JOHN M. MCILVAINE, a prominent farmer of Mt. Pleasant township, is descended from one of the earliest pioneers of Washington county. He is a son of Guyan and Jane ( Ferguson) McIlvaine, and a grandson of Greer and Elizabeth (Morrow) McIlvaine. The last mentioned couple were natives of Lancaster county, Penn., of Irish descent, and were married in their native country. Greer McIlvaine with his wife and brother George, came to Washington county, Penn., in an early day, and on May 20, 1788, took out a warrant for a tract of land in Somerset township containing 407 acres. This was surveyed to him February 11, 1789, as 3Calydon.2 To Greer and Elizabeth(Morrow) McIlvaine were born the following children: John, Guyan, Greer, George, William , Andrew, Margaret ( Mrs. William Denniston), Mary ( Mrs. James Greenlee), Ruth ( Mrs. Joseph Moreton), Catherine ( Mrs. Samuel Smith), Elizabeth (Mrs. William Campbell), Esther ( Mrs. Thomas Carson), Ann (wife of Joseph Scott), and Eleanor ( married to David Scott). Greer McIlvaine and his wife were members of the old Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church. Guyan McIlvaine was born about 1792, in Somerset township, this county, and was reared on the home farm. He was first married to Jane Ferguson, who was also born in Somerset township, and four children were born to this union: Lydia (widow of John Phillips, living in Greene county, Penn.); William Greer (married in Vicksburg and died in 1882 at Memphis , Tenn.), Robert F. ( living in Rochester, Beaver Co., Penn.) and John M. ( our subject). The mother of these children died in 1823, and about 1830 Guyan McIlvaine selected a second wife in the person of Jane Bratton, a native of Lancaster county, Penn. Their children were Harvey ( living in Kansas), Ann Eliza (wife of William M. Campbell, of Cross Creek township), Joseph Lawrence ( an editor, residing in New Philadelphia, Ohio), Isabella ( a maiden lady, living in Mt. Pleasant township), Mary Esther ( also unmarried), Boyd (living in Illinois), James A. (living in Mat Pleasant township, this county) and Martha Ellen ( wife of Harper Symonton, of Mt. Pleasant township). Guyan McIlvaine followed agricultural pursuits all his life. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812.
John M. McIlvaine was born in 1821, in Somerset township, on the home farm. His boyhood was passed in farm work, and in attending the schools of the township and of Hickory village. He came to Mt. Pleasant township at the age of fourteen years. In 1856 he was married to Margaret Ann Carter, daughter of William and Ann Carter, natives of Scotland, who settled in Mt Pleasant township in an early day, and there passed the rest of their lives.
John M. and Margaret Ann ( Carter) McIlvaine began their married life on a farm south of Hickory, this county, where three children were born to them, namely: Anna Jane, Maria Belle and William Elmer ( a carpenter, married to Miss Anna Leach, of Smith township). The mother died in 1864. In 1881 Mr. McIlvaine bought a farm of seventy-five acres, which is in a prosperous condition. He is active in politics, and casts his vote with the Republican party; at a special election held in May , 1842, he cast his first vote for Thomas M. T. McKennan for Congress, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Joseph Lawrence. In religion he is connected with the Presbyterian Church at Mt. Prospect.
Text taken from page 436 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed April 1997 by Thomas Shultz of Nashville, TN as part of the Beers Project.
Published April 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]