USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > Biographical sketches of leading citizens of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania > Part 42
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
Castle, where he followed his profession until 1891, when he relinquished his legal business, which had then assumed large proportions, to busy himself in the organization of a new bank for the city of New Castle, allying himself close- ly with its interests as a stockholder in the new banking institution. He was the prime mover in the bank, which was legalized under the Federal Laws in 1892 as the Citizens' National Bank. Mr. Jameson has been the cashier ever since the bank's organization.
Mr. Jameson married Jessie Allen, daughter of Frank Allen of Hermitage, Mercer Co., Pa. They have three children: Elizabeth W .; David A .; and Jessie B.
EDWARD L. SMITH, ticket receiver of the P. Y. & A. division of the Pennsylvania Com- pany, with headquarters and office in the depot at New Castle, was born in the city of Philadel- phia, Sept. 23, 1860, and is a son of John W. and Annie (Lyndall) Smith, the latter a native of Philadelphia, and a daughter of William B. and Elizabeth (Havenstrike) Lyndall.
William B. Lyndall was in early life a ship- carpenter, and worked in the government yards at Washington, D. C. Later in life, he moved to Philadelphia, where he was a carpenter and builder a few years, and then entered the field of mercantile business, in which he remained twenty-five years. He was a student of national affairs, and, foreseeing the inevitable conflict be- tween the North and the South, he invested very heavily in muslins, beginning the accumulation of his stock as far back as 1856, when people
might have termed him visionary had they been aware of his purpose. To this stock he contin- ually added as fast as circumstances and his own wealth would permit, so that when hostilities were entered into, his cellars and store-houses were packed with goods, which in the next few years of high prices he sold at handsome profits, realizing from six to seven times on the original cost. Many from whom he had purchased goods at a normal value came to him and offered him four times the price he had paid for goods that had never been unpacked. In 1866, he retired from business and for the succeeding six years lived in Montgomery County, some distance from Philadelphia, on a fine farm. In 1872, he moved back to the city, and made his home, un- til the time of his death in 1880, aged sixty-nine years, in the suburbs in Roxborough, now the Twenty-first Ward of Philadelphia. His father, William Lyndall, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and died when William B. was living in Wash- ington. His mother survived her husband's deatlı a number of years, and reached the ad- vanced age of eighty-five years, passing away to join those gathered on the other shore of the River of Death in 1870. A brother of William B. Lyndall went to California in the early tide of gold seekers, and made that new country his permanent home until death removed him from the midst of his friends. He amassed a fine for- tune for his descendants, who live in the State of their birth.
John W. Smith, the father of Edward L., was born in the southeastern part of the State in Montgomery County, probably near Sumney- town, in the year 1836, but died at an early age, Dec. 19, 1865. He was a son of John Smith,
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who married a Miss Wonderlich. Not long after the war commenced, he enlisted in the ser- vice for the Union, but before he was mustered into the United States service he contracted a severe cold and subsequent illness, brought on by exposure, the recruits not being provided with adequate shelter; he was consequently ex- cused from further duty. A year or two later in 1863, when he draft was in progress, he was one on whom the lot fell, but his previous rejection because of poor health sufficed to keep him from being sent to the front, which would most likely have proved fatal to one in his physical condi- tion. During his short business career, he was a dealer in cigars and tobacco in the city of Phila- delphia. He gathered about him a family of two children: Edward L. and Elizabeth L., the wife of Charles B. Thomas, a furniture dealer of Phil- adelphia.
After the death of his father, Edward L. Smith made his home with his grandfather, William B. Lyndall, of whom we have spoken above, and attended the country schools until his foster- parent moved to Roxborough, where beginning at the age of twelve years he attended two years at the Manayunk grammar school of that town. In 1874 he learned the candy trade, and for the three following years was engaged in it, but dis- continued it at the end of that period because of failing health, brought on as he surmised by unhealthful features of the business. This view of it proved correct, for during the years 1877 and a part of 1878, he drove the wagon of a large bakery, and never enjoyed better health; accordingly he thought to resume his old busi- ness, but after about a year's work, he found that he must either give up that business or be-
come a permanent invalid. He chose the former alternative, and became a clerk in the office of the large woolen goods manufacturing company, of which Sevill Schofield was the head, and con- tinued with the firm a period of four years. On the seventh of January, 1884, he accepted the position of assistant in the office of the ticket-re- ceiver of the Pennsylvania Company, with offices at Allegheny City, Pa. On June I of the follow- ing year, he was appointed ticket-receiver for the P. Y. & A. Division of the Pennsylvania Company, with headquarters in New Castle, in which city he has since made his home.
