Elizabeth Gerrard, December 5, 1906; Ruth Fannie, Chalmer R. and Adah
B., deceased.
The family name of Powers, often spelled Power, Poore
POWERS and Poure, is from the old Norman name Le Poer, and is
as old in England as the time of William the Conqueror,
one of whose officers bore that name at the battle of Hastings, as appears on
the Roll of Battle Abbey. From that time onward the name appears to hold
an honorable place in English history. A curious incident is related in the
Herald's College of Richard Poer, high sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1187:
"He was killed while defending the Lord's Day." In the "Doomsday of
St. Paul," a book published by the Camden Society of London, the names
of Walter and William Poer (Power) appear a number of times among
those possessed of landed rights in 1222. In Farmer's "Genealogy of New
England," he refers to a John Power, of Charlestown, who had a son Peter,
born in 1643. About that time Nicholas Power appeared in Massachusetts,
but made a permanent home in Rhode Island ; for several generations one
son was born, the last dying without issue, and the name in that line be-
came extinct. The name of Walter Power appears in Middlesex county,
Massachusetts, records in 1654, as a boy fourteen years of age, and he
was married on "Ye eleventh day of ye first month, 1660, to Trial, born
February 10, 1641, daughter of Deacon Ralph and Thankes Sheppard, at
Maiden, Massachusetts."
(I) Esley Powers, one of the pioneer residents of Allegheny county,
Pennsylvania, was bom in O'Hara township, on the Powers' homestead. He
was a farmer by occupation. He married Jane Nixon. They had children :
Thomas Nixon, Sarah Margaret, Joseph Oliver, of further mention; Ellis.
They attended the Methodist church.
(II) Joseph Oliver Powers, son of Esley and Jane (Nixon) Powers,
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 377
was born on the Powers' homestead, in O'Hara township, August 10, 1833,
died April 2, 1909. He was educated in the public schools, and all the active
years of his life were spent in farming. He was the owner of a fine farm
of about fifty acres. He married Annis Lawson, born January 18, 1835, a
daughter of James and Mary Ann (Nixon j Lawson, and they had children:
I. Mary Ann, born in 1855; married Thomas Ireland, and had children:
Minnie E., deceased; Lida L, married Oscar Nelson, and had one child,
Oscar Paul; Emma Annis, married Frank Burford, and has children: Lil-
lian Margaret, Ethel R., Merna E. 2. Ellis David, married Jane Ander-
son, and has children: Bertha L, Hazel H., Lester Minor. 3. James Law-
son, died young. 4. Sidney Jane, married Edward Ireland, and has chil-
dren: John Taylor and Sidney Annis. 5. Oliver P., of further mention.
6. Anna E., died young. 7. Sarah Emma, died unmarried. 8. Thomas A.,
born in 1872; farmer on the homestead; married Maud J. Lear, and has
children: Helen Estelle, Mabel Annis, Gertrude L 9. Katie A., born in
1875, died unmarried. 10. Alice Daisy, died in infancy.
(HI) Oliver P. Powers, son of Joseph Oliver and Annis (Lawson)
Powers, was born on the Powers' homestead in O'Hara township, Allegheny
county, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1867. There he grew to manhood, in his
youth acquiring a substantial education in the public schools. He com-
menced his business career in the employ of the Pittsburgh Coal and Gas
Company, then with the Pittsburgh Car Company, and later bought thirty-
six acres of land, on which he has since resided. He has made many im-
provements on this property, among other things erecting a fine residence on
the place about 1889, and cultivates his farm for general products. He
gives his political support to the Republican party, and is a member of the
Methodist church. He married, December 29, 1889, Kathryn Dicky, and
they have adopted two children : Helen, born December 8, 1902 ; Grace,
born July 28, 1905.
Honored in Pittsburgh, and deserving of the esteem
McCLINTOCK in which he is held, is Oliver McClintock, president of
the Oliver McClintock Company, one of the oldest com-
mercial houses of the Iron City, whose business career has been one of
honorable success, and who stands today among the solid men of the city.
