History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 127

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

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Of the above, Joshua Banks, Morgan R. and John A. served their country in the war for the Union.

Of the above, those who are deceased, besides John A., are William I. and Mary A., who became the wife of William F. Boyer, in 1855. John M. Hunter, the father of these children, followed shoemaking most of his life, but during the years 1854 and 1855 was a foreman on the Pennsylvania canal, under his son-in-law, Mr. Boyer, who was its superintendent.

Robert P. Hunter began the study of medicine under his uncle, Dr. M. R. Banks, of Livermore, Westmoreland county, in 1862. Prior to this time he had worked on the Pennsylvania canal under

his father for two years, and had taught school during the winter months for five years. The proceeds of both his manual and intellectual labor were saved with commendable economy and pru- dence, and, supplemented by his limited earnings from the practice of his profession after he had taken a few lectures, enabled him to obtain a thor- ough professional education at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Doubtless he studied harder and with better results from the fact that he had earned by hard work the means necessary to pay his way through college. His first course of lectures was taken in 1864, and he graduated, standing well in his class, in 1869. He first located in Leechburg to follow his profession, May 9, 1865, and has been permanently and prosperously engaged in practice there since his graduation. He is a man who finds exercise for his energies outside of his profession, although the greater part of his time and attention is devoted to it. In 1873 he was one of the leading spirits in organizing the Leechburgh bank, and has been a stockholder and director in the institution continuously since, until .1880. He was also among the first to bring fine short-horn cattle into the county, procuring them in Kentucky in 1878. As a result of the interest he has felt in good stock and the action he took to secure it, there are now many fine blooded cattle and horses in the immediate vicinity. Dr. Hunter served two terms as burgess of Leechburgh, and during the Pittsburgh railroad riots was surgeon- in-chief of Gen. Harry White's staff, 9th division, N. G., having been commissioned by Gov. Hart- ranft December 29, 1875. On June 29, 1882, he was made president of the Armstrong County Pro- hihitory Amendment Association, a temperance organization which met in Kittanning upon that date. He is an elder of the Presbyterian church of Leechburg, and superintendent of its Sunday school. Highly respected both as physician and- citizen, Dr. Hunter occupies a useful position in the community, and is an active worker for good.

Upon May 18, 1875, Dr. Hunter was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Hill, danghter of Daniel and Eliza (Kuhns) Hill, who was born in Armstrong county June 30, 1853. They have had three children-John A. H., born June 18, 1876; Anna Lyda, born January 10, 1878, and Robert K., born October 19, 1879, all of whom are living.

MAJOR JOSEPH G. BEALE.

The family of which the subject of this sketch and of the accompanying portrait is a representa- tive is one of the oldest in the State of Pennsyl- vania. One of the progenitors of the family came

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

over the ocean with William Penn, and, being a civil engineer by profession, was employed by the proprietor to lay out the city of Philadelphia. The family afterward settled in the Tuscarora valley, east of the mountains, where they engaged in agriculture and manufacturing pursuits, and in the year 1800, Washington Beale, grandfather of the man whose name heads this biography, crossed the mountains and settled in what at that time was almost a wilderness near Natrona, or the site of the soda-works in the northern part of Allegheny county. He accumulated a valuable property in this region, and the family flourished, as was nat- ural from their enterprise and intelligence. Wash- ington Beale, Jr., father of Joseph G. Beale, set- tled near his paternal homestead and devoted his energies to farming and stock-raising. To him the people of this section of country are indebted for a practical advantage and improvement. Seeing the necessity of a better class of heavy draft horses in the manufacturing districts, he went to England in 1859 and purchased and imported into this country the first English draft horses that were ever brought into Western Pennsylvania. From. these horses descended the fine stock for which the immediate locality is now so much noted. It may be mentioned in this connection that Joseph G. Beale has taken much interest in the same matter, and that in 1875 he imported a superb draft horse from Scotland, after a visit to that country with his father.

Joseph G. Beale was born March 26, 1839, and reared upon his father's farm. His first enterprise undertaken for himself was drilling for oil in the Kanawha valley, and he was there when the war of the rebellion broke out.

