USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > Biographical sketches of leading citizens of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania > Part 37
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JAMES WILLIAM KNOX.
MRS. MARY C. KNOX.
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
member of the city council. He is a member of the local G. A. R. Post, and belongs to the Pres- byterian Church.
Horace G. Miller, the subject of this brief biog- raphy, attended the public school and Johnson Academy, and during his vacation at the age of sixteen years became a messenger boy, and when seventeen years old was appointed the first messenger for the New Castle telegraph office, which was then located in the Leslie House. In 1873, he worked at Lawrence Junction for a short time, and in the same year was appointed agent at New Port, and became manager in 1875 of the Atlantic & Pacific Co.'s telegraph station at Millerstown, Pa. On Oct. 23, 1877, the West- ern Union Telegraph Company absorbed the various and conflicting lines, and our subject was appointed manager of the office and busi- ness at New Castle, Jan. 1, 1878. His service has been uninterrupted from that time to this, and his work in all that time has been generally satisfactory to the officers of the company and the patrons of the office. In 1886, he found an opportunity to enlarge his field of usefulness in the mercantile circles of New Castle, and added to his duties as manager of the W. U. Telegraph office the retail dealing in cigars and tobacco. Also during this time Mr. Miller was interested in the retailing of hard and soft coal, having yards on the east side, where the Gailey Lum- ber Co. is now located. From 1875 to 1878 he speculated extensively in the oil fields.
Jan. 12, 1882, he was married to Maggie Wal- lace, daughter of Dr. John W. Wallace, who un- til his death, which occurred June 24, 1889, was one of the most prominent citizens of Lawrence County. He represented this district in Congress
1862-1864, and 1874-1876. Mr. Miller's present residence is No. 29 North Jefferson Street, the house built and formerly occupied by Dr. John W. Wallace; he built, for the reception of his bride, the first house ever erected on Lincoln Avenue. Our subject has gathered about his fireside four children, as follows: Annie W., born Dec. 15, 1882; Francis M., Jan. 12, 1885; Louise M., Feb. 27, 1889; and Horace G., Jr., Aug. 19, 1894. Mr. Miller is an uncompromising Repub- lican, and has served on the Republican County and State Committees, and is president of the Republican Club. He is well-advanced in Ma- sonic Orders. He is a member and past master of Mahoning Lodge, No. 243, F. & A. M .; Delta Chapter, No. 170, R. A. M .; past high priest of the Lawrence Commandery, No. 62, K. T .; and Mystic Shrine. He is past chancellor command- er of the K. of P., New Castle Lodge, No. 404, was its first and is now its master of exchequer. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans, O. L. Jackson Camp, No. 249; and Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
JAMES WILLIAM KNOX is an esteemed and honored citizen of Ellwood City, Wayne township, Lawrence County, whose life story reads more like a romance than the prosaic sum of every-day existence. He has no record of his birth, but believes he was born in Allegheny shortly before the Mexicon War. His parents were James and Lizzie (Matthews) Knox, and he was named for his father. James Knox, Sr., enlisted, when the Mexican War broke out, to serve under the glorious Stars and Stripes, the
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emblem of the United States, and became a member of Col. Black's famous regiment; while serving his country, he bravely met his death in the front ranks of the advance at the Battle of Stone Bridge. The mother also died during the war, leaving James W., Joseph, and a daughter, The children were separated, the little girl died in childhood, and James and Joseph did not meet for many years. James grew to manhood and knew nothing of his parentage until he ran across his father's brother, a hat manufacturer in Pittsburg, who gave him the family history as fully as he could.
When the home was broken up after his mother's death, James became an inmate of the Allegheny County Home, and there attracted the notice of John H. Wilson of Franklin town- ship, Beaver Co., Pa., who owned a large farm of five hundred acres, and was one of the most well-to-do farmers in his county. Mr. Wilson was a generous, warm-hearted man, fond of children, and liked to have them about him. He had children of his own, but opened his heart and his home to the friendless little lad, and James Knox was as a son of the family for twenty-six years. Mr. Knox received from the , hands of his benefactor and wife the nucleus of his property. They were good guardians and faithful friends, and their portraits hang on the wall of his home to-day among the most treas- ured objects of his care; but there is another more substantial proof of his gratitude in the persons of three sons and a daughter who were left orphans like himself, whom he has taken into his care and keeping, as none came to bless his home and bear his name. He has returned measure for measure, providing for each daily
want, educating them, and providing them with a suitable start in life. Surely, he could find no more fitting way in which to express his appre- ciation of the kindness shown him when he was in need of it.
