Sewickley Herald

              a
Pear no man, and do justice to all men."
Vol. Ill
SEWICKLEY, PA., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1905
No. 14
JOSHUA S. PEERS. S
Joshua S. Peers died last Saturday morning at the home of his
daughter, Mrs. W. G. Phelps, of
Hill street. He had been in delicate health ever since his hazardous crossing of the continent during the gold excitement of 1849,
but had been in bed only a few
days. Mr. Peers was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1821, and when
quite young the family moved to
Gollinsville, 111. In 1852 he married Adaline Gollins, a member of
the family from whom the town
was named and they lived there
during their married life, Mrs.
Peers dying in 1895. Mr. Peers
continued to live there until four
years ago when he came to Sewickley and made his home with
:his daughter, Mrs. Marian P.
Phelps. Three other children survive—Dr. Theodore W. Peers and
Henry E. Peers, of Topeka, Kan.,
'and Mrs. Lillian T. Bradford, of
Los Angeles. Mr. Peers was a
member of the Presbyterian church,
of Gollinsville, where he was buried
.Monday. He retired from business
40 years ago and had been engaged in looking after the family estates. Mr. Peers was a man of
many lovable traits, and his sunny
disposition won for him a host of
frientls in the Valley who mourn
with the bereaved family at his
sudden demise.
.   JAMES B. OLIVER. S
Mr. James- B. Oliver, president
of the Oliver Iron and Steel Gompany, died at his home at Shields
at 8.15 o'clock Tuesday evening
after a brief illness of pneumonia.
Mr. Oliver-was taken sick last Friday while in his office in the city,'
with a severe chill. He went to*
his home where pneumonia developed. It was a typical case of the
disease and alarmed neither the
members   of  his 'family  nor  his
physicians. Tuesday morning he
seemed to be progressing favorably,
but early in the evening he sank
rapidly to his death.
Mr. Oliver was born in the First
ward of Allegheny, April 4, 1844,
and was the third son of Henry W.
and Margaret Oliver, who had emigrated from Ireland two years before
and settled in Allegheny city. His
education was received entirely at
the public schools of the First ward,
under the able supervision of John
Kelly, one of the foremost educators of his day. He left school early,
and was a breadwinner from the
age of 15 until the day of his death.:
At the age of 20 he entered the!
office of Lewis, Oliver & Phillips,
as a clerk, and began his real life
work as an iron manufacturer. In'
1866 he was made a member of
thefirm, in which his brothers Henry:
W. and David B. were partners. In
1880 Mr. W. J. Lewis retired and
the business was continued under
the name of Oliver Brothers &
Phillips, and in 1887 was incorpor-;
ated as the Oliver Iron & Steel Go.,:
of which Mr. Oliver had for many;
years been the president and the
active head. He was also president
of the Oliver & Snyder Steel Go.,
the Monongahela Natural Gas Go.
and the other corporations which
together form what is known as the
Oliver manufacturing interests.
Mr. Oliver took an active part in
public affairs—his whole life interest beingdivided betweenhisprivate
business and his home. In the
former he was beyond measure active, energetic and able, and the
success of his various enterprises
is due largely to his unflagging zeal
and his complete mastery of details. His devotion to his home
and his family was as marked as
his devotion to business. In social
life he was an agreeable, genial
companion. He was a member of
all the city and country clubs, and
of McKinley Lodge No. 318 Free
and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Oliver was married in 1870
to Miss Amelia Neville Shields,
daughter of Thomas L. Shields, one
of the first settlers in the Sewickley
(Continued on page 12.)
Business Men's
Association.
An Important Meeting Will
Be Held Dec. 5th.
The regular meeting of the Sewickley Valley Business Men's Association will be held over Walker's
pharmacy, Beaver and Broad
streets, on Tuesday evening, December 5th. This promises to be a
very interesting session and considerable important business will
be brought before, the' association
for their consideration.
The Gommittee on Speakers has
been fortunate in securing Mr. W.
K. Brown, who will address the
members on a topic that will be of
interest to them, as Mr. Brown is a
man well versed in the business
affairs of the great industrial center of Pittsburg, and is also familiar
with affairs in the Valley as he is a
resident of this place. Every member should attend this meeting, as
it is understood that the association will have its charter by then,
and it is desirous to get down to
business.
Edgeworth Council.
The regular meeting of Edge-
worth Gojjncil was held Monday
evening, in the council chamber,
with President Lord in the chair,
After the usual routine of business
was disposed of an ordinance which
was presented some time ago by the
Edgeworth Electric company was
brought up, but it was laid over
until the next regular meeting,
The street commissioner was authorized to purchase some material
for use on the streets. Some other
minor business was disposed of and
Gouncil adjourned.
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