Archie W. McClister

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ARCHIE W. McCLISTER

ARCHIE W. McCLISTER, junior
member of the firm of McClister, Wray & Co., grocers, who make a specialty
of supplying the hotel trade of Kittanning, is a son of Frank McClister and a
grandson of John McClister.

            
The grandfather was a native of Ireland, where he grew up and married
Bessie Leech.  Coming to America
on their honeymoon, in 1854, they landed at New York and came thence to
Pittsburgh, Pa., where cholera was then raging, hundreds of people dying
daily.  Mrs. McClister was taken
ill with typhoid fever and was in the hospital for three months. 
Then they moved to Washington county, Pa., where one son and three
daughters were born to them, Frank, Margaret, Mary and Rebecca. 
After a five years� residence there they moved to Armstrong county,
and three daughters were born to them after their removal hither, Elizabeth,
Matilda and Edith.  They settled
on the Indiana pike, in Kittanning township, where John McClister acquired a
tract of 250 acres, which the family cleared and upon which he still resides,
now eighty-five years old.  His wife, who died at the age of seventy-six years, was
buried in the Rupp cemetery.  Mr.
McClister is a strong Republican, and in religious association is a member of
the United Presbyterian Church.  Of
his family, Frank is mentioned below.  Margaret
died and is buried in the Heilman cemetery. 
Mary married Marshall Fiscus, who was a merchant at Dayton, and they
had two children, Ward and Bessie, the latter dying at the age of six years
(she is buried in the Rupp cemetery); Ward is in California (his wife, Mary,
died Nov. 7, 1893, and is buried in the Rupp cemetery). 
Rebecca died when two years old and is buried in the Heilman cemetery. 
Elizabeth married Park Everhart in September, 1893, and five children
were born to them, Gladys, Sarah, James, William and Frances, the last named
buried at the Rupp cemetery; this family is now living in Applewold, Armstrong
county.  Matilda was married in
1899 to Guss Fiscus, a farmer, who lives in Kittanning township� she died in
1905 and is buried in the Rupp cemetery; there were born to them three
children, Loyde, Laurette, and a child that died in infancy and is buried in
the Rupp cemetery.  Edith married
Foolmer Adams and lives in Valley township; there were born to them two
children, Elizabeth and Mary.

            
Frank McClister, father of Archie W. McClister, was born in Washington
county, Pa.  From the time his
school days were over he engaged in farming, and after his marriage he settled
in Kittanning township, on the tract of 250 acres before mentioned, where he
continued to reside for ten years more.  Then
he left the old homestead and moved to the Peter Heilman farm of 250 acres,
the place of his father-in-law, which he now owns, having perhaps one of the
finest country homes in Kittanning township. 
In addition to general farming he does a large dairy business, having
twenty-six cows, most of which are thoroughbred Holstein. 
In fact, he was one of the first in his neighborhood to introduce
thoroughbred cattle.  He has also
shown himself to be a progressive man in other respects, having been one of
the patrons and promoters of the Kittanning Telephone Company, in which he and
his son own a large number of shares, and he owned the first automobile in
Kittanning township. He has been active in local public affairs, having served
twelve years as school director and a number of times as judge of election. 
Politically he is a Republican, and his religious connection has always
been with the Lutheran Church.

            
Mr. McClister married Eliza Heilman, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Remayle)
Heilman, both of whom were reared in Armstrong county. 
Peter Heilman was born in this county and died in Kittanning township
when near the age of sixty years, and was buried in the Heilman cemetery. He
was a prominent man in his day and was serving as county commissioner at the
time of the erection of the present courthouse. 
In religion he was a stanch Lutheran. 
He was twice married, first to Susanna Helfrich, by whom he had three
children, one of whom, Albert, died in Andersonville prison while a soldier of
the Civil war.  To his second
marriage, to Elizabeth Remayle, daughter of Anthony Remaley (sic) , were born
ten children, nine sons and one daughter. 
A lengthy history of this family appears elsewhere in this work.

            
Mr. And Mrs. Frank McClister had three children: 
Cora died at the age of twenty-one years when just about to graduate in
music from the Grove City College, and was buried in the Rupp cemetery in
Kittanning township; Edward H. attended the Grove City College two years and
is now a medical student at Philadelphia; Archie W. is mentioned below.

            
Archie W. McClister was born July 28, 1885, in Kittanning township, and
received his early education in the public schools, later attending the
Kittanning Academy, class of 1905, and two years at Duff�s business college,
in Pittsburgh.  After helping with
the work on the home farm for a time he became an automobile salesman for the
Studebaker car, being thus engaged for two years, and then for eight months he
was with the Kittanning Auto Traffic Company. 
Following this he became a member of the firm of McClister, Wray &
Co., who succeeded S. R. Hews & Co.  McClister,
Wray & Co. employ four men and occupy a store 30 by 80 feet in dimensions
at Nos.124-126 McKean street.  The
business has grown so amazingly under their management that where S. R. Hews
& Co. did a business of twenty-two thousand dollars annually, they do a
business of thirty-five thousand dollars. 
They carry a large line of fancy and staple groceries, making a
specialty of supplying the hotel trade of Kittanning. 
Thoroughly up-to-date in all their methods, they were the first grocers
to deliver with auto truck.  Mr.
McClister also has other interests, being a stockholder in the Kittanning
Telephone Company, as before noted, and he was a charter member of the
Kittanning Motor & Traffic Company, in which he is still a stockholder. 
Socially he is a member of the Knights of Malta and the Protected Home
Circle, and is a Republican on political questions.

            
On August 28, 1913, Mr. McClister married Laura Wingard, who was born
in Jefferson county, Pa., daughter of Henry Wingard. 
Mr. And Mrs. McClister are members of the First Presbyterian Church in
Kittanning.

Source: Page 873-875, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed May 2002 by James R. Hindman for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)

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