USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 32
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While in business on Liberty Street, he be- came acquainted with a man who had con- structed a fancy and ingenious clock, which was left with him to sell. Mr. McGeagh was successful in making a sale of the clock. The man then offered to sell him a five-acre tract of land in McCandless township, Allegheny County, with a nice house, the land being well planted with fruit-trees and shrubbery. He made the purchase; and for many years his father, who had moved to Pittsburg at this time, occupied the place as a homestead. After his father's death Mr. McGeagh had great difficulty in getting a tenant for the place, and experienced much annoyance on account of the depredations of boys and other persons, who persisted in injuring, destroying, and carrying off the fruit, shrubbery, fences, and other improvements. He finally sold the property, but many years afterward had to again take possession, not having received the purchase money. He tried to sell it a second time, but was unsuccessful. In 1891 oil was discovered on the place. Two wells were drilled, they being among the largest in the Wildwood oil field; and they netted him quite a large sum. His inability to sell thus proved of great advantage to him.
He was married August 16, 1865, to Eliza- beth Ann Dingle, whose father, John Dingle, a native of Devonshire, England, removed to the United States when she was seven years old. The family of Mr. and Mrs. McGeagh consists of six children, four sons and two daughters, namely: John D., a jeweller; Jo- seph S., an attorney-at-law; Albert S., a student in the Pittsburg Central High School; Frank H., employed in his father's store; Lillie B. ; and Mabel P. Mr. McGeagh is a member of the Fourth Avenue Baptist Church of Pittsburg. For many years he has resided with his family on Herron Hill, at the corner
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of Anderson and Iowa Streets. In 1890 he took his son, John D., into partnership with him in the jewelry business, under the firm name of R. T. McGeagh & Son. He has con- tinued in the same line of business all his lifetime; but, since his son has been in part- nership with him, he has devoted much of his time to his other interests. His success in life has come from his own efforts, without assistance financially from any one.
ASSIUS L. STEVENS, a prominent and prosperous business man of Fitts- burg, is a typical representative of the self-made citizens of the county. Affable and courteous in manner, upright and honor- able in all his dealings, he has fully earned the esteem in which he is held by all who know him. He was born March 26, 1847, in Strykersville, N.Y. A son of Ira Stevens, he is a descendant of a well known New Eng- land family that traces its ancestry to early times through a line of noteworthy person- ages. His grandfather, Philo Stevens, mar- ried Miss Gerusha Allen, a grand-niece of Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame. In 1810 these grandparents and their children went to the western part of New York State, and were among the first to settle at Strykersville, twenty-five miles from Buffalo. The district was then a vast woody wilderness. The chil- dren of Philo Stevens were: Isaac, Ira, Haus- mer, Cary, Sabra, Mary, Laura, and Lydia. By marriage Sabra became Mrs. Fellows; Mary, Mrs. Eddy; Laura, Mrs. Marks; and Lydia, Mrs. House.
Ira Stevens, when not otherwise engaged on the farm, worked at brick-making. He was married October 21, 1832, to Miss Percy Talmadge Hotchkiss, a grand-daughter of Jo- siah and Sarah Hotchkiss. Josiah Hotchkiss,
born in 1742, died July 4, 1812; and Sarah, who was born in 1741, died August 1, 1813. They had seven children, as follows: Abigail H. Moss, bern in 1765, who died December 19. 1847; Josephus, born in 1767, who died March 23, 1821; Eunice H. Clark, born in 1770, who died September 21, 1813; Salma H., born May 17, 1772, who died February 27, 1838; Sarah H. Merriman, born in 1775, who died March 18, 1840; Louis, born in 1777, who died July 11, 1784; and Sibyl H. Doolittle, born in 1782, who died January 15, 1856. Salma H., the father of Mrs. Percy Stevens, married Rebecca Hall, who was born December 16, 1776, and died June 7, 1833. In 1854 Ira Stevens started with his family for Kane County, Illinois, which place he had but reached when he fell a victim to cholera, leaving his widow with six children. The latter were: Zenas; Cassius L .; Albert Cary ; Ellen J., afterward Mrs. Goodell; Emily, who became Mrs. Marks; and Hattie L., who be- came Mrs. Larimore. Archibald and Zelotes, the eldest children of Ira, died in infancy.
