USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > Biographical sketches of leading citizens of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania > Part 4
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As an individual in the private walks of life, his principal characteristics are a cheerful nature and a briskness of manner that impresses those who meet him with the idea that he is intensely alive. He is a close student of human nature, and this, coupled with his genial disposition and tact, wins him friends wherever he goes. It is, in fact, one of the chief secrets of his success, for it matters not whether he meets a white man or a negro, a banker or a laborer, he is sure to give him the same warm grasp of the hand and hearty greeting. Apart from his business cares, Judge Wallace takes an active interest in social matters. He is a good conversationalist, and
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when at leisure is always willing to spend an evening in society. He seldom, if ever, joins a party without his wife, who is a woman of ami- able disposition and fine accomplishments, chief among which is a love of music. Mrs. Wallace is recognized as one of the sweetest singers in New Castle. The judge's portrait appears on a foregoing page, and it is with the deepest pleasure that we present the likeness of one who occupies so prominent and important a position in the legal and judicial circles of Lawrence County.
JOHN B. BROWN, a prominent citizen of New Castle, who, although thrown on his own resources at an early age, managed to acquire an education and become known as a prosper- ous, self-made man, winning the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens, and finding time to fill various offices of responsibility in addition to attending to his private business, is a leading dealer in real estate to-day, and was born in New Castle, Pa., May 18, 1855. He is a son of James and Jane (Britten) Brown, who were both born near Enniskillen, Ireland.
Our subject's father, when about twenty years of age, came to America, and found work in Washington County, of this State, in the rolling- mills, and was engaged in that industry the greater part of the active period of his life until he retired; he is living at the advanced age of seventy-three at this writing in New Castle, where he reared his family. His wife died at the age of fifty-eight, death being caused by injuries
received by falling down-stairs. Their children were: John B., the subject of this sketch; Liz- zie, widow of the late George Truesdale; Kate L., the wife of Frank Simpson of New Castle; James H., the Chief of the Fire Department of New Castle; and Ellen, deceased, who was the wife of Homer Reynolds.
At the age of nine years, John B. Brown found employment in the rolling-mills as an assistant boy, and worked for a number of years, until he reached the years of young manhood, at a small wage; upon attaining the years of maturity, he realized that he was lacking a good education, and accordingly entered the One Study College, and fitted himself for a business life at his own expense. Having accumulated some little cap- ital, he invested in real estate, buying lots, and having built on them, selling the property thus improved at good prices, allowing him a com- fortable profit, and enabling him to increase his capital, and widen the field of his operations. This business, in connection with other ventures, he followed until 1896, having built thirty houses in the meantime. In 1883, he was elected alder- man of the Fourth Ward for a term of five years, and was re-elected to another term of same dura- tion in 1888, but in November of that year he was elected to the Legislature and served for two years. In 1890, he was elected to the position of mayor of New Castle, and filled that office to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of New Castle until 1893. and has since served two terms in the select council, serving one terni as the president of that body. He is an active member of the Republican County Committee, and is skilled in practical politics. He was appointed post- master of New Castle by President McKin-
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ley May Ist, 1897, and entered upon the dis- charge of the duties of that position June Ist, 1897. In 1890, he became associated with S. B. Marshall in the U. S. Detective Association, and remained in that connection until 1896, when his business demanded his whole time, and so he re- linquished the detective work. Mr. Brown, in his building operations and real estate dealings, has built a number of stores, and as a silent partner has entered into their operation.
Mr. Brown married Miss Eva A. Moore, daughter of Mrs. J. C. Moore, and has one child, George C., born Nov. 14, 1880. He has a fine residence at No. 467 South Mill Street, which he built for his home in 1891. He is a member of the Western Star Lodge, K. of P., No. 160; New Castle Council, No. 131, O. U. A. . M .; and New Castle Home Circle, No. 6.
WILLIAM A. EVANS, a prominent mer- chant of Mahoningtown, conducting a large and constantly increasing business in his hand- some new block on Cherry Street, is a native of the neighboring county of Beaver, where he was born Dec. 21, 1862. He is a son of James and Sarah (Freed) Evans.
