USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 14
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Oliver P Motion
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1909 to enter the real estate and insurance field, in which he is still engaged. He now represents the Palatine Insurance Company of London, England, and the Camden Fire Insurance Association of Camden, New Jersey. The principal real estate operations of the firm of Barratt & Close, as the company is called, are in Beaver county farms, but they also do a business in Louisiana and Florida properties. Mr. Barratt is also the president of the Beaver Falls Cemetery Company, which, with Mr. C. B. McCarter, he organized. Mr. Barratt is a Progressive in politics and is active in the affairs of the community, serving at present as a member of the council of College Hill borough, where his home is situated. He has been a member of the Royal Arcanum for thirty-five years.
Mr. Barratt married, August 10, 1882, Ida J. Rea, a native of Butler county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jacob and Carolina Rea. To them have been born three children, as follows: Blanche May, now Mrs. D. K. Shupe, of Monessen, Pennsylvania, and the mother of one son, Rea Bar- ratt Shupe; Eleanor, now Mrs. Herbert Hendrickson, of College Hill, Pennsylvania, and the mother of one daughter, Ida Hendrickson; William, who is now a student in Duff's Business College, and resides at home. Mr. Barratt and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The history of the Molters of Beaver county takes the his- MOLTER torian back over the often-trod and well-beaten path to Ger- many, whence have come the ancestors of many of the most influential members of that county, as well as the forbears of those whose actions have an important part in controlling the destinies of the state and nation.
(I) Jonas Christopher Molter was the emigrant ancestor of his line of the family, and came to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, from his birthplace at an early day in the development of that county, his home being first in Beaver and later in Bridgewater. In his early life he was a coal miner, his later years being spent in coal operations, less strenuous physically and more lucrative financially. He was prominent among his fellows and for many years filled the office of justice of the peace, his death occurring in Bridgewater in 1880, two years after that of his wife, both having been lifelong members of the Lutheran Church. He married, in Germany, Fan- nie Camp, a native of that country. Children: Christopher, Peter John, Henry, Martin, Oliver P., of whom further; Mary Eliza, Margaret, Fan- nie, the first five and the last deceased.
(II) Oliver P. Molter, son of Jonas Christopher and Fannie (Camp) Molter, was born in Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, October 15, 1841. His school days were spent in the public schools, his education being completed in Beaver Academy, and early in life he was a coal miner, coming to New Brighton, Pennsylvania, about 1872. During the Civil War he enlisted and served with distinction during that struggle and was active
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in the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of the post of that society from New Brighton. He established in the livery business in New Brighton, his activities in this line being interrupted by his election to the office of sheriff of Beaver county, in which capacity he served with marked competence and satisfaction for six years, part of that time as deputy sheriff. Not long after descending from office he was elected sergeant-at-arms of the Pennsylvania state senate, and after two years as the incumbent of that place he retired, living so until his death. During his career in public life his business had been under the manage- ment of his son, Ralph Howard, and founded firmly by the father, it in- creased and prospered under the judicious administration of the son, bring- ing to Mr. Molter a generous competence. Politics and political matters had always been a subject of the greatest interest to Mr. Molter, who was a Republican, and besides his relation with the county and state govern- ments he was connected with local affairs as a member of the council and as school director, his wide experience and aptness for such affairs making him a valuable addition to the body of men who made and administered the laws of the borough. He held the Knights Templar degree in the Masonic order, his lodge being the Union, No. 259, Free and Accepted Masons, his commandery, Pittsburgh.
Mr. Molter married, October 3, 1871, Ada Laney, born in Bridgewater, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1847, daughter of Joseph and Eliza (Hobble) Laney. Joseph Laney was a native of Ireland coming thence to the United States when a young man, settling in Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, and was there married, his death occurring from accidental drown- ing when his youngest child was but an infant. He was a Democrat in politics. His wife, Eliza, was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1809, died in Bridgewater, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1903, aged ninety-four years, having been for more than half a century a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Bridgewater. Children of Joseph and Eliza (Hobble) Molter: Samuel, James, deceased, Melinda, William, Mary, Ada, of previous mention, married Oliver P. Molter, and nine others died in infancy. Children of Oliver P. and Ada (Laney) Molter : 1. James, born June 2, 1872, died January 7, 1901 ; was engaged in the livery business in partnership with his father; married Christine Herr, of New Brighton, and had two children, Harry and Adda. 2. Grace H., born November 10, 1874; married Harry Lockhart, and has children, Wilbur, Oliver, Harvey, Elizabeth. 3. Bertha, born October 20, 1876; married Harvey Merriman, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, who died in 1913; they had one child, Dorothy Duss. 4. Herbert, born March 28, 1880; a civil engineer employed in Pittsburgh ; lives at home, unmarried. 5. Ralph Howard, of whom further.
