USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 95
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
James Graham was reared in his native land until seventeen years of age, receiving his edu- cation in the common schools of that country. He then went to Scotland where he worked in the coal mines for a muuber of years and immi- grated to America in 1868, locating in Alle- gheny county, Pa., where he was engaged as pit boss for Dixon, Stewart & Co. for about twelve years. In 1880 he purchased the farm he now owns in Upper Burrell township, on which he has continued ever since. A large portion of this farm is underlaid with coal. Mr. Graham has opened a pit and in connection with his agricultural work engages largely in the coal business. Ile is a republican in pol- ities, a member of the U. P. church and one of
the good and reliable citizens of the county. Although a patriotic gentleman and loyal to the Stars and Stripes, Mr. Graham still cherishes a high regard for his native Erin, which he visited a few years ago and while there no doubt felt like saying with the poet : " How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood."
James Graham in 1859 was united in mar- riage to Margaret, daughter of John Nesbit of Lanarkshire, Scotland, and their union has been blessed with eight children : John, Alexander, James, Margaret, Arthur N., Christina, Robert and Archibald.
LBERT M. GOSSER, a resident of Al- legheny township, and a merchant at Leechburg, was born January 14, 1834, at Adamsburg, Westmoreland county, Pa., and is a son of William and Susan (Kistler) Gosser, both natives of this county. Ilis grandfather was Adam Gosser, a native of Northampton county, this State, who came to this county at an early day and was a contractor on the Greensburg and Stoystown pike. One of his sons William Gosser (father) was a blacksmith and prior to 1840 worked at his trade in Ad- amsburg, but in that year he removed to Leech- burg, where he continued at his trade until some twenty years before his death, when he retired from business. Ile died at Leech- burg in 1888 at the age of eighty-seven years. He belonged to the Lutheran church, was a life-long democrat and a popular man, serving his borough as burgess and council- man. Strong-willed, honest and successful in life, he was highly regarded by all who knew him and had hosts of friends. His wife, who was a native of this county and a member of the Lutheran church, died in 1838 at Adams- burg.
Albert M. Gosser, though born at Adams- burg, was reared at Leechburg, Armstrong county, Pa., where he received a common school
725
WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
education and afterwards learned the trade of marble cutting, at which he continued about twelve years in Leechburg. In 1868 he en- gaged in the mercantile business at that place and has been there ever since, carrying on a large general store. Mr. Gosser being the lead- ing merchant of Leechburg has a large trade and conducts a very successful business. He is a member of the Lutheran church. In 1872 he built a fine residence in Allegheny township, this county, where he now resides. In 1884 he · was one of the democratic nominees for Assem- bly, but with the remainder of the ticket was defeated by a small majority.
Albert M. Gosser was married in 1858 to Susan, a daughter of Israel Hill, of Armstrong county, by whom he has four sons and four daughters : Newton H., Emma D., Homer D., Franklin I., Lydia K., Lottie E., Grace L. and William A. Of these children Franklin I. Gosser is a graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and a practicing attorney of Pittsburg. Newton II. Gosser is engaged in the furniture and con- tracting business at Apollo and the others are yet at home. A. M. Gosser is an active and successful business man, and one of the best and most enterprising citizens of the county.
OSEPII S. HAWK, a pleasant, sociable and intelligent citizen of Allegheny township and a well-informed man upon all matters of public interest, is a son of Joseph and Eliza- beth (Steen) Hawk and was born in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, Pa., October 24, 1820. On his paternal side his ancestors were among the early settlers of the county. Ilis great-grandparents, Ilawk, came to near the site · of Greensburg long prior to the burning of IIan- nastown in 1782. One of their sons was Daniel Hlawk (grandfather) who was born in Northamp- ton county, Pa., and came with his parents to this county when only four years of age. His
father owned the farm which is now known as the Welty farm and lived to be eighty-eight years of age. Of his children one was Joseph Hawk (father) who was born near Greensburg, November 25, 1793. Ile removed in 1818 to Allegheny township where he died in December, 1880, when in the eighty-eighth year of his age. He was a farmer by occupation, a democrat in politics and had served his township as school director. He was a member of the Lutheran church at Greensburg, but when he removed to Allegheny township where there was no church of his denomination, he united with the United Presbyterian church of which he remained a member until his death. Ilis wife was Eliza- beth Steen, who was born March 5, 1797, in the Ligonier Valley, was a member of the United Presbyterian church and died July 3, 1880. They had nine children and all were brought up in the United Presbyterian church. One of these sons, John C. Ilawk, enlisted in the sixty- second reg. Pa. Vols., was wounded so badly at Malvern Hill that he was discharged from the service and returned home, where he afterwards married and resides upon a farm of two hundred acres, which he owns in partnership with the subject of this sketch.
