He was a Republican in politics, and was chosen by his neighbors to fill
nearly every township office, holding office during the greater part of his
long, active and well-spent life.

He married. May 27, 1858, Elizabeth, bom June i, 1835, daughter
of Alexander and Christina (Knight) Ewing. Both Alexander Ewing
and his wife were natives of Pennsylvania, settled early in Industry town-
ship, Beaver county, where he became the owner of a farm of one hundred
and eighty acres, on which they both died. Alexander Ewing was a son
of Samuel and Nancy Ewing, both natives of Pennsylvania, of Irish
descent, and settlers of Beaver county. Elizabeth Knight is a daughter
of Daniel and Elizabeth Knight, old residents of Beaver county, in their
native state, who moved to Wooster, Ohio, and finally to Bluffton, Indiana,
where they both died. Children of William White and Elizabeth (Ewing)
Dawson: 1. James Alexander, a farmer of Ovid, Colorado. 2. Benoni
White, died at Honolulu, Hawaii, while on his way to the Philippines,
November 24, 1898. 3. Harry Grant, died in infancy. 4. Margaret Mer-
tilla, married John W. Ramsey, who manages the old homestead. 5. Wil-
liam Riley, died aged four years. William White Dawson is survived by
his wife, Elizabeth (Ewing) Dawson.



Descending from Holland ancestry and at an early date
NEWKIRK found in Pennsylvania, those of the name Newkirk have

been and are particularly numerous in Washington county,
Pennsylvania, where resided Shipman Newkirk, a farmer, grandfather of
Henry H. Newkirk, of this chronicle. Early lists and land transactions



8o4 PENNSYLVANIA

contain the name frequently, its bearers appearing to have been men of
many affairs, active in the business of their locality.

(II) John F. Newkirk, son of Shipman Newkirk, was a farmer and
hotel proprietor of West Midddlesex, Mercer county, Pennsylvania. The
former occupation was his calling in early life, which he later forsook
to engage in business in the latter line. He married Elizabeth McBride,
born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent, and had
issue: Mary Ann, Rebecca, Matilda, Christiana, Eliza, John F. Jr., Min-
erva, Henry H., of whom further.

(III) Henry H. Newkirk, son of John F. and Elizabeth (McBride)
Newkirk, was born in West Middlesex, Mercer county, Pennslyvania, Octo-
ber 8, 1844. He obtained his education in the common schools in the
vicinity of his birthplace. His first position was as head clerk for Senate
& Warren, iron manufacturers of West Middlesex, and with this concern
he remained for a number of years. In 1862 he established in the bus-
iness with which he is now identified, hardware dealing, and continued
successfully in that line until 1895, having in 1891 changed the seat of his
operations to Rochester, Pennsylvania. In the latter place prosperity at-
tended him as before, and upon his retirement in 1895 he was numbered
among the leading merchants of Rochester. Although he disposed of his
store with the intention of making his retirement permanent he found an
inactive life little to his liking, and in 1897 he opened his present store on
New York avenue, where he conducts a general hardware and tinsmith
business. He transacts business as the Newkirk Hardware Company, his
last being the strongest and most flourishing of his business ventures. His
line of light hardware is attractive and complete, while for heavier tools
and implements which he does not carry in stock he holds agencies with
reliable established manufacturers.

A long business experience under all conditions of trade has taught
Mr. Newkirk the need and value of organization among merchants and
business men, and in 1892 he organized the Business Men's Association
of Rochester, the original membership of the association being three of
the borough's merchants. At the present time practically every man in
business in Rochester is included in the association, which has proved its
worth as a desirable and necessary medium of intercourse between those
who carry on the town's business and has resulted in the upbuilding of
better conditions of trade and a spirit of healthy co-operation among its
members for the best good of the borough. Mr. Newkirk is president of
the Business Men's Association, and during the existence of the Buildei's'
Exchange was for several years its president. He is also treasurer of the
John Devoe Waterways Society and a member of the Ohio River Im-
provement Company, and holds stock in the Rochester Trust Company.
Although an active political worker, he has found his best efficiency in
striving for his party, the Democratic, outside of public office, although
from 1876 until 1891 he filled the office of burgess of West Middlesex,




A'^/Tr,



6^^<^^



Z^



BEAVER COUNTY 805

Mercer county, his administration having been a most satisfactory and
agreeable one, as shown by his long term of office. He is a member ot
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in religion is a Methodist,
holding the position of steward in the church organization.

