Commemorative biographical record of Washington County, Pennsylvania, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 30

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1540

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > Commemorative biographical record of Washington County, Pennsylvania, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 30

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David Donaldson was born in Allegheny county, Penn., and coming to Washington county, attended Jefferson College, Canonsburg, gradnating in 1845. He began to practice his profession in West Virginia, and then moved to Allegheny county. He was married to Ellen, daughter of John Boyce, who died in 1884, aged seventy-five years. To David and Ellen Donaldson five chil- dren were bora, viz .: John B., Annie M., Ulysses, Robert and Harry. After their marriage, the parents resided in Allegheny, thence moving to Bridgeville, where the father died of heart disease November 20, 1883, while in a buggy, on his way to visit a patient. The wife and mother had died in 1872 of typhoid fever. The father was an active Republican in politics; in church matters he and his wife were Presbyterians.

Dr. John B. Donaldson was born in August, 1848, in Marshall county, W. Va. His early edu- cation was obtained in the common schools, and he afterward attended the old Bethel Academy in Allegheny county. He then read medicine with his father for some time, and in 1872 graduated from the Cleveland Medical College. He com- menced practicing at Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, where he remained for one year, then moved to Bridgeville, and in 1878 settled in Canonsburg, this county, where he lias continued to practice his profession, giving special attention to diseases of the throat and nose. On October 31, 1872, he mar- ried Elizabeth Foster, daughter of Walter Foster, of Pittsburgh, Penn., the ceremony taking place in Bridgeville, where the bride's father then lived. The following children have been born to their union :

Walter Foster, Nellie Boyce, Maria S., John Paul, Samuel Foster and David Halsey (David VI). In politics Dr. Donaldson is a Republican; in 1888 he was elected to the State Legislature, and has also served in various minor offices. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in religious faith is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

H ON. JAMES MURRAY CLARK, who has been a lifelong resident of Washington county, was the only issue of David and Eliza J. Clark, and was born under the parental roof in Hopewell township, March 7, 1828. When he was but an infant, his father died, and from about that time until 1841 he lived in Cross Creek village. Thereafter, until the fall of 1887, his domicile was at Homeside, near the village of Candor. For five years his home has been in Canonsburg.

On January 28, 1851, he was married to Miss Margaret A. Clark, and of their union there are four children: Kate E. Clark, wife of Rev. Samuel E. Elliott, D. D. ; Romaine Pauline Clark; Murray S. Clark, and William Baird Clark, M. D.

The first representative of the family in America was his paternal and maternal great-grandfather, James Clark, a native of Ireland, who with a brother Thomas landed in the early part of the eighteenth century. Thomas settled in the South. James married Nancy Reed, of Lancaster county, and settled on land near the site of Harrisburg; thence he moved to "Clark's Fancy," which em- braced the ground whereon Upper Strasburg was built, near Clark's Gap, Cumberland county. Sub- sequently he acquired a farm near Mercersburg, wheron he died, leaving issue: David, married to Hannah Baird; Thomas, to Jane Caldwell; John, to - - McDowell; Rebecca to John Taggart; Mary, to Jeremiah Rankin; James, to Mary Murray; Nancy, to David Humphrey; a daughter, to Joseph Smith. and a daughter, to David Elder. The father of this family, about the year 1789, bought two farms in Washington county, one, in what is Canton township, now owned by Samuel K. Weirich, and the other in Robinson township, whereon his sons John and Thomas in turn settled.

David Clark was born February 4, 1755, in Cum- berland (now Franklin) county. His wife, Hannah (Baird), was of the vicinity of Carlisle. Their children were all born at the Clark homestead in Canton township, and were as follows: David, mar- ried to Eliza Johnston Clark; Esther, married to Rev. Joseph Stockton; James, to Jane Henderson; Nancy, to David Larimer; Betsy, to Daniel Hous- ton; Mary, to Paul Anderson, and Jane and Will- iam, who died in tender years. The father of these died in Hopewell township June 2, 1821, and was interred in the cemetery of North Buffalo As- sociate Presbyterian Church, whereof he was a ruling elder.

His son David, father of the subject proper of this article, was born February 28, 1800. On April 1, 1827, he married Eliza Johnston Clark, a daughter of James and Mary (Murray) Clark, of Franklin county. David died in Hopewell town- ship November 30, 1828. His widow was married

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November 1, 1841, to William Clark, of Robinson township. She died November 7, 1842, and Jan- uary 31, 1881, her husband was laid by her side in the cemetery of Raccoon church.

