Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 14

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 14

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Although he did not settle at that place until middle life, Mr. Hamilton became one of its most prominent citizens, not only in the sense that he was a notably successful business man, but also because of his connection with public affairs and the influence he exerted in all that concerned the community. It was hardly pos- sible for one of his active mind to keep out of public matters, in which he always took part. wherever he lived. He had served as a justice of the peace in Indiana county, and was so well fitted for the duties of that office that he was repeatedly chosen to it after his removal to Jefferson county, his total incumbency of the position in both counties covering forty- five years. In 1880 he was a member of the school board. Politically he supported the Re- publican party on national questions, but he was independent in local affairs, giving his support to the best men and measures, regard- less of politics. Few men in the community have enjoyed as great personal popularity. Mr. llamilton is buried in the Big Run cemetery.

On May 27. 1845, Mr. Hamilton married Isabelle Maria Sutton, of Indiana county, daughter of Robert and Martha Sutton. It is said that her father kept one of the early hotels at Brookville for a short time. Mrs. Hamilton died Feb. 20, 1884. the mother of five children : Martha Ruth, now the widow of George M. Gourley, a lumberman and miller of Big Run ; Robert A. : Sylvester S., a promi- nent physician of Punxsutawney, Pa. ; Frank J., a hardware merchant at Big Run, head of the firm of F. J. Hamilton & Son ; and Mary Laura. who died aged eighteen years, Sept. 19. 1881, the same day as President Garfield died. On Sept. 7. 1886, Mr. Hamilton mar- ried (second) Mrs. Mary Elizabeth ( Sunder- land) Weber, by whom he had three children : Emma and Ella, twins, the latter deccased : and James A.

Robert A. Hamilton was born June 22, 1849. in East Mahoning township, Indiana county. and up to the time he was fifteen enjoyed ordi- nary common school advantages. When his father began keeping store he went to clerking for him, and he also drove team, hauling goods from Indiana, a distance of thirty-four miles. Though only a youth, he was sometimes in- trusted with a four-horse team. When about twenty-five years old he was lumbering with his father for five hundred dollars a year, tak- ing charge of the timber and rafting to Pitts- burgh, and gaining experience which qualified him thoroughly for the more important work of subsequent years. For five years Mr. Ham- ilton and his brother-in-law, G. M. Gourley,

did a profitable business in the manufacture of shooks, making red oak barrel staves for use among the planters in the West Indies; the staves were split out in the woods, and later fitted into shape for sugar barrels, etc. Ten to fifteen men were employed in this work. There being a considerable demand for this product from New York, many barrels were set up ready for use, but those for the export trade were knocked down and bundled. For several years Mr. Hamilton was associated with Edward Seifert in lumbering operations at the Sykes settlement, now Sykesville, where they ran a sawmill for two years, cutting some ten million feet in that vicinity. The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh road afforded excellent shipping facilities in that neighborhood. He and Mr. Seifert were also partners in another concern which in 1888 built a mill at Eleanor. Jefferson county, at the mines five miles northli of Big Run, and cut twenty-two million feet of lumber in that section, about fifty men be- ing employed in this undertaking, which occu- pied Mr. Hamilton until 1893. Pine, hemlock and considerable hardwood were taken in these operations, and the bark was disposed of to the tannery at Big Run. There was a fine margin of profit these years. In 1892 Messrs. Ham- ilton and Seifert bought a tract in Elk county, with a mill, six miles from Brockwayville, and between that time and 1897 cut sixty-five mil- lion feet from it, working one hundred and fifty men. Mr. Hamilton then bought a piece of forest for himself, near Luthersburg. Clear- field county, put in a band mill, and started cutting the timber, taking eighteen million feet off in four years, with a crew of fifty to sixty men. The lumber had to be hauled three and a half miles, and at times as many as thirty teams were busy, but nevertheless the venture was one of the most lucrative in which Mr. Hamilton ever engaged, for he had purchased the land when it was cheap, paying forty thou- sand dollars for it. He was next associated with a Pittsburgh firm in a salaried position for a period of two years, during which time he had charge of the company's plant at Nicholson, Miss., forty-three miles north of New Orleans, cutting eighty thousand feet a day in the sawmill, besides sending sixty thou- sand feet through the planing mill. The work- ing force consisted of one hundred and fifty men. Coming back to Big Run in 1903. Mr. Hamilton secured a half interest with W. T. Blose in a hardware business and planing mill in the borough, where he has been doing busi- ness ever since. He soon became sole owner of the store and mill, and continued to operate

