Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 118

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526

USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > Butler > Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th > Part 118

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Col. Alexander Lowry, whose name heads this sketch, lived in his native county until he grew to manhood, and attended the primitive schools of that period. At the age of eighteen years he became ap- prenticed to the trade of a cabinetmaker, serving three years, after which he worked as journeyman until 1837. In 1839 he em- barked in the hotel business at Yellow Springs, Blair County, continuing there until 1842, when he removed to Water Street, on the line of the Pennsylvania Canal. He conducted a hotel at that point until 1846, then was proprietor of the American House at Holidaysburg about four years. In September, 1850, he re- moved to Butler and purchased the Beatty House, situated on the site of the present

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Troutman Block, which thereafter was known as the Lowry House as long as the building was used for hotel purposes. Colonel Lowry sold there in 1866 and pur- chased the present Lowry House, which he conducted with success until 1873, which year marked his retirement from the hotel business. He had disposed of this prop- erty in 1873, at the commencement of the oil excitement, but again purchased it in 1879. After abandoning the hotel busi- ness he resided in a comfortable home on West Pearl Street, the remainder of his life. He lived a long and useful life and during his residence of nearly half a century in Butler aided materially in the development of the city and its resources.

Colonel Lowry was united in marriage, in 1841, with Miss Margaret Spear, of Williamsburg, Blair County, Pennsylva- nia, who died at Butler, December 11, 1886. They became parents of the following chil- dren : Belle W .; W. A., who is serving as prothonotary of Butler County; Charles S .; John F .; Porter W., who has attained prominence as a lawyer of Butler; George W .; Thomas L., and J. L.

HENRY EDWIN DRUSHEL, one of Forward Township's excellent farmers and leading public men, resides on his val- uable property which contains ninety-six acres, on which he carries on general agri- culture. He was born on his grandfather's farm, in Beaver County, Penna., Decem- ber 24, 1868, and is a son of Rhinehart and Caroline (Mickley) Drushel.

Rhinehart Drushel was born in Germany and was six years old when his parents came to America. His father, Henry Drushel, settled on a farm in Beaver Coun- ty, where he spent the remainder of his life. The names of some of Henry Drush- el's children were: Margaret, who mar- ried Henry Shelly; Elizabeth, who mar- ried Fred Knepp; Jacob and Rhinehart. Rhinehart Drushel remained on the home farm and when he had married he still

continued to live there for a short time, afterwards coming to Butler County and purchasing the farm now owned by his son, Henry Edwin, it then being the property of Jacob Wooster. Very little clearing had been done and scarcely any improv- ing. All through his active life he devoted himself to making this farm a valuable and comfortable home and died here in 1888, aged fifty-two years. He married Caro- line Mickley, daughter of Michael Mickley, and her parents came to America from Germany. She died in 1905, when aged about sixty years. They had three chil- dren: Henry Edwin; Amelia, who died when eleven years of age, and Mary, who married William Freshcorn.

Henry E. Drushel was three months old when his parents came to his present farm and this has been his home ever since. As he grew up he attended the country schools and he also assisted his father in clearing and later in cultivating the land. This farm was once a part of the old Chew es- tate and a portion of the old stone house in which the Chews lived is still standing. Mr. Drushel continues to make improve- ments and he carries on a general farming line, introducing modern methods into his work and making use of improved ma- chinery.

Mr. Drushel married Miss Matilda Ra- der, who is a daughter of Oswald Rader, and they have seven children, namely : Charles, Philip, Clarence, Benjamin, Roy, George and Margaret. With his family, Mr. Drushel belongs to the Reformed Church, in which he is a deacon. In poli- tics he is a Democrat. He has taken a hearty interest in public affairs in his township and has served in numerous offi- ces, including those of auditor and tax col- lector.

LEWIS M. ROTH, D. D. S., who has been engaged in the practice of dentistry at Prospect for the past twenty-five years, was born April 13, 1858, at Prospect, But-

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ler County, Penna., and is a son of Lewis and Lydia (Beighley) Roth.

David Roth, the grandfather, was a na- tive of Bethlehem, Penna., and he served in the War of 1812, with the rank of col- onel. He was a locksmith by trade and added the manufacture of coffee mills by hand to his other enterprises. He became a very popular citizen of his section, so much so that his fellow citizens elected him to the Legislature. He had no taste for politics, and the record tells that it was in order to escape the kind intentions of his friends that he left his old neighborhood and moved into. what was then the wilder- ness, in Butler County, settling in Frank- lin Township.

