USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, personal and genealogical with portraits, Volume I > Part 18
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Algernon B. Dickson, who is manager of the firm of James Dickson & Sons, is a son of James Dickson, and one of the promi- nent young men of Allegheny county. He was born on Neville island, Nov. 12, 1863, and was educated in the township schools. Like his father, he is actively interested in the welfare of Neville township, in which he has held various public offices. He is an active member of the Presbyterian church of Neville island, in which he is a trustee. He is a stockholder of the North American bank of Pittsburg. and in the Frank H. Hieber wagon manufactur- ing company of McKee's Rocks, the Coraopolis industrial supply company and the Masonic hall association of Allegheny city, Pa. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, member of Mckinley lodge, No. 318, of Allegheny; Duquesne chapter, No. 193, of Pittsburg, and Pittsburg commandery, No. I, K. T. ; of Pennsylvania sov- ereign grand consistory, S. P. R. S., valley of Pittsburg, thirty- second degree; of Syria temple, A. A. N. O. M. S. Mr. Dickson was married. on June 28, 1893, to Miss Lida S. Means, daughter of Robert and Eliza Means, of Allegheny city. Robert Means was for thirty-five years an employe of the Wayne iron and steel works, was an ardent temperance worker, a man of excellent character, and in politics an influential democrat. He died June 2, 1900. He was married, June 12, 1845, to Miss Eliza S. Wood, of Pitts- burg, daughter of Samuel and Margaret Wood. Samuel Wood was in his day a well-known Pittsburg business man. To Mr. and Mrs Robert Means were born eleven children, of whom four, besides Mrs. Algernon B. Dickson, are living, viz .: Minerva, Edward, Samuel and Sarah. Mrs. Means was born in Pittsburg, April 29, 1822, and was educated in the third ward school of Pittsburg, under Mrs. Adeline Whitter, principal of the girls' department. Mrs. Means died April 28, 1898.
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FRED W. PATTERSON, chief road engineer of Allegheny county, is the son of John W. and Almina (Wendt) Pat- terson, and was born in what is known as South Side, or Birmingham, Pittsburg, Jan. 29, 1860. Among the first pioneers in Allegheny county was his great- great- grandfather, Nathaniel Patterson, born in Culpepper county, Va., in 1729, who accompanied General Washington to this point when he made his first perilous trip across the mountains with a surveying party. He was an assist- ant surveyor to Washington in that expedition, and aided in establishing the original survey in this vicinity. The French and Indian war coming on, the party was compelled to return to Vir- ginia and get ready for the conflict which was to decide the owner- ship of this disputed territory. After the close of the war, or about 1760, he returned to this locality with his family and settled near Dravosburg, in Mifflin township, where he died, Aug. 9, 1795. The farm on which he settled is still in the possession of his descendants. His son, Andrew Patterson, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Culpeper county, Va., in 1755, and came to Mifflin township with his father. He became a surveyor of note, and died in 1808. His son, Nathaniel Patterson, the grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Mifflin township in 1795. He served in the War of 1812 as corporal in a regiment known as the "Pittsburg Blues," was a surveyor by profession, and was elected recorder of Allegheny county in 1859. As stated in the beginning of this sketch, John W. Patterson and Almina (Wendt) Patterson were the parents of Fred WV. Patterson, the former, John W., being born, in Chartiers township, Allegheny county, on May 4, 1835, where he was reared to manhood. On the breaking out of the great Civil war, he offered his services in defense of the Union, and was made colonel of the 102d regiment, Pennsylvania volunteer infantry. He participated with his com- mand in many hotly-contested engagements, but was killed at the battle of the Wilderness, on May 5, 1864. The G. A. R. post, No. 151, of Pittsburg, was named in honor of him. Fred W. Patterson received his earlier education in the public schools of Pittsburg; later he completed a course in civil engineering at the Western University of Pennsylvania, after which he accepted 'a
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position with the Pennsylvania railroad company, and remained with them until 1887, when he accepted the position of chief engi- neer with the Pittsburg & Lake Erie railroad, which he filled until 1889. He then engaged with the Baltimore & Ohio railroad as engineer of maintenance of way for its Pittsburg division, which position he held until elected city engineer of Mckeesport, in 1891, where for six years, or until appointed to his present position, he faithfully served his constituency. Since 1897, when he became chief road engineer of Allegheny county, he has accomplished wonderful improvements in the development of the public high- ways, and the wisdom of his selection for that important position has been fully demonstrated. In New Brighton, on June 11, 1885, occurred his marriage with Miss Mary Searight, an estimable young lady of that place. They have had four children, two of whom are living: John W., who is at present a cadet at the New York military academy, and David F. Mr. Patterson joined the Masonic order in 1881, and became a member of Tancred com- mandery in 1887, and a Shriner in the same year. We have briefly compiled in this sketch a few facts pertaining to the life and ancestry of one of Allegheny county's native sons, who, reared here, is devoting the best efforts of his life in behalf of her people and the generations to follow.
