History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 103

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1288

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

A. and Breiner F. (deceased). Mr. Beatty is a Republican in politics, and a member of the borough council. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and belongs to the Masonic order, R. A. and K. of H.

E. F. BENNETT, tinner, was born in New Castle, Penn., October 13, 1839, and is a son of Silas and Catharine (Nicholas) Bennett, the former a native of Connecticut, born in 1816, and the latter of Eastern Pennsylvania. The parents of Silas died when he was six years old, and he then went to live with his uncle, who removed to New Lisbon, Ohio, where he grew to manhood and learned the tin and coppersmith trade. In 1837 he was there married to Catharine Nicholas, who had come from Eastern Pennsylvania to Ohio with her

brother-in-law. Eleven children were born of this union, ten of whom are living. In 1837 Silas Bennett located in business at New Castle, Penn., where all of his children were born. His wife died in that city in February, 1882, and he survived her until July 30, 1887. Both were members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and in politics he was a Republican. Our subject grew up in New Castle, and learned the tinner's trade with his father. At the age of seventeen he went to Warren, Ohio, where he worked at his trade till September 2, 1861, when he came to Sharon, Penn., and enlisted in Company B, Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served in the field until the charge on Fort Wagner, S. C., where he was severely wounded and taken prisoner. The Confederate surgeons amputated his left leg, and he was soon afterward exchanged and sent to New York, where it was found necessary to perform another amputation. He remained in hospital quarters till his discharge, July 27, 1864, when he returned to New Castle and thence to Warren, Ohio. In May, 1866, Mr. Bennett came to Greenville, where he has since remained. He was married July 25, 1866, to Miss Ellen J. Dunlap, of Warren, Ohio, who is the mother of one son, William H. In June, 1878, Mr. Bennett opened a tinner's and job shop in Greenville, and has since carried on a suc- cessful business. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Republican in politics, has served in the council three years, and is a member of the G. A. R. and the Masonic fraternity.

JOHN BENNINGHOFF, deceased, was born in Lehigh County, Penn., Decem- ber 25, 1801, and when quite young removed with his parents to Union County, where he grew to manhood. He was there married in 1824, to Miss Elizabeth Heise, a native of Union County. Her father, Solomon Heise, was one of the pioneers of that section of Pennsylvania, where he died at the remarkable age of over one hundred and seven years. He was a native of the Keystone State, but his parents were natives of Germany, who immigrated to Penn's Colony soon after it was founded. About 1831 John Benninghoff, wife and family removed from Clearfield County to Venango County, where he rented farm land for several years. He finally purchased land at different times until he owned a farm of 235 acres, which subsequently proved to be the most produc- tive oil farm in the oil country discovered up to the present. This fortunate stroke of luck made him rich. His interest in the oil product of his farm ex- tended from 1861 to April, 1868, when he sold his lands and removed to Greenville. During that period he had a large royalty coming in from the wells on his land, and his bank deposits in Franklin were correspondingly heavy. The bank failed and he lost a large amount of money. Losing confi- dence in such institutions, he concluded to be his own banker, and purchasing a safe kept his money in his house. On the evening of January 16, 1868, his safe was robbed of $250,000, not a cent of which was ever recovered, though the family spent $50,000 in attempts to capture the robbers. Notwithstanding this very heavy loss he died worth about $400, 000. Mr. Benninghoff and wife

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reared a family of eight sons and four daughters, viz .: George, Charles, Mar- tin, Amelia, Elizabeth, John E., Catharine, Frederick W., Mary J., Jeremiah, Joseph and Milton, all of whom are living except John E., Amelia and Catha- rine. The mother died in the Presbyterian faith, July 26, 1872, her husband surviving her nearly ten years, and dying March 20, 1882, in the eighty-first year of his age. He was a Lutheran in religious belief, and politically a Repub- lican. At the time of his death he had sixty-one grandchildren and twenty- one great-grandchildren. John Benninghoff was a plain. practical, upright man, whose word was ever sacred. Though his struggles with poverty in early life made him frugal and economical, when wealth came to him, almost as if by magic, he seldom refused to help worthy objects. He also gave a liberal dona- tion to the Lutheran Church, and a similar gift to Thiel College, which alone attest his generous nature.

