[p. 513] one of Pulaski Township's best known and most respected citizens, residing on his birthplace farm, a valuable tract of 111 acres, was born October 25, 1826, and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Uber) Heasley.
Daniel Heasley was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where his father had settled when he came from Germany to America. Pulaski Township was still a great body of timber land, through which ran no highways and where few settlers had yet ventured, when Daniel Heasley first settled there, where his whole subsequent life was spent, his death taking place on the last day of December, 1849. He married Mary Uber, who was also of German extraction but born in Westmoreland County, and they had twelve children born to them. A number of these lived into old age, one son, Joseph, who died at Pulaski, September 18, 1907, being in his ninetieth year, but only two of the original family that once filled the pioneer cabin to overflowing survive, these being Benjamin and Mary. The latter is the widow of Ebenezer Thompson, late of Mercer County, and she has passed her eighty-ninth birthday.
Benjamin Heasley has been a lifelong resident of Pulaski Township and has witnessed many wonderful changes. His education was obtained in the subscription schools, which laid the foundation on which Mr. Heasley has built up a great fund of general information. He has never cared to do anything else than farm and his well cultivated acres show that during his active years he was a very thorough tiller of his many acres.
On March 25, 1852, Mr. Heasley was married (first) to Eliza Paden, of Beaver County. Her father, Thomas Paden, moved to Pulaski Township in 1845. Three children were born to this marriage, namely: Thomas P., residing in Metropolis, Illinois; Mary M., wife of John Ray, residing at New Castle, and Ella M., who is deceased. On December 8, 1896, Mr. Heasley was married (second) to Miss Rose Elder, of Slippery Rock, Butler County. Her parents, John and Susan (Roberts) Elder, were natives of Lawrence County, but they moved to Slippery Rock prior to her birth. Mrs. Heasley has two surviving sisters: Sarah, who is the wife of Henry Arblaster, of Slippery Rock, Butler County, and Elizabeth, who is the wife of William Rice, of Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Heasley has the following grandchildren: Clair Buchanan, who is a son of Luther and the late Ella M. (Heasley) Buchanan, resides with his uncle, John Ray, at No. 168 Locust Street, New Castle; Benjamin L. and Harold M. are sons of John and Mary (Heasley) Ray and reside at New Castle; Effie, who is the daughter of Thomas P. Heasley, is the wife of William Wright, of Chicago, Illinois.
In his political views Mr. Heasley is a Republican with strong Prohibition tendencies, having always been a man of temperance principles. He is a valued member of the Christian Church at Pulaski. Mrs. Heasley belongs to King's Chapel, Methodist Episcopal Church.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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Updated: 31 Oct 2001