Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 118

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II > Part 118

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While at Adrian Mr. Reid gained most valu- able experience under the direction of a spe- cially able and successful mine superintend- ent, A. W. Callaway, who gave to him most effective advice and information. Labor troubles have been the most formidable ob- stacle to mining operations in Pennsylvania, and to avoid such difficulties Mr. Reid con- ceived the loyal and benignant plan of taking the miners into his confidence and of assuring them that their wages would be as liberal as the business of the company permitted. Thus it has come about that whenever a wage-scale period has terminated in connection with the operations of the Stewart Coal Company the employes have not had to wait for the signing of a new scale, but have continued loyally at work, knowing that a just scale would be adopted and that they would receive in full their pay from the date of the lapse of the old scale. This considerate and liberal treat- ment of its employes has gained for the Stew- art Coal Company the confidence and esteem of its men, who have given faithful coopera- tion. Mr. Reid won his own way from a place as an ordinary workman in the mines, and he thus has full sympathy with the men who are so employed.

For twenty years Mr. Reid has utilized his distinctive musical talent by active service in church choirs, both he and his wife being members of the United Brethren Church at Knox Dale. In the Adrian lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows he passed the various official chairs, besides represent- ing that body at meetings of the grand lodge of the State. At Brookville he maintains affiliation with the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. In his boyhood Mr. Reid became a member of the Presbyterian Church, in whose faith he was reared, and he continued his affiliation with the same until his removal to Knox Dale, where he and his wife united with the United Brethren. He is a teacher of a class of young ladies in the Sunday school and active in all the other departments of church work.

At the age of twenty-three years Mr. Reid married Louisa Crawford, of Adrian, and they have three children: Mary is the wife of Ray Walfa, weigh boss at the Timblin mines of the Stewart Coal Company; David Dewey is a student in the Pennsylvania State Nor- mal School at Indiana ; William is attending public school at Knox Dale.

JOSEPHI BUZARD is one of the most extensive agriculturists in Eldred township, and has shown himself the possessor of versa- tile ability in the management of his various interests. Farming has always been his chief occupation, but the farmer of today finds him- self confronted with many problems not strictly those of soil cultivation, and in the development of his large property Mr. Buzard has proved equal to all the responsibilties in- volved, with the result that he is classed among the most progressive citizens of his township. His influence is ever exerted in behalf of those movements which look to the promotion of the general good, but only in his capacity as a private citizen, for he has refused con- sistently to take any direct part in the admin- istration of public affairs. Mr. Buzard was born March 17, 1857, on a tract of land adjoin- ing hiis present property, son of James and Mary E. ( Lawrence ) Buzard, the father of German extraction, the mother of Scotch descent.

James Buzard was born April 24, 1812, in .Armstrong county, Pa., and died April 14. 1882, ten days before the seventieth anniver- sary of his birth. Between 1837 and 1839 he located in Clarion county, Pa., removing thence about 1853-55 to Jefferson county and making a permanent settlement in Eldred township, upon the place where his son Joseph was born. Here he owned 146 acres, all of which was in the pine woods when it came into his possession, and during his lifetime seventy acres were brought under cultivation. He was active to the end of his days, and not only looked well after his own interests but also took part in the public affairs of the locality, serving as supervisor and in other township offices. His farm is now owned by strangers, and has undergone considerable change, the old buildings having made way for modern structures in keeping with the de- mands of the times. Mr. Buzard was a Demo- crat in politics and a zealous Methodist in re- ligious faith, belonging to the Roberts M. E. Chapel at Kahletown, near his home, which he helped to build, and in whose work he was ever active. He is buried there. His wife, born Nov. 21, 1816, in Indiana county, this State, died June 25. 1888. They had the fol- lowing children: John, who died at home at the age of twenty-seven years, as the result of a gunshot injury received during the Civil war, through which he served on the Union side : Reynolds Lawrence, who died in 1903 at Hollywood, Cal., in his day one of the

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most successful lumbermen in this section of the country; Isaac Henry, now a resident of Greenville, Clarion Co., Pa., who also served through the Civil war; Samuel, who died at the age of fifty-five years; Benjamin, who left this section in middle life and has not been heard from since; James, of Strattonville, Pa., a successful lumberman and farmer ; Mary Elizabeth, who married John Anthony, of Eldred township, and died when fifty-five years old; Rachel, who married John Miller, of Clarion, l'a. ; Joseph, mentioned below ; and Martha Jane, Mrs. Fisher, now a widow, living at Shippensville, Pennsylvania.

