USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, personal and genealogical with portraits, Volume I > Part 5
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ROBERT OSTERMAIER, delinquent tax collector for the city of Pittsburg, was born in Pittsburg, Jan. 2, 1857, and is a son of John and Katherine Oster- maier, both of whom were natives of Ger- many. Robert Ostermaier attended the public schools when a lad, graduating later from the Iron City commercial col- lege, and at the age of sixteen became a clerk in the Pittsburg postoffice. Here he filled every position except post- master, and was assistant postmaster dur- ing President Cleveland's first term, ful- filling the duties of that responsible post most admirably. Upon retiring from the postoffice, he became clerk in the office of Mayor McCollin, later filling a similar position for three years under Mayor H. I. Gourley. He then became assistant superintendent of highways and sewers, resigned this position three months later, and was elected secretary of the republican city committee, an office which he has held since that time and one which he has filled with conspicuous success. In 1896 he became police magistrate under Mayor H. P. Ford, and held this position from April, 1896, to May 1, 1897. Then, on May 17, 1897, he undertook the duties of collecting the delinquent city taxes. This position he has since held, with the exception of two months, from October to Decem-
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ber, 1901, when he was temporarily thrown out of office by the provisions of the Ripper bill. He is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, the Heptasophs, Royal Arcanum and Knights of the Mystic Chain, and also belongs to the Young Men's tariff club and the John Dalzell republican club of the seven- teenth ward. Mr. Ostermaier is a director of the Metropolitan National bank of Pittsburg. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
TIMOTHY O'LEARY, special agent of the Pittsburg brewing company, was born in County Cork, Ireland, Dec. 28, 1848. His parents came to America in 1849, locating in Pittsburg, and there Mr. O'Leary was reared and received his education in the public schools. Leaving school when fifteen years old, he went to work as messenger for the Pennsylvania railroad, and was made clerk after being messenger only two months. In July, 1864, he was transferred to the Allegheny Valley railroad as transfer clerk, and acted in this capacity until 1869, when he became clerk in the office of the treasurer of the Valley railroad. Two years later he was employed in the auditor's office, and, in 1874, entered the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad as voucher clerk. After a year in this position, he resigned and went to Harrisburg, Pa., where he was for four years employed as clerk in the department of inter- nal affairs. Returning to Pittsburg, he worked in the city assess- or's office for a short time, and later engaged in the manufacture of window glass, under the firm name of O'Leary Bros., continuing in this business until 1893. Since 1893 he has been employed in his present position, that of special agent for the Pittsburg brew- ing company. From 1886 to 1889 Mr. O'Leary held the position of city viewer of Pittsburg, appointed by the court. Mr. O'Leary has had a varied and eventful career, and has won his present standing in the community by merit alone. In politics he is a democrat, and has attended every national democratic convention since 1872. He was a delegate to the national democratic con- vention in St. Louis, in 1888, and has always taken an active inter- est in party politics. Mr. O'Leary belongs to no secret order. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church.
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DAVID KENNEDY McGUNNEGLE, chief clerk in the office of the clerk of courts of Allegheny county, was born in Robinson township, Allegheny Co., Pa., on a farm, July 3, 1849. His parents moved later to Chartiers township, where Mr. McGunnegle was reared, and re- ceived his early education in the public schools. Later he attended the Western university, of Pittsburg. In 1869 he entered the office of the clerk of courts, and remained there until elected clerk of courts, in 1885. This position he held for three terms, nine years in all, receiving each time the largest majority on the ticket. His term of office expired in 1894, and he was then appointed chief clerk, and has held this position continu- ously since that time. Since 1899 he has also been burgess of Estlin borough. Mr. McGunnegle belongs to no secret orders. He is a member of the Episcopal church.
PAUL ST. PETER, secretary of the Window glass workers, local assembly No. 300, Knights of Labor, was born in Montreal, Canada, in May, 1858. He is a son of Albert W. St. Peter, who was born at Three Rivers, Canada, and a grandson of Paul St. Peter, a native of France. The subject of this sketch came to the United States with his parents, in infancy, the family locating at Blossburg, Pa., and was reared and educated in that city. He began his apprenticeship as a glass worker in Blossburg, and, in 1877, removed to Jeannette, Pa., where he worked at his trade in a glass factory until 1896. Mr. St. Peter was then elected secretary of the Window glass workers, and has been re-elected to the position every year since. He has proved a careful and competent official, and has earned the popularity which he has attained. Mr. St. Peter was married, in 1882, at Blossburg, Pa., to Miss Nellie E. Kelly, and has five children, Helen C., Mary A., Gertrude U., Pauline and Alice M. He is a member of the Knights of Macca- bees, and belongs to the Catholic church.
