USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > Biographical sketches of leading citizens of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania > Part 54
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known as Willow Grove. He and his wife also donated two lots for the site of a school-house in their neighborhood. The story of the life of Ephraim Phillip is that of his wife now left be- hind. In all the busy affairs of life, she was his companion and adviser. He was a good busi- ness man, and an active and respected citizen. He was a true, earnest Christian in every sense of the word. She was quite as devout and fully as sympathetic.
Mr. Phillip's first wife was Lucretia Kelso, who at her death left him four children, namely: Alexander C .; Annie; Sadie; and Elizabeth. Though they lost their own dear mother, these children found another as loving and as pains- taking. The children born to Ephraim and Florence L. Phillip were: Goldie Idena, born Dec. 8, 1887; Orlando Russell, Nov. 15, 1889; and Floyd Wendell, Feb. 26, 1892.
In her beautiful home, surrounded with the things that make life worth the living, Mrs. Phil- lip now resides. She devotes her time to her growing children, and no one could be a truer mother. With all the varied duties of home, she always finds time to listen to the story of the dis- tressed, and to extend a helping hand to the needy one, destitute of the necessities of life. The loss of her beloved and respected husband was a great one to her, and he was none the less mourned by the community. It is a comfort to his widow to know in what esteem he was held, how his Christian character is cited as a model, and how he is missed by all those who used to know him. She, however, is ably using the means in her control to be of the same use and the same good that they would unitedly have been had he been spared.
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
DR. ROBERT G. BOAK, a leading physi- cian of East Brook, Hickory township, was born in Slippery Rock township, this county, March 16, 1865, and is a son of Charles and Eleanor A. (Weller) Boak, the former of Scott and the lat- ter of Slippery Rock township.
Charles Boak, Sr., the grandfather of Dr. Boak, was a native of Ireland; he came to Am- erica with his parents when a lad, and settled with them in eastern Pennsylvania; when he grew up, he bade the old home and the loved ones there good-bye and came to Scott town- ship, where he purchased a farm in the near vi- cinity of Harlansburg, where, in connection with farming, he found time to profitably employ him- self in the winter months teaching school. He was a very intelligent, well-read man, whose opinions and ideas were well-grounded on es- tablished facts; his ability as a school-teacher was recognized, and many old settlers of that part of the county still remember with pleasure the good lessons taught them by Mr. Boak. His family was constituted of the following children : Rebecca; Aaron; Peggy; Charles; Sarah; Mar- tha; William; Washington; Mary A .; and Eliza. They were United Presbyterians in their relig- ious sympathies.
The father of our subject completed his edu- cation in Scott township schools, and then turned his attention to farming, which he fol- lowed all the years of his life given over to active labor in Slippery Rock township; in 1887, he ยท moved to New Castle, where he lived in retire- ment until his death. He bore an excellent repu- tation as a successful and prosperous farmer, who ever lent himself to the promotion of the best interests of his locality and township. He
was a stanch Republican, and held several offices at the disposal of his fellow-townsmen. His wife, who was a daughter of William Weller, made him the proud and happy parent of seven children, namely: Charles, who married Carrie Badger of Portersville, Butler Co., Pa., and has one son, Clyde; Mary, who married William Joiner of Louisville, Ky .; Thomas, who married Maggie Alford of Slippery Rock township, and has one son, Howard; Robert G., the subject of this notice; Agnes, who married Phillip Sechler of Slippery Rock township, and has one child, Gula. Mrs. Boak died in 1890, aged sixty-three years, and her husband followed her to the land of rest three years later at the same age. They were members of the Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Robert G. Boak obtained an elementary education in the district schools of his immediate neighborhood, and in the State Normal School of Edinboro, Pa. After having advanced thus far, he taught school for seven years, during which time for the space of one year he read medicine under the direction of Dr. Charles Hunt of Princeton, Pa., not neglecting his duties in the least. He then entered the Baltimore Medical College of Baltimore, Md., in 1893, and after one year changed his location, becoming a medical student in the medical department of the Western University of Pittsburg, Pa., from which he graduated in 1897. Having determined beforehand on East Brook as a suitable location, he at once opened an office in the village, and entered upon the active practice of his profes- sion. He has obtained in short time the good- will and patronage of the people of East Brook and its vicinity, who regard him as a well-read, enterprising member of the medical profession,
DR. EDWIN S. COOPER.
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who has at his command the latest methods in the treatment of diseases, and the requisite knowledge and ability to use them successfully. His many friends are united in wishing him the best of success.
