Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 59

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 59

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land Presbyterian Church, which he has served as elder for almost fifty years, being the youngest man in Jefferson county to be so honored when first chosen.

ARCHIBALD MCCULLOUGH is one of the venerable and highly honored pioneer citi- zens of Jefferson county and one of the few remaining representatives of the first genera- tion of the substantial Scotch-Irish families that settled in the Beechwoods district of the county in the early days, when this section of Pennsylvania was little more than an untram- meled forest wilderness. Mr. Mccullough has been one of the vigorous and industrious pioneers who were leaders in social and indus- trial development and progress in Jefferson county, his early experiences touching all the . phases of pioneer life. His sterling elements of character have ever held the unqualified confidence and goodwill of his fellow men. No other citizen of the Beechwoods has here resided for so long a period as this venerable pioneer, and Washington township delights to do him honor as a veritable patriarch.

Mr. Mccullough was born in County Down. Ireland. April 4. 1829, and thus the spring of 1917 marks his attainment of the vener- able age of eighty-eight years. Save that he suffers from arterio-sclerosis he is still vigor- ous physically and, as he himself has stated. he could still do a good day's work were it not for this minor physical ailment. His men- tal faculties are unimpaired by the lapse of years, and his reminiscences of the pioneer days are most graphic and interesting. He was a child at the time the family home was established in the Beechwoods. and here he has remained during the long intervening period, more than fourscore years. Mr. Mc- Cullough was two years old when his parents set forth from Ireland to establish a new home in America. The sailing vessel on which the family crossed the Atlantic was destined for Philadelphia, but after a long and tem- pestous voyage was unable to proceed utp the river to that port on account of the river being frozen over, and thus the passengers disem- barked at the port of New York City. The father. William B. McCullough, had been a farmer and manufacturer of linen in Ireland. and after he had come with his family to Phila- delphia, in 1831, he there found employment as a weaver until the following spring. when he brought his family to Jefferson county, making the overland trip with teams and wagons. In the Beechwoods he purchased from the venerable Judge Heath a tract of

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five hundred acres. His three nearest neigh- bors to the east were twenty miles distant, to the north seven miles, and to the south three miles. This sturdy pioneer made a clearing on which he erected his little log house of one room, and in this primitive domicile, with its puncheon floor and wide fireplace, the family home was established. Here also peace and happiness found abiding place. though the family necessarily endured a full share of the hardships and privations incidental to pioneer life. In Ireland they had been in good finan- cial circumstances, and after William B. Mc- Cullough arrived in America he received in- formation that in his native land there had been left to him an appreciable sum of money. He finally decided to make the return voyage to Ireland for the purpose of securing this inheritance, and he proceeded to Philadelphia on foot, traversing the long distance at the rate of fifty miles a day. He then sailed for Ireland, obtained his inheritance, and after a short visit returned to the new home in the United States. With indefatigable industry he continued the work of clearing his land, and in this herculean task his sons gave him effective aid, each of the sons eventually becoming the owner of a portion of the large landed estate, Archibald receiving the center, or homestead, farm.

William B. Mccullough was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1800, and his death occurred at his home in the Beechwoods in the year 1876. His widow, whose maiden name was Mary Moffett, likewise was a native of County Down, and she remained at the old homestead after his death. This gentle and loved pio- neer woman was eighty-five years of age when she passed away. Both she and her husband were lifelong and devout members of the Presbyterian Church. Of their children, the eldest was Hugh, who married Nancy Bond, both continuing their residence in the Beech- woods until they died; William M. married Margaret Smith, and was a resident of DuBois, Clearfield county. at the time of his demise; Boyd, who became a clergyman of the Covenanter Church, went to one of the Western States, where he married Julia Ann Johnson (both passed the closing years of their lives in the Beechwoods) ; Martha be- came the wife of James Osborn, and her death occurred at DuBois, Clearfield county ; Sarah was the wife of Robert Osborn and was a resident of Falls Creek, Clearfield county. at the time of her death; Rachel, who likewise died at Falls Creek, was the wife of Samuel Osborn ; Mary is the wife of Henry Osborn,

and they reside at Sabula, Clearfield county ; Archibald is the only other surviving member of the immediate family. Four of the sisters of Mr. McCullough married brothers of the well known Osborn family.

