USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 80
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On September 27, 1851, he married Mary J. Woodward, a daughter of Jehu Woodward, who. was a native of Pennsylvania, and married Keziah Henry, by whom he had ten children : Joel, William, Laughlin, Capt. John and Mary J., Sarah, Elizabeth, Pamelia, Louisa and Kezia. The four sons served in the late war, one of whom, John, went out as a private in Co. E, fifth Reg., Pa. Vols. and was promoted to a cap- tainey. To Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were born three sons and one daughter : Elizabeth, wife of Rev. C. M. Hartzell, pastor of the Reformed church at Latrobe this county ; James, a farmer in Sewickley township, who married Alma High- berger, daughter of Abram Highberger (see his sketch), and William and John, who are unmar- ried and reside with their mother on the home farm, which they have kept in a good state of cultivation and productiveness. They are in -. dustrious and successful farmers.
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LBERT MONMYER is the fifth of seven children born to George and Caroline Frick, the latter a daughter of George Frick. The paternal grandfather of Albert Mommyer, John Mommyer, of German origin, was born and reared near Adamsburg, Pa., and was married to Catharine Loce. They first set- tled in Greene county and subsequently removed to near Smithton in South Huntingdon town- ship.
Albert Monmyer was married January 17, 1882, to a daughter of William and Florinda Hepler. To their marriage have been born three children : Lucetta F., born June 9, 1883; Venia, born June 10, 1887, and an infant born September 26, 1889.
He owns a small but valuable farm of sixty- two acres, underlaid with rich stratas of coal and limestone.
His education was received in the common schools of the county. He is an active worker in the Democratic party and is a member of the Lutheran church at Smithton.
ILLIAM F. MORGAN. a merchant and prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, was born April 12, 1843, in Elizabeth, Allegheny county, Pa., and is a son of Benjamin F. and Martha (Tower) Morgan and a grandson of Morgan D. Morgan, a native of Glamorganshire, Wales, who immi- grated to America in 1814 and settled at Pitts- burg, Pa., where he devoted his time to teaching school and blacksmithing until he died in 1856. Benjamin F. Morgan (father) was born April 5, 1824, in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., where he lived until 1873 when he removed to Bellaire, Ohio. He died in the latter place October 8, 1889. He was a man of piety and served for twenty years as elder in the First Presbyterian church, South Side, Pittsburg. In 1861, July 4, he entered the sixty-second reg., Pa. Vols., Col. Black, and served three years, when he was
discharged August 8, 1864, having taken part in every battle in which his regiment was enga- ged. His occupation was that of glass-cutter and during his life he laid by a handsome com- petency for his family. He was the father of six children, all living, of whom William F. Morgan is the eldest. His maternal grandfather Tower was a native of Pennsylvania and married Martha, a daughter of Col. Edward Cook, who served in the Revolutionary war on the staff of Gen. Washington and who also took a leading part in the Whiskey Insurrection, at which time there was a reward of five hundred dollars offered for his head. A Mr. Hamilton was sent for him, but Cook escaped and went into the U. S. Congress then sitting in Philadelphia and gave himself up. Some time after the war for Independence he came to Fayette county, Pa., where he took up six hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Cookstown, which bears his name.
William F. Morgan married Martha, a daugh- ter of Frank Reeder, who was for forty years a justice of the peace in Washington county, Pa. They have six children : Harry R., Frank E., Pearl A., Katie, May E., and Helen G.
William F. Morgan was educated in the pub- lic and high schools of Pittsburg, which he left at the age of eighteen to enter the civil war. Ile was one of the seventy-five thousand volunteers called for in April, 1861, and served in the thirteenth reg. Pa. Vols. Ile enlisted July 4, 1861, in the sixty-second reg. Pa. Vols., and served till March 25, 1863 ; re-enlisted August 9, 1863, in a Pennsylvania battery of light ar- tillery for one year but served until the close of the war. He took part in the battles of Wil- liamsburg, Hanover Court House, Mechanics- ville, Gaines' Mill, Seven Days fight and the siege of Yorktown, and was on guard at Wash- ington, D. C. when President Lincoln was as- sassinated. He was one of the guard of honor that accompanied the remains from the White House to the capitol where they were to lie in state. While there he saw and talked with Bos-
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ton Corbett who shot Booth, the slayer of the " Martyr President." Mr. Morgan is a promi- nent member of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic and is an active republican. He followed glass-cutting until 1873 in Pittsburg, moved to Belle Vernon and continued it there until 1889, when he embarked in the mercantile business. Ile is an elder of the Presbyterian church and an earnest worker in the cause of christianity.
