Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 3, Part 87

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1332

USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 3 > Part 87
USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 3 > Part 87
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 3 > Part 87
USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 3 > Part 87

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Venango county; Mrs. Anna Van Horn, of Clar- ion county; Mrs. Sarah Hughes, of Butler coun- ty. Penn .; John, of Venango county; Mrs. Eliza Kennedy, of Oil City, Penn .; and Bell. of Col- orado.

Mr. Rose is a Republican in politics, and has most acceptably served as a member of the school board and city council. He is one of the most prominent members of Amos Kiser Post No. 475, G. A. R., of which he was elected commander in 1897, and his wife belongs to the Ladies Re- lief Corps. They are consistent members of the Lutheran Church, and it is safe to say that no couple in Shippenville have more friends or are held in higher regard than Mr. and Mrs. Rose.

M N. FOWLER is proprietor of a fine drug store in Foxburg. Clarion county, and ranks among the leading business men of that place. Born in Armstrong county, Penn., Oc- tober 9, 1857, he is a son of James Fowler, a prominent citizen, who was born in Butler county, Penn., in the old stone house on Bear creek. His father, John Fowler, was a native of Berks county, Penn., of German descent, and was a farmer by occupation.

James Fowler was reared on the farm, and in early life carried on agricultural pursuits. He afterward engaged in the oil business, in which he was quite successful, and in 1851 he became proprietor of a sawmill, which he operated with profit for a number of years. His dealings in' oil covered the period between 1869 and about ten years before his death. His investments in that direction yielded him excellent financial re- turns, and other business interests also contribu- ted to his prosperity. He at one time had a ferry at Foxburg, and was also a stockholder in the Foxburg Bank from the time of its organiza- tion. He also owned $20,000 worth of the Fox- burg Bridge Company. On February 22, 1844. he was married to Miss Ann L. Leonard. a na- tive of Pittsburg, and a daugliter of Reuben Leonard, of England, now deceased. Six chil- dren were born of this union: James T., of Fox- burg, who is in the employ of the Pittsburg & Western railroad; M. N. ; M. L., who died when about fifty years of age; Charlotte A., deceased: and two who died in infancy. The father of this family was a stanch Republican, and took an active interest in politics. His enterprise and sound judgment proved an active factor in the business life of the community with which he was identified. He died April 18, 1886.

M. N. Fowler was reared in the county of his nativity, and acquired his elementary educa-

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tion in the public schools, after which he was a student in Beaver College, and in an academy at. Emlenton. He entered upon his business career in the capacity of a civil engineer, afterward was employed by the Pittsburg & Western Railroad Company, and later with the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg. Having acquired some capital, as the result of his industry and frugality, he em- barked in business on his own account, establish- ing a drug store at Manorville, Armstrong county, in 1884. In the following year he came to Foxburg, and conducts at that point one of the finest drug stores in this part of the State. He carries a large and complete line of goods, and has one of the best-equipped stores in Pennsylvania. The interior finishings and shelvings are of mahogany, the latter being manufactured by the well-known firm of C. H. Bangs & Co., of Boston. Mr. Fowler is a com- petent pharmacist, and has secured a liberal patronage by reason of his earnest desire to please his patrons, his courteous treatment and his honorable business methods.

On June 2, 1879, Mr. Fowler married Miss Jennie K. Reed, of Saltsburg, Indiana Co., Penn., a daughter of George W. and Mary E. Reed, of that place. Three sons and one daughter' have been born of their union: Philip F., George R., Anna . Lee and Nelson M. On March 18, 1897, Mr. Fowler was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, a most estimable lady, whose kindly nature and many excellencies of character won her a host of friends. She belonged to the Epis- copal Church, of which Mr. Fowler is also a member. In his political views he is a stalwart Republican, who keeps well informed on the issues of the day, and gives an intelligent and . active support to the party principles. He is a member of Canby Lodge No. 520, F. & A. M. ; Eden Chapter No. 259, R. A. M .. of Clarion, and Franklin Commandery No. 44, K. T. He also belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees.

M 8 ILTON HEPLER, who was content to go through the war as a "high" private, doing his duty nobly and unflinchingly on the field of battle or in the camp, is to-day one of the prominent citizens and prosperous farmers of Porter township, Clarion county. He owns a fine farm of 244 acres, whose well tilled fields, comfortable residence and substantial outbuild- ings denote the supervision of a careful and painstaking owner, who thoroughly understands the vocation which he is so successfully follow- ing. In connection with general farming he is

also interested in stock raising, and keeps upon his place the best grades of horses, cattle, and sheep.

