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A TWENTIETH CENTURY
HISTORY
OF
ERIE COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
A NARRATIVE ACCOUNT OF ITS HISTORICAL PROGRESS, ITS
PEOPLE, AND ITS PRINCIPAL INTERESTS
BY
JOHN MILLER
ILLUSTRATED
Volume II
1909
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO
I THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
706983
*STOH, LENOX AND
TluDiN FOUNDATION*
R 1915 I-
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Frederick Brevillier. Nearly a half century ago Frederick
Brevillier became one of the two interested principals in what eventually
became one of the leading wholesale grocery houses of Northern Penn-
sylvania and until within very recent years he continued to be identified
with this line of enterprise in the city of Erie, where he remains to-day
a representative citizen and one whose course has been such as to com-
mand for him the confidence and high esteem of the community which
has been his home during the major portion of his life. His capitalistic
investments are of important and varied order, and as a man he is es-
sentially broad-minded, liberal and public-spirited. Self-aggrandizement
has not hedged him in, and his name is known in the realm of practical
philanthropy and judicious benevolence. His influence has definitely
permeated the civic and business life of the city of Erie, and it is most
consonant that he be accorded recognition as a publican of this pro-
vince.
Frederick Brevillier was born in Sonnenberg, Sachsen-AIeiningen,
Germany, on the 29th of August, 1838, and is a son of Alexander and
Christiane (Koch) Brevillier. The agnatic lineage is traced back to
stanch French-Huguenot origin, and the founders of the family in Ger-
many were refugees who fled from France to escape the persecutions in-
cident to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685. Like many
others of the same patrician French lineage, they found hospice in Ger-
many and located in the city of Frankfort-on-Main, where they be-
came identified with extensive business and banking enterprises. The
m.other of Frederick Brevillier was of German descent. In 1840, when
he was about two years of age, his parents removed from his native
place to Hildburghausen, Thuringia, and there he received his rudimen-
tary education in a private school, after which he entered the local gym-
nasium, a collegiate preparatory institution comparing with the Ameri-
can high school. He there continued his studies until the spring of 1852,
when he entered a polytechnical school in the citv of Nuernberg, Bavaria,
where he remained a student until the spring of 1851, when he with-
drew to accompany his parents on their removal to the city of Erie,
Pennsylvania, where his elder brother, Gustave F., had taken up his resi-
dence several years previously. The family arrived in Erie June 10,
1854, and this city has represented their home during the long inter-
vening years. Here the honored father died on the 20th of July. 1860,
and the cherished and devoted wife and mother was summoned to
eternal rest on the 16th of February, 1876.
During the year 1855 Frederick Brevillier was a student in the Erie
Academy, and in the spring of the following year he became an employe
in a large importing house in New York City, where he remained until
the latter part of 1857. He then entered the Bryant & Stratton Business
College in the city of Cleveland, where he completed a three months'
course, after which he accepted the position of secretary and treasurer
of the Croton Glass Works, at New Castle. Pennsylvania. Later on,
in compliance wdth the wishes of his venerable parents, Jie returned to
Erie, where he entered the employ of J. V. Boyer, who conducted a
hardware establishment on upper State street. In Januar3^ 1861, he be-
came bookkeeper in the wholesale grocery establishment of J. Johnston
Vol. II— 1
2 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
& Brother, and on the 23rd of February, 1864, he was admitted to the
firm as a copartner with Joseph and Orville Johnston, under the firm
name of Johnston & Brevilher. Under this title the business was con-
tinued for nearly two score of years, and during all this time the reputa-
tion of the firm was impregnable, while it advanced to the rank of one
of the leading commercial concerns of this section of the state. Based
upon honorable dealings and most efifective service, the business of the
house reached extensive proportions and covered a large territory. On
the 12th of ]\Iarch, 1901, Joseph Johnston retired from the firm, owing
to advanced age and the desire to be free from the exactions of active
business. Mr. Brevillier purchased his honored partner's interest in
the business, which he thereafter continued under his own name until
April 1. 190G, when, after forty-five years of arduous and effective work
in the wholesale grocery trade, he too felt it expedient to retire, and the
business was closed out.
A man of fine intellectuality and broad mental ken, it is but natural
that j\Ir. Brevillier should have taken at all times a lively interest in public
affairs, especially those of a public order. He has been repeatedly
honored with positions of public trust, and no citizen has maintained a
more secure hold upon popular confidence and esteem in Erie than has
this veteran business man and sterling citizen. He is one of the charter
members of the Erie Board of Trade, which w^as organized in 1874, and
for many years he w^as a member of its dii;ectorate ; he was president of
the organization for the fiscal year 1902-3. As a member of the board of
corporators of St. \'incent's liospital, he has served several years on its
board of directors, and he is also connected with the board of corporators
of Hamot Hospital, and that of the Erie cemetery. In the latter he has
served as a member of the board of directors since May. 190.j. He was
for seven years a valued member of the Erie board of education, and
was president of the East ward school board at the time when, in June,
1870, the East and West ward school board were consolidated, under
the title of the Eric school district. In February, 1901, Mr. Brevillier
was elected a member of the board of trustees of the Erie public library,
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Charles Jarecki, and in the
following December he w-as elected for the regular term of three years,
at which expiration he was chosen as his own successor, retiring at the
expiration of his third term. December 31, 1907.
In politics Mr. Brevillier gives his allegiance to the Republican
party. He became a charter member of the Erie Liedertafel, organized
in September. 1802. and served as its president for two terms. He has
been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity since October 20, 1868, when
he became an entered apprentice in Perry Lodge, No. 392, Free &
Accepted Masons, with which he is still identified. In the Scottish Rite
he is affiliated with Presq'isle Lodge of Perfection, and the Pittsburg
Consistory, besides which he is enrolled as a member of the adjunct
organization. Zem Zem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles
of the Mystic Shrine.
Since his retirement from the wholesale grocery trade Mr. Brevillier
has kept constantly in active touch with the business affairs of his home
city, where he has various capitalistic investments, including stock in
manufacturing concerns. He has devoted much of his time and attention
to the various civic and public offices of which he has been incumbent
since his retirement from active business.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 3
On the 6th of October, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Brevillier to Miss Charlotte M. Walther, daughter of the late Jacob
Walther, of Erie, and of this union have been born four sons, all of
whom are actively identified with business interests in Erie. Frederick
A., who married Miss Katharina E. Conrad is secretary of the Erie
Brewing Company ; Charles G. is one of the representative members of
the bar of his native county and is engaged in the practice of his profes-
sion in the city of Erie ; Arthur W., who married Miss Eda W. Conrad,
is secretary and treasurer of the Morse Iron Works ; and Edwin H. is
identified with the Union Iron Works.
. In studying a clean-cut, sane, distinct character like that of Frederick
Brevillier interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation. His
character is the positive expression of a strong nature, and he has made
his life count for good in all its relations. In his home city he is veritably
surrounded by "troops of friends" and by other gracious influences
which make for the gaining and holding of the "durable satisfactions''
of life.
Edwin Walker, president of the Erie Specialty Company, is one
of the best known citizens of the city. He is a native of Bradford
county, Pennsylvania, and descended from hardy pioneers of the Key-
stone State, his ancestors occupied a prominent place in the development
of Northeastern Pennsylvania also having been noted woodsmen and
Indian fighters in the early days of the commonwealth. His great-
great-grandfather, as well as several other members of the Walker
family, met death at the hands of Indians, some of them in the historic
Wyoming Alassacre. His great-grandfather was last seen when starting
out on a hunting trip from which he never returned ; he was supposed
to have been killed by Indians or lost in the wilderness as his fate was
never known. He left but two sons at his death, one of whom drifted
into the wilds of Canada and was never heard of thereafter by his family;
the other, William Walker, became a rugged pioneer, passing through
many hardships and exciting experiences. He was a fine specimen of
manhood, nearly six feet in height and proportioned accordingly. His
wife, Amanda Granger, was a descendant of the family whose members
have figured in the history of the country since 1640, at which time
Launcelot Granger, the progenitor of this family in America, came to
Massachusetts from England. Since this time, men of the name have
figured in every war from King Philip's to the present time, and in
times of peace have shown their ability in all the walks of life, in the
professions, politics and commercial affairs.
At the time Launcelot Granger returned to England to secure
his share of his father's estate, he met an adventure that might well
have resulted disastrously to one of a less brave and intrepid nature.
After securing his patrimony, which he secreted about his person, he
proceeded toward the nearest seaport, intending to embark immediately
for America ; as night overtook him, he thought it advisable to repair to
an inn, but when he reached one he was able to see at once that it was
of an unsavory character, so he felt safer in continuing his journey,
although the landlord of the inn urged him to rest there for the night,
warning him of danger from highwaymen. He had not proceeded far
on his way when he saw in the moonlight two masked figures by the
roadside, who peremptorily halted him and demanded his money or his
life; though armed only with a loaded cane, while the highwaymen had
4 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
broadswords, he offered to fight tlicm singly, and after a short parley
they agreed to this ; one stepped forth, his broadsword to be used
against the loaded cane. Launcelot Granger was an expert with the
broadsword, and was of such alertness as soon to send his adversary
to earth with a blow on the head that made him drop in his tracks and
never stir again. Upon this unexpected outcome of the encounter, the
other miscreant took to his heels, and Launcelot pushed on to the next
village and informed the authorities of what had taken place. When
the mask was lifted from the face of the dead highwayman, it was
discovered that he was a man of considerable prominence in the village,
supposed to be a respectable citizen. Upon his return to America,
Launcelot Granger settled on what is known as Kent's Island, near
Newburyport, IMassachusetts, and there built a house which stood until
1884, and his descendant above named, Edwin Walker, now has in his
possession some of the bricks which were used in building the fireplace,
and which were brought from England.
Though not a Puritan himself, Launcelot Granger lived among
these people, and the high regard in which he was held by his neighbors,
as well as his personal worth and uprightness of character are shown
by the fact that for his wife he won the daughter of a Puritan, whose
first American ancestor was Deacon Hanchett, who settled in Boston,
in 1G34. W'hen the Connecticut X'alley was opening up, Launcelot
Granger decided to locate there, so started to make the journey with
an ox team and took one cow along, to what was then considered the
far west, then full of hostile Indians. King Philip's war, a few years
later, made it necessary for the women and children around Suffield,
Connecticut, where the Granger family settled, to take refuge at West-
field, Massachusetts, while the men took up arms against the Indians.
Launcelot Granger, who commanded a company, was wounded in one of
the encounters. When peace was restored, the family again took up
their residence at Suffield, and a house was built there which is standing
to the present day. From Launcelot Granger have descended families
who settled in all parts of New England, and later in the region west
and south. Amanda Granger, grandmother of Edwin Walker, came with
her parents to central New York, when young.
The father of Edwin Walker, George Walker, a native of Owego,
New York, and reared in Pennsylvania, was a man of very large stature
and great strength, as well as superior mental attainments. He was a
well read man and an earnest student of the Bible, with which he was
thoroughly familiar; he was also a deep thinker along other lines,
and kept himself* wcll-infornied on all the leading questions
of the day. Though in early life he was imbued with the idea
that there was no hereafter, he later became a convert to the spiritualistic
faith, of which he became a strong exponent, and into the realms of
which he made deep research. Until the date of his marriage he
resided in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, but afterwards removed to
Southeastern JNIichigan, making the journey thereto by way of the Erie
Canal, thence by boat to Detroit, and from that city to the interior
of the state by means of the old fashioned "prairie schooner." The
climate of Michigan, however, was not agreeable to him. and manv in
the locality suffered from the prevailing cliills and fever, which also
claimed Mr. \\'alkcr for a victim, so he returned to Pennsylvania,
settling at Towanda.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 5
George \\'alker was an expert mechanical engineer, bridge-builder
and milhvrighf; in 1851 he planned and built the bridge across the
Susquehanna River at Towanda, which is standing at the present time,
and he built many other bridges in that section of Pennsylvania,
a? Well as in Western New York. In 1856 Mr. Walker removed to
Hamburg, Erie county, New York, and at that location and throughout
the surrounding country built large flouring mills, mostly run by water.
He foresaw the early necessity in utilizing the natural resources of the
county's water powers, so made an extensive research and study with
a view to obtaining the greatest amount of power from the fall of water
which resulted in his discovery of the action of water and formulas for
determining the lines of turbine water-wheels to obtain the highest per-
centage of power from the water, this was his greatest work and to this
date there is no evidence that any one else has discovered the same
since. His discovery was put into practical and successful use in build-
ing tiu-bines, but owing to his death was never made general use of.
His plans and formulas are extant but not in operation at present. Now
that water powers are proving so valuable owing to electric pow'er being
so extensively used, it is the intention of his sons to put his valuable
discoveries into general use, thereby saving the great waste of power
under present conditions. His wife, Mary McMicken, was the daughter
of William and Mary (Bathrick) McMicken. Her great-grandfather
McIMicken was a scout in the Revolutionary war and was killed by the
Indians while making observations from the top of a stump. His first
wife died on the ocean when on the way to this country. The McMicken
family were of Scotch descent, and early settlers in Eastern Pennsylvania ;
the American ancestor first settled in Connecticut. Mary Cleveland
Bathrick, mother of Mrs. McMicken, was first cousin to Moses Cleve-
land, founder of Cleveland, Ohio. George Walker died in 1889, at
Hamburg, from lagrippe, and his widow died about four weeks later.
Here their only daughter, Miss Eliza I. Walker, and remaining son, Mr.
Frank Walker, sister and brother of Edwin Walker of this sketch, now
reside.
Edwin Walker was born at Sheshequin, Pennsylvania. He spent
his boyhood at Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and at Hamburg and
Springville, New York; his parents removed to the last-named place
about 1858, in order to secure for their children better educational
advantages, the town afifording an academy, which is now knov/n as
Griffith Institute. After spending ten years at this place, during which
time Edwin finished his education, they returned to Hamburg. As a
boy he evinced a genius for mechanics and invention, and when a young
man constructed a bicycle, with the assistance of his father, using as
guide designs and descriptions published in the "Scientific American,"
which was the first bicycle ever seen by him, and which he became an
adept at riding, winning many hotly contested races on this wheel. He
also constructed a mud-guard for his machine, which was of his own
invention, and same as the guard with which all modern bicycles are
fitted.
Mr. Walker left home at the age of twenty-one years, his first
employment being at Silver Creek, near Dunkirk, New York, for a
concern manufacturing flour-milling machinery; in a short time he be-
came superintendent of another plant in the town in the same line of
manufacture, and remained with them until 1880, when he removed
to Erie. In Erie he entered the employ of Sterns Manufacturing Com-
6 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
pany, as draughtsman and pattern-maker, and later became employed in
a similar capacity by Taper Sleeve Pulley Company, and later by Skinner
& Wood Engine Company. His first independent business venture, in
1883, was in the manufacture of tools under the firm name of the
E. Walker Tool Company, his plant being on Eighteenth street, in the
plant of the Noble Sewing Alachine Company, and later he bought a
plant on West Fourth street, near State, which is now used by the
Erie Lithographing Company. At this time E. Walker Tool Company
was reorganized and incorporated as a stock company, with a capital
of fifty thousand dollars, and in 1888 Mr. Walker severed his connection
with the company, shortly after which he organized what is now the
Erie Specialty Company, on an upper floor of what was then Reifle
Pump Works plant, on West Twelfth street; the business was a partner-
ship affair, consisting of Benjamin B. Brown, present collector of the
port of Erie, T. A. Thomas, and Mr. Walker, as equal partners. Three
years later Mr. Walker bought out the interests of his partners, and
took as partner Z. T. Brindley, at the same time changing the name
of the firm, which was Erie Specialty Manufacturing Company, to Erie
Specialty Company. In 1902 the business was incorporated, with a
capital of one hundred thousand dollars, and Mr. AValker's son, Clarence
L. W'alker, became the third stockholder and an officer of the company.
October, 13, 1908, Mr. Walker purchased the holdings of stock belonging
to Mr. Brindley, and since this time all the stock has been held by him
and his immediate family.
Mr. Walker has natural gifts in the lines of inventor, mechanic,
manufacturer and salesman, in combination with great executive ability
and business acumen. He has a thorough knowledge of all details of
his business, and is equally efficient in the office, the factory or on the
road as salesman, a combination rarely found in one individual. The
large enterprise over which he presides has been completely under his
control from the beginning, and its policies shaped and executed by
him. He has taken out some fifty or more patents, all his own inventions,
covering articles and appliances which are leaders in their lines, and
find a ready market not only in all parts of the United States, but in
foreign countries as well. They are in the lines of sundries for hotels
and kitchens, hardw^are articles, soda water specialties, and metal
advertising contrivances, all of which are manufactured at the Erie plant
on West Twelfth street. The company occupies a three-story brick
building, covering three hundred sixty-five square feet, modern in con-
struction, and containing special automatic machinery, all designed and
constructed by ^Ir. Walker and his son. The Erie Specialty Company
is very successful as a business enterprise, and ranks among Erie's
leading industries, while its guiding and controlling spirit, Edwin Walker,
has long been accorded a place among the city's most enterprising and
progressive manufacturers. Besides managing the affairs of th.e factorv,
Mr. Walker gives his personal attention to the sale of their products,
spending considerable time in visiting the large trade centers of the
country, in search of trade. Though busy in the interest of his business
ventures, Mr. Walker finds time to spend in the interest of hi; fellow-
citizens, and the progress and development of the city and its institutions,
and is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and Board of
Trade.
In physical characteristics Mr. Walker inherits the fine frame and
figure of the \\'alker family, but has inherited to a remarkable degree
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 7
the features of the Granger family. So strong is his resemblance to
them, in fact, that when he paid a visit to the old Granger home at
Suiifield, Connecticut, on being introduced to a man who had ten genera-
tions before branched from the Granger family, the two men bore such
a striking likeness to each other as to be immediately noticed, and
frequently commented on. Before Mr. Walker's identity was known in
the town, several old inhabitants recognized in him a descendant of the
Granger family.
Edwin Walker married, in 1871, Edith May Wight, born at Sheri-
dan, New York, and reared from early childhood at Silver Creek, same
state. Her father, Amos Wight, who died at Fredonia, New York,
at the age of seventy-six years, was a man of unusual gifts, being author,
poet, artist and newspaper man. The children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Walker are: Clarence L., of whom further mention is made; Jessie,
who married Miles Sterrit, of Erie; Mary G. married Albert Steiner,
of Erie ; Edith May died at the age of four years ; Bertha E., living at
home ; and Irene, who resides with her parents.
Clarence L. Walker, treasurer and superintendent of the Erie
Specialty Company, is one of Erie's well-known young manufacturers.
He was born at Silver Creek, New York, November 15, 1871, and
educated in the common schools and commercial college. Since com-
pleting his education he has been identified with the business interests
of his father who finds in him an able assistant in the conduct of his
affairs. He also is a member of the board of trade. Mr. Walker
married Alice, daughter of John and Anna (Webber) Strucken, both
natives of Germany. The father was born in 1831 and the mother, who
was born in 1830, died in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Walker became parents
of one son, Clarence Edwin, July 4, 1906.
Winter J. Olds. "Jesse" Olds, the proprietor of the Union City
Greenhouse, represents a family well-known in Erie county. The Olds
family is of English origin, but w'as established in the colonies as early
as 1669, the founder of the American line being Dr. Robert Old (also
written Ould), who, according to colonial records, resided in Windsor
and Suffield, Connecticut, from 1669 to 1728, and whose third son,
Mindwell Old, was the first white child born in Suffield. Robert Old
was the father of fourteen children, thirteen of whom were sons, and
at least ten of these sons grew to manhood. There was little of "race
suicide" among the early Olds families as the official records of the
state of ]\Iassachusetts contain the names of more than twenty members
of this family who bore honorable part in the early Indian and French
wars, and of more than fifty of this name who served in the Revolu-
tionary war. The direct ancestor of the Erie county Olds families was
Captain William Old, the sixth son of Robert Old, who lived in Brook-
field, Massachusetts, where he was the first to organize and establish
the public school system in that town, and the first public school was
held in his home. Captain William Old took active part in the famous
Cape Breton expedition in Queen Anne's war 1746-1747. The siege and
capture of Louisburg, by this expedition was reckoned one of the most
notable military events in history.
The fourth son of Captain William Old was Ezekiel, who is on
record as having been a sergeant in the French and Indian war in 1751,
and a captain of ^Massachusetts troops at the siege of Boston and the
8 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
battle of Bunker Hill. He was also a member of the Committee of Cor-
respondence, Inspection and Safety, dying in the service in 1777.
The sixth son of Captain Ezekiel Old was Phinehas, who settled about
1795 in Williamstown, Vermont, where he became eminent as one of
the leading agriculturists of that part of the state. He was the father
of thirteen children, seven of whom were sons, and four of these sons
settled in Erie county. The eldest of these sons was Joel Olds, who
came with a company from Vermont in the early spring of 1813. This
Company were intending to go on to Ohio and settle in the "Western
Reserve," but having camped overnight at a little settlement then or
later known as Federal Hill (now wnthin the city limits) a sudden thaw
set in and the company having come on sleds or sledges found themselves
unable to proceed on the bare ground and were constrained to settle
in that immediate neighborhood — thus many good citizens were saved
to the state of Pennsylvania who except for "hard sledding" would have
gone further west. Joel Olds settled about two miles south of the city
near the old French Military road. He was followed some two cr three
years later by the next younger brother, Asa Gilbert Olds, who settled
on the Lake Pleasant road just where the P. & E. R. R. now crosses
that highway. He became the father of the late L. W. Olds, for many
years one of the leading residents of Erie City, Nelson Olds, late of
Greene township, and Erskine Olds, late of the old homestead in Mill
Creek township. A few years later came another brother, Elisha Olds,
who settled on the next farm east while still later, in 1835, came Lewi^,
seventh and last son of Phinehas Olds. Lewis was born in Williams-
town, \^ermont, March 14, 1814, and located in Conneautville, where
in 1840 he was married to Eunice V. Scovel, whose ancestry also dates
back to the Revolutionary period and whose maternal grandfather was
Col. John Titus, a member of Washington's staff, who by special act
of Congress was granted a pension for gallant service. The children
born of this union were Mary E., born April 7, 1850 ; Independence L.,
born July 4, 1852, at Conneautville; and Winter Jesse, born in Fillmore
county, Minnesota, January 22, 1860.
Winter J. Olds followed clerking during the first year of his business
life, and coming to Union City in 1873 he has since made his home here.
Fie is the present proprietor of the Union City Greenhouse, one of
the leading establishments of its kind in Erie county. He is well versed
in the germination and cultivation of flowers of every kind native to cr
grown in this climate, but he has made a specialty of the growing of
chrysanthemums. His greenhouse contains ten thousiind square feet of
glass, and he receives orders from all parts of the United States, his
trade extending as far as Oregon, Texas and Nova Scotia, and this
extensive business has grown from his small gardening plant of 1882.
On the 22d of January, 1889, Mr. Olds was married to Miss Evan-
geline Van Meurs, and they have had four children: Lewis W., born
November 18, 1889; Mary E., deceased, was born September 4, 1892;
Hugh W. was born April 13, 1895; and John Alfred was born June
27, 1904. Mr. Olds votes with the Prohibition party, is one of the
pioneers of that party organization in Erie county, and has served as
secretary of the Prohibition county committee and is one of its strongest
men and most efficient workers in the county. He is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Royal Arcanum. Since
1884 his religious home has been with the Presbyterian church.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 9
Franklin Farrar Adams. Now a retired and deeply honored
citizen of Erie, Franklin F. Adams was for half a century a leader not
only in its business and industrial development, but in its municipal and
civic progress. A pioneer in many things; ultimately successful in all
his undertakings ; a careful, practical calculator, and yet a broad operator
in all the affairs of his life — Mr. Adams is a typical New Englander,
transplanted in his youth to the more stirring life of Pennsylvania, where
his substantial and adaptable nature has developed into a type of man-
hood fully representative of the state and his home community. Ex-
mayor of Erie, ex-president of its board of trade, for years at the head
of some of its largest business and industrial enterprises — no man is
more representative of past progress, present aspiration, and future ad-
vancement all along the line.
Air. Adams was born at Amherst, New Hampshire, on August G,
1830, son of Levi and Lucy (Farrar) Adams, natives respectively of
the Granite and the Green Mountain states. Li early life his father
was a merchant, subsequently keeping a hotel at Ipswich, New Hamp-
shire, and farming near that town, his death occurring on his homestead
in the latter locality in 1834. Following the death of her husband, when
Frank F. was but four years of age, the widow went to make her home
with her father in \ermont. At the age of nine years the boy was
apprenticed to a farmer to remain until he reached his twenty-first year,
at the end of wliich service he was to receive one hundred dollars in
money and a yoke of oxen. But his new home was not congenial to
young Adams and at the end of a year his mother took him away. When
he was twelve years of age the boy came to Pennsylvania and spent
a year with his uncles, F. F., and A. J. Farrar, merchants at Waterford,
this county. He then joined his uncle, Wheeler Farrar, of Boston, and,
until 1848, resided on Mr. Farrar's farm at Lexington, Massachusetts.
Then (in his eighteenth year) he left the Lexington farm and returned
to Waterford, soon afterward buying the right for Permsylvania for
the manufacture and sale of a patent washing machine. This v^'as the
commencement of a long and remarkably successful career in this
field. Mr. Adams began the manufacture of the washing machines
at Waterford on a very small scale, first selling the finished product to
the citizens of the village and surrounding country. A year later he sold
his patent rights for $2,000, with which he went to Winchendon, Mass-
achusetts, where he purchased a machine for the manufacture of clothes-
pins. This he brought to Waterford and installed it at Middleton dam, on
French creek, at which point was located the Hayes chair factory, and
to which concern he sold his business a year later. He next began the
manufacture of cheese boxes in Waterford. In equipping this factory
he went to the state of Maine and purchasing a steam engine of a
Kennebec river mill owner shipped it to Waterford. But the engine
was delayed in transit and was finally frozen in the ice of the Erie
canaJ. Impatient to get his box factory in operation, Mr. Adams de-
termined not to waste the winter, and so came to Erie and had the old
firm of Senet and Barr make him an engine. Discovering, also, on the
docks, a boiler that had been taken out of the steamer "Missouri,"
he purchased it and shipped it to Waterford. Within thirty days his
engine was complete, but he put in the balance of that winter in sawing
lumber. In the spring, however, he began the making of cheese boxes
and so continued for two years, when he sold his factory to H. H.
10 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Whitney. The Alaine engine finally arrived, but he sold it to Walter
Little, of Erie.
After disposing of his cheese box factory, as a member of the firm
of Phelps and Adams, j\Ir. Adams engaged in general merchandising
at Waterford, but after an experience of about two years in this line
sold his interest in the business. At about this time he was seized with
the prevailing "Colorado gold fever," but his attack proved so light
that it passed away in the establishment of a general store at Waterford
which he called "Pike's Peak Store." This he conducted for about
two years, when he sold it to a Mr. Oliver. In 1860 Mr. Adams came to
Erie and took a clerical position in the wholesale grocery store of Johnson
Bros., receiving a salary of $1,200 a year. He induced the firrn to
handle flour, put some of his own money into the venture, and received
half the profits made on the sale of that commodity. A year later he
left the firm and, with Casimer Seigel, engaged for about three months
in the flour and feed business, when Mr. Adams bought the bakery of
Dodd Goodrich, on the corner of Fifth and Sassafras streets, at the
same time opening and operating a "variety" store on State, near Fifth
street. Knowing nothing about baking Mr. Adams went to Bufifalo in
quest of a practical baker, and in that city met William S. Sands, then
about eighteen years old, whom he brought back to Erie in that capacity.
Their division of labor was as follows : young Sands would go to work
at three o'clock in the morning baking rolls which a\Ir. Adams would
load, hot and crispy, into the two-wheeled cart he had bought in Bufifalo,
and, ringing a large bell, would peddle his goods over the city in time
for breakfast. That was the first time the people of Erie were supplied
with hot rolls for breakfast from an outside source, and, so far as
history goes, the last time. In his variety store, Mr. Adams established
the first ice cream parlor in Erie, and also the first depot for the sale
of fresh oysters in cans. He also manufactured candy in large quantities
and put men and wagons on the road to sell his goods all over northern
Pennsylvania. After becoming firmly established in this business his
plant was destroyed by fire with considerable loss, but he removed across
the street to the southeast corner of Fifth and State streets and con-
tinued there for about two years, when he sold out to Benar and
Burgess.
In the course of a year, however, he opened another store on North
Park Row, where he remained for about two years, and next removed
to State street near Eighth. There he established another bakery^ in
connection with his variety store, also continuing the ice cream parlor.
While at that location a man came to Erie with a patent driven well,
the rights of which he tried to sell Mr. Adams. Of course it was a new
thing and Mr. Adams was skeptical, naturally remaining unconvinced
when the experiment made in the rear of the store was a failure. Mr.
Adams, therefore, refused to purchase and the man departed to Corry.
this county, in his search for a purchaser, leaving the pipe in the ground
where it had been sunk. Then Mr. Adams investigated and experi-
mented himself, and for a change drove the pipe into the gravelly soil
in front of the store with the result that it brought water. When the
man returned to Corry still anxious to sell the rights in Erie county
at any cost, Mr. Adams secured them for about one hundred dollars
"taken out in trade." After several demonstrations in different parts of
the county the purchaser began selling township rights, and in about
a month's time cleared about $3,500 on the well. Later, ^Ir. Adams
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 11
removed his store to the old Noble (now Penn) block, Eighth and
State streets, and there continued for two years, when he sold his
business to George Barr.
In the meantime Mr. Adams had conceived the idea of engaging in
the manufacture of patented articles, and finally made arrangements
with the late M. N. Lovell and a Mr. Walker as partners to carry out
his plans. They erected a brick factory one door south of the corner
of Eleventh and State streets, installed the necessary machinery and
began the manufacture of washing machines, step and extension ladders,
etc. After the plant was in full operation, Mr. Adams entered into a
contract with A. H. Franciscus, a wealthy carpet merchant of Phila-
delphia, whereby that gentleman was to be furnished with one hundred
and fifty thousand washing machines to be delivered at the rate of one
hundred per day, Mr. Franciscus to have the sole right of sale for the
United States. At the appointed time shipment of the machines began
as agreed upon and continued until Mr. Franciscus, failing to dispose
of them by sale as rapidly as anticipated, countermanded the order. Mr.
Adams called on him, made a reduction in the price of the machines,
and the deal continued, but not for long, as finally the contract was
rescinded by the payment of $5,000 to Mr. Adams and his partners.
The machines thus being left on his hands, Mr. Adams began a selling
campaign throughout the county by disposing of sale rights in dififerent
localities ; and so successful was he in this venture that the machines
brought greater returns than if the contract with the Philadelphia mer-
chant had been carried out.
Mr. Adams' next move was to build the F. F. Adams factory on
Cherry street, near Fourteenth, where the manufacture of the different
articles was continued. In the meantime both Mr. Walker and Mr.
Lovell had withdrawn from the business ; but on the completion of the
new factory Mr. Lovell returned and Messrs. T. W. and C. W. Farrar
were received as partners. Sometime later Mr. Lovell again withdrew
and was succeeded by Mr. Adams' son, Charles F. The business flour-
ished, became highly successful and remunerative to all interested. In
1880 the factory, after having been enlarged by the addition of another
story, was destroyed by fire, at a loss of upwards of $80,000, covered
by insurance, however. The company began at once to rebuild and until
the completion of the new plant small factories were rented, in different
parts of the city, and manufacturing operations were scarcely inter-
rupted. The enterprise met with strong competition from large concerns
all over the country; suit was brought by rivals for infringement and
much expensive litigation ensued ; but Mr. Adams and his partners met
the opposition at all points and continued a successful business. In
1888 was formed the American Wringer Company to which the F. F.
Adams Company sold its business for $330,000, its founder at that time
owning a three-fifth's interest. The Erie plant was then closed, and Mr.
Adams retired from active business. In 1886, Mr. Adams purchased
the Hoskinson farm of one hundred acres, just east of the city on the
Lake road, and there he spends his summers. It may be added that
he recently sold fifty acres of this tract to the General Electric Company
for its projected plant, for which he received. one thousand dollars an
acre.
Mr. Adams always took an active and prominent part in public
affairs, and in 1885 was elected mayor of the city, but ill health made
it necessary for him to resign after he had served about a year and a
12 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
half of his term. He has also served as president of the board of trade,
of which he is yet a member ; is a member of the Chamber of Commerce,
and for fifteen years was president of the Humane society. He is a
Mason of high degree. Reared from boyhood as a Universalist, Mr.
Adams has long been very active in the local church at Erie. In 1854
Mr. Adams married Martha A., daughter of WiUiam Lowell. His wife
was born in Jamestown, New York, in 183G, and died at Erie in 1901.
To Mr. and Mrs. Adams the following children were born; Charles F.,
Jennie F. and Frankie, the two last named being deceased.
As already stated, the status which Mr. Adams holds at Erie is
that of a representative citizen, but the fact should be emphasized that
he stands for its best type not for his strength and ruggedncss of char-
acter alone. He has struggled manfully against great material obstacles
and forged on to success, but he has not thereby become proud,- hard
and autocratic. He is a man of too much breadth and depth for that.
On the contrary the struggles along the hard road have mellowed him
and made him kind and charitable toward his toiling, stumbling fellows.
and this combination it is, more than all else, which has given him the
enviable standing he now enjoys.
Erastus B. Lipton, retired, is one of the well known citizens of
Erie and for years was esteemed one of the most expert accountants of
this section of the state. A native of Pennsylvania, born at Milesburg,
Center county, on September 29, 1832, he is a son of Samuel Lipton, also
a native of that county, born in 1801. The grandfather, Robert Lipton,
was a native of Ireland who came to Center county in the seventeenth
century. He was a farmer and was also interested in iron works, in
connection with the Curtins (father of Governor Curtin) owning a num-
ber of furnaces. As a young man. Samuel learned the trade of shoemak-
ing which he followed for a number of years, and subsequently engaged
both in mercantile and lumbering pursuits. The latter business was
mainly conducted on the Susquehanna river, in Center and Clearfield
counties in connection with Governor Bigler. Grandfather Lipton mar-
ried Anna Maria Hoover, a native of Center county born in 1802, daugh-
ter of Jacob Hoover, also born in that county, of German ancestry. Sam-
uel Lipton died March 20, 1850, and his widow passed away March 2,
1877, mother of the following: Robert, deceased; James H., who re-
sides in Kansas ; Nancy Jane, who married William ]\IcMean and re-
sides in Center county, Pennsylvania; Theodore, deceased; E. B., of this
sketch; John H., Anna Eliza, Samuel and David A. P., all deceased;
Edwin, who resides in Oregon, and Mary Clara, also dead.
^Ir. Lipton. of this biography, was reared in Center county and
received his education in its common schools, and at Allegheny College.
As a lad, he clerked in his father's store, his collegiate course being
pursued after the death of the senior Mr. Lipton. In 1852, when twenty
years of age, Erastus went out to California, spending about eighteen
months in Sonoma and Napa counties. Returning to Center county he
became successively associated with an uncle and two brothers (Robert
and James) in the lumber business. In 1856 he located in the northern
part of Iowa, where he remained until 1863 returning then to Center
county and for two years being a clerk in the office of prothonotar>'.
then held by his uncle, at Bellefonte. In ISG-i he came to Erie, at the
invitation of J. Johnston, taking charge of his books and remaining with
the Imuse after it became Tohnston and Brevillier. Later he acted as
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 13
bookkeeper for Clemens, Caiighey and Burgess, grocers, and subsequent-
ly for W. L. Scott and Company and the Stearns Manufacturing Com-
pany. Mr. Lipton was then connected with a bank at St. Petersburg,
Clarion county, Pennsylvania. Returning from the latter place in May,
1800, he assumed a position as bookkeeper for the Jarecki Manufacturing
Company, at the time mentioned Henry and Charles Jarecki being at
the head of the works. For twenty-seven years Mr. Lipton remained
as head bookkeeper for that company, retiring in 1907 on account of ill
health.
In 1862 Mr. Lipton was married to ^lartha R. Pruden. who was
born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Isaac Pruden, an
early settler of that section. She died in 1901:, at the age of sixty-three,
mother of the following: — Cora N., who resides with her father; Anna
M., wife of James D. Hay; Emma, deceased; John H., bookkeeper with
the Jarecki Manufacturing Company; and Ada, who married A. W.
Milne, treasurer of the Ball Engine Works. Mr. Lipton is one of the
oldest and most honored business men of Erie, his entire hfe being a
fine and striking illustration of faithfulness and efficiency. A Democrat
in pohtics, he has been too busily engaged performing the legitimate
duties assigned him to engaged in politics, and, in retirement, has no in-
clination to enter the field.
William S. Brown. The late William Saltsman Brown, who died
in his native city of Erie in his eighty-second year, was both a remark-
able and a thoroughly good man. There are few who have been con-
nected with the founding and up-building of the place who have made
so fine a record as he, in so many active and practical fields. In the
founding of railroads and elevators, in the administration of the public
service, in the development of the common school system and in the
support of worthy charities, his strong, clear mind and generous, warm
heart were ever constant influences always working for the
substantial and higher interests of the city to which he was so firmly
attached. His noble wife, who survived him less than two months, was
even more a pioneer and a leader than he himself, in the establishment
and promotion of not a few of Erie's most worthy charities. Airs. Brown
will be long remembered with gratitude and love as one of the founders
of the Home for the Friendless, the true mother of the Bethel Mission
and to the last, an ardent and unfaltering promoter of not only their ad-
vancement but of the general progress of practical charity and philan-
thropy in her community.
William S. Brown was born in the old Brown block, on French
street, opposite the Reed House, on November 20, 1826, his father, Sam-
uel Brown, being a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, born in 1796.
The Brown family came to America in 1736, settling in Berks county
at an early day. Samuel located in Erie in 1822, and there became a
man of prominence. There he also married Elizabeth Saltsman, born in
1800, at Wesleyville, just east of Erie, William Saltsman, her father, was
a native of Pennsylvania, son of Anthony Saltsman (who was killed by
the Indians on the Susquehanna river) and first came to Erie county in
1796, being well known as one of its surveyors. Settling here permanent-
ly in 1800, he married Jane Stephenson and died in 1865, his wife passing
away in the following year.
It may be stated as one of the early and noteworthy events in the
life of William S. Brown that he was the first child baptized in the First
14 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Presbyterian church of Erie. He was educated at the Erie Academy and
at the age of fourteen years was ready to enter Princeton College, but
because of business reverses which his father sufifered, he enrolled him-
self as a world's worker at this time instead of a college student. At
first he became a clerk for his uncle and three years later entered the
Erie postoffice in a like capacity. Later he assumed a position in the
office of General Reed and thus became an associate of the late Hon. W.
L. Scott and the ties of intimacy and friendship thus formed, death alone
terminated. It was at this period of his railroad career that Mr. Brown
became a member of the committee which received Zachary Taylor, then
lately returned from the Mexican war, who came to Erie county to
participate in the celebration of "Perry Day" in 1849. In 1851 Mr.
Brown became the local agent of the Erie & North East Railroad (now
the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern) and later continued that office
with that of treasurer, being thus identified with the railroad for many
years. He was prominent during the "railroad war" and in 1865 be-
came superintendent of the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad, having previous-
ly been a director of the old Oil Creek Railroad. In 1866, with Orange
Noble, Joseph AlcCarter and Henry Shannon, Mr. Brown built the first
elevator in Eric, an enterprise which was the beginning of the Erie and
Western Transportation Company, now the Anchor Line The elevator
property was afterward sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and
Mr. Brown's active interest in railroads closed at that time. As agent
at Erie he had charge of the train which carried Abraham Lincoln
through Erie on his way to this first presidential inauguration and in
1865 he had charge, in the same capacity, of the train which bore the
remains of the martyred president through Erie toward Springfield, Illi-
nois. He was brought prominently before the public, in 1876, in con-
nection with the great Ashtabula railroad wreck, being selected to as-
sist in the settlement of claims against the Lake Shore Railroad.
During President Grant's first term, Mr. Brown's name was sent to
the United States senate for confirmation as collector of revenue for his
district. Senator Cameron was his sponsor; the appointment (quite un-
solicited) was unanimously confirmed and he resigned the office after
holding it about eighteen months, subsequently serving as deputy col-
lector of customs of the Erie port for four years under the administration
of Presidents Taylor and Fillmore. At a later date Mr. Brown had a
personal acquaintance with Grant, Conkling and other men of national
note. Locally, he served for eleven years on the Erie school board ; but
in still later years he lived in retirement, his only active participation be-
ing in connection with his directorship of the Second National Bank,
with which institution he had long been identified.
On October 10, 1845, Mr. Brown married Rosena, the daughter of
the late Joseph and Sallie (Shattuck) Winchell, of Erie. The Winchells,
who were of English origin, first settled in New England, and then in
New York state, migrating to Erie at an early date. Her mother was
Ijorn at Harborcreek. Eric county. Mrs. Brown was educated in Erie
and, even as a young girl, was active in church work. As stated she was
one of the founders of the Home for the Friendless and an ardent pro-
moter of its interests, as well as the founder of the Bethel Mission. On
October 10, 1903, Mr. and Mrs. Brown celebrated their golden wedding
anniversary at the old Brown home. No. 831 Peach street, where they
had lived during the entire fifty years. At that time they were the only
couple living who were born in Erie. ^Ir. Brown died July 24, 1908,
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 15
his widow surviving him only until September 19th following. They
had become the parents of three children. Andrew Scott, the eldest, was
born February 11, 1855; educated in the Erie schools and at Lafayette
College and began his railroad career as cashier of the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern Railroad at Erie. He then became identified with
the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at Denver, Colorado, and subsequently
with the general traffic department of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail-
way at Chicago. Benjamin Bruce, the second child, was born January
22, 1859. He was educated in the public schools and at Erie Academy
and was engaged in the wholesale iron business as a member of the firm
of Brown and Thomas from 1879 to 1906. Benjamin B. Brown was ap-
pointed collector of the port in 1895, which position he has since held,
as well as that of custodian of federal properties in Erie. He is a mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce, of the Erie Club, of all the Alasonic
bodies, and the Elks, now serving on the building association of the latter
order. His wife (nee Sophia Dinsmore) was born in Erie and is a daugh-
ter of W. W. and Amy (Bliss) Dinsmore. They have one daughter, Amy
Dinsmore Brown. JMary, the third child of Mr. and Mrs. William S.
Brown, is the wife of Commander George R. Clark, United States Navy.
August Albert Schutte, of Erie, one of its leading business men
of the younger generation, of late has attained special prominence as a
grocer— so much so, that he was selected as a delegate from the local
association to the last annual convention of his business associates. Mr.
Schutte was born at No. 1041 West Fifth street, Erie, December 17,
1868, but has lived at No. 926, on that thoroughfare, for the past thirty-
five years. Consequently he may be said to be fairly settled in the city
of Erie. August Schutte, the father, was one of the city's early promi-
nent German citizens, who for many years was closely identified with its
business and public life. He was a native of Hanover, Germany, born
in 1827, and came to the United States and to Erie about 1817. Four
brothers emigrated to this country at the same time, the only one alive
being Frederick, a resident of Erie. August was engaged in various lines
of business in the city, being a wholesale dealer in fish, a restaurant
keeper, and for many years a constable in the Fourth ward. He was
also at one time in the clothing business, associated with Captain Frank
Wagner. August Schutte served in the Civil war as a member of Com-
pany I, One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer
Infantry. He married Caroline Ludwig, at Erie, the wife being born
in Helmstadt Baden, Germany, and still living in her seventy-fifth year.
The father died in 1875 from long-continued inflammatory rheumatism
originally contracted during the war. The deceased was a member of St.
Paul's Lutheran church. Four of the eight children born to Mr. and
Mrs. August Schutte are still living, as follows: — Charles W., a resident
of Erie ; Carrie, who married Albert Henderson, a former Erie county
man who now lives in Buffalo, being at the time the widow of John
E. Graham; August A., of this sketch; and William L., also an Erie
citizen.
August A., of this sketch, was reared in Erie and attended the public
schools of that city until the age of thirteen years, when he and his broth-
er William entered the Pennsylvania Soldiers' Orphans School, at Mercer.
At this writing Mr. Schutte is president of the school organization known
as the "Sixteeners" for the year 1909, of eighteenth reunion of ex-stu-
dents which will be held at Mercer, Wednesday and Thursday of the
16 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
third week in August. These are the permanent dates for the reunion,
or conventions, which are attended by former students from all sections
of the country, in which list is included a substantial array of leading
citizens. The old school itself is now out of existence.
Before he was thirteen years of age, August A. Shutte had gone
to work in the old rolling mills, and, upon returning from his schooling
at Mercer, he secured employment with J. E. Patterson in what was then
called the "99-cent Store." He ultimately joined the revenue cutter
"Perry" as a wardroom boy, in which capacity he served two years, and
was then wardroom steward for two years. All-in-all he devoted five
years to the lake service, the last two years with the merchant marine.
]\Ir. Schutte was married in 1889 and then spent several years as a clerk,
a portion of the time for John Shields, whose store w^as at Fourth and
Myrtle streets. The following year he was janitor of the No. 10 public
school, after which, for three years, he was connected with the grocery
store of Levi Roland, and for five years with the John Scorlett Grocery
Company. In 1900 he established his own grocery at No. 928 East Sixth
street where he continued for three years, and then removed to Ninth
and German streets. After remaining at the latter location for four
years he removed to his present place, No. 408 State Street. In all
justice to Mr. Schutte's present high standing as a business man, and
his steady advancement, it should be added that he has nothing to thank
except his own preseverance, ability and honor. He is not only the
founder and owner of a fine business, but holds valuable city real estate
and enjoys a reputation as substantial as it is honorable.
In 1889 Air. Schutte married j\Iiss Frank B. Jordan, who was born
in Harbor Creek township, Erie county, daughter of Warren W. Jor-
dan, also a native of that township. When a boy of sixteen the latter
enlisted in the Eighty-third Pennsylvania Regiment Volunteer Infantry.
He married Matilda Roberts and both are still living. To ]\lr. and Mrs.
August A. Schutte three children have been born as follows : Ethel, De-
cember 22, 1891; Albert A., December 22, 1894; and F. Harold, May 9,
190G. He is an active member of the Grocers' Association and the Busi-
ness Men's Exchange. He served as a delegate from the former body
to the annual grocers' convention held at New Castle, Pennsylvania, in
1908 and is first alternate delegate to the 1909 convention of the ]\ler-
chants' Association, to be held at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and although
a Republican has never been a politician. His grocery is one of the most
up-to-date in the city and he carries not only a large and complete stock
but his furniture and fixtures are of the best. He employs four clerks
and keeps three delivery wagons in constant motion. Air. Schutte is one
of the original stockholders in the Erie Wholesale Grocery Company and
has an interest in the Mutual Ice Company.
Frank W. Lairu, a well-known citizen and member of the general
contracting firm of Laird Brothers, son of Wilson and Helen (Sloan)
Laird, was born in the Third ward, in Erie., April 7, 186S. His father
was born in Erie, February 29, 1825, and was the son of Thomas Laird,
who was an early settler, and conducted one of the early taverns of
Erie, one the site of the present office of the Western Union Telegraph
Company, on the Northwest corner of Eighth and State streets. Wilson
Laird was one of Erie's leading attorneys, and his fellow citizens
honored him by electing him three times to the office of mayor of the
THE fip^'vrypv f
{PUBLIC L
I
Qy\ a^i?-o~-oL<i^ \yltjyty^-f^^4A^ ^
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 17
city; he died October 11. 1893. His wife was born at Pontiac, jNIich-
igan, January 22, 1837. To Wilson and Helen (Sloan) Laird were born
the followiiig children : Clarence, a printer, residing in Erie ; George
B.. a printer, also resides at Erie ; ^Margaret, married Frank Webber,
a contractor of Erie ; Helen, married William Comfort, and resides at
Jamestown, New York; Frank W., of this article; Frederick W'., of the
firm of Laird brothers, contractors; Edith, married Fred Davies, of
Erie ; Lillian, married William AIcKinney, of Erie.
Frank W. Laird received his education in the public schools of
his native city and later learned the tanner's trade, but after working
at it a short time started to learn the trade of carpenter. In 1898 he
went into partnership with his brother Frederick, in the contracting
business, and by their industry and careful attention to the details of
their business they have built up a tiourishing enterprise. Mr. Laird has
always been interested in the progress and affairs of Erie, and active
in politics. In 19(Jo he was entered as a candidate for the common
council, against his wishes, but to please the party, and carried the
Fifth ward by more than one hundred fifty majority, while the can-
didate for mayor on the opposing ticket, at the same time carried the
ward by over four hundred majority. He is immensely popular with all
who know him. and has a large circle of friends. He is a member of
Perry Lodge, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, and also belongs to the
P>enevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of the Mac-
cabees. Mr. Laird married Mary, daughter of George Mertz, born in
Corry. Pennsylvania, and they have had six children, as follows : Helen,
Frank, LeRoy, ]\Iarie, Josephine and George.
Hkxrv Ki'Gi-x, of the firm of Gottfried & Company, of Erie, w'as
born in Philadelphia. September 29, 1857; his parents were Jacob
Kugel. who emigrated from Germany in 1846. and Pauline Maier. a
native of (jermany. who came to the United States some time before
her marriage. Henry Kugel lived in Philadelphia until 1894. and there
learned the bakery business of his father, who had been established in
that city in the business since 1850, and was very successful. Upon
the death of his father, in 1890, Henry succeeded to the business and
conducted same for some two and a half years, and then removed
to Erie, having sol'd the bakery. He became a member of the firm
of A. Gottfried & Compan}'. of Erie, and is considered one of the city's
representative business men. He is a member of the German Baptist
church, and is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of that institution.
He has met with success in all his undertakings, and is a public-spirited
and enterprising citizen of Erie, having the confidence and trust of all
who have business or social dealings with him.
^^Ir. Kugel married Wilhelmina Goebel. a native of Germany, who
came to the United States when a young girl, and to them have been born
the following children : Elsie, who is attending the Erie high school,
Grace. Harry. Reuben, and Esther.
Thomas Woods Sterrett, of the borough of Fairview. Erie county,
is of the seventh generation of Sterretts of Pennsylvania, born at Ster-
rtttania in IMcKean township, this county, and. like his father before
him is engaged in conveyancing and private banking.