Joseph S. Hawk was reared in Allegheny township where he received his education in the rural schools of his boyhood days, which he supplemented by constant reading and self- study. At twenty-one years of age he began teaching which he followed for ten years. Since then he has been engaged in farming and resides with his brother . John C. They own a valuable farm of two hundred acres of choice land and give attention to its cultivation and im- provement. Joseph S. Hawk is a member of the United Presbyterian church and a democrat in politics and has served as school director of Allegheny township. In 1859 and again in 1860 he was nominated by his party for the Legislature, but as Armstrong county was then in his legislative district, which was hopelessly
726
BIOGRAPHIES OF
republican, he was defeated as an inevitable re- sult, although polling the full strength of his party and in some places running away ahead of the democratic ticket. Mr. Hawk divides his time between his farm and his library and is well acquainted with all the topics of importance or interest which are being discussed to-day.
COHIN HUNTER, of Upper Burrell town- ship, Westmoreland county, Pa., was born on the farm on which he now resides, Jan- uary 20, 1819, and is a son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Anderson) Hunter. His father was born in county Donegal, Ireland, and immi- grated to the United States when a young man, locating in this county, where he followed ped- dling for a while. Later he embarked in the mercantile business at Freeport, Armstrong county, and early in the present century re- ; and three dead.
moved to the farm now owned and occupied by John Hunter, where he died in 1825, at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife, who died in 1840, aged sixty-nine years, was a native of Upper Burrell township and with her husband belonged to the Covenanter church. John An- derson (maternal grandfather) came to this county from east of the mountains about 1782 and purchased five hundred acres of land in what is now Upper Burrell township. Several times he was obliged to flee from the Indians, who were very hostile and troublesome at that time. On his farm eight men were killed by the redskins and they were buried on the same farm. The names of three of them were Capt. Miller, Wilson and Bennett. Mr. Anderson, who died about 1817, is buried at Poke Run church. One of his sons, Frank Anderson, while acting as a scout for a party of settlers fleeing to Han- nastown, came upon four Indians, one of whom he killed, but failed to secure the dead body because a drunken white man who accompanied the women, hearing the report of the gun threw the women into confusion and fright by his
1
screams and before order could be restored the other three Indians carried the dead one off.
John Hunter was reared on the farm he now occupies and after leaving the common schools devoted his time to agricultural pursuits. His farm was largely timber land when he began and most of it has been cleared by himself. In his earlier days he used to see on this land deer, bears, wild turkeys and once saw a catamount there. Mr. IIunter is a prosperous farmer, own- ing two hundred acres of valuable land, part of which is underlaid with coal and gas. He is an industrious, energetic man and a member of the Reformed Presbyterian or Covenanter church.
In 1847 John Ilunter and Mary Ann, daugh- ter of Robert Murry, of Burrell township, were united in marriage and to them have been born three children : Elizabeth, Margaret J. and Robert A. They have also eleven grandchildren
HOMAS C. KIER, one of Bell town- ships well educated and intelligent citi- zens, and one of Westmoreland county's leading fire-brick and tile manufacturers, was born on Wylie avenue, in Pittsburg, Pa., Au- gust 5, 1845, and is a son of Samuel M. and Nancy (Eicher) Kier. Ilis great grandfather Kier was a native of Ireland and immigrated to the United States some time after 1785. One of his sons was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch and was a successful salt manu- facturer at Tarentum, Pa. Samuel M. Kier (father) was the first man in the United States to gather the petroleum oil which came up with the salt water in his father's salt wells and sell it as a medicine. His bottling establishment was at the corner of Seventh avenue and Grant street, Pittsburg, from which he shipped thou- sands of bottles to his agents, who were located in every part of the Union. He afterwards had the oil analyzed in Washington City, D. C., where it proved to be a superior article to coal oil. He was a remarkably energetic and a won-
727
WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
derfully successful business man. He was also engaged in the iron and steel business, the pork transportation trade and operated two flouring mills. He owned over one hundred farms and died in Pittsburg in 1876, aged sixty-three years. Ile was a member and one of the founders of Christ M. E. church of Pittsburg. Ilis wife was Nancy Eicher, a native of Greens- burg and a member of the M. E. church.
