USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > Biographical sketches of leading citizens of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania > Part 34
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Some time afterwards, Mr. Neil married Ollie M. Campfield of Clarksville, Mercer Co., Pa. Mr. Neal's influence has always been cast in fa- vor of the best moral interests of the community, and he has never been known to shirk a pledge given, or a responsibility undertaken. He has proved an excellent servant of the township as assessor and as supervisor, and will be continued in office many more years, no doubt, so that his fellow-citizens may have the benefit of his good judgment and executive ability.
JAMES WHIPPO, who is extensively en- gaged in gardening and in fruit-raising in the northern section of Shenango township, a mile from the city limits of New Castle on the County Line Road, was born in New Castle, Sept. 28, 1840. He is a son of Dr. Charles Tillotson Whippo, whose wife was Althea A. Warner, a daughter of James Warner. Our subject's grandfather, James Whippo, who was born Oct. 14, 1760, and died Jan. 24, 1832, was Scotch by descent. He lived for a time in Washington Co., N. Y., whence he moved in 1802 to Cayuga Co., N. Y., where he bought a farm and successfully carried on agricultural operations; he was also a sailor for eleven years or more. He married Hannah' Wood, daughter of John and Dinah (Hussey) Wood of Dartmouth, Mass., and the eldest of six children. She was born May 5, 1771, and died Aug. 30, 1838; she was a woman of much ability, and was for a considerable period clerk of the Friends' Yearly meetings of New York City. One of her brothers, Jethro,
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was the inventor of the first cast-iron plow. The children born to James and Hannah (Wood) Whippo were as follows: Amelia, born Feb. 17, 1788, and died June 18, 1792; John, born in Washington Co., N. Y., May 22, 1790, and died in Dublin, Ind., July 31, 1862, leaving three chil- dren by his second wife, Sarah M. Lawrence: Charles Henry, born May 22, 1830, James Law- rence, Aug. 5, 1834, and Maria Louisa, Sept. 9, 1844; Charles Tillotson, our subject's father; and Anna, born July 20, 1795, and died March 7, 1816.
Dr. Charles Tillotson Whippo was an eminent civil engineer as well as a physician of his day, and was in charge of large portions of the con- struction-work of the canals. He was born April 19, 1793, in Washington Co., N. Y., and died June 14, 1858, in New Castle, Pa., in his sixty- sixth year. In consideration of his schooling, he relinquished all the interest he might have in his father's estate, and went about identifying himself with one of the leading professions. He studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. John Thompson, the husband of Anne Wood, the sis- ter of Hannah (Wood) Whippo, and began the practice of medicine in Cayuga Co., N. Y., from which locality he moved to Henrietta, Monroe Co., N. Y. He was very fond of mathematics, especially of the higher branches, and was well versed in the sciences of astronomy, geology and botany. The profession of civil engineering prov- ing to have greater attractions for him than that of medicine, he relinquished his practice in the medical line, and entered the engineer ser- vice of the Erie Canal with David Thomas. He owned a farm at Holly, N. Y., where he left his family for a year, when he came into Beaver Co.,
Pa., in 1831, and took charge as engineer of the Beaver & Erie Extension of the Pennsylvania Canal. In 1832 he moved his family to New Castle, Pa., where he purchased 500 acres of land, 250 of which are now within the city lim- its of New Castle. Lawrence County was formed from the adjoining counties of Beaver and Mer- cer, March 20, 1849, and in the following Octo- ber, Dr. Whippo was elected associate judge, and served the full term of five years. The Bank of New Castle, that city's first bank of issue, was incorporated March 30, 1855, with Dr. Whippo at its head as the president. He was mainly in- strumental in organizing the first Seminary in New Castle, and elected president of the board of directors. He possesesd a fine library, and was an untiring student. He became interested in the study of the subject of electricity, pur- chased an electrical apparatus, and had a prac- tical knowledge of the science as far as it was understood in his day. His fortune being am- ple, he devoted the latter part of his life entirely to literary pursuits. He was liberal when it came to religious matters, and was a Republican in his politics. He was united in marriage Jan. 18, 1818, to Althea Ann Warner, who was born July 18, 1798, and who departed this life Aug. 21, 1865. Their oldest child, Amelia Ann., who was born Oct. 28, 1818, in Henrietta, N. Y., and who died Dec. II, 1845, in Connersville, Ind, of angina pectoris, was married Sept. 12, 1837, to Henry Clay Moore, and bore him these children: Robert, born June 19, 1838 in New Castle, mar- ried Alice Filley Oct. 3, 1878; Charles Whippo, born Sept. II, 1840 in Connersville, Ind., died June 8, 1877, in Dana, Ind., leaving his wife, Marion A. (Eddy) Moore, and daughter Emma;
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Mary Stibbs, who was born April 6, 1843; Franklin, who was born July 6, 1845, in New Castle, Pa., and died June 28, 1846, in Conners- ville, Ind. Ellen D. who was born Oct. 1, 1822, and died Oct. 7, 1881, married, Jan. 14, 1847, Dryden Reno, and they became the parents of two children: Althea Ellen, who was born Nov. 12, 1847, and who married on May 3, 1878, Frank D. Storm; Louis Cassius, who was born June 28, 1851, and married Lizzie Hays. Maria, the third daughter, born Jan. 20, 1834, and died May 15, 1874, married on Dec. 15, 1853, Henry Reis, and gave birth to these children: Robert C., born Oct. 13, 1854, died Dec. 2, 1857; Charles, born Oct. 19, 1856, married Sarah Da- vis; Ellen, born May 5, 1860, married W. S. Jackman; James Whippo, born Dec. 27, 1863, married Mary Miller; Lillian, born Oct. 20, 1866; Louis, Sept. 30, 1869; and Althea Mary, who was born March 28, 1874. The fourth child in the family of Dr. Whippo, Charles, was born Jan. 21, 1837, and died Feb. 18, 1857. Joseph, born May I, 1838, died Aug. 29, 1838.
