Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 96

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 96

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George Whitten Magee acquired his early education in the public and private schools of the home locality, later taking a course in Grove City College, from which he was gradu- ated in 1886 with the degree of M. A. Then he studied for three years in the Western Pennsylvania Medical College, graduating March 28, 1889, and immediately commencing practice in Venango county. During the first three years of his independent career he was located at Seneca, removing to Oil City in 1892, on June 16th of which year he formed a partnership with Drs. J. A. Ritchey and C. W. Coulter. The association lasted until Oct. I, 1897, when Dr. Coulter retired, the other two partners remaining in practice together until June, 1903, from which time Dr. Magee main- tained his own office. Besides looking after the multifarious duties of an extensive patron- age. he kept in touch with the incidental activi- ties of his profession in his home territory and beyond, being a member in good standing of the Oil City Medical Society, the Venango County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association; a member of the board of examiners of the Oil City Training School for Nurses ; surgeon of the Erie railroad for over ten years : and a trustee of the Polk Institute for the Feeble Minded, at Polk, this county, for nine years, having been appointed by three governors. Dr. Magee's professional labors brought him into familiar association with rep- resentatives of all classes in the city and county, and recognizing the need of corrective meas- ures in many phases of the administration of local affairs he gave willingly of his time and counsel to attain them. officially and unoffi- cially, as necessity urged and opportunity al- lowed. For twelve years he was a member of

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the Oil City school board, and was three times elected president of that body ; he also served two consecutive terms in the State legislature, to which he was elected in 1902 and 1904, in all his public services exhibiting unusual ca- pacity and understanding of the matters in- trusted to him by his fellow citizens and fully able to conserve their best interests therein. He was a Republican on political issues. In the year 1911 Dr. Magee made a trip to Europe, his wife and family accompanying him, and they remained abroad several months, Dr. Magee meanwhile taking advantage of the opportunities presented by notable foreign in- stitutions for advanced professional work. While in Scotland he took a special vacation course at the Edinburgh Post Graduate Hospi- tal, in connection with the University and Royal College, returning well fortified to re- sume practice, in which he was busily engaged up to the time of his death, which occurred at Oil City July 3, 1914. He is buried there. Dr. Magee was a high Mason, affiliated with Petrolia Lodge, No. 363, F. & A. M .; Oil City Chapter, No. 236, R. A. M .; Talbot Com- mandery, No. 43. K. T .; Pittsburgh Con- sistory, A. A. S. R .: and Zem Zem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Erie, Pa. In religion he was a Presbyterian.

On May 2, 1889, Dr. Magee married Mae M. Coulter, who was born Oct. 22, 1870, daughter of Dr. George Webster and Sarah (Crowl) Coulter, and to this marriage were born two daughters: Eva M., born March 17, 1890, was graduated from Wilson College in 1912 and subsequently spent one year in a se- lect school in Berlin : Irene V., born Sept. 8, 1894, is a graduate of the Gardner School for Girls, New York City. They are at home with their mother in Oil City.

Mrs. Mae M. (Coulter) Magee, daughter of Dr. George Webster Coulter and sister of the late Dr. Clarence Webster Coulter, belongs to .a family of Irish origin whose American ancestors came across the Atlantic during the latter half of the eighteenth century, several families of Coulters leaving Ireland in that period and settling in Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia, whence many of the name have moved to. New England and the Middle West. The name, now largely represented in the North of Ireland, with over twelve hundred families recorded in a recent census. is an ancient one, and is also found written Colter. It first ap- pears in Scotland in records of the twelfth century, and Coulter is the Scotch form of the Norse Kaldr, a Viking name of the eleventh century. This fact, and its occurrence as a

proper name in the very north of Scotland, where many of the personal and place names are of Norse derivation, makes it seem likely that the Coulters are descendants of the Norse Vikings, who early invaded Scotland and Ire- land from the north. The Scotch name Calder is without doubt of the same origin. When the English crown granted lands in Ireland for colonization in 1606 to certain men, a great many families from Scotland crossed over and became tenants on lands in Counties Down and Antrim, among them being several Coulters from Galloway. From this time the name ap- pears constantly in Ireland, and in the eighteenth century there were several Coulters among the Presbyterian clergy in Tyrone and Down.

