USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 47
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EORGE A. KNOX, M.D.,* for the past three years a resident physician of Pittsburg, was born in Claysville, Washington County, Pa., August 20, 1868, son of W. P. and Catharine (Crawford) Knox, and is of Scotch descent on the paternal side.
His father, W. P. Knox, who was a son of Thomas Knox, of Washington County, . Pennsylvania, was a farmer by occupation. He married Catharine Crawford, and they reared five children: Anna, wife of Joseph McGill, of Washington County; Ida, wife of Frank B. Gaul, a publisher of Washington, Pa .; Dr. George A .; Frank L., a medical student; Thomas A., of Claysville, Pa. The mother died August 29, 1896. She was a highly respected Christian woman, a member of the United Presbyterian church, and a regu- lar attendant, faithful and earnest in all church work.
George A. Knox was educated at Claysville and at the Normal School at Edinboro, Pa., where he was a student in 1888-90. He
began to teach school upon finishing his gram- mar-school course, and after graduating from the Normal School became the principal of the West Alexandria school, where he was very successful. In the opinion of many friends his unusual ability as a teacher seemed a warrant for his continuance in that profession. His tastes were in the line of medicine, however; and he gave up his posi- tion to attend the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was graduated with honors in the class of 1894. He opened an office in Pittsburg in the fall of the same year, and his practice is steadily increasing. The Doctor is a member of the Eclectic Med- ical Society of Western Pennsylvania, and holds the office of vice-president. He is at- tending physician of the Free Medical Dis- pensary of Pittsburg. He is a Republican voter. In religious belief he holds the faith of his forefathers, and is a member of the United Presbyterian church.
OLONEL ARCHIBALD BLAKE- LEY,* of Pittsburg, attorney-at-law, son of Lewis and Jane (McAllister) Blakeley, was born in Forward township, But- ler County, Pa., July 24, 1827. He is of Irish descent, and inherits his scholarly and soldierly attributes.
. His great-grandfather Blakeley was in the Revolutionary War, and was killed in the battle of Brandywine; and his grandfather, who was a nephew of Johnson Blakeley, Com- modore in the United States Navy, was one of the pioneers of this part of the State. He was a distiller; and, coming from Chester County to Allegheny County at an early day, he purchased four hundred acres of land, and set up his stills near the Forks of Yough. He had been there but a short time when the
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Whiskey Insurrection broke out; and, having no special attachment to the place, he deemed it advisable to move. He accordingly took his family and his stills, and drove through the wilderness to Butler County, where he cleared a farm.
Lewis Blakeley was born at the Forks of Yough, Allegheny County, in 1793. He suc- ceeded his father as manager of the farm in Butler County, and died there in 1845. His wife was a daughter of Archibald McAllister, who was a graduate of Trinity College, Dub- lin, and one of the first teachers in the Canal- burg Academy. He married a Quaker lady, and settled in Butler County, on land where oil was afterward discovered. This property is still in the possession of the family, and has proved a rich source of income. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Blakeley reared twelve children, namely: John; Andrew; Jesse, deceased; Isaac; Joseph; Archibald; Lewis, deceased; Harvey, who was killed in the battle of Jones- boro; William; Anna Jane, wife of Edward Crookson; Thomas G. ; and Maud K. Six of the sons were in the war of the Rebellion.
Archibald Blakeley acquired his education in the public schools, at Marshall Academy, Elizabethtown, Pa., and under private tutors, taking Latin and Greek with Thomas C. Guthrie, D. D., a distinguished scholar of his day. He early decided on the law as a pro- fession, and in 1850 began to read Black- stone with George W. Smith, Esq. On September 3, 1852, he was admitted to the bar; and he practised as Mr. Smith's col- league until April 1, 1853, when he opened an office of his own in Butler. Here he prac- tised until the breaking out of the war. The day Sumter was fired on he started with char- acteristic energy to raise troops for the de- fence of the Union; and in a short time he had organized the Seventy-eighth Regiment,
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was mustered into service in September, 1861.
