History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 94

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 94

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Shaft No. 2, near the western line of the property, has been sunk to the coal a distance of about 150 feet, and houses and ovens are being built with the view of a business of 1000 tons of coke daily. Locations have been made for three additional plants, with a capacity each of 1000 tons per day, making in all five plants, with a total capacity of producing 5000 tons of coke daily, 1700 acres of land having been assigned to each plant.

The following officers and board of directors are as follows: John Leisenring, F. A. Potts, Samuel Dick- son, John S. Wentz, E. B. Leisenring, M. S. Kem- merer, Henry McCormick, Daniel Bertsch, John Fritz.

Officers elected by the board of directors : Presi- dent, Hon. John Leisenring; Vice-President, E. B. Leisenring ; Superintendent and Engineer, J. K. Tag- gart ; Consulting Engineer, E. K. Hyndman ; Sec- retary and Treasurer, W. B. Whitney ; Chief Clerk, John A. Esser.

COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER.

Col. James M. Schoonmaker, though a native and resident of Pittsburgh, has large business interests in Fayette County, in the development of coal-mines and the manufacture of coke, and is therefore more practically identified with the welfare of the county than are many of her own children.

Col. Schoonmaker is of New York "Knickerbocker" stock, his paternal ancestors subsequent to 1660 having been born in Ulster and Orange Counties, N. Y. Hendrick Jochem, one of his paternal ancestors, came to America from Ifolland in 1660 and settled in Ulster County.

James Schoonmaker, the father of Col. Schoon- maker, removed from Ulster County to Pittsburgh in 1836, at the age of twenty-three years, and embarked in the drug business. In 1841 he married Mary Stock- ton, a daughter of Rev. Joseph Stockton, of Pittsburgh, by whom he has had nine children,-five sons and four daughters,-of whom James M. is the oldest. Both parents, as well as all the children, are living.

James M. was born June 30, 1842, and was educated in private schools and in the public schools of Pitts- burgh, and attended the Western University of that city, which institution he left at the age of nineteen years, and entered the volunteer army in the war of the Rebellion, being attached as a private at first to the Union Cavalry of Pittsburgh, which joined the Army of the Potomae. With this force he served a

year, being meanwhile made a lieutenant of Company A of the First Maryland Cavalry Regiment, to which the Union Cavalry was attached. In August, 1862, he was ordered from the front to return home and take command of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Car- alry, which was then recruiting in Pittsburgh, being partly made up of three companies from Fayette County,-Company B, under Capt. Zadoc Walker; Company E, under Capt. Ashbel F. Dunean; and Company F, led by Capt. Calvin Springer (late sheriff of Fayette County). Many of the surviving members of these companies are now living in Fay- ette County.

In November, 1862, Col. Schoonmaker received his commission as colonel, and took his regiment into the field. At that time Col. Schoonmaker, being a little less than twenty years and five months of age, was, it is believed, the youngest officer of his rank in the Federal army. He commanded the regiment till Jan. 1, 1864, when he was assigned to the command of the First Brigade, First Cavalry Division of the Army of the Shenandoah, and remained in that com- mand till the end of the war, after which, with his brigade, still in service, he was sent by the War De- partment to guard the overland stage-route from tl:e Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains, serving in that eampaign till August, 1865, when the brigade was mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

During his military career Col. Schoonmaker was constantly in the field, and participated in all the battles of the Army of the Shenandoah, under Gen. Sheridan, the campaigns of which were especially severe. At one time his brigade was for forty-two consecutive days and nights in the saddle, engaging the enemy daily, and took part in the three decisive battles of the Shenandoah Valley, which practically ended the war by destroying the enemy's forces.

After the mustering out of his brigade at Fort Leavenworth, Col. Schoonmaker returned home and entered into business with his father, remaining with him until some time in 1872, when he went into busi- ness with his father-in-law, William H. Brown, in the mining of coal and manufacture of coke.

In 1879, Mr. Brown having meanwhile died, and his business being divided or assigned among the members of his family, Col. Schoonmaker came into possession of the Connellsville coke branch as his interest in the partnership business, and has ever since been exclusively engaged in prosecuting that. A good portion of his works are located in Fayette County, 463 coke-ovens being situated at Dawson's Station, he being also chairman of the Redstone Coke Company (Limited), which has 300 ovens near Union- town, Col. Schoonmaker owning one-third of this property. He also owns the Alice Mines, in West- moreland County, comprising 200 ovens, and is chair- man of the Morewood Coke Company (Limited), of the same county, and running 470 ovens, of which prop-

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CONNELLSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP.

erty he is one-fourth owner. Col. Schoonmaker's principal office is at 120 Water Street, Pittsburgh.

