son was John, who married Sarah King, and founded the family of which
Thomas McCoy, of Kennedy township, Allegheny county, is representative.
(II) John McCoy, son of Thomas and Jane McCoy, was born in
county Antrim, Ireland, and there grew to manhood. About 1790 he came
with the family to Pennsylvania, making the journey westward by wagon.
John McCoy eventually settled in what is now Kennedy township, Al-
legheny county, where he purchased a large tract of land. A cousin, also
named McCoy, settled on Raccoon Creek. John McCoy married Sarah
King, also of Scotch-Irish blood, both families being of the Covenanter
faith. The land they bought was then in Robinson township and consisted
of six hundred acres of timber land, which he cleared, himself cutting the
first tree ever felled on the tract. He was killed by a kick from his horse
about the year 1818. being then aged fifty-four years. John McCoy and
his wife were among the founders of the Union United Presbyterian Church,
whose congregation first worshipped in a log building. Children: i. Mary
(always called Polly), married Benjamin Still, a farmer of Robinson town-
ship. 2. William, a well-to-do farmer of Robinson township, sold his farm
late in life and retired to Moon township, where he died ; he was active in
the United Presbyterian Church, a major of militia and quite prominent :
his wife was a Miss Philips. 3. Elizabeth, married John Sampson; resided
in Robinson township. 4. Thomas, of whom further. 5. Sarah King, mar-
ried Hugh Nichol.
(HI) Thomas (2) McCoy, son of John and Sarah (King) McCoy,
was born in Chartiers creek. Robinson township, Allegheny county, Penn-
sylvania, February 18, 1807. died February 13, 1850. He inherited a large
524 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
share of the homestead farm in Robinson township, built thereon a log
house and there spent his years, forty-three. He prospered in his farming
operations, and was a man highly respected. He married, January ii,
1827, Elizabeth Wilson, born in Moon township, Allegheny county, Penn-
sylvania, May 22, 1802, died May 31, 1899; her parents were early settler.s
of Moon township, he a farmer. Thomas McCoy was a Whig in politicis,
and both he and his wife were active members of the United Presbyterian
Church. Children: i. Sarah King, born March 2, 1828; married John
Speer. 2. John W., born April 8, 1830; moved in 1876 to Warren county,
Iowa, where he engaged in farming until his death, at age of seventy-
eight years ; he married Elizabeth Sheridan. 3. Robert M., born March 4,
1832 ; never married, but made his home until his death with his mother.
4. Nancy, born in June, 1834, died unmarried. 5. William, born in Oc-
tober, 1836; he served three years in the Civil War; resides on part of the
old McCoy farm; married (first) Rachel Wilson, (second) Mary Jane
West. 6. Mary, born in October, 1838, died in 1904; married (first) John
Philips, (second) Oliver Anderson. 7. Thomas, of further mention. 8.
Jane, born March 23, 1843.
(IV) Thomas (3) McCoy, fifth son and seventh child of Thomas
(2) and Elizabeth (Wilson) McCoy, was born April 8, 1841, in the log
house homestead in Robinson township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania,
the McCoy farm now forming part of Kennedy township. He attended
the Clever district school near his home farm, but when he was eight years
of age his father's death threw the burden of farm management upon the
sons, henceforth the lad's schooling was confined to a few of the winter
months. He remained at home working with his brothers until 1876, when
Thomas became, by agreement, sole manager. Later he became sole owner
by purchase, and now resides on the farm where he first saw the light.
The old farm is well situated, fertile and well improved. In 1894 Mr.
McCoy erected a comfortable modern farm house and has also erected new
barns as crop needs demanded. He is a good farmer and has used his op-
portunities to good advantage. He has supplemented his few years of
school study by a course of self instruction and reading and has made
himself one of the well informed men of his township. He is a Repub-
lican in politics, has served as school director for twenty years and for one
term was township supervisor. He and his family are members of Union
United Presbyterian Church and active workers.
