CHAPTER LXXV.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

CAMPBELL, HON. JAMES.* In the year 1774 Robert Campbell, a Scotch-Irishman, together with his wife and family, emigrated from the State of Delaware and settled in what at that time was the “Backwoods,” Kishacoquillas Valley, Cumberland (now Mifflin) county, Pa. The valley at that time was covered with a dense growth of tall timber, consisting of oak, chestnut, walnut, and hickory. Here he made himself a home, put up buildings, began farming, and raised his family. On the 10th day of July, 1824, he died, at the age of almost ninety-four years, leaving four sons and two daughters surviving him.

Of these, the eldest son, John Campbell, inherited the mansion farm. He was seven years of age when his father came to the valley. At the age of forty years he married Rachel, the eldest daughter of John Oliver, one of the early settlers on the Juniata River, near McVeytown. She was fully seventeen years younger than her husband.

They commenced house-keeping in a double log story and a half house, located near the mansion house. In this they lived until the decease of their father, and in it their three sons and two daughters were born.

James Campbell, the youngest of the sons, and the youngest but one of the family, was born on the 25th day of July, 1813, and named after an uncle James Campbell, who was drowned in the Chemung River, while traveling in New York State many years before.

From a puny, sickly child, he gradually developed into a healthy, stirring boy. As he increased in years he grew strong, and like other farmers’ boys in those days he was put to work, and educated to steady, everyday labor; learned the shorter catechism; attired in home-made clothes and home-spun linen he attended school in the winter and the Presbyterian Church on Sundays.

From his father, who was a well informed man, he acquired a taste for reading, especially historical works. Being dissatisfied with farming, he resolved that he would earn a livelihood in some other manner; the result of which was, that at the age of eighteen years, he, started to school at Germantown, Pa., with the intention of acquiring a classical education. The academy was under the care of George Junkin, D.D. In the spring of 1832 Dr. Junkin was made president of La Fayette College at Easton, Pa., and nearly all the pupils went with him to Easton and started the new college with about one hundred students.

While here the subject of this sketch read Latin, and began the study of Greek. In the fall of 1832 the bilious fever broke out in the college; he, with others, had an attack of the disease, and as soon as able he returned to his home. In the latter part of the year 1832 he went to Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pa., where he graduated in the class of 1837; then returned to Mifflin county and began the study of law at Lewistown, Pa., under E.L. Benedict, and was there admitted to the bar in the spring of 1840. In the same year he came to the new town of Clarion, which had just been made the county seat.

On the first Monday of November, 1840, he, with twenty-five others, was admitted to the bar at the first court held in the county.

At first the prospect was not flattering to a young lawyer, as the principal business was controlled by the older lawyers of Kittanning, Butler, and Franklin. Nevertheless, Mr. Campbell was counsel for one of the parties to the first suit tried in the courts of the county, and by patience and perseverance established a reasonably paying practice, which continued to grow to such an extent that a partner was necessary to assist in the business.

He was a member of the committee who built the First Presbyterian Church of Clarion – we would infer a working member, as we have heard that he rolled stone, shoveled sand, and as a lawyer, kept off creditors until money could be raised to pay for the church. In 1847 he married Nancy J. Hallack, daughter of Rev. J.K. Hallack, and raised a family of five children, all of whom, except the youngest, are married and have families.

In the fall of 1861, without solicitation on his part, he was made an independent candidate for president judge of the Eighteenth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Mercer, Venango, Clarion, Jefferson, and Forest, and was elected by a handsome majority. This was a large and laborious district, Venango county at that time being the center of oil development, that occasioned a vast increase of population and much litigation. Judge Campbell held as high as thirty-two weeks court in a year, traveling hundreds of miles by stage-coach, between the various county seats in his district.

In 1866 the counties of Mercer and Venango were created into a separate judicial district, Judge Campbell remaining in the original district. At the close of his term, in 1871, he returned to the practice of law, and continued therein until the spring of 1886, when he retired from the practice to give his whole attention to his private business. Including the ten years on the bench, he was at bar forty-six years. As a lawyer he stood at the head of his profession. As a judge he acquired a widespread reputation. By those who knew him, he is esteemed for his ability as a lawyer, his honesty as a judge, and for his sterling integrity of character. He has prospered with the growth of the town and county. He has ever identified himself with the best interests of the community in which he lives. At the age of seventy-three years, he is an active business man, retains all his early love for reading, enjoys the society of business men, and is hale and hearty, with a constitution but little impaired by a long and arduous business life. He is one of not more than five who remain of the first settlers of the town in 1840.

At the organization of the Clarion State Normal School, Judge Campbell was elected president of the Board of Trustees, and has ever been one of the most active and laborious members of the board. His contributions to, and labors in behalf of this institution of learning are a fitting climax to a life of usefulness and beneficence in a community where he cast his lot so many years ago.

ARNOLD, GEORGE WASHINGTON, cashier of the First National Bank of Clarion, was born on a farm in York county, Pa., November 5, 1820. At the age of seven years he was entrusted with the marketing at the neighboring stores of the lighter products of the farm. About the same time he began his school life, attending such schools as were at that time maintained in the county by individual subscription, before the establishment of the common school system of the State. As there were but three months’ school in the year, young Arnold’s educational advantages were very much limited, nevertheless by energy and perseverance, he acquired in a few years a good English education. The nine months of the year out of school were spent in the usual occupations of a farmer’s son. At the age of twelve years he followed the plow day after day in season. Thus alternating between three months’ schooling and nine months’ hard work, he remained on his father’s farm until sixteen years of age. In the fall of 1836 he became assistant teacher in the common schools, and receiving as recompense therefor the sum of three dollars per week. He paid for his boarding by working morning and evening.

In the spring of 1837 he removed with his parents to Clearfield county, Pa., and the following summer worked on the Musshannan and Packersville turnpike at one dollar per day and board. On the 7th of February, 1838, he left his home and went to Karthaus furnace in the northwestern part of Clearfield county, and engaged with Peter Ritner, the then superintendent of the furnace, as teamster and expressman. In July of the same year he was promoted to the position of weighmaster, and in the following December to that of salesman for the same firm. In February, 1840, he came to the village of Strattanville, Clarion county, and entered the employ of W.H. Lowry, with whom he remained until 1843.

In March, 1843 he married Hannah Smith, of Strattanville. They had born to them two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, James Turnar Arnold died July 18, 1877. Mrs. Arnold died January, 1879. From the date of his marriage in 1843, Mr. Arnold engaged in the hotel business at Strattanville. He removed to Clarion March, 1846, where he followed the mercantile business until January, 1865, when the First National Bank of Clarion was organized and chartered. Mr. Arnold was elected a director, and appointed cashier, a position which he has held continuously ever since. By his efforts and financial ability the institution has prospered, has paid five per cent semi-annually on the capital stock, and has the confidence of its depositors and the public in general.

In the year 1867 the Carrier Seminary of Western Pennsylvania was chartered, and Mr. Arnold appointed one of the trustees, and made treasurer. He was largely instrumental in the procuring of fine grounds and the erection of a large and commodious building for the seminary, and still takes an active interest in the educational and material interests of the town. The extension of the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad from Edenburg to Clarion was largely due to the energy and financial aid of Mr. Arnold. In June, 1883 he married Mrs. Maggie E. Barnett, of Pittsburgh, Pa., with whom he is still living.

KAUFMAN, CHARLES. Perhaps no man in Clarion borough has been more closely connected with the material prosperity and advancement of the place than the subject of this sketch. Born on the 18th day of November, 1832, in the village of Neckar Binau, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, of Jewish parents, where he resided until his twentieth year. At the age of fourteen years he taught a private school, and at sixteen a public school in his native place. This early training in the educational work no doubt infused into him that spirit of vigor in working for the advancement of the public schools of the borough which he has always shown, and that so frequently has received the recognition of his fellow citizens.

In his twentieth year he emigrated to the United States, arriving at Pittsburgh in August, 1852. He remained in that vicinity until 1853, when he settled in Clarion. In November of that year he started a clothing store on Main street, where he continued in the business until the war, when he engaged in general merchandising, to which he added a lumber yard in 1865, and in 1879 still further expanded his already extensive business by adding tobacco and cigars at wholesale, supplying many of the merchants of this and surrounding counties with these articles. In deed it has long been a common saying that there is nothing he cannot sell you, nor is there anything that he will not buy. In 1854 he joined Clarion Lodge I.O.O.F., and in 1856 the Masonic Lodge. In both of these lodges he still retains an active membership, having been frequently elected to offices of honor and trust in both. At present he is, and has been for fifteen years, secretary of the Masonic Lodge and treasurer of the lodge of Odd Fellows.

He has been connected with the First National Bank of Clarion since its organization in 1865, as one of its directors, and for years its vice-president. He has been the president of the Clarion County Mutual Fire Insurance Company since 1875, and also president or director of the Clarion Water Company since its organization in 1875. He is a stockholder in the Natural Gaslight and Heat Company, and in the Agricultural Association, being treasurer of the latter company. He was the only agent for the different express companies that transacted business at Clarion until 1884, when the P. and W. Railroad Company went into the express business itself and refused to carry for other companies. He has been an acting member of the school board for a number of years, and has frequently served as a member of the town council. He is usually court interpreter in causes where witnesses are able to use only the German language, and attorney in fact for the majority of those here having business to transact in Germany, or for those there having personal or business interests here.

Although a very busy man, Charley Kaufman, as he is familiarly known throughout the county, is always ready to do a favor or accommodate a friend or customer. He has made his adopted country completely his own, and has never been found wanting; by voice or deed in any public enterprise or good work. His large family has been brought up in accordance with the spirit of American free institutions, and with the customs of the land.

LOWRY, SAMUEL,** was born in County Down, Ireland, May 9, 1809. On his fourteenth birthday, May 9, 1823, he set sail, in company with his parents, for America. After a very tempestuous voyage upon the sea, and encountering many difficulties in crossing the State, they landed in Redbank township, now Clarion county, April 8, 1824. His father purchased the farm now owned by Samuel Bowersox, and located in Porter township. Samuel Lowry passed his youth at this place, working upon the farm. He was bound out as an apprentice to a carpenter in Kittanning. After completing his trade he worked in Pittsburgh for six weeks, and went from thereto Butler, Pa. While there he married Eliza Barnhart, March 12, 1835. Three children have been born to them, Mary Ellen, Susannah, and Ann Eliza. Susannah died January 3, 1845, and Ann Eliza April 15, 1858.

He purchased 185 acres of land adjoining his father’s farm, from John H. Brodhead, November 9, 1835. After purchasing the farm, he worked at Butler and the “Great Western” until the farm was paid for, when he moved on it and followed farming until the breaking out of the Rebellion. He enlisted in the Seventy-eighth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and remained with the army during the war. He was severely wounded between two mules, and suffers yet from the effects; also slightly wounded at the battle of Stone River. At the close of the war he returned to the farm and continued farming until after the death of Mrs. Lowry, which occurred March 14, 1882. He purchased property in New Bethlehem, and moved there March 17, 1885, living with his daughter, the only remaining member of his family. One sister is the only remaining member, besides himself of his father’s family.

