USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 76
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Upon returning to his home, Colonel Irvin resumed his former occupation, the lum- ber and mercantile business, which he conducted with general success until the year 1878, when he quit merchandise, and has since given his entire time to his lumber and coal interests. Upon the death of Associate-Judge James Bloom, in 1865, Governor Curtin appointed and commissioned Colonel Irvin to that office, but he never entered upon the discharge of its duties. Notwithstanding the fact of his busy life, there is no man within the limits of the county who feels greater interest in its social or political welfare than Colonel Irvin, nor is there one more ready to assist in every worthy enter- prise. His long identification with the Republican party, and his position as one of its acknowledged leaders, has placed him prominently before the people, and frequently has he been pressed to become its candidate for positions of trust and honor in this section of the State, but as frequently has he declined. Having a pleasant home in the borough of Curwensville, he is more content, after the business cares of the day are laid aside, to seek its enjoyment. Of the marriage of Edward A. and Emma A. Irvin there have been born four children, two of whom are now living, a son and a daughter. The son, Hugh McNiel Irvin (named for a warm personal friend of Colonel Irvin, the gallant Colonel Hugh McNiel, of the famous " Bucktails," who was killed at South Mountain) occupies a position in connection with his father's business.
Colonel Irvin is an active member of the Presbyterian Church. Charities, public and private, and religious institutions as well, receive from him a helping hand. With much of dash and public spirit he combines an earnest desire to be a faithful helper in every work tending to promote the well-being of his town, his county, and its people.
M cCLOSKY, ISAAC CROSBY. In the central part of Karthaus township, about four miles north from the village of Karthaus, is located one of the finest farms in this county, two hundred acres in extent, the property and home of Isaac C. McClosky. He is not a native of this county, but was born in Clinton county on the 8th day of February, 1826, and was the oldest of a large family of children, sons and daughters of Thomas and Sophia McClosky. The family came to Karthaus in the year 1848, and located on lands previously purchased by Isaac, then only one hundred acres in area, and having only about five acres cut over, and with no other improvement. Here the family lived until the month of September, of the year 1854, when the parents and sev-
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
eral of the children went to Iowa, Isaac remaining to improve and cultivate the land, and which was destined, through his enterprise, thrift and energy, to become not only the best and most productive in the township, but one of the best in the county. En- larging and extending his possessions from time to time, Mr. McClosky has become the sole owner of some six hundred acres of desirable land, besides having a half interest in as much more. In connection with his agricultural pursuit he has engaged extensively in lumbering, and his investments in this direction have been productive of good results. Something like thirty years ago he established a general merchandise store on his farm and did, for many years, a successful business, and upon the starting in trade of his son, at Belford, he discontinued the store at Karthaus Hill, and took an interest in the son's business, the management of it, however, being left wholly to the latter.
In the affairs and well-being of the county and of his township Mr. McClosky has always taken a deep interest, and is identified with every progressive step, yet, he has been no aspirant for political office, and although frequently pressed to become a candi- date, he has as frequently declined, and never held any position except that of school director of the township, and perhaps other minor offices, being too much occupied with his own business to give more than his counsel and vote to political matters. In polit- ical life he is consistently and thoroughly Democratic, and by his influence and standing in the party is looked upon as its leader in Karthaus township.
On the 25th day of October, in the year 1854, Isaac C. McClosky married Eliza- beth Jane, daughter of Thomas Ross McClure, a highly respected resident of Pike township. Of this marriage ten children have been born, five of whom are still living.
