USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 31
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In 1834 the offices were repaired and enlarged. They were located at the east and west ends of the court-house, and were badly damaged, though not destroyed, in the fire of Feb. 4, 1845. In the erection of the new conrt-house after that event, the offices (which had been kept at various places1 after the fire) were provided for in the lower story of the main building. They were removed to the court-house in February, 1848, and have since remained there to the present time.
In connection with the history of the public build- ings at Uniontown, it would be hardly proper to omit a mention of William Stamford, familiarly known as "Crazy Billy," who is now between eighty-five and
ninety years of age, and has passed full half a century of his life in and about the jail and court-house of Fayette County. He is a native of Warwickshire, England, and in 1826 or 1827 sailed from London for America in the ship "Superior," Capt. Nesbit, land- ing in New York. He says he drove coach in that city, in Philadelphia, and in Baltimore. Afterwards he went to Cumberland, Md., and worked on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. From there he made' his way to Wheeling, Va., and, as he says, "took to the hills." The next known of him is that in 1831 he broke into the house of Alexander Crow, in Spring Hill township, Fayette County, while the family were at church. On their return he held the house against their entrance, but aid was obtained, and he was cap- tured and lodged in the jail at Uniontown. He was taken before Judge Baird, who adjudged him insane and remanded him to jail. While he was there John Updegraff was brought to the prison in a state of in- toxication. Stamford was chained to the floor, but his irons allowed him considerable liberty to move, and in a fit of unaccountable and uncontrollable frenzy seized a billet of wood, rushed upon Updegraff, and gave him repeated blows over the head which caused his death. After that time for eighteen years he was kept in confinement, but during Sheriff Sny- der's term he was allowed his liberty and put to work in the stable and about the court-house and jail. Since that time he has suffered no confinement, and is allowed to move about Uniontown at will, but passes nearly all his time in and about the court-house grounds, having become greatly attached to the public buildings which have sheltered him for so many years. He says he was thirty-two years of age when he came to this country, and now in his lucid moments he re- lates many things which show a clear recollection of the land of his birth, the rites and ceremonies of the Episcopal Church, and the olden time poetry which was popular in the days of his youth.
POOR-HOUSE AND FARM.
The earliest reference to a county poor-house found in the records of Fayette is in a notice by the com- missioners, dated Oct. 14, 1822, of which the following is a copy, viz. :
"To Daniel Lynch, Esq"., High Sheriff of the County of Fayette : Sir,-Agreeably to the provisions of an Act of Assembly to provide for the erection of a house for the employment and support of the Poor in the County of Fayette, we hereby notify you that the returns of the Judges of the Election held in the several districts of the County of Fayette, on the Sth inst. [it being the second Tuesday in October, A.D. 1822] have certified to us that at the said election there was given for a Poor-House one thousand and twenty-five votes, whereby it appears that there is a majority in favour of the establishment of a poor- house of four hundred and eleven votes. You will therefore take such order therein as is provided by
1 The register's and recorder's offices were temporarily removed to John Keffer's building, and afterwards to " Dr. Hugh Campbell's shop." The sheriff's and prothonotary's offices were kept in the Ludington house, and the commissioners' office in John Dawson's building.
138
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
the law aforesaid." Nothing is found showing the action taken by the sheriff in pursuance of the noti- fication.
On the 12th of December, 1823, "The Poor-House Directors met to estimate the expense of erecting the Poor-House, and of keeping the Poor for one year," and on the 7th of January next following, the directors purchased from Peter McCann a tract of land for a poor-farm. The tract contained one hundred and thirteen acres and ninety-nine perches, situated on the National road, northwest of Uniontown, in Union township, near its western boundary. On the 26th of April following, an order for one thousand dollars was issued in favor of William Livingston, Frederick Shearer, and Isaac Core, directors of the poor, to be by them applied to the erection of a house upon the poor-farm. August 14th in the same year another order of the same amount was issued by the commis- sioners to the directors of the poor, " to be appropriated in paying for the poor-house tract and building the poor-house thereon." A further sum of six hundred dollars was appropriated for the same purpose in 1825, and three thousand five hundred dollars was appropriated in 1826 " for repairs and additions."
On the 2d of June, 1834, the poor-farm was en- larged by the purchase from Alexander Turner for eight hundred and eighteen dollars of sixteen acres and sixty perches of land adjoining the original tract.
