USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 94
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In all his efforts since he reached manhood Mr. Marshall has found a true helpmate in the person of his devoted wife, formerly Miss Ollie C. Johnson. Her father was the well-known citizen William F. Johnson, now deceased, and for years a prominent farmer of this section. Four children blessed the mar- riage of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, namely : Grace C., wife of Matthew L. Mc- Elheney ; Mabel Clare; Edwin D. and Paul Mack,-the younger three being still at home. The entire family are members of the Presbyterian church of Jamestown, Pennsylvania.
Isaac Westheimer .- Prominent among the business men of Titusville is Isaac Westheimer, who for a third of a century has been closely identified with the history of the city in connection with the tobacco trade and as a boot and shoe merchant. He is a man of keen discrimination and sound judgment, and his executive ability and excellent management have brought to the concerns with which he is connected a high degree of success.
Mr. Westheimer is one of the worthy citizens that the Fatherland has furnished to the New World. He was born in Merchingen, Baden, Germany, on the 8th of April, 1848, and is a son of Louis and Mollie Westheimer, thic former a commission merchant of Germany. He attended the public schools of his native town and then took a special course under private tutors. prepar- ing for college. Reverses in his father's business, however, forced him to abandon the idea of entering college, and in 1865, at the age of seventeen years, he came to America, hoping to better his financial condition in the New World, whose advantages, he had heard, were many. During the first three vears after his arrival in the New World he engaged in clerking for the firm of Strauss & Stettheimer, at Titusville, and in 1868 established a cigar and tobacco business in Pleasantville on his own account. being very successful
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from the beginning. In 1870 he sold his store in Pleasantville, and in connec- tion with his brother established the wholesale and retail cigar and tobacco business at No. 31 Spring street, Titusville, where they have since carried on operations. They are leaders in their line of trade in this part of the state, and the excellent quality of their products insures them a liberal share of the public patronage. In 1887 the brothers also opened a boot and shoe store, which is under the direct management of Isaac Westheimer, and has also proved a profitable investment. He is a man of progressive methods, of diligence and sound judgment, and his commercial success is well deserved.
Mr. Westheimer is thoroughly American in thought and feeling, and does all in his power to promote the interests of the city, with which he has so long been connected. He is especially active in educational circles, has been an efficient and valued member of the school board for sixteen years, was secre- tary of the board for eight years,-from 1881 until 1887,-and its president for two years. In his political associations he is a Democrat, but has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests, in which he has met gratifying success.
Charles Stols, flour and feed merchant, Meadville, was born August 12. 1850. in Mergentheim, Wurtemberg, Germany, and came to America at an early age with the intention of making his way in the world in a new country. He first located at San Antonio, Texas, where he was naturalized and spent seven years, and was extensively engaged in the raising and care of stock. This period being but a short time after the close of the Civil war, general peace and harmony in that locality was quite unknown; consequently Mr. Stolz, being engaged in active pursuits, met with many hair-breadth escapes, which he vividly recalls. He came to Meadville in 1872 and entered the em- ploy of Gill & Son, in the flour and feed business, and succeeded them in the retail business in 1885, at the same location, No. 992 Water street, at which place he continues to conduct a large establishment.
April 4, 1878, Mr. Stolz married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Eliza- beth Kreider, of Vernon township, Crawford county. Her father died in 1873.
William H. Andrew's, Titusville .- A striking instance of the power of energy well directed is that which is furnished in the career of William H. Andrews, state senator from Crawford county and conspicuous in the recent political episodes of Pennsylvania. Mr. Andrews comes of one of the oldest families in this country, and his services to the people, coupled with his excel- lent genealogical connections, place him high upon the roll which embraces the leading men of the commonwealth. In the earlier part of his career he was prominent as a business man, and in the commercial world was recognized as an energetic and enterprising man.
