USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 3
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and personal history > Part 3
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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 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
Elizabeth Scull, the daughter of John and Mary Irwin Scull, was born in Pittsburgh, February 23, 1792, and was twice married. First to Ephriam Blaine, of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, by whom she had two children, Edward Scull and John Scull Blaine. Her second husband was William Ward and they were the parents of three daughters, Catharine, Mary and Julia.
.John Irwin Scull, the second son of John and Mary Irwin Scull, was born in Pittsburgh, October 30, 1790, and was named in lionor of his maternal grandfather. He was educated at the Pittsburgh Academy and Princeton College, studied law and was admitted to the Allegheny county bar. He was a gentle- man of high character, affable manners, an accomplished class- ical scholar and a vigorous writer. In 1816 he became associat- ed with his father in editing the Pittsburgh Gazette, and as his father's other interests made increasing demands upon his time, the latter ultimately withdrew from the paper, the son continuing in sole charge until May, 1818. In that month a partnership was formed between John Irwin Scull and Mor-
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gan Neville, who jointly edited the paper and published it bi- weekly until March, 1820. His maternal grandmother having died on the 3rd of June, 1818, and the health of his grandfather beginning to fail, he withdrew from Pittsburgh to "Brush Hill" in order to minister to the comfort and happiness of his aged relative, who had designated him as heir to the "Brush Hill" estate. Meantime John Irwin Scull had, in 1817, been united in marriage to Anna Bonnet Spencer, daughter of Rob- ert and Sarah (Ewalt) Spencer. He continued to reside at "Brush Hill" until his premature and sudden death, which occurred on the 21st of January, 1827. His body lies in the old Long Run churchyard.
Anna Spencer Scull, with her children, continued to reside at "Brush Hill" until 1868, when she removed to Pittsburgh, and subsequently in 1882 she made her home with her brother, Captain William Spencer, in Steubenville, Ohio, where she died March 13, 1890, at the great age of ninety-four years. She was a woman of lofty character, of many accomplishments and of sweet and amiable disposition. It was her custom for many years and until her death to spend the summer months with her son Edward in Somerset, where she is still pleasantly re- membered by many of the older residents. The children of John Irwin and Anna Spencer Scull were five sons and one daughter. Two of the sons, John Irwin and James, died young. Those who survived their parents were Edward, Spencer Fitz- roy, Anna Marie and George Ross. The daughter, Anna Marie Scull, was born at "Brush Hill," November 1, 1821, and al- ways made her home with her mother. She was a woman of many virtues, finely educated and accomplished and greatly be- loved by those who knew her. Next to her devotion to her widowed mother her chief pleasure was in doing good to others. She died in Steubenville, Ohio, August 24, 1898.
Shortly after the death of their father, Spencer F. Scull and his elder brother, Edward, were placed in charge of their maternal uncle, Captain William Spencer, in Steubenville, Ohio, where they were educated at the Steubenville Academy. Spen- cer F. Scull was born in Pittsburgh, November 6, 1819. Upon reaching maturity he was employed for a short time as clerk in a mercantile establishment in Steubenville. He next be- came clerk on the "Hibernia," one of the famous steamboats of the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Packet Line. He afterwards commanded and was part owner of steamboats operating on the Ohio, Mississippi and Alabama rivers. When railroad con- struction began to make progress in the west he, in 1854, en- tered the service of the Steubenville and Indiana railroad, now part of the Pennsylvania system, becoming successively see- retary, paymaster, auditor and general passenger agent. He
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continued in the service of the Pennsylvania Company until a short time before his death, which took place March 19, 1896, at his residence in Pittsburgh. He was a great lover and com- poser of music and a skillful performer upon several instru- ments, the chief of which was the church organ. In his younger days a number of his songs were published and enjoyed the usual ephemeral popularity of such works. Most of his music was of a sacred character and for many years was almost ex- clusively used in the service at old St. Paul's Protestant Epis- copal Church in Steubenville. In the month of June, 1850, Spencer F. Scull was married to Amanda Jane Bird, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hyde) Bird, of Philadelphia,. Penn- sylvania. His widow still survives and now resides at Roland Park, Baltimore, Maryland.
