USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 73
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
and this having 300 ovens. He has in charge over a thousand men. This re- sponsible position calls for a man of good executive ability and keen judg- ment, and how well Mr. Laird has filled the requirements is attested by his long continuance in charge of same. He is a Republican in politics and a wide-awake, enterprising citizen. He is interested in educational affairs, hav- ing served three years as member of the school board, and is now in his sec- ond term as secretary of same. He has also served as school director, coun- cilman , and burgess of Wheatland, Mercer county, Pennsylvania. In reli- gious faith Mr. Laird is a supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hecla, of which he is one of the trustees. Mr. Laird assisted in the erection of this church, under the pastorate of Rev. John Wakefield. Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F., Moss Rose Lodge, No. 551, and was charter member of Lodge No. 814. I. O. O. F., P. G., of New Virginia, Mercer county, which lodge he represented to the Grand Lodge. While a resident of Mercer county he was also a member of the Good Templars Sherman Lodge. He is now a member of the Pike Run Country Club. October 23, 1867, he married Margaret Snedden, a native of Pennsylvania, the daughter of Thomas Snedden. The children born to them are : 1. Harry S., a supervisor of the N. C. railroad, with headquarters at Millsbury, Pennsylvania ; he married Miss Bessie Webber, ( deceased) and they had one child, Thomas W. 2. Frank B., a bookkeeper in the Alice Mines, this county ; he married Miss Margaret Kil- gore, the daughter of John P. Kilgore, and they have three children-John, Harriet and Francis. 3. Mary, the wife of N. A. Cort, an attorney-at-law of Mount Pleasant and Greensburg. 4. Gene, the wife of Dr. C. D. Kimball, of New York City, whose present residence is Denver, Colorado. 5. Margaret A., the wife of Harry Hurst, of Haysville, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania.
CHARLES M. FLEMM. The father of Charles M. Flemm, of Braeburn, was John H. Flemm, who passed his entire life in the neighborhood of Freeport, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a carpenter and engaged in barge-building. He was a member of the Baptist church. He married Mar- garet Nangle and their children were: William, a florist of Pittsburg; Harry H., a carpenter and builder of Freeport ; Charles M., see forward; Frederick C., a machinist of Braeburn ; Roy, drowned in Freeport at the age of nine years ; and Adam D., a painter of Freeport. The death of Mr. Flemm oc- curred in 1898.
Charles M. Flemm, son of John H. and Margaret (Nangle) Flemm, was born March 30, 1872, in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, where he was educated in the common schools, and until he was twenty years of age worked as a car- penter. In 1892 he moved to Braeburn and purchased a ferry, where he has been continuously engaged ever since, with the exception of one year spent in the mercantile business. For one year he held the office of precinct register and in February, 1904, was elected school director for a term of three years. Politically he is a Republican. He married Isabel, daughter of William and Lucy Hamilton, and they have one child : John H., born August 6, 1892, now at school.
JOHN C. BEALE. The family of which John C. Beale, of Brae- burn, is a member, has for several generations been resident in Pennsylvania 'The founder was born in England and emigrated with Wilfiant Pent," settling for a time in Bucks county, and later moving to Mifflin county, where for many years he was judge of the county courts.
John Beale, son of the founder, was born in the eastern part of Pennsyl-
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY
vania, and was the first of the family to come to Westmoreland county. He married Maragret Evans, of Virginia, and their children were: Phoebe, wife of James Close : Jane, wife of Jacob Phillips ; Margaret, wife of Wilson : Mary, died unmarried : Thomas, married Mary Beneanger ; William, married Madison, see forward ; Washington, married Levina Smith.
Madison Beale, son of John and Margaret ( Evans) Beale, was born Octo- ber 24, 18to, in Burrell township, where he passed his entire life as a farmer. He filled several township offices, was a Democrat in politics and a member of the United Presbyterian church.
Mr. Beale married, in 1833, Mary Jane McGinnes, and their children were: Jeremiah, carpenter in Allegheny county ; Sarah J., wife of Jonathan Artman : Teresa : John C., see forward ; and one who died in childhood. Mr. Beale, the father, died July 11, 1894.
