Bios: R Surnames: Gresham and Wiley, 1889: Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, Fayette Co, PA
Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Marta Burns.
marta43@juno.com
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial
individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all
notices and submitter information is included. Any other
use, including copying files to other sites requires
permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to
any other sites. We encourage links to the state and
county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/
______________________________________________________________________
Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia
of Fayette County, Pennsylvania
editorially managed by John M. Gresham
assisted in the compilation by Samuel T. Wiley, A Citizen of the County
Compiled and Published by John M. Gresham & Co. Chicago: 1889
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/fayette/gresham.htm Table of Contents.
______________________________________________________________________
NOTE: "Brnv & Bdgpt" stands for "Brownsville and Bridgeport"
NAME LOCATION PAGE
Rankin, William Uniontown 214
Ransom, George Dunbar 469
Reagan, R S, Dr Dunbar 469
Redburn, James Thomas Uniontown 582
Reid, J M Connellsville 471
Reid, Jesse Uniontown 216
Reppert, Curtis Washington 376
Ridgeway, J F Dunbar 472
Righter, J W, Rev Brnv & Bdgpt 290
Ritenour, Joseph K Uniontown 218
Ritenour, R V Stewart 572
Robinson, Albert Dunbar 472
Robinson, F C, Dr Uniontown 215
Robinson, Eleazer Miscellaneous 592
Robinson, Harold L Uniontown 218
Robinson, James, Col Georges 521
Robinson, J T Georges 522
Robinson, William L Uniontown 217
Roley, J T Washington 376
Ross, G W Springhill 291
Ross, R H Springhill 291
Rosser, Milton Tyrone 376
Ruble, J C Springhill 292
Ruble, Jacob Georges 525
Rush, C W Tyrone 377
p214
WILLIAM RANKIN was born February 20, 1841, in North Union township,
Fayette county, Penna, on the old Rankin homestead which has belonged to
a Rankin by the name of William for four generations.
William Rankin, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at the
Rankin homestead September 25, 1800. He was a whig in his younger days
but became a democrat in 1856. He died March 27, 1877. His father and
grandfather owned the present Rankin homestead.
Eliza Junk, daughter of John Junk of North Union township, was the
mother of the subject of this sketch. She was born April 13, 1807, and
was married February 1831, to William Rankin. They had four children:
John Rankin; William Rankin; Samuel Rankin and Hugh Rankin.
John Junk, the father of Eliza Junk, was married to Sarah Preston. He
was an elder in the United Presbyterian church, was a prosperous farmer,
and left large tracts of land to his children. He voted for General
Washington for president.
The subject of this sketch was brought up on a farm and was educated in
the common schools of North Union township. His business is farming which
he has followed all of his life. He owns a finely improved farm, where he
resides and owns valuable property in Uniontown.
On November 19, 1861, he was married to Miss Martha B Hurst by Rev B P
Ferguson. Mrs Rankin was a daughter of Nathaniel G Hurst, and was born
April 1, 1843.
They have six children living, two boys and four girls: Mary Eliza
Rankin, born June 15, 1863, married to John F Hankins of Uniontown;
William H Rankin, born February 18, 1865, engaged in teaching: Isaac
Rankin, born Mary 4, 1867; Frances Rankin, born February 12, 1869,
married to Albert R Craig; Ida M Rankin, born January 21, 1873, attending
school, living at home; and Daisy M Rankin, born December 16, 1880.
In politics Mr Rankin is a staunch democrat and is a strong temperance
man. He holds the office of supervisor in a strong republican township.
p469
GEORGE RANSOM, of Irish extraction and a veteran soldier of the late
Civil War, was born in Dunbar township, Fayette county, Penna, July 31,
1833.
He was educated in the subscription schools; at an early age he
emigrated to Illinois where he was engaged in farming for four years, and
then spent the succeeding year in traveling through Kansas and Colorado.
In 1860 he returned to Illinois and resumed farming.
After the defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, he was among the first
that responded to President Lincoln's call for troops to suppress the
"Great Rebellion." He enlisted in Company B, Thirty seventh Regiment
Illinois Infantry, or Fremon Rifles, commanded for a time by General
Black, ex-commissioner of pensions. Mr Ransom, after two years' service,
was made drum major and was in the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove,
at the siege of Vicksburg, served in Louisiana under Banks, and was
stationed for some time in Texas on the Rio Grande river.
After the war closed, he returned to Dunbar township and engaged in
various kinds of business until 1872, when he took charge of the ferry on
the Youghiogheny river between Dawson and East Liberty. In 1882 he
retired from the ferry and engaged for five or six years in several
different pursuits. He is now living a retired life in East Liberty.
In 1865 he married Margaret Hannan, daughter of John and Nancy Hannan,
both natives of Fayette county and living near the borough of Dunbar. Mr
and Mrs Ransom have one child, a daughter Maude Ransom, who married
William Gillespie, and has one child, a son George W Gillespie, born
March 2, 1889.
George Ransom is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church at
Vanderbilt, and is a peace-loving and law-abiding citizen.
p469
Dr ROBERT S REAGAN, a rising and progressive physician and coroner of
Fayette county, is a son of Philip Reagan and Rose Ann Martin Reagan, and
was born in Bullskin township, Fayette county, Penna, March 26, 1852.
His great grandfather, Philip Reagan, was a Scotch Irishman, an early
settler of Westmoreland county where he laid out the town of Reagantown
which was named in honor of him. He lived to the remarkable age of 109
years.
One of his sons, Alexander Reagan, Dr Reagan's grandfather, was a potter
by trade, a whig in politics, a popular man, and for half a century
served in some one of the township offices.
His son, Philip Reagan, married Rose Martin, a daughter of Frederick
Martin and a native of Maryland. She died in 1883 at eighty years of age.
Her father was a farmer and came to Fayette county where he died in 1867.
Dr Robert S Reagan was reared principally on a farm, educated in the
common schools, Mt Pleasant Institute, and Waynesburg College and was
graduated from the latter in the class of 1876. He read medicine with Dr
J J Singer of Connellsville, attended lectures at Jefferson Medical
College at Philadelphia and was graduated from that school in the spring
of 1880.
In May, 1880, he began the practice of medicine at Broad Ford and has
successfully continued there in the practice of his profession up to the
present time. He enjoys a good and paying practice.
He was married in 1881 to Miss Hattie Stacy, daughter of William Stacy
who is a well-to-do farmer. They have three children: Roy S Reagan; Edna
S Reagan; and Frank S Reagan.
