History: Bios 3: Part 16 - pp. 187 - 200: S.W. and P.A. DURANT: History of Lawrence County, PA, 1877

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                           1770. --- 1877.
   
   
                     HISTORY OF LAWRENCE COUNTY, PA
   
   
                               --BY--
   
   
                       S.W. and P.A. DURANT.


                  L. H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia
   
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
       BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
   
   
         JOSEPH JUSTICE.
   
   [p. 187] The Justice family was originally from Germany, from which
   country John, the grandfather of Joseph Justice, came to America at some
   period prior to the American Revolution, and settled, probably, in
   Franklin county, Pennsylvania.
   
   JACOB JUSTICE was one of six brothers, sons of John Justice. He was born
   in Franklin county, in 1757. He lived in that county until 1797, when he
   removed west, with the intention of settling in what is now Lawrence
   county; but on account of Indian troubles he stopped in Washington
   county for about two years, and in 1799 carried out his original design,
   and settled in what is now North Beaver township, Lawrence county, where
   he resided until his death, in April, 1829, aged seventy-two years. He
   was a soldier of the Revolutionery army, and settled on land which he
   drew for his services.
   
   JOSEPH JUSTICE, son of Jacob, was born in Franklin county, near
   Shippensburg, December 20, 1794, and was one of seven children?six sons
   and one daughter. Mr. Justice lived with his father till his nineteenth
   year, when he came to New Castle in May, 1813, and was apprenticed to
   Isaac Jones, the first hatter who worked at the trade in the place. Mr.
   Jones had a little log shop on the northwest corner of North and
   Shenango streets, which were then prominent thoroughfares of the embryo
   town. He remained with Mr. Jones until he became of age, when he went to
   Beavertown, where he worked the following Winter as a journeyman for
   Messrs. Powers & McClain. In April, 1816, he left the western part of
   the state, and traveled towards the east; working in various places at
   his trade, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Huntingdon, Columbia, etc. He also
   worked for a short time in Pittsburg. In 1817 he commenced business for
   himself, in company with Gabriel McGregor, at Hookstown, in the southern
   part of Beaver county, and continued for about two years, when he sold
   out and came to New Castle in June, 1819, and open a shop on Beaver
   street adjoining his present residence. In October, 1819, he was united
   in marriage with Miss Maria Reynolds, daughter of James Reynolds, one of
   the early settlers of New Cassle. Mr. Justice carried on the hatting
   business in New Castle until April, 1834, when he rented his property,
   and removed to Centerville, Butler county, where he continued his
   business for about five years. During the last three years he held the
   office of justice of the peace. In 1839 he returned to New Castle,
   re-opened a shop, and carried on the business until 1851, when he gave
   up the manufacturing branch, but continued to deal in hats, caps and
   furs until about 1868, when he retired from active business pursuits.
   Mr. Justice was elected to the office of Burgess of the borough of New
   Castle, in the Spring of 1827, being the third after its organization.
   In 1849, upon the organization of Lawrence county, he was elected its
   first Treasurer. He was also elected Treasurer of the borough, and a
   member of the council at various periods, and has repeatedly been
   solicited to accept offices of responsibility and honor by his
   fellow-citizens, which he has as often modestly but firmly declined. He
   has been married three times. His first wife died in January, 1833. He
   married Mrs. Mary Fleming, a widow, in December, 1833. She died in May,
   1835; and for his third wife he married Miss Harriet Barker, in
   November, 1836, who died in July, 1863, since which time he has remained
   single, his two daughters, keeping house for him. By his first wife he
   had seven children, three of whom are still living. His second wife had
   no children. The third bore him three, all of whom are living. He united
   with the Methodist Episcopal church in 1839, and has continued a
   prominent member up to the present time, holding various positions in
   the church, among them that of steward, whose duties he thoroughly
   discharged for a period of sixteen years.
   
   Mr. Justice is now the oldest citizen of New Castle, and has long been
   known as a man of unsullied honor, a most valuable citizen, and
   consistent Christian gentleman. He has seen the home of his adoption
   grow up from an unimportant hamlet to a large and thriving city. His
   experience covers the lives of almost three generations, and his life
   has been emphatically sans puer et sans reproche.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         JOSEPH T. DU SHANE.
   
   The Du Shane family was originally from France. John Du Shane,
   grandfather of the subject of this sketch, settled in the State of
   Delaware, at or near Dover, sometime previous to the Revolution, and
   accumulated a handsome property. He died at Dover about 1776. Jesse Du
   Shane, his only son, father of Joseph T., was born a few weeks
   subsequent to his father's death. He had two sister.
   
   After the old gentleman's death his widow married again, and the heirs
   never realized anything from the estate. Jesse Du Shane remained in
   Delaware until he attained his majority, in the meantime learning his
   trade (that of wagon, carriage and furniture maker). He married in
   Delaware Miss Lydia Zane Townsend, a daughter of Joseph Townsend, Sr.,
   one of the earliest settlers in New Castle. The Townsends were
   originally from England, and belonged to the Quaker stock.
   
   Jesse Du Shane removed with his family to a location near Beavertown, in
   Beaver county, arriving there in December, 1802. Here he remained until
   February, 1803, when he removed to New Castle, where he lived until his
   death, January 25, 1866, at the great age of ninety-five years and one
   month. During his residence in New Castle he filled several offices of
   honor and trust in the service of his fellow-citizens. He was in early
   life a Presbyterian, but in his later years united with the Methodists.
   
   Joseph T. Du Shane, his son, was one of a family of eight children?two
   sons and six daughters, and was born November 12th, 1798, at Wilmington,
   in Delaware, at the foot of "Quaker Hill. "He came west with his father,
   and from the time he was twelve years of age "earned his own
   livelihood." At the age of nineteen he was apprenticed to John F.
   Townsend, of Youngstown, Ohio, to learn the trade of a hatter. He
   remained with Mr. Townsend [p. 188] until he was twenty-two years of
   age. At the age of twenty-three he was married to Miss Sarah Jane Smith,
   of Youngstown, April 5, 1821. He soon after returned to New Castle, and
   purchased the old homestead of his father, and remained for about two
   years working at his trade, when he went back to Youngstown and staid
   two years, at the expiration of which time he again returned to New
   Castle, where he opened a shop, and also "kept tavern" for about a year,
   but finding the two occupations unprofitable in connection with each
   other, he gave up the hotel business and opened a shop at the old
   homestead on the Pittsburgh road, and carried it on until 1832 when he
   gave up the business.
   
   In 1833 he and his father purchased the Miller farm, now owned by John
   F. Reynolds, consisting at that time of about one hundred and six acres,
   paying about twelve dollars an acre for it. About 1836 they sold the
   property for twenty-five dollars per acre to Stephen Phillips, of
   Phillipsburg, Beaver county. In 1837 he purchased the McWilliams grist
   and saw mills on Big run, and owned them for about three years. Joseph
   then purchased five acres from the Irish farm, and built a new house, in
   which he lived until 1852, when the dwelling and all its contents was
   destroyed by fire.
   
   About a year subsequently he sold the place, and purchased of his
   father, at three different times, about twelve acres of land lying on
   the southwest side of the Pittsburgh road, then in Shenango township. He
   soon after engaged in the manufacture of bricks, and erected the brick
   dwelling where he now resides on Pittsburgh street. In 1833 he was
   appointed by the governor a justice of the peace for Shenango township,
   which office he held until 1840. In the latter year he declined a
   nomination for the same office, which had become elective, but in 1845
   the people compelled him to accept it, and he was re-elected in 1850,
   and held the position until 1855, when he declined further service.
   
   Mr. Du Shane has been twice married. His first wife died in March, 1865.
   She was the mother of eight children, four of whom are now living. In
   December, 1865, he married Mrs. Sarah Tidball, widow of John C. Tidball,
   Esq. He has one child by this second wife, a fine little boy.
   
   Mr. Du Shane has been a member of the Christian or "Disciples'" church
   since 1850, and has been honored with several offices in connection
   therewith. He has always been an active, energetic and industrious man,
   and, notwithstanding many drawbacks, has accumulated a handsome
   competency, which he is enjoying in his declining years. He is still
   quite vigorous, and has apparently lost none of the bon hommie of
   earlier years. He never spoils a story for relation's sake, or "crooks
   the pliant hinges of the knee that thrift may follow fawning." He is a
   veteran of the old regime.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         COLONEL EDWARD O'BRIEN.
         [Portrait]  
   
   Nothing is more fitting than that those who have led in the service of
   their country, either in political or in military life, should be held
   in grateful remembrance by those who have been associated with them in
   such service or benefitted by their labors. Hence this tribute of regard
   to one of nature's noblemen.
   
   Colonel Edward O'Brien was born in Pittsburgh, October 10, 1823. He is
   the eldest son of Thomas O'Brien, a native of Ireland, who came with his
   father's family to America when quite young. He was a contractor for
   several years on some of the public works of Pennsylvania. His wife was
   Elizabeth Conway, a native of Delaware, by whom he had three children:
   EDWARD, MARY and THOMAS, the first two being twins. In 1822, Mr. Thomas
   O'Brien located in Pittsburgh, where he passed the remainder of his
   life, dying at the age of about thirty-five. About two years later his
   widow came with her family to New Castle, where she subsequently became
   the wife of Charles Kelly.
   
   At the age of fifteen, the subject of this sketch entered upon an
   apprenticeship to the moulders' trade with Bollman & Garrison, of
   Pittsburgh, and this has been his principal employment.
   
   In June, 1846, he enlisted in a Pittsburgh company called the "Irish
   Greens," for the Mexican war, and was present at the siege of Vera Cruz.
   the battle of Cerro Gordo, the engagement at the Pass of La Hoya, the
   storming of Chapultepec, and the storming of Garita de Belen, in which
   last battle he was wounded in the left eye. At the close of the war, he
   was commissioned Second Lieutenant of his company by Governor William F.
   Johnston.
   
   On April 20, 1861, be married Miss Theresa B. O'Donnell, of New Castle,
   and on the following day went out as Captain of Co. F, 12th Pa. V. I.,
   in the three months' service, and was stationed near Baltimore, guarding
   the N. C. railroad. This regiment was mustered-out in the following August.
   
   In July, 1862, Captain O'Brien recruited Co. D, of the 134th Pa. V. I.
   for the nine months' service. This regiment was raised in answer to a
   call from Governor Curtin, and Companies A, B, D and H were from
   Lawrence County; C, F, G and K from Butler, and E and I from Beaver.
   They rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, near Harrisburg, where they were
   mustered-in, and armed and equipped for duty. Upon the advance of the
   rebels towards Washington in the second Bull Run campaign, this
   regiment, though not yet fully organized, was ordered to the Capital and
   sent to Arlington Heights, where its organization was completed, Captain
   O'Brien being chosen Lieutenant-Colonel, his commission bearing date of
   August 20th, 1862. Matthew S. Quay, of Beaver county, was made Colonel.
   
   This regiment was here brigaded with the 91st, 126th, and 129th
   Pennsylvania Regiments, the brigade being commanded by General E. B.
   Tyler. The night after the battle of Antietam the attention of the enemy
   was attracted by a light in the tent of Colonel O'Brien, which he just
   struck for the purpose of reading a military order. They turned a gun
   upon the illumined tent and fired, the shell plowing up the ground
   within a few feet of the tent and covering it with dirt. The light was
   of course immediately extinguished. This proved to be the last shot
   fired by the rebels at that place. It may be added that the Colonel's
   wife was in the tent at the time. On the 22d of November the regiment
   went into camp near Fredericksburg. On the 8th of December
   Lieutenant-Colonel O'Brien was promoted to Colonel, in place of Colonel
   Quay who had resigned on account of ill health. The battle of
   Fredericksburg opened on the 13th, and "in the last grand struggle of
   the day, the 134th had the post of honor in the brigade, the right of
   the first line." Speaking of the conduct of Colonel O'Brien on this
   occasion, General Humphreys, who commanded the division, said: "Under my
   own eye he rode in front of his regiment, and literally led it in the
   last charge on the stone wall, at Fredericksburg, just before dark on
   December 13. * * * He is in every way reliable, a good soldier and
   gallant leader, always attentive to duty, careful and considerate of
   those under his command, prompt in execution."
   
   In this same battle, Thomas O'Brien, a brother of Colonel O'Brien, was
   killed. He was connected with Co. D, 134th Regiment.
   
   Among other narrow escapes of the colonel in this engagement, may be
   mentioned the fact that while he was standing up in the stirrups,
   watching the action of the battle, a minnie ball passed between his
   legs, tearing away a portion of the saddle and cutting his pants.
   
   On May 1st, 1863, began the battle of Chancellorsville, which lasted
   three days. The last day witnessed the severest struggle. Says General
   Tyler, in his official report: "The 134th, Colonel O'Brien, was second
   in line, and no set of men could have behaved better. The officers, one
   and all, following the example of their colonel, who was constantly on
   the alert, were very active, and not a man shirked duty." In this
   battle, Colonel O'Brien was very much exposed, his hat and clothes being
   riddled by bullets, and his horse shot under him. He was mustered out of
   service with his regiment at Harrisburg, May 26, 1863.
   
