History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 87

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658

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Captain Ziegler was married June 30, 1835, to Sarah Brinker, a daughter of Capt. Abraham Brinker, a pioneer tavern keeper of Butler, and later an honored resident of the Bonny Brook settlement. Three sons and four daughters blessed this union, named as follows : Amelia ; George W .; Julia E. ; Annie L., wife of W. A. Lowry ; Mary A .; Alfred G., and Henry, all of whom are dead except George W. and Mrs. Lowry, both residents of Butler. Mrs. Ziegler died March 18, 1881. She and husband were zealous members of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal church, and for many years he was a vestryman and warden in that society.

GEORGE W. ZIEGLER was born October 26, 1838. in Butler. Pennsylvania, son of Jacob and Sarah ( Brinker) Ziegler, the latter a daughter of Abraham Brinker, a pioneer of Butler. He received a common school education, and learned the printer's trade in his father's office. From 1858 to 1860, he worked at stove moulding, and was a conductor for three years on Ridge Avenue line in Philadelphia. In 1862 he went to Venango county, and was engaged in the oil business and in various other occupations for seventeen years. He then returned to Butler and opened a tin shop, which he carried on three years, when he again returned to the oil fields of Venango, Armstrong and Butler counties, where he spent three years, and then resumed the tinning business in Butler, which he fol- lowed until 1892. In that year he established his present business of "fixer." Ile was janitor of the court house from 1881 to 1883, burgess of Butler in 18>1-82, and tax collector in 1886-87-88, when he resigned the office. Ile was again elected burgess in February, 1893, and filled that position for one year. In polities, he has always been a Democrat, of which party his father was one of the leading members throughout his long residence in Butler county. Mr. Ziegler married Rachel, a daughter of John Shirley, and they are the parents of nine children : J. Walter ; Emma, wife of George Keck ; Anna, wife of Will- iam McKee: John: Gertie, wife of Edward Tibbals; Frank; Pattie; Claude, and Mabel.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

HON. WILLIAM BEATTY, one of the leading citizens of Butler county for many years, was a native of Stewartstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, born in 1787. He was reared in his native land, and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1807, finally settling in Butler. He served as a sergeant in Captain Thompson's company from Butler county in the War of 1812. In a few years he began to wield great influence in the councils of the Democratic party, and became a valued and representative citizen. He served one term as sheriff of Butler county, three terms in the legislature, and in 1836 was elected to Congress and re-elected in 1838. He discharged the duties of these responsible positions with unswerving faithfulness and recognized ability. For many years he was a popu- lar leader of his party in this county, his strength with the people springing from his innate force of character, rugged common sense, and invincible honesty of purpose. He was one of the pioneer hotel keepers of the borough for a long period, his place being a kind of Democratic headquarters, and also the stopping place for the stage lines. Mr. Beatty was enterprising and public spirited, and though stern and austere in appearance and brief of speech, he was kind-hearted and charitable to those in need of assistance. He finally purchased a farm imme- diately west of the borough, built the brick residence yet standing, and resided there during the last years of his life, dying April 2. 1851. Throughout his residence in Butler he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of its best people, and was honored as a man and citizen by all with whom he came in contact.

OLIVER DAVID, for many years one of the well known merchants of Butler. was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. August 22, 1788. His parents, John and Rebecca David, lived on the Chambersburg road, about eight miles from Harrisburg. Towards the close of the Eighteenth century the family removed to what is now Butler county, settling in Middlesex township, where the parents resided until their death, and here Oliver grew to manhood. In September, 1814, he married Ann Wells, a native of Dauphin county. She was a daughter of Joseph and. Jane Wells, who removed from Dauphin to Beaver county about the same time the David family settled in Butler county. The young couple took up their abode in Middlesex township, where Mr. David engaged in farm- ing, also carried on a tannery until his removal to Butler. Four children blessed their union, one son and three daughters, the son dying in infancy. The daugh- ters were as follows; Jane, who married William Campbell, of Pittsburg, and after his death Henry Boyd, of Butler ; Rebecca B., who became the wife of James Campbell, of Butler, and Annalanah, who married William Adams, of Fairview township. About 1832 Mr. David removed to Butler, where his wife died in 1840. Soon after locating in this borough he entered on a successful mercantile career that lasted about a quarter century. He died here November 5, 1871. Both he and his wife were leading members of the Presbyterian church of Butler. Mr. David was an industrious, careful and economical man, who devoted his en- tire attention to his business affairs. He was strictly honest in all his dealings. possessed a character of great firmness and decision, and was quite remarkable for his self control.