James Evans was born in Virginia, and is now living in retirement in Pulaski, this county, at the age of seventy years, a venerable and high- ly respected old gentleman. When a boy he took to river life, and became a mate on one of the river steamers plying on the river near his birth-place in Virginia. At the age of twenty, he came to Beaver County, where he followed
mining for a time, and then bought and oper- ated a canal boat, running from Erie to Pitts- burg and return. Next he became a railroad contractor, and for a period of eighteen years accepted and successfully completed jobs in grading and preparing the road-bed for the iron, during which time he carried out the contracts for the construction of the Allegheny Valley R. R. through the Allegheny mountains, three miles near Freeport, and several contracts for the Pennsylvania R. R. His last contract was for three miles in Mercer County for the New Castle and Franklin R. R. Since relinquishing railroad contracting, he has constructed many county bridges, and built no small number of roads. He finally retired from active work to live on the competency gained in many years of toil, and possesses a comfortable home in Pul- aski, where he bids fair to live many years yet, and emulate the example of his ancestors, who were remarkably strong physically, and lived to very advanced ages. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. Both he and his wife are members of the M. E. Church. She was born in Beaver County, and was a daughter of John Freed, who was a farmer and one of the oldest settlers in the county; he died in 1884, aged eighty years. During the early days of the settlement of the county, when game both great and small was in abundance, he was a great hunter, and many tales of his adventures still pass current among the residents of the section where he lived.
The family moved to Lawrence County, when our subject was seven years old, and his educa- tion was obtained in the district schools of the county, supplemented with one term at North Liberty and one year at Sharpsville, where he
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finished at the age of seventeen. When he at- tained his majority, he became fireman of the Pennsylvania R. R., where he was employed in that capacity from 1888 to 1891. In the latter year he bought a store at Homewood, which he conducted one year, and then came to Mahon- ingtown, starting in operation in this borough a store on Liberty Street, which grew and flour- ished under his careful and judicious manage- ment for four years, when the increase in his business and the demand for a better location and roomier quarters led him to undertake to provide for himself the store-room he desired. Accordingly, in 1896, he built after his own plans a large, commodious block on Cherry Street, which he now occupies with a finely as- sorted stock of groceries and provisions, rapid- ly building up a most enviable trade by his genial, accommodating manners, his evident de- sire to make friends of his customers and to give them the best the market affords, and by having on hand only the freshest and purest of gro- ceries.
In Beaver County occurred his marriage to Nora Witherspoon, who was born in that coun- ty, a daughter of John H. and Emeline (John- son) Witherspoon, both natives of the Keystone State. The fruit of this union has been two children-William D. Wayne and Pearl W. The family are Methodists in religious belief, and attend the M. E. Church of Mahoningtown. Mr. Evans' political views are sympathetic with the Democratic party. He is a member of Amazon Lodge, No. 336, Knights of Pythias, of Mahon- ingtown; Junior Order of United American Mechanics; and of the Order of Railway Train- men.
LEWIS C. COCHRAN of New Castle, a dealer in flour, feed, hay and grain, was born in Indiana County, April 23, 1848, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Cunningham) Cochran, and a grandson of William and Sarah Cochran. Our subject's grandparents were born in Ire- land, and upon their immigration to this coun- try settled in Indiana Co., Pa., where they lived to a good old age; Sarah Cochran was excep- tionally long-lived, attaining the age of 103 years, being active and vigorous even to the last, with her strength of body, of seeing and hearing, impaired to an inappreciable degree.
William Cochran, Jr., was born in Indiana County, and started out in life as an agricultur- ist, at which vocation he was very successful. He was a leading and prominent man, and served as constable of the town. In middle life, something like a ring-worm appeared on his cheek, and at first little thought was given to it, but as the months rolled by and it increased in size and brought to him added discomforts, he determined to consult a skilled physician, and accordingly rode on horseback to Philadelphia to have it examined and if need be to have it operated on. He was there informed that it was a cancer, and that no cure for it could be had; it eventually caused his death at the age of forty- eight. His wife survived him many years, reach- ing the age of seventy-eight years, her death resulting from a serious fall on the ice. They were Episcopalians in religious belief. Our sub- ject's father was a Democrat, politically. There were born to them the following children: Jane. deceased; Archibald of Indiana, Pa .: Ruth, deceased; Rosanna, deceased; Alexander of In- (liana, Pa .; Nancy, deceased: Stewart, deceased;
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
Lily Ann, who married Peter Kunkle of Indi- ana, Pa .; John, deceased; Martha E., who mar- ried S. T. Hayes, now of New Castle; Lewis C., our subject; and George, deceased.