Mr. Blakeley was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, and went with the regiment by steamboat from Pittsburg to Louisville, and thence by railroad to the seat of war. After their first engagement, the battle of Stone River, Colonel Blakeley had chief command of the regiment, and was in the battle of Tullahoma, Duck Gap, Chickamauga, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. He has in his possession a section of a tree, cut off two or three feet above the ground, which is a most eloquent silent wit- ness to the fierceness of the fight at Chicka- mauga. In this souvenir are sixty-seven pieces of scrapnel and sixty-two bullets. At twelve o'clock Saturday that tree was three hundred yards within the Federal lines. At 3 P.M. it was two hundred yards inside the rebel lines. At 3.30 P.M. the Union forces charged and drove the rebels back, leaving the tree between the lines, where it remained from 3.30 P. M. Saturday until 9. 30 A. M. Sunday, when Longstreet broke through.
In the summer of 1862 Colonel Blakeley's regiment was guarding the railway from Franklin, Tenn., to the Tennessee River in Alabama. He was detached from his com- mand at this time by General Buell, then in command of the army, and appointed president of a court-martial which sat in the Tennessee capital. There was a large amount of busi- ness for the court to attend to, and had the Colonel been so disposed he might have de- layed matters and made his office a sinecure: but he went to work in his usual business-like manner, and soon had all the cases off the docket. For this he was highly compli- mented by General Buell. While president of this court-martial, he inaugurated the first trial by a military commission during the war.
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A certain John Williams, of Sumner County, Tennessee, was charged with carrying mail through the Federal to the Confederate lines, contrary to the orders of the commanding general. He was defended by Balie Peyton, a distinguished attorney, who was minister to Chile under President Taylor, and had filled other important diplomatic offices. The judge advocate was Captain B. F. Rice, also an emi- nent jurist, afterward United States Senator from Arkansas. Mr. Peyton argued that a military court has no right to try a civilian ; and, though Mr. Rice ably answered him, both held the question under advisement. Colonel Blakeley wired to Cincinnati for a work on military law by General Halleck, which was then newly published. This authority stated that a court-martial had no right to try a civilian unless he was a follower of the army ; but a civilian who had violated the rules and regulations of an army occupying a country could be tried by a military commission, and punished. Williams accordingly was tried, and the judgment, being sent to Washington, was approved.
Shortly before the close of the court- martial the siege of Nashville began, during the memorable race of Generals Bragg and Buell for Louisville; and Colonel Blakeley returned to his regiment when court closed, and was active in holding the city against the besieging Confederates until the return of Rosecrans in June. Colonel Blakeley had charge of the brigade from November 26, 1863, to May 12, 1864, when the campaign to Atlanta commenced. He served till the close of the war, returning then to Pittsburg, and resuming his law practice, which is now very extensive.
He has rendered the Republican party much valuable service as a political speaker, but is not an aspirant for office. General Geary,
when Governor of Pennsylvania, tendered him the office of Adjutant-general, but he declined to serve; and President Johnson, to whom he had mentioned a desire to go West, offered to make him Governor or Chief Justice of a Western Territory when opportunity offered; but this honor also he refused, on account of his growing family, which in the West would be deprived of certain advantages.
Colonel Blakeley is Commander of Pitts- burg Encampment, No. 1, Union Veteran Legion. He was appointed by Governor Hastings president of the commission which, under an act of the legislature appropriating money for that purpose, was selected to erect monuments in honor of the Pittsburg military organizations that participated in the battles of Chickamauga, Wahatchin, Brown's Ferry, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ringgold; and on September 19 and 20, 1894, the anniversary of the battle of Chickamauga, he selected the site with due ceremonies.
Colonel Blakeley was married October 19, 1854, to Susan, daughter of Jacob Mechlin, of Butler. She died August 27, 1893. Four children had been born to her, namely: Mary J., who lived but eight years; Frederick J., of the Toledo Bridge Company, Toledo, Ohio; Archibald Mechling, also in Toledo; and William Augustus, who was admitted to the bar in 1891, and ranks as one of the most promising young criminal lawyers in the State.
HOMAS BALLINTINE,* real estate agent and Tax Collector of Millvale borough, Pa., was born in Scotland, in the Royal Borough, in 1836, son of James and Margaret (Wilson) Ballintine. Ilis paternal grandfather was Thomas Ballintine, first, who had seven children; and his maternal grand-
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father was Mungo Wilson, a merchant in the Royal Borough of Sanquhar. He also had a family of seven children, and lived to a good age. James Ballintine, above named, was father of Thomas, of Millvale, and of Robert. He was a shoe dealer. Both he and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian church. They died in Scotland, one at the age of thirty-six and the other when somewhat older.