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JAMES A. ELPHINSTONE, mer- chandise broker, of Pittsburg, was born in Baltimore, Md., Feb 1, 1849, and lived in Baltimore until 1863, attending the public schools. Coming then to Pitts- burg, he continued his studies until he reached the age of eighteen, when he left school and engaged in the wholesale cracker and confectionery business for a period of about five years. He then entered the employ of Reymer & Bros .. wholesale and retail confectioners, and remained with this firm until 1886, when he began his present business as a merchandise broker, at which he has been most successful. Mr. Elphinstone has attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry, and is a Mystic Shriner and Knight Templar. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., Knights of Honor and Royal Arcanum, and belongs to the Americus club. In religious belief he is a Presbyterian.
WILLIAM L. WALTON, merchan- dise broker, of Pittsburg, was born in Pittsburg in 1864, and there reared and educated in the public schools. When seventeen years old, he left school and went to work for his uncle, James McClurg, a crockery manufacturer, re- maining in his employ eight years. At the end of that time he started in at his present business, and has devoted his attention to it continuously ever since. He is also engaged in the real estate and insurance business with offices in the Smith building, Pittsburg, under the firm name of Braun, Walton & Euwer. In his professional life he has been as honorable in his dealings as he has been successful. Says a friend, in speaking of Mr. Walton: "He is a successful business man and a manly fellow, whose character is above reproach." Mr. Walton is an enthusi- astic member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, and is a Shriner, a member of the I. O. O. F., American Mechanics, Heptasophs and Royal Arca- num. In religious belief he is a Presbyterian.
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ADOLPH EDLIS, dealer in barbers' supplies, Pittsburg, was born in Hun- gary, in 1859, and educated in his native country. He came to America in 1880, remained in New York until 1888, and then moved to Pittsburg, where he has since resided. In Pittsburg Mr. Edlis has been engaged as a dealer in barbers' supplies, and has built up a lucrative business in this line. In politics he is a republican, and was elected, in 1897, a member of the common council from the seventh ward to fill an unexpired term caused by the election of Harvey Lowry to the position of sheriff. Mr. Edlis has been chairman of the seventh ward republican execu- tive committee for three years. Mr. Edlis is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F. and K. of P. He also belongs to three benevo- lent societies-the Home of Shelter, the Benevolent society and the Hospital society. He is a member of the Orthodox Hebrew church.
FREDERICK W. EDWARDS, regis- ter of wills and ex-officio clerk of the Orphans' court of Allegheny county, is a native of South Wales, Great Britain, where he was born Oct. 2, 1861. He received a good common-school education in his youth, and then was employed for some time as engineer at the Edgar Thompson steel works, but for many years he has held various official positions in Allegheny county. . He has successively been tax collector, justice of the peace, clerk in the treasurer's office, deputy register, and register of Allegheny county. During his whole official career, he has conducted his office in a capable and efficient manner. While many of the duties of his office require a legal training, and although not a lawyer, still he has fulfilled these duties with entire satisfaction, and his record as an obliging and painstaking officer is one to be proud of. In 1883 he was married to Alice L. Lightner, daughter of Daniel Lightner, and they have the following children: Mary Winona and Vurse Dalzell Edwards.
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Mr. Edwards is a stanch republican, and in a campaign he may always be counted on to do his full share of hustling. He has been a resident of Allegheny county for the last twenty-five years, and, at the present time, resides in North Braddock, where he is held in high esteem by all who know him.
