Bios: Con-Cu Surnames: Gresham and Wiley, 1889: Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, Fayette Co, PA
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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
Conn, A S Springhill 259
Conn, I P Springhill 257
Conn, Jacob Springhill 256
Conn, W G Springhill 258
Conwell, D C Luzerne 542
Conwell, Jehu Luzerne 541
Cook, J B Washington 325
Cooley, John Connellsville 421
Cooper, W H Dunbar 422
Core, Alfred Georges 494
Corwin, J W Washington 326
Cottom, Hiram Tyrone 328
Cottom, I H Tyrone 328
Coulter, J H Brnv & Bdgpt 263
Courtney, E O Menallen 326
Cox, M A, Capt Brnv & Bdgpt 263
Cox, J A Springfield 543
Cox, R B Connellsville 424
Cox, S J Connellsville 425
Craft, J E Redstone 494
Craig, R Porter Uniontown 156
Crawford, Seaborn Brnv & Bdgpt 259
Cray, J R Dunbar 427
Crossland, Elijah Menallen 327
Crossland, Greenbury Miscellaneous 581 [Uniontown]
Crossland, Richard Bullskin 543
Crossland, Samuel Dunbar 426
Cummings, David, Maj Miscellaneous 584
Cunningham, George Dunbar 428
Cunningham, James Luzerne 544
Cunningham, M G Tyrone 329
Cunningham, William Tyrone 329
Custer, Augustus Franklin 330
p259
ALPHEUS S CONN was born July 31, 1842, in Monongalia county, Virginia,
now West Virginia, is a son of Isaac Conn and Eliza Norris Conn and is of
Scotch Irish descent.
Isaac Conn was born on Georges Creek in 1811 and received the limited
education of farmers' boys of that day. He remained on the home farm
until 1854 when he rented a farm of his father and cultivated it for
twenty nine years. In 1883 he went to Pittsburgh and kept a hotel for one
year. In 1884 he removed to Point Marion and bought property.
Here, on July 3, 1889 he had a stroke of paralysis on the left side from
which he is slowly recovering.
He married Eliza Norris, born 1818, died 1855, and had seven children:
John I Conn, William E Conn, Amy E Conn, Alpheus S Conn, Jacob L Conn,
George H Conn, Harriet E Conn. He is an earnest member of the M P church
at Stewartstown, West Virginia, and is now in the seventy eighth year of
his age.
Jacob Conn, paternal grandfather, was born in Fayette county, and died
in 1864. He was a son of George Conn, one of the pioneer settlers on
Georges Creek and one of the three Georges from which it is said the
township derived its name.
Alpheus S Conn was reared on a farm, received the limited school
advantages of his time until he was eighteen years of age when he engaged
with his brother, J I Conn, to learn the trade of shoemaker. But two
years of his apprenticeship had passed until the Civil War began when he
enlisted as a volunteer in a company which disbanded before doing any
service.
He was afterward drafted, served in Company B, Sixty second Pennsylvania
Infantry, and was in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court
House, where one half of his right ear was cut off by a minnie ball. He
was in the battles in front of Petersburg, was a prisoner for a few
minutes at Five Forks, and witnessed Lee's surrender. From the close of
the war until 1871 pursued his trade at Point Marion, when he removed to
Stewartstown, West Virginia. In 1881 he sold his Stewartstown property,
and removed to his present home near Morris Cross Roads.
He was married on March 10, 1866, to Miss Hannah Crow, daughter of
Micheal Crow. They have four children: Charles S Conn, taught one term of
school; Frank L Conn; Nellie G Conn; and Chester A Conn.
Mr Conn is a republican and has served as inspector of elections. He is
a member of Post 180, G A R at Uniontown. He is a good tradesman and
reliable citizen, is a member and trustee of the M P church, whose
membership roll bears the names of his wife and two oldest children.
p257
ISAAC P CONN was born January 5, 1839, near Anderson Cross Roads,
Fayette county, Penna, and is of German and Scotch Irish parentage.
He is the son of Jacob Conn Sr and Sarah Weltner Conn. His father was
born on Georges Creek, Fayette county, Penna, December 5, 1811. He was
brought up on the farm and attended the subscription schools of his day;
he acquired a fair education, and was considered a good scribe.
He was married April 3, 1837, when he rented a farm and began life on
his own account. He remained on this farm for five years; then he rented
a farm on the "Forks of the Cheat," and remained on this farm for ten
years when he bought a farm of his own of 160 acres adjoining, and
removed there. He has since added 120 acres to his farm, has of late
built a new house and barn, is very comfortably situated, and has
attained enough of this world's goods to enable him to live with ease and
comfort the remainder of his life. He is a staunch democrat, a good
citizen, and a member of the Baptist church at the "Forks of Cheat," West
Virginia.
Mr Conn's mother was born February 29, 1814. She is the mother of eleven
children, seven of whom are still living. She is living at the age of
seventy six years, is a member of the same church as her husband and of
her children.
Mr Conn's grandfather was born on Georges Creek, Fayette county, was
a farmer and moved to Ohio 1833 where he continued to farm until his death.
He was a good citizen and a religious man.
The great grandfather of Isaac P Conn came to Fayette county at an early
day and settled on Georges Creek, where he took a "tomahawk claim" on a
tract of land containing four hundred acres. He was one of the earliest
blacksmiths of the county. At one time he fought with a man by the name
of Powell for fifty acres of land and won the fight and the land.
Isaac P Conn grew up on the farm till he was eighteen years of age.
He attended the common schools; though his advantages for education were
limited, he became a fair scholar. He remained on the home farm until
1879 when he removed to a farm of 163 acres he had previously bought in
Springhill township and where he now resides. Sixty five acres of his
land is underlaid with coal.
His farm is in a good state of cultivation, shows the care he has
bestowed upon it, and also is proof that Mr Conn is an excellent farmer.
He deals considerably in live stock.
January 9, 1879, he was married to Miss Arilda Lyons, daughter of Joseph
Lyons, deceased. She is a member of the Lutheran church while Mr Conn is
a member of the Baptist church at the "Forks of Cheat. " In politics Mr
Conn is a prohibition democrat.
p256
JACOB CONN is of Scotch Irish parentage and was born on Georges Creek,
near Smithfield, Fayette county, Penna, December 5, 1811, and is a son of
Isaac Conn and Nancy Zearley Conn.
George Conn, paternal grandfather, was a ship carpenter; in 1759 came
from Hagerstown, Maryland, and took up 400 acres of land on Georges Creek
under what was known as a "tomahawk right. " About 1760 a man by the name
of Powell settled on a part of this tract and disputed the ownership of
the same with Conn. They agreed to settle their quarrel by a fight. They
fought near a spring. Conn was victorious and held the land. The spring
has been known ever since as "Powell Spring. " His wife's maiden name was
Lydia Flintham. They reared nine children, seven sons and two daughters.
Isaac Conn, father--a twin, was born in 1784 on Georges Creek and
was reared on his father's farm. He enjoyed but the scant educational
privileges of that frontier day. He married Nancy Zearley, and they had
ten children, four sons and six daughters.
In 1838 he removed to Highland county, Ohio, and died there in 1869 in
the eighty fifth year of his age. His wife followed him to the portals of
the tomb in a few years.
Jacob Conn was raised on a farm. Although school advantages of that day
were meager, he acquired a fair education and became an ordinary scholar.
In 1831 he worked for his uncle at seven dollars per month. From 1832 to
1834 he helped his father, who then resided in Virginia.
He was married to Miss Sarah Weltner, daughter of John Weltner, April 3,
1838. Unto their union were born eleven children: Isaac Phillips Conn,
John W Conn, Susan W Conn, Rachel Conn, Ann Elizabeth Conn, Eliza Jane
Conn, Hannah W Conn, George W Conn, Sarah L Conn, Thomas J Conn and
Catherine Conn.
From 1838 to 1843 he rented the Phillips farm, afterwards leased a farm
near Point Marion and cultivated it for five years. In 1848 he bought 163
acres of the John McFarland farm and removed to it. He had but forty
dollars of his own, but honesty and integrity linked to energy
established a credit and he borrowed the money to pay for his purchase.
Working hard, in a very few years he discharged every dollar of his
indebtedness.
The first barn he built was struck by lightning and was consumed
together with a horse and wagon. In 1873 he erected a fine large two
story frame house complete in all its equipments in which he now resides.
He is a democrat. He has been since 1843 a member of the "Forks of Cheat"
Baptist church to which his wife and children belong.
Mr Conn began life a poor boy and now owns a splendid and well improved
farm of 260 acres, partly underlaid with coal. Studying Franklin's maxims
when a boy, he became a successful man, is now an honored and respected
citizen, influential and prosperous farmer of Springhill township.
p258
WILLIAM GANS CONN is of Irish and German parentage and one of
Springhill's prosperous farmers; is a son of John Conn and Hannah Gans
Conn, and was born in Monongalia county, Virginia, now West Virginia.
His great grandfather, George Conn, came from Maryland to Georges
Creek and settled there at an early day.
