USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 47
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
years of service for this firm he removed to Millville, where he was engaged for six months as brewing master of the Millville Enz Brewing Company. With these years of service in the various brewing concerns with which he had been from time to time connected, Mr. Schneider acquired a good general knowl- edge of the business, which he put to practical use when he started the Ameri- can Brewing Company, in which he was engaged for four years. From there he went of Latrobe, and built up and opened the Loyalhanna brewery, in part- nership with Philipp Herrmann. Mr. Schneider superintended the building of the factory, and has retained the position of superintendent and general manager for four years. The business has been successful from the start, and Messrs. Schneider and Herrmann are to be congratulated on the well-merited success. Mr. Schneider is a member of the B. P. O. E., No. 905, of Latrobe, the F. O. E., No. 1188, of Latrobe. Religiously he and family are mem- bers of the German Catholic church, and he is the organizer and leader of the Catholic societies of Latrobe, has also been a delegate. Mr. Schneider is a Democrat. He is one of the prominent citizens of Latrobe.
Mr. Schneider married, June 19, 1878, Louisa Herzog, who emigrated to this country front Baden, Germany. She was the daughter of Andrew and Caroline Bachele Herzog. Twelve children were . born to Mr. and Mrs. Schneider : Alfred A., December 7, 1879, died February 14, 1904; Otto E., born December 7, 1879: Louis, December 28, 1880, deceased ; Frank J., born September 26, 1883, died March 28, 1884: Joseph A., born January 24, 1885 ; Amelia C., April 7, 1887. died February 16, 1889: Matilda K., born September 29, 1889; Charles F., October 29, 1891 ; Alois A., April 7, 1894, died Sep- tember 9, 1808: Wilhelmina P., March 21, 1897; Julia H., July 23, 1899 ; and Stella M., February 9, 1902.
ISRAEL M. GRAHAM. The family of which Israel M. Graham, of Ligonier, is a representative, was founded in this country by Barney Graham, who came about 1804 from Donegal, Ireland, being of Scotch-Irish descent. He was a farmer, a man of limited education and a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Graham brought with him to the United States his wife and the following children : William, George, Richard, Robert, and two daughters. The first home of the family was in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where they re- mained about a year, and then settled in Unity township, Westmoreland county.
George Graham, second son of Barney Graham, was sixteen years old when the family came to the United States, and remained on the homestead (now the "Jacob Shirey Farm") until the death of his father. He married in 1819, Sarah Ralston, who was of English descent and was born in 1803, in Westmoreland county. They lived on the farm in Unity township until 1832, when they moved to a farm in Ligonier township, two miles south of Ligonier.
James Graham, son of George and Sarah (Ralston) Graham, was born September 28. 1820, in Unity township, and received his education in the com- mon schools. His occupation was that of a farmer, and in the sphere of pol- itics he adheres to the Republican party. While faithful in the duties of citi- zenship he has neither sought nor desired office. He is a member of the Lutheran church, in which he has held official positions. Mr. Graham, now aged eighty-six, is in good health, with powers of mind and body unimpaired. Mr. Graham married Louise Bitner, whose ancestors came to eastern Penn- sylvania about 1790 and later settled in Somerset county. Her grandparents moved to Fairfield township, Westmoreland county, about 1800, and about 1803
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her parents, Peter and Mary Bitner, took up their abode in Ligonier township. Their daughter Louise, who became the wife of James Graham, as mentioned above, belonged to a family of four sons and ten daughters, and was born Jan- uary 29. 1821. in Ligonier township. Mr. Graham has now retired from ac- tive labor and is a resident of Ligonier. He and his wife have been the parents of six sons and one daughter, all of whom are living with the exception of one son who died in infancy in 1854. Mrs. Graham died September 25, 1901, aged seventy-nine.
