USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 71
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
546
BIOGRAPHIES OF
In polities II. M. Millhoff is a republican. Ile and his wife are members of Donegal M. E. church, in which he has served as class leader for twenty-five years, steward and trustee and as secretary and treasurer of its Sunday school. He was a lay delegate to the annual conference Canton, Ohio, in 1876.
S AMUEL D. MURPHY was one of Sher- idan's dashing cavalry riders in Virginia and is a publie-spirited citizen and a prominent and active republican leader of the Ligonier Valley. He is a son of Joseph and Matilla (MeIsaac) Murphy and was born on his father's farm in Fairfield township, Westmore- land county, Pa., January 12, 1846. The Murphy family of the Ligonier Valley is of Scotch-Irish descent and was founded a century ago by William Murphy (grandfather), who was born near Londonderry, county Derry, Ireland. Ilis father, Joseph Murphy (great-grandfather), was a manufacturer of salt and raised yearly from twenty to twenty-five horses for sale. Ile had a good education, was in independent circumstances and had been one of the brave defenders of Derry when that city was besieged. Ilis wife was Jane Glendenning of the noted Scotch family of Scotland, who were very prom- inent during the feudal history of that country.
Wiliam Murphy came to Pennsylvania and settled near Carlisle, but in a short time went back to Ireland where he married Eva Dickey, whose father was a farmer and distiller. Immediately after his marriage he returned to the colony of Peun but did not tarry long at Car- lisle. Hle crossed the Alleghenies and settled in what is now Fairfield township at a time when Indian war parties raided the Ligonier Valley for prisoners and scalps. He purchased a large tract of land from an English soldier upon which he settled and lived until his death. He was a good scholar, a strict member of the United Presbyterian church, a federalist in politics and
one of the best informed men of his neighbor- hood. His family consisted of three children.
Joseph Murphy (father) was born January 19, 1800, in Fairfield township, where he re- sided until his death, which occurred May 2, 1877. He was a farmer and a stock-raiser, a devout member of the United Presbyterian church and an earnest republican. He was in early life an old line-whig but departed from his political faith once to vote for Andrew Jackson, on account of his defeating England's veterans at New Orleans. Later he became one of the earliest and strongest abolitionists of the county. He was a man of strong constitution, indomitable courage and great energy and was among the first farmers of the valley to banish free whiskey from the harvest field. He married Matilda MeIsaac, a lady of great beauty, who was loved and respected by all who knew her. She was a daughter of Hugh MeIsaac and her birth- place was Stranrar, near the home of Robert Burns in Ayrshire, Scotland. Joseph and Ma- tilda Murphy were parents of nine children, of whom six are siill living. Five of their sons served in the armies of the Union during the late war. Two of them were captains and the other three served as privates.
Samuel D. Murphy received his education in the common schools and Mechanicsburg acad- emy. Leaving school he taught two terms, after which he was engaged in the sheep and cattle dealing business for a few years. He next em- barked in the milling business in which he con- tinued for some years. Disposing of his milling interests he then engaged in his present business of farming and stock-raising in Ligonier town- ship. On his farin are some of the best im- ported horses which money could purchase and several of them were directly importedl by Mr. Murphy.
At eighteen years of age he enlisted in Co. D, fourth reg. Pa. Cavalry and served eighteen months under Gen. Sheridan. He participated in several battles, had two horses shot under him
W. Murphy
549
WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
and was mustered out of the United States ser- vice at the close of the war.
Ile was married October 6, 1876, to Margaret Graham, eldest daughter of Robert Graham. Their union was blessed with five children : Mabel and Matilda, who are attending school ; Cora, Marion and Francis.
Samuel D. Murphy is a member of the United Presbyterian church, as were his father and grandfather before him. To his academic edu- cation he has added years of reading and a care- ful study of the leading issues of the day, and by these means has become a well-informed man upon all the topics of general interest and sub- jects of political import. Mr. Murphy is a strong republican and has always been an active and effective worker in the ranks of his party. Ile is now serving his second term as justice of the peace. The business of his office has been so fairly conducted as to give rise to no dissatis- faction, and his decisions have been so well based on law and so carefully and clearly given that no appeal from them has ever been taken to a higher tribunal.
