History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 90

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USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 90

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The Westmoreland County Medical Society was organized at Greensburg, Nov. 15, 1859. The first minutes of the society are as follows :

" MOORHEAD'S EXCHANGE, GREENSBURG, ETC.

" Pursuant to an advertisement a large number of the physicians of the county met for the purpose of organizing a County Medical Society. Dr. 8. P. Brown waselected president; Dr. Nelson, vice-president ; and Dr. Ana- walt, secretary. After some consideration of the object and advantages of . County Medical Society, on motion, Drs. Kemble, Richardson, Rugh, Blackburn, and McConoughy were appointed a committee to prepare a constitution and by-laws for the government of the society.

" The committee on constitution and by-laws reported a draft, which, after some modification, was adopted.

" A committee was appointed to make nominations to fill the various offices. The following were reported and elected, viz. : S. P. Brown,

president; R. Nelson and J. MoConoughy, vice-presidente; J. W. Ana- walt, recording secretary; T. Richardson, corresponding secretary ; James Taylor, treasurer ; George 8. Kemble, J. L. Cook, and J. W. Black burn, censors.

"On motion, the treasurer was instructed to provide the books neces- vary for recording the minutes, oto.

" On motion, Dr. Kemble was appointed to deliver a public lecture on the evening of the next quarterly meeting.

"On motion, the secretary was instructed to prepare a resolution ex- pressive of the sense of the society concerning the early death of J. E. King.

"On motion, it was resolved that the minutes of this meeting be pub- lished in the county papers. On motion, the secretary was instructed to advertise each regular meeting three weeks in advance. On motion, the society adjourned to meet at 1 o'clock P.M. of Tuesday, Teb. 14, 1800. "J. W. ANAWALI, R. 8."

The next meeting of the society was held at the court-house, Feb. 14, 1860. At this meeting the fol- lowing resolution was adopted :

" Resolved, That all members of the profession of the county present to-day whose qualifications entitle them to membership in this society, and those whose names were appended to the advertisement for a meet- ing of the members of the profession to organize this society, shall be regarded as members from the beginning after they shall have signed the constitution and paid the initiation fee."

At the night session of this meeting Dr. George S. Kemble delivered an interesting and appropriate lec- ture to a public audience on " The Medical Profession and the Public, their Mutual Relations and Respon- sibilities.'

Thus did the Society begin its existence, which has continued uninterruptedly from that time to this. It has held since that time eighty-two meetings, the minutes of which have been kept in due and proper order. The proceedings therein are full of interest to the profession, and that it has been greatly advantaged by the interchange of ideas passed at these periodical assemblings there can be no manner of doubt. A very large proportion of the members of the profession in the county belong to it, and have uniformly given it their active support.

At the meeting of Nov. 15, 1881, the following off- cers were elected : President, Dr. F. L. Marsh ; Vice- Presidents, Drs. Strickler and Van Kirk; Secretary, Dr. D. E. Welsh ; Treasurer, Dr. D. W. McConoughy ; Censor, Dr. C. D. B. Eisaman; Examining Board, Drs. Anawalt, Cowan, and Cook.

The Westmoreland Medical Society has ever ad- vocated legislative action in the behalf of the profes- sion and for the protection of the regular school. There are many evidences of this, but we shall only advert to its action in one instance.

In the session of the Assembly for 1854-55 a bill was reported providing for the establishment of a Board of Medical Censors, to consist of three regular physi- cians to be appointed by the Governor, before whom all practitioners of medicine, irrespective of age or standing in the profession, should be annually sum- moned, in order to undergo an examination, not only as to their qualifications, but as to the progress they had made in the developments and improvements in the science of medicine, subjecting them, upon the first examination, to a tax of twenty-five dollars, and five

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dollars for every subsequent yearly examination. In the event of non-compliance with this act the penalty was to be " no recourse in law for the collection of their bills for medical services." Two of the censors were to constitute a quorum, to whose decision in all cases the third should submit.

