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 44
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One of the best known and most highly esteemed members of the Erie bar is Col. J. Ross Thompson, born at Franklin in 1832. He was a son of James Thompson, judge of the Circuit Court and afterwards
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judge of the Supreme Court for fifteen years. Col. Thompson was a graduate of Princeton University and afterwards studied law in his father's office in Erie, becoming his partner upon his admission to the bar. His practice has been largely in corporation law, although he has been solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad for the past fifty years almost, in the counties of Erie, Crawford, Warren, Mckean, Elk and Lawrence. In the year 1899 his son W. L. Scott Thompson became associated with him in business and the copartnership continues. For more than forty-five years he has been active in the interests of the Dem- ocratic party, stumping all over the east for the presidential candidates of his party. He was himself a candidate for the Pennsylvania Supreme bench on the Democratic ticket in 1887. His title of Colonel comes from his appointment in 1857 as aide-de-camp of Gov. Packer, with the rank of Lieut .- Colonel.
Jerome Francis Downing came from New England in the fifties and was admitted in 1859. Soon afterwards he was elected district attorney, but taking up insurance, in 1864 was by the Insurance Company of North America of Philadelphia, appointed under contract its general agent for all of the states west of Pennsylvania. His splendid executive abilities achieved phenomenal success from the beginning of his career as an insurance manager and his zeal, industry and faithful application to business have continued his success uninterruptedly to the present time. He is now affectionately designated Erie's grand old man and is easily the foremost of Erie's public-spirited citizens.
Not all of those now living and practicing law in Erie county besides the quintette just named, are young men. Two at least, J. C. Sturgeon and Isaac B. Brown, have been members for more than forty years, the former making a specialty of patent law and the latter having for many years been connected with the state department of internal affairs. Of the present-day lawyers Joseph M. Force serves as register in bank- ruptcy ; F. W. Grant has for many years been United States Commis- sioner ; E. P. Gould has been a specialist in the charities and remedial laws; T. A. Lamb, long city solicitor, is the recognized authority on municipal law ; John S. Rilling is recognized throughout the state as an authority on the school and educational laws of Pennsylvania, while his partners, Henry E. Fish and Hon. Frank Gunnison are prominent in corporation law ; Clark Olds makes a specialty of admiralty practice ; U. P. Rossiter is regarded as one of the most competent lawyers in Erie in negligence cases; H. C. Lord, succeeding the late J. K. Hallock, is prominent as a patent lawyer ; James R. Burns, as lawyer and legislator became thereby the better fitted for the important duties he fills as a member of the high school faculty.
Nor is it unprofitable to note in what degree the county at large has contributed to the bar of the representatives of the oldest families. Of these Messrs. McCreary (died 1906), Reed, Rilling and Miller are of
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Millcreek; Messrs. Brotherton, Ballard, Davis, Moore, Benson, Hyner and Whittelsey, of Waterford; Messrs. Sproul (died 1907), Morrow, McClintock, Shreve, Titus, Yard and Camp, of Union; Messrs. Sterrett and Cushman, of Mckean; Messrs. Howard and Nason, of Franklin; Messrs. Sisson, Gould and Thomas, of Springfield; Messrs. Baker, Cov- ell, Olmstead, Smith, Crosby, Kincaid, Rogers and Osborne, of Corry ; Messrs. Eaton, Allison and the Giffords, of Venango; Messrs. Burchfield and Torrey, of Washington; Messrs. Flynn and Walling of Greenfield; Messrs. Cutler, Hinds, Woodruff and Rossiter, of Girard; Mr. Sawdey, of Conneaut; Mr. Bliley, of Harborcreek; Messrs. Force and Brady (died in 1905) of North East; Mr. Slocum and Mr. Sturgeon, of Fair- view. A few came from adjacent counties : Messrs. Heydrick, Roberts, Burns, Andrews and Higbee, from Crawford; Mr. Fletcher, from Ohio; Mr. Hewes, of Bellefonte; Mr. Craig, of Clarion ; Mr. Haughney, of Mc- Kean county. Mr. Lord comes to Erie from Michigan. Erie city is rep- resented among its younger attorneys by a generous number, including Messrs. Allis, the Brevilliers, Chinnock, Cohen, Grant, Gibson, the Gal- braithis, Gunnison, Marsh, Nason, Mertens, Carroll, Taylor, Young, Mc- Mahon, Sherwin, Heydrick, the Thompsons, and Riblet.