(III) Ralph Howard Molter, son of Oliver P. and Ada (Laney) Mol- ter, was born in New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1882. He obtained an elementary education in the public schools of that place, later entering Beaver College, whence he was graduated from the commercial
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course in 1900. Immediately after graduation he entered the livery business of his father, which had been established by the latter and a partner in 1879. Oliver P. Molter became sole owner in 1884 and from that time until 1913 the business was conducted under his name, although after the admission of his son, Ralph H., to an interest, it was extended to Oliver Molter & Company. Since the death of the founder all the transactions of the firm have been conducted under the name of its present proprietor, Ralph Howard Molter. He is an able successor of his worthy father, and under his experienced guidance still greater development of the business may be expected, for it is not the nature of Mr. Molter to be content with a degree of success lacking in any way. He is a Republican in politics, and is at the present time serving a term as member of the borough council, another position in which he succeeds his honored sire. His fraternal re- lations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Mr. Molter married, March 10, 1911, Eva L. Tower, daughter of James W. and Malinda (Banta) Tower.
BLOOM The historical documents of the state of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, if searched for mention of the name Bloom, would supply a much more complete narrative than any that might be found on American soil, for the reason that those of the name are but newly arrived in the United States, the family record in this country cover- ing the birth of but one generation, that to which Henry Bloom, herein mentioned, belongs.
(I) Nicholas Bloom was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and at- tended school in that country, coming to Pennsylvania soon after attaining legal age and settling in Cambria county. He became the owner of lands vast in extent, clearing the farm on which he lived of its hearty growth of timber, and there lived until his death. His method of procedure in his new home was that of most of the pioneers of that and of earlier days, log cabins being erected as temporary homes for men and beasts, and farming being begun on a small area hurriedly cleared the former later to give way to frame dwellings and barns of more durable type, the latter to widen into a farm of many acres, for from the last named it was necessary to derive the support of a family. The farm on which he died in 1892 was one of two hundred acres near Johnstown. At the time of the Civil War he was drafted for service in the Union army, but never went to the front because of the fact that he was above the age limit for such military duty, his age at his death being more than seventy-three years, his wife's more than eighty-two years. As his fortunes prospered and it was no longer imperative that he toil ceaselessly, he began to take greater interest in public affairs and the management of public institutions, the majority of which were unknown to him, coming, as he did, from a monarch-governed land, and
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chose as the party that he would support the Democratic. He and his wife were communicants of the Lutheran Church. He married, in Johns- town, Pennsylvania, Catharine Lutz, a native of the same part of Germany as he. In her immigration to the United States there entered in an ele- ment of uncertainty that, while it ended happily, must have caused her some anxiety at the time. She had expected to be met at the Hollidaysburg station by a brother, but owing to some misunderstanding, while she was journeying across the Atlantic, he had departed for Illinois, and brother and sister were not reunited until forty years later. Fortunately for the young girl, for she was little more than that at the time, kind friends of- fered her sheltering care, which in a strange land three thousand miles from home, she was glad to accept, and her marriage a few years later furnished her with a protector and provider for life. Children of Nicholas and Catharine (Lutz) Bloom: I. Leonard, a farmer of Cambria county. 2. Jacob, died unmarried, aged twenty-seven years. 3. Catharine, married Michael Hack, deceased, lived in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. 4. John, a a farmer, lives in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. 5. George, a farmer, met an accidental death when aged fifty years, the cause being the kick of a vicious horse. 6. Henry, of whom further. 7. Mary, married Samuel Myers, and lives in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. 8. William, a farmer, lives on the homestead.