Oliver McClintock was born on Pitt (now Fifth) street, near Liberty
street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1839, the eldest of seven chil-
dren of Washington and Eliza (Thompson) McClintock. His paternal
grandfather, Alexander McClintock, the son of William McClintock, of East
Nottingham township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, was born May 10,
1776. He came to Pittsburgh from Montgomery county, Pennsylvania,
about 1813, being engaged in the freighting business by means of "Cones-
toga" wagon teams between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. These were im-
pressed into the service of the United States Government during the War
of 1812. Soon after arriving in Pittsburgh, with his family and household
378 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
effects in three "Conestoga" wagons, he opened a shop for general black-
smithing on Water street, near Penn. His shop, tavern and frame residence
alongside lay within the confines of old Fort Pitt. He also operated a ferry
from the "Point" to Temperanceville, on the South Side, where the road to
Little Washington started, and where later he took up his residence upon a
farm. The maternal grandfather, Samuel Thompson, came to Pittsburgh
from Chester county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1807, and with his brother
James conducted a tailoring business under the firm name of S. & J. Thomp-
son, occupying a store on the east side of Market street, near Water street.
They made uniforms for army officers during the War of 1812, and it is
written that after the war Samuel Thompson made a journey on horseback
to Kentucky to collect debts for uniforms furnished. The firm's signature
appears upon the petition addressed to Congress by the people of Pittsburgh,
in 1817, asking for the establishment of a branch of the United States
Bank at Pittsburgh. Its establishment did not prove to be the financial
blessing they had anticipated. Later Samuel Thompson occupied a store
on the west side of Market street, almost directly opposite the first site.
About the year 1825 he conducted a general store at the northwest corner of
Market street and Fourth street, now Fourth avenue. In 1830 he bought
from Henry Holdship the property on Market street, near Liberty, upon
which the McClintock building now stands, where he conducted an ex-
clusive drygoods and carpet trade.
In the early '30's Samuel Thompson shipped from Pittsburgh to Nash-
ville, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri, stocks of clothing of his own
manufacture, for branch stores which he opened in these new towns. About
the year 1850 Washington McClintock, Samuel Thompson's son-in-law and
successor in business, actuated by a similar spirit of commercial enterprise,
shipped a stock of carpets to the young and booming town of Cincinnati.
In common with many other Pittsburgh merchants of that period, whose
capital aided in the development of the West, he also became interested in
several river steamboats employed in the transportation business on the
western and southwestern rivers. In 1837 Samuel Thompson was suc-
ceeded by the firm of W. McClintock & Company, his son-in-law, Washing-
ton McClintock, and his son, Robert D. Thompson, being the partners. The
firm was dissolved in 1844. and Washington McClintock continued the carpet
business exclusively, on the north side of Fourth avenue, upon the site now
occupied by the Safe Deposit Company's building. He was burned out in the
great fire of 1845. In 1854 he admitted his brothers, Alexander and George
Ledlie McClintock, taking the firm name of McClintock Brothers, a partner-
ship which continued for about one year. In 1855 the style became W.
McClintock and remained so for seven years. In 1862 he admitted his eldest
son, Oliver McClintock, to partnership, the style of the firm becoming W.
McClintock & Son. In 1863 Washington McClintock bought out Robinson
& Company, their chief competitor in the carpet business, and organized the
firm of Oliver McClintock & Company (consisting of Washington McClin-
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 379
tock, Oliver McClintock and George R., Sr.j, to conduct the newly acquired
business as a separate firm. Both stores were continued separately for about
a year, but under the same management. In 1864 the firm of W. McClintock
& Son was merged into that of Oliver McClintock & Company, and the busi-
ness continued at No. 219 Fifth avenue, Pittsburgh. Walter L. McClintock,
second son of Washington McClintock, was admitted in 1864. In the year
1869 Washington McClintock retired from business because of failing health,
which culminated in his death on July 28, 1870, at the age of fifty-six years.
Washington McClintock's fourth son, Thompson McClintock, was admitted
to the firm in 1874, and in 1884 Frank Thompson McClintock, the fifth son
of the founder, was admitted upon the retirement of George R., Sr. On
January 15, 1897, the firm of Oliver McClintock & Company was dissolved,
and a new company was incorporated under the present title. The Oliver
McClintock Company, with Oliver McClintock, president; Walter L. Mc-
Clintock, treasurer, and Frank T. McClintock, secretary.
Oliver McClintock received his early education in the academies con-
ducted by Rev. Joseph S. Travelli, in Sewickley, and Professor Lewis T.
Bradley, in Allegheny (now the Northside, Pittsburgh), graduating from
Yale College in 1861. He entered his father's business the following year
and has continued in carpets and interior decorations ever since, a period of
over half a century. Although devoting himself closely to his business, Mr.
