USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, personal and genealogical with portraits, Volume I > Part 46
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ROBERT £ OLIVER YOUNG, of Homestead, Pa., an old and highly- respected citizen, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., April 24, 1847, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Ewart) Young, both natives of Pittsburg. His paternal grandfather was William Young, born in the north of Ireland, and was a pioneer merchant and teacher of Pittsburg. His father was also a merchant and teacher of Pittsburg and died in that city in 1848. Robert Oliver Young was the only child of his parents and was reared and educated in his native city, where, in 1864, he began his apprenticeship at the brick-layers' trade, which vocation he followed until 1902, when he embarked in the wholesale liquor business at Clairton, Alle- gheny county, and is meeting with much success in that venture. Mr. Young has been a resident of Homestead since 1881 and is well and favorably known in that borough. He was married, on Sept. 17, 1878, to Eliza J., daughter of William J. and Rose A. (Coshy) Johnson, of Pittsburg, and they have three children, viz. : Olivet V., Harry L. and Robert O. J. Mr. Young and family are members of the Episcopal church and he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. Mr. Young was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in August, 1864, in Company F, 193d Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and after a term of three months was honorably discharged from the service. Mr. Young is prominent in the public affairs of Home- stead, for seven years was a member of the council and is a stanch republican in his political views and affiliations.
LAWRENCE B. COOK, of Pittsburg, Pa., a successful lawyer and a prominent member of the Pennsylvania legislature, with offices at No. 422 Fifth Ave., was born in Indiana county, Pa., Sept. 27, 1870, son of Jeremiah and Lena A. (Wagoner) Cook, both natives of Indiana county, Pa., and both now residing at Pittsburg. Mr. Cook was educated in the preliminary courses in the public schools of Pittsburg, later attended a private academy at Washing. ton, and completed his classical training at Curry institute. Mr. Cook then, like many of the great Americans who have achieved success by their personal efforts, engaged in teaching school, and at the same time studied law during his leisure hours. He was
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admitted to the bar of Allegheny county, December, 1892, and has since taken a prominent stand among the leading attorneys of Pittsburg. Mr. Cook enjoys a large and lucrative practice and is a member of all state and federal courts. He is well and favorably known throughout the county, and the esteem in which he is held was demonstrated by his election to the state legislature in Novem- ber, 1902, a position which he is now filling to the entire satisfac- tion of his constituents. He resides in the sixth ward of Pittsburg, and is easily one of the most popular young men of the city.
JACOB ELICKER, of Homestead, Pa., for many years a leading florist of that borough and still prospering in that vocation, was born in Baldwin township, Allegheny county, April 3, 1858, son of Peter and Catherine (Rothar) Elicker, both natives of Germany. His father came to America in the early fifties, settled in Baldwin township and was employed as a miner along the Monon- gahela river for many years, and in later life purchased a farm in Mifflin town- ship, where he lived for fifteen years. He was a supervisor of Mifflin township for several years, was a member of the Lutheran church and was the father of the follow- ing children, viz .: John; Caroline, wife of Adam Snyder; Jacob; Margaret, wife of Robert Wolff; Adam; Lizzie, wife of Robert Snyder; Henry, William, Peter, and Kate, wife of O. P. Antos. Jacob Elicker was reared in Allegheny county, educated in the common schools and remained under the parental roof until his twenty-fourth year, having worked in the mines since seventeen years of age. Then he followed carpentering for four years in Baldwin township, engaged in gardening for several years and in 1891 embarked in the florist business on a small scale in Mifflin township, and now has eight fine greenhouses and supplies the leading families of Homestead and vicinity. Since April, 1900, he has maintained a retail store on Eighth avenue and does a large business in cut flowers. He was married, on Sept. 23, 1879, to Sophia, daughter of Frederick and Wilhelmina (Rebke) Drewes, of Baldwin township, and they have four children, viz. : Harry, Ida, Edna and William. Mr. Elicker is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, the Knights of Pythias, the
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Foresters of America, the Red Men and the Woodmen of the World. His political affiliations are with the republicans and he is an active and ardent advocate of the tenets of that great organ- ization.
