aged eleven years, Blanche, aged nine years, Helda, aged seven years.
(HI) John (3) Hammerle, son of John (2) and Elizabeth (Shaffer)
Hammerle, was born in New Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsyl-
vania, October 9, 1859. His early years were spent in Economy township,
where he attended the public schools, working on his father's farm until
189 1, when he purchased eighty-one acres of land, which he has since cul-
tivated with excellent success, both from a financial standpoint and the
agriculturist's point of view. He specializes in no one branch, all of his
operations being general in character and varied to suit the seasons. Bus-
iness has claimed part of Mr. Hammerle's time, his name appearing as a
director and appraiser of the Wall Rose Fire Insurance Company and as a
stockholder in the People's Telephone Company. Politically he is strongly
partisan, giving the Democratic party his full support, having held the
office of road supervisor for two years and that of school director for five
years. The latter position he still fills and has been a strong worker for
the cause of education in the township. For three years he was also one
of the township election board. Nor does his field of activity meet its
boundary at that point, but extends to the offices of trustee, secretary and
treasurer of the Presbyterian Church, his ecclesiastical duties receiving
the same thorough care that characterizes his actions in any branch of
service, be it private, public or business. His wife is also a member of the
Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Hammerle married, December 29, 1881, Sadie Filbert, born in
New Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, February 26, i860,
daughter of Edward and Jennie (Bass) Filbert. Edward Filbert was born
in Germany, and was a farmer both in that country and in the United
6i2 PENNSYLVANIA
States, his death occurring in Pennsylvania. Children of Edward Filbert:
I. John, deceased. 2. Maggie, deceased; married L. Dunbar. 3. William,
married, and lives in Freedom, Pennsylvania. 4. Edward, married Mary
Peirsol, and lives in Freedom, Pennsylvania; they are the parents of five
children, among them George, Jennie, Vera, the latter two married, Jennie
to a Mr. Russell, Vera to a Mr. Kelly. 5. Hannah, married George
Lawyer, and lives in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania; children: Frank, Edward,
Harvey, Jennie, George, Annie; all are married with the exception of
Annie, who lives at home, Jennie's husband being David Livingstone. 6.
Sadie, of previous mention, married John (3) Hammerle. 7. David, mar-
ried and has several children. Mr. and Mrs. Filbert were also the parents
of two children who died young. Children of John (3) and Sadie (Filbert)
Hammerle: i. William, mariied Mary McGuire, and lives at Homewood,
Pennsylvania. 2. David, lives at home. 3. Ralph, lives in Pittsburgh. 4.
Howard, lives at home. 5. Mary, attending school. 6. Hazel, attending
school.
The name of Merkel is no uncommon one in this country,
MERKEL and we find that bearers of it have come from various sec-
tions of Germany. The family here under discussion came
from Hessen Darmstadt, Germany. Two brothers and two sisters of this
family came to this country: Justus, see forward; Washington, a resident
of Richmond, Virginia; Margaret, who married a Mr. Vollhardt, of Wells-
burg, West Virginia ; Helena Fisher, of Newark, New Jersey ; and Henry,
a brother of the above mentioned, remained in Hessen Darmstadt, but
his son Henry is a resident of Newark, New Jersey.
Justus Merkel was born at Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, May 3, 1824,
died in Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, April 20, 1907. His father
was Henry Merkel, who lived and died in Germany. Justus Merkel was
educated in the schools of his native country, and was there apprenticed
to learn the blacksmith's trade, in which he was very successful. He
emigrated to America in 1847, landing at Philadelphia from whence he
migrated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. About the year 1850 he removed
to Monaca, Beaver county, where the remainder of his life was spent.
Throughout the years of his residence in America he followed the calling
with which he had been identified in his native land. Being frugal and
industrious, and possessed of much natural business acumen, he amassed
a considerable fortune. He acquired a large amount of real estate, por-
tions of which he sold very advantageously from time to time, re-invest-
ing the profits of his sales. During the Civil War Mr. Merkel was a par-
ticipant in the struggle while plying his trade. He was a member of the
Lutheran Church.