Mr. Hepler was born January 12. 1843, in Smithland, Clarion county, a son of Jacob Hep- ler, whose birth occurred in the same county. The grandfather, Christopher Hepler, was born in Pennsylvania, of German ancestry. On reach- ing manhood Jacob Hepler married Miss Mary Brinker, who also belonged to a prominent old family of Clarion county, and they became the parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. One son, Thomas, was a member of the 78th P. V. I. during the Civil war, and is now a resident of West Millville, Penn. The father died at the age of fifty-six, the mother at sixty- two. They were widely and favorably known in this region, and their circle of friends was only limited by their circle of acquaintances.

Soon after attaining his majority, Milton Hepler resolved to strike a blow in defense of his country, and, in February, 1864, enlisted in Company K, Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Capt. Rev. Duff, of Dayton. Penn., and Col. Schoolmaker. He participated in the bat- tles of Piedmont and Newmarket, and was in all of the engagements in the Shenandoah Valley under Gens. Sigel and Hunter. Returning to Harpers Ferry, the regiment was under Gen. Sheridan, the great cavalry commander, at the battle of Winchester, September 20, 1864, when the Rebel loss was 6. 500. Two days later the Rebels lost 5,600 in the same vicinity. Mr. Hepler was also at Luray Valley, and at Cedar Creek, where Gen. Early lost 6.000 men. At one time the Rebel forces got between the infan- try and cavalry of the Union army, and one-half of the Eighth Corps of the latter had to run without guns and knapsacks for several miles. It was at this time that Gen. Sheridan made his famous ride. rallied the Union forces and suc- ceeded in driving back the Rebels. Mr. Hepler spent the last two months of his service at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., where he contracted dumb ague, and on August 26, 1865, he was honorably discharged, after having participated in thirty- six hard-fought battles and thirteen skirmishes. Returning to Clarion county, he has made his home here ever since.

At the age of twenty-three our subject was married to Miss Maggie Burns, who was born, reared and educated in Clarion county, a daugh- ter of Stephen D. Burns, Sr., who lost an arm dur- ing his service in the Mexican war. Mr. Burns. May 5, 1842, married Sarah Torrence, and five children were born to them, namely: Margaret Jane, Thomas B., James D., Alice and Sarah.

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Thomas B. and James D. both served their country in the Civil war. Thomas B. was a member of Company K, 103d Regiment, and served for three years. He is now a resident of Nebraska. James D. was in Company H, 155th Regiment, and died November 30, 1864, from wounds received in battle. Six daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hepler, and all have been provided with excellent educational privi- leges, and are refined and cultured young ladies. They are as follows: Emma Zelda, now the wife of Amos Swartzfoger; Ida Bell, wife of D. L. Weat- er; Mary Alice, a popular and successful teacher; Sada Ellen; Mattie J., who is also successfully engaged in teaching; and Elmira Pearl.

Mr. Hepler is a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, in which he holds membership, and he has filled all the chairs in Captain Core Post No. 239, G. A. R. In manner he is quiet and unas- suming, yet his sterling qualities command the respect and confidence of all, and have secured him the high regard of a large circle of friends. He has manifested the same loyalty in days of peace as in days of war, and all who know him have for him the highest esteem.

H ARRY R. WILSON, a prominent attorney of Clarion, of the firm of Wilson & Gor- don, is a son of the late Judge Theophilus S. and Amanda L. Wilson, and grandson of Samuel Wilson and William H. Lowry.

Born at Clarion, Penn., his present home, September 3, 1864, he received his early educa- tion in the public schools of the borough. He was specially prepared for college under Prof. and Mrs. Thrasher, at the Clarion Normal School, then called Carrier Seminary, and entered La- Fayette College in September, ISSO. He com- pleted his four-year course there, and graduated above the average grade of his class in his nine- teenth year. and at once registered as a student- at-law with Wilson, Jenks & Reed, where he re- mained until the dissolution of the firm, in No- vember, 1885, upon the retirement of Hon. Theo. S. Wilson, who had been elected president judge of

