History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 122

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

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Our subject is a member of the A. O. U. W. lodge of Sharpsville, and is also a member of the Baptist Church of that borough.

GODFREY CARNES, a native of Westmoreland County, Penn., and of Ger- man extraction, settled in Mercer County in 1801, on the place where his grand- son, Godfrey G., now resides, in Pymatuning Township. He purchased first 200 acres, and subsequently added several hundred more. He was a Revolu- tionary soldier and served through the entire war. He married Mary McDow- ell, and reared twelve children: Edward, William, Robert, George, Samuel, John, Margaret, married Robert McCord; Mary, married Samuel Ingram, and died; Jane, married Samuel Ingram as his second wife; James, Elizabeth, married George Snyder; Ruhanneh, married Henderson Turner, all of whom are dead but Mrs. Ingram, of Kentucky. He was one of the enterprising men of that day, was a Democrat and held many of the township offices. His wife died in 1839 and he in 1842. John, the youngest son, was born in 1803 and reared on the old homestead, always followed farming, and was married in 1828, to Miss Sarah, daughter of John Kepner, of Hartford, Ohio. By her he had the following children: Godfrey G., Kepner, Seth, James, William Elizabeth, married Thomas McCord, and Mary. The mother died in 1871, and, the father in 1873, Godfrey G. Carnes was born December 25, 1830, and was reared on the farm and educated in the common schools. In 1856 he engaged with Allison Chew as clerk in a store in Brookfield, Ohio. He subsequently engaged in the mercantile business, under the firm name of Chew, Carnes & Bowden. He was engaged in the lumber business for a few years. He is now located on the old homestead, engaged in farming and stock raising. He is a Democrat, and has filled some of the township offices.

CHARLES CHESTNUT, farmer, post-office Sharpsville, Penn., was born in 1830, in Pymatuning Township, and is a son of Andrew and Mary (McKnight) Chestnut, she being a daughter of David McKnight. The father of our sub- ject came to Mercer County, Penn., in 1798, with a relative, Robert McCord, from Westmoreland County, Penn. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died in 1867, aged ninety years. His wife died in 1854. Mr. Chestnut's family consisted of nine children: David, of Grant County, Wis .; Robert, of Lee County, Iowa; Sarah, Mrs. Isaiah Armstrong, who died March 11, 1888, in Lee County, Iowa; Andrew J., who died in Lee, County Iowa; Caroline, Mrs. J. B. Kelly, of Pymatuning Township; Hannah, Mrs. Henry Clark, who died in Grant County, Wis .; John, who died in Clear Lake, Iowa; Mary A., Mrs. F. J. Bean, who resides on the old homestead in Pymatuning Township, and our subject, who was the youngest. He was reared and educated in his native township, and learned the trade of a farmer, and followed it for twenty- five years, excepting five years spent in Iowa. He was married in 1853 to Miss Sarah, a daughter of Jacob Klingensmith, of Pymatuning Township, and by this marriage they have ten living children: Andrew W., Mary K. (wife of Jacob Reimold), Byron F., Laura M., Charles C., John J., Annie, Horace, Maud and Elsie. Mr. Chestnut is identified with the schools of his township, and engaged in general farming.

THE CLARK FAMILY. - Samuel Clark was born near the Lehigh River, in North- ampton County, Penn., January 17, 1770. Some seven months after his father's death, which occurred in the latter part of 1771, his mother (Mary) removed to Walpack, Sussex Co., N. J., where she had been reared. Her people be- ing Germans, Samuel first spoke that language. His mother, having one sister living, and being poor, supported her family in infancy and through the tedious War of the Revolution. The Indians being on the north and west, the British army on the south and east, her family was compelled at

