[p. 757] owning 102 acres of some of the best farm land to be found in Little Beaver Township, is a representative resident of this section of Lawrence County. He was born May 16, 1856, in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of McDowell and Lucy Ann (McClurg) Raney.
McDowell Raney was born on the farm now owned by his son Robert A., and was the youngest member of his father's family. In his younger days he worked at the carpenter trade but later bought the farm in Little Beaver Township, on which he died in 1868, aged fifty years. He married a daughter of William McClurg, who was an early settler near Enon. Mrs. Raney died in 1905, aged seventy-five years. They had the following children: William, James, Nancy, Robert A., Sadie, John, Elmer and Joseph. Nancy married William Failor, and died July 29, 1908. Sadie married James McGeehon. The sons all survive except John, who died December 13, 1885.
Robert Alexander Raney has spent his while [sic] life in this part of Lawrence County. He was reared a farmer and had charge of his uncle's farm, which he now owns, for some years, it originally belonging to John Raney. He has erected the excellent buildings on the place, having to build a new barn in 1903, on account of a bad fire.
On December 6, 1883, Mr. Raney was married to Bertha Taylor, who is a daughter of John Taylor, and they have four children: Lucy, who married John E. Miller, has one child, May Elizabeth, and they reside in Little Beaver Township; and Emma, Sadie and Naomi. Mr. Raney and family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a stanch Republican but he does not seek office, being a member of this party from principle.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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Updated: 14 Dec 2001