USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 46
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FRANK FAMILY. (I) Conrad Frank was the first ancestor in America of the Westmoreland and Somerset branches of the Frank family, and was the great-grandfather of the present John H. Frank, of Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Conrad Frank was born in Germany and came to America in his youth, arriving and first locating in Baltimore, Maryland. From there it is supposed he shortly afterwards removed to Chester county, Pennsylvania, for he was married to Sallie Bowers, of that county. He served in the Rev- olutionary war "as that of a private soldier on a roll of Captain Jacob Ash- mead's Company in the Second Regiment of Pennsylvania, commanded by Col- onel W. Stewart, September 8, 1778." "See page 414, Volume Fifteen, Penna. Archives, Second Series." After the close of the Revolution and prior to 1787, he removed with his family to Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and lived in a section yet known as the "Glades," about seven miles southeast from Somerset town. He lived to be ninety-six years old, and his wife, Sallie ( Bowers) Frank, lived to be eighty. They had six children : Henry, John, Conrad, Sallie, Betsy and Kate.
(II) Jobn Frank, second son of Conrad and Sallie (Bowers) Frank, was born in Somerset county, 1787, and was a farmer by birth and occupation. He remained in Somerset county till 1839, when he and his family removed to Westmoreland county, locating in Ligonier township. He followed farming until 1849, when he took charge of the turnpike toll gate at Laughlinstown, Pennsylvania, and remained there until his death in 1851. He was married to Anna Hicks, of Somerset county, and by her had eleven children: Barbara, born March 2, 1813, died early in life. Catherine, born September 27, 1814, married George Conrad, and died at Tower Hill, Shelby county, Ill., April II, 1886. Henry, born August 24, 1816, married Isabela Underwood, and died in Ligonier, October 2, 1889. Polly, born January 30, 1818, married John Belle, and died in Ligonier, December 24, 1874. Aaron, born March 18, 1820, died unmarried in Ligonier, February 25, 1897. Josiah, born November 28, 1821, married Martha J. Horrell, and died at Jenners Cross Roads, Somerset county, June 13. 1894. Jacob, born September 11, 1825, married Nancy Underwood, and died at Ligonier, March 10, 1902. George, born April 18, 1827, died un- married in Ligonier, April 22, 1846. Julia, born April 10, 1829, died unmar- ried at Laughlinstown, April 7, 1855. Elizabeth, born March 1, 1833, married John Douglass and died in Ligonier, November 2, 1859. One other child died when quite young.
(III) Jacob Frank, fourth son of John and Anna (Hicks) Frank, was born in Somerset county, September 11, 1825, and came to Ligonier with his parents in 1839. He followed the occupation of his father till 1849, when he opened a small grocery and bakery in Ligonier which he carried on till 1861, when he removed with his family to Shelby county, Illinois. The fever and ague drove him from the west after a few months residence there, and he re- turned to Ligonier, to again engage in the grocery and baking business. He
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
and his family also kept the Glessner House, in Ligonier, from 1867, to 1872. He then built a large house which is yet standing on the southwest corner of Fairfield and Loyalhanna streets, which he immediately opened as a summer hotel, conducting it as such one hundred days each summer. He is thus en- titled to the credit of first engaging in the summer resort business in Ligonier, a business which has since done more for Ligonier and vicinity than any other, and which has given the town and valley an exceptionally high standing in that line in Western Pennsylvania. He married, April 7, 1847, Nancy Underwood, of Ligonier, a daughter of James and Susan Underwood. She was born in Stoyestown, Somerset county, October 22, 1827, and is living at the present time (1906) in Ligonier. Her father, James Underwood, was an Englishman ; he came to Somerset county from North Carolina, about 1820, and was a hotel keeper in Stoyestown and a teamster on the Pittsburg and Philadelphia turnpike. He died at Lockport, Pennsylvania, while engaged on contract with the Pennsylvania canal, in the early thirties, and was buried near Bolivar, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Susan ( Barron) Underwood, was born in Somerset county, April 13, 1795, died March 14, 1879, at Ligonier. She was a daughter of John Barron. Jacob and Nancy ( Underwood) Frank had six children. The first born died in infancy. The others are: John H., re- ferred to hereafter; Joseph Denny, born May 18, 1856, died in March, 1858; Alice, born September 1, 1858, married AAlbert C. Breniser, at Ligonier, Oc- tober 19, 1876; Harry E., born May 24, 1859, married Maude Griffith, May 30, 1893. They have one child, Albert B., born November 7, 1894; Wilbert W., born January 10, 1804. died in Somerset, November 19, 1901. He was mar- ried March 25, 1886, to Susan Vannear, of Ligonier, and has three children : Harry Floyd, born May 13, 1888; Charles Vannear, born November 9, 1892; and Nancy Catherine, born July 22, 1895.
