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 52
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The first settlers within the limits of the township were William Silverthorn and his son, Capt. Abraham Silverthorn, who come from Fayette county in 1798. About a year later Robert Brown located near the mouth of Elk creek, but remained only until 1804, when he removed to Weigeltown, and from there, after but a brief stay, to Erie. In the ycar 1800 Robert Porter, Isaac Miller and John Kelley moved in. Mr. Kelley did not remain long, in 1802 changing to Millcreek. In 1801 James and Isaac Silverthorn and Thomas Miles located, and in the same year Jacob Coffman came from Somerset county and settled on the site of Lockport, at about the same period Patrick Ward choosing a house on the Lake road. Mr. Coffman was accompanied by his four sons, one of whom, Conrad, in 1814, returned to Somerset where he married, re- maining there until 1836, when he again moved into Girard to remain, bringing with him a son of seventeen years. William and Samuel Mc-
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Clelland and William Crane natives of Ireland, and John Miller, from Fayette county, took up lands in 1803. Joel Bradish and his brothers and James Blair came in 1804; Martin Taylor in 1813; William Webber in 1814; Cornelius Haggerty in 1815; Samuel Jenner and his son Peach, Justus Osborn and his son Philip, Abner Boder and Scott Keith and wife in 1816; Elijah Drury in 1817; Ethan Loveridge and Nathan Sher- man in 1818; Joseph Long in 1825; Matthew Anderson in 1830; George Traut in 1831 ; James Miles, from Union township, and Titus Pettibone in 1832 ; William Kirkland in 1833; Joshua Evans and family from Sum- mit township in 1837. Among the early settlers, the date of whose ar- rival is not preserved, were Messrs. Taggart, Pickett, Badger, Martin, Wells, Clark, Laughlin and Wolverton. The last four were the earliest who located on the site of Girard borough, Mr. Wells having owned most of the land included within the corporate limits. John Ralph opened a tavern at the mouth of Elk creek about 1804.
The most picturesque settlement made in the township was that of James Miles, who came in 1832. He was a son of William Miles, who, with William Cook, settled in Concord in 1795, being really the first actual settlers in Erie county, for their arrival in June of that year, preceded that of the Reeds by about a month. James Miles moved over from Union township and acquired 1,600 acres of land extending two miles along the lake shore, and embracing the mouth of Elk creek. In the valley he erected a substantial brick residence and here, surrounded by handsome grounds, he lived in baronial style, and was easily the most distinguished man in the township. The estuary of Elk creek is deep, and forms an excellent harbor for small craft, with possibilities for great enlargement, the facilities being quite equal to those of Conneaut, which in recent years has become one of the most important harbors on Lake Erie. From the first Mr. Miles contemplated laying out a town there and in the thirties the opportunity to do so seemed to have arrived. It came with the state project to extend the canal, built from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, to Lake Erie. When the decision had been reached to undertake the Erie extension, there was a dispute whether to adopt the eastern or French creek route, or the western route, by way of Conneaut creek. When it was decided in favor of the latter there arose another contention: whether to make the mouth of Elk creek the terminus or carry it on to Erie harbor. While this latter subject was still under consideration at Harrisburg, on March 3, 1837, a contract was entered into between James Miles, Thaddeus Stevens, and Charles Ogle, a Congressman from this state, providing for the building of a city on the land of Miles in Girard township. Miles was to dispose of 200 acres of land on both sides of the stream to Stevens and Ogle in consideration of $5,000, and $95,000 from the sale of lots ; Stevens was to work for the adoption of the site as the terminus of the canal and Ogle was to obtain an appropriation from Congress for
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the improvement of the harbor. But the canal went to Erie, and the project of the trio having failed, Miles sued Stevens and Ogle for the $5,000 that was to have been a bonus payment. The case was carried to the Supreme Court, and. during the trial of the case a good deal of curious and interesting testimony came out. The final decision was in favor of the defendants.
