Century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Vol. II, Part 105

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 105

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In 1831 John Kammerer started the Kammerer gen- eral store, in which his son, Joseph Kammerer first be- came a clerk and later the owner and still continues pro- prietor. In 1831 he, John, built the Kammerer Hotel, and this building still stands, a few hundred yards east of the store building, which he built in 1839. He ope- rated the hotel until I856. From that time until 1873 it was run by Joseph Kammerer, son of John Kammerer, who in 1872 was appointed postmaster of Kammerer postoffice, and who is still holding that office. In 1846 John Kammerer built a mill which was burned in 1849. On the same site he erected the mill which is now stand- ing, in 1849-50. It is built of stone with tile roof, and its original dimensions were thirty-five by forty-five feet, with boiler house sixteen by forty-five feet. Addi- tions have been made to accommodate increasing trade aud its present owner has installed new machinery five times since taking charge. 'It. is now a strictly modern plant with Nordyke & Marmon machinery, with

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

rolls for ton breaks and six reductions, Nordyke & Mar mon sitter, George T. Smith purifiers, low grade reel, redresser and three-high Monitor feed mill. Of the nine mills that in 1849-50 were located on Pigeon Crock and the seven on Mingo Creek and the 100-barrel mill at Monongahela, all have disappeared, leaving the Kam- merer mill the only one within a radius of ten miles of the village of Kammerer. It is located on the turnpike road about eight miles west of Monongahela City, this road being the boundary line between Somerset and Not- tingham Townships, the village lying partly in both.

John Kammerer was first married in Germany, to Mar- garet G. Tigar, who died in that country in 1830. The children born to that marriage were as follows: Mary Ann, born December 16, 1821; Barbara, born August 11, 1823; John, born May 20, 1825, died in 1849; and Martin, born June 8, 1827, who died June 24, 1890.

John Kammerer married for his second wife Elizabeth Bender, who was born July 21, 1800, and died May 10, 1859. The children of the second marriage were the following: John, born July 17, 1831. died October 20. 1887; Joseph, born May 20, 1835; Elizabeth, born Feb- ruary 28, 1837; Jacob, born November 22, 1838, died July 27, 1839; William Sebastian, born February 23, 1843; and Franklin Gregor, born February 24. 1845. Four children of John Kammerer are living, namely : Joseph, Elizabeth, William Sebastian and Franklin Greg. or, the two last named being residents of Chicago, Ill.

Joseph Kammerer has been a life-long resident of Kammerer. In 1852 he entered his father's store and it has been under his management ever since. He bought his first stock of goods in that year, in Philadelphia. The store at the present writing is one well stocked with mp-to-date merchandise of all kinds and Mr. Kammerer deals also in all kinds of implements, grain and produce. groceries, boots and shoes, in fact provides for all the reasonable demands of the whole surrounding section. A late improvement introduced into his mill equipment is a Bessemer gas engine. This mill makes a market for all the wheat grown in this section of the county. Its main brand of flour, the "Ocean Spray," was put on the market in 1860 and still is in contstant demand, it being estimated that thousands of families in this part of the State have used it for almost the half century.

Joseph Kammerer was also a manufacturer of Mo- nongahela Pure Rye Whiskey from 1859 to 1897. In the year of the June frost (1859), seeing that there would not be any wheat in this section to grind, he bought wheat in St. Louis, Mo., which cost, f. o. b. wharf boat at Monongahela, Pa., $2.75 per bushel. Flour sold at $17.00 to $20.00 per barrel. In this same year he bought a small second-hand distillery and placed it in the base- ment of his flour mill. This was only a ten-bushel honse. Ile ran this for about two years, when he built

a separate building and increased the capacity to twenty bushels. Not having sufficient water to run the flour mill and distillery, he, in 1882, bought a piece of prop- erty on Mingo Creek and removed his distillery to this property and increased the capacity to thirty bushels. After 1862 an internal revenue . officer was placed here, and the distillery and bonded warehouse was in charge of an officer from that date forward for over forty years. Kammerer Pure Monongahela Rye Whiskey had a wide reputation for fine quality, and was sold and shipped to almost every State east of the Mississippi for medicinal purposes. This distillery was burned dowu on June 26, 1897, being a total loss, but the bond house in which was stored 11,000 gallons of whiskey was not destroyed. lle never rebuilt the distillery, but continued to supply his customers until his stock was exhausted, and then went ont of the liquor business.

