Thomas Lee Aye, M. D.
THOMAS LEE AYE, M. D., who has been engaged in the practice of medicine
at Kelly Station, Armstrong county, since 1905, has not only established
himself well professionally during his residence there but has taken an active
part in township affairs and proved himself a useful citizen. He is a native
of the county, born March 30, 1877, in Kittanning township, son of John George
and Catherine A. (Heilman) Aye. His grandfather settled near Freeport,
Armstrong county, worked as a farmer, and later lived in Allegheny for a
number of years. He then moved to Crooked Creek, onto what was known as the
Ross farm near Rosston, Armstrong county, and there died. The family is of
German origin.John George Aye, the Doctor’s father, was born in Allegheny, Pa., April 14,
1845, and in early life learned the trade of cooper. He moved with his family
to a farm in Manor township, this county, purchased after the death of his
father, and for a few years ran a huckster’s wagon, during that time meeting
his future wife, and he has since been engaged in farming, owning the farm on
which he resides in Bethel township. In 1876 he married Catherine Heilman, a
native of Pennsylvania, also of German descent, and to them were born two
sons, Thomas Lee and William George. Mr. and Mrs. John George Aye are members
of the Bethel Lutheran Church in Bethel township.Thomas Lee Aye received his preparatory education at Kittanning Academy,
later attending Gettysburg College, and took his medical course at the Western
University of Pennsylvania, at Pittsburgh, from which institution he was
graduated in 1905. He at once began practice, settling at Kelly Station, in
his native county, where he has remained to the present. Dr. Aye’s devotion to
his patients and his conscientious care of all the cases in which he is
consulted have made him well liked and thoroughly trusted in the community,
and that he is highly respected is shown by his long service on the school
board of Bethel township. After serving two terms he was reelected for a
period of six years, and he has been secretary of the board for five years. By
his efficient work in this capacity he has amply proved his ability and public
spirit. In association with his cousin, H. J. Lindeman, Dr. Aye optioned and
sold three thousand acres of coal lands in Bethel township, as well as land
opposite Kelly Station, for a future town site. The transaction was highly
successful, and a credit to the business acumen of both men.In 1903 Dr. Aye married Mary Bell Hudson, who died in 1908, leaving no
children. She was a member of the Bethel Lutheran Church. The Hudsons are of
German extraction and have been settled in Armstrong county since pioneer
days, and they are related to the Kunkles and Peebles, other pioneer families.
Capt. T. P. Hudson, Mrs. Aye’s father, was an old Allegheny river captain and
boat owner, at one time owning the “Florence Belle,” the
“Nellie Hudson” and “Nellie” Hudson No. 2 and other craft.
He married Cordelia Coffman and they had children as follows besides Mary
Bell, deceased wife of Dr. Aye: Capt. John S., of Kittanning, steamboat owner;
Edward, of Vandergrift, Pa.; Grace, wife of Earl Christie, of St. Clairsville,
Ohio, superintendent of a coal company; Annie, wife of Thomas Atkinson, of
Vandergrift; and Elizabeth, unmarried, a graduate nurse, of Pittsburgh. On
Oct. 5, 1910 Dr. Aye married (second) Genevieve L. Tassey, of Pittsburgh, PA.,
a graduate nurse of the West Penn Hospital, 1904, and they have one child,
Thomas Lee, Jr., born Aug. 22, 1911. The Doctor and his wife are members of
the Bethel Lutheran Church at Kelly Station.In both paternal and maternal lines, Mrs. Aye is of find old Irish stock,
through her mother, Elizabeth (Cullen), being a great-granddaughter of George
Cullen, of Limerick, Ireland, who was a celebrated barrister and a man of
great influence, being a typical member of a family whose high intelligence
and distinguished services to church and state had won them prominent
positions and uncommon distinction. He was a first cousin of Cardinal Cullen,
an eminent dignitary of the Roman Catholic Church. The Cullens were of the
landed gentry and had large estates in Ireland, George Cullen’s holdings being
inherited by his eldest son, Thomas, as was the custom, the other children
receiving larger portions. The family was a large one, and almost all left
Ireland. Of the other sons John, became cattle and sheep rancher in Australia;
Martie became a lieutenant in the British army; Patrick was the grandfather of
Mrs. Aye. There were also several daughters: Mary, married John McNamara, of
New York City, a contractor who had the charge of the blacksmithing and
horseshoeing for the street railway companies in New York city; Ann was
married to Barney Mathews, in Albany, N.Y., and they went South. The mother of
this family, Ann (McMahan), belonged to a Protestant family. She had a brother
who was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, in which he was killed; he left
no family.Patrick Cullen, son of George, was born in County Clare, Ireland. He
appears to have been a favorite of his father, nevertheless he went against
his father’s wishes in marrying the lovely daughter of his steward, Cecilia
Fennel, a native of County Clare. They had been sweethearts from youth, and he
could not be dissuaded. She was sent to American with her sister, Mrs. Lucius
Cushing, and Patrick Cullen joined them in Tioga county, PA., soon afterward
marrying the girl of his choice, at Blossburg, that county. Mr. Cullen
inherited the strong intellectual qualities for which his family were noted.