Of the six children born to his parents, our subject, James Whippo, was the youngest, and is now the sole survivor. His boyhood years were spent in his native city, attending school and the seminary; in 1853 and 1854 he was en- rolled among the pupils of Prof. Sulio's school in Salem, Ohio. He then followed up his sem- inary education with a college course at Green- mount, Pa., and at Richmond, Ind .; in 1856 he went to Duff's Business College in Pittsburg for the winter. Having been left in comfortable cir- cumstances by his father, James Whippo gave no attention to business of any sort for a num- ber of years. On June 5, 1859, he married Eliza-
beth Jane Armstrong, who was born in the town of Monaghan, County Monaghan, Ireland, Jan. 10, 1841. She came to America in 1844 with her brother, and lived with him in Pittsburg un- til her marriage in 1859. Her father, Thomas Armstrong, was born in 1812 in County Mona- ghan, and died in 1842; he was a large land holder and very well-to-do. Her mother's maid- en name was Campbell, her parents being also large land-holders in the same locality, having originally come from Scotland. Mrs. Whippo's mother was born in 1816 and died in 1841.
After his marriage Mr. Whippo took up his residence on the old homestead, which he made his home until the spring of 1867, when he moved to his present location, a well-improved tract of thirty-five acres, which is mostly devoted to fruit-raising, having on it about eight hun- dred peach trees, and other large and small fruits in proportion. On this farm since 1867 he has been interested in gardening and fruit-raising, supplying both the local market, and also ship- ping to surrounding points. His home life has been blessed by the advent of five children, who are as follows: Minnie E., born March 9, 1860; Maude, who was born Aug. 28, 1861, and mar- ried Joseph B. Hutton; Charles T., born Feb. 10, 1868, died Dec. 21, 1868; Daisy N., born Oct. 31, 1872; and Blanche, born Dec. 29, 1873. Mr. Whippo is a Republican of pronounced views. He was formerly a member of the Knights of Pythias organization, but allowed his member- ship to lapse. He is a member of the G. A. R. by virtue of his services in Co. I, 87th Reg. O. V. I .; he enlisted in June, 1862, was taken pris- oner by Longstreet's brigade, Harper's Ferry, Va., near Antietam, and was finally mustered out
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of the service at Baltimore, receiving an honor- in teaching, and whose executive ability is of able discharge October, 1862.
As a gentleman worthy of the fullest recogni- tion in the early history of the country, whose eminent services in various fields of labor for .
the advancement of the interests of this section will not be soon forgotten, we deem it a pleasure to present the portrait of Dr. Charles T. Whip- po, father of James, our subject.
