BEAVER COUNTY 979
with the American Bridge Company. He married, in 1880, Sarah Ann,
daughter of John and Mary Davis. Her parents were married at Tulford,
Wales, and had children, among whom were: i. Sarah Ann, of previous
mention, married Thomas Dunn. 2. Elizabeth, died in infancy. 3. Wil-
liam, owner of the Wayne Foundry, of Pittsburgh. He at one time fol-
lowed the occupation of puddler, was later a barber, and afterward a trac-
tion company employee in the capacity of motorman. He then entered the
foundry of H. K. Porter, becoming first superintendent of the core-making
department, and later assistant superintendent of the entire plant. He
resigned the latter position to establish in independent business. 4. Martha,
died in infancy. 5. David, of Sharon, Pennsylvania. Seven other children
died in infancy. After the death of John Davis, his widow married a second
time, her husband being Thomas G. Davis, not a relative of her first hus-
band. He was born at Glamorganshire, Wales, in 1833, son of Enoch and
Annie Davis, both of whom spent their lives in the home land. Thomas G.
Davis came to Pittsburgh in 1862, and there worked at the puddler's trade,
later moving to Sharon, Pennsylvania, where he died March 10, 1908.
Children of Thomas and Sarah Ann (Davis) Dunn: William, deceased;
Arthur, educated in the public schools of Etna, Pennsylvania, an athlete,
died aged twenty-two years; Allen B., of whom further; Thomas J., a
resident of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, married Bertha Fluckinger, for several
years assistant postmaster at Ambridge.
(HI) Allen B., son of Thomas and Sarah Aim (Davis) Dunn, was
born at Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1884,
and was educated in the public schools of Etna, Allegheny county, Pennsyl-
vania, later taking up physical education in the University of Chicago and
in the Young Men's Christian Association Training Institute. His first
position as physical instructor was in Westminster College, where he re-
mained one year, after which he spent one year in the Sharon Young Men's
Christian Association, then after two years in York, Pennsylvania, he ac-
cepted the professorship of physical education in Susquehanna University,
where he is at present located. Professor Dunn has achieved a position in
the college life that lends to his work the greatest measure of efficiency,
for he has many firm friends and sincere admirers among the students, his
course being a popular one. He adheres to the teachings of no one school
or system, but has combined the best of all with some original ideas that
have produced a method valuable for its thoroughness in uniformly de-
veloping those following it. He married. January 2, 1910, Clara Croker,
of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
"A truly great life," says Webster, "when Heaven
SHALLENBERGER vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a temporary
flame, burning bright for a while and then expir-
ing, giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent heat
as well as radiant light, with power to enkindle the common mass of human
98o PENNSYLVANIA
mind ; so that when it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in
death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire, from
the potent contact of its own spirit."
Oliver Blackburn Shallenberger, whose demise occurred January 23,
1898, was a man of unusual prominence in the field of electricity, in which
he gained distinctive prestige as an inventive genius. Although a resident
of Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the time when death called him, Mr.
Shallenberger was a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he
passed most of his lifetime and where his remains are interred.
At Rochester, Pennsylvania, May 7, i860, occurred the birth of Oliver
B. Shallenberger, who was a son of Aaron T. and Mary (Bonbright) Shal-
lenberger, the former of whom was one of the leading physicians and sur-
geons in western Pennsylvania prior to his demise, in 1902, and the latter
of whom is now a resident of Rochester. Dr. A. T. Shallenberger was a
brother of Hon. W. S. Shallenberger, formerly a member of Congress
and later second assistant postmaster general. On the maternal side the
subject of this review is descended from the distinguished Bonbright family
of Youngstown, Pennsylvania.
To the public schools of Rochester and to Beaver College Oliver B.
Shallenberger was indebted for his preliminary educational training, which
discipline was later supplemented by a course of study in the Naval Academy
at Annapolis, which he entered as cadet engineer in 1877. Out of the one
hundred and twenty-six candidates examined for admittance to the Naval
Academy in that year but twenty-five were admitted, and Mr. Shallenberger
entered at the head of his class. He maintained first place in his studies
throughout the first year, but the work of his second and third years was
seriously interfered with by an accident resulting in a dislocated arm and a
broken wrist and by impaired eyesight which forced him to abandon
night study. Nevertheless he held third place at the time of his graduation.