John C. Beale, son of Madison and Mary Jane ( McGinnes) Beale, was. born February 7. 1849, in Burrell township, where he was educated in the com- mon schools, and in early life learned the business of a butcher, to which he has given his exclusive attention down to the present time. For five years he held the office of justice of the peace, and during the entire period of his in- cumbency never had a decision reversed by the higher courts. In the sphere of politics he has always affiliated with the Democratic party. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church. He married Matilda Jane, daughter of Nicholas and Dorren Aker, and their children are: Frances, wife of Harry Artman, of Leechburg: Louila Myrtle, wife of Samuel Hepler, of Braeburn ; Agnes Nora, wife of George Hepler ; Charles Craton, with his father in busi- ness : Elizabeth Ellen : and Roxinie, both of whom are at home.
AMBROSE WILLETS, of New Kensington, is the son of Thomas. Willets, who was born in England, and was a miner by occupation ; in the course of his experience he was caught in no fewer than twenty-two gas ex- plosions. In 1865 he emigrated to the United States, landing on the day when President Lincoln issued his last call for troops. He settled at Brady's Bend. Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, where he worked in the iron ore mines until about 1878. He then moved to Hillville, Westmoreland county, and there engaged in coal mining until about four years previous to his death, when he retired form active labor. He was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church. He married Sarah Ann Perry, born in 1822, in England, and their children were: John; Thomas, died in infancy; Mary Ann, wife of Charles Tustin : Eliza, wife of Enoch Thomas; Ambrose, mentioned at length hereinafter : Tripener, wife of Thomas Hodge ; Catharine, died in childhood ; William, died at the age of twenty-two: and Enoch, died in infancy. The death of the mother of this family, in 1884, was quickly followed by that of the father, which occurred the following year.
Ambrose Willets, son of Thomas and Sarah Ann ( Perry) Willets, was born June 5. 1857, in England, and was in his eighth year when the family came to the United States. He received his education in the night schools of Leechburg, Pennsylvania. In his youth he worked in the coal mines, and later in the rolling mills at Leechburg, and was employed as a roller not only in that place, but also at Cumberland and New Kensington for many years. In 1895, in company with several other rollers and heaters, he organized the Hyde Park Iron & Steel Company, at Hyde Park, Westmoreland county. The company was in successful operation until 1897, when it was sold to the American Steel Sheet Company. He then moved to New Kensington and
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
took the position of roller with the American Tin Plate Company, serving in that capacity until January 21, 1905, when he was appointed street commissioner and health officer. He belongs to the American Insurance Union and the Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel Workers. He affiliates with Lodge No. 651, I. O. O. F., of Leechburg, and the Tribe of Ben Hur, New Kensing- ton Court, No. II. In politics he is a staunch Republican. He is a member of St. Paul's Lutheran church, of New Kensington, which he helped to organize in 1901, and in which he serves as chorister, also belonging to the church coun- cil. He married Emma, daughter of Israel and Catharine Artman, of West- moreland county, and they are the parents of four children : Charles E., drug- gist of Mars, Butler county, Pennsylvania ; Mary Effie, graduate of Sayres' Business College ; E. Homer, drug clerk at Charleroi, Pennsylvania; and Katie Irene, at home. The mother of these children died January 20, 1906.
SAMUEL D. JOHNSTON. The family of which Samuel D. John- ston, of Avonmore, is a member, is one of the pioneer families of the county. Mr. Johnston's paternal great-grandparents lived near Hannastown before the Revolutionary war, and were the victims of many assaults by hostile Indians.
John Johnston, one of the sons of the pioneers, was born in 1796, and was thrice married, having no issue by the first marriage. By the second marriage there were five children: Charles, Joseph, Eliza, wife of John Martin; J. K. and William F., see forward. The third marriage was without children.
William F. Johnston, son of Jolin Johnston, married Jemima Dillar, and their family consisted of the following children: Samuel D., see forward ; Elida M., deceased ; John R. ; Lillie, deceased ; Inez, also deceased ; and Jennie, widow of Alva McQuiston, of Saltsburg. The father of the family died in 1872, and was survived many years by his widow, who expired in 1896.
