Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 171

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 171

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Aphes A. Cooper was small when the family came to Butler from Forest Coun- ty and he was able later to assist his father greatly in clearing up the farm in Adams Township. His education was obtained in the district schools in the neighborhood, and when he was fifteen years old he start- ed out to take care of himself. He learned

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the shoemaking trade with his cousin, John Cooper, and worked at it for three years. Although he soon turned his efforts in an- other direction, he never regretted the dis- cipline of long months on the bench. In carpenter work, however, he was able to take a deeper interest and under R. T. Mc- Anlis, became a good workman and con- tinued with him for seven years. Mr. Cooper then went into general contracting which he continued until 1906, and during his active years in that line, put up many of the buildings through Butler County and also did a large amount of building in Al- legheny County. In 1883 he bought thirty- five acres of his present farm, from Will- iam Sloan and subsequently added until his farm now contains fifty-six acres, where he carries on general farming.

On March 9, 1881, Mr. Cooper was mar- ried (first) to Hannah Gilkey, a daughter of John Gilkey. She died October 20, 1897, having been the mother of the follow- ing children: a babe that died in a short time following birth; Luella, who is the wife of Harry Eichenberg; Bessie, who is the wife of Roy McMillen, has one child, Clarence Leroy; Charles, who died aged nineteen years and ten days; John; and Olive, who died aged twelve years and four months. Mr. Cooper married (second) Ida Rennison, who is a daughter of John Rennison. Mr. Cooper is a man of recog- nized standing in his community and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he is a Republican.

SAMUEL ALEXANDER LESLIE, a well known citizen of Middlesex Township, Butler County, Penna., has a fine farm of 106 acres and is engaged in general farm- ing. He is now serving his fourth consecu- tive term as justice of the peace, the duties of which office he has discharged in an able and conscientious manner, and to the en- tire satisfaction of his fellow citizens. He was born in Plain Grove Township, Mer- cer County, Penna., January 21, 1842, and

is a son of Hon. Alexander and Sarah (Al- len) Leslie, and a grandson of Alexander Leslie, Sr.

Alexander Leslie, the grandfather, was born in Allegheny County, Penna., and at an early date settled on the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch, which was then almost wholly uncleared and un- improved. This hardy old pioneer was a member of the State militia of that early period.

Alexander Leslie, Jr., was born in Al- legheny County, Penna., and during his early years worked on the river. He later settled in Plain Grove Township, Mercer County, and engaged in agricultural pur- suits until about 1847, when he located on the home farm in Middlesex Township, Butler County, where he passed the re- mainder of his days. He died in 1883, at the age of sixty-four years. He was an active Republican in politics, and served two terms in the State Legislature. Mr. Leslie was first united in marriage with Miss Sarah Allen, who died early in mar- ried life, and as a result of their union four children were born, two of whom grew to maturity : Samuel A .; and Eliza, deceased wife of Philip Snyder. Mr. Leslie formed a second marital union with Miss Aphia Ross, by whom he had six children: Cor- della (Donahea) of Braddock; Harvey, of Columbus, Ohio; John of Pittsburg; Will- iam, a resident of California; George of Valencia, Penna .; and Susan, deceased. Religiously, Alexander Leslie was a mem- ber and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and served as class leader and superintendent of the Sunday-school.

Samuel A. Leslie was about five years of age when his parents located on his present farm in Middlesex Township, and was nine years old at his mother's death. He was then taken to Bakerstown where he lived four years, after which he resided continuously on the home place except for that period spent in his country's serv- ice. during the War of the Rebellion. He

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enlisted August 1, 1861, as a member of Company B, Sixty-first Regiment Penna. Volunteer Infantry, and participated in all the engagements of his regiment until September 7, 1864, and he was wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks. He was in num- erous hotly contested battles, and acquit- ted himself with honor and credit. He re- turned to the home farm upon leaving the service and has engaged in agricultural pursuits without interruption since. He follows general farming, but makes hay his principal crop. Located on his farm is a gas well with a strong flow, which has been producing for a period of fifteen years.

