Century history of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Part 111

Author: Hazen, Aaron L. (Aaron Lyle), 1837- comp. and ed. cn
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1058

USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > New Castle > Century history of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th > Part 111

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who died young; Margaret Jane; Agnes (Ward) ; James Robert, who married La- vina Cunningham; Thomas, who died young, and William Martin, who married Miss Essie Harbison and resides at Ell- wood City.

Robert B. Ward, his wife and daughter, Miss Mary, are members of the Slippery Rock Presbyterian Church. He is a Demo- crat in politics, as his father was before him, and has served as tax collector, clerk and road supervisor of Wayne Township. He stands high in the esteem of his fellow citizens, and is a man of enterprise and public spirit, taking an active interest in all that pertains to the welfare of his home community.

WILLIAM G. DUNN, senior member of the firm of Dunn & Rice Company, lead- ing undertakers of New Castle and vicin- ity, has for many years ranked with the foremost business men of the city. He was born in New Castle in 1850, and is a son of Samuel Dunn.

Samuel Dunn was born in County Down, Ireland, and upon coming to America lo- cated in New Castle, Pa., about the year 1845. He at that time established a furni- ture and undertaking business here, and continued throughout the remainder of his life.

William G. Dunn was reared in New Cas- tle and received a public school training. He learned the drug business and followed it four or five years, then became identified with the furniture and undertaking busi- ness which had been established by his father. He continued this business with- out change until 1898, when the furniture branch of it was sold, and since that time he has been engaged solely as funeral di- rector and undertaker. Dunn & Rice Com- pany have a well appointed establishment, and command the patronage of leading peo- ple throughout a large territory surround- ing the city.

In 1895 Mr. Dunn was married and he has a comfortable residence in the city. In

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religious faith and fellowship he is a mem- ber of the First Presbyterian Church. Fra- ternally he is a member of Blue Lodge, F. & A. M., and Knights Templar. Mr. Dunn has been very active in the affairs of New Castle, and for a period of eight years served as a member of the City Council.

SAMUEL A. ROELOFS, a representa- tive citizen of Ellwood City, who has been prominently identified with many of her manufacturing and business interests for a long period, is a native of Pennsylvania and was born July 4, 1850, in Granville Township, Mifflin County. His parents were Richard and Catherine (Houser) Roelofs.

The father of Mr. Roelofs was born in Holland and was six years of age when he accompanied his parents, Richard and Catherine M. Roelofs to America. They had four sons and one daughter, namely : Richard, Catherine, Anthony, John and William, all being present residents of Philadelphia. Grandmother Roelofs died in 1849 and was survived by her husband until 1862. The mother of Samuel A. Roelofs was born in Union County, Penn- sylvania, where her parents first settled af- ter reaching America from Germany. From there they moved to Mifflin County, where the father engaged in farming and there both he and wife died, leaving a fam- ily of eleven children, Mrs. Roelofs being the youngest. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Roelofs was a school-teacher at Bellefonte, Center County, and later be- came station agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad, at MeVeytown, where he re- mained until he died.

The parents of Samuel A. Roelofs were married in 1848 and they had eleven chil- dren born to them, as follows: Henry H., Samuel A., Anthony, Annie and William, who both died young; Richard, Mand, who died young; John, Arthur, Landis and Bertha. Henry H. is engaged in business in Philadelphia, as a manufacturer of hats. He married Minnie Stetson, who is a

daughter of the late John B. Stetson, the manufacturer of the well-known Stetson hats. Anthony is in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and mar- ried Barbara Butler of Hollidaysburg, Blair County. Richard, residing at Al- toona, is an employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He married Lydia Robinson of Altoona. John is a traveling salesman, having his home in Philadelphia. Arthur resides in Philadelphia and is a foreman in the hat factory of Henry H. Roelofs. He married Viola Forepaugh. Landis, re- siding in Ellwood City, is employed in the freight department of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He married a lady of Oil City, Pennsylvania. Bertha resides in Philadelphia. The mother died in 1885, aged fifty-three years.

In the second year after his marriage, Richard Roelofs left off farming and en- tered the employ of the Pennsylvania Rail- road, starting in at the bottom, as a labor- er, and through industry and reliability he was rapidly promoted, becoming conductor of a construction train, then freight con- ductor and subsequently station agent at Hollidaysburg. With the exception of a period of a few years (when he was man- ager of a blast furnace), the larger part of his active life was devoted to railroad work. He lived at Hollidaysburg from 1856 until 1906, with the exception of about four years. He retired from the railroad in 1900, and for the past two years has been a resident of Philadelphia. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. In his religious connection he is a Presbyterian.