ILLIAM C. NEWLIN, who owns one of the well-improved farms of Sewickley township and who is a leading citizen of the community in which he has resided for nearly sixty years, was born in Elizabeth town- ship, Allegheny county, Pa., April 15, 1830, and is a son of John and Jane (Ong) Newlin. Nathan Newlin, paternal grandfather, was born east of the Allegheny mountains. He was a large landholder of Allegheny county and his farms are in the hands of his grandsons. Hle was reared a Quaker but finally united with the M. E. church. He donated the land on which the Dravo M. E. church now stands. He was a whig and married Jane Shannon, by whom he had five sons and six daughters. Jesse Ong, maternal grandfather, was a resident for many years of Sewickley township in which he died. He was a farmer, a whig and a Quaker or Friend. His wife was Betsey McGrew, a mem- ber of one of the pioneer families of Sewickley. township, by whom he had four children. John Newlin (father) was born in Allegheny county, Pa., June 22, 1798, and died December 7, 1841. Ile followed farming until his marriage after which he removed to Millville, in Sewick- ley township, where he engaged in the mercan- tile business as long as he lived. He was a whig and a member of the M. E. church. He married Jane Ong and their union was blessed with six children : Jesse, born January 1, 1822 ; Elizabeth W., born September 10, 1824; Wil- liam C., Jane, born September 30, 1832; James
B., born February 23, 1835, and John H., born March 30, 1840. Mrs. Jane (Ong) Newlin (mother) was born October 18, 1797, and lived until February 11, 1877. She made her home for many years with William C.
William C. Newlin acquired a good common school education. IIe taught school for several winters and worked at brick masonry during the intervening summers. In 1857 he purchased the farm of fifty-four acres on which he resides and on which he has erected a good house, barn and outbuildings. This farm is part of the original tract rescued from the wilderness about the middle of the last century by John McDonald, Mrs. Newlin's great-grandfather. He is a re- publican, a member and trustce of the Dravo Methodist Episcopal church, of which church he has been a steward for at least twenty-five con- secutive years
Ile was married on May 6th, 1852, to Livvia J. McDonald, daughter of Alexander and Jane (Todd) MeDonald. Of this marriage have been born two children : Margaret Jane, born Feb- ruary 24, 1853, died March 7, 1864, and the Rev. Alexander Willis, born April 9, 1856, graduated from California, Pa., Normal school in 1877 and Allegheny college, Meadville, Pa., in 1884; married Mary E. York, of Randolph, Ohio, June 30, 1884 ; was professor of drawing and elocution in the California, Pa., State Nor- mal school for two years; was professor of Hebrew and Greek in Allegheny college for four years ; entered the ministry in 1888 and is now pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church of Damascus, Ohio, where he is having great suc- cess. Mrs. L. J. Newlin was born January 2, 1830, is a Methodist and is of Scotch extraction. Her father was a great-grandson of William McDonald, who emigrated from Scotland to Ire- land and whose son, John, was one of the first settlers of Sewickley township. His only child, Alexander McDonald, Sr., inherited the home- stead and married Livvia Watson and had three sons and one daughter. One of these sons, was
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Alexander McDonald, who inherited his father's farm, was a democrat and Presbyterian. He had four children : Henry, born in 1828; Liv- via J., born in 1830; Margaret, born in 1834, and William, born in 1839.
W. C. Newlin is correct in his business methods and has acquired a competency by honesty and economy. Ile is a kind neighbor, wins and retains the good-will of all who know hiu.
