USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 92
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own fortune in the ministerial ranks. He is
singularly attached to children, among whom he always has hosts of friends, and in his pro- fession is earnest, sincere and faithful.
FOHN SNYDER. One of the old world's na- tives who has achieved business success in this county is John Snyder, a prosperous merchant of Manordale. Ile is a son of John Snyder Sr., a native of Germany, who married and died at an early age and whose wife sur- vived him but a few months and then passed away leaving an only child, the subject of this. sketch.
John Snyder was but an infant when his- parents died and was reared to manhood in Ger- many where he received his education in the public schools of that country. In 1846 he immigrated to the United States and for some time was a common day laborer. He next be- came a deck-hand on steamboats runnin ; from Pittsburg to New Orleans on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Leaving the western waters he went to Allegheny county, Pa., where he purchased a farm which he cultivated till 1878, when he came to Manordale and engaged in his present general mercantile business. He has a good stock of goods and a paying trade.
Hle was married on August 18, 1854, to Eliza- beth Weaver, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth (Shellenberger) Weaver, of Allegheny county, Pa. Adam Weaver was born and reared in Germany from which he emigrated in early life to America. He settled in 1848 in Allegheny county, where he afterwards died. He was a farmer by occupation, a democrat in politics and a member of the Reformed church. He reared a a family of four sons and six daughters, of whom six are yet living. One of the sons, Philip Weaver, served in the Mexican war. To John and Elizabeth (Weaver) Snyder have been born eight children, five sons and three daughters : John, died young ; Christopher, a merchant in Pittsburg, and married to Frances Shoaler;
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George, who married Eva Oyler and is a farmer in Allegheny county, Pa. ; Lizzie (dead) ; John (deceased) ; Annie B., Adam, and Minnie (dead.)
In political faith John Snyder is a republican. He and his wife and children are members of the Reformed church. In addition to his store and property at Manordale he owns a large farm in Allegheny county, this State. He is regarded as a safe and solid business man, as a reliable citizen and a good neighbor.
county, Pa., October 29, 1810, and died at Adamsburg, this county, October 29, 1868, aged exactly fifty-eight years. He learned the trade of tailor and in early life came to Irwin in North Huntingdon township, where he purchased and owned, for several years a farm, on which is built the village of Hahntown. In 1854 he removed to Adamsburg, which at that time was one of the most promising pike towns in the county. He opened a tailoring establishment and was thronged with orders till the railroad came and diverted the great stream of travel and large volume of business from the pike towns. After the building of the railroads he still had 1 left a very fair and paying patronage until his death in 1868. He was a skilled workman, a correct business man and a peaceable and well- respected citizen. He was a stanch democrat, a consistent member of the Reformed church and a generous friend. April 6, 1843, he united in marriage with Mary Ann Melville. They
reared a family of eight children : John, who died at twenty-one years of age; Elizabeth, who passed away in her nineteenth year; Wil- liam, married Matilda Hunter, and is a carpen- ter by trade ; Samuel, married to Harriet Lud- wiek and is the oldest cigar manufacturer at Adamsburg; Emma M., Harriett M., wife of Darwin Musick (see his sketch); D. P. and Charles Presley, who became book-keeper for the Greensburg Record in July 1889, and is a member of Penn Lodge, No. 106, Jr. O. U. A. M. Mrs. Mary A. Stahl is a daughter of John Melville, who was born in Ireland and died at Adamsburg July 1, 1869. He was a painter by trade, a democrat of the old school and a mem- ber of the Reformed church. He did consider- I able contracting in his line of work. He mar- ried Elizabeth Marchand who was born near
D ANIEL PATTERSON STAHL, one of the popular and successful young demo- cratie workers of Westmoreland county, and the efficient business manager of the well- known Greensburg Record, is a son of Nathan and Mary Ann (Melville) Stahl, and was born at ; Adamsburg January 30, 1823, and reared a Adamsburg, Westmoreland county, Pa., April 17, ! family of two sons and one daughter.
D. P. Stahl was reared at Adamsburg, where
1863. The Stalls are of German descent while the Melvilles are of Irish origin. Nathan Stahl, ; he attended the common, select and normal the father of D. P. Stahl, was born in Chester : schools of that place. After working for some time in a cigar manufactory he was appointed, February 3, 1883, as deputy clerk of the courts of Westmoreland county and served very satis- factorily in that capacity till March, 1886. He then formed a partnership with Darwin Musick and on April 1, 1886, they issued the initial number of their present paper, the Greensburg Record of which Mr. Stahl is the business manager. D. P. Stahl believes in the principles of Jeffersonian democracy as enunciated and 1 practiced by Andrew Jackson and Grover Cleve- Jand.
