USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > Genealogical and personal history of Fayette county, Pennsylvania > Part 37
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were not rebuilt and after the sale of the ground, etc., he returned to Connellsville. In 1896 he was again made superintendent of the Volcano plant of the Joseph Soisson Fire Brick Company, and in 1909 he was elected assistant general manager of that company. The plant at Volcano is the largest of the five plants now operated by the company ; is equipped with all modern brick making machinery and has a capacity of 25,000 daily. The company manufacture here only coke oven brick. Mr. Soisson has other business interests, notably the O'Brien Coal Company, of which he is president. The company is a prosperous one, owning and operating large properties in Somerset county, Pennsylvania. He is a Democrat in politics, casting his first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland. He served on the borough council of Rankin, Pennsylvania, and is active in county poli- tics. He is a member of the Church of the Immaculate Conception and of the Knights of Columbus. He married, April 16, 1897, Mary T., daughter of Bernard and Mary Callahan. Her father is a mine inspector. Children : Paul B., born February 4, 1898; Joseph Carl, June 2, 1900; Albert James, May 29, 1903; Electra Margaret, May 20, 19II. The family residence is at No. 208 East Washington street, Connellsville.
7. Leo Joseph, born at Miltenberg, Fay- ette county, Pennsylvania, (then the family home) July 17, 1866. He was but three years of age when his parents moved to their Connellsville home, where he grew to manhood. He was educated in the public and parochial schools of Connellsville, and at St. Vincent's College where he spent fif- teen months as a student. After completing his studies he began business life as a tin- ner. He learned his trade under the direc- tion of Robert Greenland, continuing with him two years. He then founded a partner- ship with Lynn Fitzmeier and established a tin and metal business under the firm name of Soisson & Fitzmeier. He continued in business thus for two years, then sold his interest to Louis Balsley. He was then en- gaged at his trade two years. He next joined his father and brothers in brick man- ufacturing, a business he was thoroughly familiar with, having worked with his father
in boyhood and learned all parts of the busi- ness. In 1894, when Mr. Kilpatrick's death left a vacancy in the Joseph Soisson Fire Brick Company's office of superintendent of the Davidson plant, he was elected to fill the vacancy. He has filled the position most capably and at the present date (1912) is still in office. He is energetic and full of vigor, understanding the manufacture of fire brick thoroughly, his plant being large- ly devoted to the manufacture of fire brick used in coke oven construction. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. He married, April 22, 1889, Annie Edith Whipke, born at Ohiopyle, Fayette county, daughter of John and Eliza Whipke. Her father is a veteran of the civil war and a contractor, now residing at Hazelwood, Pennsylvania. Children : Harold Gray, born February 21, 1891; Mary Edith, June 8, 1892; Minnie Venetta, December 15, 1893; Bessie Arvilla, April 21, 1896; Frances Eliza, October 7, 1898; David Thuraphine, February 20, 1901; Josephine Filcer, March 21, 1903 ; an infant, deceased, born June 13, 1905 ; John Leo, August 19, 1906; Ralph Ed- ward, January II, 1909. The family home is at No. 1140 South Pittsburgh street.
8. Charles E., born at Gibson Station, Fayette county, Pennsylvania (the family home just prior to the removal to Connells- ville), June 16, 1868. He was educated in the public schools of Connellsville and dur- ing the years 1866-67 was a student of St. Vincent's College. After completing his studies he at once joined with his father and brothers in their extensive brickmaking operations. He was first employed at the Volcano plant, continuing until 1889, when he was appointed clay manager in charge of the fire clay mines at Bear Run, Fayette county. Here the clay is taken from the banks and shipped to the six plants of the Joseph Soisson Fire Brick Company. He has about seventy men under him, which force keeps the plants supplied with the kind of clay used, principally fire clay. Mr. Soisson is a capable manager and fills his positon most effectively. He is a director and treasurer of the Soisson Summer Home Company, a corporation owning a tract of land three-quarters of a mile east of Con-
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nellsville, that they are developing as a summer resort and home. A club house has been erected, fishing grounds stocked and many improvements begun. He is also a director of the Connellsville Building and Loan Association. He is an Independent in politics, selecting his candidate for personal fitness, regardless of his party. He is a mem- ber of the Church of the Immaculate Con- ception, as are the members of his family. He married, June 26, 1888, Mary Elizabeth Shoup, born in Connellsville, daughter of Daniel F. and Sarah Jane (Saylor) Shoup. Her father is a coal miner, residing in Con- nellsville. Her mother, Sarah J. Shoup, was born in Fayette county, descending from the Saylors of Somerset county, of German- French ancestry. Children : Henry William, born March 11, 1889, married Nellie Lane, of Scottdale, and has Joseph and Henry W. (2) ; Archibald Edward, born September 8, 1891; Leroy Dallas, August 9, 1894; Ray- mond Daniel Joseph, October 31, 1896; Otto Charles, January 27, 1899; Anthony Saylor, October 14, 1901; George Clarence, April 12, 1904; Emma Louise Caroline, October 25, 1906. The family home since February 2, 1900, has been at No. 211 Prospect street, Connellsville.
