USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 44
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 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
His own energy has been the means of raising him to his present position in the community, and he is in truth a self-made man. His oc- cupations have been varied and numerous. During the past five years he has been engaged in farming on the land which he now occupies. He pur- chased one hundred and four acres, and cultivates these for general farm- ing.
Mr. Staub married, September 26, 1872, Catherine Augusta Kapphahn, who is an earnest worker in the interests of the Presbyterian Church of which she is a member. They have had children: I. William, deceased. 2. Harry F., who resides in Colona, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 3. Cora, lives in Beaver, Pennsylvania. 4. Augusta, lives with her mother. 5. Jessie, lives in Moon township. 6. Blanche. 7. Ada. 8. Flora. 9. Charles. IO. Emma. William Kapphahn, father of Mrs. Staub, was the son of Christopher Kapphahn, and both were born in Germany and came to the United States at the same time. They located on South Side, Pittsburgh. Christopher Kapphahn was a gunsmith and a blacksmith, and later removed to Minnesota, where he died. He brought his fourteen children with him to America and they were three months on the ocean while making this trip. William Kapphahn was born in March, 1827, and was graduated from a Conservatory of Music in Germany prior to coming to this country with his parents. He organized the first band in the city of Pittsburgh, calling it the Washington Cornet Band, and it was a great success. He was also a packer in McKee's Glass Factory, and later removed to Min- nesota, where his death occurred. He married Elizabeth Swartz, born in Germany, who came to this country at the age of fourteen years with her parents, who settled for a time in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, as farmers, but later removed to Punxsutawney, Jefferson county, Penn- sylvania.
The Morrows, who originally came to this country from MORROW Ireland, have been engaged in agricultural pursuits for many generations. Hugh Morrow was born in Ireland, and came to this country as a very young man, so that practically his whole life was spent here. He located in Hopewell township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, about 1800, on what is still known as the "Old Morrow Farm." This was virgin forest at the time Mr. Morrow took possession of it, and it was a labor of time to clear the land and prepare it for farm- ing operations. Later he sold the farm to one of his sons. He married Sarah
Jotun Morow
357
BEAVER COUNTY
(II) Alexander Prentice Morrow, son of Hugh and Sarah Morrow, was born in Hopewell township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1812. The school he attended was in a small log building and he displayed re- markable aptitude as a scholar. After he purchased the old farm from his father, he accumulated considerably more in the same section. He was a very industrious man, and was greatly interested in the raising of sheep. He was a staunch supporter of the Democratic party, but never expressed any desire for public office. He served as captain of the militia, and his religious affiliations were with the United Presbyterian Church. He mar- ried (first) Nancy Crayton, daughter of John Crayton, who came from Ireland and settled in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and was a farmer. He married (second) Atheline Springer. By the first marriage he had three sons and one daughter, and by the second he had two sons and two daughters.
(III) John Morrow, son of Alexander Prentice and Nancy (Crayton) Morrow, was born in Hopewell township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, May 21, 1844. He acquired a sound and practical education in the public schools of his native township, and has put this to excellent use. He has always been engaged in farming, and in addition to this has been a cattie breeder of note in this section. All of the buildings at present on his property, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres, have been erected by Mr. Morrow. The house was built in 1880, and the barn three years later. He has done a great deal to serve the community in public affairs, and has frequently held public office. He invariably casts his vote in the interests of the Democratic party, became a supervisor of the township in 1877, and being again elected is now in the fifth year of his present term. For several terms he served as school director, is now fire marshal by ap- pointment, and was also appointed by the court as one of the viewers of the county. He and his family are members of the United Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Morrow married (first) in 1866, Fannie Alexander, and has had children; Alexander, Nancy, James, Johnny, May, Edith. He married (sec- ond) in 1889, America Campbell, and has children: Robert and George.
The earliest record we have of this family is of Jacob Fath, FATH who was considered a "Samson" in his day. He never came to America, living on a large farm in one of the finest agricultural districts of Germany. He raised a family of six sons and three daughters. Of these only one daughter and two sons came to the United States, one of the latter being employed as a teacher in the public schools of New York City.
