USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 48
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(III) John Purdy, son of Farmer and Esther (Richmond) Purdy, was born November 8, 1833. He acquired his education in the public schools of Frankfort Springs. He was a very young lad when he commenced to assist his father in the care of the sheep and the farm in general, and was thus employed until about the age of twenty-eight years. August 11, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. May 12, 1864, at the battle of Spottsylvania, he was wounded in the arm and in the side, in the same charge in which his brother William was killed, Before the close of the war he had been an active participant in twelve battles, in addition to a number of minor engagements. He waded through bloody wheat fields, and was slightly wounded in the foot at the battle of Gettys- burg, and was in the front line of the Color Guard at the time of the sur- render of General Lee. He was a Republican in his political views, and was judge of elections in Brighton township and in Hopewell township. After the close of the war he engaged in general farming and stock rais-
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ing on a farm two miles west of Beaver, Beaver county, and was very suc- cessful in this enterprise. In 1911 he was one of several men to organize a gas company, since then sold to the Superior Gas Improvement Com- pany, of which he is still a stockholder. In 1905 he purchased ground at New Sheffield, Beaver county, on which he has erected a fine residence. He also has a farm in Florida.
Mr. Purdy married (first) August 20, 1868, Hannah C. Christy, born and reared at Shippingport, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. They had chil- dren: William, a civil engineer, who died in 1903; Oliver, an attorney in Pittsburgh, who resides in Coraopolis. Mr. Purdy married (second) August 21, 1912, Sarah Hutchison. Mr. Purdy is held in the highest esteem in the community in which he resides, not alone for his business abilities, but for the bravery and patriotism which have ever characterized his actions, and for a number of other sterling qualities.
FRIEDFELD Croatia, Austria-Hungary, has not, in all probability, sent to the United States any more immigrants, in pro- portion to its area, than many other sections of the mon- archy, but an unusual number from that province have settled in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, many of them related. In this record of the Fried- felds it is well to mention that among the close connections of the family to settle in that country have been G. V. Fleischhacker, a banker of Ro- chester, Pennsylvania; L. Pinter, a banker and merchant of Beaver Falls; Adolph Fleischhacker, a merchant, steamship and foreign exchange agent of Woodlawn, and several others, all of whom arrived in the place in which they have attained business prominence and prosperity before the immi- gration of Edward Friedfeld.
Edward Friedfeld was born in Croatia, Austria-Hungary, in 1860, and there made his home until February, 1907, when he came to Ambridge, Pennsylvania, becoming a clerk in the bank of Paul Harbula, where he remained until 1909. Since the latter year he has been manager of the foreign department of the Ambridge Savings and Trust Company. His profits he has carefully saved and wisely invested in real estate, and he is now the owner of two store buildings on Market street, a store at the corner of Park road and First street, two dwellings, and another house in Colona, Pennsylvania. His services to his employers are devoted and effi- cient, no department of the company's organization boasting of better sys- tem or methods than that over which he has control. Thorough-going fidel- ity has marked his term of service and has won him favor with his superiors in the organization, and his whole-hearted efforts are directed toward its prosperity and fortune, his increase resulting directly from that of his firm. Edward Friedfeld became a citizen of his adopted country early in 1914. He and his wife are firm believers in the Jewish faith, and worship according to its ritual. He married, in Croatia, Austria-Hungary, Helen Fleisch-
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hacker, born there in 1866, and had children: I. Lavoslav, of whom further. 2. Theresa, died in June, 1909, aged twenty-one years.
(II) Lavoslav Friedfeld, son of Edward and Helen (Fleischhacker) Friedfeld, was born in Croatia, Austria-Hungary, March 2, 1885. He at- tended various institutions of learning in his country, among them ones at Vienna and Prague, and was graduated from the Francis Joseph Univer- sity, at Agram, capital of Croatia, in 1911, with the degree of LL. D. He had, before his graduation, served a one year enlistment in the army of his country, and soon after receiving his degree began the practice of law, which he followed for three years. His father's example furnished him with the inspiration to come to the United States, and he did so, arriving in Ambridge, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1912, immediately establishing in business, opening a foreign exchange, becoming agent for a number of reputable transatlantic steamship lines, and advising on questions of international law. The following year he retired from this business, adopting that of merchant, his store being at the corner of First street and Park road, where he conducts a flourishing establishment at the present time. That success will award his future efforts in the mart of trade as in student and professional activities is to be inferred from the manner in which he has inaugurated his new venture, his code being fair dealing, im- personal transactions, and close attention to the wants of his patrons. Mr. Friedfeld as well as his parents are linguists, he and his father each speak- ing fluently seven languages.