The committee which had been appointed by the Westmoreland County Medical Society on the quali- fications of physicians and surgeons made their re- port in the form of two resolutions (1866). The first resolution was to the effect that the State should be divided into Eastern and Western Districts; that the Governor should appoint five competent medical men in each district to examine persons who should de- sire to practice medicine, surgery, or obstetrics in the several counties therein, and who had not graduated in lawfully-chartered medical institutions, and to grant certificates to those found competent, for which the person examined should pay fifty dollars, the standard .of qualifications not to be lower than that required by . medical colleges in this State.

" Further, chat it shall be unlawful for any person to practice medicine, surgery, or obstetrics in any part of the State who is not a graduate of medicine, or who does not hold such certificate; and it shall be unlawful for any such person to collect any bills, or receive any compensation, directly or indirectly, for such service."

The committee was then instructed to prepare a bill in accordance with the above resolution, and lay the same before the Legislature for adoption.

The following list of regular practitioners in the county is made up from the docket in the prothono- tary's office, in which are recorded the names of all who are entitled to practice under the terms of the act of Assembly contemplating it :

Logan M. Kifer, Irwin Station ; Jefferson Medical College, March 5, 1878.

James L. Crawford, Greensburg; Jefferson Medical College, March 7, 1868; Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York City, March 1, 1875.

John 8. Crawford, Greensburg; Hahnemann Medical College of Phila- delphia, March 10, 1876.

I. Putnam Klingensmith, Derry Station ; Jefferson Medical College, March 11, 1875.

David Gildner, Bolivar borough. I, David Gildner, have been on- gaged in the practice of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics since the year 1871 in the following places, to wit: Philadelphia, one year; Somerset County, one year; Cambria County, one year; Washington County, six years; and in Westmoreland County, one year.

Wilson J. Rugh, Franklin township; Columbus Medical College, Co- lumbus, Ohio, Feb. 27, 1877.

Alexander Hunter Peebles, Youngstown; Cincinnati College of Medi- cine and Surgery, Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 17, 1876.

Robert Robinson Bowman, Youngstown ; Jefferson Medical College, March 12, 1878.

James C. Cline, Derry Station; Jefferson Medical College, March 13, 1880.

James Henderson Lafferty, New Florence borough ; College of Physi- cians and Burgpons, Baltimore, Md., March 1, 1881.

Frederick Henry Patton, West Newton borough ; Jefferson Medical College, March 10, 1866.

Bennet Hutchinson Van Kirk, West Newton borough ; Jefferson Med- ical College, March 12, 1869.

Joseph Henderson Richie, West Newton borough ; Western Reserve Medical College of Cleveland, Ohio, Feb. 10, 1867.

James Taylor, West Fairfield, Jefferson Medical College, March &, 1961.

Jacob Swan Taylor, West Fairfield ; Electric Medical Institute of Ola- cinnati, Ohio, June 7, 1881.

John Davideon Milligan, Madison borough ; Bellevue Hospital Medi- cal College of New York City, March 1, 1876.

James Ayres Fulton, Delmont. I, Jemses A. Fulton, have been ca- gared in the practice of medicine, margery, and obstetrics since the year 1864 continuously in the borough of New Sales.

Henry George Lemieon, Greensburg ; Jefferson Medical College, March 6, 1862.

William Dass MeGowaa, Ligoaler borough : University of Peameyi- vania, Philadelphia, April 6, 1861.

George Washington Kern, West Newton borough; Hahnemean Medi- cal College, Philadelphia, March 11, 1878.

Matthew Watson Miller, Ligosier; Cincinnati College of Medicine and Burgery, Cincinnati, Olilo, Feb. 15, 1872.

Marston Monroe MeColly, Ligonier ; Jefferson Medical College, March 12, 1870.

Alezander Johnston Rogers, Scottdale. I, A. J. Rogers, have been cagaged in the practice of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics in the State of Penneyivania for more than twenty years, and I have beso in con- tinuous practice since the year 1871 in the counties of Fayette and Westmoreland.

John Q. Robinson, West Newton borough; University of the City of New York, upon pridie Id. Mert., 1840.

Albert William Strickler, Scottdale borough ; Jefferson Medical Col- lege, March 1, 1571.

David William McConaughy, Latrobe borough ; Jederece Medical Col- lege, March 3, 1868.

George Bonbright Anderson, Latrobe borough ; Jefferson Medical Col- lege, March 10, 1877.