His grandfather, Jacob Conn, was a native of Springhill township, was
married to Eleanor Hartman, and removed from Georges Creek to Monongalia
county, Virginia. They had six sons and four daughters, all of whom lived
to an advanced age.
Jacob Conn enlisted in the War of 1812, but his company on its third
day's march toward Washington City received the news that a treaty of
peace had been concluded. He died at eighty four years of age, and his
wife reached her ninetieth year.
W G Conn's father, John Conn, was born December 5, 1813, in Monongalia
county, Virginia, on a farm and received but three months' schooling, yet
by dint of hard study at home he remedied his lack of school learning so
far as reading, writing and a practical knowledge of arithmetic was concerned.
In 1834 he married Miss Hannah Gans, daughter of Benjamin Gans, a native
of Springhill township. John Conn removed from Jaco Farm, Virginia, to
near Point Marion where he purchased the Rudolph Saddler farm containing
116 acres. On this land he erected a fine house, built a large barn and
made many valuable improvements. He purchased the farm for $750, and now
it is valued at $10,000. He and his wife were members of the Baptist
church from 1837 until the beginning of the war when they left the
Baptist denomination and united with the Disciple church at Oak Grove.
During the war, John Conn left the democratic party and became a
republican. While serving as school director, he was instrumental in
securing the construction of a new schoolhouse in the "Forks of Cheat."
>From his own lack, he realized the importance of education and
accordingly educated all of his children, of whom four became teachers
and two still remain teachers.
William G Conn was raised on the farm, received his education in the
common schools and in the Millsboro Normal School where he attended two
terms. Between his Normal courses he taught two terms of district school.
In 1863 he enlisted in Company B, Sixty first Pennsylvania Infantry
Volunteers, was in the battles of Rappahannock Station, Mine Run and
Wilderness.
In one of the battles of the Wilderness he was struck in the shoulder
by a minnie ball, which passed down into his side where it still remains.
After being wounded, he was sent to Findlay Hospital in Washington City,
remained seven months but he rejoined his regiment in December before the
walls of Petersburg. He was with the regiment in all its engagements
until the legions of Lee grounded arms at Appomattox. After witnessing
Lee's surrender, his regiment was marched to Danville, Virginia, thence
to Washington City. He was discharged at Camp Reynolds, returned home,
removed to the "oil regions" of West Virginia where he engaged for ten
years in the mercantile business and teaching school. In 1885 he
returned to Point Marion where he has since been engaged in teaching and
farming.
September 26, 1868, he was married to Miss Emily M McGough, daughter of
James McGough and Sarah J Hood McGough of Westmoreland county. They have
five children: Lillian G Conn, born July 26, 1870, Wood county, West
Virginia; Arthur Conn, born May 10, 1873, Gales Fork; Helen E Conn, May
26, 1877, Richie county; Edith K Conn, October 11, 1879, Pennsylvania; and
Harvey Raymond Conn, born June 28, 1889, Pennsylvania.
He has been a deacon in the Church of Christ at Point Marion ever since
the church's organization. He honors by his prudence, thrift and
intelligence one of the old families of the county.
p541
JEHU CONWELL, a successful farmer and member of a family identified
with the history of Luzerne township since its earliest Anglo Saxon
occupation, is a son of Yates S Conwell and Anna Craft Conwell and was
born in Luzerne township, Fayette county, Penna, June 25, 1820.
One of the early pioneers of Fayette county was his grandfather, Jehu
Conwell, born in Sussex county, Delaware, in 1749. Jehu Conwell with
brother, Captain William Conwell, migrated to Luzerne township in 1767
and purchased 700 acres of land from James Bredin. Jehu endured many
hardships and in 1772 returned to Delaware and was married by Gilbert
Parker, J P, to Miss Elizabeth Stokely, daughter of Yates Stokely. He
brought his young wife to his Luzerne home where they endured many
hardships and privations. He was instrumental in 1774 in building a fort
below Merrittstown to resist Indian attacks; enlisted with his brother,
Captain William Conwell, in the Continental army in Independence year and
fought throughout the war.
Jehu's home was headquarters for westward bound emigrants from Delaware.
He was generous and liberal in his views, conscientious in all his deeds
and was honored and respected by his neighbors and all who knew him. He
built a log grist mill, erected a distillery, and died in 1834. He left
four sons: Shepard Conwell, Yates T Conwell, John Conwell and George
Conwell.
Yates T Conwell, the founder of Heistersburg, was a farmer and was
commissioned an ensign August 1, 1814, in the Eighth Regiment Pennsylvania
Militia. He died Christmas, 1865. His wife was a daughter of David Craft
of Redstone township. They had five sons and two daughters.
Jehu Conwell, son of Yates T Conwell, was reared on a farm, attended
Luzerne's subscription schools and Madison College. He married Miss
Elizabeth Fulton, daughter of Thomas Fulton of Redstone township. To
their union have been born ten children: Thomas Conwell, dead; Emily
Conwell, wife of Winfield Gilmore; Elizabeth Conwell; Margaret Conwell,
dead; Annie Conwell, dead; Estelle Conwell, wife of Johnson Van Kirk;
William Conwell, Annette Conwell, dead; Nathaniel Conwell and Mary
Conwell.
Jehu Conwell has been engaged since leaving school in farming and stock
raising. Politically he was a whig and on the disbanding of that
political organization became a republican. His nearest approach to being
a democrat was in celebrating for many years Jackson's victory at New
Orleans.
Mr Conwell owns two hundred acres of fertile and productive land, and
resides in the old stone mansion built by William Ewing about 1790. Mr
Conwell has been justice of the peace for fifteen years, is a member of
the Presbyterian church, and is one of Luzerne's prosperous farmers.
p542
DAVID C CONWELL, an industrious, steady and prosperous farmer of the
wealthy old township of Luzerne, is a son of Yates S Conwell and Anna
Craft Conwell, and was born in Luzerne township, Fayette county, Penna,
September 8, 1824.
His grandfather, Jehu Conwell, was a pioneer settler of Luzerne when it
was infested by wild beats and vengeful savages. He was a Revolutionary
hero and afterwards a prominent man of the township.
David C Conwell grew up to manhood on a farm and was thoroughly trained
to farm work and farm management. His educational privileges were those
afforded by the subscription schools of his immediate neighborhood. His
education was necessarily limited to the few branches understood by his
teachers. His school, Heistersburg, was as good as any in the township,
excepting Merrittstown. Leaving school he engaged in farming and stock
raising, and has continued successfully in that line of business until
the present time. In 1880 he married Mrs Elizabeth Kelly Christopher,
daughter of Samuel Kelly of Luzerne township.
David C Conwell owns a fine farm of 140 acres of good land situated in
an industrious and prosperous community, convenient to church and school,
and near to mill and store. He is a republican and is now serving his
second term as postmaster of Heistersburg, and has repeatedly served on
his township election board, but does not let political matters engage
his attention from the labors of his farm or the care of his stock.
p325
JOHN BELL COOK, a grandson of Colonel Edward Cook of Revolutionary fame,
is a son of James Cook and Mary Bell Cook, and was born on the old Cook
homestead in Washington township, August 26, 1808.
Colonel Edward Cook, grandfather, has rightfully been called the pioneer
of civilization in Washington township. He came in 1770 from
Conococheague, Franklin county. His wife was Miss Martha Crawford, born
on Christmas, 1743, died April 20, 1837, and had one child, James Cook.
Colonel Edward Cook was prominent during the Revolution in the frontier
history of Fayette county. He died November 27, 1808, in the seventieth
year of his age.
From the truthful tribute placed on his tomb by his pastor, Rev William
Wylie, we quote in part: "Few men have deserved and possessed more
eminently than Colonel Cook, the consideration and esteem of the people
in the western country. In public spirit, disinterestedness, and zeal for
the general welfare, he was excelled by none. In private life, his
unsullied integrity, his liberality, the amiable benevolence of his
temper, endeared him to his friends, and marked him as a sanctuary to
which the poor might confidently resort for relief."
James Cook, father, was born in Washington township, August 13, 1772,
and engaged in farming as his life pursuit. On May 6, 1806, he was
married to Miss Mary Bell, a native of Ireland, and has six children.
John Bell Cook was reared on a farm, and received his early education in
the old subscription schools. When he reached his majority he engaged in
farming, and has continued in that business ever since.
On October 18, 1837, he was married to Miss Matilda Cunningham, daughter
of William Cunningham and Nancy Forsythe Cunningham: both Presbyterians
and came out with Colonel Cook. The former died in 1816.
James Cook, a son, was born May 14, 1840, enlisted in Company F,
Eighteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, wask taken prisoner and exchanged,
thrown by a horse and instantly killed August 16, 1864, at City Point,
and now sleeps in the cemetery at Rehoboth church; Sarah A Cook, was born
August 23, 1842, was finely educated, married A M Fulton, and died
December 12, 1874; William J Cook, died in infancy; Joseph A Cook, born
December 11, 1846, and Robert Johnson Cook, born March 21, 1849. He was
graduated from Yale in 1876, was captain of the Yale boat crew from 1873
to 1876, read law, and was admitted to the Pittsburgh bar in 1878. He
marrried Miss Annie Wells of Pittsburgh, April 26, 1881, and in 1882 took
a special course in a German university.
