twenty-two years of age he accompanied his father into Teay's Valley and
there became the owner of a vast estate. He located near Charleston on
the Kanawha river, and operated steamboats carrying salt down the river,
further making capital of the country's mineral deposits by erecting and
operating a barrel factory, wherein he manufactured barrels especially
adapted for the packing of salt and, having his factory so near the source
of supply, was easily able to destroy all competition. Another of his busi-
ness interests was a large general store, carrying a particularly extensive
line of goods, which was patronized by the inhabitants of the country for a
radius of several miles. He prospered exceedingly, investing nearly all of
his profits in property in Putnam county, so that at the time of his death he
was in that wealthy state, characterized as land poverty. His large estates
were cultivated by slave labor, his dependents totaling a considerable num-
ber. His means and influence gave him a commanding position in the lo-
cality, and in all public enterprises he was the moving spirit, his leadership
being unquestioned throughout his entire life. He was a justice of the
peace for many years and from 1830 until 1850 he held the rank of captain
in the state militia. His family had been Presbyterians for generations, and
he was an elder in that church, his prominence in its afifairs being no less
than in matters of public interest. His political party was the Democratic,
of which he was the generally acknowledged head in his district, and although
he never sought high place for himself, his support for or against a candidate
frequently determined his success or failure in attaining of!ice. He married.



292 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

September 23, 1830, Eliza S., born in Vermont, May 25, 1810, died October
26, 1906, daughter of Zebulon and Fannie Griffin, both natives of the state
of Vermont, who moved to Charleston, West Virginia, about 1820. Zebulon
Griffin was a hotel-keeper and was later a resident of Teay's Valley, Putnam
county, Virginia (West Virginia). Children of Alexander W. and Eliza S.
(Griffin) Handley: i. Charles William, of whom further. 2. America E.,
married Isaac Seashols, a carriage-maker, and they resided in Putnam county,
West Virginia. 3. A. G., a merchant of WilHamsburg, West Virginia, mar-
ried Rebecca J. Williams. 4. Victoria E., married N. B. Bowyer. His
business was real estate dealing and their home was in Lakeland, Florida.
5. Virginia S., twin of Victoria E., married J. L. Thornbury, and resides
in Huntingdon, West Virginia, where he has been engaged in real estate
and financial dealings. 6. and 7. H. C. and B. F., soldiers in the Confed-
erate Army in the Civil War, lost their lives in that contest. 8. Sallie W.,
married C. L. Bowyer, a farmer of Winfield, West Virginia. 9. F. G., a
farmer and public officer of Putnam county, West Virginia, married Mary
R. Morris, resides at Scott Depot, West Virginia. 10. J. S., married Leah
Handley, and is a farmer of Teay's Valley, Putnam county, West Virginia.
II. Frank, died in young manhood.

(Ill) Charles W. Handley, son of Alexander W. and Eliza S. (Griffin)
Handley, was born in Kanawha county, West Virginia (Virginia), January
I, 1832, and grew to manhood in Putnam county. While not attending
school he was variously employed by his father in the barrel factory or the
store, and at the close of the Civil War settled in Grant township, Cabell
county, where he became the owner of two hundred and sixty acres of
land, on which he conducted farming operations until the death of his wife.
At tlie present time he makes his home with a daughter in Eaton, Ohio.
The Democratic party has always received his most earnest and enthusiastic
support, and he held the offices of justice of the peace and county magistrate.
He was the incumbent of the latter position for two years, during which
time he dealt the liquor traffic such severe blows that when he was next a
candidate for the magistracy the entire saloon element was lined up against
him in compact and determined opposition, so that the election went against
him. A Presbyterian in religious belief, he was closely allied with all
branches of church and Sunday school work, being an elder in the church
and superintendent of the Sunday school for many years. The infirmities
of age have to a great extent handicapped his usefulness, but in his more
youthful days there were few opportunities for service of which he did not
eagerly avail himself, to the great blessing and inspiration of those associated
with him. He married Elizabeth Frances, born in Cabell county. West Vir-
ginia, in 1834, died in 1902, daughter of Daniel and Cynthia (Chadwick)
Love. The Loves have long been resident in the Old Dominion and Daniel
Love grew to manhood in eastern Virginia, where he married, moving then
to western Virginia. He was the owner of about seven hundred and fifty
acres of land in Cabell county, owning a sufficient number of slaves to