Another classification is permissible in view of the very large Ger- man element in the population of Erie, that race having contributed such names to the legal roster as Camphausen, Curtze, Rosewzweig, Eichen- laub, Sobel, Brevillier, Cohen, Mertens and Einfeldt. And the Celtic race has its representatives in Joseph P. O'Brien (deceased), D. McMa- hon and J. R. Haughney. Still another classification would be to enum- erate those who obtained civil distinction or political prestige: Messrs. Brady, Brooks, Rilling, Sobel, Sproul, Nason, Higgins, Mertens, Stur- geon, Olmstead, Osborne, Sisson, Burns and Baker. Nor should the scholarly H. A. Strong, one of the most efficient principals of Erie Academy be omitted.
As indicative of the working attorneys of the period it may be valuable to give a list of the borough and city solicitors and of the prosecuting attorneys. Of the former this is the list : E. Babbitt, 1851-59; C. W. Kelso, 1860; John P. Vincent, 1861-65; E. Babbitt, 1867-70; James Sill, 1871-72; G. A. Allen, 1872; G. W. Lathy & Son, 1873-75; Camphausen & Lamb, 1876; Theo. A. Lamb, 1877-89 ; Joseph P. O'Brien, 1889-95; Henry A. Clark, 1895-99; W. G. Crosby, 1899-1906; W. P. Hewes, 1906 to date.
The prosecuting attorneys: 1804, Wm. N. Irvine, and William Wallace, of Erie; 1809, Patrick Farrelley and Ralph Marlin, of Craw- ford; 1819, Geo. A. Elliott, of Erie; 1824, William Kelley, of Erie; 1833, Don Carlos Barrett, of Erie; 1835, Galen Foster, of Erie; 1836, Elijah Babbitt, of Erie; 1837, Wm. M. Watts, of Erie ; 1839, Car- son Graham, of Erie; 1845, Horace Hawes, of Erie; 1846, Wm. A. Gal- braith, of Erie; 1850, Matthew Taylor, of Erie, elected by the people ;
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1853, Samuel E. Woodruff, of Girard; 1856, G. N. Johnson, of Erie (died shortly afterwards) ; 1856, Charles W. Kelso, of Erie (appointed until the October election of 1857) ; 1857, James Sill, of Erie; 1860, Samuel A. Davenport, of Erie; 1863, J. F. Downing, of Erie; 1866, Charles M. Lynch, of Erie; 1869, John C. Sturgeon, of Erie; 1872, Samuel M. Brainerd, of North East; 1875, A. B. Force, of Erie; 1878, Charles E. Lovett, of Erie ; 1881, E. A. Walling, of North East (resigned Dec. 1, 1884) ; 1884, C. L. Baker, of Corry (elected as a Democratic candidate) ; 1887, E. A. Sisson, of Erie ; 1893, U. P. Rossiter of Girard ; 1896, Paul Benson, of Erie; 1899, M. W. Shreve, of Union City; 1902, M. L. Davis, of Waterford; 1905. and again in 1908, W. P. Gifford, of Erie.
From 1800 to 1850 the present office of district attorney was known as deputy attorney general, and the incumbents were appointed by the attorney general of the State. The office was made elective in 1850, and the name changed to district attorney. Matthew Taylor was the first dis- trict attorney elected by the people.
It is only proper to add a word in conclusion of this chapter, and that word an acknowledgement that the facts relative to the history of the bench and bar of Erie county herein given have been derived almost entirely from a carefully prepared sketch on the subject written by the late James Sill, long a recognized authority on matters historical, and especially with reference to the legal profession.
The most notable lawsuit for damages ever tried at Erie was that in which Louis Rosenzweig, an Erie lawyer, was plaintiff against the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company. On November 25, 1883, Mr. Rosenzweig bought a round-trip ticket,-from Erie to Cleveland and return, and presented the ticket for his passage shortly after the train left Cleveland, after midnight on the next day. The con- ductor refused to take the ticket on the ground that it was not good on that train, the "Limited Express." Nor would he accept cash in payment for passage. So Mr. Rosenzweig was put off the train somewhere in the eastern end of the Cleveland yard in the dark. He was in peril, and while endeavoring to escape the numerous dangers, was struck in the back and seriously injured. Suit was brought in 1884, his counsel being his law partner George A. Allen, S. A. Davenport, and Col. J. Ross Thompson, the attorneys for the railroad being C. R. Roys of Chicago. Hon. J. P. Vincent and Hon. S. M. Brainerd. The case was heard twice before Judge Galbraith, and a verdict was rendered for $48,750. On an appeal to the Supreme Court, in which Hon. Rasselas Brown of Warren was added to counsel for the defense, the lower court was affirmed, and in October. 1886, the sum paid the plaintiff was $53,150, being the amount of the verdict with interest added.
