USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > Genealogical and personal history of Fayette county, Pennsylvania > Part 15
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(VI) Samuel, son of William Clark, was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania. He settled in Westmoreland county, where he kept one of the old time taverns along the "Pike." He was a great horseman and dearly loved a horse trade, usually having one or more pending. He was very popular in the township and captain of a militia com- pany of which he was very proud, frequently purchasing new uniforms for his men in order to have them present a neat and sol- dierly appearance on "general training days." He married Mary Lippincott, born in West- moreland county, daughter of Jesse and Jane Lippincott, both born in Pennsylvania and residents of Westmoreland county. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Children of Samuel and Mary Clark: I. Griffith T. (of whom further mention.) 2. Harriet, married Cyrus Galley, of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, a carriagemaker. 3. Elizabeth, married John Shehey, of Youngs- town, Ohio, both deceased. 4. Margaret, married Jacob Hodit. 5. Mary Jane, de- ceased, married Thomas Porter. 6. Rachel, now living in Youngstown, Ohio, unmarried. 7. William P., a veteran of the civil war, now a justice of the peace of Connellsville and the last male survivor of the family : he enlisted in 1862 in Company B, One Hundred and Eighty-sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry, as drummer: after a year's service he was made chief musician, a posi- tion he held until the close of the war; he took part with his regiment in twenty-four battles, escaping unhurt; he came to Con- nellsville after the war and has ever since resided there; he worked for many years at his trade of carpenter and cabinetmaker; in 1905 he was elected justice of the peace; he married Elizabeth Nichol and has: Della G.,
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married George M. Hosack, an attorney of Pittsburgh; Charles, deceased ; Ellen and Har- riet. 8. Lucretia, married John Elmer Seton, of Connellsville, both deceased. 9. Henry, died in infancy. 10. An infant, died at birth. (VII) Griffith T., eldest son of Samuel and Mary (Lippincott) Clark, was born in Mount Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, died June, 1896. He was educated in the public schools, and lived at home until the outbreak of the civil war, when he enlisted in Company B, One Hun- dred and Forty-second Regiment, Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, and fought from 1862 until the close of the war, attaining the rank of sergeant. He engaged with his regi- ment in twenty-four important battles, includ- ing Gettysburg, and at the close of the war marched with the tattered and torn but victo- rious armies of the nation down Pennsylvania avenue in Washington in grand review be- fore their great chieftain, Abraham Lincoln, soon to fill the grave of a martyr. After the war he came to Connellsville, where for twenty years, until his death, he worked as a carpenter in the shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was his wife; he was also a Republican. Ser- geant Clark was a good soldier, an upright citizen and a faithful employee. He was held in high regard by his fellows and won the confidence of his employers.
He married Sophia, daughter of Samuel C. Sheffler, born in Germany, served in the Ger- man army in the cavalry, came to the United States, settled in Hempfield township, West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, where he owned and cultivated a good farm. He mar- ried a woman who was of German birth, both living to a good age. Among his treasures was the sabre that he carried in the German army, which he carefully preserved. Children of Samuel C. Sheffler: Daniel, de- ceased; Samuel, now superintendent of a bank building at Connellsville; Robert; Israel T., now a farmer near Greensburg, Pennsyl- vania; Jerome, deceased; Elizabeth, married Henry Pope and lived in Greensburg; Lois, married James Davis, of Greensburg; Sophia, aforementioned, wife of Griffith T. Clark, Children of Griffith T. Clark: Samuel S. of whom further; Laura Rebecca, married and lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
(VIII) Samuel S., son of Griffith T. and Sophia (Sheffler) Clark, was born in Con- nellsville, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1866. He was educated in the public schools, and after completing his years of study served an apprenticeship of five years with A. J. Case and learned the trade of harnessmaker. He then spent five years with the Connellsville Electric Company, becoming an electrical engineer. For three years he worked at steam fitting with the Connellsville Brewing Company, which brings him to the time of the Spanish-American war. He enlisted in Company D, Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard, as sergeant, and with his regiment was mustered into the service of the United States in 1898. The Tenth was sent to the Philippines, but Sergeant Clark was detached and sent back to the United States as a recruiting officer. He formed a company which he took to the Sandwich Islands, being for ten weeks acting captain of the company. He then continued with them to Manila and served with the Tenth during the Aguinaldo insurrection, being in two engagements with the "Little brown men." He returned to the United States. with the Tenth and was mustered out at San Francisco, August 20, 1899.