JOSEPH BENNINGHOFF was born December 18, 1843, in Cherry Tree Town- ship, Venango Co., Penn., within one mile of Petroleum Centre, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Heise) Benninghoff, both of whom died in Greenville. Joseph was the eleventh in a family of eight sons and four daughters, and re- ceived his primary education in the public schools of Venango County. In 1868-69, he attended the commercial college of Meadville, and graduated in March of the latter year. He then entered the law office of Hiram L. Rich- mond & Son, of Meadville, but on his mother's death, in 1872, he came to Greenville to reside with his father, and did not renew his legal studies till 1880, when he returned to Meadville and was there admitted to the bar in the spring of 1882. Since his admission he has resided in Greenville. Mr. Ben- ninghoff was married to Miss Ella Affantranger, of Meadville, daughter of the late P. A. Affantranger, a merchant of that city. Five children have been born of this union: Maud E., Arthur H. (deceased), Leon A., Josephine and Helen M. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and was elected burgess of Greenville in the spring of 1887, and served one term. For the past twenty years Mr. Benninghoff has been a member of the Masonic fraternity.

JACOB G. BENNINGHOFF, clothing merchant, was born in Venango County, Penn., May 13, 1859, and is a son of Martin and Mary Benninghoff, residents of West Salem Township, whither they removed in 1865. Our subject grew to manhood in this county, and in 1880 began clerking in the clothing house of Henlein & Bacher. In February, 1885, he became a member of the firm of Bacher, Benninghoff & Co., to which he still belongs. Mr. Benninghoff was married April 11, 1888, to Miss Minnie, daughter of S. H. Ross, of Greenville. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the I. O. O. F. society.

GEORGE A. BITTENBANNER is one of the few remaining pioneer business men of the town. He is a native of Columbia County, Penn., born November 28, 1815, and a son of Conrad and Sarah (Blank) Bittenbanner, natives of North- ampton County, who were married and lived in Columbia County. They came to this county in the spring of 1826, and located in Delaware Township. They had at that time four children: George A., David, Esther and Conrad. Three were born after coming, viz .: Jacob, Sarah (deceased) and Mary Ann, wife of Hon. J. C. Brown, of the Advance Argus. In 1832 the parents moved into Greenville, where the father kept hotel several years. He then went back to agricultural pursuits, and both he and wife died on the farm now occupied by Mr. Brown. George A. grew to manhood in Mercer County, and in 1839 was married to Miss Louisa McDonald, who is the mother of two daughters, Alice (deceased) and Mary, wife of Dr. John T. Shutt, of Green- ville. From early manhood up to a recent date Mr. Bittenbanner was

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one of the leading business men of Mercer County, and was prominently identified with the mercantile and financial interests of Greenville throughout his business career. He was one of the most public-spirited citizens of the town, and his name was the synonym of push and enterprise. Politically he was first a Whig, and afterward a Republican. In 1855 he was chosen an elder of the Presbyterian Church, and, though unable to fulfill the duties of the office because of failing health, he is nevertheless still an elder in that body.

REV. JEREMIAH REED BRITTAIN, D. D., late pastor of the United Presby- terian Church of Greenville, but now located in Englewood, Ill., was born near Beaver Falls, Beaver Co., Penn., July 26, 1839, and is a son of Joseph and Belinda (Clark) Brittain, natives of the same county. The Brittains were originally from Maryland, and removed to Berwick, in Eastern Pennsylvania, whence, about 1796, Jeremiah Brittain, grandfather of our subject, immigrated to Beaver County, where, during a long residence, he was widely known as one of the most prominent farmers and sheep growers of that section of the State. Both he and his wife died on the old homestead in Beaver County. They reared a family of seven sons and three daughters, Rev. Brittain's father, Joseph, being the ninth and youngest son. He inherited the old homestead, and reared a family of three sons and two daughters, all of whom are living. He now resides with his daughter, Mrs. W. C. Chamberlain, of East Palestine, Ohio, where his wife died August 5, 1886. Rev. Brittain was the oldest of the family, and his boyhood days were principally spent on his father's farm. His first schooling was obtained in White's school-house, which stood near his home and not far from the site of Geneva College. In his fourteenth year he attended one term at Darlington Academy, in Beaver County, and when seven- teen again spent some time in the same institution, then under the charge of Joseph B. Kiddo, afterward a brigadier-general in the Union army. He taught one term of school when seventeen years of age, and from that time till attaining his majority worked on the farm. In September, 1859, Mr. Brittain entered Beaver Academy, then under Simon B. Mercer, and the next autumn cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for President. He spent two years at Beaver Academy, and then entered Westminster College, New Wil- mington, Lawrence County, then under the presidency of Dr. James Patter- son, where he graduated with first honors in June, 1863, delivering the Greek salutatory on commencement day. Immediately after graduating he enlisted in a company of volunteers, made up chiefly of students, Dr. George C. Vin- cent, captain, but only experienced a brief service. In the fall of 1863 Mr. Brittain entered the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Allegheny City, where he spent three years studying for the ministry, but was licensed at the end of the second year. In March, 1866, Dr. Brittain received a call from the United Presbyterian congregation of Greenville, where he entered on his work July 1, and where he was ordained and installed pastor by the Lake Presbytery in September, 1866. The following year the present church building was erected, and under his pastorate the congregation increased from 100 to 300 members. Dr. Brittain has been a member of the board of trustees of Westminster College ten years, and in June, 1885, that institution conferred upon him the title of Doctor of Divinity. He has also been a director of the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary six years. Dr. Brittain was mar-

