Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 30

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 30

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nah (Lawhead) Sprague died June 28, 1902, and Mr. Sprague married for his second wife Sadie E. Lawhead, her cousin. There are 110 children by this union. The Spragues are Baptists in religious connection.

JOHN C. LUCAS is another native son of Jefferson county who has here found ample opportunity and scope for effective enterprise along normal and productive lines of business, and he stands today as one of the representa- tive business men and popular and influential citizens of Brookville, where he operates a well equipped planing mill and conducts a pros- perous general lumber business.

John Craig Lucas was born on a farm in Knox township, this county, on the 27th of November, 1859, and is a representative of a family whose name has been associated with the history of this county for more than eighty years. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Lucas, was born in Center county. Pa., whence he eventually removed to Indiana county. From the latter county he removed to Clarion county, and in 1834 to Jefferson county, pur- chasing a tract of wild land in Clover town- ship, where he became a pioneer settler and reclaimed a farm from the virtual wilderness. He not only became the owner of a large landed estate and gave effective attention to its development, but in the early days he also worked to a considerable extent at his trade, that of tailor, besides having profited also from his active operations as a lumberman. Both he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives on their old homestead, and their remains rest in the old-time Jefferson

cemetery.

John S. Lucas, father of John C. Lucas, was born in Indiana county, Pa., and was voung at the time of the family removal to Jefferson county, where he was reared to man- hood under the influences of the pioneer farm. Eventually he became a prosperous farmer and lumberman in Knox township. In 1864 he removed with his family to Ford county, Ill., where he became a prosperous farmer and a citizen of influence in community affairs. with secure place in popular confidence and esteem. He attained to venerable years and passed the closing period of his life in the city of Denver, Colo. As a young man he married Cordilla Hall, a daughter of the late Joseph HIall, of Rose township, Jefferson county, and she was about seventy-two years of age at the time of her death. which occurred at Pueblo, Colo. Of their children, the third child died in infancy; Sylvanus F. is a resi-

dent of the State of California : John C. was the seventh in order of birth; Emma is the wife of Simon Evans, and is residing in Ellens- burg, Washington.

John Craig Lucas passed the period of his childhood upon the old homestead farm in Knox township, and was about five years old at the time of the family removal to Illinois. The greater part of his life has been passed in his native county. In connection with farnt work he early gained fellowship with pro- ductive toil and endeavor, the while he made good use of the advantages afforded in the public schools. At the age of twenty-three years he became associated with C. R. Hall in the lumber business at Brookville, and in 1888 he purchased an interest in the substan- tial business of which he is now the sole owner, and in the development and upbuilding of which he has been a resourceful factor. Mr. Lucas has been sole proprietor of the planing mill and lumber business since 1910, and the fine modern plant proves an important adjunct to the industrial activities of Jefferson county, affording the best of facilities for the manu- facturing of all kinds of building material and supplies, and giving employment to a force of from ten to fifteen men, gauged by the de- mands of the season.

Mr. Lucas is emphatically progressive and public-spirited and takes a lively interest in all that concerns the welfare of the com- munity. His political allegiance is given un- reservedly to the Republican party, and he served fourteen years as a member of the borough council of Brookville, most of the time as president of that body. In this posi- tion he was the champion of progressive poli- cies, and within his tenure of office many municipal improvements were made, includ- ing the paving of the streets. It is notable that he never missed a council meeting during the last eight years of his incumbency, which terminated Jan. 1, 1916. His thorough famil- iarity with conditions in the borough qualified him for authoritative judgment as to its needs. He and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church, and he is affiliated with Hobah Lodge, No. 276, F. & A. M.

On the 23d of February, 1888, Mr. Lucas inarried Elizabeth M. Orr, daughter of the late David Orr, of Limestone, Clarion county. whose father, S. C. Orr, settled in Clarion county in 1804. They have one son, Fred- erick Hall Lucas, who is employed in the en- gineering department of the American Bridge Company at Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

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BENJAMIN F. SHIVELY, late of South Bend, Ind., at the time of his death senior United States senator from Indiana, had been a prominent member of Congress for years, and was one of the leading Democrats of the country.

