USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Bridgeport > Hart's history and directory of the three towns, Brownsville, Bridgeport, West Brownsville also abridged history of Fayette county & western Pennsylvania > Part 17
USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > West Brownsville > Hart's history and directory of the three towns, Brownsville, Bridgeport, West Brownsville also abridged history of Fayette county & western Pennsylvania > Part 17
USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > Brownsville > Hart's history and directory of the three towns, Brownsville, Bridgeport, West Brownsville also abridged history of Fayette county & western Pennsylvania > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Dr. Duncan was a close student, and contributed quite extensively to medical literature. Among his numerous and able papers are those entitled as follows, and that merit special mention: "Malformation of the Genito- Urinary Organs " (American Journal of Medical Science, 1859) ; "Belladonna as an Antidote for Opium Poisoning" (Ibid., 1862); "Medical Delusions" (a pamphlet published at Pittsburg, 1869) ; "Reports of Cases to Pennsyl- vania Medical Society" (1870-72) ; "Iliac Aneurism Cured by Electrolysis" (Transactions of the same society, 1875) ; a paper on "The Physiology of Death" (1876).
Dr. Duncan was married March 21, 1861, to Miss Amanda Leonard, of Brownsville. They had one child, a daughter, Helen Duncan, who married J. Holmes Patton. Mr. Patton died May 3, 1898.
DR. JAMES B. GROOMS who died March 10, 1895, still lives in the hearts of the people of the Three Towns, and for generations yet to come his memory will be cherished for his magnanimity his kind heart and willing hand in sympathizing with and helping those in pain and distress, for in his practice he never turned a deaf car to the call of the worthy, and many are the grate- ful hearts that gladly testify to his kindness.
Dr. Grooms was born in Carmichaels, Washington County. Pa., July 2, 1827, and was a son of Benjamin and Mary B. (Keer) Grooms. He was the eldest son of Benjamin Grooms, who was one of the carlier settlers of Greene County, coming from Maryland, and who married Mary B. Keer.
In youth he was noted for his industrious, studious habits. His religious inclination led him early to unite himself with the church, and at the age of 17, was a member of the church of his choice-the Methodist Episco- pal. His Christian experience was a beautiful realization of faith, hope and charity. He was a self-educated man, using the money he earned himself to fit him for the profession he loved so well. He taught school several years,
Dr. Norval W. Truxal
till he finally completed his medical education in Cleveland, Ohio. On completing his course in materia medica, he settled, to practice his profes- sion in Carmichaels, Pa.
In 1853 he married Elizabeth J. Wiley, daughter of William Wiley, of Carmichaels, who with Ulysses C., now in business in Peoria, Ill .; Joseph C., land and claim agent of the P. & L. E. R. R . Pittsburg, Pa., Charles E .. in business in Brownsville, Pa., and Misses Mary B. and Mattie G., at home survive him.
When the murmur of discontent was heard in our land, and the dark days of civil strife caused cheeks to blanch with fear for the safety of our Union, he enlisted with the Ringgold battalion, a company being formed in Greene and Washington Counties, and which was afterward merged into the 22d Penn'a. calvary. He served several years, and upon coming home the in- delible stamp of decrepitude was plainly visible upon his former iron frame.
The doctor was of an inventive turn, and he, with his father, patented one of the first repeating magazine rifles in existence; also a rotary steam engine. In 1866, he, with his family moved to Bridgeport, where he practiced his profession till death called him in his 68th year.
DR. NORVAL. WILSON TRUXAL, one of the prominent physicians who prac- ticed medicine here in Brownsville some thirty-odd years ago, was born at Greensburg, Pa., June 14, 1822, and died in Brownsville, July 11, 1893. When a boy in his native town, he entered a printing office as an apprentice and learned the art preservative, afterwards publishing a paper for a time in Mt. Pleasant, Pa. In the meantime, however, he had studied medicine, and carly in life commenced the practice of that profession, which he continued till his death. It was about the year 1868 when he located in Brownsville.
When the war of the rebellion broke out, he responded to his country's call and served as captain of Company I, Fifth West Virginia cavalry, till the close of the war.
L. M. Truxal, editor and proprietor of the Enterprise a wide-awake and up-to-date newspaper at Belle Vernon, is a son of Dr. Truxal.
JOSEPH TALBOT ROGERS .- The history of Brownsville presents many ex- amples of successful business men. One of the best of these is the late Mr. Rogers. His character, industry and business abilities are especially worthy of commendation.