During the entire period of his course at Annapolis, Mr. Shallenberger de-
voted considerable attention to electricity and original experimental in-
vestigations, and after graduating he took the customary two-years' cruise
upon a government vessel. He was assigned to the United States flag-ship
"Lancaster," and most of his time was spent in the Mediterranean, where he
witnessed the bombardment of Alexandria. Among his contemporaries
at the Naval Academy may be mentioned Frank J. Sprague, Dr. Louis
Duncan, W. F. C. Hasson, Gilbert Wilkes and others, whose names are
promment among electricians.
In 1883 Mr. Shallenberger returned to the United States and in the
following year resigned from the naval service in order to devote his entire
attention to the science of electricity. His first position was with the Union
Switch and Signal Company, at Pittsburgh, in the electric light department,
of which concern he became a prominent factor. This company was then
under the management of Mr. George Westinghouse, and in the ensuing
summer and fall Mr. Shallenberger was selected to take charge of the experi-
^
BEAVER COUNTY 981
ments made with the Gaulard and Gibbs alternating current apparatus which
had just been imported from Europe. During this period he was associated
with WiUiam Stanley and Reginald Belfield in the commercial development
of the alternating current system. The result of these investigations was
the organization of the Westinghouse Electric Company, of which Mr.
Shallenberger was appointed chief electrician, which position he later re-
tained in the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. He
was elected an associate member of the American Institute of Electrical
Engineers on September 7, 1888, and was transferred to membership De-
cember 4, 1888. In 1889 he went abroad and spent a great deal of time in
visiting the central stations in many of the larger European cities. Two
years later, however, failing health compelled him to resign his position as
chief electrician, but the Westinghouse Company, unwilling to part with his
services, retained him as consulting electrician. The succeeding winters
were spent in Colorado, but during the summer months he resided in
Rochester, where he continued his experiments in a well equipped labora-
tory near his home. In 1897 Mr. Shallenberger organized the Colorado
Electric Power Company, of which prominent organization he was presi-
dent at the time of his death. He settled permanently in Colorado Springs
in October, 1897, ^"d his death occurred January 23, 1898.
In regard to Mr. Shallenberger's many inventions and contributions to
the advancement of the electrical art the following paragraph, taken from
"A Memorial," written by Charles A. Terry, and published in the Proceed-
ings of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1898, is here in-
serted :
"He invented tlie street-lighting system in which each of a series of in-
candescent lamps is shunted by a reactive coil having its winding so proportioned
to the mass of iron in its core that upon the interruption of the current through
any lamp, a normal current is allowed to flow through the corresponding coil
to the remaining lamps by reason of the consequent high magnetic saturation
of its core. The construction of converters with primary and secondary coils
separately wound and insulated was originated by him. He also was the first,
in this country at least, to connect alternating current generators in parallel
circuit, and he devised ingenious methods and apparatus for that purpose. The
compensating indicators for showing at the central station the condition of the
consumption circuit were worked out by him. His latest work was in pro-
ducing a series of alternating current recording and indicating wattmeters for
accurately measuring the energy consumed upon inductive as well as non-in-
ductive circuits, and compensating for variations in temperature and rates of
alternation. But of all his inventions, the development of the current meter
bearing his name is surrounded with the greatest interest, not alone because of
its intrinsic value and importance, but because it illustrates the character and
mental aptitude of the man. He was original in his conceptions, comprehensive
in his grasp of ideas, conscientiously thorough in developing them, accurate in
his conclusions, and complete in his final expression; these characteristics were
abundantly evident in his development of the meter. While testing an experi-
mental arc lamp upon an alternating current circuit, his attention was attracted
by the rotation of a small spiral spring, which, dislodged from its position in
the lamp, had fallen upon the brass head of the magnet-spool adjacent to a
projecting core of iron wires. The motion was so slow as to be scarcely per-
ceptible, but it did not escape his quick observation. He realized at once that
he was in the presence of a new phenomenon. All his energies were immediately
devoted to ascertaining the cause. Experiment followed experiment in rapid
succession. Before he left the laboratory that night he developed from this
accidental suggestion the complete conception of the alternating current meter.