J. A. A. BROWN, superintendent of the bureau of building inspection, of Pitts- burg, is a native of Pittsburg. He was born in 1847, and attended school when a boy, but left school at the age of thirteen. His first position was in the shipyard, on the Monongahela river, near Pittsburg, where he worked one day, heating rivets to be used in the con- struction of the gunboat "Sandusky," and then got a place as messenger boy in a dry-goods store in Pittsburg. Here he was soon promoted to the position of clerk, later entered the employ of William B. Hays & Co., whole- sale pork dealers, remaining in this position about two years. Captain Brown then learned the carpenters' trade and followed this vocation successfully for about fifteen years. In 1870 he went into the grocery and feed business, and was engaged thus until 1888, when he was appointed chief clerk in the office of the build- ing inspector. The following year he was appointed assistant building inspector, and, in March, 1896, when the bureau of build- ing inspection was formed, under the new law, he was made super- intendent of the bureau, and still holds that position. Captain Brown's long experience in the practical side of building construc- tion has made him a valuable man in his present position, and his career has been a most creditable one. In 1869 Captain Brown enlisted as a private in the Washington infantry, State militia, and served for almost twenty years, resigning Nov. 15, 1888. He was given the rank of captain five years before. Although he has not been actively connected with the militia since 1888, yet he takes an active interest in military affairs, and has been for almost fifteen years drill-master of the Pittsburg police force Captain Brown is a member of the A. O. U. W. and the Heptasophs. He is also a member of the Sixth Presbyterian church.
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J. CARSON MERCER, county com- missioner of Allegheny county, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1848. He was reared in Pittsburg and received a com- mon-school education, leaving at the age of fifteen. He went to work in an iron and steel mill, continuing at this employ- ment until 1879, when he was appointed superintendent of the Allegheny county courthouse. Since that time he has devoted himself to the public service. He held his position of superintendent of the courthouse until 1894, when he was appointed county commissioner to fill an unexpired term. In 1896 he was elected to the same position for a three-year term, and, in 1899, his faithful services won him a re-election, with the largest majority ever given a candidate for that office in Allegheny county. In 1902 he was again elected, being the only successful candidate on the republican ticket. In 1880 Mr. Mercer was chosen as a member of the select council of Pittsburg, from the twenty-fifth ward, and was three times re-elected, serving eight years in all. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to the Methodist Protestant church. In politics he is a republican.
JAMES A. CLARK, county commis- sioner of Allegheny county, was born at Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio, in 1860. In 1861 his parents moved to Altoona, Pa., and four years later came to Pitts- burg, where their son was reared and received a common-school education. Mr. Clark's schooling stopped at the age of sixteen, when he went to spend a year in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. He then learned the hammer trade in the steel works in Pittsburg, and was engaged in this work for about six years, after which he was for about the same length of time employed as utility man in the East End stockyards, Pittsburg. In 1888 Mr. Clark was appointed railway postal clerk, and a year later was chosen by Governor Pattison as assistant gas inspector of Pittsburg.
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After this he held the position of secretary and treasurer of the Keystone paint and color company, and was then employed by the Iron City brewing company for about a year and a half in the capacity of general superintendent. In 1896 he was elected county commissioner for a three-year term, was re-elected in 1899, and again, in 1902. Mr. Clark is one of the most prominent young men of Allegheny county, and the future promises him even more suc- cess than has fallen to his lot in the past. He is a member of the B. P. O. E., and was a delegate to the national convention in Kansas City, July 5, 1900.
JESSE M. McGEARY, coroner of Allegheny county, was born on a farni in Windfield township, Butler Co., Ohio, and spent his early life in that county. His parents were Giffen and Susan M. (Brown) McGeary. In 1870 he moved to Pittsburg, where he remained two years, and, in 1872, located in the sixth ward of Allegheny city, where he has since re- sided, and has long been considered one of its prominent and influential citizens. Mr. McGeary served in the Allegheny common council for twelve years, but, on Dec. 1, 1898, he resigned to accept the office of county coroner, to which he had been elected on Nov. 8, 1898. His efficient services as coroner won him re-election in 1901. As evidence of Mr. McGeary's interest in his party's welfare, will state that he served as a member of the Allegheny county republican executive com -. mittee for twenty-two years, and for twenty years was secretary of the committee on speakers and meetings. Besides his interest in political affairs, Mr. McGeary affiliates with several prominent secret orders, viz. : Davage lodge, No. 374, F. and A. M., Alle- gheny; Zion lodge, No. 1057, I. O. O. F .; Standard council. No. 62, Jr. O. U. A. M. ; Manchester castle, No. 212, K. of G. E .; Allegheny lodge, No. 339, B. P. O. Elks; Allegheny council, No. 445, Royal Arcanum; Allegheny council, No. 63, Loyal addi- tional benefit association, and Allegheny assembly, No. 103, Royal Society of Good Fellows.
