History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 155

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At the expiration of the three months' service, Col. Johnston entered the Ninety-third Pennsylvania Vol- unteers (raised chiefly in Lebanon County) as its lieu- tenant-colonel. He was offered its colonelcy, but this he declined in favor of Col. McCarter, under motives of personal considerations. He served under the last enlistment over two years, and then resigned. The services of this regiment during the time Col. John- ston was connected with it, part of the time of which it was under his personal command, are traceable through the services of Gen. Couch's and Gen. Casey's divisions in the Army of the Potomac.

Since his services in the army he has resided at the old homestead, Kingston House, and has settled down to the quieter and more peaceable occupation of a farmer.

The wife of Col. J. W. Johnston was Miss Sarah Rebecca Byerly. They were married in 1867, and have living a family of two children, a son and a daughter.

SAMUXL MILLER.

The paternal ancestor, Capt. Samuel Miller, of Samuel Miller, late of Unity township, came with his brother from North Ireland about the year 1760, as near as can be ascertained. The one brother remained east of the mountains, but Capt. Samuel was among the first settlers of Westmoreland. He settled on the place which afterwards attained a wide celebrity from the incursion of the Indians upon Hannastown and Miller's Station, an event familiar to all West- morelanders, and one of the most prominent in border annals. . Capt. Miller's name appears as a prominent settler so early as 1774 among the lists of the petitions to Governor Penn. He was one of the eight captains of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment in the Conti- Dental line. He was ordered from Valley Forge, Feb: 10, 1778, to Westmoreland County on recruiting ser- vice. While here he was killed, July 7, 1778, as appears . from the following extract of a letter from Thomas

Scott to T. Matlack, preserved in the sixth volume of the Archives (old series); page 673. That portion of the letter is here given, the original spelling and ar- rangement preserved :

" WESTMORELAND, August let, 1778.

". . . . . The Indians have made several breaches on the inhabit- sats of late in different parts of this country. Capt. Miller, of the 8th Frans. Regit , with a party of nine men, chiedy Continental soldiers, were Bringing grain from the Neighbourhood to a Fort, called. Fort Hand, about 14 miles North of Hannes Town, on the seventh of last mooth [July], and on their retara were surprised by a party of Indiane, who lay in wait for them, and killed the Capt. & seven others."

The paper of which we here give a copy appears to have been a deposition made by Hon. William Jack in some contested title arising out of the ownership of the old Miller farm. It was apparently used in evidence, but is no part of the records. It preserves several interesting facts. The writing is in Judge Jack's own hand :

" WESTMORELAND COUNTY, M.

" Before me, a Justice of the peace in and for maid County of West- moreland, personally appeared William Jack, Erq., who was daly sworn according to law, did depose and may that Capt. Samuel Miller, who was killed by the Indians in the year 1778, at the commencement of the Revolutionary war actually settled ce a pisatation now adjoining Peter Echar, John Sheoffer, John Mechling, and others in Hempfold Town- chip in the County aforesaid, that Andrew Cruikshanks (who married the Widow of the said Capt. Basseel Miller), Joseph Russell, who is mar- ried to one of the Daughters of the maid Samuel Miller, dec', claims the bessat of aa set of Assembly passed Sept. 16, 1786, and that the maid Andrew Cruikebanks was in the course of the mid war actually in poe- session of the maid plantation, and was drove away from his habitation on said land by the Indians on the 13th day of July, A.D. 1782, being the came day that Hannestown was barned and destroyed by the Indians, and that some of the heirs of the said Capt. Bamseel Miller was killed and taken prisoners on the said day, and that the House wes burned and the property in the House by the Enemy, and that afterwards the said Plantation lay waste and vacant for some time for fear and dread of the Indians. Ww. JACK.

" Sworn & subscribed before me the 8th day of March, A.D. 1814. "R. W. WILLIAMS."

Two of the children of this Capt. Samuel Miller married and left families. Dorcas, a daughter, was married to Joseph Russell, and became the maternal ancestor of the Russell family of Hempfield and Greensburg. The son, Isaac Miller, married Sarah Grier, daughter of William Grier. He lived upon the old homestead, the "Miller's Station Farm," until he died, 28th September, 1805, of a fever, leaving issue,-a daughter, Isabella, and two sons, Samuel (our subject) and Isaac. His widow survived him sixty years, dying on the 13th of April, 1866, in the eighty-seventh year of her age.

