WARNE. This family have for many years been closely identified with the growth and early history of Washington county. They are of English origin, and the earliest ancestor of whom we have an authentic record was one Joseph Warne, a native of New Jersey. He was there reared and married to a Miss Miller, who was born in that State, and their children were as follows: Stephen, Abram, James, Mary (wife of David Allen), and Frances (married to Solomon Johnson). He and his family came to Pennsylvania in the year 1770, locating in what is now Allegheny county, buying 400 acres of land near Sunnyside, and there he passed the remainder of his life. He was a leading member of the Round Hill Presbyterian Church, and in politics affiliated with the Democratic party. Maj. James Warne was born December 6, 1779, near Sunnyside, Allegheny Co., Penn. He received a common-school education, then attended the academy at the Forks, intending to prepare for the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, but, owing to circumstances, went into mercantile pursuits at the age of eighteen. Soon after leaving school he came to Washington county, and conducted a store for one McKinley; then engaged in river traffic, and finally came to Parkison's Ferry (now Monongahela City), where he took part in various enterprises. About the year 1815 James Warne and his brother-in-law, William Parkison, built and operated the first window-glass factory erected in western Pennsylvania. In connection with the glass manufacture, he carried on a boatyard, and also did a general mercantile business, buying various kinds of stock and selling it in the eastern markets. In 1805 he was united in marriage with Mary, the only daughter of Joseph Parkison. Her father was born and reared near Carlisle, Penn., where he was married to Margaret Weaver, and their children were born as follows: James, David, William and Mary (Mrs. Warne). Joseph Parkison built the first ferry at Monongahela City, from whence the first name given the place, which afterward became so famous in connection with the Whisky Insurrection, namely, Parkison's Ferry, the first United States postoffice in this region. He was a very prominent citizen, serving as a justice of the peace for many years. But Joseph Parkison made his place in the history of Washington county, by laying out and founding the town of William's Port (now Monongahela City), in the year 1796. There is a question as to the date of the founding, which is not a very material point, but the evidence is on the side of those holding to 1796. The Parkisons were Virginians, and came of English ancestry. Maj. James Warne was a scrivener of much ability, and many legal papers are yet extant, which bear his handwriting. He performed the duties of legal adviser in the settlement of estates and business matters generally throughout the community. His descendants are the only living representatives of the founder of William's Port (now Monongahela City), now resident in this county. In 1811 James Warne was commissioned by Gov. Snyder as captain of a William's Port company, attached to the Fifty-third Regiment of the militia of Pennsylvania. In 1812 they offered their services to the Government, which were accepted, and the company went to the United States barracks at Meadville, Penn. In the autumn of 1812 he received a commission as major of the First Battalion in the Third Infantry Regiment, and held that position until receiving his discharge. He was a liberal supporter of public enterprises, and voted with the Democratic party. He died October 28, 1855. Of the children of the family who grew to mature age the following are named: Amuzet I. (married to Mary Jacobs, deceased in 1879, at Parkersburgh, W. Va.), born December 5, 1805; Margaret (wife of Samuel Devore, living near Parkersburgh, W. Va.), born December 28, 1807; Joseph P. (married to Eliza J. Irwin, living on the old homestead near Monongahela City), born January 6, 1810; James, born May 11, 1812; Hiram (married to Elizabeth Nichols, is a farmer near Washington, Penn.), born February 16, 1822, and Eliza J. (Mrs. John Watkins, of Richmond, Ray Co., Mo.), born June 26, 1824. JAMES WARNE, son of James and Mary Parkison Warne, was born in William's Port (now Monongahela City), in the frame house now standing on the corner of Main street and alley, opposite the Episcopal church (St. Paul's), where he lived until the age of fourteen, when his parents moved to the farm on which Joseph P. Warne now resides in the First Ward Monongahela City. He continued to live there until he was thirty-one years of age. He was educated in the common schools of the day. In 1836 he was married to Casandra Nichols, a daughter of James and Mary Nichols, of Allegheny county, Penn., who died in the year 1856, without issue. For his second wife, James Warne was married in 1858 to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of James Dunn, of Allegheny county, Penn., a woman especially noted for her Christian piety and lofty moral character. She was reared in the strict faith of the Covenanter Church, and the precepts of her adopted creed were fruitful of good and worthy deeds in her after life. Mrs. Warne became connected with the church to which her husband belonged, the Methodist Episcopal, after her marriage to Mr. Warne, and continued ever after, until her death, August, 1868, a true and earnest worshiper of God, and a lovely example of a follower after truth and righteousness. She died in the midday of life, but, having measured full up in the life of a true Christian wife and mother, she lives in the hearts of those who loved her. Their children were: William Parkison, James J. (deceased 1874), and Mary Eliza (wife of Dr. George S. Stathers, of Monongahela City). James Warne settled on a farm in Fallowfield township, in the year 1843, where he resided until 1884, then returned to Monongahela City, his former and present home. He was a lieutenant in the old Jackson Guards, when a young man, holding his commission under the then governor of Pennsylvania; and throughout his life has been actively interested in public matters. By industry and frugality he has amassed quite a competency in this world's goods. He owns one of the finest Washington county farms of 235 acres, and also several valuable properties in Monongahela City, and is one of the heaviest taxpayers. Although at the advanced age of eighty years, he laid out and expended in building some $5,000 in 1891, in the place of his nativity and present residence. From early life he has been a leading member and very liberal supporter of the Methodist Church, and he was for many years a member of the board of trustees, and in 1869-70 an active member of the building committee for the erection of the handsome church of the Edwards Chapel congregation at Ginger Hill, this county. Although never having enjoyed the advantages of an education such as is now afforded the youth of