He won an enviable reputation as a soldier. Im- mediately after the breaking out of the rebellion and under the first call for volunteers he enlisted for three months' service in the Iron City Guards of Pittsburgh. Before his time was up, however, he re-enlisted for three years and was mustered into the United States service in Co. C of the 9th Pa. Reserves. He was wounded during the sixth day of the seven days' fight in front of Rich- mond, upon June 30, 1862, and left on the battle- field of Charles City Cross-roads, where the rebels found him seven days later, he having lain there during that time without food, except a few crackers. He was taken by them to Richmond and placed in confinement in the dreaded Libby prison, where he remained until the following fall, when he was released and sent to Fortress Monroe. After the battle in which he was wounded he was promoted to captain. His wound, however, was of

such nature that he was never fit for active service again. After leaving the army, and while still suffering from his injury, he studied law in Pitts- burgh under the Hon. Samuel Purviance and N. Nelson, Esq. In 1865 he engaged in the coal business, which he sold out in 1868, and then hought the Leech property at Leechburgh. Re- solved to make his purchase practically useful, he began a systematic series of endeavors to induce' the building up of mannfactures, and in 1872 suc- ceeded, by giving land and extending other aid, in securing the establishment there of large iron- works for the manufacture of fine sheet iron and tin plate. In this mill natural gas was first used as a fuel. The gas came from a well put down by Mr. Beale, in 1869-70, which was the first one in this country, or in the world, so far as is known, from which gas was used for any kind of manufacturing. In 1875 the company who built the works having failed, Maj. Beale, with some others, bought them and carried on the manufac- ture of iron very successfully until 1879. In that year he sold out his interest and built the West Pennsylvania Steelworks, the first established in Armstrong county and the first steelworks in the world in which natural gas was utilized. Although Major Beale has a number of other heavy interests, among them the ownership of a large body of lands in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia, he is devoting almost his entire time and energy to the management of the steelworks, of which he is. the sole owner. In maintaining and improving this manufacturing establishment, of which he was the founder, he has added largely to the material pros- perity of Leechburg, and it is safe to say that no citizen has done more than he in that direction.

After the war he was appointed major on Gen. Harry White's staff and served in that capacity at the time of the Pittsburgh riots.

JOHN SCHWALM.

The career of the subject of this sketch is a remarkably good illustration of the success that can be attained in life, however humble the be- ginning, through industry, enterprise and honesty.

John Schwalm was born in Hesse-Cassel, Prussia, February 27, 1835, and was the son of John George and Catharine Elizabeth (Koehler) Schwalm. He came to America with his father in 1852, landing August 14, and coming immedi- ately to Leechburg, in this county, by way of the old Pennsylvania canal, from Philadelphia. The first labor that he performed was done soon after his arrival, for he was determined to make his way to an independency in his chosen country, and cared

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little how he began, provided it was in honorable employment. He went out to that part of old Allegheny township which is now Bethel, and began as a laborer upon the Allegheny Valley Railroad. His father bought a small farm in what is now Parks township, and his son subsequently worked for him a few years. In 1863, however, he went into the mercantile business in a country store, which he carried on with growing success until 1871. He then went into partnership with W. H. Carnahan (under the style of Schwalm & Carnahan), and bought what was known as Coch- ran's mill, in Burrell township. He was there engaged in the milling and mercantile business until the fall of 1876, when he went to Leechburg and bought the Hill mill property. He built a new mill on the site of the old one, in which he did a good business until 1881, when it was un- fortunately carried away by ice. Mr. Schwalm gave the people of Leechburg evidence that he intended to remain there, when he came in 1876, by purchasing the homestead of David Leech, the founder of the town. And a further indication of his intention was afforded in 1877, when he erected the large two-story store building in which he has since carried on a heavy business. He bought also and rebuilt the Ulam Hotel, now known as the Schwalm House. He is a one-half owner of the El- wood flouringmill (the old Leech mill), and has an interest in three coal mines in Westmoreland county, not far from Leechburg. Besides these investments and his store, he owns three farms in Armstrong county. His property has all been accumulated by his own exertion and enterprise, and his quite phenomenal prosperity, extending and increasing through a period of more than thirty years, marks him as a man of unusual ability, judgment and industry. He is in all respects worthy of the success he has achieved. His business ability has been a powerful factor in the improvement of Leechburg, for he has done a great deal directly and indirectly to advance the interests of the town. He is liberal and public spirited, and always one of the foremost in any enterprise for the good of the community.

