History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 117

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 117

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BIOGRAPHIES OF PINEGROVE.

Calhoun, and other prominent public men, and represented the township in the first public school convention ever held in Venango county.

JAMES McKISSICK was born in Center township, Butler county, Pennsyl- vania, January 10, 1820, son of John and Sarah (McCandless) McKissick. He was brought up on a farm and had limited educational advantages. In 1844 he began farming in Slippery Rock township, and removed to Pine- grove township eight years later. Here he bought land, of which but five acres were cleared, and now owns two hundred and forty-seven acres, of which nearly one hundred are under cultivation. In 1844 he married Eliza- beth, daughter of J. W. Turk, born July 2, 1822, who is the mother of eleven children, of whom nine are living: Samuel, who was injured two years ago cutting timber; Robert, who studied medicine at Cleveland and Toledo, and has a promising career before him; Margaret; Sarah, wife of William McKissick; Rebecca, wife of George Lauffer; Elizabeth, wife of A. F. Korb; Marietta, wife of C. C. Stover; Martha, wife of Thomas McLaugh- lin, and Mary H., at home. Two sons are dead-J. H., who did not live to maturity, and John, a lawyer of Franklin, who died at Marietta, Georgia, March 18, 1883. Mr. McKissick was justice of the peace and school director many years. In politics he is a Democrat.

J. S. McPHERSON, farmer, was born in Armstrong county, now Clarion, April 11, 1825, son of David and Hannah (Anderson) McPherson. Joseph McPherson, father of David, wa's of Scotch-Irish descent, and settled in Northumberland county, where David McPherson was born. In 1804 the latter removed to Armstrong county. He was drafted during the war of 1812. He helped to lay out the pike from Bellefonte to Waterford, and while engaged at this work learned at Clarion of sickness in his family. He hastened home, to find a daughter dead of consumption. He and wife died in 1851 and are buried in the town of Clarion. His mother was Mary Steele, of French descent. Our subject had such education as the district schools afforded, and at the age of eighteen began work at iron furnaces in Clarion, following this two years, when he learned the moulding trade, and pursued this vocation until obliged to quit it three years later on account of his eyes. He then went into the lumber and boat building business on Clarion river. In 1855 he removed to Venango county and kept hotel at President four years. Since that time he has been engaged in farming, having lived at his present residence twenty-one years. He was one of the first coroners of Clarion county, served as borough constable of the town of Clarion seven consecutive terms and as deputy sheriff six years, also as school director in President township, and has been justice of the peace in Pinegrove town- ship since 1873. June 23, 1853, he was married to Susan E. McCalmont, daughter of John B. McCalmont, the first school teacher of the township, who removed to Illinois in 1859, where he died February 24, 1882, in his seventy-seventh year. The children of Mr. and Mrs. McPherson with dates

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

of birth are as follows: John, 1854; Elliott, 1856; Edwin, 1858; William L., 1861; Samuel, 1863; Alfred, 1865; Byron, 1867; Annie May, 1869; Frederick, deceased, 1871, and Blucher, 1875. Mr. McPherson is con- sidered a fine performer on the violin, and is known and esteemed by a wide circle of friends. An uncle of his father was president judge of North- umberland county a number of years.

ISAAC FERTIG was born July 27, 1807, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, the son of Abraham and Susan Fertig. His father removed to Schuylkill county in 1809, and died there some years later. Isaac Fertig's schooling was very limited. At the age of seventeen he began boating on the Schuylkill canal, and also worked on the Susquehanna canal. In 1832 he crossed the mountains, and worked at his trade of carpenter in Tionesta. In 1834 he removed to this township, then a wilderness, where he bought land, improved and cleared gradually, working in various other ways in the meantime. He was married in 1832 to Hannah Stover, daughter of John Stover, an early settler in this neighborhood, buried at the Centerville cemetery. Of a family of twelve the children now living are: Joseph, of Hyde- town; John, of Titusville; Samuel, of Titusville; Peter, in Kansas; Jane, at home; Frank, at Toledo; Caroline, wife of John Millikin, in Kansas; Amanda, wife of M. W. Quick, of Titusville; Sarah, wife of Sebastian Henne, and Charles. The oldest, Rebecca, wife of Jacob Kinch, died of consumption, and the youngest, Hannah (Jones), was burned in a railroad wreck at Brad- ford. The postoffice at Centerville, which bear's Mr. Fertig's name, was established largely through his efforts. Mrs. Fertig has been a consistent member of the Methodist church more than forty years.

