Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 61

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 61

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

at Reynoldsville on the 10th of May, 1890. Here he built up a substantial general practice and continued to devote himself effectively to his vocation until death terminated his labors. Ile is buried in the Reynoldsville cemetery. The Doctor served as a member of the board of education of Reynoldsville and as president of the Jefferson County Medical Society, be- sides being identified with the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party. He was affil- iated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and continued to his death a most zealous and devoted member of the Baptist Church, of which his widow has been an active adherent from her childhood. She still continues to maintain her home at Reynoldsville, and her circle of friends is limited only by that of her acquaintances.

Dr. Bowser was a young man at the time of his marriage to Sara Hannah Booth, whose father. Rev. Jacob Booth, has given a long life of consecrated service in the ministry of the Baptist Church and is now pastor of a church at Roulette. Potter county, though he celebrated in 1916 the eightieth anniversary of his birth. Of the three children of Dr. and Mrs. Bowser the eldest is Dr. Ira D .; Bertha is the wife of Eugene D. Deible, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Rey- noldsville, and they have one son. Henry ; Addison W. remains at the old home with his widowed mother.

DR. IRA D. BOWSER was born in Clarion county. Nov. 29. 1883, and attended public school at Reynoldsville until he had fully availed himself of the advantages of the high school. He early became imbued with a desire to fit himself for the profession that had been signally dignified and honored by his father. and in consonance with this ambition entered the medical department of the University of Pittsburgh, from which he graduated in 1906. His professional novitiate was served at Rath- mel, Jefferson county. where he practiced until 1912, when he returned to Reynoldsville and became associated with his honored father. After the death of his father he assumed the latter's extensive practice and his recognized ability enabled him to retain his father's former patrons and to extend his practice to even broader limits. He is a close student, and brings to bear in his work the most approved and modern methods in both medicine and surgery. The Doctor is identified with the Jefferson County Medical Society, the Penn-

296

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

sylvania State Medical Society and the Ameri- can Medical Association. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America. While residing at Rathmel, Winslow township, he served four years on the school board. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce at Reynoldsville. His political faith is that of the Republican party. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.

In 1902 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Ira D. Bowser to Laura E. Wheeler, a daugh- ter of David Wheeler, who is a representative farmer of Winslow township. The five chil- dren of this union are Sarah H., Martha J., Mary, Alma and Ira D .. Jr.

RAYMOND E. BROWN is a young man of ability and purpose and has gained assured place among the representative members of the bar of Jefferson county, where he is in the successful practice of his profession at Brook- ville. At the time of this writing (1916) he is serving his second term in the office of justice of the peace, and as. a loyal and progressive citizen has identified himself with the civic and material interests of the community in which he maintains his home and in which he is held in unequivocal esteem.

Raymond E. Brown was born at Arnot, Tioga Co., Pa., on the 16th of April, 1881, and is a representative of an old and honored family of the Keystone State. his grandfather, Daniel W. Brown, having been for many years a resident of Bradford county, where his death occurred.

Fremont M. Brown, father of Raymond E. Brown, was born and reared in Bradford county and since 1880 has made his residence at Reynoldsville. As a skilled civil and mining engineer he has achieved marked success. For a time he was a druggist at Elmira, N. Y., and during his residence in Jefferson county he has been prominently associated with operations in the coal fields of this section of the State, principally in Jefferson and Armstrong coun- ties. The maiden name of his wife was Ada Elliott, and they have three children : Inez, wife of Thomas Adam: Christine, the wife of Sammel C. Bond; and Raymond E.

Raymond E. Brown continued his studies in the public schools at Reynoldsville until he had completed the high school course and grad- uated with the class of 1898. In the following year he graduated from the high school at Ithaca, N. Y., and forthwith matriculated in Cornell University, in the academic or literary

department, graduating in 1903, with the de- gree of bachelor of arts. In preparation for his chosen profession he then entered the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he received the degree of bachelor of laws in 1905, the same year gaining admission to the bar. Mr. Brown then entered the office of and became most pleasingly associated with Judge Charles Cor- bet, of Brookville, and after maintaining this connection for one year engaged in the inde- pendent practice of his profession, his well appointed office being in the building of the Brookville Title & Trust Company. By energy, technical ability and close application he has built up a substantial practice and gained prestige as an effective trial lawyer and well fortified counselor. He is the local attorney for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the year 1916 finds him according excellent service as solicitor for the borough of Brook- ville. He is also a justice of the peace. He is secretary and treasurer of the Jefferson County Real Estate Company, of Brookville, and a member of the directorate of the Brook- ville Young Men's Christian Association and the Brookville Park Association. Both he and his wife are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Brookville. Mr. Brown is a mem- ber of the Jefferson County Bar Association and holds securely the confidence and esteem of his professional confreres and the people in general of the county which has been his home since his boyhood.

