USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, personal and genealogical with portraits, Volume I > Part 31
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
347
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Feb. 21, 1896, and George E., born Jan. 28, 189S. At the time of her marriage to Mr. Maurer, Charlotte J. Beedle owned a half interest in the grocery store of Beedle & Co., at Elben Station, Pa., S. D. Beedle, her brother, being her partner in the business. In 1897 she and her husband, Mr. Maurer, who had continued his work in the mines since his marriage, purchased the interest of S. D. Beedle, and continued the business under the name of C. J. Maurer. From that date Mr. Maurer devoted most of his attention to the interests of the store. In April, 1902, he removed to Clair- ton, Pa., but did not close out the business at Elben Station until the following March. In the spring of 1903 he started in the livery business at Clairton, and later added to this, contract hauling, deal- ing in grain, hay and vehicles. He is also a prominent dealer in real estate, in which business he has been very successful, espe- cially in property at Blair postoffice and Elben Station, Pa. Mr. Maurer is a member of the St. Clair Roman Catholic church of Clairton, and in politics is an enthusiastic republican. While living in Washington county he served one term as school director of Union township. In this position he demonstrated his ability to grapple with public affairs, which he conducted with the same dili- gence and fidelity that has made him so justly successful in his personal concerns.
ROBERT BECK; city assessor of Alle- gheny city, Pa., was born in Allegheny city in 1863. He is a son of the late Peter Beck, who died in 1887, and Mag- dalena Beck, who is still living. Mr. Beck's first education was obtained in the public school of the third ward of his native city. Next he took a course at Duff's college, in the city of Pittsburg, and then served a five-year apprentice- ship at the tailors' trade. For sixteen years he was employed as a cutter by the well-known and popular tailoring firm of Lehman & Kingsbeher, of Pittsburg, and left his position with them in April, 1903, to accept the one he at present occupies. Mr. Beck was appointed by Mayor Wyman for a term of three years. Politically, he is a democrat without guile. For four years he has been secretary of the democratic city committee; scarcely a con- vention has been held in recent years in which he has not been
.
£
348
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
present as a delegate, and in the city he is looked upon as a leader of his party. His appointment as a democrat gave general satis- faction to his party associates. In 1889 he was married to Miss Philamea Auth, of Allegheny city, and they have three interesting children, Irene, Colleta and Robert. Mr. Beck is a member of St. Mary's Catholic church, where for twelve years he has been one of the choir. He is also a member of the Heptasophs, the C. M B. A. and the Knights of St. George, in all of which he has a high standing.
GEORGE W. SNAMAN, a leading merchant on Federal street, was born Oct. 12, 1839, in Baltimore, Md., and is a son of George and Katherine (Spangler) Snaman. He came with his parents to Allegheny city in 1840, and remained with them until his eleventh year, when he left home to look after himself. He began his career as an errand boy for the merchants of Federal street, later entered the employ of Dunlap, Luker & Co. as clerk, and then formed a partnership with Mr. Dunlap, whom he afterwards bought out .-. Mr. Snaman has been in business on Federal street for twenty-five years, engaging in the carpet and wall-paper business, and is kept busy looking after his increasing interests. In politics he is a republican, and is proud of the fact that he cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1860. He takes great interest in the wel- fare of his ward, has been a member of the common council, and chairman of the same for three years, and is now chairman of the finance committee of the select council, having been in the council for twenty years. In 1862 Mr. Snaman enlisted in Com- pany E, 123d Pennsylvania volunteers, in the signal corps, and served nine months. He was married, Oct. 3, 1865, to Ellen J. Dunlap, daughter of his former partner, Capt. H. M. Dunlap, and to them have been born eight children: Carrie D., married to A. M. Irwin; E. E., living in Pittsburg; Harry B. and Walter H., in business with their father; George S., living in Allegheny city; Bessie G., at home; Frank B., married and lives in Allegheny city, and Charles, a high school student. Mr. Snaman's father died in 1886 and his mother in 1865, both being buried in Uniondale cem- etery. The father was a cabinet-maker by trade and was the
?
.
349
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
father of nine children, seven of whom are living. .Of these, Lewis clerks in his brother's store, but the rest are scattered. Mr. Snaman is practically a self-made man, both in education and business. Eleven years is a very tender age to begin fighting life's battles, but Mr. Snaman has done it nobly, and has come out stronger in character for having so nobly striven.