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William H. Andrews was born in Youngsville, Warren county, Pennsyl- vania, January 14, 1842. One of his paternal ancestors fought under the ban- ner of William the Conqueror, and was knighted for gallantry and meritorious service in the battle of Hastings, October 14, 1066. On his mother's side Mr. Andrews is of Puritan descent, the first of his maternal ancestors in this coun- try dating his advent in America to the earliest settlement made by the Massa- chusetts pilgrims. A. great-grandfather on his mother's side served in the Continental army during the Revolution, and was under Montgomery at the storming of Quebec: was with General Gates at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, and with Washington at the surrender of Cornwallis at York- town. Another ancestor served under Washington throughout the struggle. In the war of the Rebellion, also, the family name was well represented among the defenders of the Union. His father, Dr. Jeremiah Andrews, was born in Mitchellstown, Ireland, educated in Dublin, and emigrated to this country when twenty-five years of age. He was recognized as a skillful practitioner and possessed to a remarkable degree the esteem and confidence of the com- munity in which he lived. Dr. Andrews' wife, the mother of W. H. Andrews, was the daughter of Dr. Noah Weld, a member of one of the oldest families and one of the best known and respected citizens of Warren county.
After obtaining that rudimentary education which the public schools of his time and section afforded W. H. Andrews entered upon a mercantile career, and up to the year 1880 was largely engaged in the pursuits thereof, part of the time at Cincinnati, Ohio, and subsequently at Meadville and Titusville, Pennsylvania. His many commendable traits soon brought him into associa- tion with the local managers of his political party, and in this way he developed a liking and fitness for political work, and he became one of the most earnest and zealous of Republican leaders of the county. In 1880 he was elected chairman of the Republican county committee,-a position he held for three successive terms. He was again unanimously elected in 1886. He served with credit to himself and advantage to his party as first assistant secretary to the Republican state committee of Pennsylvania during the years 1887 and 1888, and so ably did he discharge the duties to which he was assigned that his work obtained hearty recognition from the older party leaders. They were so favorably impressed by his qualities for work and organization and his prac- tical common sense that he was made chairman of the state committee in 1888. and was unanimously re-elected in 1889 and again in 1890. In 1889 he further demonstrated his ability as a party leader and organizer in the election of Henry K. Boyer, state treasurer, by the uncommonly large majority of over sixty thousand, notwithstanding the fact that it was an "off year."
In 1888 he was elected to the legislature from Crawford county; again elected in 1893, and sent to the state senate in 1895, which position he now holds. During his first session in the legislature he at once displayed an ability
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which early placed him in the fore rank as a parliamentarian and leader of more than ordinary capacity. He was also a delegate from the twenty-sixth con- gressional district of Pennsylvania to the Republican national convention held at St. Louis, June 10, 1896, that nominated William McKinley for president of the United States. In politics, as in business, Mr. Andrews is scrupulously exact in discharging his obligations and fulfilling his promises, and his word is regarded as good as his bond in any transaction.
Mr. Andrews has been twice married. His first wife was Rose A., daugh- ter of James H. Eddy, of Warren, Pennsylvania, to whom he was united October 18, 1862. She died March 14, 1879. On June 30, 1881, he married Mary Adelaide Fry, a granddaughter of Thomas Atkinson, a member of the first legislature of the state and editor of the first newspaper published west of the AAlleghany mountains. Three children were born to the first marriage : W. H., Jr., Frank E. and Belle R., only the last of whom is living. She is the wife of J. W. Witherop, formerly of Titusville, but now residing in Spokane, Washington. Two children have been born to the second marriage, -a son and a daughter. The son, William Stanley, is living, and the daugh- ter, Marguerite L., died in 1886.
John Shoffstall, Wayne township .- John Shoffstall, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came into the county in 1821. His son Simeon married Hannah Pressler. Their only child, John, was born on the farin he now occupies, December 20, 1857. He married Hattie Shoffstall, a distant relative, May 6, 1880, and their children are Fred, Edgar, Clara and Gertrude. Mr. Shoffstall has a farm of eighty-five acres.
Eugene Wl'ood, harness and saddle manufacturer, Cochranton, was born in Mercer county in 1859, son of Alonzo and Rebecca (Mangus) Wood; the former died in 1887. June 5. 1890, Mr. Wood married Anna, daughter of James and Rachel Fleming, and they have one daughter, Helen Louise, born August 22, 1895. Mr. Wood purchased his present business of Gilbert Dom- bet in 1889, which he has since conducted.