Daniel Abraham Arter, Greenebarg. I, Daniel A. Arter, have been engaged in the practice of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics for more than thirty years, and I have been in continuous practice in the borough of Greenebarg since the year 1871.

Bernard Cole Leston, Bolivar borough ; Jeferson Medical College, March 12, 1878.

David William Miller, Adameburg; Western Reserve Medical College of the city of Cleveland, Ohio, upon the de ante diem pointum nomas mer- Nas, 1881.

Ralph Erskin Felton, Mount Pleasant borough; Jefferson Medical College, March 12, 1869.

William John K. Kline, Greensburg. Doctor of Medicine conferred by Long Island College Hospital, New York, July 2, 1863.

William Jackson Clarke, New Florence; Jefferson Medical College, March 28, 1849.

Robert McConanghy, Mount Pleasant borough ; Jefferson Medical Col- lege, March 11, 1876.

Benjamin Rupple Mitchell, Scottdale; Jefferson Medical College, March 10, 1877.

James Henderson MeLaughlin, New Balem borough ; Cincinnati Col- lege of Medicine and Burgery, Teb. 17, 1878.

George Singer Foster, Greensburg; Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, March 8, 1869.

James Sullivan Miller, Derry Station ; Jefferson Medical College, March 10, 1855.

James Logan Brown, Pleasant Unity; filed written statement.

James Roes Ewing, Oakiand X Roads; Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, July 30, 1870.

George Barkley Porch, New Florence ; Jefferson Medical College, March 13, 1871.

John Rowland Moore, Burrell : Jefferson Medical College, March 11, 1854.

Amos Ogden Taylor, New Salem ; Eclectic Medical College of Penn- sylvania, Dec. 29, 1879.

Jacob T. Ambrose, Ligonier borough; Long Island College Hospital: June 29, 1870.

William McWilliams, Merwin ; filed written statement.

Alpheus Arlington Bush, Merwin; Bellevue Hospital Medical College, March 1, 1875.

Hamilton Keeley Beatty, Parnassus; Jefferson Medical College, March 13, 1871.

James Irwin Marchand, Irwin ; Jefferson Medical College, March 8, 1862.

James Mortimer Bennett, Donegal township ; filed written statement, found elsewhere in these columns.

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David Emmett Welsh, Latrobe: Jefferson Medical College, March 12, 1878.

Alexander Bennett Mitchell, Harrison City ; Jefferson Medical College, March 4, 1872.

Hugh Wallace Love, Harrison City; Eclectic Medical College of Penn- sylvania, March 25, 1880.

George Parks, Murrysville; College of Physicians and Surgeons. Bal- timore, March 4, 1879.

Millard Sowash, Irwin; Jefferson Medical College, March 11, 1874. Joseph Sturgeon Long, Circleville; Western Reserve College of Ohio, March 4, 1808.

James Patterson Orr, West Bethany; University of Michigan, March 96, 1879.

Florence L. Marsh, Mount Pleasant; Jefferson Medical College, March 7. 1868.

Joseph L. Cook, Now Alexandria; Jefferson Medical College, March 9, 1858.

Robert Brown Hammer, Greensburg ; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, March 16, 1881.

John Edwin Rigg, Stonerville; College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md., March 4, 1879.

Oliver Wycoff Howell, Mount Pleasant township; Western Reserve College of Hudson, Ohio, March 6, 1880.

Bruce L. Calhoun, Parnassus; Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, June 19, 1876.

Lewis Tranger Smith, Pleasant Unity; Jefferson Medical College, March 4, 1876.

George Louis Humphreys, Irwin ; Jefferson Medical College, March 11, 1874.

Joseph Hlester Olark, Mount Pleasant; filed written statement. Winfield Scott Madden, Latrobe; Jefferson Medical College, March 16, 1876.

Enoch Wright Townsend, Greensburg; Homoeopathic Medical College of Cleveland, Ohio, Teb. 19, 1858.

Jacob Welty Rugh, New Alexandria; Jefferson Medical College, March 8, 1861.

John Duncan Evans, Latrobe; Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, Teb. 7, 1871.

