USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 65
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Mr. Agnew married Elizabeth Moore, who died in 1888, aged seventy- nine years, daughter of General Robert Moore, the ceremony being solem- nized in 1831. Children: Frank H., and Robert M., attorneys; Amanda, married Rev. Walter Brown; Sarah H., of previous mention, married Henry Hice (see Hice III).
Timothy B. White, ancestor of Samuel P. White, was born WHITE in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1807. His father, Samuel White, who was of English descent, belonged to the Society of Friends, or Quakers, as they are familiarly called. Originally from Burl- ington county, New Jersey, he was married in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, at Falls Meeting House, to Sarah Balderston, April 24, 1802. Sarah Balderston was a Friend also; her ancestors were of Welsh descent, and her family connection was a large one in Bucks county. After their marriage they lived for a time in Bucks county, then moved to the upper Lehigh Valley, which is now a part of Carbon county, then moved to the
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valley of the North branch of the Susquehanna, near where Berwick is now situated, then from there to Cayuga county, New York, where Samuel White died, leaving his widow and four children.
Timothy Balderston White was next to the youngest of the children of Samuel White. Upon reaching manhood he learned the trade of car- pentry. He married, February 18, 1835, at Ledyard, New York, Olive Bowen Howland, born in Bedford, Massachusetts. Her father, Percy Howland, and her mother, Mary (Bowen) Howland, were both members of the Society of Friends and belonged to large families, these names being familiar ones in New England. Timothy B. and Olive B. White moved to Beaver county in 1837, coming via Buffalo, New York, and Conneaut, Ohio, and overland by stage from there. They first lived in Bolesville, and for a time in Fallston. Timothy B. White then built the house on Allegheny street, which was then Allegheny road, and on the outskirts of the town. This house was the first dwelling on what is known as "The Hill;" they moved into this homestead in 1839, where the family has lived continuously to the present time. Upon coming to New Brighton, Timothy B. White followed his trade of carpenter and contractor, one of his first contracts being the completion of the Merrick House, which stood on the site of the Valley News building, corner of Third avenue and Eleventh street. He built the Beaver jail in 1856, and helped organize a company and erected the building (now occupied by the Pittsburgh Wall Paper Company) for the car factory, where the firm of Miner, Merrick & Hanna engaged in the building of iron cars. Part of the same building was used also for a wigwam in the Republican campaign of 1860. Mr. White was engaged for a time in the manufacturing of woolen mill machin- ery, and operated for some years a planing mill and sash and door factory in the upper part of the New Brighton race. The building was afterward used by the firm of Bentley & Gerwig as a twine factory, and was washed away by the flood of 1861. Mr. White was for a time superintendent of bridges and buildings on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, now the eastern division of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. After 1859 he gave his entire attention to bridge building, erecting many wooden bridges in different parts of the country, and in 1868 started the building of iron bridges, from which beginning the Penn Bridge Company of Beaver Falls was evolved.
Timothy B. White was in early life a zealous Quaker. He was also a Garrisonian Abolitionist. In the troublous times before the Civil War his home was known as a "station" of the "Underground Railroad," and he thus helped many runaway slaves on their way to Canada and freedom. Two colored boys were kidnapped and taken to Kentucky during these times, and he and Mr. John Collins were sent by the anti-slavery adherents in quest of them, and they found them and brought them back. One of these boys was Lem Dawson, familiarly known as "Lemons." Many citizens of New Brighton will remember him. He was very grateful to Mr.
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White all his after life; his widow still lives in New Brighton. Having such strong opinions on the subject of slavery, Mr. White did not exercise the right of suffrage, and did not vote until 1856, when he became an earnest Republican, and seldom if ever missed an election up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1885, his wife having died five years previously. They were the parents of six children: Adrian C., who died in infancy, having been poisoned by eating jimson weed seeds; Adrian C., of whom further; Adaline H., Lucretia M., Samuel P., of whom further; T. Sidney, of whom further.
