USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 62
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Alexander Kilgore, fourth son of John and Nancy ( Hunter ) Kilgore, born August 10, 1813, died January 12, 1881. He was elected sheriff of Westmore-
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
land county in 1871, which office he served faithfully the three following years. He married Elizabeth Fulwood, died September 1900, daughter of David Ful- wood, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Their children were : I. David Ful- wood, born 1856, died April 1, 1904. He married Elizabeth Highberger, daughter of John H. Highberger, of Greensburg, and their children were : John Alexander, David Fulwood, Richard Pollard, Elizabeth, Jerome, Don- ald. 2. Nancy, married A. M. Sloan, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. 3. Gertrude, married George MeClellan Kilgore, of Port Washington, Ohio, deceased. 4. Elizabeth, married Harry H. Fisher, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. 5. John P., mentioned later. 6. Alexander.
John J'. Kilgore, second son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Fulwood) Kil- gore, was born in Ludwick, now Greensburg, June 18, 1868. He was edu- cated at the old academy, and for the past eight years has been a member of the Kilgore Bottling Company, of Greensburg, which enterprise he has man- aged most successfully. He is a member of the Presbyterian church of Greens- burg, and a staunch Democrat in politics. He is a man of sterling principles and commands the respect of all who know him. He married Ada Kuhn, daughter of Frank B. Kuhn, of Mount Pleasant township, and their children are: Robert Alexander, born March 10, 1895 ; Helen Pauline, and Rebecca Louise.
HARRY C. WILSON. The parents of Harry C. Wilson, of Avon- more, are Perry B. and Sarah Wilson, both natives of Fayette county. Mr. Wilson was a cooper by trade and a good mechanic. He is an old resident of Fayette county, and has now retired from active labor. He and his wife are the parents of four sons and two daughters: Lizzie, wife of William Henry, now deceased ; Media, at home ; Abram C., Harry C., mentioned here- inafter ; Chester R., born September 1, 1873, in Fayette county, came in 1895 to Avonmore, and holds the office of notary public ; and Charles Z.
Harry C. Wilson, son of Perry B. and Sarah Wilson, was born in 1871, in Fayette county, where he received a common school education. In 1892 he went to Avonmore, where he purchased the Commercial Hotel, which he con- ducted until 1895, when he disposed of the same. In 1809, in partnership with his brother, Chester R., he embarked in the hardware business in Avon- more ; under the firm name of Wilson Brothers. The connection was main- tained until 1901, when Mr. Wilson sold his interest and his brother now car- ries on the business alone. In 1902 Mr. Wilson erected the Wilson Hotel, of which he has since been the successful proprietor. It is built on the most modern plan and furnished in the most complete and artistic manner, its lodg- ing capacity comprising thirty rooms. It is a brick structure and its entire cost, including furniture, was twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Wilson was one of the organizers and is director and treasurer of the Avonmore Cemetery Company. Mr. Wilson married Annie Hudson, daughter of James R. Hud- son, of Saltsburg. Pennsylvania, and one child has been born to them, a daughter, named Ruth E.
WHITESELL FAMILY. The numerous and well known race rep- resented by J. F. and Harry W. Whitesell, both of Salina, was planted in this country by John Whitesell, a native of Germany, who settled in Northampton county, but later migrated to Westmoreland, taking up his abode in Alle- gheny township. He and his wife, who was a native of Holland, were the parents of three sons: John, mentioned hereinafter ; Jonathan, and Philip.
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
John Whitesell, son of John Whitesell, the emigrant, was born in 1788, in Westmoreland county, and became a farmer of some importance, owning one hundred and thirty acres. He also drove a four-horse wagon between l'ittsburg, Philadelphia and Baltimore, often passing the night on the road and sleeping in the wagon. His wife was Catharine Clawson, born in 1782, in Bell township, and their children were: Isaac, Mary A., James, Eliza, Ellen, Jonathan, Susanna, Peter, mentioned hereinafter ; and Alexander. Of this number Jonathan only survives. Mr. Whitesell died in 1875.
Peter Whitesell, son of John and Catharine ( Clawson ) Whitesell, was born in 1830, in Bell township, where he was reared and educated. In carly youth he learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed at Perrysville where he owned a small farm. In 1877 he moved to Salina, where he purchased some village property. He married Nancy J., daughter of John and Charlotte Muf- fley, and their children were : J. F., see forward ; Harry W., see forward; W. J., see forward ; G. L., see forward ; Laura B., deceased ; and Lillie P., wife of W. R. Carnahan.