Samuel D. Johnston, son of William F. and Jemima (Dillar) Johnston, was born in November, 1858, in Loyalhanna township, where his education was acquired in the common schools, which he attended until his fourteenth year. At that time, in consequence of the death of his father, he assumed control of the business, which he successfully conducted, under the supervision and guid- ance of his mother, until his eighteenth year. He then went to Pittsburg to learn the millwright's trade, remaining in that city six years. At the end of that time he went to Ligonier to put in and adjust the machinery of the Booth and Flynn mills, a task which occupied him two years. Upon its completion he took a position with the Pennsylvania railroad company, which he held three years, and in 1892 moved to Avonmore, where he has since resided. He has been instrumental in the building of many of the principal structures in that borough, the churches and a number of the best residences being monuments of his handiwork. In 1903 he erected the building of the National Cast Steel Company, in whose service he has continued to the present time. He is a Re- publican in politics, and a Presbyterian in religious belief. December 18, 1889. he married Martha, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Jane (Couch) Alcorn, of Bell township, and of the three children born to them but one survives : Aileen Andrey Johnston.
JOHN E. ANDERSON. The paternal grandfather of John E. Anderson, of Avonmore, was the first of the family to come to Pennsylvania. He settled in Clarion county and later moved to Armstrong county, where he reared his family and spent the remainder of his life. He is buried in the Leechburg cemetery.
His son, Samuel B. Anderson, married Sarah M. Hoover, and their family
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
consisted of the following children: Martha Jane, wife of W. F. Phillips, of Leechburg ; Thomas J., of Tarentum: Albert Eller, deceased; Maria Cath- arine, wife of William Nohl, of Canton, Ohio; W. M., of Leechburg ; John E., of whom later ; Samuel M., of Canton, Ohio; and Laura May, wife of Wilham Jack, of Canton. Mrs. Anderson, the mother, died in 1902, after a widowhood of fourteen years, her husband having passed away in 1888.
John E. Anderson, son of Samuel B. and Sarah M. (Hoover) Anderson, was born December 6, 1859, at Donley Station, Armstrong county, and in 1871 accompanied his parents to Leechburg. He attended the public schools and afterward worked with his father at teaming until 1888. At that time he took a position with the Leechburg Foundry & Machine Company, and in 1891, on the building of the West Pennsylvania foundry at Avonmore, he moved to that place in order to become engineer for the West Pennsylvania Foundry & Machine Company. This position he has since continuously filled. He be- longs to Lodge No. 405. Maccabees, of Avonmore, and Lodge No. 651, I. O. O. F., of Leechburg. He is also identified with Council No. 1045, Royal Arcanum, of Leechburg, in which order he has held several offices. In politics he stands for the principles of the Republican party. He is a member of the Hebron Lutheran church. He married, March 26, 1890, Amanda, daughter of John and Emily (Williams) Ray, of Saltsburg, and they are the parents of four children : Sarah Emily, John Ray. Albert Elder, and Samuel Milo.
WILLIAM C. WEICHSEL. The father of William C. Weichsel, of Avonmore, was Philip Weichsel, a native of Germany, whence, in 1850. he emigrated to the United States, settling in Wheeling, West Virginia. At the beginning of the Civil war he offered his services to his adopted country, and upon the expiration of his enlistment, which was in the infantry, re-enlisted, this time in the cavalry, and served until the close of the war.
Mr. Weichsel married, in 1853, in Wheeling. West Virginiaa, Barbara Rapp, who came from Germany in 1852, and they were the parents of seven children : Henry, Lizzie, Edward, William C., see forward; George, and two who died in infancy. Mr. Weichsel died April 17, 1893. and is survived by his widow, who resides in Whecling.
William C. Weichsel, son of Philip and Barbara (Rapp) Weichsel, was born June 12. 1862. in Wheeling. West Virginia, and received his education in his native city. At an early age he obtained employment in a glass factory where he remained until eighteen years of age, and then worked in a sheet- mill in Wheeling until 1886; was afterwards engaged at the Laughlin mills for about eight months; then entered the sheet mill of Wallace Banfield, which was subsequently made a tin mill, of Irondale, Ohio, the first of its kind in the United States. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Weichsel has been connected with the tin mill industry since its inception in this country, after the passage of the Mckinley bill. After four years' experience in the mill at Irondale he took the position of manager in the Oliver Fifteenth street tin mill, in Pittsburg, where he passed another four years, and at the end of that time be- came manager of the tin mill at Avonmore. This mill was built in 1899. The main building is one hundred by two hundred feet, and the tinning department sixty by one hundred and twenty feet. The capacity is about fifteen thousand boxes monthly. This plant gives employment to two hundred people. the pay- roll being from ten thousand to twelve thousand dollars monthly. The presi- dent is W. H. Hilliard, of Pittsburg : the vice-president, M. M. Garland, and the secretary and treasurer Oliver Wylie, of the same city. Fraternally Mr. Weichsel is connected with Franklin Lodge, No. 122, F. and A. M., Pittsburg,
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Lodge No. 405, Maccabees, Avonmore. He is a Republican in politics and adheres to the faith of the Presbyterian church. He married, in 1891, Alice daughter of Hugh McBane, of Irondale, Ohio, and they are the parents of a son and a daughter, Otto and Rhea.