Thomas C. Kier was reared in Pittsburg. He received his education in the Pittsburg Iligh school, Meadville college and the Western Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. Leaving school he entered the Pittsburg business office of his father and in 1874 formed a partnership with his brothers, William L., and Harry E., under the firm name of Kier Bros. They erected a brick works in Bell township, six miles below Saltsburg, on the Kiskiminetas river. That establishment burned down and shortly after- wards they erected their present ample and com- plete brick works, which occupy four acres of ground and in which sixty men are constantly employed in the manufacture of fire-brick and tiling. Their ware is disposed of in Pittsburg. They own one hundred and twenty-five acres of land adjoining their works and it is underlaid with coal, gas and fire-clay. They use the cele- brated whetstone grit of the Allegheny mount- ains in the manufacture of their superior wares, Thomas C. Kier is a member of the Presbyterian church of Saltsburg. He is a republican in politics.
In 1883 he united in marriage with Hannah R. Anderson, daughter of John Anderson, a farmer of Conemaugh township, Indiana county, Pa. Their union has been blessed with two children : Mary B. and Samuel C.
SRAEL KUNKLE, an enterprising citizen and a prosperous farmer who has resided all his life in his native township, was born in Burrell (now Upper Burrell) township, West-
moreland county, Pa., on the 19th of March, 1844, and is a son of Frederick and Eliza J. (Barnhart) Kunkle. His father was born near Greensburg, in Hempfield township, where he- carried on farming for some years, afterwards removing to Burrell township where he died in 1852 at the age of forty years, having devoted his life to the pursuits of agriculture. Ile was a man of great energy and strength, an incessant toiler and a successful farmer. ITis wife was also a native of Hempfield township and belonged with him to the Reformed church. She died in 1876.
Israel Kunkle was reared on the farm on which he now resides, received a common school education and has always been engaged in hus- bandry. He owns the old homestead which is an excellent and well improved farm, and another valuable farm near Merwin. He is one of the most successful farmers of the county, a good business man, intelligent, shrewd and careful, and stands high in the estimation of all that know him. He is a democrat in politics and in religious belief adheres to the teachings of the Presbyterian church, of which he is a consistent member and a liberal supporter
Israel Kunkle was married to Agnes, a daugh- ter of Thomas McQuaid of Washington township, who died May 20, 1887, leaving four children : Elmer R., Lyda J., Sadie B., and Melvin HI. Mr. Kunkle, on the 18th of March, 1890, was married to Mrs. Maggie (Steel) Patterson, daughter of James Steel, of Franklin township.
Like his father, Mr. Kunkle is a stanch democrat and very properly believes that the people, and not the officers, are the government, and that the officials should be regarded as the servants of the people who elect them.
LEXANDER A. LOGAN, a prominent farmer of Lower Burrell township, was born at Logan's Ferry, Allegheny county, Pa., and is a son of Hugh and Elizabeth (Perry).
728
BIOGRAPHIES OF
Logan. Ilis grandfather was Alexander Logan, a native of New. Jersey, who came to western Pennsylvania at a very early day, settling at Logan's Ferry where for many years he served as justice of the peace. At that day justices were " few and far between," and Mr. Logan did a land office business in tying matrimonial knots, as the candidates came from far and near
to be married, the fee varying from fifty cents to one dollar. Hugh Logan (father) was born at Springvale, Allegheny county, and was for many years engaged in the hotel and mer- cantile business at Logan's Ferry, where he was postmaster for a long time. For quite a number of years he ran the only mercantile establishment in that community. In 1809 he built a barn there that is yet standing. He died in the cighty-fifth year of his age. He was a prominent citizen of his day, had the confidence of the public, settled up many estates and was connected with the Lutheran church. Harrison Perry (maternal grandfather) was a native of Wales who immigrated to the United States at an early date, settling at Pittsburg, Pa. He was a carpenter by trade and hung the first bell ever hung in Pittsburg-the court house bell.