REV. THEOFAN A. OBUSHKE- VICH, a Greek Catholic priest, who has been located at Carnegie, Pa., since April, 1903, was born in Zydnia, Galicia, Austria, Sept. 12, 1841. His parents were Alexander and Euphrosina (Pry- slopski) Obushkevich. Twelve years of his life were spent in school-four years in the public schools, four years in the college at Eperies, Hungary, and four years in the theological colleges of Lem- berg and Przemysl. He was ordained a priest on April 6, 1867. Shortly after his ordination he was given the charge of a parish at Radocyna, Galicia, Austria, and remained there for three years. His second parish was at Rostoki, where his charge lasted three years. Next he was for twelve years in charge of the parish of Hanczowa, Galicia, Austria. After this he was for four years at Uscicruskie, Galicia, Austria, at the end of which time he came to the United
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States, landing in this country on July 1, 1889. Since coming to this country his work has been divided among the following par- ishes: one year at Shamokin, Pa. ; six years at Olyphant, Pa. ; five years at Mayfield, Pa. ; six months at Mahanoy City, Pa , and since April 10, 1903, he has been in charge of the Greek Catholic con- gregation at Carnegie, Pa., where he has already taken the prelimi- nary steps toward the building of a large church. Father Obushkevich has inherited to a great degree his love for his chosen calling, as his father was a prominent priest in Galicia, Austria.
WILLIAM F. ZOELLER, member and chairman of the Knoxville council, and a prominent wholesale liquor dealer of Pittsburg, was born, in 1859, in East Birmingham, now the twenty-sixth ward of the city of Pittsburg. His parents, John and Fredericka Zoeller, were both natives of Germany. The former died in 1887, and the latter, at the age of seventy-six, is now living with her son. Mr. Zoeller's paternal grandfather came to this country from Würtemberg, Ger- many, in 1832, and located in Allegheny county, on a farm which is now partly owned by the subject of this sketch. William F. Zoeller received his primary education in the public schools of his native ward, after which he attended the Western University of Pennsylvania for two years. He then learned the bakers' trade, which he followed for five years in the city of Pittsburg. About the time he reached his majority he became associated with Jacob Gommel in the wholesale liquor business. The firm handled several specialities, the foremost among them being Swiss stomach bitters (first prepared by Dr. Arnold Koch in 1870) and black gin. In 1886 Mr. Gommel died, and since that time the business has been carried on by Mr. Zoeller. The trade of the house has increased from year to year, until its goods are distributed all over the United States by jobbers, and a number of traveling men are employed. Mr. Zoeller also makes a wild-cherry tonic and a cough cure that meet with popular favor wherever they are introduced. In the midst of all his business cares, Mr. Zoeller finds some time to devote to the general good of the community. Politically, he is a republican, as were his father and grandfather before him. His election to the
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council attests his popularity with his neighbors, and his elevation to the chairmanship of that body shows that his fellow councilmen have full confidence in his integrity and executive ability. Besides his duties as councilman and the demands of his wholesale liquor trade, he is a director and first vice-president of the St. Clair sav- ings and trust company. Mr. Zoeller's wife was Miss Carrie Dowden, a daughter of B. A. Dowden, of Pittsburg. They have four children: Karl W., aged twenty-two years, and traveling for his father's firm; Joseph Roy, aged seventeen ; Carrie F., aged six- teen, and Robert F., aged nine. Mr. Zoeller and family are mem- bers of the Evangelical Lutheran church. In all his business transactions he has been punctual in the performance of his promises, and his standing in business and political circles to-day is due to his square dealing and to the fact that he never betrayed a friend.