FOX. The Fox family has been more or less identified with lands lying within what is now the boundary of Clarion county for nearly a hundred years; warrants for several tracts of land, including those at the junction of the Allegheny and Clarion Rivers, having been taken out by Samuel M. Fox in 1796. A little over a quarter of a century later his son, Joseph M. Fox, went to live there, and the family has since made that place their home for a part of the year. Having been thus interested in the county since its formation, it seems not unsuitable that a short memoir of the family should appear in this book. Justinian Fox, who, tradition says, was a doctor, came from Plymouth, England, to Philadelphia, a few years after William Penn. He married Elizabeth Yard, whose father emigrated from Devonshire, England, about 1688. Justinian Fox had seven children, Joseph being the only one who need be mentioned here. His father having died very poor (the inventory of his estate amounting to but sixty-seven pounds, and five shillings), Joseph was apprenticed to a carpenter. He afterwards became possessed of some means through a legacy left him in 1737, and married on September 25, 1746, in Quaker meeting in Philadelphia, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Thomazine Mickle (née Marshall). He built the large double house, now standing, Nos. 46 and 48 North Third street, Philadelphia, which is still in possession of his descendants. On January 10, 1765, he was elected Speaker of the Colonial Assembly, at that time an office of high trust and distinction. He died on December 10, 1779. He had thirteen children, among them Samuel Mickle (born October 4, 1763, died April 30, 1808), who married on November 27, 1788, at the Market Street meeting-house, in Philadelphia, Sarah, daughter of Samuel and Mary Pleasants (née Pemberton). With a belief in the future value of lands in the interior of the State, he sold properties in Philadelphia, and bought back lands, including the land in Clarion county on which his descendants now live. At his death one hundred and eighteen thousand acres, not including his land in then, Venango, now Clarion county, were divided. He had thirteen children, of whom the oldest was Joseph Mickle (born October 25, 1779, died February 12, 1845). He bought from the trustees under his father’s will twelve tracts of land in what is now Clarion county, containing thirteen thousand two hundred and eighty-four acres, the consideration paid being eleven thousand four hundred and twenty-nine dollars and forty cents. He married on April 6, 1820, Hannah Emlen, daughter of George and Sarah Emlen, (née Fishburne.) From her the borough of Emlenton derived its name, it being built on land owned by her husband. At the time of his marriage he was practicing law at Bellefonte, Pa., and shortly after moved to Meadville. In the year 1827 he decided to settle on and improve some of the land belonging to him, and with this purpose went to Foxburg, since then the summer home of his family. The county was then very sparsely settled; the farmers (and there was no other occupation in the vicinity at that time) were Pennsylvania Dutch, far scattered, and, owing to the difficulty of transportation, almost entirely self-supporting. An old servant still with the family, who, as a boy, went with Mr. Fox to Foxburg in 1832, states that he was the first to introduce coffee into the district. The nearest post-office was Shippenville, sixteen miles away. Later Mr. Fox was instrumental in having one established on his own land, and was himself for a time postmaster. He served as State senator through an election held in 1829 to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Eben Smith Kelly, his district (the twenty-fourth) then comprising the counties of Venango, Warren, Armstrong, Indiana, Jefferson, and Cambria. He died in 1845, leaving one child – Samuel Mickle Fox, then twenty-four years of age.

Samuel Mickle Fox was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and had been admitted to the bar at Philadelphia, where he was entering upon the practice of the law, when his father’s death brought to him other duties in the management of his and his mother’s affairs. He married at Wakefield, near Germantown, Philadelphia, Mary Rodman Fisher, daughter of William Logan and Sarah Fisher (née Lindley). He was a man of scholarly instincts and great culture, of a retiring and contemplative disposition; he had no desire for the notoriety of public life, and was devoid of political ambition, although during the civil war his pronounced views made him in his district a leader and strong advocate for the cause of the Union. In 1861 he was the Republican candidate for State senator from the twenty-eighth district, composed of Jefferson, Forest, Elk, and Clarion counties, and although running far ahead of the rest of the party ticket, was defeated in his district, which was heavily Democratic. It is difficult to measure his life with words, as no great deeds marked it, and its worth and usefulness lay in the small acts of every day, of which no record can be made. It was a life of unobtrusive well-doing, and was passed with the calm quietness of a gentle nature in benefiting in many ways those with whom he came in contact, and whom, with his larger means, he was often able to assist. He was desirous for the improvement of his neighborhood, and was among the first to introduce the newer agricultural implements and the better breeds of stock into Clarion county. His manners were quiet and retiring, and he had a strong personal magnetism which commanded confidence and gained friends without effort. Once he bought a large tract of land which had long been in litigation and had been largely taken possession of by squatters, who declared that the land was theirs, and that they would shoot any one who claimed it. He quietly went alone on horseback among them, meeting no resistance, and some of the squatters became afterward his devoted friends, He died at Foxburg, on Christmas day, 1869, and his epitaph was not unaptly spoken by one of his friends, who, when he heard of it, said, “A gentleman has died.” A short time previous to his death petroleum was discovered on his lands. The Allegheny Valley Railroad had been built through them, and building was began on the land where the village of Foxburg now stands. The face of the country rapidly changed, and while it grew in wealth it lost its isolation, which to him had been one of the chief pleasures in his home.

He left four children – William Logan, Joseph Mickle, Sarah Lindley, and Hannah, of whom Joseph and Hannah survive. William Logan Fox was eighteen years old at the time of his father’s death. He had passed through the Junior class of the University of Pennsylvania, and was then at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, N.Y., from which he graduated as a civil engineer four years later. He then spent a year in Europe, and on his return assumed, in conjunction with the trustees under his father’s will, the active management of the business at Foxburg, then of some magnitude, owing to the, recent developments of petroleum in the vicinity. About this time, and furthered by his energy and moneyed aid, the bridge across the Allegheny River at Foxburgh, and the one across the Clarion, were built, and the turnpike from Foxburg to Petersburg was made.

Early in 1879 the Foxburg, St. Petersburg and Clarion Railroad was projected, and he, believing it would be of material benefit to the village of Foxburg, entered into its construction with his usual energy. He was made president, and the road was vigorously pushed toward completion. Later he bought a controlling interest in the Emlenton, Shippenville and Clarion Railroad, running from Emlenton to Clarion, the total length of both roads being about fifty miles. He had in contemplation the enlarging of his railroads, and had acquired a charter to Kane, intending to make connection with the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. This has been done since his death, and the roads are now part of the Pittsburgh and -Western Railroad.

William L. Fox took a deep interest in politics, and was strong in his belief in and support of the Republican party, and in its interest started at Foxburg a weekly newspaper, The Republican Gazette. He was a member of the, Electoral College of Pennsylvania, which voted for Garfield in 1880, but died before it met, and at the time of his death was chairman of the Republican County Committee. He died at Foxburg on April 29, 1880, leaving a widow, Rebecca Clifford, daughter of Samuel F. and Anna C. Hollingsworth (née Pemberton). He left no issue. His death was a distinct loss to the community about Foxburg, and indeed to his county, for already at the age of twenty-eight his enterprise in business matters, had made itself felt, and his ambition and zealous work in the political field had stamped him as one who might-in the future hope to receive broad recognition.

To his and to his father’s memory the Memorial Church of our Father was built, overlooking the village of Foxburg, and serves not unfitly as a monument to two men whose life work was done, and whose death took place near where it stands; and it is earnestly hoped that as in their time their influence was for the good, it may perpetuate their work by being a benefit to the community, and that the love for the dead which built it may be of lasting help to the living. It is dedicated to the services of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the first one in the county belonging to that denomination. While it was building another memory was added to it through the death of Sarah Lindley Fox, on June 20, 1882. She was deeply interested in its success, and her death was the loss of an ardent worker in its cause. On the death of William L. Fox the management of the family property devolved on his brother, Joseph M. Fox, who married at Charleston on May 10, 1883, Emily A. Reed, daughter of Benjamin Huger and Julia Read (née Middleton); issue, Mary Lindley, born December 12, 1884. J.M.F.

RITTS, ELIAS. How far a man is made by his environments is perhaps an unsolved problem; but there is no doubt a strong character is greatly influenced, developed or modified by the outside world with which he comes in contact. Had the subject of this memoir remained with his father and learned the trade of jeweler, in the respectable old county of Berks, he would probably have grown gray repairing his neighbors’ watches.. But he was destined to occupy another field.

Elias Ritts was born in Berks county, Pa., on the 5th day of November, 1822. The family moved to Lehigh county in 1830, and in 1836, while Elias was still a boy, came to Richland township, Venango county (now Clarion). Here he grew to manhood among the Vensels, Shoups, Neelys, and other pioneers of that new settlement. His proximity to the Allegheny and Clarion rivers seemed to have determined his vocations in life. At an early period in his history he became familiar with the upper waters of the Clarion, and with a limited education, but full of energy, engaged in the trade of that river, building flat-boats and freighting metal to the Pittsburgh market as early as 1840. By care and skill Mr. Ritts became a successful carrier of freight, and a heavy dealer on the river and in Pittsburgh for many years. He carried all the metal made by Judge Keating’s furnace, and had a-still larger contract of freighting metal for Lyon, Shorb & Co., for a number of years. He also freighted a large amount of metal for Plumer & Crary from Buchanan and Jefferson furnaces. Few of his boats were wrecked or sunk, and by him no man lost a ton of metal, though the business was by no means free from risk. While thus engaged he became extensively acquainted along the river, and accumulated considerable property.

In March, 1849, he married Elizabeth Vensel, by whom he had four children; all but the youngest are still living. His wife dying in 1863, he married his second wife in 1866, by whom he has had five children, all living. His active out-door life and extended business relations gave him a strong constitution, and has made him prominent as a leading property owner and businessman of the county. He retained nothing that he brought with him from Berks county but his politics and religion. He was never a noisy politican or an office seeker, but has quietly voted the Democratic ticket ever since he became of age. In early life he connected with the German Reformed Church, and has ever since been one of its liberal supporters, and an officer therein.

Mr. Ritts is tall and slender, with a well knit form, a pleasant face, social habits, and a kind disposition. In 1880 he bought a third interest in the Blake lumber lands for $50,000, and sold it in 1884 for about $85,000. He still holds considerable real estate in Richland and Beaver townships, also in other parts of the county, besides personal property of value.

In the early days of -the oil excitement near the mouth of the Clarion River, he became an oil operator and producer, a business he has made pay handsomely. Since selling his lumber lands he has to some extent retired from active work on the river, to rest on an ample competency secured by a life of industry. At the age of sixty-five he is still living where he started his business life, one of the respected patriarchs of St. Petersburg, with his family around him. He is still enjoying excellent health, with erect frame, and his chances are fairly good for several years more to live and quietly look back over a long and well spent life.

KNOX, HON. JAMES B., son of William and Sarah Knox, was born at Knoxville, Tioga county, Pa., November 4, 1831. After obtaining a liberal education he began the study of law in Franklin, Pa., with Hon. John C. Knox, his only brother. He was duly admitted to the bar, came to Clarion in 1853, and commenced life actively in his chosen profession. In 1855 he married Jennie Z. Stehley, of Harrisburg, Pa. Their union was blessed with six children, five of whom are yet living, and reside in Clarion.

At the beginning of the Civil War Mr. Knox -eft his family and a lucrative law practice to bear arms for his country. On the 14th of June, 1861, he was mustered into the service of the Union army as captain of Company E, of the Thirty-Ninth Regiment, Tenth P.R.V.C. He was promoted to major August 15, 1862, and later to commanding officer of his regiment. On account of his health failing he resigned his position, obtained his discharge November 23, 1863, and returned to his family and practice in Clarion. During his service in the army he participated in the following battles: Dranesville, Mechanicsville, Gaines’s Mill, Newmarket Cross-roads, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, and Mine Run. During the battle of Gettysburg a little incident occurred which will serve to show how regardless he was of his own life, and how he sought to save the lives of his comrades. He wanted to see the position of the Confederates in the Devil’s Den, and for this purpose stood on a rock exposed to the enemy’s fire, but told his men to keep down, that it was dangerous. While standing there a shell struck a branch of a tree only a few feet from his head. This he treated as a trivial affair, making motions to the rebels, and still standing in his position, a target for their marksmen. His farewell address to his men at the close of his last dress parade was quite a touching scene. His remarks were full of pathos and patriotism.

In 1873 he entered into a law partnership with Hon. James T. Maffett, which continued until he took his seat on the bench, January 1, 1882, having been elected to the judgeship of the Eighteenth judicial District in the fall of 1881. He performed the duties of his office faithfully until his death on December 22, 1884. He died at his post while holding court in Brookville. The disease, asthma, which carried him away, was contracted during his military services in the army.

As a citizen, Mr. Knox was greatly respected, and regarded as strictly honest and upright in all his dealings. His intentions were good, and his private character exceptionally pure and above suspicion. As a soldier he was brave and daring almost to recklessness, and much loved by his comrades. In his profession he stood high in ability, integrity, and gentlemanly deportment; as a judge he was popular, sympathetic, and impartial; as a husband and father he was a model of devotion and affection.

HESS, MICHAEL EDIC, the subject of this sketch, was born in South Columbia, Herkimer county, N.Y., September 25, 1826. He is descended from John Hess, who, with others, called Palatinates, came from Hesse Cassel, Germany, in 1710, and settled on the Mohawk River in Montgomery county, N.Y. The locality taking its name from the settlers was called Palatine. Subsequently the family of John Hess moved farther up the river, and became one of the first settlers of Herkimer county, N.Y. The surrounding vicinity was then inhabited by the Mohawk Indians, and Fort Herkimer was built as a refuge for the settlers. In an Indian raid on the fort in 1782, Augusdennis Hess, son of John Hess was killed while driving cattle into the enclosure. Hanyost Hess, son of Augusdennis Hess, enlisted in the War of the Revolution in 1776, and served to the close, being under Alexander Hamilton in the battle of Yorktown.

