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WHO WAS WHO in PLUM TOWNSHIP
~ Titusville Herald ~
By H. W. Strawbridge

John Noel

John Harvey Noel was born in Cherrytree Township in 1848. He was one of a number of children of Thomas and Sarah Seely Noel. His brothers included James, Henry, Samuel, Erie, George & Perry Noel, and his sisters were Mrs. Jane Seely and Miss Lottie Noel. Very little seems to be known about the early Noel family. It is said that they were of French descent. There is record of one Jerry Noel having owned some land in the area between Hamilton’s Corners and Fairview in the 1840s. He was without doubt a close kin of Thomas Noel.

In 1853 Thomas sold his Cherrytree Township farm to the Hamilton family and with his family moved near Luce’s Corners, Troy Township. Thus John was only about five when they moved.

On Oct. 28, 1871, John was married to Miss Alice Lucy Grove, a neighbor girl, whose parents were Peter and Jane Foster Grove. Alice was born Oct. 15, 1854. The Grove home was situated in the extreme northwestern corner of Plum Township which juts into Troy Township. John and Alice first stayed in the home of her parents. But there seemed to be so much work taking care of the entire family affairs, that they moved a short distance west in the house that was later owned by the Dempsey family. Then sometime afterwards John and Alice moved into a house that formerly sat on the hill south of the present Emory Armstrong farmstead. The house sat on the west side of the road.

John mainly farmed during his rather short life. He also had employment in the Stavemill owned by Squire Joe Morse in Chapmanville. He and a friend named Pitt Morse used to go to rifle shooting matches where they tried their luck on turkeys. He also played the violin. However, he played it for his own amusement rather than at a public function.

He was an individual who was six feet, two inches tall, with a weight of 210 pounds. He always wore a mustache. Having been husky, he once walked to Troy Center and cradled six acres of oats, then he walked back home again. He bought horses which other men could not break. He had the knack of breaking horses to work or ride, the he re-sold them.

John and Alice were the parents of the following six children: Lanson Verne Noel, March 1, 1873; Kyle Dallas Noel, Sept. 22, 1875; Winifred Noel, Aug. 14, 1879; Roscoe Grove Noel, July 28, 1885; Faye Lottie Noel, June 18, 1890; and Orie Glen Noel, Dec. 25, 1891.

Lanson, or "Lant" was married to Miss Edith Smith of Pittsburgh on March 8, 1906. They lived in Reno and his occupation was that of a carpenter. He worked on many of the larger buildings in Oil City. He died Jan. 1, 1936 and is buried at Chapmanville. Mrs. Noel lives at North East. They had four children: Mrs. Elsie Oddette of North East, Alice Noel (deceased when a baby), Mrs. Evelyn McGarry of Reno and Mrs. Phyllis Johnson of New Jersey.

Kyle was married to Miss Pearl Thomas. They lived at Pittsburgh, then later lived at Reno. Kyle was also a carpenter. He served as a private in Company E. of the 16th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Vol. Infantry during the Spanish-American War. They had one son, Harry Vern Noel, who died at the age of ten in Pittsburgh. Mrs. Noel died in January, 1952 and Kyle died April 3, 1953. They are buried at Troy Center.

Winifred, or "Winnie" as married in Jamestown, N.Y. on June 3, 1897 to Orie Ribb of Troy Township. They spent their life on a farm there. Mrs. Ribb died May 24, 1963 and Orie died three months later - Aug. 27. They are buried at Troy Center. They had one son, John Clarence Ribb who resides near the old home of his later parents.

Grove was married to Miss Almeda Williams of East Troy on Aug. 1, 1912, at Franklin. He taught school for six years, then they moved to Akron, Ohio where he worked in the Firestone Company office for 42 years. He died Dec. 21, 1962 and he is buried at East Troy. Mrs. Noel lives in Akron. They had two sons, Raymond G. Noel of Indianapolis and Dana E. Noel of Akron.

Faye was married to John Armstrong of Chapmanville on May 31, 1911 at Oil City. They have lived in Chapmanville where he followed the occupation of a carpenter. They are retired. They have two sons, Clive L. Armstrong of Titusville and William F. Armstrong of Chapmanville.