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Out of the criminal court proceedings there have come, in the history of the county, two verdicts of murder in the first degree and two execu- tions. The first was in 1837 when Henry Francisco was convicted be- fore Judge Shippen. Francisco had been married to Maria Robinson, "one of the handsomest girls ever seen in Erie," but three weeks, when they mutually agreed to commit suicide, and both took poison. It was fatal in the case of the wife, but proved an emetic with Francisco. He was arrested for murder, charged that he had influenced his wife to take poison, was convicted and executed March 9, 1838, by Sheriff Scott.
On May 1, 1896, Edwin Dewitt Heidler murdered his brother-in- law, Levi H. Kreider, in Fairview. There had been trouble about the settlement of an estate and the result was that Kreider was shot and killed. Heidler was tried before Judge Walling in 1897, and convicted of murder in the first degree and was executed August 8. 1899, by Sheriff Barnett.
CHAPTER XXXIV .- THE SPANISH WAR.
CAPTAIN GRIDLEY, THE MANILA HERO .- HIS DEATH AND BURIAL HERE. -NATIONAL GUARDSMEN BECOME REAL SOLDIERS.
It was like an echo of what had been in the Sixties when the Erie companies of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard, on the morning of April 27, 1898, departed for service in the war with Spain, called with the rest of the National Guard of the State to enter the service of the United States. The streets were crowded with people, the flags were flying everywhere and there was music in the air. Friends and relatives were there to say good-bye to the boys, and doubtless there were hearts full of apprehension and fear, for some still living at that time remembered what had been in the greater war between the states, and war was war, even though it was a foreign foe that was now to be fought. In some respects, how- ever, it was different, more noticeable in other sections of the country than in Erie, but still observable here; in the respect that everyone now was loyal, and this fact was noted as among the leaders of the cheering throng that waved their hats and wished the departing soldiers "God-speed," was to be seen taking a very prominent part, Major J. H. Francis, a former Confederate officer. None cheered louder than he as the boys marched by, stepping to the air, "Marching Through Georgia," which the band played, and there was cheering for the Major as well as for the boys, for he was a leading figure in Erie and popular.
The response to the call had been prompt. Indeed the members of the Erie companies were afraid lest it might not be found necessary to call for them. There was therefore no delay when the summons came, neither in Erie nor the other towns from which the regiment was drawn. The Fifteenth regiment was composed of eight companies from the counties of Erie, Crawford, Clarion, Butler and Mercer, and reported at Mt. Gretna, April 28, 1898. The regiment was organized as follows:
Colonel-WV. A. Kreps. Lt. Colonel-Wm. T. Mechling. Majors-Samuel D. Crawford and Frank C. Baker. Adjutant-James C. Hoskinson.
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Surgeons-S. Heilman, John M. Martin and John W. Wright. Chaplains-Ken. C. Hayes, of Meadville, and George A. Knerr, of Pine Grove.
Company A, Erie-Capt. Ralph B. Sterrett.
Company B, Meadville-Capt. R. B. Gamble.
Company C, Erie-Capt. Wallace R. Hunter.
Company D, Clarion-Capt. A. J. Davis.
Company E, Butler-Capt. Ira McJunkin.
Company F, Grove City-Capt. Wm. McCoy.
Company G, Sharon-Capt. John W. Smith.
Company K, Greenville-Capt. J. H. Martin.
The companies were recruited to 75 enlisted men, and on May 10th companies A, B, C, G, and K were mustered in, companies D, E, and F being mustered in on the 11th, the regiment being then mustered into the service of the United States with a total of 36 officers and 605 enlisted men. Subsequently the several companies were recruited to three officers and 106 enlisted men each. The regiment remained at Mt. Gretna until June 11, when A, B, D, F, G, and K proceeded to Sheridan Point, Virginia, under Col. Kreps and C and E to Fort Washington, Md., under Lt. Col. Mechling. On the 20th A and G were relieved at Sheridan Point and ordered to Fort Washington. Co. C was assigned to the care of a ten-inch barbette gun and a water battery and one 15-inch M. L. S. B. smooth-bore, the entire command, however, continuing regular infantry company and battalion drill. The regiment was assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Second Army Corps. On October 27, the regiment participated in the Peace Jubilee at Philadelphia. On Saturday, Nov- ember 5, Major S. D. Crawford, with Co. G, proceeded to Athens, Ga., and the rest of the regiment left for Athens November 11, where it remained until mustered out, January 31, 1899.