Mr. McCoy married, April 8. 1875, Isabella Cornwith, born January
5, 1839, in what is now a part of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Chil-
dren: I. Bessie Alma, born January 28. 1876; married David W^ Penney,
a jeweler, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, their present home. 2. William J.,
born July 29, 1877; now a farmer working the home farm in Kennedy
township; he married Lily May Philips, and has a son, Wilson P., born
September 24, 1905. 3. Sarah Jane, born November 2, 1878, died aged
nine months. 4. Thomas W'., born October 6, 1881 ; now living on and
WESTERN PENNSYLVAxMA 525
cultivating part of the McCoy homestead farm; he married L. Ethel Riddle,
and has children: Ruth, born May 21, 1907; Lloyd Riddle, September 29,
191 1. Mrs. McCoy is the daughter of Andrew and Margaret (McCollum;
Cornwith, both of Irish birth and parentage. Andrew Cornwith was born
in Belfast, and resided in that city until a young man, then came to the
United States, where he worked at his trade, cooper, then bought a farm
adjoining Cincinnati, that is now within tlie limits of that city. His wife,
Margaret (McCullumj Cornwith, was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, came
when young to the United States, met and married Andrew Cornwith in
Cincinnati. They lived on the farm many years and there Andrew died,
Isabella being at that time three years of age. Mrs. Cornwith married a
second husband, James Geary. Isabella, the oldest child, was reared in the
home of her uncle, Daniel McCullum, a dairyman of Cincinnati. Chil-
dren of Andrew and Margaret Cornwith: i. Isabella, aforementioned as the
wife of Thomas McCoy, and resides at the home farm in Kennedy town-
ship. 2. Eliza Ann, married Emerick Smith, and resides in Cincinnati,
Ohio. 3. William, deceased ; was a blacksmith ; he and his wife, Margaret
(Kellog) Cornwith, lived in Forest, Ohio, until his death in 1912.
The Hoch family of Tarentum, which for many years was
HOCH worthily represented by Dr. Albert Martin Hoch, now deceased.
a physician of ability and skill, of high personal integrity, an
honor to his profession, is of German extraction, the ancestors of Dr. Hoch
claiming that land as their birthplace.
Martin Hoch. father of Dr. Albert Martin Hoch, was born in Germany,
in 1820, died in Chicora, Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1888. He was
reared and educated in his native land, and in young manhood emigrated
to the United States, locating in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, prior to his mar-
riage. Subsequently he removed to Chicora, Pennsylvania, where he was
the owner of a brewery, later engaged in the hotel business, and for many
years before his death led a quiet life, retired from active business pur-
suits. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, and a Democrat in
politics. He married, in Chicora, Pennsylvania, Catharine Gephart. born
in Germany, February 28. 1822, died June 7, 1914, in Chicora, aged ninety-
two years. Mr. and Mrs. Hoch were the parents of four children : Adolph,
a resident of Chicora, Pennsylvania; Augustus, who died March 22. 1914;
Catharine, a resident of Chicora, Pennsylvania: Albert Martin, of whom
further.
Dr. Albert Martin Hoch was born in Chicora, Butler countv. Penn-
sylvania, December 2, 1865, died at Tarentum, Allegheny county, Pennsyl-
vania, August 8, 1907. He attended the public schools of Chicora, Pennsyl-
vania, Columbus, Ohio, Duflf's Business College, from which he was grad-
uated, and Webster Medical College, of Pittsburgh, from which he received
his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He located for practice in Tarentum.
and there remained until his death, when he was in enjoyment of a laro^e
526 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
and steadily increasing patronage, the direct result of his own efforts and
the skill he displayed in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. He kept
well informed along the line of his profession by membership in the County,
State and American Medical associations. His death removed from the
community not only a leading member of the medical profession, but a
Christian gentleman whose influence for good was powerful and far-reach-
ing, and who was ever ready to aid humanity to the best of his ability,
counting not the cost to himself. He was a member of the Lutheran
Church, as is also his widow. In 1906 Dr. Hoch erected the Hoch Block
in Brackenridge, the building being seventy-three by eighty-three feet in
dimensions, in which are located several stores, also the Organ Hunting
and Fishing Club.
