Century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Vol. II, Part 78

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 78

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Harry Mills was practically reared in Mason County, W. Va., where his father worked some time in the mine, but when a small boy his parents removed to Kansas, where the father owned a farm, which forms a part of the present site of Kansas City and after a few years the family returned to Mason County, W. Va., where Mr. Mills later began working in a nail factory. In 1892 Mr. Mills came to California, where he has since been engaged in operating a meat market and a slaugh- ter house, which he for some time owned in partnership with G. T. Wilkinson, whose interest in the business he subsequently purchased. In 1907 he organized the Cali- fornia Provision Company, of which he has been presi- dent and manager since its organization, and of which W. A. Roberts is vice president and G. T. Wilkinson, secretary and treasurer. Their plant, which is located just outside the borough limits, and their three markets, which are all in the vicinity of California, give employ- ment to fifteen men, Mr. Mills is a self-made man in every sense of the word and is recognized as one of Cali-

fornia's most successful business men and is widely known throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania as a cattle buyer. He owns considerable real estate in California, having six dwellings, and his own residence is located on Third street near the new park. He has been a member of the Council since his election in 1907, and is a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is fraternally a member of the Elks and the I. O. O. F. and the Royal Arcanum.

Mr. Mills was married in Mason County, W. Va., in 1882 to Mary Ellen Aston, who is a daughter of Thomas and Hannah Jones (Utley) Aston, and they have reared eight children: Harry Willard, who resides at Grove City, Pa .; Hannab Jones, who attends the State Normal School at California; Gladys, who also attends the Nor- mal School at California, Pa .; Hilda and Marie, twins, who also attend the Normal School; George W. Kepler Mills; Alberta Virginia; and James Mark.

VIRGIL M. MeDOWELL, who owns fifty-five acres of very valuable land on the Midway Borough line, and also operates a coal mine which belongs to the Pittsburg Coal Company, is a member of an old Mercer County family that came to Washington County in 1877. He was born at Sharon, Mercer County, Pa., February 11, 1861, and is a son of Jonathan and Nancy W. (Page) MeDowell.

The father of Mr. McDowell died when the latter was three years old. In early manhood he followed the cabinetmaking trade, but later engaged in farming in Mercer County. He left three children: J. B., Sarah and Virgil M. Mrs. McDowell remained a widow for some time and then married Rev. John Moses, formerly of Sharon, Pa., but later a highly esteemed resident of Midway. He was the organizer of the First Baptist Church at Midway and was its pastor for twenty-five years. Both he and wife are now deceased and sleep in the Center Cemetery at Midway. To the second mar- riage of the mother of Mr. McDowell three children were born, namely: Charles S .; Carrie N., who is the wife of Charles Zeigler; and Margaret, who is the wife of Dr. J. M. Moore, of Midway, Pa. To Rev. Moses by a previons marriage, the following children were born : Elizabeth, who married Andrew Spears; Agnes, who mar- ried Wesley W. Kennedy; Anna, who married James Baker; Jane, who married Wills Collins; and Catherine, who married Jacob Spachman.

Virgil M. McDowell was educated in the public schools of his native place, of Hubbard, Ohio, and of Midway, and also attended the High School at Sharon, He is known as an excellent business man at Midway, and here the larger part of his interests are centered. In April, 1882, he married Miss Anna Eva Eathorne, a daughter of William and Anna Eathorne. Mrs. Mc-

JOSEPH UNDERWOOD, SR.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

Dowell had one brother, William J., and a sister, Jennie, the latter of whom, who is now deceased, was the wife of Willis T. Hamilton. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Eathorne was married to Mrs. Caroline (Car- ter) Roberts, and they now reside at Carnegie. To the second marriage the following children were born : Thomas; Minnie, who is the wife of John Barnhart ; Carrie, who is the wife of Albert Rimby; Leeve, who is the wife of Walter Douglass; and Albert, Bessie and Grace. Mr. and Mrs. MeDowell have had six children, namely: Cora Edna, who is the wife of James Russell; and William W., John M., Rose, Clarence E. and Charles, the last named being now deceased. Mr. MeDowell and family attend the Baptist Church at Midway. He is identified with the order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Midway Valley Lodge No. 888.

JOSEPH UNDERWOOD, Sr., residing at Roseoe, Washington County, Pa., is one of the best known men in the Monongahela Valley, where he has been connected with the coal industry for many years and has large financial interests in at least a dozen representative banks. He was born in England, June 18, 1834, and is a son of Joseph and Jane (Whatmugh) Underwood.