The story of the regiment as it has thus been told is from the . official State record, but there are details concerning the experience of the companies from Erie not included in the record made by the Adjutant General of the commonwealth. It was not a story of stand- ing up under fire; of the furious charge, or the daring assault. But there was a little taste of the hardship of the soldier's life, endured uncomplainingly by the boys, whose conduct under what came to them was an earnest of what might be expected of them if the fortunes of war had made it necessary that they, too, should have an experience similar to that at San Juan Hill. The officers of the Erie companies were: Company A, Ralph B. Sterrett, Captain ; Charles E. Spencer, First Lieutenant : Henry N. Pudenz, Second Lieutenant. Company C, Wallace R. Hunter, Captain; James B. Yard, First Lieutenant ; P. Dale Hyner, Second Lieutenant. When the Erie companies ar- rived at Mt. Gretna on the morning of April 28, a severe snow storm
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was raging. It was not a cheerful introduction to army life, for in the midst of the storm they were required to pitch their tents, and when this was accomplished, after an entire day's work the tents were not habitable, and shelter for the night was sought wherever there was a chance to find it. The rough experience of the first day was. however, soon forgotten and the duties of the soldier's life cheerfully taken up.
There were casualties, though not the result of an enemy's fire. On September 7, while crossing the Potomac river in a row boat, privates John Greener and Harry Coffey, of Co. A, were caught mid- way in the river in a sudden squall and both were drowned. On Dec- ember 14th Adjutant James C. Hoskinson was killed by being thrown from his horse at Athens, Ga. While stationed at Fort Washington Private Etsel French, of North East, of Co. C, was taken sick and subsequently died in the Presbyterian Hospital, at Philadelphia. This was the only member of Co. C that was lost by death while in the service.
There were military honors that came to the Erie boys. While at Camp Hastings, Mt. Gretna, Lieut. Yard was ordered upon detailed service as Acting Assistant Quartermaster. At Ft. Washington he was detailed as Post Quartermaster and Commissary, and Lieut. Hyner as Post Adjutant and then as recruiting officer. At Camp Meade Lieut. Yard was detached from the regiment and assigned as Quartermaster of the Third Division, Second Army Corps Hos- pital Corps, while Lieut. Hyner was detailed as Regimental Com- missary, in which capacity he continued to act as long as the regiment was in the service. While these changes added no laurels to the brow of Capt. Hunter, but greatly increased his labors, his very successful management of his command notwithstanding the deprivation brought him a due measure of commendation.
Soldierly duties fell to the lot of Co. C, while it was stationed in the vicinity of Harrisburg, being ordered upon provost guard duty. This duty was the guarding of cars on both the Harrisburg & Middletown and Oberlin lines, as well as patrolling the town of Steel- ton. This service extended from September 19, to October 4.
The soldiers had their holidays. One was that at Philadelphia on October 26, when they took part in the peace jubilee. There was another peace jubilee at Atlanta on December 15, and in this also the Erie companies took part. And so it turned out that instead of being war service the boys entered upon that morning in April, 1898, when they boarded the cars on the Bessemer Railroad, it was a service of peace. But they were prepared for war if circumstances had so shaped themselves, and they were not without honor though they brought back with them no scars.
The termination of the war with Spain was not, however, the end of the military service which that war brought on. There was
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that other trouble which came to us as a sequel in the possession that had been acquired in the Orient, the war with Aguinaldo and his misguided Filipinos. In this war Erie was represented. No member of the National Guard of Pennsylvania was ever more am- bitious for military service than Major Crawford of the Fifteenth. Enlisting as a private in the old Erie Guard under Capt. Kurtis-and possibly earlier, he worked his way up to the post of senior major, and hailed the news of war service with rather more of joy than any other of the officers of his regiment. If the announcement that he was to go into active military service was a joy, the early petering out of the war was a grief, especially in view of the fact that he and the boys under him had never had a sight of a Spaniard nor even of the Cuban shore. The latter disappointment he remedied by taking a trip to Havana before he returned home, but immediately he reach- ed Erie he set about effecting an arrangement by which he could enter the United States service and go to the Philippines. He was successful. His fellows of the "press gang" knew him as "Doc," and his name as D. S. Crawford. He enlisted as D. Samuel Crawford. But the War Department knew his name better. He was enrolled as Samuel D. Crawford, and under that name he became a line officer in the American army in the Philippines, and did efficient work in quell- ing the insurrection.