Alexander A. Logan was reared at Logan's Ferry, assisted his father in the store and on the farm, and at the age of thirty years entered the service of the P. F. W. & C. R. R. as a Pullman conductor, continuing therein until the close of the late war, running between Pittsburg and Chicago. In 1865 he was appointed traveling agent for the Fort Wayne and Allentown R. R. lines, and traveled through New England, mak- ing bis headquarters at Boston. In 1867 he returned and removed upon a farm in Burrell township, purchased by his father. Some ten years later he sold this farm and bought the one he now owns and occupies. Mr. Logan is a republican, has served as school director and in 1880 was census enumerator for Lower and Upper Burrell township and Parnassus borough.
Alexander A. Logan was married in 1864 to Miss Kate Fitzgerald, of Newport, Ky., and they have three children : Frederick, Maud and Olive.
'T AMES LESLIE, a prominent farmer and dairyman of Burrell township, was born in Allegheny county, Pa., October 31 (Hallow E'en), 1814, and is a son of George and Rebecca (Ferguson) Leslie. Ilis grandfather was Wm. Leslie who was born in castern Pennsylvania and served as a soldier in the war of the Revo- lution. He came to Westmoreland county when a young man, where he died. George Leslie (father) was a native of Allegheny county, Pa., and for a quarter of a century was a farmer on the farm of Mr. Ford, the glass manufacturer, and in 1830 came to this county, locating at Burrell township, where he continued farming until his death in 1833 at the age of about fifty- one years. While in Allegheny county he, in connection with farming, was engaged in run- ning a ferry boat at the foot of Bull creek. Ile was a member of the Presbyterian church, a whig and was a very determined man, noted for honesty and uprightness. Ilis wife was a native of Allegheny county where she died at the age of seventy years. Her father, David Ferguson, was a native of Ireland who came to the United States when a young man and served in the ranks during the Revolutionary war.
James Leslie was reared in the country, at- tended the common schools and in 1830 came to Westmoreland county where he has ever since continued in the pursuits of agriculture, owning a valuable farm there and another in Armstrong county. Ile is also engaged in the dairy busi- ness, is a member of the Presbyterian church and a republican in politics.
James Leslie was married to Jane L., a daughter of Martha Hughes, of Burrell township, and to their marriage four sons and two daughters have been born : Win. G., Joseph, David L., Thomas G., Martha and Mary J. Martha is
729
WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
the wife of Joseph Murray, who is a justice of the peace of Verona, Pa. Two of the sons, Wm. G. and Joseph, were soldiers in the civil war, as were also their uncles, George and Thomas Leslie.
IRAM T. METZGAR, a prominent and leading citizen of Bell township and the efficient agent of the Philadelphia and Saltsburg natural gas companies, was born in Indiana county, Pa., April 8, 1838, and is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Ringer) Metzgar. The Metzgar family was originally from Holland. Frederick Metzgar, paternal grandfather, was born in eastern Pennsylvania, immigrated to Westmoreland county, where he located in Mt. Pleasant township and followed for many years his trade of saddle and harness maker. Chris- tian Ringer, maternal grandfather, was born in Franklin township, this county, where he was a farmer by occupation. Daniel Metzgar, father, was born in Pleasant Unity in Unity township, Westmoreland county. He removed to Salem where he engaged in the mercantile business which he pursued till his death in 1859, when in the forty-seventh year of his age. Ile was a member of the Presbyterian church and a democrat in politics. His wife was Elizabeth Ringer a native of Franklin township and a member of the Presbyterian church and died in 1883, aged seventy-six years.
Hiram 'T. Metzgar was reared principally at Delmont and received his education in the com- mon schools and an academy at Pleasant Unity. Leaving school he followed the general mercan- tile business at Delmont till 1863, when he en- gaged in the clothing business at Pleasant Unity. Two years later he resumed merchandizing at Delmont which he pursued successfully until 1868. He then removed to his present farm where he has resided ever since, excepting two years (1873 to 1875) spent in the oil country. lle was also in the oil region in 1861 and 1862.
In 1885 he was employed by the Natural gas company of Philadelphia, who are doing busi- ness in Pittsburg, to secure land leases for them. He has paid out since then nearly $50,000 as royalties and for leases. He is also acting as an agent for the Saltsburg natural gas company. He owns a splendid farm of two hundred and five acres which is well improved. He is a member of Poke Run Presbyterian church and Lodge No. 542, I. O. O. F. He is a democrat in politics, was elected in 1876 as justice of the- peace and has served in that capacity ever since.
