Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 140

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 140

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ville. Ile is a Republican in politics, as were the earlier members of the family after the organization of that party. In religious attachment he is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

J. C. BOVARD & SONS, well known dealers in lumber, hardware, paints, and other building supplies, conduct a success- ful and constantly growing business at Forestville, on the B. & L. E. Railway at Harrisville Station. Mr. Bovard is not only prominently identified with the indus- trial interests of Forestville, but is a rep- resentative of one of the pioneer families of Butler County. He was born May 12, 1844, on his father's farm in Slippery Rock Township, Butler County, Penna., and is a son of Johnston and Lydia (Adams) Bovard.

The grandfather of J. C. Bovard, James Bovard, was a native of Ireland, and when a young man emigrated to this country, first locating on Bear Creek. He later set- tled in Cherry Township, Butler County, and died there in 1849, when about seventy- five years of age. In politics, he gave his support to the Democratic party, and was elected an associate judge in Butler Coun- ty. He was the father of the following children : John, William, Hutchison, James, Johnston, Charles, Washington, Fanny, and Mrs. Thomas Floyd.

Johnston Bovard was born on the old home place in Cherry Township, in 1810, was reared to manhood under the parental roof, and obtained his education in the dis- trict schools. He always followed farming and purchased a farm in Slippery Rock Township, where he died in 1874. During his life he served two terms as Justice of the Peace and filled various other township offices. He married Lydia Adams, who was born and reared in Butler County and died in 1905, at the advanced age of ninety- one years and eleven months. They reared a family of six children: Jonathan; Jane, wife of Andrew Drenan; George W., de-

ceased, who served as a soldier in the Civil War; James Chambers; William H .; and Eli David.

J. Chambers Bovard passed his boyhood days on the home farm and received what education he could from the country schools. In 1862, in response to the Presi- dent's call for troops, he enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Regiment Penna. Volun- teer Infantry, under Captain Henry Pil- low. He served nine months in the army and took part in the battles of South Mountain, Chancellorsville and Antietam and also several skirmishes, after which he returned to Butler County and spent sev- eral years in the oil district. In 1866 he began working at carpentering and for a period of twenty-six years was engaged in contracting and building in various parts of the county. In 1893, he became a sales- man for L. Hammond & A. Gaston, lumber dealers at Wick, Pennsylvania, and re- mained with this concern for eight years, when he purchased Mr. Gaston's interest and removed the stock to Forestville, where he established his present business under the firm name of J. C. Bovard & Sons. Mr. Bovard started in a small way and as business increased, added to his stock, now carrying an extensive line of lumber, doors, windows, glass, hardware, paints and other building supplies, and his is recognized as one of the leading busi- ness enterprises of Forestville. Mr. Bov- ard also owns a valuable farm of seventy acres in Mercer Township, this being op- erated by his son Samuel.

In the summer of 1908, Mr. Bovard erected a commodious frame residence in Forestville and moved to it November 24, 1908.

On February 10, 1870, Mr. Bovard was joined in marriage with Sarah R. Shields, a daughter of James and Fanny Shields, and a granddaughter of James Shields, who was one of the early settlers of But- ler County. Mr. and Mrs. Bovard became

MR. AND MRS. J. C. BOVARD

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parents of the following offspring: Mary Della, who died September, 1898, was the wife of Harry Adams; Samuel H., who re- sides on the farm, married Blanche Ger- lach and has six children, Kenneth, Aileene, Hilda, Raymond, Donald and Paul; Ernest E., who is in partnership with his father, married Clara Krah; and Her- bert N., who is also a member of the firm of J. C. Bovard & Sons, lives in the old home on the farm.

In politics, Mr. Bovard gives his support to the Prohibition party. He is a member of and an elder in the United Presbyterian Church.

D. HARPER SUTTON, president and manager of the Butler Land and Improve- ment Company, is not only a representa- tive of one of the pioneer families of But- ler County, but also of one of the oldest in New England. He has been a resident of the city of Butler since 1892, but was born in Penn Township, Butler County, Penna., in 1852, and is a son of John R. Sutton.