Faith in the possibilities and future of Rochester have been control-
ling beliefs in Mr. Newkirk's efforts for the general advancement of the
borough. There is probably no other man in Rochester who has gained
subscriptions for public improvements totaling such a vast amount, and
for any service he is ever ready, giving of his time, means and influence to
projects for civil betterment. His name has always appeared in a promi-
nent place on any list to which he has asked others to subscribe, his gener-
osity inciting others to the same free-handed gifts. Rochester's growing
prosperity and general expansion have justified his faith and labors, and
it is giving him no undue credit when it is written that his share in this
growth and advancement has been no mean one. Mr. Newkirk was
selected at a mass meeting, unsolicited, as a delegate to Harrisburg, June
17, 1914, to represent the people of Rochester to advise ways and means
to repeal the public-service commission, which commission was passed by
the legislature of 1913-14. This is only one of many honors bestowed
upon Mr. Newkirk.

Mr. Newkirk married, in 1861, Victoria Aiken, a native of Beaver
county, Pennsylvania, her father having come to Beaver, Pennsylvania,
from Ireland, his birthplace. Mr. and Mrs. Newkirk have had one son,
Charles Aiken, who was born in West Middlesex, Mercer county, Penn-
sylvania. He was educated in the public schools of that place, graduating
with high honors from the high school, then continuing his studies in
Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated in
1884. His education completed he became his father's business assistant,
and was thus engaged until his early death. He was a youth of scholarly
attributes, and was especially proficient in German and French, while his
mastery of his native tongue was complete and easy. He was a member
of the Masonic Order and was prominent in church work, being superin-
tendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday school. He was a youth of
clean habits and upright life, living beyond reproach and dedicating him-
self to the highest service of those about him, and at his death left a
memory of unfailing comfort to those who mourned his loss.



The American progenitor of Professor Floyd Atwell, of
ATWELL New Brighton, Pennsylvania, is Robert Atwell, who came

to Pennsylvania from Ireland, settling in what is now Scrub-
grass township, Venango county, prior to the year 1800. He had surveyed
to him on October 24, 1801, one hundred and ninety acres of land which
he improved and cultivated until 1816, when he moved to Marion town-
ship, Butler county, Pennsylvania. He then cleared and improved a farm
upon which he resided until his death in 1840. He was a soldier of the



8o6 PENNSYLVANIA

War of 1812, industrious and thrifty in his habits, and a member of the
Associate Reformed Church, known at that time as the Seceder Church.
He married (first) Mary Dixon, who bore him a son Dixon. He married
(second) Margaret Russell; children: Ellen, married William Brandon;
William George, born 1808, died 1877; John; James, of whom further;
Robert; Mary, married Alexander Watt.

(H) James Atwell, son of Robert and Margaret (Russell) Atwell,
was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1812, and was brought to
Butler county by his parents in 1816. He grew to manhood on the
Marion township farm and continued in Butler county engaged in farming
until his death. He married Martha Byler, and left issue.

(IH) John B. Atwell, son of James and Martha (Byler) Atwell, was
born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, being bereft of a father's care at
seven years of age. He learned the carpenter's trade and followed that
as his occupation for several years, forsaking it to engage in farming
operations in Venango county, Pennsylvania. His labors were interrupted
by the beginning of active conflict between the North and South when he
enlisted in the Sixteenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. In
all the battles participated in by his regiment he was in the ranks, fighting
at Malvern Hill, where he was wounded, and at Gettysburg. He was a
gallant soldier, daring in action and deported himself under fire with true
bravery. At the close of the war he returned to his home and continued
work on his farm until the present time (1914). He is a member of the
Presbyterian Church and a member of the session of that denomination.
He married Olivia Perry. Children of John B. and Olivia Atwell: James
M. ; Anna A., wife of David W. Lockhard; Floyd, of whom further;
Frank L. ; Harriet V., married L. E. Sutton ; Mary L., married Clarence
Baird ; Lottie E. ; David P. ; Susan.