John Bell Cook is now in his eighty second year. His wife died December
12, 1887. She was an estimable woman and a devout Christian. Mr Cook is
an honored citizen, and a higly esteemed member of the Presbyterian
church.
p421
JOHN COOLEY is a son of Jonathan Colley and Jane Passmore Cooley,
and was born in Tyrone township, Fayette county, Penna, August 22, 1816.
William Cooley, paternal grandfather, was of Irish extraction and at
the time of the Revolutionary War was a resident of Maryland, and followed
wagoning. He was married to Elizabeth Firmin. Their children were: John
Cooley, Jonathan Cooley (father), Matthew Cooley, Isaac Cooley, and
Frederick Cooley.
Jonathan Cooley, father, was born in 1777 and died in 1817. He was a
"forgeman" and came from Maryland to Fayette county in 1803. He was
married October 31, 1805, to Miss Jane Passmore. Their children were:
Matthew Cooley, born August 11, 1806; Nancy Cooley, born April 22, 1811;
Mary P Cooley, born March 1, 1808; William Cooley, born January 9, 1814;
Elizabeth F Cooley, born July 6, 1809; John Cooley, born August 22, 1816.
John Cooley was educated in the subscription schools and learned the
trade of a carpenter, and later that of cabinet maker. He was married
March 20, 1839, to Miss Maria Louisa Bryant of Connellsville. Their
children were: Eliza J Cooley, born January 17, 1840; Isabella Cooley,
born September 18, 1841; Wallace H Cooley, born May 1, 1843; Amanda
Cooley, born January 30, 1845; Henry L Cooley, born July 16, 1847.
Wallace Cooley (son) enlisted in 1861 in Company I, Twenty fifth Ohio
Volunteers, was in the battles of Cheat Mountain, Second Bull Run, and
Chancellorsville. He was badly wounded in the battle at the latter place.
John Cooley married for his second wife August 12, 1852, Mary Ann
Baker of Butler county. Unto their union were born seven children: Samuel
Cooley, born May 2, 1853; Matthew Cooley, born January 22, 1855; Maria L
Cooley, born December 19, 1856; Frances D Cooley, born November 12, 1858;
John B Cooley, born October 30, 1860; Harriet D Cooley, born March 9,
1863; and Rachel Cooley, born May 11, 1865.
Mr Cooley after his first marriage located at Connellsville and engaged
in the cabinet making business which he continues at the present time. He
is a good workman, a peaceable and respected citizen, and a regular
attendant at the services of the Methodist Episcopal church.
p422
WILLIAM H COOPER, A M, born September 6, 1821, in Lawrence county,
Penna, and is a son of Thomas Cooper and Phoebe Dean Cooper.
His grandfather, William Cooper, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland,
came to America, served creditably in the French and Indian War
(1754-63). His children were: John Cooper, Thomas Cooper (father), James
Cooper, Nancy Cooper, Sarah Cooper and Jane Cooper, who all lived in
Lawrence, Mercer and Butler counties.
His father, Thomas Cooper, was raised in Lancaster county, Penna, and
came to Lawrence, formerly Mercer, county where he married Phebe Dean.
They had the following children: Jonathan Cooper, William H Cooper, John
Cooper, Robert Cooper, James H Cooper, Jesse Cooper, Marshall Cooper,
Jacob Cooper, Mary Cooper and Ellen Cooper. Thomas Cooper was a farmer
and stock raiser and amassed quite a sum of money.
His wife, Phebe Dean Cooper, was a daughter of Jonathan Dean of
Scotch descent, a surveyor. Jonathan Dean came from Huntingdon county to
Lawrence, and afterward to Butler county, Penna. In these counties many
of his descendants are now living. He married Eleanor Thompson and to
them were born: Aaron Dean, Polly Dean, William Dean, Phebe Dean, and
Nancy Dean.
William H Cooper was educated in the subscription schools of that
day. He attended the Butler Academy at Butler, in Butler county, entered
Dennison College, Ohio, in 1842 and was graduated from there in 1847.
In September, 1847, he and his young wife were elected principals of
the London Academy, Ohio. From 1848 to 1870 he taught in several colleges in
the South; in 1850 was president of Muscle Shoals College, Alabama;
taught mathematics in Enon College, Tennessee; and also in Union College,
Tennessee. From 1855 to 1859 he was president of Mountain Home Female
College, Alabama, and taught two years at Christian County College,
Christian county, Kentucky. He left the South in 1870 and came to Oil
City, Penna, where he was elected principal of the Rouseville High
School, and there in connection with Rev S Williams, D D, established the
Baptist church at Rouseville. The next year he served as principal of the
New Castle Academic School and also of the Harlansburg Academy one year.
He came to Connellsville and preached for the Baptist church from
1873 till 1876. He was licensed to preach at the age of nineteen, and has
preached more or less ever since. Has spent in the space of thirty two
years about $6,000 in educating the poor but talented young gentlemen and
ladies.
He is a member of the Sons of Temperance and has always advocated the
cause of temperance, as did his father and grandfather.
In 1847 he married Mary E Butler, daughter of Eli Butler of Granville,
Ohio. After her death in 1850 he was remarried in 1852 to Margaret Jones
of Nashville, Tennessee. They have five children: John Cooper, Charles
Cooper, Mary Cooper, Annie Cooper, and Agnes Cooper.
Prof Cooper's sentiments and sympathies in the last war were with the
North, although he was in the South and surrounded by Southern
influences. He was arrested several times by Union soldiers, but was
always released. Having lost all his earthly possessions to the amount of
several thousand dollars by issues of war, he returned to his native
State that his dust may mingle in a few years with the dust of a numerous
ancestry.
In spring of 1889 Prof Cooper was elected justice of the peace for the
borough of New Haven where he is known as a scholar, fine theologian, and
a man who possesses considerable information.
p494
ALFRED CORE, a popular justice of the peace and the genial auctioneer of
Smithfield, was born in German township, Fayette county, Penna, September
30, 1827, and is a son of Isaac Core and Jane French Core.
His grandfather, Colonel Henry Core, was of German extraction and came
to German township at an early day. He commanded a regiment of
Pennsylvania militia.
His father, Isaac Core, was born in 1790 and died in 1860. He was a
farmer and was county commissioner in 1821 and 1822. His wife was Jane
French, daughter of Enoch French, the latter of Scotch Irish descent and
a ruling elder of Dunlap's Creek Presbyterian church. Isaac Core had
three sons: W F Core of Texas, Alfred Core and John C Core of Franklin
township.
Alfred Core was reared and educated in German township. His business
up to the breaking out of the rebellion was farming and stock dealing. In
1863 he entered the quartermaster's department at Clarksburg, West
Virginia, and was afterwards transferred to Grafton where he remained
until 1865.
After the war he located at Smithfield and ran the Stentz House for
eighteen months, when he engaged for three years in operating a hack line
from Smithfield to Uniontown and carried the United States mails.
Relinquishing the hack line business, he again engaged in stock dealing.
In 1851 he was married to Miss Mary V Sangston. They have two children:
Rebecca Jane Core, wife of Absalom Howard of Smithfield; and Emma R Core,
married to James Abraham Jr of Greensburg, who is conductor on the
Pennsylvania Central railroad.
Mrs Core's father, Hon John A Sangston, was born in 1803 and died in
1858. He was sheriff of Fayette county from 1829 to 1832, and a member of
the Pennsylvania State senate from 1834 to 1838. He was not a speaker,
but a man of splendid natural ability. His wife was Miss Rebecca
McClelland of Uniontown.
Alfred Core is a member of the I O of O F and Knights of the Golden
Eagle. Before the war he was a lieutenant of a militia cavalry company
and an aid-de-camp to General Ed Swearingen. Although a republican, he
has been elected for his fourth term of five years each as a justice of
the peace in a strong democratic township. For thirty five years he has
been a successful auctioneer. Squire Core is congenial and popular, an
entertaining conversationalist, and inimitable in description of the
humorous and ludicrous.
p326
JOHN W CORWIN is a native of Fayette county, Penna, was born July 6,
1834, and is a son of Barnet Corwin and Nellie Call Corwin.
Morris Corwin, John W's paternal grandfather, came to Fayette county
at an early day and engaged as cooper. His wife was Mary Smock, daughter of
Barnet Smock, who lived to be ninety seven years of age, and had an odd
collection of bonnets representing all the styles in vogue during a
period of one hundred years.
Barnet Corwin was born in Westmoreland county, Penna, in 1814 and was
by trade a ship carpenter. He married Nellie Call, daughter of Daniel Call,
who was a weaver by trade.
John W Corwin was raised at Belle Vernon and was educated there.
When twenty years of age he learned the trade of engineer and continued in
that business for sixteen years. In 1870 he engaged in the grocery and
bakery business in which he has continued successfully ever since.
He was married June 21, 1866, to Miss Margaret Jacobs, daughter of
William Jacobs. They have one child, a son, Edgar Corwin, born May 14,
1867, married to Miss Araminta Clegg, daughter of John S Clegg, and is
engaged in the glass business.
