Armstrong County PA Archives Biographies.....Ralston, John January 30, 1807 - August 24, 1879
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Source: History of Armstrong County, Chicago: Waterman, Watkins and Co. 1883.
Author: Robert Walter Smith, Esq.

  ...Concerning the ancestors of the subject of this 
biography but little need be here said, as they have 
prominent places elsewhere in this volume.  His father, 
David Ralston, a pioneer of Scotch-Irish descent, settled in 
Plum Creek township, Armstrong county in 1800, and met with 
a tragical death nine years later.  His grandfather, upon 
the maternal side, was the famous Capt. Andrew Sharp, an 
officer in the revolutionary army, who, coming from 
Cumberland county to what is now Indiana county, settled 
near the Armstrong line in 1784, and subsequently had some 
thrilling adventures with the Indians.  His mother, Agnes 
Sharp, second daughter of the gallant captain, born February 
21, 1785 - the first white child who had its nativity in the 
region - was married to David Ralston in 1803.  John Ralston 
was their third son, and was born January 30, 1807, in Plum 
Creek township.  His life was spent upon the farm which was 
his birthplace, and in the near-by village of Elderton; but 
although thus passing his days in rural or semi-rural 
quietude, and never seeking public honor, he became one of 
the best known citizens of Armstrong county.  As he was also 
one of the most respected and much loved, it is fitting that 
these pages should contain a few lines to revive the 
recollection of those who knew him, and convey some idea of 
the man to those who come after.

  His life was without important events - unless we call 
important those seemingly little incidents which tend to 
develop the sturdy character - to make the manly man.

  When about 22 years of age he entered the dry-goods store 
of William Lytle at Elderton as clerk, and he doubtless 
exhibited in that capacity the qualities in embryo which 
eventually made him the successful man of business or we 
find that he was taken into partnership in 1832.  This 
partnership was dissolved in 1838, and Mr. Ralston 
immediately opened a business house of his own, which he 
carried on with signal ability and success.  Keeping apace 
with the growing wants of the people, he increased his 
business until he made it tributary to the patronage from 
the farmers for many miles in every direction.  Fair and 
honorable dealing made him extremely popular.  He procured 
for and supplied to the agricultural population everything 
they needed, and in return bought and shipped their produce 
of all kinds.

  We will remark here that upon June 26, 1833, Mr. Ralston 
was united in marriage with Miss Jane Sloan, of Blairsville. 
 Through her good management and good judgment, she was a 
very efficient helper to Mr. Ralston in his efforts.  His 
business required him to be much away from home, and thus 
more than usual care and responsibility fell to her, which 
she proved fully competent to assume. Their family consisted 
of four sons - Andrew S., now in Titusville; D. Alexander, 
now a citizen of Kittanning; William M. and Thomas N., both 
residents of Elderton.

  These sons, as they arrived at suitable age, were taken 
into the business by their father, and thus obtained a 
practical knowledge of business affairs, and a successful 
start in life.

  Mr. Ralston was identified with the business of producing 
petroleum from the time of its discovery on Oil creek, and 
was one of the original members of the Ralston Oil Company, 
which consisted of himself, his brother and the Kirkpatricks 
of Pittsburgh.  Later in life he was a member of the 
wholesale house of Romberger, Long & Co., of Philadelphia.  
He as one of the original stockholders in the Indiana County 
Deposit Bank, of Indiana; had an interest in the banking 
house of John Ralston and Co., of Elderton, and also in the 
Fairview Deposit Bank.

  Mr. Ralston was far too large a man to be successful in 
naught but business. His life was a blessing upon the 
community in which he lived, and one rich in good results, 
material and moral, to individuals and to society.  His 
kindly counsel was the impetus of many a good career entered 
upon by young men, and his influence was one which had much 
effect upon men who were abreast of him in the march through 
years.  His liberality was proverbial.  He was one of the 
original members of the Elderton United Presbyterian church, 
and until the close of his life one of its strongest 
supporters.  For a number of years he sustained with a few 
others an advanced school, and he was afterward one of the 
promoters and steadfast friends of the Elderton academy.  
Public-spirited in a high-degree, he was the leader in 
almost, and the hearty assistant in all, measures for the 
good of the people among whom he dwelt.  His own farms - he 
owned several - were among the best improved in the county, 
and the same spirit of neatness and order which made them so 
led him to take advanced steps in beautifying and 
practically benefiting the village of Elderton. Ever a 
friend of peace and harmony, he stopped many a lawsuit by 
his friendly intercession.  His intervention was effective 
because he was highly esteemed by all who knew him.  Owing 
to his unswerving integrity he was often called upon to act 
in the capacity of arbitrator when difficulties arose 
between people in the neighborhood.

