USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > Biographical sketches of leading citizens of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania > Part 25
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Andrew F. Weir passed the years of childhood and of youth until he had attained his majority in Harmony and Middle Lancaster, attending the district schools, and one term of high school at Zelienople, Butler County. At the age of twenty-one he married, and shortly after entered the employ of R. W. Cunningham in New Cas- tle, taking charge of that gentleman's home, attending to the gardening, and a care of the grounds and stables; he remained with his em- ployer nineteen years, and by frugality and prudence, he saved during these years sufficient
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money to make him independent, and to enable him to purchase in April, 1891, the Boiles' farm some four miles south of New Castle, compris- ing about 100 acres of as fine farming land as can be found anywhere in the township or coun- ty. One fact that speaks strongly in Mr. Weir's favor, as a man who wishes to be beholden to no one, and as one who is able to pay as he goes, is that he paid the purchase money, amounting to $7,400 in cash. He has expended half as much more in making necessary im- provements, not counting in this his own labor and time. Much of the property was still en- cumbered with the original stumps that remained from clearing the land, and the differ- ent fields were in no fit condition for cultivation. Ravines have been filled, drains put in, stumps grubbed out, and stones removed, and many other minor improvements made until now the owner may well take pride in his fine estate. Not the least notable feature of the farm are the four springs, and especially the one near the house, which supplies the best of cold spring water for all domestic purposes. The buildings are large, commodious and well-appointed in every particular; about the dwelling is a grove, which furnishes in the summer a cool and com- fortable retreat in the noon hour, so grateful to the farm-laborers. Mr. Wier is now giving his attention chiefly to dairy-farming, selling the product of about twenty cows.
Mr. Weir was married in Zelienople, Butler Co., Pa., May 7, 1872, to Julia A. Zigler, who was born in Harmony, a daughter of Andrew and Debora (Moyer) Zigler. Mrs. Weir's mother was a daughter of Samuel and Julia (Rice) Moyer, the former a farmer, who lived to attain
the age of eighty-nine years. Andrew Zigler, a son of Andrew Zigler, Sr., was a carpenter by trade. The union of Mr. Weir and his wife was productive of two children: Sarah Tillie, and Mary Louise. Sarah Tillie married Robert Staf- ford of New Castle, and they are the parents of two children-Julia May, and Nellie Darling. Mary Louise became the wife of Alexander M. Houk of Shenango township, and they have two children-Lillie May, and Florence Edna. Mr. and Mrs. Weir are highly esteemed in their neighborhood and township, and are entitled to be classed among the best citizens. They are the friends of good order and system, and con- tributing their portion toward the building up of the community, morally, socially, and intel- lectually. Mr. Weir is greatly respected by his fellow-citizens for his straightforward business methods, and excellent personal traits of char- acter.
HARVEY C. HAMMOND, yard conductor for the Pennsylvania R. R., residing at No. 258 West North Street, New Castle, was born in the neighboring county of Beaver, near Freedom, Oct. 1I, 1857. His boyhood days were spent in Beaver County until his tenth year, when his parents moved to New Castle, where he con- tinued to attend school for about four more years. When a boy he began a railroad life, first . carrying water on the gravel train, and then on the section. He was very strong and well-built for his age, and it was not long before he was doing a full day's work as a laborer on the sec-
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tion. After three or four years on the section gang, he became a brakeman, and continued as such until 1885, since which time he has held the position of yard-conductor with proficiency.
His mother, Nancy (Nealey) Hammond, was born in Beaver County, and was a daughter of John and Betsey (Nealey) Nealey. Grandma Nealey possessed a remarkable memory for names and dates, and for facts she had heard or come across in her reading; this happy faculty was preserved to an extreme old age, and proved of service to her in more than one instance in recalling bygone events. John Nealey, a farmer by choice of occupation, was an esquire for a number of years; his death occurred in 1868, when aged eighty years. Our subject's father, James Hammond, was born in Allegheny Coun- ty, at Woods Run, Pittsburg; he was a farmer, and lived to be seventy-six years old. In 1866, he began working for the Pennsylvania R. R. in the yards at Lawrence Junction, living in the meanwhile in Mahoningtown. He was in the War of the Rebellion as a member of Co. I, 140th Reg. Pa. Vol. Inf., and saw abundant service in the battles of Bull Run, Gettysburg, etc., and other engagements in which the Army of the Potomac was numbered among the parti- cipants. He was a son of William Hammond, who was born in Ireland. Ten children made up the parental family, as follows: John, a yard conductor for the Pennsylvania R. R .; Grace, deceased; James, deceased; William, deceased; Harvey C., our subject; Sadie, the wife of John Cain, a brakeman on the Pennsylvania R. R .; Susan, the wife of John Jones, a painter; Nora, the wife of Charles Davis, a car inspector for the
ceased. Grace, James, and William died in childhood.