this State, under the magnificent public-school system, he was fully alive to the necessity of an early training and a liberal college education for his children, that they might be prepared to grapple with the advanced ideas and broader civilization of the age. He therefore made it his aim in life to give his children a complete education. His daughter was educated in the public schools of the neighborhood, and finished her studies at the Washington Female Seminary, at Washington, Penn. She is now the accomplished wife of Dr. George S. Stathers, of Monongahela City, Penn. WILLIAM PARKISON WARNE, a leading young lawyer of Monongahela City, was born February 28, 1860, in Fallowfield township, Washington Co., Penn. He attended the schools of the home neighborhood until the age of fourteen, when he placed himself under the tutorship of Prof. John C. Messenger, at Hoge's Summit Academy, in Washington county, Penn., where he first learned to decline mensa and conjugate the Greek verb. Having obtained a preparatory course at the above institution, and at Allegheny College, at Meadville, Penn., he then entered Washington and Jefferson College, from which he graduated in 1882, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. In early boyhood he evinced a strong inclination for earnest study, and became an excellent student. After graduating, he returned to the farm and rested from mental labors for two years, then with mind and body renewed by the invigorating rural life, entered the law office of the Hon. Thomas H. Baird, Esq., in Monongahela City, Penn., with whom he remained until admitted to legal practice in the county of his birth. During this interval, he was a student in the law department of the University of West Virginia, ranking among the first in his classes. On May 12, 1890, he began the practice of his profession in Monongahela City, Penn., where he has already won laurels which promise him a brilliant future. Mr. Warne served as editor of the Monongahela Daily Democrat during the Cleveland-Harrison campaign of 1892. He was highly complimented by the press and public on account of his able management and direction of the paper while under his control. His views taken on all subjects showed that he was thoroughly up to the times and level-headed on all questions, and that his education proved its superiority for liberality and broadness of mind over the narrow ideas and prejudices of the uneducated. On November 10, 1891, he selected a bride in the person of Abbie M., daughter of T. W. and Mary Scott Kemp, a resident of Ironton, Ohio. Mrs. Warne's mother's maiden name was Mary E. Scott, a daughter of the late Alexander Scott, one of the old Williamsporters and settlers of Washington county, Penn. Her father, T. W. Kemp, is a son of the late Judge George Kemp, one of the original settlers and founders of the city of Ironton, Ohio. The Kemps are Virginians, having moved to Ohio at the beginning of this century. They are of English origin. Mrs. Abbie Kemp Warne attended the public schools of her native city, and was graduated in full honors from Kingsbury High School in June, 1886, standing at the head of her class. In 1887-90 she attended the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, where she was a very bright student, and she was well liked by all who learned to know her, and loved by her school companions, as she was endowed with a very sweet disposition, always happy, good and kind to those about her. Mrs. Warne loft college at the end of the junior year, on account of poor health, and was not permitted to graduate with her class. She subsequently pursued a course in elocution and voice culture under the celebrated elocutionist, Dr. Fulton, and was one of his talented students in a class of one hundred. To Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Warne was born, July 11, 1892, a lovely daughter, Madeleine Warne. At its annual commencement in June, 1862, the board of trustees and faculty of Washington and Jefferson College conferred the degree of Master of Science upon Mr. Warne. He served as city solicitor of the corporation of Monongahela City during the year 1891. He is an enthusiastic member of the Democratic party, and is a leading member of the Masonic Fraternity. He is a lineal descendant of the founder (Joseph Parkison) of Monongahela City, Penn., and is one of her most public-spirited citizens. JOSEPH P. WARNE was born and reared in Monongahela City, and his first literary training was obtained in a subscription school kept by Widow McKeever, in a frame house near the present depot. The only text books then in use were the U. S. Speller, English Reader, and Western Calculator. At the age of fifteen years he came with his parents to the farm where he is yet living, and remained there until his marriage, February 20, 1844, with Eliza J., daughter of James Irwin. Her father was born and reared in Lancaster county, Penn., where he was married to Miss Jane Morton, and their children were Eliza, Harriet, Mary A. and William. In an early day this family moved by wagon to a farm on Mingo creek, near Monongahela City, where the father followed the trade of cooper. In politics he was a Democrat and in religion a member of the Presbyterian Church. Joseph P. and Eliza J. (Irwin) Warne began wedded life on the home farm, where he worked for several years in partnership with his brothers James and Hiram, but they finally separated. He is now retired from active life. He is a member of the M. E. Church, and has served as class-leader and in other prominent positions. In politics he has always voted with the Democratic party. Mrs. Warne was laid to rest August 1, 1891, leaving the following children: Hiram A. (on the home place), Theodore (married to Anna Long, and living in Greene county, Penn.), Emma J. (wife of S. B. Kernan, in Wichita, Kans.), James I., Wilbur, William and Albert (all four deceased), Ella V. (at home), Matthew S., Joseph P. (married to Louisa Hayes, and living in Sedgwick. Kans.), and Francis M. (married to Alberta Staib, and living in Greene county, Penn.). MATTHEW S. WARNE was born December 16, 1859 on the home farm near Monongahela City. He received his education at the public schools, and was one of the first graduates from same; later he attended Allegheny College at Meadville, Penn. In early manhood he opened a hardware store in Monongahela City, afterward moving to Wichita, Kans., where he continued in the same business. In 1891 he returned to Monongahela City, and has since resided on the home place. On November 25, 1884, he was married to Mattie, daughter of Lewis Staib, of Monongahela City, and she has home him three children, viz.: Lewis, Edith and Blanche. Mr. Warne is a member of the Democratic party.

Text taken from page 1336 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed February 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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