In politics he is a democrat and takes an active part in the interests
of his party. In 1886 he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Dr
John Batton as coroner of Fayette county. In the fall of the same year he
was elected coroner and is now serving very satisfactorily in that
office. In 1881 he established his present successful drug and grocery
store in Broad Ford. Dr Reagan is a member of the Masonic fraternity and
the Improved Order of Heptasophs. He is pleasant and gentlemanly and a
well read and skillful physician.
p582
JAMES THOMAS REDBURN was born in Masontown, Fayette county, Penna, May
19, 1822, and was a son of James Tully Redburn and Rebecca Harrison
Redburn. He is early life displayed an unusual aptitude for business and
during several years of his minority was connected with Zalmon Ludington
in the leather trade at Addison, Penna.
In 1848 he married Harriet Ann Ludington, youngest daughter of Mr
Ludington and shortly after removed to Washington, Penna, where he
embarked in the boot and shoe trade. In 1850 he came to Uniontown and
reassociated himself with Zalmon Ludington in the boot, shoe and tanning
business which he carried on successfully for a number of years. In 1858
he was chosen cashier and manger of the Uniontown banking house of John
T Hogg. This soon after became the banking house of Isaac Skiles Jr, Mr
Redburn continuing as its cashier.
In 1863 he became one of the incorporators of the First National Bank of
Uniontown, Penna, which succeeded I Skiles Jr, which opened for business
May 2, 1864. He was elected a director and a cashier, to the positions of
which he was unanimously re-elected year after year until his death which
occurred at his residence in Uniontown, Wednesday evening, May 23, 1877.
He was also one of the originators of the Uniontown & West Virginia
Railroad Company and was its treasurer. He was also instrumental in
starting the Uniontown Wooden Manufacturing Company, one of the few
manufacturing establishments Uniontown could boast of and now unluckily
destroyed by fire, and was its treasurer.
It was, however, as a bank officer that James T Redburn was most widely
known. To that position of cashier and director he brought tact and
wisdom second to none in the county. He possessed in an eminent degree
those sterling qualities of truth and justice, honor and temperance,
which drew to him by the most endearing ties of affection a large circle
of friends wherever he went and wherever he was known, throughout his
entire life.
Reserved, quiet, unostentatious he was dearly loved and thoroughly
relied upon by the numerous friends and customers who sought his advice.
A statement from his lips needed no investigation to test its accuracy.
Statements of rumors that found credence through current gossip he met
with thorough but not effusive detestation, and those most intimately
associated with him bear testimony to the silence with which he treated
subjects regarding which he had only the information of rumor.
He preferred to leave the impression that he had no knowledge of a
subject rather than give credence to a statement he did not know to be
absolutely true. In this as well as in many other particulars Mr Redburn
exerted an influence that was manly, noble, generous, and
self-sacrificing and that bore most bountiful fruit through his many warm
friendships throughout Fayette and adjoining counties. In his private and
home life he was ever kind and watchful of the wants of others. He let
not the caress or the worriment of the day follow him home to disturb the
peace and quiet of his family.
Never of a very rugged constitution he was from boyhood subject to
occasional periods of physical depression from that dread disease,
consumption, which had carried away his four sisters and two brothers; yet
he had that tenacity and will power which often held him to his desk when
his strength would scarcely keep him on his feet.
He was an earnest and consistent member and trustee of the Methodist
Episcopal church in Uniontown and in life followed the Master with
reverence and godly fear. Possessed of a naturally kind and sympathetic
heart, he was ever ready to assist the poor and destitute or impart
consolation to a sorrowing soul.
His funeral took place Friday evening, May 25, 1877, with Rev J J
Moffitt and Rev S W Davis of the Methodist Episcopal church conducting
the services. The pall bearers were Eleazer Robinson, Sebastian Rush,
Uriah Higinbotham, Jasper M Thompson, Charles S Seaton, William McCleary,
John Wilson and Alfred Howell. Mr Redburn having lost his wife in
December, 1860, did not marry again. Of his two children, but one, Minnie
L Redburn, survives him.
p471
JAMES MADISON REID. There are men who, by marked ability, ceaseless
energy and great success, commend themselves to public attention. To this
class Mr Reid justly belongs. He is a resident of Connellsville and was
born in West Newton, Westmoreland county, Penna, April 10, 1849. He is
the third child of James Dunlap Reid and Mary Henry Reid. The former came
from Belfast, Ireland, in about 1840; the latter, whose mother was a
McAuley, was a daughter of Edward Henry.
His blood relations have given prominent characters to American history.
Several of the Reids attained distinction in battles of war and victories
of peace. One of them was the celebrated Captain Samuel C Reid, a
distinguished naval officer, who in command of the privateer General
Armstrong in 1814, engaged a British fleet and fought the most brilliant
naval battle of which we have any record. The Washington Union of April
30, 1858, says: "It was Captain Reid, who in 1818 at the complimentary
request of a committee of congress, designed our present national flag."
The first brigadier general in the Revolutionary War was a Reid.
On the maternal side, J M Reid comes of the notable Henry family, of
which Patrick Henry, the great orator, was a member, and the late
Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institution, whose fame is world wide.
John McAuley, a very brave officer who served on General Washington's
staff, was a great uncle to the mother of J M Reid. The Reids and Henrys
trace their ancestry to the old world, where in past ages, members of
each family have held important political positions, and were conspicuous
in deeds of daring.
James M Reid, while a mere child, went to Allegheny county, Penna, was
educated in the common schools, till in his fourteenth year, when he
attended the Allegheny Institute for a short time. At about the age of
fourteen, he began to do for himself with no resources but strong will and
determination. He weighed coal, later he clerked in a store for about a
year, when he went to Broadford and was engaged for about four years as a
clerk with his brother, E H Reid. From Broadford, he went to Dunbar and
with others engaged in the mercantile business, which he continued most
successfully for six years.
Having clearly shown his adaptability for business by his success in
mercantile pursuits, he proceeded to enlarge his sphere of operations by
engaging in coal mining and the manufacture of coke, and by a successful
prosecution of these industries, fully demonstrated his capability to
manage an extensive business or control and direct a combination of
several great enterprises.
In 1882 he had bought out all of his partners in the coal and coke
business. He owns a controlling interest in several coalfields whose
combined area is more than seven thousand acres. In February, 1882, he
organized the Connellsville and Ursina Coal and Coke Company with a
capital of $400,000. He was elected its president in 1882 and has
continued to act as such ever since. This company owns over seven
thousand acres of land. The Ursina & North Fork R R starts at Ursina
Station on the B & O R R, and extends for several miles up the north fork
of the Youghiogheny river through the property of this company which own
their own cars and engines. Their object is to develop the limestone,
iron ore and coal of their lands.
