History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 148

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

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A. HENDERSON, farmer, post-office Henderson, is a son of William and Nancy (Hutchison) Henderson. Robert Henderson, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of County Cavan, Ireland, near Coats Hill. Here the father of subject was born in 1770, and in 1795 Robert Henderson and his family of five sons and two daughters, came to America and first settled in Pittsburgh. His wife's name was Margaret, and his children were William, John, Letitia, Robert, Charles, Archie and Margaret, all of whom are dead. In the latter part of 1795 they removed from Pittsburgh, and located on a tract of land in what is now Worth Township. William was married in Pitts- burgh, and settled on a tract of land of 150 acres, about two miles distant from his parents, the first house between there and Pittsburgh being the old Burns stand, twelve miles this side of Pittsburgh. Here he commenced in the woods, and with the hoe and mattock engaged in clearing up his farm, and afterward purchased the balance of his tract of 400 acres of land. He voted with the Democratic party, and died about 1854, and his wife only lived six weeks afterward. Their family consisted of eleven children, three of whom are yet living: Polly, Mrs. Nathan Simcox, of Minnesota; William, of this town- ship, and our subject, who was born on the homestead April 6, 1814; received his education in the log school-houses of that period, and has been engaged principally in farming. In 1839 he married Eliza' Miller, daughter of John Miller, of Lawrence County. They have reared five children: Martin, was a member of Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and died in Belle Island Hospital; Jane, Mrs. Lewis Armstrong, of Fredonia, this county, who has five children: Minnie, Loyd, Nora, Hays and Madge; Amelia, Mrs. Joseph Armstrong, of Worth Township, whose chil- dren are Clyde H., Elmer, Emma, Clara and Jasper, a farmer on the home- stead, married to Clara Barnes, and has no family; Mary, is at home, and un- married. In 1865 he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Third Penn- sylvania Volunteers, and served until the close of the war. Our subject has held the office of poor director for nine years, and about all the township offi- ces. He votes the Republican ticket, and he and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Hendersonville.

WILLIAM H. HOWE, farmer, post-office Millbrook, is a son of Andrew and Mary (Alcorn) Howe. The father was a native of Ireland, and a settler in Ve- nango County, and afterward came to this county, and located in Worth Town- ship in 1837, where he lived until his death, which occurred December 7, 1868. His widow died September 15, 1888. He was a member of the Whig party and of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His family consisted of four chil- dren: Robert (deceased), William H. (our subject), Andrew J. and James W. (in Meadville). Our subject is the oldest living one, and was born in Venango County May 17, 1829; received a common-school education, and when about

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

seven years of age came to this county with his parents, and has always been engaged in farming. In 1860 he purchased his present farm, and cleared the most of it. February 26, 1856, he was married to Jane M., daughter of John Miller, of Worth Township, and by this union they have eight children: Arthur J., in Omaha, Neb .; Mary, Mrs. G. W. McFarlin, of Worth Township, and has two children, Alice and Luella; Lizzie, widow of Dr. C. H. Davis, who was killed by the Indians in Arizona, June 3, 1886; she has two children, Helen and Clinton, and resides in Mercer; Sarah Jane, Mrs. Charles A Lamb, Millbrook; Agnes, of Panora, Iowa; Ella, Millie, Clara at home.

JOHN HUNTER; farmer, post-office Henderson, is a son of James and Mary Jane Hunter, natives of Virginia. About 1827 they moved to Ohio, and lived there until their deaths. Our subject was born in Virginia December 28, 1819, and when about fifteen years old he went to Pittsburgh, and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until 1858, when he purchased his pres- ent farm, and has since resided in Worth Township. In 1848 he married Mary Jane, daughter of John Hutchison, of Allegheny County, Penn., and by this union they have five children: Hutchison, a farmer of Worth Township, who married Jane, a daughter of James Day, of Worth Township, and have three children, Frank, Howard and Roy; John L., living on the homestead, married to Margaret, daughter of Robert S. Henderson, of Venango County, and has one child, Robert; Sarah, married M. C. Osborn, of Hendersonville, and has one child, Elsie; Mary V., married Milton Porter, of Sandy Lake Township, and has four children: Cora, Mary, Carl, Bruce and Harold; Clara E., living at home. Our subject has held the office of school director of the town- ship for twelve years, also treasurer of the township, and for the past five years has been justice of the peace, and votes the Republican ticket. He is one of the charter members of Worth Lodge No. 554, I. O. O. F.

