USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 113
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William J. McCray, whose name forms the caption of this sketch, is the youngest of the sons. He was educated at the common schools and trained to manual labor as a farmer's boy. During the autumn of 1860 he turned his attention to the production of oil and on the well-known Buchanan farm struck a "gusher " which led to the development of that prolific field. He is now operating a number of paying wells and is a farmer of more than average success. He was married in Erie, Pennsylvania, in October, 1867, to Miss Annie McCray, daughter of John McCray, and has had the follow- ing children: Clara Emma; James B., deceased; Lora May, deceased; Edna and Earle (twins), deceased; Anna Mary; William L .; John, deceased; Martha B .; George R., and Robert S. Mr. McCray once owned and oper- ated a refinery at Petroleum Center which he sold to the Standard Oil Com- pany in 1876. He is a Democrat and with his wife belongs to the United Presbyterian church at Plumer, of which he has been an acting trustee for over twenty-one years. He is also a member of the E. A. U.
W. P. McCRAY, oil producer and farmer near Petroleum Center, was born on the old McCray farm November 2, 1857, and is a son of James S. McCray, late of Franklin, this county, and at one time one of the most ex- tensive oil operators and producers in the world. W. P. McCray, the eld- est of two sons, was educated at Franklin, and in 1874 engaged in the pro- duction of oil on the old homestead. From that time to the present he has been in the oil business, though not exclusively; for three or four years he was postmaster and engaged in mercantile business at Petroleum Center. In 1879 he purchased and moved upon the place he now occupies, known as the McElhaney farm. He now has eight wells in operation and about two hundred acres of promising undeveloped territory. On his place are wells producing forty barrels each per month that have been in operation twenty-two years. In 1881 he became owner of a half interest in the lands formerly in possession of the Central Petroleum Company, but two years later disposed of this to Henry Wilbert. Mr. McCray was married March 20, 1879, to Miss Kate D., daughter of George P. Espy, and has one child, Lottie May.
HENRY R. DAVIS, oil producer near Petroleum Center, is a native of Will-
.
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
iamsburg, Blair county, this state, and was born February 23, 1835. His father, Andrew Davis, removed to Iowa from Clearfield county, Pennsylva- nia, some twenty years ago, and his mother, whose maiden name was Susan Hoover, is not living. Henry, the eldest of nine children-five sons and four daughters-after his school days worked in the blacksmith shop with his father. At the age of twenty-one years he engaged in the lumber busi- ness at Lumber City, and in 1861 came to Titusville. Later he came to Pe- troleum Center, and about here has remained. Mr. Davis was married in Lumber City, Pennsylvania, January 24, 1864, to Miss Ruth J. Thompson, who was born February 10, 1847, and has two children living: Emma and Clara. Flora died May 28, 1871, at the age of seven years. Mr. Davis and family are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JACOB F. NEELY, oil producer, was born in Clarion county, this state, November 22, 1837, to Paul and Elizabeth (Myers) Neely. Paul Neely was a native of Westmoreland county, moved to Clarion county about 1830, and to Venango county in 1847. He served in all the regimental offices of the state militia and was orderly sergeant of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, enlisting in 1861 and serving eight months. He was fifty-two years of age at the time he entered the war and the father of eight chil- dren: William; Samuel; John; Joseph, deceased; Mary A ; Jacob F .; Clara, deceased, and Mahala. He died in November, 1883, bis wife having preceded him to the grave in 1875. Our subject received a common school education and began for himself in the lumber business in Elk county, this state. In 1861 he caught the oil fever and now has a farm of one hundred and twenty-four acres with thirty producing wells thereon. He is a mem- ber of the Masonic order, was a charter member of the first I. O. O. F. lodge of Oil City, and has served as township committeeman for the Demo- cratic party. He was married January 1, 1862, to Matilda Milnor, a native of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and to this union there have been born seven children: Tona; Dora; Murdith; Maud; Nevoda; Frank P., and Herbert.
A. JACKSON KIRKWOOD, oil producer, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1839, to Isaac and Elizabeth (Kaple) Kirkwood, natives of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Isaac Kirkwood died Octo- ber 12, 1874, and his wife preceded him to the grave about the year 1849. Our subject was married in 1858 to Charlotte Mortimore, a native of Butler county, and to this union have been born eleven children: Levina, wife of John W. Kirkwood; Sadie; Andrew; John; David; Al; Anna; Charley; James; Frank, and Willis. In company with his son, Andrew, and son-in-law, John W. Kirkwood, he owns a farm of one hundred and six acres of land with nine producing oil wells thereon.