The common ancestor of the Sutton family, members of which live in almost every part of the Union, was William Sut- ton, who lived at Eastham, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in 1666, the original settler being of the previous generation. Genea- logical records show that he married De- maris Bishop, in 1666, and in 1672 they emigrated to New Jersey, where they as- sisted in founding the Quaker faith. They had ten children and over thirty of their great-grandsons served in New Jersey regiments in the Revolutionary War. After the close of that war, a great-grand- son Jeremiah Sutton, a son of Zebulon Sutton and Mary Doty Sutton, the latter being a descendant of Edward Sutton, the Mayflower Pilgrim, emigrated to Western Pennsylvania and settled in what is now Concord Township, Butler County. He had served in the Revolutionary War. His three sons were named Platt, Joseph and Jeremiah.

Peter Sutton, a brother of Jeremiah Sutton, Sr., also a Revolutionary veteran, emigrated a few years later and located in Indiana County, Penna., and had many descendants. About 1769, Isaac Sutton emigrated to Fayette County, Penna., and was the first regular pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church at Uniontown, which was one of the first permanent Protestant churches west of the Allegheny Mountains. In this family there were five brothers: Isaac, David, John, James and Moses, all of whom were Baptist preachers and mis- sionaries. The Suttons of Washington County, Penna., are descendants of James Sutton, who located in Amwell Township in 1774 and was pastor of the Ten-Mile Baptist Church, which was the first church in Washington County. ·

D. Harper Sutton spent his early life on his father's farm and from there went to Pittsburg and went to work for the Citi- zens' Traction Company, with which he remained until 1877. He then returned to the old home in Penn Township and was there engaged in a mercantile enterprise for fourteen years and after closing out de- cided to take a rest, for this purpose re- tiring to Butler. He was of too active and energetic a nature, however, to remain un- occupied and shortly after locating in the city embarked in an ice business and car- ried it on for two years. In the meanwhile he had become prominent in county poli- tics and was elected county commissioner and served in this office from 1897 until 1900, and during this period had the pleas- ure of seeing adequate provision made for the county poor, this charity having been one of great interest to him for at least twenty years previously. At various times he has been elected to other offices and to all of these he has given the atten- tion which their importance demanded. For three years he was a member of the School Board, being its chairman for one year, and has served on the city council. being a member during many important

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

sessions, and was chairman of the board when the new High School building was in course of erection.

In 1900, after he retired from the office of county commissioner, Mr. Sutton en- tered into the real estate business, subse- quently organizing the Butler Land and Improvement Company, of which he is president and manager. He bought 630 acres of land and platted and laid out the town of East Butler, which has now a pop- ulation of some 500. He has promoted the industrial interests of this section and through his efforts the Valvoline Refining Company and the Pittsburg Hixan Com- pany established plants there. Mr. Sut- ton is one of the directors and vice-presi- dent of the Leedom-Worral Wholesale Grocery Company.

In 1875 Mr. Sutton was married to Miss Lizzie E. Elder, of Pittsburg, Penna. He is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church. In his fraternal activities he is an Odd Fellow.

ROBERT W. KYLE, a prosperous farmer of Butler County, Penna., is a resi- dent of Middlesex Township, where he has a finely improved farm of eighty acres. He was born in Port Glenone, County An- trim, Ireland, October 3, 1842, and is a son of John and Nancy (Glasgow) Kyle.

John Kyle was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1809, and there engaged in farming. Some years after his marriage, during the year 1846, he emigrated to America, first locating in Toronto, Can- ada. He subsequently moved to Mercer County, Penna., and became the owner of a farm in Springfield Township, on which he lived the remainder of his days, dying in 1857. His wife, Nancy Glasgow in maid- en life, was born in a parish adjoining that of his nativity, and was a daughter of Adam Glasgow. Six children were born to their union, as follows: Robert W .; Jane, who died in Ireland; Adam, who also died in Ireland; Adam G., who was born

in Toronto, Canada, where the family lived some four years, and is now residing on the old homestead in Mercer County, Penna .; Margaret Jane, who grew to ma- turity but is now deceased; and James A., of Leesburg, Pennsylvania. Religiously, they were members of the Seceder Church.

Robert W. Kyle was four years of age when his parents emigrated to America, and eight years old when they moved from Toronto to Mercer County. He was there reared on the old home farm and attended the common schools. He helped farm the home place until he entered the Union Army during the Civil War, enlisting in Company M, Sixth Regiment Heavy Ar- tillery. His regiment was sent to the de- fense of Washington, D. C., and he was in active service about eleven months. He was honorably discharged June 27, 1865, and returned to his home in Mercer County. On April 11, 1866, he located in West Deer Township, Allegheny County, Penna., where he engaged in farming oper- ations until 1870, in which year he moved to Middlesex Township, Butler County, where he has since resided. He has a val- uable farm on which he has made most of the improvements, building a fine home and out buildings, and setting out many shade trees about the place. He has fol- lowed general farming, and has been suc- cessful beyond the average.