   Soon after this, Colonel O'Brien caused a descriptive list of his
   regiment to be made out and sent to the War Department, this being the
   only report of the kind ever made up to that time by a volunteer
   colonel, although such a report was required from colonels in the
   regular army. For this volunteer contribution, Colonel O'Brien was
   highly complimented by General Townsend, Assistant Secretary of War.
   
   Upon the arrival of the regiment in Pittsburgh, it was honored with a
   most cordial and fitting reception by the citizens, Judge Shannon
   delivering the address of welcome, of which the following are extracts:
   
   "Colonel O'Brien, Officers, and men of the Gallant Regiment before me:
   On behalf of the constituted authorities of the cities of Pittsburgh and
   Allegheny, in behalf, sir, of the loyal people of Allegheny county, we
   meet you here to-day and bid you a hearty welcome on your return to your
   homes in the counties of Lawrence, Beaver and Butler. One of the most
   exultant occasions of my life is to be constituted the humble organ to
   bid you sir, and your gallant and chivalrous men, in behalf of the
   emblems that float over us, a hearty greeting to this city. I know,
   soldiers, that you are worn out; that you are tired; that you desire to
   return to the bosom of your families and your homes. I know of all the
   gallant deeds which you have performed under the flag of the nation. I
   know how well that at Fredericksburg the first, and at Fredericksburg
   the second time, how gallantly you bore the flag of the nation in the
   face of an arrogant foe.
   
   "Soldiers, your colonel, a Pittsburgher by birth?your gallant and noble
   colonel, stands here to-day, on the portico of the Monongahela House,
   your [p. 189] representative. He, gentlemen, in whom you have confided,
   who has done deeds of daring, will have them recorded on a bright page
   of the history of Pennsylvania.
   
   "Sir, a Pittsburgher by birth, yet you are the son of an Irishman. I
   say, sir, there are feelings most glorious in your humble history and
   your noble career. There are three things which will make the heart
   thrill and its pulsation quicken through the veins of the men of this
   old commonwealth. In 1846, sir, when our flag was assaulted by a foreign
   government?when a foreign foe outraged this flag?you, then a young
   Pittsburgh boy, volunteered into the ranks, put a musket on your
   shoulder, and never ceased under this flag until you found the capital
   of Mexico was ours.
   
   "There are things, soldiers, "which make men great, irrespective of
   birth. There are things like honor?like an unswerving fealty to the
   government of our fathers. So, when the second time a worse power?a
   people whom we had in the past called brethren?a people whom he had
   supported and sustained, trampled on the rights and principles left to
   us by our fathers, and dared at Sumter to fire on the flag of the
   country, the colonel of this regiment from the gallant county of
   Lawrenee, was one of the foremost to raise a company under the call for
   75,000 men, and march to the defence of the capital of the nation.
   [Applause.]
   
   "Sir, to you and your gallant soldiers, but to you especially, as a
   Pittsburgher, I will say, you come back here to-day with a triple
   chaplet upon your brow. Now, after having performed courageous deeds,
   you come back, enjoying the confidence of your men. For this, the people
   of Allegheny county welcome you back to your native home."
   
   Upon this occasion, Colonel O'Brien was presented by Judge Shannon on
   behalf of his regiment, with a fine horse, saddle and bridle. The
   colonel returned thanks for the present, and after dinner was over spoke
   as follows:
   
   
           SPEECH OF COLONEL O'BRIEN.
   
   Comrades of the 134th:?For the last nine months we have been drawn
   together by more than ordinary ties; by our regimental organization; by
   our sharing alike the long and weary march, the rough bivouac, and the
   midnight camp-fire. [Applause.] You have all nobly done your duty ; you
   have stood by your country's flag alike in our bright, sunny hours of
   victory, and in our dark, wintry hours of defeat, without a murmur.
   
   *    *    *    *    *    *    *
   
   "When you reach home, do not disband; [great applause] draw together the
   fragments; RALLY ON THE CENTRE, and form a grand reserve, I may say;
   AND, EVEN AT HOME, SEE THAT THE POWER OF THE GOVERNMENT IS ASSERTED, and
   it will teach traitors hereafter to think long before they act; for the
   true soldier hates more the white-livered wretch of the North, who, by
   his serpent speech would aid rebellion, than he does the brave enemy who
   meets him openly on the battle-field. [Tremendous applause, renewed
   again and again, during which the gallant colonel was obliged to stop
   for several minutes, the ladies in the galleries joining in the
   demonstration, and waving their handkerchiefs.]
   
   "My boys, you have all learned ere this that military law is severe; but
   I can safely say that no regiment returns to our own loved Pennsylvania
   with a fairer record than your own for good order and obedience to the
   laws, strict though they be. And now, on your parting, if I may have
   been too severe with any of you, I know the brave are always
   tender-hearted, and I know I need have no hesitation in asking you to be
   generous and forgive, for I can assure you I often assumed a severity
   though I felt it not. And now, wishing every man in your honored ranks a
   hearty welcome from the loved ones at home, I will bid you all a kind
   good-bye."
   
   In New Castle, also, the colonel and what was left of the four Lawrence
   county companies, received a most cordial greeting?Judge McGuffin
   delivering the address of welcome. Colonel O'Brien was loudly called
   for, and responded as follows:
   
   
           SPEECH OF COLONEL O'BRIEN.
   
   "Fellow-Citizens: Around me you see what I have left of those whose iron
   frames have stood the waste of long marches, of disease and blood. Yes,
   here they are once more at home, among their friends and relatives, who,
   ten months ago, sent them forth with 'God speed!' to brave the many
   perils of a soldier's life. You no doubt look in vain along our ranks
   for many whom you know started out with us in that dark hour of our
   country's peril. They answer not to roll-call now, but their comrades
   here too well remember the stalwart, generous men that fell bleeding by
   their sides; men that had borne hardships, braved dangers; offering up
   everything they loved to save their country. They fell battling for a
   holy cause, but they have not died in vain, for we will yet succeed.
   Months before this war broke out I told men now within hearing of my
   voice, that this would be a terrible war, for I well knew the spirits of
   the men we would meet on the battle-fields: for, years ago, when but a
   boy?ere the down had darkened on my lip?I had stood in the same ranks
   with them amid the roar of hostile cannon, under the burning skies of
   Mexico. I had seen them fight, and I well knew when they drew the sword
   they would use it to the bitter end; but of that ultimate end I have
   never had a doubt?the rebellion will be put down. True, large armies may
   yet he needed, and bloody battles fought; but for every patriot we have
   lost, their dooms will be the more sure, and the more terrible.
   
   "As their leader, it would ill become me to boast of my men; their
   record as a regiment is a part of the nation's history, and it will
   suffice to say to you that at the close of one of the bloodiest battles
   of the war, they were complimented for their bravery on the very
   battle-field, within half-musket shot of the enemy's lines, by one of
   the bravest officers in the army?one who had seen and led brave men
   before?I mean General Tyler; and General Hooker, aye! the 'fighting Joe
   Hooker,' said they made the most splendid charges he had ever seen. They
   are now here. As their colonel, I never had, and, as citizens of
   Lawrence county, you never will have cause to blush at the past campaign
   of the 134th Regiment.
   
   "And now, my brave boys, I have a few words to you ere parting: for it
   has come to that at last. We will separate to our homes to-day, not
   likely to all ever meet again. Our connection for the past ten months
   has been a close one: so close, fellow citizens, that from the day I
   left New Castle, some ten months ago, to the present time, I have never
   slept one single night three hundred yards from any regiment. We have
   been together through sunshine and through storms, in sickness and in
   health, on the plague-stricken fields of Antietam, where sickness
   swallowed whom the sword had spared; we were together at the close of
   that bloody day on the heights of Fredericksburg, where we kept our
   picket on the outer verge of the field on which you fought so well. Oh,
   who among you will ever forget that dreadful night, that cold, chilly
   night where we lay with the cold wintry winds howling over us; where we
   could scarce tell the living from the dead, not knowing what the morning
   would bring forth? On plain and height and wilderness, (you, boys, will
   understand me), we have stood side by side; but we must part?and I will
   not detain you now, for I see many anxious to meet sons and brothers, of
   whom they may well be proud. I will only ask one favor: in thinking over
   the past, you must recollect only the bright side; and in thinking of
   your colonel, you must forget the short, harsh word of command and only
   remember his virtues, if he had any. And now, feeling conscious myself
   that to the best of my ability I have tried, at least, to do my whole
   duty to my country and the brave men entrusted to my care, I will, for
   the present, bid you all a kind farewell."
   
   On February 2d, 1866, Colonel O'Brien had the misfortune to lose his
   left eye by an explosion in the foundry of R. W. Cunningham.
   
   The young wife of Col. O'Brien, a delicate but heroic woman, went out
   with the regiment, and remained with her husband during the entire term
   of service, except a short and compulsory absence at the time of a
   battle?enduring the hardships and privations of camp with a heroism
   truly surprising.
   
   -------------------
   
   NOTE.--This biography, as also the portrait of Col. O-Brien, finds a
   place in the Lawrence County History, as a "tribute of regard" to him
   from his friends, many of whom were his "boys" in the service.
   
   
         COL. R. B. McCOMB.
   
   R. B. McComb was born in Mercer county, Pa. At the age of seventeen he
   went to learn a trade with S. W. Mitchell, a cabinetmaker in New Castle.
   He continued with Mitchell little more than a year (till 1839), when he
   left, and in the Fall of 1839, went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he bound
   himself as an apprentice to learn the trade he had commenced with Mitchell.
   
   He continued to work in Cincinnati until the Winter of 1842-43, when he
   returned to New Castle and rented from John Wilson, Sr., the old
   log-house on the northwest corner of "the Diamond." In 1844 he commenced
   building the house recently occupied by D. Winternitz, on Washington
   street, and in that building he followed his trade until 1851, when he
   began the study of law with D. B. Kurtz, Esq. During the time he was
   studying law, he did the inside work of the offices at the court-house,
   making the tables, desks and shelving. In March, 1853, he was admitted
   to practice in the several courts of Lawrence county.
   
   During the same year he was elected to the lower branch of the
   Legislature. His term in the Legislature commenced with the session of
   1854. [p. 190] From the first he took an active part in the business of
   the House, and soon distinguished himself as an earnest advocate for the
   sale of the public works and adoption of the Maine liquor law. During
   this session the difficulty at Erie, known as the Erie Railroad War,
   commenced, and Mr. McComb took ground at once against Erie, and in favor
   of an unbroken railroad line through the State, which position he
   adhered to until the whole system of a break of gauge was destroyed.
   
   In 1855 he was re-elected to the Legislature, and at the organization of
   the House was made chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. The
   session of 1855 was unusually exciting. The Whigs and "Know-Nothings"
   had succeeded in electing Governor Pollock, and had a majority in both
   branches of the Legislature. The Maine liquor law, the Erie Railroad
   difficulties, the sale of the public works, and the election of a United
   States Senator were the leading questions. Mr. McComb having been
   elected as a Whig, refused to support Simon Cameron, who, up to that
   Winter, had been a Democrat, and only came into the party through the
   "Know-Nothing" organization and influence. In the caucus to nominate a
   candidate for Senator, however, Cameron took the lead, when Mr. McComb
   and twenty-eight others withdrew and published a protest drawn up by Mr.
   McComb, which caused the defeat of Cameron.
   
   His position as chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means caused him
   to examine into the revenue system of the State, and the inequality of
   our mode of taxation. He then first conceived the idea of abolishing the
   tax upon real-estate for State purposes, and proposed to make up the
   deficiency in the revenue by a tax upon gross receipts, reasoning that
   real-estate had to bear the burthen of local taxation, which was enough
   upon that kind of property. The tax on real-estate was ultimately
   abolished. During this session he wrote the Sunday liquor law.
   
   He was again elected to the Legislature of 1856. At the beginning of the
   session he received the unanimous vote of his party for Speaker. The
   Democrats having a majority, he was not successful. This session ended
   the Erie troubles by restoring to the Erie and Northeast Railroad
   Company its road upon the condition that it would contribute towards the
   building of the Erie and Pittsburg Railroad four hundred thousand
   dollars. The struggle upon this measure was said to be the severest
   parliamentary contest seen in the House since the "buckshot war."
   
   After his term of service in the Legislature expired, Mr. McComb was
   employed by the county to contest the right of enforcing the payment of
   the bonds which had been issued to the Northwestern Railroad Company. A
   number of suits had been commenced involving the liability of the
   county, in all of which he appeared and defended the county. It was many
   years before these cases were disposed of.
   
   In 1862 Mr. McComb was appointed by Governor Curtin on a commission to
   review the revenue laws of the State. He drew up the report submitted to
   the Legislature the Winter following. This report contained the first
   provision to tax the gross receipts of railroad companies, and led to
   the abolition of the three-mill tax on real-estate. During the year 1862
   he served as colonel of the 14th Regiment of Pennsylvania volunteer
   Militia. In 1863 he was at the head-of the 55th Regiment of Pennsylvania
   volunteer militia.
   
   He began his political career as an enthusiastic supporter of Henry
   Clay, and continued a Whig as long as that party had an existence. Since
   then he has been a Republican, and after the war took decided ground
   against the contraction of the currency, and the substitution of the
   national bank issues in place of the United States greenback currency.
   He holds that our prosperity depends upon protection of American
   industry, and a purely national currency adequate to the productive
   power of the people.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         COLONEL JACKSON.
         [Portrait]  
   
   Oscar L. Jackson was born in what is now Lawrence county, Pa., September
   2, 1840. His ancestors were Scotch-Irish, and very early settlers in the
   State.
   
