USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, personal and genealogical with portraits, Volume I > Part 42
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on June 21, 1877, and spent the next two years in attending a special law course at Harvard college. He returned to Pittsburg and registered as a student in the office of Hon. M. W. Atcheson, in July, 1879, where he remained until December, 1880, when he was admitted to the bar of Allegheny county. Mr. Sneathen is a member of all courts and has a fine practice. He is prominently connected with the Odd Fellows and the Royal Arcanum. His military record is a splendid one, having served as captain of Com- pany F, 18th regiment, Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, from 1879 to 1881 ; major of that regiment from 1881 to 1884; lieutenant- colonel from 1884 to 1887, when he was retired with that rank. He was married in Pittsburg, Jan. 12, 1886, to Emma C., daughter of George A. Kim, and they have one daughter, Cora Marie.
GUSTAVUS B. OBEY, superintend- ent of the Youghiogheny and Monon- gahela division of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie railroad, with offices in Pittsburg, was born in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., May 23, 1865. He is the elder of the two children born to his parents, William H. and Rachael R. (Shaffer) Obey, his younger brother, Jared E. Obey, being a resident of Pittsburg. His father, who has been deceased for several years, was for a long time an officer in the service of the United States government, and during the Civil war was captain of Company F, 6th Pennsylvania artillery. Among the thousands of men in the service of the great railway systems of the country, there are many who began in humble positions and worked their way up to places of trust and responsibility. Such a man is Gustavus B. Obey. After receiving his education in the common schools of his native city and Westminster college, located at New Wilmington, Pa., he began his career as a railroad man in 1882 as assistant agent for the Pittsburg & Western, at Zelienople, Pa. About a year later he went to Callery Junction as telegraph operator, and from there to Allegheny city, where he remained until the great Johnstown flood, which cut off railroad and telegraph communication. Mr. Obey was sent to Foxburg, Clarion county, to assume the management of the division from that point until communication could be reopened. His work was so well done that after his return to Allegheny city,
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he was appointed chief train dispatcher and was again located at Foxburg, that place being decided on as a more advantageous point for the handling of trains than Allegheny city. During the succeeding years he was stationed at various points on the lines belonging to the Pittsburg & Western system. Leaving Foxburg he went to New Castle, Pa., then he was sent to Painesville, Ohio, where he remained for about two years. He then returned to New Castle as the chief train dispatcher for the main line of the road. Later he left the Pittsburg & Western and accepted a position with the Pittsburg & Lake Erie. This brought him to Pittsburg, where he has ever since been located. In a short time he became the chief train dispatcher for that railroad company, and in Novem- ber, 1901, he was promoted to his present position, with head- quarters in Pittsburg. Mr. Obey is prominent in the Masonic cir- cles of Pittsburg, being a member of all the different bodies of that order. He is also a member of the Monongahela club and the Pittsburg railway club. In 1892, he led to the altar Miss Matie Lee Hart, a highly accomplished young lady of Foxburg, Pa. The wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Obey has been a happy one. He resides at Coraopolis in a cozy suburban home, where he and his estimable wife are surrounded by a large circle of friends.
ALONZO N. McCANN, accountant in the department of public safety, Pittsburg, was born in Flemington, N. J., Sept. 29, 1843, was reared there and educated in the common schools of that city. He then engaged in business and in September, 1862, left a clerk- ship to enlist in the Union army as a private in Company F, 22d New Jersey volunteer infantry. Here he served nine months, fighting in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and was then given an honorable discharge. Later, in August, 1864, he enlisted in the navy and served until the close of the war as ship's writer on the receiving ship "Vermont," at the Brooklyn navy yard. After the war he was employed for about two years as clerk in a dry goods store at Flemington, and then went to Brooklyn and was engaged as a dry goods salesman in Brooklyn and New York until 1892, when he came to Pittsburg. In 1896 Mr. McCann entered the service of the city under J. O. Brown, at that time director of public safety and now recorder, and has been accountant in the department of public safety ever since. Mr. McCann resides in the twentieth ward, Pittsburg. He is a member of the Baptist church.
