History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 114

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1340

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WILLIAM W. McCAIN, merchant, Stevensville, was born February 15, 1844, in Auburn township, Susquehanna Co., Pa., a son of Joseph H. and Sarah L. (Ribble) McCain, natives of New Jersey, and of Dutch and Irish descent. Joseph H. McCain was one of the pioneers of Auburn township, where he settled about the year 1837, coming from New Jersey. He began in the woods, and felled the tree whose stump served as a table for the family during the first year of his pioneer life ; he taught school seven years, and then engaged in farming twenty-five years, during which time he was a justice of the peace ; served one term as register and recorder of Susquehanna county, and then embarked in mercantile business in Montrose, as a member of the firm of Baldwin, Allen & McCain, which lasted six years, and is now living a retired life at Rush, Pa. In his family there were five chil- dren, of whom William W., the third in order of birth, was educated in the common schools, also at Montrose Academy, and the State Nor- mal school at Millersville, Pa .; began life for himself at the age of twenty-three, teaching one year. In 1868 he became a member of the firm of Weeks, Faurot, & McCain, dealers in dry goods and general merchandise at Montrose, where he remained three years; then read law six months with J. B. & A. H. McCollum, of Montrose, and engaged in the insurance business with Henry C. Tyler, with whom he remained two years; then did business for his mother two years, and in 1873 engaged in mercantile business with his brother, S. B. McCain, in Rush, where he remained eleven years; sold his interest and purchased the general mercantile business of Minot Riley, at Springville, at which place he remained five years. In 1890 he located in his present place of business, where he has a very large and growing trade in all kinds of merchandise and produce. Mr. McCain was mar- ried February 15, 1879, to Orpha A., daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Melhuish) Granger, natives of Vermont and England, respectively, and they have three children : L. Bruce, born December 27, 1879; William Arthur, born April 22, 1882, and Mildred Lenoir, born Janu- ary 17,1887. Mr. McCain was first-lieutenant in the first company of the Seventh Division of National Guards, and was elected captain, but never took out his commission ; he was also an honorary member of the "Rough and Ready" Fire Company, of Montrose. He is a fre- quent contributor to literary and sporting journals, is an ardent life- long sportsman, and an earnest advocate of wise game legislation and

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game protection. Politically he is in strong sympathy with the Republican party.

C. A. MoCALLUM, photographer, Athens, is a native of Orleans county, N. Y., and is a son of John and Mary (Moore) McCallum, natives of New York. His father, who was a farmer, was born December 18, 1810, and died in Paw Paw, Mich., December 18, 1890; his wife survives, and is in her seventy-fifth year. Our sub- ject, who is the sixth in a family of eight children, followed farming some time, and clerked in a store about one year. In 1876, he began an apprenticeship at the photographer's trade, and was in this business one and a half years at Portville, N. Y., then sold his gallery and went to Olean, N. Y., and worked there one year; then traveled on the road four years for the Union View Company, of New York. He came to Athens, September 17, 1883, and opened his gallery, October 11, the same year. His reputation as a photographer is well and favorably known. He was married in Waukegan, Ill., in July, 1878, to Miss May, daughter of Rev. Benjamin and Saphire E. (Norton) Brunning, the former a native of England, the latter of Vermont. Mr. Brunning is a Universalist minister, and preached at Athens two years. Mrs. McCallum is a native of Canada, and is the youngest in a family of three children. They have an adopted daughter, Clara Winifred ; they are members of the Equitable Aid Union and the International Alliance, and Mr. McCallum is president of the former, and treasurer of the latter; in politics he is a Republican.

JAMES McCARTY, a prominent farmer of Ulster township, P.O. Ulster, was born in Muncy, Lycoming Co., Pa., November 3, 1821, a son of Silas and Martha (McAfee) McCarty, natives of the same place ; the father was of Scotch and German descent; the grandparents came to Muncy from near Philadelphia, and were among the early pioneers. His maternal grandfather was a major at the battle of Black Rock, in the War of 1812. The son received his schooling at Muncy, until he was twelve years old. In May, 1832, his father removed to the Maumee Valley, Ohio, and in August of that year died, and the family returned to Muncy, reaching there in September of the same year; and next spring they removed to Wysox, their present home. The family consisted of six children, viz .: William, James, John, Francis, Martha and Mary, of whom four survive; William and Francis are deceased. James married Sarah J. Baker, October 7, 1863, in New York State, a daughter of Daniel Baker, and the fruits of this mar- riage were two children, Mary and Daniel, the latter of whom married Mary Sullivan. Mrs. McCarty died in October, 1867, and in 1871 Mr. McCarty married Louisa, daughter of John Lyons, of Bradford county ; one child, Jennie, came to bless this union. His mother married a second time, and the son took care of her and her husband, in their declining years, and afterward paid off the mortgage notes and acquired the old homestead, on which he had always resided. The farm consists of about 200 acres of fine river land, and is well improved, and under a high state of cultivation. He is independent in his religious views, but his family are members of the Presbyterian Church ; politically he has always been identified with the Democratic