HUEY FAMILY. - The first of the Huey family to locate in this county was Francis, a native of Fayette County, who located on a tract of land in what is now Jackson Township in 1797. He afterward went back and married Miss Carnahan, of Fayette County, and they lived on this tract of land until their deaths. His wife died in 1825, and he in 1842. Their family consisted of William Robert, James, Francis, John, Samuel, George, David, Elizabeth, Mary, Samuel, David and John. Samuel Huey was born on the homestead in Jackson Township in 1815, and attended the log school-house of that period. He learned the stone-mason trade, which he followed for a number of years, and after the death of his father he and his sister, Elizabeth, lived on the homestead for many years, and after her death he, being unmarried, made his home with his brother David, who was born on the homestead in 1823. He also attended the log school-houses, and about 1848 purchased his present farm. In 1848 he married Mary Davy, a native of England. She died in 1865, leaving four children: Leander, in Cool Spring Township, married Mary Bestwick, of Cool Spring Township, and has two children, Jennie and Hay; William, on the old homestead, married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Londe, of Cool Spring Township, and has one child, Maud; Jennie, who died March 10, 1880; Walter, of Cool Spring Township, married Emma, daughter of William Fowler, of Sandy Lake Township, and has two children, Mamie and William. The second wife of David was Mary Rodenbaugh, who died March 28, 1882, leaving five children: John, Laura May, Clarence Ellsworth, Louie, Samuel. His third wife was Angeline Rodenbaugh, a sister of his second wife. By her he has no children. The Hueys have always been con- nected with the Democratic party, and are members of the Cumberland Pres- byterian Church.

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

WILLIAM JAMISON, farmer, post-office Centretown, was born in County Ant- rim, Ireland, November 25, 1823. His parents were Alexander and Jane (McKay) Jamison. They came to America in 1847, landing in New York April 14. In July of the same year they, with subject and two other children, came by canal as far as Buffalo, N. Y., and from there to Erie in a boat, then on foot with his mother to Irishtown, this county, she being fifty-one years old. They purchased a farm in Lake Township, where the father died in 1855. They reared a family of nine children. The oldest one, Jane, married in Ireland, and never came to this country. The others are: William, our subject; Alexander, farmer in Lake Township; John, who moved to Tennessee in 1868; James, in Crawford County; Daniel, in Sharpsville, this county; Sarah, Mrs. James Garvin, of Jackson Township; Ellen, Mrs. Andrew Ebbert, Sandy Lake Township. Our subject is the oldest of their children, and started in the world a poor boy. In 1849 married Martha McClure, daughter of Andrew and Rosanna (Richie) McClure, of Lake Township, and in 1850 they moved to their present farm. November 1, 1859, Mrs. Jamison died, leaving three children; two daughters have since died, and the son, Andrew, lives in Aurora, Ill. The present wife of our subject was Sarah Ann, daughter of Arthur and Sarah Ann (McKee) Johnston, of this township. By this union they have seven children: James O., farmer of this township; Jennie, William Charles, John F., Fred, Thomas A., Mary M., all living at home. Our subject has been assessor of the township twice, and a member of the Stoneboro Agricult- ural Society since its organization, having been one of its directors, and exhibits a great deal of stock, horses and sheep, and other products of the farm. He has always been a Republican until the last few years, and is now a supporter of the Prohibition party. He and family are members of Ebenezer United Presbyterian Church, of which he is a deacon.

ARCH. MARSHALL, farmer, post-office Henderson, is a son of Hugh and Nancy (Henderson) Marshall. James Marshall; the grandfather of our subject, was one of the pioneer settlers of this county, and died February 24, 1852, aged eighty years, and his wife, Martha, died in 1832. He reared two children: Jane, Mrs. William Simcox, deceased, and Hugh, the father of our subject, who was born in Venango County December 30, 1800, and came to this county with his parents. Our subject now resides on the farm upon which they located. He died March 1, 1877, and Nancy, his wife, died September 12, 1871. He voted the Democratic ticket, and was an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Their family consisted of thirteen children: Martha, resides with our subject; Robert, enlisted in Company K. Second Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and served two years, and died in the army August 25, 1863; William, resides in Kansas; Mary, died September 29, 1849; James, served in Company K, Fifty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and lives in Kansas; John, settled on a farm near his father's old residence, and died October 23, 1879, he married Isabella Simcox, and had six children, all of whom are living but one; Archibald; Hugh, lives in the West; Jane, died August 31, 1842 ;* Alexander, died in 1847; Nancy, died in 1847; infant, deceased. Alfred, the youngest, was born March 14, 1848, and was married March 11, 1870, to Millie, daughter of the late William V. Perrine, of Worth Township, and had five children: Allie, died August 4, 1885; W. L., Bertha L., L. S., Leroy. Alfred died November 1, 1880, and his wife died September 21, 1879. Our subject was born November 12, 1837, on the homestead he now owns, and received a common-school education. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Eighteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and served until the close of the war. He first married Fannie, daughter of Thomas Gadsby, of Venango

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HISTORY OF . MERCER COUNTY.