The earliest ancestors in America of the Coulters here under consideration were from these Irish Coulters. When they emigrated is not known. One James Coulter, the first of this line of whom we have definite informa- tion, is referred to in records of Plaingrove township, Lawrence Co., Pa., 1796, and is said to have been a tanner. He was twice married, the maiden name of his first wife having been Scott, and his second union having been with Barbara Green, of Greene county, Pa., by whom all of his three children were born, viz. : James; John, who lived and died near Mechanicsville, Butler Co., Pa .; and Fannie, Mrs. Fleming, who lived in Pittsburgh, Pa. The father died about 1810, and is buried at Plaingrove.

James Coulter, son of James (above), born about 1800, became a Presbyterian minister well known in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, where he filled different charges. He received his higher education at Washing- ton and Jefferson College, taking his theological course there, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Ohio. He died at West Sun- bury, Butler Co., Pa., where he is buried. On Oct. 6, 1825, he married Mary Offutt, of Plain- grove, Lawrence Co., Pa., and they reared a family of eight children, namely : George Web- ster was the father of Mrs. Magee : James C., who died while serving in the Civil war, was married March 8, 1858, to Harriet Clark, and had two children, Eugene C. and Rosa ; David S .. born in 1837. died in 1911, married July 31, 1862, Hannah Scott and had three chil- dren, Lowry, Webster and Rose; William, born in 1840, died while serving in the Civil war, in' 1861 ; Brainerd Lowry, born in 1844, was married in 1879 to Mrs. Emma E. (Camp- bell) Stewart and (second) to Abbie Black, having by the first union two children, J. C.

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and L. D .; Mary S., born June 14, 1847, was married Nov. 9, 1869, to Robert P. Black, and died Feb. 17, 1910, the mother of these chil- dren. Alfred L. (born March 4, 1872), Lizzie Bertha (born Jan. 9, 1875), Ada Mary (born March 9, 1878) and Lulu E. (born Nov. 15, 1888) ; John O., born in 1852, married in 1875 Sarah Cunningham; Clara V., born in 1854, married in 1873 George Washington McGill and: had children, Alvin, Mabel, Charlotte, Ross, Irma and George.

George Webster Coulter was born Nov. I, 1830, at New Lisbon, Ohio, and received his education in his native State, attending the public schools in his youth and taking his medi- cal course in the Western Reserve University, Cleveland. When he entered practice he re- mained about six years at his first location, East Brook, Lawrence Co., Pa., in 1862 remov- ing to Slippery Rock, Butler Co., Pa., where he settled permanently, dying there Aug. 2, 1873. At the time he was secretary of the Butler County Medical Society, in the enjoy- ment of a large practice, and ranked high in the profession as well as with his patrons. On Sept. 11, 1856, he married Sarah Crowl, who was born Dec. 13, 1837, daughter of Philip and Mary (Fisher) Crowl, of East Brook, and they became the parents of four children : Clarence Webster, born June 7, 1857, mentioned below ; William M., born Dec. 7, 1861, who died Dec. 23, 1862; Philip L., born July 14, 1864, men- tioned below ; and Mae M., born Oct. 22, 1870, widow of Dr. George W. Magee, of Oil City. Her mother, now (1918) eighty years old, makes her home with her.

