Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 5

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 5

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FRANK L. VERSTINE was born at Brookville, on the 29th of January. 1859. and is now the only representative of the immediate family of his father in this place. He availed himself of the advantages of the public schools and as a

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

youth found employment in his father's saw- mill. At the age of twenty-one years he entered upon an apprenticeship to the machin- ist's trade, in the DuBois Iron Works, at Du- Bois, where he remained two years. He then returned to Brookville and assumed supervis- ion of his father's extensive lumber business, and eventually he purchased his father's inter- est in the enterprise, which is still carried on under the firm name of Verstine, Klein & Company. Most of the firm's timber has now been cut and manufactured, so that operations are not conducted on so extensive a scale as in former years. Mr. Verstine is president of the corporation known as Verstine, Hibbard & Company, successful coal operators at Fuller, this county. He is treasurer of the Eagle Val- ley Coal Company, which carries on large coal mining operations at Ringgold, and he is also president of the American Hotel Company, which owns the leading hotel at Brookville .. Mr. Verstine has further shown his business acumen along divers channels, and it may be specially noted that he was one of the pro- moters and organizers of the Brookville Title & Trust Company and that he has been a mem- ber of its directorate from the time of its incorporation.

Mr. Verstine has shown himself a zealous champion of progressive movements and enter- prises in borough and county and has added materially to the distinction of the family name. He has never been a seeker of public office but is unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party. In the Masonic fraternity he is affiliated with Hobah Lodge, No. 270, F. & A. M., and Jefferson Chapter, No. 225. R. A. M., at Brookville: with Bethany Com- mandery, No. 83. K. T., at DuBois ; and Jaffa Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Altoona.

Frank L. Verstine married Rosa Pearsall, daughter of George Pearsall, of Brookville, and she is a popular leader in the social activi- ties of her home community, as well as the gracious chatelaine of an attractive home, which is known for its generous hospitality and good cheer. Mr. and Mrs. Verstine have but one child, Frank P., born on the 6th of February, 1898, and who is (in 1916) a student in the Kiskiminetas Springs School, at Salts- burg. Indiana county.

WILLIAM BOND. No history of Jef- ferson county and its people could be con- sistent with its purpose if it failed to pay definite and significant tribute to the able, influential and honored pioneer citizen whose life and achievements lent dignity and dis-

tinction to the county in which he maintained his home for fully three fourths of a century and in which his name and memory will long be revered.

Mr. Bond was born in Adams county, Pa., on the 14th of January, 1823. The family is of high lineage and of the English-Irish branch of the family of Bonds. The Bond crest is an ostrich's head between two branches of palm in orle. The inscription in Latin signifies, "We give up all the things of this world for those of eternity," showing that the family. who were members of the Church of England. were from time immemorable devout Chris- tians. This branch of the family, who came from England to Ireland in the later part of the seventeenth century, was one of a very few sent by the English government to Lon- donderry. These colonists occupied a posi- tion not only as citizens, but also as soldiers or guardsmen to see that no uprising or re- bellion should take place. The Bond linen mills were located there, hence the name Bond linen, which has ever since been used to desig- nate a high quality of linen paper. 1

James Bond, father of William Bond, came to America with his grandfather, William Bond, Sr., in the year 1811, and was then nineteen years of age. William Bond, Sr., had been a soldier in the English army. He mar- ried Nancy Logan, daughter of General Logan. James Bond was a soldier in the war of 1812, and later moved to Adams county, where on Nov. 4. 1819, he married Mary Osborn, who died in 1870 at the age of eighty-two. He was the owner of a fine home at Gettysburg and twelve head of horses, which he used on the stagecoach on the pike between Gettysburg and Baltimore.

William Bond was nine years old when he accompanied his parents and his venerable grandfather to Jefferson county. in 1832, where his father took up a homestead in the Beechwoods. The family afterwards moved to Pittsburgh, where they remained until he was nineteen years of age, when they again returned to Beechwoods, where they had built a substantial home on the old homestead. There his father was justice of the peace and legal authority of the community for many years. William Bond's sisters were: Eliza- beth Jane, wife of William Smith, and Nancy R., wife of Hugh Mccullough, both marrying pioneer residents of the Beechwoods.