(IV) John H. Frank, second child of Jacob and Nancy ( Underwood) Frank, was born in Ligonier, April 1, 1850. After his early school days were over he went to Michigan to become a clerk in a store, in 1865, but after several months his father bound him out to learn the trade of die-sinking and engraving, when he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked constantly until 1870, when having finished his apprenticeship he began business on Dear- born street, Chicago, Illinois. Later he returned to Cincinnati and there worked until 1874, at which time he was compelled to relinquish engraving because of eye trouble. He then returned to Ligonier and followed his father in the hotel business. He was thus engaged till 1882, when without any assistance and with very little encouragement he embarked in the banking business in his na- tive town, and in this business he has since been continuously engaged. In the summer of 1903 the Bank of Ligonier, which had been founded and built up by Mr. Frank, was chartered as the National Bank of Ligonier, beginning business July 1. In business circles and particularly as a banker, Mr. Frank has earned a very enviable reputation for accuracy, punctuality and integrity, and as a result was elected president of the new organization. The caution and success with which the bank has always been conducted and the public confidence which it enjoys under his management, may in some degree be shown by the fact that though less than two and a half years old, with a capital stock of $50,000, it has a deposit of $230,000 surplus, and profits of $22,000, and gross assets of $330,000. In addition to the banking business, in the last quarter of a century Mr. Frank has engaged in other pursuits and generally with a remarkable degree of succcess. In 1879 with Richard B. Mellon, of Pittsburg, and Albert C. Breniser, of Ligonier, he built the first telegraph line
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
to operate between Ligonier and Latrobe, a distance of ten miles. It was stic-, cessfully operated by him till 1883, when it was purchased by the Ligonier Valley Railroad Company. Mr. Frank has since been manager of the Western U'nion interests at Ligonier. He projected and built in 1890, Frank's Hotel and Cottages, which has become one of the most noted summer resorts in west- ern Pennsylvania. It was annually opened June I and closed September 1, and remained under his management till 1899. In these and other undertak- ings he was ably assisted by his brother, the late Wilbert W. Frank, who when in health was a most accurate and careful business man.
Mr. Frank married. November 26. 1872, Anna Kibel, born September 18, 1852, daughter of George and Frances ( Rush) Kibel. Her parents were born in Hapstein, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and came to America in 1830, land- ing in Baltimore, Maryland, and locating near Emmettsburg, that state. George Kibel removed later to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1840 to Ligonier, where in the palmny turnpike days he successfully carried on a stage coach and carriage manufacturing establishment. He died March 13, 1872, and his wife survived him till September 15, 1888. John H. and Anna K. Frank have three children : William K., born in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 22, 1874, now cashier of the Jeannette National Bank, of Jeannette, Pa. lle was married to Alda Alt- man, October 12, 1897, and they have one child, Ruth Anna, born in Jeannette, October 1, 1899. Josephine Alice, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 22, 1874, edu- cated at St. Xaviers Academy, near Latrobe, Pa. She was married to Edward G. Schneider, of Cincinnati Ohio, February 8, 1899. They have had four chil- dren: Edward F., born January 7, 1900, died February 13, 1900; Louis F., born July 6, 1902 ; and William F. and Clifford F., born December 16, 1904. 3. G. Clifford, born in Ligonier, May 1, 1876. After some five years spent in T. Mellon and Son's Bank, in Pittsburg, he became cashier of the Bank of Ligonier, in 1897, and retains the same position . under the present national organization.
JOHN W. BARKLEY, M. D., a prominent and capable physician of Ligonier, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1868. He is a son of Joseph W. and Maria ( Beistel) Barkley, and grandson of Jacob and Elizabeth (Frick) Barkley.
