USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 87
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
their son Frank was but four years of age. The other members of the family are: Clara E., wife of Richard D. Laird, of Greensburg; June E., wife of Nevin Heller, of Lancaster ; and Jessie, wife of Rabe Marsh, of Greensburg.
Frank R. Dalbey, following his mother's death, was reared by his mater- nal grandmother and aunt in Greensburg, and his education was acquired in the public schools there. When only fourteen years of age he started out to earn his own living, securing a position in the shops of Kelley & Jones, in Greensburg. A year later he entered the service of the Pennsylvania railroad, securing a minor position in the civil engineering corps on the southwest branch of the road. After two years in that department he became locomotive fireman on the Pittsburg division, and when eight years had passed he was promoted to engineer, in February, 1900, which is his present relation to the company. Mr. Dalbey votes with the Republican party, and is a member of Youngwood Lodge, No. 447. I. O. O. F., and of J. M. Guffey Division, N. 454. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and his friends entertain for him high regard.
Mr. Dalbey married. November 27, 1894, Anna N. Bossert, a daughter of Albert Bossert, of Latrobe, Westmoreland county.
PATRICK AUGUSTINE SKELLEY. One of Greensburg's worthy citizens is Patrick Augustine Skelley. Mr. Skelley's grandfather, John Skelley, was of Irish descent and came to Westmoreland county some time in the '20s. He settled on a farm in Derry township between Derry and Alex- andria. He was a veteran of the war of 1812. His wife was Catherine Whet- stone, of German descent. MIr. Skelley died on his farm about 1843.
Daniel Skelley, son of John and Catherine ( Whetstone) Skelley, was born, probably, in Cambria county, where he was reared on a farm near Summer Hill. He inherited his father's farm and devoted himself to its cultivation. He married Catherine Keelin, of Derry township, and of their children only one survives : Patrick Augustine, mentioned hereinafter. The death of Mr. Skelley occurred in 1847.
Patrick Augustine Skelley, son of Daniel and Catherine (Kellin) Skelley, was born October 18, 1841, in Derry township, and some time in the `6os entered the service of the Pennsylvania railway as brakeman, but soon after he was forced by two accidents to resign the position. Ile had before this become by inheritance the owner of the farm and in 1868 disposed of it by sale. In 1871 he again entered the railway service in the capacity of fireman. and two and a half years later was promoted to the position of engineer. This was in 1874 and he is still at his post of duty. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church.
Mr. Skelley married in 1867. Mary B., daughter of James Magill, of Derry township, and the following children have been born to them: Daniel J., deceased : John H., a resident of Duquesne : James A., a plumber in Salina. Kansas; Raymond E., who is preparing for the priesthood at St. Vincent's College. Westmoreland county : Genevieve, resides at home : Blanche, wife of Robert M. Allen, of Newcastle ; Marie and Imelda ; both of whom are at home with their parents.
ROBERT C. BEST. Among the locomotive engineers of West- moreland county Robert C. Best, of Greensburg, holds a leading position. On the paternal side Mr. Best is of Scotch-Irish descent, the founder of the family. however, having come from England. According to family tradition there is a romance connected with the emigrant ancestor to the effect that he and his
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
bride made a runaway match and fled across the sea to seek their fortune in the New World. Mr. Best's maternal great-grandfather was a native of Germany.
Robert C. Best was born on a farm in Ligonier valley, learned the shoe- maker's trade, and came to Greensburg a young man, following his trade in that place during the remainder of his life. He was a Democrat in politics and wielded much influence in his party, being twice nominated for the office of county commissioner. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. He married Anna B. Bierer, and nine children were born to them, six of whom survive : John, engaged in the real estate business in Jeannette ; Robert C. and James (twins), the former mentioned hereinafter, the latter a carpenter in Greensburg ; William, also a carpenter in Greensburg; Andrew, lives in Greensburg and is employed by the Keystone Coal & Coke Company ; Henry a stone and brick mason in Connellsville. Mr. Best died a comparatively young man and his widow is still living in South Greensburg.
