BIO: James W. McKENZIE, Beaver County, PA
  
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  BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.  This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches 
  of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.  Buffalo, N.Y., 
  Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 417-419.
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  JAMES W. McKENZIE, of the firm of McKenzie Bros., leading contractors and
  builders in stone and brick, of Beaver, Beaver county, Pa., is a gentleman
  who has won the confidence and esteem of the citizens of that thriving
  borough. He is of Scotch ancestry, and was born near
  
  418  BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES
  
  Beaver, in Brighton township, October 1, 1850, being a son of Jonathan, and
  grandson of Joseph McKenzie.
  
  Joseph McKenzie was born in Scotland, and came to America, settling with
  several other Scotchmen, in Vanport, which is just outside the corporate
  limits of Beaver. He bought a tract of land, which was almost entirely
  covered with timber, and, after clearing it, built a log house, and there
  reared his family. The farm is now owned by James Mitchell. Joseph McKenzie
  was a soldier of the War of 1812. He died at the age of eighty, and his wife
  also died about the same time. They were buried in the old cemetery, in
  Beaver. Their children were as follows: Maria, who married Alex Donald;
  Prestly; Hamilton; Sally, who married Robert McCabe; Jonathan; Hamilton;
  Joseph; Kirsley; Albert; Ellen, who married Ralph Russell; Emily, who married
  Oscar Conrod; and David. Emily is the only one now living, although the others
  grew to maturity, - the youngest of the family living until more than
  seventy-five years old.
  
  Jonathan McKenzie, the father of James W., was born on the farm, and at the
  age of sixteen years was bound out to his brother-in-law, Alex Donald, to
  learn the tanning trade; the latter's tannery being the one subsequently
  owned by General U. S. Grant's father, in the Western Reserve, Ohio. After
  attaining manhood, Jonathan left this trade and went back to Vanport, where
  he manufactured lime, pottery and brick, and later began contracting for
  stone and brick buildings. Many of the buildings which he built are standing
  in Beaver at the present time, and show that the work was, for that time, of
  a high order. His sons, John and James, learned the trade with him, and he
  subsequently took them in as partners, the firm name being J. McKenzie &
  Sons. Mr. McKenzie met with a serious accident, - falling and breaking his
  hip, - which resulted in his death soon afterward, at the age of eighty-five.
  He married Ann McCurdy, a daughter of Andrew McCurdy, and she died at the age
  of seventy-eight. They were both faithful members of the M. E. church, and
  are buried in the cemetery at Beaver, Pennsylvania. Their children were:
  William, who died at the age of sixty-three years; Joseph, of Canton, Ohio;
  John, of Beaver; Mary, the wife of J. M. Graham; James W.; and George, of
  Beaver.
  
  James W. McKenzie, whose name heads this sketch, assisted his father and
  became his partner, and after his father's death, he and his brother John
  conducted the business under the firm name of McKenzie Bros. Lately, Andrew
  G. McKenzie, a son of John, has also become one of the partners, and this
  firm is known to be the largest in their line, in Beaver. They have erected
  many modern and valuable houses, to the entire satisfaction of the owners.
  Among these houses are those of Rev. Dr. W. G. Taylor; Thomas F. Galey; John
  Snyder; J. B. Kirtz; J. I. Martin; J. Childs; Mrs. J. S. Rutan; D. A. Nelson;
  A. S. Moore; D. W. Miller; W. S. Moore; and others. The subject of this sketch
  built him-
  
  BEAVER COUNTY  419
  
  self a fine residence on Raccoon street, which has every modern convenience.
  He married Mary French, a daughter of Captain Samuel B. French, of Beaver,
  and they have reared two children, the third child, Elsie, dying at the age
  of eighteen months. The others are Robert C., a graduate of Beaver College,
  and now a student in Effingham College, Effingham, Ill.; and Ralph, a student
  in the public school. Mr. McKenzie is a strong Republican, and has served six
  years as president of the board of education. The family are members of the
  M. E. church. The subject of these lines has many friends in the county, and
  is highly spoken of by all.