JOHN FITE, the proprietor of the Elgin butter, cheese and egg house, at Nos. 537 to 545 Liberty Ave., Pittsburg, is well known in mercantile circles. His father, George Fite, was a native of Ger- many, but came to America in 1843 and settled in what is now the city of McKees- port, where the subject of this sketch was born, Sept. 9, 1846. In the schools of Mckeesport he received the major part of his education, and at the age of four- teen years went into a general store at Mckeesport as a clerk. During the eight years he remained in this position he learned many things concern- ing the business of buying and selling goods. When he was about twenty-two years old he came to Pittsburg as a salesman in the dry-goods store of Love Bros., at the corner of Fourth and Market streets. He remained with this firm for about twelve years, when he decided to go into business for himself. Starting with a small capital, he began selling Elgin creamery butter and cheese to dealers. From this humble beginning he has managed, by inde- fatigable industry and the application of modern business methods, to build up one of the largest wholesale houses in his line in the city of Pittsburg, doing a volume of business of more than $1, 000, 000 annually. While living at Mckeesport he was married to Miss Elizabeth Gorthardt, and to the marriage seven children were
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born, of whom three sons and two daughters are still living. The sons all occupy responsible positions in their father's business. W. G. Fite is the credit man of the house, Charles J. is the princi- pal buyer, and Frank S. is the floor manager. One daughter, Luella M., is married, and the other, Clara M., is living with her parents at home. Mr. Fite is also the owner of considerable real estate in the city of Pittsburg. Most of his property is located in the East End, in the vicinity of Highland Park and Jeannette. Notwithstanding the demands of his constantly growing business, he still finds time to attend to church duties and indulge in social intercourse. His entire family are members of the Bethany Lutheran church of Pittsburg. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of Pittsburg lodge, No. 508, Pittsburg consistory of the Scottish Rite, and Syria temple of the Mystic Shrine. Politically, he is a loyal republican, thoughi he rarely takes an active part in the contests of the political arena, prefer- ring to give liis attention to his business, and the visitor to the Elgin butter, cheese and egg house never fails to come away with the impression that it is one of the best conducted mercantile con- cerns in the great and busy city of Pittsburg.
HENRY M. DAVIDSON, attorney-at- law, with offices at Nos. 618 and 619 Bake- well building, Pittsburg, Pa., is a native of West Deer township, Allegheny Co., Pa , where he was born in 1870 He is a son of Henry and Mary Davidson, well- known residents of West Deer township. His mother died in 1877. Mr. Davidson was educated in the common schools, spent two years in the Pennsylvania State college, and graduated from the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1891. While attending college and the univer- sity, he worked as a civil engineer during vacations. In June, 1891, he took the preliminary examinations to read law with the Allegheny law association, and was at once appointed clerk of the association. During the two years that he served as clerk he pros- ecuted his legal studies, and, in 1893, was admitted to the bar. He began the practice of law in Pittsburg, locating at No. 435 Diamond St., where he remained until his removal to his present location. Politically, Mr. Davidson is a republican, and, in 1899,
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he was elected to the common council of Allegheny city, represent- ing the second ward of that municipality, in which he resides. Two years later he was triumphantly re-elected, and before the expiration of his second term he was made secretary of the citizens' organization of Allegheny city. On May 6, 1903, he was appointed collector of delinquent taxes for Allegheny city, which position he still holds. He was married, in 1900, to Miss Amelia Shaffer, of Allegheny city, and they have one child, an infant son. Mr. Davidson has a good law practice, and in his private business he enjoys the entire confidence of his clients, as in his official capacity he enjoys the full support and trust of his constituents.
