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 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
Vol. I-32
CHAPTER XII .- MCKEAN.
THE COUNTRY OF THE BEECH WOODS .- THE STERRETTS, THE STAFFORDS AND STANCLIFFS .- FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH .- THE BOROUGH OF MIDDLEBORO.
McKean township was laid out when the county of Erie was laid out, and was named in honor of Thomas Mckean, then Governor of Pennsylvania. Originally it was much larger than now, being at the beginning one of the largest subdivisions of the county, but it was called upon to contribute to other townships, yielding a part to Waterford in 1820, another part to Franklin in 1844 and again to Summit when that township was formed in 1854. It occupies territory both in the Triangle and the original grant of King Charles, the old State line running through it near its centre and cutting the borough of Middleboro in equal parts. The settlement of Mckean began early, contemporaneous with that of Presque Isle, for the first settler in the township was James Talmadge, the skipper who brought Col. Seth Reed and his family to Erie from Buffalo. That same year, 1795, Capt. Talmadge decided to abandon the sailor's life and adopt that of the woodsman and farmer. His home originally was Genesee county, New York. His wife and father accom- panied him. The next year Stephen Oliver became a neighbor, and in 1797 Thomas and Oliver moved into Mckean. Lemuel Stancliff, from New England, settled about a mile south of Middleboro in 1799; Benja- min Grubb, from Lancaster county, settled on what came to be known as the John Peffer farm in 1800, and during the same year Benjamin Grant came in from Connecticut. Robert Sterrett founded a home in 1804, where the village of Sterrettania afterwards came into existence ; and in 1806 James Aubrey came. Eliachim Cook, who came with Mr. Grant settled in that part of the township which was eventually set off to Summit. Mr. Sterrett remained in the township only until 1807, when he sold his farm to his brother James and took up land on the lake shore five miles west of Erie, which to this day is known as the Sterrett farm. John Evans came from Maryland in 1802 and took up land that was then partly in Millcreek and partly in Mckean-that part of Mckean that is now Summit-but in 1811, he removed to Millcreek, the Evans settlement being at Glenwood Park of the present and south of it. Among other early settlers in the township were Russell Stancliff, Rufus
497
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Trask, Benjamin Cullom, David Welden. Joseph S. Bush and the Dun- laps. The Staffords, a family from New England, settled around Middle- boro in 1815, and Ansel Crouch arrived from New York in 1812. David Sterrett and his son James settled on the Sterrett farm. David was the father of Robert W .. Ennis, Brice. Thomas, James and Andrew J. Sterrett and Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Norton, Mrs. Brockway and Mrs. Hall. Besides these early settlers there were Ira Glazier, who came from Oneida county, N. Y., in 1809, and Ezra White, in the same year ; Zach- ariah Joiner, from New England, in 1812; the Washburns from Mass- achusetts, in 1825; about 1826 Benjamin F. Morey from Vermont; in 1831. John Drown, from Lyons, N. Y .; about 1835. the Marshes. from Nova Scotia. and Peter J. Barron, from France; in 1832, Oren Reed, from Otsego county. N. Y .: in 1840. Lorenz, Antony and Daniel Hauck from Germany, being among the pioneers of the German influx that contributed so materially toward populating the township. The earliest births in the township were Joseph Weldon and Hannah Tal- madge, daughter of James Talmadge, both in 1798.
The city of Erie is indebted to McKean township for a number of men who were long prominent in its affairs, among them Hon. Joseph M. Sterrett, the founder of the Gasette, an associate judge and post- master ; Andrew Jackson Sterrett. for many years county commissioner's clerk: the Crouch brothers, the Johnston brothers, the Minnig brothers and the Stancliff brothers.
A good share of Mckean township is in that indefinite territory to the south long known as the Beech Woods, but not a little of it consists of somewhat broad and fertile valleys, the principal of these being that of Elk creek, Erie county's largest stream. Upon this stream were lo- cated most of the industries of the township. The first sawmill in McKean was built by James Sterrett in 1810, and the second by Oliver Dunn in 1812. Both were in the main stream. Lemuel Stancliff built a sawmill in the south branch in 1827. The grist mill of David Sterrett was built in 1839. Around these Sterrett mills there soon sprang up a village of considerable proportions. It was right in the heart of the Sterrett settlement, and, both from this circumstance and because of the Sterrett mills the place obtained the name of Sterrettania. In time this village became one of the most important business places in the county, though small. The Sterretts. as a rule, were thrifty people and money getters. They were prosperous as farmers, and successful as business men. Thomas Sterrett, for many years a justice of the peace, was long the banker for the entire country round about, and had the confidence of everybody. He was a power in politics-and this was another trait of the Sterretts. The pioneer of the clan was Robert Sterrett, who came into the county of Erie from Cumberland in 1804, and though he left three years later to settle permanently in Millcreek, he paved the way for the coming of the rest of the flock. The Sterretts were as a rule
498
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
prolific, and the name is not by any means a rare one throughout a large extent of the county. Besides the saw and grist mills the township has also had in successful operation for varying periods, cider mills, cheese factories, jelly mills, shingle factories, a tannery and a woolen mill.
