USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. III > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
The history of the Hillman family is the history of one of the dynasties of the iron world-a dynasty which, for a century and a half, has helped to build up the domina- tion of a mighty industry. First, in the old colonial province of New Jersey; next, in the far Southern climate and environment of Alabama; then, strong and powerful,
934
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
building and operating in Kentucky and Tennessee a great factory known far and wide as "Hillman's." The scene changes to Pennsylvania, greatest of Iron States, and to Pittsburgh, the supreme Iron City, and there we see John Hartwell Hillman founding and building up a house which maintains the ancient prestige of the family name and imparts to it additional lustre. Both as manufacturer and citizen Pitts- burgh remembers him with gratitude and pride. His sons, to-day, stand in the front rank of the city's business men, ably uphold- ing the Hillman tradition, "Success with Honor."
(The Nicholson Line).
Samuel and wife Ann, from Wiston, in Nottinghamshire, England, left in the ship "Griffith," of London, and arrived in the Delaware river on September 23, 1675. They ended their voyage at Eltinburg, Salem, in the same company that came over with John Fenwick. Immediately after, or perhaps before they landed, the agreement between the patroon and the planters was drawn up and signed by each of them. This document is dated June 28, 1675. Previous to his sailing, Samuel had purchased two thousand acres, and next after the patroon was perhaps the wealthiest man in the colony. On March 3, 1676, he signed as one of the proprietors, freeholders and in- habitants of said province of West New Jersey. In 1681 he and his wife conveyed to the trustees of Salem meeting his sixteen acre lot in Salem, with the house thereon for meeting purposes. In 1676, as a free- holder and proprietor, he agreed to the char- ter for the government of the colony, and served as the first justice of the peace in the Fenwick colony. He did not remain in Salem many years, but removed to a planta- tion which he owned upon Alloway's creek, on Monmouth river, as it was then called, where he died in 1685, intestate. Ann, his wife, died in 1694. Their children were as follows: Parabol, born February 7, 1659; Elizabeth, born March 22, 1664; Samuel,
born August 30, 1666; Joseph (see for- ward) ; Abel, born May 2, 1672.
(II) Joseph, son of Samuel and Ann Nicholson, was born in England, February, 1669, and married Hannah, daughter of Henry Wood, at her house, under care of meeting, in 1695; he died in 1702; in the year 1695 he removed from Salem county to a tract of land on the north side of Cooper's creek, upon the death of Samuel, his brother, who by will gave him his entire estate. Child: Samuel (see below).
(III) Samuel, son of Joseph and Han- nah (Wood) Nicholson, was born between 1696 and 1702, and married (first) Sarah Burrough, in 1722; married (second) Re- becca Saint, in 1744; married (third) Jane Albertson, widow of William, and daugh- ter of John Engle, in 1749. Samuel Nichol- son died in 1750, leaving the following chil- dren by his first wife: Joseph, Abel, Abi- gail (see below), Hannah, Samuel, Sarah. (IV) Abigail, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Burrough) Nicholson, married, about March, 1743 or 1744, Daniel, son of Daniel and Elizabeth Hillman.
(The Frazer Line).
The Frazer family was of Scottish origin, and at some period during the eighteenth century a branch was transplanted to Ten- nessee, where the race maintained the dis- tinction with which it had been invested in the Old World.
(I) Dr. James Frazer was born in Bed- ford county, Tennessee, and married, in 1818, Hannah, daughter of Jeremiah and Martha (Hill) Brown (see Hill line). Their son, Henry S., is mentioned below. Dr. Frazer died in 1832, in Wilson county, Tennessee, and his widow survived him more than half a century, passing away in 1885, in Lebanon, Tennessee.
(II) Henry S., son of James and Han- nah (Brown) Frazer, was born March 19, 1820, in Lebanon, Tennessee, and was a well known lawyer and cotton planter. He employed on his large estates in Tennessee and Mississippi many slaves, none of whom
935
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
were ever sold. To the very last he was opposed to the Civil War, but, like many others, "went with his State." He married, November 2, 1848, Elizabeth Maney Mur- free (see Murfree line), and their children were: Sallie Murfree, mentioned below, and James S., who was born October 7, 1852, and was a prominent lawyer of Nash- ville, partner of Jacob M. Dickinson, Secre- tary of War in the cabinet of President Taft. Mr. Frazer died in 1891. The father, Henry S. Frazer, passed away July 1, 1874, in Nashville. He was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and a true Christian gentleman. His widow, a devoted member of the same church, is still living at a very advanced age.