ried August 30, 1864, to Miss Nannie D. King, of Illinois, who has borne him nine children, eight of whom are living, two sons and six daughters. During his pastorate in Greenville of nearly twenty-two years Dr. Brittain received several calls from other churches, but his popularity among his people was such as to deter his departure from the field wherein he had labored so long

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and faithfully, until his acceptance of the call from the United Presbyterian congregation of Englewood, Ill., in February, 1888. He is one of the ablest men of his church, and throughout his long residence in Greenville was recog- nized as a hard-working, successful minister, and an enterprising, influential citizen.

JAMES WILSON BROWN, deceased, was born in Fayette County, Penn., October 2, 1794, and died in Greenville February 10, 1885, in his ninety- first year. His father, Hugh Brown, was a native of County Down, Ireland, who immigrated to Maryland, and there married Sarah Wilson, born near White Hall, in that State. They afterward removed to Fayette County, Penn., and in 1799 came to what is now Mercer County, and located on a tract of 500 acres, immediately north of the site of Greenville. They reared a family of four sons and five daughters, all of whom, excepting one, became heads of families. Hugh Brown died on his homestead November 25, 1845, aged eighty-three years, his wife having died June 15, 1838, aged sixty-eight. He was an elder of the Associate Presbyterian Church, of Greenville, about thirty years. James W. was nearly five years old when his parents settled in the Shenango Valley, and his subsequent life was spent in the vicinity of Greenville. He was married October 27, 1825, to Jane, daughter of Robert King, an early settler of Kinsman, Ohio. The following children were born of that union: H. Wilson and Robert K., of Cincinnati, Ohio; James C., editor of the Greenville Advance Argus; Mary A., wife of Conrad Bittenbanner, of Greenville; Isabella, wife of Rufus Thompson, of Piper City, Ill .; John E., of Greenville; William A., killed by a runaway horse in 1848; Lizzie E., wife of John Annett, of Greenville, and Maggie J., a teacher in the public schools of this borough. Politically James W. Brown was originally a Democrat, subse- quently joined the anti-Masonic and Whig parties, and finally became a Re- publican, being from early manhood a stanch opponent of slavery.

HON. JAMES C. BROWN, editor and one of the proprietors of the Advance Argus, was born on the old homestead, settled by his grandfather, October 7, 1829, and is the third son of James W. Brown, previously spoken of in this chapter. He received his primary education in the common schools, and at the age of seventeen, in September, 1846, entered the office of the Mercer Whig, where he remained till January, 1848. He then entered the Mercer Academy, but after a few months returned to Greenville and became a student in the academy, then under the charge of Revs. D. H. A. McLean and J. G. Wilson, where he completed his education. In the winter of 1848-49 he com- menced teaching a school in the Law district, five miles west of Mercer, and the following winter taught at Leech's Corners. At the close of the latter term he went to Brookville, Penn., and taught a select school six months. He then bought a half interest in the Jefferson Star, a Whig paper, published at Brookville, and began editing that journal ere reaching his twenty-first year. While connected with the Star Mr. Brown taught in the common schools of Greenville two winters. In the spring of 1853 he sold his interest in that paper, came to Greenville and purchased the Independent Press, and during the past thirty-five years he has been connected with the press of Greenville the larger portion of his time. Politically Mr. Brown was first a Whig, and since the birth of the Republican party has been one of its stanchest supporters. In June, 1854, he was elected the first county superintendent of public schools in Mercer County, and filled that position two years. In October, 1861, he was elected to the Legislature, and re-elected to the same office in October, 1862. The following year he was the choice of his party in Mercer County for the Senate, but the nomination went to Venango County.

