USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 26
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PHILLIS The English family of Phillis has been long identified with Beaver county, whither the emigrant, Joseph Phillis, came from his native land. Joseph Phillis, he from whom the branch herein recorded descends, was born in England in 1694, died in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, at the wonderful age of one hundred and seven years, taking his place among the centenarians, few in number, who have lived in that county. It is from a descendant of his, another Joseph Phillis, that a continuous line to Lemoyne E. Phillis is followed.
(I) This Joseph Phillis was born in Raccoon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, about 1789, and in his active life there owned a farm of considerable acreage, performing also the work of a wheelwright until his early death. He married Elizabeth Cowen, a native of the township in which he was born, and had children: I. Henry, deceased; was a farmer of Dougherty township, Beaver county, after his retirement living in Beaver Falls until his death. 2. Joseph, of whom further. 3. William, died in Missouri, where his active life had been passed. 4. Cowen, for some time a resident of Dougherty township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, moved to Missouri and there died. 5. Thomas, a farmer of Marion town- ship, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, moved to Zelienople, Butler county, Pennsylvania, dying in that place. 6. Jane, died unmarried. 7. Eliza, married Paul Greer, deceased; she lives in Hubbard, Ohio. 8. Agnes, died in 1912; married Henry Alcorn, lived for a time in Ohio, later moving to Morgantown, West Virginia. 9. Ellen, married Horace Bouch, deceased; lived in Franklin township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, her present home being Zelienople, Pennsylvania. 10. Sarah, lives unmarried in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. 11. John A., captain of a boat on the Ohio river. 12. Alice, married Samuel White.
(II) Joseph (2) Phillis, son of Joseph (1) and Elizabeth (Cowen) Phillis was born in Raccoon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1821, died in 1895. His early life was spent in the place of his birth, his education being obtained in the local schools, and after his marriage he moved to West Bridgewater, Pennsylvania, where he became a builder of canal boats, many of his bulky craft finding service on the waters of
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the region, others traveling far from the place of their manufacture. Re- tiring from this business he purchased a farm in Franklin township, cul- tivating that land until his subsequent acquisition of the Fombelle estate, which he owned at the time of his death. Farming was but one branch of his activities, for over his broad acres hundreds of sheep grazed, bring- ing him substantial gain while their wool was marketable and greater in- crease when led to the slaughter house. The United Presbyterian Church was that of Mr. Phillis and his wife, while he was a staunch champion of Republicanism throughout his entire life. His reputation among his fellows was that of a Christian gentleman to whom the creditable per- formance of duty was of paramount importance, whatever the personal sacrifice or discomfort entailed, and by strict adherence to this simple creed, which contains the essence of right living, he gained the admiration and approbation of his friends and neighbors. His uncompromising upright- ness was blended with a warm and sympathetic nature that softened the strictness of his moral outlook and gave him influence among others of more flexible determination and less strict conduct.
He married, in Raccoon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, Vic- toria Fombelle, born in Franklin township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, died in 1899, surviving her husband four years. She was a daughter of Alexander and Delilah (Magaw) Fombelle, Alexander being a son of Lucien Fombelle. Lucien Fombelle was a native of France, in his homeland owning vineyards of wide extent and also being proprietor of a jewelry business. Religious unrest and persecution drove him from his native land with a band of Huguenots who came to the United States in the post-revolutionary period. He brought with him all of his large fortune that he could convert into currency or portable securities, one of the items being several boxes of hand-wrought jewelry taken from his store, pieces of which, with the ancient price tags still fastened thereto, are in the possession of Lemoyne E. Phillis at the present time, historic heirlooms dearly treasured. The total value of his belongings was estimated at about $60,000, and soon after he and his wife landed in this country he invested a part of this sum in several tracts of land, one of fourteen hun- dred acres in Franklin township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and another near Wampum, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania. Lucien Fombelle had hoped to be able to raise vineyards that would rival those of his homeland, but several unsuccessful attempts showed him the futility of such an effort, the soil being totally unsuited to such an endeavor. He became a person of importance in the county, and in many cases accommodated his neigh- bors and added to his wealth by lending of his fortune to those of his acquaintance in need of cash to tide them over some financial stringency or to promote some needed improvement on their property. He regarded such dealings as purely business and not as friendly transactions, and as his rates of interest never savored of usury his money was the means of aiding many who would have been uncomfortably embarrassed had they