Seven years old when his father died, Cas- sius L. Stevens returned to the place of his birth to become an inmate of the household of his uncle, Isaac Stevens, making the home- ward journey with a cousin, Amos Stevens. He subsequently assisted his uncle in the work of the farm until the home there was partially broken up by the death of his aunt. Then he went to Buffalo in search of work, arriving there in the spring of 1865. Some one suggesting that Nunda, lying in the Gen- esee valley, was a good farming community, he made his way thither, remaining there six months. Going then to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, he secured work at the United States Hotel in Titusville, and later drove a team for the company that supplied the resi- dents of Pithole with milk. As the milk
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would freeze in the barrels in cold weather, the company suspended shipments in the win- ter, leaving him without employment for that season. This interval he utilized to meet with his brother Zenas, who had become some- what well-to-do in the Western transportation business. The event was the occasion of a joyful family reunion at their mother's home in St. Charles, Ill. Next spring Mr. Stevens returned to Pithole, where he was again em- ployed in delivering milk and making collec- tions until summer. Then the boom at Tidioute attracted him to this newer field. In the fall of 1866 he became a pupil in the Edinboro State Normal School under the in- struction of Professor J. A. Cooper. After the lapse of a few months spent in this institu- tion, his savings were exhausted; but, desir- ing to continue his studies, he took remunera- tive employment evenings and mornings, and in the long vacation worked on a farm in order to defray his expenses. In the fall, while pursuing his studies with his class, he taught. school for four months near McKean in Erie County, an experience to which he often re- fers as one of the bright spots in his life. He subsequently taught for a while in Pittsfield, Warren County, going from there in the fall of 1869 to Fredonia, N. Y., where he took a training course in the State Normal School. In 1870 Mr. Stevens returned to the oil regions of this State, opening first a school in Pithole, and then being engaged as a teacher for three terms at Shamburg. In 1871 his at- tention was drawn to the merits of an adjust- able chair, which pleased him so much that he accepted an agency for its sale, and after- ward for that purpose travelled extensively through various sections of the United States. Subsequently he devised and patented many improvements in the chair, which thereby ob- tained a wide celebrity in trade. In 1875
Mr. Stevens made Pittsburg his headquarters, but in 1877 removed to New York, where he remained a year. In 1878 he returned to this city, starting on his own responsibility at 103 Sixth Street, and in a modest, unassuming way, the business that has since grown to very satisfactory proportions.
On September 5, 1875, by the Rev. Sam- uel Longfellow, a brother of the beloved American poet, Mr. Stevens was united in marriage with Miss Ella M., daughter of Samuel and Isabella Wallace. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have had two children, namely: Vic- tor, born June 8, 1880, who died June 1, 1881 ; and Angelo, who also died in infancy. In politics Mr. Stevens is an uncompromising Republican, and he cast his first Presidential vote for General U. S. Grant.
J AMES BUCHANAN YOHE, superin- tendent of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad Company, is of German de- scent, but a native of the Keystone State. He was born near Bentleysville, Washington County, Pa., on June 24, 1856, being the seventh son of David and Eliza (Zook) Yohe.
