Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania

1914·21.7 MB·English

by  Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 ed

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GENEALOGICAL
PERSONAL HISTORY
OF
BEAVER COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
UNDERTHE EDITORIALSUPERVISIONOF
JOHN W. JORDAN, LL. D.
LibrarianoftheHistoricalSocietyofPennsylvania,Philadelphia
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME
II
NEWYORK
LEWISHISTORICALPUBLISHINGCOMPANY
1914

1227159
BEAVER COUNTY
547
The name of Vance is one which has been on record in the
VANCE annals of the state of Pennsylvania for many generations.
Theearliermembersofthis family settled intheeasternpor-
tion of the state, and from that section gradually branched out to other
parts.
(I) James Vance was born in what is now Lawrence county, Penn-
sylvania,andwaswellknownasa farmerand largelandowner. Hedied
ratheryoung,andverysuddenly,andhiswidowneverremarried. Heand
his family were members of the Seceders' Church. He married (first)
a Miss Walker, (second) Annie Harris. By his first marriage he had
children: i. Walker, born in 1813; was a farmer and shoemaker; died
in Lawrencecounty,July 6, 1867. 2. Polly, married John Weller, died in
Butlercounty,Pennsylvania,inJanuary,1876. 3.Margaret,married (first)
a Mr. Fisher, (second) William George; died February 18, 1889, at the
age of seventy-nine years. 4. Pattie, married David Aiken; died in Law-
rence county, Pennsylvania. 5. Isabel, married Henry Fisher; died in
Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, August 3, 1890, in her eighty-sixth year,
6. A child, name not on record. Children bysecond marriage: 7. Lydia,
married James McClymonds; died in Butler county, Pennsylvania, De-
cember30, 1882,inhersixty-secondyear. 8.Jane,marriedJohn Gardner;
died in Butler county, Pennsylvania. 9. Eliza Ann, married William J,
Smith; died in California, October 3, 1869, aged forty-two years. lo.
William, see forward. 11. John, who became a minister in the United
PresbyterianChurch;diedinWisconsin,May 10, 1877,attheageoffifty-
fouryears. 12.Nancy,marriedIsraelVan Gorder;diedinNewWilming-
ton, Pennsylvania.
(II) William Vance, son of James and Annie (Harris) Vance, was
bom in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1824, and died
September 20, 1909. Afterhis marriage he commenced to farm indepen-
dently, buying a homestead of two hundred and thirty acres. He erected
a new houseon this, and in 1861 built a large barn. He was very pros-
perous and purchased a farm of one hundred acres, and anotherof sixty
acres in New Sewickley township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. Subse-
quentlyheboughtthreehundredacresin Mercercounty,threemilesnorth-
west of New Wilmington, lived there for a time, and soon sold his Law-
rencecountyproperty. HefinallytookuphispermanentresidenceatNew
Wilmington, where he and his wife died. He was a Republican in poli-
tics, and had served as school director and assessor of Lawrence county.
Mr.VanceandhiswifeweremembersoftheUnited Presbyterian Church
at Moundsville, and he served as an elder in this institution for a period
ofthirtyyears.
Mr.Vancemarried Martha Leslie,born inLawrence county, Pennsyl-
vania, April 28, 1826, died November 29, 1909. She was a daughter of
GeorgeandMarthaLeslie,bothborninLawrencecounty,theformer. May'
16, 1792, the latter, January 24, 1795. Their entire lives were spent in-
PENNSYLVANIA
548
their nativ.e county, where he was a farmer on hisown land. Both were
members of the Seceders' Church, and lived quiet and retired lives. He
died July 31, 1859, she died May 30, 1865. They had children: i. John
L., born November 29, 1818; was a farmer; died in Lawrence county,
Pennsylvania, March 29, 1883. 2. Margaret, born in 1820, died unmar-
ried, February 19, 1881. 3. Agnes, born February 21, 1822, died July
14, 1825. 4. Jane, born December 14, 1823; married Edward McMillen;
died at New Castle, in August, 1890. 5. Martha, marriedWilliam Vance,
as above stated. 6. Robert, born May 6, 1828, died in New Castle, after
having retired to private life. 7. George, born November 10, 1831; was
sexton of the Oak Park Cemetery; died at New Castle. 8. Harriet, a
twinofGeorge,marriedJoseph Barclay;diedinIllinois,January30, 1871.
9. Maria, born June 17, 1837, died unmarried, July 10, 1851. 10. Ellen,
born May 10, 1840; married William Fisher; died September 10, 1896.
Williamand Martha (Leslie) Vancehadchildren: i. JamesR.,a farmer
near New Castle, Pennsylvania. 2. George Leslie, see forward. 3. John'
H.,aphysician;livesinOmaha,Nebraska. 4.ClementOswin,a farmerin
Lackawanna township, Mercer county, Pennsylvania. 5. Norman G., a
farmer and stock dealer; lives in Wilmington Junction, Pennsylvania. 6.
Anna M., unmarried, lives in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. 7. Wil-
liam Ambrose, died at the age of six years. 8. Cyrus M., a farmer in
Lackawanna township, Mercer county, Pennsylvania.
(Ill) George Leslie Vance, son of William and Martha (Leslie)
Vance, was born in Slippery Rock township, Lawrence county, Pennsyl-
vania, May 13, 1857. His education was acquired in the public school
near his home, and he assisted his father on the farm during his spare
hours. In April, 1881, he came to New Sewickley township, Beaver
county, Pennsylvania, to take charge of the one-hundred-acre farm here,
and he became the ownerof this and has lived here since that time. In
1889heerected alargebarn,andin 1903 anew modern farm house. He
cultivates general produce, is also a stock raiser and to some extent runs
a dairy and fruit farm. He is a man of greatbusiness ability, and is at
the present time treasurer and director of the Brush Creek Valley Tele-
phone Company. HeisaProhibitionistinpoliticsand hasservedtwiceas
supervisor. He and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian
Church,inwhichhehasservedaselder foraperiodofthirtyyears.
Mr. Vancemarried, October24, 1877, Sarah Melinda,born in Beaver
county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Jacob and Nancy (Moyer) Dindinger.
She was the granddaughter of Samuel and Agnes Moyer, both born in
Germany and among the early residents of Butler county, Pennsylvania,
where he was a farmer. She is also the granddaughter of George and
Christina Dindinger, he a native of Germany who early settled in Beaver
county, Pennsylvania. Jacob Dindinger was bom near Camp Run, and
his wife at Middle Lancaster, Butler county, Pennsylvania. After mar-
riage they lived in Franklin township, Beaver county, then removed to