Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 42

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 42

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resident of Kane, Pa. Her daughter Goldie lived at the Cook farm for about eight years, until her marriage to Wayne Henry, of Brook- ville.

Mr. Cook died Sept. 23, 1916, and is buried in the Methodist cemetery in Barnett township.

JOHN McMURRAY, of Brookville, has filled a distinctive place in the life of that borough in his capacity as editor of the Jeffer- sonian Democrat, a relation he has sustained for the last thirty-seven years save for an in- terim of twelve months. Upholding the high- est ideals of public spirit and citizenship in that function, he has endeavored to live up to them so consistently in his private career that his sincerity has drawn many supporters to the principles he advocates so ably through the medium of his paper. It is well understood in Brookville and Jefferson county that when Mr. McMurray enters into any project with his influence it is as the result of personal convic- tion concerning its worth, a fact so well recog- nized among his townsmen that his zeal is never misunderstood. Hence he is regarded as a trustworthy guide by those familiar with his character, as most of the residents of Brookville are. He typifies in many respects the Scotch blood inherited through his paternal ancestors. The vigor of his intellect, ability to think clearly, adequate conception of his responsibility as a student of public opinion and faithful mouthpiece of his fellow citizens on all questions of vital import, are character- istics which have distinguished the race for centuries.

Mr. McMurray was but two years old when brought by his parents to Jefferson county. He was born June 12, 1838, in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland Co., Pa., near the village of Fairfield, son of Archibald and Elizabeth Sarah ( Pryor) McMurray. On the father's side his ancestors were Scotch. On his moth- er's side they were English or Welsh. She was a native of Huntingdon county, Pa. On coming to Jefferson county the family settled on a farm in Pinecreek township, near the present village of Emerickville. There the mother died when John was ten years old. in 1848, from which time forward he made his home almost continuously among strangers. His father died in 1870.

In his youth Mr. McMurray experienced the usual educational disadvantages of residence in an unsettled region. Up to the time he was sixteen years old his total period of at- tendance at school amounted to but fifteen months. However, he attended Brookville

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Academy for two months, through his own ef- forts, when he was older. When he was six- teen his father apprenticed him to Reed & Johnson, in Brookville, to learn the carpen- ter's trade. The original arrangement was that he was to serve four years, but he was given his freedom at the end of three years, when Reed & Johnson dissolved partnership. He continued to follow the trade for several years, and also taught school for three winter terms during his young manhood, having attended school for two short terms after learning car- pentry.

During the Civil war Mr. McMurray served three years in the Union army, a little over nine months in the 135th Pennsylvania Volun- teers (in which he was first lieutenant), one month in the 57th Pennsylvania Militia, and a little over two years in the 6th United States Colored Troops. He had his real war expe- rience with the latter regiment. After an ex- amination before General Casey's board in Washington he was appointed a captain in the 6th, which he joined at Camp William Penn, Philadelphia, in September, 1863. The regi- ment served in the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, under General Butler. The winter of 1863-64 was spent at York- town. In June. 1864, it joined the Army of the Potomac, forming part of the first force that operated against Petersburg, on June 15, 1864, when Butler's forces captured some of the outworks of that city. From June 20th to July 30th the regiment lay in the trenches before Petersburg. On the latter date it was at the battle of the Crater. On Aug. Ist it was sent to Dutch Gap Canal, on the James river. remaining there until Sept. 29th, when it took part in the capture of Fort Harrison. There, early in the morning of Sept. 20th, the regi- ment met its worst defeat, losing fifty-five per cent of its officers and men. Captain McMur- ray's company lost that morning twenty-eight in killed and wounded out of a total of thirty- two, the remarkable loss of eighty-seven and a half per cent, the heaviest loss sustained by any company in the Union army in a single charge during the war. The fight lasted only forty minutes. Following the capture of Fort Har- rison the regiment was sent to North Carolina, and took part in the capture of Fort Fisher and Wilmington. It was at Raleigh when Johnston surrendered to Sherman, and re- mained in North Carolina until the close of September, when it was sent to Philadelphia for muster out. The last of March, 1865, Captain McMurray was detailed as division in- spector on the staff of Gen. Charles J. Paine,

division commander, and remained in that position until his regiment was sent to Phila- delphia to be mustered out of the service. He was appointed a major by brevet, "for long and faithful services, and for gallant conduct on the field," and was commissioned major of his regiment just on the eve of its muster out.

