USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume III > Part 37
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BENJAMIN HINCHMAN. one of the pioneers of Johnstown, was a descendant of Benjamin Hinchman, who immigrated to America about the year 1665. He landed at New York and settled at Jamaica, Long Island, where in 1683 he was one of the body of men to establish at Jamaica the first Presbyterian church in America. In the society of that church he held the office of trustee for a number of years. 'Three of his descendants were in the Revolutionary war. one of them being a major stationed at a fort on the Hudson river.
The father of the Benjamin Hinehman first mentioned in the pre- ceding paragraph was born at Jamaica, Long Island, and moved to Phila- delphia in the year 1810, where his son Benjamin was born in 1827. When a young man he learned the trade of a bricklayer and worked at different mills in and near Philadelphia, notably the Catasauqua Iron Works, Pottstown Iron Works, and the Ned Rolland Rolling Mills, all pioneers of the iron industry.
In June, 1853, Mr. Charles Dorsey, for whom Benjamin Hinchman had been at work, received an appointment as foreman of the bricklayers at the new iron works which were about to be built at Johnstown, and he came to that place. bringing with him Benjamin Hinchman and sev- eral other men. When they arrived the mill was in an embryonic state. The construction of the puddling and heating furnaces was at once he- gun under temporarily erected frame structures. This was the beginning of the work which afterward developed into the great plant of the Cam- bria Steel Company of the present day. Mr. Hinchman continued his work for the Cambria Iron Company until the fall of 1854, when it sud- denly stopped by closing the works indefinitely. He then returned to Philadelphia and some time afterward met Mr. Daniel J. Morrell. who then was employed in a dry goods store in that city. Hearing that Mr. Hinchman had been at Johnstown in the employ of the Cambria Iron Company, Mr. Morrell requested him to secure a number of good brick- layers and take them to Johnstown, where Mr. Morrell was soon to go to assume management and revive the old works. Mr. Hinchman did as requested, and took with him Daniel Stroup. Elwood Mathers and others, returning to Johnstown after an absence of eighteen months. The works now took on a new lease of life under the capable management of Mr. Morrell and Mr. Fritz. In place of the former temporary structures com- modions brick buildings appeared, and under their direction was raised the great stack which stood until a few years ago. Mr. Hichman con- tinned his work and completed the rolling mill, the paddling mill and the blast. furnaces. and was the man who lined the Kelley Converter with
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brick, the first to be used in this country in experimenting with the manu- facture of Bessemer steel. He remained with the Cambria Steel Com- pany until a short time before his death, which occurred on the 5th day of November, 1876. He was known among his friends and fellow work- men as a genial, whole-souled man, and generous to a fault. His happy nature, combined with his habit of whistling troubles away, won for him many friends both young and old. Every now and then one meets with some of the remaining old mill hands who speak of him as one of the men who lived to make others happy. He was a charter member of old Assistance Fire Company, having had previous experience in the famous old Harmony Fire Company of Philadelphia before he came to Johnstown. He volunteered twice for service during the Rebellion, but was rejected on account of physical disabilities. In polities he was a Republican.
In 1849 Mr. Hinehman married Susan O. Robinson of Philadelphia. She came from an old Quaker family descended from the first settlers of that city. She accompanied her husband on his first trip to Johnstown, and while located there boarded with the Patch family at the old canal lock, then on the site of the present No. 6 Blast Furnace. Mrs. Hinch- man is still living with her son on Main street, in Johnstown. Of the children four boys and two girls are now living: Benjamin Hinchman, Junior, a steel expert and foreman of the smith shop. Gautier depart- ment : Joseph Hinchman, a wholesale grocer on Main street: Dr. Henry C. Hinchman, a dentist on Franklin street; Charles R. Hinchman, chief engineer of the American Steel and Wire Company at Newberg, Ohio; and Mary A. (IIinehman) Anawalt, and Susan (Hinchman) Bittner, living in Pittsburg.
GEORGE VON LUNEN has been a business man of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. for more than fifteen years. He is a native of the city. born May 26, 18:1, a son of Louis and Emily (Griffith) Von Lunen, his father and family being made the subject of more extended mention elsewhere in this work.
