USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, personal and genealogical with portraits, Volume I > Part 8
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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
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CHARLES J. PEDDER, real estate broker, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1869, in the thirty-fifth ward, and there reared and educated in the common schools, graduating at the age of four- teen. After taking a business course in Duff's business college, he went to work with his father, who was at that time managing the Wayne iron and steel works (Brown & Co.). Mr. Pedder served as chemist and superintendent of the steel department of these works for a period of seven years, and then went into the real estate business, in which he has been very successful. In politics Mr. Pedder is a republican, and has taken an active interest in public affairs. He was elected to the select council of Pittsburg in' 1895, and also served a term in the State legislature; was presi- dent of his local school board for a number of years, and, in 1900, was honored by being requested to represent his district on the central board of education, which office he is still holding. Mr. Pedder belongs to the Trinity Episcopal church, and is a member of the Masonic and the Elk fraternities.
CHARLES C. McGOVERN, alderman from the thirty-fourth ward, East End, Pittsburg, was born in the sixth ward, Pittsburg, March 6, 1874. He was reared in his native city and attended school there, graduating in 1889 from the Col- lege of the Holy Ghost. Mr. McGovern's first business venture was an express line, which was conducted for five years under the name of McGovern & Co. Selling out his business, he became special policeman on the Pittsburg force, and after eighteen months' service was made patrolman. He was employed in this capacity until 1898, when he raised a company for the Spanish-American war. The company was not needed, however, so Mr. McGovern enlisted as a private in Company A, 14th Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and served fourteen months. In February, 1899, he was mustered out a first sergeant. Since the war he has continued to be interested in mili-
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tary matters. He is captain on the staff of Col. W. E. Thompson, of the 14th regiment, Pennsylvania national guard, and is also adjutant of that regiment. After the war, Mr. McGovern returned to his place on the police force, and, a month later, was placed on the detective force, where he served from April, 1899, to Novem- ber, 1902. In politics he is a stalwart republican, and was elected alderman from his ward in February, 1900. He did not open an office, however, until November, 1902. In religious belief Mr. McGovern is a Catholic.
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JAMES M. FULLERTON, one of Pittsburg's leading undertakers, and sec- retary of the Funeral directors' associa- tion of Allegheny county, was born in Pittsburg, in 1850, son of John and Unity (Galaher) Fullerton. John Fullerton, son of William and Elizabeth (Wilson) Fullerton, was born at Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, Sept. 7, 1810, and died in Pittsburg, Dec. 20, 1901. He came to Pittsburg with his mother and seven brothers and sisters, in 1823, and resided in that city for over three-fourths of a
century. Being bound, when a boy, an apprentice to Samuel Boyce in the tobacco business, he learned all the branches of the trade, and was for fifty-eight years a successful tobacco dealer, retiring, in March, 1895, at the age of eighty-five. He was one of the original stockholders in the Second National bank and in the Pitts- burg insurance company, of which he was director and in the organization of which he took an active part; was an active repub- lican, a prominent church worker, and at all times an influential and respected citizen. He married Unity Galaher, May 21, 1839, and had five children, viz. : John T., Susan A., William W., Samuel R. and James M. Mrs. Fullerton died, Sept. 7, 1895, at the age of seventy-six. James M. Fullerton, whose name heads this sketch, attended school until he reached the age of nineteen, and then entered the employ of his father, and engaged in the tobacco business until 1884, having become a member of the firm in 1883. In 1884 he left the firm and established himself in the undertaking business, in which he has since risen to prominence. He is also director of the Pittsburg insurance company, is interested in the. Keystone laundry, and has other extensive financial interests. Mr.
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Fullerton has long been prominently identified with the interests of the republican party, has served as chairman of the republican ward committee of the fourth ward, and been honored with the office of school director in his ward. He is president of Penn. State funeral directors' association, and secretary of Allegheny county funeral directors' association. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the I. O. O. F., K. of P., B. P. O. Elks, Jr. O. U. A. M. and A. O. U. W. Although not a member, he is a regular attend- ant upon the services of the Methodist Episcopal church.