His great-grandfather, Michael Yohe, came to this country from Bavaria in 1755, at the age of eight years. He settled with his par- ents at Easton, Pa., where he grew to man- hood. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War under George Washington, was in the battle of Germantown, spent a winter at Valley Forge, and served until the close of the war. He also served under Washington during the Whiskey Insurrection in 1794, and camped in Washington County on the site where the Mount Zion Lutheran church now stands. He afterward settled in Washington County on the farm at Ginger Hill, where he died December 4, 1833, in the eighty-sixth
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year of his age. His wife, Mary Yohe, died April 17, 1823 ; and the remains of both were buried in the old German graveyard on the Hull Williams farm. Their family con- sisted of four sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, grandmother of James B., married Peter Yohe, who was not a kinsman, but came from Eastern Pennsylvania. The descendants number three thousand, three hundred and sixty-six.
Their son David, the father of James B., was born at the old homestead, and grew to manhood in that vicinity. He was a black- smith, and Yohe's smithy on the old Browns- ville road was well known in the days of stage-coaches. David Yohe was widely known as a kind and generous-hearted man; and his death, at the age of forty-six, caused universal regret. His wife, Eliza Zook, was a native of Rice's Landing, Greene County, Pa. She died January 21, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. David Yohe were members of Mount Zion Lutheran Church. They had a family of seven sons and two daughters: Noah; Josephine; Mary; David; Harvey; Albert; John; Joel; and James B. Yohe, the subject of this sketch.
James B. Yohe received a common-school education, and was afterward sent to the acad- emy at West Newton, Pa. He then decided to learn telegraphy, and became a novice in the Pittsburg & Connellsville Railroad office at West Newton, June 10, 1870, when not quite fourteen years of age. He soon became an expert telegrapher, and entered active ser- vice February 4, 1871, at Shaner station, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Since that time he has been consecutively telegraph operator, chief clerk to train master, and train despatcher on Pittsburg Division, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; chief train despatcher on Pittsburg & Western Railroad; train master, Pittsburg, Mckeesport & Youghiogheny Railroad; chief
train despatcher and superintendent telegraph, master of transportation and superintendent, respectively, of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie. Railroad and leased lines, Pittsburg, Pa. Mr. Yohe is Past Master, Oakland Lodge, No. 535, F. & A. M .; and is a member of Zerubbabel Chapter, No. 162, R. A. M., Pitts- burg, Pa .; and of Youghiogheny Conclave, No. 166, I. O. H., Connellsville, Pa.
Mr. James B. Yohe was married to Miss Mamie Margaret Sykes on December 13, 1877, at West Newton, Pa. They have had four sons: Hugh Sisson, who died in infancy ; Jesse Bennett; James Harold; and Curtis Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Yohe are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Yohe's wide circle of friends will testify to his noble and generous disposition, and his readiness to extend a helping hand and encourage those who come to him for help and counsel. He has the respect of all his employees and col- leagues.
OHN B. BARBOUR, JR., is one of the youngest brokers in control of an independent business in Pittsburg, and the baseball and football manager of the Pitts- burg Athletic Club. He was born in this city, April 16, 1862, son of John B. and Isa- belle F. (McKelvey) Barbour. The father, who was born in Belfast, Ireland, September 26, 1836, came with his parents to Pittsburg when he was about twenty years old. At first he worked at whatever offered. Then he was employed as shipping clerk for some time by Lyman, Wilmarth & Co., after which until the breaking out of the war, he was in the em- ploy of the Allegheny Valley Railroad. In the early sixties he engaged in the oil refining business in connection with Brewer, Burke & Co. ; and he was afterward engaged in oil pro- ducing until his business was absorbed by the
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Standard Oil Company. For several years previous to his death he was superintendent of the right-of-way department of the National Transit Company, and was active in securing the right of way to the seaboard for the com- pany's big trunk pipe lines. Mr. Barbour was rather independent in politics; for, though he favored the Democratic side, he was an enthusiastic Blaine man. An om- nivorous reader, he was thoroughly posted on all the leading issues of the day. He was a life member of Franklin Lodge, No. 22, F. & A. M., of Pittsburg. His death occurred in December, 1894. His wife, who was a daughter of William McKelvey, of Pittsburg, died in 1888. They were members of the church now known as the East Liberty Presby- terian Church. Of nine children there are living: John Baxter, William McKelvy, Mar- garet Baxter, Robert Wilson, Frederick Pren- tice, and Isabelle Fulton. Margaret is now the wife of Ernest K. Barr, of Philadelphia; and Isabelle is the wife of Frederick P. Black, of Franklin, Pa.
