Commemorative biographical record of Washington County, Pennsylvania, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 7

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 7

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HE LINTON FAMILY, of East Bethlehem township, claim descent from a very early settler in the county, who came hither over a century ago. The name Linton is proba- bly of Scottish origin, there being two towns of that name in Scotland, one situated about fif- teen miles south and the other some thirty miles east of the city of Edinburgh.

John Linton, the first of the ancestry to come to this country, having immigrated about the year 1682, was, so tradition says, at one time a clergyman of the Establislied Church, but was converted to the Quaker faith. An old family Bible now in the pos -. session of Oliver M. Linton, of East Bethlehem, contains a record of five generations, and the first item in this record is the following: "Benjamin Linton, son of John and Rebecca, born 6th month, 10th day, 1703."

Joshua Linton, son of the above-named Benjamin, by a second wife, nee Jane Cowgil, and born Janu- ary 22, 1738, was married May 16, 1770, to Hannah Hutchinson. [The marriage certificate, now in the possession of their great-grandson, Mahlon Linton, East Bethlehem, is a very formidable looking docu- ment. It is engrossed on parchment by the clerk of

the meeting ("Falls township, Bucks Co., and Prov- ince of Pennsylvania"), and certifies the marriage of the parties above named. It is signed, as was the custom of the Quakers, by a great number of witnesses. A copy of a similar certificate, dated 1771, in the hands of Prof. Edwin Linton, Wash- ington, has the names of no less than sixty-seven witnesses attached. ] Joshua Linton, in company with his three sons, Benjamin, Mahlon and Joshua, Jr., came from Newtown, Bucks Co., Penn., to Washington county, toward the close of the last century, and bought a tract of land in East Beth- lehem township, which is still owned by his de- scendants. Of the children of Joshua, Benjamin never married, Mahlon married March 31, 1802. [The Hilles family have now no representatives, bearing the name, in Washington county. Two brothers of Ann-Eli and Samuel-removed to Wilmington, Del., where they established a Friends' school, which was conducted successfully for sev- eral years. They amassed considerable property in Wilmington, and their descendants still live there, for the most part engaged in manufacturing. The descendants of another brother, David, live in Iowa.] The following is a record of the children and grandchildren of Mahlon and Ann (Hilles) Linton:

(1) Sarah (born August 14, 1804, died 1873) married Nathan Cleaver. They had one child, Martha, now Mrs. W. H. Mitchell, of Bentleyville, Penn.

(2) William H. (born April 30, 1806, died 1862) married Matilda Taylor. Their children, now liv: iug, are: Caroline, married to Jacob Maxwell, now in Ohio; Oliver M., married to Philena Cleaver, has two children living, Cora and Eva, and lives on the old homestead; Hilles, married, has five chil- dren, and lives near Salem, Ohio.

(3) Samuel (born June 23, 18-, died 1864) mar- ried Eliza Deems (not related to the Deems family of West Pike Run township); was a civil engineer; elected county commissioner in 1840; appointed clerk of commissioners in 1858, and served in that office until his death in 1864. His children are Anna E., married Abel Knight, son of Jonathan Knight, now a widow and living in the State of California (she has four sons); Charles L., who enlisted in the first call for volunteers (1861), known as the "three months' men," then re-enlisted and served throughout the war (was wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House; was promoted, and at the end of the war was captain of Company D, One Hundred and Fortieth P. V. I. He married in Kansas, has several children, and lives in Junc- tion City, Kans.); and Eli H., who also enlisted, and served till the end of the war (was promoted to the office of captain near the close of the war. He is married and has two children; lives in Hol- ton, Kans.).

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(4) Joseph (born January 28, 1813, died 1882) married Naomi Harry, December 30, 1843. [The Harry family have no representatives bearing the name in Washington county. Naomi was the daughter of Lewis Harry, who came to Washing- ton county from Chester county. His first wife was Maria Griffith, of York county, Penn., related to the Griffiths of West Pike Run and East Bethlehem townships. The children of Lewis and Maria were William (who is still living in Kansas), Naomi and Melinda (both dead). His second wife was Sarah Comley. After the death of Lewis Harry, April 1, 1865, his widow and two surviving children- Comley and Mary-removed to Illinois. They now live in St. Louis. Jesse, another son, was killed in the Civil war, shot June 17, 1864, at Peters- burg, Va., died soon after.] Joseph Linton was a school teacher for a time, and for a good part of his life a civil engineer; he was a member of the original surveying party of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad through Maryland, with Jonathan Knight. He constructed the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Rail- road from the mouth of Yellow creek to Bellaire, Ohio. The later years of his life were spent on his farm in East Bethlehem township, although he continued work as a surveyor to the time of his death. He was quite devoid of political ambition, but often against his wish and without his knowl- edge was announced as a candidate for the office of county auditor, and always elected. He served in all twelve years in that modest but important office. The surviving children of Joseph Linton are Mahlon (b. 1844), married Elizabeth Cleaver, daughter of Amos Cleaver, and lives in West Pike Run township, where he is serving his second term as justice of the peace (he owns and operates the farm known as the Samuel Taylor farm, near Cen- treville, this county; he enlisted in the Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry when but little over nineteen years of age, and served to the end of the war; his children are Laurena, Gertrude, Naomi and Edith).