He had marked business ability, and appears to have had a thorough knowledge
of forestry, which he evidently found of practical value, for he engaged very
extensively and successfully in lumbering. He was associated with the Balcom
& White Lumber Company, of Corning, N.Y., and in that connection moved to
Oconto, Wis. Having decided to go to California in 1860, he converted the
major part of his holdings into cash, leaving property and boats at Corning,
N.Y., and the home and boats at Oconto, Wis. He was persuaded by this
partners, among whom were Balcom, White, Steve Haight and McGraw, to go to New
Orleans instead, and taking the cash and all his papers proceeded to that city
after bidding an affectionate adieu to his wife and family, by whom he was
greatly beloved. They never saw him again. A letter to his wife, supposedly
from a hotel clerk in New Orleans, stated that her husband had died of yellow
fever, and had been buried in a vault (it was customary at New Orleans to
place bodies in vaults or mausoleums above ground, for the reason that graves
were likely to be submerged). This was in October, 1860, and it was the last
definite news of Patrick Cullen received by his family; but it is a strange
fact that Mrs. Cullen received money anonymously from time to time, in sums of
one hundred dollars and more on several occasions-apparently conscience money,
for the cash and papers Mr. Cullen was know to have with him were never
restored to his family. The situation at New Orleans, owing to the troublous
times before the Civil war, prevented Mrs. Cullen from making a personal
investigation. It has been stated that other men engaged in the lumber
business, sending logs from Illinois, Indiana, etc., to New Orleans, were
never heard from after going to that city with money, but what particular form
of villainy chose him for its victim never became known. The celebrated rev.
Dr. Gray, of New York, a Presbyterian minister, for whom one of the company’s
boats was named, told Mrs. Cullen after her husband’s disappearance that by
right she was the real owner of the best part of Corning, N.Y. She never
recovered from her grief over the loss of her husband, and devoted her
remaining years to her family, dying at the age of seventy-three years, at
Arnold, Pa. She was a woman of superior character, universally beloved and
respected. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Cullen had five children (some of the family
born at Oconto, Wis.), viz.: Mary, who never married, resides at Arnold, Pa.;
Margaret died when thirteen years old; Thomas married Emma Schuyler;
Elizabeth, born at Oconto, Wis., married John Tassey, and they were the
parents of Mrs. Aye; Catherine is the widow of William Freeman, of Syracuse,
N.Y., where she resides.John Tassey, father of Mrs. Aye, was born at Plessis, N.Y., on the St.
Lawrence river, son of Peter Tassey, formerly of Canada, and was of French
descent. The latter removed to New York State, locating at Redwood, where he
was engaged as a master boat-builder, and also owned boats and land along the
St. Lawrence river. At one time he owned most of the land afterward included
in the village of Redwood, and he was a very prominent man in his section in
many ways. He served as justice of the peace. He built the stone Catholic
church at Redwood and gave it to the congregation, and he was particularly
noted for his generosity to the widows and orphans of Civil war soldiers.
Unfortunately he lost most of his property during the Civil war period. Mr.
Tassey was a very fine musician and quite celebrated in his locality as a bass
singer, and he purchased one of the first of the Chickering pianos and became
quite proficient as a player.Mr. Tassey married Lucy Schieu, whose parents settled in Canada; they were
of French extraction. To this union was born a large family: Peter, who was a
soldier in the Civil war, died while in the service at Washington, D.C., when
only a young man; his father went on to see him, and President Lincoln was
especially kind to Mr. Tassey; subsequently, President Cleveland granted
pension, back pay, etc., to the son of Peter Tassey, Jr. Joseph, the next son,
was also a soldier from New York, serving throughout the Civil war; he was
engaged as a general blacksmith until his retirement, and lives at Plessis,
N.Y. Lewis, another son, residing at Alexandria Bay (on the St. Lawrence
river), is a manufacturer of and dealer in boat fittings, has a dry dock,
makes gas engines, does blacksmithing, etc; he employs several men. William of
Watertown, N.Y., formerly secretary to Governor Flower, is now superintendent
of the Babcock manufacturing concern, which makes wagons, buggies, carriages,
etc., and a stockholder in the company. Frank is engaged in blacksmithing,
etc., having his grandfather’s place at Redwood, N.Y. Elizabeth married Lewis
Horning, a contractor. Among the deceased were Henry, Louise and Adelaide
Delia.John Tassey, one of the surviving sons of Peter Tassey, Sr., now resides at
Arnold, Pa. He is a maker of window glass. His wife, Elizabeth (Cullen), died
April 2, 1912, at New Bethlehem, Clarion county, PA. They had a family of nine
children: Catherine and William, both deceased in infancy; Genevieve L., wife
of Dr. Thomas Lee Ayre; John R., of Arnold, Pa.; James, of New Bethlehem, Pa.;
Elizabeth, Mrs. Charles Hugg; Joseph of Arnold; and Mary and Mildred, at home
with their father.Source: Pages 365-367, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 2001 by Linda M. Stitt for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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