The story of Mr. Underwood's life is interesting and in many details unusual. He was born in the shadow of a coal mine and his entire childhood and boyhood were spent in the same environment. It was as a helper to his mother, who worked in the mines, that he started to earn a little to go to his support, and worked until the passage of the law refusing to allow women to work in mines. His mother died in 1856. He remained in Eng- land until 1863 and then came to America. The Civil War was then in progress and the first job of work he contracted to do was to help dig trenches around Pitts- burg as the Confederates had invaded Pennsylvania. The battle of Gettysburg, however, was fought and the Pittsburg trenches were not required. At that time it prob- ably made little difference to Mr. Underwood, his main business being to secure employment, but he was a skilled and experienced miner and easily found work at mining, at Buena Vista, in Allegheny County and remained there from June until September, when he went to Illinois and in St. Clair County fell in with a party of from eight to ten venturesome men who decided to go to Colorado. On account of the ill feeling engendered by the Civil War and the consequent lawlessness on the frontiers of civilization at that time, the party gave up the project at that time and be went to work as a miner in St. Clair County, where he remained until March, 1864, when he returned to Buena Vista and remained there until July 9, 1864, going then to Old Eagle, in Allegheny County, where he mined eoal and then went into the eoal business with a partner, having saved enough to purchase suffi-

cient coal to load two small boats. These the partners started to float down the river but they met with disas- ter, the boats striking the bridge at Steubenville, Ohio, and sinking. Mr. Underwood not only lost all he pos- sessed in worldly goods, but almost lost his life.

This deplorable accident happened in September, 1866. He then moved across the river into Washington County, in 1867, opposite Monongahela City, and for a time re- sumed coal digging and continued later at Sunnyside, in Allegheny County, and here was made mine foreman and served as such for eight years. Afterward ho served as mine foreman for one and one-half years, at Webster, in Westmoreland County, and then bought an old mine in Fayette County, across the river from California, Pa., and moved to California. He operated that mine for two years and then went into partnership with Joseph Coatsworth and Joseph Good and they bought the old Alps mine in Fayette County, directly across, from the old wharf, in California. Then Jobn W. Ailes, now of Donora, Pa., a Mr. Miller and a Mr. Elliot bought out Coatsworth and Good, brought in more capital and with Mr. Underwood formed the Old Alps Coal Company. Later this company sold out and opened the Snow Hill coal mines in Fayette County across the river from Ros- coe. They also opened a small mine on the Jacobs' estate in Fayette County, which they later sold to James Black but they continued to run the Snow Hill mine and did a thriving business, buying steamboats and barges and sending their eoal down the river as far as New Orleans. They also opened the two mines, the Vigilant and Cres- cent, at California, Pa. The stockholders-Joseph Un- derwood, John W. Ailes, John W. Dorinan, S. A. Taylor, W. I. Berymenn, and Henry Kinlock-formed a new com- pany and seeured a charter for that under the name of the California Coal Company. In 1900 after many prosperous years, they sold all their mines, boats and harges to the River Coal Company. Mr. Underwood still of the Crescent Coal Company, in Allegheny County. has large coal interests however, being one of the owners of the Crescent Coal Company. In spite of carly hardships and later disasters, Mr. Un- derwood has been a remarkably successful business man. He possesses the sound business judgment which regulates the snecess or failure of an undertaking almost from the beginning, and since he has had the capital to make use of, it has been carefully and remuneratively invested. Ile is a director in the Charleroi Savings and Trust Company; in the Donora Savings & Trust Company; in the Farmers' and Miners' National Bank of Bentley- ville; in the First National Bank of Roscoe; in the People's National Bank of California, Pa .; and in the First National Bank of Canonsburg, and a stockholder in all of these.

Mr. Underwood was married in England to Miss Ellen

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY .

Roscoe, and in her honor the village of Roseoe was given its name. Five children were born to them, name- ly: Mrs. Nannie Darrah, residing at Monessen, Pa .; Thomas J., residing at California, Pa., eashier of the People's Bank: Mrs. Jane Laur, of Pittsburg; Mrs. Elizabeth Speer, of West Belle Vernon; and Joseph H., Jr., eashier of the First National Bank of Roscoe. Mr. Underwood has been a continuous resident of Roscoe since 1881. He has never taken any very active part in polities. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow.

