John P Knell
JOHN P. KNELL, a resident of Burrell township who has been engaged as engineer by the Philadelphia Gas Company for thirteen years and also has a farm in the township, was born there Feb. 2, 1878, and is a son of John and Sophia Ellen (Woodside) Knell.
John Knell, the father, was born Nov. 13, 1848, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, son of Jacob and Catherine (Poffinberger) Knell, who brought him to America when he was seven years old. His mother had relatives in Baltimore, Md. The family located in the city of Allegheny, Pa., later moving to Birmingham (south side), Allegheny Co., Pa., and Jacob Knell was among the earliest glass workers at that place. In time he moved his family to Moon township, Allegheny county, and from there to Ross township, that county, being engaged in farming near Hulton, on White Oak Levels, for a time, and later for many years at Cochran Mills, in Armstrong county, remaining there until he sold out, when he settled at Leechburg, Armstrong county. He has made his home there since 1910.
On July 15, 1875, Mr. Knell married Sophia Ellen Woodside, who was born Aug. 7, 1858, in Jefferson county, Pa., where her father, Nathan Woodside, was a farmer and lumberman. Her mother, whose maiden name was Rebecca Sheasley, was born in western Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Knell have had the following children: Ann Catherine is married to Jesse P. Remaley, of Burrell township; John P. is mentioned below; Louis George married Mary (Molly) Rupert, who died leaving four children, three sons and one daughter; Nathan Emanuel married Edna Herron, of Bethel township, and they have two children, both boys; Pearl married Lee Hancock, of Bethel township, and has four children, three sons and one daughter; Daniel R. married Jessie Woodward, of Burrell township, and they have three children, all daughters; Winfield Clair lives with his parents at Leechburg. Three of the sons are employed on the electric line, one is in the employ of the Philadelphia Gas Company, and one in the employ of the Ford City Gas Company.
John P. Knell, son of John and Sophia Ellen (Woodside) Knell, was reared in Burrell township, and there received his education, and he has been interested in farming there for a number of years, owning a farm of thirty acres. For thirteen years he has been in the employ of the Philadelphia Gas Company, in the capacity of engineer. He is an industrious and much respected man in his neighborhood, and is considered one of the reliable citizens of the community.
On Jan. 27, 1898, Mr. Knell was married to Maud Wareham, of Bethel township, this county, daughter of Smith and Estella (Robb) Wareham, of that township, where her father is a prominent farmer, owning a valuable tract of seventy-five acres. Mr. and Mrs. Knell have had several children, born as follows: Laverne J., March 10, 1899; Althea, Feb. 13, 1901; Paul, Jan. 17, 1903; Lester, May 13, 1905; Matilda, Sept. 26, 1907, Laurine, Nov. 26, 1909; and Robert T., March 2, 1912. Mr. Knell and his family attend the Bethel Lutheran Church.
Source: Pages 691-692. Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J. H. Beers Co., 1914.
Transcribed September 1998 by Carl Waltenbaugh for the Armstrong County Beers Project.
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