History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Part 8

Author: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 860

USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 8

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Mr. Robbins married, December 17, 1897, Luella Moore, daughter of J. WV. and Elizabeth S. Moore, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. They had two. children : Edward E., born December 2, 1900; and William MI., born March 26, 1902.

JOSEPH ROBBINS was born April 4, 1824, at the Robbins home- stead, where he still lives. In 1847 he embarked in the coal business, opening the first coal road to run on the Youghiogheny river, at Osceola, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. His first venture was on a lease on the basis of one- fourth cents per bushel royalty. The coal was mined and floated down the river in boats, when the water was sufficiently high to carry them, and sold at Cincinnati, at the rate of ten cents per bushel. The means of transportation was extremely ventursome, about one-half of the boats being lost in the river. However, during the first four years of his coal business he was very success- ful, meeting with little or no loss, but during the fifth year he lost some boats. by parting of the line at Cincinnati. Several also went over the dam at Pitts- burg, some at Blenerhassett Island, and one at Louisville. During this time, however, the coal business had increased until he was selling coal at Cincinnati, Louisville and New Orleans. His coal was confiscated by the Confederate government at the outbreak of the war, and he concluded the business was en- tirely too hazardous to continue, and closed out his interests. The firm was known as Horn and Robbins, composed of Peter Horn and Joseph Robbins, and in connection with their coal business they kept a general store and oper- ated a sand works. In 1857 Mr. Horn sold out, retired and went west. In 1859 Mr. Robbins sold his coal, store and sand interests to Messrs. Kelly and Stout.

In the year of 1847, when the scheme of improving by slack water the Youghiogheny river was taken up, Mr. Robbins hecame one of its most active supporters, and aided in raising the amount required to construct the two dams, one at Elrods, and one at Buena Vista. The company was organized by meet-

IHISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ing at West Newton. Alexander Plummber, president, Moses Robbins, Will- iam Larimer, Cyrus Markle and Joseph Robbins were the organizers and first directors, and William Day was selected as engineer. He had constructed dams for the state on the Kiskiminitas river to feed the canal. The two dams to be constructed cost about $100,000, and this was raised by subscription to the capital stock of the Youghiogheny Navigation Company. The contract was let to William Alston for the first lock at Elrods, and Theodore Swan for the one at Buena Vista. These locks provided slack-water navigation from Mckeesport to West Newton. The contractors encountered great difficulty in building the dams-in following the specifications. It required the dams to be built of plank and filled in with concrete. It was discovered that the plank would not retain the concrete and the dams would not hold water. The com- pany had agreed with the coal operators to have the dams finished in 1848. The work was not completed until 1849, and many coal works were opened and boats loaded along the river, and after the river was frozen up many of the boats were lost. Navigation was opened in September, 1849, and was continued until the winter of 1861, when the heavy freeze caused the ice to gorge and the tops were taken off these dams. A committee was then ap- pointed to raise money to repair the Navigation Company's loss, consisting of Thomas S. Cass, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Swan Caldwell and Joseph Robbins. They met at the office of Mr. Cass, in Pittsburg. Mr. Cass was then acting as president of the Ft. Wayne Railroad, and the matter was turned over to his clerk and subsequently to Andrew Carnegie, who was his assistant, and these three men raised the money and had the dams repaired and naviga- tion resumed. In the winter of 1865-66 the ice was exceedingly heavy. The dams were then again badly damaged, and as part of the subscriptions were yet unpaid Mr. Robbins was required to make up quite a sum for the repairs al- ready done. About June 1, 1866, without any apparent cause, the upper dam gave way and the result was that the lower dam was broken and the slack- water of the Youghioghieny river was gone forever. The washout in the dam was a break over twenty feet in width and came without warning, leaving the boats which were being loaded along the river at the coal tipples down on the bottom of the river, where they remained until broken up and destroyed by the floods of the succeeding year.

After this Mr. Robbins retired to the farm on which he afterwards lived, comprising about three hundred acres of land, which was taken up by his grandfather, Brintnel Robbins. In addition to farming Mr. Robbins was ac- tively engaged in other enterprises, being at one time the general manager for Thomas Moore of his large mining and distilling interest. He was an organ- izer of the Metropolitan National Bank, at Pittsburg, and is still connected with its management. He took an active part in politics as a Republican, and served for many years as a school director and delegate at various conventions. He is an active supporter of the Presbyterian church. His business career was very successful, and his interests in coal and other matters were always exten- sive. A tract of coal which he owns has been mined by W. L. Scott, and is now being mined by the Pittsburg Coal Company. At the present time Mr. Robbins is hale and hearty, and takes an active part in business, politics and everything about him.