On the Ist of January, 1851, William Bond was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth. Cooper. who was born in Beechwoods, Wash- ington township, March 15, 1829, and was the

William Band

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LIENARY

ATTOR, LENOX * TOUNDA IONS

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

daughter of William and Martha Cooper, be- longing to another of the sterling Scotch- Irish pioneer families of Jefferson county, ref- erence to whom will be found elsewhere in this volume. She died Oct. 16, 1902, when she was seventy-three years of age. She was a woman of high and noble qualities and strong Chris- tian character, her memory being revered by all who came within the compass of her kind and gracious influence. She was one of God's greatest gifts to the world-a pure and noble woman. Mrs. Bond was a high type of the mother and friend of the early pioneer days, self-sacrificing, chivalric and noble, and her memory stands as a living monument to a well spent life. From the days of her childhood to the end of the last chapter of her earthly career hers was the model of an exemplary life. As the maternal head of a well known family she gained a prominence among the women in her section such as is only attain- able by those possessing the rare attributes of a most ennobling character, and her children can look upon her memory as their richest heritage. Mrs. Bond was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Her funeral was one of the largest ever seen in the district, the numer- ous assemblages of Beechwoods residents being augmented by various friends and rela- tives who attended from far and near to pay the last tribute of affection and respect to one whom they honored and loved, to what extent might best be judged by the many expressions of sincere sorrow and sympathy manifested.

During the last seventeen years of his life William Bond maintained his residence in Brockwayville. Prior to this he lived at his beautiful Sugar Hill home for thirty-nine years, one of the finest and most valuable country homes in Jefferson county, and where a goodly portion of his life was passed in agri- cultural pursuits, lumbering and real estate business. There he and his noble wife edu- cated and reared their children to lives of use- fulness and honor. A man of unusual intel- lect, keen foresight and good judgment, Mr. Bond was never so absorbed in his private affairs as to neglect the duties of citizenship. His career from early boyhood was one of thrift and stability, and his energy and inde- fatigable industry were examples to be fol- lowed by the rising generations. Not many names in Jefferson county in his day and gen- eration were so well and favorably known as that of William Bond. His influence extended far beyond the immediate locality where he passed the greater portion of his life, and possibly no man there was more prominent in 2

the making of local history than he. From early youth he had been a stanch churchman and devout Christian. A natural leader among men, he was one to whom all turned for help and sympathy. No one approached him for assistance and left empty-handed, and his genial disposition and sympathy endeared him to the wide circle of his acquaintances. He was a man among men, one who understood from experience the lessons of life from the ground floor. He commenced his own career at the bottom of the ladder, and fought his own battles with life's adversities, and the suc- cesses he won were the fruits of his own energy and persistence. A typical son of his native State, he was one of the best types of the world's workers, the genuine salt of the earth, and left the scenes of earth to the full enjoyment of the promises of the future. His later years, after his removal to Brockway- ville, were spent in the enjoyment of well earned leisure, comfort and luxury, and his life at home was one of contentment and peace. He attained the patriarchal age of eighty- seven, dying March 6, 1910, at that time the oldest resident of Brockwayville. Interment was made in the beautiful Beechwoods ceme- tery, where his venerable grandfather was buried in the year 1836 and his father with military honors on July 4, 1861, and their descendants on down to the sixth generation. and where previously had been laid to rest the mortal remains of the gracious woman who had been the devoted wife and helpmate for more than half a century.

The living children of William and Eliza- beth (Cooper) Bond are: William Cooper Bond, now of Thomas, W. Va., married Rachel Martin, of Pittsburgh; he was hon- ored by the Republican party in Jefferson county with the nomination for the State Sen- ate, and later received the indorsement for Congress ; he has been an extensive lumber- man in West Virginia for many years. James Logan Bond. of Brockwayville, Pa., married Carra E. Lane, who died in 1904, and he later married Margaret Martin, of Pittsburgh ; he is president of the First National Bank of Brockwayville, and is also owner of stock farms and other business enterprises. John Wray Bond, of DuBois, Pa .. married Rose Wilson, of Mountain Lake, Md. ; he has large interests in lumbering. farming and real estate. Martha Bond Chapin, of Brockwayville, Pa., married Alton R. Chapin, who is cashier in the First National Bank and is individually mentioned on other pages of this volume. Samuel C. Bond, of DuBois, Pa., married

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Christine Brown, of Reynoldsville, Pa .; he was president of the First National Bank of Brockwayville for many years, and organized and is vice president of the DuBois National Bank. Ninian Ulysses Bond, of Bond, Ky., has been one of the big lumbermen of the South for many years, and is now manager and largest individual owner in one of the best equipped lumber plants in the South. Nancy Elizabeth Bond Gray, of DuBois, married George R. Gray, who owns the Gray Glass Plant at Falls Creek, Pennsylvania.

