History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 118

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

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time of his death. He married Elizabeth Boyer July 10, 1828, and by this marriage ten children were born to them: Archibald (married Jane Stambaugh, who died in 1868, leaving three children), Deliah (Mrs. Hiram Young, of Kan- sas), John (who lives in Allegheny County, Penn., married Sarah Best, and 'has eight children), Samuel (who was born December 1, 1837, died April 24, 1858), Mary M. (Mrs. James Jones, died June 1, 1873), Belinda (Mrs. Sam- uel Hewitt, died March 15, 1881), Margaret (Mrs. John Eberhart, of Iowa), Isaiah (who married Mary Moyer, has one child, and owns and lives on the old homestead), Wilford (married Marilla Alderman, who died in 1873, leaving one child, married for his second wife Angeline Moyer, and has five children), James (married Margaret Wilson, has six children). Isaiah Titus, the father of the above children, died March 25, 1855, and his widow February 7, 1874.

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

TROUT FAMILY. - Michael Trout, a Lutheran minister, emigrated from Germany, and settled near Hagerstown, Md., and subsequently removed to Westmoreland County, Penn. He had five sons: George, Michael, Philip, John and Jacob. The last mentioned was a saddler by trade, and came to Mercer County in 1811. He settled on a tract of land situated where George Trout, his son, now lives. Here he engaged in farming in connection with his saddler business. He married Mary, a daughter of George Shilling, of Westmoreland County, and there were born to them seven children. He died January 18, 1829, and his widow June 1, 1842. George, the eldest son of Jacob, was born in 1807, in Westmoreland County, Penn., and came to this county with his father, and was reared and educated in Hickory Township. He married, in 1837, Mary, a daughter of James and Jane (Christy) Ward, of Shenango Township, and by this marriage he had three children, two of whom are living, Della and Jacob C. Michael C., the second son of Jacob, was born September 30, 1810, and died in 1873. He learned the hatter's trade, and followed it for three years. He then engaged in the carpenter and build- ing business, and while thus engaged he built the Shenango House at Sharon. He was elected, on the Democratic ticket, recorder of Mercer County in 1843, and served one term. He was immediately elected prothonotary, which posi- tion he filled for six years. He removed, in 1852, to a part of the homestead farm, and erected the residence where his son, Conrad C., now resides with his widowed mother. The same year he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, a member of Congress, and served in the session of 1853-54. After his term of Congressional labor expired he engaged with the Sharon Iron and Steel Rolling Works as its manager. He subsequently engaged in the machine business, under the firm name of McGilvray, Trout & Carver. He was also engaged in the planing-mill business, the firm being known as Carver & Trout. Mr. Trout was connected with the Sharon Banking Company as one of the directors. He also obtained the charter for the Sharon Gas Works. He opened the coal banks on his own property, and was extensively engaged in real estate operations. Mr. Trout was always alive to public affairs, and was president of Hickory Township School Board for over twenty years. He was married January 14, 1835, to Margaret J., daughter of Gabriel Carkhuff, a native of New Jersey. By her he had two children: William E. (born July 3, 1838, and died June 16. 1841) and Conrad C. (born July 29, 1845). The latter was educated in Sewickley, Beaver Co., Penn., Poland, Ohio, Agricul- tural College of Ohio, and at the Iron City Business College of Pittsburgh. Mr. Trout is now engaged in farming and dealing in real estate. Henry, the third son of Jacob, is dead. Mary, the eldest daughter of Jacob Trout, was married to James Hann, and they reside in Hickory Township. Sarah, the second daughter, married Christopher Hann. Olivia, the third' daughter, is single, and resides with her sister, Mrs. Sarah Hann. Jacob, the fourth son, was born June 22, 1823, learned the trade of a carpenter, and follows farming in connection with his trade. He married Sarah, a daughter of William and Ann (Hofius) Titus, and has six children: William H. (a banker of California), Alfaretta (Mrs. Reuben Howell), Michael (of Colorado), Mary (Mrs. E. R. Powell, of Montana), Ida and George.