THOMAS M. STEWART. It is an interest- ing matter to note the progress and develop- ment of our present splendid system of public instruction, and to compare the numberless facil- ities of the school of to-day with its embryonic prototype, the school of pioneer times, rugged and simple in its various appointments, when a thorough knowledge of the three R's-'rithme- tic, reading and 'riting-instilled with liberal applications of the birch, was considered suffi- cient for all the ordinary vocations of life. This interesting evolution is never at a standstill, but keeps pace with advances in science and the arts. The school of to-day, seemingly simple in many of its appointments, is yet of a very com- plex character, and still presents serious prob- lems to the student in pedagogy. To be fitted for the requirements of the position the present- day school teacher undergoes a far more thorough preparation than was ever thought necessary in the best schools fifty years ago. The position of county superintendent of schools presents dif- ficulties and problems, that can only be success- fully solved by one who has had wide experience
the best. Lawrence County has been particular- ly fortunate in many of the school superinten- dents, but in no one have so many excellencies united as in Thomas M. Stewart, the present in- cumbent, and the subject of this writing. His school experience covers a quarter of a century, and for all the time that he has been in the active ranks he has never taught outside of the coun- ty, and for this reason is all the more fitted to attend to his present duties. He was elected to his present position in 1896 by the board of di- rectors elected for that purpose, and by his ex- cellent work has won the esteem of all those in- terested in educational matters.
Mr. Stewart is a son of James and Martha (Taylor) Stewart, and grandson of Robert and Margaret (Davidson) Stewart Robert Stewart was born in Ireland, and was a man of iron con- stitution, his life spanning ninety-two years at his death Aug. 18, 1854. His mother was a Miss Hamilton. He had the benefit of a fine educa- tion, was a man of able intellect, and taught school in Pennsylvania as late as 1836. His wife was born in Londonderry, Ireland, and was a daughter of James and Mary (Clendenning) Davidson. She also lived to an advanced age, being eighty-seven years old, when she went to her rest Sept. 24, 1857. Her mother, Mary (Clendenning) Davidson, was left a widow, and brought the family of seven children to America, where she died in 1790.
James Stewart, the father of Supt. Stewart, began his existence at Mckeesport, Allegheny Co., Pa., Aug. 18, 1797. In 1815 he came with his parents to Lawrence County, settling on the farm where our subject lives, and where James
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died Aug. 18, 1870, aged exactly seventy-three years to a day. He was always a farmer. In politics, he was a Whig in the early days, and latterly followed the Republican standard. He was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He was thrice married. Isabella (Silli- man) Stewart bore him four children. Martha (Taylor) Stewart was the mother of seven chil- dren, and Margaret (Fullerton) Stewart attained the age of eighty-three and died childless. Martha T. Stewart, the mother of Thomas M., was born in Beaver County in 1811, and was a daughter of William and Annie (Wilson) Taylor. William Taylor, who was a son of John and Mary (Mann) Taylor, was born at Gilgin Park, near Ballyman, County Antrim, Ireland, Dec. 21, 1776, and died Oct. 25, 1856. His wife, Annie Wilson, a daugh- ter of Joseph and Mary (Speedy) Wilson, was born Jan. 23, 1780, and she departed this life Dec. 19, 1863. Of the family born to James and Martha (Taylor) Stewart-William died at the age of seven and Margaret at the age of four; Alvin H. lives near the home place; John Q. and Thomas M. were twins; Annie makes her home with Thomas M .; and Martha died in infancy. John Q. Stewart, our subject's twin-brother, lives at Harrisburg, Pa., where he is attending to his work as deputy State school superinten- dent of public instruction.
Thomas M. Stewart was born on the farm in Little Beaver township, where he makes his home, Sept. 23, 1844, and was reared to a noble manhood there. He attended the district schools until he was seventeen, and later became a pupil in the Hayesville Linnean Academy in Ohio, whence he went to Mt. Union College in Ohio, where he completed his school education. His
life-work has been teaching, and he has a very remarkable record. He began when twenty-two years of age, and taught eleven years in Enon Valley, and four in Wampum, and the remaining seven in Little Beaver and Little Beaver town- ships, all within driving distance of his home. To his labors as county superintendent Mr. Stewart brings a high order of intelligence, which, with his excellent judgment and unswerv- ing integrity, have made him a man of more than ordinary influence in the community. On Sept. 3, 1884, Mr. Stewart was allied in wedlock with' Emma Miller, daughter of John J. and Sarah (Myers) Miller, and they are the parents of four charming children, John Q., Mary E., Martha, and Grace Corinne. Mr. Stewart is faithful to the Republican party, although he does not carry politics into his school work, nor let his duties be interfered with in the least. He is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
SAMUEL D. SLEMMONS, who now resides in Enon Valley, Lawrence Co., Pa., was born near Hopedale, Harrison Co., Ohio, April 7, 1856. Of eight children in his father's family, four sons are living, and four daughters have passed away. Mr. Slemmons lived in Harrison County until 1863 or '64, when the family re- moved to Hardin County near Ada, where he went to school until he was eighteen, living at home until after his father's death. He then secured a place as a clerk in a clothing store of Lima, Ohio, and remained in that position for one year, after which he traveled for a grain mer-
. .
