USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 33
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
OLONEL WILLIAM C. CON- | pen picture of the terrible disaster. For sev-
-----
323
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
notices from the leading newspapers of the United States, and the executive committee of the Associated Press passed resolutions com- mendatory of his ability and zeal. Of no less importance were his accurate reports of the great labor riots at Homestead on July 6, 1892, and of the events following thereon. His reports of general happenings have been characterized by reliability and completeness. Among his associates he is known as a cool, self-possessed, and indefatigable worker, who never loses courage and never sleeps on his post.
- .
On January 12, 1882, Colonel Connelly was united in marriage with Amalia S. Lange, daughter of Dr. J. C. Lange. He has four children; namely, Christian, Willa, Harry, and George. In politics Colonel Connelly is a Democrat. He was a prominent candidate for the Postmastership of Pittsburg in 1893, and in the campaign of 1896 he placed him- self on record as favoring sound money. In 1891 he was appointed aide-de-camp on Gov- ernor Pattison's staff with the rank of Lieuten- ant Colonel. A thirty-second degree Mason, he is a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He was a director of the Press Club of Pittsburg from 1880, the year of its organization, to 1893, when he declined to serve longer; and he was chosen its president in 1889.
EORGE B. GORDON, a young law- yer of Pittsburg, and a member of the firm of Dalzell, Scott & Gordon, was born in Edgewoodborough, this county, August 1, 1860, son of Alexander and Cather- ine (Edwards) Gordon. His great-grand- father, Alexander, who was a native of Aber- deen, Scotland, after living in Ireland for a time emigrated in 1760 to Baltimore, Md. Alexander died in 1794, and was buried in
Carlisle, Pa. His son, John Gordon, who was born in Baltimore and became a merchant in that city, married Maria Gaertner. She was a daughter of Peter Gaertner, of York, Pa., who was of German origin, as indicated by the fam- ily name, which subsequently became Gardner. After her husband's death she moved with the family to York. She died in Pittsburg in 1847, aged sixty-one years, and was buried in Allegheny cemetery.
Alexander Gordon was born in Baltimore, January 30, 1813. When five years old he accompanied his mother to York. At the age of twenty-one he moved to Pittsburg, and opened a store on Water Street. He contin- ued in business until 1879, when he retired; and he died October 31, 1894, aged nearly eighty-two years. His wife, Catherine, was born in Binghamton, N. Y., June 8, 1823, daughter of Matthias Ogden Edwards, who was a great-grandson of President Jonathan Edwards. Her parents moved from New York State to Ohio when she was sixteen years old. She bore her husband five children, namely : the Rev. John Gordon, a Presbyterian minis- ter, and a professor at the Omaha (Neb. ) The- ological Seminary; Orra Edwards Gordon, who is residing in Edgewood; Alexander, who is in the lumber business in Homestead, Pa. ; George B., the subject of this sketch; and William G., a lumber dealer of Pittsburg. Mrs. Alexander Gordon is still living.
After beginning his education at a private school in the vicinity of his home, George B. Gordon was fitted for college at the prepara- tory school of the Western University of Pennsylvania. He entered upon his Univer- sity course, but relinquished it at the end of his Freshman year. Subsequently, he was with the Duquesne Coal Company for two years and with the Pennsylvania Company in the capacity of clerk for another brief period.
1
324
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Then he read law with Hampton & Dalzell, and pursued a course at the Columbia Law School in New York City. From the latter institution he graduated in 1883, and was ad- mitted to the Allegheny County bar, Novem- ber 18 of the same year. He was with Hamp- ton & Dalzell until 1887, when he associated himself with his present partners.
On June 4, 1889, Mr. Gordon was united in marriage with Mary Edwards Boorum, daugh- ter of William B. Boorum, a resident of Brooklyn and a manufacturer of New York City. Mrs. Gordon is the mother of two chil- dren - William Boorum and Katherine Ed- wards. In politics Mr. Gordon is a Republi- can.
OHN H. MCELROY, one of Pitts- burg's representative men, was born here, January 12, 1828, son of Samuel and Ann (Beamish) McElroy. Samuel Mc- Elroy, a native of Ireland and a son of James McElroy, also of Ireland, came to Pittsburg in 1821. After working at the trade of wrought- iron nail-maker for a time, he learned the cut business at the Kensington Mills, and subse- quently built and operated the first spike ma- chine for Shoenberger. A zealous abolition- ist, he helped in maintaining the "under- ground railroad." His death occurred in 1870, at the age of eighty years. He was one of the founders of the old Fifth Street Church of Methodist Protestants, whose building was afterward torn down by the Kauffmans. His wife was a daughter of Alan Beamish, a na- tive of Ireland.