Lewis Roth was born at Bethlehem, Northampton County, Penna., accom- panied his parents to Butler County and died here when aged seventy-six years. In early manhood he worked as a black- smith, later was in partnership with James Anderson, in conducting a general store at Prospect, later farmed for a time and subsequently resumed mercantile life. In politics he was a Democrat and on one oc- casion, when he was his party's nominee for the office of county treasurer, he lacked but 100 votes of election, although the county was strongly Republican. He gave his children excellent educational advan- tages and took a deep interest in their wel- fare. He was one of Prospect's repre- sentative citizens, held all of the borough offices and sustained the most cordial re- lations with those who knew him in either business or social life, his manner being kindly and his nature tolerant. All of his sons have become prominent in profes- sional life, there being five of them, three of whom are clergymen. Rev. H. Warren Roth, D. D., is at present manager of the Passavant Hospitals at Pittsburg, Chicago and Milwaukee. Rev. David Luther Roth, D. D., is pastor of a Lutheran Church at Pittsburg. Rev. Theophilus B. Roth is edi- tor of the Young Lutheran, published at

Greenville. John M. is a practicing attor- ney in Michigan, having been admitted to the bar at Butler. The youngest member of the family is Dr. Lewis M., of Prospect.

Lewis M. Roth went from the public schools of Prospect to Thiel College, at Greenville, Penna., and became interested in dentistry, studying this science first with Dr. B. F. Lepley, at Prospect. He studied in the dental department of the University of Michigan, later the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleveland and still later the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati. He engaged in the practice of dentistry first in Kansas and then re- turned to Prospect, where he has been a continuous resident ever since and has been one of the city's most useful and pub- lic-spirited men.

In political sentiment, Dr. Roth has al- ways been a Democrat. At various times he has filled almost every borough office and is serving his third consecutive term as a member of the School Board. He is also a member of the borough council and was one of the leaders in the movement which resulted in the paving of the streets. His party chose him as their standard bearer, in 1904, for the office of county treasurer, but Republican influence was too strong to be overcome.

Dr. Roth was married to Miss Annie Criswell, who is a daughter of James Cris- well, a well known resident of Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, Penna., and four children have been born to them, namely: May, Lois, George and Mar- garet. Dr. and Mrs. Roth are members of the Emanuel Lutheran Church at Pros- pect, in which he, like his father before him, has served as a deacon for many years.

JOHN H. WILSON, a leading member of the Butler bar and city solicitor, was born in 1868, at Nashville, Tennessee, but he has been a resident of Butler County, since childhood.

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Mr. Wilson was reared at Harmony, Butler County, and he obtained his early education in the public schools, subse- quently entering Grove City College, where he was graduated in the class of 1891. For several years he engaged in teaching school, and studying law in the office of Attorney Levingstone McQuistion, at But- ler, and he was admitted to the bar in 1893. He entered into a law partnership with Mr. Vanderlin, the firm name being Vanderlin & Wilson, which continued for two years, when it was dissolved and since then Mr. Wilson has been alone. In March, 1907, he was elected city solicitor and has been an efficient and useful pub- lic officer. He takes a good citizen's inter- est in politics and is in perfect accord with the principles of the party to which he has given allegiance since he reached man- hood.

In 1899 Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Catherine E. Levis, of Rochester, Penn- sylvania, and they have one child, John L. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are members of the First Presbyterian Church. Fraternally, Mr. Wilson is identified with the Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Royal Arcanum.

JOHN SHEPPARD CAMPBELL, one of Cherry Township's most prominent cit- izens, formerly a county commissioner of Butler County, and now serving in his twenty-first consecutive year as justice of the peace, is also an honored veteran of the Civil War. He resides on his valuable farm of 100 acres, which is situated three miles north of West Sunbury. Mr. Camp- bell was born on a farm in Washington Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1838, and is a son of Robert and Jane (Sheppard) Campbell.

