USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 39
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Mr. Rinehart married, November 6, 1890, Mary McGrew, daughter of Zerah and Adaline ( Phillips) McGrew, and granddaughter of Nathan and Catharine (Hayden) McGrew. Zerah McGrew, who died in 1882, was born and reared in Rostraver township, was a farmer by occupation, and after his marriage to Adaline Phillips, who is living at the present time (1905), removed to Mckeesport, where he was one of the influential citizens and a member of the borough council, and where his death occurred. He was well and favorably known throughout the community, was a devout Christian, and a charter mem- ber of the Christian church of Mckeesport, in which he took an active part. Ile was also a member of the F. and A. M., I. O. O. F., and N. of M. C., in which he took an active and prominent part. Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart are the parents of two children : Harry F. and Virginia Lucretia Rinehart. The fam- ily are members of the Christian church.
JACOB D. SHANER, a druggist and postmaster of Suterville, was born at Robbins, Westmoreland county, November 6, 1856. His grandfather. Jonathan Shaner, was the first American ancestor of the family, having emi- grated from Germany and settled in what is now known as Shaner's Station, the place being named for him. He entered government land and built a log house, where he lived during the active years of his life. In his latter years he retired and resided with his children.
Daniel Shaner, a son of Jonathan Shaner, was born at Shaner's Station, in 1834, and there he was reared, educated and learned his trades, those of car- penter and machinist. While there he married Susanna Dewalt, by whom he had ten children, six of whom are still living : Romeo, a resident of Moberly, Missouri ; Jacob D., of whom later : Jonathan W., a resident of Monongahela City ; Frank S. : Mollie, wife of F. A. Hamilton, of Monongahela City ; Mar- 2 -- 17
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garet, wife of a Mr. Teeple, also of Monongahela City. Some years after his marriage he removed to Riverton, Allegheny county, where he worked for several years at carpentering and building, then went to Boston, Allegheny county, and engaged in the sawmill and lumber business. He then located at Buena Vista and took charge of the engines and machinery for the Armstrong coal mines. He continued there for about four years, then went to Monon- gahela City, where he was employed in the planing mills of Neal Blythe and Company as foreman. He died there in 1902. Politically he was a staunch Republican. He was a veteran of the Civil war, serving in the artillery ser- vice during the entire period of hostilities ; he was a member of the G. A. R. In early life he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, but later joined the Presbyterian church.
Jacob D. Shaner was reared in his native place and attended the common schools until about his tenth year, when he began to work, firing the engines at the coal mines in Boston. He gradually rose to the position of engineer, and continued at that place until he had reached the age of twenty-one. He then removed to Buena Vista and was employed at the mines for about two years, then returned to Boston, and was given charge of the company stores at that place. After a short time he went to Monongahela City and engaged in teaming and transfer bus work, but in 1880 he came to Suterville and found employment in the drug store of his cousin, A. L. Marsh, under whom he be- gan the study of the druggist profession. After seven years he went into the drug business for himself, and on April 1, 1904, removed to his present modern quarters in the First National Bank building. He is a member of the junior O. U. A. M. Politically he is a Republican, and received his appointment of postmaster during the Mckinley administration and is now serving a second term. Mr. Shaner married, in September, 1892, Ann Pyle, of Suterville. One child has been born to them, Thelma Shaner.
HENRY W. NULL, an enterprising and prosperous business man of West Newton, proprietor of a shoe store which is located in one of the best business blocks of that thriving town, is a native of South Huntingdon town- ship, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, born January 5, 1854.
Captain Philip Null, great-grandfather of Henry W. Null, was born in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, and was there reared and educated. He was an officer in the Revolutionary war, serving under Generals Marion and Sump- ter, and upon the cessation of hostilities located and resided for some years in Lincolnton, North Carolina. He then returned north and for a time was a resident of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, living in the vicinity of Greensburg, from whence he removed to West Virginia, locating on the Little Kanawa river where he spent the latter years of his life, passing away at an advanced age.