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chant, and lived for a short time at Farmer City, Ill. Returning to Hardin Co., Ohio, he was ap- pointed deputy auditor of the county, and after serving eighteen months he resigned to go to Columbus, Ohio, where he was employed in the State House for three months. He next secured a place in a clothing store, and was thus em- ployed at the time of his marriage in 1889. This event, to which reference has just been made, oc- curred on July 10 of that year, and was the means of uniting in marital bonds himself and Susan B. Slemons. Then having real estate in- terests in Enon Valley, Lawrence Co., Pa., he removed to that place, which has since been his permanent location. After his removal to Enon Valley, Mr. Slemmons was engaged in mercantile business for a year, but lost his stock by fire, as he had previously in his first commercial venture in Lima. He has large investments in landed property, owning a house in Enon Valley, and a farm of 127 acres near the village, forty-one acres in Allegheny Co., and eighty acres in the State of Kansas. On Aug. 19, 1897, our subject and wife were blessed with the birth of a baby boy, who has been named J. Guy.
Susan B. (Slemons) Slemmons, our subject's wife, was born in Old Enon, and was a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Kildoo) Slemons. It is a rather odd coincidence that husband's and wife's names should differ only in the addition or omission of an M, but they are not able to trace any blood relationship, and if there is any, it must be many generations back in Scotland. On Mrs. Slemmons' mother's side the father's name is unknown, but the grandmother's name was once Miss Stickel. James Slemons was born in Ireland, and was a son of James Slemons, Sr.,
who emigrated to America, where he died in 1879, when he was fifty-seven years old. Mr. and Mrs. James Slemons, parents of our subject's wife, are members of the Presbyterian Church, and of their two children, Mrs. Slemmons alone is living.
Our subject, during his stay in Ohio, served as constable, and in Enon Valley, Lawrence County, he officiated as supervisor for one year. In May, 1896, he was elected justice of the peace. In politics he is a Republican, and is acting as secretary of the Republican County Committee, of which committee he has been a member al- most continually since becoming a citizen of Lit- tle Beaver township. In August, 1897, he was appointed a member of the executive committee, which appointment continues for one year. At the present time (1897) he is a candidate for sur- veyor of the port in Pittsburg. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias order, and is record- ing secretary of the Junior O. U. A. M. Since his arrival in Little Beaver township, Mr. Slem- mons has thoroughly identified himself with all its interests, and is considered one of its most valuable citizens; he has done all in his power in building up the community and giving it a moral tone, and is considered one of its main- stays. He was elected director and treasurer of the Mt. Jackson Mutual Insurance Co., which was organized Oct. 2, 1897. He has been faith- ful to the relations of life, and bears an excellent reputation for uprightness and fair dealing.
Our subject is a son of Samuel and Eleanor P. (Leatham) Slemmons, the latter a daughter of Elias and Susan (Maxwell) Leatham. Elias Leatham was a son of Robert Leatham, who was born in the State of Delaware, and lived to
LEVI REPMAN.
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be seventy-three years old. Elias was a Whig and later a Republican, and died at eighty-six; his wife, Susan Maxwell, was a daughter of Robert and Deborah (Weierman) Maxwell. Deborah was of German origin, a daugh- ter of Robert and Susan Weierman. Robert Maxwell, great-grandfather of Mr. Slemmons, was of Scotch descent, and was a son of James Maxwell. Samuel Slemmons, father of the pres- ent bearer of that honored name, was a son of James and Kate (Johnson) Slemmons; James was a Pennsylvania farmer, and died in 1841, when fifty-eight years of age; his wife passed away in 1851, aged sixty-two. Samuel Slem- mons was born June 9, 1814, in Jefferson Co., Ohio, and was a farmer and carpenter in his call- ings. Politically, he was a Republican, and served as school director, and as constable for sixteen years, and when sixty years old was elected justice of the peace. He was for the period before the Republican party came into existence an adherent of the Know-nothing party. He was taken to his long home in Can- ton, Ohio, July 23, 1886, when aged seventy- three years.
