BIO: STEELE Family, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson OCRed by Judy Banja Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ _____________________________________________________________ >From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 143-150 _____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/zeamer/ STEELE FAMILY. In 1762 there was upon the tax list of Carlisle a John Steele and also a Rev. John Steele. The former was assessed annually until 1767, in which year he is designated as "inn-holder." As that is his last appearance it is probable that he died about that time. At the breaking out of the Indian hostilities in 1755 Rev. John Steele was pastor of a charge near Maryland State line, and in September, 1756, was a captain in Armstrong's expedition against Kittanning. The Indians having driven him and his flock back from the frontier, he came to Carlisle in 1759, and was made pastor of the "old side" division of the Presbyterian Church, serving them until 144 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. his death, in August, 1779. These two John Steeles may have been distantly related, but the matter at hand does not show that they were. John Steele, the layman, was married and left a family of three sons and one daughter. His widow afterward married a John Jordan, whom she also survived. Jordan was a justice of the peace and otherwise prominent in the affairs of Carlisle in the early days. The children of John Steele and Agnes, his wife, were John, Joseph, William, Jean. Jean on Oct. 9, 1792, married a man named Gersham Craft, a lawyer. John was born Aug. 22, 1764, and never married. While yet a young man he enlisted in the army, and rose to the rank of captain in the 3d Regiment, United States Infantry. He died on Nov. 6, 1800, leaving a will in which he names his brothers Joseph and William, his brother William's son John, and his cousin, "Capt." William Steele. The executors of his will were his mother, Agnes Jordan, Ephraim Steele, merchant, and Gersham Craft, of Trenton, N. J. His remains were interred in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle and their resting-place is marked by a tombstone which is still in good condition. Near it are other stones, from which time has almost entirely effaced the inscriptions and which in all probability mark where his father, and also his brothers are buried. The Ephraim Steele mentioned in this will was an uncle of the testator. He first appears upon the tax list of Carlisle in 1769, but probably came while his brother John was yet living. Ephraim Steele resided in Carlisle for a period of forty-five years. He was a worthy and distinguished citizen, and this sketch is intended to deal principally with him and his genealogical line. It was a rule with him to preserve letters, and in the course of his long career there accumulated upon his hands a great mass of letters which have descended to his children and his children's children as an interesting heirloom. He has been dead about ninety years, but there yet remains in possession of his granddaughters, Misses Maggie and Martha Steele, of Carlisle, a large number of these old letters, ranging in date from shortly after Ephraim Steele settled at Carlisle down to the time of his death. The writers thereof were his kin in Ireland and in the South, members of his family, friends, politicians and persons in high public position. These letters are a source of valuable information and are the chief record from which this sketch has been compiled. As the name indicates, the Steeles are of Scotch-Irish nationality. There was a family of eight sons and one daughter, whose parents, as near as can be ascertained, were Samuel and Mary (Stevenson) Steele. Of the children, John, Thomas, William, Joseph, Samuel and Ephraim came to America. Two brothers, Ninian, a preacher, and James, a farmer, remained in Ireland. "Jinny," the daughter, also remained in the old country. She married a man named George Hogg, bore him four or five children, and died while yet a young woman. Her eldest daughter, Mary, and her eldest son, George, afterward also came to America. The father of this large family was probably dead when the older sons left home to seek their fortunes across the seas; but the mother lived to be more than eighty years of age. In her widowhood she had her home in the family of her daughter till after her daughter's death. She then for a short time went to her son Ninian, and after that she and her granddaughter, Mary Hogg, lived together in Londonderry, where Mary followed mantua-making and tenderly cared for her aged grandparent. CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 145 From the data at hand it is not determinable how these nine children ranked in regard to age. However, it is safe to assume that John, William, Thomas and Joseph came to America soon after arriving at man's estate. All of them appear to have engaged in the affairs of their adopted land with commendable energy. John - as has been observed - settled in Carlisle. William and Joseph, probably after spending some time in Pennsylvania, settled in the South. Joseph resided at Hilton Head, S. C., and judging from his letters was a man of means and engaged in importing merchandise from the West Indies. He was married, but early in the year 1777 his wife died, leaving him with two small sons, Jackey and Joe. What became of Joseph Steele is not known, as none of his relatives heard anything of him after the fall of Charleston in May, 1780. William Steele settled in Salisbury, N. C., where he married a widow, Mrs. Elizabeth (Maxwell) Gillespie, whose first husband, Robert Gillespie, was killed by the Cherokee Indians in 1760. William Steele died Nov. 1, 1773, at the age of thirty-nine years. He left one child, a son named John Steele, who was born in 1764. This son became prominent in public affairs, was elected to the North Carolina Legislature at the age of twenty-four, and afterward to the convention which was called to pass upon the Federal constitution. In 1790 he was elected to the first United States Congress, in which body he served two terms. He was a warm admirer of President Washington, who in 1796 appointed him the first Comptroller of the United States Treasury, a position he held until 1802 with such acceptability that President Jefferson requested him to continue in the office. He was again a member of the North Carolina Legislature in 1794 and in 1795, also in 1806, 1811, 1812 and 1813. In 1811 he was Speaker of the House. On Aug. 14, 1815, he was again elected a member of the House, but died on the day he was elected. He was greatly appreciated by the State at large and was elected Major General of Militia by the Legislature, and is usually spoken of in history as Gen. Steele. Through the troublous times of the Revolution Elizabeth Steele kept a hotel in Salisbury, and corresponded regularly with her relatives in Carlisle. Her letters were always directed to Ephraim Steele, whom she addressed as "Dear Brother." They show her to have been a woman of deep piety, intelligence and good judgment, and withal practical and patriotic. By her marriage with Robert Gillespie she had two children, a son and a daughter. The son, Robert Gillespie, was a soldier in the Revolution, but died without issue a year or two after his return from the army. The daughter, Margaret Gillespie, married Rev. Samuel McCorkle, who became a distinguished Presbyterian divine and the progenitor of numerous descendants now scattered over the South. When Cornwallis's army passed through North Carolina the British soldiers plundered her of everything they could appropriate to their use, but the loss only intensified her love and devotion to the cause of liberty. One day during the invasion Gen. Greene, of the American army, alighted in front of her hotel. An army physician who had charge of the sick and wounded prisoners received him at the door and inquired after his well being. "Fatigued, hungry, alone and penniless," was Greene's heavy-hearted reply. Elizabeth Steele overheard his desponding words and a little while afterward, while the great man was sitting at her table, the noble-hearted woman entered the room, closed the door, and drawing from under her 146 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. apron two bags of money placed them before him, saying-: "General, take these, you will want them, and I can do without them." The incident is related in Irving's "Life of Washington," but no allusion is made to it in any of Elizabeth Steele's interesting letters to Ephraim Steele. Elizabeth Steele had a brother named William Maxwell, who in the Colonial days lived in Pennsylvania. When a young man be went abroad to study medicine and in England purchased large portraits of King George III and his queen, Charlotte, which he brought to America. These he presented to his sister Elizabeth, and upon the occasion of Gen. Greene's visit they were hanging in her parlor. The patriot General turned the King's face to the wall and with charcoal wrote on the back, "O, George! hide thy face and mourn." These old portraits are still in existence and are now owned by William J. Andrews, of Raleigh, N. C. Gen. Greene's handwriting, though badly rubbed, is still legible, and to prevent it from being entirely obliterated, Mr. Andrews has had a glass framed over it. A lineal descendant of William and Elizabeth Steele, Hon. John Steele Henderson, is now living in Salisbury, within speaking distance of where his illustrious great-great-grandmother, in the dark days of 1781, entertained Gen. Greene. Mr. Henderson is a lawyer, and like his honored great-grandfather has seen much of public life, having served in high State offices and also in the XLIXth, Lth, LIst, LIId and LIIId National Congresses. Through his kind assistance valuable data for this family history were obtained and others duly corroborated. Ninian Steele, the preacher brother who remained in Ireland, was educated at Dublin University, and his letters indicate that he was a