He is a member of the firm of Boyts, Porter & Co of Connellsville,
manufacturers of steam pumps, supplies for furnaces and coke works and
dealers in steam and water pipe, brass and iron fittings, etc.
Mr Reid was unanimously elected chairman of the republican county
committee of Fayette county in 1884, 1885, 1886 and 1887. In 1888 he was
unanimously nominated by the republicans of Fayette county for congress,
the district of Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. The Fayette
county conferees met with those of Greene, Washington and part of
Allegheny counties, and held five meetings of several days each. At the
last meeting at Pittsburgh on the 206th ballot, Mr Reid moved to nominate
Ray of Greene county, who easily secured the nomination principally
through the support of Mr Reid, and was elected.
Mr Reid was a member of the republican State central committee for
several years, and received the congratulations of his party in
Pennsylvania for the work he did in his district while a committeeman. He
is a man of great determination, fine intelligence and business energy,
and has a large personal and political following in Fayette and adjoining
counties.
p216
JESSE REID, the present Burgess of Uniontown, was born March 1, 1821, in
Rostraver township, Westmoreland county, Penna. He was educated in the
common schools and at the age of eighteen learned the milling business in
Webster where he worked at the same business for about ten years.
He was married in 1846 to Miss Sarah A Carson of Webster. He came to
Fayette county in 1847 where he followed milling the greater part of his
time up to 1874. In 1874 he was elected county commissioner on the
republican ticket and was probably the first republican ever elected to
that office in the county, overcoming a democratic majority of about
1,000 or 1,200. he was elected for three years; his term of office having
expired, he was engaged in farming till 1885 when he came to Uniontown
and in 1886 was elected Burgess. Re-elected in 1887, 1888, and 1889.
He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for about thirty
five years and is a steward of the church. He joined the Odd Fellows in
1859, is about as high in the lodge as a member can go and has been twice
representative to the Grand Lodge.
He has five living children: James H Reid; Ann Maria Reid; Samuel C
Reid; Martha Jane Reid; and William G Reid. His parents were Samuel Reid
and Marie Watson Reid. The former a native of Washington county, Penna,
and was a blacksmith by trade; his death occurred some fifteen years ago.
p376
CURTIS REPPERT was born May 19, 1830, in Greene county, Penna, and is a
son of George and Salome Reppert.
George Reppert, father, was born in one week after the arrival of his
parents in this country from Germany. He was a son of Louis Reppert who
settled at New Geneva and followed glass blowing.
Curtis Reppert received his education in the subscription schools, and
then worked for nearly forty years as a glassblower in the glass works.
In 1843 he removed to Belle Vernon, and in 1878 began the undertaking and
furniture business. He has successfully continued in it, and now owns the
largest establishment of that kind in the place.
He was married February 26, 1851, to Miss Maria Louisa Jordan, daughter
of Edward Jordan of Maine, who had removed to Westmoreland county. Unto
this union were born six children: Allen Reppert, dead; Louis Reppert;
Mira Reppert; Alfred Reppert; and Eckley Reppert, dead.
He belongs to the Senior Mechanics, Royal Aracanum and Equitable Aid
Union.
He is a consistent member of the M E church to which he and his entire
family belong.
He is a straightforward businessman, and a good and reliable citizen.
p472
JAMES F RIDGEWAY, one of the enterprising young business men of Dunbar,
was born in Monongalia county, West Virginia, March 10. 1854. His father,
at the breaking out of the war, joined the Union army and fought at the
second battle of Bull Run and was in various other engagements;
afterwards was taken prisoner and for eighteen months he was confined in
Southern prisons: four months in Libby and thirteen months at
Andersonville. His death occurred from disease contracted while in the
war on April 27, 1881. James F Ridgeway's mother's maiden name was Martha
Goodwin.
His great grandfather, Whorton Ridgeway, was a native Scotchman. His
grandfather, Joel Ridgeway, was born near Morgantown in 1796, and was
married to Jerushia Dawson.
For many years Sylvester Ridgeway resided at Dunbar and was engaged as
brick moulder and mining boss.
J F Ridgeway received his education in the West Virginia State Normal
School at Fairmont. On leaving school he taught for about seven years in
the public schools of that state. He went to Scottdale, Westmoreland
county, and for five years was engaged in the mining business. In 1884 he
located at Dunbar and began the manufacture of cigars; he continued at
this business a few years, when he engaged in his present business:
grocery and restaurant.
His wife is Sophia Hall, a daughter of Samuel A Hall, who was born in
Fayette county and served three years in the war. Samuel A Hall's wife
was Mary A Morrison, a native of Fayette county, and a daughter of
Francis Morrison, who was born in Ireland.
Mr Ridgeway is a member and treasurer of the Baptist church at Dunbar,
and is a member of K of P and I O O F.
p290
Rev JOHN W RIGHTER, minister of the Methodist Episcopal church at
Brownsville, is the son of Lewis Righter and Mariah J Myers Righter. They
were natives of Chester county, Penna.
His father was a carriage manufacturer and a resident of Salem, Ohio, at
the time of his death, September 5, 1875, and was fifty years of age. He
removed to Ohio in 1852 and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Rev Righter's mother died September 6, 1875, at the age of forty
five years. She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and
the daughter of Rev Daniel Myers.
Rev John W Righter was born January 9, 1853, at Mount Union, Ohio, and
was brought up at Salem, Ohio. He attended the high schools of Salem;
leaving school he went into the printing office of the Salem REPUBLICAN
where he learned the trade of printer and worked at it consecutively for
six years. At the age of sixteen years he was converted in the Methodist
Episcopal church at Salem, Ohio.
He studied for the ministry at his home under private teachers and was
licensed as a local preacher in February, 1873, in the Philadelphia
conference. In March, 1874, he joined the Pittsburgh conference and has
continued it ever since. He was first stationed on the New Galilee
circuit in Beaver county, Penna. He was next at Unionville and Concord,
also in Beaver county, Penna; then at Harmony, Butler county; thence at
Smith's Ferry, same county; and afterwards at Kittanning in Armstrong
county. In October, 1887, he came to Brownsville and has since been the
pastor of the first Methodist Episcopal church.
In 1875 he was married to Miss Achsa M Early of Darlington, Beaver
county, Penna. She is the daughter of Samuel Early and Lucinda Grosvener
Early. They have three children: Edna C Righter; Blanche E Righter; and
Frank P Early.
