USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 76
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
young man, who was killed at Amieville, on the Youghiogheny river by the coal shoot ; and Mary N., youngest child, now living at Pittsburg.
Nathan N. Fullerton received his education in the common schools. When twelve years of age his father died, and being the eldest child, he was kept very busy in helping his mother to support the family. On August 14, 1862, he enlisted in Co. A (Highland Guards), one hun- dred and fifty-fifth reg. Pa. Vols. (called the Pa. Zouave reg.) He served from Antietam to Ap- pomattox Court House, participated in thirty-two battles and skirmishes, was never sick, excused from duty, punished or received a furlough while in the service. After Lee's surrender he was promoted to a mounted orderly and served on the staff of General Pearson. After the war he engaged in farming with Samuel Smith of Sewickley township and has been following that business ever since.
Hle has been a member of the Mars Hill Baptist church since 1862, and is at present a trustee of the church. His wife and two of his children are also members of the same church. Mars Hill is the only Baptist church in Sewickley township, is situated near the Youghiogheny railroad. C. A. Gardner is the present pastor.
On February 11, 1869, Mr. Fullerton united in marriage with Margaret Smith, daughter of Samuel Smith (see his sketch). To this union have been born four children : Minnie A., born November 14, 1869; Edward M., born March 29, 1873; Samuel S., born January 21, 1876; and one who died in infancy.
Nathan N. Fullerton is a republican, ranks as one of the live, active workers of his party in Sewickley township and has served for several years as central committeeman of his township. He was one of the originators and first directors of the Sewickley Industrial Association and has served as a director alnost continuously to the present time.
FRANKLIN GILMORE, an efficient river pilot of long experience, was born Octo-
ber 3, 1844, in Pittsburg, Pa., and is a son of John and Susanna (Spargo) Gilmore. William Gilmore, his grandfather, was born in the northern part of Ireland, immigrated to America and settled in Pittsburg, Pa., where he remained until his death. He was a whig, later a republican, and was an active worker in his party, which rewarded him with the offices of tax collector, street commissioner and various others in his city. He was a coal operator, from which business he accumulated a handsome fortune; he died in 1859. John Gilmore (father) was born in 1805, in Pittsburg, Pa., where in after years he conducted a large wagon manu- factory. During the Mexican war he made a lot of wagons for the government and took them to St. Louis, Mo., to sell, but in the meantime the war closed and the wagons were left on his hands. He then returned home, leaving the wagons in charge of an agent, who sold them but never sent Mr. Gilmore a penny of the pro- ceeds. Shortly after this war Mr. Gilmore embarked in the coal business and became one of the early operators on the river. He also possessed considerable floating property on the Monongahela river, owning at one time as many as eight steamboats. Ile died in August, 1884, in Washington county, Pa., opposite to Webster, and left to his heirs about five hundred acres of land and coal. He married Susanna Spargo, who is still living at the age of about seventy- two and who bore him eight children. Mrs. Gilmore is a grand-daughter of a Mr. Spargo, a native of England, who immigrated to the United States and settled in Pittsburg, Pa., South Side (Birmingham).
Franklin Gilmore received a public school education in Pittsburg, Pa., since which he has been engaged on the river as pilot, running from Geneva, Pa., to Louisville, Ky. He is at present the pilot of the steamer Acron. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. A, one hundred and fifty-fifth
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reg. Pa. Vols., in which he served until the close of the war. He entered as a private, was promoted to sergeant and took part in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and the Wilderness. On the second day of the last mentioned battle he was wounded, carried to the hospital at Philadelphia, Pa., and after four months rejoined the army. At the battle of Hatcher's Run he was again wounded and taken to the hospital, where he remained until the close of the war. Mr. Gilmore, who fought and bled for his country, is certainly a worthy member of Stark Weather Post, No. 60, G. A. R., to which he belongs, at Monongahela City. IIe is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, believes in the political doctrines of the Republican party and is held in high esteem by all who know him.
Franklin Gilmore's wife was Rachel Matilda, daughter of George Thomas, of Webster, West- moreland county, Pa., and to their union have been born eight children, five of whom are living : Sarah Alice, James K., Samuel F., Stephen O.and Albert C.