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not had access to his plentiful store. Lucien Fombelle was the father of two sons, Alexander, of whom further, and Lucien (2), who married Eunice Magaw, a sister of the wife of his brother, Alexander. Lucien (2) Fombelle was a farmer of Franklin township, after his retirement making his home in New Brighton, his death taking place in that town. He had two children, both of whom died unmarried. Alexander Fombelle was born in Franklin township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and was there reared to manhood, becoming the owner of a farm of seven hundred acres. Both through inheritance and his own efforts he possessed a fortune of unusual size for that period, and in later life moved to New Brighton, where, retired, he died. He married Delilah Magaw and had children: I. Gabriel, an attorney, at one time a member of the judiciary of Illinois, living in the southern part of that state, died in Denver, Colorado; he was a student, the range of whose application was wide, and he was an in- teresting converser in five languages. 2. James, a farmer of central Illinois, died unmarried. 3. Alexander (2), owned a farm near Decatur, Illinois, where he died. 4. Justin, a merchant of southern Illinois, moved to a farm near Decatur, Illinois, and there owns three hundred and twenty acres, living retired. 5. Victoria, of previous mention, married Joseph Phillis. 6. Fannie, married Charles Wooster, and moved to Missouri, where she died. 7. Jane, married James Fombelle, a first cousin, and is now deceased. 8. Elvira, married Henry Metz, and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 9. Louise, married Robert Strobridge, and lived in New Brighton, Pennsyl- vania. Children of Joseph and Victoria (Fombelle) Phillis: I. Oliver, a builder and contractor of Youngstown, Ohio; married Nannie Duer. 2. Joseph, a dentist, lives in Pittsburgh, North Side, Pennsylvania. 3. Lemoyne E., of whom further. 4. Frank I., a farmer near New Bedford, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania. 5. Homer G., lives on the old Fombelle homestead at Fombelle, Pennsylvania, and is there proprietor of a general store. 6. Jane, died in 1870, unmarried. 7. Agnes, married Frank Alcorn, of Dougherty township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 8. Caroline, mar- ried David Moyer; lives in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
(III) Lemoyne E. Phillis, son of Joseph (2) and Victoria (Fombelle) Phillis, was born in Franklin township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1862. He began his education in a country school near his home, com- pleting his studies in Grove City College. For thirteen years he was a school teacher, holding positions in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and in Macon county, Illinois, after which he was in the mercantile business in Wurtemberg, Pennsylvania, in which place he was postmaster for three years. He moved to Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, and for eight years was a contractor, owning and conducting a lumber yard in connection with his first-named line, for the five years following being proprietor of a grocery store. Selling this business, after one year as a wholesale liquor dealer, he moved to Beaver Falls, where under his direction a new building which had been erected at the corner of Fourteenth street and Seventh avenue
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was converted into a modernly equipped hotel, which since 1906 has been conducted by him as the Hotel Phillis, with profit and success. The re- ceipts of the house and the approval that it has found with its patrons show that it has taken its place among the most prosperous houses of en- tertainment in the city, a fact gratifying and pleasing to its founder. Mr. Phillis adheres to the Republican party, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Honor, and the Modern Woodmen of America.
He married, March 27, 1889, Mary, daughter of Thomas Potter, her father a farmer of Franklin township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of one son: Kenneth R., born April 12, 1892.
The Phillis family of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, has
PHILLIS figured to good advantage in the industrial life of the com- munity for many years, and the various members have always earned commendation for the faithful manner in which they have performed their duties as citizens.
(I) Jacob Phillis, the first of this family of whom we have definite record, was one of the pioneer settlers of Beaver county, his farm being located in Brighton township. He married Margaret Hartford, and had children, as follows: James M., Thomas Jefferson, see forward; Wash- ington, Jacob, William, Mary, Tamer, Matilda, Rachel, Nancy.
(II) Thomas Jefferson Phillis, son of Jacob and Margaret (Hartford) Phillis, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania. He married (first) Susan Wyant, and had children: Elizabeth, who married James Berry; Rachael, who married - Pate; James M., see forward. He married (second) Anna Bates and had children by this marriage: Homer and Mary.
