USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 53
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On June 21, 1892, Dr. Carpenter married Minnie Buckingham, a daughter of Simon and Mary A. (Iams) Buckingham. Mr. Bucking- ham was an eminent member of the Washing- ton County bar, and resided at Philippi, W. Va. Mrs. Minnie Carpenter died October 29, 1895, leaving no children. She was a member of the Homewood Methodist Episco- pal Church. A second marriage on August 24, 1897, united the Doctor with Miss Anna L. Dawson, a daughter of Thomas Dawson, of New Kensington, Pa., who was formerly an extensive coal operator in Kentucky. Dr. Carpenter is also a member of the Homewood Methodist Episcopal Church.
EWIS E. DAVIS, M.D., a promi- nent physician of the part of Pittsburg called Hazelwood, is a capable and conscientious practitioner, devoted to his pro- fession. Born in Allegheny County, October 6, 1855, son of James and Nancy (Burns) Davis, he belongs to one of the earliest and most influential families of this section of Pennsylvania. The grandfather, also named Lewis E., was born in Wales, whence he emi- grated to the United States, coming directly to Western Pennsylvania. In 1797 he took up government land on Davis Island, where he spent the remainder of his life rearing his family and working at his trade of copper-
smith. James Davis, son of Lewis E. (first), was for many years numbered among the most prosperous agriculturists of this part of the State. An extensive and successful fruit- grower and gardener, he acquired considerable property. In his earlier years he was a Whig, and one of the original abolitionists who con- ducted the "underground railroad." To him and his wife, Nancy, eight children were born, namely: Hannah, now the wife of Daniel Donnelly; George, an attorney in Pittsburg ; Lewis E., the subject of this sketch; Will- iam, a railroad engineer; James, a stationary engineer ; and Harry, Charles, and Frank, who are all engaged in railroad work. The father died at the age of sixty-six years, and the mother when but thirty-five years old.
After attending the public schools for the usual period, Lewis E. Davis, the subject of this sketch, studied at Curry University, and then took lessons of a private tutor for a year. Graduating in 1881 from Jefferson Medical College, he at once began the practice of med- icine with his former preceptor, Dr. John D. Davis, now of Colorado. Dr. Davis then prac- tised for a year in Wisconsin. Not satis- fied with the district, he came to Pittsburg, locating in the Twenty-third Ward, where he has since built up a lucrative practice. He belongs to the Allegheny County Medical So- ciety, the Medical Library Association, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Association of Surgeons; and he is a Knight Templar of the Masonic order, and a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of Pythias.
On April 12, 1883, Dr. Davis married Miss Anna Figley, daughter of William and Eliza- beth Figley. She died June 15, 1885. On October 20, 1887, the Doctor married Miss Sarah D. Figley, a sister of his first wife. Born of this union are three children - Marion E., Lewis E., and Clark B. Both parents are
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members of the Christian church. In politics the Doctor is a stanch Republican.
jDWARD B. SCULL,* a well-known at- torney-at-law of Pittsburg, Pa., has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in this city for sev- eral years. He was born May 1, 1856, in Somerset, Pa., where his father, the Hon. Ed- ward Scull, is still living. John I. Scull, his paternal -grandfather, was born in Pittsburg, of English ancestry. He was a man of liter- ary tastes and attainments, and for ten or more years practised at the bar of Allegheny County, and was also connected with one of the leading newspapers of this city. He died in Westmoreland County, at the early age of thirty-two years.
The Hon. Edward Scull, a native of the Keystone State, has been prominently identi- fied with the leading interests of Somerset for more than half a century. He has now a good law practice there, and is also publisher of the Somerset Herald. For several terms he was a member of Congress, and was Collector of Internal Revenue for twenty-five years, hav- ing been first appointed under Lincoln's ad- ministration. He married Miss Louisa Ogle, daughter of Alexander Ogle. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and for many years a prosperous lawyer of Somerset, where he died at the age of sixty-three years. He was a member of Congress from that district. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Scull had thirteen children, of whom the following named are still living : Charles O .; Edward B .; Anna; George; Robert ; Mary, wife of Frederick W. Bie- secker; and Louisa. Both parents are mem- bers of the Christian, or Disciples', church.