John W Corwin is one of the substantial citizens of Belle Vernon,
has never sought office, but has filled several positions of trust and
responsibility of his borough, and is a member of the Free will Baptist
church.
p328
HIRAM COTTOM, one of Lower Tyrone's leading merchants, is a son of
Samuel Cottom and Elizabeth Shallenberger Cottom, and was born in
Franklin township, January 18, 1849.
William Cottom was a farmer of Lower Tyrone, and was noted for strictly
attending to his own business. He was a Methodist, and died at the age of
eighty six years. One of his sons, Samuel Cottom, was born in Rostravor
township, Westmoreland county, Penna, and married Elizabeth
Shallenberger. He is now a substantial farmer of Lower Tyrone.
He is a democrat, and has served several terms as school director. His
wife was born in 1807, and died in 1867.
Hiram Cottom was brought up by his parents in Lower Tyrone township, in
1854, was there educated in the common schools, and a commercial school
at Uniontown. At fourteen years of age he engaged as a clerk in a store
with G W Anderson, and remained with him thirteen years.
In 1876 he purchased Mr Anderson's property and stock of goods, and is
now engaged in commercial merchandising. He improved the property and
built two large store rooms. He carries a large and completely assorted
stock of goods, and has a full line of everything needed in a first class
general store.
He was married in 1874 to Miss Cordelia Anderson, daughter of G W
Anderson. To their union have been born four children: George W A Cottom,
born November 13, 1875, died March 24, 1887; Bessie K Cottom, born May
11, 1880, died March 22, 1887; Lela Cottom, born September 10, 1885, died
March 25, 1887; and Stewart Cottom, born February 26, 1888.
Mr Cottom is an active and influential democrat; has served one term as
township auditor; and two terms as school director. He is a man of marked
business ability, well merits and fully deserves the confidence reposed
in him by the business public.
p328
IRVING H COTTOM, a progressive farmer of Lower Tyrone township, is a son
of William Cottom and Catherine Goodge Cottom and was born on the farm
where he now resides in Lower Tyrone township, August 12, 1840.
Richard Cottom, grandfather, was a native of England, who emigrated to
Maryland in 1791, and came to the Work farm in Dunbar township in 1810.
Five years later he moved to the mouth of Jacob's creek and in 1822
removed to Lower Tyrone township, where he died October 5, 1875. He was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a just man whose life motto
was honesty.
His wife was born near the site of the opera house at Uniontown in 1798
and died April 20, 1884. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Six of their children are living: Samuel Cottom, a farmer;
William Cottom, a wagon maker; John Cottom, a farmer; Wesley Cottom;
Elizabeth Cottom, wife of Josiah Reed; and Irving H Cottom.
Irving H Cottom was raised on a farm and received his education in the
common schools; at the close of his school days he engaged in farming at
home, and in 1861 removed to Westmoreland county where he remained four
years. In 1865 he bought his present farm containing 115 acres of fine
land, situated 2 ½ miles north of Dawson on the Connellsville and
Perryopolis road.
January 30, 1862, he married Miss Annie S Walter, daughter of Joseph L
Walter, the latter a Westmoreland county farmer. Unto this union have
been born eight children: Alva L Cottom, a butcher of Vanderbilt married
Belle B Hepplewhite of England; Frank P Cottom, a normal student at
California, Penna; Mary L Cottom; Lester M Cottom; Joseph H Cottom; Harry
A Cottom; Ethel M Cottom; and Clyde Cottom.
Irving H Cottom is a staunch democrat and has served as supervisor of
roads and assessor. He is a member and class leader of the Methodist
Episcopal church, is a man of decided views upon the leading issues of
the day, and is a reliable and prominent citizen of his township.
p263
JOHN H COULTER, a prominent merchant of Brownsville for many years
was born at Brownsville, Fayette county, Pa, May 10, 1839, attended the
schools of his native place, and at the age of seventeen he began to
learn the trade of tinsmith with James Slocum. After learning the trade
and working at the same for six years, Mr Slocum gave him a clerkship in
the store, and put him in charge of the business. In 1885 he became Mr
Slocum's successor. By his zealous attention to business, he has retained
all of the business of his predecessor, and now has a very large and
extensive trade. He has acquired all he possesses by means of his own
exertions, and has the respect of the public as a straight forward
business man.
He was married in 1870 to Miss Mary E Smith, a daughter of Wilson Smith;
the latter died when she was quite young. Her mother was Virtue Smith.
Mrs Coulter was a native of West Wheeling, Belmont county, Ohio. They
have four children: Charles W Coulter, Mary Eleanor Coulter, Florence E
Coulter, and Emma V Coulter.
Mr Coulter is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which
he is steward and trustee. His parents were James N and Rebecca Van Horn
Coulter, both born in Fayette county, Pa. James N Coulter was a
blacksmith by trade. He died at Brownsville in 1852, in the forty fourth
year of his age. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and of
the order of the Sons of Temperance.
John Coulter, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to
this county from Hagerstown, Maryland, and was a stone mason by trade. He
was Presbyterian and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He died in 1852.
Rebecca Coulter, the mother of J H Coulter, is living in Brownsville,
in the eighty second year of her age, and is remarkably well preserved. Her
father, Bernard Van Horn, was one of a family of thirteen children, was
born in 1770 in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, and came to Fayette
county before the War of 1812. He was a farmer in Menallen township,
where he owned a farm, and died in 1847 at the age of seventy seven years.
p326
ETHELBERT O COURTNEY was born May 7, 1829, on what is now the Phillips
farm in North Union township, Fayette county, Penna, and is a son of
Benjamin Courtney and Sarah Wilkey Courtney.
Benjamin Courtney was born in North Union township, and was a carpenter
by trade but was principally engaged in farming. In 1821 he married Miss
Sarah Wilkey, who was born in 1798 near New Haven and was a daughter of
James Wilkey. Mr and Mrs Courtney have six children: Henry Courtney,
Jackson Courtney, John Courtney, Ethelbert O Courtney, William Courtney
and Margaret Elizabeth Courtney; all are dead except Ethelbert.
Benjamin Courtney's father, John Courtney, was born in the eastern part
of the State and came to North Union township where he married Elizabeth
Carter and engaged in farming.
Ethelbert O Courtney was reared on a farm, was educated in the common
schools of North Union and Menallen, and for a time was a pupil of Hugh
Espy, a prominent teacher of that day.
Mr Courtney married September 15, 1859, Miss Lucinda N Foster, daughter
of John Foster of North Union, a farmer and stock buyer and a member of
the Presbyterian church. Mr and Mrs Courtney are the parents of two
children: Emily Jane Courtney, born August, 1861, married to William
Colley of Uniontown, and has one child, Ethelbert Colley; James William
Courtney, born April 9, 1867, and was married to Elizabeth Jeffries,
daughter of William Jeffries of Menallen township.
Mr Courtney is a democrat and has voted for every democratic candidate
since he became a voter. He has held the offices of school director,
township auditor, judge of election and road supervisor. He and his wife
are members of the Presbyterian church at Laurel Hill. He has made
farming the business of his life, and owns a good farm in Menallen
township where he now resides.
p543
JOHN A COX was born January 22, 1835, at Morgantown, Virginia, now
West Virginia. He is the son of Levi Cox and Mary Meyers Cox.
Levi Cox was born in 1801 in Delaware and removed from there to Virginia
in 1812 where he worked as a day laborer. He married Miss Mary Meyers of
near Grandville, Monongalia county, Virginia, who died in 1845 in Morgantown.
John A Cox grew up on the farm, and was educated at the subscription
schools of Virginia. He followed coal mining for ten years. He enlisted
in Company A, Third West Virginia Infantry. The regiment was afterward
mounted and called the Sixth West Virginia Cavalry.
Mr Cox was in the service three years, two months and thirteen days.
When he came out of the army, he resumed mining for a short time, and
then farmed for some years. He spent two years in the West, the greater
portion of the time in Minnesota. From the West, he came to Broad Ford,
where he had control of H C Frick's coal works for two years. He
afterwards took charge of J M Schoonmaker's works for about ten years,
when he settled on a farm near Mill Run in 1881, and remained eight
years. In 1889 he started a store at Mill Run, and has met with good
success in the mercantile business.
He was married to Miss Julia Ann Collins, December 28, 1864, by the Rev
George Westfall of the Methodist church, a daughter of William Collins of
Prideville Iron Works near Morgantown.
He is the father of nine children, all of whom are living: Frank Cox,
born October 13, 1865, in Washington county, Penna; Eliza Cox, born June
7, 1870, in Fillmore county, Minnesota; Orline Cox, born July 1, 1872, in
Fayette county, Penna; John A Cox Jr, born May 27, 1874, in Fayette
county, Penna; Leender Cox, born June 5, 1875, in Fayette county, Penna,
near Broad Ford; Filmore Cox, born November 16, 1876, near Broad Ford;
Signal Cox, born March 10, 1878, near Broad Ford; Ada Cox, born July 6,
1880, near Broad Ford; and Jannette Cox, born August 26, 1883, at Mill
Run.