Samuel Miller was born May 19, 1803, and died Feb. 5, 1879, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He passed his boyhood on the farm his father had owned, about a mile and a half east of Greensburg. His father dying while he was a mere child left the care of the farm and its management to his widow and his two sons, Samuel and Isaac. These boys, growing strong, industrious, and judicious, soon took upon themselves the entire management, and proved- adequate to their trust. Their early life was thus calculated to develop their characters into sober and efficient men and capable and successful farmers.

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Samuel married Priscilla, daughter of James Hurst, of Mount Pleasant township, Dec. 29, 1881. In 1840 he removed to the Grier farm, and occupied it as its possessor until his death.

The "Grier farm" belonged originally to William Grier, the ancestor of the Grier family, and whose daughter Sarah was the wife of Isaac Miller, father of Samuel. William Grier, from the beginning of peace in these parts after Pontiac's war (1764), was engaged as a packer; that is, one who transported commodities upon pack - horses ,and pack - mules. When pessing along one of the ancient trading-paths leading close by this tract of land, in 1767-68, stop- ping at a convenient place to lunch and feed his team, he found at a short distance a spring bubbling out from the roots of a large elm-tree. So well pleased was he with the site, and the spring of such marvelous excellence, that he marked the elm, and when, shortly after, the land-office was opened for applications, he, on the 8d of April, 1769, asked for a warrant to issue to him for a large tract surround- ing this tree and spring. Upon this tract he settled, and some of his descendants have owned it ever since. The memorable tree, long preserved, with its blazing to be seen, has almost entirely passed away, but from its decaying roots still bubbles the spring perennially which has slaked the thirst of the heated harvest- hands for above a hundred harvests, and which never has failed in the dryest season.

This farm lies near the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, but a short distance from Beatty Station, and about three miles west from Latrobe.

The character of a man such as Samuel Miller was is difficult to describe. It was only from intimacy that one could get to understand him. He united in a marked degree traits seemingly at variance with each other. His manners, his conservatism, his scru- pulous honesty belonged to the generation of his boy- hood, but his activity in behalf of all innovations which were calculated to improve mankind about him, either in morals, in intellect, or in worldly cir- cumstances, were the marked characteristics of a later generation. He was never in a hurry, and he was never behind time; watched well his interests, and at the same time adequately compensated his tenants and his working-men ; was economical, but not penurious. For a full generation, or from the time he came to manhood, he was one of the recognized leaders in his township in those things wherein a leader is required. His zeal for the success and prosperity of the common schools of his district in particular, and for the sys- tem in general, knew no abatement as long as he lived.

In early life he united with the Presbyterian Church at Greensburg, under the pastorate of the Rev. Robert Henry. Having settled within the bounds of the Unity congregation he united with that church, and in about a year afterwards was elected a ruling elder, which office he filled with great usefulness and ac- ceptance till the time of his death.

His pastor, in a memorial sketch of Mr. Miller, has, we think with great aptnees too, this to say upon his religious and moral characteristics :

" He was a strong, manly, good man, firm in his convictions, decided in speech, and resolute in action. But he was deliberate and reasonable, always open to argument, and when convinced he se gladly embraced asother's view and worked with him as if his own way bad prevailed. What he wanted at was the truth. He would do what was his duty, or what he believed was his duty, in face of all suspicion. He was devoted to his church with growing seal to the last-a man of prayer, liberality, and intelligent activity. He would ride miles to talk with his pastor or an older about some matter of interest concerning the church. He wes missed and lamented when taken from the church and community."

Priscilla Miller, wife of Mr. Samuel Miller, died Nov. 16, 1862, in the fifty-second year of her age. They rest together in the cemetery of Unity Church. Their children are the following: Sarah (Nelson), now deceased, Martha, Lydia (Baldridge), Rosanna, deceased, Harriet (Thompson), Frances (McKee), Priscilla, Anna, Celia (Boyle), and Samuel H., an only surviving son. Two children, a son and a daugh- ter, died young.