CHARLES A. ANDERSON, a promi- nent banker and manufacturer of Brad- dock, was born in what is now the fourth ward, Pittsburg, Nov. 7, 1862. His father, Joseph N. Anderson, was a son of Renix and Sarah (Nelson) Anderson, and a grandson of James Anderson, an Irishman who emigrated to America. Joseph N. Anderson was a prominent hotel keeper of Pittsburg, giving up the business in 1872, and at the time of his death, Aug. 9, 1890, was a director in the Braddock National bank and Pittsburg National Commercial bank. Ann Eliza Anderson, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was the daughter of George H. Bell, sister of Mrs. Allen Kirkpatrick and Mrs. George H. Chalfant, and a descendant of James Bell, the great-grandfather of our subject. He is now buried in the Presbyterian graveyard at Hunterstown, Adams Co., Pa., about three miles from the town of Gettysburg, having this inscription on his tombstone: "Here lies James Bell, a soldier of the Revolution, aged ninety years." Jamies Bell came from Ireland to this country at the early age of twelve years, and settled in Chester county, Pa. His father and brothers were tories, or King George men. When the Revolutionary war started, James ran away from home at the age of eighteen years, and enlisted in the Colonial army. Mr. Bell, being a first-class penman, was appointed clerk at General Knox's headquarters, General Knox being chief of artillery He fought in the battle of Monmouth, and was very well acquainted with Mollie Pitcher, of Revolutionary fame. He married Rebecca Horner, of Hunterstown, immediately
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after the Revolutionary war. Mr. Bell lost all trace of his family during the war; some years after he heard indirectly that they were living in Washington county, Pa. Starting on horseback, he rode all the way out there, only to find that several inonths before they had started on a flatboat down the Ohio river to settle at some place in Kentucky. He never heard of them again. Charles A. Anderson received an education in the Pittsburg schools, and when nineteen years old, started in the hotel business. In May, 1890, he became a partner and treasurer of the Shook-Anderson manufac- turing company, of Pittsburg. On Nov. 1, 1900, this company consolidated with Atwood & McCaffery, Pittsburg valve and machine company, pipe-fitting department of the Wilson-Snyder manufacturing company, and A. Spear & Sons' foundry, under the name of the Pittsburg valve, foundry and construction company. The new company employs over 600 mnen in the manufacture of valves and general fittings, rolling mill and blast furnace supplies, the output going to every State in the Union and many foreign countries. Mr. Anderson is treasurer of the consolidated company, and is also director in the Braddock National bank, which is rated as one of the strongest banks in the country. Mr. Anderson was a school director in Braddock township before the organization of North Braddock as a borough, and has been since that time an active member of the school board. He was married, Nov 12, 1885, to Miss Katherine Mckinney, daughter of Robert and Katherine (Laman) Mckinney, old settlers in what is now the first ward of North Braddock. Bessemer station of the Pennsylvania railroad was formerly called Mckinney's station, after Mr. Mckinney. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Anderson are : William John McKinney, who died in infancy : Charles A., Jr., born Sept. 11, 1888; Margaret Virginia, born Jan. 5, 1891; Katherine, born Oct. 26, 1892; Robert Nelson, a twin brother of Katherine, and Martha, born March 16, 1895. Mr. Anderson erected, in 1890, a handsome stone and brick mansion on Bell avenue, and there resided until August, 1903, when he removed to his new home, on the corner of Jackson and Farragut streets, nineteenth ward, Pittsburg. Mr. Anderson and wife, also Virginia and Charles A., Jr., are members of the Braddock United Presby- terian church. Mr. Anderson is a republican in national politics, but votes without regard to party lines in municipal elections.
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EDWARD J. McILVAIN, director of the department of public works of Alle- gheny city, was born in the city of Pitts- burg in the year 1858, in what was known as Bayard's Town. His education was chiefly obtained in what was then the old fifth ward school. Leaving school, he learned the trade of bricklaying; after serving his apprenticeship and working at the trade, he started, in 1878, in busi- ness for himself as general contractor, later becoming a partner in the firm of Sloan & McIlvain, the firm doing a large amount of municipal work for the cities of Pittsburg and Allegheny and the surrounding boroughs. About the time he began the con- tracting business he was married. Mr. and Mrs. McIlvain have two children living: Anna Loretta, who is the wife of Norman McFerron, and a son, Edward Taylor Mellvain. Mr. Mellvain has been connected with various other industries besides the contract- ing business. He resigned all his contracting interests in April. 1903, to accept the position as director of the department of public works of Allegheny city. He is a member of the Masonic bodies of Allegheny city and Pittsburg.