JOSEPH ROBBINS. The earliest known ancestor of the family of which Joseph Robbins, of North Irwin, is a representative was Brintnal Robbins, a native of Connecticut, and a soldier of the Revolution, his captain

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

being Samuel Robbins. His last year in the service saw him an ensign. Hezekiah Robbins, his son, lived at Robbins Station, on a farm, the town being named after him. He built a frame grist mill at Possum Hollow, near Guffey's Station, and operated it, also cultivating his farm, following these two occupations all his life. He built the United Presbyterian church at Circleville, now known as the Bethel church, and was made an elder in it.

Thomas W. Robbins, son of Hezekiah Robbins, was born July 12, 1812, at Robbins Station, and was a farmer all his life. For many years he served as justice of the peace, and in politics was first a Whig, but later a Repub- lican. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church. He married, June 26, 1838, Sarah P., born February 7, 1811, daughter of James E. and Lydia (Painter) MeGrew, of Sewickley township, and their children were: Lydia M., born April 11, 1839, died December 17, 1889: Joseph, mentioned hereafter : Mary E., born April 10, 1846, died June 17, 1847. Mr. Robbins died February 27, 1873. His widow survived him for a number of years, her death occurring January 21, 1892.

Joseph Robbins, son of Thomas W. and Sarah P. (McGrew) Robbins, was born August 10, 1841, on a farm near Coulterville, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. His education was such as the country schools give and was discontinued at the age of fifteen, when he went to work on the farm. August 14, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Captain A. L. Pearson and Colonel E. J. Allen commanding. He participated in the following battles: Antietam. Fredericksburg. Chancellorsville, Aldie, Gettysburg, Wapping Heights, Rap- pahannock Station, Mine Run, Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, North Anne River, Telopotomy, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg-as- sault. Petersburg-Jerusalem, Plank Road, Petersburg-mine explosion, Weldon Railroad and Peebles Farm. This brilliant record came to and end at Hatches Run, where he was wounded in the leg, February 6. 1865. For a week he was in a hospital at City Point, was then transferred to Baltimore for a month, and afterward for a month more to York, Pennsylvania. He left the hospital on a twenty-day furlough home, when this expired returned to York, and was honorably discharged June 2. 1865. He then returned to Westmoreland county, near Stewartsville, and in 1900 retired from active farming to North Irwin, where he purchased the property on which he now resides. He is now serving on the council and school board, and is a Re- publican in politics. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church, of which he has been an elder seven years. He married, March 26. 1874. Mary E., born April 18. 1857. daughter of William F. and Margaret (Tay- lor) Irwin, of Irwin, and their children were: 1. Kate Irwin, born Feb- ruary 13, 1875. died January 20, 1805. 2. Sarah Margaret, born Decem- ber 15. 1877. is the wife of John Crookston, of North Irwin, and has one child. Robert Ray. 3. William Thomas, born April 25. 1881. married Margaret Piper, of North Irwin. 4. Martha Jane, born March 25, 1883. 5. John Irwin, born January 31, 1887. 6. James Edward, born May 3, 1890. died August 24, 1890. Mrs. Robbins, the mother of these children, expired May 26, 1891.

DR. W. W. JOHNSTON. engaged in the practice of medicine in Greensburg, was born in Lovalhanna township, Westmoreland county, Oc- tober 7. 1852, a son of Elrod and Nancy ( Alcorn) Johnston. At the time of his father's death. Elrod Johnston inherited the old family homestead

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

upon which he had been born and reared and on which he spent his remain- ing days and three of his brothers acquired adjoining farms. His home, was the place of entertainment for the traveler and all who came his way, the household being noted for its unlimited hospitality. He followed farm- ing throughout his entire life and was highly esteemed in the community as a reliable business man and worthy citizen. In politics he was a Repub- lican and for many years held local office. He belonged to the Loyalhanna Baptist church, and died in that faith at the age of eighty-four years. He was twice married, his first wife being Nancy Alcorn, by whom he had six children : Anna, widow of S. A. Wiley, now living with Dr. Johnston ; Carilla, wife of Walter Shoup of Loyalhanna township; William; Ira, on the old homestead; Elrod, of Greensburg : and Nancy, wife of O. J. Closson, of Greensburg. His second wife was Elizabeth Wiley and they had one son, Harry K., who resides on the old homestead with his brother Ira.

