Century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Vol. II, Part 104

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co. (Chicago) pbl
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > Washington > Century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Vol. II > Part 104

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On December 5, 1861, Mr. MeIlvain was married to Miss Sarah L. Sloan, who was born at West Middletown, Pa. Her parents were Rev. James and Sarah (Lindsay) Sloan. For eighteen years her father was pastor of the Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church. He and his second wife died at Monongahela City, but the mother of Mrs. McIlvain died at West Middletown when she was a babe. After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. MeIlvain came to the present farm and here their six children were born: Ella, who is the wife of Rev. J. C. Mechlin, a minister of the Presbyterian Church, resides at Fredericksburg, Ohio; William Lindsay, who lives on a part of the old farm; Gertrude, who is the wife of Dr. Edward H. Wood, lives in California; Elmer, who resides at Monon- gahela City; and two died in infancy-Margaret Jane, aged two years, and James Greer, aged but six months. Mr. and Mrs. MeIlvain are members of the Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church, in which he has been an elder for many years. Formerly Mr. MeIlvain was ac- tive in township matters and always was interested in the public schools. For twenty-six years he served as a school director in the Union Independent school dis- trict and for twenty-five of these was secretary of the school board. Mr. and Mrs. Mellvain are among the best known people of this section and they enjoy the. esteem of all.

JOHN P. WHITE, a prominent citizen of Mt. Pleas- ant Township, successfully op ating his valuable farm of 128 acres, situated two ? one-half miles west of Hickory, Pa., was born in Cı Creek Township, Wash- ington County, Pa., March 1858, and is a son of James M. and Elizabeth A. ( .. ughes) White.

James M. White was born in Hopewell Township, Washington County, near Buffalo, in 1832, and attended Buffalo Academy, and after his marriage settled on the farm now owned by his son, John P. White where he continued to live until his death, in 1866, with the ex- ception of one year. In politics he was a Republican but he took no very active part in publie matters. He

married Elizabeth A. Hughes, who was a daughter of James Hughes. She survived him for many years, dying in 1899, and both were buried in the Mt. Prospect Ceme- tery, of which church they worthy members. They had six children : William H., John P., Martha, James G., Edward S. and Albert R.

John P. White attended school in Mt. Pleasant Town- ship and taught school in the same' township for one winter, afterward taking up farm duties and has been interested in agricultural pursuits ever since. He has also been an active citizen and has served long and use- fully in important township offices. For ten years he served as a justice of the peace, in Mt. Pleasant Town- ship, for six year was auditor and for the same length of time served as a member of the school board. His public duties have always been performed faithfully and with the general welfare of all concerned kept in view.

On March 12, 1885, Mr. White. was married to Miss Mary A. MeCalmont, who died in 1898, and was interred at Mt. Prospect. Her father was John MeCalmont. Three children survive her, namely: Mary Elizabeth; James MeCalmont and John T. Mr. White married secondly in 1900, Miss Mary Ann Miller, a daughter of John H. Miller, and they have four children: Edward, Clare, Elizabeth and Rowland.

Following his first marriage, Mr. White resided on a farm in Hopewell Township for two years and then purchased his present farm, the old Hughes place, it having been in possession of the Hughes for 102 years without any deed of conveyance. This property in all probability still holds deposits of coal, oil and gas, Mr. White never having tests made for either. He has im- proved the farm considerably and has a valuable prop- erty and an exceedingly comfortable residence. He is an elder in the Mt. Prospect Presbyterian Church.

JAMES S. ARTHUR, Jr., a representative citizen of Chartiers Township, Washington County, Pa., was born on the old homestead farm of 104 acres, November 17, 1872, and is a son of James S. and Sarah Jane (Palmer) Arthur.

The grandparents were William and Elizabeth Arthur, on the paternal side, and David Palmer was the maternal grandfather. The children of David Palmer were: Thompson, Sarah Jane, Morrison, Elizabeth and Mar- jorie. Mrs. Sarah Jane Arthur still survives, being now in her sixty-seventh year.

To James S. and Sarah Jane Arthur the following children were born: Ida, who resides at Washington, Pa .; William, who was born January 26, 1866, and died Jan- uary 23, 1910 (never married, but passed his life on the homestead engaged in farming. His burial was in the Washington Cemetery) ; Elizabeth, who died in July, 1904, at the age of thirty-seven years (was the wife of

TIERVEY MCMURRAY

MRS. HERVEY MCMURRAY

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

Preston Ketering, of Cadiz, Ohio, and had children- Earl, Lillian, Preston and Sarah, all of whom reside in Ohio) ; Margaret, wife of George Wolf, who has one surviving child, Arthur Wolf, and resides on the William Smith farm in South Strabane Township; James S., our subject; David Clarence, boru in IS74, who resides at home; and George Lawrence, born in June, 1880, who married Mrs. William Uhler, a daughter of William and Catherine Mounts, and has two children, Clinton and Olive, George now being in the employ of the Meadow- lands Coal Company.