County; she died in 1880, leaving one child, Robert, who died May 29, 1879. In 1883 he married Mary E., daughter of John Carmichael, of Worth Town- ship, and by this union they have two children: Arthur H., born January 13, 1886, and Henderson, born February 23, 1888. Mr. Marshall has held the office of school director and supervisor of the township. He votes the Repub- lican ticket, and he and family are members of the Presbyterian Church.

O. L. MEDBERRY, farmer, post-office Kilgore, was born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., February 11, 1832. His parents were Benjamin and Lydia (George) Medberry. The father was a native of New York State, and mother of Massachusetts, and in 1839 they moved to this county and located on a farm in what is now Worth Township, and is owned by our subject. The father voted the Democratic ticket, and died in 1866. His family consisted of three sons and three daughters, four of whom are still living: Elizabeth, Mrs. Arch- ibald Owens, Worth Township; Emiline, deceased; George B., deceased; Orson L., our subject; M. D., in Fayette County, Iowa; Orsina, Mrs. Isaac Sopher, of Venango County. Our subject was reared in this. township, at- tended the log school-houses, and has been principally engaged in farming. In 1854 he married Miss Jemima, daughter of George and Fannie Westlake. By this union they have two children: Emiline, Mrs. William P. Hoois, of Crawford County; Burroughs, on part of the homestead with his father, mar- ried to Miss Sarah, daughter of William Ball, of Worth Township. Our sub- ject started in life poor, and by his own efforts made a fine farm of 130 acres. He has been supervisor and school director of the township. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and has been superintendent of Sun- day-school for many years. He votes the Prohibition ticket, and was nominated for the Assembly by the Prohibitionists in 1888.

WILLIAM PATTERSON, post-office Hazzard, was born June 6, 1804. His par- ents were John and Mary (Euret) Patterson, natives of Ireland, who immi- grated to America and located on a farm in what is now Jackson Township, this county, about 1796. He was a carpenter by trade, and worked at that in connection with farming, and built the second house erected in Mercer. Their family consisted of four children: Jane, Mrs. Andrew Todd, of Wolf Creek Township; William, our subject; Robert, and Mary Ann, Mrs. Thomas McElree, of Wolf Creek Township, deceased. He died, aged ninety-seven, about 1856, and his wife several years previous. Our subject is the only liv- ing one, and was reared in Jackson Township and attended the log school- house of that period. He married Miss Catherine McClure, daughter of Rich- ard McClure, of Cool Spring Township. She died in 1850, leaving no chil- dren. His second wife was Elizabeth McDowell, daughter of John McDowell, of Wolf Creek Township. She died in 1861, leaving four children: John S., who lives on the homestead; Mary Jane, Mrs. James H. McCurdy, of Jackson Township; Sarah, who died in 1876; Martha Milissa, Mrs. Joseph A. Hovis,

of Worth Township. His third wife was Elizabeth Jordan, of Fayette County, Penn., who is still living. In 1827 our subject located on his present farm, where he has since resided. He was captain in one of the early military com- panies. He has held the office of supervisor, etc., of the township. He and wife are members of Springfield United Presbyterian Church, and he has always, but once, voted the Democratic ticket. His eldest son, John S., was born on the homestead September 7, 1851, and received his education at the township schools, and learned the carpenter trade and also stationary engineering, but has principally been engaged in farming, owning his father's homestead. In 1876 he married Miss Martha J., daughter of John McCurdy, of Wolf Creek Township, and has three children: Jennie, William J. and John Wesley. He

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

votes the Prohibition ticket, and has been instrumental in erecting the Hazzard Union Church, of which he is one of the trustees. He and wife are members of Fairview Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is also a trustee of that church. Since the foregoing was written William Patterson died, that event occurring June 28, 1888, and his widow died July 4, following.