CLARENCE WEBSTER COULTER, M. D., was born at East Brook and grew up at Slippery Rock, where he obtained his early education in public and private schools. During the first part of his independent career he was engaged in the drug business for several years, subse- quently taking a course in medicine in the Western University of Pennsylvania, at Pitts- burgh, where he was graduated in 1888. Then he took a course in the Post-Graduate Medical College, New York City, in 1888 locating in Oil City, where he was in successful practice until his death, June 10, 1916. Part of the time he was in partnership with his brother-in-law, Dr. George W. Magee. For about twenty-five years he was surgeon for the Pennsylvania railroad, and he was a valued member of the Oil City Medical Club, the Venango County Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He was a thirty-second-degree Mason, and past eminent

commander of Talbot Commandery, K. T., of Oil City.

On June 12, 1878, Dr. Coulter married Eva Barber, daughter of John Barber, of Plain- grove, Pa., and they had one child, Mabel E., born July 12, 1881, who died April 8, 1895. Mrs. 'Coulter died Aug. 24, 1886, and Dr. Coul- ter married (second) Mrs. Olive (Dally) Ful- lerton, who was born Nov. 12, 1861, daughter of Crawford and Eliza (Lacey) Dally, of Parkers Landing, Pa. She survives him, now residing in Los Angeles, Cal. By this union there are two children : Marion A., born Sept. 28, 1894, wife of Charles F. Blakeslee, of Franklin, Pa., now a private in the United States service; and Clarence D., born Jan. 17, 1897. now in the United States service, in the officers' training school, training at Camp Meade.

Philip L. Coulter, third in the family of Dr. George Webster Coulter, was engaged in the drug business at McDonald, Washington Co., Pa., until his death, Dec. 31, 1910. On May 15, 1883, he married Margaret Young, who was born April 3, 1861.

COL. EDWIN VAN DEUSEN SELDEN, of Oil City, has been one of the most distin- guished of those men whose brilliant successes have marked the development of; Pennsyl- vania's oil resources. His connection there- with, beginning in 1877, before he had attained his majority, covers four decades of the most notable progress in the history of the country as well as of the oil industry, forming one of its most important chapters. As president for years of the Oil City Oil Exchange he was one of the master minds whose influence was paramount in local oil transactions. The exer- cise of his remarkable mentality has, however, by no means been restricted to business opera- tions. His family associations and traditions, early environment and personal culture have all been conducive to a breadth of development so unusual in range of thought and discrim- inative in taste as to proclaim rare intellectual endowments as well as acquirements. Such material success as he attained would com- pletely overshadow the other achievements of an average man. But Colonel Selden has made a reputation apart from that by his public services and social activities, so thoroughly recognized that his support is always sought in any local undertaking of importance with the assurance that it will be obtained if the object is worthy. His interest in all that per- tains to the public welfare has manifested itself in the most practical forms.

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Eng & by Campbell Brothers NY.

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EVA. Selden

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In- NEW YORK

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Colonel Selden's family history in America goes back to the beginning of the settlement at Hartford, Conn. Thomas Selden, from Broad- lands, in the County of Kent, England, crossed the Atlantic about 1635, and in 1636 is found among the early settlers at Hartford. He participated in the division of lots in 1639, his name appearing on a monument in Hart- ford erected to the memory of the original proprietors. He was a freeman in 1640, con- stable in 1649, and died in 1655, his will being dated Aug. 14, 1655. In it he mentions his wife Hester ( Wakeman), brother John Wake- man, cousin Thomas Hosmer, and his children, viz .: Thomas, baptized 1645, who married Felix Lewis, daughter of William Lewis; Mary, baptized March 26, 1648, who married Dec. 12, 1666, John Taylor; Esther, baptized March 3, 1649, who died in June, 1651 ; John, baptized in May, 1650; Esther; Joseph; Han- nah, who died in 1695; and Sarah. The mother of this family remarried, becoming the wife of Deacon Andrew Warner, and remov- ing with him and her five children to Hadley, Mass., in 1659.