ARRETT, GEORGE RODDEN, was born at Curwensville on the 31st day of B March, 1815, being the third child and oldest son of Daniel Barrett, who was mar- ried to Rachel Rodden, the daughter of Isaac Rodden, of Clearfield. When old enough George attended a private school taught by Miss Ann Reed, this being the only school in that neighborhood. This was the only opportunity furnished him to acquire an education. At the age of fifteen years he was apprenticed to the late Governor John Bigler, of California, to learn the printing trade, in the town of Bellefonte, Centre county. After two years' service he removed to Brookville, Jefferson county, and edited and published a paper named the Jeffersonian. Although at this time but eighteen years of age, he took an active and prominent part in the political discussions of the day. He continued the publication of that paper for about one year. In the month of September, 1834, he was married to Sarah Steadman, the daughter of George Steadman, of Lewisburg, Union county. The next year, 1835, he moved with his family to Lewisburg, and entered the office of James F. Linn, esq., as a student at law. While engaged in the study of law he established and edited the first Democratic paper ever published in Lewisburg, the Lewisburg Democrat. In the following year, 1836, having been admitted to the bar, he moved with his family to Clearfield, and established himself in the practice of the profession he had chosen.
In the year 1837 he was appointed deputy attorney-general for the counties of Clear- field and Jefferson. While Clearfield county at that time was sparsely settled, and afforded but a narrow scope for a young lawyer to develop himself in the performance of the duties of his office, yet the young deputy attorney-general had hardly entered upon the duties of his office when he was enlisted in one of the most exciting cases ever tried in Jefferson county, and known as the " Green murder trial," the result of which
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GEORGE RODDEN BARRETT.
was to establish firmly the reputation of George R. Barrett, and place him at the head of the bar in his own county, which position he maintained until he retired from the practice of the profession to assume his judicial office.
In 1840 he was elected from the district composed of Clearfield, Clinton, and Ly- coming counties, to serve in the Legislature, and re-elected the succeeding year. While a member of the Legislature he served upon the judiciary committee, and among his colleagues upon that committee were the late Thaddeus Stevens, the late Chief Justice Sharswood, and Judge Elwell, of Columbia county. During his service the law abol- ishing imprisonment for debt was passed. It caused, at the time, great excitement, and engendered intense and bitter feeling. Mr. Barrett was the consistent, steadfast and earnest advocate of the measure, and was regarded and looked upon as its champion.
At the close of his second term he returned to Clearfield, with the fixed determina- tion to abandon politics and adhere strictly to his profession, which he practiced with unvarying success; but, being a ready political debater, and of such strong convictions, he found it impossible to keep out of the political discussions of the day; every suc- ceeding fall found him upon the stump. His friend and neighbor, Governor Bigler, having become a candidate for the chief magistracy of Pennsylvania, found a ready, earnest and active supporter in Mr. Barrett, in conventions, caucuses and before the people. This fact, perhaps, more than anything else had the effect of drawing him back into politics and keeping him in its turmoil. In 1852 he was placed upon the ticket and elected presidential elector, and cast his vote in the electoral college for Franklin Pierce for president of the United States. In May of the following year he was appointed, by Governor Bigler, president judge of the twenty-second judicial dis- trict, composed of the counties "of Wayne, Pike, Monroe, and Carbon, which office he held until the succeeding December, then declining to be a candidate for election.
In the winter of 1852 Congress enacted a law authorizing the president to select and appoint a suitable person, learned in the law, to systematize and codify the revenue laws of the United States. President Pierce appointed Judge Barrett, who immediately entered upon the duties of his position, and, in a little over one year, he completed the work to the satisfaction of the government. He then returned to Clearfield and resumed the practice of his profession.
In the fall of 1855, never having visited the district in which he had temporarily presided, he was nominated by the Democratic party, without his solicitation, as their candidate for president judge. At that time the Democratic party was opposed by a secret oath-bound organization known as the " Know-Nothings." The latter placed in nomination Thomas S. Bell, an ex-supreme judge of the State. During the exciting contest that followed Judge Barrett never visited the district, nor wrote a letter con- cerning his candidacy, but received most of his news of the canvass through the press. The result was his election by over three thousand majority, which was largely in excess of the party majority that year. He held the office and performed its duties during the entire ten years following. In 1865 he was renominated by both political parties and elected unanimously. In 1869, having tired of the monotony of judicial life, he re- signed the office. Governor Geary, having trouble in selecting a successor, induced him to accept an appointment for one year to enable the people, in the mean time, to elect his successor. In 1870 he retired permanently from office. In 1872 he returned to the practice of his profession at Clearfield and in adjoining counties, forming a part- nership with his son, Walter Barrett, who was then engaged in practice. This relation
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
was continued until 1884, when, on account of ill health, Judge Barrett was compelled to retire permanently from the profession. During the twelve years of his practice he was interested in all the leading cases, civil and criminal, tried at the bar of the county, as well as many in Bedford, Huntingdon, Centre and Montour counties, also in trying important cases in the United States Circuit Court at Pittsburgh. During this time it was a matter of pride with him that he never lost a case in the Supreme Court, and that, during the sixteen years of his service upon 'the bench, he was reversed but thirteen times, although reviewed in hundreds of instances.