JUDGE JOHN W. REED, of Brookville, for twenty years Common Pleas judge of the Fifty-fourth Judicial district, composed of Jefferson county, fulfilled on the bench the abundant promise of his career as a practicing lawyer. Then, with ripened judgment and enriched experience, he resumed practice in the fall of 1916. in the field where his earliest successes were scored. There are few mem- bers of the Pennsylvania judiciary more gen- erally known to the profession all over the State, and fewer who have so enviable a repu- tation for all-around excellence of character as well as legal acquirements. Here we have a man who measured up to the fullest require- ments of his office from the scholastic stand- point, and at the same time never failed to dispatch his duties with a business-like promptness for which he became noted, and by reason of which he was often called to pre- side in courts outside of his own district when pressure of work made such assistance neces- sary. The Judge has long been a citizen of Brookville, Jefferson county, but he is a native of the adjoining county of Clarion, born at Clarion May 13, 1853. He is of Scotch-Irish extraction, and the early members of the fam- ily in this country, where it has been estab- lished for several generations, were so far as he knows settled largely in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania.

Cumberland county was formed in Janu- ary, 1750, and the Reed name is among the earliest entries on its records. The Reeds were evidently there before the county was organized. In 1754 Tyrone township (now in Perry county ) was created, and in 1763 that township was divided, the western division being named Toboyne. It is there that the Judge finds. as early as 1767. his maternal ancestor. Joseph Mcclintock, and in 1772 his paternal ancestor. John Reed. The latter died in 1799, and Judge Reed has a copy of his will, which was made Aug. 13, 1799, and probated Dec. 20, 1799. It was sent to the

Judge by Jeremiah Zeamer, of Carlisle, as well as an interesting letter. In this will, among other items, he makes the following bequest : "I do bequeath to my son Robert one dollar and a black yearling colt; and to my son Robert's son John I do will and be- queath 15 pounds, when he is seven years of age, and all that tract of land which I am now possessed of. adjoining lands of John and Robert McKee, Samuel Reed and others, in the township aforesaid (Toboyne), containing 75 acres be the same more or less, all which I do bequeath to him, his heirs and assigns for- ever, provided always that if the last men- tioned John Reed should die before he arrives at the age of twenty-one years, then I do allow all legacies mentioned to him to descend to the other children of my son Robert that now are or shall be in existence at my decease. I do allow that the profits of the aforesaid real estate shall go to my son David until the aforesaid legatee arrives to the age of ten years.'

Robert Reed, afterwards known as Colonel Reed, son of the above-named John Reed, was born about 1771 and died in 1849. He was the Judge's great-grandfather. On March 1, 1792, he was married, in the Presby- terian Church of Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Pa., by Rev. Dr. Davidson, to Rachel McClin- tock. daughter of Hugh Mcclintock and granddaughter of Joseph Mcclintock. Mlr. and Mrs. Reed moved to Butler county, Pa .. in the year 1797.

Joseph Mcclintock died in 1799. His son. Hugh Mcclintock, of Toboyne township, died it is thought in 1807. On Feb. 15, 1814, there was presented in the Orphans' court of Cum- berland county a petition setting forth that this Hugh Mcclintock had died intestate, leaving to survive him a widow Ann, and the following children: Hamilton, Frank, Rachel (married Robert Reed ), Jane (married Fred- erick Peale), Mary (married Robert Purdy), Robert, Hugh, James, Ann ( married Andrew Fleming ). Isabella and John.

John Reed, son of Col. Robert and Rachel ( McClintock) Reed, was born April 5. 1797, and died June 23. 1855. He was proprietor of a hotel at Clarion, and died in Clarion county. He had seven children : James W., born Nov. 7. 1819, died Oct. 12, 1820: Har- riet, born Feb. 10, 1822, died unmarried Nov. 27. 1841 : Lovira, born Jan. 10, 1824, married and left children, dying Sept. IT, 1855: John. born Feb. 8, 1826, was the Judge's father : Caroline, born Feb. 28. 1828, married and left children, dying in 1909: Rachel, born June 13,

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

1831, died July 15, 1835; Sally Ann, born June 26, 1834, died June 24, 1840.

