Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Biographies

The following biographies were extracted from: Biographical review.: containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania. Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897, Author: Anonymous.

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REV. JAMES ALLISON, D.D., was born in Pittsburg, Pa., September 27, 1823, son of James Allison, who was born in the Cumberland valley, Pennsylvania. When seventeen years old, he was brought by his father to the neighborhood of the Lebanon church, Allegheny County, where the family resided for several years. Then they removed to what is now known as Allison Park, on the Pittsburg & Western Railroad, nine miles from Pittsburg. His mother was a daughter of George Brickell, one of the earliest settlers of a district now included in Pittsburg. George was brought from Fort Redstone to this place in 1760, when only six years old; and there he lived until his death in 1852, at the age of ninety-eight.

Dr. Allison's father was of Scotch-Irish descent, his ancestors coming from the north of Ireland to the Cumberland valley between the years 1729 and 1750, that they might escape from the extortions of the landlords. Their descendants are now found in large numbers in different parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Indiana. The mother of Dr. Allison was a descendant of one of the German families that came to Pennsylvania at an early day. Her father and uncles took an active part in the conflicts with the Indians, and both the parents of Dr. Allison came of Revolutionary stock.

When he was an infant, his father purchased a large farm near Bakerstown, in the northern part of this county, where he passed his boyhood, beginning at a very early age to work on the farm. He attended first the common schools of the neighborhood. Then for a time he went to a private school taught by the Rev. Peter Jones, afterward to an academy in Bakerstown, of which the . Rev. Thomas C. Guthrie, D.D., a Covenanter clergyman, was principal; and for six months previous to entering college he was a student in an academy at Hickory, Washington County, of which the Rev. John Moore was principal. He entered Jefferson College at Cannonsburg Pa., in the autumn of 1842, and graduated in the fall of 1845. Immediately afterward he became a student of the Western Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in the spring of 1848, having been licensed in the previous October by the old Presbytery of Allegheny at a meeting held in the church of Slate Lick, of which the late Rev. John Reddick was then pastor. On the Sabbath after leaving the seminary he preached to what<was then the small place of Sewickley, on the bank of the Ohio River, twelve miles below Pittsburg. He was at once invited to become “stated supply," which he did; and on the 16th of October, 1849, he was ordained and installed pastor. He served this church for a period of sixteen years, during which time two hundred and seventy-six members were received on confession of faith and two hundred and thirty-one by certificate. In the meantime the largest and finest house of worship in Allegheny County outside of Pittsburg had been built.

In February, 1864, Dr. Allison resigned his pastoral charge to devote himself entirely to editorial work. When a student at college he had occasionally written for the secular press, and soon after entering the ministry he became a frequent contributor to the religious papers. For a time he was the regular Pittsburg correspondent for the Presbyterian Banner, which had been established in Philadelphia by the Rev. David McKinney, D.D. Upon its removal to Pittsburg and consolidation with the Presbyterian Advocate he became an assistant editor. In 1857 he became a partner of the publishers, who dissolved partnership in 1862; but in February, 1864, he and the late Robert Patterson, Esq., then a professor in Centre College, Kentucky, forming the firm of James Allison & Co., purchased the Presbyterian Banner from Dr. McKinney. Mr. Patterson had studied law and been admitted to the bar, but for many years had devoted himself to teaching. He was a gentleman of a most agreeable character, an earnest Christian, of faultless literary taste, a fine scholar, and a clear and forcible writer. He died from an attack of paralysis in the fall of 1888, greatly lamented. To Dr. Allison his death was a personal bereavement.