The following exhibit of the expenses of the poor- house and farm for the first two years is from the auditor's book of minutes, viz. :
" A statement of the accounts of the poor-house from its commenecment in 1823 until Dec. 31, 1825, inclusive :
" Dr.
To cash received out of county treasury in the year
1824. $2764.21 To cash received out of county treasury in the year
1825
4103.453
86867.66}
" Cr.
By cash paid Jno. C. Marsh for building poor-house. $1942.90 64 " for carpeuter-work ..
1101.513
4€
first payment on poor-house farm, etc.
934.63
" keeping panpers from April 12th to Dec. 15, 1825. 357.791
=
provisions
165.19
=
directors for services.
147.924
purchasers of pour-house farm
131.00
162.12}
6.
6. furniture
labor on farm, coal-bank, etc. 77.00}
56.25
# 1825 40,00
21.43
taxes
.75
=
removing panpers to farm.
10.37₺
directors' services in 1825.
28.644
$6867.66₺
"E. DOUGLAS, JR., ". SAMUEL CLEAVINGER, Auditors."
The total expenditure for the poor of the county for the year 1872 was 87597.14; for 1873, $15,739.25 ; for 1874, $19,260.10; for 1876, $21,338.11; for 1877,
819,487.69 ; for 1878, 829,854.35; for 1879, 825,164.74; and for 1880, $16,484; viz. : for almshouse, $13,722.90, and for poor outside the alinshouse, $2761.10. The productions of the poor-farm and garden for the same year were 624 bushels wheat, 85 bushels onions, 2500 bushels corn (ears), 4500 heads of cabbage, 1400 bushels potatoes, 25 bushels beets, 100 bushels turnips, 20 bushels beans and peas, 300 bushels apples, 8 bar- rels sauer-kraut, 10 barrels apple butter, 21 barrels cider, 10,000 pounds pork, 5000 pounds beef, 16 tons hay.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE BAR OF FAYETTE COUNTY-FAYETTE CIVIL LIST-COUNTY SOCIETIES.
THE first business done by the Court of Quarter Sessions of Fayette County at its first term (Decem- ber, 1783) was the admission of attorneys, of which the following is the record : "Thomas Scott, Hugh M. Brackenridge, David Bradford, Michael Huffnagle, George Thompson, Robert Galbraith, Samuel Irwin, and David Redick, Esquires, were admitted attor- neys in the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas in this County, and took the oath accordingly." The attorney's roll shows the subsequent admissions to have been as follows, viz. :
1784.
Thomas Smith, March.
John Woods, March.
David Semple, March. James Ross, December.
1786.
James Carson, June.
1787.
1789.
David St. Clair, Sept.
John Young, December. 1790. H. Purviance, Sept. 22.
1792.
Hugh Ross, December. 1793. Jos. Pentecost, Dec. 18.
1794.
Arthur St. Clair, June. George Armstrong, June.
1795.
Parker Campbell, March. Geo. Henry Keppel, Sept. James Morrison, Sept. Thomas Hadden, Sept. Paul Morrow, Sept.
1796.
Abram Morrison, March. John Simonson, March.
Alex. Addison, March 20. James Allison, June.
Samuel Selley, Sept.
1797.
David McKeehan, March. Thomas Collins, March. Thomas Bailey, June 20. J. Montgomery, June 20. John Lyon, June 20. Thomas Nesbitt, Sept. Samuel Meghan, Sept.
1798.
Joseph Wrigley, June. John Kennedy, Sept. Thomas Meason, Sept. James Ashbrook, Sept. William Ayres, Sept.
" for rebuilding, etc., in part .... .. ...
1580.28+
4 stock on farm
99.843
66 treasurer's salary in 1824
stationery
139
THE BAR OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
1799.
George Heyl, June.
1800.
Robert Callender, June.
1801.
Sam'l S. Harrison, June. Rizen Davidge, Sept. Daniel Duncan, Dec. 1802.
James Mountain, Sept.
1803.
Isaac Meason, Jr., Sept.
1804.
M. Sexton, June. Wm. A. Thompson, Sept.
1805.
Elias E. Ellmaker, June. William Ward, Dec.
1806.
Geo. P. Torrence, April. 1808.
John B. Alexander, Aug. John B. Torr, November.
