USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 13
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All the roads, and the stage lines that used them, which have been mentioned above, were simply the main roads out of Erie. No attempt will be made to name or locate the many others. It is proper to state, however, that all of the roads of which mention has been made, are still in existence and extensively used, save one. They have all been greatly
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improved,-and goodness knows, they needed that-but none of them are really good roads, save perhaps for a short period each year when travel and weather conditions combine to render them so. Recently, through the stimulus of a state fund derived principally from license fees derived from the owners of automobiles, permanent improvements have been made in spots. The first work of this kind was done in 1906, Springfield township on the Ridge and Station roads where about four miles was macadamized. The next improvement of the kind was made a year later to the Buffalo road from Wesleyville east a mile and on the Station road from Wesleyville east a mile. About the same time the Edinboro road was macadamized from the southern city limits up and over the summit at Nicholson's Hill beyond Kearsarge to Walnut Creek about three miles. A fourth section of macadam was laid on the Ridge road from Weigletown nearly to the county farm; a fifth, on the Watts- burg road, from the city boundary to Greene township line, over two miles ; and a sixth from Waterford station on the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad to the borough. These improvements are prophetic of what is surely to be, for the road question is being taken more seriously than ever.
But the exception, noted above! The most ancient of all the coun- ty's roads; that which was one of the factors in bringing on the Seven Years War of England; that was a bone of contention between British and American interests for years : that engendered the most threatening Indian troubles of this section; that was the rock of offence to retard settlement, and that after all the difficulties and trials had been settled was the only dependable avenue of communication with the interior- the old French Road; it literally fell by the wayside. It is possible to trace its route here and there. Within the city there is a short section of it that retains its name, though much the greater part within the cor- porate limits must be content to pass under the name the original char- acter of the thoroughfare suggested as appropriate to the surveyors of the town-Parade street. But beyond, it comes to an abrupt and in- glorious end when it reaches the edge of the narrow valley of Mill creek. Beyond that it is lost in the Waterford "Plank" road, which appropriated it as far as to the Summit township line. Then it disappears altogether for a space, to again appear and be of service for a few miles until a second time a boundary line of Summit wipes it out. What matter that the section at the Waterford end of the turnpike once belonged to the French road? For long years all proprietary rights of this char- acter have been reversed. The French road at its southern end is lost in the turnpike, and that thoroughfare the building of which wore out an army of 1500 French soldiers, and that brought brave old Marin to his grave, has disappeared from the map, except for a few dotted lines laid in by pure guess-work. That which was the cause of Washi- ington's perilous winter journey through the wilds of the great forest ;
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which wiped out the brave Gen. Braddock; which brought on the action in that great theatre that extended from the forks of the Ohio to the Plain of Abraham-that rude thoroughfare from Presque Isle to Le Bœuf is gone, past even the abilities of the most devoted antiquarian to locate it.
CHAPTER XIII .- THE COUNTY ORGANIZED.
THE NEED OF A COURT .- WAGER OF BATTLE CASE .- THE FIRST COURT. -TOWNSHIPS FORMED .- COUNTY BUILDINGS .- A COSTLY FIRE.
In the beginning Erie county was a part of Lancaster county. Or- iginally, in Penn's grant, there were but three countries. Lancaster county extended west to the western boundary of the colony and north to the northern line, thus including so much of Erie county as was then a part of Pennsylvania. Years later there was a new subdivision of the state, and the county of Cumberland was organized so that its western and north- ern boundaries extending to the state limits, including Erie. Upon third subdivision Bedford county obtained a claim to this corner of the state. Then there was a fourth reorganization, when the county of Westmore- land was formed, so as to occupy the western end of the state, and this arrangement endured until the year 1788, when by act of the legislature that section of the state north of the Ohio river and west of the Alle- gheny to the Ohio state line was set off as a county and named Alle- gheny county with Pittsburg as the county seat. Erie county as it is today then became Erie township of Allegheny county, and this state of affairs endured until the year 1800.
