USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 72
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Goal were the parents of about ten children, eight of whom were as follows: 1. John C., born in 1846; now a prominent resident of North Clarendon, Pennsylvania, and one of the first to engage in the petroleum business there, having operated also in Warren and Venango counties; he is vice-president of the Cornplanter Refinery Company of Warren; married Hannalı M., daughter of Albert W. Haight, of Pleasantville, having two sons, one deceased in infancy, and the other, Albert W., in business with his father. 2. William. 3. Caroline. 4. Adolphus D., of whom further. 5. David. 6. Frederick. 7. Mary. 8. Kate. The younger members of the family were born in this country.
(II) Adolphus D., son of John and Barbara (Stroeble) Goal, was born February 14, 1851, in Berlin, Germany. He was but three months old when his parents emigrated to America and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Here he passed the years of his early boyhood, and when his parents removed to Clarion county he was sent to the public schools of Fryburg. His education was completed at the high school of Pleasantville, Venango county, after which, at the age of fourteen years, he started out upon his business career, working for a year in an oil refinery. He then went to Tidioute, Warren county, where for a year he pumped wells for his elder brother, John C. Goal, removing afterwards to Pleasantville, where he continued at the same work. In 1869 he acquired an interest in his first well, and locating at Fagundus, Warren county, worked as a driller, employing himself after- ward in the same way at St. Petersburg, Clar- ion county; Bear Creek, Butler county, and Martinsburg, Blair county. At the last named town he became a partner in the firm of Hart, Hecks & Company, and operated with them for a period of three years. He then removed to Petrolia, Butler county, and operated alone for four years. His first large strike was at Edenburg, Clarion county, and after having spent eleven thousand dollars before reach- ing sand, he refused thirty thousand dollars for the well as soon as the bit struck. After this he became interested in a well that started out with a production of several hundred bar- rels of oil per day, operating here for three years and a half. He then went to North Clarendon and engaged with his brother, John C., in the refining business, continuing for five
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years. Removing at the end of this time to Forest county, he operated for another eleven years, and is now engaged in operating in Sugargrove and Brokenstraw townships, about four miles from Youngsville. He has eleven new producing wells, and the outlook is a very promising one, as he understands the oil busi- ness probably as well as any one in the field.
Mr. Goal is a very liberal. and generous man, being popular and well educated, and an exten- sive reader. His open-handed generosity is a byword in the community, where he has paid for at least a hundred dry wells beside those from which he has obtained oil, and has spent money as freely and lavishly as he has made it. He is known among his intimate friends as "Doc" Goal, having been ambitions as a young man of adopting the medical profession. To this end he employed much of his time while engaged in pumping wells in the study of medical books which he obtained and read voraciously. He acquired a great deal of medical knowledge in this way, and has put several patent medicines upon the market, being probably more competent to practice medicine than many of the present day practi- tioners. Mr. Goal occupies a very prominent position in the public affairs of the community, having served for twenty-one years on the board of education, eleven years in Forest county, and ten years in Clarendon borough. He is a member of the Coudersport Consistory, No. 481, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Sheffield, Pennsylvania, and the Free and Ac- cepted Masons at Tionesta, Pennsylvania.
On April 16, 1874, Mr. Goal was married, at Butler, Butler county, Pennsylvania, to Olivia S. Campbell, born in Butler county, August 20, 1855, is daughter of Joseph F. and Elizabeth (Porter) Campbell. Her father is a veteran of the civil war; resides on a farm at Petrolia, Pennsylvania; he is now eighty- four years of age ; he was also at one time in the oil business and served as treasurer of Butler county. His wife, Mrs. Goal's mother, died in April, 1912, at the age of eighty-three. They had seven children: Olivia S. (Mrs. Goal), William L., Ambrose, Lulu J., Robert J., Nora, Vetus, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Goal became the parents of the following children : Clarence W., Joseph A., Lizzie M., Mary D., Lulu J., deceased ; Ella R., Ethel L., Franklin, John L., a daughter, died in infancy.
