USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 26
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five thousand dollars. It has a seating capac- ity of fifteen hundred persons in the audito- rium alone, and contains lecture rooms, Sun- day-school rooms, and parlors for social pur- poses, A remarkable fact connected with Dr. Kumler's pastorate here is that as many as a hundred persons a year have been admitted to church membership.
Dr. Kumler has been Moderator of the Synod of Indiana, and also of the Synod of Pennsylvania. He has not been without a pastorate since he entered the ministry. He has always been in charge of large and influ- ential societies; and he has received into the fold of the Presbyterian church between three and four thousand persons, sixteen hundred of them on profession of faith and examination. He keeps in touch with the Sunday-school and the young people of his church, and has always had in his churches societies of the young people, much like the Christian En- deavor Society, differing principally from that in not having official connection with allied organizations. Dr. Kumler has for the past twelve years been a member of the Pres- byterian Board of Freedmen, also a member of the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Allegheny, and of Pennsylvania College for Women. Marietta College (Ohio) in 1876 conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity; and Miami University, his Alma Mater, in 1895 gave him the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Dr. Kumler has travelled extensively in the United States and in Europe. In 1888 he at- tended the meeting of the Pan-Presbyterian Council in London, and was appointed mem- ber of a committee to visit the King of Bel- gium, in order to congratulate him on his efforts to suppress the traffic of spirituous liquors and gunpowder. During the war a number of his parishioners left his church on
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account of his aggressiveness, and went to the other churches; while as many others from the outside were attracted to it by his fearless and uncompromising stand. He was a member of the Christian Commission, and visited the army in camp in Chattanooga.
On October 1, 1856, Dr. Kumler was united in marriage with Abbie, daughter of Jason Goulding, of Worcester County, Massa- chusetts. She is descended from old New England stock, and one of her ancestors was a Colonel at the siege of Louisburg. Dr. and Mrs. Kumler live on Highland Avenue. Two sons born to them died at the ages of six and nine years respectively. Their surviving children are daughters - Anna and Ella. Anna Kumler is the wife of John Wight, who has recently been appointed Commissioner of the District of Washington City; and Ella is Mrs. William M. McKelvy, of Pittsburg.
ILLIAM D. KEARNS, M.D., an esteemed physician of Pittsburg, having an office on Penn Avenue, was born in this city, October 31, 1855, son of J. D. and Mary (Ballantine) Kearns. The father, a native of Allegheny County, who kept a drug store here, opposite Fifth and Grant Streets, for forty years, died July 10, 1894. His other children are Mary and Anna D. Kearns. Mary is the wife of W. L. Coyle, of Pittsburg. Their mother died in January, 1892. William Kearns, the grand- father of Dr. Kearns, came to the United States from the northern part of Ireland. He was, a farmer by occupation. The maiden name of his wife, who was born in Scotland, was Sarah Campbell.
William D. Kearns, after graduating from Princeton College in 1886, made a special study of pharmacy for a time. At a later
date he entered the office of Dr. Joe Dickson, under whose direction he began to read medi- cine. Subsequently he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and in 1890 he was graduated from the medical department of the University of Columbia, New York. The succeeding two years were spent by him as a physician in Roosevelt Hospital, and the fol- lowing year at Mercy Hospital. On leaving the latter, he opened his present office on Penn Avenue, where he is meeting with good success, and has a constantly increasing prac- tice. He is a member of Allegheny County Medical Society. In politics he is a Repub- lican.
ORENZO T. YODER, a business man of Pittsburg, was born here, May 13, 1848, son of Charles T. and Ann E. (Kennedy) Yoder. The Yoder family is of Swiss origin. Its founders in America were fugitives from religious persecution in their own country. There were three brothers, one of whom settled in Ohio, and another went South; while the third, the grandfather of the present representative of the family, located in Pennsylvania, and lived to an extreme old age.
