USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 62
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Mary (Hunter) Mecklem was a daughter of John Hunter, who was born near Unionville, Pennsylvania ; married Ella Wines, born near Little Washington. Enoch Hunter, father of John Hunter, was of Irish descent and married Mary Musser, who had German ancestors. He settled near Unionville at an early date and there reared his family. William, a brother of Enoch Hunter, was active during the Civil War, was confined in Ander- sonville prison, and was liberated when almost dead. Another brother, Abel Hunter, lost a leg at the battle of the Wilderness.
Johnston is an old Scotch name, a modification of the
JOHNSTON English name Johnson, and wherever this spelling is found it marks its bearers as of Scotch descent. It is very widely represented in this country, especially in Pennsylvania, by descendants who came from the north of Ireland, and are known as the Scotch-Irish.
(I) James A. Johnston, probably born in Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, was a plasterer and farmer by occupation, and died at the early age of thirty-four years. He married Mary Jane Rhodes, born in Chippewa township, Beaver county, a daughter of Smiley and Lydia (Strain) Rhodes, whose ancestral history will be found at the close of this sketch. Children: George, who was burned to death at the age of three years; William Ross, who was graduated from the Medical College of Cincin- nati, Ohio, followed special lines of medical work in the hospitals of New York City for a time, and is now engaged in private practice.
(II) Frank Howard Johnston, son of James A. and Mary Jane (Rhodes) Johnston, was born in Chippewa township, Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, June 13, 1869. His early education was acquired in the public schools of his native township, after which he attended the normal school at Ada, Ohio. Having served his apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade he followed this occupation for a period of eight years, and then became a fireman on the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroad. During the course of the twenty years he was connected with this company he was advanced to the responsible position of engineer, an office he filled with ability. In 1904 he was appointed engine dispatcher and has held that position up to the present time. He also has important business interests, being senior part- ner in the firm of Rhodes & Johnston, dealers in building materials at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Order of Mechanical Engineers, the Free and Accepted Masons and the Brotherhood of Loco- motive Engineers, Division No. 148. Mr. Johnston married, September
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19, 1893, Elizabeth Vandevort, born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, but residing in Missouri at the time of her marriage. Children: Dorothy May and Mary Mabel, also two who died in infancy.
(The Rhodes Line.)
(I) Zachary Rhodes commences the history of this family in Rhode Island. He was born in 1603, and settled in Rehoboth in 1643. In 1644, with other settlers, he signed an agreement forming a town government. In 1646 he left Rehoboth, crossed the river and bay to Rhode Island, and with others settled at Pawtuxet, where he became a large owner of land. His reason for leaving Massachusetts appears to have been of a religious nature, as records show that he refused to comply with the Massachusetts law which sought to compel him to contribute for the support of preach- ing. In religious sentiment he was an Independent or Baptist. Without doubt he was banished from the colony because of his peculiar views, but he became a man of strength and influence in the community in Rhode Island. From 1664 until 1665 he was treasurer of the town of Providence, and at the same time was a member of the town council. In 1658 he was admitted a freeman. He was a member of the general court at Portsmouth in August, 1659, and in 1662 and 1663. In 1661 he attended as commis- sioner from Providence the general court at Newport, and was appointed member of a committee to adjust difficulties existing between Massa- chusetts and Rhode Island, and was also appointed, with Roger Williams and others, to draw up and sign an address to His Majesty, King Charles II. In March, 1663-64, as deputy from Providence, he attended the gen- eral assembly of Rhode Island, held at Newport, and also in 1665. In 1653 he with five others, signed an address to the court assembled in Boston, asking that Pawtuxet might be dismissed from the government of the Massachusetts Colony. He made his will in 1662 and died in 1665. In 1646 Zachary (or Zachariah) Rhodes married Joanna Arnold, born Febru- ary 27, 1617, died in 1692. Children: Jeremiah, born June 24, 1647; Malachi; Zachariah; Elizabeth ; Mary; Rebecca; John, of further mention; . Peleg.