George Hess, son of Hanyost, and father of the-subject of this sketch, was born and reared in Herkimer county, and moved to Cortland county, N.Y., about 1830, thence to Dewitt Center near Syracuse, and about 1842 to Cattaraugus county, N.Y., where he died in 1857. He served in the War of 1812,was a farmer by occupation, and reared a family of nine children, the other three dying in infancy. Of the twelve the last three were triplets, named respectively George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren, thus plainly indicating his political proclivities. M.E. Hess drove a team on the Erie Canal in 1840 – 1 – 2. The summer of 1843 he worked on a farm near Syracuse, N.Y., and the following winter attended district school, doing chores for his board. In March, 1843, under the preaching of Rev. Cleveland, he. received the “word” which gave bent to his after life. He afterwards worked for Joseph, his elder brother, at Fayetteville, N.Y., and attended the Fayettville Academy, being a school-mate of William Cleveland, elder brother of President Cleveland. Grover, then a lad of nine or ten years, was attending a district school near by, and was often at the academy in company with his brother William. Mr. Hess afterwards taught district school, and in 1847 came to the lumber country in Cattaraugus county, N.Y., where he took a saw-mill to run by the thousand. He subsequently bought the mill, and continued in the lumber business for ten years.

In 1849 he married Caroline Shaver, of Jamestown, N.Y. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in August, 1862, and fought in the battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8th. Soon afterwards he became disabled by an attack of typhoid fever, and at the suggestion of his attending physician was discharged in order to regain his health. In the fall of 1863 he was elected drill-master in the Ohio National Guard, at Camp Cleveland. He received from Governor Tod, of Ohio, two commissions, the first for lieutenant, and the second for major.

In the spring of 1861 Mr. Hess engaged in the oil business at Mecca, Ohio. In the summer of 1864 he came to Oil Creek, and operated for oil on Cherry Run, at Pithole, Petroleum Center, Shamburg, and McClintockville. In 1872 he moved to Franklin, Venango county, thence to Shippenville in 1874, and in 1877 to Edenburg, Clarion county, where he lives at present. He commenced operating for oil in Clarion county in 1873, putting down the first well on the David Shoup farm, also the first one on Daniel Knight’s farm. In 1874 he drilled the first well on the Moon farm in Ashland township, the first successful well on the R.J. Dahle farm, in Elk township, in 1875; one of the first wells on the J.I. Best farm at Edenburg, and in 1876 the first well on the Camp Ridge and David Whitehill farm. The same year, he, in company with E.C. Bradly, Esq., put down the first wells on Egypt farm in Beaver township. At the assignment of Mr. Bradly, Hess became liquidating partner, and settled all the claims against Hess & Bradley. Mr. Hess brought with him to Clarion county $60,000, but testing so extensively for oil, and in consequence of endorsements he became financially embarrassed. However, he was afterwards able to make satisfactory settlements. He in company with others in, 1887 secured extensive leases in Monroe township, and struck the first successful well in the Reidsburg field. In Edenburg he has been elected burgess twice, and has filled various other borough offices.

He had a family of three boys and three girls. The eldest son, Eugene, is West; the younger, Frank and Earnest, are minors at home. The eldest of the girls, Ida, married F.G. Sacket, the next, Bell, married G.S. Hamm, and the youngest, Mary, died in Franklin at the age of nine years. His wife and mother of his children died of cancer at Edenburg. In September, 1878, he married Margaret E. Klotz, widow of Dr. Charles Klotz, of Richland township.

Mr. Hess has superintended the Methodist Sunday-schools of Petroleum Center, Franklin, Shippenville, and for the last ten years at Edenburg.

At the age of twelve years the subject of this sketch had two hairbreadth escapes from death. The first was while sitting partly concealed under the bank beside the canal. A boat passing by had on deck a hunter looking for game. Seeing only the top of the boy’s muskrat cap, and supposing it to be a genuine rat took aim and fired at it, just grazing the crown of Michael’s head. The second was on board a canal-boat in entering a lock near Syracuse. As the boat approached the foot of the lock the gates were opened in order to empty it. The sudden gush of water moved rapidly the tiller by which he was standing, and pitched him overboard, and the rapidly discharging waters swept him under the boat. After passing under it for near its entire length he got his foot on the gravel, pushed himself out, and unaided waded ashore.

In the fall of 1886 he edited the Prohibition column of the Clarion County National, and in 1887 wrote “The Early Recollections of Edenburg,” published in the same paper.

RULOFSON, RULOFF ISAAC ALLEN, was born in Hampton, King’s county, New Brunswick, B.N.A., October 18, 1822, and received a substantial education in the city of St. John, in his native province. Following the advice of Greeley, at the age of twenty-one he started west, crossed the St. Croix River, and began life actively as a self-made millwright. In the fall of 1843, at Milltown, Me., on the St. Croix River, he built the first successful live gang saw-mill in the United States. He afterwards married Amanda J. Emerson, and continuing his course westward came to Saccarapa, near Portland, Me., thence to Elk county, Pa., bringing with him considerable mill machinery. He remained in Elk county several years, engaging extensively in the lumber business.

In 1858 he came to Strattanville, Clarion county, Pa., near where he had purchased an interest in a large tract of timber land. Here he became the managing member of the firm known as Marvin, Rulofson & Co., and built a large saw-mill, which has been improved and is still in active operation on the Clarion River at the mouth of Mill Creek, also a beautiful residence in Strattanville, in which he lives at present. His time being occupied closely, and being a man of few words, he found it necessary to abridge his name, and instead of writing it as at first given, adopted R. Rulofson as his signature.

In the early part of his life he was in the British volunteer service, and acted as courier through snow seven feet deep during the Aroostook War, and was on the line of duty the day Queen Victoria was crowned.

As a youth he had good habits, was healthy, active, and untiring; an expert fisherman, a skillful hunter, and was very fond of horses. In his twentieth year he was nursed in the arms of a bear, and at another time was buried in the snow in consequence of a deer getting fast in one of his snow shoes. While in Elk county he caught a live, sound buck by the horns, and held him in the water on logs and gravel until a friend went a good distance for a knife. He says, “I dare not let go.”

The night of April 16, 1851 was made memorable to him by a perilous trip on the ocean. He with his, wife and three children, at 8 o’clock P.M., on that evening, went on board the steamer Admiral. After leaving the harbor of Portland, Me., the ship was unable to take her course on account of a. terrific storm, and was compelled to put to sea for twenty-four hours. The fright of that trip baffles description. Many of the seamen became unable for duty; no food was eaten there for forty-eight hours. In his own words, “The water, ah, me! it rolled mountains high, often covering the entire vessel.”

In 1842 Mr. Rulofson became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also a Free and Accepted Mason. He was elected for fifteen successive years District Deputy Grand Master of the I.O.O.F., of Clarion county, but resigned before serving the fifteenth year, in order to have more time to spend with his family, to whom he was affectionately devoted. He served four or five years as Worshipful Master of Clarion Lodge A.Y.M., and received from its members a valuable past-master jewel as a token of the high esteem in which he was held by his brethren. He also received similar tokens from the O.F’s. of the county, and from Clarion Lodge I.O.O.F.

Mr. Rulofson’s adventures in hunting, fishing, travel, etc., and his services in organized societies are far eclipsed by his brilliant business career. His business transactions have amounted to several million dollars. He has been a lumberman in every sense of the term; he has erected large saw-mills, and managed their operations, cut and transported a great deal of lumber, dealt extensively in timber tracts, and constructed machinery to work as desired. His thorough business qualities, sound judgment and good intentions have won for him the confidence and good-will of all with whom he has dealt. He has always been liberal, energetic, and courteous.

SLOAN, WILLIAM C., was born in Clarion township, Armstrong county, Pa., now Clarion county, in 1827. His father, James Sloan, settled in this county in 1818, and for several years contracted for the transportation of iron, hauling it from Center county, Pa., to the Clarion River, near where Clarion is now, and boating it from thereto Louisville, Ky. His -grandfather, John Sloan, was one of the first settlers in Westmoreland county, Pa., and had his share of fighting the Indians, hunting, clearing, etc., along with other newcomers. Sarah Sloan, daughter of William Corbett, who had brought her to Clarion county from Mifflin county, Pa., when a child nine years old, was his mother.

James and Sarah Sloan had a family of four boys and three girls. Three of the sons served in the Union army during the entire Civil War. One of them has since died in Clarion county of sun-stroke received in Richmond, Va., at the time of its capture; one is now living in San Francisco, Cal., and the other is living in Lancaster City, Pa.

William C. Sloan learned the carpenter trade, and contracted for building when he was quite young, an occupation which he followed for several years. He also taught several terms of school, and rafted and ran boats on the river when not otherwise employed, always making it a point never to be idle. In 1865 he purchased his farm in West Millville, and married Sarah J. Hepler, daughter of Jacob and Mary Hepler. They have since had five children, named respectively Carrie Bee, Flora M., J. Frank, Norman Jay, and Myra Pearll.

He laid out the village of West Millville, Pa., in 1870, and has ever since taken an active interest in its improvement. From the time he bought his farm until 1872 he was engaged in the store business and improving his farm. Since that time, with the exception of the year 1852, which he spent among the Indians and buffaloes of British America and Dakota, he has devoted his entire attention to farming, and raising Jersey cattle and fine horses. Mr. Sloan has been an active worker in the Presbyterian Church; at West Millville. He has always been industrious and economical, and is a useful citizen in the community in which he lives.

ANDREWS, CHARLES E., was born in the city of Philadelphia, October 9, 1828. His father was a merchant, and died soon after Charles was born. His mother remarried, and when Charles was eight years old the family came to Clarion county, settling on a farm. When about eighteen years of age Charles accepted a clerkship in the store of Thomas McKelvey, a merchant in New Bethlehem, at a salary of forty dollars a year. After serving faithfully for four years he was taken into partnership by his employers, which partnership continued for three years.

In 1854 he started a small store in the same town on his own account, and soon after married Miss Catharine Duff daughter of Samuel Duff, then a prominent iron manufacturer in Clarion county. From this time forward Mr. Andrews has prospered, and has been identified with every enterprise of note in New Bethlehem.

In 1860 he built a large saw-mill and boat-yard, and in 1863 he added a planing-mill, and became largely interested in the lumber business, both in his own town and in Jefferson county, Pa. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Andrews – three girls and two boys. Two of the daughters died in 1872. The two sons, Firman L. and William M., are engaged in business with their father. Firman is a partner in the lumber business, composing the firm of C.E. Andrews & Son. They have a saw-and planing-mill in New Bethlehem, and are interested in and handle the production of two large saw and shingle-mills in Jefferson county. They manufacture and ship lumber to various parts of several States of the Union. William is a young merchant and partner in a general store, comprising the firm of C.E. & W.M. Andrews. They have an extensive business, which they manage with prudence and skill. The daughter, Carrie, is married and lives in Reynoldsville, Jefferson county.

In the year 1872 the subject of this sketch built a banking-house, and started the New Bethlehem Savings Bank. He was elected the first president of the bank, and has been re-elected annually ever since. John R. Foster is cashier, and the bank is one of the soundest institutions of its kind in Western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Andrews, by his prudence and energy has secured a handsome competence and this coupled with his qualities as a gentleman, has won for him the respect of his neighbors, and he is regarded as a substantial and worthy citizen.

KAHLE, JOHN W. Jacob Kahle and his wife Sarah, with the rest of the family, came from Huntingdon county to what is now Clarion county, and settled about two miles north of Shippenville, in Elk township, in 1826, and began clearing and improving a farm. At that time this locality was somewhat of a wilderness. Bears were quite numerous, and would sometimes come into the yard in broad daylight. At one time the family was interrupted, while eating dinner, by the squealing of a pig, struggling in the clutches of bruin, who wanted some dinner also. At another time, while on the road to Shippenville, then a little village of four or five houses, Mr. Kahle, accompanied by his sons George and John W., was again called to the rescue of a pig, squealing for life, at the mercy of two bears. After being chased away from the pig, the bears came out on the road near where the boys were standing. The situation became frightful. The boys began to utter such terrific cries, which were mistaken for fierceness, that the bears soon made their way into the forest. Wolves, deer, and other wild animals frequently made their appearance on the premises.

