History of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens 20th century, Part 203

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1474

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The parents of Mr. Martin were married in Balti- more. In 1848 they moved to Washington County, Pa., and in 1860 located near Washington. In the following year the father enlisted as a soldier in the Union Army, becoming a member of the 85th Pa. Vol. Inf. and serv- ing three years and three months. He returned to Wash- ington County after the close of his military service and settled at Hickory, where he followed the shoemak- ing trade for a number of years and then moved to Washington, but before his death returned to Hickory.

Sylvester Martin attended school at Hickory until 1876 when he went to Cross Creek and there learned the black- smith's trade and after coming to California worked as a blacksmith for three years for the California C'oal Company. He also went into the grocery business with his son, Joseph W. Martin, which was continued on the corner of Third and College streets for nine years, the younger partner being the manager, as his father was devoting the larger part of his attention to his tool works. This enterprise he entered into in a small way in 1895, but by 1906 it had grown to such large pro- portions that incorporation became advisable and it was capitalized at $10,000. The plant includes a machine shop and factory on Water street and a stockroom and salesroom on Third street. The business is manufactur- ing and jobbing miners' tools and supplies.

Mr. Martin married Miss Martha J. Croner, a daugh- ter of Joseph Croner, the latter of whom now resides in the State of California. Mrs. Martin was born and reared at Cross Creek, Washington County. They have two children, Joseph W. and Leonard P. The former married Margaret Dewar. The latter, who is foreman in the Tool Works, married Pauline Beazel, and they have had two children, Paul and Robert Wayne, the for- mer of whom is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Martin are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is one of the stewards. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Royal Arcanum. Mr. Martin is an honorable and representative business man of Cali- fornia.

FRANK B. McKINLEY, a leading business citizen of Washington, owner of the oldest jewelry store in this city, was born at Washington, Washington County, Pa., April 26, 1860, and is the third son and fourth child of the late Alexander and Margaret D. (Hayes) Mc- Kinley.

Mr. Mckinley was educated in the Union High School at Washington and later was a Latin student under Rev. George P. Wilson, a well-known educator. When he put his books aside he entered his father's jewelry store, where he learned the jewelry and watchmaking trade. He continued to assist his father until the latter's re- tirement in 1886, when he became proprietor of the business and still carries it on successfully. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Washington County Fire Insurance Company for nine years. He is also interested in other prosperous enterprises and is a representative factor in the city's commercial life.

On September 22, 1886, Mr. Mckinley was married to Miss Queen M. Ross, who is a daughter of David F. and Melvina (Richardson) Ross, both members of the oldest and highly respected families of the county.

Mrs. McKinley was born at Clyde, Washington County, Pa., October 1, 1861, is a graduate of the Union High School and the Washington Seminary. Mr. and Mrs. Mckinley are active members of the Second Presbyterian Church at Washington, of which he is an official. He is identified with the Republican party.

Ethelynn May Mckinley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Mckinley, was born at Washington, Washington County, Pa., July 27, 1887. She attended the Washing- ton public schools and graduated from the Washington Seminary in 1907. In 1908 and 1909 she took a special course in elocution and language at Fairmont Seminary at Washington, D. C.

W. F. WOODS, one of Cecil Township's representative citizens and substantial farmers, owns 230 acres of val- uable land, situated one mile south of McDonald, Wash- ington County, Pa. He was born in Bethel Township, Allegheny County, Pa., December 1, 1851, and is a son of Joseph and Sarah (McCulley) Woods.

The paternal grandfather of Mr. Woods was Rev. Will- iam Woods, a pioneer minister of the Presbyterian faith, who was pastor of Bethel Church, Allegheny County, from 1797 to 1831. Both parents of W. F. Woods were born in Allegheny County, near Mount Lebanon, and they spent their lives there. The father died in 1894 and the mother in 1905, the burial of the former being in Bethel Cemetery, and that of the latter, in the Venice Cemetery. They were worthy members of Bethel Presbyterian Church.