Mr. Kyle was united in marriage with Miss Mary I. Glasgow, who was born in West Deer Township, Allegheny County, Penna., February 9, 1834, and is a daugh- ter of Hugh Glasgow. Her father was born in County Derry, Ireland, in 1786, and spent his tenth birthday on the ocean, his parents being on their way to the United States, where they located in West Deer Township, Allegheny County, Penna. There Hugh grew to maturity, and learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he fol- lowed many years in connection with farm- ing. His death occurred in 1874, at an ad-

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vanced age. Robert W. Kyle and his wife He has given attention to both farming are both devout members of Pine Creek Reformed Presbyterian Church, in which he has been an elder since the early seven- ties. He has been a member of the church for thirty-eight years, and his estimable wife since early girlhood. Mr. Kyle has a wide acquaintance through this locality, and enjoys the friendship and good will of his fellow citizens. He has two producing oil wells on his farm, which have been the source of considerable income to him.

JOHN W. SMITH. Among the promi- nent citizens of Allegheny Township who have gained precedence among the resi- dents of this section of Butler County, is John W. Smith, farmer and oil producer and for many years a justice of the peace, as was his father before him. He was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 7, 1831, and is a son of Simon and Mary (Whittaker) Smith.

1845, and then moved to Saw Mill Run, was born at Brady's Bend, Armstrong

The parents of Mr. Smith were natives of Oldham, England, and they came to America in 1826 and settled in Allegheny County, Penna., where they lived until below Pittsburg, from which place they moved to Brady's Bend, in Armstrong County, some years later. In 1855 they came to Butler County and settled on the farm near Emlenton, where John W. Smith resides and which he owns. Both parents died on this farm in 1880. Simon Smith was a man of high character and ex- cellent judgment and became a worthy and valued citizen of Allegheny Township. He was frequently elected to office and served honestly and faithfully in every case.

John W. Smith accompanied his par- ents to Butler County in 1855. In his boy- hood and youth, educational opportunities were meager in rural districts and his school attendance was limited, but his long association with public affairs and his ex- tensive reading, have made Mr. Smith one of the best informed men of this section.

and oil producing and enjoys an ample in- come. He served for one year in the Union Army during the Civil War, being a mem- ber of Company F, Fifteenth Regiment, Penna. Infantry, which was a part of the Ninth Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Although he was frequently on the field of battle, he was never either wounded or taken prisoner, and at the close of his term of enlistment, was hon- orably discharged. Formerly he was a member of the Grand Army Post at Em- lenton. After the war he returned to his home in Allegheny Township and resumed peaceful pursuits. In politics he is a Re- publican. During his long administration of the office of justice of the peace, he dis- posed of many very important cases and his decisions were very generally upheld. He has given hearty support at all times to both religion and education in his sec- tion and served many years on the School Board, a large part of the time as its treasurer.

On December 24, 1862, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Elizabeth Marshall, who County, a daughter of Joseph Marshall, an old resident of Allegheny Township. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had eight chil- dren, namely: Elmer D., who lives at Marietta, Ohio; Washington, who lives at Parkersburg, West Virginia, has one son, Washington S .; George S., who resides in Allegheny Township; Clure E., who lives near Marietta, Ohio; Ernest M. and Siola T., both of whom live in Allegheny Town- ship; Mary, who is the wife of William Hughes, of Mckeesport, Pennsylvania, has two children, Elizabeth and William; and Blanche, who is the wife of John W. Fer- man, of Luthersburg, Pennsylvania, has one child, Elizabeth.

JOHN MARBURGER, a prominent farmer and stockraiser of Forward Town- ship, where he owns some 300 acres of

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

land, in association with his father, is en- gaged in the butchering business at Mars and Evans City, Penna. His home is about one and a quarter miles southeast of Evans City, and is located on the Harmony and Pittsburg Electric Road; the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad passes through the center of his farm.

