Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 58

Author: Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 ed
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: New York : Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 758


USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 58


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tion. Children of John Jacob Schick : Thomas, Christina, Carolina, Louisa, Rosanna, Sophia, of previous mention, married John McNamee, and Kath- erine. Children of John and Sophia (Schick) Mc Namee; Henry Win- chester, John J., of whom further, Minnie, William, and Clara B.


(III) John J., son of John and Sophia (Schick) McNamee, was born in Hopewell township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, January 1I, 1867. He was educated in the public schools of the township of his birth and while a youth began to learn the occupation of farmer, which he followed for but a short period, abandoning his agricultural intentions to learn well- drilling. For twenty years this has been his exclusive business, and in that time he has covered a great extent of territory and has become re- markably skilled in all departments of his work. Not only has he made this his work but he has constantly studied from various angles and made thorough investigation of the most efficient methods under different condi- tions, and possesses a wealth of knowledge of which the average well- worker is ignorant. Like his father, he allies with the Democratic party and is a member of the Presbyterian church.


He married, October 29, 1903, Eva A., of Clarion county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Robert and Isabel (Steel) Long. Robert and Isabel Long were both natives of Pennsylvania, she a daughter of John Steel, of Clarion county. Children of Robert and Isabel Long: Michael, Kind, John, Sarah, married a Mr. Hart; William, James, Henry, Abram, Virginia, married a Mr. Graham, and Eva A., of previous mention, married John J. McNamee.


MOULDS This record is concerned with but two generations of the Moulds family, that being the extent of the American life of this Irish family. John Moulds, father of John, of this chronicle, was born in county Antrim, province of Ulster, Ireland, Novem- ber 15, 1815, and in young manhood was employed in his father's store. He was thirty-six years of age when he immigrated to America, the vessel on which he had engaged passage landing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Mr. Moulds continuing his journey southward by water. Traveling along the Beaver canal, he stopped at what was then known as Beaver Landing, then continuing on to Steubenville, Ohio, where he passed his remaining years. Almost to the time of his death he was employed as packer in a glass factory, dying in 1890. His church was the Episcopal, and politi- cally he was a Democrat. He married Agnes Henry, and had children : I. Jane, married Joseph Mellor, and had children: Mary, a teacher in the public schools of Rochester, Pennsylvania; Agnes, married Henry Brad- shaw, and is mother of Mary, Mert, Jane, Helen, and John Mellor, cashier of the First National Bank of Rochester, Pennsylvania. 2. William, born December 9, 1842; his early occupation was that of moulder in a glass works, and he was one of the original board of directors of the Rochester Tumbler Works, Rochester, Pennsylvania, being his home for many years. In 1902 he moved to Fairmount, West Virginia, there organizing the Mon-


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nongah Glass Company, of which he was president and general manager until his death, August 20, 1910. He married Jane Wallace, and was the father of: Mary, married Herbert Shallenberger, deceased; John, deceased ; Jessie, married (first) Harry Hurst, (second) a Mr. Weigel, and had one child, Mary, by her first marriage. 3. Samuel H., born December 9, 1845; has been identified with glass manufacture all of his active life, being at the present time foreman of the Rochester Tumbler Works; married Mary Belle Crewson, and had : Horace, married, and is the father of three children; Agnes, married Andrew Heintzelman, and has three children. 4. Annie E., married and had one daughter, Agnes, who married T. G. Hammond, cashier of the freight lines of the Pennsylvania railroad entering Columbus, Ohio, where they reside, Mrs. Hammond's mother making her home there. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond are the parents of : John, born July 6, 1891 ; Sam- uel, born July 15, 1894; Elizabeth, born in 1899; Margaret, born in 1901. 5. Sarah, married Eli Castner, and resides in Steubenville, Ohio. 6. Robert, deceased. 7. John, of whom further. 8. Elizabeth, lives with her sister, Sarah, in Steubenville, Ohio.