On Feb. 24, 1885, Mr. Smith was married in Philadelphia in the Fourth Reformed Church, by the Rev. Cornelius Schenk, to Annie M. McFad- yen, a native of Philadelphia, and a daughter of James and Mary (Kells) McFadyen. The mother of Mary Kells passed away so late as the year 1894, having passed the 100th milestone of life's pilgrimage one month and two days. James McFadyen served with honor through the Civil War, and endured the horrors of Andersonville. On his release from prison he found that he had been discharged from the service as a deserter, and this so wounded his noble pride that he would never allow his friends to set about to correct the unfortunate error, nor would he do anything in the matter himself, preferring to let it remain as it was, not realizing that when he was thought to be a deserter and so discharged that the government had no means to ascertain the real cause of his absence, neither was there any way for it to learn that he was suffering a living death in a Southern prison pen.
Four children have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Mary S., who died in infancy;
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
Bessie J .; Louisa E., who also died in infancy; and Amy L. Our subject and his wife are mem- bers of the First Baptist Church. Socially, Mr. Smith is an enthusiastic member of Masonic Or- ders, and belongs to Mahoning Lodge, No. 243, F. & A. M .; Delta Chapter, No. 170, R. A. M., of which he is secretary; and Hiram Council, No. 45, in which he serves as recorder. He is also a member of the Junior Order of the United American Mechanics.
WILLIAM HILLIS MARSHALL. The subject of this sketch is one of the leading and best known men of Chewton, Wayne township, where he is engaged in conducting a general store under the firm name of William H. Mar- shall & Co. His birth occurred June 1, 1845. He grew up and worked with his father until he attained his majority, and then began teaching school. As he had lost his right arm in a thresh- ing-machine he was unfitted for manual labor to any great extent, and so was thrown into other fields of labor. He sold sewing-machines for a while and in 1875 embarked in mercantile life in company with William O. Kirkland and Phillip Fisher, succeeding Jackson & Potter at Chewton. This venture proved successful and the trade of the new firm grew apace, thanks to the enterprise and energy of our subject and his partners. In 1895, the firm name was changed to William H. Marshall & Co., and the large general store, well stocked and fully equipped, continues to draw an ever increasing patronage. Mr. Marshall built a handsome modern home in 1892, and among the rest of his real estate
holdings, he has several tenement houses in Wampum. In 1883, the firm of which Mr. Mar- shall was a leading partner built a large lime kiln in Wayne township, and that was afterwards sold for a handsome consideration to the cement company. He still retains his interest in the sandstone quarry. They also owned and oper- ated quarries on the McMillen, Allen and Mc- Quiston farms. Mr. Marshall is a man of thorough-going business methods, clean dealing, and honest principles.
Mr. Marshall won for his wife Edna McMil- len, whose father is William McMillen of Wayne township. They have one son, Hermon Ever- ett, who is a student. Mr. Marshall is a Republi- can, and has held minor township offices, and has been director of the schools. The family unite with the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Marshall is a son of David C. and Marga- ret (Davidson) Marshall, grandson of John and Elizabeth Marshall and great-grandson of Hugh and Hannah Marshall. Hugh Marshall who was a native of northern Ireland, left the beautiful Emerald Isle at an early date and with his wife and children came to this country, making their first stopping-place in Pittsburg. From there Hugh Marshall in company with a Mr. Craw- ford set out for what is now Big Beaver town- ship. They made a small clearing, but were hin- dered by the Indians to a great extent, and made little progress until William Penn made his memorable treaty with the Indians and bought the territory from them, by that act establish- ing peace between the savages and the advancing pioneers of civilization. There were four sons in this pioneer family: John, Robert, Hugh, and William, and the work of carrying on the im-
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
provements begun by Hugh Marshall fell to John, after his father's death.
In the course of time, by inheritance and by his own strong arm, John became the owner of four hundred acres of land, and was able to give to each of his sons a good farm of large dimen- sions. He was a stirring, hard-working pioneer, and brought about all the increase in his worldly possessions by his own efforts. He lived to the age of seventy-five, while his wife had reached the age of seventy-eight when she was called to lay down life's burdens and enter into rest. Their children were: David C., our subject's father; John; Marvin, who lives on the homestead; Mar- garet ; and Hugh James. Mr. Marshall served in the War of 1812 as a private, being stationed at Fort Erie.