Mr. Thomas Ballintine, the subject of this sketch, was brought up in Scotland, and, attending the academy at Sanquhar, was grad- uated in 1850. He subsequently learned to be a baker, but did not work long at that trade. When twenty-four years of age, he came to New York, and engaged with Arnold, Constable & Co., dry-goods dealers, as man- ager of their fancy dress department. He was with them until 1858, when he came across the mountains alone, and setted in Pittsburg. He lived in the old Ninth Ward, and had a tea and fancy groceries store on Fifth Avenue. He sold out the grocery department in 1874, but continued for some time in the tea busi- ness. After his removal to Millvale he served for one year as Burgess. He was then called to Europe, where he remained for four months, and upon returning he continued the tea business. In 1891 he was elected Tax Collector, and this position he still holds, having been renominated for election on the Republican ticket.
In 1859 Mr. Ballintine married Miss Jane McMeckin, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Shaw) McMeekin. Ten children were born of this union, and nine of them are living ; namely, Thomas, Elizabeth, Robert, Maggie, John, William, Agnes, Alexander W., and Jane. The other son, James Ballintine, who married Barbara Kettleberg, died at the age of twenty-eight. Thomas, who is a painter,
married Miss Crutcher, and has one child; Elizabeth married Charles D. Lyon, and is the mother of three children; Robert married Mary Maxner, and has a family of three chil- dren; William is in the real estate business; the others are living with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Ballintine are members of the Pres- byterian church, and Mr. Ballintine has been an Elder. Politically, he is a Republican. The family home is at 28 Hooker Street, Millvale borough.
ILLIAM CLARK, formerly of Pitts- burg, was one of the pioneer iron manufacturers of the United States. Born in Staffordshire, England, June 30, 1831, he was a son of Thomas and Jane (Franks) Clark .. His grandfather was an officer in the British army. His mother was a daughter of William and Ann Franks, of Birmingham; and her father was a large landed proprietor. When through financial misfortune her husband's estate passed into other hands, Aun Franks, who was an intel- lectual lady of fine, scholarly attainments, opened and conducted a seminary for young ladies. Her daughter, Jane, William Clark's mother, having inherited the sterling traits for which her mother was distinguished, dis- played an energy and ability that did much toward shaping the career of her son.
William Clark was compelled by the re- verses which overtook the family to begin life for himself at a very early age. When a mere boy he entered the iron-mills in Stafford- shire. In 1842 his parents emigrated to the United States, and young Clark found employ- ment in the iron works of Pittsburg. So rapidly did he advance in knowledge and ca- pability that at the age of sixteen he was placed in charge of mills. This is probably
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the only case on record where a person so young in years was intrusted with such im- portant interests. His skill commanded good wages, and he was thus enabled to care for his parents in their declining years. In 1852 he moved to Louisville, Ky., where he remained until 1855. Then, returning to Pittsburg, he further educated himself by pursuing a reg- ular course at a business college. He next moved to St. Louis, where he resided until 1860. Then he undertook the establishment of an iron manufactory in Cincinnati, Ohio. Afterward the depression in. trade incidental to the breaking out of the Civil War and a lack of capital compelled him to abandon that enterprise. In 1862 he went to Youngstown, Ohio, where a year later he and others organ- ized the Enterprise Iron Works. That vent- - ure, which was carried on by Shedd, Clark & Co., for some time, proved successful. The Solar Iron Works of Pittsburg, founded by Mr. Clark in 1869, was equally as fortunate. In 1876 he assisted in reorganizing the Sable Iron Works in Pittsburg. His next notable enterprise was his connection with the build- ing of the Pittsburg & Bessemer Steel Works, now known as the Homestead plant of the Carnegie Company, and of which he was the general manager in 1880 and 1881. In 1883 he organized the Carrie Furnace Company, giving his personal direction to the erecting of the furnaces, and placing them in working order. Of this company he was the president for the rest of his life. He was the first to introduce American cotton ties, having in 1859 rolled the first tie ever produced in this country ; and he was the pioneer in introduc- ing in the United States the use of steel hoops for cooperage and similar purposes. He pat- ented a tie, which became very popular in the trade, and a machine for cambering rails, which has given excellent results. For sev-
eral years he was a director of the Metropoli- tan Bank, a charter member of the Union Storage Company, and trustee of the Home- wood Cemetery. He took an active interest in public affairs, and was many times re- elected to the City Council. In religious belief he was a Presbyterian. He had great faith in human kind, always considering a man honest until proved to the contrary; and he was a liberal benefactor to the poor and needy. He died at his home in Pittsburg, October 4, 1884, aged fifty-three years. A friend has truthfully said of him, "He was honest, just, and generous, and with his fine intelligence was quick to discern and appre- ciate the goodness of heart and mind he met with in others."