Major McMurray has other public services to his credit besides his military record. He is a stanch Democrat, and in 1873 he was elected a delegate to the convention which framed the present Constitution of the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania, from the district composed of Armstrong, Clarion, Forest and Jefferson counties. In May, 1875, he went to Harrisburg as a clerk in the State auditor gen- eral's office, where he remained four years, three of them under Auditor General Temple and one under Auditor General Schell. Dur- ing Cleveland's first administration he served four years as chief of the division of lands and railroads in the office of the secretary of the Interior, at Washington, D. C. Since 1879, however, he has held no public office, giving all his time to conducting his newspaper. At that time he bought the Jeffersonian Democrat of Brookville, from A. A. Carlisle, and has been owner and editor continually since, now having his two sons associated with him under the name of John McMurray & Sons. Mr. McMurray's close experience of public af- fairs has been very valuable to him in his news- paper work, his broad views and keen com- prehension being clearly seen in the avowed policy of the Democrat to conserve public in- terests and stand for the general welfare.

At the close of 1857, when not quite twenty years of age, Mr. McMurray was married to Harriet Ann Heckendorn, who died in the early part of 1869. In the early part of 187.1 he married Jennie M. Hall, of Brookville, who still survives. He has three children living. two sons and one daughter. all born to the first union, namely : Mrs. Harriet E. Griffith, Harry and Archibald, all of Brookville. The two children of the second union are deceased. Major McMurray is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, to which his wife also belongs, and he has served the church officially besides contributing generously to its support. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Freemasons, being a thirty-sec- ond-degree Mason and a member of Williams- port Consistory.

ADAM C. ROBINSON, of Punxsutawney, has for years been considered one of the ablest business men in his section of Jefferson county,

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not alone because of his personal success but also because of the commercial benefit felt by the community as the result of his operations and judgment on industrial matters. Though still connected with several important concerns in his home borough and other parts of Jeffer- son county he has of late years withdrawn to some extent from active business associations. but the influence of his wise principles has not lessened in any degree, and various enterprises established by him continue to enjoy the pros- perity founded on well chosen methods and a policy of progress which keeps them well in advance of the needs of the locality they serve.

Mr. Robinson is a native of Indiana county, Pa., born May 4, 1853, at Smicksburg, son of Joseph Robinson. The family has been in this section of the State for considerably more than a century. founded here by Robert Robinson, Sr., and is of Irish origin. Robert Robinson, Sr .. was born in 1739 at Mahara, County Antrim, Ireland, and was married in that country in November, 1769, to Rachel Wier, who had been born in County Antrim in 1738. In July, 1770, the young couple came to America in company with his parents, two brothers, and two sisters and brothers-in-law. landing that month at Philadelphia. Within a short time they had moved to Marietta, Pa., where their eldest child, a daughter, was born, the entire family later moving to Harrisburg. It is said that the father of Robert Robinson, Sr .. is buried in the graveyard at Lancaster, Pa., the mother in Derry graveyard, in what is now Dauphin county. Robert was employed as a mason on the John Harris "House" at Harrisburg, now known as the Cameron house, which occupies a site overlooking the Susque- hanna river. It was not long before he moved with the rest of the family to Franklin county, settling on the Conococheague creek, where he helped to build a mill which later became a tub factory, and about 1777-78 they moved west of the mountains to Big Sewickley, Westmoreland Co., Pa., which was their home for a couple of years. Robert Robinson's brother John married and settled in Donegal township, Westmoreland county, where he lived and died, leaving a family ; his brother William married and moved to Ohio, where he died, leaving a family : his sister Lavina married his brother- in-law. Samuel Wier, and moved to Washing- ton county. Pa., where they died leaving a family ; his sister Jennie was married in Arm- strong county. Pa., to Tom Smith, and their descendants are still to be found in that section.