DAVID T. BORLAND, oil producer, Siverly, came to Oil City from West- moreland county in 1864 and the two succeeding years was superintendent
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BIOGRAPHIES OF CORNPLANTER.
of the Eldorado Oil Company. From that he turned his attention to the production of oil, and followed it exclusively for some years. From 1876 to 1884 he was in the lumber and coal business; since the latter date he has been a producer. Mr. Borland was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, April 4, 1839, and is a son of the late Thomas Borland. He was educated in the common schools and reared to manhood on the farm. In June, 1862, he entered the army from his native county as a corporal in Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-Third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served nine months in the army of the Potomac, participating in the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. At the latter place, December 14, 1862, he received a gun-shot through the thigh. Leaving the army he soon afterward migrated to Kansas, returning thence to Westmoreland and later to Oil City. When about twenty-two years of age Mr. Borland married Mary A. Kennedy, of Westmoreland county and has had borne unto him five children, viz .: Bertha, Mrs. C. W. Downing; William K .; Emma; Walter, and Anna. Mr. Borland belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, is an active mem- ber of the Sons of Temperance, and, together, with his family, worships at the Methodist Episcopal church.
A. B. STRAUB, oil producer, was born in Appalachicola, Florida, Novem- ber 13, 1839, to Nicholas and Dorothea (Babst) Straub, natives of Germany. Nicholas Straub died in May, 1888, and was the father of nine children, only three of whom are living: Elias, hotel landlord at Sheldon, New York; Sophia, wife of Bernard Fisher, of Buffalo, and A. B. The last named was educated in the common schools and came to Venango county in 1865, purchased the Rochester house of Squire & Greely, which was located on the famous Johnnie Steel farm, and conducted it for two years. He then came to where he now lives and has since been producing oil. He has also a lumber and coal yard at Rynd Farm. He was married January 7, 1862, to Mary J. Kuster, a native of New York, and to this union have been born seven children: Charles A. ; H. Frank; Andrew T. ; Clara B. ; John W .; George B., and Lena M. Mr. Straub and wife are members of the Catholic church.
R. E. KNAPP, oil producer near Kane City, was born in Hamburg, New York, April 18, 1844. His father, Gershum Knapp, a native of Connecti- cut, farmer by occupation, is now seventy-two years old and resides at Ham- burg; and his mother's family name was Gwinn. She died in June, 1889, aged sixty-five years. The old people reared seven sons and five daughters and our subject, the eldest of the twelve, was reared on the farm and schooled at the public institutions. He came to the oil country in 1865, worked two years in the refinery at Petroleum Center, and five years at drilling and tool dressing in that vicinity and at Pithole. In 1872 he came to where he now lives, a place then known by the euphonious name of Allemagoozaleum and a village of some pretensions. Here he began the production of oil as a business and thereat has been reasonably successful. Mr. Knapp is a
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
member of the F. & A. M., A. O. U. W., E. A. U., and the Royal Arcanum. He was married at Boston, Erie county, New York, December 12, 1872, to Miss Hortense Lake, daughter of the late Samuel Lake of that county.
DAVID BARCROFT, oil producer, Kane City, was born in Pittsburgh in 1844 and is the fourth son of William Barcroft, a carpenter, who reared five sons and a daughter, and died in Pittsburgh. David attended the public schools of Allegheny county when a boy and early in life started out for himself. He came to the oil region in 1865 from Ohio and was first employed as a tool dresser on the Columbia farm. Up to 1877 or 1878 he was operating wells for others. At that time he formed a partnership with J. W. Kirk- wood and began business in earnest. They purchased several fine produc- ing farms in rapid succession and are now reckoned among the leading pro- ducers of the township. He located at Kane City about 1879. He was married in Sherman, New York, in 1885, to a Miss Kirkwood and has one child, Grace.
J. W. KIRKWOOD, of the firm of Barcroft & Kirkwood, oil producers, Kane City, and treasurer of the Producers' Torpedo Company, is a native of Butler county, this state, a son of James Kirkwood, a. farmer of this township, and was born June 13, 1853. He was educated in the common schools, and has been in the oil business since he was seventeen years of age. His family moved into Venango county in 1867. From here he went to Forest county in 1870, and there drilled unsuccessfully for petroleum. Four years later he tried again for oil, this time with better results and he sold his interest to his partner, Anderson. From 1874 to 1877 he followed drill- ing, farming, and mining, and in the latter year turned his attention again to producing oil. Soon afterward the partnership existing with Barcroft was formed, and the firm own and operate some of the richest oil lands in the county. Mr. Kirkwood is a Mason and a K. of L. He was married in Rouseville September 30, 1885, to Miss Lovina J. Kirkwood and has two children: Minnie May and John Howard.
