C Rocks) Ganley. both natives of Ireland. Each came to the United States
with their parents in childhood, her girlhood being spent in Massachusetts,
his youth in Brookh-n, New York. They came to Monaca, Pennsylvania,
settling there in 1885, where he was employed as a glassblower. Her death
occurred in that place. August 10. 1900, he surviving her, a resident of
Monaca. Children of Thomas William and Man.- Rose rGanleyl McCreary:
I. Man.- Agnes, bom December 28. 1895. 2. Robert Emmett, bom August
24. 1897. 3. John Charles, born Januarj- 29, 1899. 4. Thomas Francis, born
September 29, 1900. 5. Marcella Veronica, bom December 22, 1909.
The Stevensons of Beaver count>-, Pennsylvania, of
STE\'EXSOX whom O. J. Stevenson, of Beaver, is a representative,
descend from James Stevenson, who came from county
Donegal. Ireland, just prior to the revolution, settling near Philadelphia.
James Stevenson enlisted in the colonial army, and was for eight months
held prisoner in X'ew York City by the British. After his release he was
appointed tax collector by the government to collect taxes levied on non-
combatants for the support of the armies in the field. He sen'ed in this
BEAVER COUXTY ion
capacity until the close of the war, then engaged in charcoal burning in
Chester county, Pennsylvania. He resided later in Virginia ; was a resident
of Pulaski township. Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, in 1806; and of
Poland, Ohio, in 1808. At the latter point he purchased a tract of wild
land which he cleared, converting the timber into charcoal which he sold to
the Yellow Creek Furnace, located near Poland. Here he continued so
engaged until his death. His first wife, Hannah Bull, was a sister of
Colonel Bull, an officer of the revolution: children: Andrew. Thomas,
Elijah. Margaret, Lucy. Xancy. Sarah, Hannah and Man.-. He married
(second) Catherine Moore, who bore him: Robert. Tames, William. Re-
becca, Elisha M. married Xancy Dawson ; Silas. Samson, Samuel (of whom
further), and one who died in infancy.
(H) Samuel, son of James and Catherine (Moorel Stevenson, was
born at Poland. Ohio, about 1822, youngest of the seventeen children of
his father, and died in 1855. He married when a young man. and settling
in Glasgow. Beaver county, there followed the trade of chair making in
an establishment of his own. Finding this a steady but not an attractive,
lucrative source of income, in 1854 he and his family started for the west,
Kansas being their objective point. They traveled down the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers to St. Louis, where, navigation being blocked by ice,
they were compelled to lay over until the spring thaw. In this winter the
wife and mother died, and though almost frantic with grief, the rest of
the family continued on their way to Kansas. Here Mr. Stevenson pur-
chased one hundred and sixty- acres of land near Leavenworth, and com-
menced building a home, which was not yet completed when he and all
his children were stricken with fever and ague. In the fall (1855I they
returned to Pennsylvania, where, as a tragic end to an ill-fated trip, the
father of the family died, t\vo weeks after their arrival, not the first to
have been disappointed in the search for better things, nor the first to pay
as toll his most precious possession, Ufe. Beginning with the death of the
mother in St. Louis, misfortune had pursued the family throughout their
entire journey, the attack of malaria suffered by all so weakening Mr. Ste-
venson that the homeward journey was too great strain upon his fe%-er-
racked and chill-shaken body. Relatives rallied to the aid of the orphaned,
of whom there were seven, and all were provided with comfortable homes.
Samuel Stevenson married Xancy Dawson, of Hookstown, Pennsylvania,
a descendant of an English family.
(IID Homer, son of Samuel and Xancy (Dawson) Stevenson, was
bom in Glasgow. Beaver county. Pennsylvania, September 7. 1844. Left
an orphan when eleven years of age by the sad and untimely death of his
father, he was offered a home by the youngest sister of his father. Hannah
( Stevenson "> Crowe, who resided near Elkton, Columbiana county, Ohio.
He lived there until his aunt's death, when he went to live with her son.
In 1859 he came to Industn,' to make his home with an older sister, Mrs.
