Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 26

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 26

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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fields of business enterprise until he became the owner of important sawmills, including one situated on Big Mill creek, in Eldred township. This mill he later sold to the Mar- lin brothers, of Brookville, and he then estab- lished his residence at Corsica, this county, where he erected a combined planing mill and foundry, which he successfully operated in connection with his chain of sawmills along the course of the Clarion river, in both Jeffer- son and Clarion counties. From an apprecia- tive newspaper article that appeared at the time of Mr. Taylor's death are taken the following extracts, which are worthy of perpetuation in this more enduring vehicle :

"Mr. Taylor was very active in the lumber business through this country, and he built the first steam sawmill that was ever erected in Jefferson county. More than twenty years ago he retired from business in this section of the State and removed to Pittsburgh, where he passed the remainder of his life. While the lumber business is often spoken of by the older citizens, yet it only lasted the lifetime of man, for here has just passed away one who saw it as it began and lived through the time when it was the only industry in this county. Those who knew Newton Taylor best have the kindest words about him. An honorable, upright man is gone, one whom it was a pleasure to know and with whom it was a credit to associate. His pure life is a heritage to his children and his many friends."

An alert and receptive mind enabled Mr. Taylor to gain much in connection with the. experiences of his signally active and pro- ductive life, and he became a man of broad intellectual ken and remarkable business sagacity. Loyal in all things, he gave his influence and co-operation to the furtherance of measures and enterprises tending to ad- vance the civic and material welfare of the community, and he was essentially progressive and public-spirited, though he had no desire for public office of any kind.

In 1893 Mr. Taylor removed to the city of Pittsburgh, where he engaged in the wholesale lumber business, in which he continued his activities for twelve years, with unequivocal success. At the expiration of that period he retired from active business, and he passed the closing period of his long and useful life in his home in the East End, Pittsburgh, his cherished and devoted wife having preceded him to the life eternal. He was nearly eighty- three years of age at the time of his death, which occurred March 28. 1915, and his name and memory are held in lasting honor in the

county which long represented his home and in which his extensive business interests were centered for many years. At one time he was president of the National Bank of Brookville, and he was financially interested in the vari- ous other enterprises in Jefferson county. His political allegiance, indicative of well fortified convictions, was given to the Republican party, and both he and his wife were earnest and zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which they were active both during their residence in Jefferson county and after their removal to l'ittsburgh. The remains of both rest in Pisgah cemetery at Corsica, Jefferson county, not far distant from the old homestead which was endeared to them by many hallowed memories and as- sociations.

On March 4, 1857, was solemnized the mar- riage of Newton Taylor to Sarah E. Moore, who, as previously stated, was born in Jeffer- son county, and who was seventy-five years of age at the time of her demise, which occurred July 19, 1914. ller husband sur- vived this gracious and gentle companion by less than one year, and well may it be said that the relations of their home life were ever of ideal character. Mrs. Taylor was in im- paired health for many years prior to her death, but bore her affliction with character- istic patience and gentleness, sustained and comforted by the loving devotion of all who came within the compass of her influence. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor became the parents of ten children, and concerning the seven who survive them the following brief data are available : Edward C. is a resident of Pitts- burgh ; H. II. maintains his home at Monaca, Beaver county; David L. is the immediate subject of this review; Rose is the wife of Dr. E. W. Sloan, of Pittsburgh ; Carrie is the wife of Dr. H. B. Reamer, of that city ; Twila is the wife of A. S. Roland, of Pittsburgh, and in that city also resides Belle, who is the wife of J. G. Armstrong. Surviving this honored pioneer couple are also twenty-one grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

David L. Taylor acquired his early educa- tion in the public schools and the old Corsica .Academy, and as a youth he became actively associated with his father's extensive business operations. At the age of nineteen years he assumed a clerical position in the National Bank of Brookville, of which his father was then president, and thus he initiated what has proved a peculiarly successful and influential career in connection with banking interests in this section of his native State. . \ seem-

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ingly natural predilection for this line of enterprise was reinforced by resourceful ap- plication and by an insistent desire to perfect himself in all the executive details and respon- sibilities. After having been for fourteen years in active association with the National Bank of Brookville Mr. Taylor accepted the position of cashier of the l'eople's National Bank at East Brady, Clarion county, where he remained thus engaged for two and a half years. Ile then returned to Brookville and assumed the dual office of secretary and treas- urer of the Brookville Title & Trust Company, and in 1912 he was made president of this institution, in the development and upbuilding of whose substantial and important business he has been a dominating figure, this being one of the leading financial establishments of this section of the State, with operations based upon ample capital and the best of executive control. In addition to being at the head of this representative institution Mr. Taylor has shown equal administrative and initiative ability in connection with his operations in and identification with coal, lumber, oil and gas enterprises in this part of the Keystone State, and he is known and valued as one of the substantial capitalists, progressive business men and loyal and public-spirited citizens of his native county. He is a director of the A. R. VanTassel Tanning Company, of DuBois, Pa., and treasurer of the Keystone Mining Company at East Brady, Pa., which latter company he formed.