Joseph Buzard grew up at the home place and spent all his early life assisting with its improvement and cultivation. He remained there until his father died, and about ten years later bought 122 acres of the tract he now owns in Eldred township, adjoining the pater- nal farm. Later he made two other purchases of adjoining lands, 106 acres and sixty-six acres, respectively, having now nearly three hundred acres, situated four miles west of Sigel and ten miles northwest of Brookville borough. To put so large an acreage into the excellent condition of this property has in- volved plenty of work, and Mr. Buzard has spared neither labor nor pains to accomplish it. Ile has followed lumbering more or less all his life, and in addition to agricultural work has cut considerable timber. all of that on his own land, having a portable sawmill to facilitate these operations ; for seven years he also cut timber for others. It was no small undertaking to bring the soil to its present degree of fertility, especially when he had to haul limestone nine miles and coal three or four miles, and yet he has found it profitable to do so, having kept many kilns going and used hundreds of bushels of lime judiciously in the improvement of the soil. He has given the subject of fertilizing thorough study, and demonstrated its possibilities very satisfactorily on his own property. All the improvements on the place are the result of thought as well as effort, and well calculated to increase its value both in production and beauty. Five years ago Mr. Buzard lost his home, and replaced it with a substantial residence. He follows general farming, and has the satis- faction, after years of unremitting applica- tion, of knowing that his land will grow any- thing adapted to this climate. MIr. Buzard has had two gas wells drilled upon his farm, which produced well for a period of ten years and added very materially to his income. He has devoted all his time to business, caring

little for the honors of public position, though he is interested in securing good government.

On Feb. 27, 1879, Mr. Buzard married Margaret A. Lindsay, who was born like her husband on the 17th of March, in 1860. in Eldred township, daughter of John Lindsay. They have three surviving children, namely : William Lawrence married Julia Melchoir, and has three children, Cora Mont, William Fred- erick and Claire Minerva; he is a driller of gas wells. Mary Alice is the wife of T. C. Jackson, and they live on the home farm of her parents; their family consists of four chil- dren, Huldah Ruth, Dorothy Blanch, Margaret Rachel and Mary Elizabeth. Joseph Monroe, who lives at home, is like his brother engaged in drilling gas wells; he married Anna Reigh- ard. John Henry, another son, died at the age of twenty-four years. All of the family are associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and all are maintaining by honorable lives the prestige of a name which has gathered respect by the high standinge of its representa- tives in Jefferson county.

WILLIAM J. GILBERT, an old-time lum- berman, residing at Brookville in comparative retirement, and who still retains large landed interests in the county, came here some sixty years ago from Schuylkill county, where his father, Jonas Gilbert, was born and reared. The latter brought his family by team in 1855, and first located at Hazen, later buying land four miles from Brookville, in Eldred town- ship, where he cleared about seventy-five acres and spent the remainder of his life. He died when seventy-two years old, his wife Mary Hart surviving to the age of seventy- nine. Of their children: John died young ; Rebecca married Henry P. Beer ; William J. is next ; Mary married Joseph Lindsey : Jonas is deceased; Nathan died young ; Eli is living in Jefferson county; and Joel resides at Bloomsburg. Columbia county.

William J. Gilbert was born Sept. 30, 1840, near Ringtown, Schuylkill county, coming with the family to Jefferson county and aiding his father with the farm work until the age of twenty-two. He then engaged in agriculture in Eldred township, and was actively connected with lumbering for thirty years, acquiring con- siderable valuable property, of which he still owns a farm of 294 acres in Warsaw town- ship. Eleven years ago he came to Brook- ville, and aside from the oversight of his property he is now relieved from business cares, enjoying well earned leisure. He is a member of the Methodist Church and of E.