Dr. Johnston spent his boyhood and youth on his father's farm and in the acquirement of his education attended successively the common schools, Saltsburg Academy and the Indiana Normal school. In 1877 he entered upon the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. J. L. Crawford, of Saltsburg, and in the fall of 1878 matriculated in Bellevue Hospital Med- ical College, of New York, from which he was graduted in the spring of 1881. He then located for practice in Saltsburg, where for ten years he enjoyed a good patronage and then pursued a post graduate course in New York city, subsequent to which time he has practiced in Greensburg, with a patronage that is indicative of the public confidence in his skill and ability. He belongs to the Westmoreland County Medical Society and politically is a Republican, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church. He was married, in 1881, to Mary Ralston, of Congruity, Pennsylvania, and they had one child, Lloyd M. Mrs. Johnston died in 1888 and in 1891 Dr. Johnston married Mollie Lloyd, of Delmont, Westmoreland county. They have two children, Nancy E. and Ira Ralph.

JAMES S. MOORHEAD, of Greensburg, is the son of James and Jane Elizabeth (Sharpe) Moorhead, of Indiana, Pennsylvania. His ancestors were among the first settlers of the present county of Indiana, his great-grand- father having been captured by the Indians about 1760, and taken to Quebec, where he was exchanged for French prisoners captured by English soldiers and colonists. His maternal ancestors were related to the Sharpes in the Cum- berland valley of Pennsylvania.

James S. Moorhead was born November 5, 1847, and was educated at Elder's Ridge Academy, and at Washington and Jefferson College, from which last institution he was graduated in 1868. He read law with the firm of Steward & Clark, of Indiana, Pennsylvania. Mr. Clark was his cousin and afterward became a justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar in Indiana in 1870, and on June 7 of the same year was ad- mitted to the Westmoreland bar and has since been steadily engaged in the practice of the law. Like most thorough lawyers, he has never turned aside from his chosen profession to seek political preferment, unless it be once in 1895 when he was a candidate on the Democratic state ticket for judge of the superior court of Pennsylvania. Even this place was in the line of his profes- sion, and whilst he was defeated, the state going strongly Republican that year . his friends had the consolation of knowing that had he been elected he would1 have brought to the bench a mind eminently qualified for that high position. He has, however, served as a school director for twelve years, and the high

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

standing of the Greensburg schools is in no small measure due to the interest he manifested in this line of work. He is a lawyer equally strong either before a court or jury, or in giving the counsel essential to the conduct of large busi- ness enterprises. He has tried a number of homicide cases, but his work has principally been in the more lucrative practice in the civil courts below and the supreme court of Pennsylvania. Particularly has he tried many cases in the new branch of litigation which has come before the courts of the state in the last twenty years growing out of the oil and gas and coal industries.

In the case of the Westmoreland and Cambria Natural Gas Company vs. DeWitt, et al. (130 Pa. State 235), Mr. Moorhead's contention that a lease for the purpose of drilling for oil or gas is in the nature of an easement with respect to the surface for the purpose of entry, examination and drilling opera- tions and that the real subject of possession by the lessee is the oil or gas ob- tained in the land, was denied by the lower court, but was sustained by the supreme court of Pennsylvania. Of equal or possibly of greater importance from a judicial point of view are the cases of Milligan vs. Dick, 107 Pa. State 259; Gumbert's Appeal, 110 Pa. State 496; Cunningham's Estate, 106 Pa. State 536; ruling cases, in all of which Mr. Moorhead was the leading counsel, which may be examined by the student or practicing lawyer to advantage. Many others may be cited, but we deem these sufficient for this brief review. His address in memory of the late Chief Justice Mercur (Pa. State Rep. 116, p. XXV) is an illustration of his style of English.