]\Ir. Sterrett dates his birth March 14, 1873. His father, Thomas
Sterrett. w^as a son of David and j\Iarv (Sterrett) Sterrett, and a grand-
Vol. II— 2
IS HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
son of James and Anna (McKnight) Sterrett; and James was a son of
William and Jane (Morrow) Sterrett, who was a son of Robert and
Alary (Ramsey) Sterrett; and Robert was a son of Benjamin and
Isabella Sterrett. Robert and Isabella Sterrett moved from Scotland,
their native land, during the religious persecutions there, and took refuge
ni Donegal county, Ireland (then the home of persecuted Scots), to
evade those opposed to their religious belief, and this was their home
until about 1711) when they and their children: Thomas, John, Robert,
Benjamin and Isabella together with their families emigrated to Penn-
sylvania, then the asylum for the harassed and depressed sons and
daughters of the relics of the reformation; and whither William Penn
invited the persecuted of every creed and religious opinion. John and
Benjamin ])artici])ated in Cresop's war and were among others who
captured and took Cresop a prisoner to Philadelphia. They settled in
what is now Lancaster county where one died in 1739; their numerous
descendants are widely dispersed throughout the land, and their in-
fluence contributed greatly to the progress of the community enlightened
by their presence. Robert and Mary (Ramsey) Sterrett were married
and their oldest son was three years of age at the time of their migration
to America, and they settled in what is now Dauphin county, at Lower
Paxtown township on Swatara creek, where they resided until his death
April, 1777, and where they reared a family of seven children as follows:
William, whom we will refer to; James, who was born in 1723, settled
near Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, wdiere he died in 1808, he married Sarah
Montgommery who survived him and died at the extreme age of nearly
one hundred years. He had many descendants among whom were the
Plon. James Patterson Sterrett, chief justice of the supreme court at
Philadelphia, for many years, and Dr. John Patterson Sterrett of Pitts-
burg; Agness, the wife of Samuel Hanna ; Mary, the wife of John Bow-
man: David, who was born in 1746, removed to Cumberland county in
1762, where he built a grist mill which he operated until his death
November 2, 1790; and Robert Sterrett. William and Jane (Morrow)
Sterrett removed to Cumberland county about 1750 and settled on the
Barrens north of Big Springs, where he acquired considerable land. He
held the office of sheriff and overseer of the poor for several terms and
reared a family of seven children : Robert, who married Margaret Mc-
Comb. and came to Erie county in 1804 and settled on four hundred
acres of land in the north-west corner of McKean township, two hundred
acres of which has ever since remained as the Sterrett homestead; James,
whom we will refer to again; William: Thomas; Jane, who became the
wife of William Trimble: Mary, the wife of James McKnight and Eliz-
abeth who married a Mr. Laird.
James Sterrett, born in 1755, married Anna McKnight, who was
born in 1760, and, engaged in farming in Cumberland county until 1807,
when he sold his fine farm of four hundred acres there, and came to
Erie county in June of that year ; they came across the mountains with
two four horse wagons and one two horse wagon for grandma and the
children to ride in ; they cut their way through the forests and camped
out at night. The village of Sterrettania was named after the wife of
James "Sterrett Anna" who died March 30, 1815, he died October 15,
1822, and they are buried in the Sterrett cemetery. He was a soldier in
the Revolutionarx- war: their children were: Ann, who married George
Clark, who are the parents of Robert, James, Samuel, David, Ann Eliza
and Jane Clark; William, who married Martha Chambers, and has
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 19
Chambers, James C, William, Benjamin, Ruth Ann, Louisa, Mary Jane,
Martha R. and Ezekiel; James M., the tanner, who married Jane Spesser
and they are the parents of James B., David, Joseph, William, Samuel,
John Q. A., George L., of Erie, Caroline, Mary Jane, and Elizabeth;
Jane, who became the wife of Sheldon Ball, and is the mother of Gideon,
Ann, Maria C, Hermian, James and Eliza; David, whom we will refer
to; Robert T., who married Mary Woods Stewart, and they are the
parents of Woods, Jane, wife of David Clark. Eliza, wife of Hon. Samuel
E. Woodruff, James S., Martha, Sophia. David, Joseph, Harriet and
Robert ; Thomas, who married Sibby Jenkins, and whose children are
Mariah, Fanny Lucinda, Harriet Jane, Eliza. Charlie J., Clementine,
and Rose ; Samuel who married Lydia Kitsmiller, and has James, Joseph,
Mary, Anna Levia, and Samuel ; Hon. Joseph M. Sterrett, who married
Catharine Riblet. the founder of the Erie Gazette established January
15. 1820, associate judge for several years, postmaster of Erie from
March 27, 1861, to April 8, 1869, county commissioner in 1829, was
captain of the Erie guards in 1823, was elected to state senate in 1837,
the parents of Mary Ann, Jane, Elizabeth, David, Catharine, Joseph,
Henryetta and John Sterrett.
David Sterrett, born March 30, 1789, returned to his native place
and on March 23, 1815, married Mary Sterrett, born March 10, 1794,
a daughter of Robert and Martha (Woods) Sterrett. a granddaughter
of David and Rachel (Innis) Sterrett and a great-granddaughter of the
Robert and Mary (Ramsey) Sterrett above noted. He and his bride
returned to the old farm on horse-back by the way of Pittsburg, it
taking them three weeks to make the journey ; he built a sawmill and
grist mill, in 1839, the latter of which is doing useful duty to this day.
He cut down the timber in the primeval forest, which he sawed and
seasoned, from which he built a large log house, in 1817, which still
stands on the old farm. In 1828 he and his brother Thomas built a
distillery which they operated for not more than six or seven years ; as
according to his own statement "it was a hard proposition to make money
trusting out whiskey." He donated the land for the grave-yard, the
school house and the church ; the church was built by contract he having
subscribed one hundred dollars and advanced most of the other subscrip-
tions only a small portion of which was ever paid him ; the use of the
church land contained a clause designating that the church was to be used
by any denomination but that the Presbyterians were to be given the
first preference. During the war of 1812 he was an ensign in the state
militia, and bore a part in that war. He brought the first cook stove
into the county which he carted from Pittsburg by teams. He died on
the old farm December 22. 1865, his widow survived him, making her
home with her son Thomas until her death January 13, 1873. Their
children in order of birth are as follows: Ann M., who became the
wife of Rev. Hiram Norton, and had two children. Lvsander and Mary
Norton; Brice Innis; Martha J., who married Peter Wright; James L. ;
Rachel R., the wife of Charles Brockway, parents of Mary. Fred B.
and Charles; Mary E. ; Andrew J., who was the county commissioner's
clerk for seventeen years, he married Helen Brecht. thev were the par-
ents of Ralph B.. Reid G.. Scott, Lysander N., Mack M.. Andrew J..
Thomas G. and Ruth Ann ; Robert Woods, who married Mary Ann
Sturgeon, has one son, David Innis ; Thomas, of whom further mention
is made; Isabel, wife of Rev. A. Hall, the only survivor of this family;
and David Brice Innis, who was a prominent attorney.
20 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Thomas, father of T. Woods, was born March 20, 1830, in the old
log house above referred to and passed his life on the old farm which
came into his possession, in 18G8 he built a modern house opposite the
old one. He was justice of the peace for nearly twenty-four years in
succession, and it is said of him that he settled nearly every case brought
before him ; that he never had a decision reversed in the higher courts.
Vov many years he was a private banker for his neighbors, who went
to him with their financial matters. He was one of the best known men
in the county, was thoroughly posted regarding the financial standing of
nearly every man within a radius of many miles, had no desire to hold
office yet held all the important offices in the township, was well
posted in law matters and did considerable legal writing; one could
.scarcely go by his door without seeing teams hitched there. He was one
who dearly loved his home and his family, a feeling which was reciprocal.
Our readers need not be reminded of the manner in which he performed
his work, there was a method in his business ; a patience and afifability
in official intercourse; an unobtrusive civility and endurance of labor,
a courtesy of manner, and tenacity of memory, accuracy in figures and
neatness of penmanship, and a vigilant interest in the public weal which
were strikingly manifest, which especially fitted him for this work. His
home like that of his parents and grandparents was one of liberal hos-
pitality. In all his long and eventful career no breath of suspicion ever
sullied his fair name, he died February 20, 1898, respected by all.
His widow, whose maiden name was Nancy C. Sturgeon, was born
November 3, 1838, and was the eldest child of Samuel C. and ^lartha C.
(Eaton) Sturgeon, a granddaughter of Jeremiah and Jane (Moorehead)
Sturgeon, and Jeremiah was a son of Samuel and Margaret Sturgeon.
From early childhood she was instructed in the doctrines and duties of
the Christian faith, in early life she became a member of the Fairview
Presbyterian church, whose doctrines and usages she has cordially in-
dorsed. June 7, 1864, she was married and always cheerfully shared
with her husband the toils, sacrifices and joys of his eventful life. In all
the relations of domestic life in which she has been placed, she has been
an honor to her sex, and, as the wife of a business man, was eminently
useful. She now makes her home on the old farm with her son Theodore
S. D. and reaps much pleasure visiting among her children who are
always glad to have her with them. Of the children of ]Mr. and Mrs.
Sterrett we record that Mollie M., wife of Samuel E. Persons, resides
at Ripley, New York; Anna B.. wife of Lorin Benjamin Cushman is a
resident of North East, Pennsylvania ; Theodore Samuel David married
a Miss Minnie M. Carver, and they are the parents of Esther, Thomas,
Barbara and Emma and he now owns and occupies the old homestead.
He has filled the office of justice of the peace ever since the death of his
father and is following the same work that his father laid down, which
he is well prepared to perform; Charles James Johnson, deceased;
Thomas Woods, whose name introduces this sketch ; and Fred Earl, who
died in early life.
T. Woods Sterrett received his education in the district school,
and at an early age gave his attention to the study of architecture. For
fifteen years he was engaged in general contracting. As already stated at
the beginning of this sketch, he is doing a conveyancing and private
banking business, and since 1902 he has filled the office of justice of
the peace. Thus, in a measure, he has taken up the work laid down
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNT V 21
by his honored father, and is carrying on that work in a manner that
entitles him to the representative place he holds in the community.
Mr. Sterrett is both a Mason and an Odd Fellow, being a member
of the Masonic Lodge at Girard, the chapter, commandery and Shrine
at Erie, and consistory at Pittsburg. November 14, 1899, he married
Miss Sarena May Krcider, who presides over his home. She too is a
native of Sterrettania. and was born February 26, 1876, on the old
Kreider farm which joins the Sterrett farm on the north. She is a
daughter of Levi M. and Sarena Francis (Weidler) Kreider, grand-
daughter of John and Susan (Heidler) Kreider, and a great-grand-
daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Rohrer) Kreider, who came to Erie
county in 1829 from Lancaster county. She is a member of Trinity
Episcopal church, also of the Eastern Star and Rebekahs.
Mr. Sterrett in his researches has collected many relics, one of
which he prizes the most is a piece of silk embroidered cloth which was
a piece of the coat which his great-great-great-grandfather wore at the
time of his migration to America.
Ch.\rles II. Urick Sr., president of the L'rick Foundry Company,
of Erie, was born at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of December,
1849, and comes of a sturdy stock which has been established in that sec-
tion of Pennsylvania for several generations. The maternal grandfather
was a native of Pennsylvania, and the ancestry on both sides of the
family is such as to account for the industrious, thorough and useful traits
of character which have ever marked the personalities of the descendants.
Mr. LTrick is the son of Elias and Amanda (Atkins) Urick. His father
was a hatter by trade and, after working for many years at Lebanon,
he accumulated a small capital to establish his own business; but just as
he had opened a ])lace of his own, death claimed him. The widow died
in Erie, the family moving to that city after Charles FI. had become a
resident of it.
Mr. Urick, of this sketch, spent his boyhood days at Lebanon, in
whose public schools he was educated, and at the age of sixteen he com-
menced work in a nut and bolt factory in that place. A year later he
began to learn the trade of molding in the same establishment, and after
following that occupation at Lebanon and other parts of the country
until 1871, he became a resident of Erie and a molder for the Stears
Manufacturing Company. In the following year he entered the employ
of the Jarecki ^Manufacturing Company and in 1876 was promoted as
foreman of its foundry department, continuing in that position of re-
sponsibility until 1893. Li that year he was associated with the Walker
Brothers in the establishment of the Walker foundry, of which he was
superintendent until 1905. In February of that year he withdrew from
the company and in the following April broke ground for the erection
of the Urick foundry on Cherry street and the Lake Shore Railroad.
With the incoropration of the LIrick Foundry Company, he was elected
president and treasurer while his sons became identified with it in the
following capacities : ^V. J. Urick, secretary ; W. J. LIrick and Charles H.
LTrick Jr. (with Charles H. Urick Sr.), directors. The plant, which is
strictly modern, covers an area of 16.'5 by 300 feet, all the main build-
ings being of brick. The foundry proper is 90 by 96 feet, with an addi-
tion 30 by 69 feet. In another building, 60 by 64 feet, are the cleaning
and engine rooms and the carpenter shop. The pattern storage room is
40 by 100 feet, and outside of these main structures are the office building,
barns and sheds. The works employ an average of one hundred men, and
22 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
the business has so expanded from Erie that it now covers northern
Pennsylvania. Personally the senior member of the foundry company
is thoroughly esteemed as one of the most skilled iron workers in the
state which justly claims the best in the world, and in the broader field
of business and manufactures he stands in the van. He is an influential
member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce and in his religious faith is
a stanch Presbyterian. His wife, formerly Margaret Moran, is a native
of Erie, a daughter of William and Bridget Moran, and mother of the
following: William J. Urick, secretary of the Urick Foundry Company,
who married Miss Marie Diefenbaugh. of Erie; Charles H. Jr., a part-
ner in the foundry company, who married Miss Florence Dunn, of that
city; and Earl, also identified with the foundry, whose wife was former-
Iv Miss Edna Hunt, of Erie.
John Ferdinand Decker. The Decker family, which has taken so
leading a part in the development of the southwestern portion of Erie,
is typical of that useful, practical and progressive German-American
element which is so largely at the basis of the prosperity of the urban and
agricultural committees of the middle west. Children and parents have
all contributed to its progress, and especially John F., of this biography,
who has resided in the county for fifty-three years and is recognized
as the largest property holder in southwestern Erie and one of its most
honored citizens. In fact, the entire city sees in him one of its most
sturdy builders and most able and upright men. He is the owner of
half a dozen business blocks and a score of residences ; has behind him
many years of successes as a merchant, and has been active and promi-
nent in municipal and religious matters. He is, in a word, a rounded,
wholesome German-American, proud of the liberal institutions of his
adopted country, and contributing in every practical way, consistent with
honor, to their advancement.
The Decker family came from State Hesse, Germany, its pioneer
member to come to the United States being Mary M., the eldest sister
of John F., who became a resident of Erie in 1850. In 1862 she was
joined by George, the eldest brother, and two years later came Jacob,
another brother. In 1856 the parents, John Phillips and Eliza (Hufe)
Decker, with their son, John F., and their daughters, Kate and Margaret,
joined themselves to the Erie circle, and the household was then com-
pletely transferred to America, the last contingent landing at New York,
and coming to Erie on the Erie and Lake Shore roads. The family first
settled on the East BufiFalo road, on a piece of land then owned by the late
Dr. Brandis, near the shops of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad. About
two years later they located on West Mill creek, between. Swantown and
IManchester, but a few year^ xnereafter returned to the city, where the
father died in ISG'v and the mother, in 1889. The parents were both
members of the German Evangelical church.
John F. Decker, of this biograjjhy, was born in the State Hesse,
Germany, on the 13th of August, 1839, received his preliminary schooling
in that part of Germany, antl was fifteen years of age when he came
with his parents and two sisters to the United States. His first work
after coming to r:rie county was in a paper mill near Swantown, and he
hacl made some progress as a shoemaker's apprentice when he came to
reside in the city in 1858 and entered the employ of Neibauer and Gross.
Si.x months later, his health being threatened, he abandoned the trade
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 23
altogether ; then entered the employ of his brother George in the grocery
business, and was thus engaged until he was twenty-one years of age.
This proved an epoch in his life in more ways than the attainment of
his majority; for he then established a grocery of his own, on Peach
street between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, asserting his independ-
ence in business, as well as in all other affairs. At first he occupied
rented quarters, but in a few years erected a brick store at No 1521 Peach
street, in which he conducted his business during the period of the Civil
war. In 1865 he sold his store and purchased the property at No. 427
West Eighteenth street which now covers the site of his present resi-
dence. The building of the car shops in the year mentioned suggested
to Air. Decker's good business sense the establishment of another grocery
business at No. 431 West Eighteenth street, for which purpose he erected
a store at that location. For nearly thirty years thereafter he continued
in business in that locality, engaging in the grocery line for more than
ten years, and in a general trade (embracing groceries, shoes and dry
goods) during the latter portion of the period, until 1894. His more
general store was conducted at Nos. 450 and 452 West Eighteenth street,
although quite early he turned the grocery department over to his daugh-
ter, Kate J\I., retaining the dry goods, building a more commodious store
and adding notions, wall paper and paint. In 1894 he turned over the
latter business to his son, Edward J., who, live years later, erected his
own store, the original enterprise being resumed by Mr. Decker and his
son, Charles F. In 1905 the latter became its sole proprietor, and the
elder man, the founder of so much of the substantial prosperity of south-
western Erie, retired from the field as an active merchant. As a property
holder, however, he still retains his old-time position, being the owner
of six stores (all brick except one), and all located on West Eighteenth
street except one (on Walnut and Seventeenth streets), as well as fifteen
or more residences in southwest Erie, a fine house on West Eleventh
street and a piece of property on the corner of French and Twenty-first
street.
Mr. Decker is best known to the people of Erie as an enterprising
and successful business man, but there are other decided phases of his
character. He is deeply interested in civic progress and, although his
actual municipal service is confined to several years in the common
council in the seventies, his advice in public matters has always been
considered disinterested and valuable. He is a Republican, casting his
first presidential vote for Lincoln, and remembers with gratitude that he
was privileged to hear the solemn, quaint words of the great and simple
man, while he was passing through Erie on his way to Washington and
his inaugural. Mr. Decker is devoted to the faith of his forefathers — the
Evangelical Lutheran — and has served as president, secretary and treasur-
er of St. John's church in Erie. The members of his family are also
active in the work of that society. Mr. Decker's wife, to whom he was
married August 14, 1860, was Miss Elizabeth Felenbaker, who w^as born
in Bavaria, Germany, and when only three years of age was brought
by her parents to this county, first living on a farm and then removing
tc the city. The four children of this union were as follows : Kate M.,
who married Henry H. Strieker, a citizen of Erie; Emma. Mrs. Charles
R. Aichner, also of that city; Edward J., who married Emma Aichner,
and Charles F., whose wife was Miss Anna Bierbauer, all residents of
Erie.
24: 111 ST( )RY OF ERIE COUNT V
Christopher Rlokskr, whose special position in the business coni-
nnuiity is treasurer of the Erie Wholesale Grocery Company, stands on
a broad plane of public enterprise and citizenship. He is otherwise finan-
cially interested in various industries of a private and semi-public nature,
and is one of the large j)roperty owners of the city. In the special field
of his greatest prominence he has been an active figure for the past
tliird of a century, the Erie Wholesale Company being virtually his crea-
tion. Mr. Blocser is a native of Erie, the place of his birth being a house
on I'^rench street, which is second from the corner of Thirteenth street,
and his birthday, June 10, 1848. His parents, Christopher and Elizabeth
( Boer) Bloeser, were both born in Germany, but commenced their resi-
dence in l'>ie when quite young. The father learned the carpenter's
trade in that city and there followed it for many years, being one of the
builders of the locks on the old Erie canal. His death in 18G9 resulted
from an accident by which he fell from a railroad bridge. Mr. Bloeser's
wife is a daughter of Laurence Boer, who, with his wife, located in Erie
after the birth of the daughter mentioned, and died in the city at the age
of ninety-three years. ]\lrs. Elizabeth Bloeser is not only still living at
the age of ninety-one years, but remarkable to relate, is in the enjoyment
of all her faculties. The six children born to this remarkable mother
were as follows: Mary A., who is married ; Charles F., deceased, formerly
of Erie; Helen, also married, who is the wife of C. Kessler, of Erie;
Christopher, Jr., of this sketch ; John S. and William, also both of that
city : and Anna, who resides in Erie and is the widow of Bruno Wieland.
At the age of eleven years, Christopher Bloeser. who had been reared
at Erie, went to work in Brown's Hotel at five dollars per month. His next
employment was with Barney McGrapp, the clothier, and immediately
after the Civil war, when he was in his eighteenth year, he became con-
nected with the grocerv business of C. Kessler. He was successively
employed in the same line and in the same building with Burton and
Grifiith. r>urton and Wilkins and Mattheas Hartlet, and on April 1, 18TG,
he began his independent career as a grocer by opening his store on the
corner of East Eighteenth and Holland streets. He has occupied the
same location continuously ever since, and on June 1, 1900, chiefly through
his exertions, was organized the Erie Wliolesale Grocery Company. This
was an outgrowth, or an ofifshoot, of the Erie Grocers' Association, each
of which organizations has now its separate field of business. Mr.
Bloeser has been treasurer of the later company from the time of its
organization, lie is also financially interested in the Erie silk mills and
the Mutual Telephone Company, and his successful business interests
have brought him the abundant means which he has so largely invested
in. real estate. In his ventures of this character, also, his sound judgment
of present conditions and future ])rospects has brought him into the fore
ranks of pro])erty owners. Among his valuable pieces of city property
are three residences and one business block on Eighteenth street, and one
residence on East Nineteenth street. Mr. Bloeser is an active member
of the Erie Chamber of Commerce and the Erie Business Men's Ex-
change. His political affiliations are with the Democracy, in national
affairs, while in local matters he votes according to his independent judg-
ment of men and measures. In his religious faith, he is a stanch
Lutheran. Mr. Bloeser's wife was formerly Miss Elizabeth Koster.
who was born in Erie and is a daughter of Laurence Koster, one of
the well known merchants of the city, now deceased. Lillian and Clara,
the two children by this marriage, are both at home.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUXTY 25
Daniel Mitciiki.l McDannel, one of the best known citizens and
business men of Erie, and vice president of the h:rie Wholesale Grocery
Company, is a native of that city, born in a house which stood on the
site of his present home and grocerv store at Nos. 900 and 908 East
Sixth street, on the Tth of October, '18(51. Me is the son of O. H. P.
McDannel, who was born in East Mill Creek township, this county,
about 1832, and the grandson of Daniel McDannel, one of the pioneers
of the township named. The mother of Daniel M. was Mary Ann Nel-
son, a native of New York City born in 1842, whose father emigrated
from Scotland and her mother, from Ireland — the former dying in the
summer of 19U;5 and the latter still surviving.
Daniel M. McDannel was reared in East Mill Creek township (now
the city) until he was about live years old, the parents then locating
on a farm on the i'.uffalo road and still later founding the homestead
on the East Lake road. The boy received his education in the public
schools ; worked on the home farm until he was twenty years old, and
then went to work in the shops of the Lovell Manufacturing Company,
M. N. Lovell, its proprietor, being his uncle by marriage to his mother's
sister. After remaining about four years in the shops, the youth rented
a farm in Harbor Creek township and operated it for chree }ears, re-
turning then to his home farm on the Lake road in East i\Iill Creek
township, where he spent six years in agriculture connected both with
general farming and gardening. He next farmed in Suiumit township
for a time, and on January l(i, 189(), located in Erie, i)urchased ground
on East Sixth street, built a stone warehouse and engaged in the retail
grocery business, which he has continued to successfully prosecute ever
since. In August. 190(), he erected a large and handsome brick resi-
dence adjacent to his store, which is considered one of the most con-
venient and modern homes on East Sixth street.
Speaking more in detail regarding his business, it may be stated
that Mr. McDannel has made a decided success of it, and now has the
leading store of its kind in this section of the city, it having outlived
several other groceries which were in the field long before his. He
now employs three clerks and runs two delivery wagons. Mr. McDannel
and Christopher Bloeser were the prime organizers of the Erie Wholesale
Grocery Company. They had firm faith in the enterprise, and worked
steadilv for it until now it is a complete success in every respect and is
still growing in volume of business and importance. Air. McDannel
was the second secretarx- of the company, succeeding William Heiss who
had served six months. After holding that office for two years he was
chosen to his present position, that of vice president of the company.
His more extended commercial relations are as a leading member of
the Business Men's Exchange and of the Erie Grocerymen's Association,
and he has held the treasurership of the latter for the past nine years.
He belongs to the Woodmen of the \\'orld and his politics may be
classed as liberal Republican.
On December 3. 1891, Mr. AIcDannel married Aliss Kate A. Root,
who was born in Summit township, Erie county. June 30, 1870, daughter
of Sidney and Rebecca (Eckert) Root, both citizens of Summit county.
Her father came with his parents from Connecticut, the family making
the overland journey in an old ox wagon. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel M.
McDannel have become the parents of the following children: Ruth,
born October 10, 189(), and Ethel, born March 29. 1901. The parents
are active members of the Alethodist church.
20 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Henry L. Brevillikk, prothonotary of Erie county, well known
in the city of Erie as a representative resident, was liere born and reared,
his father being Gustav F. Brevillier, one of the leading German citizens
of this portion of the state. While spending his youthful days in his
parents' home Henry L. Brevillier attended the public and high schools
of Erie and also pursued a thorough commercial course in Germany
while on a visit in that country with his parents, who were spending
some time amid the scenes of their youth. Indeed the visit covered a
period of several years, so that JMr. Brevillier became well acquainted
with the land of his forefathers. For twenty-six years his connection
with business interests was that of shipping clerk with the old firm of
Johnston & r»revillier, of Erie, and in July, 1900, he became deputy
prothonotary under the late Theodore F. Noble. The ability which he
displayed in discharging his duties led to his election in November, 1905,
to the office which he is now filling and to which he was re-elected in
November, 1908, as the Republican candidate. His official record has
at all times been characterized by the utmost loyalty and devotion to
duty and he is well known as a public-spirited and progressive man.
Mr. Brevillier belongs to the Qiamber of Commerce and to the
Board of Trade and is interested in all the movements of those organiza-
tions for general progress and improvement. Fraternally he is connected
with the Royal Arcanum, the Knights of Honor, the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and in his life displays the beneficent spirit which underlies these or-
ganizations.
Air. Brevillier was married in 1879 to IMiss Elise Eichhorn, of Erie,
and unto them have been born three children : Johanna Catherine, who
was born July 28. 1880, and died October 23d of the same year ; Gustav
li., born September 9, 1882 ; and Alexander F., who was born February
24, 1885, and on the 26th of October, 1908, wedded Mary Emeline Foster.
The Brevillier family has long been a prominent one in this city and
Henry L. Brevillier is widely and prominently known in social as well as
business and official circles of the city.
Rev. Johx J. F. Doxnellan, Rector of St. Peter's Cathedral, Erie,
and Chancellor of the Diocese of Erie, is a native of Jersey City, New
Jersey, born on May 18, 1872, and is a son of the late Hon. John F.
Donnellan of that city. Fie received his early education at St. Mary's
Academy, Jersey City, after which he entered St. Mary's Catholic In-
stitute, conducted by the Christian Brothers. He was "next a student
for three years at the De La Salle Institute, New York City, whence he
graduated with high honors, and upon the completion of his collegiate
course at Seton Hall College, South Orange, New Jersey, in 1892. he
received the Degrees of A. B. and A. AI. Father Donnellan's theological
studies were continued at Seton Hall Seminary and completed at St.
Bonaventure's Seminary, Allegany, New York, where he was ordained
to the Holy Priesthood on June 24, 1897. by the Rt. Rev. James E.
Quigley, D. D., now His Grace, the Archbishop of Chicago. He cele-
brated his First Solemn High Alass at St. Mary's Church, lersey Citv,
on Sunday, June 27. 1897.
On July 9, 1897. J*'athcr Donnellan reached Erie to assume the
sacred and responsible duties of his present offices as Chancellor of the
Diocese and Rector of St. Peter's Cathedral. Under his conscientious,
thorough and al)le administration of material and spiritual affairs, the
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 27
membership of his Parish has greatly increased ; its schools have advanced
in efficiency and attendance ; financial conditions have been bettered ;
poverty and distress of body and mind have been relieved, and the gen-
eral community centering in the Cathedral and its broad work has been
blessed and uplifted.
Henry Shenk. A man of versatile talents, possessing great me-
chanical, artistic and business ability, Henry Shenk, of Erie, is widely
known as one of the leading contractors and builders of Erie county,
his work being in evidence in the more important cities of Western
Pennsylvania. Putting forth his best endeavors in the fulfillment of his
many and large contracts, he has invariably met with success. Ever true
to his convictions, honor and integrity are synonomous with his name,
and he enjoys to a marked degree the respect of his fellow-men. He is a
native-born son of Erie county, his birth having occurred, July 31, 1836,
in Mill Creek township. He comes of Pioneer stock, his paternal grand-
parents having migrated to this county from Lancaster county at an
early day, making the journey through the almost pathless woods with
teams. John Shenk, Air. Shenk's father, was then a lad of nine years.
He grew up with the county, and after his marriage with Xancy Miller
began the improvement of the homestead on which he and his faithful
helpmate spent the remainder of their lives.
Acquiring such knowledge of books as could be obtained in the rural
schools of his youthful days, Henry Shenk began working at the car-
penters trade in the spring of 1853, finding plenty of employment in the
vicinity of his home. In the fall of that year, desirous of broadening
his field of action, he came to the city of Erie, entered the employment
of John Hill, and for several months worked on what is known as the
Paragon and Austin building, in North Park Row. Going to Girard,
Pennsylvania, the following spring, he w^orked there, and in the near-by
country for two years. In the spring of 1857 Mr. Shenk returned to his
home to build a house for his father on the old homestead, completing,
it in the very early part of 1859. Coming then to Erie, he was for a
short time in the employ of Messrs. Crook & Lytle, after which he worked
three years for Messrs. Jones and White, and two years for Mr. Hill.
Forming a partnership, in the spring of 1863, with I. P. Kinsey, he
carried on business for a number of seasons as junior member of the
firm of Kinsey & Shenk, his first work of importance being the erection
of a house in Mill street, near State street, for Henry Jarecki. A few
years later this firm admitted into patrnership Peter Brubaker, and in
connection with other business operated the planing mill located at the
corner of Eleventh and French streets. The partnership, however, did
not long continue. Air. Kinsey selling out his interest to L. F. White,
and the nrm name bemg changed to L. F. Wliite & Co. Dissatisfaction
among the members of this new firm soon became apparent, finally reach-
ing such a stage that the troubles were taken to court, and before a
settlement was reached the mill was destroyed by fire. Air. Shenk then,
by agreement of the partners, took charge of the company's afifairs,
turned all that was left into money, and with the proceeds paid as far
as possible the debts of the firm. Creditors still having claims against
the firm gave him ample time, and he finally succeeded in paying every
debt in full, an achievement bespeaking in no unmeasured terms of his
business sagacity and judgment.
2H HISTOID' OF ERIE COUNTY
After the Inirning (^f the mill Mr. Shenk continued business as a
builder and contractor in Erie, doing the best he could without capital,
remaining here until the spring of 1878, when he concluded to take
contracts outside of the city. Accordingly, that very spring, he took
the contract to build the Oil Exchange in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and
the ensuing spring erected the Oil Exchange at Titusville, Pennsylvania.
His work proving most satisfactory in each case, he was given the con-
tract in the summer of 1879, to build the Court House in Cambria county,
Pennsylvania, which was completed the next, year, and proved a credit
to his'good taste and skilful workmanship. The same year Mr. Shenk
erected a part of the Huntingdon Industrial Reformatory, afterwards
taking a contract to complete the same, the contract covering a period
of nearly six years, the cost being about $U00,00().
In 1882 Mr. Shenk began business operations in Pittsburg, his first
contract being the erection of the Y. M. C. A. building. His ability and
integritv meeting with a ready recognition, he subsequently continued
business in that thriving city, opening an ot^ce, and has since filled many
contracts of importance, having erected some of the finest public struc-
tures, business blocks,- private buikhngs, and palatial residences of recent
years, among others worthy of note being the Christ ^Methodist Episcopal
church, a magnificent piece of architecture, costing nearly $300,000 ; and
the famous Carnegie Library Building, which alone would establish the
fame of any builder. This building, which was dedicated November 5,
18!)5. cost over $700,000. ]\Ir. Shenk's operations in Erie have also been
large and important, including the erection of the Central High School
Building ; the Downing Block ; the Park Opera House ; the Hamot Hos-
pital ; and other notable buildings. His business establishment in Erie,
situated at the corner of Twelfth and Sassafras streets, is one of the
largest and best-equipped manufacturing plants in the city, and is operated
by the Henry Shenk Company, which consists of himself and his two
sons, Mr. Shenk being president, his son Charles E., vice-president, and
his son ^Vilbur is secretary and treasurer.
About seventeen years ago ^Nlr. Shenk was stricken with paralysis,
since which time he has taken little active part in the business, it being
carried on by the above mentioned firm, and has been constantly in-
creasing and now it is one of the large contracting firms of the country.
While not taking any active part in affairs, Mr. Shenk has kept himself
thoroughly posted through all his years of sickenss to just what the firm
has been doing, and how the work has been conducted, and in giving his
valuable advice from time to time, which has been thoroughly apprec-
iated by the members of the firm.
^^'Ir.LI.\M P. H.WK.s. one of Erie's oldest active business men. one of
its most highly respected citizens, is a native son of Erie county, and was
born at Waterford, December 3, 1829. He is descended on both sides
of his family, from Pennsylvania pioneers, and is the son of James and
Poll\- (Boyd) Hayes. The Hayes family of which he is a descendant was
founded in America by John Mays, a native of Donegal, Ireland, who
came to America in 1730, settling first in Chester county, Pennsylvania,
and removing a few years later to Northumberland county, where he
made permanent settlement and spent the remainder of his life. He
was the father of a large family, and five of his sons served in the Revolu-
tion and were with Ceneral Washington at the historic Crossing of the
Delaware. One son. Captain John Hays, raised and commanded a com-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 2!)
I^aiu'. and for this and his service as an officer, he received a grant of
a large tract of land. Captain John's son Robert, grandfather of William
P. Hayes, was also a soldier in the Revolution, and this branch of the
family for some reason inserted the "e" in the name. His son, James
Hayes, was born in Northumberland county. Pennyslvania, in 1799, and
removed to Waterford, Erie county, about 1821-22. and there died March
1, 1874. He married Polly Boyd, who was born in Northumberland
county, in 1800. and died in 1866. She was daughter of John Boyd,
whose father served as musician in the Revolutionary war, and was one
of the pioneers of Erie county, the family settling in Waterford about
ISOO.
lames Hayes was a wheelwright and chair maker, and at one time
built and operated a mill on French creek, where he carried on the manu-
facture of chairs. James and Polly Hayes had fourteen children, of
whom the following are living: Charles AI., of Titusville, Pennsylvania;
Ellen, who married John Holden, and resides at Chicago; and William P.
William P. Hayes left Waterford in 1845, when sixteen years of
age, proceeding to Erie, where he found employment in the store of
Charles M. Tibbals ; in 1851 Mr. Tibbals gave him an interest in the
business, and the name became Tibbals & Hayes, general merchants.
I'lve or six years later the health of Air. Tibbals failed and he sold his
interest to Mr. Hayes, who then formed a partnership with William A.
Jordan, taking the name of Hayes & Jordan. About this time the firm
began to occupy the hue store fitted out by General Reed, in the Reed
House Block, and soon after this Mr. Jordan retired from the business.
In 1860 General Reed became a partner of Mr. Hayes, and under the
name of Hayes & Company they did a growing business. At this time,
when Mr. Hayes proceeded to New York for the purchase of goods, he
carried with him a letter from Mr. Reed to A. T. Stewart, at that time
a merchant prince, telling of the partnership, and asking him to let the
bearer have all the goods he wanted; General Reed was well-known in
New York and Mr. Stewart informed Mr. Hayes he could have every-
thing in his store if he wished. The firm of Hayes & Company did busi-
ness until the destruction by fire of the Reed block, after which General
Reed withdrew. Mr. Hayes at this time removed his stock to a store on
State between Eighth and Ninth streets. At this time the Civil war was
being fought, and when peace was near General Reed advised Mr. Hayes
to get out of business, as a period of commercial depression was at hand,
and following this sage advice, he closed out his entire stock at auction
and private sale. Mr. Hayes purchased a farm in Chautauqua county,
New York, although he never lived on same. In later years Mr. Hayes
handled considerable real estate for General Reed, and was a lifelong
friend of that wonderful business man, who did so much for the prog-
ress of Erie in early times.
In 1867 Mr. Hayes and S. P. Keplar, under the firm name of Playes
& Keplar. organized the first real estate business of Erie. In 1876 Mr.
Keplar withdrew from the firm, and Mr. Hayes managed the enterprise
alone until 1889, in which year his son, Charles B., became a member
of the firm, and the name became Flayes & Son, which has done a large
amount of business, and is the largest enterprise of the kind in the city.
Mr. Hayes has contributed much to the progress and development of
Erie, and his business methods have gained for him the confidence and
esteem of his fellow-townsmen.
30 HISTORY OF ERIE COLXTY
iMr. Hayes married Juliet 1'"., daughter of Captain John Justice, who
was born in Erie, in 182'J. John Justice, who was a ship carpenter, came
to Erie to help build Perry's lieet, and became one of the city's most
honored citizens. He married Ann, daughter of Sheriff Gray, of Erie
count}'. To Air. and Airs. Hayes were born children as follows : 1.
Frank AI., manager of the American Security Company, with headquar-
ters at Pittsburg, where he resides. He was at one time employed by
the United States Government as expert and as receiver wound up several
banks throughout the country, which had failed, among them the Key-
stone Bank, of Erie. 2. William J., now employed by the government
as expert in bank defalcations, in New York City. He was at one time
cashier of various banks, and was in the employ of the government during
Cleveland and Flarrison's administrations. 3. Joseph FL, was cashier of
the Keystone Bank' of Pittsburg, one of the city's largest banking institu-
tions, but on account of poor health was forced to resign his position,
and died in October, 1898. 4. Charles B., of the firm of Hayes & Son,
ib one" of the prominent young business men of Erie. 5. A daughter,
who died in infancy.
Charles S. Clarke. A citizen whose influence has permeated in a
most beneficent way the business and civic life of the city of Erie, where
he has rendered distinguished service in offices of high public trust and
where he has been a strong factor in forwarding the industrial prestige
of the community, Air. Clarke, former postmaster and former mayor of
Erie, is clearly entitled to a place of honor in every compilation which
touches the history of Erie county. In both the paternal and maternal
lines he is a scion of old and honored families of America, with whose
annals the respective names have been identified since the colonial era
in our national history.
Charles S. Clarke was born in the city of Washington, D. C. on
the 2\)\.h. of July. 1852, and is a son of Alajor Robert and Alartha (Tal-
bott) Clarke, both of whom were likewise born in the capital city of
the nation and both of whom were representatives of old and dis-
tinguished Alaryland families. Alajor Robert Clarke bore the full pat-
ronymic of his honored father, Robert Clarke, who was a soldier in the
war of 1812, who was a son of a valiant patriot soldier in the war of
the Revolution, and who removed from his native state of Alaryland to
the city of Washington in an early day. Alajor Robert Clarke was a
successful contractor in Washington up to the time of the Civil war,
when he promptly manifested his inherent and personal patrotism by
tendering his services in defense of the Union. In response to President
Lincoln's first call for volunteers he organized in Washington a company
for the three months' service, and of this compnay he was commissionetl
captain. After the expiration of his term of enlistment he re-enlisted
as a veteran, and finally he was promoted to the office of major of the
First District of Columbia \'olunteer Infantry, with which he saw long
and arduous service and made the record of a gallant officer and loyal
and valiant soldier of the Republic. In the time honored Alasonic fra-
ternity he attained to liigh degrees and distinguished honors, having been
one of the most ])romincnt members of the fraternity in the Union. For
many years he served as treasurer of the grand lodge of the order in
the District of Columbia, and in his official capacity it devolved upon
him to deposit the Alasonic jewels in the cornerstone of the Washington
Monument, and in that of one of the wings of the national capitol. He
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 31
continued to reside in Washington until 1868, when he removed with
his family to Erie, Pennsylvania, where his devoted wife died in 1888,
and where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in
February, 1905, at which time he had attained to the venerable age of
eighty-nine years. His funeral obsequies were held in the city of Wash-
ington, under distinguished Masonic auspices. ^lajor Clarke was a
Democrat in his political allegiance, and both he and his wife held mem-
bership in the Baptist church.
Charles S. Clarke secured his earlier educational training in the
public schools of the city of Washington and supplemented this by a
course in Columbian College, now known as Columbian University. He
began his business career in the city of Erie, where he assumed the posi-
tion of bookkeeper in the dry-goods establishment of Edson & Churchill.
From 1880 to 1885 he was a member of the tirm of Churchill, Clarke &
Companv, engaged in the same line of enterprise and the business
was closed out in the year last mentioned. In the same year
Mr. Clarke was elected to the office of comptroller of the city of Erie,
and at the expiration of his first term he was chosen as his own successor,
so that he served two full terms of two years each. In 1889 he was
elected mayor of the city, under the old law which limited the mayor's
term to two years, and in 1890 he was practically legislated out of the
office under the necessary provision of the new law. In the same year,
however, he was returned' to the mayoralty in the regular popular election,
and he remained incumbent of this chief executive office of municipal
government for the full term of three years. His administration was one
that reflected distinctive credit upon him and he accomplished much for
the progress of the city along normal lines of improvement and upbuild-
ing. His regime was marked by progressive ideas and distinct business
policy, so that he gained the uniform commendation of all classes of
citizens.
In ]\Iay, 1894, ]\Ir. Clarke was appointed and commissioned post-
master of Erie, under the administration of President Cleveland, and of
this position he remained incumbent for four years, within which he
made improvements in systematizing and facilitating the service of the
local office. In 1899 he became one of the interested principles in the
extensive contracting firm of Constable Brothers Company, of which
he is secretary and treasurer and to whose affairs he has given the
major portion of his time and attention since his retirement from public
office. In principle and practice he is a fundamental advocate of the
cause of the Democratic party, in which he has rendered yeoman ser-
vice. He is an active and valued member of the Erie Board of Trade,
becoming its president in 1909, and is affiliated with the Masonic fra-
ternity, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Royal Arcanum,
the Sons of the American Revolution, the Country Club, and other civic
and social organizations. His popularity in Erie needs no further vouch-
er than that offered in the positions of trust to which he has been called,
and it may consistently be said that no movement for the betterment of
Erie along civic, commercial or moral lines, has lacked his sympathy or
his active, energetic support.
In 1880 Mr. Clarke was united in marriage to Miss Alice Churchill,
daughter of George T. Churchill, who is one of Erie's oldest business
men and most honored citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke became the par-
ents of one son, Lawrence N., who was born in 18S1 and who died in
1903, being thus summoned to the life eternal in the very flower of his
■32 TITSTORV OF ERIl-: COL'XTV
young manhood and when his noble and generous (|ualities of mind and
heart augured for a career of signal usefulness and honor.
Rev. Petkk M. Caulkv. True religion exists in a sincere love of
truth and in a hearty approbration and compliance with doctrines funda-
mentally good, in an inward good complexion of mind, and in the active
practice of the substantial parts of religion. Such has ever been the
purpose and life work of Rev. heather Peter M. Cauley. pastor of St.
Patrick's Roman Catholic Church of Erie, who is carrying on a note-
worthy work in this city. A son of Peter Cauley. he was born. December
18, 1855, in Rochester. Xew York.
A native of Ireland. Peter Cauley came to this country in early
life, locating first in New York state, where he was engaged in cjuarrying
until 1858. Turning his attention then to agricultural pursuits, he
carried on general farming in AIcKean county, Pennsylvania, a number
of years, remaining there until 189J:, when he removed with his family
to Erie. He married, in Portage county, Xew York, Catherine Mc-
Kensey, a native of Ireland, and they became the parents of ten child-
ren, namely: Terrance ; Peter M., of this sketch; Winifred and IMary
A., twins; Rosa; John; Joseph ^I. ; Stephen H. ; Charles L. ; and Cassie.
Rev. Father P. 'M. Cauley acquired his elementary knowledge in
the jniblic schools of McKean county, and obtained his knowledge of
philosophy and theology at St. Bonaventure's College, where he spent
eight years, entering in 1879, and being graduated in 1887. Ordained in
St. Patrick's Cathedral. Erie, July 24. 1887, he afterwards served as
assistant for three months each at Titusville, and at Warren. The
ensuing year he was located at Oil City, doing excellent work there.
Then, after spending a few weeks at Sartwell, Father Cauley was
placed in charge of a mission at Conneautville, Pennsylvania, where he
labored most efificientlv for four and one-half years. He was subse-
quently employed in pastoral work for ten weeks at East Brady, but
smce that year, 1893, has filled his present pulpit in Erie. A man of
strong convictions, and of extreme earnestness of purpose, his influence
in visible in the upbuilding of his parish, which is one of importance in
the community. In his labors he has as assistants his three younger
brothers. Revs. Joseph M. Cauley, Stephen H. Cauley. and Charles L.
Cauley. three men of intellectual force and much ability, who are most
efficient aids in advancing the cause of the church.
James M. Dickkv. \\y no means among the veteran insurance men
of the country. James ]\I. Dickey, of Erie, has nevertheless attained a
prominent standing both with his associates and the public. On the sunny
side of forty, he has also evinced his powers as an originator in whatever
field he has exerted his influence. He was one of the organizers and the
second president of the Erie Association of Life Underwriters, and is
a charter member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Club
of Erie and the Country Cluk A mere mention of such identification
indicates his deep and steadfast interest in the business field of his present
activity; in the commercial, municipal and other broad affairs relating
to the city's progress, and in those necessary recreations and sports
which keep the typical American on his best physical mettle for accom-
plishment. Mr. Dickey is also a member of the Erie Club and the
"Conewango Club of \\'arren. Pennsylvania, as well as identified with
the local "S'oung Men's Christian Association and the Benevolent and
j2™^
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 33
Protective Order of Elks. His religious affiliations are at present with
the Park Presbyterian church, to which he was admitted by letter from
the Jefferson United Presbyterian church of Jefferson county, Pennsyl-
vania, with which he had long been connected.
Mr. Dickey is a native of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, born
September 25, 1870, on the old family homestead in that part of the
state. He is a son of David Blair and Margaret (Kennedy) Dickey and a
grandson of Matthew and Elizabeth (Templeton) Dickey. His grand-
mother was of an old Pennsylvania family, while his grandfather was
of Irish nativity, coming to the United States when sixteen and marrying
when nineteen years of age. First he settled at Leatherwood, on the
Allegheny river in Clarion county, this state, but later sold his property
and bought a fine farm in Jefferson county, which is still considered a
model country place in that portion of Pennsylvania. The last years
of his active life were spent on the farm and there he died in his
eightieth year. He became the father of three sons — James, William
and David Blair Dickey. David B. Dickey, father of James M., was
born September 5, 1837, and has always been engaged in farming on
the old Dickey homestead. His wife, who died in 1880, was born at
Brookville, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of William Kennedy, a
leading hardware merchant of the old times who reached the advanced
age of ninety-three years.
James M. Dickey, of this sketch, was reared on the old ancestral
farm in Jefferson county, and was a pupil in the district school of the
neighborhood in which his father, his sister and he himself served as
teachers. Later, he attended the academy at Belleview and the State
Normal at Clarion, teaching for several years both in Jefferson and Mc-
Kean counties. In November, 1896, he became manager of the local
branch of the Amiour Packing Company, at Punxsutawney, Pennsyl-
vania, and continued in that position until 1900, which marked the active
commencement of his insurance career. It was at that time that he be-
came connected with the Pittsburg agency of The Mutual Life Insurance
Company of New York, and on January 1. 1901, he was appointed in-
spector of agencies in the Pittsburg district. He was transferred to Erie
in January, 1902, and in 1905 was appointed to the responsible position
of manager of the Northwestern Pennsylvania agency, with headquarters
at Erie.
Mr. Dickey's wife (nee Josephine Livingston Lacy) is connected
with the faimly so famous in the political, educational and religious
history of the country, representatives of which have repeatedly been
sent to Congress from New York and held high positions in the national
cabinet and diplomatic corps. One of its members, Philip Livingston, was
also a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and not a few were
active figures in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Dickey is a daughter of
Isaac and Mary (Livingston) Lacy of Warren. Pennsylvania, and her
genealogy on both sides of the family has earned her membership in the
"Daughters of the American Revolution." She is the mother of Harriet
Estella. Lois Livingston and Allen Lacy Dickey, and a woman of do-
mestic, social and refined tastes.
Col. J. Ross Thompson. A man of broad mind and scholarly
attainments, thoroughly versed in legal lore, Col. J. Ross Thompson of
Erie holds high rank among the leading members of the Erie bar, with
which he has been intimately associated for a full half century. Of
Vol. II— 3
34 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
the many noted lawyers that have practiced in this locaUty during the
past fifty years, he is one of the best known and most eminent, while
his forceful arguments, his skill in solving perplexing legal problems,
and his many successes, have given him a wide and merited reputation.
He was born in Franklin, X'enango county, Pennsylvania, December 6,
1832, a son of Judge James Thompson, one of Pennsylvania's most dis-
tinguished jurists and statesmen.
A native of the Keystone state, Judge James Thompson w^as born,
in 1805, in Butler county, and began life for himself as a printer. Sub-
sequently turning his attention to the study of law, he was admitted
to the bar, and in 1832 began his long and brilliant public career by
being elected to the state legislature. He served as Representative six
consecutive years, in 1834 being chosen speaker of the House. He was
afterwards elected to Congress from Erie county, and served three full
terms in the National House of Representatives, in Washington, D. C.
In 1854 he was again elected to the Pennsylvania legislature. Three
years later, in 1857. he had the honor of being chosen a judge of the
supreme court of Pennsylvania. For fifteen years the judge rendered
noteworthy service in that capacity, for five years of that time being chief
justice of the court. Previous to his election to the supreme court he had
served as circuit judge. After his election to the supreme court, Judge
Thompson removed to Philadelphia, and in that beautiful city spent the
remainder of his life, passing away in 1873.
After his graduation from the Erie Academy, J. Ross Thompson
entered Princeton University, from which he was graduated with the
class of 1854. Immediately after leaving college he began the study of
law, and since his admission to the Erie bar, in 1856, has been actively
engaged in the practice of his profession in this city. His wide legal
knowledge, keenness of comprehension, unflagging perseverance, and
aptitude for clear incisive statement, have contributed to his professional
success, and have won for him a foremost position among the members
of the bar. In 1859 Mr. Thompson was admitted to the bar of the
supreme court, and in 18G0 to that of the United States courts. During
the latter-named year he became attorney for the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company and has held the same ever since, and since 1871 has held a
similar position for the Pennsylvania Company.
During the administration of Governor Packer, Mr. Thompson
served as his aide-de-camp, with the military rank of lieutenant-colonel.
He was subsequently commissioned colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment
of Pennsylvania Militia, and in that capacity performed the duties devolv-
ing upon him with ease and dignity. For many years Col. Thompson has
been active and prominent in the Democratic ranks, and in 1876 was a
delegate to the National Convention in which Samuel J. Tilden was
nominated for the presidency; and four years later, in 1880, he was a
Democratic nominee for presidential elector and in 1887 Democratic can-
didate for the supreme bench. In 1888 the candidacy was again at his
disposal but he declined to enter the race. His brother, Samuel Gustine
Thompson was a member of the supreme court of Pennsylvania for
two terms by appointment of the governor.
Colonel Thompson married in 1858, Josephine Mayer, daughter of
the late M. Mayer, of Erie. She died in 1877, leaving seven children.
One of these children, W. L. Scott Thompson, has inherited in no small
degree the legal talent and ability of his father and grandfather, and is
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 35
now actively engaged in the practice of law in Erie, being junior member
of the firm of J. Ross Thompson & Son.
Uriah D. Sweigard. Generally speaking a leader in the building
trades and master of the metal workers, Uriah D. Sweigard is special-
ly identified with the Erie field as proprietor of one of the largest and
most complete roofing and cornice works in the county. In every way he
Vj, also one of its best known citizens. He is a native of Halifax, Dauphir
county, Pennsylvania, born on November 27, 1858, the son of David B.
and Emeline Catherine (Rouch) Sweigard, both natives of that locality.
