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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA

turned from his own sorrows and became active in securing relief for his surviving townsmen. He was appointed a member of the Committee of Inquiry, whose duty it was to inquire into the merits of the claims of those among whom the relief fund was to be distributed. The Hon. Tom L. Johnson, of Cleveland, Ohio, was chairman of the committee, but soon resigned, and Mr. Hannan, being second on the committee, took his place. It was a thankless task; to satisfy all was impossible; weaker men would have resigned in disgust, but it is to the honor of the committee that they stuck to their arduous and disagreeable task until the matter was adjusted as satisfactorily as was possible under the circumstances.     After the Committee of Inquiry had completed its work Mr. Hannan again went into the foundry business, this time on Broad street. After two years his health failed and he was compelled to give up this business.     He then bought the hardware stock of Waeldin & Whittaker and went into the hardware business in the "Hannan Block," which he built on Franklin street. On the fourth of March, 1896, this splendid block was ruined by fire, but has since been rebuilt and is today the finest business block in the city.     Mr. Hannan was married Aug. 29, 1859, to Agnes P., daughter of John Matthews, of Summit, Pa. To them were born the following children : Jennie, deceased; Martin Ellsworth, the contractor; James, who operates a machine shop on Broad street; Mary Ellen, deceased; John V.; Charles E., the well-known physician; Harry J.; Frank, who is in the drug business in the Hannan Block; Eugene, deceased; and Leo, who died in infancy.     In politics Mr. Hannan has always been a staunch democrat, and was elected by that

party as a representative in the State Legislature for the term of 1875-76. He was also at one time a member of the town council, and is one of the trustees of the Johnstown Savings Bank. ROBERT E. CRESWELL, a member of the Cambria county bar, and who has been in active and sucessful practice for many years, is a son of Thomas H. and Ellen (Burke) Creswell, and was born at Strongstown, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1859. The name of Creswell is well and favorably known in Maryland, where, near Hagerstown, Robert Creswell, the paternal grandfather of Robert E. Creswell, was born and reared, and became successively a resident of Franklin, Blair and Indiana counties. His son, Thomas H., was born in Indiana county, 1827, and in early life became a furnace superintendent for the celebrated iron-master, Dr. Peter Shoenberger, of Pittsburg, who operated extensively in Blair and Cambria counties. When there came a depression in the iron business Mr. Creswell went to Strongstown, Indiana county, which was then quite a centre for lumbering, and engaged in the lumber business, which he followed up to the time of his death, May 11, 1882. He also opened a store, which he conducted in connection with his lumber dealing, as long as he lived. Politically he believed in the principles of the Democratic party, but, beyond local affairs, and voting for State and National nominees, he took no active part in politics. In religion he followed in the footsteps of his ancestors, who were of the Catholic faith. He married Ellen Burke, who was born at Cherry Hill, Indiana county, and is still living. She is a daughter of Edmund Burke, a native of County Waterford, Ireland, and most likely of

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