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

the latter very profitably until 1914, when he sold the mill. He is still carrying on the hard- ware business, his large stock, valued at about eight thousand dollars, including also a com- plete line of agricultural implements, for which he has had a steady demand, and doors, sash, etc. The large store in which he is now estab- lished, a building 22 by 115 feet in dimensions, with commodious ware room, he erected in 1904, Mr. Hamilton has not given up his lum- ber interests entirely, having cleared off a farm near Big Run since he settled at that borougli, and he now has fifty acres of the place under cultivation. He has had interests in coal properties in Butler county, Pa., and other investments which have yielded well. At present he is president of the South Paradise Telephone Company. His judgment on busi- ness enterprises has proved so keen that his encouragement of any project is regarded as an assurance of its substantial character.

Mr. Hamilton has always been a business man, taking no direct part in public affairs, but he is well known in local social and re- ligious circles. He is an old-time member of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias fra- ternities, and has been honored with twenty- five-year jewels in both. He is a steward of the M. E. Church, and has also served as mem- ber of the board of trustees. It is rather re- markable that although much of the territory in which Mr. Hamilton was employed, espe- cially in his younger years, was in its wild state when he went into it, and well supplied with game, he has never been a hunter, and has never shot a gun or ar revolver.

.At the age of twenty years Mr. Hamilton married Maria C. Cochran, of Big Run. She (lied in 1880, and he subsequently married Annie E. Reed, of Coolspring, this county. There are no children by either union. The Hamilton home is one of the finest in Big Run.

JOHN H. BELL, now a resident of Punxsu- tawney, is one of the best known men in the coal fields of this part of the United States, with a wealth of experience acquired in va- rious responsible associations in the course of a long and well-spent career. Mr. Bell has been in charge of important operations for a number of the largest concerns developing coal properties in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia and retired recently with a record equaled by few in the business. Personally he is endowed with sterling qualities of char- acter which form an admirable complement to his proficiency in all that pertains to coal min- ing.

Mr. Bell is a native of Scotland, born Aug. 22, 1839. only child of John H. and Isabella ( Bartram ) Bell. The father, who was a farmer in Scotland, died there when a young man. The mother survived him many years, dying at Reynoldsville at the age of seventy- six. John H. Bell received his education in Scotland, and was about fourteen years old when he began work in coal mines. At the age of twenty-four years he came to America, landing at Portland, Maine, and proceeded di- rectly to Pittsburgh, with the view of finding employment at his calling. He began work in the mines at Mckeesport, changing to West- moreland county for a time, and then to Swiss- vale, Allegheny county, where he opened a mine for Stewart & Dickson. Later he was with Charles Armstrong in Westmoreland county. His next position was also in that county, as mine foreman and superintendent 'for Thomas Moore for a few years. In 1871 he became mine foreman for the Dunbar Fur- nace Company in Fayette county, remaining for about seven years, was subsequently with the Aetna Iron Company, of Lawrence county, Ohio, as superintendent for two years, and then went to West Virginia in the capacity of mine superintendent for the New River Coal & Coke Company. Upon leaving that employ he had some experience in Virginia as a mine superintendent before he became associated with the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Company, as superintendent at Beechtree, Jef- ferson county, May 1, 1884. He was with them for the next ten years, during which period he opened the Adrian mines. He returned to West Virginia as general superintendent for the New River Coal and Coke Company, re- maining there about three years, then went with the Lowmoore Coal & Iron Co., Alle- ghany county, Va., until he came back to Jef- ferson county to take charge of the Bell. Lewis & Yates mines at Reynoldsville, as general su- perintendent. At that place he continued for seven years, then for a year was in West Vir- ginia again in charge of mines, and returned once more to Jefferson county to become gen- eral superintendent for the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Company at the Florence mines. After two years he was transferred to the Elk Run shaft, owned by the same company, and was there about two years. For about a year following he was engaged in West Virginia again, when he retired and came to Punxsu- tawney to reside : his home is at No. 114 Jenks avenue. Mr. Bell has withdrawn from any active participation in business except what is necessary for the management of his real estate

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

interests and his services as director of the Punxsutawney Foundry & Machine Company. In 1903 he made a trip to Scotland. Mr. Bell's success was laid on a solid foundation. He had the thorough training characteristic of old- country methods, and with a willingness to apply himself industriously found it very valu- able when opportunities came to him here. His vigorous Scotch intellect and gift for di- recting operations were highly valued by his employers, and promotion came as the reward of faithful, intelligent devotion to their in- terests.