Archibald Mccullough was reared to man- hood under the strenuous discipline of the pioneer farm, and his early educational advan- tages were those afforded in the primitive schools of the locality and period. He recalls that in the early days the settlers were com- pelled to go a distance of thirty miles to have their corn ground into meal, bringing the product home on their backs. The first grist- mill in the immediate vicinity was that estab- lished by Mr. Osborn, on the site of the pres- ent borough of Falls Creek. In his clearing William B. Mccullough would frequently shoot deer that had ventured into the little grain fields to feed. For a number of years the nearest post office to the home of the Mccullough family was that at Brookville. As a youth "Archie" Mccullough, as he is familiarly known, was, like nearly all other young men of the pioneer days, actively asso- ciated with lumbering operations incidental to the reclaiming of the land in this section of the State, and he continued to be identified with that industry for a long term of years. He rafted timber down the rivers, and in this work frequently went as far as the city of Pittsburgh. The first school which he attended was known as the Cooper school, a little log schoolhouse three miles distant from his home. His first teacher was Miss Nancy J. McClelland, who later became the wife of Hugh Daugherty. His education was rudi- mentary, but through self-discipline and the lessons gained under that wise headmaster, experience, he broadened his mental horizon with the passing years, and has long been known as a man of wide and accurate infor- mation and mature judgment.

Mr. Mccullough has always been recog- nized as a loyal and public-spirited citizen, of well fortified convictions concerning govern- mental and economic affairs. In politics he first voted the Whig ticket, later was aligned with the American or Know Nothing party. and when the Republican party was organized allied himself therewith. To this party he gave his allegiance until he became a stanch advocate and supporter of the cause of the Prohibition party, with which he has con- tinued to be loyally identified. He holds mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Grove Summit, and his wife is a member of the Beechwoods Presbyterian Church.

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In the autumn of 1856 Mr. Mccullough married Margaret Armstrong, the ceremony having been performed Nov. 13th, at the home of the bride's parents in Clarion county. That his bride-to-be resided in an adjoining county has caused Mr. Mccullough to ven- ture the facetious statement that "in those days the girls used to go a long distance to court the boys." After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. McCullough found abiding place in the home of one of his sisters until the com- pletion of their own place, which was then in process of construction. They removed to their house before the doors had been hung, and even before the floors were laid, though platforms had been provided for the tempo- rary accommodation of the cookstove and the bed, the young couple gaily making their pre- carious way about the rooms by stepping from joist to joist. The little house which was their original domicile gave place in 1888 to their present commodious and attractive resi- dence, in which they are passing the evening of their lives. Their devoted companionship has covered a period of over sixty years, in which they have shared each other's joys and sorrows and been sustained and comforted by the mutual love and sympathy that make for ideal home life. Only for a short time did Mr. and Mrs. McCullough sever their allegiance to the old home. They were moved to try pioncer life in Pottawatomie county, Kans., but farming on the prairies of the Sun- flower State did not prove alluring to them, with the result that they returned after three years to Jefferson county and repurchased their old homestead farm, which they had sold in the belief that they would be more successful in Kansas. William W., the eld- est of the children of this venerable and revered pioneer counple, was born Feb. 19, 1858, is a lawyer by profession, and is now engaged in successful practice at Norman, Okla., where he is also engaged in the mer- cantile business ; he married Alice Folsom, of Oklahoma, and their one son, Archibald, is now principal of the high school at Norman. Mary Elizabeth, horn March 11, 1860, is the wife of Andrew Smith, one of the prosperous farmers of the Beechwoods. Martha Jane, born July 2, 1862, became the wife of Dexter D. McConnell, and their home was at Falls Creek at the time of her death. Alexander A., born Dec. 26, 1865, married Jennie Daven- port, and they maintain their home at Falls Creek. Hugh B., who is an able and suc- cessful lawyer and one of the representative members of the bar of Jefferson county, is

engaged in the practice of his profession at Brockwayville ; the maiden name of his wife was Anna Smith.

