USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 96
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Empire state and was only forty years old when she was called upon to lay down the burdens of life. She left four children to mourn her loss, and of the number Harriet, the eldest, is deceased: William is next ; Hiram is a retired farmer of Cherokee county, Iowa, and Mary Jane is the wife of William Gatt of Michigan.
William Lord was born in Livingston county, New York, October 13, 1831. He received the benefits of a common school education, and remained at home, giving his dutiful aid to his father in the management of the home farm until he was twenty years old. At that time he came to this township and for a period found employment on a farm. He then worked at the carpenter's trade for several years, after which he settled down upon a good farm in this township, and for three years was successfully engaged in dairying. Having a desire to see something of the great and growing west, he went to Iowa and traveled west of the Mississippi to some extent, but ultimately returned, better satisfied than ever with this section of the Keystone state. In 1867 he pur- chased the Penn Line hotel, which he has since managed with ability and gratifying success.
For about twenty years Mr. Lord has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and was one of the charter members of the Lodge at Penn Line. Ile also is identified with the Masonic order as a member of the Blue Lodge, F. & A. M., of Conneattsville. In his political affiliations he is a stanch Republican.
For his wife Mr. Lord chose Miss Catherine Olive Bates, a member of one of the oldest leading families of this township. They have one son, Fred F., who is a very enterprising young business man, and for seven years has been a traveling salesman for the wholesale drug house of Parke, Davis & Company. of Detroit, Michigan.
Samuel Galbraith Marwell was born at Woburn, Massachusetts, Septem- ber 5, 1858, the son of John and Mary Jane ( Nichols) Maxwell. In his boy- hood he attended the common school and the Warren Academy at Woburn, a preparatory school for the Institute of Technology in Boston. After leav- ing the academy he went into his father's leather store in Boston, where he remained six years, acquiring a thoroughly practical business education and training. He then went into his father's tannery and learned the art of tan- ning all kinds of leather, until he became able to superintend the leather busi- ness of his father in all its departments. Mr. Maxwell's father is a man of broad ideas, and in his time he has been quick to adopt and appropriate to his advantage improved processes for making leather, as from time to time they have caught his attention. He believes in mechanical improvements, and he has always been among the first to appreciate improved methods in the tanning business.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
At no previous period in the world's history has there been such an advance in the mechanical arts as has been witnessed during the last twenty- five years. Invention and adaptation of new machinery have wrought a revo- lution in all branches of manufacturing business in this country. It may be safely assumed that in mechanics the American mind is more active and quicker in perception than that of any other nation. American enterprise is certainly leading the rest of the world. Our manufactured products rush into foreign markets and sweep away all competition. Yankee genius has no rival.
In the processes of making leather there has been as much progress during the last quarter of a century as in any other branch of manufacturing industry. Mr. Maxwell's father, with characteristic Yankee shrewdness, always em- ployed the best methods in the tanning art, and the son was trained to the same policy. After years of experience in the modes employed by his father, Mr. Maxwell, when he came to Titusville, ten years ago, was remarkably well quali- fied to construct plans for large tannery works, like the Queen City Tannery, to superintend its construction in every part, including the selection and placing of machinery, the organizing and employing of a large working force and marketing the products of the tannery. Experts say that the great Queen City Tannery is transcendant in its general plan of construction and economy of operation. (An account of these works appears elsewhere in this history. )
Since coming to Titusville, Mr. Maxwell has become one of the most prominent citizens in the community. For the last three years he has been president of the Titusville Board of Trade. In 1896 he assisted in organizing the Titusville Industrial Fund Association. He was one of the ten citizens who subscribed each $10,000 to the fund of $250,000.
On August 19, 1878, Mr. Maxwell was married to Miss May Belle Bloomer, daughter of Timothy and Amelia F. (Sweetser) Bloomer, of Stone- ham, Massachusetts. Mr. Maxwell has built a magnificent residence, which he now occupies, on the northwest corner of Main and Monroe streets.
