CARY PIPER. In every community
there are to be found some who have achieved success in life by sturdy,
patient,
unceasing toil, and among
this class the Piper family, of whom the subject of this sketch is a prominent
member, have
been justly welcomed.
William Piper was born in
Virginia of German-English parents, and he followed carpentry in conjunction
with
agricultural pursuits, becoming
a successful man. He left a large family, of whom, Thomas D. Piper was
born in the
Shenandoah Valley, Va.,
where his boyhood was passed. He there learned and followed the carpenter's
trade, and
after a time, coming to
Coal Centre, Washington Co., Penn., commenced business as a builder and
contractor, many
of the buildings there being
erected by him. At Coal Centre he married Ella Holmon, who bore him one
son, William
(who married Catherine Crow,
and died in the State of California), and shortly thereafter died. Thomas
D. Piper was
then married to Mary Duvall,
daughter of Lewis Duvall, one of the highly respected and well-to-do farmers
of East
Pike Run township, who had
children as follows: Mary (wife of Thomas D. Piper), Hannah (wife of Elias
Garrett),
Abigail (wife of Jacob Deems),
Isabel and Eliza (both unmarried), John (married to Hannah Yosty) and Lewis
(married to Mary Deems).
To Thomas D. and Mary Piper were born the following children: Ann (wife
of H. D.
Wilkins), Hannah (who married
Joseph Moffat), Lewis D., J. W., Mary (wife of Henry F. Jamison), Cary
and A. C.
The father of this family
died January 26, 1880, the mother on January 23, 1884. Politically Mr.
Piper voted with the
Whig and Republican parties,
and in religion he was a leading member of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church.
Cary Piper was born December
8, 1851, in Coal Centre, Washington Co., Penn., and received his early
education in
the public schools. In 1873
he opened a grocery business at Coal Centre, in connection with his brother
A. C., which
they exchanged for a drug
store in 1874. They have been very successful in the latter enterprise,
which is conducted
under the firm name of Piper
Bros., and they own some of the best property in Coal Centre. On September
11, 1879,
Cary Piper was united in
marriage with Alice F., daughter of E. C. Furlong, who is a son of John
Furlong, whose
father was born in Ireland,
and coming to America made a permanent settlement in Maryland. John Furlong
was born
on the home place in Maryland
where he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Henry and Catherine Holman,
also
natives of Maryland. The
father was a Revolutionary soldier, holding the rank of captain, and both
parents died in
Allen township, Washington
county, where their later years were passed. To the union of John and Elizabeth
Furlong
three children were born,
viz.: Catherine E. (married to James Dowler, of West Pike Run township,
and died in 1890),
Otho H. (deceased in 1882,
at Fayette City, Penn. ) and E. C. After their marriage (about 1830) Mr.
and Mrs. Furlong
came to Washington county,
Penn., locating on a farm in Allen township, and during the last twenty
years of his life he
followed the coal business
in Fayette county. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and politically
was a Jacksonian
Democrat, taking an active
interest in the affairs of his party. He died in March, 1883, at the age
of ninety-three years,
the wife and mother having
passed away long before, at the age of seventy-five years. Both parents
were members
of the M. E. Church at Mt.
Tabor.
E. C. Furlong, youngest son
of John and Elizabeth Furlong, was born February 27, 1823, on the home
farm in
Maryland, and coming with
his parents to Pennsylvania, was reared in Allen township Washington county.
He
attended the subscription
schools of the neighborhood, and after the death of his father engaged
with his brother Otho
in the coal business on
the river, shipping to all points on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. E.
C. Furlong was pilot on the
river coal boats for about
thirty years, making many trips to Cairo, Louisville and Cincinnati. In
1850 he was united in
marriage with Amy Ann Stockdale,
a native of Allen township, this county, a daughter of Allen Stockdale,
who was
born in 1788; he married
Letitia Allen, who was born July 27, 1788, a daughter of Joseph Allen,
for whom Allen
township was named. The
Allens were among the earliest settlers of Washington county, and owned
a vast tract of
land on the Monongahela
river where their lives were passed. Joseph Allen died December 10, 1832,
his wife having
been laid to rest December
27, 1827. E. C. and Amy Ann Furlong began wedded life on the farm where
they are now
living, and the following
children have blessed their union: Josephine (wife of Frank Hernett, of
Pasadena, Cal.),
William Allen (proprietor
of a drug store at Laceyville, Penn.), John F. (residing at Pittsburgh),
Sarah, Alice F. (wife of
C. Piper), Letitia and Otho
(living in Charleroi, Penn.). Mr. Furlong conducts a prosperous real- estate
business, and
owns nine houses in Roscoe.
Politically he votes with the Democratic party, and has served as a member
of the
school board; in religion
he and his wife are members of the M. E. Church.
Cary and Alice F. (Furlong)
Piper have had two sons viz.: Edward C. (deceased) and Earle. Mr. Piper
is an active
worker in the Republican
party, and served as postmaster at Coal Centre, under Garfield, also Harrison.
He is
interested in religious
matters, as a zealous member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of
which he has been
trustee.