John W. Kahle, the subject of this sketch, was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., December 28, 1821, and lived with his parents until 1844. That spring he was employed as book-keeper by William B. Fetzer, at Elk Furnace, and at the end pf the first month was given the general management of the furnace. In 1859 he built on the Allegheny River, a few miles above Brady’s Bend, for Samuel F. Plumer, the first coke furnace in the county. He has served as manager of furnaces for fifteen years.

In 1845 he married Ann Cheers, and has since raised a family of eight children, four boys and four girls, all of whom are living at present. He moved with his family to Lineville, in the northwestern corner of Clarion county, in 1860, and there engaged in mercantile business, and also in farming.

A company of bankers in New York city had purchased a large tract of land along the Allegheny River, between Oil City and Franklin, and in 1864 employed Mr. Kahle to superintend the development of the property for oil. During his connection with the company he was loyal to their interest. At one time he was offered one hundred thou-sand dollars if he would give certain facts concerning the wells tested to the party offering the money one week before he gave them to the company employing him. He was urged by some of his friends to accept the offer, and become rich at once. His reply was, “The company are paying me a large salary to attend to their business. If there is anything to be gained by the first information given, the company shall have the benefit of it,” – a reply, under the circumstances, worthy of being repeated for ages. In 1865 he recommended the company to bring the operations for oil in that territory to a close. The company urged him to continue. After satisfying himself that the income would not pay expenses he resigned.

In 1878 Mr. Kahle was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. He was there, as elsewhere, faithful and true to his constituents. He served eighteen years as school director, and also was postmaster for several years; his last appointment being March 30, 1870. He resigned in October, 1880, and his daughter Mary was appointed to the vacancy October 25, 1880, and continued the office in his store until her resignation. He was a delegate to the National Convention of the Anti-Monopoly and Greenback parties, which met in Chicago in 1883, and served on the committee to adopt a platform; also was a delegate to a National Convention of Greenback-Labor party, which met in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1884, and State delegate to the convention of Greenback-Labor party, which met in Erie, Pa., in 1885, serving again on platform committee.

Mr. Kahle has always been a faithful worker in the church; before 1862 in the M.E. Church, and since then in the Evangelical Association. His wife and all his children are faithful servants of their Master.

EAKER, PHILIP K., was born in Northampton county, Pa., June11, 1831. When five years of age he was brought by his grandparents to what is now Clarion county, and soon after was bound out to Philip Kratzer, who lived near Rimersburg, Pa. After serving as bound boy for seven years, he lived three years with his mother, who had, in the mean time, been unfortunate in marrying a man of intemperate habits. Owing to these circumstances, the boy’s opportunity of an early education was limited to four months in the common schools. After leaving his step-father, he followed chopping cord-wood, and driving team until 1849, when he engaged in mining ore for C. Myres, at Polk Furnace. In 1852 he went to Warren county and worked in the lumber woods for a short time. He then came back to Polk Furnace and engaged with J.N. Hethrington, at that time owner and manager of the furnace.

In 1854 Mr. Eaker left this place with five hundred dollars in money, and purchased a yoke of cattle, a wood sled, and a -tract of wildcat land on the east bank of the Allegheny River, near where, Oil City is now. While here he was engaged in clearing his farm and rafting on the river until 1857. About this time his step-father died; leaving his mother a poor and helpless widow. Philip then erected buildings on his property, moved his mother there and tenderly cared for her until her death, in 1863. He married Mary E. Sager, of Venango county, Pa., January 4, 1859. They have since had eleven children, only seven of whom are living at present.

Mr. Eaker’s wildcat farm proved to be oil -territory. He afterwards sold it as such and bought, for $14,500, the property known as the James Sloan farm in Limestone township, where he is living at present. He moved on this farm in March, 1865, and has since bought in that vicinity three other farms, amounting to about seven hundred acres in all, and also has purchased considerable property in New Bethlehem.

He united with the Salem Reformed Church in 1866, and has ever since been one of its most liberal supporters. He has also contributed liberally to the building of other churches, both at home and abroad, and to home and foreign missions. He has always been good to the poor, and was never known to turn the hungry from his door without something to eat. He is an excellent farmer, and takes an active interest in raising fine stock. He has a choice outfit of the latest and most improved farm implements, and has cultivated his orchard and planted trees in his yard until he has an abundance of elegant fruit and a beautiful home.

SHANAFELT, WILLIAM, was born in McConnellstown, Huntingdon county, Pa., March 4, 1825. His father, Nicholas Shanafelt, was born in Centre county, February 4, 1799. His grandfather, Nicholas Shanafelt, was of German ancestry. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; was with Washington at Valley Forge, and while serving under General Wayne, near Wilmington, Del., was wounded in the neck, and reported on the army records as among the killed. He recovered, however, and lived in Centre county until 1820. His wife lived with one of her sons until her death at Edwardsburg, Mich., in 1846. He had six sons and several daughters. One of the daughters married Mr. Shough, and settled in the western part of Ohio. Three of the sons, William, John, and George, were soldiers during the War of 1812, and the first two were in the army of General Hull when he surrendered to the British General Brock.

Nicholas Shanafelt, the father of the subject of this sketch, was married March 30, 1823, to Keziah Greenland, in Trough Creek Valley, Huntingdon county, Pa. Their early home was at McConnellstown, where he labored industriously at his trade, that of gunsmith, and acquired considerable property. In 1835 he removed to what was then Redbank township, Armstrong county, and is now Porter township, Clarion county. The farm which he purchased is on Leatherwood Creek. Being among the early settlers, only a few acres were under cultivation. The land was cleared, and suitable buildings erected. While superintending the development of the farm he continued successfully his trade as gunsmith. In the spring of 1850 he removed to the village of Clarion, and erected and occupied until his death the residence now occupied by John Reid, esq. His wife, Keziah Shanafelt, died in Clarion, August 18, 1867, aged over sixty-six years. After this event he spent much of his time visiting his children in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Iowa. Having lived a useful life he died at Clarion, October 13, 1871, aged nearly seventy-three years. He was widely known and respected as a citizen. He had the confidence of all who knew him as a consistent Christian. In early life he became a Baptist, and for nearly forty years held the office of deacon.

The children of Nicholas and Keziah Shanafelt were five sons and two daughters: William, born March 4, 1825; Ezra, born May 18, 1827; John R., born October 27, 1829; Andrew F., born March 10, 1832; Sarah A., born October 18, 1834; all at McConnellstown, Huntingdon county, Pa.; Thomas M., born April 30, 1840; Mary J., born October 1, 1842; in Porter township Clarion county. Of these Ezra and Sarah A. died in 1839. Three of the sons – John R., Andrew F., and Thomas M., having graduated at Bucknell University at Lewisburg, Pa., and Rochester and Crozer Theological Seminaries, entered the Baptist ministry, and have been successful pastors on important fields. Rev. John R. Shanafelt has been pastor at Berwick, Pittston, Shamokin, and Pittsburgh, in this State, and also in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. He is now living in Lawrence, Kansas. He married Miss Hannah Teressa Smith in Moreland, Montour county, Pa. They have six children. Rev. Andrew F. Shanafelt was until his death one of the leading Baptist ministers in this State. He was pastor at White Hall, Sabbath Rest, and Chester. He was president of the Knight Templars’ excursion to Europe in 1873. Before returning he made an extended tour through Egypt and Palestine. He baptized his dragoman or guide in the River Jordan. He was married to Miss Eliza Potter, of this county. They have had five children; three are living – two daughters and a son, Newton, who is one of the leading attorneys of Chester. Andrew died while pastor at Chester, March 16, 1875. Rev. Thomas M. Shanalelt, D.D., was ordained at Muncy, Pa., in 1864; served during the war in the Twenty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Became pastor at White Pigeon, Mich., in 1867. Has been pastor at Monroe, Hudson, and East Saginaw; was for several years secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Baptist Education Society. Has been since 1874 secretary of the Michigan Baptist State Convention. Has been sent by the Michigan Department of the G.A.R., to the National Encampment held at Minneapolis, Minn., Portland, Me., San Francisco, Cal., St. Louis, Mo. Was elected at Minneapolis in 1884 chaplain-in-chief of the national organization. He is a member of all the Masonic bodies in existence, and is a thirty-second degree member of the Scottish Rite. He is now pastor at Three Rivers, Mich.; was married October 23, 1866, to Miss Phebe Gilday, of Jersey Shore, Pa. They have had two children, one living, a son, William C., who is a stenographer. Mary J. was married in Clarion, to C. Jackson Rhea, of Clarion. They have four daughters and one son. Having served one term as sheriff of Clarion county; Mr. Rhea has been for a number of years superintendent of the construction department of the United Pipe Line Company; present -residence, Oil City. William Shanafelt, the eldest of the family, a farmer by profession, owns and resides on the old homestead, purchased in 1835, of which he bore the principal part in clearing and bringing under cultivation. He was married May 2, 1844, to Catharine Thomas, daughter of Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, from Glamorganshire, Wales, for many years pastor of Zion Baptist Church, and sister of B.H. Thomas, D.D. She was a devoted and faithful wife and mother. She died October 26, 1876. Of fourteen children eight died in infancy; five are living. William Lewis, the eldest son, married Emma Sample, of Clarion county, and removing to the West, they were among the first settlers in Platte Valley, Dawson county, Neb. He died there October 8, 1882. He had three children – Lottie, Ralph, and Lulu. Arminda, the eldest daughter, married Curtis Sloan, of Clarion county, and they reside in Limestone township. They have five children – William, Catharine, Annie, John J., and Edna. John was married to Minnie Arthur, of Jefferson county, and for a number of years was an attorney and justice of the peace in this county. They have two children – Carl and Maun. Margaret E. is married to Herbert Phillips. They have one child – Earl. H. Wick married Annie Martin, of Porter township, and is living in Platte Valley, Dawson county, Neb. They have four children – Benjamin, William, Merle, and Pearl, Keziah P. is living at home.

Mr. Shanafelt’s second marriage was to Armina Jane McNutt, daughter of Robert McNutt, and granddaughter of Colon McNutt, an early pioneer, who settled in this township in 1806. To the old homestead he has added what was formerly the W.D. Latimer farm, and other additions, making 250 acres. He and his wife also own another tract of 112 acres. He has always been a progressive farmer, and was among the first in this county to adopt improved methods and implements of farming. He has devoted much attention to raising blooded stock, especially Shorthorn cattle, adding at different times to his herd selections from the best known stock growers of Ohio and Kentucky. All of his herd are registered in the American Shorthorn Herd Book.

Mr. Shanafelt’s early education was obtained in the common school. He taught some; has been a diligent reader of the Bible, history, and current literature, and has always been strictly temperate. In early life he united with the Baptist Church, and for many years has held the office of deacon.

His maternal ancestors were Nathan Greenland and Sarah Corbin, his wife. They came from Maryland to Huntingdon county, Pa., about the beginning of the present century. They were descended from Richard Greenland and Benjamin Corbin, of England.

DAVIS, A.J.*** Professor Davis is probably more fully identified with the educational interests of the county than any other man. He was born in the county June 21, 1847, attended the public schools until fifteen years of age, and then a term at the Clarion Collegiate Institute at Rimersburg. In 1863 he was employed as a farm hand at six dollars per month, working from early morn to evening twilight.

On the 20th of February, 1864, he enlisted as a private in the Civil War, and was assigned to Battery B, Third Pennsylvania Artillery, One Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers; was attached to the “Naval Brigade,” and did gunboat service in Eastern Virginia and Eastern North Carolina; was with the armies of the James and the Potomac during the siege of Richmond and Petersburg. On his discharge, in July, 1865, he returned home and again took up his studies at the school in Rimersburg; then taught in the public schools of the county, alternately teaching and attending schools, among others the State Normal School, until the summer of 1869, when he took charge as principal of the West Freedom Academy, which position he held for three years, conducting the institution with marked success.