Robert C. Best, son of Robert C. and Anna B. (Bierer) Best, was born July 13, 1858, in Hempfield township, and in consequence of the death of his father was obliged at a very early age to contribute to the support of the fam- ily. He desired to learn the trade of a blacksmith or carpenter, but was unable to do so, and later when he wished to enter the railroad service and his mother objected he yieldled in deference to her wishes. In 1881 he left the mines where he was then working, and entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad as fireman. Five months later he resigned and engaged in the same capacity with the Pennsylvania railroad. December 4, 1886, he was promoted to the position of engineer, which he has since continuously held, being one of the best known engineers in the service of the company. Mr. Best is a member of Westmoreland Lodge, No. 840, I. O. O. F., of Greensburg, having passed the chairs, and also belongs to J. M. Guffey Division, No. 454 Board of Locomo- tive Engineers. He is Democratic in politics, and is a member of the First Reformed Church of Greensburg.
Mr. Best married in 1888, Aletta, daughter of William Hile, of Greens- burg, and their children are: Lucy, Anna May, Grtrude, Robert H., and an infant.
JOHN C. HAYMAKER, born in Patton township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1853, is a descendant of a prominent pioneer fam- ily of Westmoreland county. The first representative of the family to settle in the United States was Christopher Haymaker, a native of Germany, who died in 1788, and lies buried at the mouth of Plum creek, where the village of Verona was later located.
Jacob Haymaker, son of Christopher Haymaker, was one of the early resi- dents of Franklin township, and served as justice of the peace, gaining much popularity by the efficient manner in which he discharged the duties pertaining thereto. He was the father of three sons: John, George and Michael, who all became wealthy farmers and leading men of the township.
John Haymaker, son of Jacob Haymaker, was the first of the family to settle in Westmoreland county. He located near Murrysville and followed the occupation of farming. He married Anna Newlen, who bore him thirteen children, among whom were the following: William N., of whom later ; George, John, Frank Laird, Mary, married Rev. A. McElwain, D. D .; Nancy, married Dr. Murray Service, have two children: Dr. J. H., and Dr. Charles Service ; Keziah, married William Chambers : Elizabeth, married J. W. Harvey.
William N. Haymaker, son of John and Anna ( Newlen) Haymaker, was
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
born in Franklin township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He was by occupation a farmer and was employed thus in Patton township for forty years. From there he went to Turtle creek, Allegheny county, where his death oc- curred. He served as burgess of Turtle Creek one term, and as justice of the peace of Patton township two terms. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. He married Mary Simpson, who bore him two children: John C., of whom later ; and Ida, married William B. Brush, of Washington, Pennsyl- vania, and has four children : Berlin, Seward, William and Clare.
John C. Haymaker, son of William N. and Mary (Simpson) Haymaker, married, November 18, 1878, Anna McKnight, daughter of John McKnight, and their children are : Marguerite, married Joseph Fronheiser, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania : Mary S., is now ( 1906) taking vocal lessons in New York ; and Louisa B., attending preparatory school.
HENRY WILLIAM POPE. Perhaps no man of Greensburg, West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, is better known or more highly esteemed by friends and business associates alike than Henry William Pope. He was born in Hanover, Germany, April 12, 1858, the son of Earnest and Frederica (Ro- den ) Pope, and one of nine children, four of whom are still living: Rica, wife of Edward Bocke, Pittsburg; Henry William, mentioned hereinafter ; Anna, wife of Rheinhart Walb, St. Louis, Missouri ; and Dora, married Peter Rheil, a farmer of Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania. The father of these children, Earnest Pope. was born and reared in Hanover, Germany, and engaged in the hotel busi- ness in Paransen, where he resided and conducted his business up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1867, when he was fifty-two years of age. After his death Mrs. Pope married Lewis Hampe, and of this union one child was born, August Hampe.
In 1872 Henry W. Pope, in company with a brother, Earnest, left his native land, sailing for American shores. They located in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and one year later their mother and step-father and the other members of the family also emigrated to this country, also settling in Pittsburg, where Mr. Hampe was employed for a time, later removing to a farm in Castle Shannon. In 1888 he purchased his present home farm in Hempfield township, two miles east of Greensburg, where he still resides.
Henry William Pope and his brother (who is now deceased) secured employment in the Cunningham glass works, where Earnest learned the trade of pot-maker, and later accepted a position with a St. Louis firm, which afforded him a good salary, and where he remained until his death, which occurred sev- eral years later.