Mr. Leslie was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca E. McBride, a daughter of Samuel McBride of Middlesex Township, and they became parents of four children, namely: Samuel McBride, of Middlesex Township; Sarah, wife of Adam Kind, and they make their home with Mr. Leslie; Wilda, wife of S. Cunningham Trimble, of Butler; and Howard, deceased. Mrs. Leslie passed from this life in 1899, at the age of fifty-six years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Leslie is also a member and a trustee. He was a member of Scott Post, No. 470, G. A. R. of West Deer Township, Allegheny County, now disbanded, and served as post commander four years, and is a member of Union Veterans' Legion of Butler. He is a stanch Republican in poli- tics, and served as school director a period of eighteen years, is now serving his third year as road supervisor, and his fourth term as justice of the peace.

J. C. KISKADDON, a representative citizen of Butler County, now serving in the office of deputy county treasurer, was born in Armstrong County, Penna., in 1844, and is a son of James and Eleanor (Sloane) Kiskaddon.

The parents of Mr. Kiskaddon moved to Allegheny Township, Butler County, when

he was ten years old, and he grew to the age of eighteen on his father's farm, leav- ing its peaceful seclusion to enter Company G, One Hundred Thirty-seventh Regiment, Penna. Volunteer Infantry, as a soldier in the Civil War. He served through his first enlistment, a period of nine months, and was attached to the Army of the Potomac. He immediately reenlisted, his second choice being the cavalry and he served as a member of Company L, Fourteenth Reg- iment, until he was disabled by a gunshot wound and was honorably discharged in . June, 1865. His wound proved a very seri- ous one. It was received in October, 1864, from the band known as McNeil's guerril- las, while he was on duty in the Shenandoah Valley. He was in the hands of the enemy for four months thereafter and was con- fined in the prison hospital at Richmond, Virginia. All through his service, Mr. Kiskaddon was at his post of duty and he participated in notable battles, including Antietam, the protracted campaign under General Burnside, and Chancellorsville, all while in the infantry. During his sec- ond enlistment he was under the command of General Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley.

After Mr. Kiskaddon had recovered suf- ficiently from the wound he had received in his country defense to be able to per- form any duty, he was appointed a dep- uty sheriff in Armstrong County, this be- ing in 1866, but he retained the office for less than one year and then turned his at- tention to farming. Later he entered into the oil business and worked also as a car- penter. In December, 1890, having been elected a county commissioner in Butler County, he came to the city of Butler. After the close of his term of office of three years, he followed the carpenter trade for about the same period and then was called back to public life, being appointed clerk for the Board of County Commissioners and served in that capacity for nine years, and then served as deputy treasurer of the

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

county from July, 1906, to January, 1909. Ile has been a very active Republican and was the successful candidate of his party for the office of county commissioner at the election on November 3, 1908. He is very popular at his home and his friends may be found in all parts of the county.

In 1868, Mr. Kiskaddon was married to Miss Nancy J. Colgin, who was a native of Butler County. She died in 1894 and was survived by four children: James R., residing at New Castle; William, residing at Chicago; Alice, wife of H. B. Burns, of Southersland, Iowa; and Edith J., wife of Joseph Elliott, of Butler.

Mr. Kiskaddon is identified with the A. G. Reed Post, No. 105, Grand Army of the Republic, and he belongs to Connoquenes- sing Lodge, No. 278, Odd Fellows. For many years he has been a member of the Second Presbyterian Church at Butler.

GUSTAVE ORVILLE HAMMER, pro- prietor and sole owner of the Roebling Hotel, at Saxonburg, is one of the promi- nent and forceful men of Butler County and for years has been identified with large enterprises in Western Pennsyl- vania. He was born in the city of Bremen, Germany, June 30, 1864, and accompanied his parents to America in 1868.

The parents of Mr. Hammer were Will- iam G. and Sophia L. (Von Rautenburg) Hammer, natives of Holland. Mrs. Sophia L. Hammer came from Friesland in the north of Holland. When they first reached the United States, they settled in New York but came later to Pennsylvania. He had conducted a furniture factory in Ger- many and began the manufacture of furni- ture at Pittsburg and was interested at other points. His children were as fol- lows: Gustave O., John, Louis G., Hen- rietta, Wilhelmina, Ferdinand G., Carl and an infant.