In politics Mr. Schwalm is a democrat. He has never been an office seeker, but his popularity and strength being recognized in his party, he was nominated for the assembly in 1882. There was a majority of 600 votes in the county for the republicans and they made a strong canvass, yet Mr. Schwalm was defeated by only sixteen ballots.

Mr. Schwalm was married in 1854, to Sarah Smail, daughter of Jacob Smail, an early settler in that part of old Allegheny township now known

as Bethel township. The offspring of this union were nine children-Catharine Elizabeth (Carson), Anna Mary (Taylor), John Matthew, Margaret, Matilda, Sarah Amanda, Ida Louisa, Charles Bis- mark and Edward Walter. The oldest son is engaged in the study of law in Attorney-Gen. Brewster's office, in Philadelphia.

THOMAS BUTLER.

The subject of this sketch was born February 1, 1825, near the great manufacturing city of Bir- mingham, England, and was the thirteenth child of Joseph and Fanny (Garrington) Butler. There was one child younger, and of the fourteen but three are now living. The family was in good cir- cumstances and the children were well reared, re- ceiving a good education and being practically fitted for life. The father dying, a portion of the family emigrated to America, landing in Boston, June 29, 1844. Thomas very soon came to Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, to meet an older brother, William, who had come to America before him, and whom he supposed to be there engaged in a rolling-mill. Upon arriving he found, however, that he had left. Although disappointed he went to work in the mill, getting $100 bonus, and re- mained there three months. He then went to Troy, New York, where he worked at puddling for the famous iron firm of Henry Burden & Co. While there, in 1846, he sent to England for a young lady, a neighbor, whom he had known all of his life and to whom he was affianced. He met this young lady, Miss Elizabeth Darby, in New York, and was married to her in Troy, July 18, 1846, the ceremony being performed at St. Paul's Episcopal church, by the Rev. Dr. Van Kleeck. After his marriage he moved to Boston, and while at work there was hired with others by the Brady's Bend Iron Company, and upon March 18, 1847, ar- rived at their works, which were the third in the United States to turn out Trails. Mr. Butler was a thoroughly skilled workman, as good as the best in the country, and he very soon quit puddling and took a contract for running four heating furnaces. This was a responsible and a remunerative posi- tion, and although a very young man he filled it to the entire satisfaction of the mill owners, and held it continuously from 1847 to 1872. While pros- pering financially, he was, however, destined to suffer a great domestic sorrow, for his young wife died September 12, 1847, and was followed to the grave only a week later by her infant child. He married as his second wife Miss Martha Wassell, who like himself was a native of England and had come to' America at the same time, though upon

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

another ship. They were united in wedlock April 22, 1849. A short time before this marriage Mr. Butler, seeking a safe investment for the little money he earned by his industry and economically saved, bought the farm where he now lives in Brady's Bend township. He built a house upon this farm and improved the property by degrees, but did not go there to permanently reside until 1875. In 1879 this farm was found to be rich in petro- leum, and Mr. Butler leased it in parcels to H. L. Taylor & Co. and other operators, receiving cer- tain proportions of the production as royalties. The land which he had secured by the proceeds of his labor thus gave him an independency, which he now enjoys in well earned ease and contentment. Mr. Butler is a fine example of what a man may make himself by earnest, well-directed endeavor and by habits of thrift and providence. His ener- gies were by no means monopolized by his ardnous labor, but he sought by every means at hand to ad- vance in knowledge, and became a great reader of the best works of classical and current literature. He has taken a deep interest in public affairs and measures for the general good, and is known as a man of practical benevolence and an active, useful citizen. His reputation is an enviable one and his character one worthy of emulation for those who like himself have made the start in life with no capital but honesty and industry. In politics he is a strong republican, and in religious life a firm adherent of the Episcopal church. He is a mem- ber of Kittanning Lodge, No. 244, F. and A. M., and stands high in the fraternity in this county.

Mr. Butler has one son, William, surviving of the two born of his second marriage. The other son, Horace Mann, of most estimable character, was killed September 30, 1875, by an explosion of glycerine which by some accident had been left in the pipe of a torpedo-case which had been sent as junk to the ironmill where he was working in Pittsburgh.