In 1853 Mr. Clark wedded Jane Dunn, daughter of Samuel Dunn, of Pittsburg. She became the mother of nine children; namely, Frank L., William F., Tecumseh Sherman, and Thomas B., who are engaged in the iron industries of Pittsburg; Charles S., who is engaged in newspaper work; Agnes, who is the wife of Henry P. Hall, an electrical en- gineer, of New York City; Edward Lewis, who succeeded his father in business, and died in 1893; Caroline, who married Bartlett Arkell, of the Judge Publishing Company, and died in 1888; and William F. (first), who died in childhood. Frank L. Clark was graduated from the Pittsburg Polytechnic In- stitute in 1880. After completing his stud- ies, he became connected with the iron indus- tries controlled by his father, and was for a year assistant chemist at the Bessemer Steel Works. In 1893 he became manager of the Solar Iron Works in this city. On September I, 1887, he was joined in marriage with Julia Luch, daughter of Josiah S. Luch, a journal- ist of Philadelphia. Mrs. Julia Clark is the mother of two children - Kenneth Sherman,
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and Jane. In politics Frank L. Clark is in- dependent.
HARLES E. SUCCOP, Alderman and police magistrate of Pittsburg, was born here, December 28, 1855, son of Henry Succop. By both parents he is of German descent. His paternal grand- father, John R. Succop, came in 1842, while a young man, to this country from Hanover, Germany, his birthplace. John settled in this county, and for a few years was fireman and engineer of a ferry-boat on the river be- tween Birmingham and Pittsburg. He subse- quently owned a farm in Butler County, where he spent his declining days, and died at the age of eighty-three years. His wife attained the age of eighty-four. They had three chil- dren; namely, Henry, John R., and William.
Henry Succop, also a native of Germany, born in 1835, was for some years engaged in running a confectionery business on the wharf-boat in connection with the ferry. At the breaking out of the late war he was in the South, where he was captured by the rebels, and had a hard time securing his release from the Confederate army. He was for a time a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio. On his return to the North he engaged in the hotel busi- ness, being manager of the Leslie House at New Castle, Pa., until a short time prior to his death, when he came to Pittsburg, Pa., and opened up the Home Hotel, where he died June 11, 1869. He was twice married. Ilis first marriage was made with Dora Krugh, a daughter of George Krugh, who emigrated from Darmstadt, Germany, to Allegheny County in 1835, and who for several years was the proprietor of a hotel that became famous for its suppers. Their children were: a girl who died in infancy; and Charles E., the subject of this sketch. After the death of
his first wife, which occurred in 1857, the father married Sarah Murphy, whose children by him were: William J. and Henry F. Succop.
Charles E. Succop, thrown upon his own resources at an early age, apprenticed himself to the carpenter's trade, but, being overcome by the summer's heat, was forced to abandon the work. He then secured a situation as clerk .in the grocery store of Daniel Braun, with whom he remained about three years. Having in that time saved enough money to pay his tuition at the Iron City College, he there took a commercial course, being gradu- ated in 1872: After this he obtained a posi- tion in the Union Savings and Deposit Bank, with which he was connected, first as messen- ger, and then as teller, until the failure of that institution in 1877. In 1878 Mr. Succop was appointed clerk in the office of Treasurer Samuel Kilgore; and in the follow- ing year he became paymaster of Cunning- ham's Glass Works, located on South Twenty- sixth Street, remaining there two years. During the succeeding two years he was en- gaged in the hardware and plumbing business in company with H. F. Olnhansen. In 1886 he opened his present real estate and insur- ance office, and in 1893 he took in A. J. Hen- ning as partner. This enterprising firm has since carried on a thriving business. Mr. Succop is the secretary of the Suburban Rapid Transit Street Railway Company; a director in the German Savings and Deposit Com- pany; a director of the Iron and Glass Dollar Savings Bank; the secretary of the Birming- ham Land Company ; and the president of the Schenley Park Land Company. In politics he is actively identified with the Republican party, and he cast his first Presidential vote for R. B. Hayes. He has taken a prominent part in municipal affairs. In 1888 he was ap-
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pointed Alderman by Governor Beaver; in 1889 was unanimously elected to the same office. He was re-elected in 1894; and in 1890 Mayor H. I. Gourley appointed him police magistrate, a position which he ably filled for three years.