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Clarion and Jefferson counties. On November S. 1886. he was admitted to practice in the several courts of Clarion county. In January, 1887, Mr. Wilson succeeded Hon. George A. Jenks, ex-Solicit- or-General of the United States, in the firm of Jenks & Reed, and continued in active practice of the law as the junior member of the firm of Reed & Wilson, who did a large volume of legal business in Clarion and surrounding counties, and also in the Supreme and United States Courts, for the

next eight years, when Hon. John W. Reed was appointed, and afterward elected, president judge of Jefferson county. Upon the retirement of Mr. Reed from the firm, Mr. Wilson, having more legal business than he and his assistants could do, associated Cadmus Z. Gordon, Esq., with him, and the new firm of Wilson & Gordon con- tinues to keep the legal business of this firm up to the same high standard established by their predecessors, Wilson & Jenks, from 1870 to 1885, Jenks & Reed, from 1885 to 1887, and by Reed-& Wilson from 1887 to 1895. The first ten years of the business life of Mr. Wilson, from 1886 to 1896, from when he was twenty-two to thirty-two years of age, were brimful of activity. In addition to the exacting duties and responsi- bilities of his profession, which, with him, were always the first consideration, and were never neglected for politics or outside business interests; he as a traveler visited each township and bor- ough in his native county; each county in his na- tive State; each State and Territory in the United States. He also visited Mexico and Canada, and all the principal cities of the United States. He also rode, in 1889, over eighteen hundred miles through different countries in Europe on a bicycle, and visited Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Hol- land, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Austria and Italy. While absent on these trips, entertaining and instructive letters from him were published in the Clarion newspapers. In the spring of 1898 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson made a three-months' cruise to points around the Mediterranean Sea, up the Nile and a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and returned through Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

Soon after he became of age he was selected and acted as executor and guardian in several estates, and settled and filed his final accounts therein without any differences. He was the counsel for the executors in the largest deced- ent's estate, and for the assignee in the largest assigned estate that has ever been settled in Clarion county. He has averaged from ten to twelve hours steady work a day for the past twelve years, and now with an established repu- tation, business and property, has something to show for it, and prospects of still better results. Associated with business partners, he has pur- chased and developed coal lands in Clarion county, and timber lands in Forest county, where Wagner & Wilson are now operating several thousand acres of timber land with saw, shingle. lath and planing mills; also operating seven miles of railroad, and give stcady employment to a large force of men. Mr. Wilson has carried

Harry Wilson,

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

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interests in oil and gas wells; built houses, and bought at private sale and re-sold lots and resi- dence properties in Clarion borough, farms in Clarion county, and real estate in Jefferson, Venango, Forest and other counties. Finan- cially he is a self-made man. He started on a law clerkship of twenty-five dollars per month, and his credit has since always been good to borrow any capital needed for any promising purchase.

As a Republican he has presided over the County Convention, as a committeeman elected from Clarion borough, and he was a delegate to the State Convention in 1887, and a delegate from the 28th Congressional District to the Re- publican National Convention at St. Louis in 1896. He was offered and declined the Repub- lican nomination for Representative to the Legis- lature, and for -State Senator in his District, at different times before he was twenty-six years old. He has never aspired to any office, as it has been more of an effort for him to keep out than to get into politics. He was chairman of the Clarion County Republican Committee in 1895, and re-elected chairman for the Presidential campaign of 1896; he perfected the organization and led the campaign in Clarion county for 1896. He made speeches at all of the series of about twenty-five meetings, and did much work, the re- sult of which showed in the increase of the vote for the Republican nominees about eight hundred in Clarion county over that of 1892.

On October 24, 1894, at Elnora, N. Y., Mr. Wilson was united in marriage with Hattie Davie Critchlow, and the union has been blessed with two sons: Harold M. and Lawrence E. Wilson. The father united with the Presbyterian Church in 1891, and served two terms of three years each as one of the Board of Trustees, and upon the expiration of his second term in 1895, he was elected by vote of the congregation as one of the presiding elders. He was one of the early pro- moters and largest subscribers for the building of the new stone church edifice, and the first to sign and circulate the subscription list in 1892, and takes an active interest in the progress and work of the Church. He is a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge and Chapter of Clarion and Knight Templar Commandery of Franklin, Pennsylvania.