HENRY KAPP was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, September 15, 1810, son of George and Hannah (Kuntz) Kapp. He was brought up on a farm, with no educational advantages. At the age of nine years he moved with his father's family to Fryburg, Clarion county. When he be- came of age he returned to Lancaster county, and worked at various pur- suits more than a year. He then returned and entered into partnership with his father in the purchase of one hundred and sixty-five acres of land, and upon his father's death succeeded to his interest. He also bought sixty acres adjoining. In 1882 he opened a store at Lineville, and in 1884 re- moved to Centerville. He was married in 1832 to Catharine Rickenbrode, daughter of an old resident of Clarion county, and of a family of ten chil- dren born to them, eight are living: Mrs. Leah Rankin; George F .; Henry W .; Eli; Mrs. Sarah Weaver; Mrs. Minnie Male; Samuel, and John, all of whom are residents of this or the adjoining county. The two children dead are Jacob, who died in childhood, and Mattie, wife of Daniel Kinch, who left a large family. Mr. Kapp gave his children liberal assistance in estab- lishing themselves in life. His death occurred in 1889.

THOMAS A. FULTON, deceased, was born in 1817 in Centre county, Penn-

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BIOGRAPHIES OF PINEGROVE.

sylvania, the son of John and Margaret Fulton. He was brought up near Bellefonte and attended the schools of the neighborhood. In 1841, at the age of twenty-four, he came to Venango county, where he had relatives, and stayed with his uncle, Samuel Mckinney, several months, working at his trade as a collier, at which he continued until the furnaces began to use coke. February 25, 1862, having enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Third Pennsylvania Volunteers, he left home to join the regular army. He was engaged in the severe fighting around Richmond, and served through the campaigns of this and the following year. In 1864 he re-en- listed in Company K, One Hundred and Third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and May 21st of this year with his whole regiment he was captured at Plymouth, North Carolina, and consigned to Andersonville prison. Letters written there in May did not reach Mrs. Fulton until the following winter. After undergoing all the hardships of gradual starvation he died June 17, 1864, and rests in an unmarked grave under the southern sun. April 30, 1844, he married Phobe A., daughter of William and Catharine (Lovell) Dixon of Rockland township, formerly of Centre county. Their family is as fol- lows: Mrs. Mattie J. Aiken, who lives at Richburg, New York; James Hutchison, who served in the army sixteen months, and is a farmer in this township; Mrs. Amanda Goodman, who resides at Lineville; William O., of Washington; Curtis C., of Washington, Pennsylvania; Thomas A., and Mrs. Dorleska Booth, of Washington. Mrs. Fulton owns one hundred acres of land in her own right and receives a government pension.

JAMES ANDERSON, farmer, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 31, 1819, son of John and Jane (Welsh) Anderson, the former a native of Washington county, the latter the daughter of Valentine Welsh, who lived south of Pittsburgh. They removed to Venango county about 1830, locating in Rockland township, but afterward removed to Pinegrove where James was brought up, attending the schools of the district. At the age of twenty-one he began work at iron furnaces, lumber mills, etc. In 1845 he bought one hundred acres of land, upon which he now lives, paying therefor two dollars and twenty-five cents per acre. He now has more than fifty acres under cultivation. His present house was built in 1881, the barn in 1884, to replace one erected in 1872 and burned by lightning in July, 1884. In 1860 he married Rebecca Stover, widow of Daniel Stover, and daughter of George Blosser, an early settler. Four children are living: William A .; Mary J .; John H., and Francis L. Mr. Anderson served as constable in 1852-55, and has held various other local offices. Politically he is a Republican.

H. H. SCHWAB, farmer was born December 21, 1829, in Washington township, Clarion county, Pennsylvania, son of Henry and Catharine (Liliah) Schwab. The grandfather on the father's side was born in this country, and on the mother's side in Germany. Mr. Schwab had limited educational ad-

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

vantages. At the age of twenty-one he learned the trade of carpenter, working at this four years, when he began farming on the Knight farm, this township. He sold this place during the first oil excitement and bought lots in Lineville with the intention of starting a store, but never carried out this idea. In 1866-67 he bought the Johnston farm; eight years later his present farm of one hundred and fifteen acres was secured, and has been brought to a high state of cultivation. He was married in 1856 to Margaret, daughter of Adam Greaer, of Ashland township, Clarion county, and of a family of ten children eight are living: William F., a farmer; Mrs. Fannie Sigworth; Andrew C., school teacher; Agnes L .; Wesley M .; Albert N. ; Seward V., and Lily N. The family is connected with the Lutheran church of Fryburg. In politics Mr. Schwab is a Republican.

