Month: August 2025

The Shoemaker Family – Solomon Shoemaker   Solomon Shoemaker, father of George Shoemaker, the well-known old resident of this county, was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1770, and emigrated from there to Armstrong in the fall of 1799. Prior to his becoming a pioneer here he had married Miss Elizabeth Uncafer, who was also … Read more

JOSEPH SHOEMAKER The parents of the subject of this sketch, Solomon and Elizabeth (Uncafer) Shoemaker, came to this county from Loudon county, Virginia, at the beginning of the present century, and settled in Kiskiminetas township, where Spring church now is. Mr. Shoemaker, having entered 335 acres of land, built upon it a comfortable stone house, … Read more

The Shoemaker Family – George Shoemaker One of the earliest settlers of the county, and one now represented by a large family, was George Shoemaker, who came from Virginia and located at Cochran’s mills, in what is now Burrell township, about the year 1800. His wife was Margaret Miller. They were the parents of ten … Read more

John Schwalm The career of the subject of this sketch is a remarkably good illustration of the success that can be attained in life, however humble the beginning, through industry, enterprise and honesty. John Schwalm was born in Hesse-Cassel, Prussia, February 27, 1835, and was the son of John George and Catharine Elizabeth (Koehler) Schwalm. … Read more

Frederick Rohrer Frederick Rohrer was born in Westmoreland county about 1794. He learned the printing business in Pittsburgh in the Mercury office and came to Kittanning in the latter part of the year 1818 or in the early part of the year 1819, during which year or about the month of February, 1819, he started … Read more

Elisha Robinson Elisha Robinson, one of the best known of the early settlers in Armstrong county, was born in Windham, Connecticut, December 4, 1791. His parents, Andrew and Olive Robinson, were of English descent, and of a family which had been for several generations in New England. The subject of our sketch learned a trade … Read more

Robert P. Hunter, M.D. Robert Hunter, grandfather of our subject, was born in Westmoreland county, in 1782, and was one of the first settlers of Indiana county. He married Miss Mary Lawrence, a native of New Jersey, born in the year 1781. There were born to this pair fourteen children, nearly all of whom grew … Read more

Charles Read Among the first settlers of Armstrong county we find the name Read. Michael Read, grandfather of Charles Read, emigrated from County Derry, Ireland, in 1794. He died in Armstrong county, April 15, 1817, in his fifty-ninth year. For three years he resided at Laurel Furnace, east of the Allegheny mountains, from whence he … Read more

ROBERT COCHRAN Robert Cochran was the son of Robert and Catherine Cochran, an old pioneer family who settled in Allegheny county, where he was born in the year 1805. He learned the carpenter’s trade when a boy and worked at it for fifteen years in Pittsburgh when that city was quite a small place. At … Read more

John Ralston Concerning the ancestors of the subject of this biography but little need be here said, as they have prominent places elsewhere in this volume. His father, David Ralston, a pioneer of Scotch-Irish descent, settled in Plum Creek township, Armstrong county, in 1800 and met with a tragical death nine years later. * His … Read more