EDWARD P. JOHNSTON, principal of the seventh ward school, Allegheny, was born in Brownsville, Fayette Co., Pa. His parents were William H. and Eliza (Brown) Johnston, who descended from pioneer settlers of that historic town, coming from the north of Ireland. W. H. Johnston was a successful building contractor, and erected many prominent buildings in Washington and Fayette counties. He was an ardent supporter of all educational movements, and from the labor of his own hands provided the means that graduated from higher institutions of learning five sons and two daughters. He was a man six feet, three inches tall, and of robust physical and mental strength. He was prominent for many years in the politics of his town and county, and was presi- dent of the council and a director of the Monongahela bank at the time of his death. He believed in the gospel of hard work, and in times like these, when so many think of work only to avoid it, it is a credit to his family that they have inherited this virtue as well as the educational tendencies of their father. He was an Episcopalian and a Mason. The subject of this sketch received his education in the public school of Brownsville and the Indiana State normal school, graduating from the latter in 1879. Since graduating, Mr. Johnston has been principal of the schools at Freeport, Brownsville, Pittsburg and Allegheny. He is a man of positive and mathematical mind, forms his own opinion of men and things, and advocates them with a sincerity that no one doubts. His school work is marked by an energy and enthusiasm that always succeeds. He leads his school, and has stimulated the educational sentiment of his district to a wonderful degree. The seventh ward school employs twenty-three teachers and has enrolled 1, 100 pupils. Mr. Johnston married Miss Mary E. Fullerton, a successful teacher in the Freeport schools, and to them
·
350
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
has been born one child, Eliza Brown Johnston, a third-year stu- dent in the Allegheny high school. Mr. Johnston is an Episco- palian and a Mason.
WILLIAM TUNSTALL, secretary and treasurer of the Homestead valve manufacturing company, was born on Squirrel Hill, Pittsburg, Pa., Aug. 23, 1849. His father, Joshua Tunstall, was a son of William Tunstall, a native of England, who came to America about 1827, locating the next year in Pittsburg, where he spent the remainder of his life as a pattern-maker. He married Alice Lord, and had three children, Ruth, Elizabeth, and Joshua, who for many years conducted a dairy farm on Squirrel Hill, and died at the age of seventy-six. Joshua Tunstall married Nanny Winders, and his children were: Alice, wife of Frederick Hazely; Elizabeth, wife of John B. Goodworth; Rachel, wife of Bruce Augustine; Lois, who married J. S. Seimon; William Miles, and James. William Tunstall's maternal grandfather was Joseph Winders, also a native of England, for many years in the coal busi- ness in Allegheny county. William Tunstall, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Pittsburg, and educated in the public schools of that city. When a young man, he served a three-year appren- ticeship as a carpenter, and, in 1871, moved to Mckeesport, where he learned the pattern-makers' trade, and followed his vocation there until 1876, when he moved to Port Perry and entered the employ of the Carnegie steel company. He was also employed by the Homestead steel works, in which for seven years he had charge of the pattern department. When the Homestead valve manufac- turing company was organized, in 1894, Mr. Tunstall was one of the organizers, and has been since that time a member of the board of directors, and since 1898 has been secretary and treasurer of the company. In 1870 Mr. Tunstall married Elizabeth, daughter of George W. and Julia A. (Cornelius) Bail, of Allegheny county, and has five children: Lois, now Mrs. T. F. Vankirk; Miss Leal, Clifford E., William, Jr., and Claire. Mr. Tunstall is a member of Homestead lodge, No. 650, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a republican, and has served for twelve years as a member of the borough council of Homestead.