George Von Lunen was given a good early education in the public schools of Johnstown, and also took a business course at the Bennett & Greer Commercial College. At the age of nineteen he began his business career in partnership with a brother-in-law, Louis Leventry, and for the next two years was a contractor and builder. He then sold his interest in the business to Mr. Leventry and began work for John H. Waters & Bro .. with whom he learned the trade of a plumber. Later he worked three months in New York City in order to get an understanding of the miost modern and approved methods in practical and sanitary plumbing used in the metropolitan district. He then came back to Johnstown and soon afterward opened his present plumbing. heating and gas fitting establish- ment in Moxham, the seventeenth ward of the city. Mr. Von Lunen is an active, capable and successful young business man. He has kept free of entangling political alliances, never sought or wanted office of any kind. and votes independent of parties. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his family are members, and contributes to its support.
On the 27th of February, 1896, he married Miss Jessie Elizabeth Leventry. daughter of William and Henrietta (Gochnour) Leventry. of whom and whose family mention will be found in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Von Lunen have three children-Edith Emily, Dwight and Hen- rietta.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
DAVID MARKER. The surname (Marker) of the family under consideration here has been known in the industrial history of the city of Johnstown a little more than twenty-five years, and from the time when David Marker, a young machinist fresh from the shops in Llanelly, South Wales, came to this country and entered the employ of Cambria Iron Company. He brought with him a thorough understanding of a machin- ist's work, and since he first went into the shops in Johnstown he has been known as one of the most proficient workmen there. And his work has been observed and appreciated and advancement has been the reward of his genius. His present position is that of master mechanic, which implies responsibilities and commensurate reward.
On the paternal side David Marker comes of an English family. His grandfather, Henry Marker, was born in Cornwall, England, and was a chemist by profession and occupation. Both he and his wife were mem- bers of the Church of England, and brought up their sons and daughters in that faith. Henry Marker, of Cornwall, had six children, of whom Richard was the eldest. The others were Henry, John, William, Mary and Susanna Marker.
Richard Marker was born in Cornwall, and when a young man went over to Wales and spent his life there. For many years he followed the sea and was master of a sailing vessel in the copper trade owned by Nevil. Bruce & Co., a famous copper firm of South Wales. Captain Marker held a certificate as master mariner, and during his long service at sea visited nearly every important port in the world. The last twenty years of his life were spent ashore as agent for the copper firm previously mentioned. His home was at Llanelly. South Wales, from which place daily he visited the office and ore yards at Swansea. He married Harriet Jones, daughter of William Jones, of Llanelly. who also was connected with the firm of Nevil. Bruce & Co. Mr. Marker died in August, 1889, and his wife died in 1891. Their children were as follows: William Marker, a master mar- iner ; lost at sea ; married Hannah Thomas, who is a widow living at Llanelly, South Wales. Susanna Marker, now dead ; married John Thomas, who now lives at Llanelly. Robert Marker, died unmarried. Elizabeth Marker, now dead; married David Jones, who lives at Llanelly. James Marker, now living in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Harriet Marker. died un- married at the age of twenty-two years. Eleanor Marker, married David Reese, and lives at the old home. David Marker, of Jolinstown ; master me- chanie for the Cambria Iron Company ; married Susan Jones and has two children. Mary Ann Marker, married Martin Jones, and lives in Swansea, South Wales.
David Marker was born at Llanelly, in South Wales, on the 19th day of Angust, 1860. He was educated in the schools of that town. At the age of nineteen he was apprenticed to the trade of machinist, which he mas- tered, and then, in 1883, left home for America. He came direct to Johnstown, arrived there on June 12th, and at once found employment at his trade in the works of Cambria Iron Company. He is still in the serv- ice of the company, although not in the capacity of machinist, for his skill, intelligence and determination have won for him frequent promotion dur- ing the last fifteen or so years. He was made assistant foreman in 1893. foreman in 1895, and three years later, 1898, was advanced to his present position. that of master mechanic. During the period of his service with the company he has perfected several labor-saving devices. In every re- spect he has proved a valuable man for his emplovers, and the company in turn has shown a proper appreciation of his services in a material sense as well as placing him in a position of honor in its works.
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Mr. Marker is a citizen of Pennsylvania, and in politics is a Repub- lican. He is a communicant at St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church, and for two years has been secretary of the parish, besides having taken a prominent part in the choir service of the church. In Free Masonry he stands high, a member and senior deacon of Cambria Lodge No. 538, F. and A. M .; past high priest of Portage Chapter No. 195, R. A. M .; mem- ber of Cambria Council No. 32, R. and S. M .; eminent commander of Oriental Commandery, No. 61, K. T., and member of Jaffa Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He also is a member of Linton Lodge, No. 451, K. P.