   His great-grandfather, Samuel Jackson, settled in 1797 on a farm a short
   distance south of the city of New Castle, which has ever since remained
   in the possession of the family?his father, S. S. Jackson, now owning
   and occupying it. He is a brother of Dr. D. P. Jackson, of New Castle,
   and Hon. E. W. Jackson, of Mercer. They have an unmarried sister, Mary,
   the youngest of the family. His great-grandmother Jackson's maiden name
   was Janet Stewart. She was a sister of John Carlyle Stewart, who laid
   out the town of New Castle, and built the old forge on the Neshannock
   where the first bar-iron was made in this part of the State.
   
   Janet Stewart was a daughter of Major John Stewart, who settled near
   Philadelphia at an early day, and served in the American army during the
   Revolutionary war.
   
   His grandfather, James Jackson, was a soldier in the American army in
   the war of 1812.
   
   His mother's maiden name was Nancy Mitchell, a native of Indiana county,
   and a descendant of a Scotch-Irish emigrant who settled on the banks of
   the Susquehanna river, her father having been born there.
   
   Col. Jackson was teaching school at Logan, Ohio, the Winter before the
   late war, and at the breaking out of the war in 1861 he recruited a
   company in that vicinity, and entered the Union army as captain in the
   63d Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served continuously to the close of the
   war?a term of four years?from August 1861 to July 1865.
   
   His first active service was in Missouri, under Gen. Pope, including the
   actions at New Madrid and the operations that resulted in the capture of
   Island No. 10.
   
   Afterwards his regiment joined Halleck's army at Pittsburgh Landing, and
   took part in all the operations of the siege of Corinth, being a part of
   the troops engaged in the action at Farmington, and the assault on the
   28th of May, 1862.
   
   Was in Gen. Grant's movements in September, which resulted in the battle
   of Iuka Springs, Miss., his regiment being in Stanley's division, which
   had the principal part of the fighting to do in that engagement. In the
   battle at Corinth, Miss., October 3, and 4, 1862, his regiment, under
   Gen. Rosencrans' command, gained very distinguished credit, and is
   prominently mentioned in Greeley's history.
   
   On the second day of this battle he was very seriously injured by a
   gunshot wound in the right cheek. In the official report he is named as
   being severely, and, it is feared, mortally wounded, and his conduct is
   meritoriously mentioned for having held the company, which he then
   commanded, in good order until two-thirds of his men were either killed
   or wounded, he being among the very last of his regiment to be disabled.
   
   After recovering from his wound he rejoined his regiment, and in 1863
   was with the division which escorted Straight's cavalry through the
   enemy's lines when starting on his famous raid, and afterwards engaged
   the enemy sufficiently to draw attention from the movement.
   
   He subsequently took part in the various operations in the Summer of
   1863, of Gen. Dodge's command in Northern Alabama and Mississippi, and
   along the Mississippi river from Memphis to Vicksburg, during the siege
   of the latter city. His regiment during this time belonged to the
   sixteenth army corps, and had a full share in all the movements of that
   corps.
   
   After the fall of Vicksburg he was with that part of the army which
   marched with Gen. Sherman overland from the Mississippi river east to
   the relief of Chattanooga and Knoxville, his division being detached and
   sent to the right to secure the railroad at Elk river.
   
   In the campaign of 1864, from Chattanooga to Atlanta, his regiment was
   in the seventeenth army corps, army of the Tennessee, under command of
   Gen. McPherson. He was constantly with his regiment, and engaged in the
   battles of Snake Creek Gap, Resacca, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, siege of
   Altoona, and the many smaller engagements connected with this campaign.
   He was with that part of the army which made the movement in rear of
   Altoona, fought the battle at Jonesboro, drove the enemy off the Macon
   railroad, and thus secured the fall of Altoona. This campaign from
   Mission Ridge to Altoona was an almost continuous battle. After crossing
   the Chattahoochee river his regiment for nine consecutive days had men
   killed and wounded by the enemy's musketry. After the fall of Altoona,
   when the enemy under Gen. Hood moved in rear of the Union army, he took
   part in the operations to drive him off the railroad, and was at that
   time in command of his regiment, as he had been on frequent occasions
   before.
   
   Was with Sherman on the march to the sea at the capture of Savannah, and
   on the campaign through the Carolinas. Commanded his regiment in the
   operations preceding and at the surrender of Johnston's army, and at the
   grand review at Washington, and then conducted it to Louisville, Ky.,
   where it remained until ordered mustered-out in July, 1865, by reason of
   the close of the war?a regiment which, by four years' active service in
   the field, had made a most magnificent record.
   
   Col. Jackson had been, during the war, successively promoted to be major
   and lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. The colonel of the regiment
   having lost a leg in the battle of 22d July, 1864, before Atlanta, had
   never been able to rejoin it, leaving Col. Jackson for a long time
   previous to the muster-out of the regiment its permanent commander in
   fact, although no vacancy in the colonelcy to which he could be
   commissioned.
   
   [p. 191]
   
   He was, however, on recommendation of his brigade, division and corps
   commanders, commissioned by the president, Colonel of United States
   Volunteers, by brevet, "for gallant and meritorious services."
   
   After the close of the war he returned to New Castle and resumed the
   study of law in the office of S. W. Dana, Esq., having been a student
   before the war in the office of Hon. J. P. Blair, now president judge of
   the Indiana district. He was admitted to practice in 1866, and opened an
   office in New Castle. In 1868 he was elected district attorney and
   served the term of three years. He has never been a candidate for any
   other office, and has confined himself closely and studiously to the
   practice of his profession. In 1876 he was appointed by the governor of
   Pennsylvania a member of a commission of lawyers, authorized by the
   Legislature, for the purpose of revising the laws for the government of
   the different cities of the Commonwealth, and is at present engaged in
   that responsible duty.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         DR. J. H. M. PEEBLES.
   
   Dr. J. H. M. Peebles was born in Shippensburg, Cumberland valley, in the
   year 1825, of Scoteh-Irish parentage. His grandfather, Colonel Robert
   Peebles, served during the Revolutionary war. Being on the staff of
   Washington he was, during the whole of the struggle, in close
   companionship with the Father of his Country. For his services, Congress
   voted him some eight or ten" donation tracts" in Western Pennsylvania,
   one of which, in Mercer county, remains still in the family. He was
   buried with military honors in 1815, in the old burying-ground at Middle
   Springs, near Shippensburg. The doctor was early left an orphan; his
   mother, a sister of the late Dr. Francis Herron, D. D., of Pittsburgh,
   died there when he was about four years of age. His father died the year
   following while on a visit to the West.
   
   The doctor was then committed to the care of his aunt?Mrs. Arabella
   Wilson, of Shippensburg, in whose family he lived until his fifteenth
   year, when he was placed in an academy at Sewickley, on the Ohio, some
   twelve miles below Pittsburgh. Remaining there under the tuition of
   Messrs. Nevin & Champe, some three years, he entered Jefferson College,
   Cannonburgh, which conferred on him the degree of A. M. in 1849, in
   connection with the late John McGuffin, Esq., of this place.
   
   After leaving college in 1844, he commenced the study of medicine with
   Dr. McDowell of Pittsburgh, but finding the country town more congenial
   than the city he removed to his early home?Shippensburg?where he
   continued his studies under Alexander Stewart, a physician of well-known
   ability in Middle Pennsylvania.
   
   The doctor matriculated at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia,
   from which he graduated in 1850, in the Spring of which year he located
   in New Castle, and began his career as a practitioner of medicine, and
   where he continued to reside until 1860, when he left for a more
   extensive field of practice in Cleveland, Ohio. But the late war
   breaking out, and some of his former brother practitioners joining the
   army, he was petitioned by many of his old friends to return, which he
   did, after an absence of some nine months, and has continued in very
   active practice until within the last few years, when excessive labor
   has undermined his constitution and necessitated his absence during the
   Summer months from active practice. To his son, Dr. H. P. Peebles, he
   has given much of his laborious practice, and is now trying to adopt the
   advice he has often given his patients "Festina Lenta."
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         JUDGE L. L. McGUFFIN.
   
   The gentleman whose name we have placed at the head of this biographical
   sketch was born in Wilmington, Del., on the 28th of July, 1815. His
   education was principally obtained at the academy in Carlisle, Pa. About
   the year 1831 he came to what is now Lawrence county. He studied law
   under the instruction of Messrs. Pearson and Stewart of Mercer, in which
   place he was also admitted to the bar. He soon afterwards began practice
   in New Castle, where, for more than a quarter of a century, he has
   occupied a front rank in his profession.
   
   For a period of eleven years he served the citizens of Lawrence county
   as President Judge; the first year under the appointment of Governor
   Curtin, and the remaining ten through the election by the people. His
   ministrations in this office were marked with great deliberation, and
   his decisions were rendered with a degree of care, caution and
   impartiality that won for him the greatest confidence and respect.
   
   The Judge has always been quite an active politician, formerly an
   old-time Whig and subsequently a Republican. He represented Lawrence
   county in the Philadelphia convention that nominated Colonel Fremont for
   the Presidency, and was subsequently a delegate to the Chicago
   convention, for the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for his first term as
   President.
   
   In connection with Major E. Sankey, Judge McGuffin was largely
   instrumental in the erection of Lawrence county from the counties of
   Mercer and Beaver. This was a measure of very great value to the people
   of New Castle and vicinity.
   
   Mr. McGuffin married Miss Lizzie L. Woodward, of Taunton, Mass. His
   family consists of six children.
   
   The Judge is one of New Castle's oldest, most substantial and
   highly-respected citizens. With fine natural abilities, he combines
   great caution, energy, sterling integrity and a most genial, social nature.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         REV. M. H. CALKINS.
   
   This gentleman is the present pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church
   of New Castle. He was born in Saratoga county, New York, March 15, 1842.
   He is the second child in a family of six sons, four of whom survive.
   His father, Calvin P. Calkins, is a very extensively known fruit-grower
   of Saratoga county, whose choice fruits have taken the premium in the
   county and State fairs, wherever exhibited.
   
   The boyhood of the subject of this sketch was passed chiefly in the
   apple and pear orchard of his father's fruit farm, this employment, like
   that of the flora-culture, being admirably conclusive to a development
   of the higher and ęsthetic elements in human nature. He prepared for
   college at Charlton Academy, in his native countie, under the tuition of
   the Rev. James N. Crocker, and graduated with honor in a class of
   sixty-eight, from Princeton College, N. J., in June, 1865. This was
   followed by a theological course under that eminent divine, Dr. Charles
   Hodge, in Princeton Theological Seminary, at which Mr. Calkins graduated
   in April, 1868.
   
   On the 9th of June following, he was united in marrige to Miss Anna M.,
   daughter of John M. Cavert, of Charlton, N. Y.
   
   On August 20 of the same year, Mr. Calkins was ordained and installed
   pastor of the Salsbury Presbyterian Church, of Bucks county, Pa., and
   served as such nearly five years. In July, 1873, he became pastor of his
   present charge in New Castle.
   
   Mr. Calkins is a polished scholar, a pleasing speaker, and an earnest
   and efficient pastor.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         REV. WILLIAM F. HAYES.
   
   This gentleman is the present pastor of St. Mary's Church, New Castle.
   He is a son of Colonel John B. Hayes, a leading contractor of
   Pittsburgh, and was born in that city August 19, 1842. He began his
   education with the profession of medicine in view, but this proving
   uncongenial to his taste, he turned his attention to theology. He spent
   some fourteen years in St. Michael's Seminary at Greenwood, near his
   native city, and on December 22, 1867, was ordained priest in St.
   Vincent's Abbey, Westmoreland county, Pa., by the Right Rev. M. Domenec,
   then, Bishop of Pittsburgh. He was immediately stationed for a short
   period at St. Paul's Cathedral in the last named city, and subsequently
   was appointed pastor of St. Michael's Church, Elizabeth, Allegheny
   county, where he remained some four years.
   
   In March, 1871, he was transferred to his present parish in New Castle.
   At this time the fine edifice of St. Mary's Church was in an unfinished
   condition, the congregation few in number, and quite indifferent to the
   interests of the denomination. Through the earnest efforts of Father
   Hayes, the building was completed, and dedicated on the 23d of the
   following September.
   
   On April 1, 1871, Fither Hayes opened a school with only forty pupils,
   Jefferson Hall being rented for that purpose. In May also of the same
   year, the present pastoral residence was purchased.
   
   In 1871, likewise under his supervision, the St. Mary's Silver Cornet
   Band was organized, with a membership of forty-three, and was at that
   time the largest band in the State, and is now acknowledged to be the
   finest band in Western Pennsylvania.
   
   "Sodalities" of young ladies were also organized for the purpose of more
   effectively uniting the members of the congregation in the work. These
   [p. 192] "Sodalities" have a fine library, and also a reading-room,
   which is supplied with standard periodicals.
   
   In 1875 a fine school-edifice was erected, and instruction was begun
   January, 1876, and the average attendance has since been about three
   hundred pupils.
   