982 PENNSYLVANIA
an object for which he, as well as many others, had for many months sought in
vain. He pursued his further experiments with such zeal and good judgment
that within a month he had produced a complete working meter, in essentially
the same form that it is now manufactured after nearly ten years of extended
use."
Following is a letter written by Nikola Tesla, a fellow electrician, a
short time after the death of Mr. Shallenberger. It is one chosen from
many that were written to express regret that so great a man should be
called from his life work in the early prime of his manhood, just when he
was beginning to achieve such marvelous success in his inventions and dis-
coveries. This letter was sent to Charles A. Terry for publication in the
article previously mentioned:
"I am glad that your letter gives me an opportunity to express how deeply I
have regretted the death of Shallenberger. The electro-technical profession has
lost in him one of its most gifted members. Many a bright idea is recorded in
his numerous patents, and much of his work is embodied in the splendid machinery
which, during a number of years, he has helped to develop. Although stricken
down in the prime of life, he leaves a brilliant record in the profession.
"Shallenberger has also made a record as an original discoverer; for, although
at a later date, he independently observed some rotations in a magnetic field,
his merit is all the greater, as he did not stop at a laboratory experiment, but
quickly applied the principle practically and produced his beautiful measuring
instruments.
"Shall we content ourselves to merely mention the name of a man who has
done so much? I will not presume to make a suggestion in imy capacity as one
of his co-workers, but Shallenberger was a friend whom I have liked and
esteemed highly, and particularly in this quality I would feel very gratified to
see his name more fitly commemorated."
November 27, 1889, Mr. Shallenberger married Miss Mary Woolslair,
who was born in Pittsburgh and reared in Beaver county, and who is a
daughter of the late John and Caroline F. (Schreiner) Woolslair. Two
children were born to this union — John W., a graduate of Yale University
in the class of 1912 ; and Gertrude. During his lifetime Mr. Shallenberger
was a devout member of the Baptist church, and his family are likewise
members of that denomination. Mrs. Shallenberger survives her honored
husband and maintains her home at Beaver.
In connection with his life work, Mr. Shallenberger was recognized as
an authority on everything pertaining to electricity and its development
throughout the world. He was one of the promoters of the Rochester
Electric Company, and was financially interested in a number of important
business enterprises. Mr. Shallenberger was a man of great kindliness of
spirit and charitable impulses, but there was a modesty and lack of all
ostentation in his work as a benefactor. His entire life was characterized
by upright, honorable principles, and his deep human sympathy and gen-
erous nature make his memory an enduring monument more ineffaceable
than polished marble or burnished bronze. "To live in the hearts we leave
behind, is not to die."
The annals of Pennsylvania abound in accounts of the early
TODD pioneers who settled the state. The early settlers appear to
have possessed all the requisites necessary to the conquest of
the wilderness and the founding of a great nation. The history of this
BEAVER COUNTY 983
state without an account of the Scotch and Scotch-Irish would be very in-
complete. They came before much of the state had been improved, and
contributed largely to its growth and prosperity. They were industrious
toilers, honest citizens, and when it became necessary, hard and brave
fighters. To this class of hardy pioneers belongs the family of Todd.
(I) James Todd, the immigrant ancestor of this branch of the Todd
family, was born in Scotland in 1760, and died on the homestead he had
founded in Moon township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1846.
He came to America in 1788, and in the same year located in Moon town-
ship, on a large tract of land. He cleared a portion of this, erected a sub-
stantial log cabin, and cultivated a considerable portion. He married,
April 10, 1788, Katie Forbes, who had come to America on the same vessel
as he did. She was born in Scotland in 1765, and died on the Todd home-
stead in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, June 26, 1843. They had children:
George, born December 28, 1788; Susan, 1791 ; Jeanette, January i, 1793;
James, April 22, 1796; William, of further mention; Thomas, May 29,
1801 ; John. 1806.
