USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 7
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necessity by the time it was opened. Dr. Scott has prepared an unfailing remedy for ulcerated and diseased teeth, thereby preserv- ing instead of extracting them. From promi- nent dentists in all parts of the country he has received testimonials as to its virtue. An extract from a letter written to him by Dr. C. E. Duck, of 6 West Reed Street, Bal- timore, reads as follows: "The preparation you left with me has proved a blessing both to myself and to my patients. I have never failed with it, and it will give me great pleas- ure to tell my professional friends of its merits. My associate, Dr. Deichman, can and does say full as much in its praise as I do."
On April 26, 1881, Dr. Scott married Mary D. McCloskey, daughter of Manus McCloskey. Their children were: Verne, who died in in- fancy; John Hull; and Warren Randolph. In politics Dr. Scott is a true Republican. Domestic in his tastes, he prefers home life to club society ; but he is a member of Gen- eral Alexander Hays Post, No. 3, G. A. R.
ROFESSOR THOMAS McCANN, M.D., a leading physician of Pitts- burg, and the professor of surgery at the Western Pennsylvania Medical College, was born in this city, April 23, 1863, son of Dr. James and Sarah (Boyd) McCann. The family is of Scotch-Irish origin. Thomas McCann, the grandfather of Professor Mc- Cann, was a farmer of Plum township.
James McCann, M.D., LL.D., who was born in Plum town, April 12, 1836, at first received only the education of a farmer boy. His school days ended when he was fourteen years old, owing to the death of his father at that time. At the age of eighteen he came to Pittsburg, and began a course in book-keep-
ing. Subsequently he obtained a position in a store on Market Street, and worked there until he began to read medicine with old Dr. John Dickson. Later he entered the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. Upon graduating from that institution, he began the practice of his profession with old Dr. W. C. Reiter. When the Rebellion began he went out as assistant surgeon in the army, and was appointed to active field service. After re- turning from the war he settled in Pittsburg, locating at the corner of Ninth and Penn Avenues. Here he built up a large general practice, and had charge of many difficult sur- gical cases. His experience as army surgeon had given him extended practice in surgery, and not long after, coming back to Pittsburg, he was appointed surgeon to the West Penn- sylvania Hospital. He had held this position for twenty years when he resigned it. Less than a year after, his death occurred on Janu- ary 13, 1893. He was one of the original promoters and stockholders of the West Penn- sylvania Medical College, and was the first occupant of its chair of surgery. Failing health obliged him to withdraw from active service in the college, but the chair was not filled again until after his death. His name will always be associated with the founding and development of the institution, as well as with the beneficent work of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital. He was a member of the American Medical and Surgical Associa- tion ; also of the Allegheny Medical Society, and for some time its President. He wrote many valuable articles for publication in standard medical works. He was connected with the Dispensary, and was surgeon for the Pittsburg Railroad and for the Allegheny Valley and the Pittsburg & Lake Erie roads. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity, but during the later years of his life was not an
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JOHN DUNLAP.
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active member. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and he could always be counted on to uphold the party's platform. His first wife, Sarah Boyd McCann, was the mother of seven children, among whom are: Profes- sor McCann, the subject of this sketch; and D. S. McCann. After the death of his first wife he married Miss Martha Scott, daughter of Brewer Scott, an old resident of Pittsburg. His only child by this marriage was Alice McCann. He was a member of Christ's Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Afflicted with poor health for nearly a year before his death, he sought to restore it by travel in Europe and the South. The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was twice conferred upon him -- first by the University of Western Pennsylvania and later, on the day of his death, by the Uni- versity of Heidelberg at Tiffin, Ohio.
Professor Thomas McCann was educated in the public schools of Pittsburg, at Elder's Ridge Academy, and at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa. He began the study of medicine under the di- rection and tutorship of his father. Subse- quently he pursued a full course of lectures at Bellevue Medical College, New York City, where he was for a year and a half, and took his degree in 1886. In 1888 he began the practice of medicine in association with his father, and has since acquired a large general practice. Upon the resignation of the office by his father, he was appointed surgeon to the West Pennsylvania Hospital. He was also appointed clinical surgeon to the same hospi - tal, and, in addition, upon the death of Dr. Murdock, was given full charge of the instruc- tion in the practice of surgery. Professor McCann is also consulting surgeon of St. Johns Hospital, Allegheny, and one of the surgeons of the Pennsylvania and Allegheny Valley Railroads. Thoroughly devoted to
his profession, he gives the most careful attention to his patients, fully earning the success he enjoys.