James Brawley, Jr .. retired. and a resident of East Fairfield township, was born in 1808, in Randolph township, son of James and Mary (Glenn) Brawley, natives of Lycoming county, and the third child of a family of nine children, viz. : William R .; Francis, deceased ; James, our subject ; Nancy, wife of William Dean; Charles and Jackson, both deceased; Mary, deceased, for- merly the wife of William Henderson of Titusville, Crawford county ; Har- riet, wife of Henry Randolph; and Sarah Brawley, deceased. William R. Brawley, of this family, bore the distinction of being the first white child born in Randolph township. In 1833 he married Sarah Eliza, daughter of James Curry, of Oil Creek township; she died nine years later. One child was born to this union, James, who died in 1845, at the age of eleven years. James
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Brawley, the father of our subject, was drafted in the war of 1812. His father, Roger Brawley, resided during his lifetime in Lycoming county. Our subject spent his boyhood days in Randolph township, and from 1849 to 1852 in California, returning to his native township during the latter year. During the past thirteen years he has made his home with Robert Guy Murdock, and the age of eighty-nine still finds him in possession of his mental faculties. R. G. Murdock was born May 3, 1871, a son of John and Mary Ann ( Brawley ) Murdock, natives of Scotland. March 20, 1895, Mr. Brawley married Abbie. daughter of John and Nancy Byham, of East Fairfield township. He is a mem- ber of Cochranton Lodge, No. 902, I. O. O. F., and Shaw's Landing Grange, No. 164.
Rev. Frans Winter, pastor of St. Agatha's church, is a native of Haste, near Osnabruck, kingdom of Hanover, his birth occurring October 11, 1840. From the age of seven to fourteen years he attended the parish school, and later the Gymnasium Carolinum at Osnabruck. Father Winter came to America in 1872, and pursued a four-years course at St. Vincent's College, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania .. August 24, 1876, he was ordained priest and served for a time at Meadville, this county. September 24 of the same year he took charge of the newly erected St. Elizabeth church at Corry, this state, which was dedicated for divine worship on that day. In October, 1883; our subject was transferred from Corry to St. Agatha's church, Meadville, under whose pastorate the membership has been greatly increased.
James M. Boyd, of Rome township, is a son of William Boyd, who was a native of Ireland. He was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, February 13, 1846, and when he was five years of age his father died, and he came to Rome township to live with Richard Carrothers, where he has since resided. He obtained his education at the common schools. March, 1864, he enlisted in Company B, Twelfth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, where he served faithfully until he was discharged July 20, 1865. In 1866 he married Harriet F. Kelly, daughter of Alva Kelly, and they have nine children. He has taken an active part in the town affairs, as he has had the office of super- visor, assessor, school director and juror commissioner, -- the last mentioned for the term of three years ; at the present time he is the mercantile appraiser. He is secretary of the Regimental Reunion of the Twelfth Regiment, also a member of William J. Gleason Post, 96, G. A. R., of Townville. He is an active member of the Centerville Lodge. No. 89. I. O. O. F., and of Lodge No. 164, E. A. U.
Joseph . Clark, Conneautville, was born in the city of Sharon, Penn- sylvania, June 2, 1844, was educated in the public schools and early developed
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a mercantile faculty, which he has cultivated by devoting himself to the grocer's branch of merchandising, trading in this line at various localities in the state. On September 10. 1876, he married Anna M. Davidson, of the town- ship of Beaver. Their children are Flora E .. Saide D., George G. and William H. Flora E. married Emerson D. McGuire, of Conneautville, and Saide is clerk for her father in his store in the same place. Mr. Clark's father, Andrew Clark, a native of the north of Ireland, came to the United States with his parents when a lad, was well educated and became successively a teacher. a tanner and a farmer. By his wife, who was formerly a Miss Gregory, of Mercer county, he had these children : Andrew J., Jane, William M., Mary, James A .. Joseph N., Laura and Charles. Mr. Clark died about 1857. and his widow in 1870. Mrs. Clark's father, Robert W. Davidson, was born, attained maturity and received his education in this state. He married Sarah Robinson, of Mercer county, now deceased. Their children were four daughters and three sons. Mr. Davidson is now living. Clark Davidson, a brother of Mrs. Clark, was a Union soldier of the civil war. Mr. Clark is an Odd Fellow, holding membership in Conneautville Lodge, and is also a member of the Protective Home Circle. The family is connected with the Presbyterian church. The ancestry of the family were of New England and of Scotch origin.
Russell Bidwell, of Athens township, is a son of Russell and Sallie Bid- well, and was born in Vermont. His parents had five children, all of whom are now dead. Mrs. Bidwell died and is buried at Allentown, New York; and subsequently Mr. Bidwell married Sabrina Chatman and came to Centerville, about 1821, where he took up about fifty acres of land and lived there for twelve years, at which time he moved to Riceville, where he followed his oc- cupation as a farmer until he died; he is buried in Athens township. His sec- ond wife became the mother of seven children.