Adrian C. White was educated in the public schools and the old Beaver Academy. In 1861 he enlisted in a company raised by his uncle, Edwin P. Howland, for a signal corps under General Fremont, in Missouri. This company was disbanded upon Fremont's removal. In 1862 he again enlisted, in the Twentieth Michigan Infantry, as second sergeant of Com- pany C, served until the close of the war, principally with the Ninth Corps, and was discharged as adjutant of the regiment and brevet captain. He married S. Nellie Brown, of Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1865. He resided in New Brighton, and engaged in bridge building until 1876, when he removed his family to Michigan, and died there in 1878. His widow and their two children survive, his daughter, Maude S., living with her mother in Battle Creek, Michigan; and his son, Charles A., at New Brighton, Penn- sylvania. Adaline H. and Lucretia M. White never married, and always lived in the house their father built before they were born. Adaline H. passed to the "Great Beyond" in 1913.
Samuel P. White was educated in the public schools and Eastman's Business College. He has always been engaged in bridge building and contracting. He is now president of the Penn Bridge Company. He organ- ized the Valley Electric Company, and controlled it until 1910. He is a director of the Art Tile Company of Beaver Falls. He was active in poli- tics from 1884 to 1906 as a Republican, and was chairman of the county committee, a delegate to various state conventions, and served two terms as state senator. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was married in 1875 to Lucy Sharp, of Salem, Ohio. Her father, Simeon Sharp, was a leading manufacturer, and his father, Joel Sharp, was one of the early Quaker settlers of that place. Her mother, Lydia S. (Taylor) Sharp, was born at Beaver, Pennsylvania, her mother being Esther Hoopes, a sister of David and John Hoopes, whose family was a prominent one in the early days of both Old Brighton and New Brighton. Samuel P. and Lucy (Sharp) White had two sons born to them, who died in childhood.
T. Sidney White (Timothy 2nd) had his early education in the New Brighton public schools, and entered Cornell University in the fall of 1870, entering some of the second-year classes, and graduated with the class of 1873 in the civil engineering course; this was the second class to pursue a full four-year course at Cornell. He read his engineering thesis at the
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commencement exercises. He took up the bridge building line of his pro- fession, and has been connected with the Penn Bridge Company since its organization, and is at present its vice-president and consulting engineer, and also vice-president of the Beaver Falls Art Tile Company. He became a member of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church in 1876. He was married the same year to Annie A. Appleton, of New Brighton, daughter of George E. and Caroline Appleton. George E. Appleton was a graduate of Allegheny College, a former member of the legislature from Allegheny county, and for many years librarian of the Young Men's Mercantile Library of Pittsburgh. He married his cousin of the same name-Appleton, two of whose brothers were prominent clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Phila- delphia. Mr. White has served for many years intermittently as vestryman and warden in the Episcopal Church; aided in organizing the Young Men's Christian Association in the town; and was for many years a member either of the board of trustees or board of directors; and was president of the As- sociation for one or two years. He served four years on the school board. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, the American Academy of Social and Political Science, the Duquesne Club and the Church Club of Pittsburgh, and the Cornell Club of Western Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. White have had three children: Caroline Augusta, who died in early childhood; Samuel A., who is engaged in business in San Francisco, California, un- married; Theresa Geraldine, unmarried, and at home.
BAKER The Baker family is one of the first to have settled in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and their influence has been beneficially felt in many lines of industry as well as in the professional world.
(I) Anthony Baker was born in 1752, died December 26, 1814. He came from the Shenandoah Valley about 1799 or 1800, and located be- tween Monaca and Baker's Yard. He brought with him his wife and four sons. His brothers were Philip, Peter and George. Anthony Baker married Catherine Fulton, who died February 3, 1853, at the advanced age of ninety-five years, They had children: Philip Peter, of further mention; Henry, married Charlotte Feltner, and had Margaret and Catherine; An- thony; John, died in boyhood, and it is not quite certain whether he was born in Beaver county or before the arrival of the family.
(II) Philip Peter Baker, son of Anthony and Catherine (Fulton) Baker, married Dorothy Feltner.