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party, and held the office of postmaster at Ulster over thirty years. He assisted in clearing seventy acres of the farm he now owns, sawing the logs into lumber and rafting them down the river. He is among the oldest men of this county, and has been eminently successful in bis business ; has acquired a beautiful home with an independent fortune, and, surrounded with an accomplished and interesting family, is now prepared to enjoy the fruits of his early toils and privations.

A. D. McCRANEY, chief of police, Canton, is a native of Otsego county, N. Y., born September 7, 1838, a son of Samuel and Nancy (Allen) McCraney, natives of New York. His father was a black- smith, and died at LeRoy, this county, in 1852; his mother died in 1883, in her eighty-ninth year. Mr. McCraney is the youngest in a family of eleven children-eight sons and three daughters; he was reared in his native place until five years of age, and then came with his family to LeRoy, this county; he farmed, and also followed lum- bering, until March, 1875, when he removed to Canton, and engaged in the hotel business, for some time. In 1879, he was appointed chief of police, and has held the position since, with the exception of three months. He married, in LeRoy, in 1858, Dinette, daughter of Eli and Harriet (Bailey) Holcomb, natives of this county and Connecticut, respectively; her father was a farmer, and died at the advanced age of ninety years; she is the third in a family of seven children, all of whom grew to maturity. To Mr. and Mrs. McCraney have been born three children, as follows: Collis, married to Fannie Williams; Samuel, married to Charlotte Masters, and Emma, wife of Asa Stull. Mr. McCraney enlisted in September, 1864, in Company I, Fifteenth New York Engineers, served until the close of the war, and was mustered out in New York, in July, 1865. He is a member of the F. & A. M., Monroeton Lodge, and politically he is a Democrat.

HENRY W. McCRANEY, county commissioner, Towanda, was born in Oneonta, Otsego Co., N.Y., September 26, 1835, and is a son of Samuel and Nancy (Allen) McCraney, who settled in LeRoy town- ship, this county, in 1843, and in 1846 began a settlement on South mountain, known as the "McCraney settlement," and cleared and improved the first farm on the mountain, which is now owned by this gentleman; later, they removed to the valley in LeRoy township, and died there. Samuel McCraney was twice married. His first wife was Marie Smith, by whom he had seven children, viz .: John (deceased), Marie (Mrs. Harvey Smith, deceased), Sallie (Mrs. Jesse Robart), William, and James (deceased), Polly (Mrs. Mathew Mott) and Samuel. For his second wife he married Nancy Allen, by whom he had four children, viz .: Thomas A., Henry W., David M. (deceased), and A. Douglas. Henry W. McCraney was reared in LeRoy township, from eight years of age, and received a common-school education, and in early manhood taught school several terms. In 1868 he located in Barclay, this county, where he was engaged in lumbering, contracting and building, until 1875, when he was appointed superintendent of the Towanda Coal Company, by the Erie Railroad Company, which position he held five years. He was also elected a justice of the peace for Barclay town- ship three successive terms, and held other minor offices in the town-

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ship. In 1880 he returned to LeRoy township, where he has since been engaged in farming and lumbering. In 1862 he married Julia A., daughter of Albert and Sarah (Andrews) Barnes, of Granville, this county, formerly of Connecticut, by whom he had nine children, viz .: Elnettie, Albert B., Clarence A., Elizabeth N., H. DeWitt, Lottie C., Roderick M., Julia A. and H. Wesley. Mr. McCraney is a member of the I. O. O. F. Encampment, and K. of H. In 1878 he was the candi- date of his party for the office of county treasurer, but was defeated. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster at LeRoy, this county, under Cleveland's administration, which he held about four years. In 1890 he was elected to the office of county commissioner by a large majority. In April, 1891, he moved to Towanda, Pa., where he now resides; in politics he is a Democrat.

