Bios: R Surnames: Gresham and Wiley, 1889: Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, 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/ ______________________________________________________________________ Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Fayette County, Pennsylvania editorially managed by John M. Gresham assisted in the compilation by Samuel T. Wiley, A Citizen of the County Compiled and Published by John M. Gresham & Co. Chicago: 1889 http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/fayette/gresham.htm Table of Contents. ______________________________________________________________________ NOTE: "Brnv & Bdgpt" stands for "Brownsville and Bridgeport" NAME LOCATION PAGE Rankin, William Uniontown 214 Ransom, George Dunbar 469 Reagan, R S, Dr Dunbar 469 Redburn, James Thomas Uniontown 582 Reid, J M Connellsville 471 Reid, Jesse Uniontown 216 Reppert, Curtis Washington 376 Ridgeway, J F Dunbar 472 Righter, J W, Rev Brnv & Bdgpt 290 Ritenour, Joseph K Uniontown 218 Ritenour, R V Stewart 572 Robinson, Albert Dunbar 472 Robinson, F C, Dr Uniontown 215 Robinson, Eleazer Miscellaneous 592 Robinson, Harold L Uniontown 218 Robinson, James, Col Georges 521 Robinson, J T Georges 522 Robinson, William L Uniontown 217 Roley, J T Washington 376 Ross, G W Springhill 291 Ross, R H Springhill 291 Rosser, Milton Tyrone 376 Ruble, J C Springhill 292 Ruble, Jacob Georges 525 Rush, C W Tyrone 377 p214 WILLIAM RANKIN was born February 20, 1841, in North Union township, Fayette county, Penna, on the old Rankin homestead which has belonged to a Rankin by the name of William for four generations. William Rankin, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at the Rankin homestead September 25, 1800. He was a whig in his younger days but became a democrat in 1856. He died March 27, 1877. His father and grandfather owned the present Rankin homestead. Eliza Junk, daughter of John Junk of North Union township, was the mother of the subject of this sketch. She was born April 13, 1807, and was married February 1831, to William Rankin. They had four children: John Rankin; William Rankin; Samuel Rankin and Hugh Rankin. John Junk, the father of Eliza Junk, was married to Sarah Preston. He was an elder in the United Presbyterian church, was a prosperous farmer, and left large tracts of land to his children. He voted for General Washington for president. The subject of this sketch was brought up on a farm and was educated in the common schools of North Union township. His business is farming which he has followed all of his life. He owns a finely improved farm, where he resides and owns valuable property in Uniontown. On November 19, 1861, he was married to Miss Martha B Hurst by Rev B P Ferguson. Mrs Rankin was a daughter of Nathaniel G Hurst, and was born April 1, 1843. They have six children living, two boys and four girls: Mary Eliza Rankin, born June 15, 1863, married to John F Hankins of Uniontown; William H Rankin, born February 18, 1865, engaged in teaching: Isaac Rankin, born Mary 4, 1867; Frances Rankin, born February 12, 1869, married to Albert R Craig; Ida M Rankin, born January 21, 1873, attending school, living at home; and Daisy M Rankin, born December 16, 1880. In politics Mr Rankin is a staunch democrat and is a strong temperance man. He holds the office of supervisor in a strong republican township. p469 GEORGE RANSOM, of Irish extraction and a veteran soldier of the late Civil War, was born in Dunbar township, Fayette county, Penna, July 31, 1833. He was educated in the subscription schools; at an early age he emigrated to Illinois where he was engaged in farming for four years, and then spent the succeeding year in traveling through Kansas and Colorado. In 1860 he returned to Illinois and resumed farming. After the defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, he was among the first that responded to President Lincoln's call for troops to suppress the "Great Rebellion." He enlisted in Company B, Thirty seventh Regiment Illinois Infantry, or Fremon Rifles, commanded for a time by General Black, ex-commissioner of pensions. Mr Ransom, after two years' service, was made drum major and was in the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, at the siege of Vicksburg, served in Louisiana under Banks, and was stationed for some time in Texas on the Rio Grande river. After the war closed, he returned to Dunbar township and engaged in various kinds of business until 1872, when he took charge of the ferry on the Youghiogheny river between Dawson and East Liberty. In 1882 he retired from the ferry and engaged for five or six years in several different pursuits. He is now living a retired life in East Liberty. In 1865 he married Margaret Hannan, daughter of John and Nancy Hannan, both natives of Fayette county and living near the borough of Dunbar. Mr and Mrs Ransom have one child, a daughter Maude Ransom, who married William Gillespie, and has one child, a son George W Gillespie, born March 2, 1889. George Ransom is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Vanderbilt, and is a peace-loving and law-abiding citizen. p469 Dr ROBERT S REAGAN, a rising and progressive physician and coroner of Fayette county, is a son of Philip Reagan and Rose Ann Martin Reagan, and was born in Bullskin township, Fayette county, Penna, March 26, 1852. His great grandfather, Philip Reagan, was a Scotch Irishman, an early settler of Westmoreland county where he laid out the town of Reagantown which was named in honor of him. He lived to the remarkable age of 109 years. One of his sons, Alexander Reagan, Dr Reagan's grandfather, was a potter by trade, a whig in politics, a popular man, and for half a century served in some one of the township offices. His son, Philip Reagan, married Rose Martin, a daughter of Frederick Martin and a native of Maryland. She died in 1883 at eighty years of age. Her father was a farmer and came to Fayette county where he died in 1867. Dr Robert S Reagan was reared principally on a farm, educated in the common schools, Mt Pleasant Institute, and Waynesburg College and was graduated from the latter in the class of 1876. He read medicine with Dr J J Singer of Connellsville, attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia and was graduated from that school in the spring of 1880. In May, 1880, he began the practice of medicine at Broad Ford and has successfully continued there in the practice of his profession up to the present time. He enjoys a good and paying practice. He was married in 1881 to Miss Hattie Stacy, daughter of William Stacy who is a well-to-do farmer. They have three children: Roy S Reagan; Edna S Reagan; and Frank S Reagan. In politics he is a democrat and takes an active part in the interests of his party. In 1886 he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Dr John Batton as coroner of Fayette county. In the fall of the same year he was elected coroner and is now serving very satisfactorily in that office. In 1881 he established his present successful drug and grocery store in Broad Ford. Dr Reagan is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Improved Order of Heptasophs. He is pleasant and gentlemanly and a well read and