$ AMUEL HIBBERT GRACE; the effi- cient superintendent of the Amieville Coal Works on the B. & O. R. R., was born June 10, 1850, on Penn avenue in the city of Pittsburg, Allegheny county, Pa., and is a son of Capt. Redman Grace, who was born in Baltimore, Md. He was for twenty-five years captain in various steamers in the packet line that plied the Ohio river between Pittsburg and Cincinnati and was part owner in the packet line. Ile was also hull inspector at Pittsburg for two terms. He was the founder of the Cash Insurance company, of Pittsburg, which is at the present time one of the largest and wealthiest insurance companies of that city. After fifteen years' connection with that company he left it and organized the City Insurance company, of which he was vice-president and general agent. He was a democrat, a highly-respected member
of the Catholic church and a very thorough and successful business man. His death occurred in Pittsburg in August, 1886. His wife was Mary Elizabeth, a daughter of George Singer, a fur- niture dealer of Pittsburg. Of seven children Samuel H. Grace was the fifth born. He was educated in the public schools and at the Ger- man high school of his native city. He first engaged in the grocery business on the corner of Penn avenue and Eleventh street, at which he continued for five years ; he then engaged as clerk in N. J. Bigley's store at Alpsville, when in 1882 he was appointed to his present position. Ile was elected justice of the peace in Sewickley township, is an active republican and is an in- fluential leader in that party. He is a member of the Catholic church.
He was married to Miss Kate, a daughter of Capt. N. J. Bigley, who is an operator in the Amieville mines. To their marriage have been born nine children : Nicholas John, born Novem- ber 11, 1873; Redman John, born March 23, 1875; Sarah Susannah Marie, born August 21, 1876, died December, 1876; Samuel Hibbert, born February 27, 1881; Maria Estella, born April 7, 1878; George and William Singer (twins), born March 17, 1884, both died Sep- tember, 1884; Osilbert Fetterman, born August 2, 1885, and Susan Catharine, born June 9, 1888.
S. II. Grace is a well-informed man, of fine address, is a capable and popular justice of the peace, the only member of his father's family who became a republican and one of the most successful young business men of Westmoreland county.
ACOB P. IIAIIN, a substantial citizen and an industrious farmer of South Hunting- don township, is a son of John and Mar- garet (Felgar) Hahn and was born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, southwestern Ger- many, October 22, 1844. His paternal and maternal ancestors were residents of Germany for several centuries back. Ilis father, John
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
Hahn, was born in 1809 in Wurtemberg, whose territorial limits had been extended six years . prior to that time by Napoleon Bonaparte who changed it from a duchy to a kingdom which it has remained ever since through all the various changes that have taken place in the territory of the present German Empire. John Hahn came from Germany to America about 1847 or 1848 and purchased the farm upon which the subject of this sketch resides. He was a farmer by occupation, a democrat in polit- ical sentiment and a lutheran in religious be- lief. Ile gave all of his attention to the improve- ment of his farm, upon which he died August 13, 1882. Ilis wife was Margaret Felgar, who bore him two children : Jacob P. and Elizabeth, who married Martin Orsick.
At three years of age Jacob P. Hahn was brought from Germany by his parents to South Huntingdon township where he was reared and attended the common schools. At twenty-one years of age he engaged in farming which he has followed ever since. For many years he has successfully ran a grain-threshing machine in South Huntingdon and adjoining townships.
He was married on September 27, 1877, to Alice Hough, who is a daughter of Seth Hough, of East Huntingdon township. Mr. and Mrs. Hahn are the parents of seven children: Etta L., Lucetta, Lucy R., Ida M., William II., John S. and Frank.
Jacob Hahn like his father before him is a lutheran in religious faith, while his wife holds to the universalist teachings. He is a member of Schner's Evangelical Lutheran church, a democrat in politics and an honest man. He owns a valuable and desirable farm which con- tains one hundred and seven acres of good farming and grazing land and is situated in a progressive section of the county. He is a fitting representative of the sturdy and intelli- gent race from which he is descended, and has always given careful attention to any business in which he has been engaged or took an interest.