Mr. Merkel married (first) Margaret Mateer, and by this marriage
had no children. He married (second) 1895, Marie Elstner, born in
Germany, July 24, 1870, daughter of John and Agatha (Palmer) Elstner,
BEAVER COUNTY 613
the former of whom died in Germany about 1876, the latter came to
Monaca, Beaver county, 1893, died there, June 4, 1907. They had chil-
dren: Theodore, of Charleroi; Richard, of Monaca; Marie, who married
Mr. Merkel. Justus and Marie (Elstner) Merkel had children: Flora,
born April 16, 1896, married, November 28, 1912, Marshall Finn, of
Monaca; Marie, born August 24, 1897; Ida, born October 19, 1898; Justus,
born June 30, 1902.
Annie Higby, mother of William F. Higby, was the daughter
HIGBY of Dr. Charles and Margaret (McKenna) Higby, her father
a native of Massachusetts. They were for a time residents of
Pittsburgh, later moving to Tennessee, and finally settling in Beaver
county, Pennsylvania. Charles Higby was a physician by profession and
was said to have been the first doctor of the homoeopathic school in Beaver
county. They were members of the Presbyterian Church. Children of
Charles and Margaret (McKenna) Higby: Charles, a farmer, died in
McLoud, Oklahoma; Maggie, married Dr. Pyburn, and died in Greeley,
Colorado; Annie, of previous mention, born at Brownstown, near Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1835.
William Franklin Higby was born in New Brighton, Beaver county,
Pennsylvania, September 24, 1863. He attended the public schools of New
Brighton, completing his education and studies at Smart's Business College,
in Beaver Falls, whence he was graduated in r886. Possessing the quality
of adapting himself to all circumstances and with no obsessing preferences
as to a career, he spent several years in diflFerent positions, giving every
likely opening a fair trial, without finding an occupation particularly to
his liking, although there were among those he followed for a time many
capable of yielding him a livelihood. Inheriting a farm upon his mother's
death, he began to cultivate it, and in this occupation found his true
calling. Since that time he has also acquired the Mitchell farm, which
adjoins his property, making a tract of about eighty acres. In addition
to the general farming operations he conducts, he raises Jersey cattle, and
among his herd are none but those of the purest blood, every one a thor-
oughbred, and because of the scientific care and treatment they receive,
his stock sells at a marked advance above the market price. For the ac-
commodation of his animals Mr. Higby erected, in 1912, a spacious barn,
built not for their mere shelter, but for comfort during the seasons in which
they cannot graze at will. Besides the farm on which he lives, Mr. Higby
is the owner of considerable real estate in Rochester township and the
borough of New Brighton, including seven houses. A Republican in
politics, he has several times been the choice of his neighbors for local
offices and has in each case gladly given of his time and service for the
public good, holding the offices of supervisor, school director and township
auditor.
He married, September 29, 1885, Jennie Harland, a native of Beaver
6i4 PENNSYLVANIA
county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Benjamin Harland, deceased. Children:
I. Edward, died in infancy. 2. Hazel, lives at home. 3. May, married
Lotus Radcliff, and lives in Rochester township; they are the parents of
one daughter, Lena. 4. Henry, deceased. 5. Charles, at home. 6. John,
at home. 7. Benjamin, died in infancy.
James Louthan, who was born in Scotland, came to
LOUTHAN America not long after the close of the war of the Revolu-
tion. He settled in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, when that
section of the state was a complete wilderness, and bravely endured the
hardships which the hardy pioneers were called upon to combat. He soon
removed to Wayne county, Ohio, where he purchased a farm of about one
hundred acres on Apple creek, and had cleared a portion of this when an
attack of pneumonia caused his early death. His widow sold the farm as
advantageously as possible, and then with her young children returned to
Beaver county. She settled on the farm on which her grandson, John Reed
Louthan, now lives. Later she removed to Darlington, Pennsylvania, where
her death occurred. She was married to Mr. Louthan in Scotland, and
they had children: Moses, who died at New Water ford, Ohio; Sarah,-
married Hugh Sebring, moved to Clay county, Indiana, and there died;
Susan, married Samuel McConnell, and died while with her sister Eliza
at Darlington; Eliza, died unmarried at Darlington; James, see forward.
