Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 109

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

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William C. Tyler, son of Calvin and Emma (White) Tyler, was born Jan. 6, 1838. at Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio, and in his youth enjoyed unusual educational advantages for the times, attending Hiram College at his birth- place, during the presidency of James A. Gar- field at that institution. During his young manhood he taught school in Ohio five years. meanwhile reading medicine under Dr. John French for three years, and entering the med- ical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. in 1862. graduating in 1863 with the degree of M. D. After a year's practice

at Munson, Ohio, Dr. Tyler severed early asso- ciations for better promise in his chosen work, settling at Rouseville, Venango Co., Pa., where he has ever since resided. Leaving his par- ents' home at Hiram, Ohio, on horseback, he journeyed thus to his new location, arriving at Rouseville July 14, 1864, since when he has been in active practice in and around the bor- ough. During the first ten years of his resi- dence here he visited his patients on horseback, riding much of the time through dense woods, and when roads improved took to driving. In 1869 he became a partner in a drug business at Rouseville, acquiring sole ownership of the store in 1876 and conducting it ever since in connection with his practice-the only drug store in the borough and one of the most pop- ular in this section of Venango county. He has also had some oil interests, and altogether has prospered very satisfactorily in the man- agement of his material affairs. During the early days here local conditions made his work very arduous ; nevertheless he prizes the ex- perience, and enjoys recalling the many inter- esting features which marked the oil develop- ment in this region as well as the beginnings of its industrial progress in other lines. With all the responsibilities of his personal interests, he has been public-spirited about giving his time and thought to assisting in the general ad- vancement, and has been called upon to serve the borough in many important positions, coun- cilman, burgess, and member of the school board, in all of which he has performed his duties most efficiently. He served two terms as commissioner of Cornplanter township. Like his father, he is a stanch Republican in political belief. Dr. Tyler was one of the first thirty-second-degree Masons in this section. He was made a Mason at Garrettsville, Ohio, and assisted in the organization of Fraternal Lodge, No. 483. F. & A. M., at Rouseville, in 1870. being now its only surviving charter member. He belongs to Caldwell Consistory at Bloomsburg.

On June 4. 1873. Dr. Tyler married. at Rouseville. Ella Conant, who died July 6. 1873, and is buried in Grove Hill cemetery, Oil City. On Oct. 19. 1875. he married (second) her sister. Angelina Conant, at Morenci, Mich., and by that union had three daughters: Ella A .. the wife of Fred J. Wilkins, of Rouseville : Rowena W., now the wife of Dr. C. C. Moyar, son of William Moyar, who is in practice at Pittsburgh, Pa .: and Edith G., living at home. The mother died Sept. 18, 1907. and is buried in Grove Hill cemetery.

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BENTON T. WILKINS, late of Oil City, was known as the veteran train dispatcher and widely acquainted in railroad circles, with which he had been actively associated for forty-four years. His kindly nature and un- varying geniality of disposition had endeared him to many who came in frequent contact with him, and he was familiarly known as "Ben" to a legion of friends who mourned his passing sincerely.

Mr. Wilkins was born March 4, 1840, at Painesville, Ohio, and learned telegraphy in his youth. During the Civil war he was a member of the United States Signal Corps, in 1863-64. starting railroad work at Erie in 1865, on what was then the Buffalo & Erie road, now the eastern division of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. In 1868 he went to Petroleum Center, Venango Co., Pa., some years later moving thence to Rouseville to take the position of trainmaster and dispatcher for the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which he filled with marked ability. until his retirement, five years before his death. Prompt and faithful in the discharge of his responsibilities, he did his duty well and at the same time was duly solic- itous in all the other obligations of life. He had a quiet, wholesome sense of humor which made him a welcome figure wherever he was known, and which contributed as much to his popularity as his more substantial qualities. He died of paralysis April 27, 1912, aged seventy-two years, at the home of his son- in-law. Charles L. Suhr. No. 505 West Third street. Oil City. Mr. Wilkins married Re- becca Brown. who died Aug. 28, 1904. and they are survived by three children : G. P. and Fred J., both residents of Rouseville; and Mrs. Charles L. Suhr, of Oil City.