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times to flee and at others to seek the nearest fort. At the age of fourteen Samuel was bound out to John Dimon, a carpenter and wagon-maker, and served seven years in hard drudgery. On April 18, 1792, he married Mary Custer, by whom he had ten children, as follows: William, born June 8, 1794, in Sussex County, N. J., still living at Clarksville; Samuel, born in New Jersey August 13, 1796, died near Sharon; Catherine, deceased, born in Jefferson County, Ohio, April 12, 1798, married James Simonton; Abraham, born in Jefferson County, Ohio, May 21, 1800, died in Clarksville in October, 1888; Mary, deceased, born in Jefferson County, Ohio, March 10, 1802, married John Conley; Sarah, deceased, 'born in Jefferson County, Ohio, April 11, 1804, married John Gill- espie; Susannah, born in Pymatuning Township, Mercer Co., Penn., July 15, 1806, married John Fruit, and lives in Clarksville; Jane, deceased, born in Mercer County December 17, 1808, married John McDowell; Jacob, born in Mercer County January 8, 1811, still living in Clarksville, and Nancy, born in Mercer County September 6, 1813, the wife of Joseph McClure, of Clarks- ville. Samuel Clark, Sr., died October 29, 1860, aged ninety years, nine months and twelve days. His wife, Mary (Custer) Clark, died October 7, 1863, aged ninety-one years, eleven months and twenty-three days. Her family gave to the world the brave Gen. Custer, killed by the Sioux Indians in June, 1876.

FELL FAMILY. - Among the pioneer families of Mercer County were the Fells, William and Nathan, who were sons of John and Elizabeth (Hartley) Fell, natives of Bucks County, Penn. In the fall of 1796 William and his son George came from Westmoreland County, Penn., to Mercer County, and made a selection of a tract of land in the south part of West Salem Township, and then returned to their home. They again came out in the spring of 1797, built a cabin, and made a permanent settlement. In the spring of 1798 Will- iam moved his family to his new home in the wilderness of Mercer County.

He was accompanied by his brother, Nathan, who was born in 1775, and was 'a weaver by trade. He made his settlement in what is now Pymatuning Town- ship, purchasing a tract of 400 acres of land, and built his log cabin opposite to where the residence of his grandson, Aaron Fell, now stands. Nathan married Ann Smith, a native of Bucks County, March 8, 1780, and to them were born twelve children: John, who died in 1837; William, who died in infancy; George, who died June 12, 1853; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Morford; Martha, wife of Thomas McFarland; Rachel, wife of Philip Wald- ruff; Anne, who never married; Rebecca, who married E. Fox; Benjamin; Esther, who married John McFarland; Nathan, who died in 1813; Mary, who died in infancy; Cynthia, who married Michael Yeager, and Jesse. Nathan died October 12, 1835, and his widow in 1842.

Jesse, the youngest child of Nathan, was born in Pymatuning Township in 1801, and was reared on the old homestead, where he continued to live until his death, which occurred in April, 1886, his wife having died in 1882. His wife was Esther, daughter of Thomas Coulson, of Mercer, Penn., and by this marriage they had eight children: Nathan, who lives in Green Township ;. Amanda, who married George Smith, of Mercer, Penn., and died in 1856; Emeline, who married J. B. Campbell, of Delaware Township; Oleand, who died in infancy; Lorena, who married Jerome Allen, of Delaware Township; Mahlon, of Pymatuning Township; Aaron, of Pymatuning Township, and Allen, who was killed in his saw-mill in Pymatuning Township in 1859.

Mahlon, the second son of Jesse, was born February 23, 1832, in Pyma- tuning Township, on the old homestead of his grandfather. He received his education in the common schools, has always been engaged in farming, and

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now lives upon a portion of the land that was accumulated by his father, which at his death amounted to 2,400 acres. He was married, April 16, 1854, to Miss Julia A., daughter of David Lininger, of West Salem Township. She died January 16, 1876, leaving four children: James, who lives in Pyma- tuning Township; Jesse, of Iowa; Mahlon and John, both of whom live in Pymatuning Township. Mr. Fell married for his second wife, in 1880, Miss Sarah, daughter of Albert Hays, of Hartford Township, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and by this marriage they have one child, Edwin D.