Lewis C. Cochran's education was limited to the instruction he received in the district schools of his native place, attending those institutions till fourteen years of age, and then started out for himself at farming, continuing to labor at that occupation until 1866, when he came to New Castle to clerk in the Leslie House. He remained in that connection two years, and then clerked for Pierce, Clapp & Co .; during this time he availed himself of every opportunity to acquire a more comprehensive education, study- ing far into the night and at every chance moment. This diligence was not to go unre- warded, for the proprietors leaving him in charge of the business for a short time, our sub- ject exhibited such skill and excellent judgment, that he was afterwards promoted to the position of bookkeeper, in which station he remained eleven years. He then opened a feed and flour store, where Develin's saloon is now on East Street, and ran a successful business there for nearly four years. He then bought the old Dr. Tidball property, where the house had been destroyed by fire, and in 1883 built a new house, and a feed store, to which he added a grocery store in 1887, and conducted both stores until 1896, when he relinquished the manage- ment of the grocery to his sons, William and Jessie L., who, under the firm name of Cochran Bros., enjoy a highly prosperous business. Our subject still has charge of the flour and feed store. He has built, in addition to the store and warehouse, a brick barn and a bakery, and in
1873 erected a brick residence, which at present is owned by Dr. Pollock.
Mr. Cochran married Miss Rebecca Tunison, daughter of James Tunison of Mercer County, and has four children, namely: William James, born Feb. II, 1871, who married Ella Calder- man, he is the senior member of the firm of Cochran Bros .; Jennie Agnes, born Oct. 20, 1873, married Harry G. Kieser of New Castle; Jessie L., born Sept. 26, 1875, is a member of the firm . of Cochran Bros., and married Hannah Watkins; Charles T., born June 16, 1877, is a clerk. Our subject never fails to give his earn- est and hearty support to the support of the Democratic party. He is a member of the M. E. Church, and is a Royal Templar of Temperance, and a member of the Order of Ben Hur.
JAMES N. FALLIS, a broker of New Castle, and large real estate owner and dealer of that city, was born in Brantford, County of Brant, Ontario, Canada, June 1, 1849, and is a son of Sergeant James and Mary (Thompson) Fallis, who were both born in County Fermanagh, Ireland. James Fallis was a British soldier most of his life, and took part in the memorable Battle of Waterloo, in which engagement he received a bullet in the forehead, and carried it there for many years thereafter. He was commissioned by the British Government as drill-master, and was stationed at Toronto, where he prepared re- cruits for the army. At the age of ninety, he could ride a horse, go through the full cavalry drill, and cut an apple in two with his saber
ELDER JOHN T. PHILLIP.
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while riding at full tilt. He was a skilled officer, Wayne township. Our subject has been a mem- and fully understood all the details that came in his department; he ranked as sergeant-major upon his retirement from the army. He lived to be ninety-seven years of age, and his wife was ninety-two at her death. Their children were named as follows: Margaret H .; Jane; John; Sarah; Elizabeth; Isabella; Noble; Maria; James N .; and Lucinda.
Our subject, after attending High School, studied law with his brother John, but not liking the profession well enough to stick to it as a means of livelihood, he learned the tinsmith's trade, and in 1863 went to San Francisco, Cal., and opened a store at No. 8 Fourth Street, where he carried on a prosperous business in stoves, tinware, crockery, and took contracts for plumbing. In 1869 he sold the store, and went to Chicago, where he was engaged in the same line of business until 1873, when he came to New Castle, where, on May 8th of the same year, he married Miss Mary Kerningham, daughter of John and Margaret (McClelland) Kerningham. Mrs. Fallis' father was a gentleman of County Down, Ireland, and there she was born.