CHARLES A. LEWIS, of Pittsburg, Pa., a prominent and progressive young attorney, was born in Monongahela borough, Washington Co., Pa., May 12, 1871, son of Albert G. and Hattie L. (McCurdy) Lewis, both now residing at Elizabethville, Pa. Mr. Lewis secured his education in the graded and high schools of Elizabeth and then studied pharmacy in the Western university, where he was graduated in 1893, with the degree of graduate of phar- macy. Subsequently he studied law in the offices of Crumrine & Patterson and also of E. J. Kent, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1900, and is a member of all courts. Mr. Lewis has one of the best practices of any of the younger members of the Pittsburg bar and has fast gained a place of honor and respecta- bility among the leading lawyers of Allegheny county. He was married at Elizabeth, Aug. 23, 1901, to Lillian P. Pollock, and they have one son, Charles P., born Sept. 27, 1902. Mr. Lewis is a member of Stephen Barrett lodge, No. 526, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Elizabeth, and is prominently identified with that great fraternity. He is also solicitor of the borough of Eliza- beth and an honored citizen of that community.
WILLIAM G. GUILER, attorney-at-law, located at No. 432 Diamond St., Pittsburg, Pa., is a descendant of one of the oldest families of Pennsylvania. In fact, his ancestry can be traced back to the time when some of the Guilers went from Holland to Scot- land with King William of Orange. From Scotland one branch of the family emigrated to Ireland, settling in County Derry about the year 1796. Near the close of the eighteenth century Alexander Guiler, the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to America and settled in what is now Fayette county, Pa. There he purchased land and engaged in farming until his death. His wife was a Miss Greer, a native of Ireland. William Guiler, a son of Alexander, was born in Fayette county in 1801 and died there in 1865. Like his father, he was a tiller of the soil. His wife was Nancy Carr. They had five children, viz. : Absalom, Andrew, Alexander, Joseph and Mary. Of these, the second son, Andrew, is the only one now living. He was an officer in the Civil war and a breveted captain by reason of his bravery in the battle
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before Petersburg in 1865. Absalom Guiler was born in 1819. He learned the tailors' trade, and upon arriving at man's estate, became a merchant tailor. During the Mexican war he served as first sergeant of Company H, 2d Pennsylvania volunteers, partici- pating in the bombardment of Vera Cruz, the battle of Cerro Gordo mountain, in which he was slightly wounded, in the storm- ing of the castle of Chapultepec, and the battle of Bealan gate, his regiment being the first to enter the city of Mexico. His colonel recommended his appointment to a lieutenancy in the regular army, but he declined and returned to his home and business. In the autumn of 1861 he helped to organize the 85th Pennsyl- vania volunteer infantry, and was elected major of the regiment. With his regiment he took part in all the battles of the Peninsular campaign until the hardships and exposures of war compelled him to resign his commission and retire from the army. He died April 29, 1873, as the result of a fall from his horse a short time before. His wife was Elizabeth Jeffries, a native of Fayette county, Pa., born in 1820, and died in May, 1887. The children of Absalom and Elizabeth Guiler were: Caleb J., Virginia, William G., Joseph and Dr. A. G. Guiler. All are living except the daughter, Virginia. William G. Guiler was born July 20, 1847. After such a primary education as the common schools of his native town afforded, he attended the Madison institute, of Uniontown, Pa., and for the next two years taught in the public schools of Fayette county. While thus employed he spent his leisure time in reading good books and perfecting himself in his classical studies. He read law in the office of the late G. W. K. Minor, one of the most prominent lawyers at the Fayette county bar, and was admitted to practice in the courts of Fayette county in September, 1868. In 1870 he was admitted to the bar in Allegheny county, and for some time immediately following his admission there he practiced in Pittsburg, but on account of failing health returned to Fayette county, where he remained until 1895, returning then to Pittsburg. While in Fayette county he held the office of county attorney and was prominently mentioned as a candidate for judge. Both in Fayette county and since coming to Pittsburg, Mr. Guiler has con- fined his practice to civil cases. He practices in all the local, state and federal courts, is a member of the county bar association, and has a large clientage, among which are a number of large and important corporations. Mr. Guiler has been twice married. His first wife was Laura J. Lenhart, to whom he was married Dec. 22, 1870. She was the daughter of Leonard Lenhart, a steamboat
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builder of Brownsville, Pa. Her death occurred Oct. 10, 1884. To his first marriage four children were born, three of whom are still living. They are Carrie, Leonard K., who is a graduate of Prince- ton university and a law student, and Mary M. In August, 1886, he was married to his present wife, who was Miss Emma B. Newton, a daughter of Dr. O. E. Newton (deceased), a prominent physician of Cincinnati, Ohio. One daughter, Margaret Grace, has been born to this second marriage.