Dr. Hoch married, January 9, 1890, Henrietta Louise Wiegand, born
in Butler county, Pennsylvania, near Saxonburg, August 28, 1869, daugh-
ter of George and Elizabeth (Boltz) Wiegand, and they were the parents
of six children: i. Paul Gerhart Luther, born September 22, 1892; edu-
cated in public and high schools of Tarentum, and a student in the medical
department of the University of Pittsburgh in second year. 2. Victor Hugo,
born February 2, 1894, died aged one year and eleven months. 3. Ruth
Naomi, born June 4, 1896, a student of Tarentum High School, now
studying to be a trained nurse. 4. George Nathaniel, born May 2, 1898, a
student of Tarentum High School. 5. Augustus, born April 18, 1903, died
April 22, 1904. 6. Albert Aaron Marcus, born June 30, 1907, a student
in the public school.
George Wiegand, father of Mrs. Henrietta L. (Wiegand) Hoch, was
born near Saxony, Germany, November 23, 1835, '^o" of Daniel and Eva
(Jacoby) Wiegand, who in 1853 emigrated to this country and settled near
Sarver Station, Butler county, Pennsylvania, on a farm, and there his death
occurred shortly prior to the Civil War, his wife passing away in 1878,
and they were the parents of three children : Conrad, Valentine, George.
George Wiegand came to the United States with his parents at the age of
eighteen years. He served throughout the Civil War and was engaged in the
lighthouse service in Florida for a number of years. He then purchased
a farm in Butler county, Pennsylvania, and later went to Bradys Bend,
Armstrong county, where he purchased a farm on which he i-esided until
his death, November 26, 1906. He was a member of the Lutheran Chijrch.
He married Elizabeth Boltz, born near Hessen, Germany, September 19,
1835. died on the farm at Bradys Bend, June 9, 1905, daughter of John and
Elizabeth Boltz, who came to Butler county, Pennsylvania, 1847, and con-
ducted a farm near Sarver Station, where their deaths occurred. Children
of Mr. and Mrs. George Wiegand : Henrietta Louise, aforementioned as
ihe wife of Dr. Hoch; George, Edward, Minnie, Marie, died young.
WESTERN PENNSYLVAXIA 527
The late Robert Sniitli I'orter McCall, vvlio for almost sixty
McCALL years was a resident of Tarentutn, Pennsylvania, where he
was highly regarded for his many excellent characteristics,
was a native of Freeport, Pennsylvania, born (Jctober 10, 1835, died at
Tarentum, November 30, 1910, aged seventy-five years.
(I) Robert McCall, grandfather of Robert S. P. McCall, was killed
by the falling of a tree in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and his widow,
Elizabeth (Young) McCall, married a Mr. McKee, and they resided in
Freeport, Pennsylvania, where their deaths occurred. Among the children
of Robert and Elizabeth McCall was James, of whom further.
(II) James McCall, son of Robert M|cCall, was a native of West-
moreland county, Pennsylvania, born June 30, 1792, near Salem, and when
he was quite young his parents moved to the Young farm, near Bull Creek
Church, and there he was reared and educated. In the year 1820 he went
to Gallipolis, Ohio, remaining one year, then removed to Millerstown,
Pennsylvania, and in 1827 located in Freeport, Pennsylvania, and built the
aqueduct across Buffalo creek and lock at that place. He resided there
until the spring of 185 1 when he removed to Tarentum and there spent the
remainder of his days, and at the time of his death, October 10, 1886, he
was the oldest citizen of Tarentum, and one of the oldest of Western
Pennsylvania. He was the third child in a family of eight children, and
the third to attain the age of ninety years. At the age of twenty years
he joined the Bull Creek Presbyterian Church, of which Rev. Abram
Boyd was pastor. He was a Whig and Republican in politics. He married,
April 13, 1820, Mary Miller, born near Millerstown, Pennsylvania, 1796,
died January 13, 1871. Children: i. jNIiller, born April 10, 1821. 2.
Elizabeth Young, born December 15, 1822; became the wife of James Smith.