OHN DUNLAP was for many years a well-known business man of Pittsburg. Born in the north of Ireland in 1818, he came of Scotch ancestry. In 1826 he was brought by his widowed mother to Paterson, N.J., where he received his schooling, and served a regular apprenticeship to the tinning trade. While an apprentice he kept the books of the firm for which he worked. Hav- ing finished his apprenticeship, he came to Pittsburg in 1837, where he worked for a time for old Mr. Scaife. Later he began business for himself on a small scale at the corner of Market Street and Second Avenue, where his sons still carry on the business. After the great fire of 1845, in which he was burned out, he bought the land, and made a new start, after which business gradually in- creased until he became one of the largest importers of block tin and plate tin in Pitts- burg, and the leading man in the city in the tinning business. After a time he built the large building now occupied by his sons. At the time of his death, which occurred June 6, 1893, he was a director of the Tradesmen's National Bank and of the Artisans' Insurance Company. At one time he was a partner of William P. Townsend in the wire works at New Brighton. He left a large amount of real estate. This included over twenty acres in the Fourteenth Ward on Robinson Street. on which, after buying, he erected a fine brick residence about thirty years ago; also some twenty acres in Allegheny, which has not been subdivided. In politics he was a Re- publican. He was a generous supporter of the Presbyterian church and of various phil-
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anthropic institutions. Fond of literature, he acquired in the course of his life a large and well-selected library.
On August 15, 1850, Mr. Dunlap was united in marriage with Miss Mary Duncan, daughter of Hugh and Rachel (Glass) Duncan. Mr. Duncan, who was born in this country of Scotch-Irish parentage, died in 1870, aged seventy years. His wife, who still survives, possesses all her mental faculties at the age of almost eighty-nine years. Mrs. Dunlap, who resides in the house built by her husband, was born at Poland, the former home of President Mckinley. Her brother married a sister of the President. She has five children living, namely : Emma D., who is now Mrs. N. P. Reed; Ella, who is the wife of James B. Stevenson; William A. and John H., who are continuing the business begun by their father ; and Anna, who resides with her mother. Mrs. Dunlap is a devoted member of the Pres- byterian church.
OHN M. COOPER, D.D.S., a promi- nent, popular, and progressive dentist of Pittsburg, was born November 15, 1854, at Murrysville, Westmoreland. County, son of Joshua Cooper. The Coopers descend from an old Pennsylvania family that came here from Ireland in the commencement of the eighteenth century to escape religious perse- cution. Joshua Cooper succeeded to the occupation of his forefathers, becoming one of the substantial agriculturists of Westmoreland County as well as one of its most respected residents. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah McWilliams, eight children were born. Of these six reached ma- turity, namely : Francis, a farmer, who lives on the old homestead in Murrysville; Han- nah, who married John Sowash, and has a
daughter; John M., the subject of this biog- raphy; Sarah, who is the wife of J. Collins Grear, a merchant of Claridge, Pa .; Agnes, who married Dr. Stewart, of Pitcairn, Pa. ; and Joshua, who died in 1893, leaving a widow.
John M. Cooper received his early educa- tion in a private academy of his native town. Afterward he attended the Pennsylvania Col- lege of Dental Surgery at Philadelphia, being graduated therefrom with a creditable record in 1882. The Doctor at once located in Pittsburg, where he has steadily risen in his profession, establishing a reputation for thor- ough and superior workmanship, and becoming one of the leading dentists of the city. On October 4, 1882, soon after coming here, Dr. Cooper was married to Miss Jennie Greer, daughter of the Rev. J. C. Greer. The Doc- tor is not active in political circles, but is a strong Prohibitionist in principle. In re- ligion he adheres to the faith of his fore- fathers, being a United Presbyterian. He carries on his professional work after the most approved methods and with the best appli- ances, in handsomely furnished apartments.