The diversified interests which have received the attention of the subject of this sketch have not, however, weakened his professional stand- ing or prevented him from having earned the reputation and being recognized as a hard-work- ing, conscientious, safe, honest and able attorney and counselor-at-law. Among his clientage are seven of the nine banks in the county. He is

counsel for several boroughs and townships in the county, supervisors, overseers of the poor. and school boards and for many of the private business corporations, business firms and individ- uals. He has a commodious brick office well located near the court house, with the largest and most valuable law library in the county-of about one thousand, five hundred volumes. As 'he grows older and has become the senior mem- ber of the firm, he is dropping all outside busi- ness interests and politics (except for recreation), and is concentrating his attention and work more and more on the practice of the law in all its branches, and stands prominent among the fel- low-members of the Clarion Bar for promptness. industry, courtesy and ability.

M ON. THEOPHILUS STRATTAN WIL- SON (deceased), one of the most talented and distinguished members of the Clarion county Bar, and who at the time of his death was Judge of the 18th Judicial District of Pennsylvania, was born April 17, 1837, at Strattanville, a village of Clarion county, Penn., located three miles east of the county seat.

Judge Wilson's ancestors were among the pioneers of that section of country, and in their history are to be found rare elements of romance. At the beginning of this century that portion of the State in which are now Clarion and Jefferson counties was an unsettled wilderness. Hither, in 1801, came a band of earnest, energetic pa- triots, determined to do their part in extending the settlement of their country. They numbered ten men, among whom was Samuel Wilson, the great-grandfather of Judge Wilson. They reached their destination after experiencing all the priva- tions that in those days attended the progress of the early settlers, their journey requiring the opening up of an unbroken forest. at a period not long after a time of fierce Indian conflicts. Samuel Wilson died within a year afterward. His widow and five sons settled on the land he had broken. and to one of these sons. Robert (the second man married in Clarion county), was born a son Samuel, the third one in the family of that name, and who became the father of Judge Wilson. In 1836 Samuel Wilson (3) married Elizabeth Moran, of Haddenfield, N. J., who was of the family of John Strattan, the founder of Strattanville, from which family Theophilus, their first born, received his second name.

Samuel Wilson began life as a clerk in the store of Hon. Charles Evans, the pioneer mer- chant in his section, but in 1834, when only

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1 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

twenty-six years of age, he started in business for hinself. He was a shrewd and far-seeing man, was remarkably successful, and rapidly ac- cumulated a fortune. When the iron industry started in Clarion county, he was one of the first to invest in it, and became a heavy manufacturer,

building, in company with his brother John, St. Charles furnace, in Porter township. He after- ward purchased Helen furnace, in Highland township, where he made thousands of tons of pig iron. He also interested himself in boat- building, acquired extensive lumber interests, owned several stores, and employed several hun- dred men in various enterprises. On the break- ing out of the War of the Rebellion Gov. Curtin specially commissioned him to purchase supplies for the quartermaster's department. He was president of the First National Bank of Clarion, a position which he held until his death, which occurred at his home in Strattanville, January 21, 1879, when he was aged seventy-one years.

Theophilus Wilson had the advantage of be- ing well prepared for his college education, first by private tutors, afterward at the public schools, and then at the Brookville Academy, in Jefferson county. He received his collegiate education at Allegheny College, Meadville, Penn. In 1854, while he was yet a lad, his father chose him to fill out a year's leave of absence of his

chief clerk-a most responsible and difficult po- sition." At the close of his term in charge of the business, Theophilus was sent to Helen furnace, which was owned by his father, where was man- ufactured a superior brand of iron, known to the trade as "Charcoal Iron," its consistent parts being red hematite ore, limestone, and oak charcoal. At first Theophilus took charge of the Furnace store, soon he was promoted to chief bookkeeper, and, showing a broad under- standing of business principles, became manager of the entire business. The qualities of fine in- telligence, persistent application, and indomita- ble energy, he displayed, thus pushed him to the forefront of a vocation he was only destined to follow temporarily, but which was of great ad-

vantage to him in his future career, having been,

as he himself since remarked. "more beneficial to him in his profession and in his judicial career than his classical education." In isco, the market for pig iron having become unprofit- able, Mr. Samuel Wilson determined to close out his business in that line, and it was perma- nently discontinued. This made it necessary for