Joseph Kammerer married, April 6, 1860, Miss Lu- einda Howdin, and they had five children born to them: Elizabeth, who is the wife of Jacob Hough; Margaret, who is the widow of Edward Long, and assists her father in the store; Joseph, who died at the age of twenty- eight years; James Alvin; and Annie Barbara, who is the wife of Addison Morrison. The mother of these children died in 1895, and Mr. Kammerer married for his second wife, Mrs. Annie Gamble, widow of John Gamble.

O. K. TAYLOR, JR., C. E., who fills the position of eity engineer at Washington, Pa., of which place he has been a resident for six years, was born of Quaker parentage, in West Pike Run Township, Washington County, Pa., in December, 1868, ou the farm known as "Rosedale," which was once the home of the eminent civil engineer, Jonathan Knight. Mr. Taylor's father, O. K. Taylor, was born September, 1829, in West Pike Run Township, where his father, Samuel Taylor, had settled at an earlier day. Over forty years ago O. K. Taylor organized the Deposit and Discount Bank, now the National Deposit Bank of Brownsville, Pa., which bank now stands on the roll of honor of national banks, as second in the United States, second in the county, and first in the town of Brownsville. The mother of O. K. Taylor, Jr., was Carolina Virginia Taylor, nee Moore, a daughter of Nicolas Moore, who was a prominent civil engineer, of Chester County, Pa., and Mary Elizabeth Moore, nee Mendenhall. on whose father's homestead the battle of Brandywine was fought during the war.

O. K. Taylor, Jr., was educated in the public schools of Centerville, the graded schools of Brownsville, and Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa. He took up eivil en- gineering as a profession, and for the past five years has been engineer for the Washington Borongh. Previ- ous to coming to Washington he was borough engineer

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

of Canonsburg and has held various other responsible positions with railroads and coal mining companies, such as principal assistant chief engineer People's Coal Co .; principal assistant chief masonry inspector, P. T. & W. R. R. Co. (Wabash) ; first assistant to engineer branch lines, Penna. R. R. Co .- M. R. C. & C. Co .; B. & O. R. R. Co .; engineer and assistant engineer in other places and towns.

Mr. Taylor was married in January, 1901, to Miss Roxana Rist Whitsett, a daughter of the late Dr. Ralph C. Whitsett, a practicing physician of Scenery Hill, and Emma Whitsett, nee Ross, who was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Ross, of near Lone Pine. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have two children: Carolina Virginia, Roxana Ogareta. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are members of the First Christian Church at Washington. He is somewhat ac- tive in politics and fraternally is identified with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, his college fraternity, the B. P. O. Elks and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

FRANK LE MOYNE ARNOLD, a member of a pion- eer family of Chartiers Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, which was established bere in 1803, is one of the leading farmers and stock raisers in this section and, in association with his brother, James G. Arnold, owns the old homestead farm of 240 acres. He was born at Washington, Pa., April 6; 1866, and is a son of Joseph K. and Maria E. (Stewart) Arnold.

Henry Arnold, who was born in Germany in 1790, was the first of the Arnolds to come to Chartiers Township. In 1815 he married Elizabeth McMillan, a native of east- ern Pennsylvania, who was then eighteen years of age. Her parents were Robert and Sarah McMillan, of Scotch-Irish descent. Henry Arnold and wife probably went to housekeeping on the McMillan farm in Chartiers Township, as that family had settled in the township in 1803. He became a useful and prominent man, was one of the leading adherents of the Associate Reformed Church, was a progressive and successful farmer and a strong man in the Whig party in this section of the county. He died in 1842. His widow survived him many years, her death occurring in 1879. The children born to Henry and Elizabeth Arnold were as follows:

Levi, born in 1816, married Jane Donaldson, of Can- nonsburg, and they had ten childrden, the present sur- vivors being Mary, wife of Dr. Clark, of Pittsburg; John, who married a Miss Smith, of Cannonsburg; Etta, wife of Rev. Renix, an evangelist, and Simon and Sadie, of Cannonsburg.

Simon Arnold, born in 1817, was married in 1861 to Josephine McMillan, of Cambridge, Ohio. In 1862 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania

Volunteer Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Get- tysburg, July 2, 1863. His wife had died a few weeks previously.

Robert Arnold, born April 21, 1820, was married in 1845 to Rachel Morrow, of Washington County. He was a blacksmith by trade, also conducted a grocery store at Washington for a time, but later moved to Pittsburg and was in business there on the corner of Second and Smith- field streets. Twenty years later he moved to Houston, where he died April 26, 1886. He is survived by a widow and five sons, Henry H., John Morrow, Robert, James S., and William. Of this family James S. and William are living in Pittsburg and John M. in California.

Henry Arnold, who was born February 22, 1822, died in 1844.