(IV) Professor Floyd Atwell, son of John B. and Olivia (Perry)
Atwell, was born in Emlenton, Venango county, Pennsylvania, November
12, 1871. He obtained an excellent education in the public schools and
by a year's attendance at a private academy. He then taught school for
four years, discontinuing the practice of what afterwards became his pro-
fession, to enter Grove City College. Completing his collegiate course,
he decided to follow teaching as his life work, and, after holding a position
in the Emlenton school for three years, received an appointment as prin-
cipal of the Pleasantville public school. He held this office for five years
and served in the same capacity in the Ambridge public school for six
years. In 191 1 he accepted his present position as superintendent of the
schools of New Brighton, and has there, during his short stay, done much
toward improving the school system, raising its standard, and increasing
its efficiency as an educational unit. He has conducted his work with
tactful ability and has in most cases succeeded in establishing needed re-
forms or innovations with little opposition. His own youthful days are
not so far past but he can recall them vividly, and with this in his favor




Sfanmel^.^anh



BEAVER COUNTY 807

to bring him into understanding and sympathy with the juvenile spirits
over which he has control, he advocates regulations that will conflict as
little as possible with the preference of the pupils of the city's schools.
For the varied departments of the schools he has assisted in the prepara-
tion of curricula of wide scope, offering thorough and liberal instruction
to the studious, and in all phases of his work has discharged his duties
with the assurance and ease of the trained educator. Professor Atwell
belongs to the Presbyterian Church and is a member of the session. He
affiliates with the Titusville, Pennsylvania, Lodge, Free and Accepted
Masons, and Oil Creek Lodge, No. 303, Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows, in which latter he is past noble grand.

Professor Atwell married, in August, 1898, Mary M. Crawford,
daughter of E. H. and Jane Crawford, of Butler county, Pennsylvania.
Children : Loyal P., Floyd Carroll.



If the man who makes two blades of grain grow where but
BANKS one grew before is to be held up as a benefactor of his race,

then certainly the people of Ireland and their descendants
are to be held up as world benefactors. Energetic, honest and public-
spirited, they have ever given their best efforts in behalf of their own
country and to America after they had emigrated thither. A family
which is especially worthy of record in this direction is the Banks family,
of Beaver county, Pennsylvania.

(I) Matthew Banks was born in county Donegal, Ireland, and came
to the United States in his early youth. He settled near Parkers Landing,
Clarion county, Pennsylvania, and later removed to Butler county in the
same state. There he bought a farm of approximately one hundred and
seventy acres, and remained there for some years, being associated for a
part of this time with his son, Samuel Rogers Banks. After the death of
his wife he removed to Beaver county and located on a small farm near
the crossroads in Brighton township. He married Elizabeth Rogers, who
was also born in county Donegal, Ireland, and came to this country at a
very early age. They were married near the village of Perryville on the
Clarion side. Children : Samuel Rogers, see forward ; Matthew, resides
at Beaver Falls; William Thomas, see forward; Robert George, lives in
the state of Oregon; Eliza Jane, married Matthew Logan and lives at
Beaver Falls, Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Margaret Ellen, married
Robert Gailey, and lives near Beaver Terrace, a suburb of Beaver ; Rebecca,
now deceased, married Nathaniel Blair, also deceased; Mary Ann, mar-
ried William Bartley, and lives in Oklahoma; Rosetta, married John B.
Long, and lives at College Hill, Beaver county, Pennsylvania.

(II) Samuel Rogers Banks, son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Rogers)
Banks, was born in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, January 5, 1842. His
education was acquired in the public schools of Butler county, where his
boyhood and early youth were passed, and where his spare time was spent



8o8 PENNSYLVANIA

in assisting his father in his agricultural labors. He was of an intensely
patriotic nature and at the time of the Civil War enlisted in Company M,
Fourteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and was subsequently trans-
ferred to Company F. While he was in a number of engagements, he was
fortunate to escape without a wound. He was, however, twice taken a
prisoner, being exchanged the first time. At the close of the war he re-
turned to the farm of his father in Butler county, then made an extended
trip to the West, and after being occupied for some time with oil interests
near Parker, Clarion county, Pennsylvania, he decided to engage in farm-
ing. In 1879 he came to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and there purchased
a farm of one hundred and ninety-six acres in Brighton township. He
erected large and improved modern farm buildings, and employed the
latest scientific methods in the cultivation of this property on which he
resided until his death, August 12, 1912. He was a public-spirited citizen,
who gave his support to all projects for the improvement and development
of the community in which he resided. His political allegiance was given
to the Democratic party, and he and his wife were members of the Pres-
byterian Church. He served his township for a considerable length of
time as a school director, being always greatly interested in the cause of
education.