John Reed, father of John W. Reed, was born Feb. 8, 1826, in Butler county, Pa., was reared there, and learned the trade of machin- ist, which he followed until his enlistment at Clarion in the Union army in the fall of 1861. He became a member of Company F. 63d Regiment, l'ennsylvania Volunteers, and died after the battle of Fair Oaks, of typhoid fever, June 24, 1862. On Aug. 16, 1849, he was married at Clarion, Pa., to Rachel A. Everhart, who was born March 1, 1832, in Centre county, Pa. Both her parents died in her early childhood, her father being killed in a mill when she was quite young. Mr. and Mrs. Reed had three children, all born at Clarion : Clara A., born in October, 1850, is now the widow of Warren Whitehill, an oil man, of Allegheny county, Pa., and resides with one of her daughters near Pittsburgh, Pa .; Mr. and Mrs. Whitehill had three chil- dren, one son and two daughters, all living and all married. John W. was the eldest son of his parents. The younger son, Ernest W., born in April, 1859, is married and living with his family in Clarion, Pa., where he is a suc- cessful dentist ; he has a wife and four chil- dren, three daughters and one son. Mrs. Rachel A. ( Everhart ) Reed lived and died at Clarion, passing away July 22, 1910.

John W. Reed began his education in the public schools of Clarion, and later took an academic course at the Carrier Seminary there. During his early manhood he taught public school in the county for a few years, meantime taking up the study of law. and he completed his legal preparation in the office of Hon. James Campbell, of Clarion, being admitted to the bar Aug. 23, 1875. Beginning practice in Brookville, the same year, he re- mained there until the fall of 1877, when he returned to Clarion, where after a year's prac- tice on his own account he went into the office of Wilson and Jenks, on a salary. This con- nection lasted for several years, until May, 1883, when he moved with his family to Grand Forks. Dakota, at which place he en- gaged in the practice of law with two of his wife's brothers. During that period the firm of Wilson and Jenks made him some very flattering offers to return, and in May, 1884. he did so, becoming a partner in the new firm of Wilson, Jenks and Reed. When Mr. Wil- son in 1886 was elected judge of the several courts of Clarion county, the firm was reduced to Jenks and Reed, and Mr. Jenks being ap- pointed solicitor general of the United States

shortly afterwards. Mr. Reed formed another connection, with Judge Wilson's son Harry R. Wilson, who had just been admitted to the bar. They practiced under the name of Reed and Wilson, and were associated until April, 1895, the date of Judge Reed's removal to Brookville, which has since been his home. While a resident of Clarion county, when it formed part of the same Judicial district as Jefferson county, he was a candidate for the Common Pleas judgeship, being defeated by Judge Clark. Shortly after settling at Brook- ville he became a candidate for judge of the newly created Fifty-fourth Judicial district, composed of Jefferson county, being nomi- nated on the Republican ticket June 17, 1895, on which day Gov. Daniel H. Hastings ap- pointed him judge of the new district, so that he began his labors with its establishment. In the fall of 1895 he was elected for a term of ten years, assuming his duties on the first Monday in January, 1896, and in the fall of 1905 he was re-elected for another ten-year term. He was again a candidate in the fall of 1915, but met defeat in the clash of opinion regarding judicial and legislative responsi- bility in the no-license question. In 1914, after the death of Judge Beaver, he was a popular choice for the vacancy on the Supe- rior court bench, and though not appointed had the satisfaction of receiving a large num- ber of flattering indorsements, sent to Gov- ernor Tener from all over the State, and from sources so varied, regardless of class or poli- tics, that they proved an index to the senti- ment prevailing among the profession con- cerning his work. His appointment was recommended heartily by members of the bench and bar in every section of the State and every branch of the judiciary, and ex- pressed the respect of his professional asso- ciates in an unusual degree. Justice John P. Elkin, of the State Supreme court, and Judge Joseph Buffington. of the United States Cir- cuit court. were among those who volunteered most laudatory comments on his fitness. Upon his candidacy for the third term in the fall of 1915, a "non-partisan committee" com- posed of leading representatives of the Re- publican, Democratic, Washington and Social- ist parties in Brookville issued a pamphilet set- ting forth his claims to the support of his fellow citizens. It was addressed "To the Electorate of Jefferson County," and we quote from the introductory remarks: "Re- lieving that the interests of Jefferson County, at home and abroad, will be best served and promoted by the reelection of Judge John W.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Reed to the Common Pleas Bench of the county, we herewith present his past record as a man and judge for the careful considera- tion of the voters of the county. . . The man who, humanly speaking. comes nearer exercising omnipotent power than any other man in our form of government should be a kindly-hearted, level-headed man who will exercise that power sparingly and who has a vision of human affairs sufficiently broad to enable him to intelligently and justly solve the difficult and intricate problems of life in their relation to the laws of the land, when submit- ted for judicial determination. Without in- tending to disparage the claims of any other candidate for this highly important and all powerful official position, we confidently pre- sent for your consideration the name of Judge Reed as one who possesses in a preeminent degree all the qualities of heart and mind that go to make a great and upright judge."