John Nelson MoCane, Suterville; Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio, upon the dis pridie Nonas Martias, 1878.

Robert Francis Gant, Mount Pleasant township; Detroit Medical Cel- lege, Feb. 29, 1876.

Darwin Darius Taylor, Irwin ; filed written statement.

John Charles Taylor, Irwin; filled written statement.

James McConanghy, Mount Pleasant; Jefferson Medical College, March 20, 1845.

Lewis Shupe Goodman, Mount Pleasant, Eclectic Medical Institute, Cincinnati, May 7, 1878.

Henry Leander Donnelly, Latrobe; Jefferson Medical College, March 9, 1863.

Frank Johnston Wethington, Livermore; Long Island College Hos- pital, New York, Jnne 6, 1876.

Norman G. Berkey, Hempfield township; Jefferson Medical Collage, March 12, 1878.

Morgan Rhees Banks, Livermore; filed written statement.

Martin Dallas Heath, Mount Pleasant; Pulte College of Cincinnati, March 4, 1880.

Imac Newkirk Leyda, Manor Station; Doctor of Medicine conferred by University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., March 12, 1875.

Samuel Cummins Campbell, Stahlstown; Eclectic Medical Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 6, 1879.

James Taylor Kreppe, Webster ; Jefferson Medical College, Philadel- phia, March 11, 1875.

William Armstrong Jamison, Cowansburg ; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, March 12, 1879.

Lemuel Offutt, Penn Station; University of Maryland, Baltimore, Md., Tob. 29, 1876.

Charles David Fortney, Scottdale. Have been engaged in the practice of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics for twenty-seven years, and in con- tinuous practice in Westmoreland County since the year 1871. Written statement filled.

David Alters, Parnassus; Jefferson Medical College, March 9, 1861. Lewis Sutton, Mendon ; Jefferson Medical College, March 29, 1848.

Uriah M. Snyder, New Salem (Delmont P. O) ; Bellevue Hospital Medi- cal College, New York City, March 1, 1872.

Alvin 8L Clair Daggette, Shaner station (Youghlogheny P. O.); Clove- land Medical College, Ohio, March 2, 1881.

James White Anawalt, Greensburg ; Jefferson Medical College, March 10, 1865.

Francis McConnell McConanghy, Ligonier ; Jefferson Medical College, March 24, 1846.

James H. Kelly, Pleasant Unity. Has been engaged in the practice of medicine for twenty-three years in the counties of Indiana and West- moreland, and in continuous practice in Westmoreland County since 1871. Written statement filed.

James Buchanan Wakefield, Mount Pleasant. Has been engaged in the practjoe of medicine, etc., for eleven years, and in continuous prao- tice in Westmoreland County since 1871. Statement filled.

Joseph Robertson, Bostraver township; Columbus Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, March 3, 1881.

Joseph William B. Kamerer, Greensburg ; Jefferson Medical College, March 13, 1871.

Samuel Edgar Burchfield, Latrobe ; University of Michigan Homos- pathic Medical College, June 30, 1881.

James Prine Frye, Webster; College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, March 4, 1880.

William Brown Cosgrove, New Derry; College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, March 3, 1880.

Samuel H. Decker, Now Derry ; Medium's Medical Association, Michi- gan, Ang. 19th, 1880.

Joseph Spratt Dodd, Parnesses ; Jefferson Medical College, March 11, 1875.

Samuel Shaw Stewart, Stewart's Station; Jefferson Medical College, March 9, 1861.

Daniel Elwood Belts, Ligonier; University of Medicine and Surgery, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1866.

John Wesley Morrison, Dougal borough ; written statement.

Perry Green Anderson, Scottdale ; Physio-Medical College of Ohio- Teb. 4, 1809.

DR. HENRY G. LOMISON, who enjoys the popular dis- tinction of being one of the leading physicians of West- moreland County, is of English stock on his paternal side, and of Dutch lineage on the maternal side. His immigrant ancestor, Lawrence Lomison, was a native of Bristol, England, from which place he took ship in 1682, and landed in Chester, then called Upland, Pa., December 11th of that year. Some time after his arri- val he married an immigrant lady, a native of Holland, by the name of Von Kindel, and with her settled on lands near Germantown, Pa., where they became the parents of a large family, some of whom removed to Northampton County, Pa., others settling near Tren- ton, N. J., and Belvidere, in that State.