What greater compliment can be paid, or what more fitting tribute can be written upon the professional career of this man than by the statement of fact; a lawyer pro- found and deep in the knowledge of the law; a counselor prudent and careful, ever ready, but never over hasty; shrewed, and able to see quickly and grasp every point in the trial of a case ; using strong argument rather than eloquence in his presentation to the jury, nevertheless a fluent and effective speaker; ever respectful and submissive to the rullings of the court? Possessing, as he did, those qualities that placed him high in the profession as a lawyer, he was eminently fitted for the more exalted station in professional life-the bench. Self-possessed, dignified, courteous, easy and graceful in his bearing, firm in his rulings, logical in his reasoning, kind and forbearing toward the profession generally, and the younger lawyers in particular, Mr. Barrett, during his presidency, acquired the deserved honor of being one of the ablest and most popular judges upon the bench.
Outside of his long and active professional life Judge Barrett was engaged in many enterprises, having, at one time, large lumber interests, and connected with several mercantile establishments ; but more especially did he exhibit a fondness for agricul- ture, and never was he so happy, apparently, as when superintending his farms. He was also active in promoting railroad enterprises, and spent a great deal of time and money in endeavoring to establish a railway route through Clearfield county, connecting with trunk lines.
He raised to maturity a family of ten children, and, although never a rich man, he always had sufficient to live in affluence and maintain large, charitable dependencies. In no way do the qualities of [the man appear so strongly as in the citizen, friend, and neighbor, in the more private walks of life. His commanding personal appearance, agreeable manners, and his scrupulous attention to the common civilities of life, en- dear him alike to the old and young. No appeal to his charity was ever made in vain, and now, bearing upon him the weight of advanced years, he recognizes in all the full- ness of his strength, the divine command, "Bear ye one another's burdens."
STEWART, ROBERT SHAW, the subject of this sketch, was born in Bradford town- ship, this county, on the 30th day of June, in the year 1826. His father, John Stew- art, was a native of Ireland, who immigrated to this country and became one of the pion- eers of Bradford township in the year 1819. In the family of John Stewart were eight children, of whom Robert S. was the fourth. The children were brought up on the farm, and had but little opportunity to acquire an education, except by experience. The older brothers were among the first lumbermen in this region, and ran lumber to market at a very early day. Until he attained his twenty-first year, Robert S. worked on the farm and in the woods for his father, but on reaching that age he commenced making square timber, on a small scale at first, but gradually increasing as he felt able to do so,
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ROBERT SHAW STEWART. - JOHN PATTON.
and as occasion demanded, until he became known as one of the many extensive and successful operators in this locality. For many years he was a lumber contractor for a Philadelphia firm, and ran their timber to market.
In the year 1870 he bought the lands and mill privilege of Irvin & Sons, on the the north side of the West Branch. Here he replaced the burned mill with a substan- tial new one ; still later he purchased another tract from Gillingham & Garrison, at the mouth of Surveyor's Run, where, in 1884, he built the large steam and water-power saw, shingle and planing mill now so extensively operated by him.