In 1886, he was joined in marriage with Min- erva McCurdy, daughter of Abraham McCurdy of Princeton, Pa., and their home has been blessed with the arrival of two children, W. Earl and Robert C. The family has identified itself with the Presbyterian Church in all its good work.
DR. EDWIN S. COOPER, a rising young physician of New Castle, with abundant prom- ise for a brilliant future in the medical profes- sion, who is practicing, in partnership with his brother, Dr. Joseph L. Cooper, with offices lo- cated at 33-35 South Jefferson Street, was born Jan. 3, 1872, and is a native of Lawrence County. Up to the age of fourteen years his life was spent in Taylor township, his education being begun in its public schools. At that age he re- moved with his parents to New Castle, and from its schools advanced to the Grove City College of Grove City, Pa., where he remained until the spring of 1892. In the fall of that year he com- menced the study of medicine, reading under the direction of his brother, Joseph L., until the fall of 1893, when he entered the Western Pennsyl- vania Medical College, and graduated from that institution March 25, 1896. He at once located with his brother in New Castle, and is assisting in building up a splendid practice. He is an ex- ceptionally bright and intelligent young man,
and has borne and still bears the reputation of a hard student, whom no obstacles of whatever magnitude can deter from the path of patient and continued research in lines peculiar to his profession. He has won many friends and estab- lished quite 'a large clientele since his location in the city as one of the leading physicians. With the prestige for successful results that he has already gained his future looks particularly bright, and our best wishes go with him in his noblest of professions. Politically he is a Repub- lican.
Dr. Cooper's great-grandfather, Robert Coo- per, was born in County Down, Ireland, and came to this country about the year 1790, set- tling in Allegheny Co., Pa., where he reared his family and saw to it that they wanted nothing that would enable them to attain the highest manhood and womanhood. His son, James Cooper, was born in Allegheny County in 1796, and in 1843 moved to Lawrence County, where he died in 1861. He married Elizabeth McLes- ter, who lived to be seventy-six years of age, and they became the parents of seven children, three boys and four girls.
The father of Dr. Edwin S., Robert Cooper, was the second son of James Cooper in order of birth, and first saw the light of day in 1823. He came from Allegheny County to Lawrence with his parents, and with his brother David bought a farm on Sheep Hill, just south of New Castle, paying $10.00 per acre for the tract of 100 acres. This proved to be one of the very best investments that could be made, for the farm fortunately happened to overlay a bed of superior limestone of the best quality; up to the present time only about fifty acres have been
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worked and quarried, leaving a large fortune yet to be extracted from the bowels of the earth. The farm is still in the hands of the Cooper fam- ily. Robert Cooper married Nancy A. Jackson, who, with the following children, survived him at his death in 1892: James H .: Elizabeth (Campbell); Leander; Dr. Joseph L., our sub- ject's brother; Charles O .; Mary (Colwell); Mand (Davis); and our subject, Dr. Edwin S., whose portrait we take the greatest pleasure in presenting on a previous page.
JOHN N. RUBY is a prominent blacksmith of East Brook, Hickory township, Pa. He was born in Middle Lancaster, Butler County, Nov. 30, 1843. He attended the district school, and after completing the course of study found em- ployment on a farm until 1864, when he obeyed the call of his bleeding country, and enlisted in Battery E, 2nd Pa. Art., attached to the 112th Reg. Pa. Vol. Inf., commanded by Col. Straw- bridge. Mr. Ruby was severely wounded on the battle-field of Seven .Pines. May 31, 1864, but did not leave his company, and bravely remained in the service of "Old Glory," until he was discharged under the general order at the cessation of hostilities.
On his return from the field of carnage, he began work in the trade of blacksmithing under the instruction of John Eppinger of Middle Lan- caster, and the artilleryman became the artisan, and forthree years after he had learned his trade, lived at New Castle. Returning to Middle Lan- caster, his early home, he remained there until
the spring of 1879, when he removed to East Brook, which has been his permanent location since. In 1871, having found a suitable partner, Mary Lehman, daughter of John Lehman of Middle Lancaster, accepted his hand and became his wife. The children, who constitute the house- hold are: William H., born May 29, 1872; Alice J., June 8, 1874; Annie, now deceased, born March 29, 1876; Benjamin F., Feb. 19, 1878; Sadie J., Sept. 11, 1879; Catherine M., Aug. 21, 1881; and Harry J., April 23, 1887. In matters of religious interest, Mr. Ruby adheres to the faith of the German Reformed Presbyterian Church, while his wife and children have identi- fied themselves with the M. E. Church. He is a member of Portersville Lodge, No. 909, I. O. O. F., of Portersville, Pa. William H., the eldest son, who learned his father's trade and is asso- ciated with him in business, is a member of the East Brook Cornet Band, a flourishing organi- zation of six years growth, and one which is coming into public favor very rapidly. Father and son are Democrats. Mr. Ruby served as constable in Middle Lancaster, and as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Kelley of Butler Co .; Will- iam H. Ruby is at present an inspector of elec- tions. Mr. Ruby has in his years of mechanical labor repaired and set up countless pieces of ma- chinery, and by only turning out articles of the best workmanship has risen in his trade, and established a solid reputation in his line of busi- ness.