Some account of the career at the bar and on the bench which brought him this reputa- tion will be of interest. The earlier years of his practice were sufficiently varied to give him unusual experience, and he was foremost among the men of his age in his own section. Though successful in almost every depart- ment he won particular renown in criminal practice. It is said that during the last ten years of his praetice he was counsel in some fifteen homicide cases in Clarion and adjoin- ing counties. Certain it is that "He was in almost every important criminal and civil case of a very busy and important period in the history of the Clarion County Oil Regions. then the center of the petroleum industry from 1877 on. He was a trial lawyer of exceptional power and ability. On going to Jefferson county he got in touch with that other great Pennsylvania product- coal, and both as a lawyer and a judge has therefore had a most varied experience in these two prominent and most important Western Pennsylvania prod- ucts. In his earlier days at the bar timber was yet a very important factor in Western Penn- sylvania counties, and ejectment cases which tried the mettle of the old-time lawyers came to his share of the practice. Consequently you may readily see that he was, and is, espe- cially qualified to deal with the industrial con- ditions of the western part of the State." The familiarity thus gained with industrial condi- tions in the State proved of great value in his experience on the bench, enabling him to de- cide unerringly many questions which came up in the courts in his long service as judge. Appeals from his decisions were rare, the

number being less than sixty in all his twenty years as judge, and there were very few re- versals of his opinions-only one reversal in thirty appeals taken to the highest Appellate court in the State. "It is confidently asserted that no judge in the State has a record in the Appellate courts exceeding that of Judge Reed. He has held court in more than one third of the counties of the State, and in the appeals taken from his decisions in these various counties he has maintained the same high record, both in the number of the appeals and in the affirmation of his decisions that he has in his home county."

Judge Reed had not been long on the bench when it became apparent that he had a gift for expeditions handling of court business. He kept his docket clear in spite of the fact that he was careful about the details of every case that came before him. But his compre- hension was so broad that he was not con- fused by them, and the celerity with which he disposed of all trials interfered in no way with the dignity of their conduct. But it did estab- lish a precedent of economical administration which will long remain a standard for those who appreciate what such methods save the citizens in taxes and litigants in legal ex- penses. With all this Judge Reed was never hasty or inconsiderate. His patience was proverbial and he was sympathetic, kindly and helpful towards all who came before him, whether as lawyers or litigants. His high ideals and strict methods became reflected in all the departments affiliated with his, his in- fluence showing itself in many channels.

That Judge Reed's qualities were appre- ciated by his brother judges is evidenced by his being called upon to assist in many other parts of the State. He presided very often in Allegheny county-as often as his other en- gagements would permit, and his valuable aid was sought and appreciated in disposing of the great volume of criminal business of that county. "The Bench and Bar everywhere Judge Reed has held court join in commend- ing his judicial services as being of the high- est order." The DuBois Evening Journal of April 22, 1915. had an article which deserves quoting here, in part at least: "Judge Reed is one of the really big jurists of Pennsyl- vania. a man of brilliant professional at- tainments and who possesses the judicial temperament in a high degree. His vast store of experience. his demonstrated integrity, his fearlessness of public clamor as affecting the discharge of public duty and his wonderful ability combine to place him in the front rank

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 5

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