HARRY W. LOWE, city gauger of oils, Pittsburg, was born in Pittsburg, in the thirtieth ward, in 1866, and, in 1873, moved to the thirty-first ward, where he still lives. Here he attended the public schools, and afterwards Curry university, from which he graduated in 1883. He started in business life as a clerk for the Pittsburg news company, in whose employ he remained for two years, and then spent two years at the trade of mak- ing molds. After this he entered the employ of the Oliver iron and steel com- pany, as shipper, and remained with that firm four years. In 1891 Mr. Lowe, with others, organized the Mckinley tin plate company, with a capital stock of $10,000 and a plant on Water street, becom- ing bookkeeper for the concern. In 1892 this company was merged into the Aliquippa tin plate company, capital $45,000, with a plant at Aliquippa, Pa., and Mr. Lowe as superintendent of the mill. The concern, with many others, was wiped out in the panic of 1893, and Mr. Lowe then entered the public service, his first position being in the office of the register of deeds. He remained in this office about a year, and then was transferred to the office of the collector of delinquent taxes, where he was employed as deputy collector until June, 1902, when he was appointed to his present position by Recorder J. O. Brown. During his career in the pub- lic service Mr. Lowe has won many friends, who wish for him the success which should be the reward of ability and faithful atten- tion to duty.
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MATTHEW A. HANLON, funeral director at No. 110 Frankstown Ave., East End, Pittsburg, was born in the ninth ward of that city, in 1865. In childhood he moved with his parents to the sixteenth ward, where he was reared and educated, attending school until he reached the age of seventeen. He started in the undertaking and livery business in 1888, and has been successfully engaged in this business since then. Besides his business on Frankstown avenue, he owns another establishment at No. 5126 Butler St. He is a member of the Catholic church, and belongs to no political party, being an independent in politics. Mr. Hanlon's
father, John Hanlon, is still living, though retired from active life. He was born in Donegal, Ireland, in 1831, and came to America in 1848. During the Civil war he enlisted in the Union army as a private in the Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and served until 1865.
GEORGE W. THEIS, vice-president and secretary of the Monongahela river coal and coke company, was born in Monroe county, Ohio, Feb. 3, 1857, where his father, George Theis, was engaged in farming, stock-raising, general mer- chandising, and as a leaf tobacco mer- chant. Amid those scenes of varied activity. Mr. Theis grew to manhood, attending the country schools near his home. In 1874 he entered Duff's com - mercial college, of Pittsburg, graduating in 1875. He then returned to his home in Ohio, where he spent two years as manager of his father's leaf tobacco business. In 1877 he returned to Pittsburg, and from that time until 1885, with the exception of one summer spent in Colo- rado, he held responsible positions as accountant and general office man in various lines of business. However, Mr. Theis' successful business career began in 1885, when he accepted a position as accountant with Capt. C. Jutte & Sons, who were then engaged in the steamboat and coal business. He soon thereafter became
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interested in various enterprises with the Messrs. Jutte, which were successfully continued until January, 1890, when all the joint interests were merged into a new company, styled C. Jutte & Co., of which Mr. Theis became an active partner. From that time the growth of the company's business was phenomenal, and when the company sold out to the Monongahela river consolidated coal and coke company, in 1899, it was regarded as aniong the largest and foremost shippers of coal from the Monongahela river. Besides the above-mentioned business, Mr. Theis is largely interested in other enterprises. He is a director in the German-American savings and trust company, and president of several minor corporations. On the whole, he may justly be classed as one of Pittsburg's most successful business men. Mr. Theis united with the Masonic fra- ternity in 1882, being a member of Lodge No. 45, F. and A. M. and of Zerubbabel chapter, and also Ascalon commandery, K. T. He is a member of the German Protestant Evangelical church.
NICHOLAS H. BRADY, butter dealer in Pittsburg, was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1842. He came to Pittsburg with his parents in infancy, and was reared and educated in that city. Being compelled to leave school at an early age in order to earn his own living, he sold papers and worked at various employments until April, 1861, when he enlisted for a four- months' service in Company D, 12th regi- ment, Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, under command of Col. David Campbell. At the close of his first term he enlisted in a picked independent company of cavalry, 110 in number, to serve as bodyguard to Gen. James Negley. After six or seven months, this company was discharged, and Mr. Brady then joined the telegraph corps, serving until the close of the war. During the war he took part in both engagements at Fredericksburg, in the second battle of Bull Run and in several minor skirmishes. The war over, Mr. Brady returned to Pittsburg, and was for several years engaged with his brother in the flour and feed business. In 1892 Mr. Brady became district agent for Swift & Co., of Chicago, his territory embracing all of western Pennsylvania, and has held this responsible position since that time. He is a member of Post No. 157, G. A. R. In politics he is a republican.