FACOB TARR, of Franklin township, is a son of Collin C. and Elizabeth (Bodders) Tarr, and was born November 11, 1830, in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pa. His great-grandfather was John Tarr, of Scotch-German extraction, who was a native of Maryland but immigrated to near Stonerville, this county, where he was one of
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the very earliest settlers, taking " tomahawk possession " of 100 acres of land, on which he Jived until his death. He was a potter by trade, a member of the Lutheran church and the father of five sons: Daniel, Henry, Casper, Frederick and Christian ; and five daughters, Maria, Sarah, Catharine, Elizabeth and an in- fant, which is dead. Daniel Tarr (grandfather) was born in East Huntingdon township in 1755 where he died in 1848. Hle was a whig and one of the earliest opponents of slavery. His brother, Christian Tarr, served in Congress, having been sent from Fayette county. Daniel Tarr married Frances Campbell of Winchester, Va., and was the father of six children. Once he was captured by the Indians, who were numerous and hostile, and held in captivity for three years. He was a large and powerful man and in fact the entire race of Tarrs have been conspicuous for their size. Jacob Bodders, maternal grandfather, was also born in East Huntingdon township but was of German descent; he was a blacksmith by trade and in religion a lutheran. He lies buried in the " Old Tarr " churchyard where lie the remains of several generations of the ancestors. Collin C. Tarr (father) was born at Stonerville, this county, in 1796, and died there in 1841. He was a contractor and as such built that portion of the "Old Pike" lying be- tween Uniontown and Hopwood, previous to which, however, he taught school. He was a democrat and the father of ten children. Of these Daniel served in the twenty-eighth regi- ment for three years and was wounded in the service. Alexander also served in the same war, as did Collin, who enlisted in Co. A, of a Pa. reg., and John, who served throughout the war.
Jacob Tarr is married to Martha Hobaugh and they have seven children : William, married to Mary Cole and living in Franklin township; George, a teacher of Franklin township, who is married to Belle Steel and has one child named Oscar; Daniel, a butcher; Robinson, Maggie,
Jennie, Annie, wife of James Mills, of Murrys- ville, and has one child named Eddie.
After leaving the common schools Jacob Tarr learned the trade of a potter, at which he worked for a number of years, becoming very proficient. A piece of pottery made by him was exhibited at an Indiana county fair and took first premium. In 1860 he embarked in the butcher business, which, in connection with farming, he has followed ever since. Ile is an active and careful man of business and has built for himself a house and barn among the best in the township. In politics he was form- erly a whig but is now a republican. IIe be- longs to the Methodist and his wife to the Re- formed church. Mr. Tarr is a man of much intelligence, has a good library, takes quite an interest in ancestral history and has in his pos- session many relies of the past, including an Indian tomahawk. His son Robinson took a thorough business course at Duff's college, Pitts- burg, graduating therefrom in 1888.
AJOR CYRUS THOMAS, an officer of the Army of the Potomac, a native and resident of Hempfield township and a popular republican leader of Westmoreland county, is a son of John and Catharine (Weaver) Thomas and was born in the historic Hannas- town district, Hempfield township, Westmore- land county, Pa., February 9, 1830. The pro- genitor of the Thomas family in Westmoreland county was Garret Thomas (great-grandfather) who came from Germany about the time of the French and Indian war. His son, Barnett Thomas (grandfather), was born and reared in Westmoreland county. . He was a large land owner in this county and the State of Ohio. Ile held some position in the militia of Pennsylvania and was a member of the old Harold Reformed church to which he was always a liberal contribu- tor. His wife was a Miss Mechling, who bore him five sons and five daughters. His son, John
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Thomas (father), was born in Hempfield town- ship, west of Greensburg, in 1799. In early life he removed west but was compelled to leave the western country on account of agne. He re- turned to his native county and engaged in farm- ing during the rest of his life. He was an old- line whig and republican, a member of the Re- formed church and an honest and upright man. On February 16, 1826, he married Catherine Weaver, sister of David Weaver, of Greensburg (see his sketch). They had six sons and two daughters of whom six are living. Of these sons : Nathaniel, died in the Mexican war, at Puebla, Mexico ; Abraham, was a soldier of the late war; Jacob, was captain of company I, eleventh Pa. Res., and Cyrus, who served as captain of company F, 103d reg., Pa. Vols. John Thomas died December 18, 1881, and at that time had six children, twenty-four grand- children and thirty-three great-grandchildren living. Mrs. Thomas was born August 7, 1801, and died February 27, 1886.