skillful physician. p582 JAMES THOMAS REDBURN was born in Masontown, Fayette county, Penna, May 19, 1822, and was a son of James Tully Redburn and Rebecca Harrison Redburn. He is early life displayed an unusual aptitude for business and during several years of his minority was connected with Zalmon Ludington in the leather trade at Addison, Penna. In 1848 he married Harriet Ann Ludington, youngest daughter of Mr Ludington and shortly after removed to Washington, Penna, where he embarked in the boot and shoe trade. In 1850 he came to Uniontown and reassociated himself with Zalmon Ludington in the boot, shoe and tanning business which he carried on successfully for a number of years. In 1858 he was chosen cashier and manger of the Uniontown banking house of John T Hogg. This soon after became the banking house of Isaac Skiles Jr, Mr Redburn continuing as its cashier. In 1863 he became one of the incorporators of the First National Bank of Uniontown, Penna, which succeeded I Skiles Jr, which opened for business May 2, 1864. He was elected a director and a cashier, to the positions of which he was unanimously re-elected year after year until his death which occurred at his residence in Uniontown, Wednesday evening, May 23, 1877. He was also one of the originators of the Uniontown & West Virginia Railroad Company and was its treasurer. He was also instrumental in starting the Uniontown Wooden Manufacturing Company, one of the few manufacturing establishments Uniontown could boast of and now unluckily destroyed by fire, and was its treasurer. It was, however, as a bank officer that James T Redburn was most widely known. To that position of cashier and director he brought tact and wisdom second to none in the county. He possessed in an eminent degree those sterling qualities of truth and justice, honor and temperance, which drew to him by the most endearing ties of affection a large circle of friends wherever he went and wherever he was known, throughout his entire life. Reserved, quiet, unostentatious he was dearly loved and thoroughly relied upon by the numerous friends and customers who sought his advice. A statement from his lips needed no investigation to test its accuracy. Statements of rumors that found credence through current gossip he met with thorough but not effusive detestation, and those most intimately associated with him bear testimony to the silence with which he treated subjects regarding which he had only the information of rumor. He preferred to leave the impression that he had no knowledge of a subject rather than give credence to a statement he did not know to be absolutely true. In this as well as in many other particulars Mr Redburn exerted an influence that was manly, noble, generous, and self-sacrificing and that bore most bountiful fruit through his many warm friendships throughout Fayette and adjoining counties. In his private and home life he was ever kind and watchful of the wants of others. He let not the caress or the worriment of the day follow him home to disturb the peace and quiet of his family. Never of a very rugged constitution he was from boyhood subject to occasional periods of physical depression from that dread disease, consumption, which had carried away his four sisters and two brothers; yet he had that tenacity and will power which often held him to his desk when his strength would scarcely keep him on his feet. He was an earnest and consistent member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church in Uniontown and in life followed the Master with reverence and godly fear. Possessed of a naturally kind and sympathetic heart, he was ever ready to assist the poor and destitute or impart consolation to a sorrowing soul. His funeral took place Friday evening, May 25, 1877, with Rev J J Moffitt and Rev S W Davis of the Methodist Episcopal church conducting the services. The pall bearers were Eleazer Robinson, Sebastian Rush, Uriah Higinbotham, Jasper M Thompson, Charles S Seaton, William McCleary, John Wilson and Alfred Howell. Mr Redburn having lost his wife in December, 1860, did not marry again. Of his two children, but one, Minnie L Redburn, survives him. p471 JAMES MADISON REID. There are men who, by marked ability, ceaseless energy and great success, commend themselves to public attention. To this class Mr Reid justly belongs. He is a resident of Connellsville and was born in West Newton, Westmoreland county, Penna, April 10, 1849. He is the third child of James Dunlap Reid and Mary Henry Reid. The former came from Belfast, Ireland, in about 1840; the latter, whose mother was a McAuley, was a daughter of Edward Henry. His blood relations have given prominent characters to American history. Several of the Reids attained distinction in battles of war and victories of peace. One of them was the celebrated Captain Samuel C Reid, a distinguished naval officer, who in command of the privateer General Armstrong in 1814, engaged a British fleet and fought the most brilliant naval battle of which we have any record. The Washington Union of April 30, 1858, says: "It was Captain Reid, who in 1818 at the complimentary request of a committee of congress, designed our present national flag." The first brigadier general in the Revolutionary War was a Reid. On the maternal side, J M Reid comes of the notable Henry family, of which Patrick Henry, the great orator, was a member, and the late Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institution, whose fame is world wide. John McAuley, a very brave officer who served on General Washington's staff, was a great uncle to the mother of J M Reid. The Reids and Henrys trace their ancestry to the old world, where in past ages, members of each family have held important political positions, and were conspicuous in deeds of daring. James M Reid, while a mere child, went to Allegheny county, Penna, was educated in the common schools, till in his fourteenth year, when he attended the Allegheny Institute for a short time. At about the age of fourteen, he began to do for himself with no resources but strong will and determination. He weighed coal, later he clerked in a store for about a year, when he went to Broadford and was engaged for about four years as a clerk with his brother, E H Reid. From Broadford, he went to Dunbar and with others engaged in the mercantile business, which he continued most successfully for six years. Having clearly shown his adaptability for business by his success in mercantile pursuits, he proceeded to enlarge his sphere of operations by engaging in coal mining and the manufacture of coke, and by a successful prosecution of these industries, fully demonstrated his capability to manage an extensive business or control and direct a combination of several great enterprises. In 1882 he had bought out all of his partners in the coal and coke business. He owns a controlling interest in several coalfields whose combined area is more than seven thousand acres. In February, 1882, he organized the Connellsville and Ursina Coal and Coke Company with a capital of $400,000. He was elected its president in 1882 and has continued to act as such ever since. This company owns over seven thousand acres of land. The Ursina & North Fork R R