The Presbyterian Banner, at the time of its purchase by Messrs. Allison and Patterson, had only a small circulation, but this at once began to increase; and for many years it has been among the most widely circulated and most influential religious journals of the world. It is really the unbroken continuance, though the name has several times been changed, of the Recorder, founded by the Rev. John Andrews, July 5, 1814, at Chillicothe, Ohio, the first religious newspaper, of the matter and style of such publications now, published in the world. During all these years Dr. Allison has taken an active and leading part in the discussion of religious and ecclesiastical questions and of matters of public interest at home and abroad. "The Pittsburg Circular," which was the means of bringing about the reunion of the old and new school branches of the Presbyterian church, was suggested and written by him. In what is known as the "Briggs Controversy" he stood out prominently and successfully, always contending that the Bible is absolutely infallible, and for the interpretation given to it in the Confession of Faith, and for the latter as interpreted by the General Assembly. In the meantime the Presbyterian Banner has been one of the largest, most attractive, and most influential of the religious journals. In 1865 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church appointed its Committee on Freedmen for the evangelization and education of the negroes in the South, which has become the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen. Dr. Allison was a promoter of this enterprise from its beginning until his resignation in 1889; and for eighteen years he was its treasurer, serving without compensation, and travelling in its interests thousands of miles through the South, and speaking in its behalf before Presbyteries, Synods, and General Assemblies.

Dr. Allison resides in Sewickley, one of the most beautiful of the Pittsburg suburban towns. He has been married twice. His first wife, to whom he was married August 19, 1851, was Mary Anderson, daughter of one of the leading citizens of Allegheny County. She died October 31, 1853, leaving one daughter, Lizzie Taylor Allison, now the wife of Joseph W. Reinhart, a well-known railroad man, residing in Plainfield, N.J. His second wife is Caroline Snowden Allison, daughter of the Hon. John M. Snowden, a widely known and highly influential citizen of Pittsburg. He was married to her November 6, 1856. The only child of this marriage was a son, John M. Snowden, born August 19, 1859. A young man of rare promise, John M. graduated with honor from the Western University of Pennsylvania, entered the office of his father, and soon gave evidence of the possession of the highest order of newspaper ability. Previous to his death, December 27, 1887, he stood at the head of all the younger men connected with the religious press.

REV. CLEMENT L. ALSPACH, the pastor of Trinity Reformed Church at Wilkinsburg, was born in Van Wert, Ohio, March 31, 1867, son of Charles Alspach. The emigrant ancestor on his father's side came from Germany to America in old Colonial times. The grandfather, Sebastian Alspach, who was a farmer in the pioneer days of his native State, and assisted in reclaiming a homestead from the unbroken land, had a large family of children, among whom he lived to a ripe old age.

Charles Alspach, who has been a lifelong resident of Ohio, and is now living in retirement at Thornville, spent his active years in agricultural pursuits for much of the time in Perry County. In early life he married Anna Moore, who was born in Virginia, where her father, John Moore, settled on coming from Scotland, his native land, to this country. Mr. Moore was a farmer by occupation, and he served as a soldier in the late war. He died in 1886, at the age of threescore and ten years. To Charles Alspach and his wife five children were born, three of whom are now living; namely, John M., Millie, and the Rev. Clement L. The parents have always been identified with the religious advancement of the community in which they have resided, and are consistent members of the Reformed church.

The Rev. Clement L. Alspach acquired his education in his native State. After attending the public schools of Thornville, he took an eight years' course in Heidelberg University at Tiffin, graduating from the literary department in 1890 and from the theological department in 1893. Throughout these eight years of diligent study Mr. Alspach paid almost his entire expenses, though, when going to Tiffin, he had but two dollars and a half in his pockets. Soon after his graduation he began his professional duties at Ada, Ohio, where he labored for the Master most faithfully for two or more years. In the latter part of the year 1895 Mr. Alspach accepted his present pastorate in Wilkinsburg. Under him the membership of the church has been increased by one hundred and twenty-two new members, making at the present time a total of two hundred and seventy-five communicants. A needed religious zeal has been aroused within the society, resulting in the erection of a handsome church edifice, costing twenty-two thousand dollars, which was dedicated on March 14, 1897. Through the efforts of Mr. Alspach the gift of a handsome pipe organ, worth three thousand dollars, was secured for the church from Mr. Andrew Carnegie. Though young in years, Mr. Alspach is regarded as one of the strongest preachers of his denomination, while the work that he has accomplished in the past two years is proof of a large measure of executive ability.