On July 2, 1899, David Marker married Susan Jones, daughter of Richard and Mary Ann (Davis) Jones, of Johnstown. Mr. Jones came to this country in 1860 from Llanelly, South Wales, and has charge of the warehouses of the Gautier department of Cambria Steel Company. Mr. and Mrs. Marker have two children, Eleanor and Emlyn Marker.
JOHN NAPOLEON SHORT. Among the tireless workers and thrifty business factors of the great working force and officials of the Cambria Steel Company at Johnstown is John N. Short, who since 1878 has been superintendent of the agricultural department (special work), for this corporation, whose various productions call for none but the most trusty and experienced of mechanics and business men to handle their gi- gantic trade. Mr. Short is a Canadian by birth, born in Quebec, January 25, 1843, son of Huber and Emily (Chamberlain) Short.
The paternal grandfather was Louis Short, a farmer, who died in Canada in 1851. He married a Miss Derring, who died a few months from the date of his death. Their children were: Louis; Augustine; Francis ; Joseph : Major ; Huber : Emily : Polly : Mary, and one who died in infancy. Huber Short, the father of the subject of this notice, was born in 1806 and died in 1874, at his home in Troy, New York, to which place he moved in 1869 from Vermont. He moved from Canada to Ver- mont in 1865. He was a carpenter by trade, and followed it both in Canada and the United States. In religion he was of the Catholic faith, as had been his parents. He was married to Emily Chamberlain, daughter of John Chamberlain and wife, of Quebec. The children born of this union were: Five, who died in infancy; Frank, who died aged nineteen years : Joseph ; John N. : Elmina ; Mary ; Delina. They all live in Troy. New York except the subject, John N. Short. Joseph is a professional decorator for a large contracting firm.
John N. Short, subject, obtained a common school education in his Canadian home, and early learned the machinist's trade, commencing at the age of fourteen years in Canada, and finishing in Bennington county. Vermont. He followed this calling in Vermont until he came to Johns- town. Pennsylvania, August 1, 1878, when he became general superintend- ent of the department in the Cambria Steel Company's "Agricultural di- vision," which produces special work for the manufacture of farm imple- ments. In this capacity Mr. Short has served for the past twenty-eight years, and has seen the plant advance from its infancy to that of its present large proportions. He is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, be- lieving it to be the best organization for the general upbuilding of the financial and social interests of the common masses. In religious matters he is of the faith of his forefathers-a supporter of Catholic principles. He has given his whole time and attention to his position with the Steel company, never holding office, save a part of one term as councilman from the Eleventh ward in Johnstown. He has owned several good homes in his adopted city, and moved to a well planned residence in the autumn of
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. 1909
Philip Bohaw.
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1905, where he is well situated and surrounded by an interesting family. His new home is situated on Skelly street, in Eighth ward, Johnstown.
He was married, in Bennington county, Vermont, July 15, 1868, to Elmina, daughter of Gabriel and Lillian (Green) Blair, by whom were born the following children: Mary Louisa; Eugene, wife of John R. Flinn, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Delia; William Frederick; Mary ; Elizabeth ; Leo George and Anna. The last three were born at Johnstown, and the others in Vermont. The sons and daughters are being well edu- cated ; the youngest is now in normal school.
THE REV. PHILIP BOHAN, pastor of St. Patrick's Roman Cath- olie Church, Johnstown, was born September 22, 1868, near Carrigallen, county Leitrim, Ireland. His parents were John and Anne ( Conlon) Bo- han, and Philip was the youngest of twelve children.
Philip Bohan received his elementary education in Corduff National school. At the age of eighteen he entered Carlow College, Ireland. In this great institution of learning he studied for seven years, and was distin- guished as an able mathematician and a profound philosopher and theo- logian. In 1896 he was elevated to the priesthood, and ordained by the Most Rev. Dr. Foley, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin for the Diocese of Pittsburg.
The same year he came to the United States and was appointed by the Right Rev. Bishop Phelan, assistant pastor of St. John's church, Johnstown. Here he labored faithfully in the discharge of his priestly duties, ministering to the sick and the dying in their homes and in the city hospitals, and comforting the sorrow-stricken in their distress.
While a great portion of his time was spent in attending the sick, yet he never considered the preaching of the word of God a secondary duty. Always his sermons were replete with sound doctrine and useful admoni- tions, and much spiritual benefit was derived by the large congregation that listened to the eloquent sermons of Father Bohan.
Neither was he ummindful of the temporal affairs of the parish. In five months he was instrumental in raising eleven thousand dollars to liquidate a portion of the debt which the congregation had assumed. After his labors of five years he was promoted to the pastorate of St. Matthew's church, Tyrone, and left St. John's with the best wishes of a grateful peo- płe.