In 1874 Mr. Davis was elected principal of the Clarion Collegiate Institute, where he remained until chosen superintendent of public schools of Clarion county, May, 1875. He entered upon the duties of his office with a degree of energy, perseverance and tact, that merited the two re-elections to the same position that followed in succession, and during the eight years and fifteen days that he remained superintendent it is safe to say that no other county in the State experienced a more rapid advancement in the grade of her common schools or in the proficiency of her teachers.

While at West Freedom Professor Davis organized the first company of the National Guard of Pennsylvania in the county, and was, elected captain of the same. In May, 1876, he was elected major of the Seventeenth Regiment National Guard of Pennsylvania, and in 1877 was appointed judge advocate of the Seventh Division on the staff of General Huidekoper.

He was married December 23, 1875, to Miss Anna M. Kerr. In March, 1883, he was tendered a position as statistic clerk in the department of public instruction, which he accepted after some deliberation, and was appointed April 1st. During the incumbency of this clerkship he was sent to Alaska under the joint auspices of the National Bureau of Education and the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, and spent several months in that territory, organizing industrial and training schools for native children at Sitka. On his return he resumed his position in the department of public instruction, and continued to hold the same until February, 1887, when he resigned, having accepted the position of principal of the State Normal School at Clarion, Pa.

He is a regular graduate of Edinboro State Normal School, and holds an honorary diploma from the National Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio. In 1886 he was tendered the nomination for Congress in his district, which he declined.

CRESSWELL, DR. JOHN, was born in Indiana county, Pa., November 8, 1830. He taught in the public schools of his native county about six years. While engaged in teaching he educated himself by attending school during the summer vacations; one term being spent in Indiana Academy, and the remainder of his academic course was acquired in Jacksonville Academy, same county. In 1852 he commenced the study of medicine, completing his course in the medical college in Cleveland, O., in 1855 – 56. He then came directly to New Bethlehem, Clarion county, Pa., where he has ever since resided, and been continually engaged in the practice of medicine.

December 24, 1856, Dr. Cresswell wedded Eliza Ellen Wilkinson, of West Lebanon, Indiana county, Pa. She bore him one child, John Ackley, who died in 1880, at the age of twenty-three. Two weeks later the wife and mother also found rest from the cares of this world. On February 7, 1882, he married Lallia M. Boyd, by whom he has a son, Austin B., born July 17, 1883.

As a physician, Dr. Cresswell has been quite skillful and successful, and has always had the confidence of his patrons. He is a man of liberal views and excellent judgment; and his cool and deliberate manner of expressing himself always gives weight to what he says, and leaves no doubt about what he intended to convey.

He has been connected with the Presbyterian Church since 1852, part of the time having served as elder.

BERLIN, GEORGE NEELY, was born near the present site of Valley post-office, August 15 1820, and lived with his parents until his marriage.

His father, George Berlin, was born in York county, Pa., September 12, 1782. During his youth he learned the blacksmith trade. He married Elizabeth Neely, of Greensburg, Westmoreland county, in 1805. He settled and built the first blacksmith shop in East Liberty (now Pittsburgh), Pa., the same year. Their children are Jesse, now living in Clarion; Sarah, who married William Black; Mary Ann (Booth), Henry Nicholas, a hotel-keeper in Rimersburg; Fanny (Hugus), George N., Margaret, Hezekiah, Solomon, Jeremiah, William M., and Paul; also a daughter dying in infancy. In 1810 he moved to the wilderness in Venango county, settling near where his son George now lives. Part of his time was spent in clearing and improving his land, and during wet and cold days he worked at his trade. Men would often plow or grub for him while he would sharpen their mattocks and do other smithing for them. During the War of 1812 most of his neighbors left their work and bore arms for their country. Mr. Berlin having lost the sight of his right eye was left at home, but made himself useful in harvesting his neighbors’ crops, working day and night, and to increase his burdens mid disadvantages his wife was bitten by a rattlesnake while assisting in the harvest-field.

During the grading of the turnpike which crossed their farm, Mrs. Berlin did the baking for the graders, receiving one dollar a barrel for converting twenty-six barrels of flour into bread. Mr. Berlin kept hotel after the pike was finished for fifty-three years, and at the time of his death owned five hundred acres of land, which is now as good farms as are in the county. He died November 1, 1844, and his son Henry, then the main helper at home, died shortly afterwards. His wife and mother of his family died February 5, 1879, at the age of ninety-three years.

George N. Berlin wedded Susan Cook, of Forest county, Pa., January 9, 1848, and moved to present site of Valley post-office, where he has lived ever since; living at first in a log-house ten by twelve feet. The farm at that time was all woods but three acres. Since then it has been nearly all cleared, and is at present under a good state of cultivation. In 1849 he built the present brick building in which he has kept hotel nearly ever since. In 1856 he had the contract for carrying the mail from Warren to Franklin, using twelve horses and six men, Mr. Berlin has been engaged in the oil business ever since the first excitement about Oil Creek and Oil City. His first adventures did not prove profitable. He devoted most of his time to testing territory, but found no oil. In 1872 he had a test-well drilled in his own farm at Valley. The well is yielding some oil yet. He was subsequently interested in the locality of Elk City, and was one of the first persons to open the Cogley field. He has profited by his early experience in the business, and of late years has operated quite extensively and with much success. He has some thirty producing wells at present.

Besides the farm containing two hundred acres on which he lives he has three other fine farms.

The Kossuth post-office was moved to his place during Buchanan’s administration, and Mr. Berlin was postmaster. He is at present postmaster at Valley, an office kept at his place. He sold farm machinery for twenty-five years. He has raised a family of seven children – William H., an oil merchant living near Elk City; Harriet L. (Phipps), Lizzie J., who married J.H. Marten; John C., an oil merchant, also has a hardware store and the post-office at Fern; Lettie S. Milton, their first child, and Jacob, their youngest, each died at the age of three years.

Mr. Berlin has always been active and industrious. He will be gratefully remembered by the many friends he has made during his active and successful business and social life.

ROSS, J. FRANK, M.D., was born in Clarion, Pa., January 27, 1844. After acquiring such an education as was afforded by the public schools of Clarion, he took an academic course at Elder’s Ridge Academy, Indiana county, Pa., and upon graduating from this institution returned home and began the study of medicine in the office of his father, Dr. James Ross. Later he attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in March, 1868, and entering upon his professional career in his native town the same year. Here he has remained ever since, enjoying a large and lucrative practice, extending over the greater portion of the county.

Dr. Ross is a member of the Clarion County Medical Society, also of the State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. During the Centennial year he was elected vice-president of the State Medical Society at its meeting held in Philadelphia. He is Assistant Medical Director of the P. and W.R.R., and has been president of the Board of Examining Surgeons for Pensions, located at Clarion, ever since the organization of the board.

June 12, 1877, Dr. Ross was married to Miss Sadie Markillie, of Hudson, O. This union has been blessed with two interesting daughters – Alice B. and Mary M. Ross.

ARNOLD, FRANK M., was born in the village of Reidsburg, Clarion county, Pa., on the 14th day of October, 1847. In March, 1848, with his parents, he moved to the borough of Clarion, Pa., the county seat, and has resided there ever since.

In July, 1865 he became teller in the First National Bank of Clarion, and is at present acting as assistant cashier in the same bank, making nearly twenty-two years in the banking business. In 1869 he was commissioned by Governor Geary as notary public, and was re-commissioned in 1872, and has held the same position during the administrations of Governors Hartranft and Hoyt, continuously until 1884. He was elected the first president of the Clarion Fish and Game Association in and has held the position to the present time. He has been engaged in the lumber business in the firm of Leeper, Arnold & Co., and he has been very successful. He is also one of the firm of C. Leeper & Co., which is a lumbering firm, and has over forty million feet of pine timber.

Mr., Arnold by his industry and business sagacity has acquired a handsome competence, and is now one of the substantial and enterprising citizens of Clarion. He is liberal in his gifts to worthy charitable institutions, and his beautiful homestead attests his taste, which his ample means enables him to gratify.

He has a family of five interesting children – Frank M., George E., Turner S., Alvin F., and Clara.

SIEGWARTH, ANTHONY L., was born near Fryburg, in what is now Clarion county, Pa., January 1, 1826.

His father, John David Siegwarth, was born in Metzingen, Province of Wurtemburg, Germany, May 16, 1786. When seventeen years of age he started to America without any money. At that time emigrants who had no money to pay their passage were sold on reaching America, to the highest bidder, and in this way their passage was paid. John Siegwarth was one of those emigrants, and worked to pay his ship-fare three years in Lancaster county, Pa., for the party to whom he was bound. This obligation being fulfilled, he married Rosanna Henlen, of Lancaster county, started West, and became one of the early settlers in the present locality of Fryburg, Clarion county, Pa., where he bought a tract of land, improved it, and endured the many hardships along with the disadvantages of early pioneer life. He had a family of eleven children, four sons and seven daughters. Mr. Siegwarth took an active interest in organizing the Fryburg Lutheran Church, and during his subsequent life was one of its earnest and liberal supporters; he also took an active part in establishing schools, and gave a helping hand to various other improvements. He died January 30, 1858, and his wife died ten years afterwards.

A.L. Siegwarth was educated in the schools of his native township. and spent his youth on the farm with his father. Soon after he set out for himself he became a partner in Licking Furnace, and kept the books of the firm. He was afterwards bookkeeper for two years at Hemlock furnace, for F. & W.M. Faber, who owned the furnace but lived in Pittsburgh.

In May, 1851, he wedded Eliza Moore, of Farmington township. They have had five sons and five daughters – Mary (Magee), Rose A., Horace G., now clerking in the store of M. Arnold, in Clarion; Elizabeth A., John M., telegraph operator in Columbus, O., Anthony J., Jacob, Loretta J., Alice C., and Lewis F. Three of the children—Jacob, Lo.retta, and Lewis were called home before they reached the age of five years.

Mr. Siegwarth was book-keeper for Judge Cook ten years; for Buzard, Ritts & Co. three years; and for C. Leeper & Co. one year. He was commissioner of Forest county for six years, being elected in 1859; was auditor of Clarion county, the first Republican elected to that office in the county; was also engaged in the lumber business. At present he is a well-to-do merchant in Scotch Hill, and owns and superintends the cultivation of a fine farm where he lives. It is located near Scotch Hill. As a book-keeper he is neat, careful, and painstaking, and has always had the entire confidence of his employers. He has always been strictly honest and straightforward in all his dealings with his fellow-men; believed, trusted, and respected by all who know him. His courtesy and liberal hospitality also are deserving of special mention.

RITTS, JOHN V., a son of Mr. Elias Ritts, one of the leading pioneers, and an estimable and successful business man of Clarion county, was born in St. Petersburg, in the year 1852. His early life, outside of school days, was devoted to agricultural employments on one of his father’s farms. He received an academic education, and afterwards entered the Iron City Commercial College, at Pittsburgh, Pa. His aptitude and studious habits won for him not only class honors, but the esteem of the faculty and patrons as well. Upon his, graduation he was tendered, without solicitation, a special professorship in book-keeping and banking in, the institution, which he accepted and filled with marked ability for nearly two years. Desiring to complete a classical education, he determined to enter Yale College and resigned his position, notwithstanding persistent efforts made to induce him to remain permanently in the faculty of the Iron City Commercial College.

But fate determined otherwise, and the crisis, was precipitated by the discovery, development, and large production of petroleum in territory contiguous to St. Petersburg. The necessity of banking facilities was soon apparent, and resulted in the establishment of the St. Petersburg Savings Bank, in the year 1872. Its organization was effected by the election of the officers named: Hon. Jno. W. Hammond of Erie, president; Hon. Jno. Fertig of Titusville, vice-president; and Charles Horton of Erie county, cashier.

Young Ritts, who was then not twenty years old, was called home, and assumed charge of the books and accounts. The business rapidly increased, and within a year he was promoted by the unanimous vote of the board of directors, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the then cashier. The original stockholders, in obedience to the demand, established additional banking houses at Foxburg and Turkey City. The business, at the St. Petersburg bank exceeded the most sanguine expectations of the parties in interest, and required the employment of several assistants. During the years 1876 and 1877 the price of oil advanced from below one dollar to four dollars and twenty-five cents per barrel. Deposits increased in proportion until the amounts exceeded seven hundred thousand dollars daily.