On October 17, 1893, Mr. Alspach was united in marriage with Miss Anna F., daughter of William and Sarah (Rook) Seemuth. Anna Margaret Alspach is their only child. Possessed of ample means owing to his thrifty habits, Mr. Alspach, in the summer of 1896, built a beautiful home for himself and family at 708 Swissvale Avenue, where he takes pleasure in extending hospitality to his numerous friends and acquaintances.

JOHN M. ALSTON , a prominent architect and contractor of Pittsburg, was born August 22, 1823, in the town of, Lanarkshire, Scotland, where his grandfather Alston, a stone cutter, spent his ninety-four years of life. His mother's father, John Menzies, a blacksmith, attained the age of ninety-eight years; and John Menzie's wife lived to the age of ninety-six years. William Alston, the father of John M., lived in Lanark some years after his marriage, having there been a stone contractor. In 1830, desiring to improve his circumstances, he came to the United States, landing at New York, where his efforts to secure work proved futile. He then walked to Philadelphia, and thence to Pottsville, where he was employed for a short time. Returning again to Philadelphia, he started in the month of January, 1831, for Pittsburg on foot. The canals were then in process of construction; and, having secured remunerative employment, he sent for his family, which joined him the next June. Subsequently he worked on the court-house and on the Duquesne water-works in the capacity of foreman. Then he formed a partnership with a contractor named Fagan, and having organized the firm of Fagan, Swan & Alston, continued in contracting several years, building the old bank of Pittsburg and the Chestnut Street and the Ninth Street bridges. When the senior partner died, William Alston, in company with Mr. Hanna, built the locks on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers. They subsequently took a contract on the old Pennsylvania, now the Pittsburg Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad; but before its completion, in 1852, Mr. Alston died. His wife, whose maiden name was Agnes Menzies, survived him, living until November, 1876. Of their eight children two died in childhood. Their son William died at the age of sixty-four years. The survivors are: John M., the subject of this sketch; Archibald, a stone contractor, in Allegheny; Christina, the wife of Joseph Williams, of Avalon, this county; Robert, the superintendent of the Standard Steel Works in Mifflin County; and Margaret, the wife of Joseph Stevenson, of the same county.

John M. Alston was eight years of age when he came with his parents to this county. After attending for a time the old academy at Allegheny, conducted by Master John Kelley, he went to work at stone cutting at the age of eleven, and continued so employed until the removal of the family to a farm, when he was needed at home. When fifteen years old he came to Allegheny to learn carpentering of an uncle, with whom he served a four years' apprenticeship, subsequently working for him six months as a journeyman carpenter. Mr. Alston then secured a position with J. W. Kerr, the first architect to open an office in Pittsburg, remaining with him four years. From that time until 1865 he was engaged in carpentering, millwright work, and pattern-making, and thereafter until 1877 in the business of contractor. Then, resuming the profession of an architect, he has since carried on a thriving business. Among the public buildings erected by him are: the fine school-house at Avalon; the Second Ward School-house in Allegheny, notable as one of the best in the State for school purposes; and the Buena Vista Street Methodist Episcopal Church.

On January 13, 1848, Mr. Alston married Miss Mary, daughter of William and Mary Lemon. She died March 10, 1875. They had eight children, of whom two died in early life. The others are: William and James, twins, who are machinists in Pittsburg; Archibald, who is a contractor in this city; John, a plasterer, residing in Allegheny; Charles, a blacksmith, who is a resident of Oakland; and Mary, who has kept house for her father since the death of her mother. Since he cast his first Presidential vote for Henry Clay, Mr. Alston has invariably supported the Republican candidates for office. He is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The other organizations to which he belongs are: the I. O. O. F., the Temple of Honor, the Academy of Science and Art, the American Institute of Architects, and the Chapter Association of Architects of this city.

