USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 64
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JOHN L. ARMITAGE, of New Kensington, comes of English an- cestry. His father. Robert F. H. Armitage, was born in 1850, in Canada, where he passed his entire life, his occupation being that of a construction con- tractor and builder. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He married Ellen Lewis, of Niagara, and their children were: William H., of New Kensington: Ellen, wife of George Bedford, of Canada : John L., see forward : Harriet M., wife of W. F. Crawford, of Rutter, Pennsylvania ; George C., of New Kensington : Mabel ; and Ethel May. died in childhood.
John L. Armitage, son of Robert F. 11. and Ellen ( Lewis) Armitage, was
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
born November 20, 1873, in Toronto, Canada, where he was educated in the public schools. At the age of fifteen he learned the plumbing and heating trade, at which he worked for three years and a half. He then came to the United States and followed his trade, first at Buffalo and then at Pittsburg, until 1893. In that year he moved to New Kensington, where he engaged in business with his brother William H., under the firm name of Armitage & Brother. This connection has been maintained to the present time, the busi- ness being the largest of its kind in the town. In 1904 he was elected school director. He affiliates with Lodge No. 81, Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 451, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and Lodge No. 804, I. O. O. F., in which he has passed chairs. He is a staunch Republican and a member of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal church. He married Malissa M., daugh- ter of Leonard and Leah Gorman, of Armstrong county, and they are the par- ents of three children : Mabel Gorman, born July 4. 1899; John L., born April 3. 1901 ; and Leah Ellen, born February, 1903.
JOHN A. BOALE, M. D. The grandfather of Dr. John A. Boale, of Vandergrift Heights, was Samuel Boale, a native of the north of Ireland, whence he emigrated to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania. His wife, .Sarah Taylor, was born and bred near Mckeesport.
James D. Boale, son of Samuel and Sarah (Taylor) Boale, was born Jan- uary 14. 1834, in Allegheny township, where he was reared on the farm, re- ceiving his education in the common schools. Soon after his marriage he moved to Leechburg. Armstrong county, where he resided until his death, February 7, 1906. For a number of years he was engaged in various business enterprises, including the drug industry, and for the last fifteen years has been humane officer of his district. He has served one term as burgess of Leechburg, and affiliates with the Republican party. He is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church. Mr. Boale married Sarah, born May 2, 1838, daughter of John and Sarah Ann ( Armstrong) Armstrong, both natives of the north of Ireland, emigrating to this country about the same time as Samuel Boale. Mr. and Mrs. Boale had children: Elizabeth, widow of Captain R. G. Armstrong, and teacher in the Pennsylvania College for Women, Pittsburg ; Anna M., for many years a primary teacher in Leechburg and Vandergrift Heights, died January 3, 1905 ; John A., mentioned hereinafter ; and Hugh A., an attorney in Apollo. The mother of the family died September 24, 1890.
John A. Boale, son of James D. and Sarah ( Armstrong) Boale, was born December 18, 1873. in Leechburg, where he was educated in the high school, graduating in 1893. In the spring of 1894 he began to read medicine with his uncle, Dr. J. A. Armstrong, a well known physician of Leechburg. The following autumn he entered the medical department of the Western Univer- sity of Pennsylvania; graduating therefrom in the spring of 1897, with the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. After practieing for one year with his preceptor, Dr. Armstrong, in Leechburg, he moved in March, 1898, to Vandergrift Heights, and there entered upon his independent professional career, in which he has been very successful. For two terms he served as secretary to the board of health. He is now serving his third term as school director and for two terms acted as chairman of the Republican county committee. He affiliates with Kiskiminetas Lodge, No. 617, F. & A .. M., of Vandergrift, Apollo Lodge, No. 386. B. P. O., and Vandergrift Lodge, No. 502, K. P. He is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian chureh. Dr. Boale is unmarried. He belongs to Orient Chapter, No. 247. of Kittanning, and Pittsburg Commandery. No. 1, K. T., and is a member of the Westmoreland County Medical Society.
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
ROBERT EKIN STEWART, of North Braddock, was born April 2, 1841, at Stewart Station, North Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and traces his ancestry to a Scotch lineage.