It might seem that, with the sparse population of this section up to that time, the arrangement by which Erie was a part of Greater Pittsburg, would be all-sufficient for the people living here. But it was not altogether so. By the year 1800 the population had nearly reached 1500-the census figures are 1468. The area of the county is 772 square miles, and the population was therefore, at the beginning of the nine- teenth century, not quite two to the mile. Nevertheless the need of a county organization was felt to a greater or less degree, especially with reference to the administration of justice.
While Erie was still within the limits of Allegheny county an inci- dent occurred which will illustrate the need there was for court service within convenient reach. Among the earliest settlers in the neighbor- hood of Waterford were two men with their families, one of the name of Vincent, the other named McNair. Both had become possessed of land, or thought they had, in accordance with the permanent settlement act ; but it turned out that both were claimants of the same parcel of ground. They got together with reference to the matter and after some discussion
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concluded that to carry the dispute to court at Pittsburg would cost more than the land was worth. So there and then they decided to settle the matter by a fist fight, the winner to have full right and title to the land. The fight took place accordingly and Mr. Vincent was victorious. The combat occurred in a log barn not far from the village of Waterford, and, upon losing, Mr. McNair acknowledged Mr. Vincent to be the owner, and withdrew as gracefully as circumstances would permit.
It is interesting to know that this method of settling a dispute was quite within the provisions of the common law as it existed at that time. There was on the statute books of England an act that provided for deter- mining a variety of questions, by what was known as wager of battle --- or wager of battel-as it was literally given, though the mode of pro- cedure was different in detail from that pursued by the Erie county pioneers named. According to the law the proceeding and the contest were to take place before a magistrate and wands or sticks were to be used as weapons. In principle, however, the adjudication of the fist was effective to determine the question legally, and the title to the prop- erty passed or vested lawfully in Mr. Vincent.
But it was a barbarous method. It had come to be regarded so in England, and though fallen much into disuse there-indeed seemed to be becoming obsolete-it was looked upon as so much of a disgrace to the code that it was repealed about 1818: for a law is law until it is re- pealed whether practiced or not. The occurrence in this county of the settlement of a dispute by wager of battle will indicate the pressing need that existed to have facilities within reach for the respectable and honorable trial and adjudication of questions of law that might arise. There had therefore developed a movement for better providing the now rapidly growing population with the full rights of citizens. Most of the settlers were poor men, and the expense that attached to bringing questions or matters in dispute before court at Pittsburg was so great as to be prohibitory, thus being in effect a denial of justice. It is proper to state also that the wager of battle was not regarded with general favor as a method of settling land titles.
An act of the legislature, passed March 12, 1800, created the coun- ties of Erie, Butler, Beaver, Crawford, Mercer, Venango and Warren, naming the county seat of each. It turned out, however, that the action taken by the legislature was somewhat premature, for while the people of the northwest corner of the state were in need of better facilities than had been possessed, they were not yet able to afford them. As separate counties they could not sustain the expense necessary to carry on the business of their courts. Accordingly, on April 9, 1801, an act was passed joining Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango and Warren as one county for governmental purposes, under the name of Crawford, with Meadville as the county seat. From that time until 1803. to all intents
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and purposes the five counties were one, a single set of county officers serving for all and one member of the legislature representing all five.
In 1803 Erie county was organized for all judicial purposes, this being done at the public-house of George Buehler, at the corner of Third and French streets in Erie. Originally there were sixteen townships established : Millcreek, Harborcreek, North East, Greenfield. Venango, Brokenstraw, Union, Le Bœuf, Waterford, Conneauttee, Mckean, Beav- erdam, Elkcreek, Conneaut, Springfield and Fairview. It used to be maintained by the late Capt. N. W. Russell that an erorr was made when the names were given to the townships of Millcreek and Harbor- creek, or rather, when the names selected were applied on the map; because it is evident that Harborcreek more properly applies to the county division upon which the harbor fronts, while the principal stream of Harborcreek-Six-mile creek,-was notable from earliest times as a source of water power which was utilized almost its entire length within the township. The stream called Mill creek would have better been named Harbor creek, because the harbor of the earliest times was at its mouth. However, there was a reversal of appropriate names made on the first of the maps of Erie county, and no objection was ever raised in an official or authoritative manner ; so the names stand.