Mrs. Margaret (Armstrong) Mccullough was born on a pioneer farm in Pinecreek township, Clarion county, and there she was reared to the age of fifteen years, having been a child at the time of her mother's death and having then found a home with her sister, Mrs. John Cooper, of the Beechwoods. Her father, Alexander Armstrong, was born in Ireland, and farmed there, as did also his father. He and one of his sisters came to America prior to the war of 1812, and while that second conflict with England was in prog- ress they were joined in America by their brother Joseph, who made the voyage on an American vessel, which, to avoid attack by British vessels of war, did not display the flag of the United States. This led to the boat being "captured" on the high seas by a vessel of the United States navy, but the true state of affairs was readily explained and the vessel was permitted to continue its course. Alexander Armstrong and his sister landed in Philadelphia and thence he proceeded to Clarion county, where he obtained a tract of wild land and instituted the development of a farm from the wilderness. There he mar- ried Elizabeth Thom, who died when her daughter Margaret, Mrs. McCullough, was a child of two years. Later Alexander Arm- strong married Bell Campbell, and both con- tinued their residence in Clarion county until they died, Mr. Armstrong passing away on his old homestead farm in 1875, when some- what more than eighty years of age. Of the first marriage were born eight children : James married Ann Cave, and both died in Clarion county ; Mary Ann became the wife of Robert Morrison, and they were residents of the Beechwoods, Jefferson county, at the time of their deaths ; Jane, who died in Clarion county, was the wife of John Cooper : William passed the closing period of his life at Rock- ford, Ill., as did also his wife; John wedded Rose Ann Groves, and both died in Beech- woods; Elizabeth, the wife of Sylvester Oppett, died in Clarion county ; Mrs. McCul- lough was the next in order of birth and is now the only survivor of the eight children ; Alexander, who never married, was a resident of Clarion county at the time of his death.

James Armstrong, grandfather of Mrs. Mc- Cullough, was well advanced in years when he came to America in company with his wife and their son Joseph and other children. They settled in Clarion county, and there he passed

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the residue of his life. He was one hundred years old at the time of his death, and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Arnold, preceded him to the grave. Of their children. Alexander. father of Mrs. McCullough. was the eldest; Nancy died in Clarion county, un- married: Joseph married Mary Hinman, and both died in Clarion county; Lydia became the wife of Joseph Blaine, and they died in Armstrong county; Catherine, who became the wife of James Anderson, died in Clarion county.

SCOTT MCCLELLAND, late of Brook- ville, was thoroughly representative of the best citizenship of Jefferson county in his various associations. As merchant and banker he stood foremost among the business men of his time, and as a county official his record was consistent with his personal reputation. The mere recount of his activities indicates enter- prise and a live interest in local progress.

Mr. MeClelland was a son of Oliver and Mary Ann ( McConnell) McClelland, the for- mer a native of Hagerstown, Md .. the latter of Center county, Pa. The father came to Penn- sylvania in early boyhood, living in Center county until his removal to Jefferson county- before his marriage. Fle had met his wife in Center county. Mr. McClelland was a thrifty agriculturist, and prospered in his work. dying at a good age in 1882, after a useful life. His wife preceded him to the grave. in 1875. They were the parents of the following children : Eliza. Mrs. Hover, now living in Bisbee. N. Dak .; George B., a resident of DuBois, Pa .; Scott, deceased: John. deceased : Joseph, now living on the old homestead at Beechwoods. in Washington township: Alexander, of Broek- wayville, Pa .: Mary, Mrs. Kness, deceased : Margaret, Mrs. Heilman, of New Kensington, Pa., deceased : and William, who died while serving in the Union army during the Civil war.

Scott McClelland was born June 23, 1843, at Beechwoods, in Washington township, and grew up on the home farm. where he lived until twenty years old. His education was acquired in the local district schools, where he made the most of his opportunities. On leav- ing home he worked in the woods for four or five years, lumbering, but having met with an accident, receiving a cut on the knee which un- fitted him for such employment. he turned to mercantile pursuits, which he followed for some years. Having been appointed to the position of clerk to the county commissioners he moved to Brookville in 1876. and served in

