History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 124

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

across which he commenced walking as was his custom. His wife, coming in a few moments later, found him lying peacefully upon the sofa in the sleep of death. He was buried according to the services of the Episcopal church, of which he had been an attendant, officer and liberal supporter for many years. He was buried in the cemetery at Kittanning, where his resting-place has been marked by a substantial granite monument, a fitting emblem of the completeness of his own life.

Said one of his life-long friends, Gov. William F. Johnston, "To speak of Judge Buffington's career as a lawyer would be a history of the judi- cial contests in this section of the state for more than a quarter of a century. He had a large practice in Armstrong, Jefferson, Clarion and Indiana counties, the courts of which counties he regularly attended. It was a pleasure to be with him, either as assisting or opposing counsel, in any of those counties. It may not be forgotten that in those early times, in the judicial history of Middle Western Pennsylvania, the bar constituted a kind of peripatetic association, each and all contributing his share to the social enjoyments of the occasion, and to the instruction of the un- learned in law of the obligations that were imposed upon them. These unions at different places crea- ted necessarily many happy reminiscences. But, like the schoolmaster of the village, 'the very spot where once they triumphed is forgot.'"

Of Judge Buffington as a lawyer we have spoken ; as a citizen he was public-spirited and gave a ready support to every undertaking calculated to bene- fit the community. In common with Gen. Orr, · Gov. Johnston and others, he took an active part in procuring the building of the Allegheny Valley Railroad, and served for some time as one of its directors.

In his younger days he took much pleasure in hunting and fishing. Naturally fond of an out- door life, he took kindly to agricultural pursuits. From time to time he acquired farming lands in the neighborhood of Kittanning, and their care and cultivation absorbed most of his leisure time. Of industrious habits, and a hard worker, Judge Buff- ington gradually added to his worldly possessions. Fond of making money, he never cared for it for the purpose of hoarding it, but only for the pleas- ure its expenditure gave himself and those around him.

It was in private life and in the familiar inter- course of friends that he is best remembered. His courtesy to all, joined to the natural, courtly dignity of the man, stamped him at once in the

minds of all with whom he came in contact as a gentleman in the truest sense of the word, while liis well-stored mind and fine conversational pow- ers lent a charm to his acquaintance that drew around him a circle of warm and intimate friends. While his words were to the point and his lan- guage incisive, his naturally kind heart kept him from bitterness, and his judgment of others was never harsh or prompted by ill will. Kind, sym- pathetic and generous, he was always ready to listen to and aid those in distress. He never lost sympathy for the young, and there are venerable men at the bar today who will tell how the kind- ness of Judge Buffington in the early days of their professional career was a real help when they needed friends and encouragement.

A grateful tribute was paid to his memory at March court, 1883, by the Hon. James B. Neale, president judge of the district, and son of his esteemed neighbor and life-long friend, Dr. S. S. Neale.

Judge Neale had an excellent oil portrait of the judge painted, and at that time presented it to the county of Armstrong. It was placed, with appro- priate remarks, above the judge's bench in the court-room where he had so long presided.

JOHN RALSTON.

Concerning the ancestors of the subject of this biography but little need be here said, as they have prominent places elsewhere in this volume. His father, David Ralston, a pioneer of Scotch-Irish descent, settled in Plum Creek township, Arm- strong county, in 1800, and met with a tragical death nine years later." His grandfather, upon the maternal side, was the famous Capt. Andrew Sharpt, an officer in the revolutionary army, who, coming from Cumberland county to what is now Indiana county, settled near the Armstrong line in 1784, and subsequently had some thrilling adven- tures with the Indians. His mother, Agnes Sharp, second daughter of the gallant captain, born Febru- ary 21, 1785-the first white child who had its nativity in the region-was married to David Ralston in 1803. John Ralston was their third son, and was born January 30, 1807, in Plum Creek township. His life was spent upon the farm which was his birthplace, and in the near-by village of Elderton; but although thus passing his days in rural or semi-rural quietude, and never seeking public honor, he became one of the best known citizens of Armstrong county. As he was also one

* See chapter upon Plum Creek township.