SAMUEL MeFARLAND, born in Smith Township, June 11, 1812, died June 29, 1889. He was a son of Samuel MeFarland and Jane Fulton, who immigrated to Ameriea about 1793, and after a brief residence in or near Philadelphia, Pa., settled in Smith Township about the year 1800. His children were William, John, Joseph, Samuel. Andrew, David, Thomas, Catherine, wife of Thomas Farrar; Jane, wife of James Farrar, and Mary, who never married. All of these are now dead. The life of Samuel MeFarland was spent in farming, sheep breeding and dairying in Smith and Robinson Townships, except the year 1872 spent in Allegheny City and the remainder of his life in Burgettstown. May 25. 1837, he united in marriage with Jane, danghter of William and Mary (Logan) Van Emen, of Smith Town- ship. Their children were Margaret, (intermarried with Thomas Donaldson, of Candor, now deceased), residing in MeDonald, Pa .; William Van Emen, (intermarried with Jane Dunbar, now deceased), residing at Sumner, Washington; Sarah Caroline, (intermarried with W. Clark Aiken, of Bulger, both of whom are now dead, leaving to survive them Joseph M. Aiken, of Bulger) ; Mary Catherine, intermarried with James P. MeCalmont, residing in Hanover Township; John Wiley, a mission- ary and teacher, who died at Juneau, Alaska, intermar- ried with Margaret Dunbar; and Joseph Fulton, a mem- ber of the Washington Bar, intermarried with Mary Agnes Rankin, daughter of Rev. James Rankin, former pastor of Robinson U. P. Church, Robinson Township, and Catherine (Polloek) Rankin.

Mrs. Jane Van Emen McFarland died August 24, 1953. Samuel MeFarland, united in marriage with Ma- tilda Duncan, May 22, 1861, who was killed by a run- away team near Raeeoon Church April 23, 1865. On December 25, 1866, Samuel MeFarland was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Bingham and to them was born one son, Albert Agnew, January 6, 1872. During the last sixteen years of his life, Samuel MeFarland was a constant sufferer. He had been a member of the Presbyterian Church trom early manhood. Politieally he was a party Democrat, but sought no office or prefer- ments in either party or chureh.

ALEXANDER BAILEY DUVALL, who at the time of his death was president of the Peoples Bank of Cali- fornia, Pa., resided on a fine farm of 210 aeres in East Pike Run Township, and was also the owner of another tract of seventy-one aeres in East Pike Run Township, Washington County, Pa. He was born March 19, 1825, in East Pike Run Townsmp, a son of David and Mary (Bailey) Duvall, and dieu on his farm in this township August 12, 1907.

The Duvall family is of French extraction and was founded in Washington County at a very early period by Alexander and Elizabeth Duvall, natives of Mary- land, who later in hfe removed to a farm near Browns- ville, Fayette County, Pa., where they both died. David Duvall, father of our subjeet, was born in East Pike Run Township, Washington County, April 7, 1785, and died August 24, 1865. He married Mary Bailey, who was born in East Pike Run Township in 1782 and died here in 1862.

Alexander B. Duvall spent his youth on the farm, at- tended the subscription schools of the township and later worked the home farm on shares. He beeame a man of affluence and his farm consisting of 210 aeres is one of the finest in the township, and in 1875 he erected a fine two-story residence, which stands on a slight ele- vation and commands a fine view of the surrounding country for many miles.

Mr. Duvall was the father of fifteen children, one daughter being born to his first marriage, Mrs. Nora Hormell. In 1870 he was married (second) to Jose- phine Pester, a native of Washington County. Pa., and a daughter of Moses and Elizabeth (Smith) Pester, the former a eabinetmaker of Granville, Pa. To Mr. and Mrs. Duvall were born the following children: Emma (Mrs. Jones) ; David R., a resident of Charleroi, Pa .; Mrs. Nellie S. Ailes; Mrs. Carrollus Deems, who is the owner of the farm of seventy-one aeres in East Pike Run Township; Anna (Mrs. John A. Williams) ; Chaun- eey S .; John Shanton, a resident of Monessen, Pa., mar- ried Lulu Melick; Flora G. (Mrs. Nelms) ; Mrs. Belva L. Carson; Pierre L., who married Harriet Pollock ; Alexander V., who resides on the home farm; Cassius A .; Jessie H., and Mary Josephine. Mrs. Duvall died May 10, 1895. Mr. Duvall was fraternally affiliated with the F. & A. M. of Coal Center.

Channeey Sloeum Duvall, the seventh oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Duvall, was born and reared on his father's farm in East Pike Run Township, and sinee 1904 has been actively engaged in the insurance busi- ness at Monessen, Pa. After the death of his father he was elected one of the direetors of the Peoples Bank of California, his father having been president of same at the time of his death, and although suecessfully en -.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

gaged in business at Monessen, still takes an interest in the affairs of his native township, and devotes his leisure time to assisting his brothers and sisters in the management of the farm inherited from the father. Mr. Duvall married Agnes Gregg, and they have had one child, Albert.