1809. John Marshall, Sept.
1810.
John M. Austin, Aug. 10. James Todd, Oct. 30. Thos. H. Baird, Aug. 21. John H. Chapin, Aug. 21. 1824. Richard Coulter. Thomas MeGibben, Nov.
1811.
Frederick Beers, Aug. Thomas Irwin, April.
1813. Joseph Becket, April. John Dawson, Aug. 17. 1814.
T. M. T. MeKennan, Nov. E. P. Oliphant, March. 1815.
Andrew Stewart, Jan. 9. Charles Wilkins, April.
1816.
Richard Beeson, Nov. James B. Bowman. Nath'l Ewing, Nov. 19.
1817.
W. M. Denny, April 17. 1818.
John Bouvier, Dec. 11. John H. Ewing, Aug. 21. James Hall, April 13. Wm. S. Harvey, April 13. Jacob Fisher, Aug. 17.1
1819.
Wm. Kennedy, March 5. James Piper.
1820.
James Herron, March. Hiram Heaton, March 7.
1821.
Samnel Evans, Sept. John H. Hopkins, Oct. 16. W. G. Hawkins, March 6. Jacob B. Miller, Nov. 5. Thomas G. Morgan, Sept. Joshua Seney, June 5.
1822.
J. D. Creigh, June 6.
1823.
Thos. L. Rogers, Jan. 11.
A. Brackenridge, June 17. Rich. W. Lane, April 1. J. C. Simonson, Oct. 28.
1825.
Richard Bard, Nov. I. Sam'l Cleavinger, Jan. 4. 1827.
Alex. Wilson, June 13.
1828.
1829. Joshua B. Howell, Jan. 5. Moses Hampton, March 3.
Rice G. Hopwood.
Daniel C. Morris, Oct. 29. John H. Wells, Oct. 29.
1831.
Alex. W. Acheson, Oct. Robert P. Flenniken, Oct. C. Forward. Alfred Patterson, Oct. William P. Wells. James Veech, October.
1835.
John H. Deford, Sept. 9. John L. Dawson, Sept. 9. D. S. Todd, June. James Wilson.
1838.
Wm. E. Austin, Jan. 4.
1839.
Hiram Blackledge, June. James A. Morris, Sept. 5. Thos. W. Porter, Mar. 5. James J. Moore.
1840.
Robert D. Clark, March 4. J. N. H. Patrick, Dec. 2. R. T. Galloway, March 4. N. B. Hogg, Sept. 18. Thos. B. Searight, June. Alpheus E. Willson. William McDonald.
1841.
M. W. Irwin, Dec. 15. 1842.
Geo. W. Bowie, March 18. Daniel Kaine, March 18. Amzi McClean, June 10.
1843.
Edward Byerly, Sept. 5. Ellis B. Dawson, June 6. J. C. Flenniken, Sept. 5. Michael B. King, Sept. 5.
1845.
Wm. Bayley, March 4. R. D. Burd, March 5. John Bierer, Sept. 2. Daniel Downer, Sept. 2. A. S. Hayden, Sept. 2. S. Addison Irwin, June. Job Johnston, Sept. 7. A. M. Lynn, March 4.
1846.
Frederick Bierer, March. Charles Il. Beeson, Dec. William Beeson, Dec. Edgar Cowan, Sept. John K. Ewing, March. Amuzi Fuller, March. John Sturgeon, March 6.
1847.
A. W. Barclay, Sept. 7. G. T. Greenland, Mar. 9. Samuel Gaither, June 8. Alfred Ilowell, March 9. A. D. McDougall, Mar. 9. Wm. Parshall, Sept. 7. S. D. Oliphant, Sept. 7.
1848.
Everard Brierer, March 8. Samuel B. Austin, June 7. John Fuller, March 8. Thos. R. Davidson, Jan. 4. John B. Krepps, Dec. 12.
A. O. Patterson, March 8.
1849.
1850.
John McNeal, June.
1852.
Wm. L. Bowman, Dec. 7. A. H. Coffroth, Sept. 6. W. W. Patrick, June 7. John D. Roddy, Sept. G. 1853.
Seth T. Hard, Oct. 24.
1855.
J. Walker Flennikin, Mar. Engene Ferrero, March. Jetsan Jett, June 6.
1856.