FRED J. WILKINS was born in 1872 at Pe- troleum Center, Venango Co., Pa., and was reared and educated in Oil City. During his early manhood he followed railroad work for five years, eventually turning to his present line, the drilling of oil wells, in which he has done exceptionally well. He is now in the employ of the Rouseville Drilling Company. When the Spanish-American war broke out he enlisted, in May, 1898. in the United States service, serving as a member of the 16th Regi- ment under Colonel Hulings, and remaining in the army until the war closed. He saw service in Porto Rico. In 1906 he was united in marriage with Ella A. Tyler, daughter of Dr. Wm. C. Tyler, of Rouseville, where Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins also reside. They have two children. Anna V. and William Tyler.

The family are Methodists in religious asso- ciation, and Mr. Wilkins is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum.

WALTER SIVERLY (deceased) was for many years one of the foremost citizens of Oil City, a leading spirit in public affairs and a man who met with substantial success in his busi- ness undertakings. The prosperity which at- tended his private enterprises was ample guar- antee of his ability to participate effectively in those matters affecting the whole community, and he not only retained the confidence of his townsmen in all classes by his sincere efforts to place the administration of the local gov- ernment on a practical business basis, but won also their appreciation and hearty goodwill. With his father he laid out and established that part of Oil City formerly known as the borough of Siverly, now the Tenth ward of the city, and from the beginning aided in its development along the most desirable lines, his influence having a permanent effect on its well-being.

The Siverlys are of Holland ancestry. Abram George Siverly, the first of the fam- ily in this region, was a native of New York City, born July 26, 1769, and his early ambition was to enter the medical profession, but his preceptor dying before he had completed his studies he abandoned them and became a sailor, following the sea for seven years, it is said with varying fortunes. He became a cap- tain, and evidently improved his opportunities, for he could speak fourteen different languages and read and write seven. When he left the sea he located at New Fane, Windham Co., Vt., where he learned the trade of cabinet- maker, and there married Susanna Thayer on Oct. 7, 1793. He lived in Delaware county, N. Y., and at Olean, that State, before settling in Venango county, Pa., in 1819. His first location here was in Pinegrove township. whence in 1820 he removed to what afterward became the site of the borough of Siverly. The earliest survey of this site was made in 1802 by Samuel Dale, for Noah and Jesse Sage, upon improvement warrants, and the Sages each made a settlement there, planting two orchards, one below Siverly run and the other above it. These were the oldest orchards in this part of the county, and bore fruit as late as 1875. It was on the lower improve- ment, which had been abandoned for some time, that Abram George Siverly settled, liv- ing there until 1825, when the validity of his title having been successfully contested by a rival claimant he removed across the small

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stream forming the eastern boundary of Oil is the wife of John W. Gardiner, mention of City and made another settlement on the site whom will be found elsewhere in this work; Hamilton S. died when eight years old. of the borough of Siverly. Here a survey was made in the name of his sons Philip H. and Milton T. Siverly, who built a house for him on the bank of the river, on ground later owned by the Imperial Refining Company. Mr. Siv- erly took a prominent part in local affairs, serving as justice of the peace and also as the first postmaster in the vicinity of the mouth of Oil creek, the office being known as Corn- planter in his day. In 1839 he removed West, settling in Iowa, in which State the remainder of his life was passed; he died near the town of Wapello, when about seventy years old.

Of the fourteen children born to Abram George and Susanna (Thayer) Siverly eight grew to maturity, and all are now deceased. Five lived to be over eighty, viz. : Philip Hart, who is mentioned below ; Milton T., of Daven- port, Iowa; Elhanan W., of Morning Sun, Iowa; Alzira Mary, Mrs. Witherspoon, of Siverly, Iowa : and Ann Dorothy, Mrs. Purdy, of Rockland township, Venango Co., Pennsyl- vania.

PHILIP HART SIVERLY, son of Abram George Siverly, was born in September, 1803, in New York City, and died in March, 1896, in Phila- delphia, where he resided for a number of years before his death. In the early days he was a pilot on the Allegheny river, and was engaged in the lumber business in what is now Forest county, later locating at the site of Siverly, Venango county, where he purchased a tract of 118 acres in 1848 and followed farm- ing for some years. In 1857 he sold a half interest in this property to his son Walter, and they laid out the village thereon in 1862. It grew steadily, and was incorporated as a borough Aug. 27, 1874. Philip H. Siverly was one of the most active and useful men of his day in this section. He served as justice of the peace of Cornplanter township, was a school director for many years, and took an active part in local politics, helping to establish the Republican party in his neighborhood. He lived at Siverly from 1848 to 1865.