WILLIAM T. SMITH.

Philip Smith, the great-grandfather of William T. Smith, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, emigrated from Germany when quite a boy, and set- tled in Eastern Pennsylvania; from thence he moved into Westmoreland, and married Mary Armel. His son, John Smith, born in 1767, was married to Cath- arine Shockey. He died in 1807, aged forty years, and his wife died in 1821, aged fifty-three. They had a family of seven children, one of whom died early, but the other six grew up. Four are still living, and are aged from seventy-five to eighty-three years. Of these, William Smith, father, was born February 12, 1800, on the farm now owned by and upon which resides his son, William T., who was the second son and the fifth child.

William T. Smith was born on this farm in 1880. His early years were passed in the domestic employ- ment upon his father's farm incident to his occupa- tion. He enjoyed no further advantages than were usual to farmers' boys of his day. His early educa- tion was not neglected, and he certainly had superior training under his father's roof. The bent of his in- clination and his desire to acquire a practical knowl- edge of men and of the world were evinced and par- tially and practically gratified in his early manhood. In 1856 he ventured in the stock trade, and mani- fested judgment and business ability of no ordinary character in taking a drove of Eastern horses to a Western market. These he carried to Iowa. Return- ing successfully from his speculation, but filled with a desire to know more of Western life and its practi- calities, he in March, 1859, again went to Iowa to examine some land which he had there purchased. In this trip he walked one hundred and twenty miles from Iowa City to Story County, returned to Iowa City, and thence came eastward as far as McLean

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County, in that State, where, not far from Blooming- ton, he engaged with a former Westmorelander to conduct his farming interests. In 1859 he went to Bloomington and took a course at Pratt's Commercial College. In April, 1860, he rigged up four yoke of ozen and started for Kansas, then the Mecca of so many glowing pilgrims who sought a wider and more prosperous field for their activities. But so many had .entered thither that it appeared that the adventure would be fruitlees. It appeared so at the time, but in the sequel it proved to be profitable, and was the oc- casion of an event which rarely happens in this practical world of ours; for engaging with a Mr. Lightfoot to break a tract of land, he was much dis- appointed when, having nearly finished his contract, Mr. Lightfoot announced that he had to return to his home in Alabama to sell a slave there to pay for the work. He did so return, but shortly after his arrival there he was taken ill. Then followed the war, and nothing was heard of the land-owner till six years had passed ; but then who can imagine the surprise of him to whom the money was due upon receiving a draft on New York at his home in Pennsylvania for the amount due with interest at ten per cent. added to date, with an accompanying letter from the former employer.

Late in 1860, leaving his partner in Iowa, whither they had returned to take care of their stock, Mr. Smith revisited Pennsylvania, but in the spring of 1861 returned to, Iowa. He then began farming there, and in 1862 married and settled down; but hia brother Ezra having died from injuries received in battle before Richmond, his father solicited him to come back and take charge of the old farm. This he did, and upon this farm he has made his home, which is a model for neatness, comfort, convenience, and hospitality.

But practical as Mr. Smith is in all the walks of life, he possesses in an eminent degree the rare faculty of uniting pleasure and enjoyment with his vocation, and of making these elements of higher social and civilized life instruments for his own worldly succees, and, for the wider scope of acquired information. In 1876 he visited the Centennial Ex- position at Philadelphia twice, and he went with his eyes open, for not only did he enjoy with all the full measure of his healthful vitality and strong mind the sights at that wonderful fair, and all the places of interest in Philadelphia, and in New York, Baltimore, and Washington, whither his trips ex- tended, but he utilized many of the improvements and later inventions applicable to an advanced system of agriculture, and only feasible and profitable to a farmer of intelligence, a man who could discriminate between theory and practice, and who unites brain with muscle.

In 1878, the year of the Paris Exposition, Mr. Smith went to Europe. In company with an invalid relative, he went from Liverpool to London, and thence to Newhaven, whence he crossed the English

Channel to Dieppe, in France, where he first touched the continent. From here he went to Paris, and after visiting all the more noted places of interest and curi- osity in the gay capital of the world, such as the Madeleine, the Palace de Justice, the Louvre, the Place Vendome with its renewed column, the Cathe- dral of Notre Dame, with its high altars and famous organ and choir, and the suburbs of the city, Ver- sailles and Rouen, he was forced to abandon his pro- jected tour of Italy on account of the failing health of his companion, and to return home.