Rich'd H. Austin, Jan. 8. Cyrus Myers, Jan. 15.
1857.
A. J. Colbourn, Sept. 7. Henry C. Dawson, June 2. Peter A. Johns, Dec. 7. G. W. K. Minor, Dec. 18. J. A. Stevenson, March 4. H. W. Patterson, Mar. 2.
1 Name ordered by the court to be struck from the roll of attorneys March 2, 1819.
140
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Wm. II. Playford, Sept. J. H. Sewell, March 4.
1858.
John Collins, June 7.
1859
Edward Campbell, Sept. 5. Wm. B. Pusey, Dec. 10.
Geo. F. Dawson, Sept. 5. John Gallagher, Dec. 5.
Jos. C. Thornton, Dec. 17. N. Ewing, Jr., Sept. 4.
David II. Veech, Mar. 7.
1860
John W. Deford, Sept. 3. Jas. G. Johnston, Mar. 5. Geo. S. Ramsey, Mar. 5.
1861
Isaac Bailey, Dec. 3. Charles E. Boyd, Dec. 2. J. Mundey Clark, Dec. 3. Sam'l A. Gilmore, Dec. 2. Peter T. IIunt, June 5. Julius Shipley, Dec. 9. T. B. Schnatterly, Dec. 9.
1863.
Herman S. Baer, Sept. 18. H. Clay Dean, Sept. 11. James Darby.
T. B. Graham, Sept. 11. Jos. M. Ogilvee, Dec. 7. Henry T. Schell, Sept. 17.
1865.
W. H. Hope, Dec. 5. 1866. Harry Black, Sept. 4.
Jas. D. Ramsey, March 6. Paoli S. Morrow, Sept. 2.
1867.
William Baer, June 6.
A. M. Gibson, Dec. 2.
A. C. Nutt, Dec. 2. 1868.
1869.
Albert D. Boyd, March 1. James K. Kerr, March 2.
1870.
G. R. Cochran, June 30. John Lyon, June 30.
1871.
Wm. Snyder, June 6.
1872.
J. J. Hazlitt, June 5.
S. L. Mestrezat, Dec. 7.
1873.
Eli Hewitt, Dec. 1.
1874.
Wm. H. Coldren, Sept. 9.
1875. Lucius H. Ruby, July 2. J. Rogers Paull, Sept. 9. N. Lyman Dukes, Sept. 9. And. B. Gonder, Sept. 6.
1876.
W. A. Davidson, Sept. 4. I. Lee Johnson, June 7.
S. Evans Ewing, Sept. 4.
1877.
Alonzo C. Hagan, Mar. 5. M. M. Cochran, June 5. W. E. Dunaway, Mar. 12. H. F. Detwiler, Mar. 8.
James P. Grove, Mar. 24.
1878. -
David M. Hertzog, Sept. 2. G. B. Hutchinson, Sept. 4.
1879.
F. M. Fuller, June 2.
R. P. Kennedy, Aug. 26. 1880.
C. P. Dunnoway, Mar. 2. L. H. Thrasher, March 1. W. G. Guiler, Sept. 7. A. H. Wycoff, Aug. 31. Geo. W. Miller, Mar. 17.
Ash. T. Downs, Ang. 31.
W. A. McDowell, Mar, 17. Geo. B. Kaine, Dec. 6. E. C. Pechin, Dec. 10. M. Hamp. Todd, Sept. 7.
William McGeorge, Jr., Feb. 19.
Among the earliest lawyers practicing at the Fay- ette bar and resident within the county were Thomas Meason and John Lyon, whose names have come
down to the present generation in traditions of kindest recollection. Both of them seemed to have military tastes, and the ardor of Gen. Meason to serve his country in the field led to his death at the compara- tively early age of forty years. In the winter of 1812-13 he left his extensive practice to offer his ser- vices to the goverument in the war against Great Britain, and traveling from Uniontown to Washing- ton City on horseback, the exposure of the journey brought on an attack of fever which resulted fatally soon after he reached the capital.
Thomas Meason was born on the extensive estate of his father, Col. Isaac Meason, at Mount Braddock. He read law in the office of James Ross, Esq., at Pittsburgh ; was admitted to the bar of Fayette County, Sept. 25, 1798, and very soon acquired a practice equal to that of any lawyer in the county. In 1802 he was married to Nancy Kennedy, a sister of the Hon. John Kennedy. Personally he was a man of fine presence, and his popularity was such that it very nearly secured him an election as member of Con- gress, though he ran on the Federalist ticket against Isaac Griffin, in a district (embracing Fayette County) which was strongly Democratic.