3. Robert, born October 15, 1824. 4. Margaret Jane, born October 11.
1825. 5. Rachel, born February 4, 1828. 6. James B., born February 8,
1830. 7. Nancy Porter, born December 25, 1832. 8. Robert Smith Porter,
of whom further. 9. Mary, born November 8, 1838. 10. John G., born
September 8, 1841.
(III) Robert S. P. McCall. son of James McCall, was educated in
the common schools of Freeport, Pennsylvania, and in 185 1 accompanied
his parents to Tarentum, his first employment being with his father apd
brother, Miller McCall, at the old blacksmith shop, his father and sons
owning the right to make tools for oil well work, and in this line of work
Mr. McCall was very successful. He enlisted in Company F, One Hundred
and Twenty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantrv, and served
for nine months. He then returned to Tarentum and at various times
held responsible positions under the state and United States governments,
being a United States storekeeper in Freeport, Pennsylvania, and door
keeper under the government at Harrisburg. Pennsylvania, and was also
court ofificer of Allegheny county court. He served as justice of the peace,
holding his sixth commission at the time of his decease, being elected (^n
528 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the Republican ticket. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, which he joined in early life; president and secretary of the
Camp Meeting Association ; charter member of the Eli Hemphill Post, No.
135, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was first commander;
charter member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he being the
last charter member at the time of his death ; member of Pollock Lodge,
No. 502, Free and Accepted Masons, in the organization of which he took
an active part, and was an active factor in the building of the Masonic
Temple, and for more than thirty years he acted as treasurer of Pollock
Lodge, and he was a member of Veteran Masonic Lodge of Pittsburgh.
Mr. McCall married, June 6, i860, Rachel Euwer, born near Millers-
town, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1835, daughter of John
and Jane (Elliott) Euwer, and they were the parents of six children: i.
Mary Jane, born May 12, 1861, died November 30, 1889. 2. Lillian, born
February 17, 1864; educated in public and normal schools of Tarentum,
took a course in kindergarten work in Pittsburgh, and is now head of the
kindergarten in public schools in Pittsburgh; married, September 15, 1886,
Leonard Edward Stofiel, of Pittsburgh, who died in Springdale, Pennsyl-
vania, January 26, 1892; one child, Mary Jane, born April 13, 1889. 3-
John Porter, born January 13, 1866, died September 6, 1912; married Gert-
rude Voguley, of Tarentum, Pennsylvania ; children : Edith Catherine and
Cornelia. 4. Nannie, born February 21, 1868, died in infancy. 5. Lida
May, born May 12, 1869, died in infancy. 6. Margaret Ellen, born No-
vember 3, 1874, died in infancy.
Samuel Euwer, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Rachel (Euwer) McCall,
was a native of Ireland, as was also his wife, and in 1794 they emigrated
to this country, and about six years later removed to Sandy Creek, West-
moreland county, Pennsylvania, where they spent the remainder of their
days, and their remains were interred in Beulah Church Cemetery, a few
miles from Wilkinsburg.
John Euwer, father of Mrs. Rachel (Euwer) McCall, was born in
Ireland, died near Millerstown, Pennsylvania. He married Jane Elliott,
born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, June 12, 1799, died August
28. 1878, daughter of John Elliott, born in 1756, who was the son of Andrew
Elliott, who with his young wife came from Scotland in 1748 and settled
in the colony of Maryland, where they endured all the hardships of the
early settlers, one of their sons being killed by the Indians. John Elliott,
aforementioned, married a Miss Patterson and he and his wife died at
their residence near New Texas, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania ; they were
the parents of a large family. Mr. and Mrs. Euwer were the parents of
nine children: i. Nancy, born December 21, 1818; married John Kennedy.
2. James, born June i, 1820, died November 7, 1895. 3- Samuel, born
April 8, 1822, died April 12, 1896. 4. Margaret, born May 16, 1824, died
in Broddock, Pennsylvania. 5. Eliza, born March 24, 1826, died Marrh
18, 1910. 6. Jane, born February 27, 1828. died July 22, 1906. 7. John,
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