Of this trip Mr. Smith preserves many gratifying memories and souvenirs. Of these he recalls the peculiar feeling of astonishment he experienced when, upon presenting his letter of credit at the cashier's desk of the Bank of England, he was handed a quill pen with which to write his signature. But above all and more interesting are his recollections and observa- tions upon the method of farming in France, and the habits, manners, and customs of the agricultural and peasant class of that country. He brought home with him more enlarged ideas of his vocation, and pro- nounced preferences for his country and its insti- tutions.

In 1880, Mr. Smith made a summer trip to Col- orado and the mining regions of the Rocky Moun- tains, and now contemplates an extended trip to Utah, California, and the Pacific Coast.

The judicious farming of such a man as our sub- ject is, as might be expected, a matter of course. Every resource and applicance calculated to develop the productive power of the soil, either by tillage, by the selection of seed, or by the rotation of crops, is brought into requisition. Particularly has he for years devoted time and care to the improvement of his breed of stock, and from this source has he been pecuniarily profited. His home is not only comfort- able, but it is much more. On his table and shelves are found books in great variety, and periodicals of all standard kinds are constantly being received in his family. He is truly, in every sense of the word, a model and a representative farmer, and this is all he pretends to be.

Mr. Smith was married March 2, 1862, to Miss Maria Wilson, of Washington, Tazewell Co., Ill. In bring- ing her to Pennsylvania he reversed the usual order of things, as indeed he appears to have done in the most important ventures and transactions of his life. In her he secured not only an intelligent but an intel- lectual wife and a worthy helpmate. Her great-grand- father, McLure, was of Irish blood, and settled in Tennessee, whence her grandfather moved to Illinois, in Tazewell County, where her father, William Wilson, from Perry County, Ohio, was married to Sarah G. McLure, mother of Mrs. Smith, and where he settled on a farm, on which he remained until his death, Nov. 19, 1857. They have a growing family of intelligent children.

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IBAAO .GBORGE.

Adam George, the progenitor of the Unity township Georges, came out of Germany, and firstsettled in York .County, Pa., and afterwards, about the time of the opening of the land-office (1769), came into West- moreland and located upon the place known in frontier times as "George's Station," which is now owned and occupied by Peter George, and which is but a short distance from the present "George Station" on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The name of Adam George appears in the lists of signers to the petitions of 1774 to Governor Penn for military protection from the Indians. In the Revolution be was a soldier under the immediate command of Washington; he also served on the frontier, and although he escaped serious per- sonal injury, yet it seemed as by miracle. He died at an advanced age, and was buried on his own farm. One of his sons, Conrad George, was in the fort at Hannastown when the village was burned. John, the second son, grew up with great hunting proclivities, and spent much of his early manhood in the chase on the Alleghenies. He married, in Somerset County, Miss Eleanor Campbell about the year 1800. They lived together until the death of Mrs. George in 1860, a period of sixty years, and had a family of six sons and seven daughters, all of whom except one daughter grew to maturity. After his marriage he lived in Mercer County till the spring of 1811, when be settled on the farm new occupied by his son Isaac, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, situate in Unity township, near Beatty Station. He died Sept. 4, 1868, and was buried in Unity Church cemetery.

Isaac, the eleventh child of John, was born Oct. 4, 1822, in Unity township, on the farm he now owns and occupies. He grew up on his father's farm until he reached the age of eighteen, when he went out from the home-roof to learn his trade. After serv- ing an apprenticeship of three years at the carpenter trade, he went to May's Lick, Ky., where he worked at his trade for one year ; thence to Lexington, Mo., where he continued to work at his trade with good success.

At this time occurred the war with Mexico, and under a call for volunteers Mr. George enlisted in the company of Capt. Walton (Company B), in the regiment ,which, under the command of Col. Doni- phan, made that famous march which has immortal- ized all those who participated in it.