GEORGE SMITH, farmer, was born in Bavaria, Germany, August 3, 1830, son of Casimir and Appolonia Smith. His grandfather was eighty-two at death, his father eighty-four. The latter served eleven years in the armies of Napoleon, and was at the burning of Moscow. He immigrated to Amer- ica in 1840, landing in Baltimore, whence he proceeded to .Pittsburgh. Here the family stayed over winter, and George, a boy of ten, heard Presi- dent Harrison make a speech, of which he could not understand a word, and shook hands with him. In March, 1841, the father having bought a farm in this township, the family removed thither. At the age of twenty George began life for himself, cutting cordwood, and in the course of five or six years had earned enough to buy one hundred and fifty acres of land, half of which is now under cultivation, with large orchards. The barn, built in 1875, and the house, built in 1879, are among the most substantial in the township. Mr. Smith was married in 1856 to Annie Silzle, daughter of John M. Silzle, a native of Germany, who died in September, 1878, at the age of seventy-five. Hannah Laufer, his wife, was born in Wurtem- burg, and died August 28, 1879, aged seventy-four. Of a family of nine children six are living: John, a well driller, Canton, Mississippi; Cornelius, derrick builder; George; Anna; Mary, and Alfred. Henry Smith, brother of George, enlisted in 1861 in company I, One Hundred and Fifth Penn- sylvania Volunters, and died in a hospital at Alexandria in January, 1862.

GEORGE W. MILLER, merchant, was born January 27, 1849, in Washing- ton township, Clarion county, son of Adam and Ellen (Halt) Miller. The former was born in Germany. The paternal grandfather was Andrew Mil- ler, who emigrated to the vicinity of Fryburg, where he is buried in the Lutheran cemetery. George W. attended the schools of his native town- ship until the age of sixteen, when he learned the trade of carpenter, work- ing at this thirteen years. In 1881 he removed to Unionville and built his present residence. He also owns about one hundred acres of land. He en- gaged in mercantile pursuits in 1881, and has built up a flourishing trade, averaging seven thousand dollars a year. The stock consists of general

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BIOGRAPHIES OF PINEGROVE.

merchandise to the amount of about three thousand dollars. Mr. Miller was married in 1876 to Elizabeth Fraihn, daughter of Jacob Fraihn of this county, The family consists of four children: Edward A. ; Julia A .; Mary M., and Frances May, Mr. Miller's political affiliations are with the Re- publican party.

MALLORY BROTHERS, contractors for drilling oil, gas, and artesian wells, Coal Hill, Pennsylvania. - The business firm under this name came into ex- istence in 1880. Operations were begun in the Bradford oil fields in Mc- Kean county, with seven sets of tools, and continued here two years with fair success. During this period the firm also leased oil territory to a limited extent. In 1882, attracted by the promising prospects of the Speechley gas field, they moved to Venango county, drilling the first well for the Oil City Fuel Supply Company, then recently organized. The opera- tions of the firm have gradually extended from year to year. About twenty wells were drilled in 1882; at the present rate of progress (May, 1889) the number will reach one hundred during the present year, The total num- ber drilled during the seven years the firm has been in Venango county is about two hundred and twenty-five, of which more than a hundred have ap- proximated two thousand feet in depth. In March, 1889, the number of sets of tools was increased from eight to twelve, and the working force from forty-four to eighty. The monthly pay roll aggregates seven thou- sand dollars and the daily expenses average six hundred dollars. The firm builds its own derricks, selling the same to the contracting company.

FREDERICK EUGENE MALLORY was born at Cambridge, Erie county, Penn- sylvania, February 25, 1851, the son of Truman and Charlotte (Phelps) Mallory. John Mallory, grandfather of Frederick E., was born in Erie county in 1799, and died there in 1888. His father was one of three brothers who immigrated from England; he was among the very earliest settlers of this section of the state. Truman Mallory was born April 6, 1825, and resides upon a farm four miles west of Waterford. Frederick E. never attended school after passing the age of fifteen, when his father intro- duced him to the oil business at the Sherman flats, Crawford county, where he was at work pumping. Within a few months he was promoted to the work of a driller, following this until he became strong enough to dress tools, at which he become proficient in a short time, earning four dollars and a half per day. His first contracting venture was made in 1870 at Scrubgrass, Venango county, in partnership with L. E. Mallory, a brother. They drilled fifteen wells before realizing a dollar, and within a year Fred- erick E. returned to day's labor twenty-five hundred dollars in debt. In 1873, in company with his father and brother, he invested in productive oil property, and in the autumn of 1876 his daily income was more than two hundred dollars. An offer of one hundred thousand dollars was refused for their property, which sold four years later for four thousand, From this