McClintock has also given much attention and important service in behalf
of the municipal, religious and educational interests of his native city. At
the time of the organization of the Young Men's Association in Pittsburgh,
in 1866, Mr. McClintock was elected president, continuing until 1868. He
was elected elder of the Second Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh in 1863;
a trustee of the Western Theological Seminary in 1867, and a trustee of the
Pennsylvania College for Women in 1872. He and his brother-in-law, A. H.
Childs, founded the Shadyside Academy of Pittsburgh in 1883. He is a
director of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Uni-
versity clubs of Pittsburgh and New York City. He is a member of the
executive committee of the National Municipal League, of the Civil Service
Reform Association of Pennsylvania, and of the Ballot Reform Association
of Pennsylvania.
Mr. McClintock was one of the leaders in organizing the Citizens"
Municipal League of Pittsburgh in 1895-96, and a member of the Executive
Committee of Five authorized to select candidates for the ensuing municipal
election for the three executive city officers, and to conduct a campaign in
their behalf. The contest that followed was remarkable for its aggressive-
ness and heat, and for the good work done in awakening and educating
public sentiment to a realization that city government should be conducted
on business principles only, divorced from the ruinous partisanship of na-
tional parties. So effective was the work done by Mr. McClintock in this
campaign that it called forth many tributes, the following, from "McClure's
Magazine" of May, 1903, by Lincoln Steffins, being one of many:
38o WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
If there is one man in Pittsburgh who deserves credit for the successful results
of reform in municipal politics, it is Oliver McClintock, for many years one of the
most aggressive foes of the political machine. It was on the foundation laid by Mr.
McClintock and his associates, in 1895-96, that the Citizens' Party gained an over-
whelming victory in the municipal election of 1898, and it was only after the party
leaders of 1898 had repudiated principles which he advocated and for which he
fought, that he left that party to keep on in his persistent fight for purification of
city politics. Victories have not always been with Mr. McClintock, but it was his
indomitable persistence, despite defeats, that won for him the admiration of even
those whom he fought.
Mr. McClintock married, June 7, 1866, Clara C, daughter of Harvey
and Jane B. (Lowrie) Childs. By this marriage Mr. McClintock gained
the life companionship of a charming and congenial woman, and one fitted
in all ways to be his helpmate. Mr. and Mrs. McClintock are the parents
of : Norman and Walter McClintock, connected with the Oliver McClintock
Company; Mrs. Thomas Darling, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Harvey
C, and the Misses Elsie and Jeanette McClintock. The entire McClintock
family are socially popular in Pittsburgh.
Oliver McClintock belongs to that class of men who wield a power
which is all the more potent from the fact that it is moral rather than
political, and is exercised for the public weal rather than for personal or
partisan ends. Unselfish and retiring, he prefers a quiet place in the back-
ground to the glamour of publicity, but his rare aptitude and ability in
achieving results make him constantly sought and often bring him into a
prominence from which he would naturally shrink were less desirable ends
The Allison family was among the pioneer settlers of Al-
ALLISON legheny county, Pennsylvania, and bravely endured the hard-
ships which the early settlers were called upon to endure.
They have proved their worth as good citizens and patriots in many cases.
(I) James Allison, one of the first settlers of Richland township, Al-
legheny county, was a farmer. He gave his political support to the Re-
publican party, and was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church.
He married Elizabeth Brickell, and they had children: John M., of fur-
ther mention ; James, George, Samuel, Lydia.
(H) John M. Allison, son of James and Elizabeth (Brickell) Allison,
was born on the Allison homestead in Richland township, in 1830, died
July 27, 1909. He was educated in the public schools in the vicinity of his
home, and spent all the active years of his life in farming on the homestead
on which he had been born. He erected all the buildings now standing on
this property, and made many other improvements. He was a member of
the United Presbyterian Church. Mr. Allison married Mary, who died in
1873, a daughter of John Magill, and they had children : George A., mar-
ried Margaret Hare; John R., married Cora Cribbs; James L., of further
mention; Sarah E., married William Donaldson; Louise M., unmarried;
Howard M., unmarried ; Harry B., married Katherine McCauley.
(HI) James L. Allison, son of John M. and Mary (Magill) Allison,
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 381
was born on the Allison homestead in Richland township, January 8, i860.