I



WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 293

conduct his plantation properly, was a Democrat in politics, held the office
of justice of the peace, also representing his district in the State Legislature
for one term. His church was the Baptist and in the local organization he
was a deacon for a long period, his death occurring when he was eighty-
seven years of age. He was universally loved for the kindliness of his
nature and reverenced for his many good works. Possibly no one in the
community wielded a more general influence and many of his friends, seek-
ing him for advice, left his presence cheered and strengthened by the vision
of clear duty that he had given them, freed from their perplexity and
doubt. Children of Charles W. and Elizabeth Frances (Love) Handley:
I. Marion L., of whom further. 2. Frank Walker, lives on the homestead
in West Virginia. 3. Anna Ona Virginia, married James F. Switzcr, de-
ceased, and lives at Eaton, Ohio. 4. Leonidas B., a farmer of West Alex-
andria, Preble county, Ohio.

(IV) Marion L. Handley, son of Charles W. and Elizabeth Frances
(Love) Handley, was born in Cabell county. West Virginia, June 4, 1858,
and there attended the public schools when not needed on the farm, and
as he was the eldest son his services were greatly in demand in the culti-
vation of the home acres. When he was seventeen years of age he jour-
neyed to Pittsburgh by steamboat and made his home with a maternal
uncle, Francis Marion Love, who resided in Edgeworth and who was a
dry-goods merchant at Np. 74 Market street. Marion L. Handley here
first was a student in a private institution and the following spring entered
Sewickley Academy, which he attended for more than two years, complet-
ing his education with a business course in the Iron City Commercial Col-
lege. His first position was with A. G. Hattry, an iron and steel broker
whose office was on Water street, Pittsburgh, and after spending two years
and a half in that employ Mr. Handley became discount clerk of the Trades-
men's National Bank, of Pittsburgh, for a like period of time. The fol-
lowing eight years he passed as assistant manager of the Penn Cotton
Mills, and his marriage being solemized at this time, he and his wife
traveled to Colorado on their wedding trip, and at Alamosa, in that state, he
became teller of the First National Bank, holding that position from
October i, 1887, until 1892, in which latter year he returned to Pennsyl-
vania. He was placed in charge of the Federal Supply Company store
at Federal, Pennsylvania, and was its director until June i, 1894. At the
time he moved to Avalon, Pennsylvania, and until 1905 was associated in
gas burner manufacturing with his uncle, Francis Marion Love, of whose
family he had previously been a member. In 1903 he moved to Carnegie,
Pennsylvania, and two years later severed his former connection, assuming
the management of the feed store of C. A. Foster, of that place, his present
occupation. Politically a Republican, his church is the Presbyterian, and
he was ruling elder of the church of that denomination in Alamosa, Colo-
rado. His fraternal order is the Masonic, in which he belongs to Lafayette
Lodge, No. 544.



294 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. Handley married, September 27, 1887, Carrie, born in Kosciusko
county, Indiana, daughter of Herman, deceased, a carpenter, and Sophia
(Miller) Lange. Children of Marion L. and Carrie (Lange) Handley:
I. Sophia Frances, born August 11, 1889, lives at home. 2. Robert W.,
born in 1891, a graduate in engineering at Pennsylvania State College, now
lives in Chisholm, Minnesota, where he is a mining engineer. 3. Mary
Love, born March 7, 1892, lives at home, holding a private secretarial
position.



Of all the European wars that have made history in the past
GILLET centuries, none have placed on record more thrilling engage-
ments or examples of ennobling patriotism than those be-
tween France and Germany. Geographically located to become friends
and neighbors, constant disputes and misunderstandings converted these
nations into deadly enemies, and, controversy being backed on both sides by
armed forces, thousands and thousands of lives were sacrificed in futile
warfare. But the following recital in its relation to the above-mentioned
countries deals not with war or with bloodshed, but with the union of a son
and daughter of these lands that produced Frank Gillet, late of McKees
Rocks, Pennsylvania. His paternal ancestry was French, France having
been the birthplace and the lifelong home of Francis Humbert Gillet. He
was a manufacturer of Troyes, the product of his plant being knitting
machines, an industry in which he was a pioneer in his country, employing
a large number of hands. He had entered this field from the ranks of ma-
chinists, a trade in which he was a skilled workman, and had prospered
abundantly. The Roman Catholic Church was that of which he and his
wife were communicants. He married Josephine Charlotte Brunclayer, and
had children: i. Achille, of whom further. 2. Jules, a machinist, resides
in France. 3. Theodore, lived in France. 4. Ernest, deceased, a civil
engineer of his native land.