Harvey C. Hammond was married in New Castle, in May, 1880, to Hattie Shira, a native of Butler County, and a daughter of William and Margaret Shira. William Shira is a carpenter and contractor of Croton. Mr. and Mrs. Ham- mond have been blessed with five children, namely: James B., who is in the employ of J. C. Fulkerson, a coal dealer of New Castle; Will- iam; Harvey; Carl L .; and Nancy Margaret. Mrs. Hammond is a member of the M. E. Church. Our subject is a Republican in his politics, and socially is a member of Protected Home Circle, New Castle Lodge, No. 5, and Knights of Pythias, Western Star Lodge, No. 160.
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HOSEA H. SWISHER, a conductor on the Western New York & Pittsburg R. R., residing at No. 210 Pittsburg Street, New Castle, this county, was born in North Beaver township, this county, Feb. 18, 1843, and is a son of John K. and Martha E. (McClure) Swisher. Hosea's mother, who was a daughter of James McClure and of Scotch descent, died when he was less than a year old. John K. Swisher was a son of Jacob Swisher; he followed the occupation of a farmer all the years of his life that were spent in active labor, and died in 1865, aged sixty-six years. He was one of the first county commis- sioners of Lawrence County, after its organiza- tion as a county, and held office three years.
Of a family of six boys and three girls born Pennsylvania R. R.'s lines; and Joseph, de- to his parents, five of whom now survive, Hosea
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H. was the eighth in order of birth. His edu- cation was secured in the district schools of Bethel, North Beaver township, and his early life up to the age of twenty-five was spent on the farm. The discovery of the extensive oil- fields of Pennsylvania and Ohio occurred about this time, and our subject enlisted his interest in the work, and spent two years drilling oil-wells at Island Run. On his return to his native place, he labored on the home farm for one sum- mer, and then became the proprietor of a store at Mt. Jackson for two years, after which he moved to Mahoningtown, and worked on the railroad one year, and then for one year was em- ployed in the quarries of Green, Marquis & Johnson. It had been his desire for quite a period back to become a trainman, for a pros- pect of steady advancement is offered such as is not found in every employment. He at last secured a place on the Beaver Valley R. R. as a brakeman, and was soon promoted to the posi- tion of conductor, and for thirteen years was on the company's pay-rolls in that capacity. For the past fifteen years he has been in the service of the W. N. Y. & P. R. R. In point of years of service he is one of the oldest trainmen in the city of New Castle.
Mr. Swisher assumed the obligations of the marriage compact at Mt. Jackson, uniting him- self with Olive N. Officer, daughter of John and Eliza (Nesbit) Officer. Of this marriage there was born one son in Mahoningtown, Harry D., who attended the schools of that place in his boyhood. Harry's first business venture was in keeping a cigar and tobacco store; he ran it one year, and then secured a position on the W. N. Y. & P. R. R., for which company he served two
years as brakeman, and in 1894 was made yard conductor, a position he is acceptably filling at the present time. Harry was married June 23, 1896, at Jamestown, N. Y., to Clara Carl, daugh- ter of John and Kate (Crum) Carl; they have one child, Ruth E., born Sept. 3, 1897; John Carl is a conductor on the P. & W. R. R. All the members of the family are members of the Ep- worth M. E. Church. In politics, both Mr. Swisher and his son are Republicans. Our sub- ject is a member of the Western Star Lodge, No. 160, K. of P .; is also a member of the A. P. A .; and of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, of which he is counselor. Harry Swisher is a member of the Brotherhood of Rail- road Trainmen, J. H. Douglas Lodge, No. 222; Knights of the Maccabees, Lawrence Tent, No. IOI; and of the Junior Order of United Amer- ican Mechanics.
THE NEW CASTLE NEWS is a striking ilustration of what persistent and well-directed effort will accomplish in furthering an enter- prise. With a modest beginning it has devel- oped from year to year until the publication has become one of the most substantial in Western Pennsylvania. No effort has been spared to make the paper popular with the people, and that it has wonderfully succeeded is attested by the circulation books.
A daily and weekly are published-the daily has a very extensive circulation in the city, while the weekly goes into nearly every house- hold in the county.
REV. JOHN S. DICE.
MRS. MARGARET McQUIGG DICE.