Fraternally Mr. Bell is an Odd Fellow and a Mason, belonging in the latter connection to John W. Jenks Lodge, No. 534, F. & A. M .; Jefferson Chapter, No. 225, R. A. M., of Brookville; Pittsburgh Commandery, No. 1. K. T .; Pittsburgh Consistory, thirty-second de- gree ; and Zem Zem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Erie, Pa. In religious doctrine he is a Presbyterian, and is serving as elder of his church.

Mr. Bell married Barbara Mitchell Bell. daughter of William Bell, of Scotland, and thirteen children have been born to them. Only five survive, namely : Alice, who is the wife of D. M. Motherwell; Isabella, wife of John Connelay ; Rosie, wife of Charles Baker ; Mar- garet, wife of Bruce Davis ; Mary P., unmar- ried, who lives at home.

ALEXANDER J. TRUITT, the vigorous man of affairs, the liberal, progressive and public-spirited citizen, the able and successful lawyer, well merits consideration in this vol- ume, not only by reason of his being one of the strongest and most resourceful members of the Jefferson county bar but also by rea- son of his prominence and influence in the civic and business activities which have conserved the advancement of the county and his home borough of Punxsutawney. Objective inter- est in his career should be enhanced by the fact that he is a scion of two of the old and honored families of Pennsylvania.

Anderson Truitt, the paternal great-grandfa- ther of Mr. Truitt, was born and reared in England and immigrated to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Thomas Truitt, the grandfather, was born in the year 1788 and was a lad of about twelve years at the time when the family home was estab- lished in Armstrong county, Pa. A few years later he removed to Indiana, as a pioneer of that now opulent Commonwealth, and there enlisted for service as a soldier in the war of 1812, taking part in this second conflict with

England for a period of one year. In 1813 he returned to Pennsylvania and established his home in Madison township, Armstrong county, where in the same year was solemnized his marriage to Lydia Williams, a daughter of Thomas Williams. This worthy couple passed the remainder of their lives in Arm- strong county, where Mr. Truitt became a suc- cessful farmer and honored and influential citizen, his death occurring in 1854. Of the family of five sons and two daughters only one is living at the time of this writing, in the autumn of 1916, namely Mrs. Mary Buzzard, who maintains her home at Chicago Junction, Ohio, and who is ninety-six years of age.

James A. Truitt, father of Alexander J. Truitt, was born in Armstrong county, this State, in the year 1828, and he died shortly before his eighty-second birthday anniversary, on the 13th of November, 1909, at which time he was known and honored as one of the most venerable and revered citizens of Punxsu- tawney, Jefferson county, where he had long maintained his home and where he had been a representative business man. He was reared to manhood under the sturdy discipline of the old homestead farm of his father, but as a young man he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Oakland, Armstrong county, continuing his activities there until about 1890, when he re- moved with his family to Punxsutawney and established a shoe store. He continued to con- duct this business until about four years prior to his death, and from the time of his retire- ment therefrom until the close of his long and useful life gave his attention principally to the development and improvement of his large real estate interests. He had suffered a light stroke of paralysis in 1876, but had re- cuperated almost entirely from its effects, with the result that he continued vigorous and active until his life was terminated, many years later, by a second paralytic stroke. He was found dead in his bed, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Willis J. Horne, of Punxsu- tawney, where he had resided continuously after the death of his devoted wife, in the pre- ceding year.