(III) James M. Phillis, son of Thomas Jefferson and Susan (Wyant) Phillis, was born on the family homestead in Brighton township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, December 7, 1839. He was educated in the public schools of his native township and was graduated from them with honor. He then became a student at Beaver College, but abandoned his collegiate studies upon the outbreak of the Civil War when he was active in the defence of the rights of his country. His health became impaired as a result of the exposure and hardships he had endured during the progress of the war. He was very successful as a school teacher and as a teacher of music, and won a wide-spread reputation in both of these branches. Mr. Phillis married Nancy Phillis, born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 25, 1848. She has spent her entire life in Beaver county, and has lived in Beaver since 1870. She is a daughter of Madison and Mary (Ewing) Phillis, who had children: Dallas, unmarried; Nancy, who mar- ried Mr. Phillis; Stanton, who died young; Allen, unmarried; Melissa, married John Lloyd; Margaret, married Charles Colbert; Jennie, married Thomas Bromley; Ella F., married George Embaugh. James M. and
J.M. Phillis
Lems 4. 4-3 Fat "
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Nancy (Phillis) Phillis had children as follows: I. Mary Susan, born July 7, 1866, died in March, 1895; she married Elmer Jones and had children: Alethea Phillis and Phillis Elmer. 2. Charles L., born July 14, 1868, died September 30, 1905; he married Estelle Brown. 3. John M., born November 2, 1870; he married Estelle Mariman, who died at Monaca, Pennsylvania. 4. James J., born March 7, 1876; he married Etta Kirk. 5. Riley Taylor, twin of James J., died September 22, 1905.
The name of Potter is one of the oldest and most numerous POTTER in the United States, no less than eleven settlers of that name coming to New England during the seventeenth century. The branch herein recorded does not date to these settlers, how- ever, but to Robert Potter, who came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1774, settling soon afterward in Allegheny county, where he died leaving issue.
(II) James Potter, son of Robert Potter, was born in Western Penn- sylvania about 1775. He grew to manhood in Allegheny county, later removed to Venango county, remaining there until 1812, when he moved to Beaver county, which was his home until he died. He was a stone mason by trade and a contractor. After his removal in 1812 to his farm, four miles from Beaver, he erected a stone house thereon which is yet standing. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, as were his children. He died in Industry township, and is buried in the Old Beaver Cemetery. He married (first) Mary Quigley, who bore him seven children : Robert, see forward; James, John K., Enoch, Calvin, Emily, Margaret. He married (second) a Miss Christie, who bore him one child, Hannah, married Robert Barclay, now (1913) the only survivor of the family. Both wives died in Industry township.
(III) Robert (2) Potter, eldest son of James and Mary (Quigley) Potter, was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, June 10, 1806, died January 1, 1894. He attended the public schools of Beaver county and later studied civil engineering and surveying. On November 19, 1836, he purchased a farm in Raccoon township, on which he lived until his death at the age of eighty-eight years. He was one of the prominent men of the county, served one appointive and one elective term as county commis- sioner; was justice of the peace for Raccoon township for thirty years; was also school director and supervisor. Mr. Potter married (first) Octo- ber 10, 1835, Margaret Irvin Braden, born in Raccoon township, daughter of John Braden, a farmer of the township; she died in 1843. He married (second) January II, 1855, Rosanna Reed, born in Raccoon township, died in Rochester, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1903, daughter of James and Agnes Reed, the former named a farmer of the township. She was the fourth of a family of whom the following grew to manhood and womanhood: Harriet, married Daniel Baker; Jennie, married Cornelius Weygandt; Washington B., married Eliza Kerr; Ros-
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anna, married Robert Potter, as above stated; John, married Ruth Ann Allen; Bettie, married John Bryan; Jesse, married Martha Jane Kennedy; all of these are now deceased. Children of Mr. Potter by first marriage: I. Lieutenant James, born September 8, 1836; an officer of Company A, Seventeenth Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry Company, was killed at Shep- herdstown, West Virginia, in 1862. 2. John Braden, see forward. 3. Mary, born February 13, 1841, died in infancy. 4. William B., born September I, 1843. 5. Emily, born September 7, 1846; married Walter S. Dunn. Children by second marriage: 6. Ida Mary, born October 5, 1860, died unmarried, December 13, 1887. 7. Robert Calvin, see forward. 8. Wash- ington M., born September 8, 1864; a lawyer in Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, and a well known business man; married Cora A., daughter of John and Catherine (Hartman) Mengel, the former named a native of Germany, the latter named born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Mr. and Mrs. Potter have two children: Catherine Hartman, born in Freedom, May 13, 1905, and Mary Mengel, born October 10, 1913.