On the 19th of October, 1907, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Brown to Nell L. Robinson, born and reared in Jefferson county, who is a daughter of Samuel S. Robin- son, a well known citizen of Reynoldsville. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two daughters, Marjorie and Marian.

HON. ALBERT CLIFTON THOMPSON, the third son of Hon. John J. Y. and Agnes S. (Kennedy ) Thompson, was born in Brook- ville, Pa., Jan. 23, 1842. He was educated in the public schools of Brockville and at Jeffer- son College. At the age of seventeen he commenced the reading of law under Capt. W. W. Wise. On the 23d of April, 1861. he entered the United States service in Capt. .A. A. McKnight's company of three months' men and was promoted to sergeant of Com- pany I, 8th Regiment. On Aug. 27. 1861. he again enlisted, becoming a private in Com- pany B, 105th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- teers. In September he was promoted to first sergeant of Company B. and in October to

a. C. Thompson

LIZ. . RY

297

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

second lieutenant. On Nov. 28, 1861, he was transferred to Company K, and on Dec. Ist was promoted to captain of the company. Captain Thompson was a very handsome man. At this time, nineteen years of age, he was above six feet in height, straight as an arrow, finely proportioned, with classic features lighted by wonderfully clear and lustrous eyes that would have made even an ordinary face attractive. He was wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862. The company was preparing to charge, and in forming the line, which had been badly broken in the struggle through the "slashing," Captain Thompson raised from a kneeling position facing his company, and was struck in the back by a musket ball which, being deflected by a rib, passed half around his body, inflicting a very painful wound. He was sent to the hospital at New Haven, Conn., and later on home. Be- fore this wound was altogether healed, the young officer, becoming impatient, rejoined his regiment at Harrison's Landing. Captain Thompson was in every subsequent engage- ment in which his regiment took part, up to the battle of "Second Bull Run," where he was again wounded Aug. 29, 1862. the ball entering the right breast, fracturing the second and third ribs, penetrating and lacerating the lung. and lodging in the wall of the back, where it remained. This wound was thought to be mortal, and was so reported, but by the ten- der, unremitting care of his mother, and the aid of a superb constitution, after ten weary months of suffering, he was able to apply for service in the invalid corps, receiving his com- mission as captain in June. 1863. During the greater part of the time that he was in this service he was on the staff of the provost marshal of Kentucky. On the Ioth of De- cember, 1863. he resigned, and returned to the study of law in the office of Hons. W. P. and G. A. Jenks, and was admitted to the bar Dec. 13. 1864.

In 1865 Captain Thompson went to Ports- mouth, Ohio, where he engaged in the practice of law. In 1869 he was elected Probate judge of Scioto county, serving two terms. In 1881 he was elected judge of Common Pleas of the counties of Scioto and Lawrence, for a term of five years. He resigned before this term expired. having been elected to Congress by the Tenth district of Ohio, which he represented in the Forty-ninth. Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses. As a member of the Judiciary committee he was appointed chairman of a special committee to investigate the conduct of Federal courts in the South. The report he

made showed his courage as well as high ability. Judge Ezra B. Taylor (Ohio), chair- man of Judiciary of the House of Represen- tatives, said of this report: "It took a soldier as well as a statesman to make it."