THOMAS MARSHALL BERRYHILL, vice president of the Farmers' National Bank of llickory, Pa., has re- sided in the village of Hickory since 1901, retiring at that time from active agricultural work, although he still retains his valuable farm of 163 acres, which is situated in Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County. lle was born in Smith Township, Washington County, Pa .. September 19, 1834, and is a son of William M. and Maria ( Marshall) Berryhill.

William Berryhill, the great-grandfather of T. M. Berryhill, was a native of Virginia and he served with the rank of captain in the Revolutionary War. After its elose he settied at Greencastle, Pa., where he fol- lowed the blacksmith trade. In polities he was a Fed- eralist and in religion he was a Presbyterian. William Berryhill married Ruth Steele, who was born in Ireland and was brought to America by her parents in infancy. Six children were born to this marriage: Ruth, William, Samuel. Elias, Isabella and Alexander, the latter being the eldest.

Alexander Berryhill, the grandfather of T. M. Berry- hill, was born in Lancaster County, Pa., and from there went to Uniontown, where he married Mary Linn, after which they moved to what now is West Virginia, where he became a business man, for a time conducting a tan- nery and store at West Liberty. Later he became a river man and for a number of years carried produce and cotton between West Liberty and Nashville, Tenn .. on the Cumberland River, and also on the Ohio, and while on one of his trips, he met the first steamboat ever seen on the latter great waterway. Although the sight must have excited wonder and admiration, it certainly did not frighten him as the record tells that he issned a challenge to the steamboat crew for a race to Short Creek, and this he won with his little produce vessel. After leaving the water he bought a small tract of land in Cross Creek Township. Washington County, Pa., on which he conducted a tannery many years. He lived there until the close of his life. He was a sound Pres- byterian in religious doctrine. First a Whig in poli- ties, he later identified himself with the Democratic party. He had eight children: William M., Moses L., Alexander S., Maria I. (Mckinley), John, James, Sam- uel and Martha.

William M. Berryhill, father of T. M. Berryhill, was born in what is now West Virginia, while his parents lived at West Liberty, in 1802, and accompanied them

to Cross Creek Township, Washington County. He was a school-teacher and resided in different parts of Wash- ington County until 1841, when he moved to Knox County, III., from there to Richland County, Ohio, and then to Knox County, Ohio, following farming and teaching school in the latter county. In 1848 he re- turned with his family to Washington County, settling in Cross Creek village, where he died June 30, 1848. He was a member of the Union Church at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. On December 8, 1831, he married Maria Marshall, who was born in Venango County. Pa., in 1803, and was brought by her parents to North Strabane Township, where she grew to womanhood. Mrs. Berryhill died within a few days of her husband. early in July, 1548. The following children were born to them: Alexander, who is now deceased, was a resident of Mt. Vernon, Ohio; Thomas Marshall; Abner, who died in Armstrong County, Pa., in 1858; Moses Linn, who died when aged two years; Arabella, who died in Allegheny County, Pa .; and James, who met an accidental death near Burgetts- town, Pa.

Thomas Marshall Berryhill attended school in Knox County. Ohio, and also in Cross Creek village, after which he learned the blacksmith trade at Hickory, and for some ten years worked at the same as a journey- man, between Pennsylvania and Iowa. In 1859 he re- turned to Hickory and continued in the blacksmith business until 1863, when he bonght a farm in Jeffer- son County, Ohio, on which he resided until 1867, when he moved to his present farm in Mt. Pleasant Township, which he continued to cultivate until he came to Hickory. in 1901. One period of his life has not been mentioned and it is one of which he has reason to be proud, it being when he was a soldier in the Civil War. He was working at Hickory when the battle of Antietam was fought. and his enlistment followed. He was a member of "o. K, which was organized at Hickory and served as State militia.