S AMUEL T. HASSON, one of the wide- awake residents of Rostraver township, Westmoreland county, Pa., was born there December 16, 1852, and is a son of Samuel T. and Rachel Jane (Shepherd) Hasson ; married in 1837, still living. Ilis grandfather, Samuel Ilasson, was a native of Lancaster county, Pa., and emigrated to Rostraver township, this county, where he remained until his death ; his wife lived to the advanced age of ninety-six years. He was a gunsmith by trade. Joseph Shepherd (maternal grandfather) was born near Philadelphia, Pa., and emigrated to Fayette county, where he died near Perryopolis. He was by occupation a cabinet-maker, in politics a whig and in religious faith a quaker. Dr. Samuel Hasson (father) was born in 1817, in Rostraver township, read medicine with Dr. John HIasson, of West Newton, and is among the oldest practicing physicians in the counties of Washington and Fayette. In politics he adhered to the principles of the Democratic party and was a member of the Methodist church. Ile married Rachel Jane Shepherd and they had ten children, nine sons and one daughter. Three of the sons entered the service of the Federal Government during the late war. Ben- jamin Franklin Hasson enlisted in the twenty- second Pa. Cavalry as Second Lieut. at the beginning of the war and served three years. Hle was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah and was captured by the rebels near Moorfield and taken to Libby prison where he was held about nine months. While the Confederates were conveying prisoners to Andersonville Mr. Ilas- son escaped and rejoined the army at Little Washington, N. C. Sylvanus Hasson entered the eighty-fifth reg. of Pa. Infantry and served with it as orderly sergeant for three years, participating in all the battles of his regiment. James S. Hasson served three years as a private in the eighth Pa. Reserves and one year in the sixteenth Pa. Cavalry. He was wounded at Antietam and lost a finger at Fredericksburg.
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WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Samuel T. Hasson attended the common schools and learned the trade of a printer at Brownsville, at which he worked about six years as foreman on the Connellsville Monitor and two years as foreman on the Washington Observer. He afterwards went to Pittsburg and worked on the Chronicle Telegraph and later became foreman on the Waynesburg Republican, continuing in that position for two years when his health began to fail and he abandoned his trade. He purchased a farm of thirty acres in Rostraver township, kept it five years and sold it, reserving the coal. Besides this Mr. Hasson owns eighty acres of good land in his native township. He is identified with the Baptist church, belongs to the Odd Fellows and is an ardent republican, having served for a number of years on the county committee.
Samuel T. Hasson was married to Ruth Jones, a daughter of John Jones, of Fayette county, and the fruits of their union are two children : Claude and Jesse H. Mrs. Hasson departed this life on the ninth of March, 1889.
OSEPH HAMILTON. Of the early settled families of Westmoreland county one was the Hamilton family and one of its many worthy descendants is Joseph Hamil- ton of Sewickley township. Ile is a son of Samuel and Mary (Cook) Hamilton and was born in Sewickley township, August 22, 1831. About the close of the Revolutionary war six brothers by the name of Hamilton came to the United States. Five of them came together and located on the site of Pittsburg since which time nothing has ever been heard of them or any of their descendants. The sixth brother, Rob- ert Hamilton, grandfather, came after the others had located at Fort Pitt. IIe settled in 1782 in Sewickley township where he followed farming until his death in 1815. He was a weaver by trade, a member of the Covenanter church in Ireland, but in this country united with the As-
sociate Reformed church. He took an active part in the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794, and married Margaret Harris, by whom he had nine . children. One of his sons was Samuel Hamil- ton, who was born in 1795. He served in Capt. Joseph Markle's cavalry troop during the war of 1812, and was in the siege of Fort Meigs and some severe fighting along the river Raisin. He was an old-line whig and later a republican. He married Mary Cooper and reared a family of six children.
Mrs. Mary Hamilton was a daughter of John Cooper, who was a Chester county farmer, and a strong democrat and who owned a part of the ground on which the battle of Gettysburg was fought.
Joseph IIamilton received his education in the early common schools of his neighborhood and has always followed farming.
He enlisted in Co. II, fifty-eighth reg., Pa. Infantry and served for five months. Mr. Hamilton is a republican and has served as as- sessor and tax collector of Sewickley township. IIe is a member of the Grange and a trustee of Sewickley United Presbyterian church.
January 1, 1866, he united in marriage with Mary Elizabeth Milligan, daughter of William T. Milligan. They have one child, a daughter named Annabel.
AMES HENDERSON, one of the old and well-known citizens of South Huntingdon township and a life-long democrat, is a son of James and Eleanor (McGuffey) Henderson and was born in South Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pa., December 5, 1821. Ilis paternal grandfather (John Henderson), was a native of Ireland and in all probability, after coming to Westmoreland county, settled near Youngstown. Ilis occupation was farm- ing. His maternal grandfather (Robert Mc- Guffey) was of Irish extraction, a successful far- mer, a strict presbyterian, an unbending demo-
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
crat and a resident of South Huntingdon town- ship, in which he died on January 14, 1815. In . connection with his farming he owned and opera- ted a distillery as did most of the farmers of that day. His father (James Henderson, Sr.), was born in the county and resided in South Huntingdon township during the greater part of his life. He was a democrat and married Elea- nor McGuffey who was born in 1796 and died March 16, 1861. Their union was blessed with eight children, six sons and two daughters.
