USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > Biographical sketches of leading citizens of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
ALEXANDER NEWELL, a respected agri- culturist of New Castle, residing on his farm which is situated within the present city limits, was born in the city June 6, 1849, and is a son of Alexander Newell, and grandson of Archibald Newell, who was a native of County Down, Ire- land, where he lived and reared his family of seven children, who were named as follows: Ellen (Mckibben): Peggy (Gordon); Archibald, Jr .; William; Thomas; Alexander; and Mary, deceased.
Our subject's father came to this country at the age of seventeen years; he landed in Phila- delphia, and from there went to Huntingdon, Pa., where he remained a few days. He then re- crossed the seas to his own beloved isle, the home of many dear friends, and married Sarah McNealy, 'with whom he returned to Hunting- don, which continued to be his place of residence
GEORGE H. MCKINLEY.
313
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
ingtown, Lawrence County, and a few years later settled at New Castle, where he died in 1861, aged fifty-two years. While a resident of the borough of Mahoningtown, he was engaged in the mercantile business, and just previous to coming to New Castle he accepted the position of collector for the old canal, giving his business over to one of his brothers and moving to New Castle to assume the duties of his new position. He was appointed postmaster under Buchanan's administration, but was forced to resign from that office six months previous to the expiration of his term, because of poor health, and did not subsequently regain his health. His life com-
panion survived him thirty years, dying in 1891, , road conductor, now employed on a passenger
aged eighty years. In their religious sympathies and inclinations they favored the Presbyterian Church. Nine children as follows were born to them: Mary (Hill); George, deceased; Eliza- beth (Frisby); Emma (Leslie); William; Susan; Alexander, our subject; James; and Jennie (Coffey).
Our subject was reared and educated in the city of New Castle; for a trade and an occupa- tion he took up the trade of mill brick laying, and followed the same until 1892, supporting himself well, and managing to lay up each year a snug sum of money. In 1892, he bought a farm, which was at that time without the city limits, but is now located within, because of the city's extension; it furnishes beautiful building lots on Pittsburg Street, which his own residence faces, and those in search of a nice location for a home are attracted much by its many advant- ages.
.
Mr. Newell was joined in the holy bonds of matrimony in 1875 to Eliza Campbell, daughter
of Robert and Drusilla Campbell of Scott town- ship, Lawrence County. Our subject's children are: Percy; Clarence; John; Frank; William; Sarah D .; and Robert A. Mr. Newell has al- ways been a firm believer in the Jacksonian Democratic principles, and is found without fail in the councils of his party. The family as a whole favor the United Presbyterian Church, and may be found among its regular worship- pers.
GEORGE H. McKINLEY, a veteran rail- run of the Pennsylvania line, was born in New Castle, Aug. 21, 1850. Dating from the time when he was ten years of age until he had at- tained his majority his life was cast among strangers, and whatever he has now has been acquired by his own unaided efforts and after much up-hill work. The first ten years of his life were spent in New Castle, and the succeed- ing decade in New Wilmington, and his educa- tion was obtained in the schools of these two places, his attendance at school extending till his eighteenth year, and being of a very desul- tory and much-interrupted character, for it was not always possible for him to attend school when other boys of his age did. He lost his mother at the age of five, and five years later his father broke up housekeeping, and from the age of ten years he has successfully battled with life's problems. He began railroad life on the lowest round, working on the section gang for the P. & F. W., but he was not fated to remain stationary in such a position, but soon rose to
1
314
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
a place on the work train, and from there was advanced to the position of brakeman on a freight, and in less than two years was placed in charge of a freight train as conductor, which position he filled some six years. It was during this period that a serious and almost fatal acci- dent befell Mr. Mckinley; he was thrown from the top of the train, and in falling his left arm was thrown under the wheels, which crushed the bones from the elbow to the shoulder; it was deemed so serious that the surgeons determined that amputation must be resorted to in order to save his life. But his endurance was wonderful, and by pure grit he pulled through without any such operation, and has so far recovered the use of his arm, that its mangled condition would never be remarked by one unacquainted with the accident. The succeeding seven years Mr. McKinley was conductor of a local mixed train, running from Youngstown, Ohio; in June, 1886, he was given a passenger run, and moved to Alliance, Ohio. In April, 1896, he returned to his birthplace, and now alternates with his brother Willis J. Mckinley on two runs over the Pennsylvania R. R.