Aaron, the third son of Jesse, was born in Pymatuning Township in 1834. He received his early training at the common schools of that time. He was bred a farmer, and was engaged in that business until he was twenty-five years of age, when he engaged in the lumber business in connection with farm- ing, which he has continued to follow. He is extensively engaged in farming, operating some 700 acres of land. Mr. Fell was united in marriage in 1861 to Emeline, daughter of Thomas Mossman, of West Salem Township, and to them have been born five children: Jesse A., who is engaged in the lumber business at Erie, Penn. ; Frances; Allen M. ; Charles A., who died in infancy, and Aaron, Jr. Mr. Fell is a member of the F. & A. M., Eureka Lodge No. 290, of Greenville, and also of the K. of H. of the same place.

DAVID A. FRAMPTON, farmer and contractor, post-office Transfer, Penn., was born December 3, 1837. in Clarion County, Penn., and is a son of, Maj. Jonathan and Matilda (McDowell) Frampton, whose family consisted of five children: David A., Hannah J., John H., Mary E., wife of J. C. Dun- can, and Matilda. Our subject was reared in Clarksville, where he was also educated. He early engaged in business, his first venture being transporting of coal and merchandise, running a line of boats upon the Beaver & Erie Canal, in which business he was engaged from 1855 to 1870. He was also extensively engaged at the same time in the lumber business. He is at pres- ent largely engaged in railroad contracting, and is one of the most extensive farmers of Mercer County, operating some 1,100 acres. Mr. Frampton has . never held 'any public office, his extensive business and farming operations demanding his entire time. Politically he is an ardent Democrat, and one of Mercer County's enterprising and successful citizens. His residence in Pyma- tuning Township is one of the most substantial and elegant in the county. He married, in 1869, Miss Delora, daughter of Robert Stewart, of Hickory Township, and by this union they have had nine children: Pearl, Prescot, Wade H., Edith, David A. J., Eva M., Carrie C., Gracie and Robert S., deceased. Mr. Frampton and family are members of the Baptist Church of Transfer.

SETH FRUIT, merchant, post-office Clark, was born in May, 1838, in Clarks- ville. His father, John Fruit, was a native of Northumberland County, Penn. His grandparents, Richard and Sarah (Wilson) Fruit, came from Northum- berland County and located in Jefferson Township [see sketch]. John was a son of Richard, and was born in 1805. He was married in 1829, to Susan, a sister of the venerable William Clark, of Clarksville, and they had three children: Seth, Frances, wife of Theodore Hofius, and John R. John en- gaged in mercantile business in Clarksville, was the first postmaster of that place, and died in 1835, aged thirty years. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Seth obtained his education at the common schools, and spent his younger days at home. In 1853 he went to California, where he spent four years farming, mining, etc. He was married March 31, 1857, to Miss Harpolissa, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Egbert) Hazen, of Hickory Township. They have four children: Mary, wife of C. Mali, of

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New Brighton; Fannie, Thomas S., and Eliza, who died in infancy. They located in Clarksville and engaged in mercantile business. He was postmaster of Clark from 1874 to 1885. He filled nearly all the local offices in the borough of Clarksville. Politically he is a Republican.

JAMES B. GILL, farmer, post-office Sharpsville, Penn., was born January 3, 1847, and is a son of Thomas and Rachel (McCord) Gill, of Pymatuning Township. Thomas was born in the last decade of the eighteenth century, and when young he learned the cabinet-maker's trade, with his wife's father. He was married in 1816, and soon after purchased a farm of 100 acres in Pymatuning Township, on which he spent the remainder of his days. There were fourteen children born to them, of whom four are living: James B., Mary, widow of J. Koon; Jane, wife of J. C. Sample, and Prudence, wife of J. H. Kidd. The parents were of Irish descent, and were members of the old Seceder Church. Politically Thomas was an old-time Whig, and served in the War of 1812. He died October 19, 1849, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and his widow July 3, 1886. James B. was married June 27, 1867, to Matilda H., daughter of George D. and Mary J. (McMurray) Hofius, of Pymatuning Township. They settled on the old homestead, which he afterward purchased and still lives upon. They are the parents of ten children: George B., Thomas McM., Florence J., William H., James F., John R., Walter S., Samuel S., Eliza, Matilda and Millie E. Politically Mr. Gill is a Republican.

