
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.
B
General
Blakeley was mustered out of the service June 6, 1865, when he resigned his
command. After two years spent in Franklin, Venango County, Pa., in the spring
of 1868 he came to Pittsburg, where he engaged in the practice of his profession
in civil and criminal cases. A Republican in politics, General Blakeley has
taken an active part in every campaign from that of General Scott in 1852 to the
defeat of General Harrison in 1892. He has been delegate to all of the party
conventions, and has a personal acquaintance with all the leading politicians.
He is a member of Union Veteran Legion, Encampment No. 6; and Abe Patterson
Post, No. 88, G. A. R., of which he was Commander for three years, and is now
the oldest living Past Commander of the post.
On May 27, 1856, General Blakeley married Miss Esther Brown, daughter of
Joseph Brown, Butler >County. Three children were born of this union; namely,
Mary Z., Jean, and Ada. Mary Z. is now the widow of Captain Charles C. Holliday,
of North Springfield, Pa.; Jean is the wife of Charles A. Abrams, of Butler,
Pa.; and Ada (deceased) was the wife of Alfred J. Whitaker. Both General and
Mr's. Blakeley are members of the Second Presbyterian Church.
DAVID Z. BRICKELL, vice-president and treasurer of the
Chambers and McKee Glass Company at Pittsburg, comes of Scotch-Irish
origin. The Scotch-Irish family is traced back to a Scotchman, who is
alleged to have been drived from his own country to Ireland by religious
persecution. From the Emerald Isle in after years four of this ancestor's
descendants, brothers, emigrated to America, all locating at first in Redstone,
Pa., whence afterward one went to Steubenville, Ohio, and another to
Columbus. All were men of deep religious convictions, being United
Presbyterians, or Covenanters. George Brickell, the grandfather
of David Z., was born and reared in Redstone, Fayette County. From
there he came to Pittsburg, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until
his death. He served his country as a soldier in the War of 1812.
One of his brothers, John Brickell, when a boy was taken prisoner by the
Delaware Indians, and help a captive for four and a half years, being liberated
at Fort Defiance shortly after the treaty at Greenville. The grandfather
married Lydia Lovejoy, of Boston, Mass., of whose children by him ten attained
maturity; namely, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, William, Susan, Samuel, Robert, James,
Zachariah, and Lydia. Elizabeth married James Allison, father of Dr. James
Allison; Susan became the wife of Enoch Holmes, of this city; and Lydia
successfully married James Evans and James Craig. With the exception of
James all of the sons here mentioned were pioneer steamboat engineers and
captains. Robert and Samuel removed to Cincinnati, whence they ran river
boats to New Orleans.
John Brickell, the father of David Z., was born in
Pittsburg, December 7, 1796. Having completed his education in the
subscription schools of the city, he learned the machinist's trade. He was
then engaged as an engineer on the river steamers for a time, after which he
received charge of a boat, being one of the earliest steamboat men in this
vicinity. In 1832, at the mouth of Sook's Run, he built the steamboat
"Boston," and ran it between Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. During
the Mexican War, while going by the Rio Grande River to Mexico no the steamer
"Rough and Ready," a government transport boat, he was stricken with the Chagres
fever, which reduced him to the condition of an invalid and finally resulted in
his death in 1861, after his return to his home. He was a member of the
Masonic fraternity, belonging to Milner Lodge, F. & A. M., of
Pittsburg. On December 5, 1822, at the Smithfield Methodist Episcopal
Church, by the Rev. Richard Tidings, a noted preacher of that day, he was united
in marriage with Miss Catharine E. Zilhart, daughter of David Zilhart, of
Pittsburg. Born in Stuttgart, Germany, August 4, 1800, she came with her
parents to Pittsburg at the age of five and died here, December 1, 1892.
She bore her husband five children, four of whom grew to maturity. These
were: David Z., the subject of this sketch; John who died in San
Francisco, November 27, 1894, leaving a family; William B., whose death occurred
December 23, 1894; and Anna B., the first-born; who is the widow of the late
William Stone. Both parents were members of the Liberty Street Methodist
Episcopal Church.