WILLIAM ARMSTRONG .WILSON.

The parents of the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this biography were Armstrong and Jane (Hutchison) Wilson, the former born in 1806, and the latter in 1808. They were married in 1834, upon May 20, and settled in Fairview town- ship, Butler county. Three children were born of this union-Hutchison, who was killed when four- teen years old (as was also his stepbrother) by a stroke of lightning; Maria, who died an infant, and William Armstrong Wilson, the subject of this sketch, and the only one surviving, who was born in 1838. His parents were highly respectable

people and members of the United Presbyterian church. They had succeeded in making for them- selves a comfortable home when the father was hurt at a barn-raising so severely that he only lived a few hours afterward. His son was reared upon the farm, and received only the limited education which the primitive schools of the time in his neighborhood afforded. At the age of twenty- four he enlisted in Co. G, 134th regt. Pa. Vols., for the nine months service. June 2, 1864, he was married to Miss Mina Hart, daughter of William and Elizabeth Hart, of Sugar Creek town- ship, Armstrong county. Mr. Wilson had, when he was twenty-one years of age, come in posses- . sion of his father's farm in Butler county, about 106 acres of land, worth perhaps $30 per acre. In 1872 petroleum was discovered on the farm adjoin- ing his, which led to his leasing 15 acres of land to oil operators, who gave him a one-eighth royalty, and this led to the sale of the farm for the snug sum of $40,000. Soon afterward he purchased his father-in-law's old homestead in Sugar Creek town- ship, Armstrong county, a good farm of 122 acres, on which he has since resided. He gave for this farm about $12,000, and has spent fully two-thirds of that sum in buildings and other improvements, and has made himself a pleasant and beautiful home. He has a half interest in a general store at Grove City, Mercer county, the capital stock of which is $10,000, and his son represents him in its management. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are members of the United Presbyterian church of East Brady. In politics Mr. Wilson is purely and strongly re- publican.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are: An- drew Newton, Elizabeth Jane and Ethelda Eudel.

ROBERT MORRIS.

The subject of this sketch, one of the oldest and most prominent citizens of Freeport, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, September 27, 1804, and came to this country with his parents, James and Eliza- beth (Mclaughlin) Morris, in 1819. The family first located in Indiana county, from which they soon removed, however, to Greensburg; thence after a sojourn of several years they went to Pitts- burgh, where the lives of the parents were both ended, and where they were married. Robert served an apprenticeship under his father, and learned the carpenter's trade. July 28, 1829, he was united in marriage in Allegheny (then- a borough) with Isabella Gilchrist, who, like him- self, was a native of Scotland. In 1832 they re- moved to Freeport, where Mr. Morris has ever since lived. His wife died in 1854. Four children

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were the offspring of the union-James M. (de- ceased), Elizabeth J. (wife of Judge A. D. Weir, of Butler county), Alexander G. (located in Ty- rone, Pennsylvania), and Margaret G. (Mowry), deceased. Upon September 11, 1855, Mr. Morris married his second wife, who is still living, Mrs. Sophia D. Boyd, née Weir. Mr. Morris has led a very active and useful life. Besides working at the carpenter's trade and as a builder and contract- or, he has taken a prominent part in several en- terprises. He was the prime mover in the project which resulted in the laying out of the Freeport cemetery, and was one of the original stockholders and organizers of the Freeport Planing Mill Com- pany, and the Buffalo Milling Company. He has several times been elected councilman, and has held other offices in the borongh government. Po- litically he is a democrat, and religiously his affili- ation is with the United Presbyterian church.

GEORGE B. SLOAN.