(II) John, seventh of the eight children of John and Agnes (Henry) Moulds, was born in Steubenville, Ohio, February 14, 1856, and was there educated in the public schools. His active career began at an early age when he obtained a position in the Jefferson Iron Works, at Steubenville, as nail cutter, engaged in the manufacture of the old square nail. After serving an apprenticeship in the factory of one year he was placed on the payroll at a wage of three dollars per day, excellent returns from such a short novitiate. When he had attained man's estate he moved to Rochester, Pennsylvania, there becoming a presser in the Rochester Tumbler Works, as he was employed for about twenty years. At the end of this time he became associated with the Keystone Tumbler Works, a concern organized in 1897, later controlled by the National Glass Company, and at the present time operated by the Rochester Tumbler Company. From 1900 until 1902 Mr. Moulds engaged in grocery dealings, in the latter year forming, with Mr. Doncaster, the firm of Moulds & Doncaster, real estate and insurance dealers, the firm handling real estate of all kinds and selling fire, health, accident, burglar and bonding insurance. Moulds & Doncaster are well known in Rochester, and the firm is universally regarded with favor both because of its personnel and because of its irreproachable record during its twelve years of existence. Mr. Moulds is director and president of the Rochester Cut Glass Works, and for many years was a stockholder as well as an employee of the Rochester Tumbler Company. His political belief is Democratic, and he served as a member of the local council from 1895 to 1901, having been twice elected for three-year terms. His present position in the municipal government is as the incumbent of the office of tax collector, which he capably fills. He married Mary L., daughter of Charles Hurst, the ceremony being solemnized February 17, 1887.


John Moules


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In the present generations of the McGoun family there McGOUN is found a mingling of Scotch and Dutch ancestry that in the several lines traces to the beginning of the eighteenth, and in one to the early part of the seventeenth century, and the early Dutch settlement in New York. The paternal ancestry is Scotch, the family home being near the northern border of Ayrshire, the estate being held by a perpetual lease and having been in the family for many gen- erations. Here the record begins with John McGoun, an only son, who married and had one son, John (2). John (2) married Margaret Ramsey, sister of Sir Robert Ramsey, Bart., M. P., and he had but one son, John (3). The family's social status was high, their fortunes prosperous, and John (3) McGoun, having completed his youthful studies, entered the University of Edinburgh to prepare himself for the station in life he would be called to fill later. While a student at this University his father died, his mother's overwhelming grief causing her death a short time after. The son and three daughters thus orphaned being minors, a guardian was appointed for the administration of the estate and to pro- vide for the welfare of the children. One of his first official acts was to arbitrarily remove John McGoun from college and without asking his consent, or consulting him in any way, to place him in the shop of a weaver to serve an apprenticeship. Then, more so than now, the lot of an apprentice was an undesirable one, and to add to the young man's troubles, his preceptor was a being in whose nature "the milk of human kindness" was entirely lacking. To one whose life had been closely guarded, whose associations had been of the most uplifting, and for whose comfort every provision had been made, the flings, taunts and privations suffered at the hands of an unfeeling taskmaster were unen- durable, and to escape from such hardships he fled from the home of his employer, or better, his captor, and secured passage on an American bound vessel, arriving in this country through the port of Philadelphia, in 1758. He remained for a short time in Chester county, Pennsylvania, later settling in Lancaster county, in the same state. He was but seven- teen years of age at the time and it was his intention to remain in the colonies until he should attain his majority, then to return to Scotland and through legal measures gain possession of his estate, procuring a righteous judgment against the guardian who had so willfully misused his authority and had abused his charge. When that time arrived he learned through correspondence that his guardian had squandered his fortune, had allowed the property lease to lapse and could refund no penny of the inheritance placed in his charge. Being of no mind to send "good money after bad," Mr. McGoun decided to remain in the colonies and to there make his home as he had prospered in fair measure during his short stay, so he purchased a farm in Lancaster county, married and applied himself to a life of agricultural pursuits. He was thus engaged at the outbreak of the war for independence, and at once cast his lot


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with his fellow patriots, joining the army and rising to the rank of captain. He fought for a time under General Anthony Wayne, and participated in the battles of Paoli and Brandywine, also being present at the final surrender of the British forces at Yorktown, Virginia. While he was in the army his wife managed the farm, knitted and wove for the soldiers at the front, and in all possible ways performed her part in throwing off the yoke of oppression and tyranny, support without which the army in the field would have succumbed to exposure and hunger, foes far more deadly than their red-coated enemies. Some time after the triumph of the colonists and the establishment of peace between Great Britain and her colonies, Mr. McGoun came to Washington county, Pennsylvania, accompanied by his wife, four sons and five daughters. He subsequently took up his residence in North Beaver township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, now Lawrence county, locating near Mount Jack- son. Here he passed his remaining years, being at his death, in 1825, aged eighty-five years, and was buried in the old Seceder burial ground, near Mount Jackson, in which yard his wife lies also. Both were com- municants of the Seceder faith. He married Margaret Lusk, daughter of parents born in Ireland, a cousin of the Honorable James Ross, United States Senator. They were the parents of a large family, the youngest of whom was Ebenezer, of whom further.


