eighty-five years of age, and lives with William Herbert McElvaney, his
grandson. In the closing years of a long and useful life he may look
with approval and satisfaction upon the works that he has wrought, and
find them good. John S. Hudson married (first) Eliza J. Paden, who
died in 1882, and (second) Mrs. Maria Rowe, who died January i, 1908.
Children of John S. and Eliza J. (Paden) Hudson: i. James, a merchant,
died in Denver, Colorado. 2. Milton, an employee of an express company,
died in Petersburg, Ohio. 3. Mary Jane, of previous mention, married
Daniel McElvaney. 4. Albert, met an accidental death in boyhood. Chil-
dren of Daniel and Mary Jane (Hudson) McElvaney: i. William Herbert,
of whom further. 2. A daughter, died in infancy.
(II) William Herbert McElvaney, son of Daniel and Mary Jane
(Hudson) McElvaney, was born in New Galilee, Beaver county, Penn-
sylvania, November 18, 1878. As a boy he attended the public schools of
New Galilee, later the Greersburg Academy at Darlington, completing his
studies with a course in a business college at East Liverpool, Ohio. He
was reared in the home of his Grandfather Hudson. As a young man he
learned the barber's trade, moving then to East Liverpool, Ohio. In 1907
he returned to New Galilee and has since there resided, engaging in the
fire insurance business, representing at the present time the Humboldt and
Hartford Insurance companies. As the agent of two of the most reputable
and reliable of insurance companies he has met with very favorable results,
covering the surrounding territory in a capable manner and selling much
of his company's paper. In 1909 he was elected to the office of justice
of the peace for a seven-year term, his tenure of office expiring January
I, 1916. The Masonic order is the fraternal society that claims his mem-
bership. Meridian Lodge, No. 411, Free and Accepted Masons, and East
Liverpool Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, being the organizations to which
he belongs. With his wife, he affiliates with the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. McElvaney is well and favorably known in the locality in which he
lives, popular with a large circle of acquaintances, and has attracted com-
plimentary comment by his alert, energetic and forcible business tactics.
He married, November 24, 1904, Daisie Carrie, born in Columbiana
county, Ohio, daughter of Thomas and Oella (Conant) Cope. Mr. and
Mrs. McElvaney are the parents of one son, Charles Herbert, born Jan-
uary 29, 1906.
652 PENNSYLVANIA
Milton Smiley, a prominent citizen of Koppel, Beaver
SMILEY county, Pennsylvania, is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and was
bom in Big Beaver township, Beaver county, December 2,
1858, a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Beatty) Smiley.
Hugh Smiley, his paternal grandfather, was a native of Ireland but
of Scotch descent. He brought his wife to America and settled near
Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. The location which he chose for his home
was, when he moved there, an uncleared wilderness, but by dint of hard
labor he cleared and cultivated the property and transformed it into a
flourishing farm. William Beatty, maternal grandfather of Milton Smiley,
was a native of Scotland or Ireland. He also came to Pennsylvania and
was one of the early settlers in the region where the town of Koppel
now stands. Like Hugh Smiley, he, too, cleared and improved wild
property, transforming it into arable land, and the farm which was thus
the fruit of his labors descended to his son, Milton Beatty, and is now
owned by the Koppel Company.
Andrew Smiley, father of Milton Smiley, was born in the year 1820,
near Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, and lived on his father's farm for some
years. He finally purchased a farm of one hundred and eleven acres in
Big Beaver township and it is on a part of this property that the town
of Koppel now stands. Here he passed the remainder of his life, and
here he died, April 24, 1894. His wife, Elizabeth (Beatty) Smiley, was
the fifth of the eight children of William Beatty and was born on the
old Beatty homestead. After her death Andrew Smiley married (second)
Ann Ferguson. He was a staunch Republican in politics, and a prominent
man in the community, and served for a time as justice of the peace. He
was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and an elder of the
same, and he was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
To Andrew and Elizabeth Smiley were born seven children, as follows:
Mary, now Mrs. James Sef ton, of Wichita, Kansas ; David, deceased ;
Clarinda, died at the age of sixteen ; Abbey, now Mrs. Coston Burns, of
Ellwood, Pennsylvania; Milton, of whom further; Annie, deceased, was
the wife of John Huffman, of College Hill, Pennsylvania; James, now a
resident of Springfield, Ohio.
