JAMES STEVENSON AND THOMAS LOVE ANDERSON are descended from that sturdy people known as the Scotch-Irish race. Their ancestry lived originally in Scotland, and were of the Covenanter faith. To escape religious persecution, they fled their native land and settled in County Donegal, Ireland. Here the great-grand parents of James S. and Thomas L. lived and reared a large family: George, Matthew, Benjamin and a daughter--Mrs. Scott, her son John, a merchant, settled in Baltimore, Md.--being among the number. Benjamin, their grandfather, was married in 1780, to Nancy Love, of County Tyrone, Ireland, where they became the parents of six children: William, Thomas, Benjamin, George, Jane and Nancy, none of whom are now living. Grandfather Anderson followed the blacksmith trade in Ireland, and in 1792 he sailed with his family to America, accompanied by his brother Matthew and family. After a long and tedious voyage of over thirteen weeks, during which time little George was seized with a fatal disease and his body buried in an ocean grave, the family landed in New York. They proceeded to Washington county, Penn., and settled on Brush run, in what is now Hopewell township, the neighborhood being then very thinly settled. Mr. Anderson continued to work at his trade while the sons attended to the duties of the home farm. Here he died in 1827, his wife having been called home a short time before. Of their children, William settled in Harrison county, Ohio, where he married Melila Thompson; Thomas was a river trader, and died in New Orleans; Jane became the wife of Holstin Bartleson, of Hopewell township; Nancy married John Daugherty. Benjamin Anderson, their father, was born in Ireland in 1789. He came with his parents to Washington county, where his boyhood was passed on the pioneer farm. At the outbreak of the war of 1812, he was made captain of a company of drafted infantry, which entered the service under the command of Gen. Richard Crooks, whose battalion was a part of the First Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia, which was assigned to duty in the West under Gen. William Henry Harrison. About the close or the war Capt. Anderson (afterward raised to the rank of a colonel) returned home, and in 1816 was married to Margaret Cook, daughter of Gen. James Stevenson. To them were born eight children: Ann Eliza (Mrs. John Moore, of Buffalo township, deceased at the age of thirty five), James Stevenson (farmer of Donegal town ship), Thomas Love (died March 7, 1892), Nancy Jane (deceased at the age of nineteen), Catharine (Mrs. Jonathan Brownlee, of Buffalo township), William Cook (merchant, Claysville, Penn.), Mary Melila (deceased at the age of nineteen) and John (died when seven years old). Col. Anderson passed the first five years of his married life on the old home farm, 1ocated about three miles west of West Middletown, in Hopewell township. He then moved to Donegal township, settling about one mile west of C1aysville, along the National pike, where he owned 250 acres of land, and which be came his permanent residence. He was brigade inspector of Washington county for seven years. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and besides holding different township offices, he was elected county commissioner in 1836. Col. Benjamin Anderson and his wife were both members of the South Buffalo U. P. Church. He died in 1861, Mrs. Anderson in 1875.
Mrs. Margaret Cook Anderson's father, Gen. James Stevenson, a civil engineer, was a native of Pennsylvania, born July 25, 1755. The place of his birth is not definitely known, but his boyhood home was in Letterkenny township, Cumberland count. Though scarcely more than a boy at the outbreak of the Revolution, he enlisted in the struggle for independence, endured the hardships of the Colonial soldier on the field, suffered the misery and want with fellow-prisoners in the hole of an English prison-ship, where the greater number of his companions starved to death; and bore as the evidence of close encounter, the scar of a saber-stroke on his head. About the year 1787 he came west and settled on the Dutch fork of Buffalo creek, in what is now Donegal township, Washington Co., Penn., where he owned some 600 acres of land. In 1791 he was married to Catharine Bonar, the daughter of a pioneer neighbor, born November 7, 1766. Their children were Margaret Cook, John, Ann, Mary, Elizabeth, Catharine and Nancy. Gen. Stevenson for several years held the office of justice of the peace. He was twice elected State senator from Washington county, and also served five sessions in the House of Representatives. He died during the last session, and is buried in the cemetery at Harrisburg. His obituary, on record at the State capitol, is in part: "Died December 20, 1815, Major General James Stevenson, member of the House of Representatives from Washington county. In him were united the venerable and worthy citizen: the firm and enlightened patriot: the soldier and officer of the Revolution: the generous" friend and the indulgent father: the affectionate husband and the honest man." The House, on hearing of his death, Thursday, the 16th, suspended business, and the Governor and heads of departments were invited to attend the funeral. As a mark of respect his fellow-members wore crepe on the left arm for thirty days. They had inscribed on his tomb: "in memory of Gen. James Stevenson, of the House of Representatives, * * * * He was a native of the State and one of the heroes of '76. He served his country: his country honored him." Gen. Stevenson also served as major-general in the war of 1812.