Charles T. Yoder, the father of Lorenzo T., was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. After learning the watchmaker's trade in his youth, he settled in Pittsburg just before the fire of 1845, and was the first watchmaker to locate here. A master at his trade, he could make and put together all the parts of a watch. After a time his close confinement to work brought on a paralytic stroke, which shortened his days; and he died while his son Lorenzo was still a child. He married Ann E. Ken- nedy, a daughter of Thomas Kennedy, who owned the first looking-glass factory in Balti- more, before the days of steam, when glass
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was silvered by horse-power. Mr. Kennedy removed his plant to Pittsburg in the early days of the town, and his was one of the first business enterprises of Pittsburg. Charles and Ann Yoder were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Three sons and one daughter were born to them, namely: Charles T., an attorney-at-law of Washington, D.C., and Major of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry; Hamilton, now dead; Lorenzo T .; and Frances. Mrs. Yoder died in 1892, at the age of seventy years.
· After a liberal education in the public schools of Pittsburg, Lorenzo T. Yoder, the youngest son of Charles T., went into busi- ness. During the panic of 1873, in spite of the dubious prospect, he established a candy business, which soon outgrew its humble quarters. It continued to improve until in 1891, when Mr. Yoder sold it out. He is now a man of considerable property. One of the principal owners of the great West Penn Gas Company, he put into that enterprise two- thirds of the capital, now amounting to two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars ; and he is the president of the Board of Directors. The company now supplies all the mills from Apollo to Tarentum. Mr. Yoder has also dealt very largely in real estate. He was the president of the Yoder Land Company, in- corporated with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars, and is now the sole owner under that title. At present he is buying land and laying out streets in Ward Twenty- two, East End. The boy who began in a candy store on Liberty Street at a weekly salary of a dollar and a half can now look over broad acres and high buildings all his own.
On May 13, 1874, Mr. Yoder married Miss Elizabeth McKee, a daughter of William McKee, one of the old established business
men of the city. Born of this union are two children - Bessie and Harry. Both Mr. Yoder and his wife are members of the Meth- odist denomination, and are accounted among the most earnest workers of the Oakland Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Mr. Yoder has long been associated with the Sunday-school, is a trustee of the society, and from an early date he has been an advocate of Prohibition. He is connected also with the Masons, being a member of the Oakland Lodge, No. 530.
ILLIAM PEACH, M.D., a homo- opathic physician of Allegheny, lo- cated at 58 Monterey Street, was born December 6, 1838, in Little Rock, Ark., son of William Peach, Sr. The paternal grandfather, who was also named William Peach, came to this country from England, the land of his nativity, in 1785. He took up his residence in Chambersburg, Franklin County, where he was engaged as a general merchant until his death, which occurred in 1804 or 1805, while yet in middle life.
William Peach, the Doctor's father, was born in Chambersburg, being one of a family of two children. He learned the printer's trade in early life, and, moving to Arkansas, published the Little Rock Gasette for some years. Subsequently he returned to his na- tive State, and from that time until his de- mise, in 1847, when but fifty years of age, was a resident of Philadelphia. His wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Armstrong, bore him four children, two of whom are living, namely: Mary, the widow of the late Josiah W. Fletcher, of Chambersburg; and Dr. William Peach, the subject of this sketch. The mother died in 1844. Both parents were members of the Old Seceders' Church.
The present William Peach was but seven
DANIEL ASHWORTH.
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years of age when he left Little Rock, going with his father to Philadelphia. Two years later, having been left an orphan, he went to Delaware, making his home with his father's uncle, John Peach, on a farm in New Castle hundred, where he completed his early educa- tion. Having a natural aptitude for me- chanics, he then learned the machinist's trade, and afterward followed it for about ten years. Mr. Peach then became marine en- gineer on a government transport, and cruised for eighteen months on the James and Dela- ware Rivers and along the coast. Coming to Pittsburg in 1865, he was employed as the foreman machinist on the gunboat "Umpqua." Afterward he put up the largest steam ham- mer then in Allegheny County, placing it in the Sligo Mill. In 1870 Mr. Peach entered the service of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, being employed as a machinist at their works for five years. He, then began the study of medicine, for which he had always had a strong inclination, entering the Home- opathic Hospital College of Cleveland, Ohio, from which he received his degree in 1877. Dr. Peach began the practice of his profession in Rochester, this State, remaining there until October, 1880, when he located in Alle- gheny. Here he has an excellent and lucra- tive business, and is highly esteemed as a citizen.