(IV) Robert Calvin Potter, son of Robert (2) and Rosanna (Reed) Potter, was born on the farm on which he now resides in Potter township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1862. He was educated in the public schools of the county, and with the exception of two years has spent his life on the homestead farm. The homestead consists of three hundred and fifty acres of land, and Mr. Potter rented it in 1894, cultivat- ing it as a farm for general products. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. Mr. Potter married, in 1894, Maude L., daughter of Samuel Calhoun, and they have three children: George A., Charles M., Ida B.
(IV) John Braden Potter, son of Robert (q. v.) and Margaret POTTER I. (Braden) Potter, was born in Raccoon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, October 25, 1838. There he was a far- mer. He came to Monaca in 1884, where he engaged in teaming, and where he died, October 20, 1903. He was a Republican in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He married Margaret Shroads, born in Beaver county, in 1843, died in 1880. They had children: William James, deceased John Presley, see forward; Washington Shroads; Hester Lowson; Ada Agatha; Ella Olive; an infant daughter, twin of Ella Olive, now deceased. William Shroads, the father of Mrs. Potter, was born in Virginia in 1807, died June 9, 1885. He cultivated his farm, and was also an auctioneer for half a century. He was active in the ranks of the Republican party, serving in a number of local offices. He was a constable for thirteen years, and a justice of the peace for thirty years. He married Margaret Baker, born in Virginia in July, 1811, died March 22, 1881, daughter of Anthony Baker, who was one of the early settlers of Beaver county, Pennsylvania. They had children: George W .; Mary, now deceased, married Dr. David Miller ; Margaret, married John Braden Potter, as above stated, Martha B., married
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John C. Dunn; Lowson V., married B. F. Badders; William James E. George Shroads, grandfather of Mrs. Potter. was a farmer in Allegheny county, Ohio, and in Virginia. In 1824 he came to Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, and farmed at Vanport. He died in Moon township at the age of sixty-seven years. He married Mary Miner, who died at the age of sixty- five years, and they had children: Jacob, William, mentioned above; Samuel, Margaret, Eliza, John. Jacob Shroads, the great-grandfather of Mrs. Potter, was born in Germany and came to Pittsburgh when that city was still a borough. He located in Moon township, where he was engaged in farming, and was killed in an accident.
(V) John Presley Potter, son of John Braden and Margaret (Shroads) Potter, was born in Moon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1876. He was reared on the farm and educated in the public schools of Monaca, and in 1882 took up his residence in Monaca. He was as- sociated with his father in the teaming and contracting business, and took up coal in addition to these lines. He has been very successful in bus- iness, and is the owner of a fine house at No. 612 Washington avenue. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Potter married, in 1891, Alice Figley, born in Moon township, in 1879, daughter of Zachariah and Susan (Kennedy) Figley. Zachariah Figley was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, July 1I, 1825, died Feb- ruary 5, 1902. His wife was born February 12, 1838, died August 9, 1897. He was a son of William and Nancy (Baker) Figley, the former born June 1, 1794, died. May 15, 1857. She was a daughter of Daniel and Mar- garet (Hart) Baker, the former born in 1786, died April 26, 1843, the latter died August 6, 1840, at the age of sixty-five years. Daniel Baker was a son of George Baker, one of the pioneer settlers of Beaver county, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Potter had children: Zachariah, John B., Robert Glenn, William, Raymond, Charles, Margaret, Lillian, Alice.
MONTGOMERY For many generations the Montgomery family, now represented in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, has been identified with agricultural interests, thereby adding to the prosperity of the state.