David C. Marshall spent his boyhood days and youth at home, and when he came of age he bought the Roberson farm of 104 acres, a great portion of which he cleared in the subsequent years of his occupancy. In 1857 he built a home on it, and made the whole place to take on a spirit of thrift and prosperity, adding extensive barns in 1873, and completing many other im- portant improvements. He has had large inter- ests in sheep-raising, but of late years because of the low tariff on wool, which has taken away a chance of profit in that industry, he has paid more attention to dairying and to grain produc- ing. At the present time, because of the weight of his years, being in his eighty-second year, he rents the farm, and is leading a life that is to all intents and purpose retired.
Our subject's mother, Mrs. Margaret (David- son) Marshall, whose father was a native of Ire- land, was born in Beaver Co., Pa., July 1, 1815,
and passed away July 5, 1895. The children in the parental family are as follows: Elizabeth Jane, who has devoted herself to caring for her parents in their declining years, and who is now keeping house for her father; John, whose biog- raphy is spread on another page of this work; Sarah Margaret, who married I. T. Spangler, and is now demised; Andrew, who died at the age of six; William Hillis, the subject of this narration; Mary M .; and Nancy Rachel, who died in girlhood. Originally, David C. Marshall was a Whig, but since the war he has been faith- ful to the principles of the Republican party. He has held various offices of trust in the town- ship, and is a strong, virile character. It is scarcely necessary to say that this upright man and good citizen is receiving his just reward in the appreciation of his many friends and neigh- bors.
JOHN C. OFFUTT, president of the firm of Offutt, White & Co., the leading furniture deal- ers of the city of New Castle, was born Oct. 15, 1847, in Plain Grove township, Lawrence Co., Pa. Our subject spent his boyhood days at home with his parents, and at the age of eighteen went to Youngstown, Ohio, where he clerked for a year, and acquired needful experience in business methods. He then went into business for himself at Volant, this county, handling gen- eral merchandise, and was burned out only about a year after he opened the store. He was next in business in Sharon, Pa., where he re- mained until 1873, disposing of his interests then, and as times were slack did not again en-
WILLIAM JOHN STEVELY SMITH.
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
gage in business until 1882. In that year he launched a mercantile venture in Clarksville, and continued it until 1887, when he sold out his in- terests to White & Mckinney. In the spring of 1887, Mr. Offutt became associated with the firm of Dunn & Co. of New Castle, which firm did an extensive business in furniture; after a year and a half's connection with the firm, he bought out Mr. Dunn, and the firm name was changed to Offutt & Co., and remained so until 1893, when Mr. White was taken into the firm, and it now stands as Offutt, White & Co., funer- al directors and furniture dealers.
Mr. Offutt is a son of John Offutt, and a grandson of John Offutt, Sr., who was a Quaker, and the first representative of the Offutt family in America; he settled in the State of Maryland. His wife was a daughter of Captain Cook, the commander of the sailing vessel which brought him over. Four children were born to them, as follows: Nathan; James; George; and John. Our subject's father was born in Maryland, and came to Lawrence County some little time pre- vious to his marriage; he located in Plain Grove township, and engaged in farming. His wife, Margaret Patterson, died July 20, 1878, aged seventy-six years. He followed her to the land beyond the river just two months later, dying Sept. 20, 1878, aged seventy-eight years. Their children were: Nancy (Lowrey); Mary J. (Streeter); Susan (Hamilton) ; Elizabeth (Brown); James; Martha (Martin); Caroline (Rice); Thomas P .; and John C., our subject.
John C. Offutt married Louisa E. Bovard, daughter of Hutchinson Bovard of Plain Grove township. They have two children, Martha H. . and Frank B.
MRS. R. EMELINE SMITH is a highly re- spected resident of Perry township, this coun- ty. She was a daughter of Samuel Armstrong, and a grand-daughter of Alexander Armstrong, who was a citizen of Washington Co., Pa. She is the widow of the late William J. S. Smith, whose memory is still green with the citizens of Perry township.
Alexander Armstrong, after reaching matur- ity, bought a farm near New Castle, and mar- ried Catherine Taylor, who presented him in the course of their married life these children: Rebecca; Betsey E .; Marguerite; Samuel, the father of Mrs. Smith; John; Alexander, Jr .; and James. Mr. Armstrong continuel to live on his farm, and supervise its cultivation until his death at the age of seventy-four.