Israel M. Graham, eldest son of James and Louise (Bitner) Graham, was born December 21, 1847, in Ligonier township, where he received his prepara- tory education in the public schools, from which he proceeded to Ligonier Academy, advancing thence to Edinboro ( Pennsylvania) State Normal school, where he graduated in 1873. In 1867 he began his career as a teacher in Ligonier township, held the position of principal at Blairsville, Pennsylvania. and for twelve years was principal of the Ligonier public schools. During these years he took charge every summer of the Ligonier Normal and Scien- tific Institute. In 1889 he relinquished his work as a teacher, and in 1891 Became editor and owner of the Ligonier Echo. He has since been contin- uously engaged in newspaper work. He has served three terms as school di- rector, and his third term as justice of the peace will expire in May, 1907. In 1902 and '03 he was largely instrumental in the erection of the forty thousand dollar school building of Ligonier. He has been prosperous financially, and since coming to Ligonier in 1876 has accumulated considerable property. He belongs to Ligonier Lodge, No. 964, I. O. O. F., of Ligonier, and is a Repub- lican in politics. For about twenty years he has served as deacon in the Luth- eran church, and for the same length of time has been superintendent of the Sunday school. He also holds the office of treasurer of the church, and is active in church and benevolent work.
Mr. Graham married, May 20, 1874. in Ligonier township, Maria Mc- Klveen, and they have two children. Clarence O., born April 10. 1875. in Blairsville, was educated in the common schools and at the Ligonier Classical Institute, and is the owner of a livery stable in Ligonier, where he resides. He is married and has three children : Edna, Albert and Mary. Irene, born October 1, 1882, in Ligonier, attended the common schools, passed thence to Irwin Fe- male College, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and also received a musical edu- cation. Mrs. Graham is a daughter of William and Catharine McKlveen, and was educated in the common schools. Her father, who is still living at the very advanced age of ninety, is a retired farmer of Ligonier township. He has held a number of offices, affording the unusual instance of a Democrat elected in a Republican township. His ancestors emigrated from Ireland and first settled near Baltimore, Maryland.
JACOB H. MURDOCK, a well known merchant in Ligonier. West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, and for many years a citizen in that town, whose bravery and endurance were noted and recognized during the Civil war, traces his ancestry to Scotland.
(I) Daniel Murdock, father of Jacob H. Murdock, was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, in 1812, and for some years followed the occupation of milling in that county. He then removed to Pleasant Unity, where in connec- tion with his trade as millwright, he engaged for a number for years in the milling business. Later he removed to what is now West Latrobe and for some time worked in what was known as "Chambers' mill." Subsequently he
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
bought a farm and followed agricultural pursuits until within a few years of his death, when he retired and moved to Ligonier where he spent the re- mainder of his days. He was a loyal adherent of the Whig party, but never sought or held public office. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His death occurred in 1876. Daniel Murdock married Anna Hart- man, and their children were: 1. Mary A., married David Marker ; 2. John, married Mary Slater, resides in Johnstown and has seven children ; 3. Samuel, deceased : 4. Jacob H, of whom later ; 5. William F., deceased ; 6. Solomon K., deceased ; 7. Eliza K., married Louis Tranger ; 8. Henry H., a banker in Greensburg, married Martha McChesney, and has two children ; 9. George R., deceased ; 10. Leah J., marriel W. S. Martin ; II. David H., deceased.
( Il) Jacob H. Murdock, third son and fourth child of Daniel ( 1) and Anna ( Hartman) Murdock, was born in Unity township, Pennsylvania, De- cember 25, 1842. His education was a good one for that time and was ac- quired in the common schools of the district. His time after leaving school was occupied in working on the home farm until September 2, 1861, when he en- listed. He was assigned to Company E, Captain J. C. McCurdy, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel Richard Coulter, commanding. Mr. Mur- dock's military career is of more than ordinary interest as a record of arduous and active service. He was in a number of engagements and on August 28, 1862, at the battle of Thoroughfare Gap, Virginia, was shot through both legs just above the knees, and was left on the field, his regiment being com- pelled to fall back. He received kindly attention from a Confederate soldier who carried him out of the line of fire and cared for him during the following night, leaving him the next day with no shelter save the limbs of an overhang- ing tree and his own blanket which Mr. Murdock still preserves. Here he remained absolutely without food or medical attendance for five days. He was supplied with water by an old man, who was, however, unable to procure any food for him. On the fifth day he was placed in a bolster wagon and taken fifteen miles over a rough road to Warrentown, Virginia, and placed in a church filled with wounded confederate soldiers, which had heen converted into a temporary hospital. Here he lay on a pile of hay in a corner, utterly neglected and suffering almost intolerable agony. His food and the treatment he received was of the worst possible description. At last, October 18, to his great joy, he heard shouts, cheers, and strains of martial music which could only have come from the Union army. The First Pennsylvania and the First New Jersey Cavalry had captured the town, and he, the only Union prisoner now in it, was free. He was placed in an ambulance for transportation to Washington, and after eleven days spent in this conveyance, during which time it was once overturned, at last reached that city and was placed in the hospital. There the kindly care and clean surroundings, assisted by his sturdy constitution, soon helped him to the road to health. As soon as it was pos- sible for him to do so he rejoined his regiment. January 4, 1864, he re-en- listed for three years, and served until the close of the war. He was present when Lee surrendered at Appomattox, and marched in the "Grand Review" in Washington, at the close of the war. When mustered out, he had attained the rank of second lieutenant. Mr. Murdock was always in the foremost ranks in any engagement in which he took part, and his bravery won him commen- dation on many occasions.
