USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families > Part 22
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William Steele settled in Salisbury, N. C., where he married a widow, Mrs. Eliza- beth (Maxwell) Gillespie, whose first hus- band, Robert Gillespie, was killed by tlie Cherokee Indians in 1760. William Steele died Nov. 1. 1773, at the age of thirty-nine years. He left one child, a son named Jolin Steele, who was born in 1764. This son became prominent in public affairs, was elected to the North Carolina Legislature at the age of twenty-four, and afterward to the convention which was called to pass upon the Federal constitution. In 1790 he was elected to the first United States Congress, in which body he served two terms. He was a warm admirer of President Washington, who in 1796 appointed him the first Comp- troller of the United States Treasury, a posi- tion he held until 1802 with such acceptability that President Jefferson requested him to continue in the office. He was again a mem- ber of the North Carolina Legislature in 1794 and in 1795, also in 1806, 1811, 1812
and 1813. In ISII he was Speaker of the House. On Aug. 14, 1815, he was again elected a member of the House, but died on the day he was elected. He was greatly ap- preciated by the State at large and was elected Major General of Militia by the Legislature, and is usually spoken of in history as Gen. Steele.
Through the troublous times of the Rev- olution Elizabeth Steele kept a hotel in Salis- bury, and corresponded regularly with her relatives in Carlisle. Her letters were always directed to Ephraim Steele, whom she ad- dressed as "Dear Brother." They show her to have been a woman of deep piety, intelli- gence and good judgment, and withal prac- tical and patriotic. By her marriage with Robert Gillespie she had two children, a son and a daughter. The son, Robert Gillespie, was a soldier in the Revolution, but died without issue a year or two after his return from the army. The daughter, Margaret Gillespie, married Rev. Samuel McCorkle, who became a distinguished Presbyterian di- vine and the progenitor of numerous descen- dants now scattered over the South. When Cornwallis's army passed through North Carolina the British soldiers plundered her of everything they could appropriate to their use, but the loss only intensified her love and devotion to the cause of liberty. One day during the invasion Gen. Greene, of the American army, alighted in front of her hotel. An army physician who had charge of the sick and wounded prisoners received him at the door and inquired after his well being. "Fatigued, hungry, alone and penni- less," was Greene's heavy-hearted reply. Elizabeth Steele overheard his desponding words and a little while afterward, while the great man was sitting at her table, the noble-hearted woman entered the room, closed the door, and drawing from under her
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apron two bags of money placed them be- fore him. saying : "General, take these. you will want them, and I can do without them." The incident is related in Irving's "Life of Washington." but no allusion is made to it in any of Elizabeth Steele's interesting let- ters to Ephraim Steele.
Elizabeth Steele had a brother named William Maxwell, who in the Colonial days lived in Pennsylvania. When a young man he went abroad to study medicine and in England purchased large portraits of King George III and his queen. Charlotte, which he brought to America. These he presented to his sister Elizabeth, and upon the occasion oi Gen. Greene's visit they were hanging in her parlor. The patriot General turned the King's face to the wall and with charcoal wrote on the back, "O, George! hide thy face and mourn." These old portraits are still in existence and are now owned by Will- iam J. Andrews, of Raleigh, N. C. Gen. Greene's handwriting. though badly rubbed, is still legible, and to prevent it from being entirely obliterated, Mr. Andrews has had a glass framed over it.
A lineal descendant of William and Eliza- beth Steele. Hon. John Steele Henderson, is now living in Salisbury, within speaking dis- tance of where his illustrious great-great- grandmother, in the dark days of 1781, en- tertained Gen. Greene. Mr. Henderson is a lawyer, and like his honored great-grand- father has seen much of public life, having served in high State offices and also in the XLIXth, Lth, LIst, LIld and LIJId Na- tional Congresses. Through his kind as- sistance valuable data for this family history were obtained and others duly corroborated.