(II) Henry Bloom, son of Nicholas and Catharine (Lutz) Bloom, was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1859. While living on the home farm he attended the nearby public school, the combination of home duties and school studies making his youthful days ones busy and well-occupied. After leaving the home farm he learned steel heating processes in the plant of the Cambria Steel Company, at Johnstown, in 1884, coming to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and entering the employ of the Hartman Steel Company, remaining in that service for five and a half years, at the expiration of that time giving his final farewell to the steel manufacturing industry. He immediately began work at the carpenter's trade, and having learned his business thoroughly, entered the contracting field. His business is general in character, the field of his operations ex- tending from Pittsburgh to Newcastle. One of his contracts was for the building of the Pittsburgh plant of the Edwin Bell Company, barrel and keg manufacturers, the home of the industry covering two acres, and for four and a half years after the completion of his work he was employed by this firm in the capacity of outside superintendent, his territory extend- ing from South Sharon to Monessen. Since that time he has confined his business interests entirely to contracting with pleasing financial results, continuing therein to the present time. Mr. Bloom allows no false pride or erroneous impression to govern his actions in his business, but when oc- casion demands, as it frequently does, is glad to don working clothes and labor at the side of those whom he employs, realizing full well that the greatest dignity of man is in worthy toil and that work is one's most price-
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less inheritance. Mr. Bloom and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church, to which his parents belonged, serving as trustee for twenty years, while his political views dictate allegiance to the Republican party. It was as the representative of this party that he was for seven years a member of the Beaver Falls council, in which body his strong and sound judgment, and practical and pertinent suggestions were often the means of offering a solution to a bothersome problem or of deciding a weighty question in debate.
He married, in 1886, Mrs. Margaret E. (Douglass) Myers, daughter of Andrew Douglass, her father, deceased, having been a long-time resident of Butler county, Pennsylvania. Children: Margaret, lives at home, and Kate, who died in infancy, aged fifteen months. The present home of Mr. Bloom and his family is at No. 1120 Ninth avenue, where he has remodeled the home of his wife into an attractive and comfortable residence.
There is a custom prevalent in many foreign lands that has WHITE never gained the popularity in the United States that it has attained elsewhere, the making of one trade or occupation the business of one family for generations following. In the British Isles and the continental countries the son of a tailor is taught the tailor's trade, the offspring of a watchmaker, the art of making time-pieces, a mechanic's boy, his father's trade. It is plainly because such a system, while pro- ducing workmen skilled to the last degree, nevertheless renders them, in a large measure, useless for any other trade or business, that it has never found favor in our land, where every principle of national and municipal government and all of our institutions tend toward the development of all the faculties and the exercise of the same. It was in pursuance of this policy that the White family of Ireland for many generations were man- ufacturers of fine linen and bleachers, not to be duplicated by any other of the exponents of that great Irish art, the head of the industry passing to his descendants the secret processes of the trade, which were as care- fully guarded as the most sacred point of honor. The bleaching was done on what was known as Bleaching Greens which were large fields of grass and the linen was sun bleached of chemicals.
(I) It was in this business that Thomas White, with whom this chronicle begins, amassed the fortune that in those days was considered vast in proportions, although in our present day of multi-millionaires it would suffer severely from comparison. Thomas White was a Covenanter in religion, and died in Ireland in 1797. He and his wife were the parents of five sons and one daughter. The daughter married in Ireland and there died. All five of the sons were active in the terrible rebellions that have shaken Ireland from its foundations from the twelfth century and that have kept its people from occupying the high position for which they are
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fitted among the civilized nations of the world. Suffering under oppression, ground into the dust by the hard-pressing heel of poverty and debt, the Irish nation has been indeed deprived of her birthright, a fact to which her leaders are now fully awake, and cognizant of their wrongs, seek and demand reparation. Hugh, one of the sons of Thomas White, possessed a remarkably good education and had written many pamphlets dealing with the injustices done the land by its English oppressors. One of his writ- ings, and the one that made him an exile from the land of his birth, was a draft of a declaration of independence for Ireland. Because of his writings, treasonous in the extreme, from an alien point of view, he was under close surveillance, and when it was found that he had prepared such a document a party of soldiers was sent to search his home. The paper was found hidden in the thatch roof of his cottage and the detachment of troops then set out upon a new hunt for its author. Hugh White, hiding in a blacksmith's shop, saw his would-be captors approaching and persuaded the smith, a loyal patriot, to change clothes with him, and busied himself at the forge, the proprietor of the shop being led away as the person in demand. After this narrow escape he made his way to a seaport town, was placed in a crate in the midst of the cargo by friends, carried on board a vessel under the watchful and unsuspecting eyes of a soldier guard, and was brought to the United States. Safely arrived in this country he came at once to Economy township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he was a farmer for the remainder of his life, never marrying. Two of his brothers, for participation in the same rebellion, were transported to Van Diemen's Land, from which time nothing was ever heard from them, while a third, whose offences as a ringleader had been more serious, was hanged as soon as taken prisoner.
