Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2, Part 101

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1266

USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 101
USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 101
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 101
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2 > Part 101

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C HARLES HI. IRVIN is a prominent young business man of Big Run, Jefferson Co., Penn. He is well known as the president of the Citizens Bank, which, with William Irvin as president, was organized July 20, 1890. He is also the junior partner of the firm of William

Irvin & Son, whose large tannery is the princi- pal industry of the town.

Charles H. Irvin was born at Liberty, Tioga Co., Penn., in 1866. He is a son of William Irvin, and a grandson of Benjamin Irvin, a na- tive of Pennsylvania, who died at his home in Tioga county in 1892. Mr. Irvin's mother, for- merly Miss Mary C. Veil, is a daughter of the late Judge C. F. Veil, a prominent citizen of Tioga county.

The public schools of Canton, Penn., afforded our subject his first educational opportunities. He afterward entered the college at Bethany, W. Va .; but, as his father desired him to engage in business, he did not complete his course in that institution. After a careful search for a suitable location for a tannery. Big Run was selected as having the greatest advantages, so in 1888 was built the large tannery which, under the energetic yet prudent management of William Irvin & Son, has been kept ever since in a thriving condition.

In 1893 Mr. Charles Irvin was united in mar- riage with Miss Fannie V. Williams, of Indiana. Penn., a daughter of the late Philip A. Williams. Two children, William and Helen, brighten their home. The parents are interested in all pro- gressive movements, and are active members of the Christian Church at Big Run. Politically Mr. Irvin is a Prohibitionist. He is also a mem- ber of several fraternal societies, including the Masonic orders of F. & A. M., the Knight Tem- plar and the Mystic Shrine.

JOSEPH RUTTER ( deceased) was one of the brave men who gave up their lives in the Civil war. He was a member of an old Pennsylvania family, and his widow now lives on the old homestead in Winslow township. Jef- ferson county, made desolate thirty-five years ago, when the news came home after the desper- ate fighting at Fair Oaks.

Mr. Rutter was born May 3. 1823. in West- moreland county, Penn., the son of John and Harriet (Gamble) Rutter. In 1848 he left his native county and came to Jefferson county. He worked for a time at farming, lumbering and building sawinills, then purchased from Samuel Sheesley the present Rutter homestead. On

October 23, 1850, he was married to Miss Barbara A. Hess. She was born in Punxsutawney. Jef- ferson county. September 5. 1831, a daughter of John and Saralı (Smith) Hess, natives respect- ively of Lancaster and Westmoreland counties. During the Rebellion he entered the service of his country as a member of Company H. 105th P. V. I., and was killed at the battle of Fair

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Oaks, May 31, 1862. MRS. BARBARA A. RUTTER, lion he was a member of Company G. 48th his widow, lives at the old homestead. Mr. | Regt. Penn. Vols., having enlisted January 11, Rutter was a man of industry and high principles. He was highly esteemed by all who knew him. 1865, and served until the close of the struggle, receiving an honorable discharge at Alexandria, Va., July 17, 1865.

TOHN F. MULHOLLAN (deceased). Among the prominent citizens of Jefferson county who have passed away in recent years, the late John F. Mulhollan holds an honorable place. A native of Centre county, Penn., he was born January 17, 1823, in Boggs township, a son of William and Mary (Yothers) Mulhollan, the former of whom was a native of Centre county, Penn., the latter of York county, same State.

Rudolph and Elizabeth (Weirham) Mulhol- lan, paternal grandparents of our subject, natives of Ireland and England, respectively, came to America in an early day, and settled at Wallace Run, Centre Co., Penn., there remaining until 1832, when they removed to Ohio. The mater- nal grandfather of our subject, Daniel Yothers. of York county, Penn., came to Centre county among the early settlers of that portion of the State.

William Mulhollan, father of our subject, was a teamster in the war of 1812, and also for many years did teaming between Baltimore and Pittsburg. He died in Centre county, January 28, 1839, aged forty-seven years, and was buried over the line in Clearfield county, Penn. His wife, Mary (Yothers), passed away July 20, 1875, at the age of eighty-two years, in Virginia, where she lies buried. To them were born children as follows: Elizabeth married Evans Steers. and both died in Virginia; Rebecca married Thomas Bowes, and both died in Missouri; Deborah mar- ried James Gunsalus, and both died in Nebraska; Joseph died in Centre county, and is buried in Clearfield county; John F. comes next in order of birth; and Lafayette is a retired machinist living in Curwensville, this State.