At the close of the war he returned to Ligonier and established himself in the mercantile business, the present firm name being Murdock & Berkey. and has continued in this business up to the present time (1906). He is also a
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
stockholder in the First National Bank, and is well known in financial circles as a level-headed business man. In politics he is a Republican, and for twelve years has held the office of councilman of Ligonier. He is a member of Post No. 324. G. A. R., Ligonier, and of Ligonier Lodge, No. 331, F. and A. M. For thirty-eight years, with the exception of five years when he was away from the town, he has been a member and chorister of the Ligonier Metho- dist Episcopal church, and is now president of the board of trustees. Mr. Murdock was an untiring and energetic member of the building committee in charge of the erection of the beautiful new church the society recently com- pleted. The church is located on the south side of the Diamond, and is an ornament to the town and an honor to the congregation erecting it. Mr. Mur- dock married Mary E. Caven, daughter of Alexander and Esther Caven, and they have had two children, of whom one died in infancy .. The other, Minnie M., born May 5. 1874. married O. R. McColley, of Latrobe, and has one child, Jacob Eugene.
JAMES C. SIBEL. The grandfather of James C. Sibel, of Lig- onier, emigrated from Germany to the United States, bringing with him his son Michael, a boy of ten years, and settled in Cook township. As a youth Michael Sibel worked for some time as a driver on the canal, then turned his attention to agriculture, and for the remainder of his life was a farmer. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Sibel married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Mary ( Weller) Deeds, and their children were: Jacob, a miner in Idaho: Maria, wife of Andrew J. Bell, a farmer of Cook township : Monroe, a farmer in Fayette county ; Amanda, married Will- iam McClain, of Donegal township: James C., of whom later ; Elizabeth, wife of T. J. McClain, of Donegal township ; and Edward H., who was a carpenter in Kansas, where he died in 1899. Mr. Sibel, the father of the family, died in 1884. aged seventy. Mrs. Sibel died in 1868, aged fifty-three.
James C. Sibel, son of Michael and Elizabeth ( Deeds) Sibel, was born October 27, 1852, in Ligonier township, where he received his education in the common schools. When but eighteen years of age he became connected with the stock business, buying horses and cattle in Westmoreland and Sont- erset counties and driving them to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He contin- ved this successfully for twenty years, and was one of the largest stock ship- pers in that part of the country. After retiring from the stock business he engaged for five years in farming in Ligonier township, and then purchased the livery business of Deeds & Lytle, which he conducted until the morning of February 5. 1906, when a fire broke out or was started in the barn, totally destroying it with much valuable property. Fortunately, however, all live stock was saved. In 1900 he was appointed for one year mercantile appraiser by R. N. Gay, of Greensburg, then county commmissioner. In politics he is a Democrat He is a member of the Methodist Protestant church of Stahls- town. Mr. Sibel married Samantha, daughter of Elijah and Mary (Coleman) Hauger, the ceremony taking place in June, 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Sibel have had four children : Leroy, at home with his father ; Mary E. ; James C., died at the age of two years and a half ; and John H. D., at home.
CYRUS C. BRANT. of Ligonier, a well known, progressive and successful educator, who has already made his mark and gives promise of at- taining to future prominence in his profession, a son of Abraham and Susan (Boucher) Brant, is one of the few members of that old and numerous fam-
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
ily that have not been tillers of the soil. That occupation seems hereditary in the Brant family from the time of John Brant, the great-grandfather of Cyrus C. Brant. The family came originally from Amsterdam, Holland, and settled in eastern Pennsylvania, coming from thence to Somerset and Westmoreland counties, where they are numerous and prominent in church, business and political affairs. The grandfather of the present generation whose history we are following was also John Brant. He was a farmer by occupation, a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a Republican in politics. He mar- ried a Miss Kyle and they reared a family of six children, one of whom was Abraham Brant, of whom further.
