USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 33
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(The Kirker Line.)
(I) James Kirker, great-grandfather of Mrs. Richards, was born in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, of German parents, and, upon arriving at maturity he married -, born in Germany, and after marriage settled on a farm in Butler county, Pennsylvania, on which they died at a ripe old
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age. They had children: James, John S., of further mention; Susan, Wil- liam, Robert.
(II) John S. Kirker, son of James Kirker, was born in Butler coun- ty, Pennsylvania, died in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, December 8, 1889. After his marriage he removed from Butler to Lawrence county, where he was both a farmer and a shoemaker. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Elizabeth Rutter, a native of Butler county, who died in Lawrence county in the early eighties. They had children: Margaret, deceased; William J., deceased; Nancy, deceased; J. Emma; Albert Mc., deceased; Lorenzo C., of further mention; Silas Monroe; John N .; Tirzah; Lawrence C., deceased; Olney A .; Adeline L.
(III) Lorenzo C. Kirker, son of John S. and Elizabeth (Rutter) Kirker, was born in what was then Beaver county, now Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, August 21, 1843, and was there educated in the public schools.
He was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, but abandoned this occupation upon the outbreak of the Civil War, and enlisted in Com- pany H, Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves, serving three years. Among the more important engagements in which he participated were: Gettysburg, Antietam, South Mountain, Battles of the Wilderness, Peninsular Cam- paign, Gaines Mill and Mechanicsville. September 17, 1862, he was wound- ed in the right thigh, and was compelled to be out of the regiment for a period of six months. At the close of the war he went to New Castle, where he followed the carpenter's trade until 1880, at which time he came to Beaver Falls, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he was successfully engaged in business as a carpenter and general contractor until stricken with paralysis in May, 1913, since when he has lived retired from business responsibilities. The firm of which he was the senior member was known as L. C. Kirker & Son, and their reputation was an excellent and wide- spread one.
Mr. Kirker is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was commander of the local post for four terms, the last three being in succes- sion, just prior to his stroke of paralysis. He and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Kirker married, February 15, 1865, Janetta, born in North Sewick- ley township, daughter of Robert and Jane (Allison) Cunningham, the former a son of Irish parents, the later a daughter of James and Ella Alli- son, both born in Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Kirker have had children: Evelyn, widow of Mcclellan Jolley, lives in Los Angeles, California; Ce- celia Beatrice, married Charles D. Garrett, lives in Beaver Falls, Beaver county ; Harry Vincent, member of the firm of L. C. Kirker & Son, married Jeannette Craig; Flora Ada, who married John M. Richards (see Richards II) ; Edward L., married Lizzie Bowers, and lives in Beaver Falls; Rosalie, married Albert C. Belles, and lives in Beaver Falls.
githubLowry
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John Giesey Lowry, who during his life was a prominent LOWRY citizen of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, was a member of the
Lowry family, which has for many years been identified with the life of Somerset and Westmoreland counties, in that state. He was born August 15, 1832, in Berlin, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and died in Beaver Falls, April 7, 1906.
His father, Jacob Lowry, was probably also a native of Somerset county, and certainly lived there during his youth, and up to the time when his son, John G., was four years old. While still a resident there, he mar- ried Elizabeth Giesey, and later moved to a farm in Westmoreland county, where he lived until the time of his death. To him and his wife were born nine children, of whom, all but the youngest, are dead. They were: Henry, a farmer of Kansas; William, who lived on the old Lowry homestead in Westmoreland county; Jacob, who had a farm near Ligonier, Pennsylvania; Susan; Mary; Harriet; Priscilla; John Giesey, of whom further; Jane, now Mrs. Daniel Nicewonger, residing on a farm in Whiteside county, Illinois.
