USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 6
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James H. Harrison acquired his preliminary education in the common schools of his native town. In 1873 he entered the commercial department of the Pittsburg High School, from which he was graduated in June, 1874. During the following two years he taught school in Harrison township, in the mean- time continuing his studies. Then he spent a year at the Washington and Jefferson College, going from the latter institution to Lafayette College, from which he received his diploma in 1881. In November of that year he regis- tered as a law student in the office of Bruce &
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Negley, and on January 5, 1884, was admitted to the bar. He continued in the office of Messrs. Bruce & Negley until the following April, when he formed a partnership with the late Samuel C. Sawyer, and under the name of Sawyer & Harrison was successfully engaged in business until the death of the senior mem- ber of the firm in February, 1890. With the exception of a very brief time Mr. Harrison has since conducted his business alone. He has an extensive practice, which is largely confined to the insurance business, being a solicitor for a number of prominent compa- nies.
Mr. Harrison was married June 18, 1884, to Miss Lulu B., daughter of George M. Alexander, of this city. Of their four chil- dren Annie Wray, the first-born, died after living three and one-half years. The others are: George A., Harvey Taylor, and Donald I. Politically, Mr. Harrison is a strong ad- vocate of Republican principles. He was made a Mason in 1888 at the Hailman Lodge, No. 321, of which he is Past Master by ser- vice; and he is a member of Pittsburg Chap- ter, No. 268. Religiously, both he and his wife are members of the Tabernacle Presby- terian Church, of which he was trustee and treasurer.
OHN A. WILLIAMS, M.D., a rising physician of Esplen Borough, was born on a farm in Fallowfield, Washington County, October 23, 1867, son of Harvey and Amanda (Burkett) Williams. Hull Will- iams, the Doctor's grandfather, was one of the pioneer settlers of Washington County, and cleared one of the first farms there. Harvey was born in Fallowfield, and is still living there, industriously occupied in farming. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church, and is active in the Sunday-school
work. Also interested in public education, he is school director for his district. His wife is now deceased. A sketch of her fam- ily history may be found in the life of Dr. A. H. Burkett. She was the mother of two children, of whom the Doctor alone reached maturity.
John A. Williams was sent to the public schools .- Later he attended the Normal School at California, Pa., graduating there- from in 1880. He then taught for several winters as principal in different schools, and was at the same time reading medicine. In 1889 he entered the West Pennsylvania Medi- cal College, now the medical department of the Western University of Pennsylvania, and graduated in the class of 1892, having taken a three years' course of lectures. He was awarded honors for his examination and gen- eral standing, and was chosen class president. He located for the practice of his profession at Esplen Borough on River Avenue, where he has since acquired a lucrative practice and a reputation for unusual skill and ability in his profession. His general practice includes much surgical work for the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad Company, to which he is assist- ant surgeon, and for the factories of McKee's Rocks. Another part of his practice is fur- nished by his duties in the capacities of medi- cal examiner for the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and physician to the Board of Health. He is a member of the Allegheny County Medical Society, before which he has read papers treating of medical subjects, and of the State Medical Association.
On March 16, 1893, the Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Rosa Blankenbuchler, of Washington County, a daughter of a farmer residing near the Doctor's early home. Dr. and Mrs. Williams have one son, Herbert Lawson Williams, born July 28, 1894. The
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Doctor is associated with Pittsburg Lodge, No. 484, F. & A. M .; with Shiloh Chapter, No. 257; with Alfaretta Lodge, Knights of Pythias; and with the Maccabees and the Royal Society of Good Fellows. In politics he is a Republican, but never an aspirant for political honors. He is a member as well as the physician of the Board of Health.
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HOMAS LAWRENCE DISQUE, M.D., a bright, intelligent young physician of Pittsburg, was born in Allegheny, June 17, 1870, son of Henry Disque. Henry Disque, Sr., his paternal grandfather, born in Bavaria, Germany, January 2, 1817, was a de- scendant of a French family, presumably of Normandy, that, with thousands of other Huguenots, fled from their native land to German soil at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Having acquired a practical education in the schools of Germany, the grandfather emigrated to America in 1837, and afterward for a time worked in New York City. Removing from there to Belmont County, Ohio, he there purchased a tract of unimproved land, and carried on general farm- ing most successfully until his retirement from active pursuits. He is now spending the closing years of his life in comfort and contentment, being a hale and hearty man for one of his years, and in the full possession of his faculties. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Pfeffer, bore him eight children, of whom six attained maturity.