Milton Smiley was educated in the local schools and passed his child-
hood and youth on his father's farm. When he was of an age to be actively
employed, he took up farming as an occupation and bought a portion of
the old homestead, fifty-nine acres, which, however, he eventually sold to
the founders of Koppel, buying out in turn his sister's share of forty-two
acres, upon which he erected in 1909 a comfortable house. In the year
1912 he became the general foreman of the Clydesdale Stone Company,
a position he still retains, and in which he employs forty men. The chief
output of this company is bridge stone. Mr. Smiley's farm is also very
profitable, six acres of it being devoted to fruit and the remainder to
general farming. Mr. Smiley, like his father, is a staunch member of the
BEAVER COUNTY 653
Republican party, and like father is active in politics, having served his
community in the capacity of school director for two terms and as su-
pervisor for one term. He is a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.
Mr. Smiley married, September 16, 1885, Elizabeth Dunlap, a native
of Darlington, Pennsylvania, daughter of Wallace and Lovena Dunlap, of
that place. To Mr. and Mrs. Smiley have been born three children, as
follows : Leroy, who resides at home and is employed as night agent by
the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway; David, who resides at home and is
employed at Koppel; Mary Helen, who resides at home.
John Swick, the great-grandfather of Dr. Swick, was born in
SWICK New Jersey. During the Revolutionary War he took up the
cause of the American patriots, and served his country with
distinction in the capacity of drum major. About 1790 he came to Franklin
township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he took up land, cleared
and improved it, and where his death occurred. He married a Miss Reno,
and by her had the following children: Jesse Martin; John, of whom
further; a daughter, who married a Mr. Reno; Lucinda, married Godfrey
Yahn; Nancy, married Lewis Yahn.
(H) John (2) Swick, son of John (i) Swick, was born in Franklin
township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1810. He was educated in
the common schools of his day, and was brought up to engage in farming,
an occupation he followed all his life, and which he pursued with such
success that he was considered one of the successful men of his day.
Until 1850 he rented his farm, when he purchased a farm in North
Sewickley township, and there remained until the end of his life. He
was a Whig in politics, but later joined the ranks of the Republican party,
and held the offices of school director and supervisor. In religious faith
he and his family adhered to the doctrines of the Church of God. He
married Nancy Freed, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Mains) Freed,
and by her had the following children : Addison ; Jacob F. ; Margaret ;
John, died in Andersonville prison ; Daniel W., of whom further ; Mary J. ;
David M.; Eliza; Moses C.
(Ill) Daniel W. Swick, son of John (2) and Nancy (Freed) Swick,
was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, October i, 1843. He grew to
manhood in that region, as a boy attending the common schools and assist-
ing his father on the homestead farm. Later he established in the grocery
business in New Brighton, remaining there for a period of sixteen years,
and catering to a wide and prosperous trade, whose patronage had come
to him because of the universally business-like and courteous reception
he ever accorded those engaged in dealings with him. After this long stay
in New Brighton he moved to North Sewickley township, where he taught
school and engaged as a farmer. About thirty years later he retired to
his home in Beaver Falls, where he has since lived and he has passed his
654 PENNSYLVANIA
days in quiet enjoyment of the material prosperity that has come to him
after manly participation in the world of trade. To be sure, his thoughts,
too, now and then turn to his military career. At the outbreak of the
Civil War he had just attained the age at which youths were acceptable
to the government for military service, and he enlisted in the Union army,
being identified with Company H, One Hundred and First Regiment Penn-
sylvania Volunteer Infantry, and saw service at Antietam, Fredericksburg
and Chancellorsville, these three being the most important battles in which
he was engaged during his two years of service. He never rose above the
rank of private; however, it was the men of the line of his stamp that
made the armies of the North as well as of the South the terrible fighting
machines they were. And though it was never his lot to lead a spirited
charge or to direct a campaign, it was his part to aid in the accomplish-
ment of the brilliant plans that matured in the brains of our geniuses of
war, and to brave the hail of steel and the flare of cannon that the cause
of universal freedom might conquer. That he returned from the front
was due to the watchful mercy of an all-seeing Providence, for the call
to battle ever found him in the front rank, prepared to follow his leaders
or to march where they might direct, trusting only that his fate was kind.