(III) Sallie Murfree, daughter of Henry S. and Elizabeth Maney (Murfree) Frazer, was born November 16, 1849, in Lebanon, Tennessee, and became the wife of John Hartwell Hillman, as stated above.
(The Hill Line).
(I) William Hill, the first ancestor of record, was born in Virginia, and married Grace Bennett, a native of North Carolina, where they seem to have subsequently re- sided. Their son, Green, is mentioned be- low.
(II) Green, son of William and Grace (Bennett) Hill, was born November 3, 1741, in Bute county ("the county without a Tory"), North Carolina, and was a mem- ber of the Provincial Assembly which met at New Berne, North Carolina, August 25, 1774. He also sat in the Provincial Con- gress which met April 3, 1775, at New Berne, August 21, 1775, at Hillsboro, and April 4, 1776, at Halifax. In these four assemblies he represented Bute county. At the last Congress, measures were taken to resist the royal government, troops were raised and officers appointed. Mr. Hill was appointed second major of the Third North Carolina Regiment, and promoted to a colonelcy. Under the new government Colonel Hill was assigned to the important duty of issuing script or currency, as ap-
pears by the following note, which is still preserved in the family :
North Carolina Currency No. Six Dollars
By Authority of Congress at Halifax, April 2, 1776 G. Hill.
At what time Colonel Hill joined the Methodist Episcopal church does not ap- pear, but on January 21, 1792, he was or- dained deacon by Bishop Asbury, and on October 4, -, at Reese's Chapel, near Franklin, Tennessee, was made an elder by Bishop McKendree. Both parchments are preserved. Long ere this he was a preacher or exhorter, and it is recorded that as early as 1780 he visited the soldiers in camp and preached to them. Ten or twelve years after the Revolution he moved from North Caro- lina to Tennessee, settling in Williamson county, near Liberty Hill, then a place of con- siderable importance, having one of the first meeting houses erected by the Methodists in that portion of the State. He married Mar- tha Thomas and their daughter, Martha, is mentioned below. Colonel Hill continued in the ministry to the close of his life and in 1810 passed away at Liberty Hill.
(III) Martha, daughter of Green and Martha (Thomas) Hill, was born in 1769, in Bute county, North Carolina, and be- came the wife of Jeremiah Brown, who was born in North Carolina and died in Ten- nessee. Martha (Hill) Brown died in 1862, in Wilson county, Tennessee, having reached the venerable age of ninety-three.
(IV) Hannah, daughter of Jeremiah and Martha (Hill) Brown, was born in 1802, in Tennessee, and became the wife of Dr. James Frazer (see Frazer line).
(The Murfree Line).
(I) William Murfree, founder of the family in North Carolina, was born in 1730, and was a descendant of English ancestors. On August 21, 1775, he represented Hert- ford county at the Hillsboro convention, and on November 12, 1776, was a delegate
936
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
to the Provincial Congress which met at Halifax and framed the constitution of North Carolina. It is claimed by competent authorities that Mr. Murfree's draft of the constitution was the one finally adopted. His entrance into public life was made dur- ing the colonial period when he represented Northampton county in the Colonial Assem- bly of 1758-59. In 1762, when Hertford county was formed from portions of three other counties, he was one of the two first members of the General Assembly from the new county. From 1766 to 1770 he served as the second colonial high sheriff of Hert- ford county. On January 6, 1787, the Gen- eral Assembly ratified "an act for establish- ing a town on the lands of William Mur- free on Meherrin river in the county of Hertford and the town shall be called Murfreesborough." Mr. Murfree donated a tract of ninety-seven acres for the town site, erecting thereon a stone house which is still standing. He married Mary Moore, of Northampton county, North Carolina, and their children were: Hardy, mentioned be- low ; James; William; Sarah ; Patty ; Betty, and Nancy. Mr. Murfree died during the War of the Revolution. He was a man of high character and much influence and proved himself a zealous patriot.