John Stewart, great-grandfather of Robert E. Stewart, was a native of Scotland, and the old family register shows that he was born on tile 27th day of April, but the figures for the year have been obliterated. It is believed. however, to have been in the third decade of the eighteenth century, and about the middle of that century the family crossed to the north of Ireland. A few years later the younger branch of the family, of which this John Stew- art and his wife Elinor were the united head, emigrated from Londerderry to the province of Pennsylvania. About the close of the war of the revolu- tion this family crossed the mountains and settled in what is now Elizabeth township, Allegheny county, having purchased there a large tract of land at Round Hill, on which he erected the first shingle-roofed house in that town- ship. He assisted in the organization of the Presbyterian church of Round Hill, and was an active and devoted member thereof. He was described by one that knew him as being "a well-to-do farmer, a square-built, good- looking man." He and his wife Elinor were the parents of eight children- four sons and four daughters.
Jolin Stewart, second son of John and Elinor Stewart, and grandfather of Robert E. Stewart, was born December 26, 1766. He was a man of good physique, generous-hearted, a captain of militia, and followed the occupation of his father, farming. He married Jane Cavett, whose father, John Cavett, a miller, was the first settler at the place now known as Cavettsville, but origin- ally Cavett's Mill, and was of the third generation of Cavetts born in this country. John Cavett removed from Dauphin county to western Pennsyl- vania in 1770 and purchased from Ephraim Blaine, in 1771, a large tract of lands embracing what was later known as the Cavetts' Mill tract and the Stewart Station property, of which John Yearl was the original warrantee. John Cavett divided this land between his sons, John and James, the latter taking the Stewart Station tract which he afterwards exchanged with his brother-in-law, John Stewart, for a mill site, part of the Stewart homestead in Elizabeth township, Allegheny county. John Stewart (2) died seized of this land, intestate, leaving two sons-John and Alexander-and five daugh- ters. John purchased from his brother and sisters their interests in said land, and upon his marriage removed thereto and lived thereon until his death.
John Stewart, son of John and Jane ( Cavett) Stewart, was born Septem- ber 15, 1796, at the Stewart homestead, at Round Hill, Elizabeth township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. He was a prosperous farmer and added to the tract from his father's estate, as above stated, a tract adjoining the same purchased from his cousin, James Cavett, one of the heirs of the younger John Cavett, above named, making the total area of his homestead property about three hundred and seventy acres, a considerable part of which lay in Allegheny county, the mansion house, however, being in Westmoreland county. He had, besides, acquired valuable farms in other places. He was a Whig until the dissolution of that party, when he became a Republican. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church. January 16, 1821, Mr. Stewart married Margaret Shaw, a daughter of David and Jane ( Ekin ) Shaw. David was the son of Samuel Shaw, who, with their young family of five sons and one daughter, emigrated from county Down, Ireland, and settled in the Ju- niata valley, Pennsylvania, about the year 1768. After the death of his father David Shaw located in Versailles township, Allegheny county, and in Decem- ber, 1788, married Jane Ekin, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Jamison)
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Ekin, who had removed to Versailles township from York county, Penn- sylvania.
Robert Ekin Stewart is the youngest of nine children-seven sons and two daughters-two of whom, a son and a daughter, died in infancy, born to John and Margaret ( Shaw) Stewart. He was a farmer's boy, but after completing the public school course at the age of thirteen his time was largely spent at the academy and college until 1860, when he was graduated from Jefferson (now Washington and Jefferson) College. The following two years were spent in post-graduate studies. He then took up the study of law under the Hon. James P. Sterrett, afterwards chief justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and completed the course in the law office of Hon. John P. Penney and the Hon. William G. Hawkins, Jr., being admitted to the bar of Allegheny county in May, 1867, and has since been in active practice at Pitts- burg, serving six years as a member of the board of examiners for admission to the bar.
Mr. Stewart is a Republican in politics, and exercises a potent influence in behalf of the party whose principles he advocates. He served as school director for thirteen years, and was president of the Allegheny county school directors for about seven years. In September, 1903, without solicitation on his part, the nomination for district attorney of Allegheny county on the Re- publican ticket was tendered him, and he was elected to the same in the fol- lowing November, being the incumbent of the office at the present time ( 1905 ). From 1882 to 1897. a period of fifteen years, he was the president of the Braddock National Bank. From August 6, 1862, to May 13, 1863, he served as first lieutenant of Company E. One Hundred and Twenty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. Front March 27, 1865, to October 1, 1865, he was major of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, United States Colored Troops. He participated with his regiment in the Antietam campaign in September, 1862, and was on the division staff at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. After the surrender of General Lee's army in April, 1865, he was commander of the sub-district of the Roanoke, with headquarters at Burkeville, Virginia. For many years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Western Pennsylvania Institute for Deaf and Dumb, and of the Carnegie Free Library at Braddock. H is a member of the United Presbyterian church. He has been a trustee of the general assembly of the United Presbyterian church of North America since 1875, and a trustee and member of the board of dirctors of the Allegheny Theological Seminary of said church for about the same period of time. He was a member of the Pan-Presbyterian Council of 1884, at Belfast, Ireland. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public, and of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion.