James McKinley, the grandfather of George H., married a Miss Steele, and they moved from the eastern part of the State to the western part at an early day; the entire family, consisting of some eight or ten, at that time took up residen- ces in this part of the State and in Eastern Ohio, notably Stark County. Their son, Alexander, was born near Mt. Jackson, Pa., and married Elizabteh Morehead, who was born on the same farm where the birth of her children occurred, in what is now a part of the city of New Castle. Elizabeth Morehead was a daughter of James
Morehead. Alexander McKinley was a shoe- maker by trade, and followed that trade in early life and in the later years of his life. During middle life he was employed in various capaci- ties on the railroads. In 1886, he suffered a stroke of paralysis, from which he never recov- ered, and died at the residence of his son, Willis J., June 14, 1896, at the age of seventy-four years. He was a veteran of the late war, and served through a nine months term of enlist- ment. Of this first marriage, three children were born: George H .; Willis J., whose personal his- tory appears elsewhere in this Book of Biog- raphies; and Elizabeth. He married as his sec- ond wife, Elizabeth Houston, and this union resulted in three more children, namely: John C. of New Brighton, Pa .; Hugh of Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio; and Margaret, the wife of C. C. Kelso of Turtle Creek, Pa. He was married a third time but no children followed.
George H. McKinley entered into the married state Sept. 17, 1874, at Mt. Jackson, Pa., his nuptials at that date being consummated with Elizabeth Howard, a native of Old Enon, Pa., and a daughter of Edward L. and Sarah (Lane) Howard, the former a son of Prosper Howard, a native of England. Edward L. Howard is a veteran of the late war, having enlisted three times in the Union armies. At the first call for troops in 1861, he enlisted, and was discharged at the expiration of one year's service because of . illness contracted in the army. On his recov- ery he re-enlisted under the nine months call, and again in 1864 became a volunteer soldier, serving till the close of the war. It was during this last service that he received a severe wound in the head at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain,
315
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
on June 6, 1864, from the effects of which he is still a sufferer. «To him and his wife were given six children, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of Mr. Mckinley; William, deceased; Ella, de- ceased; Alosia (Stoner), who lives in Butler County; Harry, a resident of Mahoningtown, this county; and Robert of Lowellsville, Ohio. The home of Mr. Mckinley has been blessed with the birth of one daughter, Sadie May, who was married Dec. 23, 1895, to Howard Taylor, a minister of the M. E. Church, now a student of the Massachusetts Theological Seminary of Boston, from which point he fills the pulpits of churches in the surrounding towns, while pur- suing his studies for higher proficiency in his chosen calling. Our subject and his wife are members of the First M. E. Church of New Castle on Jefferson Street. In politics, Mr. Mc- Kinley is an old-line Democrat, and cannot countenance with his support the alliance of Jef- fersonian principles with visionary populistic doctrines. He is a member of the Order of Rail- way Conductors, Division No. 177, of Alliance, Ohio. He has built for his home a commodious residence at 353 West Washington Street, where he has surrounded himself with all the comforts and luxuries of an ideal American home. His genial, sunny nature, like a magnetic lodestone has attracted to him a wide circle of friends, much after his own nature, and the person who enjoys their hospitality and cheer will ever re- member it as one of the delightful moments of their life. His friends will view with interest his portrait, which appears on a page in proximity to this. A man of his standing in the commu- nity and in railroad circles is entitled to the ut- most consideration and respect.
WILLIAM HENRY WEINSCHENK, a prosperous market-gardener, residing in Shen- ango township about three miles south of New Castle, was born in Taylor township, May 28, 1866, and is a son of George G. and Margaret (Mack) Weinschenk, being the oldest of the fol- lowing family of children-Annie M., who mar- ried Charles F. Alborn, the miller at Big Run Mill, Alice, Margaret, deceased, and William Henry, the subject of this sketch.
