Bios: Selected Bios A-J : History of Fayette County, by Franklin Ellis, 1882: Fayette Co, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Marta Burns. marta43@juno.com USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ ______________________________________________________________________ History of Fayette County, by Franklin Ellis, Philadelphia, L H Everts and Company, 1882. ______________________________________________________________________ INDEX BARTON, William BLACKSTONE, James [2] BOYD, William BRITT, Robert CAMPBELL, George W CAUFIELD, Thomas COOK, Edward COVERT DILS, Henry DUNLAP, Rev James ELLIOTT, Joseph S ELLIOTT, William FINLEY, Ebenezer Jr FORSYTH, William GANS, Lebbeus Biglow GHOST, Graft GIBSON, James HAGUE, Reuben HARDIN, John and Martin HUSTON, Joseph JACKSON, Isaac JACOBS, Adam JOHNSON, DAVID ______________________________________________________________________ p694 WILLIAM BARTON, who was born in New Jersey, September 13, 1795, of Quaker stock and of English ancestry, came into Fayette county with his parents at about twelve years of age. He enjoyed good advantages of education for the times, and in early life was occupied for some years as clerk and manager of a furnace in Uniontown. On November 28, 1824, he married Mrs Hannah Collins Foster, born October 28, 1795, widow of John Foster, a captain in the regular army in the war of 1812 and daughter of Thomas Collins of Uniontown, who was a colonel in the same war and at one time sheriff of Fayette County, a man of great business capacity. Soon after marriage Mr Barton settled with his wife on the old Collins farm which eventually became by inheritance the property of Mrs Barton in South Union township, where he prosecuted farming all his life, adding to the farm by the purchase in 1830 of an adjoining tract equal to it in size. Mr Barton became a considerable stock raiser withal, and for twenty years or more ran a distillery, the products of which had great reputation all along the line of the National Road when that thoroughfare was at the height of its glory. He was an old line Whig, afterwards a Republican, and took great interest in national politics, particularly and though confined to his house mainly for the last eighteen years of his life, he always caused himself to be carried into town to deposit his vote. He died November 6, 1865, while the war of the Rebellion can be said to have been hardly settled, and during that struggle watched its course with intense anxiety, but with full confidence from the first in the ultimate success of the cause of the Union. He was a genial man and noted for his thorough integrity in business, his word being all the "bond" his neighbors needed of him. He took great interest in the public schools and was a director for a number of years. Mr Barton was a great reader and an independent thinker, and was never attached to any religious organization; in fact, he was distrustful of it not opposed to such organizations. Mr Barton died leaving four children, one daughter and three sons, all now dead save one son, Mr Joseph Barton, who served as a private in the First West Virginia Cavalry during the war of the Rebellion, and who owns the old homestead in which with his family resides his aged mother, an intelligent woman, still hearty and active, occasionally walking to town even in the coldest weather, a distance of two miles over a road too rough at times for horses to travel with safety to limb, and one of the wretchedly bad roads too common in the county and a disgrace to the people of Uniontown. p545, Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Penna The venerable Mr JAMES BLACKSTONE of Dunbar township near the line of New Haven, is of English descent. His grandfather, James Blackstone, came hither from the Eastern Shore of Maryland shortly after Col William Crawford and his comrades found their way into Yohogania County, Virginia, as the region of which Fayette County is a part was then called. Mr Blackstone married before he left Maryland and brought his family and some negroes with him and settled in what is now Tyrone township on the farm recently owned by Ebenezer Moore. He had four daughters and one son, James Blackstone Jr, the father of the present James Blackstone, who was born June 4, 1780. On the 13th of October, 1803, James Blackstone Jr married Miss Sarah Rogers of Dunbar township, and going to Connellsville there engaged in merchandising and built the home now occupied as a hotel by E Dean on Water Street into which he moved. He died July 16, 1809, leaving three children, the youngest of whom, born July 19, 1808, is the subject of this sketch. Mr Blackstone grew up under the care of his mother, a most estimable woman, and spent his youth in the village except two years thereof passed at college in New Athens, Ohio. After returning from college, he spent some time as a clerk in the store of Davidson & Blackstone, the latter of whom was his brother, Henry Blackstone, at Connellsville and some time as clerk at Breakneck Furnace then owned by Mr William Davidson; but farming was always more to his taste than merchandising. On the 10th of June, 1834, he married Nancy C Johnston of Connellsville and lived there till 1836, in the spring of which year he bough of Colonel William L Miller Roscommon Farm, moved to it June 23rd, and has there lived ever since. Mr and Mrs Blackstone have nine children, four sons and five daughters, living. Mr Blackstone was an old line Whig and is now a Republican, but never was an active politician, never holding pubic office and never desiring one. He has ever led a quiet life and enjoyed an enviable reputation for integrity. p786, Tyrone, Upper and Lower Townships, Fayette County, Penna JAMES BLACKSTONE was a native of Maryland and must have located in Fayette County prior to 1784 as in that year he is recorded as "appraiser of damages." He located upon the land called "The Summit" in Tyrone township which now belongs to William Moore and Presley Moore. April 18, 1798, James Blackstone was appointed a justice of the peace. His family consisted of one son and three daughters. Two of the daughters married James Hurst and Thomas Hurst, living near Mount Pleasant, and the other daughter became the wife of Judge Boyd Mercer of Washington County. The son, James Blackstone Jr, removed to Connellsville in the year 1803 building for his home a brick house on Water Street, which is now known as the Dean House. He also carried on a general store in his building. Of his two children, both sons, Henry Blackstone, the oldest, is a civil engineer now in the employ of the government. James Blackstone, the younger, has lived upon a farm near Connellsville for the last forty years. The land which was originally taken up by the elder Blackstone, spoken of as the property of William Moore and Presley Moore, came to these gentlemen through their grandmother, Mrs James Hurst, the daughter to whom Blackstone gave it by will. The 208 acres of land adjoining the Blackstone property was taken up by Joseph Copper before 1786. He afterwards sold the property and emigrated West. p488 Bullskin Township, Fayette County, Penna WILLIAM BOYD came from Virginia some time about the close of the Revolution, making the journey to his new home on the west border of Bullskin on pack horses. He brought with him several slaves and six negro children were registered as being born to these slaves from 1795 to 1809, namely, Andrew, Millie, Ben, Prissie, Samuel and Alexander, but of their subsequent history nothing can be here said. William Boyd was a man of considerable education and served for a number of years as justice of the peace. He died in 1812 and was interred on his homestead. His family consisted of eight children: Thomas Boyd; John Boyd; Robert Boyd; James