learned and dignified man. He began his ministerial career in the town of Derry, where he lived until after his third child was born. He then was transferred to Magherafelt, near Lough Neagh, where he labored during the rest of his lifetime. He was married to Lucy Madden, who bore him twelve children, eight of whom died in infancy and early youth. Among the children who grew to maturity was a son named William, who obtained a lucrative position in the Dublin custom house which he held for many years. He married a lady named Mahon, and when his father last mentioned him, he had four children and was in easy circumstances. Samuel Madden, another son, while a mere boy entered the British army, and after ten years' hard service held the rank of lieutenant-captain. Frederick, his youngest son, also enlisted in the army while a boy, and after five years' service also was a lieutenant-captain. His daughter, Elizabeth, "the idol of her father's heart," died unmarried at the age of twenty-four. Lucy, his youngest daughter, married a man named Joseph Miller, and in her home the aged preacher spent his declining years. James Steele, the other brother who remained in the land of his birth, was a farmer and lived in County Donegal. He was not the intelligent man his brother Ninian was, but he wrote frequently, and his letters teemed with information concerning family affairs and the neighbors and friends of former days. In his later letters he expresses deep regret that he had not also come to America. He was married to a McCrea, a member of a well-to-do family, but in none of his letters does he mention his wife's first name. He had five children, four daughters and one son. The daughters in the order of their ages were named Catharine, Sarah, Jean and Mary. The son was John, a name which occurs in every Steele family in which CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 147 there were male children. He was the second child and died at the age of twenty-one. Among the collection of letters which Ephraim Steele left as a legacy to his descendants, there are none from "Jinny," his only sister, and as there is nowhere any reference to any that she wrote, the inference is that she never corresponded with her relatives in America. Several of the family were displeased with her selection of George Hogg for a husband, her brother James having an especial aversion for him because of his unkindness to mother Mary Steele. "Jinny" died in 1787, and three years afterward George Hogg married a young woman named Healy. His second wife did not take kindly to his first wife's children and they consequently were distributed among their mother's relatives and friends, and for this and other conduct George Hogg was severely condemned in some of these famous letters. Thomas Steele came to America early, but it can not be ascertained whether he ever permanently located anywhere. He was of a roving disposition, enjoyed the free wild life of the frontier, and as late as 1786 was living near the road to Fort Pitt. He was unmarried, and during the Revolution enlisted in the American army, but subsequently regretted the step. He died about 1790. Samuel Steele was one of the younger members of the family. When he came to America he left his wife and daughter in Ireland, intending to either go back or send for them when he acquired the means to do so. It does not appear that he did either. He seems to also have been a rover and in 1786 also moved in the direction of the frontier, going to Fort Pitt with James Parkinson and family. Judging from their anxious inquiries the two brothers in Ireland had doubts about the correctness of Samuel's habits. Ephraim Steele came to America with his cousin, Thomas Stephenson. It is probable that neither was yet of age and that they settled at Carlisle because of their relations that had preceded them, Ephraim Steele's brother, John, already living in Carlisle, and Stephenson's brother, John, in the nearby township of East Pennsboro. It can not now be definitely ascertained what Ephraim Steele engaged at when he came. His name first appears on the tax list in 1769, but as a freeman and with nothing to indicate what his employment was. In 1772 he was taxed with one cow, and his valuation kept on gradually increasing. In 1777 he purchased from the executors of Robert Callender, for £300, the lot lying in the southwest angle formed by Hanover street and the public square, it being the same lot which is now occupied by the well-known "Franklin House." Here he had his home and business place for many years. By 1779 he was a prominent storekeeper, taxed with merchandise and personal property and a large amount of real estate. That year his pastor, Rev. John Steele, the famous captain preacher, died, and Ephraim Steele was one of the executors of his will. By this time Ephraim Steele was one of the foremost citizens and business men of the town, active and influential in all the different walks of life. He stood well with the authorities of the Province and in June, 