Commemorative biographical record of Washington County, Pennsylvania, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 99

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 99

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Jennie Hill Pollock, only daughter of Samuel and Esther (McNary) Pollock, was born October 8, 1843, in the old log house of "Historic renown," on the State road, North Strabane township, known as the "Old Judge McDowell house," and at present owned by her youngest brother, Alexan- der Clark. So fond was she of her books and her school, that even in childhood days no greater pun- ishment could be inflicted upon her than to require her to absent herself from school for a day. Her education was limited to common-school instruction until the fall of 1857, when she entered Washington Female Seminary-Mrs. Sarah R. Hanna, principal. At the age of seventeen she received her diploma from this institution with honor, her grade in scholarship entitling her to be the valedictorian of a class numbering twenty-one members. This honor she declined, thus confer- ring it upon another. She united with the Char- tiers (Seceder) Church under the pastorate of Rev. J. B. Clark, D. D., when fifteen years of age. At present she is a member of the Greenside Avenue (United Presbyterian) Congregation, Canonsburg, Penn., Rev. D. R. McDonald, pastor. She has filled various public offices, being treasurer of the Ladies' Presbyterial Missionary Society, and sent (in the spring of 1890) by this association as their representative to the Women's General Missionary Convention of the United Presbyterian Church, which met in Washington, Iowa. She has held continuously different offices in the State and county work in the Women's Christian Temper- ance Union, ever since its organization. She is a ready writer, and a few sketches from her pen have found their way into print. Miss Pollock is noted as a most faithful and efficient church worker. When about fifteen years of age she began teach- ing in the Sabbath-school, and since that time has

continuously taught. For some years she in- structed two classes each Sabbath: one in the colored school, the other in her own church school; besides being a regular attendant at other divine services, and an untiring worker in mission bands, Young People's Societies, and other departments of church enterprises. She, with her brother, Alexander Clark, spent the winter of 1884-85 trav- eling in the South, visiting New Orleans Exposi- tion, and other points of interest. Her home has always been with her parents, nursing and caring for them in their old age until "God took them to Himself." At present she owns and resides in the home mansion, No. 504 West Pike street, Canons- burg, Penn., originally known as the "Dr. Ander- son homestead."

JOHN McNARY POLLOCK, second son of Samuel and Esther (McNary) Pollock, was born January 2, 1846, in North Strabane township, this county, on the farm now owned by his brother A. C., being part of the tract patented by Judge McDowell, called "Mt. Pleasant." Although a farmer's son, John Pollock has enjoyed unusual educational ad- vantages, his parents being progressive citizens, who believed a thorough literary training to be essential to the highest success in any business. When John was a lad of twelve years his parents moved to Canonsburg, where he attended college for three years, then returned to the farm for a short time. He afterward took a course in book- keeping at Duff's Business College, Pittsburgh, Penn., graduating therefrom with honors. In the spring of 1869 he settled permanently on the farm in North Strabane township, the greater part of which he inherited from his father, and has since devoted his time to rural pursuits. On November 14, 1872, he was united in marriage with Mary Jane Templeton, who was born October 20, 1846, daughter of John and Rachel (Rankin) Templeton, and he located on the farm on which he still resides. Excepting the few years spent in obtain- ing an education he, by hard manual labor, and at the sacrifice of his nerves, was his father's main support in all his labors and business transactions. Although he at present enjoys comparatively good health, his physical condition gives evidence of the sacrifice made. To the union of John McNary Pol- lock and Mary Jane (Templeton) the following children have been born: Edith Jane McNary, Mary Esther, John Templeton, Nettie Elmira (de- ceased), Lawrie Samuel, Junietta Luella, and Clara Matilda (deceased). Mr. Pollock follows in the footsteps 'of his forefathers, and casts his ballot for the Republican party. He and his family worship with the Chartiers United Presby- terian Congregation, Canonsburg, Penn., of which he, his wife and two oldest children are members. He is a member of the board of trustees in said congregation, serving in this office a number of

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years, having been first elected in 1878. He was chosen a member of the first choir in Chartiers Congregation, but resigned when married, after serving four years. He has always been a con- sistent worker and energetic supporter of the Church. The wife and mother of this family was "called to her reward " since the above sketch was written. A very amiable and highly esteemed woman, she died February 15, 1893. Her remains are laid by the side of her two children in Oak Spring Cemetery.