DAVID GILLILAND, farmer, postoffice Sharpsville, Penn., is a son of David and Sarah (Moreland) Gilliland, and was born in 1827, in Indiana County, Penn. The father of our subject was a native of County Derry, Ireland, and immigrated to this country in 1791. His first settlement was in York County, Penn. He learned the trade of a weaver in that county, and removed to Arm- strong Township, Indiana Co., Penn., where he married, his family consisting of seven children: Elizabeth, Mrs. James Gailey; James, John, Rachel, Mrs. Robert Calhoun; Mary, Sarah and David. Our subject was reared in Indiana County until he was fifteen years old, when he went to Pittsburgh, and was taught the stone-cutting trade, and followed it for an occupation in that city until 1847, when he removed to Chicago, Ill., and remained there until 1859, when he removed to West Middlesex, Mercer County. In 1861 he enlisted in Company B, Tenth Pennsylvania Reserves, and served two years, when he was discharged for disability. While in the service he participated in the following engagments: Drainsville, seven days fight, Fair Oaks and Antietam. On his return he followed his trade in West Middlesex until 1879, when he purchased his present place and is engaged in general farming. He was mar- ried in 1863, to Miss Emily, daughter of John Thompson, of Pymatuning Township, who died October 12, 1872. By this marriage they had one son, John D., who died April 9, 1872. Our subject was again married, to Miss Jennie, daughter of John Porter, of Pymatuning Township, and by this union they have one child. Mr. Gilliland belongs to Post 234, G. A. R., of Sharps- ville, is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, of Clarksville, and in politics is a Republican.

SAMUEL L. HENDRICKSON, miller, post-office Orangeville, Ohio. The sub- ject of this sketch is a son of Richard and Martha (Long) Hendrickson, she being a daughter of Samuel Long, of Mercer County, Penn. The father of our subject was born in New Jersey, and removed to Mercer County, Penn., in 1835, and settled in Hempfield Township, where he died in 1847. His widow survives him, and lives with our subject, who was born in Hempfield Town- ship April 6, 1839. He was reared in Hempfield Township by his grand- father, who had settled in that township previous to the settlement there of the

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father of our subject. Mr. Hendrickson received his early education in the common schools of that township, and at the age of fourteen was employed by T. G. Van Lew as a clerk in his store in Sheakleyville, where he remained un- til 1860, when he formed a copartnership with Dr. Packard, and engaged in the crockery and glassware business in Greenville, which they conducted until 1873, when the death of Dr. Packard occurred, and he was appointed his executor and had charge of his estate until 1879. He then removed to his farm in Hempfield Township, and engaged in farming, where he remained until early in 1885, when he removed to Orangeville, and commenced operating his flour and grist-mill, which he had purchased in 1876. Mr. Hendrickson was married May 12, 1864, to Teressa, daughter of Harvey Stephenson, of Gus- tavus, Ohio, and they have had born to them eight children: George, Harvey, Richard, Katie, Clara, Samuel, Annie and Birt. Our subject is a member of F. & A. M., Lodge No. 290, of Greenville.

