A. C. SAMPSON (deceased) was born February 15, 1828, in Allegheny county, Penna, near McKeesport, a son of Thomas and Anna Coon Sampson, the former of whom, a native of Ireland, came to America at an early day. Their children were: Mary (Mrs. Oliver Evans); A. C.; Harvey; Margaret; William; John; and Letitia. Thomas Sampson was a farmer and manufacturer of sickles, and also conducted a flouring mill. He was a zealous member of the Long Run Presbyterian Church. A. C. Sampson received a liberal education at the public schools in the vicinity of his birthplace, proving an apt and diligent pupil. In his early manhood he embarked in the insurance business, which he followed with marked success during his lifetime, being general agent for Western Pennsylvania Company. He was three times married: first to Margaret Williams, then to Fannie Moore, and lastly to Letitia S., daughter of James Manown, of whom special mention will presently be made. The children by the first wife were: Nancy, and one that died in infancy; by the second, two that died in infancy; and by the third, five children, viz. Anna K. (deceased wife of Dr Boyd, also deceased), Sarah M., Letitia S. (who married Edwin Brubaker), A. C. and Harriet L. The father of these children died May 10, 1872. After his first marriage, he came in 1853 to Monongahela City to reside. Mr. Sampson was a progressive citizen, a typcal self-made man, than whom none in the county enjoyed higher respect and esteem. He was the first president of the People's Savings Bank, Monongahela City, and was one of the active solid businessmen of the place. Politically he was a working member of the Republican party; socially a F&AM, he held a high degree in the fraternity; in religion he was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. James Manown, father of Mrs. A. C. Sampson, was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1781. His father, Richard Manown, a native of the same place, married a Miss Smith, who bore him children as follows: James, William, John, Richard and Elizabeth (Mrs. Robert Bailie). The family came to America in 1798, the voyage occupying fourteen weeks, and from New York where they landed, the proceeded to western Pennsylvania making a settlement near Round Hill Church in Westmoreland County, where they followed farming. They were members of the Episcopal Church. James Manown, was as will be seen, seventeen years old when he came with his parents to America. He had been well educated in his native land, and on his arrival in the New World, he learned the trade of carpenter and builder which he followed for some years. On December 6, 1808, he married Mrs. Cassandra Elliott, a daughter of David Devore, and the widow of George Elliott, by whom she had two children: Burnside and Patience (Mrs. Benjamin Davis). David Devore (the grandfather of Mrs. Letitia Manown Sampson) came from New Jersey in 1787 with his wife Elizabeth Harvey. He and his brother Moses Devore purchased in 1788, 250 acres of land, lying opposite Monongahela City, which land was then in Westmoreland County, now Forward township, Allegheny county, paying 50 cents per acre with interest from March 1, 1771, agreeably to an act passed by the Assembly in 1784. David Devore was granted license to ferry from his home on this property to the mouth of Pigeon Creek, afterward known as Parkison's Ferry. He died in 1789, leaving a widow with one child, Cassandra. His widow some years afterward married Major Scott, and to her was born one son William. After the death of Mr. Scott the widow made her home with this son at Vincennes, Indiana, where she died in 1820. Cassandra Devore married George Elliott, who was drowned off the ferry while trying to rescue his son Burnside. James Manown married Mrs. George Elliott, and they resided on the farm near the Ferry which James Manown bought from Moses Devore. The Ferry belonging to his wife, James Manown afterward bought at sheriff sale the Parkison interest in land and Ferry, and carried on the Ferry until the Williamsport bridge was built in 1836. On this same farm now live James Manown's oldest son Franklin, with his two sisters, Mrs. Harriett Moore and Sarah Manown, also James Moore, son of Mrs. H Moore. James Manown died May 21, 1873, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1860. They were the parents of the following named children: Eliza (Mrs. Asher Van Kirk); Franklin; Nancy (Mrs. John Thickield); Cassandra (Mrs. Alfred Thickield); James (a physician, now of Kingwood, W. Va., married to a Miss Armstrong); Harriett (Mrs. James Moore); Sarah: and Letitia S. (Mrs. A. C. Sampson). Mr. Manown was an influential Democrat and a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. He was a remarkably enterprising man, one whose influence for good was felt in the community, and he took a deep interest in educational and religious matters. For several years he served as justice of the peace.

Text taken from page 225 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed November 1997 by Martha Burns of Anaheim, CA as part of the Beers Project. Published November 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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