On the second day of August, 1877, Mr. Succop was united in marriage with Caroline M. Eckert, a daughter of Henry Eckert, of Pittsburg. Born of the marriage were seven children; namely, Bertram L., Robert C., Clara S., Charles H., Howard C., David Carle, and Florence M. Both Mr. and Mrs. Succop are members of the German Evangeli- cal church.
A NDREW FLAIG,* one of the most successful grocers in Allegheny, where he has been in business for the past eleven years, was born near Villingen, Baden, Germany, October 10, 1850, son of John George Flaig. His father was a land-owner in Villingen, Baden, where he lived and died. He also owned a flour-mill and a saw-mill, and was accounted one of the prosperous men of that place. He was for many years promi- nent in local affairs, holding office for a long period of time, and was an influential member of the Lutheran church. He had fourteen children, who all, with the exception of the subject of this sketch, reside in Germany.
. Andrew Flaig was educated in good German schools, and spent two years in the Mechanics' School. He learned the trade of miller in his father's mill, and worked for ten years in mills in different parts of his native country to perfect himself in the trade. In 1880 he emigrated, and first obtained a position in Pittsburg with the firm of Marshall & Ken- nedy, who were attracted by his unusually fine letters of recommendation. Mr. Flaig was
frugal and saving, and in 1885 was able to open a small store of his own on Spring Garden Avenue. With his wife's able assist- ance he built up a good business, and has been able to buy property for a store and residence. He is also interested in some patents which he has obtained, and is now en- gaged in their manufacture. He married Au- gusta Gassner, of Allegheny, who was born in Germany. She died in the summer of 1896, leaving five children -Alfred, Mary, Charles, Augusta, and Edwin. They are members of the Lutheran church.
OBERT E. MERCER, M.D.,* a young physician of Pittsburg, was born in Franklin township, Beaver County, Pa., January 30, 1870, son of James and Keturah (Lanning) Mercer. The family is of German origin, James Mercer having come to Pittsburg in the early days. He bought a large tract of land in Beaver County, and died there at the age of eighty years. His wife died at the age of seventy-six. James Mercer, the father of the Doctor, was a Baptist minister. He preached but five years, and devoted the rest of his life to farming. His wife's family was well known in Indiana. Her mother died in Brookville, at the age of ninety-two. Mr. and Mrs. James Mercer had nine children. Eight of these are living at the present time, namely: Dr. Askelon Mercer, who is practising at Beaver Falls, Pa. ; Elizabeth, wife of A. C. Guy, living in New Brighton; Robert, of Pittsburg ; George W., living on the old homestead; Emma, wife of C. B. Anderson, at New Brighton; Mary, wife of Isaac Trimble, of Lawrence County; Flora, wife of George W. Johnson, of North Sewickley, Beaver County, Pa. ; Naomi, residing at home with her mother.
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The other son, Joseph L. Mercer, died in July, 1886.
Robert E., the third child of James, at- tended the North Sewickley Academy in Beaver County for two years, spent two years at the Edinboro Normal School, and attended Beaver College for a year. Beginning at the age of seventeen, he taught school for three years in Beaver and Lawrence Counties. He then began the study of medicine under his brother Askelon at Beaver Falls, and subse- quently attended lectures at the Western Pennsylvania Medical College, where he was graduated in the spring of 1892. He imme- diately opened his office at the East End in Pittsburg, where he is at present located.
He married Miss Annie Milbert, of Pitts- burg, daughter of P. A. Milbert, on March 24, 1896. He is Republican in politics, and a member of various orders and secret so- cieties.
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HARLES DAVIS, A.M., of Pitts- burg, the county engineer, was born in Bridgetown, Bucks County, July II, 1837, son of William and Mary (Mc- Manus) Davis. His grandfather, also named William, was born in Bucks County. The father, who was also a native of Bucks County, received a limited education in the country schools, and subsequently learned the trade of miller, which he followed during most of his life. He worked for twenty years in the large mills at Bridgetown, while they were owned by Joseph Jenks and Jesse Comfort. His first wife, Mary, who was a native of Bucks County, died when Charles Davis was about eleven years old. Her other children were: Sarah Ann, the widow of William Stackhouse; and William Davis. The latter, now de- ceased, enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers
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