History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 77

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

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GEORGE BRIGHAM was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, June 7, 1788, and learned the trade of carpenter, painter, and glazier in his native. land. In the spring of 1817 he immigrated to America, and the same year took up his permanent abode in Franklin, Pennsylvania. He followed his trade many years, and then went into general merchandising, dealing in groceries, drugs, etc., and engaged in any class of trade that the times demanded. He was quite successful in business, and accumulated considerable property. His old stand, the "Rob Roy," was one of the best known stores of that period. Mr. Brigham was married December 2, 1819, to Catherine Mc., oldest daughter of George Power, the first white settler of Venango county after the Revolutionary war. Eleven children were born of this marriage: Anne, wife of John Haslet, of Franklin; Robert, of the same city; George, deceased; Thaddeus W., of Franklin; Mary F., wife of George Turner, of Kansas City, Missouri; William F., of Franklin; Lydia E. L., deceased wife of Absalom Smith; Ralph M .; and Florence, wife of John T. P. Wat- son, both residents of Franklin, and two who died in infancy. Mr. Brigham was an Episcopalian in religion, and a Whig in politics. Honest and up- right in all his dealings, he went down to his grave respected by the com- munity in which the greater portion of his life was spent. He died October 19, 1846. His widow survived him until February 27, 1884.

JEREMIAH CLANCY, one of the pioneer business men of Franklin, was born in Ireland in 1799, and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1816, where he learned the shoemaker's trade. In 1819 he came to Franklin and opened a small

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shoemaking shop on Thirteenth street, near Elk, which he carried on for many years. In March, 1830, he opened the " Jackson Inn " on the corner of Thirteenth and Elk streets, which he conducted in connection with his pre- vious business. Mr. Clancy was twice married, his second wife surviving him and dying at Titusville a few years ago. Two children, a son and daugh- ter, were the fruits of his first marriage. The former removed to the West and the daughter married William C. McCormick, whose daughter is now the wife of E. W. Echols, of Franklin. Mr. Clancy died in this city March 5, 1873, and a modest shaft marks his last resting place in St. Patrick's cemetery. He was a stanch Catholic, and steadfastly clung to his faith through many years of spiritual privation, at a time, too, when such an organization as a Catholic church was not even dreamed of in Franklin. He was a very retiring, industrious, honest man, and a good citizen. Though leaving to his descendants considerable property accumulated through the passing years, he also left to them the bright legacy of an untarnished reputation.

WILLIAM RAYMOND, retired merchant, and one of the oldest and most re- spected citizens of Venango county, was born in Wilton, Fairfield county, Connecticut, May 8, 1799. He is a son of Asahel and Mary (Vail) Raymond, natives of that state, where our subject was also reared and educated. Soon after reaching manhood he left his native county, and finally located at Franklin, Pennsylvania, in October, 1823. Here he opened a general store and commenced a successful mercantile career that extended through a period of nearly forty years. Retiring from merchandising shortly before the war of the Rebellion, he engaged in oil operating, which business he continued for several years, and then gave up the duties of an active busi- ness life and devoted his attention to his private affairs. In the meantime the failure of Culver, Penn & Company had swept away the larger por- tion of the accumulations of years of rigid industry, wise economy, and successful investments, leaving him in his old age only a tithe of his for- mer fortune, but enough to surround his declining years with all necessary comforts. While feeling keenly his financial losses at that time, he never- theless possesses sufficient Christian philosophy and determination of char- acter to view the matter with comparative indifference, and is perfectly resigned to the unalterable decrees of an All-wise Providence.

Mr. Raymond was married December 12, 1826, to Miss Nancy H., daughter of William Kinnear, one of the pioneers of Venango county, whither he removed as early as 1800, locating in Franklin in 1811. A sketch of Mr. Kinnear appears in this work. Mrs. Raymond was born in the northern part of Venango county, May 11, 1804, and was the mother of eight children, viz. : Charles F., Philetus W., and Mary, all deceased; Lauretta, deceased wife of DeWitt Clinton Plumer; Delia R., who married W. H. Hilliard, of Cleveland, Ohio, and after his death William Carr

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-- the latter is also dead, and his widow resides in Pittsburgh; William K., of Franklin; Almena H., and Almira M., both of whom are deceased. For more than half a century Mr. Raymond and wife bore together the joys and sorrows of life's rugged pathway, but on the 13th of July, 1879, the loving helpmate and companion of his early manhood and ripe old age passed to that home "not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." From early youth she had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died comforted and solaced by a firm hope in a blissful immortality.