John H. McElroy left school at the age of ten, and was put to work in a tobacco factory. From there he went to a rolling-mill, and afterward served as a machinist with the Penn Machine Company, helping to build the first carding machines that were put into the Penn
Works. After spending several years in different cities in the East, he returned to Pittsburg, and took the position of foreman with the Fort Pitt Foundry Company, remain- ing in their employment until after the war. In the meantime, by constant attendance at the evening schools of Pittsburg, he made up for the limited schooling which had been his in early youth. He left the Fort Pitt Foundry Company to enter the service of Mc- Intosh, Hemphill & Co. in the capacity of foreman. This position he resigned in 1879 to take charge of the first paid fire department of Pittsburg. After putting the department into working order, he resigned to take the position of engineer for the Pittsburg Gas Company, with which firm he has since been associated.
In 1856 Mr. McElroy married Miss Jane Macklin, a daughter of William and Martha Macklin. She was a member of the St. James Episcopal Church. She died in 1866, the mother of four sons. These are : William M., a lawyer in Pittsburg ; Samuel M., the cashier of the Citizens' National Bank; Orlando M., the assistant cashier of the Pittsburg Gas Company at the East End; Harmon N., who resides in the city of Mexico. A second mar- riage united Mr. McElroy to Mary Jane Dick- son, the widow of Stewart Dickson and a daughter of John Wilkinson. Eight children were born of this .union ; namely, Harry W., Alice, Annie, Elizabeth, John H., Jr., Ethel, Edith, and Lois. Harry W., Alice, and Annie are now deceased. The mother died in 1883. At first a Whig, Mr. McElroy is now a Republican. He is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, and is also an Odd Fellow. A resident of Pittsburg for almost seventy years, Mr. MeElroy has occupied his present home at 5614 Walnut Street, in the East End, for the last twenty years. Few men can tell
JOHN H. MCELROY.
6h 327
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
more about the growth of the city from their personal knowledge.
AMUEL S. STEWART, M.D., one of the best known medical prac- titioners of Allegheny, is a member of the well-known Stewart family of West- moreland County. He was born at Stewart's Station, which received its name from his father, John Stewart. The family is of Scotch descent. Its ancestors in this country were pioneers of Westmoreland County, and helped to fight the Indians in the early days. Dr. Stewart's grandfather, John Stewart, fought in the War of 1812. John was fond of military work, and was for many years Captain of a home company. He died at the age of sixty-five years, leaving two sons - John and Alexander. John Stewart, Jr., resided all his lifetime in Westmoreland County, chiefly en- gaged in farming. Both he and his wife were active members of the United Presbyterian church, and Mr. Stewart was for many years an Elder in that body. Six of his seven chil- dren are now living ; namely, John S., David, Samuel S., William, Robert, and Jane.
Samuel S. Stewart spent his boyhood and young manhood on his father's farm, obtaining his early education by attending the common schools and a number of academies. At the age of twenty he entered college at Antrim, Ohio. Later he read medicine with Dr. Schreiner of Plum township, Allegheny County, after which he completed the course of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, graduating from that institution in the spring of 1861. After graduation he began practice in the village of Turtle Creek. Shortly after he entered the army as assistant surgeon of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers. When the time for which the
volunteers had enlisted expired, Dr. Stewart was commissioned surgeon of the Fifty-sixth Regiment, which was subsequently in the field for about four months. Then he went to Philadelphia and engaged in practice with his brother William, who is still there. After- ward he returned to Stewart's Station, and re- mained there for ten or twelve years. In 1883 he removed to Allegheny, where he has since been engaged in the general practice of medicine.
Dr. Stewart's wife before her marriage was Miss Jane Shaw, daughter of John and Martha (Grier) Shaw. She has had five children - John, William, David, Eula, and Samuel. John Stewart, the eldest son, a young man of much ability and fine prospects, was a physi- cian in Philadelphia, especially skilful in ophthalmology, and the author of two medical works which are still used in a number of col- leges. He was master of six languages. He travelled through South America and along the Pacific Coast. His premature death at the age of twenty-seven years was a great grief to the family. William Stewart, the second son, is married, and lives in Pittsburg, where he carries on a large real estate business. David, who is book-keeper in the Union' Na- tional Bank of Pittsburg, married Miss Betty Cunningham, and has one son, John C. Miss Eula Stewart lives with her parents in Alle- gheny, and Samuel B. is a contracting agent in the office of the Philadelphia Gas Company.