Mr. Stewart married, July 2, 1868, Caroline M. McMasters, daughter of John and Leonora (Markle) McMasters, and her education was acquired at the Pittsburg public schools and at the Pittsburg Female College. Six chil- dren were the issue of this marriage, as follows: Margaret, born April 7, 1869, educated at the Pennsylvania College for Women in Pittsburg ; mar- ried, June HI, 1891, Alva C. Dinkey, president of the Carnegie Steel Com- pany ; residence, Ellsworth and Amberson avenues, Pittsburg. John McMas- ters, M. D., born June 9, 1871, educated Westminster College, graduated from the medical department of Western University, Pittsburg; is now ( 1905) in practice at Homestead, Pennsylvania. Harry McMasters, born November 23. 1873, a graduate of the State College in class of 1896; is now assistant superintendent of furnaces at the Dequesne Steel Works, Duquesne, Penn-
Hugh Price
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sylvania. He married Camille Hawthorne, June 28, 1900, and resides at Du- quesne. Robert E., Jr., born January 23, 1876, died October 23. 1890. Leonora Markle, born May 5, 1878, educated at Pennsylvania College for Women and Wilson College, married, October 5, 1905, Edward R. Williams, of Homestead. James Sterrett, born October 13, 1880, a graduate of North Braddock high school, spent one year at Westminster College, and one year in the medical department of Western University. Caroline, born January 11, 1883, a grad- uate of North Braddock high school, and now a student of Westminster Col- lege. In 1869, the year following his marriage, Mr. Stewart removed from his boyhood home at Stewart Station to Turtle Creek, Allegheny county, and later purchased property in North Braddock, whither he removed in October, 1875, his residence being now located at No. 31 North avenue. His law office is at No. 424 Fifth avenue, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
HUGH PRICE, a descendant of an honorable English family and one of the enterprising and progressive citizens of North Belle Vernon, is a native of Herefordshire, England, born July 14, 1859, a son of Walter and Mary ( Powell) Price.
Walter Price ( father) was for many years a farmer in Herefordshire, England, and also engaged in the raising of live stock, making a specialty of fine breeds of stock. In Februry, 1873, he emigrated to the United States and located on a rented farm in Rostraver township, Westmoreland county, where he remained three years, after which he removed to Fayette county and purchased a farm at what is now Arnold City, the town being built on this farm. In 1898 he disposed of his property in Fayette county and purchased a farm near Belle Vernon, Rostraver township, Westmoreland county, where he engaged in market gardening until his death, which occurred December 5, 1905. Mr. Price married ( first) Mary Powell, a native of England, who bore him five children : Edward W., Thomas, Alma R., William C., a machinist of Pittsburg ; and Hugh, of whom later. He married (second) Louisa J. Farrow, of London, England, who bore him six children: Frederick I., Charles, George T., Garfield, Nellie, deceased, and Robert.
Hugh Price was educated at the Browning Western College at Bath, England. In early life he came to the United States and at the age of nine- teen engaged in the live stock business in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in which section he located upon his arrival in this country, and followed the same successfully for more than twenty years. In 1890, in addition to the stock business, he engaged in the contracting business, making a specialty of drill- ing wells for oil and gas, and during his twelve years connection with this line of work enjoyed an extensive and lucrative trade. In the fall of 1902 he was nominated and elected on the Republican ticket to the office of county commissioner and served a term of three years, discharging his duties with promptness and ability. He received the largest majority ever given to a can- didate for that office in Westmoreland county up to that time, this fact amply testifying to his popularity and sterling character. In 1898 he was a delegate to the Republican state convention, and for nine years has served as a member of the North Belle Vernon council. He organized the Bell Vernon fire company and was elected the first chief of the same. He is acting in the capacity of vice-president of the Antler Coal & Coke Company located in McDowell county, West Virginia. From boyhood he has been a member of the Episcopal church. He also holds membership in the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 656, of Belle Vernon: B. P. O. E., Lodge No. 511, of Greensburg: F. and A. M., Blue Lodge, No. 615, of Charleroi; Bowensville Chapter, No 164; Olivet
2-28
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Council, No. 13, Greensburg : Mckean Commandery, No. 80, K. T., Charleroi ; and Scottish Rite Valley, of Pittsburg. The town of Pricedale, near Belle Vernon, was named in honor of Mr. Price.
