Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Biographies
Eugene
Le Moyne Connelly, of Pittsburg, who was born here, August
18,1870, is the sixth and youngest son of William Cavin Connelly, Sr., and
Elizabeth Sterrett (Brown) Connelly. His mother is a daughter of Allen
Brown, one of Pittsburg's pioneer hotel-keepers. The father, who was a
West Virginian by birth, after his marriage located in Pittsburg, and became a
partner in the ownership of the old St. Clair Hotel, which stood on the site of
the present Hotel Anderson. Later he had control of the United States,
Central, St. Charles, and Exchange Hotels. Also, he conducted a hostelry
at Turtle Creek, which was at that early day a sort of summer resort for the
wealth and fashion of the city. He is a member of the Writers' Club and of
the Junior O. U. A. M., and he is a communicant of Oakland Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Eugene Le Moyne Connelly was educated in the public schools and
under the tutelage of his mother, a woman of scholarly attainments. At an
early age, with a natural tendency to literary pursuits, he obtained a minor
position on the staff of the Pittsburg Chronicle, and thereafter for several
years he spent the afternoon of each school day at a desk in the newspaper
office. After leaving school he obtained a permanent position in the
service of the Western Union Telegraph Company. He was first assigned to
work at the old Oil Exchange, situated where the market-house now stands.
Later he was transferred to the Pittsburg Petroleum, Stock, and Metal Exchange,
where he kept the books and handled the accounts of several large brokerage
firms, in addition to his work as book-keeper for the telegraph company.
Although he mastered the business of a telegraph operator in this employment, he
has not at any time followed it as a vocation. During the few years that
he was employed in the oil and stock mart, he continued to scribble a little,
doing special assignments for the Sportsman and Dramatic Critic; also
for the Sportsman and Referee, in which two of his brothers were
interested.
In his seventeenth year Mr. Connelly became a reporter on the
staff of the Pittsburgh Leader. With this paper he has since been
connected, serving it in the capacities of religious reporter, police court
reporter, sporting editor, special writer, editorial paragrapher, and city
editor. He is now editor of the Sunday Leader. Perhaps his
best work was performed at Johnstown, immediately after the great flood of May
31, 1889. Mr. Connelly was one of the first newspaper men to enter the
Conemaugh valley after the warring waters had wrought desolation and death
throughout the whoe stretch of territory lying between South Fork and Latrobe on
the Pennsylvania Railroad. Besides sending reports of the great
catastrophe to the Leader, he despatched a graphic description of the
course of the flood to the New York Journal, on the staff of which he
was then serving. He collaborated with Frank Connelly and George C. Jenks
in the compilation of the "Official History of the Johnstown Flood." He
was also one of the first men on the field in the summer of 1892, when Oil City
and Titusville were swept by flood and fire; and in the same year he helped to
report the Homestead riots for the New York World
and his own
paper. He has also done special work for the New York Tribune,
Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Cincinnati Enquirer, and
Chicago Times, and has written short stories for some of the
periodicals. At one period a predilection for theatrical work led him to
accept positions as press representative from Jefferson, Klaw & Erlanger,
Rich & Harris, and the late Colonel Joel, the impresario; but he soon tired
of this sort of employment, and got back to active newspaper work.
On February 28, 1893, Mr. Connelly
married Minnie Allyn Leonard, youngest daughter of George W. and Sarah Elizabeth
(Moreland) Leonard. Their only child, Elizabeth Leonard, was born
March 4, 1894. The family residence is 332 Ward Street,
Oakland.
Source: Biographical review. : containing life sketches of
leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania.
Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897.
Rev. Lemuel Call Barnes,
D. D., an eminent divine of Pittsburg, pastor of the Fourth
Avenue Church, is the son of Lemuel Munson and Rachel (Call) Barnes. His
great-great-great-grandfather, Timothy Barnes, came from England in the early
part of the seventeenth century. The emigrant's son Timothy was born in
Connecticut; Timothy, third, was born at Hartford, Conn.; and Timothy, fourth
grandfather of Dr. Barnes, was born at Litchfield, Conn., and became one of the
pioneers of the Connecticut, or Western Reserve, Ohio. His wife, Ruth
Taylor, was a native of Rutland, Vt.