ALBERT B. McCRANEY, liveryman, at Towanda, Pa., was born in LeRoy township, this county, July 6, 1865, and is a son of Henry W. and Julia A. (Barnes) McCraney. His paternal grandfather, Samuel McCraney, formerly of Otsego county, N. Y., settled in LeRoy township, about 1842. The maternal grandfather was Albert Barnes, a native of Connecticut, and an early settler of Granville, this county. Henry W., father of this subject, was reared in LeRoy township, where he has been engaged in farming and lumbering for the past ten years. He was for fifteen years a resident of Barclay township, where for ten years he was a jobber for the Towanda Coal Com- pany, and five years general foreman. He is now one of the com- missioners of Bradford county, to which office he was elected in 1890. The subject of these lines was reared in LeRoy township, and received a common-school education, and after attaining his majority, engaged in farming and lumbering, until December, 1890, when he and Clarence A. purchased the livery of D. C. De Witt, of Towanda, Pa., and are doing a successful business, under the firm name of McCraney Bros. They are both members of the I. O. O. F. and P. O. S. of A., and in pol tics are Democrats.

JAMES McDONALD, retired farmer, Burlington, was born September 15, 1844, in Ulster township, Bradford Co., Pa., a son of James and Mary (McNamee) McDonald, natives of County Cavan, Ireland, who removed to America when young married people, and set- tled in Newark, N. J. About the year 1838, they came to Bradford county, where the father engaged in farming, which he followed the remainder of his life. He resided some years in Ulster, and then moved to Sheshequin, where he died at the age of eighty-four years, and his wife at the age of seventy-six. Their family consisted of three children-two sons and one daughter. James McDonald, the subject of these lines, was reared on the farm ; at the age of eighteen was ap- prenticed to the trade of miller, but when twenty he enlisted in Company H, Twelfth New York Cavalry, and at once joined the Army of North Carolina. He was under fire several times, was taken pris- oner at Kingston, N. C., confined in Libby prison, and was not released until the termination of hostilities ; his only brother, Robert, was a member of the First New York Veterans. At the close of the war Mr. McDonald engaged in milling in Sheshequin, which business he

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continued until about 1880. He came to Burlington in 1868, and was in the mills at Luther's Mills about twelve years, when he commenced agriculture, and he now owns a nice farm of sixty acres. Mr. McDon- ald was married July 14, 1869, to Mary Luther, of Burlington, born in 1851, a daughter of Roswell Luther, now of Towanda. To them were born three children : Roswell, born August 8, 1870 (he enlisted in the U. S. Army, March 28, 1891, and went to Jefferson barracks, where he was trained as a soldier ; from there he was sent to Fort Reno, Okla- homa Territory, and died October 7, 1891); Marion A., born July 8, 1873, and Robert, born March 21, 1881. The mother died May 13, 1885. Mr. McDonald is a pensioner, owing to the loss of health incurred in the service of his country, and in 1889 he was obliged to retire from his farm, moving to Burlington borough, where he now resides. He is a Republican in politics, and has been several terms treasurer of the township.

MICHAEL J. McDONOUGH, machinist, Sayre, was born in Scran- ton, Pa., January 26, 1862, and is a son of John and Margaret (Flannery) McDonough, natives of Ireland. The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in the city of his birth, and at seventeen commenced an apprenticeship at the machinist's trade, in Dickson's Locomotive Works, Scranton, where he remained four years ; he then came to Sayre, where he has since been engaged in his trade in the Lehigh Valley Railroad shops at that place. He was married to Miss Anna, daughter of Luke and Mary (Warren) McGraw, of Waverly, N. Y., and to them have been born two children: Agnes, born September 4, 1884, and Gertrude, born November 6, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. McDonough are members of the Roman Catholic Church at Sayre; in politics he takes no active part, but rather devotes his entire attention to his trade, and it may be truly said of him that he is a complete master of his art.

THEODORE L. McFADDIN, farmer, P. O. Granville Centre, was born in Lewisburg, Union Co .. Pa., June 2, 1841, a son of William W. and Harriet (Loushbaugh) McFaddin, and is of Irish and Dutch descent. He was reared in his native county, until twelve years of age, when he went to Williamsport, where he served an apprenticeship of four years at the confectioners' trade, after which he worked at the business as a journeyman until the breaking out of the Civil War. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Eighth Pennsylvania Cav- alry, and served until May 25, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. He participated in all the engagements of the Army of the Potomac, and was wounded in his right arm at the battle of Reams Station. After his discharge he returned to Williamsport, and in 1872 settled in Granville township, this county. where he has since been engaged in farming and poultry business. In 1870 he married Julia, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Gamble) Babb, of Babb's Creek, Tioga Co., Pa., and has one son, Louis T. Mr. McFaddin is a member of the F. & A. M., Union Veteran Legion, G. A. R. and K. of P .; politically he is a Democrat.