Jonathan Bidwell, a son, was born at Centerville, March 20, 1824, married Charlotte Evans and settled in Grove. Allegany county, New York. He lived there and at Allentown a few years and then moved to Hinsdale, where he lived several years. He enlisted in Company K. Sixty-fifth Regiment, New York Volunteers, in 1865. The same year he came to Little Cooley, where he now lives. He is a pensioner of the war. His wife died May 20, 1877. the mother of four children: Agnes: Jane, who died May 19, 1877; Alice, Mrs. Leonard Smith: and Charlotte. who died young.
David S. Holman, of Conneautville, was born in Conneaut township. this county, on February 24. 1841. By occupation a mason and contractor, he has had quite a medical taste and has for a long time compounded a vegetable medicine for liver and kidney complaints, hemorrhages, running sores and piles that has met with much favor and become popular. In 1858 he married
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Jane Lawrence, of his native township, and they have five children living,- Lettie A., George J., Jennie M., Aleda A. and Fay A. Lettie A. married Kit Robinson, of Summer Hill township, and they have three children,-George, Robert and Nita. George J. Holman married Saide Fuller of Kent, Ohio, and their children are William. Aleda. Glen and Sidney G. Aleda A. married Frank Crider, of Conneautville, now of Warren, Pennsylvania: they have three children : William, Helen and an infant.
Jonathan Holman, father of David S. Holman, was born in Vermonton. April 20, 1790, and by his marriage to Susan Greenleaf (born just over the south line of Vermont in Massachusetts) he had twelve children,-Leonard S .. Jonathan L .. John G., Susan. Zilpha, Calvin J., Charles T., Abigail, Eliza- beth, Henry R., David Sidney and Maria. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Holman, after the eight oldest children had been born, came to this state to live, and on arriving at their new home had but one dollar and fifty cents left with which to commence life in their new home. How much of labor, economy, endurance and self-denial is indicated in this statement none but the few remaining pioneers can realize. Mr. Holman died on June 26, 1855, and Mrs. Holman on March 21. 1883. Ancestry of family, English and Scotch.
IV. C. Fulmer, of Oil Creek township. is a son of Samuel and Maria ( Harleman) Fulmer, and was born in Northumberland county. Pennsylvania, November 5. 1838. His father, an extensive farmer, was of an old established family in this country. He sold his possessions in Northumberland county in 1844 and with his family of three children removed to Crawford county, locating at Hydetown, where he purchased one hundred acres of land. He was several times councilman of the village and also a school director. He died Sep- tember 10, 1891. Mrs. Fulmer died July 17. 1888. W. C. Fulmer was mar- ried April 5, 1876, to Johannah, daughter of Peter Ridgeway, of Hydetown. She was born July 8. 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Fulmer have one child : Edith, born April 18, 1878.
Mr. Fulmer has served his village as burgess, councilman. assessor, con- stable and school director. He is a member of Oil Creek Lodge. No. 303. F. & A. M., at Titusville.
John Hays Culbertson, only son of David Culbertson, was born in Rich- mond township, April 2, 1840. His early life was spent at home with his parents, going to school, and in assisting them about the farm, until, in 1864. he came to Meadville and entered the wholesale grocery house of McFarland Brothers as bookkeeper. He retained this position three years, when he was obliged to abandon office work, on account of failing health. A portion of the summer of 1867 was spent upon Lake Superior in regaining his former health and strength, which was fully restored. The ensuing year Mr. Cul-
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bertson filled the position of cashier of the McHenry House, in Meadville. In August, 1868, he opened a general insurance office on Chestnut street and in 1871 associated with him in that business John Reitze, under the name of Culbertson & Reitze. They have carried on this business ever since, represent- ing several of the best insurance companies in the United States. In 1874 Mr. Culbertson was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue by Hon. James C. Brown, and was reappointed in 1883.
On October 12, 1871, Mr. Culbertson was married to Emma A .. daugh- ter of R. C. Boileen. Esq., of Meadville, and to this union were born three children : Anna S., who married, October 12, 1898. Dr. W. B. Townsend, of Meadville : Willard B., and Blanche.
Elijah V. Tubbs, son of George S. and Samantha O. (Noble) Tubbs, and a resident of Athens township, was born in Washington county. New York, March 5. 1836. In 1859 he came to Athens township, where he married Lydia R. Osborne and settled at Little Cooley, where he has been a farmer. In 1862 he enlisted in Company B. Eighteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, and served till the close of the war.