APTAIN GEORGE H. MURPHY, a prominent and honorable citizen of Fair- field township, who fought bravely for a re-united country and the preservation of the Union, is a son of Joseph and Matilda (MeIsaac) Murphy and was born in Fairfield township, Westmoreland county, Pa., February 6, 1841. The Murphy family of the Ligonier Valley is descended from William Murphy (grandfather), who married Eva Dickey, of Londonderry, Ire- land, and settled in Fairfield township during Indian times. He was a good scholar, a United Presbyterian and was a son of Joseph Murphy, who served in the siege of Derry, Ireland, and who afterwards was a salt manufacturer and far- mer of that Island. William Murphy left issue of three children : Elizabeth, Nancy and Joseph (father) who married Matilda McIsaac, by whom
he had nine children, of whom five sons gave good service in the field during the late war. Capt. W. W., who commanded company G, fourteenth Pa. cavalry during the late war and now resident of the State of Minnesota ; Capt. George H., H. M., member of company I, two hundred and eleventh reg. Pa. Vols. ; R. M., who enlisted in company K, eleventh reg. Pa. Vols. and was killed at the second battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862; S. D., who served in company D, fourth Pa. cavalry ; P. J. Murphy, another son, resides on the old homestead farm in Fairfield township. (For additional ancestry see sketch of S. D. Murphy of Ligonier town- ship).
Capt. George H. Murphy was reared in Fair- field township until he was sixteen years of age. He went to California " gold fields" by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He sailed from New York on the steamship Illinois and in eight days arrived at Aspinwall, then crossed the Isthmus by rail and embarked on board the John L. Stephens, which stopped for a short time at Acapulco on the coast of Mexico. After a voyage of fourteen days on the Pacific Ocean he landed at San Francisco, where he remained for three years and succeeded in acquiring a considerable sum of money. In the spring of 1861 he returned to Pennsylvania, where on September 12th of that year he enlisted in company E, eleventh Pa. Vols. and participated in the batttles of Cedar Mountain, Rappahan- nock Station, Thoroughfare Gap and Second Bull Run. In the last named battle he was struck on the right side of the nose by a minic- ball which passed clear through the left side of his face and came out behind his left ear. He was then wrapped in his blanket by two com- rades who carried and placed him in a ravine, where he was left for dead and was reported so in the list of killed and wounded. IIe lay there from four o'clock of August 30 until the middle of the next day when some Confederate soldiers passing by relieved him of his blanket and side-
550
BIOGRAPHIES OF
arms. He then made out to reach a stone house where Confederate surgeons were dressing some of the wounded but was unable to receive any attention at their hands. He lay there from Sunday until Tuesday evening without anything to eat or drink and then was picked up by Union soldiers and sent in a wagon to Alexandria, where he arrived on Wednesday night and received food and drink as well as having his wounds dressed. After recovering he enlisted July 7, 1863, and was commissioned captain of company B, first battalion Pa. Vol. cavalry, which he commanded until the close of their term of service. Ile then returned to Fairfield township where he has been successfully engaged ever since in farming and stock-raising.
On December 25, 1866, he married Nancy J. Ramsey, a daughter of Charles and Isabella Ramsey, of Fairfield township. To captain and Mrs. Murphy have been born two children : Ellen R., who died in infancy, and Matilda B.
Capt. George II. Murphy is a stanch repub- lican and has always been rather active in local politics. He is a member of the Fairfield United Presbyterian church and Encampment No. 5, Union Veteran Legion at Greensburg, Pa.
BEACIILEY MYERS, one of Ligonier township's substantial and reliable far- mers and intelligent citizens, is a son of Henry and Sarah (Smith) Myers and was born in Ligonier township, Westmoreland county, l'a., March 10, 1856. His paternal grandfather, Christian Myers, was born and reared in Leb- anon county, Pa. He was a farmer by occupa- tion and removed to Somerset county, this State, where he married Barbara Beachley, a daugh- ter of John M. Beachley, by whom he had thirteen children : John, Christian, Elizabeth, who married Peter Boenizer ; Michael, Abram, Mary, wife of John Raymond; Barbara, who married David Kimmell; Catherine, wife of Edward Clifford; Henry, Jacob, Peter and |
Susan. Henry Myers, the son and tenth child, was born near Berlin, Somerset county, Pa., April 22, 1810. IIe was brought on April 19, 1814, by his parents to Westmoreland county, where they located in Ligonier township, two miles north of the town of Ligonier. IIe re- ceived his education in the old-time subscription schools of that day and dealt for several years in stock which he drove over the old pike to Philadelphia. In 1842 he purchased the farm which he has tilled ever since and upon which he now resides. IIe is a republican in politics, has held many township offices and is an earnest member of the Ligonier Valley Brethren church. On November 12, 1845, he married Sarah Smith, of Unity township. They had eight children, of whom five are living : Mary S., wife of S. B. Fisher ; Lena C., who married Dr. W. B. Pool; Lizzie R., wife of John B. Steel; II. Smith and A. Beachley. Mrs. Myers is a daughter of Henry Smith, who was a farmer and distiller. His wife was Magdalena Richards, a daughter of Charles Richards, who was a far- mer and served seven years in the Revolutionary war.