9. Caroline, born in Connellsville, Penn- sylvania, November 10, 1870. She married Joseph L. Stader, undertaker and livery man of Connellsville.
IO. Robert W., born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, November 28, 1872. He was educated in public schools and St. Vincent's College. He began business life in the Yough National Bank of Connellsville, of which he is now teller. He is a member of the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
II. Vincent H., born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, at that part of South Con- nellsville known as White Rock, February 18, 1875. He attended the public school at Gibson Station and spent six years in the Connellsville parochial school, then was a student at St. Vincent's College for three and a half years. After leaving college he joined the civil engineering corps of S. M. Foust, and later that of William Hender- son. After two years in engineering works, he became secretary of the South Connells- ville Lumber Company, continuing until
1899 in charge of the office work of that company. In November, 1899, his brother, John F. Soisson, died and Vincent H. was elected to succeed W. F. as secretary of the Joseph Soisson Fire Brick Company, which position he now most capably fills. He is also treasurer of the South Connells- ville Lumber Company, stockholder in Sun- shine Coal & Coke Company, and interested in other enterprises of importance. He is a Democrat in politics and has served Con- nellsville as city auditor. He is a member of the Church of the Immaculate Concep- tion, the Catholic Mutual Benefit Asso- ciation, the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He married, June 19, 1909, Mary E. Reyn- olds, born in West Virginia, January 15, 1878, daughter of John F. Reynolds, a re- tired foreman of the Baltimore & Ohio rail- road shops at Connellsville. Children : Mary Caroline, born April 19, 1901; Vin- cent Joseph, October 2, 1903; Margaret, August 20, 1906; Elizabeth, December 4, 1908; John R., May 27, 1911. The family home since 1908 has been at No. 214 East Fairview avenue, Connellsville.
(II) Peter Soisson, son of SOISSON Joseph Soisson (q. v.), was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, (now Germany) in the town of Walscheid, August 20, 1830, died May 30, 1896, at Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He grew to manhood in his native province, where he was educated and became profi- cient in both the French and German lan- guages. In 1851 he came to the United States, settling near Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, where his brother Joseph had preceded him and was engaged in brick manufacturing. He entered the employ of Hughes & Roderick, later Hughes & Soisson. He continued with the latter firm until 1862, then moved to Gibson, Fay- ette county, Pennsylvania (now South Con- nellsville), where he began business for himself as a brick manufacturer ; his brother Joseph having located at Miltenberg near- by, in the same business. In a few years Peter Soisson gave up brick manufacturing and engaged in the butcher business for John Hetzel, of Connellsville. Soon after-
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ward he secured a controlling interest in the old Snyder Brewery, then located where the Connellsville Distillery now stands. He operated the brewery until it was destroyed by fire, then leased and for five years op- erated the old Calhoun Flouring Mills at New Haven (Connellsville, West Side.) He then formed a partnership with William Cope, of Uniontown, and for several years they successfully conducted a general live stock, wholesale and retail meat business. Mr. Soisson devoted his energies to the buy- ing of stock and the wholesale department, Mr. Cope to the retailing. After a few years the firm dissolved, Mr. Soisson forming a partnership with Rockwell Marietta and J. D. Madigan and operated the Connellsville Brewery (now owned by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company), continuing until his final retirement. He was a member of the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic), a public-spirited citi- zen, active and helpful in advancing the business interests of Connellsville. He was a Democrat in politics, but never accepted public office.