Mr. Knox's first employment after he left the farm of his foster-father to earn his own living, was to run an engine in Pierce's Mill on Pine Creek, Allegheny County. Then in 1862, re- sponding to the call for more men at the front, he enlisted in Co. F, 140th Reg. Pa. Vol. Inf., and served through the two dreadful years that followed. His brother, Joseph, also served in the Union Army, and after his second enlistment received a wound, from which he never fully re- covered, and which was the cause of his death in 1869. Our subject was wounded at the Bat- tle of Spottsylvania Court House, and bears the mark of battle on his person in the shape of a maimed hand. The father and two sons on the field for the honor of their country and the pres- ervation of the National Union, what a noble record it is! The young men of the present day will not fall very far short of their du- ties as citizens, if they but emulate such worthy examples.
In 1875, Mr. Knox went on a prospecting tour through several of the Western States, stopping for a considerable period in Missouri and Wash- ington Territory. His active mind caught at the chance of making money by dealing in hogs, and he added materially to his bank ac- count by his gains in that line of business. In 1877, he bought fifty-five acres, then known as the Cunningham place, in Wayne township, this county, and in 1884 added to this tract twenty acres more, known as the McGregory place,
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showing sagacity in the investment, and becom- ing the owner of a snug property. Business men on the alert to establish a town saw a favor- able location in Mr. Knox's farm, and, after conveying to him a due consideration, the land was surveyed and laid out in town lots, Tinplate, Franklin Forge and Ellwood City and the Glass Works then appearing for the first time on the map of Lawrence County. Mr. Knox became "impressed with the wisdom of the corporation that was occupied in furthering the growth of Ellwood City, so as a speculation he bought quite a number of lots, which he still retains. In 1892, he built the fine residence on the corner of Ninth Street and Crescent Avenue, which affords him a home that is complete and finished in regard to all of its arrangements. Mr. Knox took an active interest in the growth of the fast- developing town, and supervised the grading of the streets, and also a considerable part of the work that was done to provide facilities for the draining-off and the disposal of the sewage. Mr. Knox controls important interests in the Gas Company. He is very popular among his townsmen, and has been honored by being elected school director.
In 1879 our subject was joined in the bonds of matrimony with Mary Catherine Rouser, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Gillespie) Rouser. She was the youngest of her parents' five children: Minerva Jane, deceased; James Milton; Thomas Jefferson; Joseph Preston; and Mary Catherine. Mr. and Mrs. Knox are mem- bers of their chosen church home, the Presby- terian. Mr. Knox is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and also a member of Eden Park Lodge, No. 10, I. O. O. F.
As a man of unimpeached honor and good name, who has made his own way through life and attained success in his endeavors, Mr. Knox has made his name respected in his community. He is a man of sterling integrity and good prin- ciples, whose friendship is a precious boon, whether the recipients are young or old. It be- comes our pleasant duty to round out this per- sonal history and bring it to a satisfactory close by announcing that on a foregoing page appears an excellent likeness of Mr. Knox, as a gentle- man who represents the class of men who have been exceedingly fortunate and successful in life. As a companion picture, we also publish the portrait of Mrs. Knox.
JAMES R. MILLER, a retired citizen of New Castle, Pa., is a man whose name will not be soon forgotten because of his active connection with the educational development of the town, having been for many years a teacher in the dis- trict schools, and a principal of the old Union School. Many men prominent in the county re- ceived precious lessons from him in their youth, and no doubt owe much of their present pres- tige to the beneficent influence he exerted upon them. He was born in New Castle, Sept. 25, 1832, and was the eldest son and child of James M. and Hannah (Rose) Miller, and grandson of William and Nancy Miller. Our subject's grandparents were both born in Scotland, where William Miller started out in the battle of life as a farmer. With the children, who were then born to them, they came to the new and glorious country of America, as it seemed to the Old
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
World resident, and settled in Mercer Co., Pa., where William Miller for a nominal sum bought a level tract of wilderness, comprising in the neighborhood some three hundred acres. Find- ing a spring with a plentiful supply of clear cold water, he commenced his clearing there, and near by erected his log-house of a very comfort- able size, in which he ever afterward lived. He was a very hard worker, but found time to lavish a wealth of affection on his beloved wife, and their sturdy children, for he possessed a happy, loving nature, and his lavish generosity was well- known among his neighbors, and was often the subject of comment. He cleared most of the farm, and took a prominent place in the commu- nity as a progressive and wide-awake man; the farm remained his home till released from earth- ly toil and trouble, being seventy-eight years old at his decease. He served in the War of 1812, was justice of the peace many years and con- tributed in other ways to the stability and pros- perity of the government. His wife passed away at the age of eighty. Their children were: William; Joseph; James M .; Nancy; and Mary. Several more children were born to them, but they died young.