The boyhood days of John F. Mulhollan, our subject, were passed on the home farm with his parents, his education in the meantime being secured in the common schools of the district. Up to 1854 he was employed exclusively in lum- bering, at which time he also commenced farm- ing. at the same time operating a sawmill exten- sively at Stanley, Penn., in all of which indus- tries he continued until 1877, in that year retiring from business, and moving to the village of Prospect, Jefferson Co., Penn., where he made his home until 1892, then selling out and renov- ing to Reynoldsville, where his widow and son are now residing. During the war of the Rebel-

On May 30, 1848, Mr. Mulhollan was united in marriage with Rebecca J. Passmore, Rev. Eugene Kincaid, a Baptist missionary, perform- ing the ceremony. A brief record of the children born to this union is as follows: (1) William A. (whose sketch appears elsewhere), born August 5, 1849, is ex-commissioner of Jefferson county, and a merchant of Rathmel, Penn. (2) Louis E., born August 18, 1851, died May 13, 1852. (3) James F., born February 21, 1853, is an ex- school teacher, having taught occasionally from 1872 to 1890-ten years in all, after which he acted as private tutor for other teachers; of late years he has lived with his mother: he served on the election board for fifteen consecutive terms, until moving to Reynoldsville. (4) John E., born April 13, 1856, is a farmer and proprietor of a meat market in Winslow township, Jefferson county. (5) Jesse, born February 21, 1859, is a farmer in McCalmont township, Jefferson county. (6) Elmer E., born April 1, 1862, died February 15, 1870; he was on his way home from school, and while riding on a log wagon, a log rolled on him, fatally crushing him. (7) Clara M., born April 16, 1866, died December 30, 1893; she was the wife of D. B. London, who is now residing in Winslow township. Jef- ferson county. The father of this family died January 2, 1894, leaving a wide circle of sincere friends to mourn his departure from their midst. He was a member of the M. E. Church, and in 1890 erected the buildings for that denomination at Rathmel. In politics he was a stanch Dem- ocrat (as were also his father and grandfather before him), and he held several township offices. Always industrious, careful and judicions, he amassed a comfortable competence, and left be- hind him no small amount of wealth.

Mrs. Rebecca J. (Passmore) Mfulhollan, wid- ow of our subject, was born February 8, 1827. in Boggs township, Centre Co., Penn .. a daugh- ter of Enoch and Rebecca (Evans) Passmore. of Chester and Mifflin counties, Penn., respect- ively. Enoch Passmore died March 15, 1842. in Centre county, aged seventy-five years, and is buried in that county. He was an extensive land owner, having about 40,000 acres in Tioga county, Penn., and 3,000 acres in Centre coun- ty; his business in his younger days was that of a shoe merchant at Bellefonte, Penn. His wife, Rebecca (Evans) Passmore, died in Clearfield county, Penn., December 4, 1872, aged eighty-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

nine years, seven months and a few days, and her remains rest in Clearfield county. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, while her husband was an adherent of the Quaker faith. They had but one child-the lady of whom we are writing.

Joseph and Elizabeth (Martin) Passmore, pa- ternal grandparents of Mrs. Mulhollan, were na- tives of England, whence, about two years after their marriage, they came to America, settling in Chester county, Penn. Some time afterward Mr. Passmore returned to England for the pur- pose of securing an estate that had been left him, but on his arrival in New York City he died. His widow remained on the farm in Chester county, Pennsylvania.

David and Rosanna (Milroy) Evans, maternal grandparents of Mrs. Mulhollan, were natives of. Berks county, Penn., and were married Novem- ber 11, 1777. To them came children as fol- lows: Mary, born October 5, 1778, married Alexander Criswell, and died in Dearborn coun- ty, Ind. ; Martha, born November 15, 1779. married John Lamburn, and they both died in Centre county, Penn. ; Thomas, born January 10, 1782, was killed December 29. 1846, by a falling tree which he was chopping; Rebecca, born Feb- ruary 24, 1784, was the mother of Mrs. Mulhol- lan; Eleanor, born January 26, 1787, married Joseph Steer; Jane L., born May 10, 1789, died when young; and Rosanna, born April 20, 1792, married John Hansom.

R OBERT M. ANTHONY, after a long and honorable business career, in which he has acquired a handsome competence, is now living retired at his pleasant home in Perry township, Jefferson county. He has been the architect of his own fortunes, and has builded wisely and well, not only winning success in his business ventures, but also gaining the respect and confidence of those with whom he has had dealings.