Mr. Price married, November, 1883, Mary Marble Wilkinson, daughter of Samuel and Lucinda Wilkinson, of Rostraver township, who bore him two children : Lura L., wife of W. H. Lange, a druggist of Belle Vernon, and they have two children: Mary Alma and Hugh Henry Lange; and Thomas Edward, died in infancy.
GEORGE WESLEY HARKNESS, an enterprising business man of Westmoreland county, was born at Kittanning, Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania, January 18, 1852.
William Harkness ( grandfather), a son of John Harkness, who emigrated to this country from the north of Ireland, came to Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, at an early date, and settled on the Harkness, now known as the Ward farm. He followed farming as an occupation throughout the active years of his career. His wife, Jane ( Stephenson) Harkness, of North Hunt- ingdon township, bore him the following children: James, married Elizabeth Stauffer : he resides in Clark county, Missouri. William, married Martha Higbee ; he died in Missouri. Margaret, became the wife of Frank Bradfield. Lavinia, became the wife of Edward Brodhead; they reside at Kittanning. John F., married Eliza Glendenning. Robert S., mentioned hereinafter. Ann, became the wife of Cunningham Borland; she is now deceased, and Mr. Bor- land resides in Missouri. Mary, died unmarried. Katherine D., widow of S. L. Brown ; she now resides at Ardara, Pennsylvania. William Harkness, father of these children, died December 23, 1863, and his wife passed away February II, 1860.
Robert Stephenson Harkness (father) was born on the old Harkness farm, near Ardara, Westmoreland county, February 28, 1830. After his mar- riage he settled in Allegheny City, when it was no more than a collection of cabins, and in the fifties went to Kittanning, Armstrong county, remaining there three or four years, when he returned to Westmoreland county, and located near the old homestead. He was a plasterer by trade, and his handi- work is shown all through the country surrounding his home. When the civil war broke out he enlisted in the Sixth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, being mustered in at Pittsburg. They were chiefly stationed at the forts guarding Washington, D. C. Upon his discharge Mr. Harkness returned home and resumed his trade, which he continued until his death, April 8, 1888. His wife, Mary Margaret (Cupps) Harkness, daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Remaley) Cupps, born October 8, 1827, died September 2, 1900. Their children were: George Wesley, mentioned hereinafter. William, born No- vember 12, 1854, died May 20, 1868. Elizabeth, born July II, 1860, became the wife of George Beals, and they reside in Knoxville, Pennsylvania. Emma, twin of Elizabeth, unmarried, resides at Knoxville, Pennsylvania. Mary Margaret, born June 15, 1867, became the wife of Charles Smith, and after his death of Joseph Foley ; they reside in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
George Wesley Harkness received his education in the common schools of Westmoreland county, whither his father's family had returned, coming up the Allegheny river in hoats, there being no railway or other means of transportation save by the pike. The return to this county was made when George W. was a little over three years old. From an early age he worked with his father at the trade of plasterer, which he still follows, covering terri- tory for many miles around his home at Ardara Station, and employing many
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men. He is a member and trustee of the Ardara Methodist church, and a member of Shidle Lodge, No. 601, Free and Accepted Masons, at Irwin. He is a Republican in politics, and, while not caring to accept public office, has frequently served on election boards. He is one of the representative men of the community, and enjoys the acquaintance of a wide circle of friends. Mr. Harkness married, April 9. 1874, Maria M. Strickler, born October 22, 1854, the ceremony being performed in the old Laird Hotel, since destroyed by fire, at Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of John F. and Charlotte Anne ( Williams) Strickler, of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, whose births occurred November 24, 1824, and March 15, 1835, respectively. John F. Strickler died January 18, 1860. The children of George W. and Maria M. Harkness are: William Strickler, born April 27, 1875, married Ida R. Schwartz, March 25, 1897. At present employed in Pennsylvania railroad shops at Pitcairn, and residing at same place. Eva May, born November 7, 1876. married John F. Hammers, of Indiana, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1902, and resides in Pittsburg. Maud Alice, born April 20, 1880, married George A. Thompson, of Swissvale, Pennsylvania, July 30, 1903, and resides in Swiss- vale.