JAMES CAMPBELL was one of the prominent and best known merchants of Butler throughout a long and successful business career. lle was born near

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Kennet Square, Chester county, Pennsylvania, January 11, 1802, son of James and Margaret Campbell, natives of Ireland, and early settlers of Middlesex town- ship, Butler county. He resided with his parents until after the settlement of the family in this county, assisting in the erection of buildings and in clearing the land. In 1833 he and his brother William established a grocery store in Pittsburg, and at the same time opened a store at Hookstown, Beaver county, which James took charge of and continued to manage until his brother's death, in 1885. Ilis father died the following year, and James then erected a store building on the farm in Middlesex township, where he carried on merchandising for a short time and also looked after the farm. While on the farm he frequently drove a six- horse team, with a Conestoga wagon, to Philadelphia, exchanging the produce of the farm for goods to stock his store. He also occasionally bought cattle and drove them over the mountains to the eastern market; thus he laid the foundation of his subsequent fortune.

Mr. Campbell was married, January 21, 1841, to Rebecca Bell David, second daughter of Oliver David, one of the pioneer merchants of Butler. She was born on the homestead farm in Middlesex township, Butler county, July 23. 1820, and was about twelve years old when her parents removed into the borough of Butler. Ilere she grew to womanhood, and was in her twenty-first year when married to Mr. Campbell. Six children blessed their union, as follows : William Oliver, now pastor of the Presbyterian church of Sewickley ; Margaret A., wife of Ilon. J. D. Mc Junkin, of Butler ; James Thompson, a merchant of Franklin ; Theodore Chalmers, attorney at law, of Butler ; Howard David, who died in Allegheny in 1889, where he was filling the responsible position of treasurer of the Pittsburg and Western Railroad Company, and Clara Bell, wife of W. D. Brandon, of Butler. At the age of seventeen Mrs. Campbell united with the Presbyterian church of Butter, and died in that faith, November 28, 1853.

In IS42 Mr. Campbell removed to Butler, became a partner with his father-in-law the same year, and continued merchandising until 1864. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Butler, and its first president, and during his term of office the affairs of that institution were conducted honestly and successfully, on sound banking principles, speculation with its funds was not permitted, and the bank paid good dividends. He was repeatedly intrusted with the settlement of estates of deceased friends, duties to which he attended with the greatest fidelity. Mr. Campbell became a Presbyterian in 1828, and continued a member of that church until his death, which occurred at his home in Butler, November 16. 1886. He was for many years a trustee of the Butler church and one of its most liberal supporters. He was also actively interested in the prosperity of Wither- spoon Institute, and a warm friend of the public schools. At the time of his death, John H. Negley paid to his memory the following tribute in the Butler Citizen :

During all his long and active life as a merchant, his integrity was never called in question. Of strict business habits, high moral principles, temperate in life, and correct in all things, he has passed from among us at a ripe old age, leaving a name to be. respected and an example to be followed. Mr. Campbell was a man of strong impulses,

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and fearless in the expression of his views. He was always prompt in his support of the right, and maintained his convictions with unyielding firmness. He was also a man of quick apprehension and of far more than ordinary intelligence.

Rev. Loyal Young, his friend and pastor, spoke of him as follows :

It was my privilege to enjoy Mr. Campbell's lifelong friendship, having been intimate with him for more than fifty years. To this community it is not necessary to address words of eulogy. You all know how intelligent and useful he was. Were I to select a single word to represent his character, I would express it by the word integrity- integrity in his dealings, in his church and family relations, in his moral character. caused him to be trusted and honored.

THEODORE CHALMERS CAMPBELL, attorney at law. was born in Butler. Pennsylvania, January 27. 1848, son of James and Rebecca B. Campbell. The early education of our subject was obtained in the public schools, and he subsequently attended Witherspoon Institute, of Butler, and Phillips Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts. In 1866 he commenced to read law with Col. John M. Thomp- son, completed his studies under Hon. Samuel A. Purviance, of Pittsburg, and was admitted to the bar in the latter city, in 1869. He practiced in Pittsburg until 1872, and then located in Butler, where he has since been engaged in the duties of his profession, being now recognized as one of the leading members of the Butler bar. In 1591 he was elected city solicitor, which position be filled for three years. In politics, he has always been a supporter of the Republican party, and in religious faith an adherent of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Campbell was married November 18, 1873, to Juliette Estep, a daughter of Joseph P. Estep. of Allegheny. Four children have been born to this union, viz : Louisa C .: Jean W .: James O., and Juliette E.