Feb. 22, 1872, Col. Schoonmaker married Miss Alice W. Brown, daughter of William H. and Mary Smith Brown, of Pittsburgh, and who died Oct. 7, 1881, leaving a son.

ABRAHAM OVERHOLT TINSTMAN.

Abraham O. Tinstman, now a resident of Turtle Creek, Allegheny Co., Pa., resided in Fayette County from 1859 to 1876, and there conducted enterprises and aided in laying the foundations of important works which are in active operation, developing the wealth and forming an important part of the business of the county to-day.

Mr. Tinstman is of German descent in both lines. His paternal great-grandfather was horn in one of the German States, and came to the United States, lo- cating in Bucks County, Pa., and from thence re- moved to Westmoreland County, Pa., residing near Mount Pleasant, where he had his home until his death ; he was a farmer by occupation. A. O. Tinst- man's paternal grandfather was Jacob Tinstman, who was born in Bucks County, Pa., Jan. 13, 1773, and on Dec. 11, 1798, was married to Miss Anna Fox, of Westmoreland County, Pa., her birthplace having been Chester County, Pa., Aug. 8, 1779.

Jacob Tinstman and Anna Tinstman had ten chil- dren, whose names were Mary, Henry, Adam, John, Jacob, Anna, Christian, David, Sarah, and Catharine. Jacob Tinstman was a farmer and a man of fine edu- cation.

John, the father of A. O. Tinstman, was the fourth child and third son, and was born Jan. 29, 1807, in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland Co., Pa. He was brought up on the farm, and attended sub- scription schools. He held important township of- fices, was an excellent citizen, an energetic and pru- dent man, and made a competence for himself and family. He died at the age of seventy years.

A. O. Tinstman's maternal grandfather was Abra- ham Overholt, also of German descent, and who was born in Bucks County, Pa., in 1774, and came to East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland Co., Pa., about the year 1800, and settled on a farm on which the village of West Overton now stands. He'married Miss Maria Stauffer, of Fayette County, Pa., and both being of frugal, industrious, and economical disposi- tions, accumulated property rapidly, lived together harmoniously, and left as monuments of skill and judgment in building and improvements some of the most substantial buildings of East Huntingdon township, having built the entire village of West Overton, including mill, distillery, etc.

A. O. Tinstman's mother's maiden name was Anna Overholt, who was a daughter of the aforesaid Abra-

ham and Maria Overholt. She was a lady highly es- teemed for her kindness and gentleness, traits of char- acter for which her mother, Mrs. Abraham Over- holt, was particularly distinguished. She was born July 4, 1812, and was married to John Tinstman about 1830, and died in the year 1866. The fruits of their marriage were ten children, viz .: Maria, who died at fifteen years of age; Jacob O .; Abraham O .; Henry O .; Anna, widow of Rev. L. B. Leasure ; John O., who died when a soldier in the army during the Rebellion ; Elizabeth, who died at three years of age ; Abigail, who died at nineteen years of age; Emma, wife of Dr. W. J. K. Kline, of Greensburg, Pa .; and Christian S. O. Tinstman, who is now conducting business in partnership with A. (). Tinstman, under the firm-name of A. O. Tinstman & Co. Abraham O. Tinstman was born Sept. 13, 1834, in East Hunting- don township, Westmoreland Co., Pa., on the farm upon which are now located the Emma Mine Coke- Works. He received his education in the common schools, attending them during the winter season until about twenty years of age, and continued labor- ing on the farm with his father until he became twenty-five years old, when he went to Broad Ford, Fayette Co., Pa., to take charge of his grandfather Overholt's property at that place, the business con- sisting of the manufacture of the celebrated Overholt whisky, the cutting of timber by steam saw-mill into car and other lumber, and the farming of the lands connected with the Broad Ford property. He thus continued to manage and do business for his grand- father until 1864, when the two formed a partnership, named A. Overholt & Co. He, however, continued to conduct the business until the death of his grandfather, A. Overholt, who died in 1870, in the eighty-sixth year of his age.

During Mr. Tinstman's residence in the county and his partnership with his grandfather he caused the erection of the most important buildings in Broad Ford, some of which are the large mill and distillery now there, as well as many honses for the use of em- ployés.

