USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 37
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He married, August 29, 1888, Hettie, a native of Greene township, daughter of William Van and Nancy (Shannon) Swearingen. Children of James Bigger and Hettie Buchanan: 1. Aaron Moore, educated in Grove City College and Pennsylvania State College, from which latter in- stitution he was graduated in the agricultural department, class of 1911; he was in charge of the orchards of the Wigton farms, of Erie county, Pennsylvania; now connected with the conduct of the Holcomb farm at Conneaut Lake in the producing of vegetables. 2. Martha, born June 3, 1895; a graduate in the Beaver high school, class of 1914. 3. James Bigger Jr., born October 15, 1896; lives at home. 4. William Van Swearingen, born March 28, 1903. 5. Joseph Kerr, born August 16, 1904. 6. Hettie, born April 6, 1906, died in infancy. 7. An infant son, deceased.
(The Bigger Line.)
(I) The Bigger family, originally of Scotland, was planted in Ireland by Matthew Bigger, who settled in county Antrim. Bellimony was the town nearest his farm, and in that place the family attended worship. He married Martha -, and was the father of John, James, Samuel, Thomas, Jane, Elizabeth.
(II) Thomas Bigger, son of Matthew Bigger, was born in Ireland, and died in Pennsylvania, in 1829, aged eighty-nine years. He was educated in his native country, and there learned the weaver's trade, and when thirty- five years of age came to the American colonies. He was accompanied by his wife, his mother, Martha Bigger, his sister, Jane, at that time un- married, his other sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, John Anderson. After a voyage whose length was broken by no incident worthy of mention the little group landed in Baltimore, Maryland, October 16, 1773, having been for three months on the ocean. They stored their goods in Baltimore as they began a search for a home, and circumstances made it impossible for them to return to that city until the close of the Revolutionary War, when they found that their belongings had been appropriated. The family spent their first winter at the Forks of the Yough, later proceeding to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where the family home has since been. Here they contended with the dangers, privations and sufferings of pioneer life, hewing a home from the wilderness that surrounded them, and re- claiming a small plot of arable land from the virgin forest. With inade-
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quate implements, farming was difficult, and to add to the discomfort of life under such primitive conditions was the ever-present fear of an Indian attack, the savages of that locality being unfriendly to the last degree. Even before he had a comfortable house erected Thomas Bigger was forced to bring his mother into the region, she protesting against remain- ing in the east with another son, claiming that she had left Ireland to make her home with her son Thomas, and was unhappy without him. Unable to resist the appeals of maternal love, he journeyed eastward and brought her to his home on horseback, she being so old and feeble that she almost suc- cumbed during the westward trip. So uncertain was her seat upon the horse that when fording a stream he would place her upon his back, lest she fall into the water through her horse's misstep or her own terror. They at length reached the little log cabin in the woods and here she made her home until her death in 1780. She was seventy-eight years of age when this occurred, and was buried in the Raccoon Graveyard. Thomas Bigger lived in this place until his death, a hardy pioneer, bravely facing death both from savages and beasts, and laying the foundation of the community that grew up there long after he had passed to his final rest. Although in history men of his type will go down with little mention, the part they played in the life of our country is just as glorious as that of those who raised upon their deeds the wonderful institutions of which we are so proud.
Thomas Bigger married, in 1773, Elizabeth Moore, a member of a family standing higher in the social scale of the town of their residence than he, their marriage receiving the censure of her family. In their home across the sea, however, family caste was found to be of little consideration, and she was perfectly satisfied with her lot, and contented in his happiness, made their marriage life one of rare beauty, even under the discouraging conditions found in the Pennsylvania wilds. She died in 1836, and was carried by her children to her final resting place in Robinson Graveyard. Children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Moore) Bigger: I. Matthew, died unmarried about 1849, aged seventy-six years. 2. John, died in 1808, aged thirty years, and is buried in Raccoon Cemetery. 3. Thomas, died in 1870, aged eighty-seven years, and is buried beside his mother in Robinson Grave- yard. 4. James, of whom further. 5. Samuel, died in 1873, aged eighty- four years; married and had nine children, among whom is the Rev. Samuel Bigger, who resides at Greenwich, New York. 6. Andrew, died in 1869, aged about seventy-six years, is buried in Robinson Graveyard; married, and had six children. 7. Jane. 8. Anne. 9. Martha, married Nathaniel McBride. 10. Betsy.
