Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 139

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 139

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In the summer of 1825 James Smith jour- neyed through the forests to the Beechwoods of Jefferson county, where his friend Alex- ander Osborne had established residence and acquired a large tract of land. From Mr. Os- borne he purchased here three hundred acres of wild land, at the rate of seventy-five cents an acre, and numbered himself among the pioneers of this now beautiful and opulent section of Jefferson county. After here estab- lishing his family home in a primitive log house he prevailed upon his brother William, who was then living in western Maryland, to

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join him in the Beechwoods, and the two brothers, men of sterling character and daunt- less energy, were among the strong and valiant souls who aided in the initial work of develop- ing the resources of this now favored section of the State, both having become influential in community affairs and both having endured the full tension of pioneer life. William Smith reclaimed a goodly portion of his land from the virgin forest, and his old homestead, the fine farm now owned by William A. Smith, continued to be his place of residence until his death, which occurred April 9, 1903. He was born in 1816. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Bond, died May 13, 1864.

William Andrew Smith, a son of William and Eliza ( Bond) Smith, was a young man at the time of his mother's death, and he was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm which he now owns and occupies and with the work of which he continued his close associa- tion until he was twenty-two years of age. He attended the old Beechwoods school. where he was under the instruction for one term of Miss Martha Dennison, who was specially well known as an able and popular teacher in this locality. He continued to attend the public schools at intervals until he was seventeen years old, and thereafter was for one term a student in a select school. For two terms thereafter he was engaged as a teacher in the Frost school, in Snyder township, and one term in the Falls Creek school, in Clearfield county. In the spring of 1880 Mr. Smith went to Nebraska, in consonance with the advice of Horace Greeley to "go West and grow up with the country." and he passed five years as a semi-pioneer in Nebraska and Iowa, where he identified himself with farming and also made an excellent record as a teacher in the district schools. At the expiration of the period noted Mr. Smith returned to the old homestead. In the West fortune had favored him, for on his return to Jefferson county he was accompanied by his young wife. After remaining on the old home farm two years he returned to the West and purchased a farm of eighty acres, near Elliott, Montgomery Co., Iowa. There he continued his activities as an agriculturist for the ensuing three years, at the expiration of which, in compliance with the request of his venerable father, who had been left alone on the old home place, he sold his Iowa property and once more resumed his residence in Jeffer- son county, becoming associated with his brother Logan in the purchase of the home- stead farm. Later he purchased his brother's interest in this excellent property, there being

150 acres in the homestead proper, besides which he has fifty acres of excellent pasture land. The substantial and commodious house on the place was erected by his father when William A. Smith was a boy. In 1913 Mr. Smith rebuilt and otherwise improved the barn, and in 1914 he constructed on the place a modern silo of ample capacity. He has proved himself distinctively one of the pro- gressive farmers of his native county, and is a most loyal and public-spirited citizen, a man of strong intellectual grasp, well fortified con- victions and sturdy integrity. In politics Mr. Smith maintains an independent attitude, vot- ing in support of men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Beech- woods Presbyterian Church, in the establish- ing of which his father was influentially concerned.

At Elliott, Iowa, on the 4th of July, 1884, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Margaret Becknell, daughter of Allison and Nancy J. (Stennett ) Becknell, of that place. Concern- ing the children of Mr. and Mrs. Smith the following brief data are entered : William Logan, who remains at the parental home and is associated in the work and management of the farm, was graduated from the Beech- woods high school and also from Grove City College; for several years he has given most effective service, at intervals, as a teacher in the public schools. Allison B., who likewise remains at the old homestead, was graduated from the Beechwoods high school and there- after he taught one term of school. Edwin Andrew, a young man of fine mind and noble character, died at the age of nineteen years; he had taught one term in the public schools and attended Grove City College, and while a student in Geneva College was stricken with appendicitis, his death occurring soon after he had undergone an operation for the re- moval of the vermiform appendix. Eliza Mil- dred, a popular member of the young social circle in her home community, was graduated from the Beechwoods vocational school as a member of the class of 1915.