Subsequently changes were made both in the names and by the subdivision of townships. In 1820 Brokenstraw became Wayne and Con- cord, the former named after the Revolutionary general who died within the limits of the county. In 1826 Amity was set off from Union. In 1832 Girard was formed from parts of Springfield and Fairview and named in honor of Stephen Girard, the great merchant and Philanthropist of Philadelphia, who owned an extensive tract of land in that township and Conneaut. Conneauttee was changed to Washington in 1834, the new name of course in honor of the Revolutionary general and first president. In 1840 Beaverdam took the name of Greene, from General Nathaniel Greene. Franklin was formed in 1844 out of parts of Mckean, Washington, Elkcreek and Fairview and named in honor of the great printer, statesman, philosopher and scientist. Summit was formed in 1854 from parts of Greene and Mckean. Thus were evolved in the process of time the twenty-one townships comprised by Erie county.
The courts, however, continued for a long time to be of the itinerary or circuit order, as was naturally to be expected. The judicial district was changed from time to time as the convenience or facilities of travel rendered advisable, including by several apportionments as many as five counties. As was noted above, in 1801, there was an act that for the time being joined Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango and Warren into one county with Meadville as the seat of justice. The action taken in 1803 and did not change the metes and bounds of the judicial district, but it made Erie the county seat of Erie county, and in its turn the court for the county of Erie of the fifth judicial district was held at Erie. It
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was at the court of this district, held in Erie April 9, 1803, with Judge Jesse Moore of Crawford presiding, that Erie county was erected as an independent shire. By the judiciary act of Feb. 24, 1806, Butler, Mercer, Venango, Crawford and Erie became the sixth judicial district. In 1818 Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango and Warren composed the district ; in: 1825, Erie, Crawford, Mercer and Venango; in 1851, Erie, Crawford and Warren; in 1860, Erie, Crawford, Warren and Elk; in 1870, Erie, Warren and Elk; in 1874, Erie county alone, but from 1806 the Erie district continued to be, no matter what the apportionment, the sixth judicial district.
The erection of Erie into an independent county at Judge Moore's court in 1803 brought about a complete county organization, with John Vincent of Waterford, Abiather Crane, of Conneaut, and James Weston of Le Bœuf, as county commissioners. The other county officers at the beginning were: Callender Irvine, prothonotary, the duties of that office then including those of the register and recorder and clerk of the courts of the present time: Mr. Irvine, however, was not commissioned until July 4. Wilson Smith of Waterford was elected sheriff in October, 1903, Alexander Stewart of Crawford, appointed by the governor, serving for Erie as well as for the adjacent county until Mr. Smith had been qualified. Abraham Smith of Erie was elected coroner at the same election. Until 1850 the officer now known as the district attorney was known as deputy attorney general and was appointed by the attorney general of the State, and the first deputy appointed for Erie was William N. Irvine. John Hay was the first treasurer, appointed in 1804 by the commissioners.
At the time of the organization of Erie county. it was still very sparsely settled. The census of 1800 showed a population of 1,468, so that there were few if any more than 2,000 inhabitants in 1803, when it had been decided that it was populous enough to stand alone. While there were a few centres of population, referred to at times as villages, such as Waterford, Manchester and Erie, they were merely hamlets, the county seat itself scarcely entitled to the dignity of being called a village. There was not an organized borough in the entire county. And yet the village of Erie had been spreading out and occupying the ground, a few straggling houses, surrounded by rail fences that enclosed considerable areas of ground, extending as far west as French street. It was in one of these, a public house kept by George Buehler, a wood cut of which is still extant, that on a morning in April, 1803, a horn, blown by the court crier, announced that the Honorable Jesse Moore was about to open the first court ever held in the county of Erie. The house dignified in this fashion, standing on the lot at the corner of Third and French streets, surrounded by its post and rail fence, was in its day the most pretentious building in Erie. Ten years later it was to be further dis- tinguished by becoming the headquarters of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie. It was dignity enough for
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the time, however, that it was to be in fact the scene of the organization of the most important county in the northwestern part of the state. For a number of years the courts of this county were accommodated in private houses, sometimes at Buehler's, again at Conrad Brown's, across the street, and again at the log house on the corner of Second and Holland streets, used as a jail.