Henry Pope remained with the Pittsburg firm some six years, at the expi- ration of that time severing his connection with that establishment in order to accept a position as stationary engineer for the South Side Street Car Company, where he was employed up to 1880. He then went to Chicago and for six years was connected with the American boiler works as a sheet iron worker. In 1886 he returned to Westmoreland county, remaining with his parents for four years and assisting with the farm work. In 1800 Mr. Pope purchased a portable saw-mill and was engaged for one year in the saw-mill business, when he disposed of his mill and entered the firm of Kelly & Jones, having charge of their boilers and engines. This position of trust and responsibility he retained until May, 1904. He then established himself with the Brown & Ketchum structural steel works, holding the position of electrical engineer, and he was given entire charge of the machine shops. Mr. Pope is a progressive business man, an expert machinist and mechanic, and a man whose straightforward'
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
business methods and genial disposition have gained for him the respect and confidence of his employers, and the good will and highest esteem if his friends and acquaintances. His political sympathies are with the Republican party, and he takes a lasting interest in the welfare of his county and town. The great regard in which he is held by his fellow townsmen is demonstrated by the fact that he has been chosen chairman of the borough council, having served as a member of the council for several years. He is also a member of the school board and has been for some ten years. He is a member of the Westmoreland Lodge, No. 840, I. O. O. F., of Greensburg; Greensburg Lodge, No. 366, K. O. G. E .; Greensburg Lodge W. O. W .; and the Re- beccas.
In 1890 Mr. Pope married Elizabeth C. Scheffler, of Hempfield township, and to them was born one child, Albert Pope.
GEORGE W. BEANER. He to whose ancestral and personal record we now briefly direct attention is a representative of one of the old and honored families of Westmoreland county, and here he has ever maintained his home, being a resident of the city of Greensburg at the time of this writing. His grandfather, Daniel Beaner, was a native of England, where he was reared and married. While yet a young man he emigrated with his wife to America and came to Westmoreland county, where he was identified with agricultural pur- suits until his death, while his devoted wife also passed the closing years of her life in this county. Their children were: Joseph, a successful manufacturer of corks, at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania ; James; Michael, engaged in the tin- ner's trade in Greensburg: David, deceased; Fannie, the wife of Ed- wards : Mary, the wife of William Singer ; and George, the father of the sub- ject of this sketch.
George Beaner was born and reared in Westmoreland county, where he received a good common-school education, and learned the cooper's trade, at which he was engaged until the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, when he promptly tendered his services in defense of the Union, enlisting in 1862 as a member of a regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and proceeding to the front. He participated in a number of important engagements and was finally captured by the enemy and incarcerated in Libby prison, in Richmond, Virginia, where he died in captivity. He married Hannah Roddy, who was likewise born and bred in Westmoreland county, and she survived her husband by many years, dying on the 13th of March, 1904. She was a devoted christian and her gentle attributes of character endeared her to all with whom she came in contact. Of her children we enter brief record: John is a resident of New Florence, this county ; Daniel is a prosperous farmer in Somerset county ; Lewis and Samuel reside in Millwood, Westmoreland county ; Mary is the wife of Frank Risher ; Jennie died in childhood ; George W. is the immediate subject of this review.
George W. Beaner was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, September II, 1862, his father having gone to the front as a soldier only a short time pre- viously, so that he was never permitted to know paternal care and guidance, but has reason to feel all of gratitude and veneration for the solicitude and self- abnegation manifested by his devoted mother, who kept watch and ward over his youthful days with unceasing care. His mother returned with her children to Westmoreland county soon after his birth, and in the public schools of the same he secured his early educational training. He early learned the trade of sawyer, and to the same he has devoted his attention during the major por- tion of his business career, being known as one of the most efficent artisans in the line to be found in this section. He showed his filial devotion to his loved .
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
mother by remaining at home and providing for her until she was called for- ward to the land of the leal, and he has never married. Mr. Beaner has never souglit office of any description.