In 1865 he and Joseph Rist bought about six hun- dred acres of coking coal land adjoining the village of Broad Ford. Mr. Tinstman thereafter (in 1868) sold oue-half of his interest in the same to Col. A. S. M. Morgan, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and with him estal- lished the firm of Morgan & Co., who put up one hundred and eleven coke-ovens at the point now known as Morgan Mines, on the line of the Mount Pleasant and Broad Ford Railroad, and built one mile of railway from Broad Ford to said mines, at which place the first coke was manufactured along what is now the Mount Pleasant and Broad Ford Railroad. Morgan & Co. at this time held almost entire control of the coke business of the Connellsville region.

In 1870, A. O. Tinstman with others organized a company, of which he was elected president, and built the Mount Pleasant and Broad Ford Railroad, he

414

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

holding the office of president until the sale of said road to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in I876.

Ahout 1871, Mr. Tinstman purchased a portion of Mr. Rist's interest in the six hundred acres of coal land previously mentioned. Mr. Tintsman was at this time very desirous of starting in business. Mr. H. C. Frick was at this time keeping books for A. Overholt & Co., and aspired for something more than book-keeping, he having shown through his indomitable energy, skill, and judgment that he was not only capable of keeping 'an accurate and beauti- ful set of books, but that he was able to conduct business, manage employés, etc. So Mr. Tinstman and Rist associated Mr. Frick with them, under the firm-name of Frick & Co., and Mr. Frick was made manager of the association, both financially and otherwise, and for his services was allowed a salary by the company out of the profits arising from the manufacture and sale of coke in addition to his pro- portion of the dividends as partner in the company.

This company built at Broad Ford two hundred coke-ovens. The first one hundred were built along or facing the Mount Pleasant and Broad Ford Rail- road, and were known as the Frick Works, or " Nov- elty Works." The other hundred were built in blocks along the Pittsburgh Division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and facing the road and Youghiogheny River, and were known as the Henry Clay Works.

In 1872, Col. Morgan and Mr. Tinstman (as Mor- gan & Co.) bought about four hundred acres of coking coal at Latrobe, Westmoreland Co., Pa., and there built fifty ovens. About this period and on continu- ously to 1876 (during the panie period) Mr. Tinstman bought large tracts of coal lands on the line of the Mount Pleasant and Broad Ford Railroad, comprising nearly all the best coal lands in that region ; but the pressure of the panic proved excessive for him, the coke business, like everything else, becoming depressed, and he failed, losing everything. But having great confidence that the coke business would revive, and foreseeing that it would be one of the earliest as well as surest of manufacturing interests to recuperate, he bought in 1878 and 1880 on option a large extent of coal land in the Connellsville region, and then sold in 1880 about 3500 acres to E. K. Hyndman, who about that period organized the Connellsville Coal and Iron Company, at a good advance over cost price.

This sale enabled him again to take a new start in the world as a business man. He then, in 1880, established the firm of A. O. Tinstman & Co., and opened an office on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., and soon after bought a half-interest in the Rising Sun Coke-Works, on the June Bug Branch of the Sonthwest Pennsyl- vania Railroad. Iu 1881 he bought the Mount Brad- dock Coke-Works, located on the Fayette County Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad; and in the same

year he bought the Pennsville Coke-Works, on the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad, embracing in all about three hundred ovens, all of which he still owns and operates.

Thus we see again verified in Mr. Tinstman's life that great truth, that those who " try again" earnestly and energetically will succeed. He is to be congratu- lated in his again being established in business, and being so pleasantly situated and surrounded by home and family relations, as it is well known that while in the county he labored diligently for its welfare; and though he has not received the deserved abun- dant recompense in a pecuniary manner, yet the people of the county appreciate his labors, especially those who have been benefited directly by the devel- opment of the coal interests of the county, and of whom there are not a few.

On July 1, 1875, Mr. Tinstman married Miss Har- riet Cornelia Markle, youngest daughter of Gen. Cyrus P. Markle and Sarah Ann Markle (whose maiden name was Sarah Ann Lippincott), of Mill Grove, Westmoreland Co., Pa. He has one son, named Cyrus Painter Markle Tinstman.

HENRY CLAY FRICK.