HON. EBENEZER Me JUVAI was born in Centre township, Butler county. Pennsylvania, March 28, 1819, and is the youngest son of David and Elizabeth ( Moore) Me Junkin, carly settlers of the county. He lived in his native town- ship until 1830, when his father bought and removed to Mt. Etna furnace, in Slippery Rock township, where our subject attended the common schools until 1836. In that year he entered Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, in which insti- tution he spent five years, graduating in September, 1811. He returned to his home in Butler county, and soon after commenced the study of law under Ilon. Charles C. Sullivan, one of the leading attorneys of western Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar September 12. 1813. He entered practice in partnership with his preceptor, which continued about four years, and he was then appointed deputy attorney-general and opened an office of his own. Through the passing years he won and retained a large and lucrative practice and became one of the best known members of the bar. For half a century he has been recognized as one of the ablest, most eloquent and powerful advocates in this section of the State. In 1857-55 he was in partnership with James Bredin, but from the latter year down to the present, be has not had a law partner. Mr. Me Junkin was an old line Whig until the birth of the Republican party, when in unison with some twelve or fifteen other citizens who met in the court house, he assisted in organizing the Republican party of Butler county and in placing a ticket in the field. Since that event he has been one of the prominent and influential leaders of his party in the

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State. In 1860 he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention, and was a member of the electoral college in 1864. During Lee's threatened invasion of Pennsylvania, in 1862, he went out as first lieutenant of the " Blackstone Guards," a company largely composed of members of the bar of Butler county.

In November, 1570, he was elected to the Forty-second Congress, and in 1872 was re-elected to the Forty third, serving until the fall of 1874, when he was elected, with James Bredin, a judge of the district composed of Butler and Lawrence counties. He immediately resigned his seat in Congress, to take effect in January, 1875. In the drawing of lots Judge Me Junkin became president judge of the district, and served in that capacity from January, 1875. to January, 1885. llis career on the bench was characterized by marked ability, judicial dignity and courtesy, while his decisions were at all times recognized as fair and impartial. He was always patient and considerate with the members of the bar, but firm and unyielding in upholding the cause of justice. Since leaving the bench he has devoted his attention to his professional duties, and in the evening years of his life is enjoying the fruits of his industry. From the earliest history of the oil development he has given aid and encouragement to that enterprise, and was among the first to show his faith in the petroleum wealth of Butler county.

Judge Me Junkin was married on July 29, 1547. to Jane Bredin, ellest daughter of Judge John Bredin, of Butler. Four children were the fruits of this union, viz. : John Bredin, who died in infancy ; Nannie, who resides with her father ; Jame- B., a member of the Butler bar, and Libbie M., wife of Clarence Walker, an attorney of Butler. Mrs. Mc Junkin died in December, 1854. She was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and though her husband Was reared a Presbyterian, he united with the Episcopal church, and has been a member of the vestry and a warden for many years. Judge Me Junkin is a man of fine literary tastes, and possesses a mind well stored with the gems of the leading thinkers of the past and present. Of the purest integrity. he enjoys the confi- dence of a large circle of friends, and has always been regarded with highest esteem by the best people of his native county.

HON. CHARLES MCCANDLESS was born in Centre township, Butler county, Pennsylvania. November 27, 1834. His paternal grandfather. George MeCand- less, a native of Antrim county, Ireland, emigrated to Pennsylvania when nineteen years old and settled near Carlisle. Cumberland county. About 1791 George McCandless married Mary, daughter of Nathan Fisher, with whom he had found employment. In 1796 he removed with his young wife to Centre township. But- ler county, where he spent the balance of his life. They were the parents of six sons and three daughters, the eldest son, John, being the father of Charles McCandless. In 1824 John McCandless married Jemima Reaves Sullivan, a sister of Charles C. Sullivan, long a leading member of the Butler county bar. John McCandless was county commissioner in pioneer days, and subsequently associate judge of Butler county. He was the father of three sons and six daughters, Charles being the fifth in the family: The maternal grandfather of our subject was Charles Sullivan, a native of James river valley. Northumber- land county, Virginia, where his ancestors had settled about the year 1700.