(H) Achille Gillet, son of Francis Humbert and Josephine Charlotte
(Brunclayer) Gillet, was born in Troyes, France, January 11, 1836, died
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 16, 1874. In his youth he was in-
structed in the trade that had been his father's, that of machinist, and was
later employed by his father in the latter's factory at Troyes. The elder
Gillet was an eccentric gentleman, holding ideas which, in their execution,
seriously hampered the ambitions of his son and which were, at times, close
to the border of harshness and cruelty. Certain it was that his treatment
became most obnoxious and unendurable to the son and he left the paternal
home, immigrating to the United States in 1861, making his permanent
home in Pittsburgh. Arriving in the United States he found that country
in the throes of internal dissension, which heightened into civil war, and,
espousing the cause of the North, he enlisted in Battery H, Pennsylvania
Volunteer Light Artillery, and served throughout the four years of that
struggle, receiving an honorable discharge from the Union army in 1865.




9^mn/c£e.^iUei



WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 295

His martial experience at an end, he obtained employment at the trade
he had mastered in the homeland, working first in Foster's Shop and later
in Atwood and McCaffery's Machine Shop, both of Pittsburgh, remaining
in the latter place until death. Both he and his wife were members of
St. Philomena's Roman Catholic Church, and since his death she has re-
mained a widow, her home being at No. 18 Hooper street, Pittsburgh. He
married Margaret, born at Waldhausen, near Nuremberg, Bavaria, Ger-
many, October 27, 1844, daughter of John and Barbara (Meyer) Meyer,
both of her parents natives of Bavaria, Germany. Her father was a far-
mer and died in 1848, when in middle age, her mother immigrating to the
United States with her two children four years later, accompanying her
uncle, Thomas Meyer, to Pittsburgh. Here she again married, her second
husband being Michael Kearner, both being well advanced in years at the
time of their marriage. She died aged eighty-one years. Children of John
and Barbara (Meyer) Meyer: i. Margaret, of previous mention, married
Achille Gillet. 2. Frank, engaged in the transfer business, died aged
thirty-two years. Children of Achille and Margaret (Meyer) Gillet: i.
Charles, a linotype operator in a New York publishing house, lives in
that city. 2. Josephine, married Vincent Rago, a painter, and lives in Pitts-
burgh. 3. Frank L., of whom further.

(HI) Frank L. Gillet, youngest of the three children of Achille and
Margaret (Meyer) Gillet, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January
21, 1874, and until he was thirteen years old attended St. Philomena's
Parochial School of that city. At that age he became a cash boy in the
employ of J. M. Gusky, a merchant, at a weekly wage of one dollar and
seventy-five cents, working during summer vacation, and was then for
two years in the service of Denier Brothers, tinners. When he was
seventeen years of age he became a teamster and in that capacity was con-
nected with several firms in Pittsburgh, in 1905 entering the wholesale
liquor business in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, opening a store at No.
364 Helen street, where he continued in successful business until his death,
which occurred March 3, 1914, resulting from an attack of pneumonia.
His political belief was Republican, and he held membership in St. Mary's
Roman Catholic Church, of McKees Rocks. Among other lodges he
belonged to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of
St. George, the Eagles, the Moose, the Owls and the Woodmen of the World,
also to the Americus Club of Pittsburgh. His home was at No. 1012
Church avenue, McKees Rocks.

Mr. Gillet married, October 5, 1898, Anna S., born in Pittsburgh,
daughter of Peter Weilersbacher, and had one child, Francis, born Septem-
ber 23, 1903. The following extracts are from the McKees Rocks Ga-
zette. Mr Gillet's death notice: "A kind genial personality, and was
known as everybody's friend, *** his was an urbane personality and a
friend whose friendship meant much. *** As a friend and brother whose
sympathetic tendencies and big heartedness will be sadly missed.*** No
appeal for aid or succor from Frank L. Gillet was ever made in vain,



296 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

the community mourns his death. He always identified himself with the
town's best interests."



