Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 40

Author: Swoope, Roland D. (Roland Davis), 1885-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 40

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ROLAND DAVIS SWOOPE

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his son Charles, and five of his son, William Oaks. The family is an unusually vigorous one and all its members are prosperous and representative people of the section in which they live.

M. J. KELLY, proprietor of the Aberdeen Hotel, at Grampian, Pa., where he is one of the leading citizens, was born October 27, 1871, at Bellefonte, Center county, Pa., and is a son of Thomas F. and Mary ( Hehir) Kelly.

Mr. Kelly was educated at Bellefonte and other points and has been a resident of Gram- pian since 1902, when he succeeded McMillen & Ryan, as proprietor of the Aberdeen Hotel, a modern, hot-water heated building, having twenty bed-rooms and catering to transient trade. Mr. Kelly makes a specialty of his fine table, the best the market affords being placed before his guests. His charges are very mod- erate, being $1.50 per day. His patronage is dependable, travelers making it convenient to return on their trips so that they may enjoy the comforts of Mr. Kelly's house at Gram- pian. In addition to his hotel business, Mr. Kelly has other interests, being the owner of a coal mine at Fernwood, which is operated under the name of the Fernwood Coal Con- pany. He owns sixty acres and leases 100 more, the vein here being two feet and thirty- two inches thick. He gives employment to thirty-two or more men.

and is numbered with the honest, upright and useful men of Grampian.

ROLAND DAVIS SWOOPE was born at Curwensville, Clearfield county, Pa., Au- gust 26, 1856, and is the eldest son of the late Hon. Henry Bucher Swoope and Susanna Pat- ton (Irvin) Swoope. On the paternal side he is a lineal descendant of Colonel Jacob Mytin- ger, who served in the War of the Revolution, as second in command of "VonHeer's Battal- ion of Light Dragoons" which regiment was the personal escort of General George Wash- ington, between whom and Colonel Mytinger a warm personal friendship existed. Colonel Mytinger was also one of the charter mem- bers of the "Society of the Cincinnati." On his maternal side, the subject of this sketch is a lineal descendant of Colonel John Patton, who was also actively engaged in the struggle for National Independence, as colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment of Pennsylvania Troops, and for a time had charge of the defenses of Philadelphia. Colonel Patton was one of that noble band of patriots in Philadelphia, who raised, on their own personal responsibility, two hundred and sixty thousand pounds to aid the Revolutionary army in the greatest crisis of that memorable struggle. He was also a member of the "Society of the Cincin- nati."

Hon. Henry Bucher Swoope, the father of the subject of our sketch, was one of the most brilliant and distinguished lawyers of Penn- sylvania, also famous as a political speaker and as one of the leaders of the Republican party of his State. His mother Susanna Pat- ton (Irvin) Swoope was a daughter of Wil- liam Irvin, one of the pioneer lumbermen and

Mr. Kelly married Miss Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of Edward Smith, of Snowshoe, Pa., and they have two children, Mary and Katherine. Mr. Kelly and wife are members of the Catholic church. In politics he is a Democrat but has never accepted any office except that of school director of the borough. He is identified with the Elks at Clearfield, business men of Clearfield county. Roland

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Davis Swoope spent his boyhood days in affairs and served as chairman of the Repub- Clearfield, where he attended the public schools and the old Clearfield Academy. In 1869 his father, having been appointed by President Grant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the family removed to Pittsburg, Pa., where they continued to reside until the death of Hon. H. B. Swoope, in February, 1874, when they re- turned to Curwensville.

In addition to the Clearfield schools, Mr. Swoope also attended the High School, Potts- town, Pa., Ayers Latin School at Pittsburg, Pa., Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., and the Western University of Pennsylvania. While a student at Andover he founded and was the first member of the "K. O. A." So- ciety, a famous school fraternity, member- ship in which is the highest ambition of every Phillips Andover student. This society num- bers among its alumni, many of the most dis- tinguished men in the country.