Mr. Anthony was born in Indiana county, in 1824, and is a representative of onc of the hon- ored pioneer families of the State. At an early day his grandfather removed from Rhode Island to Philadelphia, later located in Arinstrong county, subsequently lived in Indiana county, and thencc came to Jefferson county, where he was numbered among the prominent and enter- prising citizens. In 1840 our subject came to this country with his parents, Levi and Mary (Miller) Anthony. His father was born in In- diana county, and in the year mentioned pur- chased land in Henderson township, which he : transformed into a good farm. Hc had two sons

and three sons-in-law who were Union soldiers in the Civil war, and one, son lost his life in the battle of the Wilderness. The family numbered twelve children, namely: Jacob, Margaret, Mary A., Elizabeth, Nancy J., Henry M., P. J., James D., Levi T., Harrison, Evaline and Robert.

In the usual manner of farmer lads of that period Robert M. Anthony spent his childhood. After attaining his majority he wedded Elizabeth C. Calhoon, of Armstrong county, daughter of Hon. John and Catherine Calhoon. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony began their domestic life on the east branch of the Mahoning, where his father had purchased land some years previous. He there erected a sawmill and continued the manu- facture of lumber for about three years, when he sold his interest in the business to his brother, Jacob, and purchased 220 acres of timber land in Clearfield county, on which was a sawmill. He there continued to manufacture lumber for two years, marketing his products in Curwens- ville, when he sold out to Arnold & Hartshorn. He then purchased a farm near Putneyville, Penn., to which he moved his family in 1854, making it his home for eleven years, during which time he built a large bank barn, erected a brick residence and made many other improve- nients. He sold that property in 1865, and for the past thirty-two years has resided at his pres- ent home in Perry township, Jefferson county. Here he has erected a fine residence and good barns, and has added to the place all the im- provements and accessories of a modern farm of the 19th century, so that he now has one of the finest country homes in Jefferson county.

Our subject and his wife have become the parents of seven children, namely: (1) Hattie J., born in Henderson township, in 1851. was educated in the common schools and in Dayton Academy and Indiana Normal. married Dwight Bardeen, of Steuben county, N. Y., and resides on a farm near Hornellsville, that State. (2) Mary C., born in Clearfield county in 1853. is the wife of R. R. Hickox, of Jefferson county. They now reside in Elreno, Okla , and have six children living-Kern H., Alto and Verona, who are married; Robert G .. George and Lizzie, who are single. (3) Charles Newton, born in Arm- strong county, in 1855. was married in 1883, to Ida Means, of Jefferson county, and superintended his father's farm until 1894, when he was stricken with consumption and died, leaving a widow, and four children-Mabel May. Cora Belle, Fannie Fern and Ruth, who still remain on the old homestead. (4) Nancy E., boru in Armstrong county in 1857, is the wife of J. F.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Stockdill, who owns and occupies a large farm near Dayton, Armstrong county. They have four children-Charles A .. John, Bessie and Robert. (5) Elizabeth F., born in Armstrong county, in 1860, is the wife of E. Barton Moore, a farmer of Warsaw township, Jefferson county, by whom she has one son, Charles. (6) Alice E., born in Armstrong county, in 1862, is the wife of W. A. Wells, of Frostburg, by whom she has two children-Mary E. and Anthony. (7) Mar- garet A., born in December, 1865, is the wife of J. S. Jordan, who owns and occupies a fine farm in Oliver township, Jefferson county. They have three children-Quay, Nellie and Arthur.

Robert M. Anthony was a Whig in early life; he is now a stanch Republican. He has served as supervisor and assessor for one term each, and for eight years was school director, discharg- ing his duties with marked promptness and fidel- ity. He and his family are members of the Pres- byterian Church; in social circles they occupy an enviable position. After a well-spent life he is now enjoying the fruits of his former toil and his pleasant home in Frostsburg, where he is sur- rounded by many friends.

S B. ELLIOTT, of Winslow township, Jef- ferson county, the subject of this sketch, was born in Rome township, Bradford county, Penn., October 1, 1830. His father was Larman H. Elliott, and his paternal grandfather was William Elliott, a Revolutionary soldier. His mother's maiden name was Polly Wright. The family moved to Tioga county, Penn., in 1841. Mr. Elliott attended such common schools as the newly settled country afforded until he was four- teen years old, when he went into a newspaper office to learn the printing trade. After serving an apprenticeship of three years, and not being able to enjoy good health in the office, he left it and attended three terms of school in the Wells- borough (Tioga county) Academy. That ended his education so far as schools went. Engaging in manual labor summers, and teaching school winters for a time, he studied architecture and building, and from the practice of these drifted into engineering, and became a civil and mining engineer. For over a quarter of a century he followed that occupation, being successively en- gineer and general manager of the Blossburg Coal Co. and the Bell, Lewis & Yates Coal Min- ing Co. The latter position he held for over thirteen years, and until the company sold out. which event occurred nearly two years ago. Since that time he had not been engaged in active business pursuits.

