USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 43
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public office. Mr. Jones is a man of dignified appearance and pleasing person- ality. He has devoted much of his time to reading, and is a ready and fluent speaker on all topics of interest. He is a believer in liberal education, and his children have had all the advantages that money and the best teachers could give. He and his family live in a commodious and elegant dwelling in Latrobe, one of the finest, if not the finest, in that town. Mr. Jones held for many years the office of vice-president of the People's National Bank, and is a member of the board of directors of that institution ; he is president and director of the Adamston Coal & Coke Company, of West Virginia. For twenty-two years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is now president of the board of trustees. Ile is also a member of the following organizations : R. A., No. 308 : Latrobe Council : I. O. H., and K. P.
Mr. Jones married ( first) January 6. 1876. Julia Kelly, born March 26, 1856, near Scottdale, Pennsylvania, died January 5, 1897. She was the daugh- ter of Campbell and Sarah Kelly. Their children were : C. Kelly, Mary M., Thomas L., Sarah N. Mr. Jones married (second) January 31, 1905, Mrs. Sarah F. (Lloyd) Cline, who bore him one child. Daniel Lloyd Jones.
JAMES Q. LEMMON. M. D. The medical profession in West- moreland county has an able and popular representative in Dr. James (). Lem- mon, who is not only a native of the county but also a scion old and distin- guished pioneer families of this favored section of the Keystone state. He maintaines his home in the attractive little city of Latrobe, and controls a large practice throughout the section of the county tributary to the town, while he bas gained distinction and prestige as one of the successful physicians and surgeons of his native commonwealth, heing thus doubly entitled to recognition in a publication of the province assigned to the one at hand.
Dr. Lemmon was born in Fairfield township, Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania. January 28. 1852, and was the first in order of birth of the three children of Nathan W. and Margaret ( Quinn ) Lemmon, while all of the chil- dren are living at the time of this writing. Thomas Lemmon, the paternal grandfather of Dr. Lemmon, was born in Westmoreland county and located in Fairfield township, becoming one of the pioneer farmers of that section, where he passed the remainder of his life, having been a man of sterling character and a life long member of the old-time "Seceder" religious denomina- tion. His death occurred in 1863. The grandfather of Dr. Lemmon in the maternal line was James Quinn, born in 1807. in county Derry, Ireland, where he was reared to maturity. In 1817 he set forth to establish a home in Amer- ica, embarking on a sailing vessel, which proceeded successfully across the deep only to be wrecked on the turbulent coast of New Foundland, the sup- position having been that the captain of the vessel compassed its destruction in order to secure heavy insurance idemnity, for which he had arranged shortly before sailing. The women, children and others who could not swim were safely conveyed to shore in the boats, while the others on board, including Mr. Quinn, swam the half mile to shore through a rough and heavy sea, all escap- ing. James Quinn lost all his personal effects through this disaster, and from New Foundland he worked his way to the city of Philadelphia, from which point he came to Westmoreland county, where by thrift, frugality and prudent management he acquired a very considerable landed estate before his death, which occurred in 1868. He was one of the honored pioneers of the county and his life was one of signal integrity and usefulness, while it was prolonged be- yond the psalmist's span of three score years and ten.
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Nathan W. Lemmon, father of Dr. Lemmon, was born in Fairfield township, this county, in 1820, and he passed the closing years of his life in Derry township, where he took up his residence in 1858, about six years after the birth of him whose name initiates this sketch. He ever maintained his allegiance to the great basic art of agriculture and became one of the promi- nent and influential farmers of his township, while as a citizen his standing was of the highest, implying his definite hold on the confidence and regard of his fellowmen. He was a staunch Democrat in his political proclivities, but was never ambitious for public office, though he served two terms as school director. His marriage to Margaret, the only daughter of James Quinn, was solemnized in 1850, and they became the parents of three sons: James Q., Thomas S., and George M. Mrs. Lemmon was summoned into eternal rest in April, 1891, in her sixty-eight year, and he passed to his reward January 18, 1903, at the venerable age of eighty-two years and six months, his demise having occurred on the old homestead farm which had been continuously in the family possession for a period of one hundred and sixteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Lemmon were zealous and consistent members of the United Presby- terian church, with which they became identified in 1858, at the time of its organization through the union of the Seceder and Associate Reformed Pres- byterian bodies.