Maj. Cyrus Thomas was educated in the rural schools of his neighborhood and Jackson school of Unity township. At twenty years of age he 1 learned the carpenter trade. He engaged for several years in carpentering and contracting, which he still continues. In the late war he en- listed October, 1862, as first lieutenant of com- pany II., 168th Pa. Vols., and in the spring of 1865 he raised company F, of the 103d reg. and was commissioned as its captain. After the war he enlisted in the National Guard of Pennsyl- vania and was commissioned major of the tenth regiment.
On March 14, 1854, Maj. Thomas united in marriage with Elizabeth Jane Earnest, of Hemp- field township. To their union have been born seven children, of whom five are living : Anna K., widow of Thomas Evans; Margaret J., wife of William Hensel; Edward N., a carpenter; Joseph S., a bricklayer, and John A.
sessor of his township when it was democratic by three hundred majority and was second in number of votes for the republican nomination of sheriff in 1883, 1886 and 1889. He is a member of the First Reformed church of Greens- burg, Centennial Lodge, No. 100, A. O. U. W .; Select Knights of A. O. U. W., and a member of Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic.
R. EV. JACOB L. THOMPSON, of Del- mont, was born December 27, 1841, in Washington, Washington county, Pa. At the age of one year he was taken by his par- ents to West Virginia where he attended sub- scription schools from six until ten years of age, when he returned to the vicinity of Cannons- burg. in his native county, and for the next eight years followed farming. When the civil war broke out Jacob L. Thompson was one of those who rushed to the defence of the " Stars and Stripes " and assisted in crushing the Re- bellion ; he enlisted September, 1861, in company A, eighty-fifth reg., Pa. Vols., and was with MeClellan throughout his Peninsular campaign. He also participated in the operations of Gil- more's army in South Carolina as well as in the campaign of Gen. B. F. Butler during the spring and summer of 1864. He took part in a large number of battles, including those of Williams- burg, Bermuda Hundred, Deep Bottom, Straw- berry Plains, Siege of Petersburg Fort Harrison, cte., and was mustered out at Pittsburg, in No- vember, 1864, having served three years and two months. Jacob L. Thompson during the last year he spent on the farm previous to the war, had attended school at Jefferson college, Cannonsburg, Pa., and now that his military duties were over he again turned his attention to obtaining an education. Hle entered Duff's business college at Pittsburg from which insti- tution he graduated May 12, 1865; then went to Elder's Ridge academy two sessions-1866
In politics Maj. Thomas is an unswerving and hard-working republican. He was elected as- , and 1867. After a years experience as a teacher
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in Merrittstown Presbyterial academy, of Dun- lap's creek, Pa., he entered, September, 1867, the junior class of Washington and Jefferson col- lege, at Washington, Pa., and graduated from that college with the class of '69, having com- pleted the classical course laid down by that sub- stantial institution of learning. In September of that year he became a student of the Western Theological seminary, Allegheny City, graduat- ing April 15, 1872. The same spring he lo- cated at Curry's run as pastor of the Presby- terian church of that place, where he remained in that capacity four years. He was next called to the pastorate of the New Salem Presbyterian church and in 1876 he removed to New Salem (Delmont), where he yet lives, engaged in the active work of the ministry. He is a man of keen intellect, sharp, shrewd and sagacious ; his views are broad and liberal and his heart is filled with benevolence; he is both witty and ! humorous, and his discourses frequently sparkle with genius, though the subject apparently be dry and prosaic.
Rev. Jacob L. Thompson was married Septem- ber 4, 1872, to Sarah Park, of near Cannons- burg, Washington county, Pa., who has borne him three children : Martha J., born June 10, 1873; William Park, born June 21, 1875, died October 1, 1881, and Alexander M., born No- vember 2, 1883.
Mrs. Sarah (Park) Thompson is a daughter of William and Jane 1. Park, of Cannonsburg, Pa. Her mother is still living, but her father, who was a leading citizen of his county and a trustee of Washington and Jefferson college, has gone to join the silent majority.
and is a son of Augustus and Elizabeth (Topper) Ulery. His grandfather, Henry Ulery, was born in Germany and early in life came to West- moreland county, where he settled three and one-half miles east of Greensburg. He was a farmer, a democrat and a member of the Re- formed church. He died in 1889 at the age of seventy-eight years. Hemarried Hannah Hugus, who now lives at Greensburg. They had two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living. One of these is Augustus Ulery (father), who was born August 5, 1844, on the home farm. Ile began life as a track hand, but is now a division foreman on the Pennsylvania Railroad. He resides at George's station and is an active repub- can. Ile is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. On April 22, 1868, he married Elizabeth Topper. They are the parents of two children : Daniel R. and Louis M., who was i born July 22, 1871, and is a telegraph operator at Radebaugh junction, near Greensburg. Mrs. Ulery is one of eight children born to Henry and Catharine (Allen) Topper. Mr. Topper was a farmer and tanner and an old-line whig in politics.