Henry Ruby, father of John N., received his education in the schools of Middle Lancaster, and on leaving school took up farming for a live- lihood, and never changed his occupation. In political belief, he was a Whig, but later devoted
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
himself to the Democratic party. He selected his helpmeet in the person of Ruth A. Campbell, daughter of Henry Campbell. Interesting events in the family history are the births of these chil- dren: Robert, deceased; John N., whose name is the heading of this sketch; George W., who married Catherine Kerr of East Brook-two children came to bless their union, Nettie and Sarah; Mary, who became the wife of Christian Lehman of Middle Lancaster, and has a son, John; Leah, who married William Lutz, and bore the following children, Annie, Louisa, Ag- nes, Leah, George, William, and an infant; and Martha, deceased. The Ruby family belonged to the Lutheran Church. Henry Ruby died in 1861, aged sixty-one years, and Mrs. Ruby remained with her children until 1894, when she entered into rest at the age of seventy-nine.
John Ruby, the grandfather, was of English parentage, and after his emigration to Amer- ica, he settled in Maryland, in the vicinity of Hagerstown, and finding the soil fruitful began its culture, continuing after his removal to But- ler Co., Pa. He made a comfortable living, and was esteemed a prosperous man in his day. His views, politically, were in sympathy with those of the Whigs. In the War of 1812, he served with distinction, although in the ranks as a pri- vate. His wife was Maggie Bumgardner, who was brought from Germany by her parents in her infancy. Their children were: William; Henry, the father of John N .; James; John; Job; Mary; Elizabeth; Charity; Catherine; and De- borah. They were adherents of the Lutheran faith. Mrs. Ruby died in 1845, her husband sur- viving until 1873.
HENRY W. HAZEN, teller of the First Na- tional Bank of New Castle, was born in the city of his present residence July 7, 1868, and is a son of Henry Hazen and grandson of Henry Hazen, Sr. The Hazen line has been long es- tablished in America, and ouf subject can fully trace his ancestry through a long line to Ed- ward Hazen, who came from England and set- tled in Rowley, Mass., in 1649. He buried his first wife, Elizabeth, Sept. 18, 1649. March 2, 1650, he married his second wife, Hannah Grant, daughter of Thomas Grant; Edward Hazen was buried in Rowley July 22, 1683. His fourth child and second son, Thomas; was born in Row- ley Feb. 28, 1657, and died in Norwich, Conn., April 12, 1735. Soon after his father's death he moved to Boxford, and thence to Norwich, where his remaining years were spent; he lived at West Farms, which is now known as Frank- lin. In 1682 he married Mary Howlett, daugh- ter of Thomas Howlett. The next in the line of descent, John Hazen, was born in 1683, and married Mercy Bradstreet, daughter of John and Sarah (Perkins) Bradstreet, and granddaughter of Governor Simon Bradstreet; she died July 25, 1725. John Hazen, Jr., the son of the foregoing, was born Feb. 21, 17II, married March 1, 1734, Deborah Peck of Lyme, Conn .; they reared ten children, five boys and five girls. Nathaniel, the second son, was born March 17, 1745, in Nor- wich, Conn., and died Nov. 3, 1835, in Beaver Co., Pa .; Nov. 27, 1767, he married Mary Pell in Lyme, Conn .; she was born Oct. 24, 1748, and died in 1834. He came to Wyoming Valley, Pa. He was in the Continental Army, and at the time of the massacres in Western Pennsylvania the family with many of the other settlers went for
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
safety to the colony of New Jersey. At the close of the war they came to Fort Pitt, afterwards Pittsburg, and later on went to Washington County. There in 1790, at the time of the Whiskey Insurrection, Nathaniel Hazen, af- ter looking over the land carefully, pur- chased a tract in North Sewickley, Beaver Coun- ty, to which he brought his family, and settled down for good, taking title in 1792 from the State of Pennsylvania. His death took place there in 1835. Nathan Hazen, his son, who is the great-grandfather of our subject, was born in 1786, and died in Slippery Rock township, this county, Feb. 23, 1866; he married Lavina Ken- dall, who died Aug. 26, 1846. Nathan was a stanch Whig. Our subject's grandfather was born March 4, 1800, in Slippery Rock township, Lawrence County, and departed this life Dec. 28, 1841; he married on March 21, 1833, Sarah Warnock, who was born May 30, 1815, and passed away April 25, 1885. They reared five boys. Mr. Hazen was a farmer by occupation.