starts at Ursina Station on the B & O R R, and extends for several miles up the north fork of the Youghiogheny river through the property of this company which own their own cars and engines. Their object is to develop the limestone, iron ore and coal of their lands. He is a member of the firm of Boyts, Porter & Co of Connellsville, manufacturers of steam pumps, supplies for furnaces and coke works and dealers in steam and water pipe, brass and iron fittings, etc. Mr Reid was unanimously elected chairman of the republican county committee of Fayette county in 1884, 1885, 1886 and 1887. In 1888 he was unanimously nominated by the republicans of Fayette county for congress, the district of Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. The Fayette county conferees met with those of Greene, Washington and part of Allegheny counties, and held five meetings of several days each. At the last meeting at Pittsburgh on the 206th ballot, Mr Reid moved to nominate Ray of Greene county, who easily secured the nomination principally through the support of Mr Reid, and was elected. Mr Reid was a member of the republican State central committee for several years, and received the congratulations of his party in Pennsylvania for the work he did in his district while a committeeman. He is a man of great determination, fine intelligence and business energy, and has a large personal and political following in Fayette and adjoining counties. p216 JESSE REID, the present Burgess of Uniontown, was born March 1, 1821, in Rostraver township, Westmoreland county, Penna. He was educated in the common schools and at the age of eighteen learned the milling business in Webster where he worked at the same business for about ten years. He was married in 1846 to Miss Sarah A Carson of Webster. He came to Fayette county in 1847 where he followed milling the greater part of his time up to 1874. In 1874 he was elected county commissioner on the republican ticket and was probably the first republican ever elected to that office in the county, overcoming a democratic majority of about 1,000 or 1,200. he was elected for three years; his term of office having expired, he was engaged in farming till 1885 when he came to Uniontown and in 1886 was elected Burgess. Re-elected in 1887, 1888, and 1889. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for about thirty five years and is a steward of the church. He joined the Odd Fellows in 1859, is about as high in the lodge as a member can go and has been twice representative to the Grand Lodge. He has five living children: James H Reid; Ann Maria Reid; Samuel C Reid; Martha Jane Reid; and William G Reid. His parents were Samuel Reid and Marie Watson Reid. The former a native of Washington county, Penna, and was a blacksmith by trade; his death occurred some fifteen years ago. p376 CURTIS REPPERT was born May 19, 1830, in Greene county, Penna, and is a son of George and Salome Reppert. George Reppert, father, was born in one week after the arrival of his parents in this country from Germany. He was a son of Louis Reppert who settled at New Geneva and followed glass blowing. Curtis Reppert received his education in the subscription schools, and then worked for nearly forty years as a glassblower in the glass works. In 1843 he removed to Belle Vernon, and in 1878 began the undertaking and furniture business. He has successfully continued in it, and now owns the largest establishment of that kind in the place. He was married February 26, 1851, to Miss Maria Louisa Jordan, daughter of Edward Jordan of Maine, who had removed to Westmoreland county. Unto this union were born six children: Allen Reppert, dead; Louis Reppert; Mira Reppert; Alfred Reppert; and Eckley Reppert, dead. He belongs to the Senior Mechanics, Royal Aracanum and Equitable Aid Union. He is a consistent member of the M E church to which he and his entire family belong. He is a straightforward businessman, and a good and reliable citizen. p472 JAMES F RIDGEWAY, one of the enterprising young business men of Dunbar, was born in Monongalia county, West Virginia, March 10. 1854. His father, at the breaking out of the war, joined the Union army and fought at the second battle of Bull Run and was in various other engagements; afterwards was taken prisoner and for eighteen months he was confined in Southern prisons: four months in Libby and thirteen months at Andersonville. His death occurred from disease contracted while in the war on April 27, 1881. James F Ridgeway's mother's maiden name was Martha Goodwin. His great grandfather, Whorton Ridgeway, was a native Scotchman. His grandfather, Joel Ridgeway, was born near Morgantown in 1796, and was married to Jerushia Dawson. For many years Sylvester Ridgeway resided at Dunbar and was engaged as brick moulder and mining boss. J F Ridgeway received his education in the West Virginia State Normal School at Fairmont. On leaving school he taught for about seven years in the public schools of that state. He went to Scottdale, Westmoreland county, and for five years was engaged in the mining business. In 1884 he located at Dunbar and began the manufacture of cigars; he continued at this business a few years, when he engaged in his present business: grocery and restaurant. His wife is Sophia Hall, a daughter of Samuel A Hall, who was born in Fayette county and served three years in the war. Samuel A Hall's wife was Mary A Morrison, a native of Fayette county, and a daughter of Francis Morrison, who was born in Ireland. Mr Ridgeway is a member and treasurer of the Baptist church at Dunbar, and is a member of K of P and I O O F. p290 Rev JOHN W RIGHTER, minister of the Methodist Episcopal church at Brownsville, is the son of Lewis Righter and Mariah J Myers Righter. They were natives of Chester county, Penna. His father was a carriage manufacturer and a resident of Salem, Ohio, at the time of his death, September 5, 1875, and was fifty years of age. He removed to Ohio in 1852 and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Rev Righter's mother died September 6, 1875, at the age of forty five years. She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and the daughter of Rev Daniel Myers. Rev John W Righter was born January 9, 1853, at Mount Union, Ohio, and was brought up at Salem, Ohio. He attended the high schools of Salem; leaving school he went into the printing office of the Salem REPUBLICAN where he learned the trade of printer and worked at it consecutively for six years. At the age of sixteen years he was converted in the Methodist Episcopal church at Salem, Ohio. He studied for the ministry at his home under private teachers and was licensed as a local preacher in February, 1873, in the Philadelphia conference. In March, 1874, he joined the Pittsburgh conference and has continued it ever since. He was first stationed on the New Galilee circuit in Beaver county, Penna. He was next at Unionville and Concord, also in Beaver county, Penna; then at Harmony, Butler county; thence at Smith's Ferry, same county; and afterwards at Kittanning in Armstrong county. In October, 1887, he came to Brownsville and has since been the pastor of the first Methodist Episcopal church. In 1875 he was married to Miss Achsa