John B. Barbour, Jr., graduated from the Pittsburg High School in 1880. In the spring of 1881 he was engaged as book-keeper by Thomas J. Watson, the leading oil broker of the city at that time. During the great oil speculative craze of 1882 he was Mr. Wat- son's chief office man. In 1883 he was en- gaged in the office of another broker, James S. McKelvy, with whom he remained until Janu- ary 1, 1890. He then entered the employ of Rea Brothers & Co., stock and grain brokers, as their local exchange representative; and when they retired, in 1892, he succeeded to their business. Mr. Barbour does a general business in stocks, bonds, and grain, and makes a specialty of local and investment se- curities. Elected a member of the old Oil Exchange when he was nineteen years old, he
is one of the oldest members of the Pittsburg Stock Exchange. In 1883-84 he was a mem- ber of the New York Petroleum Exchange, representing James S. McKelvy at the time of the great Penn Bank Syndicate. He was for two terms the treasurer of the Pittsburg Pe- troleum, Stock, and Metal Exchange; and he was a member of the Committee on Organiza- tion and Rules, and the first secretary and treasurer of the present Stock Exchange.
On December 22, 1887, Mr. Barbour was married to Laura B., daughter of James E. Rogers. Two children have blessed the union - Isabella McKelvy and Marshall Rog- ers. Both he and Mrs. Barbour are members of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Until the Blaine campaign in 1884, Mr. Bar- bour was a Democrat. Then, thinking that he was in the wrong boat, he changed his sentiments, and has since been an active Re- publican. He has been elected delegate to a number of conventions, and is now a member of the Allegheny County Executive Commit- tee. He was made a Mason in Dallas Lodge, No. 508, and belongs to Shiloh Chapter, No. 257, Tancred Commandery, No. 48, K. T .; and to East End Council, No. 276. In the Improved Order of Heptasophs he is Past Ar- chon of Fort Pitt Conclave and Deputy Su- preme Archon. He has been an officer of the Americus Club since 1887. From January, 1889, to January, 1895, he was a trustee of the club. Then he was elected vice-presi- dent, and he was re-elected in 1896 and 1897. A charter member of the Pittsburg Athletic Club, which was organized in 1883, he was three times elected president and manager of the ball teams. The following, taken from the Pittsburg Times, aptly closes this biog- raphy : -
"The popular manager of baseball and foot- ball for the P. A. C., John B. Barbour, Jr.,
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has announced his intention to withdraw from athletics at the termination of the present sea- son. This will be unwelcome news to the club he has served so faithfully since its or- ganization, and a positive regret to the rival organizations with which its baseball and foot- ball teams have come in contact. Barbour has always kept the P. A. C. in the lead in these sports ; and, though the club has many meu of excellent executive ability, there are few com- petent to take his place in the field of sports named. It was his energy and pluck which first brought football into notice and patron- age in Pittsburg. Under his management the P. A. C. baseball team has always been a prime attraction, not only at home, but in dis- tant places. There are few men outside of the National League who can make a baseball club yield the financial returns which Barbour can; and, while other organizations have con- fessed serious loss in their football enter- prises, Barbour has closed his seasons on the gridiron with a generous profit to his club. Mr. Barbour gives as a reason for his retire- ment the great demands made on his time by his private business."