ILLIAM COWLEY, M.D., who has succeeded to the practice estab- lished by his father, the late Dr. David Cowley, in Pittsburg, is a man of talent and culture, well fitted by birth and ed- ucation for the medical profession. Born in this city, September 8, 1864, he comes of good old Irish stock. His grandparents, Samuel and Jane Cowley, emigrated from County Down, Ireland, to America in 1831, locating first in Pittsburg. Afterward they were engaged in general farming at Troy Hill, where the grandfather died in 1870. The grandmother survived him, dying in
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1895, at the venerable age of ninety years. They reared seven children, namely: David, the father of Dr. Cowley; William, who was associated with Andrew Carnegie and others in railroad work, and subsequently served and died in the Civil War; Alexander, of Florida, who was for many years professor of penman - ship in Iron City College; Samuel, who was connected with the firm of Beymer, Bauman & Co., and was drowned in 1895; John, a plumber, who resides at East End, Pittsburg; Mrs. Margaret Hamilton, who was the wife of an artist in Philadelphia, and died in 1884; and Mrs. Eliza Tetedoux, whose husband is a teacher of voice culture, and was for some years the leader of the Gounod Musical Club.
Dr. David Cowley graduated from the Ho- mœopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, now Hahnemann College, and began the prac- tice of medicine in Philadelphia in 1852. In 1863 he removed to Pittsburg, finally locating in 1868 at East End. He was numbered among the leading homoeopathic physicians of the city until his death, which occurred October 30, 1886. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Mowry, eight chil- dren were born. Of these three lived but a brief time. The others are: Margaret, Henry, Eliza, David, and William. Henry is a Swedenborgian minister, and David is a student.
After obtaining his elementary education in the graded schools of his native city, Will- iam Cowley attended the high school for three years. During the season of 1883 and 1884 he was a student at the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, Ill. ; and two years later he graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia. He then began the practice of his profession with his father. Since the death of the latter he has followed his profession independently. Dr. Cowley
has met with good success in his chosen work, and has become popular, both as a physician and as a citizen. In politics the Doctor votes for the best men and measures, regardless of party. He is a member of the International Hahnemann Association, of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of Pennsylvania, and of the Iron City Microscopical Society. . In religion he is a New Churchman, or Swedenborgian. He is highly esteemed by the medical frater- nity.
DWVIN W. STOWE, attorney-at-law, with an office at 518 Fourth Avenue, Pittsburg, was born here, July 18, 1869, son of the Hon. Edwin H. and Emma (Vick) Stowe. His paternal grandfather, Hiram Stowe, was a lifelong resident of Penn- sylvania, and well-known in financial circles. Hiram for many years was the cashier of the Beaver Bank, and died in that town in 1876, at the age of fourscore years. He married a Miss Darragh, a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. She survived him a score of years, dying in 1896, at the advanced age of ninety years. They had five daughters and two sons.
The Hon. Edwin H. Stowe, one of the sons of Hiram Stowe, born and reared in Beaver County, after his admission to the bar prac- tised law in Pittsburg for many years. He is now Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, being the oldest judge in commission in this State. In the last three elections, while the nominee of the Republicans, he was indorsed by the Democrats, showing the high regard with which he is held throughout the city regardless of party. His wife, Emma, born and educated in Pittsburg, was a daughter of Charles Vick, an artist of note, who emigrated from England to this county in carly days, and was the owner of a large amount of real
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estate in Allegheny. Mr. Vick afterward set- tled in Pittsburg, where his death occurred before reaching the prime of life. He had a large family of children, thirteen in number. Three children were born to Judge and Mrs. Stowe, of whom Edwin W. and Percy V. are living. Both parents are members of the Presbyterian church. The mother is a promi- nent worker in many benevolent organizations, being the manager of the Home for Aged Protestant Women of Pittsburg; of the Ridge Avenue Orphan Asylum of Allegheny; of the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society; and a member of the National Woman's Christian Conference.
Edwin W. Stowe took full advantage of the opportunities offered him for obtaining an education. After leaving the public schools of his native city, he attended the Western University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College. In 1888 he began the study of law, registering with his father; and in June, 1893, he was admitted to the bar. He has since been actively engaged in law busi- ness, and for the past six years has been In- dictment Clerk for Allegheny County. In politics he is a stanch Republican, but he has never taken any active part in local affairs. Mr. Stowe was united in marriage, July 12, 1892, with Miss Agnes, daughter of Alfred and Sarah (McQuiston) Walton. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Stowe is identified with any re- ligious organization by membership, while both are regular attendants of the Presby- terian church. Mrs. Stowe is a manager of the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society.