After his return to Connellsville he entered the employ of the Connellsville Brewing Company as foreman of construction work, continuing eighteen months. On January I, 1901, he was appointed superintendent of the First National Bank Building in Connells- ville and so continues. He is a Republican in politics, and in religious faith inclines to the Methodist belief of his fathers. He is a member of Connellsville Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is the last surviving male member of this Clark branch, except his aged uncle, Squire William P. Clark, of Connellsville. He is an energetic, resolute, upright citizen and held in high. esteem. He is unmarried.
The earliest ancestor of this
BRADY branch of the Brady family, of whom any record can be found, is John Brady, who was born in Ireland and who served in the British army, in which service he was killed. He married and had issue.
(II) Colonel James Brady, son of John
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Brady, was born in Ireland, died at Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 29, 1911. He came to the United States when but fourteen years of age; he engaged in the printing' business in New York and Philadelphia for a time, and also was manager of a hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was owner ot the Sunday Northern newspaper, and later was an importer of china, with his business lo- cated in Philadelphia. He has a long and honorable military record, which began when in 1848 he was appointed captain of cavalry in New York City by the governor. On July 8, 1861, he was commissioned captain of the First Pennsylvania Artillery, Battery H, and attached to the Forty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. While holding this command he was in the siege of Yorktown, battles of Mechanicsburg and Fair Oaks. At the latter battle he was in command of the battery on the right wing of the Fourth Artillery, and held this position after the repulse of the corps until refused aid by the corps commander. He was in the right wing of the Army of the Potomac at the Bottoms and Railroad Bridge, after the battle of Mechanicsville. Through his efforts the cavalry on the right and rear of the army was held in check at the battle of Savage Station. On July 2 and 3, 1862, he covered the retreat of troops at Malvern Hill. For valiant service in this engagement he was promoted to the rank of major, July 19, 1862. He was assigned to the command of a brigade of artillery, First Division Artillery Corps; ordered to Urbana on the Rappahan- nock, December 13, 1862, under H. T. Nagle, chief of artillery Doubleday Division, and in January, 1863, he was in command of the forced march. He was chief of artillery in Couch's department in the Valley of the Cum- berland during the Gettysburg campaign, and was in charge of the erection works on the south side of the Susquehanna river, which checked the advance of Lee's Cavalry on Harrisburg, September 23, 1863. He was promoted lieutenant colonel and placed in command of a brigade of Artillery Reserves of the Army of the Potomac at Mine Run. During part of the winter of 1863-1864 he was in command at Brandy Station, while in the spring of 1864 he was in Washington, D. C., in command of Camp Marshall, pre- paring for the Wilderness campaign. He
was then assigned to organize and command the Thirteenth United States Colored Artil- lery at Bowling Green. Another recognition of his services was granted when on March 16, 1865, he was made brevet colonel in rec- ognition of his services at Fair Oaks, Mal- vern Hill and Mine Run. He was presented with a sword by the government for bravery and gallant service at the battle of Fair Oaks. He had charge of dismantling the rebel works in and around Richmond, after Lee's surrender, with orders to destroy or ship to Washington all guns and munitions of war.
Aside from his own service, at one time his wife recruited troops and took them to the front. Such a record in the service of the United States has seldom been equalled, and it is a noticeable fact that he was always among the commanders and not the com- manded, and, furthermore, that not only did lie fill the various positions which fell to his lot in a manner satisfactory to his superior offices, but showed such exceptional ability that he was presented with testimonials from the government such as are only conferred on rare occasions. At the time of his dis- charge from the service after the war, he was offered the rank of brigadier general, which he refused, asking only the rank that he held while in the service of his adopted country. On all political questions he sided with the Democratic party, and in religion was a Roman Catholic.
He married in New York City, October 12, 1849, Winifred Mimnaugh. Children: Frank, died in United States artillery service, 1874; James; Harry, of whom further; Sarah; Winifred: Rachel; Mary.
(III) Harry, son of Colonel James and Winifred ( Mimnaugh) Brady, was born at Philadelphia, June 13, 1863. He attended the public schools in Philadelphia and later with his father moved to Atlantic City. He was appointed by the governor of New Jersey as second lieutenant of Sea Coast Artillery and was honorably retired upon commencing the study of medicine. In 1897 he was grad- uated from the Medico-Chirurgical college with the degree of M. D. and has since prac- ticed in Chester, New Castle and Gallatin, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He has served as deputy coroner in Fayette county, and at present is justice of the peace (1912). In religion he is a Roman Catholic. During
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the Spanish-American war, in 1897, served with the Hospital trams service between Philadelphia and Camp Mead, and Florida. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
He married, May 3, 1905, Mae, daughter of John S. and Mary (Holliday) Gillespie. Jolin S. Gillespie and the mother of James G. Blaine, who was Maria Gillespie, were cousins. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie : Maud; Mae (of previous mention); Madge; Wade: Zoe. Children of Harry and Mae (Gillespie) Brady: I. Jane, born June 3, 1906. 2. Harry Gillespie, born March 16, 1908. 3. Mary, born November 2, 1909. 4. Rose Maxwell, born December 17, 1910.