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PATRICK C. BYRNE, deceased, was for over twenty-five years a prominent Pittsburg undertaker. He was born in Pittsburg, in 1854, and reared and edu- cated there. When a young man, he engaged in contracting for street im- provements, and, in 1876, went into the livery and undertaking business, follow- ing this vocation up to the time of his death, which occurred Aug. 13, 1902. He was at first associated with a Mr. McCabe, the firm continuing up to 1898 as Byrne & McCabe, when the partner- ship was dissolved, and Mr. Byrne established himself in business at No. 5214 Butler St. Mr. Byrne was a Catholic in religious belief. He belonged to the democratic party, and took an active part in politics, although never desirous of political preferment himself. Upon his death his widow inherited the business, and his son, Clem Byrne, assumed the responsibility of managing it. Clem Byrne is a rising young business man. He attended the Pittsburg schools, and, later, the Iron City college, from which he graduated in 1900. He also is a Catholic in religious belief.
THOMAS P. HERSHBERGER, of the firm of Hershberger & Son, funeral directors, thirty-sixth ward, Pittsburg, was born in the thirty-first ward of that city, in 1831, was reared there, and given a rudimentary education. Leaving school at the age of nine years, he went to work in a nail mill located on Penn avenue, where the store of Joseph Horner now stands. Here he was employed four years, and afterwards worked for three years as a feeder at the nail factory of Bailey & Brown. He spent a year in the Lawrence mill, now the Painter rolling mill, then worked for fourteen years in the Woods nail factory, having charge of four machines. In 1862 he opened a livery stable and undertaking establishment, and has been engaged in this business for over forty years. Mr. Hershberger has been for years a leader of the prohi- bition party; he was one of the organizers of the party in Allegheny
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county, and for fifteen years its chairman. He has the distinction of being the only prohibitionist who ever held a seat in the common council of Pittsburg. He is known as a man of strong individu- ality, and of character beyond reproach. He owns some seventy- five houses and other buildings in Pittsburg. Mr. Hershberger is a member of the A. O. U. W. and I. O. O. F. He is a member and officer of the Methodist Episcopal church.
SAMUEL M. DUVALL, in the court of common pleas, No. 1, Pittsburg, is a distinguished veteran of the Civil war and a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was born in what is now the ninth ward, Pittsburg, in 1832; was reared there, and received a schooling of only six months' duration. At the age of seventeen he learned to make tacks in the mill of Chess, Cook & Co., and was there employed until the outbreak of the Civil war. On Aug. 15, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Com- pany E, 102d Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and served until mustered out in Pittsburg, June 29, 1865. In May, 1862, he was made corporal, soon afterwards was promoted to sergeant, then to orderly sergeant, and, on Dec. 13, 1862, to second lieutenant. He served as second lieutenant of Company E until November, 1864, when he was made captain of the company. Captain Duvall fought at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, second Bull Run, White Oak Swamp, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville, and then took part in the "stick in the mud" campaign under Burnside. In the first day's fight in the Wilderness he was wounded and incapacitated for further duty until the corps was sent to Washington to repel Early's demonstration. After this he fought in front of Fort Stevens, at Charlestown, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, the siege of Petersburg, and at Sailor's Creek. His gallant service in the war completed, Mr. Duvall returned to the iron mill, and worked at his trade as a tack maker until 1880, when he was appointed to his present position. In 1867 he joined Post No. 35, now J. W. Patterson post, No. 151, G. A. R., in which he has been commander and has held all the other offices, including that of trustee, in which capacity he served six years. He has also served as deputy inspector of the G. A. R.
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for western Pennsylvania, and was, in January, 1902, elected presi- dent of the G. A. R. association of Allegheny county. Captain Duvall is a member of the Blue lodge in Lodge No. 269. He belongs to the Eighteenth Street Methodist Protestant church, and has served eighteen years as superintendent of its Sunday-school.