OIIN NORCROSS, a descendant of the New Jersey Norcross family of Revolution- ary fame and one of the oldest school direc- tors of Pennsylvania in years of service and a resident of Sewickley township, is a son of Charles and Martha (Wheatley) Norcross and was born in the Red Lion district, Jefferson township, Fayette county, Pa., May 12, 1822. Prior to the Revolutionary war a Noreross set- tled in New Jersey and had four sons. Three of these served in the heroic struggle of the American colonies for independence, for which one of them gave his life. The fourth son, William Norcross (grandfather), emigrated in 1795 from New Jersey to Fayette county, Pa., and settled on the Monongahela river where he was offered the land for his gun but did not take it. This land is now owned by the Seele heirs. Ile was a blacksmith, a member of the C. P. church and late in life removed to Greenfield (Coal Center), Washington county, this State, where he died. Before he left New Jersey he married Sarah Taylor and one of his sons was Charles Norcross (father), who was about five years of age when he left New Jersey. He lived in Fayette county till 1824 when he re- moved to Rostraver township where he bought a farm and on which he died November 2, 1844. He was the first man in that township to vote the whig ticket. Ile was a Baptist and mar- ried Martha Wheatley, a daughter of John Wheatley, who was a native of New Jersey, and settled near Perryopolis, Fayette county,
Pa., where he afterwards died. Charles Nor- cross reared a family of four sons and four danghters, of whom three sons and one daughter are living: William, who lives n ar Perryopolis; Levi resides in Kansas where he owns a cattle ranch of 1,900 acres of land ; Re- becca, married to William Ross and lives in South Huntingdon township, and John.
John Norcross received his education in the rural schools of his day. IIe learned the trade of blacksmith, at which he worked from twelve years of age until he was thirty-four. He then (1856) purchased his present farm of eighty acres and has been engaged in farming ever since.
John Norcross, on March 5, 1840, married Eliza J. Patterson, a daughter of James Patter- son of Perry township. Mr. and Mrs. Nor- cross are the parents of three children : Mary E. ; Rebecca, wife of Henry Stahl, of East End, Pittsburg, who is a traveling salesman for Dilworth Brothers of that city ; and William R. Noreross.
In politics Mr. Norcross is a republican. He has served for twenty-two years as a school director of Sewickley township and was a mem- ber of the school board during the late war, when it handled thousands of dollars of com- inutation which was raised by the township. Ilis long retention in office as school director speaks highly of his efficiency and popularity as a member of the school board.
ATTIIEW OSBURN, one of the thor- ough-going, energetic, live business men of Westmoreland county and the popu- lar proprietor of the splendid and commodious Osburn House of Sutersville, is a son of George and Jane (Cowen) Osburn and was born in North Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pa., August 25, 1836. Ilis paternal grandfather, Archibald Osburn, was born in Ireland and received a good education. Ho
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emigrated to Westmoreland county where he settled near Stewartsville. Ile was a presby- terian of the " Old Union " as it existed before the church separated and was a prominent man in his counnunity. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Cowen, was born in New Jersey and served in the War of 1812. For his services in that struggle he received a land warrant for 160 acres of land. He came to Westmoreland county about the beginning of the present cen- tury, was of Scotch descent and of the same Cowan family from which United States Senator Edgar Cowan was descended. His mother was a cousin to Joseph Cowan, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. George Osburn (father) was a hatter by trade. He was a good workman, an industrious man and died in 1839. Ile was a native of this county ard married Jane Cowan, who died in 1802. They had four children, of whom three are living.
Matthew Osburn received his education in the common schools. His father died when he (Matthew) was only three years of age and he was compelled to do for himself at an early age. With untiring energy and commendable zeal he labored at all kinds of work. He was a driver in the Westmoreland Coal company's mines for some time and in 1862 became superintendent of Y. C. II. Coal company's coal mines on the B. & O. railroad. After fifteen years efficient service as superintendent for that company he (1880) engaged as inspector of cars for the B. & O. railroad. In 1883 he opened a hotel at Smithton but the next year removed to Sutersville, where he erected his present hotel, which is one of the best hotels in the county. The Osburn House is a fine conspicuous frame building, 40 x 80 feet in dimensions, four-stories in height and is well arranged and completely furnished throughout for the comfort and accom- modation of its many patrons. Mr. Osburn well understands his business and the cuisine and bill of fare are equal to those of a first-class city hotel.
On September 12, 1857, he united in mar- riage with Elizabeth Gregg of near Saltsburg, Pa. They have nine children : James II., George E., Oliver O., Anne G. and Jennie C. (twins), Lawrence E., Maud II., Edith L. and Eva A.
Matthew Osburn is a democrat in politics and has served as school director. He has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity for twenty-one years and is a Knight Templar of Kedron Commandery, No. 18, of Greensburg.