(II) Hardy, son of William and Mary (Moore) Murfree, was born in 1752, in Hertford county, and entered the Conti- nental army as captain of the Second North Carolina Regiment, being subsequently pro- moted to the rank of major and later to that of colonel, for gallant service. He partici- pated in the battles of Brandywine, Mon- mouth, Stony Point, King's Mountain and others. At Stony Point he was chosen by General Wayne to lead the assault with his North Carolina patriots, and his heroic services on this occasion were most appre- ciatively mentioned in letters written by his commander. His native State presented him with a sword, which is preserved in the State Historical Society of Tennessee. He received also a large grant of land in that
State, upon which was afterward built the town of Murfreesborough, now a thriving city. For ten years after the war he served as commissioner of confiscated property in the Edenton district, and in 1784 was ap- pointed one of the commissioners of Albe- marle Sound. In 1789 he was a member of the convention called to consider whether North Carolina would join the Union. In 1790 he owned the largest number of slaves of any man in the county, employing them in subduing the forests, cultivating the soil and making tar, pitch and turpentine. In 1807 he settled on the lands received from the government, at Murfree's Fork of West Harpeth river, near the town of Franklin, Tennessce. Colonel Murfree married, Feb- ruary 17, 1780, Sally Brickell (see Brickell line), and they were the parents of a son, William Hardy, mentioned below. In 1809 Colonel Murfree died on his estate in Ten- nessee, where he was buried with the beauti- ful Masonic ritual, he having been a distin- guished member of the order. He is said to have been one of the handsomest men of his day and the last survivor who commanded a regiment in the Revolutionary war.
(III) William Hardy, son of Hardy and Sally (Brickell) Murfree, was born Octo- ber 2, 1781, in Hertford county, North Car- olina, graduated at the State University, and studied law at Edenton. After obtain- ing his license he returned to his native town of Murfreesborough, North Carolina, and entered at once upon the practice of his profession. He soon rose into prominence and acquired great personal popularity. From 1805 to 1812 he was county attorney of Hertford county. In 1805 he repre- sented the county in the House of Assem- bly, in 1812 was again a member of the House, and from 1813 to 1817 was a Con- gressional representative of the Edenton district. During his term he defended with ability President Madison's policy in the war with Great Britain. He declined a third election. In addition to his legal and political duties Mr. Murfree had the care
937
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
of his vast estates, involving all the respon- sibilities of a wealthy Southern planter of a century ago, and in 1823 he removed to Tennessee to care for his large inherited interests in that State. Mr. Murfree mar- ried, February 17, 1808, Elizabeth Maney (see Maney line), and their children were: William L .; Sally Brickell, married David Dickenson, for many years member of Congress from Tennessee; and Elizabeth Maney, mentioned below. William L. Mur- free was a graduate of the University of Nashville, an able writer, a profound scholar and lawyer and the author of sev- eral standard legal works. His daughter, Mary Noailles Murfree, is the "Charles Eg- bert Craddock" of fiction. William Hardy Murfree died in Nashville, January 19, 1827, surviving his wife but six months, she having passed away July 13, 1826, near Franklin, Tennessee.
(IV) Elizabeth Maney, daughter of Wil- liam Hardy and Elizabeth (Maney) Mur- free, was born July 13, 1826, near Franklin, Tennessee, and became the wife of Henry S. Frazer (see Frazer line).
(The Maney Line).
Two brothers, Jacques and Jean Maney, lived at Meschers, a village on the Gironee, France, the latter being a sea captain and known as Captain Maney. They were Huguenots and fled to England, probably at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685. From England they came to Amer- ica, joining the Narragansett colony in Rhode Island in 1686. Jacques married Anne, daughter of Francois Vincent, both of them being members of the Huguenot church in New York in 1692. Jean mar- ried, prior to 1696, Jeanne, daughter of Jean Machet, and was a member of the same church.
(II) James, son of Jacques and Anne (Vincent) Maney, went to Virginia and thence to North Carolina, settling, in 1711, on the banks of the Chowan river, near the present Maney's Ferry. He bought a large tract of land on the banks of the Chowan,
the deeds being recorded in 1714, and he also established Maney's Ferry which is mentioned in colonial records as one of the king's places for landing his army stores. In 1744 James Maney was a major in His Majesty's militia of Northampton county and also a justice of the peace. He mar- ried his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Jean and Jeanne (Machet) Maney, and their son James is mentioned below. James Maney, the father, died in 1754.
(III) James (2), son of James (I) and Elizabeth (Maney) Maney, married Sus- anna Ballard.
(IV) James (3), son of James (2) and Susanna (Ballard) Maney, married Eliza- beth, daughter of General Lawrence Baker, of Hertford county, North Carolina, and among their six children was James, men- tioned below.
(V) James (4), son of James (3) and Elizabeth (Baker) Maney, married Mary Roberts, and among their five children was Elizabeth, mentioned below.
(VI) Elizabeth, daughter of James (4) and Mary (Roberts) Maney, was born Oc- tober 28, 1787, and became the wife of Wil- liam Hardy Murfree (see Murfree line).
(The Brickell Line).
The Rev. Matthias Brickell, founder of the Brickell family of North Carolina, was born in England, and in 1724, in company with his brother, Dr. John Brickell, came to America on the same ship that brought the royal governor, Burrington. Mr. Brickell was the first resident preacher west of the Chowan river in North Carolina and entered upon his mission in 1730. His home was in Bertie county, and his death occurred in 1758.
(II) Matthew, son of Matthias Brickell, was born March 23, 1725, and was liberally educated. From 1762 to 1766 he served as the first high sheriff of Hertford county, and on August 21, 1775, he was a delegate to the Hillsboro convention, also sitting in the Halifax convention of April 4, 1776. By the latter body he was appointed lieu-
938
Wollte graf
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
tenant-colonel of the North Carolina Con- tinentals. In 1778 he was appointed by the General Assembly a justice of the peace for Hertford county, and after the close of the Revolutionary War was chairman of the old county court. Colonel Brickell married, November 6, 1748, Rachel de Noailles, who was born January 13, 1728, and belonged to a Huguenot family. Among the chil- dren of this marriage was Sally, mentioned below. Mrs. Brickell died February 17, 1770, and the death of Colonel Brickell oc- curred October 17, 1788.
(III) Sally, daughter of Matthew and Rachel (de Noailles) Brickell, was born July 29, 1757, became the wife of Colonel Hardy Murfree (see Murfree line) and died in 1802.
Mrs. Sallie Murfree (Frazer) Hillman obtains membership in the Colonial Dames of America through her great-grandfathers, William Murfree, and the Rev. Colonel Green Hill; in the Daughters of the Amer- ican Revolution through her great-grand- father, Colonel Hardy Murfree, the hero of Stony Point, where he led one of the assault- ing parties; in the Daughters of 1812 through her grandfather, Dr. James Frazer, a surgeon with General Jackson, at New Orleans. She is eligible to the Huguenot Society of America through her maternal ancestor, Jacques Maney, a Huguenot refugee from Meschers, France, and through her great-grandmother, Rachel de Noailles, a member of a Huguenot family and wife of Colonel Matthew Brickell.
UPTEGRAFF, Walter D., Westinghouse Interests Official.
The Westinghouse interests are synony- mous with the growth of Pittsburgh, and conspicuous among the men who have had a large share in building up this magnificent assemblage of organizations is Walter D. Uptegraff, vice-president and director of the Union Switch and Signal Company, and officially connected with a number of the
other world-famous concerns associated with the name of Westinghouse. Mr. Upte- graff has been thus far a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh, and is a forceful factor in everything pertaining to her best interests.
Walter D. Uptegraff was born February 18, 1865, in Pittsburgh, and is a son of Abner and Julia (Bankerd) Uptegraff. Until his fifteenth year the boy attended the local schools of Allegheny, and on March 1, 1880, obtained a position with the West- inghouse Air-brake Company, as assistant to Howard Sprague, then secretary of that corporation. Later Mr. Westinghouse made him his private secretary, thus placing him in charge of an immense correspondence. This fact in itself was sufficient to stamp him as endowed with unusual aptitude in grappling with details, and his already thorough equipment was rendered still more complete by a course of legal study.
With the expansion of the responsibili- ties of the great founder of the Westing- house interests, the duties of his secretary grew in proportion, but he proved himself fully equal to them, endowed as he was with the astute brain of the business man and the judicial mind of the lawyer. In 1896 Mr. Westinghouse conferred upon Mr. Uptegraff the supreme mark of confidence by giving him power of attorney to act for him in financial matters. When Mr. West- inghouse (whose biography, together with a steel engraved portrait, appears on another page of this work) passed away, it was found that he had appointed Mr. Uptegraff one of the three executors of his estate, thus giving another striking proof of apprecia- tion of the exceptional characteristics of his lieutenant. It has been said that nothing is more illuminating as to personality than the impression which a man produces upon the minds of those with whom he is brought in contact. The feelings which he inspires in others are a mirror in which he is pre- sented to us more faithfully than by the brush of the artist or the pen of the his- torian. If this be so, we gain our truest
939
.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
conception of Mr. Uptegraff as a high- minded man of affairs from the simple fact that Mr. Westinghouse thought it wise to make him one of the three executors of his great estate.
