A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 63

Author: Miller, John, 1849-
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 926

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 63

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ment. Part of the claims was paid in cash and refunding bonds bearing 4 per cent interest, were issued for the balance.

At the present time there remains of the indebtedness on account of the refunded manufacturing bonds, a balance of $67.200. At the last annual meeting of the municipality the total indebtedness of Corry was shown to be $88.600. the $?1.400 additional to the refunding bonds being for city improvements, and bearing interest at 32 per cent. Since that meeting $3,500 has been added for general city improvements.

Corry had been making gigantic strides up to the time of the Jay Cooke panic of 1873, and had reached a population of more than 7,000. That panic however, checked the advance, and soon afterward, the shift- ing of the centre of oil production to the Bradford field, increased the trouble. The great Downer oil industry practically closed in 1882, and in the course of a few years from the date of the high water mark the population dwindled to 5,000 or even less. But, with the splendid facili- ties, with which Corry was endowed, the city quickly recovered. It was too good a location for manufacturing to remain undiscovered by men of enterprise. By the beginning of the nineties business was again advancing, and the city began to take on new vigor and establish itself on a firm foundation as a modern municipality. A system of sewers was adopted, and the work prosecuted upon a well digested plan, so that in the year 1909 the city had sewers of the total length of more than twelve miles that had cost $135,663. Street paving was begun in 1895, when Centre street, Washington street and Main street were paved with vitrified brick, and the extension of this improvement is steadily pro- gressing. Electric lighting came in 1890, when a contract for lighting the streets was made with the Corry Light Co. Natural gas came to Corry in 1886, when the Pennsylvania Gas Company, constructing its pipe line from the Mckean and Elk county fields, passed through the north end of Corry, rendering the service available as to a station by the way.

Corry is supplied with water by a private corporation, that began business in September, 1886. At the first the water was pumped from Hare creek and forced into a reservoir south of the city, but soon a change was made by which the supply was drawn from artesian wells, fourteen of which were drilled north of the city. From these the water is forced directly into the city mains and across to a reservoir on the hills to the south, which has a storage capacity of 5.000,000 gal- lons. In 1895 opposition developed to the private water company, and on a political issue being made it was carried that the city erect its own water works. In pursuance of the plan, on March 25 of that year the city council let a contract for a civic water plant, to cost $80,000. Im- mediately the matter was carried into the courts, the water company, which had invested its money in a costly plant, resisting the proceeding which would result in its undoing. The contest was sharp and de-

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cidedly animated, and the result was that on August 13, 1895, the court granted a permanent injunction restraining the councils from carrying out the project, and the contractor from prosecuting the contract. The water furnished is absolutely pure, drawn from the rocks, and the avail- able supply is said by the company to be sufficient for a city of twice the population.

By reason of the character of the water works plant Corry enjoys a remarkably efficient system of fire protection. The fire department con- sisted in the early days of the red-shirted volunteers of the period, who operated the hand fire-engine or dragged the big two-wheeled reel. This was the character of the first company organized in 1871. There were steady but gradual modifications, through several succeeding re-organiza- tions-the Crosby, the Allen, and the Osborne companies. The perfecting of the water system, however, imparted a new force, and observation and experience developed new plans, until at length the fire department was organized to consist of but one hose company of about fifty volunteer members, under a chief of the department, and two fully paid men, who are drivers. The equipment consists of a chemical engine and a combination hose wagon. The pressure from the city mains at Centre and Main streets is 125 pounds to the square inch, rendering fire engines unnecessary, and the well drilled force of men with sufficient hose an ample protection in case of fire. The department is besides equipped with the Gamewell system of fire alarms, the calls being rung up on a 2,600 pound bell at headquarters. Two rival telephone companies render additional assistance in the matter of alarms.