George Ross Scull was born at "Brush Hill" on June 15, 1826, and that was his only home during life, and there he died February 29, 1892. There too some of his children con- tinue to reside and his grandchildren to visit. The old roof tree has thus sheltered five successive generations of the same family, which is somewhat unusual in this land of changing habitations. George Ross Scull was for a time engaged in the transportation business, but about the time of his marriage entered the service of the Westmoreland Coal Company, serv- ing successively as paymaster, purchasing agent and superin- tendent, and continued in that service until his death. On the 16th of July, 1863, he was united in marriage to Isabel War- ren, daughter of Joseph and Ann (Spear) Warren, of the family of the revolutionary patriot, General Joseph Warren, who was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill. She died at "Brush Hill" December 29, 1880. The children of George Ross and Isabel Warren Scull were two sons and five daugli- ters. Joseph Warren Scull, the eldest son, married Louise Guf- fey and resides in Bellevue, Pennsylvania. He is at present purchasing agent of the Pressed Steel Car Company of Pitts- burgh. The second son, George Ross Scull, married Elizabeth Davis and resides in Irwin, Pennsylvania, where he is en- gaged in mercantile business. Frank Scull, the second daugh- ter, married John M. Stauffer and with him resides in Scott- dale, Pennsylvania, where he is engaged in the banking busi- ness. Isabel Warren Scull, the third daughter, married Goldwin W. Starrett, of New York city, who, with his brothers, carries on an engineering and contracting business in that city. The eldest daughter, Alice Scull, with her younger sisters, Amy and Shirley, resides at "Brush Hill."
Edward Scull, the oldest son of John Irwin and Anna (Spencer) Scull, was born in Pittsburgh, February 5, 1818. He received a liberal education, engaged for a short time in
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mercantile pursuits, read law in the office of the late United States Senator Cowan in Greensburg and was admitted to the bar in 1844. He removed to Somerset in 1846 and practiced his profession until 1857, in which year he was elected protho- notary of Somerset county for a term of three years. He be- gan the publication of the Somerset Herald and Whig in 1852, and continued to publish and edit it for fifty years. Mr. Scull was a writer of great clearness and force and his paper was an influential factor in shaping the political allegiance of the western part of the state. He was among the first to es- pouse the principles of the Republican party and was on its first presidential electoral ticket in the Fremont and Dayton campaign in 1856. He was appointed collector of internal rev- enue for the sixteenth district of Pennsylvania by President Lincoln on the 4th of March, 1863, was removed by President Johnson in September, 1866, when the latter was engaged in his struggle with the Republican majority in congress. When General Grant became president in 1869 he was appointed as- sessor of internal revenue for the sixteenth Pennsylvania dis- trict, and in March, 1873, at the beginning of General Grant's second term as president, he was for the second time appointed collector. This position he continued to fill until 1883, when the sixteenth district was consolidated with several others, ow- ing to the abolition of many of the internal taxes and the con- sequent reduction in the personnel of the internal revenue serv- ice. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention held at Baltimore in June, 1864, that put in nomination Abra- ham Lincoln for president and Andrew Johnson for vice-presi- dent. He was also a delegate to the convention held at Cin- cinnati in June, 1876, that nominated Hayes and Wheeler, to the convention held at Chicago in June, 1884, that nominated Blaine and Logan, and an alternate at large to the convention held at Chicago in June, 1880, that nominated Garfield and Arthur. In 1886 he was elected to represent his district in the national congress, re-elected in 1888 and in 1890, serving in the fiftieth, fifty-first and fifty-second congresses.
In addition to the distinguished positions held by him, Mr. Scull also performed his duty to his townsmen by repeatedly serving as a member of the town council and as a school di- rector. Until the close of his life his interest in politics was keen and profound and his counsel was still sought by the state leaders of his party. It is probable that no man before him ever held so predominant an influence, during so protracted a period, in the political and public affairs of Somerset county as was accorded to him. He was not a man who could influence the multitude by the grace and art of the orator, nor would he descend to the ignoble devices of the demagogue, but he com-
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pelled confidence and esteem by the innate force of lofty char- acter, combined with ability of a high order and an open, upright life. In all the circumstances of his career, as a public official, as a citizen, as a husband and father, and in his intercourse with friends and neighbors, he bore himself with a dignity and court- esy that inspired respect and won affection. His life was simple and open as the day. All his incomings and outgoings were known. He walked up and down before his people for four score years without fear and without reproach, and at the end of his days was sincerely mourned as a loving husband, an af- fectionate father and a good citizen.
Apart from his public duties Mr. Scull carried on the print- ing business, a love of which he had inherited from his father and his grandfather, and he continued to edit and publish the Herald. In 1889, with his son George and a few associates, he organized the First National Bank of Somerset, the first of its kind in the county. He became its first president, and continued as such until his death, July 10, 1900.
