M.J. McQuade
M.J. McQUADE , president of the Ben Franklin Coal company, of Freeport, was born Nov. 16, 1863, in Scotland, a son of Peter and Catherine (Nickol) McQuade.
Peter McQuade came to America in 1870, bringing his family with him, and settled in Mansfield, Pa., where he followed coal mining until his retirement. This excellent man died in 1893, and his wife in 1903. They had nine children, eight of whom are living. Peter McQuade was a devout Catholic. The Democratic party had his political support.
M.J. McQuade left school when ten years old to work at the coal mines. Later he became a coal miner and continued in that line of work until 1903, when he took charge for the Dunbar Furnace Company as a foreman in the mines, being thus employed for three years. He then came to Freeport in 1907, and engaged as mine foreman for the Kerr Coal Company, holding that position from 1907 to 1911. Mr. McQuade is one of the Ben Franklin Coal Company, of which he became president in 1907, and still retains that important office. This company has extensive coal mines at Moundsville, W. Va., and Braeburn and Metcalf, Pa. He devotes the greater part of his time to attending to the affairs of his company, and as he has spent his life in this line of work has gained valuable experience, profitable to his fellow stockholders. His judgment, being based upon a practical knowledge of the business from the bottom up, is expert, and is relied upon by others in the same line. Mr. McQuade was married Dec. 25, 1883, to Rachel McMillan, daughter of John and Ellen McMillan, and nine children were born to this union. Mrs. McQuade died in 1898. On April 9, 1901, Mr. McQuade was married (second) to Agnes Jenken. Mr. and Mrs. McQuade have had three children, but only two survive, James D. and Mary. Mr. McQuade is independent in politics. He is a Catholic in religious faith. Always a hard-working man, he has risen through sheer ability, and can take justifiable pride in what he has accomplished during his useful life.Source: Pages 676-677, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 2001 by Lisa Strobel for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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