William A. Hammon, Conneautville, was born in this city on March 20, 1836, obtained his education in the common schools and Cleveland Commer- cial College. In 1856, 1857 and 1858 he was a wholesale dry-goods merchant in New York city. From 1861 until 1876 he was engaged in general merchan- dising in Conneautville. He is now general agent for the Conneautville min- eral-water syndicate of Cleveland, Ohio. He was also postmaster of Con- neautville for six years. On October 8, 1861, he married Fidelia Wood, of Conneautville. Their only daughter, Mary, married William G. Power, then of Conneautville and now of Indiana. They have two children, Annitta and William H. Mr. Hammon's father, Hiram Hammon, was born in Tompkins county, New York, in 1810. Acquiring a good education he was early a contractor on public works and while yet a young man came to this county. About 1834 he married Maria, daughter of Alexander and Mary Power: they had but two children,-William A. and Charles H. Mr. Hammon died in 1840. Mrs. Hammon in 1887. In 1777 Mr. Hammon's grandfather, Daniel Hammon, was born at Foster, Rhode Island, and died at Conneautville in 1846. Robert B. Wood, M. D., father of Mrs. Hammon, was the first edu- cated physician of this county. He married Mary A. Le Fevre on May 15. 1847. and their children were Leander L., Mary. Abby, Lois (who died in 1850). Fidelia and one who died in infancy. Dr. Wood died July 25. 1834. Mrs. Wood married again and died on May 30, 1873.
Mr. and Mrs. Hammon are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr.
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Hammon is a Republican in politics. Ancestry of family, English, Scotch, Dutch and French.
George A. Christy, of Spring township, was born in this township, on September 10, 1836. His life has ever been that of a quiet agriculturist, but withal he is a man of independent thought, strong in his conclusions and fixed in his ideas. A Democrat in his political opinions, he has never cared for office. On October 3, 1871, Mr. Christy married Ophelia A. Hall, and their children are Cly L., Minnie M. and Leon W. Both daughters are now ( 1897) engaged in teaching.
Mr. Christy's father, Andrew Christy, was a native of this county and born in 1797. He married Mary Meyler, of Spring township. They had eight children,-Elizabeth, Adeline, Ashmel, George A., Lorinda, Wilhemina, Sarah A., and Viola, who died when fourteen years old. Mr. Christy's death oc- curred on August 8, 1876, and that of Mrs. Christy in 1880. Ebenezer Hall, father of Mrs. Christy, born in Connecticut in December, 1808, came to this county and Spring township in 1820, when twelve years old. He was reared a farmer and in addition to that vocation learned the carpenter's trade. IIe married Betsey Williams, formerly of the state of Ohio, and had six children,- Olive V., Ophelia A., George M. Dallas, Portia S., Mary S. and William B. Mrs. Hall died on February 11, 1886, and Mr. Hall on November 21, 1894. The European ancestry of these sterling pioneer families is English, German, Welsh and Irish.
John Shauberger, who was a worthy citizen of Athens township, Craw- ford county, during the last years of his life, was a native of Germany. For some time he was a resident of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, whence he removed to this county in 1825, taking up two hundred acres of wild land at fifty cents an acre. This property he partially improved and it is now in the possession of his grandsons, G. W. and W. E. Shauberger. He and his faithful wife passed away many years ago and were placed to rest in the family burying ground.
George, one of the five children of John Shauberger, was born October 30, 1810. He married Lucy Cross and settled upon a part of the old home- stead, which he proceeded to cultivate during his active life. In his political faith he was a Democrat. Mrs. Shauberger was summoned to the better land November 14, 1893, and in less than three years the husband and father fol- lowed her to the grave, his death taking place July 27, 1896.
Seven children of this worthy couple are left to mourn their loss and are as follows: Lavinia, wife of W. C. Beardsley, of Garland, Pennsylvania ; Lydia S., wife of Silas Preston, of Townville, Pennsylvania ; George W., who married Savella Rhoades and lives on the old homestead with his two children,
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Elwin D. and Elda P. ; Mary M., wife of Charles Gray, of the state of New York ; Rose, Mrs. Robert Jennings, of Bradleytown, Pennsylvania ; William E., whose home is on one section of the old farm in Athens township ; and Alice M., wife of George Powers.
