USA > Pennsylvania > Notes and queries historical, biographical, and genealogical, Vol. II > Part 5
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where Anthracite coal has been used in loco - motives with any degree of success. The The trifling expense that will attend such appointment will amount to a mere nothing, compared to the great saving that can be - readily shown will result to the State, by the adoption of Anthracite coal as fuel for loco- motives on the Columbia road, but further west, where bituminous coal is easier of ac- cess and cheaper than the anthracite, that description of fuel will probably be the cheap- est. As we have it in contemplation in a few days to submit a proposition for supply- ing eoal and burning it in the locomotive en- gines on the Columbia road at a much less cost to the State than either wood or bitumi- nous coal and coke will cost on that road, it would give us great pleasure if your commit- tee could spare so much time from their other anties as to pass over the road in the engine in which we are now buruing anthracite coal and witness for yourselves its operation, so as to enable you to report from your own ob- servation as well as from the report or in- formation derived from others. Should you be enabled to do so, by giving us a short no- tice we will meet you at Lancaster whenever it may suit your convenience,
Respectfully Your Friends, GARRETT & EASTWICK.
Letter from George Jenkins, Superintend- ent of the Beaver Meadow Road.
PARRYVILLE, Jan'y 16th, 1838. Messrs. Garrett & Eastwick:
In reply to the queries propounded by you in relation to the success, &c., attending the use of coal in the Loco motive Engines made by you for the Beaver Meadow Rail Road & Coal Company, I may state for your in- formation, that the two Engines, the Elias Ely, & Sam'l D. Ingham, that were placed on the road during the summer of 1836, did not commence the use of coal until the latter eud of Autumn, or beginning of Winter of that year. The Quakeake was constructed for burning coal, and placed on the road in the Spring of 1837, all three being six wheel engines. The Beaver is a larger and heavier Engine with eight wheels, and has used coal ever since being placed on the road in the month of August last. All the Engines have continued to buru Anthracite Coal, when running on the road, ever since their commencing the use of that fuel at the times above stated. We
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do not find the use of wood necessary, ex- cept for kindling previously to starting in the mornings, and there is no difficulty in keeping an abundance of steam through the day without its aid. The usual number of loaded ears taken per day from Black Creek to Parryville, with the 6 wheel engine is 16, containing 23 tons of coal each, and the same number of empty cars are drawn up the grade to Quakeake with the same engines, and twelve up the 96 feet grade on their re- turn home. The Beaver (8 wheels) takes thirty-two cars per trip each way, and twenty-four up the 96 feet grade, from Quakeake to Blaek Creek. As nearly as we have been able to ascertain 1,200 pounds of coal is consumed per trip in the 6-wheel engines, that, is from Black Creek to Parryville and baek, a distance of forty miles, and for the same distance with double the load the Beaver consumes about 1,800 pounds.
With ten days, or two weeks' practice, an engineer or fireman will ordinarily become sufficiently acquainted with the manner of using anthracite coal in the locomotives, to run them withont difficulty, and they gen- crally prefer eoal to wood on account of its being much less laborious, and in conse- quenee of which we pay our firemen only 12} eents per day more than the men who attend the brakes at the cars.
Any other information on the above sub. ject within my power I will furnish with pleasure.
Yours respectfully, GEORGE JENKINS,
Superintendent Transportation B. M. R. R. and C. Company.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Historical, Blographical and Genealogieal.
CXCIX.
KESSINGER. - Abraham Kessinger, of Upper Paxtang, d. prior to 1808, leaving a wife Catharine and children :
i. George.
ii. John.
iii. Elizabeth; m. Eli Buffington.
iv. Susanna; m. Jacob Hoffman.
v. Anna Maria; m. John Sallada.