Dr. Stewart and his wife are United Presby- terians; and, like his father, the Doctor is an Elder in the church. His six brothers have served the society in the same office. Politi- cally, the Doctor is a Republican. ITis life, which has been a most exemplary one, has borne witness to the sincerity of his religious beliefs. Always ready to speed any move- ment for the good of others, he commands not
328
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
only the affection of personal friends, but the esteem and good will of a large circle of busi- ness and social acquaintances.
UGENE LE MOYNE CONNELLY, of Pittsburg, who was born here, August 18, 1870, is the sixth and youngest son of William Cavin Connelly, Sr., and Eliz- abeth Sterrett (Brown) Connelly. His mother is a daughter of Allen Brown, one of Pitts- burg's pioneer hotel-keepers. The father, who was a West Virginian by birth, after his marriage located in Pittsburg, and became a partner in the ownership of the old St. Clair Hotel, which stood on the site of the present Hotel Anderson. Later he had control of the United States, Central, St. Charles, and Ex- change Hotels. Also, he conducted a hostelry at Turtle Creek, which was at that early day a sort of summer resort for the wealth and fashion of the city. He is a member of the Writers' Club and of the Junior O. U. A. M., and he is a communicant of Oakland Methodist Episcopal Church.
Eugene Le Moyne Connelly was educated in the public schools and under the tutelage of his mother, a woman of scholarly attainments. At an early age, with a natural tendency to lit- erary pursuits, he obtained a minor position on the staff of the Pittsburg Chronicle, and there- after for several years he spent the afternoon of each school day at a desk in the newspaper office. After leaving school he obtained a permanent position in the service of the Western Union Telegraph Company. He was first assigned to work at the old Oil Exchange, situated where the market-house now stands. Later he was transferred to the Pittsburg Petroleum, Stock, and Metal Exchange, where he kept the books and handled the accounts of several large brokerage firms, in addition to
his work as book-keeper for the telegraph com- pany. Although he mastered the business of a telegraph operator in this employment, he has not at any time followed it as a vocation. During the few years that he was employed in the oil and stock mart, he continued to scribble a little, doing special assignments for the Sportsman and Dramatic Critic; also for the Sportsman and Referee, in which two of his brothers were interested.
In his seventeenth year Mr. Connelly be- came a reporter on the staff of the Pittsburg Leader. With this paper he has since been connected, serving it in the capacities of re- ligious reporter, police court reporter, sport- ing editor, special writer, editorial para- grapher, and city editor. He is now editor of the Sunday Leader. Perhaps his best work was performed at Johnstown, immediately after the great flood of May 31, 1889. Mr. Con- nelly was one of the first newspaper men to enter the Conemaugh valley after the warring waters had wrought desolation and death throughout the whole stretch of territory lying between South Fork and Latrobe on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Besides sending re- ports of the great catastrophe to the Leader, he despatched a graphic description of the course of the flood to the New York Journal, on the staff of which he was then serving. He col- laborated with Frank Connelly and George C. Jenks in the compilation of the "Official His- tory of the Johnstown Flood." He was also one of the first men on the field in the summer of 1892, when Oil City and Titusville were swept by flood and fire; and in the same year he helped to report the Homestead riots for the New York World and his own paper. He has also done special work for the New York Tribune, Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Cincin- nati Enquirer, and Chicago Times, and has written short stories for some of the periodi-
329
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
cals. At one period a predilection for theatri- cal work led him to accept positions as press representative from Jefferson, Klaw & Er- langer, Rich & Harris, and the late Colonel Joel, the impresario; but he soon tired of this sort of employment, and got back to active newspaper work.
On February 28, 1893, Mr. Connelly mar- ried Minnie Allyn Leonard, youngest daugh- ter of George W. and Sarah Elizabeth (More- land) Leonard. Their only child, Elizabeth Leonard, was born March 4, 1894. The fam- ily residence is 332 Ward Street, Oakland.