Our subject's father was born April 10, 1835, his birth-place being in Geradstetten, Wurtem- berg, Germany ;- he was a son of John G. and Katherine (Retter) Weinschenk. He com- menced making his own way at the age of fifteen years, and when twenty-two years of age, having thoroughly mastered the art of gardening and floriculture, he came to America as a field of greater promise and possibilities. He began his ocean voyage in May, 1857, and thirty-five days elapsed from the time he left the port of Havre, before he was again on terra firma at New York City. He arrived in the city of New Castle June 22, 1857, having come on immediately from New York, and at once secured employment at gardening for Mr. Butz at Croton, which gen- tleman was then the leading gardener of New Castle; he was in his employ for two years, and then worked for a period in the service of Mr. Peebles. Five or six years were spent in the South in and about the city of Louisville, Ky., having charge of private gardens of the rich planters; the war left the country so impover- ished, that Mr. Weinschenk found little demand for his work, so he returned to the vicinity of New Castle, worked for Mr. Butz for nearly a year, and then purchased a tract of land in Tay-
316
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
lor township, where he engaged in gardening about eight years, and then disposing of his property there bought his present farm in 1873, taking possession the following year. The home garden comprises twenty-four acres of land in the highest state of cultivation, with half an acre under glass, and this tract of land is utilized to the utmost in raising and bringing to perfection splendid crops of fruits and vegetables. He is also the owner of various other tracts of land in. different parts of the county.
Our subject was nine years of age when his parents moved from Taylor township to Shen- ango township, and the latter township has con- tinued to be his home since. He attended the district schools and the public schools of New Castle until he was sixteen years old, and sup- plemented this preliminary education with a course at Duff's Business College at Pittsburg, Pa., graduating from that institution March 7, 1884. Until March, 1894, Mr. Weinschenk was a member of his father's household, and assistant to his father in the latter's gardening operations; in this way he secured a splendid training in gar- dening, and in 1894 was in complete trim to engage in work for himself. He accordingly rented a ninety-acre tract of his father a few miles south of the homestead, and subsequently purchased sixty acres of the tract, still renting the remaining thirty acres. On this farm in 1896 he built one of the most elegant and com- plete country residences in Shenango town- ship, or, in fact, in the county; it is of modern architecture and an adaptation of the old colonial style, which has proved itself to be one of the best for country houses; the struc- ture is erected on a commanding site, and makes
an imposing picture of country comfort as viewed from the highway, and this idea of com- fort is the more pronounced the more one sees of the interior, with its many provisions for con- venience, and well-adapted furnishings. Mr. . Weinschenk has his land in a high state of culti- vation and the whole is an ideal garden spot; he finds a ready home-market for his fruits and veg- etables in New Castle, and the neighboring bor- oughs. He is entitled to rank among the first gardeners of the county from his experience 'and training, and by reason of his success in obtain- ing uniformly good results.
Mr. Weinschenk was married March 22, 1894, in Shenango township to Lavina Reed, daugh- ter of John C. and Phoebe Ann (Iddings) Reed, and sister of William E. and Luther M. Reed, neighbors of our subject. They have been blessed by the birth of one child, Marguerite, born Nov. 16, 1895. Phoebe Ann Iddings was a daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Hoopes) Iddings, and granddaughter on her mother's side of Ezra Hoopes of Chester Co., Pa. John C. Reed, an account of whose life may be found in this work included in that of his sons, was a son of William Reed, who was born in Zanes- "ville, Ohio, in 1803, a son of John and Margaret (Lutton) Reed, the latter a daughter of Ralph Lutton. John Reed was born in Ireland, and settled in 1806 in Ohio, and then came to Law- rence County; his father, Michael Reed, lived and died in Ireland; they followed the trade of weavers in the Old Country. William Reed; the father of John C., married Anna Canon, who was born in Mahoningtown, Feb. 10, 1805, and is now residing at the advanced age of ninety- two years with her granddaughter in New Cas-
317
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
tle; her mind is very clear and memory good for one of her years, and her bodily strength is rea- sonably good. She is a daughter of James and Betsy (Hendrickson) Canon, the latter a daugh- ter of Dr. Cornelius Hendrickson, the first phy- sician to settle in the boundary of the county; he attained the extreme age of ninety-six years, and when within one year of his decease rode six miles on horseback to set a broken limb. James Canon was a son of James Canon of Shir- leysburg, Pa. More of this interesting family is recorded elsewhere in this work. Mr. Wein- schenk and his wife are members of the Savan- nah M. E. Church. Our subject early allied himself with the Democratic party, and follows its leadership in national, state and local poli- tics. He is a member of New Castle Lodge, No. 404, Knights of Pythias. He is a valued mem- ber of society, and occupies a position high in the esteem of his fellow-citizens as an honorable, industrious and enterprising young man, who is bound to succeed in his work.