Mr. Raymond cast his first vote in 1824 for John Quincy Adams, and supported the Whig party until the formation of the Republican party, with which he has since affiliated. He served as treasurer of Venango county in 1833-34. Though nearing his ninety-first birthday he is still hale and vigorous in both mind and body-one of the few living links uniting the historic past with the ever eventful and changing present.

PHILETUS WILTON RAYMOND, second son of William Raymond, was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1829, and died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, March 20, 1884. He was reared and educated in his native place, and his earlier years were spent as a clerk in his father's store. In 1853 he entered the employ of Aaron W. Raymond, then engaged in the furnace business at Raymilton, and October 17, 1854, he married Miss Hannah M. Raymond, daughter of his employer. A few years afterward he removed to the village of Cherry Tree, and engaged in merchandising. Subsequently he was elected postmaster of the house of representatives at Harrisburg, and re- elected to the same position. Some six years prior to his death he formed a partnership with his brother, W. K., and engaged in the clothing business, but in 1879 the latter was succeeded by Frank N. Raymond, eldest son of our subject, who since his death has continued the business. Four chil- dren were born to Philetus W. and Hannah M. Raymond: Frank N .; Charles P., deceased; Mary, deceased, and Delia. Mr. Raymond was a Mason, and was buried with the usual honors of that fraternity.

The following tribute to his character is copied from the Venango Spec- tator, whose veteran editor knew him well from childhood up to his death: "Here where his life was passed his friends included almost all who ever knew him. His disposition was genial, yet he had sufficient force of char- reter to assert himself when necessary, and to treat those who were deserv- ing of his regard better than those who were not. As a business man he was prompt, energetic, and obliging; as a friend he was true to what he professed; and as a citizen he was alive to his duty as a member of the community, and interested in its wellfare."

ROBERT AND NANCY (KINNEAR) KINNEAR were natives of Ireland, who immigrated to eastern Pennsylvania and afterward to the north part of Ve- nango county early in the century. After a few years they removed to Franklin, where Mr. Kinnear filled the position of jailor fifteen years. They

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BIOGRAPHIES OF FRANKLIN.

reared five children: Ann, who married Alexander Kinnear; James; Henry; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Dominick McCormick, and Jane, all of whom are dead. For several years preceding his death Mr. Kinnear kept the lock on the French Creek canal, at the big dam, about one mile above Franklin. Both he and wife were ardent Methodists and died in that faith at a ripe old age. Their last years were spent at the point previously men- tioned, now known as the Echols farm, and formerly the property of William C. McCormick, the father of Mrs. E. W. Echols, of Franklin, and grandson of Mr. Kinnear.

JACOB DUBBS, one of the pioneer merchants of Franklin, was born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1797, son of Jacob Dubbs, a Pennsylvania German. He was reared in his native city, and there married Elizabeth Alleman, of that vicinity. In 1824 he came to Franklin with his wife and one child, Elizabeth, also accompanied by his father, who spent the latter years of his life in Venango county, and died in Franklin at a ripe old age. Soon after coming Mr. Dubbs purchased the property on Liberty street, now the site of the International Bank. He followed the wheelwright trade until 1830, and commenced a general merchandising business which he carried on up to his death. This occurred by drowning, in 1845, while driv- ing some stock from Ohio. Of the family of Jacob and Elizabeth Dubbs five children survive: Elizabeth, widow of James Bleakley, and Julia A., wife of Judge R. S. McCormick, both residents of Franklin; John, of that city; Henry, of Seattle, Washington, and Rachel, widow of J. Miles Hoover, now a resident of Massachusetts. Mrs. Dubbs died August 25, 1835, and he subsequently married Mrs. Hannah Wilson, who bore him one daughter, Hannah, deceased wife of Edward Muse. Mr. Dubbs was an industrious, reliable man and thoroughly honest in all the relations of life. He was a Lutheran in religion and a Democrat in politics.