Jacob Barkley (grandfather), born March 26, 1798, was a Westmoreland farmer. He and his wife, Elizabeth ( Frick) Barkley, born November 18, 1802, reared a large family-fourteen children-and several of his sons were soldiers in the Civil war, and marched, fought and suffered in that terrible con- flict. He died December 25, 1868, at his home, aged seventy-one years ; his wife died July 4. 1855, aged fifty-three years. Joseph W. Barkley ( father ), born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, about 1826, received a common school education and learned the trade of a carpenter. This ocupation he fol- lowed the greater part of his lifetime, but in his later years, however, he be- came a farmer. He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, serving the same in various official capacities. He was a Democrat, and held the office of justice of the peace for many years in Donegal township. He married Maria Beistel, daughter of John Beistel, of Donegal. The cere- mony was performed April 8, 1860. The children of this marriage were : 1. Sarah Idella, married Freeman Muir, of Ruffsdale, and they are the parents of one son, Homer Muir. 2. George M., a farmer of Abilene, Kansas; he is married and has five children. 3. Anna M., married Frank P. Baer, of Tarr's ; they have four living children. 4. John W., of whom more hereafter. 5. Harvey
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F., married Margaret Welty, and they have two living children ; he is a drug- gist of Connellsville, I'ennsylvania. Joseph Barkley died September 29, 1889, and his wife, Maria ( Beistel) Barkley, died October 18, 1898.
John W. Barkley received his early and preparatory training in the county schools. In 1893 he matriculated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where at the end of a three years course he graduated. In 1897 he came direct from college to Ligonier where he formed a partnership with Dr. J. T. Ambrose, and for four years they conducted a large and successful general medical practice. In 1901 Charles D. Ambrose, a son of Dr. J. T. Ambrose, having graduated from West Penn Medical College, was admitted to the firm. This connection continued for four years, when Dr. Barkley withdrew and began the establishment of a private practice. His offices over the Bank of Ligonier are conveniently and tastefully arranged, and here he cares for his large and growing practice. He is a member of the Westmoreland County Medical Society, and the Ligonier Medical Association. In 1904 he became a Free and Accepted Mason, being raised to that dignity by Ligonier Lodge, No. 331.
ISAAC H. SHEPLER, one of the representative citizens of Belle Vernon, Rostraver township. Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, was born in the above mentioned township, March 20, 1840, a son of Captain Joseph and Mary ( Blackburn) Shepler, and a descendant on both the paternal and ma- ternal sides of natives of Germany who settled in Virginia, in the vicinity of Winchester.
Matthias Shepler, an early ancestor of Isaac H. Shepler, with two broth- ers, Peter and Philip, moved from Virginia before the war of the Revolution and settled in Rostraver township, Pennsylvania, taking up farms on the Monongahela hills. He married Margaret Houseman, whose family was one of the early settlers of the township, and their children were: John, Philip, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Mary, Margaret and Catherine. All were married and raised families, and their descendants are numerous in this section of the state.
Isaac Shepler, fourth son of Matthias and Margaret (Houseman) Shep- ler, was born in Rostraver township, Westmoreland county. He married Sarah Hill, daughter of Joseph and Mary Hill, and their children were as fol- lows: Joseph, mentioned hereafter; Lewis, died December, 1881 ; Mary, de- ceased, was the wife of James Wright : Samuel ; Margaret, died at the age of eighteen ; Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of Davis Shepler: Sarah E., be- came the wife of John Stephens. Isaac Shepler ( father) died December 10, 1837 : his wife died July, 1869, aged eighty-seven years. Both are buried at Fell's Church. Joseph Hill, father of Sarah (Hill) Shepler, at the age of eigh- teen came to Rostraver township, several years before the Braddock expedi- tion, the first white settler of the township.
Joseph Shepler, eldest son of Isaac and Sarah ( Hill) Shepler, was born in Rostraver township. Westmoreland county, March 6, 1807. He received his education in the district schools of the town, and to the age of twenty-two lived on the homestead farm. The year following his marriage he moved on one of his father's farms, which he conducted for eight years. In 1836 he located three hundred and sixty acres in Putnam county, Ohio, with the in- tention of moving there, but on account of the death of his father was per- suaded by his mother to remain in Rostraver. In 1838 he located on the farm which he thereafter made his home. At the age of twenty-one he was chosen
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captain of the First Company, Eighty-eighth State Volunteers, which position he held for eight years ; was captain of the Monongahela Blues five years, and first lieutenant of the Rostraver Cavalry seven years. Ile filled most of the offices of the town, having been elected to the same on the Democratic ticket. For almost half a century he was a member of Fell's Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of its stanchest supporters. He married, April 16, 1829, Mary Blackburn, born in Rostraver, March 28, 1807, daughter of Joseph and Nancy Blackburn. Their children were: Sarah, born January 7, 1830, became the wife of William Jones, farmer and banker, residing in Rostraver township. Violet, born August 20, 1833, became the wife of Captain Martin Coulson, a resident of Allegheny City. John B., born February 18, 1835, married Jose- phine Claywell, of Illinois. Isaac Hill, born March 20, 1840, mentioned here- after.