Henry Null, grandfather of Henry W. Null, was a native of Lincolnton, North Carolina, and was ten years of age when his parents removed to West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, where he resided until attaining manhood. Shortly after his marriage he located in East Huntingdon township. He was a very successful farmer and business manager, and became an extensive land owner, his holdings lying both in East and South Huntingdon townships. He was a Whig in politics. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. By his marriage to Elizabeth Pool nine children were born-seven sons and two daughters-all of whom with one exception inherited and occupied portions of his large landed estate. Their names are as follows: Joseph, deceased ;
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Jonathan, deceased ; Jacob, deceased ; Henry H., a resident of Greensburg, now (1905) in his ninety-first year ; Francis M., who resides on a portion of the old homestead in East Huntingdon township; Philip, deceased; Andrew J., deceased, mentioned hereafter ; Catherine, deceased, who was the wife of Will- iam Ruff ; and Keziah, deceased, who was the wife of Jolin Sloan. Philip, who died in early manhood, was the exception above referred to. The father of these children died at the age of sixty-five years.
Andrew J. Null, father of Henry W. Null, was born in South Hunting- don township, Pennsylvania, in 1822, on the old homestead and resided thereon continuously all his lifetime. He was a farmer by occupation, and by diligence and perseverance accumulated a comfortable competence for his declining years. He was twice married, first to Matilda Ruff, and had one child, B. F .. who resides on the homestead. He married (second). Lucinda Robinson, born in Rostraver township. Westmoreland county, daughter of Thomas and Achsah ( Bailey) Robinson, and a direct descendant of Thomas Bailey, a citizen of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1650, and of Ezra Perry, who was a citizen of Sand- wich, Massachusetts, in 1644. Prominent among her ancestors were Captain James Perry, of Revolutionary war fame, and Captain Nathaniel Perry, who distinguished himself in the French and Indian wars. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Null, as follows: Lucetta, wife of Dr. D. Crise, of Escondido, California : Matilda, wife of Edward J. Hatch, of Escondido, Cali- fornia ; Henry W., mentioned hereafter ; and Mary E., deceased, who was the wife of John Pool. Andrew J. Null ( father) died at his home in South Hunt- ingdon township, 1866; he was survived by his wife, who passed away in the same place in the year 1890.
Henry W. Null resided at home until he attained the age of nineteen years, in the meantime obtaining a common school education. When seventeen years old he began teaching in the district school and continued the same for two years. He then came to West Newton and secured a position in the dry goods store of N. B. Sproat, and was subsequently employed for many years in the department store of S. C. Weimer. In 1895 he embarked in the shoe business in the Elliott building on the corner of Main and Second streets, West Newton. This enterprise proved a financial success, and the steady growth of the busi- ness necessitated his removal to more commodious quarters, and accordingly in the fall of 1901 he erected a building of his own, which is one of the best business blocks in the town, to which he removed. In addition to the duties devolving upon him in the management of his extensive establishment Mr. Null serves as a director of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, rendering valu- able service in that capacity. He is a member of the school board of West Newton, and he has also filled several other minor township offices. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church, and an advocate and strong sup- porter of Republican principles. Mr. Null married in 1884. Mary E. Mell- wain, of West Newton, daughter of Robert J. and Martha McIlwain, who died in 1887, leaving two children, one of whom survives, Mary R. Null. In 1904 Mr. Null married Mary Adelaide Mclaughlin, daughter of Andrew J. and Ella ( Wilgus) Mclaughlin, of West Newton.
JAMES E. DOUGLASS, of West Newton, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, organizer of the Douglass Raugh Coal and Coke Company, was born January 8. 1851, in Elizabeth township, Allegheny county, son of John J. and Mary S. (Patterson) Douglass. He is one of the six surviving children of a family of twelve, the others being: Robert P., superintendent of the Eliza furnace of the Jones and Laughlin steel works for more than twenty-five years,
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now retired; Thomas P., of Pittsburg, with the Jones and Laughlin steel works; Margaret, wife of James H. McCune, Birmingham, Alabama ; John S., M. D., of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Elijah R., superintendent of the coke works at Connellsville.
The paternal grandfather, Thomas Douglass, came from Adams county, while yet a young man, buying a farm near Mt. Vernon church, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was survived by a large family of children, only one of whom is still living, Maria, the wife of T. W. Weddell, resident on a farm near Mckeesport, she at the age of ninety-two and he at the age of ninety-three.