In 1876 he entered the law office of Murray & Gordon, a firm, at that time, composed of Hon. Thomas H. Murray, who had pursued his legal studies in the office of Hon. H. Bucher Swoope, and Hon. Cyrus Gordon, af- terwards president judge of the courts of Clearfield county. In order to support him- self, while reading law, Mr. Swoope engaged in the insurance business, building up a suc- cessful business which he disposed of after his admission to the bar, and devoted himself to his profession. After passing a successful ex- amination, he was admitted to the bar of Clearfield county in 1878. He is also a' men- ber of the bar of the United States courts, and of the Supreme and Superior Courts of Penn- sylvania.

lican County Committee for several years, be- ing first elected chairman in 1888, which was the year of the presidential campaign when Benjamin Harrison was elected president over Grover Cleveland. So efficient was the organ- ization and work of the Republican party un- der Mr. Swoope's chairmanship, that he re- duced an adverse plurality of 1,501, which the Democratic candidate had received in the pre- vious gubernatorial election, to 869 and in rec- ognition of his efforts he received a medal of honor and a resolution of thanks from the Republican State Committee. Mr. Swoope has also taken an active part in many political campaigns as a stump speaker for his party, not only in his own county but throughout the state.

As a lawyer, Mr. Swoope has a large and successful practice and has been engaged in many important and interesting cases. He ar- gued the case of Jackson vs. the Pennsylvania Railroad Company before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and though opposed by John

G. Johnson, Esq., the leader of the Philadel- phia bar, and other cininent counsel, Mr. Swoopc succeeded in having affirmed a ver- dict against the railroad company for treble damages for discrimination in failing to fur- nish coal cars to his client, thus sustaining the constitutionality of the Act of Assembly of 1883, gving the right to recover treble dam- ages in such cases.

Among other important cases in which he has been concerned, was that of the Central Trust Company of New York vs. the Clear- field Creek Coal Company, an action to fore- close a mortgage by a minority in number and amount of the holders of the bonds secured

He has always taken an interest in public by said mortgage, although the mortgage con-

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tained a provision that it could only be en- forced upon the written request of a majority in number and amount, of the holders of the bonds. This case raised a novel legal ques- tion in Pennsylvania, but after a vigorous con- test, the plaintiffs were successful in obtaining a decree of foreclosure of the mortgage and a judgment for $540,000.00 against the coal company, thus establishing, for the first time in the courts of this state, the right of a mi- nority of the bond-holders secured by a cor- poration mortgage, to compel a foreclosure. As a lawyer, Mr. Swoope has always refused to represent liquor license applications, and has been active in the cause of temperance, having been one of the officers of the Constitutional Prohibition Amendment Association of Clear- field county, when that question was submit- ted to the voters of Pennsylvania, and, al- though the amendment was defeated in the state, it carried Clearfield county by a large majority.

Mr. Swoope is also largely interested in the development of the coal business of Clearfield county. In connection with other owners of coal property near Madera he was active in securing the construction of railroad exten- sions and he and his associates built part of the necessary railroad branches to reach their lands at their own expense and thus opened up the largest coal territory now being oper- ated in Clearfield county. In the conduct of the numerous coal operations in which he is interested Mr. Swoope has always insisted on recognizing organized labor. Mr. Swoope is a stockholder and one of the directors of the Curwensville National Bank and is also inter- ested in other financial institutions.

Mr. Swoope was one of the founders of the Curwensville "Mountaineer." which is recog-

nized as among the leading Republican coun- try newspapers of the state. He is fond of literary pursuits. He is the owner of a fine library and has prepared and delivered many lectures and patriotic addresses.

Mr. Swoope is an official member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Curwensville, Pa., he is also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Union League of Phila- delpia ; the American Academy of Political and Social Science; the Historical Society of Clearfield county: the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Clearfield-Curwensville Country Club and other organizations.

In May, 1880, Mr. Swoope was married to Miss Cora Arnold, daughter of the late Sam- uel Arnold, of Curwensville, Pa. To this un- ion five children were born, of whom three survive, namely: Henry Bucher Swoope, coal operator, Madera, Pa., Roland Davis Swoope, Jr., editor of the Curwensville "Mountaineer," and also editor of the Clearfield County His- tory, and Miss Mary Swoope of Curwensville, Pa.

REV. JOHN MITCHELL CHASE, de- ceased, who, for a number of years officiated in various parts of Clearfield county as an or- dained minister of the Baptist faith, was long one of the best known citizens of Woodward township and became one of its largest land owners. He was, however, a self-made man, and his accumulations were the result of in- dustry, frugality and sound judgment, while his liberal disbursements came freely, inspired by a kind, charitable and generous nature. He was born in Cuyahoga county, O., March II, 1820, and was a son of Benjamin and Eliza (Swan) Chase.

