Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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James H. McCabe and [Unk] Watson




Husband James H. McCabe 1 2

            AKA: "Squire"  McCabe,3 4 James E. McCabe 5
           Born: 7 Oct 1782 - Cumberland Co, PA 1 5
     Christened: 
           Died: 16 Nov 1850 1 5
         Buried: 


         Father: William McCabe (Abt 1755-      ) 2 5 6 7 8
         Mother: 


       Marriage: 

   Other Spouse: Jane "Jennie" Vance (      -1819) 1 3 4 5 9 - 20 May 1813 5

   Other Spouse: Margaret White (      -      ) 1 3 5



Wife [Unk] Watson 1 3 5

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


Children

• They had no children.


General Notes: Husband - James H. McCabe


He immigrated with his parents to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in 1792, and settled on Chartiers creek, near the Washington County line.

His first wife died childless, and soon thereafter he moved to Moon township, near where Montour run empties into the Ohio river. Here, where the borough of Coraopolis is now located, he acquired title to a large grant of land by purchase from the first governor of Pennsylvania, Breckenridge. About this time he married Jane Vance, daughter of Robert Vance, the first permanent settler in Moon township, and Robert Vance dying, shortly afterwards, Jane (Vance) McCabe came into possession of a portion of the Vance lands. The Indians on the opposite side of the river were very aggressive and made frequent predatory incursions into this territory. Following the customary method of self-defense, the pioneers early erected a fort on the Vance farm to which they fled for protection when the Indians became hostile. They named it Fort Vance, and the postoffice at this point was known as Vancefort until the incorporation of the settlement into the borough of Coraopolis, June 7, 1886. The village, however, was for many years prior to the incorporation of the borough known as Middletown. Squire McCabe had one child, James Harvey McCabe, by Jane Vance. A few years after her death he married Mrs. Margaret Kiefer, nee White, daughter of John White, of Ohio township, Allegheny county, by whom he had five children. He was appointed a magistrate by Governor Simon Snyder, and served over fifty years.

Upon attaining man's estate he became a farmer, an occupation in which he had been previously trained through assisting his father on the home farm, and owned one hundred and fifty acres of land later occupied by the city of Coraopolis. His religion was Presbyterian and he was an elder in the Sharon church, having a reputation throughout the locality as a man stern and upright in his ways, being more than usually punctilious in his observance of the Sabbath and "keeping it holy" in the strictest sense of the Commandment. He was a Whig in political belief, and received an appointment as justice of the peace under Governor Simon Snyder, serving in that capacity for more than fifty years. His universal appellation was "Squire," and "Squire" McCabe was known far and wide.
In the earlier days of his life the hostility between the Indians and the white settlers continued strong and unabated, active engagements having decreased in frequency only because of the rapidly growing strength of the pioneers. "Squire" McCabe on one occasion met an Indian at the public spring and watering trough located about one-quarter of a mile from the McCabe home. The meeting was unexpected, and although both were armed, the weapon of neither was loaded. Retreat for either was impossible and a thrilling race in loading rifles ensued, the "Squire" charging his weapon first and shooting his Indian enemy dead. [GPHWP, 1576]

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Sources


1 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 706.

2 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 470.

3 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 471.

4 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 540.

5 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 1576.

6 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 458, 706.

7 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 871.

8 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 926.

9 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914), Pg 598.


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