Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 70

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 70

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Dixon IIuston was married in 1864 to Mar- garet, a daughter of Joseph Naugle, of Ligonier township and their union has been blessed with two children : John W., born in June, 1866, now living at Ligonier, and Joseph L., born in June, 1869, who is yet at home with his parents.

ARTIN L. KECK. The Ligonier Val- ley with its romantic and historical asso- viations, with its beautiful and pictur- esque scenery and its cool mountain streams and grand old forests, has become famous of late

years as a national summer resort. The leading hotel of this beautiful valley is the Ligonier House, kept by Martin L. Keck, who gives every possible attention to his many guests. Ho is a son of Isaac and Tabitha ( Von Huron) Keck, was born February 22, 1855. Ile is of German descent on both the paternal and maternal sides. ITis paternal grandfather, Isaac Keck, Sr., was one of the pioneer settlers of Salem township when it was a part of Bedford county. He took up a large and valuable tract of land which was afterward divided into several farms, one of which is known to-day as the old Keck homestead farm. Ile lived under a tree until he built his cabin. According to all ac- counts preserved of him by his descendants he was a very active and brave man. He fought nobly in the cause of American Independence, and in one of the sieges of the Revolutionary war leaped upon a cannon while it was still smoking from being discharged and spiked it in the very face of the cannoneers. After the close of the war he returned to his farm upon which he died about 1869. Isaac Keck (father) was born in 1818, and was reared on his father's farm in Salem township. He opened a hotel at Punxsutawney, Jefferson county, which he con- dueted successfully for many years. He died at Punxsutawney in 1882. In 1841 he married Tabitha Von Huron of Indiana county, Pa., who now resides at Punxsutawney. They had nine children, of whom five are living. Mrs. Tabitha Keck is a descendant of Sir Jans Von Huron, who married Lady Van Zant and who came from Holland to New Amsterdam and was a prominent man in the civil and military gov- ernment of that city before it was captured by the English Duke of York, who changed its name of New Amsterdam to that of New York in honor of himself. Her and her children and the Van Zant heirs are the parties who claimed a large part of New York City where Trinity church now stands, but were defeated in the contest after years of equity.

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Martin L. Keck was reared and educated in Jefferson county, is a printer by trade but a thorough hotel man, having spent the last ten years in hotels and summer resorts. He was the first man to introduce and adopt electric bells, electric light and natural gas throughout a hotel in Greensburg-the Laird House. He now has charge of the Ligonier House which is the leading hotel of that place. Is refurnishing, repainting and thoroughly overhauling the en- tire house, making it still more pleasant for his patrons.

On June 14, 1885, he united in marriage with May M. Sedgewick of Altoona, Blair county, Pa.

The Ligonier House has been refitted through- out by Mr. Keek and is specially arranged for a summer resort as well as a first-class hotel. It has good sample rooms, with a fine livery attached and a free bus running to and from all trains stopping at Ligonier.

ACOB W. KEFFER, a descendant of an old and well-known family and one of the leading merchants of Ligonier borough, was born on the old Keffer homestead, three miles north of Ligonier, Westmoreland county, Pa., March 20, 1845, and is a son of Michael and Jane (Clark) Keffer. The Keffer family has been resident in the Ligonier valley for nearly a century and many of its members have been identified with the leading industries and business enterprises of the eastern part of the county. (For history of parentage see sketch of J. C. Keffer.)

Jacob W. Keffer was reared on a farm and attended the common schools and Ligonier acad- emy. At nineteen years of age he engaged in teaching, which business he followed for five years. In 1869 he came to Ligonier and en- tered into partnership with Hon. N. M. Marker, under the firm name of Marker & Co. In 1871 he withdrew from this partnership and went to Illinois, where he taught school for seven

months. In 1872 he returned to Ligonier, bought out the mercantile firm of Harguett & McGowan and established his present store, which is one of the best in the town. His busi- ness is constantly increasing in importance.

Jacob W. Keffer was married on the 9th of October, 1872, to Emma J. McClelland, who was born in Pittsburg in 1851. Her father, Archibald McClelland, was of Irish descent. To this union have been born two sons and three daughters: Frank M., born 1875; John G., born 1879, died in 1881; Mary, born 1881, died in 1885; Edna M., 1883, and Ella L., born 1885.

In polities Mr. Keffer is a democrat. He has served as school director and is now a member of the town council. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church.

