JAMES M. ROSS is a prominent representative of one of the oldest pioneer families in Washington county. In 1728 one John Ross left the shores of Erin to seek a home in the New World. On arriving in America he settled permanently on a farm near Germantown, Penn., where the following children were born and reared: Thomas, William, John, James, George, Stephen, Sarah, Jane Margaret and Mary. Thomas Ross was born in Chester county, Penn., and in 1784 came to a farm near Pittsburgh. In early life he was married to Jane Miller, a native of Ireland, who bore him eight children, viz.: Joshua, Jane, Thomas, John, James, Sarah, Margaret and Nancy, all deceased. The father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Joshua Ross was born about the year 1781, in Chester county, Penn., and came with his parents to the place near Pittsburgh, where his youth was passed. In 1810 he was united in marriage with Margaret, daughter of Samuel Emmet, and their children were Rebecca, Thomas, William B., James M., Samuel B. (now living in the Twenty-first Ward of Pittsburgh, Penn.) , and John and Johnston (twins). Mr. Ross was a farmer, and lived on a place which is now the Twenty-first Ward of Pittsburgh. In politics he was a Democrat and in religion a member of the Presbyterian Church.
James M. Ross was born in 1819, in what is now the Twenty-first Ward of Pittsburgh. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and worked by the month for four or five years. When a young man he was married to Sarah, daughter of John Mouck, of Washington county, Penn., and their children have been born as follows: John, Joseph (deceased), William E., Lewis, George B., Mary and Adelaide. In 1848 Mr. Ross came to his present farm in Peters township, which he purchased in 1855. He is actively interested in the welfare of the Republican party, and in religious faith is a member of the United Presbyterian Church at Peters Creek.
Text taken from page 604 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed March 1997 by Barbara Bower of Yorktown, VA as part of the Beers Project.
Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]