History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Part 4

Author: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 860

USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 4

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Mr. Lowry married, May II, 1871, M. Emma, daughter of Robert and Margaret ( Reed) Patterson, both now deceased. Mrs. Lowry was born July 31, 1849. The children of this union are: Maggie Reed, born January, 1875. married George W. Rogers. Robert J. N., born August, 1878, killed by being thrown from a mail car, of which he was a United States postal clerk, March 18, 1905. He had served seven years in the United States navy department and was in the Spanish-American war. He had only been married two weeks when he lost his life. Thomas C., born June, 1880, still at home and associated with the Greensburg Review: he was in the navy three years. Nancy T., born 2-2

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

1882, married George L. Pollins. Samuel W., born November 29, 1884, married Mae Randolph, September, 1904, and they have Emma Grace, born November 15, 1905. Mary Emma, twin sister of Samuel, born November 29, 1884. Un- like many other prosperous business men Mr. Lowry believes in enjoying the profits of his business in home life and travel. With his wife and children he has made several extended tours through the south and west as far as the Pacific coast. Although sixty-two years of age he is scarcely taken for one of more than fifty-five. It may be added that he is a lover of his home and greatly attached to the children of his household, and it is his rule to present each one of his children with a gold watch upon the day they attain their majority.

HON. JOHN LATTA, one of the best known members of the West- moreland county bar, and a man universally admired and respected by the com- munity at large. He was born March 5, 1836 in Unity township, Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, son of Moses and Eliza (Graham) Latta, and is of Scotch-Irish descent. The progenitor of the Latta family in Westmoreland county was John Latta, grandfather of Hon. John Latta, who, with his brother Moses, settled in Mount Pleasant township, where the Mammoth Coke Works are now located. He married a Miss Storey of New Jersey, and by her had four children, among them being Moses Latta.

Moses Latta, father of John Latta, was born in 1790 in Mount Pleasant township, six miles north of the borough of Mount Pleasant, and in early life removed to Unity township, where he followed the occupation of farming. During the war of 1812 he enlisted in the company commanded by Captain Reynolds, but before his company reached the seat of war, a treaty of peace had been signed, and the troops returned home. He married Eliza Graham, daughter of Robert Graham, a native of Greensburg, and by occupation a horse dealer. Their children were: Mary Jane, wife of George R. Hughes, who resides on the old Latta homestead, and John, of whom later. Moses Latta died in February, 1848, when he was fifty-eight years old.

John Latta received his early educational training in the common schools of his native place, and subsequently attended Sewickley and Elder Ridge Academies, in which he spent about five years, thus forming an excellent foundation for a professional career. Determining to become a legal prac- titioner Mr. Latta formulated all his plans with that end in view. He entered, in 1857, into the study of law in Yale College, graduating from that institu- tion in 1859, and in November of the same year was admitted to the bar of Westmoreland county. He has since been in almost continuous practice of his profession. He was elected state senator in 1863, discharging the duties of that responsible office with efficiency and credit. He was elected to the legis- lature in 1871 and 1872, serving for two terms. Two years later he was nominated and elected lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, serving in that office for four years : he led the state ticket in the election, his majority being something over four thousand. When his term as lieutenant governor ex- pired, Mr. Latta returned to Greensburg, resuming the practice of his profes- sion. As a lawyer Hon. John Latta holds an eminent place in the ranks of his profession, and is a man of the people, ever advocating the interests of the poor and oppressed. Added to his other qualifications he is endowed with a natural gift of eloquence, and is one of the most prominent and convincing speakers of the county. Fraternally he holds membership in the Masonic Or- der belonging to the K. T., and is a R. A. M. : also A. O. U. W. He married, September 12, 1865, Emma A. Hope, a daughter of C. C. Hope, of Union-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

town, and a sister of W H. Hope, a land speculator of the city of Mexico. Four children were born to them, three of whom are living : Cuthbert H., born Sep- tember 7, 1866; Mary Maude, born March 17, 1868, married W. B. Ryan, general traffic agent for a Mexican railroad, who resides in the city of Mexico; and Isabel G., born February 17, 1875. Mrs. Latta died in 1876, and on De- cember 13, 1877 Mr. Latta married Rose McClellan, a daughter of E. B. Mc- Clellan, of Ludwick borough, and their children were: Rose, born December 21, 1879, married Joseph T. Brunot, now deceased ; Marie Josephine, born July 23, 1881, married R. T. Jamison ; John, born May 15, 1883, died in 1885 ; Poi- lard, born January 15, 1885; and Sarah Marguerite, born October 18, 1886.