OLONEL LEVI BIRD DUFF, a prominent member of the Allegheny County bar and a veteran of the Civil War, was born near Saulsburg, Hunting- don County, Pa., September 13, 1837, son of Samuel and Catherine Eckeberger Duff. On the paternal side he is of Scotch descent. His great-grandfather, Cornelius Duff, emi- grated to this country in 1760, and settled in Eastern Pennsylvania. John, the oldest son of Cornelius, and grandfather of Colonel Duff, was born in Morgantown, Berks County, Pa. He was by trade a stone-mason, and became an extensive contractor and builder in Phila- delphia and the vicinity.
Samuel Duff, second son of John Duff, and father of Colonel Duff, was born at Perkiomen Bridge, in Montgomery County, Pa., October 24, 1806. When Samuel was about five years old, his father moved to a farm in Stone val- ley, Huntingdon County, near Saulsburg. Here he grew to manhood and adopted his father's trade of stone-mason, which he fol- lowed for several years. He then engaged in mercantile pursuits, having formed a partner- ship with his cousin, John Cowden, under the name of Duff & Cowden, for the purpose of
carrying on a general store in Saulsburg. He continued in business there for several years. In 1841 he moved to Clarion, Pa., then a new town, located in the pine forests. He there carried on mercantile and contracting business.
In the year 1845, in partnership with James B. Lawson and Hunter Orr, under the name of Lawson, Duff & Orr, he engaged in the manu- facture of pig iron. The firm built Pike Furnace, located in Clarion County on Fid- ler's Run, a half-mile north of Red Bank Creek. This was one of the first furnaces put in operation in that region, and turned out a fine quality of charcoal pig iron. Shortly after the furnace was completed, Lawson withdrew from the firm, and the busi- ness was carried on by Duff & Orr until the year 1855, when Mr. Duff sold his interest to his partner and moved to Pittsburg. He there engaged in the lumber business for three years, having a saw-mill on Herr's Island.
In 1858 he returned to Clarion, and engaged extensively there in the lumber business until the year 1865. In that year he moved to Pittsburg and continued in the lumber busi- ness, and also engaged in the manufacture of window glass with Terence Campbell, under the firm name of Duff & Campbell. He re- tired from business in the year 1880, and died August 23, 1890. During his long career as a successful business man he was well known throughout the whole of Western Penn- sylvania, where he was also greatly respected for his honest and upright dealings and sterling character.
His wife, Catherine Eckeberger, whom he married in 1830, was a daughter of Adam Eckeberger, and was born in Huntingdon, Pa., September 19, 1SIO. Adam Eckeberger was a native of Bavaria; but his wife, Cather- ine Shultz, was the daughter of Lawrence Shultz, one of the earliest settlers of Hunting-
330
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
don County. Samuel and Catherine Duff had the following children: Sarah Ann, wife of John B. Reese, of Steubenville, Ohio; Fir- men K., of Pittsburg; Catherine, wife of Charles E. Andrews, of New Bethlehem, Pa. ; Winifred, wife of John C. Couch, of Cincin- nati, Ohio; Levi Bird, the subject of this sketch; Sardis T., of Pittsburg; Margaret L., the wife of George Olenhausen, of East Liver- pool, Ohio; and Martha M., who died in 1895, was the wife of William H. Chilcoat, of Newark, Ohio. Mrs. Duff is still living, and at the age of eighty-seven is in the enjoy- ment of good health.
Colonel Duff attended the common schools for several years, and at the age of sixteen entered Elder's Ridge Academy, Indiana County, Pa., where he remained one year. He then entered Allegheny College, Mead- ville, Pa., where he pursued the regular academic course, and was graduated in 1857. Having decided to enter the legal profession, he came to Pittsburg immediately after his graduation, and began the study of law in the office of George S. Selden, a prominent law- yer of the city at that time. Colonel Duff was admitted to the Allegheny County bar April 1, 1860, and remained in the office of his preceptor until the following year.
The slaveholders' rebellion having broken out, on May 1, 1861, he enlisted as a pri- vate in Company A, Ninth Regiment, Penn- sylvania Reserve Corps (Thirty-eighth Penn- sylvania Volunteers). The regiment was sent to Camp Wilkins, which was located between Penn and Liberty Avenues at 28th Street in this city. Soon thereafter it was ordered to Camp Wright at Hulton station on the Alle- gheny Valley Railroad, where it remained until after the first battle of Bull Run; and it was then sent to the defence of Washington. It was placed in position near Tenallytown,
on the Rockville turnpike, on the left of the Chain Bridge road. It remained in this posi- tion until October 1, when it was moved across the Chain Bridge to the south side of the Poto- mac, to a point about a mile south of Langley, on the left of the Leesburg turnpike, where it went into winter quarters. On December 21, 1861, it was engaged in the battle of Dranes- ville. At the close of this battle, the first one in which the regiment was under fire, Corporal Duff was one of the two men of his company reported by his captain as worthy of special mention for good conduct.