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FRANK B. DAVIS, of Stone town- ship, Pa., a popular railroad conductor, is a native of Stone township and the son of David and Margaret (Burns) Davis. His father was a saddler by trade but during the latter years of his life devoted his attention to gardening, and died several years since. His mother is now sixty-two years of age and had nine chil- dren, eight of whom are now living. His paternal ancestors came from Wales and his mother's progenitors were from the Emerald Isle. Frank B. Davis attended the public schools of Stone township until he was sixteen years of age and then began to earn his own living, working at various occupations until he became a clerk for the Pittsburg & Lake Erie railroad. He continued in that position for two years and a half and for the next five years was connected with the operating department in the capacity of brakeman. In 1898 Mr. Davis was promoted to his present position of conductor and is now on the through freight of the York division of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie railroad. Mr. Davis was happily married to Helen, daughter of James O'Day, of McKee's Rocks, and they have three children. Mr. Davis is a republican in his political convictions, and in February, 1903, was elected a justice of the peace of Stone town- ship, in which position he is making a fine record. Mr. Davis is a member of the Order of Railway Conductors, the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen and the Alfaretta lodge of Knights of Pythias of McKee's Rocks. He has a pretty home in Stone town- ship and is one of the substantial citizens of that community.
CHARLES E. MARTIN, of Pittsburg, Pa., a rising young attorney, with offices in the Park building, was born at Pittsburg, Jan. 13, 1881, son of James and Jennie (Scott) Martin, both natives of Allegheny county and residents of Pittsburg. Charles Martin was educated in the graded and high schools of Pittsburg, graduating from the latter institution in 1899. Subsequently he read law in the office of Lyon, McKee & Mitchell, of Pittsburg, and then attended the Pittsburg law school, graduating with the class of 1902. He was admitted to the bar on Oct. 4, 1902 ; at once entered on the practice of his profession, and has met with great encouragement in his vocation. His father was born in Lawrence-
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ville, Pa., and has spent his life in Allegheny county, where he is an expert accountant for the Bessemer & Lake Erie railroad. His mother was born in Millville, Pa., and had four children, viz. : Walton W., M. D .; Charles E., Nellie, and Ralph (deceased). Walton W. Martin, a physician and surgeon, with offices at No. 4230 Sherman St., Pittsburg, was born in that city and edu- cated in the splendid schools of his native town, graduating from the high school in 1896. He studied medicine at the Western Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, graduated in 1900, and for the next year was resident physician for that institution. In 1901 Dr. Martin began the practice of his profession in Pittsburg, and has secured a splendid standing among the younger physicians of that city. He is a member of the Austin Flint medical society, the Hallman lodge of Masons, and the Order of Heptasophs.
R. H. RAMAGE, who was a well- known physician and surgeon of Car- negie, was a native of Pennsylvania, born Jan. 16, 1843. His parents, William and Sarah (Wilson) Ramage, were born in Washington county, and were prominent members of the Methodist church. Mr. Ramage was a farmer by occupation, was for twenty-five years justice of the peace, was a school director, and held several other public offices. He and his wife had seven children born to them, and all are living: Margaret; Benjamin F., a West- moreland county farmer; R. H., the subject of this sketch; Rebecca J., now Mrs. Goshorn, of Allegheny; William, a mill worker of Allegheny; Mary, and John W., a farmer in Missouri. After receiving a common-school education, Dr. R. H. Ramage read medicine under Dr. White, a prominent physician of his time, and then attended the Hahnemann medical college, of Philadel- phia. He next pursued his studies at the Hospital medical col- lege, at Cleveland, Ohio, graduating from that institution in the class of 1872. After two years of hospital experience, he began to practice in Allegheny, and in December, 1877, came to Mansfield (now Carnegie), where he devoted his time to a steadily increasing practice until his death. Dr. Ramage was of the homeopathic school, and was a well-read man, informed on all the new dis- coveries in his profession, and thoroughly abreast of the times.