(IV) Ebenezer McGoun, son of John (3) and Margaret (Lusk) McGoun, was born in Pennsylvania, and was a soldier with his brother Robert, in the American army in the second war with Great Britain, being stationed at Erie, Pennsylvania, guarding the force building Com- modore Perry's fleet. He married Mary, daughter of Rev. Nicholas and Maria (Wyckoff) Pittenger. The Pittenger line was originally of Pala- tinate stock, in Germany, religious difficulties driving them to Holland, whence they came to the American colonies about 1700, becoming early residents of Hunterdon county, New Jersey. After the Revolutionary War, Henry Pittenger left the family home and moved to Virginia, his first home being what is now Wheeling, West Virginia. He considered the acquisition of Wheeling Island as a site for a home, but concluded that it was too low and flat for desirability, and moved northward into Brook county, Virginia, now Hancock county, West Virginia. Here in 1791 he bought a farm near Fairview, owned at the present time by his descendants. In this locality he was a charter member of the Old Flats Presbyterian church, now the Fairview church of that denomination, and at the organiza- tion of the church officiary, he was the first elder elected by the congregation. His place in the session was taken at his death by his third son, John, who was succeeded by his son Abraham, and the family is now represented in the session by John, son of Abraham, so that never since the founding of the church has there been a time when a Pittenger has not held an eldership.


Nicholas Pittenger, son of Henry Pittenger, studied theology under the teaching of his pastor, Rev. George Scott, subsequently under the Rev.


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John McMillen, D.D., at the old Canonsburg Academy. While a student in the latter institution he lived in a log house that stood in Dr. McMillen's yard, and there many of his fellow students boarded. The larder was supplied from the home farm at Fairview, Nicholas Pittenger's daughter Mary carrying provisions between the two places on horseback, when she was a girl of ten years. She became a familiar figure along the highway and forming acquaintance with every one living along the road, never met with a mishap of any kind. Nicholas Pittenger was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Ohio, October 20, 1803, and on June 27, 1804, he was ordained and attached to the Presbytery of Erie, being installed on October 24, 1804, as pastor of the churches of Westfield, Pennsylvania, and Poland, Ohio. He resigned from the charges in 1810, and moved to Rocky Springs, Ohio, where he died April 16, 1831, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.


(V) John McGoun, son of Ebenezer and Mary (Pittenger) McGoun, was born at Mount Jackson, Beaver (now Lawrence county), Pennsylvania, in 1811, died aged eighty-two years. He was for many years a resident of Rochester, and attained prominent position in local educational affairs, teaching school in all parts of the county. He was later, for more than twelve years, clerk to the county commissioners, and served one term as county treasurer. Ever a stalwart Republican, he defended and supported that party all of his life, holding a position close to the leaders of the party and being frequently called into their councils. He married Mary Smith, and had two children: Samantha J., lives unmarried with her nephew, J. Blaine McGoun; Harvey Smith, of whom further.


(VI) Harvey Smith McGoun, only son of John and Mary (Smithi) McGoun, was born in Rochester, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in April, 1845. He left school at an early age and obtained employment in a drug store in Pittsburgh, where he was engaged at the outbreak of active hostili- ties between the forces of the North and the South. He enlisted in the 107th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was actively engaged during the last two years of the conflict, being present at Lee's final sur- render at Appomattox Court House, thus giving to the family the distinction of having a member in the victorious army at the close of the two most im- portant wars in the history of this continent. After the war he was satis- factorily examined by the State Medical Board and was authorized to prac- tice medicine in the state of Pennsylvania, which he began at Beaver Falls, withdrawing from the profession because of failing health. He then be- came a commercial traveler, that being his occupation at the time of his retirement. He now lives at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.