Mr Righter is a member of the A O U W.
p218
JOSEPH K RITENOUR, a pleasant gentleman and a popular and efficient
druggist of Uniontown was born in Preston county, Virginia (now West
Virginia) November 28, 1854. He is a son of William M Ritenour and
Elizabeth A Shaw Ritenour; the former was born in Rappahannock county,
Virginia, and came to Uniontown in 1846. He was a commissioned officer
during the late war and is now living in Florida; the latter is a native
of Fayette county, Pennsylvania.
Joseph K Ritenour was reared at Uniontown where he was educated. In
1872 he engaged as a clerk in a drug store and continued as such for four
years. In 1876 he formed a partnership with A L Moser and they were
engaged successfully in the drug business up until 1882. In September,
1882, he dissolved partnership with Moser, and purchased the drug store
of Dr S Fuller & Sons on Broadway Street. After operating this drug store
successfully for three years, he removed to his present large and
commodious building on Morgantown Street. His room is of ample
dimensions, well arranged, fully equipped with every facility and
convenience for the transaction of his line of business. He has a large
and excellent stock of pure and fresh drugs, medicines, chemicals,
extracts, proprietary remedies, perfumery, toilet articles, fancy goods,
and a large supply of school books and standard works of literature.
In 1877 he was married to Miss Kate Rodehaver of near St Louis,
Missouri. They have three children: Joseph P Ritenour, Altha M Ritenour,
and Margaret L Ritenour.
Situated within a few steps of Main Street, Mr Ritenour's drug store
is a very valuable and eligible business building. He does a fine business,
retaining his many old patrons and constantly securing new ones. To fine
business qualifications he adds years of successful experience and stands
high in Western Pennsylvania as a druggist. He is one of the live,
enterprising citizens of Fayette county.
p 572
ROMULOUS V RITENOUR, a prominent educator and ex-county superintendent
of Fayette county, is sprung from good old Virginia stock, and was born
in Rappahannock county, Virginia, April 13, 1847. His grandfather, Joseph
Ritenour, was of German extraction, and was born near Gaines' Cross
Roads, Virginia. He removed to Brandonville, Preston county, West
Virginia, in about 1850 where he was engaged in the hotel business until
his death.
John H Ritenour, the father of R V Ritenour, came from Virginia to
Fayette county in 1856, was a farmer and stock dealer and a man who was
popular in his neighborhood. He was married in 1846 to Mary Rudasill of
Rappahannock county. They had ten children born to them: Romulus V
Ritenour, Florence L Ritenour, Mary E Ritenour, Susan Ritenour, Anna
Belle Ritenour, John Mifflin Ritenour (deceased), Joseph E Ritenour,
George I Ritenour (deceased), Lulu B Ritenour and Elfrida C Ritenour.
Romulous V Ritenour was elected to the office of county superintendent of
schools of Fayette county in 1881, and filled the office so acceptably
that at the end of his term he was re-elected and served in the office
for six years. He is one of the most popular and talented educators in
the county.
p472
ALBERT ROBINSON, a prosperous farmer near Leisenring, is a son of James
Robinson and Nancy Tintsman Robinson and was born near Connellsville in
Dunbar township, Fayette county, Penna, October 11, 1837.
His grandfather, Duncan Robinson, came from Scotland to Lancaster
county, Penna, in 1720 where he married Miss Jennie Doulan, a native of
Ireland. His children were: James Robinson, Alexander Robinson, John
Robinson, William Robinson, Susan Robinson and Sarah Robinson.
His father, James Robinson, was born in Lancaster county, Penna, in
1787, and died March 21, 1874. He came to Westmoreland county, and
subsequently removed to Dunbar township about 1820. He was an "old line
whig" and married Miss Nancy Tintsman, daughter of Abraham Tintsman of
Westmoreland county, Penna. Mr Tintsman was a native of Germany and came
from Berks county. His children were: Abraham Tintsman, Judah Tintsman,
Fanny Tintsman, Betsey Tintsman, Nancy Tintsman and Barbara Tintsman.
Mr and Mrs Robinson's children were: Cyrus Robinson, born 1816, killed
by a tree, married Fannie Galley; Eliza Robinson, born 1817, N H White;
Frances Robinson, born 1818, married John Freed; Susan Robinson, born
1821, married David Garlits; Margaret Robinson, born 1822, married O J
McCormick; Nancy Robinson, born 1824, married A J Patterson; and Adaline
Robinson, born 1827, married I A Hugus. Mrs Robinson was born 1795, died
1813. He was reared on a farm and well-trained in the farming business.
He was educated in the common schools of his native township. After
leaving school he engaged in farming and stock-raising and has
successfully continued in that line of business until this time.
Albert Robinson married in March, 1872, Miss Lydia Morgan, daughter of
Philip Morgan and Lydia Watson Morgan. Mr Robinson has two children: Maud
Robinson, born April 14, 1873, and Ira Robinson, born July 5, 1875.
Mrs Robinson's sisters and brothers were: Margaret Morgan; Nancy Morgan,
dead; Eliza Morgan; Lyida A Morgan, dead; Maria Morgan, dead; Lydia
Morgan; Julia Morgan, dead; James Morgan; Judson Morgan, and Thomas
Morgan, dead. He owns a valuable and productive farm of seventy five
acres near Leisenring. He is a successful farmer of Dunbar township and a
staunch republican.
p592
ELEAZER ROBINSON. Among the immigrants of Fayette county, bringing and
infusing into its social and business life a then somewhat novel element,
that of the 'Yankee' or New England spirit, came about 1837 Eleazer
Robinson, an iron founder.
Mr Robinson was born March 4, 1804, in Bethel, Windsor county, Vermont.
His parents, Eleazer Robinson and Experience Downer, were of the old New
England Puritan stock. In 1810 they removed to Saratoga county, New York,
where he enjoyed the advantages of the common schools of the times and
made considerable progress in general studies.
But in 1824 his parents then removing to Broome county, New York, young
Robinson there availed himself of the opportunities offered by the
academy in his neighborhood. There he devoted himself mainly to
mathematics, in which he achieved marked success, leaving the academy
well equipped as a civil engineer; and though he did not enter upon the
profession of engineering, his studies there made have served him on many
an important occasion in the avocations of life, especially in mechanical
pursuits.
On quitting the academy he took up the study of the law under the
direction of a leading lawyer of Binghamton, a Mr Robinson-not a
relative, however-and continued his legal studies until interrupted by
the death of his father (who left seven children, of whom Mr Robinson was
the eldest), which threw upon him the responsible care of the family,
obliging him to quit the law office for the practical duties of the farmer,
he varying these during a course of years by more or less school teaching.