Boyd; William Boyd; Jeremiah Boyd and a daughter who married James Barnett of Connellsville and Stewart H Whitehill, who resided on the Mounts place many years. After 1812 Thomas Boyd lived on the homestead where he carried on the distillation of liquor at an early day. He was a popular man among his fellow citizens. Two of his sons: William Boyd and Richard Boyd are yet residents of Bullskin township. Other sons, John Boyd, Randolph Boyd, Thomas Boyd and Rice Boyd, have died or removed. Thomas Boyd Sr died in 1855; John Boyd, the second son, died in 1857 at Connellsville; Robert Boyd moved to Menallen township; James Boyd died in Tyrone township; William Boyd moved to Ohio; Jeremiah Boyd became a physician and after living in Louisiana a number of years, moved to Washington. p588 ROBERT BRITT of Smithfield is of Irish descent and was born in Chester County, Penna, June 4, 1805, and removed from there with his father to Springhill Furnace, Fayette County, Penna, in August, 1811. He received his education in the common schools. Mr Britt is by occupation a carpenter. He spent two years working at his trade in Kentucky and following his vocation, passed eight years of his life in Virginia; the rest has been spent in Fayette County. He has resided in his present home for thirty two years. December 11, 1831, he married Asenath Greenlee, a lady of Irish stock, whose mother was three years old when brought to America. Of this union are three children: Mary Emily Britt married to Benjamin Franklin Goodwin; Frances Elizabeth Britt, wife of Albert S Miller; and Frank P Britt was educated in the common schools, at Washington and Jefferson College, and the Allegheny Theological Seminary, and is now pastor of the Pisgah Presbyterian Church at Corsica, Jefferson County, Penna. Mr Britt and his wife have been members of the Presbyterian Church for more than a quarter of a century. In December, 1881, they celebrated their golden wedding. Mr Britt has held the office of school director and other responsible township offices. He has always been a Jefferson Democrat, and never swerved from his party. p762 GEORGE W CAMPBELL of Springfield, is the son of James Campbell of the same place and Rebecca Kilpatrick, daughter of Esquire Thomas Kilpatrick, who were married in 1840. George W, our subject, the sixth son of James, was born May 18, 1853. His grandparents on his paternal side came to America from near Belfast, Ireland. Mr Campbell attended the common schools of his village until fourteen years of age when he entered as clerk the general merchandise store of his brother, John F Campbell, where he became a proficient bookkeeper and developed a fine business character, continuing a clerk until 1876 when he became a partner with his brother, remaining such till 1880 and then bought out his brother's interest, and has since carried on the business very successfully. He became assistant postmaster of Elm in the township of Springfield in September, 1869, and acted as such till March 21, 1881, when he was commissioned postmaster by Postmaster General James. He is a stalwart Republican and has been frequently sent by his party as a delegate to county conventions. On the 1st of January 1882, Mr Campbell established a small monthly paper called THE MOUNTAINEER, he being editor thereof as well as proprietor, and which has attained a profitable circulation. On the 11th of August, 1880, Mr Campbell married Miss Ida May Sparks, daughter of Horatio L Sparks. p739 THOMAS CAUFIELD is of Irish stock. His father, Timothy Caufield, was born in County Galway, Ireland, in 1784 and migrated to America in 1810, locating in Belmont county, Ohio. He married Nancy Hynes of that county in 1826. Mrs Caufield died in 1831, leaving three children: John Caufield, Thomas Caufield and Daniel Caufield. John Caufield resides in Clarke county, Iowa. Daniel Caufield was merchandising in Kansas during the struggle for supremacy there between the Northern and Southern political forces, and has not since been heard of by his friends in Pennsylvania. Timothy Caufield moved from Belmont county, Ohio, into Fayette county, Penna, in 1834. He was a contractor on the National Pike and spent much of his life in operating upon public works, building roads, etc. He was married second time in 1836. The maiden name of his second wife was Elizabeth Detson who died in 1872. Mr Caufield died December 30, 1873. Thomas Hynes Caufield was born April 24, 1829, in Belmont county, Ohio, and removed with his father to Fayette county, Penna, in 1834. He was educated in the common schools and has spent nearly all of his life upon the farm where he now resides. He was married July 15, 1874, to Maggie L Lynn of Millsboro, Washington county, Penna. Her great grandfather, William Lynn, was one of the pioneers of Fayette county, settling in Redstone township on a farm adjoining her husband's about the time the county was organized. The farm remained in the name for three generations. Mr and Mrs Caufield have had four children, three of whom are living: John Gibson Caufield; Carrie Lynn Caufield; and Mary Edna Caufield. Mr Thomas Caufield has never held or sought political office. He is a well informed gentleman, having read much, particularly of history, remembering well what he reads and applying the results of his study to practical purposes much more than it is customary for farmers to do. His neighbors esteem him for his honesty and fair dealing. p807, Washington Township, Fayette County, Penna Col EDWARD COOK. Important by reason of his connection with the history of Washington township and Fayette County, and also with that of the nation, Col EDWARD COOK deserves first mention in the chronicle of Washington's early settlement. He was born in Chambersburg in 1741 and in 1770 made his first journey west of the mountains in search of lands for he was at that time in possession of considerable means. he brought with him a stock of goods. When he made his location near the present line between Fayette and Westmoreland Counties, he built a log cabin near the present home of his grandson, John Cook, and in one corner of it opened a small store. The country was then new and stores were not easy to reach, so that when the opening of Cook's store became known among settlers within a radius of many miles, they gladly gave him their patronage. Cook kept also a house of entertaining where such few travelers as happened that way might find rest and refreshment. Under the law he charged six and a half cents for a horse's feed and twelve and a half cents for a man. In 1772 he began the erection of a pretentious mansion, constructing it entirely of the limestone that was found in abundance on his land. In 1776 he moved his family into it and there it still stands, a substantial edifice. After Cook's death, his son James Cook occupied the mansion as his home, and now James Cook's son, William E Cook, lives in it. Edward Cook was one of the most extensive landowners in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He had altogether about three thousand acres, located in Washington, Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, and occupied now in part the farms of Joseph Brown, John B Cook, William E Cook, Mrs John Brown, Mr Montgomery, the site of Fayette City, and numerous other tracts. The patent for the tract called "Mansion" was issued to Colonel Cook and described the tract as four hundred and two acres situated in Fayette and Westmoreland Counties, surveyed in pursuance of a warrant issued to Col Cook, December 17, 1784. A patent for "Mill Site" on the forks of William Lynn's run was issued in 1796. Col Cook was a resident of the county from 1771 until his death in 1812, and during that time achieved considerable public distinction. He was a member of the Provincial