George H. Stevens

GEORGE H. STEVENS. The father of George H. Stevens, of Monessen, was born in London, England, his name being William H. Stevens. He was a millwright, and after his immigration to this country lived for some time in New York city. Thence he moved to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and for thirty years had charge of the machinery department in the establishment of Jones & Laughlin, of Pittsburg. His wife was Margaret Watters, a native of England, but of Scotch and Welsh extraction, and they were the parents of a son, George H., mentioned hereafter. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens both died in Allegheny.

George H. Stevens, son of William H. and Margaret (Watters) Stevens, was born September 6, 1862, in New York city, and received his education in the public and high schools of Pittsburg. In his eighteenth year he learned the trade of a glass mould-maker at which he was employed until the autumn of 1887, in Pittsburg. He was then appointed police inspector of the south side of the city, and retained the position until the autumn of 1889, when he resigned in order to accept a place in the internal revenue department of the United States government, serving under Collector Warncastle during the Harrison administration. He was retired in the autumn of 1893, after which he became the proprietor of the Hotel McKee, at Jeannette, conducting the establishment until June, 1903, when he moved to Monongahela City and there conducted the Commercial Hotel until April, 1905. He then took up his abode in Monessen in order to assume the duties of superintendent of the Independent Brewing Company, having the Homestead, Braddock, Monongahela City, Charleroi, and Monessen plants under his supervision.

While a resident of Jeannette he assisted in the organization of the Union Transfer Company, of which he is one of the directors. During the period of his residence in Monongahela City he was instrumental in the forming of the Monongahela City, Ellsworth & Washington Street Railway, in which company he has served as secretary and treasurer. He also aided in founding the Monongahela Oil and Gas Company and the Monongahela Hardwood Company, being one of the directors of the former and secretary of the latter. Still another enterprise in the organization of which he took a leading part is the Monongahela Valley Oil Company, with excavations at Marietta, Washington county, Ohio. In this company he holds the offices of secretary and treasurer. During the years in which he made his home in Jeannette he was actively engaged in politics, and in 1899 was chosen to represent his county in the state legislature, being re-elected in 1901 and 1903. Each time his majority increased, and he enjoys the distinction of being the only man who has ever succeeded himself twice from this county. During each session he served on a number of committees, among them the committee on appropriations, and in 1903 was chairman of the law and order committee. He is one of the trustees of Monongahela Lodge, of Fraternal Order of Eagles, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mount Moriah Lodge, Pittsburg, Pittsburg Encampment, and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, No. 486, of Jeannette, holding in the last named body the rank of past exalted ruler. Mr. Stevens married, June 10, 1894, Estella Clyde, daughter of Daniel and Sarah Ridenover, of Scottdale, and they are the parents of three children: William H., Daniel W., and George H., junior.

Source: History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Volume II, by John N. Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906, Page 261-2.
Transcribed by Carol C. Eddleman 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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