Samuel A. Roelofs spent his youth up to fourteen years, attending the excellent public schools of Hollidaysburg, leaving his books at that time to accept clerical work, in the commission house of Lloyd & Henry, at Hollidaysburg. From that firm he went into the freight and ticket office of the Pennsylvania Railroad, also in Hol- lidaysburg, where he continued until the spring of 1867, when he left the employ of the railroad company and in November,

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1868, went with the Blair Iron and Coal Company, a branch of the Cambria Iron Company, of Johnstown, with works at Hollidaysburg, and continued with that corporation directly and indirectly, except for about two years, and in different ca- pacities, until 1889. In December of 1889 he went to Beaver Falls as bookkeeper for the Hartman Manufacturing Company and was associated with Mr. Hartman from that time on in Beaver Falls and Ellwood City until Mr. Hartman sold his interests, in 1904, serving in different offices of the various enterprises, and was secretary, treasurer and is now vice president of the Pittsburg Company and its underlying in- terests. Mr. Roelofs has been identified, as mentioned above, with many of the manu- facturing and industrial enterprises of Ell- wood City, making his first visit here in the spring of 1890, and has been connected with The Pittsburg Company since its in- corporation.

Mr. Roelofs was closely associated with Mr. Hartman, who built the first shafting and tube works, now Factory B., of the Shelby Steel Tube Company, also the Standard Tube Works, now known as the Standard department of the Shelby Works. Other notable structures were : the Enamel works now owned by the Valley Roofing Company; the Gas Stove and Stamping works, now the Glen Manufacturing Com- pany; the Baker Forge, now the Steel Car Forge; the Beaver-Ellwood Railroad, a connecting link between the Baltimore & Ohio, New York Central and Pennsylvania system ; the Ellwood Shortline from North Sewickley to Rock Point, which later be- came a portion of the Baltimore & Ohio main line between Pittsburg and Chicago; the Hotel Lawrence and other structures of more or less note. In all these enter- prises Mr. Hartman was ably seconded by Mr. Roelofs and the credit was equally di- vided. Mr. Roelofs is a man of strong per- sonality and of more than the usual amount of business acumen. Wherever he has lived he has taken a public-spirited interest

in his place of residence and has gener- ously contributed to movements which promise to be of general benefit. In poli- tics he is a Republican, but his tastes have not led him into the heat of political cam- paigns or to seek political favors.

In August, 1870, Mr. Roelofs was united in marriage with Matilda M. McIntosh, who is a daughter of James and Jennie McIntosh, of Newry, Blair County, Penn- sylvania. Of their children, six survive: Henry H., unmarried, residing in Cleve- land, Ohio, is sales manager in the tube department, for the W. M. Pattison Supply Company; William C., whose home is in Chicago, is a traveling salesman, married Myrtle Dutton and they have an infant son, Samuel A., Jr .; Arthur, who is bookkeeper for the Ellwood Lumber Company, resided in Ellwood City, married Marie Fletcher; and Annie, Edward F. and Mary, all living at home. Edward F. is teller of the Frst National Bank of Ellwood City. Mr. Roelof's family belong to the Catholic Church and while he is not connected with any church, is liberal in his support of all agencies of a benevolent or charitable na- ture, regardless of the denominations which inaugurated them.

J. EDWIN McWILLIAMS, the genial proprietor of the St. Charles Hotel, at New Castle, is a well known citizen and is a member of one of the oldest county fam- ilies. He was born in Union Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, in 1866, and is a son of James McWilliams.

James McWilliams, father of J. Edwin, is a son of James McWilliams, a former magistrate and a pioneer settler in this section. The present James McWilliams was born in Lawrence County, where he has spent his life. He engaged in farming for a number of years and later in broom manufacturing. He has been prominently identified with Republican politics, served for nineteen years as a school director in Union Township and at present, although he has reached his seventy-fourth year, is

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efficiently serving in the office of tax col- lector, for the Sixth Ward of New Castle.

J. Edwin McWilliams left school when he was about twelve years of age, an active life appealing to him more than his books at that time, and he started out to become the capitalist he now is by serving on a delivery wagon. Later he became a team- ster of coal between Coaltown and the sheet mill and after the hard work that labor entailed, found more congenial em- ployment in the manufacture of and deal- ing in mineral waters, still later going into the quarry business. For some years he quarried building stone and engaged in street building contracting, after which he resumed the mineral water business and remained interested in that for seven years. In February, 1895, Mr. MeWill- iams took charge of the St. Charles Hotel which he has conducted ever since as a first class house. He has other interests.

