Indiana County, Pennsylvania; her people, past and present, Volume II, Part 77

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 884

USA > Pennsylvania > Indiana County > Indiana County, Pennsylvania; her people, past and present, Volume II > Part 77

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Democratic party but not associating himself with any of its activities. However, he has been a leading member and worker of the Hopewell M. E. Church, at present serving as trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school.

Richard B. Clawson, eldest son of Benjamin and Mary Clawson, was born Dec. 15, 1811. What education he received was obtained iu the subscription schools then conducted, but for only a few months in the year. He grew On Oct. 12, 1897, Mr. Clawson was united in marriage with Caroline Ferguson, a native of Blacklick township, daughter of Elliott and Hulda (Clawson) Ferguson. They have had one child, Anna Mary, born July 16. 1898, who graduated from the township school to manhood in the township of his birth, and like his father made farming his occupation, his industrious and frugal habits enabling him to add to his possessions until he was one of the largest land owners in this part of the county, having upward of a thousand in 1912, and is now attending high school at

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HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Blairsville. Mrs. Clawson is also a member ing the next three years there. Then he of the Hopewell M. E. Church. She is noted married and settled on the Sutton farm, a in the neighborhood for her generous disposi- tion and whole-souled nature, her good deeds and kindliness making her generally beloved. Besides looking after her own family she cares for two children of her deceased sister.

GERE CLAWSON, younger brother of Ben- jamin Clawson, was born July 31, 1847, on the Clawson homestead, and received a public school education. He worked with his father until he reached manhood, and when he com- menced farming on his own account settled on a 300-acre tract near Hopewell Church. Though he died in his early prime, Nov. 22, 1885, he had made remarkable progress and was a prosperous farmer and stock raiser. Besides the place already mentioned, he owned a place of 150 acres on Steward's run, known as the Sutton farm, which he bought, and which is now owned and operated by his son Boyd. Mr. Clawson is interred in Hope- well cemetery. He took no part in politics, though an interested member of the Demo- cratic party, but he was an earnest member of the Hopewell M. E. Church and a leader in all its activities, serving as class leader and steward. He was a man of the highest moral character and strict integrity, temperate in all his habits, and noted for his fidelity to every obligation. He married Feb. 26, 1874, at Livermore, Pa., Margaret Ellen Long, daughter of Jesse M. and Sarah (Smith) Long, and they became the parents of six children, namely: Boyd is mentioned below ; Benjamin Milton, born Nov. 14, 1876, is a farmer of Blacklick township; Jesse Knox, born Jan. 10, 1879, is a farmer in Blacklick township; George, born March 3, 1881, is a farmer in that township; Cynthia Augusta, born Nov. 4, 1882, married Wesley Cover; Rachel, born Aug. 14, 1884, is the wife of David Creamer. After the death of Mr. Clawson his widow married Charles Creamer, son of Thompson Creamer, and by that mar- riage had four children, born as follows: Zera, Nov. 13, 1890; William Kebler, Feb. 5, 1892; Sarah Ann, April 16, 1894 ; Mabel, Nov. 5, 1895.

BOYD CLAWSON, son of Gere and Margaret Ellen (Long) Clawson, was born on the home- stead Dec. 3, 1874, and attended public school in the home locality. When his father died he was but eleven years old, and he continued to live on the farm with his mother until he reached the age of seventeen, when he went to the home of his uncle Benjamin Clawson, on Steward's run in Blacklick township, pass-

tract of 150 acres which his father had bought, and there he has had his home for the last eighteen years. In addition to general farm- ing he has engaged in stock raising to some extent, and since 1904 has been extensively interested in dairying, shipping his milk to Pittsburg. He built a silo and has other modern arrangements for giving his stock proper care, having a fine herd of Holsteins which have proved very profitable. Mr. Clawson is up to date in his work, as the successful dairyman of today must be, and his thrift and careful business methods are apparent in every detail of his surroundings. He is a good citizen, interesting himself in the general welfare, has served his township as school director for five years, and is a valued member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he has served as trustee for fifteen years. In politics he is a Republican, at present favoring Progressive principles.

On Dec. 20, 1894, Mr. Clawson married Mary Alice Fritz, a native of Blacklick town- ship, daughter of Conrad Fritz, and they have had two children, Blair Fritz and Willis Gere. Mrs. Clawson is a woman of high ac- complishments, a talented musician and suc- cessful music teacher.