Soon after 1780 Robert Robinson. Sr., moved with his family, then consisting of three

sons and two daughters, from Sewickley to the north side of the Kiskiminetas river, in Armstrong township, Westmoreland county, locating on lands called "York," near the mouth of Lick run. The Indians were still numerous in the neighborhood. Before long they settled one mile north of the original loca- tion, the region being then so wild that there was not even a road to the new home site, building a log house twenty-four by twenty- eight feet in dimensions which was virtually a stockade, having neither windows nor doors for some time. until such conveniences were safe. Meantime the second log from the pun- cheon floor had four feet cut out of it to serve for an entrance. Here Robert Robinson, Sr., and his wife continued to reside until 1820, when they went on a visit to their son John, half a mile north on the "Iconium" lands, and there Mrs. Robinson died Oct. 31, 1823. Mr. Robinson reached his ninety-seventh year, dying June 23, 1836, of palsy, and they are buried in the Robinson river hill cemetery, which lies about two hundred feet above the Kiskiminetas river, and is about one hundred rods from the southwest corner of the county. Of their family. John, born April 19, 1772, in Franklin county, was the second child. Eliza- beth, born in Franklin county April 17, 1775, married Thomas Wier, of Washington county. and died Sept. 6, 1862, in Allegheny county, her husband dying Jan. 6. 1833 ; they had three sons and three daughters. James, born in Franklin county June 30, 1777, married Mary Laughlin, of Indiana county, died in 1803, and was soon followed to the grave by his wife; they had no family. Robert. born at Big Sewickley .Aug. 14, 1780, married Elizabeth Black and died Nov. 17, 1833, his wife surviv- ing him until Jan. 10, 1874; they had four sons and three daughters.

John Robinson, eldest son of Robert Robin- son, Sr., was one of the prominent men of his day. About the time of his second marriage he was elected captain of a military company, which he paraded near Indiana, twenty miles from his home. He was one of the first ruling elders of Ebenezer Church, and one of the first in the Presbyterian Church at Saltsburg, Indiana county. On Dec. 6, 1798, he married Mary Wier. of Washington county, Pa., who died March 13. 1804, in her thirtieth year, and was buried at the river hill graveyard. She left three sons, viz .: Robert W., born Sept. 25, 1799, who went West. died April 4. 1869, at Big Spring. Douglas Co., Kans .; he mar- ried Jane Richey, of Indianapolis, who sur- vived him, with two sons and two daughters.

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Adam, born April 13, 1801, married Mary provost marshal's office until Feb. 15, 1863. Foster, of Westmoreland county, and died He was afterwards clerk for the Ist Brigade, 3d Division, Ist Army Corps. April 13, 1874, survived by his wife, one son and two daughters ; one son was lost at Fred- Mary Fullerton Robinson, daughter of John MI. Robinson, was born Dec. 19, 1837, and died May 17, 1867. ericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862, while serving in the Union army. James W., born Feb. 21, 1803, married Rebecca Wier, of Washington county, and died Feb. 4. 1865; he had two sons and four daughters, his wife surviving him with one son and one daughter.

On May 30, 1805, Capt. John Robinson mar- ried ( second ) Jane Scott Marshall, of Indiana county, who died Nov. 10, 1860, aged seventy- nine years, eighteen days. His death occurred April 25, 1856, and they are now buried in the Edgewood cemetery at Saltsburg, their re- mains having been removed from the old grave- yard where originally interred. The children of this marriage were as follows: Jennie S., born Oct. 30, 1806, died March 24, 1808. John 31., born Dec. 11, 1808, learned cabinetmaking. but went into the mercantile business in 1845, and continued therein until his retirement, in 1862; afterwards, from May, 1863, until 1867, serving as a revenue official in Indiana county ; on April 15, 1834. he married Sarah White, of Saltsburg, who died April 16, 1879. Rachel, born Oct. 8, 1810, was married Jan. 8, 1835, to Capt. William Stewart, of Indiana county, a native of Lancaster : she died Jan. 20, 1876, he on April 23, 1876. Jane, born Aug. 25. 1812, was married in April, 1838, to William Moore. of Westmoreland county, and they had one son and three daughters. William M., born July 14. 1814, became a minister, having charge of the Providence Church in Allegheny, Pa. ; he married Nov. 27, 1845. Eliza Laugh- rey, of Pittsburgh, and two sons and two daughters were born to them. Samuel S., born Aug. 5. 1816, died Jan. 6, 1871 ; he married Jan. 14, 1852, Belle McLanahan, of Indiana county, who survived him with four sons and two daughters. Thomas W., born Dec. II, 1818. died Ang. 15. 1820. Eliza M., born Jan. 17 1821. married William Guthrie, Esq., of Glade Run. Pa., Oct. 8. 1856, and had three daughters, she and two of the daughters sur- viving him; he died March 3, 1875. Maria W. was the youngest of the family.

