James H. Pool

JAMES H. POOL, of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, general manager of the Broadway Planing Mill Company, is a native of Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, born November 26, 1854. He is a son of Samuel and Sophia (Bierer) Pool, and grandson of Zachariah Pool and John Bierer. Zachariah Pool (paternal grandfather) was a native of eastern Pennsylvania, but in his younger days crossed the mountains and located in Westmoreland county, where he devoted his attention entirely to agricultural pursuits until his death in 1881, at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. John Bierer (maternal grandfather) was a native of Germany, from whence he came to America, locating in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, being one of the earliest settlers in the vicinity of Greensburg. His death occurred in 1849, he having attained a ripe old age. Samuel Pool (father) was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he successfully conducted extensive farming operations, from which he derived a comfortable livelihood and a fair competence for his declining years. He was a member of the English Lutheran church, and a worthy citizen of the community in which he resided. His wife, whose maiden name was Sophia Bierer, died in 1887, and he then made his home with his son, Zachariah T. Pool, at Greensburg.

James H. Pool was reared on his father's farm, and his boyhood was spent in attending school in the winter and assisting with the varied duties of the farm during the remainder of the year. When seventeen years of age he left his home and went to Greensburg in order to learn the trade of carpenter, and for five years thereafter worked at the same, having located at Manor station some eight miles from the county seat. In the fall of 1879 he took up his residence in Scottdale and formed a partnership with Samuel J. Zearley, the firm name being Zearley & Pool. They engaged in the planing mill business, and in their extensive mill and factory, which were brick buildings, equipped with the finest and most improved modern machinery, and operated by a large force of skilled mechanics, they manufactured doors, sash, blinds, frames, floors, siding, etc. In 1894 Mr. Pool purchased the interest of his partner and operated the plant alone for two years, at the expiration of which time he disposed of the business to Corral Brothers. In 1897 he accepted the office of general manager of the Broadway Planing Mill Company, in which capacity he is serving at the present time (1905). Mr. Pool is one of the most enterprising citizens of Scottdale, bears a full share in the promotion of community interests, and has won for himself an exceptional record for strictest integrity and uprightness. He is a member and trustee of the Presbyterian church of Scottdale, and holds membership in the Royal Arcanum and the Protected Home Circle. Mr. Pool was married September 24, 1885, to Ellen Rainer, daughter of A. L. Rainer, of Scottdale, and two children have been born to them, Edna B. and Gertrude R. Pool. Mrs. Pool, the mother of these children, died November 22, 1895.

Source: Page(s) 172-173, History of Westmoreland County, Volume II, Pennsylvania by John N Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906.
Transcribed May 2007 by Nathan Zipfel for the Westmoreland County History Project
Contributed for use by the Westmoreland County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/westmoreland/)

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