He married Sarah, born in Newcastle, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, in June, 1847, daughter of James Blaine and Agnes McKee; her father, born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, died aged sixty-one years, a car- penter; her mother, born in what is now Lawrence county, Pennsylvania,


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died aged ninety-one years. Children of James Blaine and Agnes McKee: 1. Mary, married Thomas Reed, both deceased; lived in Sharon, Pennsyl- vania. 2. James, a soldier in the Union army in the Civil War, was killed in the battle of Cold Harbor. 3. Eliza, married R. M. Jameson, and resides in Newcastle, Pennsylvania. 4. Sarah, of previous mention, married Harvey Smith McGoun. 5. Margaret, unmarried, lives in Newcastle, Pennsylvania. 6. William R., deceased, a grocer of Newcastle. 7. John A., lives retired in Newcastle, of which place he was postmaster. 8. Harry W., a physician, practicing in Newcastle. Children of Harvey Smith and Sarah (McKee) McGoun: 1. J. Blaine, of whom further. 2. Mary, married R. M. Patter- son, a physician of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.


(VII) J. Blaine McGoun, elder child and only son of Harvey Smith and Sarah (McKee) McGoun, was born in Beaver Falls, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1871, and was in his youth a student in the Beaver Falls schools, graduating from the high school in the class of 1888. He then matriculated at Geneva College, discontinuing his studies in that insti- tution after a year and a half, when he obtained a clerical position in the postoffice, later with the Pittsburgh Company, being so employed until 1895. In that year he entered the law offices of W. H. S. Thomson and J. Rankin Martin, gaining admission to the bar in 1898. For three years he served as deputy register and recorder, from 1896 in 1898 inclusive, and at the end of that time he opened a law office in Beaver Falls, where he has ever since continued. His position in his profession is an assured one, founded upon an able administration of private practice and an equally efficient discharge of the duties of the office of district attorney, which he held in 1908-09-10-II. The natural qualities of the successful advocate are his, personality, eloquence, and a speaking voice of fullness and strength, to which are added a deep and profound knowledge of legal lore, acquaintance with its workings, skill in examinations, and extensive practice, reaching to all of its departments. He has been admitted to all state and federal courts of his district, his wide practice extending to all. He is attorney for the Dime Savings and Loan Association of Beaver Falls, the only legal con- nection he has formed with any incorporated interests. As an aspirant to office he has been a candidate of the Republican party, that having been his political affiliation since he attained mature age, and he has served two terms as school director of Beaver Falls. His fraternal memberships are in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church.


Mr. McGoun married, October 12, 1892, Emma G. Mckinney, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, daughter of Rev. W. H. Mckinney, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania. Children: I. Miriam G., born June 22, 1893, a student in Geneva College. 2. Jean, born November 7, 1895, lives at home. 3. John born May 2, 1898. 4. Louise, born September 26, 1906. 5. Mar- garet, born February 29, 1912.


X. Seine MYown


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The Townsend or Townshend families of England and TOWNSEND America, are of mixed Norman and Saxon origin, and of great antiquity in county Norfolk, England. Walter Atte Townshende, son of Sir Ludovic de Townshende, a Norman noble- man whom Collins in his "Peerage of England" puts at the head of this family, flourished soon after the Conquest. Sir Ludovic married Elizabeth de Hauteville and settled in county Norfolk, becoming possessed of a large estate said to have been granted them by William the Conqueror. The line is traced through the centuries to Richard Townsend, of Cirencester, Glou- cestershire, England, who had two sons, Richard and William. Richard (2) Townsend was born in England, 1644 or 1645. He joined the Society of Friends, 1672, settled in London 1676, married Anne Hutchins 3 mo. 25 day, 1677. He came to Pennsylvania with William Penn on the ship "Wel- come" arriving at New Castle on the Delaware, October 24, 1682. He was a carpenter and millwright, and had come to the New World prepared to follow his trade, as about 1727 he wrote: "After a little time I set up a mill on Chester Creek which I brought ready framed from London, which served for grinding corn and sawing of boards and was of great use to us." This was the first flour and sawmill in Pennsylvania. Barber in his "His- tory of Pennsylvania" says: "About a mile and a half northeast of Chester on the left bank of Chester creek and a short distance from the mill of Richard Flowerdews, there still exists a cottage built princi- pally of brick by Richard Townsend, for the accommodation of his family while he was erecting this the first mill in the province." Wil- liam Townsend died at the home of his nephew, Joseph Townsend, in East Bradford, I 28, 1732; children: Hannah, married Isaac Cook; James, born on the "Welcome," in Delaware river, 1682; Joseph, born 5 mo. 16 day, 1687. William Townsend, son of Richard and brother of Richard (2), the emigrant who came with Penn, never left England. He had issue by wife Mary, and of this issue there is record of Joseph who came to Pennsylvania and was a resident there during the last ten years of the life of his uncle Richard Townsend, who died at the home of his nephew. From Richard and Joseph Townsend, uncle and nephew, descend the Townsends of Pennsylvania.