Mr. Rogers preferred old Brownsville to all other places. He came here as early as 1830, and from that time until 1893, when he retired from busi- ness, was actively engaged in the commercial interests of our town. With one exception, he was the oldest resident of the two towns, and of the pioneers who were his contemporaries, only a very few survived him. Ile was born on a farm near the Westland meetinghouse, in the neighborhood of Centerville. Washington County, Pa., on the 26th day of April, 1806.
The Rogers family was one of the earliest to settle in Bucks County, the home of William Penn and one of the three original counties of the State.
Mr. Rogers's grandfather moved from Bucks to Chester County, settled
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Joseph Talbot Rogers
there, and married Mary, daughter of Joseph Talbot, of that county. His son, John Rogers, Mr. Rogers's father, came from Chester County to Wash- ington County. His carly boyhod was spent upon the farm. At the age of 24 years, he came to this place and engaged in the manufacture of woolens. The facory was situated at the place where Miller's flouring mill afterwards stood, After a few years he quit manufacturing to enter mercantile life. While in the latter he took part in other local enterprises, including the building and furnishing of steamboats for the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. In this business he was associated with his cousin, Robert Rogers, one of the well-known pioneers of western steamboat building. Mr. Rogers was a shareholder and director in the Monongahela Bridge Company, and the Second National Bank owes its existence more to him than any other person. This Bank, as is shown by its charter number 135, was one of the first to organize under the laws of 1863. The government was then endeavoring to establish a uniform currency throughout the country, by the organization of national banks. This was for the purpose of assisting the government in its struggle against the. Rebellion. It was at this time that Mr. Rogers displayed most, his ability as an organizer of financial concerns. Many difficulties were en- countered, but his determination overcame them all. When organized, this bank was called the First National Bank, and Mr. Rogers was its First Vice President. He afterwards became its President, and held the position twenty-seven years, resigning it in 1893. According to the Banker's Mag- azine, he was the oldest bank president in America. He seemed, in his old age, to have retained all his faculties intact. Mr. Rogers married Priscilla Mercer, daughter of Rev. Boyd Mercer, of Washington County. He resided here continuously from 1839 to the time of his death.
He was a man of regular habits and was particularly fond of his home, he suffered the loss of his wife in 1868, but continued to live happily with his children, upon whom all his affection and interest seems to have centered, in his old age. Four children survive him: Roland C., of this place, retired ; Talbot M., a retired business man of Philadelphia; Mary, wife of Rev. R. M. Wallace, D. D., of Lewistown, Pa., and Annie, wife of Rev. T. D. Ewing, D. D., of Corning, Iowa. Mr. Rogers left an ample fortune and a name of which his children may well feel proud.
JOHN S. WILGUS, the subject of this sketch, was born in Perryopolis, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, October 28, 1823, and was the son of John and Deadamia (Donnelly) Wilgus, the former of whom was born in New Jersey, September 12, 1786. Samuel Wilgus, grandfather of John S., was also a native of New Jersey where he was reared and educated. He married Miss Rhoda Whitney who bore him four children, William, James, Edmund and John. He died in his native state.
John S. Wilgus passed his youth at the old home in Perryopolis, Pa., and there received a liberal education. He commenced his business career as a clerk in a grocery store and afterwards embarked in that business for him- self.
:)25
Jolin S. Wilgus
September 21, 1845, he married Barbara Hunter, a daughter of Samuel Hunter of Westmoreland County, Pa., and to this happy union were born seven children, as follows: T. B., Melissa A. (Mrs. D. M. Hart), Jane (de- ceased), Eva (Mrs. William Beatty), Dora (Mrs. Kropps), Blanche (Mrs. Fred L. Mason), Ettie (Mrs. Dr. Crawford). Barbara Hunter's mother was a Miss Nancy Fletcher, leneal descendant of Moses Fletcher, who came over in the Mayflower in 1620.
John Wilgus, father of John S., was educated by his mother and by close application to books, became, considering his inferior advantages, a remark- ably good scholar. He afterwards moved to Pennsylvania and located at Perryopolis of which place he was one of the justices of the peace, an office at that time of no inconsiderable importance. He always took a deep and active interest in the political movements in his section and was prominent in his party, first as a Democrat and later as a Whig. He was a consistent Christian and an active, progressive member and local preacher of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. In New Jersey he had married Deadamia Donnelly, daughter of Joseph Donnelly who came to Pennsylvania with Mr. Wilgus in 1806. The children born to this union were Joseph, Lorenzo, Melissa, Louisa, Charlotte, Emily, John S., Deadamia, Rhoda and Hulda. He died near Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, in October 1871. While a resident of Perry- opolis, he read medicine and law, and for several years practiced as a physi- cian. He was the first one to suggest the building of the Union Pacific Rail- road in a letter to James K. Polk who was at that time President of the United States, as will be seen elsewhere in this volume under the head of "Rail- roads."