John J. Douglass, son of Thomas Douglass, was born January 13, 1811, in Elizabeth township, Allegheny county, near Buena Vista, within three miles of where he spent the last fifty-four years of his life. He learned the trade of cooper in early life, but followed it only a short time. In 1838 he bought land at Douglass and moved there, and two years later purchased a grist mill which he operated for many years. During the war, in which his sons were fighting for the Union, it burned to the ground, at the time when his insurance had just expired, and he was compelled to buy flour for the family supply when that commodity was selling at eighteen dollars a barrel. He was a staunch Republican in politics, but never a bigoted partisan, and for twenty years was justice of the peace, a fact which gained for him the appellation of Squire Douglass, a name which elung to him long after he had retired from the office. During the greater part of his life he was a member of the United Presbyterian church, but four years prior to his death joined the Presbyterian church and was an honored elder at the time of his death. His generous dis- position, often imposed upon but never narrowed, reduced his wordly posses- sions hut gained him a respect and admiration that made him greatly mourned when his death occurred, September 14, 1894.
The maternal grandfather, John R. Patterson, was born in 1774. He came to Westmoreland county from the eastern part of Pennsylvania in an early day of the county's history, and settled in Rostraver township on a farm where he resided up to within four or five years of his death. During those four or five vears he lived at West Newton, where he died in 1886, at the age of ninety-five. His wife, Mary ( Orr) Patterson, born in 1791, died in 1853. Their daughter, the mother of James E. Douglass, was born at Rostraver, Westmoreland county. April 4, 1817, died August 26, 1871.
James E. Douglass grew up and was educated in the place of his birth, at- tending public schools. At the age of twenty years he left the farm and learned the trade of carpenter, at which he worked for ten years. In 1883 he engaged in the mercantile business at Douglass, and was identified with same for twenty- one years. During a portion of this time he was postmaster and ticket and ex- press agent for the P. and L. E. Railroad. In 1901 he sold his business to the Federal Supply Company, and removed to West Newton. He organized the Douglass Coal Company in 1892, and was one of the well known coal operators of this state until 1899, when he sold the mines to the Pittsburg Coal Company ; he retained the residence properties, numbering some fourteen houses. He or- ganized the Douglass Raugh Coal and Coke Company, in 1904, acquiring four thousand acres of land with valuable coal veins in Clarksburg, West Virginia. They have a seven foot vein of Pittsburg coal. In addition to these interests he owns sixty-one valuable building lots in Mckeesport, was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of West Newton, and the Hazelwood bank of Pitts- burg, and two other well known banks, and is one of the promoters of the West
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Newton and Webster street railway line, which will shortly be in operation. He is a Republican, and is one of the leading citizens of West Newton. He is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 508, F. and A. M., of Pittsburg; Zernbabie Chapter, No. 162, R. A. M., of Pittsburg; Pennsylvania Consistory and Syria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Pittsburg. Mr. Douglass married, October 3, 1889, Lizzie May Nicholls, of Elizabeth township. Their children are: Harry Stantley, born June 24, 1890; David R., April 20, 1892 ; Margaret M., June 29, 1895 ; and James Gordon, May 8, 1898.
GEORGE H. STEVENS. The father of George H. Stevens, of Monessen, was born in London, England, his name being William H. Stevens. He was a millwright, and after his immigration to this country lived for some time in New York city. Thence he moved to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and for thirty years had charge of the machinery department in the establishment of Jones & Laughlin, of Pittsburg. His wife was Margaret Watters, a native of England, but of Scotch and Welsh extraction, and they were the parents of a son, George H., mentioned hereafter. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens both died in Allegheny.
George H. Stevens, son of William H. and Margaret (Watters) Stevens, was born September 6, 1862, in New York city, and received his education in the public and high schools of Pittsburg. In his eighteenth year he learned the trade of a glass mould-maker at which he was employed until the autumn of 1887, in Pittsburg. He was then appointed police inspector of the south side of the city, and retained the position until the autumn of 1889, when he re- signed in order to accept a place in the internal revenue department of the United States government, serving under Collector Warncastle during the Harrison administration. He was retired in the autumn of 1893, after which he became the proprietor of the Hotel McKee, at Jeannette, conducting the establishment until June, 1903, when he moved to Monongahela City and there conducted the Commercial Hotel until April, 1905. He then took up his abode in Monessen in order to assume the duties of superintendent of the Independent Brewing Company, having the Homestead, Braddock, Monongahela City, Charleroi, and Monessen plants under his supervision.