W. H. HOFFMAN, manager of the Columbia farm, near Petroleum Center, was born in Birmingham, now a part of Pittsburgh, April 7, 1845. He learned the trade of nail cutting and followed that occupation for a number of years. He came to this county in 1869 (the time of the location of the Columbia Company in this and Mckean counties), and has been its man- ager for the last nine years. He was married in Pittsburgh in August, 1869, to Mary Slocum and has seven children: George; Joseph; Ralph; Thomas; Charley; May, and Guy. He is a member and secretary of the A. O. U. W.
J. P. MCCRACKEN, oil producer, was born in Mercer county, December 31, 1845, son of Alexander and Eliza (Setley) McCracken. Alexander was born in Mercer county and was the father of four children: Theodore, de- ceased; Joshua; Mary, wife of D. L. McQuiston, and Alexander. Our sub- ject was educated at common schools and began life in the oil business. He
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was married June 13, 1877, to Adelia Dodds, a native of Butler county, Pennsylvania. To this union there have been born five children: Elizabeth; Lee; Milo, deceased; Eliza, and Mamie. Mr. McCracken has fourteen pro- ducing oil wells and is agent for the Painter, Leightty & Shupe Oil Com- pany. He is a member of the school board, the I. O. O. F., and A. O. U. W., and has been master workman of the last mentioned. He is an active and enthusiastic Democrat.
PETER BERRY, oil producer, was born in Erie county, New York, April 15, 1846, to John and Elizabeth (Bergtold) Berry, natives of Germany. John Berry was a weaver by trade, immigrated to America in 1832, and set- tled in Clarence, New York. Here he pursued his avocation in connection with farming until his death in 1878, his wife preceding him in 1863. Our subject was educated in the common schools and Fredonia Academy, Chau- tauqua county, New York. In 1868 he began dressing tools at Tidioute, Warren county, Pennsylvania, and became first interested in the oil business in 1872 at Fagundus, and in 1876 became associated with Grandin Brothers and J. M. Clapp. They opened up the famous Balltown field in 1882, drill- ing nine wells before getting oil, and then struck a well that produced one thousand barrels a day. He is yet interested in the fields spoken of and other territory in Forest and Warren counties. He came to this county in April, 1889, and purchased six hundred and one acres of land upon which developments are in progress. He was elected to the legislature from For- est county in 1884, receiving the largest majority ever given any man for that position by the voters of that county, and that, too, during the year of the Republican defeat for president. He was married September 28, 1882, to Annie L. Maidens, a native of Lockport, New York and has two children: Leland T. and Ada I. He is a member of the Masonic order and a stanch Republican.
PRESIDENT.
REVEREND RALPH CLAPP was born in Middlefield, Massachusetts, in 1801, and died at President, Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1865. He was a Methodist minister of great ability and considerable celebrity. He enjoyed and retained the intimate, unreserved, and warm friendship of the late Bishop Matthew Simpson, and many other noted and eminent ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church. July 4, 1853, he addressed the citizens of Franklin, Pennsylvania, and then predicted the building of a railroad to the Pacific coast, and though this assertion was then looked upon by many as chimerical and visionary, his prediction has long since been verified by the completion of no less than three railways to that distant coast. In 1854 he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania legislature and served in that office during the session of 1854-55. During the war of the Rebellion he was one of the Union's most earnest and able advocates and supporters, never flagging in his fidelity to its cause and faith in its complete and satis-
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
factory success. His wife, Sally Hubbard, was born in Steuben, New York, and died in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in 1886. She was an eminently faithful Christian woman, respected and loved by all her extensive acquaint- ance. They were married in Champion, New York, January 2, 1824, and settled in Venango county in 1846. They had a family of six children: Edwin Emmett; Charles Carroll; Emeline Frances; Caroline; John Martin, and Ellen Gennett.
Edwin E. Clapp was born in Watertown, New York. He has lived in Venango county during the last forty years, except a short time that he resided in Dubuque, Iowa. He has been a large producer of petroleum, and is still engaged in that business, living at President, near where his father resided and died.