(III) James Bigger, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Moore) Bigger, was for many years a resident of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, until his death in 1861, aged seventy-five years. He married, in 1816, and was the father of the following: 1. Samuel, a farmer of Hanover township, where he lived and died; married Jane Fulton. 2. Thomas, deceased; was a farmer of the same place; married Mary Nicholson, also deceased. 3.
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John R., married Anna Childs; died in Colorado. 4. Robert M., was a soldier of the Civil War, buried at Fort Delaware. 5. James Moore, mar- ried Margaret Morrow; lives on part of the homestead in Hanover town- ship. 6. Mary, married Rev. James Paden Moore, a teacher and instructor, at one time prominent in theological and educational circles, both deceased. 7. Jane, deceased; married (first) William Hall, who died in Pittsburgh in 1856, (second) Matthew Nickle. 8. Eliza Ann, married David Nickle; lives on a portion of the old homestead, aged eighty-five years. 9. Martha, of previous mention, married Joseph Kerr Buchanan (see Buchanan II). 10. Ellen, married David Nicholson, deceased; lives in Wellsville, Ohio.
The Seiple family has been resident in Pennsylvania for many
SEIPLE generations, and has furnished many highly valued citizens.
(I) Conrad Seiple, a resident of Northampton county, Pennsylvania, removed to Mercer county, in the same state, with his wife and family. He married Elizabeth
(II) Joseph H. Seiple, son of Conrad and Elizabeth Seiple, was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1819, died June 3, 1889. He was a young boy when he was taken to Mercer county by his parents, and he assisted his father, who was a blacksmith and farmer, until he was sixteen years of age. He then became a clerk for W. Acher, of Green- ville, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and then established himself in the mercantile business at Hamburg, in the same county, in association with David Beil, this partnership continuing for almost a quarter of a century. In 1867 he went to Greenville, conducted a general store there until 1876, then sold this and purchased a farm in West Salem township, on which he lived during the remainder of his life. He was a prominent member of the Reformed Church, and held offices as an elder and deacon. He married, May 1, 1852, Sarah Beil, born July 29, 1834, died May 23, 1877. They had children: Elizabeth, who married C. L. Bortz, of Kent, Ohio; David A., married Sarah J. Bishop; Clara A., Milton S .; Ernst H., of further mention ; Mary ; Nevan ; Dela.
(III) Ernst H. Seiple, son of Joseph H. and Sarah (Beil) Seiple, was born in New Hamburg, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in 1864. He re- ceived an excellent education in the public schools and Tiehl College, then accepted a clerkship in the Greenville National Bank, and held this 1882-84. The next four years were spent as a clerk in the National Bank of Beaver County, after which he was teller in the First National Bank at Rochester, Pennsylvania, two years, and then was assistant to the auditor, the treas- urer and the purchasing agent in the general offices of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company at Pittsburgh. When the Union National Bank of New Brighton was organized, April 20, 1891, Mr. Seiple was elected assistant cashier, and he is now (1914) president of this institution. He is treasurer of the Standard Horse Nail Company. He is a member of Union Lodge, No. 259, Free and Accepted Masons; and of Harmony
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Chapter, No. 256, Royal Arch Masons. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Seiple married, July 9, 1894, Charlotta Weber, of Meadville, Pennsylvania, and has one daughter, Elizabeth, and one son, Robert Hartman.
John Pugh, a native of Wales, was one of the early Quakers who settled in Philadelphia.
PUGH
(II) Jonathan Pugh, son of John Pugh, was born in Limerick township, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, and died March 8, 1798. He married, September 17, 1759, Naomi Evans, and settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania. Children: Elihu, Evan, Jesse, John, of further mention; Ruth, Sarah, Jessie, Mary.
