WILLIAM BRIMNER, proprietor of one of the oldest business houses in Burgettstown, is of Scotch descent. William Brimner (the grandfather) was born and reared in the Highlands of Scotland. When a lad of but twelve years he resolved to see for himself the wonderful country of which so many exciting tales were told, and escaping from his friends embarked on an American- bound sailing vessel. He landed in New York, and came immediately to Berks county, Penn., there passing his youth in agricultural pursuits. In early manhood he was married to Elizabeth Burnett, a Quaker lady of the same county. They soon afterward moved to western Pennsylvania, carrying all their worldly possessions on pack-horses. He first settled in Hanover township, this county, and purchased the land patented by Mr. Bavington. At that time the tract was covered by forests, and the young pioneer was compelled to clear a space for the log cabin, which was then erected. The cooking was all done in one frying pan, and the other household utensils were similarly utilized as necessity required. But time brought conveniences within their reach, and ere many years the rude homes of the frontiersmen were adorned with many of the comforts though but few of the luxuries, of our modern life. Children came to bless the home of William and Elizabeth Brimner, and were named as follows: John, Mary A. (Mrs. Hugh Barton), Robert and James. In politics the father was an active worker of the Democratic party, holding various township offices. In religion he was one of the first members of the Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, now called the Florence Presbyterian Church. He died in his ninety-second year, in 1850, on the place where he first located, and his wife passed to her rest in her eighty-ninth year. James Brimner, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1800, on the home farm in Hanover township, this county, receiving a meager education in the rude log-cabin school-house erected in the heart of the mighty forest, and furnished with slab seats, paper windows and puncheon floor. Much of his boyhood was passed in farm duties, and on March 10, 1832, he was united in marriage with Martha, daughter of William Dunbar. After their marriage the young people settled on the home farm, where children were born and reared as follows: Mary (wife of Samuel Scroggs, Lenox, Iowa), William, Thomas (residing in Hanover township, this county), Eliza J. (Mrs. James Russell), James (living in Robinson township, this county) and Rebecca S. (Mrs. J. J. Campbell, of Wilkinsburgh, Penn.). Politically Mr. Brimner was a Jacksonian Democrat, and he was a prominent, enterprising citizen. He served for years as a trustee of schools. He was a member of the Florence Presbyterian Church, giving that body a liberal support. He died in 1848, and in 1883 Mrs. Brimner was laid to rest by the side of her husband in the Florence cemetery. William Brimner, son of James and Martha (Dunbar) Brimner, was born November 12, 1836, in Hanover township, on the old homestead of his grandfather, and passed his boyhood on the farm, receiving a common-school education. After the death of his father he assumed the management of the home place, having since that time won success by his own efforts. On November 15, 1860, he married Susan, daughter of James Aiken, of Lawrence county, Penn. They have three children, namely: Ethie (Mrs. J. A. McKeown), Thomas R. (electrical engineer in Philadelphia) and W. F. (a book-keeper at Pittsburgh, Penn.). In 1875 Mr. Brimner became engaged in the mercantile business in Burgettstown, where he is still one of the leading business men. In church connection he is a Presbyterian.

Text taken from page 1003 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed January 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published January 1997 on the Washington County, PA pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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