Congress convened in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, June 18, 1776, that drafted the first declaration of independence presented to Congress, June 25, 1776, (see "Journal of Congress, vol ii, p 230); was a member of the State Constitutional Convention that convened September 28, 1776; was the first commissioner of exchange and appointed sub-lieutenant of Westmoreland County, March 21, 1777. He was one of the founders of Rehoboth Church, a member of its first session, its first representative to the Redstone Presbytery, and the Presbytery's first representative to the General Assembly. January 5, 1782, he was appointed lieutenant of Westmoreland County to succeed Col Archibald Lochry, who had been captured and killed while on an Indian expedition. This office gave him command of the militia of the County and the management of its military fiscal affairs. It was from this appointment that Col Cook received his military title. He aided in fixing the boundaries of Fayette County and was a member of the commission that located the county seat. November 21, 1786, he was appointed justice of the peace with a jurisdiction that reached into Washington County. April 8, 1789, he was appointed president of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Session; was associate judge of Fayette County in 1791; and from 1796 to 1798 treasurer of Westmoreland County. It will be seen that Colonel Cook's public record was a remarkable one for that or any day, and it its brief chronicle tells in unmistakable terms that he must have been very high indeed in public esteem to have won such distinction. He was one of the foremost men of his time in Southwestern Pennsylvania. His landed and other interests were extensive and these he looked after closely despite the pressure upon his time by his official cares. He built a saw mill and a grist mill on Cook's Run; laid out Freeport, afterwards Cookstown and now Fayette City; and was largely engaged at his home farm in distilling. He was conspicuous in the Whiskey Insurrection and having been prominent in some of the meetings of the insurgents, his arrest was ordered but in the meantime before any action could be taken he appeared November 6, 1794, before Thomas McKean, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and in the presence of William Bradford, Attorney General of the United States, voluntarily entered into recognizance to the United States for his appearance before the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States at the next special session of the Circuit Court held for the district of Pennsylvania "then and there to answer such charges of treasonable and seditious practices and such other matters of misdemeanor as shall be alleged against him in behalf of the United Sates and that he will not depart that court without license." Having taken this bold and honorable course, he quietly awaited the result which was simply that nothing was found against him and he was not molested in person but some cavalrymen belonging to the army that came out to quell the insurrection visited his home and did considerable damage, nearly demolishing his distillery, knocking in the heads of liquor casks and spilling a vast amount of whiskey. Colonel Cook was among General Washington's personal friends and on two occasions at least entertained Washington in the old stone mansion now the home of William E Cook. On one of the occasions named, Washington was journeying that way to visit his lands in Washington County and stopped at Col Cook's for a brief rest. Cook was at that time engaged in reviewing a body of militia nearby and knew nothing of the arrival of his distinguished guest. Word of the arrival was whispered to the men before it reached the colonel, and when he observing the commotion learned what was in the wind, he relaxed all discipline and set off unceremoniously for the house. The militiamen followed at the double-quick and hurrahing enthusiastically for General Washington brought him to the porch and evoked from him in reply a good natured and fatherly speech which the soldiers cheered to the echo. Colonel Cook had but one son, James Cook, who married Mary Bell. The colonel's yearning ambition was to become a grandfather and when the news came to him that he had a grandson, his joy knew no bounds. In the exuberance of his delight, he waited upon his old friend Joseph Downer, and insisted upon his drafting a will in which all the Cook estate should be left to the grandson, Edward Cook, and it was only by persistent effort that Downer persuaded him from this project, and convinced him that as there might be more grandchildren, such an act would be one of injustice. Colonel Cook died in the old stone mansion, November 6, 1812, and his remains rest in Rehoboth churchyard. His widow survived him twenty five years. She died in 1837 aged upwards of ninety. Colonel Cook's son James Cook had a family of six sons and one daughter, The daughter, Martha Cook, is now in West Newton. Of the sons: Edward Cook; James Cook; Joseph Cook; and Michael Cook are dead. John B Cook and William E Cook occupy portions of the homestead farm. p 652 COVERT The progenitor of the Coverts in the United States was one Abraham Covert, who came from Holland to the colonies about 1707. Of his family nothing is now known except that he had a son Abraham Covert, who raised a family of eight children-four sons and four daughters. These four sons in time became widely separated. Abraham Covert remained in the East while the others sought their fortunes in the West. John Covert settled north of Pittsburgh. Morris Covert first lived in New Jersey and there married a Miss Mary Mann. After his marriage he moved to Col Cresap's estate on the Potomac in the state of Maryland where he resided some years. About the year 1780 he moved to Fayette county, Penna, and located about three miles west of Beesontown, now Uniontown, where he purchased a farm of three hundred acres for eight hundred and fifty dollars, on the old Fort road leading to Redstone Old Fort. Here he lived and died and raised a family of eleven children-six sons and five daughters. The oldest son, Joseph Covert, married Nancy Borer of Harrison, Ohio, where he lived and died. The second son, Alexander Covert, married Catharine Black, and they removed to Harrison county, Ohio. The third son, John Covert, married Amy Doney, and lived on the Monongahela River in Luzerne township, Fayette county, and died in his ninety third year. The fourth son, Morris Covert, was an intinerant Methodist preacher. He married Nancy Purcell of Chesapeake Bay, and died near Clarksburg, West Virginia, aged about sixty years. Jesse Covert, the youngest son, married Henrietta Gibson, resided principally in Fayette county, Penna, and died at the age of fifty five. Benjamin Covert was born on July 10, 1799, on the old homestead, where he grew to manhood. He married Abigail Randolph, and removing to Harrison county, Ohio, in 1820, settled on the Stillwater and there resided until 1830. To of his children, Richard Covert and Mary Covert, were born there. He next removed to a farm on Short Creek in the same county. There he remained three years and there his youngest daughter, Elizabeth Covert, was born. He then moved to a farm in Luzerne township, Fayette county, Penna, which he purchased from George Custer. It contained two hundred and fourteen acres and cost him two thousand six hundred and fifty dollars. Here he has resided for forty eight years, doing good as the Lord prospered him, "by helping build churches in the Bend and at the Landing, and sustaining the ministers of his church, as well as contributing to the support of others." He has been an ardent Methodist for sixty four years. His father and mother were Methodists, as