Ninian Stecle, the preacher brother who remained in Ireland, was educated at Dublin University, and his letters indicate that he was a learned and dignified man. He began
his ministerial career in the town of Derry, where he lived until after his third child was born. He then was transferred to Magher- afelt. near Lough Neagh, where he labored during the rest of his lifetime. He was mar- ried to Lucy Madden, who bore him twelve children, eight of whom died in infancy and early youth. Among the children who grew to maturity was a son named William, who obtained a lucrative position in the Dublin custom house which he held for many years. He married a lady named Mahon, and when his father last mentioned him. he had four children and was in easy circumstances. Samuel Madden, another son, while a mere boy entered the British army, and after ten years' hard service held the rank of lieuten- ant-captain. Frederick. his youngest son, also enlisted in the army while a boy, and after five years' service also was a lieutenant- captain. His daughter, Elizabeth, "the idol of her father's heart," died unmarried at the age of twenty-four. Lucy, his youngest daughter, married a man named Joseph Mil- ler, and in her home the aged preacher spent his declining years.
James Steele, the other brother who re- mained in the land of his birth, was a farmer and lived in County Donegal. He was not the intelligent man his brother Ninian was, but he wrote frequently, and his letters teemed with information concerning family affairs and the neighbors and friends of for- mer days. In his later letters he expresses deep regret that he had not also come to America. He was married to a McCrea, a member of a well-to-do family, but in none of his letters does he mention his wife's first name. He had five children, four daughters and one son. The daughters in the order of their ages were named Catharine, Sarah, Jean and Mary. The son was John, a name which occurs in every Steele family in which
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there were male children. He was the sec- ond child and died at the age of twenty-one.
Among the collection of letters which Ephraim Steele left as a legacy to his de- scendants, there are none from "Jinny," his only sister, and as there is nowhere any refer- ence to any that she wrote, the inference is that she never corresponded with her rela- tives in America. Several of the family were displeased with her selection of George Hogg for a husband, her brother James having an especial aversion for him because of his un- kindness to mother Mary Steele. "Jinny" died in 1787, and three years afterward George Hogg married a young woman named Healy. His second wife did not take kindly to his first wife's children and they consequently were distributed among their mother's relatives and friends, and for this and other conduct George Hogg was severely condemned in some of these famous letters.
Thomas Steele came to America early, but it can not be ascertained whether he ever permanently located anywhere. He was of a roving disposition, enjoyed the free wild life of the frontier, and as late as 1786 was living near the road to Fort Pitt. He was unmarried, and during the Revolution en- listed in the American army, but subsequently regretted the step. He died about 1790.
Samuel Steele was one of the younger members of the family. When he came to America he left his wife and daughter in Ire- land, intending to either go back or send for them when he acquired the means to do so. It does not appear that he did either. He seems to also have been a rover and in 1786 also moved in the direction of the frontier, going to Fort Pitt with James Parkinson and family. Judging from their anxious inquiries the two brothers in Ireland had doubts about the correctness of Samuel's habits.
Ephraim Steele came to America with his cousin. Thomas Stephenson. It is probable that neither was yet of age and that they settled at Carlisle because of their relations that had preceded them, Ephraim Steele's brother. John, already living in Carlisle, and Stephenson's brother, John, in the nearby township of East Pennsboro. It can not now be definitely ascertained what Ephraim Steele engaged at when he came. His name first appears on the tax list in 1769, but as a free- man and with nothing to indicate what his employment was. In 1772 he was taxed with one cow, and his valuation kept on gradually increasing. In 1777 he purchased from the executors of Robert Callender, for £300, the lot lying in the southwest angle formed by Hanover street and the public square. it being the same lot which is now occupied by the well-known "Franklin House." Here he had his home and business place for many years. By 1779 he was a prominent storekeeper, taxed with merchan- dise and personal property and a large amount of real estate. That year his pastor, Rev. John Steele, the famous captain preacher. died, and Ephraim Steele was one of the executors of his will. By this time Ephraim Steele was one of the foremost citizens and business men of the town, active and influential in all the different walks of life. He stood well with the authorities of the Province and in June, 1777. the Supreme Executive Council ap- pointed him a justice of the peace. For some reason unknown he then declined to accept but in October of the next year Council is- sued to him a commission which he accepted and forthwith entered upon the duties of the office. While not actually in the army during the Revolution, his services were at his coun- try's call, for he was enrolled as an Asso- ciator, and as a private of that organization
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was one of the representatives from Cumber- land county to a convention held at Lancaster on July 4. 1776, for the purpose of choosing two brigadier generals to command the forces of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Committee of Inspection for Cumberland county, and when the first British prisoners held at Carlisle were exchanged he helped to escort them by way of Reading and Trenton to the nearest British camp in New Jersey. After the war was over he was elected a county commissioner, and a few years later a member of the lower branch of the State Legislature, and whether in or out of authority his name is associated with many public measures which came before the coun- try during his period of activity. He enjoyed an extended political acquaintance and per- sons in high authority consulted him on State and National affairs. His business enter- prises flourished and at one time he was a wealthy man, but in after years he had re- verses which greatly reduced his means and made him in some respects uncomfortable. In February, 1813. the Governor of the Com- monwealth appointed him an associate judge for Cumberland county, but this honor he was not permitted to enjoy long, for he died in 1814. His wife died in March, 1825. and both are buried in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle.