Upon retiring from Congress he was ap- pointed by Governor Mckinley, a member of the Ohio Tax Commission, and by the other members was elected chairman. The report of that committee was regarded as a model of efficiency. Requests for copies of the report came from many of the States of the Union, and notably from the French School of Politi- cal Science and Economics, from Oxford, England, and Stockholm. A warm personal friendship subsisted between Senator Sher- man, Senator Hanna, Mckinley and Judge Thompson, beginning in 1866-67, when he was a member of the "State Central Committee of Ohio." At the National convention, St. Louis, where Mckinley was nominated for president, McKinley requested Judge Thompson to take charge of the various contests which were pre- sented from different States and from differ- ent districts. Nowhere were his ability, cour- age and tact shown to better advantage. Every contest was amicably settled. A mem- ber of a Southern delegation that had "lost out" said. "No use kicking, he was right and he knew it- we knew it, too. He had the facts against us, made us eat crow, and I'll be hanged if he didn't make us act as if we liked it!" This was said to McKinley, who greatly enjoyed the joke. He often referred to "Judge Thompson's Crow Dinner," and at one time when heavily burdened with the duties of his high office he wrote Judge Thompson, who was then a Federal judge: "I wish you were here to give them a dish of crow! No one else seems able to make it palatable."

Judge Thompson was appointed by Pres- ident Mckinley a member of a "Committee to Codify the Criminal & Penal Laws of the United States." He was elected chairman of this committee. That code was adopted by the Sixtieth Congress and constitutes the Criminal Code of the United States to-day. In 1898 President Mckinley appointed Judge Thompson judge of "the United States court of Southern district of Ohio." How well he did his work and the respect and affection he won is well expressed by an eminent member of the Cincinnati bar at a meeting of the "Bar of the Southern District of Ohio," in memory of his death, which occurred Jan. 26, 1910. Colonel Colston says: "Looking back at the career and character of Judge Thompson, we see. first of all, a gentleman. We find a gallant

298

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

soldier, a fine lawyer, a just, independent, and upright judge. A man of the finest dignity and of strict integrity. A man who came among us comparatively a stranger to the most of us, yet whose departure has left uis weep- ing." Among the many beautiful tributes this was chosen as comprising all. And there were many others, from all sources, high and low, rich and poor-Cincinnati and the State mourned their loss.

Judge Thompson's death was the end of a lifelong struggle with the wound received at Bull Run. Hemorrhages were frequent, and in the cavity of the wounded lung abscesses were constantly forming, poisoning the system. A wonderful constitution, great care and a de- termined will had enabled him to prolong life, but as he grew older strength to resist this poison failed and death eame. As Captain Thompson, he received the Kearny Cross for bravery on the field of battle. In the battle of life and for life itself, were shown enduring courage that lasted to the end. The spirit held, but physical strength was gone. In re- viewing his life we are reminded of these lines of Rossetti :

Does the road wind up the hill all the way? Yes, to the very end.

And will the day's journey take the whole long day?

From morn to night, my friend.

"I wish to add this tribute to the memory of Albert Clifton Thompson, not as the eminent statesman and jurist, but as the soldier as I knew him on the tented field, and suffering bravely from wounds at home. He was very dear to me, from his early boyhood, and our friendship lasted until the brave life went out."-Dr. W. J. McKnight.

On Dec. 25. 1867, Captain Thompson mar- ried Ella .A. Turley, daughter of Col. John A. and Charlotte (Robinson ) Turley. To then were born six children: Charl, married to Oscar W. Newman, who at present date (1915) is a judge of the Supreme court of Ohio; Albert Clifton, Jr., a captain in the United States Coast Artillery ( 1915) ; Sara Gibbs, married to Eustace C. Wheeler, an at- torney, of St. Louis, Mo .; Amy, married to Raymond Dee York, of Portsmouth, Ohio, vice president and manager of the Street Rail- road Company ; Ruth, living at home in Ports- mouth, Ohio; and Guy Van Zandt, in busi- ness at Portsmouth.

ERWIN S. SMITH owns and resides upon the fine old homestead in Oliver township, the

place of his nativity, and is known and valued as a representative agriculturist and stock grower. He was born Aug. 24, 1882, and is of an honored pioneer family. His father, Samuel S. Smith, was born in Young town- ship, and was in his sixty-second year when he died, Aug. 7, 1907. He was a son of William and Annie ( Brilhart) Smith.

William Smith was born in Germany and came with his parents to the United States, his brother, Henry Smith, having become a pioneer farmer near Walston. There William Smith passed the remainder of his life and there his son Samuel S. was born and reared. Of the latter's brothers and sisters, Catherine became the wife of Frederick Hurlibuss ; Mary married George Hartsfield; William K. and John E. were the youngest sons. William Smith was twice married, his first wife, Annie Brilhart, dying in 1852. His second wife bore the maiden name of Mary Smith, and by her he had four children: Henry, Jacob, Adam and Elizabeth. The only daughter is the wife of Frederick Haag and resides on the old Smith homestead in Young township.