Edward B. Scull spent the days of his boy- hood and youth in his native town, obtaining
his early education in the public schools and at the academy in Elder's Ridge. He subse- quently read law in the office of W. H. Koontz at Somerset, and was admitted to the bar in 1880. In 1889 Mr. Scull located in Pitts- burg, where he has built up a lucrative prac- tice. His office is at Room 44, St. Nicholas Building. He is not an active politician, but is an earnest supporter of the principles of the Republican party.
On April 29, 1880, Mr. Scull was united in marriage with Miss Edmonia Coffroth, daugh. ter of George R. and Azzie (White) Coffroth. The residence of Mr. and Mrs. Scull is on Westminster Place. They are communicants of the Episcopal church.
EV. A. FRANCIS TONNER,* the beloved pastor of St. Mary's Church, McKee's Rocks, was born in Etna, Pa., October 24, 1856. His parents, Clement and Barbara (Orth) Tonner, were natives of Prussia. They came to the United States in 1845, and on July 11, 1847; located in Pitts- burg, where they resided for many years.
Clement Tonner was born September 24, 1819, at Tyre, Prussia, which had been the ancestral home of his family through many generations. After coming to Pittsburg, he was a roller for the Spung Chalfant Mill in Etna, and many years later bought and moved to a farm at Ellison Park, which the family still holds. He obtained permission from Bishop O'Conner to build a church, and thus became one of the founders of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Sharpsburg. He acquired a comfortable property, and subsequently lived retired at Ellison Park until his death on June 12, 1891. His wife, Barbara, whom he mar- ried February 1, 1841, was born February 17, 1823, and died August 31, 1888. She was
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the mother of eleven children, of whom seven are living. A son, Joseph, died October I, 1895, leaving two children - Georgie and Harry. John, who was born July 13, 1854, died February 28, 1880. He had spent eleven years in college, and had taken the four minor orders for the priesthood. Philamina, known as Sister Christina, entered a convent at Phil- adelphia on December 21, 1871, and is now the Mother Superior of the convent at Glen Riddle, Philadelphia, which is one of the finest in the State. The sisterhood there is of the Franciscan order.
Father Tonner attended St. Mary's Paro- chial School of Sharpsburg, and there re- ceived his elementary education. In 1873 he went to St. Vincent Abbey, near Latrobe, Westmoreland County, and entered the com- mercial course in 1874, and the clerical and philosophical course two years later. His training was completed in the Grand Seminary of Montreal, Canada ; and on August 21, 1885, he was ordained to the priesthood by Right Rev. Bishop Phelan of the Pittsburg Diocese, being the first to be ordained by the newly consecrated Bishop. His first mass was said on August 23, 1885, at St. Mary's Church at Sharpsburg. He was appointed as assistant to the late Rev. Father James Nolan at St. Peter's Church, Mckeesport, and after two years of devoted service there was assigned as . pastor of St. Bernard's Catholic Church at Indiana, Pa., on August 31, 1887. Here he improved the church and increased its mem- bership. In 1891 he was appointed as pastor of his present parish, taking charge of his new congregation on May 23. Since coming here he has organized a young men's literary and dramatic association, which has now a fine library and a stage for the presentation of dramatic entertainments. In the basement of their hall is a well-appointed gymnasium.
AMES H. F. THOMPSON,* who, at his office, 441 Fourth Avenue, Pitts- burg, Pa., is carrying on a flourishing business as a real estate broker, was born in the adjacent city of Allegheny, February 20, 1858. His paternal grandparents spent their lives in England; and his father, Robert L. Thompson, was born and educated in that country. After coming to America, he was employed in the brush business in this city for a while, but was subsequently a clerk in the provost marshal's office. His last active em - ployment was as assistant health officer in Allegheny. He lived to the age of seventy- seven years, dying in December, 1891, a few months after the death of his wife, which occurred the preceding April, at the age of sixty-eight years. Her maiden name was Mary A. Kirkpatrick. She was born in Pittsburg, Allegheny County, Pa., a daughter of Matthew Kirkpatrick, who came here from Ireland, and was afterward successfully en- gaged in the wholesale grocery business on Liberty Street for many years, living here until his death at an advanced age. Nine children were included in the parental house- hold, of whom the following are living : Charles; William; James H. ; Joseph; John ; Walter; Mary E., wife of Roderick Meek, of New York; and Daisy. The father was a regular attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife belonged.