BENJAMIN ALEXANDER was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, in 1802. At the age of twelve he began the trade of cabinet maker, and after the usual apprenticeship he went to Pittsburgh. He was a member of the Cab- inet Makers' Union of that place and preserved as a relic one of their sched- ules of prices for piece work in those early days. He afterward worked in Washington, New York, and various other points before coming to Franklin, where he arrived in 1826. His parents settled at that place six months previously. His father, James Alexander, died in 1838, aged seventy-four years. His mother, Nancy Alexander, was a daughter of Captain Caleb Armitage, a Revolutionary soldier, who was one of the founders of the First Presbyterian church of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. She died in 1840 aged sixty-nine years. Benjamin Alexander was twice married, first to Mrs. Jane Lapsley, who died in 1851; and then to Jane Adams, daughter of James and Rachel Adams, who survives him. The children of his first wife are: James G., Nancy A., and Thomas. Mr. Alexander carried on cabinet mak-

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ing many years. He brought the first steam engine to Franklin, and had the first circular saw used in this locality. Later in life he sold his furni- ture establishment and devoted his time to his other personal affairs. He laid out the addition to Franklin known as Alexander's addition, also made an addition to the old cemetery in the Second ward. He cheerfully gave financial aid to all public enterprises. He died December 31, 1878.

CHARLES LACY COCHRAN, deceased, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1800. His parents settled upon a farm that is now a part of Cochranton, Crawford county, early in the century, and there he lived until he removed to Franklin in 1828. In 1824 he married Elizabeth Duffield, a member of the large family of that name residing near Utica. Five of their children arrived at maturity: One daughter, Mary A., who married James McKee and afterward Hugh Craig; Robert L .; James D .; Samuel H., and Charles C. The three last named were soldiers in the war of the Rebellion. James D., a sergeant in the One Hundred and Forty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, was killed at Gettysburgh, July 3, 1863; Samuel H., first lieu- tenant of Company G, Sixty-Third Pennsylvania Volunteers, was killed at Mechanicsville, near Richmond, June 26, 1862; and Charles C. was lieuten- ant and captain of Company C, Tenth Pennsylvania Reserves. The mother died December 1, 1867, and the father December 8, 1868.

WILLIAM ELLIOTT, deceased, was born at what is known as the James Russell farm, in the valley of Sugar creek, January 25, 1803, son of Robert and Rebecca (Fleming) Elliott. Robert Elliott was from the eastern part of the state, presumably the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland county. He was a farmer by occupation, and after a residence of several years at Frank- lin and in its vicinity, removed to the mouth of Hemlock creek in President township, where he built the first mill in that part of the county and was long an influential citizen. There he died and is buried with his wife and several members of their family in a small inclosed graveyard at the village of President. Seven children of Robert and Rebecca (Fleming) Elliott grew to maturity: David, William, Robert, Sanderson, George, Martha (Mrs. John Lamb), and Mary (Mrs. Hamilton), all deceased. William Elli- ott enjoyed only limited educational advantages, but individual application and the experiences of after life rendered him a man of exceptional intelli- gence and practical knowledge. At a comparatively early date in the his- tory of Franklin he engaged in mercantile pursuits in that town, continuing at this until 1849, when he became interested in the Franklin foundry as senior member of the firm of Elliott & Epley. As a business man he was sagacious and successful, and bore the reputation of unquestioned integrity. In politics he was a Democrat and was closely identified with the affairs of that party in this county. He was early called upon to assume the duties of public office; in 1829 he was elected county commissioner, serving one term, and on the 4th of December, 1854, he took the oath of office as pro-

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thonotary. While the incumbent of the latter position his death occurred, July 20, 1857. He married Mary, daughter of James Kinnear, an early and prominent citizen of Franklin, and was the father of seven children, six of whom arrived at maturity: Jane H., wife of Colonel J. H. Cain; James K .; R. Fleming; William D .; Thomas H., and Edward C., all resid- ing in Franklin except the last named, who is in the employ of the Anglo- American Oxide Company, at Liege, Belgium. The parents of Mr. Elliott were members of that branch of the Presbyterian church known as Seceders; though not regularly connected with any religious body himself he was superintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday school shortly before his death, and otherwise active in promoting the religious interests of the community.

AARON WEEKS RAYMOND was born in Norwalk, Fairfield county, Connect- icut, January 21, 1801, the son of Aaron and Hannah (Weeks) Raymond. The latter was born in Long Island, February 17, 1765, the former in Fair- field county, Connecticut, August 9, 1759, and they were married October 27, 1784. Aaron, Sr., was a son of Simeon Raymond, and a sailor by oc- cupation, being captain of a vessel engaged in the whale fisheries. He also owned land and was engaged in farming. On the 1st of January, 1777, he enlisted in the Third Connecticut regiment and served through the Revolu- tionary war; his discharge, bearing the autograph of Washington, and dated June 8, 1783, is still in possession of the family. His property was entirely destroyed by Arnold's expedition in 1779, as was also that of his father. It is related that the latter buried a large pier glass, an heirloom brought by the family from England, which was thus preserved alone of all his household effects. Being in poor health, and unable longer to follow the sea, Aaron, Sr., removed to Clinton, Oneida county, New York, and thence to Troy, where he died November 30, 1810. He was the father of ten children: Mrs. Olive Gregory; Mrs. Mary Underhill; Mrs. Elizabeth Craw; Orange; Mrs. Lavina Russell; Mrs. Hannah Underhill; Mrs. Phoebe Lord; Aaron W .; Mrs. Matilda Russell, and Julia Ann.