Samuel Armstrong lived during the earlier years of his life in Washington County, and later he purchased 170 acres near Pleasant Hill, Perry township, Lawrence County. Being a man of practical ideas and good judgment, he soon sur- rounded himself with modern improvements, among which was a commodious new house where he lived until 1867, when he passed away at the age of seventy. His wife was Isabella Walker, a daughter of Robert Walker, a native Pennsylvanian, and the following children were the fruits of their union: Robert W .; Eliza J .; Margaret S .; Isabella B .; John A .; Samuel P .; James T .; and Rebecca Emeline, whose name figures as the title of this sketch.
Our subject's husband, William J. S. Smith, was a son of John Smith, who married Elizabeth Stewart, a grandson of James Smith, who was an Irish linen manufacturer, and great-grandson of Richard Smith, who removed from Scotland
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
to Ireland. He was a stanch Covenanter. John Smith came to America when a young man in 1822 and settled in Jefferson Co., New York, where he taught school some years; he after- wards became the proprietor of a farm near Bloomington, Ill .; his death took place at the age of seventy, at Morning Sun, Iowa. William John Stevely Smith, husband of Mrs. R. Emeline Smith, was born in Jefferson Co., N. Y., and spent his early boyhood days in Bea- ver Co., Pa., later removing with his parents to the State of Illinois. When a young man he was engaged as fireman on a steamer plying on the Mississippi River between Cairo and New Orleans. His subsequent history varies to a large extent from that of the ordinary individual, for he became fired by the wonderful stories of gold discoveries in the West, and although only a youth of eighteen years he turned his face toward the Golden Gate. Fortune was kind enough to smile on his endeavors, and he suc- ceeded in accumulating a sufficient quantity of the precious metal to make him a wealthy man. He then bought a farm of 160 acres near Dixon, California, upon which some improvements had been made, which were continued by him with painstaking care; as a result of his foresight and excellent judgment, he was able to dispose of his land at a considerable advance in price, his speculation proving entirely successful. He then returned to the home of his youth, and invested in 133 acres of land in Perry township, Lawrence County, and that property has con- tinued to be the family home since that time. A large and comfortable house was erected, which was followed by a barn and other buildings necessary in carrying on a farm. Mr. Smith
made a specialty of stock, and owned horses, cattle, sheep and hogs of excellent grades. When it came to expressing his preferences and exer- cising his right of suffrage in an election, he in- variably voted the straight Republican ticket. His life closed at the age of sixty-eight. His first wife was Eliza Vance, and their children were: Nancy, Watson Vance, Ira S., and Ella E. By his later marriage to Rebecca E. Arm- strong, there were added to the household these four children: Maggie, Leland S., Audley R., and John A.
Mrs. R. Emeline Smith, whose parentage and life has been outlined together with that of her husband's, is well known in the vicinity of her home as a woman of kindly impulses, and as one who is well-endowed by nature to be that greatest of blessings-a good mother; such a place in home life well filled is of more intrinsic worth than many a position more prominently before the public eye. The portrait of the late William John Stevely Smith is presented on a preceding page.
WILLIAM PARSHALL, an esteemed resi- dent and justice of the peace of Wampum, Big Beaver township, Lawrence County, who in ad- dition to his official duties is carrying on a suc- cessful business as a prominent lawyer, and as an insurance agent, was born in Springfield township, Mercer Co., Pa. He was a son of Jos- eph and Elizabeth (Wilkin) Parshall. Joseph® Parshall was probably born east of the moun- tains in Lackawanna County, in 1822, and was
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a son of William and Jane (Hawthorn) Parshall; William Parshall was of Scotch origin, and took part in the War of 1812, afterwards following the life of a farmer, and living to a good old age. Our subject's father was a stone-cutter by trade and worked at that trade for thirty-seven years, when his lungs became so affected with the dust made by his chisel that he went west to seek his health in the mountain climate of Wyoming; the disease proved too serious to be remedied, and he died in Virginia City in 1874, aged fifty-two years. He was a United Presbyterian in church matters, and a member of the Masonic brother- hood. Mrs. Elizabeth (Wilkin) Parshall, mother of the subject of this sketch, was a daughter of William and Sarah (Harlan) Wilkin, the latter a daughter of William Harlan, an Englishman, who was a hatter by trade. William Wilkin was also an Englishman; he followed the occupation of a miller and died at the age of seventy-five. His wife was a member of the Baptist Church.