Daniel R. Ulery attended the common schools and Greensburg high school. July 8, 1884, he assumed charge of George's station on the Penn- sylvania Railroad and has continued to hold that responsible position until the present time. When he took charge of the station he was only fifteen years of age and was one of the youngest agents then in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Mr. Ulery has discharged the duties of his position with credit to himself and satisfaction to his company and the public.
D ANIEL R. ULERY, one of the pro- gressive, genial and popular young men LARKE F. WARDEN, ex-register and recorder of Westmoreland county, a well qualified civil engineer and a resident of Greensburg, is a son of Paul and Mary (Fleming) of this county and ticket and freight agent at George's station, was born on his father's farm, three and one-half miles cast of Greens- burg, Westmoreland county, Pa., May 14, 1869, | Warden, and was born in East Huntingdon
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township, Westmoreland county, Pa. Ilis grandfather, Samuel Warden, was born in the north of Ireland in 1745, immigrated to York county, Pa., where he remained a short time and in 1768 or 1770 came to what is now East Hun- tingdon township. He camped in his cart for six weeks and then erected a cabin on " Spring- fields," a tract of three hundred and seventy acres of land which he located near the site of Mt. Pleasant. About 1775 he was joined by his two sisters : Margaret, who married John Neel, grandfather of William B. Neel, and the other who married William Neel, grandfather of James Neel. Samuel Warden was one of the founders and first elders and trustees of the old Middle Presbyterian church, which was organized in 1776. He was a prominent and useful man and died January 8, 1815, aged seventy years. In 1776 he married Mary Clarke, of Armstrong county, Pa., who died February 4; 1836, when in the ninety-fourth or ninety-fifth year of her age. They had six children : Robert, born July 8, 1777, removed to Ohio; Isabella, born December 17, 1778, died young; John, born October 2, 1780, went to Ohio; Martha, born October 14, 1782, married John Latta ; Paul, born November 25, 1784, and Samuel, Jr., born October 18, 1786, died in 1824. Paul Warden (father) was reared on the homestead farm and was a man of unusual business ability. owned several farms in North and South Hun- tingdon townships, was a democrat in politics and united about 1800 with the United Presby- terian church of Mt. Pleasant, of which he was a consistent member until his death, which oc- curred in June, 1855. In partnership with W. B. Hayes of Pittsburg, he sank the first shaft for coal west of the Allegheny mountains. It was put down at Shafton. On August 23, 1821, he married Mary Fleming of Mt. Pleasant. They had six children : Samuel, born August 8, 1822, and resides at Mt. Pleasant ; William, born November 23, 1823, died July 5, 1844; Major Robert, born August 21, 1825, served in
the Legislature in 1857-58, married in 1860 to Nancy White, of Fayette county, Pa. ; organized in 1861 at Mt. Pleasant, Co. B, twenty-eighth reg. Pa. Vols., commanded by Gen. John W. Geary, was promoted major of that regiment and died in Winchester, Va., hospital about July 4, 1862; Ilon. James, born August 1, 1827, served in the Legislature in 1878-79 and lives at Mt. Pleasant ; John, born August 8, 1829, educated at Westmoreland college at Mt. Pleasant, be- came an engineer on the State Portage Rail- road, and died at Summitville, Cambria county, Pa. in September, 1853; Clarke F., and Elea- nor, who died August 11, 1844.
Clarke F. Warden was a member of the first-class of Westmoreland college, Mt. Pleas- ant, and took the scientific course of Jefferson college, Cannonsburg, Pa. He studied survey- ing and civil engineering, went to Illinois, and served during 1854 and 1855 as deputy sur- veyor of Macon and Sangamon counties.
In 1856 he retured to South Huntingdon township, where he followed farming until 1860. From 1803 to 1869 he was engaged in the gen- eral mercantile business at Pleasant Unity. In the latter year he was elected register and recorder and served as such until Jan- uary 1, 1872. On May 1, 1875, he was appointed a clerk at Harrisburg, under Auditor General Temple, and in 1877 was promoted chief clerk and served in that capacity till May, 1878. Since then Mr. Warden has followed his profession of civil engineering and in connec- tion with surveying, secured rights of way for the S. W. P. R. R. and various natural gas companies. He is a prominent member of St. Clair Lodge, No. 53, A. O. U. W. In the Masonic fraternity, he is a member of Phil- anthropy Lodge, No. 225, Urania Chapter, No. 192, Olivet Council, No. 13, and Kedron Commandery, No. 18, Knights Templar.