That was not the last of the harbor at the mouth of Elk creek, although, so far as James Miles was concerned, his dreams and ambi- tions were blighted by the court decision. In these latter years the subject of establishing a harbor at that point has more than once been revived, and when the U. S. Steel Corporation or its allied interests ob- tained options on all the land on the shore of Lake Erie, from Conneaut into Girard township, talk about a railroad terminus at Elk Harbor be- came so common that for a time it appeared as though it might ma- terialize.
Mr. Miles was a very active and enterprising man, full of public spirit, and possessed of the quality of initiative in high degree. With Judge John Galbraith and Hon. Alfred Kelley he built the railroad from Erie to the Ohio state line, that afterwards became a part of the Cleve- land & Erie Railroad, and later of the Lake Shore. He was long a director in the C. P. & A. Railroad. He took an active part in the or- ganization of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and exerted him- self, though in vain, to have it located on his Girard estate, offering a tract of 100 acres of land, or more if necessary. He was elected As- sociate Judge of Erie county in 1851 and served until 1856 and died in 1869 at Miles Grove, a thrifty village that had been named after him, but now known as North Girard.
Though the construction of the canal did not have the effect of locating a city within the boundaries of the township, at the mouth of Elk creek, it nevertheless did contribute very materially to building up other places-indeed, created them. Before the canal came the principal village in Girard was that now known as West Girard, down in the valley of Elk creek, where the Ridge road crosses the stream. In the early days, when travel was by stage and the route of travel was by the Ridge road, West Girard was a place of great importance. It was the end of a division or run, and the stage company maintained extensive stables there. Naturally, being a place for longer stops than other country towns were favored with, it grew in proportions rapidly. There were, at one time, four taverns, several stores, two tanneries, an oil mill, a smith shop, several other smaller industries and a respectable collection of dwellings. When the canal came, however, there was an immediate and radical change. The canal, coming from the south, skirted the several hills to the southward of the village of Girard, after crossing Elk creek on an aqueduct ninety feet above the bed of the stream, and at length, turning northward passed through the west end of the village.
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As soon as the canal was in operation, business was drawn to the place where the Ridge road crossed, and in a remarkably short space of time there had grown up a little town full of activity and enterprise. It was beautifully located upon high level ground. The ridge road was its principal street, and that throughfare, quite thickly settled and bordered with fine shade trees for miles east was itself a bid for settlers. Stores and inns and industries sprang up, and residences multiplied, and it was but a short time until Girard was a full fledged village, full of business, with church and school facilities and all the features that invite.
The same influence that operated in the creation of Girard brought into existence another village a little more than four miles south, namely, the Canal. But there was an additional circumstance, which was the presence in that vicinity of a large number of locks. Within a distance of two miles there were twenty-eight locks, and this condition of affairs naturally resulted in the formation of a village, which was given the appropriate name of Lockport. The beginning of Lockport and Girard was about 1840. Lockport was incorporated as a borough in 1870.
Miles Grove came later. It was a production of the railroad, and was therefore more than ten years later than the canal villages in secur- ing a place on the map. In the course of time it became a strong rival of the older towns especially in an industrial way.
The rural industries of Girard township date back to early days. The Silverthorn mill, the first in that vicinity was built in 1799 on Spring run, a branch of Elk creek that joins the main stream some distance below Girard borough. At first most of the mills were built upon tribu- tary streams, but in 1814 Peter Wolverton built a mill on Elk creek at West Girard, which operated for many years, was burned down while owned by Mr. Rowley but was afterwards rebuilt, and became quite an extensive industry, embracing a grist-mill, a saw-mill and a cider-mill, while hard by a planing-mill and sash factory was successfully con- ducted. Thornton's woolen-mill and Brown Brothers' hand-rake factory on Spring run ; Rossiter's tannery on Brandy run, and Godfrey's sawmill on one of the streams emptying into the lake, are other of the enterprises that were not included in the industrial centres of the township. For a number of years Pettibone & Morehouse operated a lime kiln on the Lake road north of Girard, the stone being brought from Kelley's Isl- and, at the head of Lake Erie and unloaded at the mouth of Elk creek. While the canal was being constructed a sandstone quarry was opened on the Elisha Smith farm, east of Girard borough, and considerable material for the construction of locks was obtained from it.