Because of his military service he is eligible to and holds membership
in the Grand Army of the Republic, his Post being No. 164, of Beaver
Falls. In political faith he is a Republican, and in religious faith he and
his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he having been
for a long time a class leader and an officer of the organization of that
denomination in North Sewickley township.
Mr. Swick married Mary Ann Boots, born in Beaver county, Penn-
sylvania, August 20, 1843, daughter of Samuel and Harriet (Wild) Boots.
Samuel Boots was a native of England and came to the United States
when he was fourteen years of age, making his home in Beaver county,
Pennsylvania, where he grew to maturity and married. His occupations
were those of cabinetmaker and farmer, and these he followed all his life,
being as well a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, for
which he held frequent services in that locality. Both he and his wife died
in Beaver county, his death occurring in 1896, when he was in the eighty-
first year of his age, and his wife dying in 1875, aged sixty-three years.
Children of Samuel and Harriet (Wild) Boots: Maria, Henry, Elizabeth,
Mary Ann, of previous mention ; Amos, George, Nancy, Amanda. Children
of Daniel W. and Mary Ann (Boots) Swick: i. Minnie I., married J. J.
Stuber; lives in Dougherty township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 2.
Elizabeth, married E. L. Frazier; lives in North Sewickley township,
Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 3. Samuel, lives on the homestead in North
Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 4. Harry, died in
1901. 5. J. Howard, of whom further. 6. William A., a teacher in the
high school of Monongahela City, Pennsylvania. 7. George B., lives on
the homestead with his brother, Samuel.
BEAVER COUNTY 655
(IV) Dr. J. Howard Swick, son of Daniel W. and Mary Ann (Boots)
Swick, was born at New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, August
6, 1879. In his youth he attended the public schools, later enrolling in
Peirsol's Academy, where he completed the college preparatory course.
For five years after his graduation from this institution he was engaged
in the pedagogical profession, at the expiration of that time entering
Geneva College, where he took a two years course. Medicine was the field
that made the strongest appeal to him, and as it became necessary for him
to decide upon a profession, he accordingly matriculated at the Hahnemann
Homoeopathic Medical College in Philadelphia, whence he was graduated
in 1906. During the last two years of his course he served as interne in
the Children's Homoeopathic Hospital of Philadelphia, performing the
duties of this position in connection with the demands of his college
schedule, which was in itself adequate occupation, and sufficient to busy
a student without leaving leisure in which to idle. The energetic en-
thusiasm that prompted him to undertake this double burden, as well as
to serve two months as an interne in the Pittsburgh Homoeopathic Hospital,
has marked his active practice, begun in Beaver Falls soon after he received
his diploma and degree from the Hahnemann Institute. Since his resi-
dence in Beaver Falls he has been physician-in-charge of the dependents
of North Sewickley and Franklin township, and has likewise been a member
of the health bureau for the same length of time. To a large extent his
practice is general in character, although he is a specialist in the diseases
of childhood, having made that branch of his profession the object of the
most careful study and investigation. His knowledge of his profession is
wide and accurate, and his large and growing practice is ample evidence
of his popularity with his townsmen. Dr. Swick not only adorns his pro-
fession in Beaver Falls, but he is likewise a willing and useful worker
in the cause of civic advancement. Health is necessary to growth; and
by his services he is protecting the health of the community as a member
of the health bureau, and is safeguarding its inhabitants from epidemics, as
far as lies within his power, by his advocacy of sanitary improvements and
his strict surveillance of conditions in the public schools. His medical
societies are: The Beaver County and Pennsylvania State Homoeopathic
and the American Institute of Homoeopathy. His political support is
given to the Republican party, and he also affiliates with the Protective
Home Circle, American Insurance Union, and the Masonic Order, belong-
ing to Beaver Falls Lodge, No. 662, Free and Accepted Masons, Harmony
Chapter, No. 206, Royal Arch Masons, and Beaver Valley Commandery, No.
84, Knights Templar.
Dr. Swick married, September 19, 1906, Esther L. Duncan, born in
North Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Wil-
liam and Sarah Duncan. Children : Charles Emerson and Florence Irene.