Mr. Frick, of the celebrated firm of H. C. Frick & Co., manufacturers and dealers in coke, and a third owner of the business of said company, which is con- stituted of himself and Messrs. Edmund and Walton Ferguson, of Pittsburgh, was born in West Overton, Westmoreland Co., Pa., Dec. 19, 1849.

Mr. Frick first engaged in active business life on any considerable scale in 1871, when he entered upon the coke business at Broad Ford, in Fayette Co., Pa., and has continued to prosecute the same there and in that neighborhood to this time.

The business at Broad Ford was started with fifty ovens, and has gradually increased till it comprises in that distriet over one thousand ovens.

The firm also owns coke interests in other parts of Fayette County and in Westmoreland County.

EDMUND MOREWOOD FERGUSON.

Edmund M. Ferguson, a gentleman who, though now a resident of Shady Side, Pittsburgh, Pa., is identified with the leading business interest of Fay- ette County, was born in New York City in 1838, and located in Fayette County in 1871, wherein, at Ferguson Station, on the Fayette County Railroad, near Dunbar, he was engaged for three years in the manufacture of coke. In the fall of 1874 he left the county as a place of residence, but continued his business therein, and settled in Pittsburgh.

In March, 1878, Mr. Ferguson entered into partner-

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CONNELLSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP.

ship with Henry Clay Frick, under the style of H. C. Frick & Co., for the manufacture and sale of Con- nellsville coke, their works being almost wholly situ- ated in Fayette County. In this firm he continues in active business.

In 1872 he married Miss Josephine E., daughter of W. S. Mackintosh, of Pittsburgh, by whom he has three children,-John M., William S., and Martha R.

WALTON FERGUSON, EsQ.

·Walton Ferguson, of Shady Side, Pittsburgh, now and for several years past largely interested in con- nection with his brother, Edmund M., and Mr. H. C. Frick in the coke business of Fayette County, was born at Stamford, Conn., in 1842, and there resided till the fall of 1879, when he moved to Pittsburgh and entered as a partner the firm of H. C. Frick & Co.

In the year 1865 he became a member of the firm of J. & S. Ferguson, of New York, in which he is still interested.

CAPT. JOHN F. DRAVO.

Capt. John F. Dravo, the present custom-house surveyor of the port of Pittsburgh, is largely identi- fied with the business of Fayette County, particularly in the coal and coke interests thereof, and began his operations in the coke trade at Connellsville in 1868.

Mr. Dravo is of French extraction. His grand- father, Anthony Dravo, a native of France, settled in Pittsburgh at an early day in the history of that city, and resided there the remainder of his life. Mr. Dravo was born in West Newton, Westmoreland Co., Pa., Oct. 29, 1819, but spent most of his youthful days about six miles from Elizabeth, Allegheny Co. He was educated in the common schools, and at Allegheny College, Meadville, where he remained three years, and withdrew from the college on account of ill health. From 1840 to 1880 he was engaged continuously in the coal business, though meanwhile connected with the coke trade, to which he now de- votes his time almost exclusively. Mr. Dravo took up his residence in Pittsburgh about 1836, and in 1840 removed to Mckeesport, Allegheny Co., and there entered into the coal business, and subsequently built up Dravosburg, opposite that place. In 1868 he sold out his coal business, and, as noted above, went into the coke trade in Connellsville. Mr. Dravo has held many positions of trust in business and official circles, having been director of the Allegheny House eight years ; director and vice-president of the Pennsylvania Reform School four years; first vice- president for several years of the Chamber of Com- merce, of which he was one of the first members; director of the Tradesmen's National Bank and Peo- ple's Insurance Company ; vice-president of the Beaver Female College; and general manager of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Gas-Coal and Coke

Company. He was appointed to his present position as surveyor of the port of Pittsburgh May 23, 1881. His long identification with coal interests in and about Pittsburgh has made him a general favorite among the river-men, while in the business commu- nity no one stands higher than he in reputation for integrity or for urbanity of manner.

Mr. Dravo is in politics an ardent Republican, of anti-slavery or "abolition" antecedents, and has taken active part in the campaigns of his party, having been much upon the "stump." He is a voluble and forcible public speaker, and one of the most effective political debaters in the State. He was a delegate to the Chicago Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for President. Among party factions he is a " peacemaker," a character which in Pennsylvania politics is occasionally in very urgent demand.

DAVID BARNES.