Dr. Peach was united in marriage, Decem- ber 9, 1868, with Miss Jeannette Smith, a daughter of Charles Denny and Sarah (Reed) Smith. Five children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Peach, of whom but one, Charles Edward, is now living, the others having died in infancy. In politics the Doctor is a warm advocate of the principles of the Republican party. He is a Mason of Stuckratte Lodge, No. 430, A. F. & A. M. ; and of the Royal Arch Chapter, No. 217, of Allegheny. He
is active in religious work, and both he and Mrs. Peach are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
ANIEL ASHWORTH, one of the leading mechanical and consulting engineers of Pittsburg, and a man who has been very active in Grand Army affairs in Pennsylvania, was born September 28, 1842, in Lancashire, England, son of Samuel and Eliza (Fitton) Ashworth.
When Mr. Daniel Ashworth was in England in 1895, he visited the old home in England, and succeeded in tracing the family history back for more than a hundred years, his grand- father, James Ashworth, having been a promi- nent textile manufacturer in Lancashire and a lifelong resident.
Samuel Ashworth, son of James, was born February 22, 1815, also in Lancashire; and there he spent his early life, engaged in the textile fabric manufacturing business, becom- ing thoroughly versed in the details of the manufacture of cotton and other textile fab- rics, and being well known in scientific soci- eties. He came to the United States in 1848, and settled in Pittsburg, the railroad to the city at that time not being finished. After having followed his old occupation of textile manufacture for a number of years, he engaged in farming. He is still living in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. He is a communicant of the Episcopal church, as was his wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Fitton. Mrs. Eliza F. Ashworth died in 1856. Samuel Ashworth's family consists of three children, of whom Daniel is the eldest. The other two are : Mrs. Mary A. Hornung, wife of Fred- erick Hornung; and Mrs. Ellen Emery, of Beaver County.
Daniel Ashworth, when a mere boy, came
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with his father to Pittsburg, and received his education in the common schools. He had an early predilection for mechanic; and after leaving school he served an apprenticeship as designer of moulds in the glass works of James B. Lyon & Co., at that time one of the most prominent firms in the city. In the sec- ond year of the Civil War, Mr. Ashworth en- listed, August 9, 1862, in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-third Infantry, Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and was present at the great battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. His regiment, which formed part of the Army of the Potomac, was mustered out of service after Chancellorsville ; and for a time he was engaged in the manu- facture of great guns at the Fort Pitt Gun Works at Pittsburg. In -1864 he was com- missioned engineer in the United States Navy, and served on a man-of-war with the Potomac Flotilla and with the North Atlan- tic Squadron. At the close of the war Mr. Ashworth resigned his position in the navy and returned to private life. During the next five years after the war Mr. Ashworth worked first for the glass manufactory at Portland, Me., as master mechanic and designer, and afterward in the same capacity for the Mount Washington Glass Company and for the Bos- ton Silver Glass Company. In 1873 he ac- cepted a position with the Hemingray Glass Company, of Covington, Ky., for a period of ten years; and upon the close of the contract he became superintendent of the engineering department of the Lane & Bodley Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained for two years. He then opened an office in the same city, and for a time did business as an expert in the steam-engineering line. He returned to Pittsburg in 1884, and for a brief period was connected in a commercial way with general machinery. In 1888 Mr. Ashworth resumed
his professional practice as consulting engineer and steam expert, and in a short time built up an extensive clientage. For several years he has been retained in his special line by the Carnegie Steel Company; and he numbers among those who come to consult him the most prominent iron, steel, and glass manufact- urers, not only in Western Pennsylania, but throughout the country. In connection with his professional work Mr. Ashworth is a member of many scientific societies, including the American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers, the Engineers' Society of West Penn- sylvania, and the National Association of Steam Engineers. In these societies he has taken an active part, having written many valuable papers upon subjects of scientific interest. He is also a contributor to various technical and scientific journals. Within a short time Mr. Ashworth has associated with him in his business his son, Mr. A. K. Ash- worth, formerly chief engineer and mechanical expert of the firm of Joseph Horne & Co., of Pittsburg.