John Giesey Lowry spent his childhood on his father's farm near Ligonier, and there grew up to young manhood. He then went to the near-by town of Ligonier and apprenticed himself to his brother-in-law, Samuel Slater, a carpenter, and under him learned that trade. The Civil War breaking out at this time, Mr. Lowry enlisted in Company K, Fifty- third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served for three years, during which time he took part in a number of the most fiercely contested engage- ments of the war, among them Gettysburg. In the battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines, he was severely wounded by a bullet which narrowly missed cutting the femoral vein in his thigh. At the battle of Fredericksburg, his hearing was permanently affected by the noise of the cannonading, an affec- tion which grew with his years, until toward the latter end of his life he became totally deaf. His last year of service was with the signal service corps, after which he returned to Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Here he was married in the year 1865, and then removed with his wife to Latrobe, Penn- sylvania, where he worked as a contracting carpenter for three years. This was at a time when a great tide of migration was setting westward and a wonderful development taking place in parts of our western states. Mr. Lowry joined the movement west, and settled in Emporia, Kansas, remaining for about a year. The boom, however, had come and gone in that section and there was but little demand for his trade, so he returned east to Pennsylvania, this time taking up his abode in Wilkinsburg, where he remained for eight years, following his occupation as carpenter. He made one more venture in the west, this time to Whiteside county, Illinois, where he farmed for a year, finally returning to Beaver Falls, Beaver coun- ty, Pennsylvania, in which place he made his home until the time of his death. In Beaver Falls he became a contracting carpenter, and did a large and lucrative business. In 1883, three years after his arrival there, he built a fine house for himself at No. 1514 Eighth avenue. Mr. Lowry
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was a staunch Republican in politics, and active in public affairs, serving for a time on the Beaver county jury commission, He was a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Union Veteran Legion.
Mr. Lowry married, June 29, 1865, Mary W. Elder, a native of Westmoreland county, where she was born May 2, 1841, about two miles from Ligonier. The Elder family is an old and distinguished one, and Mrs. Lowry traces her ancestry in this country back to the Rev. John Elder, the founder of the family in America. There is a tradition that the Elder family was driven out of Scotland into the north of Ireland by religious persecution, though whether it was this reverend gentleman or his father is uncertain. John Elder was a clergyman of the Presbyterian church, and coming to Path Valley, Pennsylvania, when that part of the state was a wilderness, and churches few and far between, he preached to congrega- tions in all the country between Harrisburg and Chambersburg, congre- gations often formed of Indians. His son, Robert Elder, was a colonel in the Revolutionary War, and served at the head of his Pennsylvania regi- ment throughout the whole seven years of that historic struggle. The son of Colonel Robert Elder, Joseph Elder, was born in Franklin county and lived there up to the period of his marriage, after which he removed to Westmoreland county, in which the family has since resided. His son, Joseph Elder, Jr., was Mrs. Lowry's father. He came to Westmoreland county with his parents as a boy, and there grew up, acquiring a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He and his family were members of the Presby- terian church, and he was a staunch Republican. He married Elizabeth Penrose, a native of his adopted county, and to them were born five chil- dren, as follows: Mary W., now Mrs. Lowry, the widow of John G. Lowry; John, served for nine months in the Civil War and then went to Nevada where he owned and operated a stage coach line, and where he finally died unmarried at the age of thirty-one; Margaret, now Mrs. Thomas Smith, residing near Ligonier, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Henry Shoup, also residing near Ligonier; William A., who resides retired at Ligonier ; he married Lettie McKelvey.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lowry were born four children, all deceased. They were, Josephine, who died at the age of five years; Mary Edna, Howard, John Rush, all of whom died when but a few months of age.
Mr. Lowry is survived by his widow, who continues to reside at Beaver Falls in the summer, but spends her winters in Florida. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, as was Mr. Lowry, and a member of the Daughters of the Revolution in virtue of her ancestor, Colonel Robert Elder's participation in the Revolutionary War, of his record in which Mrs. Lowry is very proud. It is her belief that patriotism is a quality of the blood that may be, and in the case of her own family, is inherited. It is a quality of which she, herself, is possessed of a large measure, and she be- lieves in fostering it.
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HICE The name of Hice is one which has been connected with profes-
sional work of various kinds in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Originally this name was written Van Hise, the first bearers of it in this country having come to America from Holland, where they settled near Trenton, in the state of New Jersey.