THOMAS G. DAVIS, assistant treas- urer of the Pittsburg & Allegheny tele- phone company, Pittsburg, was born in Tredegar, England, in 1868, and came to America with his parents in infancy, the family locating in Pittsburg. Here Mr. Davis was reared and received a com- mon-school education, leaving school in 1884 to enter the employ of the American rapid telegraph company, now the Postal telegraph-cable company. He began as messenger boy, and rose from this posi- tion to bookkeeper, and finally to cashier and chief clerk. He left this company in December, 1902, to accept his present position. Mr. Davis is a chapter Mason, and a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Heptasophs. In politics he is a republican.
WILLIAM DODDS, secretary and treasurer of District No. 5, United Mine Workers of Pennsylvania, was born in Haswell, Durham Co., England, in 1864. He attended the schools of his native county when a boy, and at the age of twelve went to work in the mines. Six months later, his parents persuading him to leave the mines, he spent fourteen months as a teacher. His health began to fail as the result of unsanitary sur- roundings, and for about fifteen months he was employed by a merchant tailor in Haswell. After the death of his mother, Mr. Dodds and his sister moved to Marston Rocks, Durham county, where he spent several years on his uncle's farm. In 1881 he decided to try his fortunes in America, and located at Banksville, Allegheny Co., Pa., where he has since resided. He worked as a coal miner in
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the mines of Hartley and Marshall until February, 1898, when he was elected vice-president of District No. 5, United Mine Workers for Pennsylvania. His services in this capacity were so appreci- ated, that in February, 1899, Mr. Dodds was elected secretary and treasurer of the organization. He has since been three times re-elected. Mr. Dodds is a member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias and Sons of St. George, and belongs to the English Episcopal church. In politics he is a republican.
JACOB SOFFEL, alderman from the thirty-second ward, Pittsburg, and court crier of the court of common pleas, No. 2, was born in Adenbach, Rhenish Bavaria, on June 1, 1843, and came to America in 1858, going to Pittsburg, where his older brother, Peter, had previously located. In 1860 he began working in a shoe store in Pittsburg, and remained there until September, 1864, when he enlisted as a private in Company B, 107th Pennsyl- vania volunteer infantry. His first battle was at City Point, Va. He then served two months before Petersburg, and after that went with his regi- ment to-tear up the Weldon railroad. On the way back, Mr. Soffel was in the rear guard, and experienced there three days of almost continuous fighting. In the next battle, at Hatcher's Run, the regiment went in 600 strong, and came out with only 113 men. After this Mr. Soffel took part in the engagements at Five Forks, Sailor's Creek, Gordonsville and Amelia Court House, was pres- ent at Appomattox, then returned to Pennsylvania and was mustered out at Harrisburg, in July, 1865. Mr. Soffel's war record is a most creditable one. He brought from the conflict the scars from two injuries, one received at Hatcher's Run, and the other in a fight in northern Virginia. After the war he returned to Pittsburg, and engaged in the grocery business from 1867 to 1875, after which he took up 160 acres of land in Kansas, and engaged in farming until 1880, although, as Mr. Soffel facetiously puts it, the principal crop was grasshoppers. Returning then to Pittsburg, he was engaged until 1883 as court interpreter, and then, being thrown out of office by a hostile democratic administration, obtained the position of court crier, which he has since held. Mr. Soffel has been for years a prominent Pittsburg politician, and
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always an ardent republican. In 1885 he was elected alderman from the thirty-second ward, and has since been re-elected three times to that position, without opposition. He is a director in the South Hills investment company, is a member of the F. and A. M., I. O. O. F. and Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the German Protestant church.