EDWARD O. MACFARLANE, president of the Citizens' National Bank, Towanda, and superintendent of the Barclay Railroad and the Long Valley Coal Company, is a son of the late James Macfarlane, of

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whom it is no disparagement to the eminent men of Bradford county, to say that he will take his place in history as pre-eminent, for in the varied walks of his busy life, lawyer, scholar, geologist, scientist and author, he has left his indelible footprints. Edward O. Macfarlane is the eldest of six children of James and Mary (Overton) Macfarlane; the latter was a daughter of Edward Overton, Sr., and a native of Towanda. Their other children are: Graham Macfarlane, of Louis- ville, Ky .; James R. Macfarlane, attorney, of Pittsburgh; Ella, Mrs. William Little, of Towanda; Mary (Mrs. E. J. Angle) and Eugenia. The son, reared in such a family, had far more than the average advan- tages in the start of life. The surroundings were gentle and refined, and the parents had that high order of culture that must impress itself upon even its associates in the outer world, and far more so, of course, on the loved ones beneath the family roof-tree. Our subject was born March 24, 1849, in Bloomfield, Perry Co, Pa., and came to Towanda when two years old, and passed through the public schools and thence to college, where he enjoyed the best advantages, and left, in 1864, to enter the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, as midshipman, where he remained until 1869, when he was graduated; he resigned from the navy in October, 1871, at the time as ensign, and soon thereafter became engaged in the wholesale coal trade, in Elmira, and from there removed to Rochester, and was in this business and prosecuted it successfully, until 1879, when he became connected with the Long Valley Coal Company, and is now filling the position of superintendent and president. His father was at the time of his death one of the directors of the Citizens National Bank, Towanda, and his son was elected to fill the vacancy in the board, November 10, 1890. On the resignation of Judge Benjamin M. Peck, he was elected presi- dent of that institution.

A. McKINNEY, jeweler, Athens, is a native of Athens, this county, born February 16, 1855, and is a son of Henry and Amanda (Brink) Mckinney, natives of this county. The mother died July 20, 1883, in her sixty-four year ; the father is a resident of Athens. A. Mckinney, who is the youngest in a family of three children, received a public- school education, and at the age of seventeen began work at the jeweler's trade in Athens, in which he was employed until 1878, when he began business for himself. He carries a fine stock of watches, clocks and silverware. Mr. McKinney was married in Athens, March 15, 1881, to Miss Emma M., daughter of Delos and Teresa (Repass) Jordan, natives of Tioga county, Pa., and residents of Athens (she is the elder of two children, and was born in Lawrenceville, Tioga county, June 25, 1862). To Mr. and Mrs. Mckinney were born two children viz .: Minnie B. and Fred. Mr. Mckinney is a member of the F. & A. M., Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, has passed the chairs in the subor- dinate Lodge, and is a member of the Tiahoga Society of Athens. Politically he is a Republican.

HUSTON MCKINNEY, farmer, Ulster township, P. O. Ulster, was born in Litchfield township, this county, March 17, 1833, and is the son of Henry and Anna (Russell) Mckinney, natives of Pennsylvania and New York, respectively, who are of the agricultural class and had

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a farm of 170 acres in Litchfield township, and were among the pio- neers ; they had a family of eleven children-five boys and six girls- and of these are surviving, J. H., Mary L., Sarah, Francis, C. E. Mc- Kinney and Huston, all of Litchfield. The father died in September, 1879, aged eighty-two; the mother had passed away the preceding May, at the age of seventy-nine. Huston Mckinney, the subject of the sketch, received his education in the old school-house, in the short winter session. When of age he taught school in Ulster, two terms. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Regiment N. Y. V. I., Company K, August 31, and served until June 8, 1865; he was in the battles of Poplar Springs Church, Hatcher's Run (before Peters- burg) and the capture of Petersburg. In November, 1865, he pur- chased the farm on which he resides, of 150 acres, now highly improved and stocked; he was married, the first time, in 1855, to Sarah L. Lenox, sister of L. P. Lenox, and they had three children : Elma M., died in infancy; Nora L., married to Edward Huff; Luella M., married to William McQueen. His first wife died February 20, 1873. He was married, the second time, to Ellen, daughter of Hugh Templeton, and of this union are five children, as follows: Robert H., Hugh H., Sarah Ellen, Leon R. and Carrie M. Mr. Mckinney is a member of the Equitable Aid Union, No. 244; member and steward of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, in politics a Republican, and is one of the lead- ing and prosperous farmers of the county.