(III) Philip Baker, son of Philip Peter and Dorothy (Feltner) Baker, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he acquired by purchase a considerable amount of landed property. He followed the river as an oc- cupation, and was a Republican. He married Sarah Swager, who died in 1912, daughter of George Swager, who purchased the property now owned by his grandson, Robert L. Baker. They had children: Zachariah Taylor,
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of further mention; Martha; William, deceased; Lizzie; Philip, deceased; Kate.
(IV) Zachariah Taylor Baker, son of Philip and Sarah (Swager) Baker, was born in Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1848. He was educated in the public schools, and then found employment on the river on steamboats. He was in the employ of O'Neil & Company for a period of thirty-five years, being captain of his boat during the last ten years of this time. He has now been living retired from active work for ten years, and is a man of wealth and standing in the community. He has owned and laid out in town lots the eastern portion of Monaca. He takes a deep interest in the political situation of the town, and gives his staunch support to the Republican party. His religious membership is with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Baker married Mary, daughter of George and Scott (Brown) Massey, of Washington, District of Columbia, who formerly spent some years in Monaca. He is now deceased, and she is living at the age of eighty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have had children: Isaac, of Pittsburgh; Sarah, married Samson Reed, of Point Marion, Pennsylvania ; Minnie, married Daniel Yaeger, of Biesville, Ohio; Robert L., of further mention; Mary, married John Haller, of Akron, Ohio.
(V) Robert L. Baker, son of Zachariah Taylor and Mary (Massey) Baker, was born in Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1877. He received a liberal education in the public schools of Monaca, and this was supplemented by courses at Pearsall's Academy in Bridgewater. Upon its completion he engaged in the profession of teaching, the schools of the South Side being the first scene of his activities in this direction. For a time he was then identified with the butcher business, after which he at- tended the Beaver College. Upon leaving this institution he accepted a position as bookkeeper in the Welch Fire Brick Works, and in 1905 became connected with the Welch Bright Company, of which he was president and manager until January, 1914. He is also treasurer of the Carmon Building and Loan Association. In 1908 he removed to New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and has served four years as a member of the city council of New Brighton. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Baker married, April 19, 1899, Bertha Brown George, of Primrose, Pennsylvania, and they have had chil- dren : Robert L. Jr., Merel R., Dorothy Virginia.
ALLEN In the story of the Allen family in America, the student of social conditions and political economy would be apt to read between the lines and find in his interlinear perusal a tale that tells of a tragedy that has been constantly enacted in Ireland for more than a century. This would be no recital of bloody battle or stirring conflict, but merely an account of how, in days gone by, Ireland, perhaps more than any other country, has been impoverished to meet the needs of new lands, how
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she has been despoiled of her vigorous young men so that other countries might be broadened and developed, because in their homeland they did not see the possibilities for advancement and improvement. At last Ireland is coming into her own, the best of the brain and brawn of her sons is being devoted to her uplift along industrial and political lines, and the "Emerald Isle" will stand forth in the full glory of her rightful inheritance, deferred for so long only because Irish intellect and muscle have been devoted to the task of helping to build a new world.
(I) William Allen, a native of county Down, Ireland, was educated in his native land for the profession of teacher, and upon coming to the United States first settled near Grove City, Pennsylvania, following his profession. Finding the remuneration for his services insufficient to properly support his family, he left that locality and established in the dry goods business on Liberty street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although inexperienced in this line, he quickly learned its methods and soon built up a prosperous business, being so encouraged by his success in his new undertaking that he decided to seek a more profitable field for his efforts. This he found in Butler county, whither he moved in 1861 and where he engaged in general mer- chandising until his death, which occurred in 1879. He was a merchant of industry and thrift, and owed his prosperous success entirely to his perse- vering energy and resourceful initiative. Finding the path to farther ad- vancement in a profession to which he was trained blocked, he was not dis- heartened by adversity but courageously embarked in an enterprise, with confident faith in the kindness of future fate and strong in his own power. With his wife he was a communicant of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He married Penelope Lambie and became the father of a large family: Robert, Agnes, Cochran, Jane, Marion, Jeannette R., Maggie, Donald C., John G., of whom further, and William.