The maternal great-grandfather of
Dr. Barnes was the Rev. Stephen Call, a native of Colerain, Mass., who removed
to Warren County, New York, in 1797. He was a Baptist minister and one of
the active men of his time, preaching and organizing churches near and
far. He lived on his farm in Warren County nearly fifty years. The
country road in the township of Luzerne still goes by his name, Call
Street. His son, Obed Call, became a pioneer of the Western Reserve,
settling in Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio. He was one of the early
school-teachers there, and a pillar in the Baptist church. Obed Call's
wife was Lovina Sperry, a daughter of Elijah Sperry, who was a Lieutenant in
Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin's regiment of artificers in the Revolution. He
enlisted at New Milford, Conn., in 1777, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant,
April 1, 1779. He had an active hand in making the great chain which was
thrown across the Hudson at West Point, links of which are still preserved
there. He married Marauchie Van Order, a native of Holland. The
daughter Lovina was born in Waitsfield, Vt.
Lemeul Call Barnes was born
in Kirtland, Ohio, November 6, 1854. His parents removing to Michigan, he
entered Kalamazoo College, whose charter requires the standard of admission to
be kept equal to that of Michigan University, and there enjoyed the advantage of
being under a man of choice ability as an educator, President Kendall Brooks, D.
D. Mr. Barnes was graduated in the class of 1875, with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. After pursuing the usual course of study at the Newton
Theological Institution in Massachusetts, graduating in 1878, he was ordained at
Kalamazoo, and took as a first pastorate that of the First Baptist Church, St.
Paul, Minn., at the time one of the strongest churches in the North-west, and
enjoying a house of worship which cost over a hundred thousand dollars. He
remained there until July 31, 1882, when he accepted a call to the Fourth Avenue
Baptist Church, Pittsburg. Five years and a half later he became the
pastor of the First Baptist Church of Newton, Mass., one of the ancient churches
of this faith in the suburbs of Boston, composed largely of solid business men
and their families, being also the home church of the Newton Theological
Institution, the Baptist Divinity School in New England. On entering a new
and elegant house of worship, the church, at the earnest solicitation of Pastor
Barnes, adopted the free pew system, after more than a hundred years of pew
renting. The church prospered as never before in home expenses, and at the
same time very largely increased its contributions to objects of
benevolence. It also grew steadily and decidedly in numbers.
At the
annual meeting of the American Baptist Missionary Union held in Chicago in 1890,
Mr. Barnes was elected Foreign Secretary to succeed the Rev. J. N. Murdock, D.
D., LL. D., who had been secretary for twenty-seven years. This position
involved the oversight of a widespread work in Europe, Asia and Africa,
including the largest number of converts from heathenism under the care of any
foreign mission society in the world, more than twice the number under the care
of any other American society. He declined, however, the highest honor in
the gift of his denomination, in order to continue in the pastorate. The
same marked taste for the pastorate led him at different times to decline
professorships in two theological seminaries and the presidency of a
college. In 1892, he spent seven months with his wife in Europe, Egypt,
and Palestine.
After a pastorate of five years and a half in Newton he
returned, June 1, 1893, to his former beloved people of the Fourth Avenue
Church, Pittsburg, and has here done a great work during the last four
years. This is the oldest Baptist church of the city, organized in 1812 as
the First Baptist Church; and from it all the other Baptist churches of the city
have sprung. It is now often called an institutional church, sometimes
"The Twentieth Century Church." It is more simply named by its pastor the
Practical Church. It has two branches, one on Wylie Avenue, corner Conklin
Street, with a presiding minister, and one in the West End. The church is
aggressive in practical, philanthropic effort, and carries on a kindergarten, a
nursery, and an industrial school. The latter includes sewing, mending,
dressmaking, cooking, clay modeling, and a penny savings bank. The church
employs a trained nurse to devote her whole time visiting the destitute sick in
the city, regardless of race or creed. It provides an interpreter for
deaf-mutes, who attend its services in large numbers. It also has a
flourishing Chinese department. Free giving is a feature of the church
life, and it is a remarkable fact that the living expenses of the church for the
past year were but nine thousand five hundred and sixty-two dollars; while for
missions the total amount contributed during the year was eleven thousand eight
hundred and eighteen dollars. This is the more surprising because the
church counts among its members very few of the men of wealth. Through the
pastor's teaching, money is never raised by pew rents, suppers, fairs, or
admission fees, but is freely subscribed as a direct worship of God. It is
a "free church" in more senses than one. The steadfast purpose of pastor
and people is to bring Christianity into the daily life of the community.