While a resident of Jeannette he assisted in the organization of the Union Transfer Company, of which he is one of the directors. During the period of his residence in Monongahela City he was instrumental in the forming of the Monongahela City, Ellsworth & Washington Street Railway, in which com- Fany he has served as secretary and treasurer. He also aided in found- ing the Monongahela Oil and Gas Company and the Monongahela Hardwood Company, being one of the directors of the former and secretary of the latter. Still another enterprise in the organization of which he took a leading part is the Monongahela Valley Oil Company, with excavations at Marietta, Washington county, Ohio. In this company he holds the offices of secretary and treasurer. During the years in which he made his home in Jeannette he was actively engaged in politics, and in 1899 was chosen to represent his county in the state legislature, being re-elected in 1901 and 1903. Each time his majority increased, and he enjoys the distinction of being the only man who has ever succeeded himself twice from this county. During each session he served on a number of committees, among them the committee on appropriations, and in 1903 was chairman of the law and order committee. He is one of the trustees of Monongahela Lodge, of Fraternal Order of Eagles, - ' belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mount Moriah Lodge,
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Pittsburg, Pittsburg Encampment, and the Benevolent Protective Order ot Elks, No. 480, of Jeannette, holding in the last named body the rank of past exalted ruler. Mr. Stevens married, June 10, 1894, Estella Clyde, daugnter of Daniel and Sarah Ridenover, of Scottdale, and they are the parents of three children : William H., Daniel W., and George H., junior.
EDWARD W. KEENAN, proprietor of the Monongahela House, Monessen, Pennsylvania, is a native of Youngstown, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, born August 17, 1857, son of John B. and Lucy ( West) Keenan.
John B. Keenan ( father) was a son of James Keenan, better known as Squire Keenan. He was born in Youngstown, Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, and throughout the active years of his career was the proprietor of a hotel. He organized Company K, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and went out with the same during the civil war, serving in the capacity of cap- tain, but shortly afterward was promoted to the rank of major. He was wounded in the shoulder at the second battle of Bull Run, and was killed May 11, 1864, at Spottsylvania Court House. He and his wife, Lucy ( West) Keenan, were the parents of the following children : James, deceased; Edward W., mentioned hereafter ; John, deceased ; Frank, Emma, deceased.
Edward W. Keenan attended the common schools in the neighborhood of his home until twelve years of age, when he was forced to earn his own liveli- hood, working among the farmers, cutting wood, in the saw mills, and at various other labors. He later learned the shoemaking trade, which he fol- lowed for five years, after which he engaged in the hotel business. In 1881 he moved to Greensburg and there conducted the Keenan House for eighteen months at the expiration of which time he became the proprietor of the Fisher House, which he conducted for three years. He then went to Latrobe and assumed the management of the Parker House, continuing the same for three years. He then returned to Greensburg and fitted up the Hotel Stark, which he operated two years and then disposed of. He then accepted a position as travelling salesman, and served in that capacity until October, 1903, when he located in Monessen, Westmoreland county, where he purchased the contents of the Monongahela House. He completely refitted the hotel, which has ac- commodations for forty guests, and which is now one of the best equipped hotels in the county, the service and cuisine being unexcelled. Mr. Keenan is especially adapted for this line of business, as he is genial, affable and generous, which characteristics account for his popularity. In 1889 Mr. Keenan was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for the nomination of sheriff, but was defeated by his opponent. He has always taken a keen interest in politics, being one of the leading Democrats of the county. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, affiliating with Lodge No. 773, and of the G. B. U.
In 1884 Mr. Keenan married Mrs. Annie Jack, daughter of John Easton, who died November 6, 1885, leaving him one child, John Hillery Keenan, who is now (1905) a student at Dickinson Law School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1892 Mr. Keenan married for his second wife Alice Foster, daughter of Henry Foster.
JOHN A. SHEETZ. The grandfather of John A. Sheetz, of Mo- messen, was Joseph Sheetz, a native of the eastern part of Pennsylvania, possi- blv of Lancaster county. He was a cabinetmaker and undertaker and lived
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Tiden
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to an advanced age, being ninety-two years old at the time of his death, which occurred in the spring of 1905. John C. Sheetz, son of Joseph Sheetz, was born in Roxbury, Somerset county, and has spent the most of his life as a miner. He married Malinda Cope, and a son was born to them: John A., mentioned hereafter. Mrs. Sheetz is deceased, and her husband is a resident of Berlin, Pennsylvania.