+ For an account of Captain Sharp's settlement and his adventures with the Indians, sce Chapter I.

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of the most respected and much loved, it is fitting that these pages should contain a few lines to re- vive the recollection of those who knew him, and convey some idea of the man to those who come after.

His life was without important events-unless we call important those seemingly little incidents which tend to develop the sturdy character-to make the manly man.

When about 22 years of age he entered the dry- goods store of William Lytle at Elderton as clerk, and he doubtless exhibited in that capacity the qualities in embryo which eventually made him the successful man of business, for we find that he was taken into partnership in 1832. This partner- ship was dissolved in 1838, and Mr. Ralston in- mediately opened a business house of his own, which he carried on with signal ability and suc- cess. Keeping apace with the growing wants of the people, he increased his business until he made it tributary to the patronage from the farmers for many miles in every direction. Fair and honora- ble dealing made him extremely popular. He pro- cured for and supplied to the agricultural popula- tion everything they needed, and in return bought and shipped their produce of all kinds.

We will remark here that npon June 26, 1833, Mr. Ralston was united in marriage with Miss Jane Sloan, of Blairsville. Through her good management and good judgment, she was a very efficient helper to Mr. Ralston in his efforts. His business required him to be much away from home, and thus more than usual care and responsibility fell to her, which she proved fully competent to assume. Their family consisted of four sons- Andrew S., now in Titusville; D. Alexander, now a citizen of Kittanning; William M. and Thomas N., both residents of Elderton.

These sons, as they arrived at suitable age, were taken into the business by their father, and thus obtained a practical knowledge of business affairs, and a successful start in life.

Mr. Ralston was identified with the business of producing petroleum from the time of its discovery on Oil creek, and was one of the original members of the Ralston Oil Company, which consisted of himself, his brother and the Kirkpatricks of Pitts- burgh. Later in life he was a member of the whole- sale house of Romberger, Long & Co., of Philadel- phia. He was one of the original stockholders in the Indiana County Deposit Bank, of Indiana; had an interest in the banking house of John Ralston & Co., of Elderton, and also in the Fairview De- posit Bank.

Mr. Ralston was far too large a man to be suc-

cessful in naught but business. His life was a blessing upon the community in which he lived, and one rich in good results, material and moral, to individuals and to society. His kindly counsel was the impetus of many a good career entered upon by young men, and his influence was one which had much effect upon men who were abreast 'of him in the march through years. His liberality was proverbial. He was one of the original mem- bers of the Elderton United Presbyterian church, and until the close of his life one of its strongest supporters. For a number of years he sustained with a few others an advanced school, and he was afterward one of the promoters and steadfast friends of the Elderton academy. Public-spirited in a high degree, he was the leader in almost, and the hearty assistant in all, measures for the good of the people among whom he dwelt. His own farms-he owned several-were among the best improved in the county, and the same spirit of neatness and order which made them so led him to take advanced steps in beautifying and practi- cally benefiting the village of Elderton.

Ever a friend of peace and harmony, he stopped many a lawsuit by his friendly intercession. His intervention was effective because he was highly esteemed by all who knew him. Owing to his un- swerving integrity he was often called upon to act in the capacity of arbitrator when difficulties arose between people in the neighborhood.

One of the marked characteristics of the subject of our sketch was his faculty of close observation and reflection upon what he saw. The difficulty attending the shipment of petroleum during the early years of its production set him to thinking whether some more economic method might not . be devised than that of barreling it. He was not long in arriving at the idea of building tanks upon platform cars. Not long afterward, the plan occurring to someone else, such tanks were con- structed and proved a success. He traveled much, was quite an assiduous reader, and by these and other means he secured the varied stock of infor- mation which proved a greater education to him than many possessed who had better school advan- tages.