J. F. Whitesell, son of Peter and Nancy J. (Muffley) Whitesell, was born April 9. 1861, at Perrysville, where he was educated in the common schools. About 1879 he was employed as clerk, agent and general manager for the store and office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Salina, and in 1883. when the station was moved to its present site, he took entire charge. This po- sition he still retains. For ten years he held the office of township treasurer, was elected justice of the peace for one term, and is now serving as school director. Mr. Whitesell married in 1887. Matilda C. Anderson, and their chil- dren were : Howard A., Frank E. L., Marion G., Hazel M., and Ruth I.
Harry W. Whitesell, son of Peter and Nancy J. ( Muffley) Whitesell, was born December 9, 1864, at Perrysville, where he received a common school edu- cation. At an early age he was employed by the Keir Brothers at their fire- brick plant at Salina, and in 1889 was promoted to the position of superintend- ent. The output at that time was eight thousand bricks daily. The capacity has now risen to thirty thousand and is still increasing. The force of men employed is one hundred and fifteen. Like his brother, Mr. Whitesell has hell the office of school director. Mr. Whitesell married in 1880, Ann, daugh- ter of George Almes, and they have one son, Charles F. Whitesell.
W. J. Whitesell, son of Peter and Nancy J. ( Muffley) Whitesell, was born in 1870, and is in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He married Lizzie Barker, and their children are: Verne, Lisle, Mildred, Gladys and Cari.
G. L. Whitesell, son of Peter and Nancy J. ( Muffley ) Whitesell, was born in 1874, and is assistant superintendent of the Keir fire-brick works. He married Margaret Nixon, and four children have been born to them : Ruhat, Bertha, Dwight and Margaret.
GEORGE W. HUEY, a prosperous and influential business man of Greensburg, whose fine stone residence, Ross Place, named in memory of Lord Ross, is located on East Pittsburg street, is a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, born June 18, 1839, a son of John and Ilester Anna ( Slemmens) Huey, and grandson of Robert and Isabelle Ross Huey, who came to this country from Ireland in 1700, and who were related to the nobles of Ireland, the latter namel having been a connection of Lord Ross. They endured the privations and dangers to life from wild animals incident to a pioneer settle- ment, they having taken up their abode upon their arrival here at the foot 2-27
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of Chestnut Ridge, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. The grandmother of George W. Huey had one encounter with a bear which had captured a pig from the sty ; she followed it among the rocks with an axe for a weapon and compelled it to give up its prey.
John Huey ( father) was born in the north of Ireland, and when three years old was brought by his parents to this country, they settling as afore- said in Fayette county, near Mount Vernon. He married Hester Anna Slem- mens, daughter of John Slemmens, who was a soldier in the revolutionary war, was taken prisoner on board a man-of-war, and their provisions being scarce the prisoners were allowed to swim to an island to procure water- melons, the officers not thinking that any would attempt to swim the dis- tance to the other shore, which was three miles. Mr. Slemmens and another prisoner made the attempt, but when half-way across the other man turned back but Mr. Slemmens kept on and gained his liberty. George Huey, brother of Robert Huey, served throughout the entire period of the war of 1812, filling the office of captain, and for the remainder of his life received a pension for his services.
George W. Huey, son of John and Hester Anna (Slemmens) Huey, re- ceived his education in the common schools near Pennsville, Pennsylvania. which he attended until he was twenty years of age. For a number of years thereafter he was engaged in teaching school, a vocation for which he was thoroughly qualified, and then turned his attention to the trade of papering and painting, at which he worked as a contractor for a quarter of a century, after which he opened a paint, paper, and glass store on his own account, which he has successfully conducted up to the present time ( 1905), and which yields him a goodly profit in return for labor expended. On August 4, 1864, during the process of the civil war, he enlisted in Company K, Eleventh Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and received an honorable discharge at the close of the war in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Huey married, July 16, 1868, Sabina Althea Cooper, born March 26, 1848, in Connelsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Alford and Catherine ( Freeman) Cooper, granddaughter of Edmund Freeman, who served through the war of 1812, and great-great-granddaughter of Captain Wetzell, who served through the war of the revolution. Their children are as follows: Thomas J .. deceased ; Ben- jamin F., deceased ; Maude, deceased ; George C., deceased ; Catharine Blanche, a graduate and post-graduate of Mount Pleasant Institute of Music ; and Al- thea Fern, a student at the same school, from which she expects to graduate in 1906.
