Benjamin J Longwell
BENJAMIN J. LONGWELL, M. D., of Seminole, Armstrong county, has been in practice only a few years at that point, but he has already attained high standing in this section and commands a wide patronage. Besides attending to his private practice he acts as surgeon for the Pittsburgh, Shawmut & Northern Railway Company, and for the Allegheny River Mining Company of Seminole. Dr. Longwell is of Irish extraction. His grandfather, David Longwell, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, came to the United States with his family in the year 1847, and settled at Beechwoods, Jefferson Co., Pa. He was a school teacher by profession, and is said to have taught the first school in the section where he located, continuing to follow that vocation until his death, which occurred at Beechwoods, when he was seventy-three years old. His wife, Eliza (Cunningham), who died in Ireland, bore him two sons, David and Cunningham, both of whom are now deceased.
David Longwell, son of David and Eliza (Cunningham) Longwell, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and came to this country with his father. He became a farmer, following that occupation at Beechwoods, Jefferson county, where he owned and cultivated a tract of two hundred acres which he had cleared and improved. He died there in March, 1904, at the age of seventy-three years. He married Catherine Shaw, who was born in Jefferson county, Pa., daughter of William and Elizabeth (Wolf) Shaw, natives of Ireland who were pioneer settlers at Beechwoods, Jefferson Co., Pa. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Longwell: Elizabeth, who married W. B. Holt; Susan, at home; David; Cargill, who lives on the old homestead; Anna, deceased; William J., who occupies part of the family homestead; and Benjamin J. All of this family were reared on the old farm in Jefferson county.
Benjamin J. Longwell was born Dec. 12, 1879, at Beechwoods, Jefferson Co., Pa. He began his education in the common schools near his home, later attending high school at Brockwayville, Jefferson county, and the Ohio Northern University (normal) at Ada, Ohio, from which institution he was graduated in 1899. He entered the medical department of the Ohio state University, at Columbus, Ohio, the same year, completing his medical course in 1903. He began practice at once in Elk county, Pa., locating at Dagus Mines, where he remained for two years, removing thence to Shawmut, same county, where he was engaged until he came to Seminole, Armstrong county, in February, 1910. Here he has since been actively and successfully following general practice, and in his various connections has become widely known over this territory. He is a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association, and fraternally is an Odd Fellow and a Mason; he has attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry.
On June 8, 1910, Dr. Longwell married Cecelia Shutz, a native of Germany.
Source: Page 823, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed October 1998 by James R Hindman for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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