that capacity for over two years. In the fall of 1878 he was honored with election to the office of county treasurer, which he held for a term of three years. After its close he clerked for a time in a mercantile establishment at Rey- noldsville, did office work at DuBois, and was in the drug business at Brockwayville for one year. In the fall of 1884 he was the success- ful candidate for the office of prothonotary of Jefferson county, being register and recorder as well as clerk of the courts according to the custom then prevailing, and he administered his duties so efficiently that he was reelected in 1887. serving six years continuously, until the close of 1890. He was again at Reynolds- ville for several years, having embarked in the hardware business with E. D. Seeley and J. K. Johnston and continued in that line for three years, and he was also proprietor of a clothing store there for several years. Then he re- turned to Brookville, where he made his home to the end of his days. He was conspicuous in the formation of the First National Bank of Reynoldsville and a director from the time of its organization. in 1893, until his health failed. and was its vice president also for a number of years, being elected president after the death of Lawyer C. Mitchell, holding that office until his own death. Socially he belonged to several fraternal organizations, the G. A. R., Knights of Pythias. B. P. O. Elks and I. O. O. F. (lodge and encampment). and was a past grand of the latter. During the Civil war he served a short term with the militia. at the time of Morgan's raid Politically he gave his allegiance to the Republican party. He died at his home in Brookville. Sept. 17, 1906, after several years of poor health, and was interred in the cemetery at Beechwoods. His genial temperament made him very popular with his friends, and he was not only jovial in his social relations but kind-hearted and generous to those in need. assisting many less fortunate than himself.

On Dee. 26, 1884, Mr. McClelland married Annie Matthews, who survived him and con- tinued to reside at Brookville until her death, which occurred July 5. 1916. They had no children.

Charles Matthews, Sr., father of Mrs. Mc- Clelland. was born May 23, 1806, in Philadel- phia, and died April 29, 1891. aged eighty-four years, eleven months, six days. His father came to America from England in boyhood. but his maternal ancestors emigrated to this country with William Penn. Mr. Matthews received his education in Philadelphia. and when fourteen years old entered his father's

Seatt M Clelland

THE NEW YORK PLUGIN LIBRARY

AUTOE. L BOX TI .. . . CAMIONS

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paper mill at Upper Darby, where banknote paper was made, and there learned the trade. At that time paper was made by hand. In 1843 he came to Jefferson county, stopping tem- porarily in Brookville until he erected a cabin on the farm later owned by George J. Britton, in Snyder township, settling there with his family May 15th, and he was often heard to say that in this rude cabin he spent the happiest days of his life. Here he lived in true pioneer fashion. He had to carry corn for miles on his back to the gristmill and wait for it to be ground, and then carry the meal back to his family. But he was a man of more than ordi- nary sagacity and ability. which coupled with his industry and economy made him prosper even in the wilderness, and he invested his savings in more land, at one time having extensive possessions. But he wanted the com- panionship of neighbors, so he sold consider- able land to other settlers on generous terms. He was a long-time resident of Washington ·township. Jefferson county, and known as an honorable Christian man, one whose useful life was a blessing to his family and a helpful in- fluence in the community.

On Feb. 12, 1831, Mr. Matthews married Susannah Kearney, who survived him but five weeks, dying June 3, 1891, at her home near Rockdale Mills, in Washington township, aged eighty-two years, eleven months, nine days. She was buried with her husband in Beech- woods cemetery. She was a noble woman, held in the highest esteem by all who knew her. The following children were born to this mar- riage besides Mrs. McClelland : . John is de- ceased ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Wiley, is deceased ; Sarah Busby was married to James E. Smith, who died in March, 1907, and she resides with her son Charles L. in Washington township, near Westville, where they have a farm (Mr. and Mrs. Smith had four children, Susanna May, William Edgar, Charles Lawrence and Ward Roy, the last named deceased) ; Charles Matthews, Jr., a farmer, who still lives on the old Matthews homestead, in Washington town- ship, was born Sept. 10, 1847, in Snyder township, and married Eliza Dougherty, and they have one child, Nora, at home. The Mat- thews are Presbyterians in religious faith. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews also raised their grandson, David E. Wiley, son of Mrs. Elizabeth ( Mat- thews ) Wiley. He was born Sept. 20, 1860, on the Charles Matthews farm at Rockdale, be- came a steam and electrical engineer, and for seventeen years before his death was employed at Buffalo, N. Y., where he died Dec. 15, 1909, at the age of forty-nine years. He was buried

in the Beechwoods cemetery. Mr. Wiley was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was unmarried.

