilis first public enterprise was the construction of two heavy sections on the Penn- sylvania canal." IIe was superintendent of the Portage railroad for six years, during which time one of his clerks was John W. Geary, who was afterwards Governor of Pennsylvania. Leav- ing the Portage road in 1843, he carried the United States mail from Chambersburg to Pitts- burg by stage-coaches until the railroad was built, and at the same time was engaged largely in farming and was proprietor of two flouring- mills on the Loyalhanna below New Alexandria. During the war he, in connection with others, took a contract to supply beef-cattle to the northern army. Not long afterward the coun- try was flooded with " greenbacks," which raised the price of cattle in the market, causing Mr. Snodgrass to lose heavily on the supplies furnished until his large fortune was almost gone. Ile took great interest in politics, and in 1850 he received the Congressional nomina- tion in the district composed of Westmoreland, Cambria and Bedford counties, but a division in the party and two other candidates on the track gave the district to the republicans.
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William B. Snodgrass was educated in the common schools, at Elder Ridge academy and also attended school at Greensburg and in Lan- caster. After leaving school he became super- intendent of construction on North branch of the Pennsylvania canal for which his father had the contract. Two years later he served in the same capacity on the New Portage railroad across the Allegheny mountains. In 1856 he went to Dubuque, Iowa, and spent some years in railroad work, after which he returned to one of his father's farms. In 1875 he was nomi- nated by the Democratic party for register and recorder, was elected in November and entered upon the duties of the office in January, 1876. Ilis term having expired, he in the spring of 1879 moved back to his farm in Derry township and since then has devoted his attention to agriculture. He is a quiet, intelligent gentle- man and takes much interest in education. IIe has served as school director for more than fifteen years.
William B. Snodgrass was married April 12, 1866, to Mary Shields, daughter of John W. Shields, then of Salem township but later of Franklin county. To their union have been born four children: Rachel May, Anna Eleanor, Lizzie Belle and John K.
ILLIAM J. SPRINGER, a skillful mechanic of Mt. Pleasant township, is a son of John P. and Mary ( Frank) Springer, and was born January 12, 1847, in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pa. His grandfather, George Springer, was a native of Germany, where he lived and died. In the fatherland he was a schoolmaster by occupation and belonged to the Reformed church. Ile married Katrina Hoff. Michael Frank, mater- nal grandfather, was also born in Germany and died there, leaving a family of seven children. John P. Springer (father) was born in Germany and immigrated after his marriage to America,
where he settled in Cambria county, Pa. After- ward he moved to Pittsburg and still later to Mt. Pleasant township, this county, where he died in 1882. Both in Germany and this country he followed school teaching and in this county he owned a large farm. Until the time of Buchanan's administration he was a demo- crat but after that he affiliated with the repub- licans. Mary Frank (mother) was born in Germany in 1816, married at the age of twenty-five, and had ten children, five sons and five daughters, all of whom are living except one daughter.
William J. Springer was married July 2, 1869, to Mary Jane Overly, a daughter of John A. Overly, of Mt. Pleasant township, by whom he has three children : Clara Bertha, a teacher in the Mt. Pleasant township schools ; Anna, who completed her common school education in Mt. Pleasant township in 1889, and Emma.
Mr. Springer received his education in the common schools, after which he worked on his father's farm until thirty-eight years of age, since which time he has worked at the carpenter trade. Ile owns a good home and is a first-class citizen. In polities he is a republican and is a strong worker in his party. Ile belongs to the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America, to the Jr. O. U. A. M., and to the Knights of Pythias.
OHIN STEEL (deceased). The late John Steel of Unity township was one who ac- quired a respectable competency and pos- sessed many friends wherever he was known. He was born in Salem township, Westmoreland county, Pa., August 3, 1822, and was a son of John and Martha (Walker) Steel. His grand- father, James Steel, was a native of Ireland. He had two brothers, John and William. James Steel was born in 1741 and settled in Se- wickley township, this county, in 1772. He was married twice, and by his second wife, who was a Miss Donaldson, he had three children :
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James, John and William. John Steel, Sr. was born in Westmoreland county in 1789, and died in Salem township near Hannastown, May 22, 1860, aged seventy-one years. He owned a good farm which he carefully tilled and on which he reared a respectable family. Ile was a member of the United Presbyterian church, and on May 16, 1813, married Martha Walker of near Steubenville, O., by whom he had nine children : Sarah, wife of Henry Byers ; Eliza, wife of Andrew Mechesney ; James, Joseph W., John, Margaret, wife of James Steel ; Mary J. married II. T. Hanna ; Martha, wife of Major D. Mechling; and William.
John Steel was reared on his father's farm and received a fair education in the subscription schools of his neighborhood. He was a stirring and hard-working man and a prosperous farmer. After farming for some years in Salem township he removed to Unity township, where he pur- chased the farm now occupied by his widow and children. This farm is on the Greensburg pike, two miles from Latrobe, contains one hundred and seventy-two acres of land and was carefully cultivated by Mr. Steel during his lifetime.
On December 22, 1846, he united in marriage with Susan Geiger. To their union were born twelve children, six sons and six daughters : Alice, Harriet, Martha, Florence, Sarah, Wil- liam, John, Keziah, Joseph, James, George and Clarence. Mrs. Susan Steel is a member of the United Presbyterian church and has managed the farm very successfully since her husband's death. She is a daughter of George Geiger of Unity township, who married Mary Eckles and reared a family of nine children : Mary Ann, James, Eliza, Harriett, Keziah, George, Joseph, Sarah and Susan.