(I) James Montgomery, the first of whom we have record, was a native of the state of Pennsylvania. He was a successful millwright and farmer in Columbiana county, Ohio, whither he had removed from his native state, and where his death occurred. He married - Hoy.
(II) James Montgomery, son of James and - (Hoy) Montgomery, was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, and received a part of his education there and a part in Frankford, Pennsylvania, where he was sent after the early death of his mother. At Frankford he was apprenticed to learn the tanner's trade, a calling he followed for a period of thirteen years, at Frankford, Burgettstown, and in Columbiana county. After this he was occupied on the river at intervals, as assistant on a flat boat. He then
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took up farming in Hanover township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he purchased one hundred acres and improved this property; he then removed to Greene township, where his son is now located, and there his death occurred. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church. He married Sarah Stephenson, born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John and Nancy (Hooper) Stephenson, the latter of Alle- gheny county, the former of Maryland, later of Allegheny county, Penn- sylvania, where he was a farmer. James and Sarah (Stephenson) Mont- gomery had children : John, see forward; Nancy J.
(III) John Montgomery, only son of James and Sarah (Stephenson) Montgomery, was born in Hanover township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1849. He attended the schools, however, in Greene township, in the same county, coming to the farm at Hookstown, on which he resides at the present time, when he was about six years of age, and has lived on it continuously since that time. As soon as he was old enough to handle the plow he commenced to work in the fields, his life being spent in the usual uneventful manner of a farmer's boy of that period. Upon the comple- tion of his education the labors of the farm absorbed all of his time and attention, and he has since devoted his energies to the cultivation of his land. He has two hundred and fifty acres under cultivation, and has made many improvements on the property. Among these is the erection of a modern, well-equipped house, fitted up with all possible conveniences. Mr. Montgomery takes an intelligent and earnest interest in the political situa- tion of his section, as well as in that of the entire country, and casts his vote in favor of the Republican party, but he has never as yet desired to hold public office.
This is a name which is found very frequently in the United
MILLER States, and has come here from several countries. In its unaltered form it has come to us directly and indirectly, by way of Scotland and Ireland, from England. In another form-Moeller and Mueller-it came here from France and Germany, and in the course of time assumed its present form.
(I) Peter Miller was born in Strassburg, then France, now a German possession, in 1810, and emigrated to the United States in 1830. He learned the trade of boiler making in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he became foreman in the first boiler works in that city. About 1856 he was in the employ of Watson & Monroe, and subsequently, about 1868, he formed a connection with Karl & Snyder, with whom he remained until he retired from active work. He had been a soldier in the Fernch army and always retained his soldierly bearing. He was an Independent in political opinion, and he and his wife were members of the Catholic church. He married Catherine Arbogast, who was born on board ship while her parents were on their way to this country, and she died in November, 1888. The mar-
that Miller s.
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riage took place in Pittsburgh, and they were blessed with twenty-one children.
(II) Charles Miller, son of Peter and Catherine (Arbogast) Miller, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 11, 1849. His education, which was a limited one, was acquired in the public schools, and at the age of ten years he commenced the more serious business of life by working for a tobacconist. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, he was engaged at blowing the bellows for a blacksmith, and was then apprenticed to learn the boilermaker's trade. Until 1878 he was employed in this calling in Pitts- burgh, becoming manager for Rider & Connelly, and in that year purchased a boiler shop at Edenburg, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1883. He sold this to advantage, then returned to Pittsburgh and resumed his trade there until 1884. In that year he went to Steubenville, Ohio, but only re- mained there a short time. November 9, 1884, he removed to New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and later crossed the river to Beaver Falls, where he resides at the present time. For a short period of time he rented a shop, but his work soon outgrew the capacity of this and he built a shop, which he subsequently sold to the Connecting Rod Company. In the same year that he built this shop, 1893, he also erected a fine residence on nearby property, and has lived there since that time. He employs from eight to ten men, and his works are known as the Beaver Valley Boiler Company. His was the first boiler company in Beaver county, and has the honor of building the first steam boiler in the county. It is now largely engaged in general re- pair and special construction work. He and his family are members of the Catholic church, and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He has never desired to hold public office, but is a staunch supporter of the Re- publican party.
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