Mcad Johnson, farmer, was born in Randolph township, Crawford county, in 1832, a son of Alexander and Betsy ( Slanson) Jolinson, natives of Harris- burg, Pennsylvania. Alexander Johnson was a son of Alexander, Sr., a native of Ireland who located in Randolph township in 1799. An uncle, Joseph John- son, purchased an adjoining farm in an early day, where he resided during his lifetime and died at the age of thirty-four years. Alexander, Sr .. died March 12. 1872, at the age of seventy-two years.
Mr. Johnson was the fifth child of a family of nine children as follows : Joseph, John and James, deceased; A. C .; Mead ; Henry ; Phebe, wife of J. J.
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Preston : Charlotte, deceased ; and Mary, wife of Martin Boyd. In 1856 Mr. Johnson was united in marriage with Susie E. Graham, daughter of David Graham, of Randolph township, and their children are Frank, Dudlow, Ver- mont, and Hartsan, Titusville. Mr. Johnson came to Titusville in 1879 from his native township, and has since been employed in the marble business, to- gether with stock and farming interests, and in politics he is a Republican.
John F. Coleman, musician, Titusville, is a native of Rochester, New York, born January 22, 1842, of German parentage. Professor Coleman first started what is now the celebrated Coleman's Orchestra and Brass Band in the year 1865. He first began his musical education in Rochester at the age of twelve years, which had shown great development at the age of nineteen years. He was enrolled with the Fifty-fourth Regimental Band on the 13th day of August, 1864, to serve one hundred days, and by reason of the term of the regiment having expired he was mustered out on the ioth day of November, 1864. He then returned to Titusville, where he has since followed his chosen profession.
As a vocation he has taught violin and brass instruments, and has won an enviable reputation not only in his own town but also in a far-reaching terri- tory. In Titusville he is known not only as the founder of musical organiza- tions, but is also a recognized leader and an artist of recognized ability. It may, perhaps, be well to mention that Professor Coleman is entitled to duc credit for all the achievements that Titusville bears in local musical fame, while the violin, his favorite instrument, he finds most fully in unison with the various instruments, and giving the peculiar charm to music in its truest sense.
June 12, 1867. he was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Eichenlaub. of Titusville, and to this union have been born eight children, as follows : Mary. deceased ; Joseph, deceased : John F. ; George L. ; Edward, deceased ; Clara M. ; May Ruth, and Fred. Professor Coleman is a member of the Royal Arcanum.
J. J. Cochran, of Cochranton, was born May 14. 1837, a son of Joseph J. and Susan E. (Hugh) Cochran, natives of Adams county. Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent. Mr. Cochran bears the distinction of being the son of one of the founders of the borough in which he resides and for whom it was named. His father, Joseph J., was born May 10, 1809, and died in 1846. Ilis mother. Susan, was born February 11, 1810, and died in 1884. They had two children -John J. and Margaret J .- the latter formerly the wife of M. H. McComb. who died December 18, 1885. Mr. Cochran was married in Adamsville. this county, December 25. 1860, to Mary, daughter of Alexander ( Kennedy ) Mc- Kee, and to them have been born seven children : Margaret E., who married John McCabe; Jennie R., married to Charles Rood, Montana; Rose A ..
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who became the wife of George Lawrence, of Kansas; Joseph A., Cochran- ton : James H., with the Anaconda Copper Company, Montana ; William H., in the mercantile business at Dillon, Montana; and Charles H., deceased. Joseph Cochran taught the first school in the village of Cochranton, and being a surveyor assisted in arranging the town plat.
Henry Hart, a farmer, of West Fairfield township, began active life in that township more than three-quarters of a century ago, and has during the years intervening been more to his home locality, in his active business life, than the average citizen is wont to be. He has been an extensive land owner, having in his possession as high as seven hundred acres at one time. He has also been an extensive cattle dealer, and took large droves "over the mnoun- tains," during the earlier days, obtaining large and remunerative sums of money. He has led a life of great activity and no undertaking seemed too great. Imbued with a generous nature, he has been foremost in many worthy enterprises. He has been constable five years, assessor and treasurer, and his duties were well performed.
Henry Hart was born March 12, 1815, a son of Phillip and Catharine (Zeck) Hart, natives of York county; was married July 3, 1845, and his children are, Samuel P .; William P., who married Elizabeth Berry; Emily J., wife of William K. Hill; Mary C .; Sarah Armeta; Henry Harrison, who married Sarah Ann Nelson; Ida Annetta, wife of Sylvester Louper ; Elizabeth Adeline, wife of Frank M. Bryson; Prescott Metcalf, who married Margaret C. Beninger ; Homer and Clinton. Sarah Armeta died April 28, 1854. and Catherine died December 29, 1856.