Our subject thus left an orphan at the age of nine years, was received into the family of his eldest sister, then residing at Clinton, New York, and here he attended school. Three years later he entered the employ of an- other brother-in-law, Captain Abraham Underhill, as cabin boy; he filled successively every position on a steamboat from this humble place to that of captain, and in the latter capacity he was employed on three different boats. In 1819 he made a journey to Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he re- mained two years with his brother-in-law David Russell, a farmer of that county. During the time that he was engaged in steamboating he usually clerked in a store during the winter months. Returning to Troy he re- sumed his old vocation. In 1828, under the firm name of Raymond & Un- derhill, he conducted a grocery business in Troy. In 1830 he removed to Pennsylvania and arrived at the site of Utica in May of that year, there be-

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

ginning an active business career of half a century in this county. He erected a building and engaged in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits, also operated a grist mill, saw mill, etc. Through his efforts a postoffice was established, the name having been suggested by him. In 1844 he bought a tract of land embracing the present site of Raymilton, whereon he erected a blast furnace, mills, and other buildings, and established a large store. The furnace was closed down in 1857. He was also in business in Hartstown, Crawford county, where he built three locks of the Beaver and Erie canal. In 1858 he removed to Franklin and took charge of the Rural house, to which he gave that name. In the autumn of the following year, as president of a company organized at Franklin for that purpose, he drilled the second well in the oil regions, and was actively interested in oil develop- ments on Oil creek, Sugar creek, the Allegheny river, Sandy creek, and in various other districts. A man of great energy and versatility he continued in active business to an age beyond the ordinary life of men, and lived to enjoy the retrospect of an honorable and useful career, dying January 24, 1890, at the ripe old age of eighty-nine years.

Mr. Raymond married Ann Eliza Whitaker, September 25, 1824; her death occurred January 25, 1887, at the age of eighty-four years and seven months. She was a daughter of Captain Ephraim Whitaker, a soldier of the Revolu- tion. Thirteen children were born to them, ten of whom survive. In the order of age, those now living are: Matilda, wife of Jackson Robison, of Curwensville, Pennsylvania; William W., George W., and Charles H., of Raymilton, Venango county; Hannah M., widow of Philetus W. Raymond; Mary J .; Harriet A., wife of John L. Mitchell, all of Franklin; Sarah, wife of William J. Lamberton, of Denver, Colorado; Aaron W., Jr., of Raymil- ton, and Ann Elizabeth, of Franklin. Mr. Raymond was a member of the Presbyterian church since 1842, and for many years an elder in the church at Franklin.

CHARLES WASHINGTON MACKEY, deceased, was born at Port Deposit, Mary- land, April 21, 1791. He was a direct descendant of William Mackey, of Tubeg, Scotland. The name Mackey is undoubtedly of Irish origin, the pro- genitor of the family in Scotland having removed from Ireland about the close of the twelfth century. The orthography of the name varies with the idiom of speech in different localities; but it is generally spelled Mackie, Mckay, Makky, McKie, Mackey, Mackghie, Mackaye, etc. The clan is one of the oldest in Scotland. An ancient manuscript discovered within the last few years in the Advocates' library at Edinburgh, written by Andrew Simpson, and edited and published by Thomas Maitland, Jr., of Dundruman, men- tions the Mackeys as contemporary with Robert Bruce. Sir Robert Gordon, a recognized authority, states that Donald, the son of Iye, was the first who went under the name. The Mackeys must have resided for many centuries in Galloway, for an old parish there is called Balmaghie, i. e., Mackeytown.

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A book published by Robert Mackay of Thurso, Scotland, in 1829, entitled "A History of the House and Clan of Mackey," gives an account of the origin of the various branches of the clan and the different ways of spelling the name, showing that the latter originated in the twelfth century, and that all the Mackeys are descended from a common ancestry.