Joseph Selden, son of Thomas and Hester (Wakeman) Selden, was baptized Nov. 2, 1651, in Hartford, Conn., and accompanied his mother to Hadley in 1659. He fought in King Philip's war and was in the action at Deerfield. In 1684 he removed to Deerfield, returning to Hadley in 1694, and on Jan. 31, 1696, he bought out the heirs of Hon. John Leverett, and on another occasion made a purchase of Capt. John Cullick. He died July 14, 1724, at Hadlyme, Conn., but is described as of Hadley in the Hadlyme deed. "He was an active and enterprising man," once said Mr. Judd, "somewhat excitable and sometimes rash in his doings." We find that in 1687 he was fined for his wife wearing silk dresses. In 1681 he was assessed for the building of Port River bridge, and in 1687 he paid taxes in Hadley. The property on which the original Selden homestead was built by him is still in the possession of the family. On Feb. II, 1677, Mr. Selden married Rebecca Church, daughter of Deacon Edward Church, of Hat- field, and she survived him nearly two years, passing away June 2, 1726. She was buried beside her husband in the graveyard at Had- lyme. They had a large family, namely : Re- becca, born Feb. 12, 1678, married James Wells, of Haddam, Conn .; Esther, born April II. 1680, died July 21, 1681 ; Joseph, born May 10, 1682, married Ann Chapman, and died April 6, 1729; Thomas, born in 1684, died Sept. 12, 1754 (his wife's name was Sarah) ;

Hannah, born in 1686, married Daniel Brain- erd; Mary, born March 5, 1689, married Isaac Spencer; Esther, born May 2, 1691, married Jabez Chapman; Samuel is next in this line of descent ; Sarah, baptized July 30, 1712, died before Feb. 1, 1725; Rebecca married Joseph Ely

Capt. Samuel Selden, son of Joseph and Re- becca (Church) Selden, was born May 17, 1695, in Hadley, Mass., and died Feb. 28, 1745, in Hadlyme, New London Co., Conn. He was buried in the village of Hamburg, that county, his tombstone bearing the following inscription : "Here lies the body of Samuel Selden, Capt. of the third Company of Foot in Lyme, Deacon of ye Church in this place, who died February the 28th, 1745, in the 50th year of his age, who left behind him seven children." His marriage occurred under rather remarkable circumstances. Observing a notice on the door of the Chester meeting-house, that "Noahdiah Brainerd and Deborah Dudley pro- pose marriage in this house on the next Lord's day," Captain Selden took the notice from the door and substituted one that read, "Samuel Selden of Hadlyme and Deborah Dudley pro- pose," etc. On the day named the Captain ap- peared early on the steps of the meeting house, armed and equipped according to law, and ob- serving that his notice was undisturbed stood to his post. In due time the congregation began to enter the house, likewise the minister, all of them reading the notice. Shortly after Lieut. Joseph Dudley arrived with his wife and daughter Deborah, whom Captain Selden ad- dressed affectionately, walked in with her and up the aisle, and they were married according to the solemn forms then obtaining. He took his bride across the river the same day, not a word of objection or sign of resistance being made at that time or afterward. Their wed- ding ring, now in the possession of Colonel Selden, of Oil City, bears the inscription, "Beauty is a Fair, but Virtue is a Precious Jewel." It is worthy of note, however, that after Captain Selden's death she married (sec- ond) Noahdiah Brainerd. She lived to a great age, having been born Nov. 15, 1701, and died in 1799 at Saybrook, Conn. Captain Selden was successively ensign, lieutenant and cap- tain of the Third Company of Foot in Lyme; ensign, 1733: lieutenant, 1738; deputy, 1743- 44. His children were: Samuel, mentioned below ; Ezra, born Nov. 5, 1727, who married Elizabeth Rogers, (second) Amy Ely and (third) Hannah Marrion: Deborah, born Sept. 2, 1733, who married Stephen Nott; Re- becca, who married Wells Ely; Sarah, who

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married David Jewett; Mehitabel, who mar- ried Oct. 14, 1762, Daniel Marvin, and (sec- ond) Abraham Pratt; and Abigail, wife of Benjamin Nott.