WILLIAM H. STREIB, senior member of the enterprising firm of Streib Brothers of the New Castle Carbonated Bottling Works, was born in the above town, and is the eldest son of Charles and Lovinia (Treser) Streib, and grand- son of Gasper and Susan Streib, who were born in Baden, Germany. Our subject's grandfather emigrated to New York City, and worked at his trade of a baker until his death. A large family survived him, composed of the following members: Theobold, Charles, Julius, William,
Henry, and Elizabeth. These, the only mem- bers of the family who grew up, became valuable members of society, and by their native German thrift all provided well for their children and for their own old age.
Charles Streib was born in the German home in Baden, in October, 1848, and was six years of age when the family came to America. He learned the butcher's trade and worked at it for a short time. He later clerked in New Castle, and then went into the manufacture of soap with John Treser under the firm name of Treser & Streib; in later years he conducted the Adam Treser farm, and died with consumption April 6, 1887. He married Lovina Treser, daughter of Adam Treser, whose sketch will be found else- where in this book. Five children survived him, as follows: William H., Albert A., Charles, Frank, and Earl.
Our subject, after finishing a good, practical education in New Castle's excellent High School, entered the wholesale store of J. A. Allen as a clerk, and secured a useful knowledge of busi- ness methods, that have enabled him to make his present venture in the bottling business so suc- cessful. So it was with considerable experience and a fair amount of capital that he went into parnership with Daniel Clark, under the firm name of Clark & Streib, and established the New Castle Carbonated Bottling Works; our sub- ject's brother, Alberst A., soon succeeded Mr. Clark in the firm, and the ever-growing business has since been conducted by the firm of Streib Brothers. They have built up a remarkably nice trade in New Castle and in the surrounding towns, and are located at No. 302 Grant Avenue, where they run two
-
318
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
wagons for the delivery of their goods during the busy summer season. Since coming before the notice of the people of Lawrence County, he has proved himself to be a most enterprising and energetic business man, and worthy of the highest appreciation and confidence, because of his many sterling qualities. He resides with his mother at No. 302 Grant Avenue.
WILLIAM S. PATTISON, one of the lead- ing and most progressive citizens of Union township, and a carpenter who is much in de- mand throughout the surrounding country, was born in a house which was situated within a few rods of his present elegant residence, Dec. 10, 1834. He is a son of David and Jane (Stewart) Pattison.
David Pattison was born in Glasgow, Scot- land, and there learned the trade of a cotton- spinner. While still a resident of bonny Scot- land he became engaged to be married to Jane Stewart, who was born in Paisley, Scotland, but with a wise determination to be sure of the fu- ture, he immigrated to America to provide a home for his intended wife. He bought fifty acres of land, which was then new and unculti- vated, and located where his son, William S., now resides; he was much taken with the coun- try and pleased with the prospect of a successful career which seemed to stretch out before him, and went to work with a will to clear the land for the intended crops and to erect a log-cabin for temporary shelter till his own resources and the accommodations of the new country war-
ranted him in building a more pretentious struc- ture. All the arrangements completed, it only needed the arrival of his future bride to complete his home, and crown him with happiness; she came when he announced that all was in readi- ness for her reception, and they were married and settled down to become industrious citizens of their adopted country. He finished clearing the land and worked some in building the canal. Later in life, when New Castle began to grow, he engaged in gardening, and followed it the greater part of his after life. He and his wife won the highest esteem of the citizens of the township, for they were exemplars of the best type of Scotch honesty and Scotch ruggedness of character. He lived to be eighty-four years old, and his wife attained the age of eighty-six years. Their children were: David C .; Mary, who married Robert Boggs; William S., the subject of this biography; Jeanette, who married Smith Fulkerson; Robert D., whose sketch ap- pears elsewhere in this volume; Alexander S .; and two, who died in infancy.