(II) James (2) Louthan, son of James (i) Louthan, was born in
Wayne county, Ohio, April 8, 1817, and was a very young child when
his widowed mother returned to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he
was reared. He was a carpenter by trade and was employed in various
places until he purchased a farm of seventy-two acres in South Beaver
township. He sold this to his son-in-law, James Patterson, in 1878 and
after the death of his wife lived with his children in Indiana, Missouri and
Pennsylvania, and a part of the time with his sisters in Darlington. After
the death of his sisters he made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Craig,
in Beaver Falls, and died there, March 6, 1900. He was a Republican and
very active in local matters. His religious allegiance was with the Reformed
Presbyterian Church, in which he held the office of trustee. Mr. Louthan
married, in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, Nancy Strain, born in Chippewa
township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in February, 1817, died in 1878.-
Her parents were natives of Ireland, came to America in the early settle-
ment days, and made their home in Chippewa township. He was a farmer,
and purchased the land on which J. F. Naugle now lives. They had chil-
dren: James, who moved to Iowa and died there; Mary, married Noble
Rayl, and died in Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Rebecca, married James
Hamilton, and died in Iowa; Margaret, married Robert Bradshaw, and
died in Beaver county, Pennsylvania ; Nancy, married James Louthan, see
above; Lydia, married Smiley Rhodes, and died in Beaver county, Penn-
sylvania. James and Nancy (Strain) Louthan had children: Mary Ann,
BEAVER COUNTY 615
widow of John Craig, lives in Beaver Falls; Esther, married (first) James
Martin, (second) Samuel McClure, lives in Florida; Susan, married James
Hartzell, lives in Missouri; Rebecca, married Bradford Rayl, lives in Beaver
Falls; Elizabeth, married Fernando Cox, lives in Marshall county, Indiana;
Bradford, a pottery manufacturer, lives in East Liverpool, Ohio; Alice,
married Thomas Bradshaw, and lives in South Beaver township, Beaver
county, Pennsylvania; James, a physician, lives in Beaver Falls; Nancy,
married James Patterson, lives in Beaver Falls; John Reed, see forward.
(Ill) John Reed Louthan, son of James (2) and Nancy (Strain)
Louthan, was born in Darlington, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, April 19,
1858. The public schools furnished him with an excellent education for that
time, and his early years were spent entirely on the homestead farm. He
then worked for a time in a planing mill, after which he was engaged in
business as a huckster for about six years. Removing to Lawrence county,
Pennsylvania, he rented a farm and in addition to this continued the hucks-
tering business, which he had established on a paying basis. In 1896 he
had become prosperous enough to purchase the old family homestead on
which he had been born, and has since that time resided there. He has
completely remodeled the house, making it one of modern conveniences,
has made additions to the barn, and added many improvements to the
place in general. He is engaged in general farming and pays considerable
attention to dairy farming, having a fine herd of six selected cows. On the
farm there are also two gas and oil wells, one of them still yielding a
barrel per day. He and his wife are active members of the United Presby-
terian Church, in which he holds office as a trustee, and he is also superin-
tendent of the Sabbath school.
Mr. Louthan married, in September, 1880, Elizabeth Rhodes, born in
Beaver county, Pennsylvania, daughter of William and Mary Jane Rhodes.
They have had children as follows: George W., lives in Chippewa town-
ship, Beaver county, married Laura Haley, and has two children, Ruth
and Charles; Mary died at the age of twenty years; James L., unmarried,
lives with his parents; Erma, resides with her parents; she attended the
Slippery Rock Normal School and Geneva College, and is now a school
teacher in the home district.
The name of Wise is one which has been familiar in America
WISE for many generations. For many years the family belonged
to what was known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch," but it is but
natural to assume that the earliest bearers of this name came to America
from Germany, where the name is spelled Weis and Weiss. They brought
to this country the distinguishing traits of thrift and industry which are
so characteristic of the German race, and these have been transmitted
to their descendants.
(I) Wise was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where
he was occupied as a farmer. He married there, his wife being also a
6i6 PENNSYLVANIA
native of Montgomery county, and also a descendant of an old family of
the state, and they belonged to the Mennonite sect. They had children:
Jacob, who went to Western Pennsylvania and settled in Butler county;
Samuel; George, Henry; Killian; John L., see forward; two daughters.
(II) John L. Wise, son of the preceding Wise, was born in
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, in 1790, died in 1855. Abraham Zigler,
an early settler, had purchased one thousand acres of land belonging to the
Economites, and these he was selling in smaller parcels. From him Mr.