A. Beachley Myers was reared on his father's farm and attended the common schools and Ligonier academy. At eighteen years of age he left school and engaged in farming which he has followed ever since. Politically Mr. Myers. is a republican and served his township for six years as auditor and three years as school di- rector. IIe has given his time principally to- tilling and improving of his farm. He is hos- pitable and generous and is well-liked by all who know him. Although retiring in manner yet is a good talker and converses fluently on. many different subjects.
ILLIAM SEAWRIGHT, one of the- old settlers of Cook township and one of the most highly respected men who ever lived in Westmoreland county, was born in
551
WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Lampiter township, Lancaster county, Pa., in the year 1756. His parents were William and Ann (Hamilton) Seawright, who were both of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His father, William Seawright, came from Donegal, Ireland, about the year 1740, and settled in Lampiter township, Lancaster county, Pa., and became a prominent citizen and landholder in that township. His mother, Ann Hamilton, came from Belfast, Ire- land, about the same time and settled in the same locality. Her ancestors were natives of Scotland and came to Belfast at the time when Ireland was the refuge for persecuted Covenant- ers. She was a descendant of the distinguished Hamilton family of Scottish history. Her brother William was the grandfather of James Hamilton, governor of South Carolina in Cal- houn's day, and was known as the " Nullifier Governor." A pretty full history of this fami- ly of Hamiltons is given in Egle's Pennsylvania Genealogies by Col. Evans in his " Notes and Queries." Family history and family tradition teach that Alexander Hamilton was of this same ancestry.
In 1771 William Seawright's father died, leav- ing five children : Mary, Ann, Esther, William (subject of this sketch) and Alexander. William and Alexander were not of age when their father died. After they became of age and after Wil- liam's marriage to Jane Ramsey, a daughter of Samuel and Catharine (Seawright) Ramsey, na- tives of Lancaster county, Pa., they removed to Augusta county, Va. In a short time Alexan- der died and William returned to Pennsylvania and settled near Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa. After a short residence there he started for the western part of the State, stopping awhile in Huntingdon and Indiana counties, but making his final settlement in Cook township, this coun- ty, on the Loyalhanna river about five miles above Ligonier. Here he built a fulling mill, his occupation being that of a fuller of cloth. The foundation of this old fulling mill can yet be seen on a little stream emptying into the Loyal-
hanna near Weaver's mill. Not far from the old mill can also be seen the foundation stones of the house which he built before 1800 and in which he lived until his death in 1825.
William Seawright reared a family of seven children : Samuel Alexander, William, Mary, John, Hamilton and Archibald. Samuel re- moved to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and reared a large family. Alexander removed to Brooke county, Va., and from there to Morgan county, Ohio, and also had a large family. William married Rachel Brownfield of Uniontown, Pa., and was the founder of the Fayette county fami- ly of Searights. He was a man of unsullied character, was one of the most prominent demo- crats of Pennsylvania in his day and died Au- gust 12, 1852. At the time he was a candidate for canal commissioner of the State. Of his six children two are : Col. Thomas B., ex-State Senator and James A., President of the Peoples Bank of Fayette county at Uniontown, Pa. The rest of William Seawright's (subject) children re- mained in the Ligonier Valley and died without issue.
William Seawright was an elder in the Pres- byterian church at Pleasant Grove at the time of his death, and lies buried alongside of his wife and most of his children in the beautiful graveyard by the Pleasant Grove church near Stahlstown in this county.
AJOR-GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR. A conspicuous character in the history of the American republic, a brave military leader who failed in winning that fame to which his courage entitled him, and an officer of acknowledged bravery and prudence was Arthur St. Clair, whose name is inseparably connected with the formation and carly development of Westmoreland county. Gen. Arthur St. Clair, president of the Conti- nental Congress in 1787, commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States in 1791 and
552
BIOGRAPHIES OF
governor of the Northwestern Territory from 1788 to 1802, was born at Thurso Castle, County Caithness, Scotland, in 1734. He was a son of William St. Clair, who was of the same stock as the then Earl of Caithness, from a common ancestry. The St. Clairs of Seot- land are descended from Walderne de St. Clair, a Norman knight who married Margaret, daugh- ter of Richard, Duke of Normandy. Their second son, William de St. Clair, settled in Scotland. Of his descendants, one became earl of Orkney, which title the St. Clairs ex- changed in 1471 for the earldom of Caithness, which they still hold under the Anglicised name of Sinclair.
