USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Book of biographies : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania > Part 28
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1824. Several generations of the Wall-
over family were born in that vicin-
ity. The birth of his father, William H., and of his grandfather, after whom he was named, also occurred in that part of the state. His grandfather, M. P. Wallover, was the son of a well-known sea captain. He was reared and educated in the city of Philadelphia, and at an early age became interested in the manu- facture of paper. In those pioneer days all the work was done by hand, and to do an ex-
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tensive business required considerable cap- ital. He was successful in his operations and established two mills, one on Mill Creek, the other on Wissahickon Creek. He became very wealthy. At that early day, only wealthy people could afford to buy a piano, and he bought one of the finest instruments shipped to this country. The whole family became expert players on this instrument.
He reared a family of six children, namely : Peter; William H .; Harry, who went to Mexico, and there formed a partnership with a Mr. Belifield (both of whom showed their patriotismn by offering their place to the gov- ernment for a garrison); Harriet, who became the wife of a Mr. Duckett, a wealthy paper manufacturer; Margaret (Shee); and Mary Ann.
William H. Wallover, father of the subject of this sketch, obtained his intellectual train- ing in Philadelphia, and, although the ad- vantages were meagre, he received a fair edu- cation. His first business relations were those with his father, whom he assisted in the paper mills. He was interested in that business dur- ing all of his active career. He married Har- riet Mervine, and they reared three children : P. M., the subject of this sketch; Anna, the wife of General Daniel Dare ; and Henry, who died at the age of six years.
William H. Wallover died in 1829, and his widow married a Mr. Stott, a mechanic of no mean ability. He it was who put the ma- · chinery in the United States steamship Prince- ton. He was superintendent of the Phoenix- ville Iron Works for many years, and retained
this position up to the time of his death, which occurred very suddenly.
P. M. Wallover received his education un- der private tutorship. He learned the trade of a machinist, but, although he never followed it, he has found his knowledge of mechanics very useful during his business life. His first work was in a paper mill of his uncle, near Philadelphia, where he labored for eight months; he was then given the management of the establishment. Afterwards he became interested in two mills, working them on shares,-and continued thus until 1854, when he came to Beaver county to manage a mill opened by a relative on Little Beaver Creek. This mill was operated for three years. Mr. Wallover purchased property near Smith's Ferry, and on February 9, 1860, he began to drill for oil. March I, of that year, he struck a five-barrel well. This gave him en- couragement, and he leased more property and struck a well which produced $60,000 worth of oil. He has drilled and operated twenty-eight wells, and all of them were good producers.
In 1863, he started an oil refinery,-it be- ing the first one in this district. He at once began to experiment in the oils, and his efforts were crowned with success. He made the first signal oil used on the Ohio River; ine also made the first brand of wool oil used in the woolen mills, and got several brands of fine machinery oil. In those days the war tax was twelve cents per gallon, and one dol- lar per barrel. The firm name of the refinery was the Wallover Oil Co., but there were three
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parties interested in it. Two of them were railroad men, and when the railroad was put through that section, the railroad partners had to withdraw from the Wallover Oil Co., as it was against the rules of the railroad com- pany for any of its stockholders to hold out- side interests. Consequently Mr. Wallover purchased their shares and continued the busi- ness alone.
Our subject was joined in the bonds of wedlock with Margaret Arthur. She was also born in Philadelphia. They have a family of eight children : Charles A., now engaged in paper manufacturing; William H., who is in the oil business, in Indiana; Robert A., who is with his father ; Joseph D., a contractor for drilling oil wells; Bert S., deceased; Ed- win S., a salesman and teacher of music; Katie, deceased; and Laura (Boyd). Mr. Wallover is a Republican, and has served in minor offices of his town. The family is in accord with the M. E. church, of which he is a liberal supporter.
AMES W. HUM, deceased, an early resident of Beaver, Beaver county, Pa., was for many long years a very pron- inent business man of Western Pennsylvania, conducting a large wholesale and retail light- ning-rod house at No. 19 Market street, Pitts- burg, Pa. He was born in Deerfield town- ship, Columbiana county, Ohio, February 16, 1827, and was a son of David and Mary Ann (Hickox) Hum, and grandson of Jacob Hum.
