JAMES Q. McGIFFIN. Nathaniel McGiffin. great-grandfather of this gentleman, was a native of Scotland, from whence he removed to Ireland in his youth, with his father's family. He came to America prior to the Revolutionary war, entered the Continental army, in which he served, participating in the battles of Brandywine and Trenton, and experiencing the memorable winter of Valley Forge. He served for a time under Gen. La Fayette and received an honorable discharge at the end of the war, signed by Gen. Washington. By occupation he was a farmer, and about the year 1781 he made a settlement on the Ten Mile creek, Amwell township, this county, where he died. He had two children, viz.: one daughter, Elizabeth, married Jacob Cook, a farmer, who died in Texas. His only son, Thomas, was born in Amwell township, in this county, January 1, 1784, and received his education at Canonsburg Academy, studied law with Parker Campbell, Esq., and was admitted to the bar of Washington county, in February, 1807. He commenced practice' at Vincennes, Ind., and was also admitted at St. Louis, to practice in the then Territory of Louisiana. In 1809 he returned to Washington county, and during the remainder of his life continued in practice in the chief borough and in adjoining counties, a portion of the time in partnership with John L. Gow, Sr. At the same time he carried on his farm in Amwell township, which he stocked with thoroughbred cattle from Henry Clay's farm in Kentucky. He enjoyed the friendship of Mr. Clay, with whom he interchanged letters expressive of mutual esteem and confidence. He was interested in politics, and in 1836 represented the county in the Legislature. Thomas McGiffin was one of the contractors who built the Cumberland road, also known as the "National Road," and had large contracts in Washington and Fayette counties, Penn., and in Virginia; associated with him in the enterprise were Maj. John H. Ewing, Judge Baird and others. He was married to Marie Norton, a native of Connecticut. To Thomas and Marie (Norton) McGiffin were born children as follows: Nathaniel (deceased) who was a merchant in Knox county, Ohio; Thomas, Jr. (deceased in 1890, at the age of seventy years) was an attorney in Washington, Penn., having been admitted to the bar in 1841 (in 1865 he removed to Fairfield, Iowa, where he carried on farming); George Wallace (died in Washington, Penn., when young); Philo Norton (died in boyhood); Norton, the father of the subject of this sketch; Marie, married to Thomas Boyd, died in Connellsville, Penn.; Julia, married to Rev. William Hamilton, for years a missionary among the Indians, is deceased; Margaret, married to Rev. W. B. McIlvaine, formerly of East End, Pittsburgh, late of Peoria, Ill. (deceased), died at the latter place in February, 1891; Ann, unmarried, lives in Peoria. The father of this family was an able lawyer, a genial wholesouled man, and enjoyed the esteem of a wide circle of friends. Norton McGiffin, son of Thomas, Sr., was born January 23, 1824, in Washington, Washington Co., Penn., and received his primary education at the public schooled of the borough, after which he attended Washington College, from which he graduated in 1841. Subsequently, for a period of two years, he read law with Nathaniel Ewing., at Uniontown; Penn., and then, the Mexican war having broken out, he enlisted in the First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company K (this company was known as the "Du Quesne Greys"), at Pittsburgh, and served throughout the entire struggle, participating in the siege of Pueblo, the storming of the Castle of Chapultepec, City of Mexico and Vera Cruz. His company was surrounded in the streets of Pueblo, and the greater part of it was cut to pieces, but he escape serious injury. At the close of the war he was commissioned colonel by the governor of Pennsylvania. On his return to the pursuits of peace he was elected treasurer of Washington county, serving from 1849 to 1852, after which he farmed until he was elected sheriff, an incumbency he filled from 1859 to 1861. In response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers in the war of the Rebellion, he led the first company that left Washington for the front, known as the "Washington Invincibles." This company left Washington April 20, 1861, and in Pittsburgh was incorporated as Company E, in the Twelfth P. V. I., upon the organization of which Norton McGiffin was elected lieutenant-colonel. At the close of the three month's service Col. McGiffin was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Eighty-fifth P. V. I., Col. J. B. Howell, under Gen. McCellan, serving in the Peninsular campaign, during which he was stricken with disease from which he still suffers. Being disabled, he resigned his commission and returned to Washington, a mere shadow of his former self. About the close of the war he went to Ohio county, W. Va., where he resided until 1870, then returned to Washington county. In 1880 he was elected to the House of Representatives, serving until 1882, in which year he removed to Ida Grove, Ida Co., Iowa, where he engaged in farming. In 1886 he proceeded to Fair Haven, Cayuga Co., N. Y., and in 1890 was appointed U. S. Consul at Port Rowan, on Lake Erie, Ontario (Canada), with headquarters at Simcoe, a few miles further north. On March 13, 1892, he was appointed U. S. Consul at Port Hope, Canada, where he now resides. In 1853 he was married to Miss Sarah Houston, daughter of James Quail, one of the early settlers of North Strabane township, having come about the year 1816; of his children, William lives near Topeka, Kans.; Alexander in Ida Grove, Iowa, and a daughter (Mrs. George F. McCombs) in Allegheny, Penn. To Col. and Mrs. McGiffin were born six children, five of whom are yet living, viz.: Sallie Quail, widow of G. W. Henshaw, of Virginia; Thomas, living at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands; James Quail, subject proper of these lines; Philo Norton, superintendent of the "Imperial Chinese Naval College" at We Hai Wei, China (he is a graduate of the U. S. Navel Academy, at Annapolis, Md., and for a time was in the U. S. Navy); and Nathaniel, at present a student at Hamilton College, New York. James Quail McGiffin was born September 21, 1856, in Amwell township, this county, at the at the common schools at which place he received his primary education. Afterward he entered Washington and Jefferson College, but while in the sophomore year he left for California, where he remained for years. On his return to Washington, in 1878, he read law with John W, Donnan, Esq., and was admitted to the bar of Washington county, January 9, 1882. In the spring of the same year, he moved to Ida Grove, Iowa, where he remained, engaged in the practice of law till March 1891, when he returned to Washington and resumed the practice of his profession. In December, 1884, Mr. McGiffin was married to Miss Carrie, daughter if Noble Ruggles, of Manchester, Iowa, and two children have come to brighten their home: Norton and Helen Elizabeth. Politically our subject is a Republican.

Text taken from page 110 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Wilbur Frye of Pacifica, CA as part of the Beers Project. Published April 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]