JOHN J. SMITH, who is now living in well earned retirement in the attractive little borough of Reynoldsville, is a native son of Jefferson county and has passed the Scriptural span of three-score years and ten with mental and physical vigor which contradicts the lapse of so many years. He is a member of one of the honored pioneer families of the county. which he represented as a valiant soldier of

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the Union in the Civil war. He has been equally loyal and earnest in the discharge of the duties and labors that have been his por- tion of the world's work.

Mr. Smith was born in Oliver township, this county, April 17, 1842. His father, Jos- eph Smith, was born in one of the eastern counties of Pennsylvania, and came to the forest wilds of Jefferson county when a young man. He found employment in Oliver and later in Ringgold township, and with the pass- ing years contributed his quota to the civic and industrial development and progress of the county, his sphere of activities having been mainly in farming and lumbering operations. He passed the closing period of his long and useful life in the borough of Worthville, this county, where he died at the age of eighty- one years, his wife passing away at the age of seventy-nine; the remains of both are in- terred in the Worthville cemetery. Mrs. Smith likewise was born and reared in Pennsylvania. and her maiden name was Hannah Shaffer. Of the children of these sterling pioneer citi- zens Daniel W. was the firstborn, and John J. was the second son ; the names of the other children were, in respective order of birth: Jacob, William H., Mary Ann, Elizabeth. Sarah Catherine and Lucinda.

John J. Smith acquired his early education in the pioneer schools of Jefferson county and early gained practical experience in farm work and lumbering operations, besides which he became in his youth a good workman at the carpenter's trade. He was nineteen years of age when the dark cloud of Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon,. and his in- trinsic patriotism forthwith prompted him to tender his aid in defense of the Union. On the 18th of September, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry, which company was recruited in Ring- gold, and continued his active service therewith for a period of eighteen months, at the expiration of which he received his hon- orable discharge. On the 26th of August. 1863, he re-enlisted. on this occasion becoming a member of Company A. 82d Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which command he again proceeded to the front, and with which he continued his service until the close of the war. He took part in many engagements. including a number of the historic battles of the great struggle between the North and the South, and in the memorable disaster of Mine Run was wounded in the left leg. the injury resulting in a running sore from which he has experienced more or less suffering and diffi-

culty during the long intervening years. It was his portion to take part also in the seven days' fighting before the city of Richmond, Va., and he lived up to the full tension of the great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was perpetuated.

After the close of a military career that shall reflect lasting honor upon his name, Mr. Smith returned to Jefferson county and re- sumed his activities as a farmer, lumberman and carpenter. He finally became the owner of fifty acres of land in Winslow township, which he'reclaimed and developed into one of the productive and valuable farms of the county, bringing the major part of the tract. under effective cultivation and erecting the substantial buildings which still stand in evi- dence of his thrift and good management. Mr. Smith continued his residence on this farm until 1906, when he removed to Reynoldsville, where he has since lived retired in a pleasant home which his wife purchased there. The title to the old homestead farm is still vested in him. For several years he was engaged in conducting a successful huck- stering business in connection with the gen- eral operations of his farm. He and his wife are well known in Jefferson county, where they have many friends, and they are hon- ored pioneer citizens of Reynoldsville. Mr. Smith is independent in his political proclivi- ties. He keeps alive the happier memories of his military career by affiliation with John C. Conser Post. No. 192. Grand Army of the Republic, at Reynoldsville, which he is serving as chaplain at the time of this writing. in the winter of 1916-17.

In 1866 Mr. Smith married Hannah Har- man, who was born in this State and was a girl at the time of her parents' removal to Armstrong county. her father, John Harman. having settled in Redbank township and hav- ing there followed the blacksmith's trade for many years. He and his wife were venerable in years at the time of their deaths. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of seventeen children, of whom the eldest is William S .. now a resident of Big Run, where he is en- gaged in the drilling business: Mary Alice is the wife of William N. Trusell, who is a mine boss in connection with coal mining oper- ations in this county, and their home is in the borough of Punxsutawney: Sarah Catherine is deceased; Ida May resides at Erie, Pa. : Clara Lucinda is in Pittsburgh, Pa .: Lydia is deceased : Morris is a resident of Reynolds- ville and is one of the prominent well and coal drillers of this section of the State :

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Hannah, twin sister of Morris, is deceased : Emma J. follows the profession of trained nurse: Daniel P. is in Oklahoma: Anna R. and Maude B. are deceased; Thomas F. was drowned in Lake Erie, July 9, 1916, at the age of thirty years; Carlton H. is in Erie; Ralph is in Oklahoma ; Nellie and Clinton are deceased.