Robert Campbell, father of John S., was also born in Washington Township and was a son of John Campbell, who came to Western Pennsylvania from east of the Allegheny Mountains, and was a very early settler in Butler County. Robert Camp-

bell was a plasterer by trade and a small farmer. He died when his son, John S., was fifteen years old. He married Jane Sheppard, who was born in Parker Town- ship, Butler County, and who died when John S. was ten years of age. He was sec- ond in order of birth of the family of six children, the others being: Lurena; Amanthus, who is the wife of James C. Glenn, of Clay Township, Butler County; Milton, who lost his leg at the battle of Gettysburg and subsequently died in the hospital; Oliver Perry, who is postmaster at West Sunbury ; and Elizabeth Jane, who died in infancy.

When a little boy of but ten years, John S. Campbell found himself an orphan. He was not destitute of kindred, but most of the uncles and aunts had families of their own and no care and kindness given him in his tender years could replace that of his own parents. For a couple of years he lived with his uncle, Zerab Sheppard, who was a farmer and shoemaker in Par- ker Township, and then was turned over to other relatives among whom he lived, working for his keep, until he was old enough to go out as a farm hand and make wages for himself. The opening of the Civil War settled his immediate future, for in June, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Eleventh Regiment, Penn- sylvania Reserves, for three years, and served in that regiment continuously through the whole term, lacking fifteen days, when, at the battle of the Wilderness, he was captured. He was taken to Ander- sonville Prison, where he was detained from May until December 16, 1864, when he was exchanged at Charleston, South Carolina. From there he came on to An- napolis, Maryland, where he was pros- trated with typhoid fever. He was given a furlough home on this account and came to Butler, where he remained totally un- able to rejoin his regiment until the follow- ing April. He went then to Annapolis and from there was sent to Pittsburg,

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where he was honorably discharged, with the rank of corporal.

The Andersonville prison was not the only Southern fortress with which Mr. Campbell became acquainted during those years of suffering and hardship. At the battle of Gaines Mills he was first cap- tured and was incarcerated in Libby prison and was taken from there to the notorious Belle Isle prison at Richmond, Virginia, but after forty days was ex- changed. On December 13, 1862, he was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg and this caused him to be kept at a hospital in Washington City for six months. Mr. Campbell has a record of which any vet- eran might be proud, proving that he was never absent from the post of duty during his long service, except when in a hospital or when in the enemy's hands. He is a valued member of the Grand Army Post at West Sunbury.

Upon retiring from the army, Mr. Campbell returned to Butler County and on April 25, 1865, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah McElvain, who was born and reared on the present home farm in Cherry Township. Her parents were George and Mary Ann (McGill) McElvain, the former of whom died in 1854, and the latter in 1870. George McElvain was a large farmer and owned 200 acres of land. He was the father of nine children, only three of whom reached maturity, namely : Nancy Jane (Mrs. Jamison) of Petrolia; Annis (Mrs. Russell) ; and Sarah, who is the wife of Mr. Campbell.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were nine in number and all sur- vive except the eldest, Leonora. She mar- ried Homer Love, since deceased, and they had two children, a son, who died, and a daughter, Fern, who survives. The other members of the family are: George M., who is in the ice cream business at Alle- gheny, married Melissa Kelley, since de- ceased, and they had three children : Hazel, Dwight L. and Genevieve; William M.,

who is connected with an ice cream com- pany in Chicago, married Jennie Young and they have two children: Ralph and Dorothy; Della, who married B. M. Hock- enberry, has three children: Benj., Mar- garet May and Alice Lenora; Audley Bruce, unmarried, who is associated with his brother in business at Allegheny; John, who assists his father on the home farm; Mabel, who is a trained nurse in the Markeltown Sanitarium; Homer, who is in business at Allegheny; and Edith, who is the wife of William J. Hockenberry, of West Sunbury.

Mr. Campbell and family are members of the Presbyterian Church at West Sun- bury, of which he is one of the elders. For many years he has been a factor in county politics, voting always with the Republican party. Since serving as county commis- sioner, he has more or less restricted his activities to township affairs. He has a long and enviable record as a justice of the peace, serving now in his fifth con- secutive term.

IRA S. ZEIGLER, president of the First National Bank of Zelienople, and a prominent oil operator in Butler County, was born July 4, 1866, in Jackson Town- ship, Butler County, Pennsylvania. His parents are David M. and Elizabeth (Stauffer) Zeigler.