Mr. Shively was born March 20, 1857. on a farm in St. Joseph county, Ind., son of Rev. Joel Shively. His boyhood was divided be- tween work and school, and during his young manhood he taught school for five years. Having saved some money he invested it in the Era, a country newspaper, to which he de- voted himself for the next three years, doing most of the work himself, setting type, gather- ing news, soliciting advertising and writing editorials, an experience which proved more valuable for future use than immediate profit. In 1883 he gave up the newspaper and turned to politics, in which he was best known. In 1884 he was sent to Congress to fill the unex- pired term of Maj. William H. Calkins, who had resigned to accept the Republican nomina- tion for governor, and at the end of the term he was regularly elected, in 1886. He proved so popular that he was honored with reelection in 1888 and 1800, and refused another nomina- tion in 1892. being desirous of resuming the law practice which his public duties seriously interfered with. He settled at South Bend, and took a foremost place among the most talented lawyers of the State. In 1896 he was the Democratic nominee for governor. But his legislative service was not ended. In 1903 and again in 1905 the Democrats paid him the honor of giving him their party's com- plimentary vote for United States senator, to which office he was elected Jan. 14. 1909. He was reelected in 1914 by the direct vote of the people, being the first senator in Indiana so chosen. During his membership in both branches of the national legislature Mr. Shively was associated particularly with foreign af- fairs and tariff legislation. While in the House he was regarded as a tariff expert, serving on the Ways and Means committee, and during his service as senator was on an important sub- committee of the Senate Finance committee, exerting a powerful influence in the framing of the Underwood-Simmons tariff law. At the time of his death he was ranking Demo- cratic member of the Foreign Relations con- mittee. He was known as a fluent and force- ful debater, and as an energetic and useful committee member. Throughout his political career. for a period of thirty years and more. he took an active part in most of the delibera-

tions of his party. He was president of the board of trustees of Indiana University.

Mr. Shively died at the Providence hospital in Washington, D. C., March 14, 1916, after several months' illness, because of which he had been obliged to relinquish active participa- tion in many affairs. The Senate adjourned immediately upon announcement of his demise. which was made by Senator Kern, his colleague from Indiana, who felt it to be "the saddest duty . of his official life." Both Senate and House adopted resolutions of regret and ap- pointed committees to attend the funeral, which was held at South Bend. President Wilson, who visited Mr. Shively several times during his illness, sent the following letter to Mrs. Shively :

"I have just learned with the deepest sorrow of the death of your husband. Your own loss is tragical and my heart goes out to you in deep and sincere sympathy. The loss of the country is very great, for he was moved as a public servant by high motives of duty to his State and the nation, and 1 join with his col- leagues in deploring his death as creating a vacancy in the highest counsels of the public which cannot easily be filled. May God sustain you in this moment of your supreme sorrow."

A Pennsylvania paper in editorial comment said: "The death of United States Senator Shively deprives the State of Indiana of one of the most eminent native sons and the upper house of Congress of a member whose record in statesmanship was alike a credit to the chamber and himself. While a 'Hoosier' by birth, Mr. Shively was a Pennsylvanian by ancestry and he married a daughter of the Keystone State. During his later years he had spent considerable time in this State and was known and esteemed by many Pennsyl- vanians."

In 1889 Mr. Shively married Emma Laura Jenks, daughter of IIon. George A. Jenks. of Brookville, Jefferson Co., Pa., and they estab- lished their home in South Bend, though much of their time was necessarily spent at Wash- ington, D. C. The three children born to this union also survive: George Jenks, John Joel, and Mary Mabon.

WILDRED F. HUTCHISON, of Pan- coast, coal operator and large landowner. is a member of one of the most influential fami- lies of Winslow township, being a son of the late Thomas Hutchison, whose farm and coal lands were among the most valuable in this part of Jefferson county. Thomas Hutchison was of Irish extraction, his parents, John and

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Jane (Orr) Hutchison, having been natives of Ireland. It is supposed that the family was descended from the Hutchisons who were in Cromwell's army. His grandfather, Thomas Hutchison, spent all his life in Ire- land, and was killed by being thrown from a horse.