ESSE Y. SCOTT, M. D., one of the leading and most successful physicians in Washing- ton county, is a native of the same, having been born November 13, 1848, in Fallowfield township. His paternal great-grandfather entered the American army at the age of seven- teen and served throughout the Revolutionary war. He was at Valley Forge during the memorable ter- rible winter in that struggle. All the members of his father's family, excepting himself, were killed by Indians immediately before he joined the army. Grandfather Scott was a native of America, and died in Rush county, Indiana.

Joseph A. Scott, father of Dr. Scott, was born in Washington county, Penn., October 6, 1806, and his entire life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. In 1835 he went to Peoria, Ill., and there married Miss Eliza Sheplar, a native of Washington county, Penn., whom he brought back to his Eastern home on horseback, and they settled on a farm in Fal- lowfield township, this county, which was owned by her father. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: two that died in infancy un- named; Peoria and James Addison, both of whom died in youth; Joseph Clark, who was killed Octo- ber 31, 1881, at the age of twenty-six by a tree falling on him while riding in a wagon along with two other young men; Henry S., at Bentleyville; Smith F .. at Beallsville; Margaret M., wife of W. H. Miller, of Washington; and Dr. Jesse Y. The father died February 17, 1881, at the age of seventy five years; the mother May 15, 1892, aged seventy-seven years.

Dr. Scott received a thorough rudimentary train- ing at the common schools of his native township, which was supplemented by a course in the South- western State Normal School at California. In 1870 he commenced reading medicine with Dr. J. H. Leyda, of Bentleyville, later attending the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, where he graduated with honorable mention in 1875. He then commenced the practice of his profession. He practiced two years in Centreville (this county); at Pittsburgh, one year; at Bentleyville, eleven years, and at Washington, now nearly four years. On June 16, 1881, Dr. Scott married Ella S. Mc- Lean, of Beallsville, daughter of ex-County Com- missioner Henry B. McLean. He and his wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the Improved Order of Heptasophs; politically he is a Republican.

J OSEPH CLARKE, SR., was born in 1738, in Chester county, Penn., and spent his early life there, engaged in farming. About 1780 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Lynn, and soon afterward the young couple located on Government land three miles southwest of the present site of Washington, Penn., on land now owned by Cornelius Clarke, a grandson. This is said to have been the second farm located south- west of Fort Catfish, and perhaps the first within the present limits of South Franklin township. The whole country was a dense forest, and here they erected their log cabin and established a home. The woods were teeming with wild animals, some of them dangerous to encounter; and a few friendly Indians still claimed the hunting grounds. Occa- sionally traveling bands of hostile Indians would frighten them, and on several occasions they were compelled to take flight on horseback during the night to find shelter in Fort Catfish, which had been erected for the protection of the early settlers. Only men of nerve and daring could meet the re- quirements of settling in the forest. On one occa- sion, Mr. Clarke and a neighbor were traveling on horseback, when on the farm belonging to the heirs of J. G. Strean (deceased) their dog attacked a large bear. The men had no fire-arms with them, but each prepared a heavy club, and in this way killed the ferocious animal. Mr. Clarke was a Seceder, or member of the Associate Church, and took an active part in the church work of the day. He died in April, 1829, aged ninety-one years. His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Clarke, died February 4, 1857, aged ninety-three years. Their children were Elizabeth (Mrs. Archibald Brownlee), Sarah (Mrs. William Johnston) and Joseph.

JOSEPH CLARKE, whose portrait is here presented, was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Clarke, and was born near Washington, Penn., July 23, 1787. His education was limited to the old-time subscrip- tion schools during a few months in winter. Yet by diligent application he became a fair English scholar. On April 14, 1814, he was united in mar- riage with Catherine, daughter of Daniel Andrews, of the same locality, and their children were Ada- line (Mrs. James McDonald), Mary (Mrs. Elisha Ely). Hervey H., Cornelius, Ann Eliza, Catharine (Mrs. James Pease, formerly Mrs. Samuel T. Brownlee), John G., Sarah J., and Harriett (Mrs. John Baird). In 1830 he removed from the home farm to the one now occupied by his son John G., and there spent the remainder of his useful and busy life. Mr. Clarke began life when farming was not very remunerative, farm productions being very low for want of markets. There was no home market, and means of transportation were very poor. Mr. Clarke soon engaged in stock raising, and drove cattle to the Eastern cities for sale. He