He received his education in the public schools, and in early manhorxl en-
gaged in farming independently, which he has now been doing for about a
quarter of a century. He owns one hundred acres of fine farm land, and
keeps this in an excellent state of cultivation. He is one of the prosperous
farmers of the township, and his farm is considered a model of its size in
many ways. He takes a deep interest in all matters concerning the public
welfare, and has served a number of years as a member of the boartl of
school directors. His religious affiliation is with the United Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Allison married, in 1885, Ida E., a daughter of Samuel An
derson, and they have children : Mary A., married Thomas Ferguson ;
Charles M., married Jessie Carnahan ; Janet S., married Howard Morrow.
The first member of this family of whom we have record
CHALLIS is Samuel Challis, who was clerk of the church in Black-
motley Parish, Essex county, England.
(II) Daniel Challis, son of Samuel Challis, was a farmer all his life
in England. He married a Miss Digby.
(III) George Challis, son of Daniel and (Digby) Challis, was
born in England, and there became the manager of a large farm. He
emigrated to America in 1872, bringing with him his wife and five of his
children, three of his sons and a brother, Thomas, having come to the
United States two years previously. Mr. Challis married Elizabeth Jarvis,
also a native of England, and they had children: Daniel W., of further
mention ; Harry, Joseph, James, David, Thomas, Emma, Minnie.
(IV) Daniel W. Challis, son of George and Elizabeth (Jarvis) Challis,
was born in Blackmotley Parish, Essex county, England, May 6, 1852.
With his brothers Harry and Joseph, and his uncle, Thomas, the youngest
brother of his father, he emigrated to the United States in 1870, William
Pollard, a former hotel man of England, also accompanying them. At first
they were for a time in Canada, where they worked on the railroad, but
the contractor who had engaged their services there, Colonel Eutsie, brought
them to the United States and gave them employment on the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad, in the construction work. In the spring of 1871, the three
brothers came to Leetsdale, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where Daniel
W. found employment with William McHattie, and his brothers found
work with brothers of Mr. McHattie. In 1878 Daniel W. Challis estab-
lished himself in the general contracting business in Sewickley, Allegheny
county, made a great success of this line of enterprise, and as his sons grew
to manhood admitted them to the firm. When he arrived in Canada in
1870 he had just fifteen dollars of his own, and he is now one of the
moneyed members of the community in which he resides. He has seen
Sewickley grow from small beginnings, and formerly cradled wheat on the
tract on which are now located the grounds of tlie Young Men's Christian
Association. He is a staunch supporter of the Republican party, but has
never had time nor inclination for public office. His religious affiliation
382 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a member of the Knights
of Pythias and the Improved Order of Heptasophs.
Mr. ChalHs married, in 1876, Mary Frances Jones, of Ohio, and has
had children: i. David A., married Flora Jackson, daughter of Mr. Jack-
son, of Sewickley, and they have three children : Dorothea, David, Chester
D. 2. Frederick L. 3. Elizabeth, married E. W. Myers, grocer of Sewick-
ley. 4. Herbert D., is in the employ of the Sewickley Valley Trust Com-
pany, of Sewickley, Pennsylvania ; married Mary Carrol ; they have four
children: Marion, Stanley, Frances, and an infant daughter. The two
eldest sons of Daniel W. Challis are associated with their father in the con-
tracting business.
William Morrow, the American progenitor of this branch
MORROW of the Morrow family, was born in Ireland, and when he
emigrated to America, settled in Washington county, Penn-
sylvania.
(II) Richard Morrow, son of William Morrow, was born in Wash-
ington county, Pennsylvania, and lived to the advanced age of eighty-two
years. He was a farmer in what is now Richland township, Allegheny
county, Pennsylvania, and was one of the pioneer settlers in that section.
In his earlier years he- was a school teacher in Perryville, but later devoted
all his time to his farming interests. He was a member of the Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Morrow married Mary, daughter of Jacob Miller, of Wash-
ington county, and they had children : Ephraim, married Esther Douglas ;
Thomas, married Margaret Kendall ; Samuel Washington, of further men-
tion ; Lot L., whose sketch follows; Daniel W., married Mary Seabert;
Margaret, married James Kendall ; Eliza Jane, married Walker J. Johnston ;
Richard, who was killed in the Civil War.