THOMAS MCELRATH. - This gentleman, better known as one of the first proprietors
of the New York Tribune, died in that eity on June 6, 1888. Ile was born in Williams- port, Pa., May 1, 1807. He acquired fond- ness for the printing trade at an early age, and after leaving school entered the office of the Harrisburg Chronicle, and subsequently William Brown's office, at that time one of the largest book printing establishments in Philadelphia. Removing later to New York, he was engaged as a proof-reader in the Methodist Book Concern, and afterwards as head salesman in the book department. In 1825 he formed a partnership with Lemuel Bangs in the publication of sehool and re- ligions books. At the dissolution of that. partnership he renewed his legal studies, be- gun in Philadelphia after leaving Brown's printing house, and being admitted to the Bar began the praetiee of law in New York eity. In 1841 he abandoned law and entered into partnership with Horace Greeley in the conduct of the Tribune under the firm name of Greeley & McElrath, which became so widely celebrated. In 1872 he published his "Directory of Words and Phrases Used in Commerce, with Praetieal and Explanatory Remarks." The book received high eom- mendation at all hands, and continues of great use as a work of reference in merean- tile counting houses as well as in law libra- ries. Mr. McElrath was prominent in New York politics and held various offiees, some of them of great importance. He was ever faithful and conseientious, and has left behind him an unblemished reeord. Ile was mar- riee in 1833 to Elizabeth Priee and had seven children, of whom five survive.
BLAINE FAMILY .- Dr. Egle in his pedi- gree of this family, (Historical Register, vol. II. p. 147) states that James Blaine, the grandfather of Hon. James G. Blaine, removed to Brownsville, Pa., in 1804, thenee to Sewiekley, Pa., and thenee in 1817 to Washington county, Pa. Mr. Charles Emory Smith, in his sketch of Hon. James G. Blaine in "Appleton's Cyclopedia of
American Biography," states that "in 1818. Mr. James G. Blaine's father, Ephraim L. Blaine, moved from Cumberland county to Washington county." The facts are these. In 1800 James Blaine removed from Cum- berland county with his family, including his son Ephraim L., Greene county, Pa. Theuce in 1804 to Brownsville, Fayette county. There he became a Justice of the Peace in 1805, holding the office until
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1816. In 1817 and 1818 he was a member of the town council of Brownsville. He was on the list of taxables in Brownsville in 1818 and was reported as a Justice of the Peace that same year. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Washington county Janu- ary 1, 1817, serving three terms-1817, 1818, 1819. Two of his dockets as justice are in
my possession. They begin April 24, 1815, and close February 17, 1820. They are en- tirely in the handwriting of James Blaine. Throughout this period, 1815-1820, Consta- ble Thomas Downie, of Brownsville, served almost every one of his warrants. On the last page of the second docket is this endorse- ment :
"January 10th, 1821, For value received I transfer all the costs that are due and all that may become due on the Docket of James Blaine, Esq., to Mr. Ephriam L. Blaine in lieu of costs elaimed in said docket from me. Witness my hand & seal the day and date above written.
"THOMAS DOWNIE.
"Attest: Thos. Mckibben."
A residence of several years in Brownsville, and a thorough knowledge of the names of the old settlers enables me to state that the suits entered in these dockets include people from the two counties of Fayette and Wasli- ington. Moreover, a warrant issned by James Blaine and dated "Brownsville the fifteenth day of October, 1819," now in my possession is evidence that James Blaine did not move to Washington county in 1817. H. E. H.
THE SAWYER FAMILY.
[Several years since we printed some notes concerning the Sawyers family, but recently additional information coming to us, we re- publish such data as suits our purpose. ]
I. WILLIAM SAWYER, a native of Ireland, settled on the Kennebcek, in Maine, in the fall of 1717. Whether his father ever came to Pennsylvania is doubtful, but William lo- eated in Lancaster county, Derry township, prior to 1735. He was born in 1703 and died October 18, 1784. In old Derry Church graveyard is this inscription : In memory
WILLIAM SAW- YER, who dep- arted this Life Octo'r the 18, 1784 in the 81st year of his age.