Mr Cox has held the office of school director once in Upper Tyrone
township and one term in Springfield township. In the war he was severely
injured in the right knee, besides receiving two other bullet wounds. He
draws a pension of $360 a year.
p263
Captain MICHAEL A COX of Brownsville is one of the ablest as well as
safest commanders that ever trod the deck of a steamboat, and is one of
the oldest steamboat captains now in active service on the western
rivers. He has commanded twenty two different steamboats, being part
owner in all of them, on the Monongahela, Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri,
Arkansas and Cumberland rivers. He has also a pilot's license on all of
these rivers. Transporting hundreds of thousands of passengers, moving
millions of tons of freight, he has never has an accident by which a life
was lost or any amount of property destroyed.
The beginning of his long and so far distinguished career upon the
"Western Waters" was in 1844 as a clerk of the steamboat MASSACHUSETTS,
commanded by Captain Isaac Bennet. Captain Cox is now commanding the Adam
Jacobs on the Monongahela river.
Captain M A Cox was born in Hampstead, Carroll county, Maryland, July
26, 1821, and is a son of Jacob Cox and Keziah Armacost Cox, both natives
of Carroll county, Maryland.
Jacob Cox came to Fayette county in 1825 and engaged in his life long
pursuit of farming near Brownsville. He died in 1836 and his wife passed
away eighteen years later.
Captain Cox obtained his education in the country subscription schools
of that time: his attendance was, however, limited to the winter sessions
as he was employed on the farm during the summer.
At seventeen years of age, he turned his attention to the mercantile
business. In order to properly qualify himself for that pursuit, he
engaged as a clerk with James L Bowman of Brownsville with whom he
remained for six years. He completed his experience in mercantile life
with two years spent as a clerk for Jesse H Duncan in an iron and
commission house in Brownsville.
He was united in marriage, May 7, 1850, to Miss Mary Ellen Krepps, a
daughter of the Hon Samuel J Krepps; she died in 1880 leaving five
children: Annie E Cox, Samuel K Cox, Solomon G Cox, Michael A Cox Jr, and
Mary E Cox.
Two of his sons, Samuel K Cox and Solomon G Cox, are successful
businessmen of Chicago and the other, Michael A Cox Jr, is a prosperous
businessman of St Louis. One of his daughters, Mary E Cox, married Mr
William J Parshall; the other, Annie E Cox, is single and has the care of
her father's comfortable home in Brownsville.
In addition to his Brownsville possessions, Captain Cox owns a
valuable body of land in West Virginia, besides other property. Thus he has
accumulated enough of this world's goods to render him comfortable in his
old age, and to give his children a fair start in life.
He is a man of fine and commanding presence. Politically he is a
democrat. Although not connected with any church, his religious views are
in accord with the teachings of the Protestant Episcopal church. The
captain in forty five consecutive years of service in navigating western
rivers, has often piloted his own boats.
He is as spry and active as the general run of men who are his juniors
in age by twenty years, and bids fair from his present appearance to
tread the deck for a number of years to come.
The Captain has been a prominent member of the Masonic order for more
than thirty years, and has been eminent commander of St Omer's Commandery
No 7 at Brownsville for many years.
p424
ROBERT BRUCE COX was born at Brownsvillle, Fayette county, Penna, March
24, 1840; was reared and attended the common schools there. He began life
as a clerk for Jesse H Duncan of Brownsville, iron, nails and commission
house. From 1857 to 1861 he served an apprenticeship at millwright
business under William H Barnes of Uniontown. In 1861 he went into the
army and served till 1864. About three years before the war, however, he
joined a company of cavalry which was organized by Captain Davidson at
Merrittstown. This company offered its services to the governor of
Virginia at the time of the John Brown raid.
On the breaking out of the war they again offered their services,
but General Scott thought there was no need for cavalry to quiet the
rebellious feeling at the South, and they were not called into action. It
was afterward attached to the Sixth Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry at Camp
Wilkins, Pittsburgh; was taken thence to Washington City where it was
disbanded, and the First Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry was organized under
George D Bayard as colonel. He was killed at the battle of
Fredericksburg.
Mr Cox was at the following battles: Drainsville, Virginia;
Harrisonburg, Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Gainesville, Bull Run,
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Culpeper, Auburn, Bristow
Station, New Home Church, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and all the battles
under General Grant in his attempts to capture Richmond. The regiment was
with Sheridan in all of his raids. Mr Cox was never out of the service
one hour from the time he entered till he was discharged; he never had a
furlough, and received no wound.
He was mustered out September 15, 1864, at Philadelphia. Since then
he has been very active in the organization of martial clubs for political
parties, and assisted in organizing the William Kurtz Post, G A R at
Connellsville. After the war he returned home and engaged in the
carpenter trade, and was for several years in the employment of Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad Company of Connellsville. In 1877 he commenced as a
contractor and builder, and has continued as such ever since.
He is a member of "King Solomon's" Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons,
No 346, at Connellsville, of the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, Chosen Friends, Penn Council, No 30. He has served as
secretary in each.
In politics Mr Cox has been an independent republican. He has always
been a strictly temperate man, is a member of the Baptist church, and has
served as a member of the council for his borough, and as assessor.
Mr Cox has been twice married; first on April 13, 1864, to Mary J
Shallenburger, a daughter of Abraham Shallenburger, an old settler at
Connellsville. Four children were born to them: Abraham Shallenburger
Cox, Samuel J Cox, Anna Cox and Nannie Cox.
His second wife was Jennie Dawson, a native of Connellsville, to
whom he married in March, 1889.
His parents were Samuel J Cox and Nancy Works Cox. Their family
consisted of six children: James Cox (dead), Mary A Cox, Robert B Cox,
John C Cox, Samuel J Cox and Ellen Cox. The latter was burned to death
when thirteen years of age.
Samuel J Cox, father, was born at Brownsville, lived there till 1863,
when he removed to Connellsville, and has always been engaged in the
merchant tailoring business. He married three times. His second wife was
Mary Murphy, a native of Redstone township, and had four children:
William Cox, Dorcas Cox, Thomas Cox, and James Cox. She was killed at
Connellsville. For his third wife he married Ella Lingham, a native of
Pittsburgh.
The paternal grandfather of R B Cox was of German descent, born in
Fayette county, and was a farmer. He served in the War of 1812-15, and
was killed in battle.
Nancy Works, the mother of R B Cox, was a native of Dunbar township,
a daughter of James Works, who was also born in Dunbar township.
p425
SAMUEL J COX was born January 25, 1813, in Luzerne township, Fayette
county, Penna.
Micheal Cox, grandfather, was born in Germany, came to American and
settled in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. He was one of five who came
to this part of the State and settled on what is known as Cox's Run in
Luzerne township, taking what was termed "tomahawk possession" of a tract
of land. The names of three of this five were Cox, Sturgeon and Porter.
Isaac Doney, maternal grandfather, was of Irish extraction and came
from New Jersey to western Pennsylvania.
Joseph Cox, father, was born in Luzerne township, Fayette county, Penna;
was a farmer and married Mary Doney in about 1805, and died in 1816. They
had three children: Eliza Cox, deceased; William Cox, died in the Civil
War after serving about two years, and Samuel J Cox.
Samuel J Cox was educated in the schools at Brownsville, later he
learned the trade of tailor under James McSherry, and carried on the
merchant tailoring business at Brownsville about thirty years, when he
removed to Connellsville in 1863, and has since remained there, engaged
in the merchant tailor business.
In 1835 he was married to Miss Nancy Work, a daughter of James Work,
native of Dunbar township, Fayette county, Penna. They had the following
children: James Cox, died in infancy; Mary A Cox, deceased, who married
Jacob Stahl and went to Kansas City and died there in July, 1888; Robert
Bruce Cox, a carpenter and contractor, lives at Connellsville; John Cox,
a painter; Joseph Cox, a carpenter, is married and lives in Pittsburgh;
Thomas Cox, a railroader, is married, lives in Connellsville; William
Cox, is married, lives in Connellsville; James B Cox, lives in
Connellsville, is married and is an upholsterer by trade. Dorcas Cox
lives in Connellsville with S J Cox.
Mr Cox had three sons in the Civil War. John Cox went out in Sickle's
Brigade at the commencement of the war, fought to the close, and took
part in the battle of Williamsburg and quite a number of others in the
Army of the Potomac. Robert Bruce Cox volunteered in the First
Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry and served about three years, and took part
in a number of battles. Joseph Cox served three months, and took part in
the capture of Morgan in the Ohio raid.
Mr Cox has held the office of burgess of Connellsville for two
terms,
has been school director for two terms, and a member of the council
several terms. He is a member of the Protestant Methodist church, was one
among its first members, and has held all of the offices of the church.
He was sent as a delegate from the Pittsburgh conference to Baltimore, to
the convention for the re-uniting of the two branches of the church after
the war. He is also a member of the Masonic order at Connellsville.
p494
JOHN E CRAFT, an influential citizen of Redstone township, was born on
the farm which is now owned by Bashear Craft in Redstone township,
Fayette county, Penna, February 10, 1837, and is a son of John C Craft
and Elizabeth Colley Craft.
John C Craft was born in Redstone township in 1800. His wife was a
daughter of John Colley who lived for many years in Redstone township,
and died June 13, 1851.