Robert S. Stewart commenced his business career with no capital, except his own determined will and energy, and his success is the result of his own personal efforts and good management. His time and attention are devoted to business, leaving him but little occasion to participate in the political affairs of the county ; nevertheless, as one of the substantial sons of the county, and a resident of Girard township, he takes a deep interest in every move looking to the progress of either. As an earnest member of the Shawsville Methodist Episcopal Church, he contributes both of his means and counsel to the support and maintenance of that society.
On the 6th day of November, in the year 1851, Robert Shaw Stewart married Re- becca, daughter of Robert Wrigley. Of this marriage there have been born eleven children, nine of whom are still living. -
PATTON, HON. JOHN. Before entering into a narrative of the events of the life - and life's work of John Patton, or any comment upon his personal traits of charac- ter, it is appropriate that some mention be made of his antecedents; and inasmuch as his paternal ancestors were so intimately associated with the stirring events that gave life and liberty to the nation, a brief mention of those persons and of those events is not only appropriate, but desirable ; and, futhermore, furnishes a record of personal sacrifice and personal heroism, in which any descendant may feel just pride.
General John Patton, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Sligo, Ireland, in the year 1745, and emigrated to this country, at Philadelphia, in the year 1761. He engaged actively in the struggle for national independence, as colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment of Pennsylvania troops. For a time he had charge of the defenses of Phila- delphia ; moreover, he was one of that noble band of merchants of that. city, composed of Robert Morris and other patriotic men, who raised, on their own personal responsi- bility, some two hundred and sixty thousand pounds to relieve Washington in the great- est crisis of the Revolution. He also was a member of the famous Cincinnati Society. In 1791 he moved to Centre county, where he passed the rest of his life. He died in the year 1804. He built, in the latter named county, the old Centre furnace, one of the first erected west of Harrisburg.
John Patton, the father of our subject, was a native of Philadelphia, born in the year 1783, and when eight years of age came with his parents to Centre county. He mar- ried Susan Antes, a woman of great strength of character, and loved by all to whom she was known. Prior to the time of his marriage, John Patton served in the navy as lieu- tenant under Commodore Stephen Decatur. He afterwards moved to Tioga county, having been commissioned by Governor Heister as prothonotary of that county. In 1827 he came to Clearfield county, and, two years later, 1828, made a permanent loca- tion at Curwensville. He served one term as associate judge of the county, his colleague upon the bench being Hon. James Ferguson. He died February 2, 1848. His wife,
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
Susan (Antes) Patton, survived him many years, and died at the advanced age of ninety- two years.
John Patton, the subject of this sketch, was born in Tioga county, this State, on the 6th day of January, in the year 1823. With his father's family he came to Curwensville in 1828, then being but five years of age. At the age of fourteen years young Patton went into the store of William Irvin, in the capacity of errand boy, and being honest, faithful and obedient, he was soon advanced to the position of principal clerk. On ar- riving at the age of twenty-one years, and having acquired a fair understanding of the several branches of trade in which his employer was engaged, Mr. Patton embarked for himself in the mercantile and lumbering business. Having borrowed means at the be- ginning, his operations were necessarily small, but by careful investments and good judg- ment his means increased, and his field of operation became enlarged, until it extended throughout the county, and he became known as one of the most extensive and suc- cessful business men of the region. He was thus engaged until the year 1860. He organized the First National Bank of Curwensville in 1864, and became its president. In this capacity he served for a period of twelve years, when, in 1876, the Cuiwensville Bank succeeded the First National, and he was made president of that, an office he still holds.
Such is, in brief, a résumé of the principal business operations of John Patton. If it indicates anything, it is that he is a remarkable man in his capacity to grasp and suc- cessfully direct large enterprises, the details of which would distract and paralyze the powers of men less favorably constituted; but his manifold interests never worried him ; in all these his power has been found sufficient for any emergency, and his time ade- quate for all requirements. And he has found time, too, for other duties than those confined to his business operations, and has given his substantial co-operation to every enterprise that tended to promote the interests of his town and county. Unselfish and unstinted have been his contributions for all purposes. For the building of the Tyrone and Clearfield Railroad he donated the gross sum of $12,500 ; the Patton Graded Pub- lic School Building, and ground on which it is erected, were his free and voluntary gift (costing over $20,000), and stand an enduring monument to his generosity and public spiritedness.