John Steele was a republican in politics, a ruling elder in Latrobe United Presbyterian church and took great interest in everything pertaining to farming. He was a kind husband, father and friend, esteemed by his neighbors and loved by his family. He died June 15, 1868,
when in the forty-fourth year of his age. Ilis dust rests in peace in Unity cemetery, while his memory is cherished by the many friends which he left behind him.
BRAHAM M. STOUFFER, a promi- nent farmer of Mt. Pleasant township was born there, near Mt. Pleasant borough, April 3, 1835, and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Miller) Stouffer. Jacob Stouffer was born in Mt. Pleasant township, this county, about 1787 and died there about 1837. By oc- cupation he was a farmer and a distiller and in political matters a whig. He was twice mar- ried, first to an Evans, by whom he had five children : Henry, living at Adamsburg ; John (dead) ; Jacob (dead) ; William, a farmer of Il- linois, and Mary (dead). His second wife was Mary Miller, who bore him three children : Abraham M., Catharine (dead), and one that died in infancy. The father of Mary Miller lived and died in Bedford county, Pa.
Abraham M. Stouffer was married September 16, 1858, to Anna Mary Lobingier, a daughter of John C. Lobingier of Mt. Pleasant township, and to them have been born six children : John L., who is married to Malinda Lauffer, a daugh- ter of Henry Lauffer of Mt. Pleasant township, and resides on a farm near Hecla; Elizabeth, who died in youth ; Emma J., wife of Harry L. McGiffin of Mt Pleasant township ; Margaret A., wife of John McGiffin who resides at Scott- dale; Edward J. (dead), and Alice S.
Abraham M. Stouffer was educated in the common schools of Westmoreland county, where he afterwards engaged in the profession of teach- ing which he followed for six years, teaching four terms at the same place. Leaving the school room he engaged in agricultural pursuits and has continued at the same ever since, now owning three farms of good, well-improved land. He is a democrat and together with his wife be- longs to the Lutheran church. He stands well
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in the community and is a gentleman of more than ordinary intelligence, whose views are lib- eral, broad and clear and whose character is above reproach.
S AMUEL STROHIM, one of the substan- tial and reliable farmers of Mt. Pleasant township, was born in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pa., November 5, 1831, and is a son of Christian and Elizabeth (Wertz) Strohm. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Strohm, immigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania where he settled in Lancaster county, but soon removed to East Huntingdon township. He followed farming for a livelihood, was a member of the Mennonite church and al- ways voted the whig ticket. His maternal grand- father, John Wertz, was born in Huntingdon county, this State, and came in early life to East Huntingdon township where he followed farming for over half a century. His farm, now known as the Wertz farm, is still in the hands of his de- scendants. He was a whig and Mennonite. HIe married a Miss Hoover who bore him six sons and four daughters. Christian Strohm (father) was born in Lancaster county in 1791 and died De- cember 9, 1867. Ile owned a farm of over three hundred acres in East Huntingdon town- ship which he was engaged in cultivating for many years prior to his death. He was a whig in politics and a member of the Mennonite church. He married Elizabeth Wertz and reared a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters.
Samuel Strohm attended the common schools of his native township. Leaving school he en- gaged in farming which he pursued for years in East Huntingdon township and then removed to Mt. Pleasant township where he purchased his present farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres of land. In additon to farming he takes considerable interest in raising fine stock. He is a republican upon national issues but acts in-
dependently when it comes to local politics. For township officers he always votes for the man whom he thinks best fitted for the position.
On July 31, 1872, he united in marriage with Annie Pletcher of Somerset county, this State. Mr. and Mrs. Strohm have been the parents of four children : Lizzie, Abraham B., Mary (dead), and Elma.
In religion Mr. Strohm is a German Baptist and he and his wife are members of the Mt. Joy church of that religious denomination.
USTIN T. TARR, a grandson of Gasper Tarr and an industrious business man of Mt. Pleasant township, was born in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1861, and is a son of John T. and Rose (Bashium) Tarr. The Tarr family is one of the old and well-known families of southern Westmoreland county. Gasper Tarr (paternal grandfather) was a native and farmer of East Huntingdon township, where he owned a large body of land which included the site of Tarr's station. He was a very wealthy man, a republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife was Annie Taylor, by whom he had eight children. Nicholas Bashium, maternal grandfather, is a native of France. He resides at Bethany, this county, where he is engaged in stock-dealing. He is a republican and married Sarah Tarr by whom he had six children. John T. Tarr, was born about 1836 in East Huntingdon township and is now a resident of Bullskin township, Fayette county, Pa., where he owns a farm of one hundred and seventeen acres of land. He is a republican in politics and served in the late war as a member of company K, 211th reg., Pa. Vols. He enlisted in 1863, participated in sev- eral battles and was discharged at the close of the war. He married Rose Bashium, who died in 1864 and left two children : Joseph, a butcher
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at Greensburg, and Austin T. His second wife was Mary M. Hodgkins who has borne him three children : Paoli, Bertha J. and Laura.
Austin T. Tarr was reared in East Hunting- don township where he attended the common schools until he went to learn the trade of stone- mason and bricklayer. After working for nine years at his trade he engaged, October, 1889, in his present butchering business in Mt. Pleasant township where he owns three acres of ground and a good house and stable in connection with his butchering establishment. He is a republi- can and has served as inspector of election in his voting precinct. He is a member of Moss Rose Lodge, No. 350, I. O. O. F. and No. 210, Sons of Veterans at Mt. Pleasant. He resides in Mt. Pleasant township. He and his wife are members of the M. E. church.
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