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In June, 1863, Mr. Brown enlisted as a private in Company C, Fifty-fifth. Pennsylvania Militia, and served his full term of enlistment. In 1866 he was. elected to the State Senate, and served in that body three years. In March, 1871, he was appointed United States assessor, by President Grant, for this district, and in May, 1873, when the offices of assessor and collector were merged, he became deputy collector for the counties of Mercer and Crawford. In September, 1874, he was appointed collector for the district, and continued to fill that position nearly nine years, or until a reorganization of districts legislated the old collectors out of office. On settling up accounts, subse- quently, the government was found to be in his debt several hundred dollars. Mr. Brown was married April 29, 1856, to Mary A., daughter of Conrad Bit- tenbanner, of Greenville, where Mrs. Brown was born and reared. Four chil- dren survive this union: Sarah J., wife of Rev. Alfred Ramsey, of Scenery Hill, Washington Co., Penn .; M. A., wife of P. E. McCray, of Greenville; Robert W., a recent graduate of Thiel College, and George A. The family belong to the United Presbyterian Church, in which body Mr. Brown has been an elder about fifteen years. Few citizens of Mercer County are more widely known or more thoroughly respected than the able editor of the Advance Argus.

JOHN E. BROWN, grocery merchant, was born near Greenville, June 17, 1835, and is a son of James W. and Jane (King) Brown, pioneers of Mercer County. Our subject grew up on the old homestead, attended the common schools of his neighborhood, and worked at farming throughout his early man- hood. In October, 1862, Mr. Brown enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served nearly ten months, when his term of service expired. On his return to Mercer County he continued his former occupation of farming. In April, 1878, he opened a grocery store in Greenville, where he has since continued in that business. He was married November 16, 1865, to Miss S. M., daughter of Samuel and Eliza J. Cald- well, pioneers of Delaware Township. Mr. Brown is a Republican in politics, a member of the G. A. R., and both he and wife belong to the United Presby- terian Church of Greenville.

DR. G. G. BRUSH, deceased, was born in Sheakleyville, Mercer County, Penn., September 9, 1820, and was a son of James and Margaret (Sheakley) Brush, the former a native of Westmoreland County, and the latter of Adams County, Penn. James Brush came to this county early in the present century, where he married Margaret, daughter of John Sheakley, Sr., a pioneer of Sandy Creek Township. He followed farming, and with his wife died on the homestead near Sheakleyville. Dr. Brush grew to manhood on the home farm, and taught a few terms of school in that vicinity. He read medicine two years in the office of Dr. Cossitt, of Greenville, and subsequently one year with Dr. Ray, formerly of Philadelphia. In March, 1845, he opened an office in Sheakleyville, where he practiced his profession twenty-nine years. In April, 1874, Dr. Brush removed to Greenville, where he continued in active practice till his death, August 8, 1886. He attended lectures in the medical colleges of Philadelphia, Buffalo and New York City, and was a graduate of the Buffalo Medical University. He built up a large practice during his resi- dence in Sheakleyville and Greenville, and was surgeon of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad six years. Dr. Brush was married September 19, 1845, to Miss Asenath Thatcher, a native of Trumbull County, Ohio, who is. the mother of six children, only one of whom survives. The children are: Hattie R .; James A., a deceased physician of Sheakleyville; Elizabeth, de- ceased wife of Addison Williams, of Mercer County, and three died in infancy.

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Dr. Brush was a kind father and husband, an honest, upright man, a useful citizen and a successful physician.

DR. JAMES A. BRUSH, deceased, was born in Sheakleyville, Penn., March 16, 1846, and died there after a lingering illness March 29, 1881. He was the only son of Dr. George G. Brush, with whom he read medicine. He attended lectures at Ann Arbor University, Buffalo Medical University and Jefferson Medical College, and was a graduate of the two last mentioned institutions. He located at Sheakleyville immediately after graduating at Buffalo, and, excepting two years spent in Greenville, during which time he was surgeon of the Erie & Pittsburgh and Atlantic & Great Western Railroads, he continued prac- ticing in Sheakleyville until his death. He was a thorough student and deeply wedded to his profession, and stern and positive in the prosecution of his du- ties. Dr. Brush married Miss Nancy J. McQuiston, of Hartstown, Penn., who survives him. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and died in a firm hope of a blessed immortality. Both father and son are buried in the family lot in Shenango Valley Cemetery, Greenville.