In 1864 he married Mary E. Bowman, daugh- ter of John Bowman, of Bell township. To their union have been born five children, three sons and two daughters : J. Clarence, Charles H., Armel II., Matilda B. and Mary L.
OHN ELLIOTT McGEARY, a prominent farmer and leading citizen of Allegheny township, was born July 5, 1835, in Alle- gheny township, Westmoreland county, Pa., and. is a son of James and Margaret (Elliott) Mc- Geary. Ilis grandfather was William McGeary, who came from eastern Pennsylvania to this county, where he took out a patent for a tract of land in Allegheny township in the early days. when the hostility of Indians frequently obliged the settlers to flee to a block-house for safety. For many years he was a ruling elder in the Poke Run Presbyterian church during the pas- torates of Revs. Laird and Kirkpatrick, and died in 1851 at the age of eighty-eight years, having reared a family of seven sons and two daughters, all of whom lived to grow old. One of the sons was James McGeary (father), a native of Allegheny township and a farmer by occupation. In his earlier years he was a mem- ber of the Poke Run Presbyterian church but latterly joined the U. P. church, to which he belonged at the time of his death, which occurred in 1875 at the age of seventy-four years. He was a democrat in polities until the Know-
730
BIOGRAPHIES OF
Nothing party originated and after that was a republican. Ilis wife, who was a native of Allegheny county, was also a member of the U. P. church and died in 1882 at the age of seventy-seven years.
John E. MeGeary was reared on the homestead farm and received his education in the common schools and at the Leechburg Institute. After leaving school he engaged in teaching which he followed for twenty-two years, always boarding at home and meeting with singular success. Between the terms he also carried on farming and now owns a valuable farm which he keeps in a high state of cultivation and improvement. Ile is an elder in the Puckety U. P. church and a republican in politics, now holding the office of township auditor. Hle is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry and is an officer in the State Grange.
John E. MeGeary was married in 1858 to Sarah J., a daughter of George MeLaughlin, by whom he has six children living, four sons and two daughters: Martin N., George II., Annie M., Miller J., Lillie J. and William A. Of these children Martin N. MeGeary is a prac- ticing attorney and a member of the law firm of Spiegel & McGeary, of Greensburg. George II. MeGeary is a physician and is located at Homestead, Pa. Miller J. MeGeary is a clerk in a clothing store at Homestead, and the others are yet at home.
J. E. MeGeary is one of the good citizens of the county and belongs to an old and respected family.
OHIN S. MCKEAN, one of the most intel- ligent men and a leading farmer of Burrell township, is a son of John and Margaret Jane (Anderson) Mckean and was born Febru- ary 5, 1849, in Lower Burrell township, West- moreland county, Pa. His grandfather, John S. MeKean, was a native of county Donegal, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1815, settling in Burrell township, this county, where
he owned a quarter-section of land and was also engaged in the mercantile business, in con- nection with which he ran a four-horse wagon through the country, buying produce which he hauled to Pittsburg. Mr. Mckean was a suc- cessful business man and an active politician, taking great interest in the affairs of the Demo- cratic, his chosen party, which elected him to all the various offices of the township. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church and died on March 8, 1861, at the age of seventy- one years. His son, John McKean (father), is a native of Philadelphia, born three months after his father's arrival from the Emerald Isle. Ever since his marriage he has been engaged in farming in Burrell township, of which he is one of the oldest settlers. He was born in 1815 and still lives on his farm at the age of seventy- five years. He has been a life-long democrat and always took an active part in politics. Energetic and honest, he has made life a suc- cess, has accumulated considerable property and has frequently been urged to become a candi- date for office, but steadfastly refuses. IIe is a member of the United Presbyterian church and has been for more than half a century. His wife, who was also a member, died December 23, 1879, at the age of fifty-five years.
John S. MeKean was reared on the home farm, received his education in the common schools and the Parnassus academy and has ever since devoted his attention to farming, with the exception of four years spent as clerk in a general mercantile house at Parnassus. lle now owns a good farm near Parnassus and is still a thrifty agriculturalist and one of the foremost citizens of his township.
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.