were also his brothers and sisters. They are all dead having lived and died meek and humble Christians. He alone of the family survives in his eighty third year. His children are: Richard Covert, who resides on the old homestead; Mary Covert, married to D H Wakefield of Jefferson township, Fayette county, Penna; and Elizabeth Covert, married to Joshua Strickler of Luzerne township. With but little intermission he has held an office in the church during the entire time of his membership. His start in life was a strong constitution. He has always been noted for his sobriety, indomitable energy, frugality, and rectitude of purpose. p706 HENRY DILS of Nicholson township, who was born July 3, 1816, in what was then Springhill township, is descended from good old Dutch stock, it is believed His father, Philip Dils, married in Springhill township, Mary Hager, and located in the same township about 1807. They had five children, of whom Henry Dils was the third. Three are yet living: Henry Dils, Peter Dils and Mary Core. Mr Dils' father passed most of his life as a farmer and was successful, leaving each of his children a good farm. Mr Dils received a limited education in the common schools, but is a man of observation and intelligence and has held the position of school director and other offices. He has been a member of the Old Frame Presbyterian Church for many years, and has been an elder in that church. He was first married December 28, 1843, to Martha Vandervort of Nicholson township. They had eleven children, eight of whom are living. His wife being deceased, he married again November 10, 1870. Six children were the issue of this latter marriage, four now living. Mr Dils resided in his present home thirty eight years. Here his children have been reared and he has assisted his grown up children to a start in life. His sons are all farmers. Mr Dils is a gentleman of excellent moral character, without reproach as a businessman. His possessions are chiefly lands p794 The Rev JAMES DUNLAP, DD, was born in Chester county, Penna, in 1774 [sic] (probably should be 1744). He was graduated at Princeton, studied theology with Rev James Finley, was licensed by the Presbytery of Donegal, 1776 to 1781. He was ordained "sine titulo" by the Presbytery of New Castle, and came West with his theological preceptor the same year. In October, 1782, he received the first call which passed through the hands of Redstone Presbytery. This call, which was from the churches of "Delap's Creek" and Laurel Hill, he accepted but was never installed, this formality being of more recent date. Dr Dunlap remained pastor of both churches for seven years and of Laurel Hill for fourteen years more, and near the close of this period was stated supply at Tyrone for some part of his time. From 1803 to 1811 he was president of Jefferson College and died in Abingdon, Penna, November 11, 1818, in the seventy fifth year of his age. He was no doubt the finest scholar in the Presbytery. It is an interesting fact that the two men who nursed this little church in the wilderness were the first of the pioneer ministers whose talents and scholarship were recognized by academic honors. In 1807 Dr Dunlap received from Jefferson College its first honorary degree of "Divinitatis Doctor" and the next year Mr Power's name was placed second on the list now grown long. p628 JOSEPH S ELLIOTT is the son of James Elliott, whose father, William Elliott, came to Fayette County from Westmoreland County at an early day, and had what is now called "the old Elliott homestead" in Jefferson township, patented. His wife was Ruth Crawford. They had eleven children. James was the fifth child and only son who grew to manhood and was born in Jefferson township, April 25, 1785, and was a farmer. June 3, 1813 he married Mary Cunningham of Rostraver township, Westmoreland County. They had ten children: William Elliott; James C Elliott; Edward J Elliott; Robert Elliott; Ruth Elliott; Mary A Elliott; Joseph S Elliott; Alexander Elliott; Sarah R Elliott; and Marth Elliott, all of whom grew to maturity. Joseph S Elliott was born at the old Elliott homestead, Jefferson township, Fayette County, Penna, April 18, 1827. His school education was limited. His business education, gathered from observation and contact with businessmen, is excellent. He was married October 7, 1852, to Nancy J Forsythe. They have six children: William F Elliott married Laura A Wells; Violette H Elliott married to Joseph A Cook; Oliphant P Elliott; Ida J Elliott, Eva M Elliott; and Gracie F Elliott. Mr Elliott spent his early life upon his father's farm. In 1850 he began work for himself upon the farm where he now resides and ever since has been engaged in farming and stock dealing. He is a shrewd, energetic, successful businessman, one of the real businessmen of the county. He has no church record, but is a liberal supporter of all causes which he deems worthy. His business status among those who know him is as good as need be. He has held the usual township offices entrusted to businessmen in a business township. His possessions are chiefly stock and lands. He owns a thousand acres of as good land as there is in Western Pennsylvania and all underlaid with bituminous coal except one hundred and thirty two acres. He has made his own fortune with the assistance of a most excellent wife. Mrs Elliott is a lady of rare general intelligence and has a wider knowledge of the requirements of business life than have most ladies, and has always eagerly united with her husband in his various enterprises, while at the same time paying special attention to domestic affairs. A lesson for the young men of Fayette County may be gleaned from Mr Elliott's career in the fact that he began with but little means and contrary to Horace Greeley's well known advice to young men, refused to "go west," he holding that a dollar earned here in a settled country is worth two wrought out in the far West. So he settled down in Jefferson township, and went into debt in the purchase against the judgment of his neighbors one and all, of the "Tark farm," feeling that if he could not make a great sum of money on it he could at least so manage as to make on it a good practical savings bank which would on sale render up whatever deposits he might make into it; and by extreme industry, by tact in management, and by possessing himself of and applying the best arts of agriculture under a system of mixed farming, including the raising of sheep for their fleeces, etc, demonstrate that Fayette County is as good a land as any in the West, or anywhere else, to stay at home in and grow up to fortune. p628 WILLIAM ELLIOTT was born in Jefferson township April 5, 1814, and died July 21, 1878. He was of Scotch Irish stock and was educated in common schools and Georges Creek Academy. He was married April 12, 1837, to Eliza Jane Conwell of Luzerne township. They had eight children: James Stokely Elliott married to Jane Wood; Annie Mary Elliott married to Robert R Abrams; George Craft Elliott, deceased; Margaretta Davidson Elliott; Matilda Florence Elliott married to William Craft; Virginia Bell Elliott married to William P Allen; Sarah Emma Elliott married to Frank V Jeffries, and is dead; and Louisa Searight Elliott, unmarried. Mr Elliott was born on the old Elliott homestead about a mile from where his family now resides, to which place he moved in 1837 and led the life of a farmer the rest of his years. He held a number of township offices and was collector of internal revenue for Fayette County, receiving his appointment in 1862. He and his wife joined the Presbyterian Church soon after their marriage. Mr Elliott was a successful businessman. He was honest and enjoyed the respect of his neighbors. He left his family in very comfortable