TROUTMAN FAMILY .- George Troutman, a native of Northumberland County, Penn., was a descendant of a German of that name, who came to this country at an early date. George married Catherine Muse, and in the year 1823 they came with their family of six children and settled at Brookfield, Ohio. George, their eldest son, was the only one who made this county his permanent home; he was born in Northumberland County, Penn., in the year 1792, married

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

Mary Boyer, of Berks County, and in 1823, when his father came to Ohio, he located at Sharon, where he followed his trade as carpenter until he purchased his farm in Hickory Township, where he resided until his death, which occurred February 7, 1875, his wife surviving him until February 24, 1886. They had ten children: Lemuel, Joseph, Caroline, Mrs. P. Dunham, of Sharpsville; Sarah, Mrs. John Dennison, of Jamestown, Penn. ; George F., of Lackawannock Town- ship; Valentine, of Hickory Township; John P., of Ohio; Elizabeth, Mrs. A. R. Dunham; Luther, and Henry M., of Sharon. Lemuel and Luther are deceased long since. John P., of Trumbull County, Ohio, recently deceased, leaves a family of nine orphaned children, his wife having died some four years pre- vious. Joseph Troutman, the second son of George and Mary Troutman, was born in 1821, in Clarion County, Penn., and was reared and educated in Mer- cer County. In the year 1848 he married Miss Nancy, daughter of the late James Clark, a well-known citizen of Hickory Township, and one of its early settlers. In the same year he purchased the farm where he now resides, and has followed farming and dealing in stock ever since. In the year 1886 he met with a sad bereavement; in the short space of four months, his mother, wife, only son, Perry B., and little grandson, child of Perry B., all died and were interred at Moorefield Cemetery. He has a daughter living, wife of G. C. Hofius, at Hermitage, Penn. His son Perry B. Troutman was aged thirty-six years at the time of his death, and had resided at Jamestown, Penn., for about fifteen years, being for a long time agent of the Union Express Company, after- ward engaging in the mercantile business with Carr, Dennison & Co .; a few months prior to his death he came to Sharon, and entered the firm of T. J. Gillespie & Co. He was married September 15, 1881, to Miss Grace McCart. ney, of Jamestown, Penn., who, with their little son Carl, still survives him. JOHN WELCH, deceased, was a son of William G. and Elizabeth (Flenni- ken) Welch, and was born in 1806 and died in 1881. His father was a native of Washington County, Penn., and settled in Hickory Township about two miles north of West Middlesex in 1801. William's family consisted of five children, one of whom died in infancy: Jane (married Luke Porter and is dead), John (deceased), Mary (wife of Samuel Shilling, of Sharon) and Sarah (widow of James Mathers, of Greenville). John was reared and educated in Hickory Township, and was married in 1833 to Miss Eliza, a daughter of Andrew Satterfield. By this union they had ten children, seven of whom sur- vive: William (resides in Ohio), DeKalb (lives in Hickory Township), James (a resident of Montana), Elizabeth, C. D., Selina and Emma. Mr. Welch was a life-long member of the Presbyterian Church of West Middlesex. His widow resides with the four last mentioned children upon the old homestead in Hickory Township.

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

BIOGRAPHIES OF LACKAWANNOCK, EAST LACKAWANNOCK AND WILMINGTON.

LACKAWANNOCK TOWNSHIP.

EORGE ALLEN, deceased, was born November 13, 1823, in Shenango

G T Township, this county. His father, Joseph, was born September 19, 1794, in Ireland, and came to America when nine months old, with his par- ents. They settled in Ohio. Joseph remained with his parents until June, 1820, when he married Miss Mary Irwin. He then purchased a farm near West Middlesex, on which they settled. There were six chil- dren born to them. Christopher I. and Esther are the only ones living. Joseph's wife died May 5, 1833, at the age of thirty-three years. He was married the second time to Agnes Stewart, of Shenango Township, to whom were born two children: Robert (deceased) and Margaret J., wife of Thomas B. - Porter, of Wilmington Township. Joseph obtained a good common school education and taught school for a few terms. In politics he was a Whig and Republican. They were members of the United Presbyterian Church, and he was a ruling elder for thirty-seven years. his death he was disabled by a stroke of paralysis. He died August 24, 1871,