WILLIAM B. POLLOCK, third son of Samuel and Esther (McNary) Pollock, was born May 26, 1843, in the old log house built by Judge McDowell, the house in which the first sermon, preached west of the Alleghany mountains, was delivered by Rev. John McMillan in August, 1775, in North Stra- bane township, Washington Co., Penn. He re- ceived his education in the graded schools of Canonsburg and Duff's Commercial College, Pittsburgh, from which latter he graduated with honors in 1869. On February 11, 1875, at 6:30 A. M., he was united in marriage by Rev. W. L. Wallace, D. D., with Miss Hettie Alverta Murray, daughter of Capt. James and Mary C. (Johnston) Murray, a sketch of whose family follows. Six children were born to this union-three living and three buried in Oak Spring Cemetery, namely: Mary Johnston, born November 19, 1875, died April 16, 1876; Samuel Murray, born May 20, 1877, attending school at Canonsburg, and a member of the U. P. Church; Cleonie Estella, born October 3, 1881; Ariadne, born February 19, 1884, died August 26, 1887; Rose, born September 20, 1886, died May 15, 1890; and Clara Jennie, born February 15, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Pollock are members of the Canonsburg United Presby- terian Church, in which Mr. Pollock was elected a ruling elder December 22, 1892. He has held various local offices of trust in the township, but aspires to no political position, preferring a life of domestic felicity. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank at Canonsburg, also in the Western Pennsylvania Agricultural Association at Wash- ington. He is a member and treasurer of the Na- tional Delaine Merino Sheep Association of Washington county; elected treasurer 1891. In that year he was appointed as a committee to rep- resent the association at Chicago, Ill., at the Columbian Exposition Commission, to arrange for the World's Fair of 1893. He was sent to meet with the United States Association in 1890, at Steubenville, Ohio, also to meet the same associa- tion at the same place in 1892. He lived three years in the old Olome Institute building, in Can- onsburg, which was a gift to him from his father. On the Murray Hill farm, on which he now resides with his family, Mr. Pollock built a fine residence, and in addition to this farm of 270 acres, he owns

one of 100 acres on Plum run, in Chartiers town- ship, known as the "Old Hayes farm." In connec- tion with general agriculture, he is engaged in the raising of fine-bred sheep and cattle, making a specialty of American Red-Polled cattle, and Na- tional Delaine Merino sheep. Mr. Pollock ranks among the leading business men of the country, and is respected and honored by all.

OLIVER COLLINS POLLOCK, the fifth son of Samuel and Esther (McNary) Pollock, whose ancestral his- tory precedes this sketch, was born on the Alex- ander Scott farm in North Strabane township (at present owned by James W. Pollock), on Octo- ber 15, 1852. He attended Christy's school when but four years of age. When his parents moved to Canonsburg in 1858, he attended high school; studied under Colfelt and Stevenson; attended Dickson and Dunbar's Academy during 1869-70; Washington and Jefferson College, at Washington, Penn., 1871-72; Westminster College, at New Wilmington, Penn., 1873-74, where he graduated with honor on June 16, 1874, in a class containing thirty-three students. While attending the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Allegheny, being struck with gold fever, from reports of the Black Hills, and wishing free transportation, on November 20, 1875, he enlisted in the United States Cavalry Service; the next day he was sent to Jefferson barracks, St. Louis, Mo., transferred to Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo .; assigned to Com- pany M, Third U. S. Cavalry, under Capt. Anson Mills, on January 9, 1876; took part in the winter campaign against the Sioux Indians, leaving Fort D. A. Russell on February 20, and Fort Fetter- man March 1, and returning the 26th with the thermometer averaging twenty-six degrees below zero, the greatest cold being on the night of the 16 and 17th of March (St. Patrick's day), when the thermometer registered forty-five degrees below zero. They were on a forced march of. twenty-four hours' duration to attack Crazy Horse's village, at the mouth of Otter creek in Dakota, said village containing 110 tepees or 600 warriors, which was destroyed March 17, 1876. The expedition took part in the summer cam- paign under Brig .- Gen. George Crooke (noted Indian fighter of the plains) against Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse's combined forces, [It was dur- ing the time of this campaign that Gen. Custer and men of the Seventh U. S. Cavalry were massacred, ] being encamped within fifty or sixty miles of the death-trap, at the headwaters of Powder river, at the foot of Big Horn mount- ains, awaiting communications with Brig .- Gen. Terry. They were engaged June 17, 1876, in a whole day's running fight with Sitting Bull's and Crazy Horse's entire band of 3,300 warriors on Rose Bend river, at the mouth of Dead Man's Canon, Montana, within three miles of the death-