(III) John Pugh, son of Jonathan and Naomi (Evans) Pugh, was born near Pughtown, Chester county, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1779, and his brother Evan was born there, November 13, 1765. In May, 1804, John and Evan Pugh came to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and as both had learned the miller's trade, they erected mills at Fallston. Later a carding and cloth-dressing factory was added, and still later they commenced the manufacture of cotton goods. Evan Pugh withdrew from the business after a number of years, and John Pugh conducted it alone until 1858, when he rented the mills. He also conducted a grocery store at Fallston, and operated a linseed oil mill. His mills were all destroyed by a fire which caused him to sustain heavy losses. He married Sarah Townsend, born January 13, 1777, died July 16, 1826. Children: Jonathan, died young ; Caroline; Mary Ann; Joseph T., of further mention.
(IV) Joseph T. Pugh, son of John and Sarah (Townsend) Pugh, was born at Fallston, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, January 6, 1809. He made his home for many years in New Brighton in the same county. He was educated in the common schools, and then learned the machinist's trade in Fallston, but did not follow this any great length of time, as he engaged in the manufacture of barrels and window sashes, an industry with which he was identified until his retirement from active business life. He married Nancy McCreary, who died at the age of fifty-six years. Children: John, of further mention; Sarah Ann, Evan, Mary, Caroline Cecilia, Irene Ida, Henry.
(V) Dr. John (2) Pugh, son of Joseph T. and Nancy (McCreary) Pugh, was born at Fallston, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1834. He received a sound education in the common schools of that period and for a time worked in the flour mills of his grandfather. He next found employment in the locomotive works of Denmead & Sons, of Balti- more, Maryland, and upon his return to New Brighton accepted a position with Townsend, Smith & Company, learning the machinist's trade. When the above mentioned firm removed to Davenport, Iowa, Mr. Pugh worked for them in that city, then returned to New Brighton, where he found em- ployment with McConnell & Darragh, which connection was undisturbed
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up to the time of the Civil War. Mr. Pugh enlisted in the United States navy and served two years on the second class gunboat "Quaker City," and was discharged, October 25, 1863. After his discharge he was em- ployed as a machinist on the "Monitor," "Manayunk" and "Umpqua," which were then under construction at Pittsburgh. He then commenced the study of dentistry and was later graduated from the Philadelphia Dental College, at Philadelphia. He was engaged in dental practice for many years in Philadelphia, and retired in 1906. He now lives at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. In religious belief he is a Quaker, and in politics is a Republican. Mr. Pugh married Dorothy Amelia Blanchard. They have no children.
BRADSHAW The Bradshaw family was among the very early settlers in the state of Pennsylvania, and their descendants are most numerous in that state, although they are to be found all over the Union, where they have ever borne their part bravely in whatever walk of life they have been called to.
(I) Robert Bradshaw was born in Industry, Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, and was a farmer in later life. He was a member of the Pres- byterian Church, and was an active worker in the interests of that denom- ination. He married Tamar Agnes Phillis, born at Industry, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1802, and they had children: Phillis, deceased; Thomas B .; Joseph Frazier, of further mention; Martha, married Nathan McClinton, deceased; Maggie, now deceased, married Samuel Hamilton.
(II) Joseph Frazier Bradshaw, son of Robert and Tamar Agnes (Phillis) Bradshaw, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in March, 1840. He was educated in the public schools, and his boyhood days were spent on the homestead farm. At a suitable age he was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith's trade in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, with a Mr. Calhoun. In 1861 he enlisted in the Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves, served three years, and was active at Fredericksburg, Antietam and Gettysburg. He was a merchant and continued in the mercantile business after the war for some time. In 1896 he became a traveling salesman for the National China Company of Salineville, Ohio, with which firm he is still connected. He now lives at Crafton, Pennsylvania, where he is a member of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Republican, and he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic. He married Nannie Andrews, born in December, 1842, who had sisters and brothers: Rebecca, James, Thomas, Nancy, John, all now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw had children: I. Robert. 2. Mary, deceased. 3. Harry Benton, of further mention. 4. Samuel Hamilton, born in 1876; was educated in the Darlington Academy, Bridgewater Academy and Washington and Jefferson College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1902; he then took up the study of law in the Pittsburgh Law Schools, and was admitted to the bar; he is now actively practicing his
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profession at No. 217 Bakewell Building, Pittsburgh. 5. Tamar Agnes, born May 10, 1880; married Robert Lane, of Washington county, Penn- sylvania ; he was graduated from the Washington and Jefferson College in the class of 1902, is engaged in stock farming, and is the proprietor of a hotel at Richfield, Kansas. 6. Frederick, died in infancy.