Corry was prompt in recognizing the necessity that existed for a fully equipped hospital. In October, 1894, the Corry Hospital Associa- tion was organized with Hon. I. B. Brown, president; F. T. Babbitt, secretary and Manley Crosby, treasurer. On December 11, 1895, a ladies auxiliary society was organized, the officers of which were, Mrs. J. C. Wilson, president ; Mrs. C. P. Rogers, secretary, and Mrs. A. H. Bur- lingame, treasurer. The Association erected an attractive hospital build- ing on North Centre street, and equipped it so that it could do efficient work, and established a training school for nurses. Subsequently (in 1904) a nurses' home was built adjacent to the hospital, and in 1908 the hospital was enlarged and greatly improved at a cost of $15,000, so that. besides its modern operating rooms, and its various offices and de- partments, it has a capacity of fifty beds. It is supported in part by its earnings, to an extent by state appropriations, and in no small degree by voluntary contributions.

It is many years since W. H. L. Smith donated to the city of Corry a piece of ground about five acres in extent for park purposes. Planted to trees, it soon attracted seekers of homes, and at length the streets bordering upon it became one of the choice residential sections of the city. Corry was not one of the towns that sent numbers of its citizens

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into the war for the Union. Corry was not in existence at that time. But many of the veterans of that war came into Corry to live when the war was over, and in the course of time a strong post of the Grand Army of the Republic was organized. Through the efforts of the Grand Army veterans a handsome monument to the soldiers of the sixties was erected in the park, and was dedicated in June, 1901. It consists of a lofty pedestal of granite supporting a bronze statue of a soldier and cost $2,115.

One of the first things to happen in Corry when it had been dis- covered by the world outside that two railroads crossed on Mr. Corry's farm, was the creation of a postoffice and the appointment of a post- master. That occurred toward the end of 1861. Caleb S. Harris was the first postmaster and his appointment was on December 3, 1861. His successors have been James Foreman, appointed in 1862; J. G. Foreman, 1867; O. E. Gleason, 1877; F. H. Button, 1885; Maxwell Cameron, 1888; F. H. Button (a second term) 1891; J. B. Patterson, 1895, and J. F. Austin, the present incumbent, in 1899. There are 32 mails re- ceived and 28 dispatched daily, and the office is open for business day and night.

Corry's progress has been along every line. - The carriers of mail made their appearance in Corry for the first time in September, 1889. At present there are six city carriers and eleven on the rural free de- livery routes out of Corry. Electric railway facilities were introduced in December, 1904, when the Corry & Columbus street railway was opened for business. At present it extends to Columbus, Warren county, but surveys have been made for extensions, on the one hand to Asheville on Chautauqua Lake, and on the other to Union City. Corry also has a police department of three patrolmen and a chief. For many years Corry maintained a successful Agricultural Fair Association, and its annual fairs were liberally patronized. For a few years interest ap- parently ceased, for the fairs were discontinued, but in 1905 there was a revival of interest and the Corry Fair & Driving Park Association was chartered. This association is now a member of the Lake Erie Circuit, and has its regular race meets in the summer schedule of the circuit.

In the matter of amusements, Corry has had its experiences. The earliest theatre was Wright's, which was burned a good many years ago. To supply the need in the seventies the second and third floors of the Ajax building on Centre street were transformed into a handsome little theatre and called the Harmon Opera House. This was needed for other purposes in time, when the Corry Opera House took it place for a short while, until the Weeks Theatre, a thoroughly modern and complete play- house was erected. This was buried in 1898. The city was then without any theatre facilities worthy the name until 1908, when the old Armory building was taken by Harry Parker and rebuilt into an admirable

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theatre, with a well equipped stage and seating capacity for 700. It is heated by steam, lighted by electricity, is well furnished, handsomely decorated, and is provided with eleven dressing rooms.

Corry's most notable public building-aside from the schools,-is the Armory of the National Guard. It was erected by the state at a cost of $30,000 and was opened in December, 1907. There is a Federal building in prospect, Congress having voted $18,000 for the purchase of a site upon which a $50,000 structure is to be erected.