THE NULL FAMILY. Colonel Millard Fillmore Null, the present capable prothonotary of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, was born April 5. 1854, at the old McKeans Stand (now Ruffsdale) in East Huntingdon town- ship, Westmoreland county. He is the son of Henry Harrison and Ellen (Dom) Null.

Captain Phillip Null, great-grandfather of Colonel M. F. Null, the Amer- ican ancestor, was born at Wrightsville, York county, Pennsylvania, about 1755. His parents were Huguenots, from the French-German district, known as Alsace-Loraine and were French people. Phillip settled in Reading, Penn- sylvania bout 1731. In 1780 he went as a captain of the revolutionary war in the militia to North Carolina, and was at the battle of Camden, August, 1780, where General Gates was defeated by Cornwallis. He was also under the command of General Francis Marion, for whom he named his youngest son. He settled at Lincolnton, North Carolina, and married Margaret Beau- champ ("Bushong") about 1781. She was of Rockingham county, Virginia. Their eldest son, Henry Null, the grandfather of Millard F. Null, was born April 24, 1783, in North Carolina, the eldest of six children. The family re- sided several years at the home of their grandfather, Pierre Beauchamp, in Vir- ginia. They crossed the Alleghany mountains in 1799, locating in Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, on land upon which now stands St. Joseph's Acad- emy at Greensburg. After a few years the family, except three children, re- moved to Putnam county, Virginia, locating on several hundred acres of land taken on an officer's script. His son Henry and two married daughters re- mained in Westmoreland county. Captain Phillip Null died at Point Pleasant, Virginia in 1834 of cholera, while en route to visit his son Henry at Greens- burg. Pennsylvania.

Henry Null, grandfather of Colonel Millard F. Null, and one of the three who remained in Westmoreland county, located at "MeKeans Old Stand" in East Huntingdon township. He married Elizabeth Pool, of Reading, Penn- sylvania, May 20, 1804. They had seven sons and two daughters, all reared at McKeans Old Stand (Ruffsdale), each child having a farm given him by his father. Henry Null began life's activities as a farmer. He became promoter of many large business enterprises and was a large contractor, constructing por- tions of the old Pennsylvania canal in Indiana county. Hc, with his sons, built several miles of the National Pike road, and also helped construct the Washington and Bedford Pike of which he became a charter member and for many years a director of the middle division. He procured the charter for the Cross Pike, connecting the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Pike with the Wash- ington and Bedford Pike of which he built some portions. He was also the man who procured the charter for the Slack-Water navigation along the Youghiogheny river. He finally located at Ruffsdale, then called "McKcans

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Old Stand" and established a postoffice there. He owned some one thousand five hundred acres of land, as the fruits of his unceasing energy and toil, coupled with his business sagacity. He never sought publicity, but was made the candidate for the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1882, and sent as a delegate to the Harrisburg Convention which nominated General William Henry Har- rison for president in 1836. His manhood was such that even those who dif- fered greatly from him were ever ready to admit his fairmindedness and gener- osity. In religion he was a pronounced Presbyterian, as was his good wife, both of whom were lifelong Christian examples of true devotion. He died October 9. 1845, after a brief illness. He left a wife, six sons and two daughters, all of whom emulated the good name and character of their father.

Henry Harrison Null, father of Colonel Millard F. Null, the fourth son of Henry Null was born February 16, 1815, at "McKeans Old Stand" ( Ruffs- dale) in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. At the death of his father he became the owner of the old Null homestead. He married, July 1, 1845, Ellen Dom, daughter of Phillip and Margaret ( Gerhardt) Dom, of Wellersburg, Pennsylvania. She was the great-granddaughter of Sir John Jacob Hentz and wife, Eleanor Krauch, of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany ; she was a lady of great prepossession, cultured and beloved by all within the range of her wide acquaintance, and her kindly ways and charming graces were fully retained throughout her entire life which closed December 27, 1904. Their children were: Marietta, married (first) Andrew Yont, now deceased, and (second), John J. Houseman ; Minerva, widow of Joseph W. Hough, who at the time of his death was treasurer of Fayette county, Pa .; Josephine, ( Mrs. John Dempsey Boyd, of Uniontown) : Millard Fillmore, of whom later ; Jessie Benton, (Mrs. Samuel Alwine, Jr.) ; Sumner Fremont ; Edwina married (first) Dr. Smith Fuller, Jr., now deceased; (second), James Clark Work, of Uniontown, Pa. ; Eleanor Nevada ; Henry Harrison, Jr., married Elsie G. Roth, of Allentown, Pa.