With the same zeal and success which characterized his labors in Johnstown he worked in Tyrone. After three years he was requested by Right Rev. Bishop Garvey to come back to the "Flood City," and take charge of the new congregation, now known as St. Patrick's. Here he purchased the site on which St. Patrick's church now stands. The corner- stone of the edifice was laid in October, 1904, and the structure was com- pleted in November, 1905. In his superintendence of the erection of this church, and also in the discharge of his pastoral duties, Father Bohan has been eminently successful, demonstrating his administrative ability, and winning the sincere affection and respect of his parishioners.
CHARLES WENDELL, of Johnstown, has been employed by the Cambria Iron Company in one capacity and another between forty and fifty years, and while his service has not been continuous from the time he first entered the works, he is one of the oldest employes of that con- cern. He began his career in life at the age of twelve years, and has been occupied with some useful employment from that to the present time. About three years of this remarkable period were spent in the govern-
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ment service as a soldier of the Civil war. and this was not by any means the least arduous of his work, as will be seen from what is said in a later part of this sketch.
Mr. Wendell is a son of the late Charles Wendell, of Richland town- chip. Cambria county. The elder Wendell was born in Hamburg, Ger- many, and served six years in the German army, as the military regula- tions of that country required of its subjects. He was about twenty-five years old when he left the service and soon afterward came to America. He had fallen in love with a young German woman, Katherine Haynes, whose parents were wealthy and opposed her marriage with the young soldier. Thus situated, and determined to marry regardless of the parental objection, Charles and Katherine ran away from home and sailed for America. In due season they arrived at the port of New York, where they were at once married. This interesting event took place in 1833. After they had married, Charles Wendell and his wife came to Pennsyl- vania and found work on a farm in Bedford county. They lived in that vicinity several years. and in 1837 removed to Somerset county, where they lived four or five years. Soon after this he brought his family to Richland township, in Cambria county, and was a farmer there until the time of his death, in 1878. His widow survived him nearly fifteen years and died in 1892. Their married life extended through a period of fifty-five years of agreeable companionship, and they raised to maturity a large family of children. One sister of Mr. Wendell followed him to this country, and afterward married Philip Koehler. His life was ended in an accident on the Pennsylvania railroad and his wife was a victim of the Johnstown flood, May 31, 1889. Children of Charles and Katherine (Haynes) Wendell: Charles Wendell. one of the oldest employes of Cambria Iron Company : married Elizabeth Noon, and had seven children. Philip Wen- dell. married, first, Mary Paul; married, second, Miss Shirey; lives in Goshen, Indiana. Jacob Wendell, married, first, Barbara Paul : married second. Elizabeth Paul; married, third, a Horner; married, fourth, a widow Reynolds, whose family name is Kooster; Mr. Wendell lives at Dunlo, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Wendell, married Jacob Stowe: both are now dead. Mary Wendell, married John Stiffler, and is now dead. John Wendell, died in Kansas about 1896; he was a soldier of the Nineteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war. Katherine Wendell, married Jacob Schaeffer; she is dead. David Wendell, married Sarah Noon, and lives at Meadowvale, Pennsylvania. Lavine Wendell. married Frank Varner. and is now dead. Rebecca Wendell. married Jacob Stine- man, and lives at Conemangh. Pennsylvania. William Wendell, married a Miss Rohrabach, and lives at Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Charles Wendell was born at Shellsburg, in Bedford county, on the 13th of January, 1835, and was two years old when his parents came to Cambria county and settled on a farm in Richland township. He was sent to the district school during the winter seasons of his youth, and when twelve years old was bound out to a farmer in the neighborhood of his home, with an agreement that his father should receive twelve bushels of wheat for his service, and the boy to be allowed two months schooling during the first year. The second year the father received twenty-four bushels of wheat and the son was given the same time in school as before. After this he worked out for different farmers in the township, but in the course of a few months came to Johnstown and found employment in the rail mill of Cambria Iron Company.
