David P. Trout, D.D.S.
DAVID P. TROUT, D. D. S., of Leechburg, Armstrong county, one of the oldest practicing dentists in this part of Pennsylvania, has been located there for over fifty years. As one of the first dentists to settle there he is one of the most widely known, and his high reputation has been maintained by conscientious and satisfactory work which places him among the foremost practitioners of his profession in this section. Dr. Trout was born Oct. 22, 1839, Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, Pa., and is a great-grandson of the founder of his family in America.The Doctor's great-grandfather came to this country from Germany, in company with one of his brothers, and first settled at Germantown, near Philadelphia. They separated, and the family never afterward succeeded in locating the brother mentioned. The great-grandfather married in Philadelphia, and after living there some years went to the Colony of Virginia, where he died. His son, Baltzer Trout, grandfather of Dr. Trout, was born at Germantown and went with his father to Virginia. He was a stonemason by trade. During the Revolution he served as a soldier in the Colonial forces, was with Washington at Yorktown, and in his later years received a pension for his services. He was married in Virginia, his wife's maiden name being Ritinour, and in 1806 removed to Westmoreland county, Pa., among the pioneers of that region, settling in the woods three miles from Delmont. There he cleared a tract of land and continued to make his home for eighteen years; his place is now known as the Branthouver farm. His family consisted of five sons and two daughters, all born in Virginia; Henry, who died in Illinois; John, who died in Westmoreland county, Pa., ; Jacob, who died in Westmoreland county; Baltzer, who died in Greenfield, Pa.; Daniel, who died in Westmoreland Co; Catherine, wife of Philip Walters; and Elizabeth, wife of John Jonston. The father of this family died July 5, 1837, in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, Pa., and the mother died in December of the same year; they are buried in the Poke Run churchyard. Mr. and Mrs. Trout were members of the Methodist Church.
Jacob Trout, son of Baltzer Trout, was born Jan. 28, 1798, in Virginia, and came with his father to Westmoreland county, where he followed farming in Allegheny township from 1832 until he retired because of his advancing years. He owned 137 acres, and had a well improved farm, which he cultivated intelligently, the place showing the result of his good management. Outside of his farm work he was not particularly active in the community except in his connection with the Lutheran church, of which he was a prominent member, taking a leading part in its work. He died June 5, 1868. Mr. Trout married Mary A. Hawk, daughter of Daniel and Magdalena (Bricker) Hawk. A large family was born to this union: William R.; Baltzer, who is deceased; Jacob, deceased; Daniel, living in California; Henry, living in Iowa; David P.; Mary A., who married George H. Goodsel; Harriet, deceased; Jennie, unmarried; Melvina R., who married Cochran Vantine; Jemima, unmarried; and Caroline E., who died young.
William R. Trout, eldest son of Jacob, was born Sept. 26, 1829, in Washington township, Westmoreland county, Pa., and was reared upon the farm, where he remained until twenty-four years old. He was educated in the common schools and at Leechburg Academy, and taught school for fourteen years, for six terms of that time being engaged in Armstrong county, the balance in Westmoreland county. For several years he followed farming on part of the old homestead in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, and since he retired from agricultural pursuits, in 1904, he has made his home in Vandergrift, Pa. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church at Leechburg, and teaches in the Sunday school. He was made a Mason at Freeport, Pa., in 1866. Mr. Trout has made a special study of Indian times and history in this section, on which subject he has become an authority. He married Maggie Lang, daughter of John Lang, and they had five children; Judson L., who is a residentof Leechburg; Mary, unmarried; Cora, who married N. H. Slonaker; Anna, who married H. E. Walthour; and Malvina R., unmarried. Mrs. Trout died in 1891, and is buried in Pleasant Hill cemetery, in Allegheny township, Westmoreland County.
David P. Trout began his education in the common schools and later attended Leechburg Academy. He then entered the medical department of the University of Wooster, at Wooster, Ohio, after which he took his course in dentistry under a private preceptor, at Leechburg, as there were but two schools of dentistry in the United States at the time. He began practice in 1862 and has continued without interruption since, for the long period of fifty years maintaining his standing as one of the leading dental practitioners in this locality. Dr. Trout owns a fine farm one and a half miles west of Leechburg, in Westmoreland county. He has been a useful citizen in the borough, giving good service upon the school board for a period of ten years, and has always given his aid and influence to progressive movements in the community.
On Oct. 21, 1879, Dr. Trout married Mina Cooper, daughter of John Cooper, who resided at Oakdale, in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, and died March 10, 1914, aged ninety-four years; he was able to read the daily papers without the aid of glasses. He was a nephew of James Fenimore Cooper, the famous historian and writer of Indian stories. Dr. Trout and his wife have two daughters, Maude and Maria, both of whom live at home. They have had the advantages of extensive travel.
Dr. Trout is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Socially he is a Mason, having belonged to Leechburg Lodge, No. 377, F. & A. M., for the last forty- five years.
Source: Page(s) PAGES 421-422,
Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914Transcribed July 1998 by Caral Mechling Bennett for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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