Jacob Fisher, of Bloomfield township, is a son of Michael and Elizabethi Fisher, and grandson of Adam Fisher, and was born in Germany, November 28, 1840. In 1852 he came to Ohio, where he resided until 1856, when he came to Anthony township, Pennsylvania, to live with his uncle, Peter Fisher, with whom he remained until 1860. He then returned to Ohio, and in 1861 he went to Douglas City, California, where he enlisted in Company M. First Regiment, California Cavalry, April 28, 1863. He remained with the regiment until May, 1866, and received an honorable discharge January 31, 1867. He married Mary E. Knight and settled in Anthony township. Pennsylvania, where his wife died October 12, 1871, leaving two children: William E., a postal clerk at Salamanca, New York, who married Ella Niles, of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, and Nancy M., now Mrs. W. G. Reynolds. Mr. Fisher married for his second wife, Mary A. Grose, on February 27, 1872. The family are members of the Evangelical church.
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John WV. Scott, of Rome township, is a son of Nathan H. and Caroline H. ( Parker ) Scott, and was born August 12, 1849, in Clarion, Pennsylvania. His father was born in Broome county, New York. January 1, 1875, he married Philura L. Jones, daughter of Henry S. and Almira (Smith) Jones. He settled in Athens township. where he was a farmer and shoemaker. In 1892 he moved to Centerville, where he now lives and is proprietor of the hotel. He has three sons .- Ray H., Lyle C. and Don W. He is a member of Town- ville Lodge, No. 929. I. O. O. F., and also a member of the Empire State De- gree of Honor.
Lawrence Eugene Mullen .- Prominent among the successful agricultu- rists of Crawford county is the subject of this review, L. E. Mullen, of West Shenango township. He comes from one of the sterling pioneer families of this section of Pennsylvania, originally of sturdy old New England stock. At an carly day in the annals of this county, William Mullen, of Connecticut, came to make his home in the wilds of South Shenango township, and there hewed out a farm in the midst of the dense forest and dwelt there until his death, at the age of four-score. There the father of our subject, Richard Mullen, was born and reared, and spent much of his later life, though for some years he resided across the state line, in Ohio. He died on his homestead there in 1888, at the age of sixty-three years, and is survived by his widow, who is still living at her old Ohio home. In her girlhood she bore the name of Mary Ann Brittan. As a farmer Mr. Mullen was successful, and owned, at different times, several farms in West Shenango township.
Lawrence Eugene Mullen, who is now serving his fellow-citizens in the capacity of township collector of taxes, this being his second year in the office. was for six years a member of the local school board. and in many ways has sought to increase the efficiency of our educational methods in this vicinity. Hle espouses the principles of the Democratic party. and is now in favor of free silver. The only fraternity with which he has identified himself is that of the Woodmen of the World.
The birth of L. E. Mullen occurred about forty years ago, on March 29. 1859. in Turnersville, Crawford county. He went with his parents to Ohio. upon their removal thither, and assisted in the management of their farm until he reached his majority. In 1885 he came to his present farm, which now com- prises two hundred and forty acres, nearly all of which is kept under high cultivation. . It affords excellent pasturage to the large number of cattle which he usually keeps, and at present he owns thirty-one cows, besides other live stock. Success has crowned his industrious efforts and if he chose to do so. he might even now retire with an assured competence, sufficient to supply his needs during the remainder of his life.
April 25. 1883. Mr. Mullen married Miss Viola Phelps, of Richmond,
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Ohio. They are the parents of four fine boys, namely : Joseph Nelson, James Free, Bliss B., and Harley Eugene. They are of great assistance to their father in the farm work and are rapidly developing into robust, well-balanced manhood.
John IT'. Babcock, deceased .- During the greater part of his active busi- ness career John W. Babcock, long an honored citizen of Meadville, was con- nected with railroading, and was considered one of the most reliable and trustworthy employees of the various corporations with which he was con- nected. His busy and useful life came to a sudden close on the 15th of July. 1892, when, apparently in his usual health, he was in the Commercial Hotel, of this city.