William Parshall, whose biography is herein set forth, was born and raised in Mercer County and attended school until he was eighteen. He was an ambitious lad, and wished to prepare him- self for one of the learned professions, and so be- came a student in Westminster College; in 1872 at the end of four years he completed the scien- tific course. Having been enrolled as a student in the office of Griffith & Mason for a year pre- vious to his graduation, he now put himself wholly under their direction, and after one year's faithful work in reading law was admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania in the spring term of court. He opened an office for himself in Mercer, where · he stayed until 1879, when he left for David City, Butler Co., Neb., where he practiced two years,
and then returned to his native State. Upon once more becoming a resident of the Keystone State, he selected Wampum as a suitable loca- tion, and he has never had cause to regret his decision. In 1890, he was elected justice of the peace, and received an indorsement of his good services by an additional term of five years in 1895. In addition to his legal work, Mr. Parshall is the agent of several of the old- est and strongest insurance companies in the field.
On Feb. 26, 1874 in New Castle, occurred the ceremonies that united for life our subject and his wife Eliza J. Nelson of Mercer Co., daughter of John and Elizabeth (Daniels) Nelson, who are highly respected people of Lawrence Coun- ty. Mr. and Mrs. Parshall are the parents of four children, whose names are: Mary Eliza- beth, now Mrs. William J. Miller of Wampum; Beriah G .; Clark M .; and Elta J. Mrs. Parshall is a member of the United Presbyterian Church. Our subject has been faithful to his duty as a citizen and has not missed one election since he cast his first ballot in 1870. He is a Republican, and was chief burgess of Wampum for seven years. He was formerly an Odd Fellow, and is now a member of Wampum Council, No. 226, Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. Parshall is a gentleman who takes a deep interest in the growth and the development of the community in which he resides, and he may always be found aiding and assisting any move- ment that is calculated to further its interest. He is whole-souled, affable and kind-hearted, never turning a deaf ear to real charity, and ranks among the foremost citizens of Wampum as well as Lawrence County.
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
GEORGE H. MEHARD, M. D., the leading physician of Wampum, Big Beaver township, Lawrence County, has achieved a satisfactory degree of success in the practice of his profes- sion in the above borough, and being still classed as a young man has a roseate future in store for him. He has been successful in gaining a good patronage in and about Wampum, and has given the people substantial reason to feel confidence in his ability as a physician. He was born Sept. 22, 1857 in Wurtemberg, this county, and was the youngest of eleven children born to Robert and Christiana (Liebendorfer) Mehard. His mother, when a child, was brought by her par- ents from Wurtemberg, Germany.
Robert Mehard, the Doctor's father, was a son of the Emerald Isle, his birth occurring in Coun- ty Antrim, town of Lairn, in the northern part of Ireland in the year 1813. Three years later he was brought to the United States by his par- ents, James and Mary Mehard, who lived for a time in Philadelphia, removing thence to Wur- temberg. There the elder Mehard followed his trade, that of a millwright, and departed this life when he was aged eighty-six years; he taught his trade to his son Robert, who made it his life- work. Both father and son belonged to the United Presbyterian Church. Robert was a Whig during the life of that party, and on its dissolution transferred his allegiance to the Re- publican party, whose standard he ever after- ward supported. He served as county commis- sioner for fourteen years. He was seventy-five years of age when called to his reward in 1888.
Dr. Mehard's education was commenced in the district schools of his native town. Being ambitious and of a studious turn of mind, he
succeeded in obtaining a college education, en- tering Washington and Jefferson College at the age of seventeen, and graduating in the spring of 1879. His desire for knowledge was still un- satisfied, and his decision to study medicine pre- pared the way for his entrance to the Cleveland Medical College in the following fall; his grad- uation took place two years later. A course in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia completed a thorough equipment in 1882, and he at once opened an office in Wurtemberg. He remained in his native town nine years, when he became attracted by the advantageous location of Wampum, whither he removed, and imme- diately took his station as one of the best physi- cians of Lawrence County. Dr. Mehard has built his excellent reputation on his conscientious efforts and on his wide experience and surpass- ing skill in medical lines. He keeps abreast of the times by judicious and exhaustive reading of the latest medical works, but at the same time does not disdain to employ a method that has proven successful for many years, nor to con- duct his general practice on well-established lines, believing it to be for the interest of his pa- tients to refrain from employing rather doubtful procedures.
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