His wife Sophia (maiden name not known), b. in 1705, d. Sept. 9, 1788, and is buried by his side. They had issue, all b. in Derry township, among others:
2. i. John; b. 1729; m. Jean Allen.
ii. Hannah; b. April 21, 1731; d. Octo- ber 26. 1806; m. John Logan, b. 1729; d. February 21, 1788; and there was issue (sur- name Logan) :
1. Thomas.
2. William.
3. John.
4. Margaret, m, - Willson.
5. Mary, m. Samuel McCleery. iii. James, b. 1733.
3. iv. Benjamin, b. 1735; m. Margaret
c. Thomas, b. 1737; m. March 30, 1762, Margaret McCallen.
vi. [a dau.]; m. William Duncan, and had William.
4. vii. William, b. 1741; m. Jean Will- son.
II. JOHN SAWYER (William) b. 1729; d. 1812; m. October 27, 1757, Jean Allen, b. 1736; daughter of William and Elizabeth Allen, of Hanover. They had issne:
i. Joseph; b. 1758; m. Elizabeth removed to Preble county, O., and died there.
ii. John; m. Mary Bell, of Hanover. iii. William.
iv. Jean; b. 1764; d. November 29, 1803; nı. Robert Geddes.
v. Elizabeth; m. John Boal. vi. Sophia.
There were other daughters. One married James Jolinston, removed in 1827, to Foun- tain county, Indiana, and died there. One m. John McCord, and removed in 1827 to Preble county, O. One m. John Allen; and another William Sawyer, a cousin. Con- cerning the latter we have the following in- formation :
Some years after their marriage William Sawyer and his wife became thoroughly con- vinced that their marriage was wrong and agreed finally to separate. Accordingly their farm was sold and the proceeds divided. Both loved each other dearly, and when the time came for a separation the ordeal was a severe one. After embracing his wife, he would go but a short distance, then return, and so continued for some time, when at last, amid tears, he passed ont of view. William Sawyer went to the then far West, engaged in boating on the Ohio, and was
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subsequently drowned in the Kanahwa river while taking down a boat load of salt. The widow of William Sawyer married Joseph Clokey, who left Ireland at the time of the Rebellion of '98, immediately after the battle of Belany-Hinch. "I was quite a boy," wrote the late Samuel Barnett, of Spring- field, in 1867, "at the time, but remember hearing all about the case. He escaped al- most by miracle to this country. Mr. Clokey's daughter Eliza came subsequently to this country. She married a Mr. Hughes, near Canonsburg, Pa., and deceased there, leaving two or three children. Mrs. Clokey was a cousin of my mother's. She had by this second marriage two sons and one daughter. The daughter Mary married Rev. Mr. Wilson, of Canonsbnig, and died about 1866. Mr. Clokey removed from where he lived, near Hanover church, to Canonsburg, about 1813 or 1814. Both Mr. and Mrs. Clokey deceased there a number of years ago. Their son, John Clokey, married and had a family. His widow resides in Spring- field, Ohio. Joseph Clokey, the other son, took a college course at Canons- burg. studied Theology, joined the As- sociate Reformed Church at the time the union was consummated between the Asso- ciate and Associate Reformed Church, now the United Presbyterian Church. He after- wards became Professor of Pastoral The- ology in the United Theological Seminary at Xenia, O. Ile has been twice married Ilis first wife was a Patterson, by whom he had a son and daughter. The former died at Springfield, Ohio; the danghter married a Mr. Ilenry, and removed to Illinois. Dr. Clokey married secondly a Miss Waddell, from near Wheeling, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. One son is preach- ing at Steubenville, Ohio, another at Indian- apolis, and the third is a lawyer." The Rev. Dr. Clokey, was the oldest minister in Spring- field at the time this letter of Mr. Barnett's was written, and considered an able divine.
III. BENJAMIN SAWYER (William), b. about 1735 in Derry township, then Lancas- ter, now Londonderry township, Dauphin county, Pa. ; d. February 5, 1792. He m. Margaret -, b. 1737; d. 1796; and they had issne :
i. Thomas; m. and had William, jr. m. Mary
ii. William. iii. James
iv. Hannah.