John Hutchison came to America in 1819 and lived in Philadelphia for a time. Re- turning to his native land, he remained there for two years before he recrossed the Atlan- tic to make his permanent home in this coun- try. He married in Philadelphia, and fifteen months later removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., at which place he resided four and a half years, at the end of that period going back to Philadelphia and establishing himself at Fairmount, where he continued to live for the next sixteen years. In May, 1847, he came out to western Pennsylvania with his son Thomas and bought 113 acres of wild land in Washington township, Jefferson county, for which he paid three dollars an acre, and upon which he built a mud-plastered log cabin and settled down to farming. In spite of the hard conditions then prevailing in this region he prospered, and eight years after his arri- val built a more substantial dwelling, which he and his wife occupied until 1879, when they left it to spend their remaining days at the home of their son Thomas, in Winslow town- ship. There both died in 1883, Mr. Hutchi- son at the age of eighty-three years, Mrs. Hutchison in November at the age of eighty- nine. He was a stanch Presbyterian, for many years a ruling elder in the Beechwoods Church of that denomination. Originally a Whig in politics, he later joined the Republican party, and in deciding upon public questions, as in his private affairs, followed the dictates of a strong conscience. Mrs. Hutchison, whose maiden name was Jane Orr, came to America in 1822 with a sister, settling in Philadelphia. They were daughters of Joseph and Jane ( Wil- son) Orr, natives of County Derry, Ireland, who spent all their lives there. To Mr. and Mrs. Hutchison the following children were born : Mary A., who married John McClure, both now deceased; Thomas; Joseph, who followed farming, settling on the old home- stead; William, who died when two and a half years old; and Eliza J., who died when two years old.

Thomas Hutchison was born Jan. 3. 1829. while his parents were living in Brooklyn, and was reared in Philadelphia. He had few edu- cational privileges, attending school four months in the latter city and subscription

schools for about two years, but he had a keen and active mind, and made the most of his advantages, most of which were of a prac- tical character. When eighteen years old he ran away from home to enlist for service in the Mexican war, and had reached Governor's Island when overtaken by his father, who per- suaded him to return home and obtained his release. The youth consented to go back on the condition that his father leave the city and move out into the wilderness of the western .part of the State, hence the removal to Jef- ferson county. Here he spent his time as most of the young men did, assisting in farming and humbering, and when twenty-four years old went into the latter business on his own ac- count, following it for a year. Then he set- tled on the farm in Winslow township which was ever afterwards his home, the original tract comprising seventy-five acres of what proved to be as good land as any in Jefferson county. The work of improvement had not been started, so that the entire development of the property was to his credit, and his success made him one of the most prosperous and progressive agriculturists in the county. His farm became one of the finest in this section, and as he added to it increased to 320 acres, favorably situated near the borough of Falls Creek, equipped with all the conveniences and machinery known to modern agricultural sci- ence, and cultivated to the last detail as a modern country place should be. About noon on May 29, 1860, a cyclone swept the place, destroying all of the buildings and five hun- dred dollars worth of standing timber, the work of devastation being so complete that the family had to live with the neighbors until new buildings could be erected. Mr. Hutchi- son lost no time in starting the work of re- building, all traces of the damage being soon wiped out. Having discovered that his land was underlaid with a rich vein of coal, he opened a mine in 1874 and operated it very profitably.

Mr. Hutchison was a broad-minded citizen. and gave generously of his time and ability in establishing desirable social conditions in his neighborhood. He served ten years' as a jus- tice of the peace, filled all the township offices, and served so many times as election judge that he was known to all his neighbors as Squire Hutchison. In political opinion he was a firm Republican. His religious connection was with the Presbyterian Church, and for four years he was an elder of the congrega- tion at Reynoldsville, transferring his mem- bership to Falls Creek after a church was

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established there, and also serving that organ- ization as elder. Mr. Hutchison had the mis- fortune to lose his eyesight in 1900, being blind for about fifteen years before his death, which occurred Aug. 11, 1915.