Mr. Berryhill was married March 21, 1861, to Miss Jane Griffith, who died May 30, 1901, and was interred in the Hickory Cemetery. Her father was Isaae Griffith, who was a lifelong resident of Mt. Pleasant Township and lived on the farm now owned by Mr. Berryhill. His grandfather, John Griffith, was born in Wales and mar- ried Letitia Blackburn. They came to America and the family was established in Maryland as early as 1765. Their son, John Griffith, father of Isaac, came to Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County, and settled on what became the old Griffith homestead, which now is the property of T. M. Berryhill, who holds the original patent. Isaac Grithth was born on this plare in 1800 and lived on it all his life, dying in 1867. He married Elizabeth Esler, a native of Mt. Pleasant Township, whose death occurred in 1857.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

Mr. and Mrs. Berryhill had the following children born to them: Nettie A., widow of Robert Russell, lives in Washington, Pa .; William G., who married Della McCarrell, is a physician at South Sharon, Mercer Coun- ty, Pa .; Blanche, who is the wife of Harry A. Smith, residing at Portland, Ore .; Charles, who operates the home farm, married Eva Denny; and Lulu A., who re- sides with her father.

In politics, Mr. Berryhill is a Republican. He served in all the elective offices in the part of the township in which his farm is situated, a part of which is now in- cluded in the village of Hickory, 100 lots being known as the T. M. Berryhill addition. He is a stockholder in the Guardian Trust Company of Pittsburg, and for two years has been vice president of the Farmers' Na- tional Bank, of which he is a charter director and large stockholder, He is a member of the United Presby- terian Church at Hickory.

WALTER BYERLY, vice president and general man- ager of the Charleroi Lumber Company, building con- tractors at Charleroi, Pa., and president of the West- moreland Lumber Company, at Monessen, Pa., is one of the progressive and enterprising business men of Western Pennsylvania. He was born at Pennsville, Fayette County, Pa., December 18, 1862, and is a son of Levi and Susan (Shellenberger) Byerly.

Walter Byerly was reared in Fayette County and at- tended school there. In 1880 he accompanied his par- ents to Kansas and assisted his father on a farm for five years, when he came to Washington County, where he soon secured work as a teamster, driving for C. R. Thompson, who ran a lumber yard where the present plant of the Charleroi Lumber Company now stands.

The Charleroi Lumber Company was organized in 1898, with a capital stock of $5,000, which has been increased to $100,000. The original officers were: F. C. Jones and other Pittsburg capitalists, who operated the plant until 1903, when it was purchased by C. S. Mc- Closkey, who died in April, 1904. Mr. Byerly had lo- cated at Donora, Pa .; in 1900 and after the death of Mr. McCloskey, he, with C. W. Lynn and J. O. Smith bought the interests of Mr. McCloskey, he assuming the management. The present officers are: Jesse O. Smith, who was elected president in 1904; Walter Byerly, vice president and general manager; C. W. Lynn, secretary, and S. K. Long, treasurer. The Westmoreland Lumber Company at Monessen is an allied concern. When run- ning on full time, employment is afforded from 100 to 125 men by this company, a large amount of building and contracting being done all through this section. The Charleroi Lumber Company furnished the material and built many of the finest residences and most sub- stantial business structures that have been put up in

Washington County in the past ten years. Among these may be mentioned the fine brick residence of Thomas L. Daly, of Lock No. 4; that of Kerfort W. Daly, of Charleroi; and an equally fine one at Bentleyville, which is the home of J. E. Richardson, with two new bank buildings at that point and many others all over the county. In addition to his lumber interests, Mr. Byerly is otherwise concerned as a business man and is treas- urer of the Charleroi Telephone Company.

Mr. Byerly married Miss Victoria Daniels, of Somer- set County, Pa. He is identified with the order of Odd Fellows.

WILLIAM HAZEN, residing on his farm of 144 acres, situated in Hopewell Township, Washington Coun- ty, Pa., is engaged in farming and stock raising and being fond of horses breeds and raises quite a few, keep- ing a fine saddle and driving stallion for breeding pur- poses. Mr. Hazen is of English descent on the paternal side. He was born in Fayette County, Pa., in 1875, and is a son of Benjamin W. and Edith (Peirsol) Hazen.

Benjamin W. Hazen bought the present farm in 1901. It is land that has an interesting history. The first record of its purchase was when Rev. Joseph Smith took out a warrant on September 30, 1785, for a tract of land on the waters of Cross Creek, this tract being called "Welcome" and containing about 363 acres. About eighty-four acres of Mr. Hazen's present farm were included in that purchase. This eighty-four-acre tract was conveyed by Joseph Smith and wife to Thomas Pollock by their deed dated May 3, 1786, and Thomas Pollock and wife by deed dated May 6, 1787, conveyed the said eighty-four acres to Robert Fulton, the man of steamboat fame, whose anniversary has been recently celebrated. Mr. Fulton's father, mother and three sis- ters occupied this farm and it was here his father and mother died. It was long known as the old Fulton farm.

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Century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Vol. II, Part 78

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