Though essentially a business man, with naught of ambition for political preferment. Mr. Taylor gives his support to the cause of the Republican party, and takes a lively inter- est in public affairs, especially those of a local order, having served as member of the bor- ough council and school board, holding the latter office three terms. He has proved an appreciative student of the history and teach- ings of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, in which his affiliations are as here designated : Hobah Lodge, No. 276, of the Free and Accepted Masons, and Jefferson Chapter. No. 225, Royal Arch Masons, in his home town of Brookville ; Bethany Commandery, No. 83, K. T., at DuBois, Clearfield county ; the Couders- port Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he has received the thirty- . second degree; and Syria Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Pittsburgh.

Socially he belongs to the Pittsburgh Ath- letic Association and to the Brookville Com- munity Club. He is president of the Brook-

ville Boy Scouts, and a member of the board of trustees of the Brookville Y. M. C. A.

Mr. Taylor is the boys' friend. For years he has been their sympathetic big brother. In Brookville and vicinity the advantages of membership in the new Y. M. C. A. are avail- able to every boy. If any boy is financially unable to join, all that is necessary is that the matter come to Mr. Taylor's attention. He is very proud of about forty such young Americans. He keeps an alphabetical list of them, and a systematic record of their vices. If any of them get into trouble from breaking a window. or other cause, if the offender comes and tells the truth he is counseled and satisfactory reparation is made without pub- licity. Mr. Taylor always holds that a boy's mistakes are misdirected energies. In plead- ing for the boys and their future, and the future of our homes, business and country, Mr. Taylor always uses the expression, "the conservation of our boys," and earnestly ex- plains, from whatever angle the subject is viewed, how essential it is to care for and protect our youth in their years of physical, mental and moral growthi.

With a memory for faces and names of persons so retentive as to be considered phenomenal, Mr. Taylor is equally alert in recognizing some ragged urchin or a Wall street broker, regardless of the lapse of years and mutations of time. He is "Dave Taylor" to men, women and children, jovial, sym- pathetic and urbane. A mixer, but strongly individual, he is nevertheless adaptive to environment, and popular among his wide circle of acquaintances because of his delight- ful camaraderie, and an inexhaustible store- house of anecdotes, jests and humorous episodes. Charitable, philanthropical and generous, particularly to local enterprises, he yet has a penetrative mind back of his search- ing gaze, very disconcerting to "four flushing." A well known Nimrod, he has a special repu- tation as a wing shot, having been known to have shot five pheasants-straight without a miss-on the wing in eight minutes. His modesty is marked, consequently many of his exploits are probably not known. The stories of his prowess as a hunter come almost wholly from witnesses. Among the baseball fans he is remembered as second baseman, and to- day, as a fan, his interest in the game is not less enthusiastic. He has traveled extensively in America.

On Dec. 22, 1892, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Julia Eleanora Gray, who was born and reared in Jefferson county and who

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is a daughter of William H. and Mary (Darl- ing) Gray, honored citizens of Brookville. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have five children, namely: Mary E., Marjorie G., Carolyn, Henry Charles and Sarah Katharine, and the attractive family home at Brookville is a cen- ter of much of the representative social life of the community.

LEWIS ARMSTRONG BRADY is now living retired at Brookville, after a successful business career as a hardware merchant. In personal character, citizenship, capability and self-reliance he has been a typical Brady. The family has contributed so much in the evolu- tion of western Pennsylvania from primitive conditions to modern that no history of the State could be written without the record of their exploits, especially in pioneer days, when the Bradys were relied upon for the protection of the frontier, being renowned as woodsmen and Indian fighters. Their intimate knowl- edge and understanding of the Indians and In- dian character and customs, and woodcraft equal to the red man's, were so valuable to the early settlers that a Brady always commanded respect. Always a military family, they have been represented not only in the border con- flicts, but in every American war from the French and Indian to the Spanish-American. Indeed, patriotic and self-sacrificing support of their country in times of trouble has been a persistent Brady trait as well marked in the present as in the past, and it is a fact that they furnished more soldiers for the Civil and Span- ish-American wars than any other family in Indiana county, Pennsylvania.