Ephraim Steele married Esther Smith, of Philadelphia, the ceremony taking place in the First Presbyterian Church of that city in the month of June, 1771. Esther Smith was a daughter of Robert Smith, a hatter, who for many years carried on an extensive busi- ness at the corner of Third and Market streets, Philadelphia. Many of the old letters from Ireland were sent in care of this same Robert Smith. Ephraim and Esther ( Smith) Steele had five children, four sons and one daughter. The sons were, William,
Robert Smith, John and Ephraim. The daughter was Mary. William was the first- born and in some of the family correspond- ence is referred to as "Little Billy." When Capt. Jolin Steele made his will he bequeathed his cocked hat and sword knot to his cousin, "Capt. William Steele." William turned his attention to medicine and in 1796 was ap- pointed a surgeon's mate in the army. Sub- sequently he turned up in the navy, and from April 5. 1807, to Ang: 12, 1SOS, served as surgeon's mate on the United States Frigate, "Wasp," which afterward became so famous by her capture of the British ship, "Frolic." He died at sea before the "Frolic" had achieved her great distinction. His brother, Robert Smith Steele, became a midshipman in the navy and was on the frigate, "Ches- apeake," when, on June 22, 1807, the British ship. "Leopard," fired upon her off the capes of Virginia. He came through the ordeal unscathed, and although he longed for an op- portunity to help avenge that insult to his country, the customs then prevailing in the navy were distasteful to him and he retired to civil life. He afterward settled in Missis- sippi and died in New Orleans. William and Robert Smith Steele never married.
John Steele, the third son, learned the tanning trade and settled at Bardstown, Ky .. where he married and had one son. His wife died while yet a young woman, and his son. when eleven years of age, died with relations at Lancaster, Ohio. After the death of his wife, John Steele returned to Pennsylvania and spent some time in Harrisburg, Phil- adelphia and Carlisle. He died in Harris- burg within the fifties.
The daughter, Mary, was the second child. She married Dr. George Delap Foulke, a member of a family which for many years was also prominent at Carlisle. . Dr. Foulke began the practice of his profes-
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sion at Bediord, Pa., but in 1805 removed to Carlisle, where both as a physician and a citizen he ranked high all his days. He died in August. 1849, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife died in May, 1861, in her eightieth year.
EPHRAIM STEELE, the fourth son and youngest child of Ephraim and Esther (Smith) Steele, was born Nov. 13, 1795. He grew to manhood in Carlisle and became a watchmaker and jeweler. After complet- ing his trade he spent a number of years in visiting other towns to learn of their pros- pects and desirability as business places. In 1817 he was for a brief time in Milton, Northumberland county. Soon after Perry county was formed, and while Landisburg had hopes of becoming the county seat, he opened up a shop in that place, but another point became the county seat and Landis- burg's prospects for a business point were blasted. He next tried Berlin, Adams coun- ty, where he remained longer than anywhere else. In 1840 he came back to Carlisle and there embarked upon a successful business career which lasted the rest of his lifetime. His store for a long while was on the east side of South Hanover street, half way be- tween the public square and Pomfret street. In 1863 he removed his residence to the cor- ner of Hanover and Pomfret streets, and his business place next door on Hanover. He died April 12, 1868, and the surviving mem- bers of his family ever since have continued to live where he last had his home ; for more than forty years it has been known as the "Steele Corner."