William S. was reared and educated in Union township, and at the age of twenty-one learned the carpenter's trade. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. A, 55th Reg. Pa. Vol. Inf., and after serving three months as corporal re-enlisted in the spring of 1864 in the 5th Pa. Art., and served then until the close of the war. On his return home, he resumed his carpenter work, and has followed contracting and building some thirty years. In 1870 he built on three acres of the old homestead a house, which is the best house, in- side and out, on the Youngstown road, or, for that matter in the township; it stands as a monu- ment of his successful life, and of the excellent
GEORGE B NYE.
321
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
work that he has done in all parts of Union township and beyond its borders.
His first wife, who was a Miss Margaret Stevens, died in 1892, aged fifty-eight years, leaving two children-David Clarkson, a car- penter of New Castle, who married Maggie Winters; and James R. A., a conductor on the street railway. He was a second time joined in the bonds of matrimony to Mary Hawkins, daughter of Martin L. Hawkins, and this union resulted in the birth of twin boys: Ralph A. Stewart, and Russell J. Hancock, both of whom are exactly like in features and in build. Mr. Pattison is a Republican in politics, the princi- ples of which party he earnestly advocates and supports. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and active and liberal in its support. He is a member of the G. A. R.
GEORGE B. NYE, postmaster of Ellwood City, was one of that city's earliest business men, and up to 1894, when he was appointed to his present federal position, he conducted a prosperous men's furnishing store. He was born in Wayne township, Lawrence Co., Pa., July 1, 1863, and was a son of Nahaniel Nye.
After Mr. Nye had attended the district school, and obtained a fair degree of education, at the age of sixteen, he entered the sandstone quarry, and worked for three years. Then he was employed as a fireman on the P. & W. R. R., and later held a similar position on the P. C. & S. T. R. R. In 1884, he began his business career by purchasing a store in Hazel Dell, and applying himself to the buying and selling of
merchandise. He succeeded his grandfather, John H. Marshall, and at the end of four years transferred his interest to J. M. Marshall of Portersville, Pa. The next venture was a men's furnishing establishment in Ellwood City, and the building which he bought for his place of business was the block on the corner of Eighth Street and Lawrence Avenue, two stories high, 20x90 feet, built in 1890 by James Smiley. From 1891 to 1894 he carried on business on an ever- enlarging scale, and met with very satisfying results. His sterling character and eminent business qualifications led to his appointment as postmaster in 1893; in order that he might be entirely free to attend to his duties, Mr. Nye sold out his stock of goods, and established the postoffice in the same block, using the Eighth Street entrance. That Mr. Nye merited the ap- pointment and confidence of the patrons of the office goes without saying, for he has a well- established reputation as a shrewd man of affairs, upright in his dealings. During his resi- dence in Ellwood City, he has been justice of the peace for a year, and has also officiated as a member of the school board. In Hazel Dell he still has extensive interests, principally of a real nature in land and houses.
Mrs. George B. Nye was Ella J. Smiley be- fore her marriage, and she was a daughter of William Smiley, a prominent agriculturist of Wayne township, Lawrence County. Mr. and Mrs. Nye are Presbyterians in religious belief, and are to be found among the liberal support- ers of the church of that denomination in Ell- wood City. They have three beautiful children: Bill, born Dec. 28, 1892; Myrtle, March 28, 1894; and George, July 31, 1896. Ellwood's
322
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
popular postmaster is a member of but one secret organization, that being the I. O. O. F., Alma Lodge, No. 1016. He is a man of decided views, but temperate and gentlemanly in the expression of them. He is not obtrusive in his opinions, while at the same time he holds to them conscientiously, and casts the weight of his influence toward whatever he believes to be for the good of his community and county. He is intensely interested in local matters pertain- ing to Ellwood City's welfare, and is creditably filling his position as a good citizen of the com- munity.
As a representative and prominent citizen of Ellwood City, in whose behalf his energies have been directed from its first inception, the pub- lishers of this volume take pleasure in adding his portrait to our gallery of leading men of the county.
PHILLIP A. YOUNG. Of the excellent citizens of Lawrence County who have known no other occupation than that of farming during their lives, and who have had far more than or- dinary success in the prosecution of that voca- tion, Mr. Phillip A. Young certainly deserves more than passing mention. He has a fine and productive farm in Little Beaver township, two miles from Enon Valley, where he carries on general agricultural pursuits. He was born Oct. 19, 1849, in a log-cabin on the home place, near the site of his commodious brick residence. He was one of thirteen children born to Miller and Ann (Taylor) Young.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.