IV. WILLIAM SAWYER (William, h. about 1741 in Derry township, Lancaster county, now Londonderry township, Dauphin county, d. August 20, 1785. He m. Oct. 1, 1761, by Rev. Jolin Roan, Jean Willson. After Mr. Sawyer's death, she married David Miskimmins.
They had issue :
i. Mary; m. William Crain.
ii. Margaret: m. Archibald Boyd. iii. Joseph; b. 1773; d. Feb. 28, 1789; buried in Derry church yard.
iv. William; m. Esther Rogers.
v. Elizabeth; m. Alexander Weir.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Historical, Biographical and Genealogical.
CC.
URIE .- The children of Thomas Urie, Esq., of Cumberland connty, were:
i. Jean; m. John Chambers. ii. Sullie.
iii. Mary.
iv. Catharine.
v. Eleanor.
vi. Thomas D.
What has beeome of the descendants of this family ?
THE HARRISONS OF VIRGINIA.
[Believing that the subject will interest many of the readers of Notes and Queries we have prepared the following record of the ancestry of General Benjamin Harrison, the Republican nominee for President of the United States.]
I. BENJAMIN HARRISON, of Surrey, Eng- land, b. Sept 20, 1645; d. there January 30, 1712-13; and lies buried in the yard of an old chapel, near Cabin Point, in Surrey. He had three sons of whom we have this record :
2. i. Benjamin, b. 1693; m. Elizabeth Burwell.
ii. Nathaniel; from whom descended the Harrisons, of Brandon, Virginia.
II. BENJAMIN IIARRISON (Benjamin) b. 1693 in Surrey, England; d. April, 1770, in Berkeley, Virginia, where he settled early in life; was a lawyer, and speaker of the House of Burgesses; he m. ELIZABETH BURWELL, daughter of Louis Burwell, of Gloucester, Virginia; and had issue.
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3. i Benjamin; h. 1740; m. Elizabeth Bassett.
ii. Elizabeth; m. Peyton Randolph.
iii. Charles; was a general in the war of the Revolution.
iv. Nathaniel.
v. Henry.
vi. Collier.
vii. Carter II .; from him are descended the Harrisons of Cumberland, Virginia.
viii. [a dau. ] m. William Randolph, brother of Peyton.
III. BENJAMIN HARRISON (Benjamin, Benjamin) b. in 1740, in Berkeley, Charles City county, Virginia; d. April, 1791; was for many years a burgess for his native conn- ty; in 1764 he served on the committee to prepare an address to the King, a memorial to the lords, and a remonstrance to the house of commons, in opposition to the stamp act, and yet opposed the resolution of Patrick Henry of the following year as unsafe and impolitic. In 1773 he was on the Virginia committee of correspondence, and in 1774 elected to the Congress; as chair- man of the committee of the whole house, on the 10th of June, 1776, he introduced the resolution declaring the independence of the colonies, and on the 4th day of July he re- ported the Declaration of Independence, of which he was a signer. He subsequently became a member of the Virginia house of delegates, serving until 1781, when he was twice elected Governor of the Commonwealth. He was practical, energetic, frank, good- humored, fearless and patriotic. Gov. IIar- rison married ELIZABETH BASSETT, d. 1792, daughter of Col. William Bassett, of El- tham in the county of New Kent, and a neice of the sister of Mrs. Washington. Their children were :
i. Benjamin.
ii. Carter-Bassett, b. 1763; d. 1804; educated at William and Mary College, bred a lawyer, served in the Assembly, in Con- gress and a Presidential elector; left two sons.
4. iii. William-Henry, b. Feb. 9, 1773; m. Anna Symmes.
iv. [a dau. ]; m. Richardson.
a. [a dau. ]; m. David Copeland.
vi. fa dau. ]; m. John Minge, of Weyan- oke, Virginia.