JAMES W. GRAY, superintendent of the bureau of water assessment of Alle- gheny city, Pa., is a native of the city where he now holds his official position. He was born in the year 1863, and is a son of the late Alexander, who died in 188r, and Anna Gray, old residents of the second ward. It was in the public school of this ward that James received the greater part of his education, for at the age of seventeen years he went to work for the firm of Oliver Bros. & Phillips as city bookkeeper. While with this firm he worked his way upward until he had charge of the shipping department in the mill. In 1887 he was appointed to the city engineer's office and continued in that position until 1891, when he was appointed to his present position of superintendent of the bureau of water assessment, in which his work has been universally
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approved, as may be seen by his long continuance in the office. In 1892 he was married to Miss Beatrice Harrington, of Allegheny city, Pa., and is now a resident of the fifteenth ward. Mr. Gray is a member of Pittsburg lodge, No. 219, Free and Accepted Masons, and is also a member of the Pittsburg consistory, and Allegheny lodge, No. 339, B. P. O. Elks. In both private and official life, Mr. Gray is a modest, unassuming gentleman, who treats every one with courtesy and consideration. It is chiefly to this trait of character that he owes his popularity and his success, though, in addition to it, he is a man of high executive ability and full of resources that enable him to meet and overcome difficulties that to men of inferior endowments would seem well-nigh insur- mountable.
REV. JOHN SUTKAITIS, pastor of St. Casimir's church, South Side, Pitts- burg, Pa., was born in Lithuania prov- ince, Russia, May 1, 1870. His father, Anthony Sutkaitis, was also a native of Lithuania. Mr. Sutkaitis was educated in various institutions. His early train- ing was in the State college at Suvalki, finishing the course at this school when he was but eighteen years of age. He spent four years in the Catholic semi- nary, and at the age of twenty-two he came to America, landing at New York, Jan. 22, 1892. From New York he came to Pittsburg, where he attended St. Vincent's college for one year, and, on June 16, 1893, he was ordained to the priesthood. Soon after his ordination he was placed in charge of St. Casimir's parish, and was given the duty of organizing it. He began his work in the basement of St. Paul's cathedral, and remained there until Jan. 6, 1894, when the congregation bought the Methodist Episcopal building on Carson street, between Sixth and Seventh streets. At that time the congregation numbered about seventy-five families. It soon grew to such proportions that the church on Carson street had to be abandoned, and a new location was found on the corner of Sarah and Twenty-second streets. The property was purchased from the South Side passenger railway company, and work upon the new buildings was begun in 1901. Within a year a new church, school and parish house were erected, at a cost of $150,000,
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and the congregation moved into its new quarters, which are among the finest on the South Side. The congregation numbers at the present time about 5,000 souls, and in the work of organiz- ing and building up this parish, Father Sutkaitis has demonstrated his executive ability and fitness for his divine calling. He has worked hard, but he has seen his labors crowned with success, and he feels a just pride in the results that he has accomplished.
ALEXANDER GRAY, superintend- ent of the bureau of electric lighting of Allegheny city, Pa., is a resident of the second ward of the city, where he was born in 1856. His parents, Alexander and Anna Gray, were of Scotch-Irish stock, coming from Ireland in 1849, and settling in Allegheny city, where his father died in 1881. As a boy, Alexander attended the old second ward school, in which he received most of his education. On leav- ing school, he started to learn the plumbers' trade with John Patton, one of the leading plumbers of Allegheny city, but after two years he gave up the undertaking, and for the next year he was employed in a furniture store. Railroading had a peculiar fascination for him, and he left the furniture store to become a fireman on a loco- motive on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad. At the expiration of nearly four years in this employment he had mastered all the intricacies of the railway locomotive and was promoted to the position of an engineer. Three years later he quit the throttle to become a steam-fitter with the well-known firm of Kelly & Jones, of Pittsburg, with whom he continued a number of years, leaving their employ to become the chief engineer for the Standard manu- facturing company, where he remained for twelve years. In April, 1903, he was appointed by Mayor Wyman to his present position for a three-year term, his long experience and thorough knowledge of steam engines and appliances being his best recommendation for the place. Mr. Gray was married, in 1883, to Miss Emma Fisher, of Lawrence county, Pa. To their union three children have been born, viz. : Charles A., Henry and Dorothy Fisher Gray. In poli- tics he is a republican, but has never been an aspirant for public office. He is a member of the Methodist church and several benevolent orders, belonging to R. Biddle Roberts lodge, No. 530,
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I. O. O. F .; National Union, and various Masonic bodies, as Stuckrath lodge, No. 430; Allegheny chapter, No. 217; Allegheny commandery, No. 35, and Pittsburg consistory, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he has reached the thirty-second degree.
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