W. F. Woods obtained his education in the Bethel Township schools and at Bethel Academy, in Allegheny

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County, after which he assisted his father on the home- stead and continued to reside there for eleven years fol- lowing his marriage. In 1888 he bought his present farm, which had been considerably improved, a comfortable house being on the place, orchards set out and no build- ing being necessary except the erecting of a barn large enough to accommodate the new owner's crops and stock. He has continued to operate this farm ever since and it is one of the best properties in the township. Mr. Woods is the fifth member of a family of six children and he has an older brother, John M., and four sisters --- Martha, Elizabeth, Harriet and Annie.

On September 20, 1877, Mr. Woods was married to Miss Hannah Ewing, a daughter of William Ewing, of Allegheny County, and they have had eight children, namely: William, residing on a farm in Cecil Town- ship, who married Kate Gerhing; Ralph, a physician, who died at Pittsburg, June 23, 1909, leaving a widow, formerly Mary, a daughter of Dr. Botkin, of Ingram, Allegheny County; Della E., who resides at home; Fannie, who died August 31, 1889; Harry E., who mar- ried Elma Burns, of Washington, Pa., (is attending a theological seminary at Allegheny) ; Howard L., an engi- neer for the Pittsburg Railway Company, who married Clara Dawson, of Ingram; and Clyde and Earl, both re- siding at home. Mr. and Mrs. Woods are members of the Presbyterian Church at McDonald. In politics he is a Republican and is serving as a member of the Cecil Township school board.

JOHN VAN VOORHIS, a retired grocer of Monon- gahela City, Pa., was also identified with the agricultural interests of Carroll Township, for many years, and has been a lifelong resident of Washington County, Pa. He was born September 6, 1835, on the old Van Voorhis farm in Carroll Township, and is a son of Abraham and Jane (Phillips) Van Voorhis, and a grandson of Daniel Van Voorhis, who was one of the founders of the Van Voorhis family in this country.

Daniel Van Voorhis, grandfather of subject, was a sea captain for many years, and at a very early period came to America from Holland with two brothers. He first located for a time on Long Island, and in 1785 came to Pennsylvania and settled on land on Pigeon Creek, Car- roll Township, then in Fayette County. Here he spent the remainder of his life, clearing the land, which he placed under cultivation. He was first married to Sarah Brett, widow of Francis Brett, after whose death he married Mary Newton, the grandmother of our subject. His third wife was Nancy Myers. Abraham Van Voorhis was born on Long Island and in 1785 came with his parents to Washington County, where he spent his entire life, passing away at the age of eighty-six years. He was first united in marriage with Ann Watkins, who was

born at Monongahela City, and died in November, 1828. Of their union were born: Garrett T., Joseph R. and Mary, all deceased. His second wife, and mother of our subject, was Jane Phillips, a native of Westmoreland County, Pa., who lived to the advanced age of eighty- four years. Of this union were born: Eliza, deceased ; Lucinda, deceased; John, the subject of this sketch; Emmeline; Caroline; Cintha; Ceraunia, deceased; and Cynthia.

John Van Voorhis was reared on the home farm in Carroll Township and obtained his educational training in the old Stone school of that district. He subsequently engaged in farming on the home farm until 1886, when he came to Monongahela, where he embarked in the gro- cery business, in which he continued for a period of six years, since which time he has been living in retirement at No. 514 Main street. Mr. Van Voorhis owns a fine farm of 240 acres in Carroll Township, and also owns considerable real estate in Monongahela City. He is a Republican in politics, and has served as a member of the township school board. He holds membership with the Presbyterian Church.

On September 15, 1859, Mr. Van Voorhis was united in marriage with Isophene H. Teeple, who was reared in Monongahela City, and died April 13, 1904. Of their union were born the following children: Charles E., who operates his father's farm, married Sallie McConnell and has six children-Glen, Hazel, Lula, Francis, Gladys and Walter; Louisa, who is the widow of Simon Lilley, is the mother of three children, Charles, William, de- ceased, and Walter; Carry, who married Walter Blayney ; Ceraunia Ann, who died aged twenty-eight years; Will- iam, and Eva, who died aged twenty-three years. On August 1, 1906, Mr. Van Voorhis married Mary B. Grooms, who is a daughter of Dr. James Grooms.

