Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/460

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

possessed, his practical efficiency in legislation, and the absolute purity of his character. He was ordinarily a cold, unimpassioncd speaker, but eminently logical and forceful." On Feb. 13, 1849. M r. Buckalew married Pem ielia Stevens W adsworth, who was liorn Feb. 16, 1827. daughter of liM phros and Charlotte (Steven s) Wadsworth, and died Feb. 26, 1903. She came of distinguished New Bngbnd ancestry, being a direct descend­ ant o f Capt, Joseph W adsworth, o f Cliarter Oak f.ame; o f Governor John W ebster; and o f other notables conspkuou.sly identilicd with the Colonial history o f Connecticut. Of the two children bom to Mr. and M rs. Buckalew the son. W arren Ja y, bom Dec. 20. 1849. died N ov. 2. 18 8 2; A lice M ary, the daughter, is the w ife o f Ixrvi Ellm aker Waller, o f WilkesBarre, Pennsylvania. C A P T . JO H N M c K lN N E Y BU CK.AL E W, late o f Fishingereek township. Colum­ bia county, w as bom there Oct. 17, 1826. in a house nc.ir the homestead he afterw ard occu­ pied. T he youngest of the fam ily bom to John M. and Martha (Funston) Buckalew. he w as a typical representative of the race to which he belonged, of great strength and large build, being over six feet in height and weighing more than two hundred |K>unds. He attended public school in his native town, and after reaching manhood became interested in lumbering, which he followed throughout his business career. In 1862 he enlisted a company at H arrisb u ^. o f which he was com­ missioned captain Oct. 30th, and which became Company .A of Ihe rySih Pennsylvania 'oIunteer K li m e n t : he comnundcd the com|>any until he received his honorable discharge, in Ju ly. 1863. Though hift early cilucation wa5 none (oo thorough Captain Buckalew had sdulious tafttc5 and liccanic quite a scholar* and his exccUcnt judgment, coupled with intellectual gifts, gaineti him success in business. Wide reading and an excellent memory made him an authority on local histor)*, a fact so welt recognized that when the Legislature author­ ized the compilation und publication of the "H istory of the Frontier Forts o f Pennsyl­ vania/’ Governor Patti son appointeil him a member of the corps assigned to the work—to locate the sites of the old forts used in Colo­ nial days. T his territory was between the north and west branches of the Susquehanna, and

included Sunbury. H e performed his part of the task with characteristic thoroughness* the manner in which his part of the work was prepared and written exciting much favoral>el comment. Captain Buckalew belonged to Knt Post* G. A. R ., o f nioom shurg: I-odge No. 234. L O. O. P.* o f X cw Columbus* Luzerne county (past noble g ra n d ); Washington Lodge* No. 265, F. 6: A, M.* Bloom sburg: Bloomsburg Chapter, X o. 2t8, K. A. M .: Mount M oriah Council, No. 10, R. & S. M .: Crusade Commandery, No. 12, K. T .; Orient Conclave, No. 2, Red Cross o f Constantine; and Caldwell Consistory, S. P. K. S ., thirty-second degree* Bloomsburg. Politically he was an ardent R e ­ publican. In i86i Captain Buckalew married Delilah K. Creveling* daughter o f Andrew S, and T’hefcsa Creveling and sister o f Rev. S. A. Creveling* a Methodist Episcopal minister. M rs. Buckalew*s father w as a farm er in Fishingcreek township. Captain Buckalew died A pril 30, 1910. T H O M A S B E A V E R. dcccasecrity of the Montour Iron & Steel W orks are principally due* was 1 )om Nov* 16, 18(4, in Pfouts N'alley (now* Perry county). Pa., and w as a son o f Rev, Peter and Elizabeth (G ilbert) Beaver. H is ancestors on both sides were German* the father's fam ily coming to this country in 17 4 1 and settling in Chester county, and the mother's in 1755 and settling in Franklin county, both in this State. Peter Beaver, father o f Thomas, w as Ixim Dec. 25, 1782, in Franklin county* studied for the ministr)** and was ordained in 1809 at Elkton* Md., by Bishop Asbury, of the Methodist Episcopal O iurch. He married F.lizaheth Gilbert* whose grandfather w as a native o f Germany* o f English descent, his father having been one of the Duke o f M arl­ borough's men at the liattle o f Blenheim. The Gilberts locatc<l in I«cbanon county. Pa.* but later moved to Dauphin county, where Mrs. Beaver was Ixirn. Rev. Fctcr Heaver and his w ife bad the following children: G eorge, who married Catherine L on g; Samuel, who mar­ ried M aria Lem on; Jacob, who married Ann Eliza Addams (ih cir son Gen. J. A, Beaver w as a veteran of the C iril w a r ); Jesse, who married M aty Ann Schw artz: T hom as: Peter.