EDWIN (born' 1855). He was graduated from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Penn., in 1879; was tutor for two years in Wash- ington and Jefferson College; spent the year 1881- 82 in post-graduate study in Yale College; since September, 1882, he has been professor of geology and biology in Washington and Jefferson College; is the author of several scientific papers, the most 'important of which have been published in the reports and bulletins of the United States Fish Commission; received the degree of Ph. D. from Yale College in 1890. On July 9, 1885, Prof. Linton was united in marriage with Margaret M., daughter of Rev. Dr. James I. Brownson, and one child, Eleanor, has been born to them. They live in Washington, Penn.

(5) Mary Ann (born April 27, 1815, died 1882)

married Jesse Richards; after the death of her lius- band she removed to Ohio. She has three chil- dren: Henry (in Kansas), and Austin and Emma (Mrs. Freeman) (both in Ohio). Henry and Austin were both members of Company C, One Hundred and Fortieth P. V. I., and served to close of the war.

(6) Isaiah (born September 29, 1817, died 1891) married Victoria Dutton, who bore him one child, Ellen, who married Rev. Thomas Galway, and they are now living in Huntington, W. Va .; Isaiah married, for his second wife, Mary Riley, of Browns- ville, Penn., and they have two children living: William H., a civil engineer in Ravenna, Ohio, and Edith (unmarried), also living in Ravenna. Isaiah was chief engineer of the Cleveland & Pitts- burgh Railroad from the early days of the road until the time of his death, a period of over forty years; during the last few years of his life he was relieved of active duty, but was retained as con- sulting engineer on full salary.

(7) Caroline (born August 21, 1820) died young.

(8) Margaret (born September 21, 1825) mar- ried Thomas Packer, removed to Salem, Iowa, where with several children and grandchildren she is still living.

Joshua Linton, Jr., third son of Joshua, Sr., married Mary Baker, and, of their children, Natlian removed to Iowa; Nathan had three sons in the Civil war: Ira, killed at Lost Mountain, Ga., 1864; Harvy, wounded, and Edmond. David married Mary Thistlethwait (both died in East Bethlehem township, on the Joshua Linton homestead); Henry is still living with his niece. (David's daughter) Eliza Nickerson, in Ohio. Miles, another son of David, now dead, married Emma Buffington, and left two children, a son Fred, and a daughter, Laura, who, if still in Washington county, are the only descendants of Joshua, Jr., bearing the name, in the county. Hannah, a daughter of Joshua, Jr., married Miles Ruble, and Hiram L. Ruble, who lives in East Bethelem township, is a son of these. Other sons were William, who is now living in Illinois, and Griffith, who lives in Ohio. Both of the latter were volunteers in the war of the Rebel- lion. Eliza, another daughter of Joshua, Jr., inarried Mark Davidson, and removed to Wapello, Iowa, where she died, and left three sons and one daughter; two of the sons, Frank and Hiram, were volunteers in the Civil war; another son of Joshua, Jr., Hiram, was also a soldier in the Rebellion, and died at Fort Donelson, Tenn.

Although of Quaker origin, none of the later generations of Washington county Lintons are identified with that body. The old Westland meet- ing, where their ancestors worshiped, has long ceased to exist as a congregation. The burying ground is preserved, but the meeting-house is in

WASHINGTON COUNTY.

ruins. The older generation were in sympathy with the so-called " Hicksite " division of Friends. In politics they were Whigs, and their descend- ants are, naturally, Republicans.

W ILLIAM CALVIN KING, cashier of the " National Bank of Claysville," and one of the prominent business men of the town, was born in Claysville, August 7, 1828.