Since his death, his widow still resides on the farm, which she man-
ages with a very creditable amount of executive ability. Mr. Banks mar-
ried, August 23, 1865, Margaret E. Logan, a native of Clarion county,
Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Susanna Logan, both natives of Ire-
land, where they were married and four of their children were born. After
their arrival in this country they had four more children, but of all of
these the only ones now living are Mrs. Banks and Mary Jane Stahl, who
resides in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, near Monterey. Mr. and Mrs.
Banks had children: Edgar T., now deceased, married Etta McBride; Ada
Lena, married I. W. Morgan, and resides near the old homestead; Myrtle
Cora, married Junius W. McBride, and lives in Beaver ; Elizabeth Ann mar-
ried John McPherson, and lives in Beaver; Charles, a physician in Hart-
ford, Ohio; Herbert M., engaged in the oil business and lives in Oklahoma;
Jessie May, married Thomas Garrett, and lives in Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Banks was a man of domestic tastes, devoted to his family, and a
faithful friend. His charities, which were numerous, were invariably
bestowed in an unostentatious manner, and only the recipients of these
benefactions know the extent of them.



(II) William Thomas Banks, son of Matthew Banks (q. v.),
BANKS was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, about 185 1, died near
Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1902. About a year or
two after his marriage he located in Beaver county, on a farm of one hun-
dred and sixty acres which he had purchased in South Beaver township, and
on this he lived until his death. He married, in Butler county, Pennsylvania,



BEAVER COUNTY 809

Huldah, born in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, in 1849, daughter of Alex-
ander McCall. After the death of Mr. Banks, she married (second) Peter
Peters, and again lives in Clarion county, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs.
Banks had children: Herman J., a farmer in Oregon, married Annie
Brittain; Matthew Cleveland, see forward. Mr. and Mrs. Banks were
members of the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church, and he was a staunch
Democrat. Alexander McCall, father of Mrs. Banks, was a farmer and
land owner in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, and was associate judge of
the county for many years. He was also a member of the Presbyterian
Church.

(HI) Matthew Cleveland Banks, son of William Thomas and Huldah
(McCall) Banks, was born on the homestead in Beaver county, Pennsyl-
vania, August 9, 1885. His education was a comprehensive one, and was
acquired in the public schools of his section and at Pollock's Commercial
College at Beaver, from which institution he was graduated in the book-
keeping department, in 1906. He then took up the study of stenography,
and held an excellent position for eighteen months in Pittsburgh. He
was obliged to resign this because of impaired health, and returned to the
more healthful, outdoor occupations of the farm. He became the man-
ager of the homestead farm, and has been thus employed up to the present
time. He has about ten acres devoted exclusively to th cultivation of
fruit, and the remainder is for general produce. He conducts his farming
operations on the latest scientific methods, and has met with proportionate
success. He gives his political allegiance to the Democratic party, and has
served as election inspector. He and his wife are members of the Mount
Pleasant Presbyterian Church, and he is also a member of the local Grange,
Patrons of Husbandry. Mr. Banks married, December 31, 1908, Maude
E., born near Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John
W. and Ada Gillespie. They have no children.



This family is of ancient Scotch origin, and is identical with
EWING Ewen and McEwen. The family seat was in Aberdeenshire

and Edinburghshire from early times. The Ewing family
from the North of Ireland, from which most of the older Ewing families
of this country are descended, trace their ancestry to Major Finlay Ewing,
who received a grant of land for military service, three hundred acres, in
county Antrim, Ireland. One of the first of the name in America was
Richard Ewen, who settled in Maryland prior to 1659. Many of his
descendants are numerous in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and the Middle
West. Uninterrupted connection cannot always be established, owing to
the loss and destruction of early records.

(I) Alexander Ewing, a farmer, removed from Washington county,
Pennsylvania, to Beaver county, in the same state, in 1786, and settled
there. He married McConnell.