COLLIER The Colliers came to Fayette from Somerset county, Penn- sylvania, after a previous res- idence in Kentucky, where the family were among the pioneer families, as they were of Missouri. Record cannot be obtained far- ther back than John, grandfather of Mer- chant Collier, of Georges township.
(I) John Collier was born in Kentucky, and died in Addison township, Somerset county, Pennsylvania. He followed farming all his life in Addison township, where he came with his family from Kentucky in middle life. He was deeply interested in politics, being a strong and enthusiastic Democrat. He mar- ried and left issue: John; Joseph; Daniel, of whom further: Maria, married Samuel Fra- zer: Thomas, died young; Perry.
(II) Daniel, son of John Collier, was born in Addison township, Somerset county, Penn- sylvania, May 9, 1799, died in Georges town- ship, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, January 24. 1877. He was educated in the common schools of Addison township, and later in life was a stock dealer and farmer. For a time he and his sister were joint proprietors of The Burnt House, a tavern at Mount Augus- ta, Henry Clay township, later moving to Georges township. He married Susan Seaton, born at the Seaton House, Union- town, Pennsylvania, December 10, 1805, died June II, 1879, daughter of James C. Seaton, born October 26, 1780, a hotel proprietor of Uniontown, where he died. He married Elizabeth Swann, born December 26, 1779, died February 30, 1860. Children: Hiram; Frances, born May 6, 1803, died September
25, 1826; Susan; Sarah, married William Crawford; Mary, married William Ingram; Rebecca, married George Martin ; Merchant ; Julia, married Robert Berry; James; John, married Mary Ellen Rose. Children of Daniel and Susan (Seaton) Collier: I. Frances, married Allen Johnson. 2. Elvira, married (first) Samuel Griffin, (second) Amos Bowlby. 3. John J. 4. Merchant, of whom further. 5. William, married Mary Longnecker. 6. Elizabeth, died in infancy. 7. Thomas, married Harriet Coffman, and lives retired in Uniontown. 8. Daniel, mar- ried Louisa Stum. 9. James Seaton, mar- ried Neal Brown, and lives in Uniontown, retired.
(III) Merchant, son of Daniel and Susan (Seaton) Collier, was born in Henry Clay township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 3, 1835. He was educated and passed his early years in Georges township, work- ing on his father's farm until he attained man's estate, when he was taken in full part- nership in the care and cultivation of the farm. Upon his father's death he inherited one hundred acres, to which he added one hundred and fifty acres, as well as one hun- dred and eighty-five acres in Virginia. Farm- ing has been his lifelong occupation, and fruitful and successful cultivation of the soil his great delight. Although never seeking office, he has ever been an earnest upholder and supporter of Republican principles. In religious faith he is a Baptist. He married, February 5, 1857, Hannah Hustead, born in Dunbar township, January 1, 1834, daughter of Robert Hustead, a farmer, born in Georges township, died in North Union township; he married Rebecca Humbert, born in Georges ownship, died 1910; children: Eliza; Jane; Hannah (of previous mention) ; John; William, married Mary Brown; Abra- ham, married Sarah Junk; Moses, married Martha Dunn: James F., married (first) Jen- nie Dearth, and lives in Uniontown, Penn- sylvania, (second) (name not known); Robert, died in infancy; Alcesta, married Fuller Hogsett (see Hogsett); Mary, married James Curry. Of these children, Jane, Hannah, James F. and Alcesta are living.