Edward Scull was twice married, and the father of four- teen children, six sons and eight daughters. His first wife was Sarah Jane Marchand, daughter of Daniel and Jane (Irwin) Marchand, of Westmoreland county. The first marriage took place in 1841. The children of this union were Emily Connell Scull and Sarah Spencer Scull. Their mother died June 8, 1845, and was buried in the old Long Run churchyard. On the 16th of February, 1848, Mr. Scull was united in marriage to Louise Ogle, daughter of General Alexander and Charlotte (Schneider) Ogle. The second Mrs. Scull bore her husband six sons and six daughters. His eldest daughter, Emily Connell Scull, was married December 7, 1865, to John H. Boyts, of Som- erset county, late captain of Company C, One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was a gallant officer and was severely wounded at the battle of Fred- ericksburg, Virginia, during the Civil war, December 13, 1862. Being discharged from service on account of his wound he was elected register and recorder of Somerset county. He subse- quently engaged in mercantile and commercial pursuits in Pitts- burgh, where he died January 8, 1900. His widow now resides at "Brush Hill." Mary Ogle Scull, the fifth daughter, was mar- ried October 14, 1886, to Frederick W. Biesecker, of Somerset county, a prominent member of the Somerset county bar, and they reside in Somerset. Three daughters died young: Char- lotte Ogle, April 26, 1875; Abby, July 22, 1878, and Darley For- ward, July 15, 1878. The other daughters, Sarah Spencer, Anna Bonnet and Louise Ogle Scull, continue to reside with their aged mother in the old homestead in Somerset, where she has resided for upwards of fifty years.
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Of the sons, Oden Hugart Scull died in infancy, June 8, 1868. John Irwin Seull was drowned while fishing in the Poto- mae river, near Point of Rocks, Maryland, Angust 22, 1878, in the thirtieth year of his age. He was a gentleman of fine char- acter, cultivated tastes, affable manners and greatly beloved by his family and associates.
Charles Ogle Seull, the second and oldest surviving son, was born in Somerset November 27. 1851. He was educated in the public schools of Somerset and the Newell Institute of Pitts- burg. He entered the railway service in the general office of the Pennsylvania system in January, 1870; became assistant general passenger agent of the Pennsylvania lines west of Pitts- burgh. and subsequently, for a number of years, general pas- senger agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. On August 27, 1902, he married Ann Harvy Miller, daughter of Wilson and Hannah (Lee) Miller, of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He resides in Baltimore, Maryland, and is one of the vice-presi- dents of the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company.
Edward Blaine Seull, the third son, was born in Somerset April 30, 1854. He was educated in the public schools of Som- erset and the Kiskiminitas Academy at Elder's Ridge, Pennsyl- vania. He read law and was admitted to the Somerset county har July 12, 1877. He was married April 29, 1880, to Mona E. Coffroth, daughter of George R. and Alberina Coffroth, of Baltimore, Maryland. He resides in Pittsburgh and practices his profession at the Allegheny county bar.
George Ross Scull, the fourth son, was born in Somerset, November 25, 1856. Receiving a liberal education, he read law and was admitted to the Somerset county bar, August 29, 1879. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1880 for a term of three years. He served as secretary and chairman of the Republican county committee repeatedly and for a number of years was a member of the Republican state committee. He has been a delegate to several Republican state conventions, was an al- ternato delegate to the Republican national convention at Minneapolis in 1892, that nominated Harrison and Reed, a dele- gate to the Republican national convention at St. Louis in 1896 that nominated Mckinley and Hobart, and an alternate delegate to the Republican national convention at Philadelphia, in 1900, that nominated MeKinley and Roosevelt. He was a supervisor of the census for the Thirteenth district of Pennsylvania at the last enumeration and declined to accept the proffered position of United States marshal for the western district of Pennsyl- vania. Has been associated with his brother in the publication of the Somerset Herald since the death of his father in 1900. On October 21, 1885, he married Caroline Trexler Baer, daugh- ter of Herman L. and Ley (Schall) Baer, of Somerset. Their
Harry M.Berkeley.
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children are Lucy Baer, John Irwin, Edward and Anna Catha- rine Scull. Mr. Scull resides in Somerset and is president of the Somerset Trust Company, the First National Bank of Som- erset, and the First National Bank of Confluence, Pennsylvania.