Eventually he became largely interested in the lumber business at Oswego,
New York. But there overborne by disaster caused by a great freshet in
the Upper Branch of the Susquehanna, which in a few hours swept away a
fortune in lumber, he with the buoyant energy which has distinguished his
whole life, moved at once to Erie, Penna, and there engaged in the drug business.
At this business he continued three years, within which time he made an
acquaintanceship which gave direction to the course of his life since
then with a Mr Jonathan Hathaway, the patentee of a superior cooking
stove, well remembered by the older inhabitants of Fayette county, and
secured control of the manufacture of the 'Hathaway stoves,' whereupon he
moved to Pittsburgh and procured their casting there. After a while,
meeting with much loss through the destruction by fire of the foundry
wherein the stoves were being cast, he went to Uniontown in 1837 and
there established a foundry, and eventually erected a branch foundry in
Washington, Penna, and opened agencies at Carlisle and elsewhere, all of
which were conducted very successfully for some years.
Finally Mr Robinson concentrated his business at Uniontown, there
prosecuting it actively till 1867 when, having amassed a goodly fortune,
he retired from business as a manufacturer, selling the foundry to one of
his earliest apprentices and faithful co-workers, Mr Thomas Jaquett.
Since then Mr Robinson has been engaged in various business pursuits. In
1872 he came into possession as sole owner under a private charter of the
gas works by which Uniontown is lighted. He also controls as principal
owner the gas works of Middletown, Dauphin county.
Mr Robinson was one of the original board of directors of the First
National Bank of Uniontown, and remained a director till within a few
years past. He has ever generously contributed to the upbuilding or
support of such institutions in the places of his residence as commanded
his respect, taking no extreme partisan cause, however, either in
politics or religion, enjoying the esteem of his neighbors and the
business public as a man of sterling integrity as well as clear judgment,
genial sociability, and human sentiments.
July 12, 1837, Mr Robinson united in marriage with Miss Cornelia Wells
of York, New York, who died in 1845, having borne him four children, one
only of whom, Mrs Emma R King, now (1882) survives. On November 6, 1846,
Mr Robinson married again, being then united to Miss Mary Ann McClelland
of Uniontown, who died in September, 1850, leaving no children. Mr
Robinson married as his third wife, November 24, 1852, Mrs Elizabeth J
Porter, daughter of James Wilson, Esq, of German township, with whom he
lived twenty nine years, she dying in May, 1881, at the age of sixty
eight years, leaving two children -Mr W L Robinson, who has mainly
succeeded to his father's business, managing the gas works, etc, and Miss
Mary E Robinson.
p215
FREDERICK CONVERSE ROBINSON, MD. Uniontown has always been fortunate in
having good and skillful physicians, men well read, of good judgment and
extensive practice. Among the names of this class of physicians who have
honored their calling will be found that of Dr Frederick C Robinson.
He was born in Saratoga county, New York, November 30, 1820, and is a
son of Eleazer Robinson and Experience Downer Robinson, the latter born
in 1776, both being of families of the old Puritan stock.
Eleazer Robinson was a native of Vermont born in 1782 and was by
occupation a farmer. He died in 1826 in the Newark Valley, New York. His
father, Eleazer Robinson Sr, was born in 1836 in New England, and died in
1820. He was also by occupation a farmer.
When Dr Robinson was small, his parents removed to Newark Valley, Tioga
county, New York, where the father died in very moderate circumstances.
Dr Robinson came to Erie county, Penna, in 1837, and from thence to
Uniontown in 1840. He was educated in select schools and at Madison
College. He read medicine at Uniontown subsequently went to Ohio, there
finished his studies and after which he entered Jefferson Medical College
and graduated in March, 1851.
He began the practice of medicine in Harrison county, Ohio, in 1845 but
returned to Uniontown in 1851, opened an office and built up a large
practice. During the late war, he was the medical examiner for the twenty
first enrollment district. He was appointed pension surgeon in 1866 but
resigned in 1879 not desiring to longer retain the position.
He was married to Susan Hollingsworth of Harford county, Maryland, on
the 11th of November, 1847. The Hollingsworths are of Quaker stock who
trace their history back to 1200 in Cheshire, England, where an estate
still belongs in the family. Valentine Hollingsworth, a worthy member of
the Society of Friends, came over with William Penn and settled on the
Brandywine. Dr Robinson's wife is of the seventh generation from honest
old Valentine Hollingsworth.
Dr Robinson has four children, namely:
Ada Virginia Robinson, born August 17, 1848, and married to William K
Gillespie, a wholesale grocery merchant of Pittsburgh.
Henry E Robinson, born May 19, 1851, was graduated in the class of 1871
at West Point and is a first lieutenant in the Fourth United States
Infantry. He married Miss Sallie K Gaddis of Uniontown.
Charles C Robinson, born January 25, 1855, went West and is engaged in
the mercantile business; he married Miss Elizabeth Scott of Allegheny
county, Penna.
Elizabeth H Robinson, born April 24, 1861, was married to First
Lieutenant John Baxter Jr of the Ninth United States Infantry, November
11, 1885. He graduated at West Point in the class of 1877 and is now
stationed as Military Instructor at the Normal University, Ada, Ohio.
Dr Robinson having acquired a competency, he has virtually retired from
the practice of medicine after more than forty four years of hard and
efficient service as an active physician. He was at one time president of
the Fayette County Medical Association, and although retired yet feels as
deep an interest as ever in his profession and its advancements.
He resides in a delightful home on Morgantown street where he has lived
for more than thirty years. The old house is embowered in shade trees and
surrounded by beautifully kept grounds that in summer are rendered
attractive by a profusion of flowers. His excellent wife who has been
long noted for her taste and skill in the cultivation of roses has
rendered the old house as attractive without as it is genial and
hospitable within. The cheery voices of some of their numerous and ever
welcome grandchildren almost constantly ring through the old house where
their parents were reared and went forth thence to their life work. Old
age is bringing a welcome serenity to the old home.
p 318
HAROLD L ROBINSON is the son of Dr Jabez Robinson and Agnes Cannon
Robinson. His father was a native of New England, was a practicing
physician, and died in Montana Territory in 1866 at the age of fifty two
years. His mother was born in Fayette county, Pa, where her family have
lived ever since the Revolutionary War. Her grandfather, Daniel Cannon,
was an officer in the War of the Revolution. She is now residing in
Uniontown. The Cannons came from Virginia, were among the first who
settled in Fayette county, and who resided for many years in the Laurel
Hill neighborhood.