JAMES ELDER LOSE, one of the thrift- iest and most respected citizens of Burrell township, Indiana county, was born there Nov. 24, 1851, son of George and Margaret (Elder) Lose, and grandson of Jacob Lose, a native of Germany who came to America when a young man. He lived for a time in what is now Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland Co., Pa., but died in the prime of manhood. By his wife Mary (Graff), born Sept. 1, 1775, daughter of John and Barbara (Baum) Graff, he had the following children: Jacob, John, Levi, Elizabeth (married John Reed, of Mount Pleasant) and George.

George Lose, son of Jacob and Mary (Graff) Lose, was born at Mount Pleasant, Pa., and was but ten years old when his father died. He was first employed by his uncle, John Graff, who was in the mercantile business at Blairsville, and later operated boats on the Pennsylvania canal, acting as superintendent of boats run by the Graff fam- ily. In 1853 he located in Burrell township. Indiana county, where he bought a tract of 168 acres (now owned by Clark Dunlap) and settled down to farming, also engaging ex- tensively in stock raising. He built a com-

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fortable house on that place and made many wife of Ernest Shoemaker. (2) Robert other improvements there during his owner- Graham studied at the State normal school ship. By his first wife, Margaret (Armel), at Indiana and later at Pennsylvania State College, took up civil engineering, and is now professor of civil engineering at the Carnegie Institute. He married Elizabeth Montgomery. (3) Covode died when four years old. Mr. Lose had two children, Elizabeth, who married Thomas Hammer, and Christopher, who died of fever while serving as a Union soldier in the Civil war. His second mar- riage was to Margaret Elder, daughter of Rob- ert Elder, and they had six children : Charles A., who resides in Pueblo, Colo .; James Elder ; Mary, who married Milton J. Osborne and re- sides in Lathrop, Pa .; Emma, married to Prestey Douglass; George ; and Anna M., wife of Clark Dunlap, an account of whose family appears elsewhere. The mother of this fam- ily died June 30, 1906, and she and her hus- band are interred in the Blairsville cemetery. Mr. Lose died Sept. 25, 1894. He was a mem- ber and official of the M. E. Church, and on political questions was a Republican.

James Elder Lose attended the district school near his early home, obtaining a good practical education. At the age of twenty- three years he went West, prospecting through Iowa and Kansas. Upon his return to Bur- rell township he bought the Lincoln Taylor farm of 130 acres, upon which he erected a large barn and house, and here he has since lived and worked, having one of the best kept farm properties in the township. The farm is situated on Blacklick creek. Mr. Lose is progressive and enterprising in all that he undertakes, and his home and surroundings show that he keeps up to date in his work. Besides attending to his farm he has dealt considerably in real estate, and he has cleared considerable land-most all his farm. He has taken part in various local activities, be- ing one of the most valued members of Hope- well M. E. Church, which he serves as trustee, steward and superintendent of the Sunday school, having all his life taken a strong in- terest in church work. He has served his fellow citizens as member of the board of school directors and supervisor, doing efficient work in both capacities, and in political opinion is a Progressive Republican. His publie spirit and readiness to aid any good cause entitle him to a position among the useful members of his community.

On June 28. 1881, Mr. Lose married Sarah C. Graham, daughter of Robert M. and Susan (Covode) Graham, of Westmoreland county, Pa .. and they have had three children, namely: (1) Emma attended the State normal school at Indiana and later took a course at Allegheny State Hospital, training for the profession of nurse; she is now the

JOSEPH LINCOLN CAMPBELL, farmer and stock raiser of Armstrong township, is a native of that township and member of a family which has been settled there since the time of his grandfather, James Campbell, who was born in County Antrim, Ireland. He was a young man of twenty-three when he settled in Armstrong township, where he had a patent for 230 acres of land, now owned by Mr. Fouts and James Campbell, brother of Joseph Lincolu Campbell. There he followed farming the rest of his life. He married Margaret Craig, and they are buried in the cemetery of the West Union United Presby- terian Church, of which they were members.