Haves, with whom he lived until the outbreak of the Ci\-il War. As soon
IOI2 PENNSYLVANIA
as he attained an age that made him eligible for service, he enlisted in
the army of the North in Company I, 56th Regiment State Militia, which
was immediately dispatched for duty in West Virginia, to relieve troops
guarding government stores. In 1863 he enlisted in Company K, 193d
Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and while serving this period was the
victim of an attack of ague, the second he had experienced in his lifetime,
the first being suffered in Kansas. At the conclusion of the war he returned
to Industry and obtained employment on a steamboat plying the waters
of the Ohio, remaining in this service until 1872, when he was married and
began farming operations. In 1880 he purchased a tract of fifty-two acres
in Brighton township, and there resides at the present time, confining his
operations almost exclusively to fruit raising, only growing enough grain
to feed his own stock. He raises fruit of high grade, his products ranking
among the best of the neighborhood. He conducts his operations along
safe, conservative lines, adopting the best of modern methods, and obtains
lucrative results. In local affairs he plays a prominent part, supporting
the Republican party, and has been a member of the township school board.
Mr. Stevenson married, April 30, 1872, Margaret J. Hineman, a native of
Pennsylvania, daughter of John M. Hineman, who purchased a farm in
Beaver county just after the close of the Civil War. Children of Homer
and Margaret J. (Hineman) Stevenson: i. Mary, married D. J. Engle,
and lives in Brighton township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 2. Delia,
married Dallas McGafiick, a resident of Ohio township, Beaver county. 3.
John Dawson, a physician in practice at Aliquippa, Beaver county. 4.
Blanche, married George A. Kirk, resides in Beaver. 5. Olen Jay (of whom
further). 6. Virginia, married J. W. Spillman, a physician, and lives near
Wheeling, West Virginia.
(IV) Olen Jay, sixth child and second son of Homer and Margaret J.
(Hineman) Stevenson, was born in Brighton township, Beaver county,
Pennsylvania, September 2, 1882. He obtained his education in the acad-
emy, and later attended Baltimore Medical College, whence he was gradu-
ated in 1906. For five years after obtaining his degree he engaged in
active practice at New Brighton and Woodlawn, in 191 1 purchasing a
farm of one hundred and eighty-three acres in Brighton township, adjoin-
ing his father's, and the following year moved his residence to that place,
where he has since lived. He conducts general farming operations, and also
raises a great deal of fine stock, of which he is an excellent judge, his
knowledge of and familiarity with the best breeds amounting to that of
an expert. He is a Republican in politics; the only official position he ever
held was at Woodlawn, where he was physician to the poor. His fraternal
connection is with the Masonic order, in which he holds the Knights Tem-
plar degree, belonging to Beaver Commandery, No. 457. He married,
October 6, 1909, Katherine Mabel, a native of Beaver county, daughter of
Albert J. Ewing ; children : Bonita, and an infant, Charlotte.
I
BEAVER COUNTY 1013
The Kleyle family of Beaver county numbers but two Ameri-
KLEYLE can-born generations, only one of which has attained ma-
turity, the residence of the family having been in Allegheny
and Beaver counties. Francis X. Kleyle, the emigrant ancestor, was born
in Baden, Germany, in 1806. His early life was spent in his native land,
where he attended school and obtained an exceptionally fine general educa-
tion, receiving, as well, instruction in music. Of the latter he was very
fond and made excellent use of every opportunity available to develop his
musical talent, of which he had not a little. He made rapid progress, and
while never a public performer, was, nevertheless, a proficient musician.
His scholastic ability was proportionate to his delight. So well equipped
was he mentally that when a young man he held a position in the service
of the German government, a service notoriously strict in its regulations
and difficult to enter, because of the severe examination to which each
aspiring applicant must submit. Leaving his native land, he came to Penn-
sylvania and settled in Pittsburgh, where he was employed on the staffs
of the various German periodicals of the city. Here his rare scholarly
ability was given full opportunity to expand and many were the articles
of merit that came from his prolific pen. Becoming accustomed to news-
paper work, his liking for that occupation, increased with the passing of
time and he was therein engaged until his death, which occurred May 7,
1882. His political belief was Democratic, while in religious life he was
identified with the Roman Catholic church. He married Genevieve Dor-
schel, a native of Germany, born in Hessen, 1822, died October 11, 1899,
the result of a railroad accident. Children of Francis X. and Genevieve
Kleyle : James, deceased ; Mary ; Elizabeth ; Justina ; Paul, deceased ; Stanis-
laus, deceased; Philomena, deceased; Louisa; Louis (of whom further).
