Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania Biographies
The following biographies
were extracted from: Biographical review.: containing life sketches of leading
citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania. Boston: Biographical
Review Pub. Co., 1897, Author:
Anonymous.
J
CHARLES S. JENKINS, the general baggage agent in the Union Station, of
Pittsburg, is one of the oldest railroad employees in the
city, and the oldest in point of service connected with the
Pittsburg,
Fort Wayne
&
Chicago Road
. He was born in
Woodstock,
Vt.
, December 8, 1832, son of Samuel and Sarah
(Roach) Jenkins. His parents died when he was a child, and he was early thrown
on his own resources. He was educated in
Woodstock
. When his schooling was finished he
sought work in
Boston,
Mass.
, where his first position was
that of clerk in a restaurant. Afterward he was employed for a year as salesman
in a wholesale fruit store at the corner of
State Street
and Merchants' Row. Next he
worked for some time as packer in a boot store in
Natick,
Mass.
In 1848 he went to
Philadelphia
, and there fell in with
twenty-five other tall, broad-shouldered young men from the East. In company
with these he came to
Pittsburg
seeking work. A contractor named
Broad, pleased with their appearance, took them to
Middletown,
Pa., and set
them to work laying the track of the York & Cumberland Railroad, now called
the North Central Railroad, between
Harrisburg
and Little York. When that contract
was finished Mr. Jenkins was employed by the same contractor on the Ohio &
Pennsylvania Railroad, running from
Pittsburg to
Crestline,
Pa.,
and from this city to
Brighton. He was
subsequently conductor of the construction train between
Ravenna and
Alliance
, supplying the track layers on the
Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad. After the road was completed he became baggage
man, in which capacity he served on the first passenger train from
Pittsburg to
Cleveland
on the Ohio & Pennsylvania
Railroad. Appointed train baggage master in 1850, he acted in that capacity for
three years. At the end of that time the railroad connecting
Pittsburg with
Plymouth,
Ind., was finished, and the Ohio &
Pennsylvania Railroad and the
Ohio &
Indiana
were
operated by the P. F. W. & C. R. R. Co. Mr. Jenkins was assigned to a train
running through to
Chicago via
Plymouth,
Ind.
, on the Pee Wee Railroad, now a part of
the Vandalia line. When all the local roads were merged in the
Pittsburg,
Fort Wayne &
Chicago Railroad, he was given the berth of baggage master at
Allegheny
City
, and he remained in the employ of the
road until 1877, the year of the riot. In the latter part of his term of service
he had general charge of the baggage at both Allegheny and
Pittsburg
. In 1877 the
ticket officers and baggage men of the
Pennsylvania and the
Pittsburg,
Fort Wayne &
Chicago roads were consolidated, and Mr. Jenkins
was installed in his present position at the Union Station in Pittsburg. At Haysville he
drove the first spike in the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, now called
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, striking it nineteen times; and he
has been in the employment of that road during its growth from infancy to
maturity. During his term of service the baggage traffic, which at first was
slight and transient, has grown to an immense and constant business; and there
have been many improvements in the methods of shipment and delivery. He was a
pioneer in the sending of fish from Lake Erie to Pittsburg by rail, at one time managing quite a
business in that line, with a Mr. Breen as partner. He has been a member of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Relief Association since its inception.
Mr. Jenkins married Miss Agnes Andrews, of
McKeesport,
Pa.
His only child, Alice, is now the wife of
Thomas Irwin, of
Sewickley,
Pa.
In politics Mr. Jenkins favors
the Republican side. He is a member of Pittsburg Lodge, No. 221, F. & A. M.
His home is pleasantly situated in the part of
Pittsburg
called
Lawrenceville.
SMITH ARCHIBALD JOHNSTON, an attorney-at-law of
Pittsburgh was born in
Hopewell township,
Beaver
County, July 18, 1839, son of rchibald and Mary
(Mackrell)
Johnston
. His grandfather, James Johnston, who
was born in the
County
Antrim,
Ireland
, came to this country in
1822, settling at Bower Hill, now a station on the Chartier Valley Railroad.
Here he purchased a farm, upon which he resided until 1830. Then he moved to a
farm in the
township of
Hopewell
, on which he
spent the rest of his life.Archibald Johnston's father was born in
the
County
Antrim,
Ireland
, April 1, 1810. He was a boy
of twelve when his father brought him to this country, and he grew to manhood in
Pennsylvania
.