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

date he has been senior partner of the firm of Mallory Brothers, whose operations have been detailed in the preceding sketch. November 1, 1876, he married Miss Jennie Rittenhouse, daughter of Mr. A. Rittenhouse, of Crawford county, who died in 1883 at Aspen, Colorado. The family con- sists of two sons: George, aged five, and Roy, aged two. The former of these children was threatened with permanent blindness some months since, but has entirely recovered his sight.

JOHN F. MALLORY was born October 2, 1858, near Waterford, Erie county, Pennsylvania; the family genealogy is given in the sketch of Fred- erick E. His education was obtained at the public schools. In 1871 he began work as a pumper at Monroeville, continuing at this until 1880, when he became interested in productive oil territory in Clarion county. In 1880 he became a member of the firm of Mallory Brothers. He was married March 2, 1879, to Susan, daughter of Samuel Shaffer, of Armstrong county. Mr. Shaffer died in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Mallory have one son, Ernest. Mr. Mallory is connected with the Masonic order.

SIDNEY T. MALLORY was born November 24, 1862, near Millvillage, Erie county, Pennsylvania. After attending public schools and Waterford Acad- emy, he entered the oil business at the age of sixteen in the capacity of a pumper, continuing at this four years. In 1880 he became associated with his brothers in the firm whose history is given in a foregoing sketch.

S. M. THACHER was born November 9, 1834, in Chautauqua county, New York, the son of Charles and Anna (McConnell) Thacher, the third of a family of four, of whom the other three were daughters. Such education as he received was obtained at the district schools. At the age of twenty- two he went to Iowa and Minnesota, working on the farms and in various other ways. He had previously taught school in Chautauqua county, at the age of seventeen, and in Lake county, Ohio, and naturaly drifted into this profession in Olmstead county, Minnesota. In the spring of 1860 he started over the plains to California, being five months on the road. He remained five years, working at mining principally. In February, 1865, after an ab- sence of nine years, he was called home by the illness and death of his father. In May following he came to Rouseville on Oil creek, engaged in the oil business as a pumper, and has since had a varied experience in many parts of the oil regions. In 1883 he entered the employ of the Oil City Fuel Supply Company, as field superintendent, and has charge of the gas interests of this concern (since merged in the Standard), in the Speechley gas field-from twenty to thirty men working under his supervision. Mr. Thacher was married in 1868 to Miss Augusta E. Brown, who is the mother of five children, four of whom are living: Charles; Frank; Winnifred, and Jessie.

JAMES A. MCKEEVER, contractor for drilling oil and gas wells, was born June 11, 1843, in Butler county, Pennsylvania, the son of John and Rosanna

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BIOGRAPHIES OF PINEGROVE.

(McElroy) Mckeever. His grandparents were both born in Ireland. The paternal grandfather, John McKeever, was an early settler in Union county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the furnace and iron business. From here he removed to Butler county, Pennsylvania, where he died at the age of eighty-four. The father of James A. lived to the age of seventy. The maternal grandfather, Patrick McElroy, came to this country at the age of twelve, and made his home in Pennsylvania, farming all his life. He also located in Butler county, where he died at the age of one hundred and nine years. He is described as a man of powerful frame, never suffered from ill health until within a few years of his death, and at the age of one hundred could cut wood and do other light work. In the early history of this section he was a great hunter, and pursued game with a caution and cunning rarely equaled. James A. attended the schools of Butler county. In 1862, at the age of seventeen, he engaged in work at oil wells in the vicinity of Oil City. The following year he began drilling, continuing at this for four years, and earning four to five dollars and a half per day. Since 1866 he has been contracting and operating on an individual basis, with the fluctuat- ing fortunes characteristic of the business, and, on the whole, with fair suc- cess. Never having received assistance from any one, his success has been the result of individual efforts. His present field of operation is in the vicinity of Lucinda. Since 1878 he has resided in Unionville, where his residence, one of the most attractive in the township, was built in 1887. July 1, 1869, he married Miss M. A. Powell, daughter of J. W. Powell, of this township, formerly of Clarion county, who, during the late war, was adjutant of the Seventy-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, serving three years in Sherman's campaigns. He died May 27, 1888, at the age of seventy- one. Of five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Mckeever, four are now living: Maud; Francis; Alberta, and Edna. Politically Mr. Mckeever is a Democrat.