circumstances. He had but little if any aid when starting out in life, and gathered what he had and which his family now enjoy by his own energy and management. p332 EBENEZER FINLEY Jr is a prominent citizen of Menallen township, and a member of one of the best known and most reliable families of Fayette county. He is a grandson of the scholarly and able Rev James Finley who was the first minister to plant the banner of Presbyterianism west of the Alleghenies. Ebenezer Finley Jr was born in Fayette county, Penna, October 24, 1804, and is the son of Ebenezer Finley Sr. His mother's name was Violet Lowry. His grandfather, the Rev James Finley, was a native of Cecil county, Maryland, came to Fayette county in 1765 on a missionary tour and to seek out land locations for his sons. He made a second trip in 1767 and a third trip in 1771 when he purchased a large tract of land on Dunlap's Creek. He was instrumental in bringing thirty four Presbyterian families from Maryland into Fayette county and establishing five churches of his religious faith in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He had charge of Rehoboth church in Westmoreland county, Penna, in 1783, and died in 1795 having faithfully spent a long life in the service of his Divine Master. Ebenezer Finley Sr when fourteen years of age came from Maryland to Fayette county, labored on the farm, and had a perilous adventure with Indians near Fort Wallace while serving as a soldier on the frontier. He erected one of the first saw mills and grist mills in the county, and was a prominent and useful citizen till his death in 1849, aged eighty eight years. He now sleeps with his four wives in Dunlap's Creek graveyard. Four of his sons: Ebenezer Finley Jr; Robert Finley, deceased; and Eli H Finley settled on different parts of the Finley estate. Ebenezer Finley Jr was raised on a farm and received but the limited educational privileges of his boyhood days. He was married on February 9, 1826, to Miss Phebe Woodward, daughter of Caleb Woodward, a skillful mechanic who came from Chester county, Penna. They had ten children: Caleb W Finley, born January 15, 18??, died April 13, 1877; Ebenezer L Finley, born October 2, 1828, died September 10, 1849; Robert F Finley, born May 29, 1830; Evans Finley, born August 16, 1832; Elijah V Finley, born July 10, 1834, died November 25, 1859; James G Finley, born April 16, 1836; Phebe Jane Finley, born July 25, 1840; Albert W Finley, born March 23, 1843; John Huston Finley, born April 7, 1847; and Violet Finley, born April 18, 1849. The oldest son, the Rev Caleb Woodward Finley, was pastor of the Presbyterian church at London, Madison county, Ohio, for twenty one years where he died in 1877. Robert Finley is living in Colorado. Phebe Jane Finley married John Thomas Porter and they now reside in Alco, Alabama. Dr John Huston Finley was killed at Streator, Illinois, November 16, 1883, in a railroad collision. Violet Finley married Dr C D Chalfant and resides at Streator, Illinois. Albert W Finley, the seventh son, was educated in the common schools, Dunlap's Creek Academy and Duff's Business College, Pittsburgh, Penna; taught school for two years and has since been engaged in farming. He married on July 18, 1872, Emma Mosier, a daughter of William L Mosier of Georges township, and granddaughter of John De Ford, one of the pioneers of Fayette county. A W Finley early in life became a member of the Dunlap's Creek Presbyterian church, and has been for some time a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church at New Salem, where he now resides. In 1876 Ebenezer Finley Jr and wife celebrated the golden anniversary of their marriage and their sixty third anniversary February 9, 1889. He has been identified with the temperance cause in Fayette county for over half a century, and for forty years has been president of the New Salem Temperance Society. On August 13, 1834, he was elected a ruling elder in the Dunlap's Creek Presbyterian church and has served as such ever since. He has been a very useful man in Fayette county, settled thirty eight estates, written sixty four wills, seventy one deeds, has been executor, administrator, guardian and assignee. He served three years as poor house director, and in 1841 was elected school director in Menallen township. Mr Finley is implicitly trusted by all who know him; his word is as good as his bond. He and his wife are a hale, hearty, well preserved old couple, although past their four score years. He is well versed in the local and early history of Menallen and adjoining townships, and is highly respected by his neighbors for his many good qualities of head and heart. p628 WILLIAM FORSYTH was born in Jefferson township, Fayette County, Penna, August 28, 1790, died July 20, 1878, of Scotch Irish stock. He was married September 18, 1828, to Jane P Steele, daughter of John Steele of Jefferson township. Jane died January 24, 1882. They had eight children: John Forsyth born July 2, 1820, died September 4, 1852: Eli S Forsyth married Kate E Wood; Nancy J Forsyth married to Joseph S Elliott; William Johnson Forsyth married to Lizzie R Baily; Elizabeth D Forsyth married to Isaac T Crouch; Mary A Forsyth married to Louis S Miller; James S Forsyth married to Mary E Morton; Ruth A Forsyth married to W Frank Hough. Mr Forsyth was engaged in farming all his life. He was also a coal merchant and was successful in all his business. He was a model farmer. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church at Brownsville where he held the office of elder. When Little Redstone Presbyterian Church was organized about 1840, he was chosen a ruling elder there and continued in that position until his death. He was an exemplary Christian, respected and beloved by all who knew him. He was quiet, unostentatious and benevolent. His grandfather, William Forsyth, settled upon the Forsyth homestead in 1775. He came from the Eastern Shore, Maryland. The farm was known as "Wolves' Harbor." He had eleven children. William's father, Eli Forsyth, was one of the younger. He was born about 1770.He married Jane McKee who emigrated from Ireland when about seventeen. They had eleven children, William Forsyth being the oldest. p773 LEBBEUS BIGLOW GANS was born in Springhill township, Fayette County, Penna, March 31, 1825. He is the fifth son of William and Magdalene Gans whose parents were among the early settlers of Southern Fayette County. William Gans parents migrated from Germany on account of religious persecution and settled near Antietam, Maryland, and in the year 1785 came to Springhill township, and pre-empted the beautiful tract of land near Morris Cross Roads on which they lived and died, now owned by L B Gans. Magadalen Custer, wife of William Gans, was the daughter of George Custer who was a first cousin of General George Washington, they being sisters's children. He was the fourth son of Paul Custer and his mother was Sarah Ball, daughter of Col Joseph Ball of Lancaster County, Penna. Her sister, Mary Ball, was married to Mr Augustine Washington by whom she had six children, the eldest being the renowned commander in chief of the Revolutionary army and the first President of the United States. George Custer was born in Philadelphia, Penna, December 3, 1774, and died on his farm in Georges township, Fayette County, Penna, in 1829, aged eighty five years and two days. He was a large healthy man with abundant means, and was the father of fifteen children. Lebbeus Biglow Gans received a common school education and is a farmer by profession. He has been twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth J Ramsay, was the daughter of James C Ramsay Esq, whom he married January 6, 1848, and by whom he had three children: one son who died in infancy; and two daughters, both living. The