M Early of Darlington, Beaver county, Penna. She is the daughter of Samuel Early and Lucinda Grosvener Early. They have three children: Edna C Righter; Blanche E Righter; and Frank P Early. Mr Righter is a member of the A O U W. p218 JOSEPH K RITENOUR, a pleasant gentleman and a popular and efficient druggist of Uniontown was born in Preston county, Virginia (now West Virginia) November 28, 1854. He is a son of William M Ritenour and Elizabeth A Shaw Ritenour; the former was born in Rappahannock county, Virginia, and came to Uniontown in 1846. He was a commissioned officer during the late war and is now living in Florida; the latter is a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Joseph K Ritenour was reared at Uniontown where he was educated. In 1872 he engaged as a clerk in a drug store and continued as such for four years. In 1876 he formed a partnership with A L Moser and they were engaged successfully in the drug business up until 1882. In September, 1882, he dissolved partnership with Moser, and purchased the drug store of Dr S Fuller & Sons on Broadway Street. After operating this drug store successfully for three years, he removed to his present large and commodious building on Morgantown Street. His room is of ample dimensions, well arranged, fully equipped with every facility and convenience for the transaction of his line of business. He has a large and excellent stock of pure and fresh drugs, medicines, chemicals, extracts, proprietary remedies, perfumery, toilet articles, fancy goods, and a large supply of school books and standard works of literature. In 1877 he was married to Miss Kate Rodehaver of near St Louis, Missouri. They have three children: Joseph P Ritenour, Altha M Ritenour, and Margaret L Ritenour. Situated within a few steps of Main Street, Mr Ritenour's drug store is a very valuable and eligible business building. He does a fine business, retaining his many old patrons and constantly securing new ones. To fine business qualifications he adds years of successful experience and stands high in Western Pennsylvania as a druggist. He is one of the live, enterprising citizens of Fayette county. p 572 ROMULOUS V RITENOUR, a prominent educator and ex-county superintendent of Fayette county, is sprung from good old Virginia stock, and was born in Rappahannock county, Virginia, April 13, 1847. His grandfather, Joseph Ritenour, was of German extraction, and was born near Gaines' Cross Roads, Virginia. He removed to Brandonville, Preston county, West Virginia, in about 1850 where he was engaged in the hotel business until his death. John H Ritenour, the father of R V Ritenour, came from Virginia to Fayette county in 1856, was a farmer and stock dealer and a man who was popular in his neighborhood. He was married in 1846 to Mary Rudasill of Rappahannock county. They had ten children born to them: Romulus V Ritenour, Florence L Ritenour, Mary E Ritenour, Susan Ritenour, Anna Belle Ritenour, John Mifflin Ritenour (deceased), Joseph E Ritenour, George I Ritenour (deceased), Lulu B Ritenour and Elfrida C Ritenour. Romulous V Ritenour was elected to the office of county superintendent of schools of Fayette county in 1881, and filled the office so acceptably that at the end of his term he was re-elected and served in the office for six years. He is one of the most popular and talented educators in the county. p472 ALBERT ROBINSON, a prosperous farmer near Leisenring, is a son of James Robinson and Nancy Tintsman Robinson and was born near Connellsville in Dunbar township, Fayette county, Penna, October 11, 1837. His grandfather, Duncan Robinson, came from Scotland to Lancaster county, Penna, in 1720 where he married Miss Jennie Doulan, a native of Ireland. His children were: James Robinson, Alexander Robinson, John Robinson, William Robinson, Susan Robinson and Sarah Robinson. His father, James Robinson, was born in Lancaster county, Penna, in 1787, and died March 21, 1874. He came to Westmoreland county, and subsequently removed to Dunbar township about 1820. He was an "old line whig" and married Miss Nancy Tintsman, daughter of Abraham Tintsman of Westmoreland county, Penna. Mr Tintsman was a native of Germany and came from Berks county. His children were: Abraham Tintsman, Judah Tintsman, Fanny Tintsman, Betsey Tintsman, Nancy Tintsman and Barbara Tintsman. Mr and Mrs Robinson's children were: Cyrus Robinson, born 1816, killed by a tree, married Fannie Galley; Eliza Robinson, born 1817, N H White; Frances Robinson, born 1818, married John Freed; Susan Robinson, born 1821, married David Garlits; Margaret Robinson, born 1822, married O J McCormick; Nancy Robinson, born 1824, married A J Patterson; and Adaline Robinson, born 1827, married I A Hugus. Mrs Robinson was born 1795, died 1813. He was reared on a farm and well-trained in the farming business. He was educated in the common schools of his native township. After leaving school he engaged in farming and stock-raising and has successfully continued in that line of business until this time. Albert Robinson married in March, 1872, Miss Lydia Morgan, daughter of Philip Morgan and Lydia Watson Morgan. Mr Robinson has two children: Maud Robinson, born April 14, 1873, and Ira Robinson, born July 5, 1875. Mrs Robinson's sisters and brothers were: Margaret Morgan; Nancy Morgan, dead; Eliza Morgan; Lyida A Morgan, dead; Maria Morgan, dead; Lydia Morgan; Julia Morgan, dead; James Morgan; Judson Morgan, and Thomas Morgan, dead. He owns a valuable and productive farm of seventy five acres near Leisenring. He is a successful farmer of Dunbar township and a staunch republican. p592 ELEAZER ROBINSON. Among the immigrants of Fayette county, bringing and infusing into its social and business life a then somewhat novel element, that of the 'Yankee' or New England spirit, came about 1837 Eleazer Robinson, an iron founder. Mr Robinson was born March 4, 1804, in Bethel, Windsor county, Vermont. His parents, Eleazer Robinson and Experience Downer, were of the old New England Puritan stock. In 1810 they removed to Saratoga county, New York, where he enjoyed the advantages of the common schools of the times and made considerable progress in general studies. But in 1824 his parents then removing to Broome county, New York, young Robinson there availed himself of the opportunities offered by the academy in his neighborhood. There he devoted himself mainly to mathematics, in which he achieved marked success, leaving the academy well equipped as a civil engineer; and though he did not enter upon the profession of engineering, his studies there made have served him on many an important occasion in the avocations of life, especially in mechanical pursuits. On quitting the academy he took up the study of the law under the direction of a leading lawyer of Binghamton, a Mr Robinson-not a relative, however-and continued his legal studies until interrupted by the death of his father (who left seven children, of whom Mr Robinson was the eldest), which threw upon him the responsible care of the family, obliging him to quit the law office for the practical duties of the farmer, he varying these during a course of years by more or less school teaching. Eventually he became largely interested in