Mr. Ashworth lived for about twelve years at Covington, Ky., and during that time was a prominent Grand Army man, being one of the charter members of the organization in the Department of Kentucky, and Commander of the James A. Garfield Post at Covington. Upon his return to Pittsburg he joined the General Alexander Hays Post, G. A. R., No. 3, Department of Pennsylvania, and was elected Commander. He represented the post at various encampments, and has been spoken of as Department Commander of Pennsylvania. He was made a Mason in 1866, at Mononga- hela Lodge in Pittsburg; and while in New England he became attached to various Masonic bodies, in which he attained prominence. At Covington he was elected Master of the Covington Lodge, No. 109, and passed suc-
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cessively through the various councils, chap- ters, and also through the commandery. Shortly after his return to Pittsburg he was elected Commander of the Ascalon Command- ery, K. T., No. 59. He has been honored with the thirty-two degrees, and is a member of the Monongahela River Consistory. At present he is affiliated with the Hailman Lodge at the East End in Pittsburg, and has represented both Lodge and Commandery at Grand Lodge and at Grand Commandery. He is also a member of various beneficiary lodges, in all of which he has attained distinction.
Mr. Ashworth is a devoted student of litera- ture and history, and has written several essays upon literary subjects, which have received marked attention both at home and abroad. He takes great interest in the drama, was a member of the Davenport Dramatic Club while in Cincinnati, and has belonged to many other dramatic societies. Upon Shakspere he is recognized as an authority, and has played the parts of the most prominent characters with decided success. Mr. Ashworth is a conver- sationalist of rare power, and so extensive has been his reading and so wide his experience in life that there are few subjects upon which he cannot converse entertainingly. The master of a pleasing style of address and of a fluency of expression which have brought him consid- erable reputation as an orator, he is often in demand as a speaker upon festive occasions, and seldom fails to impress his hearers. : He has also often addressed his Grand Army com- rades upon Memorial Day, one of his more recent efforts of this nature being at Olean, N. Y., a very effective address.
Mr. Ashworth has always taken a lively in- terest in city affairs, and while a resident of Covington he served on the School Board as chairman of the Committees on Law and on Text-books. At present he is a member of
the School Board of the city of Pittsburg, representing the Twentieth Ward. In politics he is a Republican, but there is nothing parti- san in his nature; and the stand which he takes is always according to his conviction of what is right. He is an active member of the Shady Avenue Baptist Church, and takes a great deal of interest in religious matters.
Mr. Ashworth was married August 7, 1867, to Sarah E. Rowswell, daughter of William Rowswell, and is the father of three sons, namely : William E., who is connected with the Carnegie Steel Works; George A., a prominent mechanical and consulting engi- neer; and A. K. Ashworth, who, as before mentioned, does business with him. His home is in the East End, in the most beauti- ful section of the city. During 1895 Mr. Ash- worth was in Europe, and visited England and France; and upon his return home he gave some very instructive lectures for the benefit of his friends, describing the interesting sights which he had seen. Professionally, Mr. Ash- worth is a very busy man; and his clientage increases each year. He still finds time, how- ever, to gratify his excellent taste along his favorite lines in literature and drama.
OHN H. ARMSTRONG, a prominent business man of Pittsburg, was born September 30, 1861, near the little town of Brookboro, County of Fermanagh, Ireland, son of John and Mary (Armstrong) Armstrong. The father, who was a native of the same place, and there spent the early part of his life, was a land-owner and a farmer. He afterward made his home in Dublin, where he died April 8, 1896. His wife, Mary, who was born in Brookboro, is still living in Dublin. Their family consisted of six chil- dren, namely : William Robert, the secretary
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and treasurer of the North Avenue Stair Com- pany, of Pittsburg; John H. Armstrong, the subject of this sketch; Frank, the Postmaster at Moreno, Cal. ; Mary, who lives in Ireland, and is purchasing agent for Jno. McBirney & Co., of Limerick, alleged to be the largest dry-goods house in the south of Ireland; Mag- gie, now living in Llandaff House, Dublin, with her mother; and Fannie H., the wife of Arthur Barnett, of Limerick. The family have always been strong Episcopalians.