The boroughs all came later. It was not until 1805 that Erie was organized into a borough (it became a city in 1851) ; Waterford was or- ganized in 1833; Wattsburg, in 1834; North East. in 1834; Edinboro, in 1840 ; Girard, in 1846 ; Albion, in 1861 ; Union Mills, in 1863, and changed to Union City, in 1821; Fairview, in 1868; Mill Village, in 1870; Lock- port, in 1870; Elgin, in 1876; East Springfield, in 1887; Corry became a borough in 1863 and a city in 1866.
The population of Erie county in 1800, according to the census report was 1,468; in 1810, 3,758; in 1820, 8,541; in 1830, 17,041; in 1840, 31,344; in 1850, 38,742 ; in 1860, 49,432; in 1870, 65,973 ; in 1880, 74,688 ; in 1890, 86,074; and in 1900, 110,412.
As has been stated, the county at the beginning had to be satisfied to be a tenant, temporarily renting the rooms in which its courts were held, and it was not until after Erie had become a borough that a move- ment was set on foot to have a court house built. Even then the expense was too great to be undertaken unaided. The state legislature, however, having made an appropriation of $2,000 to assist, the rest of the money was obtained and in 1808 the first courthouse was built. It was erected in the public square, now known as East Park, or the eastern section of Central Park. At that time there was a rather deep and precipitous ravine passing diagonally through East Park, cutting off the southeast corner. The location of the courthouse was on State street, between that ravine and North Park Row. In its day it was regarded as a notable example of architecture, much the best in this part of the state. It was a plain structure of brick with a tower or cupola surmounting it. This building stood until March 23, 1823, when it was burned, and, with it, the records of the county, including those of land titles that had been entered up to that time, were all destroyed. The loss to the county, resulting from the destruction of the records was a grave one, from which many complications have arisen, and the effects of which remain to a considerable degree to the present time. The fire occurred on a Sunday morning, early, and more or less speculation was indulged in as to its origin, the most generally accepted opinion being that it was caused by the janitor emptying ashes into a barrel in the basement.
Meanwhile it became necessary to provide a suitable place in which to hold court, for a term was just at hand. The Academy building had just been completed and the commissioners obtained a lease of one of the rooms for court purposes, to be used until the courthouse could be rebuilt. During the period of two years, in which the Academy figured Vol. I-8
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as a sort of dual temple-of learning and justice-the tones of the school bell mingling with the mellow tootings of the court crier's horn, might have given the impression to the temporary sojourner that a serial cele- bration was being observed in the little borough upon the lake shore. A year after the destruction of the first courthouse-in 1824-the county commissioners awarded a contract for a new courthouse, to occupy the same site as the old, and it was completed early in 1825. It was built very much after the plan of the first house, and was provided with a cupola or belfry in which was hung the hell of the Queen Charlotte, one of the prizes taken by Commodore Perry in the battle of Lake Erie in: 1813. The bell before it did service on a British ship of war, had been used at Fort Erie, and with patriotic intentions was presented to: Captain Finnis for his flagship. When the naval station at Erie was discontinued it was bought by Rufus S. Reed, who presented it to the borough, and, hung in the courthouse tower for more than a quarter of a century, it was used to summon the populace upon every public occasion. After the courthouse was abandoned for a newer and grander . building the bell was employed to give notice of fires until it was acci- dentally cracked, and retired from service, finding a resurrection in 1893, when it was presented to the city and now hangs in the main corridor of the City Hall, useless as a bell but invaluable as a relic of the "brave days of old in Erie."