In May, 1831, while living at Berlin, Ephraim Steele married Miss Ann Under- wood, a daughter of John and Sarah (Mor- rison) Underwood. The Underwoods were also of Scotch-Irish nationality. John Un- derwood was born in County Antrim, Ire-
land, Oct. 14, 1739, and came to America in 1775, settling in Lancaster county, Pa. When he came the war for independence was already in progress and he was soon found in the ranks of the patriots, battling for American liberty. On March 15, 1776, he was commissioned an ensign in the 5th Bat- talion of the Lancaster County Associators, and afterward he became a captain in the Continental army. About the year 1786 he removed to the banks of the Yellow Breeches creek, in Allen township, Cumberland county, where he lived for two years, after which he located in Carlisle and engaged in the mer- cantile business. He was twice married. His first wife was Janet McCord, by whoni he had several children, only one of whom- a son named William B .- grew to maturity. His second wife was Sarah Morrison, who also was a native of County Antrim. By her he had six children, among whom was Ann, who became the wife of Ephraim Steele, the watchmaker. John Underwood died Sept. I, 1827, his wife, Sarah Morrison, passing away June 24, 1837, and both are buried in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle.
Ephraim and Ann ( Underwood) Steele had children as follows : Sarah Esther, born May 9, 1832, who died unmarried Aug. 31, 1872; Mary Foulke, born March 27, 1834, who died Sept. 22, 1873; Margaret Ann; Joseph Underwood; John Ephraim, who died in infancy; Martha Jane; Morrison Under- wood, and John Ephraim.
Joseph Underwood Steele was born on Jan. 5, 1837, and like his father before him became a watchmaker and jeweler, engaging for some years in that business in his native town. On Jan. 5, 1860, he married Sarah Jane Brown of Carlisle, who bore him two children, named, respectively, William and Joseph Underwood. The former died in in- fancy, but the latter grew to manhood and
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settled in Baltimore, where he married Flor- ence Rice, by whom he has one child. James Edgar Steele. born Jan. 20. 1886. Moved by patriotic impulse Joseph Underwood Steele. in July, 1862, enlisted as a recruit in Company A. (Capt. James Colwell). 7th Pennsylvania Reserves (Col. R. MI. Hender- son). He joined his regiment at Harrison's Landing and immediately entered upon hard and dangerous service. On the evening of the 14th of the following September, near the close of the day, while charging up the rocky heights of South Mountain, he was shot dead. a rifle ball striking him in the center of the forehead and splashing his life's blood over the brave men at his side. Three of his blood-bespattered 'comrades bore his body to the rear and buried it temporarily near the foot of the mountain. It was after- ward brought home and laid to rest in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle.
Morrison Underwood Steele. the third son, was born May 13. 1843. When he reached man's estate he went to Lancaster. Ohio, and there was long a salesman in a dry-goods store. In after years, while on a visit to his friends in Carlisle, he took sick and died July 21. 1878. During the Civil War he rendered his State service with the emergency troops.
John Ephraim Steele, the youngest child of the family, was born Oct. 13, 1845, several years after the death of the brother who had borne the same favorite family name. He also learned the watchmaker's trade, and his father dying about the time the boy was budding into manhood. he inherited his fa- ther's business and engaged at it throughout his lifetime. He never married, and died on June 1, 1898.
The only children of Ephraim and Ann ( Underwood) Steele that remain are Misses Margaret A. and Martha
J. Steele, residing in the well known Steele homestead, corner of South Hanover and Pomfret streets. They have lived nearly of all their days in Carlisle, are known by its entire community, and univer- sally loved and esteemed for their modest worth and kindly ways. They are faithful and prominent members of the First Pres- byterian Church, whose edifice was built while Rev. John Steele-of like name but not a known relative-was a pastor of its congregation, and within the walls of which have worshipped all the different generations of this noted family since their first settle- ment in Carlisle.
WALTER STUART. Soon after the formation of Cumberland county there came from the North of Ireland to America one Walter Stuart. According to tradition he located in what is now Dickinson township, near where afterward was the famous hotel known as the "Stone House." Here he pre- empted land, built his cabin and lived alone, contentedly awaiting the development of the country. He wrote regularly home to his relatives, telling them of his possessions and of the advantages and opportunities of the new western world, but after a time his let- ters ceased to come. For several years his friends waited patiently and hopefully but heard nothing. Finally his brother Samuel came and made search for him, but only to find that he had died, and that without leav- ing data sufficient to give his heirs title to the land which he had pre-empted.