ARTHUR AMEISEN, of the firm of Ameisen & Kremery, who conduct an Austro-Hungarian law and collection business in Pittsburg, was born at Cracow, Austria, July 25, 1870, son of Leo and Emily (Mandel) Ameisen. His father is still living in Cracow, which has been his home for many years, the ancestral residence being know as Newsandec. Mr. Ameisen received his education in the public schools of Cracow and in the gymnasium of St. Ann. Subsequently he entered the office of a newspaper owned by his uncle, where he remained for about three years engaged in editorial work. During this time he became familiar with the French and English languages, both of which he speaks fluently. On May 21, 1891, he came to the United States, and immediately entered the Autsro-Hungarian consular service, in which he remained until January, 1895, working under Max Schamberg, who was then Consul. Mr. Schamberg had been carrying on an extensive Autro-Hungarian law and collection business. This, on retiring from the consularship in 1895, he transferred to Messrs. Ameisen & Kremery, who are continuing it at the same office where it has been carried on for the past thirty years. Mr. Ameisen, who had previously become familiar with the details of the business, has been able to carry it forward most successfully. He has fifteen correspondents in Autria-Hungary, and manages all the business for the many people of that country who are settled here. The work is conducted in six different languages.

While in the consular service Mr. Ameisen began readking law, and was the first student enrolled in the recently organized law department of the Western University of Pennsylvania. He began his course of study there in 1895, and graduated in June, 1897, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. An article written by him and published in the Western University Courant, entitled “Suggestions to the Educators of the Bar,” advocating a reform and the enlargement of the curriculum of legal studies attracted much attention and favorable comment from lawyers and judges throughout the State. Mr. Ameisen was editor of the legal department of the Western Pennsylvania Courant throughout his entire course in the college, and conducted it in a most able manner.

JOHN EMERSON ASH, a wholesale dealer in produce at Pittsburg, was born July 10, 1851, at Greenfield, Mercer County, son of the late Joseph Ash. His paternal grandfather, who emigrated from Germany to this country when a young man, located in Lancaster, Pa., where he was for many years engaged in the tailoring business. Joseph Ash, who was born, bred, and educated in Lancaster, also learned there the tailor's trade of his father. Settling in business for himself at Greenfield, he met with prosperity. In the early part of the Civil War he took large contracts for the manufacture of uniforms for the army, thus giving employment to many hands. He died April 14, 1865, at a comparatively early age. In his political views he was a Democrat, but he was also a strong Unionist. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Julia A. McBurney, five children were born; namely, John Emerson, James H., Melvin D., Eva, and Mary. Mary became the wife of James Anderson, of Mercer County. Both parents were members of the United Presbyterian Church, in which the father was an especially active worker. The mother passed away February 23, 1896.

John Emerson Ash received his education in the common schools of his native town. After the death of his father, being partly thrown upon his own resources, he worked for a while in a coal bank. He subsequently made two trips to New Jersey, driving sheep across the Alleghany Mountains, and returning by way of the old Portage Railroad and the Pennsylvania Canal. Afterward he worked at various employments until eighteen years of age. Then he went into a blacksmith's shop, where he served an apprentice-ship of three years. In the following year he was in the grocery business in Greenfield, and in the drug business at Sharon, Pa., for the ensuing two years. Coming to Pittsburg in 1875, he worked for Byers, McCullough & Co., iron manufacturers, continuing in the same establishment, after the firm name was changed to A. M. Byers & Co., until 1888. In that year the firm of L. H. Voigt & Co., consisting of L. H. Voigt, William Baldwin, and Mr. Ash, was organized, and started in the wholesale produce business. On the death of the senior partner in 1895, the two remaining members of the firm purchased the interest of their former associate, and have since conducted an extensive and lucrative business. Their imports are received from all the leading foreign markets, and their goods are shipped principally to points in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, where they are in great demand. Mr. Ash married May 15, 1881, Miss Mary Effie, daughter of the late Louis H. Voigt, of Pittsburg. Of the four children born to them three are now living — Marie, Charles Emerson, and Elizabeth Voigt. Mr. Ash has always been identified with the Republican party, and has been a delegate to county and State conventions. In May, 1896, he was elected a member of the Select Council from the Twenty-first Ward, and is a member of the Committee on Parks and Bridges. He is a Director of the Iron City National Bank. Prominent in Masonic circles, he belongs to Dallas Lodge, No. 508, of Pittsburgh; to Zerubbabel Chapter, Ascalon Commandery, Pennsylvania Consistory; and to Syria Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Triumph Lodge, A. O. U. W., of this city. Both he and Mrs. Ash are members of the Grace Reformed Church, of which he has been a Deacon for eight or nine years, and is one of its most active and interested workers.