John E Craft was married to Mary E Jacobs, a daughter of William Jacobs,
who died in 1868, of Redstone, June 28, 1869, at the Baptist church in
Brownsville by Rev Skinner. At the age of fourteen, he began working with
a threshing machine and has followed that business continually ever
since. He is known as the "king thresher" throughout Fayette county.
He is a leading member and elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church at
Pleasant View. His valuable farm in Redstone containing 130 acres is
underlaid with rich deposits of coal and limestone. He is a man of
unflinching integrity and possesses fine business qualifications. In
politics he is a democrat as were his father and grandfather.
p156
R PORTER CRAIG is the son of John S Craig and Jane Springer Craig. John
S Craig, the father of the subject of this sketch, was of Irish descent.
He was born in East Liberty, on the west side of the Youghiogheny river
opposite to what is now Dawson borough, April 4, 1800. He lived seven
years with his grandfather, Hon John Smilie at Dawson, and eight years
with his uncle, Joseph Huston, two miles north of Uniontown.
In 1816-17 he was at the Union Rolling Mill and in charge of the works
for over one year. In 1818 he went to the Old Forge, two miles north of
Uniontown, which he assisted in running till he was married. On April 4,
1822, he was married to Miss Jane Springer, daughter of John Springer.
One week after his marriage he removed to the Old Redstone Furnace, and
acted as manager there of the same until 1824. He commenced farming about
1824 and continued to farm until his death. He died February 2, 1887. In
April, 1856, he went West and returned in September, and bought the farm
in North Union township where he lived and died.
William Craig, grandfather of R Porter Craig, came from Ireland in the
latter part of the eighteen century, and settled in Fayette county. Jane
Springer Craig was born June 13, 1804.
R Porter Craig was born October 2, 1836, in Menallen township, Fayette
county, Penna. He was raised on a farm and has been a farmer all of his
life, and is now a producer of grains and small fruits. He was educated
in the common schools of North Union township, and one of his old
teachers was James Springer.
He was married February 24, 1863, to Catherine M Springer, by Rev
Sinsabau, a Methodist pastor. To this union were born three children:
Albert R Craig, born January 2, 1865, he is a farmer married to Fannie
Rankin of South Union township; Charles H Craig, born September 5, 1867,
living at home; Walter C Craig, born June 8, 1869, living at home.
Mr Craig has been a member of the Baptist church since 1855, and held
the office of deacon for many years. Mrs Craig is a member of the same
church. Mr Craig is a member of the Masonic order. He is a pleasant
gentleman, and is of quiet easy manners, and is highly respected by his
neighbors.
Dennis Springer, the father of Mrs Craig, was born February 3, 1787, in
North Union township. He was a farmer. He married Miss Sarah Brownfield,
daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Brownfield. She was born September 25,
1797, and came to this county in 1805 with her parents from near
Winchester, Virginia.
p259
SEABORN CRAWFORD, undertaker and furniture dealer of Brownsville, is a
son of Nathan Crawford and Mary Carlton Crawford. He was born in West
Pike Run township, Washington county, Penna, March 27, 1826. Seaborn
Crawford (grandfather) came from Maryland, and located in Washington
county, Penna, and was a farmer and blacksmith.
Nathan Crawford (father) was born in West Pike Run township, March,
1804, and lived and farmed in that and Somerset township until about
1860, when he moved to Luzerne village, where he lived until 1884, and
died in July of that year, aged eighty years. He married Mary Carlton,
who died January 2, 1870. They had seven children: Samuel C Crawford, a
layer, who died in Little Rock, Arkansas, January, 1857; Mark C Crawford,
a carpenter who died in Canton, Ohio; Richard Crawford, a carpenter;
Beulah Crawford, widow of Caleb Odbert; Sarah F Crawford, wife of
Thornton Rogers; Liddia Crawford, a twin sister of Sarah, died at the age
of four months; and Seaborn Crawford.
Seaborn Crawford was reared on a farm, attended the subscription schools
until he was eighteen years of age, when he spent three years in learning
the trade of carpenter with Andrew Hopkins of Bridgeport. He received
board and washing and $100 in money for his labor.
In the fall of 1848 he went to Cincinnati to work at his trade, but
finding little work in that city he engaged as a book agent with a
Connecticut Yankee, and successfully solicited orders in western Ohio and
eastern Indiana until the following spring.
He returned home and continued or pursued his trade until 1850 when he
caught the "gold fever" but possessing little money, he borrowed $500 of
his friend Daniel P Griffith. Leaving Pittsburgh April 10, 1850, Mr
Crawford and Gideon Allison, a medical student of Brownsville, traveled
by boat to western Missouri; there they rigged out a mule team and
started for California, traveling by way of Fort Bridger and Salt Lake
City. On their arrival at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, they
cut up their wagon and made pack saddles, so as to enable them to carry
their provisions and clothing across the mountains.
Mr Crawford remained between two and three years in California, where he
was engaged in operating a sawmill and mining. He returned home by way of
the isthmus, spent a day in Acapulco, Mexico, and one day and night in
Jamaica, and landed in Norfolk, Virginia, October, 1852.
In the winter of 1852-53 he attended school at Mt Union, Ohio, and in the
summer of 1853, he went to Illinois and invested in land in Bureau
county. In the fall of 1853 he returned to Brownsville and became a
member of the dry goods firm, D P Griffith & Co of Bridgeport. He
remained in this firm until the winter of 1856. He was married to Miss
Edith Riley, daughter of John and Edith Riley, May 2, 1854.
In 1857 he removed to Clarke county, Iowa, with his wife and one child,
and engaged for three years in the flouring and sawmill business with
Isaac and Loyd Bennett.
In 1860 he rented his mill interests; with his wife and two children he
returned to Brownsville. He started on a second trip to the far West, and
with an ox team and cow crossed the plains, entered the Rocky Mountains
at the "Golden Gate" and arrived at Central City in June. He remained
here for nearly two years, was engaged in erecting quartz mills, mining
and prospecting. In the fall of 1861he returned to Denver, and helped to
erect the soldiers' barracks. From thence he returned to Brownsville, and
engaged in carpenter work for two years. In 1864 he began merchandising
in the "Neck" at Brownsville, continuing until 1882. In that year he
engaged in the sawmill business, lumber and coal boat siding business.
May 1, 1885, he engaged in his present furniture and undertaking business
in Brownsville. He has in his warerooms such goods as will add to the
elegance and comfort of any home. He also understands and practices
successfully the art of cavity and arterial embalming. Mr Crawford has
three children: Charles C Crawford, attorney at law in Pittsburgh; Samuel
C Crawford, in the furniture business; and Luther L Crawford, a druggist.
Mr Crawford was reared a Friend or Quaker, was an anti-slavery man, and
is at present an ardent temperance advocate, and a member of the
Cumberland Presbyterian church.
p427
JAMES R CRAY, one of the stirring young businessmen of Dunbar, was born
at Darlington, Beaver county, Penna, March 8, 1860, and is a son of James
Cray and Margaret Meehan Cray, both born in Ireland.
The name Cray or Creagh, as it was originally spelled, is a common and
well known one in the counties of Cork and Limerick, southern Ireland. In
the early part of the present century, the male members of the Cray
family were among the largest and finest physically developed and most
muscular men of that region. The trans-Atlantic Crays have held many
positions of trust and profit and their native country. One of this
family, Captain Cray, recently filled the office of Mayor of the City of
Cork.
Peter Cray, the grandfather of James R Cray, was born in the county of
Cork, and was the youngest of six sons and married Bridget Brown in 1817.
They had seven sons and three daughters, of whom four are living. James
Cray, the father of James R Cray, emigrated from Ireland in 1852 to
Brady's Bend, Armstrong county, Penna, where four years later he married
Margaret Meehan, a daughter of Patrick Meehan and Ellen Noonan Meehan.
Her parents were married about 1820 in Fenah Parish, County Limerick,
Ireland. Born to them were one son and three daughters: James, Margaret,
Honora and Ellen.
James Cray and Margaret Meehan Cray had born to them five children:
James R Cray; Peter P M Cray, now a bookkeeper in Pittsburgh; Bridget
Cray and Ellen Cray. All living except Peter.
James R Cray was principally educated in the thirty sixth ward and
Central High School, Pittsburgh. After learning the harnessmaking trade
at Pittsburgh, he located in the oil regions of Pennsylvania but soon
removed to Dunbar where in 1878 he opened in business and by his skill
and industry soon became one of the foremost businessmen of the place. He
secured an appointment as postal clerk in the railway mail service on the
recommendation of Hon C E Boyle. This position he did not like, which he
soon resigned in order to devote all his attention to his rapidly
increasing business at Dunbar.