Mr. Friedfeld married, in January, 1910, Theresa Herzog, a native of Herzegovina. Her parents are living at the present time in Croatia, Austria-Hungary, where her father is an extensive railroad contractor, hav- ing been awarded the largest contracts in the construction of the Laconian Railroad, upon which he is now engaged. Children: 1. Theresa, of previ- ous mention, married Lavoslav Friedfeld. 2. Charles, in business in Mid- land, Pennsylvania. 3. Salena, a resident of Croatia, Austria-Hungary. 4. Edith, lives in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. 5. Eugene, a student in the School of Industry, Agram, Austria-Hungary. Lavoslav and Theresa (Herzog) Friedfeld are the parents of two children: Gertrude, born September 26, 1912; Aida, born February 2, 1914.
Frederick Brenholts, the founder of his family in BRENHOLTS America, entered that land through the port of Phila- delphia, and in seeking his first residence did not travel far from that city. Agriculture had been his occupation in his native land, Germany, and the fertile lands of Delaware county appealed strongly to his love of the soil and he there settled. His wife died in that locality in 1849 and he afterward took a second wife, whose maiden name was Hipple, and in 1863 moved to Jefferson county, Pennsylvania. He was not wholly dependent upon his land for an existence, for he was a competent car- penter, having served the regular apprenticeship at that trade, and was thus
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frequently employed. His death occurred in Jefferson county in 1890, when he was ninety-two years of age. His first political affiliation was with the Republican party, but he later became an enthusiastic and ardent sup- porter of the Prohibition cause. By his first marriage he was the father of: Hannah, deceased ; Lewis ; George Washington, of whom further.
(II) George Washington Brenholts, son of Frederick Brenholts, was born in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, in 1849. Until he was fourteen years of age his home was in the county of his birth and he there attended school, moving to Jefferson county with his parents in 1863. In manhood he became a farmer and followed that calling throughout all of his active years, now living retired at Falls Creek, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania. His political party is the Republican, and his church the Methodist Episcopal. He married Margaret E. Dailey, born in eastern Pennsylvania in 1850. Her father was a native of Ireland, as was her mother, Eliza Jane (Morrison) Dailey, and settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where he died, his wife moving to Jefferson county, her death occurring in that county in 1892. Children: Mary Ann; John, a Union soldier in the Civil War; William, deceased, fought on the northern side in the Civil War; Margaret E., mentioned above; James. Children of George Washington and Margaret E. (Dailey) Brenholts: 1. William F., a resident of Pittsburgh; superintendent of the Airtight Steel Tank Company of Pittsburgh; married Jennie E. Buchannan, of Allens Mills; they have had six children: Florence, Anna M., deceased; Leslie, Howard, George, Alice. 2. Clayton Super, of whom further. 3. Eliza Jane, married Francis R. Morrison, of Coal Glen, Pennsylvania; chil- dren: George F., William Carlisle, and two deceased.
(III) Clayton Super Brenholts, younger of the two sons of George Washington and Margaret E. (Dailey) Brenholts, was born in Allens Mills, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1878, His youthful years were spent on the home farm, his education being obtained in the public schools of the county. As young men he and his elder brother, William F., es- tablished in the hardware business at Mount Jewett, Mckean county, Penn- sylvania, trading under the firm name Brenholts Brothers. In this locality they catered to a profitable business until 1903, when they changed the scene of their operations to Ambridge, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, con- tinuing there for two years, success also attending their new venture. In 1905 they sold all the rights and privileges of their business to the Luce Hardware Supply Company, embarking upon a new line of activity as in- stallers of steam and hot water heating systems, retaining the old firm name. In 1911, after a career covering prosperous ventures in two lines of en- deavor, the firm of Brenholts Brothers was dissolved, Clayton S. Brenholts establishing the Brenholts Machine Company, of which he is the sole owner, the present site of the business being the southeast corner of Charles and Merchant streets. The building housing the new concern was erected in 1913 and is eighty-six by twenty-two feet, Mr. Brenholts also owning the building on Merchant street occupied by the Ambridge Printing Company.