JAMES STEVENSON ANDERSON was born in the year 1820, in Hopewell township, Washington Co., Penn. He received his early education in the subscription schools of the neighborhood. He came with his parents to Donegal township, where he assisted with the farm work. In 1847 he made a trip through the western States. He was married in 1856, to Mary E., daughter of John and Mary (Milligan) Miller, of Cadiz, Harrison Co., Ohio. John Miller was the son of John and Mary (Reed) Miller, the former of whom came to this country from the North of Ireland, the latter being a native of Pennsylvania. The children of James S. and Mary E. Anderson were John Benjamin, a teacher by profession, who received his education in the public schools, and in the Jefferson Academy, Canonsburg, Penn., under Dr. William Ewing (he commenced to teach at the age of seventeen years; in the summer of 1884 he was elected principal of the Canonsburg public schools, which position he held until the spring of 1891, when on account of failing health he resigned; he died October 4, 1891); Anna Eliza, deceased at the age of seven years; Mary Elizabeth, residing at home; William Frank, a contractor and rig-builder, living at Crafton, Allegheny Co., Penn.; Albert Reed, now in the State of Iowa; Jennie, deceased in infancy; Margaret Cook, living with her parents; and Charles, also at home and managing the work on the farm. In 1860 J. S. Anderson was chosen to succeed Capt. Cracraft as captain of the Claysville Blues, a company of Pennsylvania volunteers. Capt. Anderson was a commissioned officer in the Pennsylvania Militia for twenty-two years. After his marriage he located on his farm, west of Claysville and near the National pike, which is his present home. His farm, by care and cultivation, has become one of the most valuable in Donegal township. He is now living a retired life. In politics he has always been an active Democrat. Capt. Anderson and his family belong to the U. P. Church at West Alexander, Penn., where he is also a member of the church's Session.
THOMAS LOVE ANDERSON was born July 6, 1822, on his father's farm, situated about one mile west of Claysville, along the National pike. Here his early life was passed, and here he received his agricultural training and an education in the public schools. He was married November 30, 1864, to Celia Rachel, daughter of Alfred and Margaret Crump, of Millersburg, Holmes Co., Ohio. Three children were born to them: William Howard, Benjamin and Catharine Brownlee, all of whom are living and at home. After his marriage Mr. Anderson settled on a part of the old Stevenson tract, always his home. The farm is well improved, and its location makes it a valuable property. He was a successful farmer, a Democrat in politics, active in the interests of his party, and held different local offices. His family are members of the U. P. Church at Claysville, Penn., to which he belonged at the time of his death. Alfred Crump, the father of Mrs. T. L. Anderson, was a native of Virginia, a wagon-maker by trade, and a soldier in the war of 1812. Her mother was Margaret Walter, daughter of Peter Walter, of Baltimore, Md. After their marriage Mr. Crump and his wife moved to Ohio and settled on a farm near Georgetown, Columbiana county, afterward moving to Millersburg. Mrs. Anderson was the eighth of a family of ten children.
Text taken from page 1043 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed January 1997 by Dawn Marie Madsen of Boise, ID as part of the Beers Project.
Published January 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]