Bios: HON. JAMES McANLIS, 20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens
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HON. JAMES McANLIS,
[p. 552] former member of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, is a
prominent citizen of Wampum, Lawrence County, Pa., where he has been
engaged in business for many years. He was born in Big Beaver Township,
Lawrence County, April 1, 1841, is a son of Robert and Jane (Patterson)
McAnlis, and grandson of James McAnlis, after whom he was named.
James McAnlis, the grandfather, was a native of County Armagh, Ireland,
and at one time the family name was spelled McAndlis. He came to America
in 1822 with his wife, Susan, and seven children, and immediately made
his way to Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, coming from Pittsburg on
horseback. He purchased 500 acres of land, a heavily timbered tract, in
what is now Big Beaver Township, on which he soon erected a log house.
This he later replaced with a stone house, a part of which now serves
the purposes of a kitchen in the home of the late John G. McAnlis. He
cleared a portion of his farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits until
his death, at the age of seventy-seven years. He left to each of his
sons 100 acres of land, and to each daughter 25 acres. The family
consisted of eight children, as follows, all of whom were born in
Ireland but the youngest: John, William, Robert, James, Jane, wife of
Robert Young; Eliza Jane, wife of Isaac Kirkpatrick; Susan, wife of
James Patterson, and Margaret, who was born in Lawrence County, and was
the wife of James Luke. All are now deceased.
Robert McAnlis was born in Ireland in 1813, and, being a young boy at
the time his parents came to America, was practically reared in the
woods of Lawrence County. He inherited 100 acres of the home place of
his father, and purchased twenty-five acres of a sister. His brother
also purchased twenty-fixe acres each of the sisters, and, as the other
three had first choice, that which fell to Robert was the poorest,
apparently, and considered of little value. This estimate, however, was
a false one, as two 3-foot veins of coal were struck, from which many
tons were mined. The laborious work of clearing his land, rolling logs,
and the hardships of pioneer existence were too much for his
constitution and resulted in his death in middle life. He died in 1856.
He married Jane Patterson, who also was born in Ireland, and was three
years of age when her parents came to America, about one year later than
the McAnlis family. These families had been neighbors and friends in the
old country and the same relationship existed in this country. James
Patterson, father of Mrs. McAnlis, bought 200 acres adjoining the farm
of James McAnlis. The mother of Mr. McAnlis died in 1896, aged
seventy-six years. She and her husband were parents of eight children,
as follows: James, Susan, who died in 1863, was the wife of Scott
Daniels; Jane, who married Renwick Cook; Thomas, William, of New Castle;
Margaret Sarah, widow of Samuel Work; Robert, of New Castle, and Kirk,
who died in February, 1880.
James McAnlis was reared on the home farm, and, as he was the eldest of
the family, much of the work fell upon his shoulders when his father
died. At the age of twenty-five years he left home and engaged in
teaming and boating oil, in the oil fields surrounding Oil City. He
continued for two years, then returned to his home for one year, and in
the fall of 1867 opened a boarding house at Wampum, which he conducted
for five years. In the, meantime, he embarked in the butchering
business, which, in connection with buying and shipping stock
extensively to Pittsburg, he has since continued, his sons, Robert and
Frank, having charge of the business at the present time. Energy,
perspicacity and honesty characterized his private business affairs to
such an extent, it was not surprising when he was called into public
service. In 1898 he was elected to the House of Representatives of
Pennsylvania, and in 1902 he was again made the representative of the
people in that body. The capable, efficient and conscientious discharge
of his duties, and the intelligent manner in which he voted on public
questions of importance, attracted much favorable comment. In 1902 he
fostered and secured the enactment of the law forbidding first cousins
to marry, but it was only after the hardest kind of a fight that this
was accomplished. For two weeks his bill lay in the waste-basket and
seemed doomed to an ignominious death, but he fought it to a vote and
final passage. At his request, Senator Phillips introduced the measure
in the State Senate, and after another hard fight was voted to passage
in that body.
Mr. McAnlis was united in marriage with Miss Deborah Aley who died in
1873, leaving four children, as follows: Laura, wife of Edward Agnew, a
druggist at New Castle, has a son, Benjamin A.; Robert married Elizabeth
Shearlock and has a son, Ira, who is attending Ohio Northern University
at Ada, Ohio; Eva is wife of C. J. Clark, by whom she has three
children, Edwin, Sarah and Collon James, and Edward, who died May 27,
1898, at the age of twenty-seven years. Mr. McAnlis formed a second
marital union with Miss Margaret Lowery, a daughter of John and Margaret
Lowery, and four children have been the issue?Clara, Nettie, who married
A. L. Vogan, of New Castle, and has four children, James, Walter, Robert
and Margaret; Frank, who assists his father in the meat market at
Wampum, and James. Religiously, Mr. McAnlis is a member of the United
Presbyterian Church. He is a Republican in politics, and has served in
numerous township offices and is a member of the village council. He is
a director of the First National Bank of Wampum, and in connection with
his oldest son is owner of sixty acres of land in Big Beaver Township.
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20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and
Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
Updated: 5 Nov 2001