J. L. KUNKLE, the genial and popular proprietor of the Kunkle Hotel, Greensburg, was born in North Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1849, a son of John L. and Sarah ( Banghman) Kunkle, natives of North Huntingdon township, members of the Lutheran church, and whose deaths occurred in 1874 and 1898, respectively. John L., Kunkle (father ) followed the quiet but useful calling of agriculture through- out the active years of his life, and was honored and respected by all who knew him.
The common schools of his native county afforded J. L. Kunkle the means of obtaining a good education, he completing his studies therein at the age of nineteen years. For seventeen years therafter he assisted with the work on his father's farm and also imported draught horses, realizing there- from a goodly profit. At the present time (1905) he is the owner of the farm in North Huntingdon township, on which his mother was born and resided during her lifetime. After abandoning the business of buying and selling horses, le leased the Hotel Stark and conducted the sante successfully for twelve years, at the expiration of which time (1905) he leased the honse which was formerly the property of Dr. H. G. Lomison, and which is now known as the Kunkle Hotel. This is conducted in a thoroughly business-like manner. everything pertaining to the comfort of the guests being attended to promptly, and it therefore should receive a large share of the patronage of the traveling public. Mr. Kunkle casts his vote with the Democratic party, the principles of which he helieves to be for the best form of government. He is a good citizen and a successful business man. Mr. Kunkle married, May 20, 1869. Barbara E. Altman, daughter of Christopher and Barbara ( Schull) Altman, and their children are: Sarah E. M., who became the wife of Hunter Stone; they reside in East End. Pittsburg, and are the parents of two children : John L. K. and Daniel S. Stone, John A., Mary E., died at the age of eighteen years; and Laura L., resides at home.
ROBERT WATSON HERBERT. It is universally agreed that one of the best methods of educating the masses is to inculcate the study of the able articles to be found in the columns of our daily and weekly papers. To contribute worthily to this means of popular education is to render no incon-
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
siderable service to the world at large. Among the many able writers and correspondents in the political field must be mentioned the name which heads this narrative, Robert Watson Herbert, a native of this country, and a de- scendant of Irish ancestry, who unites with the shrewdness and wit of that country the ambition and enterprise which seem inherent in the natives of this.
John Herbert, father of Robert Watson Herbert, and the first of the family to emigrate to this country, was born in Ireland, June 24, 1813. He was the son of Christopher and Mary Herbert. He came to the United States in 1849 and made his home in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and engaged in the occupation of farming. His education had been obtained in the public school in Ireland, and he took an active part in the educational matters in his new home. He served as school director for twelve years, during which time he- made a number of improvements in the school system of the town. He mar- ried Katherine Dixon, born in Ireland, April 23, 1823, daughter of George and Catherine Dixon. Both Mr. Herbert and his wife were members of the Episcopal church. Their children are: John, Christopher, George D., Alex- ander K., Frank D., W. H., R. W., James M., Mrs. W. W. Keenan, Mrs. Riley Walton and the late Jane Herbert.
Robert Watson Herbert, son of John and Katherine ( Dixon) Herbert, was born in Salem township, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1859. He received his education in the public schools of his district and in the New Salem Academy. He was a very bright and studious pupil, and early showed an aptitude for literary work. He became a writer of more than local reputa- tion, being in the employ of a political newspaper, and also as correspondent. He was for some time president of the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspond- ents' Association. His political affiliations are Democratic, and he is an active and valued supporter of his party. His writings show a style which is clear, concise and trenchant, and have done most effective work. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and also of the Order of the Golden Eagles. He married, June 25, 1885, Margaret A. Black, daugh- ter of Robert and Sarah ( McGinley ) Black, and a direct descendant from revolutionary stock. She was educated in the Pittsburg Female College. Mr. and Mrs. Herbert have one child, Robert B., born at Greensburg, December 29, 1886, educated at Kiskiminetas preparatory school.
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