WILBUR SAMUEL JACKMAN, deceased. There were men reared in Washington County environment, whose life activity took them to other fields where their achievements were so luminous as to cast a light pene- trating back to the realm of early associates; upon these careers and characters the county looks with pardonable pride. Numbered among them is the one whose name heads this sketch, a man who arose to the highest rank as an educator and scientist and whose strong personality left an imprint upon the characters of those with whom he came in contact. The early life of this well-remem- bered man is best portrayed in the words of his relict, Mrs. Ellen Reis Jackman. To quote:

"Wilbur Samuel Jackman was born at Mechanicstown, Ohio, on January 12, 1855. Two years later, his father and mother moved from there to Pennsylvania, and set- tled at California, a small town on the Monongahela River, fifty miles from Pittsburg. Here, later, Mr. Jack-

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

man attended a small private school for a year. When he was about seven years old his parents bought the an- cestral farm of his father, two and a half miles from the town and here Mr. Jackman lived through all the years of his young manhood.

To the little town boy this old farm with its hills, woods and bottom land, through which trickled a little brook, was a new and wonderful world. The stone house, then nearly half a century old, his father's father had helped to build when he was a boy. The spring house, through which ran a spring of cold sparkling water, and the spring itself flowing steadily, summer and winter, into a hollowed out block of stone, were all most interest- ing to him.

For a number of years Mr. Jackman went across the fields to a country school on the hill, about a mile from his home. In the morning and at the close of the day he assisted his father and mother in the farm work. Going for the cows, riding the horses to water at the brook, and later, as he grew older, plowing in the spring time, were all delightful occupations to him, and in later life were recalled with joy.

When Mr. Jackman had learned to ride a horse well he was sent to the State Normal School at California, and for years, through rain and snow and heat and cold he rode back and forth each day. With his farm duties he had little time for study and he said that most of his preparation for college was done while on horseback.

The farm continued to be an experimental field and a work shop for him. One duty of his boyhood was partic- ularly distasteful to him, that of churning; so after much study and hard work, he succeeded in making the stream of water at the spring turn a wheel and do his work for him. He piped the water to the front lawn and there made a fountain. Above the house at the source of an underground spring, he planned and assist- ed in digging a pond, cemented it and kept fish in it for years, piping the water to the house for family use.

Mr. Jackman always had a keen interest in and love. for the things of nature. He knew all the birds and flowers about the farm and on the long Sunday after- noon walks which it was his custom to take with his father, he learned thoroughly his little world."

The manner of man he was and something of the great work Mr. Jackman accomplished is revealed in an article written by Mr. Orville T. Bright, for many years super- intendent of Cook County (III.) schools, an intimate friend of long standing :

"Rarely has the educational world been so startled as on Monday morning, January 28, 1907, when withuot warning of any kind came the news that Wilbur S. Jack- man was dead. He had been actively engaged in his work during the preceding week, and on Saturday even-

ing was at a social gathering with the students of the School of Education until late in the evening. He seemed to rest well Saturday night, but early Sunday morning symptoms of the dread disease, pneumonia, began to show themselves, although it was late in the afternoon before his physician realized the serious condition Mr. Jackman was in. Even on Monday morning, Mrs. Jack- man could not believe there was any serious danger, but at 8 o'clock, almost without warning and without strug- gle, his life slipped away. A private funeral service was held on Tuesday afternoon at the home, and a public memorial service, on Wednesday morning in Mandel Hall, which was crowded to the utmost with members of the faculty and students. The body was taken to his boy- hood home in Pennsylvania for burial. I have heard him wish that he might die 'in the harness,' and this wish was literally filled."

He was graduated from the normal school at about twenty years of age, and afterward taught there ont year. After this year's experience, Mr. Jackman went to Meadville College for three years, and then to Har- vard for two years, being graduated in 1884 in the gen- eral course. On his way home after graduation he stopped at Pittsburg at the time that Superintendent Luckey had charge of the schools, and before leaving the city had engaged to teach natural science in the high school. He remained in the position for five years, and during that time had worked out a plan for nature- study in the elementary schools. Here Col. Parker found him in 1889.