Charles C. Clapp died in 1843, aged sixteen years.
Emeline F. Clapp was married to E. R. Shankland, and died in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1865, leaving a family of four children.
Caroline Clapp was married to J. L. P. McAllister, and they have a family of five children. They now reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
John M. Clapp was married in 1865 to Anna M. Pearson of New Castle, Pennsylvania. They had four children, three of whom are now living. John M. Clapp recruited a company for the army in 1862, and went out as captain in Colonel Chapman Biddle's regiment, the One Hundred and Twenty-First Pennsylvania Volunteers, where he won for himself a first- class record as a soldier and an able and worthy officer. He would no doubt have been promoted to higher position and rank had he not been compelled by failing health to resign and leave the service, which he did in August, 1863. He has been extensively engaged in business, and proved his ability in that line by his successful management of whatever he undertook. He is now a resident of Washington city.
Ellen G. Clapp was married to James McLain. They had a family of five children, three of whom are now living. They now reside in New York city .- E. E. C.
HUGH McCREA was born June 24, 1813, son of Patrick and Flora (McGir- rel) McCrea, both natives of Ireland. His education was obtained principally under his father, for whom he worked until the age of twenty-five, when he began farming and has lived all his life upon the land originally seated by his father, except 1864 and 1866, when he resided near Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He now owns one hundred and eighty acres of land. His present house was built in 1861. It is the third he has built; the first was burned two days before his marriage, which occurrred in 1844, his wife being Patience, daughter of Samuel McGirrel of Warren county. Five children are living: John W .; S. P .; Mrs. Charity Masterson; Mrs. Clara O'Brien; Mrs. Margaret Dykins, and Mrs. Matilda McGirrel, deceased. The family adhere to the Catholic faith, and Mr. McCrea is a life-long Democrat.
E. E. lelahn.
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BIOGRAPHIES OF PRESIDENT.
JOHN W. McCREA, merchant, postmaster, and station agent, Eagle Rock, was born at Eagle Rock, September 15, 1853, son of Hugh and Patience McCrea. His grandfather, Patrick McCrea, was the first settler on the river between Franklin and Warren. John W. was brought up here, and attended the local schools. At the age of seventeen he taught one term in this township. In 1874 he went to the West and Southwest, visiting Colo- rado, Texas, Arkansas, and other localities. He taught one term of school in Comanche county, Texas, and another in the vicinity of Hot Springs, Arkan- sas, and worked for some time on a cattle ranch, returning in 1878. He at once learned telegraphy and entered the employ of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad Company. At the same time he bought the gen- eral store of Patrick Masterson, and assumed the duties of postmaster. In 1878 he married Effie, daughter of Robert Adams, and has a family of five children: Lilian; Alice; Lawrence; Patience, and Grace. Mr. and Mrs. McCrea are members of the Catholic church, and he is a Democrat in politics.
ISAAC BAKER, farmer, was born in Massachusetts, January 9, 1811, son of Artemus and Sarah (Nichols) Baker. The father was a farmer and cooper in Worcester county, where Isaac Baker was brought up. In 1853 he removed to Cattaraugus county, New York, and in 1865 came to this county, where he engaged in keeping a boarding house, working at the various branches of the oil trade, and acting for some years as superintend- ent of the Walnut Bend Shoe-Leather Petroleum Company. He then en- gaged in farming, and in 1878 bought the farm of sixty-five acres upon which he now resides. He was married in 1850 to Martha Hinsdale.
ROBERT ADAMS, farmer, was born in Armstrong, now Clarion county, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1820, son of John and Jannet (Young) Adams. John M. Adams was born in 1796 in Penn's valley, Pennsylvania, and came to Clarion county in 1804 with his father, William Adams, who was one of the first four settlers between Red Bank creek and the Clarion and Allegheny rivers. Robert Adams has been engaged in lumbering, and in the various branches of the oil business. He has now been farming for fifteen years. He married in January, 1845, Annie Day, daughter of John Day of Clarion county. Eight children are living, three dead. Three sons are in Dakota, one in Iowa; three daughters and one son are in this town- ship.