  One of the marked characteristics of the subject of our 
sketch was his faculty of close observation and reflection 
upon what he saw.  The difficulty attending the shipment of 
petroleum during the early years of its production set him 
to thinking whether some more economic method might not be 
devised than that of barreling it.  He was not long in 
arriving at the idea of building tanks upon platform cars.  
Not long afterward, the plan occurring to someone else, such 
tanks were constructed and proved a success.  He traveled 
much, was quite an assiduous reader, and by these and other 
means he secured the varied stock of information which 
proved a greater education to him than many possessed who 
had better school advantages.

  Politically Mr. Ralston was a republican and an active 
worker in politics. Although frequently urged to become a 
candidate for the higher offices, he was unwilling, by 
accepting them, to break in upon a successful business 
career, for which he considered himself better adapted.

  He took a warm interest in the prosecution of the war, and 
aided, by his influence, the raising of troops in his 
vicinity.  He personally took supplies to the troops, 
visiting them in Virginia, and later, during the invasion of 
Pennsylvania, he accompanied to the field a company raised 
in the immediate vicinity of Elderton, and went with the 
organization subsequently to Ohio, where it was engaged in 
the movements which led to the capture of Morgan. Although 
not subject to the draft, he paid a large bounty to one man 
and sent him into the field, as in a certain sense his 
representative, for which he received an acknowledgment from 
the government in the form of a diploma. The death of John 
Ralston occurred at his tome in Elderton, August 24, 1879, 
and was preceded by that of his wife, who died August 9, 
1874.

  The following tribute to the memory of John Ralston is contributed by Judge
  James B. Neale:
  
  Experience shows that a successful career is often denied 
to some, not on account of natural deficiencies unfitting 
them for every vocation, but because of special 
disqualification for certain kinds of labor or enterprise.  
We often recognize in the successful, even distinguished 
professional man, one who has utterly failed in other 
undertakings, and as often we discover in the professions 
men who have wholly mistaken their calling.  They fail, and 
we attribute their want of success to general incompetency.  
A criterion of success in any pursuit, in a majority of 
cases, is adaptation.  This, in the individual instance of 
John Ralston, was peculiarly true; his was a successful 
career, because he was admirable adapted, by natural 
inclination and talent, to the duties which he had 
undertaken.  He was essentially a business man, and whether 
his field of labor was limited or extended, he was bound to 
succeed, and he was as certain in the end to embrace all 
that his circumstances and surroundings would admit of - 
even if a whole community must be built up to accomplish 
that result.
  
  He made business a study, and life and experience was a 
constant development of business capacity.  He did not wait 
for opportunities; he created them.  Out of the unpromising 
materials of an inland rural village he developed sources of 
income, thrift and enterprise.  The mere trading that could 
be carried on in a village store did not satisfy him.  He 
reached out for more, and a whole section of country 
responded.  He made a market for the entire productions of a 
wide extent of country, and in order to increase that 
production and to improve its quality to the highest 
standard, he took a personal interest in the seed that was 
planted, and in all the stock that was raised upon every 
farm.  He instilled into the mind of every man the true idea 
that it cost but little more, and that only in the original 
outlay, to produce the superior qualities of grain or to 
raise the better grades of stock than the inferior.  He 
managed his own farms upon this principle, and the example 
was widely contagious.  He did not barter with his neighbors 
by the narrow methods usually pursued, but dealt with them 
always with a view to their own advantage as well as his 
own; by allowing higher prices for the better articles, he 
made it an inducement to excel, and excited a competition 
that produced most beneficial results. Standing at the head 
of the community in which he lived, his influence was felt 
in every direction; the higher grade of schools were 
established and liberally patronized, churches were erected, 
and religious observances earnestly encouraged.  In the 
course of time he was recognized as the arbitrator of all 
disputes among his neighbors, and by his instrumentality 
litigation and strife were measurable restrained.  In nearly 
everything his counsel was sought, and his advice implicitly 
followed.  It was so fully understood that he was acting for 
the good of all, that in everything he did his conduct was 
beyond cavil, and his influence prevailed at all times with 
old and young alike, and when death finally laid his hand 
upon him to remove him from a filed of so much usefulness, 
it was regarded as a bereavement to every household - the 
taking off of its truest, most devoted benefactor.


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