Henry Disque, Jr., who was born in New York City and lived there for a few years, went with his parents to Belmont County, Ohio, where he was afterward reared on a farm. After receiving his education in an academy, he came in 1860 to this county, lo- cating in Allegheny. For twelve years there-
after he was in the store of the late J. P. Fleming, of whom he learned 'the drug busi- ness. He was next employed in the capacity of travelling salesman for a wholesale drug house in Pittsburg, and later became manager of the wholesale drug trade now carried on by the Walther, Robertson Drug Company, of this city. He is a stanch Republican in politics, but takes no active part in local or national affairs. On June 15, 1869, he married Miss Jean, daughter of John Lawrence, formerly of Glasgow, Scotland, but later of Allegheny. They have two children - Thomas Lawrence and Mary M.
Thomas Lawrence Disque received his early education in the public schools of Allegheny and under the instruction of private tutors. He then began the study of medicine in the same place, reading in the office of Walter Ure, M.D. Subsequently he entered the Western Pennsylvania Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1892. For the remainder of that year and a part of the fol- lowing year he was house physician at the col- lege. In 1894 he took a thorough course at the New York Post-graduate Medical School, afterward spending a year or more as assistant physician at the Pittsburg City Home and Hospitals at Marshalsea, gaining an experi- ence that has proved of inestimable value to him in his professional career. In 1895 Dr. Disque opened an office in Pittsburg, where he is rapidly building up a splendid practice, his professional knowledge and ability being recognized by his medical brethren as well as by the community. He is specially interested in clinical, microscopy, and chemistry, and does considerable work in that line for other physicians. He is demonstrator of pathology in his Alma Mater. Dr. Disque is a member of the Allegheny County Medical Society and of the Western Pennsylvania Alumni Club,
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a scientific association. In politics he is an adherent of the Republican party.
HOMAS D. BURLEIGH, now living in retirement at 227 Oakland Avenue, Pittsburg, after a long and active busi- ness career, was born January 10, 1825, in Wakefield, N.H., son of Jonathan Burleigh, Jr. Jonathan Burleigh, Sr., the paternal grand- father of Thomas D., was a pioneer farmer of Wakefield. The father, who was born in Wakefield in 1790, followed the sea for some years in his early life. Thereafter he was successfully engaged in general farming in his native town until his death in 1862. He was twice married. After the death of his first wife, whose maiden name was Miss Char- lotte Wyatt, he married Miss Lydia Copp, daughter of William Copp, one of the fore- most farmers of Tuftonboro, N.H., and a man of considerable wealth for those days. She was born December 16, 1798, and died March 2, 1881. She had seven children, born as fol- lows: Elizabeth, January 11, 1822; William C., July 28, 1823; Thomas D., January 10, 1825; Belinda E., July 25, 1827; Charlotte A., January 17, 1829; Mary A., October 6, 1832; and Ellen R., June 13, 1836. Both parents were members of the Baptist church. The father was a soldier in the War of 1812.
Thomas D. Burleigh was educated in the district schools of Wakefield. He remained on the homestead until twenty-five years old, when he went to Boston, where he served an apprenticeship at spike-making, which he afterward made his business. He remained for five years as foreman of the shop in which he learned his trade. Then he went to Rich- mond, Va., where he was successfully engaged in the same employment until the early part of 1861. He was visiting old friends in New
Hampshire at the outbreaking of the late Re- bellion. Instead of returning to Richmond, he spent the following year in his native town. In 1862 Mr. Burleigh accepted a situ- ation with the firm of Dilworth, Porter & Co., of Pittsburg, and remained with them until January 1, 1889, as superintendent of their- factory, a most responsible position, having a large number of men under him. Then, leav- ing his home on Carson Street, he went to East St. Louis, Ill., being there employed in the same capacity and the same business by T. A. Meisenberg & Co. until two or three years after the big flood of 1892. On Janu- ary 1, 1895, Mr. Burleigh returned to Pitts- burg, and, buying his present large brick house, has since resided here, being one of its most respected citizens. In politics he affili- ates with the Republican party, but has never been an aspirant to official honors.