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He had been an occasional contributor to medical journals. He took an active interest in the welfare of Carnegie, and at the time of his death owned several properties in that flourishing city. Dr. Ramage was married, Oct. 20, 1880, to Miss Sarah E. Belton, daughter of E. J. Belton, of Pittsburg. Mrs. Ramage died in August, 1901, at the age of fifty-five. She was a graduate of Pleasant Hill seminary, and taught school several years before her marriage to Dr. Ramage. An influential member of the Presby- terian church and a student of rare attainments, her life was an inspiration to the many who knew her, and her death brought sor- row to their hearts. Dr. Ramage was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, having been a member of Centennial lodge, No. 504, and Cyrus chapter, No. 280, R. A. M. He was also a mem- ber of Chartiers commandery, No. 78, Knights Templars. In politics Dr. Ramage was a republican.
HENRY L. KING, of Pittsburg, Pa., a prominent attorney, was born in that city, Sept. 20, 1858, son of Henry A. and Annie E. (Wenzel) King, both surviving and now residing near Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., Pa. The King family is of English origin, but later settled in Rhine province, Germany, this settlement having been made by the great-grandfather of Henry L., Job King, of Wolverhampton, England. The Wenzel family is of German origin, both of Mr. King's parents being born in that country and accompanying their respective parents to the United States, set- tling at Pittsburg in 1846. There his father learned the trade of glass-blowing and was so engaged until 1876, when he removed to his present home and since has devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. Henry L. King was educated in the splendid public schools of Pittsburg, and at the branch normal school at Greens- burg, taught school for five years in Westmoreland county, attended the law department of the University of Michigan and was there graduated in the class of 1885. He was admitted to the bar of Michigan in the spring of 1885, came to Pittsburg and was admitted to the bar of that city on Dec. 23, 1885. Since then Mr. King has been in continuous practice, is a member of all courts and devotes his attention to civil, building and loan and corpo- ration business. He has met with unusual success and stands high among his confreres. Mr. King was married, in October, 1891, to Rose S. King, and they have three children: Sylvia A., Mignonette L. and Ruth E. He intends to remain in Pittsburg, Pa., which is the industrial center of the United States. .
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JOHN A. McCLARIN, of Tarentum, Pa., a successful truck farmer, was born in Beaver county, Oct. 27, 1825, son of William and Jane (Cork) McClarin, both natives of Ireland, who emigrated to Canada in 1815, later located in Beaver county, Pa., and in 1840 settled in Alle- gheny county, where they resided until their deaths in 1886 and 1882, respect- ively. They were the parents of seven children, two of whom are now living and are: John A. and Sarah J. William McClarin was a prosperous farmer, a lead- ing democrat, and held the positions of supervisor, assessor and school director. John A. McClarin was reared on his father's farm, received his educational training in the common schools, and has lived on the farm he owns for seven years. He makes a specialty of truck and small fruits, and his labors and industry have been crowned with much success. In political matters he is a democrat, though in local matters he looks more to the man than to the party. He served as a school director for four years, and is well known and popular in the community in which he resides. Sarah J., the only surviving sister of John A. McClarin, was born in 1835, and subsequently married Amos Boyd, a glass-worker, who met his death in 1862 at Ball's Bluff, while serving in the Union army. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd had three children: James, of Beaver county; William, of Westmoreland county, and Mary J., who was educated in the common schools, married Walter Grove, of Venango county, and is the mother of the following children: Elmer E. (deceased), Earl and Edwin J.
SYLVESTER J. SNEE, of Pittsburg, Pa., a well-known attorney-at-law, was born in Jefferson township, Allegheny Co., Pa., July 8, 1876, son of John W. and Margaret (Huffman) Snee, both natives of Jefferson township, where they have spent their entire lives, with the exception of two years. His father was a successful farmer for many years, but has now retired from active participation in agricultural matters, and is spending the declin- ing years of his life in comfort and ease at his home in Jefferson township. Mr. Snee's ancestors are of Irish extraction, and were among the earliest settlers of Jefferson township, where they enjoyed the respect and esteem due to honorable and upright peo-
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ple. Sylvester J. Snee was educated in the Duquesne college, Pittsburg, and the Washington and Jefferson college, Washington, Pa. ; is a graduate of both institutions, and received the degree of bachelor of science from Washington and Jefferson college. Mr. Snee then read law in the office of George B. Guffy, of Pittsburg; later entered the law department of the Western University of Pennsylvania, and there was graduated with the class of 1902. He was admitted to the bar in September of that year, entered on the practice at once, and has since met with much encouragement in his professional career. Mr. Snee is a young man of ability and integrity, well-read in the law, and has a bright future before him as an advocate and counselor.