Gustave O. Hammer attended school at various places where the father was in business for a more or less longer time,

this including Pittsburg, New Brighton, Zelienople and Butler. In the latter city he completed his school course and then went into business with his father. This city remained the family home for seven- teen years. The death of the mother, in 1881, broke up the domestic circle and then Gustave O. started out in the world for himself. He visited a number of cities: Chicago, Illinois; Springfield and Cincin- nati, Ohio, remaining in the latter city for two years; then back to Springfield; south then to Chattanooga, Tennessee; then back to Cincinnati and Pittsburg. Mr. Hammer during this time had in- vented several articles and while at Pitts- burg had them patented and went into a manufacturing business on Water Street, in that city. On January 7, 1889, he em- barked in a furniture business at Oak- land and remained there for twelve years, after which he came to Saxonburg and bought the gas plant, in 1898, moving to this place in 1900 and remained in the business until the fall of 1906, when he sold out to the Saxonburg Heat and Light Company. In 1902 he built the Opera House and sold it in 1905. During that period of residence he was a leading citi- zen of the place, served in the town council and was town burgess for three years. At present he is president of the School Board. He was the first president and one of the organizers of the Saxonburg Tele- phone Company and was the organizer and vice president of the Bessemer Brick & Tile Company.

In 1906 Mr. Hammer returned to Pitts- burg and engaged in a stock brokerage business and then became extensively in- terested in real estate, under the firm name of Hammer & Mandeville, and while there laid out the G. O. Hammer plat of lots in Saxonburg, which he sold, and also laid out the Norfolk-Heights plat in Mc- Candless Township, Allegheny County, in the Perrysville District, on the car line be- tween New Castle and Harmony. Mr.

HENRY D. WALLET

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Hammer is connected with the Cottage

Hill Land Company of Butler. He has been interested also in oil, gas and railroad enterprises and was one of the promoters of a traction line between Tarentum, But- ler and Saxonburg. In May, 1907, Mr. Hammer sold out his various interests in Pittsburg and returned to Saxonburg and purchased the Roebling Hotel. This was formerly called the Kohnfelter Hotel and · was built in 1862, the first brick building erected at Saxonburg, the bricks being manufactured on the premises. It is widely known and under Mr. Hammer's management is the leading hotel in this section. He retains his interests in oil and gas production in the county and is one of the directors of the Scott Ridge Oil and Gas Company, at Zelienople. In all these various enterprises Mr. Hammer has pros- pered, his business foresight and judgment being remarkable.

Mr. Hammer was married in 1891, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to Miss Clara Pauline Pickel, who is a daughter of John S. Pickel, and they have eight children, namely: John M., Orville J., Henrietta, Charlotte, Freda, Mary, Bonita, and Jen- nings. The two older sons are students at college. Mr. Hammer and family are members of the Lutheran Church. He is connected with several of the leading fraternities, having passed all the chairs in Herder Lodge, No. 279, Knights of Pythias; is a charter member of the order of Moose and belongs to the order of Woodmen of the World at Saxonburg.

CARSON G. GRAY, postmaster at Petrolia, of which place he has been a resident for more than thirty years, was born in Washington Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, November 10, 1836, and is a son of Lemuel and Diadema (Gardner) Gray.

The parents of Mr. Gray reared a fam- ily of six children, namely: George W., Otis N., A. E., Carson G., E. W., and

Leonard S., the only survivors being Car- son G. and E. W. The father died in his eighty-fourth year and the mother when aged seventy-three years.

Carson G. Gray was reared in Erie County and there attended school and also learned the trade of paper hanging and painting. He served in the Federal army from April, 1865, until June of the same year, in Company E, Ninety-eighth Regi- ment, Pennsylvania Infantry, and partici- pated in a number of sharp skirmishes. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Re- public, being a member of Campbell Post, Petrolia.

After the close of his military service, Mr. Gray returned to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he went to work in the car barns as a painter, and he remained there until 1877, when he came to Butler County and settled at Petrolia. For a number of years he conducted a shop of his own and did a large amount of business, especially be- fore 1884, when he was very seriously injured by a railroad train, at Foxburg. In 1898 he was appointed postmaster and has continued to serve in this office ever since, giving the city a very efficient admin- istration.

On December 25, 1862, Mr. Gray was married to Miss Agnes A. Ray, who is a daughter of John Ray, of Erie County. They have had two daughters, Mary and Maud. Mary married William Harring- ton, and they live in Delaware. Maud married William Kelley, of Ohio, and died in 1884, when only twenty years of age. Mr. Gray is a Republican in his political views, and on numerous occasions he has been elected to local offices at Petrolia. He belongs to the order known as the Pro- tective Home Circle. With his family he is identified with the Presbyterian Church.