(II) John Rhodes, fourth son and seventh child of Zachary and Joanna (Arnold) Rhode's, was born in 1658, died August 14, 1716. He was admitted a freeman in 1681, at a meeting of the general assembly at Newport, at which time he was a resident of Warwick. In 1700, at a meeting of the general assembly held at Newport, he was elected general attorney for the Colony of Rhode Island. In 1702-03-04 he was a deputy from Warwick to the General Assembly, and in 1707 he was elected clerk of the general assembly. He married (first) February 12, 1685, Waite Waterman, born in 1668, died in 1711. He married (second) Sarah - born in 1653, died March 30, 1730. Children: I. Zachariah, born at Scit- uate, Rhode Island, November 5, 1687; married (first) Mary Randall, (second) Mary Sheldon. 2. John, born in Warwick, November 20, 1691, died in 1776; married (first) Catherine, a daughter of Lieutenant Charles
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and Catherine (Green) Holden, (second) Mary Whipple. 3. Mercy, twin of John, 4. Joseph, born September 25, 1693, at Providence ; married Mary Arnold. 5. William, born July 14, 1695; married Mary Sheldon. 6. Phebe, born November 30, 1698; married (first) Anthony Holden, (second) Samuel Aborn. 7. Resolved, born May 22, 1702; married Mary Greene. 8. Waitg born December 16, 1703; married Abraham Sheldon.
Waite (Waterman) Rhodes was a daughter of Resolved and Mercy (Williams) Waterman. The American progenitor of the Waterman family was born in England in 1590, came to America in 1629, and was of Salem, Massachusetts. He was one of the seven persons to whom Roger Williams deeded land in Providence, and in 1639 was one of the original twelve members of the First Baptist Church. He was one among those who signed an agreement in 1640 for a form of government. In 1655 he was made a freeman and served, respectively, as commissioner, juryman and warden. He died in 1673, and his wife, Bethia, in 1680. Their children were: Mehitabel, Waite, Nathaniel and Resolved.
Resolved Waterman, son of Richard and Bethia Waterman, was born in 1638, died in 1670. He served as deputy to the general court in 1667. He married, in 1659, Mercy Williams, born in 1640, remarried after the death of her first husband, and died in 1705. Children: Richard, born in June, 1660; Mercy, 1662; John, 1666; Resolved, 1667; Waite, who mar- ried John Rhodes, as above mentioned.
Roger Williams, father of Mercy (Williams) Waterman, and grand- father of Waite (Waterman) Rhodes, founded the Colony of Rhode Island in 1636. He was born in South Wales, about 1598, and was a son of William Williams, of Conwyl Parish, He died at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1683. He married, in 1632, Mary Warnard, who died in 1676. They had children : Mary, born in 1633; Freeborn, 1635; Providence, 1638; Mercy, who became Mrs. Waterman ; Daniel, born in 1642; Joseph, 1643./
(V) William Rhodes, great-grandson of John and Waite (Waterman) Rhodes, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, March 18, 1749. He must have come to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, prior to 1774, as he was married there in that year. He was a Whig in political opinion. He married, January 29, 1774, Elizabeth Maginn ..
(VI) William (2) Rhodes, son of William (1) and Elizabeth (Maginn) Rhodes, was born January 10, 1788, died April 17, 1853. His entire life was spent in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he was active among the pioneer settlers of that section. His death occurred in what is now Chippewa township. He owned about one hundred acres of land, a large portion of which he cleared, and in 1826 he served in the office of overseer of the poor in Chippewa township, as is stated in a document now in the possession of his grandson, Robert J. Rhodes. He married, January 1, 1806, Margaret, born April 2, 1871, died May 25, 1855, a daughter of Andrew and Catharine Elizabeth (Mercer) Eberhardt, and a niece of General Hugh Mercer, of Revolutionary fame. Children: I.
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Jonathan, born September 30, 1806, died December 18, 1893 ; married Jades- sah Powers Cross. 2. Milton J., born April 16, 1808, died February 8, 1882; married Sarah Brittain. 3. Smiley, of further mention. 4. Margaret Ann, born December 30, 1812, died March 2, 1903; married John Brittain. 5. William, born September 25, 1814, died November 28, 1883; married (first) Mary Maria Baird, (second) Eliza Isabel McMillan, (third) Mary Jane Whann. 6. Joseph Andrew, born December 3, 1816, died May 24, 1842; unmarried. 7. Robert Mann, born November 17, 1820, died Febru- ary 21, 1902; married Emeline Powell.
(VII) Smiley Rhodes, son of William (2) and Margaret (Eberhardt) Rhodes, was born March 20, 1810, died May 3, 1867. He married, April 27, 1841, Lydia Strain, born August 30, 1819, died June 10, 1869. Chil- dren: I. Mary Jane, who married James A. Johnston (see Johnston I). 2. Benjamin Franklin, married (first) Martha Isabelle Wilson, (second) Susanna Cunningham. 3. Nancy L., married Wallace Fields. 4. George S., deceased. 5. Joseph Frazier, married Harriet Francis Littell. 6. Anna Eliza, married William Cosgrove. 7. Matilda Emma, deceased. 8. Clar- issa M., deceased. 9. Maurice Ellsworth, married Laura A. Reed.