KUHN FAMILY. Adam Kuhn, a retired merchant of near Cla- ridge, lives on the farm that is the southern limit of what was Penn's Manor, being a part of the five thousand or more acres granted to William Penn by the King of England. The Kuhn family have contributed to the church eight ministers and twenty-one elders. Adam Kuhn traces his ancestry back to the year 1700, when Adam Kuhn, an ancestor, was born in the city of Am- sterdam. At the age of forty he married a lady in Holland named Eve, and immigrated to America, settling in New Jersey. His children were Nicholas, Mansfield, Michael, and one daughter, Mary.
Mansfield Kuhn, son of Adam Kuhn, was a soldier and died in the revolu- tionary war. He had five sons and three daughters, whose names were Archi- bald, Adam, Samuel, David, John, Eve, Mary and Nancy.
Adam Kuhn, son of Mansfield Kuhn, was a man of considerable literary ability and a regular contributor for many years to the journal now known
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
as the "Presbyterian Banner." He was a devout member of the Presbyterian church, in which for years he served as ruling elder, and the community in which he lived felt his christian influence at all times, as he was an indefati- gable worker in the cause of christianity. His family consisted of the follow- ing children : Adam a banker, at Wellsburgh, Virginia ; David, who lived at the old homestead near Alpsville on the Youghiogheny river ; James, a noted member of the Pittsburg bar, formerly professor of languages at Lafayette College : John, a physician at Mckeesport, and Anne, who was Mrs. Sampson, of Sampson's Mills.
David Kuhn, son of Adam Kuhn, lived to the age of ninety-three years : he died August, 1895. His wife was Jane Caven, daughter of Major William Caven, well and favorably known in Allegheny county, having been sheriff, and for many years superintendent of the Pittsburg and Philadelphia turn- pike, an important highway at that early date, before the advent of railroads. Their family comprised five sons and one daughter: Adam. William, James, Edwin, Robert and Sarah.
Adam Kuhn, son of David Kuhn, was born in Parsales township. Alle- gheny county, 1834. He conducted a variety store in Altoona for a number of years, is now retired and lives on a farm at Claridge. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a Republican in politics. He married, Septem- ber 21, 1865, Emline Wilson, at the oldl Wilson homestead near Clarion, Clarion county. She was the daughter of Colonel John McConnell and Ruth ( Go- heen ) Wilson. Both her paternal and maternal grandfathers were pioneer settlers of that region, having come there about the year 1800, when it was all a wilderness and infested with Indians. Robert Wilson was the father of John Wilson, and his was the second marriage in that settlement. He mar- ried Sarah McConnell, who was noted for her beauty as well as for her graces as a wife, mother, and housekeeper. Robert and Sarah Wilson had nine chil- dren, five sons and four daughters: Samuel, John, Stewart, David, Robert, Elizabeth, Jane, Nancy and Mary Ann. About the year 1822 Robert Wilson took the only newspaper in the country ; his son John was a good reader and read the news often, on evenings, to the neighbors, at the hospitable home of the Wilsons. John lived all his life of more than sixty years at the old homestead. His brothers and sisters all settled in that neighborhood, and their descendants are now good, influential citizens of the community, and the second one of the family is now presiding judge of the court there.
Adam and Emline (Wilson) Kuhn, of Claridge, have four children: I. David Wilson, born November 6, 1866, is an alumnus of Ohio University. He studied law with Honorable D. J. Neff. of Altoona. He practiced law in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a few years, and for five years has been a member of the Pittsburgh bar, his office being at No. 615 Bakewell building. He married, September 26, 1896, at her home in Brewer, Maine, Miss Antoinette Golay, who through her mother is related to Clara Barton, of the Red Cross society. Her father, a native of Geneva, Switzerland, came over during the civil war to help the colored people regain their freedom. Miss Barton found him wounded in a hospital in Washington, took him to her own home to be nursed, where he met and married her niece. In this family there are two daughters-Katherine Golay and Ruth Wilson. 2. Helen, born May 17, 1869, is an accomplished graduate of Hollidaysburg Seminary. She speaks Ger- man and French as well as English, and has traveled considerably in her own country and in Europe. 3. Harry Addison, born September 3. 1871, is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State College. He is a civil engineer of some experience, and is, with his brother, extensively engaged in the coal
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business. His office is at No. 616 Frick Building, Pittsburg. He married in Philadelphia, June 20, 1904, Agnes Sweeny. 4. Emily, born April 13, 1874, took the library course at the Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. She assisted in organizing the library of Alexandria, Pennsylvania. She organized the Car- negie Library at Oakmont ; was elected librarian at Mckeesport. She organ- ized the library there and remained in it for one year.