Joseph Clarke

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afterward extended his business, by buying stock, not only in his own neighborhood, but in the new States of Ohio and West Virginia. He also engaged for a few years in pork-packing, and placed a team on the National road to transport his products to Baltimore and other eastern cities. About the year 1820 he purchased some imported Saxony- Merino sheep, at what was then regarded a most extravagant price, and was ridiculed by neighbors for his purchase. In order to increase funds, he sold before leaving home a favorite riding horse for $60. One of his neighbors asserted that he would not have given the horse for a ten- acre field full of such sheep. However the pur- chase proved to be the foundation of his fortune. He took great interest in the care and improve- ment of these sheep, and really made it his life work. His flock assisted very much in giving Washington county the reputation it had, at that time, of producing the best and finest wools grown anywhere.

Mr. Clarke was a leader in his day, taking taking an active part in public affairs. In school matters he was much interested. Before the adop- tion of our present school system it was sometimes difficult to establish a subscription school. This work often fell to Mr. Clarke, and in some cases where difficulties met him, he became responsible for the teacher's wages, always maintaining that the schools must go on even if it should cost him more than his proper proportion. Mr. Clarke be- came a member of the Presbyterian Church in early life, and for a long term of years held the position of Ruling Elder in the congregation of East Buffalo. Politically he was a Whig, taking an active part in the politics of his section. He was industrious and enterprising, and fortune smiled on his labors. He accumulated considera- ble property, and at the time of his death was owner of over one thousand acres of land in his immediate neighborhood. He died January 27, 1856, aged sixty-nine years. Mrs. Catherine Clarke died September 15, 1878, aged eighty-four years.

JOHN G. CLARKE, a prominent farmer of South Franklin township, is the third son of Joseph Clarke, whose portrait is here presented. He was born January 24, 1829, near Washington, Penn., on the farm patented by his grandfather, Joseph Clarke, Sr. He received a liberal and solid educa- tion at the district schools of the neighborhood, and at Washington and Jefferson College. On May 26, 1853, Mr. Clarke married Sarah H., daughter of Samuel Clokey, Esq., of Clokeyville, Washington Co., Penn., and soon after settled on the beautiful farm, where they now reside. When a young man he took an active part in the forma- tion of the new township of Franklin, was chosen

a school director at the first election, and assisted in re-districting the new township. Being an ar- dent friend of public schools, he was continued in the board from year to year, and served as secre- tary for a long term of years. Soon after the in- corporation of the Upper Ten-Mile Plank Road Company, he was elected to membership in the board of managers, and in 1872 was elected presi- dent of the board, and has continued in that posi- tion ever since, a period of over twenty years. Mr. Clarke is an extensive grower of fine wool, and has given much attention to the improvement of his flocks. He has become known as an advocate of tariff on wool, and has published several news- paper articles on that question. He served as president of the Washington County Wool Grow- ers' Association for several years, and was twice sent to Washington, D. C., to represent the in- terests of that association. In 1886 he had the honor of making the only farmers' address in de- fense of tariff on wool before the Committee on Ways and Means. It was extensively published in both city and local papers, and was freely com- mented on, and pronounced by all an able presen- tation of the case. In politics Mr. Clarke is a Republican; having been born and brought up in the Whig party, and holding very decided anti- slavery views, he naturally fell in with the Repub- licans at the formation of the party. In 1886 he was nominated for a seat in the State Legislature, and elected by a majority in advance of the ticket. In the House he soon became known as an active, attentive member, making it a matter of conscience to attend promptly to all business coming before that body. Being a farmer, he took special in- terest in all bills in which farmers were interested. He was appointed on the Agricultural Committee, and gave his influence in favor of the Bill to Equalize Taxation; the Bill for the Improvement of the Public Roads; the Bill for the Increase of State Appropriation to the Public Schools; and against the repeal of the Oleomargerine law.

Mr. Clarke is an ardent churchman, and he and his family are members of the United Presbyterian Congregation, of Washington, Penn. He was elected to the office of ruling elder in the congre. gation of East Buffalo when but twenty six years of age, and again to the same position in the con- gregation of Washington, Penn., in 1864, and has acceptably filled the position ever since. He is the father of ten children-seven sons and three daughters. He has lived a very busy life, and while giving his principal care and attention to his family and his farm, he has still evinced a deep interest in public enterprises, and is ever found in the front ranks of Washington county's enterpris- ing and loyal citizens.

