USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. III > Part 47
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presidential elector and twice president of the Pennsylvania electoral college. He was twice nominated by his party as their congressional candidate. In 1848 he was chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the National Democratic Con- vention at Baltimore. During the campaigns he was a most effective and popular stump speaker, and worthy of the best adversary pitted against him, being quick, witty, brilliant and admirable in repartee. Law and politics were not his only lines of activity. He was for fifteen years president of the Board of Inspectors of the Western Penitentiary, a director for many years of the old Merchants' and Manufacturers' Bank, a trustee of Western University, on the board of mana- gers of Allegheny Cemetery, first president of the Homoeopathic Hospital. As an earnest and devoted church man he served as vestryman of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church of Pittsburgh. As a lawyer, he was learned in the law, keen of perception, fair, courteous and honorable as an opponent. Few men ever equalled him in power before a jury. He never won by trick or subterfuge, never misstated a proposition or attempted to deceive the court. As a jurist his aim in the investigation and disposition of all cases was to arrive at the equity of the controversy. His best thought and honesty of purpose were evident in every opinion written by himself or written by an associate to which he subscribed or concurred. As a citizen, Judge McCandless was a supporter of all measures tending in his judgment to promote the public welfare. He favored education of the young in the rudiments of learning, and was an active supporter of the higher institutions of learning. He stood for what was honest, pure and whole- some in private life, was the friend of the poor and a supporter of the public institutions of a philanthropic nature as well as a distributor of private charity. As a man his probity and uprightness under all circumstances were known to his large circle of acquaintances. He had earned the eminence which he enjoyed at the time he was taken from the ranks of practitioners and honored with the high position of Judge of the United States Court in his State. In 1882, Union College, New York, conferred upon Judge McCandless the honorary degree of LL.D. On the bench he maintained the dignity of his station with such unaffected urbanity that all the bar respected and loved him, as indeed did all of his unusually large acquaintance.
STEPHEN COLLINS MCCANDLESS, only son of Judge Wilson and Sarah North (Collins) McCandless, was born in Pittsburgh, September 22, 1840. He is a graduate of Jefferson College at Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, and studied law with the eminent lawyers, George P. Hamilton and Judge Marcus W. Acheson, forming the law firm of Hamilton & Acheson. He was admitted to the bar of his native county October 14, 1863, on motion of George P. Hamilton, Es- quire, and has practiced in Pittsburgh all his life, although other lines of ac- tivity have claimed a share of his time. He was for many years clerk of the United States District Court. For many years he was president of Allegheny Cemetery, of which corporation he is now manager. In 1898 he was chosen secretary of the Dollar Savings Bank of Pittsburgh, chartered in 1855, one of the city's most solid financial institutions and the only one of its kind in Wes- tern Pennsylvania, inasmuch as there is no stock or stockholders, being managed by trustees for the depositors. Mr. McCandless is now treasurer and one of the vice-presidents. During the Civil War he was out several times with the Pennsylvania militia for state defence. He is a member of the Pennsylvania
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Society Sons of the American Revolution, and the Grand Army of the Re- public. He is a blue lodge, chapter and Commandery member of the Masonic order, and vestryman of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church.