Dr. Lomison is descended from the Belvidere branch, and is the son of William Lomison, who was born near Belvidere in 1788, and died in 1862, at the age of seventy-five years. Dr. Lomison's mother, whose maiden name was Anna Fulkerson, was the daughter of Col. John Fulkerson, of Northumber- land County, Pa., a native of Holland, and was born in 1787. She intermarried with William Lomison in 1811, and died Dec. 11, 1856.

Mr. and Mrs. William Lomison were the parents of eight children, of whom Dr. H. G. Lomison was the youngest. He was born July 17, 1831, near Dan- ville, Columbia (now Montour) Co., Pa., was reared upon the homestead farm, receiving a common-school education and instruction in Danville Academy, and at the age of nineteen, after having for a year or two taught school, entered upon the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. James M. Stewart, of In- diana County, Pa., to which county the family of Dr. Lomison had removed a little before that time, and

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eventually matriculating at Jefferson Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia, graduated from that institution in March, 1852. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Saltsburg, Indiana Co., his capi- tal stock at that time consisting of his general educa- tion, professional acquirements and books, a robust and powerful constitution, determination to excel, tire- less energy, and "a horse, saddle, and bridle." Thus equipped he soon made his way into a good and, not long after, a large and lucrative practice, which he pur- sued, with Saltsburg as his centre of operations, unin- terruptedly till the winter of 1858-59, which he spent in New York in attendance upon the course of lec- tures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. In the winter of 1859-60 he attended a course of medi- cal lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, and in the spring of 1860 took up his residence in Greens- burg, and followed his profession until 1869, in which year he took a tour of eight months in Europe, with the principal object of acquainting himself with the practice of medicine as administered in the chief hos- pitals of England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, which he visited. Returning be resumed practice, which he still follows with the old love for his profession, his popularity as a physician constantly increasing.

Dr. Lomison is a gentleman of business abilities and spirit, and of public enterprise, and has made valuable improvements in real estate in the county and at the county-seat by the erection of edifices of various kinds. Among those at Greensburg should be mentioned the Dixon House, on Depot Street, and on West Otterman Street, a structure heretofore greatly needed in the borough, the Lomison Opera- House, with conveniences for over a thousand sitters, and supplied with full sets of scenery, together with unusually commodious dressing-rooms. In addition to sedulous attention to his large professional busi- ness, Dr. Lomison has found time to engage exten- sively in matters of real estate, with results which popular opinion declares extremely profitable. He is the possessor of over a thousand acres of land in Westmoreland County, all underlaid with the cele- brated Connellsville coking-coal.

In politics Dr. Lomison is a Democrat, and was in 1878 a candidate for nomination to Congress from the Twenty-first District of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, and Greene, and received the unanimous vote of his party in West- moreland County. He has since been urged by the party to go again before the people, but while appre- ciating the confidence reposed in him by his multi- tudinous friends, declined on account of professional and other engagements.

Obviously possessed of that good sense of "the fitness of things" which some other able physicians have manifested in the doctrine, vitally illustrated, that no man who loves his profession and is truly married to it has need of or right to any (other) wife,

Dr. Lomison remains a bachelor; at any rate, what- iever may be his doctrine concerning the matter in question, his practice leaves him single. The priest and the doctor, both "father-confessors," and bound by the sanctities of their professions to guard well, in utter silence, the countless delicate secrets necessarily confided to them, should not be subjected to the temp- tation of a special, inquisitive family "bosom," into which to be beguiled to pour the privacies of their subjects and patrons. A "doctor's wife" is often the most "knowing," treacherous, and scandalous nui- sance in a community.