(II) John White, son of Thomas White, through whom the present line continues, had made and saved a considerable sum of money in linen manufacturing in his native land, county Antrim having been the place of his birth in 1760. In consequence, at the time of his immigration to the United States in 1794, he was not penniless, but possessed sufficient money to give him an advantageous start in business. His departure from his native land was entirely voluntary, unattended by any of the thrilling cir- cumstances that had marked the leave-taking of his brother, Hugh, for while he had been active in the ranks of those who advocated rebellion, that strife had not yet reached its culmination. Contracting was the line in which he established after his arrival in the United States, and he was the builder of one mile of the turnpike connecting Philadelphia and Bal- timore. He then moved to the western part of the state, purchasing from the Pennsylvania Improvement Company one square mile of land on the west bank of the Beaver river just above the present site of the city of Beaver Falls, a tract now included in Beaver county, although then the county had not yet been erected. He here built a cabin and began the stupendous task of clearing that vast area of its wealth of forest. In 1801
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he returned to Ireland, one of his purposes being to endeavor to recover some of the rich estate that had been his father's fortune, the other to wed a certain maid who, seven years before, had promised to wait for his return. As far as achieving desired results may be called success, his journey was a dismal failure, for not only did he find all of the family belongings confiscated by the government and beyond recovery, but his amorous advances were likewise repulsed, his betrothed dreading a life in the American wilderness. He was just as determined not to remain in Ireland, after a glimpse of the New World possibilities, and selling one of the first class passage tickets he, in his confidence, had purchased, he traded the other for steerage passage, bringing with him to the United States John Murphy, whose daughter married John Reeves, a banker of Beaver Falls, and John McMillan. The three came to John White's home in 1804 and there lived until the other two were able to provide houses of their own. Five years later John White married and a more pretentious house took the place of the early log cabin. He and his family were members of the Covenanters Church, traveling seven miles on horseback every Sunday to attend the services of that faith and remaining at the church all day, the trip being made whatever the conditions of weather. He was a man of strong moral convictions, gentle and mild in nature, but stern and unyielding in a question involving a principle. On no occasion or under no circumstances could he be prevailed upon to carry a gun, nor was there ever one in his possession, it being a rule of his never to deprive any living creature of something which he could not return, the disposal of a life being far beyond his power.
He married Elizabeth Kelso, born on Wallace's Run, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, daughter of John Kelso. Her parents were among the earliest of the county's settlers, John Kelso owning a flour mill on Wallace's Run, which he operated nine months in the year, He did not witness with pleasure the quick gathering of families in that locality, and moved, in 1810, to Kentucky, where there were not enough residents to remove the charm of pioneer simplicity, which in many cases was synonymous with discomfort. Children of John and Elizabeth (Kelso) White: I. Thomas, whose sketch follows. 2. John, a school teacher and doctor, died while practicing in Parkersburg, West Virginia. 3. David, a farmer and nursery- man, died in Venango county, Pennsylvania. 4. Robert, of whom further. 5. James, a farmer, lived in Wert county, West Virginia. 6. Sallie, mar- ried Thomas Ramsey, the victim of a railroad accident, in 1876, and lived in Beaver Falls. 7. Elizabeth, married D. C. McCann, and lived on a farm in Wert county, West Virginia. 8. Anne, married Samuel Lee, a farmer of Wert county, West Virginia. 9. Mary, married William Johnson, and lived in West Liverpool, Ohio. 10. Hugh, a millwright, owned a farm and several canal boats; his home was in Beaver Falls, and although he had never performed any military or naval service, he was universally known as "Captain White."