His paternal grandfather was Courtlen King, a native of New Jersey, boru October 13, 1766, who in early manhood was united in mar- riage with Jane Hankins, also a native of New Jersey, born in Trenton, January 30, 1767. The children born to this union were John, Enoch, Ab- salom, William, Isaac, David, Elijah, Mary (Mrs. William Higbee), Parmelia (Mrs. William McEl- haney), Lydia (Mrs. William Estys), Elizabeth (Mrs. John McCullough) and Jane (Mrs. Isaac Phillips). In 1805 he emigrated with his family west of the mountains, and settled on a farm in Allegheny county, Penn., about seven miles south of the then thriving city of Pittsburgh, where, lionored and respected, he spent the. remainder of his life in the peaceful pursuits of the farm, and died December 25, 1826; his wife, surviving him many years, died September 1, 1854. In religious belief they were Baptists of the strictest sect, and many of their descendants still abide in the faith of their fathers.

The grandfather (on the mother's side) was Gen. James Stephenson, a native of eastern Pennsyl- vania, born July 25, 1755. Inheriting the patri- otism of his forefathers, and while yet in his mi- nority, he entered the Continental army and served with distinction throughout the Revolutionary war, at the close of which he settled in Donegal town- ship, Washington county, having purchased a large tract of land, lying one and one-half miles west of what is now the town of Claysville. On the part selected for the homestead he erected a large two-story hewed-log house, which still stands in a remarkably well-preserved condition, one of the very few remaining landmarks of over one hun- dred years ago, that time has not yet obliterated. In 1791 he was united in marriage with Katharine Bonar, who was born in Donegal township, Novem- ber 7, 1766, and the children born of this union were Margaret (Mrs. Col. Benjamin Anderson), John (died July 6, 1833), Ann (Mrs. David Brown- lee), Mary (Mrs. John Barr), Elizabeth (died March 17, 1814), Katharine (Mrs. William King; after- ward Mrs. James Dennison) and Nancy (Mrs. Edie Ramsey). Gen. Stephenson was one of the most prominent and highly-esteemed citizens of the county. For many years he held the position

of justice of the peace, county surveyor, and repre- sentative in the State Legislature; he died in Har- risburg December 20, 1815, while attending a ses- sion of the house.

William King, father of William C. King, was born in New Jersey February 12, 1800, and his early life was spent on his father's farm in Alle- gheny county, he receiving the common-school edu- cation of that day. About the year 1824 or 1825 he associated himself in business with Messrs. Josiah and Calvin Truesdell, who were then largely engaged in general merchandising, and were among the most prominent and enterprising citi- zens of the town of Claysville. On October 4, 1827, he was married to Katharine, daughter of Gen. James Stephenson (then deceased), who was born November 3, 1804. By this union there was only one child, William C. (the subject of this sketch). Their wedded life proved but a short one. His business required frequent trips to the neighboring State of Ohio, often in in- clement seasons of the year, on one of which he was taken suddenly ill at Cambridge, Ohio, and after a brief illness there died March 8, 1829, hav- ing lived a consistent. Christian life, a member of the Baptist Church; his wife being of Scotch- Irish descent, still held to the Presbyterian faith. She afterward remarried, her second husband being James Dennison, a native of eastern Virginia, and her children born by . this marriage were: James, John, Elbridge, Jane and Henry, all of whom still survive her. By the death of her second husband, who died in Brownsville, Penn., March 16, 1852, she again became a widow, and in the early summer following she removed back to the old "Stephenson homestead," from which she had been separated many years, and in which by inheritance she still retained an interest. She there, amid the scenes of her childhood days, spent the remainder of a useful life, and died October 7, 1889, an honored and respected exam- ple of Christian womanhood.

In his native town our subject spent his boyhood days, attending the common schools of the place until the age of fifteen years, which were the only advantages of an education afforded him. On April 1, 1846, at the age of eighteen years, he ap- prenticed himself to Samuel D. Rickey, for the term of three years, to learn the harness-making business, for which service he was to receive the . munificent sum of $25 per annum, as well as his board. At the expiration of his term of service he continued to work at his trade for about three years, and in 1852 became associated with M. L. Stillwagen in the general merchandising business, which partnership continued two years. He then went to the assistance of his mother in the man- agement of the old homestead farm, to which she

WASHINGTON COUNTY.

had previously removed, and there remained two years. On January 10, 1855, he was united in marriage with Mary E. Bell (daughter of David Bell, a lineal descendant of the Witherspoon fam- ily of Revolutionary fame), who was born in Ab- bottstown, York Co., Penn., January 17, 1836, and came to Claysville with her father's family in 1843. The children born to this union were: Will- iam C., Jr., Ella V., Mary Katharine, and Harry B. Of these, William C., Jr., married Miss Min- nie Smith, a native of Wheeling, W. Va., and one child has been born to them, a daughter named Mary Bell; Ella V. married Rev. O. T. Langfitt, a Presbyterian minister, and one child has been born to them, a son, named William King (they live in West Liberty, Iowa); Mary Katharine still resides at the old home; Harry B. graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1891, and is now attending Princeton Theological Seminary. Mrs. Mary E. King died Angust 18, 1888, aged fifty-two years. For the past thirty-five years she was an exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church of Claysville, having united under the early ministry of the late Rev. Dr. McCarrell. Kind and gentle in her ways, she won the love and es- teem of all who knew her. She was a faithful and devoted wife, a loving, affectionate mother, and the guiding star in the home circle; her daily life faith- fully portraying that of true Christian womanhood.