JOHN L. ARMBRUST, of Armbrust, Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, son of William and Margaret Gongaware Armbrust, was born at Old Stanton, Pennsylvania, one mile north of the present New Stanton, De- cember 26, 1858.
His paternal grandfather, John Armbrust, was born in Germany, and came to the United States on board the second German ship that ever sailed from that Empire to this country, which took thirteen weeks to make the trip, landing in Philadelphia. He was a printer by trade and edited a German newspaper at Greensburg, known as the "Star of the West," it being the only German newspaper ever published in Westmoreland county; a copy of this paper is still in the hands of J. L. Armbrust. He afterward became editor of the "True Democrat," which was devoted to the interests of that party. He was a well educated man and taught German schools in the county for several years. He was a Lutheran by persuasion, and never neglected any duty which he thought belonged to him to perform. His wife was Cathrine Shatler, whom he married in Germany, to whom was born nine children : Cathrine and Regina, born in Germnay : Elizabeth, John, Jacob, Daniel, Wil- liam, Michael and Mary Ann, all born in Westmoreland county. William Armbrust ( father) was born in a log house which stood adjacent to the site of Ackerman's music store at Greensburg. All of the above family are now de- ceased, excepting Jacob, of south of Greensburg, and Michael, of Myersdale, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, all of which lived past three score years and ten.
William Armbrust ( father) was born January 4, 1818, and learned the trade of cabinetmaking with a man by the name of Henry Miller in Greens- burg. He followed his trade at Adamsburg and New Stanton, now Old Stanton, till 1860, when he removed to Weavers Old Stand, or I might say, Armbrust village, as Weaver's Old Stand proper is situated one-fourth of a mile southeast of Armbrust, along the clay pike, near by where the Greensburg and Mount Pleasant road crosses the pike. When he moved to the present Armbrust village he purchased an old log grist mill, which had port holes in that were used in fighting the Indians; there was also an old up and down saw mill adjacent, and these were both run by water power from the Big Sewickley creek. Several dams were built by his father, as the high water would sometimes take the dams away. He ran these mills night and day for many years, and he also bought a farm of one hundred and eighty acres adja- cent. There he erected a new frame grist mill and purchased new portable saw mills, which he operated over the country. He sold part of the farm afterwards to H. F. Rumbaugh, now deceased. His trade in the mill and lumber business was quite extensive. He was appointed postmaster under the Republican administration in time of the late war. He was a Lutheran.
He married, April 7, 1842, Margaret Gongaware, daughter of Jonas and Christena ( Neighly) Gongaware. of near Adamsburg, an old pioneer settler of Westmoreland county. To this union have been born four sons and four daughters: Lewis F., now of Greensburg : Jonas W., of Armbrust ; Daniel W., died in infancy ; Mary Jane, wife of C. E. Kelly, of East Pittsburg ; Sarah
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E., wife of Allen Wright, formerly of Armbrust, now of St. John, Kansas ; Alice Christina, wife of Eli Peterson, of Armbrust : John L., of Armbrust, see forward : and Emma Lydia, wife of J. L. Miller, formerly of Armbrust, now of Radabangh's Station.
John L. Armbrust received a common school education in the district ( Ruffs ) school, and was employed mostly in his father's grist and saw mill and in farming until about twenty-four years of age. He worked some at photographing .and was then employed by Israel Ghint, of Greensburg. in the piano and organ business for several years, but still residing at Armbrust, his home. As a matter of honor to the Armbrust's, the postoffice department changed the name of the postoffice from Weavers Old Stand, Pennsylvania. to Armbrust, Pennsylvania, by which name it is now known. The only building now standing which was there at the time when William Armbrust ( father ) first settled there is the old log building or Armbrust homestead. now owned by Mrs. Uriel Graves.