While he was in the high school at Pittsburg, it was the custom of the principal to place thirty or forty young people in charge of each teacher for such personal services as could be rendered from the friendship stand- point. Mr. Jackman asked that the group assigned to him might remain with him for the entire four years. The result was remarkable in the strength of character developed among the students through this personal asso- ciation. As men and women, these students refer to it today as the strongest and best influence of their lives. I have read some of the letters written by these men and women to Mrs. Jackman since Mr. Jackman's death. The heartfelt acknowledgements of their great debt of gratitude to their old teacher were most affecting, and this gratitude seems only to have strengthened with the years that have passed. They seem to realize fully that it was the wonderful character of the man, more even than what he taught, that had so powerfully influenced their lives. We are glad indeed that Mr. Jackman him- self knew of this sentiment of his old pupils.

Mr. Jackman came to Chicago in the fall of 1889. Never shall I forget the elation with which Col. Parker introduced Mr. Jackman and Dr. Giffin to the first gath- ering of parents at the school that fall. For years he

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had been in search of a teacher of natural science who could bring these subjects into rational touch with young lives. As soon as he saw Mr. Jackman at work at Pitts- burg, he determined to have him at the Cook County Normal School. That he made no mistake in this selec- tion I need not say to any teacher or pupil who was in the normal school from that time on.

As everybody knows who remembers the Cook County Normal School, the support of the school was very pre- carious, and its equipment wretchedly inadequate; but Mr. Jackman went at his work with remarkable enthu- siasm and courage. No obstacles could daunt him. He took entire charge of the science, including chemistry, and within the next five years had, somehow or other, got into the school a very adequate apparatus, all of which could be, and was, constantly in use. His classes in elementary science, especially in nature studies, were wonderfully successful, and became celebrated through- out the country.

As a teacher, Mr. Jackman was an enthusiast, but a very quiet one. There was no bluster about anything that he ever did. He was a genuine inspiration to his classes, always insisting upon close attention and earnest- ness on the part of pupils; but at the same time he brought into his work so much of the charm of his per- sonality and the rare sweetness of his disposition as to make these recitation periods the best of the day to all

concerned in them. Every one of Mr. Jackman's reci- tations was a model of its kind. His preparation was ample, and every lesson showed the result of fresh study and thought. Many, many times have I enjoyed his class work, and never have I seen any but clean-cut and effective teaching. His students were responsive-they could not be otherwise. Brightness and effectiveness . were the rule of the hour, and this was always so.

Mr. Jackman was a thorough student, but not for the sake of hoarding knowledge. Aside from his love for study, there was always with him the hope that the knowledge acquired might be of service to his pupils. I have never known a teacher, unless it was Col. Parker' himself, who seemed so completely to fill a recitation, and yet how to bring out the best results possible from every student present, and make every student feel him- self to be a useful factor in the recitation through what he contributed to it. It seems to me that this is great teaching, and I believe that hundreds and thousands of Mr. Jackman's students would subscribe to the same sen- timent.

When Col. Parker resigned his position at the Chicago Normal School to organize and take charge of the Insti- tute of Education founded by Mrs. Emmons Blaine, Mr. Jackman, as well as several other members of the faculty, went with him. The north side school could not begin operations for a year, and through the generosity of

Mrs. Blaine several members of the faculty, including Mr. Jackman, were sent abroad for one year's study and travel. Later on this school was merged with the Uni- versity of Chicago. For about a year and a half before his death, Col. Parker was at the head of the School of Education as it was afterward called at the university. The work was carried on in the temporary building pro- vided for that purpose, pending the completion of the present beautiful building on the Midway. Two and one- half years ago Mr. Jackman was appointed dean of the School of Education, and took complete charge of the ele- mentary school. His work was arduous and sometimes seemed almost beyond his strength, but from the time he took the helm the school prospered beyond any previous record. President Harper expressed the greatest pleasure in the success of Mr. Jackman's work. This success became more marked each year until the school was crowded to the limit. During the present year from seventy-five to one hundred have been on the waiting list all the time. As may be imagined, Mr. Jackman felt greatly elated over his success, and his plans and hopes for the future seemed almost boundless. He said recent- ly: "If I can have just five years, I will show what this school can become."