James H. F. Thompson received a practical education in the public schools of Allegheny. For a number of years in his early manhood he was employed as a dry-goods clerk. In 1889 he embarked in business on his own account, opening a loan and real estate office in Pittsburg, which he has since managed with ability and success. Fraternally, Mr. Thomp- son is a member of the Royal Arcanum; and politically, he is a steadfast Republican.
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Mr. Thompson and Miss Cora M. Lowe, daughter of Josiah and Mary E. Lowe, were united in marriage on February 16, 1892. They have one child, a daughter named Made- lyn. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson reside at 141 Jackson Street, Allegheny. They are es- teemed members of the University Street Methodist Church of this city.
'OHN J. GREEN, M.D., a regular practitioner of Pittsburg for the last quarter of a century, was born in Mur- rysville, Westmoreland County, Pa., May 28, 1845, son of Holiday W. and Sarah (Brown) Green. The family came originally from Ire- land. The grandfather, John Green, who ar- rived in the country about the close of the Revolutionary War, settled in Hollidaysburg, where he followed his trade of weaving. His wife, Ann, belonged to the family of Holi- days who were Irish emigrants from Antrim and Londonderry, and whose name was given to the town. To John and his wife were born eight sons and one daughter.
Holiday W. Green, who was born in 1808, married Sarah Brown, who was born Septem- ber 13, 1822. By her he became the father of twelve children, of whom ten are now living. These are: C. M., who is engaged in the in- surance business; Dr. John J. Green, the subject of this sketch; J. W., who is with the Standard Oil Company of Pittsburg; Mary Jane, who is a graduate of the Edinboro Nor- mal School and a teacher in Westmoreland County; William, who is also in the employ- ment of the Standard Oil Company; Zach- ariah S., who is the representative of the Standard Oil Company in Hancock, N.Y. ; Elizabeth S., the wife of John Rings, who is a merchant of Westmoreland County; Sarah Ellen, who is the wife of James Elwood, a
farmer and stock dealer of Westmoreland; J. Irwin, a telegraph operator of Westmoreland; and Emma Myrtle, a teacher of Westmoreland County. Maggie, who was the wife of Dr. Dible, died in Indiana; and Emma was drowned at Murrysville when a child. The father died March 30, 1888. The mother is still living.
John J. Green was educated at Hudson Col- lege, now Western Reserve University, Ohio, and graduated from the Medical School in 1870. While a student at Murrysville Acad- emy, he enlisted in Company C of the One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers in the fall of 1862. Soon after enlistment he was taken down with diph- theria. After recovering he worked in the hospital as assistant steward and afterward as steward. He was honorably discharged in 1863. On returning home he taught school for a year. March 15, 1864, he re-enlisted in Company C of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cav- alry, and in June was taken on detached duty as orderly with General G. K. Warren and afterward with General Griffin. He partici- pated in every engagement of his corps in the Virginia campaign. At the battle of Gravel Run his horse was killed under him, and he was slightly wounded. He was at Ream's Station, Weldon or Apple Jack raid. He was discharged May 15, 1865, and the next five years were spent in study. He settled in Pittsburg as a physician in the spring of 1870, and has remained in successful practice since that time. He is on the St. Francis Hospital staff, on Rosalia Hospital staff, and he is gynecologist to the Pittsburg Free Dis- pensary. He is a member of the Allegheny County Medical Society, of the State and Na- tional Associations, and of the Public Health Association. He served for six years on the Pittsburg Board of Health, and he was presi-
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dent of the Allegheny County Medical So- ciety in 1894. In 1891 he was president of the Pittsburg Obstetrical Society. Dr. Green is also connected with numerous fraternities and orders, among them the G. A. R., Knights Templar, Mystic Chain, K. P., and other societies.
On January 17, 1872, Dr. Green married Miss Nellie Burrows, daughter of O. B. Bur- rows, of Cleveland, Ohio. They have had two children, one of whom died in childhood. The other, Alice B., is living at home. They are connected with the Presbyterian church. The Doctor is a strong Republican. His first Presidential vote was cast for Ulysses S. Grant.
UTLER CASE CHRISTY,* an eminent attorney-at-law of Pitts- burg, was born in Murrysville, Westmoreland County, Pa., September 15, 1842, son of James and Mary Jane (Case ) Christy. His immigrant ancestor, it is said, was one of three brothers - John, James, and Andrew Christy - who came from Ireland to the United States, and settled, one in West- moreland County, one in Butler County, this State, and the third in the State of Ohio.