ANDERSON The Anderson family of this review came to the United States toward the end of the eighteenth or the beginning of the nineteenth century.
(I) John Anderson came from Ireland, his native land, to the United States, and settled in West Virginia. His son, Andrew (II), was born in West Virginia, and when he had attained manhood, migrated to Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in farming until 1837. He then removed to Raccoon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he died at the age of seventy-three years. He was a member of the old Seceders' church, in which he was an elder for some time. In political matters he was a Democrat. He was gifted as a musician, being an excel- lent fifer, and was never known to fail on muster day. He married Hannah Wykoff, who died at the age of eighty-two years. They had children : Mary J., Nancy Ann, Margaret, Sarah, John, Catherine, James W., Andrew J., William M.
(III) John, son of Andrew and Hannah (Wykoff) Anderson, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1831. He was a farmer in Raccoon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, until 1869, when he came to Hopewell township, and there engaged in milling. He first owned and operated a water and steam mill half a mile from New Sheffield, and in 1878 built the steam mill at New Sheffield, which he operated for a number of years. He also was the owner of a fine farm of fifty acres. He was a Democrat, and worked earnestly in the interests of his party. He held a number of township offices, among them being that of justice of the peace, an office he filled many years. Devout and sincere in his connection with the church, he served for many years as
Joseph. J. yards
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an elder in the United Presbyterian church. Mr. Anderson married (first) Mary Elizabeth Buchanan, born February 24, 1836, died February 8, 1890. He married (second), November 14, 1898, Elizabeth L. (Eachel) McCoy, widow of James McCoy.
Samuel Eachel, father of Mrs. Anderson, was born June 28, 1814, and was a farmer at Clinton, Pennsylvania. He married Isabel -, and had children : -, born February 22, 1835, died young; Harriet, born January II, 1836; Mary Ann, born December 2, 1837; Margaret Jane, born August 2, 1840; Elizabeth L., of further mention; Charles, born October 23, 1845; Sarah Matilda, born May 26, 1847; Yolande, born October 24, 1849; twin of Yolande, both died young; Louisa Ellen, born August 3, 1853.
Elizabeth L., daughter of Samuel and Isabel (-) Eachel, was born September 15, 1842, married (first) James McCoy, and had children : Samuel, a farmer and oil producer near Weston, West Virginia; Eliza- beth, married Samuel Schiller, a farmer near Petersburg, Ohio; Maude, married Ernest Douthitt, of South Heights, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth L. Eachel married (second) John Anderson, and now lives in New Sheffield, Pennsylvania, in the house which he built when he first came to that town.
The name of Edwards is one which has gained distinction
EDWARDS in this country as well as in Wales from which country all bearing the name have sprung. Among the most noted of this family is the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, the eminent divine.
(I) Joseph Edwards was born at Swansea, Wales, and emigrated to America at the age of fifteen years. He located at New Castle, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, where he worked in the rolling mills all the active years of his life, and died at the age of seventy years. He married Leonard, and they became the parents of children: David, James, Hannalı, Sarah, Mary, Margaret, John W.
(II) John W. Edwards, son of Joseph and - (Leonard) Edwards, was born at New Castle, Pennsylvania, in September, 1846. The public schools of his native town furnished him with a substantial education, and he worked in the rolling mills all his life. He took an active interest in the public affairs of the community, and gave his political support to the Re- publican party. Mr. Edwards married Mary, a daughter of Silas Stevenson, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, and they had children: Charles B., born in 1873, died young; Joseph S., of further mention; Gertrude, died young; John H., born January 15, 1871, was graduated from the high school of New Castle, then matriculated at the College of Pharmacy of the University of Pittsburgh, and for a number of years after his graduation from this institution he was employed as a prescription clerk in a drug store; he then became bookkeeper at the Standard Fire Clay Works, a position he is still filling; he married Mae Foulke, and has children: Jane Estella and Ruth.