William Campbell, son of James and Mar- garet (Craig) Campbell, was born May 25, 1831, in Armstrong township, and there re- ceived his education in the common schools. In his earlier years he farmed with his par- ents. In 1880 he bought the Anderson farm of 100 acres, now the property of his son Joseph, in Armstrong township, put up a house and other buildings on that tract in 1885, and then settled there, following farm- ing to the end of his days. He was an en- ergetic and progressive man, and had high standards for his work. as the fine residence and barn he built, and the condition in which he kept his property, indicated. He followed farming and also made a specialty of stock raising, prospered by intelligent attention to his work, and he was prominent in all local affairs, in the administration of public mat- ters in his township and in the welfare of his church. In political association he was a Republican and prominent in the party, and he held a number of offices, serving as school director, supervisor of roads, overseer of the poor, and township auditor. He was prac- tically a lifelong member of the West Union United Presbyterian Church, which he served as trustee, and he and his wife are buried in the cemetery of that church. She was Mar- garet Patterson, born Oct. 4. 1836, daughter of Joseph and Margaret (McColum) Patter- son, of Armstrong township, and they had children as follows : James, who married Elizabeth Anthony, resides on part of the tract where his grandfather settled; Agnes

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died at the age of thirty-six years, unmar- (Ray) Anderson, and died April 19, 1911. ried; Joseph Lincoln is mentioned below; Their children were born as follows: Wil- Mae married Albert Flemming, and they live liam Winfield, Sept. 20, 1876 (died March 5, in the borough of Indiana; twins died un- named. The father of this family died at the age of seventy-six years, Sept. 29, 1907, the mother at the age of seventy-two, Nov. 3, 1909.

Joseph Lincoln Campbell was born Feb. 12, 1865, and obtained his education in the public schools of the home locality in Arm- strong township. He was trained to farming from boyhood, and worked with his father at that occupation until the latter's death. Since 1885 he has lived at his present home, having moved to the place with his father after they erected the substantial residence there, and after his father's death he took charge of the property, which now belongs to him. He also owns the coal underlying this tract. Mr. Campbell is engaged in general farming and stock raising, raising fine horses and sheep, and he has followed in his father's footsteps in adopting up-to-date methods and ideas in the performance of his work, in which he has had excellent results. He has not taken any particularly active interest in the public af- fairs of his township, but he has been asso- ciated with the Republican party on political questions. He is a prominent member of the West Union United Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a trustee for six years.

On June 1, 1911, Mr. Campbell married Bessie B. Craig, daughter of George A. and Mary J. (Anderson) Craig. Mrs. Campbell attended select school at Parkwood and later was a pupil at the Indiana State normal school, and before her marriage was engaged in teaching in White and Armstrong town- ships, this county.

1897); Pearl John, May 18, 1878 (married Annie Shirey Dec. 30, 1903, and resides in Leechburg, Armstrong Co., Pa.) ; Carrie M., July 12, 1880 (died June 11, 1881) ; Bessie B., July 21, 1882 (Mrs. Joseph Lincoln Camp- bell) ; twins (died in infancy) ; Taylor W., Sept. 24, 1884 (farmer in Armstrong town- ship) ; Roy, 1888 (died same year).

WILLIAM GRIFFITH, now living retired in Pine township, Indiana county, is one of the best known citizens of his vicinity, having held the office of justice of the peace for thirty-five years continuously. During that time he was also connected with the township school board for over twenty years, and his services in both capacities were highly ap- preciated by his fellow citizens.

Mr. Griffith was born in Green (now Pine) township, this county, March 13, 1836, son of John and Margaret (Gibson) Griffith and grandson of Isaac Griffith, who came to In- diana county in the very early days of its development. The Griffith family is of Welsh origin, the founder of the branch in which we are interested coming from Wales to Amer- ica in 1745 and first settling in Maryland, where the family was established for some time before coming west to Indiana county, Pa. Isaac Griffith settled in Brushvalley township, where he bought land and farmed the remainder of his life. By trade he was a miller, and he had a mill on Yellow creek, in Brushvalley township. His later years were devoted entirely to farming. His fam- ily consisted of three sons and three daugh- ters.

John Craig, Mrs. Campbell's great-grand- John Griffith, father of William Griffith, born in Brushvalley township, there grew to manhood. He learned the trade of mason, and also engaged in farming. In 1841 he came to Green (now Pine) township, where he bought the farm upon which he lived until his death. He married Margaret Gibson, who was born in the western part of Indiana county, and was of Scotch-Irish lineage, her father being Charles Gibson, an early settler of the county, who located in what was known as the Manor settlement, remaining there un- til his death; he was a millwright by trade. Mr. and Mrs. John Griffith had these chil- father, came to this country from Ireland. His son John, her grandfather, married Martha P. Wolf. Their son, George A. Graig, born July 30, 1853, in Madison township, Armstrong county, Pa., died April 5, 1890. By trade he was a blacksmith. After living at various places in Armstrong county, Pa., Red Bank, Kellersburg, and South Bend, he settled in 1882 in Armstrong township, Indi- ana county, where he bought the John R. Craig farm of ninety-one acres, upon which he lived until his death. He farmed, dealt in stock and followed his trade. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church. dren: William; Isaac, living in Indiana; a On Dec. 22, 1875, he married Mary J. Ander- son, who was born Feb. 16, 1852, at Park- wood, daughter of William and Catharine

daughter that died in infancy; Rachel, who married William Stephens; and Charles, on the home place in Pine township.

