Colonel John Aiken    

Colonel John Aiken, register of wills in and for Washington county; former clerk of the county commissioners’ court; a veteran of the World war with an overseas record and a major commission; one of the best known and most forceful figures in the general civic life of this community, is a native of Washington, a member of one of the real pioneer families of this section of the state, and has lived here all his life. He was born in Washington, May 10, 1879, a son of the late Captain John and Jennie (Blaine) Aiken, the latter of whom also was a native of this county, born in Somerset township, a daughter of Matthew and Mary (Morton) Blaine, the latter of whom also was born in this county, the Mortons of this line having been represented here since pioneer days. Matthew Blaine, who was born in Venango county, became a well established farmer in Washington county and his last days were spent in Beallsville, this county, where he died in 1908. He was of the same line of the Blaines in America as that so eminently represented by the well—loved statesman, James Gillespie Blaine, one of Washington county’s most illustrious sons, who was born at Indian Hill farm, West Brownsville, this county, a son of Ephraim Blaine, who was a son of that Colonel Ephraim Blaine who served as commissary general of the northern department of the Revolutionary army from 1778 to the close of the war. The house which Ephraim Blaine erected upon taking up his residence at Indian Hill farm is said to have been the first stone house erected west of the Allegheny mountains and was the house in which James G. Blaine first saw the light.

The late Captain John Aiken, an honored veteran of the Civil war and in his generation one of the leading lawyers in this county, was born in West Liberty, in the neighboring county of Allegheny, February 11, 1844, a son of William and Margaret (Martin) Aiken, the former of whom, a merchant tailor long engaged in business in Washington spent his last days in Coolville, on the Hocking river in Athens county, Ohio. Though but seventeen years of age when the Civil war broke out, John Aiken lost little time in getting into the service of the Union army and as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, rose in the ranks from private to captain and with this latter rank was mustered out of the service at the close of the war in 1865. During this period of service he had determined to take up the study of law after he got out of the army and upon the completion of his military service entered Washington and Jefferson College and in 1869 was graduated (A. B.) from that institution. Under the preceptorship of Alexander Wilson he continued his law studies and in 1872 was admitted to the bar and engaged in practice in Washington, in association with T. Jeff Duncan, the two carrying on under the firm name of Aiken & Duncan. Afterward Captain Aiken carried on his practice independently, with offices in the Caldwell building and continued active in practice until his death, which occurred in Washington, March 14, 1894, he then being but a little past fifty years of age. His widow survived him for a little more than thirty years, her death occurring on August 21, 1924. They were members of the First Presbyterian church in Washington and Captain Aiken had served that congregation as an elder. He also was a member of the Masonic order. An ardent republican, he was regarded as one of the leaders of that party in this county.

Reared at Washington, the junior John Aiken supplemented the education acquired in the local public schools by a course in Washington and Jefferson College, taking there a prominent part in college athletics, and in 1901 was captain of the football team. In that same year he began his military career by enlisting as a private in the local unit of the Pennsylvania National Guard, Company H of the Tenth Regiment, Infantry. Incidentally, it may be said that Colonel Aiken has never lost his early interest in football and during the years 1908-9 coached the famous Washington and Jefferson team. Upon leaving college he entered the law office of his elder brother, Blaine Aiken, and there read law for two years. In 1907 he became connected with the auditing department of the Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburgh and in the next year (1908) was appointed clerk to the commissioners’ court of Washington county and thus began his long period of service in the courthouse. With the exception of the time out during the period of his active military service Colonel Aiken continued to serve as clerk of the commissioners’ court until his election in 1919 to the office of registrar of wills, which office he now (1925) is filling.

As noted above, it was in 1901 that Colonel Aiken began his connection with the state military establishment, starting as a private in Company H of the Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard. In 1903 he received his honorable discharge, by that time having attained the grade of sergeant. Upon the reorganization of Company H in 1909 he reenlisted and was elected first lieutenant of the company. In 1912 he was commissioned captain of this company and was thus serving as head of this command when in the spring of 1916 it was federalized for action with Pershing’s army, in connection with the flurry on the Mexican border. The regiment was ordered to the border on July 2d of that year and was in active federal service until the following October. When in the following spring (1917) the war department again called on the National Guard troops for federal service, following this country’s entrance into the World war, Captain Aiken still was in command of Company H and under orders reported with his command for mobilization on July 15th. The Tenth was ordered to Camp Hancock (Georgia) for a period of intensive training and in the following spring was detailed for overseas service, sailing for France on April 22, 1918. At the battle of the Vesle river and upon the advancement of Major Edward Martin, Captain Aiken was detailed to command a battalion and on October 16th was commissioned major and was serving with this rank at the close of the war, during the period in which his regiment was engaged at the front participating in five major engagements. On March 17th, 1919, he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and when the regiment sailed from St. Nazarre for the home port he was second in command. Upon the arrival of the regiment in the United States it was ordered to Camp Dix to be mustered out of the federal service. Colonel Joseph Thompson, who was in command when the regiment reached Camp Dix, was ordered to Washington, D. C., and Colonel Aiken thus was in command when the regiment finally was mustered out. At this time (1925) Colonel Aiken is commanding officer of the One Hundred and Tenth Infantry, N. G. P.

On July 2, 1916, Colonel John Aiken was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Dunning and they have three children: A son, John Aiken (III), born December 16, 1918, while his father was in France: and two daughters—Mary Linn, born March 16, 1921; and Sarah Jane, born April 22, 1923. Mrs. Aiken was born in Bradford. Pennsylvania, April 26, 1885, daughter of William and Alberta (Brooks) Dunning, and was graduated from the high school in that city. Colonel and Mrs. Aiken are members of the First Presbyterian church, are republicans, and are members of the Nemacolin Country Club and the Washington County Golf and Country Club. Colonel Aiken is a member of the Bassett Club and of the Kiwanis Club in Washington and the Union Club in Pittsburgh.

History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1926; Forrest, Earle Robert, Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., page 226-229.  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com.