Abraham Brant, father of Cyrus C. Brant, born in Ligonier township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, 1813, died 1860, aged forty-seven years. He followed farming throughout the active years of his life, was a reliable and public-spirited citizen, and gave his allegiance to the candidates of the Republican party, the principles of which he believed to be for the best form of government. He married, 1837, Susan Boucher, daughter of David and Eve (Friedline) Boucher, granddaughter of Henry and Mary (Shoemaker) Boucher, and great-granddaughter of Daniel Boucher, the first ancestor of this family in this country. (A detailed history of the Boucher family will be found elsewhere in the work). Mrs. Brant died April 14, 1894, aged seventy- nine years. They were the parents of ten children : I. Elizabeth, married J. C. McConaughy, a farmer of the valley; they are the parents of ten children. 2. Mary, married J. H. McConaughy, two children ; they reside in Ligonier. 3. Sarah, unmarried, resides in Ligonier. 4. Josiah H., farms a portion of the homestead farm near Ligonier. He married Millie McKelvey, 1889, and their children are: Harry Mckinley, Charles Wilbert, Paul Stewart, Eugene Boucher, Florence Josephine, and Mary Virginia: Josiah H. is a steward of the Methodist Episcopal church of Ligonier, and a supporter of the principles of the Republican party. 5. Rebecca, married Harry Marker, of Ligonier, four children. 6. David, owner of a part of the old homestead, a Methodist in re- ligion and a Republican in politics. He married Louisa Marker, has one child, Cora. 7. Susan, married Alexander Ambrose, of Ligonier, five children. 8. Cyrus C., of whom later. 9. Isaac, deceased. 10. Abraham, an employee of the Pennsylvnia Railroad Company at Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, a member of the Methodist church, and an adherent of the Republican party. He married Emma Mccullough.
Cyrus C. Brant received his early education in the public schools of the township, and this was supplemented by a course at the academy of Ligonier and Mt. Union College, at Alliance, Ohio. He chose teaching for a profes- sion and began his work as an instructor at Four Mile Run school when but fifteen years old. He has taught continuously in Westmoreland county since that first school excepting the time spent in college and one year as bookkeeper for the Pittsburg and Ligonier Realty Company. He has proved a capable and successful teacher, and has acceptably taught in the boroughs and town- ships of Ligonier, Derry, New Florence, Manor and Mount Pleasant. He keeps well informed on all matters pertaining to his calling, and while devot- ing his best interests to the work of instruction is still a student, and is well versed in literature and topics of general interest, but especially in the line which will aid him most in his chosen field of labor. He is a Republican, and holds a commission as notary public. Mr. Brant married, September 2, 1903, Josephine MeKelvey, one of a family of ten children born to Mckinley McKel-
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vey, a Ligonier valley farmer, and his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Brant are members of the Presbyterian church.
EZRA G. NICELY. The family to which Ezra G. Nicely, of Lig- onier township, belongs is among the oldest of the Ligonier valley. Anthony W. Nicely, grandfather of Ezra G. Nicely, was born in 1806, in Ligonier town- ship, and there spent his life as a farmer. He married Rose Anna Kutz and their children were: John H., of whom later; William, who fell in the battle of Bull Run ; Lovina, wife of Jonas Noel : Harriet, married Abram Enos ; Mary, wife of John Smith : Barbara ; Sarah, married Adam Nicely. The father of this family died in 1891.
John H. Nicely, son of Anthony W. and Rose Anna ( Kutz) Nicely, was born in 1834. in Ligonier township, and has from his youth been engaged in business as a drover, having never abandoned this occupation, even temporarily, for any other. Mr. Nicely married Mary Isabel, daughter of George P. and Keziah (Gelvin) Campbell, and their children were: Kizzie, wife of Samuel Johnson, Junior ; William H., deceased; George Mcclellan, deceased ; Edward J., associated in business with his brother, Ezra G .; Anthony, deceased ; Ezra G., of whom later ; Joseph M. ; Minerva, wife of John Serrena ; and Mary Irene, married George Freeman.