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SIGGINS (IV) George Washington Sig- gins, son of William (2) (q. v.) and Jane (Hunter) Siggins, was born at West Hickory, Forest county, Penn- sylvania, October 7, 1843. He received his education at the local public schools, passing his boyhood days on his father's farm, where he assisted in the general work. He after- wards became a clerk in the store of John Siggins and was eventually a partner in the business. He came to Tidioute, Warren coun- ty, in 1884, and bought a farm of fifty-five acres in extent from James Wells, and to this he added twenty acres which he bought from John Breitenstine, making seventy-five acres in all. He conducted this farm from the time of its purchase and the property still remains in the hands of his widow. Mr. Siggins had also in early life acquired a knowledge of the milling business with N. G. Ball and he was thus enabled to assume the management of the flour mills of A. Dunn, in Tidioute, and this was conducted by him until March 18, 1911. He seemed to have been a man of great me- chanical ability and could turn his hand to anything in that line, being naturally an excel- lent carpenter, blacksmith, millwright, and even repairer of his own automobile, which he came to own in later years. He prospered greatly in his business undertakings, and about eighteen years ago purchased his late residence on the south side of the Allegheny river, near the Economite bridge which there crosses it. His standing in the community was very high, and he was one of the leading and most influ- ential citizens of this place. He died at Tidi- oute, Pennsylvania, May 20, 1911, having passed all of his life in Forest and Warren counties, Pennsylvania. He was a Democrat, and served on the school board and was ap- pointed road commissioner. In his religious convictions he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his wife who sur- vived him.
He married, February 17, 1868, Melissa, born November 21, 1850, on Tionesta creek, Forest county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Abraham and Nancy (Whitton) Bean (see Bean). She was educated at Hickory school, Forest county, and in social and church affairs is one of the leading ladies of this city. Children: I. Georgiana, born November 18, 1868; married Harry A. Walters, August 8,
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1907, and has one son, Joseph Harrison ; Mrs. Walters is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 2. Elnora, born April II, 1870; married William Merkle and had three children, Karl, Edward, Ralph. 3. Isaac, born January 4, 1872; now resides at Perry, New York, unmarried. 4. George, born June 22, 1881 ; he is a physician at Venus, Clarion county, having graduated at Jefferson Medical College in the year 1905. A sketch of Dr. Siggins appears elsewhere in this work. 5. Daisy, born May 3, 1883; married, October 5, 1911, George Clark Nelson ; they have one child, George Siggins Nelson, born September 3, 1912. Mr. Nelson was born at Gowanda, New York, September 13, 1880, and is the son of Olaf and Georgiana Nelson. His youth was passed at Gowanda, where he attained his education in the public schools, and where afterward he became employed in the Cutlery Works, learning the finishing business. He later removed to Fremont, Ohio, and from there to Little Valley, New York, following his trade. He then returned to Gowanda, and in 1903 came to Tidioute, Pennsylvania, where he was made foreman of the finishing depart- ment of the Tidioute Cutlery Works. In Octo- ber, 1912, he became general manager of the plant, which position he now holds. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 262, Free and Accepted Masons, and belongs also to the Little Valley, New York, Lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Nelson's father, Olaf Nelson, was a native of Sweden, emigrating from that country to America, where he settled at Gowanda, New York. He was a skilled mechanic, having acquired a thorough knowledge of the cutlery business in his native land, and held the position of fore- man for many years in the Romerax Works. He was a naturalized citizen of this country, as recorded either in Gowanda or Buffalo, and was a member of the Republican party. His death occurred in 1892, when about thirty- eight years of age, and he is buried with his wife at Gowanda. The maiden name of his wife is not known. She was a native of Den- mark, coming to this country alone, but a sis- ter now resides in New York. Mrs. Nelson died in 1889, having had three children : George C., of whom we have spoken; Sophia, born September 9, 1884, married Francis Peter- son, a resident of Rochester, New York; Harry, born October 31, 1886, now residing in Canton, Ohio.
(The Bean Line).
The name of this family, descended undoubt- edly from the old Scottish clan, Vean, has been variously spelled, Bean, Bain and Bayne ; in Gaelic the letters B and V are interchange- able, so that Vean and Bean are the same name differently spelled. The origin of the name is a matter of conjecture ; by some it is claimed to be derived from the name of the clan's place of residence, "beann," a mountain. But an opinion which seems to have better author- ity is that it is a name derived from the fair complexion of the earliest progenitor of the old family, "bean" meaning white or fair. This term is often used by highlanders to indi- cate a man of fair complexion ; as "olive," black or swarthy, is used to designate the op- posite. The Clan Vean, or as often styled, MacBean, in Scottish history, was one of the tribes of the Chalti, or Clan Chatlan, which occupied the Lochaber territory some time previous to the year 1300 A. D. Three dis- tinct families of this blood came to America : The Bains settled in Virginia, the Banes in Maine, and the Beans in New Hampshire. In what year or in what ship the immigrant an- cestor of the Bean family reached these shores is not known and probably never will be.