James M. was born on the homestead, which was located near Grove City, Pa., and served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, and worked on the locks during the construction of the old Pennsylvania Canal. He followed his trade until the age of fifty-five, when, losing his wife who was aged forty-eight years, he went to Galva, Ill., and bought a farm, living there until his death at the age of seventy-six. His first wife, who was a daughter of James Rose, left him seven children, all of whom grew to
occupy honorable positions in life; they were: James R .; Martha; William, twin of Martha, de- ceased; David M., also deceased; Irwin; Sarah; Lavinia. By his second mariage with Miss Kemp he had three children: Charles; John; Lamira. He was originally a Democrat, but in later years voted the Republican ticket; he be- longed to the Presbyterian Church.
James R. Miller attended Wilmington Col- lege, but when quite young left to teach school, " and besides teaching district school taught two terms of select school at Hopedale, two terms in East New Castle, and was teaching in the Union School at New Castle when the war broke out, and the call for volunteers was issued by the President. He was one of the first vol- unteers from his district, and from his influential position, and from his experience in public life, having served in the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, he was made sergeant in Co. H of the 12th Reg. Pa. Vol. Inf., enrolling his name for three months' service. After six weeks in the army, he was taken sick with typhoid fever, and cared for in a hotel at York, Pa., as at that time no hospitals had been established. When so far convalescent as to be able to be re- moved to his home, he was taken to New Cas- tle, but his friends entertained very little hope for his ultimate recovery, for his mind was impaired to an alarming extent. But the loving care of a tender-hearted woman can do wonders toward healing the sick and bringing health and color to the thin and haggard cheek, and so it was his wife's faithful nursing that restored him to health, so that after a long time he was able to attend to his business. For a short period he acted as a clerk in a grocery store, and was then
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appointed as clerk and baggageman for the N. children, Olivia M. and Paul B .; Hannah Rose, C: & B. Valley R. R, now known as the E. & P. R. R., which position he held ten years, when his health forced him to resign and to seek rest for a season. Subsequently he became agent for the N. C. & F. R. R., and continued in that service five years, when his health again became poor, and he was compelled to relinquish the position. He has since lived a quiet, retired life. For a home he bought the P. K. Sedwick estate at No. 63 Milton Avenue, and has made it a very pleas- ant place of residence.