When the Lake Shore Railroad was built, in 1852, the crossing 'of Elk creek valley was effected on a wooden trestle or viaduct that was 115 feet high and 1,400 feet in length. Following the policy of this prog- ressive corporation a stone culvert and "fill" were substituted in 1858, which has gradually been widened until it is now of sufficient breadth for
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four tracks, representing itself a very important engineering enterprise. The Erie & Pittsburg Railroad, built in 1864, using the Lake Shore Railroad's tracks through Girard, branches south at Cross's, and it was the construction of the E. & P. that resulted in establishing a station at Girard.
To the railroad, and the locating of a station for Girard, is due the laying out of the two roads from Miles Grove to the borough. These are among the most recent in the township. The first public road was that of Col. McNair, from Lexington, laid out in 1798, and eventually continued to Erie as the Ridge road. The Lake road and the road through Lockport to Meadville, though later were among the earliest of the township's thoroughfares. The creek road was not constructed until after 1825, although now regarded as one of the old roads. Of the two roads between Miles Grove and Girard, the most recent, called Rice avenue, owes its existence to Dan Rice, the famous showman, who laid it out, expecting it would become built up, and that a street railway line would be operated upon it. The first expectation has been pretty well realized, and though the street car project was a still-birth, locally, the time came in the course of events when there was street railway communication between the towns-it came when the lightning was drawn upon to propel these vehicles. When the Conneaut & Erie electric railway was built, in 1901, in order to avoid the wide valley and steep grades of the Ridge road at its crossing of Elk creek, a detour was made to the north, the route being through Miles Grove, which is now North Girard, and there crossing the Elk creek valley at a much nar- rower place upon a costly viaduct. Just west of Elk creek the company established its power house, an expensive and very complete modern establishment. Girard township has thus become the heart of a modern system of transportation.
Dan Rice in his day was a great deal to Girard, and Girard, in re- turn, was not slow to recognize its obligations to the great showman. For many a day Dan Rice and Girard were so intimately associated that to the stranger as well as to the inhabitants, to allude to one was almost tantamount to referring to the other. It was in 1853 that Rice made luis first purchase of real estate at Girard. He had for some time been wintering his circus there ; in that year, however, he decided to drive his stakes and locate a claim. He bought from Col. John McClure his property on the north side of the public square, paying $18,000 for it. Rice moved into it in 1856, and then set about acquiring the rest of the square, in the course of a few years owning two and a half acres. This he spent a large sum of money upon, erecting a fine residence and a costly brick stable, constructing a high brick wall upon three sides, lay- ing the grounds out as a fine park with shade trees, lawns, statuary, a conservatory and other luxurious features, expending $60,000 for his home.
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Then he came to become prominent in the affairs of the town, and though his favorite role in the show was that of a Shakesperian clown, he was rated something of a philosopher and a wise man by the inhabi- tants. And such he was in no small degree, for he was a traveled man and had an observant mind. It is recorded of him that when the first regiment of volunteers was on its way to Pittsburg, early in 1861-the Three-months Erie regiment-he made an address to the boys, and his address was not at all in accord with the belief of the times. He was not of those who believed the war would be at an end in three months, and he so stated to the young soldiers. He declared that, having traveled extensively in the south, he had come to know the Southern people and believed himself competent to pass judgment upon the temper of the people. He therefore declared that it would be a long and stubborn con- test, and he warned the volunteers not to regard the service upon which they were entering as anything in the nature of holiday soldiering, but to be prepared for the bitter war. His words were prophetic. But from the first to the last he was a stalwart friend of Union cause.
He proved his friendship and loyal admiration for the boys in blue in numerous ways, not the least in erecting a monument in memory of their valorous deeds. This, built in the public square of Girard at his own expense, was dedicated November 1, 1865, and was the first monu- ment to the soldiers of the Union in Pennsylvania-perhaps the first in the United States. It is of marble, designed by the Chicago sculptor Leonard Volk, and is enclosed by an iron railing. The principal speak- ers at the dedication were Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania and Gover- nor Tod of Ohio-two famous war governors,-and General Alfred B. McCalmont of Franklin.