The parents of Mr. Zeigler were both born in Jackson Township, coming of pio- neer ancestry. The paternal grandfather was David Zeigler and he was a son of Abraham Zeigler, who came to Butler County from Bucks County, Pennsyl- vania, at a very early day. He purchased a large tract of land which embraced the territory held by the colony known as Economites. David Zeigler spent his life in Jackson Township, where he engaged in farming and stock raising. The mater- nal grandfather was Henry Stauffer, who purchased his land, when he came to But- ler County, of Abraham Zeigler and they

IRA S. ZEIGLER

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continued to be neighbors during the rest of their lives. Four children of David Zeigler are living, namely : Henry M., who resides at Zelienople; G. M., who is a suc- cessful farmer living on the old homestead in Jackson Township; David M., and Mrs. Elizabeth Shriver.

For many years David M. Zeigler, father of Ira S., has engaged in farming near Harmony, Butler County, on the Prospect and Harmony road. He married Elizabeth Stauffer and they had the fol- lowing children born to them: Frederick S., Homer E., residing at Mars in Butler County; Miles P., deceased; Rose, wife of Dr. Beatty, of Butler; Ira S .; and Dot, deceased, who was the wife of F. E. Long- well.

Ira S. Zeigler was reared on the home farm and was afforded an academic edu- cation. At the age of nineteen years he entered the office of the P. & W. Railroad, at Harmony, where he learned telegraph- ing and subsequently served as an oper- ator at different points. In August, 1888, he was appointed agent at Bakerstown and three months later was promoted to the agency at Girard, Ohio, which position he resigned in the fall of 1891 in order to give his entire time to the wholesale coal business, in which he had previously en- gaged. In the fall of 1891, in the year following his marriage, he came to Zelien- ople and continued in the coal jobbing bus- iness until the amalgamation of coal -in- terests, in the summer of 1893, having been a heavy dealer and at one time he had controlled the whole output of slack in the Beaver Valley.

Mr. Zeigler gained his first banking ex- perience in the bank of Gelbach Brothers, which firm he served as bookkeeper. Later he was employed by the Patterson-Lock- wood Oil Company and the Patterson Nat- ural Gas Company and was bookkeeper for both concerns. On August 21, 1896, Mr. Zeigler purchased the Connoquenes-

sing Valley News, from the firm of Young & Stoughton, and his energy was soon shown by the extension of its patronage. In June, 1898, he purchased the Globe, a weekly newspaper published at Evans City, and subsequently he consolidated it with the News, and he continued in edi- torial and newspaper work until Decem- ber 28, 1901, when he disposed of his in- terests in order to give more attention to other business affairs, which had grown to considerable magnitude. During the oil excitement at Scio, Ohio, in 1898, Mr. Zeig- ler was attracted to that place with other men of business forethought, and he was successful in securing leases which later proved very profitable. At present his op- erations in oil are in many fields, includ- ing Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. In the last named state he operates under the name of the Ira S. Zeigler Com- pany, an incorporated concern, but in the other fields he works independently. In January, 1907, Mr. Zeigler was elected president of the First National Bank at Zelienople and his business career has been of such a nature that his mere name would add strength and confidence to any institution. In large measure, Mr. Zeigler has been the director of his own fortune, in his youth laying a foundation of busi- ness integrity on which he has success- fully built.

In 1890 Mr. Zeigler was married to Miss Clara Pennell, who is a daughter of Syl- venus Pennell, of Girard, Ohio, and they have four children: Blanche E., Florence Hester, David P. and Lucile. With his family, Mr. Zeigler belongs to the Pres- byterian Church. In his political views, Mr. Zeigler is a Republican. He served eight years as a notary public and three terms as a member of the Zelienople town council. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of Butler Chapter No. 273, and past master of Harmony Lodge, No. 429, F. & A. M.

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JOHN H. SUTTON, who is extensively engaged in handling real estate in Butler County and for years has been promi- nently identified with the production of oil, is also a surviving officer of the great Civil War. Mr. Sutton was born Novem- ber 11, 1838, in Clay Township, Butler County, Penna., and is a son of Jeremiah and a grandson of Platt Sutton.

The family of Sutton was founded in Butler County by the grandfather, prior to 1800. Jeremiah Sutton was born in Concord Township, Butler County, in 1808, and died in 1852. He combined shoe- making with farming.