Stephen C. McCandless married, June 8, 1870, at Flemington, New Jersey, Margaret Randall Bartles, born August 4, 1849, at Flemington, New Jersey. She is a daughter of Charles and Eliza E. Bartles. Charles Bartles was a law- yer and active business man at Flemington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. The children of Stephen C. and Margaret R. McCandless are three daughters: I. Sarah Collins, unmarried. 2-3. Eliza Bartles and Margaret Emerson (twins). Eliza B., is the wife of Alexander Howard Nelson, a mechanical engineer of the firm of Nelson & Buchanan, constructing engineers of Chambersburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They have Margaret M., Alexander K. and Stephen M. Nelson. Margaret E. is unmarried. A daughter of Judge Wilson and Sarah North (Collins) McCandless is Mary Elliot, born May 24, 1838. She is a widely known, popular and highly cultured lady, interested in many good works and public activities. She is a charter member of Pittsburgh Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and was one of the two woman commissioners appointed by the governor of the state to represent Pennsylvania at the Columbian Exposition held at Chicago in 1893. Her sister, Margaret Duncan, was born November 3, 1843, and died September 11, 1872. She was the wife of Rufus H. Emerson, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
SIDNEY BYRON LIGGETT
SIDNEY BYRON LIGGETT and his sons, Dudley Stevenson and Sidney Sharp Liggett, all members of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, trace their descent from the Revolutionary soldier, Matthew Sharp, who entered service from Cumberland county,, Pennsylvania. Their colonial ancestor was Captain James Sharp, the father of Matthew, a veteran of the Forbes campaign. It was a fighting family, for Captain James Sharp had another son in the Revolutionary War-William Sharp. The Sharp family of Pennsylvania is of Scotch descent. The first of the recorded line is James Sharp, who married Margery McCon- nell, of Letterkenny township, Cumberland (now Franklin) county, Pennsyl- vania. Her father, Lieutenant Robert McConnell, was born in 1707, and died in August, 1771. His will was probated that year, a copy being on file (see vol. ii, Cumberland county records). Robert McConnell was a private in Cap- tain Joseph Armstrong's company of Rangers, in Colonel John Armstrong's expedition against the French and Indians at Kittanning, Pennsylvania, in 1756. He was later a lieutenant in command of troops on the Cumberland county border in 1757-58. (Pennsylvania Archives). Fort McConnell, on the border of Cumberland county, one of the Provincial forts for defense against the In- dians, was named after him. Lieutenant Robert McConnell and his wife Ros- ana are buried in the "Rocky Spring" Presbyterian churchyard, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where their tombstones can be seen and the inscriptions clearly made out.
James Sharp was a captain in the Forbes campaign, in 1758, and was pres- ent at the capture of Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) in that year. He was cap- tain of a company in the Third Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment, of which the gallant General Hugh Mercer (afterwards killed by the Hessians at Princeton) was commander. Captain James Sharp was also in commission in 1759, un- der Colonel William Clapham. Captain Sharp participated in the distribution ot land granted by the province of Pennsylvania to officers of the provincial war, called "The Bald Eagle Tract". (Penn. Archives, vol. ii, pp. 483, 498, 522). His oldest son, William, served in the Revolution as a private, and he and Matthew are the only children of Captain James Sharp who are of military rec- ord as far as at present known.
Matthew Sharp, son of Captain James and Margery (McConnell) Sharp, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1751. He was a resident of that and Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where he owned land, and died in the last named county in October, 1796. He was a private under Lieutenant Daniel Smith, of the Eight Battalion, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Militia, in active service in January, 1778. (Penn. Archives, Second series, vol. xv, p. 595). He married, in 1780, Elizabeth Lindsay Culbertson, born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, 1775, died in Franklin county, 1806. They had issue : Rosana ; see forward; James, of whom further; Mary.
Elizabeth Lindsay Culbertson, wife of Matthew Sharp, descends from the well
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known Scotch family of Lindsay, which dates back to the days of William the Conqueror. Her father, Lieutenant James Lindsay, was collector of revenue in Cumberland county, in the years 1764-69. (Penn. Archives, vol. ix, p. 788). He was a lieutenant in the Provincial forces of Pennsylvania, in Captain David McAllister's company, First Battalion, in regiment commanded by Colonel James Burd. He was commissioned April 25, 1760, and was in active service that year. (Penn. Archives, ed. 1876, vol. ii, p. 605). His daughter Elizabeth (Mrs. Mat- thew Sharp) was a remarkably handsome woman, high spirited, and the belle of her county (Franklin). Her first husband, whom she married at the age of six- teen years, was Robert Culbertson, a soldier of the Revolution, by whom she had five children : Esther, married her cousin Andrew, son of Colonel Robert Cul- bertson; Elizabeth, married her cousin, William Lindsay, and removed to Ken- tucky ; Jane, married John Hancock, an English gentleman; Samuel, married a Miss Monk; Agnes, married James B. Clow. In 1780, when about twenty-five years old, Elizabeth (Lindsay) Culbertson married her second husband, Mat- thew Sharp, by whom she had three children: Rosana, James, and Mary. In 1798 she married (third) Robert Peebles, nephew of Colonel Robert Peebles, of the Revolutionary army. The issue of the last marriage is not recorded. Of the three children of Matthew and Elizabeth (Lindsay-Culbertson) Sharp, James and Rosana (Mrs. John Liggett) are further referred to; the youngest child, Mary, born 1789, died March, 1859, married Martin Hawkins.