Dr. James Q. Lemmon passed his youth in Derry township, and early began to contribute his quota to the work of the home farm, while his pre- liminary educational discipline was secured in the distrct schools of the neigh- borhood. At the age of sixteen years he entered the Latrobe high school, where he continued his studies for two years, after which he put his attainments to practical test by teaching two winter terms in the schools of Derry township, meeting with marked success in his pedagogic efforts. He then took a course in Duffs Commercial College, in the city of Pittsburg, being graduated from that school as a member of the class of 1872. For the ensuing three years he was engaged as a bookkeeper for Murdock, Covode and Company a large mer- cantile firm, whose head office was at Ligonier, Pennsylvania, where he proved his fitness for the work of an expert accountant, which experience he says was to him a great service in after years, just the discipline every man needs regardless of what he inteds to follow for a vocation. He then continued his educational work in the academic sense by entering the Pennsylvania State College, in Center county, where he took a special course in the classics, as well as in the leading branches of mathematical, natural and physicial science. He made especially gratifying progress in chemistry, in which he became very proficient in both a theoretical and practical way. In 1878-79 he read medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Jared Y. Dale, a representative physician of Lemont, Center county, and in September, 1879, he matriculated in the medi- .cal department of the University of Pennsylvania, in the city of Philadelphia, where he attended the three regular and required courses of lectures and also two special courses. He was graduated as a member of the class of 1882 and received his coveted and well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. In his graduation he received second honors in his class, having acquired a grade average of ninety-eight and six tenths out of a possible one hundred, on eleven examinations in a class of one hundred and fifty-nine members, of whom one hundred and seventeen were graduated in 1882. The remaining forty-two failed to meet the requirements in point of efficiency demanded for graduation in that venerable and celebrated institution.
Shortly after his graduation Dr. Lemmon located in Latrobe, where he has
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ever since been actively and most successfully established in the practice of his chosen profession, representing a period of nearly a quarter of a century, and that filled with ceaseless toil and endeavors and with zealous regard for and appreciation of the responsibilities of the exacting profession which demands of its devotees all of loyalty and self-abnegation, beside constant study and investigation. He controls a large and representative practice, is local ex- aminer for six of the leading life insurance companies of the United States, and is held in unequivocal esteem and regard both as a physician and as a cit- zen. Measured by his success and popularity in his community, Dr. Lemmon rightfully enjoys the reputation that he has honestly won as a skillful and well qualified physician and surgeon. He is the owner of a very fine medical and literary library, and is recognized as a man of high attainments, while his genial and gracious personality has tended to heighten his popularity among all classes. In politics he accords a stalwart allegiance to the Democracy, and both he and Mrs. Lemmon are valued members of the United Presbyterian church. The family home is one of the most attractive in Latrobe, being located on East Main street and being a fine brick structure, equipped with modern improvements, including a steam-heating plant. The beautiful home is a center of gracious hospitality, and the family is one of much prominence in the best social life of the community.
Dr. Lemmon married, June 27, 1883, Martha Steele, youngest daughter of James and Elizabeth (Hanna) Steele, of Unity township, this county. Dr. and Mrs. Lemmon became the parents of one daughter and three sons, the daughter having died in infancy while the three sons remain at the parental home, their names are: George Steele, born October 18, 1887 ; Willis Chester, born July 1, 1890; and James Russell, born December 5, 1894.