David Z. Brickell is also a native of Pittsburg.
Born October 7, 1825, he was educated in the public and private schools of his
native city. In the week following the big fire of 1845, when his uncle
Samuel came to Pittsburg and bought the steamer "Manhattan," he went with his
uncle in the capacity of second clerk on that boat. He had been employed
in that position nine months when the steamer sunk at Devil's Island, on the
upper Mississippi. Returning then to Pittsburg, he clerked in a broker's
office for more than a year, then purchased an interest in the steamer
"Highlander," and went on board it as clerk under Captain Henry Force. He
continued in the steamboat business until after the war, serving as pilot and
captain for twenty-one years. In company with Captain W. W. Martin, he
built and ran a number of river steamers. At intervals throughout the war,
having charge of the "Florence," he transported troops and supplies for the
government from Cincinnati and Columbus to Parkersburg by way of the Big Kanawha
River. On the day that Tennessee seceded, after stopping at Memphis with
the steamer "Nevada," he continued on his way to New Orleans, arriving there on
the day preceding that of the Mardi Gras, unloaded his vessel, and succeeded in
getting above Cairo, Ill., on his return trip, in season to avoid the
blockade. Mr. Brickell was at Milliken's Bend during the siege of
Vicksburg. Subsequently he carried his boat up Hatchies River in company
with other transports under the protection of gunboats, having a brief encounter
on the way. In 1865 he retired from boating, and with others bought the
Kittaning Rolling Mills, and under the firm name of Martin, Oliver &
Brickell was in business until the burning of the mill three years later.
Going then to Smartville, Cal., to visit his brother John, he spent six months
in that locality. On his return to his native city he accepted the
position of right-of-way commissioner for the Pittsburg, Virginia &
Charleston Railroad Company, and held it for two years. During the ensuing
three years he was superintendent of the Castle Shannon coal road, after which
he had charge of the South Side Gas Works for five years. In 1891 Mr.
Brickell became a member of the Chambers & McKee Glass Company, with which
he has since been officially connected, as mentioned above. The company
manufactures window glass at the rate of twnety-four hundred boxes evey
twenty-four hours, their plant being the largest of the kind in the world, and
giving employment to about fourteen hundred men. Mr. Brickell has also
other financial interests. In 1873 he was elected president of the South
Side Railway Company, a position of the South Side Railway Company, a position
which he retained until the road was absorbed by the Pittsburg & Birmingham
line, in which he is still interested. He is likewise a director of the
Manufacturers' Bank, the Mercantile Bank, the Mercantile Trust Company, and the
First National Bank of Jeannette, Pa.
On December 23, 1851, Mr. Brickell married Miss Mary N.
McCarty, daughter of John McCarty, of Steubenville, Ohio. Of the three
children born of the union, but one is now living; namely, William D. Brickell,
the owner and publisher of the Columbus Evening Dispatch, of Columbus,
Ohio. Mrs. Brickell lived but a few years after her marriage, passing away
July 12, 1856. She was a most estimable woman and a devoted member of the
Methodist Protestant church. Mr. Brickell belongs to St. John's Lodge, No.
219, F. & A. M., of this city. In politics he votes for the best men,
regardless of party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church on
Smithfield Street.
THOMAS D. BURLEIGH,now living in
retirement at 227 Oakland Avenue, Pittsburg, after a long and active business
career, was born January 10, 1825, in Wakefield, N.H., son of Jonathan Burleigh,
Jr. Jonathan Burleigh, Sr., the paternal grandfather of Thomas D., was a pioneer
farmer of Wakefield. The father, who was born in Wakefield in 1790, followed the sea for some
years in his early life. Thereafter he was successfully engaged in general
farming in his native town until his death in 1862. He was twice married. After
the death of his first wife, whose maiden name was Miss Charlotte Wyatt, he
married Miss Lydia Copp, daughter of William Copp, one of the foremost farmers
of
Thomas D. Burleigh was educated in the district schools of
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On
February 27, 1853, Mr. Burleigh married Miss Mary L. Cook, who was born January
4, 1828, in Friendship, Me., and died January 19, 1893, in
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