Sept. 5, 1855, he married Sarah Olivia Mor- ton, daughter of William and Hannah (Slem- mons) Morton. Mr. Morton was a well-to-do and generally popular farmer of Perry township, Pa .; he was a justice of the peace many years, represented the town in the Legislature, and held other town offices of responsibility and honor, dying at the age of sixty-seven in 1851. His wife lived to be seventy years old. Their children were: Margaret, the wife of James Wil- son; Robert S., a Presbyterian minister; Joseph W., also a Presbyterian minister; Tirza F., the wife of M. Curry, taught for a long time in the High School; William was a farmer; Hannah was a teacher; Mary J., also a teacher, married W. D. Butler; Sarah O., our subject's wife, taught school even after her marriage; Philo S. was a teacher; Samuel was a Presbyterian min- ister. There were born to our subject and his wife the following children: Horace G., a dealer in cigars and tobacco and manager of the West- ern Union Telegraph Co. in New Castle, whose sketch appears in full on another page of this work; Ella K., born April II, 1858, married I. B. Griffith, a grocer of New Castle, and has two
born June 15, 1860, married J. G. Nothdurft of New Castle, and has one child, Hiram J .; Mary M., born June 3, 1867, married J. W. Reis, a dry goods merchant of New Castle and has two chil- dren, Lillian M. and Wilbur W .; Harriet Her- sey, born June 18, 1870, graduated from the fe- male seminary at Washington, D. C., in the mu- sical course, and is now employed as an instruc- tor in her special line; William Gray, born Dec. 25, 1873, a student of the Baltimore College of Physicians and Surgeons, is the resident physi- cian of the Shenango Valley Hospital. Mr. Mil- ler is a stanch Republican, and has served as auditor of the county and as a member of the city council. He is a member of the local G. A. R. Post, and belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
WILLIS J. McKINLEY, a conductor on the Pennsylvania R. R., residing at No. 351 West Washington Street, New Castle, was born near that city, May I, 1853, and is a son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Morehead) McKinley, the latter a daughter of James Morehead. Alexander Mc- Kinley, a native of Mt. Jackson, Beaver Co., Pa., was born March 22, 1822, and died June 14, 1896, at the home of his son, Willis J. McKinley, after suffering ten years as an invalid from a stroke of paralysis. During the active years of his life he followed the shoemaker's trade, work- ing at various times at Moravia and at Struthers, Ohio; but the greater part of his life was spent in his native borough. He was a Republican in his political views, and during the war served in the Union Army for a short term of service.
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His father, James McKinley, was born to the eastward of the mountains, and immigrated to Beaver County very early in the century with a large family of brothers and sisters, some eight or ten in all, part of whom remained in Penn- sylvania, and part of whom moved farther west to the region of Stark County, in which county is situated Canton, the home of President Will- iam Mckinley. Of his first marriage three chil- dren were born: George H., whose life may be sketched on another page; Willis J., our sub- ject; and Elizabeth, now living in New Wilming- ton, Lawrence Co., Pa. His second marriage with Elizabeth Houston resulted in three more children: John C. of New Brighton, Pa .; Hugh of Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio; and Margaret, the wife of C. C. Kelso of Turtle Creek, Pa. No children were born of his third marriage.
Willis J. Mckinley was reared in Lawrence County, attending the public schools till he reached the age of fifteen years. At the age of three years he was left without a mother's ten- der care by her untimely decease, and when he was six or seven years of age, his father gave up housekeeping, and Willis from that time made his own way. He lived and labored on the farm until his nineteenth year, when he secured a posi- tion in a rolling mill, where he worked for one year. Immediately after this, in the spring of 1872, he became a brakeman on the Pennsyl- vania railroad, and for seven years was employed in that highly dangerous occupation, and was then given a freight train, which he held four years, being then promoted to the more import- ant position of passenger conductor in 1883, and has filled that position with credit and with a large degree of efficiency ever since.
During the years from 1873 to 1880 Mr. Mc- Kinley was located in Youngstown, Ohio, at which place he was married Dec. 12, 1875, to Miss Sarah McDonald, a daughter of David Mc- Donald. In his wedded life, Mr. Mckinley has gathered about him six children, who are as fol- lows: Edward; Clara; George, deceased; Roy, deceased; Bessie; and Howard, deceased. Our subject and his very popular wife are members of the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. McKin- ley is a member of the Order of Railway Con- ductors, New Castle Division, No. 326. In his politics, he is liberal, with marked leanings toward the old Jeffersonian Democracy.
MRS. MARY M. BLIM, widow of the late John S. Blim, who was one of the largest con- tractors and builders of New Castle, is a daughter of Edward and Emeline (Russell) Law- rence, being christened Mary M. Her father served in the federal ranks in the late rebellion, and died at the age of sixty-seven. His wife is still living at Croton, Pa., aged seventy-one years. Their children were: John; Mary M., our subject; Harry; Albert; and Laura.
John S. Blim was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, Jan. 4, 1845, and was a son of Jacob and Susan (Stiver) Blim, who were leading farmers of Columbiana County. Jacob Blim served in the Civil War in Co. A, 125th Reg. O. V. I., and died at Jeffersonville, (Ind.) Hospital, October, 1864; his father served in the Napoleonic War. Our subject's husband learned the stone- mason's trade, and came to New Castle where,
MR. AND MRS. ANDREW C. COLE.