On February 27, 1853, Mr. Burleigh mar- ried Miss Mary L. Cook, who was born Janu- ary 4, 1828, in Friendship, Me., and died January 19, 1893, in Pittsburg. She was a woman of most estimable character, beloved by all, and a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Burleigh is a regular attendant and a liberal supporter. Their children were: Clarence, Willie T., and Minnie M. Minnie, who was born May 12, 1870, is a hospitable housekeeper for her father. Clarence, born December 20, 1853, is a talented member of the legal profession, and has recently been elected City Attorney of Pittsburg. Prior to this, for four and one- half years he was District Attorney, in which capacity he tried the Homestead riot cases. Willie, born September 22, 1862, is now a well-known physician of the South Side. He married Miss Selma S. Sorg, and they have two children -- Lorna and Thomas D. - the latter being named for his grandfather.
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MITH ARCHIBALD JOHNSTON, an attorney-at-law of Pittsburg, was born in Hopewell township, Beaver County, July 18, 1839, son of Archibald and Mary (Mackrell) Johnston. His grandfather, James Johnston, who was born in the County Antrim, Ireland, came to this country in 1822, settling at Bower Hill, now a station on the Chartier Valley Railroad. Here he purchased a farm, upon which he resided until 1830. Then he moved to a farm in the township of Hopewell, on which he spent the rest of his life.
Archibald Johnston's father was born in the County Antrim, Ireland, April 1, 1810. He was a boy of twelve when his father brought him to this country, and he grew to manhood in Pennsylvania. At the age of fourteen he began to learn the machinist's trade with Evans & Co., of Pittsburg. After serving an apprenticeship of seven years, he was engaged as an engineer on a river steamboat for a quarter of a century. In the meantime he purchased the farm of Dr. James Rodgers in Beaver County, adjoining that of his father, and there spent his last days. He was not an enthusiastic politician, but he favored the Whig and afterward the Republican party ; and he voted for Fremont at the time of his nomination. His death occurred April 1I, 1882. He was married on his twenty-first birthday to Mary, daughter of Henry Mack- rell, both of whom were natives of the County Derry, Ireland. Mr. Mackrell, who was then a widower, came to. this country with his --- daughter when she was sixteen years old, and settled in Pittsburg. After her marriage he 1 lived with her until 1840, the year of his death. She and her husband were members of the United Presbyterian Church. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom attained maturity, namely: James, now de- 1
ceased; Agnes, the widow of Stephen Lawson, of Shousetown, Pa .; Smith Archibald, the subject of this sketch; Marshall, a resident of Pittsburg; Sarah E., deceased, who was the wite of William Springer, of this city; and Thomas D., also of Pittsburg.
Smith Archibald Johnston acquired his rudimentary education in the public schools of Hopewell. Afterward, in 1851 and 1852, while boarding with an aunt in Pittsburg, he attended the Ralston School in this city. Subsequently he took a course in a private school in Scottsville, Beaver County, and then entered Beaver Academy, at that time a noted institution of learning, presided over by Dr. Mateer, since a missionary in India. In his eighteenth year he engaged in the profession of teacher in Logstown, Beaver County, Pa., where he remained about twelve months. Then he taught for a year at Coraopolis, for two years in Green Tree Borough, and for two years in West Liberty Borough. While so employed he was entered as a law student in the office of Nathaniel P. & G. L. B. Fetter- man, of Pittsburg. Registered on April 20, 136c, he was admitted to the bar July 18, 1863. Knowing that a young lawyer could expect but a limited patronage, with a precari- ous income, he took charge of his old school in Green Tree Borough, devoting his spare time to such legal matters as his neighbors brought him. After a time he was obliged to engage the assistance of his cousin, Henry C. Mackrell, now of Brooklyn, N. Y., who had been admitted to the bar two years before Mr. Johnston, for the business demanding attention during school hours. On December 1, 1863, having resigned his school, he opened an office, with his cousin as colleague; and the firm of Mackrell & Johnston managed a fair practice for two years. Mr. Johnston was then alone until April, 1869, when James P.
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Johnston (no relation) became his associate. The partnership of Johnston & Johnston was in existence until 1872. Then Mr. Smith A. Johnston was associated for five years with Charles S. Fetterman and J. B. Flack, under the style of Fetterman, Johnston & Flack. Mr. Flack retired first, and then Mr. Fetter- man, who was appointed to the bench. The latter, however, resumed his relations with Mr. Johnston after nine months; and their subse- quent association lasted until 1882, when it was dissolved. Mr. Johnston was next asso- ciated with his brother, Marshall Johnston, until February, 1894, since which time he and his son, Charles M., have practised together under the firm name of S. A. & Charles M. Johnston. They have an extensive and lucra- tive business, including all kinds of civil practice. In addition to his legal work Mr. Johnston attends to extensive mining interests in Texas, where he spent a large part of 1895.