(II) William Todd, son of James and Katie (Forbes) Todd, was
born on the Todd homestead, October 16, 1798. He received his education
in the district school, and remained on the home farm until 1816. In that
year he removed to Hopewell township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on a
farm of one hundred and forty acres, which he cleared. About 1820 he
erected the dwelling house which is still in excellent condition, and is now
occupied by his son John, and there he died. In addition to general farm-
ing he was largely engaged in sheep raising, in which he was very success-
ful. He married Jane McCune, born in Pennsylvania, daughter of William
McCune, born in county Down, Ireland, in 1764, died at Raccoon creek,
Hopewell township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1848. He was nine-
teen years of age when he emigrated to America, and had the intention of
returning to his native land after some years in this country, an intention
he never carried out. For a time he lived in Philadelphia, then in Cumber-
land Valley, from whence he removed to Allegheny county after his mar-
riage, to Monongahela. In 1794 he removed to St. Clair township, locating
on a farm, then removed to a farm near Steubenville Pike, at Cross creek.
Finally he settled in Hopewell township, Raccoon creek, in 1808, and spent
the remainder of his life there. He married in the Cumberland Valley,
Nancy Lewis, who had come to that section with her parents, and who died
on the McCune homestead in Beaver county in 1842. William and Jane
(McCune) Todd had children: Nancy, bom April 28, 1825, died October
23, 1908 ; Kate, 1826, died January 10, 1881 ; John, of further mention ;
James, 1835, died in 1859; Maggie, October, 1838, died March 26, 1861 ;
William M., of further mention; Thomas, October 11, 1844, died April 8,
1900.
(Ill) John Todd, son of William and Jane (McCune) Todd, was
born in Hopewell township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, August 18, 1833,
984 PENNSYLVANIA
died April 15, 1898. He was educated in the public schools near his home,
and was all his life engaged in farming, and for a number of years
combined sheep raising with this occupation. About the year 1869 he
removed to New Sheffield, Beaver county, where he had a farm of seventy-
three acres, on which he spent his remaining years. He also owned another
farm of about eighty-eight acres in Green Garden. While in active service
during the Civil War as a member of Company B, One Hundred and
Fortieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Mr. Todd was caught
between two wagons, crushed and severely injured. He was a member of
Raccoon United Presbyterian Church, all the members of the Todd and
allied families being members of this denomination. He married, in 1872,
Mary B., born in Moon township, a daughter of William and Jane (Kronk)
Irwin, the former born in Moon township, the latter probably also born
there. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Todd were Joseph and Mary
Ann Kronk, for many years residents of Raccoon township. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Todd were Thomas and Sarah (Baker) Irwin, both
early residents of Moon township. Mr. and Mrs. Todd were the parents
of children: William W., John and Margaret.
(Ill) William M. Todd, son of William and Jane (McCune) Todd,
was bom where he now lives in Hopewell township, February 3, 1841. He
was educated in the public schools of New Sheffield, Beaver county, and
has always been identified with agricultural pursuits. He married, July
11, 1883, Sarah Adelaide Searight, born in 1853. She is a daughter of
David and Isabel (Harvey) Searight, the former born at Service, Decem-
ber 17, 1827, the latter on the family homestead at Green Garden, January
12, 1822; granddaughter of William and Sarah (Smith) Searight, he bom
in Hanover township, in May, 1788, she born in Hanover township, 1792;
and great-granddaughter of Archibald Harvey. All the grandparents were
pioneer settlers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Todd have one child : Walter
David, born December 3, 1885.
The Irons family here under discussion came to America di-
IRONS rectly from Ireland, but there are grounds for believing that
they were originally settled in England, from whence they
migrated to Ireland.
(I) William Irons, the first of whom we have record, was born in
Ireland, and emigrated to America prior to 1800.
(II) Solomon Irons, son of William Irons, the immigrant ancestor,
was born in the state of Pennsylvania, and located on a farm at Monaca,
Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he became the owner of three hundred
acres of land. It was there his death occurred. He married Rachel Dick-
son, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania.