He married Louisa Houck, born at Gal- litzin, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, Oc- tober 23, 1840, daughter of Joseph Houck, born in Lebanon, Lebanon county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1813, a shoemaker by trade. He married, in 1840, Katherine Buser or Basier, born in 1822, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, daughter of Peter and Barbara Buser or Basier, who came to the United States in 1832, settling at Johnstown, Penn- sylvania. Peter Buser or Basier, born on the banks of the Rhine, was for twenty years a soldier of France, serving under the great Napoleon and was with him at Moscow, suffering all the horrors of the famous "retreat," reaching France in safety. Later he served in Spain, was made prisoner, but escaped, and on foot traversed the long distance to his home, swimming the rivers, arriving footsore and tattered. Joseph and Catherine Houck, after their marriage, moved from Johns- town to an unsettled portion of Cam- bria, and lived on a farm near Nicktown. Later they moved to Gallitzin, Pennsyl- vania, then returned to the farm at Nick- town, and in 1888 located in Connellsville,
Pennsylvania, where Joseph Houck died in 1899, aged eighty-six years. The Houcks were all German Lutherans, in the early family, but Joseph after his marriage be- came a Roman Catholic, which is the family religion in his branch. His wife died in Connellsville, June 28, 1901. His only brother, David Houck, went west, and never was again heard from. He had no sisters. He was a son of George Houck, born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, also a shoemaker. He married Elizabeth Patterson, born in England, June 8, 1784, coming to the United States when a child. He died January 30, 1856, aged seventy-two years, two months and six days. His wife Elizabeth died Au- gust 28, 1863. They were very strict mem- bers of the German Lutheran church. George Houck was a son of David Houck, who emigrated to this country from Ger- many in early days and was one of the early settlers of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania.
Joseph and Katherine (Buser or Basier) Houck had issue : Louisa, of previous men- tion, wife of Peter Soisson; Barbara, died aged twenty years; Helena, married James McConnell, of Tiffin, Ohio; Isadore, died in infancy ; John, a farmer of Moyer, Pennsyl- vania, married (first) Mary Crook, (second) Mrs. Julia Hogg; George, married Rachel Wills and resides on his farm near Nick- town, Cambria county, Pennsylvania; Mar- garet, married Sylvester Burse, a farmer of Nicktown; Mary, married Osborne Mc- Keen, of Grundy Centre, Iowa; Jane, mar- ried Henry Arble, of Du Bois, Pennsyl- vania ; Peter, a carpenter of Braddock, Penn- sylvania, married Mary Marshall; Joseph, married Catherine Giesler, of Hastings, Pennsylvania. Children of Peter and Louisa (Houck) Soisson: I. Catherine Syl- vester, born April 26, 1860; married Michael Weidinger, of Connellsville, Pennsylvania. 2. Mary Martin, born May 24, 1864; married George Werner, of Derry, Pennsylvania. 3. William Henry, of whom further. 4. Ida, born August 25, 1870; married Daniel Mil- helm and resides at Fairbanks, Pennsyl- vania. 5. Augustin D., of whom further. 6. Gertrude, born May 10, 1874; resides at home in Connellsville. 7. Theresa, born May 9, 1877; married James Gibson and resides in Los Angeles, California.
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(III) Augustin D., son of Peter Soisson, was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1872. He was graduated from the Connellsville high school, class of 1890, and at once began his business .career as his father's assistant at the brewery, con- tinuing until the death of the latter in 1896. He then became superintendent of the branch brewery at Uniontown, Pennsyl- vania, remaining there two years, then re- turning to Connellsville. In 1909 he be- came proprietor of the Royal Hotel at Con- nellsville and so continues in successful op- eration. His hotel is well patronized and bears a high reputation for excellence. He is a director of the Title and Trust Com- pany of Connellsville, director of the Con- nellsville Manufacturing Mine and Supply Company and a stockholder of the Colonial National Bank. He is a Democrat in poli- tics, served as a member of the city council and was chief burgess 1905-06-07, being the first Democrat to be elected to that office in the eighteen years preceding 1905; also the first burgess of the consolidated bor- oughs of Connellsville and New Haven, and signed the act of consolidation making Con- nellsville a city of the third class. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Heptasophs, Eagles ad Royal Arcanum.
He married, February 10, 1902, Mary G., born in Connellsville, daughter of Rock- well Marietta. Children: Marietta Demet- rius, born April 23, 1904; Emma Louise, August 27, 1906.