SAMUEL EDGAR BIRCHFIELD. M. D. The spirit of a strong and noble manhood burned in the mortal tenement of Dr. Samuel E. Birch- field, who labored with all zeal and ability in the humane and exacting pro- fession for which he had so eminently qualified himself. He was engaged in the practice of his profession in Latrobe, Westmoreland county, at the time of his death, in the very prime of his manhood, and to him was accorded the unqualified confidence of all who knew him. He was a physician and surgeon of high attainments, and as a man and citizen he stood representative of the utmost loyalty and the highest integrity of purpose and personality. Dr. Birchfield was a native of the old Keystone state, having been born in the village of Tarentum, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, December 24, 1854, and having been a son of William and Rachel ( McCall) Birchfield, who con- tinued to reside there for the major portion of their lives, the father having been engaged in agriculture.
Dr. Samuel Edgar Birchfield was reared to maturity in his native county, and after completing the curriculum of the public schools continued his incur- sions into the higher fields of academic study and finally determined to adopt the profession of medicine as his vocation in life. With this end in view he took up a course of technical reading and then entered the medical department of the celebrated University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. He ever afterward continued a close and enthusiastic student of his profession, and was recognized as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of Westmoreland county at the time of his death. In 1881, shortly after his graduation, Dr. Birchfield came to Latrobe and here established him-
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self in the practice of his profession, while with the passing of the years he found himself growing in the connuence and regard of the people of the community and thus built up a most flourishing practice, which extended over a wide field and which was thoroughly representative in the matter of client- age. He continued to minister with all of devotion and kindliness to the suffering and afflicted of this locality until he was called from his labors, being summoned to the life eternal January 21, 1903, while the community in which he had so effectively lived and labored felt a sense of personal loss and be- reavement when death stilled the earnest heart of this honored citizen. He was a great student, not only in his profession but in all other fields, scientific, and a great Biblical student. He was always called in to examine members of the graduating class in high school, was consulted by all, and everybody referred to him for final decision. Dr. Birchfield was a member of several medical societies, and fraternally was identified with the Woodmen of the World. In politics he was a staunch supporter of the Republican party, and while never an aspirant for office was called upon to serve as a member of the borough council and also as a member of the local board of education, in each of which capacities he manifested his loyalty to his home town and its highest interests. He was a Presbyterian in religion.
Dr. Birchfield married, April 23. 1891, Juniata McNamara, born and reared in Hollidaysburg, Blair county, this state, being a daughter of Robert and Eliza ( McConnell) McNamara. Mr. McNamara was for many years a prominent merchant and influential citizen of Hollidaysburg, where he con- tinued to reside until his death, his wife also being deceased. They became the parents of seven children, namely : Juniata, Robert, deceased; William W., Lillian P., Martha, John and Mary B. Mrs. Birchfield still resides in the pleasant home provided for her by her lamented husband, in Latrobe, and here she is prominent in the social life of the community, while she finds solace in the devoted solicitude of her many loyal friends. Of her children we enter the following brief record: Rachel H. was born February 22, 1892; Eliza Esther, June 20, 1893, died September 4, 1893; Dorothy Cornelia, Jan- uary 12, 1895 ; and Henrietta Marion, September 6, 1899.
JOHN W. HUGHES, M. D. Among those whose lives and labors conferred distinction and honor on the history of Westmoreland county was Dr. John W. Hughes, who was one of the able members of the medical pro- fession in this section of the state, and who was one of the most popular and influential citizens of Latrobe, where he was actively engaged in practice for many years and where he was also prominently identified with business and civic affairs, having been president of the Citizens' National Bank of this place at the time of his death which occurred September 11, 1902.
Dr. Hughes was born near Corsica, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, March, 1838, and was the fourth in order of birth of the children of Samuel B. and Mary (Wilson) Hughes. The Hughes family is of Scotch-Irish lin- eage, and that branch of which Dr. Hughes was a representative was early founded in Pennsylvania, members of the family having been among the first pioneers to settle west of the Allegheny mountains in this state. William Hughes, grandfather of Dr. Hughes, was a farmer by vocation, and in early life married a Miss Barnett, a representative of the well known family of that name which early settled near New Derry, Westmoreland county, being promi- nent in the Presbyterian church for many generations. Samuel B. Hughes, father of Dr. Hughes, was born near Latrobe, this county, and died in 1874,
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at the age of sixty-five years. He was prominently identified with lumbering and merchandising in Punxsutawney and Brookville, Jefferson county, and continued resident of that county until his demise, where he was held in the highest esteem as a citizen and as a successful and influential business man. He espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its organization, and both he and his wife were zealous and devoted members of the Cumber- land Presbyterian church. Their marriage was solemnized about the year 1828, and of their five children only two are living at the time of this writing.