James Sharp, only son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Lindsay-Culbertson) Sharp, was born in March, 1784, died April 12, 1861. He went from Franklin county to Pittsburgh early in the nineteenth century, and bought land between Lawrenceville and Sharpsburg. This he sold and obtained by patent and pur- chase from Judge William Wilkins, a large tract of land on the north side of the Allegheny river, where he built his homestead, still standing, the scene of many social gatherings in the early days. On this land the present town of Sharpsburg was laid out and named in his honor. He was a most kindly, gen- erous, Christian gentleman. This was shown in many ways. In times of epi- demic he personally nursed those stricken, who were without means or friends. This he did out of pure humanity, as they had no other claims upon him, and no others would go near them. He donated land to every church in Sharps- burg, regardless of creed. He was broadminded in every sense of the word. His affection for children was very marked. He would buy large quantities of "The Child's Paper" and other juvenile literature, and give them away to the school children, with kindly words of cheer and encouragement. He was called the "Father of the Town", and died universally mourned. Says his grand-nephew, Sidney B. Liggett: "I was indebted to him for a home, as I was left an orphan at the age of five years with a small estate. I can never forget that kindly grand-uncle who thus sheltered me and taught me what was good and true in life. I lived under that Christian roof for nine years, and I charge my descendants to ever bear in tenderest regard, reverence and affection, the memory of James Sharp".
James Sharp married Isabella Stockman. Issue: Eliza, afterwards Mrs. E. L. Clark, who died at the old homestead in November, 1901, the last of this branch of the Sharp family. Mary Rowan, afterwards Mrs. Alfred G. Loyd : Jane Beltzhoover, unmarried; John Rowan Sharp.
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LIGGETT
Rosana Sharp, daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth (Lindsay-Culbertson) Sharp, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, August 8, 1781, died in Pittsburgh, August 6, 1846. She married, May 31, 1780, John Liggett ( see Liggett ).
(The Liggett Line)
The Liggett (also Leggett) family is of Scotch origin, in Perthshire. Ac- cording to Burke's "General Armory" the arms are: Azure, on a bend argent, three human hearts gules, on a chief of the second, as many martletts sable. Crest : a martlett sable on a heart gules. Motto: Jesus Hominum Salvator. Colors, blue and white. In 1609 one or more of the family emigrated to Ulster, Ireland.
The first definite record of the family in Pennsylvania is in the person of Robert Liggett, born in county Antrim, Ireland, in 1743, came to America in 1771, and died in Washington county, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1806. He set- tled in West Nantmeel township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, the year of his arrival. In 1774-78 he stands assessed on one hundred and fifty acres of land. In 1781 he removed to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and bought a farm about where the town of Finleyville now stands, and lived there until his death. He was not in the Revolution, but it is said that two of his broth- ers were Chester county "Associators". He married, in 1779, Isabella, sister of John Darragh, second mayor of Pittsburgh; she was born in county Antrim, Ireland, May II, 1759, died in 1845, and is buried in the First Presbyterian churchyard in Pittsburgh. Issue of Robert and Isabella (Darragh) Liggett : John, of whom further ; James; Isaac; Robert; Daniel; Lydia; Jane; Isabella ; Archibald.
John Liggett, eldest child of Robert and Isabella (Darragh) Liggett, was born at Brandywine Manor, Chester county, Pennsylvania, May 21, 1780, died in Pittsburgh, April II, 1833. He was a cabinet maker, with his dwelling on the south side of Second street, between Wood and Market streets, and ware- room on Smithfield street ( Pittsburgh Directory, 1815). He married Rosana Sharp, daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth (Lindsay-Culbertson) Sharp (see Sharp). Issue: I. Elizabeth Lindsay, married Robert Knox, of Erie, Pennsyl- vania. 2. Jane, married Merrick Munson. 3. Isabella Darragh, married Robert Knox, of Pittsburgh. 4. John, see forward. 5. Daniel, a merchant of Pitts- burgh. 6. James Sharp, merchant, of the firm of Bell & Liggett, Pittsburgh, one of the first agents of the Pennsylvania railroad in Pittsburgh.