Whether his language be spoken or written, whether it be in the form of a public address or an argument before a court or a jury, it is always character- ized by a finish which is far superior to that of the average lawyer. In every forum he advocates his cause' with the honesty of a philosopher, the precision of a scholar, and with a dignity becoming the announcement of a judicial man- date. There are probably members of the bar in our large cities who surpass him in the lines to which they have devoted their special attention, but we doubt whether, in the varied attainments of an all-around practitioner, he has a superior either on the bench or in the bar of Pennsylvania. Mr. Moorhead, aside from his professional work, has found more time than most lawyers to read history, poetry and the higher grade of fiction. It is not infrequent that his addresses are adorned by classic references evoked from the ideal world by the genius of a poet or the novelist. He is yet in the vigor of his manhood and we trust has many years of useful work before him.

CHARLES H. FOGG, one of the most prominent and successful civil and mining engineers in Greensburg, is a representative of an old and honored family which settled in America in the seventeenth century. The founder of the family was Samuel Fogg, who came from Exeter, England, in 1630, and settled in Hampton, New Hampshire. James Fogg, a descendant of Samuel Fogg, and the great-grandfather of Charles H. Fogg, was born in Scarboro, Maine, in 1771. James Fogg, son of James Fogg, was born in Saco, Maine, May 10, 1799. He married Elizabeth Bradbury, and had children, among them being a son, James H. Fogg, born in Saco, Maine, June 10, 1835. He is a prosperous man of business, dealing in stock and lumber. He married Lydia A. Haley, daughter of Mark Haley, and among their children was Charles H., of whom later.

Charles H. Fogg, son of James H. and Lydia A. ( Haley) Fogg, was born in Biddeford, Maine, February 7, 1861. He had the advantage of a most ex- 2-4

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

cellent education, attending the University of Maine, where he was graduated as a civil engineer in June, 1881. He came to Greensburg in September, 1882, having accepted a position as assistant civil engineer in the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company, and held this position for several years. He then formed a business partnership with W. W. Jamison, under the firm name of Jamison & Fogg, in general civil and mining engineering. This partnership was dis- solved in 1903, and Mr. Fogg continued in the same branch of business alone, and worked up a very lucrative business. Later he associated himself with Morris L. Painter, and they are doing business under the style of Painter & Fogg. Mr. Fogg is very enterprising, energetic, and possessed of great de- termination. He is very systematic and accurate in his work, and has the reputation of being one of the most reliable men in his profession. He married, December 27, 1887, Rebecca Barclay, daughter of Thomas J. Barclay, and they have six children : Hester B., James Henry, Sarah B., Joseph B., Rebecca B., Lydia Ann.

REV. PHILIP KRETZ, pastor of the Most Holy Sacrament church, at Greensburg, was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, March II, 1857, son of Wende- lin and Mary (Volz) Kretz. When twelve years of age he entered St. Vin- cent's College, in Westmoreland county, where he acquired his education, and on July 15, 1880, was ordained to the priesthood. In October of the same year he was sent to Rome to study the higher branches of theology, and upon his return was made a member of the faculty in St. Vincent's College, where for five years thereafter he taught theology. He was given, in 1889, a charge at St. Mary's church, in Elk county, Pennsylvania, where he remained for five or six years. He was then sent to a mission in the Alleghanies, having charge of St. Boniface and St. Lawrence congregations. He was sent to Baltimore in 1895, where he had charge of Fourteen Holy Martyrs church, and in September, 1899, he was transferred to Greensburg to take charge of the Most Holy Sacra- ment church. This was the first Catholic property west of the Alleghanies, having been purchased by the church in 1789. After coming to Greensburg, Father Kretz saw the necessity of having a more commodious school building, and in July, 1904, the erection of the present structure, one of the most sub- stantial buildings of Greensburg, was began and was ready for occupancy March 1, 1905. The building is supplied with all modern ventilating appli- ances and the various modern improvements found in the schools of the present and is a handsome and substantial structure. Father Kretz died August, 1905.

ALBERT CHARLES SNIVELY, an attorney of Greensburg, was born in Mount Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 29. 1869.

(I) John Snively, the great-grandfather, came from Germany to Hagers- town, Maryland, in 1780, when but a mere boy. His parents were of the Lutheran faith. He died in 1806. He married Amy Wilkinson and they had three sons: John, Abraham, Hugh. The last two removed to Pittsburg and Ohio, respectively.