Samuel Stuart then remained in this country, and settled near where his brother Walter had taken up his abode when he first came. There he lived for five or six years, and acquired a considerable tract of land. In September, 1778, he purchased a house and lot on South Hanover street, Carlisle,
W. STUART.
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and removing to it was for a period of about ten years a resident of the county seat. en- gaged in keeping hotel. In the year 1,80 he was burned out, which misfortune com- pelled him to move to the opposite side of the street and there temporarily continue his business. While in the hotel business le at one time boarded some of the Hessians who were held at Carlisle as prisoners of war. In May, 1791, he purchased'a farm in what is now Dickinson township, and moving to it lived there until the end of his days. He died Sept. 11, 1828, at the age of eighty- three years, and was buried in the Old Grave Yard in Carlisle. Samuel Stuart married Margaret Carson, and had children as fol- lows : James, Mary, Margaret, Ann, Sam- uel, Walter and Martha.
Samuel Stuart, son of Samuel and Mar- garet, grew to manhood on his father's farni in Dickinson township, receiving such elu- cation as the country schools of his day af- forded. He engaged in farming as an oc- cupation, and was long a member of the Dickinson Presbyterian Church, where his remains lie interred. He died Jan. 31. 1874. aged eighty-five years. He married Nancy Donaldson, whose father, William Donald- son, son of Andrew Donaldson, was also one of the early settlers of that part of the coun- ty in which the Stuarts first located. Wil- liam Donaldson was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, a captain in the 2d Battalion of the Pennsylvania Militia that was called in August. 1780, and served under Wash- ington in the vicinity of New York. Capt. Donaldson married Jane Ramsey, by whom he had the following children: Robert. Nancy, Jane and Martha. Robert Donald- son married Jane, daughter of William and Jane (Mackinson) Huston, and by her had issue as follows : Montgomery, Martha. Isa- bella, Elizabeth Sprout, and Agnes Caroline.
Samuel and Nancy ( Donaldson ) Stuart had issue as follows : Samuel, Walter and Jane Eliza.
Samuel Stuart. son of Samuel and Nancy, was raised on the farm and edu- cated in the country school of the section in which he was born. He was an energetic and progressive citizen and much respected for his integrity and honesty of purpose. Being in the prime of young manhood when yet able-bodied citizens were required to muster and train for soldiers he became a captain in the militia. The title fitted the man, and it ever afterward clung to him. In his latter years he was universally known as Capt. Samuel Stuart, and was so remembered for a long time after his death. He was a member of the Dickinson Presbyterian Church, was long one of its ruling elders, and is buried alongside his father in the confines of its graveyard. He died May 2. 1873, at the age of fifty-five. Capt. Stuart married Elizabeth Sprout Donaldson. daughter of Robert and Jane (Huston) Donaldson. Though the Donaldsons were among the earliest citizens of Dickinson township they did not always live there. About the year 1806 Robert Donaldson and his family removed to Franklin county, across the border from Middle Spring Church, where they lived almost thirty years, and then moved back to Dickinson It was while living in Franklin county that most of Robert Donaldson's children were born. Samuel and Elizabeth S. Stuart had the following children : James Alexander, born Nov. 9. 1849, died Aug. 26. 1862; Robert Donaldson, born July 10, 1851. died March 12, 1860; Samuel Carson, born Jan. 12. 1855, died Feb. 9. 1860; Walter was born July 27. 1856; Huston Kennedy, born Feb. 15, 1859, died March 8, 1860; and El- mer, born Jan. 16, 1862, died Oct. 6, 1867.
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Walter Stuart. son of Samuel and Eliza- beth S. Stuart, was born in Dickinson town- ship. He was the only one of six children to live to adult age. the others all dying in childhood and early youth. In the spring of 1868 the Stuarts relinquished farming, and moved to Carlisle, where the boy Walter passed through the public schools and grew to man's estate. He graduated from the Carlisle high school in 1875, and then took a course at one of the leading business colleges of the country. In January, 1880, he was appointed to a clerkship in the Farmers' Bank of Carlisle and ever since has been connected with that institution, filling every position in it from the clerkship in which he began to the cashiership to which he suc- ceeded on the death of J. C. Hoffer, in 1889. On the bank becoming merged into the Farmers' Trust Company he became a mem- ber of its board of directors and a member of its executive committee, and was also made secretary and treasurer of the company. The Farmers' Trust Company is the largest fin- ancial organization in the county, being cap- italized at $150,000.
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