Politically Mr. Ralston was a republican and an active worker in politics. Although frequently urged to become a candidate for the higher offices, he was unwilling, by accepting them, to break in upon a successful business career, for which he considered himself better adapted.

He took a warm interest in the prosecution of the war, and aided, by his influence, the raising of troops in his vicinity. He personally took supplies

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to the troops, visiting them in Virginia, and later, during the invasion of Pennsylvania, he accom- panied to the field a company raised in the imme- diate vicinity of Elderton, and went with the organization subsequently to Ohio, where it was engaged in the movements which led to the cap- ture of Morgan. Although not subject to the draft, he paid a large bounty to one man and sent him into the field, as in a certain sense his repre- sentative, for which he received an acknowledg- ment from the government in the form of a diploma.

The death of John Ralston occurred at his home in Elderton, August 24, 1879, and was preceded by that of his wife, who died August 9, 1874.

The following tribute to the memory of John Ralston is contributed by Judge James B. Neale :

Experience shows that a successful career is often denied to some, not on account of natural deficiencies unfitting them for every vocation, but because of special disqualification for certain kinds of labor or enterprise. We often recognize in the successful, even distinguished professional man, one who has utterly failed in other undertakings, and as often we discover in the professions men who have wholly mistaken their calling. They fail, and we attribute their want of success to general in- competency. A criterion of success in any pursuit, in a majority of cases, is adaptation. This, in the individual instance of John Ralston, was peculiarly true; his was a successful career, because he was admirably adapted, by natural inclination and talent, to the duties which he had undertaken. He was essentially a busi- ness man, and whether his field of labor was limited or extended, he was bound to succeed, and he was as certain in the end to embrace all that his circumstances and sur- roundings would admit of-even if a whole community must be built up to accomplish that result.

He made business a study, and life and experience was a constant development of business capacity. He did not wait for opportunities ; he created them. Out of the unpromising materials of an inland rural village he de- veloped sources of income, thrift and enterprise. The mere trading that could be carried on in a village store did not satisfy him. He reached out for more, and a whole sec- tion of country responded. He made a market for the en- tire productions of a wide extent of country, and in order to increase that production and to improve its quality to the highest standard, he took a personal interest in the seed that was planted, and in all the stock that was raised upon every farm. He instilled into the mind of every man the true idea that it cost but little more, and that only in the original outlay, to produce the superior qualities of grain or to raise the better grades of stock than the inferior. He managed hisown farms upon this principle, and the example was widely contagious. He did not barter with his neighbors by the narrow methods usually pursued, but dealt with them always with a view to their own advantage as well as his own ; by allowing higher prices for the better articles, he made it an in- ducement to excel, and excited a competition that pro-

duced most beneficial results. Standing at the head of the community in which he lived, his influence was felt in every direction ; the higher grade of schools were estab- lished and liberally patronized, churches were erected, and religious observances earnestly encouraged. In the course of time he was recognized as the arbitrator of all disputes among his neighbors, and by his instrumentality litiga- tion and strife were measurably restrained. In nearly everything his counsel was sought, and his advice im- plicitly followed. It was so fully understood that he was acting for the good of all, that in everything he did his conduct was beyond cavil, and his influence prevailed at all times with old and young alike, and when death finally laid his hand upon him to remove him from a field of so much usefulness, it was regarded as a bereavement to every household-the taking off of its truest, most devoted benefactor.

HON. JAMES MOSGROVE.

John Mosgrove, father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Ireland, and one of the first settlers of Kittanning, coming to the locality as a young man about the time the town was laid out. He was a carpenter by trade, and followed that oc- cupation during the greater part of his residence in Kittanning, which only terminated with his death. His wife, Mary Gillespie, was the daughter of John Gillespie, one of the pioneers of Arm- strong county. They were the parents of five children. Andrew' J. Mosgrove, the only brother of our subject, was by profession an attorney. He entered the service of the United States as a volun- teer soldier and met his death in the Mexican war. Of the three sisters, Margaret, the eldest, is the wife of Thomas B. Storey; Phebe Isabella is the widow of the late Judge Jackson Boggs, and Anna Jane is the wife of Simon Truby.