In February, 1887, Mr. Me Williams was married to Miss Margaret White, and they have two sons: Charles Edwin and George Alfred. Mr. McWilliams is an active Re- publican and has served for four years on the Republican County Committee. He also was a member of the New Castle city council for several terms and is known as a broad-minded, public-spirited citizen. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and to the Elks.

JOHN MONTGOMERY, a prosperous farmer residing in Plain Grove Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, was born in Mahoning Township, May 5, 1840, and comes of pioneer families on both sides.

John Montgomery, father of John, was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, and was a son of George Montgomery, whom he preceded to this country many years. The latter, upon his arrival in 1850 located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, where he died. John Montgomery, Sr., left his na- tive land for America about the year of 1830, and took up his residence in Law- rence County, being accompanied by a

brother. He worked on the old Erie Canal some years, and about three years after his marriage located. upon the farm on which his son now lives. He was a soldier of the Union Army during the Civil War, having enlisted in 1862, in the One Hun- dred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, and served nine months. He then returned home and en- gaged in farming the remainder of his ac- tive life, meeting his death by drowning in New Castle, at the age of sixty-one years. He was united in marriage with Mrs. Effie Patterson, widow of William Patterson, by whom she had seven children. She was in maiden life Effie Hendrickson, and was born in New Jersey. She was a daugh- ter of Thomas Hendrickson, and was two years of age when she accompanied her father to Lawrence County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1800. He was also a native of New Jersey and was of German parentage. He acquired a tract of soldier's land in the woods in Mahoning Township, it being the site of Mahoningtown at the present time. There was at that time but one house in what is now New Castle. After residing there a period of thirty years, he settled upon the farm now owned by John Mont- gomery, at that time unimproved land. John and Effie (Henrickson) Montgomery had three children: George, deceased; John; and Alexander, deceased. Political- ly, he was a Republican after the organi- zation of that party. He was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

John Montgomery was an infant when his parents moved to his present farm and there he was reared to maturity, receiving an education in the public schools of Plain Grove Township. He has farmed on this place all his life, and all the improvements that have been made are the result of his work in later days, and of his father in the earlier days. He is a progressive man, and farming along the line of modern methods, has been more than ordinarily successful. He is a man of public spirit

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and enjoys the confidence and esteem of his neighbors and acquaintances to a marked degree.

In 1862, Mr. Montgomery was joined in marriage with Miss Ann MeCommon, who was born in Plain Grove Township, and was a daughter of William McCommon. She died in December, 1880. They had six children, namely: George E .; Jennie, de- ceased; Mary Adeline; John Grant, de- ceased; Frank, deceased; Mabel, deceased. Politically, he is a Republican and has taken an active interest in the success of that party. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOSEPH S. HENNON, residing on a part of the old Hennon homestead in Wayne Township, Lawrence County, Penn- sylvania, comes of one of the oldest fam- ilies of the county. He was born on this place February 9, 1847, is a son of John and Sarah (Ward) Hennon, and grandson of Joseph and Margaret Hennon.

Joseph Hennon, grandfather of Joseph S., was born in Ireland, and upon com- ing to the United States took up his resi- dence in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. He located on 150 acres of land in Wayne Township, a wild traet of timberland on which he was the first settler, and this has continued to be the family homestead since that time. His wife was of Scotch-Irish parentage, and they became parents of eight children, three sons and five daugh- ters, of whom the following grew to ma- turity : George, Thomas, John, Ruth, Mary and Sarah.

John Hennon was born in 1809 on the old home place, which he and his brother, George, inherited upon his father's death. He engaged in farming throughout his entire life. He built the home now stand- ing on the place when Joseph S. was a very small boy. He was a Democrat in polities, and served for many years as justice of the peace, being best known to the community as Squire Hennon. He was united in marriage with Miss Sarah

Ward, a daughter of William Ward, who was of Irish descent and one of the early settlers of Wayne Township. The follow- ing children were born of this union: Mar- garet, deceased, was wife of Ralph Reed, and resided in Chewton; Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Jones, is a resident of this coun- ty; Albertina, wife of Milton Moore, is a resident of Birleyville, Kan .; Angelina, who married Thomas Catterson, moved to Iowa and both are now deceased; Amanda married Oliver P. Cunningham and died in Chewton shortly after her marriage; Will- iam C., who also resides in Wayne Town- ship on the old homestead, married Nancy Jane Newton, and after her death was married to Miss Adeline Price ; Joseph and Theodore S., who died at the age of twelve years. John Hennon died in 1883, aged seventy-three years, and his wife died in 1849, at the early age of thirty-six years.