(II) James Ewing, son of Alexander and (McConnell) Ewing,



8ro PENNSYLVANIA

was a farmer in Raccoon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and his
farm of two hundred acres is still in the possession of his descendants.
He married Elizabeth Todd, and had children : Alexander G., John, James
D., Henry B., Susan, Walter Todd, Eliza.

(HI) Walter Todd Ewing, son of James and Elizabeth (Todd) Ewing,
was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and is now living,
retired, in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. He was a tanner by trade, and
followed his calling for a quarter of a century. He married Nancy Mor-
row, and has had children: i. James Henry, married (first) Ella Wade,
and had children: Anna, Mary, Walter, Eleanor; he married (second)
Laura Brown, and has had children: Sarah, Grace, Jane. 2. Edgar A.,
married Lelia Leaf, and has children: Edward and Franklin. 3. Frank
A., born October 3, 1869; has been engaged in the clothing business in
New Brighton for the past twenty-five years ; a Republican in politics, and
a member of the United Presbyterian Church; married, July 12, 1899,
Bertha, daughter of T. M. Boal, of Steubenville, Ohio, and they have had
children: Helen Morrow, born May 19, 1901 ; Charles Boal, May 16,
1904; Margie Harbison, June i, 1909. 4. Mary A. 5. Homer H., as-
sociated in the clothing business with his brother Frank A. ; he is un-
married.



While the family bearing this name has only come
STROHBACH to the United States in recent years, they have already
demonstrated their value to the country in various
lines, and have shown the qualities of excellent and patriotic citizenship.

(I) Gottlieb Strohbach spent his entire life in Germany, where he
was a farmer, and died at the age of forty-two years. He was a Con-
servative in his political views, and a member of the Evangelical Protestant
Church. He married and had children: Frederick C, of further men-
tion; Catherine M., now deceased, who married Sevring, and never

came to this country.

(H) Frederick C. Strohbach, son of Gottlieb Strohbach, was born in
Germany, and died there at the age of about sixty-four years. He was
educated in the public schools of his native country, and at the age of
fourteen years was apprenticed to learn the tailor's trade. At the age of
eighteen years he entered the Prussian army, in which he served bravely
for a period of nine years, in an infantry regiment, during this time taking
part in the Polish War. He then returned to the tailoring trade, with which
he was identified altogether for a period of forty years. He was a Con-
servative in political affairs, and he and his wife were members of the
Evangelical Protestant Church. He married Caroline Gebhart, born in
Germany, and died there at the age of sixty-three years, daughter of
Christian Gebhart, a contractor and builder in Germany. They had chil-
dren: Frederick, now deceased; Gottfried, also deceased; Caroline, men-
tioned above. Mr. and Mrs. Strohbach had children: Charles Frederick,



BEAVER COUNTY 8ii

of further mention; Frederick, died at the age of two years; Caroline, died
unmarried at the age of eighteen years.

(Ill) Charles Frederick Strohbach, son of Frederick C. and Caroline
(Gebhart) Strohbach, was born in Prussia, Germany, July 26, 1837, and
was educated in the public schools of his native land. He was apprenticed
to learn the trade of shoemaking, and upon the completion of this ap-
prenticeship entered upon his military duties, serving in the Prussian army
somewhat more than four years. He then resumed his occupation of
shoemaking, and was engaged in this until he came to the United States
in 1866. Here he followed the occupation with which he had been iden-
tified in Germany, and located in Freedom, Beaver county, Pennsylvania.
In addition to this occupation, he took up farming, which line he continued
for seven years, but now only manufactures shoes for the members of his
own family. He is a Republican in politics, and has taken a prominent
part in the public affairs of his community. He is a member of the school
board of Marion township, Beaver county, and has served as secretary
of this body for three years. At the same time he was assistant assessor
of the township. He is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,
and his wife is a member of the Evangelical Associated Church.

Mr. Strohbach married, May 3, 1868, Fredrika Duerr, born on the
Winebiddle Farm in East Liberty, now East End, Pittsburgh, September
12, 1844, daughter of Zachariah Duerr, who was born in Wertenberg,
Germany, and died in New Sewickley, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, at
the age of seventy-three years. He was eleven years of age when he came
to this country, and was a farmer all the active years of his life. He
married Sarah Laudenshalager, also born in Wertenberg, Germany, died