(H) Louis, youngest child of Francis X. and Genevieve (Dorschel)
Kleyle, was born in Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, December
25, 1864. His youthful life was spent in Pittsburgh, and he there obtained
his preliminary education in the parochial school, completing his studies
at Saint Mary's College at Dayton, Ohio. For eleven years following he
was employed in Pittsburgh, for two years of that time in the government
service as mail-carrier and for nine years as business manager of the Orien-
tal Glass Company of Pittsburgh. On October i, 1900, he took up his
residence in Monaca and was one of the organizers of the American Glass
Specialty Company, of Monaca, Pennsylvania, of which he is now secretary
and treasurer. This organization is one of the most flourishing in the glass
manufacturing trade, Mr. Kleyle's part in its growth and expansion having
been one of faithful labor and careful financial administration. His only
other business connection is as director of the Monaca Citizens National
Bank. His political sympathies are strongly Republican, his interest in
politics always having taken active form. He is at the present time presi-
dent of the Monaca council, an office to which he was elevated through
the confidence and trust of his fellow citizens. A Catholic in religious
IOI4 PENNSYLVANIA
beliefs, he belongs to the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Mutual
Benefit Association.
Mr. Kleyle married, June i8, 1895, Amelia Drost, born in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, January 30, 1870, daughter of Philip and Anna (Hebeur)
Drost. Her father died in 1881 ; her widowed mother resides in Pittsburgh.
Children of Mr. and Mrs. Kleyle: i. Aloysius, born June 20, 1897, died
September 4, 1898. 2. Francis X., born September 22, 1899. 3. Amelia,
twin with Francis X., died in infancy. 4. Marie Anna, born February
9, 1902. 5-6. Paul and Jerome Joseph (twins), born December 24, 1906,
the latter dying in infancy. 7. Cyril Philip, born February 24, 1909.
Mr. Kleyle is possessed of a refined musical taste, and is an accom-
plished violinist, and his gifts have been transmitted to his son Francis
X. and his daughter, Marie Anna. Both children are enrolled as students
of music in Beaver College, yet they are already recognized as artists of a
high order. They particularly excel in use of the violin, and they have
given several very successful concerts and parlor recitals in their home
town and in other places throughout the valley. With their hereditary
musical taste, inherited from both sire and grandsire, and their artistic
talent, their future is bright with promise.
The emigrant ancestor of the Martsolf family of Beaver
MARTSOLF county was Debold, who came to the United States in
1830. He was a native of Germany and made his first
home in Wrightsville, York county, Pennsylvania, later purchasing land
in Manheim township, in the same county, and there spent his entire life.
Farming was his occupation, and in its pursuit he was thrifty and industrious
He was a member of the German Lutheran church, the tabernacle in which
he once worshipped standing at the present time. He was twice married,
his wives being cousins of the same name as his own, and sisters.
Children of his first marriage: Frederick (of whom further); Philip,
and Rudolph. Children of second marriage: Barbara, married
McGraw, of Ohio; George; Eliza, married (first) Christian Haller, (sec-
ond) William Weir.
(11) Frederick, son of the first marriage of Debold Martsolf, was
born in Germany, and came to the United States with his father when
about eight years of age. He spent his entire life as a farmer, married,
and became the father of a large family. His wife was Margaret Miller.
(HI) Jacob D., son of Frederick and Margaret (Miller) Martsolf,
was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, Febniary 13, 1858. His educa-
tion was obtained in the public schools of Center township, Butler county,
and when he was twenty-three years of age established in the contracting
business, later becoming a member of the firm known as Martsolf Brothers,
of which he is now president. The firm is favorably known throughout
Beaver county, and conducts a large and profitable business in both branches,
lumber dealing and contracting. He is a member of the Presbyterian
^7^X2-^i^rf-?^5^^
BEAVER COUNTY 1015
churcli, holds the thirty-second degree in the Masonic order, and belongs
to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. Mr.
Martsolf was a member of the New Brighton borough council for a number
of years.
Mr. Martsolf married Anna C, daughter of David Miller of Beaver
county. Children of Jacob D. and Anna C. Martsolf : David L. ; Frederick,
deceased; Ella, deceased; Levina, deceased; Catherine, deceased, and
Margaret.
Mr. Martsolf ably directs the business of his firm, and a great share
of its irreproachable reputation as a reliable and honorable house is due
to the upright policy he has pursued during his connection with the business.
When the British Parliament made a law compelling the
JOHNSON use of surnames, many simply added the suffix "son" to
their Christian names, and gave it to their children as a
surname, in this way forming such names as Peterson, Carlson, Johnson,
and the like.