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trap, and they escaped it only through the sagacity of their noted guide-Frank Guiard. From their supply camp they started on the 5th of August, with fifteen days' rations, on Indian trails to avenge Gen. Custer's death, and following the trail into the Bad Lands of Dakota, the trail be- coming dim, they lost the trail and themselves in those alkali lands, where no wood thicker than rose bush stalks appears, and the water is like the lyes from wood ashes. Running out of rations, and no wild game accessible, they were compelled to live on rose buds and horseflesh to appease their hun- ger and quench their thirst. Having escaped from the Bad Lands, they came upon and destroyed American Horse's village of 104 tepees at Shin Battle, S. Dak., on September 9, 1876; which being rich in dried meat and ponies, they lived passably well until they arrived at Belle Touche river, near where Fort Meade now stands, about September 20, where they procured supplies from the citizens of Crooke's City in the Black Hills. Here they were issued raw beef, flour and green coffee to make a meal, each man having in his pos- session cooking utensils, consisting of a tin plate, a quart tin cup and a knife and fork. They re- mainedin Crooke, Deadwood Hill and Custer cities until their supply train arrived on the 5th of October, just two months after leaving this place at the foot of Big Horn mountains. By this time Mr. Pollock had learned that " all is not gold that glitters," and that gold could not be picked up by the handful in the Black Hills; yet being young, and liking the roving and exciting life of a cavalry- man in the West, he preferred to stay with Uncle Sam, and served five years. He came to Camp Sheridan, near Spotted Tail Agency, in the last of October, and soon thereafter, Crazy Horse having surrendered, came to Red Cloud Agency,and stayed over winter, when, becoming tired of Gov. Chuck, and desiring the free and roving life of the prairie,

. he and a few followers started north, but were overtaken and captured near Spotted Tail Agency by Indian soldiers about 8 o'clock in the evening. Mr. Pollock, known to be a reckless rider, was de- tailed (no one else being willing to volunteer) to carry the news to Fort Robinson at Red Cloud Agency. At night and alone, in order to insure secrecy, and being given direction not to spare horseflesh, he made the distance of forty-five miles, arriving at Fort Robinson about midnight. He was present next day when Crazy Horse, having refused to be placed in the white man's guard- house by Capt. Kennington, received his death wound. That night (the pickets being doubled) about midnight, the Indians at the agency took up the death-song (he having expired). A shot was fired somewhere on the picket lines, and thinking the Fort was attacked, officers' and soldiers' wives came running into the soldiers' quarters in their