R EV. FRANKLIN KING, an industrious and useful citizen and a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church for over thirty years, is a son of John and Elizabeth (Boucher) King and was born in Middle Creek township, Somerset county, Pa., November 15, 1822. Ilis great-grandfather, Michael King, was a native of eastern Pennsylvania. He was a member of the M. E. church and a traveling minister under Bishop Asbury, the first bishop in America. John T. King (grandfather) was a native and life-long resident of Somerset county, where he owned seven farms at the time of his death. He was a farmer and tanner by occupation, a methodist in religious belief and a democrat in politics. He married Rebecca King, by whom he had ten children, of whom seven were sons. To each of these sons he gave a farm. One of them was John King (father), who was born in 1777 and died in 1850, aged seventy-three years. He owned three hundred acres of land, was a class leader in the M. E. church and always supported the Democratic party. Ilis first wife was Elizabeth Boucher,

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who bore him two children : Rev. Franklin and Harriet. His second wife was Elizabeth Phillips, by whom he had three children, Hiram, George and Sarah. Mrs. Elizabeth (Boucher) King was a daughter of Henry Boucher (ma- ternal grandfather), who was born in Lancaster and came to Somerset county, this State, where he married and reared a family of five sons and three daughters. He was a member of the Ger- man Reformed church. One son was a traveling minister.

Franklin King was reared on a farm, received a good education for his day and was engaged in farming in Somerset county until 1861, when he removed to Donegal, where he has resided ever since. Hle owns one of the finest laying farms in the county. It adjoins Donegal, is well improved and contains sixty-four acres of land almost as levelasa floor. He was married to Mary Pile, a daughter of George Pile, of Somerset county, this State. They are the parents of five children : Almira, Lucetta, wife of J. U. Ilein- iger, a merchant of Cambridge, Ohio; Rev. Leonidas, pastor of the M. E. church at Wi- nona, Ill., who married Ida Walker, and after her death married Mattie Cooper, who is now dead, and Marcellus, married to Mary Davis and engaged in farming.

Politically Rev. Franklin King is a prohibi- tionist. He served as a justice of the peace in Somerset county for nine years and has been school director of the borough for twenty years. lle is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has served faithfully and efficiently since 1858 as a local minister. le was a class leader in Somerset county for fifteen years, where he also served as a steward for twelve years.

UDWICK LENHART, a descendant of one of the pioneer families of Somerset county, Pa., and a prosperous merchant of Donegal borough, is a son of Jacob and Ro- sanna (Young) , Lenhart and was born near

Lovansville, Somerset county, Pa., November 11, 1829. Ile is of German extraction. His paternal grandfather (Henry Lenhart) was born in Berks county, Pa., and in 1785 emigrated to Somerset county where he purchased a farm. He was a methodist in religious belief, an hon- est man in his dealings and married an English woman by the name of Shopbelle who bore him eleven children. Ludwick Young, maternal grandfather, was a native of Berks county, this State, but removed to Somerset county where he followed farming till his death. He married Barbara Barrom by whom he had four sons and seven daughters. One of these daugh- ters was Rosanna Young who married Jacob Lenhart (father) who was born in Somerset county in 1804 and died there in 1886. IIe owned a good farm, was an elder in the Evan- gelical Lutharan church and was an old-line whig till the Know-nothing party started, when he joined the democrats. He served as a member of his township school board. He had three children : Ludwick, Sarah and Abraham.

Ludwick Lenhart was reared on a farm and received his education in the schools of that day. He learned the trade of carpenter at which he worked for seven years. He then engaged in coopering and farming for some time. He taught two terms of school after which he went to south- ern Illinois where he taught one term. After a few months stay in the west he returned home and purchased a farm which he cultivated until 1869 when he embarked in the mercantile busi- ness at Barkersville. In 1874 he removed from that place to Donegal where he opened his pres- ent general mercantile establishment. Ile keeps a full and well-assorted stock of goods, is always attentive to the wants of numerous customers and has a substantial and constantly increasing trade. Ile owns his store-room besides other property in the town.

Ludwick Lenhart united in marriage with Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Abraham How- ard, of Somerset county. They have five chil-

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BIOGRAPHIES OF

dren : Ellen, married to W. N. Baker, of Dixon, Illinois; William, a locomotive engineer on the Southern Pacific R. R. ; Freeman, who is a railroad contractor in the west ; Mahlon, who is one of the republican candidates for nomina- tion, and Lizzie.