Mr. Johnston has been the president of the San Carlos Coal Company since its organiza- tion, and was active in establishing both that and the Rio Grande & Northern Railroad Company. The railroad, the first enterprise of the kind in that section of the country, includes a line connecting Chispa, on the Southern Pacific Railway in Jeff Davis County, and San Carlos in Presidio County. The coal is bituminous, and finds a ready market near the mines. Mr. Johnston is an active Republican, and has been a delegate to a number of party conventions. He repre- sented the Fifth Ward of Allegheny in the Common Council four years, from 1874 to 1878; and he was in the Pittsburg Common Council from 1882 to 1884, serving on the Water Commission and on the Committees on Pavements and Wooden Buildings. He was made a Mason in St. John's Lodge No. 219, of Pittsburg, and belongs to Duquesne
Chapter; he is a charter member of the Amer- icus Club; Past Master Workman of Centre Avenue Lodge, No. 124, A. O. U. W., which he has represented in the Grand Lodge; and he belongs to the Order of the Golden Chain and to the Ancient Essenic Order. An ac- complished linguist, he speaks German espe- cially well. In 1878 he spent three months in Europe, visiting the Paris Exposition and points of interest in England and France.
Mr. Johnston was married December 25. 1860, to Julia, daughter of William Burtt, of Green Tree Borough. Her uncle, Andrew Burtt, who was the author of Burtt's Gram - mar and the principal of the Ralston School from 1852 to 1883, was considered a very su- perior teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have had four children - Andrew Burtt, Charles M., Howard Fetterman, and Mary M. An- drew Burtt died September 22. 1894. aged thirty-two years. Mary M. died in infancy. Charles M. Johnston studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in Septem- ber, 1890. The other son, Howard F., was admitted to the Texas bar at El Paso. and is at present secretary of the Rio Grande & Northern Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston are members of the Smithfield Methodist Episcopal Church.
EORGE D. McMORRAN, the cash- ier of the Mercantile Bank of Pitts- burg, was born in Allegheny County. January 9, 1854, son of Alexander and Cath- erine (Moore) McMorran. The father, who is a native of Ireland and a stone mason by trade, more than fifty years ago came to Alle- gheny County, where he at first worked at masonry and quarrying. Afterward he was engaged in farming in Allegheny County. He is now retired, and resides at Etna, Pa.
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His wife, who is a member of the United Presbyterian church, has had eleven children.
George D. McMorran was brought up on his father's farm. After receiving his education at the Sharpsburg Academy, he learned the carpenter's trade, and followed it for three years. An injury then received by a. fall made him an invalid for a year. Upon his recovery he taught school for several years. In 1881 he entered the Merchants' and Manu- facturers' National Bank of Pittsburg as a mes- senger. From this position in the course of time he rose to that of assistant teller. After ten years spent with this bank he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Mercantile Trust Company. Two years later he became the treasurer and assistant secretary and also the cashier of the Mercantile Bank, which posi- tion Mr. MeMorran now fills. On October 3, 1882, he married Miss Sadie M. Brickell, daughter of William and Lavinia Brickell. Of their five children one died in infancy. Charles C. Norman is also deceased. The others are: Eva, May, and William G. Mr. and Mrs. McMorran are members of the United Presbyterian church. He is also a member of the Royal Arcanum. In politics he is a Republican; and he has been Council- man of the borough, president of the Council, and he is a director of the School Board at Sharpsburg, where he resides.
OHN WEST OLDSHUE, M.D., a skil- ful physician of Pittsburg, is also a native of the city. He was born Au- gust 31, 1848, son of Dr. Lincoln and Martha Ann (West) Oldshue. The grandfather, Colo- nel John Oldshue, was a war officer, and known for his great vocal power. His wife. was a Lincoln and a relative of the martyred President.