The fifth son, Robert Spencer Scull, was born in Somerset, March 4, 1860. He was educated in the public schools of Som- erset and the Academy at Elders' Ridge, Pennsylvania. Upon quitting school he entered the office of the Somerset Herald and assisted his father in the business until the death of the latter. Since that time he has been editor of the Herald and has carried on the printing business in conjunction with his brother, George. He is a director of the Somerset Trust Com- pany and the First National Bank of Somerset. On October 9, 1890, he married Clara Brubaker, daughter of Doctor Henry and Emeline (Philson) Brubaker, of Somerset. They reside in Somerset and have one child, Emeline Brubaker Scull.
HARVEY M. BERKELEY.
Harvey M. Berkeley, an attorney and cashier of the Som- erset (Pennsylvania) First National Bank, was born in Sum- mit township (Meyersdale P. O.), Somerset county, Pennsyl- vania, August 24, 1860. He is the son of Peter and Sally (Meyers) Berkeley. The father was born in the same place as the son, in 1832, and the mother at Berlin, Pennsylvania, in 1836. She was the daughter of Samuel Meyers, a well- known agriculturist of that community. In religious faith and profession, Peter Berkeley belonged to the Brethren church. Politically he was a Republican. His education was of the common school order, primarily, and later he attended the local normal schools. He became a minister in the Breth- ren denomination and passed from earth in 1865, when Har- vey M., his son, was but about five years of age.
Harvey M. Berkeley attended the common schools and local normals and subsequently graduated from Juniata Col- lege of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, in 1881; from Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1885, having conferred upon him the degrees of M. E. and Ph. B. He taught Latin and Philosophy at Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, Towanda, Pennsylvania, in 1886-87; registered as a law student with Rodney A. Mercur, Esq., son of the late Chief Justice Mercur of the Pennsylvania supreme court, June, 1886, and was ad- mitted to the Bradford county (Pennsylvania) bar in Sep- tember, 1888. In May. 1899, he was admitted to practice in Somerset county, and has been in practice ever since. In 1892, on the solicitation of interested parties, he became cashier of the First National Bank of Somerset, Pennsylvania, which po-
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sition he resigned in June, 1906, and since that time has de- voted his entire attention to the practice of law and business enterprises, in which he is engaged with associates. He later became one of the directors of this bank, as well as of the First National Bank of Confluence, Pennsylvania. For many years he has been director and the treasurer of the Som- erset Telephone Company, also connected with a number of coal companies.
His political affiliations have been with the Republican party. He was the chairman of the Republican county com- mittee from 1896 to 1900; nominated for congress at the Re- publican primaries in 1900, but the district nomination was finally conceded to Hon. Alvin Evans, of Ebensburg. He is now in active business as lawyer and banker. Mr. Berkeley is a member of the Brethren church at Meyersdale, Pennsyl- vania.
October 31, 1889, he was united in marriage to M. Emma Beachley, of Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Urias M. Beachiley, a distinguished medical practi- tioner. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Berke- ley.
THE BAER FAMILY.
The Baer family of Pennsylvania is of German origin, and among its members have been many prominent characters in the business and professional world.
(I) Christopher Baer, the American founder of the fam- ily, spelled the name Bär. He was born in Zweibrucken, Ger- many. The date of his birth is not now known to his descend-
ants. He came to this country and effected a settlement in White Hall township (near present Unionville), Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. He died in 1786, when between eighty and nine- ty years of age. His will, dated November 16, 1784, probated August 15, 1786, is recorded at Easton, Pennsylvania, in will book No. 1, page 448. He married Catherine Wingert, of Brockweiler Zweibrucken, Germany. They came to this coun- try in 1743 in the ship "Phoenix" from Rotterdam. He took the oath of allegiance September 30, 1743. He purchased some eight tracts of land, one for each of his children, who were married. as follows: Melchoir, John, Henry, Salome, Appo- lonica and Jacob.
(II) Jacob Bär, the grandfather of the Somerset Baers, was the youngest son of Christopher and Catherine (Wingert) Bär, the first of the name in this country. He was born in White Hall township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, in 1761. He married a Miss Findlay, by whom he had four children : John, Nicholas, Jacob and Daniel. The mother died prior to
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1790. In 1791, Jacob, the father of these children, married Mary Elizabeth Hersch, by whom four children were born- Peter, Solomon, Adam and Dinah Baer. In 1800 Jacob Bär and family removed to Maryland, near Mount Savage, Alle- gheny county.