The birth of our subject took place in Newburg, Ohio, September 24. 1840, and while he was a small boy his parents removed to Wisconsin, where the father engaged in farming. Desiring to aid his senior in paying for his property, John W. secured a position on the Cincinnati & Marietta Railroad. and turned over much of his wages to his father for some time. Finally the youth became a' conductor for the company, but during the civil war he was in the government service, as yard-master of a railroad in North Carolina.
In the fall of 1864 Mr. Babcock came to Meadville, and, entering the ser- vice of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad ( now the Erie), under Super- intendent Lyford, he acted at different times in the offices of conductor and yard master. In 1866 he was placed in charge of the yards in Oil City and Franklin, after which he went on the road as a freight conductor, and from 1870 to 1887 was a passenger conductor on the same line, chiefly on the Frank- lin branch, with the exception of two years when he was yard master in Mead- ville. On the 6th of April, 1887, he was appointed train master here, under the superintendency of Mr. Brunn, and this position he retained until he saw fit to tender his resignation January 1, 1890. Subsequently, he was vice- president of the Speed Recorder Company, and at the time of his death he was ยท general superintendent of the Wilkins' Shoe-Button Fastener Company, with which he had been connected for several years.
In politics, Mr. Babcock was a Republican, and in 1886 he was honored by being elected mayor of Meadville by one of the largest majorities ever given to a local candidate, and he served acceptably for one term. Fraternally, he was a Mason of high standing, as he had attained the thirty-second degree. He also belonged to French Creek Council, of the Royal Arcanum. and for years was associated with the local division of the Order of Railroad Conductors. A man of strong mental and physical powers, strictly temperate in his habits and honorable and just in all his dealings, he commanded the esteem and respect of all who knew him. From his boyhood he was noted for his love of nature, and he took special delight in leaving the haunts of inen and, with his
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favorite dogs, spent many an hour tramping through the woods and fields. He bore a reputation throughout this section of being one of the most expert of "wing shots."
In the domestic circle Mr. Babcock was seen at his best, for he was devoted to his family and home. September 20, 1871, he married Miss Melda Story, of Meadville, and she, with their two sons, Fred W. and Jesse, survive. F. W. was graduated in the Philadelphia Medical College in 1894, and for a period was employed as a surgeon in Cleveland, Ohio, after which he practiced his profession for about two years in Jackson, Michigan. In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, he accepted a position as a surgeon in the United States Army, and acquitted himself to the satisfaction of all concerned.
Frank B. Lester, Richmond township .- Charles Lester came from White- hall, New York, and settled in Crawford county in 1845. His son Thomas married Rhoda Russell, and to them was born Frank B., the subject of this sketch, .August 19, 1861. In 1882 Frank married Kate, daughter of Jonathan and Miranda Cowden. They have one son, by name Clyde. Mr. Lester lives upon his farm of thirty-nine acres, and also cultivates the farm of his mother, which lies adjacent. Ilis father and one uncle were in the army.
John Tiddington Ray, M. D., was born in Frankfort, Pennsylvania, in 1817. graduated at the University of Pennsylvania and located at Greenville, where he practiced medicine from 1842 to 1854, when he located at Meadville, where he acted as first pension examiner. the first in Meadville. He was also surgeon for the Erie Railroad. In 1844 he married Elizabeth J. Eves, of New Castle. Delaware. He was a Mason, Odd Fellow, and died February 12, 1874.
Joseph York, deceased, was born in the town of West Henrietta, Monroe county. New York, January 14, 1819, and died in Meadville, July 5, 1892. He was descended from New England ancestry. His father, Jeremiah York, was born in the town of Randolph, Monroe county, November 15, 1783, and his mother in Hartford, Connecticut, February 18, 1783. Their marriage was celebrated in Randolph, Vermont, March 16, 1807, and about 1823 they re- moved to Cattaraugus county, New York, locating in the Genesee valley when it was an unbroken wilderness. They became the parents of six children, namely: L. C .; Ellen, who died in infancy; Lavinia ; Hannah; Joseph and Jeremiah.
At an early age Joseph York entered upon his business career, through the aid of his older brother securing a position with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. After a time he was promoted to the position of engineer and later he severed his connection with the railroad company in order to en-
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