elder, Dorcas Anna Gans, is married to T F Protzman, a merchant at Morris Cross Roads, Penna. The younger, Elizabeth J Gans, is married to W Morgan Smith of Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Penna. His first wife, Elizabeth J, died March 25 1857. He married his second wife, Emily S Goe, daughter of Henry B Goe of Allegheny City, October 15, 1868, by whom he has three sons and one daughter. Mr Gans is an active, thrifty businessman. In addition to the homestead which has always been considered the standard in making real estate assessments in the township, he owns one hundred and thirty four acres immediately adjoining it on the east, making in all three hundred acres, which is the best farm in southern Fayette County. The farm is well improved and in an excellent state of cultivation. This farm is noted for its extensive maple sugar orchard containing about two thousand trees, which yields an average annual income of eight hundred dollars. In late years Mr Gans has not made a specialty of agriculture but is engaged in grazing stock. Mr Gans is a member of the Presbyterian church and is held in high esteem by his neighbors and fellow citizens. In all his business relations he is remarkable for candor and integrity. His domestic and social relations are of the most pleasant and agreeable character. He lives in good style, enjoys life, the society of home and friends, and the fellowship of the community. p765 JACOB GANS was an early settler of Springhill, emigrating hither from Virginia with a large number of other hardy adventurers more than a century ago. Little is to be said of him except that he lived and died in Springhill, and left an untarnished character as well as a numerous progeny in this part of Fayette County. To sketch all of his descendants would be to write the biography of a large portion of the citizens of the township Ann Gans, a granddaughter of his, married. Mr Arnold and lives or did live on Ten Mile Creek in Greene county. Susanna Gans, another granddaughter, married Jeremiah Burchinal, one of the most respected citizens of Springhill, and is now living, at a very advanced age, on Grassy Run west of the old Springhill Furnace property p488 Bullskin Township, Fayette County, Penna GRAFT GHOST, or GOST, was a German who served as a soldier in the French and Indian War in 1755 and later was with the garrison at Fort Ligonier. Having obtained a knowledge of this country from his experience in the army, he came to Westmoreland as a settler, working at his trade, bell making. At the instance of Colonel Meason, he opened a shop near the latter's residence, where he made bells and sharp edged tools until he had accumulated $2200 in Continental money, which proved worthless just about the time he was ready to invest in land. This misfortune obliged him to begin life anew, but in time he secured from Meason 126 acres of land in Bullskin, and lived near where is now the home of George Adams. There he died in 1808. His only child became the wife of John Highlands, who died on the Gost homestead in 1826, leaving five daughters; these married: Christiana Highlands married Jesse Atkinson; Mary Highlands married Robert Fleming and yet resides near the old home; Catherine Highlands is the wife of Christian Shank; Lavina Highlands of Washington Kelley; and Sarah Highlands married George Brown, moving to Ohio. p652 GIBSON The progenitor of the Gibsons of Luzerne Township, Fayette County, was one JAMES GIBSON, who migrated from Ireland in 1770, and located in Chester County, Penna, and engaged in farming. He followed his vocation until 1776 when he entered the Continental army and served until the surrender of Cornwallis. After the surrender he found that two of his brothers were soldiers in the British army, having been pressed into the service by the mother country. At the close of the struggle they settled in Virginia, and their descendants nearly all reside there. James Gibson's home continued in Chester County until 1790, when he emigrated to Southwestern Pennsylvania, and settled upon a farm in Luzerne township, where his son Alexander Gibson afterwards lived and died, and which is now in possession of Mr Oliver Miller. James Gibson was married to Margaret Lackey in 1792. They had six children, of whom Alexander Gibson, the subject of this sketch, was the third. He was born June 8, 1797. His early life was spent upon his father's farm, and he received his education in the country schools of that period. He began to work for himself at the age of twenty years, engaging in wagoning from Wheeling to Baltimore, and in 1820, changed his route to and from Baltimore to Nashville, Tennessee. Here he, in company with Levi Crawford, now living in Luzerne township, spent two years trading with the Cherokee Indians. In 1823 he returned to Pennsylvania, sold his team, and purchased a farm. On the 24th of June 1824, he was married to Mary Hibbs of Redstone township. To them were born six children, four of whom are living, viz: James G Gibson, married first to Mary Rodgers. They had two children-John A Gibson and Mary R Gibson. Mary died in 1860. He was married again June 25, 1867, to Rebecca J Haney. Margaret J Gibson married to William H Miller; Mary A Gibson married to Oliver Miller. They have two children, Albert G Miller and Emma V Miller. Albert M married to Alice Frey. They have one child, Nellie. The most of Alexander Gibson's active business life was spent in farming and stock-dealing. He was industrious, a good manager, and accumulated enough property to give each of his children a fair start in life. He never sought political preferment. He was prompt to perform what he promised, and was highly esteemed by his neighbors. He was eminently a man of peace, and never had a lawsuit in his life. He was for man years an active member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his Christian life challenged the respect of those who knew him. He died July 12, 1875, and his remains rest in the Hopewell cemetery. His wife, Mary, died January 25, 1876. p588 REUBEN HAGUE of Smithfield is of English stock and was born April 16, 1809. Of his ancestors we have no special account save that they were Quakers; but his maternal grandfather was a farmer of some note, of whose history the legend has been preserved that he plowed in the forenoon the field of Brandywine whereupon the famous battle took place in the afternoon. Mr Hague has resided in Fayette County sixty five years. He was educated in the common schools and is a bricklayer by trade and has worked in all parts of Western Pennsylvania. When he started out in life for himself at eighteen years of age, he had only a "quarter" and a "fippenny bit" in his pockets, in all thirty one cents. He helped lay up the first brick dwelling in Allegheny City. He was once a cavalry officer in the Virginia militia and has served as a school director of his township for nearly twenty years. For over fifty years he has been a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and has for a long time been an elder therein. He is a rigid temperance man and has been a constant worker in the cause of temperance since he became twenty years of age. He never spent but three cents for whiskey for his own use. He cannot be turned from his course by the taunts an jeers of wine bibbers. Mr Hague is possessed of one of the best fruit orchards in Fayette County. His property consists mainly of real estate. Whatever criticisms the liquor loving portion of the community may indulge in over his extreme but consistent observance of abstinence from intoxicating beverages, his neighbors say no harmful words of him. February 14, 1836, Mr Hague married Mary Swan, who died July 1st of the same year. Feb 14, 1839, he married again, being united to Mary