However, the achievements of the Bradys in the interest and protection of their country have by no means been limited to fighting for it. Of.Irish Protestant origin, they have been for the most part stanch Presbyterians, and in the early days were among the earnest founders and supporters of Presbyterian Churches in the various communities with which the numerous representatives of the name have been connected. They are now scattered all over the Union, but wherever found retain the strong characteristics upon which their reputation had its foundation. Many members of the family have been called to honorable public service. James H. Brady. one of the descendants of Hugh Brady, to whom most of the Bradys in this part of Penn- sylvania trace their lineage, was governor of Idaho a few years ago, and others have filled prominent positions of responsibility in the various State governments. Of those eminent

in other lines, there is notably Rev. Cyrus Townsend Brady, D. D., graduate of Annapo- lis Naval Academy, Protestant Episcopal clergyman and especially known for his literary work. Many have attained high place in mili- tary circles, and in this respect probably the most famous member of the family is Gen. Hugh Brady, a grandson of Hugh Brady, the progenitor of this branch of the family. To recount all the adventures of the pioneer Bradys who made the name synonymous with heroism and fearlessness in frontier days would involve presenting a history of this sec- tion of the State. But it may be mentioned that Hugh Brady, founder of the family here, was the father of the famous Capt. John Brady, born in 1733, who began his military career in the French and Indian war. During the first part of the Revolution he built a semi- fortified log house at Muncy Manor which be- came known in that region as "Brady's Fort" and was used as a place of refuge from the Indians by the neighboring settlers. He and two of his sons fought in the Revolution. Though he was killed by the Indians April 1I, 1779, at Wolf Run, when but forty-six years of age, Capt. John Brady had become noted for his bravery and success in the de- fense of the frontier, and in recognition of his services the Lycoming Chapter of the D. A. R. placed a marker at his grave. There is a monument to him in the cemetery at Muncy. Captain Brady married Mary Quigley, and among the thirteen children born to them were Gen. Hugh Brady (previously referred to), commander of the North Western Military De- partment of the United States; the famous Capt. Samuel Brady; and James Brady, who was killed by the Indians, dying Aug. 8, 1778. the year before his father's death. Mrs.

Charles G. Ernst, of Punxsutawney, Jefferson Co., Pa., is one of the descendants of Capt. John Brady, and she owns his surveyor's guide book and also his account book.

Other branches of the family have been no less reliable in patriotic services to their coun- try in her need. The record all through is one of conspicuous devotion and valor, as well as personal merit of equally high order. Hugh Brady. the founder of the family in America, was a son of Rev. Nicholas Brady. D. D., ver- sifier of the Psalms, rector of Claphams, Lon- don, English chaplain to King William and Queen Anne. Fle was born at Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, Oct. 28, 1659, and died May 22, 1726, at Richmond, England. He is buried at Richmond Cathedral. Clapham, London. From a tract in the British Museum entitled

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"In loving memory of Sir Antonio Brady, Kt., at rest Dec. 12, 1881, aged 70. Reprinted from Stratford and South Sussex Advertiser" the following is taken ( page 5) : "According to the register record of the Irish llerald office, the family pedigree of the late Sir Antonio goes back to Milesius of Spain, who was the first conqueror of Ireland. Another fact, showing the extent of his connection with bye-gone ages, may be mentioned that among his an- cestors are found the Rev. Ilugh Brady, who was the first Bishop of Meath, consecrated in 1563, and Dr. Nicholas Brady, who was the author, in conjunction with Dr. Tate, of the well known metrical versions of the Psalms of David" ("New Version of the Psalms of David," 1695-1703). "Another relative of the deceased was the Right Hon. Maziere Brady, who died in 1858 after filling the office of Lord lligh Chancellor of Ireland on three specific occasions. The families of Brady, Kil- ner and Perigal have been for several genera- tions associated by ties of friendship."