Glen was married to Miss Edna Nies of Meadville on Aug. 27, 1913, at Meadville. He worked for the Firestone Company in Akron for a number of years. He has also been engaged in carpentry work. They live on his father’s last place in northern Plum Township. Their children include Mrs. Anna May Williams of Bradleytown, Robert G. Noel of Bradleytowns, John F. Noel of Millington,Tenn., Mrs. Harriet Nelson of Oil City and Mrs. Jean Wagner of Sunville.

The children like their father very well. As youngsters, Lant and Kyle often jumped onto his back when he would be walking to the barn.

John and Alice were charter members of the Christian Advent Church of Plum when it organized on April 27, 1884. John was one of the first two deacons elected. He and Alice also sang in the choir, and their daughter, Winnie, sat with them in the choir. John also served as Sunday school superintendent. He read the Bible every evening. The Advent Church sat in Chapmanville between the present home of the James Bradley family and the Methodist parsonage. It was torn down about 1910.

John Noel adhered strictly to the divine rule of keeping the Sabbath holy. He did not work on Sundays. [ part of the article is missing]... hide eggs well before Easter so that when Easter arrived there would be plenty of eggs to eat. On the Sunday morning before one Easter a hen cackled in John's coop. Winnie, then a little girl, got up and hurried to retrieve the egg. John caught her and spanked her with the Bible. He did not approve of her plan to retrieve the egg on Sunday.

John was one of the early Prohibitionist voters in Plum Township. He did not partake of intoxicating beverages.

In 1865 John and Alice traded their place on the road north of Chapmanville to her brother William Grove, for the farm of 47 1/2 acres in the northwestern corner of Plum Township where John lived his last. This had been a portion of the farm of Peter Grove, the father of Alice. John had a new house built with Tip Smith having been the carpenter, and he also had the barn built. Both buildings presently stand and are owned by John’s youngest son, O.G. Noel.

The day of Monday, June 27, 1892 was a day of history in the annals of Troy Township. On that day a tornado swept through the southern end of the township, destroying crops, buildings, livestock, time and miles of fence. While it did not claim a human life during its rage, it was to be the indirect cause of the death of one man – John Noel. Just prior to the storm, the Noel men were working in the woods. Alice, seeing that it was to be a bad storm, hurriedly sent Winnie to the woods to tell the men to hurry to the buildings. It was a good thing that they came to the buildings because the tree under which they planned to stand had been blown over. The twister tore off the roof of the barn of John's father, Thomas, who lived up the hill from John’s place, (John's buildings were not in the path of the storm.)

On the Fourth of July several men gathered at the Tom Noel farm to re-roof the barn. Alice had wanted to go to a celebration at Townville that day, but John wanted to help repair his father’s barn roof. John raced with a neighbor, Harvey Kaster, to see who could complete his section of roofing first. John won, and put up his hands exclaiming he was done. On the north side of the comb of the roof there was a hole which was used to pull the shingles up to the workers. John stepped backward, forgetting about the hole, and plunged 30 feet through the interior of the barn. He had grabbed a rope, but the rope pulled through the pulley. It was said there was another rope which had been secured, and had he grabbed it instead, his fall would have been checked. His body struck a couple of girders or timbers during the plunge.

It appeared that John had no internal injuries, but he did have a smashed arm. He was taken into his father's house, placed in a downstairs bedroom and a doctor summoned. The doctor had spent his Fourth under the influence of liquor and he carelessly sewed up John's arm without any cleaning or disinfecting. John's condition worsened. Gangrene was taking hold, and the cries of agony could behead quite a distance away. Another doctor was asked to take over, but this latter doctor refused to take any of the first doctor’s cases. The arm finally swelled to the size of a stovepipe and on July 9 – five days after the accident, John died. His body was in such a condition that is was necessary to bury him immediately in the Troy Center Cemetery. A memorial service was held a week later in the Troy Center Church. His widow was unable to attend because the shock had put her to bed.

The youngest son, Glen, was only six months old. His uncle, Samuel Noel, took him into his home and kept him for some time. After Alice recovered sufficiently she then took Glen home. During the last several years of her life, Alice stayed in the homes of her children. She stayed a couple of winters with her brothers in Alabama. She died in the home of her daughter, Winnie Ribb, on Nov. 23, 193_ at the age of 77. She was laid beside John who passed on more than 39 years previously.

Transcribed by Penny Kulbacki Minnick
minnick862@verizon.net

Disclaimer:there may be errors due to transcription of information from both early and late (current contributors) work.