Jacob Hum, with a brother, early in life
emigrated from their native country, Ger- many, and settled in Ohio, where he worked at his trade, that of a hatter. He established a business at Columbiana, Columbiana county, Ohio, but subsequently engaged in the same line of work at Salem, Ohio. He formed a matrimonial alliance with a lady of Scottish birth, and those of their children who grew to maturity were named as follows: David; John; Jacob; Adam; Margaret; and George. Mr. Hum lived to reach the ad- vanced age of eighty-three years.
David Hum, the father of James W., was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, and at Columbiana followed his father's business for some years. Later in life, however, he be- came a merchant of Lisbon, Ohio, where he died when eighty years old. His first wife's maiden name was Mary Ann Hickox, who died at thirty-six years of age, leaving the following offspring: Angelina (Hatcher) ; James Winnard, who married Margaret Briggs; Richard Winchester, an early settler of Lowellville, Ohio; Columbus C., who re- sides near Toledo, Ohio; Martha (Throne), of East Palestine, Ohio; and Elizabeth, deceased. By his second wife, Rebecca Thorn, Mr. Hum had one son, John. His third wife's given name was Esther, and his fourth union was with Mary Silverthorn.
James W. Hum left home at the age of ten years to live with his uncle, John Hum. He remained with him until he reached the age of fourteen years, when he obtained employ- ment on a steamboat on the Ohio River, as a cabin boy. Later he learned the trade of boat
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carpenter, a vocation for which he was naturally well qualified. Subsequently he es- tablished himself at Bridgewater, and dis- played considerable genius by manufacturing fanning mills, by the means of which grain, then threshed by hand, could be cleaned. His business became very prosperous, and he em- ployed a large number of hands, as his product was extensively used in Western Pennsylvania. The lightning rod business next claimed his attention, and he was one of the founders of the American Lightning Rod Company, of Philadelphia, in 1849. The western section of the United States was his exclusive territory, and he established a whole- sale and retail store at No. 19 Market street, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Under successful management the business expanded, and, in 1882, he took his son, Edward Knox Hum, into partnership with him, and they contin- ued together until 1892, when the subject of this sketch retired from active labors. It was in 1868 that he built the handsome residence in which his widow now lives, and he also owned considerable valuable realty in Bridge- water and Beaver at the time of his death, which occurred March 17, 1895. He was a man of high principles, a loving husband and a fond father, and his friends throughout the state were very numerous.
James W. Ham formed a marital union with Margaret Briggs, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Westcoat) Briggs. Henry Briggs was born in Dighton, Mass., and was a son of Matthew and Cecelia (Reed) Briggs, and a grandson of Matthew Briggs, a blacksmith
by trade, who came to this country from England. Matthew, Jr., was born in Digh- ton, Mass., and was also a blacksmith, follow- ing that vocation all of his active days. By his first wife he had three children, as fol- lows: Matthew; Elizabeth; and Deliverance. By a second marriage, with Cecelia Reed, he had five children, namely: Henry; Nancy ; Mary; Joseph; and Cecelia. Henry Briggs, the father of our subject's wife, learned the trade of a blacksmith, and, in 1836, removed to Western Pennsylvania, locating in South Beaver township, Beaver county. He pur- chased a farm, and, in addition to general farming, was engaged at his trade all of his active life, but lived his last days in retire- ment, dying at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Hum, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. His wife survived him several years, and died at the remarkable age of eighty-nine years. She had made several trips to her native state, Massachusetts, and had returned from one of these trips but two months before her death. Their children were: Henry, who died young ; Mary; Julia; William; Elizabeth; Margaret ; and Spencer.
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Hum were the parents of the following: Henry Thornton, now of Pike county, Ill., who first married Josephine Blake, by whom he had one child, Harry C., and second, married Elizabeth Hughes, by whom he had one child, Carl D .; Edward Knox, whose life is also recorded in this Book of Biographies; Mary Elizabeth, deceased, the wife of Frank Robinson, by whom she had one child, Lois ; James Weston,
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PETER J. HUTH.
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a farmer of Columbiana county, Ohio, who married Matilda Hineman, and had the fol- lowing children,-Edward K., Guy H., Mary A., Martha T., James W., and Wayne A .; Fred Cook, deceased, who married Florence King, by whom he had a son, Forrest, de- ceased; Arthur Westcoat, an electrical engi- neer, of Bridgewater, who married Mary Do- ing, deceased; and Margaret Mott, the wife of Samuel P. Provost, a flour manufacturer and merchant, of Pittsburg. Politically, our sub- ject was a Democrat, and was a public-spirited man. He was also a Mason, and was a char- ter member of St. James Lodge, F. & A. M., at Beaver.