Mr. Jackman was prodigal of his strength. He was a strong man, but the pace was too fast. He seemed never to rest. The School of Education was quite enough, but he edited the Elementary School Teacher, be- sides responding to constant calls for educational ad- dresses and other literary work for the cause at large. He was a forcible and convincing speaker and writer. It is doubtful whether any other man in the country has done so much for the cause of rational nature-study and elementary science as Wilbur S. Jackman. He was also intensely interested in all sorts of hand-work available for elementary schools. The School of Education is more noted for these two lines of work than for any other, but only because it is so uncommon to find them effectively carried out. These two departments of edu- cation can ill afford the loss of so devoted and enthu- siastic an advocate as Mr. Jackman. But the work he has done in them and for them will go on because he did this work so well.

Mr. Jackman believed in Col. Parker heart and soul- rarely have I known a man to love and honor another so much. He generously acknowledged the great influ- ence of Col. Parker over his own aims and attitude toward educational work. To my mind the strongest proof of the correctness of Col. Parker's educational principles was Wilbur S. Jackman himself, who studied and worked in them eighteen years, and never faltered in his faith.

It was my rare good fortune to know Mr. Jackman intimately during all the years he lived in Chicago, and

AUGUST VALENTOUR

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to feel the full grasp of his friendship; and never a cloud has cast a shadow over this friendship. He never left a doubt in the minds of those whom he loved and trusted and honored. One can have very few of such friends, because men of his pattern are not plentiful. He was a great teacher, but more than that-he was a noble, generous, loving man. His character was rugged and at need inflexible, but he was gentle as a woman and as full of fun as a boy. Perhaps his early Quaker train- ing had to do with the wonderful evenness and sweet- ness of his disposition, his grandfather having been a Quaker preacher; but there never was a suggestion of weakness in this disposition. His decisions were remark- able for their quickness and correctness. It goes without saying that he was a great favorite with the faculty of the university, and that he was greatly beloved by all the students in the School of Education.

And we who know him best, how we loved him! His friendship was so pure and so beautiful. Of the old Cook County Normal School coterie, those who stood by in its trials and rejoiced in its triumphs, Col. Parker, Albert Lane and Wilbur S. Jackman have passed on. What a wonderful record they have left of all that is noblest and best in this world! Compared with such lives, how paltry and pitiful seems the mere scramble for dollars! Each of these men has gone just at the hight of his usefulness, and when it seemed that he could not possibly be spared. Together with the death of President Harper in the prime of his manhood, does it not all give us pause for thought? We must wonder if it would have made a difference if they could have found time for rest and for play-if they could have known how to rest and play.

But their lives and their work were noble and grand and beautiful. Perhaps they will seem only the more so that they were cut short in the full strength of man- hood.

AUGUST VALENTOUR, owner and proprietor of the Bazaar Store, located in his building, at McDonald, is well acquainted with and needs no introduction to the thousands of French-speaking people of this and other French settlements of western Pennsylvania.

He was born in Belgium, January 24, 1860, and is the youngest child of Florent and Ferdenande (Quinet) Val- entour. When four years old his parents moved to France. He attended public school until the age of ten, then worked in a glass house until the fall of 1871, when in company with his brothers, Victor, Joseph and Oliver, aged respectively 25, 23, and 20 years, came to Pittsburg, where August began his own independent and eventful career by working in the various glass houses then flour- ishing in Pittsburg. In the fall of 1874 he joined his brothers, Victor and Joseph, who had settled at Midway,

Allegheny County, and there worked two years in the mines. Then in the spring of 1876, in company with his parents, who had lately arrived, he moved on a farm in Fayette County and engaged in the timber business (which business his father had followed all his life), shipping staves to Belgium.

It was then that August, appreciating the necessity of an English education, applied himself relentlessly during the spare moments after the day's labor, with the sole assistance of a small dictionary, towards mastering the English language sufficiently to be able to cope with the additional duty devolved upon him through this business.

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History of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens 20th century, Part 203

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1474

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1474