Children of Merchant and Hannah Collier: 1
I. Frances, married M. Taylor Nixon (q. v.). 2. Daniel, born August 7, 1860, died July, 1908; he married Mary Sesler, who sur-
Merchant Collier
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vives him, a resident of Georges township. Children: Daisy, died aged nine years; Mer- chant, married Belle Newcomer, and farms the homestead; Margaret, died aged four years; Thomas, married Lola Ensley; Grace; Ethel; Mary; Daniel; Edgar. 3. Alcesta Jane, born December 16, 1862; married James V. Robinson, a farmer of Georges township; Hannah, resides at home; Rixey, Marie, Ruth and Merchant, all living at home. 4. Loretta, born October 6, 1865, married Robert Brownfield, a farmer and dairyman of Georges township. Children: Phoebe, died aged twenty years; Isaac, married Mar- garet Brown, and is a farmer of Georges township; Hannah, resides at home; Rixey, married George Brown, and has a son, Alfred Benjamin; Ethel, resides at home; Merchant; Robert (2): Rebecca and Ben- jamin. 5. Robert, born June 19, 1867, died January 1, 1869. 6. Mary, born January 8, 1869; married (first) Norval N. Madera, (second) Robert Kennedy. 7. James F., born October 20, 1871, now en- gaged in the plumbing and heating business at Hamilton, Ontario; married Etta Steel; child: Raymond, born 1909.
COLLIER (III) John J. Collier, son of Daniel Collier, (q. v.), was born in Fayette county, died in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1890. He was a farmer of Georges township, Fayette county, for many years, owning a good farm of one hundred acres. In 1870 he established a livery business in Uniontown that he con- ducted until just before his death twenty years later. He was a Republican, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Annie Laidley, who died July 18, 1879, daughter of Dr. Thomas Laidley, a practicing physician of Carmichaels, Greene county, Pennsylvania; five of her brothers are yet living (1912): Thomas, John, Charles, James and Wilbur. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Collier: William D., a farmer of Somerset county, Pennsylvania; Thomas L., of whom further; Frank M., deceased; Ella, married J. B. Adams: Susan (Sue); Margaret, mar- ried Frank Eddy, of Salem, Ohio.
(IV) Thomas Laidley, son of John J. and Annie (Laidley) Collier, was born in Union- town, Pennsylvania, December 25, 1860. He was educated in the public schools, his years
of study ending with his fifteenth birthday. He began business life as a dry goods clerk in the store of Joseph Horne & Company at Pittsburgh, remaining seven years. He then returned to Uniontown where for twenty-five years he was manager of the dry goods department of Hustead, Seamans & Company, later with the Wright, Metzler Company in the same position. In 1909 he purchased a jewelry store in the First Na- tional Bank Building, but did not assume personal charge until November 1, 1911. He has a large store stocked with valuable goods perculiar to the jewelry trade, is well estab- lished and prosperous. He is a Republican in politics and served as school director from 1904 to 1908. He is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, as was his wife; he also belongs to the Heptasophs and the Royal Arcanum.
He married, June 28, 1888, Ella, daughter of Robert and Ella Blackstock, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Children : Maude, now a student at Washington and Jefferson college; Helen, a graduate of Uniontown high school; Annie, a student in high school; Frank, aged seventeen years, a student in high school; Edward, aged fifteen years, a student in high school.
Barnabas Collier, one of the COLLIER earliest engineers in the em- ploy of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, lived in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. During the civil war period he moved to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, cor- ner of Church and Iowa streets. About 1870 he moved west with his family, locating in Illinois, where he died. His first wife,
Mary, the mother of his children, died in Uniontown; his second, Susan, died in Illi- nois. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church: Children: Albert, of whom further: Edward: John, all deceased; Sarah, married Davis Jones, of Denver, Col- orado.
(II) Albert, son of Barnabas Collier, was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, in 1842. He was educated in the public schools, and when a young man went west to Indian- apolis, Indiana, where he obtained a position as a clerk in a mercantile house. When the war between the states broke out he enlisted in Company K, Seventieth Regiment, In-
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diana Volunteer Infantry, and served three years, attaining the rank of corporal. While in the service he visited Uniontown on a fur- lough to visit his parents and there became acquainted with his future wife. After the war he came to Uniontown, where he was a clerk for Charles Rush. He was married in January, 1870, and died June 29, 1871, of tuberculosis, resulting from an attack of pneumonia during the war. During a part of his military life he was clerk in the United States postoffice at Nashville, Tennessee. He was a Republican in politics, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a sterling young man, whose early death cut short a promising career.