While residing on Tionesta creek, Mr. Siv- erly married Mary Elderkin, daughter of Bela Elderkin, her family coming from England in 1637, and first settling at Lynn, Mass. She died in 1884, at the age of seventy-five years, the mother of six children, of whom we have the following record: Walter is mentioned be- low; Miss Emily resides at Siverly; Albert died when eleven months old; Caroline mar- ried J. W. McIntire, and both are deceased, her death occurring in October, 1916; Sarah Jane

Walter Siverly was born Jan. 29, 1832, at Newton, in what was then Venango (now For- est ) county, Pa., and was reared in this sec- tion. He had such advantages for education as the common schools of the period afforded, and in his boyhood and youth assisted his father in farming and lumbering, later dealing in lumber for some years. In time he also ac- quired oil properties and became interested in the production of oil, about 1880 engaging in business as an oil broker, in which line he was conspicuously successful, being one of the fa- miliar figures in the Oil City Oil Exchange for a number of years. But he will probably be best remembered for his skill as a mathema- tician, which won him international fame, though his knowledge of the science was mostly self acquired. In his early life he had learned surveying and followed the profession for a few years, and it was no doubt during this period that he acquired the taste for mathematical studies and research through which he eventually became one of the most proficient mathematicians of his day, his con- tributions on this subject to scientific papers in Europe as well as America relating to vari- ous problems and solutions in the realm of higher mathematics attracting the attention of its most learned devotees. In recognition of his acquirements in this field, and his con- tributions to the sum of its knowledge, he was awarded the honorary degree of doctor of philosophy, conferred May 31, 1888, by the board of trustees and faculty of the North Carolina College of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

When the borough of Siverly was incorpo- rated, Aug. 27, 1874, Walter Siverly was ap- propriately chosen for its first burgess, and after serving a year in that office became a member of the council, with the exception of the year 1882 serving continuously from 1875 until 1886, and again in 1889. During all those years he gave the affairs of the borough the same earnest attention that he devoted to his own interests, and many of the most com- mendable measures adopted were due to his influence and cooperation. He was one of the most honored residents of Siverly until his death, which occurred at his home in that borough Sept. 30, 1901. He is buried in Grove Hill cemetery.

On Dec. 8, 1870, Mr. Siverly was married at Oregon, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., to Lucy Dimond, daughter of James H. and Harriet

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(Fifield) Dimond, who survives him and con- tinues to reside at No. 534 Colbert avenue, Oil City (formerly known as Siverly, now the Tenth ward of Oil City). Mr. and Mrs. Siverly had no children.

Mrs. Siverly also belongs to one of the most respected pioneer families of this region, her father, who was a native of New Hampshire, coming hither in 1833 and locating in what is now Pinegrove township, where he lived for some time. He removed thence to President and Eagle Rock, in President township, and later to Tionesta, finally settling in Kansas, where he died in 1887. His wife survived him until 1892. Mr. Dimond was a blacksmith by trade. His family consisted of six children, namely : Lucy, widow of Walter Siverly ; Caro- line Mary; George Henry; William Wallace; Eveline J., and Alice Genette.

ROBERT MOORE, of Oil City, now living retired, was for many years one of the leading dry goods merchants in Venango county, the department store of Moore & Stevenson (now carried on by Edwards Brothers) having long been one of the most prosperous and popular establishments of the kind in this part of the State. Though he began modestly, Mr. Moore soon developed marked ability in the line which he chose for his life work, and forged his way to a foremost place among local. business men, not only for his personal success, but for the advanced ideas in merchandising which he introduced in Oil City, his house maintain- ing a reputation for up-to-date facilities and service which added considerably to the pres- tige of the city itself.

The Moore family is of Irish origin, long resident in County Down, where John Moore, the great-grandfather of Robert Moore, lived and died. His son Robert, the grandfather. was born in County Down, in the vicinity of Loughbrickland, in March, 1770, was a life- long farmer, and lived to the age of ninety-two years. He is buried with his wife Sarah ( Pilson) at Loughbrickland. County Down. They were Presbyterians in religious belief. Of their three children George was the only one to reach maturity, both his sisters dying young.