ETER J. HUTH, an enterprising and energetic business man of Rochester, Pa., whom we are pleased to represent with a portrait on the opposite page, is secre- tary and treasurer of the Point Bottle Works, Limited, one of the most flourishing estab- lishments in Western Pennsylvania. He was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1859, and is a son of Charles and Veronica (Becker) Huth.
Charles Huth, the father of our subject, was born in Lomborn, near Hanan, Germany, and was a single man when he came to Amer- ica, locating in the city of Baltimore. After his marriage he removed to Pittsburg, and later to Freedom, Beaver county, Pa., in 1864, and, being a cooper by trade, was employed in that line of work. Upon moving to Rochester, in 1865, he operated a cooper shop, and, in connection with this, he opened a store for raftsmen and boatmen, located on
Water street. He also purchased what had formerly been a river warehouse, rebuilt it into a residence, and lived there the remainder of his days, dying at the age of fifty-eight years. His union with Veronica Becker re- sulted in the following issue: Adam, a grocer on Water street, in Rochester; Peter J., the subject of this biographical record; Lizzie, the wife of John Schies, of Anderson, Ind .; Josephine, the wife of Henry Heuring, a rec- ord of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume; Andrew, a printer, of Cleveland, Ohio; Kate, the wife of Michael Kinney, of Anderson, Ind .; John, a glass blower, of Rochester, Pa .; Caroline; George; a glass blower of Rochester; and Annie, a bookkeeper in the office of the Point Bottle Works. Veronica Becker, mother of Peter J., was born January 22, 1832. She is a daughter of Henry and Barbara Becker, natives of Bruckenau, Bayeru, Germany. She came to this country in 1852, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. She married Charles Huth in 1853, she having previously met him in the Old Country. Since the death of her husbandi, she has resided on Water street, in a com- fortable home, surrounded by many friends and acquaintances.
Peter J. Huth attended the public schools of Rochester until he reached the age of four- teen years, when he began work in the pressed glass department of the Rochester Tumbler Works, continuing there until he entered the cutting department of the Phoenix Glass Company, of Monaca. He served in that ca- pacity for four years, and then in the main
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office, for a like period, as custodian, clerk, and paymaster. In 1887, the Point Bottie Works, Limited, was re-organized, and he became one of the stockholders, as well as secretary and treasurer, in which capacity he is still officiating. This plant was established in 1879, as the Rochester Flint Vial & Bot- tle Works, and was located at the present site on the lower end of Water street, by David McDonald, its president, and C. I. McDonald, vice-president and manager. The estate was subsequently sold at sheriff's sale, and was bought by the following business men: J. M. Buchanan, S. B. Wilson, J. C. Cunning- ham, J. C. Irwin, and P. Mclaughlin, who served as president. In 1887, it was purchased and re-organized with the name of Point Bot- tle Works, Limited, and Henry Heuring was made president. The subject hereof was se- lected as secretary and treasurer, and per- formed his duties with such satisfaction that he was again chosen in 1897, when C. A. Dambacher was made president. The di- rectors are C. A. Dambacher, P. J. Huth, William O'Leary, R. Rodke, John Flint, J. R. Dougherty, and L. Hollander. The main building of the plant is 60x120 feet; on the lower floor are located the mold room, the mixing room, and the engine and boiler rooms. On the second floor are the packing and warehouse rooms. The second building is 64x64 feet, fitted with a twelve-pot fur- nace, eighteen ovens, and four glory holes. They give daily employment to 125 men, and manufacture all kinds of bottles, the yearly output amounting to $90,000.
Peter J. Huth was united in marriage with Grace O'Leary, a daughter of John and An- nie (Ingles) O'Leary, and she died at about the age of thirty years. They had two chil- dren: Charles and Lawrence,-both of whom died in infancy. Mr. IIuth formed a second marital union, with Mary Emery, a daughter of William F. and Mary A. (Con- way) Emery, and they had three children : the first born being a son. who died in infancy ; the next, Alexander, who died at the age of one year ; and Peter Emery. Mr. Huth built a handsome home on Hull street, but resides on Dees Lane. Religiously. the family are devout members of the Catholic church. Mr. Huth is a man of strong personality, and has gained many friends throughout this section of the state.