The resources of the “Boy Cashier” responded to this volume of business, which culminated in a daily aggregation in excess of one million of dollars. This immense business continued down to the year 1878, when the owners of the three banks mentioned conferred on Mr. Ritts the honorable and responsible post of general manager of their banks. After the first few years the personal attention of the stockholders, who were non-residents of the county, gradually decreased until after the year 1878, their visits were limited to the semi-annual dividend periods, and they recorded on the minute books of the banks resolutions attesting their approval of all the efforts made by Mr. Ritts to advance the welfare and prosperity of the several banks, and expressing their personal regard for his integrity and ability in management. Certainly few men of his age in the State were ever more rapid in advancement, more implicitly relied on by the commercial community, or more deserving of that advancement and reliance. After these years of prosperity the oil production declined in Clarion county, and active operations were transferred to the Bradford and Richburg regions. Many of the bank’s largest customers removed, but continued their banking business with Mr. Ritts. The Turkey City and Foxburg banks were disposed of, and subsequently the stock in the St. Petersburg bank was purchased by Elias Ritts, J.V. Ritts, C.H. Martin, J.J. Ashbaugh, S. Foust, W.S. Blakslee, and others, and Elias Ritts was elected president, J.V. Ritts continuing as cashier, and C.H. Martin assistant cashier. The retiring shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the result of their financial ventures, and indorsed the high reputation of their cashier for business knowledge, justice, and economy.

Prior to this time Mr. Ritts became largely interested in the field production of oil in the upper oil districts, and having opportunities to sell, disposed of the greater part of his interests, realizing a handsome competency. He is yet extensively engaged in producing oil in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Enterprises of importance were constantly seeking his advice and co-operation. In railroad interests he was identified with the Foxburg, St. Petersburg and Clarion Railway (now the Pittsburgh and Western) as its treasurer, and was for many years a director of the company, and was also treasurer of the Foxburg, Kane and Bradford Railroad; a large stockholder in the Parker, Karns City and Butler Railroad, and in the Parker Bridge Company, and secretary and treasurer of the Foxburg and St. Petersburg Turnpike Company.

He was interested in, and assisted in organizing, the following banks: the Eldred Bank; First National, Bank, of Salina, Kansas; Seaboard National Bank, New York; Dallas National Bank, of Texas; Meridian National Bank, of Mississippi, and the Keystone Bank, of Pittsburgh. None of the banks mentioned in Clarion county were involved in unsuccessful litigation, and their percentage of uncollectable assets was the lowest average known in the history of banking. The counsel retained for the banks were Hon. Theophilus S. Wilson, now president judge, Hon. George A. Jenks, solicitor-general of the United States, and John W. Reed, whose successors are Reed & Wilson. In the year 1884 the St. Petersburg Bank had hundreds of thousand of dollars loaned but, principally on oil collaterals, and when the financial panic of that year caused a rapid and ruinous decline in the price of oil, the safety of the institution seemed endangered, and it was deemed prudent by the management to, withhold general payments for two months; at the end of that period business was resumed, and has continued uninterruptedly in the usual way.

During this time it was fully developed that Mr. Ritts was possessed of an energy which no ordinary impediment could resist, and an ambition that difficulties only served to strengthen.

In August, 1882 he was united in marriage to Irene C. Blakslee, daughter of the late W.Z. Blakslee, of New York City, an amiable and accomplished lady. Their conjugal relations have been most happy, and the union blessed with two lovely and interesting children. For the past fifteen years Mr. Ritts has been a member and officer of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To this, as to all other Christian churches in the neighborhood, he has been generous, and his liberal contributions have established a record that has endeared his name and acts as worthy of emulation.

BOWMAN, DAVID, was born in Scotland, May 24, 1814. When he was ten years old his father, Thomas Bowman, died, and his mother died one year afterwards. David was one of a family of eight children, all of whom died before the age of maturity, except himself and his brother John, who came to Canada in 1833, where he lived until his death in 1880. David Bowman came to America in the spring of 1834, landing in Quebec, Canada, but went to Pittsburgh the following October. After staying in Pittsburgh about two years he went to Pottsville, Schuylkill county, Pa. While here he married Ellen Robinson, a resident of Pottsville, June 22, 1839, and the following October came to Lucinda Furnace, Clarion county, Pa. He was a coal miner and followed that occupation in Scotland and in America until 1843, when he bought a farm of one hundred acres near Tylersburg, in Farmington township. He dug coal and ore for three years at Beaver Furnace before coming to Tylersburg. After spending some twenty years on his farm he built a store at Newmanville, in Washington township, in 1866. He came to Tylersburg in 1871 and engaged in the mercantile business, which he has followed in that place ever since.

In 1873 he, in company with C. Leeper, Porter Haskell, and Daniel Curll, purchased a fourteen-hundred-acre timber lot, known as the Higbee tract, at and around Leeper. After he sold his interest in this tract he bought a one-fourth interest in a seventeen-hundred-acre tract of timber land in Forest county in 1881. He is at present a stockholder and director in the Second National Bank of Clarion. He has lately taken six thousand dollars stock in the Clarion State Normal School, and is one of its trustees. He is now postmaster at Tylersburg, and was the first postmaster at Newmanville, an office established through his influence.

He was blessed with a family of thirteen children – ten boys and three girls. Thomas, James C., Frank S., William W., Edward, Charles R., and Jane (Alt), are living at present, most of them near Tylersburg.

Mr. Bowman has profited by the adage, “Industry and economy means thrift.” When he reached Pittsburgh in 1834 he had but one English sovereign left, was in a strange land with not a relative in this great republic. His excellent judgment and force of character, along with his successful business career, has won for him a prominent place in the community in which he lives.

PAYNE, T.J. Mr. T. J. Payne was born in Norwich, Chenango county, N.Y., in 1839. He received, his education in the public schools of his native city, and at the age of eighteen he began an apprenticeship at carriage manufacturing, completing his term in three years. He then worked at his trade as journeyman, until the breaking out of the Civil War. During the years of 1862 – 64, Mr. Payne served the government in a. civic capacity, building bridges for the Army of the Cumberland, having fifty men under his charge.

In December, 1864, he removed to Warren county, Pa., where he engaged in the lumber business. Three years later he came to Tylersburg, Clarion county, where he has been engaged in the lumber business, and along with the same has conducted a mercantile business during most of the years of his residence in this county.

He has been interested in the oil business since 1872, and since 1880 has had interests in the Bradford oil field, which have engaged a portion of his attention up to the present time.

In 1858 Mr. Payne married Miss L.L. Lewis, of Broome county, N.Y., who continued to share with her husband the vicissitudes of life until her death in October, 1885.

While at Tylersburg, Mr. Payne erected a fine residence, but after occupying it two years he sold it on account of the ill health of Mrs. Payne, and in company with his wife visited a number of cities and watering-places in the hope of restoring her health. In August, 1886 he married Miss M.E. Hicks, of Clarion county. During the present year (1887) he purchased from the Arthurs Coal and Lumber Company their extensive property in Paint township, and on the first of April moved to Arthurs to take personal charge of this business. Mr. Payne has been successful in his business career, and by his integrity and executive ability has attained a high position in the estimation of his neighbors.

REYNOLDS, DAVID, was born in Kittanning, Armstrong county, Pa., October 12, 1840, and received his education in Turtle Creek, and Sewickly Academy in Allegheny county. His father, Alexander Reynolds, was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., in 1808, and married Martha Deniston, of Indiana county, Pa., in 1838, to whom were born David, Sarah D. (Cunningham), John D., (at present a partner in Redbank Furnace), Ellen T. (Thompson), Eliza P., who married Captain Mays, now in the regular army; and Alexander, Jr., living in Kittanning. He, in company with Ritchey, built Redbank Furnace, in Armstrong county. It is located about eight miles above the mouth of Redbank Creek. He afterwards became a partner in Redbank Furnace, in Clarion county, Pa. He was a substantial business man, and thoroughly understood the manufacture of iron, and the management of furnaces. Died in October, 1881.

David Reynolds married Martha M. Detrich, of Birmingham, Huntingdon county, Pa., January 31, 1867, by whom he has had two sons and two daughters, all living – Sarah D., Harry A., Kizzie D., and David, Jr. In 1859 Mr. Reynolds came to the present site of Redbank Furnace, where he has lived ever since, taking charge of the store and superintending the building of the furnace, in which he was a partner. He has had the general management of all connected with the furnace through all its changes in ownership, improvements, etc., a position which he still holds.

The firm known as McCullough & Reyonlds purchased at and about the mouth of Redbank, in 1859, fifteen hundred acres of land rich in iron ore, coal, and fire-clay, and built the furnace during the same year. McCullough retired from the firm in 1865, John Moorhead buying his interest. Moorhead retired in 1879 and the firm became Alexander Reynolds & Sons. After the death of the senior member of the firm, it became David and John D. Reynolds, the present owners and managers. During the panic of 1873, and during all the fluctuations in the iron industry, this furnace under the efficient management of David Reynolds has stood the severest tests. During the Parker oil excitement he was engaged to some extent in the oil business, and is at present dealing in real estate in West Virginia. Though scarcely in the prime of life, yet he has already accomplished a fair life’s work. He is courteous to everybody, always trusted by the other members of the firm and all persons with whom he has dealt; his word is never questioned. His modesty, untiring energy, and excellent judgment, have been of value to him and all others with whom he has had business relations.

CRAIG, COLONEL CALVIN AUGUSTUS, One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. “Calvin Augustus Craig, third son of Washington and Nancy (Thompson) Craig, was born in Clarion county December 7, 1833. At an early age he gave evidence of an unusually active and studious mind, and, with only the advantages of the public schools, made rapid progress in learning, soon mastering the branches there taught. He was a careful reader, profiting by what he read, and was more intelligent and cultivated than many who possess all the advantages of a collegiate course. In the fall of 1858 he graduated from Duff’s Commercial College, Pittsburgh, Pa., having determined to devote himself to a business career, for which he was eminently fitted.”

Afterwards, in the spring of 1859, he spent some time in traveling in the South and Southwest, with a view to enlarging his knowledge by coming in contact with the citizens of these localities. Rev. James S. Elder (now pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Clarion), his friend and pastor, in the address delivered at Colonel Craig’s funeral, says of this trip:

“His opinions and criticisms showed how closely and narrowly he scanned the customs and views of the people among whom he sojourned, and proved him to be a shrewd and careful observer. He closely scrutinized the workings and influence of the institution of slavery. His observations, confirming what every intelligent man knows to be true, that whoever seeks to degrade the low himself must sink. He had witnessed the evil, workings of slavery himself, and ever afterwards cherished an increased antipathy to the inhuman institution.”

On his return from this trip he engaged in lumbering, afterwards engaging in the mercantile business with his father, at Greenville, Clarion county. His success in both these enterprises showed him eminently fitted for a business career. But when the tocsin of war rang through the land, his soul was filled with patriotic ardor, and he at once enlisted in Captain A.A. McKnight’s company of three months men, and at the close of that term of service he returned home and recruited a company in Clarion county for Colonel McKnight’s regiment, which company was known as Company “C,” of the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, his commission as captain bearing date of September 6, 1861. On the 29th of May he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy, made vacant by the resignation of Colonel Corbet, and to colonel, May 4, 1863, upon the death of the gallant McKnight, his friend and cousin, whom he deeply mourned. In asking his promotion, General Graham, commanding the First Brigade, First Division of the Third Corps, to which the One Hundred and Fifth was attached, wrote to Governor Curtin as follows:

“Colonel A.A. McKnight, of the 105th Regiment Pa. Vols., having been killed while gallantly leading his men in a charge against the enemy, on which occasion Lieutenant-Colonel Calvin A. Craig succeeded him in command, and behaved with equal coolness and courage, I consider it a duty to the service to recommend that Lieutenant-Colonel Craig be promoted to the vacancy occasioned by the death of the heroic McKnight. In soliciting this promotion, I am influenced alone by a desire to keep up the high standard of the 105th Regiment, one of the noblest regiments in the United States service.”

That he was worthy of this confidence and capable of filling this responsible position, the conduct of Colonel Craig on many desperately fought fields bore witness. His heart was ever true to his country; his letters to his friends all breathed of this great devotion to the cause for which he was fighting. With him, duty was a watchword, and duty to his country paramount to all other considerations. This is exemplified in the following extract from a letter received from him by the writer, just after the fall of Colonel McKnight, and his own promotion:

“When I entered the army, during the three months service as a private, I did so because I thought it was a duty I owed my country. I have risen from the ranks to be colonel of this regiment; and as private, captain, and lieutenant-colonel, I think I have had but this one object in view, and that is to serve my country to the best of my ability. If I have failed, it has been an error of the head and not of the heart.”