Lemley. Of this marriage there are six living children: Samuel Hague; Rebecca Ellen Hague who married William Booth; Emily Hague; Frances Hague; Jeffries Hague; and Snyder Hague. The second Mrs Hague having died, Mr Hague married a third time, November 27, 1862, his wife's maiden name having been Jane Abraham. A son, James A Hague, is the issue of this marriage. p697 HARDIN The brothers JOHN HARDIN and MARTIN HARDIN have already been mentioned as among the first settlers in the Monongahela Valley. All of Martin Hardin's family afterwards removed to Kentucky and became prominent citizens of that State. They are mentioned in Marshall's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY in which it is stated that Martin Hardin, who was the father of the somewhat famous Colonel John Hardin of Kentucky, emigrated from Fauquier County, Virginia, to Georges Creek in Fayette County, Penna, within what is now Nicholson township when his son John was twelve years old. That was in 1765. Not long after their arrival on Georges Creek there came Indian troubles and the situation of the settlers became precarious and alarming, but they held their position and did not abandon their possessions as was the case with many other settlers. The location of John Hardin Sr was upon a tract of land called "Choice" containing three hundred and nineteen and a quarter acres and allowance. The warrant for this tract was dated April 17, 1769. It was surveyed May 22d of the same year. On this tract he made his residence and lived on it till his death. Martin Hardin located a tract named "Harbout" of three hundred and seventeen and a quarter acres and allowance, warranted April 17, 1769, and surveyed the 22d of May, 1770. He emigrated to Kentucky in or soon after the year 1780. His son John Hardin, afterwards Colonel John Hardin, went to Kentucky in that year and took up lands for himself and friends in Nelson County in that State, but returned to Fayette County and remained here six years longer before he finally removed to Kentucky. In Dunmore's War of 1774 John Hardin Jr served with a militia company as an ensign. In the Revolution in the year 1776 he joined the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment and became a lieutenant in one of the companies. In December, 1779, he resigned and returned home to Georges Creek, declining the proffered promotion to the rank of major in the new regiment. In 1784 he received the nomination for sheriff of Fayette County, and was returned to the Executive Council as one of the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes. On that occasion and under those circumstances General James Wilkinson asked the Council to commission Hardin as sheriff in a letter addressed to President Dickinson of the Council (Penna Archives x. 610) dated November, 1784, and running as follows: "...On the present return of the Election for Fayette County, Major John Harden stands second for the Sheriff's Office; permit me briefly to state to your Excellency this man's merit without detracting from that of his competitor. Mr Harden served in the alert of the Army under Generals (then Colonels) Morgan and Butler in the Northern Campaign 1777. His rank was that of a Lieutenant, and I can, as the Adjutant General of the Army Gates, assert that he was exposed to more danger, encountered greater Fatigue, and performed more real service than any other officer of his Station. With Parties never exceeding 20 men, he in the Course of the Campaign made upwards of sixty Prisoners, and at a Personal Rencounter in the rear of the Enemie's position, he killed a Mohawk express & brought in the dispatches which he was conveying from General Burgoyne to the Commanding Officer at Ticonderoga with the loss only (indeed) of a Lock of Hair, which the Indian's Fire carried away. It is sufficient for me Sir to testify his merits; the Justice which characterizes your administration will do the rest." In 1786 he removed his family to the new settlement in Kentucky, where his father and brothers had preceded him. In the same year he volunteered under George Rogers Clark for the expedition against the Indians on the Wabash and was appointed quartermaster. He was afterwards engaged in the succeeding Indian campaign in Ohio and Indiana, and rose to the rank of colonel. He was killed in the campaign against the Miami villages in the fall of 1792. A son of his was killed February 23, 1847, at the battle of Buena Vista under General Taylor in Mexico. Miss Martha Hardin, a granddaughter of John Hardin Sr, now living in Nicholson township, Fayette County, Penna, in her eighty sixth year, gives the following account of the family of which she is a member: The Hardins, she says, came originally from France. John Hardin Sr, Martin Hardin and Lydia Hardin, who became Mrs Tobin, were brothers and sister. John Hardin Sr married Isabella Shubranch by whom he had eleven children: John Hardin; Absalom Hardin; Henry Hardin; Nestor Hardin; George Hardin; Cato Hardin; Hector Hardin; Mary Ann Hardin; Miriam Hardin; Matilda Hardin; and Alice Hardin. He died in Fayette County and his wife survived him many years. Martin Hardin married Elizabeth Hoagland, by whom he had seven children besides Colonel John Hardin. Martin Hardin emigrated from Fayette County, as before mentioned, to Kentucky and lived in that latter State until his death, though he revisited his old home in (then) Springhill township, and the narrator recollects that when she was a little girl she saw him here on one of those visits. All the Hardins of Kentucky, she says, are his descendants. Lydia Hardin, sister of John Hardin and Martin Hardin, married Thomas Tobin, from which marriage came the family of Tobins of Fayette County. p785 HUSTON Near the year 1772 Captain JOSEPH HUSTON with is family came from Peach Bottom, Virginia, to this vicinity and settled upon a tract of land containing two hundred and seventy seven acres, for which he took out a warrant in 1786. His wife was Margery Cunningham, the eldest sister of Barnett Cunningham who followed them thither within a year or two. Upon the land which he located, Capt Huston built a cabin for his family, wherein they lived prosperous and contented. In 1782 the father accompanied Colonel Crawford upon his expedition which proved so disastrous. Before leaving home he gave to the township a piece of land which has always been known as the Cochran graveyard. Soon after returning from the Crawford expedition, Capt Huston died and his remains were the first to be carried to the cemetery for which he had made provision, and where so many of those ancient families now lie. William Huston, the oldest son of Captain Joseph Huston, was born east of the mountains in 1754. He was but a boy of eighteen when his father crossed the range to make his home upon the western side. April 14, 1791, he warranted twenty seven acres of land adjoining that of his father, the survey being made April 30th of the same year. William Huston had two sons, William Huston Jr and Joseph Huston, who both lived and died upon the old place. William Huston Jr had three sons: Lewis Huston, Eli Huston and Boyd Huston. The first two are still living in Tyrone township. Joseph Huston, the second son of William Huston Sr, had a daughter Kersey Huston, who became the wife of James Cochran, usually called "Little Jim" and their home is upon the old Huston homestead John Huston, a son of old Captain Joseph Huston, was born in 1757, while the family still lived upon the east side of the mountains. He was at one time a resident of Dunbar township, afterwards he kept a tavern in Uniontown and later went to Kentucky where he died. His son, John Huston Jr, or Judge Huston, was born in Dunbar and went to Kentucky with is father. When nineteen years old he returned to