EDWARD O. KAMERER, farmer, post-office Greenville, was born July 3, 1852, in Delaware Township, this county. His grandfather, Samuel, settled in Hempfield at an early date, where he remained until his death. David was married to Leah Bortz. They commenced housekeeping on his father's farm, in Hempfield, where they remained a few years, when they settled on a farm in Delaware Township. There were seven children born to them: Levi T., Edward O., Mary Adaline, Samuel S., David L., Franklin W. and Tillman E. He was secretary of the Pymatuning Mutual Fire Insurance Company for twenty-seven years. Edward O. obtained his education in Delaware Town- ship, and was married September 23, 1875, to E. C., daughter of Jacob and Catharine (Artherholt) Klingensmith, of Pymatuning Township. Edward first located on the homestead, where he remained for three years. They then moved to the farm of Mrs. Klingensmith, mother of Mrs. Kamerer, where they remained four years. They then purchased a farm in Pymatuning Township, on which they still live. Before his marriage he was clerk at Hecker & Fry's, in New Hamburg, and for Packard & Co. and Henry Keck, in Greenville. In politics he is a Republican. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church at Transfer.

SAMUEL C. KOONCE, farmer, post-office Clark, is about forty-five years old. His father, Charles Koonce, was born in Bedford County, Penn., July 9, 1808, where he obtained such educational advantages as could be secured at the com- mon schools of that day. In 1808 he came with his parents to Mercer County. By strict application he acquired a fund of general information which quali- fied him for the various positions of trust and honor which he so efficiently filled. The early portion of his life was spent in agricultural pursuits. He was subsequently identified in mercantile pursuits, and in speculation in coal lands, in which he was very successful. In 1835 he was appointed postmaster at Clark, under Gen. Jackson's second administration. He filled the office of justice of the peace for two terms of five years each. He was married Febru- ary 25, 1834, to Miss Hannah Haywood, by whom he had six children: Emily, Sarah, William H., Samuel C., Cyntha A. and Alfred H. His wife died in May, 1845. He was married again, in 1846, to Miss Rachel Vernon, to whom was born one child, Rachel V., now Mrs. G. W. Phillips, of Clarksville. His second wife died in May, 1847. He was again married, to the widow of David Thompson, of Hickory Township. In 1863 he was elected a representative in the Legislature, and was re-elected in 1864, which duties he discharged with honor to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. During the late war he was a stanch supporter of Union principles, and ably supported the admin- istration in its efforts to crush out the Rebellion. He always led an active and

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industrious life. Politically he was a Democrat until the breaking out of the late war, after which he became identified with the Republican party. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church about forty years. He died September 17, 1880, in his seventy-fifth year. His widow died in 1884. Samuel C., our subject, remained at home during his early years, obtaining an education at the public schools and at the academy at Clarksville. He graduated at Duff's Commercial College in Pittsburgh in 1860, after which he attended Westmin- ster College at New Wilmington for two years. He spent one year in the service of his country in the late war as private, lieutenant and assistant pay- master. In 1864 he entered into mercantile business in Clarksville, where he remained for twelve years. He was married September 12, 1865, to Miss Amanda E., daughter of A. M. Black, D. D., of Monmouth, Ill. They are living on the old homestead on which he was born. He was appointed post- master at Clark May 30, 1867, which office he filled till June, 1875, when, on account of failing health, he resigned the official position and went west, and spent about a year in Colorado. Politically he is a Republican, and has filled numerous positions of trust in the party. He was chairman of the Republican County Committee, and has been State and National delegate to the Republi- can conventions, and was a member of the State Central Committee two terms. . JOSEPH MCCLURE, retired, Clarksville, was born in the parish of Convoy, County Donegal, Ireland, in April, 1810, and is a son of Nathaniel and Cath- arine (Noble) McClure, natives of the same place. In 1831 Nathaniel and wife, and three sons, Joseph, John and Thomas, immigrated to Little Beaver Township, Beaver Co., Penn., where they settled on a farm, and where the father resided till his death. During the construction of the Beaver & Erie Canal our subject began working on that improvement in Beaver County, and while engaged at his labors on the canal learned the stone-cutting trade. He continued working and contracting on the same public improvement till arriv - ing at Clarksville, Mercer Co., Penn. He there met and married Miss Nancy, daughter of Samuel and Mary Clark, pioneers of the village. He soon re- turned to the old home in Beaver County, where he remained till 1840, when he sold the farm and removed to Clarksville, where he engaged in merchan- dising, while also conducting stores at other points in Mercer County. His mother, with his brothers John and Thomas, afterward removed to Girard, Penn., where John and the mother resided until their decease, and where Thomas still lives. In 1846 our subject and his brother John formed a part- nership with B. B. Vincent and David Himrod, and under the firm name of Vincent, Himrod & Co. erected the first blast furnace in Sharpsville, Penn., and Joseph located at that point. After a trial of several years, this venture proving unsuccessful, he returned to Clarksville and resumed the mercantile business in connection with farming and contracting. About 1859 he gave up the mercantile trade, but continued farming and contracting up to a recent date, when he retired from active business. To Joseph and Nancy McClure have been born ten children: Samuel, Catharine, Joseph N., Thomas, Mary, Nancy, Sarah, John, Nathaniel and Rebecca, all of whom are living excepting Catharine, who died after reaching womanhood. Mr. McClure was a Whig until 1854, when the growth of Know-nothingism made him a Democrat, which he remained until the breaking out of the war. He then voted with the Republicans until 1863, when he again became a Democrat, and has since sup- ported the principles of that party. He is a member of the United Presbyte- rian Church, and has been connected with the growth and development of the Shenango Valley for nearly half a century.