(I) Henry Hice was a well known attorney in Beaver county, Penn- sylvania. He married Ruth A. Ralston, and they were the parents of four children.
(II) Richard Robert Hice, son of Henry and Ruth A. (Ralston) Hice, was born in Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, August 19, 1865. He acquired his education at Beaver Falls and Beaver, and was graduated from Geneva College in the class of 1886. During the next three years he read law in the office and under the preceptorship of his father, then aban- doned this line of study in order to accept the office of secretary and treas- urer of the Fallston Fire Clay Company, of Fallston, Beaver county. He remained in this position until 1909. For some years he was the geological commissioner of the state of Pennsylvania, prior to the time that the state government department was organized. After its organization in 1910, Mr. Hice was appointed state geologist by the government. He had prepared for the responsible work which this entailed not alone in college, but in actual practical labors on the field. His religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian church, and he is an ardent supporter of the Republican party. He is a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Geological Society of America; the American Geographical Society; a member of the American Ceramic Society; the National Geo- graphical Society; the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania ; the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania. He was award- ed a degree of Bachelor of Science upon his graduation from Geneva Col- lege, and the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred upon him by the same institution, June 1, 1913, the first time this degree was conferred by this college. Mr. Hice married, in 1893, May Kells, of Citra, Florida, and they have one child, Eva.
HART The name Hart was a familiar one in Butler county before members of the family took their places in the life and activities of the adjacent county of Beaver.
(I) The first of this branch in either county was John Hart, born in Germany, who came to the United States about 1838, locating near Whites- town, where his death occurred. He was probably a tiller of the soil. He married Nancy Nixon, a native of Ireland, who had left her native land with her brothers, making their home in Butler county, Pennsylvania, one of her brothers, Robert, later moving to Beaver county. John and Nancy (Nixon) Hart were the parents of two sons, John C., of whom further; Henry M., of whom further.
(II) John C. Hart, son of John and Nancy (Nixon) Hart, was born
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in Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1840, died in New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1900. He lived on the home farm until he was eight years of age, starting his studies in the schools of his native county, and then came to Beaver county with his mother. The first battles of the Civil War found him a soldier in the ranks, his term of service last- ing for three years and eleven months, during which time he was raised to the rank of lieutenant. He enlisted August 28, 1861, in Company D, One Hundredth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the "Roundheads," and was in active duty in the following engagements: Secessionville, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, siege of Vicksburg, Blue Springs, Campbell's Station, siege of Knoxville, Wilder- ness campaign, Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna River, Cold Har- bor, Petersburg, July 17, July 30 (mine explosion), August 19, August 21, and October 27, the general siege of Petersburg, and Fort Steadman, in 1865. Returning from the war, having suffered no other casualty than the loss of part of his right hand, shot away at the battle of Petersburg, he entered the oil producing business, enjoying a prosperous career in the oil fields, where his ventures met with excellent success. In 1869 he was elect- ed clerk of the court of Beaver county, serving for three successive terms, his last expiring in 1879. Real estate and insurance then claimed his atten- tion until 1883, from which year until 1893 he dealt in furniture in New Brighton, living retired from the latter date until his death.
He was a business man of sound principles, and his upright actions in the field of trade showed the strength and sincerity of his manhood as plainly as it had ever been displayed under scathing fire on the field of bat- tle. He was exacting and precise in discharging public duty, giving of his best in whatever position .he was placed, never betraying the slightest con- fidence placed in him. His political preferences were Republican, his church, to which his wife also belonged, the Presbyterian. He affiliated witth the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Union Veteran Legion. He married, May 24, 1870, Sarah J., daughter of William Johnson, a native of Mahoning county, Ohio. Their son, Frank D., of whom further.