In April, 1914, Mr. Uptegraff was made vice-president of the Union Switch and Signal Company in place of Colonel H. G. Prout, who succeeded Mr. Westinghouse as president of the company. Mr. Upte- graff had long been a director of the Union Switch and Signal Company, the Westing- house Air-brake Company, and the West- inghouse Machine Company, as well as treasurer and director of the Westinghouse Air Spring Company. He is also president and director of the Pittsburgh Wall Paper Company and the Defiance Paper Com- pany ; president, assistant secretary, treas- urer and director of the Excess Indicator Company; and treasurer, secretary and director of the East Pittsburgh Improve- ment Company.
As a vigilant and attentive observer of men and measures, Mr. Uptegraff's ideas carry weight among those with whom he discusses public problems, and he is fre- quently consulted in regard to matters of municipal importance. He belongs to the Duquesne, the Pittsburgh Country Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. In Mr. Uptegraff's countenance the lines which tell of strength of character and tenacity of purpose are softened by a geniality of ex- pression which goes far to explain his capac- ity for winning and holding friends. The clear, direct look of the eyes speaks of a straightforward disposition and the ability for prompt decision and unhesitating action. He has always been a worker, not a talker, a man of electric force and alertness and a natural leader. Courteous in manner and generous in feeling, he is a perfect type of the typical Pittsburgh man of affairs.
Mr. Uptegraff married, June 17, 1883, Annie Gaylor, daughter of David and Mary (Morrison) Marshall, who were also the parents of three other daughters-Mrs. Ed-
ward H. S. Fuller, Miss Katherine Mar- shall and Mrs. Charles Comley ; and two sons-David W. Marshall and James F. Marshall. David Marshall, the father, died, and his widow, who was a cousin of Andrew Carnegie, passed away December 28, 1912. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Uptegraff : Marguerite Mar- shall, who became the wife of D. H. Shoe- maker; Elizabeth Marshall; Thomas Mar- shall, of Niagara Falls, New York; Gaylor Marshall, married Sarah Herron ; and Ken- neth Marshall. Mrs. Uptegraff, a thought- ful, clever woman of culture and character, takes life with a gentle seriousness that endears her to those about her. The beau- tiful home in the East End over which she presides is a center of hospitality, Mr. Upte- graff being a man who delights to gather his friends about him and passes his happiest hours in the home circle.
In helping to build up and extend the mighty group of corporations which will go down in history as the Westinghouse Inter- ests, Walter D. Uptegraff is laying lasting foundations for the future industrial pre- eminence of Pittsburgh. He is one of the men whose work "lives after them."
KING, Alexander,
Leading Manufacturer.
One of the strong men of the Old Pitts- burgh-one of those Titans of trade whose heroic proportions seem to dwarf their suc- cessors of the present day-was the late Alexander King, head of the celebrated firm of King & Company. Mr. King was a man who touched life at many points, and his great abilities and sterling traits of char- acter caused him to be regarded by the entire community with feelings of profound admiration.
Alexander King was born in Milford, County Donegal, Ireland, in the year 1816, and left his native land at the age of seven- teen years to join relatives in Baltimore. He had received a classical education in
940
alsrendu time
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Ireland, being intended for the ministry of the Presbyterian church; and these classical studies of early youth he kept bright and familiar to the very close of his life. Young, energetic and educated, of manners cul- tured, he easily found employment in a large wholesale grocery establishment in Baltimore. Having discharged the duties of his position with exemplary fidelity and diligence for three years, he came to Pitts- burgh. Here he entered the store of his elder brother, R. H. King, who was then largely engaged in the grocery business. After two years spent in his brother's employ, he formed a partnership with John Watt, under the name of Watt & King, in the same line of trade. After continuing this partnership for three years, the firm was dissolved, and Mr. King began his mer- cantile career alone. He was very success- ful and became widely known for enter- prise, strict integrity and public spirit.
In 1843 Mr. King introduced soda-ash into this country, for the first time, import- ing it from England, and supplied large quantities required in the manufacture of glass. A few years later he put up an exten- sive factory in Birmingham, Pittsburgh, for the manufacture of soda-ash. In this ven- ture he was associated with Thomas Gra- ham, under the firm name of King & Gra- ham. This undertaking was soon aban- doned, as it was found impossible to pro- duce soda-ash at a fair profit in competition with the imported article.
Later Mr. King engaged in the manu- facture of glass under the name of King & Company, which undertaking was very successful, the enterprise prospering from its very inception, a fact not to be wondered at when it is remembered that its leader was Alexander King, a man whose vigorous, compelling nature and keen, practical mind wrenched success from the many difficulties he encountered. He was one of those men who seem to find the happiness of success in their work a reward more than sufficient to compensate them for any expenditure of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.