James S. Arthur, Sr., was also born and spent his entire life on this farm, his death occurring August 2, 1909. When aged seventy-six years. This property has always been in the Arthur name, having come into the possession of the late James Arthur at the death of an uncle, James Arthur, who died here in 1857. Mr. Arthur left two farms at the time of his death-one of 104 acres on which his widow resides, another of 142 acres on which James, the subject of this sketch, re- sides, besides property in Hickory and Meadowlands, and a valuable tract of coal in Chartiers Township, where mines have been opened and operated by Mr. Arthur and his sons for many years.

James S. Arthur, Jr., the direct subject of this no- tice, obtained his education in the McClain school, and has been engaged in general farming and stock raising ever since he reached man's estate. He has large dairy interests and owns some thoroughbred Jersey and Holstein cattle.

Mr. Arthur married Miss Claudia R. Mounts, a daugh- ter of William and Catherine Mounts, of South Stra- bane Township, and five children have been born to them : Clyde C. (deceased), Glenn Neill, Clifford James, Clark (deceased), and Lillian Catherine. Mr. Arthur and family are members of the Houston United Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Republican but his business interests are too large to permit his giving proper at- tention to public office, and when his fellow citizens elected him assessor, he was obliged to resign before the close of his official term.

The McMURRAY BROTHERS, of Peters Township, Washington County, are descendants of James and Isa- bella (Ballentine) McMurray, who were natives of County Donegal, Ireland, and came to Allegheny County, Pa., in the early part of the nineteenth century.

The founder of the branch of the family in Peters Township was Hervey MeMurray, a son of this couple, who was born in Allegheny County in 1829. He married Emily Mouck December 13, 1855, and in the following year purchased 300 acres of land on Brush Run, Peters Township, known as the "Mesopotamia tract," where he engaged in farming. In 1865 he purchased the grist

mill on Brush Run, which has since been known as Me- Murray's mill. This mill originally stood on the opposite bank of Brush Run from the present mill and was built by William Arthurs, who first operated it as a woolen mill, using water power. Subsequently it was changed to a grist and saw mill and operated by both steam and wa- ter power. The mill was destroyed by fire May 23, 1866, and was replaced by a small chopping mill and a saw mill until 1880, when Mr. MeMurray built the present roller mill, which is operated by steam and has a capacity of fifty barrels of flour per day. In Isss he took into the mill business with him his two sons, John A. and William J., and since the death of the father, in 1902, they have been sole owners and managers. Hervey MeMurray was a man prominent in the public affairs of the township, although he never held public office other than school director. He was instrumental in having a postoffice es- tablished at the mill, known as MeMurrays' postoffice, and was the first postmaster. During the Civil War he took an active part in raising the quota of money for drafts in Peters Township, and so managed affairs that Peters Township raised the amount without incurring a debt. Mr. MeMurray died September 20, 1902, at the age of seventy-three years. ITis wife died December 5, 1894, at the age of sixty five years. They reared a family of nine children.

James H. McMurray, born in 1857, entered the mer- cantile business at MeMurrays in 1879, and was post. master for twenty-one years preceding the establishing of the rural free delivery in 1902, when the office was discontinued. He was elected justice of the peace in 1907 and is the present incumbent of that office. He was one of the organizers and is the president of the MeMurray Telephone Company, and president of the Excelsior Oil and Gas Company, a corporation owned and controlled by the five McMurray brothers. The company has five pro- ducing wells on the MeMurray traet. He married Sadie M. MeCabe, a daughter of Joseph MeCabe, on November 12, 1885, and they have had three children: Laura B., Joseph, and Walter E., deceased.

John A., the second son of Harvey MeMurray, was born in 1861 and engaged in farming until Iss, when he went into the mill with his brother, William J., and his father. Since the death of the father the business has been run under the name of MeMurray Brothers. John A. McMurray never married and resides with his brother, Harvey B., in the old home. He is a director in the MeMurray Telephone Company, and in the Excelsior Oil and Gas Company, and has filled the office of town- ship elerk.

William J., the third son of Harvey MeMurray, was born September 28, 1865. He married Sarah Caklwell, a daughter of William Caldwell of Cannonsburg, former- ly of Allepheny County, on December 15, 1893. and they

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have three children, namely: Elizabeth Caroline, Mary Emily, and Martha Caldwell.

Harvey B., the fourth son, has never married and re- sides on the old homestead.

Charles R. McMurray, the youngest son, married Mary E. MeNary, of Peters Township, and resides at MeMur- ray. The daughters of Hervey MeMurray are: Belle M., who is the widow of G. M. Hill, whose death occurred October 2, 1909; Margaret J., who is the wife of C. G. Matthews; Emma L., who married O. A. Johnston; and Carrie, who married J. H. Fife. Politically the McMur- ray men are Democrats, and the family are members of the Mt. Prospect United Presbyterian Church.

THOMAS H. SUTHERLAND, who is engaged in a general real estate and fire insurance business at Wash- ington, of which place he is a representative citizen in the best sense of the term, was born in East Finley Township, Washington County, Pa., and is a son of James, a grandson of Isaac, and a great-grandson of George Sutherland, whose father, John Sutherland, em- igrated from Scotland in 1772.

The Sutherlands trace an unbroken ancestry back to some of the famous clans of the Scotch Highlands. The founder of the family in America was John Sutherland, who was born in Sutherlandshire, Scotland, and came to the colonies in 1772, residing in Maryland until 1786, in which year he came to Washington County. During his period of residence in Maryland he was an overseer on a plantation and it is said of him that he never once used a lash on the 200 slaves under his charge. Isaac Sutherland, grandfather of Thomas H., was born in Washington County.

James Sutherland, father of the subject of this sketch, with whom he makes his home, being now of advanced age, was born in 1831, in Canonsburg, Washington Coun- ty, Pa. He is well and favorably known all over the county. He married Mary Hutchison, a member of an- other old and representative family of the county.

Thomas H. Sutherland was educated in the public schools of East and West Finley Township, in those of the borongb of Claysville and in the Southwestern State Normal School at California, Pa. For some ten years subsequent Mr. Sutherland was engaged in teaching school, in which occupation he achieved a distinct sue- cess, being well fitted, for the work both naturally and by training. He was teacher for a while in the ad- vanced room of the Claysville high school, spent two terms as principal of the Houston schools and was the first principal of the South Canonsburg public school. The proffer of a lucrative government position took him to Washington, D. C., where he was occupied until 1902, when he came to Washington, Pa., and entered into his

present line of business. He handles city and suburban residence property, besides farming lands and also rep- resents a number of the leading fire insurance companies.

On December 27, 1900, Mr. Sutherland united in mar- riage with Miss Mary H. Shaw, who was born in Char- tiers Township, Washington County. They have two sons, Donald and Alvan, and a daughter, Mary Helen. In 1884, Mr. Sutherland became a member of the United Presbyterian Church and he is active in church and Sunday school work. He has never been very actively interested in politics.

JOHN B. SCHAFER, vice-president of the Charleroi Merchants' Association, and a manufacturing jeweler, located at No. 515 MeKean avenne, Charleroi, Washing- ton County, Pa., has been in the jewelry line at this place since the summer of 1898. He was born at Pitts- burg, Pa., November 14, 1868, a son of George and Eliz- abeth Schafer.

Mr. Schafer was reared at Pittsburg and after leaving school learned the jewelry trade which he followed in that city until 1898, when he came to Charleroi. He erected the fine two-story brick business block in which he has his store, and he and family occupy the second floor as a residence, it being equipped with modern com- forts and conveniences. It is a very attractive struc- ture and has a frontage of twenty-two feet on Mckean avenue, and a depth of 100 feet. The reasons why many people visit Charleroi to shop instead of going to Pitts- burg is found in the existence of such establishments as Mr. Schafer's that have given the town its excellent reputation through western Pennsylvania. He carries a very large stock which includes everything to be found in an up-to-date jewelry store in the large cities. He understands also how to advantageously display his goods and has made his store one of the show places of the town. His arrangement of jewelry, ent glass, vases, diamonds, watches, clocks and silverware, is very pleas- ing. He does a large amount of manufacturing, mainly for his own retail trade and is very happy in bis special designs, of which he makes a specialty. He employs expert workmen and has five assistants, two of whom are salesladies acquainted with the trade. He also conducts a large repair department and employs only well quali- fied people for that branch of the business.