The history of the Pace family is entirely English, there being
PACE but one mature generation of the name American-born. Wil-
liam, father of Lemuel Pace, was born in Livei-pool, England,
and after his marriage in that place moved to Gloucestershire, where he
followed his trade, that of stone-cutter, until his death. He married Fan-
nie Jordan, a native of Liverpool, England, died in Gloucestershire, Eng-
land, and had children, all of whom remained in England with the ex-
ception of Lemuel and George : Lizzie ; Mary ; George, immigrated to the
United States and at last report of his whereabouts was in Missouri;
Annie ; Sarah ; Alice ; Lemuel, of whom further ; William ; Emma ; Fannie ;
James.

(H) Lemuel Pace, son of William and Fannie (Jordan) Pace, was
bo-rn in Gloucestershire, England, June 19, 1856. After attending the
public schools he began an apprenticeship at his father's trade, but not
finding it to his liking abandoned it in favor of mining and teaming. After
his marriage he came to the United States, immigrating in the spring of
1880, settling first at McDonald, Pennsylvania, where he was employed as a
coal miner, an occupation with which he was familiar through his service
in the mines of his native land. He was then a resident of Hanlon, Penn-
sylvania, for about three years, at the end of that time moving to Carnegie,
Pennsylvania, in that place following for a time his former calling, but
soon establishing in the grocery business on Main street, in which line he
continued for eighteen years, at the same time building up a business in
general teaming. His latter venture attained dimensions which he felt justi-
fied him in giving his entire time and attention, and he disposed of his gro-
cery business and since that time has been engaged in teaming exclusively, em-
ploying, on an average, five men, and having five teams in almost constant
use. In 1905 Mr. Pace erected a bufif brick house on Third avenue, his
present residence, his extensive yard and stable in the rear aflfording ample
accommodations for his horses and equipment. He is a Republican in
political belief, and holds membership in the Home Guards of America
and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Mr. Pace married, in England, June 25, 1878, Alice, born in Glouces-
tershire, England, March 27, 1858, daughter of Thomas and Emma (Rob-
erts) Blanch, who was reared by her maternal grandparents until the death
of Grandmother Roberts, when she returned to her father's home and there
lived until her marriage. Thomas was a son of William Blanch, a native
and life-long resident of England, and was born, as was his wife, in Glou-
cestershire, England, there growing to maturity and marrying. Their home
was near those of their parents, and he was employed in the mines. His
first wife, Emma, was a daughter of William and Sarah Roberts, natives
and life-long residents of Gloucestershire, England; she died in 1867, and



WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 297

he married a second time, his second wife being Edith ilowell, both living
in England at the present time (1914J. Children of the first marriage of
Thomas Blanch: i. Alice, of previous mention, married Lemuel Pace.
2. Henry, accompanied his sister, Alice, and his brother-in-law, Lemuel
Pace, to the United States, and now resides in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
Children of the second marriage of Thomas Blanch : Ada, Lily, Gertrude,
James, Sidney, and Thomas, all residents of England. Lemuel and Alice
(Blanch) Pace have had nine children, four of whom are living at the
present time: i. Blanche, married Frank Connelly, and resides in Pitts-
burgh, the mother of four children : Eugene, Thomas, Blanche, and Walter.
2. James, lives in Glendale, Pennsylvania, associated in business with his
father ; married Mary Lyden and has two children, Joseph and Mary. 3.
Emma, lives at home. 4. Marie, lives at home.



The line of Bradwells of Allegheny county, Pennsyl-
BRADWELL vania, descends from Isaac Bradwell, a native of Eng-
land, who, with his wife, Margaret, came to this country
and settled on the present site of Green Tree borough, Allegheny county,
Pennsylvania. He purchased thirty-three acres of land and there lived until
his death, both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Children of Isaac and Margaret Bradwell: i. Isaac, among the
gold seekers who went to California in 1849, died in that st?te. 2. Jacob,
of whom further. 3. Thomas, died in California. 4. Lizzie, married James
Mcintosh, and died in the west. 5. Isabel. 6. Mary, married a Mr. Davis,
and died in Pittsburgh.