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(III) Thomas White, son of John and Elizabeth (Kelso) White, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1810, and there died, aged seventy- six years. He received from his father, as a gift, a farm which is now the site of the Penn Bridge Works. He was a farmer throughout his entire life, his home being the large stone house which is still standing at College Hill. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which all his family belonged. He married Elizabeth Bannon, born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Irish parents, she dying in that county, aged seventy-four years. Children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Bannon) White: 1. Chamberlain, of whom further. 2. Jeremiah, de- ceased, was a stone mason of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. 3. Thomas, a contractor, specializing in concrete work; lives at Vandergrift, Pennsyl- vania. 4. Ella, married John Young; lives on the old homestead. 5. Margaret, married George Smith; lives in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
(IV) Chamberlain White, eldest of the children of Thomas and Eliza- beth (Bannon) White, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, near the present site of Geneva College, February 13, 1836, died there September 14, 1888. As a lad he was his father's helper in all farm duties, attending the common schools as the opportunity presented itself, later finishing his studies at the Greersburg Academy. When but a young man he entered the field of local politics and was ever the incumbent of some position in the public service, From 1872 until 1874 he was sheriff of Beaver county, exercising the powers of that office in a thoroughly capable and efficient manner. In 1879 he became chief of the Beaver Falls police force, con- tinuing so until 1886, from that latter year to the time of his death being engaged in detective work. During his term of office as head of the police department of Beaver Falls that city was guarded from burglarious depre- dations in a manner that gave a secure feeling of safety even to the timid, and internal disturbances were few and far between. What was true of his work in his town applied also to his administration of the county office of sheriff, and his reputation for pursuing legal offenders with zealous energy made law-abiding citizens of many who, had their natural inclina- tions been given full sway, would have stood far beyond the pale of re- spectable society. He affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows.
He married, October 30, 1862, Sarah M. Elliott, born in Moon town- ship, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, June 26, 1846, daughter of John M. and Narcissa S. (Crail) Elliott. John M. was a son of William and Margaret Elliott both natives of Ireland, who on immigrating to the United States settled in Hubbard, Ohio, and later when their children were small moved to Moon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. John M. Elliott was born in Hubbard, Ohio, came to Moon township, Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, with his parents, in childhood, and there spent the greater part of his life, first on his father's farm and then on land of his own. In his later years he sold his farm property and moved to Beaver Falls, living
gp & White
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there until the time of his death. For many years his was a well-known and familiar figure in the court of common pleas of Beaver county, where he officiated as crier. He and his wife, Narcissa S. (Crail) Elliott, daugh- ter of James and Susan (Stoops) Crail, were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, her parents both being natives of eastern Pennsylvania who settled in Raccoon township, Beaver county. Children of John M. and Narcissa S. (Crail) Elliott: 1. Sarah M., of previous mention, mar- ried Chamberlain White. 2. James W., lives in Barnett county, Wiscon- sin. 3. William O., deceased. 4. Daniel B., deceased. 5. Medora, mar- ried Dr. S. P. Eckie, and lives in Mansfield, Ohio. 6. Luella, deceased. 7. Addison D., a resident of Duquesne, Pennsylvania. 8. John B., de- ceased. Children of Chamberlain and Sarah M. (Elliott) White: I. Minnie, born May 2, 1866; married Joseph Akin, and lives in Rochester, Pennsylvania; one child, John Mc. 2. Thomas Howard, born August 17, 1873; lieutenant of police in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; married Blanche Devine; four children living: Medora, William, Minnie and Janet. 3. Anna L., born August 20, 1874; married William Mitchell; both are de- ceased; left three children: Margaret, Norma and Ray. 4. William El- liott, of whom further. 5. Mary Iva, born December 25, 1877; married Barclay Campbell, and lives in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; one child, Samuel.
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