(II) Henry M. Hart, son of John and Nancy (Nixon) Hart, was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1842. When he was two weeks of age he was brought to Beaver county, living in Ohio township with his uncle, John Nixon, attending in his boyhood the public schools of that township. Like his brother he was a soldier in the Union army, en- listing in September, 1864, in Company H, Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, and served until the close of the war, receiving an honor- able discharge from the ranks without having sustained an injury of any kind. After leaving the army he became an oil producer, operating on Island Run, Beaver county, for eight years, for the two following years following the oil fields in different parts of the country. On April 14,
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1877, he established in the insurance business in New Brighton, and for fifteen years was identified with that line, since when he has lived retired. His wide acquaintance in the region was an important factor in the uniform success of his insurance selling, his reputation for integrity being an added security for the company he represented, his many friends realizing that he would consider no proposition that was to flourish to the loss of its in- vestors.
He married (first) in August, 1867, Angeline, born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, daughter of John Kerr. They were the parents of three children, Blanche, John, Nellie, all of whom are deceased, the deaths of his wife and three children occurring within a period of three weeks. He mar- ried (second) January 1, 1885, Mrs. Elizabeth (Jackson) Bradbury, daugh- ter of Robert and Sarah (Wooley) Jackson. Her parents were both na- tives of Lancashire, England, and came to the United States about 1862, making their home in New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. They brought with them on their voyage six children, John, David, Joseph, James, William, Elizabeth, of previous mention, married Henry M. Hart. Robert Jackson was an employee in a woolen mill, he and his wife spending their last years in the home of their daughter, Elizabeth, Mrs. Jackson dying aged eighty-three years, attended with loving devotion until her death.
(III) Frank D. Hart, son of John C. and Sarah J. (Johnson) Hart, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1877. He obtained an excellent practical education in the public schools of New Brighton, Peir- sol's Academy, and Rand's Commercial College. His first position was in the employ of the Penn Bridge Company, later events causing him to identi- fy himself with the Pressed Steel Car Company, both of his positions hav- ing been in the capacity of clerk, and he became foreman of the yard of the latter company at Mckees Rocks. He efficiently performed the duties of this office until 1908, when he was elected register and recorder of Beaver county as the candidate of the Republican party, and at the expiration of his term was re-elected, now serving his second term. In addition to the responsibilities of his office, of which he is punctiliously observant, he has recently erected a theatre in New Brighton, which has just entered upon what promises to be a most prosperous career. Mr. Hart is a member of the Presbyterian church, as is his wife, and holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Order of Independent Americans.
Mr. Hart married, September 24, 1900, Blanche, daughter of Lamer- tine Le Goullon, of Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of one child, Sarah, born in 1906.
GARRETT The Garrett family now resident in Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, has been in this country but a few generations, but they have identified themselves thoroughly with its
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interests and have on all occasions shown a deep and sincere patriotism.
(I) Edward Garrett, the American progenitor of this branch of the Garrett family, was born in county Down, Ireland, and came to this coun- try in early manhood. He at once went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he followed his trade as a stone mason, with which he was connected throughout his life in various sections of the country. After a time he re- moved to Freedom, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, from there to Crows Run, Sewickley township, Pennsylvania, and was an industrious citizen wherever he located. He married Rose - and had children.
(II) Robert D. Garrett, son of Edward and Rose Garrett, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was educated in the schools of that city. For many years he was occupied as a brick mason, then engaged in farm- ing operations, with which he is associated at the present time, He has a finely cultivated farm of seventy-five acres, and is able to make the most of its possibilities. He is a Democrat, and a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church. He married Margaret, born in New Sewickley township, daughter of John Smith and granddaughter of John Smith. John Smith, the elder, was born in England and came to this country as a young lad. He acquired some government land in New Sewickley township, cleared it, and farmed it until his death. John Smith, Jr., went into the quarry busi- ness, followed it for many years, and died as a result of the exposure to which he was subjected. He had three brothers in the Civil War, of whom two were killed, the third returned to his home, but died later from the effects of the strenuous life he had led while in the army. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Garrett: Mamie, died at the age of twenty-one years; John, Charles, Perry Alonzo, Edith, Laura, Veda.