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H ERVEY HINDMAN CLARKE, the oldest living representative of the Clarke family in Franklin township, is a native of that county, having been born November 3, 1820, the eldest son of Joseph and Catherine (Andrews) Clarke.

His boyhood and youth were passed on the old home place, and his education was received in the schools of the neighborhood, supplemented by a thorough course of training at West AlexanderAcad- emy and at Washington College, where he showed considerable ability. He was graduated in 1841, read law with Hon. T. M. T. McKennan, and was admitted to the bar, but did not practice. In April, 1848, he married Margaret L., daughter of Archibald Brownlee, of Buffalo township, and he and his youthful bride then settled on the farm where they yet reside. The names of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Clarke are as follows: Clara V. (married to James Ely, and living in Marion county, Kans.), Edmund H., J. Addison (both of Washington county, Penn.), Frank, living in An- derson county, Kans.), Hervey H., Ella M. (Mrs. Henry Rudy), Earnest B. (living in the State of Washington); and Ethan (who died at the age of four years).

Mr. and Mrs. Hervey H. Clarke were among the charter members of the Second Presbyterian Church of Washington, Penn., of which he is an elder and has repeatedly served as trustee. Politically he was originally a Whig, and since the formation of the Republican party he has been an active member of the same. He has never sought party prefer- ment, and has uniformly declined political honors, his time having been assiduously applied to the multitudinous duties of the farm, but has served as justice of the peace and also filled the office of school director for many years. Mr. Clarke's home place consists of 250 acres of prime land largely improved by his own industry and good management. The dwelling, a handsome and commodious brick edifice, stands an unimpeachable witness to the cultivated taste of the man who built it-Mr. Clarke himself; while the yard is adorned with many elegant trees planted by his own hand over forty years ago-the seal of industry and prosperity being stamped upon everything pertaining to the place.

C ORNELIUS CLARKE, the second son of Joseph and Catherine (Andrews) Clarke, was born in Franklin township, Washington Co., Penn., November 21, 1823.

His boyhood days and early youth were passed in assisting his parents in the improvements of the home farm, and in attending, during a few months, in the winter season, the old-fashioned subscrip- tion school of the neighborhood. The school-house in those days was an old, dilapidated building,

with an uninviting exterior, the interior being fur- nished in a very rude and primitive manner. The seats for the scholars consisted of simple slabs supported by pegs, the floor being made of puncheons, far from being closely jointed. The writing desk was a slab resting on pegs which were inserted into the wall, and placed so high that the younger scholars could barely reach it; while the fireplace, located at one end of the school room, was of generous and comfortable amplitude.

On October 21, 1851, Mr. Clarke was united in marriage with Marjory, daughter of John Wilson, and the children born to this union are: Alice, Joseph J., Fannie (Mrs. E. Horn), Almeda (Mrs. David: McNairy), Emma, Catherine (Mrs. James Magill), Cornelia and John W. On November 24, 1870, Mr. Clarke married, for his second partner in life, Eliza Lyons, of Beaver county, Penn. In politics Mr. Clarke was originally a Whig, and since the formation of the party has been an active Republican. In church connection he was first an adherent of the Presbyterian congregation at East Buffalo, but on the organization of the Sec- ond Presbyterian Church he united with it. His farm consists of 250 acres of highly cultivated land, having thereon many improvements, and the present large and comfortable two-story brick residence was built in 1857. "Omnia vincit labor" may be correctly given as Mr. Clarke's motto, for hard work and good management have placed him in the front rank of Washington county's most prosperous citizens.

R EV. WILLIAM H. LESTER. If this honored gentleman's right to a place among the representative men of Washington county may not rest upon his birth, it is well established by his continuous and use- ful life as a pastor of one of our leading Christian congregations, and his devotion as a citizen to the best interests of the community. His descent is from a Puritan ancestry, which, coming from Eng- land, settled near Stonington, Conn., in the early history of the country.

David Lester, the grandfather of Dr. Lester, belonged to a branch of the family which estab- lished themselves at Easthampton, L. I., about the time of the American Revolution. About the. close of that war he was married to Lois, daughter of Deacon David Tallmage, and so became the father of ten sons and four daughters, all of whom lived to mature life.

Richard Lester, the youngest but one of these fourteen children, was born in 1796, and in 1817 was married to Sarah F., daughter of Esther and Gordon Havens, of a Welsh family, which as early as 1665 settled on Shelter Island, N. Y. In this

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marriage, the fifth American generation of the Havens family was represented, five children crowned it, and of these the youngest but one, was William H., the subject of this sketch. His father was a farmer by occupation, and for many years a member of the Presbyterian Church of Bridge- hampton, L. I., prior to his death in 1879. His wife had been called from him by death thirty-six years before, when their son, the future minister, was but a lad, but the memory of a sainted mother's piety and instruction was among the effective in- strumentalities which determined the course of his life.