His grandfather lived and died in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. His family consisted of four sons-Samuel, James, William and David. Two of the children of Samuel-John, afterward Col. John Sloan, and his sister, afterward Mrs. Gib- son-were carried away by the Indians and held for some time in captivity by them. James Sloan, Esq., lived near Kittanning on the west bank of the Allegheny river. He was the first prothonotary of Armstrong county, and in his house the first court was held. David Sloan, father of the subject of this notice, when quite a young man purchased a farm in Buffalo township, about two miles from Freeport, but being dispossessed by some defect in his title, he located in Franklin township about a mile from Worthington, on the farm recently owned by James Claypoole. He was a tall, portly man and very agile. One of his feats was to jump over a covered wagon by means of a pole-feats of skill and strength being held in higher esteem in that day than in this. About 1812 he was killed while felling timber, a portion of a falling tree re- bounding and striking him with violence. He was twice married. By the first marriage there were five children-James, David, William, Nancy and Jane. James and David removed to the State of Indiana, the latter returning to this county and locating near Worthington, where he died in 1877. Nancy married a Mr. McAdoo and settled in Indiana. Jane became the wife of James Clay- poole, already mentioned, and died about 1850. William died near Worthington eight or ten years later.

The second wife of David Sloan was Nancy

Jack. To them four children were born-John who died in infancy, Samuel and George Byers, twins, of whom the former died at five years of age, and Margaret, afterward Mrs. John Maxwell, now a widow and residing in Chicago. Mrs. Nancy Sloan, after the death of her husband, was united in marriage to Samuel Robinson. Both died near Slate Lick, where they are buried. They had four children-John, Samuel, David and Isabella, now Mrs. Lewis.

George B. Sloan was born at the family home in Franklin township, February 20, 1809. The death of his father occurring when he was but three years of age, he was left in the care of his mother, an amiable, industrious and pions woman. But their fortune was slender, and while yet a mere boy, George found himself mainly thrown upon his own resources. He had good health and a will to work, and accepting such employment as in that day was to be had (grubbing, chopping, reaping, etc.), he gained a livelihood and formed those habits of industry and energy that characterized his whole after-life. When about twenty years of age he spent a winter thrashing grain by hand, as the custom then was, in the barn of William Morrison, of Slate Lick, a circumstance materially affecting his whole after life, as will presently be seen.

His formal education extended only to the com- mon elements of an English course, and for the privilege of this he had to walk a distance of two or three miles, and pay his own way in a subscrip- tion school.

At the age of twenty-one, December 9, 1830, he was united in marriage to Mary, danghter of Will- iam Morrison, already named, a union fraught with happiness to both. Mrs. Sloan's mother was Martha Barnes. Her grandparents were Robert Morrison and Elizabeth Culbertson, who resided in Greene county, Pennsylvania, near Carmichael's of the present day. Her great-grandparents were Will- iam Morrison and Elizabeth Hamilton, of Ayr, Scotland. In the wife of his choice, Mr. Sloan found a true helpmeet; when he wooed he had but himself to offer. But from the first she fully and cheerfully accepted his lot, and, blessed with good health, prudent in counsel, and untiring in energy, she contributed her full share to whatever of suc- cess he attained in life.

Upon his marriage he purchased and settled on the farm with which his whole after-life was iden- tified, at Slate Lick, then in unbroken forest, with the exception of a few acres. Beginning without capital other than he had in his own faculties and endowmerits, he yet managed to meet his payments. Often he prosecuted the work of clearing his land

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into the night, lighted by the blazing fires, and cheered by the presence of his young wife, sitting, with knitting in hand, conveniently by. Their first house was a rude cabin of logs, so open that the twinkle of the stars could be seen through the chinks at night. But the material comforts of his home steadily increased. Prudent; he was yet progressive, and was ever among the first to avail himself of improvements and conveniences. He was one of the first to take a newspaper in his neighborhood. He owned almost the first machine for thrashing grain introduced into the neighbor- hood.

Aside from the ordinary pursuits of the farm he engaged to some extent in a variety of other busi- ness enterprises. In the general outcome he was fairly successful, not amassing great wealth, but having as the fruit of his honest industry an easy competence.

To a very large extent he enjoyed the confidence and respect of those who knew him. Often he was called to make peace and adjust differences between other people. In 1854 he was chosen to fill the office of county commissioner. In 1859 he was elected to the office of sheriff. He also served as one of the first jury commissioners under the new system. Each of these offices he filled with fidelity and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Especially as sheriff, while true to the duties of his office, by his kindly manner and the allowance of all proper indulgence, he won from many the praise of being the friend of the poor and the unfortunate. He loved to encourage and help those whom he saw struggling, as he had done, to gain homes for themselves, not infrequently, as it turned out, obliging others to his own hurt.

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 127

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