(I) Samuel Johnson was a resident of Rochester, Beaver county, Penn-
sylvania, where he died in 1896. He was engaged in mining operations dur-
ing the business years of his life, leasing both clay and coal mines, and
was very successful. He was the first ticket agent at Rochester, Penn-
sylvania, for the Fort Wayne Railroad Company. He married Mary Geis-
ler, who died in 191 1, and they had children: Kate; Robert; Louis; Eliza-
beth; Mary; Adam Marshall, of further mention; Catherine; William;
Joseph; Emma; and John.
(H) Adam Marshall, son of Samuel and Mary (Geisler) Johnson,
was born in Pulaski township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, June 11, 1858,
and was there educated in the public schools. He has been engaged in the
insurance and hotel business all his life, and at the present time is located
in Rochester, Pennsylvania, where he has a real estate and general insur-
ance business. He organized the Hotel Speyerer Company of Rochester,
and was president of the same for a time. He organized the Citizens' Im-
provement Company, which was instrumental in building up what is known
as Doctors' Heights, near Monaca, Pennsylvania. He organized the Union
Cemetery Company, the Beaver Falls Hotel Company, and the South Side
Electric Light Company of Pittsburgh. He was at one time president of
the Beaver County Banking and Safety Deposit Association. Politically
he is a Democrat, in religion a Lutheran, and fraternally a member of
Royal Arcanum.
He married, June 17, 1880, Anna Margaret Shubert, whose family
history is added. They had children: i. Howard Adam, born June 14,
1881. 2. Nellie Anna, bom September 5, 1884; married Lawrence Gamble
Hayden, assistant superintendent of the Tube Works at McKeesport, Penn-
sylvania. 3. Ora Mae, born December 19, 1887; was graduated from Cen-
tral High School of Pittsburgh, taking second honor in a class of two hun-
ioi6 PENNSYLVANIA
dred, after which she taught school two years ; she married John R. Divens,
a merchant of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and has children: Dorothy
Leora, and John R. Jr. 4. Clara Belle, born July 14, 1893 ; married Fred-
erick Wheatley, of Pittsburgh, manager of an insurance company.
John Peter and Anna Margaret Shubert, parents of Mrs. Johnson, emi-
grated to America from Bremen, Germany. He was a weaver by trade
and accustomed to weaving on a hand loom. He wove fine linens, laces,
carpets, etc. He settled in Harmony, Butler county, Pennsylvania, and
had children : George Frederick, a sign painter, residing in Pittsburgh,
married Rose Morningdew ; Magdalena, married George Stidham, a veteran
of the Civil War; Mary, married Charles Marquart; Anna Margaret, who
married Mr. Johnson, as above stated; Elizabeth, married Frederick Guter-
muth; John Frederick, a sign painter, associated with his brother, George
Frederick, in Pittsburgh, married Jennie Bardolph.
The Schleiter family of Beaver county, Pennsylvania,
SCHLEITER has not yet been in this country a full century, yet it
has made its mark beneficially in the business world and
in many other directions.
(I) Conrad Schleiter was born in Rosenthal, Hessen, Germany, De-
cember II, 1839, and acquired his education in his native land. In June,
1854, he emigrated to the United States, locating at New London, Connec-
ticut, where he learned the marble monumental business. He voted for
the first time in i860, casting his presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas.
In the spring of 1861 he enlisted as soon as the first call for men came, in
the Thirteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and was stationed
at Fort Trumbull, New London Harbor, during the entire term of his
enlistment. He was honorably discharged upon the expiration of his term,
then returned to Germany for a visit. Upon his return he worked in New
London and at Hartford, Connecticut, at his trade until 1866, when he
removed to Freedom, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. The following year
he was employed in the marble works of William H. Marshall, of Rochester,
Pennsylvania, and toward the close of 1867 he started in business for him-
self in this line. He conducted this personally until 1898 when he retired
in favor of his sons, Edward J. and Conrad G., the firm being known as
C. Schleiter Sons. This is a large and successful business, in which every
improvement known to modern trade is at once adopted. Mr. Schleiter
has been active in the public affairs of the community, and at various times
has held almost all the offices in the gift of the borough. He is now living
retired, is a staunch supporter of the Democratic party, and a member of
the Lutheran church. Mr. Schleiter married. March 30. 1863, Fredenca
Fliehmann, and they have had children: i. William, born in New London,
Connecticut, in July, 1866, died young. 2. Edward J., of further mention.