WILLIAM A. ARNOLD, M. D., of Tarentum, Pa., a well-known physician and surgeon, was born in that city, March 28, 1869. He is a son of George and Elizabeth (Mahaffey) Arnold, the former a native of Germany, and the latter born in Allegheny city, Pa. The par- ents of George Arnold were John and Katherine (Whiting) Arnold, both natives of Germany, who came to America in 1838, settling in Butler county, where they resided the remainder of their lives. The maternal grandparents of Dr. Arnold were James and Catherine Mahaffey, who were among the early settlers of Allegheny county. James Mahaffey was born in 1793; Catherine, his wife, in 1794, and both died in West Deer township in 1851. The maternal great-grandfather of Dr. Arnold, James Burns, was an early settler in Philadelphia, and was an officer in the Revolution. George Arnold, the father of Dr. Arnold, was born Feb. 2, 1824, reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools. In 1842 he came to Tarentum, where he resided until his death in May, 1889. He was a whig, and later a republican, and he and his wife were both members of the Methodist church. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom are now living. Dr. Arnold was reared in Tarentum, graduated from the schools of that city, and in 1901 was graduated from the medical department of the Western university, and has since practiced medicine with much success in his native city. Prior to studying medicine, he. was employed by the Flocus glass company, of Tarentum; rose to
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be general manager of that concern, and occupied that position when he retired from commercial life to study for his professional career. Dr. Arnold has taken a prominent stand among the physicians of Tarentum, and is a member of the Allegheny county medical society and of the Allegheny valley medical association. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He was married, on Dec. 8, 1897, to Julia E. Enrich, daughter of a prominent merchant, now deceased, and to them were born two daughters: Amarillo and Elizabeth. Dr. and Mrs. Arnold are members of the Methodist church, and prominent in social and religious circles of Tarentum.
WILLIAM MORGAN WATSON, of Pittsburg, Pa., a distin- guished attorney-at-law, was born in Washington, Pa., April 3, 1855, son of James and Maria Woodbridge (Morgan) Watson. His mother was a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Aldrich) Morgan and her father a son of Col. George Morgan, who was Indian agent at Pittsburg at the beginning of the Revolutionary war and the builder of the first shingle-roof house in the city of Pittsburg, and who later removed to what is now Morganza, Washington Co., Pa., where he spent the remaining days of his life. It was at the old homestead at Morganza that Aaron Burr called to visit the great- grandfather of William M. Watson in 1803 or 1804, Burr being an old acquaintance of the Morgans in Philadelphia and Princeton, and while on this visit disclosed enough of his scheme to convince Colonel Morgan that he was guilty of treason and contemplated serious harm to the government. Acting on this information, Colonel Morgan despatched his two sons to Washington city. to inform President Jefferson of Burr's intentions, which was the first information the president had of this contemplated action. The rest of the Burr case is too well known to be repeated here and Colonel Morgan's part in the affair is fully described in James Parton's life of Burr. Colonel Morgan was a brother of Dr. John Morgan, of Philadelphia, who was a famous physician and the first surgeon-general of the United States, holding that position under Washington's administration. Mr. Watson's father was a son of John and Mary (Miller) Watson and his great-grandfather, James Watson, is said by family tradition to have been a colonel in the patriot army during the American Revolution. Mr. Watson's father was a prominent attorney-at-law and was in continuous practice at Washington, Pa., from 1831 to 1875, a period of forty- four years. He was appointed judge of the court of common pleas
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for Washington and Greene counties but refused to serve, much to the regret of the attorneys of that section. His parents had ten children, two of whom died in infancy, George Morgan, a banker of Pittsburg, died in 1882, and the others are: Elizabeth T. ; Mary B., widow of Rev. Alexander Reed; Jane G. ; David T. ; Matilda W., wife of Maj. Andrew G. Happer; James, a prominent lawyer of New York city, and William Morgan. William Morgan Watson was graduated from the Washington and Jefferson college in 1875; later was graduated from Harvard law school and in 1879 admitted to the bar. Since that time he has practiced his profession with unvarying success and is a member of all the local courts and of the supreme court of the United States. Mr. Watson was married in Pittsburg, in April, 1884, to Sarah Ormsby, daughter of William and Sarah (Ormsby) Mcknight, and a member of a prominent colonial family. They have two children: Ormsby Morgan and Maria Morgan. Mr. Watson has always been a republican but is in no sense an office-seeker, preferring to devote his entire time to the profession in which he has made such a success. Mr. and Mrs. Watson are members of the Presbyterian church and reside at Swissvale.
