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James Lees Jr.
JAMES LEES, Jr., of Leechburg, Armstrong county, is vice president of the
Hyde Park Foundry & Machine Company, whose plant is conveniently located a
short idstance above the borough, on the Westmoreland side of the river. His
association with that concern alone, in view of its great importance as an
industrial asset of the town, would justify his standing as one of the leading
citizens of the place, but he has won and kept the good will and friendship of
his townsmen in as great a degree on his personal merits. Since his settlement
at Leechburg, in 1891, all his interests have been centered here.Mr. Lees is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., born Jan. 4, 1864, son of James
and Anna (Evans) Lees, the latter born at Bilston, Staffordshire, England,
daughter of George and Keziah (Chambers) Evans. She is a descendant of Sir
Humphrey Jennings, and one of the legal heirs of the Jennings estate.
Paternally Mr. Lees is also of English extraction, his grandfather, Charles
Lees, having passed all his life in England. He was a farmer at Denton, near
Manchester, a freeholder, owning a large property. The family is an old one in
the neighborhood.James Lees, son of Charles, was born and reared in England, coming to the
United States after attaining his majority. His first location in this country
was at Norristown, Pa. In a short time, however, he went to Allegheny, Pa.,
where he worked at his trade, blacksmithing. He and his wife now (1913) reside
at McKeesport, Pa., he being eighty years old, and she seventy-two years of
age. They had children as follows: James, John, Daniel W., Anne E., (wife of
E. H. Beale, of Leechburg), and four who are deceased.James Lees, son of James and Anna (Evans) Lees, is essentially a
self-developed man. He attended the Liberty school at Pittsburgh until
fourteen years old, then entering the foundry at McKeesport, Pa., where he
learned the trade of molder. After eleven years there Mr. Lees spent a few
months at East Liverpool, Pa., and one year at Pittsburgh, in March, 1891,
coming to Leechburg, where he secured employment in the foundry of the
Leechburg Foundry & Machine Company. Remaining four years in this
connection, at the end of that time, in company with T. W. McClausland, N. H.
Slonaker, George Shaner, and five others who sold their interest to the four
mentioned above, he organized what is now the Hyde Park Foundry & Machine
Company, one of the most important concerns of its kind in the valley. Mr.
McClausland is president, Mr. Lees vice president, and Mr. Slonaker secretary
and treasurer. They started business with a foundry only 60 by 80 feet in
dimensions. Now they have a foundry 280 by 80 feet, while their machine shop
is 260 by 70 feet, and the pattern shop 80 by 40 feet; there is also a power
house, besides offices, etc. The company manufactures all rolling mill
machinery. Employment is given to one hundred skilled workmen, and as the
demand is constant, a full force is kept busy all the year round. For the
first few years Mr. Lees had charge of the foundry, and he ran the first heat.
Since 1903, however, he has been the outside man, selling for the company.
Toward its progress and steady growth he has contributed his full share, and
his value to the plant is recognized and appreciated by all in a position to
judge. His best efforts have been given to its development and efficient
management, and he well deserves the reputation he bears for competency, and
intelligent application to whatever engages his attention. His other important
business connections are with the Acme Natural Gas Company, of Leechburg, of
which he is president, and with the National Gas Producer Company, of
Leechburg, in which he is a stockholder.With all his business activities, Mr. Lees has also maintained his interest
in local affairs to the extent of serving as member of the council.
Politically he is a Republican, and socially an Odd Fellow and a Scottish Rite
Mason, in the latter connection belonging to Blue Lodge No. 577, F. & A.
M.; Orient Chapter, No. 247, R. A. M., of Kittanning; Tancred Commandery, No.
48, K. T., of Pittsburgh, and the Consistory at Coudersport, Pa. He has passed
all the chairs in the I.O.O.F. The Methodist Church holds his membership, and
he has sung bass in the choir for several years. Ever since he was a youth of
eighteen, in fact, he has been well known as a church singer, his voice, which
is a combination of baritone and a deep, musical bass, being of superior
quality and unusual strength, and much appreciated in solo as well as choir
singing.Mr. Lees was married (first) to Flora Roesing, daughter of Florence Roesing.
Mrs. Lees died in 1877, leaving one child, Corrine F., now the wife of Wallace
White of McKeesport, Pennsylvania.On Nov. 6, 1889, Mr. Lees married, at East Liverpool, Ohio, Ida B. Maple,
and they have had seven children, namely: Harold M., who is deceased; J.
Rolland, a student; Walter L.; Charles R.; Kenneth, deceased; Dorothy B., and
Virginia M.Mrs. Ida B. (Maple) Lees is of Revolutionary stock, her grandfather,
Benjamin Maple, having served in the Revolution, and also in the War of 1812,
holding the rank of Captain. The Maples are of English descent, and were among
the pioneer settlers in Ohio, Benjamin Maple having been a farmer near
Salineville, that State. He was married three times, his wife Nancy
(Fitzpatrick) being the grandmother of Mrs. Lees. Nancy Fitzpatrick’s father,
a native of Ireland, came of an old and distinguished family. His people
wanted him to enter the priesthood, but he married young and came to America,
eventually settling in the neighborhood of Salineville, Ohio.Larrison Maple, father of Mrs. Lees, was born at Salineville, Ohio, and
married Hannah Crist, daughter of Thomas and Matilda (Cashil) Crist, who were
of German descent. Thomas Crist was a farmer. Larrison Maple was a river pilot
between Pittsburgh and New Orleans before the days of steam navigation on that
route. The Crists and Maples were Methodists.Mrs. Lees has decided talent as an artist, as her work in oil and crayon
shows, her faculty for portraiture and her ability to produce a good likeness
proving she has the true gift and artistic sense. Had she devoted the
necessary time and study to the development of her talent she would no doubt
have become a superior worker.Source: Pages 720-721 Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed October 1998 by Joyce Sherry 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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