About three years before in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His wife died August 20, 1845. George, our subject, was married November 2, 1852, to Rachel J., daughter of Thomas and Betsey (Waugh) Porter, of Wilmington Township, this county. They located in Wilmington Township, where he worked at car- pentering for a few years, and then lived on a farm in Lackawannock for eight years. Returning to Wilmington Township, they lived there a few years, when they went back to Lackawannock Township. His wife died March 20, 1854. He was married the second time, in 1856, to Martha Ran- dolph, of Wilmington Township. By his first marriage there was one child, Elizabeth, now living in Youngstown, Ohio, and by his second marriage there were six children, four of whom are living: Joseph W., John C., Maggie A. (wife of G. W. Davis) and Charles S. The subject of our sketch was a firm Republican, and filled the offices of poor director, justice of the peace, school director and constable. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and died May 2,1888, in his sixty-fifth year.

JAMES R. BLACKSTONE, farmer, was born May 24, 1849, in Mercer County. His great-grandfather, Samuel Blackstone, was one of the first pioneers of Wilmington Township, whose son James was born November 2, 1798, in Wil- mington Township, and was married to Nancy Waugh in 1822, and purchased 200 acres of land in Lackawannock Township at a sheriff's sale, which was afterward sold to secure back taxes, and he made a second purchase. Here they lived until death, which occurred November 8, 1865, and February 12, 1871, respectively. They had four children: Thomas, Samuel, John and Han- nah. They were of Scotch-Irish descent, and members of the Presbyterian Church, and he was a Democrat. Thomas, the father of our subject, was born July 8, 1824, in the old Whistler house in Mercer. He was married April 19, 1848, to Nancy, daughter of John and Nellie (Wilson) Reed, of East Lacka-

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wannock Township. Their children were James, Ella A., the wife of Samuel Thompson, and Villa. Nancy Blackstone died January 9, 1866, and he was again married March 5, 1867, to Mary, a daughter of William and Elizabeth Pew, and by her has had Lillie I. They are Presbyterians. James R. was married April 2, 1874, to Lizzie, daughter of Hanson and Margaret Camp- bell, resulting in three children: Ethel, Cora and Richard N. His wife died May 15, 1887, of brain fever. He is a stanch Democrat.

JACOB S. BORTZ, farmer, post-office Hill, was born November 12, 1816, in Westmoreland County, Penn. His father, Jacob, was born in Northampton County, Penn., April 24, 1790, and settled in 1822 on a piece of land of 160 acres, purchased of Joseph Junkin, in Lackawannock Township, all a solid wood lot, on which he erected a cabin. He afterward returned to Greensburg for his family, having formerly married Anna M. Fry, of Greensburg, West- moreland Co., Penn. She was born December 15, 1794. There were four- teen children born to this union: Elizabeth, Mary, Jacob S. (these were born in Westmoreland County, Penn.), Simon, Leah (widow of the late David Kamerer, of Delaware Township), Jessie, David, Andrew, Sallie, Caroline, Sarah, George, Lydia and Hiram. He followed the occupation of a farmer and shoemaker. The parents were members of the Lutheran Church. Jacob died October 3, 1865, in Clarksville, and his wife died March 17, 1874. Our subject, Jacob S., was married May 1, 1848, to Anna M. Gangaware, of Py- matuning Township, and with her located on a farm in that township, which he purchased at the orphan's court sale, where they lived until 1854, when he bought the homestead in Lackawannock Township, of his father. The follow- ing are the names of his children: Leah, married William Zahniser; Aaron G., married Maggie H. Bye; Sarah, wife of William Bartholomew; Phyette, mar- ried Edward Zimmerman; Lucinda H., wife of Ephraim Zahniser; Martin L., John J., Lydia S., Ella E., Phoebe R., Elias M., Rachel R. and Anna M., de- ceased. Jacob S. is independent in politics, and he and wife belong to the Lutheran Church.