(III) William W. Irons, son of Solomon and Rachel (Dickson) Irons,
was born at Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. He was educated in
the old schoolhouse situated on the homestead farm, and resided there until
BEAVER COUNTY 985
his death. In 1857 he erected the present fine dwelhng house, but he
continued to reside in the old home which had been built by his father,
until 1859. He joined the United Presbyterian Church in his early youth,
and held the office of elder the greater part of his life, being still in office
at the time of his death, 1891. The church of this denomination at Monaca
was organized in 1817, and Mr. Irons assisted generously in the erection
of the modern structure. Mr. Irons married Sarah, born at Harpers
Mills, Hanover township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, died in 1904, a
daughter of Samuel and Mary (Hay) Harper, born in Washington county,
Pennsylvania, lived on Travers Creek. The Harper, Hay and Dickson
families are of Scotch origin. Mr. and Mrs. Irons had children: Sarah;
John D., was sheriff of Beaver county in 1885 ; James ; Davison W., a
preacher at Coraopolis, Pennsylvania; Martha, died in 1902; Harper S.,
see forward ; Joseph, deputy United States marshal since the administration
of Harrison.
(IV) Harper S. Irons, son of William W. and Sarah (Harper) Irons,
was born on the homestead farm, Hopewell township, Beaver county, Penn-
sylvania, October 21, i860. He was educated in the Mount Vernon public
school in Hopewell township, from which he was graduated. He has always
resided there and has been engaged in general and dairy farming in a very
successful manner. His farm consists of seventy-five acres, part of which
is devoted to pasturage, a part to fruit growing and the remainder to gen-
eral products. He is a man of much executive ability and has been called
upon to fill several public offices of trust and responsibility. He has
served as a member of the board of school directors, about eight years
as supervisor; and has just been appointed foreman of Routes Nos. 76 and
115, of the new State Road in that section of the country. He votes with
the Republican party, and is a member of the United Presbyterian Church.
The Davidson family, of Beaver county, Pennsylvania,
DAVIDSON has been identified with the agricultuial and other in-
terests of that section of the state for a number of gen-
erations. The first member of the family to settle in this district was one
of the pioneers in this line, who came to Allegheny county at first. He
made his way to western Pennsylvania by wagon, the only mode of travel-
ing long distances then known. Subsequently he removed to Beaver county.
(II) Ebenezer Davidson was one of the early settlers in Beaver county
and was engaged in farming during all the active years of his life. He
married Mary Hamilton.
(III) William H. Davidson, son of Ebenezer and Mary (Hamilton)
Davidson, was born in Hopewell township. Beaver county, Pennsylvania,
March i, 1841. He was educated in the township schools, and with the
exception of the time he spent on the river working on a boat as a young
man he was always a farmer. He is the owner of a fine farm of eighty
acres, on which he is now living in retirement. He and his family are
986 PENNSYLVANIA
members of the Presbyterian Church, and in political matters he is a
Democrat. Mr. Davidson married Amanda Baker, who died in March,
1912, daughter of Daniel Baker, also a pioneer settler of the county. They
have had children: Jennie, who died in infancy; John A.; J. B., deceased;
A. S., see forward ; Hattie ; Sharp ; Ida ; Josephine, deceased ; E. D. ; Luella ;
Ross.
(IV) A. S. Davidson, son of William H. and Amanda (Baker) David-
son, was educated in the public schools of his native township, attending
them part time, and spending the remainder of his time in assisting his
father in the farm work. Later he became extensively engaged in the oil
industry, in which he was successful, but returned to agricultural pursuits
in 1905. He and his brother, E. D., have a fine farm adjoining that of
their father, purchasing this about 1908, and they make a specialty of fruit
growing.
The name of Laughlin is one which occurred frequently
LAUGHLIN in the annals of Scotland and also in Ireland, thence the
representatives of the family migrated and are of record
in county Down. A branch of the family came to the United States in
1819 and settled in Western Pennsylvania. Another of the same branch
came in 1829, settled in Pittsburgh, and founded the Laughlin family noted
as iron masters. The original form of the name in Scotland was Mac-
Kaughlin, it being a part of the Clan Owen, in Ireland it became changed
to McLaughlin, and in this country has been shortened in many instances
to Laughlin. The branch under consideration in this article has had an
unusually interesting history.
(I) Robert Laughlin, a native of Ireland, was taken captive in his
youth by unscrupulous people, brought to America, and sold into service,