The adoption of Girard as his home town by Dan Rice was the means of drawing to the same place many others of his profession, so that in time, and for a considerable period, Girard was known as a show town. But then many of them grew up in the Dan Rice circus and after- wards set up for themselves, and more than one circus enterprise was organized in Girard. Dr. James L. Thayer, an employe of Rice, and Charles W. Noyes, a pupil, there started the Thayer & Noyes circus. Agrippa Martin, Abe Henderson, and Seymour Pease were also resi- dents of the village. No less than five shows were organized at Girard, in addition to Rice's ; Thayer & Noyes's, Rice & Forepaugh's, Anderson & Co.'s, Abe Henderson's and G. R. Spalding & Co.'s circuses started out from Girard. They were all "road shows" at the first, but Rice was the pioneer in adopting other methods of transportation, at first employing the canal, then the great rivers, and from that the evolution to the railroads was a natural and easy one. Rice continued to winter his circus at Girard until 1875, when, through financial embarrassment, he lost all he had not excepting his splendid home in Girard, which in
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time came to be the property of Carl Jones, who tore down the old house and built a newer and more modern home.
It was in 1846 that Girard was incorporated as a borough, the stimulus imparted by the canal, opened in December, 1844, bringing about an immediate and swift development. Its first officers were, Burgess, Mason Kellogg ; Council, John McClure, Jr., Leffert Hart, H. McConnell and George H. Cutler ; Clerk, L. S. Jones. At the close of the war of 1812, the site of the borough was partly included in the farm of John Taylor, whose, log house was the only building. Later the land was acquired by Daniel Sayre, who sold to Joseph Wells, and the first frame dwelling within what became the limits of the borough was built by Mr. Wells. When the canal came the village sprang up on either side, later to spread eastward and then towards the north and south. When the railroads came to be built Girard was passed by, a good distance on the other side, but in time it turned out differently, for upon the abandonment of the canal, its tow-path was converted into a railroad bed, and the modern railroad, now the Bessemer & Lake Erie, passed through the village and Girard, come to its own, has now the air of a full-fledged railroad town, the frequent passage of the trolley car along its main street completing its claim to be regarded as a Twentieth Century town.
And such it is in respect to its trade, its undustrial enterprise, its social features, its religious and educational facilities, and everything that a modern community requires. The churches of Girard township and borough include two of the Presbyterian denomination, that at Gir- ard organized in 1835, and the church rebuilt in 1893; and that at Miles Grove or North Girard built in the winter of 1885-6 at a cost of $10,000, all but $1,600 of which was contributed by A. Denio. There are five M. E. churches : one at Girard, organized in 1815, the present meeting house for which was built in 1868 at a cost of $30,000; one at Fairhaven in the southwestern part of the township, organized in 1815 and built in 1861 ; one at Lockport, organized in 1843 and built in 1878 ; one at Fair- plain, toward the north, organized in 1840 and built in 1841, and one at North Girard, built in 1867 on land donated by James Sampson. The United Brethren church, that stands on the State road near Elkcreek township line, was built in 1870. The Christian church is located on the Population road between Girard and Franklin Centre. The Disciple church was organized at Lockport in 1877. The Episcopal church at North Girard was organized in 1860, and the church, erected in 1877 was made possible by a sum of money bequeathed for that purpose by Mrs. Bell, a daughter of Judge Miles, the land on which it stands donated by J. Robert Hall. The Catholic church at Girard was built in 1853. The Universalist church at Girard was built in 1852, and St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, organized in 1866, bought the building previously owned by the Methodists in 1869.
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The first school in Girard township was opened in 1809, and the teacher was John J. Swan, a youth of 16 years. It stood in Girard vil- age and children walked three to six miles to school. Mr. Swan later taught in Erie. There was a log schoolhouse built in the southwestern part of the township in 1819, which, after a number of years was burned, and a new school was built in its place. About 1822 there was a school established in a frame building at the foot of Girard hill on the Ridge road and in 1823 another was established a mile east of Girard. In 1827 the Girard village school was held in the first floor of a log build- ing on the main street. In 1850 Girard Academy was organized on the stock company plan. Land was bought and a commodious two-story brick building was built and opened in 1851. It flourished for many years, but in 1862 was turned over to the school board and became a public school. The township has had a high school for about twenty- five years, which was held in a frame building in North Girard until 1901, when there was erected a handsome eight-room brick building costing $25,000.