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The Daily News was established seventeen years ago. It was the outcome of the Index, a weekly newspaper published in New Castle. The Index was founded by W. J. Bannan and W. P. Miller. The reason for founding the Index was probably the same reason which actuates most newspaper publishers-to obtain gold, silver and coin of the realm. The reason assigned by those publishers was "for the promotion of the cause of temperance." However, much like other "bluffs" as this was, it is nevertheless true that The News has adhered closer to the "cause of temperance" than ninety-nine out of one hundred newspapers posing as public benefactors. It has never pub- lished an advertisement of intoxicating liquor during the seventeen years of its existence. Ex- Register and Recorder J. T. Gleason, J. Edd Leslie, Charles B. Power and George W. Shaw, present editor of The News, J. P. Reynolds, were all connected with The News, as editors, publishers, and managers during its infancy. The two last-named gentlemen were among those instrumental in starting The Daily City News, as it was then called. It was a publica- tion separate from the weekly Index, and was started on its mission (by the way, the publishers of The Daily City News purposed filling "a long felt want") in the fall of 1880. The Index and The Daily City News joined hands and became The News, daily and weekly editions, when the wintry days came.
The late George E. Treadwell became first part owner, and finally, when ill health com- pelled W. J. Bannan to go West, full owner of the paper. He organized a stock company known as The News Company, giving his em- ployees shares of stock. These employees'
shares finally were re-bought by Mr. Treadwell, and to-day the stock of The News Company is owned entirely by the estate of George E. Tread- well, and the paper is controlled by Mrs. G. E. Treadwell. Fred L. Rentz is now manager of The News.
The paper has been a party to some heated controversies. It has won and lost some polit- ical fights. It has taken its position on all ques- tions with one motive alone and that motive has been "Right." If it is true that every man has his price it is equally true that the price has never been high enough to touch the editor- ship of The News. It is the writer's opinion that no price could ever have influenced the control- lers of The News.
REV. JOHN S. DICE, the beloved and hon- ored pastor of the Bethel United Presbyterian Church of North Beaver township, was born in Poland, Ohio, Nov. 12, 1844. He sprang from an honored ancestry, his parents being George and Catherine A. (Phillips) Dice, and his grand- parents John and Mary (Spargo) Dice.
John Dice, the grandfather, was of German birth, coming from Saxony, while the grand- mother had English blood in her veins. John Dice came to America and settled in Washing- tin Co., Pa. He was for years a successful and leading farmer, finally retiring, and died at the age of eighty-four. His wife attained the ad- vanced age of seventy-seven years. The chil- dren born of this union were: John, born in 1800; Betsey, 1802; Joseph, 1804; George, 1806; Polly, 1808; Abraham, 1810; Jacob, 1812; Henry,
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1814; Lydia, 1816; James, 1818; Matthew, 1820; and Eli, 1823.
George Dice, the father of Rev. John S., was the fourth child of that remarkable family, and was born in Washington Co., Pa. He early in life learned the shoemaker's trade, but later on became a farmer. His first farm was near Po- land, Ohio, then he bought a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits in Crawford Co., Pa., and finally moved to a farm he purchased near New Wilmington, Pa., where his death took place at the age of seventy-six. His wife, the mother of our subject, was in many ways a no- table woman. She was a daughter of James and Margaret (Renfrew) Phillips. Margaret Ren- frew was a daughter of a Scottish nobleman of the highest rank. Her marriage out of her posi- tion in life for a time caused an estrangement between herself and her parents, but later on her family, becoming aware of the true worth of the man she loved, forgave her freely. Catherine A. (Phillips) Dice attained the age of seventy-seven years. She bore to her husband a family no less worthy of notice than that of which he himself had been a member. The children were: Ters- hand Renfrew, born July 31, 1831; Mary Jane, Oct. 23, 1833; George Warner, Nov. 19, 1834; a son, Sept. 6, 1836; Lydia Eliza, Nov. 22, 1837; Jeannette, Feb. 12, 1840; James Phillips, Jan. 31, 1842; John Smith, our subject, Nov. 12, 1844; William Henry, March 16, 1847; Alice Henrietta, Nov. 9, 1849; and Orris Fowler, May 6, 1852.
John Smith Dice first of all received a careful home training. He next prepared for and en- tered the Westminster College of New Wilming- ton, and was graduated in the Class of 1869. He
then became a student in the Allegheny Theo- logical Seminary, and graduated in 1873. He had been licensed to preach the previous year, and was formally ordained as a minister of the gospel, April 21, 1874. His first call was to the church of which he is to-day the pastor. A service of a quarter of a century in this field has so identified the Rev. Mr. Dice with his charge that a few words in regard to the history of the church would not be amiss at this point.