James Mosgrove was born in Kittanning, June 14, 1822. At a very early age he engaged in the iron business, accepting the position of clerk at the Buffalo Furnace in this county. Combining a well regulated and fine business capacity with the qualities of integrity and perseverance, he at once commanded the respect and confidence of his em- ployers, and the management of the furnace was soon placed in his hands. In 1845 he married Miss Rebecca Jane, daughter of Robert Brown. About the same time he entered into a partnership with his brother-in-law, the late James E. Brown, of Kittanning, and became part owner and active manager of Pine Creek Furnace, which position he held from 1845 to 1880, passing through all the different phases and vicissitudes of the iron busi- ness during that long period of thirty-five years. He has also been engaged quite extensively in oil production. Mr. Mosgrove's superior ability as a practical, strong and enterprising business man

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is universally admitted. Few men can be found , in Armstrong county, or for that matter in West- ern Pennsylvania, who equal him in the possession of the combination of characteristics which com- mand success. Heis now largely interested in the business affairs of the county, being president of the Kittanning Ironworks and president of the National Bank of Kittanning. He was the prin- cipal organizer of this financial institution, and from the death of James E. Brown until July, 1882, when its charter expired, was president of the old First National Bank.

In politics Mr. Mosgrove has always been a democrat. He accepted the nomination of the greenback party for congress in 1878, when it was tendered to him, not because he had abandoned any of his democratic principles, but because he had for years advocated the financial doctrines of the greenback party. In that campaign he ran far ahead of his ticket, but was defeated on account of the failure of the democrats to indorse his nomina- tion, which he had a right to expect they would do. He never sought a political office in his life, and he furnishes a notable example of the office seeking the man instead of the man seeking the office.

In 1880 he was nominated for congress by both the democratic and greenback parties without any solicitation on his part, and was elected by a majority of 756 votes over his competitor, and that, too, in a republican district. He served his constituency intelligently and efficiently-credit- ably to himself and acceptably to the people of the twenty-fifth congressional district of Pennsylvania.

In 1882 he was renominated, but declined to serve as a candidate.

ROBERT WALTER SMITH .*

Robert Walter Smith was born at Litchfield, New Hampshire, June 16, 1816, at the residence of Iris grandfather (on the maternal side), Judge Parker. His great-grandfather, Capt. Ebenezer Smith, was an officer throughout the whole of the revolutionary war, and was appointed captain of the guard over Maj. Andre the night before his execution. Ilis grandfather, the Rev. David Smith, D. D., was at the time of his death in his ninety- fifth year, probably the oldest Yale College grad- uate in the United States. His father, the late Rev. David M. Smith, was also a graduate of Yale College, being a member of the class of 1811. He studied theology at Andover, Massachusetts, and was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian

church. For many years he was the stated mis- sionary to the Tuscarora Indians. He settled at Lewiston, and in connection with his missionary duties he presided for twelve years over a large school. It was there that Robert Walter Smith laid the foundation for his future course. He was a very resolute, methodical and active boy. After leaving Lewiston, his father removed to Clinton, Oneida county, New York, and after preaching a year or so at Little Falls he removed to Stock- bridge, in the same county ; took charge of a very flourishing academy and also officiated as pastor of the Presbyterian church. At this place the sub- ject of our sketch was very thoroughly prepared for Hamilton College, from which he graduated in 1837. He afterward read law in the office of IIon. Darius Pecet, a noted lawyer of Warsaw, New York. After leaving there he was for awhile principal of the Red Hood seminary. From there he found his way to Saugerties, New York, but not being satisfied there he soon removed. He next went to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from that place came to Kittanning.