This ancestor, John Bean, first appears in American history as the grantee of land by the town of Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1660, other grants having been made to him after- ward. Tradition has it that his wife died on the passage over, and that he married again, his second wife having been a fellow passenger on the voyage. The name of the first wife is not known ; the name of the second, whom he married prior to the year 1661, was Margaret. She joined Hampton Church in 1671; and "goodwife Bean" was among those who were dismissed from that church in 1698, "in order to their being incorporated unto a church state in Exeter." Margaret Bean was one of those who organized the church in Exeter, Septem- ber 2, 1698. She was a member in 1705, which was the last mention of her; she died before 1718. John Bean died some time between January 24 and February 8, 1718. He divided his property among his children before his death and left no will. He had eleven chil- dren; by the first wife there was one, Mary, and by the second wife, ten, born in Exeter, as follows: John, died young; Henry, Daniel, Samuel, John, Margaret, James, Jeremy, Eliz- abeth, Catherine. One of the descendants of
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John and Margaret Bean settled in New Jer- sey, being the progenitor of Abraham Bean and founding the family in that state.
Abraham Bean, the father of Mrs. George W. Siggins, was born January 5, 1828, died February 3, 1882, aged fifty-four years. He is buried at East Hickory, Forest county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Bean was a well known and successful lumberman of Forest county, doing business on Tionesta creek from the year 1865 until about 1880, when he moved over near Breakston, where he lumbered until his death. He became one of the most influ- ential citizens in the circle in which he moved, and was a prominent man in connection with the Free Methodist church of which he was a member. In politics he was a Republican, taking a deep interest in the integrity of his party and the principles for which it stood. Some time prior to the year 1848 he was mar- ried to Nancy Whitton, a native of New Jer- sey, where his own family had resided for many years. Mrs. Bean, who became the mother of thirteen children, died in April, 1905. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bean were as follows: I. Fayette, married Judson Clark. 2. Melissa, married George W. Siggins (see Siggins IV). 3. Albert, who became a minister of the gospel and resides near Fair- banks, Alaska ; he married Flora Patterson. 4. Henrietta, deceased. 5. Ellen, married Mat- thew McCray. 6. Warren, married Della Keiffer ; lives in Washington state. 7. Belle, deceased; married William Hall. 8. Laura, married Simon Metzgar. 9. Lincoln, deceased. 10. Mary, deceased. II. Ida, deceased. 12. Alice, deceased. 13. Kirk, lives in Delaware, Oklahoma.
The immigrant ancestor of STILLMAN the Stillman family in this state was George Stillman, who came to Massachusetts in the year 1680, from Steeple Aspen, England. After reach- ing this country he became a Seventh Day Baptist, having been a member of the estab- lished church while in England. His descend- ants have with few exceptions clung to the faith of their fathers.
(II) Edwin Amos Stillman, one of these descendants, was born July 19, 1813, at Mid- dletown, Connecticut, being the son of James and Susan (Trench) Stillman. His father died when the boy was very young, and being the son of a widowed mother he began at an
early date to support and educate himself, working on a farm before he was thirteen years of age, and taking a trip as cabin boy to Barbadoes and the West Indies. When thir- teen years old he went to Meriden, Connecti- cut, as an apprentice in the Japanned ware business, remaining there for four years. Dur- ing this time he joined the Baptist church, and distinguished himself as a religious speaker ; he obtained a license to preach and was urged to study regularly for the ministry. He there- fore spent a year at the Newton Theological Institute, and being then eighteen years of age decided to take a college course before com- pleting his theological studies. Entering Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island, he re- mained a year, teaching in a classical school in Providence while pursuing his own studies. During the summer of 1833 following, his at- tention was attracted to the slavery question by an article which appeared in an English magazine, and he became convinced that it was his duty to preach "the deliverance of the cap- tive and the opening of the prison doors to those who were bound." He began writing articles on the subject of slavery ; he made the acquaintance of J. G. Whittier, with whom he became associated as a fellow delegate to the general convention of Abolitionists which met at Philadelphia and formed the "American Anti-Slavery Society." He was at this time a resident of Middletown, where there were but three avowed Abolitionists, and invited speakers from abroad whom he entertained, holding meetings in spite of the violence of the opposing mobs. All of this time he was still pursuing his theological studies, but finally he became discouraged by the indifferent attitude of the church toward the slavery question and abandoned his intention of a ministerial career.