In early boyhood John M. Chase was left

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fatherless, one of a family of five children be- reft of one parent to become burdens on the other. The devoted mother had no means either to care for them. At that time the fam- ily lived in Broome county, N. Y., having moved there in 1825, and the mother kept hier little ones with her as long as possible. The inevitable parting came, however, when John M. was seven years old, at which age he left home to earn his own living. The mother mar- ried again but did not much improve her finan- cial status. It is recorded in the family, as showing the loving, generous and unselfish nature of the youth, that in all his lonely wan- derings in search of paying employment, he never forgot to send messages to his mother and as soon as he had secured his first land, a little tract on Little Clearfield Creek, he sent for her and his step-father and gave them filial respect and care as long as they survived.

In 1845 Mr. Chase was married and in 1852 moved to the northwest part of Wood- ward township and there engaged in lumber- ing. That was his main business during his active life and he acquired extensive tracts of some of the finest timber land in Clearfield county. His home continued to be in Clear- field county.

On August 14, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, entering Company B, 149th Pa. Vol. Inf., of which he was elected lieuten- ant, but later, through the intervention of his personal friend, Governor Curtin, he was ap- pointed regimental quartermaster. Army ex- posure brought on a disability which resulted in his honorable discharge, after nineteen months of service. He returned to his home and in the course of time resumed his former activities. Subsequently he invested in land that was rich in coal deposits. From youth

Mr. Chase had been serious-minded, probably in part made so by the heavy responsibilities so early placed upon him, and in carly man- hood had united with the Baptist church, in which he was ordained a minister in 1870. Prior to the Civil war he was an Abolitionist in his political creed and subsequently became a Republican, but late in life he associated him- self with the Prohibitionists.

On September 18, 1845, Mr. Chase was married to Miss Tabitha Williams and eleven children were born to them. Of these, one son, John M. Chase, formerly postmaster of Clearfield but now retired, lives at No. 22 S. Fourth street, Clearfield. Another son, B. F. Chase, now American consul at Leeds, Eng- land. For many years he was a very promi- nent business man of this city.

DANIEL RICHARDS, who has devoted the larger part of his business life to farming and lumbering in Clearfield county, Pa., is one of the substantial men of Boggs township and a highly respected resident of Wallaceton. He was born in Boggs township, February 8, 1853, and is a son of James and Susan (Dick- son) Richards.

James Richards was one of the old and rep- resentative farmers and lumbermen of Boggs township, coming to this section in his youth. He married Susan Dickson, and they had the following children born to them: Howard, John, George, James, Sarah and Tamer, twins, Myrtle, Cyrus, Daniel, Kirt, Emma, and Velma. Of these, John, James, Sarah and Tamer, are all deceased. Sarah was the wife of Alexander Gwynn; Tamer was the wife of Jacob Ulrich; Myrtle was the second wife of Alexander Gwynn: Emma is the wife of Rob- ert White, and Velma is the wife of Mathew

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Askey. James Richards and wife were mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Daniel Richards obtained the usual amount of schooling that was afforded boys in the sec- tion in which he was reared, the most of them, like himself, being needed early to assist on the home farms. Mr. Richards owns a val- uable farm of ninety acres situated in Boggs township, together with two houses and four lots in the village of Wallaceton, all excellent property. He has served six years as a mem- ber of the Wallaceton School Board, and served also for six years on the borough coun- cil. He was reared in the Republican party, his father always having given it support after its organization, and he has continued his af- filiation with the same.

In 1877 Mr. Richards was married to Miss Amelia Sloan, who died December 6, 1901. She was a daughter of Charles and Barbara (Stoner) Sloan, who came from Lancaster county to Clearfield county. They had two children: Amelia and Elizabeth, the latter of whom married Jacob Dimling. Mr. Richards was married, second, February 24, 1904, to Mrs. Mary A. (Wetzel) Turner, widow of George Turner, and a daughter of Daniel and Susannah (Cowder) Wetzel. The parents of Mrs. Richards were born in Lancaster county but their parents moved to Clearfield county when they were children. They had three children : George, Mary A. and Daniel W. Mrs. Richards owns a farm of fifty acres and also a comfortable house with barn.situated in Wallaceton. She is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while Mr. Rich- ards belongs to the Presbyterian church. He is interested in the Grange, at Blue Ball, and is connected with the Odd Fellows at Clear- field.

EDGAR WILLIAM TURLEY, a prosper- ous business man at Irvona, Pa., where he is engaged in the mercantile business, was born at Osceola Mills, Clearfield county, Pa., July 3, 1874, and is a son of George W. and Saralı ( Potter) Turley.