John Lyon was born iu Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Pa., Oct. 13, 1771, and graduated at Dickinson Col- lege. He came to Fayette County for the first time, with a musket on his shoulder, as a private soldier in the army that was sent to suppress the "Whiskey Insurrection" in 1794, and returned east with the troops when the "war" was over. But he was strongly attracted by the beauty and prospects of the country which he had seen west of the mountains, and it was not long before he came back to Fayette County and located in Uniontown, where he was ad- mitted to the bar, June 26, 1797. He married Pris- cilla Coulter, of Greensburg (sister of the Hon. Rich- ard Coulter ), and resided in Uniontown in the practice of his profession during the remainder of his life. His residence was a house on Main Street (adjoining the office of Gen. Meason), which is still standing. ITis extensive learning and amiable manners secured for him the confidence and good will of all who knew him. No lawyer stood higher in his profession, and his tombstone, erected by the bar of the county, bears testimony to the high character he ever sustained among his professional brethren. He died Aug. 27, 1837.
Another of the prominent early lawyers of Fayette County was John Kennedy, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He was born in Cumberland County, near Shippensburg, and was a son of Thomas Kennedy, a prominent public man in that section of the State. Graduating at Dickinson College, in the same class with Roger B. Taney (after- wards chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States), he studied law under Judge Hamil- ton, and after completing his course married a daugh- ter of Judge Creigh, of Carlisle, and removed to
141
THE BAR OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
Uniontown, where he was admitted to the Fayette County bar in 1798, and soon became one of the most prominent lawyers of this section of country. On the 23d of November, 1830, he was appointed asso- ciate justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which high office he held until his death in 1846. At a meeting of the Philadelphia bar on the 28th of August in that year, the following resolutions were adopted on motion of John M. Read, attorney-gen- eral of the State:
" Resolved, That the members of the bar of Phila- delphia have heard with feelings of deep sorrow of the decease of the Hon. John Kennedy, one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania.
" Resolved, That by indefatigable industry, unre- mitting devotion to the study of law, united with a sound judgment, a calm temper and uniform cour- tesy of manner, this able judge has left behind him a reputation which will long live in the recollections of the bench, the bar, and the community."
Upon the passage of these resolutions on the death of Judge Kennedy, Chief Justice Gibson said,-
" As the presiding officer of the court, it is my business as it is my pleasure to express its satisfac- tion at the tribute of respect paid by the bar to the memory of our lamented brother. It was my good fortune to know him from boyhood, and we all knew him long enough at the bar or on the bench to ap- preciate his value as a lawyer and as a man. My brother Rogers and myself sat with him in this court between fifteen and sixteen years, and we had ample reason to admire his industry, learning, and judgment. Indeed, his judicial labors were his recreations. He clung to the common law as a child to its nurse, and how much he drew from it may be seen in his opin- ions, which by their elaborate minuteness reminds us of the over-fullness of Lord Coke. Patient in in- vestigation and slow in judgment, he seldom changed his opinion. A cooler head and a warmer heart never met together in the same person, and it is barely just to say that he has not left behind him a more learned lawyer or a more upright man."
John M. Austin was a native of Hartford, Conn., born in 1784. He studied law with Judge Baldwin, of Pittsburgh, and practiced his profession in that city for some time. He was admitted to the Fayette County bar in August, 1810, from which time for many years he was ranked with the prominent law- yers of the county. He was the leading one among the attorneys whose names were stricken from the roll by Judge Baird in 1834, as hereafter noticed. His death occurred in April, 1864.