(III) Joseph S. Edwards, son of John W. and Mary (Stevenson)
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Edwards, was born at New Castle, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1875. He received his education at the public schools of Terre Haute, Indiana, the public schools of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, and was a graduate of the New Castle Business College. For about nine years he was employed as a bookkeeper, then in 1902, in association with James Garrett, organized the Standard Fire Clay Works, of which he is the secretary and treasurer. The plant is located in Fallston borough, and they manufacture fire brick, the daily capacity being twenty thousand bricks, and the capital stock is valued at thirty-five thousand dollars. He is the treasurer of the Diedrick Glass Works, a corporation which was organized in 1914 for the decoration of glassware, and which has now constructed a new plant at Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. Since 1895 Mr. Edwards has been a resident of Rochester, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he has taken a prominent part in the public affairs of the community. He served one term as a member of the borough council, and one term as a member of the board of school directors; was three terms a member of the Republican county committee, and in 191I was elected county treasurer of Beaver county for a term of four years. The family are members of the Baptist Church.
Mr. Edwards married, April 17, 1900, Martha, daughter of William J. Johnston, of Monaca, and they have had children: John William, born May 15, 1901; Joseph Leonard, August 17, 1903; Blanche Elizabeth, De- cember 21, 1908; Sarah Gertrude, June 17, 1911; James Wesley, March 30, 1914.
The McCoys originally dwelt in the Highlands of Scotland,
McCOY from whence they migrated to Ireland, and lived there for some generations before the first member of the family emi- grated to America. They were noted for their great size and physical strength.
(I) James McCoy, the first of the family of whom we have definite record in this country, was born east of the Allegheny Mountains, and was a weaver by trade. He was also the owner of a farm. He married Rachel Manor who, after his death, came with her children to Independence town- ship, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1817. Of their fourteen children, six died at an early age, the others being: John, who served in the War of 1812 with the rank of colonel, and was an elder in the United Presbyterian church; William; James, of further mention; Isaac; Alexander; Hugh, of further mention; Elizabeth, married Robert Gorsuch; Mary, married Wil- liam Schooler.
(II) Hugh, son of James and Rachel (Manor) McCoy, was a farmer and carpenter, and later a preacher, both local and itinerary. At first he was a Covenanter, and later a Baptist. He died in Independence township, South Side, at the age of seventy-seven years. Hugh McCoy married (first), in September, 1814, Rachel Schooler, of Allegheny county ; he married (sec-
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ond), about 1854, Pamela Anderson. By the first marriage he had children : Mary, born October 7, 1815, was two years of age when she was brought to Beaver county, and still lives there; Ann; Elizabeth; Rachel; James; William ; Isaac Alexander ; Sarah; Lucinda. Children by the second mar- riage : Robert ; Rachel Ann; Amanda; Martha J .; McClellan Hugh; Mar- garet.
(II) James, son of James and Rachel (Manor) McCoy, was born east of the Allegheny Mountains, and came to Beaver county in 1817 with his mother and the others of the family. Two years later he took up a tract of land in the wilderness in Beaver county, in what is now Independence township, cleared this and there erected a home. He added to this by degrees until he had a fine farm of two hundred and thirty-seven acres. He married, in Ohio, Betsey Bidwell, a native of that state.
(III) Alexander, son of James and Betsey (Bidwell) McCoy, was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and came to Beaver county, in the same state, when he was a very young child. Since then his entire life was spent in Beaver county, where he acquired his education in the public schools. For many years he lived on what is now the Beatty farm. He married Margaret, born in Green township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Nathaniel and Mary McCoy, early settlers on Service creek, Beaver county, whose other children were: Thomas, who died while in service in war ; Nathaniel; Nancy ; Betsey and Jane.
(IV) James E., son of Alexander and Margaret (McCoy) McCoy, was born in the house in which he is now living, in Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, June 26, 1837. For a time he lived in Richland county, Ohio, then returned to Beaver county, and has lived there continuously since 1881. He is now the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and seventy-six acres, in an excellent state of cultivation, and formerly also conducted a repair shop in connection with his farming operations. The McCoy family were always supporters of Republican principles, and Mr. McCoy was no exception to this rule in former days. Later he affiliated with the Prohibition party, and now is independent in his political views. Like his forefathers he is of the United Presbyterian denomination, and is a member and elder in the Mount Olivet Presbyterian Church. Mr. McCoy married, October 25, 1860, Ann McCoy, a second cousin, who died at Chester with a daughter, December 2, 19II. They had children : Laura Chlotilde, Jennie Mary and Alvina Rachel.