Gen. St. Clair was educated at the University of Edinburgh and removed to London to study medicine under the celebrated Dr. William HIunter. War breaking out between England and France, he purchased an ensign's commis- sion and served under Wolfe in his campaign against Quebec in 1759. After peace he re- signed his commission as lieutenant, resided for some time at Boston and Philadelphia and in 1765 was placed in command of Fort Ligonier by Gen. Gage, to whom he was related. He took up large bodies of land in the Ligonier Valley, was made prothonotary of Bedford county, Pa., in 1771, and two years later was largely instrumental in securing the erection of Westmoreland county. As prothonotary and jus- tice of the peace of the new county, he successfully resisted the claims of Virginia to the territory. When the Revolution came he cast in his for- tunes with the colonies. He inspired the Han- nastown Declaration of Independence in 1775, perfected the Associators and was commissioned colonel by Congress. He raised a regiment, fought in Canada under Montgomery and Arnold and was promoted to brigadier-general. At Trenton and Princeton he behaved with great skill and bravery and was commissioned a major-general. He was placed in command of Ticonderoga in 1777 but was compelled to
abandon it and retreat with a disastrous loss of men and munitions. A military court of inquiry acquitted him of all blame. While suspended from command he fought as a volunteer at Brandywine and was with the army at Valley Forge. Ile succeeded Arnold in command of West Point, and was a member of the commis- sion which sentenced Maj. Andre to death. After the capture of Yorktown he proceeded with a body of troops to join Gen. Greene in the South, and on his way he drove the British from Wilmington, N. C. In 1783 he became a member of the Executive Council of Pennsyl- vania, was elected to Congress and served as president of that body during 1787. Upon the erection of the Northwestern Territory in 1788 he was appointed governor and faithfully served as such for fourteen years. In 1790 he ran as the Federal candidate for governor of Pennsyl- vania and received 2,802 votes, while his suc- cessful democratic opponent, Thomas Mifflin, had 27,725 votes.
Gen. St. Clair commanded an army of 2,000 men which was sent against the Miami Indians in 1791, and on November 4th of that year he was defeated with a loss of nearly 700 men. He was suffering from a fever, yet bore himself bravely in the thickest of the battle. The pub- lic was severe and unjust in its censure, but a committee appointed by Congress acquitted him of all blame. When he retired from public life in 1802 he was an old man and almost ruined in fortune. Ile returned about this time to his farm, two miles northwest of Ligonier. He owned 10,881 acres of land in western Penn- sylvania, of which 8,270 acres were in West- moreland county. Gen. St. Clair advanced several thousand dollars to pay the expenses of the Pennsylvania line in the Revolutionary war, which sum the government refused to pay him because he allowed the statute of limitations to cut out his claim. He also advanced $8,000 to pay Indian claims against the government and furnished $7,012 to help fit out the expedi-
553
WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
tion of 1791. These sums, which he borrowed, the United States also refused to pay and all of his property, worth over 850,000, was sold by the sheriff and bought by his greedy creditors, who had loaned him the above amounts of money. They obtained his land, mill, furnace and personal property for a mere song and then were not satisfied, but afterwards attached every dollar of the pitiful pension which Congress granted to him in 1818. The last period of his life was not a pleasing one to contemplate. Turned out of house and home, the old patriot removed to the summit of Chestnut Ridge and kept tavern in a log cabin. He received a small pension from the Assembly of Pennsyl- vania for a few years previous to his death in 1818.
On the 31st of August, 1818, the great soul of the old but unfortunate patriot, Arthur St. Clair, left its tenement of clay and passed to its eternal home. His remains were entombed at Greensburg with fitting and appropriate cere- monies by the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a member. In 1832 W. P. Sanders de- signed and executed a monument which the Masons erected over his bones and upon the south side of this monument is carved the fol- lowing appropriate inscription : " The carthly remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath this humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one due from his country. He died August 81, 1818, in the eighty-fourth year of his age."
EORGE SENFT, the efficient superin- tendent of the Ligonier Valley railroad and a successful business man of West- moreland county, was born in Birmingham, now South Side, Pittsburg, Pa., May 17, 1848, and is a son of John Frederick and Mary (Grau) Senft.