George Moore, son of Robert and Sarah ( Pilson) Moore, was born June 22, 1799. near Loughbrickland, County Down, Ireland, and died there Jan. 31, 1890. Like his father he farmed throughout his active years. His wife, Mary Jane (Shannon ), born March 1, 1817, in an adjoining township in County Down, was a daughter of Robert and Essie (Murry) Shan-

non, granddaughter of John Shannon, and great-granddaughter of John Shannon, a na- tive of the parish of Donaghmore, County Down, Ireland, born in the latter part of the seventeenth century. He was an extensive farmer and a prominent man of his locality, a warden of the Episcopal Church and suc- ceeded in that office by his son, his present-day posterity and successors in the incumbency liv- ing at the same spot where he did and owning the same land. Robert Shannon, Mr. Moore's maternal grandfather, farmed there and lived to the age of about eighty-six years. He and his wife were Presbyterians, and are buried at the parish church at Loughbrickland. Politi- cally he was a Conservative. By his marriage to Essie Murry, daughter of Thomas Murry, Robert Shannon had children as follows: James, John, Robert, William T., Alisha, Mary Jane (Mrs. George Moore), Sarah Ann and Essie (who died when a young girl). Mr. and Mrs. George Moore are also buried in the Presbyterian cemetery at Loughbrickland. They were Presbyterians, and he was a Con- servative in politics. Of their four children. Mary Jane, born Dec. 10, 1838, is the widow of Samuel McSpadden and living on the old homestead in Ireland; Essie, born April 16, 1840, is deceased; Robert was the only son : Sarah Pilson, born March 26, 1845, died when three years old.

Robert Moore was born May 3. 1843. near Loughbrickland, County Down, Ireland, the birthplace of his ancestors for several genera- tions. He was educated in his native country, his school attendance terminating with his studies in a school at Loughbrickland built by the Presbyterian denomination, and when fif- teen years and six months old he accompanied his uncle William T. Shannon to America. They made the ocean voyage in the steamship "City of Baltimore," landed at New York and continued on to Pittsburgh, Pa., Mr. Moore re- maining a few weeks in that city, where the uncle had a wholesale dry goods establishment. The boy's first employer in this country was S. W. Spencer, a retail dry goods merchant at Zanesville. Ohio, with whom he gained his first experience as a clerk, and he continued with him and his successor, William M. Black, for a period of five years. At the end of that time he came to Oil City, Pa., in 1865, and forming an association with W. E. Stevenson. under the name of Moore & Stevenson, conducted the first general store in the Third ward. doing business at a location on Main street for two and a half years. From that stand they re- moved to Center street, on the east side of the

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city, occupying the block now used by the First National Bank, and later for five years having a store in the Drake block on Center street. They then went to their final location, Center, Elm and Sycamore streets, buying the building and remodeling it to suit their special needs, and it was known from that time as the Moore & Stevenson block. Meantime the growth of the trade kept demanding more and better fa- cilities for handling it, and the firm changed and improved their accommodations and ar- rangements accordingly, the gradual evolution leading up to a modern department store, of which Oil City had just reason to be proud. The selling staff included twenty clerks, trained to give prompt, courteous attention to all pa- trons, whose appreciation was shown in the most substantial fashion. The partnership was only broken by the death of Mr. Stevenson, whose widow retained the interest for a time. eventually selling out to the present owners, Edwards Brothers, Incorporated, to whom Mr. Moore disposed of his share in 1914. Moore & Stevenson had their full share of the best local trade, and made every effort to prove themselves worthy of the confidence and pa- tronage of their customers. In his personal relations with his fellow citizens Mr. Moore has likewise endeavored to merit the utmost respect, and his high standing among them is the result of a consistent adherence to upright principles. He is a Republican on political questions, but has not taken any direct part in public affairs.

By his marriage to Matilda E. Linn, of Zanesville, Ohio. daughter of James and Christine Ann (Corbes) Linn. Mr. Moore has had five children, namely: (1) Mary J. mar- ried Stanley Loomis, and both are deceased. Their only child, Robert M., is a member of the United States Aviation Corps and stationed at Fort Wayne. Detroit. (2) Ella Linn is the wife of David Evans, a broker of Pittsburgh. They have had one child, Alice, who is de- ceased. (3) Alice H. died when twenty-eight years old. (4) George William, born Oct. 23, 1876, is mentioned below. (5) Gertrude L. lives at home. Mr. Moore and his family are associated with the Second Presbyterian Church in Oil City. Their home is at No. 211 West First street, the beautiful residence being one of the most desirable in that part of the city.