On Nov. 1, 1855, Mr. Hutchison was mar- ried at Beechwoods to Mary Waite, who was born July 8, 1832, at Philipsburg, Center Co., Pa., daughter of James and Martha (McIn- tosh ) Waite, natives of Ireland, the former born in County Kildare, the latter in County Derry. Mrs. Waite was a daughter of Robert and Martha ( McKinley ) McIntosh, the mother dying in Ireland, and the father subsequently marrying Mary Stevenson, with whom he came to the Beechwoods in Washington township, that district being settled principally by vari- ous branches of the Smith and McIntosh fam- ilies. Mr. and Mrs. Waite became acquainted in Center county, where they were married, coming to Jefferson county in 1835 and locat- ing in the Beechwoods. He had followed the tanning business at Philipsburg, but farmed after settling in Washington township. He was a prominent citizen, serving as justice of the peace and supervisor, was a Republican in politics, and a Presbyterian in religion, his wife also belonging to that church. He died in May, 1873, aged sixty-two years, long sur- viving Mrs. Waite, who had passed away in February, 1846, aged forty-seven years. Their four children were: Mrs. Mary Hutchison, Robert (a farmer of Winslow township). Martha (deceased wife of John Smith, a miner and farmer of Winslow township) and John (who was killed by a falling tree).

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hutchison : IIannibal James formerly had a sawmill in Winslow township, but now lives in Ringgold township, this county, where he is a coal operator; he married Mary M. Waite, who died leaving one daughter, Bar- bara J., and for his second wife he married Maggie Mapes. Martha Jane is the wife of Amos Goss, a farmer and coal operator of Winslow township, and they have had twelve children. John Calvin, who is unmarried, re- sides on the homestead farm in Winslow town- ship. R. Norman, deceased, married Mary L. Goss, who lived at East Pembroke, N. H., until her death, with her two children, Archie and Eugene. Mary Matilda married Tilton Reynolds, formerly a farmer in Winslow township, now a resident of Mechanicsville, Clarion county, and has five children. Joseph M., who lives at Pancoast. married Jemima Hawthorn, and has seven children, Alvin, Carl, Lester, Mary, Edith, Laura and Russel. Mau-

rice O. is deceased. Georgianna R. is the. wife of John O'Harrow and lives on the old homestead; they have two children, John and Eleanor. Barbara died in infancy. Wildred F. is the youngest. The mother died March 4, 1914, and both parents are buried at Falls Creek.

Wildred F. Hutchison was born March 10. 1874, in Winslow township, and was educated in its public schools. When but thirteen years old he became regularly employed in the lum- ber woods, and was so engaged until he reached the age of seventeen, at which time he changed to mine work, and he was lumber- ing, mining and farming by turns until 1900, getting a variety of experience which serves him admirably in the management of the large interests he has accumulated. Mr. Hutchi- son now gives most of his time to coal opera- tions, having private mines which are being profitably worked, and also operating the old Pancoast mines, which he purchased in part- nership with Edward Swineford. For fifteen years he supplied all the coal to the DuBois & Butler brickyards at Falls Creek. He is a large landowner. and handles all his business affairs with the competence acquired in long training of the most practical sort, and the ability inherited from a very capable father. Like his father he has taken a public-spirited interest in public matters, and at present is president of the Winslow township school board. He is a prominent member of Meadow Brook Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, of which he was master for three years, and in fraternal affiliation is an Odd Fellow. In religious connection he is a Presbyterian, unit- ing with the church at Falls Creek.

On Dec. 23, 1899, Mr. Hutchison was mar- ried to Mattie Blanch Swineford. daughter of Shelumiel Swineford, who lives in Knox township. this county, four miles from Brook- ville. He is a well known citizen of the' county. and an honored veteran of the Civil war, having served in the 148th Pennsylvania Regiment. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchison are the parents of six children : Esther, Thomas, Myr- tle, Frank, Orie and John S. Their home is at Pancoast. in Winslow township.

COL. ROBERT MEANS THOMPSON, youngest son of Hon. John J. Y. and Agnes S. ( Kennedy) Thompson, has greatly distin- guished himself, and is known all over the world in financial. naval, antiquarian and ath- letic circles. He is now ( 1915) president of the Navy League of the United States. Colonel Thompson was born March 2, 1849, at Corsica,

Robert Means Thompson.