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Since its birth his business has steadily grown until it has assumed good proportions, its sturdy and vigorous expansion branding it a success. Mr. Brenholts is, with his wife, a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was formerly a member of Allens Mills Lodge, No. 436, Patriotic Order Sons of America. He is a Prohibitionist in politics. He is deeply interested and energetically active in all temperance movements, in their other phases as well as in their relation to politics, and in 1913 was a delegate to the congress of the Anti-Saloon League, held at Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Brenholts married, in 1903, Alice M. Maynard, born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, November 24, 1877, daughter of Richard and Harriet (Cudh- ney) Maynard. Her mother died November 15, 1913, her father, a veteran of the Civil War, now living at East Springfield, Erie county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Brenholts and his wife are the parents of one child, by adoption, Viola Isabel, born December 15, 1911. Mrs. Brenholts was one of a family of three daughters: Viola B., unmarried, at home; Alice M., above men- tioned; Mary G., unmarried, at home.
The American ancestor of the Davis line herein recorded was DAVIS Stewart Davis, a native of England, who came to Tarentum,
Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, at an early day, and there died in 1853. His wife was likewise a native of England, and in that country their wedding ceremony was solemnized. In the home country both had been members of the Presbyterian faith, and in their new home continued to worship according to the forms of that religion. Stewart Davis and his wife, Sarah, had children: 1. John Alexander, deceased. 2. Sanderson, a Union soldier in the Civil War, died in Andersonville prison after being captured by the enemy. 3. Thomas G., of whom further. 4. Mary, born in Tarentum, Pennsylvania; married Robert Keenan, of Carnegie, Penn- sylvania, where she now lives, aged eighty-five years.
(II) Thomas G. Davis, son of Stewart and Sarah Davis, was born in Tarentum, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1840. He attended the public schools of his birthplace, and as a young man learned the trade of bricklayer. For twenty-three years he was an officer of the River Side Prison, in Pittsburgh, and for the past eight years has held the position of health officer in the same city. In him the city has found a servant reliable and energetic in discharging the duties of his office, a man of initiative and zealous endeavor, whose judgments and decisions hold and merit the con- fidence of those in authority above him. He married Sarah A. Clark, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1842, deceased, daughter of Matthias Joseph Clark, born on the ocean on the way to the United States from Scotland, of which country his parents were natives, and Martha (Mckinley) Clark, born in Scotland, the home of her family for generations. Children of Matthias Joseph and Martha (Mckinley) Clark: Sarah A., of previous mention, married Thomas G. Davis; Belle; Richard, deceased; Matthias
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Joseph Jr., deceased. Children of Thomas G. and Sarah A. (Clark) Davis : Clark S., Martha B., George T., of whom further, Elmer E.
(III) George T. Davis, son of Thomas G. and Sarah A. (Clark) Davis, was born on the homestead in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, May 16, 1871. He attended the public schools of Tarentum until the family moved to Allegheny City (Pittsburgh North Side), in that place enrolling in the ninth ward school. After completing his studies he became appren- ticed to the plumber's trade, and serving his preliminary time, was at length proficient in his business, working as a journeyman for a few years and later doing considerable contracting in that line, owning a well-established and lucrative business. He withdrew from this occupation, purchasing a hotel in Allegheny City, which for ten years he conducted as the Hotel Davis. In 1913 he became owner of the Hotel Harmony, in Harmony township, residing in Ambridge, the hotel being located at Merchant and Third streets. This he has since managed with signal success, the ex- perience of his previous venture in that occupation having taught him many valuable lessons, to which he attaches due regard, and through which he benefits. His political allegiance is accorded the Republican party, and he belongs to Allegheny Lodge, No. 339, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and Aerie No. 827, Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Mr. Davis married, December 24, 1896, Jennie M. Jones, daughter of Daniel E. and Harriet Jones, of Pittsburgh. Children of George T. and Jennie M. (Jones) Davis: Thomas George, deceased; Clark Stewart, de- ceased ; Lois, born March 13, 1909.