Nancy Jane Arnold, born April 17, 1824, married Thomas Wallace and they settled in Knox County, Ohio, where two daughters were born to them-Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Hanna, of Claysville, and Jennie, wife of James L. Lindsey, of Columbus, Ohio. Mrs. Wallace died in October, 1883.

John Arnold, born March 14, 1826, married Mary Ann Anderson, a native of Virginia. He enlisted for service in the Civil War, entering Company B, One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and fought in all the engagements of the Army of the Potomac until the close of the war. He returned home, only to find that his wife had died in the meanwhile. He was accidentally killed at Washington, Pa., in 1869, and was survived by five children-John Logan, born in 1853, who died De- cember 25, 1881; Anna (deceased), who was the wife of William White of Chartiers Township; George, a resident of Chartiers Township, who was born December 28, 1857; William, born in 1859, who lives in West Virginia; and Elizabeth, born April 26, 1861, who married Samuel Mor- gan, of Washington.

Sarah Arnold, born in March, 1828, married William Harsha. They settled first in Ohio, but later moved to McLean County, Illinois, where Mr. Harsha died in 1872. His widow and the following children survived: William H. (residing in Missouri), Maggie, Lizzie, Jennie, Hattie, Simon, Samuel Farley, Wilson, Joseph, and James. ,

Elizabeth Arnold, born February 12, 1831, married Samuel Farley and died in February, 1864, leaving four children-James, of Boston, Pa .; Samuel (deceased), who married Anna Manifold, the latter now residing at Wash- ington; Elizabeth, who died June 14, 1890, who was the wfe of John Manifold; and Esthier Ann, who is the wife of D. M. Stewart, of Cross Creek Township. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have three children-Sarah, Elizabeth, and Samuel.

Wilson Arnold was born in Chartiers Township July 27, 1836, on the farm on which Frank Le Moyne Arnold

RESIDENCE OF FRANK LEMOYNE ARNOLD, CHARTIERS TOWNSHIP The persons shown in picture are the children of Joseph K. Arnold and their wives and children, except Joseph Julius Arnold and family. )

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now lives. He was associated with his brother, Joseph K. Arnold, in farming and stock raising for many years, his farm containing 240 acres of well cultivated land. He was a consistent member of the United Presbyterian Church at Houston. In politics he was a Democrat. His death occurred March 27, 1896.

Joseph K. Arnold, father of Frank Le Moyne Arnold, was born in Chartiers Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, March 28, 1838. IIe was reared to man- hood on the homestead and on June 1, 1864, was mar- ried to Maria Stewart, of Cross Creek Township, Wash- ington County, who died December 26, 1872. Three eliil- dren were born of this marriage: Frank Le Moyne, whose name begins this article; Sadie Belle, born November 29, 1867, who was accidentally drowned on February 10, 1880, in company with two sons of John Allison and John Kerdeck, the children being on their way home from the Allison schoel; and Simon H., now of Houston, Pa. The last mentioned was born July 29, 1870, and married on August 17, 1892, Nannie W. Berry, of North Strabane Township. She was born December 23, 1872, in Washı- ington, Pa., where they resided on a farm until February, 1895, when Mr. Arnold opened a hardware and general store in Houston, in the operation of which he is still engaged. To them have been born the following chil- dren: Clair Wilson Arnold, born July 29, 1896; Robert Sprowls Arnold, born April 13, 1899; Lillie Berry Arnold, born November 7, 1902; Frank Lindsay Arnold, born September 20, 1905, and Glenn Lewis Arnold, born Feb- rnary 23, 1907.

On April 29, 1875, Joseph K. Arnold married for his second wife Mary L. Black. She was born at Canonsburg October 2, 1847, and died January 8, 1904. She was a daughter of John E. Black, who was born in 1814 in Al- legheny County, Pennsylvania. He was married in 1840 to Alice Hanson, of Cecil Township, Washington County. Later he settled at Canonsburg where he became a promi- nent merchant and banker. He was treasurer of Wash- ington and Jefferson College. He was a ruling elder in the Associate Reformed Church at Canonsburg and was active and useful in public affairs. His death occurred in December, 1868. His widow survived him until the spring of 1904. Jeseph K. and Mary (Black) Arnold had the following children: Catherine W., born June 11, 1878, who married Horace E. Chamberlin, a shoe mer- chant at East Palestine, Ohio; Joseph, born August 21, 1882, who died aged three weeks; James G., born July 24, 1884; and Joseph J., born December 9, 1885, who married June 23, 1904, Miss Fern Smith, of Ada, Har- din County, Ohio, and has one child, Katharine Eliza- beth Arnold, born July 23, 1908. Mr. Arnold now holds a position with the Thomas D. Murphy Art Calendar Company, of Red Oak, Iowa. At present he

is stationed in Cincinnati, Ohio. Joseph K. Arnold died January 29, 1904. He was a staneh Democrat all his life and was an equally consistent member of the United Presbyterian Church.