Isaac Hill Shepler was reared at home and acquired his education in the common schools and Ames Commercial School in Syracuse, New York, grad- uating from the latter institution, June 4, 1866. After his marriage he rented and farmed the adjoining farm to the homestead in connection with working with his father on the home farm, and four years later he removed to the farm owned by his brother-in-law in Webster, consisting of two hundred and sey- enty acres, which he conducted for four years, also assisting in the management of the home farm. During the last year of this period he received a severe sun- stroke, which incapacitated him for work for one year, during which time he resided near Fell's Church, in Rostraver township. He then went west and for two years was employed on the Coulson mercantile boats which had exten- sive government contracts through North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Montana. In 1881 he returned to Westmoreland county, locating on the Cald- well property in Rostraver township, where he farmed for two years. He then purchased one-quarter interest in the Belle Vernon Saw and Planing Mill Com- pany, and for four years served in the capacity of bookkeeper, contractor and buyer. At the expiration of this time Grover Cleveland was elected to the pres- idency, and Mr. Shepler was offered and accepted a position as gauger, serving four years and one month. For a period of eight months under Andrew John- son's administration he served as storekeeper. In 1890 he purchased the mer- cantile business of P. Rider & Company in Belle Vernon, and five years later, upon the expiration of his lease, built a business building on his home prop- erty on the hill where he has since been engaged in mercantile pursuits. Dur- ing his residence in Belle Vernon he has served on the school board, as bor- ough assessor, and has been president of the board of health, and previous to that time he served as school director, township assessor and a member of the election board. He was formerly a Methodist in religion, but is now a member of the Presbyterian church, and for forty years has been a member of the choir. Since 1862 he has been actively identified with Gummert Lodge, No. 252, Free and Accepted Masons, at Fayette City, Pennsylvania : he is a master Mason. Mr. Shepler married. December 28, 1870, Evaline S. Shepler, daugh- ter of Samuel Shepler, of Rostraver township, and their children are: James Kerr, born December 2, 1872, a glass gatherer ; Mary B., born September 3. 1874. widow of Fred. Jeffries, resides at home ; William Jones, born August 8. 1876, a glass gatherer ; and Elizabeth C., born August 19, 1883, resides at home.
DAVID FRANCIS HARVEY. The grandfather of David Francis Harvey, of Belle Vernon, was Lee Harvey, a native of Chester county, who
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
came as a young man with his parents to Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He learned the cooper's trade, which he followed for years, later engaging in farming. Mr. Harvey married Mary Ann Ellis, who bore him a son, William, mentioned hereafter. A short time prior to his death Mr. Harvey took up his abode with this son, in whose home he breathed his last.
William Harvey, son of Lee and Mary Ann ( Ellis) Harvey, was born February 2, 1840, in Fayette county. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Eighty-fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, thus being among the first who offered their services when the government called for defenders. In the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia, August 16, 1864, he lost a leg and returned to his home one of those maimed heroes who have earned the gratitude of their country. His military experience being ended, he learned the trade of a shoemaker and followed the same for many years. Politically he is a Repub- lican, and for two terms served as jury commissioner in Fayette county. He belongs to George D. Bayard Post, Nc. 178, Grand Army of the Republic, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Harvey married Jennie, born in Antioch, Monroe county, Ohio, daughter of Thomas Morgan, a miller of that place, and seven children were born to them : David Francis, mentioned hereafter ; Anna, wife of Harry Yorty, of Eddington, Bucks county, Penn- sylvania ; Eva, deceased, who was the wife of Linton Clegg: Maud, married Guy Martin, of Belle Vernon ; Pearl, at home ; Ulysses, at home ; and Ellis, deceased. For the last fifteen years Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have resided in Belle Vernon.