nightclothes, exclaiming "for God's sake save us." It took Mr. Pollock four days to return to Camp Sheridan with the horse (which never recovered). He was present in 1877 when the Third Cavalry so gallantly headed off, captured and subdued the Cheyenne Indians, whose leaders were Wild Hog and Yellow Hand. He was with the soldiers in removing Spotted Tail and Red Cloud bands of Sioux Indians to the Old Ponco Reservation on the Missouri river, in the fall of 1877, and to what is now known as Pine Ridge Agency in the spring of 1878. Afterward he was stationed at Fort Sidney, Neb., on the Union Pacific Railroad; at Fort Mc- Kinney, Wyo .; at Camp Rawlins, on the Union Pacific Railroad, after Maj. Thornburg's (pay- master) massacre by the Piute Indians, Novem- ber, 1879; at Fort Laramie and at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo., where he was honorably discharged November 19, 1880, at the expiration of five years' service (Capt. Deane Monahan,commander of Com- pany M, Third Cavalry). Mr. Pollock came back to Pennsylvania, and engaged in rural pursuits. On December 3, 1880, he was married to Anna Bell Weaver, who was born November 13, 1854, a daughter of Thomas Dell and Eliza (Caldwell) Weaver. In the spring of 1881 they set up house- keeping in the old Judge McDowell historic man- sion, now owned by A. C. Pollock. In 1884, having inherited from his father a portion of the Judge McDowell tract, known as "Mount Pleas- ant," he erected thereon a domicile, moving to the same December 18, 1884, and here he still resides. Mr. Pollock has held different offices of trust, serving as auditor, tax collector, etc .; at present he is filling the office of committee of a lunatic, and guardian of minor children; of that of notary public, having been appointed to said office by the governor of Pennsylvania. He is an ardent and stanch upholder of the principles of the Republican party. To the union of Oliver Collins Pollock and Anna Bell Weaver the following children-five girls and four boys-were born: Bessie Jeanette, Viola Pearl, Oscar Dell, Eliza Weaver, Lucy Esther, Edna Loretta (died at the age of four months), Adez Clark, Earl Collins and Samuel Blaine MacDonald. Mr. Pollock worships with the Canonsburg United Presbyterian Congrega- tion, whose church edifice is situated on Greenside avenue, Canonsburg, Penn., himself, wife and old- est daughter being members of said congregation.

ALEXANDER CLARK POLLOCK, youngest child of Samuel and Esther (McNary) Pollock, was born on the farm now owned by his brother, James Wal- lace Pollock, situated in North Strabane township, this county. He is unmarried and makes his home with his sister Jennie H. Pollock, Canons- burg, Penn. He owns the homestead farm, on which is the famous log house erected by Judge McDowell in bygone days, and in which his

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parents lived the first eleven years of their mar- ried life. This house is built of hewn logs, per- fectly joined together; is 40x60 feet square, two stories in height; contains seven rooms, all the in- side work-ceilings, partitions, cup-boards, floors, door, etc .- made of finished walnut lumber. The whole structure, being completed in the best me- chanical manner, was considered in those times a very fine edifice. Said farm (belonging to A. Clark Pollock) is part of the tract patented as "Mount Pleasant" in the year 1784. It is situ- ated in North Strabane township, three and one- half miles south of Canonsburg, this county, on the State road known in times prior to railroad transportation, as the Drove road, from east to west, and was headquarters for travelers in those days. The old log house still remains, and is used as the dwelling house on the farm. Having recently been repaired, it is in a good state of pres- ervation, and is a comfortable residence. A. Clark Pollock is a progressive business man, and has held a number of positions of trust-such as chief burgess, bookkeeper, treasurer of various associa- tions, guardian for a number of children, etc. He is a member of Greenside Avenue United Presby- terian Church, Canonsburg, Penn., which congre- gation he is now serving as treasurer. He has always been actively interested in the success of the Republican party. Has served two consecutive terms as chief burgess of Canonsburg, Penn., being the youngest man ever elected to the office. He is a stockholder in the Oak Spring Cemetery Company, made so by the will of his mother, to whom it was left by her husband (Samuel Pollock), who was one of the organizers of the company. After the death of his father, he was given power of attorney by his mother over her stock, and elected by said company one of the business di- rectors, in which capacity he has served ever since, being re-elected some ten consecutive years. He has been a member of the National Guard of Penn- sylvania for a number of years; is at present quartermaster-sergeant of Company H, Tenth Regiment, and experienced a little of soldier life in the recent riots in his State. He is a hearty, robust man, seemingly in the prime of life.