John Liggett, eldest son of John and Rosana (Sharp) Liggett, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1814, died there October 30, 1854. He was a manufacturer of fine furniture, and a dealer in the same in Pittsburgh all his life. He was a Presbyterian in religion and a Whig in politics. He was modest, retiring, and a good business man, devoting his attention to his business, and taking little part in public affairs. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity in Pittsburgh. He married, at Pittsburgh, November 7, 1844, Catherine Hut- ton, born in Pittsburgh, May 8, 1815, died there June 5, 1855, daughter of Wil- liam and Catherine Hutton. Her father was one of the pioneer glass manufac- turers of Pittsburgh. Her mother, Catherine (McLeod) Hutton, was a descend- ant of Sir Roderick McLeod, Baronet, of Talisker, Isle of Skye, Scotland. Issue
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of John and Catherine (Hutton) Liggett; I. Martha, born in Pittsburgh, mar- ried Benjamin N. McLain, of that city, vice-president of J. Y. Bennett Com- pany. 2. Sidney Byron, see forward. 3. Isabella Knox, born in Pittsburgh, 1851, died there April 30, 1879.
Sidney Byron Liggett, only son of John and Catherine (Hutton) Liggett, was born in Pittsburgh, May 10, 1849. His early education was obtained in the common schools. Being left a small patrimony, he used it in furthering his education, attending the Tuscarora Academy, Academia, Pennsylvania, and the Western University of Pennsylvania. In 1867 he entered the employ of the iron and steel firm of Hailman, Rahm & Company, of Pittsburgh, with which he remained four years in a clerical capacity. In 1871 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania railroad as clerk in the accounting department. He passed through various grades by promotion, until after ten years service he was elected, in February, 1881, secretary of the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburgh, this office now embracing more than forty corporations. This highly responsible and import- ant position Mr. Liggett has held for twenty-eight years, and is now (1909) still occupying the office. As indicated by the foregoing, he is a valued official of this great corporation, thoroughly versed in all the details of his office, and a most courteous and affable gentleman. Politically Mr. Liggett is an Indepen- dent Gold Democrat. He has never sought public position, but is ever keenly alive to his duties and responsibilities as a citizen. He is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, and of the Sons of the Revolution; in the latter order he was for several years a member of the board of managers of the Pennsylvania Society. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Ascension, of Pittsburgh. His residence is 5028 Morewood place, Pittsburgh.
Mr. Liggett married, at Pittsburgh, November 15, 1870. Emma Catherine Stevenson, born in Pittsburgh, May 23, 1849, daughter of John and Louisa (Denig) Stevenson. Her father belonged to one of the old Scotch-Irish fam- ilies of Pittsburgh, and was a jeweler in that city; her mother was a member of one of the original German families of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Liggett: Dudley Stevenson Liggett, born in Alle- gheny, Pennsylvania, (Pittsburgh, north side), December 4, 1872. He was grad- uated from the Western University of Pennsylvania with the class of 1891, with the degree of C. E. He is engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Pittsburgh. He married, October, 1903, Agnes Hamilton, daughter of Andrew Armstrong, of the Armstrong Cork Company, Pittsburgh. They are members of Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh. His residence is Juniata Place, Pittsburgh.
Sidney Sharp Liggett was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1876. He was educated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, and is the Pittsburgh representative of Redmond & Company, bankers and brokers, of New York City. His residence is 5028 Morewood place, Pittsburgh.
Laura Catherine Liggett, born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, April 4, 1881. She was educated in private schools in Pittsburgh, and Miss Ely's School, Riverside Drive, New York City. She married, October 8, 1901, Moses Bedell Suy- dam, of The M. B. Suydam Company, paint manufacturers, Pittsburgh. Chil- dren: Laura Catherine, born October 17, 1902; Mary Bedell, born October 31, 1907. Residence, Pembroke Place, Pittsburgh.
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John Darragh Liggett, born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1884. He is a graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale College, class of 1906, degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He is engaged in business with his brother, Sidney S. Liggett, in the banking house of Redmond & Company. He resides at 5028 Morewood Place, Pittsburgh.
MATTHEW BIGGER
The paternal line of the Biggers of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, trace to John Bigger, of Ireland, who was a soldier of the Revolution. John Bigger was born in county Antrim, Ireland, in the year 1760, died in Washington township, Mont- gomery county, Ohio, December 30, 1831. He enlisted as a private in Captain Walter McVinnie's company, Fourth Battalion, Cumberland County (Pennsyl- vania) Associators, Colonel John Scott. He married Mary Bigger.