HENDERSON UPLINGER is a native son of Jefferson county who has been content to remain within its borders and has achieved definite success and prosperity through his agricultural operations on the old homestead , which was the place of his birth. He has also mined coal there successfully, and natural gas wells have recently been brought into produc- tivity on his farm. The property is in Mc- Calmont township, nine miles north of Punxsutawney and twelve miles southeast of Brookville. Here Mr. Uplinger was born Sept. 24. 1858, son of Peter and Mary ( Rarie ) Uplinger, both of whom were born and reared in Armstrong county, where they were mar- ried, and whence they came to Jefferson county between the years 1854 and 1858. They became pioneers in the midst of the for- ests of MeCalmont township, and with a cash capital of only fifty dollars Mr. Uplinger in- vested in a tract of heavily timbered land. In instituting its reclamation he burned the first timber, in order to get a start, and to provide for his family he worked for others in the harvest fields or in the clearing of land. As soon as conditions justified he began to manufacture square timber and to raft it down Sandy Lick to the mouth of Red Bank creek. His first domicile was a log house, and later he erected the frame house in which the latter years of his life were passed. He had about ninety acres of land, much of which he brought under cultivation, and in 1873. from timber cut on the farm, he erected the substantial barn that is still in use. This ster- ling pioneer died in 1892, at the age of sixty- six years, eleven months, nine days. His widow was seventy-three years of age when she passed away. Both were devout communi- cants of the Lutheran Church, and his political support was given to the Democratic party. as the candidate of which he was elected township supervisor, an office in which he served with characteristic fidelity and effi- ciency. Of the children the eldest is Charles, who is one of the substantial farmers of Mc- Calmont township: Lavina is the wife of George Gould. a farmer near Barnett, Forest county : Henderson was. the next in order ;

John is a prosperous farmer of Barnett town- ship, Forest county.

Henderson Uplinger has resided on the old homestead from his birth, assisted in his fa- ther's lumbering operations as boy and youth, and continued his association with this line of enterprise until about 1898. In the meanwhile he had not neglected the advantages afforded in the public schools, but his chief fellowship in his youth was with arduous toil. Eventually he took minor contracts for the getting out of timber on other lands, and built a sawmill, placing it in effective operation. Thus he touched all phases of the lumbering industry, including the rafting of timber down the streams. Prior to the death of his father he had assumed the active management of the home farm, and he has made many excellent improvements, including the erection of his commodious house in 1903. the year in which the frame house built by his father was de- stroyed by fire. Mr. Uplinger has 'extended no leases on the coal veins underlying his farm, but has himself operated a coal bank, supplying local demands. By proper fertiliza- tion he has kept up the productiveness of his land, which yields excellent returns for the labor put forth. Within a recent period nat- ural gas wells have been sunk on the farm and are giving a fair measure of production. Mr. Uplinger is loyal in all things pertaining to civic affairs, but has had no desire for political activity or public office.

At the age of twenty-three years Mr. Up- linger wedded Hannah Hawk, who was about one year his junior. She was born in Arm- strong county, a daughter of Philip and Sarah ( Howser ) Hawk, and was about ten years old at the time the family removed to Jefferson county, the home being established in Knox township, where her mother died at the age of twenty-nine years and where her father passed away many years later, at a venerable age. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Up- linger the eldest is William, a successful agri- culturist in his native township, who married Nina Hinderliter; Mary, who is now at the parental home, is the widow of Frank Straite- well, who was accidentally killed when work- ing in the McAninch coal mines, Sept. 20. 1914, at which time he was thirty-five years of age (he is survived by three children. Elizabeth, Wesley and Harry, who remain with their mother at the home of her par- ents) : Wesley, the second son of Mr. Up- linger, is associated in the management of the home farm; Philip, who married Mabel Hollenbaugh, is identified with farm enter-

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prise in McCalmont township; Edith is the wife of John Itollenbaugh, of Winslow town- ship; Dessie died at the age of two years; Hazel remains with her parents.