BRAHAM O. OVERHOLT, a prosper- ous farmer and intelligent citizen of East Huntingdon township and a descendant of one of the old and substantial families of the county, was born on the farm on which he re- sides in East Huntingdon township, Westmore- land county, Pa., July 12, 1811, and is a son of Martin and Catherine (Overholt) Overholt. The Overholts are of German origin and are widely scattered throughout East Huntingdon and adjoining townships. The founder of the American branch of the family was Martin Overholt, who came from Germany to Bucks county, this State, some time after 1730. IIe was born in 1709 and died in 1746, leaving a family of four children, one of whom was Henry Overholt (grandfather) who was born in 1739. He married Anna Beidler in 1765 and reared a family of five sons and seven daughters. He was a farmer and distiller and removed in 1800 to East Huntingdon township, where he died March 5, 1813, and preceded his wife to the tomb by twenty-two years. One of his five sons, Martin Overholt (father) was born in 1772, came to this country in 1862 and purchased, in 1809 the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch. He was married in 1802 to Catherine, daughter of Abraham Overholt, a minister of the Mennonite church and not related to Henry Overholt. They had four sons and three
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daughters. Of these seven children the follow- ing three are living : Anna, widow of Adam Tinsman, Abraham O. and Martin O. Martin Overholt died June 18, 1835, and Mrs. Over- holt passed away December 21, 1866.
Abraham O. Overholt was reared and has always resided on the farm on which he was born and which he has owned since his father's death. Ile attended the old subscription schools of three quarters of a century ago and received a very fair education. Leaving school he gave his attention to farming and stock-raising and has successfully pursued that business for nearly sixty years.
On March 25, 1847, he married Mary Stoner, daughter of Abraham Stoner, of East Hunting- don township, this county. They have three children, one son and two daughters : Susan, born January 20, 1849, Anna, born July 1, 1851, and John born July 7, 1856.
The farm of Abraham Overholt contains one hundred and fifty acres of choice farming land and a portion of it is heavily underlaid with limestone and coking coal. Mr. Overholt was an old line whig while that political party was in existence and since then he has been a republi- can. He is a member of the Stonersville Men- nonite church. The Overholts with scarce an exception have always been republicans and members of the Mennonite church.
AMES M. PATTERSON, one of Rostraver township's leading farmers and substantial citizens, was born on the farm on which he now lives, in Rostraver township, Westmoreland county, Pa., October 20, 1837, and is a son of Elijah and Mary (McConnell) Patterson. IIe traces his ancestry back to Eastern Pennsylvania, from which his paternal grandfather, John Pat- terson, emigrated to Rostraver township, where he purchased five hundred acres of land for about $1,500. Ile was a farmer, a democrat and a
member of the United Presbyterian church. Ilis mother's people were originally natives of Washington county, Pa., from which his maternal grandfather, Adam McConnell, removed to Alle- gheny county, Pa., where he lived for several years and died. Ile was a farmer, a democrat, a soldier of the War of 1812 and a life-long member of the United Presbyterian church. Ilis father, Elijah Patterson, was born in castern Pennsylvania, about 1776 and came with his father to Rostraver township, where he died in 1839. He was of the same political opinion and religious faith as his father. In 1827 he united in marriage with Mary McConnell. To their union were born five children : Robert S., a farmer ; Adam M. (dead), Thomas (dead), James M. and Mary E.
James M. Patterson worked on his father's farın and attended the common schools until he attained his majority. Ile then engaged in farming and stock-raising for himself and has followed that business ever since. He owns a fertile and well-improved farm which is a part of the original five hundred acre tract purchased by his grandfather Patterson. He served a short time in the late civil war and was a member of Co. II, fifty-eighth reg. Pa. Vols.
James M. Patterson, on February 14, 1861, united in marriage with Margaret Orr, daughter of Lowery and Rachel (Boyd) Orr. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have had three children, of whom two are living : Minnie B., born September 24, 1864, and married David Larimer, who is a son of Thomas Larimer, and is engaged in farming ; and Annie, who was born October 14, 1866.
In politics Mr. Patterson is an active repub- lican but is not an extremist. In religious belief he holds to the faith of his father and grandfather. IIe and his wife and daughters are members of the West Newton United Presbyterian church. IIe has been successful in farming and enjoys the reputation of being an intelligent, honorable and upright citizen of his native township.
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i SRAEL PATTERSON, a successful and well-respected farmer of Rostraver township, is a son of William and Jane (Corwin) Pat- - terson and was born in Westmoreland county, Pa .. January 3, 1825. His father, William Patterson, was a resident of Rostraver township during the greater part of his life. Ile was a miller by occupation but gave considerable at- tention to farming. In political opinion he was a democrat of the Jacksonian school. He owned a farm on the bank of the Youghiogheny river, on which he died in 1842. He married Jane Corwin, who bore him twelve children, of whom six are living.