At the date of Henry Harrison Null's death in May, 1905, he had twenty- five grandchildren, twenty-three of whom were living, including the following : By his daughter, Mrs. Housman, Harry Null Yont ; by Mrs. Hough, Henry Harrison Null Gerhardt Hough ; by Mrs. Boyd, Henry Harrison Null Boyd, now superintendent of the H. C. Frick Coke Company plants in Fayette county, Pennsylvania ; Burgess Beauchamp Boyd, with the same company at Alverton and Tarr ; Logan Dempsey Boyd ; Josephine Null Boyd. When a youth, Henry Harrison Null made his first trip as a wagoner over the Alleghany mountains in 1834. He followed this from time to time as late as 1861. From 1845 to 1872 he was an extensive farmer. During the last named year he removed to Greensburg, having been postmaster at Ruffsdale for twelve years. He also served as internal revenue collector. He was a leading factor in the building of the Wellersburg and West Newton Turn Pike road, and was for a quarter of a century president of the Robbstown and Mount Pleasant Pike Road Com- pany. He opened the well known Null Hotel at Greensburg, and operated it until he died, May 16, 1905, after many months of patient suffering. He had lived over ninety years and noted with great interest the wonderful events of the past century. Politically it may be said that this venerable man early be- came a leader and not from selfish motives but from true principle. He cast his first vote for General Harrison in 1836, and had voted for every Whig and Republican presidential candidate including Theodore Roosevelt in the Au- tumn of 1904. The subjoined is an extract taken from a local paper the day after his death: "In 1872 the family moved to Greensburg. Here he was

78. 4, tall

age 89 years.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

known as possessing a liberal and patriotic spirit. In his business relations he was scrupulously honest. He had a large acquaintance throughout the entire county, and by all with whom he came in contact he was held in highest es- teem. He was a voracious reader and one of the best informed men on public events in Greensburg. His views were liberal and he was outspoken in his sentiments. He was opposed to capital punishment and an advocate of women's rights and suffrage, of liberty of conscience, and of all principles of freedom, secular and religious. Strongly characterized with a humanity loving spirit, he was greatly interested in reforms for society at large. He was a whole- souled man, ever ready to assist those who appealed to him. Until within a few months of his death Mr. Null possessed a remarkable memory of events of the early part of the century. He was a recognized authority on public hap- penings. Since 1856 he had kept a diary, recording each day's happenings with an accuracy which commanded on many occasions reference by historians. These diaries contain a great wealth of interesting data."

Millard Fillmore Null obtained his education in the public schools of Westmoreland county, and by a course in Milton Academy. He went from the school room to serve as an assistant for the engineering corps that laid out the Southwestern Pennsylvania railway. He also taught school in his na- tive county for seven terms. He again took up surveying and mine engineer- ing for a number of years, part of the period in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Later he became associated with the H. C. Frick Coke Company at its central works as timekeeper, paymaster and superintendent, serving in all fourteen years. Politically, he inherited Republicanism from his father. In 1883 his party induced him to become a candidate for surveyor, but notwithstanding he ran over five hundred ahead of his ticket, his party was not victorious. From that date he has taken a more active part in politics, and in 1900 was elected as prothonotary of Westmoreland county and re-elected in 1903. At the time when the Central High school of East Huntingdon township was established, he was a director and had much to do towards its establishment and the sequel has proved his wisdom. He has been connected with the Presbyterian church since 1885, first at his old home and since 1901 as a member of the First Presbyterian church of Greensburg. He is an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to K. C. of K. T. Lodge, No. 18 at Greensburg. Of Mr. Null's domestic relations it may be stated that he married, March 29. 1877, at Bells Mills, South Huntingdon township, Charlotte Bell, daughter of the late ex-Sheriff William Bell and wife, Frances ( Bennett) Bell. Mr. Bell was born January 16, 1816 at Bells Mills, the son of Walter and Polly (Fin- ley) Bell. Walter Bell was born at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1769 and removed to Westmoreland county in 1787, locating at Bells Mills, for whom they were named. He died August 12, 1868. He married Polly Finley, daughter of Andrew and Jane Finley, of Port Royal and came from North Carolina, originally. The Finleys were of Scotch extraction.