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William Griffith spent his early days in States after the death of her husband, living Green township. He obtained a good educa- with her sons in Chicago, Ill .; and Marks, tion, in his youth attending the public schools who remained in Germany. The grandfather, Isaac Rose, was a lumber dealer. and the academy at Pineflats, and he subse- quently taught school in Pine township for three terms. Later he worked on the farm with his father, and he continued to follow farming in Pine township throughout his active years, in 1900 retiring from agricul- tural work. In 1872 he was elected justice of the peace, and he continued to hold that of- fice for seven successive terms, by reelection, retiring at the end of thirty-five years' serv- ice. Meantime he became connected with the board of school directors of Pine township, serving over twenty years as member of that body, and he was secretary of the board for many years. He won the highest respect of his fellow citizens in the township by his faithful discharge of the duties of both offices, which he administered with intelligence and in a most public-spirited manner.

In 1870 Mr. Griffith was married to Mary Ann Stephens, a native of Green township, daughter of Alexander and Jane (Dun- woodie) Stephens, the former of whom was born in Cherryhill township, this county, and was a farmer from early life; his father was a native of Pennsylvania and an early set- tler in Pine township; Mrs. Stephens's father was a native of Ireland and an early settler in Indiana county. Mrs. Griffith was one of a family of five children. Her father remar- ried after her mother's death, and had three children by that union. Of his eight children three are now living: Mrs. Griffith, Mrs. Elizabeth Coy (of Indiana county) and Wil- liam Stephens (half-brother of Mrs. Griffith).

Mr. and Mrs. Griffith are members of the Presbyterian Church at Nebo, Green towu- ship. Politically he is a Democrat.

Benjamin Rose was born in Germany in 1833, and was married there to Rachel Weins- lein, a native of Poland, born in 1844. Mr. Rose was a grain dealer in his native land. In 1877 he came to the United States, settling in Blair county, Pa., where he engaged in cattle dealing and droving. In 1881 he re- turned to Germany, where he dealt in grain and flax, and he returned to America in 1905, locating at Altoona, Pa., where his death occurred in 1909. He and his wife had a family of seven children, namely: George. who came to the United States and died in Chicago, Ill. (he was a commission man) ; Wolfe; Jacob, a prominent merchant of Clearfield county, Pa .; Samuel W .; Minnie, Mrs. Nathan Dates, who died in Altoona ; Jennie, Mrs. Jacob Soltz, of Acton, Ontario; and Celia, Mrs. Jacob Isaacson, of Altoona.

Samuel W. Rose attended school in Ger- many until he was fifteen years old. At that time he came to the United States with his sister Jennie, sailing from Bremen to Balti- more on the steamship "Carlsruhe," and they joined their brother Jacob at Pittsburg. Mr. Rose was a poor boy when he arrived here, and for the next four years he followed various occupations, working in a wholesale grocery, in a clothing store, in a department store-in faet at anything he could find to do. His first wages were but $1.75 per week. and when he made a change he received $2 a week, advancing but slowly at first. In 1893 he went to Chicago, where he worked at different kinds of employment until the World's Fair was over. From there he went to Billings, Mont .. where he remained six weeks, then went to Butte and Anaconda. that State, engaging in the restaurant busi- ness in the latter place. While at Anaconda he enlisted for service in the Spanishi- American war, but the local quota had been filled, so he was rejected. as he did not want to be transferred from the home company. After selling his restaurant he went to Wal- lace, Idaho, where he was cook in a restau- rant, and thence to Spokane, Wash., where he was similarly engaged, receiving $5 per day. He had been there but a short time when the Klondike boom came on, and he sailed for Sitka, Alaska, arriving at Dawson after a journey full of hardships. He secured a restaurant privilege there in a large gambling

SAMUEL W. ROSE, senior member of the firm of S. W. Rose & Co., who have conducted the Bon Ton department store in Indiana borough since 1908, was the first merchant there to make a specialty of women's wear, and the success of his establishment shows that his judgment was correct. He has built up an excellent trade. Mr. Rose is a native of Germany, born April 2, 1876, in Gunzen- hansen, Bavaria, son of Benjamin Rose and grandson of Isaac and Emma Rose, whose children were: Ira, who came to the United States and located in Milwaukee, Wis., where he became a prominent merchant and died; Benjamin, mentioned below; Emma, who was married in Germany and came to the United house, and continued in the business for four-