351
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
ROBERT C. YOUNG, baggage-master and mail agent on the P. C. & Y. R. R., at Carnegie, was born near Bridgeville, Allegheny county, July 8, 1846. His parents, Joseph and Margaret (Roach) Young, were respectively of Beaver and Allegheny counties. The father was a farmer and carpenter, noted for his vigor of body and mind, and was born March 14, 1818, near New Castle, Pa., and died March 8, 1869, at Mt. Lebanon; the mother, born Feb. 4, 1820, and died ROBERT C. YOUNG. April 10, 1881. There were ten chil. dren: William, born Nov. 18, 1841; Ellen Jane, born May 21, 1843; R. C., born July 8, 1846; Annalyza, born March 22, 1848; Margaret E., born Jan. 2, 1850; Mary, born Sept 9, 1853; Mary E., born Nov. 26, 1855; infant son, born March 7, 1859; Joseph H., born May 27, 1860; Thomas John, born April 2, 1862. Mary died July 31, 1855, infant son died March 7, 1859, and William died Oct. 13, 1868. On the night of Jan. 16, 1857, the home in which Joseph Young and family lived was burned, and the family suffered great hardship, both on that night and during the rest of the winter. It was the coldest night for many years, and the nearest neighbor living over a mile away, all the members of the family were badly frozen. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Young were hardy pioneers of that early day, and even now are remembered by many with most tender recollections. Robert C. Young, the subject of this sketch, received a very limited education, but worked at home on the farm and at mak- MRS. ANNIE L. YOUNG. ing brooms. When twenty-three years old he came to Mansfield (now Carnegie), and started at the rail- road business, being at first employed on a construction train and helping to lay the Chartiers branch of the Pan Handle. Later he became the assistant station agent at Carnegie, holding that posi- tion for nine years. In 1881 he went to Mckeesport, where he was employed for a time in the National tube works; then returned to Carnegie, beginning as a brakeman on the P. C. & Y. R. R., and
352
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
then taking charge of the baggage and mail car. He has held that position continuously since that time, and has proved himself a capable and efficient employe. Mr. Young was married, Oct. 29, 1874, to Annie L. Clark, a resident of Carnegie, and daughter of George and Eliza (Walker) Clark. Her father was a painter by trade, and was for many years a school director. He was a promi- nent worker in the Presbyterian church, an elder and a member of the choir. He died in 1887 at the age of sixty-two; his wife still survives him, and is in her seventy-seventh year. Mr. Clark was a son of George and Abigail (Caldwell) Clark, the father a black- smith near Carnegie, while Mrs. Clark's parents were James and Matilda (Buining) Walker. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. George Clark, Jr., Mrs. Young, wife of the subject of this sketch, was the first-born, and of the others, Matilda died at the age of thirty-eight; James W., George H., William J. and Robert B. are all painters residing in Carnegie, and Abigail C. is now the wife of George Hay, of Tarentum. Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Young have three children living : George A., a graduate of Duff's business college, and now individual bookkeeper in the Colonial trust company, at Fourth avenue, Pittsburg; Joseph H., educated at Carnegie and Pittsburg academy, now receiving teller at Holmes & Sons' bank, and William H., attending high school. One child, Robert Dickson, born July 18, 1883, died Jan. 7, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Young are members of the United Presbyterian church, and Mr. Young has been a teacher and worker in the Sab- bath-school for many years. In politics he is a republican.
ROBERT L. HENDERSON, a prom- inent republican, and member of the com- mon council of Allegheny city, Pa., from the third ward, was born in the ward in 1857, and is the son of Robert, who died in 1879, and Mary Henderson, well-known and honored residents of the city. Robert, Jr., attended the third ward school until he completed the course of study and then entered the Western University of Pennsylvania. At the age of twenty he left the university and went to work for the MeClure coal company- as superintendent of their works at Painter, Pa. His success in this position soon led to his promotion to that of general superintend-
353
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
ent of all the company's works throughout the coke region. He is at present associated with Gilbert T. Rafferty, with offices in the Lewis building, Pittsburg, Pa., though he resides at No. 1317 Boyle St., Allegheny city. In February, 1903, he was elected to represent the third ward in the common council, where he is now serving on the committees on finance and charities. Mr. Henderson is a member of Allegheny lodge, No. 339, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is always one of the foremost men in the charitable acts of his lodge. Throughout his entire business and political career, his course has been distinguished by careful attention to the details of his duties and a strict integrity. As a result, he has the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
JOSIAH PAINTER, of Natrona, Pa., a successful and highly prosperous farmer, was born in Butler county, Pa., April 22, 1830, son of Joseph and Christina Painter, the former a native of Westmoreland county, and the latter of Armstrong county. They were the par- ents of six children, five of whom are liv- ing, and the subject of this sketch was the only son. Joseph Painter was a suc- cessful farmer, owning 100 acres of land, a republican in politics, and he and his wife were members of the Lutheran church. Josiah Painter was reared on a farm in Fawn township, Allegheny county, was educated in the common schools, and has devoted his entire business life to farming. He was also engaged in the market business for twenty years, and in both of these lines he has been unusually successful, and now has 300 acres of land in Fawn township, 152 acres in Harrison township, and 85 acres in Buffalo township, Butler county. In 1900 he located on the Free- port road, in Harrison township, near Birdville, and has since resided there. Mr. Painter is a republican, and he and his wife attend the Presbyterian church. He was married, in 1853, to Mary J. J. McKee, a native of Washington county, Pa., and the following ten children have been born to them, viz. : Salinda, Robert (deceased), Joseph (deceased), Annie, Gilbert E., Jennie, William, Maud, Charles (deceased) and Harry (deceased). Mr. Painter has enjoyed a long and highly successful life, and is well and favorably known in the community in which he lives.