1777, the Supreme Executive Council appointed him a justice of the peace. For some reason unknown he then declined to accept but in October of the next year Council issued to him a commission which he accepted and forthwith entered upon the duties of the office. While not actually in the army during the Revolution, his services were at his country's call, for he was enrolled as an Associator, and as a private of that organization 148 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. was one of the representatives from Cumberland county to a convention held at Lancaster on July 4, 1776, for the purpose of choosing two brigadier generals to command the forces of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Committee of Inspection for Cumberland county, and when the first British prisoners held at Carlisle were exchanged he helped to escort them by way of Reading and Trenton to the nearest British camp in New Jersey. After the war was over he was elected a county commissioner, and a few years later a member of the lower branch of the State Legislature, and whether in or out of authority his name is associated with many public measures which came before the country during his period of activity. He enjoyed an extended political acquaintance and persons in high authority consulted him on State and National affairs. His business enterprises flourished and at one time he was a wealthy man, but in after years he had reverses which greatly reduced his means and made him in some respects uncomfortable. In February, 1813, the Governor of the Commonwealth appointed him an associate judge for Cumberland county, but this honor he was not permitted to enjoy long, for he died in 1814. His wife died in March, 1825, and both are buried in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle. Ephraim Steele married Esther Smith, of Philadelphia, the ceremony taking place in the First Presbyterian Church of that city in the month of June, 1771. Esther Smith was a daughter of Robert Smith, a hatter, who for many years carried on an extensive business at the corner of Third and Market streets, Philadelphia. Many of the old letters from Ireland were sent in care of this same Robert Smith. Ephraim and Esther (Smith) Steele had five children, four sons and one daughter. The sons were, William, Robert Smith, John and Ephraim. The daughter was Mary. William was the first-born and in some of the family correspondence is referred to as "Little Billy." When Capt. John Steele made his will he bequeathed his cocked hat and sword knot to his cousin, "Capt. William Steele." William turned his attention to medicine and in 1796 was appointed a surgeon's mate in the army. Subsequently he turned up in the navy, and from April 5, 1807, to Aug. 12, 1808, served as surgeon's mate on the United States Frigate, "Wasp," which afterward became so famous by her capture of the British ship, "Frolic." He died at sea before the "Frolic" had achieved her great distinction. His brother, Robert Smith Steele, became a midshipman in the navy and was on the frigate, "Chesapeake," when, on June 22, 1807, the British ship, "Leopard," fired upon her off the capes of Virginia. He came through the ordeal unscathed, and although he longed for an opportunity to help avenge that insult to his country, the customs then prevailing in the navy were distasteful to him and he retired to civil life. He afterward settled in Mississippi and died in New Orleans. William and Robert Smith Steele never married. John Steele, the third son, learned the tanning trade and settled at Bardstown, Ky., where he married and had one son. His wife died while yet a young woman, and his son, when eleven years of age, died with relations at Lancaster, Ohio. After the death of his wife, John Steele returned to Pennsylvania and spent some time in Harrisburg. Philadelphia and Carlisle. He died in Harrisburg within the fifties. The daughter, Mary, was the second child. She married Dr. George Delap Foulke, a member of a family which for many years was also prominent at Carlisle. Dr. Foulke began the practice of his profes- CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 149 sion at Bedford, Pa., but in 1805 removed to Carlisle, where both as a physician and a citizen he ranked high all his days. He died in August, 1849, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife died in May, 1861, in her eightieth year. EPHRAIM STEELE, the fourth son and youngest child of Ephraim and Esther (Smith) Steele, was born Nov. 13, 1795. He grew to manhood in Carlisle and became a watchmaker and jeweler. After completing his trade he spent a number of years in visiting other towns to learn of their prospects and desirability as business places. In 1817 he was for a brief time in Milton, Northumberland county. Soon after Perry county was formed, and while Landisburg had hopes of becoming the county seat, he opened up a shop in that place, but another point became the county seat and Landisburg's prospects for a business point were blasted. He next tried