(III) Solomon Baer, son of Jacob and Mary Elizabeth Bär, married Anna Maria Baker, in 1820, and to them were born the following named children: Margaret, born May 17, 1822; Elizabeth, April 2, 1824; William Jacob, January 20, 1826; Herman Ludwig, March 20, 1828; Ruffena, July 19, 1830; Henry Giesey, May 5, 1835; Mary Ann, April 25, 1840; George Frederick, September 16, 1842; Neven Solomon, April 25, 1845. Solomon Baer and family resided at Berlin, Somerset county, Pennsylvania. He was a house carpenter and cabinet maker. He served as constable for several years and was later a jus- tice of the peace. He was elected to every office in the militia, from captain to brigade inspector. He died January 12, 1882, aged eighty-seven years, six months and twenty-nine days.
Of the Baker family to which Anna Maria (Baker) Baer belonged, it may be stated that George Baker settled in German- town, Pennsylvania, and his children were: George, Fred- erick, Richard, Michael and Ludwig. The last named was Anna Maria's father, born in 1762, and settled at Berlin, Somer- set county, Pennsylvania. He married Maria Margaret Gless- ner, born 1761 and died in 1839. He died in 1840. Their child was: Anna Maria, born February 2, 1797, died October 5,1888.
(IV) Herman Ludwig Baer, son of Solomon and Anna Maria (Baker) Baer, was born in Berlin, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1828. The subjoined is his auto- biography :
"When I was about fourteen years of age my father left Berlin, and moved to a farm four miles from Somerset, where I now reside. I worked on the farm for seven years; the last two years I taught school in the winter. My father sold his farm and removed to another close to Somerset. The idea of going to college was frequently talked of and when it was finally decided that I should go I left the plough standing in the field where I had been ploughing on Saturday evening and left for Franklin and Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pennsyl- vania, in 1848. I entered the preparatory department, was there one session. The next session I entered college and con- tinued to the junior year, then I remained at home and taught school one winter to raise some funds. I returned to college, stood the required examinations and was reinstated in my class and graduated in 1853. I returned to my home and within a few days thereafter received a call to take charge of Elm-
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wood Institute in Norristown, Pennsylvania, which call I ac- cepted and taught there two years, when I returned to Somer- set and entered as a student of law in the office of my brother, William J. Baer, and was admitted to the Somerset bar in June, 1856, and entered into partnership with my brother un- der the name of Baer & Baer, which partnership continued until William J. Baer was elected judge of the sixteenth judi- cial district of Pennsylvania, I continuing the practice alone. "In December, 1856, I formed another partnership (my marriage) with Lucy E. Sehall, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, daughter of General William Schall, an iron master and a mili- tary man of considerable note in the Pennsylvania militia. My parents and those of my wife were members of the German Reformed church, one of the churches of the Reformation now known as the Reformed church in the United States, and the children were of the same faith. I have always been a lover of the Sunday school and have been a superintendent for fifty years and an elder in the same church for the same time and still continue.
"I am a Jeffersonian Democrat and never was an aspirant for office, but could always give a reason for my faith relig- iously and politically. I have always tried to do my duty con- scientiously. I have held the position of examiner of students at law for over thirty years and still continue.
"In 1881 my wife died. I kept house with my children for eight years thereafter, when I married my first wife's sister, Annie C. Schall.
"William Schall, died in infancy; Caroline Trexler, born April 1, 1859; Reuben Edward, born April 2, 1867; George Baker, born March 30, 1863; Hermanus Ludwig, born October 4, 1874. Carrie T. Baer (V) was married to George R. Scull, Esq., of Somerset, Pennsylvania, both an editor and lawyer; also at this time president of the First National Bank of Som- erset, Pennsylvania, and president of the Somerset Trust Company. His wife was a graduate of the common school system and attended Greensburg high school. Four children were born to them: John I., Lucy B., Edward and Anna C. George B. Baer (V) graduated in the common schools of Som- erset borough and then entered the printing office of the Herald and Whig, edited by Hon. Edward Seull. After finishing his trade as a printer, he attended the high school at Elders Ridge, Pennsylvania. On his return home he con- cluded to go to California and finally located at Cloverdale, Sonoma county, California, purchasing the Cloverdale Reveille, which he edited for several years and then sold to his brother, Reuben Baer, he having been appointed postmaster at Clover- dale, which position he still holds. He is also superintendent
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