John H. Armstrong received his education in the national schools of Brookboro and at the model school of Enniskillen, County Fer- managh. He emigrated to this country May 5, 1879, when only eighteen years old, com- ing directly to Pittsburg. Here he obtained work as clerk for Frank Armstrong, who was engaged in the coal business, and remained with him eight years. He worked next for George McCandless, a real estate dealer, under whose directions he made his first acquaint- ance with this business. At the end of a year, during which time he did some buying and selling for himself, and gained much prac- tical knowledge, he bought the business of Mr. McCandless, and also considerable property belonging to him, at No. 2115 Penn Avenue. This was in 1887. Since that time, under his efficient management, the business has more than doubled in volume. Besides buying and selling property for others and occasionally for himself, he also acts as agent for several insurance and loan companies. Mr. Arm- strong was the organizer of the North Avenue Stair Company, incorporated in 1891; of which he and his brother are large stockholders, and he the president. The shops, which are situ- ated on North and Irwin Avenues in Alle- gheny, and have been recently fitted up with new machinery, give employment to forty skilled mechanics. Mr. Armstrong is also
interested in the State Bank of Pittsburg, of which he is a director. The bank, situated at the corner of State and Liberty Avenues, is built of brick with a handsome stone front. Its capital stock is fifty thousand dollars, which it has the privilege of increasing when desired.
Mr. Armstrong is a man of much public spirit, and has held many offices of trust in Pittsburg. He served for two terms on the School Board as representative of the Twelfth Ward. During the first he was the secretary of the board, and during the second he held the office of president. He was then elected to the Common Council from the same ward, and served on the Committees of Safety and of Public Charity. He was re-elected in 1896, and is at present a member of the Committee on Finance, and chairman of the Committee on Surveying. In politics he is a strong Re- publican, and he takes an active interest in the affairs of his party. He was chairman of the Republican organization of the Twelfth Ward for four years; and he served on the County Committee until recently, when he moved to the Twentieth Ward. He was made a Mason in Stuckrath Lodge, No. 430, of which he is still a member. He also belongs to Zerub- babel Chapter, No. 162, and Ascalon Com- mandery, No. 59. In the latter he is Captain General. He attended both the State and triennial conclaves of the Knights Templar, and was treasurer of the Committee of Ar- rangements for the trip to Boston in 1895.
On April 8, 1886, Mr. Armstrong married Miss Grace Leonard, of Pittsburg, daughter of Hugh Leonard, and has now three children - Grace, Frank, and Mary. Both he and Mrs. Armstrong belong to the United Presbyterian Church. The family resides at 522 Winne- biddle Avenue, in the East End section of Pittsburg.
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REDERICK L. BRAUN, M.D., a well-known physician and specialist of Allegheny, was born in Pittsburg, June 1, 1844, son of Dr. Frederick and Cath- arine (Lahaun) Braun. The paternal grand- father, also named Dr. Frederick William Braun, was a native of Germany and the pro- fessor of anatomy at the University of Heidel- berg. He had a large family, and he died in Germany at the age of sixty. His son Fred- erick, born in Baden, Germany, graduated from Heidelberg University, and came to America in 1830, locating at Blairsville, Pa. After practising medicine there for a short time, he came to Pittsburg, and established a drug business, which he carried on for forty years. By his wife, Catharine, who is a native of Kiel, he became the father of ten children, five of whom are living. These are : Caroline, Frederick L., William, Rosalie, and Edward L. Caroline is the wife of Armiel Seidel, a manufacturer in Saxony; and Rosalie is the wife of James Ball, of Canton, Ohio. In 1883, to receive a legacy, he returned to Europe, where he had remained for three years when he died at Itsihoe, November 16, 1886, aged seventy-six. His wife is still living. Both were members of the Lutheran church. He was one of the prominent citizens of the city of Pittsburg. He owned and accumulated a considerable property, partly acquired by his industry and partly by inheritance. His wife's father, Miguel Lahaun, a retired officer of the Danish army, receiving half-pay, who had been with Napoleon Bonaparte in Moscow, died while in charge of a fortress at Itsihoe, at the age of sixty-five. He is described as a man of magnificent physical proportions and of undaunted bravery. His wife, in maiden- hood Eliza Helena Brandt, was descended from an historical Danish family.
Frederick L. Braun received his early edu-
cation in the public schools of Pittsburg and Allegheny., He was a student of Allegheny College when, five days after Fort Sumter was fired upon by the Confederates, he shoul- dered a gun in the Union army. He belonged to Company A, Second Virginia Regiment, with which he served three years. He was wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862, was captured on the field, and was subsequently held a prisoner at Libby Prison and at Belle Isle for three months in ali. He was also in the battles of Rich Mountain, Green Briar, Alleghany Mountain, Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Cloyd Mountain, and the others in which his regiment fought. On October 6, 1866, the legislature of West Virginia presented the Doctor with a medal for gallantry.
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