(II) John G. Allen, son of William and Penelope (Lambie) Allen, was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1862. His education was obtained in the public schools of Butler county and Grove City College, of Grove City, Pennsylvania. After completing his studies he accepted employment in a dry goods store in Pittsburgh in the capacity of clerk, and was there engaged for a period of four years. This was his only experience in the service of another, as in the following year, 1888, he established in the grocery and feed business in Beaver Falls, where he has ever since continued. He conducts a large business and for the past eleven years has been manu- facturing flour, specializing in a grade to which he has given his own name and which has met with popular favor in the surrounding neighborhood. One of the established substantial business men of the town, he takes a great interest in all local affairs and has for several years past been a member of the Beaver Falls council, as a Republican. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church and participates in the work of the Sunday school of that organization. Mr. Allen married, in 1887, Anna C. Logeman. Children of John G. and Anna C. Allen: Milton, married Mabel Baldwin; Otha; Hadasah; Jeannette; John G.
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W. H. Gratis
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There is material for interesting and striking comparison in COATES the manner of arrival of the emigrant of this line of the Coates family, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts, coming to this country from England, and those who came from the same land more than two centuries before, landing not far from the place where he first pressed foot on American soil, some of them probably related to his family. One came to an unconquered wilderness, inhabited by nothing of friendly intent, fleeing royal wrath and persecution, seeking an asylum, how- ever humble, content with anything but their former lot; the other was wel- comed by friends of his own birth, placed in a position to improve himself as to worldly affairs, and cherished high aspirations for better life in his new home. How much preferable the lot of the latter, how much nobler that of the former.
(I) Joseph Coates was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, the home of his family for generations, in 1826, died in San Francisco, Cali- fornia. In his native land he was engaged in the butchering business, and followed that occupation in Boston, Massachusetts, whither he came in young manhood. He was a member of the Church of England, his wife being a Universalist. He married Sarah Rose, born in Telford, Maine, in 1818, daughter of Thomas and Judith (Lufkin) Rose, her maternal ances- tors tracing to "Mayflower" stock. Thomas and Judith Rose both died in New Gloucester, Cumberland county, Maine, she a daughter of Aaron Luf- kin, a sailor who followed the sea all of his life. Children of Joseph and Sarah (Rose) Coates: Charles Joseph, Francis R., Anna, William Herbert, of whom further.
(II) William Herbert Coates, son of Joseph and Sarah (Rose) Coates, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, November 18, 1862. He was, as a boy, a student in the public schools of his birthplace and of those of Maine, apprenticing himself, as a young man, to the bricklayer's trade, which he mastered in due time, and which he has followed in every state and territory in the Union. He has ever been proficient at his trade, and to experience difficulty in obtaining employment because of more desirable applicants has never fallen to his portion. At the present time he works at his trade and executes paving contracts in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, where he is the owner of a substantial, comfortable house at No. 1612 Fourth street, which he erected, and has to his credit many noteworthy achievements in his calling. In the fall of 1883 he performed work on the laying of the first fire brick pavement ever put down, an operation on Chapline street, Wheeling, West Virginia, and laid the first brick pavement ever seen in New Brighton, in 1890, since which year he has made that place his home. He also laid the first granite blocks ever used on the streets of Chicago, Illinois, in which city he was working at his trade when that form of street paving was adopted. For a time he was in partnership with an uncle, David Gore, who died in Oil City, Pennsylvania, in 1893, but since that time he has been in business independently. Among others of his craft he is known as a work-
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man of competence, speed and endurance, skilled in all departments of his work, careful and accurate in its execution. His travels in pursuit of his business have been a liberal education, and he can discourse in an interesting and entertaining manner on his varied experiences in the four corners of our country. His political sympathies are in favor of the Republican party, but in the election of civil officers he is swayed in his opinion solely by the personal record and attributes of the candidate in consideration.
Mr. Coates married, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1885, Virginia Wheeler, of West Virginia, and they have one son, William H. Jr., born in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1904.