George W. Turley was born in 1849, in Center county, Pa. He resides with his fam- ily at Coalport and for a number of years has been a mine foreman and also a coal operator. He married Sarah Potter, who was born in Blair county and is a daughter of Robert Pot- ter, one of the old residents of that section. The father of George W. Turley was a rail- road engineer and met with an accidental deatlı on the line and his burial was at Richmond, Va. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Turley, all of whom survive, namely: Jennie, who is the wife of Orville Spencer, of Cape Charles, Va .; Estella, who is the wife of Blair Miller, now of Altoona. formerly of Blands- burg, Pa .; Minnie, who is the wife of J. H. Gillman, of Bellwood, formerly of Cambria county ; Cora, who is the wife of L. B. Bland. of Blandsburg; Maud, who resides at home ; and Edgar W., of Irvona.

Edgar William Turley attended school un- til he was about sixteen years of age, having advantages in the Normal Schools at New Washington and Mountaindale. His first bus- iness experience was as a clerk at Altoona and later he became weighmaster and coal mine foreman and subsequently went into the coal business with his father at Mountaindale and other places and has been in business for him- self for the last seven years. Measured by the success which he has had, it is evident that his capacity is very considerable. For a time he was in business at Galitzin, later at Dysart and still later at Osceola, and for the past three

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years he has been in the mercantile business, operating also the Ent-Turley Coal Company and having other interests. This company em- ploys about sixty men in Clearfield county, working on Vein B., on the South Whitmer branch.

Mr. Turley was married in 1900 to Miss Susan Rodgers, of Somerset county, Pa., and they have had five children: Beulah, Ruth, Evaline, George and Edwina, the last two be- ing now deceased. In politics Mr. Turley is a Republican. He is identified fraternally with the K. M. C. and the Moose, at Irvona and Coalport. He is a man of frank, pleasant manner and is very popular with his fellow citizens. .

S. J. MILLER, M. D., vice-president of the Madera National Bank, at Madera, Pa., owner and proprietor of a drug store and for the past sixteen years the leading physician and sur- geon of this place, is one of the foremost cit- izens. Dr. Miller was born in Pike township, Clearfield county, Pa., in 1859, and is a son of David and Sarah ( Welch) Miller.

David Miller was a son of Christian Miller, who was born in Center county, Pa., probably of German parentage. David Miller was a millwright by trade and was considered a good workman. With his wife he attended the Methodist church. In his political affiliation he was a Republican. The children born to David and Sarah Miller were: S. J .: Clara, now deceased, was the wife of John Sar- cen; Emory: John, who is a physician in prac- tice at Kansas City; James, who is a practic- ing physician at Grampian, Pa. ; and Monroe.

After completing the common school course. S. J. Miller entered Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, where he continued his studies

for one year, after which he prepared for medical college and became a student in the New York University, where he was grad- uated in the class of 1886. He entered upon the practice of his profession at Ansonville, Pa., where he remained for ten years and then canie to Madera. He is widely known profes- sionally all through this section and for the past twelve years has been the Penn. Ry. Co.'s surgeon at Madera. Dr. Miller has impor- tant business interests at Madera and in ad- dition to those mentioned, he is also president of the Madera Water Company. He is an active and interested citizen and has been a member of the school board for fifteen years and is serving as its president.

In 1873 Dr. Miller was married to Miss Emma Klare, a daughter of Andrew and Su- san Klare, the former of whom was a shoe- maker at Wallacetown, Pa. Mrs. Miller is one of the following family: Josephine, who is the wife of John Harkins; May, who is the wife of Ross Wynn; Edna, who is the wife of John Bard; Emma, who is the wife of Dr. Miller; and Alfred, Frank, George and Mar- tin.

Dr. and Mrs. Miller have five children. namely : Vera, who is the wife of Fred Byer. of Tyrone, and John Donald, Frank, Lois and Muriel. Dr. Miller and family attend the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a promi- nent Free Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge at Curwensville ; the Chapter at Clearfield; the Commandery at Philipsburg; the Consistory at Williamsport, and the Shrine at Altoona. He is identified also with the P. S. O. of A., at Madera.

PETER BEAUSEIGNEUR, farmer and lumberman of Girard township, Clearfield

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county, Pa., was born in France and was Pa., where he attended the high school, and brought to America by his parents in 1854, and they settled on the homestead now owned by his brother James Beauseigneur. In 1875 he purchased a farm of 160 acres, situated two miles west of the old homestead, where he has been living ever since.