James Henderson was reared on a farm and received his education in the subscription schools of that day. At thirteen years of age he went to reside with Robert McCormick who lived on a farm now owned by Mr. Henderson. Mr. Mc- Cormick was born in 1782 and died January 20, 1844. Ilis wife, Mary (McGuffey) McCormick, an aunt of Mr. Henderson, was born February 23, 1788, and passed away February 7, 1844. James Henderson, upon arriving at man's estate engaged in farming as his life vocation. He has resided upon his present (McCormick) farm since 1879, in which year he purchased it, and has given his attention to farming and stock- raising.
On August 5, 1845, he united in marriage with Elizabeth Clark, daughter of John and Sarah (Clark) McElhany. Mr. and Mrs. Ilen- derson have had six children, of whom three are living : John, born May 3, 1847, married Mary Wilson, is a painter by trade and served as a member of the 206th reg. Pa. Vols. from September 8, 1864, to the close of the war ; Mary E., born November 26, 1852, and wife of David Pettigrew, of West Newton, and Sarah J., who was born March 18, 1855, and now the wife of Frank Linn, son of James Linn (see his sketch). Mrs. Henderson is a member of the Presbyterian church at West Newton.
In his political views Mr. Henderson is a stanch democrat who believes in " free-trade " as necessary to the prosperity of the United States. He owns a fertile farm of sixty-four
acres of land and is comfortably situated to enjoy life.
ILLIAM P. HENRY is n son of Edward and Susan (Coughenour) Henry and was born in Sewickley township, West- moreland county, Pa., March 20, 1841. Edward Henry, Sr., grandfather, was of Irish descent. He was a shoemaker by trade but devoted his time to farming in the summer and teaching in the win- ter. He was a native of this county, a member of the Presbyterian church and died in Sewick- ley township. One of his sons was Edward Henry who was born in 1814 in Sewickley township, and now resides in South Hunting- don. He has always followed farming. He was formerly a whig but is now a republican. He married Susan Coughenour. They had seven sons and two daughters, of whom both daughters are dead. Mrs. Henry died in 1881 and her remains are buried near Grapeville. Her father was Daniel Coughenour of German descent. His ancestors came from Germany to Virginia and subsequently removed to West- moreland county. He was a farmer by occupa- tion and his wife was a member of the Presby- terian church.
William P. Henry was educated in the com- mon schools and engaged at Spring Creek (now Hallon) in the mercantile and lumbering busi- ness, which he followed for three years. IIe (1868) then disposed of his mercantile interests and devoted his attention wholly to the lumber business for the next twenty years. In 1888 he sold his property in Elk county, Pa., removed to Westmoreland where he purchased his present farm of seventy-four acres in South Huntingdon township and has been successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising.
In 1866 he united in marriage with Rachel Ferguson, a daughter of Ebenezer Ferguson, of Jefferson county, Pa. Their children are Susanna, born December 4, 1866, and wife of Charles Wistrau, of Elk county, Pa., Mary
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C., born October 16, 1868 : Edward E., born February 17, 1871 ; Tillie E., born April 26, 1876; Armstrong, born May 16, 1878; Harvey, born August 27, 1880; Frank, born June 8, 1883; Hugh J., born February 6, 1885, and William Blaine, born June 20, 1889.
In 1862 Mr. Henry enlisted in Co. H., 168th reg. Pa. Vols., and served his full term of enlist- ment. He is a republican and served as consta- ble, supervisor and overseer of the poor in Elk county, Pa. Mr. Henry and his wife are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church at Madi- son. He is a member of the Patrons of Hus- bandry and has always been recognized as an intelligent and progressive business man.