CHARLES CONNOR. While by birth and parentage Charles Con- nor, of Norton, Virginia, may be said to belong to Scotland, by the ties of loyal citizenship he is linked to the United States. His father, Peter Connor, was born in 1827, in the parish of Shotts. Lanarkshire, Scotland, and was by occu- pation a miner. In 1880 he emigrated to the United States, whither his two sons, Charles and Peter, had preceded him by some months to arrange for the arrival of the remainder of the family. In his new home Mr. Connor engaged in mining in the soft coal regions, where he resided during the remainder of his life. He was active in the temperance movement, and was a Republican in pol- itics. In early manhool he was a member of the Presbyterian church, but sever- ed his connection with that body when Dr. James Morrison was expelled there- from for preaching the heresy of the universality of the atonement. Mr. Con- nor then united with the Methodist Episcopal church with which he was thence- forth identified. His wife was Jane Sneddon, and their children were : Charles, see forward ; Peter M., mine superintendent in Somerset county, Penn- sylvania; Mary, deceased, wife of Robert Donaldson, also deceased ; Helen. wife of John Cole, mine foreman at Boswell, Somerset county ; David, machinist at Hazelwood, Pittsburg: John, mine foreman at Sandy Lake, Mercer county, Pennsylvania ; James, mine foreman at Dunbar, Pennsylvania ; William, mine foreman at Myersdale, Somerset county ; and Jennie, wife of William Peg, mine foreman at Wallersburg, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Connor, the father, died in 1899. in Uniontown, and is buried in Oak Grove cemetery.
Charles Connor, son of Peter and Jane ( Sneddon) Connor, was born April 30. 1850, near Glasgow, Scotland, and received a very limited education in the common schools. In his twenty-fourth year he attended a night school at the South Kensington Museum of Science and Art, London, where he took special courses in mining and mechanics, both theoretically and practically, also in geol- ogy, machine construction, drawing, inorganic chemistry, electricity, mathe- matics and geometry. In each of these studies he was granted first class ad- vanced certificates. For eight months yearly during a period of five consecu- tive years, he walked four miles to and from school, making eight miles each night. and in all this time missed but three nights. As early as his ninth year he went to work in the mines as trapper boy and gradually worked his way up to the position of fire boss and assistant foreman. In 1879 he emigrated to the United States and lived for one year in Columbia county, Ohio, where he was engaged in the mines. He then moved to the banks of the Monon- ghela river, near Fayette City, where he was employed some two years, serv- ing during a part of this time as weighmaster and shipping clerk. His next removal was to the Buffalo mines near Monongahela City, and while employed there an explosion occurred in the mines, Mr. Connor making two daring rescues. His knowledge of mining having become evident to the management, he was employed in the reconstruction of the ventilator and in putting the mines in working order, with the result that the ventilator was increased by the same fan from eighteen thousand to twenty thousand feet to sixty-nine thousand feet. He was then offered the position of foreman of the mine, but declined it for the reason that the man then filling the place was his per- sonal friend.
This work brought Mr. Connor into contact with James Louttit, then state superintendent of mines, through whose influence he was offered and accepted
2 38
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
the position of foreman at the Henry Clay mines of the Frick Coal & Coke Company. Some six months later he was offered the foremanship of the Leith shaft for the Chicago & Connellsville Coke Company, near Uniontown, where he remained three years. He then accepted the superintendency of the Rockhill Iron & Coal Company, in Huntingdon county, in which position he served seven years. In 1893 he passed the examination for mine inspector and was appointed state mine inspector, serving in this important position seven years and nine months. Three months prior to the expiration of his last term he tendered his resignation in order to accept the position of general superin- tendent of mines of the Dominion Coal Company, Nova Scotia, Canada, but at the end of seven months, in consequence of the rigorous climate and his failing health, he resigned in order to become division superintendent of the Redstone Division of the Pittsburg Coal Company. Four months later he was appointed by the same company inspector of all their mines on the Monon- gahela and Youghiogheny rivers south of Pittsburg.
In January, 1903, through mitch persuasion, he was induced to resign this position and go to Norton, Virginia, to open some new mines and build coke ovens for some officials of the United States Steel Company. After he had opened the mines and built four hundred furnaces, everything being in good working order, the prices of coke forced the company to shut down, and Mr. Connor went to Maryland to open some mines there. When his work was completed he returned, after an absence of seven months, to Norton, where his family was residing, and where he had purchased and was conducting the St. Charles hotel. In June, 1904, the building was burned to the ground, and ten days later Mr. Connor had workmen on the site for the erection of a new modern brick hotel building of fifty-four rooms, having in this interval drawn the plans, let the contract and made all preliminary arrangements. The build- ing was completed in November of the same year and has proved a very profitable investment.