When Aguinaldo had been pacified the government found it nec- essary to organize a military force for the preservation of peace on the islands, and this force was designated the Philippine Constabulary. Into this Crawford enlisted at the time of its organization rather than return with his hunger for military experience unsatisfied. He was faithful in his service and rose by frequent promotions to the rank of Lieut .- Colonel of the Constabulary. After a year in this rank there was another overhauling of the military establishment in the islands, when an opportunity presented by which a captaincy in the regular army could be obtained, and this Crawford eagerly accept- ed, because it seemed to offer a permanency. Capt. Samuel D. Craw- ford, U. S. A., is now an officer of the regular army, and at present is in service in the Philippines.
In the other branch of the service-the Navy-Erie was repre- sented by one of the most distinguished officers of the Pacific squad- ron. When war with Spain was declared Capt. Charles V. Gridley was in command of the Olympia, flagship of Admiral Dewey. He was ill at the time, so ill that the order had gone out that he was to be relieved, and Capt. Lamberton had been ordered to the command of the Olympia in his stead. When, however, the order came to Dewey from Washington to proceed to Manila and capture it, ill as he was, Capt. Gridley heroically put up the request to be permitted to remain in command of his ship until the battle was over. Such a
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request from a brave man and a good sailor could not well be re- fused. It was granted, and the Olympia under the command of Capt. Gridley proceeded across the China Sea. Fearlessly he entered the strait that led up into Manila Bay and passed the island of Corregi- dor, regardless of the mines which current report stated the strait was thickly planted with, and early in the morning on May 1, 1898, at the head of the squadron was off Cavité. The preparations for the conflict were characteristic of a Yankee commander, quickly made and carefully done. Sick though he was the spirit of the fighting captain was strong within him, and as the line of battle was formed he took his position in the conning tower. "You may fire when ready, Gridley," said Admiral Dewey, from the deck. Gridley was ready then, and he opened the fire.
As it turned out the conflict was, for the Americans, nothing more serious than target practice. Such gunnery had never before been seen. It seemed as though every shot told, and as the squadron slowly steamed past, pouring its dreadful iron hail into the hulls of the enemy that after the first broadsides had been rendered practically helpless, the victory was won almost hands down. But that sick man, confined in the conning tower, amid the fearful din and concus- sion of the cannonading, suffered as though from wounds. Out of the fray he came in a dying condition. He had had his part in the fight. Bravely he had played his part. Nobly he had made his sac- rifice. He would not have done more had he been stricken down by a Spaniard's solid shot.
The battle over Capt. Gridley was relieved of his command and all haste was made to hurry him home with the hope that life might be prolonged until he should reach his friends. It was in vain. He died at Kobé, Japan.
Capt. Gridley's remains were brought to Erie for burial, and it was a memorable occasion when his funeral took place. It was on July 13, 1898, in the evening. The preliminary service took place at his home, the Vincent residence on West Sixth street. That com- pleted the funeral procession was formed. It was a military funeral in which the blue-jackets from the Michigan with the marines, the veterans of the Grand Army, and the old soldiers from the Soldiers and Sailors' Home had conspicuous part, marching from the city down to the cemetery on the shore of the lake. The boys of the National Guard were absent on military duty, but a vast concourse, some driv- ing, many proceeding on the trolley cars, but a far greater number walking, swelled the procession as it entered the cemetery to huge proportions. Gridley Circle, the spot chosen for the burial, located near the brow of the bluff overlooking the lake, was enclosd hundreds deep by the throng that surrounded. The religious service proceeded. the solemn words from the ritual intoned by the minister, the prayers of the assistant and the parting hymns by a quartette
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choir of male voices. Slowly the sun was declining behind a bank of summer clouds. At length there is a parting of the curtain in the west. The sun paints an edging of crimson and gold upon the parted clouds as it touches the horizon line where the glassy mirror of the lake's calm surface meets the glory of the summer evening sky. The service at the grave is over. There had been a pause for but a minute, and then rang out clear in the solemn silence of the moment the bugle call, "Taps," the soldier's good-night. Just as the last note of the bugle ceased the crimson disc of the setting sun sank from view behind the horizon line. Erie's hero of the Battle of Manila Bay had been laid to rest.
CAPT. GRIDLEY'S BURIAL PLACE, ERIE CEMETERY.
The gallant Captain was not long the only occupant of that beautiful burial spot. He left one son to bear his name and to inherit his valor, John P. Vincent Gridley. Through the interest taken in his welfare by President Mckinley young Gridley was enabled to get forward in the navy, and had made good progress in what prom- ised to be a career full of promise. But it happened that while target practice was in progress there was an explosion on the Missouri that killed a number of men, among them John Gridley, then a captain of marines. As had been with his father he was cut down in the line
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