Dr. John W. Hughes passed his youth in his native county, in whose common schools he secured his preliminary education, which he supplemented by a course of study in the academy at Gladerun, Pennsylvania, while he took up the study of medicine under an able preceptor, Dr. Andrew J. Johnson, of Jefferson county, and finally entered the Ohio College of Medicine and Sur- gery, in Cincinnati, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1863. Very soon after securing from this institution the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine he entered the service of his country, which was at that time involved in the great civil war. He enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment as assistant sur- geon, but was soon promoted to the responsible position of surgeon of the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, serving in this capacity until the close of the war. In 1866 Dr. Hughes located in Leechburg, Armstrong county, Pennsyl- vania, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession about one year, at the expiration of which time he removed to Blairsville, Indiana county, where he continued in successful practice for more than fifteen years, during the greater portion of which he was also surgeon for the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company. In 1884 he came to Latrobe, where he continued to devote his attention to the practical work of his noble profession until there came to him inexorable summons of death, and his loss was one which was deeply felt in the community and in the profession which he had dignified and honored by his able services. Besides controlling a large and representative general practice Dr. Hughes gave special attention to the treatment of the diseases of the eye, ear. nose and throat, and in this department of his work he gaine 1 a very high repute. He was a man of the highest professional attanaments and ever kept in close touch with the advances made in the sciences of medi- cine and surgery, having recourse to the best standard and periodical literature pertaining thereto, holding membership in various medical societies and being a close student and careful investigator. In 1865 he took a complimentary and special post-graduate course in the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadel- phia, while he also did post-graduate work in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, in the same city. He was an appreciative member of Loyalhanna Lodge, No. 275, A. F. and A. M. : P. A. Williams Post, No. 4, G. A. R. ; and the I. O. O. F. In his political adherency he was a stalwart Republican, and ever took a lively interest in the cause of the "grand old party." He was public-spirited as a citizen, and his influence was exerted in the promotion of worthy objects for the general good. He was the founder of the Citizens' National Bank of Latrobe and was president of the institution at the time of his death. He was one of the influential and valued members of the Presbyterian church in his home town, and was a member of its board of trustees for a number of years prior to his demise.
Dr. Hughes was twice married. He married, July 5. 1865, Anna Tor- rence, daughter of the late Hon. James Torrence, of Punxsutawney, Jefferson county, and she passed away in 1870, leaving two sons ; James, born May 18. 1866, and who is now successfully engaged in the real estate business in the
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city of Latrobe; and Samuel B., born January 13, 1868, died in 1896. Dr. Hughes married ( second), January 4, 1877, Jennie E. Zimmers, who survives him and who still resides in the attractive family homestead in Latrobe. She was born and reared in Blairsville, Indiana county, where her father, Jacob Zimmers, was a prominent business man, and of this second union were born three children : Elizabeth Z., born January 28, 1879; John Jacob, born Janu- ary 10, 1889; and Jean Lucille, born January 17, 1890. All of the children remain at the parental home, and are popular in the social life of the community.