BRAM F. HIGHBERGER, a substan- tial farmer. a well-known citizen and a prominent and leading school director of Sewickley township. is a son of Jacob and Mary (Funk) Highberger and was born within one mile of where he now lives in Sewickley township, Westmoreland county, Pa., November 23, 1839. On the paternal side he is of Ger- man ancestry. His great-grandfather, John Highberger, Sr., was a native of Germany and immigrated in 1803 to Westmoreland county where he settled in what was then North Hunt- ingdon but now Sewickley township. He pur- chased a tract of 170 acres of land from Wil- liam MeGrew, which had been patented by James MeGrew in 1797. This farm has been in the Highberger name ever since and is now owned by the subject of this sketch. John Highberger, grandfather, inherited a part of his father's estate and followed farming. He was a member of the Dunkard church, a quiet and peaceable citizen and a man who always attended strictly to his own business. Ile married Sarah Keefer, by whom he had twelve children, and after her death he married her sister, Eva Keefer, who bore him one child. Jacob High- berger (father) was a son by the first wife, Sarah
Keefer. Ile was born July 5, 1810, on the homestead farm, on which he resided at his death, which occurred October 17, 1881. IIe was buried in the Madison cemetery. was a farmer, a member of the United Brethren church and an uncompromising republican. Ho served as justice of the peace for five years be- sides holding various other township offices. Hle married Mary Funk, a daughter of Daniel Funk, of German descent. To them were born two sons and one daughter : David, a tinner by trade, who married Catherine Boyd and resides at Wilkensburg, Pa. ; Julia Ann, wife of Thomas Lee, a farmer of Hempfield township; and Abram F. Mrs. Highberger was born Febru- ary 10, 1814, died July 1, 1887, and her remains were buried in the Madison cemetery. The remains of John Highberger, Sr., and his son John are interred in the private cemetery on the Pool farm.
Abram F. Highberger attended the common schools of his neighborhood and at twenty-one years of age began life for himself as a farmer. He has always followed farming and stock- raising and owns one of the fine and well- improved farms of Sewickley township, which contains 170 acres of land.
Ile was married on November 14, 1861, to Keziah Tarr, who was born December 20, 1841. To this union have been born five children : Mary E., born October 1, 1862, died April 17, 1864; Ahna K., born March 30, 1864, and married November 5, 1884, to James Mitchell, a farmer of Sewickley township; Henry M., born January 9, 1860; Abbie E., born March 11, 1872; and John S., born September 28, 1877. Mrs. Keziah Highberger is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Pool) Tarr and is one of a family of six sons and four daughters. One of these sons was Lieut. John P. Tarr, who served in Co. K., 205th reg. Pa. Vols. and was killed in one of the last battles of the late civil war.
Abram F. Highberger is a republican. He
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BIOGRAPHIES OF
has served as school director for two terms and has been re-elected for a third term. He is a member of Philanthropy Lodge, No. 225, A. Y. M. He is a member and trustee of the U. B. church and was one of the building com- mittee of the new U. B. church at Madison, which was erected at a cost of $7,000. He is also a trustee of the Madison cemetery and was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by his father's death.
S IMON HIGHBERGER, one of Sewickley township's industrious, energetic and pros- perous farmers, is a son of John and Sarah (Keefer) Highberger and was born in Sewickley township, Westmoreland county, Pa., May 2, 1827. John Highberger was a son of John Ilighberger, Sr., a native of Lancaster county, l'a., who removed to Westmoreland county in about 1785 and purchased the farm on which Simon Highberger now lives. This farm has been owned by the family for about one hundred and ten years. John Highberger was born on his father's farm but after arriving at manhood he purchased another farm in Sewickley town- ship on which he lived until his death, which oc- curred May 21, 1860. He was a cooper by trade but followed farming. He was a member of the United Brethren church and was a demo- crat in politics until just before his death when he voted the republican ticket. Ile was twice married. His first wife was Sarah Keefer, whose father was a native and farmer of Venango county, Pa. She bore him twelve children and after her death he married her sister, Eva Keefer, by whom he had one child.
Simon Highberger received quite a limited education in the common schools but has made up for this deficiency by extensive reading and self-study. He learned the trade of shoemaker at which he worked continuously and success- fully until he was forty years of age. He then purchased his present farm of eighty acres which he has been engaged in cultivating ever since.
Ile was formerly a republican but now affiliates with and yields an earnest support to the Pro- hibition party. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Wineland of which he is class leader and recording stew- ard of Blackburn charge.
On December 23, 1847, he united in marriage with Martha Greenawalt, daughter of Christian and Ilannah Greenawalt, of Sewickley township. Mr. and Mrs. Highberger are the parents of four sons and one daughter : Albert C., born March 15, 1849, who is a carpenter and married Isadore Fox on January 15, 1878; William E., born June 15, 1851, married Hattie Lewis, of New York State, and is a carpenter and tank maker by trade but follows farming near the city of Lincoln in Lancaster county, Nebraska; James, born August 2, 1854, married Kate Marsh and is a carpenter at Irwin ; Hannah, born January 23, 1859, and Clark W., born March 13, 1861, united in marriage with Ella Zimmerman and is farming near the city of Lincoln in Lancaster county, Nebraska.
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