John R. Robinson, son of John M. Robinson, was born May 16, 1835, and married Belle P. Andrew, of Indiana county. Aug. 11, 1862. They reared four children: Frank Fullerton, William Stewart, John Marshall and Mary Belle. On Aug. 1. 1862, John R. Robinson enlisted in the 135th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment. was detailed as colonel's clerk until Nov. 2d, and then was detailed as clerk in the

Joseph Robinson was born in southern Indi- ana county, and later settled at Smicksburg, where he became one of the most prosperous business men of his time. He was a wheel- wright, and also made spinning wheels besides doing the ordinary work of his trade. Later he went into merchandising, and at the time of his death, which occurred at Smicksburg in 1866, he was the wealthiest man within fifteen miles of that place. He married Eliza- beth Gagahan, who died at the age of seventy- five years, and they had the following family : William. John. Joseph, Robert, Taylor, Sarah ( wife of Rev. Mr. Streamer ), Mary and Adam C., all now deceased but Robert and Adam C.

Adam C. Robinson grew up at Smicksburg. and there received his early business training as an apprentice at the marble business, which he also followed after coming to Punxsu- tawney, Jefferson county. At the latter place he bought out the undertaking business of James Shields, and also started the marble business there on his own account, continuing both for many years, and eventually selling his interest in the latter to Charles Neal, in which ownership it still remains. It was in 1884 that he went into the undertaking and furniture business, with which he is still asso- ciated, his son being now associated with him under the firm name of A. C. Robinson & Son. The son is at present the active spirit in the establishment, now the leading one of the kind in this section of Jefferson county, having the largest patronage in and around Punxsutaw ney. Mr. Robinson was the first man in this region to take a course in scientific embalming, and the first to introduce modern practices in undertaking, and his methods in that line are characteristic of all his business transactions. He has always favored the introduction of new ideas, and was one of the organizers and first stockholders of the Summerville Telephone Company, as well as one of its first directors ; when he resigned his connection with the com- pany he was its second largest stockholder. For a period of ten years Mr. Robinson was a member of the board of school directors of Punxsutawney borough, and by his careful at- tention to the duties of the position proved himself as capable and well qualified for efficient public service as for business matters.

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Mr. Robinson married Rebecca Weston, daughter of Thomas Weston, of near Smicks- burg, and they have five children : Charles B. married Cora Riman and has four children, Elizabeth. Adam C., Riman and Ruth; Mary Jane is a teacher in the Punxsutawney high school; Virginia is the wife of Paul Pantall, of Punxsutawney, and their children are Caro- line, Ida May and Jane W .; Ida May, wife of Edward Schrader, of Ridgway, has three chil- dren, Paul, Myrtle and Rebecca; Myrtle Irene, twin of Ida May, married Frank War- ren, of Punxsutawney, and has one child, Louise.

Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have a home in Florida, where they have spent the winter sea- son for several years. He holds membership in John W. Jenks Lodge, No. 534, F. & A. M .. of Punxsutawney; Williamsport Consistory, thirty-second degree, and Jaffa Temple, . A. O. N. M. S., of Altoona, Pa. In religious be- lief he is a Lutheran.

FRED B. HARVEY, who has resided in Falls Creek since he retired, is a son of one of the pioneers of the famous Beechwoods dis- trict, his birthplace and his home until recently. The first of this family in this country was his grandfather Harvey, a native of Ireland, who died in Philadelphia.

Joseph Harvey, father of Fred B. Harvey, was born in Delaware county, Pa., and by trade was a weaver. But he saw in western Penn- sylvania an opportunity to become independ- ent, and a few years after his marriage moved to the Beechwoods with his family, arriving in 1842. Purchasing one hundred acres of tim- berland in Washington township, he put up a log house and stable and went to work imme- diately to get his property cleared. lumbering and farming there the rest of his active years. The family had all the typical experiences of those hard days, but they succeeded in making a good home and getting a large part of the tract under cultivation, becoming prosperous members of their community. Joseph Harvey married Margaret Braden, who was born in or near Philadelphia, and she died many years before him, in 1861. His death occurred in 1887, when he was seventy-six years old. They were the parents of a large family, viz. : Mar- garet remained at the old home place with her brother Fred, still residing with him: Phoebe Ann, born in Delaware county, now deceased. married Abraham Boyer, of Jefferson county, and they settled in the State of Washington ; Fred B. is mentioned later : Charles W. mar- ried a Miss Smouse, of Minnesota, and they