MILLER Miller is an exceedingly common name in Pennsylvania and other parts of the country, belonging to many different fami- lies, and to at least two distinct stocks. For while many fami- lies of British origin bear this name, there is a probably smaller but not inconsiderable number of families of German descent, whose name was formerly Mueller or Moeller, but has been anglicized into Miller. The family under discussion in this review has only been in the United States two generations, but their influence has been felt beneficially in a variety of directions.
(I) Godfrey Miller was born in Germany, and emigrated to America in 1825, bringing with him his wife and four children. He had been a farmer in his native land, and after spending two years as a laborer in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, he returned to the occupation with which he had been associated before his arrival in this country. He farmed suc- cessively at the following places: Philipsburg, Bridgewater, New Cumber- land, Greene township, Beaver county, Hopewell township, in the latter place his farm being near Woodlawn, and he settled on this in 1863, his son Henry residing on it at the present day. Mr. Miller married Rosena Bender, and had children, the first four born in Germany: John, Andrew,
Henry Miller
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Godfrey, Michael, Leonard, Hannah, Jacob, Henry, Christler, Mary, and two daughters who died in Monaca, Pennsylvania.
(II) Henry Miller, son of Godfrey and Rosena (Bender) Miller, was born at Bridgewater, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1850. He was educated in the public schools of Shippingport and Industry, and the Mount Vernon School in Hopewell township. His entire life has been spent on the homestead farm, with the exception of the winters when he was engaged in steamboating until fifteen years ago. Formerly he owned one hundred acres of land, which he kept in a fine state of cultivation, raising general produce. When Woodlawn borough became more developed, Mr. Miller sold a portion of his estate as building lots, at an excellent profit, and retained only nineteen acres for his personal use. This he has greatly improved, and in 1911 erected a fine brick dwelling upon it, fitting it with every modern improvement. Mr. Miller is a stockholder in the Superior Gas Company. Mr. Miller has been an active worker in the interests of the community, and the citizens have recognized this by electing him to the offices of school director and supervisor, in which he served for a number of years, and at the present time (1914) is a member of the election board. He is an ardent Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Miller married, in 1878, Jennie Feigley, and they have had children: William, Ella Mary, Maggie Emma, Myrna, Edna Frances, Laura B., Edith, Hazel, Helen, Henry Homer.
The family records of Germany contain the early history STRAUBE of the Straube family, which has been represented in the United States by but two generations.
(I) This record begins with Wilhelm Straube born in Germany, De- cember 16, 1833, who in his native land learned the trade of gardener, there holding the position of gardener to the baronial estate of Frederick Von Werder. In 1884 he and his wife came to the United States, settling in East Palestine, Ohio. In 1892 they removed to Economy, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, the town of the Economites. He later began work at his former trade, that of gardener, continuing in this line until his death, October 5, 1897, in which business he acquired a competence. Both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church. He married, in Germany, Fredericka Von Hohndorf, born in Germany, April 13, 1833, died in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, August 6, 1913. Children of Wilhelm and Fredericka (Von Hohndorf) Straube: I. Ernest, a resident of Youngstown, Pennsylvania. 2. Theresa, married Christian Reese, of East Palestine, Ohio. 3. Bertha, lives in Berlin, Germany. 4. Charlotte, wife of Charles Juch, a resident of Verona, Pennsylvania. 5. Carl Frederick, of whom further. 6. Clara, married Bert Ewing, a resident of New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 7. Louisa, married Oliver Merriman, and lives in Lincoln Place, Pennsylvania. 8. Fred, a soldier of the regular army, served
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in Cuba in the Spanish-American War. 9. Otto, lives in Ambridge, Penn- sylvania. 10. Paul, a resident of Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