The father was born in 1833 and died in September, 18(i(), and the mother
who was born in 1836, passed away in the December following her
husband's decease. They were the parents of the following five children:
Susan Catherine, who married H. W. Sweitzer and resides in Pitts-
burg, Pennsylvania ; Uriah D., of this sketch ; Ida Isadora, who married
D. A. Lowe, the well known Peach street photographer of Erie; Ellen
Linda, who is now Mrs. I. H. Foster, and resides in Erie; and Sherman
L., also of that place.
The Sweigard family is an old one in Pennsylvania, the original
ancestors having come over from Germany many, many generations ago,
settling in Daphin county. The parents of Mr. Sweigard, were members
of the United Brethren church. After their death for about seven years,
Uriah D., made his home with an uncle who was a farmer in Dauphin
county, near Harrisburg. The Vouth next spent about three years work-
ing on different farms, obtaining from three to four months attendance
at the district school during the winter months. At the age of seventeen
years, he began an apprenticeship at the tinsmith's trade in Halifax,
serving four years. In the spring of 1880, he went to Pittsburg, where
he worked at his trade the first year for T. W. Irwin, and the succeeding
six years for Rasner and Dinger. He next became foreman of the tin
department of the Union Switch and Signal Works of Pittsburg for one
year ; was then foreman two years for S. Keighley and Company, and
held the same position a year for John T. Bealor and Company. In
1891, he went into business for himself, establishing a shop in Allegheny
City, and in the spring of the following year, located at Erie and be-
came a partner in the Flickinger Cornice and Roofing Company, also
taking charge of the business as superintendent. In January, 1898, Mr.
Sweigard was elected secretary and treasurer of the company and in
January, 1901, became, by purchase, the sole proprietor of the business
The plant is at No. 424 West Nineteenth street, and covers an area
of 40 by 120 feet, employing an average of eight men. The establishment
turns out a general line of sheet metal and slate roofing, galvanized and
copper cornices, skylights and metal ceilings — mostly contract work. Mr.
Sweigard has handled, among others, such contracts as those connected
with St. Joseph's school, St. Michael's and St. Ann's churches, St. John's
church and school, the Public Library, No. 2 public school and numerous
business blocks and residences. He is also president of the Automatic
Dumb Waiter Refrigerator Company, which was organized and incorpo-
rated June 13, 1906. He is also a charter member of the Erie Builders'
Exchange, having served as its secretary from its organization, and is
secretary of the Master Sheet Metal Workers Association. He is further,
a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Erie Business Men's Association
and of the South Erie Improvement Association. Mr. Sweigard has
been a fraternal leader in Odd Fellowship for many years, being a mem-
36 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
ber of Lake Shore Lodge No. 718, and a past noble grand of Pittsburg
Lodge No. 336. He joined the order at Halifax in May, 1879; was
transferred to Pittsburg lodge in 1884, and demitted to Lake Shore lodge
in 1894.
Mr. Sweigard's wife was Sadie Ann Sockett, of Pittsburg, born
in England and daughter of John Sockett. She is a member of Chestnut
Street Presbyterian church, and a popular and highly respected lady. The
pleasant family home is at No. 355 West Twenty-first street, the attractive
residence having been erected in 1896.
Dr. Francis Anton Goeltz has been practicing medicine in Erie
for the past eight years, or since 1901. He is one of the younger repre-
sentatives of the profession, whose youth has not been detrimental to his.
progress, for in the comparatively brief period he has been rendering
medical services in this city he has gained an enviable reputation as a
physician, while his skill as a practitioner summons him to attend an ex-
tensive patronage. Both as a physician and surgeon he has rapidly risen
in the estimation of the community, courts the esteem of his fellow
practitioners and deserves honorable mention among the leading members
of the medical fraternity of the city.
Born in New York City. December 13, 1876, Dr. Goeltz was the
son of Francis Anton and Alvina (Steinsieck) Goeltz. The father was
of a German family who left the fatherland and located in Vienna. Au-
stria, where for several generations its members were prominent jewelers.
It was there his birth occurred June 19, 1847, and he was but a boy when
he accompanied his parents to the United States in 1856. They settled
in New York City, where his father, who also bore the given name,
Francis Anton, and who had been a jeweler in the old country, remained
for a time but spent his later years on his farm in Huntington. Long
Island. The son, however, established his home in New York City,
where he learned the jewelry business and in 1873 engaged in the enter-
prise for himself, conducting operations at No. 377 Third avenue. At
that location he continued until the fall of 1906, wiien he retired from
commercial activities. His death occurred July 13, 1907, while his wife
had departed this life in 1889. She was a native of Long Island, born
in 1851 and a daughter of Charles and Marie (Schlingheid) Steinsieck,
both of whom were natives of Germany.
In New York City Dr. Goeltz was reared, acquiring the rudiments
of learning in the public schools. Following the bent of the family and
that which had commanded the skill and attention of his ancestors for
many generations, he then associated himself with the jewelry business,
entering a wholesale establishment as an office boy. Strict application
to duty soon won him advancement and he was given a clerkship, con-
tinuing in the employ of the house for three years. * After that period of
service he severed his connections with the firm and, in fact, with the
commercial world and became a pupil at a preparatory school, in prepara-
tion for entering the profession he now follows. Then, having com-
pleted his studies at that institution, he was matriculated in the medical
department of the University of New York, from which he was gradu-
ated with the class of 1898. Immediately after graduation his career as
a physician began and from 1898 until July 1, 1900, he served on the
resident staff of the J. Hood Wright Memorial Hospital of his native
city. His incumbency there was in every sense satisfactory, greatly
adding to his experience and enabling him to put into practice his know!-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 37
edge of materia medica and surgery, thereby enhancing his self-reliance
and strengthening his confidence as a practitioner. Upon leaving the hos-
pital he was appointed instructor in histology in the medical department
of New York University and assistant physician of the college dispensary,
which appointment evidences a high appreciation of his talents as a
student of medicine. Arriving in this city February 1, 1901, well qualified
to conduct a private practice, he established an office at No. 210 West
Eighth street, where he remained until 1903 when he removed to his
present quarters at No 205 on the same thoroughfare. The doctor is a
profound student in all branches pertaining to his profession, careful and
accurate in the practice of surgery and his kindly and cheerful disposi-
tion, reinforcing the virtues of his remedies, makes him a welcome
visitor to the sick room. In addition to caring for a large private prac-
tice he also serves as attending surgeon of Hamot Hospital, of this city,
to which post he was appointed on July 1, 1901, his long continuous
period in this position indicating his high reputation as a physician.
On September 17, 1902, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Goeltz
to Miss Frances Lelia Boydell, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, and the
couple have two children : Francis Boydell and Henrietta May. The
doctor keeps in close touch with the progressive thought of his profession
and is affiliated with a number of organizations which are specifically
designed for the consideration of the various phases of materia medica
and surgery. He belongs to the Erie County Medical Society, the Penn-
sylvania State Medical Society, the Northwestern Medical Society and the
American Medical Association ; while he finds gratification for his social
propensities as a member of the Country Club.
John S. Scheer, alderman and well known citizen of Erie, was
born at the old land light house, east of the city, on November 25, 1859.
He is a son of the late John A. and Catherine (Kent) Scheer, both natives
of Germany, who came to the United States in 1844. They were mar-
ried in St. Mary's Roman Catholic church, Erie, and in 1901, celebrated
the golden anniversary of their union in that church. John A. Scheer,
was a contractor, and accomplished much public work in that line. He and
his wife died in 1902, within about three months of each other.
John S. Scheer was reared in Erie and was educated in various
public and parochial schools of the city. In 1876, he worked for a firm
in the Centennial Exposition grounds at Philadelphia. Later, he entered
the service of the Union News Company, operating on different rail-
road lines, and finally becoming superintendent of the business at Cleve-
land. Three years later, he was promoted to the superintendency of
the entire southern division of the company, with headquarters at Cin-
cinnati. Ohio. In 1891 he returned to Erie and engaged in business in
State street. Mr. Scheer's term as alderman commenced in 1906, and
his service in that capacity has been thoroughly appreciated. He is also
widely known in fraternal circles, being a member of the Knights of
Maccabees, Woodmen of the World, Eagles, and Order of the Moose,
ai» well as of the Press Club and East Erie Turner Society. His religious
connections are with St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. Mr. Scheer's
wife was formerly Florence E., daughter of George and Florence
(Beutz) Ritchie, of Cleveland, Ohio.
Benjamin J. Coates is superintendent of the City Waterworks
Pumping Station, whose services in that capacity are all that can be de-
38 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
sired, his ingenuity as a mechanic being on par with any who work along
the hne of his vocation and, having throughout his entire hfe been a
resident of Erie, he is well known, not only for his mechanical skill
and unsurpassed services in the position he now holds, but also for
his excellent traits and qualities of character, which give him high stand-
ing as a worthy citizen of this city.
The Coates family were numbered among the pioneers of this part
of the state, having located in Erie in the fall of 1832, members of the
family at that date having come from the village of Eckols, Yorkshire,
England. Upon the arrival of the ancestors in this country the constituent
was made up of the maternal grandparents, Joseph and Mary (Holmes)
Burnlev, Benjamin Coates and his wife, Elizabeth, the parents of the
subject^ of his review, John and Grace Coates, a brother and sister, two
cousins, Joseph Hardacker and Joseph Burnley, who were orphans
reared by Grandfather Burnley, and the Waddingtons, the wife of one
of whom was an aunt of Benjamin J. Coates. In all the party that came
from England to this country was composed of twenty-one souls. The
paternal grandparents, John and Mary Coates, remained in their native
land, where they departed this life. Two of their sons, who have since
passed away, also remained in England, while two daughters came to
the new world sometime after the above mentioned party. Of these
Martha married John Thornton of Fairview. Erie county, while Anna
married his brother. Thomas Thornton, of Girard, this county. All of
the above mentioned have since entered into rest with the exception of
Benjamin J. Coates, of this review, who is the only surviving member
of his family. Joseph Burnley, the maternal grandfather, upon his ar-
rival in the new world, first settled in Mill Creek township, near this
city, where his wife responded to the summons of death in 1848. Two
years later, in 1850, he removed to Newcastle, Pennsylvania, where he
resided until his demise.
Benjamin Coates Sr.. was born in 180.5 and for eighteen years was
foreman for Vincent, Himrod & Company, founders and machinists,
being considered a skilled and expert mechanic, whose death occurred
in 1855, while his wife whose birth occurred one year later than that
of her husband, in 1806. passed away in 1889, thus surviving her last
companion by upwards of thirty-four years. They were the parents
of five children, namely : John, whose birth occurred in the old country
in 1829 and his death in this city in 1900, whose first wife was Char-
lott Sennett, after whose death he married Lucinda Weigel, by whom he
had the following children : Clara, who wedded Charles W. Geibel, who
is engaged in the plumbing business; Gertrude, the wife of Pierce Flinn,
of this city; Howard J., who resides here; Florence, the wife of Walter
Bull, a resident of this place ; and Adella, who is at home with her mother.
The other children of the elder Mr. Coates are : Grace, w^hose birth oc-
curred on the other side oi the sea in 1832 and whom death called in
this city September 10, 1850 ; Samuel, born here in 1835 and who died in
1895; Edward, whose birth occurred here in 1837 and his death in 1873;
and Benjamin J.
In the Bay city Benjamin J. Coates was born October 6, 1842, and
here he acquired his education in the public schools, completing his studies
at the age of fifteen years when, desirous of taking part in the activities
of life, his natural faculties leaning toward mechanical work, he became
apprenticed as a machinist with his brother John, with whom he became
proficient as a tradesman. About six years after entering upon this ven-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 39
ture, being then a skilled journeyman, he became employed with the
Bay State Iron Works, with which he remained for a brief period, when
he became engaged by the Erie City Iron Works, in whose employ he
worked for t>vo years, at the termination of which period he returned to
the Bay State Iron Works, where he plied his craft as a journeyman for
ten years. His ingenuity as a mechanic being noted and his excellent
class of workmanship observed, he soon proved himself to be worthy of a
higher station in the establishment of his employers and he was promoted
to the position of foreman and later to the responsible position of super-
intendent, serving in the latter capacity until 1897, during which year he
resigned his position and accepted a place at the City Pumping Station as
a machinist. There he served with eminent proficiency and, being ad-
judged as the best man for the general duties of that department of the
city, in October, 1904, he was made superintendent, the duties of which
responsible post he is now performing.
The marriage of Mr. Coates to Rosanna Weigel, born in this county,
January 20, 1847, was celebrated on December 8, 1868. She is a daugh-
ter of Joel Weigel and to this union the following children have been
born : Charles B., who was married to Eva Gould of this city, the couple
residing at Wilmette. Illinois, fourteen miles from Chicago, where he is
an electrical engineer for the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company ; Alice
R., who taught in the Erie high school for four years and then wedded
Frederick A. Mott, of Syracuse, New York, the couple now residing in
Rochester, that state, and Mr. Mott is an electrical engineer in the employ
of Wheeler Green Electric Company, of that city ; Bertha E., a teacher
of English in the Erie high school ; and Eva C, the wife of Rev. Roy
George Catlin. a Lutheran minister stationed at Decatur, Illinois. Rev.
and Mrs. Catlin were both residents of this city until their marriage
August 26, 1907.
The Republican party has always commanded the support of Mr.
Coates. by reason of the fact that, having given due consideration to its
principles in comparison with those of other political cults, he deems the
product of the wisest statesmenship, in every particular best suited to
subserve the utmost interests of the commonwealth and consequently his
fealty has always been strong in the advocacy of the principles of his favo-
rite party and its candidates. He belongs to Lakeshore Lodge, No. 718,
I. O. O. F., of which he has been a member of thirty years, having ef-
ficiently served in the entire round of chairs, and the Henniossis Adelphon
Encampment, No. 42, I. O. O. F., having also performed the duties of
its offices. Moreover he is a member of Erie Lodge No. 327, Knights
of Pythias and, an honorary member of Local No. 7, N. A. S. E., while
at the same time being dutiful to his religious obligations, both he and
the members of his family attend divine services at the Central Presby-
terian church. Mr. Coates is one of the best known citizens of Erie,
whose present position is indicative of his success in life and he justly
deserves a place in a volume of this kind and mention as a deserving and
highly respected citizen.
John W.' Schmelter, M. D. Among the medical practitioners of
Erie who are sharing the honors of the profession, by reason of their
excellent services and success in restoring health, is Dr. John W. Schmel-
ter. He is one of the most popular physicians of the city and, although
he has spent his entire life in this country, his medical career is embraced
40 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
within the past nine years and he now attends to a large private prac-
tice, his office being at No. 813 Sassafras street. However, within that
period his skill and ability as a practitioner has brought him prominently
before the public and for four years he served as coroner of Erie county.
Being thoroughly familiar with every phase of his profession, profound
in his knowledge of materia medica, accurate in surgical operations and
careful in his diagnosis, he has met with a full measure of success in
the treatment of cases and stands high in the ranks of the medical fra-
ternity of the city.
Fairview township, this county, was the birthplace of Dr. Schmelter
and there he entered this life on October 30, 18G7, as a child of John
and Mary (Knodel) Schmelter, the father having been born in West-
phalia, Germany, in 1820 and the mother in Summit township, this
county, in 1834. It was in 1851 that the elder Mr. Schmelter left his
home and kin folk and crossed the Atlantic to the new world, being the
only one of his family to sever relations with the fatherland. Immediate-
ly upon his arrival in the United States he came to Erie where, for a
period, he worked on the old Sunbury Railroad, now known as the Lake-
shore Railroad. Finally he gave up railroad work and became employed
as a farm hand in AIcKean township. In the meantime by modest living
and practical economy, a life characteristic of the sons of the fatherland,
he accumulated considerable means and bought a farm in Fairview
township, where he pursued agriculture until September 26, 1895, when he
met death by being run down by a railroad train at Avonia. His wife
entered into rest in 1899. In their family were six children : Elizabeth,
deceased, who was the wife of John Grappy ; George, a resident of Mill
Creek township; Henry F., who lives in Erie; Albert M., a resident of
Mill Creek township ; Dr. John W. ; and Charles E., a member of the
Erie police force.
On the home farm Dr. John W. Schmelter was reared, part of the
year finding him busily engaged in the fields, plowing, planting or har-
vesting, while in the short winter months, during his boyhood days, he
availed himself of the educational advantages of the country schools. He
was also afiforded the privilege of a business-college course. Until he was
twenty-three years of age he followed agricultural pursuits but, at that
period of his life, he left the farm, being ambitious for larger opportuni-
ties and accepted a clerkship in a retail grocery store in this city. The
duties of this position he faithfully performed for four years and, since
it has been his ardent ambition to become a member of the medical pro-
fession, in 1896 he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. J.
E. Silliman. His natural bent being in that direction, he advanced rap-
idly, at the same time acquiring both theoretical and practical knowledge
and prepared himself for matriculation in the Ohio Medical University,
at Columbus. In that institution he successfully completed the course of
study and was graduated with the class of 1900. He then opened an of-
fice at No. 18 East Eighth street, in this city, where he practiced until
1892, when he changed his office to his present location at No. 813 Sassa-
fras street.
Shortly after beginning the practice of medicine, or in 1902. the
doctor was elected to the office of county coroner, in which he officiated
during the specified term of three years and also an additional year,
owing to the demise of his successor. On January 5, 1909, the doctor
was appointed poor physician over the West side, the duties of which
office he is now performing. He is of a highly intellectual turn of mind,
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 41
directing his study chiefly in those branches of study pertaining to his
profession and his profound investigations have yielded him such knowl-
edge as enables him to meet all emergencies and successfully cope with
constantly recurring perplexities.
Dr. Schmelter was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Davison, a
daughter of the late William Davison, of Harbor Creek, this county, and
the couple are enjoying the happiness of a refined home. Politically he
is a Republican, being a stanch and able supporter of the principles of
the party. His fraternal relations are with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and the Golden Eagles, in both of which organizations
he has many friends, while he is widely known both for his social qualities
and professional worth.
Isaac Wolf, a retired agriculturist of Erie county, who is now living
in the enjoyment of well earned rest in his own residence at No. 242
West Twenty-first street, is a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania,
his birth having occurred in the village of New Holland, on March 17,
1828. However, from early boyhood he has been a resident of Erie
county, where as soon as he was vigorous enough to engage in agricultural
duties worked upon his father's farm and carried on the pursuit of hus-
bandry until the year 1900, when he withdrew from the activities of life
to enjoy somewhat of the fruits of his energies extended through many
years. During his career in this county he has witnessed many changes,
has seen the approach of civilization, marked the transformation of wood-
lands into fertile fields, of fertile fields into villages and, with respect to
the city of Erie, he has witnessed its growth from a mere hamlet to its
present large and prosperous proportions. There are few men of his
day now living, who can converse with him upon the scenes and experi-
ences of those early days and it is with delight that he reverts to the
past, remembering the times when the surrounding region, which now
bears every mark of civilization, was then in a primitive condition without
any apparent promise or prospect. Mr. Wolf is widely known as a ven-
erable gentleman, his life always having been such as to command the
respect of all with whom he came in contact and today, in his declin-
ing years, as a resident of the thriving Bay city, perhaps there is no man
who is better known or more highly esteemed.
Mr, Wolf's parents were Jacob and Catherine (Piatt) Wolf, while
his grandfather was Henry Wolf, a native of Lancaster county, Penn-
sylvania, who came to Erie county, in 1820, where he purchased four
hundred acres of land in Mill Creek township, his property being located
about three miles south of the city of Erie. There he settled and, need-
less to say, at that time the region was a thick forest unlike its ap-
pearance today when it is a succession of fertile fields as far as the eye
can see. However, being of the sturdy pioneer type, he was undaunted
in the presence of difficulties and obstacles, being only too willing to have
a promising prospect toward which to bend his energies and soon the
forest was hewn out and in course of time the once undeveloped land
yielded for him bountiful harvests. On that farm he spent his entire
life, passing away about the year 1842. His wife entered into rest in
Lancaster county prior to his location in this county. The maternal
grandparents were natives of Ireland, who came to America at an early
day. The parents of Mr. Wolf, both of whom were born about the year
1802, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, were there united in marriage,
removing to Erie county about the year 1838, locating on the tract of
42 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
land settled by his grandfather. The estate was large and the elder Mr.
Wolf took up one hundred acres and this he cultivated until he departed
this life in 1872, his wife entering into rest in 1884. In his family were
the following children : Elem and Isaac. Elem, whose birth occurred
in 183U and who died in 1870 wedded Leah Heidler, the daughter of
Curtis Heidler, a pioneer of Fairview township, this county. They left
the following children: Cassie, the wife of Christopher Rilling, residing
in Girard; Tillie, the wife of George Wagner, residents of Summit
township, this county ; Jacob, who married Mary Heintz and resides in
Sterrettania ; Ida, who became the wife of Lee Milliner, the couple living
at Twenty-second and Reed streets, this city; Annie, the wife of George
Stark, also residing here ; Levi, who married Mary Aleyers ; Etta, who
was twice married, first to Lester Saunders, after whose death she wedded
George Jackson ; Frank, married and lives at Union City ; and Elem, who
departed this life in his nineteenth year.
The other member of the family, Isaac Wolf, reared to farm life,
passed through the usual experiences common to the country lad during
his boyhood days and at that time the city of Erie and environs were far
different than they are today, the entire region being constituted of vast
stretches of woodlands while the present site of the Bay city itself was
little more than a village with but few houses. The farm upon which he
was reared was in Mill Creek township and there during the summer
months he toiled in the pursuit of agriculture, plowing, planting and
reaping in due season, while during the winter months he took advantage
of the educational privileges afiforded by the district school. The school-
house in his day was a log-cabin, which stood where his present farm-
house now stands and, while seated on a peg-leg bench, he acquired the
rudiments of learning which, although not comprehensive, served him well
throughout his later business experiences. After he finished his school-
ing he remained upon the home farm and upon the death of his father he
inherited one hundred acres of the original four hundred acre tract and
to this, through the fruits of his industry and energy, he added one hun-
dred and eighty acres so that his farm was very extensive and one of the
finest in the township. In the pursuit of agriculture he continued, at the
same time paying some attention to stock raising until 1900, when he re-
tired from active life and took up his abode in the city of Erie, although at
the same time he still owns his farm and supervises its management.
Mr. Wolf was united in marriage to Fannie L. Heidler, the daughter
of Curtis Heidler Sr., a pioneer of Erie county. Her birth occurred
March 28, 1832, and she is the mother of the following children : Curtis
N., born August 5, 1850, married Ella Carr and they now reside in
Springfield, South Dakota, their family consisting of one son, Robert,
and two daughters. May and Esther. The father went west in 1877, so-
journing in Kansas and Nebraska, previous to his location in South Da-
kota. Saphronia M., born March 28, 1853, married John B. Burton, and
departed this life May 1, 1892, her husband surviving until November
24, 1895, leaving two children: Hattie J., born in 1874 and died February
13, 1890 ; and Edith L., born in 1880 and passing away May 9, 1898. John
C. born March 10, 1855, was twice united in marriage, his first union be-
ing with Lillian Church, who died November 13, 1883, leaving one child,
Lillian, born November 2, 1883. His second wife was Jeanette Arbuckle,
the wedding being celebrated October 25, 1888, to whom were born
two children: Richard, born in 1890; and John S., who passed away
August 5, 1899. Charles A., born January 19, 1857, was educated in the
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 43
common schools, supplementing his preliminary training by a commercial
course, at Clarks College and, being prominent in the locality in which he
resides, has held the offices of register and treasurer of Mill Creek town-
ship. Hattie J., born March 12, 1859, married Frank B. Foot, the couple
residing in this city, and to them were born two children, Maude M. and
Marshall. Seth H. who was born December 10, 1864, wedded Anna Mil-
ler and to this union were born two children, Harold Isaac and Florence.
Mr. and Mrs. Wolf have led a wonderfully active life, having been
reared amid the primitive conditions and surroundings of this county,
which required stern and insistent application in order to make an inroad
into the forests and thereby make the region habitable and to him, as to
other pioneers, is due the credit for laying the foundation for the present
development of the city of Erie and environs. He has always been deeply
interested in the welfare of the community in which he lived and while
actively engaged on his farm in Mill Creek township was honored with
every political office within the gift of his fellow townsmen. The family
are members of the Lutheran church, in which during his early days he was
an active worker and, having always endeavored to live in obedience to the
teachings of his faith, he may now, as he has progressed on the journey
of life beyond the eightieth milestone, look forward to a still happier one
when, in answer to the promise of the faith he has long followed, he
shall have been graced with the earnest of his hope of a blissful immor-
tality.
Charles A. Curtze. The business career of the late Charles August
Curtze was significantly characterized by courage, confidence, progressive-
ness and impregnable integrity of purpose. He long held precedence as one
of the representative citizens and influential business men of his native
city of Erie, and he contributed much to the civic and commercial ad-
vancement of the city. He was signally loyal and public-spirited as a
citizen, was a member of one of the old and honored families of Erie
county, and his life counted for good in all its relations.
Charles August Curtze, who was a scion of that stanch German stock
which has played so important a part in the upbuilding of the old Key-
stone state, was born in the city of Erie, on the 6th of April, 1849, and
was a son of Frederick and Mary A. (Beckman) Curtze, both natives of
Germany, where they passed their entire lives and where the father was
long identified with the business interests of Erie county. Charles A.
Curtze attended the public schools of Erie until he had at-
tained to the age of fifteen years, when he identified him-
self with farming interests in this vicinity. Three years later,
however, he returned to Erie and assumed a position in the
employ of the firm of Johnston & Brevillier, wholesale dealers in grocer-
ies. Within a period of six months he was advanced to the position
of traveling salesman for the concern, and he was thus engaged in suc-
cessful work throughout his assigned trade territory for a period of
more than ten years. In 1875, however, he had formed a partnership
alliance with John W. Swalley and engaged in the manufacturing of
soap, under the firm name of Swalley & Curtze. With this enterprise
he was identified for one year, while still acting as traveling representa-
tive for the firm previously mentioned. In 1878 he associated himself
with Mr. Rice in the wholesale grocery business in Erie, under the firm
title of Curtze & Rice. The enterprise was thus continued until 1883,
when he purchased the interest of his partner,. after which he remained
44 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
sole proprietor of the business until his death. He was a man of much
initiative power and distinctive administrative ability, and he so directed
the affairs of his business as to make its success constantly cumulative.
The enterprise expanded in scope and importance from year to year and
under his able management assumed precedence as one of the leading
wholesale concerns of this section of the state. The trade territory was
expanded through the excellent service and fair dealing accorded and
the house has long controlled a large and substantial business through-
out the region tributary to the city of Erie as a commercial supply center.
In the same year that the business was founded a spice mill was added to
the plant, and from that time forward a specialty was made of handling
spices and coffees. The general grocery department has been kept up
to the highest standard, and its facilities remain to-day unexcelled by
those of any other house of the kind in Erie. In the fire which de-
stroyed the Mayer block, September 28, 1908, the entire stock of the
Curtze wholesale grocery was likewise wiped out by the fiames, but with-
in the same week temporary quarters were secured at the corner of
Twelfth and French streets, where the business was resumed with but
slight interruption. The fine quarters of the concern are now located
at Twelfth and Sassafrass streets. Since the death of Mr. Curtze the
business has been continued by the estate and his policies are being car-
ried out under effective management, so that the reputation of the house
still continues as a tribute to his business sagacity and integrity.
In all that tended to conserve the progress and material and civic
prosperity of his native city Mr. Curtze maintained a deep and loyal
interest, and this interest was one of definite helpfulness and co-opera-
tion. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party, but
he was essentially a business man and had no desire for office or for the
turmoil of the political arena. He was an appreciative and valued mem-
ber of the Erie Board of Trade, of which he served one term as presi-
dent. His administration was signally progressive and did much to
further the commercial interests of the city. He was affiliated with the
time-honored Masonic fraternity and was an active and zealous member
of St. Paul's Lutheran church, to the various departments of whose work
he was a liberal contributor. Mr. Curtze was summoned to the life
eternal on the 1st of October, 1901, and in his death Erie suffered the
loss of one of its most honored citizens and most valued business men.
He commanded at all times the unqualified confidence and esteem of the
community in which his entire life was passed, and thus set at naught
any application of the scriptural aphorism that "a prophet is not without
honor save in his own country," In personality he was not demonstra-
tive but he was ever courteous and kindly, tolerant in his judgment and
altruistic in his viewpoint. He won and retained inviolable friendships
and his life record is one that offers both lesson and incentive.
On the 3d of July, 1879,was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Curtze
to Miss Amanda Emma Jarecki, daughter of the late August Jarecki,
who was one of the important jewelers of Erie and representing the
most important industrial enterprise in Erie of its kind and who was
one of the honored and influential citizens of this city. Mrs. Curtze
died on the 22d of January, 1890, and of the four children three are
living: Julia is the wife of Dr. R. A. Kern, of Erie; Arthur and Edwin
are associated in the management of the wholesale business so long
conducted by their honored father; and Adelheidt Caroline died at the
age of eleven months. On the 25th of May, 1893, Mr. Curtze contracted
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 45
a second marriage, being then united to Miss Antonie Jarecki, a sister of
his first wife. Mrs. Curtze survives her husband and resides in the at-
tractive family homestead, where she dispenses a gracious hospitaHty to
a wide circle of friends. She is a devoted member of Christ church and
has long been prominent in the representative social affairs of Erie.
John Daniel William Swendsen. Among the prominent com-
mercial factors of Erie engaged in the hat manufacturing business is
John Daniel William Swendsen, who owns the distinction of being the
only Danish tradesman in this city. As a practical hatter he thoroughly
understands every detail and particular of the industry and, as to the class
of goods he turns out, he stands on a par with any in the same under-
taking in this part of the state. His business standing, from every
point of view, is unassailable and it has been on the strength of his own
merits that, from year to year, he has so augmented his trade that he
today conducts one of the leading enterprises in the Bay city. A native
of Copenhagen, Denmark, he was born January 8, 1877, a son of Carl
William and Josephine (Carlson) Swendsen. The father, also a native
of that city, was born in 1837 and he applied himself to general con-
tracting and building lines until he departed this life in 1889, while the
mother, who was a native of Smoland, Sweden, now resides with her
son of this review.
It was in 1889, when in his twelfth year, that John Daniel William
Swendsen came to the United States and' went to work for his brother,
Rudolph, who was engaged in the manufacture of hats in this city. It
was not without being hampered that he engaged in the business circles of
this country, by reason of the fact that he was unfamiliar with the En-
glish language, which obviously constituted a considerable impediment to
his progress. However, he continued in the employ of his brother, with
whom he completed his trade as a hatter, in the meantime acquiring
conversant intelligence of the English tongue. In 1893 he went to Chi-
cago. Illinois, where he opened up an establishment for himself on Lincoln
avenue and for a period of two years manufactured hats of all kinds.
He met with wonderful success, inasmuch as he produces a high class
quality of goods which won him a wide reputation, his product finding
ready sale in the market. At the expiration of that period returning_ to
this city, he opened a hat manufactory at No. 1313 State street, of which
he was proprietor for a brief period when he disposed of the business
and repaired to Cleveland, Ohio. In that place he established a hat
manufactory and on a very large scale continued to turn out all kinds of
that commodity, remaining proprietor of the establishment for about
four vears. when he sold out his interests and again took up his abode
in Erie. Here he founded his present business at No. 1215 State street,
where he engages in the manufacture of his own brands of goods,
including silk, soft and stiff hats and of all descriptions. Through con-
stant application to his trade he has gradually built up an extensive and
prosperous enterprise and, as proprietor of the establishment, he now
conducts, he is one of the most successful and reliable business men of
the city, whose extensive business interests have enabled him to ac-
cumulate considerable valuable property. Aside from owning the site
upon which he conducts his enterprise he also owns his elegant residence
on West Ninth street, the edifice costing in the neighborhood of five
thousand dollars. It has been through the straightforward business
methods which he has observed, reinforced by hard work and incessant
46 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
application, which have enabled Mr. Swendsen to attain to his present
position of prominence in the commercial life of the city and here he is
not only numbered among the successful business men but is also highly
esteemed and respected for his social qualities and as a representative
citizen.
On the 24th of April, 1901, Mr. Swendsen wedded Miss Nina E.
Ward, who was born on Kelley's Island, Ohio, and was a daughter of
Bert Ward. To this union have been born two children: Ward William
and Laura Belle Ruth. Master Ward from childhood has been noted
for his brilliancy and when but three years of age was awarded three
amateur money prizes at various theatres in the city while at the age of
four years he sang at the Princes Theater for a salary of thirty dollars
per week. In 1908 he won the third prize, amounting to eighty-five dol-
lars, in the Erie Times baby contest.
Mr. Swendsen is well known throughout fraternal organizations,
his relations being with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which
he is also a member of the encampment, the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. His business conduct
has always been such as to give him high standing in the commercial
circles of the city, while socially he is highly respected and as a man of
means is a prominent factor in Erie's industrial life.
Hon. William Ayers Galbraith. The specific and distinctive ofifice
of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself
and his accomplishments but rather to leave the perpetual record establish-
ing his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellow-
men. Throughout Pennsylvania Judge Galbraith was spoken of in
terms of admiration and respect. His life has been so varied in its
activity, so honorable in its purposes and so far reaching and beneficial
in its effects that it has become an integral part of the history of Erie
and also left an impress upon the annals of the state. A native of
Franklin, Venango county, Pennsylvania, William Ayers Galbraith was
born ]\Iay 29, 1823, and came of a family honored and conspicuous in
the early history of the nation and particularly in the state of Pennsyl-
vania. Of this family no less than four members served on the bench.
The father of Judge Galbraith was the late Judge John Galbraith who,
in 1837, came with his family to Erie county.
The son, Judge William Ayers Galbraith acquired his literary educa-
tion in Allegheny College and at the old Erie Academy. Whether in-
herited tendency, natural predilection or environment had most to do with
his choice of a profession it is impossible to determine, but at all events
the choice was a wise one for in the practice of law he gained distinc-
tion and honor, his record reflecting credit upon the judicial history of
the state. He read law under the direction of his father and was admitted
to the bar in 1844 on the twenty-first anniversary of his birth. In
September of that year he became a student in the Dane Law School, a
department of Harvard University, and was graduated from that institu-
tion as a mem1)er of the class of 1845.
Returning to Erie Mr. Galbraith entered upon the active practice
of his profession in partnership with his brother-in-law. William S.
Lane, and in 1846 he was appointed deputy attorney-general, which posi-
tion he filled through appointment of the attorney-general of Pennsyl-
vania until 1850. Re-entering the general practice of law his clientage
became so extensive that it overtaxed his strength and on the advice of
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 47
his physician he temporarily abandoned his law work. About that time
he became interested with General Herman Haupt in the building of
the Hoosac tunnel and gave to that historic and gigantic enterprise the
major part of his attention for a period of two years. Returning to
Erie he was appointed attorney for the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, a
division of what is now the Pennsylvania & Erie system. In business as
well as in professional relations he displayed marked ability and that
enterprise which is always a factor in the success of any undertaking.
His analytical mind enabled him to clearly judge of the possibilities of
every business situation while his energy constituted a factor in co-
ordinating forces and bringing them into a harmonious and unified whole.
Thus the various business undertakings with which he became connected
were carried forward to successful completion and his co-operation was
therefore eagerly sought. He not only became one of the directors of
the Sunbury & Erie Railroad but was also a director of the Cleveland
& Erie, now the Lake Shore Railroad. He contributed freely from his
ample means to the development of Erie's industrial resources, becoming
one of the heavy investors in the Erie Car Works, the ^rie Car Wheel
Works and the Burdett Organ Company. He was also one of the in-
corporators of the Erie Dime Savings & Loan Company and was its
president at the time of his death. He likewise made large investments in
real estate, particularly in Chicago where, among other properties held by
him at the time of his death was the so called "Galbraith Building" at the
corner of Madison and Franklin streets. His judgment was seldom if
ever at fault and while his interests were extensive he displayed none of
the erratic movements of the speculator, for his judgment was at all
times tempered by a safe conservatism that made his efiforts at all times
productive of substantial results.
While his business affairs made heavy demands upon his time.
Judge Galbraith, by reason of the resourcefulness of his nature and his
unlimited energy, became an active and effective force in matters of
citizenship. He was recognized as one of the prominent leaders of the
Democratic party in this section of the state and was a delegate to the
Democratic national convention at Charleston, South Carolina, in 18G0 and
at Chicago in 186-i. In the spring of 1861 he was nominated as a union
candidate for the state senate and such was his personal popularity that
he received strong support and failed but little of election. In 1876 he
was nominated by the independent voters of Erie county for president
judge and was chosen for a full term of ten years. His course upon the
bench was such as reflected the highest credit and honor upon the peo-
ple of the county. He was clear in his exposition of the law and few of
his rulings were reversed by the higher courts. He possessed a well
balanced intellect, was thoroughly familiar with the science of juris-
prudence, and possessed moreover an analytical mind and a self con-
trol that enabled him to lose his individuality, personal feelings and pre-
judice in the dignity, impartiality and equity of the office to which life,
property, right and liberty must look for protection. While Judge Gal-
braith was long an ardent and zealous advocate of the Democracy, he
left the party in 1896 upon the adoption of the money plank in its platform
of that year, being opposed to the unlimited coinage of silver and the
ratio of sixteen to one. He took an active part in the campaign in favor
of the gold standard of the Democratic party, delivering many strong
campaign addresses and rendering valuable aid to the cause which he
espoused. After leaving the bench he resumed the practice of law in
48 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Erie in partnership with his two sons, Davenport and John W. continu-
ing an active member of the bar until his death which occurred January
3, 1898.
Juflge Galbraith left a widow and his two sons who had been his
law "partners. On the 25th of May, 1846, he had wedded Miss Fanny
Davenport, a daughter of the late Captain William Davenport and a
sister of the Hon. S. A. Davenport of Erie. Her birth occurred De-
cember 11, 1826. Of the two sons, both became active members of the
bar and the younger, Davenport, is now vice president of the Erie Trust
Company. The home life of Judge Galbraith was largely ideal for his
devotion to the welfare of wife and children led him to put forth a most
earnest efifort to promote their interests and happiness. He possessed
moreover a spirit of broad humanitarianism that was manifest in many
tangible ways. At a time when colored children were not admitted to
the public schools he rented a room, employed a teacher and paid all the
expenses for a school that the negro children of the city might be edu-
cated. He also established the first night school in Erie for white pupils
and provided the money for its support until the board of education took
it over with his consent. He contributed liberally to other charities in
this city and was ever active in support of the Central Presbyterian
church. He lives in the memory of his friends enshrined in a halo of a
gracious presence and a name which in all of his varied relations, was
never sullied by any dishonorable act. At all times he held to high ideals
of manhood and of citizenship and was honored and respected wherever
known.
Charles Fredrick Loesel is president of the Bay City Forge
Company, and engaged in sheet and metal work at No. 211 East Eigh-
teenth street, this city. He is a representative type of the energetic and
enterprising business man of Erie who, through years of stern and un-
wearied application to the various phases of commercial life, has estab-
lished an industrial concern which has not only enabled him to attain
an honorable station in the business world but also thereby to contribute
considerably to the financial worth of the city. His rise to his present
post of honor and responsibility as a leader of finances is due solely to
his own innate resources and perseverance, for he began his industrial
career simply as an iron worker and has since brought to bear such
faculties for managing afifairs and ingenuity relative to his craft as
made it possible for him, step by step, to enlarge the borders of his
enterprise and develop the business, of which he is the executive head,
to its present gratifying proportions.
Born in this city June 17, 1868, Mr. Loesel is a son of Michael
and Emma (Stickel) Loesel. highly respected German residents of
Erie, whose nativity occurred in the fatherland in the years 1836 and 1848,
respectively. Here, where was celebrated their marriage, they have spent
their entire lives since arriving in America and for thirty-five years
continuously the father, a carpenter by trade, was prominent in the indus-
trial circles of the city as a contractor and builder. He took an active
part in the upbuilding of the residence portions of the municipality and
by his eflforts and industry, as well as by those of others, the city has
been developed to its present prosperous condition. His long season of
unremitting application, aided by excellent business judgment and careful
management, had placed him in circumstances enabling him to withdraw
from active life in 1891. Of a family of nine children born to him and his
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 49
wife tlie following survive: Lisetta, the wifeof Henry Housmann. resident
of Erie ; Ida, who married W. R. Baker ; the couple living in Lewistown,
Pennsylvania ; Mabel, who resides in Erie with her husband, Dan'l G.
Baldwin ; and Charles Fredrick. Five sons passed away in childhood
within ten days of each other during an epidemic.
Reared in the city of his birth Charles Fredrick Loesel was at the
usual age enrolled as a pupil at the public schools, pursuing his studies
there until the age of fifteen years. Inheriting the industry of his father
and also a desire to become associated with the building trades, at that
early age, he became an apprentice to the carpenter's trade under his
parent and plied his craft until he was nineteen years old. At this period
of his life, however, with every opportunity before him in the pursuit of
the occupation, his desire turned toward railroading and for two and a
half years he was employed as a fireman on the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad,
which vocation not only added to his physical vigor but also in some
respects supplemented his experience in a department of work akin to
that in which he is now engaged. Upon leaving the railroad Mr. Loesel
opened up a shop on his own account and engaged in the sheet metal and
tinning business, in which he has since continued successfully. Being
naturally apt at mechanical work and entering upon the undertaking with
determination to succeed, at the same time bringing to bear upon his daily
tasks a conscientious desire to produce the highest class workmanship and
thereby establish a worthy reputation in his department of industry, his
business gradually grew until now he conducts one of the most extensive
metal industries in the city. In 1907 he established the Bay City Forge
Company, of which he is the president and which is at present located at
the corner of Eighteenth and Cranberry streets. Mr. Loesel has exercised
executive control over the company since its organization and his practical
experience in the various phases of the industry, together with his keen
business discernment ably qualify him for his responsible office, while his
just and fair business methods assure the industry steady growth.
Mr. Loesel wedded Miss Lou Baker, a native of Erie city and a
daughter ^of John O. and Mary Baker. To this union have been born:
Fred M., George O.. Charles G. and Agnes E. Aside from the duties
incumbent ujxm him as a business man Mr. Loesel finds time to enter
into municipal afifairs and from 1904 until 1908 was a member of the city
council, his services for the public as a constituent of that honorable body
having shared the interest and administrative ability he brings to bear in
his own private business concerns. In 1908 he was elected a member of
the board of poor directors of Erie county, taking his seat on January
1, 1909, for a term of three years. Mr. Loesel is a thirty-second degree
Mason, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and
the Knights of Pythias while further his social nature finds gratification
as a member of the Shrine Club. He belongs to the Chamber of Com-
merce and Builder's Exchange, both of which he assisted in organizing and
his individuality is a strong feature both in the city's industrial and
municipal life.
John Stevens Richards. He coveted success but scorned to
attain it except through industry and honest means. He acquired wealth
without fraud or deceit, and the results of his life are full of inspiration
to the rising generation. These are significant words, and well do they
indicate Captain John Stevens Richards as he stood as a man among
men. He was a dominating factor in connection wath the material and
Vol. II— 4
50 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
civic progress of the city of Erie, and no shadow rests on any portion
of his career now that he has been called from the scenes and labors
of this mortal life. His success, and it was pronounced, was largely
attained through his connection with lake-marine and coal interests, and
he gave of his splendid ability to the promotion of enterprises which
conserved the general welfare of the community. Now that a perspective
view of his career in its entirety may be gained, it is most consistent
that at least a brief review of his life history be entered in a work
of the province assigned to the one at hand.
John Stevens Richards was a native of the city of Erie, which
represented his home during practically the entire course of his long
and useful life. He was born in the old family homestead on Second
street, between French and Holland streets, on the 5th of June, 1821,
and his death occurred in Chicago on the 23d of April, 1897. He
was a son of John and Ann (Henton) Richards, both natives of Card-
iganshire, North Wales. John Richards left his home in Wales when
a youth and thereafter followed a seafaring life for some time. He
eventually took up his abode in the city of New York, where he served
an apprenticeship in the yards of a large shipbuilding firm. At the time
of the war of 1812 this firm sent out a large number of its operatives to
construct the war vessels which eventually constituted Commodore
Perry's historic fleet on Lake Erie, and among the men assigned to this
work was John Richards, who rendered eflfective service in this connec-
tion. After the close of the war he established his permanent home in
Erie, where his name is honored as that of a sterling pioneer and loyal
and influential citizen. For a time after taking up his residence in Erie
he sailed on the Great Lakes, after which he engaged in shipbuilding, in
which connection he had charge for many years of the construction of
all of the Reed Line steamers. Both he and his wife continued to reside
in Erie until their death.
Captain John S. Richards gained his early education in the school
conducted in what was long known as a landmark of Erie, — the old
"Yellow Meeting House," on Sassafras street, and this he supplemented
by attending the Erie Academy. For a number of years after leaving
school he was associated with his father in the operations of the local
shipyard, and he then initiated his career as a sailor on the Great Lakes.
He was thus identified with lake-marine service for more than twenty
years, and he won rapid promotion through more subordinate offices to
that of captain, in which position he had command of such vessels as
the "Ohio," "Queen City," "Keystone State." and "Western World,"
the last mentioned of which held the route between Bufifalo and Detroit.
His last command was that of the steamship "Milwaukee." which oper-
ated between Grand Haven, Michigan, and Milwaukee. Wisconsin, as a
connecting adjunct of the Detroit. Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railroad,
which is now a part of the Grand Trunk system.
In 1863 Captain Richards retired from the lakes and became a mem-
ber of the firm of Henry Rawle & Company, of Erie, lake shippers of
bituminous coal. This firm was succeeded by that of Richards. Pelton,
Reed & Company, and the latter had its dissolution upon the abandon-
ment of the Erie extension canal. In 1871 he became an interested
principal in the firm of John Hern & Company, wholesale coal dealers,
and with this concern and its successors, W. L. Scott & Company, and
the W. L. Scott Company, he continued to be identified until his death,
and was its president after the death of Mr. Scott. He also became
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 51
interested in other enterprises of important order, not the least of which
was the Second National Bank of Erie, in which he was a large stock-
holder and a director. His charities and benevolences were large and
varied, but invariably unostentatious, and as a citizen he was moved by
deep public spirit. He was one of those prominently concerned in the
founding of the Hamot Hospital, one of the noble institutions of Erie,
and as president of the Hamot Hospital Association he gave freely of
his time and means to the promotion of the interests and to the main-
tenance of the hospital. His political allegiance was given to the Re-
publican party, in whose cause he maintained a deep interest, though
he never consented to become a candidate for public office. He was
affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal church, and was a liberal contrib-
utor to the various departments of the work of St. Paul's parish, in
whose membership Mrs. Richards has long been identified as a zealous
church woman. In the city and county of his birth Captain Richards
will long be remembered for strength of character which would have
made him a man of mark anywhere and for personal qualities which
attracted and held all with whom he came in contact.
On the 19th of September, 1853, was solemnized the marriage of
Captain Richards to Miss Adelaide McAllister, who was reared in the
city of Erie and who is a daughter of the late David and Caroline (Gil-
son) McAllister, the former of whom was born at Springfield, Vermont,
November 18. 1800, and the latter of whom was born at Chesterfield,
New Hampshire, January 24, 1813. Both families were founded in New
England in the early colonial epoch of our national history. David
McAllister came to Erie from Jefferson county. New York, in 1840,
and for the ensuing seven years he was here engaged in the dry-goods
business. In 1848 he was appointed clerk to the county commissioners,
and in 1851 he was elected register and recorder of the county, of
which dual office he remained incumbent for two full terms of three
years each. Later he was elected treasurer of the Erie Canal Company,
and the last official position held by him w^as that of deputy collector of
internal revenue, of which he was incumbent at the time of his death,
which occurred March 26, 1880. He was a man of sterling character,
was one of the honored pioneers of the city of Erie, and ever commanded
the confidence and esteem of the people of the community in which he
so long maintained his home. His cherished and devoted wife was
summoned to eternal rest October 13, 1892.
Captain and Mrs. Richards became the parents of three children,
who, with their mother, survive the honored subject of this memoir.
Harry is now a resident of Perley, Minnesota, where he has extensive
farming interests and is a representative citizen ; Mary is the wife of
George R. Metcalf, of Erie ; and Adelaide is the widow of William W.
Michener, of Chicago, who died in the autum of 1908.
Philander Harlan, who is active in the conduct of an extensive fur-
niture establishment in Erie, has attained prominence in commercial
circles solely on the strength of his own exertions and innate business
acumen. For twenty-six years he has been identified with the city's
commercial life, his initial venture being upon a very small scale and
apparentlv without prospect to one possessed of a lesser degree of fore-
sight and resolution than he. However, as the years came, every mo-
ment was utilized toward a definite end and every opportunity seized
for the advancement of his business interests, so that today he controls
52 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
a large furniture house and owns considerable valuable real estate ;
wherein, when he started in business, he was practically destitute of
finances and had but a small stock of second-hand goods. Such a
career strongly indicates a full measure of business ability, economical
management and the faculty of making circumstances, as they occur,
serve the end in view.
Mr. Harlan was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, November
11, 1852, a son of Samuel Harlan, also a native of that county. Orig-
inally the family came from England and is numbered among the early
ones of the above named county. When Philander Harlan was a mere
boy his father died, and he was put on a farm in Delaware county,
Pennsylvania, where he was to remian until he had reached his sixteenth
year. During that period he gave his services for h-is "keep" but, upon
attaining the stipulated age, he was paid ten dollars a month for the
next half year.^ At the termination of that period he had his wages,
amounting to sixty dollars. Five dollars of that sum he paid for a
valise and then came to Erie, where for a year he worked in a restau-
rant for a man by name of Nunn. In that position he remained for a
time, but, before reaching his twenty-first year, enlisted in the United
States navy, being assigned aboard the old "Michigan." For eleven
years, or until 1883, he was in the government service on the Great Lakes
and on the open sea. In that year he located in Erie and engaged in
the furniture business, his stand being in the old Elsworth block. Second-
hand goods, which he had accumulated during three previous years,
constituted his stock. From the outset he determined to succeed, bring-
ing to his aid that strong force of character developed by stern naval
discipline and the business grew in response to his incessant application
and wise methods, so that he soon began to deal in new furniture. His
venture had proved so successful that by the year 1891, eight years after
he had taken the step, he had amassed sufficient means to justify his
purchase of the old Wright block, on the northeast corner of State and
Fifth streets. It is a three-story brick building with a frontage of
eighty-two and one-half feet. From time to time he made improvements
on the edifice, in all spending about ten thousand dollars in reconstruc-
tion, so that today the building presents the appearance of four capacious
rooms, connected by archways and stocked with all descriptions of
high class furniture. Pie conducts a large and growing trade since he
has become ver}^ popular throughout the city owing to his reliability
as a merchant and the high standard of commercial ethics he observes
in his business transactions.
In 1898 Mr. Harlan bought the old Marshall homestead, on Fifth
street near Peach, this being a well-known residence of Erie and, since
purchasing the property he has completely remodeled the house, equip-
ping it with all modern conveniences. Here he enjoys the comforts of
an elegant home with his wife, who was Susanna Shinier, a native of
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John Shimer,
Mrs. Harlan having been reared in Delaware county of her native state.
Interested in the welfare of the city Mr. Harlan exerts his influence for
its betterment as a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the
Business Men's Exchange. Fraternally he is associated with the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, while both he and his wife are members
of the Baptist church.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 53
Hudson W. Hosier. If any man ever fairly earned a leading posi-
tion with a representative business house it is Hudson W. Hosier, a
foreman of the Watson Paper Hill Company, at Erie, who has applied
his abilities to the best interests of that corporation for nearly thirty
years. In other words, he has devoted nearly three-fifths of his entire
life to the industry as represented by that company. His career fur-
nishes a fine example of faithfulness as an employe, with a hearty recog-
nition both of constancy and efficiency by the employer. Hr. Hosier is
a native of the village of Fairview, born September 22, 1859, and is a
son of Samuel and Sophia (Osborn) Hosier. His father was a native
of Hontgomery county, Pennsylvania, born April 4, 1825, and the mother,
of Erie county, born on the 29th of January, 1830. The grandfathers,
on both sides of the family, were Daniel Hosier and James Osborn,
pioneers respectively of Hontgomery and Erie counties. Samuel Hosier
lost his parents when quite young and was only nine years of age when
he accompanied his two brothers and one sister to Erie county. Journey-
ing hither in a wagon, they first located at Le Boeuf, but afterward settled
in Hill Creek township. There the father learned both shoemaking
and wagon-making, following the latter during the last active years of
his life in Fairview township. He died in 1893, his wife having passed
away June 1. 1886. Two children were born of this union — Harion,
who died in infancy, and Hudson W., of this sketch.
Hr. Hosier was reared in Fairview township as a farmer's boy
and there obtained a district school education. He worked both on
neighborhood farms and in a brick yard before he became connected
with the business which has absorbed most of his life since early man-
hood. In 1879, when twenty years of age, he went to work for the
Watson Paper Company in the Fairview mill, and in 1882 accepted a
position in the Erie plant. For a number of years past he has been a
foreman of the flourishing paper mill. Albeit the thirty years of his
service with the Watson Paper Company have engrossed his working
hours, his residence ward (the Sixth) has honored him with membership
on the school board for four years, and his brother Hasons have ad-
vanced him to one of the highest offices in the order. At the expiration
of his recent term as potentate of Zem Zem Temple of the Hystic Shrine,
Hr. Hosier received as an evidence of its members' esteem a handsome
diamond jewel, beautifully and elaborately set. He is also past master of
Keystone Lodge, No. 455 ; a member of Temple Chapter and Hount
Olivet Commandery, and secretary of the Hutual Building and Loan
Association for over thirteen years.
Hr. Hosier's wife, who was formerly Hiss Laura J. HcCully, was
born at Fairview and is a daughter of John and Haria (Hayer) HcCully.
Their daughter. Hazel K., was born October 5, 1885, and their son Paul
H., February 22, 1888. The latter has been on the Pacific coast for
about two years, being an assistant engineer on the Standard Oil steamer
"Atlas."
Eligius Kohlmiller. The dye and cleaning works of Eligius
Kohlmiller, of Erie, represent not only the first of their kind in the
city, but are pioneers in the use of dry cleaning and other
present-day processes, as well as among the most extensive establish-
ments in their Hne in the United States. Hr. Kohlmiller is a native of
Erie, born on Ninth street, between German and Parade streets, on the
29th of Harch, 1857. His parents, Joseph and Walburga (Christal)
54 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Kohlmiller, were born in Germany, married in that country and came
to Erie in 1854. Having thoroughly learned the trade of a dyer, the
father soon opened a small shop— the first in Erie— its location being
on East Ninth street, near the present site of Webber's photographic
studio. In 18(i0 he removed his business to the location of the extensive
establishment developed and conducted for twenty-six years by the son,
Eligius Kohlmiller. Its founder retired from active work in April, 1883,
when the latter assumed its management, and died in the following
month, at the age of fifty-eight years. His widow survived him until
June 11, 1890, when she had reached her sixty-third year. Both were
faithful members of St. Mary's Roman CathoHc church. They were
the parents of the following children : Walburga, who became Mrs. Frank
Boelte, of Erie; Eligius; Julia, who is deceased; Theresa, who mar-
ried Henry Runser; Henry J., deceased; and Louisa, who died as the
wife of Henry Arens.
Mr. Kohlmiller was educated in the public and parochial schools of
his native city of Erie, and when a small boy commenced to receive
his training as a dyer in his father's establishment. At the age of
fourteen, however, he entered the employ of Barr and Johnson, stove
manufacturers, with whom he remained for several years, before becom-
ing a machinist at Stearns Manufacturing Company. In 1879 he went to
Detroit and received a thorough training in the cleaning and dyeing
establishment of a French expert, being called home in April, 1883, to
assume the charge of his father's business. It was small and rather
crude when he became its manager and, soon after its proprietor, its
development to its present large proportions, along modern lines, being
solely due to his energy and practical ability. Mr. Kohlmiller was one
of the first in Erie to adopt and push the dry-cleaning process, and has
gradually developed his plant so that it embodies all the newest and
most modern sanitary machinery. He now employs eleven women and
six men in his works, and the business has grown to 14,000 pieces annu-
ally, the quality of his work having obtained so high a reputation that
his patrons are found in New York, Boston, Cincinnati, and other large
cities east and west, and as far south as Austin, Texas. Mr. Kohlmiller
is a member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce and the Business Men's
Exchange, and also of the Erie Maennerchor, East Side Turners, Knights
of Pythias and Elks. Both himself and all the members of his family
are Roman Catholics, members of St. Mary's church.
Mr. Kohlmiller was first married in Detroit to Miss Minnie St.
Amour. She was a native of that city and died in 1882, leaving one
child, Frank J., who is now associated with his father in business. The
second marriage was on August 24, 1886, to Miss Margaret K. Eisert,
who was born in Erie October 29, 1866, daughter of Martin and Frances
(Kegel) Eisert. Her parents were both natives of Germany, her
father dying in October, 1900. The children of this marriage were as
follows: Elenor, born June 29, 1887; Albert, born October 24, 1888,
who met his death on the railroad June 23, 1907 ; Elmer, born July 21,
1891, and Lavina, born April 28, 1896.
Christian Kessler. There are few if any of the German citizens
of Erie, who have taken a more active and prominent part in the affairs
of the city than Christian Kessler who has resided here for quite half a
century, during which long period he has been closely identified with
the city and its government, holding many positions of honorable trust
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 55
and responsibility and discharging his official duties with an eye solely
to the best interests of the community. Mr. Kessler is a native of
Bavaria, Germany, where he was born November 21, 1842, the youngest
son of the late Henry and Elizabeth (Backfish) Kessler. The mother
died in Bavaria in 1852, and in 1857, the father brought his family to
America. He was a quarryman by vocation. He first located in Greene
township, Erie county, but later removed to Iowa, where he died in 1869.
Christian Kessler attended school in the old country until he reached
the age of fourteen years ; but the only instruction in the English
branches which he secured was limited to what he obtained in a three
or four months attendance at the public schools of Greene township.
When he thus became a pupil he could not speak a word of English,
yet so apt a student was he, that in a few months he could "spell down"
the entire school. In 1859, he came to Erie without capital, and first
worked as a grocer's clerk for six years, in February, 1865, becoming
a retail grocer, on a small scale at number 408 State street. There he
continued until 1870, and then removed to No. 403 State street, where
he has since continued. Later he added wholesale whiskey to his grocery
business, that department of his establishment being located at No. 401
State street, corner of Fourth. In 1904, he closed out his grocery depart-
ment, since when he has given his entire business attention to the whole-
sale liquor store.
Mr. Kessler began his public career in April, 1873. when he was
elected to the common council of Erie, serving until 1875. In April of
1875, he was appointed a member of the license board, serving one year,
and enjoys the distinction of having been the only man appointed to
such a position in the state, who is engaged in the liquor business. In
1876, he was elected to represent his ward to the city select council,
serving as such until 1878 ; in 1880, he was unanimously elected to rep-
resent his ward in the city select council, serving until 1882, and from
1886 to 1892 he was a member of the board of water commissioners.
Mr. Kessler was one of the incorporators of the Hamot Hospital, and
took an active part in establishing the People's market house, securing
the major part of the subscriptions and personally overseeing the erection
of the buildings.
In 1863, Mr. Kessler married Helen Bloeser, of Erie, who died May
4, 1883, aged thirty-eight years and five days, leaving the following
children: Elizabeth, who married John Kolb, of Erie; Helen D., living
at home with her father; Annie K., who is bookkeeper for her father;
Minnie J., a teacher in the Erie public schools ; Clara L., who married
W. S. Nason of Erie ; C. Harry, vice president of the Wayne Brewing
Company, that city; Louis J., who died as an infant of two months;
and Florence A., who married Frank L. Feisler, a druggist of Erie.
Mr. Kessler is a Mason in high standing, a successful and honorable
business man, and a citizen of public enterprise, ability and unimpeach-
able integrity.
Robert J. Rosswog. The art of dyeing is largely hereditary in the
Rosswog family of Erie — that is, three generations have numbered ex-
perts in that line, and as Robert J. Rosswog, one of the leaders in his
field in Erie, is himself the father of two living sons, the genealogical
history in this particular may be continued into a fourth generation.
Mr. Rosswog mentioned, who is proprietor of one of the two largest
dyeing and cleaning establishments in the city, is a native of Baden,
56 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Germany, where he was born on the 7th of May, 1879. His parents,
JuHus and Amelia (Brucker) Rosswog, were also both natives of the
duchy, where the paternal grandfather followed his trade and business
as a dyer for many years. He was succeeded by his son Julius, who
emigrated to the United States with his family in 1888, continuing the
business in Erie at No. 1330 Turnpike Road. In 1892 he erected the
large two story brick building at the corner of Fourteenth and Peach
streets, and there developed his cleaning and dyeing establishment until
1903, when he sold it to his son, Robert J., and retired from active
business. Julius Rosswog died in 1905, at the age of seventy-four years,
his wife having passed away in 1895, aged fifty. He was twice married,
both times in Germany, and by his first wife had six children, of whom
the five survivors still reside in the fatherland. The children by the
second marriage were as follows: Julius, Jr., who is a business man of
Cleveland, Ohio; Amelia, now Sister Eugenia, O. S. B., of Erie; Lena,
who married Henry B. Rastatter, a tinner and hardware merchant of that
city, located on Parade street ; Josephine, who married Louis Bierig, the
painter and frescoer of Erie ; and Robert J., of this sketch.
The child last named was nine years of age when the family located
in Erie, receiving his literary education at St. Mary's Catholic school
and his technical and business training under his father. Mr. Rosswog
commenced as a delivery boy and not only mastered every detail of the
business, but of the mechanisms and processes connected with dyeing
and cleaning, so that he was fully competent to assume active charge of
the establishment in 1903, when his father relinquished the control. In
the fall of 1908 he purchased the business property which he now
occupies from the family estate, and to this has added the Johnson
pToperty to the south, giving him a plant site of 40 by 90 feet. In the
former Johnson building he installed his modern dry cleaning works.
In 1903 he introduced the automobile as a delivery agency in Erie, and
in 1907 he installed the Hoffman Sanitary steam presses, so that his
establishment is one of the most complete in Pennsylvania. His average
number of employes is twelve and his work covers the city and neigh-
boring towns, the name Rosswog, having been considered, for many
years, a certain guarantee of skill and honesty applied to dyeing and
cleaning. Mr. Rosswog is an active member of the National Dyers'
and Cleaners' Association and, locally, is identified with the Erie Chamber
of Commerce, Business Men's Association, Erie Maennerchor, Knights
of Columbus, Catholic Order of Foresters and the Knights of St. John.
Mr. Rosswog married Miss Otillia Haibach, a native of Erie and
daughter of Lorenz and Mary Haibach, the father being engaged in the
meat business on East Tenth street and a well-known citizen. The three
sons of this union were as follows: Robert E.. born October 8, 1903;
Anthonie J., born May 11, 1906, and Bernard, who was born March 30,
1908. and lived only until the following 15th of Julv. The mother of
the family, who was born August 25. 1877, died April 9, 1908.
Francis Carrick, vice president and manager of the Globe Iron
Works, of Erie, which he assisted in founding, is also part owner of the
Hinsley Manufacturing Company, a stockholder in the Stearns
Manufacturing Company, and since boyhood has been almost
continuously identified with the development of the city's industrial life.
He is a native of St. Catherine's, Canada, born on the 10th of July, 1853,
and is a son of John and Margaret (Ryan) Carrick, the former a
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 57
Scotchman of Montrose and the latter, a daughter of Ireland of county-
Clare. Both parents emigrated to the Dominion in their youth and were
married in Canada. In his early life the father was an ocean pilot and
at a later period, for many years, captain of the passenger steamer "City
of Bradford," plying between St. Catherine's and Montreal. In 1859 he
located at Erie, where he was long in the employ of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, passing away in that city at the age of seventy-four
years, in January, 1878. The widow survived until 1898, dying as the
mother of thirteen children, of whom eight are still living.
Mr. Carrick, of this sketch, obtained a common school education
and learned the molder's trade at St. Catherines, and when he came to
Erie with the family in 1859 entered the employ of the Erie City Iron
Works, being then in his seventeenth year. A year later he engaged with
the Bay State Iron Works, subsequently with the Stearns Brothers Man-
ufacturing Company, and then became identified with various establish-
ments in other sections of the country, his main design at this period of
his career being to familiarize himself with all branches of iron man-
ufacture. At his return to Erie in 1888 he became an employe of the
Erie Car Works, with which he spent five years, and then followed a
service of seven years with the Nagle Company. Wisely deciding that
he was now fully qualified to conduct a business of his own, he associated
himself with Fred Hope in the establishment of the Globe Iron Works,
a year later his partner selling his interests to F. F. Curtze. At that time
the firm became Curtze and Carrick, and in 1902 the business was incor-
porated as the Globe Iron W^orks Company, with Mr. Curtze as president
and Mr. Carrick as vice president and manager. The partners in this
large enterprise also are members of the Heisley Manufacturing Com-
pany, and, as stated, Mr. Carrick himself is a stockholder in the Stearns
Manufacturing Company. He is also a member of the Erie Board of
Trade ; is identified, in his church connections, with St. Peter's Roman
Catholic cathedral ; belongs to the Knights of Columbus, and is a director
of St. \"incent's Hospital. Air. Carrick's wife (nee Mary Kerwin)
is a daughter of Daniel Kerwin, of Warren, Pennsylvania, and mother
of the following : Frank and Leonard, employes of the Globe Iron
Works ; Paul, deceased, and Cecilia.
Philip August Becker. The distinctive and specific office of
biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself
and his accomplishments but rather to leave the record establishing his
position by the concensus of public opinion. In all things Philip A.
Becker measured up to the full standard of honorable manhood in his
business, social and official relations. For over a third of a century he
was closely identified with the commercial interests of Erie and during
a portion of that time was probably the most conspicuous figure in
municipal afifairs, especially at the time when Erie was passing through
its transformation period from a borough into a city. Indeed so active
and helpful a part did he take in that work that his record has become
inseparably interwoven with the history of the municipality and what he
accomplished along the lines of progress and improvement in municipal
affairs will ever be a most interesting and valuable contribution to the
city's annals.
Mr. Becker was born at Essingen, Rhein-Pfalz, Bavaria, on the
10th of April, 1835, and his parents, Jacob and Mary (Berle) Becker,
were also natives of that kingdom. Both the father and grandfather
58 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
were school teachers and it was therefore but natural that Philip A.
Becker should receive a collegiate education, owing to the interest of
the family in intellectual progress. Following the German revolution
of 1848, when so many of his countrymen found it expedient to seek
homes in a new country, Mr. Becker also came to the United States and
in 1851 established his home in Erie. Here he entered upon a business
career in which he was destined, by reason of his laudable ambition,
unfaltering energy and capable management, to win notable success.
He first began as a clerk in the store of Jacob Berger but, with a college
training and natural business ability, he was too ambitious to remain long
in the position of salesman and the fall of 1852 found him at the head of
his own establishment as proprietor of a wholesale grocery and liquor store
at the corner of Fourth and French streets. The same year Mr. Becker's
parents and sisters joined him in Erie and here the father died in 1853
but the mother long survived, passing away in January, 1890, at the
very advanced age of eighty-four years.
In 1856 Mr. Becker, now well established in commercial lines, re-
moved his business to the corner of Sixth and French streets, where in
1872 he erected a fine business house which is now known as the Becker
block. It is a three-story brick structure and it remained the scene
of his commercial operations until his death, since which time the busi-
ness has been carried on at the same location by his sons and is still
©Iterated under the father's name. It is one of the oldest and best known
business houses of the city, the sons maintaining its management along
the same honorable, straightforward and progressive lines laid down by
the father. In his commercial career Philip A. Becker was very progres-
sive, seeking out new lines of activity whereby he might extend his com-
mercial interests, and the success which he achieved was due to his
honest, careful and persevering labors and his reliable principles. He
ever maintained an unsullied name, his integrity standing as an un-
questioned factor in his commercial life.
In political circles and municipal afifairs Mr. Becker made a repu-
tation which was equally commendable and reliable. He was conscien-
tious in the discharge of every public duty, faithful in meeting every
public trust and in all his municipal service looked ever to the advance-
ment and growth of the city. Probably no public official of Erie has
left his influence and impress on the city to better purpose than he. In
every position which he filled he was a leader and sought continuously
to advance reform, efficiency and improvement. His fellow townsmen,
recognizing his worth, ability and unfaltering devotion to the general
good, called him again and again to office and over the record of his
official career there fell no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. From
1867 until 1873 he was a useful member of the board of school directors,
putting forth effective and beneficial effort in behalf of the system of
public education. He served for nine full terms as a member of the city
council and in both branches thereof was honored with election to the
presidency. In 1883 his useful public career culminated in his election
as mayor of Erie, to which he was chosen by a large majority as the
Democratic candidate. His friends, constituents and the people in gen-
eral expected much of him as the city's chief executive, nor were they
disappointed, for his term was characterized by various needed reforms
and the inauguration of a number of movements resulting in great
benefit. He strongly advocated the building of a new city hall in keeping
with the needs and dignity of the growing town and it was during his
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 59
administration that the project was successfully developed, that ground
was broken and the work of construction begun. He also reorganized
and uniformed the city police force and established much needed disci-
pline in that department. He likewise reorganized the fire department,
which he greatly improved, bringing it up to a high point of efficiency
never before known in its history. To him, more than to any other
individual or number of men, is due the credit for installing the system
of electric lighting in Erie. Many other tangible evidences of his pro-
gressive spirit could be cited and in fact his administration accomplished
more in the line of municipal reforms and improvements than that of any
mayor the city has ever had.
In social, church and fraternal circles Philip A. Becker was also
prominent, influential and helpful. He was one of the organizers of the
Erie Liedertafel and was a leading member of the Lutheran church. His
life exemplified the beneficent spirit of the Masonic fraternity and also
of the Odd Fellows society and indeed his interest and influence were
always on the side of right, justice, truth and advancement. When
death claimed him on the 12th of January, 1888, his passing was
mourned by a wide circle of personal friends and by the entire community
at large, for his life was so wrought in the public fabric that his death
brought a sense of personal bereavement to all. Commenting on the
death of Mayor Becker, one of the local newspapers, in a tribute to his
citizenship and character, voiced the following sentiment, which was
echoed by all who knew him : "Liberal and progressive as a citizen,
capable and honest as an official, loyal and generous as a friend and
tenderness itself beside his own hearthstone, Philip Becker died as be-
comes a man of such character— brave and patient to the time when that
blessed provision of nature for the great change robbed him of conscious
being, only a few minutes before life left his body."
The home life of Philip A. Becker was also most attractive in his
devotion to his wife and children. In 1858 he was united in marriage
to Miss Eugenia L. Jung, who died in February, 1896, at the age of
fifty-seven years. There were four children born unto them, of whom
Eugenia A., the eldest, died at the age of eighteen. Emil A. Becker,
who was born in Erie, January 28, 1861, was educated in the public
schools, after which he was under a private tutor in Philadelphia for
a time. In 1878 he entered his father's store and continued with him
until the father's death, when he and his brother Otto succeeded to the
business, which, however, has since been conducted under the old style
of P. A. Becker. He is a member of the various Masonic bodies and
of the Erie, Country and Shrine Clubs. He is also connected with the
Chamber of Commerce and, like his father, is proving his progressive
citizenship in many tangible ways. He married Miss Ruth SpaflFord,
and to them one son has been born, Spafiford J. Becker. Mrs. Becker
is a daughter of John D. Spafiford and a granddaughter of Oliver Spaf-
ford, the pioneer book man of Erie, of whom mention is made elsewhere
in this volume. The mother of Mrs. Ruth Becker bore the maiden name
of Emily Lejeal and belonged to a prominent family of this city. Armin
Becker, the third member of the family, died at the age of a year and a
half. Otto E., the youngest and the second surviving son, was born in
Erie, January 5, 1865, and is indebted to the public-school system for the
educational privileges he enjoyed. In 1882 he entered his father's store
and continues the business successfully in connection with his brother.
He, too. is loyal to the teachings of Masonry, having taken the degrees
60 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
of the York and Scottish rites, while his membership relations also
include the Erie, Country and Shrine Clubs and the Chamber of Com-
merce. He married Salona, a daughter of Dr. B. A. Smith, a well-known
physician of Erie, and to them, in 1903, was born a son, Philip S. Becker.
For almost six decades' the family has figured in connection with the
history of Erie and the name has always been a synonym here for
progressive and valued citizenship.
William Conradt Kraemer. Secretary and treasurer of the Dis-
patch Printing and Engraving Company, of Erie, and a public citizen of
influence and official standing, William C. Kraemer is a worthy type
of the German-American who is behind much of the substantial life of
Erie and Northwestern Pennsylvania. He is a native of Chautauqua
county, New York, born March 18, 1868, and is a son of William and
Eva (Bender) Kraemer. Although the father was born in Baden-
Baden and the mother in Bavaria, both emigrated from Germany to
the United States in their early years. William Kraemer, who was a
wagon maker, was living in Missouri at the outbreak of the Civil war,
and served in a Union regiment from that state under General Fremont.
Afterward he went to Dunkirk, New York, where one of his sisters was
living, and followed his trade there and at Fredonia, also in that state.
In 1868 he located at Forestville, New York, where, as a member of the
firm of Jones and Kraemer, he established a wagon manufactory and
blacksmith shop. His death occurred at the latter place in 1873, at the
age of thirty-three years, the widowed mother being now a resident
of Erie.
Until he was thirteen years of age, W. C. Kraemer lived at Forest-
ville, New York, attending its public schools and Free Academy. In
November, 1881, he located at Girard, where he learned the printer's
trade on the Cosmopolite, a newspaper established by Dan Rice, the
well-known showman. Mr. Kraemer remained thus engaged until July,
1891, when, at the age of twenty-three, he became a resident of Erie.
After continuing as an employe of the Dispatch for some time he
bought an interest in the paper and the printing plant, and acted as
foreman for about six years. When the newspaper and job departments
were divided, Mr. Kraemer became identified with the latter. This was
organized and incorporated as the Dispatch Printing and Engraving
Company, and of this he is third owner, holding the office of secretary
and treasurer. To the development of this enterprise Mr. Kraemer
has given his chief attention, although his activity and influence in public
matters have been noteworthy. In 1902 he was elected, by independent
voters, to the office of county register and recorder, and in 1905 returned
to the same position without opposition. He is also in line with other
enterprising citizens as a member and active supporter of the Erie Board
of Trade, and is earnest and liberal in his association with the frater-
nities. He has attained especially high rank in the Masonic order, being
a member of Perry Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; Presque Isle Lodge of Per-
fection ; Pittsburg Consistory and Zem Zem Temple of the Mystic Shrine ;
as a natural consequence of his standing in the order, he is identified
with the Shriner Club of Erie. As an Odd Fellow he belongs to Lake
Shore Lodge No. 718, and Heneosis Adelphon Encampment No. 48; his
Knights of Pythias connections are with Erie Lodge and the Dramatic
Order of Khorassan, and he is a member of Alpha Tent No. 1, K. O.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 61
T. M. Mr. Kraemer's wife was formerly Miss Alice L. Hays and both
are members of the Central Presbyterian church.
Thomas Oldman. A well-known and popular business man of the
city of Erie is Thomas Oldman, who is proprietor of the Tenth Avenue
Cafe & Restaurant, and who previously was prominently identified with
manufacturing industries of an important order. He is a member of the
city council, in which he is a representative of the Second ward, and
during his services as a city official he has made a record for care and
fidelity in the conservation of good municipal government.
Thomas Oldman is a native of the city of BufiFalo, New York, where
he was born on the 22d of January, 1862, and he is a son of William
and Jane (Crighton) Oldman, the former of whom was born in Man-
chester, England, in 1833, and the latter of whom was born in Buffalo,
New York, in 1840. William Oldman was about five years of age when,
in 1839, his parents came to America, and from New York City, to which
point they had made the voyage on one of the old-time sailing vessels,
they made their way to Buffalo on a canal packet-boat on the Erie
canal. At that time no railroad had penetrated so far west as BufiFalo.
In the city mentioned William Oldman was reared to manhood, and he is
now one of the oldest citizens of BufiFalo, where he has maintained his
home continuously since his childhood days and where he was long
identified with successful business undertakings. For many years he
was engaged in the manufacturing of boilers, having been an expert
boiler-maker and having long conducted a shop of his own. For the past
several years he has lived retired from all active business associations,
and he rests secure in the confidence and esteem of all who know him
in the city which has long been the scene of his earnest and fruitful
endeavors.
Thomas Oldman was reared to maturity in his native city, to whose
excellent public schools he is indebted for his early educational discipline.
As a youth he entered upon an apprenticeship to the boiler-maker's trade,
under the effective direction of his honored father, and he continued to
follow the work of his trade in Buffalo, until 1889, when, at the age of
twenty-seven years, he came to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he became
superintendent of the boiler department of the plant of the Stearns
Manufacturing Company. Later he engaged in business for himself,
by establishing the American Boiler Works, and he built up a prosperous
enterprise, in which he continued until July, 1908, when he disposed of
the plant and business and purchased the Tenth Avenue Cafe & Res-
taurant, which he has since conducted with much success. The estab-
lishment is modern and attractive in appointments and the service is such
ar. to constitute the best possible advertising for the popular institution.
In his political adherency Mr. Oldman is found arrayed as a stalwart
supporter of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party
stands sponsor, and he has been the popular and able representative of
the Second ward in the city council continuously since 1904. He was
first elected in that year, was chosen as his own successor in 1906, and
in the election of 1908 renewed mark of popular appreciation of his
services was given when he was again elected to succeed himself as
one of the members of the administrative body of the municipal govern-
ment. He is affiliated with Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the
Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Protected Home Circle, besides
which he is identified with the Erie Chamber of Commerce, an organi-
62 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
zation which has done much to further the industrial and commercial
advancement of Erie.
Samuel B. I'ayle. As a representative member of the bar of his
native county, as one who has also attained to much prestige as an
educator, as one who has rendered effective service in the state legislature,
and as a scion of families founded in the old Keystone commonwealth
in the colonial epoch of our national history, there is ample reason for
according consideration in this publication of Samuel B. Bayle, who
bears a name that has long been identified with the annals of Erie
county and one that has ever stood exponent of the best order of
citizenship.
Samuel B. Bayle was born on the old homestead farm of his father,
in McKean township, this county, and the date of his nativity is to be
recorded as August 20, 1860. He is a son of Elias and Mara Ann Louisa
(Brecht) Bayle, the former of whom was likewise a native of McKean
township, where he was born in the year 1822, and the latter of whom
was born in Fairview township, this county, in 1830. James Bayle,
grandfather of him wdiose name initiates this review, was a native of
Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, when he removed to Erie county
and became one of the pioneer settlers of McKean township in the open-
ing years of the nineteenth century. He rendered valiant service in
guarding the port of Erie during the war of 1812, and during the prog-
ress of this conflict also assisted in the construction of the historic
old Edinboro plank road. He became one of the influential citizens
of the county, and here continued his residence until his death. A great-
grandfather of Samuel B. Bayle in the maternal line was Stephen Oliver,
who had served as a loyal soldier in the Continental line in the war of
the Revolution and who was present at the historic Wyoming massacre.
He became one of the pioneers of McKean township, this county, and
contributed his quota to the material and civic progress of this now
favored section of the old Keystone state.
Elias Bayle was reared to manhood in this county, and made good
use of the advantages of the common schools of his day, as is evident
when it is stated that he became a successful and popular teacher
when a young man. He was reared on the home farm, and in later years
he found it expedient and grateful to continue his allegiance to the great
basic art of agriculture, in connection with which he has been duly
successful in his operations. He continued to be engaged in farming
in McKean township until 1864, when he removed to the state of Mich-
igan, where he continued to reside until 1872, when he returned to his
native county, where he has since maintained his home. He now resides
with his son in Fairview borough, and he has long been recognized
as one of the sterling and influential citizens of Erie county, where he
has been called upon to serve in various township offices and where he
has so ordered his course as to retain at all times the confidence and
inviolable esteem of his fellow men. His cherished and devoted wife
was summoned to the life eternal on the 6th of January, 1890. She was
a woman of most gracious and gentle personality, and ever showed a
deep sympathy for "those in any ways afflicted, in mind, body or estate,"
so that her memory will long be revered by all who came within the
sphere of her immediate influence. She was a daughter of Samuel
Brecht, who was one of the pioneers of Fairview township, this county,
whither he came from Lancaster county. His old homestead farm is
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 63
now owned by his grandson and namesake, the subject of this sketch.
Samuel Brecht married Miss Isabella Nicholson, daughter of John Nich-
olson, who came from Londonderry, Ireland, to America in 1783, in
which year he became a settler in Mill Creek township, Erie county,
where he reclaimed a farm from the virgin forest.
Samuel B. Bayle was reared on the home farm and after duly
availing himself of the advantages of the district schools, he entered
the Pennsylvania State Normal School at Edinboro, in which he was
graduated as a member of the class of 1889. In 1892 he received from
Allegheny College the degree of Master of Arts, and later he took a
post-graduate course in the University of West Virginia. In the mean-
while he had taken up the study of law under the most effective precep-
torship of Hinckley and Rice, Warren, Pennsylvania, and in 1891
he was admitted to the bar of both Warren and Erie counties. In
1892 he took up his residence in the city of Chicago, and he followed
the work of his profession in the great western metropolis until 1898,
in which later year he returned to Erie county. Here, in 1899, he be-
came principal of the Waterford high school, which was changed from
the academic system of operation in that year. He proved most suc-
cessful in his pedagogic work, and in 1901-2 he was engaged in
the work of this profession at Waterford, this county. In the latter year
he was elected county superintendent of schools, and of this important
and exacting office he continued to be the able and popular incumbent
until 1908, when he retired from the position to assume the discharge
of his duties as a representative of his native county in the state legis-
lature, to which he had been elected in that year. As superintendent of
schools of Erie county, Mr. Bayle accomplished a splendid work, unify-
ing the system of management and operation and doing much to promote
efificiency in all departments of the school work throughout the county.
His administration gained to him the hearty co-operations of the teach-
ers in his jurisdiction and the unqualified commendation of the people of
the county in general.
In politics Mr. Bayle is signally well fortified in his convictions, and
he accords a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, of whose principles
and policies he is an effective exponent. As a member of the legislature
he has proved himself active, watchful and duly conservative. He has
been assigned to membership on important committees of the house,
among which may be mentioned those on education, agriculture, high-
ways, public health sanitation, and electric railways. Since his retire-
ment from the field of educational work he has resumed the practice
of law, and is successfully following the work of this profession in
Erie, where his clientage is of representative order. He also maintains
a general supervision of his fine farm property, in Fairview township.
He is affiliated with the local lodge, chapter and commandery of the
Masonic fraternity, as well as with its social adjunct, the Ancient Arabic
Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is also identified with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks. He attends the Episcopal church.
In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bayle to Miss Edith
May Fargo, who was born in Fairview township, this county, and who
is a daughter of William and Esther (Spence) Fargo, honored pioneers
of that township. Mr. and Mrs. Bayle have only one child, William
Fargo Bayle, who was born in 1889. He was graduated in Oberlin
College, Oberlin. Ohio, as a member of the class of 1905, receiving the
64 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
degree of Bachelor of Arts. He is now preparing himself for the
priesthood of the Protestant Episcopal church, at Arden, North Caro-
lina, where he was head master of Christ Episcopal School in 1908.
Peter Henrichs. Many men excel in achievements and command
success in some particular direction, but very few attain eminence in
several lines of endeavor. In Peter Henrichs, one of the leading Ger-
man citizens of Erie, we have a notable exception. As a dry goods mer-
chant he won pronounced success ; as an inventor he has met with
public recognition and endorsement; as a manufacturer his results have
been positive and satisfactory; and as a writer for the press his literary
ability has been established. He is now especially engaged in manu-
facturing, being at the head of the Exhibition Show Case Manufactur-
ing Company, whose plant is located at No. 1816 German street. A
native of Prussia, Germany, he was born February 16, 1839, a son of
Joseph and Margaret (Armbruster) Henrichs.
Emigrating with his family to the United States in 1845, Joseph
Henrichs lived first in Cincinnati, Ohio, and afterwards resided for a time
in Covington. Kentucky, following in both places his trade of a cabinet
maker. Coming to Erie, in 1853, he opened a cabinet maker's shop
on Peach street, near Eighteenth street, and continued in his chosen
occupation, obtaining an excellent start. In 1855, however, he was so
seriously injured by the collapsing of the gallery in St. Patrick's Catho-
lic church edifice that he died in March, 1856, while yet in the prime of
life, being but forty-five years old, his birth having occurred in 1811.
His widow subsequently removed to Mishawaka, Indiana, where she
made a home with a daughter until her death, in 1888, at the age of
seventy-nine years, her birth having occurred in 1809. Both parents
were faithful members of the Roman Catholic church.
Receiving his educational training in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Coving-
ton, Kentucky, Peter Henrichs came with his family to Erie, in 1852,
and at once took a position as salesman in the old Sennett, Barr Com-
pany's foundry, with which he continued until its failure in 1857. The
following three years he was clerk in the dry goods store of William
Bell. In 1860 Mr. Henrichs formed a partnership with Jacob Gobel,
and embarked in the dry goods business, in the American block, be-
coming junior member of the firm of Gobel & Henrichs. Buying out his
partner in 1866, he managed the business by himself until 1872. In
that year, he became manager of the cloak and suit manufacturing de-
partment of Edson, Churchill & Co., and during the very same year in-
vented a combination infant's chair, and formed a company for its
manufacture. Subsequently Mr. Henrichs sold out his interest to the
other members of the company, who continued the manufacture of his
patent, paying him a royalty on all manufactures. Still keeping his
inventive faculties in use. Mr. Henrichs patented, in 1877, a sectional
exhibition show case, and, in company with J. W. Churchill, engaged in
the manufacture of the same under the firm name of "The Exhibition
Show Case Company," of which he has ever since been the active head
and manager. Under his wise superintendence, the business has been
materially increased, the company now manufacturing not only show
cases, but a full line of store fixtures, its business being one of the
largest and most renumerative of the kind in the city.
A writer of talent and ability, Mr. Henrichs has for a number of
years contributed articles of interest to the press, principally along the
IPUBl.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 65
lines of local history, with which he is familiar, and he is now engaged
in the preparation of a voluminous work on the history of the German
population in Erie county, which he designs to publish in book form at
some future time.
On January 13, 18G0, Mr. Henrichs married Catherine Preuss, a
native of Prussia, and to them eleven children have been born, namely:
Edward N. ; Amelia; Leo, deceased; Rosa; Cornelia; Virginia; William;
Eugenia and Nova, twins; Katie; and Edith. Politically Mr. Henrichs
supports the principles of the Republican party, and rehgiously both
Mr. and Mrs. Henrichs are members of the Roman Catholic church.
Louis Rosenzweig. Of the many eminent lawyers that have hon-
ored the Erie bar within the last quarter of a century Louis Rosenzweig
is one of the more prominent, his legal knowledge, skill and ability hav-
ing gained him success and distinction in his profession. He is a man
of intellectual power and force, wise in all departments of law, and as a
safe, prudent and sound counsellor has a large and lucrative patronage.
A native of Georgia, he was born in the city of Macon, April 25, 1844.
His parents, Isaac and Bena (Baker) Rosenzweig, were born in Germany,
married in Philadelphia, and subsequently located in Georgia, where the
father was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1846 the family came
north to Erie, where the father continued in business as a merchant
until his death, October 8, 1884.
Having completed his early studies in the public schools of Erie,
Louis Rosenzweig was for a number of years employed as a clerk in
his father's store. Ambitious, however, to enter upon a professional
career, he read law with Edward Camphausen, Esq., devoting himself to
his legal studies with the industry and persistency that has ever been
characteristic of his life, and in due time was admitted to the bar. After
practisiilg his profession alone for a time, Mr. Rosenzweig formed a
partnership with George A. Allen, and under the firm name of Allen &
Rosenzweig continued in practice until the death of the senior member
of the firm. Exceedingly successful from the start, this firm built up
one of the most extensive and remunerative lines of practice in North-
western Pennsylvania. As the firm's successor, Mr. Rosenzweig has con-
tinued the business, which has in nowise deteriorated, but on the contrary
has visibly increased in magnitude and importance, being one of the most
noteworthy in the city.
Mr. Rosenzweig married, October 19, 1864, Minnie, daughter of
the late Jacob Newberger, a merchant of Cumberland, Indiana, and of
their union four children have been born, namely: Grant I., a graduate
of Yale University, is now an attorney in Kansas City, Missouri ; Bert
R., Hving in Cleveland, Ohio ; Eta, wife of Isadore Levi ; and Harriet,
wife of Fred Davidson of Schenectady, New York. Religiously Mr.
Rosenzweig and his family are members of the Jewish Temple. Political-
ly he is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, and though not an
aspirant for official honors has served two terms as school director. Fra-
ternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Order of Masons ; he
was one of the organizers and one of the original members of the board
of trustees of the public library.
Rev. Benjamin J. Raycroft. The honored pastor of St. Anne's
church in the city of Erie is one of the distinguished members of the
priesthood of the Catholic church in his native state, and in his high
Vol. II— 5
GG HISTORY OP^ ERIE COUNTY
calling he has accomplished a most successful work for the aiding and
uplifting of his fellow men. He is a man of fine intellectual attain-
m.ents and his record has been the positive expression of a strong and
deeply sympathetic nature.
Benjamin Joseph Raycroft, A. M., was born in the city of Pitts-
burg, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Benjamin and Margaret (Flynn)
Raycroft, both of whom were born in the fair Emerald Isle. Rev.
Father Raycroft gained his early educational discipline in a school con-
ducted by the Franciscan Brothers in his native city, and in the early
'TOs the family came to Erie county and located on a farm west of
Edinboro, in which village Father Raycroft became a student in the
Pennsylvania State Normal School, in which he was graduated as a mem-
ber of the class of 1880. In the same year he entered St. Vincent's
College, in Westmoreland county, this state, where he remained a stu-
dent for two years. He was then matriculated in Niagara University,
near Niagara Falls, New York, and after remaining there one year he
entered St. Bonaventure's College, at Allegany, New York, where he
was graduated in 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He passed
the ensuing three years as a student in the theological seminary connected
with the college, and on the 24th of July, 1887, he was ordained to the
priesthood.
Father Raycroft's first pastoral incumbency was as first assistant
to Father Patterson, of St. Mary's church at Sartwell, Pennsylvania, and
later he was pastor of the parish of the Sacred Heart, Sharon, Pennsyl-
vania, for a period of three and one-half months. Thereafter he held
charges at Warren and Oil City, this state, in which latter place he was
assistant in St. Joseph's church until February 2, 1890, when he became
identified with the parish of old St. Patrick's church in Erie. On the
11th of the following August Bishop Mullen assigned to him the charge
of St. Boniface's parish, at Kersey, Elk county, Pennsylvania, where he
continued his labors until the 3d of January, 1901, when he returned to the
city of Erie and assumed his present pastoral charge. Here his labors have
been most potent in advancing both the spiritual and temporal welfare
of his parish. Through his earnest efforts, with the zealous co-operation
of his parishioners, the fine new church edifice of St. Anne's was com-
pleted in 1905, and while at Kersey he also erected a new church build-
ing, which was completed and dedicated in 1894. In Erie Father Ray-
croft has the high regard of all classes of citizens, and in his parish
his indefatigable labors, his zeal, his devotion and his selif-abnegating
spirit have won and retained to him the afifection and regard of those to
whom he ministers.
Father Raycroft has special talent in the field of literature, and is
essentially a deep and appreciative student. He received from his alma
mater, St. Bonaventure's College, the degree of Master of Arts, in 1889.
He is the author of two books of sermons, and one entitled "Devotions to
the Blessed \^irgin," besides which he has written six very effective
dramatic compositions, which have been presented on the local stage.
His deep humanitarian spirit and his gracious personality gain to him
friends among "all sorts and conditions of men," and his popularity in
the city of Erie is of the most unequivocal order.
RuFUS L. Perkins. The names and deeds of those who have
wrought nobly in the past should not be allowed to perish, and it is
in the making of perpetual record concerning such persons that a publi-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 67
cation of this order exercises its supreme function. The family of
which Rufus L. Perkins was a scion bears a name which is ineffaceably
traced on the pages of our national history from the early colonial epoch
to the present time. Strong men and true ; gentle and gracious women,
have represented the name as one generation has followed another onto
the stage of life, while the family escutcheon has ever been a symbol of
integrity, honor and usefulness. In New England, in Pennsylvania,
in Ohio, and in divers other sections of the Union there have been
many distinguished citizens to upbear the prestige of the name, and not
the least of these was Rufus Lord Perkins, to whom this brief tribute
is dedicated and who was known and honored as one of the represen-
tative business men and sterling citizens of Erie county.
Rufus Lord Perkins, who died at his home in the city of Erie, on
Wednesday, March 17, 1909, was born in the village of Athens, Ohio,
on the 17th of December, 1819, and was a son of Dr. Chauncey F. and
Lydia (Lord) Perkins. The original American ancestor in the agnatic
line was John Perkins, who was born in Gloucestershire, England, in
1590, and who landed at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1631. For two years
he was a resident of Boston and at the expiration of this period, in 1633,
he established his permanent home at Ipswich, ^Massachusetts. From this
worthy ancestor the subject of this memoir was of the seventh generation
in line of direct descent. Eliphas Perkins, grandfather of Rufus L.,
figures as the founder of the family in the west. He was a native of
Norwich, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College, and after
securing his medical education practised his profession in his native
state for some years. In 1799 he removed to the wilds of Ohio and
settled in the little pioneer village of Marietta whence he subsequently
removed to Athens, where he passed the remainder of his life.
Dr. Chauncey Fitch Perkins was born at Canterbury, Connecticut,
and his wife, Lydia (Lord) Perkins was a native of Norwich, that state.
She was a direct descendant from Thomas Lord, who was born in
England, in 1.585, and who emigrated to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1G35.
Dr. Chauncey F. Perkins received excellent educational advantages and
gained distinction as an able physician and surgeon. He was engaged
in the practice of his profession at Athens, Ohio, until 1828, when he
removed with his family to Pennsylvania and took up his abode in
Erie. He was one of the pioneer physicians of this county, where he
ministered to suffering humanity with abilty and self-abnegaton for
many years and where he is held in reverent memory as one of the
earnest and noble representatives of his profession in this section
of the state during its formative period.
Rufus Lord Perkins w^as a lad of nine years at the time of the
family removal from Ohio to Erie, and in the schools of the locality
and period he secured his early educational discipline, which was
later to be broadened to knowledge and appreciation of all that is
best in literature. As a youth he secured a clerical position in the
office of the Erie Railroad at Dunkirk, New York, during the period
of the construction of that road, and after being thus engaged about
two years he returned to Erie, where, in 1843, he engaged in the
drug business in partnership with John H. Burton. This alliance con-
tinued until ]\Iay. 1849. when Mr. Perkins disposed of his interest in the
enterprise and engaged in the manufacture of paper. He erected his mill
at ^layside, this county, near the mouth of Walnut creek, and in 1850
he established his home at ]\Iayside, where for more than a score of
68 HISTORY OF ERIE COUXTY
years he was identified with the manufacturing of paper. For a portion
of this period he had* as his associate in the business his brother-in-law,
Samuel Selden, and later Colonel John H. Bliss became an interested
principal in the enterprise.
In 1873, after' his retirement from the business just mentioned,
Mr. Perkins returned to Erie, where he passed the remainder of his
life and where for a number of years he continued to be actively
associated with business interests, — for a time as agent for the Un-
ion Mutual Life Insurance Company and later as the local represen-
tative of the Bradstreet Mercantile Agency. During the later years
of his life he lived retired and was permitted to enjoy to the full
the attractions of his beautiful home and his large and select library.
His circle of friends was circumscribed only by that of his acquain-
tances, and no citizen had a more secure place in the confidence and
esteem of the community than did he. From an appreciative arti-
cle published in a local newspaper at the time of his demise the fol-
lowing statements are taken :
"Mr. Perkins was a man of very marked Christian character, and
had all his life taken a very active interest in his church and every-
thing the church stands for. He united with the First Presbyterian
church of this city in 1834. Upon his removal to Mayside he trans-
ferred his membership to the Presbyterian church of Fairview, Penn-
sylvania, where he became an elder. When he returned to Erie, in
1873, he united with the Park Presbyterian church, with which he
continued to be identified until his death. The distribution of the
Holy Scriptures as a means of extending the kingdom of Christ in
the world, appealed to him very strongly, and, for many years, his
support and co-operation had been given to the Pennsylvania Bible
Society, of which he was a vice-president ; for nearly twenty-five years
he was secretary of the Erie County Bible Society, and at the time
of his death w'as secretary and treasurer.
"From his boyhood his tastes were decidely literary, and even
during the very active years of his business life he found time to write
much for the papers and periodicals, and this habit he kept up almost
to the last. He was an idefatigable student, and his mind was a veri-
table storehouse of information, not only on matters of history and
the world of letters, but also in regard to the news and vital inter-
ests of the day. His disposition was bright and cheerful, and by
his kindly manner and his abiding sympathy he attracted to him all
who had the privilege of his acquaintance. His death came suddenly,
but we can believe, as he did, that it was only the opening of the door
into his heavenly home."
Even in so intimate an article as this review of the career of the
honored subject of this sketch there can be no desire to intrude upon
the sacred precincts of his home, in which his interests ever centered,
in which the domestic relations were ever of idyllic character, and in
which the noble and generous attributes of his character stood forth
in stronger relief than in any other of the varied relations of life. In
the city of Erie, on the 9th of September, 1845, w^as solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Perkins to Miss Mary Ann Lattimore, who was
born in Painesville, Ohio, on the 24th of February, 1820, and who
was a daughter of William and Rhoda Williams Lattimore. The first
break in the family circle, and one which brought the maximum loss
and bereavement in the life of Mr. Perkins, was that which occurred
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY CO
when the devoted wife and mother was summoned into eternal rest,
in January, 1883. They became the parents of six children, concern-
ing whom the following brief data are consistently entered in con-
clusion of this tribute: William Rufus, who was for a number of
years a member of the faculty of Cornell University and later pro-
fessor of history in the University of Iowa, died on the 27th of Jan-
uary, 1895; George Williams was a member of the bar of Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, at the time of his death, on the 7th of May, 1900 ; Hen-
ry Lattimore, who was engaged in business in Erie, died on the 9th
of January, 1903 ; Chauncey Fitch, who was general ore and coal
agent for the Pennsylvania Company, with headquarters in the city
of Pittsburg, died January 3, 1909; and Charles Lord and Julia Eliza-
beth, the only surviving members of the immediate family, reside at
the home on West Sixth street, in the city of Erie.
Rev. Andrew Ignasiak. A man of earnest thought and sincere
purpose. Rev. Andrew Ignasiak, pastor of St. Stanislaus Roman Cath-
olic Church, in Erie, is a teacher and leader among his people, and
through ties of sweet ministry and love has greatly endeared him-
self to his parishioners. A son of John and Katarina Ignasiak, he
was born, November 6, 1863, in Slawienko, near Obornik, Prussian
Poland, and there received the rudimentary education that developed
in him a taste for higher knowledge. He afterwards attended the
Gymnasium at Posen, and then entered the American College at Lou-
vain, Belgium, where he made a special study of theology.
Being graduated from that institution in 1886, Father Ignasiak was
there ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic church, and
given the mission to the diocese in Erie. Arriving in this city, Aug-
ust 21, 1886, he immediately assumed charge of St. Stanislaus' church,
with which he has since been actively identified. In his ministerial
labors. Father Ignasiak has been eminently successful, his kindly spirit,
beneficence, and sympathetic nature enabling him to touch the hearts
and influence the lives of the unlearned as well as the cultured, bring-
ing him into close personal relations with the members of his parish.
Albert N. Daniels. Among the strong and honored figures in
the business circles of the city of Erie is Albert Nathaniel Daniels,
who is known as a worthy type of the steadfast, honorable and up-
right business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen. Ex-secretary
and superintendent of the Carter Smart Weed Company, an important
industrial concern of Erie, he is a representative in the third genera-
tion of one of the sterling pioneer families of this county.
Mr. Daniels was born in Cussewago township, Crawford county,
this state, on the 14th of May, 1860, and is a son of David A. and
Philura (Hills) Daniels, the former of whom was born at Gospel Hill,
Harbor Creek township, this county, in 1822, and the latter of whom
was born at Fabius, Onondaga county. New York, January 29, 1826.
David Albert Daniels was a son of William Daniels, a native of the
state of New Jersey, who came to Erie county in an early day and
became one of the pioneers of Harbor Creek township, where he se-
cured a tract of heavily timbered land and essayed the reclamation
of a farm. He had learned the trades of shoemaker and tanner and
in earlier years devoted his attention to the same, after which his vo-
cation w^as that of farmer. When his son David A. was a boy Wil-
70 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Ham Daniels removed to Crawford county, this state, where he fol-
lowed agricultural pursuits during the rest of his active life and where
his death occurred. For more than thirty years he served as captain
of a militia company in Crawford county, and he was thus familiarly
known by the title of captain. Upon his death his son David A. was
appointed his successor in the captaincy, by Governor Mifflin, but the
company, with others in the state service, was disbanded soon after-
ward. The parents of William Daniels were born in Ireland and
Holland respectively, and their marriage was solemnized in America,
wliere the respective families were founded in the colonial days.
David A. Daniels became one of the prosperous farmers of Craw-
ford county, where he was reared to manhood and where he ever
commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. His death
occurred on his old homestead in that county, in 1902. His devoted
wife, who died in 1885. was a daughter of Obed and Alsemina (Ba-
con) Hills, both of wdiom were of English lineage. Obed Hills was
a blacksmith and millwright by trade and in addition to having been
engaged in the milling business he also operated largely in the hand-
ling of lumber and became a successful farmer. He took up his resi-
dence in Crawford county, this state, in 1837, but in 1866 he removed
to Genesee county, ^Michigan, where both he and his wife continued
to reside until their death.
Albert Nathaniel Daniels, passed his boyhood and youth on the
old homestead farm in Cussew^ago township, Crawford county, and
his early educational advantages were those afforded in the common
schools of the locality and period. That he made good use of his
opportunities is evident when it is stated that at the age of nineteen
years he proved himself eligible and secured a teacher's certificate,
after which he was a successful teacher in the district schools of his
native county for several terms. Thereafter he was for a time em-
ployed as a salesman of nursery stock. After his marriage, in 1893,
he was identified with agricultural pursuits in Crawford county un-
til 1889, when he assumed the position of a driver on a star-route mail
and stage line, with which he continued to be identified for a period
of four years. In 1894 Mr. Daniels came to Erie, where he forthwith
was engaged as a salesman for the Carter Smart Weed Company. In
this capacity he w^as employed for the first eighteen months, at the
expiration of which he became a foreman in the plant of the com-
pany in Erie. In 1898 he was promoted to the office of superintend-
ent and also became secretary of the company, in which he served
until May 7. 1909. when he retired from the business.
In politics, though never a seeker of official preferment, ]\Ir. Dan-
iels is a supporter of the Republican party. He has attained to no
little distinction in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in whose
afifairs he maintains a deep interest. He has been affiliated wnth the
order since 1891 and was one of the organizers of Fraternal Lodge,
No. 188, of Erie, of which he was the first noble grand. In 1905
he represented this lodge in the grand lodge of the order in Pennsyl-
vania, at the meeting held in the city of Scranton. He is now sec-
retary of Fraternal Lodge, and is a valued member of Lake Erie En-
campment, and Canton Nicholson, Patriarchs Militant, — representing
advanced degrees in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1883 ]\Ir. Daniels was united in marriage to Miss Ida E. Vaughn,
who was born in Cussewago township, Crawford county, this state,
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 71
and who is a daughter of Nathan and Ruth (Mellott) Vaughn, well
known citizens of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels have four chil-
dien, namely: Benjamin F., Bernal I., Ruth K., and Edna P., all of
whom remain at the parental home with the exception of Benjamin
F., who is now a resident of Levi, New Mexico, where he is the own-
er of a valuable tract of land.
William J. Sciiaaf, one of the well known citizens and business
men of Erie is engaged in the commission business at No. 1009 Ash
street. He is a native of the city, having been born on July 1, 1858, in the
old Schaaf homestead at No. 603 East Tenth street which he now owns
and in which he resides. ^Ir. Schaaf is the son of Peter and Franciska
(Sanner) Schaaf, both of whom were born in the fatherland, the father
in Schwarzwald, Rhenish Germany, and the mother in Alsace, same
province. Peter Schaaf was born in 1818 and came to the United States
in 1806, and as he first settled in Erie county was considered one of its
pioneers. After his marriage, he located at what was called New Ger-
many, near McKean. but about two years afterward returned to Erie,
and fixed his residence on State street near Twenty-fiftk He then went
to Cincinnati, Ohio, w^here he learned the manufacture of old fashioned
oil cloth, for this purpose leaving his family in Erie and residing about
one year in that city. Returning to Erie, he built a factory on the site
of the buildings now owned by his son, William J., and then engaged
in the manufacture of oil cloth for several years. In the distribution of
his product, he sent men by wagon and on foot to different parts of the
country, as far south as Pittsburg, west to Chicago and east to Bufifalo,
even embracing various Canadian points in his selling operations. After
the manufacture of oil cloth by machinery began he abandoned the in-
dustry and then engaged in the brewing business with John Kalvalage in
the old "Eagle Brewery" now incorporated as the Erie Brewing Com-
pany. He continued in that line for a number of years and then went
into the grocery business on the corner of Sixth and French streets.
Later he removed to the corner of Seventh and State streets (the Hughes
Block) ; where he broadened out both as a wholesale and retail grocer
under the firm name of P. Schaaf and Son, the son being George, who
died at the age of twenty-seven years shortly after the firm was formed.
This was during the Civil war period. In 1868 the senior Mr. Schaaf
erected the building now occupied by William J., removed the business
thither and continued at that location until his death in the spring of 1877.
His sons, William J. and Peter, then conducted the business for about
three years under the title of P. Schaaf's Estate, then purchasing it and
conducting it until 1890. In the meantime they had added produce and
commission to the scope of their operations, and when they dissolved part-
nership, about 1895, Peter assumed the grocery business and William J.
continued the commission trade.
The mother of the family died in 1894 at the age of- seventy-eight
years, and of her eleven children, three sons and two daughters are now
living. The entire family was as follows : George, deceased ; Philip, who
resides in Erie ; Maria, w'ho married U. Schlandecker, also of that city ;
Susan, who died as the wnfe of Captain Peter Schlandecker ; Joseplime,
deceased, who married John Mehl of Erie; Michael and John, also de-
ceased; Helen, who married Joseph Burger, and is deceased; Peter, re-
siding in Erie ; Francis, who married Charles Gunther, of that city, and
72 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
William ]., of this sketch, the youngest child. All the living members of
the family are identified with St. Mary's Catholic church.
William J. Schaaf was first educated in the St. Mary's parochial
school ; then spent one year at the Sisters Academy, which w^as followed
by courses in the public schools and at the old Hubbard and Woods
Commercial School, the latter being the pioneer institution of its kind
in the city. He left school when he was fourteen years of age; then be-
came his father's assistant in the store and his continuous business prog-
ress since, both in partnership and independently, has been already de-
scribed. As a material addition to Mr. Schaaf's fine record, it should
be stated that he served as a member of the city council many years ago,
and that, although he performs his full duties as a good citizen, he gives
his business the preference and mixes as little as possible with politics.
Mr. Schaaf's wife was Ida Vernon Kelsey, born at Conneaut, Ohio,
daughter of Sidney and Mary (Gunnison) Kelsey. Her father was an
old and well known journalist who died about 1901. The following
children have been born to Air. and Mrs. \\'illiam J. Schaaf: Bessie and
Florence, both deceased; William J., Jr., Clarence K. and Vernon K.
Schaaf.
John J. Gredler. Long identified with hotel interests in the city
of Erie, Air. Gredler is now owner of the Fuhrman House, at the
corner of Twenty-sixth and Cherry streets, where he caters to a large
and appreciative patronage and has a speciall}' well ordered hostelry.
He is a valued member of the select council of the city of Erie, in'
which he is a representative of the Sixth ward, and his personal popu-
larity is well indicated by his incumbency of this important official po-
sition, in which he has made an excellent record as a loyal and public-
spirited citizen
John J. Gredler was born on the old homestead farm of his fath-
er, in Greene township, this county, and the date of his nativity was
December 25, 1874. He is a son of John and Catherine (Depinet)
Gredler, the former of whom was born in Baden, Germany, in 1830,
and the latter in the kingdom of Bavaria, that empire, in 1835. The
paternal grandfather came with his family from Germany in 1837
and numbered himself as one of the sterling farmers of Erie county.
He purchased land in Greene township, and there developed a valua-
ble property. Both he and his wife continued to reside on this home-
stead until their death, and the old farm is now owned by their son
John, father of him whose name initiates this article. John Gredler
was seven years of age at the time of the family's immigration to
America, and he was reared to manhood in Erie county, where he is
now known as one of the substantial citizens and representative agri-
culturists of Greene township. Both he and his wife are devout com-
municants of the Catholic church.
John J. Gredler passed his childhood days on the ancestral home-
stead in Greene township, and early began to assist in the work of
the farm. His preliminary educational training was secured in the
parochial schools of the locality, and when he was about twelve years of
age he came to the city of Erie, where he secured employment in a
grocery store. In the meanwhile he also showed his ambition' bv at-
tending night school in the old Seventh street school building, where
he gained knowledge which placed him in line for success in connec-
tion with practical business affairs. He continued to be identified with
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 73
the retail grocery business for a period of about fourteen years, and
he then entered the employ of William F. Schulce, who was proprie-
tor of the old South Erie Hotel. Later he was similarly engaged with
John Heuer and August Schulce, and finally he became associated in
the service of the Erie City Hotel, at the corner of Eighteenth and
Peach streets. In July, 1906, ^Ir. Gredler,_ now fortified by long and
varied experience, engaged in the hotel business upon his own respon-
sibility, by purchasing the Fuhrman House, a commodious and well
appointed hotel, at the corner of Twenty-sixth and Cherry streets. He
has since conducted this popular house wMth marked success and has
gained a secure hold upon the appreciative support of his patrons. He
has made numerous improvements on the hotel property and keeps all
departments up to the highest possible standard.
In politics ^Ir. Gredler is arrayed as a stanch advocate of the
principles and policies of the Democrat party and he has done effective
service in the party cause. In February, 1907, he was elected a mem-
ber of the select council of the city of Erie from the Sixth ward, to fill
the unexpired term of Peter \\'ingerter. He has proved a valuable
working member of the city's administrative body, and in ihe makeup
of the council for 1908-09, he was assigned to the important committee
of laws and franchises and was chairman of the committee on health,
water and markets, and of the city hall committee. In the makeup of
the council for 1909-10, he is chairman of the committee on streets and
bridges, as well as that on health, water and markets, and is a member
of the committee on laws and franchises and the city-hall committee.
Through his official services he has amply justified the confidence of
his constituents, and he maintains a deep interest in all that concerns
the welfare and progress of the city in which he has so long made his
home.
]\Ir. Gredler is identified with the local IMoose lodge, and is affiliated
with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, and the Knights of St,
John. He holds membership in St. Alphonse's. Bavarian, and Maener-
chor societies, the Eighteenth Street German Singing Society, the Cas-
cade Park Club, the Keystone Club, the South Erie Turnverein. the
Catholic Casino and the Erie Yacht Club ; also the Chamber of Com-
merce and the South Erie Improvement Association. He and his family
are communicants of the Catholic church and are members of the Sacred
Heart parish. In 1896 Air. Gredler was united in marriage to Miss
Caroline Liebel, daughter of Joseph Liebel, of Erie, and they have seven
children, namely: Frank, Othmar, Joseph J., Marian, Louise, Cecelia,
and Caroline.
William J. Willert. Among the representative business men of
the city of Erie stands JMr. Willert, wdio here has charge of the interests
of the Washburn-Crosby Flour Company, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He is manager for this celebrated company's business in Erie and Craw-
ford counties, and his selection for this office stands as voucher for
the high reputation wdiich he has attained for progressive ideas and
administrative abilit}'. As one of the able and popular business men
of the younger generation in Erie county, he is well entitled to considera-
tion in this publication ; further than which such representation is due
b\ reason of the fact that he is a native son of the county and a member
of one of its honored families. He has gained success and prestige
through his own well directed efforts, and his advancement has been
74: HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
the result of ambition, close application and impregnable integrity of
purpose.
William J. Willert was born on a farm in North East township,
this county, October 21, 18TU, and is a son of Herman F. and Frederica
(Ohm) \Villert, both natives of Germany, whence they were brought
to America when children. The parents of the latter died in Germany,
and she came to the United States with her paternal uncle, who settled
in North East township, this county, where he became a successful
farmer and where he passed the remainder of his life, as did also the
paternal grandfather of William J. Willert. Herman F. Willert was
reared to manhood in Erie county, and from his youth to the present
time he has been identified with agricultural pursuits, in which con-
nection he has been duly successful. He and his wife are now residents
of Harbor Creek township, where he is the owner of a well improved
farm.
\Mlliam J. Willert was reared to the invigorating discipline of the
farm, and his early educational advantages w'ere those afforded in the
public schools of the village of North East. To attend the village
schools he walked each day to and from the village, which is four
miles distant from the home farm on which his boyhood days were
passed. W'hen about fourteen years of age Mr. Willert came to the
city of Erie and secured a position in a grocery store located at the
corner of Twelfth and Chestnut streets, and he received in compensation
for his services the first year the sum of fifty dollars and his board.
Thereafter he continued to be identified with the grocery business
as a clerk for a term of years, and in 1903 he engaged in this line of
enterprise for himself, at the corner of Seventh and Poplar streets, where
he built up a substantial trade and gained prestige as a reliable and
progressive business man. In 1906, he became manager of the business
of the Erie Wholesale Grocery Company, and here he made a splendid
record for careful and progressive administration. He retained the
incumbency until the 1st of Alay, 1909, when he assumed his present
important office of manager of the business of the Washburn-Crosby
Flour Company, of Minneapolis, in the counties of Erie and Crawford.
He maintains his official headquarters in Erie, and the interests of the
great concern which he thus represents are sure to be continuously ex-
panded in scope and importance under his control of his assigned terri-
tory. Mr. Willert is a valued member of the Erie Business ]\Ien's
Exchange, is identified with various social organizations, and in politics
he gives a loyal support to the cause of the Republican party.
In 1901 i\Ir. Willert was united in marriage to ]\Iiss jMarie Gross-
holz. who was born in Germany, and who is a daughter of Adolph
Grossholz, who is now one of the representative farmers of Fairview
township, this county. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Willert have one child, Gertrude.
Jay C. Grove, the general agent for the Bessemer & Lake Erie
Railroad Company and during the past sixteen years one of Erie's most
prominent citizens, is a representative of one of the commonwealth's
oldest families, he being of the sixth generation of the name in the
state. Its founder in this country was David Grove, the great-great-
great-grandfather of Jay C. This David Grove was born in Germany,
but migrated to Holland at the time of the crusade, an about 1600 he
came to America and located in Philadelphia. The paternal grand-
father of Jay C. Grove was Abraham, who moved from Center to Mercer
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY "/o
county in 1828, and there purchased a tract of land of the Dicks of
Meadville and for many years was a teacher in private German schools.
Abraham Grove married EHzabeth Mook, whose people migrated to
Mercer county contemporaneous with the Grove family.
Jacob Grove, one of the children of Abraham and Elizabeth, was
born in Center county, Pennsylvania, ]\Iarch 21, 1811, and he married
Katharine Vorhees, who was born in Mercer county August 13, 1813,
and was a daughter of Rheineer Vorhees who had moved there from
Washington county when the former yet formed a part of Crawford
countv. He was descended from one of three brothers of the family
of Van Vorhees who had emigrated from Holland in 1600 and located
in New Amsterdam, while later their descendants came west into Penn-
sylvania and other states. Jacob Grove was by trade a carpenter and
he also did contracting, but in the main followed farming. ^Irs. Grove,
his wife, was killed in an accident on the Lake Shore Railroad ]\Iarch
10, 1873, and he died in Mercer county in the year of 1888.
Jay C. Grove, born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. August 8,
1853, attended the public schools and ^McElwain Institute, and for a
time after the completion of this training he taught school. From
the spring of 1871 until the fall of 1875 he was assistant postmaster
at St. Petersburg in Clarion county, and in the last week of September,
1875, he accepted a clerical position in the service of the Bessemer &
Lake Erie Railroad Company, which was then known as the Shenango &
Allegheny Railroad, at Harrisville, this state. From this clerical position
ho was advanced in a short time to agencies at various points on the line,
later became clerk in the auditing department, still later became chief
clerk in the general freight department, and climbing still higher was
made traveling auditor and held that position for three years prior to
his coming to Erie in 1893 to take charge of the Erie terminal of the
B. & L. E. R. R. Company as freight and .passenger agent. On the
1st of July, 1901, he was made general agent of the road in addition to
his duties as local freight and passenger agent.
Mr. Grove married Satira J. Fry, who was born in Sharon, Penn-
sylvania, to Louis and Hannah Frey, and their children are Dr. Chauncey
W. Grove, a practicing physician in Geneva, New York, and Elizabeth
Katharine. Air. Grove is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and
the Board of Trade, and fraternally he is past master of Keystone
Lodge No. 455, F. & A. AL, past eminent commander of Mt. Olivet
Commandery No. 30, K. T., past potentate of Zem Zem Temple and a
member of the Shrine Club. He and his family are members of the
Central Presbyterian church.
Robert Edward Weschler. The city of Erie numbers among
her progressive business men and worthy citizens Robert E. Weschler,
a shoe merchant and a member of the city's board of education. He
entered upon his business career after a good educational training and
graduation from Clark's Business College of Erie as a salesman selling
the old Graphic newspaper, of which John Miller, the author of the
work, was then the editor. From that line of work, he entered the em-
ploy of M. A. Krug in the shoe business, and he was associated with
that business house for thirteen years, and at the close of the period
in 1901 he opened a shoe store for himself on State street. With the
passing years his business has enlarged, and he is now proprietor of
one of the largest shoe houses in the city of Erie, and is meeting with
76 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
desired success. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the
Business .Men's Exchange, and in 1907 he was elected a member of
the city's board of education on the Democratic ticket to represent the
second ward.
Mr. We'schler was born in the Third ward of Erie on the 2d of
February, 1877, a son of Leo B. and PauUne (Kimmeth) Weschler, and
on the paternal side he is a grandson of Jacob Weschler, one of the
oldest citizens of Erie and one of its old time malt dealers. His son
Leo was born in this city, but Mrs. Weschler was a native daughter of
Germany, and came to the LInited States and to the city of Erie when
a young woman, and still living, she has reached the age of fifty-four
years. , Leo B. Weschler, her husband, died in the year of 1891. The
six children born of their union are : Robert E., Charles L., Joseph S.,
Frank J., Harrv J. and Frances. Robert E. Weschler attended the St.
Joseph's school in Chicago, the Erie public schools, and as above stated
is also a graduate of Clark's Business College. He married Mae C.
Scharrer, of this city, and a daughter of one of its oldest residents,
Jacob Scharrer. Mr. and Mrs. Weschler have four children, Joseph,
Mildred, Robert E., Jr., and Anna Mae. Mr. Weschler has membership
relations with the Knights of St. John, the Knights of Columbus and
was one of the organizers of St. Mary's Ushers Society, in which he has
filled all of the offices.
Major John W. Walker, one of Erie's oldest native-born citizens,
and a retired member of the bar, was born April 19, 1832, and is a son of
the late John H. Walker. He graduated from Princeton College in the
class of 1854, read law in, his father's office, and was admitted to the
bar in the same year. After practicing two years in Erie, he removed to
St. Louis, Missouri, where he practiced until 1860, and then returned
to Erie, which has since been his home. In 1862 Mr. Walker raised
.Company K, of the One Hundred Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Regiment,
of which he was commissioned Captain, and he commanded the company
until after the Battle of Fredericksburg, at which time he was appointed
paymaster in the United States army, with rank of major, and served
in. that capacity until the close of the war. He was mustered out with
rank of lieutenant-colonel. He returned to Erie, but on account of ill
health gave up the practice of his profession.
Mr. Walker became a Director of the Second National Bank of
Erie, in 1809. which office he has filled continuously since that time,
being the oldest member of the board, both in years and length of
service. He has always been actively interested in public afifairs, and
w^s the nominee of the Democratic party for state senator in 1876, and
again in ISSO. In 1S82 he was elected a member of the
legislature, and was chairman of the committee on municipal
corporations at that session. During the first administration of Presi-
dent Cleveland, he was appointed treasury agent, and during Cleve-
land's second administration he received the appointment for United
States marshal for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Major Walker
was a member and Past Commander of W. L. Scott Post. Grand Army
of the Republic, and took an active part in the establishing at Erie of
the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, contributing time and money in the
cause. He was the first Grand Regent of Pennsylvania for the Royal
Arcanum order, and a member of the Grand Lodge of the Knights of
Honor. He is a charter member of the Erie Club.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 77
Major Walker married, June 18, 1861, Anna H., daughter of Hon-
orable Samuel S. Harrison, of Kittanning, Pennsylvania, member of
Congress from that district. Major Walker and his wife are mem-
bers of St. Paul's Episcopal church.
Prescott Metcalf. It would be difficult to name a single move-
ment or institution which promised-to advance the business, mdustrial
or civic affairs of Erie, which was uninfluenced by the practical inspir-
ation, abounding energy and wise councils of the late Prescott Metcalf.
Transportation lines, by land and water ; manufactories of various kinds ;
banks, business properties, schools, public works and churches — all owe
a large share of their development and working usefulness to his large
brain and warm heart. He was, in a word, a city-builder, if any resident
of Erie may be justly classed under that title of nobility. Mr. Metcalf
was of old New England stock, born at Putney, Wentworth county,
Vermont, and a son of Joseph Metcalf, who spent the later years of his
life in Erie. Prescott came to the city in his early manhood, and first
entered the employ of his brother-in-law, Ira W. Hart. A few years
thereafter he became associated with Rufus S. Reed, the great shipper
and vessel owner and eventually had the active management of all his
interests. This connection continued from 1840 to 1862, and during
this period, as well as at a later date, he was prominent in the operation
of a line of stage-coaches between Erie and Pittsburg, the construction
of the Canada Southern Railway and the extension of the Erie canal
and the Erie and the North-East Railroad. He was also one of the
originators and incorporators of the Erie Cemetery, the Erie Gas Works,
and the Dime Savings Bank, and was a trustee of the Erie Academy and
the Park Presbyterian church. A mere mention of this fact is a faint
indication of the breadth of his activities and influence. From 1860 to
1873 he was perhaps at the height of his standing as a public man and
a promoter of real estate and property interests. In I860, with Colonel
Benjamin Grant, he erected the Wayne block on French street, and re-
built the same, after its destruction by fire, in 1868. In 1866 he erected
his fine residence on the corner of Ninth and Sassafras streets, and in
1872 put up the block on the west side of State street, between Seventh
and Eighth. Mr. Metcalf was a member of the first common council
of Erie in 1851; again served in that body in 1860; was on the board
of education for many years, and was honored with the mayoralty in
1862-64. At a later period of his busy life he devoted much of his
attention to the expansion of the city's industries. In 1872. with
others, he established the Burdett organ factory, and in 1880
the Erie Malleable Iron Works. In the latter enterprise his associates
were Capt. Douglass Ottinger, John Clemens and his eldest son, Joseph P.
On June 9, 1846, Prescott Metcalf was married to Miss Abigail R.
Wilder, who was born in his native town of Putney, Vermont, — a strik-
ing and honored figure among the pioneers of Erie. Five children were
born of this union, of whom Joseph P.. the eldest, and George R.. the
youngest, were long associated with their father in the Erie Malleable
Iron Works and other enterprises. Joseph P. Metcalf, who was born
in Erie. April 15. 1847, was educated in the city schools, at Erie Acad-
emy. Cleveland (Ohio) Institute and Eastman Commercial College,
Poughkeepsie, New York. Until 1870 he was engaged in various rail-
road projects in the vicinity of Erie after which he removed to Ne-
braska City, there organizing the National Bank, of which he was
78 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
cashier until 1873. In that year he returned to Erie and became interest-
ed in the organization of the Malleable Iron Works, holding the posi-
tion of chairman of the controlling company until the time of his death.
He also served for several terms in the common council. He was popu-
lar and highly respected in his business, social and fraternal relations,
being a member of the Erie, Kahkwa and Cascade clubs and the Masonic
order. In his religious faith, he was an Episcopalian, identified with St.
Paul's church. His wife, to whom he was married October 11, 1877,
was Miss Celia W. Fletcher, of Lockport, New York.
William Wilder, the second child born to Mr. and Mrs. Prescott
Metcalf. died in infancy; Frederick W., the third, died September 2,
ISSJO, at the age of thirty-nine years, and Nellie, the fourth, also passed
away as an infant.
George Ralph Metcalf is a native of Erie, where he was born
September 2(i, 1858. and received his education, in the more advanced
courses, at the Erie High School, Erie Academy and a boarding school at
Clinton, New York. For about a year after leaving school he was a
coal operator at Columbus, Ohio, and then returned to Erie to associate
himself with his father and brother, as a partner and secretary in the
business of the Malleable Iron Works. In 1893 he was elected treas-
urer of the company and president in 1901. He succeeded his father
as a director in the Erie Gas Company, becoming treasurer of the same
in 1892. He is also vice president of the American Sterilizer Company
of Erie, a director in the Second National Bank, and has other business
and financial interests. Mr. Metcalf is an active member of the Chamber
of Commerce and the Board of Trade ; socially, is identified with the
Erie, Kahkwa, Country, Yacht and Golf clubs, and his church relations
are with the St. Paul's Episcopal society. Married September 3, 1885, to
Miss Mary Richards, daughter of the late Captain John S. Richards,
he is the father of two children — John Richards and George Ralph
Metcalf, Jr.
Thomas J. Golden, President of the Washburn Manufacturing
Company, a well-known citizen of Erie, was born at Lockport, New
York, December 27, 1855. and is the son of Thomas and Marcella (Sum-
mers) Golden. The father, a native of Ireland, came to the United
States when a young man, and located in Erie in 1865 ; he died in 1891
and his widow in 1903.
Thomas J. Golden received his education in the public school at
Erie, attending the old East Ward School, now Number Two. WHien
seventeen years of age he learned the trade of millwright, and entered
the employ of Carroll Brothers, where for thirty years he had charge
of a moulding machine. In 1905 Mr. Golden became a partner in XWish-
burn Manufacturing Company, which enterprise was established in 1900
by Leon D. Washburn, at 1114 West Eighteenth Street, as a saw mill
and box factory. Mr. Washburn died in 1908, and his interests were
principally taken over by Mr. Golden and his family, he being president,
and his son Herbert vice president. They have a flourishing business,
and employ the services of twenty men at their plant, manufacturing
wood specialties and boxes, also a mop, which they manufacture com-
plete, and which has a market all over the United States.
Mr. Golden married Elizabeth Bradley, born at St. Catherines,
Ontario, Canada, daughter of James Bradley, and to them have been
born the following children : Marcella married Charles Hart, of Erie ;
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 79
Annette, married C. F. Beyerle, of Erie ; Edward, died at the age of
twenty-five years ; Herbert, who is associated in business with his fath-
er; Joseph, married Lilhan Albrecht ; Isabelle and ^Marion Helen. Mr.
Golden is interested in the progress and welfare of the community,
and is a public-spirited and useful citizen. He is a member of St. Peters
Roman Catholic church, also of the Knights of Columbus and of the
Protected Home Circle. He also belongs to the Marquette and Erie
Yacht Clubs.
John Calvin Sturgeon. One of the leaders of the western Penn-
sylvania bar and a prominent Republican of the state, with a national
reputation in patent law practice, John C. Sturgeon, of Erie, is a native
of Fairview township, this county, where he was born on the 5th of Oct-
ober, 1841. His parents were Andrew and Eliza Jane (Caughey) Stur-
geon. The father, a farmer, was born September 3, 1817, and died
February 25, 1879, while the mother, whose birthday was April 14, 181G,
passed away on the 1st of April, 1885. In their family of six child-
ren John C, of this sketch, was the eldest. Until he was about seven-
teen years of age the youth worked upon the home farm in Fairview
township and attended district school, as well as Girard Academy. He
then taught school and was a student at Allegheny College until the end
of his junior year, when he entered the United States navy and served
until the close of the Civil war. Soon afterward he commenced the
study of the law, and in 1867 was admitted to the bar of Erie county;
but after becoming qualified to practice entered the Harvard University
law school for a more thorough and a broader review of his chosen field.
On January 1, 1868, after his graduation therefrom, he commenced
practice at Erie.
Mr. Sturgeon's pronounced natural ability and his thorough train-
ing were promptly recognized by the profession and the public of his
home community, and in 1869 he was elected district attorney of Erie
county on the Republican ticket. Three years of noteworthy public
service followed in that office, when he resumed the general practice of
his profession. His labors and progress continued along these lines
for the first twenty years of his career, but for the past two decades
he has devoted himself to the practice of patent law, in which he has
reached a foremost rank. During this period he has become a familiar
figure in the circuit courts. United States courts of appeals and the su-
preme court of the United States. For some years he has been pro-
fessionally associated with H. M. Sturgeon, the firm being widely known
and now having a number of important suits pending in Pennsylvania,
New York and Ohio. For many years Mr. Sturgeon has been active
and influential in the furtherance of Republicanism, having frequently
served as a delegate to the conventions of his party. In 1899 his high
standing both as a Republican and a lawyer was emphasized by a strong
petition presented to the president — signed by the senators and congress-
men from Pennsylvania and several other states — asking his appointment
to the commissionership of patents. In 1904 he was chosen a presidential
elector for the state of Pennsylvania and in that capacity cast his vote for
Theodore Roosevelt. Mr. Sturgeon has been an earnest fraternalist for
half, a lifetime, his connection with the Grand Army of the Republic
even commencing forty years ago. He has been a Knight Templar in
Masonry for upward of thirty years and a member of the Mystic Shrine
since 1890. He is also a charter member of the Erie Board of Trade.
80 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Mr. Sturgeon has been twice married, and by his second wife is the
father of two sons. Ralph Andrew Sturgeon who served in the Spanish-
American war and is now a construction engineer on a prominent western
railroad, while Berry Albert Sturgeon, a member of the Erie county and
California state bars, is engaged in law practice at Los Angeles, that
state.
Tradition indicates that the Sturgeon family originated in the Nether-
lands under the name "Steerjon," and that various members emigrated
to England about the twelfth century and settled in Northumberland,
the northernmost county, where they became known as Sturgeons. The
head of the family was ennobled for distinguished services to the
Crown and, especially during the past century, several of the name have
become eminent as scientists, Henry Sturgeon being known throughout
the world as the discoverer of the electro magnet. The Sturgeon family
was always a stanch supporter of Protestantism, and during the religious
persecutions of the sixteenth century the American ancestors migrated
from England to Derry, in the north of Ireland, where at the famous
siege of that place by the royal forces, in 1689, one of the Sturgeon
brothers was killed. The other survived and came to Philadelphia with
William Penn in 1693. Nothing further is definitely known of the fam-
ily until 1720, when Jeremiah Sturgeon, who is believed to be a de-
scendant of the gallant defender of Derry, came to Hanover township,
Lancaster county, where he settled with his wife (nee Ellen Douglas).
They became the parents of three sons, one of whom, Thomas, remained
in Hanover township and married Margaret Corbet, daughter of Peter
Corbet, a well known land owner of Lancaster county. They, also,
had several children, and their son Samuel was the founder of the fam-
ily in Erie county — the branch represented by John Calvin, of this
biography. He was a Revolutionary soldier from Lancaster county and,
as the records show, served in the fourth battalion of Associators, going
into active service in December, 1775, and participating in the battles
of Trenton and Princeton. In December, 1785, the state of Pennsyl-
vania granted him a land warrant for fifty acres in recognition of his
services. Samuel Sturgeon died in Hanover township (then Dauphin
county) on the 2d of October. .1801. The deceased was twice married,
having five sons by his first wife Margaret. Two of these, William and
Jeremiah, emigrated to Erie caunty, in 1796, and founded the town of
Fairview.
William, the eldest son, was born in West Hanover, Dauphin county,
on July 10, 1768, and died in Fairview April 12, 1838. His wife was
Miss Jane McEwen, who was born in West Hanover, August 1, 1767,
and died in Fairview in 1818, mother of eleven children, one of whom
was Thomas J., the grandfather of H. M. Sturgeon, the partner of the
Sturgeon representative with whom this sketch especially deals. Jere-
miah was born in West Hanover, Dauphin county, on the 10th of Au-
gust, 1770; as stated, he migrated to Erie county in 1796, and died at
Fairview, July 17, 1818. His wife was Miss Jane Moorhead, who was
born October 30, 1776, and died at Fairview. June 30, 1861:. She was
the mother of six children, of whom Samuel C., the eldest, married Miss
Martha Eaton and also became the father of six children. Both virtually
passed their lives at Fairview, Samuel C. Sturgeon being born in 1801
and dying in 1878, and his wife, born Mav 12, 1813, passing away Feb-
ruary 24, 1883.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 81
Andrew Sturgeon, fifth child of Samuel and Margaret Sturgeon
and of the second generation of the family native to America, was the
grandfather of John Calvin, of this sketch. He was born at West Han-
over, Dauphin county, and married Jane Finney (daughter of James
Finney), who was also a native of that county, born February 5, 1775.
They migrated to Tonawanda, New York, about 1805, from which the
husband enlisted in the state militia for the war of 1812. In 1820 they
located in Girard township, Erie county, where Mrs. Andrew Sturgeon
died in 1849 and her husband in 1851. They were the parents of seven
children, Andrew Sturgeon, their fifth child and third son, being the
father of John C. By his marriage to Eliza Jane Caughey, December 15,
1840, Andrew Sturgeon became the father of John Calvin. Sheldon
Franklin, Carson Jay, Mary Jane, Anna Vance and George Andrew
Sturgeon. The main facts in the life of the first-born have already been
given. Sheldon F., the second child, served in the United States navy
during the Civil war, married Rosanna Lowry, and lives at Woodhull,
Illinois, the father of eight children. Carson Jay, an electrical engineer
and a manufacturer of electrical machinery, married Miss Lyda Camp-
bell at Girard, Pennsylvania, and has had six children. Mary Jane
died March 5, 1909. as the widow of George Piatt, of Erie, and Anna
Vance Sturgeon died March 11, 1857, when only seven years of age.
George Andrew Sturgeon, the youngest, who is a Pittsburg lawyer, mar-
ried Miss Mary L. Davis, by whom he has become the father of four
daughters, two of whom are deceased.
The Caughey family, of whom John C. Sturgeon's mother is a
member, is of old Scotch origin and Presbyterian faith. During the
religious persecutions of the seventeenth century many of its representa-
tives migrated from Scotland to the country around Donegal, Ireland,
and about 1750 Francis Caughey, with a brother, came from that lo-
cality and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. There he died at
the age of ninety-three years, the ancestor of the family in Erie county.
The father of five children, his oldest son and child, Andrew, was
born in Lancaster county, in 1756, and served in the Revolutionary war
as a private in the third battalion of the county militia. Colonel Thomas
Porter commanding. He commenced service in August, 1778, and is un-
derstood to have participated in the battle of Brandywine. He married
his cousin, Elizabeth Caughey, and migrated to West Millcreek town-
ship, Erie county, settling about five miles west of the city of Erie, where
he lived until his death, March 19. 1828. His wife had passed away
March 25, 1826. and they were the parents of four sons and three daugh-
ters, the eldest of whom, John Caughey, was the father of fourteen
children by his marriage to Miss Ann Vance Wilson. Eliza Jane, the
fourth in order of birth, was the mother of John C. Sturgeon, of this
sketch. Thus have been traced the main connections in the genealogies
of the paternal and maternal side of Mr. Sturgeon's family.
Ernest Keppel. Inheriting those traits of industry, thrift and en-
terprise so characteristic of the German people, Ernest Keppel has
steadily worked his way toward the upper rung of the ladder of success,
and now, as superintendent of the lumber interests of Moore, Keppel &
Company, is actively identified with one of the leading industries of
Corry. A native of Germany, he was born. February 27, 1851, in Hirsch-
berg, Thuringia, a son of Karl and Henrietta (V^ogel) Keppel. Fur-
Vol. II— 6
82 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
ther parental and ancestral history may be found elsewhere in this vol-
ume, in connection with the sketch of his brother, Henry M. Keppel.
But two years old when he came with his parents to this country,
Ernest Keppel was brought up on a farm in Cattaraugus county, New
York. When eight years old he began working for a neighboring farmer
during seed time and harvest, receiving fifty cents a week, and his board,
in the meantime staying at home during the winter seasons, and attending
school. When eleven years of age, his services became so valuable that
his wages were raised to five dollars a month. At the age of fourteen
years he began teaming oil from Pit Hole to Titusville, Pennsylvania,
continuing thus employed two years. Locating in Corry in 1807, he
worked in a saw mill two years, and then entered the employ of Howard
Brothers, who were then just embarking in business, and remained in
their tannery until. 1872. Beginning then his career as a lumberman, Mr.
Keppel purchased a tract of timbered land in Dayton township, Cattarau-
gus county. New York, cut the timber, sold the bark and logs, and was
there successfully employed until the timber was exhausted. He subse-
quently did the same thing in Allegany. New York, making money by the
operation. Buying then a farm in Dayton township, he lived there a
year, when, renting his land, he located in Bradford, Pennsylvania, where
he remained two years, being employed not only as a hotel keeper, but in
drilling for oil. Returning to Dayton township, he subsequently sold
his farm, and bought two hundred acres of standing timber in Perrys-
burg, New York, where he was engaged in lumbering for two years.
Locating next in Torpedo, Warren county, Air. Keppel bought seven
hundred acres of land, erected a saw mill, and for seven years was there
employed in the manufacture of lumber. Trading ofi^ the cleared land
to L. B. Wood for property in Warren county, he lived there a short
time, and then disposed of the land. The ensuing three years, he lived
ii: Perrysburg, New York, and the following two years was superintend-
ent of a large lumber business in Forest county, Pennsylvania. Going
then to Forest county, he in company with his brothers, Henry M. and
Charles, bought seven hundred and sixty acres of timber, erected a mill,
and worked for four years in clearing the land, carrying on a substantial
business as lumber manufacturers and dealers. Since that time Mr.
Keppel has been a resident of Corry, and superintendent of the Moore,
Keppel & Company's lumber business, a position for which he is eminent-
ly fitted.
On April 7, 1872, Mr. Keppel married ]\Iaggie Schneider, who was
born in Germany, a daughter of John Snyder. In 1855. accompanied
by his wife, and their only child, then an infant, John Schneider emi-
grated to America, crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel, and being ninety
days on the water. From New York City, he proceeded first to Buffalo,
then to Dayton township, Cattaraugus county, where he bought a tract
of wild land. Having cleared and improved a part of it, he sold at an
advance, and moved to Allegany, where from a tract of timber he
cleared and improved a good farm, erected a good set of buildings, and
there resided until his death, at the age of sixty-seven years. To him and
his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Fisher, four children were born,
as follows: Margaret, wife of Mr. Keppel; Caroline; Benjamin; and
Charles. The three younger children were born in this country. Mr.
and Mrs. Keppel are the parents of nine children, namely: Lena, Mary,
Henry, John, Lizzie. Charlie, Florence, Walter, and Clara. Lena, who
married Will Dannahey, has passed to the life beyond. Mary, wife of
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 83
Edward Rhinehart, has one child, Clarence. Henry married Ethel Bad-
jero, and they have two children, Lena and Rupert. John married Alda
Snow, and they have three children, Karl, Mildred, and Myrtle. Lizzie,
wife of Harvey Bowles, has one child, Margaret. Charles married
Lottie Dewoody. Florence is the wife of Henry Bales. Politically Mr.
Keppel is a Republican. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church. Mr. Keppet is a member of the I. O. O. F. at Corry.
Mr, Keppel's father was Postmaster in old Germany.
LeGrand Skinner. The strong influence of ancestral traits on
individual character and the determination of definite and noteworthy
careers is quite remarkably illustrated in the genealogy and life of Le
Grand Skinner — inventor, manufacturer and financier, and founder and
president of the Skinner Engine Company, of Erie. He is a native of
Pooleville, Madison county, New York, born May 23, 1845, and from
both sides of the family is descended from inventors and pioneer manu-
facturers. It would appear that for generations his life lines have been
clearly converging to the career which he has followed since early youth.
The American branch of the Skinner family originated in eleven broth-
ers, who, during colonial times, emigrated from England and settled
in Massachusetts and Connecticut. His maternal ancestors, the Eatons,
were of Lancashire. England, and came to Plymouth in the "Mayflower,"
but soon returned to England. His paternal ancestry is directly from
the Connecticut Skinners, his grandfather, Isaac Skinner, migrating from
his home in that state and making his way through the dense woods of
southern New England into the wilderness now included in the thickly
settled section of New York known as Madison county. The Eatons
had, in the meantime, re-established themselves in New England, and
the maternal grandfather of LeGrand Skinner also became a pioneer
of Madison county. He built a log cabin near the present town of Eaton,
erected a dam to supply water power, and began the manufacture of
woolen goods, his mill being among the first to manufacture such goods
west of Connecticut. Frank Skinner, who became the father of LeGrand,
when a small boy accompanied his parents to Madison county, and showed
decided talents at an early age, both as an inventor and a skilled mechanic.
Among his practical inventions may be mentioned a continuous candle-
molding machine, which is still in use, and a riving machine for the
manufacture of shingles. The father moved from New York state
to New Jersey, dying in the later state in 1907, aged eighty-four years.
The mother was Charlotte Eaton, a native of Pooleville, New York,
whose father was a pioneer woolen manufacturer of Springfield, Massa-
chusetts, who spent his later years in Madison county. Mrs. Frank
Skinner died in 1901.
The boyhood days of LeGrand Skinner were spent in the little town
of Eaton, to which he went to reside with an uncle when he was sixteen
years of age. This uncle (Wood) was the second manufacturer of
portable engines in the United States, and was an earnest and valued
instructor to his ambitious nephew, who remained with him until 1868.
During this period LeGrand was not only perfecting himself in the manu-
facturing business, but spent considerable time in the tool room of the
Remington Arms Manufacturing Company at Illion, New York. In
1868 he constructed his first engine after his own designs, his work
being conducted in a little shop built on the site where stood the little
log cabin previously mentioned and which had been built by his maternal
84 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
grandfather near the town of Eaton in the real pioneer days of ^ladison
county. After remaining in service for about sixteen years, this first
product of Mr. Skinner's inventive and mechanical talents came again
into his possession and is now one of his most precious belongings.
In 1871 Mr. Skinner began the manufacture of engines at Chitte-
nango. New York, subsequently conducted a like business in Chicago for
a time, and on July 3, 1873, established a small manufacturing plant in
the Lilley shop, Erie. Not long after the expansion of his business
forced him to rent larger quarters in John Coats shop, and in 1875 he
formed a partncrshij) with Thomas Wood, who was still connected with
the United States navy. The firm of Skinner and Wood occupied a
new shop for their business, erected by the late John Selden in 1877,
and in 1881 the proprietors built a plant themselves at the corner of
Twelfth and Chestnut streets. In 1902 the large addition to the main
shops was completed, and the entire manufactory is now one of the
largest and most complete in the city. The firm of Skinner and Wood
was dissolved in 1883, and for the succeeding two years Mr. Skinner
conducted the business alone, but in 1885 the Skinner Engine Company
was incorporated, with himself as president. He is also one of the
organizers and incorporators of the Union Iron Works, of which he is
a director. Before her marriage. Mr. Skinner's wife was Miss Hannah
Harrington, a native of Chittenango, New York, daughter of P. D.
Harrington. Two children have been born of this union : Allan David
Skinner who is now in charge of the sales department of the Skinner
Engine Company, while Helen died at the age of six years.
Judge Frank Gunnison. In a history of the legal profession in
Erie it is imperative that mention be made of Judge Frank Gunnison,
whose record has at all times been a credit and honor to the city of
his nativity. With thorough understanding of the principles of law
and actuated by high professional ideals, he made a splendid record
during his ten years' service on the bench, and in private practice has
been most successful, enjoying now a large and distinctively representa-
tive clientage. He was born February 2, 1848, in the city which is now
his home, his parents being the late Jonas and Charlotte (Spafiford)
Gunnison, the former a native of Erie county and the latter of the
state of New York. The father was a prominent Erie attorney and as
a leading citizen wielded a wide influence in molding public thought and
shaping public action. He was called to represent his district in the
state legislature, where he gave careful consideration to each question
that came up for settlement. In his death in 1871 the county lost one
of its valued citizens. His widow still survives.
Judge Gunnison pursued his elementary education in the public
schools and afterward attended the Erie Academy and the L^niversity
of Michigan in the accj^uirement of his more specifically literary course.
Determining upon the practice of law as a life work, he began reading
under the direction of his father and subsequently entered the Harvard
Law School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1870, winning
the degree of Bachelor of Law. On the 5th of February of that year
he was admitted to the bar at Erie and at once entered upon active
practice in connection with General D. B. McCreary. with whom he was
associated until 1875. He was afterward alone in practice until 1886,
when his professional ability led to his selection for the office of presi-
dent judge of the sixth judicial district. He served on the bench for the
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 85
full term of ten years and was uniformly urged to stand for a re-
election but personal reasons caused him to decline and re-enter upon
private practice. His decisions indicated strong mentality, careful an-
alysis, a thorough knowledge of the law and an unbiased judgment.
Because of a well rounded character, finely balanced mind, splendid
intellectual attainments and high professional ideals he was most success-
ful in the discharge of the multitudinous delicate duties which devolve
upon him who occupies the bench. He is now enjoying an extensive
private practice of an important character and moreover is interested in
a mnnber of business enterprises, including the Second National Bank, of
which he is a director.
In 187"2 Judge Gunnison was united in marriage to Miss Lila L.
Lowry, a daughter of the Hon. Morrow B. Lowry. of Erie, and unto
them has been born one son. Morrow B. Well known in the social
circles of the city. Judge Gunnison enjoys the respect, confidence and
good will of his fellow townsmen and at all times he can be counted
upon to further any movement or measure for the general good. He is
a public-spirited citizen and one whose efforts for municipal advance-
ment have ever been of a most practical character. His ability as a law-
yer has carried him into important professional relations and he is
widely recognized as a safe counselor and able advocate.
John S. Rilling. A lawyer of Erie, Pennsylvania, and ex-president
of its Pjoard of Trade and deeply interested in commercial and educa-
tional matters, John S. Rilling was born in Mill Creek township. Erie
county. July 22, 1860, being the son of Christopher and Elizabeth (Acker-
man) Rilling. The parents were both natives of Tuebingen, Germany,
which is the seat of the famous Tuebingen University. There the father
was born on the 7th of February, 1820. In 1834, when his son was
fourteen years of age. Stephen Rilling, (the grandfather of John S.,)
emigrated with his family to the United States, coming direct to Erie
county and locating on a farm just south of Erie City. ■ Stephen Rilling
was a millwright by trade and erected many of the old mills of Erie
county. He died in 1866, his wife having preceded him in the early
■fifties. The mother of John S. Rilling was born August 21, 1827, and
both parents are living.
John S. Rilling, obtained his early education in the public schools
of Mill Creek township; completed a course at the Edinboro State Nor-
mal ; taught school for two terms and then read law in the office of
Davenport and Griffith of Erie. On February 19, 1885, he was ad-
mitted to practice. On February, 2, 1897, he formed a partnership with
Henry E. Fish under the firm name of Rilling and Fish. On April 15,
1907. the firm became Gunnison, Rilling and Fish. ex-Judge Frank
Gunnison being the senior member of the firm which is one of the
strongest and most progressive in Erie county. Mr. Rilling has at-
tained a substantial position at the local bar and is also a leader in all
the commercial and public movements designed for the advancement
of the best interests of Erie. He served as president of the Erie Board
of Trade for the year ending 1907. He has also been prominently
interested in the transportation afifairs of Erie City being one of the
organizers and operators of the Conneaut & Erie Traction Company.
In works of charity and educational movements Mr. Rilling has attained
equal prominence. He was one of the organizers and incorporators, as
well as secretary, treasurer and president of St. Vincent's Hospital.
86 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Since 1887 he has served as solicitor for the School district of the
city of Erie and his standing was such, both as an educator and at-
torney, that the Governor of Pennsylvania appointed him a member of
an Educational Commission to prepare a School Code of the State of
Pennsylvania which was passed by the Legislature, but was vetoed by
the Governor on account of its having been mutilated after its pas-
sage. As he was the only lawyer on the Commission a most important
part of the work fell to him.
Mr. Rilling was married October 20, 1887, to Miss Stella Arm-
strong, of Erie, a daughter of Andrew Armstrong, a gallant soldier of the
Civil w^ar who was killed at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House.
Their children are : Marion E. and Ruth A. Rilling.
Dr. Georgk BiGiiAM Kali;, of Erie, is a leader in the general prac-
tice of medicine and surgery and has a more extended reputation as a
specialist in diseases of children and the scientific treatment of tuber-
culosis. The American founder of the Kalb family, Martin, was a
native of the Rhine Palatinate, Germany, and in 1729 emigrated to
Philadelphia county, that locality being the home of several generations.
The doctor was born in Circleville, Ohio, on the 22nd of September,
1862, and is a son of George Lewis and Mary Elizabeth (Bigham) Kalb,
his mother's ancestors being Scotch-Irish. After pursuing courses at
Oberlin (Ohio) College and Indiana University, in 1883, George B.
was matriculated at Jefiferson M'edical College, Philadelphia, from which
he graduated as president of the class of 1886. His first location for
practice was at Audenried, Pennsylvania, as assistant to Dr. W. R.
Longshore, with whom he remained for about five years, then removing
to Jeddo, Luzerne county, w'here, for eight years, he was in charge of
the colliery practice of G. B. Alarkle and Company. In 1898 he located
at Erie, engaging in the general practice of medicine and especially in
the treatment of children's diseases.
Since his graduation from Jefferson ]\Iedical College, Dr. Kalb has
been actively and almost continuously engaged in practice, virtually
the only interruption to his practical labors being the two semesters of
1895 and 1896 which he spent at Munich, and Vienna taking post-
graduate work. Besides being active in the conduct of his extensive
practice as a pediatrist, the doctor is surgeon on the Hamot Plospital
of Erie, examining physician to the Free Hospital for Poor Consump-
tives of Philadelphia and visiting physician to the Grand View Sani-
tarium for Tuberculosis at Oil City, Pennsylvania. He has been honored
with the presidency of the Aledical Society of the Middle Anthracite
Coal Fields and also served as secretary and president of the Erie
County Medical Society, and his reputation has been even more broadly
extended by his numerous and valuable contributions to the leading
medical journals of the country. And his activities and his prominence
are not even confined to the field of his profession, as he is a director in
the Erie Trust Company and the Petroleum Telephone Company of Oil
City, and is a director in the Mutual Telephone Company of Erie, and
interested in other financial and semi-public concerns. He is a member
of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Associated Charities
of the city, a Royal Arch Mason and an elder in the Presbyterian church,
in whose charitable and religious work he has been active for many
years. On January 4, 1888, Dr. Kalb married Miss Alargaret I. Leffler,
of Stockton, California, who died August 30, 1893, leaving one daughter,
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 87
Lucile. On November 17, 1895, he wedded Miss Letta B. Merriman,
of Kenton, Ohio, and the child of this union is Miriam EHzabeth Kalb.
Grant J. Smith, a leading commission merchant of Erie, president
of the board of county commissioners and a leading Republican of the
locality, is a native of the county named, and was born in Phillipsville,
Venango township, January 16, 1868. His parents, Robert T. and Emily
(Fritz) Smith, are also both natives of that place, the father born in
1821 and the mother in 1831. The family is of Irish origin, the grand-
father, John Smith, a native of that country, coming to Erie county at
an early date and being one of the early pioneers of Venango township
wiien that part of the state was a virtual wilderness. His wife was a
Miss Taylor. The grandfather mentioned passed the last years of his
life in \'enango township, dying there at the age of ninety-one years.
'Ihe lather of Grant J. (lied in 1887 from injuries received by the acci-
dental discharge of his gun. The deceased was a very successful farmer,
widely beloved and a prominent man in many respects. He had held all
of the township offices and at the time of his death was a member of the
board of directors of- the Harbor Creek ]\Iutual Fire Insurance Company.
His taking away was much regretted and his funeral was attended by one
of the largest concourses which ever honored a like occasion. The
widow survived her husband until 1903. Both were long active and
devoted members of the Presbyterian church.
Grant J., of this review, was reared on the home farm, attended
the district schools of the neighborhood and, as his father died when
the son was nineteen years of age, the latter remained on the old farm
assisting in its management and in the care of the dependent members
of the family. He was thus occupied until 1892 when he removed to
Erie and entered his present field, that of the commission business. For
a number of years past Mr. Smith has been a progressive figure in Re-
publican politics and local public affairs. He served as tax collector
of Venango township for about two years and in 1905 was elected a
member of the board of commissioners of Erie county, assuming that
office January 1, 1906, and his record was so entirely satisfactory that
he was re-elected by a flattering majority in 1908. Following the death
of Commissioner McClellan. in May, 1906, he was honored with the
presidency of the board and fulfills its duties with ability and dignity.
In his financial relations he is an active member of the Erie board of
trade and Chamber of Commerce and in Alasonry has reached the
thirty-second degree and naturally identified with the local Shriners Club.
Mr. Smith's wife was formerly Miss Jennie McCrea, who was born
in Mill Creek township, Erie county, and is a daughter of John and
Jane (Kimball) McCrea, both deceased. The children of their union
are Florence, born June 1, 1898, and Robert G., who died in 1899, aged
three weeks.
Emanuel \\^\idler Roland, a leading grocer of Erie, this county
with a fine establishment at No. 601 West Seventeenth street, is a native
of the county, born on a farm in West Mill Creek township, on the 19th
of December, 1858. He is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Garloch) Ro-
land, the father being born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, September
4, 1829, and the mother, in Summit township, Erie county, on the 15th
of August, 1836. William Roland, the grandfather, was also a native
of Lancaster county, who married Mary Garber, born in the same county.
88 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
I'.oth the Rolands and the Garbers are of English stock, the first Ameri-
can forefathers emigrating to this country about two centuries ago. Jacob,
the father of Emanuel W., left the ancestral home in Lancaster county
when a young man, and located in Mill Creek township, this county,
where he married, and engaged successively in farming and mercantile
pursuits. Four years before the Civil war he removed to Michigan,
from which state he entered the Union ranks and served until the close
of hostilities. His death occurred on the 15th of August, 1905. His
widow is a daughter of Andrew Oarlock, a native of Wittemburg, Ger-
niuny, who married a cousin by that name and came to Erie county about
1835. Mrs. Jacob Roland is a devoted member of the German Evan-
gelical church, and is a highly honored pioneer of the county.
E. \V\ Roland, of this sketch, was reared on the family homestead
in West Mill Creek township, received a district school education, and
followed farming in different parts of Erie county until his marriage
in 1888. He then established a homestead on the Lake road in Fair-
view township and for three years engaged in agricultural pursuits. On
March 15, 1891, he became a resident of Erie and engaged in the retail
grocery business on the corner of Eighteenth and Cherry streets, as-
sociating himself with his brother, Levi, under the firm name of Roland
Brothers. In 189(5 they erected the store at No. GOl West Seventeenth
street, and remained in partnership until 1897, when E. W. purchased
his brother's interest and has since been sole proprietor of the busi-
ness. i\Ir. Roland was also one of the promoters of the Erie Wholesale
Grocery Company, of which he was one of the original stockholders and
of which (since January 15, 1909) he has been a director. He is an
active member of the Business Men's Exchange ; is a Republican in pol-
itics, and in his religious faith is identified with tlie Chestnut Street Pres-
byterian church.
On February 21, 1888, Mr. Roland married Miss Minnie H. Bochner,
born in West Mill Creek township, on the 27th of September, 1864,
daughter of Flenry and Hannah (Sherman) Bochner. The father was
born in Fairview, Erie county, his people coming here from Lancaster
county at an early date. He died in the winter of 1900, but Mrs. Bochner
is still alive — a goodly specimen of the intelligent, sturdy, honorable
women produced by her German fatherland. Two children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Roland: — ^Harrison L.. who was born De-
cember 28, 1889, and died December 25, 1900, and Elsie Elizabeth Ro-
land, whose birth occurred June 1, 1893.
Robert J. Moorhead. Possessing in a marked degree the pro-
nounced ability, forceful individuality, and perseverance of purpose that
win success in business circles, and command universal respect, Robert
J. Moorhead is actively associated with the financial growth and pros-
perity of the city of Erie, and as president of the Security Savings and
Trust Company of Erie is prominently identified with one of the lead-
ing institutions of this part of Erie county. A man of great enterprise
and energy, he has done much towards promoting the mercantile and
manufacturing interests of Western Pennsylvania, and as a banker has
carried on business with credit and success, being now one of the lead-
ing financiers of Erie, of which he is to all intents and purposes a citizen,
although he still maintains his family residence in his old home town.
North East. He was born, April 2, 1852. in Aloorheads, Harbor Creek
township. Erie county, which was the birthplace, likewise, of his par-
THE NEW YORK
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A8T«fi, LENO
TILP£N FOUNDaT,;.,,„
J
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 89
ents, Joseph Byers and Eliza (Hampson) IMoorhead. His grandfather,
John Aloorhead, with his brothers, Robert and George, located in Erie
county in the early part of the last century, in Harbor Creek township,
in the town of Moorheads, which was named in their honor.
Brought up on the farm, hewed from the forest by his father, Joseph
Byers Moorhead, was there engaged in tilling the soil until 18()5, when
he removed with his family to North East, where for a period of eight
years he was employed in the forwarding and commission bu-^iness. Lo-
cating in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1(ST;3, he remained there until his death, March
10, 1880. His widow subsequently returned to her old home in North
East, where her death occurred, September (i, 1891.
In 186!), having completed his studies at the North East Academy,
Robert J. Moorhead worked as a book-keeper in one of the business
houses for a year, and was afterwards book-keeper for a similar length
ot time in the First National Bank of North East. Coming from there
to Erie in April, 1871, Mr. Moorhead took charge of the books of the
Second National Bank, and in October, 1872, went to Foxburg, Clarion
county, to assume charge of the local Savings Bank which was owned,
principally by Erie people. Embarking in the oil brokerage business in
1874, Mr. Moorhead was first located at Parker's Landing, then at Oil
City, from there going to Pittsburg, where he remained until 1885, when
he returned to North East. In 1888 Mr. Moorhead purchased the con-
trolling interest in tlie Short Manufacturing Company, of North East,
being made president of the comj)any. He was subsequently made presi-
dent of the Security and Savings Trust Company of Erie and has since
performed the duties devolving upon him in this capacity with recognized
ability and fidelity, rendering it one of the strongest financial institutions
in the county.
George E. Hichmyer, the owner and proprietor of one of the valu-
able estates of Harbor Creek township, known as the Pleasant View Fruit
Farm, is a member of one of the stanch old pioneer families of Erie
county. Simon Flighmyer, his father, was a German by birth, and com-
ing from his native land to the United States, he located in Erie county
in 1830. and was here married to Maria Pherrin, from Northumberland
count}'. Peiuisylvania. He was a cooper by trade, and his death occurred
while serving his adopted country in the Civil war in 1862. His widow
then moved to Mill Creek township in Erie county, and died there in the
year of 1889.
George E. Highmyer. the elder of their (3) sons, was born in Fair-
view township. Erie county. May 19, 1853, and remaining at home with
his mother until his marriage, he then lived for four years in Mill Creek
township. At the close of that period he purchased his present homestead
of forty acres in Harbor Creek township, and has built thereon a valu-
able brick residence and has devoted his land to the raising of grapes and
peaches and small fruit. The farm is well improved and splendidly
adapted to the raising of fruit.
Mr. Highmyer married A])ril 16. 1885, Emma Ripley, born in
Greene township, Erie county, a daughter of David and ]\Iary Ann (Kuhl)
Ripley. Their only child, a son Ray, died when but two years of age,
but in their home are two adopted children, a niece and a nephew, Elma
and Ira. Elma has finished high school and Ira is in the seventh grade.
One brother of Mr. Highmyer, Frank Highmyer, died in 1899, and the
other A. C. resides in Erie, a carpenter of P. and E. shops ; he is married
00 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
and has three children. George E. Highmyer is a RepubHcan in his
poHtical affiHations and he and family are members of the Presbyterian
church in Harborcreek township.
Clarence C. French, one of Erie county's leading and enterprising
business men, is the proprietor of an extensive optical and jewelry estab-
lishment at No. 923 State street. The coordinating forces usually found
in those who have traveled the pathway of success, have combined in
him in large measure, spurring him onward in the pursuit of a noble
purpose, until now he has a business established upon a solid financial
basis and honorably takes his place among those who are maintaining
the industrial worth of the city as a center of trade and field of business
opportunities. His career, however, has not been without its obstacles
and discouragements but the firm resolution he early formed to ertter
business on his own account and succeed has enabled him to surmount
all difiiculties confronting him and, by persistent efifort reinforced by
patience and perseverance, he has mastered every situation so that now
he owns and controls an enterprise which is not only a gratifying source
of revenue to himself but also a credit to the city.
A native of Corning, New York, born March 4, 1866, Mr. French is
a son of George Edward and Cynthia Ann (Davis) French. His father
was also a native of the Empire state, while his mother's nativity oc-
curred in Connecticut. In the Keystone state and in Center county
George E. French engaged in the lumber business until death terminated
his activities. His widow now resides in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Mr. French was well known throughout the lumber regions of the state
and the honorable relations he sustained in all his business transactions
won him the respect and confidence of all with whom he had dealings as
honest and reliable.
In Center county Clarence C. French was reared and spent his boy-
hood days. The public schools afforded him his educational privileges
and after mastering the branches of study taught there, he became as-
sociated with his father in the lumber business. In this connection he
remained until 1884 when, desirous of adopting another calling and,
preferring that of a jeweler, he went to Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania,
where he served his apprenticeship in the watchmaking establishment of
E. A. Davis & Son. Seeking further opportunity whereby to acquire
a better knowledge and greater skill at the trade, he went to Oil city,
Pennsylvania, in 1889 where he spent two years with Shapperle Broth-
ers, jewelers and expert watchmakers, who for years were at the
head of a department at Tiffany's, New York City. Still anxious to
further add to his capacity for usefulness and, in order to broaden his
field of endeavor, he completed a course of instruction at the Julius King
School of Optics, at Cleveland, Ohio, from which he was graduated
in 1891. In that year, coming to Erie, Mr. French entered the employ
of Edward Hoffman, jeweler. Two years later, or in 1893. considering
his ability and experience adequate to meet the public demand, he began
business on his own account as a jeweler and optican at No. 925 State
street. His venture was on a small scale and he rented a window in
an insurance ofiice. For eight years he labored diligently with a view to
producing the highest class work and to pleasing his patrons by the sub-
stantial nature of his services, so that his busines gradually grew, until,
in 1901 his volume of trade necessitating larger quarters, he removed to
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 91
hi.= present location at No. 923 State street. Here he occupies a capa-
cious store and conducts one of the leading establishments of the kind
in the city, carrying a complete line of solid gold jewelry and optical
good=. Watch repairing is his specialty and his business is of such pro-
por.ions to require the assistance of four regular employes. Mr. French's
commercial career has been one of even growth, due to his progressive
spirit, his professional skill and. above all, to the straightforward methods
which characterize his transactions.
Mr. French was united in marriage to Miss Laura Hudson, a native
of Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Robert Hudson. To
this union have been born two children : Hudson and Helen May. Public-
spirited and alive to the highest interests of the city he is a member
of the Chamber of Commerce and a charter member of the Business
Men's Exchange. His fraternal relations are with Perry Lodge, A. F.
& A. M. Mr. French is highly respected, both socially and as a busi-
ness man and is a substantial factor in the city's commercial life.
Edward D. Carter. The only lake port in the state, the city of
Erie is advantageously located, and has been itlcntified with the develop-
ment of some of the more important commercial industries of Pennsyl-
vania. In the promotion and advancement of several of these industrial
lines, Edward D. Carter has been a native and conspicuous factor,
being especially prominent in business circles. Distinguished as a native
of Erie county, he was born, January 31, 1853, in Mill Creek township,
a son of John H. Carter, a farmer of prominence. His paternal grand-
parents, John and Mary (High) Carter, emigrated from England to this
country in 1835, bringing with them their live children, and settling on
a farm in Erie county.
John H. Carter was born in county Norfolk, England, February
21, 1821. Coming with his parents to Pennsylvania at the age of four-
teen years, he assisted his father in clearing and improving a home-
stead, early becoming familiar with agricultural pursuits. With the
exception of a few years spent in Erie, he was engaged in tilling the
soil during his years of activity, his farming estate in Mill Creek town-
ship being one of the best improved and most valuable in that vicinity.
In 1838 he married Anna Heidelbaugh, who was born and reared in
Lancaster county, and they became the parents of six children, namely :
Mary, wife of William Hardwick, of Erie; George W., of Erie, senior
member of the retail shoe firm of G. W. Carter & Co. ; Edward D., of this
sketch ; Alfred ; John L. ; and Mrs. Luella Bacon.
Brought up on the home farm, Edward D. Carter received his
preliminary education in the district schools. He subsequently attended
the Edinboro normal school, after which he took a course of study at the
Iron City Commercial College, in Pittsburg. Securing then a position
in that city, he remained there two years, in the meantime obtaining a
practical insight regarding business pursuits. Coming then to Erie, Mr.
Carter, in company with his brother, G. W. Carter, was for five years
engaged in the grocery business. In 187G he embarked in the fish
business, which was the beginning of his connection with an industry
which he has since continued with great profit to himself, and to the ad-
vancement of a good paying business, for, in 1893, the Erie Fish Associa-
tion, in which he was financially interested for many years, was or-
ganized, and he was made its president. During that period, Mr. Carter
92 HISTORY OF ERIE COUXTY
was made president of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Electric
Light Company, of which lie was a promoter, and one of the organizers.
He is still actively interested in many of the leading corporations of the
city, among others being the Erie and Carter Steamship Companies, of
which he is president and general manager; the Erie Company, electric
light, construction, and steam heat, of which he is likewise president ; and
the Security Savings and Trust Company, of which he is the vice presi-
dent, and a director. Mr. Carter's commercial standing is irreproachable,
and his indomitable energy and perseverance enable him to carry for-
ward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
On October 10, 1873, Mr. Carter married Clara, daughter of John
Robinson, of Erie, and into their household two children have been born,
Maud and Carl. Politically a sound Republican, Mr. Carter has served
as a member of the Select Council of Erie. Fraternally he belongs to
the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Royal Arcanum.
C.\PT. Edward L. Whittelsey, of Erie, and one of the leading
members of the Erie legal profession, is a native of Connecticut, born
in Litchfield county, October 5, 1841, son of Henry R. and ^lary A.
(Parmlee) Whittelsey, both natives of Connecticut and of English de-
scent.
The captain lived on a farm until he was eight years old, and from
tliat time on until he was nineteen he attended school. He began reading
law in Erie, before he reached his majority, but abandoned his legal
studies, July W, 18()1, in order to enlist in the Eighty-third Regiment
of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He served throughout the war;
was regularly promoted to a captaincy, was wounded at the battle of
Bull Run, and was discharged from the service on June 28, 1865. In
18G9, Captain Whittelsey was elected to the office of prothonotary of
Erie county, and upon the expiration of his first term he was re-elected,
and served until January, 1876. Retiring from public office, he again
took up the study of law, this time in the office of Benson & Brainard.
of Erie, and in 1877 he was admitted to the bar and engaged in the
practice of law, at which he has since continued with success and dis-
tinction.
Captain Whittelsey married Charlotte, daughter of Henry Hunt,
now deceased ; and the fruits of their union were six children, four of
whom are living, as follows : Maude. Ruth, Mary and Kate. He mar-
ried for his second wife Miss Isabelle Farley, of Erie. The captain
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife are identified
with the Presbyterian church.
Lyman L. L.wir. Within the pages of this work will be found
mention of those representative citizens who have contributed to the
civic and material develoj)ment and progress of Erie county, and among
those meriting a place of distinction is the subject of this memoir, who
was long a prominent and influential factor in the business afifairs of
the city of Erie and who was a citizen of sterling character, holding a
commanding place in the esteem and confidence of the community in
which were centered for so long a term of years his various interests. ' He
was a man of forceful individuality and was associated with many enter-
prises of importance, which tended to conserve the general welfare of
Iiis home citv and county.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 93
Mr. Lamb was born at Homer, Cortland county, New York, April
30, 1817, and was a member of a family early founded in the old Empire
state and one whose name has been identified with American history since
the colonial era. He was reared and educated in his native state, where
he maintained his home until 1837, when he took up his residence at
Townville, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the
produce business. With the successful production of coal oil in the
fields of Titusville, that county, in the summer of 1859, there was opened
to him a broader field of enterprise. He identified himself with the oil
industry and for a number of years was one of the successful operators
in that section of the state, where he laid the foundatoin for the compe-
tence which it was his to gain through well directed efiforts. In the win-
ter of 181)4: Mr. Lamb became a resident of the city of Erie, where he
established himself in the coal business, in which line of enterprise he
continued for many years and in which his operations attained to ex-
tensive proportions. He also identified himself with other business enter-
prises. In 18G5 he became one of the organizers and incorporators of
the Keystone National Bank, of Erie, and he was a director of this old
and substantial institution at the time of his death. In 1868 he was one
of the interested principals in the organizing of the Dime Savings &
Loan Company, now known as the Erie Trust Company, and he served
as president of the institution for some years. Subsequently to that time
he lived virtually retired from active business.
Mr. Lamb was a citizen who manifested a loyal interest in all that
tended to conserve the general welfare of the community, and his public
spirit was ever to be depended upon. Though never active in the domain
of politics he gave a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and his
religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church. In his death, on
the 29th of October, 189U, Erie lost one of her most useful and honored
citizens.
In November, 1840, Mr. Lamb was united in marriage to Miss
Miranda Town, daughter of Noah Town, the founder of Townville,
Crawford county, this state, whither he came from Granville, Washing-
ton county, New York, in an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Lamb became the
parents of eight children. ]\Irs. Lamb still maintains her home in Erie,
where she is held in affectionate regard by all who know her.
Henry Himberger. Contracting lines in Erie have afforded num-
erous openings through which many have traveled to prosperity and
among those who in this direction have perseveringly applied their
energies so that they are numbered among those who are leaders in
industrial lines here is Henry Himberger, who is one of the best known
building contractors in this part of the state. He is a man whose busi-
ness relations have been conducted upon the basis of a high standard of
commercial ethics and this with his aggressive spirit has enabled him,
from year to year, to so enhance his trade interests and increase his
popularity that today he holds an enviable position among those en-
gaged in similar lines of occupation. He was born in Huron county,
Ohio, near IVIonroeville, November 19, 1862. a son of William and
Minnie (Horn) Himberger, natives of the fatherland, born in 1813 and
1821, respectively. They were united in marriage in the old country in
1842, coming to the new world in 1851 and locating in Huron county,
Ohio. There the elder Mr. Himberger engaged in agricultural pursuits,
94 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
in which he was quite successful, being known as one of the most pro-
gressive farmers throughout the community and at the same time being
highly respected for the part he took in the development of the natural
resources of the place and his interest in community afifairs. In their
family were the following children : William, whose birth occurred
in the fatherland and who now resides in Norwalk, Ohio; Kate, also
born in the fatherland and who wedded George Lowe, they now re-
siding in Michigan ; Jennette. also a native of Germany, the deceased
wife of Jacob Springer; Louis, deceased, his birth having' occurred in
Germany ; ^Minnie, a native of Germany and the wife of John Leng, this
couple residing in this city; Mary, a native of Ohio and the wife of
Frederick Linder, residents of Michigan; Charles, also a native of Ohio,
who resides in the west; and Henry. Their father met death from
injuries received incident to a run-away in the year 1876.
On the home farm Henry Himberger spent his boyhood days, re-
maining in the pursuit of agriculture until he was eighteen years of
age, in the meantime being given the advantage of an education in the
public schools. At that period of his life he entered business for himself
and became an employe in a planing-mill at Xorwalk, Ohio, where he
remained for one year. In September, of the year 1882 he repaired to
this city, where he secured work with a carpenter and, being an expert
workman, soon gained wide popularity for the character of his artisan-
ship and in 1884, feeling confident of his own ability to enter the indus-
trial world on his own account, he undertook contracting independently.
As may be supposed his beginning was on a small scale but. being in-
dustrious and enterprising and at the same time giving careful attention
to the character of his work, always endeavoring to give value received,
he soon gained prestige and from year to year enhanced his trade so
that at the present time he is numbered among the leading and most re-
liable building contractors of the city. His knowledge of the building
trades is based upon careful and scrutinizing study, being exhaustive in
every department and he served as building inspector of Erie from May,
1903, to the same month, 1905, in this position deporting himself with
exceptional ability and satisfaction to all concerned. Mr. Himberger
is a strong character whose perseverance in striving to perfect himself
in the roimd of trade he is following has made him master of its every
department and as a contractor and builder he has done excellent work
throughout the city and is accounted one of the most worthy citizens
and dependable, industrial factors.
On the 3d of June, 1884, Mr. Himberger wedded Carolina Steidle,
a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and to this union have been born
the following children : Edwin, who died in infancy ; Elfreda W. L. ; and
Oscar Carl, who is a student at Pennsylvania State College. Mr. Him-
berger is deeply concerned in all projects and measures designed for
the general welfare of the business interests of the city and consequently
is a leading member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, and was elected
school director of the Sixth ward in February, 1909. Fraternally his
relations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ben-
evolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he is also a member of the
Erie Maennerchor. His record is in every sense creditable and he has
maintained his career on the basis of sound commercial ethics so that
now he is entitled to honorable mention among Erie's leading business
men.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 95
William Hardwick, president of the Erie Engine and Union Iron
Works, ex-mayor of the city and ex-president of its board of trade, is a
man who seems to assume leadership in whatever field he enters, in
fact, there are few citizens of Erie who may be considered its truly
representative man in more senses than Mr. Hardwick, since he has been
an active force in the industrial, financial, civic and social progress of
the city. He is a native of England, born December 1, 1847, son of
John and Ann Hardwick, the family coming to Erie in 1852, when Wil-
liam was but five years of age. Since that time he has made Erie his
home. He was educated in its public schools until he reached the age
of eleven years, when he left the school room for the work shop, becom-
ing an apprentice at the machinist's trade, with Liddell Alarsh & Mc-
Carter now the Erie City Iron Works. Having mastered his trade he
followed it for some tinie but rose so rapidly that before long he had
reached the position of foreman of the Bay State Iron Works and after
r. period of nine years was promoted to the general superintendency of
that great plant.
In 1879 Mr. Hardwick commenced his career as a manufacturer,
associating himself with Frank F. Cleveland in* the organization of the
Hardwick and Cleveland Company, and engaging in the manufacture of
engines and boilers. In 1893 the firm was incorporated as the Erie
Engine Works, with Mr. Hardwick as president and general manager
and since that time he has been continuously and ably fulfilling the dual
position. The Union Iron Works were established by the Erie Engine
Works and the Skinner Engine Company in 1890, its object being to
provide the boiler department for the two others mentioned. In 1893
Mr. Hardwick became president of the corporation, which position he
still holds. February 1, 1904, the Erie ^Manufacturing and Supply Com-
pany was also organized, with Mr. Hardwick as president and general
manager so that he is at the head of two of the largest iron manufactories
in Erie county. In this capacity he has abundantly demonstrated his
remarkable executive and promotional ability.
Notwithstanding all these large and absorbing interests he has
rendered the city valuable service in the shaping of municipal legislation,
especially in the development of its public works. In 1878 he was elected
to the common council as a representative from the Fourth ward ; re-
elected in the following year and in 1880 and 1881 served as a member
of the select council. He was also chosen to membership on the school
board of the Third ward in 1890 and while thus serving, in 1891 was
appointed by Judge Gunnison, a member of the board of water w^orks.
Resigning from the school board he commenced long and invaluable
service as a commissioner of the board of public works and during four
of the seven years of his term he was president of the board. During
this period the intake of the water works w^as constructed across the
bay to Big Bend and the water pipes afterward extended across the
peninsula out into the lake, this insuring the city an abundant supply of
pure drinking water. This important work was completed in the fall
of 1898. In 1902 Mr. Hardwick was elected mayor of the city, serving
a full term of three years. During his administration remarkable prog-
ress was made in paving the city streets, in fact, more work was accom-
plished in this line than in any other mayoralty term. The Municipal
Hospital was also built ; Glenwood Park was accepted by the city and
paid for; and the viaduct at East Buffalo road was completed (the be-
ginning of the abolishment of grade crossings in the city) ; West Tenth
96 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
street was made into a Boulevard and paved and the first crusade
against gambling and immoral resorts was inaugurated. It was during
his administration also that the Chamber of Commerce was organized
with which, as well as the board of trade, Mr. Hardwick has worked
harmoniously and effectively for the advancement of many of the city's
most important enterprises. For one year he served as president of
the board of trade and during his term and under his active encourage-
ment the Mutual Telephone system was established. That his influence
and prominence extended far beyond the limits of Erie is evident from
his selection by the Republicans of Pennsylvania as a McKinley and
Roosevelt presidential elector in 1901.
For many years he has also been active and prominent in religious
affairs of the Methodist Episcopal church of Erie. He has been a
member of that organization for the past fifty years and when the old
Wayne street Methodist church was erected he was elected president of
the Erie Methodist Episcopal Alliance. This church was under the
management of that body and as its president he was the main factor
in locating the church in the southeastern part of the city. There he
remained in active and influential connection with it until the edifice
was burned and the present church was built. He also assisted in the
selection of the sites for the Kiiigsley and Cascade street churches and
during all the years of his presidency of the Erie Methodist Episcopal
Alliance he was very active in the management and advancement of
denominational affairs throughout the city and county. In his business
and social connections Mr. Hardwick is an active member of the Cham-
ber of Commerce, the Board of Trade, the Erie Country Club and the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is also a thirty-second
degree Mason.
On October 13, 1866. Mr. Hardwick was married to Mary, daugh-
ter of the late John H. and Anna (.Heidlebach) Carter, both old citizens
of Erie county. Two children have been born to Mr. and ^Irs. Hard-
wick, one son and one daughter. John Wesley Hardwick, the son, was
a native of Erie ; was educated in its public and high schools and chose
his father's iron works to learn the business in preference to pursuing
a college course. His advancement was both thorough and rapid and he
became one of the organizers of the Erie Manufacturing and Supply
Company and was afterward made secretary and general manager of
the Union Iron W^orks, wdiich position he was holding at the time of
his death. He was a most promising young man and death no doubt
cut short what would have been a career of great prominence and wide
usefulness. The deceased was married, his first wife being Miss Anna
Parson, who died as the mother of one daughter, Gladys. His second
wife, nee Miss Lena Wells, of Springboro, Pennsylvania, still survives
with their daughter Virginia Hardwick. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
W^illiam Hardwick. Luanna, married Albert MacDonald, one of Erie's
most prominent manufacturers, now superintendent of the Metric Metal
Works, one of the city's largest and most important industries.
Thomas M.vckrell, who has been successfully engaged in farming
in Harbor Creek township for the past quarter of a century, was born
in county Down, Ireland. September 22. 1852, being a son of Richard
and Margaret (McGinnis) Mackrell. both natives of that section of Ire-
land. He was the sixth in a family of six daughters and three sons. At the
age of twenty, after receiving a common school education in Ireland, Mr.
PUl>^u
MT«R, LCM*X
TILȣN FOUNDATION!
PHILLIP B. RAEDER
MR. AND MRS. PHILLIP B. RAEDER
IP ^ARYl
L
riLOEN FOUNDATION*
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 97
Mackrell emigrated to America at first locating at North East, Pennsyl-
vania, and after working there a month, coming to Erie where he was
employed in railroad work. He was then engaged as a farm hand for
about a year and for a similar period was employed at the Erie Car
Works. His next experience as an agriculturist covered a period of
fifteen years on a frontier farm just west of Erie and a considerable
portion of this period was spent as foreman for Mr. Sampson. In 1884,
Mr. Mackrell purchased twenty acres in Harbor Creek township which
he has since cultivated and improved in the raising of fruit and general
farming.
On May 11, 1880, Mr. Mackrell married Miss Teressa A. Leiss, a
native of Waggletown, Mill Creek township, and daughter of Sebastian
and Catherine (Burlinger) Leiss, both natives of Bavaria, Germany.
The children of this union were: Richard and Peter, both residents of
Erie; Thomas, of Mill Creek township; Frances, now Mrs. Joseph Hel-
man, of South Erie, Pennsylvania ; and John L., George, James, Anna L.,
Joseph and Leo, all residing at home. Mr. Mackrell has so closely de-
voted himself to his farming operations that he has had little time for
social or fraternal functions, his only connection in this regard being
as a member of the Grand Fraternity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He
is a member of the St. Anna Catholic church in Erie.
Phillip B. Raedi:r, a farmer of Harbor Creek township for many
years, was a fine type of the German-American element in agriculture
and since his death his faithful and efficient widow, with the assistance
of her sons, has carried on and even enlarged his original interests. Mr.
Raeder was a native of Bavaria, Germany, born October 2G, 1839, son
of Jacob and Charlotte C. (Bolander) Raeder. As his mother died when
he was but three years of age when he came to Erie county, Pennsylvania,
in 1852, he was only accompanied by his father and children. The elder
Mr. Raeder was a baker by trade but was a man of independence and
industry who did not hesitate in the new .country to accept any honorable
employment.
Phillip B., of this sketch, was the sixth to be born in a family of three
sons and four daughters and commenced life for himself at the age of
twelve when he secured employment as a farm hand. This was the 3^ear
prior to his coming to this country so that when he arrived in Erie county
he had enjoyed some considerable experience in agricultural matters. On
April 19, 1865, Mr. Raeder married Christina Schwingel, a native of
Buffalo, New York, born July 25, 1835, and daughter of Christian and
Christina (Keppel) Schwingel. The former was born in the kingdom of
Prussia, Germany, and the latter in Alsace-Lorraine, now also a part
of Germany but then a part of France. Mr. Schwingel located at Buffalo,
New York, in 1831, later removing to Rochester and in 1839 to Erie
where for some years he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Still later
he bought a farm in Mill Creek tow^nship where he lived until his death
September 25, 1864.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Phillip B. Raeder were as fol-
lows : Louisa, now Mrs. W. H. Frazier, a resident of Harbor Creek town-
ship ; Carl, who resides with his mother on the farm in Harbor Creek
township which Mr. Raeder purchased in 1867 and now consists of tw^o
hundred acres ; and George C. and William F., who also live with their
mother. On January 23, 1906, the family residence was burned with all
its contents but Mr. Raeder at once rebuilt and the present family home
Vol. II— 7
98 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
of nine rooms is convenient and modern in every respect. August 10,
1907, Mr. Raeder died on his homestead and his remains are interred
in Lake Side Cemetery.
WiLLARD J. Young. Erie county has ever had reason to take pride
in the personnel of its bench and bar, and to-day the legal profession in
the county is represented by men of sterling character and full appre-
ciation of the responsibilities and dignity of their exacting vocation. One
who has attained to marked precedence in the practice of law in the city
of Erie is Willard J. Young. He was born near the village of Water-
ford, Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of October, 18G1, and is
a son of James B. and Phoebe J. (Middleton) Young. James B. Young
was a native of Ireland, whence he came with his parents to the United
States in 1842. The family became settlers of Erie county soon after
their arrival in America, having located on a heavily timbered tract of
land near the present thriving village of Waterford. James B. Young
was identified with agricultural pursuits during his entire career, and he
died in 1878, in the very prime of his manhood. His wife was born in
the United States, of Scotch parentage, and she is still living in Erie
county.
When Willard J. was two years of age his parents removed to Mill
Creek township and settled on a farm just outside the corporate limits
of the city of Erie. He was reared to the life of the farm, and he con-
tinued to attend the public schools of his native county until 1876, when,
at the age of fifteen years he entered Westminster College, where he
completed the prescribed course in the literary department and was grad-
uated as a member of the class of 1883. From this excellent institution
he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For two years after leaving
college Mr. Young was principal of the public schools of Shefiield, this
state, and he made an excellent record in the pedagogic profession.
Finally he began reading law under effective preceptorship, and since
1888. when he was admitted to the bar, he has been engaged in the prac-
tice of his profession in the city of Erie, where his success has been of
unequivocal order and his clientage is of representative character. Since
1889 he has been local attorney for R. G. Dun & Company, the great
commercial agency, and also for the Mutual Building & Loan Association
of Erie. As a citizen he has ever maintained a loyal and public-spirited
attitude, and has shown deep interest in all that has tended to conserve
the progress and material and civic upbuilding of his home city. He
is a member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, is a stanch Republican
in his political proclivities, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
Mr. Young is a bachelor.
U. P. RossiTER. A leading member of the Erie bar, U. P. Rossiter
is also a Republican leader in state politics and closely identified with the
industrial development of the city. He has attained prominence in the lat-
ter particular in connection with the development of the Cascade Foundry
of which he was one of the founders and has been secretary since its or-
ganization. Mr. Rossiter is a native of Norristown. born October 6,
1862. and is a son of S. Y. and Mary B. (Johnson) Rossiter, both natives
of that place. The father was born in 1835, son of Lindley and Mar-
garet (Pennypacker) Rossiter. both natives of Chester county. Penn-
sylvania. The former was a tanner and currier and was engaged in
these lines at Norristown for over forty years, at his death being succeed-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 99
ed by his son S. Y. From Norristown the latter removed to St. Mary's,
Elk county, Pennsylvania, where he remained in business for two years
and in 1871 became a resident of Girard, Erie county, there succeeding
to the business of C. I. England. In 1857 he married Mary B. Johnson.
Mr. Rossiter died at Girard, October 8, 1899, his widow still surviving
him.
U. P. Rossiter, of this review, received his preliminary education
in the common schools of Norristown, St. Mary's and Girard and his
higher literary studies were pursued at Swarthmore College, Swarth-
more, Pennsylvania. He then read law with J. Ross Thompson, of Erie,
was admitted to the bar in June, 1887, and remained in private practice
until his election to the office of district attorney in 1893. His official
duties and the fine record and wide acquaintanceship which he made in
this capacity induced him to become a permanent resident of Erie. In
addition to his large legal practice he has become interested in various
business and industrial enterprises and was one of the founders of the
Cascade Foundry and is, as already has been stated, its secretary, having
held this position since its organization. His prominence as a Republican
is indicated by his services as chairman of the county committee of that
party. As a fraternalist he is an active Mason, Odd Fellow and Elk,
being one of the incorporators of the building association connected with
the last named order and which had the active superintendence of the fine
Elks' Club recently completed ; he is also exalted ruler of the order. Mr.
Rossiter is an influential member of the Chamber of Commerce and is
identified with the Country Club of Erie.
Mr. Rossiter's wife was formerly Miss Ella A. Nichols, a native of
Girard, Pennsylvania, and on her mother's side is a representative of
the old Hay family of this county of which the late John Hay, the distin-
guished writer and diplomat, was a member. Mrs. Rossiter's grandfather
had the honor of being Erie's first postmaster. Mr. and Mrs. Rossiter
have become the parents of one child, Samuel Y. Rossiter.
G. La Verne Pratt. The successive steps in the career of a success-
ful business man are readily ascertained if one simply marks his onward
movements, step by step, and in every instance he will discover that his
progress has been attained not at all by the aid of outside influence but
altogether by the expression of his inborn merit. Such is true in the
case of G. La Verne Pratt, who from a small beginning, on the strength
of his own resources, has developed one of the largest commercial en-
terprises now in operation in this city, and who is known throughout
the entire state as a furniture dealer whose business methods are above
question and whose judgment and keen discernment in business affairs
are of a nature naturally disposed to bring success to their possessor.
When Mr. Pratt started out on his commercial career there was nothing
more ahead of him than that which may appear ahead of other young
men but he was gifted with a foresight to see opportunity and he lead
himself along pathways in which there was apparently nothing and
which were passed by by others and through patience and perseverance
pursued his way, working hard all along the line until now he is ac-
counted among the worthy and most prominent business men of the
city of Erie.
Mr. Pratt is a native of Chenango county. New York, born Decem-
ber 10, 1866, and a son of Ogden Alanson and Welthy (Hough) Pratt,
the father being a native of Connecticut, while the mother was born in
706983
100 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Chenango county, New York. Both families were originally from the
state of Connecticut and were numbered among the old-fashioned Puritan
stock, Grandfather Pratt having been a wealthy manufacturer of Connec-
ticut, while Grandfather Hough served as a member of the Connecticut
state legislature. Both families came westward and located in Chenango
county, the Empire state, this being before the days of railroads, and
there they pursued agriculture for a livelihood, death having summoned
both grandfathers to the life beyond in that county. Ogden Alanson
Pratt, father of G. L. Verne, engaged in agricultural pursuits during
the greater part of his life and is now living retired in Chenango county,
while his wife passed away thirty years ago.
On the home farm G. La \'erne Pratt was reared, passing through
the experiences common to the country lad during his boyhood days,
assisting his father in agricultural duties during the summer months while
in the winter season he took advantage of the district schools to obtain
his preliminary education. Later he was given the advantage of a
course of study in the high school and after he was graduated from that
institution being then in his nineteenth year, he was ambitious to become
engaged in the commercial world, and, leaving the farm, he took up his
abode in the village where he accepted a position as clerk in a general
store on a salary of five dollars a month with board. He performed his
duties in this position for about two years and a half, during which time
he displayed uncommon ability and was promoted as far as the enter-
prise would permit. Desirous of larger opportunities and a wider range
of business experience he resigned his position and became a traveling
salesman, handling a general line of household goods, his territory lying
throughout the Empire state. As a drummer he attained eminent success
and continued to follow this line of work for eight years, at the expiration
of which period he had reached the limit of possibilities offered by that
vocation by way of experience and salary and his last year as a traveling
salesman he spent in the city of Erie, this being in 1894. In the following
year he engaged in business on his own account, securing quarters in a
small room above Illig's clothing store on Peach street, and, while starting
the enterprise, he did his own canvassing and having had a wide and
varied experience in that line, success attended him from day to day,
his business witnessing rapid growth until in 1901 his trade had reached
such volume as to necessitate roomier quarters, so he removed to No.
IGIO State street. All this while he handled a full line of household
goods, particularly furniture and the borders of his business so widened
and his trade assumed such proportions as to surround him with un-
common financial prosperity. He negotiated for the erection of a large
building in which to carry on his enterprise and in 1907 he completed
one of the finest brick structures in the city, located at the corner of
State and Seventeenth street. The building is one of the most modern
here, being three stories high with basement, the entire structure being
built out of brick decorated with stone trimmings with floor space em-
bracing one hundred and twenty-five by forty feet, the entire space in the
building, which may be devoted to business purposes, including fourteen
thousand feet without counting the cellar. This elegant structure stands
as ample evidence of his prosperity and is a living monument to the keen
business judgment, patience and perseverance and straightforward hon-
orable methods of its owner. Mr. Pratt, who as proprietor of the estab-
lishment is one of the foremost financial factors in the city.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 101
Mr. Pratt wedded Miss Anna Gillow, a native of Tompkins county,
New York, and the couple have since been enjoying the surroundings
of a cultured home, graced with every convenience designed for domestic
happiness. Mr. Pratt is largely interested in all movements having for
their object the upbuilding of the city and belongs to the Business Men's
Exchange, of which he is president, while at the same time he is also an
influential member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce. His fraternal
relations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he belongs
to the First Methodist Episcopal church. His career thus far has been
wonderfully successful and he deserves great credit, in as much as his
present prosperity and prominence in the commercial and industrial
circles of the city are due solely to his own exertions, reinforced by
honesty and straightforwardness in his dealings and as a business man
he is one of the most valued assets to the commercial life of the city.
Daniel Stephen Hanley, an undertaker at Erie, Pennsylvania, and
coroner of Erie county, was born at the old Hanley homestead, corner of
Seventh and Myrtle streets, this city, on September 12, 1871, son of
John and I\Iary (Lane) Hanley. Mr. Hanley's parents are natives of
county Cork, Ireland. They emigrated to this country in 1850, and
settled first at Philadelphia, where they lived five years, after which they
came to Erie, where for more than half a century the family home has
been maintained. On their settlement here, John Hanley took charge of
the Erie Gas Works, with which he was connected, as superintendent,
for many years, up to 188-1. when he retired. He is still living, and has
long been regarded as one of Erie's valued citizens. He and his wife
had fourteen children, twelve of whom are living: James P., who was
three times elected and served as treasurer of Erie, is now a resident of
Wheeling, West Virginia; John R., a practicing dentist of Bay City,
Michigan ; Edward C, for the past three years acting engineer of the
U. S. S. Wolverine, on the Great Lakes ; Joseph A., money order clerk
in the post office, and secretary of the civil service board ; Julia, who
died December 8, 1893, at the age of thirty-seven years ; Minnie A., who
married John J. Burgoyne, of Erie; Katherine. wife of John T. Dillon,
of Erie, now president of the Titusville (Pa.) Forge Co.; Rose M., wife
of Daniel P. McMahon, of Buffalo, New York; Jennie M., wife of P. J.
O'Connor, of Erie; Agnes V., wife of C. Harrison Elliott, of Erie;
Clara M., wife of Francis A. Carrick. of Erie; William, who was acci-
dentally killed at the age of four years ; Daniel S., whose name introduces
this sketch; and Edward C. and Miss Nellie, at home.
Daniel S. Hanley was reared in Erie, and was educated in the
parochial schools of this city. Fie learned the trade of machinist at the
Erie Forge, serving an apprenticeship of three years, which work he
left to take a position as clothing salesman for P. A. Meyer, of Erie,
and later was with Straus Bros., still later traveling in New York state
as the representative of the Cleveland Dental Supply Manufacturing
Co. In May, 1895, he took a position as assistant in the undertaking
establishment of Hogan & Co., of Cleveland, with whom he remained
until June, 1898, during that time giving close attention to and thoroughly
learning every detail of the business. Returning to Erie in 1898, he de-
cided to establish himself in the undertaking business. Before doing
so, however, he was required by law to have his petition signed by three
undertakers. These signatures, for reasons, were withheld by those ap-
proached and Mr. Hanley was balked in his plans in Erie, temporarily.
102 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY-
He then tried at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but again was prevented, for
the same reason. He next tried Philadelphia, but with like results. Com-
ing back to Erie, he determined to test the constitutionality of the law,
and as a means of doing so, engaged in business without a license. At
the funeral of the late Bishop Mullen, Mr. Hanley was arrested at the
cathedral and was placed under bond. He continued his business, and
was rearrested a number of times. In October, 1899, he was brought
into court, and his case was decided against him. Defeated but not dis-
couraged, he went to the Superior Court at Pittsburg, which rendered
a verdict in his favor, and he was ordered to report to the State Board
at Philadelphia, where he passed the examination and was granted a
license, on March 4, 1900. From that time he was successfully engaged
in business. His parlors were at No. 1213 Sassafras street, and April
1, 1909, he moved to new parlors at 1230 Peach street, his present place
of business. On January 9, 1906, Mr. Hanley was appointed acting cor-
oner of Erie county, and in November, 1908, was elected to the office.
Fraternally he is identified with numerous organizations, including
the Knights of Columbus, Eagles, Elks, Moose, Modern Woodmen, Mar-
quette Club and Progressive League Club. Mr. Hanley is married
and has one child, J. Daniel. Mrs. Hanley, formerly Aliss Catherine
A. Wagner, is a native of Greene township, Erie county, and a daughter
of Peter and Elizabeth Wagner, old residents of the county ; she was
married at Kersey, Elk county, Pennsylvaina, the Rev. Father J. Wagner,
her brother, performing the ceremony.
Conrad Klein, as proprietor of the Reed House, the leading
hotel of the city of Erie, is specially well-known both in local business
circles and to the traveling public. He has had diversified and ample
experience in the hotel business, in which his reputation has been further
fortified by his able direction of the affairs of the house of which he is
now the popular head.
Mr. Klein was born in New York City, on the 6th of December,
1869, and is a son of Conrad Klein, who was a native of Germany, where
he took part in the historic revolution of 1848. When the patriot cause
failed he escaped to America and became one of the argonauts to Cal-
ifornia in the ever memorable year 1849. He passed the closing years of
his life in New York City. The Klein family is of French Huguenot
lineage, and the founders of the family in southern Germany were ref-
ugees who fled from France in the opening years of the seventeenth
century to escape the persecutions incidental to the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes.
Conrad Klein, Jr., was reared and educated in his native city, the
national metropolis, and in 1886 he initiated his career in connection
with the hotel business, in which his training has been most scrupulous
in all departments, so that he is specially well fortified for the manage-
ment of such a fine hotel as that of which he is now the head. He began
his association with the hotel business in New Haven, Connecticut, and
thereafter was identified with hotels in other cities. From 1898 until
1901 he was in Europe, and in the latter year he assumed the mangement
of the Continental Hotel, in the city of Newark, New Jersey. In the
following 3"ear he became associated in the ownership of the Morgan
House, at Poughkeepsie, New York, the management of which he was
tl-ius identified with until 1905, when he sold his interest in the business
and assumed^ control of the Reed House, in Erie, where he has since
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 103
remained and where he gained to his hotel a signally high reputation.
He is loyal and progressive as a citizen, holds membership m both
the Erie Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade, as well as the
Business Men's Association.
William E. Hayes, president of the Hayes House Furnishing Com-
pany of Erie, but for the past few months virtually retired from active
business, is also widely interested in various important industries and
commercial enterprises of the city, and has earned his honorable leader-
ship in the community by three decades of well directed activities. He
is a native of Erie county, descended from two of its noteworthy families
of pioneers — the Hayeses and Grahams. The father of William E.,
and the founder of their fortunes in the county, was Lester Hayes, of
Scotch extraction, born at Granby, Connecticut, in 1800. In 1818, when
a boy of eighteen years and weighing but seventy-five pounds, Lester
came to Erie county, remained a few months and then returned to
Granby. In 1820, however, he located permanently in Harbor Creek
township, having made the last journey afoot, as well as the two preced-
ing trips. In the locality which he finally selected, he built and operated
the pioneer woolen mill' of the county, but ill health compelled him to
abandon that enterprise and settle on a farm in Greene township. A few
years later his father Martin and family joined him there, and it \yas in
this township that he married Mary Graham, the daughter of pioneer
parents. Lester Hayes died June 19, 1869, and his widow on November
4, 1884.
William F. Hayes of this biography was born on the old Hayes farm
in Greene township, April 23, 18-46. He continued at the family home-
stead until 1879, when he came to Erie and became member of the firm
of Patterson and Flayes. house furnishers and galvanized cornice man-
ufacturers. In 1886 the business was divided, Mr. Hayes becoming owner
of the house furnishing department. Subsequently he received as partner,
D. W. Nason. but that gentleman retired a few years later and Mr.
Hayes continued the business alone until 1907, having in the meantime
added wall-paper to his stock. In the latter year he turned this depart-
ment over to his son Arba W., who formed a partnership with Walter
Willert. In September, 1908, the other branch of the business was in-
corporated under the name of the Hayes House Furnishing Company,
Mr. Hayes becoming its president, but retiring from its active manage-
ment. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Mutual Telephone
Company and a director in the Petroleum Telephone Company of Oil
City. At the inception of the Lake Erie Traction Company, when the
line to northeast Erie was projected, Mr. Hayes was president of the
corporation. He was also an incorporator of the Edison Electric Light
Company of Erie, and was one of the founders and promoters of the
Erie Gas Mantle Manufacturing Company, in which he is still interested.
While a citizen of Greene township, Mr. Hayes held various town-
ship offices, having served as county auditor for three terms. He is a
charter member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce ; was one of the
organizers of the Business Men's Exchange and its first president, and
has been a delegate to all its conventions. He is a member of the Erie
County Historical Society. For years Mr. Hayes has been an earnest
Presbyterian, before coming to Erie being an elder in the Bell Valley
church and since locating in the city has been likewise elder of the
Central church. On September 15, 1870, he married Miss Mary Adela,,
104: HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
daughter of the late Captain Thomas and Emily (Smith) Perrin, the
father having been a captain on the Great Lakes for many years. He
was a native of England and settled in Erie City many years ago. Three
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. William E. Hayes : Clemina B.,
after her graduation from the University of Michigan in 1893, married
Benjamin F. Chase, who was appointed United States consul to Italy, but
after a year's service was obliged to resign on account of ill health;
Arba W. Hayes married Miss Addie Wilkins, daughter of the late
Captain Wilkins ; Gertrude A. married Charles P. Reiley, with the First
National Bank of Erie.
George P. Colt. Macaulay, great as a statesman, historian and
biographer, finally concluded that a nation or epoch was best pictured in
the lives of its men and women. The truth of his dictum is well
illustrated in the record of the late George P. Colt, of Erie, which is
so closely woven into the history of the city as well as by the
public and business careers of his father and his grandfather. At his
death Mr. Colt was a representative of the well-known firm of private
bankers. Ball and Colt, and since the decease of the senior member had
been the sole manager of its affairs. Outside of his substantial business
abilities, Mr. Colt was a man of strong personality, and while his life
work was that of an able financier, at no time did he neglect his public
duties and was an active force in the advancement of measures of real
benefit to the city and state.
The deceased was born in Erie, March 7, 1834, and was a son
of Thomas G. and Catherine A. (Kellogg) Colt. His parents were both
natives of Massachusetts, his father being reared in the home of Judah
Colt, one of the earliest and most prominent pioneers of Erie county.
In 1795 his cousin named migrated from the (3ld Bay state and settled
with his family in this county. Judah Colt came into this locality as
agent of the Pennsylvania Population Company which had purchased
large tracts of land in what is still known as the "Triangle," in which
he himself became largely interested as a proprietor. In the following
year he located in what is now Greenfield township, opening a land
office at what has ever since been known as Colt's Station. In 1797 he
opened a road from Lake Erie to that place, its western terminus being
at the mouth of Sixteen-mile creek, now Freeport. This work was of
great benefit to the early settlers, as it enabled them to more readily
transport their supplies into the interior of the county. Moving to Erie
in 1802, Judah Colt was for many years a leader in the development
of the stable interests of the town. His cousin. Thomas G. Colt, became
very prominent in both business and public afifairs, serving first as the
head of the borough government and subsequently as first mayor of the
city. He was also for many terms a most valued member of the municipal
council, and his death in 1861 was a loss of deep concern to many
interests and numerous citizens.
Educated in private schools and at the old Erie Academy, George
P. Colt began life for himself as a clerk in the private banking house
of William C. Curry, of Erie, entering his institution in 1850. In 1854
he went to Chicago to assume a bank clerkship in that city, and four
years thereafter became a grain broker continuing thus for six succeed-
ing years. Mr. Colt returned to Erie in 1867, and in company with P. H.
Ball founded the banking firm of Ball and Colt, which became one of
the leading institutions of the kind in the city and which, as stated, he
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 105
was conducting alone at the time of his death, November 5, 1908. In his
civic relations, the deceased was a valued adviser, and rendered especially
active service as a member of the school board, Hamot Hospital and Erie
cemetery. In his religious faith, he was an Episcopalian connected with
St. Paul's church, and for many years an earnest and efficient superin-
tendent of its Sunday-school at one of its missions. He also served as
vestryman, junior warden and treasurer at St. Paul's. His wife, whom
he married in 1861, was Nancy I. Glover, daughter of Rev. Bennett
Glover, long rector of that church. Mrs. Colt is a native of Erie, but
received the most of her education at St. Xavier's Convent, Pittsburg.
Her life has been an elevating influence, both intellectually and morally.
Walter S. Wheeler. The Wheeler family has long been a potent
factor in the development of the horticultural and live stock interests of
Erie county, Walter S. himself being one of the largest raisers and
handlers of fine beef cattle in this locality. Pie is a native of Le Boeuf,
this county, born March 13, 1858, son of Charles and Sarah Jane (Clark)
Wheeler. The father was born near New Ipswich, New Hampshire, in
1826 and died April 36, 1901:, while the mother, a Massachusetts lady,
was born at Townsend Center, July 9, 1835, and is living in LeBoeuf
township. Charles M. Wheeler removed to Erie county about 1853, in
that year buying land in the township named and devoting it to farming
and live stock purposes for the balance of his life. At the time of his
death he was a large land owner, being proprietor of an extensive tract
of wheat land in Alarshall county, Minnesota, as well as the owner of
his large and productive farm in Erie pounty. He had prospered in
worldly possessions and had also earned ^n honorable reputation as a
public man, having been a member of the Pennsylvania legislature for
two terms. In ]\lasonry, he had attained to the thirty-second degree,
being at the time of his death a member of Perfection Lodge of Erie,
Erie Chapter and Commandery and Pittsburg Consistory.
Walter S. Wheeler, of this biography, was the second of six sons
and was educated at the Edinboro Normal School and Waterford acad-
emy, graduating from the latter institution in 1878. He lived with his
parents and assisted his father until he was twenty-one }ears of age when
he was placed in control of the home farm and continued to conduct it
from 1878 until 1893. He then purchased one hundred and fifty acres
of land two miles east of North East borough, twelve acres of this tract
being at the time cultivated to grapes. Since that time he has success-
fully developed eighty acres of different varieties of grapes, also fine
orchards of apples and peaches. The balance of his estate is devoted
to the raising of live stock, and he has christened his place the "Walter
S. Wheeler Stock and Fruit Farm." As he grows the finest of fruits,
he naturally commands the highest of prices, and the same may be said
in regard to his raising of beef cattle. As this has all been accomplished
through his own persistency and agricultural skill, he naturally takes
great pride in the appearance and the productiveness of his farm. In
politics, he has always been a firm Republican.
On March 25, 1896, Mr. Wheeler married Miss Cora Annette Bur-
ton, a native of Portland, New York, born August 21, 1865, but who
spent most of her life from the age of three until her marriage at Rip-
ley, that state. Her father died at that place, March 4, 1904. and her
mother is yet one of its honored residents — a venerable lady of eighty-
nine years, with a strong memory and a bright mind, and finely preserved
THE ^fE^W msF
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 105
was conducting alone at the time of his death, November 5, 1908. In his
civic relations, the deceased was a valued adviser, and rendered especially
active service as a member of the school board, Hamot Hospital and Erie
cemetery. In his religious faith, he was an Episcopalian connected with
St. Paul's church, and for many years an earnest and efficient superin-
tendent of its Sunday-school at one of its missions. He also served as
vestryman, junior warden and treasurer at St. Paul's. His wife, whom
he married in 1861, was Nancy I. Glover, daughter of Rev. Bennett
Glover, long rector of that church. Airs. Colt is a native of Erie, but
received the most of her education at St. Xavier's Convent, Pittsburg.
Her life has been an elevating influence, both intellectually and morally.
Walter S. Wheeler. The Wheeler family has long been a potent
factor in the development of the horticultural and live stock interests of
Erie county, Walter S. himself being one of the largest raisers and
handlers of fine beef cattle in this locality. Pie is a native of Le Boeuf,
this county, born March 13, 1858, son of Charles and Sarah Jane (Clark)
Wheeler. The father was born near New Ipswich, New Hampshire, in
182G and died April 26, 1904, while the mother, a Massachusetts lady,
was born at Townsend Center, July 9, 1835, and is living in LeBoeuf
township. Charles M. Wheeler removed to Erie county about 1853, in
that year buying land in the township named and devoting it to farming
and live stock purposes for the balance of his life. At the time of his
death he was a large land owner, being proprietor of an extensive tract
of wheat land in Marshall county, Minnesota, as well as the owner of
his large and productive farm in Erie pounty. He had prospered in
worldly possessions and had also earned ?an honorable reputation as a
public man, having been a member of the Pennsylvania legislature for
two terms. In Alasonry, he had attained to the thirty-second degree,
being at the time of his death a member of Perfection Lodge of Erie,
Erie Chapter and Commandery and Pittsburg Consistory.
Walter S. Wheeler, of this biography, was the second of six sons
and was educated at the Edinboro Normal School and Waterford acad-
emy, graduating from the latter institution in 1878. He lived with his
parents and assisted his father until he was twenty-one years of age when
he was placed in control of the home farm and continued to conduct it
from 1878 until 1893. He then purchased one hundred and fifty acres
of land two miles east of North East borough, twelve acres of this tract
being at the time cultivated to grapes. Since that time he has success-
fully developed eighty acres of different varieties of grapes, also fine
orchards of apples and peaches. The balance of his estate is devoted
to the raising of live stock, and he has christened his place the "Walter
S. Wheeler Stock and Fruit Farm." As he grows the finest of fruits,
he naturally commands the highest of prices, and the same may be said
in regard to his raising of beef cattle. As this has all been accomplished
through his own persistency and agricultural skill, he naturally takes
great pride in the appearance and the productiveness of his farm. In
politics, he has always been a firm Republican.
On March 25, 1896, Mr. Wheeler married Miss Cora Annette Bur-
ton, a native of Portland, New York, born August 21, 1865, but who
spent most of her life from the age of three until her marriage at Rip-
ley, that state. Her father died at that place, March 4, 1904, and her
mother is yet one of its honored residents — a venerable lady of eighty-
nine years, with a strong memory and a bright mind, and finely preserved
luG IIISTURY OF ERIE COUNTY
generally, in view of her remarkable age. She is a Unitarian, as was
her husband. .Mr. and .Mrs. Walter S. Wheeler are the parents of Ruth
Annette Wheeler, born January 10, 1897, and now a bright pupil in the
seventh public school grade.
The biographer wishes to make a few remarks about the modern
residence of .Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler. They have remodeled the old
homestead which is situated two miles east of the beautiful little city of
North East, on the Erie and Buffalo highway. Their country seat is
one of the most complete and modern homes in Erie county, as a country
residence. It is heated by the latest improved steam method, and lighted
by natural gas and wired for electricity ; has polished floors and elegant
suites of rooms; and the decorator has displayed great artistic skill in
the adornment. The residence being situated on an eminence, commands
a charming view of the surrounding country. Mr. and Airs. Wheeler
are to be commended in the erection of such a beautiful home in their
home township.
Frank R. Simmons, a prominent business man of Erie, Pennsyl-
vania, is a native of the county in which he lives, having been born in
East Springfield, March 3, 1845, son of Elliott and Mary (Hart) Sim-
mons. The genealogy of the Simmons family is traced back directly to
Jonas Simmons, who was born in Berlin, Rensselaer county, New York,
March 11, 1758, a descendant of German pioneer settlers of that locality.
Several members of the family took part in the French and Indian war
and also in the war of the Revolution, and Jonas Simmons, though not
a regularly enlisted soldier, experienced many of the hardships incident
to border warfare during the Revolutionary period. About 1809 or 1810
the family moved to Chautauqua county, New York, and in 1825, Peter
Simmons, son of Jonas, came to Erie county, Pennsylvania, and settled
in Springfield township. His family consisted of four sons, one of whom
was Elliott, the father of Frank R. Elliott Simmons was born in James-
town, New York, May 20, 1820, and from his fifth year has lived in
Erie county. Here he was engaged in the tanning business for many
years, up to the time he retired from active life in 1873.
Mary (Hart) Simmons, the mother of Frank R., was born in Weston,
Windsor county, \"ermont, August 27, 1825. Her paternal ancestors
were English, while her mother's people, who bore the name of Lawrence,
were of Scotch origin. Mr. Simmons' great-grandfather Lawrence
enlisted in the Revolutionary army at the age of sixteen, and served
until the close of the war ; he was one of the latest survivors of that great
struggle, and died at his home in Vermont, at the age of ninety-six years.
Grandfather Lawrence had three sons in the war of 1812.
Fraiik R. Simmons was the first born in his father's family. A
brother. Herman, born January 24. 1848, died January 15, 18G2. After
attending the public schools of Springfield, Frank R. entered Oberlin
College, where he took a classical course, and graduated with the class
of 1870. Then he accepted the principalship of the graded schools at
L^tica. Oiiio, which position he held for three years. In 1873 he as-
sociated himself with Joseph Osborn, a practical tanner, and engaged in
the tannery business in Girard, Pennsylvania. Mr. Simmons having
charge of the buying and selling end of the business in Erie. The death
of Mr. Osborn in 1875 terminated this association, and Mr. Simmons
removed to 13(5 East Ninth street, where he has since continued to deal
in hides, wool, pelts, tallow, leather and findings. In 1889 he built a
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 107
large cold storage plant at 132 East Ninth street, and, in addition to his
other business, has since that date carried on a large wholesale business in
butter, cheese and eggs.
September 11, 1872, Mr. Simmons married Susanna, daughter of
William and Sarah (Reed) Alsdorf. Like her husband, Mrs. Simmons
traces her ancestry back to a Revolutionary patriot. Her great-grand-
father on the paternal side was a soldier in the Revolution. His people
were among the early Dutch settlers near Schenectady, New York. Her
mother was descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry, all of whom were
Covenanters in faith. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons have one child, a daughter,
Edith May, who is the wife of J. B. Campbell, a well-known manufacturer
of Erie.
Politically, Mr. Simmons is a Republican, and while he is not a
politician, he has always taken a deep interest in local affairs, and has
served as a member of both the select and common councils of Erie.
John S. Yakes. A well-known business man of Erie and ah active
and prominent member of its select council, John S. Yakes, is a native of
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, born on the 1st of March, 1862. He
is a son of Daniel and Margaret (Smith) Yakes, both of whom were
also born in that county and are now deceased. The grandfather, George
Yakes, was a native of Germany and founded the family in America.
John S. was reared in Lancaster county and in 1881. when nineteen
years of age, obtained his first experience of western life by spending two
years in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Texas. Deciding, however,
that he preferred the east as a home section, he returned to Lancaster
and there engaged in the retail tobacco trade, later becoming identified
with the Fatman Tobacco Company of New York, packers of leaf
tobacco.
Mr. Yakes became a resident of Erie in 1887, first engaging in
the retail tobacco business in the old Ellsworth House block on North
Park row. Two years later he moved his business to the Erie Trust
building and, after conducting it for another two years, sold out to
Frank Fairbairn. He then became a traveling salesman for the Drum-
mond Tobacco Company of St. Louis, and a year and a half thereafter
re-established himself in business as a retail tobacco dealer and a cigar
manufacturer. He is still successfully engaged in these lines, his factory
being at No. 361 West Ninth street. In February, 1909, he also engaged
in the sale of automobiles on North Park row, his wide acquaintance
with the best people in the city having materially assisted him in estab-
lishing this enterprise on a good paying basis. Just a year prior to
that time his popularity and prominence in the community were brought
into evidence by his election to represent the Third ward of Erie in the
Select Council, and in that body he is serving as chairman of the com-
mittee on poHce, docks and railroads and of law and franchises. Mr.
Yakes is also a member of the orders of Elks and Knights of Pythias.
His wife, before marriage, was Miss Emma Keech, of Altoona, Penn-
sylvania, and their daughter, Elaine, was born in 1891.
Clark W. Zuck. One of the old and honored families of the Key-
stone state is that of which John Zuck, Sr., founder of the branch in
Erie county, was a worthy member. He was numbered among the
sterling pioneers of this county and contributed in liberal measure to its
civic and industrial development, as have also his descendants in succeed-
lUS JIISTORV OF ERIE COUxXTY
ing generations. No family in the county is more clearly worthy of
consideration in a compilation of the province assigned to the one at
hand than is that of Zuck, which to-day has numerous representatives
in Erie county,— prominent in connection with business and civic affairs.
John Zuck, Sr., was a native of Pennsylvania and was of stanch
German lineage. The family was founded in this commonwealth in the
colonial days\ind, so far as available data indicates, he himself was a
native of Bedford county and was born on the 13th of January, 1767. He
married Polly Riblet, who was born February 13, 17G7, and they took
up their residence in Erie county in 1802. They settled in Mill Creek
township, where the family name has since been one of prominence and
one uniformly honored. Concerning the children of John and Polly
(Riblet) Zuck the following data are properly entered: John, Jr., was
born in Hopedale township, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, October 7,
1790; Christian, in Bedford county, November 2, 1792; Jacob, in the
same county, in 1795, and Henry in 1797; Solomon was born in West
Mill Creek township, Erie county. January 13, 1805; Catherine in the
same township, February 15, 1807 ; and Abraham was a native of the
same township, where he was born in 1812. John Zuck, Sr., reclaimed
a large tract of land in Mill Creek township and was one of the sturdy
pioneers and successful agriculturists of that section of the county, where
he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 11th of
August, 1842; his wife survived him by more than a score of years, as
her death occurred July 24, 1863.
John Zuck, Jr., was a valiant soldier in the war of 1812, and was
actively identified with the various operations of the military forces in
this section of the state during that conflict. For his services he received
a tardy recognition, as he was granted a pension about two years prior
to his death. His entire active career was devoted to agricultural pursuits
and he was one of the progressive and successful farmers of i\Iill Creek
township until he was summoned from the scene of life's activities. He
was a man of strong individuality and sterling character and ever held
a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the community in which
practically his entire life was passed. On the 29th of June, 1813, he
was united in marriage to Sally Ebersole, and they became the parents
of six children: Samuel B. P., who was born July 10, 1815, is deceased;
Mary A., likewise deceased was born July 9, 1817 ; Catherine, who be-
came the wife of Levi Gordon, was born March 9, 1821, and both she and
her husband died in this county; Fanny, born November 19, 1824, is
the widow of Levi Wolfe and resides in La Grange county, Indiana ;
John S., deceased, \vas born September 21, 1827; and John Christian,
of whom more specific mention is made in following paragraphs, was
born August 2G, 1832. John Zuck, Jr., was summoned to the life eternal
September 27, 1872. and his wife passed away February 6, 1862; both
were zealous members of the Dunkard church.
John Christian Zuck has passed his entire life in West Mill Creek,
where he has lived and labored to goodly ends and where he is to-day
one of the oldest and most honored citizens. He has been influential
in jiublic affairs in his township, where he has been called upon to serve
in various offices of trust and responsibility, including those of school
director, road commissioner and a member of the county board of direc-
tors of the poor. He has long been a zealous member of the Asbury
Methodist Episcopal church, with which the other members of his family
are identified, and he has been liberal and zealous in support of all depart-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 109
ments of church work. In poHtics he is ahgned as a stanch advocate of
the cause of the Repubhcan party. During the long years of a signally
active and useful life he has given a continuous allegiance to the great
basic art of agriculture, in connection with which he has reaped the
generous rewards which should ever attend well directed endeavor and
steadfast integrity of purpose.
On the 32d of September, 1853, was solemnized the marriage of
John C. Zuck to Martha Fry, who was born in McKean township, this
county, August 8, 1833, and who is a daughter of Martin Fry, who came
to Erie county from Lancaster county in the pioneer days. In 1903
Mr. and Mrs. Zuck celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, which
was made an occasion of historic and social note in their home town-
ship, where they received the earnest congratulations of the host of
friends who assembled to do them honor. Of their four children all are
living except one: Wayne E., who was born November 6, 1854, is a rep-
resentative farmer of West Mill Creek ; William, who was born Novem-
ber 29, 1855, died at the age of seven weeks ; Clark W. is more definitely
mentioned farther on in this context; and Lester J., who was born Sep-
tember 1, 1869, is engaged in hardware business in Erie.
Clark Wellington Zuck, the third in order of birth of the children
of John C. and Martha (Fry) Zuck, was born on the old homestead farm
in Mill Creek township, on the 1st of August, 1857, and he is to-day
known as one of the most extensive horticulturists and market gardeners
of his native towaiship and as one of its most popular and loyal citizens.
He was reared to the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the home
farm and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the
district schools. He remained with his parents and was associated in
the work and management of the home farm until after his marriage, and
in the spring of 1883 he purchased fifty^five acres of land on the
Ridge road, West Mill Creek. The property was at the time practically
unimproved but the soil, of peculiar integrity, he discovered to be spec-
ially well adapted for gardening purposes and he selected the same on
this account. He has developed the fine little farm into one of the best
gardening tracts in this section of the state, and the improvements in
every department, including buildings, are of the best modern type. He
has conducted his industrial operations here according to scientific prin-
ciples, has shown careful discrimination in the selection of stock and
seeds, and his success had been further assured through the practical
experience gained in the training of earlier years. He has made a spec-
ialty of the propagating of lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes, and has an
entire acre under glass for the forcing of products for the early markets.
His horticultural greenhouses, equipped throughout with the best of
facilities, are the largest and most modern in this section of the state, and
in his prosperous enterprise he finds a ready demand for his products at
the highest market prices.
Clark W. Zuck has well upheld the honors of the name which he
bears and is one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of his
native township and county, where he commands unequivocal confidence
and esteem. In politics he gives his support to the principles for which
the Republican party stands sponsor, and he and his wife hold member-
ship in the Asbury Methodist Episcopal church. He served two terms as
school director and for five years was superintendent of the county alms
house, — ^1901-03 and 1904-06. In a fraternal way he is identified with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
11(1 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
On the 21st of September, 1880, Mr. Zuck was united in marriage
to Xancy Ocene McKee, who was born in Mill Creek township, about
one mile distant from her present home, on the 28th of August, 1859,
and who is a daughter of John and Mary Ann (Pherrin) McKee. Her
father was born in Mill Creek township, in 1807, and died in 18G8. He
was a son of John AIcKee, who was born in Ireland, and who was one
of the sterling pioneers of Erie county, Pennsylvania, whither he came
from Fayette county, this state, in 1797, in company with his brothers,
Patrick and Alexander. He married Mary Maxwell, who was seven
years of age at the time she accompanied her parents on their emigration
from Ireland to America and who was reared and educated in Penn-
sylvania. She (lied in 1870. at the venerable age of ninety-three years,
and it was her portion to survive all of her children, each of whom
attained to ripe age. John and Mary (Maxwell) McKee became the
parents of three sons and one daughter, and the family still has numerous
representatives, in the third and fourth generations, in Erie county.
John McKee (2d), father of Mrs. Zuck, was one of the successful farm-
ers of Mill Creek township and was a citizen who ever held the un-
qualified esteem of the community. He was a member of the Episcopal
church and his death occurred in 1868, as already noted. His wife,
Mary Ann (Pherrin) McKee, was born in Northumberland county,
Pennsylvania, in 1823, and she survived him by nearly forty years, as
her death occurred in 1906. She was a daughter of Samuel Pherrin,
an honored pioneer and successful farmer of Mill Creek township. John
and Mary Ann (Pherrin) ]\IcKee became the parents of seven children:
Winfield Scott, the eldest, is a representative farmer in West Mill Creek ;
Thomas Benton likewise is one of the sterling farmers of the same
township; Anna J. is the wife of Thomas D. Willis of Mill Creek town-
ship, this county ; Adelaide died at the age of seven years ; Nancy Ocene
is the wife of Mr. Zuck. as noted in preceding statements ; Ida Rebecca
is the wife of Daniel E. Butt, a farmer of Mill Creek township; and John
Clayton is a prosperous farmer of the same township.
Clark W. and Nancy O. (McKee) Zuck have three sons, all of
whom are associated with their father in business, under the title of
C. W. Zuck & Sons. John Floyd, the eldest of the sons, was born
January 4, 1882, and he married Miss Orra Garloch ; Bert Curry was
born January 28, 1885 ; and Arthur P. was born May 7, 1889. All three
of the sons are energetic young business men and enjoy unalloyed pop-
ularity in their native township, in whose social life they take an active
part.
Jacob Kaltenbach. As a citizen Jacob Kaltenbach is held in un-
qualified esteem in Erie, the city of his birth, where he has served in
various offices of public trust, and the high regard in which he is held in
the community indicates his sterling integrity of character and his loyalty
and public spirit as a citizen. He has been successful in his business
operations and he is today one of the substantial and popular citizens
of his native county. Mr. Kaltenbach was born in the family home on
East Ninth street, in the Second ward of the city of Erie, on the 23d of
March, 1849, and is a son of Ignatius and Catherine (Weitzen) Kalten-
bach, the former of whom was born in Baden, Germany, and the latter
in Rheinpfalz, Prussia. Ignatius Kaltenbach was reared and educated
in his native land, whence he came to America when a young man and
numbered himself among the early settlers of Erie county. He landed
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 111
in New York City, whence he made his way to Buffalo by canal and
from the latter point to Erie by lake boat, as this was before the era
of railroad facilities. His future wife came to Erie county about two
years later, in company with her brother, and the brother died a few
years later, a victim to the cholera, which was then epidemic. In the
city of Erie, which was then a village, the parents of Jacob Kaltenbach
were married and here they continued to reside during the remainder
of their long and useful lives, ever holding a secure place in the confi-
dence and regard of the community.
Ignatius Kaltenbach was among the early devotees of the fishing in-
dustry in Erie. He began operations in this line long before steam tugs
or even steam-propelled fishing boats were in vogue. He was a man of
sterling character and in connection with the years of consecutive industry
he gained a competency, the while he remained deeply appreciative of
the advantages and attractions of his adopted country. He died in the
city of Erie on the 28th of August, 1884, at the venerable age of eighty-
four years and eleven months, and his wife was summoned to the life
eternal on the 26th of February, 1892, at the age of seventy-four years.
They were devout communicants of the Catholic church and in Erie
originally held membership in the parish of St. Mary's church, in which
their marriage was solemnized, but they later transferred their member-
ship to St. Joseph's parish, with which they continued to be prominently
connected during the rest of their lives. They became the parents of
six children, of whom three attained to years of maturity and of whom
one son and one daughter are livmg. The other of the three, likewise a
son, died in 1871.
Jacob Kaltenbach, of this sketch, was reared to manhood in his
native city and to its parochial schools he is indebted for his early edu-
cational discipline. At the age of fourteen years he entered upon an
apprenticeship to the trade of harnessmaking, and in 1866 he com-
pleted his apprenticeship, which was most thorough and through which
he became a skilled workman. In the year mentioned he went to the city
of Cleveland, where he was engaged in the work of his trade for a
period of three years, at the expiration of which he returned to Erie,
where he entered the employ of Valentine Ulrich, in whose establishment
he continued in the work of his trade during the ensuing thirteen years.
In 1881 he engaged in the liquor business on East Eighteenth street, and
in the following year removed to his present location, at the corner of
Twenty-sixth and Peach streets. Two years later, however, he again
established headquarters on East Eighteenth street, near the depot of
the Nickle Plate Railroad, where he erected a building for the purposes.
Three years later he purchased the property which he had formerly util-
ized at Twenty-sixth and Peach streets, where he erected his present
substantial and attractive building, in which he has since continued to
conduct a successful business.
Mr. Kaltenbach has for many years wielded no little influence
in local politics and is a stanch supporter of the principles and policies
of the Democratic party. In 1883 he was elected to represent the Fifth
ward in the common council, and in 1885-86 he represented the Second
ward in this body. In 1888 he was elected, from the Fifth ward, to the
select council, to which he was again elected in 1890. He thereafter
served continuously as a member of the select council until 1896, and
the entire period of his service in the city council covered eleven years,
within which he was president of the select council for one year. He
112 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
gave his best energies and loyal co-operation to the insuring of good
municipal government, and his long tenure of office is the best voucher
for the high estimate placed upon his services by the people of the com-
munity. Upon his retirement from the select council, in 1896, Mayor
Scott appointed him a member of the city board of fire commissioners,
and he thereafter continued incumbent of this position through reappoint-
ment by Mayors Saltsman and Deponet, after which he was continued in
the office by election in the joint session of the common and select
councils. He held the office for ten consecutive years and retired from
the same by resignation, after having made a record for efficient and
faithful service in this important department of the municipal gov-
ernment.
Mr. Kaltenbach and his wife are zealous and valued members of
St. Joseph's Catholic church, and he is prominently identified with the
Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, in the subordinate branch of which
he has held all of the official positions, besides which he has served as
vice-president of the grand council of the order in the state of Penn-
sylvania. He is identified with the St. Alphonse Society of St. Joseph's
parish. He holds membership in the Erie Chamber of Commerce ; the
Erie Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Erie
Maennerchor, of which he was president for a period of three years;
the South Erie Improvement Association; and the Erie Realty Company.
Mr. Kaltenbach served two years as president of Liquor Dealers'
Association of Pennsylvania, and under the reorganization, as the State
Liquor Dealers' Association, he holds at the present time the office of
vice-president and- is a member of the state executive board of the
association. He has always been known as a progressive and public-
spirited citizen and has .d'ciii^' his full share in connection with the up-
building of his native city, to which his loyalty is of the most insistent
order. His record in public office has been unspotted and his influence
has always been given in support of measures and enterprises tending to
promote the progress and general welfare of his home city. He is a
man of independent views and in public service has followed the course
of duty as defined by his judgment, showing neither fear nor favor.
In 1876 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kaltenbach to Barbara
Schloss, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, a daughter of Jacob Schloss.
She was reared and education in her native land, whence she came to
America in company with her brother, Philip Schloss, who is a success-
ful business man in Erie. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs.
Kaltenbach the following brief record is entered : Rosa and Anna remain
at the parental home; Frank J., who is a member of the firm of Kalten-
bach & Hershey, wholesale liquor dealers, of Erie, married Lena Setterle,
daughter of Martin Setterle, of Erie, and they have one son, Frank J.,
Jr. ; George J., who is engaged in business in Erie, married Margaret
Roeder, of Pittsburg ; Charles J. is engaged in the plumbing business in
Erie ; and Edward C. is superintendent of the Kohler ice plant in Erie.
Mr. Kallcnl)ach also served as fire commissioner for ten years.
James E. Silliman, M. D., one of the leading members of the
medical profession of Erie, was born in North East, Erie county, Penn-
sylvania. June 10, 1844, son of John and Minerva (Chapman) Silliman,
both natives of Pennsylvania. Dr. Silliman's grandfather was a native
of Ireland, from whence, in 1800, he came to this country and settled
in Erie county, where he carried on farming for many years.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 113
Deciding to prepare himself for a professional life, James E. entered
Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he graduated with
the class of 1871. At that time he received the degree of A. B., and
three years later the A. M. degree was conferrd upon him by his alma
mater. He took a regular course of study in Jefferson Medical College,
completing the same in 1874, and immediately thereafter he settled in
Erie and began the practice of his profession, which he has continued
up to the present time. And during his long identity with the medical
ranks of Erie, which covers a period of more than thirty-four years,
Dr. Silliman has enjoyed a leading position in the profession, gaining
both success and honor. In 1878, he married Hattie I., daughter of
the late Hugh P. Mehaffey, a native of Erie county, of German and
Scotch-Irish descent.
Previous to his college life. Dr. Silliman had a war experience. In
1865 he enlisted in the 102nd P. V. I., Company E, and was with his
command until the close of the war. For a number of years he served as
Brigade Surgeon of the Second Brigade, N. G. P. He was elected coro-
ner of Erie county in 1875, and continued in that office until 1881. In
the meantime, he also served as secretary of the Board of Examining
Surgeons of Pensions, to which position he was appointed in 1877. For
years he has been identified with numerous fraternal organizations. He
maintains membership in the local medical societies, in the Pennsylvania
State Medical Society, and in the American Medical Association, and he
is prominent in the Masonic fraternity. Both he and his wife are active
members of the First Methodist church of Erie.
John F. Applebee. The name of John F. Applebee. deceased, is
enrolled among the honored pioneers of Erie county, and among the
native sons of its township of Harbor Creek, where he was born on the
29th of December, 1829, a son, of one of the earliest families to seek
a home in this community, Thomas and Sarah (Fuller) Applebee, from
Connecticut. They established their home in Harbor Creek township
during a very early epoch in its history, and they were owners of a
large farm here and were prominent and well known farming people.
After the death of the husband the wife went to Erie, and there she
subsequently died.
John F. Applebee. the fourth born of their eleven children, remained
with his parents until his marriage, and he spent the following year on a
rented farm. During the two years following this period he was the
proprietor of a general store in Erie, and then purchasing a farm in
Harbor Creek, he was engaged in its cultivation until moving to the
borough of Harbor Creek in 1879. From that time until his death, which
occurred on the 20th of December, 1906, he was a veterinary surgeon in
the village, and was said to be the oldest veterinary surgeon in this sec-
tion. During his long and useful life he won many friends, and his name
is an honored one wherever known.
Mr. Applebee married on September 19, 1854, Maria Stelle, who
was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1834. a daugh-
ter of James and Naomi (Davis) Stelle, the former from New York
and the latter from Crawford county, Pennsylvania. She is a grand-
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Stelle, of French descent, and of
Isaac and Nancy Davis, from Wales. The following children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Applebee: Cora Lillian, who died in infancy; Tommie
J., who died at the age of three years ; and Delia Pearl, who died at the
Vol. II— 8
Ill HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
age of five years. Mr. Applebee voted with the Repubhcan party, and
he was honored with many local offices. He and his wife were mem-
bers of the Baptist church, at Harbor Creek and then at Wesleyville.
When they first came to Wesleyville they were members of the First
Baptist Church at Erie, and the Mission at Wesleyville, and Mr. Apple-
bee was a prime factor in erecting the church building in the village
and he gave the ground on which the church was erected. Since her
husband's death Mrs. Applebee has resided with Miss Lulu Glas.
Joseph Daniel Babo, a well-known cement and concrete contractor
and an active member of the Erie Common Council, was born in the
ward which he represents in that body, February 7, 1878. He is a son
of John S. and Rose (Fisher) Babo, natives respectively of the United
States and Germany. The mother died in 1901. Mr. Babo was reared
in Erie, and after obtaining his education at St. John's parochial school
entered the employ of the Lovell Manufacturing Company. After
spending three years with that concern, he began work in the concrete
and cement line, and in 1901 began contracting personally. Since that
year he has accomplished a large amount of durable and honest work
on the structures and thoroughfares of the city, and has especially added
to his substantial reputation in the ward of his residence and birth.
In February, 1909, Mr. Babo was elected to represent the Fifth
ward in the common council of Erie, and is a member of the committees
on conduits and electric supplies and streets and sidewalks, as well as
chairman of the committee on health and water. He is also identified
with the Armory and Three C's clubs and is a leading member of the
Erie Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Babo's wife (nee Margaret Bickford)
was also born in Erie, so that their children, Beatrice and Margaret, are
especially daughters of the city. The family is identified with the St.
John's Roman Catholic church and the residence is at No. 507 East
Twenty-fifth street.
Edward H. Mehl. It can not be other than a matter of satisfaction
to find in the pages of this historical compilation specific records concern-
ing many of the native sons of Erie county who are today numbered
among its representative citizens in the multifarious lines of business
and professional activity. One of this number is Mr. Mehl, who is one
of the most progressive business men of his native city of Erie and whose
life and labors have added to the prestige of a name honored' in Erie
county. He is a member of the firm of Mehl & Sapper, one of the
oldest and most extensive hardware concerns in this section of the state
and one whose reputation rests on the secure foundation of correct
business methods and the personal integrity of the interested principals.
Edward H. Mehl was born in the Second ward of the city of Erie
on the 12th of May, 1857, and is a son of Michael and Catherine (Wit-
ters) Mehl, both natives of France and representatives of stanch old
families of that great empire. Michael Mehl was reared and educated
in his fatherland, where he learned the barber's trade. In 1848 he
severed the ties which bound him to home and native land and set
forth to seek his fortunes in America, to whose composite social fabric
France has contributed a most valuable element. Soon after his arrival
in New York City he came to Erie, and within a short time thereafter
he here opened a barber shop of his own, — one of the pioneer establish-
ments of the kind in the place. But it is in connection with musical art
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 115
that this honored citizen is best remembered in the city which was so
long his home and in which he ever held a secure place in popular con-
fidence and esteem. He came of a musical family, was himself a musician
of marked interpretative and appreciative talent and at least four of his
sons inherited his taste for the "divine art," becoming prominent in the
musical circles of Erie. Michael Mehl organized the first brass band in
Erie and was the director and head of the organization for many years,
within which he gained, through this association, a wide acquaintanceship
throughout this and other sections of the state. His sons Michael, Jr.,
Charles, and William O., were members of this band, and Edward H.,
of this review, for many years played the double-bass viol in the Erie
Opera House orchestra. Michael Mehl, Sr., died in 1882, at the vener-
able age of seventy-three years, and his widow was of the same age
at the time of her demise, in 1887. Both were members of the Lutheran
church, and in politics he gave his allegiance to the Republican party.
Of the fourteen children one of the sons and four of the daughters are
now living, the surviving son, Edward H., having been the fourteenth
in order of birth. Louise is the widow of Joseph Fuess, who was a
prominent hardware merchant of the firm of Boyer & Fuess of Erie;
Lena is the wife of ex-Sherifif Ernst E. Steurznickel, of this city; Miss
Harriet still maintains her home in Erie; and Fredericka is the wife of
H. J. Sevin, of Erie.
Edward H. Mehl was reared to manhood in Erie, where in his
boyhood and youth he duly availed himself of the advantages of the
public schools, though he initiated his connection with practical busi-
ness afifairs when but a boy. In 1869, when twelve years of age, he
engaged in the business of bottling mineral waters, and in the following
year he became a clerk in the hardware establishment of Boyer & Fuess,
with which firm he continued about ten years, at the expiration of which,
in February, 1880, he accepted a clerkship in the establishment of the
Erie Hardware Company, with which he remained employed until 1884,
when he engaged in the same line of enterprise on his own responsibility,
b_\ effecting the organization of the firm of Mehl & Liebel. He brought
to bear a most thorough knowledge of all details of the business as
v/ell as marked executive and initiative ability and thus, with
the further influence of the personal popularity of his partner
and himself, the business flourished from the start. In 1887 John N.
Sapper purchased the Liebel interest in the business, which has since
been continued under the title of Mehl & Sapper and which represents
one of the most important enterprises of its kind in the city. The large
and modern establishment of the firm affords ample accommodations for
the extensive stock carried in the various departments and is eligibly
located on State street, where it holds a representative patronage.
Enterprising and progressive as a business man and loyal and public-
spirited as a citizen, Mr. Mehl holds as his own the unqualified esteem of
the community in which he has maintained his home from the time of
his birth and in which he has gained advancement and high business
standing through his own well directed endeavors. He is a member of
the board of managers of Hamot Hospital, is a stalwart supporter of
the principles of the Republican party, though he has never manifested
aught of ambition for political preferment, and he and his wife are zeal-
ous members of St. John's Lutheran church. He is affiliated with Ger-
man Lodge, No. 871, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which
he has been treasurer for the past six years, and he is also identified
IIG HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
with the encampment and canton of this fraternal organization, in whose
affairs he takes a lively interest.
In 1883 Mr. ]\Iehl was united in marriage to Anna J. Miiller, daugh-
ter of Frederick W. Miiller, who was a well known builder and con-
tractor of Erie, and they have four children, — H. Edward, Carl L., Mil-
lard M., and Alenc A. All of the children remain at the parental home.
H. Edward married Belle Blackman, a resident of the state of Florida.
Fredkrick J. Miller is proprietor of the leading plumbing establish-
ment in Erie and has carried his sound and honorable business principles
into the public service to such good purpose as to be of acknowledged
benefit to the municipality. He is a native of the city in which he has
prospered, and his lifelong residence in it has been mutually beneficial.
Born in the Third ward of Erie, on the 8th of April, 1857, he is a son
of Henry and Mary Miller, both natives of Germany, where they were
reared, educated and married. In the fatherland were born their first
two children, and in the forties they emigrated with their family to the
United States, soon after their arrival establishing their home in Erie.
There, the father entered the employ of the old-time firm of Vincent,
Himrod and Pressley.foundersof the business upon which was established
the Germer Stove Works. Later, he engaged in the draying business,
retiring from a successful career in that line a few years before his death
in 1887. His wife had passed away in 1866, and both were highly es-
teemed pioneers of the community, faithful members of the Evangelical
Lutheran church. The following eight children (of whom the youngest
two are living) were born to Henry and Mary Miller; Henry, Catherine,
Louisa, Henry P.. John, William, Frederick J. and Charles C. The last
named has been, for many years, in the service of the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern Railroad, with headquarters at Buffalo, New York.
Frederick J. Miller, the seventh child of the family, attended the
public schools of Erie until 1872, when, at the age of fifteen, he became
an apprentice in the plumbing establishment of Jarecki, Hays and Com-
pany, with whom he remained until 1879. Then, a master of the trade,
he purchased a half interest in the business of his brother, Henry P.. and,
under the firm name of Miller Brothers, a growing plumbing establish-
ment was maintained until 1880 in the basement of a building that stood
on State street, where the present business of the William E. Hays Com-
pany is conducted. In the year named Miller Brothers moved to 1109
State street, where they continued until 1892. In the previous year
Frederick J. had purchased ground at the corner of Twelfth and State
streets, and upon the rear half of this property he erected a substantial
two-story brick building in which the plumbing business was established
in 1892. Henry P. Miller died in April, 1893, and the establishment has
since been owned and rapidly promoted by the surviving partner. In
the spring of 1909 i\Ir. Miller erected at the corner of Twelfth and State
street, on the front half of the lot mentioned, a three story block of brick
and stone, the first floor of which is devoted to business purposes and
the upper floors to modern flats. The building is one of the most con-
venient and up-to-date of any in the city, and speaks well for the taste
and judgment of one of its leading business men.
While never a politician, Mr. Miller has devoted considerable of
his time to municipal affairs, having served as a member of the common
council in 1901-2 and of the board of revision of taxes and appeals, in
1904-6. Such honors came to him quite unsolicited, and as a conscien-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 117
tious citizen he therefore felt called upon to exert himself to the utmost
to promote the city's interests through the prompt and businesslike per-
formance of his official duties. In this aim he met the expectations of
his best constituents and friends. Mr. Miller is a member of the Erie
Sanitary Association, Erie Business Men's Exchange, Erie Chamber of
Commerce, Erie Maennerchor and the South Erie Turnverein, besides
which he is affiliated with Tyrian Lodge No. 362 F. & A. M., the Presque
Isle Lodge of Perfection (Masonic) and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. He and his family are members of the St. John's Evan-
gelical Lutheran church and are active in its work and support.
In 1878 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Miller to Ida R. Loesch,
who was born and reared in Erie and is a daughter of William Loesch,
an old and honored business man of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick
J. Miller have become the parents of six children, as follows: Mary, who
died at the age of six years; William, John E., Frederick H., Loretta
E. and Margaret E. The three sons are associated with their father
and are among the popular and progressive young business men of their
native city.
Frank Schlaudecker, one of the oldest and best known German
citizens of Erie, is a native of Ruletzheim, Rheinish Bavaria, where he was
born May 30, 1831. His parents, John Ulrich and Franceska (Druck)
Schlaudecker, were both natives of the above-named province. The father
was born in 1801 and died in 1865. and the mother died about 1855. To
them were born the following children : Matthew, Frank, Jacob, deceased,
John Peter, Catherine, Justina and Eva. The three daughters all became
nuns in a Catholic order ten years after their arrival in America. Mat-
thew came to the United States in 1849, and engaged in the grocery busi-
ness with his brother Frank. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war,
Matthew raised three companies for three months service, known as the
"Erie Regiment," and served as their major. In August of that year,
he received authority from the United States War Department to re-
cruit a regiment, which became the One Hundred Eleventh Regiment
of Pennsylvania Volunteers, of which he was commissioned colonel, and
which he commanded until November 6. 1862, when on account of ill-
health he found it necessary to resign his commission and retire from
service. Returning to Erie, he resumed business with his brother. Mat-
thew Schlaudecker was a man of considerable prominence in Erie, hav-
ing helped organize the German Bank, of which he became president,
also the German Insurance Company, of which he also became president ;
both these companies failed jn the panic of 1874, the insurance company
having been crippled by the great Chicago Fire a few years before. He
was also interested in the manufacture of pipe organs in Erie, later re-
moving his interests to Chicago, and still later to San Francisco, in which
city he died in September, 1907. John Peter was captain of Company H,
One Hundred Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment of Volunteers, from its
organization in 1861 until December 29, 1863, being discharged from ser-
vice with a surgeon's certificate.
Frank Schlaudecker was engaged in the grocery business in his na-
tive country, and upon coming to America in September, 1849. and set-
tling in Erie, found employment in the store of Cassimer Seigel, where
he worked until 1852, and then with his brother Matthew embarked in
business under the firm name of F. & M. Schlaudecker ; this firm did a
flourishing business until 1870, when Matthew Schlaudecker withdrew
118 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
from the firm and the enterprise was carried on four years longer by
the remaining brother, after which he also retired from business. In
1875 Mr. Schlaudecker was elected justice of the peace, to which office
he was twice re-elected, and in 1884 was appointed Collector of Internal
Revenue of Erie District, in which capacity he served two years. When
the Erie and Pittsburg districts were consolidated, Mr. Schlaudecker
continued three years in charge of the Erie Office as deputy collector.
In 1867 Mr. Schlaudecker was elected a member of the common council
of Erie although he did not know until his election that he was to be a
candidate; he was re-elected in 1869 and served as president until his
retirement from the same. For many years he has been interested in
insurance, having first taken up the business while he was serving as
justice of the peace, continuing same while he was in the customs office,
and at present is at the head of the firm of F. Schlaudecker & Son. This
firm, organized in 1903, does a flourishing business, its interests being
actively cared for by the junior member, Leo. P. Schlaudecker.
Frank Schlaudecker is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic
church of Erie, being one of its earliest adherents, and was a member of
the building committee at the time the present magnificent edifice was
erected. He was at dififerent times president of the St. George Society,
and for many years a leading member of the choir. He was a charter
member of the Erie Liedertafel Society and one of the oldest members
of the Maennerchor.
Mr. Schlaudecker married Catherine Schlaudecker, who
was born May 30, 1830, in Bavaria, and came to United States and
to Erie with her parents, in 1837, and to them have been born the fol-
lowing children: Edward, (deceased) married Carrie Aumer, and they
had one daughter, Leona, who is now deceased; Cornelius (deceased) ;
married to Isabella Cummings, now also deceased, and they had one
daughter. Bertha, who is living; Julius, also deceased, w^ho married
Estella Kleinfelter and they had a daughter, Estella ; Leo. P., engaged
with his father in the insurance business, and married to Winnifred Main.
Clark Olds, one of the most prominent citizens of Erie, a leading
attorney, ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce, and member of the
Board of Water Commissioners, is a native son of Erie, and a descend-
ant of one of the county's most respected pioneer families. His grand-
father, Asa Gilbert Olds, founder of this branch of the family, was a
native of the State of New Hampshire, where he was born in Alstead,
November 15, 1793; when a child he removed, with his parents, to
Williamstown, Vermont, where he grew to manhood. In 1813, Asa G.
Olds travelled westward, looking for a location in which to settle, and
went afoot all the way from his Vermont home to Cynthiana, Kentucky,
passing through northern Pennsylvania and Ohio. The next winter,
1814, he loaded his possessions into a wagon, and with an ox team
started West, his objective point being the Western Reserve, of Ohio;
he reached Erie in the dead of winter and stopped over nigth, intending
to proceed with his journey the next morning, but during the night there
was a thaw, and the snow had disappeared, leaving the roads heavy with
mud and impassable. This small incident decided the temporary location
of the family in Erie county, and their surroundings became so agreeable
that they settled permanently in the vicinity. Mr. Olds purchased a farm
in East Mill Creek, built a house, and lived there the remainder of his
life; he died December 8, 1871. He was a public-spirited man and an
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 119
ardent Whig, and at the time of the aboHtion movement was very much
in sympathy with the famous "underground railway" movement. He
was a quiet, thoughtful, religious man, and would prefer to suffer
pecuniary loss rather than become involved in a lawsuit. He was a
cb.arter member and an earnest worker in the interests of the First Bap-
tist church of Erie. Mr. Olds married, April 17, 1821, Lucy Church,
who was born at Winstead, Connecticut; she was the daughter of John
Church, who at the age of eighteen years enlisted in the Continental
Army at Saybrook, Connecticut, was with General Arnold at the siege
of Quebec, in 1776, and at the battle of Saratoga, where General Arnold
was wounded, Mr. Olds helped him from his house. Asa Gilbert Olds
and his wife were blessed with the following children: Lewis W., Nelson,
Erskine, Clarissa, and Emily J.
Lewis W., father of Clark Olds, was born in East Mill Creek town-
ship, Erie county, July 21, 1822 ; he received his education in the dis-
trict schools and at the Erie Academy, after which he taught school for
several years. In 1841 he began the manufacture of pumps at East Mill
Creek, removed his factory to Erie in 1853, and continued the enterprise
there until about fifteen years ago, when on account of the fact that the
so-called "cucumber timber" of this section was exhausted, he found it
necessary to abandon the business. He was very successful, and was the
first man in the central states, if not in the world, to make the old log
pump an article of commerce ; previous to the Civil war he shipped a
large number of pumps to the south, the first consignment being hauled to
Waterford, from which point he sent them by water to shipping points
along the Ohio River, as far as Louisville, Kentucky. The Civil war,
however, destroyed this trade, leaving him with many bad debts. Later
he shipped his pumps in boat loads by water to Chicago and Milwaukee,
supplying the states of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin with pumps.
Lewis W. Olds was one of the most enterprising and progressive
citizens in Erie, and appreciated that city's resources and future ; he be-
lieved in its future, and helped in its development along many lines.
He erected many residence and business buildings, among the latter be-
ing the Old Block on State street, which he built in 1869. This block,
although one of the first large ones built in Erie, is still one of the city's
most up-to-date buildings, owing to the fact that when Mr. Olds erected
it he spared no pains to have it meet not only present requirements, but
also future needs. In this block is the "Boston Store," the largest de-
partment store of Erie, which has a flourishing trade. The building was
the first in the city to be built with iron beams over the entrances,
iron cornices and fire-proof floors, also the first to be fitted with plate
glass windows, which were made in England, to order. At the time of
his death Mr. Olds owned a large amount of city real estate, also large
portions of land in Iowa and Missouri. He was much interested in
public affairs, though he was not desirous of holding public office. He
served a period of twelve years or more as a member of the school board,
also was for a number of years on the board of directors of the county
poor; the present almshouse was erected under his personal supervision.
Though liberal and tolerant in his religious beliefs, he was a supporter of
the church. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of the
Masons in Erie, having become a member of the order at Westfield, New
York, where he and several other residents of Erie attended meetings
many years before a lodge was instituted in Erie ; they were known as
"Westfield Masons." His death occurred lune 25, 1908, and his loss was
120 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
mourned by the entire community. Mr. Olds was married, at Erie, Penn-
sylvania, May 9, 18-18, to Louisa E. Ackerley, born in Middletown, New
York, March 11, 1826, and who died in 1901; they had the following
children: Inez L., Clark, Nettie M., Phila, William C, Florence, and
Charlotta M.
Clark Olds was born in East Mill Creek Township, July 14, 1850,
received his early education in the common schools, prepared for college
at Erie Academy, and in 1866 entered Michigan University, where he
graduated in the class of 1870, with degree B. S. Two years later he
received degree M. S. While attending the University he became con-
nected with the United States Lake Survey, and after his graduation was
appointed an Assistant Engineer; he remained in the service until 1875,
although he spent the years of 1872-3 on vacation at Leipsic University,
in Germany, where he studied law. He continued his legal studies m
Erie, and April 26, 1876, was admitted to the bar, and a short time later,
to practice in the Federal Courts. Since that time Mr. Olds has been
engaged in active practice of his profession, making a specialty of ad-
miralty practice, in which line he has met with flattering success.
Mr. Olds has long taken an active interest in public affairs, more
especially in municipal matters, giving freely his time and attention to-
wards improving the city's pubHc institutions, and he has been of great
service to the city as member of the City Water Board, to his efforts
being due the fact that the city has a generous supply of pure water.
He became a member of the Water Board January 1, 1896, and since
that time has served with great credit; during this time the system has
been practically rebuilt, a large new pump has been installed as well as
a new boiler house being erected, and the city belted by water mains.
His fight for pure water, which he never abated until it was accomplished,
has resulted in the building of an intake three and one half miles long,
extending one mile beyond Presque Isle, into Lake Erie, thus insuring
a pure supply of water. After serving a year on the water board, Mr.
Olds was made president of same, although the junior member, but
Januarv 1, 1908, he surrendered this position and was succeeded by WilUs
B. Durling. the present head of the department. Mr. Olds was originator
of the idea of a new dock for the city, and as president of the Chamber
of Commerce, had practical charge of the matter, and superintended the
completion of the project. He is a member of the Erie Club, and of the
Republican party.
Mr. Olds married, December 13, 1876, Livia E., daughter of Chaun-
cey Keator, of Cortland. New York, and they had the following child-
ren : Romcyn K., deceased, Irving Sands, graduate of Yale University,
now a junior in Harvard University Law School, Marguerite E., deceased.
Louie Charles Schauble is not only the leading photographer in
the city of Erie, but he is the only one of his guild there who has the
facilities to take likenesses according to the most modern requirements
of art and science and, if desired, to enlarge the photograph or to frame
it with up-to-date taste. The accessories to his regular photographic
studio make his establishment somewhat unique and certainly one of
the most complete in the state. This feature of his business shows both
originality and sound judgment, and ]\Ir. Schauble's numerous patrons
have stamped their approval of his forethought in a substantial way — in
the gratifying form of substantial dollars and cents.
THF K
ARY
. tENOX
)LINDATIONt I
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 131
Mr. Schauble is a native of the Second ward of Erie, born March 2,
1875, the son of the late WilHam G. Schauble. The father was a native
of Germany, born in the year 1834; came to the United States when a
young man, locating successively at New York City and at Erie, and
dying in the latter city in 1893. Louie C. w'as reared in Erie and edu-
cated in the city schools. In 1890, when in his sixteenth year, he com-
menced to learn photography in Fred Pfaff's State street gallery, and in
1892 entered the employ of F. W. Weber, on Ninth street. After re-
maining with Mr. Weber for fourteen years he bought the business, and
as he had purchased Mr. Pfaff's place in September, 1905, while still
conducting the Weber studio, he entered the field as an independent
factor under very favorable auspices. Until 1906 he operated the two
studios jointly, but in that year he found the State street business grow-
ing so rapidly that he decided to dispose of the Ninth street estab-
lishment. Since he has carried out that decision he has made his studio
at 1011 State street one of the finest in Pennsylvania, if not in the
States. He has accomplished this by not only meeting the requirements
of a cultured and discerning public, but by the quiet force of his courtesy
and through his wide acquaintance in the city of his birth and con-
tinuous residence.
Mr. Schauble is a member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce and
Business Men's Exchange, and is widely known in the fraternal orders,
being especially prominent as an Odd Fellow. In the last named order
he has served as district deputy grand master, chief patriot, com-
mandant and noble grand. He is also an active Knight of Pythias and
a Mason. Mr. Schauble's wife was formerly Miss Pearl Irish, daughter
of Frank Irish, of this county, and she is the mother of Frank T. and
Kenneth F. Schauble.
Charles Hagenlocher was born in the Fifth ward of the City of
Erie on the fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord, 1878. He
was the third child born of Jacob and Hannah (Rose) Hagenlocher, who,
in early life, moved to this country from Germany. Tracing Mr. Hagen-
locher's genealogy, we discover that a few generations ago, one of his
ancestors was of Scotch origin ; thus in his lineage is intermingled
Scotch and German. During his early youth, Mr. Hagenlocher attended
the public schools of this city, mastering with great aptitude the different
branches of learning taught therein. Upon leaving school, he entered
the coal office of R. J. Saltsman as an assistant. There he received his
early business education, which later proved to be such a valuable asset.
On December 5th, 1902, Mr. Hagenlocher purchased the real estate
and insurance business belonging to Frank Sawdey at 922 State street,
where he has ever since remained. This business, when first purchased
was in an embryo state, yet through the untiring efforts, the judicious
management, the shrewd business ability and the keen insight of Mr.
Hagenlocher it has assumed gigantic proportions. Year by year it has
grown, year by year it has sent out its tiny tentacles, until, at the pres-
ent time it is confined to a territory no less than that covered by the City
of New York.
In 1905, Air. Hagenlocher was elected a member of the school board
of the City of Erie. Retaining that position for three years, and serving
during that time on numerous committees, he was enabled to accomplish
much in behalf of public education. He is actively connected with the
Young Men's Christian Association and the Royal Arcanum. The
122 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Board of Trade, the Business Men's Exchange and the Chamber of
Commerce number him among- their most active and energetic members.
Mr. Uagenlocher is conceded one of the best judges of real estate
possibiHties and insurance hazards in Northwestern Pennsylvania. He
has negotiated many of the largest realty transactions in the history
of Erie county.
Dr. John William Wright is a leading physician of Erie, Mrho
has enjoyed an especially prominent connection with the National Guard
of Pennsylvania. He is a native of Richmond township, Crawford coun-
ty, that state, born September 24, 18()8, and is a son of Delos A. and Vir-
ginia (White) Wright. His father was born in Busti, Chautauqua
county. New York, on the 13th of May, 18-40, being a son of William
and Elizabeth (Kelso) Wright, natives of Massachusetts and Connecti-
cut respectively. The father engaged in farming until 1873 and then
embarked in the manufacture of butter and cheese, at one time operating
three factories in Crawford county. In 1876 he disposed of these inter-
ests and engaged in the same industrial line at Saegerstown, Pennsyl-
vania, moving to Union City, Erie county, in 1882, where he established
himself as a produce dealer and also became identified with other large
business interests at different points in Pennsylvania. In April, 1865,
Delos Wright married Miss Virginia White, daughter of David and Pol-
ly (Lyon) White, natives of Crawford county, Pennsylvania. Mrs.
Wright died November 11, 1871, and in 1873 Mr. Wright married Mary
daughter of George and Sarah (McCullough) Charmer, her parents
both being natives of England.
John William Wright, of this biography, was left a half-orphan by
the death of his mother when he was three years of age, and for some
years thereafter resided with his paternal aunt. He received a public
school education during this period and in 1883 when fifteen years of
age, moved to Union City, where he continued his studies in the local
high school. In the autumn of 1887 he entered the Jefferson Medical
College of Philadelphia, graduated therefrom in 1890, and after pursuing
a course in the Philadelphia Polyclinic, in the winter of 1890-1, began
practice at Wattsburg, Erie county. Three years of professional work
followed at that place, and before the doctor resumed practice he took
a thorough course at the New York Post Graduate School. In June,
1895, he located at Erie and in May of the following year assumed the
duties of city health officer, a position which he still holds. During the
year 1896 Dr. Wright was also appointed deputy county inspector for
the State Board of Health, being an efficient incumbent of that posi-
tion until 1903. when he was chosen county inspector and county quaran-
tine officer of that body. In 1905 the State Department of Plealth super-
ceded the State Board, and Dr. Wright was reappointed to the office
mentioned, as well as chosen local registrar of vital statistics.
Upon the establishment of a tuberculosis dispensary at Erie he was
named as the physician in charge.
Dr. Wright has become an authority on the treatment of all forms
of pulmonary diseases, or he would not be at the head of the Erie dis-
pensary. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania Society for the
Prevention of Tuberculosis and of the National Association for the
Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, and in his relations to profes-
sional organizations of a more general nature is identified with the Erie
County Medical Society, State Medical Society of Pennsylvania and the
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 123
American Medical Association. He also belongs to the American Public
Health Association, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United
States and the American Association of Medical Examiners.
In 1897 Dr. Wright received an appointment as first lieutenant and
assistant surgeon in the Fifteenth Regiment, N. G. P., his commission
being dated May 1st of that year. On April 27, 1898. he responded to
the presidential call for troops, and was enrolled in the service of the
United States for the Spanish-American war, arriving on the following
day at Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania, which was later christened Camp
Hastings. There, on May 5th, he was formally mustered into service in
the position to which he had been commissioned, and on the 11th of June
the command was ordered to Sheridan Point Post, Virginia, where it
arrived on the next day. On September 9th the regiment was trans-
ferred to Camp Meade, Pennsylvania, performing general provost duty
from the 10th of that month to October 2nd; was attached to the first
brigade, second division, second army corps, from that date until October
29th, and was then transferred to the first brigade, third division, second
army corps, remaining thus assigned until its final muster-out. On
November 11th the regiment left Camp Meade for Camp Haskell,
Georgia, where it arrived on the 14th and remained until it was mustered
out of the service January 31, 1899. On December 9, 1898, Dr. Wright
had been promoted and re-commissioned as major and surgeon, and three
days afterward was re-mustered into the service in his new position and
re-assigned to the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Regiment. Upon the muster-
out of the command he returned to Erie and resumed private practice,
but on July 11, 1900, was again commissioned first lieutenant and assist-
ant surgeon of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, being assigned to
the Sixteenth Regiment and serving with it until his resignation from the
state military service July 29, 1901. He is an active member of the
Spanish W'ar Veterans and the Military Order of the Serpent. As a
fraternalist connected with the secret and benevolent orders he is widely
known, especially in the work of Masonry. In this order he is a member
of the Tyrian Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; Jerusalem Council, R. & S. M. ;
Mount Olivet Commandery, K. T. ; Presque Isle Lodge of Perfection,
A. A. S. R., and Zem Zem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He also belongs
to the Elks and Knights of Pythias. What is more to the point, he also
carried the spirit of fraternalism and good will which is inculcated by
such orders into the individual and private relations of his life.
On October 15, 1900, Dr. Wright was united in marriage to Miss
Clara Katharine Keller, daughter of Edward Keller, and of their union
are two children — Edward K., who was born October 8, 1902, and died
a week later, and Elizabeth K., born October 31, 1904.
Henry C. Missimer. In the various professions and pursuits to
which men devote their time and energies, not one is of more import-
ance and value to the general public than that of the educator, whose
task it is to develop the latent faculties and talents of the child, bring-
ing into prominence those most beneficial to the individual and to the
world, and to so train our boys and girls that they may become race
benefactors in the broadest sense implied by the term. The life of
Henry C. Missimer, for the past eighteen years superintendent of the
Erie schools, has been cast along these lines, and the fruit of his pro-
fessional labors may be seen by the high standing of the schools under
his charge as compared with those in cities of like size. A native of
124 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Pennsylvania, he was born in Montgomery county, near Pottstown, a
section of the state in which his immediate ancestors were pioneer set-
tlers. The emigrant ancestor of the Missimer family came from the
border country between France and Germany to the United States nearly
two centuries ago, locating first in Maryland, and subsequently removing
to the Keystone state, where he purchased a thousand acres of land along
Spragel'sRun a tributary of the Schuylkill River below Pottstown.
Receiving his rudimentary education in the common schools, Mr.
Missimer subsequently attended the High School, in Pottstown, and at
the age of fourteen year? had read the usual requirements for college
preparation. Entering then Yale University, he was there graduated
with the class of 18G9, being one of the honor men, and receiving the
degree of A. B. Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him
the degree of A. AL, an honor of which he was eminently worthy. For
a short time in his earlier life, he was engaged in general business, but
in 1872 embarked upon his professional career, becoming a teacher at
New Brighton, near Pittsburg. Putting forth his best energies, he or-
ganized the schools of that vicinity, placed them upon a permanent
working basis, while there establishing for himself an excellent reputa-
tion as an instructor, and as a disciplinarian. Coming from there to
Erie, Mr. JMissimer was for nearly eighteen years principal of the Erie
High School, filling the position with great acceptance, winning the
approval of its friends and patrons, and the high regard and esteem of
its pupils. Under his regime, the schools flourished from year to year,
the enrollment, which was but one hundred pupils when he assumed its
charge, being greatly increased, while each year a much larger number
received diplomas. In 1890 Mr. Missimer was chosen superintendent,
of the city schools, and has served most ably and satisfactorily since, his
long record of service in this capacity bearing speaking evidence of his
marked success. Talented, scholarly, thoroughly conversant with the
more modern methods of teaching, and possessing great executive ability,
he has raised the standard of the schools under his management to a
high plane of efficiency, bringing them up-to-date in every respect, mak-
ing them equal to those of any similar city, and the superior of very
many. Mr. JSIissimer is known to some extent in the lecture field, and
through his various written works, the productions of his pen being
received as authority in educational circles, many of his articles having
been incorporated in the reports of the National Commission of Edu-
cation.
Air. Missimer married, in 1875, Emma, daughter of Hugh P. Me-
hafifey, of Erie, and to them six children have been born.
Charles Monroe Wheeler. The name Wheeler is so well known
in the industrial circles of old Erie county as to need no introduction to
the readers of The Twentieth Century History of Erie County. C. M.
Wheeler comes from good old Hampshire stock being born in New Ips-
wich. New Hampshire, January 29, 1826. He was a son of Stephen
and Hannah (Stratton) Wheeler, both natives of New Hampshire, but
of Scotch descent. Stephen Wheeler was a character of progress and
marked ability. He served his people as an official in his county and
was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and was a member a
number of terms of the state legislature. He died in 1860.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 125
Charles M. Wheeler received a good practical education both in
the public schools and the Academy of his native town. He spent his
life till 1852 in his native county as an agriculturist and in that year
located in Erie county in the Township of Le Boeuf and this township
was his home till his death. Besides being a successful farmer, he was
proprietor of a cheese factory and a saw mill in Le Boeuf township
and had large lumber interests in Forest county, Pennsylvania, besides
large land holdings in Minnesota. He represented his people in the
state legislature in 1891 and 1893.
He wedded Miss Sarah J. Clark, daughter of Eben Clark, Decem-
ber 6, 1851, and five children blessed this marriage: Edward E., fully
represented elsewhere in this work; Orton H., a manufacturer in Erie;
Fred C. ; Walker S., one of the leading agriculturists and stock raisers
of North East township, also mentioned in another part of this work,
and Dr. Arthur C. Wheeler. Charles M. Wheeler indelibly stamped
his great business personality upon the pages of Erie county's history.
He was a man of strict integrity of character and he was possessed of
those sterling attributes which give prestige to the thorough busi-
ness man. He set an example in the business affairs of life which has
been followed by his worthy sons.
Isaac Baker is one of the leading wholesale and retail clothing
merchants of Erie, being senior member of the well known firm of
Isaac Baker and Son. His many years' residence in this city has been
spent not only in establishing this extensive business but in promot-
ing the public interests of Erie in many directions. For twenty-one
years he has been a member of the local board of education; has long
been deeply interested in the welfare and progress of the city library
and also identified with hopsital and charitable work. He is a native
of Germany, born in the province of Rhine, August 22, 1847, being a
son of Bernard and Barbara Baker, both natives of the fatherland.
When the family came to the United States in 1849, they located at
once in Erie but after remaining there for about two months removed
to Girard, same county, which remained the family home for some
eight or nine years, during which time the father was engaged in general
merchandising. Mr. Baker then returned to Erie with his family where
he established a clothing and dry goods business and was thus engaged
until the time of his death, his wife having passed away several years
previous.
Isaac Baker, of this sketch, was reared in Girard and Erie, received
a good common school education in these two places and at the age
of fourteen became his father's regular assistant in the conduct of his
business, subsequently becoming a member of the firm. Upon the retire-
ment of the senior member of the firm from active business, Isaac Baker
and his brother-in-law succeeded to the business, their store then being
located in the Brown Block, No. 10 State street, in about 1869 they
purchased what was then known as the Caldwell Block (subsequently the
Empire Block) on the southeast corner of Fourth and State streets,
which they remodeled into what became the leading wholesale and
retail clothing store, as well as merchant tailoring house in Erie or this
portion of the state. The original style of the firm was B. Baker but
upon his son's association with his brother-in-law, Jacob Ostheimer, it
became Baker and Ostheimer. Upon the retirement of the latter,
r2G HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Alfred Baker, son of Isaac, was admitted into the firm which then
became Isaac Baker and Son, as at present.
Mr. Baker is acknowledged not only to be one of the leading
merchants of Erie but among its most public spirited and progressive
citizens, his interest in all forms of public education and charitable
work being especially deep. He was one of the original promoters of
the Ene public library, having been one of the board which permitted
the city to own its own library and largely through his energy and wis-
dom this institution has become one of the leaders of its kind in the
state. As stated, he has also been identified with the local board of
education for twenty-one years, having served as president of that
body for several terms. He has also been a trustee of St. Vincent's
Hospital since its organization and president of the same one term. He
is also at the head of various social and religious organizations of the
city; is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and is also a
director in the Security and Savings Bank of which he was one of the
organizers. Mr. Baker is of the Hebrew faith and has long been presi-
dent of the Jewish church in Erie.
Mr. Baker was married to Miss Bertha Einhorn, a native of New
York City, and daughter of Rev. Dr. David Einhorn. one of the most
noted reform rabbis of his time. The five children born to ^Ir. and
Mrs. Baker are as follows : — Clara, the w'idow of J. Alayer, of Cleve-
land ; Alfred, a member of the firm of Isaac Baker and Son : Edward
M., now residing in Cleveland; and Belle and Florence, both living with
their parents.
Henry E. Fish, member of the firm of Gunnison, Rilling and Fish,
a leading law firm of Erie is not the only representative of his profes-
sion whose thoroughness and prominence may be traced to his long train-
ing as an official court reporter. Such an experience insures an unusu-
ally precise and practical knowledge of legal forms and court pro-
cedures, and when grafted upon systematic study of the principles of
the law makes a professional equipment of remarkable solidity. Mr.
Fish is a native of Otego, Otsego county. New York, born on the 9th
of April. 1863, and is a son of Liberal C. and ]\Iary (Briggs) Fish, both
also natives of the Empire state. He completed his literary educa-
tion at the Gilbertsville (New York) Academy, and located at Erie in
1881. For the succeeding years he held the position of official sten-
ographer in the courts of Erie, Lavvrencq and McKean counties, Penn-
sylvania. During that period he also prosecuted his law studies under
the preceptorship of the late John P. Vincent and Judge Emory A.
Walling.
^Ir. Fish was admitted to the Erie bar in 1889, to the superior
and supreme courts of Pennsylvania in 189G, and also to the federal
courts in the latter year. In 1891, two years after becoming a legal-
ized attorney, he resigned his position as official stenographer, and has
since practiced law only, his leadership at the bar having been espe-
cially pronounced as a civil and corporation attorney. In 1895 he became
associated with William G. Crosby, as senior member of the firm Fish
and Crosby, and three years later became junior of Rilling and Fish. In
1907, by the admission of Judge Frank Gunnison, the firm assumed
its present style, Gunnison, Rilling and Fish. Mr. Fish is an active and
valued member of the co-partnership and, individually, is both the
attorney and a director of the Security and Savings Bank of Erie. In
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 137
Masonry, he is a Knight Templar, has attained the Scottish rite and
is a Shriner; and is also identified with the Erie Chamber of Com-
merce and the Erie and Kahkwa clubs.
On June 25, 1889, Mr. Fish married Miss Nellie Slocum. daughter
of the late R. M. Slocum, an old resident of Erie, and to them have
been born the following: Roger E., in 1892, who is now a student at
Princeton University, and Howard Mc, born in 1895.
Davenport Galbraith. To the enlisting of men of notable en-
terprise, ability and integrity in the furtherance of her commercial and
industrial activities is to be ascribed the great material and civic pros-
perity of the city of Erie, and among those prominent and honored in
such connection stands Davenport Galbraith of this brief review, who
is a native of this city and a scion of one of its best known families.
He is a member of the bar of his native county and vice president of
the Erie Trust Company; one of the leading financial institutions of
this section of the old Keystone state.
Davenport Galbraith was born in the city which is now his home,
April 8th, 1862. He is a son of the late Judge William A. Galbraith,
long a distinguished member of the bar of Pennsylvania and also a
jurist of high reputation. Davenport Galbraith was graduated at Yale
University, in 188-1, with the degree of Bachelor of Science, and then
matriculated in the law department of the University of Pennsylvania,
where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1887 and from
which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After his admis-
sion to the bar of his native state he became associated with his father
in the practice of his profession. After a few years, however, he vir-
tually withdrew from this connection as another field of activity offered
special attractions to him. He thus became one of the organizers and
incorporators of the Erie Dime Savings & Trust Company, of which
he was vice-president from the inception until the institution was reor-
ganized under his direction, as the Erie Trust Company, of which he
has since served as vice-president. He has given the major portion of
his time and attention to the building up of this stanch and popular
institution, and its success from the start has been in large degree
due to his able executive policy and unflagging attention to its affairs.
He enjoys unequivocal popularity in the business and social circles of
his native city, is independent in politics and is identified with the Erie,
the Kahkwa, the Yacht and the Golf Clubs.
On the 18th of June. 1885. !Mr. Galbraith was united in marriage
to Miss Winifred Downing, daughter of Jerome F. Downing, of Erie.
Alured p. Burton. Ranking high among the substantial business
men of Erie is Alured P. Burton, who has been an important factor
in advancing its growth and prosperity. He is one of the best known
citizens of this place, and its leading undertaker, being at the head of
the firm of A. P. Burton & Sons, of No. 1219 Peach street. His in-
fluence as a man of honor and integrity is felt throughout the com-
munity, his sterling qualities of heart and mind being everywhere
recognized and respected. A native of this city, he was born, Septem-
ber 4, 1836, a son of David and Elizabeth (Irvine) Burton. His grand-
parents, John and Phoebe (Wooster) Burton, came from Connecticut
to Erie county in 1811, locating in Mill Creek township, where they
128 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
took up a large tract of land, on which they spent the remaining years
of their lives.
David Burton was born in Connecticut, February 16, 1793, and
when about eighteen years of age came with the family to Mill Creek
townsliip. lie served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and aided in the
building of Perry's fleet. He assisted his father in clearing a home-
stead from its original wildness, and was subsequently engaged in vari-
ous kinds of business, spending a large part of his active life in the
city of Erie, dying January 30, 18G9. His wife, Elizabeth Irvine, was
born, January 1, 1797, in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and came to
Erie county on a visit, when she met David Burton. She survived him
a few years, passing away May 9, 1875. They were two of the orig-
inal members of the class which, organized in 1826, was the nucleus of
the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Erie, now the Seventh Street
Church. Ten children were born of their union, namely: Peter E., born
March 16. 1816, served as sherifif of Erie county, and died October 19,
1863 ; John, born October 19, 1818, died April 23, 1863 ; Andrew, born
May 26, 1823, served as treasurer of Erie Citv, and died June 19, 1894;
Wooster, born April 16, 1828, died October 28, 1856; Alured P., of
this brief biography; Hannah, born September 16, 1825, married M.
A. Dunning, of Erie; Sarah, born September 16, 1825, married A. P.
Durlin, of Erie; Mary, born May 10, 1827, died June 19, 1829; Elsie,
born September 19, 1831. died January 15, 1884; and Charlotte E., born
April 4. 1839. married D. J. Pfouts. of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
After leaving the public schools, Alured P. Burton attended the
Erie Academy for awhile, and at the age of fourteen years began to
learn the trade of a printer, which he subsequently followed a number of
years. He was assistant post master in 1861-2 and afterwards with his
father and brother Andrew, he was here employed in the coal busi-
ness for awhile. Establishing himself in the undertaking business in
Erie in 1876, Mr. Burton has since continued it successfully, being well
liked, and very popular throughout the community. He has a thorough
knowledge of the art and science connected with his profession, and
for many years has been very prominent as an undertaker, and very
widely known in connection with the Tri-County and State Funeral
Directors' Association, of which he was president for a time. He is
still a member of that organization, and also belongs to the National
Funeral Directors' Association. In 1895, without solicitation on his
part, Mr. Burton was appointed by Governor Hastings a member of the
first State Board of Undertakers, and at the first meeting of that body,
held in Philadelphia, November 1, 1895, he was chosen treasurer of
the board. In these organizations, the object of which is to promote
the knowledge of the business, and provide for co-operation among its
members, Mr. Burton has been quite active and prominent.
Mr. Burton married. October 1. 1857, Susan, daughter of George
W. Brecht, of East Mill Creek township, Erie county. Six children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Burton, namely: Charles H., George
D., Lewis E., one daughter who died in infancy; Harry, of the firm
of A. P. Burton & Sons, and Ramsay, also associated in business with
his father. These sons. Harry and Ramsay, are well acquainted with
the details of undertaking, and share with their father the responsi-
bilities of the extensive business which the firm is managing. Religi-
ously Mr. Burton is a member of the Alethodist Episcopal church, to
which Mrs. Burton, also, belongs. Politically he is a steadfast Repub-
/hi"^
O-Cyc^
t/4
cru^
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 129
lican, and has served as a member of the common council. Fraternally
he is active and influential in Masonic circles, being a Knight Temp-
lar, and a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason.
Victory M. Thompson, deceased, was for many years closely
identified with the development of the transportation, coal, oil and real
estate interests of northwestern Pennsylvania, and was recognized as
one of the most progressive business men and citizens of Erie for a
period of over thirty years. Mr. Thompson was a native of Madison
county. New York, where he was born on August 7, 1829, the son of
Joseph S. and Rachel (Case) Thompson. The father was born in the
Green Mountain state, son of Joseph Thompson, a native of France,
who originally settled in Massachusetts and thence moved to Vermont.
The maternal family was of Scotch origin.
The parents of Victory M. located at Erie in 1832, and in 1848,
when nineteen years of age, the youth engaged in the canal boat busi-
ness — not as a laborer, but as proprietor of a number of boats which he
operated and later owned, organizing what was long known as the
"Thompson Line." During this period he also became interested in the
oil business, owning and operating the Erie City Oil Works, one of the
early refineries in the United States. Besides controlling this transporta-
tion line and conducting his oil refining business, Mr. Thompson as
a young man carried on a successful coal business, at Erie, Pennsylvania,
and also operated at Meadville, Pennsylvania. Furthermore, he had other
large commercial interests, and was an extensive holder of real estate
ill many of the points around which his business interests centered. At
his prime, in fact, he was considered one of the most eminent business
men of northern Pennsylvania.
Victory M. Thompson married Rebecca, daughter of John and
Esther (Gillespie) Glenn, who was a native of Erie. Her father was
born in the north of Ireland, and was a pioneer and honored citizen of
Erie county. Mr. Thompson died in October, 1887, his wife having
passed away the year before. Their eldest son, Clarence L., still occupies
the old Thompson residence at Eighth and Cherry streets, where he has
resided for forty-five years.
Orlando E. Crouch, president and treasurer of Crouch Brothers
Company, representing the largest milling industry of Erie, is also one of
the pioneer millers of the county. The standing of the family as a
leading factor in founding the infant communities of the county is fur-
ther strengthened by the fact that the paternal grandfather, Phineas
Crouch, migrated wath his family from his native county of Rutland,
Vermont, to Erie county, as early as 1817. He first located in Fairview
township, at a later date settling permanently in McKean township.
The maternal grandparents John and Harriet May, were natives of Ply-
mouth, Massachusetts, and settled in the locality about the same time as
the Crouches. The parents of Orlando E., Ansel and Nancy (May)
Crouch, were natives respectively of Rutland county, Vermont, and Can-
aan, New Hampshire, the father being born in 1794, and the mother in
1804. The former was an industrious and prosperous farmer, and
Orlando E. was born on the family homestead in McKean township, on
the 18th of September, 1835. He is the fifth in order of birth, the other
members of the family being Melissa, Sophronia, Phineas and Harvey
L., deceased ; Joseph B., a resident of Erie ; and John M., who is also
dead.
Vol. II— 9
13U HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Orlando E. Crouch, of this sketch, was reared on the farm in Mc-
Kean township until he was sixteen years of age and soon afterward
(in 18.3-0 he became an apprentice at the milling trade and busmess at
Wesleyville, a suburb of Erie. In 1857 he located at Erie and in the
following year, with his brother Phineas, he purchased the old Fair-
mount mill on East Eighth street. Fourteen years of successful busi-
ness enabled them to build the ^Merchant Alills and when this plant was
burned in 1892 thev proceeded to erect larger and more modern mills.
They were completed in the year following the fire, and the business was
subsequently incorporated with Phineas Crouch as president and Orlan-
do E. Crouch as treasurer and he subsequently became president. He is
therefore at the head of the largest and oldest industry of the kind in
Erie ; is an active member of the board of trade, a director of the Peoples'
Bank, and a citizen who, in every respect, is a credit to his fine, sturdy
family and his American citizenship. Since his youth he has been an
earnest IMethodist and for years has been a substantial and an active
supporter of the First church of Erie. Mr. Crouch's wafe was known
before her marriage as Miss Carrie L. Dickinson. She is a native of
Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, daughter of Dr. S. and Harriet (IMaxwell)
Dickinson. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. O. E. Crouch are as fol-
lows : Martha. Charles R. ; Ruth E., who is now Mrs. E. H. Suerkin,
of Erie ; and Edith A., who married R. C. Arbuckle, also of that city.
Charles Henry Taft, a native son, conducts one of the most
extensive tailoring establishments in Erie. From a small beginnmg
through his patience and perseverance and the manifestation of a high
grade of business sagacity he has founded an enterprise which from
year to year gradually enhanced in value until at present he is numbered
among the leading tailors of the Bay city. Not only in business lines
is he well known and highly respected but also socially inasmuch as he
occupies a high place as a citizen who largely devotes himself to the
uppermost interests of the city and as well to the cultivation of a wide
circle of intimate friends.
Mr. Taft, as above stated, is a native son and represents one of the
oldest families of this emporium. His grandparents were Thruman
and Sarah E. (Ross) Taft, originally from Vermont and Connecticut,
respectively. They were both of distinguished New England families,
the former being of Scotch-Irish while the latter was of Scotch descent.
It is worthy of remark here that the Taft family, which is now under
consideration, is identical with that from which descended the present
president of the United States, William H. Taft. At an early date Thru-
man J. Taft located in this city and was the promoter and proprietor
of one of the pioneer lime kilns established here. In the conduct of his
business he supplied lime for the building of the first "Reed House" and
for a number of other well known edifices. Later in life he removed
to the state of Iowa where he entered into rest, while his widow, who
survived him for a number of years, passed into the beyond in this city.
Joseph R. Taft. the father of Charles Henry, was born on the corner
of Sixth and Walnut streets in Erie in 1844. He courted the distinction
of being the first baggagemaster to go out from Erie on the first passen-
ger train which was put into operation on the Pittsburg & Erie Railroad
running between this city and Harrisburg. Pennsylvania. Later he be-
came a conductor on the same road, continuing to perform the duties
of that station for many years. Later in his life he and his family
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 131
repaired to Iowa where they purchased a farm and for about ten years
they engaged in agricultural pursuits. However, husbandry not being
that occupation for which he was best fitted, he gave it up and, return-
ing to Erie, again he engaged in railroading, in which he continued until
he passed out of this life on October 10, 1905, when he was in his sixty-
first year. His wife was Sarah E. Lindsley, a native of Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, who still survives. In their family were the following
children: Charles H. ; Arthur N., of this city; May, who was united in
marriage with Charles M. Pierce, and resides in New York City; Mrs.
Jennie Standbauch, a resident of Buffalo, New York; Ross L., a resi-
dent of Erie ; Sarah E., the wife of Irvin Foster, residents of Roches-
ter, New York ; and Raymond R., also of this city.
East Eleventh street between Holland and German streets in the
sixth ward, was the birthplace of Charles H. Taft and there he entered
into this life January 2{), 18G7. His education was acquired in the city
schools and upon completing his studies he engaged in employment in
various capacities in different business houses here for a considerable
length of time when eventually he launched out in the merchant tailor-
ing business at No. 1504 Peach street, making this independent venture
about the year 1891. Meeting with success in his enterprise the volume
of his trade soon required that he seek larger quarters in a more favora-
ble district and he removed to No. G West Eleventh street, where he
remained for a time and in 1908 assumed charge at his present location
on Peach street in the Kimberly Hotel block. Here he conducts a high
class tailoring establishment and is one of the most popular men in this
line of trade in the city, his popularity being so great that he courts the
reputation of being the leading tailor in the Bay city. His trade is
exclusively of the very best, his motto being, "there is nothing too good
to go into clothes" and as a consequence his extensive and prosperous
business is an evident demonstration that he daily lives in obedience to
the rule which he has set for the government of his business. He turns
out the highest class workmanship, being very careful at all times to give
value received and his output brings him, in every instance, the highest
approval and as a consequence, as the years have passed by, he has
increased his patronage to such an extent that he is now one of the most
reliable and highly respected business men of the city.
Mr. Taft wedded Miss Dora Woodworth, a native of Girard, Penn-
sylvania, and a daughter of Parker Woodworth, the couple having one
son, Harold, who is now in his fourteenth year.
Fraternally Mr. Taft is well known, being a member of the Masonic
fraternity and he also belongs to the Royal Arcanum, while socially he
finds pleasure as a member of the Country Club. Religiously both he
and his wife uphold the Presbyterian faith and are stanch supporters
of a local church of that denomination. In this he has deviated some-
what from the faith marked out by his ancestors inasmuch as his grand-
parents were pioneers of the First Baptist church of this city. Mr. Taft
is a man of excellent qualities of character whose straightforward deal-
ing has commended him to the highest respect of every one throughout
the community and he is justly entitled to honorable mention as one of
Erie's foremost business men.
Frank J. Detzel. One of the successful and enterprising citizens
of Erie, Frank J. Detzel is a fine representative of the German element
that has added so materially to the thrift and prosperity of the city.
132 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Public-spirited and liberal, he willingly devotes much of his time and
money to advancing the interests of city and county, and is now, in the
spring of 1909, representing his district in the Pennsylvania Legislature.
A son of the late Matthias and Apoline Detzel, he was born, January
24, 1859, in Erie county, on the home farm in yiiW Creek township.
Matthias Detzel was born, July 25, 1834, in Bavaria, which was
likewise the birthplace of his wife. Emigrating to the United States in
1857, he came direct to Erie county, locating as a farmer in Mill Creek
township. Retiring from agricultural pursuits, he located in Erie, and
in 1865 opened a grocery on State street, between Eleventh and Twelfth
streets. Successful as a merchant, he gradually enlarged his operations,
and in 18TG. built, on Parade street, the first grocery in the east part of
the city, and continued as a retail grocer until becoming interested in the
restaurant business. Previous to that time, however, he engaged in con-
tracting, in 1873 and 1874 receiving the contract for paving Sixth street
from French to Parade street, and that part of Parade street lying
between Sixth and Eighteenth streets. He also laid, in 1869, the Parade
street sewer. In 1867 he was chosen supervisor of streets, and had the
distinction of being appointed the first city superintendent of streets.
A valued member of the Democratic party, he served one term as alder-
man. Religiously he belonged to the Roman Catholic church.
Brought up in Erie, Frank J. Detzel was educated in the parochial
and public schools, and as a boy was well trained to habits of industry
and thrift. Succeeding his father in the grocery business in 1881. he
has been exceedingly prosperous, enlarging and increasing his operations
from year to year. Outgrowing the building which he at first occupied,
he erected, in 1902. at the corner of Parade and Thirteenth streets, one
of the finest brick business houses in the city, and is here carrying on a
substantial retail grocery business, the equal of any house in the place,
not even excepting those on State street.
For many years Mr. Detzel has been very active and prominent in
public afifairs, and is to-day one of the leaders of the Democratic party,
both in Erie city and Erie county. For one term he was school director ;
he has been a delegate to the Democratic conventions held in Harrison ;
has served on the city and county committees; in 1906 was elected to
the State Legislature; and in 1908 attended the Democratic National
Convention which met in Denver. He is a member of the board of trus-
tees of the Public Library.
'Mr. Detzel married. June 30. 1881. Ida R., daughter of Jacob and
Caroline Heidt, natives of Bavaria, Germany. Seven children have
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Detzel. namely: Bertie L., Edward
M., Olivia, Florence, Louise, Marie and Ida. Religiously ]\Ir. Detzel
and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church.
John Bryce, V. S., proprietor of a large livery establishment at the
corner of Fifth and French streets, Erie, Pennsylvania, is a native of
Canada, born at ]\Tount Pleasant, Brant county, Ontario. His parents,
George and Margaret C. Bryce. emigrated to Canada, in 1843. from their
native town of Doune. Scotland, and became well-known and highly
respected pioneers, while their sons attained prominence in their various
walks of life. The eldest son. Rev. George Bryce, LL. D., was a pioneer
in the then newly created province of Manitoba. In 1871. he was com-
missioned by the Presbyterian church of Canada to establish a college
near Fort Garry, on the Red River of the North, as a center of learning
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 133
for the Presbyterian youth of the colony, and in time he saw his work
grow into the Manitoba College, which to-day is the most prominent of
the several colleges comprising the University of Manitoba. Also, for
years, he was in the employ of the government in the work of organizing
the public school system of that province. Robert H. Bryce, third son
of George Bryce, is a prominent and influential merchant of Manitoba.
The fourth son, Peter H. Bryce, M. A., M. D., a graduate of Toronto
University and other colleges, held several positions of honor in Canada,
among which was that of chief executive health officer of Toronto, under
the provincial government, which position he filled for a long term of
years. Alexander Bryce, of Toronto, the youngest son in this family,
also made a name for himself in his calling, he having been one of the
first to enter into the supplying of dairy products to the city of Toronto,
in a thoroughly scientific manner, in which business he was very success-
ful. The only surviving daughter of the family is the wife of Dr. Mar-
quis, of Brantford, Ontario.
John Bryce was the second son. After completing his studies in
the academy of his native village, he went to work in his father's shops,
where he laid the foundation of that accurate knowledge of horses, which
was extended by a full course of study at the famous Ontario Veterin-
ary College of Toronto, founded by the Edinburg professor, Dr. Andrew
Smith. After practicing his profession for a year or two in the city of
Brantford, near his native place, he came to Erie. That was in 1872.
Here he entered upon the practice of his profession, meeting with suc-
cess from the first, and for years has maintained an acknowledged posi-
tion at the head of veterinary ranks in Erie county. In connection with
his practice, he has for years conducted a livery business. He started
with a, livery barn on French street, between Fourth and Fifth, and in
1887 purchased the site of his present establishment at Fifth and French
streets, upon which he erected a commodious brick structure. In 1893
he bought of Elliott Bros, their stock and business at 130 West Twelfth
street, and established the People's Hack and Livery Co. He made
still another addition to his business, in 1894, when he purchased the
livery stock at the old Knoll stables, at 20 West 18th street. The two
latter stables, however, he afterward disposed of. For a number of
years Dr. Bryce was a member of the Executive Committee of the
Erie County Agricultural Society, and as such was a potent factor in
advancing the w^ork of that society. Also the Doctor has been influen-
tial in Erie and Erie county in developing a taste for high class carriage
horses, having brought here and sold many fine animals.
Dr. Bryce married in June, 1877, Miss Belle Forbes, elder daughter
of the late Robert and Agnes (Gourley) Liddell, and granddaughter of
James Liddell. The Gourley and the Liddell families came to Erie
county about 1830. They became pioneers in the iron business at Erie,
and the originators of what is now the Erie City Iron Works, the largest
and most important industrial plant in Erie today. Dr. and Mrs. Bryce
are the parents of three children : George Liddell, Roland Forbes and
Marion.
Dr. Bryce is a member of all the Erie Masonic bodies and also of
the board of trade and the chamber of commerce. He is secretary of
the Veterinary Medical Association of Erie county, a branch of the
state organization. His city home is at 821 Chestnut street but in the
summer he finds pleasure, if not profit in looking after his farm situated
134 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
in a picturesque location on the Kuhl road, in Greene township at the
Harbor creek Hne.
William B. Fltcktngf.r. A well known national figure in the field
of insurance, William B. Flickinger, of Erie, is one of the strongest and
most popular men in his line in the east, being an active member of the
firm of Downing and Flickinger and manager of the department of
accounts in the general agency of the Insurance Company of North
America, at Erie, of which Mr. Downing is head. With all his suc-
cesses in his chosen business, Mr. Flickinger has attained wide and ben-
eficial influence in the public affairs of his city, county and state; has
been a leader in numerous movements of a humane and charitable
nature; is a Mason of high rank and a man of broad sympathies and
liberal mind. Mr. Flickinger has given the best of his energies, his exec-
utive abilities and his strength of thought and feelings to the develop-
ment and higher progress of Erie. He is a native of the city, born on
the 2()th of April, 1859, son of the late George and Anna (Major) Flick-
inger, both natives of Hert, Rheinpfalz, Germany. The family located
at Erie in 1852, and the father was there engaged in the manufacture
of brick for many years. He died on the 16th of April, 1887, his wife
having preceded him August 35, 1885.
Mr. Flickinger, of this sketch, began his insurance career on the
1st of April, 1882, when he accepted a position with the local firm of
W. B. Warner and Company, and on January 1. 1884, entered the employ
of the agency conducted as Downing and Crowell. The junior member
withdrawing in the following year, a new firm was organized under the
style of Downing and Flickinger, and from that time to the present the
latter has been one of the most progressive insurance men in Pennsylva-
nia. On December 1, 1906, he accepted service with the governing com-
mittee of the "Union" at Chicago, as manager of the department of pub-
licity. He resigned that position July 1, 1907, to return to Erie and be-
come manager of the department of accounts in the office of J. F. Down-
ing, general agent of the western departments of the Insurance Company
of North America and Philadelphia Underwriters. Besides an active
leader in the local insurance field, ]\Ir. Flickinger has served as president
of the .State Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents for three terms
and an active member of the executive, legislative and grievance com-
mittees of the National Association, having been honored with the
chairmanship of the last named committee for two years.
Mr. Flickinger has served with ability and honor in the city, county
and state governments, having represented the Fifth ward of Erie in
the common branch of the council, been auditor of the county and
spent the legislative sessions of 1889 and 1891 as a member of the
Pennsylvania house of representatives. His record as a fraternalist
shows that he is a past master of Perry Lodge, No. 392 (A. F. & A. M.),
past thrice illustrious master of Jerusalem Council, No. 33, and past
grand master of the Grand Council, Royal and Select Master Masons
of Pennsylvania; also past exalted ruler of Erie lodge of Elks and
past district deputy of the order. He is identified with the Erie Cham-
ber of Commerce and Board of Trade, and with the Erie, Country and
Shrine clubs, and since the organization of the Northwestern Penn-
sylvania Humane Society has been perhaps its most vital and persis-
tent working force. Shortly after it was founded he became its sec-
retary and so continued until 1906. since that year having served as
its president. In his religious belief he is a liberal Unitarian. Mr.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 135
Flickinger's wife was Miss Katherine M. Kraft, daughter of J. P. Kraft,
of Erie, and six children have been born of his marriage — Florence
L., Walter E., Harrison W., Dale W., Carlton P. and Lucile G. Flick-
inger.
Rev, Bernard Kloecker. As pastor of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic
Church of Erie, Rev. Bernard Kloecker is the spiritual adviser of a
large congregation, who have implicit confidence in his knowledge,
honesty and integrity, and often seek his wisdom in counsel, and hesi-
tate not to follow his advice. A native of Germany, he was born Feb-
ruary 17, 1852, in Weseke, Westphalia, where he obtained his first
knowledge of books. In 1873 he was graduated from the Gymnasium
in Munster, Westphalia, after which he entered the American College
of St. Mauritz, at Munster, and subsequently, in the same city, took a
course in philosophy and theology at the Royal Prussian Academy, pre-
paring himself for the ministry.
On May 26, 1877, Father Kloecker was ordained a priest at Osna-
bruck, Hanover. A few months later, he came to the United States,
arriving in New York City November 2, 1877. His first appointment
was that of assistant to Rev. M. A. De La Roque, of Warren, Penn-
sylvania. The following year he was made rector of the Catholic church
at Kane, Pennsylvania, where he also had charge of the Catholics in
neighboring places in McKean, Elk and Forest counties. While in
Kane, he labored assiduously, in 1879 establishing a parochial school,
in 1880 building a parsonage, and in various other ways advancing
the material and spiritual welfare of his parish.
On August 4, 1887, Father Kloecker came to Erie to assist Rev.
J. A. Oberhofer, Rector of St. Joseph's Church, whose health was then
in a precarious condition. The Reverend Father died January 16,
1889, and two days later Rev. Father Kloecker was appointed his suc-
cessor. During the score of years that have since elapsed, his labors
have been successful and fruitful of good, and in witnessing the hap-
piness and prosperity of his people he is each day reaping his reward
as a just and conscientious keeper of his little flock.
Rev. Seweryn Erazm Lutomsko-Niedbaski. Among those who are
rendering devoted service in the priesthood of the Catholic church in
Erie county is Father Niedbaski, whose important charge is that of
Holy Trinity parish. With all zeal and consecration has he labored for
the temporal and spiritual welfare of his flock, and his popularity in
the community is not one of merely ecclesiastical order but is based
upon his generous attributes of character, so that he has the high esteem
of all who know him.
Father Seweryn Erazm Lutomsko-Niedbaski is a native of Prus-
sian Poland, where he was born in December, 1868, a scion of one of
the old and honored families of his native land. He was afforded the
advantages of the historic University of Breslau and in 1893 he came
to the United States, where he completed his ecclesiastical education in
the Polish Seminary in the city of Detroit, Michigan. He was ordained
to the priesthood of the noble old mother church, at Victoria, Texas,
in 1898, and his was the distinction of having been pastor of the
Polish parish at Panna Maria, Karnes county, that state, the oldest
Polish parish in the United States. This important incumbency he
retained for a period of five years, at the expiration of which he came
to Erie, where, on the 14th of October, 1904, he assumed the pastoral
136 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
charge of Holy Trinity parish. His labors here have been prolific in
the upbuilding of the parish, and his influence has permeated all depart-
ments of the church work, where he has exercised the beneficent functions
of his calling with all of consecration and devotion. He shows a loyal
interest in all that makes for the well being of the community, and his
earnest labors have gained for him the affectionate regard of those to
whom he ministers.
William Br.\ham Washabaugh, M. D. The medical fraternity
of Erie has enrolled among its coterie of physicians and surgeons many
able and efficient practitioners whose attainments and skill in the vari-
ous departments of that profession give the brotherhood as high a rank
here as in any city in the country. The demands made upon the
medical practitioners in this day are strenuous,, considering that this is
an age for advancement, particularly along all lines of materia medica
and surgery and that one is required to apply himself diligently and
study in order to keep abreast of the times in the ever accumulating
knowledge of the art and the ever recurring discoveries pertaining there-
to. Worthy of mention among the younger men, who are devoting
their lives to this most of all humanitarian vocations and who possess
the qualifications necessary to a successful career, is Dr. William Bra-
ham Washabaugh. During the comparatively brief period he has been
active in the profession his application to his duties and the interest
he has manifested in rendering medical services, have won him respect
and established his reputation for integrity and efficiency. The doctor
inherits his professional instincts and qualifications, his father being
a prominent physician. He is a son of Dr. D. J. and Sarah J. (Braham)
Washabaugh. The father, a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania,
graduated from the Miami Medical College, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and is
now engaged in the practice of his profession at Grove City, this state.
The Keystone state is also the birthplace of his son. Dr. William B.
Washabaugh, his nativity occurring at Anandale, Butler county, Novem-
ber 18, 1878.
The Grove City high school afforded Dr. Washabaugh his elemen-
tary education privileges and after he had successfully mastered the
branches of study taught there, at the age of seventeen years he was
matriculated in Grove City College, where he pursued a classical course
and was graduated in 1900. Being then prepared to enter upon the
studies immediately pertaining to his chosen profession, in that year
he became a student at Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania. By taking special work the doctor was able to complete the
course of study in less time than usually required and he was graduated
with his degree in medicine in June, 1903. The same year he passed
the state board examination at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and, at once
returning to this city, was appointed assistant surgeon of the Pennsyl-
vania Soldiers & Sailors Home. Faithfully performing the duties that
devolved upon him in this position until July 1, 1905, he resigned, and
the following October opened an office at No. 920 East Twentv-first
street. There he pursued exclusively a general private practice until
Dr. Chapin. chief surgeon of the Pennsylvania Soldiers & Sailors Home,
resigned Octol)er 1, !!»()(;. when he assumed the work in his stead, and
accepted the appointment as surgeon of the Home in December of the
same year, serving until ]\Iarch 1, 1909, when he resigned. How-
ever, Dr. Washabaugh, still carries on a general practice.
, "^c NEW YOnK
T'UBLIC LIBRARY
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 137
The doctor's home life is happy in his marriage to Miss EHzabeth
C. Mahon, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a daughter of George C.
Mahon. The couple have three children : William, Elizabeth, and
David. Dr. Washabaugh's political views find expression in the princi-
ples of the Republican party, while religiously he is an adherent of the
Wayne Street Methodist church. Profoundly interested in his pro-
fession he seeks affiliation with related movements and organizations,
among which is the Erie County Medical Society, of which he is treas-
urer. The doctor has shown himself to be a sincere and earnest
worker in his strivings to benefit humanity within the scope of medical
knowledge and surgical skill and is justly entitled to the reputation he
sustains as a practitioner.
George Truscott Bliss. Our restless, vigorous, forceful nation is
the native home of men of brawn and brain whose influence has impressed
itself along the winding channels of thought, progress and accomplishment.
Conspicuous among this number is George Truscott Bliss, a prominent
citizen and manufacturer of Erie, now serving as secretary of the Erie
City Iron Works. He is essentially and broadly American, and his
lineage is one that is traced back to early colonial times, the founder of
the Bliss family having settled in New England about 1630. Among
his Bliss ancestors, and likewise among the EUicott family, from which
he is descended, were heroes of the Revolution and men of prominence
in the management of public affairs ; thus it may be seen that he comes
of an ancestry in which the qualities of patriotism and loyalty to coun-
try were predominating characteristics, attributes which are his birth-
right, and have doubtless influenced him in his personal career. A son
of the late John H. and Ellen (Christie) Bliss, he was born, May 21,
1864, in the city of Erie, of English stock.
John Bliss, grandfather of George T., was a son of Joseph Bliss,
who served as captain of a company of artillery in the regular Contin-
ental Army of the United Colonies during their struggle for independ-
ence. He, himself, entered the regular army of the United States in the
War of 1812, being first commissioned lieutenant, and afterwards being
promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was a brave soldier,
ever in the thickest of the fight, and at the Battle of Lundy's Lane was
severely wounded. He died, December 22, 1854, in St. Augustine,
Florida. John Bliss married Letitia Ellicott, whose emigrant ancestor
emigrated from England to the United States about 1730, settling in
Maryland. Her father. Major Andrew Ellicott, great-grandfather of
George T. Bliss, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, January 24,
1754. Patriotic and public-spirited, he devoted the greater part of his
life to the service of his country, and, although a member of the Society
of Friends, commanded a battalion of Maryland mihtia in the Revolu-
tionary war. In 1784 he was employed by the state of Virginia in fixing
the boundary line between that state and Pennsylvania. Two years later
he was commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsyl-
vania to run the northern boundary of this state. In 1788 he was
directed to make a survey of the islands in the Allegheny and Ohio
rivers, within the state of Pennsylvania, a work that took him a year.
He was then commissioned by the United States government to locate
the western boundary of the state of New York, and ascertain the
validity of that state to the territory which is now the northern portion
of Erie county, and after much labor and many hardships succeeded
138 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
in locating the present boundary line. The next important service ren-
dered to the country by Major Ellicott was that of surveying the District
of Columbia and the City of Washington, a work that he began in 1790.
In 1796, the government was again in need of one in whom it could
place implicit confidence, and General Washington, seemingly ever con-
scious of the Major's sterhng qualities, appointed him commissioner
to fix the boundary between the United States and the Spanish-American
possessions. Several years later during the very first months of Jef-
ferson's administration, that president tendered to Major Ellicott the
surveyor generalship of the United States, a position that he accepted
subject to conditions of his own dictation. On September 1, 1813, the
major was appointed professor of mathematics in the West Point Mili-
tary Academy. Moving there with his family, he subsequently resided
in that place until his death. August 20, 1820. He left a widow and nine
children, one of them being Letitia, wife of John Bliss.
John H. Bliss was born in Fort Howard, Wisconsin, October 4,
1823, and was the first white male child born in the Northwest Terri-
tory, and was the only child of the parental household to reach years of
maturity. He fitted himself for the profession of a civil engineer in the
Cincinnati College, and for two years thereafter was employed in the
survey of the Erie extension of the Pennsylvania Canal. He subsequently
studied law at Little Falls. New York, and in Bufifalo, attended lectures
at Harvard College, and on January 15, at Troy, New York, was ad-
mitted to the bar. Afterwards returning to Bufifalo, he gave up the
practice of his profession, and remained a resident of that city for a
time. Locating in Erie in 1855, he soon formed a partnership with Mr.
George Selden, and established a felloe factory, which they operated
for three years, when they also began the manufacture of oil barrels,
then in great demand, continuing until 1864. In that year, in company
with Mr. W. J. F. Liddell, under the firm name of Liddell, Seldon &
Bliss, another change of importance was made. This firm purchased
the Erie City Iron Works, of which Mr. John H. Bliss was the president
for a number of years. A detailed account of his connection with this
important industry may be found elsewhere in this volume, in the
history given of these Iron Works.
John H. Bliss was twice married. He married first, in 1848, Mary
Lovering. He married second. October 1, 1850, Ellen, daughter of Dr.
Peter Christie, surgeon in the L'nited States Navy. She died in 1893,
in Philadelphia. After his active retirement from business, Mr. Bliss,
removed, in 1901, to the Hawaiian Islands, and resided in Honolulu
until his death. October 16. 1907. Of his union with his second wife,
four children were born, namely: Anna, who married Rev. S. D. Mc-
Connell, of the Episcopal church of Philadelphia ; Horace John, died at
the age of eighteen years ; Louise B., widow of the late Wallace Dewitt,
of Flarrisburg; and George T., of this biographical sketch.
Obtaining the rudiments of his education in the private schools of
Erie, George T. Bliss went with his parents to Charlotte, North Caro-
lina, just as he was entering his teens, and there for a year and a half
attended the Carolina Military Institute. Returning to Erie, he con-
tinued his studies in the Erie Academy, afterwards attending a private
school three years. In 1879 he entered De Vaux College, and at the end
of a year went to Gambier, Ohio, where he was for two years a student
in Harcourt Academy, a boys' boarding school. Going then to Troy,
New York, he completed his studies at the Polytechnic Institute of that
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 139
city. In 1883, desirous of learning the trade of a machinist, Mr. BUss
entered the machine shop of the Erie City Iron Works. Although he
had the exceptional advantage of being an employe in the establishment
of which his father was at the head, he performed with alacrity and
fidelity all of the duties of his place, working for four consecutive years
ten hours a day, and in almost every position in the shop, becoming
familiar with the work in each department, and at all times studying
closely steam engine construction. His value and worth being recog-
nized by the firm, Mr. Bliss was made assistant superintendent of the
plant in 1893, and upon its incorporation as the Erie City Iron Works,
in 1894, he was elected secretary, a position which he has since most
ably and satisfactorily filled. A lover of aquatic sports, Mr. Bliss is
specially interested in boating, being a skilful yachtsman, and during
his vacations finds his greatest enjoyment and recreation in cruising
on the lakes. He was the moving spirit in the organizing of the Erie
Yacht Club, in 1894, and was made its first commodore.
On January 16, 1894, Mr. Bliss married Grace, daughter of I. A.
Forman, of Erie. Two children have been born to them : Meriam and
John H. Mr. Bliss is a man of broad and practical sympathies, ever
active in advancing the welfare of his native city, and is held in high
esteem throughout the community. Both he and his wife are members
of St. Paul's Episcopal church.
Dr. John J. Bell is a physician and surgeon of the Bay city.
His education fitting him for the profession, is as wide as could be
desired and in every particular he is eminently qualified to sustain the
splendid reputation, which is already his, and to further extend his use-
fulness in the alleviation of human sufifering and attain to still greater
eminence as a ben 