JOHN P. WEST, farmer, post-office Millbrook, is a son of Henry and Jane (Hunter) West. The father was a native of England, and came to America about 1834, and located in Cool Spring Township, this county. After his marriage he moved into Venango County, remained two years, and then returned to this county, and located on a farm in Worth Township, where he died in 1864, and his widow in 1870. They reared but two children: Elizabeth, who is the widow of David Gill, and now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Cousins, in Mer- cer, and our subject, who was born in Cool Spring Township, this county, Sep- tember 2, 1837. He received his education at the township schools, and has always followed farming. In 1861 he married Miss Nancy Jane Condit, daughter of William Condit. By this union they have five children: Jeanette, Calista, Irena Belle, Clarence T. and George A. Our subject was first married to Nancy Kee, who died in 1858, leaving no children. In 1858 he purchased his present farm, where he has since resided. He and family are members of Amity Presbyterian Church. He has held the office of supervisor, etc., of the township.

JAMES WHEELER, farmer, post-office Henderson, is a son of Cyrus and Margaret (Downs) Wheeler. The father of our subject was born in Provi- denee, R. I., and at the age of twenty years came to Mercer County, with the Hawthorn and Wilkins families, and hired out to James Braden to manufacture bricks, and lived with him several years. His wife was a daughter of Isaac Downs, of Cool Spring Township, and after his marriage he located at Mer- cer, and engaged in teaming from there to Pittsburgh. His wife died August 15, 1865, aged sixty-one years, and he lived with our subject until his death, June 7, 1881, at the age of eighty-one years. In his early days he voted with the Democratic party, and afterward joined the Republican party. He was a member of the Hendersonville Methodist Episcopal Church. His family con- sisted of seven children: Our subject, the oldest; Isaac, of Jackson Township; Thomas, postmaster at Harmony, Butler County; Almira, Mrs. Gibson Thomp- son, of Oil City, Penn. ; Mary, Mrs. James Goff, of Dakota; Elizabeth, Mrs. John Buckley, of Worth Township; Ellen, Mrs. William Buckley, of Worth Township. Our subject was born July 12, 1824, at Mercer, and all of his educa- tion was gained entirely at home. In 1846 he married Miss Annie Maria Howe, who was born in Sheffield. England, and is a daughter of Robert Howe, of Jackson Township. By this union they have four children: Robert, of Worth Township, married Mary C .. daughter of Samuel Perrine, of Sandy Lake Township, and has five children, Ellsworth, Ida, Elden, Herman, Nelson; Margaret, living at home; Tina, Mrs. Martin Hicks, of Sharon, has one child, Maggie; Elizabeth, Mrs. James Dick, of Irwin Township, Venango County, and has two children, Nicholas, Linnie. Our subject first began farming in Jackson Township, and remained there until 1857, when he purchased his present farm, which contains extensive veins of coal, which he has opened. In 1883 he established a general store on his farm, which he has since conducted. In 1861 he enlisted in Company G, One Hundredth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served until January 28, 1863. He has held the office of school director and supervisor of the township, and has always voted the Republican ticket. He is also a member of Worth Lodge No. 554, I. O. O. F., and of the Wes- leyan Methodist Church of Hendersonville, having been steward of the

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

church for over twenty years, and superintendent of Sunday-school for many years.

WILSON FAMILY, - The first of the Wilson family to locate in this county were Peter and Margaret (Robinson) Wilson, natives of Ireland, who immigrat- ed to America in 1777 and first located in Allegheny County, Penn. He was a Revolutionary soldier and owned 160 acres of land on which the city of Alle- gheny now stands. In 1796 he and his family, which consisted of two sons, George and James, and one daughter, Mary, came to this county and located in what is now Jackson Township. He engaged in farming and built the first grist-mill on the Neshannock Creek just below where Jackson Station now stands. At this place two more children were born to them, John and Jane. He sold this farm and grist-mill and located in another portion of Jackson Town- ship, which he afterward sold, and located 600 acres in what is now Worth Township, where he lived until his death, January 20, 1843, at the age of sev- enty-nine years. His widow died April 6, 1846, aged seventy-seven years. George Wilson was the oldest son and was born in Allegheny County, 1792. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He married Mary McFetridge, daugh- ter of George McFetridge, of Salem Township, and located on a portion of his father's homestead. He purchased the grist-mill now known as the Montgom- ery mills, which he operated about twenty years. He was a member of the old Whig party, and afterward joined the Republican party, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church which held their meetings in the log house of his father, and is now known as the Fairview Church. He died January 8, 1877, and his wife March 10, 1871. Their family consisted of seven children: John, living in Rock Island, Ill. ; Margeret, Mrs. David Linn, of New Vernon Town- ship, who is dead; George H., on the homestead; Clara, died when young; Milo A., Jackson Township; Catherine, deceased wife of J. D. Kirkpatrick, of North Liberty; Peter Wesley, who died in Clarksville