David Francis Harvey, son of William and Jennie ( Morgan) Harvey, was born June 27, 1869, on a farm about three miles from Brownsville, Fay- ette county, and at twelve years of age was sent to the Jumonville Soldiers' school, in Fayette, where he remained four years. He then returned home and for about one year worked on the farm, afterward going to work in the win- dow-glass factory in Belle Vernon, where he was employed thirteen years. At the end of that period he was employed for a time as a bartender in Browns- ville, and later served in the same capacity in the Hotel Atwood, in West Brownsville, Washington county. On April 14, 1905, the license for the East End Hotel, in North Belle Vernon, was transferred to Mr. Harvey and he ac- quired a lease on the property for eight years. He is now the proprietor of the hotel. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks. In the sphere of politics he affiliates with the Republicans. Mr. Harvey married June 25, 1894. Mella Ammon, of .Allen- court, Washington county, and they have three children : Harry, Gladys and Ruth.
MYRON CORWIN. The ancestors of Myron Corwin, of Belle V'ernon, were among the old settlers of Westmoreland county. It was here that James and Jane ( Lenock ) Corwin lived and died, the latter passing away in Belle Vernon at the great age of ninety-seven years.
Barnett Corwin, son of James and Jane (Lenock) Corwin, was born in Belle Vernon, where for many years he was connected with boat-building. He was thrice married and was the father of twenty-three children. One of his wives was Martha Springer. At the age of seventy-six he died in Belle Vernon. Joseph Corwin, son of Barnett and Martha ( Springer) Corwin, was born in 1844, in Fayette county, learned the trade of a carpenter and boat-builder under his father, and has followed his trade all his life. He served in the Union army during the Civil war, steadfastly upholds the principles of the
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Democratic party, and is a member of the Baptist church. He married Mar- garet Culler, and they are the parents of three sons: Myron, mentioned here- after : Joseph B., who lives in Anibridge, Pennsylvania ; and Harry A., a resi- dent of Belle Vernon. Mr. Corwin now lives in Anibridge, where he still works at the carpenter's trade.
Myron Corwin, son of Joseph and Margaret (Culler) Corwin, was born November 12, 1868, in Fayette county, and was edudcated in the common schools. When only twelve years old, he went to work under his father in the boatyards, remaining there about four years. He was then employed for eighteen years in a window-sash factory, after which he returned to the carpenter's trade, following that calling until May, 1905, when he leased the Springer Hotel, in North Belle Vernon, and has since been the proprietor of that hos- telry. He is a Republican in politics, and served three years as councilman of the borough. He is a member of Belle Vernon Lodge, No. 356, Independent Order Odd Fellows, and Pocahontas Camp, No. 147. Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Corwin married, November 12, 1889, Barbara, daughter of Louis Volk, of Rostraver township, and has one child, Smithie, born Sept. 15, 1890.
CARL W. THEAKSTON. The father of Carl W. Theakston, of Belle Vernon, is Lyle Theakston, son of John L. Theakston. Lyle Theakston was born in 1852, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and for some years was engaged in farming. For the last fifteen or sixteen years he has been stable boss and teamster for the Aubrey Lumber Company, in West Brownsville. In politics he is a staunch Democrat. He married Leonora Harrington, and their children are: Minnie, wife of Homer Walford, of West Brownsville ; Harry, who lives in the same place ; Carl W., mentioned hereafter ; and Frederick, who lives in West Belle Vernon.
Carl W. Theakston, son of Lyle and Leonora ( Harrington) Theakston, was born January 17, 1876, in Brownsville, and received his preparatory edu- cation in the common schools, afterward attending the State Normal school at California, Pennsylvania. At seventeen years of age he accepted a position in the grocery store of A. L. Harrington, of West Brownsville, where for about three years he had to a great degree the management of the business. In May, 1898, he took charge of the Hotel Province, which he has since suc- cessfully conducted. He is a Democrat in politics. Mr. Theakston married, June 8, 1898, Bessie, daughter of David J. Province, proprietor of the Hotel Aubrey, of West Brownsville. Mr. and Mrs. Theakston have been the parents of one child who is now deceased.
AUGUST SCHNEIDER, a brewer of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was born July 16, 1855. in Wurtemberg, Germany, the son of Antone and Caroline ( Haney) Schneider.
While residing in Germany August Schneider learned the brewing busi- ness with his father, and worked there at his trade for seven years, being brew- ing master in Zurich, Switzerland. He emigrated to this country. May I. 1880, locating in Philadelphia, where he resided for four years. He then went to Carlisle to accept a position as brewing master, which he successfully filled for two years, when he returned to Philadelphia, remaining there two years, during this time being employed by the Bergner Engle Brewing Company. The succeeding three years he was employed as brewing master in Bethlehem. Pennsylvania, and from there went to Altoona. Pennsylvania, where he served in the same capacity for Martin Helle, the old Hickory brewery. After four
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