DR. DAVID ALTER .- The Alter family of Pennsyl- vania was of Swiss extraction, and first settled in Cumberland County, where David Alter was born in 1775. He married Elizabeth Mull, of German origin, and removed with his wife and two children, in 1808, to Puckety Creek, where he had purchased the old Miller tract. He erected the noted " Alter's Mills," famous in early times as the resort for the milling of a large scope of country. He was a captain in the war of 1812, and his sister married Governor Ritner. He and his wife were buried in the old Brady grave- yard. Their children were Nancy, married to Maj. George Dugan; Joseph, Jacob, Samuel, John, Henry, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Elias, Samson, and Elisa- beth, the latter dying unmarried and young. The first eleven all raised large families. Of these, all are living but Joseph, Elizabeth, Henry, and David. Jacob celebrated his fifty-eighth wedding anniver- sary before the death of his wife. Joseph was born in 1800, and, like his father, was a miller and farmer. He was a famous athlete in his younger days, and in wrestling was unequaled in this region. He married Margaret C. Dinsmore, daughter of Robert and Mar- garet (Curry) Dinsmore. They had eleven children, three boys and eight girls, of whom the former, Dr. David Alter, Robert D. Alter, and Rev. Joseph Alter, and one of the latter, Maria M. (married to Martin Van Buren, of Ohio), are living. The eldest child, Dr. David Alter, was born Dec. 28, 1829. He first attended the old subscription schools, then those of the new system, adopted in 1884-35, and subse- quently the Freeport Academy. He completed his education at Madison College, in Guernsey County, Ohio. While attending the latter and pursuing his medical studies he taught school for some eight years. He read medicine with Dr. Thomas Galbraith, of Tarentum, and graduated at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1861. The same year he located at Puckety Church to practice his profession. In 1862, during the war, he was sent to the Fifth New York Regiment (Col. G. K. Warren), then at Harrison Landing, as a contract surgeon, and in the winter of 1863, after the battle of Fredericksburg, he visited and attended the hospitals in and near Wash- ington City. In the summer of 1863 he was with the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer. Regiment of militia, and went to Gettysburg as a volunteer sur-

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geon, and in the fall assisted in the capture of Gen. John Morgan on the Ohio River. Later in the same year he went with Rev. W. F. Kean, and at his re- quest, as a delegate of the Christian Commission to Southern Tennessee and Northern Alabama. On Sept. 10, 1864, he was mustered in as a surgeon of the Two Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was among the first troops that entered Rich- mond, Va., on its capture in 1865. After his muster out, June 26, 1865, he came to Parnassus, where he had located in the fall of 1865. Here he has remained to the present time in the successful practice of a pro- fession in which he is one of the acknowledged lead- ing practitioners of the county. He has been for years the surgeon of the Allegheny Valley Railroad, and was once president of the Allegheny Valley Medical Association. Among his medical students three have achieved distinction,-Dr. J. L. Crawford, of Greensburg (a learned contributor to the medical press) ; Dr. John Porter, of Mckeesport; and Dr. George C. Parks, of Murrysville. Dr. Alter was the first president of the Parnassus Bank, which position he held several years, and has served as president of the School Board, and under his administration the Parnassus schools were put into a high state of effi- ciency and attained a first-class rank. He has been elected by his townsmen as chief burgess of the borough, and was largely instrumental in the organ- ization of the literary and philosophical societies of the town. He is a member of the United Presby- terian Church. In politics he is an unswerving Re- publican, and comes of an old stock originally anti- slavery in ante bellum days. He was married Dec. 31, 1863, to Miss Mary, daughter of John H. and Jane (Irvine) Anderson, by whom he has three chil- dren,-Alonzo Anderson, William Irvine, and Joseph Galbraith. Dr. Alter has one of the largest private collections in the State of natural history, Indian relics, and historical objects old and rare, and his studies in these directions have greatly stimulated others to investigation and research in the same channel. His collections embrace almost every variety of animals, fishes, insects, reptiles, coins, and of curiosities collected from far and near at great ex- pense and with unceasing labor. He has the "rebel flag" captured at Richmond, Va., from over the Speaker's stand in the House of Representatives of the Southern Confederacy, and the " slave-roll" of the oldest and largest slave-holding family in the " Old Dominion" in 1854. Among his valued heirlooms is an old family clock, made in 1775, of brass, beaten and worked by hand, which has been kept in the Alter family, descending to the oldest male branch of each generation. His large collection embraces many ancient and historic maps and documents seldom found outside of public institutions, all of which attest the patient researches of their owner into anti- quarian objects and studies.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 90

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

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