Frank Le Moyne Arnold has lived on the present.farm since he was a babe six months old. He attended the Allison School in boyhood, and later spent a year at Jef- ferson Academy, Canonsburg. He owns 120 acres of land and he and brother, James G., are joint owners of the homestead. Ever since the death of his father Mr. Arneld has been manager of the large estate. The father had been an extensive farmer and stock raiser and the sons have continued these industries, about 100 head of sheep and fifty head of cattle being kept by them. Mr. Frank L. Arnold also owns property in Washington-a building used for wholesale purposes- and has an interest in a brick building and lot in Hous- ton. He has besides a tenth interest in the Alexander Land Company and a tenth interest in the Alexander Brick Company. He is a member of the United Presby- terian Church.

James G. Arnold also owns 110 acres of land and is largely interested in the dairy industry, keeping thirty- four bead of milch cows and shipping to Pittsburg. He has a very fine dairy, constructed according to the latest sanitary rules, with cement floors and all recent im- provements. Both house and barn are supplied with the purest ef water from a deep well drilled on a high ele- vation, from which the water is pumped into a large cemented reservoir by a gasoline engine, from which every field on the farm can be supplied. The barn is also lighted throughout with gas supplied from the farm. There is also a No. 1 one hundred ton silo and a springhouse with cemented floors, and troughs in close proximity, the silo being at the west gable and the springhouse at the east gable. It is one of the best equipped and most up-to-date barns in the county, as is also his dairy, consisting of thoroughbreds, Holsteins and Jerseys, to the value of about $1,500. The milk is shipped to Pittsburg by street cars and is loaded at the stop at the homestead, making it very convenient for both freight and passenger traffic. Between Pittsburg, Pa., and Washington, Pa., passenger cars run every hour from 5:30 a. m. till 11:30 p. m., and two freight cars in either direction both morning and evening.

On October 3, 1906, James G. Arnold was married to Miss Lola M. Phillips, a daughter of the late DeKalb Phillips, of Cecil Township, this county. They have two children: George Dickson, born July 5, 1907, and Mary Isabelle, born November 27, 1909.

Upon the old Arnold homestead already described there stands one of the most up-to-date schools to be found in the rural districts, which is the more conveni-

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ently located from the fact of the street cars stopping at its doors.

EDWIN H. BEAZELL, manager of the Canonsburg plant of the Fort Pitt Bridge Works at Canonsburg, Pa., resides in a beautiful home situated at No. 230 Belmont avenue, one of the most desirable locations in the borough. Mr. Beazell was born at Alliance, Stark County, Ohio, September 27, 1865, and is a son of John S. and Ella ( Woodruff) Beazell.

The late John S. Beazell, father of Edwin H., was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., and was a son of Benja- min F. and Sarah Beazell. After graduating from the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, John S. Beazell engaged in the practice of law for ten years at Chillicothe, Mo. He saw service during the Civil War, under two of the most distinguished Union leaders, Generals Kilpatrick and Custer. He was a mem- ber of the staff of both officers. His death occurred at Saginaw, Mich., in 1897, when aged fifty-nine years. He married Ella Woodruff, who was born at Talmadge, Summit County, Ohio, and now resides at Canonsburg. Her father, Dr. Edwin Woodruff, was born near New Haven, Conn. The family also can trace elose relation- ship to the Fells, one of whom was a signer of the Dec- laration of Independence. To John S. Beazell and wife two children were born: Edwin S., and a danghter who died aged eighteen months.

Edwin H. Beazell obtained his early education in the public schools and spent one year at the State Normal School at Kirksville, Mo., later entering Lehigh Univer- sity, at South Bethlehem, Pa., where he graduated in the class of 1890 as a civil engineer. He then went to the C. B. & Q. Railroad and followed his profession for .one year in Wyoming. From there he went to the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Michigan Railroad and remained in the northern part of Michigan until the fall of 1892, when he returned to Pennsylvania. For five years following he was in the employ of the Keystone Bridge Company at Pittsburg, in the drafting and engineering department, during this time residing at Wilkinsburg. In the fall of 1897 he became connected with the Fort Pitt Bridge Works and in the spring of 1899 came to Canonsburg, where he has resided ever since. He has invested in property and is one of the solid, reliable men of the borough.