James, second, the son of James, first, and grandfather of Butler C., was a man of unusual mental ability and a fine mathematician, his knowledge of mathematics being acquired in middle life. He was prominent in the church and an influential member of the community. On his mother's side he was descended from the Welsh.
His son James, third of the name in this country, was born in Murrysville. He learned the trade of millwright, which he fol- lowed throughout his life. He built a large number of grist and saw mills in Western
Pennsylvania, constructing them entirely of wood, using no iron, even in the shafting and gearing. In the spring of 1841 he married Mary Jane, daughter of Butler Case, who was born in Allegheny County. They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Five children were born to them, namely : Butler Case; James H .; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel McClure; Thomas N. ; and Annabel (deceased), who married John Heslep, of Kansas City, Mo.
Butler Case Christy, the eldest child, ac- quired his early education in the public schools, and took a year's preparatory course at the academy at Elizabeth, Pa. He then en- tered Mount Union College, Ohio; but at the end of three months he left college to enlist in Company C of the One Hundred and Twenty- third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. This was on August 7, 1862; and on the same day he married Miss Ida M., daughter of Nathan- iel Stevens, of Forward township. He served during the whole term in the Third Division, Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, and was in the battles of second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. At Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, the young soldier was wounded in the left groin by a gun shot, and was taken to Mount Pleasant Hospital in Washington, D.C. Here his wife joined him, and faith- fully nursed him until he was able to be taken home upon a stretcher two months later. Upon receiving an honorable discharge from the army on account of disability, Mr. Christy taught school for several years, during which time sickness from his wound often overcame him, and his wife, who had been a teacher, took his place until he was able to resume his duties. After they came to Pittsburg, he began the study of law with C. Hasbrouck.
He was admitted to the bar May 7, 1865,
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and remained with Mr. Hasbrouck for the following six years, one year serving him as clerk and afterward associating with him as partner under the name of Hasbrouck & Christy. His partnership was dissolved April 1, 1871; and Mr. Christy then opened his own office. He has since made a specialty of Real Estate and Orphans' Court practice, in which he has been in every way successful. His most famous case was that of Christy v. Sill et al., relating to trust ex mal officio. He won the case, which was the first of the kind decided in Pennsylvania. Lawyer Christy was employed by the Pittsburg Bar Association to effect the removal of the Hon. John M. Kirk- patrick from the bench of Common Pleas on account of his inability from sickness to per- form his duties, and he presented a petition to the legislature at Harrisburg. He had a com- mittee appointed by House and Senate, took testimony, argued the case before said com- mittee; and the report of the committee di- rected the Governor to remove him. Judge Kirkpatrick then resigned, being worth one million, one hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Christy is a Republican, is a member of the Republican County Committee, and has had an interesting political career. He was secretary of the committee during the Grant campaign of 1872, and held many minor polit- ical offices until the fall of the following year, - when he was elected to the State legislature. On the day that Mr. Christy took his seat the new Constitution went into effect, and it was the business of the new legislature to make laws for putting it into force and effect. At this important time Mr. Christy became a most valuable member of the legislature, in which he served for three years, being on Commit- tees on Constitution and Reform, Judiciary, General, and Military. Indeed, he was one of the hardest workers of the House. He had
entire charge of the Wallace Corporation Act in the legislature, a law which originated in the Senate.
On the occasion of the famous all-night ses- sion in May, 1874, Mr. Christy was acting Speaker. On this night was passed the Boom Bill amid the greatest excitement. The de- tails are as follows : The bill was for the reduc- tion of tolls for the booming of logs in the Sus- quehanna River, the opponents of the bill being determined that it should not be reached that night. Mr. Christy being determined that it should pass, he forced the calendar, passing one hundred and twenty-seven bills to a third reading, and reached the Boom Bill at two o'clock in the morning. At this juncture some unknown person went into the cellar and turned off the gas. Mr. Christy then said : "The gentlemen will please be in order. Re- member that you are the representatives of the great State of Pennsylvania." He called the sergeant-at-arms in front of the desk, and ordered him to send an assistant to turn on the gas. This done, the legislature was resumed. All was confusion. Every man in the house held in his hand a tally with the names of the members for the roll-call on the Boom Bill. It was worth the life of the Speaker to make an error on the tally on that roll. All was quiet during roll-call, and in intense silence the bill was passed at three o'clock. At the close of this ordeal the Speaker was car- ried to his room, to which he was confined for two days. His bravery and tact on that occasion will long be remembered by the men who sat with him through those trying hours.