The chief prayer of the church is, "Thy kingdom come on earth."
Its membership has grown in spite of its decidedly down-town location, during
the pastorates of Dr. Barnes, from less than four hundred to more than seven
hundred.
Dr. Barnes is a natural leader and organizer and a deep student
thinker. His executive power is unquestionable. When he was pastor
in St. Paul, the church raised in cash a church debt of thirty-one thousand
dollars in thirty days' time. He there inaugurated city missions, out of
which five churches have sprung. In 1885, he was active in bringing
Messrs. Moody and San key to Pittsburg, after having made and published a
painstaking review of the religious statistics of Pittsburg and Allegheny.
He later inspired the making of a careful sociological examination of all the
churches in two cities, showing to what industrial ranks the membership
belonged. Lemeul Call Barnes is the author of various articles and
pamphlets. One entitled "Shall Islam rule Africa?" published by the
Baptist Ministers' Conference of Boston, was appreciatively reviewed in England,
and was republished there. In June, 1896, the degree of Doctor of Divinity
was conferred on him by Kalamazoo College, a rule of many years' standing
against conferring honorary degrees being suspended for the first time for this
purpose. A week later the same degree was conferred by Bucknell
University. The following season he was also proffered the degree by the
Western University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Barnes is a trustee of the Newton
Theological Institution and of the Board of Managers of the American Baptist
Missionary Union. He has done elaborate committee work in the service of
the latter.
He married
January 2, 1879, Miss Mary Clark, who was graduated from Kalamazoo College with
the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in his own class of 1875, taking the degree
of Master of Philosophy in 1878. During the three years immediately
following her graduation and previous to their marriage Mrs. Barnes as Lady
Principal of the college. She is possessed of scholarly tastes and of much
executive ability. A large part of the success of the Practical Church and
of the missionary work of her husband is due to her untiring sympathy and wise
effort.
Source: Biographical review. : containing life sketches of
leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania.
Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897.
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.
Source: Biographical review. : containing life sketches of
leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania.
Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897
Charles Woodruff Scovel, a prominent life
insurance manager of Pittsburg, Pa., son of the Rev. Sylvester F. and Caroline
(Woodruff) Scovel, was born in Springfield, Ohio, August 16, 1862. His
maternal grandfather was Charles Woodruff, a successful hardware merchant of New
Albany, Ind., who lived to an advanced age.
Mr. Scovel's
paternal
grandfather, Sylvester Scovel, D. D., was the son of a Rebolutionary soldier,
and was born in New England. He was well known in religious circles, being
one of the first secretaries of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions.
By his untiring efforts were established many churches in the Ohio valley, then
a frontier. His wife left a luxurious home to go with him through the
wilds of that State, undergoing the perils and privations of the early
pioneers. He preached in Pittsburgh many times during its early
days. At the time of his death he was president of Hanover College,
Indiana. His wife, Hannah Matlack, was related to the well-known Kennedy
family of Philadelphia. She survived him until the summer of 1896, dying
at the age of ninety.
The Rev. Sylvester F. Scovel, D. D., father of
Charles W. Scovel, was born in Hamilton, Ohio; and his wife was a native of New
Albany, Ind. Five children were born to them, namely, Minor; Charles W.;
Amy, now wife of Walter J. Mullins, of Wooster, Ohio; Sylvester H.; and
Elizabeth D. The father is a man of letters, now holding the honorable
position of president of Wooster University. This call was accepted by him
in 1883, after a pastorate of eighteen years in the First Presbyterian Church of
Pittsburgh, where he is remembered with veneration. In early life he
preached for one or two years in New Albany, Ind., and for five years in
Springfield, Ohio. While residing in Pittsburg, Dr. Scovel was associated
with every kind of religious work, at that same time laboring in behalf of every
cause promoting the public welfare. He was trustee of the Western
Theological Seminary, the Western University of Pennsylvania, and the
Pennsylvania College for Women. He was chosen to be the first president of
the Art Society, as well as of the May Festival Association, and was frequently
made delegate to religious conventions in this country and
abroad.