Mrs. Susannah ( Kearney ) Matthews was a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Cowan) Kearney, and her people were related to John Morton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who was the great-grand- father of Mrs. Elizabeth (Cowan) Kearney. In the paternal line Mrs. McClelland is a great- granddaughter of David Kearney, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, fighting un- der Gen. Anthony Wayne. He was at Paoli at the time of the massacre by the British, but escaped. Mrs. Elizabeth (Cowan) Kearney traced her lineage back to 1650; her grand- father had a grant from William Penn for an immense tract of land lying on both sides of the Schuylkill river between Chester and Phila- delphia. Land was not highly valued then, and it has all gone out of the name. Mrs. Mc- Clelland is a great-granddaughter of Jonas and Susan (Claypoole) Cowan, and through the latter a descendant of Betsy Ross, whose third husband was John Claypoole, Susan Claypoole being the daughter of John and Betsy ( Ross) Claypoole. The following "Story of Our Flag." by C. L. Chapman, will be of interest in this connection :

"With the celebration of Flag Day on June 14, a story of our first flag and its maker comes to iny mind, for the first flag was made in May, shortly before the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and whose maker was Betsy Ross-but the design not being adopted by Congress until June 14, 1777, that is the day we celebrate. And you will be interested, I am sure, in the beautiful girl whose ability was rewarded by Washington, in his search for someone who could plan and execute the work he needed accomplished, in an emblem so ar- ranged that it would show thirteen five pointed stars in a circle upon a blue field, and the thirteen red and white stripes to show the unity of the thirteen colonies. And to Betsy Ross came this great honor. Beautiful to look at, with dark auburn hair and sparkling eyes, carefully trained to all things domestic, an ex- pert with her needle and able to do the most exquisite handwork, it was no great wonder that fame came to her. Her name was Eliza- beth Griscom and she was born Jan. 1. 1752, and was the seventh daughter. The little house in Arch street, Philadelphia, was used also as an upholstery shop, for her husband, John Ross, plied his trade there and had the skillful help of Betsy's fingers. At the time of the Revolution, her husband was called upon to

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guard some government stores for the Con- tinental army. One day a terrific explosion occurred and John was killed and poor Betsy was left a widow at twenty-four. It was John's uncle, the Hon. Robert Morris, who, feeling sorry for his nephew's widow, brought the great Washington to the little shop in Arch street, and here after many plans and designs were talked over the first flag was decided upon. Well, the next day after the flag was officially adopted. June 15, 1777, Betsy Ross was married to Capt. Joseph Ashburn. But he. like John Ross, was a hero, and was captured by the British and died in prison, leaving his wife a widow with two little daughters. A comrade of Joseph Ashburn. John Claypoole, was also a prisoner of war, and nursed his friend until his death. Later, upon John Clay- poole's release, he brought home to his friend's widow the last messages and the diary of Ash- burn. He was at once captivated with the young widow, so after a time he became the third husband of Elizabeth Ashburn ( Betsy Ross) at Christ Church the eighth of May. 1783. They had four daughters-all clever needlewomen. Betsy Ross was eighty-four when she died in 1836. and her great-grand- daughter, Sarah Wilson, is a business woman. and for many years has occupied a room in the east wing of Independence Hall making and selling as souvenirs models of the first flag of Betsy Ross. And here in Philadelphia, you may visit Christ Church and see the pews there which were occupied by Gen. Washing- ton. Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross, the latter bearing ou a brass plate the inscription :

"Pew No. 12.

"In this pew worshipped Betsy Ross, who made the first flag. In Arch street still stands the little shop."

THOMAS BOOKS MITCHELL, a prominent citizen of Punxsutawney, present treasurer of that borough and closely associ- ated with its business affairs as secretary of the Farmers & Miners Trust Company, be- longs to a family which has had many repre- sentatives among the capable and useful resi- dents of this section of Pennsylvania. His ability and practical worth mark him as a typical descendant of the fine old stock from which he comes.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 59

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