Ezra G. Nicely, son of John H. and Mary Isabel ( Campbell) Nicely, was born March 9, 1872, and received his education in the common schools. When only twelve years old he was employed as clerk in the restaurant of E. G. Camp- bell, at Greensburg, where he remained two years, and then for one year was employed by his brother, who was a butcher at Derry Station. For three years he served as fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad, after which he was again associated in business with his brother at Derry Station. At the end of a year he went to Idlewild Park, where he became the proprietor of a general store and also a caterer. In 1902 he leased the Ligonier House, which he successfully conducted in connection with his business as a dealer in horses and cattle until 1906, when he sold his interest in the hotel and retired to engage exclusively in his business of stock dealing. He maintains always a fine stable of well-bred, valuable horses and conducts a large business. While a resident of Idlewild Park he held the office of postmaster and also that of justice of the peace. He is a member of Lodge No. 331, F. and A. M., of Ligonier ; Ligonier Lodge, No. 964. I. O. O. F., also of Ligonier, and the J. O. U. A. M., of Williamsburg. Mr. Nicely married Charlotte, daughter of William and Catherine Sophia Houseberg, of Pittsburg, and they have two sons: William H., born August 25, 1896 : and Garnet John, born January 25, 1900.
ROBERT D. SPRINGER. Among the okl families of Westmore- land county is the race of the Springers, one branch of which is represented by Robert D. Springer, of North Belle Vernon. John Springer was one of three brothers who came to this country from Sweden about the middle of the eigh- teenth century. He made his way through the wilderness by blazing the trees. and took up four hundred acres of land, part of which lay in Westmoreland and part in Fayette county. On this land he made his home during the remainder of his life.
Daniel Springer, son of John Springer, the emigrant, was born in 1763. on his father's farm, where he passed his entire life of eighty-two years. His son, Joseph Springer, was born in 1795. on the same farm, and married Margaret Driver. He always lived on the homestead, dying there at the age of seventy-
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
six. Their son, James Springer, born May 26, 1826, on a farm in Washington township, Fayette county, was reared on a portion of the old Springer home- stead. In his nineteenth year he apprenticed himself to the cabinetmaker's trade in Belle Vernon, and for twenty-seven years thereafter made that trade bis means of livelihood. In 1855 he was elected justice of the peace and has served continuously ever since, a period of half a century. He has served two terms as burgess of Belle Vernon, and several years as a member of the school board. He held the office of assessor for two terms, that of tax collector for one, and for ten years was secretary of the town council. He has been a men- ber of the cemetery board since its organization in 1867, and for many years served as its president. For the last forty-six years he has belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a charter member of Belle Vernon Lodge, No. 656, and having previously affiliated with Fayette City Lodge. He is a staunch Republican, and a member of the Christian church, in which since 1869 he has served as elder. Mr. Springer married Sarah Ann Reeves, and their children are: Orville R., commercial salesman for the Allen Kirkpatrick Company of Pittsburg : Laura, wife of A. H. Cunningham, of Allegheny, Penn- sylvania ; Amanda, deceased, was the wife of E. M. Kyle, merchant of Belle Vernon : Nancy, wife of J. P. Baughman, ex-burgess of Jeannette ; Robert D., mentioned hereafter : Joseph O., twin to Robert D., with whom he is associated in business : Anna B., wife of S. W. Murphy, of North Belle Vernon, commer- cial salesman for the Arbuckle Company : Elizabeth, wife of Dr. B. B. Martin, of Allegheny ; and Frank A., postmaster of Belle Vernon.
Robert D. Springer, son of James and Sarah Ann ( Reeves ) Springer, was born September 3. 1860, in Belle Vernon, Fayette county, where he was edu- cated in the common schools. From his fourteenth year he ran on the river from Pittsburg to Brownsville, and in 1881, being then twenty-one years old, engaged in the livery business in Belle Vernon. Two years later he disposed of the business, and in 1884, in partnership with his brother, Joseph O. Springer, engaged in the meat business in Belle Vernon. This enterprise the two brothers have since successfully conducted. Mr. Springer is a Republican in politics. He married in 1894. Cora B., daughter of the late John S. Reeves, of North Belle Vernon, who served during the Civil war as captain of Company D. Twenty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry. Mr. and Mrs. Springer have four children: Joseph E., Clara, Helen, and Sarah. Joseph O. Springer, twin brother of Robert D., married Hannah Gray, of New Castle, Pennsyl- vania, January 21, 1892, to whom was born three children: Robert G., Laura M., Bessie E.
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