the lumber business at Oswego, New York. But there overborne by disaster caused by a great freshet in the Upper Branch of the Susquehanna, which in a few hours swept away a fortune in lumber, he with the buoyant energy which has distinguished his whole life, moved at once to Erie, Penna, and there engaged in the drug business. At this business he continued three years, within which time he made an acquaintanceship which gave direction to the course of his life since then with a Mr Jonathan Hathaway, the patentee of a superior cooking stove, well remembered by the older inhabitants of Fayette county, and secured control of the manufacture of the 'Hathaway stoves,' whereupon he moved to Pittsburgh and procured their casting there. After a while, meeting with much loss through the destruction by fire of the foundry wherein the stoves were being cast, he went to Uniontown in 1837 and there established a foundry, and eventually erected a branch foundry in Washington, Penna, and opened agencies at Carlisle and elsewhere, all of which were conducted very successfully for some years. Finally Mr Robinson concentrated his business at Uniontown, there prosecuting it actively till 1867 when, having amassed a goodly fortune, he retired from business as a manufacturer, selling the foundry to one of his earliest apprentices and faithful co-workers, Mr Thomas Jaquett. Since then Mr Robinson has been engaged in various business pursuits. In 1872 he came into possession as sole owner under a private charter of the gas works by which Uniontown is lighted. He also controls as principal owner the gas works of Middletown, Dauphin county. Mr Robinson was one of the original board of directors of the First National Bank of Uniontown, and remained a director till within a few years past. He has ever generously contributed to the upbuilding or support of such institutions in the places of his residence as commanded his respect, taking no extreme partisan cause, however, either in politics or religion, enjoying the esteem of his neighbors and the business public as a man of sterling integrity as well as clear judgment, genial sociability, and human sentiments. July 12, 1837, Mr Robinson united in marriage with Miss Cornelia Wells of York, New York, who died in 1845, having borne him four children, one only of whom, Mrs Emma R King, now (1882) survives. On November 6, 1846, Mr Robinson married again, being then united to Miss Mary Ann McClelland of Uniontown, who died in September, 1850, leaving no children. Mr Robinson married as his third wife, November 24, 1852, Mrs Elizabeth J Porter, daughter of James Wilson, Esq, of German township, with whom he lived twenty nine years, she dying in May, 1881, at the age of sixty eight years, leaving two children -Mr W L Robinson, who has mainly succeeded to his father's business, managing the gas works, etc, and Miss Mary E Robinson. p215 FREDERICK CONVERSE ROBINSON, MD. Uniontown has always been fortunate in having good and skillful physicians, men well read, of good judgment and extensive practice. Among the names of this class of physicians who have honored their calling will be found that of Dr Frederick C Robinson. He was born in Saratoga county, New York, November 30, 1820, and is a son of Eleazer Robinson and Experience Downer Robinson, the latter born in 1776, both being of families of the old Puritan stock. Eleazer Robinson was a native of Vermont born in 1782 and was by occupation a farmer. He died in 1826 in the Newark Valley, New York. His father, Eleazer Robinson Sr, was born in 1836 in New England, and died in 1820. He was also by occupation a farmer. When Dr Robinson was small, his parents removed to Newark Valley, Tioga county, New York, where the father died in very moderate circumstances. Dr Robinson came to Erie county, Penna, in 1837, and from thence to Uniontown in 1840. He was educated in select schools and at Madison College. He read medicine at Uniontown subsequently went to Ohio, there finished his studies and after which he entered Jefferson Medical College and graduated in March, 1851. He began the practice of medicine in Harrison county, Ohio, in 1845 but returned to Uniontown in 1851, opened an office and built up a large practice. During the late war, he was the medical examiner for the twenty first enrollment district. He was appointed pension surgeon in 1866 but resigned in 1879 not desiring to longer retain the position. He was married to Susan Hollingsworth of Harford county, Maryland, on the 11th of November, 1847. The Hollingsworths are of Quaker stock who trace their history back to 1200 in Cheshire, England, where an estate still belongs in the family. Valentine Hollingsworth, a worthy member of the Society of Friends, came over with William Penn and settled on the Brandywine. Dr Robinson's wife is of the seventh generation from honest old Valentine Hollingsworth. Dr Robinson has four children, namely: Ada Virginia Robinson, born August 17, 1848, and married to William K Gillespie, a wholesale grocery merchant of Pittsburgh. Henry E Robinson, born May 19, 1851, was graduated in the class of 1871 at West Point and is a first lieutenant in the Fourth United States Infantry. He married Miss Sallie K Gaddis of Uniontown. Charles C Robinson, born January 25, 1855, went West and is engaged in the mercantile business; he married Miss Elizabeth Scott of Allegheny county, Penna. Elizabeth H Robinson, born April 24, 1861, was married to First Lieutenant John Baxter Jr of the Ninth United States Infantry, November 11, 1885. He graduated at West Point in the class of 1877 and is now stationed as Military Instructor at the Normal University, Ada, Ohio. Dr Robinson having acquired a competency, he has virtually retired from the practice of medicine after more than forty four years of hard and efficient service as an active physician. He was at one time president of the Fayette County Medical Association, and although retired yet feels as deep an interest as ever in his profession and its advancements. He resides in a delightful home on Morgantown street where he has lived for more than thirty years. The old house is embowered in shade trees and surrounded by beautifully kept grounds that in summer are rendered attractive by a profusion of flowers. His excellent wife who has been long noted for her taste and skill in the cultivation of roses has rendered the old house as attractive without as it is genial and hospitable within. The cheery voices of some of their numerous and ever welcome grandchildren almost constantly ring through the old house where their parents were reared and went forth thence to their life work. Old age is bringing a welcome serenity to the old home. p 318 HAROLD L ROBINSON is the son of Dr Jabez Robinson and Agnes Cannon Robinson. His father was a native of New England, was a practicing physician, and died in Montana Territory in 1866 at the age of fifty two years. His mother was born in Fayette county, Pa, where her family have lived ever since the Revolutionary War. Her grandfather, Daniel Cannon, was an officer in the War of the Revolution. She is now residing in Uniontown. The Cannons came from Virginia, were among the first who settled in Fayette county, and who