The father of Charles Washington Mackey was born near Inverness, Scotland, and in 1765 immigrated to America, locating at Port Deposit, Mary- land. He was a soldier in the Continental army. He married Kaziah Rebecca Murphey, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, who also came to this country in 1765. They had three sons: William, Thomas, and Charles W., and all of them served in the war of 1812. He was accompanied to America by his brother, John Mackey, who settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the convention that framed the first constitution of the state; and also by his brother Thomas, who located in South Carolina.

Our subject learned the trade of wagon maker in Chester county, Penn- sylvania. At the age of twenty-one he removed to Centre county, where he pursued that occupation for a number of years. He then removed to Clear- field county, where he resided until near the close of 1831, when he removed to Franklin, arriving at that place on the 27th of December. Soon after his arrival he established his business and carried it on until his retirement from active life about thirty years later. During the period of his busi- ness career Franklin was a small town with meager facilities of communica- tion with the outside world, but with commendable enterprise he established a manufactory with a capacity considerably in advance of the local demand, disposing of a large part of his product in the towns along the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike. But although industrious and economical money came in slowly in those days, and he never accumulated much property be- yond the requirements of a growing family. He was a man of great energy and force of character, one of the most honest, honorable, and upright citi- zens of the county, an elder in the Presbyterian church, a Mason in high standing, a prominent Democrat, and filled the office of coroner of Venango county from 1853 to 1857.

He was married May 19, 1819, to Julia Anne Fagundus (in the old Ger- man Bible in the possession of the Mackey family, the name is always spelled Facundus, and the same way in the Colonial Records), daughter of John and Mary (Cressman) Fagundus, natives of Philadelphia, born November 3, 1761, and May 17, 1763, respectively. John Fagundus and Mary Cressman were married in that city May 23, 1785, and subsequently removed to the vicinity of Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, where Mrs. Mackey was born December 14, 1801. Her paternal grandfather, John Fagundus, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, and immi- grated to Philadelphia in 1732, where he married Martha Done, February 3, 1761, as appears on page 98, Volume II, of the Pennsylvania Ar-

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chives. Her maternal grandfather, John Cressman, came from Germany to Philadelphia, in 1732, and was married in that city, in 1749, to Catharine Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Mackey were the parents of ten children: Major James Fagundus, a sketch of whom appears in this chapter; John and Will- iam, who died in Centre county; Mary Jane, wife of James K. Smith of Franklin; Kaziah Rebecca, wife of Richard Magill of Fagundus, Warren county, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth Anne, deceased wife of Royal E. Scott of Fagundus, Warren county; Susan Julia, wife of Judge Charles E. Tay- lor of Franklin; Margretta, wife of Henry Pike of Jamestown, New York; Charles William, of Franklin, and Edward Pierce, deceased. Mr. Mackey died March 12, 1865, his widow surviving him until February 14, 1883. The following extract from an obituary in the Venango Spectator shows the estimation in which Mrs. Mackey was held by the community in which she had lived more than half a century: "She was in the best sense of the term, everybody's friend. She had love and sympathy for everybody. She never had an unkind word to say about any person, and would not even permit harsh criticism in her presence. This sweetness of disposition was reflected in her face and manner. She wore the visible sign and seal of a good heart."

MAJOR JAMES FAGUNDUS MACKEY, deceased, was born in Bellefonte, Cen- tre county, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1821, a son of Charles Washington and Julia Anne (Fagundus) Mackey. He came to Franklin with his par- ents in 1831, and nine years later removed to Clarion, Pennsylvania. At the outbreak of the civil war he recruited Company H, One Hundred and Third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and entered the service as its captain. He participated in Mcclellan's campaign and in the expedition into North Carolina, leading his regiment at the battle of Kingston. The entire bri- gade to which he was attached was captured at Plymouth, North Carolina, April 20, 1864; for nearly a year he was confined at Andersonville, and subsequently at Macon, Savannah, Charleston, and Columbia. He was commissioned major of his regiment, November 1, 1863, and subsequently lieutenant colonel, but being imprisoned at Andersonville at the time the latter commission was granted it never reached him. He was mustered out of service March 14, 1865, having sustained throughout his military career the reputation of a brave, gallant, and faithful soldier. Shortly after his return to Clarion he removed to Franklin and there engaged extensively and successfully in the business of oil producing. In 1875 he was elected treas- urer of Venango county, and discharged the duties of this office for one term with ability and fidelity. He died May 11, 1883, leaving a wife and a large family. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and an elder in the church at Franklin.

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History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 77

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