From an appreciative estimate published in a Punxsutawney paper at the time of his death are taken, with but minor paraphrase and elimination, the following extracts: "James A. Truitt was an advocate and supporter of denominational and technical schools. At Oak- land, in Armstrong county, he was the prime mover and chief backer of the Baptist Church and a normal institute, where members of his own family and all other youths of the Bap-

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

tist and other faiths were taught in strict accordance with the creed of the church. Since coming to Punxsutawney, and especially since his retirement from active business, he had hoped to establish a technical school where the youth and men of this vicinity could be taught practical subjects by the most approved and modern methods. It can be said of James A. Truitt that he constantly strove to live close to his ideals of a Christian life, and that nothing could swerve him from a line of action that he deemed the way of righteousness."

At Greenville, Mercer Co., Pa., April 22. 1855, was solemnized the marriage of James A. Truitt to Sarah Jane Meredith, a daughter of Owen Meredith, of Armstrong county, and the devoted companionship thus initiated was destined to continue for more than half a cen- tury, the gracious ties having been severed by the death of Mrs. Truitt, on the 21st of Octo- ber, 1908. Her bereaved and venerable hus- band survived her but little more than a year. She was the last of a family of eight children, and of her brothers it may be noted that Jonathan, a resident of Kittanning, was at one time speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives ; Hon. Aquilla was a resident of Corydon, Iowa, at the time of his death : Thomas died at Widnoon, Pa. ; James, at Cla- rion; and Hon. Madison Meredith, who died in the city of Philadelphia, was captain in the Io3d Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war. The two deceased sisters of Mrs. Truitt were Mrs. James Gibson, of Reynolds- . ville, and Mrs. John Wallace, of Pittsburgh. Of Mrs. Truitt the following consistent words have been written : "She was a lifelong mem- ber of the Baptist Church, which, with her family, claimed the best efforts of a long and active life. Kindly, gracious, dutiful, helpful and intensely religious, her life was one of devotion and sacrifice for her family and her ideals." Mr. and Mrs. Truitt became the par- ents of four sons and three daughters, and of the number Alexander J. was the firstborn ; Owen K. is now a resident of Washington, D. C .; Elmer Shelton resides in Kansas City. Mo .: Fred M. maintains his home in New York City: Clyde B. is the wife of Willis J. Horne, of Washington ; Della J., the wife of L. J. North, died at this place only a few months prior to the demise of her honored father.

Alexander J. Truitt was born at Oakland, Armstrong Co., Pa., on the 27th of July. 1857, and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the public schools of his native county. In the furtherance of higher

academic discipline he entered Reid Institute, in Clarion county, and from this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1876. In consonance with his ambition and well formulated plans, he soon afterwards be- gan the study of law, and he was fortunate in gaining as his preceptor Edward S. Golden, of Kittanning, who was at that time a dis- tinguished member of the Pennsylvania bar. Later, to fortify himself still further for the 'work of his exacting profession, Mr. Truitt became a student in the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1883 and from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws. As an under- graduate he had also availed himself of the privilege of continuing his technical reading under the direction of Gen. E. Spencer Miller, of Philadelphia, and after the death of this distinguished lawyer continued his law study under the preceptorship of Messrs. Gendell and Reeves, of the Philadelphia bar, until his graduation, from the law school.

In September, 1883, Mr. Truitt was admit- ted to practice in the courts of Jefferson county, his admission to the Philadelphia bar having been virtually coincident with his re- ception of the degree of bachelor of laws. Apropos of his strong, reliant and progressive career as a lawyer and public-spirited citizen, the following extracts from a newspaper arti- cle are well worthy of perpetuation in this connection :

"Mr. Truitt was among the first men who came to Punxsutawney at the time of the boom to that old town in 1883, as he arrived on one of the very first trains that came in over the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh rail- road. From the day he arrived in the town he has been known as one of the progressive hustlers of the place and has taken an active part in all that pertained to the development and upbuilding of Punxsutawney. He was one of the promoters and original stockholders in the Mahoning Gas & Heat Company, the Punx- sutawney Water Company, the Punxsutawney Mutual and the Home Building & Loan Asso- ciations, the Punxsutawney Street Passenger Railway Company and the Jefferson Electric Light. Heat & Power Company. He is legal representative also of many other large and important interests, both individual and corpo- rate. Mr. Truitt was one of the most active members of the committee that secured the location and construction of the works of the Punxsutawney Iron Company at this bustling city in the Mahoning valley, as well as numer-

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

ous other industries, and later he became prom- inently concerned in promoting the extension of one of our railroads through to Pittsburgh. He is known among his townsmen as a care- ful, industrious and safe legal adviser, and stands high in his profession. He has been successful financially and is considered one of the solid men of Punxsutawney."