(III) William Henry Sois- SOISSON son, son of Peter (q. v.) and Louisa (Houck) Soisson, was born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, at Plane No. 6, March 23, 1866. When he was two years of age his parents moved to Fay- ette county, settling at White Rocks, now South Connellsville. He first attended the public school at Gibson Station, then for a few years the parochial schools, completing his studies at Connellsville high school, whence he was graduated class of 1883. That same year he began business life in the John D. Frisbee department store as bookkeeper and cashier. He remained in that responsible position for fifteen years,
until 1898. He then acquired an interest in the brewing business established by his father, and became secretary and treasurer of the Uniontown branch of the business. In 1899 the entire brewing plants of the Soissons in both Uniontown and Connells- ville were sold to the Pittsburgh Brewing Company, William H. Soisson remaining with that company for two years in charge of their offices at Connellsville. In 1901 he joined in the organization and incorpora- tion of the Connellsville Manufacturing & Mine Supply Company. He was elected a director of that company, and at the first board meeting was chosen secretary and treasurer, a position he most efficiently filled.
The company manufacture all kinds of mine machinery, hoisting and pumping de- vices. Their plant and offices are situated between South First and Fourth streets, Connellsvlle, West Side, and have doubled in size since organization. Their products are sold throughout the United States, Mex- ico and Canada. This is one of Connells- ville's most prosperous and successful busi- ness enterprises and shows wonderful prog- ress in the first decade of existence. Mr. Soisson is a stockholder and director of the Title & Trust Company of Fayette County, and financially interested in many other en- terprises. He is a man of strong executive ability, well fitted by disposition and train- ing for the important positions he occupies. He is a steadfast Democrat, and actively in- terested in party success. He is a member of the Church of the Immaculate Concep- tion. His fraternal orders are: Knights of Columbus, Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks and the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association.
Mr. Soisson married, August 15, 1910, Geula Flynn, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, daughter of the late Anthony and Mary (Sturtevant) Flynn. Child: William Hen- ry, Jr., born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, May 18, 19II.
(The Flynn Line).
(I) Geula (Flynn) Soisson is a grand -- daughter of John Flynn, born in Rosscom- mon county, Ireland, who came from a well known and influential county family. He
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came to America settling at New Bruns- wick, Nova Scotia, where he owned con- siderable land. He married Avesia King- ston, daughter of an English army officer, her mother having been a relative of Lord Stanley, of the Isle of Wight.
(II) Anthony, son of John and Avesia (Kingston) Flynn, was born in New Bruns- wick, Nova Scotia, later becoming a promi- nent business man of Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Sturte- vant, born at Crown Point, New York, daughter of Allen Stewart Sturtevant, a descendant of an old colonial family. Allen S. Sturtevant married Hannah Jackson, who was a descendant of the old colonial Lewis family. The Sturtevants, under the varied spellings of their name, were prominent in the revolution, one being an aide to Gen- eral Allen Stewart, a name that has ever since been perpetuated in the Sturtevant family.
In a list of taxpayers of NICOLAY Lower Turkey Foot town- ship, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1796, are the names of John Nicola and Henry Nicola. They were probably in that county at an earlier date, as there were white settlers in Turkey Foot as early as 1768. The Nicolas, now Nico- lays, came originally from France, driven by religious persecution under Louis XIV to Holland, and coming thence to this coun- try. The first records found of the family are those of John and Henry Nicola above- mentioned. They are supposed to have come to Somerset from Juniata county, Pennsylvania. They were known as "Dutch," and were hard-working prosper- ous farmers. John Nicola married and had male issue, including a son: John (2), of whom further.
(II) John (2) Nicolay, son of John (1) Nicola, was born in Juniata, Penn- sylvania, about 1794. He was but a babe when his parents came to Som- erset county, where his after life was spent. He became a farmer and a land owner. He married Mary Ansel, who died aged eighty-seven years; he died aged sixty-five years. Children: 1. David, mar- ried Sarah Johnson, and settled in Upper
Tyrone township, Fayette county. 2. Hen- ry, of whom further. 3. John, married Mary Tresler, and lived on the home farm in Somerset county, where he was killed by a falling tree. 4. Simon, enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, during the civil war, was captured and confined in Libby prison, where he died after seven months' imprisonment. 5. Margaret, mar- ried John May, and lived in Springhill township, Fayette county. 6. Tillie, mar- ried John Mease, a farmer of Milford town- ship, Somerset county. 7. Sarah, married Moses Romesburg, a farmer of Lower Tur- key Foot township, Somerset county. 8. Catherine, married John Himebaugh, a farmer of Somerset county ; she is the only living one of these eight children. (1912).