In political opinion Mr. Lenhart is a republi- can and has served as judge and inspector of election and school director of his borough. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical Luth- eran church.

'ON. NOAH M. MARKER, a resident and prosperous merchant of Ligonier, an ex-member of the Ilouse of Representa- tives of Pennsylvania and a prominent and in- fluential citizen, is a son of Henry and Mary (Ambrose) Marker, and was born three miles south of the borough of Ligonier, in Ligoner township, Westmoreland county, Pa., 1826. His grandfather (Mathias Marker) was a farmer who was born and reared near Richmond, Va. He removed in early life to Maryland and a few years later came to Ligonier township where he died in 1840. His father (Henry Marker) was born in 1779 near the battlefield of Antietam, and came to Westmoreland county when quite a young man. He was engaged in farming in Ligonier township until his death in 1844. He was an active democrat and a strong member of the Reformed church. In 1809 he married Mary Ambrose, daughter of John Ambrose. They were the parents of seven children, all sons : Benjamin, born 1811, died in 1869; Frederick, born in 1813, died in 1857 ; George, born in 1816, died in 1877; Joseph, born in 1821; died in 1853; Harry, born in 1824 and resides on his farm one mile north of Ligonier ; Noah M. and David, who was born in 1828 and lives in Ligonier. Mrs. Marker was born in 1786, belonged to the Reformed church and de- parted this life in 1873.

Noah M. Marker was reared on his father's

farm and attended the subscription schools of his neighborhood, in which he received a plain but practical business education. After attaining his majority ho learned the trade of tanner which he followed three years. In 1850 he con- cluded to retire from tanning in which he had been reasonably successful, and embark in the mercantile business for which he entertained a liking. He opened a store at Mechanicsburg, Pa., where he met with encouraging success for the six years that he remained there. In 1856 he removed to Ligonier and founded the present mercantile establishment. He is now the oldest merchant in the place and his store is heavily stocked with everything to be found in a first- class mercantile establishment.

In 1850 Mr. Marker was married to Eliza J., daughter of Richard Graham (see sketch of R. M. Graham). Their union has been blessed with seven children, five sons and two daughters : Clarence F., born in 1851 and now in partner- ship with his father in the mercantile business under the firn name of "Marker & Son; " Clara, born in 1854 ; Schell, born in 1856 and died in 1887; Alfred, born in 1858 and died in 1861; Eddie, born in 1861 and died in 1863; Frederick, born in 1866 and died in 1867, and Anna, born in 1870. Mrs. Marker was born in 1827 and is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church.

Noah M. Marker is a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church and is a strong and active working democrat, who has ever been deeply in- terested in the weal and welfare of his party and its principles. Mr. Marker's political career commenced in 1857 when he was elected school director, an office which he held for twenty-one years. Ile served as justice of the peace from 1858 to 1863. In 1878 he was elected as a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature and re- presented Westmoreland county in that honor- able body in a very creditable manner. IIe served on several important committees during the session of 1878-79, and was known by his

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fellow members of the Legislature as a man of safe and conservative views on financial and agricultural matters.

ILLIAM H. MATTHEWS, an able and efficient surveyor and one of the most highly respected citizens of the com- munity in which he resides, was born in St. Clair township, Westmoreland county, Pa., May 15, 1851, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (MeElroy) Matthews. His grandparents, Will- iam and Elizabeth (Snodgrass) Matthews, were natives of Ireland, immigrated to this country when quite young with their parents, respec- tively. They were married in Fairfield township, this county, in the beginning of the present cen- tury. They settled in this county and were the parents of fourteen children, of whom five are living : James, Archie, Nancy, wife of John M. Smith, and Margaret, married to John McIntyre. William Matthews and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian church and their re- mains are interred in the Fairfield Presbyterian church-yard. Joseph Matthews (father) was born on his father's farm in St. Clair township, June 16, 1820, received his education in the sub- scription schools of that day and has always fol- lowed farming as his occupation. He is a mem- ber of the United Presbyterian church of Fair- field. On November 1, 1848, he married Eliza- beth ,McElroy, daughter of John D. and Sarah (Menoher) McElroy. To Mr. and Mrs. Mat- thews have been born six children of whom two are living: William II. and Maggie S., married to S. J. E. Hudson. Those who died were: Sarah J., John, James and Mary 1.