HENRY D. WALLET, postmaster at Great Belt, resides at Great Belt, and has lived in this section almost the whole of his life. He was born in 1857, in Pitts-

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burg, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Schmidt) Wallet, and a grand- son of Philip and Catherine (Bleichner) Wallet, natives of Germany and early set- tlers in Allegheny County.

Daniel Wallet worked in a glass factory at Pittsburg before he moved on his farm of sixty acres in Jefferson Township, But- ler County. He became a man of local prominence, serving in both township and county offices. He married Mary Schmidt, who still survives, and they had eleven children, the seven still living bearing re- spectively the following names: Henry D., Mary, John, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Maggie and Rosie.

Henry D. Wallet obtained his education in the country schools in North Jefferson Township and later in the Herman School, after which he spent about two years in the far West. When he returned he en- gaged in the grocery business but later sold out and went back to cultivating the farm. He has been postmaster at Great

Belt for the past two years. In politics he is a Democrat and he has served in town- ship offices, four years being supervisor. Mr. Wallet is a member of the Catholic Church at Herman. He belongs to the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association lodge at Herman and for twelve years has been recording secretary of this organization. He is a representative citizen of this part of Jefferson Township and is well and favorably known. He is one of the heirs of his father's estate.

HON. GEO. H. GRAHAM, justice of the peace and representative citizen of Fair- view Township, owns twenty-five acres of valuable farm land in this township and forty-seven additional acres in Parker Township, Butler County. He was born in Venango County, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1833, and is a son of John and Mary (Hill) Graham.

Mr. Graham comes of Irish ancestry and of Revolutionary stock. His great-great-

grandfather was born on the Atlantic Ocean while his parents were on one of the slow old sailing ships between Ireland and the United States, then the British col- onies, for it was as early as 1700. His parents settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, not far from the present site of the great Indian School at Carlisle, and that section presumably was the family home for many years. Richard Graham, the great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and when it was over he resided in Chester County until 1795, when he accompanied his son, Samuel Gra- ham, to Allegheny Township, Butler Coun- ty, where he died in 1806. Samuel Gra- ham, grandfather of George H., was a vet- eran of the War of 1812 and he subse- quently died in a hospital at Meadville, Pennsylvania.

John Graham, father of George H., was born in Allegheny Township, Butler Coun- ty, Pennsylvania, in 1800, and died in Parker Township in 1856. He was a farm- er, carpenter and contractor and in 1845 he settled near Bruin, Butler County. He married Mary Hill, who lived to be eighty- six years of age. They had the following children: Nancy J., Phoebe Ann, George H., Florinda, Ruth, Mary, Adelaide, Mag- gie and William. Of these three now sur- vive : George H., Florinda, and Adelaide.

George H. Graham lived in Venango County until he was about twelve years of age, attending school for a time at Emlen- ton, and later taking a university course at Allegheny College. After his parents moved to near Bruin, Butler County, he worked in both the ore and coal mines for a short time, when, through natural ability and study he fitted himself for other work. He has done a vast amount of surveying, has been a civil engineer, has done consid- erable farming and oil producing, and for many years he was considered the most successful public school teacher in the county. When the Civil War opened, Mr. Graham entered the army, enlisting as a

HON. GEORGE H. GRAHAM

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member of Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Regiment, Pa. Vol. Inf., under Colonel Bossart, and shortly after- ward was commissioned quartermaster of the regiment and served on the staff of Gen. J. R. Paul. He was with his regiment at Antietam, South Mountain, Fredericks- burg and Chancellorsville, and was mus- tered out at Harrisburg, in June, 1863.

Mr. Graham returned to Bruin and dur- ing the winters of 1857-8 and 1859, he taught school in Parker and Washington Townships, and in the spring of 1867 be- came a teacher in the West Sunbury Acad- emy, where he continued to teach until 1869. In the fall of 1874 he made Fairview his home and has continued here ever since. He has acceptably filled all the borough of- fices, has been school director for thirty years, has served as jury commissioner, for three years has been a justice of the peace, and in 1880, he was a member of the State Legislature, giving good service. Mr. Graham has lived a very busy and use- ful life and his acquaintance extends all over Butler County, while his friends are legion.