On October 26, 1875, Peter Beausiegneur was married to Miss Elizabeth McGovern, of Girard township, where she was born and reared. Eleven children have been born to them, namely: Q. E., Blanche, Virginia, Fannie, Vernon A., J. B., Cavanaugh, Susie, Monica, Rae and Jane. The beloved mother of these children died in 1908. She was a good, Christian woman, a faithful member of St. Mary's Catholic church at Frenchville, to which her husband and children also belong. Farming and stockraising are carried on by Mr. Beauseigneur and his sons and they are numbered with the substantial men of the township. They take no very active part in politics but are always ready to perform the duties required of them as good citizens. Mr. Beausiegneur is well known all through this section and his advice and co-operation are often sought by his fellow citizens.

GILLESPIE B. YEANEY, M. D., who has been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine at Clearfield, Pa., since 1904, was born October 25, 1880 at New Mayville, Clarion county, Pa., and is the only son of Pe- ter M. and Nannie (Cummings) Yeaney of Clarion county, Pa. His father is vice-presi- dent of the Second National Bank of Clarion and has been a resident of Clarion county all his life.

Dr. G. B. Yeaney was reared at Clarion.

also took a course at the Clarion Normal. He took up the study of medicine at the Western Pennsylvania Medical College, now Univer- sity of Pittsburg, and after graduating with the class of 1903. He then took a post grad- uate course in New York City. In 1904 he came to Clearfield, Pa., where he has his of- fice at his residence at No. 104 South Second street, and has established an extensive prac- tice, and won the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.

Dr. Yeaney was married September 12, 1904, to Ella Olsen, who is a daughter of Larsen Olsen (deceased), and they have one daughter, Catherine Pauline. Dr. Yeaney is a member of the American, the State and County Medical Societies, and also of several fraternal organizations. He is politically a Republican, although inclined to be independ- ent. Dr. and Mrs. Yeaney are members of the Presbyterian church.

ISAAC HILLER'S SONS, conducting a general harness store at Houtzdale, estab- lished this plant in this borough, in 1883, com- ing from Luthersburg, Clearfield county, where Isaac Hiller had been in business for fourteen years previously.

Isaac Hiller was born September 4, 1832, at Krebstein, Wurtemberg, Germany, and when eighteen years of age accompanied his two brothers to America. He learned the harness- making trade at Pittsburg and lived there for nine years, and then moved to Glen Hope, in Clearfield county, and eighteen months later to Luthersburg. His death occurred at Houtz- dale, February 9, 1904, and his burial was in the Brisbin cemetery. Isaac Hiller has one

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brother living, Martin Hiller, residing at Ma- rion. O.

On November 4, 1859, Isaac Hiller was married to Miss Charlotte Clara Burket, who was born in 1840, in Doerzbach, Germany, and was seventeen years old when she came to America and lived at Marion, O., and at Pitts- burg and also at Tyrone, Pa .. where her brother resided. One of her brothers, Chris- tian, now lives at Altoona. Mr. and Mrs. Hiller were members of the Lutheran church. They had the following children born to them: Mary A., who was born August 21, 1860, died at the age of twenty-nine years : Charles Frederick, who was born January 9, 1862, at Tyrone, died young; Henry Wil- liam, who was born July 14, 1864, died in in- fancy. Christian Louis, who was born July 26, 1866, died in infancy; William Henry, who was born June 20, 1868, died at the age of fourteen years; Frederick John, who was born February 13, 1872, at Luthersburg, is agent for the Philipsburg and Susquehanna Railroad at Houtzdale, and is also a member of the firm of Isaac Hiller's Sons, married Margaret Conrad, and they have two chil- dren-David and Margaret Elizabeth; Ed- ward Herman, who was born October 7, 1875, at Luthersburg, is employed in the First Na- tional Bank at Houtzdale; George Albert, who was born March 29, 1879, resides at Ramey, Pa .; and Philip Ernest, who was born August 4, 1881, is manager of the business of Isaac Hiller's Sons. He is also a member of the Houtzdale Fire Company. The Hillers are all Republicans in politics, and Edward H. has served several terms as borough auditor. They are all representative business men and thor- oughly respected citizens. They are members and liberal supporters of the Lutheran church.

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Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 40

Author: Swoope, Roland D. (Roland Davis), 1885- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Swoope, Roland D. (Roland Davis), 1885-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1040