He represented Tioga county in the lower branch of the State Legislature for two years, 1861-2; and in January, 1861, offered, in that body, the resolution upon which the State was finally, in April of that year, put on a war foot- ing to protect and defend the Union.

In 1853 he married Harriet Clark. Two chil- dren, Mrs. Ada M. Brown, and Ward C. Elliott, were the fruits of that marriage. Mrs. Elliott died in July, 1887, and since that time he has made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Brown, in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania.

For fourteen years Mr. Elliott was president of the board of trustees of the State Normal School at Mansfield, Penn. He was largely in- strumental in building and establishing that in- stitution, and looks upon the results of that effort of his life with, perhaps, the greatest pride and satisfaction.

He has one brother, Hon. C. V. Elliott. of Mansfield, Tioga Co., Penn., and no sisters.

W C. ELLIOTT, the proprietor and editor of the Reynoldsville Volunteer, in Jeffer- son county, is the only son and second child of S. B. Elliott.

\V. C. Elliott was born on a farm about two and one-half miles south of Mansfield, in Rich- mond township, Tioga county, Penn. The first four years of his life were spent there. Later he lived for brief periods in Mansfield, at Corning, N. Y., Arnot, Penn., and Elmira, N. Y .; his home, however, was never more than thirty miles from his birthplace until in 1884, when he re- moved to Du Bois, Penn. Early in life he made a choice of journalistic work, and in 1888 was one of the owners of the Du Bois Courier. On February 16, 1889, he bought the present Rey- noldsville paper from Frank J. Black, and has ever since conducted it. the name having been changed to the Reynoldsville Volunteer, and changes made in the location and equipment of the office. The paper was founded in 1874 and known as the Reynoldsville Herald- the second newspaper in the town -- the Advocate, which was the first, having become defunct after a brief life of six months. The Herald was an eight- column, four-page paper. In 1875 the building where it was printed was burned, and the paper fell into other hands. The machinery was bought, and the paper was enlarged to a nine- column folio, but it did not retain the name very long, for, in 1877, it was called the Herald and Star. In 1878 the name was changed to the Exc. The size of the paper was also changed at that time to a six-column quarto. Later the

S.P. Elliott

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

name was changed from the Ere to that of the Reynoldsville Herald. In ISSo it was known as Our Reynoldsville Paper, and in 1881 as the Reynoldsville Paper. It is now an eight-column folio, and under its improved management its circulation has been greatly increased. The Volunteer has always been thoroughly loyal to the best interests of the community, and has led many a gallant crusade for improvement.

In March, 1892, Mr. Elliott proposed through its columns that the school district of Reynolds- ville should bond the borough to the sum of $25,000, for the purpose of erecting a new school house in the center of the town where pupils could be prepared to enter college, the need of which had long been realized by the tax payers. He vigorously and persistently agitated the ques- tion for three months, and on June 25, 1892, the people, by an almost unanimous vote, gave their consent to bonds being issued for that pur- pose. A number of other citizens took a very active part in bringing about the results. The school building was erected, the finest in Jeffer- son county, and has but few equals in any town of the size of Reynoldsville in Pennsylvania. Efforts are now being inade to raise the standard of the schools so high that its graduates will be able to enter any college without further preparation. Mr. Elliott is a stanch Republican, and the Vol- unteer reflects his opinions in thoughful editorials. He has devoted considerable labor to historical matters, among other things, he in 1894 gave a sketch of Reynoldsville and vicinity, which gave a history of that region from the time it was a . dense forest, a century ago, to the present time. It was written in a very compact form, but cov- ered about fifty pages, and nearly two thousand copies were issued. This little pamphlet will be invaluable in future years, and it may be well if other towns had such a public-spirited writer to preserve local history.

O11 October 22, 1890, Mr. Elliott was mar- ried to Miss Ella Hastings, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Barton Hastings, of Brookville, Penn., and two daughters, Dorothy and Florence, have blessed the union. The father of these is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church of Reynoldsville.