Charles W. Scovel was but three years old when his parents took
him from Springfield to Pittsburg, where he has since made his home. Here
he attended the public and private schools, finishing his course in the
Pittsburg High School in 1880. Immediately entering the Western University
of Pennsylvania, he graduated there in 1883 with honors, being the valedictorian
of his class; and in 1886 he received from this instruction his degree of Master
of Arts. Upon graduating, he registered as a law student in the office of
William Scott, and for one year attended the Colubia Law School in New York,
where he became a member of the famous law fraternity, Phi Delta Phi.
Desirous of more advanced study, Mr. Scovel spent the winter of 1884-85 in
taking special courses of law in the University of Berlin, Germany. Upon
his return he re-entered the office of Mr. Scott, and in 1886 he was admitted to
the bar. He was engaged in active law practice for upward of eleven years,
chiefly as an office lawyer, though some of his best professional work was done
as master, auditor, and so forth, under court appointment. The Allegheny
County Bar Association elected him secretary for three successive terms - 1895,
1896, and 1897. This office he resigned when, in August, 1897, he withdrew
from the active life of the profession to accept a very flattering offer to
become manager for Western Pennsylvania of the great Manhattan Life Insurance
Company of New York.
He is a stanch Republican, but a man
interested rather in music, art, and literature than in the life of the local
politician. He is an amateur organist, and has since 1885 been a leader of
musical opinion of Pittsburg through his weekly newspaper articles. His
interests and ties outside of business are many. The Art Society, of which
he was for three years secretary and a director twice as long, owes its growth
and development in a large degree to Mr. Scovel. This is also true of the
Pittsburg Orchestra, which was founded by the former organization at his
instance. He personally solicited the original three years' guarantee fund
for the orchestra. Some years before, he raised the money to buy the Karl
Merz musical library for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburg, then only a
prospect. It 1893 he was appointed as a Phi Delta Phi to a position on the
Advisory Board of the World's Fair Congress of College Fraternities. He is
a member of the Alumni Association of the High School and Western University,
college department, and has served in various offices, including the presidency
of each. He was chosen (1897) the first president of the General Alumni
Association, including all departments of the University, and also secretary of
the Board of Trustees of that institution.
He married June 24,
1886, Sara Wilson Butler, who is a daughter of John Williamson Butler and Sarah
Greer (Wilson) Butler. They have three children - Sylvester B., Sara W.,
and Caroline W.
Source: Biographical review. : containing life sketches of
leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania.
Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897
Dr. W. A. McGiffin, a
popular dentist of Allegheny, was born in Washington County, July 16, 1849, son
of William H. and Eliza (Frederick) McGiffin. His grandfather was John
McGiffin, born in Washington County, September 17, 1781. Of John's three
sons and one daughter, William H., born November 9, 1818, was a resident of
Washington County, where he kept a country store. William enlisted in
Company D of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and died in 1862
of typhoid fever at Harrison's Landing, before Richmond, aged fourty-four
years. His wife survived him until 1894, dying at the home of her son, Dr.
McGiffin, at the age of sixty-five. She was a member of Cumberland
Presbyterian Church. Her husband was a Baptist. They had five
children, only one of whom is now living.
W. A. McGiffin went to college
at Mount Union, Ohio, and then taught in the public schools of Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and West Virginia for three or four years. In 1870 he began the
study of dentistry in North-western Ohio. After some practice there and at
his old home he attended the Pennsylvania Dental College. In 1879 he came
to Allegheny, where he has since followed his profession. He is now one of
the best known dentists in the city, well up in his profession, and an affiable
and agreeable gentleman.
On July
31, 1879, Dr. McGiffin married Miss Emma M. McGaffick, daughter of Elizabeth
McGaffick, of Beaver, Pa. Their children are - Edna A., William M., and
Donald Hazzard. Mrs. McGiffin is a member of the Fourth United
Presbyterian Church. The Doctor is connected with the Improved Order of
Heptasophs and the A. O. U. W. In politics he is a Republican, and has
held the position of clerk and librarian of the Pennsylvania Reform Schools for
two years.
Source: Biographical review. : containing life sketches of
leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania.
Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897
Back to Pennsylvania Trails History and Genealogy
© 2007 Genealogy Trails
C.
Anthony