IV. WILLIAM-HENRY HARRISON (Ben- jamin, Benjamin, Benjamin), b. February 9, 1773, in Berkeley, Va .; d. April 4, 1841, in Washington City ; was educated at IIamp-
den-Sidney College, and studied medicine. In April, 1791, commissioned by General Washington, a warm personal friend of his father, an ensign; in 1792 promoted to a lieutenancy and fought under Wayne, who made him one of his aides. In 1795 was promoted captain and placed in command of Fort Washington, the site of the city of Cincinnati. In 1797 was appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory; became its dele- gate to Congress in 1799; first Governor of the Territory of Indiana in 1801, serv- ing to 1813. On the 7th of No- vember, 1811, he gained over the Indians led by Tecumseh the celebrated battle of Tippecanoe; commanded as major general of the Kentucky militia in the North-western army during the war of 1812; bore a distinguished part in the campaign of 1813, the defence of Fort Meigs, and the victory of the Thames, October 5th of that year; was promoted brigadier-general Au- gust 22d, 1812, major-general March 2d, 1813. Ile resigned in 1814; was member of Congress from 1816 to 1819; member of the Ohio Senate 1819 to 1821; U. S. Senator from 1825 to 1828, when he was appointed Minister to the Republic of Bolivia, on his return taking up his residence at North Bend, on the Ohio. In December, 1839, he was nominated by the Whig convention at Harris- burg, Penna. At the outset of the cam- paign the slur which had been cast upon him that he lived in a log-cabin with nothing to drink bnt hard cider was seized upon as an electioneering appeal, and he was triumph- antly elected President, securing 234 out of 294 votes. He entered upon the duties of his office with an nncommon degree of popu- larity; and his death, which took place just a month after his inauguration, caused a deep sensation throughout the country. Gen. Harrison, m., Nov. 22, 1795, ANNA SYMMES, b. July 25, 1775, near Morristown, N. J .; d. Feb. 25, 1864, near North Bend, O .; daughter of John Cleves Symmes. Of their children, we have the record of-
i. Luey, b. in Richmond, Va. ; d. April 7, 1826, in Cincinnati, O .; m. David K. Este, of the latter city.
5. ii. John Scott, b. October 4, 1804; m. and left issue.
V. JOHN SCOTT HARRISON (William- Henry, Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin) b. October 4, 1804, at Vincennes, Indiana; d. May 26, 1878, near North Bend, Ohio; re-
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ceived a liberal education; was elected a Rep- resentative from Ohio to the 33d and 34th Congress. ITis wife died in 1851. Of their children, we have those of-
6. i. Benjamin; b. August 20, 1833.
ii. Martin; resides in Kansas.
VI. BENJAMIN IIARRISON, the sixth in descent from a long and honored ancestry, was born August 20, 1833, at the home of his grandfather at North Bend, Ohio, on the bluffs overlooking the Ohio river, fifteen miles below the city of Cincinnati. HIe graduated from Miami University in 1852, and at once commenced the study of law under Judge Storer, of Cincinnati. In 1854 he removed to Indianapolis, where he has since resided. IIe was elected reporter of the Supreme Court in 1860. but in 1862 entered the army as second lieu-
tenant of volunteers, and shortly organized the 70th Indiana regiment with which he served during the war, receiving the brevet brigadier general of volunteers Jannary 23, 1865. Returning to Indianap- olis, he was re-elected reporter of the Su- preme Court. In 1876 he was the Republi- can candidate for Governor of the State but defeated by a small plurality. President Hayes appointed him on the Mississippi river commission in 1878. In Janu- 1881, was elected to the
United States Senate serving the full term of six years from March 4, 1881. Dur- ing his Senatorial career he established a reputation as a sound and enlightened states- man, and his record is entitled to the respect and admiration of the American people. His position upon all questions of importance was that of a faithful. couscientious and honest representative. On the 25th of June, 1888, the Republican convention at Chicago chose him as their standard-bearer in the Presidential campaign, and every indication angurs undoubted suceess. As his grand- father forty-cight years ago annihilated the political aims of the Sage of Kinderhook, so will he the further aspirations of the New Yorker who fills the Executive chair of the nation. General Harrison married in Octo- ber, 1853, Carrie L. Scott, daughter of Rev. J. W. Scott, of Ohio. They have two ehil- dren.