6s6 PENNSYLVANIA
While not a native born son of Pennsylvania, William H. Rail,
RALL of Brighton township, descends from parents both born in this
state. He is the son of William and Margaret (Coy) Rail, who
prior to moving to Ohio resided at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, where
William Rail conducted a blacksmith shop. He had an established business
there, but when the Mahoning canal was begun, he moved to Girard, Ohio,
to take part in its construction. He was an expert smith and found
abundant opportunity to display his skill in forging the plates, locks, bolts,
nuts and spikes used at the locks and dams along the route of the canal.
After the canal was completed and his services no longer required, he
opened a shop in Girard, where he was employed as a general smith until
his death in 1854. Both he and his wife were members of the Disciples
of Christ, both active workers, and faithful and consistent Christians.
Margaret (Coy) Rail long survived her husband, but did not again marry,
finally passing away in the year 1870. Children: Lorenzo, died in child-
hood; Angeline, died in childhood; Mary Jane, deceased, married Thomas
Randolph; Lovanchia, died in Wellsville, Ohio, in 1912, married John O.
H. McNamee ; Albert, killed in an accident on the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railroad, a brakeman; Alvernon, married Theophilus Ferguson,
and resides at Girard, Ohio; William H., of whom further.
William H. Rail, youngest of the children of William and Margaret
(Coy) Rail, was born at Girard, Ohio, October 14, 1853. He obtained a
public school education, and began life as a wage earner in the employ of
a railroad company. He acquired a familiar knowledge of machinery and
its operation, finally becoming a stationary engineer in the employ of the
Wellsville Plate and Sheet Iron Company, a position he held for five years.
From the engine room he graduated to the rolling department, working as a
bar roller from 1885 until 1903. He had always been a man of thrift,
saving his earnings, and in 1893 he purchased a farm of one hundred and
eight acres in Brighton township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. These
acres he had leased to others ever since becoming their owner, but in
1903 he abandoned mill work and moved to his farm. He erected a new
barn, made other improvements, and now has a well cultivated fertile farm
devoted to general farming purposes and the breeding of a high grade of
stock. While not reared to farm labor he has used wise judgment and
painstaking care in his operations, feeling his way until now he has the
knowledge and experience necessary to insure success. He has prospered
both as iron worker and farmer, the proof being his well kept and profitable
estate. He is a Republican in politics and has so gained the confidence
and respect of his neighbors that he is now serving them as township
supervisor. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and with his family attends the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Mr. Rail married, July 3, 1882, Elizabeth C. Booth, at Bridgewater,
Pennsylvania, daughter of Levi and Eliza (McCabe) Booth. Levi Booth
BEAVER COUNTY 657
was born in Bridgewater, Connecticut, coming to Western Pennsylvania
when a young man, there marrying, but later moving to Edinburg, Ohio.
He was a dry goods merchant and late in life established a store in
Rochester, Pennsylvania, having his residence in Bridgewater, nearby
His wife, Eliza (McCabe) Booth, was born in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania.
Children of William H. and Elizabeth C. (Booth) Rail: i. Howard T.,
resides on the home farm, his father's assistant; married (first) Mary
Robinson, who bore him one child, Helen; married (second) Pauline
Geibel, who bore him two children: Albert, deceased; William, living. 2.
Wade T., also an assistant on the home farm; married Mary Ann Holt.
3. George W. 4. Blanche L., married L. C. Wise and they are the parents
of one child; resides in Pittsburgh. 5. Melda.
The Ramseys are representatives of a family probably of
RAMSEY Celtic origin, which has furnished much valuable citizenship
to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and contributed greatly
to its industrial development. Various members of the family have followed
diversified callings — mechanics, tradesmen, farmers, principally the latter.
They lived east of the Allegheny mountains for many years.
(I) Robert Ramsey, the first of the line herein recorded, was born
in Maryland. He traveled across the mountains in the early pioneer days
of the state of Pennsylvania, and located in Washington county, which
at that time extended as far north as the Ohio river. He married Mary
Michel, who bore him fifteen children, six sons and nine daughters, all
married but one, all had good-sized families, and all but one attained an
age of more than sixty years. The oldest son, Rev. James Ramsey, D.D.,
was a professor in the Seceder Theological Seminary at Canonsburg and
pastor of the Canonsburg Seceder Church for forty years. Robert Ramsey
was one of the founders of the Kings Creek Seceder Church, also one
of its elders.