A. J. KEVERLINE, of the firm of A. J. & N. P. Keverline, lumbermen and farmers, was born in 1862, son of A. P. and Kate (Rapp) Keverline; the latter is a daughter of Peter Rapp, of Clarion county. A. J. Keverline attended the local schools, and, having attained his majority, engaged in the lumber business with M. A. and N. P. Keverline. He has since oper- ated in Clarion and Forest counties. In 1886 be became associated with his father, under the firm name as given above, and has conducted the pur- chase and sales department with gratifying success. The timber handled is principally white oak, the product consisting of shingles, staves, and lum- ber, which find a ready market at Oil City. The plant consists of a thirty- horse power engine, fifty-two-inch saw, forty-inch shingle saw, twenty-four- inch stave machine, etc., representing a capital of six thousand dollars. N. P. Keverline owns one hundred and thirty-six acres of land in this town- ship, and does a business of eight thousand dollars a year. Twenty teams are sometimes employed about the mill and in delivering lumber.

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

CRANBERRY.

JOHN MILTON, deceased, was born in Scotland, March 16, 1804, and re- ceived a good education in the schools of his native land. He learned the trade of a damask weaver in Dunfermline, Scotland, and in 1827 immigrated to the United States and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He eventu- ally engaged in the manufacture of woolen and linen goods, by which he ac- quired considerable means. In April, 1840, he removed to Cranberry town- ship, Venango county, where he had previously purchased a farm of four hundred acres, and settled down to agricultural pursuits. Upon this farm was subsequently developed a large number of oil wells, some of them among the best producing wells of the county. Through this stroke of good for- tune he became quite a wealthy man. He was an ardent Democrat, and was often urged by his friends to accept office but refused. While a resident of Cranberry township he took a deep interest in the growth and progress of education, and filled the position of school director of his district. Before coming to this country Mr. Milton was connected with the Presbyterian church, but though an attendant of the church here he never attached him- self to any religious body. He was, however, a liberal supporter of every denomination irrespective of faith. In 1880 he removed to Franklin, where he died October 9, 1887. He married May 20, 1831, Miss Agnes, daughter of Thomas and Agnes (Ralston) Brown, both of Paisley, Scotland, the latter a daughter of John Ralston, the laird of Paisley. Mrs. Milton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, November 26, 1812, and was a resident of Pittsburgh at the time of her marriage, whither her parents had removed from their native land in 1823. Thirteen children blessed this union: John H., of Virginia; Thomas S., of Fern City, Clarion county, Pennsylvania; Agnes N., wife of S. O. Nicklin, of Franklin; Victoria A., deceased; Ossian, de- ceased; James O., of Scrubgrass township; Annie Jean, wife of William Earnest of Virginia; Leander, who resides on the old homestead in Cran- berry township; Marion, wife of John Cummin of Oil City; Margaret, wife of John Stewart of Pittsburgh; Flora H. M., deceased; Seneca G., of Frank- lin, and Cecelia O., wife of Samuel St. Clair of Franklin. At his death Mr. Milton left to each of his children, and to one of his grandsons, Miles Sage Milton, whom they had adopted, five thousand dollars. He is buried in the Franklin cemetery, and a handsome monument marks his last resting place. He was an upright, honest man, a kind and loving father and hus- band, and a highly respected citizen. He was recognized as a good man, and his death was mourned by a large circle of friends. His widow resides in Franklin, is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a lady of strong, vigorous mind and wide information.

LEANDER MILTON, farmer and oil producer, was born December 13, 1844, on the farm where he now resides, son of John and Agnes (Brown) Milton. He was reared on his present homestead, and was married December 13,

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BIOGRAPHIES OF CRANBERRY.

1882, to Loretta Ardery, a native of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, born May 28, 1852, daughter of John W. and Mary J. (Monks) Ardery, natives of Centre and Jefferson counties, Pennsylvania, respectively, and the parents of three children: Ida F .; William, and Loretta. Mr. Milton is the father of one child, John B. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Democratic party.

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History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 117

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co. Number of Pages: 1323

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323