JOHN JACOB BLANK, a prosperous and progressive agriculturist. and a descendant of an old and honored German lineage, was born on the paternal estate, in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1842.
George A. Blank, grandfather of John J. Blank, was born about thirty miles north of Philadelphia, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, in 1792. At the instance of his uncle, Jacob Berger, whose wife was Margaret Blank, sister of the father of George A., he came to Westmoreland county and re- sided with them for several years, they having no children of their own. Jacob Berger was a very wealthy farmer for his day, and was prominently identified with the affairs of the community. By dint of hard work and prudent management George A. Blank acquired sufficient capital to purchase a farm in Hempfield township, to which he added from time to time, and at his death in 1865 was the owner of about six hundred acres of land. He was a shoemaker by trade, having served his apprenticeship at Germantown, Penn- sylvania. He was active and influential in local affairs, was an elder in the Lutheran church, and a firm adherent of Democratic principles. He married Catharine Shelley, who was a native of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and eleven children were born to them. Mrs. Blank survived her husband, passing away in 1875.
Jonas Blank, father of John J. Blank, was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Having been reared on a farm he naturally chose that occupa- tion for his life work, and continued the same until his retirement from active business, thereby gaining a comfortable livelihood, and a goodly competence for his declining years. He held all the local offices in the Lutheran church, in which body he held membership for many years. He, like his father, was a Democrat in politics. He married, in 1841, Charlotte Bierer, daughter of John Bierer, who bore him eleven children. Mrs. Blank is also a member of the Lutheran church, and in all the relations of life has performed her duties faith- fully and well.
John J. Blank was reared on a farm, educated in the common schools, and resided with his parents up to the time of his marriage, with the exception of two years spent in Venango county. After his marriage he settled on his present farm, in Hempfield township, and by making a practical study of the principles of good farming, has been enabled to realize a goodly profit from his labors. He is thorough-going, methodical and practical, and his farm is one of the best cultivated and most productive in that section. He served as supervisor of the township for three years. He is a member of the Greensburg Lutheran church, and a Democrat in politics, but his first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln.
December 19, 1869, Mr. Blank was united in marriage to Miss Lavinia Kepple, who was born in Hempfield twonship, Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, December 9. 1841, daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Demer) Kep- ple. Their children are : Matilda, born October 4, 1870, wife of Jacob Kline, and mother of four children : Elizabeth, John, Wade, and Luella Mary Kline, Irwin B., born March 17, 1873: Valetta M., born June 27, 1875, died February 17, 1901 ; she was a teacher in the public schools from the age of seventeen years until her death at the age of of twenty-five ; Cora L., July 7, 1877 : Jacob
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
K., October 7, 1879; George A., December 9, 1881 ; Jonas P., August 2, 1887.
WILLIAM HARRY SUTTON. John P. Sutton, father of William Harry Sutton, of Vandergrift, was born February 4, 1845, in Michigan, and in early manhood migrated with his widowed mother to Johnstown, Pennsyl- vania, where he found employment in the rolling department of the steel works. At the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted and served for three years, returning home on his twenty-first birthday. He resumed work in the mills, but after a short time resigned and went to Indiana county, where for a few years he was employed in farm work. Subsequently he worked for sev- eral years at coal mining, and later labored in the oil fields. In 1902 he retired and moved to Vandergrift, where he resides with his daughter. Mrs. Snyder. He belongs to Apollo Post, G. A. R., affiliates with the Republican party, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Anna Mauk, born June 8. 1848, in Somerset county, and their children were: William Harry, see forward; Robert E., of Cokeville ; Samuel M., a roller in the Van- dergrift mills : Mary E., wife of Charles Wilson, sheet-heater in Vandergrift mills ; and Maggie, wife of Albert Snyder, roller in Vandergrift mills. Mrs. Sutton, the mother of the family, died in Cokeville, August 6, 1901.