On February 6, 1862, he was appointed Captain of Company - D, One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and, joining that regiment at its camp on the Mason farm in front of Alexandria, Va., took command of his company. The regiment was then in Heintzelman's division. In the organ- ization of the Army of the Potomac this divi- sion became the First Division of the Third Army Corps, and was commanded for a short time by General William H. Hamilton. Gen- eral Philip Kearny was then appointed to the command, and thereafter it was known as Kearny's Division. The regiment was sent to Fortress Monroe and up the Peninsula, and participated in the siege of Yorktown and the battles of Williamsburg and Fair Oaks or Seven Pines. On May 31, 1862, in the last- named engagement, Captain Duff was wounded by a rifle ball, which passed through his right lung. He was sent North to a hospital, and when convalescent went to his home, where he remained until he recovered from his wound, and in the latter part of August rejoined his regiment, which was then at Harrison's Land- ing, Va. The division was then sent by way of New Alexandria to join Pope's army on the Rappahannock, and the regiment was ordered to guard the railroad between Manassas and
i
1
331
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Warrenton Junction. The regiment received the first shock of Stonewall Jackson's flank movement, and was attacked at Manassas Junction on the night of August 26, 1862.
On August 27 the regiment participated in the battle of Bristoe Station, under command of General Hooker. The regiment then re- joined its own division, and took part in the second battle of Bull Run, on the 29th and 30th of August, and in the battle of Chantilly, September 1, where General Kearny, divi- sion commander. was killed. It was sent back to the defence of Washington, where it remained during the Antietam campaign. In October, 1862, the regiment was sent to Poolesville, Md., to guard the line of the Potomac; and, when the Army of the Potomac moved forward into Virginia, the regiment marched down the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, joining the army again on its march to Fredericksburg.
-
The regiment took part in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862; and, upon the subsequent reorganization of the army under Major-general Hooker, Captain Duff was appointed Acting Assistant Inspector- general of the First Brigade of the division, and was attached to the staff of Brigadier-gen- eral Charles K. Grabam. He served on the staff of General Graham at the battle of Chan- cellorsville, May 2 and 3, 1863. During the battle, General Whipple, its commander, hav- ing been killed, General Graham was assigned to the command of the Third Division of the Third Army Corps; and Captain Duff went with him.
Shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville, Captain Duff was made Major of his regiment ; and at the beginning of the Gettysburg cam- paign the Third Division was consolidated with the other divisions, and Major Duff was appointed Acting Assistant Inspector-general
of the First Division, and attached to the staff of Major-general D. B. Birney. He served on Birney's staff at the battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, and on the staff of the First Division throughout the subsequent march into Virginia during the summer and fall of 1863, participating in the affair at Ma- nassas Gap, July 24, and Auburn, October 13, and in the battle of Kelly's Ford, November 7, in the advance to Brandy Station. Shortly after the advance to Brandy Station he was placed in command of the One Hundred and Tenth Regiment, and commanded it during the Mine Run campaign, November 25-29, 1863. On January 1, 1864, his own regiment having re-enlisted, he returned home with it on its veteran furlough. Shortly after the return of the regiment to the army the Third Corps was broken up, and the First Division became the Third Division of the Second Army Corps; and Major Duff was appointed Acting Assistant Inspector-general of the Division, and was again attached to the staff of Major-general D. B. Birney. He served on the staff of General Birney at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864; and at the close of that battle he was at his own request returned to his regiment, and took command of it. The Sixty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, was united with the One Hundred and Fifth ; and he was given command of both regiments. He commanded the two regiments in the campaign from the Rapidan to Peters- burg, participating in the battles of Po River, May 10 and 11; Spottsylvania, May 12-15: North Anna, May 23-25; Totopotomy, May 26; Cold Harbor, June 1; and in the as- saults on Petersburg, June 16-18. On May IS he was promoted to be Lieutenant Colo- nel of his regiment. On June 18, 1864, in an assault on the Colquitt salient, near the Hare House, in front of Petersburg, Colonel
332
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
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.