J. L. Armbrust enlisted in Company I. National Guard Pennsylvania, and served five years under the captainey of J. M. Laird and J. B. Kenann. and attended the inauguration of President J. A. Garfield during that term. After working several years for Israel Glunt he embarked in business for him- sulf. commencing January 1, 1894. and has since built up a good trade in the piano, organ and sewing machine business. He had built a small wareroom, which soon was too small for his increasing business, and he then built a large two story frame building in order to accommodate his trade. On December 19, 1882, he was married to Elizabeth Emma Graves, daughter of Uriel Graves. of New York state, who was a Lutheran minister and at the time of his death was preaching at North Folk, and to this union was added three children : Luther Uriel, at present employed at clerical work at Youngwood, Pennsyl- vania, for Pennsylvania railroad : William Heart, deceased; Edna Sarah, at home. In politics Mr. Armbrust has always been conscientious, voting for the man in preference to the party, and although leaning toward the Republican party has voted for men on the Democratic and Prohibition tickets, using his own judgment. He used his mind and judgment religiously, and in De- cember. 1886, united with the church of Jesus Christ by the ordinance of bap- tism, administered by Elder Allen Wright, and has since been working and identified with that body: their faith entirely agrees with the Jewish scrip- tures, they being firm believers in a primitive restoration of the Gospel of Christ.
Elizabeth Emma ( Graves) Armbrust's father, although a minister, had his heart set on the love of his country as well, and in the time of the rebellion was the means of getting more volunteers than any six speakers in the towns of Orleans and Four Corners, Jefferson county, New York, where he was then stationed. His enemies, in order to get him out of their way, caused him to be drafted, but the church would not suffer him to go, so they piir- chased for him a substitute, who never returned home. As an orator he was fine, few men being able to compete with him and none excelling him. He came to Greensburg in 1880 as a campaign speaker or lecturer for the Greenback party. Afterwards he moved his family to Greensburg and lived tløre just one year : in that vear he elited the "National Issue," later called the "Evening Star," now called the "Evening Press." the first daily paper published in Greensburg. He made many friends everywhere he went, was a loving father, a true friend and charitable to a fault. His wife. Lucinda Strong. Graves, was a farmer's daughter: John Strong, her father, went from Burks county, Pennsylvania, with his parents by overland route to what was then
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known as Canada West, now Canada, Ont., it taking them seven weeks to make the trip. They took with them their three children, one horse and two cows. John Strong died at the age of ninety-nine ; his wife at ninety-eight.
PETER H. SAXMAN. Among the Saxmans of Westmoreland county, whose general family historp appears elsewhere in this work, is one member named Peter H. Saxman, whi is an important business factor in his line at Latrobe, where he has the esteem of the entire community. He was born October 8, 1849, on the Toner farm, adjoining the borough of Latrobe. He descends from a pioneer and American ancestor, Christian Saxman. The father was Joseph Saxman, born August 21, 1821. The place of his birth was about three-fourths of a mile below Latrobe, on the Loyalhanna. By occupa- tion he was a farmer and coal dealer. Julia A. Bollinger, his wife, was born November 13, 1823, the daughter of Frederick Bollinger and wife. The Bol- lingers were from a noted Millwright family of York county, Pennsylvania. Joseph Saxman and Julia Bollinger were married March 26, 1844. He was a leading member in the Reformed church, and voted the Republican ticket from the first inception of that political party. He died January 15, 1862, in Latrobe.
Peter H. Saxman, son of Joseph and Julia ( Bollinger) Saxman, ob- tained a good common school education, for the date of his schooling, but on account of the long distance which he had to go to attend the schools, as well as the inferior grade of such schools, his education was necessarily limited. His father died when he was thirteen years of age, and he could not attend school thereafter, but by hard study at home, whenever an opportunity pre- sented itself, he got a fairly good education. While yet a youth he began the carpenter's trade, working under a veteran carpenter and builder, Benjamin P. Simpson. After mastering the trade he contracted and built some of the best houses in and about Latrobe, at the same time dealing quite extensively in building lumber, farm machinery, engines, wagons, buggies, etc. Through good business management he has built up a lucrative trade and now owns considerable valuable property in Latrobe, where he resides, and still operates in the implement business. He is also a stockholder in the Citizens National Bank of Latrobe. In politics Mr. Saxman is thoroughly a Republican. His first vote was cast for General U. S. Grant for president, and he has sup- ported every Republican presidential nominee ever since. He has been an elder and deacon in the Latrobe Reformed church for many years. In frater- nal matters he is counted among the worthy members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married January 28, 1880, to L. May Helling, the ceremony taking place in the Reformed church at Latrobe. They had one son, Clarence M. Saxman, born December 14, 1880.
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