In the year 1835 Mr. Stillman turned his attention to the study of civil engineering, and in the following year secured a position with the New York & Erie railroad. Soon after- ward he became surveyor and assistant engi- neer on the Genesee Valley canal, being as- signed charge of ten miles of the work from the tunnel below Portage to Hume, Allegany county, embracing some of the heaviest part of the work. Tunnels were a novelty in the country at that time, and his success in con- structing this portion, as compared with similar works in Europe, was widely complimented. He was also instrumental in suppressing fraud and graft during the construction of the tun-
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nel, and established a high reputation for per- sonal integrity. In 1845 he removed to North Bloomfield, where he was engaged in locating a line of railroad from Canandaigua to Niagara Falls, and in 1854 he went to Springwater, where he began a career as lumberman, acquir- ing timber lands and erecting a lumber mill. He served in the engineering corps during the civil war and was engaged in the construction of Block House in Tennessee. He established a home in Canadice eventually, and lived here until his death, June 14, 1892, at the age of seventy-nine years.
During his residence at Canadice he took an active part in politics, being for many years identified with the Republican party. He was postmaster under President Lincoln, and held the office of justice of the peace, having read law and practiced in justice's court. He was the Republican candidate for member of the assembly in 1861, but was defeated; he was again candidate on the Greenback ticket for the same office, and for that of state engineer and surveyor. His last political affiliation was with the Prohibition party. He also continued to do some work at surveying while in Cana- dice, and was employed for several years by the Honeoye Millers' Association in their con- test with the Rochester Water Works Com- pany. He was a well-informed and public- spirited man generally, taking an active inter- est in all educational works and being an au- thority on many points in civic affairs. The lumber and cooperage business, which he estab- lished, was continued by his two sons, John C. and Edwin S. Stillman.
On December 20, 1842, he married Jennie, daughter of Rev. James Cochrane, a Presby- terian minister of Rochester, New York, her mother having been Jane Craig, daughter of an Irish nobleman. Mrs. Stillman was born in the north of Ireland, coming to this country with her parents ; she died at the age of seven- ty-nine years, having survived her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Stillman, who began their mar- ried life in Rochester, were the parents of seven children, as follows: I. Ellicott R., en- listed in the Eighty-fifth New York Volunteer Militia, and was in the seven days' battle in the retreat from Richmond with Mcclellan's army; he was captured at Florence, North Carolina, and was a prisoner at Andersonville for about six months; he was postmaster of the city of Milwaukee for two terms, appoint- ed by President Mckinley; he died in 1912.
2. James Amos, of whom further. 3. Alice B., married Charles N. Legg, of Coldwater, Michigan. 4. Florence, married F. F. Betts, of Wellsboro, Indiana. 5. Jennie, died young. 6. John C., who continued in his father's busi- ness. 7. Edwin S., who also continued in his father's business. 8. Mabel C.
(III) James Amos, son of Edwin Amos and Jennie (Cochrane) Stillman, was born December 14, 1845, at Lima, Livingston coun- ty, New York. There he spent his early years, being educated in the public schools of the locality. When he was twenty years old he bought his time from his father, paying a hun- dred and fifty dollars, and removed to North Cohocton, Steuben county, New York, where he engaged as head sawyer in a mill. Having made this beginning in business, he later re- moved to Michigan, where he engaged in the same capacity in a number of the leading lum- ber mills of the state, spending some time in Central Lake and at Saginaw. After remain- ing in Michigan for a considerable time he returned home and farmed for a year. He then went to North Bloomfield, where he pur- chased a water power mill which he operated for five years; returning to Michigan again after this time he spent two years there, after which he came back to Bloomfield. In Octo- ber, 1884, he came to Tidioute, Pennsylvania, and purchased the James Mill which he re- modeled, establishing a planing mill in connec- tion with it, and operating both for fifteen years. The industry was then destroyed by fire, and Mr. Stillman became foreman in a barrel factory at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he remained for a year. At the end of this time he came back east and for nine months was employed by Mr. E. D. Collins. He then returned to Tidioute and rebuilt his mill, but it was again destroyed by fire, in July, 1910. Since this time Mr. Stillman has been engaged in concrete work and the building of side- walks. He resides on Main street, in the house which he purchased in 1884, and is considered one of the leading citizens. Mr. Stillman is a very ardent and active Socialist, wielding a strong influence in the party of which he was one of the organizers. He inherits the enthusi- asm and ability of his father who was the sub- ject of mob violence in Connecticut on account of his views as an Abolitionist. He is a mem- ber of the Universalist church, in which he has served as trustee. He is also interested and prominent in Masonic matters, having become
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a Mason at Honeoye Flats, New York, in the order of the Free and Accepted Masons. He is at present a member of the Tidioute Temple Lodge, No. 412, of this organization, having served as worshipful master in 1910.