From Alumni Oxoniensis, Ed. of 1891, Ox- ford. page 170. Volume 1, early series : "Brady- Nicholas. s. Nicholas of Co. Cork, Ireland, gent. Christ Church, matric. 4 Feb. 1678-9. aged 18; a student from Westminster 1678-82: B. A. from Trinity Coll., Dublin 1685, M. A. 1686, B. and D. D., 1(g, translator of the metrical version of the Psalms, prebend of St. Barry's in Cork with the living of Kilnaglarchy 1688, rector of Kilmyne and vicar of Dungah. diocese of Cork 1688, and of Kilgusave 1688, Chaplain to the Duke of Ormond's troop of guards, Chaplain to Win. IH, to Queen Mary and to Queen Anne, lecturer of St. Matthew, Wood St., London, minister to St. Catherine Cree Church, curate of Richmond, Surrey, and kept school there. vicar of Stratford-upon- Avon 1703-5, rector of Clapham, Surrey, 1706, and until his death 20 May, 1726, buried in that church 26th, a great grandson of Hugh Brady, ist Protestant Bishop of Meath. born at Cork. 28 Oct. 1650. See Rawlinson III 261, 1\ 310. XVI 248, 265: Alumni West, 183, Hearne II. 73 ; and D. N. B."

"Richmond and Its Inhabitants from Ear- liest Times." by William Crisp, London, 1866, published by Hiscocke and Sons and J. T. Cooke, contains the following ( page 160) : "It will be interesting to many of our readers to learn that Mr. Nicholas Brady. afterwards Dr. Brady, held the curacy of Richmond for a period of many years, he being proposed for the office by many gen lemen of this place on the 4th of June, 1690; to which he was tin-

animously elected as a 'fitt and proper person' and on the 22d of May, 1698, there is the fol- lowing : 'Wee the Gentlemen of the Vestry. having seen a version of the l'salms of David fitted to the tunes used in Churches by Mr. Brady and Mr. Tate together with his Majes- ties order of allowance in Council bareing date at Kensington the 3d day of December, 1696, doe willingly receive the same and desire they may be used in our congregation.'

On June 29, 1090, Nicholas Brady married I ctitia, daughter of Rev. Dr. Synge, Arch- deacon and af erwards Bishop of Cork and Cloyne. They had: Rev. Nicholas Brady, rec- tor of Footing : Samuel Brady, born in 1693. M1. 1). to the forces and mayor of Portsmouth in 1726, died March 27, 1747 ( was married twice ) ; and Hugh Brady, born in 1709.

Hugh Brady, son of Rev. Dr. Nicholas Brady, was born in 1700, and emigrated to America from Enniskille, County Cork, Ire- land, locating first at the falls or forks of the Delaware river, and thence removing to neai Shippensburg, Pa. Their homestead was in Hopewell township, Cumberland county, five miles from Shippensburg, and there Hugh Brady spent most of his mature years. There is a record in the Pennsylvania Archives. 3d Series. Volume I, page 26: "flugh Brady, of Chester County, had warranted to him 150 acres of land in Paxtang township, on Feb. 22. 1733." Early records of Hugh Brady in Cumberland county are found in Record Book ".A." Vol- ume I, page 18. Carlisle, Pa .: "Release of Hugh Brady to Richard Peters dated 7 Oct .. 1748. In consideration of £25 sold and re- leased all that tract of land with the improve- ments and buildings situate in Hopewell town- ship. Lancaster County. adjoining John McCuin and Robert Simonton containing 200 acres more or less. 50 acres of which were granted to Thomas Woods by warrant 19 Mch., 1744. and by said Woods to Hugh Brady 30 Aug., 1745, and the other 150 acres were warranted to Hugh Brady 6th Oct .. 1748." On page 33 of the same volume we find a bill of sale. Hugh Brady of Hopewell to Francis Campbell and David Megaw of Shippensburg. storekeepers, dated 3 Apr., 1753:

"In consideration of £12. 105. and 3d. set over and deliver to Campbell and Megaw i bay mare 8 years old branded .W. E.' on the near buttocks, one sorrel mare, white faced, 7 years old, branded 'S' on the shoulder, and a red cow with calf 3 yrs. old a flecked red cow & white

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cow 4 yrs. old and 2 yearling calves. To have and to hold &c.

"HUGHI BRADY.

"Witnesses :

"DAVID SUMMERALL

"ROBT. SIMONTON"

In Book "B," Volume 1, page 213, is a deed of Robert Simonton to William Starrett dated April 19, 1768, which in the description men- tions Hugh Brady as one of the adjoiners.