resided for many years in the Laurel Hill neighborhood. Harold L Robinson was born in Oregon City, Missouri, July 25, 1864, and was graduated from the West Virginia University at Morgantown in 1884. He read law with James Darby, was admitted to the practice of law at the Uniontown bar in June, 1887, and immediately opened an office at Uniontown. He is a member of the M E Church, and is a member of JR O U A M. p521 Col JAMES ROBINSON, a highly respected and very worthy citizen of Fairchance, is of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock. He is a son of John and Mary McClain Robinson and was born November 27, 1806, in what is now Nicholson township. His paternal grandfather was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and with one sister came to Carlisle, Pa, where he served as an elder in the Presbyterian church. John Robinson (father) was born near Carlisle in 1775, removed to Westmoreland county, and in 1780 came to Fayette county, where he settled in Georges township. He had several brothers in the frontier Indian wars, one of whom was killed. He was married in 1805 to Miss Mary McClain, and they had two children: James Robinson and Samuel Robinson, born May 1, 1808. His wife was a daughter of John and Margaret McClain. John McClain came from Scotland to Virginia in 1760, and afterwards settled on the Miami river, the site of Dayton. He was a strict Presbyterian. Col Robinson was reared on the old Robinson farm, and received in the subscription schools of that day, a practical education, that fitted him for an active business career in life. Leaving school he engaged in farming, but soon began school teaching and continued in that avocation till 1835. In 1835 he took charge of Springhill Furnace store for J K Duncan. From 1836 to 1856 Col Robinson had charge of Fairchance Ironworks and was very popular as a superintendent, and highly respected as a gentleman. He was married January 27, 1857, to Mrs Catherine Saams of Allegheny county, Pa. She died September 9, 1863, and left three children: Margaret Ann Robinson, John Taylor Robinson and Emma Caroline Robinson. For his second wife he married February 15, 1866, Miss Lavinia P Caldwell, of St Joseph, Missouri. To this union two children were born, both of whom died young. He was commission Colonel of the State Militia in 1830 by Gov Wolfe. Col Robinson and Squire Ayres were the first two school directors appointed in Georges township. He was a director on the B & O Railroad from Uniontown to Connellsville, and a director for a long time in two of the Uniontown banks. He holds fast to the religious faith of his forefathers. During the last year he erected a very fine residence at Fairchance, and there, surrounded by his friends, he is living a quiet and peaceful life, with no clouds to mar the future before him and the memory of a well spent life behind him. p522 JOHN TAYLOR ROBINSON, one of Georges township's young business men is a son of Colonel James and Catherine Taylor Saams Robinson, and was born near Fairchance, Georges township, Fayette county, Pa, June 14, 1859. John T Robinson was reared on a farm, and carefully instructed in all the details of successful farm management. He was educated in the common and select schools and attended one year at the University of Wooster, Ohio. Leaving school, he engaged in farming and has continued largely in that line of business ever since. On February 15, 1888, he was united in marriage with Miss Eugenia Hampton McCormick, of Cumberland, Maryland. They have one child, a daughter Jennie McCormick. Mrs Robinson's father, Dr William Hampton McCormick, was born near Smithfield in 1826, read medicine with Dr Smith Fuller of Uniontown, was graduated from Jefferson Medical College, and for many years was a leading physician of Cumberland, where he has an extensive and lucrative practice. John T Robinson owns two hundred acres of land in Georges and Springhill townships. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian. In political opinion, he is a strong republican, and has served acceptably as school director of Georges township. Resides in a comfortable home near Oliphants, and divides his time between managing his farms and superintending his father's (Colonel Robinson) extensive business affairs. He is a conscientious and upright business man, and is one of the directors of the People's Bank of Uniontown. p237 WILLIAM L ROBINSON is a son of Eleazar and Elizabeth J Wilson Robinson, and was born at Uniontown, Fayette County, Pa, March 26, 1856. Eleazar Robinson was born March 4, 1804, in Bethel, Windsor county, Vt. He was the son of Eleazar and Experience Downer Robinson, whose ancestors were of the Pilgrim band that came over in the Mayflower. Eleazar moved to New York, where Eleazar Jr was educated at an academy. The latter was well qualified for a civil engineer, but took up the study of the law, which he relinquished on the death of his father, and gave his attention to farming and school teaching in order to provide for his father's helpless family. When free to do for himself, a great freshet swept away from him a fortune in the lumber business at Oswego, New York. He afterwards engaged in the drug business at Erie, Penna, where he made the acquaintance of Jonas Hathaway, the inventor of a stove. He obtained control of the "Hathaway Stove" so wonderfully popular forty years ago. He removed to Pittsburgh and engaged in the manufacture of the stove, but his foundry was soon destroyed by fire. Undismayed by reverses, he came to Uniontown in 1837 and established another stove foundry; and here his business increased so rapidly that he was necessitated to start a branch foundry at Washington, Penna, as he also established agencies at Carlisle, Penna, and at several other points throughout Pennsylvania and Virginia. After thirty years of successful business life, Mr Robinson retired from the stove business in 1867. In 1872 he became proprietor of Uniontown gas works, and was one of the original directors of the First National Bank of Uniontown. He was married July 12, 1837, to Miss Cornelia Wells, of York, New York, who died in 1845. They had four children, of whom one, Mrs Emma R King, is now living. On November 6, 1846, he married Miss Mary Ann McClelland of Uniontown, and she died in 1850, leaving no children. He again married November 4, 1852, Elizabeth J Porter, daughter of James Wilson, Esq, of German township. She died April 29, 1881, at the age of sixty eight years, leaving two children: William L Robinson and Mary E Robinson. William L Robinson was educated in the public schools of Uniontown, but having the inclination to engage in business pursuits, he left school in 1872 and engaged with his father in the gas business. In 1876 he took entire charge of the business, which he still conducts. He was elected by the republicans to the town council in 1883, in 1886 elected president of the council, and was elected a member of the school board in 1889. He is a prominent Free Mason, Knights Templar, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. W L Robinson was married in 1882 to Miss Annie L Oliphant, a native of Uniontown, but was a resident of Wampum, Lawrence county, Pa, at the time of her