JOSEPH MCKINNEY, P. O. Athens, youngest son of Henry and Rebecca (Hinman) 'Mckinney, was born in Athens township, Septem- ber 17, 1802, on the old Franklin farm near where he purchased a farm and lived until his death, June 17, 1879. His father was among the first settlers of the township. December 18, 1828, he married Mary Bidlack, and located on the farm he had previously purchased, and built a log house; she survived him twelve years, and died, May 10, 1891, in the eighty sixth year of her life. Six children were born to them : Eliza, born March 21, 1830, married C. S. Wheaton, and is still living ; Horace, born February 5,1832, died January 19,1877, unmarried ; Clarissa, born September 14, 1834, married to T. W. Brink, and is still living ; Joseph, Jr., born February 11, 1838, lives on the old homestead ; Alfred, born June 3, 1842, died December 3, 1843, and Anna, born June 9, 1845, died June 15, 1875. Joseph Mckinney, Jr., married Emily Vangorder, January 2, 1862, and to them were born four chil dren : Horace, born December 4, 1865, died July 20, 1890 ; Della, born December 21, 1866; Mary, born October 23, 1868, and Johnnie, born September 8, 1873, died October 26, 1882.

MICHAEL J. MCNULTY, of the firm of Haggerty & McNulty, masonry contractors, Troy, was born in Troy, Bradford Co., Pa., August 29, 1859, and is a son of Michael and Alice (Haggerty) McNulty. His paternal grandfather, Michael McNulty, was a native of Ireland and an early settler of Towanda, this county, where he reared a fam- ily of three children: Michael, Bridget and Maggie, of whom Michael, a native of Towanda, and a painter by trade, in early life located in Troy, where he worked at his trade until his death, in 1859; his wife was a daughter of Richard and Margaret Ilaggerty, natives of Ireland,

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

and by her he had one son, Michael J., who was reared in Troy, was educated in the public schools and learned the mason's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of five years. He afterward worked as a journeyman one year, and in 1879 formed a partnership with his uncle, John Haggerty, as contractors in stone and brick masonry, in which he has since successfully continued. Mr. McNulty married, April 15, 1885, Alice, daughter of Martin and Katherine (Gleason) Ryan, of Troy, and formerly of Ireland, the issue of which union is one daughter, Katie L. Mr. McNulty is a member of the Catholic Church; in poli- tics he is a Democrat.

MICHAEL McMAHON, proprietor of the "Bradford House," Towanda, was born at Foot of Plane, in Barclay township, this county, September 27, 1859, and is a son of Simon and Mary (Falsey) McMahon, natives of County Clare, Ireland, who, for many years, were residents of Barclay, this county, and are now living at Arnot, Tioga Co., Pa. Michael was reared in Barclay, where he received a common-school education, and after attaining his majority he learned the blacksmith trade, which occupation he followed four years. He has been a resident of Towanda, since 1881; clerked in hotel several years ; in 1887 embarked in the hotel business, and has been proprietor and popular landlord of his present house since 1890. On February 22, 1887, he married Margaret, daughter of Nicholas and Winifred Irvin, of Towanda, and formerly of County Clare, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. McMahon have had three children, viz .: Joseph S., born August 22, 1887; Mary, born September 2, 1888, and Winifred, born Septem- ber 15, 1890. Mr. McMahon is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and in politics he is a Democrat.

ISAIAH McPHERSON, Esq., of Towanda, a member of the law firm of McPherson & Angle, was born in Herrick township, Bradford Co., Pa., August 15, 1847. His parents, William and Mary (Kennedy) McPherson, emigrated from Ireland to this country in the year 1840, and purchased a farm in that township, where they continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1887, when he was aged eighty-three years ; here his widow still resides, at the age of eighty- one years, with her eldest son, John. The subject of this sketch, who is their fourth child, in the order of birth, spent his early life at home on the farm, and improved such advantages for acquiring an education as the public schools and neighboring academies afforded, until in 1865, when he became a student at the Towanda Susquehanna Colle- giate Institute, and, in 1868, of LaFayette College, where he remained for two years. In 1870 he began the study of law at Towanda, Pa., under the directions of the late Hon. P. D. Morrow, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1872. Upon his admission to the bar, he immedi- ately opened an office in Towanda, and began the practice of his pro- fession. He was soon regarded as one of the ablest young lawyers at the Bradford county bar. In 1877 he was elected district attorney of the county, and discharged the duties of the office with marked abil- ity. He is an able lawyer, and has a large general practice. He takes great interest and displays much earnestness in the trial of cases. Mr. McPherson cast his first vote (just after entering college in 1868) for

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 114

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.) Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1340