Surnames: McALISTER, McCLUGGAGE, WILLIAMS, FLACK, TALLACK, BROWN, BICE, WATSON, SAYRES, SWEENEY, WEDDELL, WISEMAN, DUNLAP, HAGARTY, COTHERY >From Washington County to Duquesne, Pennsylvania
My great grandparents were Nicholas WILLIAMS and Hannah Anne McALISTER WILLIAMS. Hannah had ancestral roots back to at least1800 in the Peters & Union Townships of Washington County, and Nicholas immigrated to the area about 1870. The married couple spent the better part of their lives raising their family first in Port Perry, Allegheny county, and later in Duquesne, Allegheny County.McALISTER: The birth name of Hannah is of Irish ancestry. Records of the family's early days in the county have been hard to find, especially for female children. The first reference to the family in print comes from: "Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania" by J.
H. Beers & Co. - 1893. In the article the lineage of Lilly Ann McAlister Flack is discussed:"Alexander Flack, son of Robert Flack, was born about 1794, in County Monaghan, Ireland, and coming with his parents to America, was reared in Chester and Westmoreland counties. He began life as a teamster, and in 1835 opened a store at Bower Hill, Washington county. He conducted this business ten years, then bought the home farm in Peters township. When a young man he was married to Mary Porter, a native of this county, who died not long after their marriage. For his second wife Alexander Flack was married to Lillie Ann McAlister, of Peters township, a daughter of John McAlister, who, with his father, Archibald McAlister, emigrated from County Antrim, Ireland, about 1800, and settled first in Chester county, Penn., and in 1802 removed with his parents to Washington county. John McAlister was married to Isabelle McAllister, a resident of County Antrim, Ireland, who bore him seven children, namely Archie, Nancy, Mary, Lillie Ann, John, Hannah, and James, all of whom are now deceased. Lillie Ann McAlister was reared to womanhood in Peters Township. To the union of Alexander and Lillie Flack one son was born, John. The father was an active member of the Democratic party, and held nearly every office in
Peters Township.". [ - Page 848.]Hannah Anne was the daughter of James McAlister (son of John, son of Archibald)(b. abt. 1810 PA - d.2/6/1871 Duquesne, PA) , and Jane "Jennie" McCLUGGAGE ( b. abt. 1816 PA - d. aft. November 1900 PA) . Hannah was commonly known as "Annie", and she was born September 16, 1856 in Finleyville, Peters Twp., Washington Co.; married before 1878 to Nicholas WILLIAMS, and died July 22, 1925 Duquesne, PA. The source material for this descent comes from information found on her death certificate (as given by her son Harry Williams), and from several death notices published in local newspapers in 1925.
McCLUGGAGE: This was Hannah's mother's maiden name, and the family was quite probably from Ireland. From searches done in early census records, this surname does in fact occur in geographic alignment to other McALISTER surnamed families of the same time. We do not know which is her direct family as of this writing, August, 2000, however there are two McCLUGGAGE families of the Peters-Union Twp. areas that must be "good contenders" as being "hers". Census records for 1810-1840 show a John McCLUGGAGE family, and for 1830 there is a George McCLUGGAGE family as well, and both are in the Peters Township location. It would seem that around 1850, the
McCLUGGAGE families decide to move, and they are later shown on census records in Ohio. One such record shows:
1850 Holmes County, Ohio; Kilbuck Township:
McCLUGGAGE, John 70 Ire Elenore 70 Ire, Matthew 30 PA, Hannah 28 PA. [Note: due to the repetition of these names in succeeding generations, this family is the "lead contender" at the present time.]
Another strong source of the McCLUGGAGE name in conjunction with McALISTER [Note: research in county records have shown the name to be spelled variently as McAlister, McAllister, McCalister, etc.] comes from Civil War pension papers. These were filed on behalf of one Jane McAlister, as the surviving and widowed mother of soldier John L. McAlister who served from Washington County in Company K, 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry, Volunteers. Her marriage to James
McAlister is stated, as well as the death information for her spouse. One child under the age of 16 is noted (George C. McAlister), sibling to the deceased soldier John L., and as an attesting character witness, we find the signature of Nicholas WILLIAMS who is the husband of daughter Hannah Anne.We have Hannah and Nicholas married by 1880, the parents of two sons, and living in Allegheny County just an entry away from that of her mother and brother Campbell (his full name was George Campbell McAlister, often called "Uncle Camel" by the next generations, according to his great-niece Margaret Susan WILLIAMS SMITH).