LOUIS MAIER. There is no nation that has contributed to the complex makeup of our American social fabric an element of more sterling worth and of greater value in supporting and fostering our national institutions than has Germany. From this source our republic has had much to gain and nothing to lose. Germany has given us men of sturdy integrity, indomitable perseverance, high intelligence and much business sagacity, the result being the incorporation of a strong and strength-giving fiber, ramifying through warp and woof. A man who may well look with pride upon his German lineage is Louis Maier, who came to America from the fatherland when a young man, and who has attained prosperity through well directed effort, being the popular and genial proprietor of the Hotel Maier, in West Latrobe, while he is held in high esteem as a reliable business man and loyal citizen of his adopted country. He is a native of the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, having been born in the town of Allmersbach, November 21, 1861, a son of Gottlieb and Maria ( Miller) Maier, who are now deceased, the father having long fol- lowed the vocation of farmer.
Louis Maier was reared to maturity in his native province, and in the ex- cellent national schools of his fatherland he received his educational training which was such as to well qualify him for the active duties of life and to en- able him to acquire readily a knowledge of the English language when neces- sity demanded. After leaving school Mr. Maier devoted his attention to cabi- net-making until 1880, when he decided to take the same course as had so many of his worthy countrymen, and he came to the United States, landing in the city of Baltimore, September 15. In that city he found employment and there' continued to make his home for a period of twelve years, during the latter por- tion of which period he was engaged in hotel business, while in the meantime he married and established a home for himself. He removed in 1892 from Bal- timore to West Latrobe, where he erected the Hotel Maier, which he has since successfully conducted. The building is an attractive and substantial frame structure of three stories, and is well arranged and admirably equipped for hotel purposes. Mr. Maier and his wife are deservedly popular with the traveling public, their guests manifesting a due appreciation of the accommodations and courtesies of the attractive hotel. In his political sympathies Mr. Maier is an advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and he takes an intelligent interest in public affairs, while he is known as a reliable and enterprising busi- ness man and loyal citizen. He married, December 23, 1888, Ida E. Shank, daughter of John and Sarah (Gardiner) Shank, who were at that time resi- dents of West Latrobe. They now make their home in West Latrobe, and on other pages of this work appears an individual sketch touching the career of Mr. Shank and offering due genealogical data. Mr. and Mrs. Maier have two children : Sarah Alice, born March 1. 1894: and John Louis, born December 15, 190I.
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GEORGE W. TORRENCE. The father of George W. Torrence, of Smithton, was James Torrence, a native of Scotland, who married Nancy J. Taylor, who was born and bred in Indiana. They were the parents of six chil- dren, the sole survivor being George W. Torrence, born May 21, 1862, in Will- iamsport, Pennsylvania.
As early as his ninth year Mr. Torrence began to work for neighboring farmers, and in his intervals of labor attended the common schools. At the age of twenty he went to work in the Eureka mines in South Huntingdon town- ship, where he was employed for four years. He was then employed for eigh- teen months in the store of Rhoades Brothers & Newcomer, at Jacobs Creek. after which he moved to Smithton where he opened a barber's shop, employ- ing a barber under whose instructions he acquired a thorough knowledge of the business. Two years later, when Benjamin Harrison was elected president, Mr. Torrence was appointed postmaster of Smithton, serving during the en- suing four years, and for six months under the Cleveland administration. When Mckinley was elected Mr. Torrence was reappointed, and has since served continuously. He is a member of Smithton Lodge, No. 328, Knights of Pythias, and Greensburg Lodge, No. 511, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Torrence married in 1885, Ada May, daughter of W. N. Lynn, of Jacobs Creek, and six children have been born to them, four of whom survive: Capitola, Grace, B. Harrison and Chalmer. All these children are at home with their parents. The musical talent of the family is remarkable. Mr. Tor- rence and all his children, down to the youngest, are musicians and are able tc play with skill on various instruments.
PHILIP H. DAVIS. The paternal grandfather of Philip H. Davis, of Sutersville, was Philip Davis, a farmer of Staffordshire, England, who emi- grated to the United States in 1841, settling in Trumbull county, Ohio, and afterward purchasing a farm near Sharon, Pennsylvania, adjoining the state line. On this farm he passed the remainder of his life, and for many years conducted a dairy. The christian name of his wife was Ann. The death of Mr. Davis occurred in 1865, when he was in the sixty-sixth year of his age.
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