WILLIAM H. BURGESS, farmer, post-office Worth, was born December 24, 1847, in Lackawannock Township. His father, James, was born April 6, 1817, in Ohio, where he grew up to manhood and was there married to Miss Agnes Hogg. Both were of Irish descent. They located on a farm of fifty acres in Lackawannock Township, Mercer Co., Penn. There were seven chil- dren born to this union: Mary A., born in Ohio, now the wife of Robert Strain, of Kansas; Elizabeth J., died, at the age of seventeen years, of diph- theria; William H., Sarah E., wife of Samuel Ross; Andrew (deceased), George V., Flora L. James, the father, acquired a superior education. He taught school several terms, and was also engaged in book-keeping. He was justice of the peace for many years, and was employed as clerk in Pollock's store, at Jonesville, for many years, at the same time carrying on the farm work. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, of Leba- non, was one of the founders thereof, and a deacon and leader of the singing for many years. He died September 23, 1859, in his fifty-ninth year, and his widow in December, 1870, in her forty-eighth year. Our subject was mar- ried April 20, 1871, to Maggie A., daughter of Robert and Martha (Mc- Williams) Lusk. He purchased the old homestead' and settled thereon. There were two children born to them, Cora A. and one who died in infancy. He obtained a good education at the common schools. They are members of the First United Presbyterian Church, and he is a Republican, and has held the offices of constable, collector, assessor and school director.

DANIEL C. BYERS, deceased, settled in Lackawannock Township at an

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

early date. He was married to Miss Maria McBurney, of Deer Creek Town- ship. They located in a log house in the woods, and on the grounds now occupied by the Greenfield Hotel. He engaged in farming, hotel keeping and merchandise business, and was extensively known as the auctioneer. He dealt heavily in stock and country produce. Shipments of produce and merchandise were made to Pittsburgh by a six-horse team, loading both ways. There were ten children born to them: Alexander M., president of the Iron City National Bank of Pittsburgh, also manufacturer of gas pipes at the same place; Levina, died April 29, 1880, in her forty-ninth year, wife of Thomas Jones, of Clarksville; Sebina, single, lives with her brother at Greenfield; Julia, widow of Dr. Benjamin Love, of Sharon; Samuel, lives in Pittsburgh; Jennie, wife of William Miller, of Allegheny City; James W., deceased; William H. H., Ebeneser, of the firm of A. M. Byers & Co., of Pittsburgh, and Thomas H. Daniel C., their father, obtained a good common school education. Politically he was an old-line Whig. They were members of the United Presbyterian Church. He died February 11, 1854, in his fifty- eighth year, from the result of being thrown out of his carriage and fractur- ing his skull. His widow died March 9, 1879, in her seventy-seventh year. William H. H. was born in 1846 and Thomas in 1850. J. W., H. H. and T. H. began business in Greenfield, under the firm name of Byers Bros., in 1866, conducting a general merchandise store, and in addition carrying on an extensive business in shipping stock, grain, wool and farm products to Pitts- burgh and other markets, now carried on by H. H. and T. H., under the same name, Byers Bros. Politically they are both Republicans.

MOSES BYLER, farmer, post-office West Middlesex, was born in 1827 in Centre County, Penn., to Christian and Magdalen (Yoder) Byler, natives of this State. Of their children, six are living: Christian, Jr., lives in Lawrence County, married to Mary Caffman; Solomon, married Anna Caffman, also lives in Lawrence County; Samuel, lives in Kansas; Jonas, Mary and Moses live in Lackawannock Township. Christian died in 1851 at the age of sixty-seven years. His widow died in 1874 at the age of eighty-three years. Jonas was born in 1818 and Mary in 1823. Moses and Mary purchased a farm of 100 acres, known as the Samuel Sweezer farm, in Lackawannock, where they now live, and with them live their brother, Jonas, and a niece, Miss Barbara Byerly. They are members of the Menonite Church, and hold their worship from house to house. In politics they are Republicans.