In 1888 he passed a very creditable preliminary examination for the law,
and was registered as a law student under the preceptorship of the firm
of Boyle, Mestrezat & Boyle. He has done as much and probably more to
promote the interests and develop the resources of the progressive little
borough of Dunbar than any other young man.
p327
ELIJAH CROSSLAND, a prosperous citizen of Menallen township, is a son of
Greenbury and Sarah Stearns Crossland, and was born at Uniontown April
23, 1845. Greenbury Crossland, one of the worthy and self-made men of
Uniontown, was born at Connellsville, June 13, 1813, and is a son of
Elijah Crossland and Catherine Smith Crossland. Greenbury Crossland came
to Uniontown at nine years of age, where he received a limited education,
but by push and vim won his way to fortune and high standing as a
citizen. In 1833 he engaged in butchering with a capital of $23, ten of
which were borrowed from his wife.
Since 1841 he has been very successful in buying cattle for the Eastern
markets. In 1847 he effected his first purchase of real estate, and now
owns nearly a thousand acres of choice farming and rich mineral land in
the vicinity of Uniontown. He and his wife have been members of the
Methodist Episcopal church in Uniontown since January 1, 1845, and he is
one of the church's most liberal contributors. A man of high repute has
analyzed his character as follows: "Moral characteristics, faithfulness,
honor, honesty, benevolence, and regard for the rights of others.
Business characteristics, good judgment, caution, energy, perseverance,
watchfulness, combined with great shrewdness, and knowledge of market values.
Religious chacteristics, enthusiasm, sincerity, simplicity in manners and
dress, charity and single-mindedness."
Elijah Crossland was raised in North Union township and educated in the
common schools. He engaged in farming and in 1876 removed to his present
farm which contains 154 acres of well improved and highly cultivated
land.
On October 31, 1867, he married Miss Nancy J Martin, daughter of Edward
Martin and Mary Rose Martin of Uniontown. Their union has been blessed
with five children: Mary Elizabeth Crossland, born August 10, 1868, and
married December 30, 1886, to Evan Jeffries, son of Harvey Jeffries;
Sarah Crossland, born May 25, 1870; Alice Crossland, born December 2,
1872; Anna Crossland, born December 13, 1874; and William Crossland, born
April 10, 1878.
p581
GREENBURY CROSSLAND of Uniontown must be ranked markedly among those
worthy men generally known as "self-made, strong and individuate in their
characteristics, and who build their own monuments of fortune and
reputation. Mr Crossland, the son of Elijah Crossland and Catherine Smith
Crossland, was born at Connellsville, June 16, 1813, and moved with his
parents to Uniontown in 1822, where he has ever since resided, having
occupied his present domicile thirty four years. At twelve years of age
he went to work at twelve and a half cents per day with George W Miller
on a farm where he remained a while. His literary education was obtained
from three or four short terms of schooling under the tuition of William
Thompson and others long before the common schools of Pennsylvania were
instituted; but his father being a butcher and horse dealer, young
Crossland got his principal training in the meat shop and by driving
horses to the eastern cities.
On the first day of January, 1833, he married Sarah Stearns with whom he
has lived happily for nearly half a century. In April, 1833, he commenced
business as a butcher on a capital of twenty three dollars, ten of which
were furnished by his wife, and has never received a dollar by bequest,
or in any way save through his labor or business transactions. At the
time of his early operations as a butcher, it was his custom to take a
wheelbarrow at one o'clock in the morning , a wheel, his wife helping him
by pulling with a rope tied to the barrow, a side of beef from the
slaughter house to the market house, where all meat was sold in those
days. The first year he made three hundred dollars, and bought a log
house and the lot on which it stood, the latter being the one on which
now stands the house occupied by T J King.
He continued butchering, gradually increasing in prosperity until about
1841, when he commenced buying cattle to sell in the eastern market, a
business he has followed mainly ever since. For about fourteen years he
was a partner in business with Charles McLaughlin, late of Dunbar, but
did not make the business remunerative until he engaged in it alone about
1856, since which time his march has been steadily onward in the line of
fortune.
In 1847 he bought of Charles Brown a farm of 104 acres whereon he has
since lived, the first purchase of real estate which now constitutes him
an extensive land proprietor; his domains covering over seven hundred
acres in the vicinity of Uniontown, all valuable alike for agriculture
and containing vast stores of mineral wealth.
Mr Crossland's excellent judgment of weights and measures is a matter of
popular notoriety, and it is said that he can guess at any time within
five pounds of the weight of a fat steer, which probably accounts for
much of his success in the cattle business. His strength of purpose and
moral firmness are remarkable, and he has never been led into the
visionary and impracticable. His knowledge of human nature is good, he
seldom erring in his judgments of men, and it is said never making
mistakes in his investments in property.
Mr Crossland is in religion an ardent Methodist, and it is due to him to
add that his neighbors accord to him the virtue of believing the faith he
professes. He and his wife joined the Methodist church in Uniontown,
January 1, 1845, and have both continued to this time active members
thereof. He has been for twenty five years past a liberal contributor to
the support of the ministry and the benevolent enterprises of the church.
p543
RICHARD CROSSLAND was born at Connellsville, Pa, July 17, 1823, and
is a son of Richard Crossland who was born at Poplar Springs, Maryland. He
came to Fayette county about 1817 and located at Connellsville. The
paternal grandfather of Richard was George Crossland, a native of
England, who settled at Poplar Springs, Maryland, over a century ago.
Richard Crossland was reared at Connellsville and attended the public
schools of that place. His main business has been that of stock drover,
principally in the employ of Eli Cope and Greenberry Crossland of
Uniontown. He was married January 23, 1845, to Eliza Hisman, a daughter
of Christopher Hisman of Bullskin township. Their union has been blessed
with fourteen children, twelve of whom are living: Eli Crossland, June 1,
1846, in Bullskin township; Eliza Jane Crossland, December 16, 1847;
Joseph F Crossland, May 23, 1849; Anna Crossland, February 3, 1851;
Christopher Crossland, April 23, 1853; Rebecca Crossland, April 3, 1855;
George Searight Crossland, May 19, 1957; William M Crossland, February
2, 1859; Ruth A Crossland, March 1, 1861; Israel P Crossland, September
16, 1863; Charles H Crossland, August 11, 1867; James G Crossland,
September 19, 1872, were all born in Bullskin township, Fayette county,
Pa.
For the last forty eight years Mr Crossland has been a highly respected
member of the I O of O F, belongs to General Worth Post, No. 386, at
Connellsville. He is a strong democrat and takes and active interest in
the success of his party, casting his first vote for James K Polk, and
has voted for every nominee of the democrat party for president since.
His sons are all democrats. His farm in Bullskin township contains eighty
four acres of well improved land underlaid with coal.
p426
SAMUEL CROSSLAND, an industrious tradesman, for over fifty years, of
Connellsville and New Haven, was born in Poplar Springs, Maryland, March
17, 1817, and is a son of Richard and Rebecca Strawbridge Crossland.
Samuel Crossland traces and English lineage through his paternal
grandfather, George Crossland, a Quaker, born in England and an early
settler at Connellsville.
Richard Crossland, a son of George Crossland, was born and reared in
Maryland, removed to Connellsville where he learned the trade of
wagonmaking, which he pursued as his life vocation. He married Rebecca
Strawbridge, born June 19, 1799, and a daughter of Abram Strawbridge, a
native of Baltimore, and was later a settler at Connellsville. They had
ten children, five sons and five daughters.
Samuel Crossland received the limited education offered by the
subscription schools of Connellsville, and well remembers his first
attendance at school in a small log house near the site of the present
main school building of Connellsville. He learned the trade of
wagonmaker, and at twenty one years of age, bought out his father's
wagonmaking shop, and continued to operate it successfully for twenty one
years, when he removed to near New Haven, where he erected a commodious
wagonmaking factory in 1859, enjoyed a good trade for thirty years, sold
out in 1889 to his sons, and removed to a previously purchased farm near
New Haven.
In 1840 he was married to Miss Nancy McLaine. They had seven children:
Albert J Crossland, born October 24, 1841, died August 1, 1881, he had a
collegiate education, was a successful and well-liked businessman;
Florence Crossland, born August 13, 1843, wife of Samuel Smutz and lives
in Missouri; Emily Crossland (dead); Harriet F Crossland, wife of Philip
Wofenberger of Westmoreland county; Irvin Crossland, born October 4,
1848, lives in Missouri; Fuller W Crossland, born November 11, 1850,
lives in Missouri; and McLaine Crossland, born June 28, 1852.
Mr Crossland was married in 1853 to Mrs Eliza Long, widow of William
Long, and to his second marriage were born eight children, born and names
as follows: Newcomer Crossland, born August 25, 1854; Frank Crossland,
born January 28, 1856; Nancy Crossland, born December 21, 1857; Elmore
Crossland, born June 27, 1860 (dead); Maria Crossland, born August 20,
1862; Eliza Jane Crossland, born March 10, 1865; Harry Crossland, born
March 5, 1868; and Bird Crossland, born July 26, 1872.
Samuel Crossland has retired from the active duties of life and resides
on his well improved farm near New Haven. He is a good workman, a
peaceable citizen, and a well respected member of the Methodist Episcopal
church at Connellsville.
p584
Major DAVID CUMMINGS, who became a citizen of Connellsville about 1820,
and lived there for several years, where four of his children now reside,
was born in Cecil county, Maryland, April 23, 1777, and was a son of
James Cummings, by birth a Scotchman of distinguished family, who coming
to America became an officer in the War of the Revolution.