Harold L Robinson was born in Oregon City, Missouri, July 25, 1864, and
was graduated from the West Virginia University at Morgantown in 1884.
He read law with James Darby, was admitted to the practice of law at the
Uniontown bar in June, 1887, and immediately opened an office at Uniontown.
He is a member of the M E Church, and is a member of JR O U A M.
p521
Col JAMES ROBINSON, a highly respected and very worthy citizen of
Fairchance, is of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock. He is a son of John
and Mary McClain Robinson and was born November 27, 1806, in what is now
Nicholson township.
His paternal grandfather was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and
with one sister came to Carlisle, Pa, where he served as an elder in the
Presbyterian church.
John Robinson (father) was born near Carlisle in 1775, removed to
Westmoreland county, and in 1780 came to Fayette county, where he settled
in Georges township. He had several brothers in the frontier Indian wars,
one of whom was killed. He was married in 1805 to Miss Mary McClain, and
they had two children: James Robinson and Samuel Robinson, born May 1,
1808. His wife was a daughter of John and Margaret McClain. John McClain
came from Scotland to Virginia in 1760, and afterwards settled on the
Miami river, the site of Dayton. He was a strict Presbyterian.
Col Robinson was reared on the old Robinson farm, and received in the
subscription schools of that day, a practical education, that fitted him
for an active business career in life.
Leaving school he engaged in farming, but soon began school teaching
and continued in that avocation till 1835. In 1835 he took charge of
Springhill Furnace store for J K Duncan. From 1836 to 1856 Col Robinson
had charge of Fairchance Ironworks and was very popular as a
superintendent, and highly respected as a gentleman.
He was married January 27, 1857, to Mrs Catherine Saams of Allegheny
county, Pa. She died September 9, 1863, and left three children:
Margaret Ann Robinson, John Taylor Robinson and Emma Caroline Robinson.
For his second wife he married February 15, 1866, Miss Lavinia P
Caldwell, of St Joseph, Missouri. To this union two children were born,
both of whom died young.
He was commission Colonel of the State Militia in 1830 by Gov Wolfe.
Col Robinson and Squire Ayres were the first two school directors
appointed in Georges township. He was a director on the B & O Railroad
from Uniontown to Connellsville, and a director for a long time in two of
the Uniontown banks.
He holds fast to the religious faith of his forefathers. During the
last year he erected a very fine residence at Fairchance, and there,
surrounded by his friends, he is living a quiet and peaceful life, with
no clouds to mar the future before him and the memory of a well spent
life behind him.
p522
JOHN TAYLOR ROBINSON, one of Georges township's young business men
is a son of Colonel James and Catherine Taylor Saams Robinson, and was
born near Fairchance, Georges township, Fayette county, Pa, June 14, 1859.
John T Robinson was reared on a farm, and carefully instructed in all
the details of successful farm management. He was educated in the
common and select schools and attended one year at the University of
Wooster, Ohio. Leaving school, he engaged in farming and has continued
largely in that line of business ever since.
On February 15, 1888, he was united in marriage with Miss
Eugenia Hampton McCormick, of Cumberland, Maryland. They have
one child, a daughter Jennie McCormick. Mrs Robinson's father, Dr
William Hampton McCormick, was born near Smithfield in 1826, read
medicine with Dr Smith Fuller of Uniontown, was graduated from
Jefferson Medical College, and for many years was a leading physician
of Cumberland, where he has an extensive and lucrative practice.
John T Robinson owns two hundred acres of land in Georges and
Springhill townships. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian. In
political opinion, he is a strong republican, and has served acceptably
as school director of Georges township. Resides in a comfortable home near
Oliphants, and divides his time between managing his farms and
superintending his father's (Colonel Robinson) extensive business
affairs. He is a conscientious and upright business man, and is one of
the directors of the People's Bank of Uniontown.
p237
WILLIAM L ROBINSON is a son of Eleazar and Elizabeth J Wilson
Robinson, and was born at Uniontown, Fayette County, Pa, March 26, 1856.
Eleazar Robinson was born March 4, 1804, in Bethel, Windsor county, Vt.
He was the son of Eleazar and Experience Downer Robinson, whose ancestors
were of the Pilgrim band that came over in the Mayflower. Eleazar moved
to New York, where Eleazar Jr was educated at an academy. The latter was
well qualified for a civil engineer, but took up the study of the law,
which he relinquished on the death of his father, and gave his attention
to farming and school teaching in order to provide for his father's
helpless family. When free to do for himself, a great freshet swept away
from him a fortune in the lumber business at Oswego, New York. He
afterwards engaged in the drug business at Erie, Penna, where he made the
acquaintance of Jonas Hathaway, the inventor of a stove. He obtained
control of the "Hathaway Stove" so wonderfully popular forty years ago.
He removed to Pittsburgh and engaged in the manufacture of the stove,
but his foundry was soon destroyed by fire. Undismayed by reverses, he
came to Uniontown in 1837 and established another stove foundry; and here
his business increased so rapidly that he was necessitated to start a
branch foundry at Washington, Penna, as he also established agencies at
Carlisle, Penna, and at several other points throughout Pennsylvania and
Virginia. After thirty years of successful business life, Mr Robinson
retired from the stove business in 1867. In 1872 he became proprietor of
Uniontown gas works, and was one of the original directors of the First
National Bank of Uniontown.
He was married July 12, 1837, to Miss Cornelia Wells, of York, New York,
who died in 1845. They had four children, of whom one, Mrs Emma R King,
is now living. On November 6, 1846, he married Miss Mary Ann McClelland
of Uniontown, and she died in 1850, leaving no children. He again married
November 4, 1852, Elizabeth J Porter, daughter of James Wilson, Esq, of
German township. She died April 29, 1881, at the age of sixty eight
years, leaving two children: William L Robinson and Mary E Robinson.
William L Robinson was educated in the public schools of Uniontown, but
having the inclination to engage in business pursuits, he left school in
1872 and engaged with his father in the gas business. In 1876 he took
entire charge of the business, which he still conducts. He was elected
by the republicans to the town council in 1883, in 1886 elected president
of the council, and was elected a member of the school board in 1889. He
is a prominent Free Mason, Knights Templar, and is a member of the
Presbyterian church.