OHN DAUB, now retired from busi- ness, was a successful grocer of Pitts- burg. Born August 22, 1826. in Obergleen, then in Hesse-Darmstadt, he is a son of John Daub, a native shoemaker of Obergleen. - When he was twelve years of age, he was withdrawn from school in Ober- gleen, and sent to Frankfort on the Main, to study in the schools there. Upon finishing, he entered a grocery store to learn the busi- ness, and remained there until the year 1848. Here he met Miss Emilie Rudolph, who was sent by her parents at the age of fifteen to receive a business training at Frankfort, in
accordance with the German custom of prepar- ing girls as well as boys for their life work. On March 18, 1848, the young coworkers were married. Mrs. Daub is a daughter of John and Christina (Stolzenbach) Rudolph, of Homberg, Germany. Her father manufact- ured and dealt in broadcloth.
Immediately after their wedding Mr. and Mrs. Danb started upon an extensive trip through Germany and England. From the latter country they subsequently set sail for America, reaching New York Harbor after thirty-five days. From New York they pressed on to Pittsburg, travelling over the mountains, and much impressed by the wildness and beauty of the scenery. After a long journey filled with adventure, they arrived at their destination in time to witness the celebration of the glorious Fourth. They at once started a small business, while Mr. Daub set himself to acquire a knowledge of English in the even- ing schools. Ably seconded by Mrs. Daub, he managed his business so well that in the second year they were obliged to move into larger quarters and to engage help. When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, Mr. Daub is said to have had the largest grocery trade in the city of Pittsburg. At that time he. supplied the Subsistence Committee, the Sanitary Committee, and the Soldiers' Home and hospitals about the city. He subse- quently acquired considerable real estate, on which he has frequently realized largely owing to the rapid growth of the city. In 1882 Mr. Daub sold his business to his sons, and retired. Other interests, however, furnish him with abundant occupation for his time. He has been a director of the Third National Bank for many years, and is an original stock- holder of that institution. He is also inter- ested in other banks of the city. He is largely interested in the Pittsburg Gas Com-
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JOHN DAUB.
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pany, of which he has been a director for twenty-five years past, and in the Pittsburg and the Allemania Insurance Companies. Upon giving up his grocery business, Mr. Daub paid a visit to Europe, and spent a happy summer among the scenes and friends of his youth. Ile credits his success in life very largely to the help of his wife, who has al- -ways shared his labors.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Daub were : Johanna T., who married Eugene Schmidt, a musician of Pittsburg; Frederick Charles, who died at the age of twenty-one; John Daub, Jr., who married and left four children at his death; Emilia, who died in infancy; Emil Daniel and Theodore George, who have suc- ceeded their father in business; and Sophia, the wife of J. T. Capel. There are now ten grandchildren.
DAM ORR, M. D., a skilful and ex- perienced physician of Allegheny, having his office at 83 Fremont Street, comes of honored and distinguished ancestors. Born July 31, 1840, in Clonmel, "County Tipperary, Ireland, he is a son of James and Eliza Agnes (McKittrick) Orr. Both parents were natives of County Down, ' Ireland. They died, after spending their en- tire lives in the Emerald Isle, the father in 1883, at the age of seventy-two years, and the mother in the following year. James Orr, a man of broad culture and well known in liter- ary circles, was for many years a noted preacher of the Unitarian church. Very lib- eral and benevolent, he took an active part in all charitable enterprises. During the famine of 1847 he did much to alleviate the suffer- ings of its victims. His children are : James, now a resident of Clonmel, Ireland; Adam, the subject of this sketch; Jane, of whom there is no special record; Robert, a clergy-
man in Ireland; David, now in Melbourne, Australia; Maggie and Lizzie, twins, residing at the ancestral home in Ireland.
Adam Orr grew to maturity in his native land. His elementary education was received in a private school and in the Clonmel Model School. He afterward pursued the study of medicine in the Queen's University at Cork, entering. in. 1858, and graduating in 1862. Desiring to qualify himself still further for the medical profession, he took a full course in the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Scotland, from which he received his diploma in 1864. Then he entered upon his profes- sional career in his native town. In 1866 he was appointed locum tenens in the Saintfield dis- pensary district, and surgeon and medical ex- aminer of employees in the Killyleagh factories and in the Killyleagh constabulary district. In 1891 he came to America, and located in Allegheny. Here he is rapidly advancing to a place of prominence in his profession.