In 1730 Hugh Brady married llannah Mc- Cormick, a Scotchwoman, and they reared a large family of boys and girls, giving them a good education for those early days. They grew to sturdy manhood and womanhood, and did their full share in the development of the various communities in which they settled, and among their posterity are many who have ac- quired local, State and even national reputa- tion. Hugh Brady and his wife were evidently remarkable people, and their descendants to this day possess an inheritance of character and high principle which would make them notable anywhere. They left a family of nine chil- dren, viz .: Samuel, born 1734, died 1811. married Jane Simonton and their children were John (married Margaret Barrons and Eleanor Watts), Joseph ( married a McBride ). Mary ( Mrs. John Work ). Elizabeth ( twin of Mary, died unmarried ), Margaret ( died un- married ) and Hannah ( Mrs. Peter Justice) : Capt. John Brady, born 1733, died 1779, mar- ried Mary Quigley and had thirteen children. Samnel ( married Miss Van Swearingen ). James ( killed by the Indians, unmarried ). Wil- liam (died in infancy), John ( married Jane McCall), Mary ( wife of Capt. William Gray). William P. (married Jane Cook ), Gen. Flugh (married Sarah Wallis). Jane' ( twin of Hugh, (lied unmarried ). Robert ( married Mary Cook). Agnes (died in infancy). Hannah (married Maj. Robert Gray, no children). Joseph ( died in infancy) and Liberty (wife of Maj. William Dewart, no children) : Rev. Joseph, born about 1735, married Mary Car- nahan, and had Hugh ( married Keziah Cham- bers). Joseph (married Elizabeth Foster). Margaret ( Mrs. Brown), Mary ( Mrs. Thomas McCune). Hannah (Mrs. Joseph Duncan) . Jane ( Mrs. Paul Martin) and Elizabeth ( Mrs. James McKee) ; William, who married a Fer- guson, removed to Carolina in early times, and it is said he was killed by the Indians ; Hugh married Jane Young, and their children were James (married Rachel Spear), John ( mar- ried Unice Deeher), Samuel ( died unmarried ) . Joseph (died when four years old). Joseph (2) (married Barbara Ream), Mary ( died un-

married ), Hannah ( Mrs. Samuel McCune), Rebecca ( Mrs. Hugh McCune) and Jane ( un- married ) ; Ebenezer married Jane Irvine and had a family of eight, Hugh, John, William, Ebenezer (all four lived in Indiana county, Pa.), Martha ( Mrs. Daniel Shannon ), Mary ( Mrs. Daniel Bower), Drusilla ( Mrs. William McCreight ) and Susan ( Mrs. William Thomp- som) ; James is next in line to Lewis Arm- strong Brady and is mentioned more fully below ; Mary married Samuel Hanna and had Joseph, Ebenezer, Samuel, Margaret and Elizabeth ; Margaret married Archibald Hanna and had Hugh, William, Mary and Hannah. The Hanna famiFes removed early to Ohio or Kentucky and nothing is now known of them.

Hugh Brady was a pewholder in the Middle Spring Presbyterian Church as early as 1754 -a direct testimony to the religious habit of his life, also marked in his descendants. Five ministers of the gospel are found among his posterity. He and his wife are buried in the lower graveyard at Middle Spring, where the people of Hopewell organized a Presbyterian Church in 1738. and doubtless the Brady fam- ily were among its most loyal supporters. The old log building, 35 feet square, stood near the gate of the graveyard and on the bank of the stream, and the early settlers buried their dead around the building. The oldest stone bears date 1770. When the descendants of Hugh Brady visited this graveyard in 1909 they found one hundred and four marked graves and two thousand unmarked. A wall of lime- stone was erected around this burial place prior to 1805, and is still in a good state of preserva- tion. The Bradys intend to erect a fitting memorial to their early ancestors in the old cemetery. Hugh Brady's farm was then ( 1909) owned by Mr. and Mrs. Piper. It lies two miles south of the Blue or Kittochtinny mountains. and near Conodoguinet creek. Two hundred acres were granted to Hugh Brady in 1744 and 1745, and some years later two of his sons, Joseph and Hugh, came into possession of the western part of this grant. which they disposed of in 1794. The old log house stood within sight of the creek, and af- forded a secure hiding place from the Indians. The greater portion has long since gone to decay and has been supplanted by a frame dwelling house, but the living room remains unchanged, its low ceiling and small windows bearing testimony to the architecture of a hundred and fifty years ago. The southern wide quaint stone chimney, built by Hugh Brady, is also a relic of those early days.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 26

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