John S. Wilgus was originally a Whig, casting his first vote for Henry Clay. When the Republican party was formed, he enrolled himself under its banner and continued with it till his death. He held various offices of honor and trust during his life, among them being that of postmaster at Brownsville, to which position he was appointed in 1873. In 1880 he went into the grocery business in Monongahela City, which he continued till 1890 when he was elected alder- man of that city.
He was an earnest and active member of the Disciple Church and took a deep interest in all matters for the advancement and betterment of his town, county and state. He died at Brownsville, Pa., June 16, 1901, at the ripe old age of 77 years 9 months and 16 days.
MR. WILLIAM CHATLAND, of Brownsville, was born at Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England, June 9, 1811. He is the son of William Chatland of Meriden, a borough six miles north of the city of Coventry, in the same shire, and of Pricilla (Green) Chatland, of Brier Hill, Staffordshire.
Mr. William Chatland, Sr., died in London about 1819, at the age of forty years, and some five years subsequent to the death of his wife, which occurred in 1814. Mr Chatland, who was but three years of age at the death of his mother, was placed in the charge of his grandmother, Mrs. Ann Chatland, by whom he was reared until about his tenth year, when his grandmother died. He was then taken by his uncle, Joseph Chatland, a prosperous baker of
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William Chatland
Coventry, with whom he resided until about his thirteenth year, and was then apprenticed to Daniel Claridge, a famous baker of Coventry at that time, to learn the trade of baking in all its branches. He remained with Mr. Claridge for seven years. After the expiration of his apprenticeship he went to London, and there, during a period of three years and a half, cecupied positions in two first-class houses of that city. After finishing his stay in London he returned to Coventry, established himself in the baker's business. and married Miss Elizabeth Manton, the daughter of William Manton, a farmer of Berkwells, Warwickshire. He conducted business in Coventry for some six years, after which, selling out, he migrated with his family-wife and three daughters- to the United States, arriving in New York April 20, 1844. In a few days thereafter he took the old "Bingham Line" for Pitts- burgh, Pa. Tarrying there a while prospecting, he eventually moved to the county seat of Washington County, where he resided, carrying on both the baking and confectionery business, for about eight years, and in 1852 organ- ized a company of fifteen persons to go with him by the overland route to California, where, at Sacramento, he bought out a baking business, which he conducted with great success until he was seized by a fever and ague, and was compelled to leave the country. He returned to his family, who had re- mained meanwhile at Washington. Failing to find a suitable location for business in that town, he betook himself to Brownsville in 1854, where he has since resided, carrying on business by himself for about eighteen years, when he took into partnership his son-in-law, George W. Lenhart, the hus- band of his daughter Sarah. Under the firm name of Chatland & Lenhart they do an extensive business, and enjoy the reputation of making the best water cracker now in use. The word "Brownsville" stamped upon a cracker means it is the best.
In 1866 George W Lenhart became a member of the firm and he continued a partner till 1895 when he withdrew and his son William L. Lenhart took his place. The younger Lenhart, like his father before him,and his grandfather in the earlier days, is a wide-awake, progressive man and the business has continually grown and flourished until the products of the Chatland & Len- hart cracker factory are favorites in many states.
Mrs. Elizabeth Chatland died at Brownsville, January 28, 1874, in the sixty-first year of her age, leaving a husband and three daughters, Elizabeth. Mary Ann and Sarah Ann Kate, the latter being the youngest and as before stated the wife of George W. Lenhart.
Mr. Chatland and his family were members of the Protestant Episcopal Church in which Mr. Chatland was for many years a vestryman. From 1884 Mr. Chatland was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. He was District Deputy Grand Master for Pennsylvania for fifteen years, District Deputy High Priest for sixteen years and also Eminent Commander of St. Omer's Commandery No. 7. held at Brownsville, for about eighteen years. Mr. Chatland was an old and honored citizen and was justly proud of his record as a Mason. He died April 11, 1900, in his 89th year.