Samuel S. Smith about 1866 purchased the fine farm of 217 acres in Oliver township now owned by his son Erwin S. Here he passed the residne of his life, as one of the com- munity's most substantial farmers and influen- tial citizens. He was a Republican, and a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church ; his widow is also a Presbyterian, and remains with her son on the homestead. The maiden name of Mrs. Smith was Rebecca McCracken, and she was born in Bell township March 2, 1844, daughter of James and Martha (Lyons) McCracken, who settled near Bell's Mills, where Mr. McCracken became a prosperous farmer and lumberman. He was a stanch Democrat and a political leader in Jefferson county, which he served as sheriff. He and his wife died many years ago. Of the children of Samuel S. and Rebecca Smith, Harvey died in childhood; William, who is a successful farmer in Butler county, wedded Elsie Albert, and they have three children; Frederick, a carpenter and contractor at Punxsutawney, married Mande Johns, and has two children ; Erwin S. was the next ; Anna M. is the wife of Clyde Dilts, a machinist at Niagara Falls. N. Y .; Mary is the wife of Harry Long, a farmer in MeCalmont township, and they have two children.

Erwin S. Smith had in his youth only such educational advantages as were afforded by the public schools. He is known as a vigor- ous and progressive farmer and stockgrower,

299

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

and his farm is one of the model estates of Oliver township. He is a Republican .and an Odd Fellow. Both he and his wife are active members of the Olive Presbyterian Church.

On Nov. 24, 1909, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Smith to Amy Reed, who was born at Coolspring, Oliver township, May 18, 1889, daughter of William and Catherine (Reitz) Reed. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children: Meigs, born July 19, 1911; Rebecca, born March 27, 1913; and Wayne, born April 24, 1916.

GEORGE L. REED has shown marked energy, initiative and progressiveness in a business career that has been one of earnest application. He has been the artificer of his own success, his advancement coming entirely through ability and well directed efforts. He is a representative business man and valued citizen of Brookville, where he is president of the George L. Reed Milling Company, whose well equipped and thoroughly modern plant contributes materially to the industrial and commercial precedence of Brookville. He has other important interests that further attest his prestige as a reliable and influential man of affairs.

Mr. Reed was born at Brady, Clearfield Co., Pa., June 8, 1855, son of John H. and Mar- garet (Potter) Reed, the former of whom was born near the historic old city of Rich- mond, Va., and the latter in Blair county, Pa., a daughter of John Potter, who finally removed from Juniata, that county, to Clearfield county, where he passed the remainder of his life. Both John H. Reed and his wife passed the closing years of their lives in Clearfield county. They became the parents of five children, of whom George L. was the third in order of birth ; Mary E. is the wife of William Startzell ; Alexander died when young: James J. and Frank are deceased.

In his native State John H1. Reed was reared to adult age and learned the trade of miller. At the age of eighteen years he removed from Virginia to Clearfield, Pa., and established his residence in Clearfield county, where he be- came concerned with milling and lumbering operations. There he was for some time iden- tified with the Osceola Lumber Company, but when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation he was one of the patriotic young men who went forth in defense of the Union. From Clearfield county he enlisted in the 12th Penn- sylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and continued in active service about two years, within which time he participated in numerous engagements,

including a number of the important battles that marked the progress of the great conflict between the States. In later years he per- petuated his interest in his old comrades by retaining appreciative affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. After the close of the war Mr. Reed resumed the milling busi- ness in Clearfield county, and later was for some time associated with the operation of the mill owned by the late Judge Taylor at Brook- ville. Thereafter he was engaged in the work of his trade for three years in Clarion county, and for intervals of varying length at Cowan- shannock, Pinecreek and Mosgrove, Arm- strong county ; Shelocta, Indiana county ; Kit- tanning, Armstrong county ; and Marysville, Perry county. From the last named place he finally returned to Clearfield county, where he passed the remainder of his life, his age at the time of his death having been about seventy-four years; his wife passed away when about seventy-three years of age.