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Charles Sullivan was a soldier of the Revolution from Virginia, and was one of the first settlers of Butler county. Charles McCandless grew to manhood on his father's farm, and received his education in a pioneer log school house of that locality. When twenty years of age he taught school in the same building, in the winter of 1854-55. In 1856 he came to Butler, entered Witherspoon Insti- tute, and proved himself an industrious and progressive student. After completing his education he read law with his uncle, Charles C. Sullivan, was admitted to . the bar June 14, 1858, and his uncle at once took him into partnership. In a few years he became recognized as a persevering and able lawyer, and entered upon a successful legal career that closed only with his death. In 1860 Mr. Sullivan died, and our subject succeeded to his large practice, which gradually increased through the passing years. Mr. McCandless was married October 16, 1860, to Catherine. daughter of John Michael Zimmerman, one of the pioneer hotel keepers of But- ler. Their children are as follows : Caroline, who married Edward P. Greely, of Nashua, Iowa ; Mary B., who became the wife of Frederick Lee, and after his death married George D. Ogden, of Butler; Catherine, wife of John G. Jen- nings : Louisa, and Charles, who died in early youth. In September, 1862, Mr. McCandless was elected major of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Militia, which, with other commands, went to the support of General Mcclellan at the battle of Antietam. \ stanch and unswerving Republican, his party elected him to the State Senate in 1862, and he served in that body three years. At the Republican caucus for speaker of the Senate he came within one vote of being nominated for that position. In 1872 he was a delegate to the Philadelphia convention, which nominated Grant and Wilson as the Republican standard bearers. In 1874 he was appointed by Governor Hartranft judge of the Seventeenth judicial district, and the same year he received the Republican nomination for judge of the same district, comprising Butler and Lawrence counties, his associate on the ticket being L. L. McGuflin, of Lawrence ; but a bolt took place in the convention, and E. Mc Junkin, his competitor for the office, was nominated by the dissatisfied element of the party. The party thus being divided, a combination was effected between the friends of Judge Mc Junkin and James Bredin, the latter one of the Democratic nominees. This combination was successful, and Mr. MeCandless and Mr. MeGuffin were defeated. In February, 1878, Judge McCandless was appointed by President Hayes chief justice of New Mexico, and filled that responsible position until October. 1878, when he resigned and returned to But- ler. Hle at once resumed the practice of law, and continued to prosecute the duties of his profession until his death, which occurred March 14, 1893. His widow resides in the old homestead, where so many happy years of their lives were passed together. Judge McCandless was an attendant of the Presbyterian church, and throughout his long and prosperous career in Butler he was recog- nized as one of the leading jurists of western Pennsylvania.

HON. JOHN II. MITCHELL, United States Senator from the State of Ore- gon, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1835. At an early period of his life his parents removed to Butler county, which claims him as a son by adoption if not by birth, and it was here that his boyhood days were spent amid the environments of a life upon the farm, a life of constant toil and priva-

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tion. Having made up his mind to obtain an education, he never relaxed his ef- forts until he was admitted to Witherspoon Institute, from which institu- tion he was graduated. The difficulties that beset his path seemed but to exert him to more persistent effort, and bending every energy he overcame all obstacles, so that at an early age he was the possessor of not only a good English education, but was also a fair classical scholar. Thus equipped he entered upon the study of law, and brought to the task the same industry and indomitable will that had hitherto marked his character. With him the study of law became a passion, and at an early period he was so well grounded in all the branches of his profession that his advice was sought by many attorneys of long and active prac- tice at the bar. In 1860 he left his native State for the Pacific coast, and after a brief sojourn in California, permanently located in Portland, Oregon. Soon af- ter his arrival in Oregon, the War of the Rebellion was inaugurated. At that time there was a strong sentiment in California and Oregon and the adjacent territories in favor of the formation of a "Pacific Coast Republic." Th promi- nent leaders in this movement were men originally from the Southern States, who had dominated the politics of the coast. Thus directed it gained con- siderable impetus, and had it not been for the active and courageous opposition of a number of determined men this movement would probably have made the task of preserving the Union still more difficult. It was at this juncture that Mr. Mitchell first came prominently forward in public affairs. His earnest eloquence and energy were on the side of the Union, and to his untiring efforts is due in a large measure the failure of the movement to establish an independent govern- ment on the shores of the l'acific. As the leader of the opposition to this scheme he was, in June, 1862, elected to the Oregon State Senate, and for four years presided over the deliberations of that body. In 1866, the Republican party be- ing in control of the legislature, he came within one vote of the caucus nomina- tion for United States Senator.