GEORGE B. CHALMERS, United States customs appraiser, Pittsburg, has been in the government employ for over a quarter of a century. He was born in Aloa, Scotland, in 1839, and caine with his parents, in 1848, to Pittsburg. In April, 1861, he became a private in the Pittsburg city guards, and at the out- break of the Civil war, enlisted for three months, the company becoming then Company K, 12th Pennsylvania volunteer infantry. His first term of service over, Mr. Chalmers enlisted, on Aug. 1, 1861, as a private in Company K, 63d Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, under Col. Alex. Hayes, and served as such until May 15, 1862, when he was made first lieutenant of the company. In December of the same year he became captain, and as senior captain, he had charge of the regiment on many occasions during the war. He served throughout the Peninsular campaign, receiving at the battle of Fair Oaks an injury so severe as to disable him for some six weeks. After this he took part in the engagements of second Bull Run, Chantilly, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and was present during all the three days of terrible fighting at Gettys- burg. Captain Chalmers was in command of four companies on the skirmish line, and participated in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac. In the Wilderness he was so badly wounded as to incapacitate him for further fighting, so he was honorably dis- charged from the service at the Annapolis hospital on Aug. 6, 1864. He was then obliged to go on crutches for four months afterwards. On receiving his discharge, Captain Chalmers returned to Pitts- burg, and was engaged in business for ten years with his brother, John B. Chalmers, a general contractor. In June, 1874, he was appointed and commissioned United States customs appraiser in the United States custom-house at Pittsburg by President U. S. Grant, and has been in the custom-house ever since, except during
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the first administration of President Cleveland. Mr. Chalmers is a republican in politics. Although now a resident of the four- teenth ward, he formerly lived in the eighth ward, and represented that ward in the city council for several years. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. and of the Union Veteran legion, and was the first national commander of that organization.
JEREMIAH DANIEL BUCKLEY, of Pittsburg, Pa., a prosperous lawyer, was born in County Kerry, Ireland, June 24, 1848, son of Daniel and Nano Buckley, both natives of Ireland. Mr. Buckley, when a mere intant, accompanied his parents to America, and the greater part of his life has been spent in Allegheny county. The advantages of a thorough and systematic school education were denied him, but he has largely overcome those deficiencies by vigorous application and well-selected readings, which, com- bined with a mind naturally clear and bright, have placed him on a secure educational basis. The early part of his life was devoted to steel work, and for a number of years he was the manager of a mill. Subsequently Mr. Buckley read law in the offices of C. F. McKenna, and also with former Judge Fetterman, was admitted to the bar of Allegheny county in 1896 and since then has practiced in Pittsburg, where he is a member of all courts and enjoys a lucrative legal business. Mr. Buckley has been prominently identified with municipal affairs, having served eighteen years as a member of the board of education and for almost five years repre- sented the thirty-fourth ward in council. He was married at Pitts- burg, in 1870, to Sarah McDavid, and they have five living children, viz .: Daniel J., a member of the bar and in the office with his father, born July 4, 1872; Ellen Nellie, born in Septem- ber, 1876, and the wife of Peter Fosnight; Sarah Gertrude, born June 21, 1879; Laura Mabel, born April 1, 1883, and Nano Marie, born Dec. 6, 1884. Mrs. Buckley died on June 15, 1885, and Mr. Buckley was married the second time to Minnie H. Ziegler, by whom he has had three children : Minnie E. Z., born May 23, 1894; J. Dewey, born May 18, 1898, and Mary, born Nov. 9, 1903.
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FRANK D. SAUPP, president of the Young Men's tariff club of Pittsburg and secretary and treasurer of the Pittsburg Physicians' supply company, is a promi- nent Pittsburg business man. He was born and reared at Loretto, Pa., and attended school there, afterwards com- pleting his education at St. Francis' col- lege, from which he graduated in 1881. He then went to Braddock, Pa., where he was employed for eight years in the mechanical engineering department of the Carnegie steel company. In 1897 he came to Pittsburg, and became secretary and treasurer of the Physicians' supply company.
Besides being president of the Young Men's tariff club, which is a social rather than a political organization, Mr. Saupp is also a member of the Americus club, but belongs to no secret orders. In political belief he is a republican.
GEORGE H. STENGEL, register of wills, Pittsburg, has been for years a prominent member of the Pittsburg bar, and is known as a man of sturdy honesty, of an aggressive, able, and energetic nature. He is about forty-five years of age, and has been a resident of Pittsburg since 1864, with the exception of five years, from 1881 to 1886. After the
usual preparatory education, he took a course of study at the Western Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, going abroad to complete his education at the University of Heidelberg. He began practicing law in 1886, and is a man well equipped to perform those duties of his office which require a legal training. Mr. Stengel served in the Pittsburg common council from 1896 to 1898, and during this time stood openly for clean and honest government. Throughout his career he has always been actively connected with those who oppose dishonesty and extravagance in public office.
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