The time of Mr. Smith's location in Kittanning, where it was destined he was to pass the remain- der of his days, was the year 1846. Soon after his arrival he was associated in a law partnership with the late Judge Buffington, and remained with him for several years, afterward practicing alone. He was the first county superintendent of schools, be- ing appointed to fill that position by the governor of the state in 1856. He served. until 1860 ; was elected to the same office in 1863, and altogether occupied it over six years. During that period he devoted himself very conscientiously to the duties of the office, and made an admirable superintend- ent. From 1863 to 1876 he was editor of the Union Free Press, and performed his newspaper labors with the same care and thoroughness for which he was noted in other lines of employment. He was mayor or burgess of the town for two terms, and held other municipal offices as well as many positions of private trust.

He was a ·man of studious habits and literary tastes. Very naturally, therefore, he was the chief promoter of the several fine lecture courses which the people of Kittanning enjoyed during the sev- enties. Appropriately and by common consent the duty of introducing the lecturers was assigned to him, and it was one which he well performed. He was also frequently called upon to address the people upon various subjects, and his history of Armstrong county in reality grew out of one of these addresses-the one delivered upon the cen- tennial anniversary of independence at Cherry

* It is a matter of regret to the publishers that they cannot present in this volnme a portrait of the author. The only one extant is not suitable for production, being a daguerreotype taken when Mr. Smith was about thirty years of age.

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Run, in Plum Creek township. Conceiving the | to be incapacitated for his duties. He had gone idea of writing an elaborate history of the county, to his brother's upon a visit, thinking that change of scenery and air would restore his health, and his death was not expected by his friends. he entered upon his arduous, self-imposed task with the determination of making it thorough and reliable. Toward this end he toiled patiently for A meeting of the bar of Armstrong county was held upon the 9th of December, over which Ed- ward S. Golden, Esq., presided, to take action upon the death of their deceased brother. Appropriate remarks were made and tributes of respect paid to Mr. Smith's memory by Judge James B. Neale and others, and a committee was appointed to draft suitable resolutions to be engrossed upon the journal. full five years. How minute and painstaking was his research, and how devotedly he followed the tedious labor of collecting and collating facts, can be in some measure appreciated by whoever reads even a small portion of the volume, but the full measure of difficulty attending the work can only be understood by one who has attempted a similar production. Mr. Smith labored with conscien- tiousness and zeal. How deeply he was absorbed Mr. Smith never attained a large law practice. He had not that kind of eloquence or art of speak- ing which is effective in the court-room, but he possessed a good knowledge of the law, and it was generally conceded was an able counselor. His character was untarnished, and he held the respect of all with whom he was associated, whether pro- fessionally or otherwise. in his work (and also a glimpse of his method in writing the history and the regard which at least one man entertained for it) is shown by a para- graph from a letter written by him to the editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History aad Biography, under date of April 5, 1880. Mr. Smith says :

I hope to finish my manuscript, if not too much in- terrupted, in a few months. I have maps of all the origi- nal surveys of tracts of land in this county, and have become much interested in tracing up whatever of inter- est has occurred on each one and locating the same on it, so that every original tract is touched more or less minutely, according to what has transpired on it. You may readily conclude that I occasionally get on to a stick- ing place which detains me for a considerable time. It is encouraging to know that the facts which I have col- lected deeply interest people from different parts of the county, to whom I have read a few pages here and there of what I have written. For instance, a farmer to whom I read a few pages one day, respecting a different locality from his own, became so deeply interested in the facts that he told another person that he meant to have a copy of the work if it should cost him $25. So you see there are some very interesting facts connected with the history of this county.

Sadly enough the author was not permitted the quiet satisfaction of seeing the book on which he had so long toiled come from the press. He could not have been fully recompensed for his labor had he lived, but he might have been in some measure rewarded by the knowledge that its results were placed before the people. He worked without expectation of adequate pecuniary return, but whether wittingly or not reared for himself a mon- ument which will ever perpetuate his name among the people of the county in which he spent the last half of his life.

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 124

Author: Smith, Robert Walter Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins Number of Pages: 790

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790