, 1CP X

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Jefferson Co., Pa. In 1852 his father moved to Brookville. Pa., and here in due time young Thompson was enrolled as a pupil in the borough schools. Inheriting brawn, great in- tellectual activity and mental power coupled with incisive, courageous and industrious habits. it was soon observed by myself and other friends that nature had created him for some large field of usefulness. At that time I was a political boss, and with some others in July. 1864. when Robert was fifteen, we recom- mended him for a naval cadetship to our Con- gressman, Hon. G. W. Schofield, who indorsed the application, and on July 30, 1864. Robert M. Thompson met all the requirements of the medical as well as of the professional board and was received as a student in the Naval .Academy at Newport. R. I. On June 2, 1868, he graduated from the Naval Academy of Annapolis. Md., as cadet number ten in a class of eighty. He was ordered to sea in Septem- ber. 1868. and from Sept. roth of that year until Sept. 4, 1869. he cruised with the West India and Mediterranean squadrons, serving successively on the U. S. S. "Contocook," of the West India squadron, and the U. S. S. "Franklin," "Richmond" and "Guard," of the Mediterranean squadron. On Sept. 4. 1869, he was ordered home in the U. S. S. "Guard," for examination for promotion. On the 20th of October, 1869, he received his commission as ensign, dated July 22, 1869, and on the 3d of December. 1860. reported to Commander E. O. Matthews for duty, as one of the first five officers stationed at the torpedo station at Newport. R. I. On Oct. 12, 1870, he received a commission as master, bearing dafe July 12. 1870, and on AApril 12, 1871, was detached from the torpedo station and ordered to report June ist for duty on board the U. S. S. "Wachusett," fitting out at Portsmouth, Va., navy yard, for duty in the Mediterranean squadron, and sailed from New York via the Azores Islands, for Lisbon. Portugal : thence to Gibraltar and "up the straits." After a cruise on the coasts of France and Italy, he. on the 17th of October, 1871, at Naples, ten- dered his resignation, which was accepted Nov. 18. 1871, and delivered to him on Dec. 16th. on which day he left his ship and the navy.

Being a rapacious reader and now in civil life. he studied law in the office of Hon. George .A. Jenks, and on Aug. 24. 1872, was admitted to the bar at Clarion, l'a .. and was admitted to practice in the courts of Jefferson county. He then went to the office of his brother. A. C. Thompson, at Portsmouth, Ohio, and was soon admitted to practice in the courts of Ohio. The

lessons of thoroughness taught in the navy stimulated him in his legal efforts, and he en- tered Dane Law School of Harvard in Novem- ber, 1872, graduating therefrom in 1874. On Jan. 1. 1875. he opened a law office in Boston. He became assistant reporter to the Supreme court of Massachusetts, as assistant to John Lathrop, afterwards justice of the Supreme court. During this time he helped prepare for publication Vols. 115-116 of the Massachusetts Supreme court reports. On Dec. 26, 1876, he was elected to the common council ; in 1877 he was reelected.

While engaged in the practice of law at Bos- ton he was retained to investigate the titles to a certain mining property near Sherbrooke, in the Province of Quebec, and later he was in- duced to accept the management of this com- pany and its mines. This company eventually became the Orford Copper Company, which erected smelting works at Bayonne. N. J .. where they engaged largely in the smelting and refining of copper. Again the name of this company was changed, to the Orford Nickel & Copper Company. and became interested also in the smelting and refining of nickel. The chemical knowledge obtained by Midshipman Thompson while in the Naval Academy en- abled him to take an active part in the technical management of the works. and to him is due the perfecting of the process for the separation of the nickel and copper mattes obtained from the mines near Copper Cliff, in the Province of Ontario. If you talk to Colonel Thompson you will find that of all the events of his life, he is prouder of the fact that when the United States Congress appropriated a million dollars to buy a million pounds of nickel for use in preparing armorplate for the navy he it was that delivered this nickel to the government for two hundred and forty thousand dollars, thus repaying the government with usury the cost of his education. When the International Nickel Company was formed. taking over the mines of Canada and also the works of the Orford Nickel & Copper Company, Colonel Thompson became chairman of the board of directors of that company. Since its formation he has been continuously the president of the Naval Academy Alumni Association of New York. He was the first member of the Naval Academy Athletic Association, and he has for years been looked upon as the patron saint of the Naval Academy. He was president of the American Olympic committee which super- vised the work of the American athletes at Stockholm, Sweden, in 1912, and the loyal sup- port given to him by the officers of the army

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 30

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