HOWARD LINHART BLACK, of Duquesne, Pa., a prominent real estate dealer, was born at Braddock, Pa., June I, 1859, son of Eslie P. and Elizabeth J. (Porter) Black, natives of Allegheny county and of Irish and English descent, respectively. His paternal great-grand- father Black was a native of Ireland, emigrated to America, and was a farmer by occupation. Here his son, Francis Black, grandfather of the subject, was born. Francis Black was also a farmer, and in early manhood located in Iowa, later went to Colorado and California, and died in the last-named state in the eighties at the age of ninety-nine years. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Black was Francis Porter, a native of England, who came to America about 1829, located at Braddock, Allegheny county, Pa., and there worked in the coal mines until his death. The father of the subject was reared in Allegheny county, was a well-known pilot and captain on the Monongahela, Ohio and Mississippi rivers, following the river for over forty years, and dying in 1896, at the age of seventy-four years. He had a family of nine children, six of whom grew to maturity, viz. : Jennie, wife of S. W. Hare; James, Howard L., Frank, Annie, wife of E. B. Williams, and Samuel. Howard L. Black was reared in Braddock and Pittsburg, educated in the public schools and at Curry institute, and in 1877 began his business career as bookkeeper for S. W. Hare & Co., plumbers of Pittsburg. He continued in that line of employment until 1889, when he embarked in the real estate and insurance business at Duquesne, where he had previously located in 1886. He has successfully continued in that business to the present time and handled some large deals in that part of the county. He was appointed postmaster of Duquesne
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by President Harrison in 1889 and satisfactorily filled that office for five years, being the second man to fill that position in the borough. He was married, on Jan. 21, 1883, to Annie M., daughter of Joseph and Priscilla (Barchfield) Kennedy, of Pitts- burg, and they have six children: Fannie P., F. Norman, Bessie L., Joseph K., Howard E. and Priscilla J. Mr. Black and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias and Royal Arcanum, is vice-presi- dent of the Duquesne land company, and a stockholder in the Duquesne trust company, of which latter institution he was one of the promoters and organizers. Mr. Black is prominently identified with the republican party, served three years as auditor of Mifflin township, and is one of the progressive and substantial citizens of Duquesne.
WILLIAM VOKOLEK, a Pittsburg attorney, with offices at No. 424 Fourth Ave .; is a native of Bohemia. His parents came to this country in 1873, and since that time his father has been a resident of New York city. His mother died in New York in 1888. William Vokolek was born April 19, 1868, and was therefore but five years old when he came with his parents to America. He was educated in the public schools of New York city, after which he took a business college course and worked three years as an accountant. He entered the academic department of the German theological seminary of Bloomfield, N. J., and graduated from that institution in 1892. He next attended the McCormick theological seminary, Chicago, for one year, then took a course of law, and graduated from the Kent college of law, Chicago, in 1895, with the degree of bachelor of laws. The same year he was admitted to practice in the courts of Cook county and the supreme court of the state of Illinois. In the autumn of 1895 he removed to Scranton, Pa., and early in 1896 was admitted to the bar of Lacka- wanna county, in which Scranton is located. He continued in practice at Scranton until November, 1902, and during that time he was counsel for the Greek Catholic union of the United States and the National Slavonic society. In November, 1902, he removed to Pittsburg, and at the fall term of court was admitted to the Allegheny county bar. Since that time he has practiced his profession in Pittsburg. He is the attorney for the National Slavonic society, of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Knights of Malta; the Union Masonic lodge, No. 291, of Scranton; the Slavonic Presbyterian union and the Slavonic
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benevolent union of the United States of America; the Bohemian gymnastic association, of Allegheny city, and the Elmhurst country club. He has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Josephine Chvatal, of Chicago. In 1896 he was married a second time to Miss Emily Kriz, also of Chicago. By his first wife he has one daughter, Josephine. To his second marriage there have been born four children: Agnes M., born at Scranton; Emily, Lillian and Annie. Mr. Vokolek resides at Mckeesport, where he and his wife both belong to the Presbyterian church. He is an accomplished linguist, speaking Bohemian, Russian, Polish, Ger- man and English, and is deeply interested in the Americanizing of the Slavonic races of the United States.