JAMES POLLOCK, a well-known farmer in North Strabane township, a representative of one of the oldest pioneer families of the county and a native of the same, is the third and youngest son of Will- iam and Nancy (McNary) Pollock, and is the only member of the family now living. He was born September 19, 1815, on the ancestral farm (which he now owns) situated near Clokey, this county. He received his education at the subscription schools of the neighborhood of his birthplace, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He was an attentive and apt scholar, and succeeded in becom- ing proficient in the fundamental branches of

study. On December 19, 1837, he was united in marriage with Abigail, daughter of James Thome, and they had two children: William and Abigail (twins), born September 28, 1840; William mar- ried Sarah Barr, December 4, 1867; Abigail mar- ried John C. McNary, May 20, 1868. The mother of these two children died March 3, 1843, aged thirty-three years, and was buried in the Pigeon Creek Church graveyard. On August 19, 1846, Mr. Pollock married Ellen Y., daughter of James Linn, of South Strabane township, two daughters being the result of this union, viz .: Jane L., born May 4, 1847, married November 8, 1882, to James S. McNary, Jr., of Peters township, this county, and Nannie McN., born September 6, 1848, mar- ried October 18, 1870, to Milton O. Brownlee, of this county. The mother of these two girls died April 23, 1885, and was buried in the cemetery at Pigeon Creek. Mr. Pollock, like his forefathers, is a strict churchman, and believes it to be his duty and privilege to support religious enterprises. He and his family have been members of the United Presbyterian Church at Pigeon Creek for many years, and he has long been a ruling elder in same. He is the only person now living in the congregation that was a member of it when he connected with it in his youth. In politics he was formerly a Whig, and since the formation of the party a Republican; though rendering valuable aid to his party, he has never accepted any party of - fice. Mr. Pollock still owns and lives on the orig- inal ancestral Pollock tract, patented " Plenty," and situated near Clokey, Washington Co., Penn., which is now superintended by his only son, Will- iam. He (William) is a Republican, and during the war of the Rebellion he served in Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, P. V. I. After he returned from the army he married Sarah Barr, to which union have been born five children, thus representing the third, fourth and fifth gener- ations of the Pollock family now living on the farm patented "Plenty."

EORGE MURRAY, of Washington county, was born at Marsh Creek, near Gettysburg, Adams Co., Penn. His grandfather was Rev. George Murray, of Lockerbie, Scotland, and the following is the epitaph on his gravestone in the kirkyard of Shundergarth; " Here lies depos- ited the earthly part of the Rev. George Murray, late minister of the Gospel of the Associate Congre- gation of Annandale, at Lockerbie, who died April 1, 1757, in the 42d year of his age, and fourteenth of his ministry. Meekness and zeal mutually qualifying each other in their steadfast adherence to the faith of the Gospel and to the Testimony for Scotland's Reformation amidst the general op- position to both-were his distinguishing charac- teristics."

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Rev. John Murray, father of George Murray, above spoken of, was born in 1748 at Lockerbie, in the valley of the Annan, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, where his father Rev. George Murray, was pastor of the Associate (Antiburgher) Congregation; he was graduated at Glasgow University, and studied theology in the Associate Hall at Alloe; was li- censed in the summer of 1773 by the Presbytery of Sanquhar. On the 2d of the following Septem- ber he was appointed to go to America, and be- fore the month was out sailed from Glasgow. He was ordained April 17, 1776, by the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania; was pastor of Marsh Creek Congregation, near Gettysburg, Adams Co., Penn., from November 2, 1777, until his death which occurred in the summer of 1785. He left two children, Mary and George. His wife was Eliza Johnston, youngest child of Thomas John- ston, of Pequea, Salisbury township, Lancaster Co., Penn.