marriage. She is the granddaughter of F H Oliphant; his father, Col John Oliphant, and grandfather, Andrew Oliphant, came from Chester county, Penna. Fideleo Hughes Oliphant was born January 4, 1800, and died November 10, 1879. He was a prominent iron manufacturer of Fayette county, and built the Fairchance and Oliphant furnaces. He was a Presbyterian, honest, just and generous man. p376 JACOB T ROLEY was born March 14, 1834 in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Penna, and was reared in that county until sixteen years old. He attended the common schools and went one term to Mt Pleasant College. In 1852 he went to Monongahela City and followed teaming for two years. He then removed to Belle Vernon and engaged in merchandising for twenty years. In 1865, June 18th he was married to Miss Anna E Kreps, daughter of Louis Krepps who is a descendant of one of the earliest families that settled the county. To this union were born eight children: Anna E Roley, William H Roley, Louis F Roley, Millie Roley, Ellie Roley, Jennie Roley, Jessie Roley and Joseph T Roley. In 1874 he read law and has practiced in intervals since that time. At present he is engaged in the livery business. He served as justice of the peace from 1870 to 1875, has been burgess of his borough three times, and was re-elected justice of the peace in 1879. He is the son of Robert Roley and Eliza Tuman, both of German descent. His father was born on Chestnut Ridge, Westmoreland county, March 14, 1812, and was the son of John Roley, one of the early pioneers of that county. His mother, Eliza Tuman, was a native of Pennsylvania; her father, Jacob Tuman, was amongst the first settlers of this part of the country. Her mother was Sarah Raider and she was also of one of the earliest families of southwestern Pennsylvania. The family is of German descent. p291 GEORGE WASHINGTON ROSS was born February 2, 1847, in Monongalia county, Virginia, now West Virginia, and is a son of Robert Ross and Tabitha Hoard Ross. His paternal grandfather came from Ireland, located at Uniontown where he married Miss Evans, and then removed to Crawford county where he remained until his nine children were grown to man and womanhood. He made his last removal to Monongalia county, Virginia, where he spent the remainder of his life reaching within ten years of the century mark. Robert Ross, father, was a native of Crawford county and came with his father to Monongalia county, Virginia. He had received a fair education for that day and engaged in farming. In 1859 he bought a farm near Point Marion where he resided till his death June 9, 1878. He had five children: Elizabeth A Ross; James L Ross, died; Francis M Ross; George W Ross; and William Miles Ross, dead. His widow is still living in the seventy eighth year of her age. George W Ross was educated in the common schools of Pennsylvania and engaged in farming with his father until the death of the latter when he removed to his present farm in Springhill township. He also owns a well improved farm of forty acres in West Virginia, one hundred acres of timber land in West Virginia and a valuable house and lot in Point Marion. He was married October 24, 1878, to Miss Lydia Jane Campbell, daughter of Thomas Campbell. They have two children: Isa Dora Ross, born September 1, 1881; and Charles Franklin Ross, born August 5, 1885. In politics he is a democrat and has served his township as assessor and collector of taxes. He is a Methodist in religious belief and his wife belongs to the Disciple church at Oak Grove. He is one of the prosperous farmers of Springhill township. p291 ROBERT H ROSS is a native of Fayette county, Penna; was born at Masontown, April 22, 1824, and is of Scotch Irish descent. He was brought up on his father's farm and attended the schools of his youth which were of the old class of subscription schools, the present common school system not having been adopted in Pennsylvania till the year 1838. Attaining his majority he commenced farming in company with his father, continuing to do so until October, 1861, when he enlisted as a volunteer in Company G, Eighty fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He remained in the war two years and seen months when he was mustered out on May 11, 1864. He was promoted to first sergeant while in the service. Eight months of this time were spent in the hospital. He was wounded at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, by a shot through the left shoulder. The ball penetrated the lung, which almost entirely deprived him of the use of his left arm. He fought in the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, and was in several skirmishes. Mustered out of the service he returned to his home and again engaged in farming in which he has since continued. By thrift and industry he succeeded in accumulating quite a considerable property and owns one hundred acres of valuable land. He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Georges Creek and has been a ruling elder in the church since June, 1856. During his whole life he has been a pupil and teacher in the Sabbath school. His father, Warwick Ross, was born near Masontown, Penna, June 7, 1797. His grandfather, Robert Ross, was one of the earliest settlers of Fayette county. He is a man of high standing in his neighborhood and is esteemed as a good citizen and Christian. p376 MILTON ROSSER, General Superintendent of the Jimtown & Sterling Coke Works, was born in Gloucestershire, England, 12th of January, 1850, and is a son of John Rosser and Ann Jones Rosser. John Rosser in 1852 came from Gloucestershire, England, to Temperanceville, Penna (now a part of the thirty sixth ward of Pittsburgh) and in the ensuing year was joined by his family. In 1859 he removed to Mason county, Virginia, now West Virginia, remained there until 1866 when he returned to Pennsylvania and located in Mansfield Valley, Allegheny county, Penna. He has always been engaged in the coal business, and is now operating a coal bank in Mansfield Valley. Mr Rosser is a member of the Baptist church. Milton Rosser attended the common schools of Pittsburgh and the pay schools of Mason county, Virginia. At twelve years of age he entered the coal mines, and went to work at twenty five cents per day. For twenty years he labored in coal mines and became thoroughly acquainted with all the details of mine management. Where other miners had worked, he had worked, and filled every position to be filled in a coal mine, thought and observed, and in 1875 was selected by Huntsman, Miller & Co as superintendent of their coal works situated twelve miles from Pittsburgh. In 1878 the firm made an assignment and he accepted the superintendency of the mines of David Steen & Sons' coal works at Camp Hill. From 1880 to 1885 he served as mine superintendent at Jimtown coal works of J M Schoonmaker, which position he still holds with credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. On December 24, 1871, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Wilcox, daughter of John W and Mary Wilcox, one of the first mine inspectors in western Pennsylvania and a man now worth considerable money, gained by his own efforts. Mr and Mrs Rosser have seven children: George Rosser, Mary Ann Rosser, Alice Rosser, William Rosser, Florence Rosser, Bertha Rosser and Laura Bell Rosser. He is a staunch republican, has been for several years the republican central committee man of his township, served on the republican county committee, and is now serving as school director of Lower Tyrone township. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and belongs to the Odd Fellows. He owns an interest in the stone quarry on the P McK Y R R west of Dawson. Mr Rosser is one of that class of self-made men who only need opportunity to pass the front in most any line of business. p525 JACOB RUBLE Jr, son of Jacob Ruble and Ruth Rhodes Ruble, was born in Monongalia county, Va, (now W Va) July 6, 1824, was educated in the Virginia subscription schools, and afterwards learned the trade of millwright, which he has since followed. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Ruble, was born in Monongalia county, Va, (now West Virginia) January 5, 1775, was a miller and owned two mills that were far-famed in that day for doing good work. He married Miss Ruth Rhodes, daughter of William Rhodes. They had eight children: Joshua Ruble, born March 12, 1812; Samuel Ruble, born December 24, 1813; Elizabeth Ruble, born in 1816; William Ruble, born June 2, 1818; Mary Ruble, born January 21, 1821; Jacob Ruble, born July 6, 1824; Ruth Ruble, born July 18, 1828; and Sarah J Ruble, born March 10, 1832. William Rhodes (maternal great grandfather) belonged to an artillery company in the War of the Revolution, and rendered excellent service at Baltimore. Jacob Ruble Jr was married February 29, 1852, to Miss Minerva Saddler, daughter of John Saddler and Hannah Keiser Saddler, both natives of Springhill township and of German descent. Mr Ruble has five children: John C Ruble, born November 30, 1852; Sallie J Ruble, born February 25, 1854; Hannah M Ruble, born April 24, 1857; William J Ruble, born April 24, 1857; Ulysses G Ruble, born August 14, 1863. He owns a valuable flouring mill near Smithfield, and also possesses thirty two acres of good land. On the site of this mill, Meshac Davis erected in 1795, one of the first mills west of the Alleghenies. It passed to Jesse Evans and Davis' heirs, and was sold to Noah Lyon in 1835, who sold it to Nathaniel G Hurst (1836), under whose ownership the old mill was torn down; in its stead was erected the present large and commodious mill, which afterwards passed into the hands of George T Paul, and was next sold to its present owner, Jacob Ruble Jr in 1873. Ruble's mill has all the latest milling machinery and is fitted up with all modern improvements. It has quite a reputation for manufacturing first class flour. He is a Master Mason, is a fine workman, an experienced and skillful miller, an entertaining conversationalist, and a good citizen. p292 JOHN C RUBLE is a native of Monongalia county, West Virginia, and was born January 7, 1845. His family is of German and Irish origin. His father, William Ruble, was born June 2, 1818, in Monongalia county, West Virginia; he attended the schools of his day, and received a good education. He afterwards learned the trade of shoemaker with Jacob Tederick and has followed it all of his life. He was married in 1840 to Miss Elizabeth Wolfe. Six children have been born to their union: Jacob Ruble, one of the number, May 12, 1846; and William R Ruble, physician at Mayfield, Kentucky; and Jacob is a Presbyterian minister. Elizabeth Wolfe Ruble, the mother, was born in 1817 and died in 1876. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and a very devout Christian woman. Jacob Ruble, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Virginia, now West Virginia, was a distiller, and became wealthy. He owned a large body of land and at his death gave each of his eight children a valuable farm. He was a good citizen, and notwithstanding his business was a sober man. John D Ruble's great grandfather was one of the earliest settlers of Fayette county. John C Ruble was brought up on a farm, attended the common schools winters and summer till at the age of sixteen years when he went into the war as a substitute and remained nine months. He afterward enlisted as a volunteer in Company E, Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry under Captain Duncan September 4, 1864, and remained till the close of the war. While scouting near White Post, West Virginia, he was wounded by three balls; one entered below the shoulder blade and penetrated the lung; the other two entered the right side and still remain there. He was at once taken prisoner and his wounds received no attention for two weeks. He was rescued, sent to the hospital at Baltimore, Maryland, recovered and in two months he rejoined his regiment. He was mustered out of the service at Alexandria, Virginia, returned home and engaged in drilling oil wells for some time. On December 1, 1866, he married Nancy L Conn, daughter of Jacob Conn, and to their union were born six children: Dell Ruble; Harry J Ruble; Fred L Ruble; Frank C Ruble; Maggie A Ruble; and Russel Ray Ruble. All are living and at home but the oldest son, Dell, who was drowned in the Cheat River, June 16, 1888, in the twentieth year of his age. At the time he was employed in the lumber business. John C Ruble learned the trade of shoemaker with his father, and after his marriage he worked at it for three years. He then went on a farm as a day hand, and in 1877 rented a farm. In 1879 he bought a farm of eighty four acres and is now doing well. He is a republican, has been jury commissioner of his township, and is a member of the G A R Post No 180 at Uniontown. He gets a pension of six dollars per month. p377 CHARLES W RUSH is assistant cashier of the Dawson Deposit Bank. The Rush family is of Irish descent and is one of the oldest in Fayette county, Penna. Charles W Rush's grandfather, Charles Rush, was a native of Fayette county and was a tavern keeper at Farmington in the "Auld Lang Syne" when the National Pike was in its glory as the thoroughfare of the country, and was considered by many as the tie which bound the nation solidly together. William H Rush, the father of Charles W Rush, was a native of this county and following in the footsteps of his father became the keeper of a hotel and has for the last quarter of a century pursued that business, the last thirteen years of which have been spent in Dawson where he now lives. He was born in Farmington in 1838 where he was reared and married Miss Anna E Frost who was born at Searight. He served in the war as bugler in Company K, Sixth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. Charles W Rush was born February 21, 1864, at Farmington, Fayette county, Penna, grew up mainly at Dawson and was educated in the public schools of that town. At the age of nineteen went to the State Normal School at California where he graduated in 1883. Leaving the Normal School he engaged in teaching school in this county and taught up to 1889; in 1886 he was principal of the Dawson public schools. In the spring of 1889 he resigned his school to take the position he now holds in the Dawson Deposit Bank. Mr Rush is a democrat and is one of the most promising young men of that section.