Having worked for the company four years, Mr. Wendel! married and for the next three and one-half years turned his attention to farming
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pursuits. He was thus employed at the beginning of the Civil war. On October 18, 1862, he enlisted in Company H (Captain Geisinger) of the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into service at Harrisburg. From there he was sent with other recruits to his regiment at the front, and was assigned to guard duty along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. He served as private, and was in all the battles in which the regiment took part, except when kept from duty by reason of wounds. He was wounded first while on the picket line at North Mountain, and was on the hospital list on that account for six weeks. He was again wounded at Newmarket, May 15, 1864, and although ordered to remain in the hospital he returned to his company in a few days. He was with the regiment at High Bridge just before Lee's surrender, when the whole command was captured, but was soon released. While the Fifty- fourth was in camp at Annapolis awaiting discharge after the surrender at Appomattox, Mr. Wendell became so seriously sick with a chronic trou- ble that it was a question whether he would live to see home again. He was mustered out while in the camp hospital, and was kept there until June before he was able to return to Pennsylvania. In April, 1866, hav- ing in a measure recovered his health, he returned to the Cambria Iron Company and worked a few years as helper in the rail mill and then as heater. altogether thirty-six years. This long service brought him to a point somewhat beyond the prime of life, but the company has since re- tained him to perform the lighter duty of watchman at the time office gate as an appreciation of long continued and faithful service. Mr. Wen- dell is a comrade of the Union Veteran Legion and of Emory Fisher Post, G. A. R., of Johnstown, a member of the United Brethren Church, and in politics is a Republican.
On the 18th of December, 1857, he married Elizabeth Noon, daugh- ter of David and Sarah (Strayer) Noon, of Conemaugh township. Her grandfather came from Lancaster county to Cambria county many years ago, and was a farmer in Conemaugh township. Children of Charles and Elizabeth (Noon ) Wendell : Robert W. Wendell, born February 11, 1859 ; died unmarried, February 20, 1895. Ephraim L. Wendell, born June 7. 1861 : married Blanche Pritner, and is an employe of the Gautier plant of Cambria Iron Company. Sarah Ada Wendell, born April 29, 1866 ; married Joshua Duncan, and was drowned in the Johnstown flood, May 31, 1889. Annie C. Wendell, born September 21. 1868; married Samuel Oakes, and lives in Pittsburg. Charles D. Wendell, born October 1, 1870; a dentist by profession ; unmarried and lives at home. Benjamin Franklin Wen- dell. born January 31, 1873; married Irene Stewart ; he is a dentist by profession, and lives in the Eleventh ward. Johnstown. Mary Elizabeth Wendell, born February 14, 1845: married Lindsay Pritner, who is an employe of the Franklin department of Cambria Steel Company.
CAPTAIN HUGH BRADLEY, of Hollidaysburg, born in county Derry, Ireland, reared on a farm, is a son of Roger Bradley, who was the father of five sons and three daughters. Of these Peter came to America in 1850, Hugh in 1851. James John in 1860 and the other sons remained in their native land. One of the daughters married Francis Fox and their family consisted of six sons and three daughters, one of the sons becom- ing a priest. Another daughter, Ellen, married James Bradley and their family consisted of six sons and two daughters, three of the sons are priests, two are doctors and one daughter a school teacher. Another daughter, Mary, married Andrew Willson and their family consisted of five sons and seven daughters. six of whom came to America.
Vol. III-17
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It was in the year 1851 that Captain Hugh Bradley, then a stout boy of seventeen years, left the home at the countryside in old county Derry; Ireland, and took ship for America. In good time he landed safe at New Orleans, Louisiana, from which city he started up the Mississippi on a northbound steamer with the purpose to make his way to Minnesota Ter- ritory, where he had relatives living at St. Paul, but the boat in which he took passage "snagged" near Memphis, Tennessee, and his trip came to a sudden end, as did his own plans as well, and he at once set at work in that locality. For a year or so Hugh lived with a farmer near Memphis and proved to be a handy man on the place, for he was a farmer bred and born with a willing heart and a pair of strong arms, and he could do a man's work, although he was only a boy. At the end of a year he went to the river and worked on the docks as a stevedore, passing bales of cot- ton from the wharves to the boats. While there he happened by chance to meet one Frank White, a locomotive engineer and probably the first man to "pull a throttle" on the first bit of track of the old Memphis & Charlestown railroad, thirty miles of which were just completed, from Memphis to a town called Moscow. Frank White had a liking for the stout young lad and made him his fireman ; thus it happened that Hugh Bradley "fired" the first engine that ever was run on that road. He stayed at this work until May, 1853, then quit and came north, stopped two weeks in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, went on to Johnstown and re- mained there a few weeks more. On leaving Johnstown he went by the old Portage railroad to Altoona and from there by the Pennsylvania main line to Philadelphia. Soon afterward he went to Phoenixville, Chester county, and found work there as puddler in the iron works, which became his first regular occupation in life. At the end of six months he left Phoenixville and went to Safe Harbor, Lancaster county, and from there back to Johnstown, where he has lived since August, 1854, more than half a century.
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