(H) Robert (2) Ramsey, son of Robert (i) Ramsey, was born in
Maryland, in 1780, and removed with his parents to Pigeon Creek, Wash-
ington county, Pennsylvania, in 1789, and they later settled in Hanover
township, same county, on the farm later owned by Thomas Ramsey, now
deceased. After his marriage Robert Ramsey Jr. moved to near Youngs-
town, Ohio, and subsequently returned to Pennsylvania and settled on the
farm now owned by James and Joseph Ramsey. He was twice married,
first to Susannah Leeper, the second time to a widow, Mrs. Deborah
(Stephens) Whitehill. Children: Robert, lived on the homestead until
his death, unmarried; James, of whom further; William, died on his farm
near Hookstown; Mary, married Robert Cross, and died in Washington
county, Pennsylvania; Eliza, married, her husband's surname being the
same as her own, and died in Hanover township; Eli, of whom further;
James, the owner of a farm near Hookstown, where he died.
(Ill) James Ramsey, son of Robert (2) and Susannah (Leeper)
658 PENNSYLVANIA
Ramsey, was born near Youngstown, Ohio, in 1812, died in 1887, in his
seventy-fifth year. He was educated in the district schools. He learned
the trade of carpenter, at which he worked a few years, but this not proving
to his liking, he turned his attention to farming, in 1847 purchasing a part
of the old homestead farm from Thomas Moore, his wife's brother, and
there spent the remainder of his days. At first he had but seventy-five
acres of land, but he increased this by successive purchases, until he had
one hundred and eighty acres at the time of his death. Stock raising also
engaged a large amount of his attention, and he was very successful in this
enterprise. Mr. Ramsey married Isabel Martha Moore, born in Beaver
county, Pennsylvania, in 18 16, daughter of Samuel and Jeannette (Mc-
CoUough) Moore, and granddaughter of Robert Moore, who was one of
the pioneer settlers of Western Pennsylvania, where he took up a large
tract of land, a part of which is owned by the Ramsey brothers, having
been in the family line considerably more than a hundred years. Samuel
Moore settled on part of his father's farm; he was a soldier in the War
of 1812; he married, in 1799, Jeanette, daughter of Alexander McCuUough,
a pronounced Scotchman both in lineage and character, familiarly called
"Ould Sawney;" he was one of the founders of Mill Creek Church, in
which he served as elder; he died in 1830, noted for his faith and piety.
Mr. and Mrs. Moore were the parents of eight children, all of whom are
now deceased. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey: Samuel M., of whom
further; Susan Mary, bom 1852, died in 1905, married Dr. George Christler,
of Hookstown, Pennsylvania; Robert Morton, of whom further.
(IV) Samuel M. Ramsey, son of James Ramsey, was born on the farm
in Greene township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1849. He
received his education in the public schools of his native township, and
his entire life has been spent on the homestead farm. This farm is
conducted by Samuel and Robert M. Ramsey, they conducting their opera-
tions under the name of Ramsey Brothers. They now have under cultiva-
tion upward of three hundred and thirty-three acres of land, and their
products are considered as among the best of their kind in that section of
the country. Mr. Ramsey is a director in the First National Bank of
Chester, West Virginia.
(IV) Robert Morton Ramsey, son of James Ramsey, was born on the
homestead farm in Greene township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, April
I, 1858, and his entire life has been spent there. He was educated in the
public schools, and has associated himself with his brother, Samuel M., in
the management of the farm. The brothers are members of the Pres-
byterian Church, Samuel M. being a member of the session for over thirty
years and has represented the congregation in the general assembly. Robert
M. Ramsey is a director in the First National Bank of Midland. He mar-
ried, August 10, 1899, Mrs. Alice Holmes, daughter of James and Mary
(Brower) Todd, of Green Garden, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, both of
whom are now deceased, Mr. Todd having been one of the most prominent
BEAVER COUNTY 659
men of the county, serving as commissioner of Beaver county. Mrs.
Ramsey has one daughter by her former marriage, Helen Holmes.
(HI) Eli Ramsey, son of Robert (2) and Deborah ( Stephens- White-
hill) Ramsey, was born in Hanover tow^nship, Beaver county, Pennsylvania,
December 3, 1822, died there in July, 1899. He spent his youth in the
vicinity of his birthplace and upon the death of his father inherited one-
half of the old homestead, there making his life-long home. He was a
successful farmer, bore an excellent reputation among his neighbors, and
was deeply interested in all that pertained to the public life of the township,