W L Robinson was married in 1882 to Miss Annie L Oliphant, a native of
Uniontown, but was a resident of Wampum, Lawrence county, Pa, at the time
of her marriage. She is the granddaughter of F H Oliphant; his father,
Col John Oliphant, and grandfather, Andrew Oliphant, came from Chester
county, Penna. Fideleo Hughes Oliphant was born January 4, 1800, and died
November 10, 1879. He was a prominent iron manufacturer of Fayette
county, and built the Fairchance and Oliphant furnaces. He was a
Presbyterian, honest, just and generous man.
p376
JACOB T ROLEY was born March 14, 1834 in Hempfield township,
Westmoreland county, Penna, and was reared in that county until sixteen
years old. He attended the common schools and went one term to Mt
Pleasant College. In 1852 he went to Monongahela City and followed
teaming for two years. He then removed to Belle Vernon and engaged in
merchandising for twenty years.
In 1865, June 18th he was married to Miss Anna E Kreps, daughter of
Louis Krepps who is a descendant of one of the earliest families that
settled the county. To this union were born eight children: Anna E Roley,
William H Roley, Louis F Roley, Millie Roley, Ellie Roley, Jennie Roley,
Jessie Roley and Joseph T Roley.
In 1874 he read law and has practiced in intervals since that time. At
present he is engaged in the livery business. He served as justice of the
peace from 1870 to 1875, has been burgess of his borough three times, and
was re-elected justice of the peace in 1879.
He is the son of Robert Roley and Eliza Tuman, both of German descent.
His father was born on Chestnut Ridge, Westmoreland county, March 14,
1812, and was the son of John Roley, one of the early pioneers of that
county.
His mother, Eliza Tuman, was a native of Pennsylvania; her father, Jacob
Tuman, was amongst the first settlers of this part of the country. Her
mother was Sarah Raider and she was also of one of the earliest families
of southwestern Pennsylvania. The family is of German descent.
p291
GEORGE WASHINGTON ROSS was born February 2, 1847, in Monongalia county,
Virginia, now West Virginia, and is a son of Robert Ross and Tabitha
Hoard Ross.
His paternal grandfather came from Ireland, located at Uniontown where
he married Miss Evans, and then removed to Crawford county where he
remained until his nine children were grown to man and womanhood. He made
his last removal to Monongalia county, Virginia, where he spent the
remainder of his life reaching within ten years of the century mark.
Robert Ross, father, was a native of Crawford county and came with his
father to Monongalia county, Virginia. He had received a fair education
for that day and engaged in farming. In 1859 he bought a farm near Point
Marion where he resided till his death June 9, 1878. He had five
children: Elizabeth A Ross; James L Ross, died; Francis M Ross; George W
Ross; and William Miles Ross, dead. His widow is still living in the
seventy eighth year of her age.
George W Ross was educated in the common schools of Pennsylvania and
engaged in farming with his father until the death of the latter when he
removed to his present farm in Springhill township. He also owns a well
improved farm of forty acres in West Virginia, one hundred acres of
timber land in West Virginia and a valuable house and lot in Point
Marion.
He was married October 24, 1878, to Miss Lydia Jane Campbell, daughter
of Thomas Campbell. They have two children: Isa Dora Ross, born September
1, 1881; and Charles Franklin Ross, born August 5, 1885.
In politics he is a democrat and has served his township as assessor and
collector of taxes. He is a Methodist in religious belief and his wife
belongs to the Disciple church at Oak Grove. He is one of the prosperous
farmers of Springhill township.
p291
ROBERT H ROSS is a native of Fayette county, Penna; was born at
Masontown, April 22, 1824, and is of Scotch Irish descent. He was brought
up on his father's farm and attended the schools of his youth which were
of the old class of subscription schools, the present common school
system not having been adopted in Pennsylvania till the year 1838.
Attaining his majority he commenced farming in company with his father,
continuing to do so until October, 1861, when he enlisted as a volunteer
in Company G, Eighty fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He
remained in the war two years and seen months when he was mustered out on
May 11, 1864. He was promoted to first sergeant while in the service.
Eight months of this time were spent in the hospital. He was wounded at
Fort Sumter, South Carolina, by a shot through the left shoulder. The
ball penetrated the lung, which almost entirely deprived him of the use
of his left arm. He fought in the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, and was
in several skirmishes. Mustered out of the service he returned to his
home and again engaged in farming in which he has since continued. By
thrift and industry he succeeded in accumulating quite a considerable
property and owns one hundred acres of valuable land.
He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Georges Creek and has been
a ruling elder in the church since June, 1856. During his whole life he
has been a pupil and teacher in the Sabbath school.
His father, Warwick Ross, was born near Masontown, Penna, June 7, 1797.
His grandfather, Robert Ross, was one of the earliest settlers of Fayette
county. He is a man of high standing in his neighborhood and is esteemed
as a good citizen and Christian.
p376
MILTON ROSSER, General Superintendent of the Jimtown & Sterling Coke
Works, was born in Gloucestershire, England, 12th of January, 1850, and
is a son of John Rosser and Ann Jones Rosser.
John Rosser in 1852 came from Gloucestershire, England, to
Temperanceville, Penna (now a part of the thirty sixth ward of
Pittsburgh) and in the ensuing year was joined by his family.
In 1859 he removed to Mason county, Virginia, now West Virginia,
remained there until 1866 when he returned to Pennsylvania and located in
Mansfield Valley, Allegheny county, Penna. He has always been engaged in
the coal business, and is now operating a coal bank in Mansfield Valley.
Mr Rosser is a member of the Baptist church.
Milton Rosser attended the common schools of Pittsburgh and the pay
schools of Mason county, Virginia. At twelve years of age he entered the
coal mines, and went to work at twenty five cents per day. For twenty
years he labored in coal mines and became thoroughly acquainted with all
the details of mine management. Where other miners had worked, he had
worked, and filled every position to be filled in a coal mine, thought
and observed, and in 1875 was selected by Huntsman, Miller & Co as
superintendent of their coal works situated twelve miles from Pittsburgh.
In 1878 the firm made an assignment and he accepted the superintendency
of the mines of David Steen & Sons' coal works at Camp Hill. From 1880 to
1885 he served as mine superintendent at Jimtown coal works of J M
Schoonmaker, which position he still holds with credit to himself and
satisfaction to all concerned.
On December 24, 1871, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Wilcox, daughter
of John W and Mary Wilcox, one of the first mine inspectors in western
Pennsylvania and a man now worth considerable money, gained by his own
efforts. Mr and Mrs Rosser have seven children: George Rosser, Mary Ann
Rosser, Alice Rosser, William Rosser, Florence Rosser, Bertha Rosser and
Laura Bell Rosser.