(II) George P. Fath, son of Jacob Fath, was born in Baden, Germany, and there received a liberal education, which he supplemented by wide and diversified reading throughout his life. He came to America about 1846, and located in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He had learned the trade of har-
358
PENNSYLVANIA
ness and saddle making in his native land, and followed this occupation very successfully after his arrival here. Subsequently, in 1858, he pur- chased the farm in Moon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on which his son, Jacob George, is residing at the present time. It consisted of ninety-eight acres, two-thirds of which was heavily wooded. Here the re- mainder of his life was spent. Mr. Fath was a staunch supporter of Re- publican principles, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Lentz, both born in Germany and came to this country with their children in 1846. They re- sided in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, where he cultivated a farm, but he opened a store in Allegheny, which he conducted successfully until his death. They had three sons and three daughters, all of whom came to America with their parents, and all of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Fath had children: Jacob George, see forward; Catherine, Eliza- beth, Lena.
(III) Jacob George Fath, son of George P. and Elizabeth (Lentz) Fath, was born in Allegheny City, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 14, 1853. He received his education in the public schools of Moon township, Davis district, and has always lived on the family homestead, where he cultivates forty-two acres. He is also the owner and operator of a saw mill, a cider press and a feed grinder. For all of these industries Mr. Fath erected substantial buildings, and has the patronage of the entire sec- tion. He is a Republican in his political views, and he and his entire family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are all musically gifted, and when all are assembled the concerted music they render is well worth listening to. Mr. Fath married (first) June 15, 1879, Bertha Kar- cher, born in Moon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Eberts) Karcher, both natives of Bavaria, Ger- many, who came to America with their parents. She is the granddaughter of John and Elizabeth Eberts. All of her ancestors were farmers. Mrs. Fath died October 25, 1895, and Mr. Fath married (second) in 1897, Mar- garet Johnston. Children of first wife: George W., an engineer in the employ of the Colonial Steel Works, has been at the same engine for seven consecutive years; Charles F., a roller in the Colonial Steel Works; Fred- erick C., resides at home, and is the road master of the township; Jacob B., a conductor on the railway, lives at Woodlawn; Abram L., at home; Kate, lives near Scottsville; Ida D., lives near Parnassus. By his second marriage Mr. Fath has one child, Stella, at home.
BLAIR As proof against the ill-founded assertions of those who are fond of picturing the decadence of the American people and who claim that the class of people of foreign birth who leave their native land to seek American homes is not the same as that which, by its talents, brain and brawn raised our country to its present command- ing pinnacle, is the record of the Blair family in the United States.
359
BEAVER COUNTY
(I) Charles Blair, the first of the line of whom there is definite record, was born in Scotland, and with two brothers moved to Ireland. Charles Blair remained in that country and there made his home, but his two brothers departed for the United States, one becoming a farmer of Ohio, the other a practicing physician of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Charles Blair became a farmer in his adopted country and acquired a great deal of land, one of his daughters still retaining possession of the major portion of the estate and there making her home. He married and had several children, among whom was Charles, of whom further.
(II) Charles (2) Blair, son of Charles (1) Blair, was born in Ireland. He there attended school and spent his youth, coming when a young man to the United States. He was an expert and experienced bookkeeper, and made Pittsburgh his place of business. He succeeded Daniel Wallace in the wholesale flour business and was conducting the same with gratifying success at the time of his sudden death in Pittsburgh. He was a business man of honor and was regarded with the greatest of favor by those with whom he had dealings in the mercantile world, while in his private life he was accorded respect and honor for the same qualities that had raised him high in the estimation of his business associates. Mr. Blair married, in 1875, Lide Packer, born in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Job and Charity (Way) Packer, Job Packer was a native of Center county, Pennsylvania, as was his wife. Children of Charles and Lide Blair: I. John Thomas, married Rose Cogings; two children: Gibson David Packer and Charles William. 2. Charity Blair, wife of Eugene H. Brock; two children: Charity Jane and Gibson. 3. Charles Packer, unmarried. The children are all residing on the Homestead Bye Way Farm, devoted to the raising of fruits, located on the old Broadhead Road, five miles southwest of Monaca. Mrs. Blair, the mother of these children, died March 5, 1914.