William Harry Sutton, son of John P. and Anna ( Mauk) Sutton, was born July 9, 1869, in Indiana county, and until his fourteenth year attended the common schools. During his last winter at school he rose early and from six o'clock until eight worked in the mines. He then went home, changed his clothes, and at the ringing of the school bell was in his seat. After his return from school he was employed at home with the chores. For the next ten years he was engaged in mining, with the exception of a few months following the Johnstown flood, when he was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in bridge repairs. In 1894 he moved to Apollo and secured employ- ment in the mills of the Apollo Iron & Steel Company. After working some two weeks as a laborer he was advanced to the position of shearman and at the end of three months was made pair-heater, in which capacity he served about two years and a half. His next promotion was to the position of sheet-heater, which he filled some four years and a half, and in the spring of 1901 was given the place of roller, which he now fills.
On coming to Vandergrift he was elected the first registrar and assessor, and at the expiration of his term was re-elected. In April, 1900, he was appointed to fill an unexpired term of three months in the school board, and at the end of this short period was elected. Three years later he was re-elected, and since June, 1904, has been president of the board. He has filled the office of tax collector and, while a resident of Cokeville, was school director. He belongs to Kiskiminetas Lodge, No. 617. F. and A. M., the Royal Arcanum, and the American Insurance Union. He is a Republican, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he serves as secretary of the official board and assistant superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Sutton mar- ried, December 20, 1892, Tillie Agnes Austraw, of Cokeville, and they have three children : Ira George, Harriet Ethel, and Olive Grace.
HARRY H. BAXTER. The great-grandfather of Harry H. Bax- ter, of Parnassus, was Robert Baxter, who was born in 1763, in Ireland, whence he emigrated to this country, settling in Allegheny county, Pennsyl- vania, and there engaging in farming. About 1840, being then advanced in years, he moved to Westmoreland county and took up his abode on Puck-
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
ety creek, where he passed the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits. Robert Baxter married Ester Redick, a daughter of Captain Redick, of the Scotch army, and they were the parents of three sons: Andrew, Robert, and James, mentioned hereinafter. Robert Baxter, the father, died in 1867, having lived to the extraordinary age of one hundred and four years.
James Baxter, son of Robert and Ester (Redick) Baxter, was born in 1794, in Allegheny county, and spent his after life as a farmer in Westmore- land county. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church. His wife was Susan Porter, and their children were: Robert, John, mentioned hereinafter ; Andrew, James, Mary Jane and Ester.
John Baxter, son of James and Susan (Porter) Baxter, was born in 1822, in Westmoreland county, where he lived until about the year 1886, devoting himself, like his father and grandfather, to agriculture. He then removed to Leechburg, Pennsylvania, and spent the remainder of his life in retirement. He was a member of the Free Methodist church. Mr. Baxter married Margaret Ann, daughter of Abijah Hays, and their children were: Emma, wife of John Williams, of Leechburg : Miriam, wife of Albert Simons; Harry H., mentioned hereinafter ; Charles W., farmer on the homestead; Clara J., deceased, wife of J. W. Reimer; John R., roller in Canonsburg, Pennsylva- nia : Lellie A., wife of Ira Butler, of Leechburg ; and Jennie B., deceased.
Harry H. Baxter, son of John and Margaret Ann (Hays) Baxter, was born in 1856, on a farm in Westmoreland county, receiving his education in the common schools of the neighborhood and in those of Parnassus, passing thence to Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. At the age of twenty-one he began farming for himself and continued to give his attention to agricultural pur- suits until 1888, when he moved to Leechburg, where for about seven years he was engaged in mercantile business. He then settled in Avonmore, where he was for one year secretary and treasurer of th West Penn Foundry & Machine Company, after which he spent two years on a farm and then re- moved to Parnassus, where he now resides. After taking up his abode in Parnassus he helped organize the New Kensington Fiber Plaster Company, of which he is general manager. The company is building up a trade in excess of their output which is about twenty-five tons daily. Mr. Baxter held for one term the office of school director, and in his political affiliations is a Republican. Mr. Baxter married Annie E., daughter of Aaron and Mary A. Reimer, and their children were: Nellie B., wife of William McBane, of Avonmore; Aaron R., student in the Western University of Pennsylvania ; Albert W., employed in general passenger department of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company ; Harry S., died at the age of thirteen ; John, at home ; and Ira, at home.
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