   To the earliest efforts, energy and perserence [sic] of their pastor,
   the society is indebted for its present degree of prosperity. Father
   Hayes is one of the most thoroughly-educated men in Western
   Pennsylvania, and has been for some time past a prominent contributor to
   the leading Catholic periodicals of the day. He, moreover, combines all
   the elements of a polished gentleman. He has been a member of the New
   Castle Board of Health, and during the prevalence of the smallpox here
   in the Winter of 1873-4, was very efficient and faithful in rendering
   service, medical and otherwise, to citizens, without regard to sect, and
   it was largely owing to his efforts that the plague was checked and
   finally disappeared.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         DAVID TIDBALL, Esq.
         [Portrait]  
   
   This gentleman was born in New Castle, March 1, 1818. He is the son of
   John C. Tidball and Sarah Squier. His father was born June 2, 1795, and
   was a son of David Tidball, Sr., who was born in Lancaster county, Pa.,
   June 1, 1770. After a residence of a number of years in Allegheny county
   he became one of the earliest settlers of what is now North Beaver
   township, Lawrence county. He was a quiet, unassuming, conscientious and
   upright citizen, and was an influential member of the Presbyterian church.
   
   John C. Tidball and Sarah Squier were married August 22, 1816. Miss
   Squier was a daughter of James Squier, of New Castle.
   
   The educational advantages of the subject of this sketch were such as
   could be derived from the common schools of his boyhood. There were no
   English grammars in the school of that early day, and young Tidball was
   never inflicted with the study of meaningless rules and arbitrary
   definitions. He learned the use of his mother tongue, as thousand of
   eminent, self-made men have learned it, by contact with men and things,
   assisted by a diligent perusal of such valuable books as his
   circumstances permitted him to secure. When a young man he learned the
   tailoring trade, and followed the same for several years.
   
   At the youthful age of twenty-one he was appointed postmaster of New
   Castle, under the administration of Martin Van Buren. He took charge in
   January of 1840, but was succeeded in the following August by another
   incumbent.
   
   In the Winter of 1842 he was again appointed to the same by President
   Tyler, and held the position about nine months. Subsequently he took a
   trip to California for the benefit of his health, and returned in about
   a year materially improved.
   
   In March, 1853, he was once more made postmaster, under the
   administration of President Peirce, and filled the place for upwards of
   three years.
   
   In the Spring of 1860 he was elected justice of the peace, and for a
   period of five years discharged the duties of the position with ability
   and impartiality.
   
   In August, 1867, he was, for the fourth time, appointed postmaster of
   New Castle, and has served in this capacity to the present date, making
   a period of nearly ten years.
   
   It will thus be seen that Mr. Tidball has been a genuine "Nasby," and,
   notwithstanding the perverseness of Deacon Pogram and Squire Gavit, he
   has for quite a considerable period kept the "corners" in a tolerable
   state of prosperity and "pro-gresshun."
   
   For fifteen years, in all, he served the citizens of New Castle as
   postmaster, and all the difficult duties of this position he has
   discharged with a promptness, fidelity and polite accommodation, that
   have made him a host of friends. He has a vein of pleasantry and good
   humor about him, which, combined with fine social qualities and
   gentlemanly bearing, renders him very popular.
   
   Up to 1864 he was a Democrat in politics, but since then he has been a
   strong adherent to the Republican ranks. During the late civil struggle
   he was a staunch supporter of the administration in its work of subduing
   the rebellion and maintaining an undivided Union.
   
   Mr. Tidball was married to Miss Martha M., daughter of Charles Dickson,
   of New Castle. This union has been blessed with a family of five sons
   and three daughters, of whom the eldest son, Charles, and oldest
   daughter, Mary, are deceased.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         HON. G. W. McCRACKEN.
         [Portrait]  
   
   This gentleman was born in what is now Lawrence county, Pa., January 30,
   1838. He is the oldest in a family of ten children, all living. His
   father, Jacob McCracken, came to this country from Ireland, in 1819, and
   settled on Slippery Rock creek, this county. His maternal grandfather,
   Colonel Robert Wallace, was a native of Washington county, Pa., and one
   of the pioneer residents of the territory now included in Scott
   township, Lawrence county, having taken up by settlement 400 acres on
   Slippery Rock creek in the year 1795. His grandmother, Elizabeth
   (Reeder) Wallace came with her parents from Warwickshire, England, in
   1804, and is yet a resident of the county, at the age of ninety-four.
   
   The subject of this sketch passed the first twenty years of his life at
   farm labor. He then entered Westminster college, and there graduated in
   the Summer of 1861, teaching school during the Winter months to secure
   the funds to meet his expenses of education.
   
   In May, 1861, he enlisted in the service of his country in the late
   civil war, in Company G, 10th Pa. Reserves, and was in the service three
   years. He participated in all the battles of the army of the Potomac
   from December 20, 1861, to June 7, 1864. He entered the service as a
   private, and was successively promoted to sergeant, adjutant of his
   regiment, and to lieutenant-colonel of the 191st Pa. V. Infantry. On May
   30, 1864 he was seriously wounded in the left limb at Bethesda Church,
   near Richmond, and on this account was mustered out of service on June
   11, same year.
   
   On October 19, 1865, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E.
   McCreary, daughter of John McCreary, who in 1802 became a settler in
   what is now Hickory township, Lawrence county. On May 4,1866, Colonel
   McCracken was elected to the position of superintendent of schools in
   this county, and was thus engaged for three years.
   
   In the Autumn of 1869 he was chosen on the Republican ticket a member of
   the Assembly of the Pennsvlvania Legislature, and served for one year,
   the two succeeding years having been passed on his farm. On March 26,
   1872, he assumed the editorial charge of the Lawrence Guardian, which
   position he now occupies.
   
   In the following Autumn he was again sent to the Assembly for the term
   of 1873. Since the Colonel became editor of the Guardian, the interests
   of the paper have been materially advanced. The office has been
   furnished with a steam press and other appliances for turning out work
   of a superior quality. Colonel McCracken is a gentleman of affable
   manners and a much respected citizen. His portrait  
   will be found upon another page of this volume.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         EDWARD KAY.
         [Portrait]  
   
   The subject of this sketch is the leading business man of Wampum. He is
   next to the youngest in a family of seven children of John Kay, and was
   born in Lancashire, England, September 1, 1817. His father being a
   mill-wright, he was brought up in cotton and woolen mills, and picked up
   his education by his own efforts. His father was inclined to the Quaker
   religion and his mother to the Calvanistic belief, and they taught their
   children the observance of the principles of the strictest morality.
   
   The father died in 1836, and in l840 the mother came with her family to
   America. For three years Mr. Edward Kay carried on a woolen factory in
   Cleveland. But this burned down and he lost all he had.
   
   On May 20, 1843, he married Jane Lawrie, a native of Scotland, who came
   to this country with her father's family in 1842.
   
   Some seven or eight years spent in the Cuyahoga works near Cleveland,
   and a couple of years as engineer on the lakes, and a period as
   machinist in Youngstown, Ohio, brought him to Wampum, where in July
   1867, he purchased an interest in the Wampum furnace. The place then had
   only about twenty habitations. He purchased five acres of land in the
   vicinity for pasture use, but it was soon taken up by settlers for
   residence lots.
   
   In March, 1876, the first borough election was held (the borough having
   been erected a short time before), and Mr. Kay was elected chief
   burgess. He has been very efficient in advancing the educational and
   religious interests of the place. For a number of years he was a member
   of the board of education, in which he took a leading part. He was also
   largely instrumental in the erection of the first church in Wampum (the
   M. E. Church) and contributed nearly three-fourths of the funds for its
   building.
   
   In 1871 he and his sons erected the Wampum grist-mill, Alexander Lawrie
   being the mill-wright.
   
   In the points already noticed, and in many other ways Mr. Kay has
   effected more than any other one man in the building up of the town. He
   is a gentleman of accommodating spirit, generous views, and full of
   enterprise. In politics, a Republican.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         MAYOR J. R. RICHARDSON.
   
   This gentleman is the present Mayor of New Castle. He was born in
   Washington county Pa., January 31, 1822. His father, William Richardson,
   was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., in 1792, and was a carpenter by
   trade. His wife was a Mary Fairman, daughter of William Fairman and
   sister of Robert Fairman, an old and retired business man of Pittsburgh.
   Mr. Richardson died in 1874; his wife in 1833.
   
   The subject of this sketch passed the first twenty years of his life on
   a farm. He then learned the millwright and pattern-makers trade, which
   has been his chief occupation. He came to New Castle in 1847. From 1852
   to 1859 he was a partner with Quest & Shaw in the foundry business. In
   1861-2 he was engaged in the erection of the Ardesco oil works, in
   Pittsburgh. He subsequently built the Luciffic oil refinery in Franklin,
   Pa., under the firm of J. R. Richardson & Co., and still later erected
   the New Castle oil works. He has also been prominently engaged in other
   similar industries in this and neighboring States.
   
   In September, 1848, occurred Mr. Richardson's marriage to Miss Emeline
   Fairman, daughter of James Fairman, of Pittsburgh, now of New Castle.
   Miss Fairman's grandfather, Thomas Fairman, settled in Pittsburgh in
   1790, and was for many years a leading contractor of that city. He had
   seven sons and a daughter, of whom James Fairman was the second son.
   
   In February, 1876, Mr. Richardson was elected Mayor of New Castle, which
   position he is now filling with marked ability. In politics he is a
   Democrat, though the city is overwhelmingly Republican. This fact is of
   itself sufficient evidence of the confidence and respect cherished for
   him by the community. He stands upon the moral side of all moral
   questions, and is a genial, accommodating gentleman.
   
   It may be added that Mayor Richardson was, during the late war, a
   staunch war man, and though he was not drafted, yet (being very much
   engaged in business) he voluntarily sent a man to the war for two years,
   and paid him eight hundred dollars for the same.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         E. S. DURBAN.
   
   The subject of this sketch was born in Chichester, Sussexshire, England,
   March 2, 1822. In 1830 his father, James Durban, immigrated with his
   family to America, and settled in Zanesville, Ohio. Here, in 1835, young
   Durban began an apprenticeship to the printer's trade. He received four
   dollars a month, and boarded himself. After learning the business he
   repaired to Marietta, and for four years was employed as journeyman,
   during which period he performed some service in the editorial line. In
   1843 he went to Franklin, Venango county, Pa., and engaged upon the
   Democratic Arch. Here, on November 20, 1845, he married Miss Amelia T.,
   daughter of Levi Dodd, now one of the oldest citizens of that place. Six
   sons and a daughter have been the blessings of this union, of whom two
   sons are decease. One died in infancy, and the other, John D. Durban,
   was drowned while bathing in the Neshannock creek, on the 8th of June,
   1874. He was a promising young man of the age of twenty-four.
   
   In 1848 Mr. Durban started the publication of the Franklin Advocate and
   Journal, which paper is now known as the Venango Citizen. This paper he
   edited and published for nearly eight years, for the first two of which
   he performed nearly all the work in the office, including the editing,
   composition, and job-printnig. He worked as high as eighteen hours a
   day, and had but one assistant, and he an apprentice.
   
   In the Spring of 1857 he came to New Castle, and purchased what was then
   called the American Freeman (published by William F. Clark), changed the
   name of the paper to the New Castle Courant, and has since conducted the
   same. The Courant is the oldest journal in Lawrence county, and is one
   of the largest county papers in the State.
   
   Editor Durban is an able, popular writer and a thorough gentleman.
   Connected with the Courant office are his three sons?Edward and Charles
   Durban. The oldest, Levi D. Durban, participated in the late war, in
   Company K, 100th Pa. Vet. Volunteers, and was severely wounded in the
   left limb, at Spottsvlvania Court House, on May 12, 1864, by which
   injury he was seriously disabled for life.
   
   The local department of the Courant is presided over by Thompson Burton,
   a spicy, witty, paragraphist, experienced in every department of either
   weekly or daily journalism. He is very largely indebted to his mother,
   who was a graduate of Cazenovia Seminary, N. Y., and a lady of superior
   literary attainments. He was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., April 13,
   1845, and at the age of nineteen began his editorial career as reporter
   on the Constitutional Union, of Washington city, and has since been
   engaged as editor upon a large number of newspapers.
   
   In August, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the 100th Pa. Volunteers
   (Roundbeads), and became the eighth color-bearer at South Mountain,
   Maryland, seven color-bearers having been previously shot down.
   
   Mrs. Thompson Burton, nee Miss Jennie D. Frisbee, of New Castle,
   although not yet twenty-six years of age, has already gained a favorite
   place in our American author's "Valhalla." She has contributed and had
   published since 1870 thirteen serial romances, several of which have
   been re-published in book-form. Her sketches and essays, published in
   our leading literary journals, number by the hundreds.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         MESSRS. PENN AND STONE.
   
   
             G. W. Penn, Ervin E. Stone
   
   The above named young gentlemen are the proprietors and editors of the
   Lawrence Paragraph, the only Democratic journal in Lawrence county.
   Their early history is that of two youths endeavoring to make something
   of themselves amid the manifold discouragements and disadvantages that
   gather around childhood and poverty. Few young men of their age have had
   more "ups" and "downs," or have passed through a greater variety of
   vicissitudes than they. Neither of them were born with a silver spoon in
   his mouth, but both have had a like experience in the grand school of
   toil and self-reliance.
   