George L. Reed is indebted to the public schools of Brookville and other places in Penn- sylvania for his early educational training, which was somewhat limited in scope, his broader education having been gained under the preceptorship of that wisest of all head- masters, experience. As a boy he was em- ployed for some time at farm work, and later as driver of a cart in connection with the low grade railroad that was being constructed through Jefferson and neighboring counties. Ile also served in a similar way in the con- struction of another branch of the same rail- way line, and thereafter was for three months employed in a stone quarry in Armstrong county. This period of his career found him engaged in work of the sturdiest order, and his next experience was in connection with operations in the lumber woods of this section of the State. Thereafter he was for two years associated with his father in the milling business in Armstrong county, where he gained the practical experience that gave him facility as a high-grade miller. After thus learning his trade he was for four years employed in the mill conducted by the late John Startzell, of Brookville, and he next assumed charge of a mill in Clarion county, in which county he still later had supervision of the operation of a mill at Millville. He then went to Free- port, where he held the position of second miller in a well equipped mill for a period of about two and a half years, at the expiration of which he went to Penacook, Merrimack Co., N. H .. where he had a mill of his own for eight years. In the meanwhile, in 1887, he

300

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

purchased an interest in the old Mabon mill at Brookville, and in June, 1891, returned to this place, where he assumed active charge of the mill and where he has since maintained his home. The business is now conducted under the corporate title of the George L. Reed Milling Company, of which he is president and controlling stockholder. Under his effective direction the mill has been brought up to the best modern standards in mechanical equip- ment and accessories, with full roller process. and the superiority of its products has been the basis on which the large and substantial business now controlled by the company has been developed. Mr. Reed is president also of the Redbank Milling Company, of New Bethlehem, Clarion county, where he is presi- dent also of the Redbank Electric Company, of which he was one of the organizers.

Mr. Reed takes a loyal interest in all that concerns the welfare and progress of his home community, and is a liberal citizen and repre- sentative business man, fully meriting the high esteem in which he is uniformly held. He has manifested no predilection for public office or the activities of practical politics.

In the year 1884 Mr. Reed wedded Hannah L. Ellenberger, born and reared at Belknap, Armstrong county, and who is a representa- tive of one of the well known and highly honored families of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Reed have three children, to whom they have given the best of educational advantages and who are honoring the name which they bear: Marlin G. is an efficient and valued associate in his father's milling business ; he attended the public schools and then completed a course in Duff's Business College, Pitts- burgh : he is one of the popular young busi- ness men of Brookville, and is here affiliated with Hobah Lodge, No. 276, F. & A. M. Hilda E. was graduated from the Pennsyl- vania Normal School at Indiana and there- after took an effective post-graduate course in the Pennsylvania State College; she is now a successful and popular teacher of domestic science in the public schools at Everett, Bed- ford county. Russell L., the youngest of the children, was graduated from the Brookville high school as a member of the class of 1916.

DANIEL M. STRAITEWELL, owner of a fine farm, is one of the representative agri- culturists in McCalmont township, his home- stead being eligibly situated nine miles north of Punxsutawney.

Mr. Straitewell was born in Knox town- ship, this county. Dec. 24. 1857, and is a son

of John L. and Rebecca ( Harrigar) Straite- well. The latter's father was George Harri- gar and both he and his wife were pioneer settlers, their old homestead being the farm now owned by R. B. Stewart. John L. Straite- well was reared in Germany and was some- what past thirty when he became a resident of Jefferson county. Near the present village of Knox Dale he developed a farm, which is now the stage of active mining operations on the part of the Campbell Coal Company. The later years of his life were passed near Center Hill, where he died when about sixty years of age, his death having been the direct result of a wound received while in the army. He en- listed in Company G, 105th Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Infantry, serving until the close of the war, and participating in numerous important battles. His wife died when Daniel M. was about twenty-one years old. Of the family of ten children only five attained to maturity, the others dying during a severe epidemic of diph- theria. Of the survivors, the eldest is George, of Knox township ; Daniel M. is next : Lavina is the wife of Daniel Hollenbaugh, of McCal- mont township; Mary is the wife of Levi Wolf, of Knox township. Emma became the wife of Jeremiah Ishman of Knox township. and died about the year 19II.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 61

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