CHARLES HENRY VONDERA, a well-to-do citizen of Mifflin township, Allegheny county, is a son of Henry and Christina Wilhelmina (Heisterburg) Von- dera, and is of Holland Dutch ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Frank Vondera, was a native of Hesse Darmstadt and a shoemaker by trade, who came to Amer- ica in 1849 and located in Baldwin town- ship, Allegheny county, where he followed his trade of shoemaking until 1863, when he removed to Mifflin town- ship, and there lived until his death. The maternal grandfather of the subject was Christian Heister- burg, a native of Germany, and also a shoemaker by trade, who came to America in 1848 and resided in Mifflin township until his death. Henry. Vondera, father of subject, came to America in 1847, and to Mifflin township in 1863, where he resided on his farm, about one and a half miles from Homestead, until his death in 1897, at the age of seventy-three years. He had a family of six children, viz. : Christian F., Frank H .; Lena, wife of Frank Bost; Charles H .; Mary, wife of Peter Sorg, and Louisa, wife of William J. Hall. Charles H. Vondera was born in Mifflin town- ship, July 5, 1865, and there was reared to manhood and educated in the common schools of his native township. He has followed gardening and farming all of his business career, has made a suc- cess of these vocations, and has a good competency. He was mar- ried, on Sept. 22, 1898, to Estella, daughter of Frank Daniels, of West Virginia, and they have one daughter, M. Luella. Mr.
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Vondera is a member of the Lutheran church, and his political affiliations are with the republican party. He is prominently iden- tified with the public affairs. of the township, in the spring of 1903 . being elected township tax collector for a three-year term, an evidence of his popularity.
EVAN JONES, general contractor, has been for many years actively engaged in the construction of large public and private works, and although born in Wales, has been a resident of Pitts- burg since he was five years old. He was born in Cardiganshire, Wales. Mr. Jones attended the Pittsburg schools until he reached the age of eighteen, and then learned the plasterers' trade, at which he was engaged for some ten years. His career as a general con- tractor dates from 1874, his first work being in heavy grading and sewerage for the city of Pittsburg. Since that time he has done an extensive business in tunneling, sewerage and street paving, and in the building of heavy retaining walls. Among other works which he has built might be mentioned the construction of the Thirty-third street sewer, the foundation for the Carnegie build- ing on Fifth avenue, and the foundations for the great trip-ham- mers at the Latrobe works. In politics Mr. Jones is a republican. He served for six years in the common council of Pittsburg from the sixth and fourteenth wards, was for some five years member of the poll boards of the city, and is now serving his third term on the Forbes street school board, of which he is president.
THOMAS C. GABLER, attorney-at-law, whose offices are located at No. 307 Bakewell building, is a native of Monongahela township, Greene Co., Pa., where he was born Nov. 13, 1855. He is the son of Allen K. and Maria (Jones) Gabler, both of whom were natives of Greene county and spent their entire lives there, the father dying Jan. 5, 1896, and the mother in January, 1879. Mr. Gabler was educated in the public schools of Greene county, Waynesburg college and Bethany college, located at Bethany, W. Va., from which institution he was graduated in 1876. He took a scientific course in the same institution, after which he began the study of law in the offices of Wyly & Buchanan, at Waynesburg. In October, 1877, he was admitted to the Greene county bar and practiced his profession there until the spring of 1880, when he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. For four years he practiced in the Ohio courts with constantly increasing success, when failing health compelled him to seek a change of climate and he went to Colo-
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rado. A residence of a year and a half among the mountains restored his health and he returned to Greene county, Pa., where he practiced until 1894, when he was admitted to the bar of Alle- gheny county and took up his residence in the borough of Sheridan, for which he is the solicitor at the present time. Mr. Gabler was married, on Oct 9, 1899, to Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. A. A. Purman, of Waynesburg. He is a member of Lodge No. 11, B. P. O. Elks, of the city of Pittsburg, which is the only secret order or civic organization to claim him as a member. He practices in all the courts of the county, state and United States.
WILLIAM EVANS, who is now serv- ing his fifth successive term as street commissioner of Homestead, was born in Allegheny county, Pa., May 13, 1850, son of David and Mary (Evans) Evans, natives of Wales, who came to America in 1840 and located at Sugarloaf, Luzerne Co., Pa. Here David Evans was em- ployed for several years in the anthracite coal mines, and about 1849 came to the Monongahela river valley, Allegheny county, where he was employed in the bituminous coal mines until his death, which occurred in 1863. He reared a family of four sons: Reese, Evan, David and William. William Evans, the subject of this article, was reared in Allegheny county and received a limited edu- cation in the public schools. When twelve years old he began to work about the coal mines, and at the age of fourteen started his apprenticeship at the blacksmiths' trade, and followed that voca- tion for thirty-four years. He was employed by Jones & Laughlin from 1879 to 1887, by the Carnegie steel company from 1887 to 1892, and from 1892 to 1896 had charge of the blacksmith depart- ment of the National tube works, Riverton. Since 1880 he has resided in Homestead, where he has valuable property interests, accumulated by his own thrift and industry. On Aug. 25, 1875, Mr. Evans married Miss Annie Oxley, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Oxley, of Redman Mills, Allegheny Co., Pa., and has two children living: Thomas H. and Mary. Mr. Evans is a pro- gressive and influential citizen of Homestead, and his long service as street commissioner is an evidence of the esteem in which he is held in the community. In politics he is a republican.