   Mr. Penn, the senior editor, was born in Cadiz, Ohio, March 20, 1845.
   Though he started to a common school at the age of six, yet, owing
   largely to inefficient teachers, he did not learn to read with any
   degree of respectability till he was ten. Feeble health also, from an
   early age, has seriously interfered both with his education and with his
   industrial pursuits. While in his teens, he was variously employed as
   store clerk, mail carrier, and as engineer in a steam mill. He was then
   engaged, more or less, for several years, in teaching in Ohio,
   Pennsylvania and Indiana, having by his own application qualified
   himself for that position. In the Summer of 1872 he came to New Castle
   and was employed first as "local" on the Gazette, and, subsequently in
   the same capacity on the Guardian, until the latter part of May, 1876,
   when, in company with Mr. Stone, he purchased the Paragraph. On December
   26, 1868, he married Miss Catherine A. Schiller, daughter of Israel
   Schiller, an early immigrant to this country from Germany.
   
   Mr. Stone was born in North Stanbridge, Canada, January 9, 1848, and
   when about one year old, was brought with his father's family to Geauga
   county, Ohio. He was reared on a farm, having only the advantages of the
   common school. For a number of years he was variously engaged as hotel
   clerk, school teacher, singing master, restaurant attendant, panorama
   agent, etc.
   
   In April, 1874, he commenced learning the printer's trade in Youngstown,
   Ohio, and in March, 1875, came to New Castle, where he continued to work
   at his trade. In the latter part of May, 1876, he became a partner in
   the purchase of the Paragraph.
   
   On January 10, 1877, Mr. Stone was married to Miss Catherine
   Strawhecker, of New Castle.
   
   Messrs. Penn & Stone are young men of industrious habits and honorable
   dealing, which, combined with gentlemanly bearing, entitle them to the
   respect and confidence of the community, as also to a liberal patronage
   in their department of industry. The Paragraph is a well conducted
   quarto journal, the labor of editing and a large part of the composition
   work being performed by its proprietors.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         CAPTAIN JOHN YOUNG.
   
   Captain John Young was born in county Down, Ireland, October 1, 1825.
   His parents removed to this country in 1831, and soon after settled in
   Meadville, where they remained till 1840, (his mother dying in this
   time,) when they removed to Pittsburgh, where the youth and early
   manhood of Captain Young were passed, and where he endeared himself as a
   young man to a [p. 194] large circle of friends, who have always been
   proud of his friendship. In 1852 he came to New Castle.
   
   In November (Thanksgiving day), 1857, he married Miss Hannah Rigby,
   daughter of the late Thomas Rigby, just noticed.
   
   Captain Young went into the service of his country, March 15, 1862, as
   Captain of Co. D., 109th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. In
   the capacity of soldier, as in every other, he was faithful and true,
   and endeared himself to the officers and privates alike by his gallant
   and gentlemanly bearing. He was engaged in the following battles and
   distinguished himself by his gallant conduct: Harper's Ferry, Cedar
   Mountain, Leesburg, Winchester and Chancellorsville.
   
   After his return from the army he entered into partnership with John
   Pattison in the merchant tailoring business, and continued in it up to
   the commencement of his last illness?typhoid fever, of which he died, on
   December 18, 1876, at the age of fifty one.
   
   He was one of New Castle's best and most-respected citizens, and his
   loss was most deeply felt. Modest, unassuming (even to diffidence), he
   made but little noise in the world, yet his every-day life and conduct
   were such that all recognized his worth, and he was frequently called to
   positions of honor and trust, all of which he adorned. As a member of
   Councils he was faithful and prompt in the discharge of every duty, and
   affable and polite to all who had business to transact with that body.
   At the time of his death he was Chief of the Fire Department, and his
   promptness and efficiency were such as to call forth encomiums from all,
   and many tributes from those with whom he was more immediately connected.
   
   As a business man he enjoyed the respect and esteem of all who knew
   him?prompt and honorable in everything, and generous to a fault. While
   imposing upon no one, he was just the kind of man to be swindled by
   impostors who might work into his confidence. Free from anything
   approaching dishonesty himself, he was slow to suspect it in others. As
   a citizen he promptly and cheerfully discharged all the duties that
   devolved upon him, and shirked none of the responsibilities. He was a
   kind and affectionate husband and parent?in short, everything that goes
   to make up one who will be long missed, and whose place is difficult to
   fill, was found in Captain Young.
   
   Just in the prime of an honorable and useful manhood, and when he could
   least he spared, he was taken away.
   
   He left a wife and two children, who mourn the loss of an affectionate
   husband and father.
   
   Captain Young was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE.*
   
   *From "Martial Deeds."
   
   Daniel Leasure, Colonel of the 100th (Roundhead) regiment, and Brevet
   Brigadier General, was born in Westmoreland county, on the 18th of
   March, 1819. His great-grandfather, Abraham Leasure, emigrated to
   Pennsylvania from the borders of Switzerland, near France, whither the
   ancestors of the family had fled after the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
   they being Huguenots of Navarre. He studied medicine, and graduated at
   Jefferson Medical College. He was married in September, 1842, to Isabel
   W., eldest daughter of Samuel Hamilton, for several years a member of
   the Pennsylvania Legislature. He had served in the militia, and, at the
   opening of the rebellion, raised a company, and was made Adjutant, and
   also Acting Assistant Adjutant General of the brigade upon the staff
   General Negley. At the close of the three-months' term, he was
   authorized to raise a veteran regiment. Lawrence county, where he had
   taken up his residence, had been largely settled by the descendants of
   those who had followed Cromwell in the struggles of the English people
   for liberty, and from among them he drew recruits, appropriately
   designating it the "Roundhead" regiment. Colonel Leasure was first sent
   to the department of the South, where his command formed part of the
   brigade of General Isaac I. Stevens. In the attack upon Tower Fort, near
   Secessionville, on the morning of the 16th of June, 1862, Colonel
   Leasure led the brigade, and won the commendation of General Stevens.
   
   In the battle of Second Bull Run, Colonel Leasure, while leading the
   brigade, had his horse shot from under him, and himself received a
   severe wound. He recovered in time to take part in the battle of
   Fredericksburg, and soon after went with two divisions of the 9th corps,
   to which he was then attached, to Kentucky, and thence to Vicksburg,
   where, and at Jackson, he participated in three triumphant achievements,
   which opened the Mississippi, and really broke the backbone of the
   rebellion.
   
   From Vicksburg he proceeded with his troops to East Tennessee, and was
   active in the operations of the Union arms [sic] in that region, and in
   the siege of Knoxville. At the battle of the Wilderness, on the 6th of
   May where he commanded a brigade, he led in a charge which hurled the
   rebels from works which they had captured from Union troops, and
   re-established the broken and disorganized line, receiving the thanks of
   General Hancock on the field.
   
   At Spottsylvania Court House, Colonel Leasure was wounded. At the
   conclusion of his term, on the 30th of August, 1864, he was mustered out
   of service. He was breveted Brigadier General in April, 1865. Upon his
   return to civil life, he resumed the practice of his profession, first
   at New Castle, and subsequently at Allegheny.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         JAMES HENDERSON.
   
   This veteran was the oldest member of the 100th Regiment Pa. Vols. He
   was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., in the year 1800. He held the
   responsible office of sheriff in his native county. Subsequently he
   removed to Lawrence county, Pa., and was long engaged in mercantile
   pursuits in New Castle, but had retired from business some time prior to
   the war. At the breaking out of the rebellion, although sixty-one years
   of age, he was one of the first to volunteer in the three months'
   service, and served through the same with credit to himself and the
   county of which he was a representative.
   
   When the 100th Regiment was organized, this patriotic old veteran
   re-enlisted in that command (in the ranks of Company K), and followed
   its fortunes through all the marches and battles in which it
   participated, until his demise in 1863. His physical system having been
   greatly reduced by the long and weary marches during the extreme heat of
   July and August, he contracted a fever in Mississippi, and was sent to
   the hospital at Camp Park, Kentucky, where, after a short illness, he
   died, August 18, 1863. He was the oldest soldier in the Roundhead
   regiment, and his patriotism was of the purest, noblest type! He
   voluntarily took up the vocation of the soldier from love of his
   country, and gave his life from devotion to the Union.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         REV. J. C. SMITH.
         [Portrait]  
   
   The Rev. J. Calvin Smith is a descendant of the persecuted Covenanters
   of Scotland. David Farrie, who suffered martyrdom, and his son of the
   same name, who was baptised at a "field conventicle," were in the direct
   line of his forefathers. His ancestors removed from Ireland to America
   while it was a colony of Great Britain, and settled in South Carolina.
   They were true patriots, and actively served their country in the wars
   of the Revolution and 1812. His parents, Thomas and Jane Smith, on their
   marriage, loathing the slavery of the South, removed to Bloomington,
   Indiana, where they became farmers and keepers of a station on the
   "Underground railroad."
   
   The Rev. J. Calvin Smith was born October 29, 1831; graduated at Indiana
   University in 1851. He was ordained as pastor of the Reformed
   Presbyterian congregation, composed of various societies in Lawrence and
   Butler counties, in the year 1863. From these congregations others have
   been formed. The original Congregation, of which he is still the pastor,
   is now composed of two parts, at Rose Point and Portersville. He is
   known as an advocate of freedom, temperance, and national and moral reform.
   
   
           SARAH A. SMITH
   
   Was born August 11, 1837. Her father, Hiram McCartney, was an able
   lawyer of Bellefontaine, O., who distinguished himself as a bold
   advocate of the slave, in a day when it was not popular and at times not
   safe to be an Abolitionist. His only daughter was left an orphan in
   childhood. She became a member of the family of her uncle, Hon. Richard
   Canby, who served in the Legislature of Ohio, and the Congress of the
   United States. She was educated at Northwood, Ohio, under the tuition of
   the wife of the Rev. R. W. Sloane, whom she loved as a mother. She was
   married August 13, 1855.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         JAMES WALKER
   
   Was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, September 12, 1770, and in 1774 was
   brought to this country by his father, Robert Walker, who was an early
   settler of Washington county, Pa. With very meagre facilities for
   education, Mr. James Walker became, by dint of personal effort, a very
   accurate [p. 195] scholar and a school teacher. He was twice married,
   first in 1794, to Agnes McFadden, by whom he had four children, all
   dying in infancy but one, Robert Walker, who became a member of the
   Louisiana Legislature. He died in 1843.
   
   Mr. James Walker's second marriage was to Miss Mary Anderson, daughter
   of John Anderson, a Scotch-Irish emigrant from Ireland, in the year
   1788, and about 1800, he settled in Lawrence county, Pa. Three sons and
   four daughters resulted from this union. Mr. Walker located in Lawrence
   county about the year 1797. He served in the war of 1812, and assisted
   Commodore Perry in getting the American fleet off the sand bars at Erie.
   He had previously acted in 1792 as sentinel on the Ohio river, when the
   Indians were threatening the settlers.
   
   He was several times elected to various county offices, among them that
   of Auditor, to which he was chosen four times, and filled the position
   with great satisfaction to all. He was a man of superior talent, yet
   modest and unassuming. From 1800 to 1844, he was a ruling elder in the
   Presbyterian Church, and then became a leader in the Free Presbyterian
   Church, which was the first one of the kind organized in the United
   States. He was an abolitionist from 1833, and was one of the first
   movers in the Temperance cause, and took an active leading part in all
   the moral reforms of his day. He was a most liberal-minded man in all
   matters of religious opinion, and was fully pledged to the investigation
   of truth in all things and earnestly impressed these principles upon his
   family.
   
   
           W. W. WALKER,
   
   His only surviving son, was born on his present farm?the old home-stead?
   November 22, 1819. Faculties for education very moderate, but by his own
   application and reading he has acquired an unusually large fund of
   information, on general topics and especially in the departments of
   history, science and theology. He has passed his life in farming. Some
   time since he erected a duo-deccagon two-story brick residence, a model
   of convenience and beauty. His location is one of the most beautiful in
   Lawrence county.
   
   October 26,1848, he married Miss Anna Jane, daughter of David Bailey, of
   Coitsville, Ohio, and has six children. Mr. Baily was a strong, early
   abolitionist, and frequently acted as station keeper on the underground
   railroad of those perilous days.
   
   In politics Mr. Walker is a Republican, and in religious views, an
   independent thinker.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         J. P. LOCK.
         [Portrait]  
   
   This gentleman is the founder of Lockville, a new station on the
   Northern Central and Franklin railroad. In April, 1868, he came from
   Mercer county, Pa., to Lawrence county, purchased some hundred acres of
   land in the vicinity of the first named place, and about four years
   later laid out a town, to which he gave the name of Lockville. He has
   since sold off a number of lots, comprising about one-third of the
   original plot.
   
   Upon his arrival here, in 1868, he bought the grist-mill of Samuel
   Bowen, and has since been running the same. Aside from a number of
   town-lots, he owns a beautiful residence-property, a lithographic view
   of which will be found among the illustrations of this history.
   
   The town of Lockville is snugly nestled under the bluffs of Neshannock
   creek, the large portion lying in the western edge of New Wilmington,
   and the other portion in the eastern edge of Washington township. The
   surrounding scenery is rural and very picturesque.
   