McConnell, in the years that have heard it and the gen- McCONNELL erations that have borne it, has come to be a name well-known in all parts of Pennsylvania, and one of which those who own it may well be proud, for it has held prominent place in many of the nobler walks of life wherever found. In the present genera- tion of this branch, Dr. George McCallister McConnell has chosen medi- cine as his field of endeavor and in that profession ably upholds the honor of the family name. He is a grandson of Philip McConnell, and a son of Alexander McConnell, of whom further.
(II) Alexander McConnell, son of Philip McConnell, was born in In- dependence township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. He was educated in the public schools, and finishing his youthful studies he learned the stone mason's trade and later was for many years a merchant in Independence township. He is now living retired, having realized a comfortable com- petence from his mercantile business, and is spending his latter years in the peaceful ease that his life of busy activity warrants. He has been a life-
360
PENNSYLVANIA
long adherent to Democratic principles, holding the majority of the town- ship offices, and affiliates with the United Presbyterian Church. He mar- ried Jane, daughter of Daniel and Esther (Cain) McCallister, he a native of Hopewell and she of Independence township, Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania. Children of Alexander and Jane (McCallister) McConnell : George McCallister, of whom further; Clara J., Elizabeth, Daniel Seward, David Ross.
(III) Dr. George McCallister McConnell, son of Alexander and Jane (McCallister) McConnell, was born in Independence township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1867. He was a student in the local schools, later attended Peirsol's Academy, afterward New Sheffield Academy. Com- pleting his primary studies he entered the University of Western Penn- sylvania (University of Pittsburgh), whence he was graduated in March, 1894. In June following his graduation he took the state medical examina- tions, which he passed successfully, and for twelve following years prac- ticed medicine in Independence, after which he moved to South Heights, where he has since been engaged in his profession. He is a capable physi- cian, popular among his patrons, and holds an excellent reputation in medical circles as a doctor of honor, integrity and usefulness. He is a member of the Beaver County Medical Association, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Malta, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which latter organization his wife is also a member. His political belief is Independent.
Dr. McConnell married, in June, 1894, Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John C. Reed, of Independence township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. Children: 1. Mary Jane, student in Saint John's Hospital Training School for Nurses. 2. Clarence E., an employee of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company. 3. and 4. Roberta P. and Florence E., both living at home.
COLE The Cole family, of Rochester, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, were interested in farming and the business life of the county to a great extent. It is only the second generation of this family which is living in this section, as Ivery Cole came to Beaver county in early manhood. He was born in Massachusetts, January 17, 1794, died July 28, 1878. When he came to the state of Pennsylvania he settled on Nevins Island. He was a farmer in association with his brothers-James, Wil- liam and Rufus-and together they owned a large portion of the Island. They all also, with the exception of Ivery Cole, were the proprietors of stores in Pittsburgh. Ivery Cole lived on Nevins Island until 1860, at which time he removed to Rochester, Beaver county, and there purchased property on Adams street. This he remodeled, and by purchasing adjoin- ing land, increased it considerably and made of it a family homestead on which the widow of his son, Rufus Dilworth, is residing at the present time. He and his wife were Presbyterians, and with old Captain Brown donated the land on which the present Presbyterian Church stands. He had
Rufus D. Cole
361
BEAVER COUNTY
amassed a considerable fortune. He married (first) June 8, 1824, Hannah (Dilworth) Cole, who died October 29, 1853; he married (second) Sep- tember 18, 1854, Maria M. Suigart, who died December 3, 1876. Children by first marriage: Sarah Ann, born May 24, 1825, died unmarried, July 6, 1847; John, born October 4, 1827, was a merchant in and around Pitts- burgh, died 1897; Rufus Dilworth, see forward; Eliza Jane, born July 30, 1833, married Samuel H. McGuier, now deceased, and lives in West Vir- ginia.