William HI. Matthews received his education in Waterford schools and Fairfield academy. At twenty years of age he began teaching, which profession he followed for nine years. Seven years of this time was taught in Indiana county, Pa. During his period of teaching he studied surveying with J. A. Paige, a noted civil engi-

neer, and since 1880 has devoted his time to sur- veying and the management of his farm. As a surveyor he has been very successful. As a farmer and stock-raiser he is among the foremost of his section. He is a republican in political opinion, a member of the Fairfield United Pres- byterian church and one of the most substantial and trusted citizens of his township.

William II. Matthews was married June 11, 1884, to Rebecca Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Matthew M. and Margery (Lactimer) Moore. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews are the parents of two children : Greason McClarran and Mary Luella.

YRUS ALEXANDER McCASKEY, M. D., a successful physician of this county, now resident of Bolivar and who was one of the first physicians to render medical and surgical aid to the sufferers of the great Johns- town flood, is a son of Joseph and Dorcas Ellen (Painter) McCaskey, and was born in Winfield township, Butler county, Pa., March 8, 1853. Ilis father and grandfather were natives of Washington county, Pa. The latter, Andrew McCaskey, was born at Hickory in that county in 1809 and died in 1868. Ile was a teacher by profession, a Presbyterian in religious belief and married Mary Harper by whom he had six chil- dren : Nancy, wife of John Brinker ; Joseph (de- ceased); Louisa and Emily, wife of W. C. Smith, livery superintendent of Wylie avenue (Pittsburg) cable-car line. Joseph McCaskey (father) was born in 1834 and died at forty-two years of age. He was a presbyterian, an Odd Fellow and served in the late war asa soldier in the sixth Pa. heavy artillery. He married Dorcas E. Painter, daugh- ter of John and Mary Painter, by whom he had ten children : Dr. Cyrus A., Mary J. (deceased), Andrew Presley, John Harper, Melvin Ellsworth, Nancy Anna, wife of John Kerr; Effie Bell, married to John Kron; Maggie May, Willie, who died in infancy and Joseph (deceased).

Dr. C. A. MeCaskey received a common school

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BIOGRAPHIES OF

and academic education. At seventeen years of age he commenced reading medicine with Dr. J. M. Scott, of Butler county, and in 1873 entered the University of Wooster, Ohio, and was gradu- ated from the Medical department of that insti- tution in the class of 1876. After graduating he located in Petersville where he remained two years, then left Butler county and was at Millers- town, in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, for ten years. In 1886 he removed to Pittsburg where he practiced for two years and on December 15, 1888, he came to Bolivar where he has remained ever since in the active and successful practice of his profession. He is a republican in politics. He is a member of a Lodge, of the I. O. O. F., Lodge, No. 457, K. of P. and the Presbyterian church.

In 1874 Dr. McCaskey married Sarah J. Whitmire, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Thompson) Whitmire, of Butler county, Pa. To Dr. and Mrs. McCaskey have been born four children : Bertha D., Myrtle G., Joseph Henry (deceased), and Aileen.

Dr. McCaskey was one of the first physicians to go to Johnstown after the great flood at that place and was given entire control of the drug department as soon as the State assumed charge of the place. He also acted as assistant sur- geon of Bedford street hospital and was ap- pointed surgeon to the tenth regiment National Guards of Pennsylvania.

ALES McCOLLY. ex-prothonotary of Westmoreland county and a prominent and public-spirited citizen of the Ligonier Valley is the fifth son and youngest child of Zachariah and Rebecca (Fletcher) McColly and was born at Youngstown, Unity township, West- moreland county, Pa., November 9, 1821. His grandfather MeColly was an early pioneer of western Pennsylvania and in the last decade of the eighteenth century was killed by an Indian while on a scouting expedition in what is now

Lawrence county, this State. He had stopped at a frontier cabin where religious services were being held and on stepping outside of the door was shot by an Indian spy who was concealed in the woods at some little distance from the cabin. His father, Zachariah Mc Colly, was born about 1780 in one of the eastern counties of Pennsylvania. He learned the trade of saddler, came to Youngstown and worked at the saddle and harness business until a few years prior to his death in 1821. He was a stanch democrat, an active politician and a stirring business man. In 1806 he married Rebecca Fletcher, daughter of David Fletcher. She was a very devout Christian woman, a strict and exemplary member of the Presbyterian church and passed away in 1843. Mr. and Mrs. McColly had six children, five sons and one daughter : Fletcher B., Washington, David Clayton, Caroline and Bales.