Israel Patterson was reared on a farm, where he was trained to agricultural pursuits. Ile re- ceived his education in the subscription schools of that day. He made choice of farming as a life pursuit and has been a farmer ever since leaving school. Ile owns a large farm of two hundred and five acres of valuable land in Ros- traver township, where he is very comfortably situated for enjoying life after many years of honest labor. While attending to his farm he has engaged in raising and dealing in stock and has been successful in that line of business. In politics he has ever been a stanch republican from principle and has served his township as school director and road supervisor.
Mr. Patterson was married to Margaret Owens, of Mckeesport, Allegheny county, Pa. To their union have been born six children : Charles C., Alfaretta, Anna V., Alfred G., Ilattic and Fanny.
Israel Patterson is a plain and unassuming man and has always been a peace-loving and law-abiding citizen.
FOIIN S. PATTERSON, a progressive far- mer of Rostraver township, was born May 2, 1850, in Redstone township, Fayette county, Pa., and is a son of George and Mary (Stevens) Patterson. This is one of the old and
respected families of the county. More than a century ago Alexander Patterson, the great- great-grandfather of John S. Patterson, took out a patent for a tract of land in Rostraver town- ship, this county, containing two hundred and forty acres and known as the " Rich Grove." This was afterwards transferred to Thomas Pat- terson (great-grandfather) in 1793. The patent is signed by Thomas Mifflin, the first governor of Pennsylvania under the constitution of 1790. Thomas Patterson (grandfather) was born on the old homestead about 1781, prior to the taking out of the patent, and died in 1823. He, like his ancestors, followed farming and in politics was always found in opposition to the old Demo- cratie party. He was married to Mary Shields, a native of Allegheny county, Pa., who died at the age of fifty-six years and lies interred, to- gether with all the Patterson ancestry of this county, in the burial ground of the Rehoboth Presbyterian church. Of their children the only one now living is George Patterson (father) who was born on July 16, 1821. on the old homestead, where he has spent all his years en- gaged in the pursuits of husbandry, except seven years during which he lived in Fayette county. Ile was originally a whig, but since the forma- tion of the Republican party he has been iden- tified with that organization. Ile is the father of two children : John S., and Naomi, who is the wife of Dr. Patton, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. John Stevens, ma- ternal grandfather, was a native of Fayette county, Pa., where he was engaged in farming until his death ; he lived and died in what is known as the " Red Lion" country in Redstone township.
John S. Patterson, having obtained a common school education, devoted his attention to agri- culture in the pursuits of which he has con- tinued ever since on the "old homestead," to which the family is and has for generations been warmly attached. It is the well-beloved spot where first their eyes beheld the light of day,
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the sacred " home, sweet home," around which cluster the memories of childhood's happy days, the bright dreams of youth and the auroral light of first love. Mr. Patterson is a congenial companion, an esteemed citizen and a progres- sive and intelligent man. He is a republican and a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church.
John S. Patterson and Cora Harris, a daugh- ter of Benjamin and Sarah (Freeman) Harris, were united in marriage in October, 1873, and their union has been blessed with five children : Lulu, born October 7, 1874; Mary, born May 17, 1876; Winnie, born May 31, 1881 ; George II, born November 15, 1886, and Cora Edna, born November 5, 1888.
D R. ROBERT G. PATTON, a skilled practitioner of dentistry, was born June 19, 1846, in Washington township, Fayette county, Pa., and is a son of Stephen and Susan (Galloway) Patton. His great-grandfather, Joseph Patton, was a native of New York, re- moved to Fayette county, Pa., in 1778, where he took up a section of land which he farmed and at the same time operated a distillery. He had one son who served in the War of 1812 and another, John Patton (grandfather), who was born in Fayette county, Pa., where he died in 1862 at the age of eighty-three. John Patton married Nancy Woodrow, who bore him eight children. Ile was a farmer and acquired con- siderable property during his life. Stephen Patton (father) was born February 1, 1806, in Fayette county, Pa., where he is still living. During the active period of his life he was a carpenter and undertaker and owned a farm which he worked for a number of years. In politics he adhered to Jeffersonian principles, served as a school director and belonged to the Rehoboth Presbyterian church. Ile married October 28, 1838, and had nine children.
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