The following information is taken from the "History of Butler County, Pennsylvania," published in 1895 by R.C. Brown Co.

Capt. John McCollough, the progenitor of the family in Butler county, was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. His parents were pioneers of that locality and his father a practicing physician. During the absence of the latter from home, his wife was murdered by the hired man and the cabin burned to the ground. Young John escaped into the woods, and afterwards found a home with a German family, with whom he lived some years and became quite proficient in the German language. He served as an Indian scout upon the frontier during the troubles with the savages, and was afterwards a captain in the War of 1812. As an illustration of the hardships endured by these brave defenders of the nation, he often related how, upon one occasion, the soldiers of his company, worn out by forced marches, stretched themselves upon the damp ground to sleep and in the morning found their clothing and hair frozen fast to the ground. Captain McCollough married Elizabeth Spangler, a native of Luzerne county, who became the mother of ten children, as follows: William; James; John; Elizabeth, wife of James Crawford, of Concord township; Mary, deceased wife of Daniel Kridler; David; Sarah, wife of William Wick, of Concord township; Susan, wife of William Truxal, of Butler; Catherine, wife of John Miller, of Allegheny county, and Phoebe, wife of John Deets, of Fairview township. Late in the last or early in the present century Captain McCollough and wife settled in Fairview township, Butler county, where he entered a large tract of land. He subsequently removed to Butler, resided in that borough for many years, but finally located at Millerstown, where he died in 1847, at the age of seventy-seven years. He was an elder in the English Lutheran church, a man of clear judgment, and took a prominent part in the public affairs of his times.