Mr. Schafer married Miss Della E. Kline and they have five children : Anna, Jolin, Isabel, Bernard and Florence. With his family he belongs to St. Jerome Catholic Church at Charleroi. Although a very busy business man, he neglects neither his eivie or social duties, always be- ing ready to do his duty as a citizen and is identified with numerous fraternal organizations. These include the Knights of Columbus, the C. M. B. A., the Royal

٢-٢

GEORGE DELL MCNUTT

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Arcanum, and the Elks. He is a man of charitable im- pulses and his benefactions to worthy objects are fre- quent but unostentatious.

JAMES MORGAN CRAWFORD, one of Canonburg's respected retired citizens, and a veteran of the great Civil War, was born on the Morganza tract, in Washing- ton County, Pa., November 18, 1830, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Quivey) Crawford.

Benjamin Crawford was born in Washington County in 1801 and died on his farm near Linden, in North Strabane Township, in advanced age. He married Eliza- beth Quivey, who was a daughter of one of the old set- tlers of Washington County, Daniel Quivey. She was born February 29, 1806, and died in North Strabane Township. They had four sons and four daughters born to them, namely: Daniel Quivey, James M., Margaret, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Nancy, Maria and John. Of the above family, Daniel Quivey Crawford married Jane Chubbic, and they had three daughters and two sons: Bathsheba, who did no marry; Joseph Morgan, who died aged two years; Una Dellena, who died at the age of twenty-three years; Daniel Q., who is a lumber merchant residing on Main street, Canonsburg; and Lou Jane, who is the wife of Jolin C. Rodgers and resides at Canonsburg. Margaret, who is now deceased, was the wife of Samuel Phillips. Elizabeth, who resides in North Strabane Township, is the widow of William Burton. They had one daughter, now deceased, who was the wife of Frank Gamble. Benjamin, who died at Gastonville, married Caroline Cochran and left one son, William. Nancy mar- ried L. Henry and they reside near Finleyville. Maria died when aged four years. John Crawford, residing near Bower Hill, married Mary Jane Casespeer, and they had five sons and one daughter-William, who is now deceased; Clarence, who married Alice Withrow; Harry; Elmer; Everett, and Mamie, who married Jacob Roth- haar.

James Morgan Crawford was one year old when his parents moved to North Strabane Township and there he spent the greater part of his life, having resided in . his present home, in Canonsburg, for the past four years. He occupied himself in youth and early manhood on the home farm, but when the Civil War broke out he deter- mined to enter the army, and on September 6, 1862, en- listed in Co. D, 22nd Pa. Cav., known as the famous Ringgold Battery. For three years he endured the hard- ships of a soldier's life, facing almost constant danger, as he was detailed as a scont. He participated in some great battles, including Gettysburg, and was honorably discharged and mustered out on May 27, 1865. He is a valued member of Sergt. Thomas Paxton Post, G. A. R., at Canonsburg.

At the close of his military service Mr. Crawford en- tered the employ of a general farmer in Lee County, Iowa. lle remained there for about eleven years and then returned to Washington County, his western employer having became a bankrupt, which caused Mr. Crawford to lose several thousand dollars. He again worked as a farmer in his native county but finally retired to Canons- burg. He has witnessed many changes here in his life- time and can recall a period when there were but two houses in what is now South Canonsburg. He has cast his vote with the Republican party ever since 1862.

GEORGE DELL MeNUTT, cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Canonsburg, Pa., and a business man well known in this part of the country, was born in Chartiers Township, near Houston, Pa., and is a son of William A. and Nancy (Weaver) MeNutt. The sub- jeet of this sketch comes from an old family. His grandfather on his father's side of the house, William MeNutt, came from Ireland at the age of thirteen years, and his grandmother, Rachel, from Wales, at the age of seven, locating in Chester County, near Philadelphia. Pa. The grandparents on his father's side were John and Mary Weaver. The former came from Chester County to Canonsburg in 1800, and in 1801 married Mary McMillan, daughter of Dr. John McMillan, of Jefferson Leg College fame.

William A. MeNutt, his father, came to this county when a boy of seven years with his parents, they settling in Chartiers Township. He was born in 1822 and died in 1881, at the age of fitty nine years, having spent his life on the farm. The family of which he was a mem- ber numbered besides himself, the following children: Jehu D., who graduated at Jefferson College, Canons- burg, in the Class of '56, now a resident of Boulder, Col .; James, who after residing a number of years in Missouri, died in that State; Catherine D., a resident of Boulder, Cal .; Rachel, now deceased, who was the wife of. James Irvin, of Missouri; Sophia wife oť Richard Morris, of Missouri, and Elizabeth, wife of Price Cornwell, of Ohio. William A. McNutt, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a resident of Hope- well Township, this county, at the time of his death.