(II) Rufus Dilworth Cole, second son and third child of Ivery and Hannah (Dilworth) Cole, was born on Nevins Island, in the Ohio river, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 25, 1829, died January 23, 1895. He was educated, in elementary courses, in the public schools on Nevins Island, and this education was supplemented by training in a business col- lege in the city of Pittsburgh. He commenced his business career in the grocery line in Pittsburgh, and continued in this until about 1855 when he re- moved to Beaver county and purchased a farm a little above Beaver. There he lived until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he was among the first to volunteer his services and served until the close of the war, as a member of the Tenth Pennsylvania Reserves. He held the rank of first lieutenant, and had been promoted to the rank of captain, but before receiving his commission he was captured and held a prisoner for eight months, the greater part of this time being spent in Libby Prison. After the close of the war he went to West Virginia, settling near Parkersburg, and there en- gaged in the oil business for a time. During the next eight years he was a conductor on the Pittsburg & Cleveland Railway, after which he went to Texas and there engaged in the grocery business, near Houston, for a period of three years. Returning to Rochester, Pennsylvania, he opened a grocery business on Adams street, near his father's residence, erecting the store himself. He was still engaged in this business at the time of his death. In political matters he gave his support to the Republican party, and at various times had held the offices of tax collector and assessor.
Mr. Cole married (first) May 27, 1858, Elizabeth Hart, of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, who died January 12, 1859. He married (second) September 17, 1867, Susan A., born in Ohio, just over the line from Beaver county, December 18, 1835, daughter of Edward and Barbara (McClaren) Leonard. Edward Leonard was born in Ireland, came to this country as a young man, and made his home for a time in Philadelphia. After his mar- riage he removed to Ohio, and later moved over the line into Beaver county, and spent the remainder of his life on a farm. His wife was born in Edin- burgh, Scotland, and they were married in the United States. Both died in Beaver county. They had children: Susan A., who married Mr. Cole, as above mentioned; David Harrison, was a lawyer in Parkersburg, West Virginia, where he died in 1910; James, who died in Denver, Colorado, IgII, was a real estate man, and served throughout the Civil War; Cath- erine Jane, married Judge William Stewart, and died in Kansas City,
362
PENNSYLVANIA
Missouri, about twenty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have had children: I. James, born June 19, 1868; lives in Rochester, Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, and is the owner and manager of a billiard hall; he married Emma Conan, and has one daughter, Gertrude. 2. Ann Katherine, born December 19, 1873, died January 12, 1874. 3. John David, born February 15, 1877, in Texas, lives in Rochester, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, he is a glass cutter by trade; he married Henrietta Kelly, and has children: Helen, Thelma Elizabeth, David, Howard John. Since her husband's death, Mrs. Cole has continued to reside on the Cole homestead.
THOMPSON This branch of the Thompson family in America descends from Scotch Covenanter stock coming from Scotland to Ireland, thence, in 1735, to America. The founders were two brothers, John and James Thomson (as the name was spelled for many years), who came from county Antrim, Ireland, settling near Philadelphia in Chester county, Pennsylvania. Descendants of these brothers settled in different counties of Pennsylvania, many in the Juniata Valley, while the grandfather of Samuel M. Thompson, of South Heights, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, settled at Calcutta, in that county. He was a hatter, married, and among his children was a son, David Clark, of the third generation in America.
(III) David Clark Thompson was born at Calcutta, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. In his youth he was a boatman on the Ohio river, carrying produce and merchandise between the river cities and towns. Later he opened a general store at Smith's Ferry, in partnership with his brothers. The brick store building they erected is yet used for the same purpose. After a few years spent in business he retired to a farm, but later was engaged in the oil business. He lived retired for several years preceding his death, on his farm of one hundred and thirty-seven acres. He owned other lands in Beaver county, having in all three hundred and forty-three acres, and with his brother owned one thousand acres in Missouri. He was a very successful man, starting with no capital and becoming well-to-do through his own energy and labor. He was a Republican in politics, and a Presbyterian in religion. He married (first) a Miss Rayl, who bore him Susan, William, Ella, Nannie. He married (second) Clarinda Rayl, a cousin of his first wife, daughter of William and Molly Rayl, early settlers of Big Beaver township and proprietors of a tavern at Black Hawk, where both died. Children by second wife: Ida, Maria, Samuel M., of whom further ; George, Laura.
