Belfast Ireland

Biography of Alexander Owens

June 17, 1830, near Belfast, Ireland, the subject of this sketch was born. He was the son of Archibald and Mary (McMaster) Owens, both lifelong residents of the Emerald Isle. Their children were Jane, Mary, Alexander, Margaret, Anna, William and Jennie, all of whom became citizens of the United States, and all of whom, with the exception of Jennie and the subject of this review, are now deceased. Alexander came to America when but sixteen years of age and settled at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. There he earned the carpenter’s trade, which he has followed the greater part of his life. At … Read more

Biography of David Ranken, Jr.

David Ranken, Jr., was born at Boystown, County Londonderry, Ireland, October 9, 1835. He was the son of David and Ann Ranken of old Scotch-Irish Presbyterian ancestry which had emigrated from Scotland to the north of Ireland several centuries ago and engaged in the linen industry, in which they were highly prosperous. He was educated in Belfast Academy, Belfast, Ireland. His mother’s last surviving brother, David Ranken, who had come to this country in 1816, died a bachelor in St. Louis in 1859, leaving a large estate which was inherited by the families of his two deceased brothers, Thomas and … Read more

Biography of William P. Boyd

WILLIAM P. BOYD. – The subject of this sketch is the senior member of the well-known dry-goods house of W.P. Boyd & Co., of Seattle. Mr. Boyd was born in Belfast, Ireland, April 2, 1849, and is of the hardy Scotch-Irish race that believe in themselves, and through their own exertions have done much towards the building up of the Pacific Northwest. Our subject, when but fifteen years of age, was apprenticed with a large dry-goods, mercantile firm in his native city, and served four years, afterwards being a salesman with the same firm. In the fall of 1869, Mr. … Read more

Biography of Cyrus F. Clapp

CYRUS F. CLAPP. – This leader in the business circles of the Lower Sound was born in Piscataquis county, Maine, July 29, 1851, and was the son of Stephen and Alvina Hunt Clapp. He lived in Maine until 1865, receiving the foundation of an education at the public school and continuing his studies at Hanover Academy of Massachusetts. Still ambitious for further acquirements, he crossed the Atlantic and spent two years at the Royal Institute of Belfast, Ireland, and completed his course at Saint Andrews College in Scotland. Returning to his home in America, he soon found a business situation … Read more

Biography of Hugh Jackson Robinson

Hugh Jackson Robinson. Going about the streets with firm step, attending to his affairs with unclouded mind, Hugh Jackson Robinson has attained the dignity and distinction of eight-three years of useful and honorable life. He is one of the oldest residents of Champaign County and has known this section of Illinois for over sixty years. He was born near Belfast, Ireland, March 28, 1833, a son of Robert and Maria Margaret (Jackson) Robinson. His mother, it is said, was a first cousin of President Andrew Jackson. The Robinsons are of Scotch stock. The mother died in Ireland and the father … Read more