Mr. Stillman has been married three times. In the year 1869 he married Maria North, born in 1852, died in 1872, being buried at North Bloomfield. To this union was born one son, Frederick J., in 1872. He grew to manhood and married Kate Whitten, having two chil- dren, Mabel and Ray. James A. Stillman mar- ried (second) May 15, 1879, Emma Commons, a relative of the poet Longfellow; she was born in 1856, died in 1889, being buried at North Bloomfield. One daughter was born of this marriage, Mollie Louise, July 13, 1881 ; she married Lyle R. Briggs, and has a daugh- ter, Ethel Louise Briggs. On March 9, 1892, Mr. Stillman married (third) Amelia Cath- erine Turner, born August 21, 1852, at lidi- oute, daughter of George W. and Mary J. (McMillen) Turner, and the younger sister of Christy Ann Turner, a sketch of whom ap- pears elsewhere in this work. She has been a lifelong resident of Tidioute and is a member of the Universalist church in this place. She is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, her national number being 36.488. Mr. and Mrs. Stillman are mem- bers of the Economite Chapter, No. 144, East- ern Star. There have been no children by this union.
DOWNING This is a prominent family of Western Pennsylvania, the progenitor, George B. Down- ing, having been a successful and influential lumberman of the region, engaged also in mill- ing. He was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and was one of the leading citi- zens in this locality. On June 23, 1861, he married Elizabeth Ann Hollock, born Septem- ber 1, 1841, now deceased, as is also her hus- band. She was a daughter of Jesse J. and Lovina (Van Buren) Hollock, residents of Garland, Pennsylvania, where her father was a farmer. Mr. Hollock was born June 23, 1810, died September 7, 1879. On July 27, 1830, he married Lovina Van Buren, born March 20, 1815, died February 14, 1880. Their children were: Lucy Jane, born January 13, 1832, at Jamestown, New York; Martin Llew- ellyn, born July 31, 1835, died July 27, 1839; William Reilley, born July 27, 1837, served in
the civil war, now deceased; Wyman Hamil- ton, born October 8, 1839, died March 13, 1843; Elizabeth Ann, born September 1, 1841, married George B. Downing, now deceased ; Almon D., born January 10, 1844, served in civil war, and lives at Garland, Pennsylvania ; Washington E., born February 13, 1846, lost his life, August 19, 1864, during the civil war ; Jesse Leroy, born March 26, 1851, residing at Erie, Pennsylvania ; Alice Lovina, born March 13, 1854, married Thomas Sageon, of Tidi- oute, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Downing were the parents of the following children : Nettie May, born May 14, 1862, died March 13, 1865; Walter Hollock, born August 23, 1864, married (first ) Effie Proper, and had two children, Sylvia and Cora, married (sec- ond) Cora - -, and had two children, Ruth and George; William Frederick, born Septem- ber 13, 1867. died July 25, 1868; George Hal- sey, born July 25, 1869, married (first) Har- riet Dunn, married (second ) Emma has one child, William Downing; Frank Le- roy, of whom further; Minnie Alice, born October 21, 1875, widow of M. Burton Lewis.
(II) Frank Leroy, son of George B. and Elizabeth Ann ( Hollock) Downing, was born October 13, 1873, in Clarion county, Pennsyl- vania. He came to Tidioute with his parents when a boy, and received his education in the public schools. He entered upon his business career early in life, engaging with the Tidi- oute Chair Company as a marker, remaining here for awhile, after which he went to War- ren, Pennsylvania, where he entered the em- ploy of the Gale Manufacturing Company. He was employed in the plant of the latter company for about six months, however, when he left Warren and returned to his former position with the Tidioute Chair Company, the plant having changed hands ; a history of this business is given in the sketch of Orry Husted Holdridge, elsewhere in this work. Since his return to Tidioute, Mr. Downing has been a member of the firm now known as the Tidi- oute Furniture Manufacturing Company, and has continued ever since as a resident of this place. He is one of the most influential busi- ness men in Tidioute, and is also prominent in the public life of the town, being a member of the Progressive party, and taking a strong interest in the welfare of the state. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and belongs also to the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Hose Company. On December 29,
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