GRAHAM While many bearing the name of Graham have come to this country directly from Ireland and England, they have all had a common origin. In Scotland the Grahams are a family of distinction, and in England and Ireland are those of this honored name who have attained to positions of prominence in official life. The traditional origin of the family dates to the ducal house of Montrose, and then traces back in its ancestory to about the fifth century. In early Scottish history the Clan Graham played an important and chivalrous part, and for
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gallantry acquired the designation of the "Gallant Graemes." In ancient times the Grahams were famous champions of right and justice, and even in more recent times there have been those of this honorable house who have lent their aid to the cause of rights of man.
(I) Patrick Graham, born in county Antrim, Ireland, emigrated to America, and settled in Butler county, Pennsylvania. There, probably prior to 1800, he acquired a farm of several hundred acres, on which he lived until his death by accident, at the advanced age of one hundred years. He married, and had children: Joseph, of further mention; Daniel; Harrison ; James ; John; Rosanna.
(II) Joseph, son of Patrick Graham, followed in his father's footsteps as a farmer, married, and also had children.
(III) James, son of Joseph Graham, removed to New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, when he was still a young man, and there followed his trade as a tailor, with which he was successfully identified until his death in 1886. He was an intensely patriotic man, and served under Scott in the Mexican war, and under General Meade in the Civil War, being a member of the 104th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. At the time of his death he was serving his community in the office of justice of the peace. He married, and had children: Eleanor H., died in infancy ; Franklin, a physician; John W., of further mention.
(IV) John W., son of James Graham, was born in New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and there acquired his education in the public schools. Being of a strong and robust constitution, he was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith trade, and followed this calling some years. About 1883 he established himself in the building and contracting business, and has followed it with excellent success since that time. He has always taken an active and beneficial interest in the public affairs of the community, has served as a member of the common council for five years, and is now judge of elections in the Second Ward, in the interests of the Republican party, to which he has always given his political support. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and for the past fifty years has affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious connection is with the Methodist Protestant church, although his maternal ancestors were all Quakers. Mr. Graham married, January 17, 1864, Mary Ann Harper, of New Brighton, and they have had children: Mary Ellen, married J. Fuller- ton, of New Brighton; Cora May, died at the age of ten years; William Harrison, resides in Ambridge; Maria Blanche, married F. L. Grave, of Knoxville, Pittsburgh; John Harper, a resident of New Brighton; Charles Edward, lives in Pittsburgh.
(IV) Alva Leonard Shanor, son of John Marshall Foster SHANOR Shanor (q. v.) and Amelia Belinda (Cable) Shanor, was born in New Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, April 12, 1864.
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Until the age of eighteen years he attended the schools in New Sewickley and Unionville townships, then assisted his father in the culti- vation of the farm until this was sold in 1883. He then removed to Roches- ter with the rest of the family and worked in the glass tumbler factory until 1896. A co-operative glass factory was then organized, Mr. Shanor being one of the leading spirits in this organization, and he was a worker in it until it was bought by the National Glass Works. In 1904 he removed to the country, and in 1908 purchased the James Brewer farm in Daugherty township, Beaver county, where he has since resided. He cultivates his farm for general produce, and for dairy farming, and is a very successful man of business. He is an active worker in the interests of the Democratic party, and is now serving as president of the board of school directors of the township. His fraternal affiliations are with the Woodmen of the World, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Rochester.
Mr. Shanor married, December 21, 1885, Hannah Brewer, born on the farm on which they are living at the present time, June 11, 1865. She is a daughter of James A. and Jane (Moore) Brewer, the latter dying in No- vember, 1865. James A. Brewer was born in Daugherty township, and married his first wife, June 1, 1842. He married (second) Jane Watt. By his first marriage he had children : - , born February 13, 1843, married Frank Hays; Robert, born March 5, 1845, was killed during the Civil War; Asenath, born July 25, 1847, married Wesley Beurne, deceased, and now lives in New Brighton, Pennsylvania; Elias, born May 7, 1850, died in New Brighton; James, born December 17, 1852, now deceased, was a marble cutter in New Brighton ; William, born April 9, 1855, has a pottery estab- lishment, and lives at Warren, Ohio; Hannah, who married Mr. Shanor, as above mentioned; Belle, married Samuel Holland, and lives in New Brighton; Frances, died unmarried at the age of twenty-nine years. By his second marriage Mr. Brewer had one son: Harvey, a machinist, who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Alva Leonard and Hannah (Brewer) Shanor had children: Lawrence L., born July 15, 1887, married Laura Pratt and lives in Rochester, Pennsylvania; Howard, born October 10, 1891 ; Herbert, born June 10, 1900; Wilbur, born August 12, 1902.
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