On March 1, 1857, our subject entered the serv- ice of the old Hempfield Railroad, which at that time was only completed as far as Claysville. After serving in the several capacities of brakeman, conductor, fireman and locomotive engineer, he was, on February 1, 1864, appointed station agent at Wheeling, W. Va., which duties eventually merged into those of general freight, passenger and ticket agent, and paymaster. He followed the fortunes (or rather the misfortunes) of the Hemp- field up until April 1, 1871, at which time it passed into the hands of the Baltimore & Ohio Company, and following in the wake of the old road, he en- tered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio, and was assigned to the position of freight revenue collector at Wheeling Station, which position he held until November 1, 1877, during which time millions of the company's money passed through his hands. On November 1, 1877, he was transferred to Wash- ington, Penn., to take charge of the company's agency there, made vacant by the resignation "of Mr. John Baird, in which position he remained un- til April 1, 1890, when he resigned to accept the cashiership of the National Bank of Claysville, then being organized in his native town. Thus ended his career of thirty-three years and one month of continuous railroad service, and with the re- markable record of never having failed to draw a full month's salary for twenty-six consecutive years.

H ON. JOHN HOGE EWING (deceased) was born in Fayette county, Penn., October 5, 1796, a son of William Porter Ewing, who was a son of George Ewing, of Peach Bot- tom township, York Co., Penn. The Ewings are of Scotch-Irish ancestry, who early in the last century emigrated from the North of Ire- land to this country, settling in East Nottingham, Md. George Ewing was a consin of the celebrated Dr. John Ewing, who became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia in 1759, and Provost of the University of Pennsylvania in 1779. He was appointed one of the commissioners to determine the boundary controversy between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and one of the com- missioners to extend the Mason and Dixon line in 1784; he was a vice-president of the American Philosophical Society.

William Porter Ewing, son of George, received his education under his distinguished relative's preceptorship, and about the year 1790 came as a surveyor to Fayette county, in this State. Here in 1791 he married Mary, daughter of Jehu Con- well, who had settled in that neighborhood about 1768. A brief record of the children born to this union is as follows: Hon. George Ewing went to Texas, had intimate relations with Gen. Sam Houston, was appointed judge of the State courts, and there his family remain. Hon. Nathaniel Ewing, who was born in 1794 and died in 1874, was a resident of Uniontown, Penn., and for a long time was president judge of the courts of Washington, Fayette and Greene counties. John Hoge Ewing is the subject proper of this sketch. James Ewing lived and died near Brownsville, Penn. Elizabeth who was married to James E. Breading, died February 11, 1892, near Pitts- burgh, at the age of ninety-three years. Maria, the widow of Hon. James Veech, lives at Emsworth, Penn. Ellen, married to John H. Wallace, of New York, died in 1891. Louisa, widow of Will- iam Wilson, of Uniontown, Penn., died July 10, 1892. Mary Ann is the widow of George Meason, of Muscatine, Iowa.

John Hoge Ewing came to Washington College in 1810, and made his home with Hon. John Hoge, after whom he was named. Mr. Hoge and Mr. Ewing's father had been surveyors together in early days, and under Col. Thomas Stokely laid out large tracts of land, of the purchase of 1784, north and west of the Allegheny river. Mr. Ewing graduated at Washington College in 1814, read law in the office of Hon. Thomas McGiffin; was admitted to the bar in 1818, and for a year or two was partner with his preceptor. Later, he and his father, William P. Ewing, obtained a contract to construct the road-bed of the National road from Brownsville to Hillsborough, which contract was completed in 1820. Mr. Ewing never went

InAllowing

WASHINGTON COUNTY.