In the Christmas season of 1904 Mr. Connor went to Somerset county to at- tend the death-bed of his mother, and on his way home stopped at the offices of the Pittsburg Coal Company, Pittsburg, to see his former friends and employes. He was urged to come back and get the mines at Webster in profitable working order, and in compliance with this request took charge of the Equitable, the North Webster and the Menown mines, entering upon his duties January 9, 1905. Throughout Mr. Connor's varied experience every position in which he has served has come to him not as the result of solicitation, but as a voluntary offer. He is a Republican in politics and has done some campaign speaking, but declined to run for the legislature, although urgently solicited to become a candidate. He is connected with the following fraternal organizations: Fay- ette Lodge, No. 228, F. and A. M .; Union Chapter, No. 156, R. A. M. : Union- town Commandery, No. 49, Knights Templar ; and Syria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Pittsburg, and of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Connor married, February 10, 1872, Jane Musgrave, a native of Northumberland, England, and a member of one of the old families of that region. Their children are: I. Peter M., mine foreman at Ocean No. I, of the Pittsburg Coal Company at Scotthaven. 2. Jeannie S., trained nurse, for some time superintendent of the Morgantown Hospital connected with the University. 3. Annie T., at home, graduate of Morgantown University. 4. Charles W., graduate of State College, now mining engineer at Ellsworth. 5. George M., at home, hotel clerk. 6. Mary M., attending College at Bris- tol, Virginia. 7. Lizzie D., at home.
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Peter M. Connor, son of Charles and Jane (Musgrave) Connor, was born March 21, 1873, in England, and was six years old when the family came to the United States. He was educated in the common schools and in his tenth year went into the mines as trapper boy. He has been since then continuously connected with mining, rising step by step until appointed fire boss of the mines at Star Junction belonging to the Washington Coal and Coke Company. After serving about eighteen months in this capacity he was offered and accept- ed the position of mine foreman at Revere for the W. J. Rainey Company. In a short time he resigned in order to accept the same position with the A. L. Keister Company of the Wallersburg mines. Some fourteen months later he took charge of the Summer Hill mines of the Pittsburg Coal Company, and sixteen months after went to Virginia, where for one year he had charge of the Glamorgan mines of the Stone Gap Colliery Company. He then returned to Pennsylvania, and was soon after made foreman of the mine of which he now has charge. He belongs to Carnegie Commandery, No 310, Knights of Malta, and votes with the Republicans. He is an attendant, but not a member, of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Connor married, in 1893, Mary Jones of Robertsdale, Huntingdon county, and they have three children: Bertha, Edna and Charles.
ROBERT OLIVER BOVARD. The European ancestors of Robert Oliver Bovard, of South Huntingdon township, were Huguenots who, driven by religious persecutions from their native France, sought and found an asylum on the shores of the New World.
Oliver Bovard came from Lancaster county to Westmoreland county, and settled on a farm in what is now Mount Pleasant. The town growing up around him was first known as Helltown and later as Slabtown, and it was through his intervention that the place was spared both these ugly and objec- tionable appellations. Being one day at a gathering in the tavern, Mr. Bovard rose and went out with a bottle of wine which he broke against the side of the house, uttering the words, "I christen thee Mount Pleasant," thus conferring upon the town the felicitons name which it has since enjoyed. In 1814 Mr. Bo- vard sold his Mount Pleasant land and moved to South Huntingdon township. buying one hundred and sixty acres near the farm now owned by his grand- son, Robert Oliver Bovard. On this estate he passed the remainder of his life. The night following that on which he took possession of his Mount Pleas- ant farm he had two horses stolen by the Indians. One of the animals was found later shot dead, presumably because it refused to be parted from its mate and in consequence was so noisy that it was killed by its captors, who feared that its cries might lead to their detection. Mr. Bovard was the father of three sons : Oliver, see forward; John, and Robert. The two last-named died in consequence of having been poisoned by wild parsnips which they mistook for sweet myrrh. Mr. Bovard himself had partaken of the vegetables, but in a less quantity, and therefore recovered. This was after the removal of the family to South Huntingdon township, where Mr. Bovard died at the advanced age of eighty-four.
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