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R. Brady Post, G. A. R., being entitled to mem- bership in the Grand Army by reason of his service in Company B, 2d Battalion, with which he served seven months.

On June 29. 1870, Mr. Gilbert was married to Martha J. Kelso, and they had five chil- dren : William A. died in childhood ; Charles C. died at the age of twenty-five; Joseph C. lives in Colorado; Mary A., a graduate of the Adrian Hospital of Punxsutawney, as a pro- fessional nurse, lives at home; Harvey J. is living in Colorado.

Mrs. Gilbert became a Jefferson county teacher at the age of fifteen, so continuing in Rose, Eldred, Union and Clover townships for fifteen years. She takes keen interest in read- ing and in educational matters, and in all that makes for betterment, and can relate many interesting stories of pioneer life.

John Kelso, grandfather of Mrs. Gilbert. was born in Ireland, and brought his family to America in 1813, landing at Philadelphia. Locating near McAlary's Fort in Huntingdon county, they in 1820 came to Jefferson county, making the journey by wagons through an almost unbroken forest. He purchased a tract of wild land at what was then known as the "Irish settlement," in Rose, now Clover, town- ship, about three miles below Brookville, and there spent the remainder of life, dying in 1860, at an advanced age. He cleared a farm. developing a comfortable home, and being thrifty and industrious, attained to well merited prosperity. He and wife first be- longed to the Seceder Presbyterian Church. later to the United Presbyterian. Their chil- dren were: William, Elizabeth, Susan, James, Isabel, John. Margaret and David.

William Kelso was born in 1807 in County Down. Ireland, being in his seventh year when brought to America. He early became familiar with agricultural operations conducted under difficulties of which the modern farmer has little appreciation. He taught school in Rose township. He was endowed with reliable character and quick intelligence, his superior mental qualities being recognized by his fellow citizens, who called upon him for various serv- ices in which he gained their confidence and respect. He was a justice of the peace 15 years, was constable and served on the school board 20 years. He was one of the early mer- chants at Brookville, in partnership with Wil- liam Rodgers. later carrying on farming and lumbering in Rose township for many years. He was one of the most influential men of Rose township, where he died in December, 1863. He volunteered and served a few

months at the time of the Morgan raid, during the Civil war.

MIr. Kelso married Martha Chambers, daughter of James Chambers, who was born and married in Ireland, and on coming to the United States settled in Red Bank township, Clarion county, where he resided to the end of life. He was also a member of the Seceder Church. Mrs. Kelso was one of four children, Joseph, Samuel. Solomon and Martha. She died in January, 1860, a member of the Seceder Church. To them were born seven children : John and James C. died in childhood ; Capt. Joseph C., a veteran of Company B, 105th Regiment, still resides at Summerville; Isa- bella is the wife of Charles Chatfield ; Martha J. is the wife of William J. Gilbert ; Elizabeth A. died in childhood; Solomon C .. also a vet- eran of the Civil war, died at his home in Pinecreek township in March, 1916.

JOHN M. MEANS is another native son of Jefferson county who has shown true appre- ciation of the truism that the most significant thing in life is doing something worth while. Successfully has he directed his energies along the line of agricultural enterprise, and is desig- nated as one of the prominent farmers and influential citizens of Perry township. He owns and resides upon the old homestead of his father and is engaged also in conducting a substantial general store in the village of Valier, formerly known as Whitesville, the place of his birth.

John Monroe Means was born on the 14th of April. 1867. and was reared in the village of Valier, in the public schools of which he was a pupil, and took a course in Covode Academy, in Indiana county. He became a successful teacher in the district schools of his native county, which activities covered a period of five years. His farm, adjoining Valier, is the old homestead originally owned by his grandfather. John Means, who was one of the honored pioneers of this part of the county. This farm adjoins the village lot site of the house in which John M. was born. He purchased the farm of twenty-six acres, and gives it his active supervision, be- sides which he has conducted his general store at Valier since 1890. The large store build- ing he originally occupied was destroyed by fire, with a total loss, the stock alone having been valued at three thousand dollars. After rebuilding on the same site Mr. Means formed a partnership with his cousin. J. B. Means, and they were associated in the mercantile business about three years; he then became