Theophilus to decide upon his future course, and he chose the profession of law. The same year. he was registered a student and entered the office of George W. Lathy, 'at that time the

oldest practitioner at the Bar of Clarion county. In the spring of 1861 he moved from Helen fur- nace to Clarion, and in September of the same year passed a creditable examination before the board of examiners, and was admitted to the Bar before Hon. Gleni W. Scofield, Presiding Judge of the Warren District and then holding a special term in Clarion, and afterward one of the judges of the United States Court of Claims. at Wash- ington. Mr. Wilson practiced law in Clarion for over a year, when the appointment of Mr. John Keatly, of Strattanville, Additional Paymas- ter of United States volunteers, gave the young lawyer a new experience. Heavy bonds being required for the Paymaster, Mr. Wilson's father and father-in-law furnished them, and Theophilus was made Paymaster's clerk. The young man was then twenty-four years of age, active, ardent and patriotic, and not in the least inclined to follow a then comparatively inactive and un- eventful profession while the whole country was alive and so much of importance was " making history " and stirring men's blood. The war was well advanced, and the Paymaster's department was a responsible, active, and even dangerous one. Mr. Keatley and Mr. Wilson were first assigned to duty in the pay department of Ken- tucky, with headquarters at Cincinnati, Ohio, ex-Gov. Cumback, of Indiana. in charge. Soon they were ordered to Washington 'to pay the troops in the Army of the Potomac, and later were assigned to the department of Maryland, with headquarters at Baltimore, Major C. W. Brice, afterward Paymaster-General, in charge. In addition to paying the troops in Maryland, they were sent into the Shenandoah Valley, and paid all the troops in and around Harpers Ferry, Winchester, Romney, and Martinsburg, W. Va. At Winchester, in 1862, when Gen. Milroy was attacked by the whole of Lee's army and had to cut his way out by night with immense loss, they were near being captured with their treasure of three hundred thousand dollars. They succeeded in eluding the Confederates, and the funds were safely returned to Washington, at night, by spe- cial train, the second division of 8th Army Corps thus losing their pay for the time being. The following year, 1863. they were ordered to report at Harrisburg, to Col. W. M. Wylie, where they remained, paying discharged soldiers. until they were mustered out of the service: they paid out twelve million dollars, and within one year after- ward their accounts were adjusted and settled to the entire satisfaction of the United States authorities. In January. 1866. Mr. Wilson re- turned to Clarion, and, having determined to settle there permanently, erected for his family a

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costly and beautiful residence on the inost eligible site in the town, opposite the public square .~ The following year he resumed the active prac- tice of his profession, and from that time his success was phenomenal. His business rapidly accumulated, and soon, as the court records show, attained proportions exceeding that of all other lawyers in the neighborhood, necessitating the employment of several law clerks, he having more cases than all the members of the local Bar combined. In the Common Pleas Court alone the appearances on the docket were more than twelve hundred cases annually, while in every other branch of the law he held the same pro- portion.

In 1872, Mr. Wilson formed a co-partnership with George A. Jenks, of Brookville (afterward Assistant Secretary of the Interior and Solicitor- General of the United States), under the firm name of Wilson & Jenks, to which, later, John W. Reed, Esq., was admitted, which continued until dissolved on the election of Mr. Wilson as president judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Dis- trict. During the existence of this partnership the firm stood at the head of the profession in Western Pennsylvania. They were employed in many important cases, their services being in demand both within and without the district. The discovery and production of petroleum in large quantities greatly augmented their business. As an instance of this it may be mentioned that from one bank in the county, which had sufficed for a number of years, seven more were organized and doing business, and Wilson, Jenks & Reed were attorneys for seven out of these eight insti- tutions. They were recognized universally as safe counselors, experienced in their profession, always accessible. and ready to attend to the in- terests of their clients. The practice of the firm in the supreme court of the State was large and important, and embraced many cases outside of their own district. The United States Courts at Pittsburg also received a share of their attention. It was seen with appreciation that all cases under- taken by them received the most careful and methodical attention, even to the minutest details, a fact which resulted in gaining the entire confidence of the business public. Mr. Jenks took part in all jury trials, being seldom at the office except during such trials, the regular and special terms of court and argument courts. The reputation of the firin for quick incisiveness of understanding was remarkable. No client found it necessary to give them instructions about get- ting cases ready for trial; neglect was never im- puted to them: their office papers were always models of neatness and accuracy. The late Jus- | Greer, of Butler, as a candidate for Secretary of

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Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 3, Part 87

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1332

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1332