I-23
JOHN HUNTINGDON CHAPLIN.
LIEUT. COM. JAMES CROSSAN CHAPLIN.
GEN. JOHN NEVILLE. (Silhouette.)
NEVILLE FAMILY CREST.
JAMES CROSSAN CHAPLIN.
LIEUT. WILLIAM CRAIG CHAPLIN.
JOHN M. CHAPLIN.
355
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
GEN. JOHN NEVILLE.
A Distinguished Soldier and Citizen.
Gen. John Neville was a son of Richard Neville and Ann Burroughs, who was a cousin of Lord Fairfax. He was born in Virginia, July 26, 1731, and was an early acquaintance of Washing- ton, and served with him in Braddock's expedition. He was in Lord Dunmore's expedition in 1774, the last war in which Ameri- cans were engaged as the subjects of the king of Great Britain. The earl of Dunmore at that time was the governor and commander-in- chief of the colony and dominion of Virginia. General Neville made large entries and purchases of land on Chartiers creek, and built a house there, into which he was about to move when the Revo- lutionary troubles began. He was elected a delegate to the provin- cial convention of Virginia, which appointed George Washington, Peyton Randolph and others to the first continental congress, but was prevented by sickness from attending. On Aug. 7, 1775, the provincial convention of Virginia ordered him to march with his company and take possession of Fort Pitt. He was colonel of the 4th Virginia regiment in the Revolution, subsequently. he was a . member of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, and of the Pennsylvania convention which ratified the federal constitu- tion. He was also a member of the convention which formed the .constitution of Pennsylvania. General Neville was a descendant of the earl of Warwick (Neville), the king-maker of Eng- land. In 1791, at the urgent solicitation of President Wash- ington and Secretary Hamilton, he accepted the appointment of inspector of the revenue in the fourth survey of the district of Pennsylvania, which he held until the fiery ordeal of the whiskey insurrection had passed. In May, 1793, congress passed material modification to the law, but all to no purpose. The excitement increased; not only were collectors visited with violence, but those who complied with the law. The adversaries of the law went so far as to burn the barns and tear down the houses of the collectors and others, and threaten with death those who should disclose their names. So strong was the public feeling that one word in favor of the law was enough to ruin any man. It was considered as a badge of toryism. No clergyman, physician, lawyer or mer- chant was sustained by the people unless his sentiments were in opposition. On July 16, 1794, a band of about forty individuals attacked the mansion of Gen. John Neville, chief inspector of western Pennsylvania, situated eleven miles southwest of Pittsburg.
:
356
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
It was defended by Major Kirkpatrick, a brother-in-law, with . eleven men from the garrison at Pittsburg. The attack was pre- viously made with small arms, and the house having been set on fire, the garrison was obliged to surrender. One of the insurgents was killed.
General Neville was one of the most zealous patriots of the Revolution, and a man of great wealth and unbounded benevo- lence. During "starving years" of the early settlement in that region, he contributed largely to the necessities of the suffering pioneers, and, when necessary, he divided his last loaf with the needy. . In accepting the office of inspector of the revenue, he was governed by a sense of public duty, doing so at the hazard of his life and the loss of all his property. All his Revolutionary serv- ices and his great popularity were insufficient to shield him from public indignation, and his hospitable mansion was consumed to ashes in the presence of hundreds who had shared his bounty or enjoyed his benevolence. The story of this insurrection has in it more of thrilling interest than the best of the historical novels, for the greatest men in the land, from President Washington . down, were concerned in it. Among these were Albert Gallatin, Senator Ross and Gen. John Neville; in fact, all the men of note in the State. General Neville was appointed agent at Pittsburg for the sale of lands, under act of congress, of May 18, 1796, entitled : "An act for the sale of the lands of the United States in the terri- tory northwest of the Ohio," etc. General Neville built, at his own expense, the first Protestant Episcopal church west of the Allegheny mountains, in 1790. At that time there was no parish, or, in fact, Episcopal diocese in this county, the country hereabout being included in the territory under the New York diocese. With the founding of the St. Luke's, as it was called from the first, of Chartiers, Allegheny county, a parish was carved out, and Rev. Francis Reno was brought on from the east and ordained by Bishop White. General Neville paid the bills for his preparation for the ministry. John Neville was a man of considerable wealth for those times, and was, beyond doubt, the ablest and most promi- nent man in this end of the State. He married Winifred Oldham, a daughter of Colonel Oldham, of a noted Virginian family. He died on July 29, 1803, in what is now known as Neville township, and was buried in the Trinity churchyard of Pittsburg.