Mr. Fallis has a fine residence at No. 49 North Jefferson Street, where he lives, and since he has lived in New Castle has been identified with real estate interests and conducted a highly profitable business as a broker. He owns the following real estate: Two houses on West Fall Street; three houses on Shenango Street; one house on Lut- ton Street; two houses on Jefferson Street; one house on Grant Street; four houses on Croton Street; and one house on Lincoln Avenue. He has also a farm of 180 acres and another one of 65 acres in Shenango township, and a farm in
ber of the New Castle city council twenty-one years, and is president of the select council, and has been most active in improving the city, and in advancing its numerous interests. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a char- ter member of the Commandery of Knights Templar. In his business life he has exhibited great push and energy and has been far-sighted in his speculations. He is a deservedly popular man, and is well entitled to the great respect and esteem in which he is held.
ELDER JOHN T. PHILLIP, an appointed minister of the Christian Church, but now re- tired from active work in the ministry, is inter- ested with his son, Errett E., in the real estate business in New Castle, under the style of J. T. Phillip & Son; and engaged in teaching Bible classes in the Y. M. C. A. and the congregation of Disciples in New Castle; he is one of the county's most highly respected citizens, for his life-work is one of which he or any one else might well rejoice. He was born in Little Beaver township, Lawrence County, which township was then included in Beaver County. Jan. 6, 1826, and is a son of Ephraim and Anna (Newton) Phillip, and a grandson of Thomas Phillip.
Ephraim Phillip was born in Trenton, N. J., as was also his wife; they were married there and with horse and wagon came to Enon Valley, this county, where they bought a farm in a lo- cality which was then desolate and practically
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
uninhabited, with the soil as nature left it, un- lege at Meadville, Pa., where he was a student touched by plough or harrow. To afford them a shelter till better times, he built a log house, which remained their home until the land was partially cleared, and until he began to make brick, when he built a large brick house, which is still standing, and as it was on the State Road he kept a tavern in it. He also built a fulling mill and did custom work, but as the soil was very sandy he had hard work to keep a dam in- tact, until he set out a number of sycamore trees, which were effective in protecting the work. In 1828, he traded the property, so well improved under his able hands, with Mr. James Adair for property. at Westfield near Mt. Jackson, this county, where he built a saw-mill and carried on general farming until his death at the early age of forty-three years, which was occasioned by a severe cold, which developed into bilious fever which caused his death.
He preceded his wife by many years to the home of the blest on the other shore. He was a Democrat (the political parties then were Demo- crats and Whigs) and a member of the Christian Church at Enon Valley, this county. The fol- lowing children were born to him: Thomas, who died young; Catherine, by marriage Cath- erine Taylor, deceased; Isaac N., deceased; Sarah, who married J. W. McCallen, and resides on the homestead; Ephraim, deceased, who was a farmer; John Taylor, our subject; Mary, de- ceased; Charles M. of Pasadena, Cal .; another Mary, deceased; and Thomas W. of New Castle.
Our subject attended the common schools to secure a substantial basis for a higher education until he was nineteen years old, when he began teaching. He then entered the Allegheny Col-
for two sessions, subsequently attending Beth- any College of Virginia for a year, where from over-study he broke down, and was compelled because of his ill-health to return home. After regaining his health by vigorous out-door work, he again took up his profession, and received a call to the congregation of Disciples at Bazett, now Cortland, Ohio, which he visited for several years, also preaching in Missouri and in a num- ber of other localities. He took up his ministry in the congregation of the Disciples or Chris- tian Church of New Castle in 1862. This church was organized in 1853, at which early period in the society's existence the congregation used to meet in the Covenanters' Church. The beauti- ful, large church edifice, which stands to-day among the finest church structures of the coun- ty, owes its existence mainly to the generosity of Phillip Bros., who were producers of petro- leum, of which our subject was one.
The material progress of New Castle has been greatly aided by Mr Phillip's work in the real estate line. He bought the Robert Stewart farm of 100 acres, in the city limits, paying therefor $30,000 cash, which property was at that date one of the most valuable in the county. This . farm has been divided into lots and many of them sold, Mr. Phillip owning about thirty-five acres at the present time. He went into the real estate business quite extensively, and a few years later his son, Errett E., became associated with him, under the firm name of J. T. Phillip & Son, with office for the transaction of real estate and insurance business at No. 1153 East Washington . Street. Our subject was in ante-bellum days a strong anti-slavery man, but has been allied with
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
the Republican party since the date of its full organization until recently-is now a Prohibi- tionist.