R. T. CREEN, farmer, post-office Hill, was born July 12, 1833, in Chester County, Penn., son of Richard and Martha Creen, to whom were born three sons and one daughter: John, Catharine, Henry, Richard T. The parents came to Lackawannock Township in 1849, and located on the Kelly farm, in what is extensively known as the old "Red Tavern," on the State road. They remained here until he retired from business. The father died October 16, 1868, and the mother September 28, 1873. Richard T. continued the same business until 1864, after which he was in a hotel at Delaware Grove three years, at Greenville one year and at Hamburgh twelve years, in what is known as the Washington Hotel. In 1871 he returned to the old Red Tavern stand, which had been converted into a private house, and has since followed the occupation of a farmer. He was married July 14, 1854, to Rachel, daughter of Aaron and Anna (Davis) Vanatta, of Lackawannock Township. Three chil- dren have been born to them: M. Virginia (wife of Ed. Mayer, of Allegheny City), Mary (wife of J. L. Vandeventer), Anna Maud. His education was completed at the Fairmount boys' school, Philadelphia, and at the Cootsville High-school. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a Democrat, and a member of the I. O. O. F.

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

ANDREW J. DUNLAP, post-office Wheeler, was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, October 9, 1837, and is a son of Alexander and Eliza (Burgess) Dunlap. The father was born December 11, 1806, and after his marriage lived in Ohio until 1851, when they came to Mercer County and purchased a farm of Squire Graham, near Greenfield. Of his ten children, seven are living: John P., Andrew J., Josiah, Mary, wife of Robert Taylor; William, Jennie and Zan- nie. Alexander is a Democrat, and is eighty-one years of age. His wife died September 23, 1878. Andrew remained with his parents. until January 1, 1861, when he was married to Margaret, daughter of Alexander and Mary (Hemphill) McGuffey, formerly of Washington, Penn. He went to Ohio for a few years, and then settled in Mercer County. Alexander McGuffey was a native of Scotland, born in 1767, and died in March, 1855. He was the father of the publishers of McGuffey's series of school books. Mrs. McGuffey resides with her daughter, Mrs. Dunlap, at the advanced age of ninety-five years. Our subject, after his marriage, settled on a farm of fifty-three acres near Greenfield, where they still reside. He enlisted in the late war on Octo- ber 2, 1862, under Capt. L. C. Morrow, of Company H, One Hundreth Penn- sylvania Volunteers. He was soon stricken down with typhoid fever and in- flammatory rheumatism, and after six months was honorably discharged and returned to the farm. He is a Prohibitionist, and with his wife belongs to the United Presbyterian Church.

DR. THOMAS ELLIOTT, post-office Worth, was born in Fayetteville, Lawrence Co., Penn., March 1, 1851, to John and Hannah (Barr) Elliott. His parents came from Castle Fin, Ireland, and settled in Fayetteville in 1849, where they remained until 1853, when they located at Elliott's flouring-mill, in this county. Here he settled on a farm, which he managed in connection with the mill. They had six children: Thomas, Samuel E., who is a Presbyterian clergy- man at Mount Pleasant, and was married to Catherine, daughter of James Clark, an attorney of Washington County, Penn .; Latetia, John W., attend- ing medical college in Cleveland; Lydia A., and James, drowned when a boy in the mill-dam. The parents were members of the Presbyterian Church of Neshannock, where John was an elder for many years. They were of Scotch- Irish descent. Politically he was a Democrat. The children have all had the benefit of a collegiate education, three of them having graduated from West- minster College, and Samuel at Princeton Theological School. Dr. Thomas attended the Westminster College, and was in his first term of the junior class when his health failed him. He then spent one season in Ireland, and returned to New Wilmington, where he read medicine with Drs. Popino & Brugh until the winter of 1874, when he went to Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, and graduated in 1877, in the meantime spending one winter in Bellevue Medical College, New York. He located in Greenfield, Mercer Co., Penn., in the practice of his profession, in 1878, where he still remains, and by prompt attention to professional demands, coupled with his energy, ability and success, he is gaining a host of friends within the circle of his extensive practice. On October 24, 1878, he was married to Miss Maud, only daughter of Thomas and Emeline (Carson) Johnson, of Wilmington Township, this county. They are members of the United Presbyterian Church, and politically he is a Republican.