David Cummings was a gentleman of classical education, and in early life
taught select schools. He was an officer in the army during the War of
1812, and was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Beaver Dam in
Canada; with other captive American officers carried to England, where he
was held for six months until exchanged, suffering great hardship. After
the war he became a mail contractor under the government, and as such
first found his way into western Pennsylvania, and eventually settled in
Connellsville where he soon became a man of note. He represented Fayette
county in the legislature at the sessions of 1823 and 1824, and was the
first man in the legislative body who made an effort to establish a
general system of education by common schools. That system being a matter
of contest, he was at the next election defeated.
Some years thereafter leaving Connellsville, he removed to Mifflin
county where he was first engaged in the building of the Pennsylvania
canal, from Huntingdon to Lewistown, he afterwards becoming
superintendent of the canal, as also collector of the port of Harriburg.
He died at Lewistown, February 5, 1848, and his remains were brought to
Connellsville and interred in the family burying ground beside those of
his wife, who had died some years before him.
Major Cummings was married June 30, 1801, to Elizabeth Cathers of Cecil
county, Maryland, by whom he had six sons and six daughters, of whom five
daughters and two sons are living: Hannah M Cummings who married the late
Thomas R McKee; Margaret Eliza Cummings, widow of Thomas McLaughlin;
Sophia Cummings, widow of Josiah Simmons, who died about 1863; Mary Ann
Cummings, who first married Dr Bresee of New York, now dead, and as her
second husband Andrew Patterson of Juniata county; Ellen Cummings, wife
of Robert T Galloway of Fayette county; and Jonathan W Cummings, one a
government surveyor, now of Uvalde county, Texas; and John A Cummings who
resides in Connellsville with his oldest sister, Mrs McKee.
Of the sons deceased was the late Dr James C Cummings, who died in
Connellsville, July 28, 1872. He was born in Maryland in 1802, and moved
with his parents to Fayette county about 1820, and was educated at
Jefferson College, and studied medicine under Dr Robert D Moore, then a
distinguished physician of Connellsville, where he himself became
afterwards equally distinguished in his profession. He was a coroner of
Fayette county for several terms, and a member of the legislature during
the sessions of 1843 and 1844. He was never married.
p544
JAMES CUNNINGHAM, deceased. The late James Cunningham was a faithful
citizen of Luzerne township, as well as a trusted public officer of
Fayette county. He was born at Merrittstown, Fayette county, Penna, July
26, 1812, and was a son of William Cunningham and Mary Gallagher
Cunningham.
His grandfather, James Cunningham, was a native of Ireland. Previous to
1775, with his four brothers, he came to american and settled near the
site of "Little Washington," Penna, and with a "tomahawk claim" took up a
large tract of land. He served in the War of the Revolution, and when he
returned found his land in possession of other people. He then went to
Chester county, where he secured a tract of land. This tract he sold for
continental currency, and later exchanged the priceof this depreciated
paper for a horse and cow. In 1800 he removed to near Merrittstown, where
he built a distillery and erected the large stone house now occupied by
Armstrong Porter.
One of his sons, Thomas Cunningham, was a college graduate and died
while young; another son, John Cunningham, served with Albert Gallatin in
the Pennsylvania legislature in 1794, being a member of that body from
1793 to 1805.
William Cunningham was born in 1793, and died May 2, 1819. He was a whig
in politics, served as county commissioner and afterwards filled the
office of United States district marshall and collector of taxes.
September 3, 1811, he married Miss Mary Gallagher, born July 3, 1788. One
of his sons, John Cunningham, was justice of the peace in Luzerne, and
now lives in Iowa.
James Cunningham was raised on a farm, received his education in the
subscription schools, and later learned the trade of blacksmith of George
Brown of Merrittstown, but soon abandoned that trade. He taught school
for a number of years in Luzerne township, when he purchased a farm and
engaged in farming until his death, April 5, 1888.
In 1835 he married Miss Rosanna Muir, of Scotch descent, and to their
union were born: Mary Cunningham, wife of I N Craft; John C Cunningham,
merchant of Belle Vernon, Penna, married Lizzie, daughter of Dr J S Van
Voorhis of that place; Martha A Cunningham; Sarah M Cunningham; Alfred H
Cunningham married Laura Springer, and is a commercial traveler for a
Pittsburgh house; and Annie E Cunningham.
James Cunningham was an elder for the Cumberland Presbyterian church up
1880 when he withdrew, and in the same year joined the Presbyterian
Church at Dunlap's Creek, and was elected ruling elder. In politics he is
a democrat, serving two terms as justice of the peace, 1840 to 1850; one
term as poor house director; one term as county auditor, 1860 to 1864;
and two terms as county commissioner, 1874 to 1879. He was frequently
urged to offer himself as a candidate for the legislature, but never did.
His services were often called in demand to settle estates and write
wills. As a citizen he was highly respected. As a public official he was
conscientious in the discharge of his duties.
p329
MATTHEW G CUNNINGHAM, farmer of Lower Tyrone township, is the son of
Joseph Cunningham and Jane Gaut Cunningham, both natives of Tyrone
township, Fayette county, Penna.
His father, Joseph Cunningham, was a farmer is what is now Lower Tyrone.
He was born March 22, 1801, in Fayette county, Penna, and died April 8,
1877, aged seventy six years. He was a democrat and held offices of
county commissioner from 1851 to 1853, school director and justice of the
peace of his township. He was a prominent man in his time and well liked
by all who knew him. He attended to a great deal of business as
administrator and executor of estates in this county.
He was a member of the Tyrone Presbyterian church, and a ruling elder of
the same for thirty years. In 1827 he married Miss Jane Gaut, who
survived him nearly nine years, and died January 30, 1886, in her
eightieth year. She was the daughter of Matthew Gaut, better known as
Squire Gaut, a farmer of Tyrone township and for many years a justice of
the peace.
Matthew G Cunningham was born January 3, 1832, in what is now Lower
Tyrone township, Fayette county, Penna. He was brought up on the farm,
and has continued to follow farming all his life. He got his education in
the common schools, and now resides on the farm formerly owned by his
father, situated two miles northwest of Dawson on the Dawson and Tyrone
Mills Road, and contains one hundred acres of good, well improved land.
He was married September 25, 1856, to Miss Lydia Newcomer, daughter of
Christian Newcomer, a farmer of Tyrone township; the latter died April
25, 1855, at the age of sixty five. Of this marriage there are now living
eight children: Charles B Cunningham, William D Cunningham, Joseph B
Cunningham, Herman R Cunningham, Judson J Cunningham, David O Cunningham,
Harry G Cunningham, Clayton C Cunningham; Charles B Cunningham is now
engaged in the lumber business in Scott Haven, Allegheny county; William
D Cunningham is the principal of the West Newton school; and the rest are
all at home.
Matthew G Cunningham is one of the best citizens of Lower Tyrone, and
has always lead a quiet, honorable life.
p330
AUGUSTUS CUSTER was born near the village of Carpowen, Germany,
September 5, 1856, paternal ancestors of the fifth generation migrated in
1732 to Germany from Switzerland, who were forced to leave the native on
account of the persecution of Protestants by the Roman Catholic church.
Charles Custer, a native of Germany, was the grandfather of Augustus
Custer, and he was the grandson of the ancestor above mentioned.
John Custer, the father of Augustus, was born in Germany September 3,
1820. He learned the tailor's trade but followed it only a short time.
In 1844 he married a Miss Jackstice of his native village and they had
three children: Wilhelmina Custer, Julius Custer and Charles C Custer.
Julius was a corporal in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, and was killed
in an infantry charge at Courcelles, near Metz in Lorraine. The other two
children are married and live in Allegheny City.
His first wife died in 1850, and John Custer married again in 1855 to
Henrietta Heideman of Germany. By this marriage four children were born:
Augustus Custer, Augusta Custer, Edward Custer and Anna Custer.
For eighteen years he was the overseer of lands owned by a nobleman, and
his income was only sufficient to clothe and feed himself and family.
Auguste Custer was educated in the school of his native village,
afterwards took a three year course in the graded schools. Immediately
after leaving school he came to America with his father in 1873. Eighty
dollars in money and a scanty outfit of clothing was the entire
possession of the family on their arrival here.
Augustus Custer located in Pittsburgh and engaged as a day laborer for
one year; he then came to Franklin township, Fayette county, and rented a
farm and in 1880 he bought a farm of seventy acres of land from Josiah
King of Perry township.
When he purchased this land it was a perfect wilderness, and the soil
exceedingly sterile. In 1881 he bought was it known as the "Robinson
tract" from the Robinson heirs of Pittsburgh, containing 102 acres, which
was in bad condition and had been without a tenant for over twenty years.
In 1882 he bought 28 acres of land from David R Snyder. This land, except
28 acres, was all in quite bad condition. He now has about 186 acres in a
good condition and is well stocked. Mr Custer has some of the finest
blooded stock in the county and of which he makes a specialty. Mr Custer
is a good example of what industry will do for a man; in less than twenty
years he has grown wealthy, and is one of the representative farmers of
Fayette county.