Mr. Graham was married in 1860 to Miss Elenor J. Wilson, who died November 9, 1892. To this marriage were born five children : Clara, Anna, Addie, John H. and William J. Clara married J. C. McKee and they have one child, which they have named after her mother, Elenor. Anna has been a successful teacher for fifteen years. Addie married William Shoenfeld and they live at Bruin and have two sons, Wayne and Walter. John H. married Vir- ginia Bollinger, who died two years later, leaving one son, Claud R. William J. mar- ried a Miss Idelle Gifford and they live at Homestead and have two children, Leslie and George. Mr. Graham takes much in- terest in the educating of his grandchil- dren. He is a valued member of the J. G. Campbell Post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Petrolia.

JAMES A. MILLIRON, engaged in the livery business at Karns City, Butler County, Pennsylvania, in partnership with Mr. George Adams, is an enterprising and progressive business man and conducts an establishment which is a credit to the village. He was born in Armstrong Coun- ty, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1877, and is a son of William and Rebecca (Reges) Mill- iron, old residents of Armstrong County, who. now reside in Euclid, Clay Township, .Butler County. They are parents of seven children, all living and all natives of Arm- strong County, namely: George, John, James A., Gertrude, Maud, Mima and Elizabeth. William Milliron, the father of this family, was born in 1849.

James A. Milliron was about ten years of age when he accompanied his parents to West Winfield, and there he lived for twen- ty-two years. He received his intellectual training in the public schools, and there- after engaged in the livery business, at West Winfield for about five years. He moved to Karns City in the fall of 1908 and embarked in the livery business in partnership with Mr. Adams. He also is interested in the timber business in both Butler and Indiana Counties, Pennsylva- nia. Fraternally, he is a member of West Winfield Lodge No. 291, K. O. T. M .; and of the Order of Unity of Pittsburg. In re- ligious attachment, he is a member of the German Reformed Church of Sugar Creek Township, in Armstrong County.

George Adams, who is in business with Mr. Milliron, is also a new arrival in Karns City, locating there in the fall of 1908. His life prior to that time was spent in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, where he was born November 16, 1869. His par- ents, John and Margaret (Moore) Adams, were early settlers of that county, where all of their five children were born. Their names are as follows: Charles, James, Ed- ward, George, and John, and all are liv- ing but the last mentioned. John Adams,

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the father, died in 1903, at the age of six- ty-three years, and is survived by his widow. George Adams was married June 9, 1896, to Miss Maggie Steele, a daugh- ter of Amos Steele of Armstrong County, and they have four children-Iva, Paul, Ruth and Gladys-all born in Armstrong County but Gladys, who is a native of West Winfield. Religiously, Mr. Adams and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church of Mt. Pleasant, Armstrong County. Fra- ternally, he is a member of West Winfield Lodge No. 291, K. O. T. M.

LOREE L. OSTRANDER, one of Pe- trolia's substantial citizens and business men, is engaged in oil producing. He was born in Steuben County, New York, Sep- tember 30, 1847, and is a son of Van Rens- selaer and Mary Jane (Schanck) Ostrand- er. His father died at the age of forty- six years, and his mother at the age of sixty-four years. They were parents of the following children :: Matilda, Eleanor, Louisa, William, Susanna, Mary, de- ceased; Carrie, Loree L. and John.

Loree L. Ostrander was reared in Steu- ben County, New York, until his sixteenth year, and there received a common school education. He then located at Brockway- ville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, and one years later moved to Cameron County, Pennsylvania, where he remained two years. He next located in Venango Coun- ty, Pennsylvania, where he embarked in the oil business, at which he has since con- tinued. He moved to Butler County in 1876, settling at St. Joseph, Donegal Town- ship, and later lived upon the Divener farm in that township. He next moved upon the Daugherty farm in Fairview Township, upon which he resided for twen- ty-four years. In 1906 he moved to the borough of Petrolia, where he owns prop- erty and here he has since resided. He has four producing oil wells, which are very remunerative, they now being in charge of his son, Clarence.

Mr. Ostrander was united in marriage with Miss Adeline Alford, a daughter of William and Catherine Alford, their mar- riage occurring March 18, 1873, at Sager- town, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Four children are the issue of this union: William, of Coylesville, Butler County, who married Flora Jones and has a daughter, Florence; Lula, wife of Clarence Yeager of Petrolia, by whom she has two children, Josephine and Allen; Edna, who is the wife of Arthur Starr of Butler; and Clarence, who married Mabel Snyder and lives on the Daugherty farm in Fairview Town- ship. In religious attachment, Mr. Os- trander and his family are members of the Presbyterian Church of Petrolia.

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 171

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