Thomas Irwin was born in Philadelphia, Feb. 22, 1784. He studied law in that city, and removed to Fayette County in 1811, and settled in Uniontown, where he was admitted to the bar in April of that year. In 1812 he was appointed district attorney. Soon afterwards he was elected to the Legislature 10
from Fayette County, and served in that body with fidelity to his constituents and honor to himself. He represented this district in the Twenty-first Congress of the United States, and in 1831 was appointed by President Jackson judge of the United States Dis- trict Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, a position which he held for nearly thirty years, re- signing it during the administration of President Bu- chanan, and being succeeded by Judge MeCandless. Judge Irwin was a man of noble impulses and un- swerving honesty, and was always greatly admired and beloved by his friends and acquaintances in Fay- ette County. He was a steadfast Democrat, but took little part in politics in his later years. He was a zealous member of the Episcopal Church, "and through his long life his Christian virtues shone conspicuously in all his various callings." He was an able and fear- less lawyer, always true to his client and as just to his opponent. He was an honest legislator and a faithful and impartial judge. He died in Pittsburgh on the 14th of May, 1870, at the age of eighty-six years.
John Dawson was one of the most prominent law- yers of Uniontown, where and in its vicinity he passed almost seventy years of his long and useful life. He was born in one of the northwestern counties of Vir- ginia, July 13, 1788, and when about twenty years of age removed to Uniontown, Pa., where in 1810 he commenced the study of law with Gen. Thomas Mea- son. After the death of Gen. Meason he finished his studies with Judge John Kennedy, and was admitted to the bar as a practicing attorney of the courts of Fayette County in August, 1813. He practiced his profession successfully for more than thirty years, and was considered a sound lawyer and safe counselor, standing in the front rank among the members of the Fayette County bar. He was an agreeable companion, and possessed a fund of pleasing anecdotes, with which he frequently entertained his friends. He was re- markably kind in disposition and liberal in his bene- factions, ever ready to assist others.
In 1820 he was married to Miss Ann Baily (only daughter of Mr. Ellis Baily, of Uniontown), by whom he had thirteen children.
In 1851 he was appointed associate judge of Fay- ette County by Governor William F. Johnston, and served in that capacity with honor and distinction, and to the entire satisfaction of the members of the bar and the people of the county. His term of office continued until the constitution of Pennsylvania was changed, making the office of associate judge elective. After he retired from the bench his principal busi- ness was farming, which he superintended until about 1865, after which time he resided with his children in Uniontown. His sight for several years was so defeet- ive that at times it amounted to total blinduess. He died in Uniontown on the 16th of January, 1875, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.
On the 19th, at a meeting of members of the Fay- ette County bar, convened in the court-house, it was
142
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
" Resolred, That in the death of the Hon. John Dawson the bar has lost a member whose ability, learning, and integrity adorned the profession; the community an upright and intelligent citizen, who ever executed with fidelity and zeal the many honor- able trusts confided to him ; the church a friend, who propagated faith by example, and proved it by works; and his family a fond and devoted father, whose prac- tice of the domestic virtues illustrated a character as noble as it is rare. No tribute to his memory can speak too warmly of the manner in which he dis- charged the duties of every relation in life."
Andrew Stewart, a prominent member of the Fay- ette County bar, and the most distinguished man in political public life that the county ever produced, was born in German township in 1791, and passed the early years of his life on the farm of his father ( Abra- ham Stewart) and as a school-teacher and clerk in an iron furnace. He received his education at Washing- ton College, and immediately after his graduation at that institution, studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Uniontown in Jannary, 1815, soon after which he was elected to the General Assembly of Pennsyl- vania, and served in that body for three years. He was appointed United States District Attorney by President Monroe, but resigned the position in 1820, on his election to Congress from this district. Dur- ing the period extending from that time to 1850 he served in Congress for eigbteen years, and by his constant and stanch advocacy of the system of pro- tection to American industry received, in politieal circles throughout the United States, the sobriquet of "Tariff Andy" Stewart. At the age of thirty-four years he married a daughter of David Shriver, of Cumberland, Md., and they became the parents of six children. He died in Uniontown on the 16th of July, 1872, in his eighty-second year. More extended men- tion of the events in the life of the Hon. Andrew Stewart will be found in the history of Uniontown.
Nathaniel Ewing, son of William Ewing, one of the early settlers in Luzerne township, Fayette Co., was born in that township, near Merrittstown, in 1796, he being the second in age of a family of ten children, all of whom were born in this county. His early years were passed on the farm of his father until he entered Jefferson College, at which institu- tion he graduated with the highest honors of his class. After leaving college he spent a year teaching school in Newark, Del. He studied law in Washing- ton, Pa., with Thomas MeGithin, and was admitted to the bar at I'niontown in November, 1816.
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