Joseph S. Hennon was born and has al- ways resided on the old home place. He received his early schooling at the Locust Ridge School, and then turned his atten- tion to agricultural pursuits, with which he has been continuously engaged except for a period of six years. In 1902, in connection with his son, Charles D., he began conducting a greenhouse on a small scale, but as they prospered beyond their expectations, added to it from time to time until at the present they have 28,000 square feet under cover. They have an estab- lished reputation, disposing of their prod- ucts to the cities and towns in the near vicinity. In 1892, he erected his present residence, a fine, commodious home, and two years later put up a good, substantial barn. He is a progressive man, gives his support to all worthy enterprises in a pub- lic-spirited manner, and occupies a place high in the esteem of his fellow-citizens.

In 1873 Mr. Hennon was united in mar- riage with Miss Esther Allen, a daughter of John M. and Esther Allen, of Shenango Township, Lawrence County, and she died in 1886, the mother of four children, three of whom are living: Edward A. married

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RESIDENCE AND FARM BUILDINGS OF JOSEPH S. HENNON, WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

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Jennie Eriser and lives in New Castle; Charles D. married Ada Haupin, who was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania, and lives on the home farm; Myra died at the age of two years, and Lydia, wife of O. V. Douthitt, resides in Chewton. Mr. Hennon was married a second time, in 1892, to Miss Lina McCullough, who died in 1899, leaving a son, Lee Reed. She was a daughter of Washington McCul- lough, of Butler County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hennon is a Democrat in politics. In religious attachment, he is a member of the Christian Church.

LOUIS N. CRAWFORD, a prominent citizen of New Castle, where, through the whole period of his business life he has been identified with iron and steel inter- ests, was born in this city in 1869, and is a son of James A. Crawford.

The late James A. Crawford came to New Castle in 1844 and long was a potent factor in the city's life, honorably and use- fully rounding out a successful business career. He died in 1902.

After completing his public school edu- cation, Louis N. Crawford became connect- ed with the New Castle Steel Company and remained until that corporation went out of existence. He was then associated with the National Steel Company for two years and after that with the Carnegie Steel Company, until 1907, when he withdrew. He still has numerous business interests and is one of the directors of the National Bank of Lawrence County. As a leading citizen, Mr. Crawford has been identified with many benevolent organizations and connected with civic boards.

In 1894, Mr. Crawford was married to Miss Katharine T. Sweeney, of New Cas- tle. They are members of the First Pres- byterian Church. Mr. Crawford is a Knight Templar Mason and belongs to Blue Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery at New Castle and to the Mystic Shrine at Pittsburg. He is a member also of the Lawrence Club.

WILLIAM E. PRICE, a prosperous farmer and respected citizen of Wayne Township, Lawrence County, Pennsyl- vania, residing on the Campbell Brown farm, was born in Mifflin County, Pennsyl- vania, December 29, 1855, and is a son of Simon and Mary ( Fraley) Price, both na- tives of Mifflin County. His father died in 1892, but his mother is living, at the age of seventy-three years.

Simon Price, the father, came to Law- rence County at an early date and lived in Wayne Township at the time of his death. He and his wife were parents of the following children: Margaret, who married Joseph Beighley and resides in Beaver Falls; Catherine, wife of William (. Hennon of Wayne Township; John A., who married Agnes Jackson and resides in Beaver Falls; William E .; Simon, who is married and resides in Cleveland, Ohio; Laura, who married Bert Bacon, also re- sides in Cleveland; and Annie, who died in Cleveland, was the wife of Andrew Her- rin.

William E. Price was reared in Mifflin County, and in Wayne Township, Law- rence County. In his early life he learned the trade of a stone mason, which he fol- lowed many years in connection with farming. He has a farm of sixty acres, the place formerly owned by his father-in- law, and has met with much success in his farming operations. He was married in 1885 to Miss Emma A. Brown, a daughter of Campbell and Amanda (Shoemaker) Brown.

