HEADER
John F Whitworth
JOHN F. WHITWORTH, corporation deputy secretary of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, has held that position continuously since 1901, but has
maintained his home at Kittanning, where he had practiced law for a number of
years.Mr. Whitworth was born Feb. 12, 1854, at Apollo, Armstrong county, where he
received his early education in the common schools. He also studied under
private teachers, and took his professional course at the law department of
the University of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Armstrong county bar in
1878 and has been in practice ever since, having long made a specialty of
corporation law, in which branch he is a recognized authority. He has written
six works on corporation law which have had a wide circulation and a number of
semi-legal works on the Bible. Until 1901 Mr. Whitworth practiced at
Kittanning, where he acquired a wide patronage, and he has since been engaged
at Harrisburg, having in that year accepted the position of corporation deputy
secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He has continued to maintain
his home, however, at Kittanning, his residence being at No. 403 North McKean
street, where he spends his weekends with his family.Mr. Whitworth has always
been a stanch Republican and active in the work of the party, and before
entering upon his work at Harrisbury served as county chairman. On June 26,
1884, Mr. Whitworth married Maude Reynolds, daughter of Thomas Hamilton
Reynolds and granddaughter of Richard Reynolds. A full sketch of the Reynolds
family appears elsewhere in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Whitworth have been
born the following children: Henrietta, a student in Damrosch Conservatory,
New York, and John Ford, a student in high school at Kittanning, Pennsylvania.John F. Whitworth is a descendant of George Whitworth, who was minister
from England to France at the time of the Napoleonic wars, and came from an
English family of distinguished capacity, many of whose members have become
known as successful professional men and manufacturers. The family history in
England can be traced back to an early period. Samuel Whitworth,
great-grandfather of John F. Whitworth, was an eminent civil engineer. Richard
Whitworth, grandfather of John F. Whitworth, was born in England, where he
became engaged in business as a manufacturer of cotton goods, continuing thus
for a number of years. He was a friend of the father of John Bright, also a
cotton manufacturer. After he had been in business for some years in England,
Richard Whitworth came to the United States, in 1812, settling in Baltimore,
where he erected and operated two large mills, and also owned twenty-two brick
houses there. Some trouble arising with his employees, strikers burned all his
property to the ground the eve before Christmas, 1837. Before he left England
he married Mary Butterworth, also a native of that country, whose father was a
prominent squire of the county in which he resided, and whose brother was a
captain in the English army and fell in the battle of Corunna, in Spain, under
the celebrated Sir John Moore. Many of her ancestors were members of the
medical profession. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Whitworth had four children: Richard,
Smith, Alice and Sarah. Mrs. Whitworth died in America. Mr. Whitworth married
for his second wife a Miss Grant, of Baltimore, who bore him two daughters,
Anna and Elizabeth, both born at Baltimore.Smith Whitworth, father of John F. Whitworth, was born in Lancashire,
England, and was two years old when he came to America with his parents in
1812. He was educated at Baltimore. About 1840 he came to Apollo, Armstrong
county, PA., where he was extensively engaged in the boating business for some
years. He then turned his attention to the manufacture of flour and the
mercantile business, and in 1858 became a member of the firm of Cass,
McClintock & Co., who purchased the works of the Kiskiminetas Iron Company
and manufactured nails and iron for several years. In 1885 Mr. Whitworth
retired from active business life, and he died at Apollo in 1893. He was a
stanch Republican and a strong temperance man. He never would accept any
office except that of school director, which he held for many years. His
business life was a very successful one, and he continued his interest in
commercial matters throughout his life. He was a great reader, had at
retentive memory, was well versed in history and literature, and followed
closely the current news of the day. He was one of the oldest members of the
Apollo Lodge No. 437, F. & A. M., in which he took a deep interest. Mr.
Whitworth married Henrietta L. Ford, daughter of John and Jane (Sanson) Ford,
the latter a sister of Rev.James G. Sanson, a noted minister of the Methodist
Episcopal denomination. John Ford, father of Mrs. Henrietta L. (Ford)
Whitworth, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his son J. J. Ford, as well
as other close relatives of John F. Whitworth, served in the Union army during
the Civil war. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith Whitworth: Alice
married Rev. David K. Nesbit, now deceased, a Presbyterian minister, located
at Peoria, Ill.; Richard S., a physician and surgeon of Saltsburg, Pa.,
married Sadie Wilson; John F. is mentioned above; James S., attorney at law,
residing at Vandergrift, Pa., married Carrie Orr, daughter of Samuel Orr, of
Kiskiminetas township, Armstrong county, Pa.; Mary died Sept. 25, 1890, at the
age of twenty-five years, and is buried at Apollo.
Source: Page(s) PAGES 427-428,
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
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format, for any presentation, without prior written permission.
Return to the Beers Project
Â
Â
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy ProjectÂ
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy Project
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy Project
(c) Armstrong County
Genealogy Project
About Author