live in Montana: Mary J. married Francis Smith, of Clarion county, Pa., and they set- tled in Washington ; Joseph, who remained in Washington township, died unmarried ; James 11. died when fourteen years old; Leonard married Sarah Preston, of Washington town- ship, and moved to the State of Washington ; John G. also resides in the West; Susan E. married Hugh A. Morrow, of Jefferson county, and lived near Brockwayville, where she died in 1890 ( she had eight children. Clar- ence. Harvey, Rose. Maggie, Edna. James, Max A. and Raymond).

Fred B. Harvey was born April 27, 1843, in the Beechwoods, and his early years were much the same as any farmer's son of that period knew. He had a good training in the common branches in the township schools, and as soon as he was old enough turned to helping his father, with whom he worked until he en- tered the service during the Civil war. On Ang. 1. 1862, he enlisted at Rockdale Mills for nine months, joining Company B, 135tlı P. V. I., under Capt. Richard J. Espy, of Brookville, the command being attached to the Army of the Potomac under General Meade. He was sworn into the service at Camp Cur- tin, Harrisburg, and moved to Washington Aug. 19th, doing provost duty there for six months, and taking part in the battles of Fred- ericksburg. Fitzhugh's Crossing (close of February, 1863) and Chancellorsville. He was discharged May 24. 1863, at Harrisburg. and returned home, reenlisting on June 30th. in Company G. 57th P. V. I., under Capt. N. M. Brockway, for ninety days, to defend the State during Morgan's activities. He was discharged Aug. 18, 1863, at Pittsburgh, as fifth sergeant. His third enlistment was in Company C. 211th P. V. I., under Capt. War- ren Cowles and Col. David Trimble, with whom he again served in the Army of the Po- tomac, taking part in the siege of Petersburg. the actions at Richmond, Hatcher's Run, Fort Steadman, Bermuda Hundred, fall of Peters- burg, pursuit of Lee, and finally in the grand review at Washington, and receiving his final discharge June 2, 1865, at Alexandria, Va. He may well be proud of his record, and he keeps the memory of those days alive by his member- ship in Easton Post. No. 229, G. A. R .. 'of Du Bois.

Mr. Harvey continued to live on the farm where he was born, in his early years working in the lumber woods and running the rivers with timber to market, and later following gen- eral agricultural work with steady success, and the property improved greatly under his man-

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agement, efficient industry directed by in- telligent judgment showing in every detail of its conduct. The place is now owned by Bert Stewart, Mr. Harvey having sold it upon his retirement, in April, 1914, when he removed to Falls Creek. Mr. Ilarvey did more than to work for the advancement of his own interests, his progressive nature being evident in the en- couragement he has given to all enterprises de- signed for the general good. This has been specially noteworthy in his political affiliations, which have long been with the Prohibition party. Ile is a valued member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church at Grove Summit, with which his wife also unites.

On Sept. 11, 1883, Mr. Harvey married Jane Hunter, who was born in the Beech- woods, daughter of John and Sarah (McIn- tosh) Hunter, well-to-do farming people of Washington township. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey were married at Brockwayville. No children have been born to them, but they have reared John F. Bush, a nephew, who still makes his home with them. At Falls Creek, as in their former home, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey are highly esteemed. their friends being numerous wherever they are known.

LEVI E. BOWERS is one of a family of lumber manufacturers so well versed in their calling that their record forms a substantial part of the commercial history of Jefferson county. Twenty years ago he became asso- ciated with an older brother in the lumber trade, and for fifteen years has been owner or part owner of a highly prosperous planing mill at Punxsutawney conducted under the name of the Punxsutawney Planing Mill Company. L'pon disposing of his share in that plant in 1916 he turned to the development of a new undertaking of great possibilities, which prom- ises not only to afford an outlet for his own business knowledge and faculties but to be of substantial benefit also to the territory in which it is located, Gaskill township, this county. With an ample fund of experience to draw upon, and a resourceful mind of unlimited in- itiative, he finds his qualifications particularly valuable in such a venture, which has every prospect of proving one of the most successful enterprises of his career.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 42

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