ORSON A. CARLIN, agent of the Adams Express Company, was born in Con- neaut, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, February 15, 1842, and is a son of Capt. Thomas J. Carlin, of that town. Capt. Carlin was born in the County Down, Ireland, and when he was about two years old his parents immigrated to Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., where the father died, his widow subsequently dying at Conneaut, Ohio. Soon after reaching manhood Capt. Carlin removed to Conneaut, Ohio, where he married Miss Mary A. Dibble, a native of Ashta- bula County. Five children have been born of this union, four of whom are living, and two residents of Greenville, our subject and Mrs. J. C. Kuchler. When Sumter was fired upon Capt. Carlin was filling the office of mayor of Conneaut, Ohio, of which town he had been postmaster throughout the administrations of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan, and immediately called a meeting of the citizens, organized a battery of 160 men, and was chosen captain of the same. Carlin's battery was soon after assigned to service as the Second Ohio, Capt. Carlin being the second captain of artillery commis- sioned by the governor of the State. He served in the field two years, and then · resigned on account of injuries received in the service, but his sons served through the whole war. Capt. Carlin and wife are still living in Con- neaut, Ohio, and throughout his long residence in Ashtabula County he has been one of the foremost Democrats in that county. He has filled the several offices of the town; been a school director for twenty-seven years, and is now a justice of the peace. Orson A. received a common-school education, and was clerking for his father in the Conneaut post-office when the tocsin of war was sounded. He at once enlisted in his father's command, and served in Carlin's battery till near the close of 1863. In March, 1862, a detachment of this battery, under Lieut. Huston, was surrounded near Bentonville, Ark., by a battalion of Texas Rangers, under Capt. White, who demanded its surrender. A number of the men under Corp. Carlin refused to comply with the demand, and attempted to cut their way through the rebel lines, but all were captured excepting Corp. Carlin and Private Henry Sweet, both of whom escaped unin- jured amidst a shower of the enemy's bullets. At the battle of Pea Ridge a rebel officer on horseback was noticed behind a rail fence, reconnoitering the Union lines, and Corp. Carlin was ordered to give him a shot. He immediately complied, and the fence was scattered in every direction, covering the officer with a shower of rails. Gen. Asboth, in command of the division, witnessed the shot, and riding up to Corp. Carlin, complimented him on his efficiency as an expert artillerist. Toward the close of 1863 Corp. Carlin was assigned

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to the quartermaster's department, and was stationed at Nashville, Tenn., till the end of the war; was then mustered out of service, and returned to his home. While at Nashville Mr. Carlin became well acquainted with Andrew Johnson, and, though opposing his election to the Vice-Presidency, was never- theless, upon Johnson's accession to the Presidency, appointed postmaster of Conneaut, Ohio, which office he filled till April, 1869, when he resigned. Mr. Carlin was married December 3, 1867, to Miss Alice A. Loomis, of Con- neaut, Ohio, whose parents were pioneers of that county. In January, 1872, he came to Greenville to accept the agency of the United States Express Company, and subsequently was appointed agent of the Adams Express Company. Mr. Carlin continued to fill the position of local manager of both companies until the withdrawal from Greenville of the United States Com- pany's office, since which event he has remained in charge of the Adams. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and also the G. A. R. Politically Mr. Carlin has always been an unswerving Democrat, and while a resident of Astabula County, Ohio, he was once the Democratic candidate for sheriff, and though defeated he polled the largest vote on the ticket.

JAMES WILLIAMSON CHRISTY, retired farmer, was born in Salem (now Hempfield) Township, Mercer Co., Penn., October 4, 1807, and is a son of Col. Andrew and Susan (Williamson) Christy, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. James W. grew to manhood on the old home- stead, and at the age of twenty-four came to Greenville and followed the tan- ning business about five years. He then traded his interest in the tan-yard for fifty acres of land near Greenville, which he soon afterward sold and purchased 200 acres in Sandy Creek Township, upon which he settled per- manently in 1836. On the 20th of December, 1838, he was married to Miss Mary L. Thompson, a native of Salem Township, who bore him the following children: Thompson A. (deceased), Susan, Elizabeth, Emily, Andrew, Alice (deceased), Madison, Cassius C. (deceased) and Velzora. Mrs. Christy died April 16, 1885, in her sixty-seventh year. She was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, to which denomination her husband also belongs. Politically Mr. Christy is a Republican, but aside from exercising the right of franchise has taken no active part in political affairs. He is one of the few remaining links between the pioneer days and the ever changing present, and has been a daily eye-witness for three-quarters of a century of the steady growth and development of his native county.

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History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 103

Author: Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1288

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1288