Tyrone, his father's home, and entered the employ of his uncle, Joseph Huston, as a clerk in the Huston Forge and Old Redstone Furnace. He afterwards became possessor of the property and conducted it until his death. Agnes Huston, a daughter of Captain Huston, was born in 1760 and was the wife of Joseph Cunningham. They lived and died in the town of Tyrone, leaving many descendants. Sarah Huston, another daughter, married Mr Nesbitt, and with him removed to Kentucky. Joseph Huston, son of Captain Joseph Huston, was born in 1763. During his younger years, he led a roving life, but after reaching maturity settled in Uniontown, where he built the first brick house the place boasted, and where he was elected sheriff of Fayette County in 1790. Later he purchased land on Redstone Creek in North Union and built a forge. In 1804 he became proprietor of the Redstone Furnace, which he operated until his death in 1824 His wife was a daughter of John Smilie. p439 ISAAC JACKSON, MD, was born in Menallen township, Fayette County, Penna, on the 13th day of March, 1821. He was educated at Madison College, Uniontown, studied medicine under the direction of Dr Smith Fuller of Uniontown, attended lectures in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, receiving the degree of MD from that institution in March, 1847, and located in Brownsville the same year, continuing in active practice up to the present time. He has also been engaged for several years in the drug business, having been at different times a member of the drug firms of W F Simpson & Co, Jackson & Armstrong, and J Jackson. He held for several years the office of examining surgeon for pensions under the United States government. In politics he has always been a Democrat, taking an active part in the affairs of that party and was once a candidate for the State Legislature. He is a member of the order of Freemasons, also a member of the Presbyterian church, and of the Fayette County Medical Society. He has been twice married. One of his sons, Duncan C Jackson, Esq, is a member of the Allegheny County bar; another son, Dr John Jackson, is practicing medicine in West Virginia. p458 Captain ADAM JACOBS of Brownsville is of German extraction. His grandfather, Adam Jacobs, emigrated from Lancaster county at an early day into Allegheny County and there carried on farming on Turtle Creek, near Braddock's Field, eleven miles east of Pittsburgh for several years, and then moved to Brownsville where he entered into merchandising which he conducted until his death which occurred in 1818. He had but one son who lived to maturity named after himself, Adam Jacobs, and who was born in Brownsville, December 3, 1794, and was educated at the subscription schools and at Washington College and became a merchant and on the 16th of January 1816, married Eliza Reiley, daughter of Martin Reiley of Bedford, Bedford County, Penna. He died June 29, 1822, leaving two children, Adam Jacobs; and Ann Elizabeth Jacobs, long since deceased. Adam Jacobs is the subject of our sketch and was born January 7, 1817. He received his early education in the pay schools and at about sixteen years of age was apprenticed to G W Bowman to learn coppersmithing and remained with him for four years. He then went into the business for himself and in a year or two afterwards took to steamboating until 1847. He was at this time and had been for years before engaged also in building steamboats, and from 1847 forward prosecuted steamboat building vigorously at times having as many as eight boats in a year under contract. He built over a hundred and twenty steamboats before practically retiring from the business about 1872, since which time he has, however, built about five boats for the Pittsburgh, Brownsville, & Geneva Packet Company and other contracts. Captain Jacobs was also engaged in merchandising with all the rest of his active business from 1843 to 1865 and may be said to be still merchandising for he has a store at East Riverside. Since about 1872 he has spent his time mostly in Brownsville in the winters and at his country residence, "East Riverside," Luzerne township on the Monongahela River during the summer seasons. On the 22nd of February, 1838, Mr Jacobs married Miss Ann Snowdon, born in England in 1816, a daughter of John Snowdon and Mary Smith Snowdon who came from England and settled in Brownsville in 1818, where Mr Snowdon soon after started the business of engine building and carried it on till disabled by age. Mr and Mrs Snowdon both died in advanced years, and were buried in the Brownsville Cemetery where a fine monument marks the place of their repose. Mr and Mrs Jacobs have had ten children, eight of whom are living: Mary Jacobs, wife of William Parkhill; Adam Jacobs Jr married to Laura Myers of Canton, Ohio; Catharine Jacobs, wife of S S Graham; John N Jacobs married Sarah Colvin; Caroline S Jacobs, wife of John H Bowman; Anna Jacobs, wife of Joseph L McBirney of Chicago, Illinois; Martin Reiley Jacobs, now residing in Colorado; and George D Jacobs. p604 The late DAVID JOHNSON of German township was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, March 5, 1786, and came with his father, Peter Johnson, and the family into Fayette County when David Johnson, who was the eldest son, was quite young. They settled in German township He was educated in the subscription schools of the times, worked on his father's farm and learned the art of weaving, and remained at home till the time of his marriage to Mary Magdalena Bixler of German township, June 27, 1809, whereafter he took up his residence with his father-in-law for one year, and then purchased a farm, still in the hands of relatives of his, near Uniontown whereon he resided for six years, and selling the farm to his brother, Jacob Johnson, bought the "Yauders farm" near Masontown upon which he lived the rest of his days. He was the father of nine children, eight of whom were living at the time of his death, which occurred May 24, 1860. All the eight children, six boys and two girls, were also married at the time of the father's death. Mrs Johnson died some three years before her husband and both were buried in the private burying ground on the Newcomer farm, adjoining Mr Johnson's original farm and which he owned at the time of his death and which his daughter Frances Johnson, Mrs John Young, now owns. Mr Johnson and his wife were members of the Mennonite Church. Mr Johnson was in early life a whig in politics, but became a Republican. He was not an ardent politician and never sought office . It is said of him that "If David Johnson was not an honest man then there are no honest men..." Mr Johnson owned about sixteen hundred acres of land, the most of which is underlaid with the nine feet vein of bituminous coal and left to each of his children a farm of about two hundred acres of land, with house and outbuildings thereon, upon which severally the surviving children are still living in prosperous circumstances Mr Jacob Johnson, the son of David Johnson, and the next to the last born of his children, and who perhaps more especially than the rest supplies the place of his father in the world, left the old homestead farm whereon for a long number of years he had wrought, just prior to his father's death, and moved upon "the Middle Run farm" in the same township, to which he has made many additions by purchase until his present landed estate covers about a thousand excellent acres. He married in 1852 Elizabeth Knotts, a native of Virginia. They have had five sons and two daughters. Four sons and two daughters are now living and residing with their father, and being industrious and faithful children are adding to the worth of the already valuable homestead farm. Mr and Mrs Johnson are members of the Mennonite Church.