(II) Carl Frederick Straube, son of Wilhelm and Fredericka (Von Hohndorf) Straube, was born in Germany, June 2, 1865. He was educated in the public and private schools of his native land, attending a seminary in preparation for a teacher's career. He came to the United States in 1882, two years before his parents came to the United States, and settled in East Palestine, Ohio, where his education was continued in the high school, later in the Commercial Business College, of Pittsburgh, Duquesne College, and Curry University, also of Pittsburgh. His own studies completed, he did not retire from scholarly work, but accepted a position as instructor in a private school in Wheeling, West Virginia. He was then offered a place upon the editorial staff of the Volksblatt, now published as the Volksblatt und Freiheitsfreund, serving thereon in 1892 and 1893. For this position and work he was admirably fitted, his wide education and power of graceful expression being attributes possessing high value in such a field, but it was not to his liking and he resigned. From the time of his severance of con- nections with this journal until 1902 he was employed principally as a travel- ing salesman, in the latter year settling in Old Economy, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, there engaging in the real estate business, which he has since followed. During his residence in that locality he has often contributed articles and poems to the press, and has also written several more lengthy compositions. In 1911 he published a book of poems entitled "The Rise and Fall of the Harmony Society of Economy, Pennsylvania, and Other Poems," and since that time has been working on another volume, now in the hands of the publisher, which will be presented to the public in 1914. Mr. Straube's writings are not the vapid effusions of a business man who has ventured be- yond his depth and who has been caught in a maze of sounding expression, but the keen and observant views and sentiments of one accustomed to seek- ing below the surface of events for facts and motives, His essays are clearly and intelligently written, entirely readable and understandable, while his poems preserve the proper meter and measure in the most involved passages. That his talents are not only those of the student and scholar is shown by his successful real estate dealings. He is the promoter of the Schiller Street Extension, in Baden, and also is the moving spirit in oil operations in the same place. Both are in full progress, both are attracting purchasers of means and of a desirable class.
To round out an already busily occupied existence, Mr. Straube is an active politician, his public service beginning in 1898 when he was elected justice of the peace of Economy township. Ambridge became a borough in 1905, and he was a member of the first council, holding membership in that body to the present time, and has for four consecutive terms been its president. In 1913 he was elected burgess of the town for a term of four years, action that compelled him to resign his seat in council. He was the Republican candidate for the state legislature in 1910, and was nominated,
Care 7 Fraube
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but the victory of the Keystone party in the fall election brought defeat to him. He has all the qualities of a successful public man, agreeable and affable in address, fluent and interesting in speech, genial and pleasant in nature. His services have been productive of much good to his town, his influence ever being allied with the forces working for the best in civil life, and as chief executive of the borough he will in all probability father many undertakings for the welfare of the community. He fraternizes with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, having joined that order at Rochester, Pennsylvania, and was one of the organizers and a charter member of the lodge of that society at Ambridge, for two years holding the chaplain's chair, and is also a member of the Royal Order of Moose, beside being one of the founders of the Harmony Maennerchor.
Mr. Straube married, in 1904, Jennie Roth, born in Zoar, Ohio, her parents being members of a society known as the Zoarites. Children of Carl Frederick and Jennie (Roth) Straube: Freda, born September 12, 1905; Carl Roth Roosevelt, born August 6, 1907. The Straube home is the building in which the Harmony Society at one time manufactured their famous silks, now thoroughly remodeled into a commodious and comfortable dwelling. Mr. Straube has gained an almost national reputation in prosecut- ing the famous Harmony Society case in bringing about a settlement and es- tablishing the respective rights of the heirs of former members and the rights of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the statutory channels of escheatment.
McHATTIE While not an old one in the annals of this country, the family bearing the name of McHattie has contributed largely to progress and good citizenship during its resi- dence in the United States.
(I) Peter McHattie was born in Scotland in 1792, and died in Leets- dale, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, in 1862. He emigrated to the United States with his family in 1857, and made his home in Leetsdale. He married, in Scotland, Belle Frazier, born in that country in 1802, died at Leetsdale, 1872. They had children: George, born in 1826, died in 1913; James, deceased; John, died in Detroit, Michigan; Peter, of Ellwood City, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania; Belle, born in 1834, died in 1906; Jane, died in Scotland at the age of eighteen years; Elsie, married John Probert, of Allegheny City; Ella, widow of Lyman Woodworth, of Mc- Keesport, Pennsylvania; William, see forward; Jeannette, married Thomas Tracey, of Pittsburgh, both deceased; Adam, of Sacramento, California.
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