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EMIL SPARR, member of the board of assessors of Allegheny county, is a prominent resident of the thirteenth ward, Pittsburg, and formerly represented his ward in the common council. He was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1850; came to Rochester, N. Y., with his parents in 1852; lived there until 1868, and then came to Pittsburg, where he has since resided. Mr. Sparr received his education in Rochester, and then learned the lithographing business, and was engaged in this business in Pittsburg until 1877. After this he was for ten years fireman in the Pittsburg paid fire depart- ment, and then was from 1887 to 1896 employed as inspector on the city board of survey. He was elected to the Pittsburg common council in 1896, and was twice re-elected, serving, in all, six years. While in the council, in 1897, he became foreman for Keeling & Ridge, general contractors, and remained with this firm until April, 1902, when he was appointed to his present responsible posi- tion by Recorder Brown. Mr. Sparr is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Encampment, and belongs to the German Protestant Evangelical church.
HENRY A. MILLER has been a practicing attorney in the courts of Allegheny county for more than a quarter of a century. At the present time his offices are located at No. 86 St. Nicholas building, Pittsburg, Pa. He is a native of the Keystone state, was born in Butler county, Feb. 28, 1841, and is the son of William H. and Charlotta (Weisenstein) Miller. Both parents were natives of Germany, the father of Prussia, and the mother of Würtemburg. William Miller was a cabinet-maker by trade; he came to America in his early manhood, and spent the remainder of his life in Butler county. His wife survived him and died in November, 1902, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. Henry A. Miller received his education in the common schools, the Butler county academy and the Weatherspoon institute. In September, 1861, he enlisted in the 78th Pennsylvania volunteer infantry as a private, and remained in the service until 1865, when he was discharged with the rank of sergeant-major. At the close of the war he located in Franklin, Venango Co., Pa., and read law in the office of Archibald Blakeley for about two years, when he was admitted to the Venango county bar. That was in 1867, and he practiced in that county until 1875, when he was admitted to the bar of Allegheny county. Since then he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Pittsburg, being a member of the county bar association and of all the courts. He was married at
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Pleasantville, Pa., to Miss Frances S. Merrick. To this union two daughters have been born: Charlotta and Mary S. Mr. Miller is well known in Masonic circles, being a member of Dallas lodge, No. 508, of Pittsburg, and a member of Pittsburg consistory of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. He resides in the twenty-first ward of the city of Pittsburg.
WILLIAM JOSEPH LEADER, of · Duquesne, Pa., a successful merchant and a well-known citizen, was born in Bedford county, Pa., Jan. 13, 1866, son of George C. and Sarah (Manspeaker) Leader, both natives of Bedford county and of German and Scotch descent, respectively. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Leader, was a native of Pennsyl- vania and a lifelong farmer of Bedford county, and his maternal grandfather, George Manspeaker, was a shoemaker by trade and spent most of his life in Bed- ford, where he died at a ripe old age. George C. Leader, father of the subject, was a brick and stone mason and a life-resident of Bedford county, where he died, Dec. 5, 1902, at the age of seventy- three years. He was a veteran of the Mexican war, in which he served about eighteen months, and was the father of fourteen children, ten of whom grew to maturity, viz. : Lottie, wife of William Shook; Mary, wife of Frank Yarnell; Sallie, Daniel, Clayton, George, William J .; Belle, wife of John Foor; John G. and Lavinia. William J. Leader was reared in Bedford, Pa .; attended the public schools of that place, and there learned the brick-layers' trade under his father, which he successfully followed until September, 1897, six years of which time was devoted to con- tracting at Duquesne and Homestead. Among the many fine structures erected by him may be mentioned the high school of Homestead, a similar building at Munhall, and many of the princi- pal business blocks and dwellings of Homestead and vicinity. He came to Allegheny county in 1886; has been a resident of Duquesne since 1891, where he engaged in the wholesale liquor business in 1897, which he has successfully continued to the present time. He was married, on Jan. 12, 1893, to Mary, daughter of Christian Dierstein, of Duquesne, and has three children, viz. : Joseph K., Elizabeth and Frederick. Mr. Leader is a member of Vesta lodge,
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