Col. Samuel Selden, son of Capt. Samuel and Deborah (Dudley) Selden, was born Jan. II, 1723, in Hadlyme, Conn., and died while a soldier in the Revolutionary war, Nov. 1I, 1776, a prisoner of war in New York City. In June, 1776, he was commissioned major of Col. Gurdon Saltonstall's 3d Regiment, Connecticut Militia ; promoted to colonel, June 20, 1776, 4th Battalion, Connecticut Militia, Wads- worth's Brigade; and was stationed on the East river when the British attacked New York, Sept. 15th, being taken prisoner near where Thirty-fourth street now is and con- fined in the Brick Church until his death. It had always been thought by the family that he had died aboard the notorious "Jersey" prison ship, and his body thrown with a multi- tude of others into the sea, until 1876, when at a centenary sermon preached by Mr. Bushnell in the Brick Church reference was made to two letters written by British officers speaking in eulogistic terms of an American officer, Col. Samuel Selden, who had recently died in said church and was the first person interred in the churchyard. Mrs. Abner Ely, a granddaughter of the Colonel, was present at the sermon. The brief information of his death had been taken to his home by his body servant, one John Saunders, and though never considered satis- factory could be neither verified nor dis- proved by his family. The man pretended that he had nursed the Colonel until he was carried off to the prison ship. Colonel Selden had been appointed to the command of the first regiment raised in New London county for the service of the country after serving in the military successively as ensign, lieu- tenant, captain and major. He held a distin- guished public position, having been justice of the peace from 1753 until his death, and a deputy to the General Assembly from 1756 to 1776. He was deacon of the Church at Had- dam, a man of great wealth for the times, of high social position and prestige, untarnished name and unquestioned bravery and military skill. Such was his devotion to his country's cause that he left his home at the very begin- ning of the Revolutionary struggle, never to return to it, leaving his wife and their twelve surviving children. His house, recently built, was the finest one in all that region at the time. The estate was settled according to the laws then obtaining in Connecticut. the widow receiving her dower, the children their several

shares of the real and personal property, and the negro servants, of whom there were a large number, were liberated. At that time the whole county of New London was one pro- bate district, the court being established at New London and all documents relating to the settlement of estates being kept there; but though the British took, sacked and burned the city, reducing the records of the Probate court to ashes, Colonel Selden's will is in exist- ence, and Col. E. V. D. Selden has a copy of it.

On May 23, 1745, Colonel Selden married Elizabeth Ely, who was born Oct. 11, 1724, and died Feb. 2, 1802, at Hadlyme. Conn. Thirteen children were born to this marriage: Elizabeth, born April 16, 1747, married Elisha Marvin ; Samuel, born Nov. I, 1748, married Sarah Marvin and (second) Deborah Colt ; Esther, born June 22, 1750, died June 8, 1751 : Elijah, born Feb. 21, 1752, married Eunice Comstock. (second) Hannah Tracy and (third) Wealthy Hall; Deborah, born Dec. 29, 1753. married Dr. Joseph Spencer ; Charles, born Nov. 23, 1755, married Abigail Jones : Jemima, born Sept. 3. 1757. married Joel Loomis; Richard Ely, born May 25, 1759, married Desire Colt and (second) Hope Chap- man ; Mary, born April 22, 1761, married Ab- ner Lord; George was the great-grandfather of Col. E. V. D. Selden; Joseph Dudley, born Dec. 30, 1764, married Ethelinda Colt : Doro- thy, born Dec. 26, 1766, married Selden War- ner : Roger, born April 16, 1769, married Mary Schuyler Douglas.