Wise bought one hundred acres in Franklin township, and resided there
until his death. He was also a weaver by trade, and when his sons were
old enough to perform the labors of the farm, Mr. Wise left them to manage
the farm alone while he devoted his entire time and attention to his weaving
business. Mr. Wise married Mary Funk, born in Chester county, Pennsyl-
vania, in 1796, died about 1876. Her parents were also Mennonites and
Pennsylvania Dutch, and lived and died in Chester county, Pennsylvania.
About the year 1830 he with his entire family traveled across the mountains
by wagon, to make their home in Butler county, where they settled at
Jackson township. Mr. and Mrs. Wise had children: Jacob, a farmer
in Jackson township, Butler county, Pennsylvania; John, now dead, lived
on the homestead farm; Killian, who was a farmer, died in Quincy county,
Illinois; Henry, died young; Samuel F., see forward; Catherine, married
Moses Shuntz, and lived in Jackson township; Sarah, died unmarried at
the age of twenty years; Mary, married Henry Moyer, and lived in Har-
mony ; Hannah, married John Y. Zigler, both deceased.
(III) Samuel F. Wise, son of John L. and Mary (Funk) Wise, was
born in Jackson township, Butler county, Pennsylvania, September 27, 183 1.
During the winter months he attended the public schools of Franklin town-
ship three months, and was obliged to assist his father to the extent of his
strength at an early age. He remained on the homestead farm until he
attained his majority, then married, and for the next seven years lived on
land which he rented from his father-in-law. He then bought one hundred
and thirty acres to which he added another thirty acres subsequently. In
1859 he built the house of red brick and had this finished in a very excel-
lent manner. For more than half a century he has been engaged in farming
in the same place and has been very successful in his operations. In politi-
cal matters he is a Republican, and he and his wife are members of the
Emmanuel Church, although formerly they were members of the Mennonite
Church. Mr. Wise married, in 1851, Nancy Zigler, born in Jackson town-
ship, Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1830, daughter of Andrew and Mary
(Youter) Zigler, and granddaughter of Abraham Zigler. who is mentioned
above as having purchased one thousand acres of land from the Economites.
They probably all came from Montgomery county. Andrew Zigler in-
herited about one hundred and sixty acres of the original tract, and was
always a farmer. They were public spirited and liberal people, and the
Mennonite Church in Harmony was erected in 1804 by Abraham Zigler.
p
'km>mJU^^^
BEAVER COUNTY 617
Andrew and Mary (Youter) Zigler had children: John Y., lived in Frank-
lin township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Andrew, was killed at Gettys-
burg; Jacob, lives in Ogle; Elizabeth, married Henry Beyer; Nancy, men-
tioned above ; Kate, married John Peffer ; Caroline, married Samuel Shearer,
and is living in New Springfield, Ohio. Samuel F. and Nancy (Zigler)
Wise have had children: i. Abraham, born November 15, 1851, married
Amelia Goehring; lives in Daugherty township, Beaver county, Pennsyl-
vania. 2. Samuel, lives in Daugherty township. 3. John, was a dentist in
North Carolina, and died at the age of thirty-five years. 4. Ezra, lives in
New Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 5. Alpheus, died at the age
of eighteen years. 6. Mary, deceased; married Henry Brenner; lived in
New Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 7. Caroline, de-
ceased; married George Rosenberger. 8. Emma, unmarried, lives with
her parents. 9. Annie, married John Schramm ; lives in Marion township,
Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 10. Nettie, married Frank S. Martsolf ; lives
in Detroit, Michigan.
The name of Dougherty has been well and favor-
DOUGHERTY ably known for many years in the industrial and finan-
cial world, especially in connection with the steel in-
dustry. As its form indicates, the family originally came from Ireland,
and they brought with them and transmitted to their descendants those
habits of thrift, honesty and industry which are so characteristic of the
Irish people.
(I) James Dougherty was a resident of Boston, Massachusetts, and
married Margaret Gwynne, of the same city. They became the parents
of John Webster, see forward, and Catherine, who is unmarried.
(II) John Webster Dougherty, son of James and Margaret (Gwynne)
Dougherty, was bom in Boston, Massachusetts. For a time he attended the
public schools of Boston, Massachusetts; the family later removed to
Stockton, where James Dougherty became one of the superintendents of the
Pennsylvania Steel Works, and there John W. attended the public schools
and graduated in the first class that graduated from that school and was
first in the class; he then became a student at the Bethlehem Preparatory
School, from whence he went to the Lehigh University, and was graduated
from this institution with honor. Even in his early boyhood he had shown a
decided inclination for industrial pursuits, and his college vacations were
spent in the employ of the Pennsylvania Steel Works. Immediately after
his graduation he made a more permanent connection with this corpora-
tion, which was of the greatest benefit to it. When he commenced work-
ing for this company it was in the open hearth department, and from
this he was advanced to a position of responsibility in the blast furnace.