GEORGE Fox, farmer, was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, De- cember 19, 1822, son of Michael and Elizabeth (Harpst) Fox. They moved to Cranberry township and died there. Both are buried at the Ten Mile Bottom church. George Fox was brought up in Lawrence county, where he attended school, and at the age of twenty-three, having moved to Venan- go county, he was employed at President by Robert Elliott. Several years later he bought a hundred acres of land, all uncleared, paying two dollars
62
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
per acre. He first built the log house still standing, and gradually reduced the farm to cultivation. His present house was built in 1887. In 1846 he married Rachel, daughter of George Heckathorn. Six children are living: Amos; Charles; George; William; Melissa, and Rachel.
P. W. O'DONOVAN, farmer, was born in County Cork, Ireland, October 9, 1837, son of William and Hester (Tobin) O'Donovan. They immigrated to America in 1856, coming to this county in 1862, where two hundred and eighty acres of land were secured, now owned by P. W. O'Donovan, who has lived here ever since. He was married in 1867 to Elizabeth, daughter of John O' Hara, a native of Londonderry. Of a family of eight children, five are living: William; Patrick; Daniel; James, and Timothy. The family is connected with the Catholic church. Mr. O'Donovan is a Democrat. In 1883 and 1884 he traveled through the West.
J. A. FORD, farmer, was born in Grafton county, New Hampshire, September 4, 1832, son of Cyrus and Jerusha (Bullock) Ford. The grand- father on the father's side, Elisha Ford, was of Irish descent. He lived and died in New Hampshire. Cyrus Ford died at Portsmouth. George Bullock, the maternal grandfather, was also of Irish origin. J. A. Ford was the third of a family of six children. He was brought up in New Hampshire, and in 1853 began farming in his native county. From 1860 to 1865 he was employed in a gun factory at New Haven. In 1865 he was employed by a New York firm to perform certain duties in connection with their interests in President township. From 1872 to 1888 he superintended E. E. Clapp's road construction in this township, and in this capacity twenty miles of the best road in the county were built under his supervision. In 1885 he bought the farm of one hundred and fifty acres upon which he now resides. In 1884 he married Miss Fatilda Mimm, and has one child, Roy E., born November 3, 1885. Politically he is a Republican. He has been constable, assessor, and collector of President township twelve years.
JOHN BOOHER, farmer, was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1832, son of Daniel and Susan Booher. Daniel Booher was brought up in Huntingdon county, this state, and in that locality his father lived. The maternal grandfather, David Crosby, was a Revolutionary soldier, and died in Lawrence county. John Booher was brought up six miles from New Castle, and had small educational advantages. After be- coming of age he learned the trade of carpenter, pursuing this calling for more than thirty years. He lived in Sandy Lake township, Mercer county, from 1852 to 1888, when he bought the farm of four hundred acres upon which he now resides. He married Hester Ann, daughter of Thomas Mar- tin, and has a family of five children: Alena, wife of Peter B. Adams of Mill Creek township, Mercer county; Thomas; Charles; Thaddeus, and Leonora. Mr. and Mrs. Booher are Methodists, and he is a Republican.
BARTHOLOMEW O'BRIEN, foreman of construction, National Transit Com-
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BIOGRAPHIES OF PRESIDENT.
pany, was born in Vermont, January 7, 1850, son of John and Johanna (Harrington) O'Brien. John O'Brien was a native of Ireland, son of John O'Brien; he emigrated at the age of twenty-eight, locating at Rochester, New York. He was engaged all his life as foreman in the construction of canals, railroads, etc. In this capacity he was employed on the Erie canal. For seventeen years he was section foreman of the Warren and Franklin rail- road, now known as the Western New York and Pennsylvania. He is now living in retirement at Millerstown, Pennsylvania. Bartholomew O' Brien formed his first acquaintance with the oil business in 1868 at Pleasantville, this county, working as a laborer, from which he has advanced successively to the positions of gauger, field foreman, and foreman of construction. He has been stationed at Millerstown, in the Bradford fields, at Pleasantville, at Lima, Ohio, and since 1887 in this county. In 1889 he married C. Clara, daughter of Hugh McCrea. Politically he is a Republican, and is connected with the Catholic church.
T. J. RICHARDS, gauger, was born at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, August 8, 1864, son of James and Mary (Loftus) Richards. He had a common school education. At the age of sixteen he entered the employ of the American Transfer Company in Lycoming county, and has been engaged at the various branches of the oil trade ever since, principally in loading oil, walking lines, operating pump stations, etc. In the latter capacity he has been stationed at Four Mile and Ashford, New York, Tally Ho, Rockland, and since May, 1889, at President. He married in 1882 Miss Hettie, daughter of Enos Tilden, and has two children: Winfield and an infant as yet unnamed.
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