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WILLIAM JOHN STEEN, jury com- missioner of Allegheny county, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., Sept. 6, 1841, and is of Irish descent. He was reared in Pitts- burg, where he attended the public schools, and afterwards the Iron City commercial college, graduating from the latter institution in 1860. In August, 1862, Mr. Steen enlisted in the Civil war as a private in Company G, 136th Penn- sylvania volunteer infantry, and served ten months, being honorably discharged at the end of that time. While in the service he fought with distinction at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and escaped injury and capture. After the war he went into the coal-producing business with his father in Alle- gheny county, and was so engaged until 1898, when he sold out and was for one term director of the poor of Allegheny county. He has also served one term as burgess of Chartiers, now Carnegie. Mr. Steen was appointed to his present position in May, 1902, and has given good service. He is a member of the Knights Temp- lars, and G. A. R. post, No. 153, of Carnegie. In politics he is a republican. He affiliates in religion with the Presbyterian church, in which he holds the position of trustee.
HAMILTON S. BURROUGHS, M. D., of Pittsburg, Pa., a prominent general practitioner of medicine, was born in Greene county, near Waynesburg, Pa., and is the son of Talmage Burroughs, a retired farmer, and of his wife, Jane Scott, both natives of Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Burroughs, was also a native of the Keystone State, having been born in Brownsville, Pa., about 1800. Young Burroughs attended the public schools of Waynesburg, Pa., and Waynesburg college. He matricu- lated at the Jefferson medical college, of Philadelphia, and was graduated from that noted school in 1879, with the degree of doctor of medicine. On graduation, Dr. Burroughs began the practice of his profession at Waynesburg, where he met with much success,
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and, in 1891, he removed to Pittsburg, and since has prospered as a general practitioner in the metropolis of western Pennsylvania. He is medical examiner for the Equitable and the Metropolitan life insurance companies, and is a member of the Allegheny county, the Pennsylvania State and the American medical asso- ciations. He is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, having taken the thirty-second degree, and is a inember of the Odd Fellows, the Pittsburg alumni association of Jefferson medical college, the republican party, and a member and deacon of the Shady Avenue Baptist church. Dr. Burroughs was married, in 1882, to Margaret A., daughter of Samuel and Martha (Millikin) Hopkins, of Waynesburg, Pa,, her father being a prosperous farmer and her mother a descendant of the early settlers of Greene county. They have one child, Samuel Gross, attending the Margaretta pub- lic school of East End, Pittsburg.
WILLIAM CLAVER MCKINLEY, sheriff of Allegheny county, Pa., was born in Pittsburg, March 29, 1859, and was educated in the public schools. Leaving school at the age of fifteen, he was employed for five years in the glass works in Pittsburg, at the end of which time he began his long and successful career in the public service as clerk in the office of the city assessor. He remained there three years, and then spent two years as clerk in the county treasurer's office. He becanie deputy sheriff under Sheriff Alexander E. McCandless, and after that served under three successors in that office-Sheriffs MeCleary, Richards and Lowry. Mr. Mckinley served, in all, twelve years as deputy, and, in 1900, was elected sheriff for a three-year term, a position for which his twelve years of experience as deputy had well fitted him. He has held the office of sheriff for four years, being one year longer than the office was ever held by any other official in the same capacity. Sheriff Mckinley is a member of the F. and A. M. and the Knights of the Golden Eagle. He is a regular attendant upon the services of the Presbyterian church. He was married, in 1891, to Dora, daughter of Charles F. Hilger, and has one son, William Hilger Mckinley.