After the usual studies of the common school, a year of classical study under his pastor, Rev. Amzi Francis, and another at Southampton Acad- emy, our young student entered Amherst College, Massachusetts, in the autumn of 1845. He was graduated from that institution in 1849, after which he taught in the academy at Southampton for two years, before commencing his theological studies. He entered Princeton Seminary in 1851, and was there a student until 1854, having been licensed to preach in January of that year by the Presby- tery of Albany. A visit in the spring following, by invitation, to the Church of West Alexander, Penn., soon after the resignation of Rev. John Mccluskey, D. D., closing a pastorate of twenty- six years, resulted in a unanimous call to Mr. Les- ter by that church to become its pastor. Accept- ing this call, he was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Washington the following October, and thus commenced a relation which has contin- ued in happiness and usefulness unto this day. In the interval between the call and installation, in August, 1854, the young minister was married to Miss Julia Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas B. and Harriet R. Hand, of Bridgehampton, L. I. The bride of twenty-four years had been thoroughly educated, first in the select school of Mrs. Sophro- nia Burnett, and then at Mount Holyoke Seminary for three years under the sainted Mary Lyon. She, too, rejoices in the memory of a pious an- cestry of many generations, running down through two and a half centuries on American soil. Her father, a Christian and ruling elder, died in 1872, her pious mother following in 1888, and side by side they sleep in the cemetery at Bridgehampton, waiting the Resurrection.

The tender conjugal tie dating with the pastoral relation, has extended in a parallel line with it through thirty eight years of happy home life and of mutual support in the work of the Lord. Of the three children of this marriage two remain at the parental home: Nathaniel Talmage and Hadassah Elizabeth, the latter of whom is a gradu- ate of Washington Female Seminary. The eldest, William Hand Lester, followed his father into the ministry, and consecrated his life to the work of a

foreign missionary. He was graduated from Am- herst College in 1878, also from Auburn Theolog- ical Seminary in 1882. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Cayuga, 1881, and ordained by the same in the following year. He then sailed for Santiago, Chili, which has been ever since the scene of his missionary labors. The wife, Sarah M. Anderson, who accompanied him to the mission field, died in July, 1884, leaving an infant who bears his name. He was again married in 1887, this time to Miss Carrie M. Fields, daughter of the late Rev. A. B. Fields, who, together with their two children-Sarah and Robert McElery-bright- ens his home and cooperates in his work. The writer of this sketch is quite familiar with the life- work of Dr. Lester as the pastor of an important church, and quite as familiar with the sensitive modesty which keeps him from public proclamation of what he has done for the Master. He has be- hind a record of nearly four decades of wise, earnest evangelical efficient service, among a people of in- telligent appreciation, with and for whom he labors both in and out of the pulpit in unabated strength. Coming to them without ministerial experience, at a time of division and bitterness incident to the agitation of the slavery question; when the church, whose care he assumed-itself divided by the line which separated the free from the slave States of the Union-was depleted by the formation of a rival organization, he was confronted with dis- couragements to be overcome only by the utmost fidelity, guided by the greatest prudence and patient endurance, under the stimulus of a holy consecration to Christ. This church like many others has suffered largely from emigration. Many years ago the drift was to the newly settled parts of the West. In later years it has been to the large towns and cities. The academy, also, which had flourished for many years under his predecessor's oversight, had come to a crisis of de- pression, and, under the advanced methods, and spirit of the times, demanded a different manage- ment. It is no wonder, therefore, that the first year of the pastorate was burdened with the serious question of continuance. But this question was settled by the Lord, by a gracious outpouring of the Spirit upon the church, which united and en- couraged the people, and brought seventy converts to the Lord's table, two of whom became ministers, and several ruling elders. Another work of Divine power in 1861 added greatly to the membership, as well as to the beneficence and praying force of the church. Other special ingatherings occurred in 1869, 1875 and 1889. But the steady progress which comes from the Divine blessing upon thor- ough and steady Gospel preaching and faithful pastoral work has been a distinctive feature of this church in these years. There have not been more than two or three communion seasons without ad-

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Commemorative biographical record of Washington County, Pennsylvania, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 30

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1540

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1540