RANK SMITH READER, journal- ist, New Brighton, Pa., was born in Coal Center, Washington county, Pa., No- vember 17, 1842. His father, Francis Reader, was a native of Warwickshire, England,-his parents removing from there to Washington county, Pa., in 1802. His mother, Ellen Smith Reader, of the same county, was of Scotch-Irish descent. Her paternal grand- father, Rev. John Smith, was a prominent minister of his day, and her maternal grand- father, Lieut. William Wallace, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.
The subject of this sketch worked at farm-
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ing and carpentering, and acquired at the schools of his town, and at Mount Union Col- lege, Ohio, an academic education. He lived among the scenes of the Monongahela Val- ley, Pa., until 1861, when he enlisted as a sol- dier, on April 27, 1861, serving in Company I, 2nd Reg., Va. Inf., in the commands and de- partments of Generals Rosecrans, Reynolds and Milroy, until April, 1862, in Western Vir- ginia; he took part in the campaign of Gen. John C. Fremont in the Shenandoah Valley, and in that of Gen. Pope in Eastern Virginia, in 1862. His regiment returned to Western Virginia in October, 1862. June 1, 1863, the regiment was changed to the Fifth West. Va. Cavalry. He was offered a promotion in his company but declined it, and was assigned to duty at Gen. W. W. Averill's headquarters, July 1, 1863, and afterwards to the headquar- ters of Gen. Franz Sigel and Gen. David Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley, taking part in their campaigns. After the victory under Gen. Hunter, at Piedmont, Va., June 5, 1864, he was one of the first Federal soldiers to enter Staunton, Va., and there had charge of paroling five hundred wounded Confederates. He was captured on this expedition, June 20, 1864, and after being thirty days a prisoner, made his escape from a train, with three com- rades, twenty miles south of Bunkersville Junction, Va., while on the way to Anderson- ville prison. Having undergone eleven days and nights of great suffering, hardships and hunger, hiding in the woods by day and trav- eling by night, he reached Gen. Grant's head- quarters at Petersburg, Va., June 30, 1864,
having passed through the right wing of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army. His term of service having expired July 10, 1864, and being so broken in health that further duty was impossible, he was discharged in August of that year. He taught school the following winter, and in July, 1865, accepted a· position in the U. S. Civil Service, in which he served at different periods for over ten years; he was chief deputy collector of inter- nal revenue nearly eight years, and acting col- lector for some months.
On December 24, 1867, Mr. Reader was united in marriage with Miss Merran F. Dar -. ling, of New Brighton. Her father, Joseph Darling, was a native of Vermont, his pater- nal grandfather serving in the Revolutionary War, and her mother, Rebecca Cobb Darling, was a native of Chautauqua county, New York. Two sons were born to the couple, Frank Eugene Reader, attorney-at-law, and Willard Stanton Reader, journalist. Mr. Reader became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church December 15, 1865, and entered the North Missouri Conference of the church, in 1868, as preacher in charge of a circuit of nine appointments, but owing to the failure of his voice, he was compelled to retire after one year's service. He has held an official relation in the church ever since, and has been Sunday school superintendent for over twenty-two years. Mrs. Reader is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Reader is the author of a life of Moody and Sankey, the noted evangelists,-and also of the history of the Fifth West Va. Cavalry, be-
1 1
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sides historical sketches of the Harmony Soci- ety, Economy, Beaver county, Pa., of New Brighton, Pa., and the Beaver Valley, in which his paper is published. On May 22, 1874, he and Major David Critchlow estab- lished the "Beaver Valley News," at New Brighton; on January 1, 1877, he bought the major's interest in the paper, and on Febru- ary 4, 1883, he began the publication of the first daily paper in the county,-"The Daily News." He was secretary of the Republican county committee for several years; while in that office he prepared and presented in the state legislature the first law enacted in Penn- sylvania for the government of primary elec- tions; he was alternate to the Chicago con- vention which nominated James G. Blaine for president in 1884; he was suggested as a can- didate for congress and for the state senate, but declined to be a candidate; he served in the council and school board of his borough, and held other positions of trust, but never solicited any public position.