   The railroad was brought here in the Fall of 1873, since which time the
   place has been steadily growing, and a number of new buildings are in
   process of erection. Several public roads centre here, affording an easy
   access to the place from all the surrounding country. Being directly on
   the railroad, it enjoys advantages superior to those of many other
   boroughs of larger size, and the place bids fair to become a pleasant
   locality for residence.
   
   In 1872 Mr. Lock remodeled his mill, and furnished it with the necessary
   appliances for first-class work, and now enjoys the reputation for
   turning out the finest flour in the county. Indeed, flour made at this
   mill is in demand not only in Lawrence and Mercer counties, but also in
   the State of Ohio, whither large quantities are yearly shipped. This
   mill does also a large amount of custom work.
   
   Mr. Lock was born near New Castle, in May, 1825, learned the milling
   business when a young man, and has since followed the same. He is an
   energetic and industrious man, a Republican in principles, a member of
   the Methodist Episcopal church, and a much respected citizen.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         THE AIKEN FAMILY.
   
   The members of this connection, in Lawrence county, are descendants of
   two or three heads, who were among the earliest pioneers.
   
   
           MAJOR ALEXANDER AIKEN
   
   Was one of the first settlers of what is now Wayne township. He was a
   native of Maryland, born about the year 1779. After spending a few years
   in Westmoreland county, he came to this county, and, in connection with
   his brother, William Aiken (an early settler), erected one of the first
   grist-mills on Slippery Rock creek, in Wayne township. His wife was Mary
   Henry, a daughter of William Henry, also an early settler of same
   township. Miss Henry had three brothers who became judges of the court
   of quarter sessions.
   
   Mr. Aiken's family consisted of six sons and five daughters, two of each
   now deceased. His marriage occurred about the year 1810.
   
   In addition to the pursuit of agriculture, he also carried on the trade
   of a carpenter. In connection with his brother-in-law, Thomas Henry, he
   erected the first hewn-log house in Wayne. The structure is still
   standing, and is on the farm of the late Andrew Wilson, in the eastern
   part of the township, and the old landmark has stood there for nearly
   three-quarters of a century. Mr. Aiken also held for a number of years
   the office of justice of the peace. He participated in the war of 1812,
   and spent some time at Erie guarding the British shipping that had been
   captured by Perry in his naval engagement, and was on board of the
   identical vessel in which the Commodore himself had fought. The major
   was a true specimen of the sturdy pioneer, bold, courageous and
   industrious. Both he and his wife were connected with what was then
   called the Union, now the United Presbyterian church.
   
   He died in the Spring of 1849, at the age of about seventy. Mrs. Aiken
   died some five or six years afterwards.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
           JUDGE JAMES P. AIKEN
   
   Is the fourth son and eighth child of Major Aiken, and was born in
   Lawrence county, October 12, 1826. His occupation has been that of a
   farmer. When a young man he was engaged for a time in teaching school.
   In the Autumn of 1855, he married Miss Mary Jane, the daughter of David
   Frew, of Slippery Rock township, and has had a family of three sons and
   five daughters.
   
   Upon the day on which he was twenty-one he cast his first vote on the
   old Whig ticket. When the Republican party was organized, he identified
   himself with the same, and has always been a firm adherent to its
   principles, as promulgated by the immortal Lincoln. For the past fifteen
   years he has served the people of his community as justice of the peace,
   having been twice reelected to the position. His administrations were
   marked with a fairness and impartiality not always found in public
   magistrates, and the satisfaction given by his service is attested by
   the unusually protracted period which he has been continued in the
   office. He resigned this position to accept a seat as associate judge of
   Lawrence county, to which office he was elected in the Fall of 1876. He
   brings to his new office a large experience as a citizen, a clear head
   and sterling integrity. He belongs to the most solid and highly
   respected portion of the community. His religious connections is with
   that large and influential body, the United Presbyterian church.
   
   
           PROFESSOR W. N. AIKEN.
           [Portrait]  
   
   This gentleman is the present county school superintendent of Lawrence
   county. His grandfather, William Aiken, was a native of Ireland, and
   came to this country at a very early day, passed some time first in
   Maryland, and then in Westmoreland county, Pa., and finally settled on
   Slippery Rock creek, in what is now Lawrence county, and erected one of
   the first grist mills on this stream, in Wayne township, where the
   subject of this sketch was born, January 12, 1834. Professor Aiken's
   parents were David Aiken and Martha Vance.
   
   Mr. Aiken graduated from Westminster College, in June, 1861, and entered
   the educational field of New Castle, and was soon made principal of the
   East New Castle public school, which place he filled till June, 1869,
   when he was elected to his present position of county superintendent. He
   has been twice re-elected, and is now serving his third term in this
   capacity. His re-elections to this responsible position are a sufficient
   guaranty of his eminent qualifications for the same. He is a faithful
   worker, prudent and cautious, and is accomplishing great good for the
   educational interests of the county.
   
   On April 6, 1865, Professor Aiken was married to Miss Margaret M.
   Loughridge, daughter of John Loughridge, an early settler and a
   prominent business man of Youngstown, Ohio. Her brother, William
   Loughridge, was for some years representative in Congress from
   Oscaloosa, Iowa. Mrs. [p. 196] Aiken was educated at Oxford Western
   Female Seminary, from which she graduated in 1859. Previous to her
   marriage she was for some years a prominent teacher in the New Castle
   public schools.
   
   Professor Aiken and wife are connected with the United Presbyterian
   church, in which body he has been for a number of years a ruling elder.
   He has two children, a son and a daughter.
   
   A portrait of the Professor will be found on another page of this volume.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         HUGH McKEE.
         [Portrait]  
   
   Hugh McKee was born in county Down, Ireland, in April, 1773. He
   emigrated to the United States in 1788, when fifteen years of age, and
   settled in what is now Plain Grove township, Lawrence county; being one
   of the first settlers. When he arrived in this region the country was a
   wilderness, and, as can readily be imagined, the man who proposed to
   follow farming as an occupation had many serious obstacles to contend
   with?a forest to subdue, stumpy fields to clear up, and in many
   instances, a stony soil to master before he could begin to realize
   anything from his labors; but Mr. McKee was enthusiastic in his calling,
   and, by dint of unflagging industry, made the "wilderness to blossom as
   the rose," and lived to see a prosperous community, with all the
   appliances of an advanced civilization, around him. He followed his
   early profession?that of a farmer?through all the busy years of his
   life, and accumulated a competency of this world's goods. Mr. McKee
   married Mary Bell, September 15, 1801. He died in the year 1853, at the
   ripe age of eighty years, respected by all who knew him.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         LEANDER RANEY.
   
   This gentleman is the only son of James Raney, of Mahoningtown, who has
   been one of the most active, energetic business men of Lawrence county,
   and is also one of her most highly esteemed citizens.
   
   He is a miller by trade, and his life has been spent chiefly in this
   business. He has built no less than five grist-mills, one in
   Steubenville, Ohio, and four in Lawrence county (one at Edenburg, one
   about a mile above that place, and two at Mahoningtown.) He has also
   been connected with other industrial interests, among which may be
   mentioned the Steubenville Iron Company, and the old bank of New Castle
   (the first one in the town) of which he was one of the original
   stockholders and directors. This bank finally passed out of existence,
   and its place is now filled by the National Bank of Lawrence county.
   
   The old gentleman has been one of the most industrious and hard-working
   men in the county, and for energy, business tact and shrewdness, has few
   equals.
   
   His wife was Sarah Park, of Lawrence county, by whom he had one son and
   two daughters. Of the latter, one is Mrs. John E. Sheal, of
   Steubenville; the other married William Gordon, of Lawrence county, and
   died January 22, 1871, leaving one son. James Raney died in May, 1873.
   
   Mr. L. Raney was born in this county, March 11, 1837. He was reared in
   the milling business, under his father's tuition, with but very few of
   the educational privileges enjoyed by the youth of the present day. From
   early childhood he was inured to hard labor, and inheriting his father's
   energy and pluck, made a full hand in business at the early age of
   fifteen. A short time afterwards he assumed the full charge of his
   father's mill at Mahoningtown, and before he reached his majority had
   purchased the property, and was conducting the business for himself.
   
   When Mr. Raney came to New Castle he purchased the grist-mill of Joseph
   Kissick, and has since conducted the same, having, shortly after his
   settlement here, sold the mill at Mahoningtown.
   
   In 1872 he became one of the partners in the erection of the Ętna
   furnaces, and for a considerable period had an eighth interest in the
   business. He subsequently became a partner in the formation of the
   Crowther's Iron Company, and is still a member of the firm.
   
   He was also one of the original stockholders in the New Castle Hall and
   Market Company. He is likewise a stockholder in the New Castle Park
   Association, and in the New Castle and Franklin railroad, and for some
   two years past he has been the president of the Steubenville Furnace and
   Iron Company.
   
   For a considerable period, also, Mr. Raney rendered efficient service to
   the citizens of New Castle as a member of the city council.
   
   Other interests might be mentioned with which Mr. Raney has been
   intimately identified, but from those already named, it plainly appears
   that he has been actively interested in many of the leading industries
   of the county, and justly ranks among the most wide-awake and stirring
   business men of the community.
   
   He is a gentleman of remarkable jovial, mirthful nature, possesses fine
   social qualities, an invincible will and sterling integrity of
   character. In politics, he confesses to a decidedly Hayes(y) complexion!
   
   On October 31, 1872, Mr. Raney married Miss Hannah, daughter of George
   Mahon, of Steubenville, Ohio, and has two children, a son and a daughter.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         W. P. ALCORN.
         [Portrait]  
   
   The father of this gentleman was a native of Ireland, and came to
   America shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. After a number
   of years spent in Huntingdon county, Pa., he removed to Crawford county,
   Pa., where the subject of this notice was born the 13th of August, 1820.
   
   In 1824 the family moved into Venango county, at that time an almost
   uninhabited wilderness. He reached his majority with the advantages of
   only one year's schooling, all told.
   
   In April, 1855, he married Miss Margaret L. Lamb, a daughter of Samuel
   Lamb, then of Venango, but now of New Wilmington, Lawrence county.
   
   Mr. Alcorn came to New Wilmington in September, 1864, which has since
   been his residence.
   
   In politics he is an uncompromising Republican. Upon the breaking out of
   the late civil war he offered himself three times as a volunteer in the
   service of his country, but owing to a disability he was not accepted.
   Being thus prevented from rendering any service in the ranks, he
   contributed liberally for the needs of the brave boys in the field.
   
   Mr. Alcorn has led a retired life upon the soil, nearly half a century
   of which was passed in genuine pioneer style, with all its attendant
   privations and hardships. In these, however, are often found valuable
   compensations, as they tend to the development and growth of those
   sterling qualities of industry, perseverance and economy, for which many
   pioneers were so distinguished. Such was the case with the subject of
   this biography. He has been a very hard-worker, very careful and saving,
   and, assisted by his industrious and frugal wife, has accumulated a
   handsome competence. But, like thousands of other pioneer settlers, who
   were compelled to labor incessantly for their daily bread, he was
   deprived of any education other than that which could be gathered from
   an association in the wild scenes of a new and comparatively unsettled
   territory.
   
   But book education is of little value compared with that practical
   discipline that is obtained from a daily contact with men and things as
   they exist in the world around us, and the practice of those manly
   virtues which command respect, alike among the rich and the poor, the
   learned and the ignorant.
   
   Steady, industrious and frugal in his habits, Mr. Alcorn is also a man
   of strict integrity, whose "promise is as good as his bond." He is also
   a very, staunch temperance advocate?indeed a decided prohibitionist.
   
   A lithographic view of his fine residence in New Wilmington will be
   found in the illustrative department of the Lawrence County History.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         R. M. ALLEN.
   
   This gentleman was born in Pittsburgh, February 21, 1828. His initiation
   into business pursuits was in the capacity of a newsboy, which is the
   very last instrumentality for developing the native energies and talent.
   In this employment he early exhibited those peculiar abilities which
   have become so prominently illustrated in his subsequent business
   career. He learned the trade of the tobacconist with George Weyman of
   his native city, and, in 1847, while still serving as an apprentice,
   opened a tobacco store for himself on a capital of fifty cents, and in a
   short time had three journeymen employed under him making cigars in his
   little store. This little incident is worthy of more than a passing notice.
   
   From this capital of fifty cents?an amount that thousands of men and
   boys spend for tobacco or drink in a single day?from this little
   insignificant amount, as his starting capital, Mr. Allen's business has
   grown to many thousand dollars. True, this was thirty years ago, but
   there are too many young men (boys) who at the present day would hardly
   feel that they could do much on a start of fifty dollars. There are
   scores of young men in New Castle to-day, who, though they are worth
   nothing, yet, had they but saved only the amounts they have foolishly
   spent for the last five years, might now have had a bank account of one
   thousand dollars in clean cash!
   
   [p. 197] In July, 1849, Mr. Allen came to New Castle and went into
   business with a capital of three hundred dollars. At this time he was
   the only regular tobacconist in the place, as he is now the only
   exclusive dealer in the article in the city. He was the second man who
   ever attempted to run the "news" business here, and he carried on the
   same till 1874, at which time he took his son, R. M. Allen, Jr., into
   partnership and opened two stores, side by side on Main street. Both are
   spacious business houses, being one hundred and ten feet in length. One
   is devoted exclusively to the sale of tobacco, the other is a
   wall-paper, book and news-room. Mr. Allen has also been the New Castle
   express agent since 1855.
   