(III) Harry Benton Bradshaw, son of Joseph Frazier and Nannie (Andrews) Bradshaw, was born in the seventeenth ward, Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, July 6, 1870. After having passed through the various grades of the public schools and Darlington Academy, he became a student at Mount Union College, and after his graduation from this institution was engaged in teaching for a period of two years. His brothers and sister had each also taught for two years. Mr. Bradshaw then became a com- mercial traveler for a pottery factory in East Liverpool, Ohio, and this connection has been uninterrupted down to the present time. He is also interested in the oil business at Brady's Run, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. He is the owner of a fine residence in Rochester, Beaver county, and also of considerable land in Alabama. He gives his political support to the Republican party, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. His fraternal membership is with Rochester Lodge, No. 229, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Grotto. Mr. Bradshaw married, in 1894, Agnes, daughter of Joseph and Jane Mellor, the former deceased, and they have had children: Mary Mellor, a member of the class of 1914 of the Rochester high school; Merton Brown, Jane Andrews, Helen Bell.
Thomas Bradshaw was one of the early settlers in South
BRADSHAW Beaver township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and there followed the occupation of farming. He married Margaret Barclay, and had children, all now deceased: John; Robert; Milton ; George C., of further mention; Nancy; James ; Milo.
(II) George C. Bradshaw, son of Thomas and Margaret (Barclay) Bradshaw, was born in South Beaver township, Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1830, and died in April, 1864. He was a farmer and later a merchant, and served as treasurer of Beaver county, 1862-63. He was a Republican in politics, and a Free Presbyterian in religion. He married Margaret Andrews, born in 1838, died in 1863, and they had children: Charles Wilford, of further mention; Margaret; Mary, married Carleton Woodruff, and is now living in Brooklyn, New York; Jessie F.
(III) Charles Wilford Bradshaw, son of George C. and Margaret (Andrews) Bradshaw, was born at Fallston, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1857. He received a substantial education in the public schools of his section, and was then apprenticed to learn the cooper's trade, an occupation with which he was identified for about fifteen years. In 1893 he was appointed secretary of the Beaver County Building and Loan Association, remaining an incumbent of this office until 1909, when he was elected prothonotary of Beaver county, and was again elected to this
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office in 1913. He has been a strenuous and consistent worker in the in- terests of the Republican party, and is a member of the Republican County Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Beaver County Building and Loan Association. His fraternal affiliation is as follows: Knights of Pythias, of New Brighton; Lodge No. 348, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, of Beaver Falls; Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. Bradshaw is a member of the United Presbyterian Church. He married, July 17, 1879, Nannie M. Hays, daughter of Calvin Hays, of Fallston, and has had children: George C., married Caroline Flo- ing, and has George F .; Thompson H .; Margaret H.
TAYLOR While but a few generations of this particular branch of the Taylor family have been resident in the United States, the various members have amply demonstrated their worth as citizens of value in all the walks of life in which they have been employed. (I) 'Joseph Taylor was born in England, and emigrated to the United States about 1837. His son Jonathan had preceded him to this country, and settled in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where Joseph Taylor joined him. There he purchased a farm and spent the remainder of his days. He became a naturalized citizen as soon as the legally prescribed time permitted him to take this action, was an ardent supporter of Whig prin- ciples until the formation of the Republican party, and then joined the ranks of that organization. He and his wife were consistent members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Taylor married in England, Jane -, who came to America with him, and they had children: Jonathan, see forward; Andrew, died in Mercer county, Pennsylvania; James, died in Fallston, Pennsylvania; Joseph, died in England; Elizabeth, married John Brown, and died in Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Sarah, died unmarried in Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Jane, married - Lee, and died in England; one child, name not on record.