3. Emma, born May 29, 1869 ; married Gilbert Emerick, a contractor of
Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and has children: Florence, Frederick, Mary and
BEAVER COUNTY 1017
Edward. 4. Henry G., bom August 5, 1870, is postmaster of Freedom,
Beaver county, Pennsylvania; he married Pearl Evans, and has one child,
Edward. 5. Frederick, born in 1871, died young. 6. Wilhelmina, born in
1872, died young. 7. Frank, bom in 1874, now deceased. 8. Adelia,
born September i, 1876; married Robert Alexander. 9. Conrad G. Jr.,
born April 14, 1878; now junior member of the firm of C. Schleiter Sons.
He married, in September, 1901, Ida Ferguson, and has children: Frederick
and Margaret. 10. August G., of further mention. 11. George H., born
April 25, 1882, is unmarried, and is now living at Upland, California. 12.
Carl J., born September 17, 1885, married Ada Fenstermacher, of Canton,
Ohio, and had one child: Hilda Irene, who died young.
(II) Edward J., son of Conrad and Frederica (Fliehmann) Schleiter,
was born September 2, 1867. He received a sound, practical education in
the public schools of Freedom, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and then
learned the art of marble cutting in the shops of his father, with whom he
was associated in business until the latter retired. He succeeded him as
senior partner in the firm of C. Schleiter Sons, and under his progressive
management additional luster has been added to the reputation of the firm.
He is possessed of executive ability of a high order, and is connected with
a number of other important enterprises. He is president of the St. Clair
National Bank of Freedom, Pennsylvania ; a director in the Beaver County
Telephone Company ; and stockholder in numerous other corporations ; also
trustee of the Beaver County Home for the Aged, and of the Beaver County
Children's (Orphans) Home Society. In spite of the manifold demands
made upon his time by his business interests, Mr. Schleiter has devoted
much of his attention to the political afifairs of the community, greatly to
its benefit. He is one of the leaders of the Democratic party in Western
Pennsylvania, and has been three times a delegate to Democratic national
conventions. One of these was the convention at Baltimore which nomi-
nated President Wilson, of whom Mr. Schleiter is an ardent admirer. He
is a member of the Democratic county committee. He is president of the
Freedom borough council. He is also a valued member of the American
Bankers Association, the Masonic fraternity. Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and Woodmen of the World. His religious affiliation is with
the Presbyterian church. He has the interest of the people at large deeply
at heart, and through his efforts many projects have been fostered which
have greatly benefited the community and added to its credit as a progres-
sive town. Mr. Schleiter married (first) April i, 1896, Jennie C. Bartley,
of Verona, Pennsylvania; no issue; she died November 2, 1897, and he
married (second) April 27, 1910, Laura Pagans, of Greenup, Kentucky,
and they have one child, Eleanor, born April 21, 191 1.
(II) August G., son of Conrad and Frederica (Fliehmann) Schleiter,
was born February 27, 1881. He was educated in the public and high
schools of Freedom, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and Butcher's Business
College, at Beaver Falls. He became private stenographer for E. J. Taylor,
ioi8 PENNSYLVANIA
chief engineer of the Pittsburgh Coal Company, then assistant secretary
and treasurer of the Freedom Savings and Trust Company, now the St.
Clair National Bank, for one year. He then succeeded Charles E. Sheflfer
as cashier, a position he was obliged to resign October 19, 1907, because
of impaired health. Upon his restoration to health he became associated
with his brothers in the monument works as a traveling salesman, a position
he is filling at the present time. He is an ardent Democrat in political
matters. His fraternal association is large and is as follows : Woodmen of
the World, in which he has held all the offices, and is now past counselor
commander; Applegrove Lodge, No. 8, Women's Auxiliary Woodmen
Circle, of Rochester, Pennsylvania ; Camp No. 64, Knights of the Maccabees,
of Rochester, Pennsylvania; charter member of Aerie No. 1429, Fraternal
Order of Eagles, of Freedom, Pennsylvania, was the first worthy president,
then the first delegate to a national convention at Norfolk, Virginia, in
September, 1907, treasurer four years for Freedom, Conway and Baden
boroughs ; United Commercial Travelers' Association, of New Brighton ;
American Bankers Association.
Mr. Schleiter married, in Rochester, Pennsylvania, January 29, 1902,
Villa M. A. Hays, and they have had children: Catherine Eleanor, born
November 23, 1902; Dorothy Maxine, July 3, 1904; Richard Hays, June
II, 1906; Franklin Fay, August 15, 1908.
There came to this country from Scotland two brothers by the
TODD name of "Tod;" the name originally was spelled with one "d."
Their names were James and John. James was born in Scot-
land in the year 1760, and became the progenitor of the branch of the Todd
family here under review. These men landed in Philadelphia and came