(IV) Samuel M. Thompson, son of David Clark Thompson and his second wife, Clarinda (Rayl) Thompson, was born at Smith's Ferry, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1867. He was educated in the public schools and at Peirsol's Academy at Rochester, Pennsylvania, finish- ing with a course at Duff's Business College, of Pittsburgh. He began bus- iness life as a grocer at East Liverpool, Ohio, being the junior member of
363
BEAVER COUNTY
the firm of Patterson & Company. On January 16, 1899, he opened a general store in South Heights, where he has since been in continuous and prosperous business. He is a good business man, reliable and upright, held in high esteem by all who know him. He is a Republican in politics, and in religious faith a Methodist.
He married Anna R., daughter of William and Sarah (Gelsthorpe) Cullison, both born in Ohio, and a granddaughter of Luther M. and Sarah Ann (Greer) Cullison, of Irish and Scotch parentage. Sarah Gelsthorpe was the daughter of Stanley and Ann Gelsthorpe, both born in England, coming to the United States in 1848. They were married in England and there all their children were born except Sarah. On coming to the United States they settled in Wellsburg, West Virginia, later locating in Coshocton county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming, gardening having been his oc- cupation in England. William Cullison, father of Mrs. Thompson, was a contractor and builder, also an oil producer. By his first wife, Sarah Gels- thorpe, he had children: Anna R., and Nettie. He married ( second) Luella Palmer and had Edith M. and Ray. Child of Samuel M. and Anna R. Thompson, Dorothy.
The name of Vogel, meaning bird, appears to be one which VOGEL found favor with many in Germany when surnames were being assumed. It is possible that many of the original bearers of it were connected in some manner with the life of the forest and nature in general. It has assumed various forms, such as Vogle, Vogerle, etc.
(I) Henry Vogel was born in Germany and his entire life was spent there. He married Walburga Litz and they were the parents of three sons and two daughters.
(II) George Vogel, son of Henry and Walburga (Litz) Vogel, was born in Bavaria, Germany, and there was educated in the public schools. He emigrated to America in 1854, and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he found employment in a glass manufacturing house. In 1873 he removed to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he located on a farm in Moon township, on which his son still resides. This consisted of seventy- six acres and he gave this the benefit of many improvements ; he was very successful in raising general produce. Mr. Vogel married Margaret Litz, also born in Bavaria, Germany, and they were both members of the Catho- lic Church. Mr. Vogel was a staunch Democrat. He had children: Bar- bara, Margaret, Minnie, Jacob, see forward; Mary.
(III) Jacob Vogel, son of George and Margaret (Litz) Vogel, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January 23, 1862. He was educated in the public schools of Pittsburgh, and from the time his father removed to the farm in Beaver county, he has been actively identified with its cultivation and improvement. He is a general farmer and gardener, and applies the most modern and improved methods with a corresponding amount of suc-
364
PENNSYLVANIA
cess. He has been active in local politics as a supporter of Democratic principles, and has served as inspector of elections. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church, to which they are generous donors. Mr. Vogel married (first) November 3, 1887, Clara Emilie, daughter of John and Margaret (Kunsler) Streckel, both of Pittsburgh, where he is a glass blower, and they are both natives of Germany. He married (second) in 1898, Catherine, daughter of Henry and Frances (Weitz) Schake, the former born in Canada, the latter in Pittsburgh; granddaughter of Henry and Mary Schake, both natives of Germany from whence they went to Canada and later to Pittsburgh; also granddaughter of Frank and Margaret Weitz, both natives of Germany, and married in Pittsburgh. Children of first marriage: George, deceased; John, Maggie, Melzie, Clara. Children of second marriage: Elizabeth, Ida, Martha.
In the earlier years of our country's development and HARTENBACH in the Colonial period the immigrants who came to the American shore, cheerless, bleak and forbidding as it was, had an incentive, either religious fervor or a deep sense of per- sonal injustice and misuse by the authorities of the lands whence they came. In later years one finds seeking homes in the United States many who, according to the standards of their homeland, have prospered, but who have caught a vision of greater service, greater reward and greater opportunity, and have come hither to enter the wider fields of endeavor. In justice to those of the first class let it be said that without the firm foundation they in their extremity laid, the latter would never have been possessed of their present advantages and blessings, but the works of the few have brought benefit to the many, and among the latter named, who far outnumber the first, are found those bearing the name Hartenbach.
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.