THE WHITEHILLS AND MACBETHS.
[The following letter comes to us from Pittsburgh. It gives some interesting points in our Local History :]
Carlisle, May 21st., A. D. 1822.
MY DEAR NEPHEW: I went down to Harrisburg last December to see the meeting of the Legislature in the new capitol. They begun their session in the court-house, which they had rented until the State house would be finished. Mr. Hills, the architect, an- nounced the building ready for their recep- tion the second day of January, when the workmen all attended and led the Governor, Joseph Iliester, the heads of departments, Gregg, Duncan, Brady, and Cochran, with their clerks, the Senate with their clerks, sergeant-at-arms, door-keepers and speaker, Gen. Marks. The second branch of repre. sentatives, with their clerks, sergeant-at- arms, doorkeepers and speaker, Joseph Law- rence, with a numerous concourse of citi- izens, all moving in solemn silence to the summit of Parnassus, with the reverend gen- tlemen who were to perform the consecra- tion rites and ceremonies. I kept pace with His Excellency until I was jammed up against the left side of the lobby, where I had a complete view of many hundreds of ladies all clothed in rich brocade, black mus- lin and vestal white, as well as variegated colours, previously assembled to witness the- magnificent ordinance. After a few min- ntes' rest, Doctor Lochinan introduced the order of the day by prayer, and Doctor Ma- son read the oration, beginning with the dis- covery, settlement. and bondage under the European task-masters, the acquirement of our liberties by Divine assistance, under the direction of the great Washington, and other patriotic heroes of the revolution, with many admonitions to walk worthy of our convoea- tion and high privileges in the auspicious era of American independence, concluding with thanksgiving and petitions to continue the blessings of so highly favoured a nation.
I had much difficulty in keeping the old land jobber from being trodden to death, who perished on the road to IIummelstown a few nights after and was buried in the poor-house grave-yard, but disinterred by his children and taken to Newville, where the obsequies were attended to in a Christian like manner, beside the mouldering limbs of their mother.
James Whitehill, of Strasburgh; John Mil- ler, of Mount Rock; Jaeob Irwin, of Mid- dlesex; Gilson Craighead and his son are no more. The two latter were buried in one grave the first Sabbath of last month.
I spent the whole winter in the galleries,
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where I gained an acquaintance with nearly all the members, and boarded with Mr. Shoch at the bridge, where many legislators, public officers, the Executive and Mr. Muhlen- berg, his private secretary. also put up. They were all very friendly, exhibiting much alacrity in their conversation with me about their speechifying debates and speculative motions. but the answers and remarks I made, soon attracted the notice of the news- mongers, who, after a long description of my superanuated appearance, and old fashioned habilaments, said they would not be much surprised to hear that Mr. Fleming or some other intrepid old soldier could not refrain from ordering them all home and tell them the Lord had no further need of them, like Cromwell to the Parliament of England in their high-toned discussions about nothing.
The Governor got near ninety votes for Senator in Congress, but it took nine ballot- tings for State Treasurer. Mr. Crane was a candidate as well as Holgate, but Mr. Clark, of Erie, took near seventy votes the last trial, the expert native of Great Britain be- ing immediately appointed prothonotary of Fayette. Cousin William Davidson's time is out this session. I seen them all shaking hands with him. bidding him farewell. Old Patrick was not pleased with him for oppos- ing Findlay.
Mr. MacMeen, another cousin of ours, is also a Senator from Lycoming. Mr. Coch- ran and several members claimed kindred with me and treated me with more friendship than many of my nighest relations. Cousin Margaret Fleming, now of Chester county, with Cousin Joseph Gardiner and his sister Sarah, appeared in the lobbies about the middle of February on their way home from a visit to Cumberland. They invited nie to spend next winter with them, to which I agreed if I could dispense with going to Washington to see the Congress and my namesake who bled at the battle of Trenton, while I was there in the Flying Camp, for it is more than probable that we will never see any more "seventy-six men" in the execu- tive chairs, either of this State or of the United States.
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