William Bell, Mrs. Null's father, was of Scotch blood. He died on the old homestead, at Bells Mills, December 24. 1888. The family were of the Presbyterian faith. He served as sheriff of this county from 1862 to 1865. He was most generous and noted for his hospitality and was acquainted far and near. His wife was the daughter of David and Sarah Bennett, born 1826. near Port Royal. David Bennett was the son of John Bennett, who emigrated from France. His wife was Sarah Hough, of German ancestry. Their chil- dren were: 1. Charles McCully, educated at the High School and Seminary at Greensburg, graduating in the classical course in 1800. He studied for a law-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

yer and registered, but is now in the accounting department of the Keystone Coal and Coke Company. 2. Walter Bennett, attended the public schools of Greensburg and Leech's Business College of the same place, taking stenography and typewriting. When sixteen years of age he served as page two terms for Senator Robbins, in Washington, D. C. For the past six years he has been associated with the American Sheet Steel and Tin Plate Company, located at Scottdale, Pa. 3. Eleanor attended the common schools of Westmoreland county and Darlington Seminary at West Chester, Pa. 4. Genevieve. 5. Millard Fillmore. 6. Galia Minota. 7. Henry Harrison.

Colonel M. F. Null, as he is always called, is an unassuming man, who may justly be proud of his ancestry, and his highest aim in life is to be able to properly educate his family, that they may bear well their part as good citizens and members of society, as have the generations before them, bearing the name of Null.

CAPTAIN JAMES J. WIRSING, a valiant soldier in the great war of the rebellion, and one of the highly esteemed residents of Greensburg, was born in Donegal township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, November 9, 1840, the son of John and Mary (Shafer) Wirsing. The progenitor of the Wirsing family in America was his paternal grandfather, Rev. John Casper Wirsing, who was born December 27, 1766, in Titzingen by "Waertzburg on the Main," Germany. He was a commissioned officer in the German army, and emigrated to America October 3. 1789. On board the ship on which he was sailing he became acquainted with Catherinea Elizabetha Biltherr, who was born in Germany April 12, 1768, and had sold her time for a period to pay her passage to America. Mr. Wirsing purchased her time and they were mar- ried January 1, 1793. Soon after landing in the United States Mr. Wirsing went to Baltimore where he remained some time, then removing to Westmore- land county, which he made his future home. He was a local preacher in the Methodist church, and was a well educated man of good address. In 1825 he removed to Somerset county, near Petersburg, Pennsylvania. He had the fol- lowing children: Catherine; John, father of Captain J. J. Wirsing; Henry, married Mary King, and had a son, John Wirsing, who resides in Fayette county. Henry, died in 1888; Mary Ann Shadrach ; Thomas B. ; Samuel H., married Catherine Zipley and Helena Frantz. The father of these children died in 1835.

John Wirsing, second child and eldest son of Rev. John Casper Wirsing, was born January 7, 1798. By occupation he was a farmer, and was very suc- cessful in that line. In early life John Wirsing removed to Donegal town- ship where he held many local offices. He was a stanch Democrat, and a very active worker for that organization. December 18, 1821 he was united in marriage to Mary Shafer, who was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1801, a daughter of Peter Shafer, who served with Washington in the war of the revolution until the cessation of hostilities. In 1807 Mr. Shafer removed to Donegal township where he patented three hundred acres of iand, and where he lived an industrious and exemplary life. The following named children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wirsing: Peter, deceased; Catherine, married John Kooser of Iowa : Eliza, married W. R. Hunter ; Harriet married H. M. Milhof ; Margaret, deceased; Thomas, of Illinois; John S., of Mount Pleasant township ; Jeremiah, of Scottdale ; and Captain James J. Wirsing.