AMES P. SPEER, the president of the Freehold Bank of Pittsburg, was born on Fourth Street, this city, December 28, 1825. The Rev. William Speer, the pa-
ternal grandfather, who was born in Cumber- land County, and came of honored Scotch- Irish ancestry, was early ordained to the Presbyterian ministry. The Rev. Mr. Speer preached in this State and in Ohio for many years, laboring in his Master's cause with fer- vent zeal, until called to his eternal reward when about sixty-five years of age. He reared three children, two of them being daughters.
James R. Speer, born in Chambersburg, Pa., had excellent educational advantages. Having studied medicine and taken his de- gree, he located in Greensburg, where he spent a few years. In 1825 he came to this city, where he was a successful practitioner. Becoming particularly interested in the treat- ment of the eye and its diseases, he made that a special subject of study, so that in his later years he had an extended reputation as an ocu- list, his fame reaching far beyond the limits of this county. He was a frequent contrib- utor to the papers, magazines, and medical periodicals. At the same time he was one of the most public-spirited citizens of his time, and did much to promote the advancement of the city. He was the foremost in the in- auguration of many enterprises and one of the leaders in the establishment of the Allegheny Cemetery. His death occurred in 1891, at the age of ninety-four years and ten months. Both he and his wife, who lived eighty-five years, were faithful members of the Presby- terian church. Her maiden name was Hetty Morrow, and she was born in Kittanning, Pa. Her father, Paul Morrow, who in his early life studied law, and was afterward cashier of a bank at Greensburg, Pa., in later years re- moved to this city, where he died at an ad- vanced age. For some years he was Prothon- otary of Armstrong County, and he had charge of the Presbyterian Publication Board | in Pittsburg for some time.
WILLIAM T. HOWE.
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James P. Speer was reared and educated in his native city. At the age of sixteen he began to earn his living as a clerk for the Portsmouth Rolling Mill Company. He sub- sequently returned to Pittsburg, where he be- came a clerk for Joshua Hanna, being in his service at the time of the memorable fire in 1845. In 1849 he joined the tide of gold- seekers flowing to California, and like thou- sands of others, after mining for some time, found himself far from home, with no avail- able resources at hand. He then embarked in business in San Francisco, and remained there until 1858, when he returned to the city of his birth. From that time until the breaking out of the late Civil War, Mr. Speer was engaged in business in Armstrong County. Then, with the assistance of Colonel S. M. Jackson, he raised a company of volun- teers, had it accepted, and enlisted for three years. He was first made Lieutenant of the company. Afterward he was appointed Cap- tain of Company G, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves, which was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. At the battle of Gaines's Mill, Captain Speer had two balls put through his body, and was left on the field for dead. The rebels, finding him alive, took him prisoner, and sent him to Richmond. Here he was in- carcerated in Libby Prison for two or three hours, after which, being so severely wounded, he was paroled. As soon as able to travel on crutches he came home. Restored to health after three months, he returned to his com- pany, and at the battle of Gettysburg was again wounded. A month later he was dis- charged on account of physical disability. Soon after his return to Pittsburg, Mr. Speer accepted a position as clerk in the banking house of Mr. Hanna, who subsequently sent him to examine some gold mines in Idaho, whence he returned in 1867. In 1870 he was
made cashier in the Freehold Bank, with which he has since been connected, having since 1893 been president of the institution.
On the first day of October, 1872, Mr. Speer was united in marriage with Mrs. Anna Blair, a daughter of General William Robin- son, who was the first white child born west of the Allegheny River, and is now a man of prominence in this county. In politics Mr. Speer is a straightforward Republican, sus- taining the principles of that party at the polls. He is a member of Duquesne Post, No. 259, G. A. R .; and of the Loyal Legion. Mrs. Speer is a member of the Episcopal church, and he of the Presbyterian. They are much interested in the religious advance- ment of the community, and work in harmony for the common good, although belonging to different organizations.