Dr. Lincoln Oldshure, whose birth occurred in Ashland, Ohio, December 8, 1820, was a teacher for some years in Ohio and Indiana. He obtained his medical education at the Central Medical College of New York, gradu- ating with the class of 1839. Soon after he came to Pittsburg, and began the practice of his profession, which he followed here until his death in' 1886 after many years of con- scientious toil. A scholarly man, he devoted considerable time to literary work on medical subjects. The highest compliments have been given him for his work entitled “Urino- Pathology." He was the first professor to lecture on that subject in any college in the United States. Some of his inferences proved prophetic. When an old man and almost paralyzed, he loved to talk to young men of what they might live to see, such as commu- nication by speaking over long distances, send- ing messages by means of pneumatic tubes, which were then looked upon as wild vagaries, but are now realized. He was the first man in this part of the country to refine oil, carry- ing it on in the basement under his office. He was constantly engaged in chemical exper- iments. In his daily life he was a man of exemplary habits, using neither liquors nor tobacco. He was chairman of the first meet- ing held in behalf of the Virginia & Charles- ton Railroad, and the first subscriber to the enterprise. The Castle Shannon Railroad Company purchased forty-six acres of coal from him, for which they paid forty thousand dollars cash. The land is still owned by his heirs. His wife, Martha Ann, bore him eight children, namely : Thomas L. Oldshue, M. D., who practised in Pittsburg, and died June 3, 1877; John West, the subject of this sketch; Anna Louisa, the wife of C. E. Owens, a civil engineer and attorney; Martha Agnes, the wife of W. C. Stillwagen; Ida Helen, the
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wife of Frederick Robert Shaw, a resident of East Pittsburg; Mary and Frances Josephine Elizabeth, both deceased; and James Alfred, who was police surgeon in Pittsburg, and died in 1890.
John West Oldshue, the oldest living son of Dr. Lincoln Oldshue, attended Georgetown College, District of Columbia, which he left to engage in practice. He also took a full course in the Philadelphia University of Med- icine and Surgery, graduating therefrom in 1871. For a number of years he was in part- nership with his father, and he has followed practically in the same lines. He is a natural artist, and has done creditable work in both oil and pencil. In politics he is a Sound Money Democrat; in religion, a Catholic.
HARLES SHIRAS SCOTT, D.D.S., a widely-known dentist of Allegheny County, located at 628 Penn Avenue, Pittsburg, has a very large practice in all kinds of dental work. He was born in the neighboring city of Allegheny, July 17, 1843, son of the late Dr. John and Margaret (Sloan) Scott, being a direct de- scendant of one Hugh Scott, who came to this country from Northern Ireland in 1670. The father, born April 13, 1808, in Washington, P'a., from his early manhood was engaged in the practice of his profession, being the pioneer dentist of Pittsburg, where he opened an office in 1839. From that time until his retirement in 1875 he labored successfully in this city, building up a large and lucrative pa- tronage. He was highly esteemed as a man and a citizen, having spent fourscore years of earthly life in honored usefulness. Of the several children born to him and his wife, five died of scarlet fever within the brief period of twenty-three days. Two of the family are
still living, namely: Dr. Charles S., the sub- ject of this sketch; and Alice B., now Mrs. Major Daniel G. Cash, of Duluth, Minn.
Charles S. Scott was educated at Caton's Boarding School and at Western University. being graduated from the latter in 1859. A: the breaking out of the late Civil War he re- sponded to the call for volunteers, enlisting in the Twelfth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Company I, and was mustered into service a: Harrisburg, April 25, 1861. After serving a three months' term, chiefly in Maryland, he re-enlisted February 20, 1862, in Company A, Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves. With his regiment he was in the Peninsular Campaign, and he took part in the battle of the Wilder- ness. Shortly after the latter engagement he was prostrated by typhoid fever, when he was taken to Philadelphia to the hospital. A few weeks later he was sent to Camp Convalescent in Washington, where he spent the winter. In March, 1864, he rejoined his company. and served the remainder of his full three years, receiving his honorable discharge April 20, 1865. In the battle of the Wilder- ness he received his only wound, which was caused by a shot in the side. Returning fro :: the army to Pittsburg, he was engaged in den- tistry with his father for two or more years. In 1867 he went to St. Louis, where he was connected for a like period with a revente and grand collective agency. He again re- turned to the city of his birth, and here re- sumed his professional work, in which he has since established such an enviable reputati for skill and superior workmanship. Durir_ the first few years of his professional carce- Dr. Scott had a serious time in his efforts : secure patients, going from house to house. earning but a precarious living. ITis . however, finally truimphed, and his practice reached such dimensions that his office was =
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