George H. Wilson is the third son of George and Mary (McFetridge) Wil- son, and was born on the homestead, on a part of which he now lives, November 23, 1823, He received his education at the schools of that period and was reared a farmer, and helped his father in the grist-mill which he afterward owned and conducted for some time. In 1849 he married Catherine B., daugh- ter of William Stevenson, of Mercer. She died in 1850, leaving one child, Jos- eph B., of Grove City, who married Urilla, daughter of Robert Stewart, of Worth Township, and has four children: Pearl, Essie, Sarah and Wesley. Mr. Wilson was again married in 1851 to Miss Rosanna M. Moreland, daughter of Mordicai and Eliza Moreland, of Ohio. By this union they have ten chil- dren: Marry, Eliza, married Joel Venable of Columbiana County, Ohio; she is dead; Ambrose Lenhart, lives in Dillin, Colo .; Clara, married Orlando Thompson and lives in Venango County, Penn., and has two children, Homer and Edna; Alice May, married James Alexander and has three children, Clyde, Mary and Lenora; Albert M., lives in Ohio, married to Miss Mary Cormer, and has one child, Edith; Flora A., Edward D., John W., Lenora M. Our sub- ject was a member of the Republican party for many years, but is now a supporter of the Prohibition party. He and family are members of Fairview Methodist Episcopal Church. He has held office of trustee and class leader, and has been a bible teacher for over ten years.

Milo A. Wilson, farmer, Hazzard post-office, is the fourth child of George and Mary (McFetridge) Wilson, and was born on the homestead December 11, 1825, received his education at the township schools and has since been en- gaged in farming. He was married in 1868 to Miss Mary McCurdy, daughter of John and Jennie McCurdy, of Wolf Creek Township, and has five children:

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Maggie L., Jennie A., Clara J., Eva L. and Lillie May. Our subject has held the office of school director of the township. He is a member of the County Ag- ricultural Society and a member of the Fairview Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Centre. James, the second son, was born in Allegheny County in 1794, and came to this county with his parents, and married Nancy McFetridge, of Leech's Corners; she died January 15, 1826, aged twenty-four years, leaving three children; one died in infancy. Elizabeth first married George McConnell and located near Harris- ville, and after his death she married the Rev. Isaac Scofield, of this county. She died about 1865, leaving one daughter by her first husband, who is now Mrs. John Daugherty, of Mercer. Peter R. always remained on the home- stead. In 1846 he married Louisa Hazen, daughter of Nathaniel and Eliza- beth (Egbert) Hazen, of Sharon. By her he had three children: Nancy L., Mrs. Wilson Phillips, of Worth Township; Celestia E., Mrs. Ellsworth (McKee), of Hazzard, and Wilbur James, living at home. He votes the Republican ticket, and was class-leader in the Fairview Methodist Episcopal Church for many

years. He died July 29, 1887, and his widow and son W. J. remain on the homestead. The second wife of James Wilson was Marry Holmes, who died January 24, 1830. His third wife was Sarah Carmichael, who is still living on the homestead with the widow of his son Peter. He was in the War of 1812, and died in 1876. The third child of Peter Wilson was Mary, who married Homer McFetridge, and first located in Jackson Township, and finally moved to Indiana, where she died. The fourth child was John, who married Clara Turner, and lived on the homestead for many years. He afterward purchased a farm and grist-mill at Millbrook, and died at that place. The fifth child was Jane, who married Hugh Todd and located in Springfield Township, and after- ward moved to Rush County, Ind., and again moved to California, and died there, leaving three children.

THOMAS J. WRIGHT, farmer, post-office Perrine, is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Fowler) Wright, and was born on the homestead, which he now owns, December 6, 1849. He received his education at the township schools, and has since been engaged in farming and dealing in wool, live stock, etc., being the first man in Mercer and adjoining counties to own and raise thor- ough-bred Hereford cattle. In 1879 he married Eliza J. Egbert, daughter of John Egbert, of Sandy Lake Township, and by this union they have five chil- dren: Mary Maud, Richard R., George W., John A. and Hazel Ann, all at home. Mr. Wright, in 1878, was elected justice of the peace, which office he has held for ten years. He votes the Republican ticket.

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History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 148

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