Every town or borough has its distinctive " charac- ters," among whom are men who seem to have been born to be publicly useful, and who could not well have gone into strictly private life if they had tried. Aside from their regular business they fill numerous offices, are known by everybody, consulted more or less by everybody about everything, are alert, smart, found apt at any business upon which they may be called to enter, wide awake,-in short, universally useful, ever willing and competent. Of this class of men is David Barnes, of Connellsville. His family has been iden- tified with Fayette County for over eighty years. Mr. Barnes is the grandson of Zephaniah Ellis Barnes, who came to America from England and settled in Woodstown, N. J., several generations ago. There, in 1765, was born David Barnes (Sr.), father of our David, and who came to Connellsville in 1801 and built there (the first of its kind ever seen west of the mountains), what was then known as a "go-back saw- mill." He took great interest in the organization of the borough, and was a member of its first Council. He built the market-house which now stands on the corner of Spring and Church Streets, and, under Gov- ernor Simon Snyder, was appointed flour inspector for the county of Fayette. During the war of 1812 he, in company with Joseph McClurg, of Pittsburgh, ran Mount Pleasant Furnace, where were made cannon, cannon-balls, and grape-shot for the government. After the war he was engaged in the iron business in company with Isaac Meason and James Paull. He was a man of excellent ability to plan and execute. He died in 1832, and was buried in the Quaker grave- yard in Connellsville. His wife was Sarah Proctor, a native of Old Town, Md., and born in 1785. She was a relative of the Ogles, Camerons, and Clintons of that State, and came with her parents to Perry- opolis, Fayette Co., in 1812. In 1818 she and David Barnes were married. At his death she was left with

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

six children, one having previously died. Her whole time and energy were devoted to rearing and edu- cating her children, particularly in morals and re- ligion. She never, when in health, let an evening pass withont assembling her young family and read- ing to them a chapter from the Scriptures. Of course she was particular to avoid sneh chapters as are not considered delicate and proper to be read by youthful and unformed minds. Her selections were always ju- dicious. After the reading she always nttered a prayer for the protection of her children, mingled with earn- est hopes for their future nsefulness. Her family con- sisted of David, William, Hamilton, Joseph, Z. Ellis, Emily, and Mary Bell. William was educated at Lew- isburg University, and was ordained as a Baptist min- ister at the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh. He visited the Holy Land with the view of thereby the bet- ter enabling himself to fulfill the responsible duties of his calling. He wished to see the places where Christ preached, feeling that he might gather inspiration therefrom. At the breaking out of the late war he was commissioned as chaplain of the Fifth New York Volunteer Artillery, and served until the close of the war. Hamilton has served a term in the State Senate from Somerset County. He is a fluent and impressive speaker, and a leader in the Republican party. Joseph became a carpenter, and, as a foreman of his depart- ment, helped build the Union Pacific Railroad. Ellis, being a great lover of horses, has dealt extensively in them, and during the late war was quartermaster un- der Gen. Samnel B. Holabird. He resides at Connells- ville, and carries on the livery and sale business. Emily died quite young. Mary Bell married Thomas Evans, and is the mother of a large family, all indus- trious and good citizens.

David Barnes was born in Perryopolis, Feb. 5, 1819, and attended the common schools, but regards his mother as his only real teacher and only friend in youth. At sixteen years of age he commenced teach- ing school, and followed the business nntil (he hav- ing meanwhile incurred the responsibilities of mar- riage) his wages would not support him, when he turned his attention to politics. In 1853 he was ap- pointed a clerk in the State Department at Harris- burg, where he remained some sixteen years. About 1869 he resigned his office at the capital and accepted the position of paymaster of the Pittsburgh and Con- nellsville Railroad, and thereafter resigned that to accept position as book-keeper of the National Loco- motive-Works at New Haven ; and on the completion of the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad, from Greens- burg to Connellsville, was appointed station agent at the latter place, which position he still holds.

Mr. Barnes is a stanch Republican, and exerted considerable influence during the late war. He was the true friend of the soldiers, helping and aiding them wherever he could, visiting them in hospitals and administering to their wants. Great numbers of them made him their banker, and he judiciously in-

vested their funds for them, often profitably, refusing all fees for his services ; and he still helps them in their celebrations, especially to "fight their battles o'er," he being a fluent and stirring speaker. Mr. Barnes is charitable to a fault, but of great determi- nation of character, and not lacking in fiery spirit makes enemies; but feeling that he is right he cares not for foes, declaring that he would "rather have one influential friend than the whole rabble of the town" at his back.

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 94

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314