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with Robert Allen, he engaged in contracting and building, and later was associated with James A. Carpenter. From the time he first came to New Castle in 1872, until his death he remained a resident of his adopted home; he built a home on Walnut Street, where his widow now resides. He was widely known as a skilful workman, and as schooled in all the details of the contractor's business; among the number of public buildings, which show off his work to the best advantage, are the Y. M. C. A. Building, Hiram, Ohio; the Hospital; First Presbyterian Church on Jefferson Street; Presbyterian Church on Pittsburg Avenue; the West Side School; the Oak Street School, and was building the Highland Avenue School when he was in- stantly killed by a fall of the derrick, March 27, 1896. He was a member of the United Workmen, and of the G. A. R. Post. He enlisted in the cause of the Union Aug. 22, 1862, at Greenford, Mahoning Co., Pa., a volun- teer in Co. A, 125th Reg. O. V. I., First Brigade, First Division of the Fourth Army Corps, and participated in the battle of Chickamauga, and was present at all the engagements of the Atlan- tic campaign from Pine Mountain to Lovejoy Station and at Franklin and Nashville. On Sept. 19, 1862, at Chickamauga, Mr. Blim received a gunshot wound in the left shoulder, and was sent to receive surgical aid at the Nashville Hos- pital, and thence to Covington, Ky., where he remained under treatment seven months, and then was furloughed in February, 1864. After twenty days he rejoined his company at Pine Mountain, Ga., June 5, 1864, and was on detailed duty for a short time at Camp Nelson as prison guard, and was finally discharged at the expira-
tion of his term of service June 5, 1865. At his death, he was a member of Encampment No. 9, U. V. L., and was a member of the relief com- mittee. On April 1, 1873, he was married to our subject, and to them were born three children, as follows: Wellington, born Feb. 12, 1874, has succeeded his father in the firm of Blim & Car- penter, builders and contractors; Lauretta, born Oct. 31, 1879, lives with her mother; John G., was born Feb. 22, 1890. Mr. Blim's influence was at all times cast in what he considered the best interests of the community. His well-de- served success in life was what might have been expected from a man who combined an unusual amount of energy with a certain amount of con- servativeness, that never led him to indulge in excesses or in untried projects. He was a hard worker in legitimate channels, and deserved, if ever man did, the high respect which was almost universally accorded to him.
ANDREW C. COLE. It is a pleasant thing to be able to trace one's family record through long years of change and struggle, and it is doubly pleasant when this record presents the lives of honest men and good women. Some of the old families of Pennsylvania go back easily to events in the middle of the last century, thus connecting the past with the present, and mak- ing our Republic seem young indeed when com- pared with the Old World governments that have existed for centuries. One of the oldest families in Lawrence County, whose history is closely interwoven with the history of the coun-
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ty, is the Cole family, and among its more prom- inent members is the subject of this sketch, An- drew C. Cole, who is one of the leading business men and citizens of Ellwod City.
Living in easy circumstances, surrounded by a bright and popular family, Mr. Cole has reached the point when he can take life as it comes, with- out a thought of the morrow's toil. Mrs. Cole is qualified in every respect to be the head of a household, for besides being versed in the wom- anly arts pertaining to housekeeping, she has evinced some literary taste; she has been an in- teresting contributor to newspapers, her writing showing a refined and discriminating touch. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have a promising family, the members of which are reflecting honor on their parents and credit on their bringing-up. Will- iam Hamilton Cole, born June 4, 1863, is a resi- dent of Hazel Dell; he married Theresa Tillia, and they have three children: Clara E., John H., and Frank. John Witherow, who was born Dec. 18, 1865, lived through a pleasant youth to pass away from life's scenes, Dec. 9, 1885. Frank Edward, who was born March 18, 1868, has fol- lowed agricultural pursuits, and is living on the home farm; he married Estella Parker, and they have a son, Andrew J. Twins came to the home Nov. 12, 1870, they were girls and were named Lizzie Suella and Jennie Izora; the former became the wife of Harry McGowan, and went to live in Carnegie, Pa., where she has had one child, Harrison K .; the latter married William Buguo of Hazel Dell, and they have two daugh- ters, Eleanor and Catherine E. Thomas James was born April 9, 1873, and married Elizabeth J. Hamilton. Karl Hayes was born Nov. 15. 1875. and passed over the river of death Aug. 24, 1896.
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