(III) Henry, son of John (2) Nicolay, was born in Lower Turkey Foot township, Som- erset county, December 9, 1824, died in Springfield township, Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, October 8, 1904. He attended the district school, and remained on the home farm until he was twenty-two years of age. He then came to Fayette county and located in Springfield township, working as a farm- hand for two of the old families there, the Imels and the Longs. He saved his money, purchased land in the township, married and became a prosperous farmer, owning at the time of his death three hundred and twenty- five acres of improved land. He was a quiet industrious man, very domestic in his tastes and loved his home. He was a Democrat, although the others in his family were Re- publicans. He was a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and a man held in high esteem for his many manly traits. He married Catherine May, born in Springfield township, July 23, 1825, died March 20, 19II, surviving her husband seven years. She was a daughter of Michael and Christina (Parker) May, and granddaughter of Jacob May, born in Juniata county. Pennsylvania, settling in Lower Turkey Foot township, Somerset county, when Michael was a boy. At that time the country was a forest, abounding in every form of wild game, and Michael became famous as a hunter. After he grew to manhood he married and moved to Springfield township, Fayette county,
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where he became the owner of a farm of four hundred acres. He died aged eighty- seven years. His wife Christina Parker, was born in Belfast, Ireland. Their child- ren were: 1. John, married Margaret Nico- lay, and lived in Springfield township. 2. Jacob, died a young man, unmarried. 3. Leonard, married Eizabeth Imel, and lived in Springfield township; served through the entire period of the civil war in the One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry. 4. Margaret, married (first) Henry Davis, (second) Wil- liam Johnson; moved to Illinois, where she died. 5. Elizabeth, married Henry Imel, and lived in Illinois and Nebraska. 6. Catherine, of previous mention, married. Henry Nicolay. 7. Helen, married Nathan Long, and moved to Illinois. Children of Henry and Cath- erine Nicolay: I. Margaret, born July 12, 1851, deceased, married John Welsh, a farmer of Springfield township, Fayette county. 2. Oliver Franklin M., of whom further. 3. An infant, died unnamed. 4. Anna born July 14, 1860; married John Saylor, and now resides on their large farm near Mill Run, Springfield township, Fayette county.
(IV) Oliver Franklin M., only son of Henry and Catherine (May) Nicolay, was born in Springfield township, Fayette coun- ty, Pennsylvania. He attended the Youn- kin public school, then held in an old log cabin, which burned and was replaced by a more modern building. He still further pursued his studies at the local normal schools and Waynesburg College, and began teaching at nineteen years of age. He taught three years in Springfield township, ten years in Stewart township, three years in the borough of Ohiopyle, and three years in Lower Tyrone township. During these years he worked at farming during the summer months. After his marriage he moved to Stewart township, Fayette coun- ty, where he purchased a farm of three hun- dred acres, but continued his teaching dur- ing the winters. In 1885 he succeeded in having a post office estabished at Nicolay, named in his honor. In 1893 he sold his farm and moved to Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, remaining two years. In 1895 he moved to the village of Stickel, in Lower Tyrone township, where he established a small gro-
cery store, but still continued teaching. After enlarging his store, adding full gen- eral lines and agricultural implements, he devoted himself to mercantile pursuits. Mr. Nicolay's farm, adjoining the village of Stickel, is underlaid with coal, and he oper- ates a coal bank for local supply. From 1895 to 1901 he was postmaster at Stickel, He is a Democrat in politics, and served as school director in both Stewart and Lower Tyrone townships. In 1897 he was elected justice of the peace, and has since served continuously through several re-elec- tions. He and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 499, of which he is a charter member, and of the local grange, Patrons of Husbandry.
Mr. Nicolay married, January 2, 1876, Martha Williams, born at Kingwood, Som- erset county, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1857, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Wil- liams, both deceased. Her father was a ·farmer of Somerset, later of Stewart town- ship, Fayette county. Children of O. F. M. Nicolay: I. Minnie, born August 10, 1877; married William D. Hixon, a farmer of Lower Tyrone township. 2. Homer, born February 17, 1879. died June 7. 1882. 3. Roxana, born September 30, 1880; married Charles Moon, a farmer of Lower Tyrone township. 4. Roy Vincent, born June 14, 1883; married Lizzie Hixon, and lives in Uniontown, Pennsylvania ; is a commercial traveler. 5. Awilda, born May 3, 1889; is now preparing for the profession of grad- uate nurse at Battle Creek, Michigan.
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