1880 Federal Census, Allegheny Co., PA (Port Perry, N. Versailles Twp.); page 43; ED 74; Line 9
Entry #115/121
McCallister Jane, 63 years of age born in PA; parents in Ireland, widow, keeping house; has lung disease
McCallister, Campbell; son, 21 years of age, single, laborer, parents and self born in PAEntry # 115/122
Williams, Nicholas, 30 years of age, born in England, carpenter-wood
Williams, Annie (wife-nee McAllister), 24 years of age, parents and self born in PA; keeping house
Williams, Jeramiah, son, 2 years of age, born in PA
Williams, Archie [Archibald], son, 1 year of age, born in PA
WILLIAMS: Nicholas WILLIAMS was born February 16, 1848 in Cornwall, England and he immigrated about 1870. We have established communication with another researcher who is the descendant of Thomas Williams; great uncle to Nicholas. Mrs. Carol Davids-Moore states that it is believed that only Nicholas emigrated from Cornwall, where the rest of the family remained. She has
furnished us a family lineage in that country back to the late 1600's. Nicholas' parents were Jeremiah and Susan (nee TALLACK) WILLIAMS, and he was the son of William WILLIAMS and Tabitha (nee BROWN) WILLIAMS. Susan was the child of Nicholas TALLACK and Susanna (nee BICE) TALLACK Nicholas had not been long in this country when he met and married Hannah McALISTER, abt. 1877. Nicholas was a carpenter by trade and on his hard work was raised a
large family, thirteen stated in one record, and we have the names for twelve of them. The couple settled in the Duquesne area about 1884, living the rest of their lives at 30 North Second Street. Their grandchildren remained in the area up to the start of World War II, when many of them enlisted in military service. All returned safe from the War, but most chose to settle in other areas of the United States. Nicholas WILLIAMS died January 4, 1935 in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, and both he and his wifeHannah are buried in the Richland Cemetery, Dravosburg, PA. Children of this couple however were numerous and most spent their adult lives in the Duquesne area. Listed below are their known children, and just a bit about them:1) Jerimiah "Jerry" McAlister WILLIAMS; b. 1/23/1878; married to Mae WATSON. He was a well-known soda pop maker/beer distributor in Duquesne, and the couple lived over their place of business which was located on Duquesne Blvd. Jerry was also of a political bent, and we have found the following short bio him:
[Source: Senate Librarian, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, October 1998:]
" I discovered Mr. Williams served in the State House of Representative from 1922-1924. His biography was brief and stated the following:
"JERRY McALISTER WILLIAMS, Allegheny County, was born in McKeesport, Allegheny County, PA, January 23, 1878; and when he was six years old his family moved to Duquesne; was educated in the public schools; has been a manufacturer of soft drinks for the past twenty-one years; has served four years in the Duquesne council and has always taken an active part in politics; elected as a Republican, to the House of Representative in 1922."This biography was printed in the 1923-24 Pennsylvania State Manual [1945,Volume 87,Commonwealth of PA; Pg. 712 Historical List of the General Assembly]. *He served in the 11th District of Allegheny County, with an office at 22 North Second Street, Duquesne. Evidently Jeremiah was named after his paternal grandfather that was left behind, in Feock, Cornwall, UK.
2) Archibald WILLIAMS, b. March 1879; was a teamster by trade, and he and a brother operated a moving company in the Duquesne area.
3) Edward WILLIAMS; b. January 1881
4) Nicholas J. WILLIAMS, Jr.; b. November 1885; married Pearl SAYRES; Nicholas was a Presbyterian Church elder and appears to have been a driving force in the 1950's when a new church, the First Presbyterian Church of Duquesne, located on Duquesne Blvd., was built. He and his wife were the parents of Jeanne, who married a latter-day pastor of the church, the Reverend Robert ANDREEN.
5) Eleanor WILLIAMS; b. abt. 1888; married Edward H. SWEENEY, and they may have lived in the Monongahela area. Their child was Anna Belle Sweeney, who married Arthur White WEDDELL. Anna Belle was a teacher in the Washington county area, and in her older age, and for the first year of the new millennium, still remembered many details, which she gave to me in hand-written letters. She remains as one of the last living, older generation, who can still remember many of these people. Thank you Anna Belle for sharing your memories with me. Anna Belle has also told me that she was named after Aunts "Annie" [Hannah Anne] and her sister "Belle" [Isabelle] McAlister.
6) Andrew WILLIAMS; twin of Annie; reportedly never married.
7) Annie WILLIAMS; twin of Andrew; reportedly never married.
8) Bertha C. WILLIAMS; b. January 24, 1899; married late in life following the death of her parents, to John WISEMAN. Well remembered by her nieces and nephews as a ticket-taker at Kennywood Amusement Park, as she always gave them lots of tickets for the rides there. Bertha and her husband lie at rest, alongside her parents in the Richland Cemetery, Dravosburg, PA. The burial site is marked by four individual flat grave markers and one large stone monument with the name WILLIAMS engraved upon it.
9) Harry Lester WILLIAMS, Sr.; b. September 1895; married to Irene Elizabeth DUNLAP; in 1919 he was a city fireman in Duquesne and later rose to the position of Fire Chief of Duquesne.