His paternal grandparents came from Ger- many to this county, where they died some years ago.
Ilis father, John F. Senft, was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, in 1819, and came to Pittsburg, where he worked at tailoring for many years. From 1866 to 1884 he was engaged in the hotel business at Summittsville, Allegheny county, Pa., where he now resides and manages his farm near that place. In 1841 he married Mary Grau, who was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1819 and came to Pitts- burg in 1840. Of this marriage were born eight children : John, who lives at Crafton sta- tion ; Margaret, dead; George, Anna May, dead; Barbara, intermarried with M. G. Clever, of Mita, Iowa; Mary Ann, wife of E. P. Ed- munson, of Lawrence, Iowa; Emma, who mar- ried W. Minich, of Allegheny county, Pa., and Henry. Mr. Senft is a democrat. He and his wife are consistent members of the Evangelical church.
George Senft attended the Pittsburg schools and learned the trade of engineer with G. F. Schuchman & Co., of Pittsburg, Pa. At the end of his three years apprenticeship, in 1865, he enlisted in Co. A, one hundred and ninety- third reg. Pa. Vols. and served one hundred days, which was the term of enlistment.
From 1865 to 1871 he was variously engaged. In the latter year he took a full course of book- keeping, accepted a position as book-keeper with Mellon Bros., of Pittsburg, which he held for four months and then entered the bank of T. Mellon & Sons as a clerk. He was soon made cashier, in which capacity he served ac- ceptably for nearly ten years.
On October 1, 1881, he became superintend- ent of the Ligonier Valley railroad, extending from Latrobe to Ligonier, which was then and is still owned by the Mellon family of Pittsburg. It was a narrow-gauge road when Mr. Senft as- sumed charge of it, but in 1882 it was changed to a standard gauge road. His management of the road has been very successful. He is a man of recognized business ability and has served suc- cessfully in the different positions which he has
554
BIOGRAPHIES OF
occupied. His practical knowledge of engineer- ing is of great advantage to him in managing a railway.
Mr. Seuft owns a fine residence at Ligonier on corner of Church and Fairfield streets. He also owns a farm in Allegheny county, Pa., and a tract of land in Alton county, Mo.
In 1874 he married Jennie, daughter of Michael Rodgers, of Pittsburg, by whom he had one child, Gertrude R., who was born in 1875. Mrs. Senft died in 1880 and Mr. Senft was re- married in 1884 to Kizzie Negley, daughter of John R. and Caroline B. Negley, of Pittsburg. By his second marriage Mr. Senft has two children : Mary C., born in 1885, and George F., born in 1887.
RANCIS SMITHI. Among those who have turned their attention entirely and successfully to agricultural pursuits in the Ligonier Valley is Francis Smith, who has been a prosperous and highly respected farmer in the eastern part of the county for over sixty years. IIe was born in Ligonier township, five miles east of Ligonier, Westmoreland county, Pa., January 80, 1809, and is the son of Thomas and Nancy (Little) Smith. The founder of the American branch of the Smith family which is principally resident in the Ligonier Valley was Thomas Smith (grandfather), who was born in Ireland about 1740. When a young man he came to this country and purchased a cargo of flaxseed, which he took back with him and dis- posed of at such a price as to clear a very re- spectable sum upon his investment. He was was well pleased with what he saw of America and soon after returning to his native island closed up his business affairs and immigrated to Pennsylvania, where he settled in Bedford county. In 1794 he removed to Ligonier town- ship and patented three hundred and fifty acres of land, upon which he died in 1821. His wife was Jane Patterson, who died in 1823. His
children were : Thomas, Nancy, Polly, Mar- garet, Ann, Sarah and Jennie. Thomas Smith (father) was born four miles northeast of Bed- ford, Pa., in 1778. He removed to this county with his parents and engaged in farming with his father until 1806, when he came into pos- session of a part of his father's land and at the death of the latter purchased the home farm. Ile was a whig and a member of the " Seceder " church for many years, but near the close of his life joined the United Presbyterian church. In 1806 he married Nancy Little, who was born in Ireland June 6, 1786, and passed away from life's troubles and cares on December 4, 1865. They had twelve children, of whom four are living : Francis, Thomas, Bell and Margaret. The eight who died were Jane. William, Mary, Ann, Joseph, John L., Sarah Ann and an infant unnamed. Mr. Smith was industrious and thrifty. He lived a quiet and peaceful life and died on April 18, 1856. His life was such that he enjoyed the confidence of all who knew him.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.