ILLIAM THOMAS HOWE, the secretary and treasurer of the Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Pittsburg, has risen to his present high place in business and social circles from the posi- tion of office messenger. Born in North Bloomfield, Trumbull County, Ohio, May 29, 1854, son of William H. and Melvina (Flower) Howe, he comes of a famous old New Eng- land family. Belonging to the seventh gen- eration of Howes in this country, he descends from John Howe, who, according to a family tradition, was born in 1602 in the parish of Hodinell, Warwickshire, England. In 1638 John Howe was residing in Sudbury, Mass. ; and he was subsequently the first settler in the town of Marlboro, Mass. He died in 1689. His wife's name was Mary. Samuel, son of John and Mary Howe, born in Sudbury, Mass., in 1642, built the "Wayside Inn" in that quaint old town so charmingly described
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by Longfellow. The house has never passed out of the possession of the Howe family, though it is many years since it was used as a hostelry. Samuel Howe died in 1713. He was twice married, on the second occasion to widow Sarah Leavitt Clapp.
Nehemiah Howe, a son of Samuel and the great-great-grandfather of William Thomas Howe, was born in Sudbury in 1693. Capt- ured by the Indians in an attack on the fort at Great Meadows in 1745, during King George's War, he was carried to Quebec, and incarcer- ated in a French prison, where he died of prison fever in 1747. He left a diary, which was afterward published, containing much valuable information concerning other New England people carried into captivity at the same time. Nehemiah Howe married a daughter of Benjamin Willard, of Hopkinton, Mass. Their son, Abner Howe, the great- grandfather of William Thomas, was born in Grafton, Mass., in 1731. He settled in Northfield, Mass., when a young man, and worked at the blacksmith's trade there for some time, moving eventually to Westmore- land, N. H., where he was one of the original grantees. Abner Howe was a soldier in the company of Captain Phineas Stevens, of Mas- sachusetts, in the French and Indian War. He died in July, 1781. His wife, Mehitable Holton Howe, was a descendant of William Holton, who came from England in the ship "Francis" in 1634. Thomas Howe, son of Abner and the grandfather of William Thomas, was born in Westmoreland, N.H., in 1779. When he was twenty years of age he engaged in a mercantile business in Will- iamstown, Vt. In 1817 he moved to North Bloomfield, Trumbull County, Ohio. Made a Mason in 1804 in Vermont, he was afterward Past Master in the fraternity. His death oc- curred in February, 1863. He married Cla-
rissa Howard, of Woodstock, Conn., whose children by him were: Thomas M., George W., Nancy, and William H. Both parents were members of the Congregational church.
William H. Howe, a native of. Williams- town, Vt., born in January, 1816, received .. public-school education. While yet quite young he went alone to Pittsburg, and ob- tained employment in the dry goods store of Baird, Levitt & Co. Subsequently he opened a dry-goods store of his own in Bloomfield, Ohio. Afterward, becoming interested in mining, he entered the employ of the Pitts- burg & Boston Mining Company, and was for some time located at the Cliff Mines in Keweenaw County, Michigan. Then for a number of years he was in the employ of the Corry Manufacturing and Lumber Com- pany of Corry, Pa. In 1876 he retired from active work, returned to Bloomfield, and there died in February, 1886. In 1848 he married Melvina, daughter of Horace Flower, of Bloomfield. Of their nine children Mary D., William Thomas, Minnie M., and Harry WV. attained maturity. Minnie M. is now the wife of Eleazar Harmon, of Baltimore; and Harry W. resides in Pittsburg. The parents were members of the Congregational church.
William Thomas Howe had a varied school experience, pursuing his studies in the differ- ent towns where his father lived. At the age of sixteen he went to work in the hardware store of C. J. Swift & Co. in Corry, Pa. ; ar three years later he was hired as messenger by the Oil Creek & Allegheny River Railr Company, afterward the Pittsburg, Titusvil : & Buffalo Railroad Company. In eight years he rose from the position of messenger : the responsible office of auditor and general passenger agent. He obtained in 1881 8. position of book-keeper for the Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Pittsburg, and in :. .
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following year was made assistant secretary and treasurer. In May, 1888, he was in- stalled in his present office, a very responsible position, requiring a man of integrity, abil- ity, and conservative judgment. Mr. Howe is also first vice-president of the Keystone State Building and Loan Association, which he was active in organizing.
He was married May 11, 1886, to Ida E., daughter of William M. Faber, of Pittsburg, and has two children - Gladys and William T. In politics he follows the traditions of his family, affiliating with the Republican party. He is a charter member of Nelson P. Reed Council, Junior Order United American Mechanics. Both he and Mrs. Howe are con- nected with the Shady Side Presbyterian Church.
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