On October 9, 1899, Mr. Beazell was married to Miss Ida F. Couch, a daughter of Edward J. and Mary J. Couch, of Ridgefield, Conn. She was educated at Hack- (ttstown, N. J., and is a graduate of the Teachers' Col- lege of New York City, which is affiliated with Colum- bia University. Mr. and Mrs. Beazell have one daughter, Margaret C., was was born August 27, 1906. They are members of the Episcopal Church.

B. F. MeCLURE, dealer in hardware, agricultural im- plements and vehicles at Burgettstown, Pa., was born at Washington, Washington County, Pa., February 12, 1846, and is a son of Dr. Robert and Eleanor (Ruth) MeClure.

Dr. Robert MeCInre for many years was a successful medical practitioner in Washington County, belonging to the Thompsonian School of Medicine. His death oe- curred at Washington in 1852. He married Eleanor Ruth, a daughter of John Ruth. She died at Burgetts- town in 1872. In religious faith they were members of the Society of Friends. They had seven children of whom two survive: Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Campbell.

B. F. McClure's schooling was limited on account of an early effort toward making a living, to a few winter terms at the old Washington, Ginger Hill and West Middletown common schools.

In the Civil War B. F. MeClure enlisted February 23, 1864, in Co. A, 100th Pa. Vol. Inf., the famous "Ronnd Head" regiment.

He participated in all the battles of the regiment from the Wilderness to Petersburg, Va. At the battle of the mine explosion after the charge, while on top of the wrecked Confederate fort, he was wounded in the left leg and was disabled from resuming his duties at the front. He was honorably discharged July 24, 1865.

This wound was a complicated one, the ball entering the outer face of the leg just below the knee, coming out at the tendon of the heel, injuring both branches of the sciatic nerve. Gangrene set in, eating to the bone, and the torn tendon, muscles and nerves aggluti- nated in a knot at the ankle, causing severe strain and pain. The leg gradually gave out and the difficulty from the wound extended, affecting the left side and arm. His vigorous constitution and general good health com- hined with strong will power enabled him to resist the encroachment of the wound for many years, but the condition growing worse and incurable with the intense suffering will compel him to retire from the firm and abandon business.

At the close of the war he returned to West Middle- town and worked, as formerly, as a laborer, teamster and farmer until the spring of 1870. He came to Bur- gettstown where he engaged in the hardware business. In 1874 Mr. MeClure admitted his brother A. C. MeClure into partnership and the firm became B. F. MeClure & Bro. He has been a man of euterprise and publie spirit. and while his own interests have increased in value he has contributed to the advancement of the town by investing in other enterprises and by encouraging general im- provements and the location here of outside capital. He is a stockholder and former director in the Guardian Trust Company, of Pittsburg. In polities Mr. MeClure is a Republican, but for a number of years an independ-

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ent voter. During the administration of President Har- rison he was postmaster at Burgettstown, and was a mem- ber of the first town council. He belongs to G. A. R. Post, No. 120, at Washington, Pa. Although not identi- fied with any religious body, he has always been a liberal supporter of the different churches.

MORTON BLACK, teller of Alexander & Company Bank, of Monongahela City, with which he has been identified since 1876, has been a life-long resident of this eity, and is a son of Mareus and Martha ( Morton) Black.

Marcus Black was born in Washington County, Pa., and was a son of Samuel Black, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to this country at an early period and settled on a tract of 400 acres in Carroll Township, this county. Samuel Black also owned property in Pitts- burg. where he had a ferry boat in operation. lle died on his farm in Carroll Township at an advanced age. lle was the father of twelve children, of whom Mareus was one. The father of our subject was born and spent his entire life in this part of Pennsylvania. Marens Black followed farming principally, and came into possession of part of the old home farm, where he died at the age of forty-eight years. He was survived by his widow, Martha Morton Black, a native of Washington County. who was of Seoteh-Irish extraction. She died at the age of sixty years at Monongahela City. Five children were born to Mareus and Martha Black; Ella, deceased; Mary, who is the widow of William Boggs; Samuel. deceased ; Morton, the subject of this sketch; and Belle,' deceased.

Morton Black spent his early boyhood days on the farm and in Monongahela City, where he attended the public schools until fifteen years of age. He then worked for G. G. Kearn, a grocer of Monongahela City for five years, after which he elerked one year in the R. C. King drug store, then went to Montana for a short time. He was then employed six years by a wholesale grocery house at St. Joe, Mo., first as a shipping clerk, then for two years as a traveling salesman, and about 1873 returned to Monongahela City, where he was for a time engaged in the real estate business. In 1876 he entered the em- ploy of Alexander & Co., bankers of Monongahela. with whom he has since continued, and has been promoted with the growth of that institution, from clerk to paying teller.

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Century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Vol. II, Part 105

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