LEVI REPMAN, one of Chewton's leading citizens, whose portrait appears on the opposite page, is a gardener and model farmer of Wayne township. His life began in Wayne Co., Ohio, Oct. II, 1842, and his parents were Joseph and Mary (Leet) Repman. Joseph Repman when a lad of thirteen took passage on a sailing vessel from Frankfort, Germany, to the United States;
the journey took three months, which was the usual time made. With characteristic German thrift and energy, the lad worked his way and drifted to Lancaster Co., Pa., where he was em- ployed by Daniel Hoal for three years, which was the term of years that it was agreed he should work for his passage over to this coun- try, and then spent a few years in a distillery. His next employment was driving a six-horse team and canastoga from Philadelphia to Pitts- burg for the purpose of transporting merchan- dise. This job lasted five years, and then Joseph Repman married and settled in Canaan town- ship, Wayne Co., Ohio; this farm was partially improved, and he continued to add to the im- provements already made, until he obtained a good chance to dispose of the property to good advantage. Later on he removed to Spencer, Medina Co., Ohio, where he died at seventy-five years of age. His wife, when fifty-one years old, was attacked by a wasting fever that ter- minated fatally. Their children were: Joseph; Hannah; Sophia; Simon; Jacob; Andrew; Mary; Eliza; John; Sarah, who died in early life; and Levi, the youngest of the family and the subject of this sketch.
When a youth of fifteen summers, our subject went to Ashland, Ohio, where he learned the miller's trade, which he followed for two years, and then worked on a farm until he had attained his majority. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. E, 120th Reg. O. V. I., and served two years as a private. Then having discharged his duty as a loyal citizen, he left the service as his period of enlistment was up and went to Indiana and worked in a saw-mill and farmed for three years. His next move brought him to the grist-mills at
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Rochester, Pa., where he staid five years. In 1868, he changed his occupation and worked in a limestone quarry for a year, for his throat had become affected by the dust of the milling. In company with P. Fisher, Mr. Repman leased the Shin, Williams & Co. lime kilns, and they burned lime for twenty years. He was a railway engineer for two years, and then bought thirty- three acres of the McCullon farm, and in 1892 built a house thereon. He had previously built one in Wampum in 1877. He owns a farm of ten acres, on which he has erected the necessary buildings, and made improvements so that it is thoroughly modern, and there he carries on farming and gardening. Mr. Repman chose for his wife Elizabeth McCullon, whose father was Aaron McCullon, and at her death she left two children, of whom Harry is a school teacher, and Ida J. married F. Schneider. Our subject then married again, the bride being Jennie Douthett, and her demise at thirty-eight years left a son, Charles. Our subject's third wife, now presiding over his household, was Maud Lostetter, whose father was James Lostetter of Pulaski.
Mr. Repman is a Republican and has served as school director for thirteen years, as member of the council for six years, and as treasurer of the borough of Wampum for two years. He is a member and past grand of the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 196 of Wumpum, and also of the Encampment. Mr. Repman is a man who is liked by all his business associates with no exception, and is very highly esteemed by his personal friends. He has ever done what he could for the advancement of the moral, social and educational interests of the community.
JOHN Y. McANLIS, a leading and eminent agriculturist of Hickory township, was born Aug. 9, 1838, and is a son of William and Mar- jorie (Young McAnlis, and grandson of James and Susan (Sleith) McAnlis.
Our subject's grandfather was a farmer by occupation, and followed that vocation ever after coming to this country; he had been educated for the ministry, and was soon to be a clergy- man, when his father's death upset his plans and transferred upon his shoulders the burden of supporting the family. He brought his family to America in 1821, and made a home for them in what is now Big Beaver township, then situ- ated in Beaver township, but now an integral part of Lawrence County. On this farm of his in Big Beaver township, which he subsequently from time to time enlarged to a large and very valuable property, he lived until taken home to those gone before. His wife, who was also a native of the beautiful Emerald Isle, bore him nine children. The boys were: Samuel; John; William, the father of our subject; Robert; and James, who was six months old when the family left the home in Ireland. The girls were: Jane (Young), died Oct. 1, 1897, aged 98 years; Eliza (Kirk); Susan (Patterson); and Margaret (Luke). Two of the family, Samuel and Robert, died in Ireland, but with these two exceptions the remainder of the family grew to maturity. They were Covenanters in regard to their relig- ious belief and attachments. The family, al- though coming from Ireland, were of pure Scotch ancestry, their home having been in the north of Ireland.
William McAnlis was born in Ireland in 1810, and received the major portion of his education
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in the schools of the old country; on coming to Castle; Marjorie, who has just finished her this country with his parents in 1822, he worked on the paternal estate until thirty-three years of age, when he located on a farm in Big Beaver township, given to him by his father, who fitted each of his sons out in like manner. This con- tinued to be his home until his decease June 18, 1880, and became the nucleus of an extensive estate of 350 acres, which he gathered together with prudence and forethought, aided in no lit- tle degree by hard work. His wife, a daughter of John Young, bore him the following children: James F., who was killed when in the army, de- fending the Union; John Y., the subject of this sketch; Robert S .; William W .; Joseph R., de- ceased; Susan J., deceased; Joseph H .; and Sam- uel S. Our subject's mother died in 1885, when aged seventy-four years.
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