In December, 1870, Dr. Orr was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Jennings, daughter of Heury and Jane (Gordon) Jennings. They have become the parents of five children - Henry, Mary Beatrice, Jane Adeline, William E. C., and Lillie. Both the Doctor and Mrs. Orr are members of the Protestant Episcopal church.
R ICHARD L. SMITH, a civil and mining engineer of Pittsburg, with an office in the Carnegie Building, Rooms 806 and 807, is a worthy representative of one of the oldest families of Allegheny County. He comes of the Scotch-Irish race, the descendants of which largely predominate in many parts of the State. His paternal grandfather, William Smith, after spending his entire life in Baldwin township, this county, being one of its most respected
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farmers, died in his seventy-ninth year. Of William's children George C. and three others are living.
George C. Smith is a well-to-do agricultu- rist at Castle Shannon, Baldwin township. His wife, whose maiden name was Nancy A. McRoberts, has borne him six children: -- Richard L., Eleanor, Sarah H., Ida, J. Frank- lin, and William. The parents are held in sincere regard throughout the community in which they reside. Both are consistent mem- bers of the United Presbyterian Church.
Richard L. Smith was reared to man's es- tate on the home farm, obtaining his first knowledge of books at the district school. He subsequently entered the Western University, from which he was graduated in 1888. Hav- ing taken a thorough course in civil engineer- ing with a view to making that his principal occupation, he at once located in Pittsburg, where he has since built up a large and lucra- tive business. He is finely settled in the Carnegie Building on Fifth Avenue, his quar- ters being most comfortable and cheerful, while he resides in Castle Shannon. In poli- tics he is a stanch Republican.
Mr. Smith was married September 24, 1891, to Miss Nellie L., daughter of William H. and Annie L. (Caughey) Brunt. They have one child, Annie L. Mr. and Mrs. Smith attend the Methodist Episcopal church.
NELLY, the manager for the Asso- ciated Press in Pittsburg, was born July 4, 1856, in Turtle Creek, this county, son of William C. and Elizabeth (Brown) Connelly. The father was a native of West Virginia; and the mother was a daughter of Allen Brown, an old and honored resident of Pittsburg. Leaving school when eleven years
old, William C. Connelly, Jr., began life as messenger in a telegraph office. Being natu- rally bright and quick to learn, he soon ob- tained a knowledge of telegraphy, and became an operator at a very early age. He was in the employ of the Western Union Company from 1868 to 1879, during which time he not only acquired a reputation for reliability and vigilance in his mechanical duties, but gained considerable notoriety as a news gatherer. The latter led to his engagement as the regu- lar correspondent of the New York Sun, Bos- ton Herold, Philadelphia Times, Chicago Times, and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. The ability he displayed in supplying these journals with desirable news extended his repu- tation beyond his own locality. In 1879 he entered the employ of the Associated Press, at once taking an advanced position. His subse- quent exertions in behalf of the association were in a great measure the means of devel- oping its usefulness in this city. Pittsburg is now one of the important distributing points for press news. Colonel Connelly now con- trols a force of sixteen men, including opera- tors, reporters, and messengers. He has filled his present position of manager for sev- eral years, during which he has done clever work and. given general satisfaction. He was the first newspaper man to reach the scene of the Johnstown flood in 1889. On the morn- ing after, the Chicago Tribune had the entire space of its first page occupied by his vivid eral weeks he remained upon the ground, send- ing out day by day a faithful account of events and developments in the stricken district. So anxious was he to secure and report every item of news at the earliest possible moment that he permitted himself but nine hours' sleep during the first seven days of that period. The work he did then gained for him many complimentary
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