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John Herbertson
JOHN HERBERTSON, of Bridgeport, who was for over sixty years one of the most active business men and substantial citizens of the borough in which he resided, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, September 16, 1805. In his childhood he attended the common schools, and had the good fortune to listen to many of the scientific lectures of the renowned Ure. At seventeen years of age he left home for America. Having spent some time in learning the joiners' and cabinetmakers' trades, and the law at that time forbidding mechanics to leave the realm, young Herbertson got his tools smuggled on board the "Commerce," the ship on which he took passage, and which. after a voyage of five weeks and two days, landed him in New York, in July, 1823. He soon proceeded to Marietta, Ohio, to enter upon farming under the misrepresentations of one Nahum Ward, a great scamp, who by misrep- resentations induced many people of Glasgow and elsewhere to leave their homes and settle upon his lands. At Marietta, Mr. Herbertson "acquired" little else than fever and ague, and moved, after a few months, to Pittsburg, Pa., where he arrived in April, 1824. He lived in Pittsburg about five years, meanwhile learning the trade of steam-engine building. In 1829 he en- gaged with John Snowdon, of Brownsville, as foreman in his engine shop. He remained with Mr. Snowdon about seven years. During this time Mr. Snowdon took the contract for putting up the iron bridge across Dunlap's creek, the first ever built in America, as it is the first of its kind ever built in any country. For this bridge Mr. Herbertson did all the headwork, and, in fact, all the mechanical work. He designed the bridge, making the first drawing which was sent on to West Point, and there accepted by the government construction engineers. He made the patterns, supervised the molding, and also the erection of the bridge.
After the expiration of his engagement with Mr. Snowdon he went into the business of engine building with Thomas Faull, the firm name being Fattll & Herbertson. This was in 1837 or 1838. He continued in business with Mr. Faull till 1842, when the latter withdrew, and Mr. Herbertson continued the business on the same site until his death August 16, 1890. He built a large number of steamboat and mill engines. His work was ordered from distant parts of the United States and from Mexico. As a skilled mechanic and designer of mechanical work, but few men, if any, in his line excelled him. Up until his death he took an active interest in his business. and with the aid of his sons, all thoroughly instructed in the business and competent to take their father's place and let him wholly retire, if he would, he still carried on an extensive work, which, however, after September, 1880. was conducted by him in partnership with his sons, George S. and William H. Herbertson, and his son-in-law, William H. Ammon, and Mr. A. C. Cock. under the firm name of John Herbertson & Co. The business is now con- ducted by his sons under the firm name of J. Herbertson's Sons.
No man's reputation for integrity and the other virtues which go to make a noble and honorable man, stood higher in his community than that of Mr. Herbertson.
JOHN S. PRINGLE .- AA history, though abridged, would be incomplete, even in that form, without special mention of John S. Pringle who, until his
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John S. Pringle
death June 6, 1884, was a central figure in the progressive force of the Three Towns, though he retired from business in 1879.
He was the only son of William Pringle, a Scotchman, who emigrated to America when a young man, and Elizabeth (Snyder) Pringle, who was of German descent, and was born October 23, 1804, near McKee's Gap, Blair County, Pa.
His opportunities for an education were such as the subscription schools of the neighborhoods in which he resided during his minority afforded. He employed his spare moments in the study of business men and methods, and by the time he reached his majority he was fairly equipped for the work which was to engage his attention in after years. When eighteen years of age he left his father's house, which was then in Bedford County, and came to "Redstone Old Fort." The first work which he performed after coming to Fayette County was in the boat vard of Joseph Allen, at the mouth of Little Redstone Creek. He developed a fondness and an aptness for boat building, and after remaining with Mr. Allen one summer was employed as foreman in the yard of Robert Rogers, of Brownsville, for whom he built the first flat-bottomed boat launched west of the Alleghenies. The superi- ority of his boat over others then in use was manifest, as was also Mr. Pringle's ability as a boat builder, and orders for vessels like this one, were so numerous that he determined to embark in business for himself. He began in the vard at Brownsville, and remained there until 1844, when he purchased the Ephraim Blaine property in West Brownsville, and upon it graded and established a boat vard, which he operated until 1879, when, incapacitated by old age and disease, he transferred his business interests to the care of his son, John D. S. Pringle, and his son-in-law, Andrew C. Axton, both of whom are noted for their energy and business ability.
Mr. Pringle was a courteous, hospitable gentleman and his life was honest, busy and useful. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, to whose benevolent enterprises he was a liberal contributor. He died at a ripe old age respected by his neighbors, esteemed by his friends, and sincerely loved by his family.
He was married May 3, 1832, to Elizabeth P. Horner, who died November 29, 1844. By this marriage there were six children: Elizabeth, Ann, Wil- liam H., George W., Sarah and Mary.