Bales MeColly at thirteen years of age went to Pleasant Unity, where he worked at the sad- dler trade under his brother Clayton for nearly three years and then spent an additional year of apprenticeship in a saddler shop at Youngs- town. In 1841 he commenced business for himself at Pleasant Unity, where he conducted a saddlery shop for seventeen years. In 1858 he was elected prothonotary of Westmoreland county and served very creditably in that capa- city for three years. He then returned to Pleasant Unity and resumed his saddlery and harness business which he followed for eight years. During this time he dealt some in oil and bought the old Weaver mill property, which he sold at a fair profit on his invest- ment in it, and also bought and sold the old Thomas farm near Pleasant Unity at a nice profit. In 1870 he came to Ligonier and opened his present saddlery and harness manufacturing establishment. Mr. MeSColly is a thoroughly practical saddler and gives his personal atten- tion to all work done in his shop. He com- mands a large and lucrative trade and is held in

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WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

high esteem by his many patrons who confine their purchases to his establishment.

On January 12, 1847, he was united in mar- riage with Catharine Felgar, who is a daughter of Henry Felgar, of Cook township and was born in 1819. They'have had five children : Dr. Mars- ton M., born in 1849; Eugene A., born in 1850; Cicero, born in 1852, died in 1863: Anna K., born in 1856 and wife of Frank Marker, and Edward B., born in 1858.

Bales McColly is a member of Greensburg Lodge, No. 225, A. Y. M. and Ligonier Presby- terian church. Ile has been an active, persist- ent and successful worker in the Democratic party for many years, but at the present time has a slight leaning towards the prohibitionists. Ile is tall, rather dignified in bearing and is a man of fine personal appearance. Ile is well informed in biography, history and literature. With the history of the United States he is in- timately acquainted and can interestingly relate the story of its rise and progress, its wars, politi- cal agitations, as well as accurately describe its great commercial prosperity and wonderful agri- cultural and mineral development.

ENRY M. MILLHOFF, one of Done- gal's successful merchants for the last thirty-five years and an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth ( Fry) Millhoff and was born at Donegal, Westmoreland county, Pa., Febru- ary 14, 1834. The family is of German de- scent. Philip and Barbara Millhoff, paternal grandparents, came from Germany to near Chambersburg, Pa., where he died and left ten children : Jacob, John, Philip, Daniel, Henry and five daughters : Christina, Barbara, Catha- rine, Susan and Mary. He was a Lutheran and had served in the Revolutionary war. The eldest son, Jacob Millhoff (father), was born in 1789, in Franklin county, Pa., migrated about 1812 to Jones' Mills, this county, and in 1820

he removed to Donegal where he died April 22, 1862. Ile enlisted in the war of 1812, but peace was declared before his company reached Gen. Harrison's army. He was a blacksmith by trade, followed butchering for some time and had a store at Donegal. Ile was an unpreten- tious man and an exemplary member of the Lutheran church, who won the respect of all who knew him by his Christian virtues. He never exhibited anger, used an unbecoming word or took a drink of liquor. His first wife died in Franklin county and he afterwards mar- ried Elizabeth Fry, of the Ligonier Valley, by whom he had five children, of whom two are living : Eliza, widow of Jacob Maurer and Ilenry M. Those dead are: Jacob, Matilda and Sarah.

Henry M. Millhoff enjoyed but poor educational advantages and left school at fourteen years of age to engage as a clerk in the store of Lloyd & Vance. The firm changed several times and in 1855 he left their service to form a mercantile partnership with W. R. Hunter which lasted until 1871. Ile then became a member of the firm of Ilubbs & Millhoff, from which he retired in 1875: Four years later he formed a second partnership with W. R. Hunter, which con- tinued till the death of the latter in 1885, when Mr. Millhoff purchased the entire stock of goods and has continued in the general mercantile business ever since. Ile owns the store room, has a complete stock of goods and does a fine business. He also owns a house and lot and fifteen acres of valuable land.

November 18, 1855, he was married to Har- riet Wirsing, daughter of John Wirsing. To their union have been born seven children : Mary E , wife of Rev. W. II. Rider, of Akron, Ohio, and a presiding elder in the M. E. church ; Kate, William II. (dead) ; Anna C., wife of S. W. Kirk, a telegraph superintendent at Johnstown, l'a. ; Lottie (dead) : Harry F., a graduate of Duff's college, is a bookkeeper in Cleveland, Ohio; and Clarence B., in business with his father.

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Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Part 70

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