Christopher Anderson was born in Ireland, and emigrated ANDERSON to America in 1892. He settled at Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, where he died in 1895, at the age of forty-seven years. He married Bridget Gaffney, born in Ireland, and died there in 1883. They had children: Patrick J., of further mention; Marcella; James, died in Pittsburgh in 1894; Jane, married - - Pitts; a child, died in infancy; John, resides in Pittsburgh; two children, died in infancy,
Patrick J. Anderson, son of Christopher and Bridget (Gaffney) Ander- son, was born in Ireland, May 8, 1869. He attended the public schools of his native land, and then commenced to assist in the support of the family. In 1889 he emigrated to America, went to Pittsburgh, and obtained em- ployment as a steel worker. He came to Aliquippa, Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, in the same capacity, in 1894, and has worked with the Crucible Steel Mills in New York, and at Charleston, West Virginia. He started the mill at Charleston, and had charge of the melting department for the Cru- cible Steel Company at Aliquippa. He was also for some years with the Colonial Steel Company of Pittsburgh. He is a man of great energy and activity, and served as chief of the police of Aliquippa for one and a half years, resigning from this office on September 1, 1913. In 1902 he erected a fine residence on River avenue. In political matters he is an Independent, and has the courage of his convictions. His religious affiliations are with the Catholic Church. Mr. Anderson married, in 1896, Madeline, daughter of Joseph Stubert.
The Torrens of America, descendants of Irish stock, two of TORRENS the line herein recorded owning Ireland as their birthplace, have had but a comparatively short residence in Pennsyl- vania, the southern and western states containing the homes of most of the members on this side of the Atlantic.
(I) Francis Torrens was a native of Ireland, where he married, and upon coming to this country settled in South Carolina. In his homeland he had been a farmer by occupation, and in South Carolina acquired title to a large plantation, cultivated by a vast number of slaves, to whom in his
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later years he granted freedom. Francis Torrens was the father of the following: Joseph, of whom further; John, James, Robert, Margaret.
(II) Joseph Torrens, son of Francis Torrens, was born in the north of Ireland, and was brought to the United States by his parents when a boy. In young manhod he left the paternal plantation and moved to Washington county, Illinois, spending his life on a farm near Oakdale. He was an in- dustrious, hard-working farmer and prospered to a considerable degree. His religious beliefs were those of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and in politics he allied himself with no party or faction. He married (first) Esther McClurken, born in South Carolina, died in Washington county, Illinois, aged twenty-four years, daughter of John and Elizabeth McClurken. John McClurken was a native of South Carolina, a farmer by occupation, a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and a sympathizer with the Abolition movement. His children: John Johnston, Hugh Park, James, William, Samuel, Rebecca, Esther, of previous mention, married Joseph Torrens, Archibald. After the death of his first wife Joseph Torrens mar- ried (second) in Washington county, Illinois, about 1852, Elizabeth Parks. By his first marriage he was the father of one son, John Johnston, of whom further ; by his second he had: James, William Francis, Robert Knox, Mary Isabelle, Elizabeth.
(III) John Johnston Torrens, only child of Joseph and Esther (Mc- Clurken) Torrens, was born in Washington county, Illinois, May 15, 1842. His early life was spent near Oakdale, where he attended the public schools, enlisting in young manhod in Company F, Tenth Regiment Missouri Volun- teer Infantry, his company being engaged in both the two battles of Iuka and Corinth, both in Mississippi, at which last named conflict he sustained a wound in his left hand, the index and middle fingers being shot away. After his regiment was mustered out of service he enrolled in a business college at St. Louis, Missouri, completed the entire course, and then began his business career, which has taken him into several different lines of endeavor, among them general merchandising, retail groceries, carpentering and farming. His travels in the pursuit of these undertakings carried him to Coulterville, Illinois; Alexandria, Minnesota; Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania ; Chicago, Illinois; and finally to Glenwood, Minnesota, where he is now em- ployed by the Owens Spring Water Company in the capacity of bookkeeper. Although he has attained his seventy-first year, each day finds him at his duties, his faculties as alert and his energy as tireless as in the days of his youth, and none of the company's employees are devoted to its interests with greater fidelity. His church, which he has served during the past ten years as deacon, elder and treasurer, is the Reformed Presbyterian. In politics he affiliates with the Prohibition party, earnest and enthusiastic in his support of the party's platform, conscientious and sincere in his observ- ance of its principles in his daily action.
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