Our subject's father was born in Shenango township, where he received a district school education. He had begun the study of phar- macy when the war broke out, but gave it up, and attempted to enlist in a Pennsylvania regi- ment, but was refused because of his youth. Somewhat disheartened by this rebuff he re- turned home, but did not give up the idea of joining the Union forces, for soon after he ran away and crossed over to Ohio, where he en- listed in the 2nd Reg. Ohio Vol. Cav. for a term of three years. After eighteen months of service he was discharged because of disability. He came home and pursued a course in the Iron City Business College of Pittsburg, and upon
the completion of the course he secured an ap- pointment as accountant in the War Depart- ment, and was stationed at Louisville, Ky. He remained there until 1866, being the last man discharged from the department at that place. He then went into the drug business in New Castle for himself, and later associated himself in the same business with Mr. Hale, and then with Mr. Wilder; the last few years he ran the business alone, selling out in 1873, and going to St. Louis, Mo., as chief freight clerk for the At- lantic & Pacific R. R .; he was soon promoted to the traveling auditorship of the same road, and held that position at the time of his death. He lost his life in 1877 while saving the life of his friend, Chester L. White, in the terrible fire of the Southern Hotel of St. Louis. His wife, Lydia, daughter of S. Wilder of New Castle, died in 1871, aged twenty-six years, leaving two sons: Henry W., and Wilber H., who lives in Bart- lett, Kansas.
Henry W. Hazen received his education in the schools of New Castle, Pa., and Taunton, Mass. At the age of sixteen years he went to Gardner, Mass., where he served his apprentice- ship at chair-making, and revealed such remark- able aptitude that in two years he was in charge of one department. He then went to Middle- boro, Mass., and worked in a shoe factory two years, after which he returned to New Castle, and later took on a course in the Iron City Business College. In 1890 he entered the First National Bank of New Castle as collecting clerk, and has now arisen to the position of teller.
In 1892 he married Hettie W. Briggs, daugh- ter of Stillman Briggs of New Castle, and they have two children : Helen C., and Louis H. Mr.
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
Hazen and his family favor the Episcopal Church. He is a member of Penn Council, No. 420, of the Royal Arcanum, and is the secretary of the same. He is a member of the S. of V., O. L. Jackson Camp, No. 249, and has filled many of the chairs, and is very enthusiastic in work- ing for the best interests of the organization. Mr. Hazen is also a member of and secretary of Rigel Court, No. 9, Tribe of Ben Hur. In poli- tics he has always been an active Republican.
JAMES Y. PATTON, a prosperous and highly-respected farmer and poultry breeder of Hickory township, was born Nov. 3, 1860, on the farm which is now his residence and home. He is a son of Hugh B. and Elibabeth (Young) Pat- ton, and grandson of William Patton, who was born in the State of Pennsylvania, and was one of the pioneer settlers of the farm that is now the property of his grandson, the subject of this brief biography. The country was then wild and uncultivated hereabouts and he cleared and put into tillable condition about 100 acres of land, and was highly thought of for his energetic qual- ities. He was a very prominent man in both political and religious circles of that day and place; he was a Whig in his political attach- ments, and held the office of supervisor; his re- ligious views were those advanced and advo- cated by the United Presbyterian Church, in which organization he held at various times im- portant offices. His death took place in the 60's. His wife, Jennie Braham, a native of Neshan- nock township (now Hickory), bore him seven
children, who are as follows: Hugh B .; John; Archibald; Samuel; Andrew; Agnes (Daniels); and Margaret (Vandergrift).
Hugh B. Patton secured his education in the schools of Hickory township, and then turned his attention to farming, which vocation he fol- lowed all of his life in Hickory township, be- ing considered, like his father, a very prosperous and able man. He was a stanch Republican in his politics, and efficiently filled the offices of supervisor and school director. He married Elizabeth, daughter of David Young of Union township, and to our subject's parents were given eight children: Amanda J., deceased; David, de- ceased; William, who married Mary Reynolds of Hickory township, and has four children- Anna G., Velma A., Loy, and Alta B .; Riley M., deceased; James Y., the subject of this no- tice; Samuel B .; Anna J., deceased; and Jennie E., deceased. They were members of the United Presbyterian Church. Our subject's father de- parted this life June, 1886, aged sixty-six years. Our subject's mother fell into that last sleep which knows no waking May 7, 1873, when aged forty-four years, after twenty-three years of hap- py wedded life. Our subject has spent his whole life in Hickory township on the old homestead, where his boyhood years were spent, when he was engaged in acquiring those rudiments of an education that lie within the reach of every American youth. When he arrived at a suitable age he took up farming, and up to 1895 was en- gaged very successfully at his chosen vocation.