As an attorney and counselor at law Mr. Tru- itt has shown strenuous proclivities, and he has gained secure vantage ground as a resourceful and versatile trial lawyer and admirably forti- fied counselor. He has appeared in connection with much important litigation in the courts of this section of the State and is eligible for practice in the Federal and Supreme courts of Pennsylvania and the United States. In

connection with his substantial and important law business Mr. Truitt had the distinction, in 1907, of gaining a distinguished and notable victory, in that he was the first Pennsylvania attorney to have gained a reversal of a deci- sion of the Supreme court of the State within a period of thirty years. The reversal was made by the United States Supreme court, in the Schlemmer case, in which Mr. Truitt had appeared for the plaintiff, who had brought suit for damages in connection with the death of her husband, the latter having met his death in an accident while serving as a railway em- ployee.

Data already presented indicate that Mr. Truitt is emphatically a loyal and public-spir- ited citizen, but it should further be noted that he has proved a forceful and effective advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, in which connection he has won no little fame as a campaign orator, in later years espousing its Progressive principles. He sturdily stands for active participation in our Federal, State and municipal governments, and for the fulfilment of life's duties accord- ing to our opportunities and responsibilities. In his home place he is known as the uncom- promising foe of all wrong, oppression and tyranny and as a leader for social and indus- trial justice and clean government.

On June 28, 1886, Mr. Truitt was united in marriage to Mary C. Zeitler, a daughter of John and Maria Zeitler, pioneers in Punxsu- tawney and one of the city's substantial and honored families. This union was a happy one, and its happiness has increased with the passing years. He and his wife are zealous members of the First Baptist Church of Punx- sutawney. They have taken an active social and financial interest in all the churches and temperance movements and Y. M. C. A. activi-

ties of their borough. In 1908 they erected at Brooksville, Fla., an attractive and modern residence, which is the winter home of the family. Their Florida estate is situated fifty miles north of Tampa, and includes a paper- shell pecan grove of five hundred trees and orchard groves-one thereof, containing over one thousand tangerine trees, said to be the largest number of these trees in any one grove in the world. Their Florida investments are under the active supervision of their only son, Alexander M. Truitt, who is also an active and progressive participant in the development of that Southern State. The only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Truitt is Jean M., who is the wife of Joseph U. MacKethan, of Brooksville, Fla. Edgar A. P. Truitt, the youngest, who was born June 22, 1892, died March 14, 1907, severing the family ties, which yet are sad- dened by his youthful demise.

COL. AMOR ARCHER MCKNIGHT was a great-grandson of Alexander and Isabella ( McBride ) McKnight, natives of County Down, Ireland. About the year 1790 they inn- migrated to Franklin county, Pa. Alexander McKnight here pursued agriculture. In 1795 he removed to and located on the place now known as the MeKnight farm, on Crooked creek, in Washington township, Indiana Co., Pa. Six children were born to his union with Isabella McBride, two sons and four daugh- ters, the sons being Alexander, Jr., and James.

James McKnight, son of Alexander and Isa- bella (McBride) McKnight, located in the town of Indiana, where he died May 14, 1819, aged about forty-one years. He filled a num- ber of offices there creditably, being an excel- lent scholar. He was the first burgess of the new borough of Indiana in 1816, and was re- elected to that office for the year 1817. He was commissioners' clerk for the years 1807 and 181. He was county treasurer for the years 1811-12. When the Indiana Academy was incorporated, March 28, 1814, Rev. John Jamieson and James McKnight were two of the thirteen trustees. He married Jane Mc- Nutt, May 25, 1807, and to this union were born two children : William, born May 5, 1808, who died June 9. 1830, in Blairsville, Pa. ; and Alexander, born June 9, 1810. Jane McKnight, the mother of these children, died Aug. 15, ISII. James McKnight married ( second) Nov. 19, 1812, Jane McComb, and to this union were born three children, viz. : (1) James, Jr .. born Sept. 9, 1813: while a young man he migrated to Texas, where he was elected mayor of Galveston city. Losing his health, he

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 14

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