STEWART HODGE, farmer and stone-mason, post-office Worth, was born in 1822, near Clarksville, this county, and is a son of Robert and Rebecca Hodge, both natives of this State, Robert being born in Fayette County. The Hodge family were old pioneers of the county, having settled near Clarksville before the War of 1812. They came from Fayette County via Pittsburgh, where

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

they took passage in a canoe, which they paddled up the Shenango with poles. They purchased a farm of 200 acres from Mr. Rankin, and, after having it well improved, found the title was deficient, consequently they had to pay for it the second time. While assisting to raise a barn Robert had his leg broken, and after suffering from it eighteen years, finally had it amputated. There were sixteen children born to them, of whom Stewart was the seventh son. The parents lived to a ripe old age, the father being eighty-two years and the mother seventy-nine years of age at the time of their deaths. They were mem- bers of the United Presbyterian Church for many years. Stewart was mar- ried in 1847 to Eliza, daughter of James and Rebecca (Thatcher) Terrance, of this county. He purchased thirty acres of land near Clarksville, where they remained for a time, but he subsequently sold it, and followed the occupation of a furnace keeper for twenty-one years, during which time he enlisted under Capt. Chapman, Company K, Sixty third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served two and a half years, thirteen weeks of which time he was a prisoner in Libby and Belle Isle. His wounds were confined to a fractured bone in the right arm. There were six children born to them: William, James, Cynthia A., wife of James Titus, of Ohio; Stewart and Celone, died young, and Frank, lives in Ohio. His wife died in 1865, and in 1870 he was married to Mary M., daughter of John and Mary A. Cron, by whom he has four children: Freddie R., Edward E., Saddie I., and one other who died in infancy. He was edu- cated in the district schools and worked at the stone-mason trade until 1887, when he purchased a farm of forty acres in Lackawannock Township, from Will- iam J. Miller, where they are now living. They are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and he is a Democrat.

S. J. GORDON, farmer, post-office Worth, was born April 23, 1843, and is a son of Samuel and Jane (Pinkerton) Gordon, of Mercer County, Penn. Thomas Gordon, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Ireland in 1754, and the great-grandmother in 1751. They were married in 1774, and two children were born to them in Ireland: John and William, The family im- migrated to America in 1790, and located in Westmoreland County, where they lived a few years. They made their final settlement in East Lackawannock Township. One child, Thomas, was born to them after their arrival in this country. William, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Ireland in 1783, and came to this country with his parents. He was married October 31, 1805, to Miss Agnes Hawthorn. They settled on a forest farm of 200 acres, in Lackawannock Township, where their nearest neighbor was two and a half miles distant. He served in the War of 1812 for some months under Gen. Harrison. To William and Agnes were born nine children: Jennie Y., Samuel, Margaret, Nancy, William, Thomas, Joseph, Sarah and Jane. William's wife died July 28, 1846, in the sixty-third year of her age. He was again married November 17, 1847, to Elizabeth McVey, of Beaver County. William died January 7, 1872, in his eighty-ninth year. His widow still lives, with Scott McVey, in East Lackawannock Township. Politically he was a Democrat, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Mercer. Samuel Gordon, father of our subject, was born November 8, 1808. He was reared at home and educated in the local schools. He was married May 7, 1835, to Jane Pinkerton, of Lawrence County. They located on his paternal home- stead, where they remained until 1839, when they purchased a farm of eighty acres in Lackawannock Township, to which they subsequently added thirty-six acres, where he spent his remaining days. There were four chil- dren born to them: James W., deceased; Elizabeth J., wife of W. D. Hughes; Nancy M., wife of Albert G. Dilley, and Samuel J. Politically Samuel was a

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History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 118

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