Gen. Pressley Neville was his only son, and Amelia his only daughter. Pressley was born Sept. 6, 1755, at Winchester, Va., and died Dec. 1, 1818. Gen. Pressley Neville married Nancy
357
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Morgan, the accomplished daughter of the celebrated General Morgan, leader of the rifle corps of the Revolution, and she, Breckenridge says, "blessed him with an offspring as numerous and as beautiful as the children of Niobe." Gen. Pressley Neville was an aide-de-camp on General Lafayette's staff, and an accom- plished man of fine education. His declination to become a candi- date for congress, Aug. 4, 1798, was a very great disappointment, the district at that time being composed of Greene, Washington and Allegheny counties. He entertained on different occasions two of the most distinguished characters in the history of France-the duke of Orleans, afterwards King Louis Philippe, and that other uncrowned king, the Marquis Lafayette. When the revolution, which broke out in 1789, upturned the monarchy of France, the exiled heir to the throne, with his two brothers, Montpensier and Beaujolais, took refuge in America. In 1794 the future king of France, accompanied by his two brothers, reached Pittsburg. Gen. Pressley Neville then lived at the corner of Water and Ferry streets, and being the friend of the outcast and the oppressed, he was importuned by a French resident to entertain the strangers. To this he at first demurred, saying that while he was "the friend of Rochambeau and Lafayette and the friend of the unfortunate Louis-not as a monarch, but as a man," he hesitated as an American to receive the representatives of the fallen monarchy. But his humanity and hospitality overcame all other scruples, and he received the noted Frenchmen into his home and entertained them during their stay in Pittsburg. Louis and his kinsmen never forgot the kindness of General Neville. Afterwards, when a son of the latter, Capt. Frederick Neville, of the United States navy, happened to be in Marseilles, Louis, then king, sent for the young officer and lavished upon him every attention. At the ceremonies in Pittsburg over Washington's death, a famous oration was delivered by Gen. Pressley Neville, Jan. 11, 1800.
Amelia Neville married, Feb. 1, 1785, Maj. Isaac Craig.
MAJ. ISAAC CRAIG.
A Renowned Citizen and Soldier of the Early Days.
Maj. Isaac Craig was born near Hillsborough, County Down, northeastern coast of Ireland, in the year 1741, and emigrated to America in 1765. At the beginning of the Revolutionary war he took up arms in defense of his adopted country's rights, determined not to lay them down until with his life or the establishment of
358
MEMOIRS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
freedom. In November, 1775, he was appointed a first lieutenant of marines in the navy, and served ten months in that capacity, on board the "Andrew Doria," commanding marines. This vessel formed one of the squadron of Commodore Hopkins, which captured Fort Nassau and Montague, on the island of New Providence, in the West Indies. The governor himself was captured, together with many valuable stores, then much needed by the Americans, and subsequently used in Rhode Island and on the Delaware. Of these, a minute inventory was made by Lieutenant Craig. Upon return to harbor, in October, 1776, he was commissioned captain. In the November following, the marines were ordered into the army as infantry, and performed artillery duty. He was commis- sioned in March, 1777, a captain of artillery, under command of Colonel Proctor. Upon the promotion of Major Ford to the lieu- tenant-colonelcy, Captain Craig was entitled to the majority, but through misunderstanding, caused by his absence at sea, the supreme executive council appointed Capt. Andrew Porter to the vacancy. This led to a strong letter of protest on the part of Captain Craig, dated at Philadelphia, Feb. 21, 1782. The council reconsidered and revoked the order, and conferred priority of com- mission as major on Captain Craig, in the 4th regiment or artil- lery, annexed by resolution of congress to the Pennsylvania line. He participated in a number of battles, among them Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth and Brandywine. Major Craig was ordered to Fort Pitt to join General Clark in an intended expedition against Detroit, which, however, failed to take place. At Fort Pitt he performed various services to the satisfaction of the government, and became noted for his energy, activity and integrity. During his service at Fort Pitt he availed himself of the land laws of the State by taking up some valuable tracts of land. The first land sales were made by the Penns to Maj. Isaac Craig and Stephen Bayard in the "Manor of Pittsburg," in 1784. In 1797 he and Gen. James O'Hara built the first glass-works erected in western Penn- sylvania, preceding those of Albert Gallatin at Brownsville a few months.
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.