If, in the sixties, Girard owed much to Dan Rice, a decade later it was far more deeply indebted to R. S. Battles and his associates. Their performances were not so spectacular, but there was in them that which was to yield lasting and solid good to the town. Mr. Battles first came forward in connection with banking, in 1859, in company with C. F. Webster engaging in business as private bankers. Later, however, they became interested in other lines, and in 1875, saved to Girard an industry that otherwise would have been lost. The Girard Wrench factory was built in 1874, by a company that obtained a bonus from the people of the town. It failed in 1875 and the plant was bought at sheriff's sale by C. F. Rockwell, W. C. Culbertson, C. F. Webster and R. S. Bat- tles. Immediately what had been a losing venture became a splendid success. For a number of years it was operated as a limited partner- ship, but in 1902 was incorporated as the Girard Wrench Mfg. Co. with W. C. Culbertson, president ; C. F. Webster, vice-president ; C. F. Rock- well, secretary and R. S. Battles, treasurer. The officers in 1909 were J. A. Culbertson, president ; C. F. Webster, vice-president and treasurer ; F. G. Luce, secretary. The goods manufactured are adjustable wrenches, of which six styles are made.
The Theo. J. Ely Manufacturing Co, was started at Conneautville in 1880, when a partnership was formed between T. J. Ely and I. S. Klick, to make and market traps and other saleable articles, patented by Mr. Klick. After a short time the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Ely becoming sole owner. In 1889 the business was moved to Girard to a building on the site of the present shop. That was burned in 1894 and immediately rebuilt. Then the scope of the factory was greatly enlarged, until at the present time a great diversity of articles are produced, of wood or wood combined with steel. Among the specialties are mop-
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sticks of eighteen different styles, twelve styles of carpet whips, and twenty-three different styles of cross-cut-saw handles. Six thousand gross of mops were made in 1908. In 1908 the Theo. J. Ely Manufactur- ing Co. was incorporated, the directors being M. E. Ellis, Theo. B. Ely and Theo. J. Ely.
The Lake Erie Foundry Co., was incorporated in 1901, with these officers : F. G. Luce, president ; C. F. Webster, vice-president and treas- urer; W. C. Kibler, secretary. The plant has been favored by pros- perity from the beginning. Its product is light and heavy gray iron cast- ings. In this industry as well as the wrench factory the Battles interest is an important factor. At his death, it was specified in his will, the interests with which he had been identified were not to be disturbed.
The Girard Model Works, established in 1905, by F. E. Wood, is engaged in specialty work in metal, and particular attention is paid to developing inventions. A gasoline engine for light work is built for the market.
The town of North Girard, that formerly went by the name of Miles Grove, is become a hive of industry. The oldest establishment of the place is the Otsego Fork Mills, in which hand agricultural implements are made. This industry originated with A. Denio, who had a handle factory at Albion, ash timber being abundant in that vicinity. The steel work was made at Baldwinsville, N. Y., and for a time the handles and the steel parts were brought together at Miles Grove where the tools were completed. The factory at Albion burned in 1873 or 1874, and in 1875 both the steel mill and the handle factory were removed to North Girard, where the business is still continued. In 1902 there was a con- solidation effected by which the works at North Girard became the Otsego Works of the American Fork & Hoe Co.
The Federal Electric Co. located in North Girard in 1904, removing from Erie, where it had been established for several years in the old Canal Mill building. The product is electric generators and motors. The building occupied was built in 1883 for the Novelty Works which was operated by the Novelty Manufacturing Co., and later by the Keystone Manufacturing Co., which made, among other things, an adjustable shade roller. The novelty business was removed to Saginaw in 1892, and little was done at the factory until the Federal Manufacturing Co. took possession.
The Ideal Foundry was established at North Girard in 1890 by O. R. Hanchett, who conducted a prosperous business until 1902, when he was induced to remove to Ashtabula.
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