On Feb. 7, 1855, he led to the altar Martha J. Cable, who was born May 25, 1832, died Feb. 15, 1878, and was a daughter of David and Rosanna Cable of Steubenville, Ohio. The chil- dren by this marriage were: Rose A., born Feb. 8, 1856, who married O. H. P. Brown, a dry goods merchant of New Castle; Sally J., born Jan. 29, 1858, lives at home; Fanny M., born Jan. 23, 1860, married John F. Stone of Indiana, now residing in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory; . Lewis O., M. D. of New Castle, was born May 7, 1862; Charles M., born May 17, 1864, died young; Errett E., born Nov. 20, 1866, is in part- nership with his father; John B., born Nov. 22, 1868, lives at home; Pearl A., born Jan. 13, 1872, married Dr. W. A. Miller of New Castle, died in 1896; and Maud A., born Nov. 13, 1874, mar- ried Burt E. Ross of New Castle. Mr. Phillip married as his second wife, June 3, 1879, Miss Mary Lanham, who was born July 23, 1836, and was a daughter of Gabriel Lanham, a min- ister of the Gospel.
We present Mr. Phillip's portrait on a preced- ing page, and we are certain it will prove a very interesting feature in this volume.
PETER S. RHODES is a train dispatcher of the Pennsylvania R. R., and lives at Mahon- ingtown, and his biography might be entitled "The History of a Successful Young Man," for he has risen to his present position from the post of telegraph operator.
Mr. Rhodes is a son of David and Helen M. (Shaffer) Rhodes, his mother being a daughter of Peter and Sarah (Cameron) Shaffer, the lat- ter of Scotch-Irish descent. His maternal grand- father, Peter Shaffer, was a native of Pennsyl- vania, and tilled the soil in that State until his death at the age of seventy-eight.
David Rhodes, the father of the young man whose history it is our purpose to chronicle, was also a native of the Keystone State, his home being east of the mountains in early childhood until his father, Solomon Rhodes, removed to Mahoningtown, and, following the footsteps of his forefathers, secured his living from the earth by farming. Rebecca Bender was the maiden name of David Rhodes' mother. During his period of activity, David was a carpenter and builder, as he possessed more talent for con- struction than could be of advantage on a farm. Up to the date of his withdrawal from active labor, more than half of the buildings in the borough had been planned and erected by him and his brothers. At the time of the building of the New Castle and Beaver Valley R. R., a first superintendent of construction was appointed, and the man chosen to fill that position was Mr. Rhodes, whose work was to build depots along the line of the railroad. Mr. Rhodes has been a very busy man, but has found time to take an active interest in politics as a stanch Republi- can. He and his good wife are members of the M. E. Church, and beside his helpful work in the church, he did valuable service for the borough of Mahoningtown as one of the six members of its first council. He is the proud father of four sons, all of whom are emulating his example, and identifying themselves with
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
railroad work. Irwin is an engineer on the Pennsylvania R. R., and lives in Mahoningtown. Peter S., about whom we will speak a little fur- ther on, is a train dispatcher for the same road. Charles W. is a baggage-master and lives in Mahoningtown. David D. is a fireman with headquarters at home in Mahoningtown.
Peter S. Rhodes has been referred to as a young man, and he is such in truth, for he was born June 10, 1864. His boyhood days were devoted, as is customary, to acquiring an educa- tion in the common schools, and at the age of seventeen years he graduated from the high school of New Castle, and soon after was ready to begin his career. He took up telegraphy in the railway station at home, and under the tute- lage of S. G. Blanchard, he soon proved that he had the quick hand and the cool, steady brain of a good operator. When he had become profi- cient, he entered the employ of the P. & L. E. R. R., and was put in charge of the station at Davis Island Dam. Other places where he was sent for varying periods are Hazelton, Falls- town, and New Castle Junction. At the last place, he left the service of the railroad company and accepted a position with the Western Union Telegraph Co. at New Castle. In 1882, his was the good fortune to be offered a situation in the office of the train dispatcher at Youngstown, Ohio, where he seized every chance of improve- ment, and was rewarded for his efforts in the short space of six months by being appointed extra dispatcher. He has more than fulfilled the hopes of his friends by continuing in the same place for twelve years.
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