P. H. McNERNEY, Buffalo, New York.
P.H. McNerney, whose portrait is here given, was born in Ireland in 1841. At the age of 10 he came to this country, and for the next five years attended school at Cattauraugus village. He began his railroad career as brakeman in the employ of the Erie, under Conductor John I. Bently, with whom he remained for three years, braking on freight between Dunkirk and Hornellsville, and in 1865 was transferred to a passenger train, Conductor Ross Nichols, between Dunkirk and Elmira. The closing months of the war and the period immediately following the assassination of President Lincoln were stirring times in the railroad man's life. It will be remembered that at Elmira in the "stockade" were held many Confederate prisoners. About this time many of them were being sent home, and Union soldiers, on a furlough or mustered out, were constantly coming and going. Fights and even bloodshed were of almost daily occurrence on the train, and the brakemen had their hands full while trying to keep order. In 1865 Mr. McNerney was promoted to the position of baggage master, and until 1871 was employed in that capacity between Dunkirk and Susquehanna. In the latter year he left the service of the railroad and went to the oil fields of Pennsylvania, where he secured employment with the Allegheny Transportation Company. For three years he remained in their employ, but the love of the old calling was strong within him, and in 1873 he returned to Buffalo and reentered the service of the Erie, being given a position as fireman. After firing on the rounds his first regular passenger run was with Charles Hager, from Buffalo to Hornellsville, engine 21. He was next transferred to engine No. 508, Engineer George Wolfe, on the same run, which he held until the date of his promotion, November 20, 1880. For about three years thereafter he ran on the rounds and was then given a regular engine in the yards, which he still holds.

Mr. McNerney was married on July 6, 1866, to Miss B. A. Lynch of Dunkirk; the marriage took place at Hornellsville, the Rev. Father M. Creedon officiating. Mr. and Mrs. McNerney's married life has been a happy one, aside from the bereavements suffered by the loss of several children. Three, however, have been spared to them, and their home is made bright by the youthful scion of a younger generation who calls Mr. McNerney "Grandpa," and whose name is Master Harold F. Bell, the mother being the wife of George T. Bell of the Bell Telephone Company. Mr. McNerney's two sons are Francis Joseph, a clerk in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, and J. P., a traveling salesman for a cigar house. Mrs. McNerney has a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and fills an important part in the social circle which surrounds her. For some time she has been an honored member of the L.C.B.A., Branch 20, and A.0.H. of St. Columbus Parish. Mr. McNerney has himself been a member of the C.M.B.A., Branch 20, ever since March 24, 1879.


Excerpted from: "American Locomotive Engineers, Erie Railway Edition," H.R. Romans Editor; Crawford-Adsit Company Publishers, Chicago, IL 1899.