Maurice M. Powell, nearly two-score years ago, took up his residence in Meadville, which city has since been his home. His family is of good old New England stock, and his great-grandfather, Daniel Powell, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Lorenzo I. Powell, the father of our subject, was a native of New York state, and at the time of his death, in March, 1884, he was seventy- five years of age. His widow, whose maiden name was Ethel Richardson, is still living, and is now eighty years old. Of the children born to Lorenzo and Ethel Poweil, Maurice M. is the fifth son. The others are : Homer Lee, of Meadville; Wallace W., deceased; Owen W., of Brocton, New York ; Charles R., of Corry, Pennsylvania; Mary Jane, deceased, and Sarah Jane, widow of Edward Richardson, formerly master mechanic of the Pittsburg, Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad.
M. M. Powell was born in Portland, Chautauqua county, New York, April 2, 1844, and came to Meadville in 1861. Soon afterward he entered the employ of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway, as a civil engineer, and later, upon the organization of the Pittsburg, Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad he accepted a position with the corporation as a locomotive engineer, in whichi capacity he is still acting. He is a member of Meadville Division No. 43, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and was a prime mover in the organiza- tion of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, which was instituted June 29, 1869.
In 1865 Mr. Powell married Katherine, daughter of Philip and Elizabeth (Houck) Harper, of Meadville. Twelve children were born to our subject and wife, namely: Lottie E., who married J. W. Quinley, of Portland, Oregon; Ethelinda, wife of M. C. Mclaughlin, of Meadville; Charles M .. of Pittsburg ; Effie L., wife of George P. Edwards, of Cleveland, Ohio; Maurice M., Jr., of Bessemer, Pennsylvania ; Owen W., of Erie, Pennsylvania; Katlı- erine L .; William Wallace; Philip Harper; Sarah Jane; Homer E .; and Minnie L. Maurice M., Jr., married Annie Leisch, and Owen W. wedded Blanche Perrin. The devoted wife and mother was called to the better land March 6, 1896, when in her fiftieth year.
Richard B. Gilson, of Rome township, is a son of John and Anna ( Bell) Gilson, and was born in Tidioute, Pennsylvania, in 1814. His father was an early settler in Oil Creek township. He married Betsy Harrison, daughter of Benjamin Harrison, of Rome township. He settled there on the farm now owned by his son William, was a farmer and had seven children,-John
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H., Benjamin H., Christopher C., Theodore R., Nancy A., George B. and William B. He died in 1894. Benjamin H. was born September 10. 1849, and married Ida Ash, daughter of David and Anna ( Barber) Ash, of Pleas- antville. Mr. Gilson has been engaged in the oil field as a driller, and now owns a sawmill, and is also extensively engaged in farming. He was elected justice of the peace in 1893. He has two children,-Bertha and Earl O.
Thomas Murdock, florist, of Titusville, was born May 24, 1869, in Dairy, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, son of Alexander and Janette ( Murdock) Mur- dock. Mr. Murdock came to America in 1864, first locating in Oil City, where he resided for four years and came to Titusville in 1888. He began the work of a florist at the age of fifteen years as an apprentice to the Max- wells, where he remained four years and was employed at Kennedy's nurse- ries for two years, Drumlanrig Castle two years, Paxton House Garden two years, Burwick-on-the-Tweed two years and Lythian Hall two years. His first work performed in Oil City was in the Oakwood rose garden. He had charge of the Emerson greenhouse several years and established him- self as a leading florist in 1874.
March II, 1887. he married Rebekah, daughter of William and Eliza- beth ( McCloud ) Stuart, descendants of the royal Stuarts of Scotland. Both the Stuarts and McClouds were United Presbyterians. The Murdocks were also renowned, and reference is made to the distinguished family in rela- tion to the "Lady of the Lake." Mr. and Mrs. Murdock have three children, -Elizabeth C .. William Alexander and Kenneth Douglas. Mr. Murdock is a member of the Presbyterian church and is also identified with the I. O. O. F. and F. & A. M.
A. B. Youngson .- Probably no one in western Pennsylvania is bet- ter known than A. B. Youngson, who has been actively interested in rail- roading and in railroad affairs ever since his boyhood, and for almost his entire life has been a respected resident of Meadville.
His father, George Youngson, will be remembered by many as the editor and founder of the Spirit of the Age, a journal which was published in Pittsburg. This newspaper, which possessed considerable merit and won a high reputation, was later issued under the name of the Dispatch. In 1851 Mr. Youngson sold out his business interests in Pittsburg and removed to Meadville, where he purchased the Cussawago Chronicle and edited it for three years. Being appointed United States consul to Sydney, Australia. he removed to that city in 1855, and has since made his home in that coun- try. In 1840 he married Miss Martha Black, of Pittsburg, and four children were born to them, namely: John J., A. R., Laura and Sophia, all of whom are married and reside in Meadville.
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