By successive gradations he ultimately advanced to the position of gen-
eral manager of the Pennsylvania Steel Works, an office with which he was
successfully identified until March i, 191 1. The most trying times in the
6i8 PENNSYLVANIA
history of the Pennsylvania Steel Works occurred during the incumbency
of Mr. Dougherty, and it is greatly to his credit that his efficient manage-
ment enabled the company to weather all difficulties. He has been identi-
fied with the interests of a number of other corporations in official and
other capacity, a partial list being as follows: Vice-president of the
Crucible Steel Works of America, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; president
of the Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Works at Midland, Pennsylvania; presi-
dent of the Midland Trust Company; president of the Midland Water
Works; president of the Crucible Coal Company; and a director in the
Beaver National Bank. It is a fact worthy of mention that in the history
of steel making the Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Works at Midland, Penn-
sylvania, is the only one known to have made perfect steel the first output.
Mr. Dougherty married Caroline, daughter of Patrick and Catherine
(Peters) McNiflf, and a sister of Catherine McNiflf and of Gilbert McNiflf,
the latter of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty have chil-
dren, as follows : Margaret Ruth, a student at Eden Hall ; Marie Catherine,
attends Beaver College; James G. ; John Webster Jr. The family resides
in a fine residence in Beaver, which is the home of hospitality and good
cheer. Naturally of a social and kindly disposition, Mr. Dougherty has
made many friends in private as well as in business life. His mind is
carefully disciplined and analytical, and his deep perception and quick
and lively sympathy make him a power in his field of labor. He is unosten-
tatious in his charities and it aflfords him pleasure to assist his fellowmen.
Sweden is the country to which the Freed family, of Pennsyl-
FREED vania, is traced. The emigrant ancestor, upon coming to the
United States from his native land, made settlement in Penn-
sylvania, and in Bucks county, that state, was born John Freed, with whom
this record begins.
(I) John Freed left the county of his birth about 1792, and came to
Beaver county, making his first home in that locality in North Sewickley
township, later purchasing four hundred acres of land in Big Beaver town-
ship. The country at that time was an undisturbed wilderness and John
Freed's struggle with the forces of nature was that of all the settlers of
that day, stern, unceasing, and fraught with danger. He married a Miss
Funkhouser before his departure from Bucks county, she a native of that
section, and had children, among them Abraham.
(II) Abraham Freed, son of John and (Funkhouser) Freed, was
born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and there died in 1879, aged eighty-
five years. His early life was spent in his father's home, where he per-
formed the duties usually falling to the lot of the juvenile members of a
farmer's family, attending the public schools when sessions were held and
he could be spared from home labor. When of suitable age he was given the
tract of land known as the old meadow on the Freed farm. He had
learned the carpenter's trade and devoted a part of his time to this trade,
BEAVER COUNTY 619
and several of his tools are still in the possession of his grandson, William
A. Freed. He cleared the tract by his own efforts and thereon erected a
log cabin, which has long since disappeared before the ravages of time.
When this had outlasted its usefulness he built another house, more sub-
stantial and attractive than the first, because he had so well employed the
intervening time that affairs on his farm were in smooth working older
and he was able to devote more time and attention to its construction.
Here he lived an active and busy life, characterized by unflagging industry,
and reared a large family, through whom his name and virtues are pre-
served to the present day. He was a devoted member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and in this faith his children grew to manhood and
womanhood. He married Susan Showalter, and had issue: i. John W.,
of whom further. 2. William S., a farmer, died on his property in Beaver
county, Pennsylvania. 3. Jonathan, a resident of Michigan, died there at
the age of eighty-five years, the same advanced age at which his father's
death occurred. 4. James Wilson, lived near Unity, Ohio, until his death,
February, 1914. 5. Nancy, married Lewis Sager, and died in Michigan.
6. Elizabeth, died unmarried at an advanced age. 7. Lucinda, married
Samuel E. Barnes Jr., and died on the Barnes homestead, their home, in
Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 8. Kate, married John Johnson, and died in