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

sole owner. Later he sold the business to his former partner and Joseph Dilts, and there- after he gave a portion of his time to clerking in the store. but his vigor and ambition did not long permit him to continue in this sub- sidiary occupation. In 1914 he removed his father's old store building to its present site, installed a well selected stock of general mer- chandise, and his popularity and high repu- tation as a business man have enabled him to develop a substantial trade. lle is a liberal and loyal eitizen of his native township, is a Republican in his political allegiance, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. Ile was a member of the Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows, but his association with them was dropped on account of the inconvenient location of the lodges to which he belonged.

On June 1, 1892, Mr. Means married Minnie Bowers, who was born in Gaskill township on the 18th of December, 1866, a daughter of William and Minerva ( Winslow ) Bowers. William Bowers long held precedence as a rep- resentative farmer and influential citizen of Gaskill township, besides having been promi- nently identified with lumbering operations. and died about 1905. his widow still remaining on the old home farm. He was a Democrat, served several years as tax collector, and was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, of which his widow likewise is a devout member. He was a son of William and Lucy ( Wainwright ) Bowers, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Eng- land. They settled in Gaskill township in pio- neer days and the son William, father of Mrs. Means, was an infant at the time of his father's death. Mrs. Means is one of the four sur- vivors of a family of ten children. In conclu- sion is given brief record concerning the chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Means: Warren MI .. who was born Dec. 18. 1894. is now employed in the steel works at Youngstown, Ohio; he married Viola Smith and their one child is Forrest. Robert Morris, born Oct. 2, 1896. died in infaney. William, born Nov. 14, 1897. is employed in the steel works at Youngstown. Ohio. Fred MI., born April 4, 1900, remains at home. Harold. born May 28, 1905. died in infancy.

JAMES DOWLING ANTHONY, for some thirty years a resident of Young township, belongs to the old established Anthony family of Henderson township. Jefferson county. He was born in the latter township June 17, 1862. son of Jacob Anthony and grandson of Levi

.Anthony, who brought his family to Hender- son township in pioneer times. He was one of the forceful characters of his day, aiding in the material improvement of the region by his labors in developing a home from the wilderness and exerting a beneficial influence in social, moral, educational and political bet- terment. For further ancestral history see the sketch of Alpheus Anthony.

James Dowling Anthony spent his early years engaged with his father in lumbering, which he began to follow on his own account when but fifteen years old. He has been occu- pied at that calling and in agricultural work ever since. For a time he lived in Henderson township, and near Troutville in Clearfield county, settling in the southern part of Young township in the year 1886. He now owns the old Valentine Snyder farm in that section, a tract of fifty acres, where he carries on general farming very successfully. He is a typical member of his family, attaining prosperity through industry, and is accorded the esteem of his neighbors because of many sterling qualities of character. For twelve years he has been auditor of Young township, his efficient services bespeaking thorough qualifi- cation for that office. In religious connection he associates with the Reformed Church. He is an Odd Fellow, holding membership in I.aurel Lodge, and with his wife affiliates with the Rebekahs.

Mr. Anthony was married to Bertha L. Snyder, daughter of Valentine Snyder, an old settler in Young township, and seven children have been born to them: Augustus Lee, now living in Kansas ; Inez May, wife of Lee New- ton. of Buffalo, N. Y. : Emma Bessie, at home ; Ruth, who is now with a cousin in Kansas; Clyde, at home : William Ralph, of Buffalo; and Joanna Margaret, at home.

GEORGE A. PARK, who now makes his home at Sigel, has had extensive land, agricul- tural and timber interests in Jefferson county for many years. His activities at present are principally in the line of lumbering. During his experiences in that business he has covered a wide range of territory in this section of Pennsylvania, has been associated with several other prominent local operators, and has borne a definite part in the development of the sec- tion from its primitive state to a modern in- dustrial district, having not only cleared large areas but also converted considerable land into fertile farming property. His busy life has drawn him into various enterprises, and he

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has a record of success which speaks well for his ability and application.

