Husband James Curtis McKinney 1 2 3
Born: 25 Nov 1844 - Pittsfield, Warren Co, PA 1 3
Christened:
Died: Aft 1913
Buried:
Father: James McKinney (1810-1894) 2 3 4
Mother: Lydia Drury Turner (1816-1898) 2 3
Marriage: 16 Apr 1868 1
Wife Agnes Elizabeth Moore 1 3
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Thomas Moore ( - ) 1
Mother:
Children
1 M Thomas J. McKinney 3 5
Born: 17 Sep 1869 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 3
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
2 M Louis C. McKinney 5
AKA: Lewis C. McKinney 3
Born: 20 Sep 1871 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 3
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
3 F Charlotte "Lottie" McKinney 3 5
Born: 19 Nov 1875 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 3
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General Notes: Husband - James Curtis McKinney
He was educated at the local public schools and at Waterford Academy, in Erie County, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1861 he left the academy and joined an engineer corps of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and helped locate several railroad lines in that part of the country. One line ran from Garland, Pennsylvania, a station on the P. & E. R. R., through Enterprise to Titusville. Another ran from Enterprise through Pleasantville, Plumer, Rouseville and Oil City to Franklin, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1863 he resigned from the engineer corps, and opened a lumber yard at Oil City, and in the spring of 1864 he established another yard at Franklin, where he made his home.
In the spring of 1864 he drilled his first oil well, in which he operated alone, at Foster, below Franklin, on the Allegheny river. Then in company with C. D. Angell he drilled a well on what was known as Scrubgrass Island, afterward Belle Island, named by Mr. Angell after his daughter. In 1868, in company with his brother John L. McKinney, he drilled several wells at Pleasantville. In 1869-70 they drilled several heavy oil wells at Frank-lin, which they afterward sold to Egbert, Mackey and Taft. In the fall of 1870 John L. went to Parker, and sunk the first oil well which used 55/ 8 -inch casing. This well was on the east side of the river, near the station of the A. V. R. R. In the same fall J. C. McKinney went also to Parker, and afterward the McKinney brothers carried on extensive operations in producing oil for many years in that part of the oil country. Subsequently H. L. Taylor & Co. joined the brothers in a new firm, with the name of John L. McKinney & Co. This association continued until the fall of 1889, when the Standard Oil Company purchased all the oil properties belonging to John L. and J. C. McKinney. Afterward the brothers were associated with the Standard Oil Company, with merged interests in the production of oil.
In 1877 Mr. McKinney moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania, where he thereafter resided. He was the general manager of the Midland Division of the South Pennsylvania Oil Company, one of the largest oil producing associations in the United States. He was closely associated with his brother in local enterprises. He was a large stockholder and a director in the Commercial Bank and in the Titusville Iron Company, and of the latter company he was also vice-president. He was also one of the directors of the Titusville Board of Trade. He was one of the ten citizens who subscribed each $10,000 to the Industrial Fund Association. His contributions in money to the support especially of St. James Memorial Church were of the most liberal character. The mausoleum which he built at Woodlawn, at an expense of $20,000, was not only a permanent ornament to the cemetery, but an honor to the city and community, which remains as a memorial of the public spirit of its author and owner long after it received his mortal remains into its final custody. It is true that the mausoleum is the private property of its builder, but it is also the property of the public as a structure of beautiful art. Besides, its owner did not exclusively close its portals to all outside of his family. The body of the beloved rector of St. James church was deposited temporarily in the McKinney mausoleum; and, speaking reverently, it may be said that the remains of the great and good Dr. Purdon have consecrated that sepulchre.
In politics, Mr. McKinney was a pronounced Jeffersonian Democrat. He did more than any other citizen in Crawford County to displace Republican ascendancy and give control of the county to his party. At the municipal election in February, 1898, he was elected councilman-at-large of Titusville over the Republican candidate by a plurality of nearly six hundred votes. The result did not, of course, represent the relative strength of the two parties in the city. As a matter of fact, Mr. McKinney came to be a power in politics. He was intense in his convictions and he supported his opinions and preferences with formidable energy, and to a degree that discouraged opposition. This may be truly said: J. C. McKinney never appeared before the public wearing a mask. He never apologized for the stand he took on a public question. The same quality made him a very successful business man. As a rule, he was rapid, rather than impulsive, in his conclusions. In 1897 the leading Democrats of Pennsylvania insisted that he should consent to be the candidate of their party for state treasurer, and nothing but his peremptory refusal to accept, prevented his nomination. Again, in 1898, he was pressed by his party to take the nomination from his district for Congress, but his refusal was unconditional and absolute. [HCC 1899, 858]
General Notes: Wife - Agnes Elizabeth Moore
from Franklin, Venango Co, PA