Campbell Brown was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and after his mar- riage moved to Wayne Township, Law- rence County, where he owned a farm of sixty acres. His first house was located up on the hill, on the farm, but in 1888, Mr. Brown erected the house in which Mr. Price now lives. He was a Democrat in politics. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church at Slippery Rock. They are parents of the following children : Sarah Jane, wife of J. R. New-

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ton of Wayne Township; Jesse W., who married Mrs. Sarah Thompson and re- sides in Beaver Falls; James A., who mar- ried Miss Lizzie Latimer, is a farmer re- siding in Wayne Township; David M., who married Miss Lizzie Miller. Emma A. (Price) ; Mary E., who was unmarried, died in 1905; Lydia Agnes, wife of Addi- son Newton, resides in Shenango Town- ship; and Evaline is unmarried.

Mr. and Mrs. Price have one son, Camp- bell V., who cultivates the home farm. Re- ligiously, they are members of the Presby- terian Church at Slippery Rock. Mr. Price is a Democrat in politics, and takes an earnest interest in the success of his party.

THOMAS McCOMMON, one of the best known residents of Plain Grove Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, is of prominent old pioneer families of the coun- ty, both paternally and maternally. He was born in Plain Grove Township, March 26, 1824, and is a son of James and Anna (Locke) MeCommon.

James McCommon, father of Thomas, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn- sylvania, and was thirteen years of age when his father moved with his family to Plain Grove Township, Lawrence County. There this hardy old pioneer entered a tract of 400 acres of land, on which he erected a log cabin, made a clearing and engaged in farming the remainder of his days. He was a Whig in politics. He reared a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, and numerous of his descendants are residents of the county at the present time. James McCommon at- tended the primitive schools of the county after the arrival of the family here and as- sisted his father in clearing the farm. He lived on the old home place throughout life, and in addition owned a tract of 100 acres in Pine Grove Township, which he had purchased. He was a well known and respected citizen, and a man of consider- able prominence in his day. He married

Anna Locke, who was born and reared in Lawrence County, and they were parents of seven children, all of whom were born on the old homestead.

Thomas MeCommon was reared on the old home place and attended the old log school house of the district, which was equipped with slab benches and desks, with an old fashioned fire place in one end of the room. He was reared amid the priva- tions and hardships of pioneer life, and early became inured to hard work. During his younger days he worked several years in New Castle, at a time when there were but two houses in that now thriving city. He inherited fifty-four acres of land, which he subsequently sold, then purchased his present farm of fifty-eight acres, the im- provements on which are the results of his own toil. He prospered as a farmer and took rank among the progressive men of the township. He was for a period of fif- teen years overseer of the poor, and served three years as constable, discharging the duties of both offices in a highly acceptable manner.

Mr. McCommon was united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann McConnell, a daugh- ter of John McConnell, who also was of one of the oldest families of the county. They became parents of seven children, six sons and one daughter, all of whom were born on the home place. Politically, Mr. MeCommon is a Republican, and in his younger days was active in the affairs of the party.

M. J. SCANLON, the leading general contractor making a specialty of railroad construction, at New Castle, has been a resident of this city for the past twenty- six years. Although still a young man, having been born in 1877, he has been uni- formly successful in his business enter- prises and is one of the large employers of labor in this section. His father, Patrick J. Scanlon, brought his family to New Cas- tle from Pittsburg, where the son was born. An apt student, M. J. Scanlon completed

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the common school course ahead of many of his classmates and entered into business before they were prepared, trying news- paper work first, then a coal business which naturally led to general hauling and final- ly began to do general contracting, par- ticularly in the line of railroad construc- tion. Mr. Scanlon did the contract con- struction for the third and fourth tracks of the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne Railroad from Wallace Run to Darlington; the rail- road yards for the Pennsylvania Railroad at Sharon; the third and fourth tracks from Lowellville Junction to Youngstown for the Pittsburg & Lake Erie; the third and fourth tracks from New Brighton to Beaver, which was an immense contract, also all the hauling of material and the manufacturing of cement blocks in the new building at West Pittsburg. He has done railroad construction work also at New Castle and many other points, together with a large amount of general contract- ing. At the present writing (1908), he has 275 men in his employ regularly, owns twenty-two of the teams he uses and hires many more. Mr. Scanlon has been provi- dent, wisely investing in a number of the city's prospering enterprises.

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Century history of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Part 111

Author: Hazen, Aaron L. (Aaron Lyle), 1837- comp. and ed. cn Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co. Number of Pages: 1058

Author: Hazen, Aaron L. (Aaron Lyle), 1837- comp. and ed. cn
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1058