The Bethel United Presbyterian Church was founded in 1797 or '98, and was known as the Seceders church; it was later known more famil- iarly to residents of this part of the county as the Little Beaver Church, and was located three miles south of its present site, near the Samuel Taylor farm. The Rev. James Duncan was the first regular pastor, being installed and ordained in 1800, and he remained four years. Up to 1804 services had been mainly held in a tent; in that year the first church building was erected. It was of round logs, 18x20 feet on the ground, and stood where the present structure is located. In 1816 the old log church was enlarged. The first frame edifice was constructed in 1836 or '37; this building was 44x56 feet in dimensions and answered all demands until the present church home, 40x60 feet, took its place Sept. 22, 1870.
That the twenty-five years, during which the Rev. Mr. Dice has labored in his Master's vine- yard, has been productive of the greatest possi- ble amount of good to the church and the com- munity at large cannot be doubted. A man of more than ordinary ability as an evangelist, of warm heart, and of deep Christian fervor and convictions, he is the friend of all. In times of trouble and deep distress his heart and sympathy
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are known to the community. On joyful occa- sions, no one adds more to the pleasant hour. His piety is undoubted. He is withal a broad- minded man, and alive to human feelings and interests. When he came here, the flock num- bered eighty-four souls, and now there are near- ly two hundred members. As a leader, a teach- er, and an expounder of true Christian princi- ples, he has succeeded beyond the shadow of a doubt. His home, which he built in 1878 on a ten-acre plot, which he bought from the J. R. Hayes farm, is a model of beauty and good taste; surrounded as it is by shrubbery, flowers, and green lawns, it is indeed a place good to live in. His esteemed wife, Margaret, who was a daugh- ter of Charles and Margaret McQuigg of Alle- gheny City, Pa., has borne him four children: Charles Lyle, now in college; Alice Bovard, now a student in the Allegheny High School; James Renfrew; and Margaret McQuigg.
In his lovely home, in the midst of his family, and the many near and dear ones, whom Mr. Dice's life-work has drawn to him, the honored pastor lives a calm and peaceful life. Apart from those elements which so often harrass and worry, with his life-work clearly marked out ahead, and a clean record of a life well-spent behind, the Rev. John S. Dice is a happy man in the fullest sense of the word. To those of his. many acquaintances, who have learned to love him and respect his noble worth, the likeness of him that appears on a page in proximity, will appeal with far more than passing interest. Mrs. Dice also has a large circle of warm and inti- mate friends, and it is with pleasure that we also publish her portrait as a companion picture to that of her husband's.
JAMES RAMSEY DAVIDSON, lately de- ceased, was a prominent contractor and builder of New Castle, Pa., but was leading a retired life the last few years preceding his death. He was born in North Beaver township, Lawrence Co., Pa., Nov. 1, 1818, and received his early mental training in the common schools of his native place, and after completing the course of study mapped out for the youth of the district, which education, although considered amply sufficient for those early days, would be thought sadly lacking for the needs of the present time, he learned the carpenter's and builder's trade, which he successfully followed until 1861, when he turned his attention to the manufacture of lumber for ten years. In his day he was con- sidered a very competent and skilled workman. He helped construct the first buildings in what is known as West New Castle, and also did work on the Old Stone Corner. Afterwards he worked at his trade in Pittsburg, being engaged on the old Cathedral, and spent a number of years in the employ of Brown, the Coal King, Machine work in the preparation of building material was unknown in those times, and as all the work was done by hand, much labor was required. Mr. Davidson jokingly remarked to a friend, when asked how much work he had accomplished: "Oh, I planed the Allegheny Mountains into the Atlantic Ocean."