Mr. Marburger was born on the home place August 28, 1854, and is a son of George and Catherine K. (Marburger) Marburger, his parents bearing the same family name but of no known blood rela- tionship. George Marburger was born in Hessen, Germany, November 5, 1813, and after the death of his mother came to America with his father and family in 1839. The party consisted of the father and four children : Barbara, now deceased; Margaret, deceased; Thelma; and George. A younger brother, Henry, had departed two years before for the United States with a half-brother, Conrad Bishop. The family went afoot from Hessen to the Sea, six horses carrying their baggage; they were on the Atlantic Ocean for sixty-four days and arrived in Baltimore, from whence they made the journey on foot to Zelienople, Penna. Their entire trip took from May to December, and was one re- plete with trials and hardships. Others from the same locality in Germany also settled in the vicinity of Zelienople.

George Marburger served five years in the German army prior to coming to this country. His first work here was on the canal near Erie, which he followed two winters, spending his summers in the har- vest fields. In the meantime he made his home with friends in Zelienople, and at the end of the two years located on what has since been known as the Marburger farm in Forward Township. It was in a wild state, heavily timbered and covered with a thick growth of hazelbrush, it having been little touched by the hand of man. His first purchase was 100 acres from Sol- omon Snow, and to this he later added

forty acres. He also purchased a tract of ninety acres near Callery. A man of great energy and industry, he cleared his whole property and farmed with success through- out his active career. He is now living with the subject of this sketch, at the re- markable age of ninety-five years, and is in full possession of his mental faculties and of considerable bodily vigor. He is the oldest man in Forward Township, and until the death of his wife, in 1907, at the age of ninety-one years, they had been for some years the oldest married couple liv- ing in Butler County. She was in maiden life Miss Catherine Marburger, and was born in Germany, coming to America at the same time as Mr. Marburger. Six children were born to them: Catherine, widow of John Kaufman; Margaret, widow of John Twentier; Mary, who died at the age of three years; George, who died at the age of fifty-two years; Eva, wife of Alexander Schilling; and John.

John Marburger was born on the home farm, in the old one and one-half story house which adorned the place in the early days, and he has a distinct recollection of kicking the snow off his bed as he arose in the morning, at times during his boyhood. He helped to clear the farm on which he lives and also the ninety acres at Callery. and so much of his time was spent at hard work that he had little time to attend school, it being limited to a few weeks dur- ing the winter. He has lived on the home place during all his life, four months being his longest absence from the place. He followed general farming until 1893, and then went into the butcher business at Evans City, being in partnership with Jacob Rape one year. His market there is now located on Pittsburg Street, opposite the postoffice, and he has a meat shop at Mars, Pennsylvania, in which village he also owns a large business block. He has been extensively engaged in the cattle busi- ness for several years, buying by the car- load, formerly purchasing cattle in this

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section, but now obtaining them mainly from the West, and from Pittsburg. He also has bred and raised fine draft horses in recent years, and has some of the best bred stock in this country. He is the own- er of Baccarat, No. 50404, imported from France in 1906, a beautiful black stallion, three years old, which weighed 1800 lbs. in the spring of 1908. He has a six-year- old, Acrobat, No. 41551, which was im- ported from France in 1904, which, when three years old took first premium at the Butler County Fair in 1905. He raised a strawberry roan Percheron stallion, which was foaled April 23, 1901, Prince LeClare, Jr., sired by Prince LeClair, No. 9656. This horse weighs 1800 lbs., and was en- tered three times at the Butler County Fair, taking all prizes in his class.

John Marburger was married in Novem- ber, 1876, to Miss Mary Magdalena Wahl, a daughter of Martin Wahl, mention of whom is made on another page of this work, and they are parents of the follow- ing children : Martin G., who was born De- cember 25, 1877, and is in charge of his father's butcher shop at Evans City, mar- ried Vivian Davidson and has one child, Alberta; Catherine K., born March 10, 1879, who is the wife of Frank Hall and has two children, Ernest and Magdalena ; Andrew T., born November 8, 1880, who conducts his father's shop at Mars, mar- ried Elvina Maitland and has a daughter, Esther; John G., who was born February 27, 1882, lives on an adjoining farm, mar- ried Bessie Sloan, and has a son, William Henry; Victor Wahl, who was born Feb- ruary 25, 1885; Osmus R., born January 13, 1887; Adam C., born June 4, 1889; Min- nie C., born July 27, 1891; and Harry W., born October 4, 1893; and Paul Vernon, born August 29, 1900, died February 2, 1901. Religiously, the family belongs to the Lutheran Church, of which Mr. Mar- burger was trustee some years. In poli- ties, he is a Democrat and has filled a num- ber of township offices.