Mr. Park was born March 6, 1854, at the village of Howe, in Eldred township, this county. William Park, his father, was the first of the family to settle in this country. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and came to the United States when young. He chose a location in western Pennsylvania. buy- ing some land near Howe, and after he got settled there his parents and brother George followed him to the New World. The mother, however, died in Pittsburgh before he went up to get them. George Park, the brother, lived for some time in Eldred township, lum- bering there for a few years, and also clearing up a farm upon which he built a good house. But eventually he returned to Pittsburgh, where he was engaged in a hardware store. and there he died. His son William Park still lives in Eldred township. William Park, the father of George A. Park, spent most of his remaining life on the land purchased near Howe, on the Brookville road, and which is vet owned by his family. It was covered with a forest of fine pine timber, and some of the best of it was burned at first to make way for the home and early cultivation of the soil, there being no other way at that time to dis- pose of it. But Mr. Park soon became inter- ested in a mill and he not only lumbered on his own land but also on other tracts in the vicinity. In the early years, when remunera- tive labor here was scarce, he would alternate his work on the farm with clerking in a store at Pittsburgh, thus earning enough to help pay for his property and improve it. He died Jan. 31. 1904, when almost seventy-eight years old. after an industrious and honorable life, es- teenied by the many who came to know him during his active career. Besides making a success of private undertakings. he was closely associated with the public affairs of his home locality. For thirty years he served as a jus- tice of the peace. and was a prominent men- ber of Mount Tabor Presbyterian Church un- til his death, taking an active part in its work and holding the office of elder. In politics he was originally a Democrat, but for several years before his death supported the Republi- can party. Mr. Park's first wife, Margaret ( Hackett), died in 1882 ; he subsequently mar- ried Jemima Burkhouse, who still lives at the old homestead. She was the mother of six children. To the first union were born six- teen children. of whom five sons and two daughters survive, namely: George A. ; Wil- liam, who lives on a farm adjoining the home-

stead property ; James, also living near the old home; John 1 .. , a merchant at Howe; Edward, a farmer at Stanton ; Belle (twin of Martha who died at the age of 22), wife of George Sowers, living at Alaska, a hamlet one mile north of Brookville; and Anna, widow of Hudson Smith, who keeps a store at Alaska.

George A. l'ark remained at home until he reached his majority, getting such education as the local schools offered and spending his carly years at work in the woods and mills or assisting with the cultivation of the farm. lle has worked on most of the streams in the neighborhood. When twenty-one he began to clear up a farm for himself and he still owns this first possession of his, a tract of 133 acres lying in Eldred township, two miles from Sigel on the Olean road. For a time he had a mill there to convert the timber into marketable shape, afterwards cutting it up into square timber, staves or any other form in which he could dispose of it. Some sixty acres of that place are still in growing timber. Mr. Park realized from the first that scientific farming was the most dependable, and in the cultiva- tion of his land studied soil conditions, en- hanced the value of his place by the use of lime and proper rotation of crops, and had his reward in the knowledge that no farm thereabouts had finer yields. The pride he took in all his work was apparent in the attrac- tiveness of the property. His fences were always kept in repair, his furrows were laid straight, and his fields drew the attention of even ordinary passers-by to their beautiful order. He made his home there until Sep- tember. 1913, when he removed to Sigel, where he has a substantial residence. His son Harry now operates the place. Mr. Park has acquired other farm lands, now owning six tracts aggregating over three hundred and fifty acres : he also owns real estate in Brookville. Aside from the management of these prop- erties his energies are now devoted to the manufacture of lumber, operating mills at Sigel and Baxter. He employs from fifteen to fifty men, according to the season. During the winter he often employed as many as fifty men getting out square timber, but now the logs are all cut into lumber. Frequently he buys standing timber and cuts it, having cleared much land besides his home place. He has jobbed for others at times in Clarion and Forest counties. Sometimes he has operated alone, and has also had a number of partners, having been associated with Thomas MeNeil, Isaac Doverspike, of Kittanning, and Joseph Wilson, all now deceased.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 118

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 972

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972