No less munificent and no less worthy have been his donations for other purposes, particularly the frequent contributions made to church and benevolent institutions; in fact, no worthy enterprise has sought his assistance and been refused. During his long and active business life General Patton (for by this title is he generally known, having held the commission of a brigadier-general in the militia service) formed an extensive and favorable acquaintance throughout this county and others adjoining, and being a man of undoubted integrity, straightforward honesty and recognized ability, he possessed the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men; therefore, it could not be a surprising fact that he should be pressed into the political service as the representative of the party, to the principles of which he held and gave support-the Republican party. In the year 1860 he was elected and represented the Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania district in the Thirty-seventh Congress, serving during three sessions of the Federal Legislature, while our divided country was battling in civil war. Again, in 1884, Mr. Patton became the candidate of the Republican party for the office of representative in Congress, but was defeated at the polls by Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, the candidate of the Democracy, by only twelve hundred votes. In 1886 a third time was General Patton nominated for
Mno Pattini,
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JOHN PATTON. - ELLIS IRWIN.
the same office, and for a second time was he successful, carrying the district by about one hundred and fifty plurality over Hon. James K. P. Hall, the Democratic nominee. At this time the standing Democratic majority in the district numbered some four thou- sand votes. Prior to his candidacy for any office General Patton was an active worker in the field of politics. He was a Whig, and upon the merging of that party into the Republican, joined with the latter and the principles advocated by it. His first vote was cast for Henry Clay for president. He was a delegate to the National Whig Con- vention in 1852, and also a delegate to the National Republican Convention that nom- inated Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
John Patton has been twice married. He married, June 17, 1847, Catharine M. Ennis, daughter of Alexander Ennis, of Hollidaysburg. Four children were born of that marriage, three sons and one daughter. Catharine (Ennis) Patton died November 28, 1855. On the 18th day of June, 1858, John Patton married Honora Jane, daughter of William C. Foley. Of this marriage eight children have been born, five sons and three daughters, of whom five are still living.
[RWIN, ELLIS. The subject of this sketch was born on the 17th day of June, in the year 1805, near Bellefonte, Centre county. His parents were strictly pious people, members of the Society of Friends, under the teachings of which faith our subject was brought up, and from which he has never since departed. His father was of Irish, and his mother of English descent. Such education as was received by Ellis Irwin, during the days of his youth, was in attending the Bellefonte Academy, and although an aca- demic education at that time fell far short of the present standard, yet young Irwin, by diligence and close application, acquired a sufficient education to not only transact ordi- nary business, but which stood him in good stead in the various offices of trust and responsibility he was afterwards called upon to fill. In the year 1827 Mr. Irwin married Hannah Iddings, daughter of John and Ann Iddings, of Centre county, and two years later, 1829, moved to Clearfield county, and took their residence on the Grampian Hills (now Penn township), upon a farm with but very little improvement. Here for four years he battered his constitution over pine stumps and other impediments to easy farming, when, finding that his physical strength was not equal to the strain imposed upon it by that occupation, he rented the farm and moved to Curwensville.
In the year 1835 Mr. Irwin was appointed by the governor to the office of prothon- otary, register and recorder, and clerk of the several courts of the county, which offices he held for three years. At the expiration of his term, he purchased the store of Rich- ard Shaw, in Clearfield, and commenced merchandising. On the death of Prothonotary William C. Welch, Mr. Irwin was appointed by Governor Johnson to serve out the un- expired part of his term-about one and one-half years. In 1846 he was appointed postmaster at Clearfield, by Postmaster-General Wickliff, during the administration of General Harrison. In 1843 he was elected sheriff of the county, and served three years. In all the offices of the county to which he was appointed and elected, Mr. Irwin served with fidelity and satisfaction. He was a trusted public servant, 'honest and capable, performing promptly and well each and every duty, without fear and wholly unbiased by party or political prejudices.
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