Mr. Christy was Recorder of Allegheny County for nine years. He was made a Mason, 1872, at Sewickley Lodge, now de- funct, and demitted to Allegheny Lodge, being Senior Warden of Sewickley Lodge. He is a member of Sheridan Post, No. 88, G. A. R.,
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and has been a representative to the National Encampment, Judge Advocate to Department of Pennsylvania, and Assistant Inspector-gen- eral of National Staff, also Grand Dictator of K. of H. of Pennsylvania, and representative to the Supreme Lodge.
Mr. and Mrs. Christy have had seven chil- dren, namely : Harry Lincoln, the eldest, who has been admitted to the bar, and is now his father's associate attorney; Frank S., a civil engineer of Pittsburg; Mary Eliza, M.D., of Pittsburg; Kate Householder, wife of Thomas C. Blaisdell, professor belles-lettres, Alle- gheny High School; George Parcell, who is with the Fidelity Title and Trust Company ; Nathaniel Stevens, who died September 17, 1894, at the age of twenty; and Ida, the youngest, aged nine years. They are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are well-known members of Pittsburg society.
ROBERT WRIGHT,* a prosperous and well-known member of the legal
· fraternity, located at 433 Fifth Ave- nue, Pittsburg, Pa., was born in Washington, Washington County, October 20, 1866, a son of Joshua Wright. He is of good old pioneer stock, his great - great - grandfather Wright having bought from the Indians in Colonial times five thousand acres of land, then in its primeval wildness. He was a hard-working man, contributing his full share toward the development of Washington County by clear- ing and improving a homestead, and belong- ing, in truth, to that noble band of whom Oliver Wendell Holmes says, "There never was an opening made in the forest that did not let in the light on heroes and heroines."
Joshua Wright was born and reared in Washington County, where, following the oc-
cupation of his worthy ancestors, he engaged in general farming, living in his native county until his death when past ninety years of age. He married Catherine White, the daughter of a minister of the Methodist Episcopal denomi- nation, and a sister of Judge White, of Pitts- burg.
J. Robert Wright, son of Joshua and Cath- erine (White) Wright, received his early edu- cation in his native town, being graduated from the high school. He subsequently en- tered Washington and Jefferson College, from which he received his degree in 1888. Mr. Wright then began the study of law in the office of Charles F. McKenna, of Pittsburg, and after his admission to the bar in March, 1891, located in his present office. Capable, energetic, and painstaking, he has built up a lucrative practice, which is largely confined to the civil and orphans' courts, and has made rapid progress in his profession, attaining a good position among his legal brethren.
Mr. Wright was married October 29, 1891, to Miss Helen Schmid, daughter of Professor Francis and Christine Schmid. Three chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wright, namely: a daughter, Catherine Jane; a son, Robert Francis; and one child that died in infancy. They have an attractive home at 749 Wallace Avenue in Wilkinsburg, where they are held in high regard. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wright are members of the Methodist Episcopal church; and, politically, he is an earnest advocate of the principles of the Re- publican party.
DWARD D. SMITH,* division pas- senger agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, with office at Pittsburg. was born in this city on Third Avenue, April II, 1852, a son of John C. Smith. He is of
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German antecedents on the paternal side, his grandfather, Jacob Smith, who located in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pa., at an early day, having been born and reared in Germany.
John C. Smith, son of Jacob, spent his life in Pennsylvania, coming from his native town to Pittsburg in early manhood, and from that time being identified with its leading inter- ests. He was a coppersmith, and followed his vocation here for nearly half a century. A man of sterling integrity, he was greatly respected by all ; and his death, in 1889, at the age of fourscore years, was a loss to the com- munity. Both he and his estimable wife, who passed away in 1869, aged fifty-three years, were among the most faithful members of the Presbyterian church, with which they were long connected; and, as a public recog- nition of the regard in which their memory is cherished, the new Presbyterian church now being erected at Hazelwood contains a hand- some memorial window placed in their honor. He was for many years an Elder in the old church of that suburb, and during the early days of the city of Pittsburg he was a mem- ber of the Council. He married Eliza Ann Day, the descendant of an old Pittsburg fam - ily ; and they became the parents of ten chil- dren, four of them being daughters. Of this family six are living, namely: William; Percy F .; Edward D .; Catherine, wife of W. P. Fullmer; Ella; and Lida.
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