MRS. JANE B. PRALL was born November 9, 1803, in Washington, Penn., in a house on the lot where Dr. Little now lives. Her father, John Bollen, had come from New Jersey to Washington county, where he married Ann, daughter of William Huston, a native of Ireland, who came to Washington county while the Indians were still denizens of the woods. It is said of William Huston that he was the first white man to settle in the county. His first dwelling, said to have been the first house built in Washington, was located on a piece of land where H. C. Swart now resides, on East Maiden street. He had married in Ireland, his native land, and had brought his wife with him to this country. Both died in Washington county, and at the time of his death he was the owner of a farm of 500 acres near the borough of Washington. In 1754, while the English and French were at war, he was taken prisoner by the latter and sent to France, where he lay in prison for about a year, was then exchanged and returned to America. His children were as follows: Dixon, Hamilton, James, Polly (married to Archibald Carr), Jane (married to John Smith), Margaret (married to John Paxton), and Ann (married to John Bollen). After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bollen made their home in the borough of Washington until 1811, when, having exchanged their property there for a farm in Amwell township, they removed thereon, remaining some eleven years; thence came to South Strabane township where they passed the rest of their days. Mr. Bollen, who was a shoemaker by trade, died November 7, 1846, his wife on May 4, 1848, aged eighty-five years. They were the parents of children as follows: James and John, both deceased when young; William, who died in 1875; Margaret, married to William Van Kirk; Mary, married to George Week, and died in Ohio; Jane, the subject proper of this sketch, and Matilda (a mute), deceased in 1881.
Jane Bollen was married to John Prall, a farmer of Amwell township, in 1849. He was a man of nearly seventy years of age at the time, and died, January 10, 1875 at the age of ninety-six years. He had been previously married, and had by that union eight children, viz.: Benjamin and Harrison (both deceased), Jackson (a resident of South Strabane township), William, Nancy and Elizabeth (all three deceased), Mary (wife of W. Lacock, of Amwell township) and Sarah (who died in Illinois). After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Prall made their home in Amwell township, where Mr. Prall died as already related. One year after that event his widow came to the borough of Washington, where she now has her home, a pleasant and comfortable one, on East Wheeling street. She is a remarkably well-preserved lady, and is spending her declining years with Christian patience and resignation, calmly awaiting the inevitable summons that shall call her hence. In her church connection she was originally identified with the Cumberland Presbyterians, but is now a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Washington.
Mordecai Hoge (deceased), a half brother of Mrs. Prall, was born January 22, 1784, on the old Huston farm in this county, a son of John Hoge, who owned the land from the center of Main street, in Washington, westward to, and perhaps including, the whole or a portion of the Dr. Reed farm. The boyhood days of Mordecai Hoge were passed chiefly in and around Washington, and when about six years of age he was sent to the old-time log schoolhouse which stood a little below where the old weigh scales were placed, and on the right side of the alley where the worshipers in the United Presbyterian Church are accustomed to put their conveyances. At that time there was in the, then, village but one stone dwelling, owned by a Mr. Bradford. After Mr. Hoge had passed through his primary and academical training, about the year 1805, he became a student in Dickinson College Carlisle, shortly after leaving which he married Rebecca Pentecost. In 1814 he engaged in teaching, his first school being kept in a log cabin located on the bank of Little Chartiers creek, and between the farm some time since owned by Sheriff R. McClelland and Linden village. The following year he moved about one mile south of this place, and taught twelve years at what was called the Cross Roads. He next taught for one year in a rude cabin on a farm situated on the pike leading from Washington to Monongahela City. In 1827 he commenced teaching on what came to be known as "Hoge's Summit," and continued there for six years. Mr. Hoge then took up his residence on the farm now owned by the heirs of Samuel Brownlee, and during the time he would walk, summer and winter, not less than six miles. Immediately after the expiration of this last mentioned school term he taught near Pees' Mill for a short time, and later in a log schoolhouse on or near the site of the Hardy school in North Strabane township. From this point he returned to Hoge's Summit, and taught about twenty-three years, at the expiration of which time his public labors in this calling ceased. In summing up the whole time in which he was engaged in the work of teaching, the calculation will make it not less than forty-five years. It is a marked characteristic of the high esteem and appreciation of his services as an instructor of youth that this entire period was spent within the limit of seven miles, in many instances teaching the parent then the child, then the grandchild, until superannuation alone required his withdrawal from his arduous vocation. Mr. Hoge departed this life in 1870, at the age of eighty-six years, two months and three days, and on his tombstone in the Pigeon Creek cemetery is the following inscription: "True Honor. A Faithful Teacher of Youth for More than Forty-five Years." This sketch of Mordecai Hoge has been gleaned from one that appeared in the Washington Review and Examiner at the time of his decease.
Text taken from page 93 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed April 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL 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]