(II) Jacob Bradwell, son of Isaac and Margaret Bradwell, was born in
Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, in 1816, died in 1873. He grew to manhood
on the home farm and after his father's death acquired title thereto by pur-
chasing the interests of his co-heirs, passing his entire life in the place of
his birth. He was active in the local organization of the Republican party,
fraternized with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with his wife
belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Frances, born
in Green Tree borough, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, in 1817, died there
in 1904, daughter of Thomas Silk. The father of Thomas Silk was a native
of France, having held a commission in the French army, and immigrated
to Pennsylvania. Thomas Silk was born in Pennsylvania, and in young
manhood settled in Green Tree borough, Allegheny county, where he married
and became a farmer, owning a tract about three hundred and fifty acres
in extent, where he died rather early in life. He married a Miss Barr and
had children: i. John, a farmer, died in Minnesota. 2. William, a farmer,
died in Allegheny county. 3. Thomas, a farmer, died in Allegheny county.
4. Margaret, died unmarried. 5. Sarah, died unmarried. 6. Betsey, mar-
ried John Hall and died in Robinson township. Allegheny county. 7.
Frances, of previous mention, married Jacob Bradwell. Jacob and Frances
(Silk) Bradwell had seven children, four of whom died in infancy, tlie



298 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

others were : i . John, a farmer, died in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. 2. Amelia,
married Christopher Steel, and resides in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. 3. Thomas
S., of vvfhom further.

(Ill) Thomas S. Bradwell, son of Jacob and Frances (Silk) Bradwell,
w^as born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, the place of his birth now in
Green Tree borough, December 19, 1859, and lived on the home farm
until he was twenty-two years of age, obtaining his education in the local
schools. Coming to Carnegie, Pennsylvania, in 1884, he was for five years
associated in the livery business with a brother-in-law, Mr. Steel, the part-
nership being dissolved at the end of that time, Mr. Bradwell continuing in
that line independently. His stables have ever since been on First street,
where he houses fourteen fine horses, his being one of the oldest establish-
ments of its kind in the locality. The excellent service and well appearing
rigs there obtainable have led to Mr. Bradwell's livery a profitable patronage,
and his extensive business is conducted upon a fair and honorable plane.
His political party is the Republican, and he holds membership in the
Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Junior Order of United American Me-
chanics, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of
Moose, and the Royal Arcanum.

He married, in 1884, Nettie G., born in Warren county, Pennsylvania,
daughter of Samuel Magee. They are the parents of: i. Jacob, an under-
taker, resides in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. 2. Robert, died aged four years.
3. Amelia, married M. E. McCune, a railroad employee. 4. Frances, lives
at home. 5. Samuel. 6. Thomas. The last two students in the Carnegie
schools.



It is a debatable question as to which is the more
WEILERSBACHER interesting reading, the story of John Weilers-
bacher's rise from his lowly beginning as an un-
friended immigrant to a position of prominence in his adopted community,
or the account of his family as they dwelt in the ancient kingdom of Bavaria,
the one forming a typical picture of the success which has crowned the
efiforts of the best type of German coming to seek a broader life and for-
tune in America, and the other a vivid chapter of life in the romantic, turbu-
lent and oppressive Old World. Mr. Weilersbacher's father, Caspar Weilers-
bacher, was a native of Chrisover Felder, village of Pautzfeld, Bavaria,
where he was born sometime during the year 1822. Nothing is known of
his ancestry but it is known that he was one of a family of five children, all
of whom lived their lives in the native region. Their names were : Catherine ;
Barbara, both of whom died single ; Caspar, our subject's father ; Elizabeth,
who also died unmarried ; and another brother, who also bore the name of
Caspar, it being the quaint custom in that day and country to often give
the same name twice or more in the one family. This second Caspar has
been a farmer all his life and is now still living at an extreme old age in
Chrisover Felder, village of Pautzfeld. Caspar the elder also grew up to a



WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 299

farmer in Bavaria, and possessed his own farm there, lie was a heavily
built man of great physical strength and was killed when but fifty-two
years of age, by being thrown from a wagon which then passed over him.
He was married to a lady who, by a strange coincidence, bore the same name
and was a native of the same village as he, though of no relation to him.
Of Kunigunde Weilersbacher's ancestors, otherwise than on the male side
of the house, a great deal of much interest is known. A great uncle of hers
was one George Weilersbacher, a very wealthy merchant of Holland, who
owned a fleet of over one hundred ships, and a part of whose great fortune
still remains to be divided. Nephews of this old gentleman, though they
were born and passed their lives as far away from him and Holland as the
village Pautzfeld in Bavaria, were three brothers, John, Thomas and George
Weilersbacher, who became well known in the region of Chrisover Felder.