At the age of fourteen he began to learn the machinist's trade with Evans &
Co., of
Pittsburg
. After serving an apprenticeship of
seven years, he was engaged as an engineer on a river steamboat for a quarter of
a century. In the meantime he purchased the farm of Dr. James Rodgers in
Beaver
County
, adjoining that of
his father, and there spent his last days. He was not an enthusiastic
politician, but he favored the Whig and afterward the Republican party; and he
voted for
Fremont
at the time of his nomination. His
death occurred April 11, 1882. He was married on his twenty-first birthday to
Mary, daughter of Henry Mackrell, both of whom were natives of the County Derry,
Ireland. Mr. Mackrell, who was then a widower, came to this country with his
daughter when she was sixteen years old, and settled in
Pittsburg
. After her marriage he lived with her
until 1840, the year of his death. She and her husband were members of the
United Presbyterian Church. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom
attained maturity, namely: James, now deceased; Agnes, the widow of Stephen
Lawson, of Shousetown, Pa.; Smith Archibald, the subject of this sketch;
Marshall, a resident of Pittsburg; Sarah E., deceased, who was the wife of
William Springer, of this city; and Thomas D., also of Pittsburg.
Smith Archibald Johnston acquired his
rudimentary education in the public schools of Hopewell. Afterward, in 1851 and 1852, while
boarding with an aunt in Pittsburg, he attended
the Ralston
School in this city.
Subsequently he took a course in a private school in Scottsville, Beaver County, and then entered Beaver Academy, at that time a noted institution of learning,
presided over by Dr. Mateer, since a missionary in India. In his
eighteenth year he engaged in the profession of teacher in Logstown, Beaver
County, Pa., where he remained about twelve months.
Then he taught for a year at Coraopolis, for two years in Green Tree Borough,
and for two years in West Liberty Borough. While so employed he was entered as a
law student in the office of Nathaniel P. & G. L. B. Fetterman, of Pittsburg. Registered on
April 20, 1860, he was admitted to the bar July 18, 1863. Knowing that a young
lawyer could expect but a limited patronage, with a precarious income, he took
charge of his old school in Green Tree Borough, devoting his spare time to such
legal matters as his neighbors brought him. After a time he was obliged to
engage the assistance of his cousin, Henry C. Mackrell, now of Brooklyn, N.Y.,
who had been admitted to the bar two years before Mr. Johnston, for the business
demanding attention during school hours. On December 1, 1863, having resigned
his school, he opened an office, with his cousin as colleague; and the firm of
Mackrell & Johnston managed a fair practice for two years. Mr. Johnston was
then alone until April, 1869, when James P. Johnston (no relation) became his
associate. The partnership of Johnston & Johnston was in existence until
1872. Then Mr. Smith A. Johnston was associated for five years with Charles S.
Fetterman and J. B. Flack, under the style of Fetterman, Johnston & Flack.
Mr. Flack retired first, and then Mr. Fetterman, who was appointed to the bench.
The latter, however, resumed his relations with Mr. Johnston after nine months;
and their subsequent association lasted until 1882, when it was dissolved. Mr.
Johnston was next associated with his brother, Marshall Johnston, until
February, 1894, since which time he and his son, Charles M., have practised
together under the firm name of S. A. & Charles M. Johnston. They have an
extensive and lucrative business, including all kinds of civil practice. In
addition to his legal work Mr. Johnston attends to extensive mining interests in
Texas, where
he spent a large part of 1895. Mr. Johnston has been the president of the San
Carlos Coal Company since its organization, and was active in establishing both
that and the Rio Grande & Northern Railroad Company. The railroad, the first
enterprise of the kind in that section of the country, includes a line
connecting Chispa, on the Southern Pacific Railway in Jeff Davis
County, and San
Carlos in Presidio County. The coal is bituminous, and finds
a ready market near the mines. Mr. Johnston is an active Republican, and has
been a delegate to a number of party conventions. He represented the Fifth Ward
of Allegheny in the Common Council four years, from 1874 to 1878; and he was in
the Pittsburg Common Council from 1882 to 1884, serving on the Water Commission
and on the Committees on Pavements and Wooden Buildings. He was made a Mason in St.
John's Lodge No. 219, of Pittsburg, and belongs to Duquesne Chapter; he is a
charter member of the Americus Club; Past Master Workman of Centre Avenue Lodge,
No. 124, A. O. U. W., which he has represented in the Grand Lodge; and he
belongs to the Order of the Golden Chain and to the Ancient Essenic Order. An
accomplished linguist, he speaks German especially well. In 1878 he spent three
months in Europe, visiting the Paris Exposition and points of interest in
England and
France.
Mr. Johnston was married December 25,
1860, to Julia, daughter of William Burtt, of Green Tree Borough. Her uncle,
Andrew Burtt, who was the author of Burtt's Grammar and the principal of the
Ralston
School
from 1852 to 1883,
was considered a very superior teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have had four
children — Andrew Burtt, Charles M., Howard Fetterman, and Mary M. Andrew Burtt
died September 22, 1894, aged thirty-two years. Mary M. died in infancy. Charles
M. Johnston studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in
September, 1890. The other son, Howard F., was admitted to the
Texas bar at
El Paso
, and is at present secretary of the Rio Grande &
Northern Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston are members of the Smithfield Methodist
Episcopal Church.
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