Mr. Pringle was again married October 16, 1845, to Sarah Ellen Snyder. To this union there were born ten children. They are John D. S., who did good service in the war of the Rebellion as a member of Company F. Eight- eenth Pennsylvania Cavalry; David S .. Nancy, Ella, Isabel, Esther, Mary, Simon P., Christian S., now union station agent at Brownsville, and Andrew A.
Mr. Pringle's business life in this community extended over a period of more than half a century, and in that time he launched over five hundred boats upon the Monongahela River. The largest one in that number was the "Illinois." She was three hundred and four feet long, had a fifty-two- foot beam, and was seventy-five feet across the deck.
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Samuel Steele
MR. SAMUEL STEELE, of Brownsville, was of Scotch-Irish extraction. Ilis great-grandparents came to America from the North of Ireland about 1740. and settled, it is believed, in Eastern Pennsylvania. On the passage over the Atlantic Mrs. Steele presented her husband with a son, who was given the name of William, and who was the grandfather of Mr. Samuel Steele. William grew up to manhood and found his way into Maryland, where he married and resided for a period of time, the precise record of which is lost ; but there several children were born to him, one of whom, the oldest son, was John, the father of Samuel Steele. About 1783 or 1784, William Steele removed from Maryland with his family to Fayette County, to a point on the "Old Packhorse Road" about six miles east of Brownsville, where he purchased a tract of land, which was divided into several excellent farms. later occupied by Thomas Murphy, who resided upon the old Steele home- stead site, and others. William Steele eventually removed to Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County, where he died in 1806.
Some years prior to his death Mr. William Steele purchased for his sons John and William a tract of land in what was Jefferson Township, and em- braced the farm later owned by John Steele and Joseph S. Elliott. John Steele (the father of Samuel S.) eventually married Miss Agnes (often called "Nancy") Happer, by whom he had eight children, of whom Samuel was the fourth in number, and was born June 15, 1814. Mr. John Steele died June 6, 1856, at about the age of eighty-three.
Mr. Samuel Steele was brought up on the farm, and in his childhood at- tended the subscription schools. In his eighteenth year he left home and entered as an apprentice to the tanning and currying trade in the establish- ment of Jesse Cunningham, his brother-in-law, a noted tanner of Brownsville, where he served three years in learning the business. After the expiration of his apprenticeship he entered upon the pursuit of various businesses, among which was flatboating agricultural products, apples, cider, and provisions of various kinds down the Monongahela to the Ohio, and on to Cincinnati and Lousiville, where he usually sold his merchandise, but some- times made trips to New Orleans. He followed the business in springtime for some seven years, ending about February, 1843, when occurred the death of Mr. Jesse Cunningham. Mr. Steele then entered into partnership with his sister, Mrs. Cunningham, under the firm name of Samuel Steele & Co., and carried on the business at the old place till 1860, when the partnership was amicably dissolved, and Mr. Steele sank a new yard, a few blocks higher up the hill, where he conducted business. In 1880 he took into partnership with himself his son William, under the firm name of "Samuel Steele & Son."
February 11, 1852, Mr. Steele married Miss Elizabeth A. Conwell, of Browns- ville, by whom he had four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living.
In politics he was formerly an old-time Whig, but was later an ardent Republican. In religion he preserved the faith of his fathers, being a Presby- terian. His wife and daughters were members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Steele died August 4. 1886.
SAMUEL THOMPSON was an extensive land holder, and a large coal operator along the Monongahela river, in the Pittsburg bed of the great Apalachian
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Samuel Thompson
coal field. He was a son of John and Ruth (Lewis) Thompson, and was born in East Bethlehem Township, Washington County, Pa., March 23, 1820. He was one of a family of ten children.
He remained on the old homestead about two miles from Beallsville until he was eight years old when he removed with the family to the adjoining farm now owned by Rev. J. L. Thompson, where he spent his boyhood days. No- vember 2d, 1843, he married Miss Martha Jane Cooper and moved into the house in which he was born. He farmed in the summer and thrashed in the winter. In the spring of 1848 he moved to the Riggle farm now owned by Lewis Weaver and which was stocked by him, a mile from Centerville, Wash- ington County, Pa. July the 8th of the same year his wife died and he went back to live with his father, farming in the summer and running a distillery in the winter, hauling his products to Brownsville from Robert Hawkins', where he lived and farmed until 1857. He then moved in with his brother Isaac on a farm two miles from Beallsville, which farm is still owned by one of his sons, where they ran a distillery until 1860, when Samuel Thompson moved to Brownsville, where he continued the liquor business as a speculator in 1862 and followed the insurance business insuring against draft. He built the distillery in West Brownsville known as the Thompson distillery.
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