10) James B. WILLIAMS; b. April 1883
11) George John WILLIAMS; b. January 01, 1892; married Vera Clarinda HAGERTY
[another long time Fayette and Washington County surname, and my grandparents!] George was a teamster/truck driver and he and another brother (and later his sons) operated what they called a "Transfer Company", which we would think of in terms of a moving company. When the partnership
with his brother dissolved, Nicholas built a large apartment building on First Street in Duquesne. On the street level were shops, Post Office and a parking garage. Nicholas also had a contract for hauling slag from the Duquesne Steel Mill. He served in the United States Navy during WW I aboard the U. S. S. Utah and the U. S. S. Kentucky. My father also told me that he had been "Asiatic (China)Fleet-Boxing Champion". He is buried in the Penn Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, McKeesport, PA.12) Elmer WILLIAMS, b. January 1887
The mother, Hannah Anne McAlister Williams received two very nice obituary notices upon her demise in 1825:
The first is from the "Pittsburgh Press", of July 23, 1925:"MRS. HANNA A. WILLIAMS DIES
Mrs. Hanna Ann Williams, wife of Nicholas Williams, died yesterday at 11:30 p.m., in her home, 30 North Second ave., Duquesne. Mrs. Williams was born in Washington county, Sept. 16, 1856, and had resided in Duquesne for 38 years. She was a member of the First English Lutheran church and the following organizations: White Shrine, Eastern Star, Dames of Malta, Daughters of Liberty, Rebeccas, Ladies' Auxiliary of the Raymond C. Burns post, No. 188, V. F. W., and the Mothers of Democracy.
Mrs. Williams is survived by the following children: Two daughters, Bertha at home and Mrs. E. H. Sweeney of Monongahela, Pa.; Kirsh of Fairmont, W. Va.; J. M., James B. Nicholas, Jr., George J., and Harry L. Williams, all of Duquesne; 10 grandchildren; a sister, Ms. Belle Cathery of Dravosburg, and a brother, J. T. McAllister of Clinton, Pa.
Services will be held tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., in the residence, by the Mothers of Democracy and the Ladies' Auxiliary and at 8 and 8:30 the Dames of Malta and the Rebeccas will hold services. Saturday services will be held in the home at 2:30 p. m., with Rev. Elmer Rice officiating. Interment will be made in the Richmond cemetery, Dravosburg."The second article was found in the "Washington Observer", Washington, PA 27 Jul 1925:
Prominent Woman Is Interred In Pittsburg - Mrs. Hannah Anne Williams, Aged 69, Formerly of Finleyville, Had Resided At Duquesne For Long Period - Monongahela, July 26 - Funeral services were held in Pittsburg today for Mrs. Hannah Anne Williams, aged 69 years, mother of Jerry M. Williams, former member of the state legislature and wife of Nicholas Williams, Jr., who died Wednesday (22 Jul) night at her home, 30 North Second street, Duquesne. She was born near Finleyville and had been a resident of Duquesne for 38 years. She was a member of the English Lutheran church, of the White Shrine, the Order of the Eastern Star, The Order of the Amaranth, the Dames of Malta, Daughters of Liberty, Rebekahs, Ladies Auxilliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Mothers of Democracy. She leaves her husband and six sons: Arch Williams, of Fairmont, W. Va.; Jerry M.; James B.; Nicholas Jr.; George T. and Harry I., of Duquesne; two daughters: Miss Bertha Williams, at home and Mrs. Edward Sweeney, of Monongahela; one brother, George C. McAllister, of Clinton, a sister: Mrs. Belle Cothery*, of Davonsburg (? Dravosburg) and 10 grandchildren. .
*Hannah Anne McAlister Williams had a sister by the name of Isabella "Belle" McAlister [most probably named after her grandmother Isabella (nee McALLISTER) McALISTER], married to James Cothery. From the death notice below, we see that he is also buried in the Richland Cemetery in Dravosburg, and it is supposed his wife is buried there as well.
[Source is an unnamed PA newspaper; clipping found in a family album:]
"JAMES COTHERY, Jr. - On Wednesday, February 24, 1926, at 2:00 p.m. JAMES COTHERY, Jr., aged 83 years, husband of the late Isabella McAllister Cothery of 116 Euclid Avenue, Dravosburg. Funeral Services at the Amity Presbyterian Church, corner of Fourth and Euclid Ave., Dravosburg, on Friday, February 26, at 2:30 p.m. Interment in Richland Cemetery."
Submitted by descendant, Karen Souhrada
Researching:
Pennsylvania:..HAGERTY, ROBSON, ATCHESON,MC ALISTER, GEHO, WILLIAMS, BLANEY, MCCLUGAGE, HUDSON, JOBES
Illinois.......HAMMANG, KOUDELKA, LIDISKY, SORGMANN, SOUHRADA, VALTA,
VOPICKA