Until he was thirteen years of age, John H. Sutton remained on the home farm and then went to North Washington, where he worked in a store conducted by Harper Brothers, until he was nineteen, when he went West and spent three years in Iowa and Colorado. After he returned to But- ler County he enlisted for service in the Civil War, in 1861 entering Company C, Eleventh Regiment, Penna. Reserves. He participated in all of the engagements in which his command took part, and at Fred- ericksburg, December 13, 1862, he was wounded and was taken prisoner. He was held at Libby Prison for two months and was then transferred to Annapolis, Mary- land. For six months he suffered in a hos- pital there and then secured a parole and was discharged, but was too exhausted by wound and disease to be able to take ad- vantage of his release before September, 1863. For fourteen months after his re- turn to the quiet and care of home, he was obliged to use a crutch, and even yet the old wound gives him trouble and contin- ually reminds him of those days in battle and subsequent suffering. As second lieu- tenant of his company he performed every duty of a soldier with courage, fidelity and cheerfulness.

After he had sufficiently recovered from the effects of his wound and imprisonment, Mr. Sutton entered into partnership with

his old employers, Harper Brothers, in a mercantile business at North Washington, and was associated with them for three years, after which he retired to a farm in Washington Township for several years. In 1872 he was elected clerk of the courts of Butler County and then removed to Butler, which has been his home ever since. He served in that office for three years and then became interested in oil production, an industry with which he has ever since been connected. He helped to drill the first producing oil well in Butler County, and in the enterprise he was associated with Capt. W. H. Timblin, Alfred Wick and others, and the development came on the farm of James Millford, in Allegheny Township. Since that time he has drilled more than 100 wells in Butler County. He is largely interested in both city and county real estate and is an expert on the values of different sections.

On March 1, 1864, Mr. Sutton was mar- ried to Miss Maria M. Mechling, who died May 30, 1907. She was a daughter of Jo- seph and Nancy Mechling, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton had seven children born to them: Emma L., who is the widow of H. W. Christie; Frank M., who is traffic man- ager for the Westinghouse people, and lives at Wilkinsburg; Agnes E., who is the wife of W. E. McClung, resides on Fulton Street, Butler; Maud H., who resides with her parents; W. D., residing at Hoboken, Pennsylvania, is an employe of the Penn- sylvania Railroad; Angie A., who resides at home; and J. C., who is a practicing physician at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. For fifty years Mr. Sutton has been a member of the official board of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. He is a Repub- lican in politics.

REV. JACOB WILHELM, for many years a very highly esteemed resident of Jefferson Township, where he owned a valuable farm of fifty-three acres, was a minister of the Lutheran Church and was

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held in such high regard that he was sent as a missionary to Africa. He survived the dangers that attend those who leave a civilized land in order to minister to al- most savage people, and after his return to America he came to Butler County and in 1868 settled on the farm on the Glade Mill road, two miles from Saxonburg, on which his son resides.

Jacob Wilhelm was married to Frede- rica Maier and to them were born the fol- lowing children: Gotlieb T., Frederick P., John P., Emanuel J., Clara C. M., Martha L. D., Amelia E. L., Emma M. T. and Han- nah J. F. Two members of the above fam- ily are deceased.

Gotlieb T. Wilhelm was born in 1870, at Evans City, Butler County, Pennsylvania, and he obtained his education in his native county. He engaged in farming even in his school days and still carries it on in conjunction with his other industries. He does a large amount of teaming and is an oil operator and contractor and at the present time of writing (1908) he has two fine producing oil wells on his farm and owns an interest in five gas wells which are situated in the immediate vicinity. He is one of the most enterprising young busi- . ness men of this section, in which he is well and favorably known. He has taken con- siderable interest in politics and served two terms as constable of Jefferson Town- ship. He is a member of the Lutheran Church.

JOHN J. SHERIDAN, member and general manager of the well known busi- ness firm, The John J. Sheridan Com- pany, machinists and blacksmiths and dealers in second-hand oil well supplies, at Mars, Pennsylvania, was born Novem- ber 1, 1866, at Reading, Berks County, Penna.

James Sheridan, father of John J., was born in Ireland and was brought to Amer- ica in childhood, his parents settling at Reading, Penna., and in that great indus-

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 118

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1526

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526