He is a staunch republican, has been for several years the republican
central committee man of his township, served on the republican county
committee, and is now serving as school director of Lower Tyrone
township. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and belongs to the Odd
Fellows. He owns an interest in the stone quarry on the P McK Y R R west
of Dawson. Mr Rosser is one of that class of self-made men who only need
opportunity to pass the front in most any line of business.
p525
JACOB RUBLE Jr, son of Jacob Ruble and Ruth Rhodes Ruble, was born in
Monongalia county, Va, (now W Va) July 6, 1824, was educated in the
Virginia subscription schools, and afterwards learned the trade of
millwright, which he has since followed.
His paternal grandfather, Samuel Ruble, was born in Monongalia county,
Va, (now West Virginia) January 5, 1775, was a miller and owned two mills
that were far-famed in that day for doing good work. He married Miss Ruth
Rhodes, daughter of William Rhodes. They had eight children: Joshua
Ruble, born March 12, 1812; Samuel Ruble, born December 24, 1813;
Elizabeth Ruble, born in 1816; William Ruble, born June 2, 1818; Mary
Ruble, born January 21, 1821; Jacob Ruble, born July 6, 1824; Ruth Ruble,
born July 18, 1828; and Sarah J Ruble, born March 10, 1832.
William Rhodes (maternal great grandfather) belonged to an artillery
company in the War of the Revolution, and rendered excellent service at
Baltimore.
Jacob Ruble Jr was married February 29, 1852, to Miss Minerva Saddler,
daughter of John Saddler and Hannah Keiser Saddler, both natives of
Springhill township and of German descent. Mr Ruble has five children:
John C Ruble, born November 30, 1852; Sallie J Ruble, born February 25,
1854; Hannah M Ruble, born April 24, 1857; William J Ruble, born April
24, 1857; Ulysses G Ruble, born August 14, 1863. He owns a valuable
flouring mill near Smithfield, and also possesses thirty two acres of
good land.
On the site of this mill, Meshac Davis erected in 1795, one of the first
mills west of the Alleghenies. It passed to Jesse Evans and Davis' heirs,
and was sold to Noah Lyon in 1835, who sold it to Nathaniel G Hurst
(1836), under whose ownership the old mill was torn down; in its stead
was erected the present large and commodious mill, which afterwards
passed into the hands of George T Paul, and was next sold to its present
owner, Jacob Ruble Jr in 1873. Ruble's mill has all the latest milling
machinery and is fitted up with all modern improvements. It has quite a
reputation for manufacturing first class flour. He is a Master Mason, is
a fine workman, an experienced and skillful miller, an entertaining
conversationalist, and a good citizen.
p292
JOHN C RUBLE is a native of Monongalia county, West Virginia, and was
born January 7, 1845. His family is of German and Irish origin.
His father, William Ruble, was born June 2, 1818, in Monongalia county,
West Virginia; he attended the schools of his day, and received a good
education. He afterwards learned the trade of shoemaker with Jacob
Tederick and has followed it all of his life.
He was married in 1840 to Miss Elizabeth Wolfe. Six children have been
born to their union: Jacob Ruble, one of the number, May 12, 1846; and
William R Ruble, physician at Mayfield, Kentucky; and Jacob is a
Presbyterian minister.
Elizabeth Wolfe Ruble, the mother, was born in 1817 and died in 1876.
She was a member of the Presbyterian church and a very devout Christian
woman.
Jacob Ruble, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native
of Virginia, now West Virginia, was a distiller, and became wealthy. He
owned a large body of land and at his death gave each of his eight
children a valuable farm. He was a good citizen, and notwithstanding his
business was a sober man. John D Ruble's great grandfather was one of the
earliest settlers of Fayette county.
John C Ruble was brought up on a farm, attended the common schools
winters and summer till at the age of sixteen years when he went into the
war as a substitute and remained nine months. He afterward enlisted as a
volunteer in Company E, Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry under Captain
Duncan September 4, 1864, and remained till the close of the war.
While scouting near White Post, West Virginia, he was wounded by three
balls; one entered below the shoulder blade and penetrated the lung;
the other two entered the right side and still remain there. He was at
once taken prisoner and his wounds received no attention for two weeks.
He was rescued, sent to the hospital at Baltimore, Maryland, recovered
and in two months he rejoined his regiment. He was mustered out of the
service at Alexandria, Virginia, returned home and engaged in drilling
oil wells for some time.
On December 1, 1866, he married Nancy L Conn, daughter of Jacob Conn,
and to their union were born six children: Dell Ruble; Harry J Ruble;
Fred L Ruble; Frank C Ruble; Maggie A Ruble; and Russel Ray Ruble. All
are living and at home but the oldest son, Dell, who was drowned in the
Cheat River, June 16, 1888, in the twentieth year of his age. At the time
he was employed in the lumber business.
John C Ruble learned the trade of shoemaker with his father, and after
his marriage he worked at it for three years. He then went on a farm as a
day hand, and in 1877 rented a farm. In 1879 he bought a farm of eighty
four acres and is now doing well.
He is a republican, has been jury commissioner of his township, and is a
member of the G A R Post No 180 at Uniontown. He gets a pension of six
dollars per month.
p377
CHARLES W RUSH is assistant cashier of the Dawson Deposit Bank. The Rush
family is of Irish descent and is one of the oldest in Fayette county, Penna.
Charles W Rush's grandfather, Charles Rush, was a native of Fayette
county and was a tavern keeper at Farmington in the "Auld Lang Syne" when
the National Pike was in its glory as the thoroughfare of the country,
and was considered by many as the tie which bound the nation solidly together.
William H Rush, the father of Charles W Rush, was a native of this
county and following in the footsteps of his father became the keeper of
a hotel and has for the last quarter of a century pursued that business,
the last thirteen years of which have been spent in Dawson where he now lives.
He was born in Farmington in 1838 where he was reared and married Miss
Anna E Frost who was born at Searight. He served in the war as bugler in
Company K, Sixth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery.
Charles W Rush was born February 21, 1864, at Farmington, Fayette
county, Penna, grew up mainly at Dawson and was educated in the public
schools of that town. At the age of nineteen went to the State Normal
School at California where he graduated in 1883. Leaving the Normal
School he engaged in teaching school in this county and taught up to
1889; in 1886 he was principal of the Dawson public schools. In the
spring of 1889 he resigned his school to take the position he now holds
in the Dawson Deposit Bank. Mr Rush is a democrat and is one of the most
promising young men of that section.