John A. Sheetz, son of John C. and Malinda (Cope) Sheetz, was born February 9, 1873, in Somerset county, where he passed the first fifteen years of his life, having learned the business of cigar making. He went to Mckees- port and thence to Berlin, but soon after settled in Greensburg, where he made his home until his removal to Monessen. Some two years after going to Greensburg he engaged in the manufacturing business on his own account, conducting the same for over ten years. In the latter part of 1902 he purchased at Monessen land on which then stood a small hotel, and to this he added, mak- ing of the building a substantial structure, capable of accommodating from thirty to forty guests. He gave it the name of Sheetz' Hotel and is still its successful proprietor. He is one of the stockholders in the People's National Bank. For many years Mr. Sheetz has been active in political affairs, and in 1900, while a resident of Greensburg ,was chosen tax collector, an office which he filled for three years. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, No. 773. He affiliates with the Democratic party, which he is ever ready to assist to the utmost of his power. Mr. Sheetz married, April II, 1893, Ger- trude Eholt, and they have five children: Marie, Paul E., John A., junior ; Perie, and Gertrude E. Mrs. Sheetz is a native of Greensburg. He and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church.
HENRY GEORGE SEIDEL. The father of Henry George Seidel, of Greensburg, was Christian Nicholas Seidel, who lived in Marburg, province of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and held the office of collector of the port between that province and Sachsen-Wiemar. He was a member of the Lutheran church. Mr. Seidel married Agnes, daughter of Nicholas Dotzenroth, of Mar- burg, and they had four sons: Henry George, mentioned hereafter : George, lives in Bethlehem, Orange Free State, South Africa ; Theodore, died in 1901. at home in Germany : and Jacob, lives with his widowed mother in the Father- land. Mr. Seidel died in 1869, in Germany.
Henry George Seidel, son of Christian Nicholas and Agnes (Dotzenroth) Seidel, was born June 27, 1857, in Marburg, Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and in 1871 emigrated to the United States, arriving in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on July 4. of that year. After working for a short time in a bakery in Allegheny City he learned the business of a barber, and in 1884 settled in Greensburg. He there rented from Wilson Baughman the shop which he has since continui- ously occupied and in which he has conducted a flourishing business, enjoying the best patronage of the town and its vicinity. Politically he is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Seidel married. December 11, 1900, Elizabeth L., daughter of Joshua and Susan Hutchinson, of Greensburg, and they are the parents of two daughters: Agnes Lucetta, born August 23, 1902: and Beatrice Elizabeth, born December 5, 1903.
WILLIAM J. HITCHMAN, of Mount Pleasant. was held in honor as one of the most prominent citizens of Westmoreland county, his busv activities during a long and successful career having been extended into all those lines which afford to the man of real ability a position of commanding
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influence. He was a potent factor in the development of the southern part of the county, and aided largely in whatever could be of advantage, whether in material, educational or moral ways, and was recognized as one of the most accomplished and broad-minded financiers in western Pennsylvania. Mr. Hitchman came of a distinguished ancestry, English on the paternal side, and Scotch-Irish on that of the mother. His paternal great-grandfather came to America as an officer in a British regiment during the reign of George III. He became interested in the affairs of the colonists, and sympathized with them in their yearnings for political freedom. These considerations led him to resign his commission and identify himself with the colonial cause. His sense of honor, however, would not admit of his drawing his sword against the country whose uniform he had worn, and he steadfastly declined all overtures to take military service, although he was offered several important posts in the continental army. His extreme sensitiveness with regard to fine points of honor seem to have been reflected in his descendants to the present generation. He made his home in Virginia, whence his son William removed to Pennsyl- vania, locating on Redstone creek, in what is now Fayette county, but which was then regarded as being within the boundaries of the "Old Dominion." William Hitchman married Nancy Gillespie, an estimable woman, and a mem- ber of a prominent family. They removed to near Mount Pleasant, West- moreland county, where Mr. Hitchman died, on what has long been known as the Robert Hitchman farm. He was the founder of the Hitchman family in Westmoreland county. His children were six sons and two daughters: John, James, Robert, Samuel, David, Gillespie, Ellen and Elizabeth.
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