Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 105] of Mahoningtown is a conductor on the P. & W. R. R. He was born at Apollo, Armstrong Co., Pa., Aug. 8, 1849, and is a son of James and Ann B. (Richards) Dougherty.
Our subject's father was born at Youngstown, Ohio, Oct. 8, 1822, and departed this life for a better world July 14, 1891. He was a manufacturing cooper, and employed from eight to ten men most of the time. He was a drum-major of the 54th Reg. of Pennsylvania Militia, and when the war broke out he enlisted in the 11th Reg. Pa. Reserve, serving in the regimental band, and seeing service in the Wilderness Campaign. After the war was over, and the greatest army of modern times had been mustered out, and the soldiery returned to occupations of peace, Mr. Dougherty opened up a restaurant in Saltsburg, and ran it until a short time previous to his death, when he moved to Hulton, and was engaged in farming near Logan's Eddy on the Allegheny River, when his last sickness compelled him to cease from work, and to prepare to leave this life. His wife was born in Blairsville, Pa., a daughter of Abraham and Polly (Banks) Richards; the latter was born June 13, 1825, died Sept. 23, 1893, and was a daughter of Joshua Banks. Abraham Richards was a tinner by trade, and followed that vocation at Elder's Ridge, Indiana Co., Pa., where he died at the age of sixty-eight. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. In politics, he favored the Republican party, and took a lively interest in local affairs, serving as supervisor of his township.
From the time he was two years old until he was twenty, our subject lived at home with his parents at Saltsburg; he commenced to work in his father's cooper-shop at an early age, and continued until he was eighteen years of age, when he was employed in the woods about a saw-mill for two years. He then traveled with a circus for a year, and after returning home and marrying, began his railroad life as a brakeman on the Allegheny Valley R. R.; he continued to act in that capacity for two years, after which he was a conductor for the same road until 1877. In that year he entered the service of the B. & O. R. R., and was a conductor for four years. Upon leaving the employ of the B. & O., he became connected with the P. & W. R. R., and came to Mahoning in 1891 from Allegheny City, where he had been working, to accept the position of yardmaster at New Castle Junction. Since April 1, 1896, he has been a regular conductor of the P. & W. R. R.
He was married Aug. 29, 1871, in Saltsburg, to Ellen Welch, daughter of Patrick and Mary (McGraw) Welch, and to them have been given nine children: Harry P.; James B., who married Miss Perdue of New Castle; Charles T.; Mary Maude; Lennie; Addie; Tillie; Dall; and Ella. The family are attendants of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Dougherty has been a life-long Republican. He is a member of the Order of Railway Conductors, New Castle Division, No. 326.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 26 Apr 2001