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teen months. From there he went to Seattle, Wash., thence to Chicago and Pittsburg, ex- pecting to find his brother and sister. They had moved, however, his brother to Canada, his sister to Altoona, Pa. Accordingly he went on to Altoona, and soon afterward em- barked in the mercantile business at Aslıville, Cambria Co., Pa., being backed by a friend in Altoona. During the five years he re- mained at Ashville he was very successful, and meantime he had opened a branch store at Coalport, Indiana county. Disposing of his Ashville store at the end of the five years he moved to Coalport, where he continued his store for another year, selling out and remov- ing to Indiana in April, 1908. He has since owned and conducted the Bon Ton, dealing in women's ready-to-wear garments, millinery, women's furnishings, etc. He has com- modious quarters in what is known as the Elks' building, on Philadelphia street, a three-story modern brick with 28 feet front, and his trade is still growing. Mr. Rose has become a specialist in the line of women's wear, and not only understands his customers but has studied the art of pleasing them until he has acquired excellent judgment in the selection of stock. His was the first one-price store of its kind in Indiana. Though he has been a resident of that borough a compara- tively brief length of time he has succeeded in winning the confidence of his fellow citizens and making a solid place for himself among his business associates. He is practically the "father" of what is now the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, an outgrowth of the Indiana Merchants' Association, formed to offset the green trading stamp evil. It was victorious after a nine months' battle and with an ex- penditure of nearly $20,000. The name was changed to the Indiana Chamber of Com- merce in June, 1912. The organization counts among its membership fifty of the best known business men of Indiana county, and it is the firm belief of Mr. Rose that the number will be doubled in the near future. He is recog- nized as one of the progressive business men of the borough, willing to do his share in the advancement of local interests of all kinds. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and socially he belongs to the B. P. O. E. and I. O. O. F. lodges in Indiana.

On Feb. 2, 1907, Mr. Rose was married in Altoona to Emma Bergman, of that place, daughter of Isaac and Rosalie Bergman. They have one child, Bernard Irving.

JOHN J. WILLIAMS, a farmer of Pine township, Indiana county, where he has also served as a public official, belongs to an old family of this section, being a son of William M. Williams, grandson of William R. Wil- liams and great-grandson of Richard W. Williams. The family is of Welsh origin.

Richard W. Williams was born in 1796 on the island of Angelsea, Wales, and came to the United States in 1832, first settling in Madison county, N. Y. He then moved to Pittsburg, Pa., living in Allegheny county for six years, and thence, in 1845, came to Indiana county, settling in Green township, on the place where his grandson William M. Williams lived until his recent death. There he remained until his death, in 1876, in his eighty-first year. He was one of the men in- terested in the establishment of a Welsh Church and Sunday school in the vicinity. By his first wife, Jane (Davis), he had a fam- ily of seven children, all born in Wales, and all of whom came to this country, viz .: Wil- liam R., Owen D., Benjamin and Catherine, Rowland, John and Richard. For his second wife he married Sarah James, of Pittsburg, a native of Wales, who died in Green town- ship, Indiana Co., Pa. They had no children.

William R. Williams, son of Richard W. and Jane (Davis) Williams, was born in Wales, and was quite young when brought to this country. He came with his father to Indiana county, and continued to live here until his death, which occurred Jan. 16, 1905. His wife, Elizabeth Morris, also a native of Wales, was but a child when she came to America with her parents, Robert and Mary Morris. Robert Morris was a native of North Wales. Upon his arrival in this country he first settled in Madison county, N. Y., later, in 1840, settling in Indiana county, Pa., where he made his home in Green township, conducting a sawmill for some time and sub- sequently devoting himself to farming, which he carried on the rest of his life. His family consisted of seven children. Mrs. Elizabeth (Morris) Williams died March 19, 1903. She was the mother of nine children, the eldest dying in infancy; William M. is mentioned below; Robert is deceased (he was in the Union service throughout the Civil war, serv- ing in Company A, 67th P. V. I., and was confined in Libby prison and at Anderson- ville) ; Jane became the wife of Thomas Wal- ter, of Venango county, Pa., and both are deceased; Mary, deceased, was the wife of Henry Kelly, of Pineflats, this county, who survives; Richard died when fourteen years

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Indiana County, Pennsylvania; her people, past and present, Volume II, Part 77

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 884

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 884