GEORGE H. QUAILL, the great- grandson of Robert Quaill, an ancestor who is mentioned on page 358, Vol. II, of this work, is a prominent lawyer of the city of Pittsburg, and resides in the borough of Bellevue. He was born in the old ances- tral homestead on the farm in Ross town- ship, on Feb. 23, 1855. His father was David R. Quaill, who is still living at the advanced age of seventy-five years, and his mother was Sarah J. Shafer, a sister of Noah W. Shafer, a well-known and distinguished member of the Pittsburg bar. For several generations George seems to have been a favor- ite name in the Quaill family. This George obtained his educa- tion, until he was twelve years of age, in the public schools of the township where he was born, then spent two years at a busi- ness college in the city of Pittsburg, after which he finished his education at the Pennsylvania state normal school, at Millersville, Lancaster Co., Pa., where he graduated in 1873. Always a good student, he stood among the best in his classes and graduated with
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distinction. He taught school two years, then read law with his uncle above mentioned and was admitted to the Pittsburg bar on Feb. 23, 1878, where he at once took a prominent place as a general practitioner. As an indefatigable worker he has no peer, and his genial manners and strict adherence to business, coupled with his unswerving fidelity to his clients' interests, have secured for him a permanent and substantial clientage. This busy attorney, how- ever, finds time for making himself useful in the community in which he lives. He has always been prominent in church circles. As a member of the Bellevue Methodist Episcopal church he has been honored in turn with every office the church had at its dis- posal. He has been president of the board of trustees for more than twenty years. He is also an active worker in the Sunday- school and is at his best when he is standing in the presence of a large Bible class. He is also prominent in lodge circles, being a past master of Bellevue lodge, No. 530, Free and Accepted Masons. For ten years he was an instructor in the Pittsburg school of Masonic instruction, and in 1900, asa reward for his serv- ices to the craft, he was honored with the appointment as district deputy grand master for this Masonic district, a position which he still holds. He is famous as an after-dinner speaker, and his responses to toasts at Masonic banquets have won for him applause on many occasions and caused his brethren to speak of him as the Chauncey Depew of Bellevue lodge. But the place where this man is seen at his best is in his home, which he has enriched with the literature of the world and embellished with the beauties of art. He has gathered together, year after year, from the standard authors and recent productions, as they have appeared, history, biography, theology, fiction, poetry, science and general literature, until he has now the finest private library in the town. He believes that the refining and educating influence of books and pictures in the home amply repays for all the expenditures made in this direction. His love of learning he gets from his mother, who was a gentle, ambitious and delicately-organized woman of culture and refinement, but who did not live to see the professional, social and business triumphs of her son, of which she had so fondly dreamed, and to fit and prepare him to accomplish which, she had made so many sacrifices. In 1881 the subject of this sketch was married to Miss Mattie L. Bruce, of Beaver county, Pa., who, with his three children-Roberta, David Harper and Martha V. Quaill- enjoys with him the luxuries of a beautiful home on Howard avenue, Bellevue.
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ROBERT STEPHEN MARTIN, of Pittsburg, Pa., promi- nently identified with the legal profession of that city, with offices at No. 426 Diamond St., was born in Wayne township, Armstrong Co., Pa., Nov. 9, 1854, and is descended from Scotch-Irish ances- tors, who settled in Pennsylvania shortly after 1820. Mr. Martin was educated in the common schools and the Dayton academy, then entered the law department of the Eastern University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated with the class of 1878. He was admitted to the bar of Armstrong county, Pa., in January, 1879, and served as district attorney of that county from 1883 to 1886. Mr. Martin was admitted to the bar of Allegheny county in July, 1888, and since that time has been successfully engaged in a general practice at Pittsburg.
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