The parents of George Murray (whose name opens the sketch) dying when he was quite young, he and his sister Mary (afterward Mrs. James Clark, of Mercersburg, Penn.) were reared in the home of their maternal uncle, Thomas Johnston, of Lancaster county, afterward of near Mercers- burg, Penn, There he grew to manhood and acquired the trade of cabinet maker. Seeking his fortune in western Pennsylvania, he settled at Darlington. After he had been there a short time he came to Washington county, to attend the mar- riage of Rev. David Imbrie and Miss Jane Reed. Shortly afterward he returned for the bridesmaid, Miss Mary Reed (first cousin of the former Miss Reed), and took her back as his bride November 28, 1805. In 1811 he disposed of his town property in Darlington, came to Washington county and purchased a farm called "Lovely Banks," two miles northeast of Canonsburg (a part of which is now Van Eman Station). He improved this place by building a large brick house and frame barn on it (the same now owned by Mr. Greer). Afterward he bought several adjoining tracts of land, one of which is now included in the northern part of the Pennsylvania Reform School farm. He was a man of thrift and honesty, pious and upright in his de- portment, an humble and devout Christian; a sub- stantial pillar of the Associate Presbyterian (Char- tiers) Church of Canonsburg, and for many years one of its influential elders and liberal supporters. He died June 17, 1832, in the fiftieth year of his age. He and his wife and children (except John and Maria) are interred in Oak Spring cem- etery (formerly Chartiers graveyard), Canons- burg, Penn. His wife, Mary Reed, daughter of David and Margaret (May) Reed, of near Venice, Washington county, was known by all for her kind- ness and hospitality. The "proverbial" praise of the virtuous woman could aptly be ascribed to her,

for, "She looked well to the ways of her household, and ate not the bread of idleness." She died No- vember 13, 1846, in the sixty-second year of her age. Their children were as follows: Margaret, born January 1, 1807, Eliza, born January 21, 1809, John, born July 31, 1810 (all three born at Darlington, Penn.); David, born March 18, 1813, Maria, born January 9, 1815, James and George (twins), born October 20, 1816, Dr. Thomas John- ston, born January 7, 1819, and Martha, born De- cember 2, 1821 (all six born at Canonsburg, Penn.). Of these Margaret married William H. McNary, and died at her residence in Canonsburg, June 6, 1882; Eliza married David Templeton, and lived in Canonsburg until after the death of her hus- band, March 6, 1869. After 1872 she made her home with her daughter, Mrs. M. R. Johnston, at Mercersburg, Penn. Early in life she connected herself with the Associate Presbyterian Church, and later with the Chartiers United Presbyterian Church, and gave liberally of her means for the spreading of the Gospel. She and Mrs. Esther Pollock were for many years prominent members of the first Bible Society of Canonsburg. At the time of her death she was a member of the Cen- tral United Presbyterian Church at Omaha, Neb. Modest and retiring in her disposition, her kindness of heart, her gentle manner and sincere piety caused her to be loved and respected by all. She died March 20, 1891, at the residence of her son- in-law, Thomas C. Johnston, Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the eighty-third year of her age. She left three children, Margaretta Reed Templeton, Caroline and George Murray Templeton. Margaretta Reed Templeton graduated at Washington Seminary. She married Thomas C. Johnston, and spent the greater part of her married life at Mercersburg, Penn., but in 1889 she finally moved to Iowa. At an early age she became connected with the As- sociate Presbyterian Church. She died April 24, 1891, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the fifty-sixth year of her age. She leaves one son-A. M. John- ston-and one daughter-Ella E. Johnston. Car- oline Templeton graduated at Washington Semi- nary, was a member of the Associate Presbyterian Church, and spent most of her life in Canonsburg. She was possessed of an exceptionally bright and amiable character, and none knew her but to love her. She died April 9, 1874, aged thirty-six years. Capt. George Murray Templeton was born at Can- onsburg, Washington Co., Penn., May 3, 1841, and died May 4, 1870. Abandoning his studies at Jefferson College he enlisted, at the age of twenty, in Company D, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers; was mustered into service August 23, 1862; appointed captain in the Thirty-second Regiment U. S. Colored Troops February 17, 1864; was wounded at the battle of Honey Creek, S. C., November 30, 1864; mustered

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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 99

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