Ile married Harriet Jack, daughter of Squire James Jack and granddaughter of Capt. John Jack of Revolutionary fame, who settled on the
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headwaters of Sewickley creek in Mt. Pleasant township prior to 1769. To Mr. and Mrs. Warden were born four children : Mary E., who died at the residence of her uncle Joseph Jack, Decatur, Illinois, in 1881 ; Anna B. now teach- ing in Pittsburg female college ; and two sons, James J. and Willie, who both died in infancy. Mrs. Warden died at Pleasant Unity in Decem- ber, 1867, and her remains are interred in Middle church cemetery.
The Warden family has always been one of the substantial and influential families of West- moreland county and has always been prominent in civil and political affairs.
OIIN WAUGAMAN, Sr., an old and high- ly respected citizen of Salem township, was born at Pleasant Unity, Westmoreland county, Pa., November 17, 1808, and is a son of Peter and Rachel ( Walton) Waugaman. His paternal grandparents were natives of Berks county and came to Westmoreland county about 1783. They were of German descent. Ilis maternal grandfather, Boaz Walton, died in Franklin township in 1820. His father, Peter Waugaman, was born in Berks county and was brought by his parents to Westmoreland county before he was two years of age. He was a farmer by occupation and married Rachel Wal- ton of Northampton county who died in Frank- lin township, this county, in 1857. Mr. Wauga- man was a member for many years of the Re- formed church at Manor and died in 1869.
John Waugaman, Sr., was brought by his father at six years of age to Salem township, where he attended the subscription schools until he was twenty-one years of age. From 1829 to 1832 he worked on his father's farm and in the latter year engaged in teaming between Holli- daysburg and Blairsville. After some years he left the road and engaged in his present occupa- tion of farming.
On March 12, 1835, he married Susanna Naly, daughter of Philip and Sarah Naly, by whom he had ten children : Josiah, who died in 1888 ; Boaz, died in 1865; John, a painter by trade and lives at Irwin ; Margaret, wife of Madison Mehaffey ; Sarah, married John Kun- kle ; Rachel, wife of Henry Miller; Mary, wife of John Good; Rebecca married Hiram Brinker and Susan and Sophia, who both died in child- hood. Mrs. Waugaman passed away in 1867 and on September 16, 1869, Mr. Waugaman united in marriage with Mrs. Salome Pool, daughter of John and Barbara Bierer of Ilemp- field township.
In politics Mr. Waugaman is a democrat. He is a member and trustee of New Salem Reformed church. He is a quiet and peaceable citizen and an honest and upright man in all his dealings with his neighbors.
BRAHAM HI. WEGLEY, a prosperous farmer and a public-spirited citizen, was born on the farm on which he now re- sides in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pa., on New Years Day, 1830, and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Heasley) Wegley. His paternal great-grandfather was John Weg- ley who was born at Easton, Northampton coun- ty, Pa., in 1718. He married Christina John- ston of that county and in 1773 removed with his family to Westmoreland county. Ile died in 1802 and is buried in Brush Creek cemetery. Ilis grandfather, Abraham Wegley, was born at Easton, December 12, 1755. Ile removed with his father to this county in 1773. Ile served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and after- wards took up three hundred acres of land in Hempfield township, for which his patent is dated December 17, 1818. Ile was a farmer by occupation and a democrat. Ile was a mnem- ber of the Lutheran church and helped to organ- ize the Brush Creek church of that denomination and to erect a building for the congregation.
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On March 2, 1779, he was married to Christina Briney, daughter of Mark Brincy, by whom he had ten children, three sons and seven daugh- ters. He died May 17, 1516. Jacob Wegley, third son of Abraham Wegley and father of A. 11. Wegley, was born on the homestead farm, January 17, 1795. He was a useful man in his community and a member and elder of the Brush Creek Lutheran church for many years. Ile was liberal of his means in aid of his church and other religious denominations. On June 24, 1819, he married Elizabeth Heasley, daugh- ter of Leonard Heasley, by whom he had eight children, of whom three sons and two daughters are yet living. Mrs. Elizabeth (Heasley) Weg- ley died July 30, 1839, and in 1842 Mr. Weg- ley united in marriage with Mary Kifer. By his second wife he had no children. He died 1 September 6, 1870.
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