   He is also the principle owner of the market house, and the opera house.
   He likewise owns a fine fruit and garden-farm about a mile and a half
   from the city, which he keeps in a commendable state of cultivation and
   beauty. His garden is furnished with excellent facilities for watering,
   and in the vegetable department a hydrant may be seen at the distance of
   every eighty feet. It may also be mentioned that his city residence was
   the first one that was furnished with a regular water-supply hydrant in
   New Castle.
   
   Mr. Allen has made his business his specialty, and has held no office
   with the exception of a term in the city council. During this time the
   first paving was put down in New Castle. He is one of the most
   energetic, enterprising, and substantial business men of the place,
   honest and genial- hearted.
   
   In politics a clever Republican, and last, but not least, a temperance
   man. He has lately identified himself with the great temperance
   reformation army, which is marching on to glorious victory. When,
   therefore, his old friends call upon him, they will please "take a
   cigar!" On December 31, 1851, Mr. Allen married Miss Amanda Keefer,
   daughter of John Keefer, of New Castle, and has three sons, all in
   business in New Castle.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         WILLIAM EICHBAUM.
   
   This gentleman was born in Burgundy, France, on the 25th of June, 1787.
   He was the fourth son of William Eichbaum, a gentleman well and
   favorably identified with the earlier history of the glass-manufacturing
   business of Pittsburgh and vicinity. In 1797, when but ten years of age,
   the subject of this sketch accompanied his parents to Pittsburgh, from
   the banks of the Schuylkill, nearly opposite the present site of
   Fairmount Water-works, Philadelphia, where his father had settled in
   1793. He received his education at the school kept by one Nicholas Kerr;
   and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to Zadoc Cramer, and after
   serving a term of seven years emerged forth a practical bookbinder. Such
   was his proficiency in the business, that at the close of his
   apprentiship he was admitted into the firm as a partner, and its style
   from thence became Cramer, Speer & Eichbaum. It was then the principal
   bookbinding establishment in Pittsburgh, and had connected with it a
   printing office and book store. This partnership continued until 1816,
   when it was dissolved by the withdrawal of Mr. Eichbaum, who then
   associated himself with Mr. Samuel R. Johnston in the business of
   bookselling, printing and bookbinding, and thus became the founders of
   the well-known house of William G. Johnston & Co., which for a score of
   years past has done business on Wood street, this latter firm being
   composed of the sons of those who, in 1816, became associated in
   business. A year prior to the formation of the original partnership, Mr.
   Eichbaum had married Miss Rebecca Johnston, a sister of his partner. We
   may mention that this union was an extremely happy one. For fifty-one
   years the couple lived happily together, and celebrated a quiet and
   joyous golden wedding about eighteen months preceding the death of the
   venerable husband and father. His widow still remains, and at the age of
   eighty-four retains all of her superior faculties, and enjoys the most
   retentive memory of any post-octogenarian of either sex with whom we
   have ever become acquainted. Her intelligence and intellectual
   abilities, combined with her extraordinary recollection, conspire to
   make her a regular walking encyclopędia of historic information. We
   gratefully acknowledge ourselves indebted to her for very valuable
   assistance in the compilation of this work, and earnestly trust that she
   may yet live many happy years, surrounded by the ripened associations of
   more than three-fourths of a century.
   
   But to return to Mr. Eichbaum. The most important public service that he
   was engaged in was in the creation of the Monongahela Slackwater, now
   controlled by the Monongahela Navigation Company. His untiring zeal and
   eminent foresight did more than anything else in bringing this vast
   project to a successful issue. To him and his venerable coadjutors,
   Messrs. Thomas and John P. Bakewell, Morgan Robertson, and Alfred
   Curling, is mainly due the success of the most important enterprise for
   the general commercial and business prosperity of Pittsburgh ever
   contemplated or completed. He was, in recogition of his valuable
   services in the premises, honored with the position of the first
   president of the company after its permanent organization. Mr. Eichbaum
   enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the public to a marked degree. From
   1822 to 1833, he held the position of postmaster; and it was during the
   occupancy of this office that his generous and accommodating disposition
   won for him that enduring esteem which he continued to enjoy through
   life, and which is even now oftentimes gratefully attested by several of
   the venerable recipients of his kind attention. He was elected and
   retained in the City Councils in each branch as long as eligible, and
   then transferred by the votes of the people alternately for twenty-two
   consecutive years. In 1858, he was elected City Treasurer, and held the
   office until his decease in 1866. This office he hold as a token of
   affectionate regard of the citizen voters in his declining years.
   Perhaps no fitter tribute to his worth can be adduced than the following
   paragraph from a friend, published in one of the local papers prior to
   the municipal election in 1858:
   
   "In Mr. Eichbaum we present a fine old gentleman, who wears that name as
   he does the crown of silver hairs that honor his head, as a part of him,
   as something necessary and natural to him. If it was the last act we
   ever had to perform we should feel that we had done a duty as pleasing
   as it would be right in depositing our ballot for Mr. Eichbaum, a man
   who has seen this city grow up from nothing, whose name and family and
   all is identified with its growth and its good name. We do hope to see
   him have a tremendous majority, and to see our friends everywhere
   rallying nobly to his support. He is a man that deserves the place he is
   running for."
   
   In politics Mr. Eichbaum was a republican. In religion he was liberal,
   but inclined to the Presbyterian faith. He died December 30, 1866, in
   the eightieth year of his age. His memory will ever remain green in the
   hearts of a numerous circle of friends, and of the public generally, by
   his exemplary character, and by the many noble traits of his disposition.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         THOMAS RIGBY.
   
   The subject of this sketch was born near Winchester, Va., about the year
   1798, and came with his parents to New Castle in 1806.
   
   At that time New Castle consisted of only a few houses of the most
   primitive form, and where now is a thickly built-up portion of the city,
   Mr. Rigby hunted the deer and other game, which existed in great
   abundance. The red man ruled the country, and Indians in their bark
   canoes were frequently seen gliding along the smooth waters of the Shenango.
   
   The only route to Pittsburgh, from which place many of the supplies of
   the early settlers were brought, was a bridle path, and the only
   transportation was on pack saddles, Mr. Rigby had an excellent memory,
   and took great delight in relating his reminiscences of those by-gone
   days. In 1825 he married Elmira Squire of New Castle, and raised a large
   family of children.
   
   He was a jeweler by trade, and by slow and steady gains?the result of
   honesty and industry?acquired a competency.
   
   He enjoyed the esteem and confidence of all who knew him, as a good
   citizen and upright man, and possessing a heart that never allowed a
   human being to suffer if in his power to give relief. He was especially
   noted for his skill and kindness in seasons of sickness, particularly
   among the poor. Mr. Rigby's death was very sudden, and occurred on the
   morning of Tuesday, March 11, 1873. He had risen early?as was his
   habit?complaining slightly, but no more than usual, of pain in one of
   his arms, in which he had been for some time suffering with partial
   paralysis, took his usual walk, attended to some chores, and had sat
   down by the stove in a back room of his shop, and was engaged in
   conversation with his friend, Mr. James Wallace. He took the tongs to
   put a piece of coal upon the fire, when the tongs fell from his hand,
   and he straightened up in his chair and almost instantly expired.
   
   Mr. Rigby was for years previous to this event impressed that his death
   would be sudden, and had frequently expressed his desire and expectation
   to die without lingering upon a bed of sickness. Conforming to this view
   he kept his business matters closely settled up. Ripe in years and ready
   for the call, peacefully and calmly he passed away, and exchanged
   mortality for immortality.
   
   Mrs. Rigby followed her husband in about two months, and died on the
   15th of the following May. On retiring the evening previous, she seemed
   [p. 198] as well as usual. About ten o'clock her grandson, Fred. Rigby,
   who was residing with her, came in and spoke to his grandmother to let
   her know that it was he. Receiving no answer, he entered her room, and
   finding her breathing strangely, went for her daughter, Mrs. Hall, who
   lived next door, and then for a physician. By the time Mrs. Hall
   arrived, her mother appeared to have rallied, and asked: "Where is
   Fred?" Mrs. Hall replied, "He has gone for a doctor for you; you are not
   well." To which Mrs. Rigby replied, "You need send for no doctor for me,
   I am as well as ever I was." Soon after the arrival of the physican she
   became unconscious, and died about five the following morning, in her
   sixty-ninth year.
   
   The father of Mr. Thomas Rigby was
   
   
           SETH RIGBY, SEN.
   
   His family comprised seven sons and two daughters, of whom there
   survives only one son, Seth Rigby, Jr., and Mrs. Hannah (Thomas) Baker,
   both of Lawrence county. Mr. Eli Rigby, eldest son of Seth Rigby, was
   born in Virginia about the year 1797, and died in New Castle in 1876, in
   his eightieth year. Like his father he was a wagon-maker by trade, and
   though he acquired it without a regular apprentisbip, he was one of the
   most thorough workmen that ever plied the trade in New Castle, many of
   his wagons lasting twenty-five years. He carried on the business for
   about forty years. He was scrupulously honest in his dealings, and was
   greatly respected in the community. He possessed a remarkably retentive
   and ready memory, and was long regarded as a living, incarnate history
   of all the important transactions of the community. His death resulted
   from a fall by which he was severely injured.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         CORNELIUS VAN ORSDEL.
   
   This pioneer was born in Holland, about the year 1760, and was brought
   with the family of his father, John, to America when he was two years
   old. They settled near Falling Waters in the "Dominion of Old Virginia."
   He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, participating in the battles
   of Saratoga and of Eutaw Springs. In the latter engagement, when the
   color-bearer was shot down, young Van Orsdel, then only nineteen, boldly
   sprang forward, seized the ensign, and gallantly bore it through the
   fight; and, as a reward for which, he received three hundred acres of
   land in Crawford county, Pa. This he sold, receiving his pay in
   Continental money, but owing to the depreciation of said currency, he
   lost all his property. He once bought a cow worth ten dollars, but paid
   for her one thousand dollars in Continental script. So much for its
   depreciation!
   
   His wife was Prudence Bell, a Maryland lady of Scotch extraction. At
   this time she was sixteen, and he forty-five! He had five sons and four
   daughters, of whom three survive, two sons and one daughter, all in
   Lawrence county, viz: Mrs. Thomas McClymens, R. B. Van Orsdel, and
   
   
           R. L. VAN ORSDEL.
   
   This gentleman is an old and much respected citizen of Lawrence county.
   He was born near Gettysburg, May 9, 1812. His wife was Margaret
   Randolph, of Beaver county. He has had twelve children, six deceased. He
   had two sons in the Union army in the late war, J. R. Van Orsdel, who
   served under General McClellan in the army of the Potomac, and William
   G. Van Orsdel, who gallantly yielded up his young life for the sacred
   cause of American liberty. When the rebellion opened with its gigantic
   power, young Van Orsdel was only nineteen years of age, and therefore
   too young to be compelled to enter the service. But from the very
   opening of the struggle he was desirous to have a part in the defense of
   his country from the onslaught of her foes. He felt, as he often
   expressed himself, that it was the duty of every one to go, who could be
   spared from his family.
   
   He volunteered and went with the Pennsylvania militia to Chambersburg.
   He then entered the service under General Sherman, and died after a
   brief illness, near Atlanta, Ga., on June 23, 1864, a little upwards of
   twenty years of age. He was a brave, heroic boy, and never flinched in
   the hour of danger, but was always on hand, ready for duty, whether that
   was life or death, it was all the same to him. Thus was this noble boy
   cut down in the bloom of his early manhood. Sad indeed was the parting
   scene when he took leave of "the loved ones at home," and bade them
   "good-bye"?as it proved?for the last time on earth! But sadder yet, and
   more crushing the blow, was the announcement of his untimely death! But
   the stricken parents, though they deeply mourn the loss of their boy,
   have the blessed consolation that they gave him for the glorious cause
   of Liberty and that he died for his country and his God.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         J. A. LININGER.
   
   Among the business men of New Wilmington, the above-named gentleman is
   entitled to a front rank. He was born in Mercer county, Pa., and, having
   spent the early part of his life upon a farm, came to New Wilmington in
   May, 1875, purchased the fine three-story brick block on East Diamond,
   fitted up the same for a store and residence, and in the following
   Autumn opened his store, handsomely stocked, with every variety of
   general merchandise, and has since conducted an energetic and successful
   business. Mr. Lininger is a solid and reliable man, and a much-respected
   citizen. A lithographic view of his fine establishment will be found
   among the illustrations of this volume.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         NEWELL WHITE, M. D.
         [Portrait]  
   
   The subject of this sketch has for a quarter of a century, been a
   leading physician of New Castle. His parents were direct descendants of
   the Pilgrims who first settled in New England. He was born in
   Plainville, Hampshire county Mass., November 30, 1807. He was educated
   in the schools of his native town, and spent several years in teaching,
   in which department he met with most gratifying success. Preferring,
   however, the profession of medicine to that of any other vocation, he
   entered upon its study in 1831, and graduated at the Berkshire Medical
   College in 1834. In this year he was married to Miss C. N. Porter,
   daughter of Dr. David Porter, a prominent practitioner of Worthington, Mass.
   