This regiment was raised in Western Missouri, near the borders of Kansas. They assembled at Fort Leavenworth, and began their celebrated march across the plains to the confines of Mexico on the 26th of June, 1846. The regiment was called the First Regi- ment of Missouri Mounted Riflemen; its colonel was A. W. Doniphan, and it was attached to the division of Gen. Stephen W. Kearney. The march of this regiment, called "Doniphan's March," or "Doni- phan's Expedition," is one of the most memorable in modern warfare, and the boldness of its concep-

tion and the success in which it terminated brought forth the commendations of all military men and the. plaudits of the people throughout the Union. The march will be celebrated to all time in the military history of the nation ..

After a march of one thousand miles across the plains through a hostile region the regiment took Sante Fe on the 18th of August, 1846, fought the bat- tle of Brazito, which secured El Paso, crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico proper, marched on towards Chihuahua, which, after the brilliant battle and victory of Sacramento, they captured, Feb. 28, 1847. From there the command was ordered by Gen. Tay- lor to report to Gen. Brook at New Orleans, they being allowed to put in the rest of their time in marching homeward, an honor conferred upon them in recog- nition of their distinguished services to the country, which the general commanding regarded to be so effectual as to be thus publicly acknowledged. From Camargo, on the Rio Grande, ten men from each com- pany volunteered to take the horses of the regiment overland by way of Texas to their homes. Return- ing home by way of New Orleans, he, with about one- half of his comrades, landed at Lexington, Mo., July 1, 1847, having been honorably discharged.1

His parents being now advanced in age he visited them, and out of .a. sense of duty to them took

1 On the 22d of May the regiment was reviewed by Gen. Wool in per- con, accompanied by his staff, and the following order made, vis .:

" HEADQUARTERS, BUENA VISTA, May 22, 1847. "The general commanding takes great pleasure in expressing the gratification he has received this afternoon in meeting the Missouri volunteers. They are about to close their present term of military ser- vice, after having rendered, in the course of the arduous duties they have been called on to perform, a series of highly important services, crowned by decisive and glorious victories. No troops can point to a more brilliant career than those commanded by Col. Doniphan, and no one will ever hear of the battles of Brasito or Sacramento without a feeling of admiration for the men who gained them.

" In bidding them adieu the general wishes to Col. Doniphan, his om- cers and men, a happy return to their families.

" By command of Brig .- Gen. Wool :

" IRWIN MODOWELL, A. A. A. Gen."

When Gen. Taylor received authentic information of the fall of Vera Cruz, the capitulation of the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, and the cap- ture of Chihuahua, he published the following order to the troops under his command :

"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, " CAMP NEAR MONTEREY, April 14, 1847.

"The commanding general has the satisfaction to announce to the troops under his command that authentic information has been received of the fall of Vera Orus and of San Juan de Ullon, which capitulated on the 27th of March to the forces of Maj .- Gen. Scott. This highly im- portant victory reflects new lustre on the reputation of our arms.

"The commanding general would at the same time announce another

signal success, won by the gallantry of our troops on the 28th of Febru- ary near the city of Chihuahua. A column of Missouri volunteers, less than one thousand strong, under command of Col. Doniphan, with a light fleld battery, attacked a Mexican force many times superior in an intrenched position, captured its artillery and baggage, and defeated it with heavy low.

" In publishing to the troops the grateful tidings the general is sure they will learn with joy and pride the triumphs of their comrades on distant flelds.

"By order of Maj .- Gen. Taylor :

" W. W. BLISS, A. A. A. G."

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

charge of their affairs. He bought their farm, and has continued to own and reside upon it unto the present time. By energy and industry he has made for himself a haven of rest, wherein he may safely and peacefully anchor the rest of his days. In addi- tion to farming, he has been rather extensively en- gaged in the lumber manufacture, and for years has carried on saw-milling profitably.

On the 26th of December, 1858, Mr. George mar- ried Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Hon. Samuel Nixon, of Fayette County, a man of honorable standing, who served three terms in the Legislature of the State, and ten years as associate judge of Fayette County. Mrs. George, a woman of energy and piety, has contributed not a little to her husband's success. They have raised a family of two sons and three daughters.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 155

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: