USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 10
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John R. Hayden married, in 1868, near Irwin, Pennsylvania, Sarah Jane Byerly, daughter of William Findlay and Margaret Ann ( Bankard) Byerly.
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
The .Byerlys are farmers. Mrs. Hayden was born November 22, 1846, and received a good education in the public school and also had the advantage of private instructions under Dr. Andrew Byerly, her uncle, who at present is professor of Latin and Greek, and vice-principal of the Millersville ( Pennsyl- vania) State Normal school. Her father was an elder in the Presbyterian church for fifty years in succession ; he died in 1904. His wife, the companion of a long married life, died October, 1901, and they were buried in Union cemetery at Irwin, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Hayden are the parents of children : 1. Frank W., born October 11, 1869, married Ella Weddell, and they have two daughters-Mildred and Gertrude. 2. Harry E., born March 31, 1872, died August 5, 1897. 3. William Findlay, born July 14, 1874, married, October 21, 1899, at Irwin, Pennsylvania, Margaret, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph B. Martin ; they have one daughter, Elizabeth Jane, born October 18, 1900. 4. John B., born January 5, 1877, married in 1898 Lydia Baer, and they have a son, Clarence Hayden ; 5 Cyrus H., and 6. Margaret B. (twins) born 1881. Cyrus H. married, in 1900, Mary Wingert, and they have one daughter, Louisa. Margaret married, in 1900, William K. Mayers, and they are the parents of three children living: Margaurite, John Kirk and William Russell. One child died in infancy.
GEORGE W. GOOD, a representative business man of Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, well known as a contractor and promoter, is a de- scendant by both paternal and maternal lines from pioneer stock of this section of the "Keystone" state. He traces his descent on both sides to both German and Swiss ancestors.
George W. Good, son of Henry Good, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1849, received his education there, and lived in Harrison City, until 1873, when he removed with his family to Greensburg, same county. Here he was engaged in the musical instrument business until 1880, when he removed with his family to Altoona, Pennsylvania, and continued this business for a time. About 1886 he returned to Greensburg and engaged in the general contracting business, in which he made a remarkably successful record. His first contract of importance was the construction of the Greensburg, Jeannette and Pittsburg trolley line, and was one of the promoters and builders of the Greensburg and Southern trolley line. He also executed large contracts for street paving in Greensburg, and many others of a public or semi-publie nature. Among the important buildings in the city which he erected are the following: The court house, in 1891, which he erected in the remarkably short time of forty-seven days ; John W. Pollin's store building; St. Clair Opera House; Star brewery ; parochial school; Westmoreland Grocery Company's building, and many others. He was always ready to promote anything that promised for the welfare and improvement of the city, and allowed no opportunity to pass to further its inter- ests. He was a man of sound business judgment and keen discernment, and had won the respect and confidence of all who knew him. He was a member and dea- con of the Reformed church. He was also a member of the following organi- zations : Greensburg Lodge, No. 518, F. and A. M .; Urania Chapter,No. 192; Kedron Commandery, No. 18, K. T. He died January 6, 1905, regretted by a large circle of friends. He was one of the leading business men of Greensburg, and commanded unalloyed confidence and regard in his native county. He married Maria Lenhart, a native of Westmoreland county, daughter of Michael Lenhart, whose ancestors were among the early settlers in Westmoreland county, and had three children: Minnie, married Curtis H. Greeg, an attorney of
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Greensburg; Lavinia, wife of P. W. Hudson, secretary of the Opera House Company, Greensburg, Pennsylvania ; Frank, of whom later.
Frank Good, only son of George W. and Maria (Lenhart) Good, was born in Harrison City, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, February 6, 1872. Al- most his entire life hitherto has been spent in Greensburg. It was there he re- ceived his early education in the public schools, later entering the high school and graduating as a member of the class of 1889. He then entered the Westmore- land and Jefferson College, where he remained as a student for two years, but did not complete the entire course. Withdrawing from this institution he re- turned to Greensburg, where he commenced the practical study of law under the preceptorship and in the office of Curtis H. Greeg, one of the leading mem- bers of the bar in Westmoreland county, and continued these studies under this able tuition and guidance until he was eligible for admission to the bar, which occurred in April, 1895. Since that time he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Greensburg, though other interests demand a good portion of his time and attention. He became associated in business with his father under the firm name of Good & Company. He is at the present time (1906) president of the St. Clair Opera House Company, a very flourishing institution. His political proclivities are Democratic, and he is a member of the Reformed church. He is associated fraternally with the following organizations : West- moreland Lodge, No. 518, A. F. and A. M. ; Urania Chapter, No. 192, R. A. M .; Kedron Commandery, No. 16, K. T .; Lodge No. 511. B. P. O. E. Mr. Good married, October 16, 1902, Viola Frantz, of New Rochelle, New York, daugh- ter of Jacob F. Frantz, president of the Twentieth Century Dental Company, a large concern in the city of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Good have two children : Gertrude, born January 1, 1904: George, June 15, 1905.
JOHN F. MITINGER. Among the old and honored families of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, noted for their honor and integrity of character, may be mentioned the Mitinger family, descendants of a German ancestry.
Samuel Mitinger, father of John F. Mitinger, and founder of the West- moreland county branch of the family, was born in one of the New England states, where he was reared and educated. During young manhood he came to Pennsylvania and located in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, near the present city of Greensburg, where he identified himself with agricultural pursuits, which he continued until his decease, which occurred in the year 1867. He was one of the prominent farmers and dairymen of the county, and was the pioneer in the establishment of a milk route with wagon de- livery in the city of Greensburg. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and at the time of his demise was an advocate of the prin- ciples of the Republican party. He married Catherine Poorman, who bore him seven children, five of whom are living at the present time ( 1905) : William Leonard, whose personal sketch follows this in the work ; James McConaughy, of Greensburg: Charles Austin, a resident of Wilkinsburg, a suburb of the city of Pittsburg; Lizzie, at home; and Dr. Joseph Edwin, whose personal sketch follows that of William Leonard. At the death of Samuel Mitinger his widow was left with a family of seven small children, for whom she provided to the best of her ability, and as the sons approached years of maturity they proved themselves worthy of the devotion of their mother, being energetic, willing to work and ready to assist her in every possible way. Mrs. Mitinger died June 29, 1894.
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
John F. Mitinger, son of Samuel and Catherine (Poorman) Mitinger, was born in South Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Oc- tober 5, 1851. He resided on the farm until the age of sixteen years, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Greensburg, in which city the remainder of his life was spent. He obtained a fair education in the common schools of his native county, but owing to the death of his father the practical duties and responsibilities were early placed upon his shoulders. His first employment after locating in Greensburg was that of driving a work team, but shortly afterwards he secured a position as messenger in the local office of the Adams Express Company. Later he became a clerk in the restaurant and ice cream business of Joseph Taylor, with whom he remained until 1879, when he engaged in business on his own account in the building now occupied by the Singer Sewing Machine Company, in East Pittsburg street, where he contin- ued operations for a number of years and where he laid the foundation for the comfortable fortune which he acquired during his active career. In 1886 he purchased what is now known as the Mitinger Block, in South Main street, re- modeling the building when the growth of his business demanded increased facilities, and there continuing to conduct a general baking and confectionery business until his death, his establishment being the leading one in that line in the city. He controlled a large wholesale and retail trade, special attention be- ing given to the manufacture of candies and ice cream. The enterprise is still carried forward by his brothers, who are classed among the prominent business men of the community.
Mr. Mitinger identified himself with various civic and business interests of importance, and was essentially public-spirited and progressive in his attitude as a citizen and business man. He was a stockholder and director in the West- moreland National Bank and treasurer of the Greensburg Building and Loan Association. He early became a member of the Greensburg fire department, in which he always evinced a deep interest. He was a valued member of the Pennsylvania Firemen's Association, of which he was president in 1900, and he previously served as president of the Western Pennsylvania Firemen's Associa- tion, in which about thirty counties are represented. He was chief of the Greensburg fire department at the time of his death, having been the incumbent for three terms. Honest, straightforward and endowed with marked executive ability, Mr. Mitinger amassed a handsome competency, his estate at the time of his decease, August 1, 1904, being conservatively estimated at a valuation of one hundred thousand dollars. A very considerable portion of this was devised to various institutions, and his bequests were the largest in this line ever made by any citizen of Greensburg. He remembered the church with which he was connected, the Greensburg Hospital, the Children's Aid Society, the Greensburg hose companies, as well as many relatives and intimate friends. His name was a synonym of honor and his loss was deeply felt in the business and social life of the city, with whose interests he had been so long and prominently connected.
WILLIAM LEONARD MITINGER, son of Samuel and Catherine (Poorman) Mitinger, was born in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1854, and is now numbered among the business men of Greensburg.
He was a lad of about thirteen years at the time of his father's death, and from thenceforth was compelled largely to provide for his own maintenance and to depend upon his own resources. He was enabled to avail himself of the ad- vantages of the public schools of his native township, and after completing his
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
studies became a clerk in the shoe store of Theodore F. Anshutz, of Greens- burg, and later became an apprentice in the foundry of the Fisher and Hawkly Company, at Greensburg, where he learned the trade of iron moulding, which, however, he never followed as an occupation after completing his apprentice- ship. He accepted a clerkship in the Derry office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and after a short period of time became a locomotive fireman in the employ of the same company. In this capacity he served five years, at the ex- piration of which he was promoted to the responsible position of engineer, in which he continued for fourteen and half years, becoming one of the trusted and popular engineers of the Pennsylvania system. He then ac- cepted a position as engineer for a firm of railroad contractors, after which he secured a clerkship in the office of the county recorder of Westmoreland county, a position which he continued to hold for three years. Thereafter he was cmt- ployed as salesman in the store of his older brother, John F. Mitinger, whose sketch precedes this, with whom he remained until 1903, when he was ap- pointed secretary to Senator Cyrus E. Woods, chairman of judiciary (general committee) of the state senate, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, remaining the in- cumbent of this office for one term. Upon his return to Greensburg he re- entered the employ of his brother, with whom he remained until the death of the latter, when he assumed charge of the business in association with his younger brother, Dr. Joseph Edwin Mitinger, whose sketch follows this, and they have continued the same most successfully up to the present time. William L. Mitinger has practically the entire active management of the business, and is ably upholding the high reputation attained by the concern. In 1900 Mr. Mitinger served as census enumerator in Greensburg, and has also held other positions of trust and responsibility. He is an effective worker in the interests of the Republican party. Mr. Mitinger married, July 16, 1885, Elsie A. Slack. daughter of David and Elizabeth Slack, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and of the four children of this union only one is living, Elizabeth Catherine. Mr. and Mrs. Mitinger are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of their home city.
JOSEPH EDWIN MITINGER, D. D. S., son of Samuel and Cath- erine (Poorman) Mitinger, was born in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, January 5, 1863, and is now one of the representative members of the dental profession in Westmoreland county, and engaged in the successful practice of the same in the city of Greensburg.
He acquired his early educational advantages in the public schools and seminary of Greensburg. After leaving school he secured a position in the scale or weighing office of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Huff Station, being em- ployed as weighing clerk, in which capacity he had charge of the weighing of all coke handled at this point by the company. After following this line of work for a period of almost six years, he matriculated in the Pennsylvania Col- lege of Dentistry, in the city of Philadelphia, where he completed the prescribed course, graduating as a member of the class of 1892 and receiving his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. He at once opened an office in Greensburg, where he has since been actively engaged in the work of his profession. Dur- ing the passing years his practice has increased in volume and importance, and his offices are fully equipped with every modern and practical device for both operative and laboratory work. In politics Dr. Mitinger gives an unqualified allegiance to the Republican party. He is actively identified with the Masonic order, and is a prominent member of the Greensburg Driving Club, of which he
THE NEW VAHY PUREir LIBRARY
Jael Painles
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
is secretary. He takes a keen and active interest in athletic sports. Dr. Mit- inger married, April 11, 1895, Mary Clarke Bray, born in Rockaway, New jer- sey, a daughter of John W. and Caroline Z. Bray. Their children are : Edward, born October 31, 1898; and Robert, born May 17, 1902.
LEONARD KECK. Both by birth and lineage Leonard Keck, of Greensburg, is a German. Adam Keck was a native of Wurtemberg and there followed the calling of a farmer. His son, Christian Keck, was born in the same place and devoted himself likewise to agricultural pursuits. In his latter years he emigrated to the United States, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was a regular attendant and strict member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. In 1832 he married Rosa, daughter of Andrew Schwartz, and of their ten children six are now living, among them Leonard, mentioned hereafter. Christian Keck died October 9, 1881.
Leonard Keck, youngest son of Christian and Rosa (Schwartz) Keck, was born April 12, 1849, in Wurtemberg, and was reared on a farm, receiving his education in private schools. He learned the trade of a linen weaver, which he followed for two years. At the age of seventeen he resolved to seek his for- tune in the United States, and in company with his brother Frederick embarked on a westward bound vessel which landed them in New York city, June 28, 1866. Failing to secure any remunerative employment in that city he proceeded to western Pennsylvania, where he dug coal and worked at whatever else of- fered for the space of three months. In 1869 he moved to Greensburg, where he became a clerk in the store of Donohoe & Brother, to whom his services were peculiarly acceptable on account of his ability to speak the German language, many of their customers being natives of the Fatherland. He remained with the firm eleven years, and in 1880 opened a store on Main street, where his space was not one-half as large as any one of the three departments of his present ex- tensive establishment. This initial effort was made about the time when Greens- burg began to give promise in regard to her future importance as an industrial and commercial centre of western Pennsylvania, and for over twenty years Mr. Keck successfully conducted his Main street store, never interesting him- self in politics or engaging in speculations, but giving his whole time and at- tention to his business. He soon acquired a patronage and an increase of trade calling for a far larger space and stock of goods than he then owned. To meet this demand he enlarged his present site on South Main street, near the court house, where his establishment is divided into three commodious departments, each of which is under the charge of an experienced manager. His sales yearly are in the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and he numbers among his patrons the leading families of the town and county. Mr. Keck married, October 23, 1872, Lydia A., daughter of George Hons, of New Stanton, and their children are: Joseph Edward, born June 30, 1874; Charles Warden, born June 26, 1876: Annie Marie, born August 29, 1885 ; Helen Winifred, born January 3, 1888; Leonard B., born October 11, 1890; George E., born October 22, 1893 ; Richard Allen, born February II, 1895 ; and John Adam, born March 21, 1897.
COLONEL ISRAEL PAINTER was born in Hempfield township. Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1810. He was of German descent on both his father's and mother's side. Jacob Painter, his grandfather, after marriage emigrated from Mecklenburg, Germany, and settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania. Here six children were born : Jacob, Michael, John and
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Tobias. One daughter was married to George Myers, and the other was mar- ried to Christopher Harrold. Jacob Painter and his wife died and were buried in Berks county. Jacob Painter, their eldest son, married a daughter of a Mr. Rapiere, who lived in Indiana county, and settled on a farm in Hempfield town- ship, situated on the Big Sewickley creek, eight miles south of Greensburg, which was known for many years as the "Judge Painter place." By his first wife he had children : Betsey, Rebecca, Catharine, Tobias, George, Elias. His first wife died, and was buried at Harrold's Church. He married (second) Catharine, daughter of Christopher and Elizabeth ( Mueller ) Lobingier. By her he had ten children : Polly, John, Jacob, Christopher, George, Joseph, Benjamin, Susan, Israel and Sophia. Jacob Painter always lived on the farm on which he first settled. He built on the place a stone grist mill which he carried on in connection with his farming. He was an energetic, active business man, a member of the legislature for several terms, justice of the peace for many years, and was the Whig candidate for congress against William Findley, in which contest he came within seventeen votes of being elected. He held the position of associate judge at the time of his death. He was a man of com- manding presence, being about six feet in height, heavy set, and weighing about two hundred and twenty pounds. In personal appearance his son, Colonel Israel Painter, is said to have resembled him. He died at the age of fifty-nine, and was buried at Harrold Church. His widow, Catharine, survived him about thirty years, lived with her sons, Christopher and Israel, at the "Willow-tree Farm," where she died, aged eighty-four, and was buried at Markle cemetery. His daughter Betsey was wife of General Joseph Markle, and mother of Gen- eral C. P. Markle, of "Millgrove."
Christopher Lobingier, grandfather of Catharine Lobinger, the second wife of Judge Jacob Painter, came from Mecklenberg, Germany, and settled in Dauphin county. He was married before leaving Germany. Little is known of him except that he was a farmer, and that both he and his wife died, and are buried in Dauphin county. They had one son, Christopher, who married ( 1766): Elizabeth Mueller, by whom he had eight children: John, Christopher, Cath- arine, Barbara, Mary, Elizabeth, Susan and George. His wife died at Stoys- town, Somerset county, September 15, 1815, aged seventy-one years. He set- tled in Mount Pleasant township in 1772, was a member of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention of 1776, and of the house of representatives from 1791 to 1793. He died July 4, 1798, and was buried at the Presbyterian meet- ing house near Pleasant Unity.
Israel Painter lived at home until he was seventeen years of age. He then taught the district school two terms, and was employed as clerk at Mount Pleasant in his brother Christopher's store one year. He then attended several terms at Jefferson College, Canonsburg. In company with a Mr. Newmyer in 1830, he purchased his brother's store in Mount Pleasant and carried it on one year. He next built the "Mastodon" Salt Works, subsequently became inter- ested in the "Fountain" and "Mammoth" salt works and was the owner of them all at the time of his death. In company with Daniel Waltz, he put down a salt well in Monongah county, West Virginia, and established salt works there, an enterprise requiring no small amount of pluck and energy, on account of the transportation through an almost unbroken wilderness of everything required in its construction and operation. He was interested in these works from 1832 to 1835. He became at an early date an extensive dealer in live stock-horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. His operations in this line of trade took a wide range, extending through
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, and during the Civil war his dealings with the government in cattle, horses and mules were on a large scale. Though not of the same political faith, he enjoyed the acquaintance and confidence of President Lincoln, a relation which was of great service to him in his operations with the government. Through his brother Christopher he became at one time largely interested in the cotton trade, mak- ing a number of trips to New Orleans in that interest. His operations in real estate were carried on upon the most extended scale. These embraced the pur- chase and sale of over one hundred farms in Westmorland county alone, while he also operated largely in lands in Fayette, Indiana, and other Western Penn- sylvania counties. At the time of his death he was the owner of thirty-two farms. He operated largely in oil and oil lands. From 1865 to the time of his death Colonel Painter gave much attention to coal and coal lands. He was the first to introduce coal into the eastern market, western Pennsylvania, eastern manufacturers of gas using up to that time an imported coal as a gas coal for that purpose. In company with John George, Jr., Colonel Lewis McFarland and others, he purchased large tracts of coal lands on the line of the Penn- sylvania railroad in North Huntingdon township, selling the coal to the Penn Gas-Coal Company and Westmoreland Coal Company. In company with Gen- eral Herman Haught, John Derbyshire, H. N. Burroughs, S. B. and C. P. Markle, he bought and sold many hundreds of acres of coal lands in Sewickley township. He built seventy-four coking ovens in Bullskin township, Fayette county in 1873, and carried them on till 1879. He owned one hundred and sev- enty acres of coking coal lands near Mount Pleasant at the time of his death. He was interested in contracts for the construction of sections of the Pennsyl- vania railroad, of the Northwest Pennsylvania railroad, also of the Pittsburg and Erie and Connellsville railroads. He was a stockholder in the Mount Pleasant and Robbstown turnpike, also in the Youghiogheny Navigation Com- pany. He was prime mover in the building of the Southwest Pennsylvania railroad, also the Mount Pleasant and Broad Ford railroad, and a director in both, as also in the Pittsburg and Connellsville railroad. He was associated with Governor John W. Geary in contesting the will of Stephen Girard, in behalf of the heirs of the latter against the city of Philadelphia. He represented his district in the house of representatives from 1846 to 1848; was canal commis- sioner from 1849 to 1852 : was a delegate to the Democratic national convention the party. He was at one time a candidate for his party for nomination to con- at Charlestown, South Carolina, identifying himself with the Douglas wing of gress, but was defeated in the convention by Hon. Henry D. Foster. His death was the result of an accident. By a fall a glass bottle was crushed in his hand, by which the latter was so cut and lacerated he survived the effect of it only ten days. He died July 4, 1880. It has fallen to the lot of but few men to be more prominent in business affairs than Colonel Israel Painter. His energy and will seemed inexhaustible. He was constantly on the alert. With him to think was to act. Dufficulties and obstacles which would have overwhelmed and swamped most men only inspired in him renewed exertions. All his enterprises were conducted on a large scale. To figure in a small way with him was an im- possibility. In his disposition he was wholesouled and genial, consequently few men commanded a wider or warmer circle of friends.
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