For years that courthouse was the heart of the town of Erie. Not only was it employed for the accommodation of the court, but every other public or semi-public function occurred at the courthouse. Church meetings, lectures and concerts, political gatherings, assemblages to dis- cuss public affairs-anything in which the people or any part of the people were interested were held in the courthouse, and the bell, calling indifferently upon the entire populace was frequently the only advertise- ment necessary for the appointed proceedings. The town of Erie, then of a population of less than a thousand and known as "The Sleepy Bor- ough," by its envious neighbors, was not at all different from any other little country town of its size-of the time, let it be added, for the small towns of the present day that are not in touch with the ouside world by daily newspapers that find their way in fresh from the press, are very rare. In 1824 Erie was a rural village. It had some people who were getting on ; some who had become rich ; but the great majority were the struggling plain people who in their hours of leisure found nothing better to do- nothing that could be done-but to gather in groups in the evening in front of some popular store; in the village tavern; in the office of the Gasette, or any convenient place, and exchange opinions, swap stories or perpetrate practical jokes upon one another. The announcement by the ringing of the courthouse bell that there were to be doings there, was therefore always welcome, and whether the character of the meeting was known or not, there was no difficulty in obtaining an audience. Generally,
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however, all the people knew beforehand what sort of a meeting was in contemplation. Town talk in those days was exactly what the term would imply. Everybody knew everybody else's business, not except- ing that of the stranger within the gates.
Erie became known early as a hotbed of politics. These curbstone meetings (though for that matter the actual curbstone was far away in the future), were great schools of politics. It was a long time before the political boss came to be. There may have been political leaders among the people then-good talkers ambitious to air their opinions and often accepted at their own valuation, but in a good measure every man was a politician and every one in his turn had his say. It continued to be thus for many years, and when, in 1830, Horace Greeley came into town from his father's farm in Wayne township, a tramp printer in search of a job, he became so deeply impressed with this peculiar attribute of the Erie people that, writing of his experience in Erie many years later, he did not omit to speak of it. In those days Joseph M. Sterrett had already become a political leader. This was only natural. He had started the Gasette in January, 1820, and, being an editor, was looked upon by the people of his time as a man of authority among them, es- pecially with reference to political matters. In later years office and the emoluments pertaining came to him, but the honors of politics, as pol- itics then were, were his almost from the beginning of his editorial career. Country journalism then was a great institution, and the "power of the press" almost extravagantly potent.
And the publication of the Gasette, along with the perennial caucus- ing at the corner grocery, and in front of the village tavern did wonders toward the development of the town and county. Whatever scandals may have existed in those days, it has not come to the surface that anything of a public nature developed. It is true that when the new courthouse had been completed a defect in the construction of a gable or cornice was discovered, but it was not attributed to jobbery or an attempt made to overreach. The defect was called to the attention of the contractor, and he promptly made it good.
It was true of Erie county at that time as of the Orient in the olden time when it was said, "The poor ye have always with you," but the system of caring for them was different from what obtained later. At the beginning of things in Erie county each township was required to take care of its own poor, and the voters of the township elected two overseers, whose duty it was to make provisions in aid of the indigent. Whether it was a good way to do, or whether it was not does not ap- pear as a matter of record. But it is proper to presume it was not satis- factory, for in 1840 an act went into effect creating a county board of directors of the poor, and that year James Benson, of Waterford, was elected for one year ; Thomas R. Miller, of Springfield, for two years, and George W. Walker of Harborcreek for three years. Thereafter
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annually one director was elected to serve for three years. At the same time the question of erecting a county almshouse was voted upon by the people. The year before an almshouse proposition was voted down by a majority of 154, but in 1840 the issue prevailed by the close vote of 1,599 to 1,594; so the house was built.
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