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Frank Eugene Reader, attorney-at-law, New Brighton, Pa., son of Frank S. and Mer- ran D. Reader, was born at Greencastle, Mo., December 15, 1868. He attended school at New Brighton, Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Pa., and entered Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., in the fall of 1885, from which he was graduated in 1888, second in a large class, with the degree of B. A. He studied law with Brown & Lambie, a promi- nent law firm, of Pittsburg, Pa., and was ad- mitted, on examination, to the bar of Allegheny county, Pa., in 1891, and
later was examined and admitted to the bar of Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania. He became a partner of the law firm of Moore Bros., Beaver, Pa., in 1892, the new firm being Moore, Moore & Reader. In April, 1892, he was elected solicitor of the Beaver County Building & Loan Association, New Brighton. In 1896, he retired from the law firm and opened an office of his own in New Brighton. He was elected secretary of the council of New Brighton in March, 1899. On June 3, 1896, he was united in marriage with Miss Jennie B. Nesbit, a daughter of Rev. Samuel H. Nesbit, D. D., one of the most prominent, able and influen- tial members of the Pittsburg Conference of the M. E. church; he was, for twelve years, editor of the Pittsburg "Christian Advocate"; presiding elder, and pastor of some of the best charges in the conference. A daughter,- Dorothy Nesbit,-was born to Mr. and Mrs. Reader, the date of her birth being May 8, 1897. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Willard Stanton Reader, journalist, was born at New Brighton, Pa., September 28, 1871; he attended the public schools of his native town, and was a pupil in Geneva Col- lege, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He en- tered the office of the Beaver Valley News as an apprentice, and in 1889 was appointed the New Brighton reporter of the paper. Septem- ber 28, 1892, on his twenty-first birthday, he was admitted to partnership in the business, and has since held the position of city editor. In addition to the duties of this position, he
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has written for leading papers in Pittsburg and other cities; has served on the Republican county committee, and is now secretary of the board of health of his native town. He united with the Methodist church, in January, 1885.
Mr. Reader was united in marriage with Miss Lily Robinson, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Robinson, March 1, 1897. Mr. Robinson was a soldier in the Civil War, serving his country with fidelity and courage. Both Mr. and Mrs. Reader are members of the Methodist Protestant church. They have one child, a son, Willard Donald Reader, born December 20, 1897.
ILLIAM A. PARK is treasurer of the well known firm, the Park Fire Clay Company, and is a respected citizen of Rochester, Pa., where the main of- fice of the company is located. He is a man of extraordinary business capacity, and ener- getic and honest in the methods which he pursues. He is a native of New Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pa., where he at- tended the public schools and assisted his father in the lumber business. He continued to do so until he entered the general merchan- dizing business with his brother, John H., at Park Quarries. He afterward became identi- fied with the Park Fire Clay Company as treasurer, and has since served in that con- nection. The other officers are: J. I. Park, president ; J. H. Park, superintendent. The capacity of the works is 250,000 bricks per
day, and three hundred and fifty men are em- ployed. They have filled paving contracts in Pennsylvania and adjoining states, and have an established reputation, shipping their product to all points in the United States and Canada. In 1884, he, with his brother, John H. Park, built a line connecting their establishment with the main line of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, at Conway, but this they have since disposed of to the Ohio River Junction Railroad Company of which Mr. Park is treasurer. Mr. Park has been located in Rochester for many years, and has conscientiously endeavored to further the in- terests of the town. He is widely known throughout the district, and has many friends.
William A. Park is of Irish ancestry, being the great-grandson of William Park, who was born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, where he received an education. He was a man of good character and of high standing in that country, as is shown by papers which are now in the possession of the subject of this sketch. These papers are evidence of the fact that he became a member of Lodge No. 479, F. & A. M., at Tullaghoge, County Tyrone, Ireland, December 3, 1783. In 1791, on April 26, he was given a demit from that lodge, together with one from the Knights Templar, of which he was also a member,- accompanied by testimonials as to his char- acter. He landed in Philadelphia, Pa., in May, 1791, where he remained for about four years, in the meantime learning the trade of stone mason, and then located in Wilkins-
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burg, Allegheny county, Pa., where he insti- tuted what was, for many years, the only Masonic lodge in that section of the state. He followed his former vocation there and many houses now remain standing in that vil- lage as the result `of his work. He lived to reach the advanced age of eighty-eight years, and was buried in the Beulah burial grounds. He married Mary McGahey, who died at the age of ninety-four years, and they had the fol- lowing issue: John, who married Margaret Duff; David, whose wife was Ann Hamilton; Jane; William, who married Nancy Johnson ; Robert, who married Elizabeth Loney; and Thomas from whom our subject's wife is descended.
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