James J. Wirsing was educated in the common and private schools of his native county, and thus received an excellent foundation for a successful bus-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

iness career. He was engaged in farming until he was about nineteen, and then learned the trade of plasterer which he followed for several years. When the great Civil war was in progress, and the call for volunteers was urgent, Mr. Wirsing assisted very materially in raising a company of soldiers in the Ligonier valley. He was offered the captaincy of this company, but declined this, accepting the position of second-lieutenant. His company joined the Eighty-fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry at Arlington Heights in September, 1862, and became Company C of that regiment. He was present at the battle of Fredericksburg, and January 12, 1862 was pro- moted to the position of first lieutenant. He participated in the battle of Chan- cellorsville, and during that engagement was badly wounded, being shot twice through the leg and hip, and on this account received a furlough of sixty days. He rejoined his regiment on its march to Gettysburg. He was promoted to the captaincy August 29, 1863, and commanded his company in all of the battles until October 2, 1864. In August of that year he was shot in the breast, and on October 2 was shot through both shoulders and left leg at Petersburg, and so badly wounded that he was left for dead on the battlefield. He was ap- proached by a rebel soldier who was in the act of shooting him when a confed- erate officer interfered and saved his life. He was removed to Richmond where he was confined in Libby prison for a time, then paroled and sent to Annapolis, Maryland. He returned home on a leave of absence after two months in Annapolis, and being unable to join his regiment was honorably discharged as a prisoner of war on January 3, 1865. From the time of his discharge from service to 1878 he was engaged in plastering and as clerk in a dry goods and hardware store in Mount Pleasant. In 1878 he was elected treasurer of West- moreland county, and discharged the duties of that office with honor and credit. Since 1882 he has been engaged in the real estate and fire insurance business, and he has been highly successful in that line. As a citizen Captain Wirsing has the respect of his townspeople, who admire his integrity and honesty, and his hospitable, genial disposition has gained for him many friends. In political belief Captain Wirsing accords with the Democratic party. He is a prominent member of the G. A. R., U. V. L., Military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Philanthropy Lodge, No. 225, A. Y. M., and numerous other organizations. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Captain Wirsing was married. June 5. 1867, to Charlotte M. Fluke, daughter of William S. Fluke, ex-sheriff of Bedford county, Pennsylvania. Their chil- dren are : Myrtle, J. Edgar, William F., Herbert, Mary E., Ralph, Mabel, and Martha.

HON. JOHN B. STEEL, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, first presi- dent judge of the Separate Orphans' court of Westmoreland county, is the eldest son of William and Sarah Jane ( Brown) Steel, born February 17, 1861, on the Hannastown farm, the seat of the famous old town of Hannastown, which was burned by the Indians in 1772, in Hempfield township, Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania.

Judge Steel came from that sturdy Scotch-Irish race that has done so much for the cause of liberty and the development of the country, being Scotch- Irish in every line of his ancestry. His great-grandfather. James Steel, was born in Castle Blaney, near Carrick Macross, Ireland, about 1741, and who emigrated to America after the Steel Boy insurrection ( 1772) stopped on the eastern side of the mountains at that Scotch-Trish hive in Cumberland, now Franklin county, and moved westward about 1773, settling on land in Sewick-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ley manor, now Mount Pleasant twonship, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, about the time of the formation of Westmoreland county. Here he bought land from the Penns, and became an important land owner in his day of land that is now in the Connellsville coking coal region, four hundred acres of the land bought by him has been passed down through his descendants, and is now owned by his great-grandson, Joseph W. Steel. True to the characteristics of his race he became an agitator for freedom, was a member of Mount Pleas- ant Association formed to protect this western country, was three years in the Revolutionary army, took the oath of allegiance required by all foreign born citi- zens, before Hugh Martin, a justice of this county, March 3, 1777, and served with his brothers-in-law, Robert and Andrew Donaldson, in the campaign of the Jerseys. He was married ( first) to Elizabeth McMasters, a sister of James McMasters, who lived near his farm. They had two children: Joseph Steel, intermarried with Barbara Blystone, of Franklin township, this county ; and Jane Steel, intermarried with William Hunter, near what was then Louden- ville, now Perrysville, Richland county, Ohio. About the close of the Revolu- tionary war. James Steel was married to Elizabeth Donaldson, and they had three children: Elizabeth, born September 24, 1785, intermarried with Alex- ander Hamilton, of what is now Ruffsdale, Pa. : James Steel, born on the day of the adoption of the United States constitution, September 17, 1787, inter- married with Martha McCutheon, of Franklin township, this county, and John Steel, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, born April 7. 1789, intermarried with his cousin, Martha Walker, the daughter of Andrew and Sallie ( Donaldson) Walker, of Virginia, near Steubenville, Ohio. James Steel, the great-grandfather, died September 10, 1823, and was buried at the Middle Presbyterian church, Mount Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa.

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History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Part 4

Author: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 860

Author: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 860