In 1872 Mr. Mitchell was elected to the United States Senate, his term of office commencing March 4, 1873. His ability was soon recognized by his col- leagues, and in the arrangement of the committees he was given a place on sev- eral of the most important, particularly the committee on privileges and elections, of which Oliver P. Morton was chairman. During the exciting period that fol- lowed the presidential election of 1876, this committee was charged with the duty of investigating the contested elections in Louisiana, South Carolina, Flor- ida and Oregon. Pending the investigations, Mr. Morton was designated a member of the Electoral Commission, and, therefore, became ineligible to serve as chairman of the committee on privileges and elections. This condition made it necessary for Mr. Mitchell to act as chairman. and he conducted the investi- gations with remarkable ability and judgment. So successful was he in this try- ing ordeal, and so uniformly fair and judicial was his conduct, that his party asso- ciates accord him the praise of having so prepared the Republican side of the case that when laid before the world it was without a flaw. As a legal docu- ment defining the relations between the State and the National government, this report was accepted by the Electoral Commission as the correct and constitutional guide for its conduct in reaching a decision. 45

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Mr. Mitchell has endeared himself to the people of his State by his efforts to free the Columbia river from the control of monopolists. Through his exertions Congress has undertaken to overcome certain obstructions in this river, which so long as they exist will make free navigation impossible. As a speaker Mr. Mitchell is clear and concise : his sentences are striking for their clear-cut com- pactness, and his arguments in the Senate and before the Supreme Court are conspicuous for acuteness and correctness of thought. He is a diligent student and a profound thinker, but above all he is a man of strong common sense. Ilis success in life teaches the lesson that success comes only to those who have the energy to strive for it, and who have common sense enough to take advantage of opportunities as they are presented The reasons for his success, outside of his stock of common sense. are to be found in his rigid industry, indomitable will and fidelity to duty, and in no man is there a higher exemplification of the truth that " Fidelity is the bond of human society, the foundation of all justice and above all things to be religiously observed." He is serving his third term in the Senate, and his standing in that body is ascertained by mentioning the committees of which he is a member, viz. : judiciary, privileges and elections, claims, post offices and post roads, transportation routes to the seabord, and claims against Nicaragua.

HION. AARON LYLE HAZEN was born in Shenango township, Lawrence county (then a part of Beaver ). Pennsylvania, February 19, 1837. Ile is a son of Henry and Sarah ( Warnock ) Hazen, natives of Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather, Nathan Hazen, was born in Washington county, son of Nathaniel Hazen, a native of Connecticut, who was a pioneer of Washington and after- ward of Beaver county; while his maternal grandfather. James Warnock, was born in Down county, Ireland. His maternal grandmother was a descendant of Robert Lyle, a pioneer of Northumberland county, whose descendants were also pioneers of Washington county, Pennsylvania. Aaron L. attended the district schools of his native township, and later the Beaver Academy, graduating from the latter institution in 185S. He then entered Jefferson College, at Can- onsburg, where he was graduated in 1861, the last year being devoted to the study of law. When Sumter was fired upon he was among the first to enlist in defense of the Union, and was mustered into the Twelfth Pennsylvania Volun- teers. in April, 1861. Upon the expiration of his term. he re-enlisted, but a serious attack of deafness prevented his service in the ranks, and he was appointed a paymaster's clerk in the Cumberland district. The last year of the war he served as receiving and paying teller in the United States depository at Louisville, Kentucky. In September, 1865, he was admitted to the bar at New Castle, Lawrence county, soon built up a good practice, and from 1870 to 1876 he filled the office of district attorney of that county with credit and ability. He continued in the active duties of his profession until 1884, when his prominence at the bar was again recognized by his nomination on the Republican ticket for judge of the Seventeenth judicial district, then composed of Butler and Lawrence coun- ties. Though his associate on the ticket, John M. Greer, was defeated, he was elected and became president judge, and from January, 1885, until the division of the district by the creation of a new district out of Lawrence county in 1893.

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History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 87

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown Number of Pages: 1658

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658