GEORGE W. NEWTON, who passed to the life eternal on the 17th of March, 1914, had gained favorable standing as one of the prosperous farmers and representative citi- zens of the fine Beechwoods district of Jef- ferson county, where he passed the closing period of his life on the well improved farm in Washington township still the home of his widow. He was a man whose upright life and genial personality gained to him uniform confidence and esteem.

Mr. Newton was born at Brockport, Elk Co., Pa., Dec. 22, 1858, and was a son of Alonzo and Clara ( Trude) Newton. The father was a native of the State of New York. After his marriage he continued his residence in Pennsylvania for a long period of years, finally removing to the city of Jackson, Mich .. where he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. Of their children it may be re- corded that Sarah is the wife of Charles Sack- ett, and they reside at White City, Fla .; George W. was the second child; Mrs. Alice Eller resides at Jackson, Mich .; Elmer is a resident of Asheville, N. C .; Mary married and is living in Jackson, Mich. ; Laura is mar- ried and resides at Jackson, Mich. : Warren O. maintains his home at Asheville, North Carolina.

At a place locally known as Hickory King- dom. near DuBois, Clearfield county, this State. George W. Newton passed the major part of his childhood and early youth, and in the meanwhile made good use of the advan- tages afforded in the public schools of the lo- cality. When he was twelve years old his parents removed to the James Marshall farm, near Lanes Mills, Jefferson county, and each successive season from that time until he was sixteen years old found him vigorously apply- ing himself to work in the lumber woods of this section of the State, besides which he assisted in the rafting of the timber, in this way making numerous trips in rafting logs and lumber down the river to Pittsburgh.

On the Ist of January. 1884, Mr. Newton was married to Margaret S. MeClure, who was born on her grandfather's farm in Washing- ton township. Jefferson county, on the 12th of August, 1864. Mrs. Newton was only one year old at the time of her mother's death. and she was reared in the home of her ma- ternal grandparents, Robert and Elizabeth

Smith, of Washington township, where she entered the district schools at the proper age, continuing her studies therein until she was fourteen years old. For the first year after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Newton resided at Lanes Mills, and they then purchased and removed to the J. W. Smith farm in Wash- ington township, where they earnestly cooperated in earnest efforts to achieve inde- pendence and prosperity. Success attended them with the passing years, and Mr. New- ton made many excellent improvements on the home farm. Fle rebuilt and modernized the house, erected a new barn, set out orchards, piped water into the house for domestic use. and spared neither time, effort nor expense in his zealous endeavor to make his place one of the model farms of the county. Earnest and industrious, strong in his convictions and unwavering in his integrity of purpose, he achieved success worthy of the name and also gained that more significant reward, the un- qualified respect and goodwill of his fellow men. He gave intelligent and stalwart sup- port to the cause of the Republican party and was a zealous member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church at Lanes Mills, which he served as steward at one time, and of which his widow continues to be a devoted member. Of the children who survived the honored father the eldest is Elizabeth, who is the wife of E. A. Corbett, of Kittanning, Armstrong county ; their children are Edward A., Wil- liam A., and Donald M. Robert Smith New- ton, the eldest son, married Eunice Rogers, and they resided in the city of Pittsburgh, where he was an employe of the Postal Telegraph & Cable Company ; he died in that city Nov. 24, 1916, of pleural pneumonia, and his widow is residing at her home in Long Branch, N. J. George Harold remains with his widowed mother and has the supervision of the home farm. William is employed in the city of New York. Agnes J. remains at home and ( 1916) is a student in the Beechwoods vocational school.