Colonel Craig was ardently attached to the brave men of his command, and they in turn gave him their love, respect, and prompt obedience. This feeling of pride and confidence in the officers and men of his regiment is fully illustrated in the following extracts from letters written by him while in the service. In writing of the battle of Gettysburg, he says:

“The regiment never fought better in the world. It rallied some eight or ten times after all the balance of the brigade had left it. I could handle them just as well on that field of battle as though they had simply been on drill. This is a state of perfection in drill that is gained by but few regiments. Confidence on the part of officers and men in one another is what makes troops perfect. This is the case in this regiment. I have full confidence in my men, and I believe that they have confidence in their officers; that they will not ‘ask them to do anything that they are afraid to do themselves.”

Again, of the same battle:

“The regiment never did better. When they moved forward on the charge at ‘double-quick,’ and with scarcely an inch of difference in their glittering bayonets, every man at his post – oh! but I did feel proud of them. I know I have a kind of weakness for this regiment; for I tell you, it is a regiment to be proud of.”

In the same letter, in writing of the dangers attending his position, he says:

“I love my country, and am willing to fight for her; and, if needs be, to die for her.”

In writing of the battle of Auburn, he says:

“I know it is ‘in bad taste to write or talk about one’s self, and I suppose it is equally as bad to write or talk about one’s own regiment or company, and you may think that I write this in praise of my own regiment to make myself appear in a favorable light; but I trust that you, who know me so well, will not think so. When I speak of the regiment, I mean the regiment, and not myself People are at liberty to think of me as they will; but I do insist that the actions of the regiment shall appear in a proper light, whether that places me in an honorable or disgraceful position. I will close this by simply saying that the One Hundred and Fifth is one of the best regiments in the service. At the affair at Auburn, no men could have behaved better, and the officers equally as well; in fact, not a man shrank from duty, but each stood up manfully, as if the destiny of the Republic rested on his individual shoulders.”

These extracts go to show the true patriotism of the man, and the unselfishness of his character, for he was no reckless adventurer, but one for whom the ties that bound him to his home were of the strongest nature. On the 1st of February, 1864, while at home on veteran furlough, after the re-enlistment of his regiment, Colonel Craig was married to Miss Elmira J. Craig, of Greenville, Clarion county, and when he again returned to the field it was not only affectionate parents and fond sisters and brothers, but a loving wife, the bride of a few short weeks, with whom he was called to part.

Colonel Craig was in all the battles in which his regiment took part, from the siege of Yorktown to that of Petersburg, with the exception of the battles of Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, when he was at home on account of wounds. He was wounded in the head slightly during the Seven Days battles before Richmond; at the Second Bull Run his horse was killed, and he was severely wounded in the ankle; at Gettysburg he had three horses shot under him; at the battle of the Wilderness he was shot in the face, severing the facial artery, and but for the devotion of some of his men, who, for thirty-six hours, stood with fingers pressed to the wound, until he could obtain surgical aid, he would have bled to, death; at the siege of Petersburg he was slightly wounded in the shoulder by a piece of shell; and at the battle of Deep Bottom, Va., August 16, 1864, while in command of the Second Brigade, Third Division of the Second Corps, he was mortally wounded in the head, and lingered in unconsciousness until the next day, when he redeemed his pledge to “die, if needs be,” for his country.

Colonel Craig’s remains were taken in charge by his young brother, J.H. Craig, who had served with him all through the war, and sadly borne to his home, where, amid the tears and bitter grief of the young wife, who yet mourns her dead hero, and of the aged father and mother, brothers and sisters, who so dearly loved him, and the sorrow of the entire community, he was laid to rest in the shadow of the pines overlooking his boyhood’s home.(4*)

BARR, HON. W.W., was born in Penn’s Valley, Centre county, on the i5th day of February, 1827. In early life he worked on a farm and attended the public schools, and later attended Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, Pa. In August, 1850 he commenced the study of law in the office of Joseph Alexander, Esq., at Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pa., and two years afterwards was admitted to the bar of that county.

In April, 1853 he removed to Clarion, and began the practice of law, and soon acquired a lucrative business. After a residence here of one year Mr. Barr was elected district attorney of the county, and was re-elected in 1857. In 1861 he was elected county treasurer of Clarion county, serving two years, and in 1864 was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. He was re-elected in 1865 and served two full terms. He was again elected district attorney in 1869, and re-elected in 1872, having served in that office four terms, covering twelve years. He also served many years as a member of the town council of Clarion. In all these positions he served with integrity and ability.

In politics Mr. Barr has always been a Democrat, and an active worker. He was chairman of the County Committee as early as 1856 and has served in the same capacity several times since, as well as in that of delegate to County and State conventions. He has also on several occasions been a member of the State Central Committee of his party.

Mr. Barr has been a Mason since 1854, being a member of the lodge in Clarion. He served as master during the years 1859, ‘64, and ‘68, and was District Deputy Grand Master for the district composed of the counties of Armstrong, Cambria, Clarion, Indiana, and Jefferson, for the years 1868, ‘69, and ‘70, and has always been a close attendant on the meetings of the lodge, and taken an interest in the success of the fraternity.

On the 31St of March, 1859 he married Mary, daughter of Dr. J.T. Pritner, of Clarion. Two children, a son and a daughter, have blessed this union. The son died in infancy, and the daughter is married to W.A. Hetzel, of Allegheny.

Mr. Barr assisted in the organization of the first agricultural society in Clarion county, and was the first secretary of that association. For a number of years he has been a trustee of the Presbyterian Church of Clarion, and has been liberal in his contributions for charitable purposes.

Before the war, Captain Barr commanded a military company, and thus acquired the title by which he is generally known. In manner Mr. Barr is modest and pleasant, having a kind word for all whom he meets. These traits have made him many friends. Having earned the money to pay for his education, he may, truly be said to be a self-made man. By close application to business and judicious investments, he has gained a moderate competence, and his fair dealing has placed him in the front rank among the substantial business men of Clarion.

COLLNER, W.F., was born in Richland township, November 21, 1845. His early life was spent in the public schools of his native township, and at eleven years of age, along with his school duties he kept the books in his father’s store. He remained his father’s book-keeper until July, 1862, when he enlisted as a private soldier in Captain Charles Klotz’s Company (G), One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. After entering active service he was appointed fifth sergeant of his company, and was promoted successively to orderly sergeant, second lieutenant and first lieutenant. The last named grade he held when he was discharged June 2, 1865.

Mr. Collner commanded his company in several engagements, and participated with his regiment in the following pitched battles: Antietam, Fredericksburg, in which his brigade lost 1,760 out of 4,000; Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, where his division wrested Little Round Top from the enemy after a desperate struggle; Rappahannock Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness, on the fifth day of which battle he was wounded; Spottsylvania, Jericho Ford, Tolopotomy, Cold Harbor, Petersburg. In a single charge on the enemy’s works the regiment lost, in the space of ten minutes, eighty-three men in killed and wounded. The regiment was engaged in numerous severe actions during the siege of Richmond and Petersburg, as Reams Station, Peeble’s Farm, Hatcher’s Run, Dabney’s Mills, Deep Bottom, the Quaker Road, Gravelly Run, Five Forks, Sailor’s Creek, and Appomattox Court-House, in the last of which the regiment was in the skirmish line, and was hotly engaged when the word was brought that Lee had surrendered, and all fighting ceased. The subject of our sketch passed through all these battles, receiving two wounds, which attest his gallant service for his country.

He was discharged at the close of the war after serving within one month of three years, and on returning home he worked on his father’s farm, and assisted in the store until the autumn of the same year, when he went to Forest county to engage in the lumbering business.

November 14, 1866, he married Miss Celia F. Brandon, at Clarington, Forest county, Pa.

In April, 1868, he went to Salem, Clarion county, and there engaged in the mercantile business in which he continued with success until January, 1880, when he removed to Clarion to assume the duties of sheriff of Clarion county, to which office he had been elected the preceding November. He held the office three years, and at the expiration of the term he returned to Salem and resumed business in his old store.

In 1884 he was elected prothonotary of the county, which position he now holds. When he returned to Clarion to assume the duties of his new office, he erected a handsome residence on Wood street, and will probably make his home at the county seat for some time.

Mr. Collner has always been a Democrat in politics, and is an influential member of his party in the county. He is a genial companion, a trusty friend, and possesses many elements that combine to make him popular. As a business man he is industrious and attentive, and as a public officer he has, proved himself courteous and efficient.

BLACK, JACOB,(5*) was born in the State of Maryland on the 25th day of January, A.D., 1809. He was the son of Frederick and Mary Black, who emigrated to this State early in this century, first to Waynesburg, in Green county, and a year or two afterwards to Beaver township, Venango (now Clarion) county, Pa. Jacob was the next to the oldest of a family of five children, four boys and one girl. When he was not over eight years old his father was killed by the falling of a tree. His maternal grandfather, William Rupert, was the owner of the land on which Shippenville Furnace was afterwards erected, and which on his death became the property of his favorite grandson, Jacob Black, who has resided on the property ever since.

In 1832 John Shippen, Richard Shippen, and Jacob Black formed a co-partnership for the purpose of manufacturing pig metal and iron, and in 1833 the Shippenville Furnace was built, metal made and hauled to the Clarion River above the turnpike bridge, and run to Pittsburgh in boats. Some years afterwards the other partners bought out John Shippen’s interest, and the furnace was operated by Shippen & Black for many years. Jacob Black lived at the furnace, and was the active partner and manager. The firm built the forge a mile below on the creek, and made blooms and bar iron. A saw and grist-mill were erected, and a large number of hands found employment in cutting cord-wood, digging ore, burning charcoal, (all the smelting was done with charcoal), hauling coal, ore, and metal, and operating the works. The “furnace” became the market for all kinds of produce. Farmers came there with grain and marketing from all over the county. Money was paid out for everything and circulated throughout the county, and the “works” became an important factor in developing and improving the neighborhood around. By able management and careful financiering, the firm successfully weathered the disastrous times of 1837, 1847, and 1857. The partners became large real estate owners. At one time they bought three thousand acres of timber land on the upper waters of Paint Creek.

Mr. Black was recognized as one of the most successful and able iron masters in the county, and the poor or unfortunate had no better friend than he. Many of his workmen became farmers and property owners through his assistance and liberality. Although in years of great depression the firm lost money, it was more than made up in prosperous times, and throughout the years the furnace was operated the partners accumulated a handsome competence. On the 18th day of July, 1833, Mr. Black was married to Margaret, the sister of his partner, Richard Shippen. The issue of the marriage was nine children, five of whom, three boys and two girls, are still living. In 1859 the furnace blowed out, and the partnership was dissolved. At that time the firm owned a large amount of land in Beaver, Elk, and adjoining townships, and it was agreed that Mr. Shippen should make a division of all the real estate owned by the firm, and Mr. Black was to have the choice of the two parts into which it was divided. In this way an amicable partition of the property was made, and deeds were executed to each for his purpart. The awkward result of Mr. Black’s choice was that it left the house and property at the furnace, where Black lived, in Shippen’s division, but a subsequent trade again vested the homestead in Mr. Black, and he continues to live where he started in business almost sixty years ago. After retiring from the manufacture of metal he bought and sold real estate. The timber tract north of Shippenville, some fifteen hundred acres, was sold to Hahn, Metzgar & Wagner for about fifty thousand dollars.

When the First National Bank of Clarion was organized Mr. Black became a stockholder, has been an officer, and is now president of that institution.

When the oil excitement broke out in Clarion county he became an operator and producer in the vicinity of Edenburg and Shippenville, having wells drilled on his lands in several localities, and spending a considerable amount of money in developing new territory, and is still interested in that business. Being now in his seventy-ninth year, with impaired health, he has retired from active business, but still overseeing his private interests and discharging his duties as president, of the bank.

KLINGENSMITH, JOHN, was born August 26, 1809, in Westmoreland county, Pa. In 1811 his parents, Peter Klingensmith and Susannah (Kifer) Klingensmith, came to this county and settled near Madison Furnace. The following year they returned to Westmoreland county. In 1824 his father came again to this county and settled with his family, on what is now called the Cribbs farm, in Monroe township. After a few months’ residence here he removed to Williamsburg, and a year later to the Cathers farm. From thence he went to Reidsburg. During the residence of the family at Reidsburg the subject of this sketch, assisted by his brother Samuel, cleared a farm at Williamsburg, to which the family removed, and where they lived about twenty years.