(I) Joseph, son of William and Mary Townsend, was born in Berk- shire county, England, in 1684. In 1710 he married Martha Wooderson, born 9 18, 1683, and in 1712, came to Pennsylvania with his wife and sister Joan. Martha was a daughter of Julian and Esther Wooderson. They were members of the Society of Friends, belonged first to Abing- ton Meeting, coming thence to Concord Meeting in 1715, and in 1720 settling in Chester. Joseph was a weaver by trade. In 1725 he agreed with John Wanton of Rhode Island for the purchase of a tract of eight hundred acres in East Bradford, Chester county, and settled thereon in that year, but did not get a deed until 1727. This land, adjoining the borough of West Chester, has now passed out of the family name. Joseph


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Townsend died 4 9, 1766, his wife died 3 2, 1767, and both are buried in Friends' Birmingham Cemetery; children: William, born 5 26, 1711, died 11 13, 1792, unmarried; Mary, born 8 16, 1713, died 10 8, 1781, married Henry Woodward; Joseph (2), of whom further; John, born 12 2, 1716, died 8 18, 1803, married Joanna England; Hannah, born 6 9, 1718, married (first) Nathan Sharpless, (second) Charles Ryant ; Martha, born I 26, 1721, died 4 3, 1748; Richard, born 5 23, 1727, died 5 4, 1738; Esther, born 5 23, 1727, died II I, 1728.


(II) Joseph (2), son of Joseph and Martha (Wooderson) Townsend, was born 4 8, 1715, died 1 3, 1749. He received from his father a portion of the East Bradford estate, thereon built a house and cultivated his farm until his early death. He married 3 17, 1739, Lydia Reynolds, born April 24, 1716, daughter of Francis Reynolds of Chichester township, Chester county, and his wife, Elizabeth Acton, granddaughter of Henry Reynolds and great-granddaughter of William and Margaret (Exton) Reynolds. Henry Reynolds, born in England in 1655, came to New Jersey in 1676, landing at Burlington after a voyage of twenty-two weeks. He married, January 10, 1678, Prudence, daughter of William and Prudence Clayton, of Chichester township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, and settled in that township where he resided until his death, October 7, 1724. Francis Reynolds, third child of Henry and Prudence Reynolds, born October 15, 1684, inherited his father's homestead of two hundred and ninety acres in Chichester, and lived there until his death in 1760. He married, in December, 1712, Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin and Christian Acton, of Salem, New Jersey, who was born, February 26, 1690. Lydia, who married Joseph (2) Townsend, was the second of their eight children. Joseph (2) Townsend had children : Francis, married Rachel Talbot, in 1762; Benjamin, of whom further; Esther; Joseph and Elizabeth.


(III) Benjamin, son of Joseph (2) and Lydia (Reynolds) Townsend, was born on the Townsend homestead in East Bradford, Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1742. He and his brother Francis with their families moved to Western Pennsylvania in 1786, Samuel, son of Francis Townsend, not moving with his parents. Benjamin Townsend settled in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was the direct ancestor of the Beaver county family of Townsend through his son Robert .


(IV) Robert, son of Benjamin Townsend, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, April 9, 1790, his parents having settled there but a short time previous to that date. When sixteen years of age he went to Baltimore, Maryland, where he learned the trade of wire worker and be- came familiar with the process of manufacturing iron. In 1816 he located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and until 1828 was there engaged in iron manu- facture, becoming prominent and prosperous. In 1828, in association with Reese C. Townsend, Robert Beer and John D. Baird, of Pittsburgh, he established a wire and rivet mill at Fallston, Beaver county, under the firm name Townsend, Baird & Company. He continued his Pittsburgh and




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