GEORGE H. ATKINSON, United States Inspector of Boilers for the Pittsburg District, and a native of Pittsburg, was born in November, 1831, on Penn Avenue, below Fourth Street, son of James and Charlotte (Hirst) Atkinson. His grandfather, Henry Atkinson, described as a “regular Covenanter,” thereby implying a Scotch ancestry, followed farming for some time on Squirrel Hill. The father, who was born in the County Down, Ireland, in 1806, came with his parents in 1812 to Pittsburg., when the place was a mere village. He was educated here, and his first work for wages was performed on the river steamers. In the course of time he became captain, in which capacity he was employed for many years. After retiring from that occupation, he was appointed general agent of the Citizens’ Insurance Company which position he held for thirty-three years, witnessing in that period a large increase in the business of the company. In politics he was a Democrat up to 1856, when the new Republican party was organized here. His wife, Charlotte, was born in Chambersburg, Pa., daughter of George Hirst, who served as a soldier in the Black Hawk War, conducted a paper-mill in Lawrenceville, since annexed to the city, and was one of the first paper makers of Pittsburg, having been born near Philadelphia or Darby. She died at the age of sixty-seven years, leaving a family of six children. Of these Henry and George H. are living. James Atkinson, Jr., the eldest of those who reached maturity, was for a number of years superintendent of the city water-works. Both parents were members of the Second Presbyterian Church. Later they united with the Central Church. Later they united with the Central Church, in which the father was an Elder.

George H. Atkinson first attended the West Ward Public School, situated on Ferry Street. After the removal of his parents to Pitt township now the Eleventh Ward, his studies were continued in the schools of that locality, and later he became a pupil of Duquesne College. Upon leaving the latter institution, he was apprenticed with Knapp, Ward & Co., and later with Knapp & Totten to learn engine building. Subsequently he went on the river as an engineer, running boats from Pittsburg to New Orleans, across the Gulf, and to St. Paul and other places. When the Civil War broke out he joined the Mississippi squadron of the northern naval service, and was the first assistant engineer successively on the ironclads “Pittsburg” and “Carondelet.” After the fall of Vicksburg, in the siege of which he assisted, he was promoted to the post of chief engineer. He was in the engagements at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, at Memphis and Vicksburg, and in the Red River expedition, besides many minor actions. Commissioned in September of 1861, he had served in the war for more than four years when he was discharged in December, 1865. Soon after his return home he was appointed under President Johnson’s administration Inspector of Steamship Boilers for the Pittsburg District, the largest district in the West excepting those of New Orleans and St. Louis. Since then he has held that position continuously, with the exception of two years during Mr. Cleveland’s first administration, thus being one of the oldest of the Federal officers in point of service, and practically in the pay of the government since 1861. Mr. Atkinson is a member of Union Veteran Legion No. I, a life member of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., and of Duquesne Chapter.

In 1861, Mr. Atkinson married Rosa M. Stewart. Having lost her father when quite young, she and her mother resided for a time with her grandfather, Archibald Kerr, well-known and esteemed in Washington, Pa. At a later date her mother came to Pittsburg. Here subsequently Mrs. Atkinson taught school in the Seventh Ward, now the Eleventh Ward. Her parents were James and Malvina (Kerr) Stewart, both members of the Presbyterian church and throughout their lives active workers in that society. Mrs. Atkinson has been the mother of four children. Of these two died in infancy, and a son, George died when twenty years of age. The fourth, Charlotte K., resides with her parents. The family, which formerly dwelt on Centre Avenlue, now lives in Park Place at the east side of Pittsburg, the most beautiful residential part of the city. Mr. Atkinson attends and supports the Presbyterian church, and his wife and daughter are prominent in the church work and devoted to its interests. In politics he has always been an active Republican, and has been delegate to different conventions. He was a member of the Grand Central Republican Club, and was its vice-president during Lincoln’s first campaign.

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