WILLIAM McDOWELL, a prominent member of the Butler County bar, who es- tablished his home at Butler in 1902, was born in 1858, in Kirkmuir-Hill, Parish of Lesmahago, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and is a son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Quig- ley) McDowell. Alexander McDowell was both a civil and mining engineer and he was in the employ of the English govern- ment for a number of years.

William McDowell remained in his na- tive land until he was twenty years of age, and after reaching America and seeking work in Pennsylvania, he secured employ- ment at McIntire, in this State, as an en- gine driver in the mines. From boyhood he had been ambitious and while he worked hard through the day at the fatiguing labor above mentioned, he studied at night and even engaged a private tutor, finally securing an appointment to the State Col- lege, where he studied civil engineering for four years. From there, Mr. McDowell went to the Ohio State University at Co- lumbus, where he studied mining engineer- ing for two years, and classics for one year at the Northern Ohio University at Ada. With the perseverance characteristic of his race, Mr. McDowell had overcome every obstacle and attained what was then his dearest ambition. He then accepted a position as superintendent of mines for the Oshanter Coal Company, and later for the mines of the Cambria Coal Company, go -. ing from there to South Fork, and later was with the Baltimore Railroad Company at Salisbury, Somerset County. He then entered the University of Indiana, where he took his degree of B. L., in the class of 1890.

Mr. McDowell did not immediately seek admission to the bar, but took a year in the office of John L. Mccutcheon, attor- ney at law. He subsequently accepted a position with the Wabash Railroad as in- spector of bridges and concrete work, and later went with the Pressed Steel and Standard Steel Companies. He then en-

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tered the University of Pennsylvania and took a post graduate course, and in 1905 was admitted to the bar. Mr. McDowell is so versatile in his mental gifts and has so thoroughly prepared himself for differ- ent branches of professional work, that success in each and all has met him almost on the threshold. Naturally he has been also prominent in politics and has been a formidable candidate for the office of dis- triet attorney.

In 1895 Mr. McDowell was married to Miss Jennie Lytle, who is a niece of Judge Leonard, of Clearfield County, Pennsyl- vania. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church. For years he has been identified with Masonry and belongs to St. Clair Lodge, No. 416, F. and A. M., Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland; and of Royal Arch Chapter, No. 43, of Hol- lytown, Scotland. He belongs also to Lodge No. 211, Knights of Pythias, at But- ler; to Lodge No. 213, Knights of the Gol- den Eagle, at Philipsburg, Center County ; and he is a valued member of the Order of the Cameron Clan of Pittsburg, of the Order of the Scottish Clans.

JOHN McCARRIER, who is now living in retirement after many years of activity in the oil fields, resides just south of the borough of West Sunbury, in Clay Town- ship, Butler County, Penna. He is the bearer of an honorable record for service in the Union Army, and is a man most highly esteemed in his wide circles of ac- quaintances. He was born at Prospect, Butler County, October 13, 1840, and is a son of James and Catharine (Brower) Mc- Carrier.

James McCarrier was born and reared in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and after marriage learned the trade of a tan- ner. He crossed the mountains of Penn- sylvania to Whitestown, where he worked in a tannery for several years, then moved to Prospect, where he remained eight years. thence to Fairview, where he oper-

ater a tannery. He later operated one at Middletown, now known as. Hooker, whence he moved to West Sunbury. He started a tannery at this point in 1858 and conducted it until 1870, when he quit the business and started a small confectionery store. After a few years he moved to the home of his oldest daughter at Lawrence- burg, near Parker' Landing, where both he and his wife passed away.

John McCarrier learned the trade of a tanner under his father and continued at that occupation until 1861, when on the seventh day of November, he enlisted un- der Captain Martin in Company E, One Hundred and Third Regiment, Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry. His enlistment of three years expired while he was at Plymouth, North Carolina, and he re- enlisted, serving until the close of the war. He was taken captive at Plymouth on April 20, 1864, and was incarcerated in Andersonville Prison four months. He was taken from there to Charleston, North Carolina, and thence to Florence, North Carolina, where he was held prisoner for eight months. The regiment of which he was a member belonged to the Second Army Corps during the Peninsular Cam- paign, and later, formed a part of the Eighteenth Army Corps.

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 140

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