Our subject was a son of Capt. James David- son, who was born Feb. 13, 1786, in Ireland, it is supposed in the northern part. The father of Capt. James, and grandfather of James Ramsey Davidson, was William Davidson, who was born in Ireland, and who married a widow, Mary Ramsey (whose maiden name was Ramsey),
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who had two children by a former marriage, Thomas and Barbara, who died in infancy. William Davidson's father having died at the old home in Ireland, William, as the eldest son, assumed the place of head of the family, and, in company with his widowed mother, his wife and two children, James and Rosanna, his sisters, Lydia, Sally, Molly, Peggy, Esther, and his two brothers, James and Robert, came to America, settling first in Redstone, near Carlisle, Pa. After living in that locality a few years, William with his family proceeded "out West" to Mc- Keesport, Pa., but their stay in that section was not protracted to any extent, and in April, 1794, they removed to the old homestead site, then located in Beaver County, but now a part of Lawrence County. One of the interesting as well as thrilling incidents of the journey came to pass in this manner: They came on as far as Beaver, where they rested a short time with William's sister, Lydia Alexander; from there to their newly chosen home, they made the journey in a day, arriving at their destination at night- fall. The father led one horse, across whose back was adjusted a wallet, the ends of which con- tained the two little ones, Elizabeth and Mary; in addition the household bedding and other necessary domestic articles were heaped in a pack on the animal's back. The mother rode the second horse, and carried in her arms the six weeks old infant, Lydia. The two older children walked and drove a little cow. While cross- ing Rock's Ridge, the horse, ridden by the mother, stumbled, throwing her over its head, and she threw the infant ahead of her. Full of apprehension and dire misgivings, the parents hastened to the spot where the babe lay, and to
their surprise found it sleeping, as if nothing at all had occurred. As they had previously nar- rowly escaped drowning, the mother remarked that that child surely was not born to be either drowned or hanged. William Davidson depart- ed this life, Aug. 30, 1826, aged sixty-eight years; his wife passed away Feb. 10, 1831, aged seventy-four years. One branch of the Davidson family went South, and the other West, and as a distinctive feature in both branch- es will be found the names of James, William, Robert, and Samuel. Gen. Davidson, who was killed in the battle of the Cowpens during the Revolution, came from the same section of Pennsylvania.
Capt. James Davidson was brought to this country when quite young, and followed agri- cultural pursuits from the first. He was a prom- inent and leading character among his fellow- associates; politically he was an Abolitionist, and held several town offices. At the time of the War with the British in 1812, Mr. Davidson was captain of a company; when he returned home he raised a company of volunteers, and was later accorded the title and rank of major. Be- sides farming, he also occupied himself in sur- veying. In his religious belief he was a Seceder, and then a United Presbyterian. An Abolition- ist in his sympathies, his support was invariably given to the Whig party, until its disruption and assimilation into the Republican party, to which party from then on he gave full allegiance. His death took place Sept. 12, 1856, aged seventy years, six months and twenty-nine days. His wife, Elizabeth Houston, whom he married Dec. 4, 1810, died in her seventy-fifth year, Feb. 28, 1864. William Findley Davidson, the eldest of
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the six children born to our subject's parents, tion. On Feb. 28, 1872, he was united in mar- was born Feb. 26, 1812, was united in marriage riage with Elizabeth Leonard, daughter of Al- vah and Isabel (Allsworth) Leonard of Moravia, Pa. Two children resulted from this union: Elizabeth Bell, born Nov. 28, 1872; and Mary Dell, born Nov. 1, 1873. Both young ladies are graduates of the New Castle High School, Miss Elizabeth being valedictorian in the Class of 1891, and Miss Dell graduating in the Class of 1893. After spending three years in Kentucky, where the two daughters were born, Mr. David- son and family moved to their Locust Hill home, where the mother and daughters reside. Mr. Davidson was a member of the United Presbyterian Church his entire life, which closed Feb. 22, 1893. with Harriet Newell Dungan, native of North Beaver township, this county, in the month of February, 1842, and died Nov. 16, 1873. Twelve children resulted from this union, as follows: Elizabeth Jane, born July 17, 1843; James Franklin, Sept. 6, 1844; Thomas Dungan, April, 1846; Joseph; Robert Stephen, March 7, 1850; Deborah; Margaret, March 17, 1854; Mary, April 20, 1856; Harriet, April 21, 1858; William Albert, Aug. 16, 1860; John Charles, June, 1863; and Samantha, 1865. Jane, the eldest daughter of Capt. Davidson, was born in 1813, and died in September, 1895. Thomas Houston, the second son, died in February, 1890. He took for his partner Anna Mehard, who still survives him; seven children blessed this union, as follows- Tillie, James, Marguerite, Elizabeth, William, Samuel and Thomas, who died in infancy. Maria, the next in order of birth, was born June 19, 1817, was married May 25, 1847, to James McAnlis, a native of Ireland, and departed this life Sept. 3, 1881. Their three sons were as fol- lows: James Davidson, born March 17, 1848; John Gilmore, Dec. 27, 1849; and William Kirk- patrick, May 1, 1856. Then comes James R., the subject of this sketch, and after him Samuel Houston. The latter married Harriet McClel- land, and gathered about his fireside a family of eight children: James Albert; Emily, deceased; Robert; William; Mary; Lizzie, deceased; Hat- tie; and Ella. Samuel H. Davidson died Feb. 20, 1888.
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