Dr. George Selden, son of Col. Samuel and Elizabeth (Ely) Selden, was born Feb. 27, 1763, at the old homestead in Hadlyme, Conn., and was educated at Yale College, graduating M. A. in 1787. Subsequently he took up the study of medicine, probably with his brother- in-law, Dr. Joseph Spencer, and on the comple- tion of his medical studies started west, having quite an adventurous experience. While descending the Ohio river he was captured by Indians, who took him beyond the Mississippi river, where he was kept in captivity for some time. finally escaping and going to New Orleans, whence he returned to Connecticut. Later he located at Vienna, Va., remaining there until his removal to Millersburg, Ky., in 1803. He died at the latter place May 27, 1817. He was in successful practice through- out the period of his residence there, enjoying a high reputation for his professional skill. and numbered the family of Henry Clay among his patrons and admirers. On May 10. 1795, Dr. Selden married Olive West, who was born July 11, 1775, at Glassworks Grant. near

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Stockbridge, Mass., being a descendant of Francis West, of Duxbury, Mass., who died Jan. 2, 1694. Mrs. Selden died June 10, 1831, in Paris, Ky. Five children were born to this marriage, the eldest, George, being the grand- father of Col. E. V. D. Selden; Maria, born April 20, 1798, married Feb. 22, 1815, John Tribby, and died Feb. 27, 1849; Olive, born Sept. 8, 1800, married Dr. Archimedes Smith, of Jacksonville, Ill., and died Aug. 24, 1868: Samuel West, born in 1810, an Episcopal clergyman, died Aug. 3, 1834; Elizabeth Ely, born March 15, 1815, died in 1823.

George Selden, son of Dr. George and Olive (West) Selden, was born Aug. 17, 1796, in Vienna, Va., and entered the legal profession, in which he won deserved prominence and dis- tinction. He studied law with John B. Wal- lace, Esq., in Philadelphia, where he was ad- mitted to the bar Sept. 4, 1817, about which time he was editor of a newspaper called The Union. In 1818-19 he moved to Meadville, Pa., as attorney for the Holland Land Com- pany, and remained there several years, in 1827 going to Pittsburgh to take charge of the law practice of Richard Biddle, Esq. He re- turned to Meadville in 1835 and died there shortly afterward, on April 28th of that year, in his early prime, and at the height of a suc- cessful legal career. He had acknowledged talents and ability for the calling of his choice, and his reliable knowledge of the law made him a trustworthy attorney, with accordingly high rank in the profession. He was vestry- man of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Meadville in 1825, and of Trinity Church in Pittsburgh from 1828 until 1832. On Feb. 21, 1820, Mr. Selden married Sophie Louise Shat- tuck, who was born April 24, 1801, in St. Thomas, West Indies, and died Aug. 28, 1868, at Meadville, Pa. Four children were born of this union: Adelaide Louise, born April 12, 1821, married May 7, 1848, Arthur Cullum, and died in 1887; George Shattuck was the only son; Mary Elizabeth, born May 3, 1824, died Oct. 16, 1831 ; Sophie Matilda, born Jan. 27, 1829, married May 12, 1853, Leon Chap- potin Magaw, and died May 28, 1862.

Mrs. Sophie Louise (Shattuck) Selden was a daughter of Jared Shattuck, merchant, a descendant of William Shattuck, who died Aug. 14, 1672. at Watertown, Mass. Her mother was a daughter of Gen. Alexandre de Vincent de Mazade (Marechal des Camps). chevalier de Saint Louis, governor general of Santo Domingo (Haiti) 1787, 1789, under Louis XVI of France. The General married Marie Theresa Sophie de Chappotin, and

descended through her mother from an ancient Spanish family of Burgos, in the Kingdom of Castile, and a descendant of Jean de Chappotin, a captain in the service of Francis I. of France who distinguished himself at the battle of Marignano, in 1515; for his bravery and serv- ices he was given letters of nobility by that monarch. Her descent from him was through Jean (2), Jean (3), Pierre (who married in 1650 Marie Lallemande), Jean (4), Jean Batiste and Denis, father of Marie Theresa Sophie. General de Vincent de Mazade was descended from one of the noblest families of France, an ancient house of whom there is record as early as the eleventh century, in Languedoc and Dauphiny.

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Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 96

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

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