The churches of the township outside of Middleboro, are the South Hill Methodist Episcopal church, dedicated in 1880, and built on land donated by Oren Reed. The organization had been in existence for years and previously had been met in the schoolhouse in the neighborhood. At Sterrettania there is a Union Church which was built jointly by the Methodists and Presbyterians. Both of these local bodies had been organized for some time, previously meeting in the schoolhouse. The Union church had for a time been occupied by the Congregationalists, and still is at the service of any religious denomination of the vicinity. A church of the United Brethren was organized at Branchville, a hamlet in the southern part of the township, and after worshipping for a number of years in the schoolhouse erected a meeting-house of its own in 1865.
The first school in Mckean was opened in 1811, with Seth Spencer as teacher. In 1820 a school was opened near Middleboro, and con- tinued until 1825. The school at Sterrettania was begun in 1828, and was long, and until the free school laws went into effect, one of the best. Among the early teachers were George H. Cutler and William Benson, both afterwards leading members of the Erie county bar, and the former a representative in the State Senate from Erie county, and president of that body.
A mail route through Mckean between Erie and Edinboro was established in the winter of 1835-36, and the plank road that in the fifties was constructed between Erie and Meadville, through Edinboro, traversed the length of the township, north and south. It is over the same route the Erie & Edinboro electric railway line now passes.
The principal town in Mckean is Middleboro, incorporated as a borough in 1861. It is in the centre of the township, and located di- rectly on the old State line. Without any especial natural advantages Middleboro has long enjoyed the reputation of being the liveliest village of its size in the county-or in this corner of the state for that matter. It is a business centre, which attracts from all the surrounding coun- try, and its merchants have been enterprising and prosperous. For many years the McKean Carriage Works of Henry Mankel did a large busi- ness and had a wide and excellent reputation. Mr. Mankel at length removed to Erie. There are blacksmith shops, a creamery, a saw, plan- ing and feed mill among its industries. In the postoffice directory the borough is known as Mckean.
The Roman Catholic church of Middleboro is the pioneer church of that faith in Erie county. The church in the borough was built in 1876, but the original church of St. Francis was dedicated in 1833, and
499
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
stood about two miles north. It was the "Beech Woods" church from which the projectors of St. Mary's in Erie obtained their inspiration when, in 1837, they set about erecting a church in the city. The Metho- dist Episcopal church was organized in 1819 and held meetings in the school house south of the borough until 1857, when a church was erected within the borough limits, and this was enlarged and practically rebuilt in 1869. Trinity Church of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination, was organized in 1896 and the church building in the borough was erected in 1899. The church had then seventy communicants.
The secret societies of Middleboro included the G. A. R. post, or- ganized in 1880; A. O. U. W. lodge, 1880; Equitable Aid Union, 1891 : Junior Order U. A. M., 1894; Odd Fellows lodge, 1892. The last named organization erected a substantial brick building in 1894.
The public men from Mckean township were these: State House of Representatives, Stephen Skinner; county commissioner, Stephen Skinner, Thomas Sterrett, Thomas Dunn, Seymour Washburn; Direc- tor of the Poor, David Sterrett, Joseph Parmeter, James Dunn, Sey- mour Washburn ; Steward of the Almshouse, Thomas Dunn; Jury Com- missioner, William Grant ; County Surveyor, Hiram Humphrey, Stepli- en Skinner ; County Auditor, Thomas Dunn, Eli Webster, Oren Reed, Elias Brecht.
CHAPTER XIII .- MILLCREEK.
HOW IT CAME TO BE SETTLED .- ITS RELATION TO ERIE .- ITS FARMING AND OTHER INDUSTRIES .- MODERN FACILITIES .- RESORTS. -VILLAGES .- WEISS LIBRARY.
The history of Millcreek township has from the beginning been so interwoven with that of Erie, that what belongs exclusively to the township is but fragmentary. The relations between the town and township, and the interdependence that began almost upon the original and practically contemporaneous settlement of both, has continued up to the present time. From the period when the first settlers of Erie, then largely farmers, went out into the country with their grists to be ground, until today, when great business enterprises have spread beyond the city's bounds into the township ; when the masses seek recreation at the shore resorts, the race track or the baseball field; when the better off, in their country clubs, golf links or summer cottages find their summer pleasure, or in touring cars enjoy the Twentieth century luxury of a trip at railroad speed over the common roads ; when trolley cars make possible shopping trips in the city for the farmers and their wives and the R. F. D. service furnishes them with a daily mail and the morn- ing newspaper on the day of its publication, there has been a continuous interdependence that has made the township a part of the city and the city the heart of the township. So that, while there is some history recorded of the township apart from the city, it is more meager by reason of the fact that much of what is of the township belongs to the city, such, for example as the narrative that may be set down of each of the important manufacturing industries that have been established con- tiguous to the city but just beyond its bounds.
Millcreek was one of the original sixteen townships laid out when the county was erected in 1800. It was surveyed, however, years be- fore. The original surveys were made in 1795 by George Moore under the direction of Thomas Rees, the first State surveyor in the county. The law directed that in the laying out of the country a survey was to be made of certain lands bordering the town of Erie which were to be withheld from sale and settlement. This tract was called the Presque Isle reserve, or, as it came to be generally known, the Erie State reser- vation. It began at the head of the bay, the western boundary a line
501
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
at right angles with the coast extending southwardly three miles; be- ginning at that point the southern boundary was a line parallel with the shore extending east eight miles, where the line of the eastern boun- dary began, extending three miles to the lake shore. It embraced an area of 15,360 acres or thereabout. But there was included in that the reservation for the town of Erie, which consists of 1,600 acres for town lots and 3,400 acres for out lots, a total area of 5,000 acres, or almost a third, which surrounded Erie on three sides. All of that reser- vation, outside the portion set apart for the town of Erie was a part of Millcreek township. By the special act passed in 1832 the township acquired about 2,000 acres of the reservation made for the town of Erie, that act transferring the third section to the borough of Erie to be sold and the proceeds employed in the construction of the canal basin at the harbor of Erie. That tract extended westward from Cranberry street.
Besides these reservations, that were part of the township, there was another tract of 500 acres set apart for the support of the Erie Academy. It was situated south of the city just beyond the Coffin factory, and the Academy lands lie on each side of the Waterford turn- pike or Edinboro road, by both of which names the thoroughfare is known. These lands, originally leased for long terms, were finally, by legislation obtained in 1851 or 1852, sold. There was also another fraction of the township that came up for disposition. It was known as the "gore." By some error of the surveyors, due to faulty instru- ments perhaps, a long narrow wedge, beginning at a point (or nothing) at the shore end of the eastern boundary of the Presque Isle reserve, extended southwardly steadily widening until at its southern end it had a width of 500 feet. For a time it was no man's land, but in the end it was disposed of generally to those owning on either side of it.
Settlements in Millcreek began the year after the first English speaking people found their way into what is now Erie county. Indeed, one of the first settlers in the township was the first of those who came to Erie to locate permanently, for it was in the year 1796 that Col. Seth Reed left Erie and took up his abode in the valley of Walnut creek near the present village of Kearsarge. There is no record which shows that at that time, nor indeed for many years afterward, a road had been laid out south from the town along what is now the traveled route. Quite likely there was nothing but a trail blazed through the woods across the two hills or ridges. Nor is there any record or even tra- dition that will tend to explain the choice made by Col. Reed or to in- dicate how he arrived at any knowledge concerning the section of coun- try into which he moved. It is probable that Capt. Talmadge, the skipper who brought Reed and his family to Erie, may have had some- thing to do with it, for Talmadge made a break for the deep woods when he abandoned the water after that first trip to Erie, settling in
502
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Mckean, still farther to the south. But whatever the inducement, Kearsarge became the oldest settlement outside of Erie within Millcreek township, and one of the oldest in the county, and it was not many years before a pretty considerable community had sprung up on the banks of Walnut creek. Marrying and giving in marriage had its Erie county beginnings there, Charles J. Reed, a son of the Colonel, taking Rachel Miller to wife on December 27. 1791. The same Charles J. Reed was a doer of other first things, for it was he who built the first frame barn in Erie county in 1799 on the Zimmerly place at Kearsarge, and the first frame house on the same farm the year following.
The year 1:96 witnessed many accessions to the population of the township. David McNair, George Moore, James Baird, Capt. Russell Bissell, David Dewey, Francis Randall, J. W. Russell and Thomas P. Miller, all settlers of 1796, had the year before contracted for land and then came on to take possession, which no doubt was the impelling motive with Col. Reed when he took possession of the farm in Walnut creek valley. And there were others who became settlers that year- John Grubb, Benjamin Russell, Anthony Saltsman, and John McFar- land. In 1:9% the colonists included William Saltsman, John Nichol- son, the McKees. Jacob Weiss and Boe Bladen, a free colored man. Joseph Henderson came in 1798, and in 1800, William Bell, Joseph F., William, Samuel and David McCreary. James Wilson, John M. Warren, and John Cosper. William Bladen, Samuel and Joseph Conrad, the Ebersoles and the Riblets settled in 1801. Hamlin Russell, Andrew Caughey and sons, Joseph B. McCreary. George Reed, James Love, the Arbuckles, John McCoy, John Robinson, Robert McClelland, John Pher- rin, James Dumars and William Henry, all came in 1802. The first two years of the last century witnessed the arrival of the first "Pennsylvania Dutch" in Erie county. The Arbuckles first located in Fairview, but Joseph. Adam and John changed to Millcreek.
The dates of the arrival of other pioneers can also be given, and that they were to be actual settlers is proved by the existence to this day of their names among the prominent people of the township. John Kelley came in 1803: Christian Ebersole. George Bissell, Warren Foote, Andrew Martin, Abraham Wagner, David Robinson and John Mosier. in 1804: James B. Wilson in 1806: John Fagan in 1807; John Ryan in 1809: George Haybarger, Spencer Shattuck. William Whitley, Alexan- der Robinson and sons, and Andrew and John Norcross in 1810; John Evans, John Burton, James Stewart, John McCrea and Robert Evans in 1811; N. W. Russell and Calvin Foote in 1812 : Conrad Brown, James Gill and I. M. Martin in 1813; Samuel Flickinger, Jonas Parker, and George and Arthur Davidson in 1815: S. B. Wagner and Asa G. Olds in 1816: William Miner, Christian Thomas, James Cronin and Agnes Herrman in 1817; Robert Davidson, J. J. Miller, J. A. and S. S. Mc- Creary and Nancy McKee in 1818; Jacob Riblet in 1819: E. H. Thomp-
503
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
kins in 1820; S. H. Caughey in 1821; A. G. Gates and Thomas Willis in 1822; Marcus Lewis, S. C. Pherrin, C. K. Riblet and Giles Russell in 1825; Francis Davidson in 1826; Charles Galliard in 1829; G. W. Brindle, John Hess, H. C. Nick and A. Sullivan in 1830; William Bir- kenkamp and James Scouller in 1832; E. Lewis and Uras Schluraff in 1833; S. S. Caughey and Isaac Wolf in 1834; Artemas Martin in 1835; J. S. Conrad, George A. Evans, George C. Dunn and John Nellis in 1836; S. C. Brown and Samuel Oxer in 1838; John McKee, Nelson Sawdey and Mr. Dighton in 1839; George Reed in 1840; Henry G. Hartt in 1841; T. D. Willis in 1842; M. B. Briggs and J. W. Shenk in 1844 ; George Beibel, Charles Herrman, Leonard Mong and A. M. Powell in 1845; Peter Herrman in 1848.
During the year 1828 a second immigration of "Pennsylvania Dutch" occurred, including George Weigel, Martin Warfel, Samuel Brenneman, Thomas Mohr, Jacob Metzler and others, followed by Jacob Charles in 1829. They were from Lancaster county. The Zimmerman, Stough and three Kreider families, as well as the Ebersoles, Riblets, Zucks, Browns, Weisses and others who came in 1803 or earlier, were of the first immigration. Benjamin Russell landed at Erie July 4, 1296, and settled at Belle Valley on almost the identical spot long occupied by his nephew, Capt. N. W. Russell, where he built a cabin and located 1000 acres of land. He was followed in 1802 by his brother Hamlin Russell, who bought 150 acres of Benjamin's land and established his home hard by. The first male child was David M. Dewey, born December 15, 1797; the first female child Matilda Reed, born at Kearsarge. November 14, 1798.
The early mills of the township included some of the earliest in the county. The Eliot mill, or Densmore mill as it was known later, was built by John Cochran, who opened a sawmill for business in 1800 and a grist mill in 1801. These mills stood on or near the bank of Mill creek, and the grist mill, often repaired and largely rebuilt, stands to this day on the Waterford road at Eliot avenue, north of Glenwood park. The last use to which it was put was a manufactory of paint by the Glenwood Paint Co. Just above Glenwood Park in the valley of Millcreek is to be found the remnant of an industrial village that took the name of the Happy Valley. At the upper end, where a small affluent comes into the creek from the west Robert Mccullough built a sawmill and a grist mill in 1802, and it was long known as the Erie County Mill. This mill and the Eliot mill were for many years among the most important grist mills in the county. In the Happy Valley, at its lower end, there was a woolen mill that for fifty years engaged in the manufacture of a variety of woolen goods such as suitings, flan- nels, and blankets. It was so badly wrecked by the flood of 1893 that it never recovered and was afterwards torn down. Farther up the stream, where the Lake Pleasant road crosses the creek, there was a
50-
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
settlement called Yankeetown, where there was a woolen mill, aban- doned in 1845, when Lewis W. Olds embarked in the business of making wooden pumps, being the pioneer in that branch of manufacturing in Erie county. A sawmill was built by Foote and Parker at the Arbuckle place in 1816, and the same year James Love built a saw mill on Wal- nut creek above Kearsarge. For a number of years there were two brick yards in the neighborhood of Kearsarge: H. C. Dunn's, which was abandoned shortly before lie began the manufacture of shale brick about a miile east of the city, and Mr. Dudenhoefer's, which was operated until his death but a short time since. The Schaal Glue and Fertilizer works, between the railroad and the Buffalo road a mile east of the city, was successfully operated until it was burned down a few years since. The coffin factory on the Edinboro road near Glenwood Park was opened more than thirty years ago by Robert Evans, conducted most of the time by Dr. A. K. McMullen, and is still prosperously operated under the direction of T. W. Walker. The Knobloch brewery, in the Happy Valley, and Voghts, nearer the city, thrived for a time but the former has been long out of the recollection of nearly all living there, though its vaults remain, now occupied by the Glenwood Wine Co. The most important industry the township ever contained was the rolling mill of the Mt. Hickory Iron Co., that stood on the Green Garden road just south of the Lake road. It was built in 1819. and burned down on December 9, 1883, the only remnant of its busy days being the collection of company houses, still tenanted, that form a more or less picturesque hamlet on West Lake road. Today there are numerous large and very important industries in the township contiguous to the city, but these belong so directly to the city that they must be included in the industrial chapter of Erie.
Undoubtedly the most notable farming enterprise in the history of the township was that of W. L. Scott, whose operations included the Frontier farm. the Massassauga gardens, the Algeria stock farm, the Cascade farm. the Carter farm and the Lake View farm. The group, originally comprising 1,380 acres, was completed in 1888. when he added the Jesse Ebersole farm of 250 acres. On these farms everything was undertaken regardless of expense and without respect to profit. And yet, though the venture may have been a losing one in some of its de- partments for a time, and though critics in farming may have found something to cavil over, there is no doubt that he made enough of a success to at least satisfy himself. The farms were of the model sort, and. as he always did, he gathered a force of the most experienced men to take charge of the various farms and work out the problems that pertained. The Algeria stud farm became celebrated. It began in 1880 with four mares and the stallion Algerine. In 1882 he imported, at a cost of $40,000 the stallion Rayon d'Or, the best race horse of his day in England and France, whose total winnings on the turf had been $122,145.
505
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Nineteen of his get at the Algeria farm sold at auction in December, 1884, for $44,205. In 1883 Kantaka, another famous horse, was im- ported, and the old race horse Wanderer, was added in 1886. The farms were for many years under the management of James Sampson, an Englishman, who had been very successful in farming in Girard, and who left Mr. Scott to engage in agriculture in California.
The most important institution of Millcreek, that is destined, it is hoped, to long endure as a monument to the memory of the man who made it possible, is the Weiss Library. The late John Weiss left an estate valued at $58,000. Of this $3,000 was left to the children of Mrs. Hinkle, his deceased sister, and the whole of the residue, by the terms of his will, was to be applied to the establishment of a free public library for the use of the residents of West Millcreek, Mckean, Fairview township and Fairview borough. The trustees under the will were enjoined to procure land, not to exceed two acres in extent ; to erect and maintain a building for. a free library ; to purchase and keep up a library of books for reading and mental improvement, and to prescribe rules therefor. Going further into details, it was directed that the building should be conveniently located; that it was not to cost more than $5,000; that it was to be kept insured and replaced if burned ; that after paying for the building and the books the balance was to be invested in real estate mortgages, the income to go for the support of the library ; if the increase should be above what was necessary to main- tain the library, aid was to be extended for the education of some young person deemed worthy, meritorious and needy, not to exceed $100 per year for each, however; and reports were to be made annually to the auditors of Millcreek township.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.