His wife, Nancy, was a daughter of John Weaver, and was born in Canonsburg and died in 1893 at the age of seventy years. The following were her brothers and sisters: Dr. John B. Weaver, who for many years prac- ticed medicine in Canonsburg and died in that city; Thomas, who lived and died in Cecil Township; Samuel, who died in Canonsburg; Jane Jeffrey, who was a resi- dent of Ohio at the time of her death; Mrs. Catherine White, whose life was passed chiefly in Illinois, where she, too, died; Margaret Perry, wife of John Perry, who

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

died in Missouri; aud Polly, wife of Wilson Lesnett, of Bridgeville, now deceased.

William A. and Nancy (Weaver) MeNutt were the parents of the following children: John, who enlisted during the Civil War in Co. G, 140th Pa. Vol., was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg and died the fol- lowing day, and whose body now rests in the National Cemetery there; William, who died in Chartiers Town- ship, aged twenty-eight years, unmarried; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel H. White, of Cecil Township; Rachel, deceased, who was the wife of John A. Berry, vice presi- dent of the First National Bank of Houston, Pa .; Mary, wife of R. A. Manson, of Canonsburg; Joseph K., a resident of Houston, Pa., and cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of that place; Catherine, wife of J. Wilbur Munnell, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Canonsburg, Pa. The eldest child of the family, named Mary, died in infancy.

George D. McNutt acquired his early education in District School No. 5 in Chartiers Township and in Houston, Pa., later attending school in Mt. Pleasant Township. He then took a course in Duff's Business College, Pittsburg. After leaving the business college, or about 1885, he accepted a position in the shoe store of J. W. Hiles, remaining six months, and at the end of that time became bookkeeper in the Canonsburg Bank Limited, and in 1890 was elected cashier of same. On the organization of the First National Bank in the fol- lowing year, he became its cashier, which position he has filled acceptably up to the present time. He is also a director in the First National Bank of Houston, Pa., and the Canonsburg Steel & Iron Works, and is treas- urer of the Cecil Improvement Company. He was for some time a director in the Standard Tin Plate Com- pany until that company changed hands. Since 1890 he has taken an active part in the development of Canonsburg, and his labors in this direction have been productive of lasting results.

Mr. MeNutt was married in July, 1890, to Miss Alice R. Fife, a daughter of John and Mary (Adams) Fife, of Canonsburg, who was formerly from Allegheny County. Mrs. MeNutt's parents both died in Canous- burg. She received her education in Allegheny County and in Canonsburg, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. McNutt are the parents of three children, viz .: Nancy Olive, John Will- iam and Mary Adams, all of whom are attending school. The eldest daughter will graduate from the Canons- burg High School in the Class of 1910.

The subject of this sketch and his wife are both mem- bers of the First Presbyterian Church, he being also a member of the Session and of the board of trustees. He is a Republican in politics and has served the town as school director for six years, and is now treasurer of

the school board. The family residence is at No. 224 West Pike street, Canonsburg, Pa.

JOSEPH KAMMERER, postmaster at Kammerer, Washington County, Pa., and proprietor of a general store and also of flour mills at this point, also owns a farm of 225 acres in Nottingham Township near Kam- merer and a second farm situated uear Mingo, Pa. Mr. Kammerer is a member of an old and important family of this section and the family name has been given to the town of Kammerer and to many of the most flour- ishing industries of the place. Joseph Kammerer was born in his present home, May 20, 1835, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Bender) Kammerer.

John Kammerer was born in Germany, in October, 1789, and died at Kammerer, Pa., July 24, 1856. He was a mechanic, millwright and carpenter, and as an expert workman was sent to America by the German gov- ernment. He came to the United States with the expec- tation of completing his required task in two years and of then returning to his native land. Subsequent events following his locating in Baltimore, Md., cansed him, however, to decide to remain in America. He later reached Pittsburg, went from there to Wheeling, W. Va., and later to Washington, Pa., and assisted in the work on the old National Turnpike Road. In the course of years he became a man of large consequence in this section and through his enterprise started industries which resulted in the rapid settlement of the section in which the larger part of his life was speut. He had left in Germany his wife and six children. In 1833 they came to America, landing at Baltimore, after a sixty- days journey on board a sailing vessel. From Baltimore Mrs. Kammerer worked her way on with her children until she reached Kammerer and rejoined her husband.

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Century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Vol. II, Part 104

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co. (Chicago) pbl Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 898

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co. (Chicago) pbl
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898