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HENRY GRELLE, alderman from the thirty-eighth ward, Pittsburg, was born in Brunswick, Germany, in 1853, and came to America in 1869. Mr. Grelle attended school in Wheeling, W. Va., leaving at fifteen years of age to work in an iron mill. . He came to Pitts- burg in 1874, where he has since resided. Mr. Grelle was employed as an iron worker until 1892, at that time receiving the appointment of assistant superintend- ent of the Metropolitan insurance com- pany of New York. In 1897 he was elected alderman for a five-year term, and rewarded by re-election, in February, 1902. In politics he is a republican. Mr. Grelle is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Heptasophs and Independent Order of Red Men. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JAMES SHERRAN, alderman from the twenty-eighth ward, Pittsburg, was born in that city in 1840. He is a son of Daniel Sherran, who was, however, com- monly known as Dan, son of Daniel Sherran, of London, England. Daniel Sherran, father of the subject of this sketch, came to America in the early twenties, when eight years old, and died in Pittsburg in 1854. Alderman James Sherran was raised in Pittsburg, and went to school until his father's death made it necessary for him to go to work. From that time until 1888 he worked in various iron mills, when he was elected constable for the twenty-eighth ward. Mr. Sherran held this position until June 20, 1901, when he was appointed alderman by Governor Stone. He was appointed to fill a vacancy, and succeeded in so pleasing his constituents that they elected him to the position in February, 1902, for a five-year term. Mr. Sherran was married, in 1869, to Jane A., daughter of David Thomas. They have no children living. Mr. Sherran is a mem- ber of the Senior Order of United American Mechanics and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
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FRANK RIDGWAY, the local fore- caster of the United States weather bureau at Pittsburg, Pa., comes of a family which, for many years, was dis- tinguished on both sides of the Atlantic. This family, alias Peacock (alluding to which the old bearing of arms was three peacocks, heads erased), had been in Devon from a very early period, as mani- fested by the collection of Sir William Pole, the best antiquary of that county The name may be presumed to have been local, there being two places so called in the shire, one near Plymouth, the other in the parisli of Owlscomb, near Honiton. The first who advanced the family was Stephen Ridgway, who was one of the stewards of the city of Exeter in the sixth year of the reign of Edward IV., and mayor thereof in the seventh year of the reign of Henry VII. (1466), and the next was John Ridgway, a son or a grandson of Stephen Ridgway, who pur- chased from the Mohuns of Dunster the Manor of Tor, in Devon, and was elected one of the representatives of the city of Exeter in the first two parliaments called by Queen Mary. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Wentford, and was succeeded by his son, Thomas Ridgway, Esq., who purchased, in 1599, from Sir Edward Seymour, the site of the Abbey of Tor in Devon. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Southcote, Esq., and co-heir of her mother, Grace, daughter and heiress of John Barnhouse, Esq., of Marsh in Devon, and by her had a son and heir-I. Sir Thomas Ridgway, who was employed in Ireland in a military capacity to Elizabeth, and planted the first Protestant colony in Ireland. He was high sheriff of Devon in 1600, and received the knighthood at the accession of King James to the throne of England. He was elected one of the knights of the shire for the county of Devon in the first parliament called by the king, who continued to employ him in some of the highest places of trust and command in Ire- land, and had him sworn in the privy council. He was advanced to the dignity of baron, Nov. 23, 1612, created a peer of the kingdom of Ireland, in 1616, as baron of Galen-Ridgway, and advanced, in 1652, to the earldom of Londonderry. He married Cicely, sister and co-heir of Henry Mackwilliam (the lady was maid of honor to. Queen Elizabeth), and had issue: Robert, his heir; Edward, Mackwilliam, Maria, died young, and Cassandra, married to Sir
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Francis Willoughby, Knight. His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Robert Ridgway, second earl of Londonderry, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Simon Weston, Knight, of Lichfield, and was succeeded by his son, III. Sir Weston Ridgway, third earl of Londonderry, who married Martha, daughter of Sir Richard Temple, Bart., and left several daughters and two sons, Robert and Thomas. The eldest son, Sir Thomas Ridgway, fourth earl of Londonderry, married Lucy,. daughter of Sir William Jopson, Bart., and had two daughters, his co-heirs, viz. : Lucy, married to Arthur, fourth earl of Donegal, and Frances, married to Thomas Pitt, Esq., M. P. for Wilton, who was created earl of Londonderry. His lordship died March 7, 1713, when all his honors, including the baronetcy, became extinct. Tor Mohun, the old Ridgway estate in Devon, was sold about 1768 by the earl of Donegal to Sir Robert Polk, Baronet. The site of the Abbey of Tor was purchased from the first earl of Londonderry in 1653 by John Stowell, Esq., of Indiano, from whom Sir George Cary, Knight, purchased it in 1662. Arms-Sa. A pair of wings conjoined and elevated. Arg.
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