In 1895 he launched out into the wholesale raising of poultry, and he has met with marked results; he raises for sale some six or seven hun- dred chicks of the Wyandotte breed, and these
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, LAWRENCE COUNTY.
find a ready sale in the New Castle markets. Be- sides this he makes a specialty of filling orders for eggs of various kinds of blooded breeds, and is at all times ready to fill mail orders for any distance. He keeps the very best poultry, and has all the modern improvements for raising a hardy line of chicks.' In politics he stanchly sup- ports to the best of ability the Republican party. In December, 1883, he was joined in wedlock with Myra E. Young, daughter of Joseph Young of East Brook, and to them have been given four children: Jessie, born Feb. 28, 1885; Nor- man Y., Jan. II, 1892; Clie E., now deceased, born Jan. 15, 1895; and Charley B., Sept. 15, 1896. Both Mr. and Mrs. Patton are members in the best of standing in the United Presby- terian Church of Neshannock.
CHARLES S. CLARK, proprietor of the Lo- cust Grove Stock Farm of Hickory township, and a leading capitalist of the same township, was born March 17, 1844, and remained under the parental roof until he had acquired a suffi- cient education in the district schools of his na- tive township to enable him to cope more intel- ligently than would otherwise ltave been the case with the many problems of life. When a young man he went to the oil districts of Pennsylvania, which were then coming into prominence and at- tracting many speculators, and engaged as a common laborer; after a while he was enabled to purchase with his accumulated savings what proved to be a very valuable oil claim, large in extent and wonderfully rich in promise, which
proved to be a veritable mint to Mr. Clark, who rapidly accumulated a fortune. He invested free- ly, with no thought but of a successful future and eventually became one of the largest owners of oil-wells in the vicinity where he was located. For twenty-two years, until 1890, he was en- gaged in the oil business, and finally relinquished his interests for large considerations, and came to what he has made the foremost stock farm in Lawrence County. This property he purchased in 1882, and it comprises 160 acres of valuable land, rich and fertile, adapted in every respect to general farming and to stockraising; since 1890 he has devoted most of his time and attention to the raising of fine, blooded horses for the mar- kets; among the many very valuable animals which he has brought out and developed are the following with records: St. Vincent, 2:13}; Min- netonka, five years old, 2:293; Goshen Maid, eight years, 2:24; Tornado Charm, four years, 2:244; and Perry Vincent, four years, 2:222; all of these are from the Wilkes family. Mr. Clark is one of the directors of the First National Bank, and has been a director in an Oil Trust. He is a Republican in politics, but has never been very actively interested.
In 1876, he was married to Louise Kennedy of Millerstown, Butler Co., Pa., and they have been blessed with one child, Richard. Mr. Clark is regarded as one of the most substantial busi- ness men of Lawrence County, and has the sat- isfaction of knowing that what he has accumulat- ed has been by his own untiring industry and far-sighted judgment. He is a notable example of that type of man so popular to Americans, the self-made man.
His grandfather, George Clark, was born in
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Eastern Pennsylvania, and settled in Mercer ALEXANDER McCONAGHY, a substan- tial and successful farmer of Hickory township, Lawrence Co., Pa., was born in County Derry, Ireland, Sept. 17, 1812, in the Parish of Bal- taugh, and received his education in the parish schools of his native place; after obtaining a common school education, he learned the shoe- maker's trade, which he followed until 1832, when at twenty years of age he came to America, land- ing in New York City, June 6, 1832, having set sail in April of the previous spring. He remained in New York City ten years working at shoe- making, and then in 1842 moved to Pittsburg, County about 1800, in what is now known as Washington township, Lawrence County; he was a farmer by occupation and followed kin- dred pursuits all of his life, and was considered a fairly prosperous man, who was able to live in comfort and to enjoy many of the good things of life. He was a Democrat in his views on pol- itical subjects, but never aspired to hold political office. He married a Miss Jordan, who was born in Washington township, and to him and his wife were born a large family of children, of whom the father of our subject, John Clark, was the third in seniority. They were Presbyterians . Pa., and made that city his home until 1844,
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