He married Annie King, born in Union- town, daughter of Charles and Phoebe A. (White) King, and granddaughter of Thomas and Sarah (Hedley) King, who were married in New Jersey, March 25, 1793. Her mother. Phoebe A. (White) King, was a daughter of George and Nancy White, who came from Ireland to this country. George White was a student of divinity, preparing for the minis- try of the Church of England. He partici- pated with all the patriotic ardor of his race in the Irish Rebellion, and was so conspic- uous that a reward was offered for him "dead or alive." He took refuge beneath a corn shock at the home of his parents where his little sister, on pretense of gathering flowers, carried food to him. After several days he was smuggled in a hogshead aboard a ship bound for America, the captain having been paid a sum of money equal to the reward placed upon his head by the King. On ar- riving in this country he first settled in New York City, subsisting on money sent him from home. One gift sent him was con- tained in a walnut chest in which was a till which was filled with gold guineas and the balance with fine linens made by his devoted mother. The chest was preserved in the family until a recent fire in Uniontown de- stroyed it with many other valuables.
He first established a wholesale shoe busi- ness in New York with this money, later came farther west and engaged in the milling business. When the second war with Great Britain broke out he struck a blow at his old enemy, the King, by enlisting in the Amer- ican army. He there contracted disease, dying while in the service. Nancy (Craw-
ford) White, his wife was one of the two daughters of a wealthy Irish land owner. Her sister fell in love with and married a worker on her father's estate, which so enraged the father that he drove her from the house. The young couple engaged passage for America, and Mary, who had gone to the ship to bid her sister "good bye," was at the last moment persuaded to join them with a promise that she should be allowed to return right away. After arriving at New York she met and married George White, the exiled patriot. Their five children are all deceased: Phoebe A., married Charles King, of whom further mention; Margaret, Jane, George, Mary.
Charles King, born in New Jersey, was a blacksmith and wagon builder. He came to Connellsville at an early day, and during the years when the National Pike was the great highway between the east and west con- ducted a very large and profitable business. He was an ardent Whig, one of the only two in Connellsville at that time. He was a very genial, popular man, and notwithstanding his unpopular politics was elected collector of taxes.
Mr. King was known for his charitable traits; he helped many a family with coal and provisions and even money. In fact many received assistance that they never knew from what source it came. He was a strong advocate of temperance and belonged to the Local Lodge of Good Templars. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian, as was his wife. Children of Charles and Phoebe A. (White) King: I. Thomas G., deceased. 2. Eliza, deceased, married Cromwell Hall. 3. Sarah, deceased, married John Moore. 4. Charles F., resides in Uniontown. 5. Annie, widow of Albert Collier, of previous mention.
Since the death of her husband Mrs. Col- lier has continued her residence in Union- town, where for eighteen years she conducted a successful millinery business. She now lives retired at No. 31 Jefferson street. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is held in high regard for her womanly virtue. She has a son, Albert B., born December 25, 1871, who resides in Uniontown. He married Grace, daughter of the late Robert Knight and his wife, Frances V. (Bunting) Knight. They have one daugh- ter, Frances, attending high school.
Charles King
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Tracing back less than a cen- SNYDER tury, and the ancestors of the Snyder family, of Connellsville, are found seated in Saxony, now a part of the great German Empire. There the grandpar- ents of Henry P. Snyder lived and died. They were people in moderate circumstances, but gave their children the advantages of a good education and taught them trades or useful occupations, so that in whatever part of the world they settled they were capable of meeting and overcoming the difficulties that beset the emigrant. Through intermar- riage this branch connects with the best blood of Western Pennsylvania, tracing to Judge McCormick and through him to that hero-martyr, Colonel William Crawford, the renowned Indian fighter and friend of Wash- ington, who at last met an awful death at the hands of his lifetime foes.
(I) Christian Snyder, father of Henry P. Snyder, was born in Saxony, Germany. He received his education in the public schools of that country and learned the trade of stone- cutter. He served the required term in the militia, and his military papers indicate that he was a model soldier as well physically as mentally. His environment ill-suited his am- bitions, and in 1845 he emigrated to America. The Pennsylvania railroad was then under construction and he found employment at his trade on a section of the line at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He followed the railroad work westward, and in 1850 we find him at Greens- burg, Pa., in the capacity of a successful con- tractor, having in five years mastered the language of the country and the business of building its railroads. A few years subse- quently he came to Connellsville, where he secured extensive contracts for building the Pittsburgh & Connellsville railroad, subse- quently absorbed by the Baltimore & Ohio system. Here he married and settled down, though his business for some years took him to distant states, where he constructed many miles of railroad. Later there was plenty to engage his attention at home. The coking business developed and he built many coke plants and bridges throughout the county. One of his prominent but profitless bridge- building achievements was the Steubenville bridge of the Panhandle railroad, which at the time was one of the wonders of bridge construction because of its height and length.
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