JAMES BIGGER, son of John and Mary (Bigger) Bigger, was born in 1805, died August 3, 1883. He married Evaline, daughter of Joseph and Margaret Hamill, and granddaughter of Robert Hamill, who was born in 1732, died near McCon- nellstown, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1799. He was an enlisted private of Captain Noah Abraham's company, First Battalion, Cumberland County ( Pennsylvania) Associators, Colonel James Dunlap. Children of James and Evaline Bigger : I. Joseph Hamill, married Margaret McClure; child, Evaline McClure. 2. Mat- thew, of further mention. 3. Frances Mary, deceased. 4. Thomas W., married a Miss Coburn, now deceased; sons, James Coburn, Frederick Thomas. 5. Ralph, unmarried. 6. Henry Johnson, married Sarah Pears; children, Henry J., Florence C., Ada Mary and Evaline. 7. James. 8. Margaret, now deceased, married Dr. Samuel Stewart, now of Topeka, Kansas; sons, Robert, James B., William.
MATTHEW BIGGER, second son of James and Evaline (Hamill) Bigger, was born September 3, 1842. Before completing his public and high school educa- tion, he enlisted in Company F, Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Infantry, and served four years during the great Civil War. He was mustered out July 27, 1865, a second lieutenant of Company E, Thirty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infan- try, then being only in his twenty-second year. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1865 and until 1872 was connected with the United States Internal Revenue Department and other business houses as bookkeeper until 1872. From 1872 until 1878 he was cashier of the South Side Savings Bank of Pittsburgh. In 1879 he formed a partnership with a Mr. Lauffer, under the firm name of Bigger & Lauffer, manufacturers of fruit preserves. This firm dissolved in 1885 and in 1886 Mr. Bigger began his long connection with the Philadelphia Company as general sales and purchasing agent. He continued with the Philadelphia Com- pany until 1909, when he was placed upon the retired list. He is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion and of the Union Veteran Legion, Sons of the American Revolution, by right of the services of his paternal and maternal grandfathers, John Bigger and Robert Hamill. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian church. He married Mary Davis; child, Mary L., deceased.
DURBIN HORNE
The Revolutionary ancestor of Durbin Horne and the first of the family to come to America was John Horne, a native of Germany, who came to Pennsylvania during the progress of the war and at once took his part in the defense of his adopted land. His farm and home was in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, near Bedford Springs. He became a well known man in that sec- tion of Pennsylvania. He was a devoted member of the Methodist church and a licensed exhorter. There was no church of that denomination in the locality, but largely through his influence one was erected. It was built of logs in the true pioneer style and served well the purpose for which it was built. It was the ral- lying point for the early Methodists of the section and was known everywhere as the "Horne Church". The building is still standing and is one of the prized landmarks of Bedford county. John Horne married in Germany, and had several children.
JOHN (2) HORNE, son of John (1) Horne, married Catherine Jane , and had issue.
JOSEPH HORNE, son of John and Catherine Jane Horne, was born on the home farm in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, about eight miles from Bedford, the county seat, January II, 1826. He was reared on the farm to habits of thrift and industry, and obtained the usual district school education of that day, supple- mented by a short course at the Bedford Classical Institute. He desired to study medicine and become a physician, but that not seeming practicable, he entered d store in Bedford as clerk, remaining there until early manhood, when he removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was for a time clerk in the store of C. Yeager. a dealer in notions. Leaving there he entered the employ of F. H. Eaton, one of the city's leading merchants. In a few years Mr. Eaton admitted him as a part- ner, and in course of time Mr. Horne bought his partner's interest and became sole owner. The site of the business was then 77 Market street. Under Joseph Horne's capable management the business grew to such proportions that he added a wholesale department. In 1871 his store room was so inadequate to the needs of the business that he rented the Library Hall building, then the finest store room in Pittsburgh, and to that building he removed his retail business, continuing to wholesale at the old quarters on Market street until 1881, when he erected a large building at the corner of Wood and Liberty streets and estab- lished the wholesale department there. Shortly before his death he built the large modern business block at Fifth street and Pennsylvania avenue (now the Joseph Horne Company Department Store) and there conducted his retail busi- ness. Mr. Horne was a warm, generous-hearted man of great liberality and gave largely of his means to all recognized forms of charitable and educational work, while his private charities were legion. His business ability was great, while his sterling integrity and unflagging industry were well known. While he was devoted to business, money getting was not his sole object and he did not neglect the better things of life. No man of his day and generation was more highly
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esteemed and he is held in grateful, loving remembrance by his surviving friends and business associates. He was a loyal and devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church and devoted much time to church work. He was superintendent of the Sunday school of the church and founded a mission that afterward fur- nished the nucleus of two vigorous churches. He was a trustee of the Western University of Pittsburgh, of the Allegheny College at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and for many years of the Pittsburgh Female College.
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