Noble McClure, the father of Mrs. New- ton, was born in the little Ulster village of Waterside, connected by bridge with London- derry, Ireland, about the year 1838, and he was a youth of sixteen years when he came to America. Soon after his arrival in the United States he made his way to Jefferson county, Pa., as a youthful pioneer of the beau- tiful Beechwoods district, where he eventu- ally reclaimed a good farm from the forest and became one of the substantial and highly esteemed citizens of the county. Here he was

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united in marriage to Mary T. Smith, daugh- ter of Robert and Elizabeth (MIcllhenny) Smith, concerning whom more specific men- tion is made elsewhere, in the sketch of the life of their son S. J. Smith. Mrs. Newton was the only child of her parents, and, as previously noted, was but one year old at the time of her mother's death. The father later wedded Mary J. Maxwell, a cousin of Alexander Maxwell, who is individually men- tioned on other pages, and of the second union two children were born: William W .. who wedded Hannah Abel, their home being at Falls Creek, Clearfield county; and No- ble, who married Louise Winterbottom, their residence at the present time being at DuBois, Clearfield county.

CHARLES W. GROVES. So admirable and attractive a farming section as the beau- tiful Beechwoods district of Jefferson county drew even in the pioneer days, when it was naught but a forest wilderness, the favorable attention of men of ambition, judgment and resolute purpose, and no other part of the State invited a more desirable class of settlers. In this history are shown many instances where many progressive descendants of these pioneer families continued to live in the Beech- woods, and it is specially gratifying to note the substantial farmers and valued citizens who are now pursuing life's activities on the farmsteads which figured as their place of birth. Such is true in the case of Charles W. Groves, who is one of the enterprising farm- ers and honored citizens of Washington town- ship, born on his present home farm June 16. 1871. On other pages is given definite record concerning the Groves family, but it should be stated in this immediate connection that he is a son of John C. and Sarah Ann (Ross) Groves, who became the parents of ten chil- dren and who were highly esteemed citizens of the Beechwoods. Specific mention of the family is made in the sketch of the career of D. D. Groves, of Brockwayville.

Charles W. Groves passed the period of his boyhood and early youth on the home farm, and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the local schools. his broader discipline having been acquired under the direction of that wisest of all headmasters. experience. When a lad of sixteen years he found employment as driver of a team for Patrick McDonald, and two years later he resumed his active association with the work and management of the home farm. For some time thereafter he was engaged in construc-

tion work for the Shoemaker concern and the James S. Corbett Company. Following his marriage, in 1900, he again worked the home farm for a time, after which he was employed by N. B. Lane in connection with the operation of the latter's farms and other enterprises. Since 1911 he has given his close attention to the management of the old home- stead farm, and he is known as an energetic farmer and loyal and public-spirited citizen. His political allegiance is given to the Re- publican party.

On June 27, 1900, Mr. Groves was married to Mary A. McMinn, who was born at Lanes Mills ( named after N. B. Lane), this county, a daughter of William G. and Ida (Lane) Mc- Minn. Mr. and Mrs. Groves have two chil- ‹Iren, Asenath, who was born in 1904. and Catherine, who was born in 1908.

EDWARD G. NORTH is an extensive land owner and farmer in Young township. residing at the place where his grandfather settled in the early part of the last century. He was born there Sept. 2, 1882. son of the late Joseph Pogue North, and belongs to a family numerously represented in this part of Pennsylvania, descendants of one Daniel North, who lived and died in Ireland. The early family history will be found elsewhere in this volume.

John North. son of John and Elizabeth (Pogue) North, was born at Wilmington. Del., in ISII. and was seven months old when brought by his parents to North Mahoning township. Indiana Co., Pa. Lumbering was the leading industry in this region during most of his life. and next in importance in his early days came farming. As he was reared amid rural conditions, his early train- ing in agriculture was thorough. As he grew older he also followed lumbering, but farm- ing always held the place as his chief interest. Having bought a farm near Juneatt, Indiana county, he cultivated it for a time. and next purchased what was known as the Hennigh place, in Young township, Jefferson county. upon which he spent the rest of his life. It is still owned and occupied by his son, Hon. S. Taylor North, and is now known as the North homestead. Always a farmer, Mr. North did much to improve conditions in his locality, both by his own progressive hus- bandry and the encouragement of the up-to- date movements of all sorts possible in an intelligent community. Financially he was in- terested especially in local banks, having been one of the first stockholders in the First Na-

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 139

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