SMITH MCFARLAND, hotel keeper, post-office Orangeville, Ohio, is a son of

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Thomas and Martha (Fell) McFarland. The grandfather of our subject was Robert McFarland, a native of Washington County, Penn., who settled in Trumbull County, Ohio, on the State line road, two and one-fourth miles south of Orangeville, in 1806, and purchased a tract of 100 acres of land. He died May 1, 1815. His family consisted of three sons and four daughters: Thomas, Archibald. John; Martha, Mrs. William Dugan, and afterward Mrs. Azariah Dunham; Jane, Mrs. John Canon; Polly, Mrs. Hugh McDowell, all of whom are deceased. Thomas, the eldest son and the father of our subject, was born in 1794 near Harrisburg, Penn. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812. He married Martha Fell, and by this marriage they had five children, viz. : Nathan, deceased, Robert, of Sharon, whose sketch appears in that chapter; Smith, our subject; George, who is deceased, and Cynthia, who married Lewis Holland, of Trumbull County, Ohio. Our subject was born in 1818 in Trum- bull County, Ohio, where he was reared, and was bred a farmer, which occu- pation he followed until 1873, when he built the McFarland House at Orange- ville, on the Pennsylvania side of the State road, and has been engaged in the hotel business up to the present time. He was married, in 1846, to Miss Sarah Varnes, of Trumbull County, Ohio, and by this union they have three chil- dren: Dr. W. S. McFarland, of Sharon, Penn .; Dwight, of Pymatuning Township, and Lizzie, who is the wife of Madison Russell, of Meadville, Penn.

MCKNIGHT FAMILY. - Among the early families of Mercer County were the McKnights. David McKnight, a native of Washington County, Penn., was born in 1786, and in 1804 he removed to Mercer County and located on the Clarksville and Hartford roads, three miles north of Sharpsville. He married Hannah Gill, and by this union they had twelve children: Robert, lives in Pymatuning Township; Mary, who married Andrew Chestnut; Anna, who married Joseph Woods; Elizabeth, married William Carnes; William G., David, John, Margaret, married Daniel McCord; Hannah, married Lewis Mattocks; Andrew, James and Joseph, all of whom are deceased excepting Andrew. Mr. McKnight was one of Mercer County's enterprising farmers. He was appointed by Gov. Shulze a justice of the peace for his township in 1824, which office he held until his death, November 16,1839. James, the sixth son, was born September 14, 1811, in Pymatuning Township. He was reared upon the old homestead, where he lived until 1842, when he removed to Mercer and engaged in hotel business. He was landlord of the Forest House, and subsequently kept the old Red Tavern on the Mercer and Sharon road. In 1848 he purchased the farm where his son, John C., now resides. He mar-

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History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 122

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