(III) Perry Alonzo Garrett, son of Robert D. and Margaret (Smith) Garrett, was born in New Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, October 24, 1888. He was educated in the schools of his native county. His first step in his business life was as an employee on the rail- road, after which he learned the barber's trade, which he has followed be- tween six and seven years. He is also engaged in the real estate business, in which he has met with well deserved success and with which he is still identified. Most of his transactions are connected with town property. He takes a deep and sincere interest in whatever concerns the welfare of the township, and spares neither time nor labor where the interests of the com- munity are concerned. He affiliates with the Republican party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of the Woodmen of the World. Mr. Garrett married, in December, 1911, Grace, born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, a resident of Rochester at the time of her marriage, and a daughter of and Julia Richardson. They have one child, Fern.
SHERWOOD
The pottery industry in the state of Pennsylvania is one which has been of great importance in developing the prosperity of that section of the country, and among
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those who have been foremost in this line was William Sherwood. He was a son of John Sherwood, and was born in the state of West Virginia, No- vember 28, 1848. He was very young when his parents removed to East Liverpool, Ohio, and it was in that town that he received his education. His business career was a varied one until he was twenty-four years of age, when in association with his brother George he organized the Sherwood Brothers Pottery Works, on a rather small but safe scale, and in the course of time this grew to such proportions that after the death of William Sher- wood it was incorporated. Mr. Sherwood not only thoroughly understood the technical workings of the plant of which he was the head, but he pos- sessed business ability of a high order, and managed this end of affairs with consummate ability. He was a Republican in his political opinions, and a member of the Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Sherwood married, December 11, 1870, Esther Emeline, born in New Brighton, daughter of Orlando and Charlotte (Dunbar) Couch, the former born in Central Pennsylvania, the latter in Philadelphia. Nathan and Emilie Couch, the paternal grandparents of Mrs. Sherwood, came from Central Pennsylvania to New Brighton in the early days, and he at first had charge of the lock for the Canal Company. Later he became baggage master at the station for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, retaining this position until he retired, and he died at Greensboro. The maternal grand- parents of Mrs. Sherwood were David and Esther (Dewey) Dunbar, the Dunbars being an old Philadelphia family. After the death of her first husband, Esther (Dewey) Dunbar married (second) in 1839, John Squires, of an old English family. Soon afterward they removed to New Brighton, where he was a farmer, and cleared land and made a home back of New Brighton. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood had children: Orlena, John S., May Olive, all living.
SULLIVAN The closing years of the seventeenth or the opening de- cade of the eighteenth century saw the arrival in North- umberland county, Virginia, of Peter O. Sullivan, emi- grant ancestor of those of that name recorded in this line, who came thither from Ireland, his birthplace and the home of generations of his race. He married and was the father of a numerous family, including several sons, from one of whom Charles C. Sullivan, of this narrative, traces his descent, his grandfather, Charles Sullivan, being a grandson of the emigrant, Peter O. Sullivan.
(III) Charles Sullivan, of the third American generation of the Sulli- van family, was born in Virginia, March 27, 1760, died in Franklin town- ship, Butler county, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1813. He was a soldier in the American army throughout the Revolutionary War, and while passing the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge, met the young lady who afterward became his wife, Margaret Johnston, a resident of Chester county. He
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served until the close of the war in Washington's command, and married, in Chester county, 1785, soon after moving to Allegheny county, and settling a few miles from Pittsburgh, later making his home in the vicinity of Noblestown. In 1797 he came with his wife and six children to Butler county, settling in what is now Franklin township, purchasing a large tract of land, which by careful cultivation he developed into an exceedingly valu- able property. He was survived by his wife, Margaret (Johnston) Sulli- van, and eleven children, the six eldest having been born in Allegheny county, the remaining five owning Butler county, Pennsylvania, as their birthplace. Children: 1, Moses. 2. Aaron. 3. Thomas. 4. John. 5. James, of whom further. 6. Margaret, married William Stewart, of Butler; died May 20, 1884, the mother of two daughters. 7. Jemima, married John McCandless, of Centre township, Butler county; had numerous children; died in Butler county, September, 1881. 8. Elizabeth, married (first) Ed- ward White, of Whitestown, had eight children; married (second) William C. Martin; died in 1876. 9. William. 10. Charles Craven, 11. Susannah, married Rev. H. Bradshaw, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; moved to Iowa, and there died.
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