(III) Samuel Washington Morrow, son of Richard and Mary (Miller)
Morrow, was born in Richland township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania,
January 14, 1834, died March 29, 1889. He was educated in the public
schools of his native township, and in early manhood commenced to farm
independently. In 1861 he purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty
acres, on which he lived until his death. He was road supervisor for
several years. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church. Mr.
Morrow married, in 1858, Elizabeth, daughter of George and Jane Ann
(Russell) Splane ; she died June 27, 1888. They had children: Elmer, who
died at the age of thirty years, married Ella Marshall ; Thomas, married
Margaret Montgomery, and lives at East Palestine, Ohio ; Richard, of
further mention; Mary Jane, married Robert Jack.
(IV) Richard (2) Morrow, son of Samuel Washington and Eliza-
beth (Splane) Morrow, was born on the Morrow homestead in Richland
township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1872. The public
schools of the township furnished him with his educational advantages, and
he became a farmer like his immediate ancestors in this country. He
learned farming practically as an assistant to his father, and in later years
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 383
purchased the farm on which he is located at the present time, and is one
of the prosperous farmers of the section. He has erected a fine barn on
his land, set out an orcliard, which is in excellent bearing condition, and in
addition to general farming, gives a good deal of attention to dairy farm-
ing. His home is near Bakerstown. Mr. Morrow married, March 3, 1^,97,
Margaret L., born July 29, 1873, a daughter of John and Sarah (Nicklas)
Datt. Mr. and Mrs. Morrow have one child: Frank, born January 30,
1902.
(HI) Lot L. Morrow, son of Richard and Mary (Miller)
MORROW Morrow, was born in Richland township, Allegheny county,
Pennsylvania, August 19, 1835. He was educated in the
public schools of his native township, and in early manhood commenced
farming independently, in which line of endeavor he achieved a very satis-
factory amount of success. In the course of years he acquired about four
hundred and fifty acres of land, which he bequeathed to his children. He
married, in June, 1861, Mary J., born September 15, 1842, a daughter of
William and Nancy (Gilmore) McCulley, and they had children: Richard
E., married Mary E. Montgomery ; James K., married Carrie Logan ;
Grant, married Adda Nelson; David G., of further mention; Eliza, married
Lowrey Dickson; Mary M., married Mack Lessley; Esther D., married
Marcus H. Campbell.
(IV) David G. Morrow, son of Lot L. and Mary J. (McCulley) Mor-
row, was born in Richland township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, June
12, 1881. He received his education in the public schools near his home, and
then followed in the footsteps of his father as a farmer. He owns sixty
acres of fine farming land, on which he has erected all the buildings, has
set out orchards, and is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He
has been very successful in his methods, which are of the most up-to-date
and progressive character. Politically he is a Republican, and in religious
faith a communicant of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Morrow married,
December 27, 1904, Eva Pearl McKinney, born July 20, 1885, whose an-
cestral line is given forward. They have had children : Elda Pearl, born
November 25, 1905; William, May 4, 1907; David, April 6, 1909; Olive
M., April 2, 1912, died April 6, 1912.
(The McKinney Line.)
(I) William McKinney was born in county Down, Ireland, and in
early manhood emigrated to America. Here he settled in Pine township
on a tract of four hundred acres of land, a part of which he cleared and
cultivated. He was an Orangeman in Ireland. He married, and had
children : Joseph, William, of further mention ; John, James, Jennie.
(II) William (2) McKinney, son of William (i) McKinney. the im-
migrant ancestor, was born in Ross township, Allegheny county, Pennsyl-
vania, and died in Pine township. He had but limited opportunities for
acquiring an education, attending the public school in McCandless town-
ship for a period of thirty days. In early manhood he was engaged in the
384 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
butcher business in Allegheny, and in 1845 came to Pine township, where
he owned one hundred and twenty acres of land. He remained there thir-
teen years, then removed to Venango county, Pennsylvania, where he pur-
chased three hundred and forty acres of timber land. At the end of two
years he removed to Pithole, in the same county, and there purchased an
additional one hundred and sixty acres of land. He sold all of this land
for three hundred thousand dollars, then made his home in Pine township;
where his death occurred. Mr. McKinney married Sarah Grubbs, and they
had children: Joseph, of further mention; Lewis, married Birdella Conan;
Robert, married Mary Heckard ; Sarah, married Philip Newman ; William,
married Anna Neely ; John, married Catherine Neely ; Henderson, married