(II) Jonathan Taylor; son of Joseph and Jane Taylor, was born in England, in October, 1812. He was employed as a coal miner, and in 1835 emigrated to America and went directly to the western portion of the state of Pennsylvania, where he was employed as a miner at Pittsburgh for a period of two years. He then settled on a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, which had been purchased by his father in Chippewa township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and after the death of his father Jonathan Taylor purchased all the rights of the other heirs to the property. He erected a new barn and remodeled and improved the dwelling house of brick which was on the place, putting it in such excellent condition that it is still in use. All the remainder of his life was spent on this farm. He was an ardent Republican and served in the office of supervisor. He and his wife were members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Taylor married Eliza- beth Laster, who died in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, while on a visit to her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Haley. They had children: Susanna,
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married Britain Rhodes, and lives in Chippewa township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Mary, now deceased, married Andrew Hooker; John, died at the age of two years; Joseph, died unmarried at the home of his sister, in July, 1912; James Harrison, see forward; Jane, widow of Calvin Smith, lives in South Beaver township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, widow of William C. Haley, lives in Chippewa township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Jonathan, lives on the homestead.
(III) James Harrison Taylor, son of Jonathan and Elizabeth Taylor, was born in Chippewa township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1849. His early training was the one usually accorded a farmer's son of that period. He attended the public schools and then took up farming, with which he has always been identified. For some time he rented a farm of four acres, and in 1876 bought a farm of eighty acres, to which he added twenty acres about ten years later. About 1896 he purchased an additional eighty-six acres, now having a farm of one hundred and eighty- six acres in Chippewa township, all of which is devoted to general farming. He has taken an active part in the public affairs of the community as a member of the Republican party, and has held office as school director and supervisor. He and his family are members of the United Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Taylor married (first) in 1871, Mary Elizabeth Bradshaw, who died in 1880, a daughter of John Bradshaw; (second) in 1883, Lucinda, daughter of John Wilson. Children of first marriage: Frank E., married Bertha Bable and has a son, Earl; John B., lives on one of the farms of his father, married Sabina Eckels, and has a daughter, Viola ;. Alexander, died in infancy. Children of second marriage: Elsie May; Harry A., graduated from the Beaver high school and from Slippery Rock Normal School, and is now engaged in teaching.
BARCLAY The Barclay family of Ireland is represented in Pennsyl- vania by several branches, and in Beaver county by at least two distinct lines. William, of the line herein chronicled, was born March 12, 1795, and died August 3, 1885, aged over ninety years. He was one of the earliest of the settlers of Beaver county, living on his farm about three miles south of Darlington. To say that he lived on his farm in that locality at that date has a very different meaning than would be attached to the same statement at the present day, for while now it would convey the impression that he had purchased it from a former owner and had continued work thereon, in that time it meant that he had purchased it covered with the virgin forest and had slowly cleared it, first obtaining enough space to erect a cabin, then sufficient for a garden, and slowly, rod by rod, an open space large enough to be termed a farm. Some of the buildings that he erected as his fortunes accumulated, are standing at the present time, but are in such a dilapidated condition that the storms of a few more seasons will obliterate the last remaining traces of the pioneer
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of an earlier day and of another life. It is just cause for gratitude that the manners, customs, and institutions he and his fellows established are more enduring than the shelters that protected them from the elements. Late in life he disposed of his two hundred acre farm and retired to the town of Beaver, there spending his latter years. He was a member of the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church, his figure being a familiar one at all the gatherings of the church, which he attended with strict regularity and punctuality. He married, January 28, 1819, Margaret Mccullough, who died January 5, 1825; he married (second) October 16, 1825, Isabella, daughter of Hugh Scott. Children of the first marriage of William Bar- clay: I. Josephus, born January 5, 1821, enlisted in an Illinois regiment in the Civil War, and met his death in the service, July 4, 1862. 2. Rebecca Jane, born November 4, 1822, died April 3, 1889; married Samuel Harbi- son; her death occurred in Beaver, Pennsylvania. 3. George W., of whom further. Children of the second marriage of William Barclay: 4. Maria, born May 11, 1828, died in Iowa, March 8, 1901; married Almaytrom Newkirk. 5. Hugh, born July 5, 1830, died in infancy, March 15, 1831. 6. William F., born March 13, 1833, died at New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1913; he had been an employee on railroads until his retirement from active affairs. 7. Martha Ann, born July 14, 1836; married James Mitchell, deceased, and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania. 8. John Scott, born May 30, 1839, died March 19, 1843. William Barclay survived his second wife eight years, her death taking place De- cember 27, 1877.
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