back to the bar. He purchased the tract known as the "Meadow Lands," three miles north of Washington, where he lived until 1840, in which year he removed to the borough of Washington, where he passed the remainder of his useful life, dying June 9, 1887, at the patriarchal age of ninety-one years. On November 2, 1820, Mr. Ewing was united in marriage to Ellen, daughter of James Blaine, Esq., and sister of Ephraim L. Blaine, father of the Hon. James G. Blaine. The children born to them were Margaret B., widow of Dr. William A. Hallock, of Pittsburgh; Rev. William Ewing, Ph. D., of Canonsburg; James Blaine Ewing (1), who died in childhood; Elizabeth B., wife of Rev. William Speer, D. D., missionary to China and the Chinese in California, and corre- sponding secretary of tlie Presbyterian Board of Education in Philadelphia, Dr. George Ewing, of the Department of the Interior at Washington, D. C .; Nathaniel, who died in youth; Col. John Ewing, of Pittsburgh; Mary L., wife of Rev. Henry Woods, D. D., professor of Latin in Washington and Jefferson College; Ann Ellen, who died young; James Blaine Ewing (2), who died in childhood; and Samuel Blaine Ewing, a sketch of whom fol- lows this. On August 26, 1840, soon after the birth of her youngest child, the mother of this family died at her residence in Washington; August 12, 1845, Mr. Ewing was married to Margaret C., daughter of Richard Brown, who after the death of her parents in her childhood, had been brought up and educated by her uncle, Bishop H. B. Bascom, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of this union there were born two children: Clara Bascom, who died at about the age of ten years, and Florence Bell, yet living.

In 1835-36 Mr. Ewing represented Washington county in the House of Representatives in Harris- burg; for four years (1838-42) lie was State sen- ator; for two sessions (1844-45 and 1845-46) he rep- resented the old District of Washington and Bea- ver counties in Congress. In 1831 he was associated with Hon. Thomas H. Baird in the construction of a railway up the Chartiers Valley, but the people not being ready to support the undertaking, it was abandoned, to be renewed thirty years later, at which time the road-bed was partly graded, and in 1869 the road was successfully completed. The final success is to be attributed chiefly to Mr. Ewing's efforts and personal sacrifices. After de-

clining a renomination to Congress, in 1846, Mr. Ewing did not again enter public life, but devoted his time mainly to his private business, which was quite extensive, as he was the owner of a large amount of property in both this county and in West Virginia. He was especially interested in the educational institutions of the county; from 1834 he was a member of the board of trustees of Washington (now Washiington and Jefferson) Col- 3

lege, and for many years he was a member of the board of trustees of Washington Female Seminary. In 1852 he was appointed a trustee of the First Presbyterian congregation of Washington, of which he was a prominent member. In old Colonial times, by the authority of law, "Peacemakers" were regularly appointed to compose the differ- ences of litigants and settle disputes without hav- ing recourse to law, and perhaps no other individ- ual so often and so successfully intervened between parties in legal contests, and brought about satis- factorily a compromise of their controversies, as Mr. Ewing.

Samuel Blaine Ewing was born in Washington, August 12, 1840. He received his education at the public schools of the city, and afterward at Wash- ington and Jefferson College. His first vocation in life was as clerk in the iron business of Lyon, Shorb & Co., in Huntingdon county and in Pitts- burgh; he was then for several years in the drug business in Pittsburgh, but his health failing he returned to the farm at the Meadow Lands, where he resided until the death of his father. He then removed into Washington. Mr. Ewing was mar- ried in 1868, in Augusta, Ky., to Miss Matilda B., daughter of Judge William C. Marshall, of Ken- tucky. This lady died July 17, 1892. The chil- dren born to the union are Margaret H., wife of Mat. H. Stevenson, of Pittsburgh, William Mar- shall and Henry W. Mr. Ewing is at present en- gaged in the insurance and real estate business in Washington, and is secretary of the Washington Electric Street Railroad. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington, and in politics is a Republican.

R EV. JOHN T. BROWNLEE, D. D., a pop- ular clergyman of Hopewell township, is descended from a race of hardy Scotch- men, and traces his ancestry to one Archi- bald Brownlee, who was born and reared in the Valley of Clyde, and there married to a Miss Hamilton, who bore him children as follows: James, William, John, Archibald, Thomas, Jane (Mrs. John Allison) and Hugh (who was drowned when the family were crossing the ocean). Archibald Brownlee immigrated with his family to America about 1765, first locating in Lancaster county, Penn., where they remained some time, and in 1775 purchased a farm in Canton township, Wash- ington county, which became their permanent home. James, a brother of Archibald Brownlee, also settled in Washington county, where he re- sided until 1800, and since that time his descend- ants have all removed from the county. Archibald Brownlee was first a member of the Scotch Pres- byterian Church, afterward uniting with the Se- ceder Society. He followed agricultural pursuits all his life, and died in Canton township.

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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 7

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