GEORGE WILLIAM MOORE, son of Robert and Matilda E. (Linn) Moore. was born Oct. 23, 1876, at Oil City, and acquired his preparatory education in the public schools there. Gradu- ating from high school in 1895, he entered

Amherst College that year and was graduated with all the honors of his class from that insti- tution in 1899. after which he read law in the office of Trax and Parker, at Oil City. For two years he was at Waldron Ridge, Tenn., as manager of the wagon lumber works owned by Berry Brothers, of Oil City, was admitted to the bar in Venango county in 1902, and sub- sequently became a member of the law firm of Speer, Weigle & Moore. He was the first city solicitor of Oil City elected under the new com- mission form of government (1912), serving during the administration of Mayor Siggins ; was a member of the staff of Col. G. C. Rickards, 16th Regiment, N. G. P., being quar- termaster with the rank of captain ; was a blue lodge Mason (raised a Mason in Tennessee) ; and held membership in the Second Presby- terian Church. Mr. Moore's untimely death occurred Jan. 27. 1914, and he is survived by his wife. Mary Alice (Young). He had at- tained a recognized place at the local bar, and his funeral was attended by the bench and bar in a body. all the judges being present-an unusual mark of respect. The following tribute from the pen of Prof. C. A. Babcock is worthy of repetition here :

In the death of George W. Moore Oil City sustains a loss it can ill afford. A young man identified in all its interests with his native town, and responding to her demands upon his time and loyalty, he will be greatly missed. Trained in our schools, and prepared for one of the foremost colleges, he reflected honor upon our institutions by his brilliant record. In scholarship he stood at the head, and he took the highest prizes given for oratory and for literary excellence. His eloquent talks at our school Alumni Association banquets are re- membered as efforts which would have been marked at anv gathering of educated people. At the beginning of a career as a lawyer, of fine judgment and devotion to duty, his death is one more illustration that death does indeed love a shining mark. It is one of the mysteries of this our life. which we must blindly accept until a clearer vision than earth provides has been given to us. To his wife, whose devotion to him was absolute, and to his father and mother and sisters, in their grief, this entire community offers sympathy, and has with them a sense of loss.

GEORGE C. MILLER, of Franklin, is one of that group of eminently capable men acting as executive heads of the Galena-Signal Oil Company. As one of the vice presidents of the company and member of the board of

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directors, with the direction of manufacturing and purchasing in his special charge, he has had a definite part in the conduct of the im- mense plant now operated by the company, which has been an industrial asset of the high- est value to the community. As an example of liberal progress in every direction, super- excellence of product, generous service to patrons, perfection in organization and fair dealings with employes, it is one of the repre- sentative institutions of which Franklin has reason to be proud, and Mr. Miller has con- tributed his full quota to the result. His share in the building up of this great business has been his principal interest since his arrival in Franklin in 1880, but he has also become allied with other leading enterprises, local and other- wise, at present holding the office of president in several and serving as a director of many more. The material affairs with which he keeps in touch stamp him as distinctly a man of large ideas, with the courage and executive qualities necessary for their realization.

Mr. Miller was born in 1857 at Concord, Erie Co., N. Y., son of Christian Miller, and is of old Huguenot stock. His first ancestor of whom we have record was born in Mar- kirch, in Upper Alsace, then a portion of France, and had children as follows: Nicklose (born in 1776), Martin, Michel (born in 1780), Christian and Elizabeth Ann. The three first named served in Napoleon's army. The other son, Christian, great-grandfather of George C. Miller, was born in 1782 in the village of Oberhoffen, canton of Bischweiler, Alsace, and lived there until 1852, when he came to America, where he died in 1868, at the age of eighty-six years. By calling he was a blacksmith. He married Elizabeth Schuster, and their children were: Christian, grand- father of George C. Miller; Martin, who lived to be over ninety-one years old; Nicklose, who married Marie Bender; Michael, who married Magdalena Heimlich ; Elizabeth, who became the wife of George Schuster, and died at the age of ninety-one years ; Magdalena, who mar- ried George Burgroph, and died in France; Margaret, who married Jacob Ketterer; and Salomae. wife of Philip Kline. All of this family died in America but Magdalena.

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Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 109

Author: Babcock, Charles A. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: