te) ‘ ‘ VPN UH ew ma PP Pe YClE ne ma iH Aira eee Ia DPM R NS te CU Lc ts LAr t ie elt Retrial tay hare 5 r 5 i Pets 4 Arn U 0 bi oe ou i Py V Phe MONT SES aPcIT Rai ee irra vay \ NER UTI 7 ae ASCOT Nar) i Seis enn cnt ‘ 5 ve Pree ty ¥ oun a oo een aces tf Pa aurea ee Ba oN ¢ ast} cnn it OS PN eee hott Saati ts ee nea 5 aH =) ow tet 7 ‘ros Hab eens Sartigrotinepake Pin cede Pre TAP or ore ipa ead deat lle Pp ient iat the ect Methane fo BY 1891 ar kre se ey et rd S bn ee cel —] =o 2 Sn = Zoe pA a 5 Peo Ma Fey eS cea Sy OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FUND GIVEN IN Ko ed, ea tgs Zone Le aioe oT, ut 2 VS Cornell University Library j E 157E6 N43 ‘Aoccin Il) +S =~ S \ my rs) Bid els el eee) Sn Sure TIT TON FET TE aT TT TT 1896 FI TaytonSta) NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY ... AND... .. Historical Reference Book.. « OF ins ERIE COUNTY, Pennsylvania. Gontaining a Gondensed History of Pennsylvania, of Brie Gounty, and of the Several Cities, Boroughs and Townships in the County; —ALSO— Portraits and Biographies of the Governors since 1790, and of Numerous Representative Citizens. Historical and Descriptive Matter (Page 19 to Page 540) Prepared by Benjamin Whitman. 1896 : S. B. NELSON, PUBLISHER, ERIE, PA. F 1S EGN43+ A 81SSES SA4-2— FROM THE PRE: OF WILSON, HUMPHRYES & co., FOURTH ST., LOGANSPORT, IND. PREFACE. N submitting the present work to the people of Erie county, the publisher takes satisfaction in the belief that he has fully complied with every promise that has been made to those who have honored him with their patronage. In the character of its reading matter, the fidelity to its purpose, the neatness of its typography and the general style in which it appears, it may reasonably be claimed to be at least the equal of any publication of similar nature that has ever been issued in Pennsylvania. -As announced in the prospectus, the work is designed as a Historical Reference Book and Biographical Dictionary, rather than as a detailed County History. The limit placed upon it from the beginning did not admit of the numerous incidents and illustrations that form an extended County History, and the aim, both of the writers and publisher, has been to present the leading events as briefly as the facts seemed to warrant, and to so arrange them that they could be conveniently found by the average reader. With this in view, the chapters have been made short and supplied with frequent sub-heddings, reference has been noted in various parts of the book to other pages treating of the same subject, a copious Table of Contents has been given, and the whole has been supplemented with a full Alphabetical Index. Attention is specially called to the Engravings, which must be conceded to be far in ad- vance of the majority of art work in publications of the kind. The Portraits of the Governors, the Biographies of the same, and the Political and other information relating to Pennsylvania, are features that will be appreciated by every citizen who has a patriotic interest in the state of his residence. To those who are tempted to complain of the price and peculiar character of the book, it may be proper to explain that it would be impossible to print a creditable work of Local His- tory at a lower figure or on a different basis without great loss to the publisher. Numerous historical publications have been issued, in Erie and elsewhere, relying upon the general public for support, and in every instance that can now be recalled they have been a sad financial failure, the sales in one or two home instances having been barely enough to pay for the white paper on which they were printed. Erie county has not yet reached the degree of wealth and population that will permit of the publication of a County History at the price of a book intended for state or national circulation, nor without some distinctive feature that will secure for it a special and remunerative patronage. The highest ambition of the writers and publisher of this book will be attained if it shall -prove to be a useful preparatory effort to the complete edition of Local Annals that will come after the county has had many years of growth and its people have attained to a more wide-spread prosperity. The Historical and Descriptive chapters of the book (pages 19 to 540) have been prepared by Benjamin Whitman, who has spent the main part of a year in collecting the material. He desires that credit shall be given for much of the information secured to Capt. N. W. Russell’s newspaper contributions; Miss Sanford’s History of Erie County; Warner, Beers & Co.’s History of the County, printed in 1884; Day’s ‘‘ Historical Collections’’; Dr. Egle’s His- tory of Pennsylvania; The Archives of Pennsylvania; the Herald’s “Souvenir of Erie,” issued in 1888; Atkinson’s Erie City Directory; the files of the several Erie journals; Han- lon’s City Manual and Digest of City Laws and Ordinances, and various other sources ‘‘ too numerous to mention.” The Biographical section owes much of its interest to the pen of Hon. James Sill, who contributed a number of the family and individual sketches. The publisher returns thanks to the citizens of the county for the hearty support they have given to the enterprise, and begs leave to express the hope that they will receive the book with as much satisfaction as he remembers their kindness and liberality. THE PUBLISHER. CONTENTS. PART I. Pennsylvania—Historical, Descriptive and Statistical—State Constitution of "1878. PART II, Biographies of the Governors. PART III. General History and Description of Erie County. PART IV. Township and Borough History. PART V. The Cities of Erie and Corry. PART VI. Family Histories and Biographical Sketches. PART VII. Alphabetical Index. GENERAL INDEX. PART I. PrEnNsYLVANIA—HiIsToricaL, Drsoriprive aND STATISTICAL. PAGE ADONIS INES Hoses ik lS3 ese aetna: WEIR deen mee 19 Anthracite: Coal jos cack gy onsewew's 03x08 cougar eae 19 Aréad OF the StatOs. ccciieccnnaue eyesore eae’ 19 Anti-Slavery Riot..... 2.0.0... ccc c ccc cece eens 38 Battles Fought in Pennsylvania.............. 19 Bituminous Coal........... 0... eee eee eee . 20 Braddock’s Defeat.......... 0... cee eee ee eee 20-24 Buckshot! Wats. cscs acest cand sivasatmte saa Laenee 20 Boroughs, principal.......... ..........0. 0. 20 Battle Flags of Pennsylvania ................ 44 Capitals of the State......... 0... cece eee eee 20 COME SOS icc cars emetic cn sioesekepemuiienys ba eEeE 20 Churches. resin tesicun tri ck saa ta ns) wee eas bees 20 Continental Congress, sessions of eeewesas sees 20 Cities and Towns, principal................... 20 Criminals, Number of...................00000- 21 Centennial Exhibition, 1876................... 21 CLIT ES is aiesdca scraps Woeeeeh aeons «4 ounpweimeacnsetes 21 Coat Of APHIS: 0... ecerinwea coos cae eames eee 21 Congressmen, leading ..............02. cece 21 Congressional Districts............0...0..000- 21 Constitutions, several State ...............0.. 21 Constitution, present State, in full........... 45 Chambersburg, burning of................... 44 COURS se eciks oe rned aware ent od wee elven ies 21 Debt—State, Municipal and School District.. 22 Debt, -tiortga ge. os ic ain tnadseas tied e hee Seacas 22 Declaration of Independence.................. 22 Early Settlements......... 2.0.00. cece eee eee , 22 HminentiMe ne, i. cons. es angio seeds wah 6 MORe 23 Elections, when held............. ccc eee ee eee 23 Executive Officers, principal.................. 23 Founder of the State............. cece ee eee eee 23 First Things (Canals, Railroads, etc.)......... 23 Flag of the United States..............-..008- 24 PON CH Woah hrc scat ia sie ler cie aoe Saeedignigcaca vite nents to the State Constitution. . 239 Dé PAI Nes csciccews «sss. 227 | Soldiers Authorized to V t a ee Defeated for Congress............ 227 | Period of Soldier Candidates Begins Bas oO ative American Party Organized....,....,. 228 Johnson’s ‘“ Swing Around the Circle”’....... 240 GENERAL INDEX. 9 PAGE. Governor Geary Elected................0000 0 240 Election of Judge Sharswood................. 241 First Jury Commissioners Elected............. 241 Grant and Colfax Elected................ 000. 241 Governor Geary Re-elected........... 0.0.0.5. 242 The Scofield-Marvin Campaign....... ....... 242 Vote in Favor of a Constitutional Convention. 243 Governor Hartranft’s First Hlection.......... 243 Delegates Elected to Constitutional Conven- HON ¢ wavs gated essa sec deals y Gav oe eee eee 244 Office of State Treasurer Made Elective....... 244 Liberal Republican Movement.............4:. 244 Grant and Wilson Elected......0 ..........0.. 245 Local Option Adopted and Repealed ......... 245 Wilson Moore’s Close Run for Sheriff......... 246 New Constitution Adopted.................0. 246 Democratic ‘‘ Tidal Wave’’ Year.............. 246 First Election of Lieutenant-Governor .. .... 246 Dr. Egbert Elected to Congress........ ....-. 246 Democratic State Convention in Erie.......... 247 New Constitution in Force................006- 247 Minority Representation in the Boards of County Commissioners and Auditors...... 247 First November Election for State and County OMGErSs): 32504 eae eek sued a einige tides as 247 Start of the National Greenback Party.... . 247 The Hayes and Tilden Campaign............. 247 The ‘Hight by Seven ’? Commission.......... 248 Wn, A. Galbraith Elected President Judge... 248 Election of Trunkey, Noyes and Schell........ 249 CHAPTER XXVIIL. UNITED STATES, STATE, DisTRICT AND CoUNTY OFFICERS.—Page 262 to Page 277. PAGE United States Officers ......... 0. cee eee cee 262 CONPTESSMEN weiss veges eacescas Beek 262 Postmasters at Erie ....... 2... eee eee eee 263 Assistant Postmasters at Erie............ 263 Collectors of Customs............2.0000 eee 263 Deputy Collectors of Customs ....... .. 2. 263 Collectors of Internal Revenue........... 263 Deputy Collectors of Internal Revenue ... 263 Assistant Assessors of Internal Revenue . 264 United States Commissioners............. 264 Deputy Clerks United States Courts...... 264 Other United States Officers.............. 264 State Officers from Erie County............... 264 General List.......... cece cece nee eee 264 Presidential Electors ........... eee eee 265 State Senators. ....... ccc cece eee n eee cees 265 Members of the House of Representatives 266 District and County Officers......... .... 267 President Judges ......... ccc cece cece eens 267 District Judge ........ 6c cece eee cee eee eens 268 Additional Law Judges ...............05- 268 Associate Judges .. 0... ccc cece eee eee eens 268 Deputy Attorney Generals ..............- 268 District AttorneyS.......... cece ee eee eee 269 SHerifis: io35. satscaaer ne nse tamiews se dae ee es 269 PAGE. Governor Hoyt and Lieutenant-Governor Stone Elected......... crane eer ret 249 Garfield and Arthur Elected.................. 250 Anti-Cameron Outbreak in the Republican Pativisiices sth 35 adie iatindeiea vai neten 251 Orange Noble’s Defeat for State Treasurer... 251 Another Republican Revolt...............005. 252 Pattison and Black Elected................... 252 Cleveland and Hendricks Elected. ............ 253 First Scott and Mackey Campaign ........... 253 Wm. L. Scott’s Big Vote in Erie.............. 254 Second Scott and Mackey Campaign.......... 254 General Beaver Chosen Governor............. 254 Harrison and Morton Elected ..............6- 255 Liquor and Suffrage Amendments Defeated.. 257 Further Republican Dissensions.............. 257 The Pattison-Delemater Contest...........005 257 Governor Pattison Re-elected...............65 257 The Tilden-Griswold Contest..............60. 257 Constitutional Convention Voted Down . .... 258 Cleveland’s Re-election............-...0.0000- 258 National People’s Party Started.............. 258 The Flood-Sibley Campaign...............06. 259 Republican ‘‘ Tidal Wave’’ Year ............. 260 Grow’s Immense Majority.............000 0008 260 Another Republican Sweep......... ......04. 260 Governor Hastings Elected..............0005- 260 Griswold Defeats Sibley...........-. ccc cee eee 261 Biection 0f:1895 24 2ccensnaevi ves vabcee see wares 261 Judges of the Superior Court First Elected... 261 Cost Of Elections .......cccccecces neon seee waste 262 PAGE. Prothonotaries....... 060 cc cece eee eens 269 Registers and Recorders and Clerks of the COUTES 6335 2d Griengndiiomes Sapnsaae ee pueS 270 Registers and Recorders...........-.++66- Clerks of the Courts........ .... County Treasurers ......... 6... COreoneGtS: js csisnaiae ane es Weise 38 Hees County Commissioners .......-...00.000e- Clerks to County Commissioners Counsel to County Commissioners........ 273 Directors of the Poor...........eecee seers 273 Stewards of the Almshouse .............. 274 Clerks to the Directors of the Poor.. .... 274 Attorneys for the Directors of the Poor.. 274 County Superintendents of Public Schools 274 ‘County Detectives ......... cee eee eee eee: 275 County Surveyors ...... 6. cece eee ee eens 275 County Auditors. ....... cece cee cee ee 275 Jury Commissioners........ 276 Court Criers.... ....seeseee 277 Mercantile Appraisers.......-...0-e eee eee 277 OilInspectors 2 1... cece eee eee eee eens 277 Sealers of Weights and Measures ........ 277 Salaries of County Officers ........... ese eee 277 Ser ALPHABETICAL INDEX (Part VII); ALSo Map oF ERE CounNTY. 10! GENERAL INDEX. PART IV. Townsuirs aND Boroucus or Erie County. PAGES. PAGES. Albion Borough ......... 0... cece eee 285-286 | Lockport Borough.................25 ... 309 Amity Township............0 c6 eee ee eae 287-289 | Mill Village Borough Ss suiebee vuus ae easels 322-323 Conneaut Township...............0..005- 281-285 | McKean Township...........ceeeeeee eee 323-326 Concord Township ............. cece seen ee 289-291 | Middleboro Borough.............+.0+0.0s 326 East Springfield Borough ................ 350 | Mill Creek Township..................00. 327-336 Edinboro Borough... ............-..00008 367-369 | North East Township ..................6- 336-340 Bigin Borougheigii oils ac cana eaeseeenes 291 | North Hast Borough..............-....46. 340-345 Elk Creek Township...... ........-....5. 292-294°| Springfield Township .................... 345-350 Fairview Township ...............0e0 eae 295-299 | Summit Township..................--.44. 350-352 Fairview Borough............. 0.0000 ce eee 299-300 | Union Township............... 0. eee eee eee 352-355 Franklin Township...................005 300-302 | Union City Borough...................0-- 355-358 Girard Township ....................005 302-306 | Venango Township............c ccc eens 359-363 Girard Borough ...................6. 06 306-309 | Wattsburg Borough ...................005 363-364 Greene Township.............0.000. 0 ceveee 310-312 | Washington Township................... 365-367 Greenfield Township..................... 312-315 | Waterford Township. .................005 369-372 Harbor Creek Township...............005 315-319 | Waterford Borough ............ ...cceeee 372-378 LeBoeuf Township...............0. cece 319-322 | Wayne Township...............00. ceeeee 379-383 SEE ALPHABETICAL INDEX (Part VII); ALtso Map oF ERIE County. PART V. Citres or Erie anp Corry. SEE ALPHABETICAL INDEX (Part VII); Map of Erik Country; ALSO MILL CREEK, WAYNE AND Con- CORD ‘TOWNSHIPS. ERIE. CHAPTER I. FOUNDING OF THE TOWN—EARLY SETTLERS, Etc.—Page 387 to Page 392. PAGE. PAGE. Act for Laying Out the Town of Presque Isle. 387 | First Divided Into Wards..................... 389 Indian Hostility...... 0.0... cece eee ee S80 || City Charters vite e'naee datawaay oss nedens cad vas 389 Second Act for Laying Out the Town......... 388 | City Boundaries. ......... 0.0... cece eee enue 390 First American Settlers................0.0.00e 388 | Sale of Town Lots.............. 0c. cece cece cee 390 First; Womens. ss see sc205%. aAninbseciwaneed ab cu 389 | Prices Paid for Lots..............cccececeeuee 390 First Building.............. 0.000. c cece cece 389 | Farly Arrivals 1.0.0.0... 000 cece cece eee eee 391 How the Town was Laid Out.................. 389 | Population, 1820 to 1890............0. ccc cece 392 Incorporated as a Borough.................... 389 CHAPTER II. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ERIE.—Page 392 to Page 399. PAGE PAGE. Location of City... 0.2... ec e eee eee eee 392 Stumptown............ cece cece cece 396 Elevations Above the Lake.................., 393 New Jerusalem...................0.0000.. 396 Streams and Ravines......................... 393 Rit Sowa ie ossiecsiada cosa chores stele 44 ow oie doo 397 Streets and Avenues.................0.0...... 393 Bederal) Hall siecetc cco 455 eake weak 397 Business and Residence Streets............... 394 Eagle Village..............., Sa cpcilalare nacho 397 Public Packs: ¢ occcciesnes veetoness iw, siaieeustes ee 394 Marvintown ............ cece ec cece eee, 397 Street Names that have been Changed........ 394 SOM ries oy cto. vac wautsrareeveuancsenas 397 Legal Width of Streets, etc................... 394 Warfeltown...................... epee 397 Street Numbering..........0000000.0000000... 395 Weigelville 00.0.2... eee ee ese e es), BOF Street Wigh ting... .wwieinsasio bales 4a e948 check cts. 395 | Wards and Election Districts............1.. 1! 397 Sewer System... wees wesives ees oeawe oesvdoaes 395 | City Finances...........0.00.000--0-000 398 Public Buildings, Churches, etc.............., 395 | Assessments, 1893 and 1895 Compared......... 398 Railroads and Transportation Facilities....._ 396 | Tax Rate for Twenty-seven Years...... cree 398 LocalNames ............0......... 00000 396 | Building Permits, 1889-1894................. 1! 399 GENERAL INDEX. Il CHAPTER III. BOROUGH AND CiTy OFFICERS.—Page 399 to Page 407. PAGE. PAGE. First Borough Officers.......... 0. cece e eee eee 399 | .Harbor Mastétse.i.6 0:56, Gwsas ta okie shan gemuas 406 BUrPéSS€Sencsssekevedceee teen@mare Vos pokes 399 | Health iO mi Cersy.s i scenecalne seat gee he grap eneun dence a 406 NEA Y OES os. i:5 acecsvereveue lad 8 Bae Wa Raa diag do Side mae +... 399 | Clerks of the Markets.............. 0... cece ee 406 City Councilmen..........0 0 (eee eee eee 400.) City ASSESSOLS. .uieca scene Ge deg dae aaresinmale 406 Presidents of City Councils................... 400 | Sergeants-at-Arms.......... 0... e eee eee ee 406 Clerks of City Councils.............. 0.02.2 ee 400 | City Electrician... .ccccassagscccsasiivencweanss 406 City Treasure rsiisces voc ssa xeacsass & SUS FAG AROS 405 | Building Inspector.............. 2. 0c c cece ee aes 406 City Controllers................00. ia hese adee we 406 | Fire, Water, Police and School Officials....... 406 City Solicitors cciisee i actinic erencibientine aif den nuara-sie soeta 406 | Park Superintendents........ ..........0.00. 406 City Ri pine€ersiins a seis eies basemen o4 dada eenn 406 | Justices of the Peace.............. 0. ee eee eee 406 Superintendents of Streets and Sidewalks.... 406 | Aldermen........... 0... cc ccc cece nee eenae 406 High: Consta dlesiciyic esac cc ced nesta ecg e gene 406 | Annual Salaries of City Officials.............. 407 CHAPTER IV. WATER, FIRE AND PoLicE DEPARTMENTS.—Page 408 to Page 414. PAGE. PAGE Water Department....... 00... cece cee eee 408 Paid Department Organized.............. 411 Earliest Movement Toward a Public Water Fire Apparatus Now in Use............... 412 Supplysciscsaanwieensaeswautia used acne 408 Hnpine HOusesinnunedennes savas cadens 412 The Second Step Forward................ 408 Number of Men in the Department........ 412 Contract Authorized for a Water Supply.. 408 Pay of the Men in the Department........ 412 Differences of Opinion.................... 409 Periods of Incendiary Fires............... 413 New Legislation Secured...... jo aise oe 409 Fire Alarm System................. 0000 413 First Water Commissioners........... 2... 409 List of Fire Commissioners .............. 413 Present Water Works Begun.............. 409 Lists of Chiefs of the Department........ 414 A Reservoir Provided .................04. 410 Assistant Chiets\, « iincciagesicey cas oct go aides 414 The Old and the New Engines ........... 410 Hire: TAiMItS:s agucedexs se eecee eras eee 414 Miscellaneous Information.............. 410 | Police Department........... 00.0. c eee e ee eee 414 List of Water Commissioners............. 411 Early Police System..........-.00. cee eee 414 Other Officers of the Department..... ... 411 Present Police Force.............c eee e ees 414 Salary List of the Department............ 411 Patrol Wagon........... ccc cece eee eee 414 Fire Department.......... 20.0. e cece cece eens 411 Police CallSystem.............0... esses 414 Early Moves for Fire Protection.......... 411 Chiéfs Of POlCe.. waicccwua ache ian ac ee ennes 414 First Steamer Purchased................. 411 Captains of Police............ 0.0... ee eee 414 CHAPTER V. PENINSULA, BAY, Harsor, Etc.—Page 415 to Page 425. The Peninsula in General............-.0eeeees 415 Anchor Line Docks.............. cece e eee 421 Cranberry: Day aii iio soy Seas anne goes Miamads 415 Grain Elevators ........ cece eee eens 421 Historical Itemsucics see awtacs age av cee e sake 415 Erie and Pittsburg Docks.....,... ....... 421 Protection of the Peninsula.................05 415 Carnegie Docks .............. 0020 e eevee 421 Damage in Recent Years............ 00: e seen 417 The Watson: Dock .. caccsaseeccuserscses se 422 No Material Change in Genera! Features... . 417 | The Lake Trade............ ce cca cece cece eee 422 Reports of Government Officers .............. 417 | Imports and Exports, 1884-1894 ......... .... 422 Title to the Peninsula...................0000- 418 | Coal Shipments, 1874-1894 ......... 0. cece eee 422 Judge Galbraith’s Opinion Thereon .......... 418 | Grain Receipts, Where From................. 422 The Bay and Harbor ........... cece eee ees 419 | The Fishing Industry ..........-.. 0.0 cece eee 423 Harbor Improvements........... ccs eeeee eee 419 | A Fisherman’s Paradise.................. reve 423 Government Appropriations...............06- 419 | Gill-Net Fishing... .6.ccccceseoersete enennuse 423 Government Engineers............ 0. cee e eee 420 | Pound-Net Fishing ......... 2... 0... cece eee eee 424 Principal DOCKS: .iccieaiwnorauendueeys Miwa 420 | Introduction of Steam Fishing Boats......... 424 Reed's: Dok is sisieascii se so gaa dictnaiess, aatesasavess 420 | Amateur Fishermen..... ..............00005- 424 The Public Dock .......... 0.0 c cece eee eee 420 | Pleasure Boats ....... 0. cece eee ee eee eens 425 Hard Coal Docks ....43 ccc ssecccwos senses 420 | Erie Yacht Club vie cc cess semssienenaeeewee sees 425 12 GENERAL INDEX. CHAPTER VI. Pusric PLEASURE RESoRTS.—Page 425 to Page 429. Cascade, Parks: scererccscocesccanioocssaaneget 425 Lakeside: Park: occcisiew aces ceareces aeiemtea sts 425 Central Park oi. nieweuia dic 8. Sue Sadat eaee tes 425 Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Monument............. 426 The Park Fountains ........0.0.c0ccenseeeees 426 Keepers of the Parks............206 eee ee eee 426 ‘The Head, or Massassauga Point............ 426 Tracy Point jdccanresckeris 69444 vedo teu earns es 427 The Sommerheim Association ..............6- 427 CHAPTER VII. City AND STATE BUILDINGS, CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS, E'tc.—Page 429 to Page 436. PAGE. City Halli. s . savesas yeerieee seu sneaeneeactes » 429 Court House Bell wcccsaesesecs se desicisecnaaes 430 City HoOspitales cocoa dons see tae te 54 MRRRE ER AS 430 Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home .................. 430 Wayne Block House ........... 0 eee eee ee ee 430 Home for the Friendless. ........... 2000 ee 432 Hamot Hospital siwcsecncesceeas texenewanwe sees 433 St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum.................. 434 Old. Folks’ Home) pois. cieeae ol asaiianieeeses 434 PAGE. Glenwood Park ........ ccc eee e reece een nee 428 The Grove House..........c. esse eee ence eeeee 428 The Cedars.....cccce cece cece eee ce eeeeeeees 428 Cochran’s Grove. ..... cece cece ee eee ence tenes 428 The Maples..... 6... ceeee ee cece erect tee eees 428 Fair Grounds ........ cc cece cere tenn ene eens 429 Race Tracks. ....... cece eee ene ener e reese 429 Base Ball Grounds......... cee e eee cece er eeee 429 Club Houses, etc...... ccc erence cet e ee eee eee 429 PAGE. St. Vincent’s Hospital....... 0... cece eee eee 434 Bureau of Charities .......... 00. e cece eee eee 435 Northwestern Pennsylvania Humane Society. 435 Erie Board of Public Charities .............. 436 Erie Day Nursery .........0 20 eee cece neers 436 Free Kindergarten .......... ccc eese eee eeeeee 436 Exchange for Women’s Work ........-..+---+ 436 Homeeopathic Hospital and Free Dispensary . 436 CHAPTER VIII. CHURCHES, SUNDAY SCHOOLS, RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES, E'rc.—Page 437 to Page 468. Presbyterian Churches ..............0.0 00000 437 Hirst’ Chute hse oscaaniin temiainsnse eve eyes 437 Selden Memorial Chapel.................. 438 Patk Churchisscccicscsan suteenecanenedes 438 Park Home Chapel.... ........ ee eee eee 439 Park Mission Chapel .................... 439 Central Churels.. oi. ¢scacig guaaanne ee wes 440 Central Church Mission Schools.......... 440 Chestnut Street Church .................. 441 United Presbyterian Church........ ..... 441 Protestant Episcopal Churches .............. 443 St. Pauls Church 026s tasesiensd ae gs eeu 443 Bishop Spaulding ...................... 444 ‘Trinity Mission? es0s ssoeceesveeee se ee8 844 445 Grace; Missi +3 mnicincianaM eres ites 445 Lundy’s Lane Mission.................. 445 St.John’ ssCHareh. nnccuse rene cesses wed 445 St. Vincent’s Church.............ccce ees 446 Bishop Vincents. scsie sadec cece eeers oes 446 St. Alban’s (Church... secedegues ves es ees s 447 Methodist Episcopal Churches............. .. 447 First Church «.¢.seegseaes ohesheee sama e 447 Brown’s Avenue Mission..... ..... .... 448 Sinipsom Church vein keae sos ce sawed yaetoale 448 Tenth Street Church................0.0005 449 Wayne Street Church..................... 450 Methodist Episcopal Church Alliance..... 450 Methodist Episcopal Conferences......... 450 St. James’ African Church................ 450 Baptist Churches: .ciseeececveeecs ceaveees 451 Hirst Churchis cassie so tacdaea tewouees 451 North Star Mission..................... 452 Hope Missions: + wevawaaceejec dhe ra mnmee 452 Wallace Mission................... 00005 452 SéCotid CHULCH 5.05 6h se4 apsunine diared tsa Haden didi 452 First German Church................0000- 452 Swedish:Chu teh: 44.4.0 aisssedegsacracwaewe s 453 Lutheran Churches.......... ccc cece cece seee 453 St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Reformed 453 Luther Memorial............. 0. ccc cece ee ee 454 Grace. MISs1O fs s:2.05. 2 66 harass fae ane hea 454 Zion’s Mission. ....... 0... eee eee eee 454 German Evangelical Trinity Lutheran... 454 Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethany... 455 Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran.......... 455 Roman Catholic Churches... .............0.. 455 St. Patrick’s Church..................000. 456 Catholic Bishops of the Erie Diocese.... 456 St. Patrick’s Auditorium............... 456 St. Peter’s Cathedral..................... 457 Bishop: Mullett: jsjciteeg as aches pas dy Sk 457 Vicar Generals, Erie Diocese......... 456-457 St. Mary’s Church.............00000c0e eee 458 St. Mary’s Priory, Convent, etc......... 459 St; Joseph’s Church, occ ec ca ccna scenes 459° St. John’s Church................00.0000e 459 St. Andrew’s Church...............0.00005 460 St. Stanislaus’ Church...................5 460 St. Michael’s Church..... ..........0000. 461 St. Paul's Chutchsjcsa oi cca eaieaie ease ood 461 St. Joachim’s Church.................0005 461 St. Anii’s Church. nce cia os cacy es cag abeen 461 Roman Catholic Chapels...............0.. 462 German St. Paul’s Evangelical Church....... 462 Ausche Chesed Hebrew Reformed Congrega- HOM e544 5 saenwide eho baeaenwate cae aon ed 462 United Brethren Church..............0...00... 463 First Christian Church GENERAL INDEX. 13 PAGE. First Universalist Church............-.0c0eeee 463 Salem Evangelical Association .............. 464 The New Church (Swedenborgian)......-..... 464 Church of Christ (The Tabernacle)........... 465 Church of Christian Scientists......... ...... 465 First Spiritual Society............... 0.0 eee 466 German Temple Congregation................ 466 Young Men’s Christian Association........... 466 Ladies’ Auxiliary Society, Y. M.C. A........ 466 CHAPTER IX. GRAVEYARDS AND CEMETERIES.—Page 468 to Page 471. PAGE. Early Protestant Burial Places............... 468 Old French Graveyard.............060 cece eee 469 Early Catholic Burial Places............ 0... 469 Hebrew Cemetery.............. 0. cee eee eee 469 CHAPTER X. CLUBS, SECRET, POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS AND OTHER SOCIETIES—Page 472 to 477. PAGE C)ADSs scwaw.ces oc 2404 saya eetix xe eeeesE abana Ane Ancient Order of United Workmen............ 472 Benevolent Societies (Miscellaneous).......... 472 Catholic Societies. ......... 0... cece eee cee 472 Catholic Benevolent Legion............... 473 Catholic Union of the Knights of St. John 473 Catholic Mutual Benefit Association...... 473 Catholic Ladies’ Mutual Benevolent Asso- ClAtlON es avces Hee culss a swabs cnr eee ease 473 Catholic Literary and Other Societies..... 473 Colored Masons... coccccssswsisis Gi eee eens saa me 474 Colored Odd Fellows.............:e eee ee ee nees 474 Daughters of Liberty............ cee eee ee eee 474 Equitable Aid Union.......... .. cc cece renee ee 474 Eclectic Assembly..... 2.0.2... cc cece eee eee 474 Elis; ‘By PO, Of vio ue eh agapsans oe ka 6 ONnsee 474 Fraternal Mystic Circle............... Pees 474 Grand Army of the Republic. ..............4. 474 Sons of Veterans.......... 0.0 cece eee eeeee 474 Women’s Relief Corps. ..............050005 474 Hara Paris sic ccaciei iia acwigiendss Snead Gaeta sees 474 Hebrew Societies...... ccc e cece ee eee ee 475 Improved Order of Red Men.................4. 475 Independent Order of Foresters............... 475 Junior Order U. A.M... eee een 475 Knights of the Golden Eagle........ ........- 475 Knights and Ladies of Maccabees.......... 475 Knights of St. John and Malta................ 475 CHAPTER XI. BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, PUBLIC CORPORATIONS, E'tc.—Page 478 to Page 484. PAGE. Hifst Rtié: Ban kis sc. coc degen seta sence yergwes 478 United States Branch Bank at Erie........... 478 Brie City Batt kei sic gai sicrounaines deca saaremenees 478 Bank of Commer ce.............c cece eee eeees 478 Private Bankers in 1861................2.5.- .. 478 German Savings Institution...............065 479 Humboldt Savings Bank...... ....... eee eee ee 479 Erie County Savings Bank..............-00005- 479 John: Bliot:& Co. oieeet cs ieee da sewn see anes 479 First National Bank........ 0. 0c cere e renee 479 PAGE. State Convention, Y. M. Ci A. 2.004. 4006000a4 466 Erie Bethel Association..............00 eee ee 467 Himrod Mission Sunday School............... 467 Christian Endeavor Union of Erie City....... 467 Women’s Christian Association.............. 467 Ministerial Association of Erie.... .......... 467 State Convention of Christian Endeavor So- ClCtIES s.cigcias Seed cen tetdes sexe eoaiinweoe > 468 Religious Statistics of Erie City for 1890...... 468 PAGE. Brie. Cemetery sadccweuau ss overs el aag ieee ae 469 Trinity Cemetery ss vccaiaae creeesesed ga weno 471 Polish Cemetery.iaces seessc5s4cndavasesacws os 471 Lakeside Cemetery Association............... 471 PAGE. Knightsiof Honoti sss oss sence ediedaee sy ee eek Se 475 Knightsiof Malta ve.c i ease cs eonraamewalaok ses 475 Kaights:of Pythias... .cs05 03 sei eueswawe sues es 475 Knights and Ladies of Honor.... ............ 475 Knights Of Labor. ceiie esis. veins snednee de eet 475 Masonic Societies. ........ 0.0... e cece eee ee 475 Mystic: SHING..c. cece sci eiiiicwen WE Sen Ee eee 476 Musié¢al Soéieties.cc 0264 ectsaweniem eal gaed case 476 Medical Societies......... 0... cece cee eens 476 Miscellaneous Societies........... 00. eee 476 National Onions «occa nctuiciommeerenns cate ese ® 476 Odd Pellowsiivs: ci caascusdes yokedeada eeeeeee ss 476 Order of United Friends.......... 00... ee ee eee 476 Protective Trades and Labor Organizations.. 476 Patriotic Order Sons of America.............. 477 Protected Home Circle......... 0. cece cece eens 477 Political SocietiéSis ic. css cnetenewess wen ces 477 Railroad Societies............ cece eee eee eee 477 Royal Arcan tithes ii satagensanin ba se'eg ch atee 477 Royal Templars of Temperance............... 477 Regular Army and Navy Union......... ..... 477 Religious Societies not Otherwise named..... 477 Sons of St. George. ..... ccc cece cece ence ee cane 477 PTET ST S's 5 sts Gdsayerarsn te vakash se: worastia eel cacdon suaie. Guat puanacbeevacene 477 Union Veteran Legion... wc... cc cece cece eee 477 Ladies of the U. V. Ly... se. e eee 477 Woodmen of the World............ 0... c cece 477 PAGE Keystone National Bank............. 0. eeeeee 479 Second National Bank..... Pees ghd Aaaseewese s & 480 Marine National Bank............ sees eee eee 480 Dime Savings Bank ......... 0. cece cence eee 480 Bali COlticcstnaweniae st 12 tte, (sancisetinea les 480 Erie County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. 480 Harbor Creek Fire Insurance Company...... 481 German Insurance Company ..............-5- 481 Alps Insurance Company ........-+. eee eeeees 481 Brie Gas Company. .......-.. cee eee ee ee eens 481 14 GENERAL INDEX. PAGE. Pennsylvania Natural Gas Company........ 481 Welsbach Gas Company.............0eeeeeeee 482 Edison Electric Light and Power Company... 482 Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ Electric Light, Heat and Power Company .............065 482 Erie Electric Motor Company .............455 483 PAGE, Erie Transfer Company............-seeeeeeee 483 Erie Real Estate Title Company...........+.- 484 Building and Loan Associations..........+.+. 484 Telegraph Systems.... 1... cece e eee cence eee 484 Telephone Exchange .........-.sseeeeeeeeeeee 484 Express and General Carrying Companies... 484 CHAPTER XII. PUBLIC AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS, SCHOOL, OFFICERS, ACADEMIES, E'rc.—Page 485 to Page 495. PAGE PAGE. First School House in Erie........... 2.20. 485 | Music, German, Evening Schools, etc ........ 490 Rollofthe:School....4,..cs0seevsere i ees ceesass 485 | Teachers Who Have Been Employed Ten Public School System Adopted ............... 485 Years or More........-..2 ccc ceeecceeeenne 490 Early School Buildings .................00055 486 | Salaries Paid Teachers...........ceeeceeeeeee 490 Present School Buildings ...... ...... eee eee 487 | Growth of the Schools............ ec eee ee ee aee 491 The High'School... .: ogg asncceiesaceasaes oye 487 | Miscellaneous Information ........ .....+4-. 491 List of Principals ............. ee ee 487 | Free Public Library Law ..........cee eee eeee 491 City Superintendents ............ cece ees 487 | Brie Academy... ..nccucdceecem enon oFees Rtheces 491 List of School Directors, 1834-1895............ 488 | Academy Pupils in 1844 ........... 0. eee eee 492 Superintendent of Buildings ...............4. 489 | Erie Female Seminary .......... ec ceeeee evens 493 Freé School, Books)... 5.5.1 sccceininicine boa wee eect 489 | St. Benedict’s Academy ........... cee eee eens 493 Courses of Study, etc........ cece eee eee 489 | Villa Maria Academy............ eee eee eee eeee 493 Teachers’ Institutes oc scsriesunes sees awd yt 48S | Catholic Parochial Schools ...............505 493 Mechanical Drawing School................4. 490 | Erie Business University .......... ..ee.eeeee 494 Teachers’ Training Class .............-.00005 490 | The Kindergartens ........ 0... cece eee eee 494 CHAPTER XIII. MANUFACTURES—HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.-—Page 495 to Page 504. PAGE. PAGE Early Mills and Factories .................0.. 495 | Lime and Cement Works................0.005 500 “ Big Oaks From Little Acorns Grow”’....... 495 | Lumber and Building Material .............. 500 Absencesof Strikes css vacisuyeleosesdev este e as 495°: |) Malt: HOUSE sac5as badohien d's ide wsnengen gate camer 501 Manufacturing Statistics, 1880-1890-4 ........ 496. | Nickel Works 22 e.i5 seocadeiscia causa ees cass 501 Abbatoirs and Packing Establishments...... 496. | ‘Oil REANECTICS 4.56.6 a aide adeeb wie nee eee 501 Bakeries: sdacinwehowaesee ta. enbecid bese tesa ake Paitit WORKS ii ceases Garcia d aactevlaterain. 6.4 258i Cobornios 501 Breweries ...... Paper Mill and Chemical Works.............. 501 Bicycle Works Piano: Ha GtOries iis conais seagate one edhe acs aieatea 501 Blank Books, Printing, etc................... 497 |) Pump Makers cs caw sisting cee saa dew en on als danas 501 Brick Wotksy ccaniasukiocr wen ciapeaaiaeex shee 497 | Rubber Worksins oxy ss24 cena acess wmad veces ewe 501 Bass WOKS) ac issiwinweaun Vanes oawa ee dalaann sarees 407 | Stone: Cutters.co ica sssiceaceets sewed teen cade 501 ButtOm WOLkKS se eviwenese4s8 sea akeUes eee ayae% 498 | Stove Factories... veceisec eens acea es cme ntanas 502 Carriage and Wagon Works.................. 98 | PI AMM ERIS 3.201 a seve yas vavarcuicesn’ 34,6 ace x alone @ediea"A ava nieracprecs 502 Hlonring Millésnsiva da ycce s .46 weg ticmetes tons ance 498 | Vinegar and Pickling Works.................. 502 Furniture and Fine Wood Work.............. 498 | Manufactures Not Classified.................. 502 Iron Works (Miscellaneous)...............0008 498 ' Factories that have been Discontinned....... 503 CHAPTER XIV. BUSINESS MATTERS IN GENERAL.—Page 504 to Page 517. PAGE. PAGE Boatd.of Tradesieiucveisss akadieguaadyseeas 504 | List of Former Business Men................. 505 Charter Members of the same................. 504 | Mercantile Agencies ............ 0 cece ee aces 512 Presidents and Secretaries.................04. 504 | Lake and Railroad Business.................. 512 Business Centers, Various Periods............ 505 ' Business Blocks, when Erected....... aie 513 CHAPTER XV. HoTELS, MARKETS, PUBLIC HALLS AND MILITARY COMPANIES.—Page 518 to Page 525, PAGE First Public Houses. eis ic.ecsccsiie ces vena 518 | Mansion House................... ar Later Public Houses... .... 00... 0. ccc eee eee 518 | Present Hotels.................000000000 0! 519 Brown’s Hotel—Ellsworth House..... .. .... 519 RGR MOUSE occa nccsivuudewe sans ouesy ic, we 519 South Erie Hotels........... ccc. c cece eee eee 519 Lebel House....................000 000, 819 GENERAL INDRX. 15 PAGE. PAGE. Wileox! House. ccs inca deed eed dete wees é 519 Wonderland: iicacsiexcnacmmaatei eesti eas 521 Arcade: Hotels. csciiwn nies waved ees 520 Other Hall sisi sis wakeainvr ieee sna kcegigneie’e's 521 WilsOn HOUSE aiscicc cee eede cern eeut eae vas 520 | The Public Markets.......... ccc cece reer eee 522 Kimberly House. ............ 0... e cece eee 520 First Market House.............. 2200s eee 522 Moore House .issaa ccc accsangieteineeacnees 520 South Erie Market House................. 522 Livingston Hotel... .... cece eee eee 520 The Street Markets...............20. eee 522 Park View Housé «05.2 ¢:02sccaacanaacne des 520 Hay and Wood Market.................... 522 Union Depot Hotel............... 2... e eee 520 Modern Market Houses................04. 522 Morton House... 0.0.0... c cece een eens 520 Central Market House................6. 523 Massassauga Hotel, etc............0e eens 520 Abolishment of the Street Market...... 523 Metropolitan Hotel..............0. cece ee 520 Second Ward Market House............ 523 Palace: Hoteles: ccosiidinees seanagciasedes 520 Parade Street Market House............ 523 South Erie Hotel.......... 0... cece eee 520 People’s Market House.............-.04. 523 Other Public Houses.................00005 520 | Military Companies........... ccc eee eee eee 524 Public Halls and Places of Amusement....... 521 Companies Previous to the Last War..... 524 Farrar Hall.............. Shi anogesewss ae 521 Later Companiesi: ...ccs2 send ed obtecse earns 524 Park Opera House...............00-.0000 521 McLane Light Guard................0006- 524 New York Opera House..................- 521 Sheridan Guard a. : ccncecucsasineae ees name Hem 524 Old Wayne Hall....... 0... eee cee 521 Noble Light Guard..... Shajaibeeldl ne Sonera. ae Dae 524 Paik Hall uc secaan sic edsieeieeadbaea eee 521 Governor's Girard. cise oe ga ee ses eieenes 524 Dreisigaker’s Hall.....................40. 521 Co.’s A. and C., 15th Regiment, N. G. P.. 524 New Wayne Hall.................0.00. 005 521 Services of the Latter Companies......... 524 Academy of Music............... 0c ee eee 521 Fifteenth Regiment N.G. P.............. 524 Gabel'’s: Hall sic jo..5 2605564 sence ness va ves 521 National Guard of Pennsylvania.......... 524 CHAPTER XVI. MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.—Page 525 to Page 534. PAGE. PAGE Centennial Celebration of 1895................ 525. | Masonic History «ici ccnnswasac cede vie sae eer 530 The Tanning Industry. ................08 06s 526 | Sisters of St. Joseph.......... cc cece cece ee eae 531 Natural Gas: Welisna. cos ecas a's snaeauuida ce eee 527 | Beer, Ale and Malt...... 0... . cee eee eee eee 531 The Erié Test Wellisesccnvcrecsaoy yobawaareae 527 | The Lumber Interests............. 0 cee eee eee 531 Destructive Floods in Mill Creek.............. 527 | Effect of Railroads............. cece eee e eee eee 531 Grand Effforts for Charity.......... 0.220.005 528 | Erie Capital Abroad................ ccc eee ree 532 Musical Organizations...........0000 sce cena 528 | Erie a Healthy City............... 0 eee e ee eee 532 Prices and Wages in Years Past ............. 528 | Lime and Cement Trade........... cee eee eeee 532 Cranberries and Cranberry Day............... 529 | Council Records.......... cc cece eee eee eee 532 Pioneer Mechanics........... 0... c cee ee eee eee 529 | The Bottling Business............ 2... cece eee 532 ‘Taxes in: 1820))5.53 sonata cciescu dine dagaueee re 529 | Largest Picnics and Fairs.................04. 532 Original Town of Erie......... 0. ccc e eee 529 | Coal Dealers and Dock Builders............... 533 A Curious Custom. 2... .... eee c cece eee eee 530 | A Memorable Event...... 0.0... 0. cece eee eens 533 Drive Along the Beach................00-500. 530 | Low Water in the Lake............. ......00. 533 Erie Horticultural Society.................065 530 | The Niagara, Place where Sunk.............. 534 An Ancient Structure............ 0... cee e eee 530 | Tonnage Through the ‘‘Soo”’ Canal.......... 534 Letter Carrier System—When Introduced..... 530 | Early Postoffice Sites........ 0. cece eee eee 534 Brie. City. Directory. cciicwaua xecs casa siinteues 530 | Doctorsand Dentists...............0.....00008 534 Lake Shore Masonic Relief Association....... 530 | Erie Citizens’ Association..................... 534 Art and ATustSe.¢ ois iedckshidae S ¥ seis en aes 530 | Grand Army of the Republic, List of Posts... 534 SEE ALPHABETICAL INDEX (Part VII); Mar oF ERIE County; ALso Mini, CREEK TOWNSHIP. CORRY. CHAPTER I. GENERAL AND HIsTorIcaL.—Page 535 to Page 540. PAGE PAGE Origin of the Place...........ecce cece eee n eee 535 | Factories, Hotels and Business Houses........ 536 Downer Oil Works.......... 0. cece cece tree eee 535 | Banks and Bank Failures................0000 537 Rapid Growth at the Start...............-004- §35 | Public Schools, ....ccsc0seuscscecseer en wees 537 General Description..........:6cc eee e eee eeeee £36 | School Superintendents......... ....e eee e eee 537 Borough and City Charters..........00..0 0005 536; || “CHI ECHES iaiiaieieipse paiesaustnncmnaw donb ndn awe e t 538 Lisviol Mayors taiidiris cass wxaabia vcteae rena 536: | (Néwspapets. 2 csccs.noeueeade Feta eit neces 538 Population, 1870-’80-’90..... a WE ER EEE A aA RE HE w= 536 | Secret, Societies ss: esccs: ce ciie nels ve eiaarsigeieieaienss 539 16 GENRERAL INDEX. PAGE PAGE. State and County Officers ...............0.005 539 | Sewerage System......... ccc ccc e eee e nes 540 POStUIAS LETS wicie ca Si gad ase umusa iene se eR ares 540 | Street Paving..........0¢6 sees PSO ME A EMOTES 540 Water WOLKE auine nudes) ah aeiaengn Monte: aac 540° || Miscellaneous. oases 25 0 be dare cena eS oaenes 540 SEE ALPHABETICAL INDEX (Part VII); Map oF ERIE County; ALSO WAYNE AND CONCORD TOWNSHIPS. PART VI. FaMILy HISTORIES AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.—Page 541 to Page 896. PART VIL. ALPHABETICAL INDEX To EnTIRE Boox. PART I. PENNSYLVANIA. Historical, Descriptive and Statistical. —_— A LSo ~~ STATE CONSTITUTION ADOPTED IN 1873. PBENNSYbVANIA. HISTORICAL, DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL. BORIGINES.— The por- tion of America included in Pennsylvania was or- iginally occupied by an Indian tribe who ‘ called themselves the Lenni Le- nape, or original people.” They spoke a common language and assembled around the same council fire. They were united, by conquest, with the historical Six Nations, embracing the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Senecas, the Mohawks, and the Tuscaroras. These natives became known to the white set- tlers by the general name of the Iroquois, who had their great council fire in the Onondaga valley of New York. Of this confederacy, the Senecas held control of the northwestern portion of the State, embracing Erie and ad- joining counties. The Eriez, or ‘‘ Cat tribe,” who were the original people along the south shore of Lake Erie, were exterminated about the year 1650 by the Iroquois, as is more fully detailed in the general history of Erie county. [For a full account of the Indians of this region see the latter history. ] Anthracite Coal.—Pennsylvania is the only part of the world where anthracite coal is produced in a large quantity. The anthra- cite coal production is limited to the north- eastern portion of the State, and almost en- tirely to the counties of Luzerne, Schuylkill, Lackawanna, and Carbon, covering an area of about 480 square miles. This coal was first tested in what is now Luzerne county about 1768 or 1769. Previous to that the coal in use throughout the world was bituminous or semi- bituminous in character. Anthracite coal was experimented with, for local purposes, in a small way, in the counties where found, for a number of years, but was not received with favor by the general public until about 1820- 23, when it began to be shipped in considera- ble quantities, by means of the Lehigh and Schuylkill systems of navigation. In 1826 about 50,000 tons were received in Philadel- phia, which was then the only port of ship- ment on salt water. Since then the produc- tion has increased to such an extent that an- thracite coal is sent to every part of the world, and the mining and transportation of thesame has become one of the great industries of the State. The amount carried by rail and canal in 1898 was 48,089,586 tons. Area, etc.—The State is bounded on the north by Lake Erie and New York; on the east by New York and New Jersey; on the south by Delaware, Maryland, and West Vir- ginia; and on the west by West Virginia and Ohio. The Delaware river forms the boun- dary between Pennsylvania on the west and New York and New Jersey on the east. The greatest width of the State is 175 miles, and its greatest length 808. By official tables pre- pared at Harrisburg, the State is represented as embracing 45,086 square miles and 28,- 808,448 acres. Battles.—Although founded by Quakers, who are opposed to war for any cause, the State has been the scene of some of the most bloody battles and frontier troubles in the his- tory of America. Among these may be men- tioned the struggle between the Eriez and Iroquois along the south shore of Lake Erie, hereafter described at length ; the engagements between the French and English in the west- ern part of the State, including Braddock’s defeat near Pittsburg; the various skirmishes with the Indians, embracing the attacks on Forts LeBoeuf and Presque Isle; the Revolu- tionary battles of Paoli, Brandywine and Germantown; the massacre at Wyoming; the Confederate raid upon the Cumberland Valley, and the burning of Chambersburg; and the decisive battles of the war for the 20 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Union at Gettysburg. Perry’s victory, on the 10th of September, 1818, which gave the United States control of the Great Lakes, was won by a fleet prepared and equipped at Erie. Bituminous Coal.—The bituminous coal fields of Pennsylvania lie west of the Susque- hanna river, and include an area of more than 9,000 square miles. In the fifteen years from 1880 to 1895 they yielded a product of 470,- 867,769 gross tons. The officers of the State Geological Survey calculate that at the pres- ent rate of production the bituminous coal supply of Pennsylvania will last nearly a thousand years. Braddock’s Defeat.—The terrible defeat of Gen. Braddock, the English commander who was sent out to drive the French from the western part of the State, took place on the north bank of the Monongahela river, a few miles from the present site of Pittsburg, on the 9th of July, 1755. The French troops who effected this result came up Lake Erie from Canada, were assembled and organized at Erie (then known as Presque Isle), and moved south by way of LeBoeuf creek, French creek and the Allegheny river. [For an ac- count of the French occupation of Western Pennsylvania, see the General History of Erie County. ] Buckshot War.—This is the derisive title given to a dispute between the Anti-Masons and the Whigs on the one hand, and the Democrats on the other, in 1888-9, over the organization of the State House of Repre- sentatives. Governor Ritner ordered out the State militia and appealed to the general gov- ernment for aid, but, happily, the controversy was settled without bloodshed. [See the Po- litical Record in General History of Erie County.] Capital—State.—The capital of the State is Harrisburg, on the east bank of the Sus- quehanna river. Up to 1799 Philadelphia was the seat of the State government, but in the latter year it was removed to Lancaster. Harrisburg became the capital in 1812. The corner stone of the ‘‘ State House,” or Capitol building, at Harrisburg was laid in 1819, and the first meeting of the Legislature therein was held in 1822. The original buildings, which are still occupied, are of brick, plain. but very substantial in their nature. A hand- some additional structure for executive and library purposes was erected in 1894. Colleges.—[See Universities and Col- leges. ] ~ Churches.—[See Religious tions. | . Continental Congress.—The sessions of the Continental Congress within the limits of Pennsylvania were held as follows: In Phila- delphia, September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774, and May 10, 1775, to December 12, 1776; March 4, 1777, to September 18, 1777; Lancaster, September 27, 1777; York, Sep- tember 80, 1777, to June 27, 1778; Philadel- phia, July 2, 1778, to June 21, 1783. Cities and Towns.—Below is a list of the principal cities and towns, with their popula- tion, as shown by the U. S. census report of 1890 : Denomina- CITIES AND _ POPULATION. BOROUGHS. CouNTIES. 1890, Philadelphia city ...... Philadelphia..... 1,046,964 Pittsburgh city........ Allegheny........ 238,617 Allegheny city... .... Allegheny........ 105,287 Scranton city.......... Lackawanna..... 75,215 Reading city........... BOPkS 6 cesiana. exes 58,661 Erie city.............. UPI C sds oe eonseetnns 40,634 Harrisburg city........ Dauphin ......... 39,385 Wilkes-Barre city...... Luzerne .......... 37,718 Lancaster city......... Lancaster........ 32,011 Altoona city ......... Baits occc8 sia cack aas 30,337 Williamsport city...... Lycoming........ 27,132 Allentown city......... Lehigh.... ... .. 25,228 Johnstown city ........ Cambria.......... 21,805 York borough ....... eVOEK iy cs asauie os ae 20,793 McKeesport borough...Allegheny........ 20,741 Chester city............ Delaware......... 20,226 Norristown borough...Montgomery...... 19,791 Shenandoah borough. .Schuylkill........ 15,944 Lebanon city ......... Lebanon.......... 14,664 Easton city....... .... Northampton..... 14,481 Shamokin borough..... Northumberland... 14,403 Pottsville borough..... Schuylkill........ 14,117 Pottstown borough... -Montgomery...... 13,285 Hazleton borough......Luzerne.......... 11,872 New Castle city........ Lawrence......... 11,600 Mahanoy City borough.Schuylkill.....,.. 11,286 OIL City eicccieas oe cx paainios Venango..... 1... 10,932 Carbondale city........ Lackawanna...... 10,833 Columbia borough...... Lancaster..... .. 10,599 Bradford city........., McKean.......... 10,514 South Bethlehem boro Northampton .... 10,302 Pittston borough ...... Luzerne.......... 10,302- Nanticoke borough ....Luzerne.......... 10,044 Beaver Falls borough..Beaver............ 9,735 Meadville city ..........Crawford........, 9,520 Plymouth borough.... Luzerne.......... 9,344 Steelton borough ...... Dauphin........., 9,250 Butler borough ........ Butler..........., 8,734 Braddock borough...... Allegheny ....... 8,561 Phoenixville borough..Chester.........._ 8,514 Dunmore borough ..... Lackawanna..... 8,315 Mount Carmel borough.Northumberland.. 8,254 Titusville city ......... Crawford ......., 8,073 West Chester borough. Chester 8,028 AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 21 Danville borough...... Montour.......... 7,998 Homestead borough....Allegheny........ 7,911 Chambersburg borough.Franklin ......... 7,863 Carlisle borough........ Cumberland...... 7,620 Sharon borough........ Mercer ........... 7,459 Lock Haven city....... Clinton........... 7,358 Ashland borough...... Schuylkill........ 7,346 South Chester borough.Delaware......... 7,076 Washington borough ..Washington...... 7,063 Bethlehem borough....Northampton..... 6,762 Bristol borough........ Bucks ccceund cess 6,553 Uniontown borough....Fayette .......... 6,359 Franklin city.......... Venango......... 6,221 Du Bois borough....... Clearfield ........ 6,149 Tamaqua borough..... Schuylkill........ 6,054 Sunbury borough...... Northumberland.. 5,930 Huntingdon borough...Huntingdon...... 5,729 Corry city........... og 84 BENG Sotceigls 4 ere dota 5,677 Connellsville borough..Fayette .......... 5,629 New Brighton borough.Beaver ..... sane 5,616 South Easton borough.Northampton..... 5,616 Conshohocken borough.Montgomery ..... 5,470 Milton borough........ Northumberland.. 5,317 Middletown borough...Dauphin.......... 5,080 Sharpsburg borough...Allegheny........ 4,898 Tyrone borough........Blair ............. 4,705 Wilkinsburg borough..Allegheny........ 4,662 Bloomsburg borough ..Columbia......... 4,635 Tarentum borough ....Allegheny........ 4,627 Warren borough....... Warren..... ..... 4,332 Greensburg borough...Westmoreland ... 4,202 Towanda borough ..... Bradford ........ 4,169 Renovo borough ....... Clinton .......... 4,154 Mauch Chunk borough.Carbon .......... 4,101 Monongahela city...... Washington ..... 4,096 Olyphant borough ..... Lackawanna .... 4,083 Archbald borough ....Lackawanna .... 4,032 Lansford borough ..... Carbon........... 4,004 Criminals.—[See Prisoners. | Centennial Exhibition.—The Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, held in 1876, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniver- sary of the independence of the United States, was the first great World’s Fair in America, and one of the most successful known up to that date. It was liberally aided by Penn- sylvania, and owed most of its success to the active and intelligent effort of citizens of Philadelpbia and the State at large. Climate.—The climate of the State is that of the Central temperate zone, with consider- able variation between its northern and south- ern sections. As arule, there is about two weeks difference between the extreme north and south. This, of course, is somewhat varied by the altitude of the several localities. The summers of the southern counties are very hot at times, while those of the south shore of Lake Erie are almost uniformly pleasant. The temperature of the latter region is great- ly affected by the large body of water, so that spring sets ina week earlier than in the elevat- ed sections to the east and south of the lake, while winter commences a week later. The same influence makes the lake shore portion of Erie county one of the best grape, fruit, berry and melon regions of the world. Coat of Arms.—An authentic copy of the coat of arms of the State will be found on a preceding page of this book. Congressmen.—[ See Representatives in Congress of the United States. | Congressional Districts.—Under the cen- sus of 1890 the State is entitled to thirty Con- gressmen, being only four less than New York, which at one time was much more ahead of Pennsylvania in population and representa- tion. For want of proper apportionment, twenty-eight of these are elected by Congres- sional Districts and two by the State at large. Erie and Crawford counties constitute the 26th Congressional District. A list of the Congressmen who have represented Erie county will be found in the Political Record. Constitutions.—The State has had three Constitutions since the Revolution, viz.: The first adopted in 1776; the second in 1790, and revised in 1888; and the third (being the one now in force, a copy of which is appended), adopted December 18, 1878. Under the old Constitutions, most of the State and county officers were appointed by the Governors; now, with rare exceptions, they are elected by the people, except for limited periods. Penn- sylvania, always patriotic, was the second of the States to ratify the Federal Constitution, which was framed in her chief city in 1787. [See United States Constitution. ] Courts.—The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, consisting of seven judges, a superior court, of the same number, and the several county, district and minor courts. The Supreme judges are chosen by the people for twenty-one years, each one becoming Chief Justice in turn, according to the expira- tion of his term. The salary of each Supreme Judge is $8,000 a year, with $500 additional to the Chief Justice. The judges of the superior court hold office for ten years, and receive a salary, each, of $7,500 per annum. Each county with 40,000 inhabitants constitutes a separate judicial district. The salaries of the county judges vary from $4,000 to $7,000 a year, being largest in Philadelphia and Alle- gheny counties. Their term of office is ten 22 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY years. All judicial salaries are paid out of the State treasury. [For a list of judges in Erie county see the general history of the county. | Debt.—The extensive public improvements upon which the State embarked in its early history created a large debt, which was at one time a very heavy burden. By wise legisla- tion this debt has been practically wiped out of existence. With assets on hand in the sinking fund, it was less than two and a half millions on the 80th of November, 1894. The figures below, from the U. S. census reports of 1890 give the entire debt of the State at that date: STaTE, MunicipaLt, County anp ScHooL District DeEsr. 1880. 1890. Total debt, less sink- ing fund........... $107 ,201,692 $71,041,675 Per capita........... 25.0 13.51 State debt (see above) 13,883,218 4,068,610 County debt.......... 9,781,384 7,841,484 Municipal debt....... 81,081,128 54,208,547 School district debt.. 2,455,902 4,893,034 AVERAGE INTEREST CHARGES ON ABOVE Dest. 1880. 1890. Annual interest CHATPe «node wea wees $7,444,813 $5,778,853 Average rate of in- tOTES Cine iissswmarapaawes 5.78 5.35 Interest charge per CaPItascivcccseccaas 1.74 1.10 MortcGaGEs IN Force January 1, 1890. ON FARM ON CITY OR AVERAGE AMT. LAND. TOWN PROPERTY. OF MORTGAGES. $613,105,802 $491,260.895 $1,183 Declaration of Independence.—The most important historical event that ever hap- pened on Pennsylvania soil, and the greatest in the history of America, was the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This moment- ous incident took place in what is now known as Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, on the 4th of July, 1776. The building is preserved just as it was at the time of the Declaration, and contains numerous interesting relics of the Revolution. It is generally regarded as the most sacred place in American history. The old bell, which rang out ¢ Liberty through the land,” is kept in the building, and is an object of great curiosity. The signers of the Declara- tion from Pennsylvania were as follows: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. Early Settlements.—The first settlement of Pennsylvania is generally credited to the Swedes, who located on the Delaware river in 1638. They established several forts and vil- lages on that stream and its‘tributaries, and gave name to various localities in the extreme southeastern portion of the State. Delaware river and bay had been previously visited, however, by the Dutch, who established them- selves at various points south of Philadelphia, within the present limits of the State of Dela- ware. It is not certain that they may not have settled in Pennsylvania in advance of the Swedes, but if such is the case no authen- tic recordremains. The Delaware region was conquered by the English in 1664, recovered by the Dutch in 1672, and returned to the English two years later. Beginning at the latter period, it was settled rapidly under English auspices, principally by Quakers, who came to enjoy religious freedom. On the ac- quirement of Pennsylvania by William Penn, in 1681, he took prompt steps to induce emi- gration. The liberal laws and government he instituted attracted the notice of those who objected to the established churches of Europe, and it was not long until there was a large in- flux of Quakers, Welsh dissenters, and Pres- byterians from Scotland and the north of Ire- land. An extensive colony of Mennonists, or German Baptists, and Dunkards, came in dur- ing the period between 1698 and 1780, and these were joined about the latter date by a host of German Lutherans, who continued to arrive for a number of years. The Germans settled on the rich lands of the southeastern counties, while the Scotch-Irish gradually pushed forward into the western districts, each nationality giving character to the sections in which it located. The German emigration. ceased about 1750 or ’60, and did not revive until after the Revolution. Few Catholic Irish or Germans settled in the State until a comparatively modern date. As long as the crown of England held control the English and Scotch-Irish element dominated, but some years after Independence the Germans rose into political power, and, for a long period, elected most of the public officers, and gave tone to State legislation. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 23 Eminent Men.—Among the eminent men who have been connected with the history of Pennsylvania were: William Penn, the founder; Benjamin Franklin, the greatest ‘¢ all-round man” the American nation has produced; Anthony Wayne, the Revolution- ary hero; Stephen Girard, the millionaire and philanthropist; Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution; Chief Justice Gibson, the profound jurist; John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat, and Robert Fulton, who brought the idea into prominence before the public; Benjamin West, P. F. Rothermel and Thomas Hovenden, the famous painters ; Lind- ley Murray, the grammarian; David Ritten- house, the mathematician; David Wilmot, the anti-slavery agitator ; Simon Cameron, the shrewd politician; William Strong and Jeremiah 8S. Black, the distinguished lawyers ; Thaddeus Stevens, ‘“‘ the great commoner ;” Edwin M. Stanton, the ‘‘organizer of vic- tory” in the late war; Stephen Decatur, and David D. Porter, the brilliant naval officers; Generals McClellan, Meade, Hancock, Rey- .nolds, Geary and Hartranft, leaders in the war for the Union; Geo. W. Childs and Andrew Carnegie, the liberal givers ; and many others, second only to these in reputation, whose names appear on other pages of this book. Elections.—The city, ward, borough and township elections are held on the third Tues- day of February, and the general elections for State and county officers on the Tuesday next following the first Monday of November. Executive Officers.—The principal exec- utive officers are: Governor, Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, Secretary of the Commonwealth (ap- pointed) , AttorneyGeneral (appointed), Audi- tor General, State Treasurer, Secretary of In- ternal Affairs and Superintendent of Public Instruction (the latter appointed), Adjutant General (appointed), Insurance Commissioner (appointed), Superintendent of Banking (ap- pointed), State Librarian (appointed), Fac- tory Inspector (appointed), and Superintend- ent of Public Printing (appointed). These officers are assisted by numerous deputies and chiefs of departments, and there are a great variety of boards, commissions and minor posi- tions, making a list too long for publication here. Founder of the State.—The State was founded by William Penn, who acquired it by gift from King Charles II of England, in liquidation of claims held by his father, a dis- tinguished admiral, against the crown of that country. The charter from the King was dated March 4, 1681, and is still in good pres- ervation at Harrisburg. By the King’s order, and against Penn’s protest, the province was named Pennsylvania (meaning Penn’s woods or forest) in honor of the distinguished serv- ices of his father. On securing possession of his territory, Penn drew up “a form of govern- ment and a code of laws, all bearing the stamp of his benevolent mind.’’ His prevailing pur- pose was to establish a commonwealth that should be devoted to peace, good morals, general education and religious freedom. His course of action was so different from that of other colonial founders, and his dealing with the Indians was so just and humane, that his name is illustrious as that of one of the wisest and greatest of men. Penn’s first visit to the province was on the 27th of October, 1682. He returned to England in 1684, and made a second visit in 1699, remaining some two years. By religion he was a Quaker, and he made many sacrifices and suffered severe per- secution in behalf of personal and religious liberty. He was born in London October 14, 1644, and died of paralysis at Rushcombe, England, July 380, 1718 “His enduring monument is the great State founded by him ‘in deeds of peace.’”’ : First Things.—The first stone turnpike in the United States was built between Philadel- phia and Lancaster, by a private company, in 1792-4. The first canal of any considerable length within the limits of the Union was begun in 1792, with the intention of construct- ing a water way between the Delaware at Philadelphia and Lake Erie, at or near Erie. The first line of coaches between Philadelphia and Pittsburg was started in August, 1804, via Harrisburg, Carlisle, Bedford and Greens- burg, the time from one terminus to the other occupying seven days. The first carriage in the world moved by steam on common roads was built by Oliver Evans and successfully operated at Philadelphia in July, 1807. The first railroad in America was built at a stone quarry in Ridley township, Delaware county, in 1808. The railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia was opened for travel in October, 1884 (being part of the State improvement system), and the first boat on the main line of the State canal between the latter place and 24 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Pittsburg reached the Ohio in the same month. The Pennsylvania railroad, the first great line of the kind in the State, and one of the ear- lest through systems in the country, was com- pleted to Pittsburg in 1854. The first really successful steamboat was built by Robert Ful- ton, a Pennsylvanian, though the idea of pro- pelling boats by steam had previously been patented by John Fitch, another citizen of the State, who made some experiments on the Delaware which foreshadowed the future use- fulness of his scheme. Flag of the United States.—The Na- tional Flag, which was designed by a Philadel- phia lady, Mrs. Betsey Ross, was adopted by the Continental Congress, sitting in that city, on the 14th of June, 1777. The resolution to that effect was as follows: ‘‘ That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, represent- ing a new constellation.” Describing the flag, Charles Sumner said: ‘‘ The stripes of alternate red and white on the United States flag proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Its stars, white on a field of blue, proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation, which receives a new star with every new State. The two together signify union, past and present. The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our fathers. White is for purity; red for valor; blue-for justice.” In commemoration of the adoption of the national emblem, the 14th of June in each year has been set apart as ‘‘Flag Day,” and is generally observed, more especially by the schools. By a later act of Congress to the one above men- tioned, a star is added upon the admission of every new State. French War.—As is more fully detailed in the general history of Erie county, the French at one time claimed all the country from the headwaters of the. Allegheny river, down the Ohio, to the mouth of the Missis- sippi. Their claim was disputed by the English. The French made their base of operations at Erie (formerly known as Presque Isle), and established a chain of forts from there southward, among other points, at Waterford (LeBoeuf), Franklin (Venango), and Pittsburg (Duquesne). Early in 1758, George Washington, then a young man, was sent to LeBoeuf-to inquire into the purpose of the French. Receiving an evasive answer, he returned to Virginia, and headed a force to drive the French out of the country. The latter pushed forward a thousand men from Erie to Pittsburg, and forced Washington, with a small detachment, to capitulate. Brad- dock’s expedition, in behalf of the English and English colonists, was organized in 1758, with Washington,as an aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief. It. consisted largely of British regulars, added to a considerable body of Colonial troops from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. The French and their Indian allies waited in ambush at a point on the Monongahela river, ten miles from Pittsburg, where they surprised Braddock and effected one of the most complete routs in history. A second army was organized in 1758 by the English, assisted by the Colonies, who march- ed to attack Fort Duquesne. The French, on learning of the superior force of their foes, abandoned the fort, which was promptly christened Fort Pitt, in honor of the great English premier. Soon after the French dis- appeared from the western part of the State, and, by a treaty of peace in 1762, relinquished all claim to the country. By the same treaty Canada became a British province. Fruits.—Every variety known to the north temperate zone grows in profusion, especially apples, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, prunes, quinces, grapes, and apricots. Floods (Great.)—Some of the most de- structive floods ever known have occurred in Pennsylvania. Scarcely a year passes that much damage is not done along the rivers and creeks of the State, due mainly to the cutting off of the timber. The most terrible calamity that ever happened in Pennsylvania took place on May 81, 1889. Heavy rains had oc- curred all over the State, filling every stream to excess. A large dam onthe South Fork of the Conemaugh river burst suddenly, let- ting out an immense volume of water that swept everything before it. The flourishing towns of Johnstown and. Conemaugh were practically wiped out of existence. It is esti- mated that from 8,500 to 4,000 persons lost their lives, and that the flood caused the de- struction of $75,000,000 worth of property. The sympathy of the whole country was aroused in behalf of the surviving population, and donations of money, clothing, etc., were TAOMAS MIFFLIA, SIMON SNYDER. WILLIAM FINDLAY. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 25 sent in to an unprecedented amount, the total cash contributions alone being $8,746,819. The same unusual period of rains caused great mischief along the valleys of the Juniata and the West Branch, especially at Williamsport and Lock Haven, in the latter region, but the disasters at those points were almost lost sight of in view of the overwhelming calamity at Johns- town. It is characteristic of the American people that the citizens of the latter place set to work immediately to retrieve their misfor- tune, and to-day Johnstown is larger and more prosperous than before the disaster. An- other memorable flood took place on Oil Creek June 5, 1892, caused, as before, by the breaking of a dam. It did vast damage at Titusville and Oil City, and led to much loss of life. The floods of 1892 extended all over the northwestern part of the State, and were particularly disastrous at Union City, in Erie county, and Irvineton, in Warren county. An account of this and other serious floods in Erie county will be found in the ensuing chapters. Fish and Fisheries.—The fisheries of the State are quite extensive, being most produc- tive in the Delaware, near Philadelphia; in the Susquehanna, below Columbia, and in Lake Erie at Erie city. Shad are caught in great numbers in the rivers named, and white fish, pike, sturgeon, bass, perch, herring and other fish in Lake Erie. The rivers and creeks were once well stocked with a large variety of fish, but they have decreased in consequence of the dams and the filth poured into the streams by the cities, towns, mines and factor- ies. Brook trout, once plentiful, are now only found to any extent in the mountain streams. The State has established several fish hatcheries, and the Fish Commission are making a strong effort to restock the lakes and streams. The following statistics, from the censuses of 1880 and 1890, show the extent to which fishing is carried on in a commercial way: PERSONS CAPITAL VALUE OF EMPLOVES. INVESTED. Propvuct. T8805 veguidanndte 552 119,810 $320,050 1890. cs cccavcues 2,631 735,035 903,005 [See General History of Erie County. ] Franklin, Benjamin.—The most illustri- ous person in Pennsylvania history was born in Boston in 1705, and died in Philadelpha, after residing there most of his life, and fill- ing almost every important position in the gift of his State and country, on the 17th of April, 1790, aged about 88 years. He was buried by the side of his wife in the cemetery of Christ Church, Philadelphia, at the south- east corner of Fifth and Arch streets, where the slab that covers his remains is open to the public view, through an iron railing, on the line of the public walk. The follow- ing epitaph was written by Franklin when he was only twenty-two years old: THE Bopy OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, PRINTER, (LIke THE COVER OF AN OLD BOOK, ITs CONTENTS TORN OUT, AND STRIPPED OF ITS LETTERING AND GILDING), LiES HERE FOOD FOR WORMS. BuT THE WORK SHALL NOT BE LOST, For IT WILL (AS HE BELIEVES) APPEAR ONCE MORE, IN A NEW AND MORE ELEGANT EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED BY THE AUTHOR. Farms and Farm Products.—The United States census reports give these statistics in regard to farms and farming products, exclu- sive of live stock: NuMBER OF Farms, Etc, AVERAGE IMPROVED UNIMPROVED SIZE IN TOTAL. ACRES. ACRES. ACRES. 1870. ....174,041 11,515,965 6,478,235 103 1680. ....313,542 13,423,007 6,368,334 93, 1890. ....211,557 13,210,597 5,153,773 87 VALUATION OF Farm LANDs. LAND & IMPLE- LIVE BLDGS. MENTS, ETC. STOCK. 1870 (depre- ciated cur- rency)..... 1,043,481,582 36,658,196 115,647,075 1880 (gold basis)..... 975,689,410 35,473,037 84,242,877 1890 (gold basis)..... 922,240,233 39,046,855 101,652,758 BusHELS OF CEREALS PRODUCED. BARLEY. B’KWHEAT. CORN. 1870 wis cee eee ee 529,562 2,532,173 34,702,006 F880 vricece cdceae cao 3e 438,100 3,593,326 45,821,531 B90 bc isda tin wine 493,893 3,069,717 42,318,279 26 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY oats. RYE. oo ANIMALS. 18705 scnsawaeuess 36,478,585 3,577,641 19,672,96 TSRO wi cicceene-s: 33'841.439 3,683,621 19,462,405 | Elk and Geers ane cariakaeazesess pet 1 to Dec. 1s 595,499 | Gquirrels.......e-ee cece eee eeees ‘ j - Ere eee ee ae ee Hees and rabbits.......--.+--++5 Nov. lto Jan. 1 Hay, PoraToEs anp ToBaAcco. HAVY— POTATOES— TOBACCO— FIsH. 1870 2 a a9 a9. oo sey 3.467, 5 Salmon or speckled trout....... ane e i i bby a5 hile ds we ee : ,889, 1880....... 000: 2,811,517 16,284,819 36,943,272 roe oo ae nee ee oe ane Si : . Tab, : TOO obec euses 4,331,582 12,899,315 28,956,247 Peter raed Pe sae Sept. 1 to May 1 PouLtTRY AND Eccs. OTHER EGGS— Governors and Lieutenant-Governors. CHICKENS. FOWL. pozEns. | —Under the original system the Governors 1880 wna Seve ene ces 6,620,016 740,787 34,377,889 | were appointed by William Penn and his fam- 1890 ss ca etre Garnns 10,381,781 999,604 50,049,915 Game Laws.—The Acts of Assembly make it lawful to kill wild birds, animals and fish in the State—excepting Pike county and the Delaware river—only within the periods stated below; the penalties for infringement thereof being from $5 to $50: Birps. Tike y Ss Spar cas hon Sie in oon ie ais Oct. 15 to Jan. 1 Duck Sweuiiengaces vices seu oar Sica Sept. 1 to May 1 Plover. oie iyseearerss sad gnarbeoleknnate Sept. 1 to Dec. 1 Wood Cok ences isle ae este esieaainivice July 4 to Jan. 1 Oiladil siccowersiiaene cede eee e ag wee Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 Oct. 1 to Jan. 1 Sept. 1 to Dec. 1 Ruffled grouse or pheasants Rail and reed birds ily, who also named the legislative council. William Penn himself acted as Governor for some six years. The last proprietary Governor was John Penn, a grandson of the founder— who was deposed in 1776, together with all officers of the royal government. During the Revolution, and up to the adoption of the Constitution of 1790, the presidents of the Supreme Executive Council acted as Govern- ors. Among the most famous of these were John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Mifflin. The Governors and Lieuten- ant-Governors have been as follows [See sketches of Governors on other pages]: GOVERNORS. NAME. COUNTY. TERM OF OFFICE. Under the Constitution of 1790. 1—Thotnas Mifflit’es.:3 ccccerencccneeas Philadeiphia................4. ..Dec. 21, 1790, to Dec. 17, 1799. 2—Thomas McKean.............--.006: Chesté facies cssuieneawana seen’ Dec. 17, 1799, to Dec. 20, 1808. 3—Simon Snyder.......... 0. cece eee eee WiaiOfees ssa x ngioege tie sais velnion 1,047,507 9,633,822 1830 sewn vee cat's sue: 1,348,233 12,866,020 17,069,453 23,191,876 31,443,321 38,558,371 50,155,783 62,622,250 The figures for the United States in 1890 are exclusive of Alaska and Indians, including which and whom it is estimated that the popu- lation in that year was 62,979,666. MALE AND FEMALE POPULATION IN PENN- SYLVANIA. MALE. FEMALE. 1870 sanetinovnecn Suet 1,758,499 1,763,452 TBS0 siaiaicine ave dam. h aeansusvennishe 2,136,655 2,146,236 DSO sees seewrsnetionnes 2,666,331 2,591,683 WHITE AND CoLoRED POPULATION IN PENNSYLVANIA. WHITE. COLORED. TVS70 dauiatcese dss vecnalaciuns 3,456,609 65,294 1380 sc cleke ke vesn cecues 4,197,016 85,535 TEI 6 sinude CeWReee pee e 5,148,257 109,757 NATIVE AND ForEIGN POPULATION. NATIVE. FOREIGN. WSS ccteaiee ova cay enaaws 3,609,953 587,063 1390. csap ein nase Gees ews 4,412,294 845,720 Persons of foreign parentage in 1890, 1,000,580. CHINESE, JAPANESE AND INDIANS. CHINESE. JAPANESE. INDIANS. Cy 0 ee 13 i 34 1880............ 148 8 184 1890: Giseee es ees 1,146 32 983 Of the native-born population in 1890, 2,198,872 were males and 2,218,428 females; of the foreign-born in the same year, 467,459 were males and 878,260 females. The colored population in 1890 consisted of 56,477 males and 58,280 females. The foreign-born population, 845,720 in all, came from the countries below named: Canada 12,171, Mexico 114, Central America 57, South America 271, West Indies 1,047, England 125,089, Scotland 82,081, Wales 38,301, Ireland 248,836, Great Britain (not specified) 56, Germany 280,516, Austria 21,088, Holland 652, Belgium 3,149, Luxem- burg 19, Switzerland 6,149, Norway 2,288, Sweden 19,846, Denmark 2,010, Russia 17,815, Hungary 24,901, Bohemia 2,031, Poland 25,191, France 9,088, Italy 24,662, Spain 216, Portugal 131, Greece 81; balance from various nations. By CountTIEs. The population by counties was as given below : 1890. 1880. AdaIS: Oc ciiwvec sc Weasteee ier 33,486 32,455 Allemheny 04... cece cece ee ne 551,959 355,869 Armstrong .........-.0.005. 46,747 47,641 Beaveraicaaueecs ests oo he kes 59,077 39,605 Bedford .........cccceeeeeeee 38,624 34,929 Berks). dss0sses 2s ocades sa gees 137,327 122,597 BY BI Gs pccieow seeders aie b-0 te wes a dcausae 70,866 52,740 Bradtord:sisiicsn tcc aeeater 59,233 58,541 Bucks .........ceceee ee eee ees 70,615 68,656 Butler irectiain wiicsecade scares 55,339 52,536 Cambria icc ves cce ee at dees 66,375 46,811 Cameron 7,238 5,159 Carbon 38,624 31,923 CON tefescedidcni oc c5cs cies 43,269 37,922 Chester 89,377 83,481 Clarion 36,802 40,328 Clearfield 69,565 43,408 Clinton 28,685 26,278 Colunibiaiiicss cogs eee ska 36,832 32,409 Crawi0td is sasascincncamaiiss 65,324 68,607 Cumberland ...............5. 47,271 45,977 Dauphin .......... 6. cece eee 96,977 76,148 DGla Ware iaiasiscwssesn syisc8ae cots 74,683 56,101 Ml keg end oe suianwe onamadiees 22,239 12,800 Eiriec: pisane i aied eet, aes Soe 86,074 74,688 Payette os iss sv aieesessn ees 80,006 58,842 POrest.ssciccsass eseeeewiannss 8,482 4,385 34 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 1890. 1880. Weta iC] F0 aio. 3 555, ches socpeusravsne! vdasieas 51,433 49,855 FGM OD ioc cecacowenerneawe S tauodes 10,137 10,149 GREENE scsi scsieaen tiniest eee 28,935 28,273 Huntingdon ..............06- 35,751 33,974 Andian as vices gunner. ores 42,175 40,527 JeflersONss 2 sisvsvwcewesian ss 44,005 27,935 JUNI aAta s 2s sx tecs vetracangaied ts 16,655 18,227 Lackawanna ............0..05 142,088 89,269 Lancaster ..........0.000005 149,095 139,447 Lawrence ............00000ee 37,517 33,312 Leébanonicccss cadidvaaueaginedcd : 48,131 38,476 Wenig wrcessnln sxe sagaxrreenes 76,631 65,969 LUzZerne oi. 6s veg sciences 201,203 133,065 LYCOMINE cece e cc. cee ewacen 70,579 57,486 MC RG ath 555 ce a5. e-ovave cd ea ocavansavans 46,863 42,565 MGTCOr stig snee taki 6a wo omcn 55,744 56,161 AVE ASIN Ei. os conser vers dss aictecalondtcrss 19,996 19,577 Monroe ........ ccc cece eee 20,111 20,175 Montgomery ................ 123,219 96,494 MOn tour sesaiee see eese664 68 cs 15,645 15,468 Northampton ................ 84,220 70,312 Northumberland ..... ...... 74,698 53,123 POPPY sg aieddene ccstse he 8 Res eee ‘26,276 27,522 Philadelphia ................ 1,046,964 847,170 IK Cai casa ole na don avons 9,412 9,663 POLER sicisiniscrie eek oavewdase 22,778 13,797 Schuylkill ................0., 154,163 129,974 SONY CER sah caniasianinincae Avon ae 17,651 17,797 SOmeErSet 5 2s cynosGdesiccecs 37,317 33,110 Sullivan ................000, 11,620 8,073 Susquehanna................ 40,093 40,354 TIO Bas p284 a7 eiivabsawon sven veers 52,313 45,814 TIMOR oc steve es ivslistadeseseveaseste ess 17,820 16,905 Wenn gy oo f4: pcccnozauenie Satenne's 46,640 43,670 W APO ty eic cen iin ad apodametenee + 37,585 27,981 Washington... ............ 71,155 55,418 Wayne? jaleacnce vies ates 31,010 33,513 Westmoreland............... 112,819 78,036 Wyoming ................000, 15,819 15,598 OUI ea putreciuenus 1,171 UIVErSalistSi iis. cack edu secon aa oe eeanine oe 2,209 Independent Societies..............020eeee 948 The number of church organizations was 10,175; of church buildings, 9,624; and the estimated value of church property, $85,- 917,370. Royal Government.—The government established by Penn and perpetuated under royal control was overthrown in 1776, and, from that time on, the people have managed their own affairs (except when checked and humbugged by the politicians!). Railroads.—The railroads of Pennsylvania are among the most important in the whole country. The system owned and controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company is not excelled in the world; and the Reading and Lehigh Valley systems are only second in ex- tent, value and usefulness. According to Cram’s Atlas for 1894, Pennsylvania stood second in the number of miles of railroads in use of all the States in the Union, Illinois alone exceeding her. Of the 9,027 miles of railroad in the State at that date, the system of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company em- braced fully one-half, and two-thirds of the balance were owned or controlled by the Reading and Lehigh Valley systems. The following statistics from the reports of the Internal Revenue Department for 1894 show the vast railroad interests of the State : Capital.. UAE MEGA Gina sally ies $1,927,222,235 Wages paid to employes............. 99,683,991 EMM PlOVES sisi csssiv «90a aigessios yaa Caiee s 176,228 Revenue and Expenses.—[See Public Receipts, etc.] Revolution—American.—It is to the last- ing honor of Pennsylvania that she was not only one of the first of the American colonies to protest against the wrongs of the mother country, but one of the most patriotic in defence of liberty and independence. Much of this was due to the influence of Benjamin Frank- AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 37 lin, who was one of the greatest men, if not the very greatest man, America has produced. The first Continental Congress met in Phila- delphia in 1774; Washington was elected commander-in-chief:at the same city in 1775; the Declaration of Independence was adopted there in 1776, and the National Flag in 1777. Pennsylvania’s chief city was the seat of the Colonial government during the entire period of the Revolution, except when it was com- pelled by military necessity to move to Lan- caster and York for brief seasons. The earliest troops to march to the defence of Boston from south of the Hudson were from Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania troops were known as “The First Regiment of the Army of the United Colonies, commanded by Gen. George Washington.” The victories of Washington at Trenton and Princeton, in 1776, were chiefly secured by Pennsylvania troops. During 1777 occurred on Pennsylvania soil the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and the ‘‘ mas- sacre of Paoli,” all in September of that year. A number of minor engagements took place about the same time. The British entered Philadelphia in September, 1777, and evacua- ted it in June, 1778. During the winter of 1777-78, the American army was encamped at Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill river above Philadelphia, where they endured hardships that are almost beyond description. When the British left Philadelphia they were fol- lowed by Washington across New Jersey, his army consisting of Pennsylvania troops mainly, with whom he won the famous victory of Monmouth. Peace with Great Britain came in the winter of 1782-3. The Revolution was largely won through the aid of Pennsylvania officers, soldiers, statesmen and financiers, and many of the most important events of that momentous era took place upon her soil. New England and Virginia have taken most of the glory of the Revolution to themselves, but it is none the less true that had it not been for the efforts of Pennsylvania, the “‘Keystone of the arch,’’ the result would have been very doubtful. Rivers.—The principal rivers are the Dela- ware, Susquehanna and Ohio. Of these the main tributaries are as follows: Delaware— Schuylkill, Lehigh and Lackawaxen ; Susque- hanna—North Branch, West Branch and Juniata; Ohio—Allegheny, Monongahela and Beaver. Of the minor streams, the following are worthy of special note: Flowing into the North Branch of the Susquehanna, the Che- mung, Wyalusing and Lackawanna; _ into the West Branch, the Sinnemahoning, Clear- field, Buffalo, Pine and Lycoming; into the main stream of the Susquehanna (below Northumberland), the Conestoga, Fishing, Swatara, Conodoquiuet, Codorus and Cone- wago; into the Allegheny, the Conewango, Venango (or Freneh creek), Clarion, Red- bank and Kiskiminetas; into the Mononga- hela, the Youghiogheny and Cheat rivers; into the Beaver, the Shenango and Mahoning. The Delaware is navigable from Trenton to the ocean; the Susquehanna flows into the head of Chesapeake bay, which is one of the great water courses of the country; and the Ohio, by its connection with the Mississippi and other rivers, forms one of the grandest systems of inland communication to be found in the entire world. Rebellions and Riots.—In 1791 Congress passed an act laying a small excise on distilled spirits. This was very distasteful to the coun- ties adjacent to Pittsburg, where the manufac- ture of whisky was carried on to a consider- able extent. The citizens generally deter- mined to oppose the law, and various acts of violence and insubordination ensued, covering a period of two or three years. Affairs finally reached a stage where President Washington felt it to be his duty to compel an enforce- ment of the laws. In 1794 he called out the militia of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey to the number of 15,000, with orders to march upon the revolting counties and put down all resistance to the laws of Congress. This large force overawed the in- surrectionists, and peace was promptly re- stored. The incident is known in history as “the Whisky Insurrection.” THE FRIES REBELLION. A disturbance on a smaller scale broke out among the Germans of Lehigh, Berks, North- ampton and adjoining counties in 1798-9, which is chiefly interesting from the political effect it had upon those sections. It was headed by John Fries, and was directed against a so-called ‘* house tax’’ that had been levied by Congress. Several arrests were made, but no serious punishment followed. The agitation connected with this tax is gen- 38 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY erally understood to have given the counties named their Democratic complexion. NATIVE AMERICAN RIOTS. In April and May, 1844, occurred the dis- turbances in Philadelphia which are usually known as the Native American riots. A bit- ter feeling, for some cause, had grown up be- tween a portion of the native born Protestants of that city and the foreign Catholic element, which resulted in serious encounters, the loss of a number of lives and the destruction of some Catholic church property. The State militia were called out, and peace was restored only after several persons had been killed and wounded. ANTI-SLAVERY RIOTS. One of the most important affairs in its results that ever happened in the State took place at Christiana, Lancaster county, in 1851. An attempt was made to restore an escaped slave to his master, under the Fugitive Slave Law of Congress, which was resisted with bloody consequences. This was at the time when hostility to slavery was steadily increas- ing in the North, and the “Christiana riot,”’ as it became known, had a good deal of influ- ence in creating the Republican party. RIoTs or 1877. The riots in 1877 grew out of a dispute between the railroad corporations and their employes over the wages and hours of labor. For several days in July of that year nearly every railroad in the State was obliged to sus- pend operations. July 20th to the 25th, a mob held possession of Pittsburg, and the dis- turbances that ensued led to the death of fifty persons and the destruction of $5,000,000 worth of property. As usual in such cases, the militia were ordered out, and matters were quieted, after a great expenditure of money and much difficulty. HOMESTEAD RIOT. The latest of the great disturbances in the State took place at Homestead, near Pitts- burg, in 1892. A dispute between the Car- negie Company and some of its employes led to an extensive strike. The company pro- cured the aid of the “Pinkertons,’’ a well- known detective force, who attempted to se- cure possession of the works at Homestead by strategy. The strikers learned of their pur- pose, and determined to resist it. A severe fight occurred on July 6th, in which about twenty persons were killed and twice as many wounded. The whole military force of the State was placed upon duty, and succeeded in so settling matters that the works partially re- sumed operations in about amonth. As in sev- eral of the instances above mentioned, this trou- ble had a considerable political effect. Mr. Car- negie was a leading Republican, and the tend- ency of the Homestead affair—whether just- ly or unjustly is not argued here—was to drive thousands of working men into the ranks of the Democratic party, and undoubtedly led to the election of Grover Cleveland for the sec- ond term as President of the United States. Richest Counties in the United States. ——-According to the United States census of 1890, the six leading counties in the value of agricultural products are as follows: 1, Lan- caster county, Pa., $7,657,790; 2, St. Law- rence county, N. Y., $6,054,160; 8, Chester county, Pa., $5,863,800; 4, Worcester county, Mass., $5,489,480; 5, Bucks county, Pa., $5,411,370; 6, Colusa county, Cal., $5,857,350. Lancaster has long been known as the richest farming county in America. The above figures do not refer to the value of the land, but give the value of the yearly farming product. Lncaster leads by great odds in the value of farm lands, although it is only one-third as large as St. Lawrence county, N. Y. Seal of the State.—An authentic engrav- ing of the seal of the State is printed on another page of this book. State Buildings.—[See list of Public Buildings. | Slavery Abolished.—As in most or all of the Colonies, slavery at one period was legal in Pennsylvania. The act for the gradual abolishment of slavery passed the Assembly in March, 1780. Every person in bondage at the time was continued in slavery for a cer- tain period, and the children of slaves became free at a certain age. The first important proposition in Congress to limit slavery in the territories owned by the United States was offered by David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania representative, in 1840, and the first national convention of the Republican party was held in Pittsburg in 1856. Summer Resorts.—The best-known sum- mer and health resorts are at Bedford, Cres- SUK y Moor yy AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 39 son, Minnequa, Cambridge and Saegertown. The mineral springs at Bedford have been cel- ebrated for upwards of a century, and are among the most valuable known. Forty or fifty years ago they were the most popular in the Union, being a famous resort for politi- cians of national fame. The water is not sur- passed by any of a mineral character in any part of the world. State Officers.—[See Executive Officers. | Salaries of State Officers.—The salaries and fees attached to some of the principal ex- ecutive offices were as follows in 1894: Salary (per year). Fees, etc. Govern Of. ccedsauin os nem ewise $10,000 etaie ee Lieutenant-Governor.......... 5,000 ~—... se Sec’y of the Commonwealth.... 4,000 $13,067 Deputy Secretary............65 2,500 = a. reae Auditor General............... 4,000 525 State Treasurer............... 5,000 525 Attorney General............. 3,500 7,500 Deputy Attorney General...... 4,000 ~~... Insurance Commissioner ...... 3,0C0 4,370 Dep. Insurance Commissioner 1,800 _....... Secretary of Internal Affairs 4,000 ...... Dep. Sec’y of Internal Affairs 2,300 _....... Supt.of PublicIustruction .... 4,000 ...... Two Deputies (each) ........... 1,800 ...... Adjutant General.............. 2,500 ba ear State Librarian ............... 2,500 ~Si.. First Assistant Librarian...... 1,800 =... se Superintendent of Banking.... 4,000 ...... Deputy Supt. of Banking...... 1,400 Sis. Factory Inspector............. 3,000 ce eae Sec’y Board of Agriculture.... 2,500 —...... Dairy and Food Commissioner 2,000 _...... Supt. of Public Printing...... 1,600 —...... Stone.—The State contains nearly all the ornamental and building stones in general use, but slate, limestone and sandstone are the leading products in this direction. Slate is procured in great quantities on the south side of the Kittatinny range, in Lehigh and North- ampton counties, andthe other stones named are distributed generally over the State. A fine variety of marble is occasionally found, and the greenstone, extensively used in building in some of the eastern cities, belongs almost ex- clusively to Pennsylvania. Senators from Pennsylvania in U. 8S. Congress.—[See U. S. Senators. School System.—The public-school sys- tem of Pennsylvania is properly regarded as one of the best in the Union. It wasa cardinal principle of William Penn, in establishing his colony, that a good education should be open to every child. born within its limits. One of the earliest provisions made by the State was for an academy in every county. When the common- school idea. came into vogue, it was eagerly embraced by the old-time Governors, who lost no opportunity for recommending it to the Legislature. The first law on the subject was passed during the administration of Gov- ernor Wolf, and this wasimproved, at various times, by the efforts of Governors Ritner, Packer, and others, aided by such men as Thaddeus Stevens, Thomas H. Burrowes and Henry L. Dieffenbach. A more complete ac- count of the system than can be given here will be found in the General History of Erie County, and a list of the State Normal Schools is given elsewhere. The following statistics, from the State reports for 1898, are of value in this connection : Number of school districts............ 2,386 Number of schools..............000005 24,012 Number of male teachers............. 8,245 Number of female teachers........... 17,718 Average salaries of male teachers per AMON ieee dew ema dededwecis heen 8 143 94 Average salaries of female teachers per month. ......0.ccsaiees eicaeuee 33 04 Average length of school term in MONthSeraic ce geeses ok 5 eas wedien ewes 8.10 Number of pupils...............00.00- 994,407 Cost of tuition for the year..... .... $8,468,437 The estimated value of the school property in some of the counties and towns in northwestern Pennsylvania in the same year was as follows: Counties (exclusive of cities)—Crawford, $231,40€ ; Erie, $268,554 ; Venango, $193,500; Warren, $271,- 550. Cities and towns—Bradford, $100,000; Corry, $52,304; Erie, $600,000; Meadville, $150,000; Oil City, $112,500 ; Titusville, $100,000. Triangle.—[For an account of the pur- chase of the Triangle, embracing Presque Isle Bay and the northern portion of Erie county, see the General History of said county. ] Timber.—Probably no portion of the world was more densely covered with timber than Pennsylvania when opened to white set- tlement. Every kind of timber that grows in the temperate zone was found in the State, including among the principal varieties pine, hemlock, oak, hickory, walnut, ash, cucumber —in fact, almost any sort that can be named. Unfortunately for the welfare of the State, the timber has been recklessly destroyed, and but few large bodies remain, most of these being at remote points. Suggestions have been made in favor of a general system of tree 49 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY propagation, and there is not much doubt that some day the mountains and hillsides will again be covered with valuable timber, under the care of the State. Measures have also been adopted that will eventually lead to a wider cultivation of trees along the highways and upon the banks of the streams. Universities and Colleges.—No State in the Union has given more attention to the higher education of its citizens than Pennsyl- vania. Aside from her splendid system of Public Schools and Academies, some of the largest and best Colleges and Universities in the world are located within her boundaries. Among the most widely known are the fol- lowing : University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Western University of Pennsylvania, Pitts- burg. Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. Girard College for Orphans, Philadelphia. Lehigh University, Bethlehem. Allegheny College, Meadville. State College, Centre county. Dickinson College, Carlisle. Haverford College, near Philadelphia. Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster. St. Vincent’s, near Latrobe. Villa Nova, near Philadelphia. Swarthmore College, Delaware county. Lafayette College, Easton. Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg. Washington and Jefferson College, Can- onsburg. Bucknell University, Lewisburg. Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny. Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr. These are but a few of the leading educa- tional institutions of the State, nearly every county containing one or more that are only second to the above-named in reputation. United States Constitution.—As previ- ously mentioned, the convention which drafted the Constitution of the United States was held in Philadelphia. The State was the second one to ratify this invaluable document, little Delaware, under Pennsylvania influence, hav- ing been the first. The ratification by Dela- ware was December 7, 1787, and by Pennsyl- vania December 12th of the same year. The delegation from Pennsylvania who helped to frame and who signed the Constitution of the United States were : Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Thomas Fitzsimmons, James Wilson, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Gouverneur Morris. ; United States Officers—Principal ones from Pennsylvania.—Below is a list of the persons from Pennsylvania who have held leading positions in the civil service of the United States Government at Washington: PRESIDENT, APPOINTED PRIOR TO THE CONSTITUTION, Thomas Mifflin..................000008 Nov. 3,1783 Daliad ice ebaone .Feb. 2,1787 PRESIDENT, ELECTED UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. Term of service. James Buchanan...................000. 1857-1861 VICE PRESIDENT. George M. Dallas....................04. 1845-1849 SECRETARIES OF STATE. Timothy Pickering..................... 1795-1800 James Buchanan ........... 0.0.0 cece eue 1845-1849 JeremiahS,. Black...................0.. 1860-1861 SECRETARIES OF THE TREASURY. Albert Gallatin. ..4. coeiiassccccnnccens 1801-1814 Alexander J. Dallas.................... 1814-1817 Richard Rush... ................ cece, 1825-1829 Samuel D. Ingham..................... 1829-1831 William J. Duane....................., —— 1833 Walter Forward.................000.05, 1841-1843 William M. Meredith.................. 1849-1850 SECRETARIES OF WAR. Timothy Pickering..................... —— 1795 James M. Porter....................... 1843-1844 William Wilkins.........,............. 1844-1845 Simon Cameron........................ 1861-1862 Edwin M. Stanton......... secteur, 1862-1868 J. Donald Cameron ..................... 1876-1877 SECRETARIES OF THE NAVY William Jones..........0.......0.04.... 1813-1814 Adolph E. Borie........................ —— 1869 SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. T. M. T. McKennan.................... —— 1850 POSTMASTERS GENERAL, Timothy Pickering..................... 1791-1795 James Campbell..................000077 1853-1857 John Wanamaker...................... 1889-1893 ATTORNEYS GENERAL, William Bradford...................... 1794-1795 Richard Rush........................., 1814-1817 Henry D. Gilpin........0......00 00001! 1840-1841 Jeremiah S. Black..................., 1857-1860 Edwin M. Stanton.............0000001| 1860-1861 Wayne MacVeagh..................... —— 1881 Benjamin H. Brewster............... 1881-1885 FRANCIS R. SAUNK. ney WILLIAM F. JOANSTON. WILLIAM BIGLER. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. ASSOCIATE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT. James Wilson.......... 0.0 e cee eee eee 1789-1798 Henry Baldwin.................. 0. cee 1830-1846 Robert C. Grier soscs caw cs sacseaesage 1846-1870 William Strong: 0.25 cisco. ey ccnwes wanes 1870-1880 George Shiras: ..0s esas seed nans ween ss 1892 —— PRESIDENTS PRO TEM OF THE SENATE, William Bingham..................8... =~ 1797 James ROSS: 14 cqcscvoxeciece maawnnease . 1797-1799 Andtew Grego: . scccccsins oda nes age td -—-— 1809 SPEAKERS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. F. A. Muhlenberg ..................005 1789-1791 F. A. Muhlenberg..................04. 1793-1795 Galusha A. Grow........ cc ce eee 1861-1863 Samuel J. Randall..................0.. 1876-1881 CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COURT OF CLAIMS. Joseph (Casey. ocvsis snaceucisle ¢ wens wae 1863-1870 United States Senators.—The Senators in the Congress of the United States from Pennsylvania have been as follows : William Maclay 2.5 sdsaeseei scenes dean 1789-1791 Robert Morris .......... 0. ccc cece ee eens 1789-1795 Albert Gallatin. ........ 0... cee eee eee 1793-1794 James ROSSii6 3s sgesa se etawncaaeesuniwaedis 1794-1803 William Bingham..... .............6.. . .1795-1801 John P. G. Muhlenberg — 1801 George Logan. 3 sssisieetrsseiy aa mado, 1801-1807 Samuel Maclay........ ccc. cece ee eee ee 1803-1808 AMALEW GLO RP ei ios a ecmeeniad a Suid aegis 1807-1813 Michael G61 sicsnuis ccia ncaa aiwuad vee aa un 1808-1814 Abner Leacock ............20 cece ee eee eee 1813-1819 Jonathan Roberts... .............02-- ee 1814-1821 Walter Lowriess ¢ .ccscainweowea sus ceeng ee 1819-1825 William Findlay............ ccc cece eee 1821-1827 William Marks......... Fi Spvautiees eee Sosvananceyer ane 1825-1831 Isaac D. Barnard........-...... eee eens 1827-1831 George Mifflin Dallas.................... 1831-1833 William Wilkins............. 20... eee eee 1831-1834 Samuel McKean..............0..0c ce eeee 1833-1839 James Buchanan ........... cee eee eee 1834-1845 Daniel Sturgeon.................. 200 eee 1839-1851 Simon Cameron ............0cce cence eee 1845-1849 JaMeS COOPEE sno ciccivaedvoscws vada ewa wes 1849-1855 Richard Brodhead.................00 sees 1851-1857 William Bigler j cascesasiccs cea stenavenerey 1855-1861 Simon Cameron .......... 0. cece eee eens 1857-1861 David Wilmot ................. eee _... 1861-1863 Hd gar COW... peeccinces cece caieaieauien ane ee 1861-1867 Charles R. Buckalew ...............0000- 1863-1869 Simon > Cameron «iscs. ccc adeldeoee ya sua oe 1867-1877 John SCottss vchssncs ese vs haviowds gineeess 1869-1875 William A. Wallace...........0.0.0e eee 1875-1881 J. Donald Cameron .................0005- 1877 —— John I. Mitchell.......... 00.0000 cece eee ee 1881-1887 Matthew Stanley Quay.................. 1887 —— United States Representatives in Con- gress.—Of the members in the House of Rep- resentatives of Congress from Pennsylvania, 41 the gentlemen named below have been among the most distinguished : Henry Baldwin, Horace Binney, James Buchanan, Charles R. Buckalew, Joseph Casey, John Cessna, Hiester Clymer, John Covode, Andrew G. Curtin, John Dalzell, John L, Dawson, Henry D. Foster, Albert Gallatin, Galusha A. Grow, Samuel D. Ing- ham, Charles J. Ingersoll, Joseph R. Inger- soll, J. Glancy Jones; George A. Jenks, William D. Kelley, John C. Kunkel, D. J. Morrell, Edward J. Morris, F. A. Muhlen- burg, William Mutchler, James Pollock, Alex- ander Ramsey, Samuel J. Randall, Glenni W. Scofield, John Scott, William L. Scott, Joseph C. Sibley, Thaddeus Stevens, Andrew Stewart, Charles W. Stone, William Strong, James Thompson, Richard Vaux, William Wilkins, David Wilmot, George W. Wood- ward, Hendrick B. Wright. » WVice-President.—The only Vice-Presi- dent the State has furnished to the Union was George M. Dallas of Philadelphia, elected with President Polk, in 1844. The unsuccessful candidates from the State for Vice-President have been as follows: Albert Gallatin, on the Anti-Jackson ticket with William H. Craw- ford, in 1824; and William Wilkins, Demo- crat, John Sergeant, Anti-Jackson, and Amos Ellmaker, Anti-Masonic, all in 1832. The parents of John C. Calhoun, the eminent statesman, elected Vice-President on the ticket with Jackson, in 1828, moved from Lancaster county to South Carolina but a short time be- fore his birth. Votes for Governor.—[See Political Rec- ord in General History of Erie County. ]— The following has been the vote for the prin- cipal Gubernatorial candidates since the adop- tion of the Constitution of 1790: 1790.—Thomas Mifflin, Democratic-Re- publican, 27,725; Arthur St. Clair, Federal- ist, 2,802. 1798.—Thomas Mifflin, Dem-Rep., 18,590 ; F. A. Muhlenberg, Fed., 10,706. 1796.—Thomas Mifflin, Dem-Rep., 80,020; F. A. Muhlenberg, Fed., 1,011. 1799.—Thomas McKean, Dem-Rep., 38,- 086; James Ross, Fed., 32,641. 1802.—Thomas McKean, Dem-Rep., 47,- 879; James Ross, Fed., 17,087. 1808.—Simon Snyder, Dem-Rep., 67,975 ; James Ross, Fed., 89,575; John Spayd, Inde- pendent, 4,006. 42 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 1811.—Simon Snyder, Dem-Rep., 52,819; William Tighlman, Ind., 3,609. 1814.—Simon Snyder, Dem-Rep., 51,099; Isaac Wayne, Fed., 29,566; G. Lattimer, Ind., 910. 1817.—William Findlay, Dem-Rep., 66,- 831; Joseph Hiester, Fed., 59,272. 1820.—Joseph Hiester, Fed., William Findlay, Dem-Rep., 66,800. 1828.—J. A. Schulze, Dem-Rep., 89,928; Andrew Gregg, Fed., 64,205. 1826.—J. Andrew Schulze, Dem-Rep., 72,710; John Sergeant, Fed., 1,175; scatter- ing, 1,174. 1829.—George Wolf, Democrat, 78,219; Joseph Ritner, Anti-Masonic, 51,776. 1832.—George Wolf, Dem., 91,335 ; Joseph Ritner, Anti-Mas., 88,165. — 1835.— Joseph Ritner, Anti-Mas., 94,028; George Wolf, Dem., 65,804; Henry A. Muhl- enberg, Dem., 40,586. 1838.—David R. Porter, Dem., 127,827; Joseph Ritner, Anti-Mas., 122,321. 1841.—David R. Porter, Dem., 186,504; John Banks, Whig, 113,478; F. J. Lemoyne, Abolition, 768. 1844.—Francis R. Shunk, Dem., 160,822 ; Joseph Markle, Whig, 156,040. 1847.—Francis R. Shunk, Dem., 146,081 ; James Irvin, Whig, 128,148; Emanuel C. Reigart, Native American, 11,247; F. J. Le- moyne, Abolition, 1,861. 1848.—William F. Johnston, Whig, 168,- 522; Morris Longstreth, Dem., 168,225. 1851.—William Bigler, Dem., 186,489 ; William F. Johnston, Whig, 178,084; Kimber Cleaver, Native American, 1,850. 1854.—James Pollock, Whig and Know Nothing, 208,822; William Bigler, Dem., 166,991 ; B. Rush Bradford, Native American, 2,194. 1857.—William F. Packer, Dem., 188,846; David Wilmot, Fusion, 149,189; Isaac Hazle- hurst, American, 28,168. 1860.—Andrew G. Curtin, Republican, 262,846 ; Henry D. Foster, Dem., 230,289. 1863.—Andrew G. Curtin, Rep., 269,506 ; George W. Woodward, Dem., 254,171. 1866.—John W. Geary, Rep., 307,274; Hiester Clymer, Dem., 290,097. 1869.—John W. Geary, Rep., 290,552; Asa Packer, Dem., 285,956. 1872.—John F. Hartranft, Rep., 358,887 ; 67,905 ; Charles R. Buckalew, Dem., 317,760; S. B. Chase, Prohibition, 1,197. 1875.—John F. Hartranft, Rep., 804,175 ; Cyrus L. Pershing, Dem., 292,145; R. Audley Brown, Pro., 18,244. 1878.—Henry M. Hoyt, Rep., 319,490; Andrew H. Dill, Dem., 297,187; Samuel R. Mason, Greenback, 81,758; Franklin H. Lane, Pro., 8,758. 1882.—Robert E. Pattison, Dem., 855,791 ; James A. Beaver, Rep., 315,589; John Stew- art, Independent Republican, 48,743 ; Thomas A. Armstrong, Greenback-Labor, 28,996; Alfred C. Pettit, Pro., 5,196. 1886.—James A. Beaver, Rep., 412,285; Chauncey F. Black, Dem., 869,634; Charles S. Wolfe, Pro. and Ind. Rep., 82,458; Robert J. Houston, Greenback-Labor, 4,835. 1890.—Robert E. Pattison, Dem., 464,209; George B. Delamater, Rep., 447,655; John D. Gill, Pro., 16,108; Theo. P. Rynder, Green- back-Labor, 224. 1894.—Daniel H. Hastings, Rep., 574,801 ; William M. Singerly, Dem., 833,404; Charles L. Hawley, Pro., 23,488; J. T. Ailman, Populist, 19,464; Thomas H. Grundy, Social- ist-Labor, 1,738. Vegetable Productions.—The vegetable productions are those that pertain to the tem- perate zone. Everything that can be grown in the temperate regions is produced in Penn- sylvania, with, perhaps, as much ease and abundance as in any part of the world. Valuations.—The valuations of real and personal property for 1890, with other statis- tics relating to the wealth and taxation of the State, as given in the United States census re- port for that year, are herewith submitted : Real estate, with improvements ..... $3,781,117,285 Live stock and farming implements., 140,699,613 Mines and quarries.................. 361,888,490 Machinery of mills and product on WANG 6 jw neiadkane ieee 0d are vseeares Railroads and equipments........... Telegraphs, telephones, shipping and 486,944,603 455,446,676 CAN AS esis dhe ciieramntiaded se cuadecs., 87,347,794 Miscellaneous........................ 777,541,606 Gold and silver coin and bullion..... 99,700,483 BOta lays corer tditie koe cai be $6,190,746,550 WEALTH AND TAXATION. 1880. 1890. True value of real and personal property. . .$4,942,000,000 $6,190,746,550 AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 43 Real Personal Estate. Property. Assessed value........ $2,042,016,599 $617,780,310 1880. 1890, Ad valorem taxation..$28,799,334 $37,337,062 Per capita....... 0... 6 72 7 10 Rate per hundred of assessed valuation.. 171 1 40 Rate per hundred of true valuation...... 0 58 0 60 Wayne, Anthony.—An extended account of the life, death and important public services of Gen. Anthony Wayne, Pennsylvania’s most eminent soldier in the Revolutionary war, will be found in the General History of Erie County. Wealth. — Pennsylvania is second in wealth of the States of the Union, being exceeded only by New York. War of 1812.—During the last war with Great Britain, usually known as the ‘* War of 1812,”” but which really lasted from June 19, 1812, to the spring of 1815, the people of Pennsylvania were enthusiastic for the Amer- ican cause. When the war opened the Goy- ernor asked for 14,000 volunteers, and three times as many were offered within a few weeks. The British at no time gained a footing on Pennsylvania soil, but the troops of the State were kept constantly on the alert to repel rumored or threatened attacks upon Erie and Philadelphia. Detachments of Pennsylvania volunteers rendered good service in the battles along the Niagara, and others responded with alacrity to the call of the country when Wash- ington was burned and the enemy marched upon Baltimore. The victorious fleet of Perry was partly built and entirely created and equipped in the harbor of Erie, and largely manned by volunteers from the Pennsylvania militia stationed at the post. During the war the little navy of the United States rendered distinguished service, on the ocean as well as the lakes, and among the most famous of its heroes were four Pennsylvanians—Stephen Decatur, James Biddle, Charles Stewart and Jesse D. Elliott. Each of these received well-merited testimonials from his native State: [Fora full account of Perry’s victory and the events of the war along the north- western border, see the General History of Erie County. ] War with Mexico.—In the war with Mexico, 1846-7, the State offered nine regi- ments--four times her quota. Two regiments and two additional companies were accepted and sent to the seat of war. These were among the most efficient in the service, and, on several occasions, won the special commen- dation of the commanding general. The State has erected a handsome monument to the mem- ory of her fallen soldiers in the Mexican war on the capitol grounds at Harrisburg. War for the Union.—Under the direction of her patriotic Governor, Andrew G. Curtin, Pennsylvania was one of the most ardent and energetic of the loyal States in defense of the Union during the memorable struggle which lasted from 1861 to ’65. President Lincoln’s first call for 75,000 volunteers to maintain the national authority was made on the 15th of April, 1861. On the 18th of that month over 500 Pennsylvania soldiers reached Washing- ton, being the first State troops to arrive at the National Capital in response to the Presi- dent’s proclamation. On the way through Baltimore they were grossly insulted, but suc- ceeded in getting to Washington without a fight. By the end of April twenty-five regi- ments had been sent forward——-nearly twice the number asked for from the State—and steps had been taken for the organization of a large reserve force. From that time to the close of the war Pennsylvania met every call, heartily and promptly, and there was scarcely an important battle in which her brave men did not take a conspicuous part. The total number of men furnished by the State during the contest was 387,284, of whom 60,000 were killed in battle, 85,000 mortally wounded, and many thousands died of disease in camps, hospitals and elsewhere. BATTLES AT GETTYSBURG. In the month of June, 1868, the main Southern army, led by General Lee, invaded the State, by way of the Cumberland Valley, in the hope of transferring the scene of war in the East from Virginian to Northern soil. A portion of the force reached York and penetrated to within a few miles of Harris- burg; but learning that the Army of the Po- tomac was marching northward, Lee rapidly concentrated his men in the direction of Get- tysburg. The two armies came together at the latter place, and a series of battles ensued on the Ist, 2d and 8d of July, which were not only among the most desperate of the war, but among the bloodiest in history. The 44 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Southerners were repulsed at every point. and Lee was glad to withdraw his shattered force through a gap in the mountains to a place of safety south of the Potomac. It is estimated that the Southerners engaged at Gettysburg were 70,000 in number, with 250 guns; the Union troops numbered some 80,000, with 300 guns. The Union loss, as given by Gen- eral Bingham, in his address at Gettysburg in 1889, was: 8,068 killed, 14,492 wounded and 5,455 missing—a total of 22,990; that of the Southerners was never fully returned, but is thought—in killed, wounded and prisoners— to have been about 27,500. Many prominent officers were killed, or died of their wounds, including Generals Reynolds, Vincent, Weed, Zuck and Farnsworth of the Union army, and Generals Pender, Barksdale, Armstead, Garnett and Semmes of the Southern. Gen- eral Meade, commander of the Union forces, several of his leading officers, pre-eminently Generals Hancock, Reynolds, Geary, Vincent, Gregg and McCandless, and 26,628 of his army, were Pennsylvanians. BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG. A sudden dash into the State, for the os- tensible purpose of retaliating upon the North for the injuries done to property in the Shen- andoah Valley by the Union troops, was made on July 29, 1864, by a considerable body of Southerners under the lead of General Mc- Causland. They reached the outskirts of Chambersburg early in the morning of the 80th of July, and entered the place soon after daylight, there being no Union force in that section of sufficient size to oppose their prog- ress. An immediate demand was made upon the citizens for $100,000 in gold, or $500,000 in greenbacks, to be paid within a half an hour, under the threat of burning the town. This, of course, the people were unable to do, and, while negotiations were going on, the town was set on fire in a hundred places, and the main portion destroyed. Millions of dol- lars’ worth of property were eaten up by the flames within a few hours, and 3,000 persons robbed of their homes, money and valuables. This was one of the most atrocious acts of the war, and has rendered the name of General McCausland forever odious. Having accom- plished their object, the enemy hurried back to the Southern lines, plundering the Union farmers of horses, provisions, etc., on the way. GENEROUS CARE OF SOLDIERS’ AND SAILORS’ ORPHANS. The State has remembered the deeds of its gallant men who fought in defense of the Union, with characteristic generosity. One of its first acts was to provide a series of orphan schools, in which the children of de- ceased soldiers were educated, clothed and cared for at the public charge until they reached an age where they could provide for themselves. It has also fitted up a home at Erie for sick and disabled soldiers and sailors, which is doubtless the best institution of the kind in any State of the Union. [See Gen- eral History of Erie County and City of Erie. ] PENNSYLVANIA’S BATTLE FLAGS. The torn and blood-stained battle flags of the several Pennsylvania regiments in the last war are sacredly preserved in a handsome room in the Capitol building at Harrisburg. World’s Fair.—The part taken by Penn- sylvania in the World’s Columbian Exposi- tion at Chicago, in 1898, was greatly to her credit. She was one of the first common- wealths to respond to the request of the Ex- position authorities for aid, voting the liberal sum of $300,000, and by various acts, official and otherwise, doing much to encourage their efforts. Her State building was one of the finest on the grounds, and was generally con- ceded to be the best adapted for its purpose. Among the many articles from the State was the Liberty Bell, which attracted remarkable attention, and was unquestionably the most precious relic at the Exposition. Pennsyl- vania Day, September 7, 1898, was a proud event for the State, over 200,000 people hav- ing attended, as shown by the official reports of the Fair authorities. CONSTITUTION OF PENNSYLVANIA. [AvorpreD DEcEMBER 18, 1873; Went Intro Operation January Ist, 1874, Excepr as OTHERWISE PRovIDED THEREIN. ] PREAMBLE. We, the people of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the bless- ings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly in- voking His guidance, do ordain and establish this constitution. ARTICLEI. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. That the general, great and essential prin- ciples of liberty and free government may be re- cognized and unalterably established, we declare that— SECTION 1, and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of en- joying and defending life and liberty, of acquir- ing, possessing, and protecting property and re- putation, and of pursuing their own happiness. 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The county rate of taxation has been as follows for twenty-six years : Mills Mills 19697 uence. 15° AST6cnckiowue oases 3 1870 x vnneeironean as BO) AST socdtiailiacter de 2% 187A cs vas conciot Be TBP rceduedseantecs 3 B70 Sey seiie sone: Bi, ABD Ys ng ewes vec 2% B73. sc ccorteed ters 3. 218805 sunenaeee's or 2 Ae 7a aa a Be ACI soem acas 2% ABTS ac Agseamsenne ee BCs Sisson 2% Mills. Mills 1883. owatide Been Bre ABO paaujveweniees 2 1884 sc sous apenas Oe, | AeOl secaneteeboudes 2 1825 vv eae teeta 3 1802) inate yas 2 1886565 caracasae 3 1803-6004 Gaerne 2 ABB Zid treatiys Geeta 3 1804 orspracases vee 2 WB8B inci pege aha ene BIO. 1605 vcr pamanawe 2% 1889.0... ose 2% *Since 1871 the rate has been based upon the assumed value of the property. The county is entirely free from debt, and has been for a long period. CHAPTER IV. REMAINS OF A Pre-Historic RAcE—GuLFS, CascADES AND NATURAL CURIOSITIES. ARIOUS indications have been found in the county which lead to the con- clusion that it must have been peopled centuries ago by a different race from the Indians who were found here when it was first visited by white men. When the link of the Erie and Pittsburg R. R. from the Lake Shore road to the dock at Erie was in process of construction, the laborers dug into a great mass of bones at the crossing of the public road which joins the Lake road near Scott’s Pioneer Farm. From the pro- miscuous way in which they were thrown to- gether, it is surmised that a terrible battle must have taken place in the vicinity at some day so far distant that not even a tradition of the event has been preserved. The skulls were flattened, and the foreheads were seldom more than an inch in width. The bodies were in a sitting posture, and there were no traces that garments, weapons or ornaments had been buried with them. At a later date, when the roadway of the Philadelphia and Erie R. R., where it passes through the Warfel farm, was being widened, another deposit of bones was dug up and ruthlessly disposed of. Among the skeletons was one of a giant, side by side with a smaller person, probably that of his wife. The arm and leg bones of this native American Go- liath were about one-half longer than those of the tallest man among the laborers; the skull was immensely large; the lower jawbone easily slipped over the face and whiskers of a full-faced man, and the teeth were in a per- fect state of preservation. Another skeleton was dug up in Conneaut township some years ago which was quite as remarkable in its dimensions. A comparison was made with the largest man in the neigh- borhood, and the jawbone readily covered his face, while the lower bone of the leg was nearly a foot longer than the one with which it was measured, indicating that the man must have been eight to ten feet in height. The bones of a flathead were turned up in the same township some two years ago witha skull of unusual size. Relics of a former time have been gathered in that section by the pailful, and among other curiosities a brass watch was found that was as big as a com- mon saucer. In preparing the bed for the ‘‘ Nickel Plate” railroad, near the bridge over Elk creek, in Girard township, numerous skele- tons were thrown up by the steam shovel and carelessly dumped to one side with as little respect as if they had been the bones of so many cattle. An ancient graveyard was discovered in 1820 on the land now known as the Carter and Dickinson places in Erie. Dr. Albert Thayer dug up some of the bones, and all in- dicated a race of beings of immense size. XS c. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 81 PRE-HISTORIC MOUNDS. No less curious are the pre-historic mounds and circles found in Wayne, Harbor Creek, Conneaut, Girard, Springfield, LeBauf, Ve- nango and Fairview townships. The ‘princi- pal one in Wayne township, which is still in a fair state of preservation, is near the road from Corry to Elgin, and but a short distance east of the springs which furnish water for the State fish-hatching establishment. It con- sists of a circle of raised earth, surrounded by a trench, from which the dirt was dug, the whole enclosing about three acres of unbroken ground. The embankment has been much flattened and reduced by the elements, but was still from one to two feet high and from three to four feet wide at the base some years ago. When the first settlers discovered it the interior of the circle was covered with forest trees. Half a mile west, a little to the north of the road, on a slight eminence, was another and smaller circle, which has been plowed down, leaving no vestige behind. The circles in other portions of the county are or were similar in their general features, with one exception, to the above. Those in Harbor Creek township were situated on each side of Four-Mile creek, slightly southeast of the big curve of the Philadelphia and Erie R. R., on points overlooking the deep gulf of that stream. The one on the west side of the creek is still in a fair state of preservation. The two Conneaut circles were near together, while those in Girard and Springfield, four in number, extended in a direct line from the west- ern part of the former township to the south- western part of the latter. One of the circles partially occupied the site of the cemetery at East Springfield. In Fairview township there was both a circle and a mound, the first at the mouth of Front run, and the second at Man- chester. The latter, at the close of the last century, was about six feet high and fifteen feet in diameter. A tree was cut on one of the embankments in Conneaut that had at- tained the age of 500 years. The circles in LeBeeuf and Venango were very much like those above described. BONES OF A MAMMOTH AND A MYSTERIOUS BEAD, The skeletons of extinct species of animals have frequently been found in the county. Perhaps the most extraordinary discovery of that nature was made near Girard borough, in the early part of May, 1880. A man, while plowing, turned up some bones of a mammoth, which were thought to indicate an animal fif- teen feet long and from twelve to thirteen feet high. One of the teeth weighed three and a half pounds, having a grinding surface of three and a half by four inches. Pieces of the tusks led to the opinion that they must have been eight or ten feet long. In the year 1825, while Francis Carnahan was plowing along the lake shore in Harbor Creek township, he turned up a strange look- ing bead, which was cleaned and preserved. It fell into the hands of L. G. Olmstead, LL. D., a traveler and archeologist of some reputation, who pronounced it to be one of the celebrated ‘‘ Chorean beads” of ancient Egypt, and kept it until his death as a relic of rare interest and value. CURIOSITIES OF NATURE. Among the natural curiosities of the coun- ty are the “gulfs” or gullies through which the lake shore streams descend from the divi- ding ridges in the south to the level of the lake. The gulf of Four-Mile creek extends from near the crossing of the Station road, about half a mile south of Wesleyville, to Ripley’s mill, in Greene township, a distance in a direct line of. about four miles, and by the course of the stream of about one-half more. Its depth varies from fifty to a hundred and fifty feet, with sides that are almost perpen- dicular at some points, and its width is from one to two hundred feet. The deepest part is at a spot locally known as Wintergreen Gulf, some four and a half miles southeast of Erie. The ‘‘gulf”? of Six-Mile creek, which is wholly in Harbor Creek township, is very similar to the other. It commences about half a mile south of the Buffalo road and ter- minates a little north of the Station road, being about the same length as the gully of Four-Mile creek. Its deepest and most pic- turesque point is at the Clark settlement, where the banks are not far from a hundred and fifty feet high. “Gulfs” of a like nature attend every one of the lake shore streams, but are less pictu- resque, generally speaking, than the two above named, The most interesting are those of Twelve-Mile creek, near the lake; of Sixteen- ‘ 82 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Mile creek, in the southern part of North East township; of Twenty-Mile creek, near the New York line; of Walnut creek, where it was crossed by the old aqueduct; of Crooked creek, in Springfield township: and of Elk creek, in the southern part of Fairview town- ship. ifs Girard township, south of the borough, is the ‘‘Devil’s Backbone,” which owes its novelty, as in the other cases mentioned, mainly to the long-continued action of water. The West branch of Elk creek winds around the base of a ridge for about one-fourth of a mile until it reaches its point. This it sud- denly turns, and then runs in the opposite direction along the same ridge. The constant washing of the base has reduced the ridge to very slender limits, so that it has a width on top, in some parts, of barely two feet. The summit is about a hundred feet above the bed of the creek, and the sides of the ridge are nearly perpendicular. WATERFALLS. On Falls run, a small stream that flows into Elk creek from Franklin township, is a cascade, some fifty feet in height, which is said to be quite attractive at certain seasons. A beautiful waterfall formerly existed on the bank of the bay at the mouth of Cascade run, but was destroyed in the building of the Erie and Pittsburg R. R. and dock, to the regret of many citizens. A small waterfall still exists on Little Cascade creek, where it joins the bay, within the city limits, and numerous low but picturesque falls prevail on most of the lake shore streams as they approach their terminus. CHAPTER Vv. STREAMS, INTERIOR Lakes—Bnrinvces, &c. RIE COUNTY, though one of the best-watered sections of the State, has no rivers and few streams of im- portance. A large number of creeks and runs have their origin on the dividing ridges, and course through the county in all directions, so that almost every farm has its running water, but only three or four are of sufficient size to be given a place on the general map of the commonwealth. The dividing ridges separate the water system of the county into two distinct divisions, which may be classed for the present purpose into the Northern and Southern. All of the streams which form on the north side of the main ridge flow into Lake Erie, and thence, through Niagara river, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, to the Atlantic ocean. Those on the south side invariably unite with the Allegheny river, which in turn pours its waters into the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Gulf of Mexico. Of the southern streams the most important is French creek, the common recep- tacle of all the rest, with the exception of the Brokenstraw (which flows through a corner of Wayne township), and the head-waters of Spring creek and Oil creek, having their sources, the former in Concord and the latter in that and Union township. The principal tributaries of French creek, within the county, are the East, West and South branches, the outlet of Lake Pleasant and LeBoeuf creek. The Conneauttee, which rises in Franklin township, and the Cussewago, the sources of which are both in that township and Elk creek, join the same stream in Crawford county. The leading lake shore streams are as fol- lows : Conneaut, Crooked, Elk, Trout, Walnut, Mill, Four-Mile, Six-Mile, Twelve-Mile, Six- teen-Mile and Twenty-Mile, the five last men- tioned being named according to their distance from Erie City. The smaller streams which empty directly into Lake Erie, are Raccoon AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 33 and Turkey runs, in Springfield township ; Trout run, in Fairview township; Fasset run, Kelso run, the Head run, and One, Two and Three-Mile creeks, in Mill Creek township; Cascade and Garrison runs, in Erie City; Five- Mile creek, Elliott’s run and Scott’s run, in Harbor Creek township ; Spring, Spafford and Averill runs, in North East township; and several rivulets, the titles of which are various- ly given. TRIBUTARY STREAMS. The tributaries of the above streams are as follows, the terminus of each being in the township indicated : french Creek.—In Greenfield township, a number of creeks and runs’; in Venango town- ship, Middlebrook Alder run and Fritts run of the West branch, and Spafford run of the East branch; in Amity township (East and West branches unite), the outlet of Lake Pleasant, Jones’ brook, Henry brook, the Hub- bell Alder run, Deerlick run, the Hatch Hol- low Alder run and Duncombe run; in Water- ford township, Davis run; in LeBoeuf town- ship, the South branch, LeBoeuf creek, Trout brook, Colt run, Mill run, Moravian run, Gill brook and Mallory run. LeBeuf Creek.—In Waterford township, the West branch, Boyd run, Trout run and Benson run. (Boyd and Trout runs empty into Lake LeBeeuf, which is really no more than an expansion of the creek.) The South Branch of French Creek.—In Concord township, Scotch run, Spring brook, Lilly run, Beaver Dam run, Spencer run, Baskin run and Slaughter run; in Union township, Scotchman’s, Wilson, Mulvin, Carroll, Pine, Tolbert and Benson runs. Conneaut Creek.—In Conneaut township, the East branch, the West branch and Marsh run. The tributaries of the East branch are Frazier’s run in Elk Creek township, and Crane and Jackson runs in Conneaut town- ship. Elk Creek.—In McKean township, the South branch; in Fairview township, Fall’s run; in Girard township, Little Elk, Hall’s run, Brandy run and Spring run. Walnut Creek.—In Mill Creek township, Thomas run; in Fairview township, Bear and Beaver Dam runs. Mill Creek.—In Mill Creek township, ‘Bladen’s run, Four-Mile Creek.—In Harbor Creek town- ship, McConnell run. Sixtecn-Mile Creek —In North East town- ship, the Borough branch. flare Creek, the only tributary of the Brokenstraw flowing from the county, joins that stream in Warren county, below Corry. Its chief inlets in Erie county are Bear creek and Scioto run. The Conneauttee is joined by the Little Conneauttee a short distance across the line, in Crawford county, and by Pratt and Her- bert creeks in Washington township. PECULIAR FEATURES. A feature of the lake shore streams deserv- ing of mention is the fact that, while those eastward from Erie City flow directly to the lake in a general northwesterly course, those in and west of the city run almost exactly westward until within a short distance of the lake, when they suddenly turn to the north, and soon after unite with the great current which pours over Niagara. This is the more noticeable of Mill creek, which rises in Greene and empties into the lake at Erie; Walnut creek, which also rises in Greene, flows across Summit, Mill Creek and Fairview townships, and terminates at Manchester; and Elk creek, which rises in Waterford, crosses McKean, Fairview and Girard townships, and enters the lake below Miles Grove. Conneaut creek is to some extent an exception to the rule, ris- ing as it does in Crawford county, flowing nearly due north through Conneaut township to within a short distance of the Girard line, and then bending abruptly westward, forming the boundary line between that and Spring- field townships, finally entering Ohio, and, after a devious course, becoming the harbor of Conneaut in that State. All of the streams in the county were formerly much larger and more reliable than now. The cutting off of the timber has had an alarming effect in drying up the streams, and the seasons of high water, which were once of two or three weeks’ duration, now last only a few days. FRENCH CREEK AND ITS MAIN BRANCHES. French Creek—the most important in the county—was variously known to the Indians as the Toranadakin and Innungah, the latter word having some reference to ‘‘a rude and 84 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY indecent figure carved upon a tree,’’ which the Seneca tribe found when they came to this region after having conquered the Eriez. The French first gave it the name of the River Aux Beufs, but changed it to the River Venango, being a corruption of the Indian word Innungah. When the Americans occu- pied the country, they dropped both the Indian and French names, and gave the stream the plain appellation of French creek. The main stream is created by the junction of the East and West branches in Amity township, just south of the borough limits of Wattsburg. The East branch takes its rise in Chautauqua county, N. Y., near the village of Sherman, and the head of the West branch is usually said to be in Findley’s lake, about two miles over the New York line, in the same county, each having a length of about twenty miles. After the junction of the East and West branches, the creek traverses Amity, Water- ford and LeBoeuf townships, leaving the county to enter Crawford in the last named. It passes through the whole width of Craw- ford county from north to south, nearly in the center of the county, and after watering half of Venango county unites with the Allegheny at Franklin. Its length from Wattsburg to Franklin cannot be less than a hundred miles. It was along the valley of this creek that Washington traveled on his visit to the French at Fort LeBoeuf, and he descended the stream in a canoe on his return journey. Outlet of Lake Pleasant—This stream, as its name indicates, carries off the excess of water in Lake Pleasant. It issues from the foot of the lake in Venango township, and empties into French creek in Amity, after a course of some three miles. The South Branch.—The South branch of French creek rises in Concord township, and unites with the main stream in LeBoeuf, a short distance below the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad bridge. It has a length of perhaps twenty miles. LeBeuf Creek was known to the French as the River Aux Beeufs, being at first sup- posed to be the main stream. It was sonamed from the number of cattle discovered by them on the flats near its mouth. The creek is formed by two stems, the eastern one of which rises on the Venango township line, and flows across Greene township, while the western has its source in Summit township, the two coming together on the northern boundary of Waterford township. On the edge of Water-. ford borough the creek enters Lake LeBoeuf, from which it issues somewhat increased in size. It joins French creek in LeBoeuf town- ship. From the head of the East branch to the mouth of the creek, the distance is about twenty miles. French creek, all three of its branches— the East, West and South—and LeBeeuf creek were at one period navigable for rafts and flat-boats, and before the building of good roads were the chief avenues for bringing goods and provisions into the county from the southern part of the State. There has been no rafting to speak of on the branches of French creek for forty years, and the busi- ness on the main stream may be said to have suspended about 1861 or ’62. STREAMS THAT EMPTY INTO LAKE ERIE. Conneaut Creek, the second largest in the county, rises south of Conneautville, Crawford county, flows in a general northerly direction through Conneaut township, nearly to the Springfield line, then turns abruptly westward and continues into Ohio. In Ohio it flows nine miles westward to Kingsville, then makes another sudden bend to the east, and comes back eight miles to Conneaut, where it turns again to the north, and, after a further course of about a mile, empties into Lake Erie not far from the Pennsylvania line, forming Conneaut harbor. It is a very crooked stream, the Jength from head to mouth being fully sixty miles, while the distance by an air line is not more than twenty-five. The East branch of Conneaut creek rises on the northern edge of Crawford county, flows through Elk Creek. township, and unites with the main stream northeast of Albion. In the latter borough it is joined by Jackson creek, which rises on the Elk creek and Conneaut line, near Crawford county. The East branch is about ten miles long, and Jackson creek some five miles. L£lk Creek rises in Waterford township and flows in a general westerly course through McKean, Fairview and Girard townships to Lake Erie, north of Miles Grove. The length of Elk creek is between twenty-five and thirty miles. An effort was made to have the mouth of this stream made the terminus of the canal, and various projects have been advocated: for AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 85 establishing a harbor there.. The name of Elk creek was given from the number of elk found in its valley. Falls run starts in Franklin township and joins Elk creek in Fairview. Brandy run rises in Fairview township and unites with Elk creek in Girard. The Little Elk, which also joins the same stream in the latter township, rises in E]k Creek town- ship. They are all small. Walnut Creek, so named because its banks are lined with walnut trees, rises on the west- ern edge of Greene township, and flows through Summit, Mill Creek and Fairview, entering the lake at Manchester. Its length is about fifteen miles. Crooked Creek rises in Lockport borough, and flows through Girard and Springfield to Lake Erie, a short distance from North Springfield. It is about ten miles long. The Head Run is the small stream that enters Presque Isle bay just above the Massas- sauga pleasure ground. Cascade Ruz is historical because a portion of Perry’s fleet was built at its mouth. It falls in- to the bay at the Pittsburgh docks, in Erie City. Mill Creek is formed by two branches, the one rising in the extreme southeastern section of Mill Creek township, and the other in the northwestern part of Greene. They unit enear the southeastern line of the first-named town- ship, and the stream enters the bay within the city limits of Erie. Mill creek cannot be less than eight miles long. It received its name from the fact that the first mill in the county was built at its mouth. Four-Mile Creek rises in Greene, runs through the western edge of Harbor Creek, and enters the lake in the northeastern corner of Mill Creek township, after a course of about eight miles. Twelve-Mile Creek heads on the line of North East and Greenfield townships, and joins the lake in Harbor Creek. Its length is about seven miles. Twenty-Mile Creek rises in Chautauqua county, N. Y., and empties into the lake in North East township, near the State line. It is from sixteen to eighteen miles long. Besides the above there are a number of smaller streams which are referred to else- where. THE INTERIOR LAKES. In the interior of the county are three small lakes—LeBeeuf, Pleasant and Conneauttee —all of which lie on the south side of the dividing ridge, and empty into French creek. Lake LeBoeuf.—This lake is in Waterford township, on the southwestern edge of Water- ford borough. It is about two-thirds of a mile long, by half a mile wide. The lake is fed by LeBoeuf creek and Boyd and Trout runs. Its outlet falls into French creek, in Le- Beeuf township. Lake Pleasant, in the southwestern corner of Venango township, is about two-thirds of a mile long by a third of a mile wide, with a depth of five to fifty feet. It has no tributary streams except two tiny rivulets, and is appa- rently fed by springs in the bottom. The out- let joins French creek in Amity township. Lake Conneauttee lies on the northern side of Edinboro, and is partly in that borough and partly in Washington township. Its length is about a mile, and its width a little over half a mile. The deepest water is about fifty feet. Big Conneauttee creek enters at its northern extremity, and leaves at the southern, continu- ing on to Crawford county, where it unites with French creek. BRIDGES, CULVERTS, ETC. Where there are so many streams, it fol- lows as a consequence that there must be a large number of bridges. None of these are very extensive or costly compared with the immense structures that are found in other parts of the country. The most expensive public bridges are those which span French creek in Amity, Waterford and LeBauf town- ships, and Conneaut creek in Conneaut town- ship, and upon the line between that town- ship and Springfield. The iron bridges of the ‘‘Nickel Plate’? railroad over Crooked, Elk, Walnut and Twenty-Mile creeks are the longest and costliest in the county. The Lake Shore railroad formerly overcame the gullies of Twenty-Mile creek, Sixteen- Mile creek, Walnut creek, Elk creek and Crooked creek by extensive trestle works, which have been replaced by substantial cul- verts and embankments that cost many thou- sands of dollars. All of the streams upon the line of this road are now spanned by stone cul- verts or iron bridges. The aqueducts of the canal over Walnut creek, in Fairview township, and Elk creek, in Girard, were at one time looked upon as wonders of engineering and mechanical skill. CHAPTER VI. Lake Erre—Bay or Presque IstE—Misery Bay—Tue PENINSULA AND THE FISHING Inpustry.—[See Chapter V., Erie City.] HE whole northern front of the county is bordered by Lake Erie and Presque Isle bay, giving a shore line, with the various indentations, of fully forty-five miles. Lake Erie is one of the chain of *‘Great Lakes,” consisting, besides itself, of Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, St. Clair and Ontario. No one of these, except St. Clair, is excelled or equaled in size by any body of fresh water elsewhere in the world. Recent measurements give the following re- sults : ‘« The greatest length of Lake Superior is 385 miles; its greatest breadth, 160 miles; mean depth, 688 feet; elevation above the ocean, 602 feet; area, 82,000 square miles. “The greatest length of Lake Michigan is 800 miles; its greatest breadth, 108 miles; mean depth, 600 feet; elevation, 5814 feet ; area, 28,000 square miles. ‘The greatest length of Lake Huron is 200 miles; its greatest breadth, 169; mean depth, 600 feet; elevation, 5814 feet; area, 28,000 square miles. ‘The greatest length of Lake Erie is 250 miles; its greatest breadth is 80 miles; its mean depth is 84 feet; elevation, 5733, feet ; area, 6,000 square miles. ‘“The greatest length of Lake Ontario is 180 miles; its greatest breadth, 65 miles; its mean depth is 500 feet; elevation, 2464 feet ; area, 6,000 square miles. “The length of all five is 1,265 miles, and the area covered by their waters is upward of 135,000 square miles.” ORIGIN OF THEIR NAMES, A prominent writer in one of the maga- zines furnishes the following information : ‘The first discoverers of Lake Ontario gave it the name ‘St. Louis;’ another party of travelers called it ‘Frontenac,’ after the great pioneer. Then came the English, who preferred to call it ‘Ontario.’ ‘‘ Lake Huron was named after the Indian tribe that lived upon its borders. “Lake Michigan was for many years called ‘Lake Illinois,’ from the tribe of Indians who lived near it. In 1719 the pioneer Sener gave it the present name of Michigan. ‘Champlain was the first one to describe Lake Superior, and on his map it is called ‘Grand Lac.’ Later on, the Jesuit fathers called it ‘Tracey,’ or ‘ Superior.’ ‘‘Lake Erie was named by the Iroquois ‘Erike,’ from a tribe living on its shores. The French called it ‘Racoon,’ or ‘Cat Lake,’ and on various old maps it appears as ‘Lac de Conty,’ ‘Lac Herrie,’ ‘Lak Erie,’ ‘Lac Erocoise,’ or ‘ Eriez.’” LAKE ERIE DESCRIBED. Lake Erie receives the outflow of Lake Huron through the St. Clair river, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit river, and empties itself through the Niagara river into Lake Ontario. The outlet of the latter is the St. Lawrence river, which, after a course of some five or six hundred miles, falls into the Atlantic ocean, the volume of water which it carries down being greater than that of the Mississippi. The breadth of Lake Erie is from thirty to eighty-four miles. The narrowest part of the lake is between Long Point, Canada, and Presque Isle, and the widest is between Ash- tabula, Ohio, and Port Stanley, Canada. The average depth of Lake Erie is less than that of any other of the chain, except St. Clair. It has few natural harbors, that of Erie being the best. In commercial importance, Lake Erie ex- cels any other of the chain. The falls of Niagara, about twenty miles below its foot, forbid direct navigation between Erie and AND HISTORIOAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 87 Ontario. This has been remedied in part by the construction of the Welland Ship canal, opened in 1829, and built and operated by the Canadian Government. Vessels pass through this artificial channel to and from Lake On- tario, the St. Lawrence river and the Atlantic ocean. The lake seldom freezes over more than a few miles from shore, but instances have been known of the ice being clogged between Long Point and Presque Isle so that teams and wagons have crossed. Navigation usually closes about the Ist of December and opens early in April. Several winters are re- corded when vessels have sailed every month of the year. [See chapter on lake naviga- tion.] It is subject to fluctuations of several feet in the height of the water, according to the direction of the wind and the amount of rainfall on the upper lakes. CURIOUS PHENOMENA. Some puzzling phenomena are reported by old settlers along the shores of the lake. Just after sunset on the 30th of May, 1823, several swells were observed at the mouths of Otter and Kettle creeks, Canada, being twenty miles apart, and the water suddenly dashed to a height of nine feet at the former point and of seven at the latter. The weather was fine and the lake had previously been calm. A similar incident was witnessed at the mouth of Six- teen-Mile creek in 1820, at that of Cunning- ham creek, Ohio, in 1826, and again at that of Grand river, Ohio, in 1830. At the second point named the water rose fifteen and at the third eight feet. Water-spouts are of frequent occurrence, as many as three having been seen at one time. A whirlwind was experienced at Conneaut, Ohio, in September, 1839, which lifted the water of the lake to a height of thirty feet. Three monster waves are report- ed as having dashed upon the dock at Madi- son, Ohio, the first of which was fifteen or twenty feet high. ‘‘In 1844 or 1845 a wave came into Euclid creek fifteen feet in height, carrying everything before it. * * * The Toledo Blade recorded a change of ten feet on December 5, 1856.” The records of lowest water are for 1808, 18, ’384 and ’95, and of highest for 1818, 788 and ’58. BAY OF PRESQUE ISLE. The Bay of Presque Isle, forming the har- bor of Erie—the only one in the county—is a beautiful body of water, about four and one- half miles long, with a breadth ranging from a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half. The long and narrow sand bank which divides it from the lake is known as the Peninsula, or in French as Presque Isle, meaning ‘‘ nearly an island.” Within a hundred years the bay extended by a narrow channel half a mile further westward than it does now. The en- trance to the bay is at its eastern end, between two long piers, which create an artificial channel 200 feet wide. Before the govern- ment improvements were made the mouth of the bay was nearly a mile in width, and obstructed by a bar which afforded only eight to ten feet of water. Now the largest vessels upon the lake can enter easily, and when within the bay are secure against the worst storms. Three lighthouses direct mari- ners to the entrance, while the course of the channel is made clear by a series of range lights. The greatest depth of water in the bay is nearly opposite the Pittsburg docks, where the lead touches bottom at twenty- seven feet. ‘ Misery Bay is a small subdivision of the bay proper at its northeastern extremity. Its name was suggested by Lieut. Holdup during the war of 1814, when the vessels of the Lake Erie squadron were anchored there. The gloomy weather ,that prevailed, and the un- comfortable condition of the crews, made the title eminently appropriate. Within this lit- tle bay were sunk two of the vessels of Per- ry’s fleet, the Lawrence and Niagara. The former was raised and taken to the Centen- nial Exhibition in 1876; the latter still lies at the bottom of the bay on the east side. Both of the bays freeze over in winter, and usually continue closed until about the Ist of April. [ For a further account of the bay, harbor and peninsula see Erie City. | THE PENINSULA. Presque Isle, or ‘‘ The Peninsula,” as it is best known, which forms the harbor of Erie, is a low sand formation about six miles long, and varying in width from three hundred feet, at the ‘“‘Head,’’ or place where it joins the mainland, to a mile and a half in its widest part. It is covered with trees and bushes, representing nearly every variety in the north, and contains several small ‘‘ ponds,’’ lakes and lagoons. Large sums of money have 2 88 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY been spent to prevent the heavy fall and spring waves from washing through the pen- insula at its narrow points. A break occurr- ed during the winter of 1828-9, another dur- ing that of 1832-8, and a third in No- vember, 1874, all of which were promptly closed at the cost of the U.S. Government. Constant vigilance is required to keep the storms from breaking through the neck of the peninsula, a result which, it is generally thought, if not speedily corrected, would cause great injury to the harbor. Several attempts have been made to propagate willows for the purpose of strengthening the neck, but they have not been successful, though a consider- able growth of those trees has sprung up naturally. It was at one time contemplated to open a channel from the west into the har- bor and a good deal of money was expended in that direction. After a few years of ex- periment, the project was given up as im- practicable. It is a matter of local tradition that several vessels entered the bay through the entrance thus created. The peninsula is constantly eroding on its north and widest part, and extending at its eastern projection. [ See Erie City. ] OWNERSHIP OF THE PENINSULA. The extracts below, from a communica- tion written by Henry W. Babbitt, of the General Land Office at Washington, are of historical value. After speaking of the pur- chase of this section by Pennsylvania, a full account of which is given further on, he says: “ By act of Legislature of February 4, 1869, the State of Pennsylvania conveyed the said Presque Isle to Marine Hospital (the pre- decessor of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home) at Erie, Pa. (Congressional Record, 49th Cong., Ist Sess., page 3,790). By act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania of May 11, 1871, title to said Peninsula or Presque Isle was tendered to the United States Marine Hos- pital, at Erie, Pa. (Ibid). ‘* By act of Congress, approved August 5, 1886 (U.S. Statutes, v. 24, page 812), the secretary of war is authorized and directed to receive and accept title from said Marine Hospital as tendered by said legislative enact- ment of May 11, 1871; $87,500 being the sum appropriated to pay for the same. ‘* From the letter of December 7, 1889, on this subject, from Thomas Lincoln Casey, brigadier general, chief engineer U. S. A,, to Hon. B. F. Gilkerson, second comptroller U. S. treasury department, I am advised that the deed of said Marine Hospital, conveying title to said Peninsula, or Presque Isle, to the United States, is dated May 25, 1871; that the acting judge advocate of the U. S. army, on the 18th of November, 1886, rendered an opinion that the acceptance of said deed, under the provisions of said act of Congress of August 5, 1886, might be signified by enter- ing upon and taking possession of the land in behalf of the United States; that the honor- able secretary of war approved this opinion and directed, December 14, 1886, that the necessary action be taken. Accordingly, in pursuance of this order, the land was entered upon, and taken possession of, in behalf of the United States, by the war department,” (which now controls the same). Capt. James Hunter, of Erie,has been custodian of the Peninsula, appointed by the U. S. government, since 1886. FISH AND FISHING BUSINESS. From Capt. John Fleeharty’s valuable and interesting contribution to the work is- sued by the State Fish Commisioners in con- nection with their exhibit at the World’s Columbian Exposition, the following facts are gathered : “Ever since the appearance of the white man on the shore of Lake Erie it has been noted for the quantity, variety and fine quality of its fish. Long before the advent of the whites the Indian was aware and appreciated this fact, and fish in connection with game was his whole food supply. In addition to the fish in the lake, all of the small streams empty- ing into it abounded with brook trout and other species of small fish. The writer when ° a boy has taken them within half a mile of the Union depot in a small stream coming down from the ridge, and emptying into Mill creek in the neighborhood of Sixteenth and State Streets. Big Cascade creek also abounded withthem. * * * Upper Millcreek,Walnut creek and Trout run were noted for their fine fishing. In fact, without particularizing, all of the streams in Erie county were prolific in fish, and all of them contained many brook trout. ‘‘When the pioneers located on Presque Isle, in 1795, they had to resort to fishing in _ SS Ss — me AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. their log canoes from the lake and bay for the purpose of adding to their food supply, and the soldiers in the forts east of Mill creek laid in a large supply each season for their ownuse. * * * The bay of Presque Isle abounded in all varieties of lake fish, particu- latly the black bass, and all fish were taken with the hook and line prior to 1880. * * #* The ponds in the Peninsula, and Pike pond on the south side of the bay, near the harbor entrance, were the spawning grounds for a large variety of fish. Pike pond was rated for the number and size of the grass pike. * * * The black bass and lake pike have always been the game fish of the lakes, and trolling in a school of black bass is the finest sport for a tour fisherman that can be con- ceived. * * * ‘¢Formerly perch abounded in the bay, particularly in Misery bay; but they are by no means as plentiful now, and yet they are not nearly as scarce as black bass in proportion. Rock bass and sunfish were some years ago exceedingly abundant. The differ- ent varieties of pike indigenous to the lakes formerly were in great numbers, but are not now nearly as numerous. The herring are also not nearly as plenteous as formerly, al- though they are still caught in large quan- tities. It used to be the occupation during the winter months of many persons to fish for them through the ice, and as many as five to eight hundred persons have been seen fishing for them through the ice in the bay, and in the lake near the piers. ‘*In 1852 Captain Nash, a fisherman from Mackinac, took from there to Dunkirk, N. Y., two Mackinac fish boats, with gill nets and complete outfit, and began fishing at that point as an experiment. He set his nets about eight miles northwest from the harbor, and his first catch was a large one of white fish. * * % Jt was mentioned in the Dunkirk, Buffalo and Cleveland papers of the day as the first catch of white fish on Lake Erie, and Captain Nash positively informed the writer of this, * * * Assoon as it became known that white fish had been taken in Lake Erie people began fishing for them in these waters. Previous to finding the white fish it had been the custom all along the lake for persons who could afford it to send to Mackinac or Detroit every fall for a barrel, half barrel or kit of sugar-cured white fish for winter use. 7 i 89 ‘* The muskallonge used to be quite plenti- ful in this vicinity. The largest one taken at this point was sixty-two pounds; the next largest forty-four pounds. * * * Onlya few years ago sturgeon were considered of no use, and were taken to the peninsula and buried. Thousands of them have been buried there. To-day they are worth two dollars and fifty cents each.”’ An account of the rise and progress of the fishing interest, now one of the most import- ant in the city, is given in one of the chapters devoted to Erie. GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE FISH AND FISH- ING IN LAKE ERIE. The following article by an unknown writer in the New York Szz is worthy of preservation : ‘*No other body of fresh water on the globe produces so large a quantity of fresh fish as Lake Erie, and Sandusky, Ohio, is the greatest. market for fresh fish in the world. About 2,000,000 pounds of sturgeon alone are handled at Sandusky every year, nearly one- third of which are taken in the vicinity of that place. Three-fourths of that immense quan- tity of sturgeon are taken by Buffalo fisher- men. Tons of sturgeon roe are spiced and pickled at Sandusky annually, and the trade in isinglass made from the air bladders of that fish is an important one. A sturgeon’s roe will weigh from twenty to sixty pounds. Three-quarters of the Sandusky caviare is sent to Germany, and is exported from that coun- try back to this in large quantities, the same as the finest English dairy cheese is made up in Cattaraugus county, sent to England and shipped back here again. Sandusky gets ten cents a pound for her caviare, and lays by quite a snug pile annually from its sale. Yet it was not until 1865 that the sturgeon was looked upon with even a small degree of favor by lake fishermen. Now smoked sturgeon is found not only in the markets of all the large cities and towns, but in country stores also, while fresh sturgeon is one of the highest- priced of fresh water fishes. ‘“« Spawning Grounds.—In none of the other great lakes do the conditions for fish seem to be so favorable as in Lake Erie. This is due in a great measure, fish culturists think, to the variations in the depth which are peculiar to that lake. The western end is shallow, and go NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY thus provides vast aréas for spawning grounds. The deep water at the eastern end is analmost boundless retreat for the half-grown young. The line between deep and shallow water seems to be drawn at Cleveland, for west of that city the water is not more than sixty feet deep anywhere, and the average depth will perhaps fall below forty. East of that line the water grows rapidly deeper until it reaches a depth of 225 feet in some places. “Trout, \MWuskallonge and Herring.— There is something singular in the distribution of fishes in Lake Erie. The lake trout, one of the most valuable of lake fishes, is rare at the best in Lake Erie, but it is never taken west of Erie. On the other hand, pike and mus- kallonge are taken only west of Erie. If a fisherman is after lake herring, he knows he will be wasting his time if he sets his nets in the eastern waters. He seeks this beautiful and delicious fish at or west of Erie. The lake herring is the lesser white fish of Lake Erie. Here is another funny thing; at least it may seem so to those who don’t know the reason. While Erie herring fishermen are hauling in fish by the ton in April and May, and getting a good many all along through the summer, the fishermen further west know better than to wet their nets during these months, for they wouldn’t get herring enough to make a smell in a frying pan. When fall comes, though, the Erie fishermen know enough to take out their nets and keep them out, and the San- dusky and other western fishermen put their’s in. In the western waters the champion month for catching herring is November. The reason for this is that in that month the fish are moving in enormous schools on to the spawning grounds around Bass Island and grounds further west. A similar situation exists in the matter of white fish. The most profitable months for taking them from the Erie deep water fisheries are July and August, and the shallow water fishermen to the west- ward don’t get a chance at them until No- vember. ‘“Muskallonge Decreasing.—One of the most lamentable facts about the fish of the lakes is that the muskallonge, that king of game fishes, is decreasing in numbers every year. The home of this great fish is in the deep waters of the lakes. It is only when it is on its an- nual spawning migration to the streams and tributaries of the lakes that the sportsman with rod and line comes in contact with the muskallonge. It ascends those streams to spawn, and when that duty is performed the gigantic pike turns its head homeward again, and seeks once more the depths of the lakes. It is not due to the fishing that the muskal- longe is growing rarer every year in the lakes, in the lakes, but to the defilement of the spawning grounds by the sewage of towns and the refuse of manufacturing establish- ments. “Lake Sturgeon.—There is something also that is playing hob with the sturgeon of Lake Erie, and one of these days, if the sturgeon fishermen don’t mend their ways, they will wake up and find their ugly but valuable fish one of the has-beens. Sturgeon spawn in June along the rocky ledges of the eastern end of the lake and leave deep water the same month. They travel in schools. The favor- ite method the fishermen have of taking them is by grappling irons. Attaching a far-reach- ing grappling iron to a long rope, the fisher- man throws it overboard and drags it along rowing. When this overtakes a school’ of sturgeon the grappler knows it at once by the strike the iron makes on a fish. The line is then drawn up hand over hand, and if the grappling hook fixed itself firmly in the stur- geon the fisherman will probably get his fish aboard. If not, it will tear loose, perhaps mort- ally hurt. Thousands of sturgeons are killed in this way every year and become a dead loss. Lake Erie fish have curious migrations. The sturgeon, the blue pike, and many other species regularly leave their spring and early summer haunts toward the end of July, and seek the Canadian shore of the lake, and it will be useless to look for them in their old haunts again until the coming of the fierce November gales. Soon after the first hard sou’wester the blue pike will appear on its old feeding grounds, and the sturgeon be found nosing around again in Sandusky Bay. “Lake Fishing.—Fishing in Lake Erie is done with pound and gill nets. The gill net is used almost exclusively by the fishermen at Erie, and, in fact, almost everywhere in the eastern waters. Half the whitefish taken from Lake Erie are caught in gill nets, which is to be regretted, for these gill nets are doing untold damage to the whitefish supply of the lake, on account, not of the fish they catch, but of the fish that are destroyed and wasted AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 91 by them. The fish are caught by getting fast in the meshes by their gills, hence the name of the net. The fish thus caught soon die. Whitefish are so delicate that a few: hours’ delay in removing them from the nets makes them worthless. Gill-net fishermen plan to lift their nets every forty-eight hours. Lake Erie is subject to fierce storms that frequently con- tinue several days, during which it is impos- sible for nets to be lifted. Thus hundreds of tons of choice whitefish, to say nothing of the other varieties, are held in the nets until they are of no use, and have to be thrown away. This feature of gill-net fishing has done more to lessen the number of whitefish in the lakes than any other one thing. The pound net is used almost exclusively in the western waters of the lake, and with the exception of white- fish a large percentage of the fish taken in Lake Erie are caught in pound nets. This device was introduced on Lake Erie at Dun- kirk by a man named McClosky, in 1850. There are now several hundred miles of them stretched along the lake, some of the lines being from ten to fifteen miles in length. “Herring, Htc.—The lake herring is a CHAPTER wonderful variety of fish. In spite of the thousands upon thousands of tons of them that have been taken from Lake Erie in the last few years, they are more abundant than ever, and they are the only lake fish of which that can be said. Sometimes the nets will be so jammed with herring that the markets will be knocked galleywest. ‘“Tt is estimated that 6,000 tons of fish are salted along Lake Erie annually, not less than 5,000 tons are frozen, and probably 2,000 tons are smoked. The ammount of fish sold from Lake Erie points fresh, which is principally a local trade, will reach 18,000 tons a year. These figures represent the catch of Lake Erie only. The other lakes west of Erie add some- thing like 50,000 tons to the annual total of the supply. While Lake Erie produces more fish than any of the other lakes, the whitefish of Lake Superior surpass those of Lake Erie in quality—as they do all other whitefish. The lake trout of Lake Superior are also the finest in the world. Lake Michigan produces a close second to Lake Erie in whitefish, and exceeds all the other great lakes in amount of lake trout.” VII. Tue InpDIANS—EXTERMINATION OF THE ErRtez TRIBE--PontTiac’s CoNSPIRACY—CAPTURE or Forts Presque Ist—E ano LEBaur—AMERICAN OCCUPATION. HE State Library at Harrisburg con- tains two old French maps, one print- ed in 1763 and the other in 1768, in which rude attempts are made to show the leading geographical features of portions of the United States and Canada. Both represent the south shore of Lake Erie as having been peopled by a tribe or nation of Indians known as the ‘“‘ Eriez.’? A note on the margin of each reads as follows: “The ancient Eriez were exterminated by the Iro- quois upwards of 100 years ago, ever since which time they have been in possession of Lake Erie.” This information is corroborated in a French book printed in 1708, describing the voyages of Le Baron de Lahonton, an ad- venturous Frenchman, who spent ten years among the Indians, commencing in 1688 ‘©The shores of Lake Erie,” he says, “are frequented by the Iroquois, the Illinois, the Oumanies, etc., who are so savage that it is a risk to stop with them. The Errieronens and Andestiguerons, who formerly inhabited the borders of the lake, were exterminated by the Iroquois.” Incidentally it may be added, he refers to the Massassaugues as a tribe living somewhere near the western end of the lake. 92 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Allof the authorities agree that the date of the extermination of the Eriez was some- where about 1650. It is claimed by most his- torians that the word Eriez was the Indian expression for wild cat, but a recent writer contends that ‘‘ this is a mistake, that it does not mean wild cat, but raccoon. The latter were abundant on the lake shore, while the former were rarely seen.” When the French visited this section in 1626 the Eriez were governed by a queen, called in their own language Yagowania, and in the Seneca tongue Gegosasa. The chief warrior of the tribe was Ragnotha, who had his principal location at Tu-shu-way, now Buffalo. The Massassaugas were described by French writers of the period as a tribe liv- ing near the western end of Lake Erie. THE ERIEZ EXTERMINATED. The war of extermination between the Eriez and the Iroquois occurred about 1650, and was one of the most cruel in aboriginal history. From the opening it was understood by both sides to mean the destruction of one or the other. The Eriez organized a powerful body of warriors and sought to surprise their enemies in their own country. The latter raised a force and marched out to meet the in- vaders. The engagement resulted in a com- plete victory for the Iroquois. Seven times the Eriez crossed the stream dividing the hos- tile lines and they were as often driven back with terrible loss. On another occasion several hundred Iroquois attacked nearly three times their number of Eriez, encamped near the mouth of French creek, dispersed them, took many prisoners, and compelled the balance to fly to remote regions. Ina battle near the site of the Cattaraugus Indian mission house, on the Allegheny river, the loss of the Eriez was enormous. Finally a pestilence broke out among the Eriez, which ‘‘swept away greater numbers even than the cluband arrow.”’ The Iroquois took advantage of their opportunity to end all future trouble with the ill-fated Er- iez. Those who were taken captive were, with rare exceptions, remorselessly butchered, and their wives and children were distributed among the Iroquois villages, never again to be restored to their husbands and brothers. The few survivors ‘‘ fled to distant regions in the West and South, and were followed by the undying hatred of the Iroquois. * * # Their council fire was put out, and their name and language as a tribe lost.” It is claimed by some that the Eriez were also known by the name of Kah-Kwahs, but the investigations of the writer lead to the be- lief that this was only a local title given to a tribe located at or near the foot of the lake. THE IROQUOIS. After the extermination of the Eriez, the country on the south side of the lake was oc- cupied by the Iroquois, as they were called by the French, or the Six Nations, as they were known to the English. The Six Nations were originally a confederacy of five tribes—the On- ondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, Oneidas and Mo- hawks—and were then styled the Five Na- tions. In 1712, the Tuscaroras, being ex- pelled from the interior of North Carolina and Virginia, were adopted as a sixth tribe. Their territory stretched from Vermont nearly to the upper end of Lake Erie, embracing the head- waters of the Allegheny, Susquehanna and Delaware rivers, and the seat of their “ great council fire’ was in the Onondaga valley. The Senecas, who were the most powerful tribe, occupied the western part of the do- main, having their headquarters on the Alle- gheny river, near the line between New York and Pennsylvania. The Indians in the north- western part of this State were Senecas inter- mixed with stray members from each of the other tribes. THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH. * When the French and English began to extend their settlements westward, the lake region was under the full dominion of the Iroquois, with the Senecas as the immediate possessors of the soil. Both nations appreci- ated the importance of having the good will of the Indians, but the adroit French were more successful in winning their friendship than their blunt and less politic competitors. As far back as 1780, the French Indian agent, Joncaire, penetrated this section, adopted the habits of the natives, became one of their number, and ‘‘won them over to the French interest.” The French built up a considerable trade with the Indians, which yielded an im- mense profit. The English viewed the pro- jects of the French with mingled jealousy and alarm, sent out numerous agents, and suc- ' ceeded in some quarters in estranging the In- dians from their rivals, but not to any extended degree. Some of their traders were located at LeBoeuf (Waterford) when the advance troops of the French reached that point in 1758. Friendly as the Six Nations were toward the French in a commercial sense, they did not take kindly at first to the occupation of the country by armed bodies of the latter. The expedition of Sieur Marin (or Morang), in 1758, and the erection of forts at Presque Isle and LeBoeuf, worked them up to a spirit of bitter resentment. A delegation of Senecas waited upon that officer at LeBoeuf to inquire of him “by a belt” whether he ‘‘ was march- ing with a banner uplifted or to establish tran- quility.” He answered that his purpose was to support and assist them in their necessities, and to drive away the evil spirits that encom- passed them and disturbed the earth, meaning the English. His manner and conduct ap- peased them, so that the Allegheny river Senecas zealously assisted the French with horses and provisions. The Indians of Western Pennsylvania were generally favorable to the French throughout the war. M. de Vaudreil, in a letter from Montreal, dated August 8, 1756, wrote that ‘‘the domiciliated Massassaugues of Presque Isle have been out to the number of ten against the English. They have taken one prisoner and two scalps, and gave them to cover the death of M. de St. Pierre.” By 1757, the English seem to have won some of the tribes over to their side, for we learn from the Pennsylvania Archives that the French kept ‘‘106 men in garrison at Presque Isle, being apprehensive that the English and the Indians might attack them there,” and by 1759 the aborigines had reached the conclusion that they could very well dispense with the presence of both. The war closed in 1760, leaving the whole West- ern country under the domination of the English. Presque Isle was the last of the French forts south of Lake Erie to be aban- doned. The parting between the French and the Indians was extremely affecting. The Indians called them their ‘‘brethren,” and invoked the aid of the Great Spirit to give them a speedy return. THE CONSPIRACY LED BY PONTIAC. The most powerful and influential of the Western chiefs was the renowned Pontiac, AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 93 head of the Ottawa tribe. When the Eng- lish assumed dominion of the country he was at first distant and sullen toward them; but in time his prejudices seemed to be con- quered, and he even rendered some service that led them to believe that they could rely upon his co-operation. His friendship proved, however, to be assumed, and he was quietly at work fomenting a spirit of hostility among the several tribes, and organizing them for concerted action. His plan included a com- bination of all the tribes west of the Alle- ghenies, acting in unison with the Six Nations. The conspiracy was conducted with such secrecy and planned with so much skill, that almost before the English knew that hostile measures were on foot nine of the thirteen western forts had been captured, among the number being Presque Isle, Le- Beuf and Venango. Niagara, Pittsburg and the two other forts were invested, ‘“ but withstood the attacks until relief arrived from the Eastern settlements.” The fort at Le Beuf was assaulted on the 17th of June, 1763. It was commanded by Ensign Price, who had a force of thirteen men. Finding it impossible to hold the post, they crept out at night, managed to elude the savage enemy, and escaped to Pittsburg. From Le Bauf the Indians, consisting of about 200 Senecas and Ottawas, marched immediately to Presque Isle, which surren- dered on the 22d of the same month. This fort stood upon the bank of the bay, on a point of land just west of the mouth of Mill creek, that has been mainly dug away for railroad and other purposes. The following account of its capture is from Parkman’s History of the ‘* Conspiracy of Pontiac.” CAPTURE OF FORT PRESQUE ISLE. “There had been hot fighting before Presqu’ile was taken. Could courage have saved it, it never would have fallen. * * At one of its angles was a large block-house. * * Jt was two stories in height, and solid- ly built of massive timber, the diameter of the upper story exceeding that of the lower by several feet, so that through the openings in the projecting floor of the former the defenders could shoot down upon the heads of an enemy assailing the outer wall below. The roof being covered with shingles might " easily be set on fire, but to guard against this 94 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY there was an opening through which the gar- rison, partially protected by a covering of plank, might pour water upon the flames. * * And now the defenders could see the Indians throwing up earth and stones behind one of the breastworks; their implacable foes were laboring to undermine the block-house, a sure and insidious expedient, against which there was no defense. * * * * The barrels of water always kept in the block- house were nearly emptied in extinguishing the frequent fires, and though there was a well in the parade ground, yet to approach it would be certain death. The only recourse was to dig onein the block-house itself. The floor was torn up, and while some of the men fired their heated muskets from the loopholes to keep the enemy in check, the rest labored with desperate energy at this toilsome and cheerless task. Before it was half completed, the cry of fire was again raised, and, at the imminent risk of life, they tore off the blazing shingles and arrested the danger. By this time it was evening. The little garrison had fought from earliest daylight without a min- ute’s rest. Nor did darkness bring relief, for the Indians’ guns flashed all night long from the intrenchments. They seemed determined to wear out the obstinate defenders by fatigue. While some slept, others in their turn con- tinued the assault, and morning brought fresh dangers. The block-house was fired several times during the day, but they kept up their forlorn and desperate resistance. The house of the commanding officer sank into glowing embers. The fire on both sides did not cease till midnight, at which hour a voice was heard in French, calling out that further defense was useless, since preparations were made to burn above and below at once. En- sign Christie, the officer in command, de- manded if any one spoke English, upon which, a man in Indian dress came forward. * * * He said if they yielded they would be saved alive, if not, they would be burned. Christie resolved to hold out as long as a shadow of hope remained, and while some of the garrison slept, the rest watched. They told them to wait until morning. They as- sented, and suspended their fire. When morning came, they sent out two persons, on pretense of treating, but in reality to learn the truth of the preparations to burn the block- house, whose sides were pierced with bullets and scorched with fire. In spite of the capit- ulation, they were surrounded and seized, and, having been detained for some time in the neighborhood, were sent as prisoners to Detroit, where Ensign Christie soon made his escape.” AT PRESQUE ISLE, INDIANS AND ENGLISIL During the interval between the summer and fall of 1763 many barbarities were com- mitted by the Indians upon the white settlers. Late in that yeara covenant was made with the tribes of New York and Western Penn- sylvania, but hostilities, though not upon an extended scale, were soon renewed. Early in 1764, a British army of 8,000, under the com- mand of Gen. Bradstreet, passed up the lake in canoes. They stopped at Presque Isle and dragged their canoes across the neck of the peninsula to avoid paddling several miles around, After relieving Detroit, Bradstreet returned to Presque Isle, where, on the 12th of August, 1764, he made a treaty of peace with the Delawares and Shawnees, which was scarcely signed till it was broken. No authentic record of events in this sec- tion can be found from that date until 1794. The fort appears to have been abandoned, and it is probable that the English made no attempt to exercise more than nominal control over the country. OCCUPIED BY THE AMERICANS, The treaty of peace with Great Britain, which secured the independence of the United States, was made in 17883. By its provisions the British Government abandoned all claim to the western country, and agreed to with- draw its troops and yield up the forts, block- houses and other military structures. In Oc- tober, 1784, a treaty was made with the Six Nations by which they relinquished to Penn- sylvania all of the northwestern part of the State to a line parallel with the southern boundary of New York. By another treaty, made on the 9th of January, 1789, with a por- tion only of the Six Nations, they acknowl- edged “the right of soil and jurisdiction to and over’’ the Triangle ‘to be vested in the State of Pennsylvania.” Some dissatisfaction having arisen among the Seneca tribe in consequence of this act, the Legislature em- powered the Governor to draw a warrant for ! $800 in favor of Cornplanter, Half Town and Big Tree, in trust for the use of the tribe and in full satisfaction of all demands, in consider- ation of which the said chiefs, on the 8d of February, 1791, signed a release of all claims against the State for themselves and their peo- ple forever. On the 8d of March, 1792, the Triangle was purchased from the United States by the Commonwealth, and a month later an act of Assembly was passed to encourage its set'lement by white people. State troops, to facilitate this pulpose, were first stationed at LeBoeuf early in May, 1794. INDIAN THREATS. The treaty which ceded the territory em- braced in the Triangle was very obnoxious to a large portion of the Six Nations, among the most hostile being Joseph Brant, head of the Mohawk tribe. On the other hand, Corn- planter, the Seneca chief, was friendly to the Americans, and it was mainly through his ef- forts that another war with the Indians was averted. Early in 1794, an Indian council was held at Buffalo to protest against the set- tlement at Presque Isle, on the result of which, it was given out, would depend the issue of peace or war. To this council Cornplanter, whom Brant was seeking to win to his side, was invited. It was attended by Gen. Israel Chapin, United States Superintendent of the Six Nations, who wrote to the Secretary of War: ‘‘Iam afraid of the consequences of the attempt to settle Presque Isle at present. The Indians do not acknowledge the validity of the Cornplanter sale to Pennsylvania.’’ By request of the council, he went to LeBeuf on or about the 26th of June, 1794, accompanied by Mr. Johnson, British Indian Agent, and twenty-five chiefs and warriors, the purpose of the latter being to remonstrate with the State officers at that post against the placing of garrisons in the Northwest. The repre- sentatives of the Six Nations claimed to be anxious to live at peace with the United States, but pretended to be much disturbed by the presence of the troops, fearing that it would involve them in strife with the hostile Indians. They were assured by Ellicott and Denny, the state officers at LeBoeuf, that the soldiers could not move from there till or- dered, and that they would await the com- mands of their superiors in authority. The council adjourned without accomplishing any- thing of a definite character. Another Indian AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 95 council was held at LeBoeuf on the 4th of July, 1794, at which the chiefs reiterated their purpose of preventing a garrison being sta- tioned at Presque Isle. WAYNE’S VICTORY SETTLED ALI TROUBLE. The savages continued to be sullen and threatening for some months. Several raids were made upon the southern settlements, among others on Cussewago, near the Craw- ford county line. A Mr. Dickson, living near there, was fired upon by a party of In- dians on the 10th of September. Twelve soldiers, sent from LeBceuf for the protection of the settlement, were fired upon, and the Indians drove off several horses. Matters remained in this alarmlng condi- tion till October, when news reached LeBoeuf of Wayne’s victory on the Maumee. This had a wonderful effect on the Indians of our vicin- ity. A number of warriors of the Six Nations had taken part in the fight, and the reports they brought back of Wayne’s fighting quali- ties had a disheartening effect upon their com- rades. The Senecas, who had been strongly urged to go into the war, gave the messengers a peremptory refusal. Notwithstanding this decision, disturbances broke out on several occasions. On Saturday, the 29th of May, 1795, four men who were journeying from LeBoeuf to Presque Isle were attacked near the present Union depot in Erie, by a party of Indians, in retaliation, it is supposed, because some of their friends had been fired upon by whites along the Allegheny. Ralph Rutledge, one of the number, was killed and scaiped, and his body was interred on a piece of rising ground on the west side of State street, near its junction with Turnpike. His son was also shot and scalped, but lived to be taken to the fort at LeBceuf, where he died. This is the last Indian difficulty known to have taken place in the county. A treaty of peace was effected with the Western tribes by Gen. Wayne at Greenville, Ohio, on the 8d of August, 1795, and another was made with the Six Nations at Canan- daigua, N. Y., on the 9th of November en- suing. VILLAGES AND GRAVEYARDS OF THE INDIANS. There is no evidence that any large num- ber of Indians ever made their abode within the limits of Erie county after it became 96 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY known to the whites. In 1795, there were Indian villages on Mill creek, and at the head of the bay, each numbering from twenty to thirty families. Other villages were located at Waterford and Cranesville. On the Scouller farm, in the southeast cor- ner of the city, was an Indian graveyard, where the boys of fifty years ago used to dig into the mounds and gather bones as relics. The first field east of the burial ground was cleared in 1821. For some years after it was a frequent thing to find stone hatchets and other rude implements of the aborigines. It was the custom for many years after the in- coming of the whites, for parties of Indians to camp near by and indulge in peculiar rites in commemoration of their ancestors. The last Indian encampment was in June, 1841, when about a dozen Indians spent a couple of days on the site. Indian graves, arrow heads, pieces of pot- tery, and other curiosities have been found in a grave on the Hunter place, bordering French creek, in LeBeeuf township. A graveyard was opened on the Ebersole farm, east of Erie City, which contained numerous bones, beads and other Indian remains. All of the bodies were in a sitting position. Graves have been found in spots all along the Ridge road from Ebersole’s woods to State street in Erie. Early in the century occasional bodies of Indians passed through the county on friendly visits between the New York and the West- ern tribes. Parties of 100 to 150 red men, women and children are known to have en- camped on the parks in the City of Erie. INDIAN PURCHASES. The land in the northern and northwestern parts of the State was purchased from the Six Nations by commissioners appointed by the Legislature, who met in conference with the Indians at Fort Stanwix (now Rome), N. Y., and concluded a treaty in October, 1784. This action of the Six Nations was confirmed by a treaty made with the Delawares and Wyan- dots at Fort McIntosh in January, 1785. Neither of these purchases covered the terri- tory known as ‘‘ The Triangle.” CHAPTER VIII. Lire anp Deatnu or Gex. ANTHONY Wayne. HIS work would not be complete with- out a sketch of the career of Gen. An- thony Wayne, whose last sickness, death and burial are inseparably asso- ciated with the history of Erie county. He was born in the township of Eastown, Chester county, Pa., on the Ist of January, 1745. After receiving a good education, he embraced the profession of a surveyor, at which he was engaged for a brief period in his native county. A member of the Assem- bly in 1774, and of the Provincial Convention in the same year, to consider the troubles with Great Britain, he became one of the Commit- tee of Safety in 1775. Believing war to be inevitable, he resigned his civil office in Sep- tember, and, after some time spent in military | study and practice, raised a regiment, of which he was commissioned colonel. His first serv- ice was with Gen. Sullivan in the spring of 1776, and he bore a brilliant part in the battle of Three Rivers, Canada. When the expedi- tion returned, he was placed in charge of the posts of Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence. In February, 1777, he was commissioned a brigadier general, and served with Washing- ton in the New Jersey and Delaware Valley campaign. On the 20th of September, 1777, while stationed at Paoli, near his Chester county home, with a detachment of 1,500 men, his position was betrayed by some tories to the enemy, who fell upon him during the night and killed and wounded one-tenth of his command. A court-martial convened by Gen. ANN NAAN SAN XS AN SY XN _ \ » \ Ss ‘ . A . “ NS WOO SK AN AX AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 97 Washington, at Wayne’s urgent request, de- cided, after minute investigation, that he did everything that could be expected from an active, brave and gallant officer under the orders which he then had. CALLED ‘‘MAD ANTHONY ”’ DASH BECAUSE OF AND BRAVERY. He led the attack of the American right wing at Germantown, and received the special applause of Washington for his conduct at Monmouth. His surprise and capture of Stony Point, one of the strongest British posi- tions on the Hudson, was among the most gal- lant events of the war, and elicited resolutions of thanks from Congress and the Legislature of Pennsylvania. His last sphere of duty during the Revolution was in Georgia, from which he succeeded in driving the enemy. He was distinguished in all councils of war for supporting the most energetic measures, from which, and from his wonderful dash and cour- age, he won the popular appellation of ‘‘ Mad Anthony.” At the close of the war, he re- tired to his farm in Chester county. He was called in 1789 to serve in the Pennsylvania convention, and in that body earnestly advo- cated the adoption of the United States Con- stitution. HIS SUBDUES THE WESTERN INDIANS. In the year 1792, Wayne was commis- sioned major general by President Washing- ton and assigned to the Northwestern frontier, for the purpose of forcing the Indians into subjection. After various minor engage- ments, he gained a signal victory over the sav- ages on the Maumee, in August, 1794. His skill, promptness and bravery made a strong impression among the hostile tribes, and they hastened to sue for forgiveness. He was then appointed sole commissioner to deal with them on the part of the United States, and effected a treaty of peace at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, which paved the way for the settlement of northwestern Pennsylvania and northern Ohio. HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH AT ERIE. In the fall of 1796 he embarked in a small vessel at Detroit for Presque Isle, now Erie, on his way homeward. During his passage down the lake, he was attacked with the gout, which had afflicted him for some years, and ,been much aggravated by his exposure in the Western wilds. The vessel being without suitable remedies, he could obtain no relief, and on landing at Presque Isle was in a dan- gerouscondition. By his own request, he was taken to the block house, the attic of which had been fitted up as a sleeping apartment. Dr. J. C. Wallace, who had served with him as a surgeon during his Indian campaign, and who was familiar with his disease, was then stationed at Fort Fayette, near Pittsburg. The general sent a messenger for the doctor, and the latter started instantly for Erie, but on reaching Franklin was astonished to learn the news of his death, which occurred on the °* 15th of December, 1796. Two days after his death the body was buried, as he directed, in a plain coffin, with his uniform and boots on, at the foot of the flagstaff of the block house. The top of the coffin was marked, ‘‘A. W., O. B., December 15, 1796,” in round-headed brass tacks, driven into the wood. At the time of his decease Wayne was the ranking officer of the United States army. THE REMAINS DUG UP AND REMOVED. In the spring of 1809, Col. Isaac Wayne, the general’s son, came to Erie, through what was then a wilderness, for the purpose of re- moving the remains to Chester county. He engaged Dr. Wallace, the same one spoken of above, to attend to the disinterment and pre- paration of the remains, and gave him entire charge of the operation, declining to witness it on the ground that he preferred to remem- ber his father as as he knew him when living. On opening the grave, all present were amazed to find the body petrified, with the exception of one foot and leg, which were partially gone. The boot on the unsound leg had decayed and most of the clothing was missing. Dr. Wal- lace separated the body into convenient parts and placed them in a kettle of boiling water until the flesh could be removed from the bones. He then carefully scraped the bones, packed them in a small box and returned the flesh, with the implements used in the operation, to the coffin, which had been left undisturbed, and it was again covered over with earth. The box was secured to Col. Wayne’s sulky and carried to Eastern Pennsylvania, where the contents were deposited in a second grave among those of the general’s deceased relatives. In explanation of Dr. Wallace’s course, it is argued that the remains had to be placed in 98 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY as small a space as possible, to accommodate the means of conveyance. Col. Wayne is reported to have said, in regard to the affair: ‘« T always regretted it ; had I known the state the remains were in before separated I think I should certainly have had them again depos- ited there and let them rest, and had a monu- ment erected to his memory.” SITE OF HIS BURIAL PLACE MARKED. About the year 1878 Dr. Germer, for many years Health Officer of the city of Erie, ascer- tained the site of the block-house, which had long before disappeared with the other struc- tures, and digging down at the foot of the flagstaff readily found the grave and coffin. The lid of the coffin, with the initials, etc., before described, upon it, was fairly preserv- ed, but the balance had mostly rotted away. Largely through the efforts of Dr. Germer and Capt. Welsh, an appropriation was ob- tained from the Legislature, with which a substantial log block-house in imitation of the original was built in 1880, to mark the site, and the grounds were surrounded by a railing with cannon at each of the four corners. The grave has been neatly and substantially built up with stone, and the coffin lid, with other relics of the early days, is carefully sheltered within the block house—the whole forming as appropriate a monument to the hero as could well be devised. The block-house is on the grounds of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, and is open to visitors during certain hours of each week day. WAYNE’S FINAL RESTING PLACE. The Wayne family burial ground, where the bones of the gallant General repose, is in the cemetery attached to St. David’s Episco- pal Church, at Radnor, Delaware county, not far from the Chester county line, less than an hour’s walk from Wayne Station, on the Pennsylvania R. R., and fourteen miles west from Philadelphia. A plain granite shaft, with a pyramid cap, has been erected over the remains, one side of which contains the following inscription : MAJOR GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE WAS BORN AT WAYNESBOROUGH, IN CHESTER COUNTY, STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, A. v. 1745. AFTER A LIFE OF HONOR AND USEFULNESS HE DIED IN DECEMBER, 1796, AT A MILITARY POST ON THE SHORES OF LAKE ERIE, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. — HIS MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS ARE CONSECRATED IN THE HISTORY OF HIS COUNTRY AND IN THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN, HIS REMAINS ARE HERE DEPOSITED. CHAPTER IX. FRENCH AND ENGLISH OccUPATION. S early as 1611-12 Sieur de Cham- plain, an adventurous Frenchman, as- cended the chain of lakes as far as Lake Huron. At a period extending from 1620 to 1640 the Indians were visited by numerous French Catholic priests, among whom were the celebrated Joliet and Marquette, on the double mission of spread- ing the Gospel and promoting the interests of their king and nation. In 1679 La Salle launched the schooner Griffin in Niagara river, and sailed with a picked body of men to Green bay, in Lake Michigan. A French post was established at Mackinaw in 1684. The dominion of the country was not wholly given over to the French by the English until 1758. The French did a large trade with the Indians by exchanging beads, goods, pro- visions, guns and ammunition for furs. Although the French possession was un- disturbed for years, it must not be inferred that it was quietly acquiesced in by the Eng- lish. The French claimed that their discovery of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi en- titled them to the ownership of the territory bordering upon those streams and their tribu- taries. The English claim was based upon a grant by King James I, in 1606, to +‘ divers of his subjects, of all the countries between north latitude 48 deg. and 34 deg., and west- ward from the Atlantic ocean to the South sea,’’ and also upon purchases of Western lands made from the Six Nations by commis- sioners from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, representing the mother country. A long and sometimes acrimonious contro- versy was waged between the foreign depart- ments of the two nations over the question. FIRST FRENCH SOLDIERS ON LAKE ERIE AND THE OHIO. Up to the year 1749 the French had done nothing of an official nature looking to the occupation of the country between Lake Erie and the Ohio. Their discoverers had taken possession of it long before in the name of the king, and from that time it had been a sort of common tramping ground for traders of both nations, without being directly subject to the control of either. In the year named Capt. Celeron, with a detachment of 300 men, was sent by the Captain General of Canada to “renew the French possession ’’ of the Ohio and its tributaries. He came up Lake Erie to the mouth of Chautauqua creek, from which point he.crossed over to the Allegheny. De- scending the latter river and the Ohio as far as the Muskingum, he deposited leaden plates at the mouths of some of the most important streams, as a ‘* monument of renewal of pos- session,” and asa mark for the guidance of those who might follow him. The expedition caused much alarm among the Indians, who regarded it as the beginning of a scheme to ‘steal their country,” and also created much commotion throughout the English colonies. FORMAL FRENCH OCCUPATION. The final occupation by the French began in the spring of 1758. The expedition was in charge of three young officers—Sieur Marin, commander, and Major Pean and the Cheva- lier Mercier, assistants—and consisted, ac- cording to various authorities, of from 250 to 800 men. The little army marched up Lake Erie by land and ice to Presque Isle, where it was decided to build a fort and establish a base of supplies. The reasons which prompt- ed the selection of Presque Isle were the short portage to Lake LeBeeuf and the facility with which canoes could be floated down French creek from the latter to the Allegheny. On the 8d of August the fort at Presque Isle was finished, the Portage road, six leagues long, was “ready for carriages,” the store- house, half way across, was in a condition to TOO NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY receive stock, and the fort at LeBoeuf was nearly completed. The Indians willingly as- sisted in the transportation of the stores. Among the soldiers was one Stephen Coffin, who gives the following account 6f the French Fort Presque Isle: ‘‘It was of chestnut logs, squared and lapped over each other to the height of fifteen feet, about 120 feet on the sides, with a log house in each corner, and had gates in the north and south sides.” GEORGE WASHINGTON AT LEBCEUIF. The Commander-in-Chief, Marin, died in the fall of 1758, soon after the main body of the troops started on their return to Can- ada, leaving the forts at Presque Isle and Le- Beeuf respectively in charge of Capt. Riparti and Commander St. Pierre. The latter was visited during the winter by a gentleman who afterward rose to the first place in American love and history. This was no less a person- age than George Washington, then in his twenty-first year, who was accompanied by Christopher Gist, an experienced white fron- tiersman, and one Indian interpreter. They reached LeBeuf on the 11th of December and remained till the 16th, during which time Capt. Riparti was called over from Presque Isle to confer with Washington and St. Pierre. Washington’s treatment, though formal, was courteous and kind, and he has left on record in his journal a warm compliment to the gen- tlemanly character of the French officers. The object and result of Washington’s mission are given in the following letters, the first be- ing the one be was charged with delivering to the Commander-in-Chief of the French forces by Gov. Dinwiddie, of Virginia, and the sec- ond the reply of St. Pierre: DINWIDDIE’S LETTER. OcTOBER 31, 1753. Sir: The lands upon the River Ohio, in the western part of the colony of Virginia, are so no- toriously known to be the property of the crown of Great Britain that it is a matter of equal con- cern and surprise to me to hear that a body of French forces are erecting fortresses and making settlements upon that river within His Majesty’s dominions. The many and repeated complaints I have received of these acts of hostility lay me un- der the necessity of sending, in the name of the King, my master, the bearer hereof, George Washington, Esq., one of the Adjutants General of the forces of this dominion, to complain to you of the encroachments thus made, and of the in- juries done to the subjects of Great Britain, in violation of the law of nations and the treaties subsisting between the two crowns. If these facts are true and you think fit to justify your proceed- ings, I must desire you to acquaint me by whose authority and instructions you have lately marched from Canada with an armed force and invaded the King of Great Britain’s territory, in the manner complained of; that, according to the purport and resolution of your auswer, I may act agreeably to the commission I am honored with from the King, my master. However, sir, in obe- dience to my instructions, it becomes my duty to require your peaceable departure; and that you would forbear prosecuting a purpose so interrup- tive of the harmony and good understanding which His Majesty is desirous to continue and cul- tivate with the most Christian King, etc. ROBERT DINWIDDIE. ST. PIERRE’S REPLY. FROM THE ForT ON THE RIVER AU Baur, ) December 15, 1753. { Srr: As I have the honor of commanding here as chief, Mr. Washington delivered to me the letter which you wrote to the commander of the French troops. I should have been glad that you had given him orders, or that he had been inclined to proceed to Canada to see our General, to whom it better belongs than. to me to set forth the evi- dence and the reality of the rights of the King, my master, to the lands situate along the River Ohio, and to contest the pretensions of the King of Great Britain thereto. I shall transmit your letter to the Marquis DuQuesne. His answer will bealawtome. And if he shall order me to com- municate it to you, sir, you may be assured I shall not fail to dispatch it forthwith to you. As to the summons you send me to retire,I do not think myself obliged to obey it. Whatever may be your inten- tions, I am here by virtue of the orders of my Gen- eral, andI entreat you, sir, not to doubt one mo- ment but that Iam determined to conform myself to them with all the exactness and resolution which can be expected from the best officer. I do not know that in the progress of this campaign anything has passed which can be reputed an act of hostility, or that is contrary to the treaties which subsist between the two crowns; the con- tinuance whereof interests and pleases us as much as it does the English. Had you been pleased, sir, to descend to particularize the facts which occasioned your complaint, I should have had the honor of answering you in the fullest, and, lam persuaded, the most satisfactory man- ner, etc. LEGARDEUR DE ST. PIERRE. [A further account of Washington’s visit will be found under the heading of Water- ford. | WAR AT LAST. Both sides were busily engaged during the winter in preparing for the war which was now inevitable. The French plan was to es- tablish a chain of fortifications from Quebec along Lakes Ontario and Erie and the waters AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE OOUNTY. of French creek and the Allegheny to the junction of the last-named stream with the Monongahela, and thence along the Ohio and Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico. Provi- sions, arms and ammunition were sent from Quebec to Presque Isle, and from there dis- tributed to the lower forts. As soon as the weather would permit in the spring of 1754, troops were moved by both sides in the direction of the Ohio. The first French detachment to reach Pittsburgh, then known as the ‘‘ Forks of the Ohio,’’ was on the 17th of April. It consisted of 1,000 French and Indians, with eighteen cannon. Their route was from Presque Isle to LeBeeuf, thence down French creek and the Allegheny. The English had put upa stockade at the ‘‘ Forks of the Ohio,” now Pittsburgh, during the winter, which was unfinished and guarded only by an ensign and forty-one-men. This small body immediately surrendered. On the 8d or 4th of July, 500 English capitulated to the French at Fort Necessity, in Fayette county, after an engagement of about ten hours. The French seem to have been uniformly successful in the campaign of 1754. Deserters from their ranks reported that the number of French and Indians in the country during the year was about 2,000. On the 9th of July, 1755, Brad- dock’s defeat took place near Pittsburgh, an event which raised the French hopes to a pitch of the utmost exultation, and seemed for the time to destroy all prospect of English ascendency in the West. DuQuesne, ina letter of July 6, 1755, says: ‘The fort at Presque Isle serves as a depot for all others on the Ohio. * * The effects are put on board pirogues at Fort LeBoeuf. * * At the latter fort the prairies, which are ex- tensive, furnish only bad hay. * * At Presque Isle the hay is very abundant and good. The quantity of pirogues constructed on the River AuBceuf has exhausted all the large trees in the neighborhood.” THE FRENCH IN 1756-7 anv 1758. A prisoner who escaped from the Indians in 1756 described Fort LeBeeuf as “garrisoned with 150 men, and a few straggling Indians. Presque Isle is built of square logs filled up with earth; the barracks are within the fort, and garrisoned with 150 men, supported chiefly from a French settlement begun near it. The settlement consists of about one hundred fami- tol lies. The Indian families about the settlement are pretty numerous; they have a priest and schoolmaster, and some grist mills and stills in the settlement.’’ The village here referred to was on the east bank of Mill creek, a little back from the lake, almost on a line with Pa- rade street. No events of importance occurred in this section in 1757 or ’8. The forts were gar- risoned by small bodies of men ; but a consider- able force was maintained on the line between the lake and the Ohio. The supplies for the troops were brought by canoes, creeping along the south shore of the lake, from Buffalo. The forts were allowed to get out of repair and could easily have been captured. FORTS PRESQUE ISLE AND LEBOUF. An Indian spy employed by the English in 1758 gave some additional particulars of the fort at Presque Isle. ‘It is,” he said, ‘square, with four bastions. * * * The wall is only of single logs, with no bank with- in—a ditch without. * * * The magazine is a stone house covered with shingles, and not sunk in the ground, standing in the right bastion, next the lake. * * * The other houses are of square logs.” Fort LeBoeuf he described as of ‘‘the same plan, but very small—the logs mostly rotten. Platforms are erected in the bastions, and loopholes properly cut; one gun is mounted in a bastion, and looks down the river. It has only one gate, and that faces the side opposite the creek. The magazine is on the right of the gate, go- ing in, partly sunk in the ground, and above are some casks of powder to serve the Indians. Here are two officers, a storekeeper, clerk, priest and 150 soldiers, who have no employ- ment.’”’ [See Waterford. ] THE ENGLISH VICTORIOUS. The English made sufficient progress dur- ing 1758 in the direction of the Ohio to com- pel the French to evacuate Fort DuQuesne on the 22d of November. By this time the In- dians had lost confidence in the triumph of the French, and many were either siding with the English or pretending to be neutral. The English finally besieged Fort Niagara below Buffalo, compelling the French to withdraw 1,200 men from Detroit, Presque Isle and Ven- ango for its defense. Its capture by the English astonished and terrified the French in this sec- 102 tion. A messenger reached Presque Isle from Sir William Johnson, the victorious English commander, notifying the officer in charge that the other posts must surrender in a few days. The French began making hasty prepa- rations for departure. Their principal stores at Presque Isle were sent up the lake August 18, 1759, and the garrison waited a brief time for their comrades at LeBeeuf and Venango, when the entire army left in batteaux for Detroit. The English did not take formal posses- sion of Forts Presque Isle and LeBoeuf until 1760, when Major Rogers was sent out for that purpose. A treaty of peace was signed at Paris in 1768, by which the French ceded Canada and confirmed the Western country to the British Crown. The Indians did not take kindly to the British, and eventually made a concerted effort to drive them out of the country, as detailed in another chapter, but failed of success. AN ENGLISIET ARMY AT ERIE. Col. Bradstreet, with an army of 8,000, arrived at Presque Isle in August, 1764, and met a band of Shawnees and Delawares, who agreed to articles of peace and friendship. These proceedings seem to have been entered into by the savages merely as a deception, for in a short time they renewed hostilities. An- other expedition, under Col. Boquet, was fitted out, and punished the troublesome tribes so severely that they were glad to accept the conditions offered them. The independence of the United States was acknowledged by Great Britain in 1783. By the treaty of peace the mother country abandoned all pretensions to the western re- gion. Her officers in Canada, however, still retained a hope of the ultimate return of the colonies to the protection of the British crown. The English had, by this date, won the confidence of the Indians, who were kept hostile to the Americans by representations that Great Britain would yet resume posses- NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY sion of the country. As late as 1785 Mr. Adams, our minister at London, complained to the English Secretary of State that though two years had elapsed since the definitive treaty, the forts at Presque Isle, Niagara and elsewhere on the northern frontier were still held by British garrisons. The actual Ameri- can occupation dates from 1795. THE FRENCH FORTS AND ROAD. While the British occupied the country they put Fort Presque Islein repair and kept it up until after our National Independence was acknowledged, soon after which it fell into ruin. Its site was easily traceable as late as 1863, by mounds and depressions on the bank of the lake near the mouth of Mill creek on its west side. The fort at LeBoeuf stood within the pres- ent limits of Waterford borough, on the brow of the hill above LeBoeuf creek, nearly in line with the iron bridge across that stream. A ravine, which has since been partially filled up, extended along its north side, down which flowed a rivulet, leading Washington to de- scribe the fort as standing on ‘‘a kind of an island.’’ Practically the same site was success- ively occupied by the English and Americans. The French road commenced at the mouth of Mill creek, extended up that stream a short distance, and then struck off to the higher jand, nearly following the line of Parade street. A branch road led from the south gate of the fort, and connected with the main road in the hollow of Mill creek. From the southern end of Parade street the main road ran across Mill Creek township to the present Waterford plank road. Leaving the latter, the French road took across the hills and ter- minated at the gate of Fort LeBeeuf, near where the Eagle Hotel stands. The route known as the French road in Summit town- ship is understood to be exactly on the line of its historical original. The road was laid out thirty feet wide, and was ‘‘corduroyed ” throughout most of its length. CHAPTER X. PURCHASE OF THE TRIANGLE. HE limits of Pennsylvania are describ- ed in the charter granted by King Charles II. to William Penn as “‘ three degrees of latitude in breadth, and five degrees of longitude in length, the eastern boundary being the Delaware river, the northern the beginning of the three and: fortieth degree of northern latitude; on the south a circle drawn at twelve miles dis- tance from New Castle (Delaware) northward and westward unto the beginning of the for- tieth degree of northern latitude, and then by a straight line westward to the limits of longi- tude above mentioned.” The boundaries of the State were long a subject of earnest and sometimes bitter dis- pute. Fifty years before the grant to Penn, King James I. granted to the Plymouth Com- pany “all the land lying in the same latitude with Connecticut and Massachusetts, as far west as the Pacific ocean, not previously set- tled by other Christian powers.” Under the construction placed upon this clause by Con- necticut, more than one-third of Pennsylvania, including the whole northern part, belonged to that province. The dispute was finally settled by the action of Congress, which ap- pointed Commissioners in 1782, to investigate the subject, who reported that ‘‘ Connecticut has no right to the land in controversy.” THE LINES BETWEEN NEW YORK AND PENN- SYLVANIA. Pennsylvania and New York, in 1785, mu- tually agreed upon commissioners to determine and establish the east and west boundary line between the two States, being the forty-sec- ond degree of latitude. The commissioners who finally did the work, which was con- firmed by the Legislatures of both States, were Andrew Ellicott on the part of Pennsylvania, and James Clinton and Simeon DeWitt on that of New York. They surveyed the entire line from the Delaware to Lake Erie, planting a stone every mile, with the distance from the river marked upon it, and marking mile trees in the same manner. The distance from the point of departure to where the north line of Pennsylvania terminated on the shore of Lake Erie in Springfield township, this county, was found to be 259 miles and eighty-eight perches. THE TRIANGLE. The charter of New York defined its west- ern boundary as extending from the south shore of Lake Erie to the forty-second degree of latitude, on a line drawn from the western extremity of Lake Ontario. In determining this line it became necessary to agree whether the ‘‘ western extremity of Lake Ontario” in- cluded Burlington bay, or was at the Penin- sula dividing the latter from the lake. An- drew Ellicott and Frederick Saxton, the sur- veyors sent out to establish the boundary, de- cided upon the peninsula as the proper point from which to draw the line, and the western boundary of New York was therefore fixed at twenty miles east of Presque Isle. This left a triangular tract, which was not included in the charter of either State, and which was variously claimed by New York, Massachu- setts and Connecticut. HOW PENNSYLVANIA SECURED THE TRIANGLE. At anearly period, Gen. William Irvine was sent to the Northwest by the authorities of Pennsylvania to examine into the quality of its lands and report upon the best manner of putting them into the market. While upon this tour he was struck with the fact that the State had no harbor upon the lake, and the great desirability of securing the one at Presque Isle. On his return to the East he interested a number of intelligent and pro- gressive citizens in the project of purchasing the Triangle. After a protracted negotiation, NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut released their claims to the United States gov- ernment, and the latter, in turn, conveyed the tract to Pennsylvania. The contract for the sale of the Triangle, made between the Rep- resentatives of the United States and Penn- sylvania was ratified by Congress on the 4th of September, 1788. On the 18th of April, 1791, the Governor was authorized by the Leg- islature to complete the purchase. March 8, 1792, a patent was issued to the State, signed by George Washington as President, and Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. The consideration was $151,640.25, in Continental certificates, which were much below par. THE INDIANS OFFENDED. Pending the negotiations with the general government, the State authorities proceeded to secure a release of the Triangle tract from the Six Nations, which was only effected after a protracted effort. The conference for this purpose with the chiefs and warriors of the several tribes was held on the 9th of January, 1789, and the deed from the Indians appears to have been signed sometime during the same month. The price paid to the Six Nations was $2,000 by Pennsylvania and $1,200 by the United States. The cession of the Triangle gave offense to a portion of the Indians, who claimed that they had not been fairly represented in the council. There was « great deal of talk among them of resisting its occupancy by the State, and at one time matters looked really serious. On the 8d of February, 1791, Cornplanter, Half Town, and Big Tree executed a second instrument, in which, after reciting the dissatisfaction that existed among the Seneca nation, they acknowledged the receipt of $800 as full satis- faction of all claims and demands by their na- tion against the commonwealth. VALUABLE INFORMATION. The Triangle, which includes the city of Erie and the Peninsula, extends some forty- three miles in a straight line along the lake, and is about eighteen miles in breadth along the New York boundary, tapering from there toa point in Springfield township, between four and five miles east of the Ohio line. It em- braces 202,187 acres, and the United States received pay for it at the rate of three-fourths of a dollar per acre. The townships included in the Triangle are North East, Greenfield, Venango, Harbor Creek, Greene, Summit, Mill Creek, a small portion of Springfield, about two-fifths of Girard and McKean, and four-fifths of Fairview. The terminus of the Triangle on the shore of Lake Erie was marked by a stone in Springfield township. [See map. ] Some time ago a corps of engineers, repre- senting both States, renewed the monuments marking the boundary between New York and Pennsylvania, many of which had been destroyed or lost sight of. In the execution of their task they made use of blocks of Quincy granite, about four feet long and six inches square at the top, set ordinarily at a dis- tance of one mile apart. The letters ‘‘ Pa.” and “ N. Y.,” about two inches long, face Pennsylvania and New York respectively. ~ CHAPTER XI. First Steps Towarp THE SETTLEMENT or Erie County. N the year 1785 David Watts and William Miles were sent under the auspices of the State to survey the Tenth Donation Dis- trict, embracing portions of Waterford, Wayne and Amity townships. March 24, 1789, it was resolved by the General Assembly that not exceeding 3,000 acres should be sur- veyed at Presque Isle, LeBoeuf and two other places for the use of the commonwealth. This was followed by the settlement law of the 8d of April, 1792, which provided for the survey of all the lands north and west of the Alle- gheny and Ohio rivers and Conewango creek, and their sale upon terms that will be stated in another chapter. The Pennsylvania Popula- tion Company, formed at Philadelphia March 8, 1792, purchased a large tract of land in the Triangle with the object of inducing settlement. On the 8th of April, of the same year, the Legislature passed and Gov. Mifflin approved a bill for laying out a town at Presque Isle. MEASURES FOR PROTECTION. Rumors of Indian hostilities induced the Legislature February 25, 1794, to authorize the Governor to station a detachment of the State troops at such place or places at or near Presque Isle as might be necessary for the pro- tection of the settlers. In accordance with its provisions, Gov. Mifflin, on the 1st of March, 1794, issued a circular to the Brigade Inspectors of Washington, Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, requiring them to raise men to serve eight months, unless sooner discharged, with a stipulation that, if necessary, they should continue in service till the next meeting of the Legislature. Four companies were to be or- ganized within the district, of whom one cap- tain, one lieutenant, two ensigns, six corporals, six sergeants and ninety-five privates were to be detached for the Presque Isle expedition. The command was given to Capt. Ebenezer Denny, of Allegheny county, who is pre- sumed to have seen service in border warfare. Gen. William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott had been appointed commissioners to lay out aroad from Reading to Presque Isle. On the day the circular was issued they were notified that Albert Gallatin had been associated in their appointment, and that they three were to lay out the town contemplated by the act of 1792. The Governor’s instructions desired them to ‘“ promote peace, order and friendship with the peaceable Indians or British garrison, should any intercourse * * be produced by accident or necessity.” Capt. Denny was required ‘‘to comply with every lawful request of the commissioners,” and was further re- minded that the objects of his appointment were ‘‘strictly those of protection and defense.”’ LE BUF OCCUPIED AND AN INDIAN WAR FEARED. The troops took possession of ‘‘ the forks of French creek, about two miles below the old post of LeBeeuf,” on or near the 11th of May, where they built a small block-house, pending the cutting out of the logs which obstructed the navigation of the stream. From this point, Gen. John Wilkins, of Pittsburgh, who accompanied the expedition, wrote on the day of their arrival that ‘ the British are determined to oppose the progress of the State troops from LeBeeuf to Presque Isle by sending a number of Indians and Eng- lish to cut them off.” In a few days, more the detachment reached LeBeeuf, where they immediately erected two small picketed block- houses, which, Wilkins reported, ‘“ will make them sufficiently strong until the re-enforce- ment arrives under Capt. Denny.’’ The latter event did not occur until the 24th of June. While these events were in progress, a letter reached Gen. Knox, Secretary of War under President Washington, from Gen. Israel Chapin, the United States Commis- 106 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY sioner to the Six Nations, to the effect that the British “feel very much alarmed at the garrisoning of Presque Isle. * * If the garrison destined for that place,’’ wrote Chapin, “is not very strong, it is doubtful whether it will not be attacked.” On the 9th of May, Gen. Knox wrote to Wilkins and Denny, cautioning them to “ proceed with the _ utmost vigilance and precaution.’”’ The next day, he addressed a communication to Gen. Mifflin, stating that “affairs are critically circumstanced between the United States and the Six Nations,” and giving it as the opin- ion of the President, ‘‘on mature reflection, that it is advisable to suspend for the present the establishment of Presque Isle.’’ In ac- cordance with this suggestion, the Governor rescinded all orders for drafting men, directed the commissioners, who had not yet left Pittsburgh, to postpone further proceedings, and commanded Denny’s detachment to remain at LeBeeuf, ‘‘unless it should be found necessary to retire from the station in order to prevent an actual contest with the friendly Indians.” The people of the western counties were highly indignant at the suspension of the proceedings for settlement, and, without knowing the reason that prompted Gov. Mifflin, hotly condemned what they called his timidity. The Governor, however, soon righted himself by spreading the intelligence abroad that he had acted in pursuance of a special request from President Washington. THE GARRISON AT FORT LEBQUF. Three days after reaching LeBeuf, Denny asked for ‘‘a few militia,” on the ground that a number of his men at LeBeeuf were ill with the flux and others had to be detached. To the Governor he reported on the 4th of July - ‘Haye been busy erecting a stockade post. Moved the detachment in yesterday. Am now beyond the power of any body of hostile Indians. None have been around since the party on the 24th. Hear firing almost daily, but whether friends or foes is uncertain.” Ellicott, who must have arrived soon after Denny, wrote on the Ist of August: ‘*The Indians consider themselves as our enemies and that we are their’s. From this consider- ation they never come near the garrison ex- cept as spies and then escape as soon as dis- covered.” Denny notified the Governor on the same date that they had four block-houses at LeBeeuf, on two of which a six-pounder was mounted, the others not being calculated for cannon. Over each gate was a swivel. The officers occupied their tents in the ab- sence of more agreeable quarters. The sit- uation he regarded as excellent, except that there was a hollow way parallel with the rear of the works and within gunshot that would ‘‘cover any number of Indians.” This was examined every morning before the gates were thrown open. The troops at the post numbered one hundred and ten, inclusive of officers. [See Waterford. | PEACE SECURED. A treaty of peace was concluded with the Six Nations at Canandaigua, N. Y.,on the 11th of November, in which they unreservedly acknowledged the title of Pennsylvania to the Triangle, and for themselves and their suc- cessors released all claims upon the lands within its limits. This happy conclusion was much hastened by the terror of Anthony Wayne’s name and victories. As soon as tidings of the treaty reached Washington, word was sent by the President to Gov. Mifflin that the temporary obstacles to the establish- ment were removed. It being too late in the season when the good news arrived at LeBeeuf to do any effective work at Presque Isle, the detachment remained at the former post until early spring. The force there on the 27th of March, 1795, consisted of ninety-nine in all. Maj. Craig, of the United States Army, stationed at Pittsburg, reported to the Secre- tary of War on the 24th of May, 1795, that ‘“‘the State troops at LeBeuf are nearly all disbanded. Capt. Buchanan,” he says, ‘‘ who commanded at that post (Denny having left), arrived here yesterday with the greater part of the men under his command, who are all discharged.” In Buchanan’s communication to the Governor, of June 19, he states, how- ever, that Lieut. Mehaffey, with twenty-six men, marched from Pittsburgh with Commis- sioners Irvine and Ellicott toward LeBeuf. He, Buchanan, expected to start thatday with the balance of the escort. This would imply that a new set of men had been enlisted for the purpose. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 107 WATERFORD AND ERIE LAID OUT. While Ellicott was at LeBeuf, in the sum- mer of 1794, he laid out the town of Water- ford, the plan of which was afterward sanc- tioned by the Legislature. An act for laying out towns at Presque Isle, LeBeuf, Venango and Conewango (Erie, Waterford, Franklin and Warren) passed that body in April, 1795, being the second in regard to the first-named place. About two hundred men from Wayne’s army landed at Presque Isle early in the spring of 1795, under command of Capt Russell Bissell. They set to work at once, cutting timber for block-houses, of which two were erected on the bluff overlooking the entrance to the harbor, just east of the mouth of Mill creek. They also cleared a good deal of land to raise corn for the use of the garrison. A sawmill was put up, and by 1796 a warehouse and stockade were completed. The supplies of food, etc., for some time were mainly ob- tained by vessel from Detroit. In June, 1795, Ellicott and Irvine, com- missioners, arrived, accompanied by a corps of surveyors, and escorted by State troops under command of Capt. John Grubb, to lay out the town of Erie, which was done during that year. Troops remained at the post until 1806, but were few in number. [See chapters relating to Erie city and the several townships for a further account of the early settlements. ] CHAPTER XII. LEGISLATION IN REGARD TO Lanp anp Earty Lanp SarLzs.—[See Chapter J, Erie City. ] NE month after the cession of the Tri- angle, in 1792, the General Assembly passed an act for the encouragement . of emigration to the newly-acquired territory. This measure, generally known as the ‘‘actual settlement law,’’ was in substance as follows: The lands north and west of the Rivers Ohio, Allegheny and Conewango are to be sold to any person who will cultivate, improve and settle the same, or cause them to be im- proved and settled, at £7 10 shillings for every hundred acres, with an allowance of six per cent. for roads, etc. On application to the Land Office, giving a description of the lands applied for, a war- rant is to be issued to the applicant for any quantity not exceeding 400 acres. No title shall vest in the lands unless the grantee has, prior to the issuance of his war- rant, made or caused to be made, or shall, within two years next after the same, make or cause to be made an actual settlement thereon, by clearing, fencing and cultivating at least two acres for every hundred in one survey, and erected a house, and resided or caused a family to reside on the same for the five years immediately following; and in default thereof new warrants shall be issued to actual settlers ; “‘ provided, that if any such actual settler or grantee “shall, by force of arms of the enemies of the United States, be prevented from mak- ing such settlement, or be driven therefrom, and shall persist in his endeavors to make such actual settlement, then, in either case, he and his heirs shall be entitled to have and to hold such lands in the same manner as if the actual settlement had been made.”’ The lands actually settled and improved to remain chargeable with the purchase money and interest, and if the grantee shall neglect to apply for a warrant for ten years after the passage of this act, unless hindered by death or the enemies of the United States, the lands may be granted to others by warrants reciting the defaults. LAND COMPANIES. Almost simultaneously with the enactment of the ‘‘ actual settlement law,” the Pennsyl- 108 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY vania Population Company was formed at Philadelphia, to settle and dispose of the lands in the Triangle. John Nicholson, the famous land speculator, was elected president. Pre- vious to the organization of the company, Mr. Nicholson had applied for 390 warrants in the Triangle. These he transferred to the corpo- ration, which paid for them and perfected the title. The company took up about 500 addi- tional warrants in Erie and Crawford coun- ties. The lands located by the Population Company embraced the whole Triangle except the town plot of Erie, the Erie State Reserve, the Garrison Reserve and Irvine’s Reserva- tion, in addition to tracts in the southern part of Erie county. The corporation was dis- solved in 1814, after the last war with Great Britain, and the remaining lands and unset- tled contracts for the sale of lands passed into the hands of individual members. The Population Company, on the 8th of March, 1798, issued instructions to their agents, offering the following inducements to settlers in Erie county : A gift of 150 acres each to the first twenty families that shall settle on French creek. A similar gift to the first twenty families that shall settle in ‘‘ the Lake Erie territory.” A gift of 100 acres each to the next fifty families (after the first twenty) who shall set- tle on French creek. A similar gift to the next fifty families (after the first ten) who shall settle in the Lake Erie territory. The settlers were privileged to locate on any lands of the company they chose, and if they cleared at least ten acres, and erected a comfortable house thereon, in which they re- sided, were to have a deed after two years. In case they were driven off by the Indians, no part of the two years was to run against them, and no title was to vest in anv person or his heirs who abandoned the lands _ before receiving his deed. Thirty thousand acres were offered for sale to actual settlers, in tracts not exceeding 300 acres, at $1 per acre, payable at the option of the purchaser, in three years, with interest the last two years. THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. Some time after the Revolution, a number of wealthy gentlemen living in Holland, or- ganized under the name of the Holland Land Company, purchased of Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, vast bodies of land in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. They also took up by warrant large tracts in Erie and Crawford counties, besides those purchased from Morris. The war- rants were issued to them at various times in 1798, 1794 and 1795. The lands of the Holland Company in Erie county lay south of the Triangle line, across the entire width of the county. Maj. Alden, the first agent of the company, was succeeded by William Miles. In 1815, H. J. Huidekoper, a member of the corporation, came on from Holland, took charge of the company’s affairs, and establish- ed his office in Meadville. The lands remain- ing unsold were bought by Mr. Huidekoper in 1838. William H. Seward, afterward famous as a statesman, was agent for the company in western New York, having his office in Mayville or Westfield. ANOTHER COMPANY FORMED AT HARRISBURG, An association was formed at Harrisburg on the 18th of August, 1796, under the title of the Harrisburg and Presque Isle Company, for the purpose of ‘‘settling, improving and populating the country near and adjoining to Lake Erie.”” It was limited to ten persons, among whom were Richard Swan, Thomas Forster, Samuel Laird and William Kelso. The company purchased thirty-seven Erie in- lots and eight outlots at the public sale at Carlisle in August, 1796. They also obtained possession of 430 acres at the mouth of Wal- nut creek, and of some land at Waterford. Mr. Forster came on as agent, in company with Mr. Swan, in the spring of 1797, and located on the Walnut creek property. By the fall of that year, they had a sawmill erected, and the next year a gristmill was commenced, which was completed in the fall of 1798. They laid out a town at the mouth of the creek and called it Fairview. Both Forster and Swan took up large tracts in the vicinity on their own account. The title to a portion of the company’s property was disputed by the Population Company, and, after long litigation, the Walnut creek site was sold at Sheriff’s sale. TENTH DONATION DISTRICT. The Legislature in 1788 directed the laying out of large tracts in the northwestern and AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 109 western portions of the commonwealth, to be known as Donation Districts, and to be ap- plied in fulfillment of a promise made on the 7th of March, 1780, ‘‘ to the officers and pri- vates belonging to this State in the Federal army, of certain donations and quantities of land, according to their several ranks, to be surveyed and divided off to them, severally, at the end of the Revolutionary war.” The Do- nation District was divided into sub-districts, each of which was known by itsnumber. The Tenth District commenced about a mile east of the borough of Waterford and extended eastward across the present townships of Amity and Wayne to the Warren county line. It was surveyed on the part of the State, in 1785, by David Watts and William Miles. Few of the soldiers for whose benefit the lands were set aside, moved onto them, the patents having generally been disposed of at a small price to speculators. THE MORAVIAN GRANT. In recognition of its services in maintain- ing missionaries at its own expense among the Indians, the State, in 1791, voted to ‘‘ the Society of the United Brethren for propaga- ting the Gospel among the heathen ’’—com- monly known as the Moravians—two grants of land of 2,500 acres each, with allowance, to be located respectively on “the River Con- nought, near the northwestern part of the State,” and on “the heads of French creek.” The society located 2,875 acres in LeBoeuf township, which they named the ‘Good Luck” tract, and 2,797 in Springfield and Conneaut townships, to which they gave the title of ‘* Hospitality.” These lands were leased until 1850, when they were purchased by N. Blickensderfer and James Miles. The first agent for the Moravians was William Miles, of Union, who was succeeded by his son James as manager of the ‘“« Hospitality,” and by John Wood, of Waterford, as manager of the ‘“* Good Luck ”’ tract. STATE RESERVATIONS. In laying out the lands of the county for settlement, the State reserved four tracts, which are briefly described below : Irvine’s Reservation consisted of 2,000 acres in Harbor Creek township, donated by the com- monwealth to Gen. William Irvine as a special reward for his services during the Revolution. The tract which became known as the Erie State Reserve commenced at the head of the bay and ran south three miles, then east- ward, parallel with the lake, eight miles, then back to the lake shore three miles, excluding the lands originally embraced within the limits of Erie. These lands were first surveyed by George Moore in 1795, again by John Coch- ran in 1796-97, and finally by Thomas Rees in 1799. The latter laid them out in three tiers —the one furthest from the lake consisting of 150-acre tracts, the second mainly of 180-acre tracts, and the last, or nearest to the lake, of tracts ranging from 50 to 100 acres. None of the lands were sold until 1801, and but few before 1804. Those who bought earliest paid from $3 to $4 per acre; one-fifth in hand, the balance in four equal annual payments. One party who owned 411 acres deeded the whole of it, in 1804, fora male slave. The final sale of the Reserve lands took place on the first Monday of August, 1833, when a number of fifty-acre tracts on the bank of the lake west of the city were purchased at from $9 to $22 per acre. The Reserve at Waterford consisted of 1,800 acres in Waterford township, and 400 in Le- Beuf. Provision for its sale was made in the act of 1799, and most of the tract had passed into private hands by 1804. “ The Garrison tract was provided for in the act of 1794, for laying out a town at Presque Isle, which directed the Governor to reserve “out of the lots of the said town so much land as he shall deem necessary for public uses; also, so much land, within or out of the said town, as may, in his opinion, be wanted by the United States for the purpose of erecting forts, magazines, arsenals and dock-yards.”” It lies on the bank of the bay on the east side of Mill creek, and is now occupied in whole or in part by the grounds of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. LANDS SET ASIDE FOR ACADEMY PURPOSES. By an act passed in 1799 it was provided that in the sales of land 500 acres should be held back from each of the Reserve tracts at Erie and Waterford ‘for the use of such schools and academies as may hereafter be es- tablished by law” in those towns. The lands that fell to the share of Waterford Academy lie in LeBoeuf township, at the mouth of Le- Boeuf creek. They were sold off about 1840. 110 The Erie Academy grant was in Mill Creek township, and extended some distance along the Waterford turnpike, commencing near the present southern boundary of the city. The land has mainly passed into the hands of pri- vate owners. SURVEYORS AND LAND AGENTS. Under the act of 1792, the territory north and west of the Ohio, Allegheny and Cone- wango rivers, was divided into five districts, each of which was assigned to a deputy sur- veyor. District No. 1, embracing the Tri- angle, was assigned to Thomas Rees, Jr., who left for Presque Isle in the spring of 1798. After long delay, on account of In- dian threats, he reached his destination; but the attitude of the Indians was so hostile, and reports of Indian murders so frequent, that he abandoned the field and returned to the East. In the spring of 1795 Mr. Rees came on again, put up a tent at the mouth of Mill creek, and resumed his duties as a sur- veyor. About this time he was also appointed agent for the Population Company. He em- ployed several assistant surveyors during the season, among whom were George Moore and David McNair, and by fall reported the sale for the company of 74,790 acres to some 200 different persons. Few of these, however, made an immediate settlement upon the land, through fear of Indian depredations. Mr. Rees resigned both as deputy surveyor and agent for the Population Company at the be- ginning of 1796, and from that date until the spring of 1802 served the State as commis- sioner for the sale of lots, etc. He was suc- ceeded in the first position by John Cochran, and in the second by Judah Colt, who con- tinued until hisdeath. Mr. Rees took up a large tract in Harbor Creek township, about one mile south of the present Buffalo road, to which he cut a highway in 1797. The sev- eral parties who acted on the part of the State for the sale of lots and lands were as follows: Erie—1800, Thomas Rees, Jr.; 1802, John Kelso; 1805, Thomas Forster; 1809, Conrad Brown ; 1810, John Kelso ; 1811, Robert Knox. Waterford—1800, David McNair and James Naylor; 1805, John Vincent; 1809, Charles Martin; 1811, James Boyd. Wilson Smith was appointed deputy surveyor for the town of Erie April 25th, 1800. NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Judah Colt, who had been appointed to succeed Mr. Rees as agent of the Population Company, came on in that capacity on the Ist of July, 1796. He was assisted in his duties by Elisha and Enoch Marvin. Singu- lar to state, they preferred the high lands in Greenfield township, and the first permanent settlement in the county, outside of Erie and Waterford, was made early in 1797 at Colt’s Station. [See Greenfield.] Mr. Colt died in 1882, and left a large estate. His succes- sor for most of the members of the company was Judah C. Spencer. A few of the mem- bers placed their interests in charge of Thomas H. Sill. Dunning McNair estab- lished an agency for the company on Con- neaut creek in 1797, later in the year than the settlement in Greenfield, and made contracts with most of the early settlers of that region. CHANGE IN THE SETTLEMENT LAW. In 1794 the Legislature passed an act which provided that no further applications should be received by the land office for any un- improved land within the Triangle. This was after it had been ascertained that the territory was not sufficient to supply the warrants issued to the Population Company. The same act directed that no warrant should issue after the 15th of June of that year, for any land within the Triangle except in favor of persons claiming by virtue of some settle- ment and improvement having been made thereon, and that all applications remaining in the land office after that date for which the purchase money had not been paid, should be void. It was stipulated, however, that applications might be “ received and war- rants issued until the ist of January, 1795, in favor of any persons to whom a balance might be due in the land office on unsatisfied warrants issued before the 29th of March, 1792, for such quantities of land as might be sufficient to discharge such balances ;” pro- vided, that the act should not be ‘so con- strued as that any warrants, except those wherein the land is particularly described, should in any manner affect the title of the claim of any person having made an actual improvement before such warrant was entered and surveyed in the Deputy Surveyor’s books.” Another act, passed in September of the same year, made it unlawful for any appli- cation for lands to be received at the land AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. I1il office, after its passage, ‘‘except for such lands where a settlement has been or here- after shall be made, grain raised and a per- son or persons residing thereon.” EXTENSIVE LAND SALES. At an early date David Watts and William Miles, the first surveyors under the State, lo- cated 1,400 acres at Wattsburg and 1,200 acres at Lake Pleasant. In 1796, Mr. Miles also purchased four tracts on the lake shore from the Population Company, on which he agreed to place settlers. Martin Strong, who came to the county in 1795 as a surveyor for the Holland Land Company, took up a large tract on the ridge, in Waterford and Summit townships. David McNair chose 800 acres of the Walnut creek flats, at Kearsarge, besides other extensive tracts. He at one time owned some of the most valuable property in the county, including half of what is now South Erie. George Fisher, of Dauphin county, se- cured a vast body of land in Waterford and Washington townships, and William Wallace, who was the first lawyer in the county, be- came the owner of numerous tracts in various townships. Many sales were made by the different companies between 1796 and 1799, and by 1800 a good share of the county had passed into the hands of actual settlers, or persons who intended to become such. THE FIRST PURCHASERS. Below is a list of parties who entered into agreements with the Population Company for the purchase of lands in 1796-97 and 1798, all being for full tracts except the one in the nameot George Hurst, which was for 200 acres : James Baird, George Balfour, Russell Bissell, Negro “ Boe,” Richard Clement, Isaac Craig, Joshua Fairbanks, Thomas Forster, Thomas Gallagher, Thomas Greer, John Grubb, Samuel Holliday, Benjamin Richardson, David Hays, Francis Scott, Joseph McCord, George Hurst, William Paul, Israel Bodine, John Kennedy, George Nicholson, Thomas Dunn, Henry Hurst, William Dunn, Martin Strong, Richard Swan, J. F. Vollaine, John McKee, John Oliver, Mary Reed, Milhall Condon, David Long, Peter Grasoss, Joseph L. Rowley, William G. Tysner, Freeman Tuttle, Hamilton Stone, John Anderson, John Shaffer, Thomas Hughes, David Seely, John Morris, David McCullough, William Sturgeon, Hugh Trimble, Robert Brown, John Nichols, Robert McIntire, Samuel Barker, George Tracy, Oliver Dunn, Oliver Thornton, ‘Timothy Tuttle. LITIGATION Benjamin Russell, Anthony Saltsman, James Herman, Azariah Davis, Arnold Custard, William Barker, Samuel Barker, Israel Miller, George Lowry, James Dunn, Ezekiel Dunning, William Parcell, Hugh Spears, Elihu Talmadge, Alex. Vance, Hugh McLaughlin, Rufus S. Reed, Stephen Oliver, Alex. McKee, Stephen Forster, James Greer, James Foulke, John Hay, Bernard Tracy, Zelmar Barker, Daniel Dobbins, John Cummings, John Daggett, Samuel Holliday, Patrick McKee, Henry Strowman, Jeremiah Sturgeon, James Leland, Peter Prime, John Gordon, George W. Reed, John Cochran, William Weed, William Baird, Thomas Greer, OVER LAND. Mr. Colt’s first years as agent of the Pop- Thomas P. Miller, Thomas Rees, Jr., Beriah Davis, Elihu Crane, Patrick Kennedy, Morrow Lowry, Rowland Rees, William M. Grundy, James O’Harra, Laton Dick, Francis Brawley, Abraham Custard, Miles Crane, Abiathar Crane, John Sanderson, William Lee, Robert Lowry, John Mill, Judah Colt, Charles John Reed, ulation Company were much disturbed by hostile manifestations and costly litigation to maintain the real or assumed rights of the or- ganization. The causes of the troubles, in brief, were as follows: The law of 1792 pro- vided that any actual settler, or grantee in any original or succeeding warrant, who should be driven from the country by the ene- mies of the United States, and who should persist in the endeavor to make a settlement, 112 NELSONS BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY should be entitled to hold his lands in the same manner as if an actual settlement had been made. The Population Company and the Holland Company claimed that by their several efforts to occupy the lands in 1798, ’94 and ’95, they had fulfilled all the condi- tions of the law. In the spring of 1795, a proclamation was issued by the Governor de- claring that the Indians had been conquered, and stating that the northwestern section of the State was open to settlement. The effect of this was to induce a number of people to emigrate to the county, some of whom put- chased from the agents, while others set up adverse claims, asserting that the companies had forfeited the lands. The companies alleged that peace was not really secured until 1796, citing the Rutledge murder as proof. Tothis the adverse claimants replied that the murder was not committed by the Indians, but was the deed of white men in pay of the company, to relieve them from their embarrassment. The principal seat of the troubles was in Greenfield and North East townships; but they extended in some degree to Conneaut, Harbor Creek and other sections. The Holland Company also had difficulties with various parties who claimed to be actual settlers. Among those who became involved in litigation with the company was William Miles, who had located and placed settlers up- on lands which the company complained had been allotted to them. The Miles suits were ultimately settled by amicable arrangement, and he became the agent of the company. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania de- cided against the adverse claimants, creating an intense feeling of indignation and disap- pointment throughout the Northwest. settled the business, so far as the Population Company was concerned, it being a State corporation, wholly composed of citizens of Pennsylvania. The Holland Land Company, being a foreign concern, brought their action in the United States Circuit Court, where the decision was precisely like that of the State Supreme Court. It was appealed to the Su- preme Court of the United States, where the other courts were fully sustained in an opinion rendered by Chief Justice Marshall in 1805. This result settled the dispute for good. There being no further question of title, the county began to fill up rapidly. Some of the This. adverse settlers left in disgust and despair; but the majority entered into arrangements with the companies to purchase the land which they had improved. IN 1886. One of the wildest, if not the most reck- less, land speculations ever known in Erie county took place in 1836, being confined mainly to the borough of Erie and vicinity. It grew out of the important internal improve- ments conceived and set in operation about that time, added to a tremendous over-issue of paper money throughout the country. Thecanal to Beaver had been surveyed, a charter had been granted for the railroad to Sunbury, and considerable work had been done by the Unit- ed States Government in building piers and deepening the harbor. A widespread impres- sion sprung up that Erie was destined to be- come a great city. Thecharter of the United States Bank at Philadelphia expired in 1886. In the early part of that year, the State Legis- lature chartered the United States Bank of Pennsylvania with a capital of $85,000,000. This institution established a branch at Erie, erecting the old custom house on State below Fifth street, and the residence adjoining, fora banking office and cashier’s house. The stock of the Erie branch, amounting to $200,000, was all taken on the 27th of February, 1886. These matters combined gave an extraordinary impulse to real estate in the borough of Erie. The price of town lots jumped up 100 per cent. In a single week the sales of real estate amounted to over half a million dollars. One lot, purchased in February for $10,000, was resold in Buffalo within a month for $50,000. The speculation lasted until 1887, when the banks failed throughout the Union, causing a terrible revulsion. Although the speculation in this county was limited to Erie and its vi- cinity, a general spirit of adventure prevailed in the whole nation, and thousands of persons were ruined by their faith in inflation and the speculative tendency of the time. The history of that day is one of the best arguments that can be produced against the theories of those who believe in the issue of a large volume of paper currency without taking proper steps for its redemption and security. [For an account of the land sales and set- tlements at Erie, see the chapter on that sub- ject under the heading of Erie City. ] LAND SPECULATION Met by Sarre) Goren” / Lifes J Fol CHAPTER XIII. First SETTLERS IN THE Counry—Ear.iest MarriaGes, Birtus AND DEarus. S may be seen by the preceding chap- ters, the first known American citi- zens who located permanently within the bounds of Erie county were Thomas Rees and John Grubb, who reached Erie in the spring of 1795 and re- mained until their deaths. Ata later date in the same year William Miles and William Cook, with their wives, made a settlement in Concord township, near the Crawford county line, where they were the sole residents for some years. A month or so later, Col. Seth Reed, accompanied by his wife and sons, Manning and Charles John, came to Erie ina sail boat from Buffalo, which was piloted by James Talmadge, who took up lands during the season in McKean township. These three ladies were the first white persons of their sex who are known to have resided in the county. The other settlers during 1795 were Rufus S. and George W. Reed, James Baird and children, Mrs. Thomas Rees and Mrs. J. Fairbanks, at Erie; Amos Judson, James Naylor, Lieut. Martin, and Martin Strong, in Waterford; John W. Russell, George Moore and David McNair, in Mill creek; Capt. Robert King and family, Will- iam and Thomas Black and Thomas Ford and wife, in LeBoeuf ; Jonathan Spaulding in Con- neaut; Michael’ Hare and two men named Ridue and Call,in Wayne; James and Bailey Donaldson, in North East, and James Blairin Girard. So far as the records show, these were the only white people living in the county that year. Among the settlers during the interval between 1795 and 1800 were the following : 1796— Washington township, Alexander Hamilton and William Culbertson; rie, Capt. Daniel Dobbins ; 122277 Creek, Benjamin Russell, Thomas P. Miller, David Dewey, Anthony Saltsman and John McFarland, Greenfield, Judah Colt, Elisha and Enoch Marvin, Cyrus Robinson, Charles Allen, Jo- seph Berry, John Wilson, James Moore’ Joseph Webster, Philo Barker, Timothy Tut- tle, Silas and William Smith, Joseph Shat- tuck, John Daggett, John Andrews and Leverett Bissell ; 1Zc Kean, Thomas and Oliver Dunn; Fatrview, Francis Scott; Sumnett, George W. Reed; Worth Last, William Wil- son, George and Henry Hurst and Henry and Dyer Loomis; Springfield, Samuel Holliday, John Devore, John Mershom, William Mc- Intyre and Patrick Ager; Venango, Adam and Jaines Reed, Burrill and Zalmon Tracy; Waterford, John Lytle, Robert Brotherton, John Lennox and Thomas Skinner. 1797— Waterford, John Vincent and Wil- son Smith; Wayzxe, Joseph Hall and Prosser; Union, Hugh Wilson, Andrew Thompson, Matthew Gray, Francis B. and Robert Smith; Ak Creek, Eli Colton; Ve- nango, Thomas, John and David Phillips ; Springfield, Oliver Cross; Fairview, Thomas Forster, Jacob Weiss, George Nicholson, John Kelso, Richard Swan, Patrick Vance, Patrick and John McKee, Jeremiah and William ~ Sturgeon and William Haggerty; LeBeuf, Francis Isherwood, James, Robert and Adam Pollock; Conneaut, Col. Dunning McNair ; Mill Creek, John Nicholson, the McKees and Boe Bladen; Washington, Job Reeder, Sam- uel Galloway, Simeon Dunn, John and James Campbell, Matthias Sipps, Phineas McLene- than, Matthew Hamilton, John McWilliams, James, John, Andrew and Samuel Culbertson, and Mrs. Jane Campbell (widow); (orth East, Thomas Robinson, Joseph McCord, James McMahon, Margaret Lowry (widow), James Duncan, Francis Brawley and Abram and Arnold Custard; Harbor Creek, William Saltsman, Amasa Prindle and Andrew El- liott. 1798—E rie, William Wallace; Wayne, William Smith and David Findley; Uxion, Jacob Shephard, John Welsh, John Fagan and John Wilson; A7& Creek, George Hay- Ti4 barger and John Dietz; Venango, William Allison and wife; Springfield, Nicholas Le- Barger ; Mairview, John Dempsey ; Conneaut, Abiathar and Elihu Crane; Washington, Peter Kline; Girard, Abraham and William Silverthorn; North East, Thomas Crawford, Lemuel Brown, Henry and Matthew Taylor, William Allison, Henry Burgett, John, James and Matthew Greer; Waterford, Aaron Himrod. 1799— Waterford, John, James and David Boyd, Capt. John Tracy, M. Himebaugh, John Clemens, the Simpsons and Lattimores; Erie, John Teel; J/cKean, Lemuel and Russell Stancliff ; Swat, Eliakim Cook. The above is not claimed to be a complete list of the settlers up to 1800, but is as nearly full as can now be obtained. Emigration was slow the first five years in consequence of the land troubles. After 1805, the county commenced to fill up more rapidly, and to attempt to give aroll of the settlers would exceed the limits of a work like this. [See the City, Township and Borough Chapters. | NATIVITY OF THE PIONEERS. Most of the people named above were from New England or New York, but quite a number were Scotch-Irish from the south- ern counties of Pennsylvania, and a few were of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. The New Yorkers were in general from the interior of that State, and the Pennsylvanians from ~ Dauphin, Cumberland, Lancaster and Nor- thumberland counties. The Riblets, Eber- soles, Loops, Zucks, Browns, Stoughs, Zim- mermans, Kreiders, and others of that class, came in at a period ranging from 1801 to 1805. From that time the people who settled in the county were almost universally of New England and New York origin until about 1825, when another emigration of Penn- sylvania Dutch set in, which continued until 1885 or thereabouts. Among those who located in the county during this period were the Weigels, Warfels, Mohrs, Metzlers, Ber- gers, Brennemans, Charleses and _ others whose names are familiar. The foreign ele- ment began to come in at a comparatively recent date—the Irish about 1825, and the Germans from five to ten years after. The first settlers were a hardy, adventurous race of men, and their wives were brave, loving and dutiful women. NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY FIRST MARRIAGES, BIRTHS AND DEATHS. The earliest marriage was that of Charles J. Reed, of Walnut Creek (Kearsarge), to Miss Rachel Miller, which occurred on Decem- ber 27, 1797. The earliest recorded birth was that of John R., son of William Black, in Fort LeBoeuf, August 29, 1795. Mr. Boardman, of Washington township, was born in the Conneauttee valley the same year The earliest known deaths occurred in the years below: Ralph Rutledge, killed by the Indians at Erie, May 29th, 1795. His son was fatally shot at the same time, and died shortly after, in the fort at LeBeuf. Gen. Anthony Wayne, in the block-house at Erie, December 15, 1796. Col. Seth Reed; at Walnut Creek, March 19, 1797. PRIMITIVE MODE OF LIVING. The majority, if not all, of the settlers were in moderate circumstances, and were content to live in a very cheap way. They had to depend on the produce of their little clearings, which consisted to a large extent of potatoes and corn. Mush, corn bread and potatoes were the principal food. There was no meat except game, and often this had to beeaten without salt. Pork, flour, sugar and other groceries sold at high prices, and were looked upon as luxuries. In 1798-99, wheat brought $2.50 per bushel; flour, $18 a barrel ; corn, $2 per bushel ; oats, $1.50; and potatoes, $1.50. The mills were far apart,the roads scarce- ly more than pathways through the woods, and the grists had to be carried in small quantities on the backs of men or horses. Few families had stoves, and the cooking was done almost entirely over open fires. The beds were without springs and were made up in general by laying coarse blankets upon boxes or rude frames. All clothing was homemade. Every house had a spinning wheel, and many were provided with looms. Liquor was in com- mon use, and there was seldom a family without its bottle, for the comfort of the husband and the entertainment of his guests. The first buildings were log cabins con- structed of unhewn logs laid one upon another with the crevices filled in with mud. These gave way, as the condition of the people im- proved, to structures of hewn timber in which mortar was substituted for mud. Hardly any AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 115 of the houses were plastered. Many were without window glass, and wall paper was unknown. As saw mills increased, frame buildings of a better character were substi- tuted for the log cabins, and occasionally a brick or stone structure was erected, which was talked about in all the country round as a marvel of architecture. The people were sepa- rated by long distances; for years there were few clearings that joined. In every house there was an immense fire-place, in which tremendous amounts of wood were consumed, which practically cost nothing. When anew residence or barn was to be erected, the neighbors were invariably invited to the raising. On such occasions, liquor or cider was expected to be freely dispensed, and it was rarely the case that the invitations were declined. These raisings were the merry- making events of the day, and generally brought together twenty-five to fifty of the settlers, who worked hard, drank freely, and flattered themselves when they were through that they had experienced a jolly good time. A HARD BUT HEALTHY LIFE. All the cooking and warming, in town as well as in country, was done by the aid of fires kindled on the brick hearths or: in the brick ovens. Pine knots or tallow candles furnished the light for the long winter nights, and sanded floors supplied the place of rugs and carpets. The water used for household purposes was drawn from deep wells by the creaking sweeps. There were no friction matches, by the aid of which a fire could be easily kindled, and if the fire went out upon the hearth over night, and the tinder was damp, so that the spark would not catch, the alternative remained of wading through the snow a mile or so to borrow a brand from a neighbor. Only one room in any house was warm, inall the rest the temperature was at zero during the extreme winter nights. The men and women undressed and went to their beds in a temperature as cold as our barns and woodsheds. Churches and schoolhouses were sparsely located, and of the most primitive character. One pastor served a number of congregations ; and salaries were so low that the preachers had to take part in working their farms to pro- cure support for their families. The -people went to religious service on foot or horseback, and the children often walked two or three miles through the woods to school. There were no fires in the churches for a number of years. When they were introduced they were at first built in holes cut in the floors, and the smoke found its way out through openings in the roofs. The seats were of unsmoothed slabs, the ends and centers of which were laid upon blocks, and the pulpits were little better. Worship was held once or twice a month, con- sisting usually of two services, one in the forenoon and one immediately after noon, the people remaining during the interval and spending the time in social intercourse. WILD BEASTS AND FISH. A dense forest covered the county, when it was opened to settlement, which abounded with deer, bears, wolves, panthers, rabbits, foxes, raccoons,. squirrels, oppossums, minks, skunks, martins, and some wild cattle, or ‘‘ buffalo,” as they were called by the French. Every man kept a gun and went into the woods in pursuit of game whenever the sup- ply of food in his household ran short. Deer were abundant for years. There were numer- ous deer-licks, where the animals resorted to find salt water, at which the hunters lay in wait and shot them down without mercy. Packs of wolves often surrounded the cabins and kept the inmates awake with their howl- ing. A bounty was long paid for their scalps, varying in amount from $10 to $12 per head. Accounts are given of sheep being killed by wolves as late as 1813. Occasionally a pan- ther or wild cat terrified whole neighborhoods by its screaming. The last panther was shot at Lake Pleasant by Abram Knapp in 1857. The country was full of pigeons, ducks, geese, pheasants, partridges, and turkeys in their season, all of which fell easy victims to the guns or traps of the pioneers. The lakes, of course, contained plenty of fish, and most of the small streams. abounded in trout. It does not appear that the county was ever much troubled with poisonous snakes. There were some massassaugies and copperheads on the peninsula; but the interior seems to have been remarkably free from dangerous reptiles. Taken altogether, while they had to en- dure many privations and hardships, it is doubtful whether the pioneers of any part of America were more fortunate in their selec- tion than those of Erie county. CHAPTER XIV. GristmiLis, SAWMILLS, Factories, TANNERIES, Breweries, Erc.—[See Chapters XII and XVI, Erie City History.] HE first mill in Erie county was built at the mouth of Mill creek in 1796, under the direction of Capt. Russell Bissell, of the United States army, to supply timber for barracks, dwellings, etc., for the use of the troops who had been sent forward as a protection to the settlers. It gave name to the stream and stood until 1820, when it burned down. The dam was just east of Parade street, nearly ona line with Fourth. In 1881, George W. Reed and William Him- rod built another sawmill on the old site, the frame of which was standing for more than thirty years after its erection. The second sawmill was built by John Cochran in 1800, on the site of what became known as the Eliot or Densmore mill. The following year, he added a gristmill, both being constructed of logs. In the year 1816 John Teel replaced them by a frame, which was subsequently operated by John Gray and son James, Jonathan Baird and John McClure. In May, 1836, upon the death of John Coch- ran, it fell into the hands of his son Robert, and about 1845 was sold to Gen. C. M. Reed, who conveyed it to George A. Eliot. In 1850, Mr. Eliot gave the control of it to his son John, who in March, 1871, sold it to Henry Shotwell; thence it passed into the possession of William Densmore. When Mr. Teel rebuilt the mill, the contract price was $300. He took in part pay for his services the two outlots bounded by Chestnut, Sassafras, Twentieth and Twenty-second streets. The land alone, included in this property, is now worth $60,000. In 1806, Robert Brotherton built a saw- mill at or near the site of the present Hope- dale mill. The farm and mill were pur- chased by John Gingrich, and the latter was discontinued when timber became scarce in the neighborhood, An oil mill was subse- quently erected there by C. Siegel. Upon his father’s death, Henry Gingrich inherited the property, and about 1850 built a flouring mill, which he called ‘‘ Hopedale.” This mill was operated for some years by Oliver & Ba- con, who left it in 1865, and it was then taken in charge by its owner, Henry Gingrich. During the years 1807-8, another sawmill was erected on Mill creek at its intersection with Eighth street, by Thomas Forster and William Wallace, who got control of the wa- ter-power from Twelfth to Parade streets. About 1810, R. S. Reed purchased the prop- erty and built a gristmill below. In 1822, George Moore bought these mills and added a carding and fulling-mill. Some time during the winter of 1884-35, the mills were pur- chased by E. D. Gunnison, who became asso- ciated in business with Abraham Johnson, and they built and named the Fairmount flouring- mill. Gunnison sold his interest to John H. Walker, who converted the carding and full- ing mill into a plaster mill, and built a large tannery opposite and a number of dwellings for the workmen. Jehiel Towner was miller for many years. The tannery burned down and the mill fell into the hands of Liddell, Kepler & Co. In the spring of 1859 it was bought by P. & O. E. Crouch, and is now owned and operated by J. B. Crouch & Co. Rufus S. Reed built a gristmill on Mill creek in 1815. It was located on Parade street between Fourth and Fifth, and the dam crossed the stream just below Sixth street. He afterward added a distillery, both of which were carried on by him until his death. The mill stood until some twenty years ago. The same year (1815), Robert Large erected a gristmill near the corner of Eleventh and French streets, with the dam above Twelfth. It did not, however, prove successful, and in 1822 was sold to Alvah Flint, who converted AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 117 it into a cloth, carding and fulling-mill. This was kept up until 1840, when the site and water-power were purchased by Vincent, Himrod & Co., who erected a foundry subse- quently known as the Erie City Iron Works. It is now occupied by Althof’s planing mill and the Ball Engine Works. BREWERIES. The first beer brewery in the city was built in 1815, by Maj. David McNair, on Turn- pike street, near where the Erie City mill was afterward erected. He added a distillery in 1828, and in 1827 built a grist mill on State street, south of the Lake Shore R. R., the motive power for all being furnished by the water of Ichabod run. This stream came down from the ridge on the west side of the city and emptied into Mill creek near the State street bridge of the Lake Shore Railroad company. The small amount of water that remains has been carried into the sewers. The mill went down, and in 1849 the Erie City mill was built by McSparren & Dumars, to use the water of the same stream. It became the property of William Densmore, who still carries on the milling business at the corner of State and Sixteenth streets. Jacob Diefenthaler was the second beer brewer in the city. He was succeeded by John Knobloch. The brewery was located on the east side of French street, between Third and Fourth. Mr. Jacobi started a beer brewery in the same locality, which he sold out to George L. Baker, who converted it into an ale brewery. The former then built a beer brewery on Fourth street near Poplar, which had quite a successful run. Jacob Deitz es- tablished the brewery afterward operated by Charles Koehler, now owned by Frederick Koehler & Co. An ale brewery was started by James Carnagie on Myrtle street, east side, between Second and Third, about 1887, which only continued a few years. The Eagle brewery (Jackson Koehler’s) was founded by Fry & Schaff in 1846, and long operated by Henry Kalvelage; the National brewery (Conrad’s), by Jacob Fuess, about 1848. A Mr. Heilman was in the brewing business for some time. One of the most prominent of the early breweries was that of Alfred King, on the Ridge road, a little west of Erie cemetery. Mr. King also did a large business in barley and malt. TANNERIES, BRICKYARDS, ETC. The pioneer tannery of Erie was erected by Ezekiel Dunning, on Holland street, be- tween Fifth and Sixth, about the beginning of the present century. It was long known as Sterrett’s tannery, and was kept in operation until 1852. The next tannery in the order of time was established in 1805, by Samuel and Robert Hays, on the corner of Ninth and French streets. The latter sold his interest to Samuel, and he in turn was succeeded by his sons, W. B. and J. W. Hays, who carried on atannery in Erie for many years. William Arbuckle, who learned the trade with Samuel Hays, started a tannery in 1820, on Eighth street, west of Myrtle, which he ran until 1830, when it ceased operations. A fulling-mill was started about 1830, at the northwest corner of Tenth and Myrtle streets, by John Glover. It was abandoned about 1840. : The first brickyard in the county was opened in 1808, by Isaac Austin and B. Rice, and was located east of Parade, between Sec- ond and Third streets. From brick made in this yard, James Baird erected the first brick house in Erie county. It stood on German, between Front and Second streets, was two stories in height, and occupied for many years by Thomas Wilson. The building was used as a hospital in 1818 for the wounded prison- ers captured at the battle of Lake Erie, and was burned down in 1827. When there was not one-fifth of the pop- ulation, a distillery was to be found in almost every neighborhood. Some families were as particular about laying in their barrel of whisky as their barrel of pork, and would rather be without the latter than the former. MILLS OUTSIDE OF ERIE. ‘The second and third sawmills in the county were put up in 1797—one by Thomas Forster at the mouth of Walnut creek, and the other by Robert Brotherton, on LeBoeuf creek, near the Waterford station of the P.& E. R.R. The latter added a gristmill in 1802. In 1798, a fourth sawmill was built near the mouth of Four-Mile creek by Thomas Rees, for the Population Company. The fifth was built by Leverett Bissell, on French creek, in Greenfield township, in 1799. During the year 1798 the first gristmill in 118 the county was built at the mouth of Walnut creek under the superintendence of Thomas Forster. The other mills established outside of Erie City before the last war with Great Britain were as follows: One on Spring run, Girard township, by Mr. Silverthorn, in 1799. A grist and sawmill by William Miles, at Union, in 1800, later known as Church’s mill. In the same year, a small gristmill, by James Foulk, at the mouth of Six-Mile creek. A sawmill by William Culbertson, in 1801, and a gristmill in 1802, at Edinboro, since known as Taylor & Reeder’s mills. A sawmill by Capt. Holliday, in 1801, and a gristmill in 1808, at the mouth of Crooked creek, in Springfield township. A sawmill in 1802 or 1808, by John Riblet, Sr., on Four-Mile creek, half a mile south of Wesleyville. Lattimore’s and Boyd’s sawmills, in Waterford township, about 1802. Gristmills were added to each at a later date, and allow- ed to go down some fifty years ago. A grist and sawmill, in 1808, by Capt. Daniel Dobbins and James Foulk, near the mouth of Twelve-Mile creek, since known as Neely’s mill. A gristmill on Sixteen-Mile creek, in North East township, by Col. Tuttle, in 1807, afterward known as Scouller’s. Three miles south of the city, on what is now the Waterford Plank Road, Robert McCullough, in 1802 or 1804, put up a saw and gristmill, which became known as the Erie County Mills. He used the water of Mill creek. In 1814, a small gristmill was built by Thomas Miller, on the little stream which empties into the bay at the Head, to which he soon after added a mill for making linseed oil. LATER MILLS. The following shows when the mills mentioned were erected : 1814—The West Girard grist and sawmill, on Elk creek, by Peter Woolverton. A saw- mill where Lines’ mills stand, on Crooked creek, in Springfield, by Amos Remington and Oliver Cross. 1815—A sawmill by William Saltsman, at the foot of the gulley of Four-Mile creek, in Harbor Creek township. 1816—A sawmill by James Love, on Wal- NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY nut creek, in Mill Creek township. A saw- mill on Mill creek, by Foote & Parker. About 1820—The Strong gristmill, on Crooked creek, in Springfield, by Andrew Cochran. 1822—The Lowville mills, by Samuel Low. The Wattsburg mills, by William Miles. 1828—The Nason mill, on Bear run, in Fairview, by Daniel Bear. The Porter mill, on Conneaut creek, in Springfield, by Com- fort Hay. Two mills in Amity township, near Milltown, one by Capt. James Donald- son. A gristmill at Wesleyville, by John Shattuck. 1824—A sawmill in the south part of Greenfield, by John Whiteside. 1825—Shattuck’s sawmill at Wesleyville. The mills at Wellsburg, by Samuel Wells. 1826—The old Cooper mill, on Four Mile creek, by William Saltsman. The Burger gristmill, on French creek, in LeBoeuf township, was built by George Burger about 1830; the Line gristmill, in Springfield, by Mr. Case, about 1882; the Sterrettania mills, on Elk creek, by David S. Sterrett, in 1839; the Moore sawmill, in LeBoeuf, about 1840; and the Branchville mill, about 1850. OTHER MILLS AND FACTORIES. Among the earliest mills were Weigle’s, at the crossing of Walnut creek by the Ridge road, in Fairview township, built by S. F. Gudtner; the Elgin mills, on Beaver Dam run, by Joseph Hall; the grist mill on Le- Beeuf creek, in Greene, by Jacob Brown; and the Backus mill on Six-Mile creek, in Harbor creek. AJ] of these were established in the beginning of the century, but the exact dates cannot be obtained. A sawmill was built at an early period by Michael Jackson, and a gristmill by Amos King, at Albion. In 1810 there was a carding and woolen mill on the site of the Cass factory in Harbor creek. Soon after the war of 1812-14, a perfect mania arose for building sawmills, and every stream that could be turned to use was em- ployed to drive from one to a dozen wheels. The county was still largely covered with forest trees, and all of the streams contained an abundance of water. The cutting off of the timber was followed by the drying up of the streams. Most of the mills have gone down, AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 11g and those that remain generally use steam, With few exceptions, the gristmills remain on the sites originally adopted. IRON WORKS. The first concern in the county for the manufacture of iron goods was a foundry at Freeport, North East township, built in 1824, by Philetus Glass. The next was established in 1883 ‘‘by Messrs. Hinkley, Jarvis & Co., of Westfield, N. Y:, who erected two small wooden buildings near the corner of Eleventh and State streets, in Erie, and began the man- ufacture in them of iron castings for plows, sawmill machinery anda cheap class of stoves. The motive power at first consisted of one blind horse. Various changes in the members of the firm connected with the business oc- curred in the eighteen years which followed ; W. H. Johnson, James Sennett, Pardon Sen- nett, E. A. Lester and Walter Chester being members of the firm under various names dur- ing that period. The invested capital in land, buildings, machinery and patterns was $22,- 000 in 1851, and it was considered a large es- tablishment. Then followed other firms: Sennett & Co., Sennett, Barr & Co., Barr & Johnson, Barr, Johnson & Co., Johnson, Black & Co., and Black & Germer. “In 1840 W. H. Johnson withdrew from the firm of Johnson, Sennett & Co., ‘ The Old Furnace,’ and, associated with William Himrod, David Himrod and B. B. Vincent, organized ‘The New Furnace Company,’ which had its works on the square bounded by State, French, Eleventh and Twelfth streets. The business has been continued under the firm names of Johnson, Himrod & Co., Vin- cent, Himrod & Co., Tibbals, Shirk & White- head, and the Chicago and Erie Stove Com- any.” Out of “* The New Furnace Company ” has also grown the Erie City Iron Works, Cleveland & Hardwick and others of the most prominent manufacturing institutions in the city. Or the later mills and factories mention will be made in the city, borough and town- ship chapters. The number in the county, outside of Erie and Corry, in 1880, was com- puted to be as follows: Creamery, 1: cheese factories, 28; gristmills, 36; tanneries, 14; saw, shingle, lath and heading mills, 117; cider, jell and vinegar factories, 27; planing mills and sash, door and blind factories, 17; woolen, carding and fulling mills, 6; paper mills, 2; brick and tile works, 8; manufac- tories of wooden articles, 89; beer breweries, 8; carriage and wagon shops, 11; miscella- neous, 12; total, 316. Altogether, there were probably 450 different manufacturing estab- lishments in Erie county, and the number doubtless exceeds 500 at present. WAGES AND THEIR PAYMENT. The following interesting particulars were contributed by M. R. Barr, Esq., to the Hrze Souvenir, published in 1888: ‘*To one ac- quainted only with the present methods of paying wages, the old-time method would seem to be as extraordinary as it really was. Printed due-bills in the fractional parts of a dollar in eighths, and for one, two, five and ten dollars, were issued, payable in merchan- dise or castings, and this‘ currency ’ was good in the hands of employes for such meat, flour and other provisions as they might need for their own use; but if presented by any other party payment could only be claimed in regu- lar ‘store goods’ or castings. A small por- tion of the wages was paid in cash; but an employe must be an exceptionally good and important ‘hand’ if his cash receipts on ac- count of wages exceeded an average of a dol- lar per week. ‘“‘ After the passage of the law by the Pennsylvania Legislature forbidding the issu- ‘ing of printed due-bills, or anything in the similitude of bank bills, or intended to circu- late as bank bills, or payable in anything but cash, ascheme was devised and executed by the ‘ New Furnace Company,’ to issue metal- lic tokens having very much the appearance of coin, and in the fractions of a dollar, in eighths and one dollar amounts; and there- after ‘Pewteringtum,’ as it was generally called, formed quite a considerable part of the circulating medium in local trade, and entirely superseded ‘Blue Crackee,’ as the due-bills were named (excepting those payable in ‘castings only’), and which were vulgarly called ‘ Crackee and be d d.’ ‘¢The following incident illustrates the mode of paying wages forty years ago: The bookkeeper, Mr. M., said to the member of the Furnace Company firm who acted as cash- ier: ‘Mr. C., one of the men, Mr. H., wants six dollars in cash this evening to pay the taxes 120 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY on his farm.’ ‘Well,’ replied Mr. C., ‘he cannot have so much money as that at once.’ Mr. M. argued that H. had had no money since he (M.) had been bookkeeper for the firm, and, by M.’s persuasion, C. consented to give H. the money. H. was called into the office and the money handed to him; and Mr. C. asked, ‘Mr. H., how long have you worked in this establishment ?’ H. replied, ‘ Over ten years,’ ‘How much of your wages have you had in cash during that time?’ inquired Mr. C. + Just what I now have in my hand. This is the first money I have ever received for my work,’ was the reply of H. ‘«The system of monthly cash payment of wages was commenced by Barr & Johnson in 1862, and very soon afterward they were fol- lowed by Tibbals, Shirk & Whitehead, who paid their workmen their full wages in cash weekly, and this system has been regularly con- tinued, with but few exceptions, by all the manu- facturing firms of the city to the present day.”’ CHAPTER XV. Main TuHoroucurares, Mart Routes, Stace Lines, OLD Taverns, Etc, T is scarcely necessary to remind those who have read the preceding chapters that the French cut a road from Presque Isle to LeBeeuf in 1758, the first year of their oc- cupation, and kept it up as long as they maintained posts in western Pennsylvania. This was the first, ard for more than forty years the only road in Erie county. The French road began at the mouth of Mill creek, ran south on a line parallel with Parade street, in Erie, to the corners in Marvintown, and then across Mill creek, Summit and Water- ford townships, to Fort LeBoeuf, in the pres- ent Waterford borough. An act passed the Legislature of Pennsy]- vania in 1791 to open a road from Presque Isle to French creek, and another in 1795 for the survey of a route from LeBoeuf to the Juniata riverin Mifflin county, The Susque- hanna and Waterford turnpike was located by Andrew Ellicott in 1796, from Lake LeBoeuf to Curwensville, in Clearfield county, by way of Meadville and Franklin. Its purpose was to give a continuous road from Erie to Phila- delphia. The earliest road opened after the Ameri- can occupation was by Judah Colt, as agent of the Population Company, in 1797, from Freeport, on the lake near North East, to Colt’s Station, and from the latter place to the forks of French creek, or Wattsburg, late in the season of 179%. The Eastern road through Greenfield, from North East to Wattsburg was laid out about 1800; the ones from Waterford to Cranesville through Washington township, and from Waterford to Edinboro, about 1802, and the road from North East to Waterford, by way of Phillipsville, in 1804. The State opened a road through the northern tier of counties, from the head-wa- ters of the Delaware river, in almost a direct line, to Ohio, in 1802 or 1803, which is. still known as the State road. THE BUFFALO ROAD. This road was surveyed by James McMa- hon in 1805, and appears to have been ready for travel in the same year. It was opened westward, from the New York line, in a di- rect course to Wesleyville, at which place travel diverged by a cross-road to the Lake road, and reached Erie, which consisted of a small collection of houses at the mouth of Mill creek, by the latter thoroughfare. The court, in 1812, ordered the completion of the road to Peach street in Erie, and it was thrown open to travel some time in that year. The Buffalo road generally follows a nearly straight line from Peach street to the city of Buffalo, but there is an abrupt jog at the Saltsman place, 4 by Samu, AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. I21 the reason for which has been a puzzle to many. It is said tobe due to two causes,— first, there was an ugly swamp on the straight line, south of the present road; and, second, it was considered more desirable to enter the city on the line of Eighteenth street. The Buffalo road forms the principal street of the borough of North East, and of the villages of Wesleyville, Harbor Creek, Moorheadville, and Northville. The distances from Central park in Erie by this route are as follows: Buffalo ; 90 miles; Northville, 19; North East, 15; Moorheadville, 10}; Harbor Creek, 74; Wesleyville, 44. THE RIDGE ROAD. The Ridge road is practically a continua- tion of the Buffalo road, and is connected with it by the southern part of Peach street in the city of Erie. It follows the line of the First Ridge and traverses the western part of Mill Creek, and the entire width of Fairview, Girard and Springfield townships to the Ohio line. It was opened in 1805, the same year as the Buffalo road. The Ridge road passes through and constitutes the principal streets of East Springfield, Girard and Fairview bor- oughs and the villages of Weigleville, Swan- ville, West Girard and West Springfield. It is 100 miles by this route to Cleveland, 25 to West Springfield, 21 to East Springfield, 164 to West Girard, 16 to Girard, 12 to Fairview, 9 to Swanville, and 24 to Weigleville, meas- uring from Central park in Erie City. THE LAKE ROAD. The Lake road crosses the entire county from east to west, at a distance from Lake Erie varying from a few rods to half a mile. It enters Erie on the east by Sixth street, and leaves on the west by Eighth street. The Lake road becomes merged into the Ridge road at or near Conneaut, Ohio. It was laid out in 1806, and opened partly in that year and at intervals of several years after, as the country became settled. This road is the main avenue to the Head, Trinity cemetery, Lake- side cemetery and the various club houses and pleasure resorts east and west of the city. It is occupied in part by the electric road from the western terminus of Eighth street, in Erie, to a little beyond the crossroads at the Cath- olic cemetery. 9 THE WATERFORD TURNPIKE, The Erie and Waterford turnpike was orig- inated by Col. Thomas Forster. Previous to its completion, the travel between Erie and Waterford was wholly over the old French road, which had been but slightly repaired and was ina horrible condition. The turn- pike company was formed in 1805, its avowed object being the building of a link in the great contemplated thoroughfare from Erie to Phila- delphia by way of the French creek, Juniata, and Susquehanna valleys. Work was com- menced in 1806 and the road was completed in 1809. The turnpike was a paying property until 1845, when it ceased to be remunerative to the stockholders. It was soon after aban- doned by them and accepted as a township road. Judge Cochran opposed the building of the “ pike” on the ground that it was uncon- stitutional to make the public pay toll. The toll question was tested before the county court, and Judge Moore gave an opinion sus- taining the constitutionality of the act of in- corporation. The turnpike originally ended at Water- ford; but twenty years later the Waterford & Susquehanna Turnpike Co. was organized, which extended the route by Meadville and Franklin to Curwensville, Clearfield county, where it connected with another turnpike run- ning across the State, making a good wagon road from Erie to Harrisburg and Philadel- phia. The first toll gate out of Erie was kept by Robert Brown, near the southern line of Erie City, and the second by Martin Strong, on the summit between Erie and Waterford. The ‘‘ pike” commenced at the Ridge road, now Twenty-sixth street in Erie, and from there extended across Mill Creek, Summit and Waterford townships to Waterford borough. It is four miles by this route to Kearsarge and fourteen to the borough of Waterford. THE EDINBORO PLANK ROAD. The Erie & Edinboro Plank Road Co. was organized in 1850, and the road was completed in 1852. It followed the course of the Waterford turnpike to a point a little south of Walnut creek, where it branched off and adopted a route partly new and partly the old Edinboro road. The road bed was covered, as the name indicates, with heavy planks, and the grade being in general quite moderate, furnished an easy and 122 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY pleasant thoroughfare while it was kept in good condition. The Edinboro & Meadville plank road, completed simultaneously, formed a smooth, continuous route from Lake Erie to the county seat of Crawford county. Though the travel was large, neither road proved a profitable investment, and both were aban- doned as plank roads and became township roads in 1868 or 1869. The distances are twenty miles to Edinboro, fourteen to Mc- Lane, twelve to Branchville, ten to Middle- boro and four to Kearsarge. THE WATERFORD PLANK ROAD, The Erie & Waterford plank road was commenced in 1850 and completed in 1851, one year in advance of the one to Edinboro. In laying out the road an entirely new route was adopted, following the valleys of Mill creek, Walnut creek and LeBoeuf creek, and obviating the heavy grades of the old turn- pike. So skillfully was the engineering and grading performed, that a horse can trot most of the length of the road. The stranger traveling over this easy route would scarcely believe that at the Walnut creek summit he was about 500 and at Graham’s summit be- tween 650 and 700 feet above the level of Lake Erie. There were three toll gates on the line—one a short distance north of Waterford, another at Capt. J. C. Graham’s, in Summit, and the third near Eliot’s or Densmore’s mill. The road never paid a profit, and was abandoned to the townships in 1868 or 1869. The distance between Erie and Waterford is slightly more than by the turnpike. ERIE AND MEADVILLE PLANK ROAD. About the same time that the above plank roads were built, another was pushed through from Waterford to Drake’s mills, Crawford county, to prevent the diversion of travel that was feared from the opening of the Erie & Edinboro and Edinboro & Meadville roads. This enterprise was no more of a financial success than the others, and, like them, was given up to the townships. THE ‘‘SHUNPIKE,” OR ROAD TO AVOID THE TOLLS, The stage company owning the line be- tween Erie and Waterford had a quarrel over tolls with the turnpike company in the win- ter of 1827-28, which resulted in the con- struction by the former, at considerable expense, through Summit, Greene and Water- ford townships, of a new road, to which was given the suggestive name of the Shunpike. The route adopted commenced at Waterford, near where the plank road and turnpike separate, and ran across the country until it connected with the old French road. A good share of the route is still used as a town- ship road. THE WATTSBURG PLANK ROAD. A road was opened in 1809 from Erie to Wattsburg, through Phillipsville. In 1828 a re-survey was made under the authority of the State, which appropriated a small sum for the purpose. This resulted in some changes in the location. In 1851, the Erie & Watts- burg Plank Road Co. was organized. The plank road was completed in 1858, a year after the one to Edinboro, and two years after the one to Waterford. In the adoption of a route the old road was pretty closely pursued, except for a short distance in Greene township, and from the Siegel place in Greene, to Lowville, where a new route was adopted. The highest points are at the H. L. Pinney and Bailey places, in Greene township, the elevation above Lake Erie being some 500 feet at the former and 600 at the latter. There were four regular toll gates—at Lowville, at Oscar Sears’s in Venango, at Diefenthaler’s in Greene, and at Marvintown. The road was a non-paying enterprise, and it was allowed to run down, though toll was still exacted. In the spring of 1865, public feeling became so much excited that a party of farmers was formed who started at Erie and tore down every gate on the road. Though they were severely threatened, none of the party were tried or punished, and no toll has been charged on the road since. It is now kept up by the townships through which it extends. The distances from Erie are: To Wattsburg, twenty miles; to Lowville, eight- een miles; to St. Boniface, seven and a_ half miles, and to Belle Valley four miles. THE LAKE PLEASANT ROAD. The first road in the direction of Lake Pleasant was opened in 1821-22 from Erie to a point near the Martin Hayes farm, in Greene AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 123 township. In 1826-27, at a heavy expense for the period, the county continued the road past Lake Pleasant to French creek, where it meets the thoroughfare between Union and Wattsburg. The distance from Erie to Lake Pleasant is twelve miles, and to French creek two and a half miles further. It is said to be two miles shorter from Erie to Wattsburg by this road than by the plank road. The road branches off from the Wattsburg plank at the Davidson place, a mile or more outside of Erie. ° THE COLT’S STATION ROAD. The road from Wesleyville to Colt’s sta- tion was laid out about 1818, to give a route between Erie and Mayville, N. Y. At Colt’s station, an intersection is made with the North East and Wattsburg road. HOUSES FOR PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION. The first public house on the south shore of Lake Erie, west of Buffalo, and the first building erected within the limits of Erie City, was the Presque Isle Tavern, built by Col. Seth Reed in July, 1795. It stood near the mouth of Mill creek, and was a one-story log and stone structure. The next year, Col. Reed built a two-story log building on the southwest corner of Second and Parade streets, which he turned over to his son, Rufus S. Reed, who kept a store and tavern in it for many years. The third tavern was built in Erie by George Buehler in 1800, at the northeast cor- ner of Third and French streets, which after- ward became known as the ‘‘ McConkey House.” This building was occupied as Perry’s headquarters in 18138. [A fuller account of the early public houses in Erie will be found in Chapter XIV. of the City History. ] Outside of Erie, the earliest public house was opened in Waterford by Lieut. Martin in 1795. Public houses were established by Rich- ard Swan at Manchester in 1805; by Henry Burgett in North East in 1806; by Lemuel Brown on the site of the Haynes house, in the same place, in 1808; by John Ryan on the Buffalo road, between Erie and Wesleyville, in 1809; by George W. Reed in Waterfordin 1810; and by John and David Phillips in Phillipsville in the same year. Previous to the introduction of railroads, the Buffalo and Ridge roads were among the busiest thoroughfares in the country, be- ing the great avenues for emigration, trading and droving between the Northeastern States and the West. Numerous public houses sprung up and did a good business. The tav- ern keepers of those days were usually men of much force of character, and wielded wide po- litical influence. It is said that at one time there was not a mile along the roads named without a public house. Among the most noted of the old lake shore taverns were the ‘‘ Doty”’ and ‘‘Keith”’ Houses at East Springfield; the ‘Martin House” at Girard; the ‘‘Fairview House” at Fairview ; ‘‘Swan’s Hotel” at Swanville; the ‘Halfway House,”’ a little west of the county almshouse; the ‘‘Weigleville House;” the “Ryan” or “Taggart House” near Wesleyville ; ‘Fuller's Tavern’? at Wesleyville; and the ‘‘ Brawley House’’ at North East. Back from the lake shore the best known of the older hotels were Martin Strong’s, at the summit of the Waterford turnpike; the ‘Eagle Hotel” at Waterford; the “Robinson House” at Edinboro; the ‘‘ Sherman House” at Albion; the ‘‘Wattsburg House”’ at Watts- burg; and the ‘Lockport House’’ at Lock- port. ‘ The Erie City hotels, and the more recent ones outside, will be described in their proper connection. TRADE AND TRAVEL. Up to 1800, a good share of the travel and transportation was by means of small boats on the lake from Buffalo, and by way of French creek from Pittsburg. The boats on French creek generally went no farther up than Waterford, but in times of good water they were poled to Greenfield Village. They were either canoes or flat-bottomed vessels, the lat- ter being somewhat like the mud scows now seen on Presque Isle bay, but small and shal- low, drawing but a trifling amount of water. Those on the lake were originally propelled by oars; but it was not long till sails were in- troduced. In winter many persons came into the country, either on foot or in sledges, by traveling on the ice of the lake. By 1810, there were roads to all points south, east and west, and the opportunities for travel and transportation became greatly im- proved. The roads, however, were still rough and muddy, and horseback riding was the 124 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY favorite mode of travel. As the roads became better, the once familiar two-horse wagons were introduced. These were covered with cotton cloth stretched over hickory ribs, and furnished shelter for a whole family, besides carrying their goods Lach party brought their provisions along, stopping at meal times by the springs or streams, and doing their cooking over open fires. From the direction of Pittsburg the French creek route continued to be the one used till some time after the second war with Great Britain. The supplies for Perry’s fleet, including the cannon, were largely transported in flat boats to Waterford, and from there by the turnpike to Erie. The first step ahead was the introduction of stage coaches. After that came the steam- boats, which carried hundreds of passengers on each trip. For a number of years succeed- ing the opening of the canal, thousands of emigrants, bound for the southwest, reached Erie by steamboat, and from there went by way of the new water route, down to the Ohio. THE OLD STAGE LINES AND MAIL ROUTES. A reute was opened in 1801 between Erie and Pittsburg, via Waterford and Meadville, to carry mail once a week. The mode of tran- sportation was on horseback, and later by horse and common wagon. A regular stage line commenced running about the date of the completion of the turnpike. In 1826 stages began running each way three times a week, carrying a mail every trip. This was increased to a daily mail, each direction, which con- tinued until the era of railroads. In 1806 a route was established between Erie and Buffalo, to carry the mail once a week. The first line of stages between Erie and Buffalo, making weekly trips, was estab- lished in December, 1820. At the beginning a stage left Buffalo every Saturday at noon and reached Erie the next Monday at 6 p. 1; re- turning, it started from Erie at 6 a. Mm. every Tuesday and arrived at Buffalo on Thursday at noon. By January 8, 1824, a stage with mail was making semi-weekly trips between Erie and Cleveland. On the 10th of Feb- ruary, 1825, a mail coach commenced running daily between Erie and Buffalo, and soon after a daily stage and mail line was commenced between Erie and Cleveland. In 1827 a line of four-horse coaches was placed on the road between Buffalo and Cleveland by a company of which Rufus S. Reed was one of the chief men. This event was as much talked about as the opening of a new railroad would be to-day. The new line carried a daily mail each direction, and was a source of large profit to its owners. Eighteen hours were allowed as the time between Buf- falo and Erie. ‘ A mail route to Jamestown, N. Y., via Wattsburg, was established in 1828. At the start a manor boy on foot carried a pouch once a week. The route to Edinboro was established in the winter of 1885-86, and the pouch was carried weekly on a horse’s back. The arrival of the stage was as important an event fifty years ago as that of a railroad train to-day in a village with but a single line. AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY. The salt trade, which commenced about 1800, and continued until about 1819, was one of the leading industries of the early days. The salt was purchased at Salina, N. Y., hauled from there to Buffalo in wagons, brought in vessels to Erie, unloaded in ware- houses at the mouth of Mill creek, and from there carried by ox teams to Waterford, where it was placed in flat boats and floated down French creek and the Allegheny to Pittsburg. It is estimated that when the trade was at its best, one hundred teams and as many. persons were constantly on the road between Erie and Waterford. The time for making each trip was calculated at two days, and the average load for a four-ox-team was fourteen barrels. A number of warehouses were erected on the bank of LeBoeuf creek at Waterford for stor- ing the salt until the water was at a suitable stage for floating it down French creek. There was a period when salt was almost the only circulating medium in the county. Oxen, horses, negro slaves and land were sold to be paid for in so much salt. The discovery of salt wells on the Kiskiminitas and Kanawha, about 1818, cheapened the price of the article at Pittsburg, so that Salina salt could not com- pete, and the trade by way of Erie steadily diminished. CHAPTER XVI. NAVIGATION OF THE LAKES—MERCHANT AND GOVERNMENT VESSELS—THE Licut—Houss AND LirEe-Savine Service, Erc. HE first sailing vessel that floated on the waters of Lake Erie was built by Robert Cavalier de la Salle, an ad- venturous Frenchman, on the Niagara river, six miles above the Falls, in the year 1677. She was named the ‘ Griffin,” and was of six tons burthen. La Salle nayi- gated Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, to Green bay, where, with a picked body of men, he left the vessel and marched overland to the Mississippi. With the exception of one more attempt by the French to sail the lakes, many years afterward, which proved a failure, no record is to be found of any other sailing ves- sel on the lake until 1766, when the British, who had secured possession of both shores, built and launched four. They were of light burthen, and were chiefly used for carrying troops and army supplies. Al] transportation of a commercial character, and all of the very limited passenger business was carried on by batteaux until after the close of the Revolu- tionary war. The earliest American sailing vessel on the lake was a small boat, owned and run by Capt. William Lee, in which he carried pas- sengers and light articles of freight between. Buffalo and Erie. She was constructed to use oars in going against the wind, and had no crew, the passengers being obliged to ‘‘ work their passage.” The first sailing vessel built on the south shore of Lake Erie was the sloop ‘‘ Washing- ton,” of thirty tons, at the mouth of Four- Mile creek, for the Pennsylvania Population Company, owners of the bulk of the land in the Triangle. She was launched in Septem- ber, 1798, and was employed for some twelve years in the service of the company. The first vessel launched at Erie was built at the mouth of Mill creek in 1799, Capt. Lee and Rufus S. Reed being her principal own- ers, She was named the ‘‘ Good Intent,’’ and sunk at Point Abino in 1806, with all on board. The ‘“ Harlequin,” built at Erie in 1800 by Eliphalet Beebe, was also lost the first season, with her entire crew. About 1801 the “ Wilkinson,” of sixty-five tons, was owned at Erie. Another early Erie vessel was the schooner ‘‘ Mary,” of 100 tons, built in 1805. VESSELS OF WAR. The British kept a fleet of armed vessels on the lakes from 1792 until Perry’s victory in 1818, and in 1810 had as many as seven in commission. They were called the ‘+ pro- vincial marine service,” and were manned mostly by Canadians. To counteract their movements, the United States Government, at various times up to 1809, had placed four vessels of war upon the lakes, the most formid- able of which was the “Detroit,” the one that brought Gen. Wayne to Erie on return- ing from his Western expedition. She was wrecked off Presque Isle the next fall. Of this class of vessels the only one that was in service on Lake Erie at the outbreak of the last war with Great Britain was the “Adams,” of 150 tons, which was captured by the Brit- ish in 1812. MERCHANT VESSELS. Before the war of 1812-14, a dozen or more vessels comprised the whole merchant fleet of the lake, averaging about sixty tons. The chief article of freight was salt from Sa- lina, N. Y. Some business was also done in carrying furs from the Far West to Buffalo. Among the pioneer lake captains were Daniel Dobbins, William Lee, Thomas Wil- kins, Seth Barney, C. Blake, James Rough, John F. Wight, William Davenport, Levi Al- len, John Richards, George Miles and Charles Hayt. Capt. Richards quit sailing and went into ship-building with considerable success. Capt. Wilkins commenced with the Reeds in 126 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 1822, and was long one of their most popular commanders. Rufus S. Reed owned several vessels at an early day, and continued in the lake business during the balance of his life. STEAMBOATS INTRODUCED. The first steamboat to navigate Lake Erie was the ‘*‘ Walk-in-the-Water,”’ of 342 tons, built on the Niagara river, between Black Rock and Tonawanda, and launched on the 28th of May, 1818. On her first trip it took from 7:30 Pp. M.,on Monday, to 1] a. mM. on Tuesday, to reach Cleveland from Erie, and the entire voyage from Buffalo to Detroit re- quired forty-one hours and ten minutes, the wind being ahead all the way. She carried quite a number of passengers, who enjoyed the trip mightily, As the boat neared the head of the lake, the Indians ran down to the water's edge, and gave utterance to their amazement by repeated signs and shouts. The ‘* Walk-in-the- Water ” made regular trips each season between Buffalo and Detroit, on each of which she stopped at Erie. The first steamboat launched at Erie was the William Penn, of 200 tons, on May 18, 1826. She was the sixth on the lake, and was built by the Erie & Chautauqua Steamboat Company, the managers of which included, be- sides some New York parties, R. S. Reed, P. S. V. Hamot, Josiah Kellogg, John F. Wight, Daniel Dobbins and Peter Christie, of Erie. The William Penn was first commanded by Capt. Thomas Wilkins, and afterward by Capt. John Spires. Gen. C. M. Reed’s first steamboat was the ‘*Pennsylvania,” Capt. John Fleeharty, mas- ter. She was built near the foot of Sassafras street, in July, 1882, and towed to Black Rock, where her engines were put in. Gen, Reed built the “ Thomas Jefferson” in 1834 and the ‘ James Madison” in 1486, both at Erie, in about the same locality as the “ Penn- sylvania.” His boats did a heavy business, sometimes carrying a thousand passengers, besides large amounts of freight. The ‘*Mad- ison” is said to have cleared $30,000 on her first trip. In 1837, the ill-fated ‘Erie was built at the foot of French street, by the Erie Steam- boat Co.—Thomas G. Colt and Smith I. Jack- son being the chief men—and the “ Missouri” followed, built by Gen. Reed in 1840. The ‘‘ Erie” was subsequently purchased by Gen. i a Reed, who owned the vessel until her destruc- tion by fire. All of these were large, elegant, rapid and popular boats. In fact, the boats built at Erie had the reputation of being the best on the lakes, and Gen. Reed was long the inost extensive and famous vessel owner on the entire chain. In 1826, three steamboats entered and cleared from Erie harbor every week, and from two to ten schooners. The opening of the canal between Erie and the Ohio river, in the spring of 1845, gave an immense impetus to the lake trade at this port. In 1846a daily steamboat line had been established between Erie and Buffalo. Tens of thousands of emi- grants were brought from Buffalo each year, taking the canal route to the Ohio valley, and the harbor of Erie was one of the liveliest on the lake. The tide of travel by way of the lake continued until the completion of the Lake Shore R. R. to Toledo in 1858, when the emigrant business dropped off and the steamboats were compelled to depend mainly upon freight to and from the upper lakes. Be- fore the opening of the canal, all the lake steamboats used wood for fuel, giving employ- ment toa large number of men and teams. FIRST PROPELLERS AND SHIPS. The first propeller on Lake Erie was the ‘‘Vandalia,” of 150 tons, built at Oswego, and brought through the Welland canal in 1842. Two others appeared the same season. The propellers have entirely taken the place of the old style steamboats. The first full-rigged ship on the lake was the ‘* Julia Palmer,” of 800 tons, launched at Buffalo in 1886. The ship ‘“ Milwaukee” was built in the same year at Grand Island, in -the Niagara river. VALUABLE STATISTICS. The following statistics of the vessels on Lake Erie at various periods show the progress that has been made: In 1810, eight or nine sailing vessels, aver- aging sixty tons. In 1820, one small steamboat and thirty sailing vessels, the latter averaging fifty tons. In 1881, eleven steamboats aggregating 2,260 tons, and 100 sailing vessels, averaging seventy tons. In 1845, forty-five steamboats, aggregating AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 30,000 tons, and 217 other vessels, aggrega- ting 20,000 tons. In 1860 (including Lake Ontario), 188 steamers, 197 propellers, 58 barks, 90 brigs and 974 sloops and schooners. Total tonnage, 536,000 ; valuation, $80,000,000. The books of the United States Treasury Department gave the following as the tonnage on all the lakes June 80, 1894: GROSS NO. TONNAGE. Steam vessels.... ...1,781 828,702 .29 Sailing vessels... 1,189 817,789.37 Canal boats. . . .. 886 76,848.57 Barges.... .... .... 88 87,781.99 Totals... ...8,841 1,261,067 .22 ‘‘The number of steam vessels registering 1,000 tons and upward is 859, with a gross tonnage of 634,467.84 tons. The number of vessels of this class owned in all other parts of the United States is 816, with a tonnage of 642,642.50 tons, so that half of the best steamship tonnage in the United States is owned on the lakes. “The freight borne upon the lake waters during 234 days of 1894 exceeded 30,000,000 tons, being equal to one-quarter of the freight carried by all the railroads in the United States during 865 days.” Years ago the trade of the lakes was done in schooners of from 200 to 500 tons. A schooner of the latter size was considered a monster. Then came the steamers, carrying from 40,000 to 50,000 bushels of corn. Lar- ger steamers began to crowd out the schoon- ers from the grain, coal and iron trade, and in a few years they had grown until they carried 70,000 and 80,000 bushels. In the changes of the times the old lake schooners are rapidly passing from the field. Many marine men think the coming boat will be nearer 6,000 tons in carrying capacity than 4,000. U. S. GOVERNMENT VESSELS. The United States Steamer ‘‘ Michigan,”’ the only vessel of war now on the lakes, was launched at Erie on the 9th of November, 1848, and accepted and commissioned by the Government on the 15th of August, 1844. The ‘‘ Michigan ” is a side-wheeler, with a length over all of 167 feet, an extreme beam of 47 feet, a depth of hold of 14 feet, a registered 127 tonnage of 450 tons and a displacement of 685 tons. She was built at Pittsburg, transported in pieces to Cleveland, brought from that city to Erie in a steamer, and put together at Erie harbor, being the first iron hull ever set afloat on the lakes. Her tonnage, armament and crew are regulated by a treaty with Great Britain, which is also authorized to place a vessel of the same character on the lakes. Erie has always been the headquarters of the “© Michigan.” Erie was the station for the United States revenue cutters from the time that branch of the Government service was established on Lake Erie up to a few years ago. The first cutter was the Benjamin Rush, of thirty tons, built at Erie by Capt. John Richards, about 1827, and first commanded by Capt. Gilbert Knapp, who was succeeded by Capt. Daniel Dobbins. The second was the “ Erie,” of sixty-two tons, launched at Reed’s dock, in March, 1838, and placed in charge of Capt. Dobbins, with Douglas Ottinger as his second lieutenant. The ‘Erie’ was succeeded in 1846 by the iron steamer “Dallas,” of which Michael Connor was captain and Douglas Ottinger first lieutenant. This vessel was removed to the Atlantic coast, by way of the Canadian canals and the St. Lawrence river, in 1848. The ‘‘ Jeremiah S. Black” was one of six steam cutters built by the government, being one for each lake, in 1857, and was placed under the command of Capt. Ottinger, who had been promoted. At the outbreak of the Civil war, these vessels were moved to the Atlantic coast under the direction of Capt. Ottinger. In 1864, Capt. Ottinger superintended the construction of the steam cutter ‘‘ Perry,” of which he was commander, with the exception of two years, until 1881, when he was placed on the retired list. This vessel was built on the Niagara river, and her capacity was fixed at 404 tons. She was peculiarly constructed, having propeller wheels at the sides. Some ten years ago she was condemned and sold to Buffalo parties, who used her as an excursion steamer. Immediately after the sale, the Government built anew cutter, also known as the “Perry,” which continued in the lake service until the fall of 1890, when she was ordered to the ocean. After being refitted at New York, she took a trip around the Horn, and is now stationed in Pacific waters, as one of the fleet to protect the American seal interests. 128 APPALLING LAKE DISASTERS. The early disasters have already been re- cited, and it is unnecessary to repeat them. The following are some of the most terrible incidents that have happened in later years on the bay and lake: The schooner “ Franklin,” owned by P.5. V. Hamot, loaded at Buffalo for an upper port, left Erie on the 16th of October, 1820, and was never seen afterward. Capt. Hayt and three men, all residents of Erie or vicin- ity, were lost. In April, 1828, four men—Hutchinson, Zuck, Fox and Granger—started to cross the bay in a boat. The water was rough, the boat capsized, and all but Granger were drowned. The steamboat ‘‘ Washington” burned off Silver Creek in 1838, and sixty persons lost their lives. Eleven men left the wharf at Erie in a small boat on the 14th of May, 1834, to go to the steamboat New York, lying at the outer pier. A blinding snow storm prevailed, and the boat was upset. Nine of the party were drowned. One of the most dreadful calamities in the history of lake navigation occurred on the 9th of August, 1841. The steamboat ‘ Erie,” of Erie, owned by Gen. Reed, and bearing a large party of emigrants, was coming up the lake from Buffalo, and when off Silver Creek was discovered to be ablaze. In an incon- ceivably brief period of time the boat was burned to the water’s edge. Two hundred and forty-nine persons were lost, of whom twenty-six were residents of Erie. Between 120 and 180 bodies rose to the surface and were recovered. The “Erie” was valued at $75,000. Her cargo was worth about $20,000, and the emigrants, it is calculated, had with them $180,000 in gold and silver. In 1850 the steamboat ‘“‘G. P. Griffin” burned near Chagrin, Ohio, and 250 souls were lost. The propeller ‘‘ Henry Clay ” foundered in 1851, and nothing was ever heard of any one on board. Nineteen lives were lost by the foundering of the propeller “ Oneida” in 1852. In the summer of 1852 the steamboat ‘“At- lantic ” collided with another vessel, and sunk NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY off Long Point, opposite Erie. One hundred and fifty lives were lost. The sloop ‘ Washington Irving,” of Erie, Capt. Vanatta, left that port for Buffalo on the 7th of July, 1860, and was never heard from again. She is supposed to have found- ered. All on board—seven persons—were drowned. The loss of life and property on the chain of lakes each year is very large. In 1860, 578 persons were drowned and a million dollars’ worth of property destroyed. In one gale, on the 10th of September, 1882, 157 persons lost their lives, of whom upwards of 100 came to their deaths by the foundering of the Canadian steamer ‘‘ Asia,” in Georgian bay. One of the severest gales ever known occurred in November, 1883, lasting from the 11th for several days, and extending over the whole chain of lakes. Nothing like it had been seen for many years. From fifty to sixty vessels were lost, and the damage was scarce- ly less than a million dollars. The largest loss of life during a single season, in recent years, happened in 1887, when 204 persons were drowned. The storm of October 14-15, 1898, strewed the lakes with wrecks and caused the loss of over seventy seamen. In that year the dead numbered 128, and in 1892 they numbered ninety-nine. During the sea- son of 1894 sixty sailors were lost, and thirty- eight vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 15,381 tons, passed out of existence. DISTANCES BY LAKE. The following are the distances by water in miles from the harbor of Erie: AI PEW aos cicorsit! ante ction taney ales ale auldk exon 513 Bay: Cityiseiuanes iis oe aganned ane soaa dou sek 397 Bu Malis iasiszis eily ya x 4 a Roane Hees. 4 Mblebens 8 aco RS 85 Cheboy ganic: swine cy rcs adiad. a cosuuces wissen nec 517 CHICA RO ie «se ithie, HA Ha b.aie% Maendwien sy wae hodsdc tame alae Gla 818 CLE Vea Ges 5 eiscc cere, é2rn cere. AGvaatee Sess Gea ceaarers 90 DCtTOIt. s. cakcesenainde armani yates Glarematee ile 185 PLT, 4.07255 cee rpeesitts oan sie suidaradiblen 4s apes oes 921 Grand “Ha Ven. tonics curse ties Parecpacoa much ens 735 Green: Bay. nonce se aa enema tae awaines Conees 692 MERCK IN AW spinatus Ses dato wie peeaaned aaa aie Mhwlaw Farnaew « 535 Mackinac Island... ............ Jececeeeeee 533 Marquettes. .s(satenosancannies eo ebeGad pe eabek 682 MAlLWAtl KEE oc oiics eters g anes ene en @wneene see see 753 OPENS DUT Bisicisc indo ddcswe coe nank seen e ee anes 328 OSCOd aio.) Ss wasae eee OX GARRA cct au Gemein waked 365 OsWego... ee. Cale Wander a AWARE shay’ a aye 238 Port Huron ss eccsea teamed 8 4.4 ceacemnaraineme dca eeh Wis 247 SAC IMAW veiiinawsisne Ularetaceneebisets rele dated reo 412 DATA ninwscnaan tang vids Abad dee kaa eee a oseng Bae 247 YY) 1 Uy Ui // Yi Yay, _ io Uf Yj Yy ) 7 UY ae “ngriaved by IK Campeell N AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 129 Sault Ste. Marie... isis scscsacscicesisciawewes 523 Sto IP Ma@inci05 nck tu aancadwacs Aiass ae neeaaain’ 538 "TOlEdG 24 -nt sannudda che Sawnoeas tae eee eS eorpcemnes wie 180 IES OL OME Os aceite iar i gigias eras ares deatiornt Sang Sy eas Glo lo area iN 129 OPENING OF NAVIGATION. Navigation usually opens at the port of Erie late in March or early in April, and closes about the Ist of December. Asa rule, the harbor of Erie is open two or three weeks before that of Buffalo. The following are some of the earliest and latest periods of opening : Earliest.—1828, March 5th ; 1829, January 29th; 1842, March 12th; 1850, March 11th; 1868, February 27th; 1878 and 1880, March 16th; 1888, April 18th; 1894, March 18th. _Latest.—1858, May 9th; 1855, May 10th; 1856, May 5th. In 1884 navigation opened the 24th of March, but was much retarded by ice and storms. On the 14th of May, snow fell along the south shore of the lake to the depth of six inches. The Revenue Cutter “Erie” sailed from the port of Erie to Buffalo about the last of December, 1837, without interruption. In February, 1838, the steamer ‘“ Dewitt Clin- ton’? came into Erie from Buffalo and went from Erie to Detroit. In the winter of 184445, the steamer ‘¢ United States” made a trip every month between Buffalo and Detroit. On the 13th of December, 1852, a steam- boat passed up the lake and another on the 10th of January, 1858. The winter of 1898-4 was remarkably mild. The bay was only frozen over eight or ten days. Vessels could have entered the harbor any time during the month of Jan- uary, and two did actually leave the port on the 18th of the month. The straits of Mackinaw, upon the open- ing of which depends the lake traffic to Chicago, are generally clear of ice about the last of April or the 1st of May. Vessel insu- rance begins as a rule on the latter date, and always closes on the 1st of December. U. S. COLLECTORS, The U. S. Collection district of Presque Isle embraces the whole coast line of Penn- sylvania on Lake Erie. The Collectors’ office was in the old custom house (formerly the U.S. Bank building), on State street, below Fourth, until the completion of the new government structure, at State and Central Park, when it was removed to the latter, with the other Federal offices. Below is a list of the Collectors and Deputy Collect- ors, with the dates of the commissions of the former. : Collectors. Thomas Forster, March 26, 1799; Edwin J. Kelso, July 1, 1836; Charles W. Kelso, July 10, 1841; Murray Whallon, June 19, 1845; William M. Gallagher, April 29, 1849; James Lytle, April 22, 18538; John Brawley, October 15, 1857; Murray Whallon, March.11, 1859; Charles M. Tibbals, November 1, 1859; Thomas Wilkins, June 22, 1861; Richard F. Gaggin, May 7, 1869; James R. Willard, February 19, 1874; Hiram L. Brown, March 22, 1878: Matthew R. Barr, December 1, 1880 (resigned) ; H. C. Stafford, July 17, 1888; R. H. Arbuckle, November 21, 1885; John M. Glazier, November 21, 1889; Nelson Baldwin, November 29, 1898. Deputies. Under Col. Forster—Thomas McConkey, James Maurice; under E. J. Kelso—Murray Whallon; under C. W. Kelso—A. C. Hilton ; under Murray Whallon (first term)—A. P. Durlin; under W. M. Gallagher—William S. Brown; under Messrs. Lytle, Brawley, Whallon (second term) and Tibbals—W. W. Loomis; under Thomas Wilkins—R. F. Gaggin; under R. F. Gaggin—Thomas Wilkins; under J. R. Willard—William F. Luetje; under Messrs. Brown and Barr—R. F. Gaggin; under Mr. Barr, from March, 1888—Andrew H. Caughey; under Mr. Staf- ford--E. H. Wilcox and Alfred King; under Mr. Arbuckle—Henry Mayer; under Mr. Glazier—Giles D. Price; under Mr. Baldwin —R.S. P. Lowry. The Collectors are appointed by the Presi- dent, and the Deputies by the Collector, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. VESSELS OWNED IN ERIE. The following list of vessels owned in Erie in 1860 and 1894 is given for the pur- pose of comparison ; the figures for 1894 being taken from the report of the Board of Trade: 1860.——-Brig, one; barque, one; schooners, twenty-four; total, 5,294 tons; valuation, $300,000. 130 1894.—Sailing vessels, four; steam vessels, (wood), forty-five; steam vessels (iron), nine ; yacht, one; sailing yacht, one; total tonnage, 36,055; valuation, $2,800,000. BUSINESS OF THE PORT. The entrances at the port of Erie during 1860 were 655, and the clearances 678, with a total tonnage of about 800,000. The follow- ing persons and firms were in the lake busi- ness in that year: Coal and shipping, Walker & Gilson, John Hearn & Co., Charles M. Reed, Josiah Kellogg, Starr & Payne, George J. Morton, Scott & Rankin; coal and iron, Curtis & Boyce; grocery and ship chandlery, Andrew Hofsies. With the exception of the lumber and fishing business, the whole trade of the port is now done by the Anchor Line, the Carnegie Company, and the firm of which the late Wm. L. Scott was the controlling spirit. The former do all the grain and miscellaneous business, and the two latter control the coal and iron ore trade. The following table shows the business of the port for the years stated: 1880 1890 1894 Vessels entered and cleared ............ 2,024 3,195 2,683 Tonnage of same....1,565,183 2,492,253 3,069,739 Enrolled tonnage.... 28,248 110,801 The first grain elevator at the port of Erie, now known as ‘Elevator A,” was built in 1868, by William S. Brown, Orange Noble, Joseph McCarter and Henry C. Shannon. After being operated by the firm for a short time, it was sold to the Erie and Western Transportation Co., (generally known as the Anchor line), which erected two others, all three of which are still operated. LIGHT-HMOUSES AT ERIE. The first light-house upon the chain of lakes was erected at Erie in 1818, on the bluff overlooking the entrance to the harbor, a tract of land for the purpose having been ceded to the United States Government by Gen. John Kelso. A new structure was built of Milwaukee brick in 1858, but proved to be defective, and it was replaced by a_ third building of stone in 1866, at a cost of $20,000. This was discontinued in 1880 and the build- ing and land sold in the spring of 1881. There was a strong protest on the part of the lake men, which induced the government to NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY re-purchase the land and restore the light at the opening of navigation in 1882. About the year 1880, the government added a beacon light on the north pier at the en- trance to the harbor of Erie. It consisted of a tall wooden tower, resting upon a heavy bed of masonry. This structure was carried away by asailing vessel in the summer or fall of 1857, and was replaced by the present wrought iron tower in the summer of 1858. The light- house was modeled and forged into form in France, reaching Erie with nothing to be done except to bolt the pieces into their proper po- sitions. Five different lights are maintained at this station, all fixed, white, sixth order lenses, and used as ranges. In addition to these and for the further protection of navi- gators, there is a 1,200-pound Meneely fog bell, which is operated by clock work, and tolls three times each minute in snowy and foggy weather. A third light-house station was established on the north shore of the peninsula, and a handsome brick tower erected for the pur- pose, from which the first light was exhibited on the night of July 12, 1878. It is known as the Flash Light, and cost the government $15,000. LIGHT—-HOUSE KEEPERS. Below is a list of the several Light-house Keepers, with the years of their appointment : frie (or Land) Light.—1818-1888, Capt. John Bone, of Erie; 1888, Robert Kin- caide, of Erie; 1841, Griffith Hinton, of Harbor Creek; 1845, Eli Webster, of Mc- Kean; 1849, James W. Miles, of West Mill Creek, who died in the summer of 1858, the duties being performed by his wife, Isabel Miles, till the ensuing spring; April 1, 1854, John Graham, of Erie; April 1, 1858, Gen. James Fleming, of Erie; October 27, i858, A.C. Landon, of Erie; July 15, 1861, John Goalding, of Erie; April 1, 1864, George Demond, of Erie; August 1, 1871, A. J. Fargo, of Fairview; 1885, George W. Miller, of Conneaut, Ohio. Presque Isle Pier Head (or Beacon) Light.—William T. Downs, years unknown ; Benjamin Fleming, Erie, years unknown; John Hess, Erie, years unknown; Leonard Vaughn, Summit, years unknown; George W. Bone, Erie, appointed July 19, 1861; Richard P. Burke, Erie, March 1, 1868 ; Frank AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 131 Henry, Harbor Creek, May 1, 1869; Charles D. Coyle, Erie, 1884; Robert Hunter, Erie, 1889. Assistants.—James Johnson, Erie, ap- pointed in June, 1878; C. E. McDannell, Mill Creek, September, 1871; William H. Harlow, 1885; Robert Hunter, Erie, 1886: Thomas L. Wilkins, 1889; Edward Pfister, 1892; John W. Reddy, 1894. Presque Isle (or Flash) Light.—July 12, 1878, Charles T. Waldo, of Fairview; spring of 1880, George E. Irvin, A. J. Harrison; Fall of 1880, O. J. McAllister, of Wattsburg ; 1880, George E. Town, of North East; 1883, Clark M. Cole, of Erie; 1886, Lewis Van- natta, Erie; 1891, Lewis Walrose; 1892, Thomas L. Wilkins, Erie. Up to June, 1894, the appointment of Light-house Keeper was made by the Col- lector of the port, but under the civil service rules it is now vested in the Inspector of light- houses. The new gas buoy, one of the latest and most useful inventions of the day, was placed in the harbor during the summer of 1895, through the recommendation of Capt. Gridley, light-house Inspector of the district. NAVAL INSPECTORS. The Erie lights are in the Tenth Light- house district of the United States, extending from the mouth of St. Regis river, in New York, to and including Grassy Island, in the Detroit river. Each district is in charge of a United States naval officer, who is officially known as Inspector. The following have been the recent in- spectors : Com. Ellison, from to 1868; 1868-71, Com. G. H. Scott; 1871-74, Com. N. Collins ; 1874-77, Com. E. E. Potter: 1877-78, Capt. George Brown; 1878-80, Com. W. R. Bridg- man; 1880-88, Com. George W. Hayward; 1888-87, Com. N. M. Dwyer; 1887-91, Com. Charles V. Gridley; 1891-938, Com. E. T. Woodward; 1898-94, Com. James G. Green ; 1894, Com. Charles V. Gridley. LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. The U. S. Life-Saving Service on Lake Erie was organized in 1876 by Capt. Ottinger, of the revenue service, who was soon suc- ceeded in regular charge by Capt. D. P. Dob- bins, a resident of Buffalo, but a native of Erie, who continued till his death, August 20, 1892. He was followed by Capt. Chapman, of Oswego, whose headquarters are in Buffalo. The Ninth district, of which the latter has supervision, embraces Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, Ky. The stations on Lake Erie are located at Buf- falo, Erie, Ashtabula, Cleveland, Fairport and Point Marblehead. The original station at Erie was built on the north shore of the peninsula, with Clark Jones in charge. This location being found inconvenient, the station was removed to the north pier at the entrance of the harbor. William Clark took charge of the station in 1877. He was drowned while trying to rescue the passengers of the Badger State on June 4th, 1891. His successor was Andrew P. Jansen. A new and improved life-boat of the English type, which had been on exhibition at the World’s Fair, was placed in the station during the spring of 1894. U. S. WEATHER AND SIGNAL SERVICE OFFICE. The U. S. Weather and Signal Service office, intended largely for the benefit of mari- ners, was established in Erie May 28, 1878. Peter Wood, who had been in the chief office at Washington city, assumed charge in Feb- ruary, 1884, and has been on duty ever since. The office is on the fourth floor of the govern- ment building, at State street and Central Park. [For other information regarding the har- bor, the lake trade, fishing interests, etc., see Chapter V., Erie City. ] CHAPTER XVII. THe War or 1812-14—Perry’s Vicrory—Erigz County’s Part IN THE War. AR was declared for the second time by the United States against Great Britain on the 18th of June, 1812. At that time the Canadian territory bordering the lakes and the St. Law- rence was far in advance of the United States on the opposite side in population, commerce and agriculture. The British were also much better prepared for war, having a series of military posts, from Niagara to Sault Ste. Marie, and being provided with a “ Provincial Navy,” which gave them the mastery of the lakes. They were on the best of terms with the Indians on both sides of the water, who were generally hostile to the Americans. Erie, than a mere handful of buildings, from its position near the center of the lake and the excellence of its harbor, was regarded as one of the most important points on the south shore. On the east, there was no village of any size nearer than Buffalo, and the country be- tween scarcely contained ten families to the square mile. Westward the greater portion of the region remained an unbroken forest, the only settlements worthy of a name being those which surrounded the military posts at Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo and Detroit. BEGINNING OF THE WAR. When hostilities commenced, they were so little expected on the frontier that Capt. Daniel Dobbins, Rufus Seth Reed and W.W. Reed sailed in a trading vessel for Mackinaw soon after the opening of navigation. While at that place a body of British and Indians took possession of the island and captured the party with their vessel. As prisoners of war they were carried in their own vessel to De- troit, where they were allowed to depart, and finally reached home in safety. On the outbreak of the war a military company was in existence at Erie, under com- mand of Capt. Thomas Forster. The mem- bers immediately tendered their services to the President, and were accepted for the time being. In anticipation of the conflict, Gov. Snyder had organized the militia of the State into two grand divisions—one for the east and one for the west. The western division was under the command of Maj.-Gen. Adamson Tannehill, of Pittsburg; the brigade of which the Erie county militia formed a part was commanded by Brig.-Gen. John Kelso, and the Erie county regiment was under the com- mand of Dr. John C. Wallace. Among the officers of the regiment were Capts. Andrew Cochran, Zelotus Lee, James Barr, William Dickson, Robert Davison, Warren Foote, John Morris, — Smith and — Donaldson. Capt. Barr and his men were sent to San- dusky, and spent the winter of 1812-18 there. Capt. Cochran’s Springfield company kept guard along the lake for some months, and was frequently called out at later stages of the war. The company commanded by Capt. Foote was assigned, in the beginning, to ‘‘keep sentry at the head of the peninsula.” Before the close of June, Gen. Kelso ordered out his brigade for the defence of Erie. This was quickly followed by a general call for the Sixteenth Division, the State hav- ing by this time been apportioned into more numerous military districts. The brigade rendezvous was on the farm of John Lytle, upon the flats at Waterford station. Upward of two thousand men were collected from Erie, Crawford, Mercer and the adjoining counties. August 13, a detachment of 2,500 of the Northwestern militia—increased in September by 2,000 more—were ordered to march to Buffalo, which was menaced by the enemy. They continued at Buffalo the winter through, under command of Gen. Tannehill, and it is related to the credit of Erie county, that while many others deserted, not one man of Col. Wallace’s command shirked his duty. In the meantime measures had been taken for AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 133 the defence of Erie, which was reported in danger of an attack by the enemy’s fleet seve- ral times during the year. The summer campaign of 1812 along the lake was a series of disasters to the Americans. The surrender of Detroit by Hull, the defeat of Van Rensselaer at Niagara in-October, and the capture of the Adams, the only armed ves- sel that had been left to us, gave the British full control upon the lake. A LAKE FLEET PROVIDED FOR. Upon the return of Capt. Dobbins to Erie, he was called into immediate consultation with Gen. Mead, commander of the post, who sent him to Washington for the purpose of informing the President of the situation on the lakes. On reaching the capital, he met the cabinet, in official session, and earnestly advocated the establishment of a naval station and the building of a fleet powerful enough to cope with the British upon the lake. These suggestions were adopted. A Sailing Master’s commission in the navy was tendered to him and accepted, and he was ordered to proceed to Erie and begin the construction of gun- boats. An effort was made to secure ship carpenters, but only one being secured, Capt. Dobbins decided to go on with such house builders and laborers as he could gather to- gether. About January 1, 1813, Commodore Chauncey came to Erie, accompanied by a United States naval constructor, and, after approving what Dobbins had done, ordered him to prepare for the building of two sloops of war in addition to the gunboats. The keels of these vessels were ready to lay and much of the timber on hand about the 10th of March, when a gang of twenty-five carpenters, in charge of Noah Brown, a master ship builder from New York, reached Erie. A temporary guard was improvised, consisting of Capt. Forster’s volunteer military company, who had got back from Buffalo, and the workmen at the station. ARRIVAL OF COMMODORE PERRY. Lieut. Oliver Hazard Perry, to whom the command on Lake Erie had been assigned, arrived at Erie March 27, 1818, and estab- lished his headquarters in ‘“Duncan’s Hotel” (later the ‘‘McConkey House”), at the northeast corner of Third and French streets. He was only twenty-seven years of age, and his sole war service was as a Mid- shipman in the war with Tripoli; but he was active, brave and patriotic. By the joint ex- ertions of Perry and Mead, a thousand State militia were ordered to rendezvous at Erie on or before the 20th of April. The old Ameri- can block-house of 1795, which had nearly gone to ruins, was hurriedly restored, as was also the one on the point of the peninsula. Redoubts were subsequently thrown up at several points on the bank of the bay and lake. It is next to impossible at the present day to comprehend the difficulties that attended Perry and Dobbins in their efforts. Of prac- tical ship builders there were few in the lake country. The timber for the vessels had to be cut in the forests and used while yet green. Iron was scarce, and had to be picked up wherever it could be found. The guns, arms and ammunition had to be brought by small boats from Buffalo and Pittsburg. Carpenters, blacksmiths, sail makers, rig- gers, and other workmen came on from New York and Philadelphia, infusing new energy into the operations. The ‘“ Lawrence” and ‘« Niagara,” sloops of war, and the pilot boat ‘« Ariel,” schooner-rigged, were built on the beach at the mouth of Cascade run, now occu- pied by the Erie & Pittsburgh docks, and the “Porcupine” and‘ Tigress,” gunboats, on a beach that jutted out from the mouth of Lee’s run, afterward the terminus of the canal. The brig ‘‘ Caledonia” and sloop “ Trippe,” and the schooners Ohio, Amelia and Somers were brought up the lake from Black Rock, great vigilance being required to elude the enemy. They reached Erie on the 17th of June. PERRY’S FLEET. The entire fleet with which Perry was ex- pected to humble British pride on the lake was now concentrated in the harbor of Erie. It consisted of the ‘‘ Lawrence’’ and ‘“ Ni- agara,” built after the same model, being 100 feet straight rabbit, 100 feet between per- pendiculars, 80 feet beam, 9 feet hold, flush deck, and pierced for twenty guns, with two stern ports: the ‘Ariel’ and ‘‘Scorpion,” each of 68tons; the “ Porcupine” and “ Tigress,” of about 50 tons; the ‘‘ Caledonia,’’ of 85 tons; the “ Trippe,”’ of 68 tons, and the “Amelia,” ‘« Somers” and ‘‘ Ohio,”’ of 72, 65 and 62 tons respectively. The ‘‘ Lawrence” war named 134 after the heroic Capt. James Lawrence, who was killed in the encounter between the Chesapeake and Shannon, and whose last words, ‘‘Don’t give up the ship,” were in- scribed by Perry on his fighting flag. One of the schooners brought up from Black Rock, the ‘‘Amelia,’’ was condemned as worthless and sunk in the harbor. Up to the 25th of June something like 150 men and officers had arrived for service in the fleet, of whom many were sick in the hos- pitals, of which there were three—in the court house, on the point of Misery bay and in the block house, respectively. More men reached Erie on or about the 25th of July, and by August Ist Perry’s force numbered about 800, of whom quite one-third were landsmen, who volunteered for the service. While Perry was preparing the fleet, ves- sels of the enemy anchored in the roadstead several times, and would have entered the bay but for the shallow water on the bar. Some- times the ‘‘ Queen Charlotte,” the British flag- ship, would appear alone, and at others the whole squadron. July 19th, six of the enemy's vessels were in sight outside the harbor, where they lay becalmed for two days. Perry went with three gunboats to attack them, and a few shots were exchanged at a mile’s distance. A breeze springing up, the enemy sailed away, evidently desiring to avoid a fight. All this time the meager land force at Erie was kept busy parading the bank of the lake, to give the impression to the enemy of a larger army than was really the case. On the 27th of Au- gust a force of 1,600 State militia was report- ed as being in camp at Erie. CROSSING THE BAR. On Sunday, the Ist of August, the vessels were moved to the mouth of the bay, then free from piers, and preparations were made for getting them over the bar and for defending them in case of an attack while the Operation was in progress. The guns, ballast and other heavy material were removed from the “ Law- rence” to the sand beach, being so adjusted as to be readily replaced, and the ship was lifted over the bar by the aid of “camels.”’ This proceeding was considerably delayed by an unfavorable wind, and it was not until the morning of the 4th, after two nights and days of wearisome labor, that the © Lawrence”’ was floated to her anchorage in the roadstead. NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY The ‘‘ Niagara” was lifted over by the same process a few days after, the smaller vessels crossing without serious trouble. Before the work of moving the “ Niagara” over the bar was completed, the enemy ap- peared early one morning, and hove to about eight miles out for the purpose of reconnoiter- ing. After looking over the situation for an hour or two, the British crossed: the lake to Port Dover, where it had been intended to concentrate a sea and land force for a com- bined attack upon Erie. This failed because the troops could not be got up in season. ON THE WAY TO BATTLE. On the 9th, to the joy of all, the little band were joined by Lieut. Elliott, with some offi- cers and ninety men, most of whom were ex- perienced sailors. The squadron, though still lacking a proper equipment, was now thought to be ready for active service, and, on the morning of the 12th of August, sailed up the lake in search of the enemy. . DISTANCES BY LAKE SHORE R. R. The following are the distances by this route from Erie to the places named : EASTWARD—Miles, WESTWARD —Miles. Wesleyville.......... 4 Swanville........... 9 Harbor Creek........ 8 Fairview............ 11 Moorhead’s........... 11 Miles Grove...."... 16 North Hast........... 15 Springfield ......... 20 State Line...iccc.a%8 20 Ohio Line..........- 26 Ripley: secnsebiea tates 23 Conneaut........... 28 Westfield........-.... 31 Ashtabula ......... 41 BrOCtOM ¢ 4 i ioi-2.508 gidyece 39 Painesville ......... 67 Dunkirk ............. 48 Cleveland........... 95 Bufialo nsec cicews acta 88 Sandusky..... cae eas 158 Rochester............ 137 ‘TOl€dOsiscaci ccc snus 208 Albanyyescss venesaay 385 Chicago............. 452 New York: sss¢5% 245 528 This road, while one of the best managed and constructed in the Union, has, strange to say, had two or three of the worst disasters ever known in railroad history. One of these was at Ashtabula, on Friday, December 29, 1876, at 7:80 P.M., when seventy-two persons were killed, and the other at Angola, N. Y., when the loss was smaller, but scarcely less ap- palling in its general features. In both cases citizens of Erie were among the dead or in- jured. FASTEST LONG DISTANCE TIME EVER MADE. The Lake Shore R. R. claims the record of having made the fastest time for a long distance of anyin the world. A train of three Wagner cars, drawn by a single engine, left Chicago at 8:30 a. M. (Central time), on the 24th of October, 1895, and reached Buffalo at 11:80:48. The distance is 510.1 miles, and the time was 481 minutes and 7 seconds, an average speed, inclusive of stops and changing of engines, of 65.7 miles an hour. The great- est run was made between Erie and Buffalo, a distance of &6 miles, which was made in 70 minutes and 16 seconds. In two instances between Erie and Buffalo the train attained a speed of 96 milesan hour. The engine which secured this remarkable result was No. 564, handled by Engineer William Tunkey. The object of the fast run was to ascertain at what AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF BRIH COUNTY. 183 rate a train could be taken over the road with safety for general through passenger business. Different engines were used on each of the divisions, and the run for the divisions were: Chicago to Elkhart, 87.4 miles, in 85 minutes 26 seconds; Elkhart to Toledo, 183.4 miles, in 124 minutes 35 seconds; Toledo to Cleve- land, 107.8 miles, in 106 minutes 6 seconds; Cleveland to Erie, 95.5 miles, in 85 minutes 82 seconds; Erie to Buffalo, 86 miles, in 70 minutes 16 seconds. The train arrived in New York City, over the Central road, at 10: 15 (Eastern time) in the evening of the day it left Chicago, having made the distance of 980 miles in 17 hours and 45 minutes. PHILADELPHIA AND ERIE RAILROAD. A railroad was projected from Erie to Philadelphia as long ago as 1830, upon nearly the same route that was ultimately adopted. In 1838 a railroad wascommenced at Sunbury by Stephen Girard and others, intended to connect Erie with Philadelphia by way of Pottsville. A few miles of it were built eastward, and then the work stopped on ac- count of financial depression. In 18837 a bill passed the Legislature in- corporating the Sunbury and Erie R. R. Company. An organization was regularly effected, the stock to secure the charter being taken by the United States Bank, and engi- neers were employed to survey a route in 1888 and 1889. Nothing further was done for some years. In 1854 the project was simultaneously revived in Philadelphia, in Erie and in the Leg- islature. The city of Philadelphia subscribed $1,000,000 téward the construction of the road, the county of Erie $200,000 and the city of Erie $300,000, in addition to 150 water lots for dock accommodations. The Cleveland and Erie Company were required to subscribe $500,000 to the road, as a condition of secu- ring a new charter. About this time the State exchanged a portion of her canals for $3,500,- 000 of Sunbury and Erie bonds,thus placing the company on a substantial footing. By Decem- ber, 1854, the road was in running order from Sunbury to Williamsport, where a connection was made with the Northern Central R.R. to Elmira. -The division of the road from Erie to Warren was begun in August, 1856, and completed in December, 1859, the Middle division remaining unfinished. In the spring of 1861, the name of the corporation was changed to the Philadelphia and Erie R. R. Company. The war coming on in that year alarmed the stockholders, and the road was leased, in 1862, to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for a term of 999 years. Work was vigorously p-‘osecuted by the lessees, and in October, 1864, the first passenger train came through to Erie from Philadelphia with a large party ot excursionists. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. The road is 287 6-10 miles in length, oper- ated in three divisions, as follows: Eastern—— Sunbury to Renovo, 92 4-10 miles; Middle—- Renovo to Kane, 100 7-10 miles; Western— Kane to Erie, 94 5-10. At Sunbury, con- nection is made with the Southern division of the Northern Central R. R., under the same management, which gives a direct route to Harrisburg, Baltimore, Washington, Phila- delphia and New York. The distance from Erie to Harrisburg is 847 miles; to Baltimore, 425; to Washington, 468, to Philadelphia, 458, and to New York, 543. Below are the distances along the road itself, measuring from the foot of State street in Erie: Outer Depot...... .. 2 WOna: ss ccveuas ve 76 Wagner's: cceciiacin 5 Sheffield.......... 79 Belle Valley. ....... 7 Roystone......... 82 Langdon’s........... 9 Ludlow........ ... 86 Jackson’s............ 13. Wetmore......... 90 Waterford Depot .... 18% Kane...... ...... 95 Le Boeuf ............ 23 Wilcox ........... 104 Union City .......... 27 Ridgway ........ 119 Elgin cccwrssees aneng 32 Sty Mary’ see jce se 129 Lovells 4 sccwedee ayes 34. Emporium........ 149 Corry: sess She ees 37. Cameron .... .... 155 Columbus ......,.... 39 Driftwood........ 168 Spring Creek........ 44 Renovo........... 196 Garland ............. 50 Lock Haven...... 224 Pittsfield ccscccae ews. 54 Jersey Shore ..... 236 Youngsville ......... 58 Williamsport..... 248 Trvineton o 4 eiccses wees 60 Muncy ........... 260 Warretissscciccrasias 66 Milton............ 275 Stoneham........... 71 Northumberland .285.6 Clarendon........... 73, Sunbury.......... 287.6 SURVEYS AND HEIGHTS ABOVE TIDE-WATER. In surveying the road, considerable diffi- culty was experienced in finding a suitable | route to reach the level of the lake from the high lands on the south. The course finally adopted was by way of Four-Mile creek, necessitating a long curve to round the Second ridge, which compels over seven miles of rail- road to make the distance of four and a half 184 miles by common road from Erie to Belle Valley. The grade between Jackson’s and Erie is at one place eighty-three feet to the mile. The following figures give the height of the road above tide-water at the points named : STATIONS. FEET. Erie, foot of State street ..............- 0. eee 573 Summit, at Jackson’s ............. 0c eee seen 1,229 eden Oy a. ai noe ooh oa ae 1,270 COLrry siannamenmsmnadchad eee et esee be ee gee 1,431 Garland, cxcccsacdune Sten Ronmaeue ote ote? ee 1,309 Warret. bir ticenengieela Leeda RG Laeeee ty 34 1,200 SHE HIElG 6454 xalsjabanttnnnvoiniiends mom ae een dare 1,337 TESS 44 5 ayes 9 44 MaRS 2 See eee HRA Ree Re 2,130 WiCOXs chnsedenianeh awake aietioa atewacd oars 1,527 RIGS WY. crancieingduaee tnt eyeayag reser eae 1,393 St. Mary’s Summit ...........- chee eee eee eee 1,696 Emporium ..... 0... cece eee ee eee eee eee ne 1,021 The first general Superintendent of the road was Joseph D. Potts, who took charge at its opening in 1864. The superintendents of the western division have been: Samuel A. Black, appointed in July, 1859; William A. Baldwin, February 7, 1862; John W. Rey- nolds, May 1, 1868. The general offices were at Erie until 1874, when they were removed to Williamsport. The company occupied a frame building at the foot of State street, in Erie, as a passen- ger and freight depot, until the completion of the Union depot, to which the passenger traffic was at once transferred. The freight business continued at the former point until the erection of the new freight building on Parade street in 1880. The shops of the road are at Erie, Kane, Renovo and Sunbury. ERIE AND PITTSBURG R. R. The charter for the Erie and Pittsburg Company, was obtained in 1856, by parties in- terested in the Erie and North East Company. The new charter of the latter company pro- vided that it should invest $400,000 in the con- struction of a road in the direction of Pitts- burg. With this sum and the money of the stockholders, the Erie and Pittsburg road was graded from near Miles Grove to Jamestown, Mercer county, and the track laid to Albion. In 1864, the road was continued to New Castle, where the Erie and Pittsburg R. R. proper terminates. At that place connection is made with the New Castle and Beaver Valley R.R., which connects in turn with the Pitts- NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY burg, Fort Wayne and Chicago at Home- wood, and with a road down the Beaver val- ley, making direct connection in both cases with the ‘* smoky city.” The company own extensive docks at Erie for the handling of coal and iron ore, built in 1868, and since then largely extended. The round-house in Erie was erected in 1865, and the shops bought of McCarter & Scoville in 1866. The distances by this route are as follows: MILES. Erie to a little west of Miles Grove (Lake Shore. TOA) oiscccsmewe dessa vowemeeacece 16.5 IGEOSS* cikisictatmaidlicae ae maa eee CREA ea 21 SAM iO 8 saccis sta wee wis oaravorhale Gan Ae sea SEE BOE Ee 27 Spring 2... 6c cee eee cee ete eene eee 32 Conneautvillesoss ccuccag tigre yen sa eee net ees 35 J AMIESTOW flaca hoo sese bar eeNeseeea gers wees 57 GreGNVillE,. ccccnav oct ge sa eiaee se ee esa be 63 Sharpsvill€y nice anu 39 see Galeed eee tess mers 75 Sha roticic scsi) ana Meee SMARTS OTST AS 78 Middleséxis iat csc onan Ace ta aae om Bae New Castle Homewood PittSburg <6 ideteneeeeeeteeew Sears e emt’ The superintendents of the road have been R. N. Brown, J. EL. Grant, W. S. Brown, J. J. Lawrence, F. N. Finney, John M. Kimball and H. W. Byers. W. L. Scott, of Erie, was president of the corporation many years. The road was operated as a feeder to the Lake Shore until the 24th of March, 1870, when it was leased to the Pennsylvania R. R. Company for a term of 999 years. On the first of March, 1871, the management was transferred to the Pennsylvania Company, a separate corporation from the Pennsylvania R. R. Company, organized to operate the Western lines leased or owned by the latter. From Erie to a short distance west of Miles Grove, the E. & P. uses the Lake Shore track, with the exception of two and one-half miles between the city and the dock junction. The company own the connecting road along the bay front of Erie, from the Pittsburg dock to the foot of State street. It was built about 1870. The headquarters of the road were in Erie until 1881, when they were removed to Youngstown, Ohio, and subsequently to the Junction, a short distance below New Castle. _ The following figures show the elevation in feet above tide-water of various points on the road: Summit, near Conneautville, 1,141; Greenville, 984; Sharon, 8583; New Castle, v. sie amp bell. e Bagr aved by Vi ae AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 185 802. In crossing the dividing ridge south of Conneautville, the summit is approached from the north for two or three miles by a grade of fifty-two feet to the mile. Mr. J. A. Wood held the position of mas- ter mechanic of the road, with headquarters at Erie, for some twenty years. WESTERN NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA. A railroad, known as the Oil Creek R. R., was completed between Corry and Miller Farm in 1862. [n 1865,a majority of its cap- ital stock was purchased by Dean Richmond, representing the Lake Shore and New York Central Companies, and by Thomas A. Scott, representing the Pennsylvania Company, and placed in the hands of Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, as trustee for the three corpora- tions. The road was extended to Petroleum Centre in 1866, where it connected with the Farmers’ road to Oil City. Not long after- ward, the Allegheny Valley R. R. was com- pleted to Oil City, from Pittsburg, making a continuous line from the latter city. The fail- ure of the wells on Oil creek robbed the road of its prosperity, and it was sold out upon mort- gage, and purchased by the Allegheny Valley R. R. management. The Cross-Cut R. R. was built from Corry to Brocton in 1867, to secure a lake outlet for the Oil Creek R. R., and a connection with the Lake Shore R. R., independent of the Phila- delphia and Erie R. R. All the above roads were consclidated un- der one management, as the Buffalo, Corry and Pittsburg, and have since become a part of the Western New York and Pennsylvania system, which embraces over six hundred miles of track within the two States. NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO (NYP- ANO) R. R. The Atlantic and Great Western R. R. was completed to Corry in June, 1861, and extended westward through the southern portion of the county in 1862. It was intended and is still operated as the western extension of the Erie Railway (now the New York, Lake Erie and Western), withwhich it connects at Salamanca, N.Y. The track was originally six feet wide, but the gauge was changed about 1884 to the general standard of the country. The above name was adopted about 1882. In March, 1888, the road was leased to the New York, 13 Lake Erie and Western Company for ninety- nine years. UNION AND TITUSVILLE R. R. This road extended from Titusville to Union City, where it connected with the Phila- delphia and Erie R. R. It was originated in 1865, and completed in February, 1871. It was operated by the Pennsylvania R. R. Company for some years, and finally aban- doned about 1892 or 1898. NEW YORK, CHICAGO AND ST. LOUIS R. R. (THE NICKEL PLATE). The New York, Chicago and St. Louis R.R. Company was organized in 1880 to build a railroad from Buffalo to Chicago by way of Dunkirk, Erie, Cleveland, Fostoria and Fort Wayne. The grading of the road commenced in June, 1881, and the first through passenger train reached Erie from the West in the after- noon of August 81, 1882. The train returned from Buffalo on the Ist of September. Regu- lar passenger trains commenced running on Monday, October 28, 1882. In the winter of 1882-88, a majority of the stock of the road was purchased in Erie by William H. Vanderbilt and others in the in- terest of the Lake Shore R.R., and it has since been run in harmony with that line, although a separate organization and an apparent com- petition are kept up. The principal office of the company is at Cleveland. The main shops are at Chicago. Division shops are located at Fort Wayne, Ind., and Bellevue and Conneaut, Ohio. The divisions for engine service are: Buffalo to Conneaut ; Conneaut to Bellevue; Bellevue to Fort Wayne; Fort Wayne to Chicago. Instead of the culverts used by the L. S. and M.S.R.R., this route crosses the gullies of the lake shore streams by iron viaducts, some of which are of unusual height and length. The distances by the Nickel Plate R. R. are as follows: Buffalo to Erie, 87.48 miles; to Conneaut, 115.51 miles; to Cleveland, 188.79 miles; to Bellevue, 247.86 miles; to Fort Wayne, 870.68 miles; to Chicago, 524.74 miles. PITTSBURG. SHENANGO AND LAKE ERIE R. R. This, the latest road entering Erie, was opened for business in the spring of ,1892. The track was laid down on Twelfth street in 186 November, 1891. The depot, at Twelfth and Sassafras streets, was built in the spring of 1892, and the first passenger train reached Erie in June of the same year. The road ex- tends from Erie to Butler, following, in the main, the route of the old canal, and trains enter Pittsburg from Butler over the track of the Pittsburg and WesternR.R. The distance from Erie to Pittsburg by this road is 1524 miles. At Cranesville, in this county, the road branches, one track coming to Erie and the other extending to the lake at Conneaut, O., a distance of 14 4-10 miles from the first- mentioned point. The first is used for the passenger and general freight business, and the second for the coal and iron ore traffic. Arrangements have been made with the Grand Trunk R. R. of Canada by which powerful boats are run between Conneaut and Port Dover, summer and_ winter, carrying cars loaded with coal and general merchandise. These boats were first put in operation in August, 1895. DISTANCE TABLE. Below are the distances by this road to the most important points between Erie and Pitts- burg : Wallace Junction...14.4 Meadville.......... 60.3 Girard.............. 15.5 Hartstown......... 52.2 Elk Creek Siding...17.3 Adamsville........ 55.0 Lockport ........... 20.2 Greenville........, 63.6 Cranesville......... 23.7 Shenango......... 65.6 AMDIOM Gs sed Aone n, 24.9 Fredonia........., 74.5 Pennside...........28.6 Mercer Junction... 81.3 Shadeland.......... 31.2 Mercer..........., 82.1 Springboro......... 32.5 Grove City........ 91.1 Conneautville.......25.6 P. & W. Junction. .121.1 Dicksonburg... .... 39.8 Butler...........,. 121.6 Harmonsburg....... 42.9 Pittsburg......... 152.6 Meadville Junction’ 44.9 PROJECTED RAILROADS, Books were opened in 1836 for subscrip- tions to build a railroad, twenty-three miles NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY long, from Erie to the State line, three miles east of Wattsburg, where it was designed to connect with a branch of the Erie railway. The scheme was to make Erie the terminus of the latter thoroughfare. When the Erie and North East R. R. was built, the project was abandoned. The Erie City R. R. Company was chartered, in 1858, to build a road from Erie to some point on the State line in North East, Greenfield or Venango Townships, as a con- nection of the Erie Railway. Its organization was maintained until the Atlantic and Great Western R_ R. was completed, when the pro- jectors concluded that further effort to induce the Erie Railway to come to the harbor of Erie would be useless. The Erie Southern was designed to give Erie a connection with the N. Y., P. &O.R.R. road at Cambridge, and the Oil Creek R. R. at Titusville, opening up a new route, by way of McKean and Edinboro, for the coal and oil traffic. The project was much talked about in 1878, considerable subscriptions were obtained, and the city voted the corporation a block of water-lots, besides the right of way on Liberty street. A small amount of digging and gra- ding was done in the southwestern part of the city, when the enterprise was given up. Another railroad was projected from Erie to Mill Village via Waterford, the purpose being also to secure a connection with the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio. Surveys made by Col. Irvin Camp, in 1882-88, de- veloped the fact that the length of the pro- posed road would be but nineteen miles from the depot at Erie to the one at Mill Village. Of late the scheme for building a road from Erie to the ‘« Nypano” at Cambridge has been much discussed, and it is safe to predict that this line, or one connecting with the lat- ter system at Mill Village, will be built before many years. CHAPTER XXIV. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES, SEMINARIES, Erc. N providing a frame of government for the Colony of Pennsylvania, William Penn declared that wisdom and morality ‘‘ must be carefully propagated by a virtuous ed- ucation of the youth,” and that the Gov- ernor and Councils should ‘“‘ erect and order public schools.” The wise example of the founder was followed by the heroes of the Revolution, in framing the Constitution of 1776, with a requirement that ‘‘a school or schools shall be established in each county.” The Constitution of 1790 went still further by declaring that the Legislature might provide for the establishment of schools throughout the State ‘‘in such manner that the poor may be taught gratis.” Notwithstanding these noble sentiments, little progress toward the schooling of the masses was effected until a comparatively re- cent period. Generous endowments were made by the State to colleges and academies, but the idea of ‘‘ common schools,” open alike to rich and poor, and supported at the public expense by a system of equal taxation, was slow in winning the approval of property owners. ‘‘ Pay schools,” in which the chil- dren were trained for a moderate compensa- tion, were common, however, almost every district having one or more, according to its population. The primary schools in Erie county, up to 1834, were all of this character. A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM URGED BY THE EARLY GOVERNORS. In 1821 Governor Heister, in his message to the Legislature, declared it to be ‘‘ an im- perative duty to introduce and support a lib- eral system of education, connected with some general religious instruction.” Governor Shultze’s message to the Legislature of 1827 contained this passage: ‘Among the in- junctions of the Constitution, there is none more interesting than that which enjoins it as a duty on the Legislature to provide for the education of the poor throughout the Common- wealth.’’ In 1828 the same executive stated in his annual message that he could not for- bear from “again calling attention to the sub- ject of public education. To devise means for the establishment of a fund and the adoption of a plan by which the blessings of the more necessary branches of education should be con- ferred on every family within our borders would be every way worthy the Legislature of Pennsylvania.” The first practical step in the direction of a common school system for Pennsylvania was taken when George Wolf, of Northamption county, was elected Governor in 1829. The question of public schools entered largely into the canvass preceding his election, and the Democratic leaders were generally pledged to some sort of a measure for the purpose. Ina speech delivered during the campaign, James Buchanan said: ‘If ever the passion of envy could be excused in a man ambitious of true glory, he might almost be justified in envying the fame of that favored individual, whoever he may be, whom Providence intends to make the instrument in establishing common schools throughout the Commonwealth.” Gov. Wolf's inaugural address took strong ground in favor of the education of the masses, and the Legis- lature of 1880, in accordance with his recom- mendation, set apart a sum of money to be placed at interest and used at some future period in establishing a common school sys- tem. The Governor continued to urge the free school idea until the passage of the act of 1884-5. The original law made it optional with each township, ward and borough to adopt the system. EFFORTS OF THADDEUS STEVENS AND OTHERS. Strange as it may seem, there was violent opposition to the measure in some parts of the State. The persons interested in colleges, academies and pay schools objected to it 188 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY through fear of a loss to their revenues; the wealthy and the snobbish disliked it because they did not want their children to mix with the “ vulgar herd ;” the penurious dreaded an increase of taxation ; and a hundred objections were urged that seem too absurd now for any reasonable person ever to have believed. At the ensuing session a motion for the repeal of the law was offered by John Strohm, of Lan- caster county, and eloquently opposed by Thaddeus Stevens, then a representative from Adams. Mr. Stevens closed his remarks with this thrilling sentence: ‘‘If the opponent of education were my most intimate personal and political friend, and the free school can- didate my most obnoxious enemy, I should deem it my duty as a patriot, at this moment of our intellectual crisis, to forget all other considerations, and I should place myself un- hesitatingly and cordially in the ranks of him whose banner streams in light.” The bill was saved, but was improved and made more acceptable during the administration of Gov. Ritner, who succeeded Gov. Wolf. Probably no one man did more effective service in building up the system than Thomas H. Burrowes, who was Gov. Kitner’s Secre- tary of State, and, as such, official head of the school department. During Ritner’s admin- istration the annual State appropriation was increased from $75,000 to $400,000, and the number of schools to 5,000. The act passed in 184) made the adoption of the system obligatory throughout the State. The law of 1854, providing for County Super- intendents, teachers’ examinations, and other important measures, was prepared by Hon. H. L. Dieffenbach of Clinton county, acting head of the School Department, with the assistance of Governor Bigler and Secretary of State Charles A. Black. After that came the normal school act of 1857, making a complete system, and giving to Pennsylvania the conceded pre- eminence of having the best school laws in the Union. THE ERIE COUNTY SCHOOLS. For several years after the county was established, the population was too sparse to sustain more than a few schools. These were wholly private, parents paying the teachers a stated sum for each of their children who at- tended. The first schools of which a record can be found were established in Waterford about 1800; at Manchester, in Fairview township, in 1804; at Erie in 1806; at Union in 1820; and at Phillipsville in 1828. Others were opened at an early date, on Federal Hill, within the present limits of Erie; in Springfield; and in Mill Creek township. The earliest school buildings in Waterford and Erie were erected in 1800 and 1806 respectively, being built by the free contributions of the citizens. By 1812 almost every village and township had one or more ‘‘ pay”’ schools. These were increased by degrees so that when the law of 1834 went into force it found every district fairly well supplied with educational facilities. The school buildings were generally built of logs, and were very poorly arranged and ven- tilated. The ‘*schoolmasters,” as they were called, were plain men, who made no preten- tion toa knowledge of more than the rudi- mentary branches. They believed in the use of the rod, and applied it with vigor for every small offense. A ready knowledge of ‘the three R’s”—Readin’, ’Ritin’ and Rithmetic— was all that was supposed to be necessary for the average child. The first Catholic parochial school was established in connection with St. Mary’s Church, in Erie, in 1850, and the second in 1868, in connection with St. Patrick’s Church. The Catholic parochial schools of the county in 1895 numbered 2,560 children, of. whom 2,055 were in Erie City, 855 in Corry, 70 in Union City and 80 at St. Boniface, in Greene township. BOOKS IN EARLY USE. The school books most universally used in the beginning were Webster’s and Byerly’s Spelling Books, the English Reader and Da- boll’s Arithmetic. The teacher was expected to be a good penman and to be able to * set the copy” himself. A better class of books came in at a later date, including Cobb’s Spelling Book, Goodrich’s, Parley’s and Mitchell’s Geographies ,Parley’s and Mitchell’s Histories, the First, Second and Third Read- ers, Smith’s Grammar, and Davies’ Arithme- tics. Cobb’s Spelling Book was introduced into this section in 1827. The copyright for one-half of the State of Pennsylvania was purchased by Joseph M. Sterrett and Oliver Spafford, who published the work in Erie for many years, realizing a snug profit from the AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. enterprise. Mr. Spafford at one time also published the ‘‘ English Reader.” Erie county was one of the foremost in taking advantage of the common school law. The act required that the Directors of each county should meet annually in convention with the County Commissioners and determine the amount of school tax to be raised. The first convention for this purpose was held in the court house soon after the passage of the law, and was attended by representatives from every district in the county. A levy of $2,000 was voted unanimously, and the people were requested to decide by vote whether an addi- tional sum should be raised in the several dis- tricts. An extra tax of $1,000 was voted in Erie, the active spirits in having it done being E. Babbitt, George Kellogg, Dr. William Johns and William Kelly. Ina few years the law was changed so as to leave the amount of tax to be designated by the Directors of the several districts, in which shape it still re- mains. SPELLING SCHOOLS. The spelling school was a once popular in- stitution, in both town and country. As us- ually conducted, the pupils of the district school would assemble on some winter eve- ning and choose two of the best spellers for leaders, who, in turn, would select from six to a dozen others on each side. These would range themselves in standing rows on opposite sides of the building, and the teacher or some other competent person would give out the words to be spelled from a book that h:.d been agreed upon. The pupil who missed a word had to take his seat immediately, and the ex- ercise continued until but one of the contest- ants remained upon the floor, who became the hero of the occasion. Sometimes half a dozen spelling matches would occur in an evening. Two or more schools would often meet in rivalry, and the event would be the talk of the neighborhood for a month or so. In many districts, the spelling school was the regular winter amusement, old and young attending, and all looking forward to the evening with interest. ACADEMIES SEMI- NARIES, NORMAL SCHOOLS, AND While the State was slow in adopting the common school system, the liberality she dis- ‘the support of each institution. 189 played in founding colleges and academies proves that it was wholly through doubts of its policy, and not because good educational facilities were not appreciated. Provision was made at an early day for an academy in each county, and generous appropriations were made to colleges and universities. The Water- ford and Erie Academies were incorporated in 1811 and 1817 respectively, the buildings for both being completed in 1822. A bountiful donation of lands was given by the State for Both are still in operation. The Erie Female Seminary was incorpo- rated in 1888 and went into operation soon after, receiving an annual appropriation of $800 from the Legislature for several years. It kept up till about 1866, but never had any buildings of its own. The last location of the seminary was in the Hamot House, on the bank of the bay, at the foot of State street. Academies were established at West Springfield in 1858, at East Springfield in 1856, at Girard in 1859, and at North Spring- field in 1866, which were conducted for some years with a certain degree of success. All have become merged into the common school system. The Normal School at Edinboro is the only State educational institution in the county. It was founded as an Academy in 1857, and re- organized as a State Normal School in 1861. This school has been quite prosperous and has the promise of a long and useful career. The Lake Shore Seminary was established at North East in 1870 under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Liberal contributions were secured and a fine building waserected. The institution became involved, and the property was bought in at Sheriff’s sale by the principal creditor. The latter, in 1881, sold the building to the Redemptorist Fathers, who re-dedicated it as St. Mary’s College. It is conducted as a preparatory school for young men intending to enter the Catholic priesthood. The buildings have re- cently been much enlarged and improved. St. Benedict’s Academy of the Catholic Church, is on East Ninth street, in Erie, ad- joining St. Mary’s Church. The institution has extensive buildings, with a boarding place attached. Villa Marie Academy, the latest Catholic educational institution, is located in Erie, near 190 the western city limits. It was dedicated May 9, 1892, and is managed by the Sisters of St. Joseph as an institution for the higher educa- tion of young ladies. The grounds, which occupy a whole square, were donated by the lamented Father Thomas A. Casey, who also furnished the means for the erection of the building. Besides the above, there are St. Thomas’ Academy at Corry and St. Teresa’s Academy at Union City, attached to the Roman Cath- olic Churches of similar name in those places. Additional particulars of the above institu- tions will be found in the sketches of their respective localities. SCHOOL SYSTEM GENERALLY AND PROPOSED PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM. The public schools of the county, as of the State at large, are under the control of Direc- tors, who are elected by the people of the several districts at the spring elections, a certain number going out each year. Gen- erally speaking, each city, borough and township is a district by itself. There are three independent districts in the county, how- ever, viz.: Belle Valley, Elk Creek and Franklin, and Lake Pleasant. The State grants every district an annual appropriation, which is apportioned according to the number of pupils. Teachers are employed by the Directors of the district in which they are to serve, but must have passed an examination and received a certificate of competency from the County Superintendent. The latter holds an annual examination in each district, and is expected to visit every school in the county once in each year. A teacher’s institute, or gathering of the teachers in the county, for mutual benefit, is held annually, under the direction of the County Superintendent. The cities of Erie and Corry each have local institutes, which meet at frequent intervals during the year. Within the last year a movement has been started by Benjamin Whitman, Dr. A. A. Freeman, Prof. Missimer and others for the NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY establishment of free non-sectarian public li- braries throughout the State, to be under the control of the school Directors in the several districts, and supported by a general tax upon the public. The act drafted by Mr. Whitman, assisted by the above named gentlemen, pass- ed the Legislature, largely through the labors of Senator McCreary and Representative Gould, and was cordially approved by Goy. Hastings. The law, in the opinion of its friends, will give Pennsylvania the best public library system in America, if not in the world. COUNTY AND CITY SUPERINTENDENTS. The first convention for the choice of a County Superintendent was held in Erie in 1854. William H. Armstrong was elected at a salary of $800 per year. The following is a list of the County Superintendents since the adoption of the law creating the office: William H. Armstrong, Wattsburg, 1854 to 1860. L. W. Savage, Springfield, 1860 to 1868. D. P. Ensign, Erie, served six months in 1868, and resigned. Julius Degmier, Erie, appointed for six months, and then elected to serve until 1866. L. T. Fisk, Girard, 1866 to 1869. C C. Taylor, Elk Creek, 1869 to 1878. Charles Twining, Union, 1878 to 1884. James M. Morrison, Girard, 1884 to 1889 (resigned ). Thos. C. Miller, Mill Creek, 1889 to date. The office of City Superintendent of the schools of Erie was filled from 1867 to 1890 by H. 5S. Jones. H.C. Missimer, who still fills the position, was elected in 1890. V. G. Curtis was the Superintendent of the Corry schools for many years. He was succeeded by A. D. Colegrove, who holds the place at present. Erie and Corry, having city governments, are not subject to the county rules, and have separate Boards and Superintendents. [For the schoo] history of the several cities, boroughs and townships, see the chapters re- lating thereto], CHAPTER XXV. Events oF SpeciaL Note AnD MiIscELLANEOUS INFORMATION. N addition to the events heretofore men- tioned, the county has been the scene of numerous occurrences of more than com- mon interest. A LIVE KING IN ERIE. One of these was the visit of Louis Phil- lippe, future King of France, accompanied by his brother and a servant. They spent a day or two at Erie, in 1795, with Thomas Rees, sleeping and eating in his tent on the bank of the lake, near the mouth of Mill creek. LAFAYETTE’S VISIT. In 1825 the county was honored with a visit from Lafayette, who was making a tour of the country whose independence he had periled his life and fortune to establish. He was accompanied by his son, a companion and a servant, on their way from New Orleans to New York. They reached Waterford, where they were hospitably received, on the evening of the 2d of June, and stayed there over night. A committee from Erie met them at Water- ford, and the party left the latter place early on the morning of the 8d, by way of the turn- pike. At Federal Hill, they were met by a body of military, who escorted the distinguish- ed guest to the foot of State street, where they were greeted with a national salute and for- mally presented to the United States naval officers and other prominent citizens. From there a procession marched to the public house of Capt. Daniel Dobbins, at the north- east corner of State and Third streets, where Burgess Wallace welcomed Lafayette in the name of the borough. He was then taken to the residence of Judah Colt (at the corner of French and Fourth streets), who was chair- man of the reception committee, and intro- duced to the ladies. Meanwhile, a public dinner had been in course of preparation, un- der the supervision of John Dickson, which was the grandest affair of the kind known up to that day in Erie. The tables, which had been erected ona bridge over the ravine on Second street, between State and French, were 170 feet long, elegantly adorned and coyered with an awning made of the sails of the British vessels captured by Perry. After the dinner, toasts were offered, among them the following by the hero of the occasion : ‘‘ Krie—a name which has a great share in American glory; may this town ever enjoy a proportionate share in American prosperity and happiness.” Lafayette and his party left on the fore- noon of June 4th, and were accompanied by numerous citizens to Portland, at the mouth of Chautauqua creek, N. Y., where he took a steamer for Buffalo. During his stay in Erie his stopping place was in the Dobbins House abové mentioned, which is still standing. He occupied a large room on the second floor, at the northwest corner of the house. HORACE GREELEY’S RESIDENCE IN ERIE. Horace Greeley, the world-famed editor, and the Liberal-Democratic nominee for Presi- dent in 1872, resided in Erie a short time as a journeyman printer, in the employ of the Gazette. His parents settled in Wayne town- ship in 1826, and in the spring of 1830 Horace, who had remained in New England to finish his apprenticeship, came on foot to visit them, secured employment as above, and stopped in Erie until the summer of 1831. During most or all the period of his stay, he boarded at the house of Judge Sterrett, then proprietor of the Gazette. Even at that youthful age, he was fond of talking politics, and was regarded as an oracle on subjects of that nature. He left Erie for New York in August, 1881, reaching there with only $10 in his purse. His father and mother died in Wayne town- ship. Mr. Greeley’s last appearance in Erie was during the campaign of 1872, when he made a speech from one of the east windows of the Union depot. [See Wayne Township for a sketch of the Greeley Family. ] NUMEROUS PRESIDENTIAL VISITORS. Erie has been visited by no less than eleven gentlemen who either had been, were at the time, or afterwards became President of the United States, viz. : William H, Harri- 192 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY son, 1818; Buchanan in 1840; Van Buren in 1842; John Quincy Adams, in 1848; Taylor and Fillmore in 1849; Lincoln, in 1861; John- son and Grant, in 1866; Garfield at various periods between 1860 and 1880; and Cleve- land in 1891. Stephen A. Douglass, one of the Democratic nominees for President in 1860, made a long speech in the West Park during the campaign of that year. Harrison came as the commanding gen- eral of the western army, in company with Perry, as detailed at length inthe account of the battle of Lake Eric. He stopped at the McConkey House, on the northeast corner of French and Third streets. Buchanan was the leading speaker on the Democratic side at the great assemblage in 1840, when the two rival parties sought to see which could collect the largest crowd, an ac- count of which will be found later on. Van Buren reached Erie by steamer from the west on the 6th of June, 1442, and was given a public reception. Ex-President John Quincy Adams _ also arrived in Erie by steamer, and remained from 7 to 9 o'clock in the evening. He was wel- comed by Hon. Thomas H. Sill, on behalf of the citizens. The Wayne Grays and the three fire companies paraded in his honor. President Taylor was on a journey up the lakes for recreation from the cares of office. He came by way of Waterford, where he was taken sick. On reaching Erie, he was too ill to proceed any further. He remained in the city some ten days, stopping with Dr. W. M. Woods, of the United States Navy, in a dwelling on or near the northwest corner of Eighth and State streets. Vice-President Fillmore came up from Buffalo and met the President, remaining with bim until the next day. On departing, the United States steamer Michigan undertook to fire a Vice President’s salute, when the gun exploded, killing two men. Finding that his condition unfitted him for proceeding further, the President returned to Washington, where he died in less than a year, and was succeeded by Mr. Fillmore. Lincoln passed through Erie on his way to Washington to be inaugurated. He madea few remarks from the second story of the old depot. His remains were taken over the Lake Shore road in 1865. A short halt was made in Erie to enable the citizens to pay their re- spects to his memory. Erie was favored with a speech by Presi- dent Johnson in his famous “‘swing around the circle,” in 1866. He was attended by Gen. Grant and Wm. H. Seward, the latter of whom also spoke. Garfield, being a near neighbor, made frequent trips to Erie, both political and social. He spoke in the court house during the canvass of 1878. Cleveland was in the city to attend the burial of Wm. L. Scott, on Thursday, Sep- tember 24, 1891. He and Gov. Pattison rode in the same carriage in the funeral procession. EXCITING POLITICAL CONTEST EVER KNOWN. MOST The Presidential campaign of .1840, when Harrison and Van Buren were the opposing candidates, was probably the most bitter and exciting ever experienced in America. The feeling between the two parties was intense, and the meetings everywhere were character- ized by a retaliatory spirit that has seldom if ever been exhibited in politics. At a conclave of the Whig magnates, it was agreed to hold a mass meeting in Erie onthe 10th of Septem- ber, the anniversary of Perry’s victory. The Democrats, determined not to be excelled, and fearful that the prestige of the day might give their enemies an advantage, resolved to hold a convention at the same time. This decision created the wildest indignation among their antagonists. The excitement ran up to fever heat. Both elements made the utmost exer- tion to get out their adherents. Runners and bills were sent all over the western counties of the State, as well as through northeastern Ohio and western New York. For several days before the {0th, the roads leading to Erie were crowded with men, women and children, on foot, in wagons and on horseback, many carrying banners and all shouting themselves hoarse for their favorite candidates. On the eventful day, the town was crowded as it never had been before and probably never has been since. It was feared that collisions might occur between the embittered partisans, but the danger was averted by holding the conventions in different sections of the town. The Whig gathering assembled on a vacant lot on Second street between Holland and Mill creek, and the Democratic at the corner of ell, N ¥ 29g Veg by FKL Bb J amp YS O Mitey, AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. Second and Walnut streets. James Buchanan, afterward President of the United States, was chief speaker for the Democrats, and Francis Granger, of New York, subsequently ap- pointed Postmaster General, presided over and was the leading figure of the Whig convention. ERIE COUNTY’S ONLY EXECUTED MURDERER. Though numerous persons have been tried for murder, it is worthy of note that but one execution for that offense has ever taken place in the county. Henry Francisco was convicted before Judge Shippen, on the 8th of Novem. ber, 1887, of having poisoned his wife, and was sentenced to be hanged. The history of the case is very peculiar. Francisco married a Miss Maria Robinson, who is described by old residents as one of the handsomest girls ever seen in Erie. For reasons not proper to mention, they mutually agreed, three weeks after the wedding, to commit suicide. Each took four ounces of laudanum at the same time. The liquid acted as an emetic upon Francisco, but caused the death of his wife. He was sick for some time, and immediately after his recovery was arrested for murder, on the ground that he had influenced his wife to take the poison. On the 9th day of March, 1888, ‘‘ Sheriff Andrew Scott pinioned Fran- cisco’s arms in his cell, and the procession started with solemn tread for the fatal spot in the jail yard. First came the Deputy At- torney General from Harrisburg, with Dr. Johns, the jail physician, then Sheriff Scott and three deputies, followed by the jury that convicted the culprit. Next came the pris- oner, supported by Rev. Dr. Lyon, of the First. Presbyterian Church, and Rev. Mr. Glover, of the Episcopal Church. Three guards brought up the rear. These were the only witnesses to the execution. “ Upon reaching the gallows, Francisco was placed beneath the beam and over the drop, and Sheriff Scott proceeded to strap his legs. The condemned man conducted himself with great firmness, betraying no signs of fear for his fate. The prisoner shook hands with his jailers and spiritual advisers, and with the jury. To his waiting executioner, he was pro- fuse in expressions of gratitude for kind and humane treatment. The farewells being over, the Sheriff slipped the noose over his head and pulled down the cap that was to spare the witnesses the horrible sight of his distorted 193 features while undergoing strangulation. All was silent as the grave as ‘the neighboring clock chimed a quarter after two. The drop was to fall at 2:80. “Rev. Dr. Lyon knelt down and offered an impressive prayer, and when he arose Sheriff Scott, according to the usage of those days, told the poor wretch how many minutes he had to live, and adjured him to make good use of them in petitioning for mercy at the Throne of Grace. In the middle of his passionate prayer the bolt was drawn, the drop fell and Francisco’s body plunged down the trap, and after three minutes of violent contortions it hung motionless at the end of the rope. **In thirty-five minutes the body was cut down and inclosed in a neat coffin, which was screwed down in jail, but such was the curiosity to see the remains that those charged with the burial had to unscrew the coffin twice. The body was interred at the corner of Seventh and Myrtle streets, on property long owned by H. S. Jones.” AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES, GRANGE, FARM- ERS’ ALLIANCE, STATE POLICE AND HAR- VEST HOME PICNIC. The first agricultural society was formed in 1822, and held a fair on the public square of Erie in 1823. The next organization was perfected in 1848 under the title of the Erie County Agricultural Society. Fairs were held on the Academy grounds in 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852; on the Cunningham lot, east of Parade street, in 1858, 1854 and 1855; on the Garrison tract in 1856, 1857 and 1858; and on the Ebersole farm, in East Mill Creek, in 1859 and 1860. The society was chartered as a joint stock association in 1860, with a capital of $5,000. Thirty acres of the Ebersole farm, east of the city, were purchased, a race track laid out, and a small exhibition building erect- ed, but no fair was held after 1860, in conse- quence of the war. The Erie County Agricultural Society was formed in 1869 and held fairs annually on the Reed lots, just west of Erie City, until within a few years. The Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society has held four exhibitions at Erie, on the Reed tract above referred to. The years of its fairs were 1872, 1878, 1877 and 1878. John W. Hammond, of Erie, was president of the society when its last two fairs in this 194 county were held. James Miles, of Girard, was president in 1882-83-84 An association was formed in 1864 for holding a ‘“‘ Harvest Home” picnic annually, which has been one of the most successful in the county. These picnics are usually held in August, at the Head, and are attended by thousands of farmers, as well as many city people. J. C. Thornton, one of the origi- nators of the idea, has attended every picnic from the beginning. The 30th annual Harvy- est Home Picnic was held at the Head on Thursday, August 16, 1894. The order of Patrons of Husbandry, or ‘‘Grange,’’ as it is usually known, was intro- duced into Erie county December 28, 1878, when Corry Grange, No. 55, the first in the county, was instituted. D. C. Kennedy was the first master and H. G. Pratt the first secretary in the county. The order has since spread until it numbers a dozen or more so- cieties and wields large influence. The first Farmers’ Alliance, known as ‘‘ Erie County,” was organized near Hornby, in Greenfield township, May 20, 1889; the second, called Greenfield Alliance, at the Prindle school-house, in the same township, November 25, 1889,and the third (Macedonia) in Venango township, January 11, 1890. Charles Morgan, Jr., of Greenfield, was the active man in starting the organization. From Erie county the association has spread over a number of the States, and is one of the most influential farmers’ organizations in the Union. The organization known as the State Police and Home Guards of Pennsylvania and Ohio, was started in Ashtabula county, Ohio, and Crawford county, Pennsylvania. At the begin- ning, the societies had no regular legal author- ity, but in 1872 Hon. E. H. Wilcox secured an act of Assembly which entitled them to incor- poration, and gave them specific powers. The object of the organization is to protect the farmers and citizens of villages against outlaws, and more particularly against horse thieves. Numerous camps of the organization exist in this and the adjacent counties of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Geo. C. Gates, of Springfield, was secretary of the society for seven years, and captain for three years. The Erie Fair Association was organized in January, 1895. A fine racing track for their use has been prepared by Charles M. NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Reed, on the Reed farm, located upon the Lake road, some three miles east of the city. Local fairs have long been held annually at Corry, Edinboro and Wattsburg, under the direction of the societies at those places. MILITIA AND MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. By the act of 1804, every able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five was enrolled and compelled to perform two days’ military duty each year, or pay a fine. The militia were divided into companies, bat- talions, regiments and brigades, each of which elected its own officers. Beginning in a proper spirit, the “ militia trainings,” as they were termed, degenerated into a public farce. Every member was expected to have a gun and bring it along for inspection, but, as the system weakened in popular estimation, the discipline grew more slack, and many carried sticks, canes, brooms, corn stalks, and even light fence rails. The contrast between the flaming uniforms of the officers, and the out- landish appearance of the men was indescri- bably laughable. For a long time, though, training day was a great event throughout the State, and was looked forward to as a fair or a circus is now. The militia law was repealed at thesession of 1847—48, and the old-fashioned trainings went out of vogue. A good many men who are or have been known as generals, majors or colonels, secured their titles under the old militia system. In addition to the regular militia, volunteer companies have been in existence almost from the earliest settlement. The first of these was Capt. Elisha Marvin’s Greenfield company, organized in 1801, with about eighty mem- bers. The second was Capt. Thomas Forster’s Erie Light Infantry, organized in 1806. This company took part in the war of 1812-13. Other old-time companies were as follows: In 1821, the Erie Greens; in 1824, the Washing- ton Artillery; in the same year, the Erie Guards; in 1881, an artillery company; in 1836, a cavalry company; about 1841, the German Guards and the Washington Guards; in 1842, the Wayne Grays; in 1858, the Franklin Pierce Rifle Company; in 1859, the Wayne Guard, John W. McLane, captain, and the Perry Artillery Company, Gustav Jarecki, captain. The Wayne Grays and the Wayne Guard are the best known, a number of citizens who AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 195 are yet living having been members of one or the other of these companies. The Grays tendered their services in the Mexican war, but they were declined, the quota from Penn- sylvania being full. The Wayne Guard were at the height of their prosperity at the out- break of the rebellion, and the company formed the nucleus of all the regiments that left Erie. More than half of the company be- came officers in the war. Besides these volunteer organizations, the following are known to have been in exist- ence in the county: At North East, in 1822, the Burgettstown Blues; at Waterford, in 1824, the Invincibles; at Fairview, in 1824, a company, name unknown; at the same place, the Fairview Guards; at Girard, in 1860, the Guards. Most of the volunteer soldiery of the county tendered their services to the gov- ernment in 1861, when the war for the Union opened. [For an account of the military organizations in Erie since the war for the Union, see chapter XIII., Erie City. | DISTILLERIES, BREWERIES AND WINE-MAKING. In the early days of the county the use of whisky was almost universal, and there were few houses in which a supply was not kept constantly on hand. No one thought it wrong to ‘‘ treat” visitors, or to drink in the pres- ence of his family. Distilleries were as com- mon as gristmills became afterward, and a large share of the grain was converted into liquor. Many farmers made a practice of regularly taking a portion of their grain to the distilleries and having a jug full or a barrel full of whisky made for their household use. The first prohibition society was established at Wattsburg in 1829, and the next year a great temperance wave swept over the county. A large portion of the people signed the pledge, it became unpopular to keep liquor in the house or to have grain made iuto whisky, and the distilleries rapidly disap- peared. To-day there is not one in the county. The manufacture of wine began at North East in 1869, and has since become considerable of an industry at that place and Erie. Beer is a comparatively modern bev- erage in the county, having been introduced with the later German immigration. There are eight or ten breweries in the county, of which three in Erie are on quite an extensive scale. TEMPERANCE AND TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. In 1840 there was a temperance society in almost every town and township. Temper- ance organizations have been in existence ever since, and the Temperance party has run a county ticket annually for many years. The Good Templar society in Erie county was first organized in 1856. SLAVES AND SLAVERY. The colored population of the county was larger, proportionately, eighty years ago than now. Most of those who were here in early days, were brought in as slaves, some of the most reputable families having been owners of this kind of property. The emancipation act of the State provided that all negroes over a certain age should remain slaves until their death; all below should become free at the age of twenty-eight. Under its provisions, a large portion of the colored race became en- titled to their freedom, but there were a few who continued in slavery till released by the Master of all. UNUSUAL SPELLS of WEATHER. The month of May, 1884, is notable in the weather records of the lake shore country. For three days before the 13th, there were strong cold winds from the west, with snow squalls. On the 18th, the bay and lake were unusually rough. Six inches of snow fell on the 15th. The leaves and blossoms were nearly all killed. No vessel was able to enter the port of Erie for four days. At the end of that time, the steamboat ‘‘ New York,” from Buffalo, stopped at the channel pier. A small boat set out from the wharves to board her, and was capsized on the way over. Of eleven persons in the boat but two were saved. Frosts took place as late as June of that year. Two of the worst storms on record occur- red on the 10th and 11th of November, 1835, and on the 15th of the same month, 1842. On the occasion first named, the water was lashed into such fury that a party of fifteen men, who were raising the “Detroit” in Misery bay, dared not venture to return home, and had to re- main on the Peninsula from the evening of the 10th to the morning of the 12th without food, fire or shelter. The waves rolled over the sand beach clear up to the foot of Garrison Hill. In May, 1858, there was a continued period of cold weather. Rain fell nearly every day in the month, and fruits of all kinds were kill- 196 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY ed by frost. The heaviest late frost recorded by the weather office in Erie occurred May 29, 1884, but milder frosts tcok place the first week of June, 1878, ’79, ’86 and ’88. On June 6, 1842, there were snow and ice in various parts of the county, and in July of the same year frost formed over a good por- tion of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Snow fell in some parts of the State on June 6, 1843. The greatest snow storm on record fell on the afternoon and night of December 29, 1876, the date of the Ashtabula disaster. It was so deep that people in the city doing business, but a few squares from their homes, were ex- hausted in making their way to their suppers. In the winter of 1880-81, snow fell about the middle of November, and lasted without interruption till February. During most of that time there was a slight snow-fall daily. A break-up came in February, but it was quickly followed by more snow, which lasted until the 15th of March. Then came the great snow-storm of March 80 and 81. The cold was intense during most of the winter. On the 3d of February the thermometer was 18 deg. below zero at Erie, 20 deg. at McKean, 24 deg. at Edinboro, 28 deg. at Albion, and 80 deg. at Waterford. February 10, 1881, the weather was 20 deg. below zero in Erie at 8 A.M. The lake was frozen over to the Canada shore during a good portion of the winter, and the ice on the bay was over twenty inches thick. The snow and cold prevailed over the country from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic. There were snow and ice in portions of the South where they had never been known before. The winter of 1882-83 was unusually long and steady. There was scarcely a pleasant day from November 1 to April1. The ground was found to be frozen in some places in Erie to a depth of three and a half feet. The night of February 10, 1885, is memor- able as one of the coldest periods known in the county. On the morning of the 11th the thermometer registered 17 to 28 below zero at Erie, 25 to 80 at Waterford. 23 at Corry and 82 at Wattsburg. : A long-to-be-remembered cold spell set in the night of February 8, 1895, and lasted un- til the 8th. During most of this period the thermometer at Erie ranged from 8 to 4 below zero in the day time, and 8 to 10 at night. On the 7th occurred one of the severest bliz- _ Winter clothing in the evenings. zards ever experienced. The cold and storm extended over the most of North America, Europe and Northern Asia. Zero weather prevailed as far south as Tennessee, and deep snow fell where itis seldom known. The railroads were blocked for days all over the country, and many persons died from the ex- treme cold. At Corry and in the southern parts of the county generally, the thermome- ter, from February 8 to 7, inclusive, ranged from 4 to 28 below zero, averaging, during the five days, 164. On February 15, the ice in Erie harbor was from 28 to 80 inches thick. On Sunday night, May 12, 1895, a heavy frost fell that injured the grapes and small fruit considerably. The week ensuing, the weather was quite chilly. On the morning of May 15th ice was reported half an inch thick on quiet water in the hill townships. Snow to the depth of two inches fell in some of the southern districts of the county. The cold spell was preceded by several days of unusu- ally warm weather. The extreme heat, fol- lowed by cold and frost, prevailed over a large portion of the Union. On the other hand, several winters have been remarkable for their mildness. A num- ber of instances are mentioned in the article on lake navigation. During the winter of 1881-2, the bay was open most of the season, and there was never more than a light coating of ice on the lake. On the 26th of December, 1865, fires were not needed, and people were glad to throw open their doors and windows for cool air. On the ist of January, 1876, the day was so pleasant that the people of Girard indulged in a picnic in the woods. The month of July, 1895, was unseason- ably cool, especially during the last week. July 30 and 81 and August 1, fires were quite comfortable, and many persons wore their The free band concerts in Central Park, Erie city, had to be postponed on account of the cool weather. The earliest fall snow storms on record are as follows: October 18, 1844 or ’45, remain- ing until the ensuing April; October 20, 1866, ten inches in depth, which disappeared in some three days; September 22, 1870, lasting the fall and winter through; October 8, 1879 or *80, eight inches, followed by mild weather ; October 20, 1895, ten inches in Erie, disap- pearing in a day or two, and succeeded by a spell of pleasant weather, 197 AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. “GT. 19q0}00 ‘UUININe 94} UT pasindo0 ysoIy BUTT[IY ISIY YOY UO oJep advIOAY ‘og [Edy ‘Sutids ey} ur pozmn990 ysox} SUIT[Iy ISET YOTYM Uo aiep aseioay “Gggy ‘Areniqag ‘f}190[aA purM JsaqsIY JO a1eq “imoy 13d SOTTUL 9 ‘sread 2g Ul A}IOO[AA PUIM JSOQSIET “GUST 6 Atenigag ‘ainjereduts} samo Jo 93eq. ‘o19z MOTAq QI ‘seed ZF UT VIN}eI1aduIA} JsSaMOT “L88I ‘PysNsny ‘gz ‘AZT Ato ‘ainjerodwai isoysty Jo soleq “pg ‘sivad eg ul ainjeleduls} jsayqsty ‘IL ‘gp ‘uoneidrooid penuue [eWI0N “6p ‘Qinierodure} [enuue [eWION ‘o1eZ MOTE x ins waco “M “M acs tmcne sto wem's ‘Ss “MSM Ss : ‘bomes he ** 9} WO1J SEM B}EP Pres UO PUI Jo UOTIAaIIC. ee $ SF &F 9€ 9g pee 09 09 gg *9 ogee vorreseesss sess Sa1TU UL 9372p Pres UO AITOOTOA 9281 : 2 . p 6881 F6. ‘OT : S48 16 ‘8 | 28. 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Few persons are aware that the Asiatic cholera—most dreadful of all contagious dis- eases—at one time threatened the city of Erie. It was in July, 18382, in the days of steam- boating. A.party of immigrants were being conveyed up the lake from Buffalo, when a Mrs. Hunter, and her daughter developed symptoms of the terrible epidemic. The steam- boat stopped at the channel pier and they were landed on the peninsula, where both died— Mrs. Hunter after an illness of thirteen hours, and her daughter a few hours later. The in- cident created much excitement among the citizens, who instantly adopted measures to prevent the contagion from getting a foothold in the town. Numerous cases of cholera de- veloped during that season on board lake steamboats and in other lake cities. TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE LINES. The first telegraph line in Erie county was put up in 1847. It extended from Buffalo to Cleveland. The only telegraph office in the county for several years was at Erie. The telephone exchange in Erie, the first in the. county, was established August 1, 1878. SHOWS AND CIRCUSES. The early shows were altogether of the animal order, and the exhibitions generally took place in the barns of the best known hotels. In the beginning they consisted of a lion or tiger, and a monkey or two, and from that developed into large collections. We find a record of an elephant being in Erie in the summer of 1820, and of other animal shows in 1822 and 1828. The price of admis- sion was twenty-five cents for adults and twelve and a half cents for children. This charge continued up to the second or third year of the civil war. In July, 1827, the first circus appeared, and in the same month in 1831, a violent storm blew down the tent of another, which was considered by the pious people as a manifestation of the disapproval of Providence. Within a date comparatively recent, it was looked upon as wicked to attend a circus, and, if religious persons went at all, it was with fear that they were not doing exactly the right thing. CATTLE DRIVING AND SELLING. Before the era of railroads, cattle driving NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY was one of the great industries of the county. There was no market for cattle nearer than the eastern counties of the.State, and the only way of getting them there was by the common roads. They were collected annually and driven across the mountains in droves of one hundred or more to Berks, Lancaster and other counties convenient to Philadelphia. Two men and a boy, with as many horses, usually managed a drove, and the trip took from two to three months. Sheep, hogs and horses were driven to market in the same way. There were numerous taverns on the route, where rest and sustenance was provided for men and beasts. The business was started by Thomas P, and Isaac Miller, and was also carried on extensively by S. Hutchins, John Marvin and others. It required considerable capital to carry on the business, but, with ordinary luck, it paid well. The heaviest cattle buyer of later years was Wilson Moore, of Waterford. OLD TIME AND PRESENT CURRENCY. Located between New York and Ohio, far away from the wealthier portions of the State, Erie county suffered all the evils of the miserable currency which prevailed before greenbacks and National bank notes were in- troduced. With the exception of a few years, there was no bank of issue in the county, and the only banking institutions were private brokers’ offices. The best currency of those times was New York bank notes, and the poorest those of the western banks. Pennsyl- vania bank notes had only a small circulation in the county, and held a place in popular estimation intermediate between the above. There was a discount on all of these, ranging from one to twenty per cent. It was for the interest of the private bankers to circulate the notes on which there was the largest discount, and, as a consequence, the county was flooded with the bills of banks the locations of which were hardly known. Every business man had to keep a ‘‘ bank note detector,” revised and published monthly or weekly, on hand, and was not sure then that the notes he accepted would not be pronounced worthless by the next mail. There was hardly a week without a bank failure, and nearly every man had bills of broken banks in his possession. To add to the perplexities of the situation, there were innumerable counterfeits which could with difficulty be distinguished from the genuine. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 199 Granting that the bank was good, and that the discount was properly figured, there was no assurance that the bill was what it purported to be. All this was a terrible annoyance and loss to the people, but it was a regular bonanza to the ‘shaving shops.’ Even of the uncertain bank notes, there was not enough to do the business of the community. Most of the buying and selling was done on long credit, and occasionally a manufactu- ring firm, to ease itself along, and relieve the necessities of the public, would issue a mon- grel coin, which went by the name of “ pew- terinctum.”” This condition of affairs lasted until a year or two after the rebellion broke out. People of this day who have no knowledge of the old bank note currency, can scarcely conceive of the advantage of a uniform system, such as has been given to us by the United States government. SOLDIERS’ AND SAILORS’ MONUMENTS. Erie county enjoys the distinction of hav- ing erected the first monument in Pennsy]l- vania to the memory of the soldiers and sailors who lost their lives in the war for the Union. It stands in the center of the public square of Girard, and the entire expense of its erection, about $6,000, was incurred by Dan Rice, the showman. The monument was dedicated on the Ist of November, 1865, in the presence of a vast multitude. Gov. Curtin, of Pennsyl- vania, and Gov. Tod, of Ohio, were among the eminent men who graced the occasion. A second monument, one of the hand- somest of its kind in the Union, was dedicated in Erie in 1872, and adds to the attractiveness of the Central park of the city. It commemo- rates the dead sa‘lors as well as soldiers of the county, and owes its existence largely to the persistent labor of three patriotic ladies—Mrs. Isaac Moorhead, Miss Sarah Keed and Miss Helen Ball. The monument cost $10,000 ex- clusive of $500 paid by the city for the foun- dation. A monument to the unknown dead of the war for the Union was dedicated in Ernie cemetery in 1894. REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS. The pioneers of the county included a fair proportion of Revolutionary soldiers. Among them were Seth Reed, who fought at Bunker Hill and rose to the rank of colonel; Capts. John Lytle and Robert King, and Privates John Vincent, Thomas Rees, William Miles, Zelotus Lee, Michael Hare, Daniel Stancliff, John McCoy, Stephen Sparrow, Titus Allen, Stephen Oliver, Robert Irwin, and Messrs. Nash, Trask and Burrows. THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT. The first anti-slavery society in the county (which was also one of the earliest in the State) was formed in 1886. The principal members were Philetus Glass, Dr. Smedley, and Truman Tuttle, of North East ; Col. J. M. Moorhead, Mr. Jessup and Samuel Low, of Harbor Creek ;-William Himrod, Alex. Me- haffey and Aaron Kellogg, of Erie; Giles and Hamlin Russell, of Mill Creek; Stephen C. Lee, of Summit; Rev. T. H. Burroughs, of Concord; and William Gray, of Wayne. Another society was formed in North East about the. same time, with Truman Tuttle as President, James Duncan as Vice-president, Dr. Smedley as Secretary, and R. L. Loomis as Treasurer. An anti-abolition meeting was held the same year in Springfield. The “underground railroad,” which was the name generally given to the system by which s'aves from the South were run away from their masters, was in full operation in this county from about 1840 to 1860. There were regular stations along the route, where zealous anti-slavery people openiy defied the law and gave the runaway slaves food, shelter and money. The chief ‘station agents,” as they were jokingly called in Erie county, were William Gray, Stephen C. Lee, Hamlin Rus- sell and William Himrod. The slaves were secreted until a good chance offered to send them to Canada. OLDEST MEN AND WOMEN. Michael Hare, who was buried in Water- ford cemetery, attained the remarkable age of 115 years, 8 months and 28 days. He was born in Ireland June 10, 1728, and died at Waterford on the 3d of May, 1848. Patrick Ward died in Girard township, aged 105 years. When in his 108d year he walked three miles to Girard borough in order to vote. - James Davis lived in Greenfield until he was 100, when he moved to Michigan, where he died, either 108 or 105 years old. Two men have died in their 100th year. 200 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY They were Levi Atkins, of North East, and Elias Palmer, of Conneaut. The latter died in 1878. . John Teel, first, a native of New England, died in Erie early in the century, aged 97 years; Stephen Oliver, in McKean, January 14, 1857, lacking one month of 97; John Cook, in Belle Valley,October 5,1895, aged 97; James Steadman, in McKean, in 1892, aged 96 years and 6 months; Benjamin Cullom, in the same township, in May, 1888, aged 96; Griffith Hinton, in Venango, on the 15th of March, 1880, aged 96; Andrew Matteson, at or near Corry, on the 26th of March, 1888, aged 95; and Mr. McIntyre, in Springfield, in 1867, at the same age. The oldest woman was Mrs. Sarah Green, of Fairview, who died about 1885 or ’86, at the age of 104 years. Next in the order of age was Mrs. Mary Dobbins, relict of Capt. D. Dobbins, of Erie, who died on the 24th of January, 1879, in her 100th year. Mrs. Mary Shaughnessy died in Erie July 80, 1882, aged 100 years. The fourth oldest was Mrs. Will- iam Smith, formerly of Waterford, but later of Beaver Dam. Her death occurred in the latter place on the 6th of August, 1875, in her 99th year. Mrs. Anna Margaret, relict of Casper Doll, of Fairview, died February 3, 1881, aged 97 years and 10 days; Miss Rosanna Bliss, in Venango township, on the 16th of May, 1895, at the age of 97 years and 10 months; Mrs. Lucy, relict of Asa G. Olds, in Erie, August 18, 1881, lacking a few days of 97; Mrs. Phelps, of Waterford, in August, 1879, aged 95; Mrs. Elias Parmer, of Conneaut, in 1876, aged 94; and Mrs. Johnston Eaton, of Fair- view, in 1872, aged 98. Below are the oldest persons known to the writer to be living in the county on the ist of September, 1895: Thomas Dillon, Erie, in his 99th year; Mrs. Weed, Greene township, aged 97; Mrs. Eliza Wilson Yost, Greenfield, 94; Mrs. Matthew Gray, Erie, in her 93d year; Mrs. Oliver Dunn, Erie, in her 92d year; James Hampson, North East, aged 92. All of these, except Mr. Dillon, were born in Erie county. THANKSGIVING DAY. The first time a day for Thanksgiving was set apart in Pennsylvania was on the last Thursday of November, 1819, at the sugges- tion of Gov. Findlay. The governor’s proc- lamation was generally respected throughout Erie county. The first chief executive to pro- pose a day of national Thanksgiving was President Washington, who fixed Thursday, November 26, 1789, for that purpose. GREAT FLOODS. The largest rainfall ever known, within the same period, occurred on August 25, 1878, when the weather office reported that two inches of water fell within two hours’ time. A flood in the fall of 1878 did much dam- age in the western part of the county. One of the greatest floods ever known took place at the beginning of February, 1888. It washed away nearly every mill dam in the county and destroyed numerous bridges. The damage amounted to tens of thousands of dol- lars. An extraordinary downpour occurred in June, 1892, lasting several days and extend- ing over the whole State. It did much dam- age in this county, especially along the South Branch of French creek, at Corry, Union and other points. The biggest flood known in Erie city oc- curred in the spring of 1898, sweeping bridges and houses off their foundations along Mill creek, and causing damage that cost the city many thousands of dollars to repair. LIBERTY BELL. One of the most interesting incidents in the history of the county was the trip of the Liberty Bell in 18938. It reached Erie at 8 A.M.on the 26th of April, on its way from Philadelphia to the World’s Fair in Chicago, accompanied by a large delegation of officials of the second named city. An immense con- course gathered at the depot to greet the relic, including thousands of school children. The special train left Erie at noon of the 26th, and proceeded to Chicago by way of Corry, Oil City and Pittsburg. It was received every- where with touching demonstrations. GRAPE CULTURE. One of the main interests of the agricul- tural portion of the county is the raising of grapes, which are produced in enormous quantities in North East, Harbor Creek and some of the other lake shore townships. An account of the beginning and progress of this AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 201 important interest will be found in the chapter relating to North East township. From North East and Harbor Creek, the grape cul- ture spread to the lake shore townships of Girard, Fairview, Mill Creek and Spring- field, and it will not be many years until the entire lake border of the county will be one vast grape, fruit, berry and vegetable section. When the grape culture developed into a large business, the principal growers of Erie and Chautauqua counties entered into an organiza- tion which was known as the Chautauqua and North East Grape Union. This was in 1891. The Union lasted three years, when it was dissolved and a new organization formed at North East, under the title of the Lake Erie Grape Union. Itembraces the leading grow- ers of North East and Harbor Creek, but is open to members from all parts of Erie coun- ty. The purpose of the Union is to sell and ship grapes and advance the general interests of the grape-growing industry. CHAPTER XXVI. Erie County in THE War FoR THE UNION. N the inauguration of Civil War by the attack on Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, the people of Erie county were practically unanimous in the senti- ment that the Union must be pre- served at all hazards. Party differences were forgotten, for the time being, and men of all shades of politics vied with each other in acts of patriotism. The first war meeting in the county was held in Wayne Hall, Erie, on the 26th of April, 1861. It was largely attended, and was presided over by William A. Galbraith. Speeches were made, in addition to Mr. Gal- braith’s, by George H. Cutler, John H. Walker and George W. DeCamp. Of these gentle- men, Messrs. Galbraith, Cutler and DeCamp had been identified with the Democratic party. A movement had already been started by Capt. John W. McLane to organize a regi- ment to serve for three months. Volunteers were flocking to McLane’s standard with sur- prising rapidity, and it was necessary to raise a fund for the support of the families of many of those who had enlisted. The sum of $7,000 for the purpose was subscribed at the meeting, which was increased in a few days to $17,000. Similar meetings were held in almost every town in the county, and vol- unteer relief funds were subscribed every 14 where. The speakers in most general’ de- .mand were Messrs. Galbraith and DeCamp. The Perry Artillery Company, C. F. Mueller captain, and W.F. Leutje, first lieuten- ant, at once tendered their services to the gov- ernment and were accepted. The Wayne Guard, of which Jno. W. McLane was cap- tain, generally enlisted, as did those of the Girard Guards, D. W. Hutchinson captain. Many of the members of these companies be- came officers in the regiments subsequently organized. THE THREE MONTHS’ REGIMENT. When the war broke out, no person, North or South, believed it would last beyond three months. The first proclamation of President Lincoln called for volunteers for that period, and a large portion of the men who went into the field on both sides did so with the thought that it would be nothing more than a grand picnic at the public expense. The camp of the three months’ regiment was established on a piece of vacant ground in Erie at the southeast corner of Parade and Sixth streets, where volunteers poured in from all parts of the northwest. More offer- edin a few days than could be accepted, and many were reluctantly compelled to return home. Asa sample of the spirit of the time, 202 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY the borough and township of Waterford sent forward nearly 100 men. Five companies were recruited in Erie alone, but of these fully one-half were from other places. It was considered a privilege to be accepted, and those who failed to pass muster or arrived too late were grievously disappointed. The regi- ment left Erie for Pittsburg at 2 Pp. M. on Wednesday, the Ist of May, being accom- panied by Mehl’s Brass Band. A vast crowd was at the railroad depot to witness its de- parture. The regiment reached Pittsburg at 9 a.m. the next day, and took up quarters in Camp Wilkins. A number of its members were discharged because the companies to which they were attached exceeded their quota. It received arms and uniforms on the 29th of May, and was carefully drilled every day that it remained in camp. For some rea- son, the regiment was never called into active service, and it returned to Erie on Saturday evening, July 20. It was escorted by a dele- gation of citizens to Central park, where a public supper had been prepared by the ladies of the city. But one member died during the absence of the regiment. EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT. Meantime, the President had issued a call for 800,000 men for the war, and Col. Mc- Lane had made a tender of a regiment for that service. Many of the members of the three months’ regiment volunteered to go with the colonel, and they were accordingly dismissed until the Ist of August to await an answer to his proffer. On the 24th of July Col. Mc- Lane received an order authorizing him to re- cruit a new regiment. Those of the first regiment who had re-enlisted were recalled, and recruiting began actively throughout the Northwestern counties. A camp was estab- lished on the old fair grounds, about two miles east of the city, on the Buffalo road, which was used for the same purpose by the regiments afterward organized. An immense meeting was held in Farrar Hall, on the 24th of August, to assist in rais- ing men for the regiment. It was addressed by William A. Galbraith, James C. Marshall, George W. DeCamp, Col. McLane, Miles W. Caughey and Capt. John Graham. Meetings of a like character followed throughout the county. The principal speakers besides those named were Alfred King, Strong Vincent, William S. Lane, Morrow B. Lowry and Dan Rice. The regiment of Col. McLane, on being reported full, was ordered to the front, and left for Harrisburg on the 16th of September. Its departure was attended by the same vast outpouring and marked by the same pathetic incidents as before, and none who were eye- witnesses will ever forget the scenes of the day. A flag was presented to it on the part of the State December 21, and it became officially known as the Eighty-third Regiment. OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. While these measures were in progress Capts. Gregg and Bell, of the United States army, opened a recruiting office in the city for the regular cavalry, and enlisted a consid- erable number of young men. Recruiting was going on at the same time with great vigor for the navy. Some sixty persons from Erie went to New York to serve under the command of Lieut. T. H. Stevens, formerly of the Michigan. Up to September 7, Capt. Carter, of the United States steamer ‘‘ Mich- igan,” had enlisted 700 seamen, who were forwarded in squads to the seaboard. By September, the Ladies’ Aid Society had been organized in Erie to furnish relief to the sick and wounded soldiers in the field, with branches in most of the towns in the county. It was maintained during the entire war, and did invaluable service. Through its labors boxes of delicacies, hospital supplies, medicines and other comforts for the sick were forwarded to the front almost daily. ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH REGIMENT. Before the departure of the Eighty-third Regiment, M. Schlaudecker, of Erie, major of the three months’ regiment, commenced re- cruiting for another. Enlistments went on with such alacrity that the regiment left for the front on Tuesday, the 25th of February, 1862, with every company full. At Harris- burg it was presented by Gov. Curtin with a stand of colors, and took rank as the One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment. The regi- ment was accompanied by Zimmerman’s Brass Band. A meeting was held in Erie on the 12th of April to provide for the relief of those who might be wounded in the battles that were daily expected in Virginia. Considerable AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 203 money was raised, and committees were ap- pointed to furnish attendants for those who might need their services. By this date, the country was having war inearnest. Squads of rebel prisoners were taken through on the Lake Shore R. R. every few days. It might be supposed that war matters ab- sorbed the whole of the public attention, but this was only the case ina general sense. All lines of trade and manufacture were carried on with unabated energy during the entire conflict, and a course of public lectures was maintained in the city each winter, compri- sing some of the most noted orators of the day. The news of the battles around Richmond, in which the Eighty-third suffered terribly and Col. McLane was killed, reached Erie in the later part of June, and caused great mourn- ing. Emblems of sorrow for the dead were placed on many buildings, and hospital stores were hastily sent forward for the wounded. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. Early in July the President called for 800,000 more troops, and of this number it was announced that Erie county’s proportion was five companies of 100 meneach. A meet- ing to encourage enlistments was held in Wayne Hall, at which the County Commis- sioners were asked to appropriate $100,000 to- ward equipping a new regiment. This was succeeded by others, both in Erie and in the country districts. The martial spirit had been much cooled by the disasters in Virginia, and it began to be necessary to offer extra in- ducements to volunteers. Erie city offered a bounty of $50 to each recruit and the various townships hastened to imitate its example. Another call for 300,000 men decided the County Commissioners to appropriate $25,000 to pay an additional bounty of the same amount. In August, for the third time, the fair grounds were turned into a military camp, and the organization of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiment began. Recruits came forward rapidly, and the regiment left for the seat of war on the 11th of September, 1862. At the same time that enlistments were in progress for the last-named regiment, vol- unteers were being gathered for other organi- zations. The navy was receiving numerous accessions, mainly from Erie. Capts. Lennon, Miles and Roberts were each raising a cavalry company. On September 25, Capt. Lennon’s company left with full ranks, and by the 4th of October, Roberts’ and Miles’ companies were both in camp at Pittsburg. A cavalry company had previously been raised at Union by Capt. Geo. H. Russell, which went into camp at Philadelphia, and became a part of the Twelfth Cavalry Regiment. THE FIRST DRAFT. Notwithstanding the large number of vol- unteers, the quota of Erie county, under the various calls of the President, was still short, and a draft seemed inevitable. The papers were full of articles urging the people, for the credit of the county, to avoid the draft, and meetings were constantly beingheld to induce volunteering. Many persons were badly scared over the probability of being forced in- to the service, and a few quietly took up their abode in Canada. As the chance ofa draft became more certain, insurance com- panies were formed for the protection of the members. Those who joined these organiza- tions paid a sum varying from $20 to $50, which was placed in a common fund, to pro- cure substitutes for such of their number as might be drawn from the wheel of fate. While preparations for the draft were in pro- gress, recuiting for both the army and the navy went on with great energy. Toward the latter part of September, the State authorities became alarmed for the safe- ty of Harrisburg, and a hasty call was issued for minutemen to assist in the defense of the capital. Six companies, including some of the leading business men, left Erie for Harrisburg, in response to the Governor’s appeal, but, hap- pily, were not needed to take part in any fight- ing. They returned in the beginning of October. Meanwhile, an enrollment of the militia. had been made, preliminary to the draft, under the direction of I. B. Gara, who had been appointed a commissioner for that pur- pose. These proceedings, as well as the sub- sequent measures in connection with the sub- ject, were carried on under the State militia law. W.P. Gilson was appointed a deputy marshal to prevent the escape of persons lia- ble to conscription into Canada. The officers to manage the draft were B. B. Vincent, com missioner, and Charles Brandes, surgeon. 204 Volunteers were accepted up to the day of drafting. The draft was held in the grand jury room of the court house on the 16th of October, 1862, 1,055 names being drawn for the whole county, the owners of which were to serve for nine months. A blindfolded man drew the slips from the wheel, which were read as they came out to the crowd in attendance. There were many funny incidents, and some that were very sadindeed. North East and Springfield were the only districts in the county that escaped the draft, their quotas being full. In filling the wheel, all persons were exempted above the age of forty-five years; also, all ministers, school teachers and school directors. After the draft, the main business for some weeks was hunting up substitutes. The price of these ranged from $50 to $250, though the average was in the neighborhood of $150. The act released parties from military service on payment of $800, and those who were able to raise the money generally availed them- selves of the privilege. A good many persons who had concluded that the war was to be a long and bloody one, put substitutes into the service for a term of three years. Swindlers were plenty, who hired out as substitutes, got their money in advance and then left for parts unknown. Some 800 persons were exempted for physical disability, about 250 failed to re- port, and, altogether, it is doubtful whether 500 of the drafted men ever went into the army. The first lot of conscripts, fifty-one in number, left for camp at Pittsburg in the lat- ter part of October, some 800 were forwarded on the 10th of November, and the balance went on at intervals between that and the end of the year. Andiew Scott was appointed a Provost Marshal to hunt up the delinquents, but hardly found enough to pay for the trouble. The Councils of Erie voted $45,000 for the relief of the families of conscripts from the city, and the Ladies’ Aid Society supplied each family with a Thanksgiving dinner. A majority of the conscripts reached home by the ensuing August. Few saw any fighting, and the number of deaths was meager, MONEY MATTERS AND POLITICS, By the fall of 1862, prices had gone up twenty-five to forty per cent., with a steady tendency to advance. The national tax law was in full operation. and county, city and NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY township levies were largely increased to pro- vide money for bounties. Gold and silver had disappeared from circulation, and national treasury notes, or greenbacks, as they came to be known, were slowly finding their way into use; but the principa] medium- of exchange still consisted of the notes of uncertain State banks, county and city scrip and government fractional currency or ‘‘shin plasters.” Even of the latter there were not enough for public convenience, and business men resorted to checks and due bills for fractional parts of a dollar. To meet the demand for small change, the city issued scrip in sums of five, ten, twenty, twenty-five and fifty cents, which proved of much convenience for the time being. While this was the state of affairs finan- cially, political feeling grew daily more in- tense. The term ‘‘Copperhead,”’ as applied to the Democrats, came into use about the beginning of 1868, and the latter, to retort upon the Republicans, styled them Black- snakes, Revolutionists, Radicals and other names more forcible than polite. The Repub- licans taunted the Democrats with being op- posed to the war, and the latter answered by saying that the Republicans aimed at the de- struction of the people’s liberty. Looking at the subject now, the embittered partisanship of the day seems supremely foolish ahd incom- prehensible. There were true patriots on both sides, and both parties doubtless contain- ed men who were more anxious for the triumph of selfish ends than for the good of the coun- try. The mass of the people were anxious for the preservation of the Union, though they held different views about the way of do- ing it. THE REBELS ON PENNSYLVANIA SOIL. The news of the rebel invasion of Pennsyl- vania in June, 1868, caused a wonderful com- motion throughout the county. The Governor made an urgent appeal for militia to defend the State,and instant measures were taken in re- sponse. A vast meeting was held inErie on the evening of June 15, at which earnest speeches were made by Messrs. Lowry, Sill, Galbraith, Walker, Marvin, McCreary and others, point- ing out the duty of the people to drive the enemy from the soil of Pennsylvania. About 400 citizens enlisted for the State defense, but, on reaching Pittsburg, they were ordered AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. home, the victory of Meade at Gettysburg having rendered their immediate service un- necessary. Generous contributions of hospital stores were sent to the wounded Erie county soldiers by the efforts of the Ladies’ Aid Society. The fall of Vicksburg and Meade’s triumph were celebrated in Erie with great rejoicing. By reference to the newspapers of the day, we find that in the summer of 1868, Capt. Mueller was in Erie recruiting another bat- tery. Large numbers of young men were shipping in the navy. The citizens were mak- ing extraordinary exertions to avert another draft. Insurance companies against the draft were formed by the score, and hundreds of persons were putting in claims for exemption to the enrolling officers. Regiments were passing through the city as often as two or three a week, on their way home to fill up their ranks. Not a few liable to military service were slipping off to Canada, and an occasional instance was reported of young men maiming themselves to secure exemption. The only portion of the male population who felt really comfortable were the deformed, the crippled and the over-aged. SECOND DRAFT. Early in the year 1863 Congress passed an act taking the matter of conscription out of the hands of the States, rendering all persons liable between the ages of twenty and forty- five, except such as were exempt from physi- cal causes, or other special reasons, and mak- ing each Congressional district a military district, under the supervision of a provost marshal, an enrolling commissioner, and an examining surgeon, to be appointed by the President. To escape military duty when called upon, it was made necessary to prove exemption, furnish a substitute, or pay $300. Lieut. Col. H. S. Campbell, late of the Eighty- third Regiment, was named as marshal; Jerome ‘Powell, of Elk county, as commissioner; and Dr. John Macklin, of Jefferson county, as surgeon, to act for this Congressional district. Headquarters were established at Waterford, and a new enrollment was made during the months of May and June. In the prosecution of their duties, the enrolling officers met with some hostility among the laborers and me- chanics of the city, but nothing occurred of a serious nature. The government was now en- 205 listing negroes into the army, and bodies of these troops passed through Erie frequently. The second draft in numerical order, and the first under the United States law, occurred at Waterford under the supervision of the officers above named on Monday and Tuesday the 24th and 25th of August. The wheel stood on a platform in front of the provost marshal’s office, and the names were drawn by a blind man. An audience of a thousand or more surrounded the officers, one of whom took each slip as it came out of the wheel and read it aloud, so that all present could hear. The crowd was good natured throughout the pro- ceedings, but many a man who assumed in- difference when his name was drawn was at heart sick and sore. The saddest features of the case did not appear to the public; they were only known to the parents, the wives, the children and the sweethearts of the con- scripts. It is impossible now to state the number who were drafted, but as the county was announced to be nearly 1,400 short of its quota a week or so before, it is probable that it did not fall much below that figure. The price for substitutes ran up to $300, with the supply quite equal to the demand. On the 26th of September, it was stated in the newspapers that eighty-three of the conscripts had fur- nished substitutes, 245 had paid commutation, 706 had been exempted and 127 had been forwarded to camp at Pittsburg. A CAILL FOR MORE MEN. In October, 1868, appeared a call from President Lincoln for 300,000 more men. Gov. Curtin announced Pennsylvania’s quota to be 88,268, which he asked to be made up by volunteering. A general bounty of $402 was offered to veterans who should re-enlist, and $100 less to new recruits. To this sum the county added $3800, and most of the districts $50 to $100 more. During a portion of the season, the United States steamer ‘‘Michigan” was guarding John- son’s Island, in the upper part of the lake, where about two thousand rebel prisoners were confined, whom rumor accused of a design to escape. In the month of November reports became current of a proposed rebel in- vasion from Canada, Erie being named as the landing place. This was the most startling news, in a local sense, that had yet arisen out of the war, and the citizens were correspond- 206 ingly agitated. While the excitement was at its height, 600 troops arrived from Pittsburg with a battery, under the command of Maj. Gen. Brooks. The latter directed intrench- ments to be thrown up on the blockhouse bluff, and called upon the citizens to lend him their assistance. Something like one thousand obeyed his summons, with picks and shovels, on the first day, but the workers dwindled woefully in number on the second day. The rumor proved to be false, the work was aban- doned, and the troops left for the South in a few days, with the exception of the battery. The encouragement given by the large bounties did much to promote volunteering. Erie county’s quota of the new call was 678, which it was determined by the public should be made up without a draft. To the joy of all, when the day for the draft arrived, Erie county escaped, her proportion having been raised. RECRUITING ACTIVE. On the 14th of January, 1864, the members of the One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment came home to reciuit their ranks. They were given a grand reception at the depot, and treat- ed by the ladies to asumptuous repast. The regi- ment went into camp on the fair grounds, and remained until February 25, when they left for the seat of war with ranks nearly full. A good many members of the Eighty-third Reg- iment, whose term had expired, also came home in January, and were received with the cordiality their bravery entitled them to. Seventy-five more arrived on the 4th of March. : Among the features at the beginning of 1864, it is to be noted that two recruiting officers for the regular army were busy at work in the city. The national currency had supplanted all other paper circulation, and, being issued in vast amounts, had inflated prices to twice and thrice their normal stand- ard. A remarkable speculatlon had com- menced in realestate. Sixty persons had re- cently enlisted from Erie in the navy, and hosts of others were thinking of doing the same in preference to entering the army. Several squads of negro soldiers passed through Erie from Waterford, where they had been accepted to apply on the quota of the county. Five or six criminals were released from prison by the Court at the May session on condition NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY that they must join the army. It was a com- mon practice of the day for the Courts to per- mit prisoners indicted for minor offenses to go without sentence if they volunteered to fight for the Union. FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE. The call of the President, in July, 1864, for 500,000 more men, was succeeded by the usual periodical endeavor to avoid the draft, which had become the all-exciting topic of discussion. At a meeting in Erie, $20,000 were subscribed to offer extra inducements to volunteers, besides the United States, county and district bounties. The quota of the county was stated to be 1,289, and of this, the city’s proportion was about one hundred and fifty. Provost Marshal Campbell, in pursu- ance of instruction, gave notice that negroes would be taken as substitutes. This hint was eagerly accepted, and Asa Battles, John W. Halderman and Richard M. Broas were deputed to go to the Southwest and pick up recruits to apply on the quota of Erie county. Meanwhile Ensign Bone had opened an office in the city, where he was shipping men by the hundreds for the navy. About a thousand entered the service through that channel, re- ceiving an average bounty of $400. The price of substitutes had increased to $550, $600 and $700. President Lincoln was re-elected in No- vember, 1864, after a contest which has never been surpassed in the hatred it engendered, and the vigor with which it was fought on both sides. Every speaker who could be mustered was forced upon the stump, and there was scarcely a cross-roads that did not have its mass meetings, pole raisings and political clubs. The great processions of the two parties in Erie during that campaign were the events of a life-time to many of the par- ticipants. Notwithstanding the heated can- vas, the election passed off without a disturb- ance, and the defeated party acquiesced in the result with the calmness of a martyr. THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE CALLED FOR AND ANOTHER DRAFT. The call for 300,000 more men in January, 1865, led the Councils of Erie to increase their offer of a bounty to $150, which was ulti- mately increased to $400. A draft took place at Ridgway, where the Provost Marshal’s AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 207 office had been moved from Waterford, on the 6th of March, in which 2,010 names were drawn from Erie county. The only district that did not have to contribute was Girard borough. The names of the conscripts were telegraphed to Erie and read to the anxious thousands in waiting, from a window of the Daily Dispatch office, in Wright’s block, at the northeast corner of State and Fifth streets. Occasionally a sound of forced laughter would be heard as some excitable person’s name was announced, but the general bearing of the crowd was solemn and painful. Hun- dreds of women were in the crowd, and their distress upon learning of the conscription of some father, husband or brother was most pitiful. The people were at last face to face with war’s sternest and cruelest realities. The Legislature had passed an act authorizing any district to pay a bounty of $400, and large sums were now offered for volunteers and substitutes. The price of the latter at one period rose to $1,500, but got down finally to an average of between $800 and $900. Of the drafted men, a good portion entered the service and were mostly assigned to guard duty in the forts at and near Washidgton. The majority of them were back by the last of June. CLOSE OF THE WAR. On Sunday, April 9, came the glad news of the surrender of Lee, at Appomattox, which was everywhere hailed as the virtual end of the war. The demonstration in Erie over the event was the most joyful and impressive in the city’s history. Cannons were fired, bells were rung, flags were thrown to the breeze, and the whole population shouted themselves hoarse for the Union and its gallant soldiers. The illumination in the evening made the streets almost as bright as the noonday sun. The universal gladness was quickly changed to profound sorrow by the assassination of President Lincoln on that dreadful Friday, the 12th of April. Emblems of mourning instantly took the place of the tokens of victory, and every warehouse, shop and busi- ness establishment was closed on Saturday. The special train bearing the martyred Presi- dent’s remains to Springfield passed through the city on the 27th of April. Thousands of ‘people gathered at the depot to pay their last tribute of respect to the honored dead. OFFICERS FROM ERIE COUNTY, OUTSIDE OF THE ERIE REGIMENTS. Here ends the story of the war, so far as relates to its general features in Erie county. A sketch in detail of the several regiments is given later on, to which all are referred who wish to know more of their history. The fol- lowing is a partial list of officers from Erie county who took part in the contest, aside from those already named or in the regular regimental organizations : United States Navy.—Regular officers, R. B. Lowry, Thomas H. Stevens, R. N. Spotts, James E. Jouett, James W. Shirk, Leonard Paulding, D. Lanman, Napoleon Collins. Chief Engineer—William H. Rutherford. Surgeon—W. Maxwell Wood. Assistant Paymasters—J. P. Loomis, Wal- ter W. Chester, George A. Lyon. Volunteer Service.— Masters — John H. Welsh, M. J. Cronen, James C. Marshall, Jr. Ensigns—A. J. Louch, M. E. Flannigan, Patrick Donnelly, William Slocum, James Hunter, George W. Bone, Felix McCann, Philip Englehart, James S. Roberts, C. M. Bragg, John Dunlap, Frank Oliver, James Downs, J. M. Reed, John Sullivan, Norman McCloud, Warren Burch, — Reed, — Reed, Patrick Murphy, Braxton Bragg. Engineers — Patrick Maloney, Robert Riley, William Bass, Bennett Jones, P. H. Fales, Jonas Slocum, William Moran, John Miles, George Odell. Gunners—John Murray, William Barton, Thomas Carpenter. Carpenters—J. G. Thomas, John O. Baker. Masters’ Mates—Patrick Sullivan, Horace Sprague, Robert Roberts, Thomas J. Dunlap, William Marsh, Henry C. Warren, William E. Leonard, Jesse M. Rutherford, Joseph K. Kelso, James Cummins, Henry Van Velsor. Revenue Service—Douglass Ottinger. United States Army.—Regular officers— Gen. Reno, H. B. Fleming, Josiah Kellogg, “W. W. Lyon. Paymasters—A. McDowell Lyon. Quartermaster—E. C. Wilson. Volunteer Service—A. F. Swan, 16th Pa. Cav.; Lockwood Caughey, 16th Pa. Cav. ; William H. McAllister, 12th Pa. Cav.; T. J. Hoskinson, 58th Pa. Inf. Paymasters—Allen A. Craig, S. V. Holli- 208 day, Gideon J. Ball, Henry C. Rogers, John W. Walker. Quartermaster—Robert C. Caughey. Surgeons—J. L. Stewart, Thomas H. Stuart. State Agent—S. Todd Perley. COUNTY FINANCES IN CONNECTION WITH THE WAR. The following are extracts from the records of the County Commissioners during and im- mediately following the war: 1861—April 22—The sum of $10,000 of the county funds set apart for the support of such persons as shall enlist in support of the Government. 1862—August 5—A bounty of $50 voted to each person who will volunteer to make up the quota of 500 men required from Erie county to make up the call of the President. September 10—The quota being full and a large excess of volunteers in the One Hun- dreth and Forty-fifth Regiment; the resolu- tion offering a bounty of $50 extended to all who may hereafter form the Eighty-third, One Hundred and Eleventh and One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiments, or Thomas Len- non’s Cavalry Company, to be credited to Erie county. 18683—December 14—A bounty of $300 voted to each person who shall volunteer to the credit of Erie county, so as to avoid the draft fixed for the 5th of January, warrants to be issued for the purpose drawing interest, redeemable at the will of the County Commis- sioners in county scrip, at par without interest. 1864—February 9--The bounty of $300 ex- tended, under the same condition as above. April 5—County script signed to date, $190,800. March 14—Rate of bounty tax fixed at 20 mills on the dollar of valuation. Amount levied, $98,652. March 22—-The bounty of $300 continued till the quota of Erie county is full; provided, that if a local bounty is offered by any ward, borough or township, the county will only pay so much in addition as will make the sum of $3800. December 15—The other banks of Erie having refused to receive the county script on NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY deposit, arrangements made by which it will be received by the Keystone National Bank at par. A tax of $35,000 levied to redeem county script. 1865—January 9—Rate of county bounty tax fixed at 3 per cent on the valuation. Amount levied $171,867. October 2—Tax to the amount of $12,000 levied to pay interest on script and bounty warrants. December 27—The rate of county bounty tax fixed at 15 mills on the valuation. Amount levied $88,648. 1866—January 2—Burned $74,891 of the county script. 1867—January 7—Burned $54,582 of coun- ty script. April 1—Burned $25,000 of county scrip. 1870—October 4—Estimate of county ex- penses: To replace scrip burned by Auditors for 1869, $14,800; to redeem county scrip yet outstanding, $3,700. EFFECT OF INFLATED CURRENCY. During the war the government issued large amounts of paper money, which were generally understood to be irredeemable except in case of the preservation of the Union. Starting at par, or nearly so, this currency de- preciated until at one time it was worth, in gold, only forty cents on the dollar. The fol- lowing table of retail prices, compiled from the Erie papers, shows how the cost of living advanced in consequence of the depreciated currency : ARTICLES. Jan. 1, 1862. |Mar. 12, 1864.|Sepr. 14, 1865. Flour, per barrel ...... $5 00@6 00 $7 50@8 00 | $10 50@11 00 Wheat, per bushel..... 1 10 1 40@1 60 1 80@ 2 40 Corn, per bushel....... 40 1 20 75@80 Rye, per bushel........ 60 1 25 1 00 Oats, per bushel....... 30 7 50 Barley, per bushel..... 40@50 1 25 75@1 00 Clover seed, per bushel] 4 00@4 25 |.............. 14 00@15 00 Timothy seed, per bush ZOO. arnt srassicre» 2h 6 00 Flax seed, per bushel.. 87 2 00 1% Potatoes, per bushel... 871, 60@75 40@50 Beans, per bushel..... 1 25 2 0O@2 25 1 50@2 00 Dried apples, per bush. 150 |per 1b, 25@30 2 00 Butter, per pound..... 15@16 30@35 28@30 Lard, per pound....... 8@10 25@28 20 Cheese, per pound,.... 5@ 6 12@15 14@16 Ham, per pound....... 7@ 8 15@16 25@28 Shoulder, per pound .. 6 12 20 Eggs, per dozen....... 10@12 20@23 20@22 Hard wood, per cord..| 2 00@2 50 |............5. 7 00 Soft wood, per cord... NG desi o.G Sia ieles 400 NY M by FH Campeelt erg ra AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 209 Brier History _OF THE ERIE County REGIMENTS. THE THREE MONTHS’ REGIMENT. This regiment was recruited under a call issued on the 21st of April, 1861, by Capt. John W. McLane, who had served in the Mexican war, and at the breaking out of the rebellion was in command of the Wayne Guard at Erie. Twelve hundred men responded to the call in four days, of whom ten companies of seventy-seven men each were accepted. The regiment was mainly recruited from Erie and Crawford counties. It went into camp on apiece of vacant ground in Erie city, on the east side of Parade street, near the inter- section of Sixth, which was duly christened Camp Wayne. Field officers were elected on the 27th of April. The regiment proceeded by rail to Pittsburg on Wednesday, May 1, and camped along the Allegheny river a short distance above the city. Being the first or- ganized regiment that had reached the city, it was received with much curiosity and enthu- siasm, and the people vied with each other in deeds of kindness to. both officers and men. After six weeks spent in idleness at Camp Wilkins, as its first quarters were known, the regiment was moved to Hulton Station, twelve miles further up the Allegheny, where a gene- ral rendezvous had been established for the troops of Western Pennsylvania, under the name of Camp Wright. Here the men re- ceived muskets and were carefully drilled, but labored under much disadvantage in target practice for want of suitable ammunition. The term of enlistment of the regiment expired without its having been mustered into the United States service. It returned to Erie on the 20th of July. The following were the principal officers of the regiment : FIELD AND STAFF. Colonel—John W. McLane. Lieutenant Colonel—Benjamin Grant. Major—M. Schlaudecker. Adjutant—Strong Vincent. Quartermaster—S. B. Benson. Surgeon—J. L. Stewart. COMPANY A—RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captain—T. M. Austin. First Lieutenant—A. McD. Lyon. Second Lieutenant—Strong Vincent (re- signed to take the Adjutancy of the regi- ment). Second Lieutenant—William E. Bates. COMPANY B—RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captain—Hiram L. Brown. First Lieutenant—James F. Wittich. First Lieutenant—D. B. McCreary. Second Lieutenant—John M. Clark. COMPANY C——-RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captain—John Graham. First Lieutenant—A. E. Yale. Second Lieutenant—C. P. Rogers. COMPANY D—RECRUITED AT CONNEAUTVILLE. Captain—J. L. Dunn. First Lieutenant—-J. W. Patton. Second Lieutenant—-I. S. Krick. COMPANY E——RECRUITED AT WATERFORD. Captain—John A. Austin. First Lieutenant--A. M. Judson. Second Lieutenant—J. W. McKay. COMPANY F-——-RECRUITED AT TITUSVILLE. Captain—Charles B. Morgan. First Lieutenant—James Farrell. Second Lieutenant—-David P. Sigler. COMPANY G—RECRUITED AT GIRARD. Captain—D. W. Hutchinson. First Lieutenant—J. Godfrey. Second Lieutenants--C. A. Pettibone, J. E. Pettibone. COMPANY H—RECRUITED AT UNION. Captain—John Landsrath. First Lieutenant—John M. Sell. Second Lieutenant—W. W. Gould. COMPANY I-—RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captain—Frank Wagner. First Lieutenant—Peter Liebel. Second Lieutenant—Peter Schlaudecker. COMPANY K-——RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captain—-John Kilpatrick. First Lieutenant—Thomas C. McLane. Second Lieutenant—Edward Coughlin. The regiment was accompanied by Mehl’s Band during the entire period of its absence. This band was organized and led by M. W. Mehl, of Erie. 210 EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT. On the return of the three months’ regi- ment Col. McLane immediately announced his purpose of raising another regiment for three years. Authority for this purpose was received on the 24th of July, 1861, and in less than five weeks the full complement of 1,000 men had enlisted, mainly from the counties of Erie, Crawford, Warren and Forest. Of these, nearly 800 had been members of the three months’ regiment. The rendezvous was on the old fair grounds east of Erie, and the regiment was mustered into the United States service on the 8th of September. It left for Washington on the 16th of September, ac- companied by Mehl’s Band. where it was as- signed to the Third brigade of Porter’s divi- sion, under command of Gen. Butterfield. The regiment soon attained to a high reputa- tion for drill and soldierly appearance. On one occasion Gen. McClellan said to Col. Mc- Lane: ‘‘I congratulate you upon having one of the very best regiments in the army.” Gen. Butterfield also congratulated and commended the regiment in a general order. The regiment remained in camp in front of Washington until the 8th of March, 1862, when orders were received for the whole army to move. It took part in the reconnoissance toward Big Betheland the siege of Yorktown, and was prominently engaged in the battles of Hanover Court House, Gaines’ Mill, Mal- vern Hill and most of the desperate encoun- ters along and in the vicinity of the Chicka- hominy. At Gaines’ Mill on the 27th of June Col. McLane was killed. On the 11th of Au- gust Mehl’s Band, which had been with the regiment to that date, was discharged by gen- eral order, and returned to Erie. When the army moved north the Eighty- third accompanied it, and participated in Pope’s campaign, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spottsylvania, and, in fact, nearly every battle that was fought down to the closing scene at Appo- mattox. Col. Vincent, who had succeeded Col. McLane, and who was at the time in command of the brigade, fell, mortally wounded, at Gettysburg on the 2d of July, 1863. He had been appointed a Brigadier General, but the news of his promotion did not reach the regiment until after his death. After Gettysburg the regiment, which had NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY been reduced by losses in battle and sickness to but 200 of its original members, was en- larged to the extent of some 400 drafted men and substitutes, and it received accessions from time to time sufficient to swell its total roll to about 2,600. It was mustered out of the service at Washington on the 28th of June, 1865, and formally disbanded on the 4th of July at Har- risburg. The members of the regiment re- turned to their homes in small bodies, but their welcome was none the less warm and cheering. In the official history of Pennsyl- vania volunteers, published by the Common- wealth, it is stated that the Eighty-third Regi- ment was engaged in twenty-five battles, ‘“‘more by two than any other Pennsylvania Infantry regiment.”’ Below is a list of the principal officers of the regiment : FIELD AND STAFF. Colonels—John W. McLane, Strong Vin- cent, O. S. Woodward, Chauncey P. Rogers. Lieutenant Colonels — Strong Vincent, Hugh S. Campbell, Dewitt C. McCoy, Chaun- cey P. Rogers, William O. Colt. Majors—Louis H. Naghel. William H. Lamont, William O. Colt, W. H. Dunbar. Adjutants—John M. Clark, B. M. Frank. Quartermasters— James Saeger, Daniel W. Clark, George M. Boal. Surgeons—William Faulkner, E. P. Allen, J. P. Burchfield. Assistant Surgeons—David E. Belknap, Isaac Waiborn, Michael Thompson, Jonathan Wotring, William S. Stewart, Jared Free, T. C. M. Stockton. Chaplains—Josiah Flower, Orson B. Clark. COMPANY A—RECRUITED AT TITUSVILLE. Captains—Charles B. Morgan, David P. Sigler, David P. Jones, William O. Colt, E. L. Whittelsey. First Lieutenants—David P. Sigler, David P. Jones, James M. Hunter, Martin V. B. Gifford, Wilkes S. Colt. Second Lieutenants — David P. Jones, James M. Hunter, Wilkes S. Colt, William H. Lamont, Pierce Hanrahan, David R. Rogers. COMPANY B—RECRUITED AT MEADVILLE. Captains—John F. Morris, David A. Ap- ple, Daniel G. Saeger, Israel Thickstun, Andrew J. McKee, ~ AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 211 First Lieutenants—James Saeger, Daniel G. Saeger, Orrin A. Hotchkiss, David A. Apple, Andrew J. McKee, A.C. Montgomery, Harrison Raymond. Second Lieutenants—David A. Apple, Daniel G. Saeger, Orrin A. Hotchkiss, A. C. Montgomery, Harrison Raymond, Charles W. Smith. COMPANY C—RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captains—John Graham, John H. Borden. First Lieutenants—--Aaron E. Yale, John W. Vannatta, Abner B. Edson, Charles H. Hubbell. Second Lieutenants—James R. Farrell, Bethuel J. Goff, Joseph B. Grimler, John W. Vannatta, Samuel L. Fluke, Charles H. Hub- bell, Daniel B. Foote. COMPANY D—RECRUITED AT EDINBORO. _ Captains—O. 5. Woodward, Chauncey P. Rogers, John P. Kleckner. First Lieutenants—Chauncey P. Rogers, Isaac Keck. Second Lieutenants—Plympton A. White, Isaac Keck, Abijah H. Burnett. COMPANY E—RECRUITED AT WATERFORD. Captains—Hugh 5. Campbell, Amos M. Judson, Benjamin A. Smith, Peter Grace. First Lieutenants—Amos M. Judson, Will- iam O. Colt, Peter Grace, William H. Mc- Gill. Second Lieutenants—William O. Colt, James H. Barnett, Peter Grace, William H. McGill, Alex B. Langley, E. L. Whittelsey, James C. Percival. COMPANY F—RECRUITED AT MEADVILLE. Captains—Dewitt C. McCoy, Thomas A’ Stebbins, C. V. Van Dusen. First Lieutenants---Joel Smith, Thomas A. Stebbins, C. V. Van Dusen, John W. Marshall, Noble L. Terrell. Second Lieutenants—Thomas A. Stebbins, John W. Marshall, Augustus McGill, William J. Gleason, John P. Kleckner, William L. Bennett. COMPANY G—RECRUITED AT TIONESTA. Captains—Daniel 8. Knox, George Stowe, Moses G. Corey. First Lieutenants—George Stowe, Moses G. Corey, Thomas Van Giesen, Second Lieutenants—Daniel W. Clark, John Herrington, Moses G. Corey, Thomas J. Van Giesen, Benjamin A. Smith. A new company G, recruited in Allegheny county, was assigned to the regiment in March, 1865. COMPANY H--RECRUITED AT CONNEAUTVILLE. Captains—P. B. Carpenter, Israel Thicks- stun. First Lieutenants—John E. Wilson, Israel Thickstun, Roswell B. Hynes. Second Lieutenants — Israel Thickstun, James W. Foster, Oliver L. Hall, Andrew J. McKee. A new company H, recruited at Pittsburg, was assigned to the regiment in March, 1865. COMPANY I—RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captains—Hiram L. Brown, John M. Sell, John H. Borden. First Lieutenants—John M, Sell, John H. Borden, Frederick C. Wittich. Second Lieutenants—Jobn M. Clark, ‘Frederick C. Wittich, William J. Wittich, Abner B. Edson. A new company I, recruited at Harrisburg and Reading, was assigned to the regiment in March, 1865. COMPANY K—RECRUITED AT ERIE. Captains— Thomas M. Austin, John Hechtman. First Lieutenants—William E. Bates, John Hechtman, Henry Austin. Second Lieutenants—Edmund W. Reed, Henry Austin, Noble L. Terrell. : A new company K, recruited in Dauphin county, was assigned to the regiment in March, 1865. ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH REGIMENT. While the Eighty-third regiment was or- ganizing, application was made to the Secre- tary of War by Matthias Schlaudecker, of Erie, who had served as Major of the three months’ regiment, for authority to recruit a new infantry regiment for the three years’ service. His request was granted on the 2d of September, 1861, a rendezvous was at once established at the old fair ground, and on the 24th of January, 1862, the ranks being full, a regimental organization was effected, The 212 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY regiment left for Harrisburg on the 25th, by way of Cleveland and Pittsburg, reaching the State capital on the 27th. There it was fur- nished with colors, arms and equipments, and on the Ist of March proceeded to Baltimore. Its first serious engagement was on the 9th of August, at Cedar Mountain, where it lost nineteen killed, sixty-one wounded and thir- teen missing. From that time to the 24th of September, 1863, when the regiment was transferred to Tennessee, it was constantly connected withthe Army of the Potomac, and participated in nearly all of the battles in Vir- ginia and Maryland, including Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. While sta- tioned at Acquia Creek it was one of fifteen regiments specially commended by General Hooker in his general order of March 8. Col. Schlaudecker was honorably discharged in November, 1862, and the other field officers were duly promoted. The regiment joined Rosecrans’ army at Murfreesboro on the 6th of October, 1868, and took a conspicuous part in the movement upon Lookout Mountain. In December, most of its members enlisted for a second term, and were given a furlough to come home, arriving at Erie the 14th of January, 1864. On return- ing to the scene of war in the Southwest, the regiment took part in the march upon Atlanta, being ore of the first to enter that city. Dur- ing the severe fighting before the capture of Atlanta, Col. Cobham was shot, and died on the field of battle. The regiment performed provost duty in Atlanta some two months, when it joined the main body of the army in Sherman’s famous “ march to the sea.’? At Goldsboro, N. C., the One Hundred and Ninth and One Hundred and Eleventh regi- ments, which had served side by side since 1862, were consolidated, with 885 members, retaining the latter title. It was mustered out of service at Washington on the 19th of July, 1865, and the Northwestern Pennsylvania por- tion of the regiment reached Erie on the 27th of the same month, where, after a grand re- ception, the gallant veterans quietly separated for their respective homes. Below is a list of the principal officers of the regiment : FIELD AND STAFF. Colonels — M. Schlaudecker, George A. Cobham, Thomas M. Walker. Lieutenant Colonels—George A. Cobham, Thomas M. Walker, Frank J. Osgood. Majors—Thomas M. Walker, Frank J. Os- good, John A. Boyle. Adjutants— John A. Boyle, James M. Wells, Hiram L. Blodgett, John R. Boyle, Albert G. Lucas. Quartermasters — Alexander Thompson, William Saeger, Noah W. Lowell. Surgeons—Wallace B. Stewart, George P. Oliver, James L. Dunn, D. H. Strickland. Assistant Surgeons — John Nicholson, James Stokes, Henry F. Conrad, Joseph F. Ake, G. M. Bradfield, D. H. Strickland. Chaplains—Loren D. Williams, John R. Hamilton. : COMPANY A. Captains—Josiah Brown, John D. Bentley, Martellus H. Todd, George Selkregg. First Lieutenants--John D. Bentley, Mar- tellus H. Todd, Nelson E. Ames, Joseph Warford. Second Lieutenants—M. H. Todd, N. E. Ames, Cyrus A. Hayes. COMPANY B. Captains—Arthur Corrigan, W. P. Lang- worthy, Wallace B. Warner, William Geary, John J. Haight. First Lieutenants—W. P. Langworthy, Wallace B. Warner, John J. Haight. Second Lieutenants—Wallace B. Warner, John J. Haight, Marvin D. Pettit. COMPANY C. Captains—Richard Cross, O. H. P. Fergu- son. First Lieutenants—O. H. P. Ferguson, Hiram L. Blodgett, William C. Hay, John McFarlind. Second Lieutenants—Hiram L. Blodgett, William C. Hay, Philetus D. Fowler. COMPANY D. Captains—Elias M. Pierce, William J. Alexander, H. R. Sturdevant. First Lieutenants—William J. Alexander, H. R. Sturdevant, Nelson Spencer, C. W. Culbertson. Second Lieutenants—H. R. Sturdevant, Nelson Spencer, Warren M. Foster. COMPANY E, Captains—Samuel M, Davis, Peter S. Ban- AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE OOUNTY. 213 croft, Francis A. Guthrie, William L, Patter- son. First Lieutenants—Leander W. Kimball, F, A. Guthrie, W. L. Patterson, Jesse Moore. Second Lieutenants—W. L. Patterson, Jesse Moore, Hiram Bissell. COMPANY F. Captains—John Braden, James M. Wells. First Lieutenants—James M. Wells, C. M. Kingsbury, Andrew W. Tracy. Second Lieutenants—C. W. Kingsbury, George Selkregg, John L. Wells. COMPANY G. Captains—William A. Thomas, Frederick L. Gimber. First Lieutenants—Christian Sexaur, Will- iam Mathers. Second Lieutenants—Joseph Cronenber- ger, Valentine Hitchcock, Albert N. Kinney. COMPANY H. Captains—J. P. Schlaudecker, Hiram L. Blodgett, William C. Hay. First Lieutenants—George J. John R. Boyle, William P. Gould. Second Lieutenants—Samuel S. Bloom, John R. Boyle. COMPANY I. Whitney, Captains—Frank Wagner, Chas. Woeltge, Moses Veale. First Lieutenants—Charles Woeltge, John C. Teel, Henry Dieffenbach, William W. Griffing. Second Lieutenants — U. Schlaudecker, William Saeger, Henry Dieffenbach. COMPANY K. Captains—Jonas J. Pierce, Frank J. Os- good, Plympton A. Mead. First Lieutenants—F. J. Osgood, P. A. Mead, Albert E. Black, George W. Clark. Second Lieutenants—George W. Smith, P. A. Mead, A. E. Black, George W. Clark. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. A fourth regiment, which received the title of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth, was recruited during the summer and fall of 1862, having its rendezvous at the same camp which had been used by the Eighty-third and One Hundred and Eleventh regiments. The date of its organization, September 5, 1862, was one of the most critical in the history of the war. The regiment was accordingly hurried forward without arms and with little training in military duty. Leaving Erie on the 11th of September, it reached Chambersburg by way of Buffalo and Elmira within thirty-six hours, was there furnished with arms, and in two days more was within sound of the enemy’s guns at Antietam. About noon on the 17th the regiment joined the extreme right of the Union line, and rendered good service in preventing a flank movement of the enemy. After the battle it was one of the detail to bury the dead, some of whom had lain upon the field of battle four days. The exposure to which the regiment had been thus suddenly subjected told with serious effect upon many of the men, so that between 200 and 800 were disqualified for duty within a month after it was ordered to the front. Quite a number died or were permanently disabled. The regiment was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, of the Second Corps. On the 18th of December the One Hun- dred and Forty-fifth took part in the terrible charge at Fredericksburg, under the lead of Gen. Hancock. The division to which it be- longed was composed of 5,000 men, 2,000 of whom fell in that single charge. Of the 556 members of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth who crossed the river, 226 were either killed or wounded. At Chancellorsville a detail of 150 men from the One Hundred and Forty- fifth was ordered to the relief of the skirmish line, and, after some hard fighting, failing to receive the command to retire, were mostly captured. The regiment entered the battle of Gettysburg 200 strong, and lost upward of eighty in killed and wounded. Returning to Virginia, it participated in nearly all of the marches and engagements of the Union army until the winter of 1868 brought the cam- paign to a close. The renewal of operations in May, 1864, found the regiment recruited almost to its original strength. From this date the history of the Army of Virginia, with its never-ceas- ing marches and well-nigh daily battles, is equally the history of the regiment. In the charge in front of Petersburg, the regiment 214 had about fifty killed-and wounded, and some ninety fell into the hands of the enemy. The remainder of the men were almost constantly under fire during the balance of the season. In the spring campaign of 1865 the regiment did good service with Sheridan. It was mustered out of the service on the 81st of May, and returned to Erie on the 5th of June, where it was welcomed with the honors it so richly deserved. Below isa list of the principal officers : FIELD AND STAFF. Colonels—Hiram L. Brown, David B. McCreary. Lieutenant Colonels—David B. McCreary, Charles M. Lynch. Majors—John W. Patton, John W. Rey- nolds, Charles M. Lynch, John D. Black. Adjutants—James C. Hart, John D. Black. Quartermasters—James G. Payne, D. W. Winchester. Surgeon—George L. Potter. Assistant Surgeons—Simon V. Pilgrim, J. S. Whilldin, Daniel W. Richards, I. N. Taylor. Chaplain—J. H. W. Stuckenberg. COMPANY A—-RECRUITED IN ERIE COUNTY. Captains—John W. Reynolds, Frs J. De Schryver, Horace McCray. First Lieutenants—James C. Hart, Fletch- er Clay, Daniel Long, Frs J. De Schryver, Horace McCray, Elias Brockway. Second Lieutenants—Frs J. De Schryver, Daniel Long, Horace McCray, Elias Brock- way, William F. Brockway. COMPANY B—RECRUITED IN ERIE COUNTY. Captains—Moses W. Oliver, John H. Col- lom, Marlton O. Way. First Lieutenants—William H. Grant, John H. Collom, M. O. Way. Second Lieutenants—Joseph A. Moray, John H. Collom, M. O. Way, S. M. Burchfield. COMPANY C-——RECRUITED IN ERIE COUNTY. Captains—Dyer Loomis, George T. Jewett, Melvin H. Bemis. First Lieutenants—Ezra A. Parker, George T. Jewett, M. H. Bemis. Second Lieutenants—George T, Jewett, M. H. Bemis, A. H. Rathbone, John M. Fargo. NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY COMPANY D—RECRUITED IN ERIE COUNTY. Captains—David B. McCreary, Charles M. Lynch, Clayton W. Lytle. First Lieutenants—John H. Hubbard, Horatio F. Lewis, C. W. Lytle, Thomas C. Lee. Second Lieutenants—Charles H. Riblet, C. W. Lytle, Thomas C. Lee, John C. McIn- tosh. COMPANY F—RECRUITED IN WARREN COUNTY. Captain—Kimball H. Stiles. First Lieutenants—Richard Magill, Jere- miah Birtcil. Second Lieutenants —Stephen H. Evans, Jeremiah Birtcil, Louis B. Carlile. COMPANY G——-RECRUITED IN MERCER COUNTY. Captains—William W. W. Wood, Thomas F. McCreary, George F. C. Smart. First Lieutenants—T. F. McCreary, G. F. C. Smart, Joseph L. Linn. Secord Lieutenants—John W. Vincent, G. F. C. Smart, Joseph L. Linn, Robert C. McClure, Stephen A. Osborne. H—-RECRUITED IN COUNTY. Captains—Andrew J. Mason, J. Boyd Espy, Peter W. Free. First Lieutenants—J. Boyd Espy, Hugh R. Stewart, Peter W. Free, William S. Trimble. Second Lieutenants—H. R. Stewart, P. W. Free. COMPANY I—RECRUITED IN ERIE COUNTY. COMPANY CRAWFORD Captains—Washington Brown, George G. Griswold, James B. Hamlin. First Lieutenants—George G. Griswold, James B. Hamlin, Edwin W. Sampson, George A. Evans. Second Lieutenants—James B. Hamlin, George A. Evans. COMPANY K—RECRUITED IN ERIE COUNTY. Captains—John W. Walker, John C. Hil- ton, C. W. Devereaux, Samuel V. Dean. First Lieutenants—James F. Wittich, John C. Hilton, C. W. Devereaux, Samuel C. Snell, George W. Young. Second Lieutenants—C. W. Devereaux, e i Brown, Samuel V. Dean, Samuel C. nell. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. TWELFTH CAVALRY REGIMENT. A company was enlisted at Union for the cavalry service, which became a part of the Twelfth Cavalry regiment. It did good serv- ice from early in 1862 to the 20th of July, 1865, when it was mustered out. The follow- ing were the several officers of the company : Captains—Geo. H. Russell, Elmer F. Jennings, Wm. H. McAllister, O. B. Tour- tellot. 215 First Lieutenants—Melvin H. Fenno, Henry A. Drake. Second Lieutenant—Bela P. Scoville. Sergeants—C. S. McCullough, John White, H. S. Logan, Newton B. Parker, Wm. H. Keasey, Perry Smiley. Capt. McAllister was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, May 18, 1865. The regi- ment has held an annual re-union since 1890, the last one at Union City, August 18, 1895. CHAPTER XXVIII. Recorp or Poriricat Events From 1798 To 1895 INcLUSIVE. 788 to 1800—In 1788 and 1792, Allegheny county, which embraced Erie county until 1800, gave a unanimous vote for George Washington for President, who was elect- ed without opposition. John Adams was chosen Vice President. In 1790 Thomas Mifflin was elected the first Governor of the State under the Consti- tutional system. ; In 1796, the Jefferson electors received 892 votes, and the Adams electors seventy-seven in Allegheny county. The State cast one elec- toral vote for Adams, fourteen for Jefferson, two for Thomas Pickering, and thirteen for Aaron Burr. Adams was elected President and Jefferson Vice President. The vote of the commonwealth within the above period was for Governor: 1790— Thomas Mifflin, Democrat, 27,725; Arthur St. Clair, Federal, 2,802. 1798—Thomas Mifflin, Democrat, 18,590; F. A. Muhlenberg, Federal, 10,706... 1796—Thomas Mifflin, Democrat, 30,020; F. A. Muhlenberg, Fede- ral, 1,011. 1799—Thomas McKean, Demo- crat, 38,036; James Ross, Federal, 32,641. Allegheny county voted each time for the successful candidate. The first election of which there is a record in Erie county occurred at Erie in October, 1798. April 8, 1799, six election districts were created in the township of Erie—one to hold elections in the town of Erie; one at the house of Timothy Tuttle, in North East; one at the house of John McGonigle, at or near Edin- boro; one at the house of Thomas Hamilton, in Lexington, Conneaut township; one at the house of Daniel Henderson, in Waterford; one at the house of William Miles, in Concord township. JEFFERSON ELECTED. 1800—The State cast eight electoral votes for Jefferson, eight for Burr, seven for Adams, and seven for C. C. Pinckney. Jefferson was chosen President and Burr Vice President. This section of the State gave a majority for Jefferson and Burr. Albert Gallatin was elected to Congress from the Western District of the State, em- bracing Erie county. Gallatin was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Jeffer- son in 1801, and resigned his seat in Con- gress. The candidates for other positions received the following votes: State Senator—John Hamilton, Washing- ton county, 2,002; John Hoge, Washington, 847. The district comprised the whole of 216 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Western Pennsylvania north of Virginia and west of the Allegheny river. Samuel Ewalt, of Allegheny county, was chosen to the Assembly. 1801—William Hoge, Washington county, was elected to fill the vacancy in Congress caused by the resignation of Albert Gallatin. William McArthur, of Meadville, was elected to represent Erie, Mercer, Crawford Venango and Warren counties in the Senate. This Senatorial District continued until 1836. Alexander Buchanan, of Crawford county, was sent to the Assembly. 1802—For Governor, Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango and Warren counties still voting together, cast 1,885 votes for Thomas McKean, the Democratic, and 187 for James Ross, the Federal candidate. The vote of the State was as follows: Thomas McKean, Democrat, 88,086; James Ross, Federal, 82,641. John B. C. Lucas, of Beaver county, was elected to Congress. John Lytle, Jr., of Erie county, was elected to the Assembly. ERIE COUNTY VOTES SEPARATELY. 1808—This year Erie county voted sep- arately for county officers for the first time. The following was the result: Sheriff—Wil- son Smith, Waterford, 267; Martin Strong, Waterford, 201. Coroner—Abraham Smith, Erie, 288; John C. Wallace, Erie, 184. The County Commissioners elected were John Vincent, of Waterford; James Weston, of LeBoeuf; and Abiather Crane, of Mill Creek. John Lytle, Jr., was elected to the As- sembly. John Hoge, of Washington county, was elected to Congress. JEFFERSON RE-ELECTED. 1804—The county cast 112 ballots for President, all for the Jefferson electors. The State gave its electoral votes to Jefferson and Burr, who were elected. John B. C. Lucas was re-elected to Con- gress. Wilson Smith, of Waterford, was elected to the Assembly. William Clark, of Erie, James Lowry, of North East, and John Phillips, of Venango, were elected County Commissioners. PARTY NAMES AND ORGANIZATIONS. 1805—The candidates for Governor were Thomas McKean and Simon Snyder, both Democrats. Erie county gave McKean 254, and Snyder 877 votes. The vote of the State was as follows: Thomas McKean, 48,644; Simon Snyder, 38,483; Samuel Snyder, 395. For Sheriff, John Milroy, of Erie, received 296, and Jacob Carmack, of Erie, 295 votes. By law the two highest candidates were re- turned to the Governor, who made a choice between them. Carmack received the ap- pointment. William McArthur was re-elected to the Senate and Wilson Smith to the Assembly. John Hay, of Erie, was chosen, County Com- missioner. John B. C. Lucas having resigned from Congress November 7, Samuel Smith, of*Mill Creek, Erie county, was chosen in his place. The opposing parties were distinguished as Democratic-Republican and Federal Repub- lican. This continued to be the case until 1829, when the anti-Masonic excitement came up. Erie county was strongly Democratic- Republican, and all of the candidates elected up to 1880 were nominated by that party, ex- cept an occasional Independent. The Demo- cratic-Republicans held a convention in the county every year from 1805 to 1880. The name Democratic—without the annex—is first found in the Erie Odserver in 1881. 1806—Samuel Smith was re-elected to Congress by a majority of 715. Wilson Smith was elected Assemblyman, and John McCreary, of Mill Creek, County Commissioner. John Milroy was elected Coroner. FIRST ELECTION DISTRICTS IN ERIE COUNTY. 1807—Wilson Smith was re-elected to the Assembly. John Gray, of Erie, was elected Coroner, and Jobn Boyd, of Waterford, County Com- missioner, April 11, 1807, the following election dis- tricts were constituted, and their voting places designated : No. 1. Erie and Mill Creek, at the court house. No. 2.‘ Coniaute ” house of James McGuines. No. 8. Fairview, at house of William Sturgeon, and McKean, at ys poall. Cam, A aved py, J 29, & AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 217 No. 4. Springfield, at house of William Porter. No. 5. ‘‘Conniat”’ and Elk Creek, at town of Lexington. No. 6. ‘‘ LeBouff” and Waterford, at house of Jonas Clark. No. 7. Beaver Dam and Harbor Creek, at house of Thomas Morton. No. 8. North East, at house of Andrew Lowry. No. 9. Greenfield and Venango, at house of Philo Parker. No. 10. Brokenstraw and Union, at house of John Taylor. In 1808, Venango was made District No. 11. The election place was fixed at the house of John Yost. MADISON ELECTED. 1808—Erie county cast 200 votes for the Madison electors, and eighty-six against them. The State gave her vote for James Madison for President and George Clinton for Vice Presi- dent, who were elected. The vote for Governor was 3845 for Simon Snyder, Democrat, and 244 for James Ross, Federal. That of the State was as follows: Simon Snyder, Democrat, 67,975; James Ross, Federal, 89,575; John Spayd, Independ- ent Democrat, 4,006. Samuel Smith was re-elected to Congress. John Phillips, of Erie county, and James Harrington, of Mercer, were elected to the Assembly. The vote on other officers was as follows: Sheriff—Jacob Spang, of Erie, 828; Robert Irvin, of Erie, 287; John Salsbury, of Con- neaut, 807. Francis Brawley, of North East, was elected County Commissioner, and Thomas Rees, of Harbor Creek, Coroner. 1809—Wilson Smith was elected to the State Senate. John Phillips, of Erie county, and James Harrington, of Mercer county, were chosen to the Assembly. : Thomas Forster, of Erie, was elected County Commissioner, and John C. Wallace, of Erie, Coroner. 1810—John Phillips, of Erie county, and Roger Alden, of Crawford county, were elected to the Assembly. Abner Lacock, of Beaver county, was elected to Congress. 16 | ceived For Sheriff. James E. Herron, of Erie, re- 278, and James Weston, of LeBouf, 278 votes. Weston obtained the appointment from the Governor. John Salsbury was elected County Com- missioner. 181l1—The county gave Simon Snyder, Democratic candidate for Governor, 348 votes, he having no regular opposition. The vote of the State was as follows: Simon Snyder, Democrat, 52,319; William Tilghman, Inde- pendent, 8,609, John Phillips, of Erie county, and Patrick Farrelly, of Crawford county, were elected to the Assembly. Thomas Wilson, County Commissioner. of Erie, was elected MADISON RE-ELECTED. 1812—The vote of Erie county was 152 for the Madison, and 129 for the opposition electors. The State cast its electoral vote for James Madison for President, and Elbridge Gerry for Vice President, who were elected. Phillips and Farrelly were re-elected to the Assembly. Abner Lacock, Beaver county, was re- elected to Congress. Henry Taylor, North East, was elected County Commissioner and John Milroy, of Erie, Coroner. 1818 — The Legislature having chosen Abner Lacock United States Senator, he re- signed, and Thomas Wilson, of Erie, was elected to Congress in his stead ata special election held in May. Joseph Shannon was elected to the Senate and James Weston, of Erie county, and James Burchfield, of Crawford county, to the As-. sembly. For Sheriff, David Wallace, of Erie, re- ceived 187, and John Tracy, of Waterford, 127 votes. Thomas Forster was re-elected County Commissioner. John Grubb, of Mill Creek, was elected to the same office to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas Wilson. 1814—The vote of the county was 808 for Simon Snyder, Democrat, fifty-five for Isaac Wayne, Federal, and seventy-seven for George Lattimore, Independent Democrat. The State voted as follows: Simon Snyder, 51,099; Isaac Wayne, 29,- 566; George Lattimore, 910. 218 Thomas Wilson was re-elected to Congress, and Weston and Burchfield to the Assembly. Henry Taylor, of North East, was re- elected County Commissioner. 1815—Jacob Harrington, of Mercer, James Weston, of Erie, and Ralph Marlin, of Craw- ford, were elected to the Assembly. The dis- trict had been changed to Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Warren and Venango, electing three members. Robert McClelland, of Mill Creek, was elected County Commissioner, and John Mor- ris, of Erie, Coroner. MONROE ELECTED. 1816—James Monroe was elected Presi- dent, and Elbridge Gerry, Vice President. The county gaye the Monroe ticket 180, and the opposition eighty-four votes. In the State Monroe had 25,609 votes, and the opposition ticket 17,587. Henry Hurst, of Crawford county, formerly of North East, was elected State Senator in place of Joseph Shannon, resigned. Robert Moore, of Beaver, was elected to Congress; Jacob Harrington, Ralph Marlin, and Samuel Hays, of Venango county, to the Assembly, and Thomas Forster, of Erie, Coun- ty Commissioner. The vote for Sheriff was as follows: Stephen Wolverton, of Erie, 290; James Hall, of Springfield, 249. 1817—The candidates for Governor were William Findlay, Democrat; and Joseph Hiester, Federal. Erie county gave Findlay 385, and Hiester, 261. The vote of the State was: Findlay, 66,331; Hiester, 59,299. Henry Hurst was re-elected to the Senate, the district comprising Erie, Crawford, Mer- cer, Venango and Warren counties. Samuel Hays, of Venango county, Thomas Wilson, of Erie county, and Ralph Marlin, of Crawford county, were elected to the Assem- bly, and Robert Brown, of Erie, was elected County Commissioner. 1818—Robert Moore, of Beaver county, was re-elected to Congress over Thomas Wil- son, of Erie. Jacob Harrington, Mercer, James Coch- ran, Crawford, and Joseph Hackney, Ve- nango, were elected Assemblymen, George Moore, of Erie, County Commissioner, and Samuel Hays, of Erie, Coroner. 1819—Wilson Smith, of Erie county, NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY James Cochran, of Crawford, and William Connelly, of Venango, were elected to the As- sembly. The vote for county officers was as follows; Sheriff—Thomas Laird, Erie, 849; David Wallace, Erie, 8830; Amos P. Woodford, Waterford, 157. Commissioner—Stephen Wolverton, Erie, 427; James Hall, Springfield, 255; Abiather Crane, Mill Creek, forty-nine; Jonah Cowgill, Erie, three. POLITICAL HARMONY—MONROE RE-ELECTED. 1820—The Presidential election was held in the fall of this year, James Monroe being unanimously supported for re-election. Patrick Farrelly was the elector for this district. For Governor, the Democrats supported William Findlay, of Franklin, and the Federalists Gen. Joseph Hiester, of Berks. Hiester was elect- ed. Erie gave Findlay 519 votes, and Hiester 415. = The candidates for Congress were Robert Moore, of Beaver, and Patrick Farrelly, of Crawford. Farrelly was elected. The can- didates for Assembly were Wilson Smith, Erie county ; George Moore, Erie; Jacob Har- rington, Mercer ; William Connelly, Venango; James Cochran, Crawford; William Moore, Venango, and Walter Oliver, Mercer. All of the above gentlemen claimed to be Democrats. Messrs. Smith, Connelly and Harrington were elected. George Nicholson, Fairview, was chosen Commissioner by seventy-five majority over Henry Colt, of Waterford. Thomas H. Sill, Erie, and Thomas Dunn, McKean, were elected Auditors. Alexander McNair, formerly of Mill Creek, was this year elected first Governor of Mis- souri. 1821—The following were the candidates: State Senate—Samuel Lord, Meadville; Gen. Henry Hurst, Meadville; Jacob Harrington, Mercer. Harrington was elected. George Moore, Erie; ‘James Cochran, Crawford, and David Brown, Warren, were elected to the Assembly. Thomas Forster, Erie, was elected Commissioner by twenty-three majority over Henry Colt. Thomas Rees, Harbor Creek, was elected Auditor, and Benjamin Russell, Mill Creek, Coroner. 1822—The candidates for Congress were Patrick Farrelly, Crawford, and Samuel Wil- liamson, Mercer, both Democrats. Farrelly AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 219 was elected by a majority of about 2,000 in the district. The Assembly district was changed this year, Erie and Warren being placed together, and allowed one member. George Moore, Erie borough, and James Weston, LeBeuf, were the candidates for that office, the latter being elected by a majority of only seventeen votes. Stephen Wolverton, Erie, David Wal- lace, Mill Creek, and Simeon Dunn, Erie, were candidates for Sheriff. Wolverton’s majority was 806 over both of his competitors. Henry Colt, Waterford, Alexander McClosky, North East, and Thomas Rees, Harbor Creek, were candidates for Commissioner. Colt was elected by a majority of sixty-two votes over both of the others. Thomas Dunn, McKean, was chosen Auditor. 1823—For Governor the Democrats sup- ported John Andrew Shulze, Lebanon; the Federalists, Andrew Gregg, Centre. The vote of the county was: Schulze, 754; Gregg, 604 —Democratic majority, 150. The vote of the State was: Schulze, 89,928; Gregg, 64,211. For Assembly, George Moore, Erie, and Thomas H. Sill, Erie, were the candidates. Sill was elected by a majority of 149 in the district. Alexander McClosky was chosen Commissioner over John Cochran, Mill Creek, and E. D. Gunnison, Erie. Daniel Sayre, Fairview, was elected Auditor. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS CHOSEN PRESIDENT BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 1824—A convention met March 4, of this year, at Harrisburg, and nominated Andrew Jackson for President, and John C. Calhoun for Vice President. Henry Clay, who at that time acted with the Democratic party, re- ceived ten votes for the latter position. An- other convention was held in Harrisburg, August 9, which nominated William H. Craw- ford, of Georgia, for President, and Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania, for Vice President. Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams were also candidates before the people for President. The candidates for elector were as follows: For Jackson, John Boyd, Waterford; for Adams, Jesse Moore, Meadville; for Craw- ford, James Montgomery ; for Clay, Charles H, Israel. The vote of the county was: For Jackson, 302; Adams, fifty-five; Crawford, ten; Clay three. The vote in the State was: Jackson, 35,- ea Adams, 8,405; Crawford, 4,186; Clay, 701. None of the candidates received a majority of the electoral votes in the Union, and the election was thrown into the House, where Adams was chosen President. For Congress, Patrick Farrelly and Samuel Williamson were opposing candidates. Far- relly’s majority in the district was 38,188. The district consisted of Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango and Warren. John Phillips, of Venango township, was elected to the Assembly over George Moore. John Morris, Erie, was chosen Commissioner over John Salsbury, Conneaut, and E. D. Gunnison, Erie. Rufus Seth Reed, Erie, was elected Coroner, and Thomas Rees, Harbor Creek, Auditor. 1825—For State Senate, Wilson Smith, Waterford; George Moore, Erie; Thomas Atkinson, Crawford ; James Herriott, Mercer ; ; and John Leech, Mercer, were opposing can- didates. Moore had one majority over all in this county, but Leech received a majority in the district. Stephen Wolverton was chosen to the Assembly over John Phillips and Abiather Crane, Erie county, and Archi- bald Tanner and J. W. Irvine, Warren. The candidates for Sheriff were: Henry Colt, Waterford; Thomas Forster, Erie; Thomas Laird, Erie; A. W. Brewster, Erie; Albert Thayer, Mill Creek, and David McCreary, Mill Creek. Mr. Thayer was elected. The candidates forCommissioner were: John Sals- bury, Conneaut ; William Benson, Waterford ; John Gray, Erie; Thomas Dunn, McKean, and Giles Hulbert, Waterford. Mr. Salsbury was elected. Col. James McKay, Waterford, was chosen Auditor for the regular term, and William E. McNair, Mill Creek, for one year, in place of Daniel Sayre, who moved out of the county. A proposition to form anew State Consti- tution was brought before the people and voted down, the majority against it in Erie county being 1,062. 1826—Patrick Farrelly, Congressman from this district, died at Pittsburg, on his way to Washington, February 12, 1826, and a special election was held in March, following, for his successor. The candidates were Thomas H. Sill, Erie; Samuel Hays, Venango; Jacob Harrington, Mercer; and Stephen Barlow, Crawford. Mr. Sill was elected. At the regular October election, Sil, Barlow and John Findlay, Mercer, were candidates for Congress. Barlow was elected. At the October election of this year, Gov. Shulze had no opposition in Erie county. The vote of the State was: John Andrew Shulze, Democrat, 64,211; John Sergeant, Philadelphia, Federal, 1,474. The candidates for Assembly were Stephen Wolverton, Alex. McCloskey, George Moore and George Stuntz, Erie county; and John Andrews, Warren. Wolverton was re-elect- ed. William Benson, Waterford; Thomas Forster, Erie, and James M. Moorhead, Harbor Creek, were candidates for Commis- sioner. Benson waselected. Martin Strong, McKean, was chosen Auditor. 1827—Stephen Wolverton was re-elected to the Assembly over Alex. McCloskey, North East, his only opponent. William Fleming, Erie, was elected Coroner; James M. Moor- head was chosen Commissioner over Thomas Forster. David H. Chapman, Fairview, was chosen Auditor. JACKSON ELECTED PRESIDENT. 1828—The Jackson State Convention was held in Harrisburg January 8. Andrew Jack- son was nominated for President, and John C. Calhoun for Vice President. James Dun- can, Mercer county, was the electoral candi- date for this Congressional district. The Adams Convention met about the 4th of March, and nominated John Quincy Adams for President, and Richard Rush, Pennsy]- vania, for Vice President. John Leech, Mercer county, was the electoral candidate for this Congressional district. The State election was held October 14. The candidates in this district and county were as follows: Congress—Thomas H. Sill, Erie county ; and Stephen Barlow, Crawford. The vote in the county was 1,406 for Sill and 866 for Barlow. Sill received a majority of about 600 in the district. Assembly—George Moore, Stephen Wolverton and Wilson Smith, all of Erie county. Moore was elected. Sheriff —Alex. W Brewster, Erie; Thomas Mellen, North East; Daniel Sawtell, Springfield; Smith Jackson, Erie; Richard Arbuckle and John G. Caldwell, Mill Creek. Brewster was elected. Commissioner (three years )—A bert Thayer, Erie; George Nicholson, Fairview. NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Thayer was elected by a nearly unanimous vote. Commissioner (one year)—in place of William Benson, Waterford,: resigned—My- ron Hutchinson, Springfield; James Pollock, LeBouf ; and John Boyd, Waterford. Hutch- inson was elected. Robert Cochran, Mill Creek, was elected Auditor. The Presidential election was held on Fri- day, October 81, and resulted as follows: ADAMS. JACKSON. Erie and Mill Creek.............. 133 188 McKean «ance se cicve ss tut carer es 52 27 Pairview ccccesservvessecae gaees 95 55 Springfield .........0-... cee eee 118 31 Conteattticcawes disc cinwi tor aoe e8 76 19 Waterford and LeBoeuf.......... 115 120 Harbor Creek i... 6c cia wenncees 56 54 North Hast guwceussocedaune iene 85 116 Greenfield. ...........0 0c een eeee 24 13 UiniORtncci casas d eee ssaseekee ees 25 9 WeHan PO: su ssiees as cueeniahaee 23 46 Conneauttee (now Washington).. 58 27 Wilke Cree bess sini inc tce 00 dg a ee ieee 27 28 Beaver Dam (now Greene) ....... 8 20 COnCOfG saa ic mekinaids wens sega se 16 10 AMIULViiasanoers saad adaceweies fas 22 iT Wayne ciateess. saredad seme ese 12 2 TOCA L ehcih save kee Gus idkeuahe Saye aheave 945 773 The vote of the State was: Jackson, 101,- 652; Adams, 50,848; Jackson’s majority, 50,804. Jackson and Calhoun had a large majority of the electoral votes of the Union. THE ANTI-MASONIC ERA. 1829—The Anti-Masonic excitement had by this year risen into a political issue, and a separate party organization was formed, em- bracing a large portion of the supporters of Mr. Adams. The Democratic State Conven- tion met at Harrisburg on the 4th of March and nominated George Wolf, Northampton county, for Governor. The Anti-Masonic State Convention met at the same place on the same day, and nominated Joseph Ritner, Washington county. The vote of Erie county was: Ritner, 1,545; Wolf, 497. The vote of the State was: George Wolf, Democrat, 77,988; Joseph Ritner, Anti-Mason, 51,724: Wolf’s majority, 26,264. For State Senate, Thomas S. Cunningham, Mercer county, defeated Wilson Smith, Erie county, by over 2,700 majority in the district. George Moore was elected to the Assembly over Stephen Wolverton. Joseph M. Ster- rett, Erie; Myron Hutchinson, Springfield, and William Gray, Wayne, were candidates AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 221 for Commissioner. majority of twenty-six over Hutchinson, the next highest candidate. Eli Webster, McKean, was elected Auditor. 1830—This was the first year in which Anti-Masonry entered directly into the choice of district and county officers. The Anti-Ma- sonic candidate for Congress was John Banks, of Mercer county. The Democratic candidate was Thomas 8S. Cunningham, Mercer county. Banks had a majority of 816 in Erie county, and 1,185 in the district. The candidates for county officers were as follows: Anti-Masonic—Assembly, John Riddle, Erie; Conimissioner, James Pollock, LeBoeuf ; Coroner, David Wallace, Erie; Auditor, John J. Swan, Fairview. Democratic-Republican—Assembly, P. S. V. Hamot, Erie; Commissioner, John Sals- bury, Fairview ; Coroner, Charles Lay, Erie; Auditor, Thomas Laird, of Erie. The Anti-Masonic ticket was successful by an average majority of 250. 1831—The candidates were as follows: Anti-Masonic—Assembly, John Riddle; Sheriff, William Fleming, Erie; Commis- sioner, Thomas R. Miller, Springfield; Audi- tor, James Smedley, North East. *Democratic—Assembly, George Moore, Erie; Sheriff, Albert Thayer, Erie; Commis- sioner, Thomas Mellen, North East; Auditor, John G. Caldwell, Mill Creek. Independent Candidates—Assembly, Will- iam Dickson, North East ; Sheriff, David Zim- merman and James McConkey, Erie. The Anti-Masonic candidates were suc- cessful by average majorities of about 400. None of the independent candidates had much of a support. JACKSON RE-ELECTED. 1832—The candidates for Governor were George Wolf, Democrat, and Joseph Ritner, Anti-Masonic. The Democrats of Pennsylvania supported Andrew Jackson for President, and William Wilkins, this State, for Vice President. Mar- tin Van Buren, New York, was also a Demo- cratic candidate for Vice President, and was elected, though Pennsylvania cast her vote for Wilkins. Henry Clay ran as an Anti-Jackson - *1831.—_This year the name Democratic-Republican was dropped in Erie county, and the supporters of Jackson called themselves Democrats, a @ Sterrett was elected by a | -George Wolf, Democratic candidate for President, with John Sergeant, Pennsylvania, for Vice President. |The Anti-Masons supported William Wirt, Maryland, for President, and Amos Ellmaker, Pennsylvania, for Vice President. Wilson Smith was the Jackson candidate for Elector in this district ; David Dick, Crawford, the Clay candidate; and Robert Falconer, Warren, the Anti-Masonic. The Jackson and Clay men went by the designatioa of Democratic-Re- publicans; the supporters of Wirt by that of Republican Anti-Masons. The vote of the county was as follows: WIRT. JACKSON. Erie and Mill Creek.............. 284 163 MCR Gaines tian’ 2 gugas 6x4 os Bidens 94 16 Pairview: yeaa et coe sory che ies aes bce 89 12 Springfield. os cesses iiss aeah wos 82 69 GOnNE aU ts sicsiascersies eae eed ee wes 118 74 Wreat@r ord aiid a essed erases bacare nerd 92 65 Harbor Creek................00., 80 76 NOFth Mast ccc cs eeeieuwneee ais ine 110 42 Greeti field noc c sc ens ewiwes sae s 37 52 OMI: Serisiteditiacha Salvg as teks bk EARS 138 3 Venango os sacrageuaea eagoree ns ws 72 42 Conneauttee (Washington)....... 36 26 Concord aa nssegear ated dicen ade 16 33 Beaver Dam.. .................. 64 31 EG ‘Grek. iescasssiaice + Gudawe sab 33 32 PTT CY! 5 cau savecenoausndcan andunietincere ia 30 39 WEY UG o twecicn a nmammancenien 65 23 17 Le BCGCUL 5 niscaeas so sase in oor 37 61 Gut andy. aacceechin chia Scouse ganee ee 109 88 otal teu. cag dene ee wieenueeee 1,494 1,049 Only three ballots were cast for Clay, all in North East township. In the State the result was as follows: Democrat, 91,235; Joseph Ritner, Anti-Mason, 88,186 ; Wolf’s majority, 3,049. The vote for President was: Jackson, 90,983; Wirt, 66,716; majority for Jackson, 24,267. Mr. Clay’s vote was too light to be con- sidered worthy of record by the papers of the day. "The candidates for district and county offices were as follows: Anti-Masonic—Congress, Thomas H. Sill, of Erie; Assembly, John H. Walker, Erie; Commissioner, John McCord, North East; Auditor, Samuel Low, Venango township. Democratic—Congress, John Galbraith, Venango county; Assembly, Rutus Seth Reed, Erie; Commissioner, Thomas Mellen, North East; Auditor, John Phillips, Ve- nango. All of the Anti-Masonic candidates were 222 elected except Mr. Sill. John Galbraith was defeated by 833 votes in Erie county, but re- ceived a majority of 778 in the district. 1833—Anti-Masonic Candidates — State Senate, Charles M. Reed, Erie county; As- sembly, John H. Walker, Erie; Commis- sioner, James Love, Mill Creek; Coroner, David McNair, of Mill Creek ; Auditor, Mark Baldwin, Greenfield. Democratic Candidates — State Senate, Thomas S. Cunningham, Mercer county; Assembly, Dr. Tabor Beebe, Erie; Commis- sioner, John Gingrich, Mill Creek; Coroner, Wareham Taggart, Springfield; Auditor, Jobn Saulsbury, Conneaut. All of the Anti-Masonic candidates were elected except Reed, who received a majority in the county, but was defeated in the district. 1834— Anti-Masonic Candidates —Con- gress, Thomas H. Sill, Erie county; As- sembly, John H. Walker, Erie; Sheriff, Thomas Mehaffey, Erie; Commissioner, Stephen Skinner, McKean; Auditor, Russell Stancliff, Washington. Democratic—Congress, John Galbraith, Venango county; Assembly, James M. Moorhead, Harbor Creek; Sheriff, Albert Thayer, Erie; Commissioner, Daniel Gillespie, Erie; Auditor, John R. Rouse, Venango. Independent Candidate for Sheriff— Chauncey Rogers, Girard. The Anti-Masonic candidates were elected with the exception of Mr. Sill, who received 353 majority in the county, but was defeated by 1,622 in the district. A DEMOCRATIC SPLIT IN THE STATE. 1835—The Democratic party of Pennsyl- vania was divided this year over a candidate for Governor, one portion supporting George Wolf, and another Henry A. Muhlenberg, Berks. The Anti-Masons again chose Joseph Ritner as a candidate. The vote of Erie county was : For Ritner, 1,748; Wolf, 164; Muhlenburg, 1,281. In the State the vote was as follows: Joseph Ritner, Anti-Masonic, 94,028: George Wolf, Democrat, 65,804; Henry A. Muhlenberg, Democrat, 40,586. Anti Masonic County Ticket—Assembly, John H. Walker, Erie: Commissioner, James Miles, Girard; Auditor, William Benson, Waterford. Democratic County Ticket—Assembly, P. NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY S. V. Hamot, Erie; Commissioner, John ‘Gingrich, Mill Creek; Auditor, David Webber, Concord. All of the Anti-Masonic candidates were elected by an average majority of 400. A proposition to hold a convention for re- vising the State Constitution was carried by 10,404 majority. Erie county cast 8,028 votes for the convention and twenty-one against it. VAN BUREN ELECTED PRESIDENT. 1836—The Democratic candidate for Con- gress was Arnold Plumer, Venango county; the Anti-Masonic was David Dick, Crawford county. The vote of the county was: For Dick, 1,773; for Plumer, 1,214. In the dis- trict Dick had 8,628, Plumer, 4,828, the lat- ter being elected. The county tickets, with the vote for each candidate, were as follows: Anti-Masonic—Assembly, Thomas R. Mil- ler, Springfield, 1,948; Elijah Babbitt, Erie, 1,716; Commissioner, Samuel Low, Harbor Creek, 1,719; Coroner, Samuel W. Keefer, Erie, 1,696; Auditor, William H. Crawford, North East, 1,689. Democratic—Assembly, James C. Mar- shall, Girard, 1,281; Frederick W. Miller, Waterford, 1,032; Commissioner, William Doty, Springfield, 1,244; Coroner, Anthony Saltsman, Mill Creek, 1,158; Auditor, James Wilson, Greenfield, 1,176. The presidential election was held October 31. The Anti-Masonic candidates were: For . President, Gen. William H. Harrison, Ohio; for Vice-President, Francis Granger, New York. The elector for this district was James Cochran, Crawford county. The Democratic candidates were: For President, Martin Van Buren, New York; for Vice-President, Rich- ard M. Johnson, Kentucky. The elector was John P. Davis, Crawford county. Below is the vote: HARRI- VAN : SON. BUREN. Biiie® sondre ani scent anes 217 113 MCR ait asitndeatccsn acuta umm atceas 147 20 PAIPVie We cassie a enicde tcc cas ah 125 18 Springfield soe. cys oss oasauve on 182 67 Conneaut ..........0............. 86 91 Waterford ...... Paee uaa ene ee ye 122 92 Harbor Creek..................., 154 75 North Kast ..... ........ ....... 137 197 Greenfield ....................... 48 37 UMIORY 6 AS vice disees, Sheds aeGhen 59 25 Venango...... gh aalivat alaeaay Seno 86 44 AND HISTORICAL REFERENCH BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 223 Washington .................000, 133 58 Beaver Dam... ................. 81 37 Elk Creek..............0005 ceaee 79 82 CONCOLE) 22 54.65. 4 eacroania waciann = ane 15 47 AABALY? oasis ninco ka eee oh 4 canbe 26 43 Wayne cesciiaiesesggee avesecurad 42 22 LPeBoeul soacch cra sdmete nes knew aes 35 55 Gitar tse seeks: ccguuce en bearndet 155 94 WET Cre Oe se asses cach drennch antl 8 oeathea, anes 205 95 Ot al.cs wtywinns oa Gea Meine wala 2,134 1,312 The vote of the State was for Van Buren, 91,475; Harrison, 87,111. Van Buren and Johnson were elected by a large majority of the electoral votes of the Union. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. An election for Delegates to the conven- tion for revising the Constitution was held on the same day. The candidates, with their votes, were as follows: Senatorial Delegate—Anti-Masonic, Daniel Sager, Crawford county, 2,064 in Erie county, and 3,249 in the district. Democratic, Henry Colt, Waterford, 1,330 in Erie county, 3,016 in the district. Representative Delegates—Anti-Masonic, Thomas H. Sill, Erie, 2,079; James Pollock, LeBeuf, 2,063. Democratic, Wilson Smith, Waterford, 1,314; Henry L. Harvey, Erie, 1,315. The convention met at Harrisburg in May or June, 1837, and adjourned to Philadelphia in the winter, finally adjourning in 1888, after adopting various amendments to the Constitu- tion, which are referred to hereafter. 1837—The candidates for State Senator (Erie and Crawford constituting the district) were: Anti-Masonic, Joseph M. Sterrett, Erie; Democratic, Edward A. Reynolds, Crawford. The vote for Sterrett, in Erie county, was 1,840; for Reynolds, 1,065. Sterrett was elected by about 400 majority in the district, Crawford being at that time Democratic. The county tickets, with the vote, were as follows: Anti-Masonic — Assembly, Charles M. Reed, Erie, 2,087; David Sawdy, Conneaut, 1,773; Sheriff, Andrew Scott, Erie, 1,715; Commissioner, Thomas Sterrett, McKean, 1,757; Auditor, Thomas Nicholson, Mill Creek, 1,876. Democratic—Assembly, Martin Strong, sr., Beaver Dam, 962; David H, Chapman, Fairview, 630; Sheriff, Albert Thayer, Mill Creek, 1,204; Commissioner, Eli Webster, Beaver Dam, 944. THE “ BUCKSHOT” WAR. 1838—The Anti-Masons again nominated Joseph Ritner for Governor; the Democrats placed in nomination David R. Porter, of Huntingdon county. The vote of the county was: For Ritner, 2,747; for Porter, 1,565— Ritner’s majority, 1,182. In the State the result was as follows: David R. Porter, Democrat, 127,821; Joseph Ritner, Anti- Mason, 122,325. The organization of the Legislature, in December following this election, caused the troubles which have been named in derision the ‘‘ Buckshot war.” Their history may be briefly given as follows: When the Return Judges of Philadelphia county met in conven- tion, a motion was made to throw out the votes of the Northern Liberties, on account of alleged frauds. By accepting the votes, the Anti-Masonic candidates for Congress, State Senator and Assembly were elected; their re- jection gave the seats to the Democratic can- didates. The Democrats had a majority of the Judges, and the returns were not accepted. The Anti-Masonic Judges bolted and made out other returns, including the vote of the Northern Liberties, which were sent to Thomas H. Burrowes, Anti-Masonic Secretary of State, at Harrisburg. When the Legisla- ture assembled, each set of candidates appeared for admission, and in the House the two parties were so nearly balanced that the acceptance or rejection of the Philadelphians involved the control of the body. Meantime, much excite- ment prevailed throughout the State, and se- rious disturbances were threatened. On the day of meeting, Harrisburg was full of angry men, but if we can rely on the Anti-Masonic papers of the time, the Democrats were largely in the ascendent. The vote for Speaker was taken, when the Democrats supported Will- iam Hopkins, and the Anti-Masons Thomas S. Cunningham, each party having separate tellers. Both claimed to be elected, and for some time occupied seats on the platform, side by side. Under such circumstances no busi- ness could be transacted, and affairs were brought to a dead-lock. The Senate, which contained a majority of Anti-Masons, recog- nized the Cunningham House, Excitement 224 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY increased throughout the State, and the Demo- crats, resolved not to be defeated in their pro- gramme, threatened to maintain Mr. Hopkins’ right to the Speakersbip by force. The Gov- ernor called out the militia of the adjoining counties, but when they reached Harrisburg it was found that the Democrats were in the majority among the troops, so that the Anti- Masons could not depend upon their support. He then wrote to President Van Buren for aid, who plumply refused.* After an agitation of several weeks, four Anti-Masonic Senators re- ceded from their original position, voted to recognize the Hopkins House, and terminated the trouble. The Anti-Masons throughout the State were fierce in their denunciations of the recreant Senators, but soon subsided into acquiescence, and thus ended one of the most memorable, as it was also one of the most dis- graceful, incidents in Pennsylvania history. Amid all the excitement no blood was spilled. From this date, the Anti-Masonic party of Pennsylvania rapidly declined, and in a few years sunk out of existence. The Anti-Masons again nominated David Dick for Congress. John Galbraith, who had removed to Erie county, was the Democratic candidate. In the county, Dick received 2,614 yotes, and Galbraith, 1,610. Dick’s vote in the district was 5,918; Galbraith’s 6,198. The district comprised Erie, Crawford, Venango and Warren counties, the three latter giving Democratic majorities. The county tickets, with the vote for each candidate, were as follows: Anti-Masonic—Assembly, Samuel Hutch- ins, Waterford, 2,581; William M. Watts, Erie, 2,368; Commissioner, William E. Mc- Nair, Mill Creek, 2,591; Auditor, Alexander W Brewster, Erie, 2,601. Democratic—Assembly, Ebenezer D. Gun- nison, Erie, 1,646; Myron Hutchinson, Girard, 1,580; Commissioner, J. P. Grant, Wayne, 1,522; Auditor, Samuel T. Axtell, Union, 1,524. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ADOPTED— PROTHONOTARY AND REGISTER AND RE- CORDER FIRST ELECTED. A vote was taken on the adoption of the proposed amendments to the Constitution, . *The United States Storekeeper at Frankfort turned over a liberal supply of ammunition to the State authorities, much of which consisted of buckshot cartridges. Hence the name of ** Buckshot war,’ : = | with the following result in the State: For the amendments, 118,981; against, 112,759. Erie county gave a majority of 1,721 against the amendments. Previous to this, negroes had voted in the State. The revised Constitution excluded them from suffrage. In the convention the delegates from Erie county were divided, Mr. Sill vo- ting for negro suffrage, and Mr. Pollock against. The Anti-Masons had a slight ma- jority in the body. The revised Constitution provided for the election of Prothonotary and Register and Re- corder, instead of their appointment by the Governor as before. The same instrument also changed the manner of selecting Justices of the Peace from appointment by the Gov- ernor to election by the people. The choice of the latter officers was not made until the spring election in 1840, the old incumbents re- taining their position until the first Monday of May in that year. 1839—The county tickets, with the vote for each candidate, were as follows: Anti-Masonic—Assembly, Samuel Hutch- ins, Waterford, 1,927; William M. Watts, Erie, 1,718; Prothonotary, William Kelly, Erie, 1,791; Register and Recorder, Thomas Moorhead, Erie, 1,997; Commissioner for three years, Lyman Robinson, Wattsburg, 1,845; Commissioner for one year (to supply the va- cancy occasioned by the death of Thomas Sterrett), Samuel Low, Harbor Creek, 1,886; Coroner, John K. Caldwell, Mill Creek, 1,817; Auditor, Gideon J. Ball, Erie, 1,791. Democratic — Assembly, William Town- send, Springfield, 1,522; Prothonotary, James C. Marshall, Girard, 1,155; Register and Re- corder, E. D. Gunnison, 1,396 ; Commissioner, three years, James Duncan, North East, 1,420; Commissioner, one year, Horace Powers, Washington, 1,874; Coroner, P. P. Glazier, Erie, 1,391; Auditor, Martin Strong, Beaver Dam, 1,408. Dr. William Johns, Erie, who had pre- viously sought the Anti-Masonic nomination for the office, announced himself as an inde- pendent candidate for Assembly, and was sup- ported by a portion of the Democrats. He received 1,137 votes in the county. A proposition to build a county poor house was submitted to the people, and defeated by a majority of 154 votes. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 225 ORGANIZATION OF THE WHIG PARTY—HARRI- SON AND TYLER ELECTED. 1840—Before this year, each township took care of its own poor. A proposition to build a county poor house met with much opposi- tion, but, on being submitted to a vote of the people at the spring elections, was carried by a vote of 1,599 in favor to 1,515 against. At this election, Justices of the Peace were chosen by popular vote for the first time, their se- lection having been previously vested in the Governor. The Anti-Masonic party had by this time given up the ghost, and the Whig party was organized upon its remains. The Whig can- didate for Congress was William A. Irvine, of Warren county; the Democratic, Arnold Plumer, of Venango. Below is the vote in the district : IRVINE. PLUMER. TOTie Shek oes ec arteale aunts 3,301 2,005 Crawiordini ich itegeeecaue eau oan 2,175 2,640 VenaUP 0. v.23 sediwile ngs ctaidseaees 679 1,007 Warréenscsccaceas xaxves~ esas ce 835 925 CLALION isos. Seid saa ates Hee 610 1,329 TG tall sancaiit-ge nate ash neleineeins 2 7,600 7,906 The county tickets, with the vote for each candidate, were as follows: Whig—Assembly, Stephen Skinner, Mc- Kean, 3,289; James D. Dunlap, Erie, 3,281; Sheriff, E. W. M. Blaine, North East, 8,296, Commissioner, Russell Stancliff, Washington, 3,284; Auditor, James Miles, Girard township, 8,247. Democratic—Assembly, William Town- send, Springfield, 2,088; Anthony Saltsman, Mill Creek, 2,080; Sheriff, Benjamin F. Nor- ris, Greene, 2,012; Commissioner, James Duncan, North East, 2,004; Auditor, G. J. Stranahan, Concord, 2,002. At this election, Directors of the Poor were chosen for the first time, each township having before elected its own Overseers. The candidates on the Whig ticket were Thomas R. Miller, Springfield; James Benson, Water- ford township; and George W. Walker, Har- bor Creek, all of whom were elected. The Democratic candidates were William W. Warner, Fairview; Sherburn Smith, Erie; and William Wyatt, Harbor Creek. At the general election following, the Whig candidates were: For President, Gen. William H. Harrison, of Ohio; for Vice Pres- ident, John Tyler, of Virginia. John Dick, of Crawford county, was the Whig elector for this district. The Democrats again supported Van Buren and Johnson. Stephen Barlow, of Crawford county, was the electoral candi- date. The following is the vote of the county : HARRISON. VAN BUREN. Erie, West ward........ Bare. TALS 96 Erie, Bast “ ces.acessae 203-378 83-179 McKean. : ovecc jo sseceswos 2 208 71 PaitviWisc ead idad schmniune- 32 247 53 Springfield................ 285 87 Commeattt «2066s cinewe is 197 125 Waterford township........ 172 67 Harbor Creek.............. 227 106 North East township...... 158 174 Greenfield. ..............0.. 91 55 UP PAO Hos sed coe = oy kis 81 36 Venango and Wattsburg.. 122 69 Washington and Edinboro. 244 71 Greene: occsnameasei oobns 112 66 Elk Creek 163 137 Concord ss 1.6395 siexeese site 38 81 AMItY vis sgeereisae we egal 46 61 Waynes. nance San eeenedaas 85 51 LéBGUE. ates ec ewes ca sens 71 93 Girard: oiueameensaalenaane 301 229 Mill Creek................. 319 182 North East borough ...... 43 38 Waterford borough........ 46 30 Totals cieracsaenas eganne 3,636 2,061 In the State—Harrison, 144,021; Van Buren, 148,672. Harrison and Tyler. were elected. The former served only one month, when he died in office, and was succeeded by John Tyler. BEGINNING OF THE ABOLITION PARTY. 1841—The Whig candidate for Governor was John Banks, of Berks county, formerly of Mercer; the Democrats again supported David R. Porter, of Huntingdon. The county gave Banks 2,956 votes, and Porter 1,855. In the State the vote was: For Porter 186,504; Banks, 118,478. The Abolitionists held their first conven- tion in Pennsylvania this year, and nominated Dr. Francis J. LeMoyne, of Washington county, for Governor, who received 736 votes in all. Of these, forty were cast in Erie county. The Democrats made no nomination for the State Senate, and supported John W. Farrelly, of Crawford, who ran as an inde- pendent Whig candidate. John Dick, of Crawford, was the regular Whig candidate. The vote of the district was as follows: NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 226 DICK. FARRELLY. Tie: cla Maen ct he dy cerca cae 2,663 1,955 Crawford..... 1,887 2,774 PV OtA] fawn aida whvnks ota aes 4,550 4,729 The county tickets, with the votes, were as follows: Whig—Assembly, James D. Dunlap, Erie, 2,683; Stephen C. Lee, Greene, 2,640; Com- missioner, David Sawdey, Conneaut, 2,489; Treasurer, James Williams, Erie, 2,589; Audi- tor, Moses Barnett, Fairview, 2,571; Director of the Poor, Conrad Brown, of Mill Creek (no opposition). The Democrats made no nominations, but supported Independent candidates, as follows: Assembly, Robert S. Hunter, Erie, 1,696; William Miner, Harbor Creek, 1,667 ; Commis- sioner, Ira Parker, Mill Creek, 1,465; Treas- urer, John Hughes, Erie, 1,866; Auditor, Joseph Y. Moorhead, Harbor Creek, 1,327. COUNTY TREASURER FIRST ELECTED. Mr. Williams was the first County Treas- urer chosen by popular vote. 1842—The Whig county ticket, with the vote for each candidate, was as follows: Assembly, Stephen Skinner, McKean, 1,880; Lyman Robinson, Wattsburg, 1,864; Prothon- otary, Wilson King, Erie,. 1,928; Register, Thomas Moorhead, Jr., Erie, 2,480; Commis. sioner, Joseph Henderson, Mill Creek, 2,075; Coroner, Hezekiah Bates, Erie, 1,971; Auditor, Benjamin Gunnison, Greene, 2,027; Director of the Poor, John Evans, sr., Mill Creek , 1,982. The Democrats made no regular nomina- tions, but supported Independent candidates for the various offices. The Abolitionists had a regular ticket in the field for every office ex- cept Director of the Poor. Below is a list of all the candidates, with their votes: Assembly, Dr. William Johns, Erie (Inde- pendent Whig), 989; Sylvester W. Randall (Democrat), Erie, 1,358; Joseph Neely, (Working Men's), Harbor Creek, 117; David H. Chapman (Abolitionist), Fairview, 216; James M. Moorhead (Abolitionist), Harbor Creek, 288; Prothonotary, James C. Marshall (Democrat), Girard, 1,627; George Kellogg (Abolitionist), Erie, 179; Register, William Gray (Abolitionist), Wayne, 184; Commis- sioner, Matthew Greer (Democrat), North East, 781; William Himrod (Abolitionist), Erie, 166; Coroner, Alex Mehaffey (Abolition- ist), Erie, 801; Auditor, William Vincent (Abolitionist), Waterford, 162; Director of the Poor, John Gingrich (Democrat), Mill Creek, 717. CANAL COMMISSIONERS FIRST ELECTED. 1843 — The first Canal Commissioners elected by popular vote were chosen this year. The Whig candidates were William Tweed, Benjamin Weaver, and Simeon Gulliford ; the Democratic, James Clark, Jesse Miller and William B. Foster, Jr. The average Whig majority in the county was about 1,150. The Democrats carried the State by an average majority of 14,500. Hugh Mehaffey, Hugh D. King and James Moorhead ran as Inde- pendent Anti-Masons, and received about 270 votes in the State. The Whig candidate for Congress was Charles M. Reed, of Erie; the Democratic, Dr. Galbraith A. Irvine, of Warren. The vote of the district was as follows: REED. IRVINE. Bott e2 a5 5 Sa nee vannrawe ica dee 2,867 1,560 Warts cs ctics nen alecnnelgeaemalen ieee & 620 860 McKie ait y's adits 4 ares see Bains 259 342 POUEEi sk veesons oxen iabamunadan 135 405 Fis 1-9 a.) « ee ee 449 536 Clarins seacunncie dad. ent Bonnet 743 1,330 AE Ota lane ita cnacateenaaigatela te wena 5,073 5,033 The apportionment bill of 1842 made a Senatorial district of Erie county. Elijah Babbitt was the Whig candidate, and James C. Marshall the Democratic. The vote was for Babbitt 2,646, for Marshall 1,554. Galen Foster, Abolition candidate, received seventy- three votes. The following was the vote for other candidates : Whig—Assembly, James D. Dunlap, Erie, 2,586; David A. Gould, Springfield, 2,578; Sheriff, William E. McNair, Mill Creek, 2,465; Commissioner, Robert Gray, Union, 2,648; Treasurer, Gideon J. Ball, Erie, 2,595; Auditor, William M. Arbuckle, Erie, 2,574; Director of the Poor, James Anderson, Water- ford township, 2,544. Democratic—Assembly, Martin Greene, 1,657; George H. Cutler, Elk 1,639; Sheriff, James Lytle; Erie, 1,729; Commissioner, G. J. Stranahan, Concord, 1,504; Treasurer, Stephen C. Walker, Erie, | 1,481; Auditor, Eli Webster, Greene, 1,561; Strong, Creek, AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 227 Director of the Poor, Joseph E. Lee, North East, 1,512. Abolition—Assembly, Wm. Gray, Wayne, seventy-nine; James M. Moorhead, Harbor Creek, eighty-seven; Sheriff, Alex. McClellan, Mill Creek, eighty-six; Commissioner, John B. Fluke, Erie, seventy-three; Treasurer, Clinton George, Erie, eighty-five; Auditor, Ambrose Shelly, Harbor Creek, ninety; Di- rector of the Poor, Samuel Brecht, Fairview, ninety-—six. THE CLAY AND POLK CAMPAIGN—GENERAL REED DEFEATED AND JUDGE THOMPSON ELECTED. 8 1844—For Governor, the Democrats nom- inated Francis R. Shunk, Allegheny county ; the Whigs, Gen. Joseph Markle, Westmore— land; the Abolitionists, F. J. LeMoyne, Washington. Erie county gave Markle 8,501 votes, Shunk, 2,207, and LeMoyne, sixty-nine. The vote of the State was as follows: Shunk, 160,408; Markle, 156,120; Le- Moyne, 2,675. The candidates for Canal Commissioner were Simeon Gulliford, Whig; Joshua Harts- horn, Democrat; William Larimer, Jr., Abo- lition. The vote was about the same as that for Governor. Gen. Reed was renominated by the Whigs for Congress. James Thompson, Erie, was the Democratic, and John Mann, Potter, the Abolition candidate. The vote of the district was as follows : THOMP- REED SON. BY i@scde tenn vit wdaweae ne eee aes ues 3,554 2,180 Wear te thes seks seit inte haa a8 a naeeoms lave 856 1,061 Mec Reaitis so dauiasus vie eeasiaan 054 311 415 Potteries cic ctace sees dada stele sss 206 531 JOETSON, oh acs ed eet HOw SSE E See 638 777 ClariOtiyid ac setae ordcad tires aS teas 799 1,868 otal, igod vachGaentewmeeidaes.e 6,364 6,832 Mr. Mann received but ninety votes in all, of which forty-five were cast in Erie county. Hamlin Russell, Abolition, also received four- teen votes in this county. The county tickets, with the vote for each candidate, were as follows: Whig—Assembly, Mark Baldwin, North East, 8,442; James D. Dunlap, Erie, 3,445; Commissioner, Isaac Webster, Fairview, 8,848; Auditor, Thomas Pierce, LeBeuf, 3,880; Director of Poor, David Kennedy, Erie, 3,8332—all being elected. Democratic—Assembly, George H. Cut- ler, Girard, 2,147; David Allison, North East, 2,185; Commissioner, James Wilson, Green- field, 2,210; Auditor, Michael Jackson, Con- neaut, 2,148; Director of Poor, James M. Reed, Mill Creek, 2,156. Abolition—Assembly, David H. Chap- man, Fairview; Aaron Kellogg, Erie; Com- missioner, Nathaniel Wilson, Union; Audi- tor, Alexander McClellan, Mill Creek; Direc- tor of Poor, Silas Walker, Harbor Creek. This ticket received an average of about seventy votes. A vote was taken to decide whether the main line of the State public works should be sold or not. The proposition received a ma- jority of 447 in Erie county, but was defeated in the general vote of the State by a majority of 21,488. The Whig party nominated Henry Clay, of Kentucky, for President, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, for Vice Pres- ident. William A. Irvine was the electoral candidate for this district. The Democratic nominees were James K. Polk, of Tennessee, for President, and George M. Dallas, of Penn- sylvania, for Vice President. Christian Myers, of Clarion county, was the candidate for elec- tor. The Abolitionists ran James G. Birney, of Michigan, for President, who received seventy-four votes in the county and 8,188 in the State. James M. Moorhead, of Harbor Creek, was the candidate for elector. The following was the Whig and Demo- cratic vote in the county : CLAY. POLK. 151 118 170-321 112-230 AMY ci rectn ses Bay spa swe 37 77 CONGOLG ec iiaeuads Meng sade SOS FUSER 45 89 Conneaut "8 son qcongen eases 4 saawenk 1,497 ans Sixth tt WHAT SRE EPEAT spina 1,498-19,646 EP el Soe geunds eit cup aes Se 6,583 Third “ o.0....... cesses 5,378 MOUTH “soe cos vam hina salewnaces 5,799 Met la | 8-2) capac euietin weno ek 2,348 — Sixth pean na aeeasasaReukenes 3,000-27,737 Sot 9,925 Tica FS naa: ce geutede taco aan 7,318 BE OP? cae ysns ys aweut toca 7,292, Bitth epee ee 4,360 Sixthia 8. eee ates 5,187-40,634 CHAPTER II. Brizr Descrirerion or Erte—Its STREAMS, STREETS, Burtpines, Erc.—LocaL Divi- sions—City Finances, RIE CITY is beautifully situated on the south shore of Presque Isle bay, which forms its harbor, eighty-eight miles west of Buffalo, and ninety-five miles east of Cleveland, in the midst of the very garden spot of the Lake Shore region. The country immediately adjacent to the city is a famous fruit, grape, grain and berry section, and the climate is as healthful as can be found anywhere in Amer- ica. The bluff on which the city stands is from fifty to seventy feet above the aver- age surface of the bay, and from there the land ascends by gentle degrees to a height of over 200 feet in the southern portion. The location is an ideal one for a city, affording as it does, the best of facilities for drainage and sewerage, combined with easy access to all parts of the country, splendid markets and rare opportunities for business and pleasure, AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. The area of the city is given in Hanlon’s Manual as nearly seven square miles, and it contains more than 4,4264 acres. By official measurements, the elevation of the bluff along the bay front, beginning at Parade street and running west on Second, is as follows: Parade street, nineteen feet; German, fifty-eight; Holland, fifty-nine; French, fifty-eight; State, fifty-six; Peach, fifty-nine; Sassafras, sixty-three; Myrtle, sixty-three; Chestnut, sixty-seven; Walnut, seventy; Cherry, fifty; Poplar, sixty-one; Liberty, seventy. Starting at Second street and running south on State, the following are the elevations: Second, fifty-six feet; Third, sixty-five; Fourth, seventy-one ; Fifth, seventy- five; Sixth, seventy -seven ; Seventh, eighty - two; Eighth,eighty-five ; Ninth, eighty-eight; Tenth,ninety: Eleventh, ninety-three: Twelfth, ninety-five. Crossing over from State to Peach street and following the latter southward, Thirteenth street has an elevation above the bay of 100 feet; Fourteenth, 104; Sixteenth, 120; Eighteenth, 126; Twenty-first, 144; Twenty-second, 157; and Twenty-fifth, 194; while the bottom of the reservoir on Twenty- sixth street is 210 feet. STREAMS AND RAVINES. The site is divided into two distinct water- sheds by the stream of Mill creek, which flows through a ravine of considerable depth, ex- tending the entire width of the city from north to south. Other streams within the city limits are: | Garrison run, Cascade run, Little Cascade run and the Lighthouse run. All of these empty into the bay from the high lands in the south, and have cut quite formid- able ravines in the bluff at and for some dis- tance above their mouths. Mill creek received its name because it furnished water for the first mill in the county; Garrison run because it passed through the military reservation or garrison grounds; the two Cascade runs from the falls in their course just before entering the bay, and Lighthouse run on account of passing near the land lighthouse. Lee’s run and Ichabod run, once sparkling little streams, have been taken into the sewers—the latter into the one which follows the line of the old canal, between Peach and Sassafras streets, and the other at Seventeenth street. Ichabod run, which was a tributary of Mill creek, furnished 393 motive power for a brewery, distillery and woolen factory. STREETS AND AVENUES. The city has nearly 106 miles of streets opened and in use, of which 19.488 miles had been paved up to August, 1895. The material used in paving, not including the work done in 1895, was as follows: Stone, 6.951 miles; sheet asphalt, 9.274 miles; vitrified brick, 2.409. The names of the thoroughfares within and adjacent to the city limits, as given on the map at the water office, are as follows: North and South Streets. Ash, Gilson, Perry, Brandes, Harrison, Plum, Brewster, Hazel, Poplar, Cascade, Hess, Raspberry, Caldwell road, Hickory, Reed, Cedar, Holland, Ross, Cochran, Kellogg, Sassafras, Cherry, Liberty, Scouller, Chestnut, North avenue, State, Cottage avenue, Maple (E. side), Vine, Cranberry, Maple (S. Erie), Wallace, Division, Myrtle, Walnut, East avenue, Newman, Wayne, Elm, Parade, Wilson, Evans, Payne, Wood. French, Peach, German, Penn, East and West Streets. Front, Eighteenth, Atkins, Second, Nineteenth, Burton, Third, Twentieth, Canal, Fourth, Twenty-first, Center, Fifth, Twenty-second, Columbus. Sixth, Twenty-third, Eliott, Seventh, Twenty-fourth, Huron, Eighth, Twenty-fifth, Lake road, Ninth, Twenty-sixth, McCarter, Tenth, Twenty-seventh Nagle, Eleventh, Twenty-eighth, Park Place (N.), Twelfth, Twenty-ninth, Park Place (S.), Thirteenth, Thirtieth, Prospect, Fourteenth, Thirty-first, Queen, Fifteenth, Thirty-second, Ritner, Sixteenth, Thirty-third, Short, Seventeenth, Thirty-fourth, South. Brown’s avenue, Bluff road, Buffalo road, Chestnut lane, Eliot avenue, French road, Horton, Hill road, Marvin avenue, Moorhead, Diagonal Streets. Orchard avenue, Railroad, Scott, Summit, Turnpike, Turnpike road(S.Peach), Warfel, Waterford plank road, Waterford avenue, Wattsburg road. 394 AND RESIDENCE STREETS AND PUBLIC PARKS. BUSINESS State street, including North and South Park Places, is the main business thoroughfare of the city. The next in importance are Parade street, in the German section, Turn- pike street, and Peach street, from Twelfth to Twenty-sixth. State and Parade, being wide, straight, nearly level streets, are admirably adapted for the purpose to which they have been placed. A large business is also done on north French, west Eighth, west Eighteenth and a part of Sassafras streets. The finest residence streets are Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twenty-first, running east and west, and Sas- safras, Myrtle, Chestnut and Walnut extend- ing north and south, on which are some as handsome homes as can be found in any city twice the size of Erie. Elegant residences, however, are to be found on anumber of other streets; and several of these bid fair to com- pete in course of time with the present favor- ites. The homes of the middle and work- ing classes are generally neat, handsome and comfortable. Indeed, it is a subject of re- mark, that an untidy or unprepossessing home is the exception rather than the rule in Erie, and that the working people are better housed than many of the rich in other communities. On most of the residence streets pretty little grass plots line the outer edge of the side- walks, and there is scarcely a locality, apart from the business sections, that is not bounti- fully shaded. The city contains four parks within its limits, proper, viz.: Central, at the intersec- tion of Sixth and State streets; Cascade, at West Sixth and Liberty streets; Lakeside, on Front, between Geiman and Sassafras streets ; and the park surrounding the water-works. All of these will be treated of at more length in another chapter. STREET NAMES CHANGED. A number of the street names have been changed from what they were originally. These are as folluws—the first being the pres- ent name and the last the original : Fifth (east of Parade), Hickory Lane. Sixth (east of Parade), Birch Lane. Seventh (east of Parade), Maple Lane. Eighth (east of Parade), Ironwood Lane. NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Ninth (east of Parade), Dogwood Lane. Tenth (east of Parade), Elm Lane. Eleventh (east of Parade), Locust Lane. Twelfth (east of Parade), Pear Lane. Thirteenth, Canal street. Fourteenth, Washington street. Fifteenth, Penn street, also as Pearl be- tween German and Parade. Sixteenth, Court, also as Sterrett between French and Holland. Seventeenth, Lafayette, also as Ichabod. Eighteenth, Buffalo street or road. Nineteenth, Green street. Twentieth, Monroe street. Twenty-first, Simpson street. Twenty second, Brown street. Twenty-third, Washington street. Twenty-fourth, Franklin street. Twenty-fifth, Eagle street. Twenty-sixth, South street, also as Ridge road. Twenty-eighth, Water street, also as Ar- buckle. Ash (south of Twenty-eighth), Lemon street. Reed, Maclay street. East avenue (south of Twenty-eighth) Vine street. Twenty-ninth (between Ash and East av- enue), Cameron street. Wayne, Beech Lane. Wallace, Hemlock Lane. WIDTH OF STREETS, ETC. The map in the water office furnishes the information below in regard to the width of the several thoroughfares in the city : East and west streets are all sixty feet wide, except the following: Lake road, fifty feet. Sixth and Tenth streets, 100 feet. . Seventh street, east of city limits, fifty eet. Twelfth street to East avenue, 100 feet; east of East avenue, eighty feet. Fourteenth street, from Turnpike to Sas- safras, fifty feet. Sixteenth street, from Peach to State, forty-five feet; from Raspberry to Cranberry, fifty feet. Seventeenth street, from feet. Eighteenth street, fifty feet. State west, fifty AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. Twenty-first, Twenty-second and Twenty- third streets, east of East avenue, fifty feet. Twenty-sixth street, 100 feet at west line of Peach, tapering to seventy feet at Sassa- fras; from Sassafras to Chestnut seventy feet ; from Peach to State, ninety feet. Canal street, fifty teet. Queen street, forty-five feet. Diagonal strects are all sixty feet wide, except the following : ? Brown’s avenue, eighty feet. Eliot avenue, forty-five feet. Orchard and Horton streets, fifty feet. Hill road, Buffalo road, old French road and Wattsburg road, fifty feet. Railroad and Summit streets, fifty feet. Peach street, south of Twenty-sixth, sev- enty-five feet. Waterford avenue, seventy-five feet. Waterford plank road, forty-five feet. Marvin avenue, fifty feet. North and south streets are all sixty feet wide, except the following: Liberty, State and Parade streets, 100 feet. Maple (South Erie), Hazel, Hickory, Division, Wilson, Newman, Ross, Brewster and Elm streets, fifty feet. Cedar street, forty feet. Gilson avenue, eighty feet. East avenue, from the lake to Twelfth street, 100 feet; south of Twelfth to the Buf- falo road, eighty feet; south of the Buffalo road to Twenty-eighth street, sixty feet. STREET NUMBERS. The city ordinance relating to the number- ing of streets, provides as follows: ‘¢ Beginning on Front street on the north, and extending to the city limits on the south, the numbers shall be placed on each separate dwelling and business place, and shall begin at Front street with No. 101, and all even numbers shall be placed on the west side, and all odd numbers on the east side of streets running north and south, and each square on a street shall include 100 numbers, so that the first number on each square shall be the be- ginning of hundreds corresponding to the number of the street on the north side of the square or block, and for the purpose of so numbering twenty and seven-twelfths feet shall be considered a lot on all the streets in said city. ‘¢ All buildings on streets running east and 395 west shall be numbered beginning at State street and numbering east and west therefrom to the limits of the city; even numbers shall be placed on the north side and odd numbers on the south side of said street and shall begin at State street with No. one, and each square shall include 100 numbers.” STREET LIGHTING. The streets and public grounds of the city of Erié were lighted on August 1, 1895, by 478 gas lamps at $21.50 each per annum, and by 276 electric arc lamps each of 2,000 candle power at $62.05 per annum. The electric lighting has been furnished from the begin- ning by the Edison company, Chas. H. Strong, president. The contract for 1895 re- quires the lights to be supplied from dusk to daylight every night in the year. SEWERAGE. The city is well sewered, and is steadily being improved in this respect. Up to 1894 more than thirty-six and one-half miles of sewers had been built, over ten miles of which were brick and the balance tile. This was increased in 1894-5 to the extent of 2.876 miles, making a total length of sewerage in August, 1895, of nearly thirty-nine and one- sixth miles. The cost of the sewerage has been $607,200. PUBLIC BUILDINGS, CHURCHES, ETC. The main public edifices are the United States building, at State street and North Park row (used as the postoffice, collector's office, etc.) ; the old Custom House on State street near Fourth, the Court House, the City Hall and the County Jail. Of church buildings there are three Bap- tist, six Lutheran, five Methodist Episcopal, four Presbyterian, one United Presbyterian, four Episcopalian, ten Roman Catholic and two more projected, one Universalist, one Church of Christ, (known asthe Tabernacle), one Christian and one Hebrew synagogue, The Young Men’s Christian Association have a good building at Tenth and Peach streets. The structures used for charitable purposes are the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, the Home for the Friendless, the Hamot Hospital, St. Vincent’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Orphan Asy- lum and the Old Folks’ Home. 396 There are three academy buildings: Villa Maria, St. Benedict’s and the Erie academy. The principal places of amusement are the Opera House and Wonderland, but there are numerous halls for public entertainment. Among these are: Music Hall, Wayne, Ga- bel’s, Penn, Liedertafel, Maennerchor, Wal- ther’s, Grand Army, Jarecki’s and the East Erie. The public school buildings are unusually large and well-planned, and the Central School building is one of the most imposing in the United States. The city contains four very fine market houses, owned by private companies or cor- porations. In the vicinity are numerous pleasure re- sorts and club houses, some of which have a wide reputation. The bay and lake, the well- paved and shaded streets, the splendid roads, the pure atmosphere, and the rich surrounding country, combine to make the city one of the most delightful residences that can be im- agined. No person need leave Erie in order to secure health, comfort or pleasure. RAILROADS, TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES, ETC. With five important lines of railroad—the Lake Shore, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis, the Philadelphia and Erie, the Erie and Pittsburg, and the Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake Erie—reaching east, west and south; and with the advantages of lake navigation seven to eight months in each year, Erie has transportation facilities that are almost un- rivalled. These, and the convenience to the coal regions, render it a profitable point for manufactures, and the city has become one of the leading manufacturing centers in the Union. The manufacturing interests are of such wide diversity and the business facilities so unusual that Erie is never affected by panics or hard times as places are that have to depend on a single industry or limited means of trans- portation. The city is supplied with an abundance of pure water, has an excellent electric motor system, and is lighted with both gas and elec- tricity. Natural gas is brought in from the mountain regions of Pennsylvania, and nearly every store, office and house has the benefit of this great convenience. It has live news- NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY papers, an able bar, an earnest pulpit, and a social, intelligent and refined population. Take it all together, few places have the advantages that Erie possesses, and the person who cannot content himself within its limits will never be satisfied this side of Paradise. [For a fuller account of the several sub- jects referred to above see other chapters of this work. ] LOCAL NAMES, In early years the outside territory now included within the city or adjacent to it was divided into various small settlements, each of which had a local title that in some cases still adheres to it. The names which are most frequently heard now-a-days are Cloughs- burg, Stumptown, New Jerusalem, or Jeru- salem, Kingtown, Federal Hill, Marvintown, South Erie, Warfeltown and Weigelville. Cloughsburg was named after Rufus Clough, who located on the southwest corner of Sixth and Parade streets, opened a black- smith shop and subsequently a grocery. The house of Col. Charles M. Lynch was the residence of Maj. Clough during the latter part of his career. Stumptown grew up during the last war with Great Britain, when troops were called to Erie in January, 1814. A number of cab- ins were built by them for quarters, extending from Peach street to the gully of Lee’s run, and that part of Erie became known by the name above given. New Ferusalem was christened by Will- iam Himrod, sr., who, in 1828-29, bought a tract of land west of Sassafras and north of Sixth street. At that time there were but two families living west of Lee’s run and north of Sixth street, except upon the bank of the bay, where a few scattering houses had been erected. Mr. Himrod, who resided at French and Second streets, called his own home ** Jericho,” because, as he said, it was on the side of a hill, and, upon laying off his new purchase, he named it “*New Jerusalem.” A veteran lady of the city says, jokingly, that it received the title ‘‘ because it was so hard to get to,” there being a deep ravine—that of Lee’s run—between the settlement and the rest of the town, with only one or two rickety bridges crossing the stream. One of the con- ditions made by Mr. Himrod in selling lots was that each purchaser should build and oc- LNY i mp be ad by i La. 7 Engrave ete AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 397 cupy a house, the result of which was that quite a village sprung up in a few years. Kingtown was laid out by Alfred King, on some outlots owned by him a little southeast of the Garrison ground, now occupied by the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. Federal Fitll was the summit of the ridge at Peach and Twenty-sixth streets. Thename was given to it by George Moore, on account of the number of ‘‘ Federals” who resided there. It was quite a settlement as early as the war of 1812, and several public houses and stores were located at that point. One of the hotels was the ‘‘ American Eagle,” from which it also came to be known as Eagle Village. The settlement was a great stopping place for travelers, being the terminus of the Waterford pike and Ridge road. It was long the voting place of Mill Creek township. Sixty years ago a mile of woods lay between Federal Hill and Erie, from the business part of which the village was nearly two miles distant. Among those who resided on ‘‘Fed- eral Hill” were George Moore, Capt. John Justice, Ira Glazier, Dr. P. Faulkner, John Sweeney, Simeon Dunn and Dr. Plara Thayer. Marvintown was the home of Elisha Mar- vin, who lived at the ‘‘ Sennett place,” near the junction of Parade street and the Watts- burg road, and owned most of the land around. Being the intersection of two roads, a small village sprang into existence, and in 1852-58 Mr. Marvin employed Samuel Low to lay out the land in lots. The lots were sold principally to Germans, and finally Mr. Mar- vin disposed of his home to Pardon Sennett. South Erie grew up in consequence of the building of the Lake Shore R. R., which was finished to Erie January 10, 1852. The place was incorporated as a borough in 1866, and became a part of Erie by the extension of the city limits in 1870. The borough limits included the territory bounded by Eighteenth, Twenty-sixth, Parade and Cherry streets. War feltown, a recent cognomen, embraces the farm of M. Warfel, sr., on the southeast side of the city, along the Philadelphia and Erie R. R. It was laid out into lots by Jacob Warfel, and has grown with surprising rap- idity. Weigeltown or Weigelville, as it is vari- ously called, at the intersection of Brown’s avenue with the Ridge road, was named after 26 George Weigel, sr., who bought fifty acres in 1888, and laid out the Ridge road front into building lots. The hotel at Weigletown was long a famous stopping place for parties com- ing to and driving from Erie. The village was then a mile and a half from the original borough limits. WARD LIMITS. The city is divided into six wards and thirty-two election districts. The limits of the wards are as follows: Wards. First Ward—All that portion of the city east of State and north of Eighth street. Second Ward—East of State from Eighth to Eighteenth street. ; Third Ward—West of State from Eighth to Eighteenth street. Fourth Ward—West of State and north of Eighth street. Fifth Ward—East of Peach and south of Eighteenth street. Sixth Ward—West of Peach and south of Eighteenth street. Those of the election districts are as fol- lows: ELECTION DISTRICTS. First Ward. 1—East of Reed, Eighth to Lake. 2—Fifth to Eighth, State to Parade. 8—State to Parade, Lake to Third. 4—Parade to Reed, Eighth to Lake. 5—Third to Fifth, State to Parade. Second Ward. 1—Twelfth to Eighteenth, Ash to Parade. 2—Eighth to Tenth, Parade to State. 8—Twelfth to R. R. tracks, Parade to State. 4—Ejighth to Eleventh, East of Ash. 5—Eighth to Twelfth, Ash to Parade. 6—Tenth to Twelfth, Parade to State. 7—Eleventh to Eighteenth, Ash east to city limits. 8—R. R. tracks to Eighteenth, Parade to State. Third Ward. 1—Twelfth to Eighteenth, State to Sassa- fras. i 2—Eighth to Tenth, State to Chestnut. 398 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 8—Eighth to R. R. tracks, Chestnut to Liberty. 4—Twelfth to Eighteenth, Sassafras to Chestnut. 5—Tenth to Twelfth, State to Chestnut. 6—Eighth to Eighteenth, Liberty street west. 7—R.R. tracks to Eighteenth, Chestnut to Liberty. Fourth Ward. 1—Fifth to Lake, Chestnut to Poplar. 2—Fifth to Lake, State to Chestnut. 8—Third to Lake, State to Chestnut. 4—Poplar west, Eighth to Lake. 5—Fifth to Eighth, Chestnut to Poplar. 6—Third to Fifth, State to Chestnut. Fifth Ward. 1—Eighteenth south, Peach to Holland and Honecker. 2—Eighteenth south, Parade to Wayne. 8—Eighteenth south, Parade to Holland and Honecker. 4—Eighteenth south, Wayne east. Sixth Ward. 1—Eighteenth to Twenty-first, Peach to Cherry. 2—Twenty-first to Twenty-fifth, Peach to Cherry. 3—Cherry west, Eighteenth south. 4—Twenty-fifth south, Peach to Cherry. [See Political Record in General History of Erie county. ] CITY FINANCES. The city debt December 81, 1888, was $1,114,584, of which $685,677.06 were incur- red in constructing the water system. This had been reduced on August 1, 1895, to $841,- 700. The interest on the debt for the year 1882 was $81,872; that on the present debt is only $34,360, or less than half of what it was twelve and a half years ago. This reduction is due, in part, to the refunding of a large portion of the debt at a lower rate of interest. The taxes, &c., collected in 1882 were $286,- 338 ; in 1894 the amount collected was as given beloav, being exclusive of paving and sewer assessments : City taxes (regular)..................5 $216,407.83 Delinquent taxeS........... eee eee oe 16,820.24 Delinquent penalty................005. 2,175.56 Costs on land sold for taxes........... 84.20 Rents for street markets............. 4,250.00 Rents for hay and wood markets....., 708.00 License for Central Market Company. 100.00 City fines, etc., from Mayor........... 2,264.40 City fines, etc., from Aldermen........ 12.00 Liquor licenses for 1894............... 39,750.00 Billiard licenses for 1894............... 327.75 Moving permits...................000. 85.00 Building permits...................... 41.50 Boat house rents......... 0. cece eee eens 57.00 Surveys, etc., from the Engineer’s de- Partmiren ts oi4 cides edecsed deed wee 336.85 Premium on bonds sold................ 2,749.50 Interest on bonds sold................. 2,666.66 Interest on deposits........... 0.0. cee ee 1,734.72 POt ale’ Pounte obnatienios sae aaeeamals $290,571.21 ASSESSMENTS. The city assessments for 1883 and 1895 compare as follows: 1883. 1895. First ward. ............ 0005 $2,164,980 $2.315,473 Second “ .............0. 2,592,183 3,677,343 Phirds ac,cau cents. ese 3,518,936 4,595,546 Fourth “ 00.0.0... 00... 2,798,220 3,435,585 itt) weg fn fer. care aed instruc- LEU DE tk orhing “omen, during 4 > pees eelewhere than in ‘ wert) Preseduud, copidey Furst Vice President, xs 2s Paci: Serond Viee-Vresident, Me Meyer Sow tury, Mire, Wim. Ea mest, Ades Chas. Wi. Dayen- pie afte _ge's rey resenting the different Bier as jeer a he f the city. The Rtrr es, astablished on Exst bbe removes as circum. ac we Sixzal, « 8 the meats che ates a fearin. the vear ending “Res, Po teuie the seciety received 4231.29, saber of curending November 21, 184, Pet o8 veo a betaince of #162.87 oo vteft ao small sum wiih “ ea new aoa Dhe nursery to sie cay das ; M Leo WY op, a, amd Te tage ee fea for each thai % & Veereh 1, f204, The eh. ro naciety is one dobar oer + Li gt pers. who pays Leth ea? Wad Rat “Wife t tet pay BN ALITY ut | . in or POTION, Wa Vd In September {tt a free kinder: with trained tencgerr, was eota ablishee, ORS He hate Spencer herpg momerings vdent, an SY. Ophe ha Pierce: agente al A kimider. year coneisi-.. ° thirtyeeight weeks. 6 ee of children adrni ited fiom Bite 7. A’ kindergarien (ratte .g cies is aigersg¢ + which is orgenized aac. om the 1 day in Seprember. “The ethcers of he ossociation in. 18Hb w+ Mrs. Giidiey, Presidvnt, “irs. lik ates Ms F. M. Cra + View-Prendents; Mb vencie Pressley, Secretary, Xtes, Dr. Bak: Preu-urer, ERI GACHANGE FOR WOMEN'S WUaK The Erie Exchange rar Wormens "AU: woe e-toblishned in 1882. ai i2yh Lest masse street. The object wastocondvete piace = | the productiuns of womer © Waudiwork . be seen and exchanged oreu!' 9 Mfrs. Aw Leet was Pre-ident, v ith XM a. SV. See Mrs. Gencral Reed and Mis. judge Sout’ as Vice: Presidents. The Recording Sects: was Mre Douglas Bens ots tne Correst ary was Mrs. John Fh “charts. large ads ‘sory board ard board of munity assisted the principal officers. The Ex. ang opened \pril ty, i882, and closed in tp. Ik. 8. Durtr gs its continuance it, did ice in crearing a field for © omen’s work 4 meere kod Bk HOWMG OVPATHIC TROSPITAL, for a Hoeraawop, thic Plus, ‘arainipe School and Pree idispensars grancer Peek, the corporaturs being two well-kuown Peek: Tn to this da. objects of the organization have a a. realized to the exit of estublishinu the ¢ - Dispe . Whicu is temporarily located I veaels street, apposite the | A charter ‘hs oY room on House. - CHAPTER VIII. CHURCHES, SUNDAY ScHoors AND RELIGIOUS Socreties.—[See Chapter XVIII, General History of Erie County. ] PRESBYTERIAN. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. An effort to establish a Presbyterian congre- gation in Erie was made as early as 1802, but failed of success. The first Presbyterian min- ister who preached within the city limits was Rey. Johnson Eaton, who had settled at the mouth of Walnut creek, in charge of the Fairview Church. An extract from his jour- nal reads thus: ‘‘Preached three months to ‘‘the congregations of Erietown, Springfield ‘‘and Mill Creek, beginning July, 1806, at ‘ninety dollars per quarter.” After this there is no account of regularly sustained services at Erie for several years. A church was or- ganized in September, 1815, and an engage- ment entered into with Mr. Eaton to give one- third of his time to the service of the congre- gation, the remainder of the year being divided between Fairview and North East. Services were then held and for awhile subse- quently in the old court-house, which was the general’ rendezvous for public exercises of all kinds. Judah Colt, a member of the church, and one of its Elders, had erected on Sassafras street, where Wm. Bell afterward resided, a frame building, which was used in part for school purposes. This became the first regu- lar place of worship, and was familiarly known for many years as ‘‘the yellow meet- ing house.”’ Among the early members and attendants of the church were Judah Colt, Giles San- ford, Thomas Laird, George Kellogg, John Evans, John Grubb, William Arbuckle, George Selden, Samuel Hays, George A. Eliot, Thomas H. Sill, Joseph M. Sterrett, the McClellands, Thomas Rees, Samuel Low, Robert, George and Arthur Davison, Warren and Calvin Foot, Benjamin, Giles and Ham- lin Russell, Adam, Joseph and Pressley Ar- buckle, Simeon, Ambrose and James Dunn, John and Andrew Norcross, Martin and Jo- seph Hayes, William Whitley, Joseph and Christian Ebersole, Michael Riblet, Abiather Crane, Wm. Saltsman, John Evans, William, Robert and James Henry, John Grubb, John and James Gray, John Justice, Joseph Abell, John Boyd, John Cochran, Ebenezer Graham, Joseph Johnston, John Pherrin, James and Samuel Love, the Reeds of Mill Creek, Sam- uel Hayes, Basil Hoskinson, Thos. H. Sill, Daniel Dobbins, P. S$. V. Hamot, J. C. Wal- lace, Josiah Kellogg, Thomas Mehaffey, John and James Dunlap, Thomas and Joseph G. Moorhead, William Himrod, J. C. Spencer, Jacob Vosburg, John Kelso, James Lytle, John Law, John Teel, George Moore, Guy Loomis, Myron Goodwin, Wm. Johns, Samuel Brown, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Wilkins, E. D. Gunnison, Frederick Wittich, E. C. Ben- nett, Alanson Sherwood, A. E. Foster, and Wm. Beatty. Others of a later date were C. F. Perkins, Augustin Austin, J. D. Clark, D. S. Clark, Chester B. Jones, Elihu Marvin, Pardon Sennett, James C. Marshall, Capt. Wm. Davenport, Prescott, James and Charles Metcalf, Ira W. Hart, James and John Will- iams, C. M. Tibbals, Robert T. Sterrett, David Shirk, Joseph Neeley, Gates and Elam Bennett, John Zimmerley, the Hiltons, Park- insons, Sampsons, Bonnells, McCrearys and Caugheys, John H. Burton, J. F. Downing, J. B. Gara, M. B. Lowry and Julius Morton. The first elders were Judah Colt and George Selden, sr. From 1818, for five years, Mr. Eaton gave one-half of his time to the Erie church. He was succeeded October 28, 1824, by Rev. David McKinney, who was ordained and in- stalled as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Erie April 18, 1825. Meantime, a brick church building had been erected on the 438 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY site of the present structure. The date of its construction was 1824, and it was dedicated September 1, 1825. The pastoral relation of Mr. McKinney was dissolved, at his own re- quest, in 1829, and, on the 29th of September of the same year, Rev. George A. Lyon was installed in charge of the congregation, a posi- tion he continued to hold for more than forty years. Under his energetic ministry large ac- cessions were made to the church during 1831-’82, years which were marked by great religious interest throughout the country. In 1857, more than a hundred were received at one time, as the fruits of a revival, and, in 1865, ninety were added in the same manner. At the great division of the Presbyterian Church in 1888, the First Church attached itself to the New School Assembly. The corner-stone of the present church building was laid on June 14, 1859, but the edifice was not completed until nearly three years later. The basement lecture room was ready for occupancy on March 25, 1860, and was used for the regular services of the con- gregation until the dedication of the main audience room on February 26, 1862. The Selden Memorial chapel, a gift from the lamented George Selden, in memory of his wife, Mrs. Anna L. Selden, was erected in 1891, and dedicated in February, 1892, the cost being $15,000, exclusive of the ground and furnishings, which were supplied by the congregation. «A new organ was placed in the church proper July, 1894, at an expense of $8,000. Rev. Dr. Lyon died on March 24, 1871, at Avon, N. Y., where he had gone for the sake of his health, and was succeeded by Rey. A. H. Carrier, who had been called as an asso- ciate pastor a short time previous. The latter began his services April 80, 1871, was installed December 7th of that year, and resigned in the fall of 1879. His successors have been as follows: Part of 1879-80, Rev. T. C. Easton; fall of 1880, Rev. William S. Fulton; sum- mer of 1889, Rev. J. H. Selden; Decem- ber 5, 1889, Rey. Herbert C. Ross, the presentincumbent. Rey. C. C. Kimball was assistant pastor of the church for a period pre- vious to the death of Dr. Lyon. At the semi-Centennial Celebration of the church held in 1875, Rev. A. H. Carrier, thus spoke : ‘“« This church—we say it in no self-glory- ing spirit—has been by force of its position, at the foundation of the present religious life of this city. The Associate Reformed, now the United Presbyterian, shares with it this pre-eminence. This church, however, has been fruitful in colonies. In the organization of the Episcopal Church you meet with many of the same names which you had before met with upon the subscription roll and church records of this congregation. In the organi- zation of the Baptist Church the same fact is in some measure true. * * - ‘* The church in East Mill Creek or Belle Valley was a child of this. ‘‘Upon the rolls of Park Church, organ- ized in 1854, recorded there as its founders, are the cherished and honored names of many who had been for years in the front rank of supporters and workers here, or who had been baptized at its font, been taught in its Sab- bath-school and had grown up under its in- fluences. “The Central Church, organized February, 1871, was a transplantation at once of officers from its session, an associate pastor from its pulpit, workers from its Sabbath school, and members from its community.” The societies of the church are: Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, or- ganized in 1870. Women’s Home Missionary Society, or- ganized in 1888. Pastor’s Aid Society, organized in 1885. Young People’s Society of Christian En- deavor, organized in 1887. Junior Society of Christian Endeavor, or- ganized in 1892. The Sunday-school of the church was es- tablished in 1825, and has always been well attended. The church maintains a Sunday- school mission in the eastern part of the city. PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Previous to the spring of 1855 several un- successful attempts had been made to establish an Old-School Presbyterian Church in Erie. Park Church dates its commencement in that year. The first service was held in a room in the fourth story of Cadwell’s block (now Ba- ker & Ostheimer’s), on State street, April 29, 1855, by Rev. William Wilson and Rey. 5S. J. M. Eaton. About thirty persons were present. The next meeting place was in Gensheimer’s hall, where, on the 28th of June, AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. 1855, the church was organized by a commit- tee appointed by the Presbytery of Erie. From there the congregation moved into a new building erected by Myron Sanford, ex- pressly for their use, on the east side of French street, between Sixth and Seventh, known as Park Hall, where they remained until the erection of a church building as hereinafter stated. The names enrolled as members were William Arbuckle, S. S. Spencer, D. B. Mc- Creary, Dyer W. Fitch and wife, Mrs. Mary Shattuck, Miss’ Sarah Ward, Mrs. Mary W. Fleury and Miss Kate M. Mason. A Sabbath-school was organized on July 15, 1855, with twenty-five or thirty scholars, S. S. Spencer, Esq., being elected superin- tendent. Rev. William Wilson supplied the pulpit till May, 1856, when Rev. William M. Blackburn was invited to become ‘‘ stated sup- ply”? of the church for one .year. Mr. Blackburn began his labors May 25, 1856. The church then numbered only twenty-four members. During the following year the church and Sabbath-school grew rapidly; a large Bible class was organized; the congre- gation increased ; benevolent operations were carried on with regularity and energy. May 27, 1857, Mr. Blackburn was installed pastor of the church, which had increased to thirty- five communicants. During the summer and autumn of 1857 the present house of worship was erected. It was dedicated December 22, 1857, with a sermon by Rev. Frederick T. Brown, of Cleveland, O. In 1858, forty-six persons were added to the church upon a pro- fession of faith—the largest increase, with one exception, which Park Church has yet enjoyed. Mr. Blackburn resigned after seven years of labor, and on the 22d of February, 1864, Rev. George F. Cain was chosen to be pas- tor. The call was accepted and Mr. Cain was installed May 11 of that year. At that time there were 127 communicants. In April, 1872, the parsonage on the corner of Sassa- fras and Seventh streets, was purchased. The year ending April, 1866, ninety-two commu- nicants were added to the church, of whom sixty-eight professed for the first time their faith in Christ. March 29, 1870, the pastoral relation be- tween Mr. Cain and the church was dissolved, in order that he might accept a call to Phila- delphia. The organization at the close of his pastorate numbered 242 communicants. The 439 pastors following Mr. Cain have been as fol- lows, the figures being the dates of their in- stallation: February 8, 1871, Rev. J. O. Denniston ; May 28, 1873, Rev. Thomas Ful- lerton ; April 20, 1886, Rev. J. G. Patterson; January 27, 1891. Rev. J. C. Chapman. The latter resigned February 8, 1895, and was suc- ceeded by Rev. B. Canfield Jones in Novem- ber of the same year. During Mr. Denniston’s pastorate the con- gregation built a chapel costing over $8,000, at Seventeenth and Chestnut streets, which has since grown into the Chestnut Street Pres- byterian Church. In 1877, while Dr. Fullerton was pastor, the home chapel, fronting on Seventh street, and connected with the main church edifice by acorridor, was erected at a cost of $5,500; largely through the generosity of Elihu Mar- vin. It was dedicated December 22, 1877, being the twentieth anniversary of the dedi- cation of the church. The interior of the main building was frescoed in 1882-8, and an organ put in, the entire cost being $9,000. The church erected a mission chapel in 1889 on Eighteenth street, between German and Parade, the congregation of which is in a flourishing condition. The chapel cost nearly $5,000, inclusive of the land, and the money was wholly contributed by members of Park Church. It was dedicated by Rev. Dr. Patterson, in September, 1889. Connected with the mission is a Sabbath-school and a Young People’s Society of Christian En- deavor, the latter organized in April, 1895. The Sabbath-school was started in 1884, five years before the mission was established. Mr. Spencer continued as Superintendent of the Park Church Sunday-school—with the exception of two years, when it was under the care of H. S. Jones and C. F. Allis— until 1891, when he resigned and was suc- ceeded by L. M. Little. Mr. Cain, pastor from 1864 to 1870, after leaving Erie, had charge of churches in Phila- delphia, Springfield, O., and Albion, N. Y. He dropped dead in his pulpit at the latter place, in the middle of his morning service, on September 21, 1890. The first elders and trustees of the church were as follows: Elders—Samuel S. Spencer, David Ag- new. 440 NELSON'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Trustees—Giles Sanford, Joseph Arbuckle, Ira W. Hart, Wm. C. Curry, J. C. Spencer, John Moore, D. W. Fitch. From its organization until 1891 the con- gregation raised for various church and benevo- lent objects the large sum of $257,436. The societies of the church are: Ladies’ Aid Society, organized in 1871. Foreign Missionary Society, organized August 22, 1871. Women’s Home Missionary Society, or- ganized in 1885. Young People’s Christian Endeavor So- ciety, organized in March, 1886. Junior Y. P. S. C. E., organized July 21, 1895. CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This congregation, the second offshoot from the First Presbyterian Church, was form- ally organized on February 28, 1871, services then and fora brief period afterward being held in Walther’s Hall. The original mem- bership consisted of fifty-four persons. David Shirk and Joseph A. French were chosen Elders. Shortly afterward, the church ex- tended a unanimous call to Rev. Charles C. Kimball, which he accepted, and May 11, 1871, was installed by a committee from the Presbytery. After the installation, the regu- lar services of the church were held for two years in Temperance Hall, on the third floor of the present Wayne block, State, near Eighth street. During the first year of the church’s exist- ence a lot on the northeast corner of Tenth and Sassafras streets was purchased for $9,000, and on the 2d of August, 1872, ground was broken for the erection of a stone church edi- fice. This building was opened for worship Sabbath morning, June 8, 1878, with impres- sive ceremonies, and formally dedicated on the evening of the same day. The ceremonies commenced with an anthem, followed by prayer and the reading of the twenty-fourth Psalm by Rev. Dr. Stever. The pastor then gave a sketch of the history and cost of the building, after which brief remarks were made by Rev. Mr. Stone, Rev. Dr. Wheeler, Rev. Mr. Grassie, Rev. Capt. Kitwood, Rey. Dr. John H. Vincent and Rev. Dr. Fullerton. The building, as then completed, was designed for Sabbath school purposes, the congregation intending to add a main church structure. It was of Ogdensburg blue limestone, trimmed with Amherst sandstone, and cost about $25,000. Within the first eleven months, the number of communicants was doubled, and in December, 1872, was 157. The Sabbath- school had a similar rapid growth; it was or- ganized in Walther’s Hall February 11, 1871, with an attendance of thirty-five scholars. On May 14 of the same year, it removed to Temper- ance Hall, which was occupied until the com- pletion of the chapel. In less than one year, it reached an average attendance of 227, and contributed for its own purposes and benevo- lence the handsome sum of $1,069.47. The chapel building above mentioned burned down on the 27th of January, 1888, inflicting a severe loss upon the congregation. May 22 of the same year a contract was let for a new structure, being the one now in use, which was completed on November 17, 1889, at a cost, inclusive of the organ, of some $42,000. October 12, 1878, Rev. Mr. Kimball was dismissed from the pastorate, at his own request, to accept a call to a church in Kansas City, Mo. He preached for the congregation until the first Sabbath in November of that year. His successor in the pastorate was Rev. Solon Cobb, of New Bedford, Mass., who was in- stalled on the evening of December 26, 1878. The latter gentleman filled the place until January, 1895, when he resigned to take charge of the Point Breeze Church in Pitts- burg. Rev. Hugh L. Hodge assumed the pas- torate October 15, 1895. This congregation is notable for the unity, harmony and cordial fellowship that have marked all of its meetings and activities. Con- stant increase of membership at each and every communion season has been as unvarying as the seed time and harvest of the natural world. The Sabbath school has been under the care of the same Superintendent, Charles C. Shirk, ever since its organization. The church sustains two mission schools: The Central (average attendance 120), on West Fourth street, near Cascade, organized in 1888; and the Glenwood (average attendance ninety- seven), which meets in Fronce’s hall, near the southern limits of the city, organized in 1892. The membership of the church, in August, 1894, was 711, and of the Sabbath-school 556. During the twenty-three years of the church’s AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. existence, up to the above date, it had paid out about $226,000 in the different lines of religious work, of which nearly $8,000 were collected in the year 1898-4. The societies of the church are: Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, or- ganized in 1882. Women’s Home Missionary Society, or- ganized in 18838. Young People’s Society of Christian En- deavor, organized in 1887, succeeding the Young People’s Union, organized in 1875. Junior Society of Christian Endeavor, or- ganized January 16, 1895. CHESTNUT STREET PRESBYTERIAN. CHURCH. A Sabbath-school was opened early in July, 1870, in the house of C. W. Brown, on Eighteenth, between Chestnut and Walnut streets, through the efforts of three lay mem- bers of the First Presbyterian and Park Pres- byterian Churches. On the first Sabbath but one scholar was present. Two Sabbaths later, the attendance increased to seventy-five, and, as a result, a school was organized in a room fitted up for the occasion near the present house of worship. From this date to the Ist of December following, the school was nomi- nally under the care of the Y. M.C. A., when it was taken under the charge of Park Pres- byterian Church. At the end of the first year, the school numbered over 200 members. In order to put in some practical and useful form their quota of the $5,000,000 memorial fund which the Presbyterian Church in the United States had agreed to raise as a thank-offering to God for the cordial re-union of its dissevered branches, the people of Park Church resolved to build a house for this school. A building on the corner of Seventeenth and Chestnut streets, was completed in July, 1871, and dedi- cated on the 2d of August following. Rey. J. R. Wilson began to preach in the spring of 1872. A church was organized in January, 1878, and Mr. Wilson was installed as pastor in the next September. He was very successful in his ministry—the church in- creasing within the first three years from nine to fifty-six members, and the Sabbath-school to 225. Mr. Wilson remained with the church till the summer of 1879, when he resigned to accept the chair of Greek Professor in Parson College, Iowa. He was succeeded by Rev. A.C. Wilson, who was installed as pastor 441 December 80, of that year, and remained until July, 1880. From February, 1881, until June, 1888, the pulpit was filled by the Rey. J.D. Kerr, as stated supply. He was followed in the latter year by Rev. W. J. Hazlett. The latter was succeeded by Rev. J. H. Edwards, who filled the pulpit for three years. In No- vember, 1886, Rev. R. S. VanCleve assumed the pastorate, but was compelled by ill-health to resign in the fall of 1888. Rev. Geo. F. Reichel then served as a supply for fifteen months. In January, 1891, Rev. Mr. Van- Cleve again assumed charge of the congrega- tion, as acting pastor, preferring that arrange- ment, for personal reasons, rather than to be formally installed. A new brick church building took the place of the original structure in 1891, which cost about $10,000. It was dedicated on Octo- ber 29th of the last named year. The societies of the church are: The Ladies’ Missionary Society, organized in March, 1879. The Young People’s Literary Union, or- ganized in May, 1888. The Young Ladies’ Missionary Society, organized in June, 1885. The Pastor’s Aid Society, organized in June, 1886. The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor, organized in September, 1887. The Aaron and Hur Society, organized in March, 1895. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. About thirty families, members and adhe- rents of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, had settled in Erie and the immedi- ate neighborhood previous to 1811. They were chiefly Scotch-Irish and the descend- ants of Scotch-Irish, from the counties border- ing on the Juniata and Susquehanna rivers. In 1811, the Monongahela Presbytery appoint- ed Rev. George Buchanan (pastor of a con- gregation at Steubenville) ‘‘to preach two Sabbaths in the borough of Erie before the next meeting of Presbytery.” Mr. Buchanan filled his appointment, probably in July or August, 1811, and at the next meeting of Presbytery, held September 4, 1811, a peti- tion ‘‘ for a supply of sermons” was received ‘« from persons residing in and near Erie and Waterford.” He returned to Erie county and preached in these places in the fall of 1811, 442 being accompanied by the Rev. Samuel Weir, a licentiate of the same Presbytery. At the next meeting of Presbytery, a peti- tion for the moderation of acall in the borough of Erie and at Waterford was presented. Mr. Galloway was appointed to preach in Erie on the third Sabbath of January, 1812, ‘‘and preside on the following Monday on that business.” The result was, that a unanimous call was made for Rev. Robert Reid to off- ciate as pastor, which was accepted, and Octo- ber 21, 1812, Mr. Reid was installed in charge of the churches at Erie and Waterford. The number of members when organized was about seventy. Mr. Reid preached one-fourth of his time in Waterford and the remainder in Erie, until 1841, after which his entire service was given to the work in Erie. April 12, 1818, Archibald McSparren, Thomas Hughes and David Robinson were ordained, and Alex- ander Robinson installed, ruling elders of the Erie Church, and James Dumars was ordained a deacon. The first communion was held Oc- tober 29, 1818, and forty-nine members par- ticipated. The congregation at first met for worship wherever it could find accommodation, some times in the old courthouse, some times in a log house on the north side of Fifth street, be- tween French and Holland, and oftener in a log schoolhouse on the corner of Seventh and Holland streets, upon the ground now occu- pied by school No. 2. A church building was erected in 1816, on Eighth street, a little west of the present building. It was a frame structure, 38x45 feet, and was removed in 1887 to State street, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets. The present building was completed and ready for occupancy in 1887, and the basement was fitted up as a lecture room, etc., in 1862. An incident which occurred at the distri- bution of pews in the new church, in 1887, is worthy of record. Rufus S. Reed, whose wife was a member of the church and himself a liberal contributor to its funds and an at- tendant quite regularly upon its services, came in after considerable progress had been made in the selection of pews. He inquired if there was a pew for him, and he was informed that they supposed that one of the two square pews on each side of the pulpit would be his choice, and that one had been assigned to the pastor and the other reserved for him. He NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY inquired the price, which, when named, was satisfactory. The building committee then said: ‘*Mr. Reed, we owe you about $800 more than your pew amounts to, and we would like to turn the old house over to you for as much of the debt as you can afford to allow for it.” He replied: ‘‘I will take the house and give you a receipt in full.” He sold it, to be removed, for $100, and gave the money he reveived for it to. the Rev. Robert Reid, the pastor, as a present. The basement of the new building, containing lecture room, session room, infant class room, etc., was fin- ished in 1862. September 12, 1814, seventy-four members communed, and June 9, 1825, 107 members, the greatest number up to that time of any one year. The largest number of new mem- bers in any one year, up to 1876, was thirty- seven, which occurred in 1874. In 1866 and in 1872 thirty-one new names were ad- ded to the membership. These years of un- usual accessions to the church resulted, in 1866, from general interest in religious mat- ters awakened by the efforts of some revival preachers who visited Erie that year; in 1872 and 1874, from earnest work by the pastor and members in prayer meeting held every evening for two weeks before the communion, in July, 1872, and in January, 1874. The pastors of the church have been as follows: Rev. Robert Reid, installed Octo- ber 21, 1812—died May 15, 1844; Rev. Jos. H. Pressly, installed August 20, 1845—died November 8, 1874; Rev. J. C. Wilson, the present incumbent, installed May 1, 1876. Shortly after Mr. Reid became pastor, a Union Sabbath-school was opened. It was held variously in the old courthouse, and in a house on French street, near the cor- ner of Fifth street. Mr. Reid was the Su- perintendent at first, but some of those in- terested in the school, from other churches, insisted upon introducing into the school hymns and other matters which Mr. Reid could not approve, and he withdrew. Subse- quently he organized a school in his own church, which was discontinued after a few years, and there was no successful attempt to revive it until after the installation of Mr. Pressly. The school opened on the first Sab- bath of January, 1846, and the teachers were John Hughes, James E. McNair, James L. Gray, Miss Mary Warren, Miss Mary A. AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOK OF ERIE COUNTY. Lamberton and Miss Elizabeth Reid. Fifty- one scholars were present. During the month, George W. Barr, Edward A. Mehaffey, James C. Reid, George Hughes, Miss Margaret Mc- Sparren, Miss Maria Kennedy, Miss Marga- ret A. Pollock, Miss Celia Miles, Miss Mary Jane Mehaffey and Miss Eliza McSparren were added to the list of teachers. Dr. Pressly acted as Superintendent until 1872. The societies of the church are: Women’s Missionary Society, organized November 28, 1875. Young People’s Society of Christian En- deavor, organized May 81, 1887. Junior Society of Christian Endeavor, or- ganized February 1, 1895. Young Women’s Missionary Society, or- ganized April 2, 1895. The parsonage of the church was com- menced in the fall of 1876, and occupied in June, 1877. The mission Sabbath-school, for quite a while under the care of this church, was lo- cated on Eighteenth street, east of German, and continued there about five years. After that it was removed to Seventeenth street, midway between German and Parade, being under the direct charge of the congregation for ten years. It was conducted independ- ently of the congregation for a year anda half more, and then handed over to the care of Park Presbyterian Church. The date of the beginning of this school was May, 1874. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. ST. PAUL’S P. E. CHURCH. The first services of the Protestant Epis- copal Church in Erie were held in the old courthouse, in 1826, by Rev. J. H. Hop- kins, afterward Bishop of Vermont, and at that time rector of Trinity Church, Pittsburg. The records show that seven persons were baptized by him before the year 1827, but the dates are not given. The organization of the parish was affected at a meeting held at the house of P. S. V. Hamot March 17, 1827. Rey. Charles Smith was appointed rector, and Messrs. Thomas Forster, P. S. V. Hamot, George Miles, George A. Eliot, Tabor Beebe, Charles M. Reed, Thomas Forster, jr., D. C. Barrett, William Kelley, Gilbert Knapp and John A. Tracy were elected vestrymen for the 443 ensuing year. Col. Thomas Forster was chosen Church Warden; Tabor Beebe, Rec- tor’s Warden; and P. S. V. Hamot, Secretary to the Vestry. The male members of the original vestry and congregation who were Episcopalians, were Col. Forster and Capt. George Miles. Mrs. Hamot,and perhaps two or three other ladies were members of the church. Several of the men were previously Presbyterians. At a meeting held on July 22, 1827, Rev. Mr. Smith’s resignation was tendered, and ac- cepted December 8, ensuing. Rev. Benjamin Hutchins ministered to the congregation fora few months. It appears from the records of a meeting, December 24, 1827, that Mr. Hutchins had been acting as assistant for Mr. Smith at Erie and Waterford, and that he de- sired an independent charge at St. Paul’s, but without success. At a Diocesan Convention held in Phila- delphia in 1828, an application was made to the Society for the Promotion of Christianity in Pennsylvania for help to the Erie church, which was granted. Messrs. Reed and Wal- lace, the Erie delegates to the convention, must have found, or heard of, the Rev. Ben- nett Glover, at Philadelphia, fora correspond- ence was opened with him July 17, 1828, with a view to his coming as rector. The war- dens were instructed ‘‘to ascertain from Mr. McConkey his terms for boarding, and, if Mr. Glover will remain here some time, to make the lowest and best boarding terms; also, that Messrs. Kelley and Knapp make a bargain with some person to keep the house clean and ring the bell for church.” Mr. Glover was called during the year. A new election of wardens and vestrymen, held at the rooms of Rev. Mr. Glover, November 22, 1830, resulted as follows: Thomas Forster, George Nichol- son, Tabor Beebe, John A. Tracy, William Kelley, George A. Eliot, Thomas Forster, jr., Elijah Babbitt, George Miles and Alexander McKee, Vestrymen; Thomas Forster and George Nicholson, Wardens ; George A. Eliot, Treasurer; P.S. V. Hamot, Secretary. Thos. Forster, Tabor Beebe, P. S. V. Hamot and Elijah Babbitt were appointed a committee to procure a plan for a church. At the next meet- ing (December 1, 1880), it was— “Resolved, That we accept of the purchase made by John B. Wallace, Esq., of James Moore, of Lot No. 1729 at $250, the said 444 Moore subscribing twenty-five dollars, and that the Treasurer be directed to pay fifty dol- lars and receive the deed and give the bond and mortgage.” The deed for the church lot was made to George A. Eliot, Charles M. Reed and John A. Tracy in trust. Among those making pro- posals for the building were C. G. Howell and Mehaffey & Hoskinson. 3B. Tomlinson, John Teel and John Dunlap also submitted bids for parts of the work. The contract for a build- ing was made with Mehaffey & Hoskinson for $8,899, they being required ‘‘ to use brick from Dunn or Sawtel’s yard,” and also to “(take an account of subscriptions in brick, stone, masonry and lime.” The church was duly completed, the slips sold ‘‘ free of tax,” and the debts gradually paid off. An organ was bought and paid for, and a bell weighing four or five hundred pounds. No aid was re- ceived from abroai except a subscription from J. B. Wallace, and one of $150 from Rev. Mr. Hopkins. The church was dedicated by Bishop On- derdonck in 1834. s Central.....| 20) 862/11th and Sassafras ......... 330 | 206%] 5 $ 30,000 115,000 6,000 No. 1 4| 281/3d and French.............. 165 | 165 | 2 000 , 000 ¥ Oe 1877 Hae averon nents No 8| 400,7th and Holland............ 165 | 206%) 2% 10,000) 20.000) 1,500|1858)John Constable.. No. 6| 364 16th and Sassatras... «| 123 28 12-5 8,000 15.000 2,000/1885|/F. W. Miller... ve No. 10, 359;5th and Chestnut... 165 | 165 2 8,000 27,000 2,800/1895/F, W. Miller........... No. 8] 400)12th bet. Holland & German] 165 , 165 2 8,000 40,000 2,500/1891|S. Kirschner & Sons... No. 4| 187)26th and Cherry... -| 264 | 380 62-5 3,500 1.700 200|1892,H. Himberger......... No. 8] 440)21st and Sassafras. 4 16 000} 18. 00 1,800)1875|]. J. Hogan.........-.-. No. 8| 486)17th and Poplar............- 3% 10,000 18.000 2,500/1875|Constable & Ramsey.. No. 8} 400)27th and Peach.............| 165 | 250 3 6,000 40,000 2,500/1891/S. Kirschner & Sons... No. 10..... g| 477\5th and Plum.............4. 165 | 165 | 2 4,000 0,000) © p00) tee nett ' fed No. 11..... 5| 181)11th and French............ 123 | 160 1% 8,000 15,000 1,500) 1873} Constable & -Ramsey.. No. 12..... 8| 407\6th and East Avenue....... 165 | 165 | 2 4,000 30,000| _2,200)4875/John, Hendry | No. 13..... 8| 496!10th and Ash.............66- 158 | 160 | 2 6,500 18,000 1,000)1881|S. Kirschner.. No. 14..... 10)...... 21st and German. -| 247%) 170 3 6,200 27,000 2,800)1895|F. W. Miller... No. 15..... 8| 431|23d and Ash.... 248 | 128 | 8 6,300 18,000 _2,500/1874/ Henry Shenk | No. 16..... 8| 482 8th and Walnut.. -| 165 165 2 10,000! 18,000 1,550}1883)C. Kerner........ s+ No. 17 (lot)|....].----- 10th and Cascade.. .-| 206%| 165 2% 4200 | aiccuiscssnis sates | aie ae eeaaiss ash No. 18 (lot)]....]..---- 27th and Wayne............. .1.YWlacre. GOD |e syecsiestyasavesiniel| Serge saves | oeeae 139} 6,603 49 2-5 $155,300 $460,700! $35,900 Where two dates occur, they indicate that the building has been remodeled, No. 4 was seriously damaged by fire on the 11th of February, 1895. The ruins had House No. 1 is heated by a furnace; No. 13 by a furnace and stove; No. 6 by stoves; the Smead system. added to or replaced by a new structure. House to be taken down and a new building erected. Nos. 2, 4, 7, 11 and 16 by steam; all the rest by The buildings in general are a credit to the city, and the Central schoolhouse, in particular, will compare favorably with the finest in the country. THE HIGH SCHOOL. The High School was established on the 26th of Jurie, 1866, and has been popular from the beginning. It was held in house No. 2 at Seventh and Holland streets, until September 1, 1875, when it was moved to the Academy, under a plan for turning over the latter property to the School Board. Litiga- tion ensued, which resulted in the retention of the Academy by the Trustees thereof, and the removal of the High School, in March, 1877, to its former location. It remained there until its final and permanent change to the Central building in September, 1891. The principals of the school have been as follows: J. M. Wells, from 1866 to 1870. Wm. Reed, jr., from April, 1870, to 1878. H.C. Missimer, from January, 1878, to 1890. John C. Diehl, from September, 1890, to the present time. The enrollment of the school was 166 in 1870 ; 245 in 1880; 311 in 1890; 491 in 1894- 5; and 500 at the beginning of the term, Sep- tember 2, 1895. The first graduating class, in 1869, consist- ed of two pupils. The total number of grad- uates, 1869 to 1895 inclusive, has been 614, of whom 158 were males and 456 females. CITY SUPERINTENDENT. In July, 1865, the Board of Control elect: ed Prof. H. S. Jones, principal teacher, to perform the usual duties of a School Superin- tendent. In June, 1867, he was duly elected City Superintendent, under the act of that year. Prof. Jones was succeeded by Prof. H. C. Missimer in May, 1890. The city, being a separate district from the county, has no connection with the latter in school matters. MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD. > Below is a list of the members of the School Board from the organization of the 488 NELSON’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY public schools to October, 1895, with the years Frank Gunnison...........6. eee ee ee ee ees 1872-75 aa aviitel they served. The stars (*) indicate i vs oe Migs GR aeas Oeas aaa Sukie cetuauenshslets 1862-68 those who have officiated as President of the | Win Ba eee oard: M.. Hattleib:.c.is25 ss cxens oe 56 ease oe aces 1862-65 J. P. Hartman............... iguag See Skee 1895-98 Adam Acheson............00ee eee 1859-62, 1874-77 Tp. Hie Haskins asia iiee 6 tied rae wreeeee ecw acaaene 1846-48 Ay KK. ACHCSO8 fac cicicanneaueee aie doseees 1893-97 Saimvel Hays cots. sa vuigamite eles ek eens 1838-41 JeAcCkermatscctcasncccaviosterwyedewta ces 1870-73 Gs He Ki .4 4 e4's enadinuisca sca 6 sagan saree waigs 1841-44 Ws Je AICS adams ohne Gun hia aus (Meee 1856-59 saa eo Sie be bene ecb ting a basiald 1885-93, 1895-98 Ort, HL, cscseek ics 4keeneos sue eas Vanes 1848-54 Ju Js HOGAN :..0 cscenwe nd Ria garcutes soe sates 1887-90 J. E. ASHDYs...cnindeesercdceceas en ses yaa ees 1882-86 Dds Hocbincoa iN ve padsagle, auenne da tease 1871-77 Elijah Babbitt ................46. 1834-38, 1840-43 John Huphesincss os ge csiwmatas teamed sak 1851-54 WISAAG ORGS. a6 ccaueenweesaw tied enh ee tas 1888-97 Ry ©, Hulbert y sscsdl's yee oo Gieys sis 22 presen 1841-56 Ca DEP Ges ascaiae (4496 2 6208 BORE. ER SERS 1883-92 Siiith JACksOn. si soccey civ esannneerennea cd 1834-39 SM. Rs: Batfcex vacecniteeitdi ee tances cages 1866-74 Gs. Javeckt, ¢ ccccaccctwaetescté mame nei ss ee 1858-70 WV IML, Bate Sits cin ni niesesaen neues ou nheee ws 1878-81 J. -Bi SGHHSOMe . ivoa ities unos Santina ees BEE eS 1844-48 Wis. Bauman ny neces oxckani sic coeentee anes 1893-96 Juv WE, SQSUCE; awareness ede, oho supuaieadh avecesaress Guay 1863-66 EF’, BausSchar dy wamaciciouvivaniinsaac sees 1882-85 Adami War hii. xicicasvy eae how sunaiew os alee geal 1890-95 Cy BeCketicasgasusvsynns enone ene eres eo - 1870-72 George Kellog ti. iewsagbing ces sd ooeeud eee 1837-40 ge A. Beckers «50% eaccscerscoeae ped 1866-68, 1871-73 Wm. Kelly), ssiseccexs cer es oelenae eceee tages 1834-37 Henry Beckman.: .sc.2cesse00 c.cesndets< 1878-87 Ce Wis KREISO iene nein teak Re ee Tak 1848-62 Hi Py Bennett, aceistwts ataadeea ha cain haves 1862-65 His Js ROIS i. 34) saawiads-4o00 CARs teh Rie 1834-35 G. A, Bennett .......... eee eee eee 1854-62 David Kennedy............ cee cece ee neeee 1843-46 ieTED: -BISSS 2 4. susvanes sass grsveraunsessonaetaaea-cce-tuh waters 1860-63 ALPrEd Kin Pi sicencua eau eMhw be satiate 1847-49 a \ eee alice Poesia Sabi fla Stoned ccen ene vets 1863-66 Boch erin cine was ete pe gioe meme Sees 1887-90 = ae ec 5S Sa G AU a wena eae ate 1868-72, 1873-76 GC TRIOMD core iors ahecpiewe’ | ebhaaavalets eas tap aeena oete ee 1854-61 - S pleas sissy shenminiepeigiei eats Siugcey alate 1858-62 Henry Kneib; sanewece v2 26 ese s 1881-87, 1893-96 oo = Eee nae resins ome rones 1837-43 Js KI PeCs 2teusioractaek erbkeu eens teedadnt 1854-57 oe Lone. shesiiainbneyans es 1860-72 | *J. M. Kuhn.................0.0 eee 1862-68, 1877-83 ae = CY nica saatinuuletouwne vyenon te 1870-73 DiGi Tan ete. .eaovcevacad daa osd auv-suain 1857-59, 1866-68 SW lah deaanievesielcbense Lariiesewe sees 1854-58 | W.J.F. Liddell.... os... "1859-1 ae pacar : sc aobnNesecesr eats Soratinans 1859-60 oid dca. ce 09 lao 8 Sas thea Sis Gade 1870-77; 1881-84 John W. Little.... — We is Cisse gee eee rea etaae ee Tes freee 1894-96 Ee NNR oY a ometrerelics 1867-71 Sis D WONG sii A oe desde dani td eka Geeanen Be 1880-83 a oe i. eR is tea aa As Antone nent duaueaantdemere sete 1857-60 Ri St. Pe LOwryisss aosccees eacaxins eevaccs 1890-93 Hah ase Dadra an avacaee in! mua iOa aes A Gace 1878-81 George Loyerecia se ciasyuinnsecaatahoowe’s 1868-72 ee eae 1867-68 Wie Be TAtjee wees vee giirmcaanwe aanmanaae oar 1871-78 £ Dee nih GAGE Faere Ban wpa eso 1866-67, aera Wo Ws Lyle cucesacsounsen desta be wae cowed 1881-87 Ha ee 5666.15 188700 | Me Leysaght 2. eee eee erences, 1889-95 eres eaine shee 5 94 aS TV CE: cnttenGedecn agiandaa Guiles 1844-47, 1854-57 CK, Dickinson... eee 1695-98 | M. Mauer ooo... eee ete seteeeeees "1888-93 MG aecDollac. <<. a meeesoed 188485, 1886 - ene Fran hi satires x sien ses veees 1878-81 J.B. Downing - , 1886-89 Henry Mayo wsccge6 00244 tsiiia ceca vireawe 1877-80 Wellington Peete CEELLYRLAS AW HEEE Ra 1858-62 Pr. Metcalf. ov coins sivas mictcadalauauawawean 1862-67 Oe ee ears eres 2 hedeg? mat ana oat aa 1887-90 | Eugene Metz...... 2... ceceee cece eee ee 1870-74 Fog ee 1893-96 Dyimtis: Metz. 35> ae.nsdcawae qined oa oes eels 1885-93 Rn na etal Dae 1852-58 T. BR. Metagar..............s00--- sees eee. 1883-84 Ped BUC Nie de ctasinarnaaxomiadesanesins 1876-82 | George P. Miller......0.......c0 cc eecece J. A.Hichenlaub................... 1878-1 S Pe OE HES EEE REG IG ts 1889-92 Se ee ietenensh apaleeneet 8-81 James S. Miller.................... 1890-93 ke Re rs —wesemrene 1856-62 | M.M. Moore............... .sss esse eee 1880-83 Fa Ralebeied Seti rem amwanan. 1870-71 Thos. Moorhead, jr................ eae 1846-49 Peter Relbnucer Bink a valle “wnielva ua epee She ehes jecaue 1879-82 W.F. Momeyer ee niusht nent ane fen ot eo, ree FeSO Pt reeds 1882-94 Paul Mueller...............---- sees sees ee. 1894-98 Jerome We FOLd ...2ssssesswenceerstevccee ISATAOR Ny MAR DHY, occ04409- anleead wacaeed snares, 1865-68 Cied We TEE RRet ee ea ene 1854-55 Dennis McCarty... ...............00 0. 1886-89 eR sneer 1839-42 E. McComber.......... ........00000000, 1870-71 Tee OREN oe 1889-92 D. B. McCreary......... . : : ; ie ; See: 1860-63 Anthony Geiger........ Boe nanan eat oo C. McSparren.......... .......0.0000 1849-51 John Gensheimer................’ 1860-63, ae ite PIER occ 4 aunt gical omtandnee ashen ss 1877-78 John Gensheimer................ “63, 1871-74 To eee eee neenas a tesa ermer....... ......... 1870 Qs ceyeis cay ee wR ANN Ree cama 1893-94 J,M. Glazier... 06. ceccccsccccc ew ug Thos. O'Dea ...... a Me CUBES - sin nes eeanaiascnnra es SHOHSS || pMede O Mag at. sy eiec vices ss tganiepes gece ae Chas) A Gets .+.+-seseaeienastennaneses MOTO O0 | “Plea AY SUAS, gears

i a ant 734 Beebe, Dr. F. A........- - +++ ‘7 Blum, Frank A........-+ ac £36 a eae ae ea 898 Beer, Ale and Malt Manufac- Board of Public Charities, Erie oe ae oe ture, Eri@.. acvsexeessevcs+s 531 ale nae i peers on Di eo ee Indus- ogenschutz, Nicholas T...... HM Joseph. sees se eerere ay Le ee ee eee Bolard, John Ag nical eauapanaesaee a e Joseph K 776 f the Queen Charlotte... 187 | Bolkey, Wm........-.+..++5- . pel! ‘wm, : sya eases Belles 704 | Bolles, pieblien W sctiasane, vs Ce Belle Valley. Sa eee peu Pouge ne Ne siais eaaleneisidiee) lar a oe Bemis, Henry S......... Peet ki, Frank. ....+....ee ee Benevoalent Sonlelies (Miscel- “Boo” Bladen, Colored Pioneer none Renee eee ou laneous).sccsowes veneers Books in Early a ss wemdiiveaie s ee ee on Bennett, Henry J............- 724 | Booth, Rev. Geo. | ae ee Een Fe ae ie fe Bernritter, John.............- en Borough and City Charters, yce, Cc yrraeien tinned ate Ohn, Siawcsseseess OMe vise esos Lise eens eenes S George... .-sseeeeeees Berst, Hens ExiaTa ested aaa Bone 704 | Boroughs of Erie County, when Rev. soe es aa Gee on Fram, Lies aces. hasan est 705 Incorporated............6-- a - Hey Ys Waaisont ie BE 9 MA COD seteienssiere Sites Si re i” Tae A Principal.......... gis ee re ore ae © TORN ss sat sasrosaciss - ort, L. Di... eee eee eee eee O40 | “ RoDt. Tee eee eee ee ne tee Sa tises c ae Bothy biel Came J.L. D. a ars and Breckenridge. - Benson, Chas. P............65 ostwic AS, FE essnasestsanreies? a quiected...... atten eee eens < © “Bugene Paces sccasae ae Hii panned saaeeebss ae et ilies Sop hou a aca 20-223 'e. “Tsalae.: i, waaeainenewies a ONS is ise es 6 duets ers i , s ae Claessens 723 | Boundaries of Erie County..... 71 | Buffalo Road fo Judge: Was ss; ociers' eons 893 | Boundary Lines of Erie County 7% | Buhl, Geo......... weeeeee so B 643 | B JONAS isiseeweveteg ees 675 | Building and Loan Associa- eyer, Joseph..... 2.0... jowers, Jo hs i Benze, Rev. Adolph L...668%- ee ee a ee Ee 5 ailaing Inspector ie sonaeaays ie “ Rev. Gustave......... if oseph, Sr.......... 5 MICs asa Bible Society, Erie County... 143 Boyd, TaRVCY si ontccseniesioe aces 896 : Perry’s Fleet at is Bicycle Works, Erie......... 497 Yi Biscs-sciddateiatateloetede 3b as 892 Erie........ ae Biebel, Daniel............... 810 | Boyer, ‘Andrew. iventica ca car nacast see 841 Building Permits, Issue — 395 HO NGCORB Oss Ses cxathined 3 810 | Braddock’s Defeat...... 20-24-101 OA. THETIC: 5 etraniitealle wala ah oneal He Bigler, William......... 40%- 66 | Brady, John C................ 598 Buller “Waissscce. seewgasece oe “Big Oaks from Little Acorns Brainerd, See pa nee a gad5 eu Pome | ene Cus onan oe Grow”: 5: Geo. B........572%-745 HIG) oir inet chek Ghee dee ox 498 Gol: Bt Bove veeicuagins 585 | Kimball, Wm. B............. 879 Iroquois, Tribe of............ 92 “Dr. William.......... 585 | Kincaid, S. E.... ........... 770 Irvine’s Reservation.......... 109 UP, EB wecovacre anes eae 585 | Kindergarten System. ....... 494 Tiwiny Wis Wo esccantateas aa <3 721 “ ne Piscivemintieeas.cs ae King, Cyrus H.............. 885 sf Pf Pese 5 -csevesteasnii son duper 585 > amnilys). aes: Sax 613 pelsseni Dh Wie i leaceses 641 aS fie a emesis 585 | « ft, Mobhceoars 2 85 2 ee ndrew, Elected 6 “ Timothy.........00.., 535 | A ie See — lt TESIMENC housek noe t ea 4 ie 2% BET Ma oc sacennagevedessyey yr at3 377 “ i Jackson, Andrew, Re-elected. 221 BES OWA atin see ata nine fone 2s 585 ts oe es tence ed . JAMES aac weed ened vad 641 | Junior Order U. A. M........ 475 S8o CMP AM stevie < Winrar sis 614 ee Jamies Pics cicccawes 856 | Jury Commissioners, First King of France in Evieucaes 1s 191 Jacobs, Frank A............. 700 Elected ees ccc aks waves a6 241 | Kingtown........... seudee: Jacobson, C. M............... 659 | Jury Commissioners, List of... 276 Kinsey, Mathew L............ jail, County. son. ccces ces ... 145 | Justices of the Peace, First Klemm, Charles H..... Jail Expenses................ O51). Blected nc soc 054s icc occwms 225 | Klick, Joseph......- ao Jameson, Clark D ,.......... 883 | Justicesof the Peace,List of .160-165 | Kline W é. Clean sith ae Janes, HeManys aiccuiiwais 582 4-629 a “and Alder- «” John ee ee Mee eae ee a ee eee | Kugnend Lalo ence: fe ier RT ae nee | oe eee Jaquay, Rev. Kelsey T....... 878 John Mewes secccececns 586 bees BEN a aOR Jarecki, Alexander H..-....., 615 © Josephs. ccionssseone 886 | Kuiehtsof Hover... 48 = MP USte 26.0 covacasiays 614 te Ve Pain py oe “Capt. Gustav........ 614 | Kaltenbach, Jacob............ 752 ss a Mae sidan wesdee i" Charles: ces es 9 4... 870 | Kalvelage, John H... 642 gee : ie Soe ee Aa e ae Ld : ef uy ie eisiavee sea 4% 4%5 4 Frederick. .......... 615 | Kamerer, Jacob F............ 868 or ne Aen ede ae “Frederick, Jrioiss oss: 615 | Kane, M..................0.. ott iueal A Henry aa ne, . ¥ 4 Pups Me sea. ye 719 | Knochel, Valentine........... 755 : FICE Soin neha JOD icceyseed wien sccds 33 eccae oar 841 | Know-Nothingism, Rise of.... 233 : Hs Man Tainan bene 614 | Kearsarge................4.. 330 | Koch, Moses 4044-814 z 9 NLOSES has ea cayere soe ae . SCAT isn. tinie aera tvnowes 615 | Keepville. 2... 0............. 284 | Kocher, Jacob, Sr..........+0. 811 Theodore............ 614 | Keller, John ‘ Jefferson, Elected. 111121177 gi)" Mgnt. Hoehleh, [RC Sitrsias ote os ai “Re-elected ........ 216 | Kelley, Geo. B “« Be ee ee John Eliot & Co., Bankers,.... 479 $0" Widlati rotate gece “ Ei ausacedwaesars o olin Quistey Adams Blecsdie . eae MRO eh ari Scat Ee iGi. ocartidapahewes 753 the House................ 219 ) TM we maee ae OP ONG, Wem, Te esceaiea s 21s en fonmsen, Face ae fh) ER econ acetic 757 | Kramer, Daniel J............. 702 Johnson, Guy.....-...-. 0! #4 | Kelsey, Hentyc... bre, | Kraus, Edward............... ie ae G. Watson.......... 876 oe ere ie ieee tre. 65> | Kreider, H. L Jebrsens “Swing Around the i Téseph Pee ae : pee : {pha ILGI Oh ro sctistnnen cas tacele dl wleae 3 2: ile hedoncen tates " ite ee 40i4- a Kelso ae Re meeitamnwaa ss OSE || Krug [Gs caste case ainauicae cs s Telinecos,. Joseph ag ih eRe onebeas 557 «Max A Soknstown Flood ee : one J. B2eb sohererancemanna 556 | Kuch, Edward Jones, Bennett T...... 0.2 11! 676 eile, 1 eee ae i on Bee emis tee ae s Cr ee a te eae ES PBs eC MMi Pccialeeseacee teencegents 736 Oe rr eae 7 _ 1 Misic seca cesues 586 | Kuhl, Peter, Sr............... 785 s Hach, eee ae : ein Me Shiites tees 556 Kuhn, Joseph F.............. 698 Jourdan, Job Peo. Wa | oe ve eee bey | Kurtis, Col. Adam............ tab udges, Associate......... 151-268 | K rE. Bessy ¢ ,; a Piet Elesigh Bat mney, Bae Shenae 2A tetee ay Lachermaier, Rev. James..... 682 » David............. 8 ! Ladies’ Aid Society in the War 202 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 913 ‘ ee PAGE PAGE PAGE Ladies Auxiliary, Y. M.C. A. 466 | Le Boeuf Township, Land List of U.S. Officials 262-264 “Catholic Mutual Bene- GRantsS: cn .cchakiaee aeons 320 “« Water Commissioners.. 411 fit Association. ........... 473 | LeBoeuf Township, Roads, Literary and Other Societies, Ladies of the U. V. L......... 477 Quarries and Railroads..... 821 Catholic....... 473 Lafayette’s Visit to Erie....... 191 | Le Boeuf Township, State and Little, Christopher............ 717 Land Agents and Surveyors,.. 110 County Officials...... 2.0... 822 | Live Stock, Statistics of, etc... 29 “ Companies............. 708 | Le Boeuf Township, Value of Living, Primitive Modeof.... 114 Lands, First Purchasers of.... 111 LandSice.aeiudivees, wade ees 321 Livingston Charles.........-- 747 « — First Sales of in Erie Le Boeuf Station............. 822 “ ; Hotel, Erié..<.4c2 520 COUNTY: ssccees ve ess cients 111 | Leading Products of Pennsyl- Local Issues Supersede Party. 284 Lard (Grautsiaa.cerees iietary Meese Hig co 475 | Meeker, George B........... 732 | o Ce mn asonic History............. 530 = ODN Onesies icwrnacaiens ll Creek. ‘Downsh oe Massassauga Hotel, etc...... 520 | Mehl, Edward.......... 804)3-109 oe ee dey eo Mattison, Emery S........... 889 | Memorable Event, A. ....... 583 | Mill Creek Township, Mills eeuben Mercantile oes Erie.... 512 and Factories pepe ie! 832 elden é er Rag é iyitds aehenhleas rete of vi ae OP cacaes 399 | Mercer, Prof W. Rcas se : o 301 ey oe Cayce coats a 3827 cAllister, Clark............. 762 | Merchants’ and M fs Il Creek Townsh Se Dear :* McBrier, James.............. 623 ers’ Electric Co., eae 482 eee oe 331 McCarter, Jerk Dacia ce a Vessels on Lake io Mill Creek ‘Township, Re McCarthy, Jeremiah........, : 75: Mertens, Freder ick Eu claimed Lands. Go Sn wince pai 334 Meche Win 105 | ot Lowers ioc, Ga | ll Greck Township, Reserva a Roberti Tacacteeaees 705 | Messenger, Sunday, Erie... 176 Mill C Bee eee oats Ee Macey, WR. 805 | Metcalf, George K.... 1. 567 | Ra greek, Township, Roads, McCray, Chapman B......... 764 a Joseph P.......,..... 567 we god Canals aw es «Sad a Wilson C........... 763 - Prescott... ... -19214-566 Hi Greek Township, Streams McCreary, Cassius ........... 622 | Methodist Episcopalian Mile eae ia: the Scatt a " ae D. B....282%4-620 CHUPCH Ys 1.5, ossieseiet sis 139 aes ee 3 “ OSEPH Jisige vances 622 | Methodist Church Gans, ; HW Crack Touch: ae rages e ae Siinihed hee 621 | Methodist Church oe an cs Pa Township, the Weis 334 = infield S........ 621 Erie County..... het ‘laek Apdeaasdi ee ee oe: Pee ss pe Methodist Chiro Wesleyan. ; lia we - *e Me Pita ante bes - a a i. . * t. +; e ‘a 7 ew WV ee te te ew ewe McIntyre, jouw, wiht Alamos 867 fe 447 Chas. Foe eeeeee eee 656 “Eugene M,......,.... » 166 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. gI5 PAGE Miller, Jobn........00s0062. 686 | N e653 Tae OR NGWtOR sccos oocee's 858 Navi re ee 6o3 ae ae Gu Pees 52d es j ls Hema eece csaa sais uard.......... . x poe Bs area aie Nagosky, og dvopne sy ee Norcross, oe Uda d pane pete 818 Wieder Ce 78 3 Fr ea eta re eter E..... irsierg APOE 819 _ qosy eon ke UT-18 Name of State, Origin of...... 30 ee 7 : _ ae eee a0 868 Mill Vilage, ek eg ash, oo Say Gash oaerenes ao ae Hi xeanecteeke on 697 Minetale cf Bite County... Ge cae eee aor ort ast orough Corer ce 340 Mineral Preducis ob Pennsyle s\ ae cee eases ie eee Banks and sith ni beige aaa Cai el see | ieee ees ee me OP ao is tee ah aes tee Ministerial Association, Erie. . 467 eo ee eee es a eae Churches ead ! rs i Ba iran | 5) SRD NER Gis a fate “i? Sed vias sein aah el ol felam Sezai en S v OM De ae) ee Party Siar ogy Hactories, Weaver Works. Meet ip By | Neaual Onion wes? ane | Nec ene veel Sewanee Missimer, H. C...........-.5 694 | Natural Curiosities, Erie Coun- ers eee Mitchell, Adrain J............ WOte |.” eres ape in eee ne Mizener, F. Aves seeee) - 888 4-652 | Natural Gas, State... ...... By |. Schoee eee «ot Bee 40 odern Cemeteries........... 144 “Gas Wells........... 527 | North East Borough, St. Mary % Modern Market Houses, Erie.. 522 «Gas Welis in’ Evie pe eee eat Money Matters and Politics... 204 County....... 73 | North act Township...... 836-345 Montfort, W. J...... 0.2.2.4... 793 | Native American Party Organ- “ ary G t Montgomery, Dele Jo Heesen tac ra IZOC wels idee eosicoehve onetevttedivel tae 228 Grape ea 339 Sseaupsitine Native A es Monroe Twice Oe boetearts 218 Noi ce aera cca. ; iid oe ee 339 Morgan, George B.....-..... 677 | Naval Battle of Lake Erie..134- 135 North East Township, Early i Charles...... 0 -- 2-06 677 “Inspectors, Erie.. .. BI Incidents.........-. . eines : oore, oi Seeree seed ce nen from Erie bs co Eas Tones Ear 4 “Frederick. ........... Wy yaieanietdneeeaa du woud ate and Count cers 44 - ree : Ee ae of Lake ae oa ae oon Township, Mills ” ae ar s and Factories.............. 83 o pee Deities ahve) uaeaeatare a Navigation, Opening of at Erie ie eee Township, Pioneer SdiMaite tomate Ge 18, Daniels ic sais cnioaees as Sg aun 8 “ “Marshall........... . 867 pelagic erae, vos | Nowh last Vewnsbip, Popula: ff Wilson. wists casas saan 867 | Neubauer, ESOT sex . .812%4-746 HOM 3s cae og eee : 336 a (elie sacl avec cual: 672 ie pails ove Gawrenes 746 | North East Township, Princi- W JORTE Mis aucune etd ag 894 New Constitution noe . 246 pal Streams........ s 338 SL eSIE’ Banuios hee soars 672 di n Force.... 247 | North East Township, Roads « Shelden M........... 720 “Jerusalem .........2-++- 396 and Railroads........ 3387 Moore House, Erie........... 520 “Park Opera House, Erie. oh North East Township School Moorhead, JamesM.......... 817 | New Ireland ................ 822 History.......+... fetes 340 ‘ JosephB... ...... 833 | News, Erie Evening.......... 175 | North East Township, Topo- “ Robert J.........- 832 | Newspapers, Number of in graphy and soil............ 336 a Wiens sac tteiead i 817 Pennsylvania........-....- 30 | North East Township, Value Moorheadville............... 317 | Newspapers, History of Erie Of Landen ccgeuevecnss Gees 336 Moravian Land Grant. .109-820- aah COUNTY seve see ea sae oes 173-177 apie East Township, Villages. Morrell, Marcus L............ NewenaPee Outside of Erie.. 177 | €tC.. es eee eee eee eee " 339 Morton ae PETIC go ssuansde sa Newton, Joh Louicieeraesey 852 North Springfield............ 349 sa chiaiaigs Ree SAA are! M. D.. _.. 852 orthville.............02-8-- 389 Moske, Julius................ 758 | “ Niagara,’ Place Where ‘Sunk, North Star Mission, Erie...... 452 Mott’s Enormous Majority.... 233 CEC susie BE Aaa ea ES North Western Pennsylvania Motto of the State............ 30 | Nichols, Harry H. i ceudn deb dendiaias 790 Humane Society........... Coe ide, eiisennneas th Nicholson, Andrew...... -- ; ae Nout oe Pennsylvania, unin, Je Gy osc water ee amis idee podsidwnnee OUNCES OL, sceectassacerss Munse¢, John W............ 762 “ George W.......-- 826 | Norton, HarlowD..... ...... 862 Murphy, seed Hiisrkivnatane e's 664 “ Johns .s0s0 dex sene 826 | Notable Law Suit............ 156 Lee ee oe a John Es... scxiaesse ae Noval, fobnesssn« First..... 247 a ae sh anos " a Wiaes cos ae Ahi owak, Jobnsses.1s 30 cicsesesy 695 Murray, E.R... see eee eee ee 774 | Nick, Ernest........0...---55 gba: | IN, FL MG cisiicames eheeeay 859 fe ohn wD; a scewe nie ness 0 « — William C.......-..5--- 670 «Nypano” Ri Rienceaiiad fedatee 185 Music, Evening Schools, etc., “Nickle Plate” R. R........- 185 Biti@iic wei gS 4 ORR ERTS S Nickle Works, Erie......-..-- 501 | Oberkirch, Frank............ 642 Musical Organizations, Erie.. Noble, Charles C......--+ +++ 588 | O’Brien, Joseph Ps Soave a exces 606 Sloan ata pee anace sae 76-528 « Horace W.....e.+- 12+ 088 « "Patrick P.......... 684 Myers, Geo. H.......-+-+---+- 784 Orange....-seeee rere 587 “« — Richard........ 556 14-606 “Samuel C..........6- 784 “Orange, Defeated for 1 We Hes cea. scars weeeeen 719 State Treasurer.....-...++- Observer Erie,.........eeeee 174 Mystic Shrine, Erie.......... 476 916 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Odd Fellows Societies, Erie... 476 | Paradine, Thomas J.......... 820,.|) BHelps). Fo Sino se anne ee e-< 649 O'Donnell, Arthur............ 748 | Park Hall, Erie ............. 521 | Philadelphia & Erie R.R.... 183 Oéss, Bartley... icc cece cae ee 756 “Home Chapel, Erie. .... 489 “ A NET ai Officers of the Erie Fire De- “Mission Chapel, Erie.... 489 tances Dyce wissen esutaemeeas 183 partMent,.. 6. s sae 411 “ Opera House, Erie...... 621 | Philadelphia, Description of.. 34 Official Positions Held by “Presbyterian Church,Erie 438 | Phillips, Dr. J. H....... 508 4-647 Erie Attorneys...... ...... 158 | Park Superintendents, Erie Phillips, Alfred W............ 722 Ohmer, Theodore............ 756 TSE Ole vic vacecossctinogte ok oases 406 | Phillips, James H............ 832 Oil faspectors: List of........ av Park View House, Erie...... 520 | Phillipsville........ arate 362 Natural.nssuncsaisens ee344 Parsons, James............... 876 | Physical Features of the State 32 “Refineries, Erie... ....... 501 | Party Names and Organiza- Piano Factories, Erie......... 501 “ Refinery (2d) in Erie...... 741 HONS eso deers Oaicseanblee cos 216 | Pickering, Thomas........... 672 “ Wellsin ErieCounty...... 73 | Party Names in Early Days . 216 | Pierce and King elected...... 231 ae and oe Engines... an Patriotic Order Sons of Amer- were A Teaser te tai taseda eu? 840 ach, JOH. P Jgcicesccccee sees é 1a, ETi@s os sens s6 ek Baknewnes 477 Palme Pe ees sears as . 840 Old Fashioned Spelling Patrol Wagon, Erie ......... 414 8 UROLCE Dirac oar cnaicintry ee 840 SCHOONS i ccscnsiisic ss, scsin tncds: aupndeeara 189 | Patrons of Husbandry......... 194 | Pinney, A.S.............000. 654 Old Folks’ Home, Erie...... 484 | Patten, E.W........... .... 893 HON" FEOTACE Line wie a riaaniavs 654 “ French Graveyard, Erie.. 469 | Patterson, Freeman..... .... 821 | Pioneer Lake Captains....... 125 “ Graveyards: ssuaesce ses 144 | Pattison and Black Elected... 252 “ Mechanics........... 529 “ Mail Routes............. 124 | Pattison-Delamater Contest.... 257 | Pioneers, Nativity of ........ 114 “Old Ned” (B. F. Crawford “Robert E. ...56%-67- 68 | Pittsburg, Description of..... 35 Sketch)vtisnce kee ges .++. 850 | Paupers, Number of in Penn’a. 32 | Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake Old Stage Lines.............. 124 | Pay of Firemen, Erie........ 412 Erie Re Re ssiceyaic oe dswapaades 185 “ Style Currency.......... .. 198 | Peace with the Indians....95-106 | Platt, George....... ... 6444-571 “ Time Wages and Their Pearce, A. S........ cece eee 896 | Pleasure Boats, Erie........ 425 Payment. caspnmiaeensia sc 119 | Peck, Edmund............... 804 | Plumb, W.C................ 766 Old Thoroughfares........ 120-124 Bs Ge Bcxedaaie eatnieniea's ae 804 | Police Call System, Erie... . 414 Oldest Justice of the Peace.. 318 " ZQIOMON vise cece es esas 804 | Police Department, Erie..... 414 Men and Women...... 199 | Peculiarities of Lake Shore Polish Cemetery, Erie........ 471 Olds, Asa: Ginvcbies saadston é 3 | Political Contest, An Exciting. 192 : tol A sane shai Boarar aii pe Fol Events, 1798 to i; seas grtaduee sees Doo) 8. itle Oficina OB-AlS: | 1895 oye scccpinaes decal cnc 215-262 s Melvin eens Se 3 Political Harmony, Era of.... 218 Alasente dan access 3 e History, State....... 382 Olmstead, William E “ Sopra ; nr Oliver, Fl Seer Sagas pend i Peassylvama Dutch, Origin of Pollock ora ie epee 639 SVL is WSR pe tetrerne aaa eenl AN Bi AG Soo wes gas. eatietese sans res “ Thomas Foc cat waee 775 Benserien Historical, De- a “ ce James... ..... 829 Be Wallies oo ace a 4. scorerste 175 scriptive, Statistical...... 19- 44 “ Chaves aoe cae oe One-Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Natural Gas Co. 481 oe WAMU, octet seeud aes 629 Regiment............... 202-211 fs One of the First af J Stele nein ane 629 One-Hundred and Forty-fifth States to Provide for General #8 Otis We eek ive 629 Regiment............... 203-2138 Education............... 187 $s Robert .............. 629 Opening of Navigation, Dates Pennsylvania Population Co.. 107 HH TMOMAS .|) St. Michael’s R. C. Church, ee i ‘ ie ae a BAER uteiante a oldiers’ an ailors’ Home, Fe hi Gucs oo ei dnun eink sei ESAS ranahan, Perry G........++5 g ee sh seers 44-147-480 | St. Paul’s German Evangelical ab bey hj ee Pie oes ae ae oldiers’ and Sailors’ Monu- Church, Erie.............- rauch, John .............-5 § mee bat: ees 199- Pat St. Pauls R, Con 461 os ee: AAAs a] oldiers’ and Sailors’ Or St. Patrick’s urc reams in Erie County...... Soldiers Authorized to os 239 Pirie foe's lem ares ore 456 | Streets and Avenues, Erie.... 393 Soldier Candidates, Period of.. 240 | St. Patrick’s R. C. Auditorium. 456 | Street Lighting, Erie......... 395 “ Vote, Mexican War... 229 | St. Peter’s Cathedral, Erie.... 457 “Market, Erie.......... 522 Solicitors, City, Erie.......... aay St. Stanislaus R. C. Church, ie “ Names "Chan ed, Erie... 304 Sons of St. George, Erie...... 7 Eti€.. 42 coe ss thes saaes canes ee umbering, Erie...... ost Peete Bri€: 3 age 474 | St. Vincent’s P. E. Church Streuber, Louis ............+. 627 Sontaggsgast, The Erie....... 176 WIG) 4nd ee dee sees BERS eee 446 Strong, Charlés Ts sacsesvies 569 Sopp, Frederick........-...++ 818 | St. Vincent’s Hospital, Erie... 434 Martin........... 96 14-568 Spadacene, Charles . Be tee Stafford, Albert C............ on a ine ee re ae Spahr, John F...........0.--- 81 « Ananias......... ee ees BE Maca cosascaut chainttuahaces eames Spath, eee Tigcapsgiicig aecron's 816 “Henry C., Jr.....ee eee 675 HP) JOD Doss 3S msiaccrraiss nies 860 Spear, Alexander............- 860 “Jasper W......-- ees 890 | Strycker, Harry H........... 873 Specht, Anthony........-.+--+ 847 eS BP oe a tanec aa 675 | Stubbe, John. ............... 855 i" Lawrence......--.+++ 847 | State Agricultural Society, ee ee a Spetz, Henry.........-+20008 754 Presidents of........ .+.-++ WHET JiE vy wees sicaiee saaiteas xe can shoot jieeshce waneersaees 759 | State and County Fairs in Erie 193 | Sturdevant, Dr. H.C. ....... 777 Speculation of 1836.. 112 | State Buildings............ 38-147 Sturgeon Family is snccusagowe 570 Spencer, Dr. H. A.....2.----: 645 “Board of Medical Ex- Carson J....... 620 34-570 @ | Gndaly Colts «5 senes BOG | aiMinerB, ccc acoe + sores nooo 265 | Tyiecaspencareies 61214-570 Speakers House Reps nia” State Board of Public Charities 265 | Sturgis, G. W..........-++++5 805 tives from Pennsylvania.. 3 “Constitution a epee Sullivan, ae a re ee “ Constitutiona onven- sid Senate eae eee Township. = Gate. saad ae earess 923-246 | Summer Resorts, Principal, State Fish Commissioners, 265 Bvles coe een teen ceneee History... ..ceseeeeeee neers 348 920 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. PAGE PAGE PAGE Summit Township, Churches Teel, Alexander.............. 604 | Tracy, JohnF. ....... 240 4-545 GE SCHOOLS. <0 ce ax deagans 351 SE WON ae tance Sant wales 604 Boy POMEL Aussie auedieys 1mtleee 427 Summit Township, Creeks, Johny Andis. a eeaeeted aisave 604 Nia Be Obese cec2 aes 285 Valleys and Lands........ 3ol fe John Odes oss saed naleins 604 | Tradeand Travel, Early Times 123 Summit Township, Early Set- " Normativeoesgachosacive 604 Treasurers, County, List of.. 270 tletS:: c22ccsean +4 daa soesaes 351 Me Silas: Eevee omaha’ 604 « ~’ First Elect- Summit Township, Historical fe) CS ilas Ee iasaesuces 63 604 0 chs Gaeee eatamigs eeceesd 244 CE Gis tertind Hehtcatidilerids tad, Go aerate Gees Summit Township, ee 350 Roads and Railroads. ac iio s'e wees ee ees 350 Sunday Graphic, Erie........ 17 ae Messenger, Erie..... 176 ce Schools, First in Erie COUMEY 25 ci akceidacnacat ates 143 Superintendents Sidewalks and ITECtS, TIC ccd eke g 2a Ac 406 Supreme Court, Held in Erie. 152 “Term for Erie COUNTY tec scctnaexicun dee vies 152 Supreme Judges from County and Distri¢tis)s sececduasacey 150 Superior Court, When Estab- lished 304240 ehenscneeces 261 Surgeons, List of, in the County 166 Surveyors, County, List of.... 275 When First BICCtEd 5. vanes Satenaaenes + 230 Survey of Lands..... ....... 110 Sutter, John................. 667 Sutton, John F............... 730 Swalley, Christian............ 648 Swap, Jacob Eo... ee cc eas 860 Swanville, Village of.... ... 298 Swedenborgian (The New) Church, Erie 204 c6c6 cacaas 464 Swedish Baptist Church, Erie 455 i Evangelical Lutheran Bethany Church, Erie...... 455 Switzer, Jacob W............. 797 Table of Distances from Erie.. 76 Tageblatt-Zuschauer, Erie.... 175 PallE fo W sedisuessrstnasina whine ene 824 Tanneries i MIE Es nan esvedusens 502 ThE Firsticsccce es 116 Tanning Industry, The....... 525 Tansey, Michael J............ 875 Taverns, Old haan eng ht oy el ee 123 Tax Rate for Twenty-seven WON ae aeemmeiwca daca 398 Taxes in 1820........ ...... 529 Taylor and Fillmore Elected. . 229 “Charles B.. 0.0 wc. ae 744 “Daniel R........ 660 4-839 KD EVD BDALG: ccteiewarrs Sees 882 M JAMIGSH. 3 3 2eoscte op auhsigede 839 Teachers’ Institute, Erie COMMS occ ek oaetany seeped 190 Teachers’ Institute, Erie...... 489 Me Over Ten Years in SETVICE, ETO cise asin done o 3.9 « 490 Peel. Ramily ss vo. ccsau cur ou 604 Telephone Exchange, Erie... 848 a System, Erie ..... 848 Telegraph and Telegraph INES secre 2 ih lalalgveeacse er uaiOn 198 Teller; ELEntyig2..2's ieee slau 624 Henry Ressgia veseen eas 624 Temple, Dr. Frank M... .... 730 Temperance Societies, Early... 195 Tenth Donation District ...... 108 “Street M.E.Church, Erie 449 Terms of Erie County Courts, DB OA 5 seis shen oars aisieie a 151 Terms of United States Courts. 153 Test Gas Well, Erie.......... 527 Thanksgiving Day (See Pre- FACE) 2 6 sw ccemalawe Beg 2 oe ke eR 200 Thayer, Dr. Alvin....... 444 14-602 Henry WY ecsitssecbssers ee 771 is Horace N....... .... 659 € Jason Pes naeleniens ea 659 a StSP HEM setae worases nares 796 ‘The New Chine (Swedenbor- Glan) FariGiacescihaedeield sr la 464 Thrasher, David.. : 779 Three Months Regiments Or- PAN 2ed ered vce ex seed 201 Thompson, Abel wcos sec wee ies. s 865 George W....... 731 ae Caleb.. veeene 865 " Charles C.... . 865 John P...... 844 y- ee fe William H....... 865 Thoroughfares, Old... . 120-124 Throop, Jonathan. wees sass ces 799 2 WS ielcials eaten ines 799 Thurston, ‘Henry Lins aaea ba wees 774 Tibbals, Charles Mog sis sce doces . 598 . Charles M., Jr... . 598 “ Lincoln N. ......... 598 Tilden and Griswold Cam- paign.. . ae. 257 Timber of Erie County... ie 13 fs Pennsylvania . alas, OO) Times, Erie Daily............ 175 Tipton, Ray (Pine sitsuees's vane 873 Title to the Peninsula. ..... 88-418 Titus, Jesse.. tieec ven cae SOF # Richard, ivsc-c+sces0, 864 Tompkins, George W..... ... 731 Tong, Herberting 25 c000hcea0< 817 Tonnage through the “Soo” Canalis cise) tt Laban aictneiioe 584 Topography of Erie County... 71 Totman Hy Ms. eecucae awaseeees 650 Town, Bester Cie nee hy 676 14-626 Townley, Cate ae Sead Galt nen 892 Townships in Erie County.... 74 Toys, Wim. 2M ects oe es ace secs 870 Tracy, John A........... 160 4-544 “John Avery...... 224 14-813 ae Description (oa 104 Disputed Boundary LIMOS oy ccucpdeae sy. tee. hives ate 103 Triangle, Price Paid for....... 103 “ Survey of the Bound- 2 tue eciasl ad tute ttt iuciacie a sacar 103 Trinbie, Charles A........... 174 Trinity Cemetery............ 331 Trinity Episcopal Mission, Erie 445 Triscuit, Day isi. saci seuss 884 e Jeftersons.. saccsnais tx 882 Mo Jess@nexxueesss ia e 882 Trustees, Soldiers’ and Sailors HOMO eis aia Pine tet carse nals 26 Trustees Warren Insane Asy- TUM gee ead paagaek anette 265 “Truth, The,” Erie,......... 176 Turners, Societies of in Erie.. 477 Turner, Patty: saccvcess ean 711 Tyson, Major W. W.......... 627 Uhlman, Emil..............4. Underholt, Gustave Union & Titusville R. R...... 185 Union City, Borough of... .3855-358 «"" Busi- ness Progress............44 855 Union City, Borough of, Churches and Cemeteries... Union City, Borough of, Fires and Floods................ 357 Union City, Borough of, Found- er of the Town... ........ 855 Union City, Borough of, Mat- ters of Interest.............. 358 Union City, Borough of, News- DAD CUS: 2 iss), aissees grasecneea.o teyess 357 Union Township. . . 852-358 a Churches and NICHOGIS... case « chsaenetiiesy 353 Union Townshlp, Early Set- CLOTS icc -caveamuites vee ac ee 354 Union Township, Lands and MVAlUOS: 5-2 goctcsrainitaues oie aiecavs 352 Union Township,Main Streams 353 es Population of. 351 Union Township, Bailsonde Bridges and Mills. . 1. 808 Union Depot Hotel, Erie.. 520 United Brethren Church.. ..142-463 “Presbyterian Church iaaty Wh Ge autin nayacoatin Bt ac 140-441 United States Buildings... . 148 “Branch Bank at ESTE iad tha ae Racine aoe Chee 478 “ onen Dasa .. 18 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. g2t ; txt, PAGE PAGE PAGE United States District Attor- Vincent, Benjamin........... 550 | War for the Union, Pennsyl- NOYS sesiensisees tema Reade 153 Bethe lives) cenlecscnarrs 550 vania's Part in............. United States Judges... .. 153 a Bethuel Boyd....... 551 | War Vessels on Lake Erie... 125 Jurors, How Se- ts Boyd, Rt. Rev...... “of 1812-14........... 132-138 lected ......6 sees seca 153 Cornelius sccesses aie 551 “with Mexico...........45 43 United States Marshals....... 153 «i Damielsc & saakacces 552 | Wards and Election Districts, is “ Officers........, 262 0 GERATry' ss 6554 aa oxiens 552 FESTA 6. seers assinlapauliale aatiestiase stats 397 eG “Officials, List of He JOM: psceineebie neces 551 | Warfeltown.......... ....005 397 Sas laeie xara Darel afecs ye nce teen 262-264 “ John..............., 552 | Warrentown..... ........... 330 Universalist Church, Early.... 142 ¢ OMT asa ertotanateels 552 | Warnath, Frederick.......... 680 Universities and Colleges in a Judge John P....... 900! | Warren, J. Vis vossiesiedagiee ees 788 Pennsylvania .......-...... 40 POVibes sicam etenes 551 Washington, John Gioeies ese es 766 U.S. Collectors and Deputies. 129 a DUPON Bese a vatsig conn 550 Township, De- “ Constitution, Pennsylva- Vicar Generals, Erie Diocese. 456 scription of............. 365-369 nia’s Part in Establishing. 40 | Vice-Presidents from Pennsyl- Washington Township, Creeks, U.S. Life Saving Service, Offi- VAN dete Gyaesiaeconeen ee Lakes and Lands........... 366 cers of......... eta ena aa, 8 131 | Vice-Presidential Candidates Washington Township, Com- U.S. Officers, Principal, from from Pennsylvania......... 41 mon Roads...........+.00 366 Pennsylvania....... eos hee Villa Marie Academy, Erie... 493 | Washington Township, Early U.S. Representatives in Con- Vinegar and Pickling Works, SGTHLELS ais cntacie cornea case 365 ress, Leading, from the PGi e occ hdust acer ainovn in acueailters 502 | Washington Township, Popula- tate. niad cana sccdvagiena yee 41 | Voelk, Andrew F............ 707 tion a ee ee U.S. Revenue Cutters........ 127 | Volland, Charles............. 677 | Washington Township, Schools “Senators from Pennsyl- © Leopold iiss asicciciaios 677 ANG: Mill sis. ssiecsisisa-vaueiessinreiers 367 vania, List 0f.....0 003.2204 Volunteer Army Officers, Erie Washington Township, State U.S. Weather and Signal Serv- COUDLY oh secede oye sadness 207 and County Officers ....... 369 ic@ OM CG. «0 dcaes vecs case 131 Vosburg, Alberts. cecuaa sasiiaee 742 | Washington Township, Villages Us Si Se Michiganincssecccsd5 127 Robert; Stes. cascnes 741 and Churches.......... ..- 365 Unusual Seasons of Naviga- Vote of the State for Governor 41 Washington’s Visit to Water- CHON EUG ciccacceaieseraceuesdiiene aot pause 129 BS EE « «President 35 FOG ie ears cae. ahs Saag aas 100 Unusual Spells of Weather... 195 Valleys, Principal in Erie Co.. 71 Valuable Information about Fish and Fishing........... 89 Valuations, Real and Personal Property. ui ote etegheates 43 Van Buren Elected President 222 Van Scoter, John C........... 628 Vegetable Productions of Pennsylvania.......... 5.6. 42 Veit, Albértia gevcas ivi ee eres 756 - BerarG@as 226 se's vga ye ees 756 Venango Township saxedeue au 859 Churches, Graveyards and Schools.... 361 Venango Township, Creeks, Roads and Bridges......... 361 Venango Township, First Set- TEMENtS 4 males dagen aes 359 Venango Township, Lands, Mills, €t€...acccsca nade yess 361 wenn? Township, Population OF varaninae end oteete canes Mace Venango Township, Public Roads: wvicswieseaeee. +++ 860 Venango Township, Remuinis- Venango Townace Soldiers in the War of 1812.......... 360 Venango Township, Taxable Citizens in 1850............ 359 Venango Township, Villages Of were Se teak reese oe 59-3862 Vessels Owned at Erie....... 129 Vessel Statistics.........-.66- 126 Villages of the Indians....... 95 Wade, Elial Da icutuamuitaeacces V9 . Frank Bi nai belsuusad nae 711 ~ Walla, Rovcasinaue ras W1 Wager, Stephen D........... 690 Wages, Old Time and Present 119 Wagner, John...............- 766 Wagner, Valentine...... .... 757 Waidley, George.. -......065 816 Lv. Piswisexsce ress 813 HS JON Nieicretsanoa das eee O88 816 Waite, Amos H............4. 779 Waldermarson Peter......... 752 Waldinger, Fernando......... 854 Walbri ge,Carl H........... 802 Ebenezer... .... 802 - Frank Dysiscaee es 720 as JOD Soiewrceisy ose 820 WalésAs, DLesascnuis cies a sila 766 “ — Settlement of......... 311 Walker, John H.............. 622 ss Thomas M........... 623 a Judson... .....62834-894 John W......ceeeee ees Robert “Tucsia see 2 675 ss William A........... 709 Wallace Baptist Mission, Erie 452 © Dr, John © sscsscenae 552 “ Trwin M......c.e eee 553 6 Walllamyseacieis eas: cee 553 “William M.......... 553 Walther, Jacob F........ 5804-629 Walnut Creek, Settlement.... 330 War Fleet for the Lakes De- cided Upon........seeee ee. 133 War for the Union, Erie Coun- ty’s Part in......... 201-215-238 Waterford Borough, American Settlement, etc. ..........- 372 Waterford Borough, Boating DRAG Gica.9 239 clea crease adedere 375 Waterford Borough, Churches. 376 a Factories, MullSy, Ct@s jcanueaieceaancee 378 Waterford Borough, Fires, etc. 378 French and English Forts......... 372 Waterford Borough, Incidents of Early Days............. 374 Waterford Borough, Newspa- PETS). .tetiwwe aisiee ese seas 877 We eee Borough, Pioneers ae diate nyacsndcasutauotutsoauend Sib%ce- = 7 Waterford Borough, Postmast- 3 Wis gael Sobre Hie aye aytbodonysutlans 17 Waterford Borough, Public MODs ors cescieeess asta wate wea ed 376 Waterford Borough, Tax Pay- ETS ID: LBB wiesie reas se ven oe e's 874 Waterford Borough, Academy 376 ee Cemetery 376 < and LeBceuf Re- SETVES i osu scantnaaaate nes 109 Waterford, Laid out.......... 107 Plank Road....... 122 “ Turnpike......... 121 Township, Creeks and Lakes..............66- 370 Waterford Township, History 369-378 Waterford Township, Lands, Reservation, etc............ 69 Waterford Township, Popula- HON-OF sidan est ccckie aris yeentene 369 922 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. PAGE PAGE ‘ PAGE Waterford Township, Roads, Weis Library, The........... 334 | Wing, A. K..... se eee eee 847 Bridges and Mills......... 371 | Weiss, Samuel...............- 666 | Wingerter, Adam W.... ..... 689 Waterford Township, School Wieczorek, John.............. 702 age George B......... 690 TIStORY scsstanee cee chess ate 37 Welsbach Gas Co..... ...... 482 | Winschel, Frederick.......... 674 Waterford Station............ 871 | Welsh, John.... ............- 749 “ JOBR: Mi. sasicicaers ave 674 Water Department, Erie..... 408 JON: Sicss sone x naa's heaps 726 | Winter, George J ........... 756 Waterfalls in the County...... 82 | Wells, Wm. Delaney......... 837 Wittich, Frederick slots 1444-631 Waters, Hamilton E.......... 742 Wellsburg, Village of......... BOR AE. Stesnatidee vec 632 Water Works, Erie.......... 408 | Wesleyan Methodist Church, “ fines Fe . 682 Watson, Harrison F.......... 592 Erie... bas eg William G........... 632 Wattsburgiccscsenta tice anss 363 Wesleyville, Village Owns . 817 | Wolf GOOTBE rca ees ais 32%4- 66 Churches and Socie- West: Chester, sosccgusex yg sie 894 BY SAAC! cities execs 772 4-846 HES a nereRe sac. snietie 8s Sane 363 | West Girard, Village of....... 306 | Women’s Christian Associa- Wattsburg, General Features. 364 | West Greene Ares one tials aecheteanst is 31 tion; Erié: ic2oeees< 20 et 467 Newspapers and West, Simon P., Rev Women’s Relief Corps, Erie.. 474 Public Men.................. West Springfield edussrs Bibs W00d, Ge Misrcsiticied sos a5 a auuitte 799 Wattsburg, Plank Road Wetmore; C. His s.sacecesseas s © VPGLEL, Sacieaieriiny 7244-643 Wayne, Anthony........... “ Jerome W.. .....52414-597 | Woods, Andrew J............ 720 “Block House, Erie. "98-430 Wheeler, Charles M..... 362 ne -804 | Woodbury, E.A............. 824 Wayne Street Church, Erie.. 450 Dr. Arthur C... . 805 | Woodmen of the World, Erie. 477 Wayne Township, Early Set- ee Edward E......... 805 Woodruff, Samuel E......... 625 RErsys swraese anys, ctscedicscdesens 382 u Fred Cs.i6s5cib sana 805 Rev. Es “Tussasecss 625 Wayne Township, Historv of.. 879 7 Orton H............. 805 ue Thomas S ........ 625 Lands and i PhHineaSsicjene vers is 696 | Worswick, Z.........-....05- 857 LREAMIS 2 sx)spus ine aneseie: deans 379 Whig Party Organized... . 225 | World’s Fair, Part taken in by be ae Township, Population Ticket, Last one e Elected. 231 POW 8 scanausnie Ghee w'c bse avelais tense Dh Dvane ee abe ja nat ad seh ind cs aes 379 | Whiskey Rebellion.. 37 Wright, Delos A............. 875 Wayne ‘Township, Prehistoric White, Albert E.. to iee ee 697 JOD diss eraistssnsieteacs 786 REMAINS ais, dows adeae Sain 382 SEN POG LAS eccsnnioselerteesve acd 825 " Rial B sseewas eva snus 795 Wayne Township, Prominent ‘ BEG Aa Niele a one hak cect 894 MCI eset wnsls eects eh ares 82 “Seymour, M. D., D. S... 777 Wayne Township, Roads, Rail- Whitehead, Charles.......... Yaple, pee Ate cece eae we roads, et@: iss iveane seca 381 Nathaniel Je i i rilli BERNA ae a Wayne Township, State Fish “ William.. ae ¥ William.............. 785 atchery in.. 381 | Whitély, J. Sowcsoexsseses cus Berg eareeenes ise 679 Wayne Township, the Greeley Whiteman, Nicholas.......... BAG: | ae ae gs nae ee ae 679 Family... 882 | Whitman,’ Benjamin. . 194834596 Pred OCIA OR seasn alee 200 Wayne Township, ‘Villages, Editor of Young, Delmer J. viiecssevess 698 Schools, Mills, etc.......... 380 Erie Observer............. 596 i David «os... ss sees 698 Wealth of the State........... 43 | Whiton, Charles........ .... 861 i Henry D............ 698 Weather and Signal Office at Wilcox, Clyde D............. 7715 ‘i James... .- sess eee 820 Ba erddnr es tein Sines 131 «~” House, Erie.......... 519 Re Geese eeeeeee eee 820 Weather Tables for Many Wild Game in Erie County... 114 Youngs, G. Leese eee eee 852 Years.. 2 10D | WS OP as teeaomewns BOT | ||P eet ae eaeemi eres 852 Weather, Unusual ‘Spelis of.... 195 Willis, Charles............... Weber, Andrew M... ....... 775 Wilkins, JOD Mess ines Sn evaern serine Zahn, Dr. H. A...........4.. 776 FON Yncxgden aeedcens 723 “Thomas . Zaepfel, Joseph.............. 748 © Joseph Bs.eesscenneva 696 “Thomas L Zeigler, Jacob............. . 822 Weed, Willis N.............. 774 | Wilkinson, Abel...... ..... Zeiser, Henry William.. . 686 Weddege, HGnryisicsecicae cise 727 | Williams, J. B. ............., 65, AE AT ae ga Co acct cece 686 Weeks, By icici aaaes Se 772 eee Crs Zion’s Mission, BS. aaneces 454 DON 6 4 aun suiand se 772 a George D Zimmer, Conrad............. 671 W. N. Y. and Pa. Railroad... 185 | Wilson, Dr. M. A “William Mo.0.12127! 672 Wehan, Peter................ Harty Lisees cccas ass Zimmerly, William.......... 753 Weiblein, John G CAGE Hea ect uavavae Zuck, Clark W......sssscc 0, 642 Wn. F.. 7 is Thomas, Hon “John ...... 810 Weigelville, Village of awoes 331-397 | Wilson House, Erie.......... 520 ae GNA Tos ne eeeea as 810 Weindort, Je Bis onsciasanomsanus 729 | Wilson Moore's close run for be ee Te age cae 642 Weislogal, Charles E.... |... M82 | Sherif vey cve-ss wanna aoe | * SOB Pp 810 Weis, Jacob........... ccc cae 806 © Wine Making, sccci acieanccaes <5 195 tu ae Bw fal ar pi Herren apres Feriental ele era ats a ae rs eer ae ae eet Le r r esa: tp . pe Ee ae etc f hr 3 o ee pr mrt Mies cs 7 iat Dol ane GREE Sty Ae: Oe Beare kee rie x Ayn oi oe : F. r a retro ‘ ; ; Pie ete Sri j Cae a i. 7 wy fi s i sem gow geet ay ‘ orks ; Reyer Taser ge a oat : Bere ar ae a ! “ v . b’ x i " in o . a - ’ es i 1 Shea rnc ‘(RCo ym Tek a ae cee : Same eet rele Tay Sener . ~ ma a -" te Ap Eee a) otek Sno poe aan atthe te ieee Mee hee eae he eran 4 ro ape ee ET eae nie ~