(II) John Snively, the eldest son of John (I), was the grandfather of Albert Charles Snively. He was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, 1803, and came to Mount Pleasant township in 1807. He, too, was a Lutheran : he had a fair common school education. The date of his death was 1888. He mar- ried Catherine Fausold, born in Cumberland, Maryland, 1800, and came to Westmoreland county in 1818. They were married in 1824. She died in 1877. Of the ten children born to her only two now survive.

D.a. mowry

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

(III) Hiram Snively, the father of Albert Charles, was born in Mount Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, February 4, 1834. He possessed a good common school education ; is a Democrat, and has held many township offices. He was assessor five terms and tax collector twice. During the dark days of the Civil war period, he was rejected from service on account of his physical disability. He married Mary Ann Chorpenning, Sep- tember 16, 1858. She was the daughter of David and Hester (Benford) Chorpenning. Her father was born in Somerset county in 1799 and died in 1868. Her mother was also a native of Somerset county, born 1807 and died 1867.

(I\') Albert Charles Snively was educated in the public schools of Mount Pleasant township, the Mount Pleasant Institute and Greensburg Seminary. He began teaching in the public schools of Westmoreland county in 1888, fol- lowing it for eight terms. He studied law with Albert H. Bell and G. Dallas Albert. He was admitted to the bar of Westmoreland county, January 26, 1896, and has practiced his chosen profession ever since. He is a supporter of the Democratic party, has been tax collector, and is at present school director in Irwin borough; treasurer of the Irwin Realty Company, and secretary of the Sunset Distilling Company. In church connections he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of the Masonic Order, Mason- town ( Pennsylvania) Lodge, No. 459; K. of P. Lodge, No. 415, Irwin ; B. P. O. E. Lodge, No. 486, Jeannette. For three years he was a member of the Na- tional Guard of Pennsylvania, in Company I, serving in 1894-95-96. He married, July 28, 1903, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Nettie A. Christner, of Mount Pleasant. Mrs. Snively was educated in the public schools and at the Normal. Her parents are Rev. A. Dickey and Samantha (Pyle) Christner. To Mr. and Mrs. Snively have been born one child, Al- berta Christner, born February 17, 1905, at Irwin, Pennsylvania.

DANIEL A. MOWRY is the oldest representative of the fourth gen- 2. eration of the Mowry family in Derry township, Westmoreland county. The family is of Swiss lineage and was established in America by the great-great- grandfather, who emigrated from Switzerland and settled in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, about the time of the outbreak of the Revolutionary war. His son, Michael Mowry, removed from Dauphin to Westmoreland county, and ac- quired a large tract of land in Derry township, from the heirs of Major Wilson. This tract has in subsequent years been divided and subdivided and now a por- tion is in possession of Daniel A. Mowry. The original homestead is now owned by ex-Governor John Latta, of Greensburg. Michael Mowry and his wife died at the age of seventy-two years. Their two children, Conrad and Catherine, were born in Dauphin county.

Conrad Mowry was reared upon the home farm in Derry township, learned the weaver's trade and followed that vocation during the active years of his life. He continued to reside, however, upon a portion of the old Mowry home- stead, which had come to him as his patrimony. He and his wife Matilda lived to the age of seventy-two years, it being a coincidence that the paternal grandparents and great-grandparents all died at the same age. Conrad and Matilda Mowry also had two children : John and Nancy, the latter the wife of Michael Shehan.

John Mowry, born at the ancestral home in Derry township, December 24. 1800. learned the cooper's trade in early life and followed that pursuit until about 1856, when he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

pany and was thus engaged until his retirement from active business life. He, too, made his home upon the farm where he was born and reared. He held membership in the Lutheran church, in which members of the family have been active workers for more than a century, many of them holding office in the church. The political faith of the family has ever been in accord with Demo- cratic principles, and John Mowry also followed in the path of his ancestors in this particular. He died December 18, 1883. In early manhood he married Mary A. Crusan, who was of Scotch descent, the emigrant ancestor having come to Westmoreland county more than a hundred years ago. John and Mary A. Mowry had nine children, of whom three are living: Daniel A .; Michael Y., of Derry township ; and Nancy R., the wife of Samuel A. Wareham, of the borough of Derry.

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History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Part 8

Author: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 860

Author: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 860