B ENJAMIN MARTZ. a retired farmer. now inakes his home in North Freedom, Jeffer- son county. His has been a long and busy ca- reer, with little time for idleness along the thor- oughfare of life, where he has left his mark and may truly feel that he has not lived in vain. The object of respect by young and old, his fa- miliar figure is greeted with affection and esteem,

and in his declining days he is enjoying the re- ward of a well-ordered life, and one in which he has exerted himself to do good to those around him.

Mr. Martz was born May 27. 1825, in North- umberland county, Penn., while the birth of his parents, John and Mary (Weary) Martz, occur- red in Schuylkill and Northumberland counties, respectively. The father was born June 16, ISO1, a son of John Martz, also a native of Schuylkill county, who died near Shamokin, in Northumberland county. The parents of our subject were married in Mahanoy, where they continued to reside until 1835, when they came to Ringgold township, Jefferson county, where the father and a Mr. Campbell purchased a large tract of land. There the former continued to. engage in agricultural pursuits until his death. which occurred February 17, 1888. The moth- er, who was born in 1808, and died in 1867, was laid by his side in Ringgold Cemetery.

The children of the family were Daniel, who died unmarried in Ringgold at the age of fifty years; Elias, who died in 1897; William, also deceased; Benjamin, of this sketch; Charles, a farmer of Ringgold township; Catherine, who married Michael Shilling, but both are now de- ceased; Solomon, a farmer of Nebraska: Eliza- beth, deceased wife of Samuel Stewart, who was drowned; and Polly, widow of Williamn Slagel, of Brookville, Pennsylvania.

Until twenty-two years of age, Benjamin Martz remained upon the home farm, and then went into the woods, where he cleared and im- proved a good farm, on which his son now re- sides, and continued to reside thereon until. com- ing to North Freedom, in the fall of 1892, since which time he has lived retired. As a stalwart Democrat, he has ever taken an active and prom- inent part in public affairs, and has been called upon to fill a number of responsible positions, including those of councilman, supervisor, school director, tax collector and overseer of the poor. He is a prominent and faithful member of the English Methodist Episcopal Church, and has ever given his support to all measures calculated to benefit the community or advance the general welfare.

In Ringgold, December 10, 1847, Mr. Martz was married to Miss Catherine Shaffer, the wedding ceremony being performed by Rev. J. S. Young. She was born in Northumberland county, January 12. 1827, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Shaf- fer, and died in December, 1896, being buried at Ringgold. The following children graced this union: John, born July 24, 1848, married Re- becca Haines, and is engaged in farming near

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Emerickville, in Jefferson county; Lucetta, born June 19, 1850, is the wife of Henry Shillings, a. farmer of Ringgold township; Daniel, born July 13, 1851, wedded Mary Weaver, and also follows farining in Ringgold township; Ainos, born No- vember 2, 1853, married Lydia Thomas, of Beaver township, Jefferson county, and died De- cember 31, 1886; Franklin, born March 7, 1856, died January 13, 1880; Mary E., born Septem- ber 9, 1858, is the wife of Daniel Sherry, a farmer of Ringgold; Sarah E., born January 13, 1862, is the wife of William Merket, an oil driller and farmer of Clarion county, Penn .; Ida A., born July 6, 1865, died April 22, 1883; Katherine J., born September 5, 1868. married J. H. Yont, of Armstrong county, and died in 1894; and George C., born June 25, 1871, married Annie Huber, and resides on the old homestead in Ringgold township. Mr. Martz has had forty-one grand- children and four great-grandchildren, six of the former being now deceased.

J JOHN SMATHERS, who passed away Au- gust 25, 1895, through his own exertions at- tained an honorable position and marked prestige among the representative men of Jeffer- son county, and with signal consistency it inay be said that he was the architect of his own for- tune, and one whose success amply justified the application of the somewhat hackneyed, but most expressive term, "a self-made man."

Mr. Smathers was born in Clarion county, Penn., January 4. 1828, and was a son of Chris- tian and Susan (Harriger) Smathers, who came from east of the mountains, and located in Clar- ion county at an early day. There they success- fully engaged in farming, and reared their family of eight children, namely: Sarah, who married Henry Milliron, but both are now deceased; Eliza, wife of John Nigh; Margaret, wife of John Jones; John, of this sketch; Susannah and Ro- sanna (twins), the foriner the wife of James Shirey, and the latter the wife of William Shin- gledecker: Jacob, a farmer of Clarion county; A. J. Smathers, of Stanton, Penn., deceased; and William Smathers, deceased, of Clarion county, Pennsylvania.

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Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 2, Part 101

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1266

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1266