In 1838 John Klingensmith was married to Catharine Smith, who was his faithful helpmate until 1885, when she died. They had four children, Celinda, Reuben, Fianna, and Clarissa, all of whom except the eldest are married.

Mr. Klingensmith’s public life began with his election as sheriff of Clarion county, in 1849, as an independent Democratic candidate. He served three years in this office, and at the expiration of his term removed to Westmoreland county and purchased the farm on which he was born. He remained about four months, then sold the farm and returned to. Clarion county. The following year he moved into Madison, in which township he has resided ever since.

Mr. Klingensmith has been both a farmer and a miller. He had charge of the grist-mill at Reidsburg one year, and of Corbett’s mill on Leatherwood for the same period. For eight years he had charge of the grist-mill at Madison Furnace. He has a well-improved farm, on which his homestead is, in Madison township. Along with farming he conducted the business of a saw-mill, near Corsica, Jefferson county, which he had built at a cost of about $10,000. He continued in the lumber business eight or nine years, until the memorable flood of 1865, by which he lost 300,000 feet of lumber in the Allegheny River, and soon after the mill was burned, entailing an additional loss.

Mr. Klingensmith is a respectable citizen, a true type of the early settlers of our county, and by his industry and enterprise has contributed much toward the development of Clarion county.

ARNOLD, MANASSEH.(6*) Manasseh Arnold was born in York county, Pa., September 17, 1830. In 1837 his parents removed to Clearfield county, Pa., which was then a comparative wilderness. The family was one of moderate means, and its members were subject to the privations incident to the lives of the pioneers of civilization. The facilities afforded the children for acquiring an education were of the most limited character, and had it not been that their father, Peter Arnold, was a man of superior learning for his time, and took great interest in the common school system then being introduced in the State, their education might have been entirely neglected. The instruction received at the primitive common school during the day was supplemented by the father’s supervision of the children’s studies in the evening, and in this manner the subject of this sketch acquired what would at the present time be considered a fair common school education.

Up to the age of sixteen years Mr. Arnold remained with his parents, assisting in clearing up a farm and tilling the ground for the maintenance of the family, when, in 1846, he left the parental roof to seek his fortune. Coming to Clarion county, he secured a position in a country store at a salary of seventy-two dollars per year, boarding furnished. After one year’s employment his salary was increased to one hundred and forty-four dollars, and subsequently to one hundred and ninety-two dollars per annum. His services were so satisfactory to his employer, Mr. James Laughlin, that on the 1st day of October, 1850 (Mr. Arnold then being in his twentieth year), that gentleman proposed a partnership on very favorable terms, which proposition, after due consideration, was accepted, and a partnership was formed under the firm name and style of Laughlin & Arnold, for the purpose of carrying on the mercantile, lumbering, milling, and boat building business, and dealing in live stock, at Leatherwood post-office, near St. Charles Furnace, Clarion county, Pa. About one year subsequent to the formation of this partnership, the senior member of the firm met with an accident in the flouring-mill, which nearly cost him his life, and for a long time incapacitated him for attending to business, although he eventually recovered sufficiently to assist to some extent in the minor affairs of the firm’s extensive dealings; yet he remained an invalid until the time of his, death, which occurred in 1870. Thus, in a great measure, the management of the large business to which the firm had already attained was assumed by the junior partner, and tarried on by him successfully until the death of his senior, a period of nearly twenty years.

On September 3, 1857, Manasseh Arnold was married to Amanda Ross McKelvey, second daughter of Thomas McKelvey, Esq., of New Bethlehem, Pa., and the young couple immediately went to house-keeping at the husband’s place of business. The union was a very happy one, and was followed by a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters, all of whom are living.

Mr. Arnold continued the business of merchandising, etc., at Leatherwood from the time of the death of Mr. Laughlin, in 1870, until December, 1875, when he disposed of his interests at that point, and in the following spring removed to the borough of Clarion, where he has since resided. This step was the result of the fact that in November, 1875, he had been elected prothonotary and clerk of the courts of Clarion county, in the face of one thousand majority adverse to his party. He assumed the duties of his office on the first Monday of January, 1876, and discharged the same to the entire satisfaction of the people until the expiration of his term, in 1879.

During that time and since, Mr. Arnold acquired valuable real estate in Clarion borough, upon which he has erected large and extensive buildings, and in various other ways has given evidence of commendable public spirit and enterprise. For several years he has been engaged in the dry goods business in Clarion, and has attained a leading position in the trade, while in connection with, other parties he owns large and profitable lumber interests on the Clarion River, in the northern part of the county.

WILSON, HON. J.H., was born in 1841, in Monroe township, Clarion county, on the farm where he lives, and which he has owned for a number of years. He received his education in the public schools of Monroe township and in Reid Institute, at Reidsburg, Pa. At sixteen he began teaching in the public schools, and followed that vocation until he was twenty years of age. Afterwards he engaged in the mercantile business, in which he continued for ten years.

In 1874 Mr. Wilson was elected a member of the House of Representatives in the Pennsylvania Legislature, and served two terms. For a number of years he has been a successful farmer, while at the same time he has extended his operations in other lines of business, which gave him a large acquaintance in this and adjoining counties.

In 1886 Mr. Wilson was nominated and elected State senator for the Thirty-eighth senatorial district, consisting of the counties of Cameron, Clarion, Elk and Forest. During the biennial session of 1887, just closed, he has served his constituents faithfully, and won the confidence and esteem of the people and his fellow senators.

His course in the performance of his legislative duties was such as to enable him to obtain for his constituents the enactment of such laws as they desired without delay of their bills either in committee or elsewhere, and thus he has proven himself useful to his people, as well as capable.

On September 18, 1866, Mr. Wilson married Miss Minerva J. Frampton, daughter of Samuel Frampton, and the years that have passed brought them conjugal happiness and worldly prosperity. Seven children, four boys and three girls have blessed, this union.

KEATING, JOHN, the subject of this sketch, was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., December 24, 1804, being the youngest of a family of seven, five sisters and two brothers; all now dead. John was the last survivor. In he came with his five sisters to Muninsville, Butler county, and in 1838 or ‘39 he removed with his family to Emlenton to engage in mercantile business. He formed a partnership with John Vensel in 1846, and erected Richland Furnace in this county, beginning the manufacture of charcoal iron the following year. This he prosecuted successfully for a number of years. About 1850 he moved with his family and took up his residence at the furnace, where he continued to live till his decease. In 1866 he was elected associate judge as a Democratic candidate, his term expiring 1871. Hon. Hugh Maguire was his colleague.

Judge Keating was conspicuously identified with the industrial interests of Richland township, and his correct and honorable business principles were rewarded by a comfortable income. At his death he was possessed of considerable real estate, much of it having proved valuable oil territory. In social life Mr. Keating was one of the pleasantest of men; of a kindly, and equable temperament, he always preserved agreeable relations with his fellow-men. He died as he had lived – a consistent Roman Catholic, January 1st, 1881, at the age of seventy-six. His wife, Catharine, daughter of Michael McCullough, deceased, of Pittsburgh, survives him. Of a family of seven children, three, two daughters and a son, Mr. Hugh Keating, of St. Petersburg, are now living.

STRATTAN, JOHN R., son of John and Sarah Strattan, was born near Haddanfield, N.J., October 21, 1807. He came with his father to what is now Strattanville in 1826, the village taking its name from this family.

John Strattan, Sr., was of English descent. After leaving the State of New Jersey he came to Ridgeway, Elk county, Pa., then a howling wilderness, where he remained about two years before coming to Clarion county, Pa. He bought the tract of land on which Strattanville now stands, from Philip Clover, September 15, 1826, and laid out the plan for the town in 1828. He was married twice. His second wife lived several years after his death. John R. was a son of his first wife, and Joseph S., who is still living, being at present seventy-three years of age, was born to his second wife. Mr. Strattan died in Strattanville March 26, 1857, in his eighty-fourth year. While on his death bed he offered a prayer for his wife and children. He had it written in order to leave them something to ponder over and look upon when he was gone. In his prayer he expressed his trust in the Savior, and committed his family to the love and care of Him who gave them life. He was an honest and upright business man, and a useful man in the, village bearing his name.

John R. Strattan, the subject of this sketch, married Mary Ann Barber, August 26, 1830. They had only one child, Charles B., who is yet living. On October 15, 1873, he married Emma Forguson, his first wife having died September 8, 1872, at the age of sixty-six years. This union was blessed with two sons, Harry F. and Curtis F., who are both live at present.

Mr. Strattan followed farming in the early part of his life. He taught school in Strattanville during the winter of 1845 – 46, and was justice of the peace for several years. In 1846 he engaged in the mercantile business in Strattanville, and continued thus engaged until 1873, when the store was transferred to his son, Dr. C.B. Strattan, who owns it at present. He was a heavy stockholder and a director in the First National Bank in Clarion at the time of his death, which occurred in Strattanville, January 8, 1881.

YEANY, JOHN, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., December 5, 1810. In 1814 his father, John Yeany, a native of Switzerland, came from Lancaster county to what is now Redbank township, Clarion county, where the subject of ,this sketch has made his home ever since. Mr. Yeany had little schooling, about six months all told, in the subscription schools of his day; yet, as we shall see presently, he was able to transact business on a large scale. He lived with his father until he was twenty-four years old, when he went into the forest to clear a farm for himself. Early in his career he would till his farm in the summer and work in the lumber-woods in the winter. Thus by close application to business and untiring industry he in time accumulated considerable property, which he increased by careful investment. Entering into the lumber business he bought large quantities of timber, which he sold at a good profit, realizing handsomely thereon His judgment never failed him, and no matter to what he turned his attention, his business sagacity enabled him to succeed in his enterprises. Among the several branches of business operated by him was the raising, buying and selling of cattle. This proved very remunerative as conducted by him.

Mr. Yeany married Miss Elizabeth Swartz in 1834. Fourteen children blessed this union, eight of whom are now living. Mrs. Yeany died in January, 1874. In June, 1875, Mr. Yeany married Susanna Edder, by whom he has five children, four living. Notwithstanding this large family of children he has been generous in aiding each one of them as they started in life.

Mr. Yeany is a quiet, unassuming citizen. He has never aspired to hold office, nor has he thirsted for fame. With a natural adaptability for business he has applied himself closely in looking after his own affairs, and with a spirit of enterprise and energy worthy of imitation he has established himself as one of the “solid” citizens of Clarion county.

SWENY, HON. JAMES, was born in Fayette county Pennsylvania, near Uniontown, the county seat; June 14, 1811. He is of Irish ancestry, his father, Charles Sweny, and his mother, Mary (Griffen) Sweny being natives of Ireland. He was brought up in the faith of the, Roman Catholic Church and has ever held that faith.

When he was six years old, his father moved with his family to Butler county, Pa. At the age of eighteen, James went to Butler town, where he served an apprenticeship at cabinet-making. He continued working at his trade and at carpentering until 1844, when he was elected justice of the peace in Clarion borough, whither he had came three years before.

For fifteen successive years, or three consecutive terms, Mr. Sweny served as justice, and, after an interval of ten years, was again elected to the same office, but only served one and one-half years, when he was chosen associate judge of Clarion county.

Judge Sweny held his office two full terms, or ten years, and vacated the bench, January 1st, 1882. Since the close of his official career, Mr. Sweny has led a retired life, and, with the exception of three trips across the continent, to Denver, Colorado, he has spent most of his time in the town where had served his neighbors in responsible positions during so many years.

Judge Sweny was one of the pioneers in the county seat of Clarion county, and is one of a very small number yet remaining who came here “when the town was in the woods.” His integrity and his careful attention to the business of the several public positions which he has filled have won for him the esteem of his fellow citizens.

* By F.J. Maffett.

** By L.L. Himes.

*** By F.J.Maffett.

(4*) Principally condensed from sketch of Colonel Craig, in History of One Hundred and Fifth Regiment P.V.

(5*) By F.S. Maffett.

(6*) By F.J. Maffett.

SOURCE:  Page(s) 631-664, History of Clarion County, A.J. Davis, A.J.; Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co. 1887

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