Berlin, Adams county, where he remained longer than anywhere else. In 1840 he came back to Carlisle and there embarked upon a successful business career which lasted the rest of his lifetime. His store for a long while was on the east side of South Hanover street, half way between the public square and Pomfret street. In 1863 he removed his residence to the corner of Hanover and Pomfret streets, and his business place next door on Hanover. He died April 12, 1868, and the surviving members of his family ever since have continued to live where he last had his home; for more than forty years it has been known as the "Steele Corner." In May, 1831, while living at Berlin, Ephraim Steele married Miss Ann Underwood, a daughter of John and Sarah (Morrison) Underwood. The Underwoods were also of Scotch-Irish nationality. John Underwood was born in County Antrim, Ireland, Oct. 14, 1739, and came to America in 1775, settling in Lancaster county, Pa. When he came the war for independence was already in progress and he was soon found in the ranks of the patriots, battling for American liberty. On March 15, 1776, he was commissioned an ensign in the 5th Battalion of the Lancaster County Associators, and afterward he became a captain in the Continental army. About the year 1786 he removed to the banks of the Yellow Breeches creek, in Allen township, Cumberland county, where he lived for two years, after which he located in Carlisle and engaged in the mercantile business. He was twice married. His first wife was Janet McCord, by whom he had several children, only one of whom - a son named William B. - grew to maturity. His second wife was Sarah Morrison, who also was a native of County Antrim. By her he had six children, among whom was Ann, who became the wife of Ephraim Steele, the watchmaker. John Underwood died Sept. 1, 1827, his wife, Sarah Morrison, passing away June 24, 1837, and both are buried in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle. Ephraim and Ann (Underwood) Steele had children as follows: Sarah Esther, born May 9, 1832, who died unmarried Aug. 31, 1872; Mary Foulke, born March 27, 1834, who died Sept. 22, 1873; Margaret Ann; Joseph Underwood; John Ephraim, who died in infancy; Martha Jane; Morrison Underwood, and John Ephraim. Joseph Underwood Steele was born on Jan. 5, 1837, and like his father before him became watchmaker and jeweler, engaging for some years in that business in his native town. On Jan. 5, 1860, he married Sarah Jane Brown of Carlisle, who bore him two children, named, respectively, William and Joseph Underwood. The former died in infancy, but the latter grew to manhood and 150 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. settled in Baltimore, where he married Florence Rice, by whom he has one child, James Edgar Steele, born Jan. 20, 1886. Moved by patriotic impulse Joseph Underwood Steele, in July, 1862, enlisted as a recruit in Company A, (Capt. James Colwell), 7th Pennsylvania Reserves (Col. R. M. Henderson). He joined his regiment at Harrison's Landing and immediately entered upon hard and dangerous service. On the evening of the 14th of the following September, near the close of the day, while charging up the rocky heights of South Mountain, he was shot dead, a rifle ball striking him in the center of the forehead and splashing his life's blood over the brave men at his side. Three of his blood-bespattered comrades bore his body to the rear and buried it temporarily near the foot of the mountain. It was afterward brought home and laid to rest in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle. Morrison Underwood Steele, the third son, was born May 13, 1843. When he reached man's estate he went to Lancaster, Ohio, and there was long a salesman in a dry-goods store. In after years, while on a visit to his friends in Carlisle, he took sick and died July 21, 1878. During the Civil War he rendered his State service with the emergency troops. John Ephraim Steele, the youngest child of the family, was born Oct. 13, 1845, several years after the death of the brother who had borne the same favorite family name. He also learned the watchmaker's trade, and his father dying about the time the boy was budding into manhood, he inherited his father's business and engaged at it throughout his lifetime. He never married, and died on June 1, 1898. The only children of Ephraim and Ann (Underwood) Steele that remain are Misses Margaret A. and Martha J. Steele, residing in the well known Steele homestead, corner of South Hanover and Pomfret streets. They have lived nearly of all their days in Carlisle, are known by its entire community, and universally loved and esteemed for their modest worth and kindly ways. They are faithful and prominent members of the First Presbyterian Church, whose edifice was built while Rev. John Steele - of like name but not a known relative - was a pastor of its congregation, and within the walls of which have worshipped all the different generations of this noted family since their first settlement in Carlisle.