   Shortly after his marriage he located in Windham, Portage county, Ohio,
   where he was engaged in the practice of his profession till 1840. He
   then removed to Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, where he remained for a
   period of five years, and then returned to Windham. About this time his
   attention was directed to the subject of homeopathy. Giving it the most
   serious consideration, and testing the efficacy of its remedies for a
   space of two years with highly gratifying results, he became thoroughly
   convinced that its theory and practice were established on a truly
   scientific basis, that it overshadowed the old system and proved it to
   be irrational and radically wrong. Acting upon these conscientious
   convictions, he wholly abandoned the practice of allopathy, and gave his
   undivided time and attention to the practice of homeopathy, and to the
   promulgation of its principles. After his espousal of the homeopathic
   faith, he remained about three years longer in Windham, sustaining a
   fair patronage and converting many. In 1850 he came to New Castle, where
   he has since labored assiduously, and with an eminent degree of success;
   and it is with feelings of special pride and satisfaction that he
   recounts the last thirty years of his life, which have been spent in the
   practice of the only philosophical system of medicine.
   
   The doctor is a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society. He has
   had a family of two sons and as many daughters, of whom one of each is
   deceased.
   
   The eldest son, CHESTER L. WHITE, was educated in the New Castle city
   schools, and at Iberia College, Ohio. He enlisted in the "war for the
   union" in April, 1861, in the three months' service, and subsequently in
   the Second Ohio Cavalry, in which he was made lieutenant; and after a
   service of nearly three years, resigned on account of ill health. He
   married Miss Agnes G. Black, daughter of Andrew Black, of Sewickley, and
   is now the secretary of the Missouri and Pacific Railroad Company, and
   resides in St. Louis.
   
   Doctor White is a gentleman of very evenly-balanced disposition,
   conservative, cautious, prudent, retiring in manners, and of most genial
   nature. His opinions, however, when once formed, are firmly maintained,
   yet with the greatest regard for the feelings of those who may differ
   from him. These qualities have secured for him universal respect and
   esteem. Both himself and his estimable wife are valued members of the
   First Presbyterian Church of New Castle, in which communion he has for a
   number of years most acceptably filled the office of ruling elder.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         W. W. DRAKE
         [Portrait]  
   
   Is a son of Moses Drake, who, about the year 1814, became a settler of
   Pulaski township, Lawrence county. He came from Westmoreland county. He
   died January 14, 1851, at the age of eighty-two. For nearly half a
   century he was a leading member of what is now the United Presbyterian
   Church.
   
   His father, Samuel Drake, was a soldier in the American Revolution, and
   eighty-eight years old at his death.
   
   [p. 199] The subject of this notice is of Scotch-German extraction, and
   was born in Mercer county, December 10, 1822. In March, 1843, he located
   on his present farm in Wilmington township, and a view of his residence
   may be found among the illustrations of this volume. This place was for
   a number of years, the headquarters of the Washington Mutual Fire
   Insurance Company, of Lawrence county, Pa., and Mr. Drake was the
   secretary of the same until it was moved to New Castle.
   
   Mr. Drake has been twice married, first to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of
   James and Sarah Irwin, of Mercer county, by whom he had three daughters,
   the marriage occurring January 16, 1851. Mrs. Drake died February 9,
   1858. His present wife was Miss Amanda, daughter of Robert and Anna
   McClain, of Mercer county, married April 28, 1859. This union has been
   blessed with four sons and two daughters.
   
   For upwards of thirty years Mr. Drake has been prominently connected
   with the Presbyterian church.
   
   In the Fall of 1855 he was elected auditor of Lawrence county, and
   filled the position with ability and credit.
   
   Mr. Drake has spent his life in farming and stock-raising, has been very
   industrious and frugal, and has accumulated a comfortable competency,
   though he began with nothing. He possesses a sound judgment, is very
   decided in his opinions, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of the
   community.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         THE DAVIDSON FAMILY,
   
   Whose history is here briefly indicated, are descendants of JOHN
   DAVIDSON, of Ireland, whose widow came with her family to America in
   1793, and, after a short stay in Lancaster and Allegheny counties, Pa.,
   finally settled in what is now Big Beaver township, Lawrence county, on
   the farm now owned and occupied by her grandson, Robert James Davidson.
   Her youngest son was
   
   
           ANDREW DAVIDSON,
   
   Who was born in Ireland May 8, 1782, and was about five years old when
   his father died. On October 13, 1813, he married Jane Whan, by whom he
   had a family of four sons and seven daughters. On December 5, 1810, he
   purchased some two hundred and eight acres of land lying about one mile
   south of Wampum, a part of which is now owned by his eldest son, John
   Davidson Esq. The old gentleman also served in the war of 1812. He was
   an unusually industrious, hard-working man, remarkably regular in his
   habits, and was a very substantial and highly respected member of the
   community. He died in October, 1866, his wife having preceded him in
   1862. His oldest son,
   
   
           JOHN DAVIDSON, Esq.,
           [Portrait]  
   
   Was born on the farm on which he now resides, August 14, 1814. He was
   reared upon the soil, with such educational privileges as fell to the
   lot of pioneer families.
   
   On March 28, 1838, he married Mary Beatty, daughter of Jonathan Beatty,
   an early settler of Beaver county, Pa.
   
   Mr. Davidson's family consisted of four sons and three daughters, of
   whom one daughter and two sons died in infancy. Although his educational
   advantages were exceedingly meagre, Mr. Davidson made a diligent
   improvement of his spare time, and by reading and study fitted himself
   for a teacher, and taught the first school in his district that was
   organized under the common-school law of Pennsylvania. He has ever taken
   a deep and active interest in education, and, in the capacity of school
   director, and in other ways, has rendered valuable service in this
   department of public improvement. He has also filled other important
   offices in his township.
   
   In 1842 he was made major of a volunteer battalion in Beaver county,
   and, after serving seven years, was replaced in the same position, and
   served five years more. His first commission was issued by Governor
   David R. Porter, and the second in 1849, by Governor Wm. F. Johnston.
   
   In March, 1850, Mr. Davidson was elected justice of the peace for five
   years, and was four times re-elected, thus making a period of
   twenty-five years that he has filled this position. This record has
   never been equalled in Lawrence county, and is seldom reached anywhere.
   
   His ministrations were characterised by great conservatism, caution and
   prudence, and his decisions were rendered with the strictest rigor and
   equity, and in a most impartial manner. It has ever been his aim to
   effect, if possible, a peaceful compromise between parties proposing
   litigation, and so succesful were his efforts, that many a law-suit was
   spoiled for interested attorneys, so that the remark became current
   among them that "if all the justices were like Mr. Davidson, they would
   have to take down their shingles." A higher compliment could not be paid
   to a public officer.
   
   Squire Davidson is a staunch Republican, and was a member of the New
   Castle convention in 1855 that inaugurated this party-movement for
   Lawrence county.
   
   In religious views he is a Presbyterian, and for upwards of a quarter of
   a century has been connected with the Newport church.
   
   
           W. W. DAVIDSON
           [Portrait]  
   
   Was born on the homestead of his father, Andrew, March 22, 1822. Like
   all the children of the early settlers, he was reared in the wilderness,
   with very poor chances of education.
   
   On October 26, 1858, he married Naney N. Leslie, daughter of John
   Leslie, an early settler of North Beaver township. Two sons and one
   daughter were the result of this union. Mr. Davidson belongs to a family
   that has been prominently active in educational interests, and he has
   served the people of his community for several years in the responsible
   office of school director, and during his long residence in the township
   has reached a position of high esteem for his solid character as a
   citizen and a Christian gentleman. Like others of the family, he is a
   Republican in politics, and both he and his wife have for many years
   been prominently connected with the United Presbyterian Church. He is an
   industrious and enterprising farmer. In 1871 he erected his present
   substantial and beautiful brick residence, a view of which will be found
   among the illustrations of this history.
   
   
           ROBERT JAMES DAVIDSON
   
   Was born on the homestead of his father, Andrew, August 6, 1833. With
   only the advantages of a common-school of that early day, he fitted
   himself by private study for a teacher, and was engaged in teaching for
   some ten years. He possessed great love for the profession, and was very
   successful, and most of his time was employed in his own home-district.
   He now resides on the farm settled by his grandmother Davidson.
   
   In politics he is a Republican, though he values principle above party.
   He has been for a number of years a member of the board of
   school-directors of his district, and has served both as secretary and
   president.
   
   On June 3, 1868, he married Miss Mary A. Pettitt, daughter of Nathaniel
   Pettitt. She obtained her education by her own efforts, graduated from
   the Northwestern Normal School at Edinboro', in 1866. She also taught
   for some time with great success. She belongs to a family noted for
   their interest in education, five of its members having become teachers.
   
   Mr. Davidson is a gentleman of retiring manners, of sound judgment, and
   of sterling integrity. For many years he has been connected with the
   Methodist Episcopal Church, and for fifteen years or more he has been
   superintendent of the Sunday-school.
   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
         JOHN NEAL.
   
   This old pioneer was born in Crawford county, Pa., in November, 1805.
   When he was about four years of age, his father, Robert Neal, moved with
   his family into what is now Lawrence county, where both parents passed
   the remainder of their lives.
   
   At that time this now finely-cultivated country was a sparsely-settled
   wilderness, and amid those primitive scenes the subject of this sketch
   was reared.
   
   His boyhood and early manhood were spent in clearing the land and
   opening the way for public roads, and in making other improvements that
   follow in the wake of civilization. It was the day of pioneer toils and
   hardships.
   
       "What heroism! what perils then!
       How true of heart and strong of hand,
       How ernest, resolute, these pioneer men!"
   
   Mr. Neal's first wife was Jane McClanahan, of Crawford county, by whom
   he had four sons, two of whom (Thomas M. and Robert) did service for
   their country in the late civil war.
   
   The present Mrs. Neal was Margaret Lindsey, of Lawrence county, and by
   this marriage Mr. Neal has had a daughter.
   
   For many years he has been connected with the United Presbyterian
   church, and a ruling elder in the same. His life has been a very quiet
   and retired one, passed in the pursuit of agriculture, yet filled with
   deeds of goodness and crowned with a consistent Christian example.
   
   He has already passed the allotted bound of human probation, and, worn
   out with labor, yet strong in the Christian's faith, is patiently
   waiting the summons of the Master to remove to another and a better land.
   
   [p. 200]
   
   
         WILLIS M. HATCH.
   
   This enterprising gentleman is a native of Venango county, Pa. At the
   age of about fifteen he left the farm and enlisted in the United States
   navy. Up to this time he had not had so much as three months' schooling,
   and perhaps no youth ever went out from under the parental roof so
   profoundly ignorant both of books and of the world, with
   
   "It's ways that are dark and tricks that are vain."
   
   On this account the strict regulations of the navy fell like an
   iron-rule on his young yet daring spirit. He had been taught by his
   parents the observance of the Christian Sabbath, and when, as one of the
   first duties enjoined upon him, he was ordered to assist upon this day
   in getting his vessel off of a rock upon which she had stranded, he
   walked boldly up to the chief officer and informed him that he had been
   reared in a Christian family and in the Sunday school, and most
   emphatically declared that he "would not work on the Lord's day!"
   
   An indescribable smile of mingled surprise, sympathy and pity played
   over the face of the officer, and, sending for the regulations, he
   quietly read them to the youthful new-comer, who, concluding that
   obedience was the better part of wisdom, gracefully yielded and went to
   work.
   
   The severe discipline, however, of this branch of the War Department
   proved a most excellent school for young Hatch. His honest, sprightly,
   daring spirit rendered him a favorite among both officers and men, and
   after having filled for nearly a year a position in the Paymaster's
   department, he returned home and learned the blacksmith's trade as a
   means of procuring an education, the great importance of which he had
   now learned to appreciate.
   
   After two years attendance upon Westminster College, he took a course in
   the Iron City Commercial College, Pittsburgh. This was followed by one
   in the Northwestern State Normal School, at Edinboro. Here his health
   failed, and for the two following years he successfully engaged in the
   lumber and oil business.
   
   On March 28, 1871, he married Miss Mary, daughter of Samuel Lamb, of New
   Wilmington. Miss Lamb was one of a family of twelve children, and was
   deprived of the privileges of education enjoyed by many. She, however,
   by her own exertions, fitted herself for a teacher, and for eight years
   occupied a prominent position in the profession in Venango county.
   
   After his marriage, Mr. Hatch spent four years more in Westminster
   College, read law with D. B. and E. T. Kurtz, of New Castle, and was
   admitted to practice in September, 1875.
   
   While a law-student here, he was taken up as the prohibition candidate
   for mayor of New Castle, and came within eleven votes of being elected.
   
   In April, 1876, he returned to New Wilmington, purchased the farm of his
   father-in-law, built a house for his father, and is now kindly caring
   for the aged heads of both families. It is worthy of notice, as an event
   of comparatively rare occurrence, that Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Lamb, in the
   Spring of 1876, celebrated their golden wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Lucien
   Hatch will, if they live, reach the same event in July, 1878.
   
   The family of Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Hatch consists of themselves and two
   children, and they hold their religious connection with the United
   Presbyterian denomination.
   
   [End of Biographical Sketches.]
   
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