Corry depends upon the Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the Order of Eagles for its club facilities. The Knights of Columbus were instituted in Corry in 1899; the Elks in 1902. The Maccabees also flourish.

Corry's school history began when Corry began. In 1863 the town was incorporated as a borough. In the winter of that year the new borough government acquired the new school building on Concord street that had been built the previous year by Concord township, and John L. Hatch was the first principal. For a time the school sufficed. In 1865, however, the population had increased to such a degree that more school facilities were imperative. An acre of ground was bought at the corner of Essex and Washington streets and a contract was entered into with Henry Drake for a new school building to cost $8,000. It was finished in 1866, and was designed as a Union school. Vincent Moses, a young thealogical student, of Clymer, N. Y., was engaged as the first principal.

Corry became a city in 1866. Both the schools were filled to over- flowing, and a rented parish school on Pleasant street was filled besides, before the city was two years old. In 1869 the Fairview school build- ing was erected at a cost of $14,580, and the next year, 1870, so rapidly was the school population increasing, a fourth school was begun. It was named the Hatch school, in honor of John L. Hatch, Corry's first teacher, and was finished in 1871 at a cost of $30,000. At the beginning, and until 1869, the schools of the town were of the ungraded order, teach- ing the three Rs in the old-fashioned hit and miss way. In that year J. H. Manley, president of the school board, compiled and arranged a graded course of study for the schools, which was published and regu- larly introduced. Upon the completion of the Hatch school in 1871, the high school course was introduced. and the high school found accommo- dations in that building for eighteen years. In 1884 the Concord school, the oldest of the school properties of the town, was replaced by a hand- some brick four-room building.

Corry received a severe check in the early part of the seventies, as has already been recorded. It affected the schools in common with every other interest. When again the city took its place in the march of progress the advance became at once effective in the schools, so that ere long the capacity of the buildings became seriously taxed. To meet the Vol. I-37

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necessities of the situation. in 1899 the splendid high school building on South and Spring streets was erected. Its cost, including the land, was more than $50,000, and it is a worthy monument to the intelligence and progressive spirit of the community.

In educational matters Corry is abreast of the times. Its high school takes high rank. But the progressive board of education de- cided upon one step farther. A public library was deemed a necessity. and in 1902, the state law which provides that a school board may es-

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CORRY HIGH SCHOOL.

tablish a library as a part of the educational establishment was taken advantage of, and the Corry Public Library was created. It was equipped and is supported from the school funds. A room in the northeast corner of the high school building was appropriated for the purpose. Here a library of 3,700 volumes, exclusive of public documents, has been in- stalled, and, during the school year is open to the public on Monday, Wed- nesday and Saturday afternoons and in the evenings, while during the summer it is open two evenings in the week. It is in the care of Miss Susan M. Williams, a capable librarian.

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The earliest Methodist Episcopal class in Wayne township was formed in 1845 or thereabout, and in 1860 a church was built about a mile and a half north of Corry. There was a reorganization in 1870, when the church was transferred to Pike street and became known as the North Corry M. E. church

The Corry M. E. Church was organized in 1862. Its first meeting house was dedicated October 27, 1865, and served until 1891, when a handsome new edifice of light-colored brick was begun. Its architect and builder was A. P. Mount, of Corry, and the minister in charge, Rev. J. W. Campbell. The church, which cost $28,000 was dedicated Septem- ber 6, 1903.

A congregation of the Baptist denomination was organized in 1862, and in April, 1865, a church building was dedicated. This was taken down in 1894 to give place to a handsome brick structure.

The First Presbyterian congregation was organized January 18, 1864, and erected a frame church during the winter of 1865-6, which was replaced by a fine new brick church in 1884, the old church being sold to the Hebrew congregation.

Emanuel Episcopal church was formed in July, 1864, and for a time held services in a private hall. In September, 1865, the cornerstone of a church was laid, and the building was completed the next summer. In 1894 the church was rebuilt.

The United Brethren effected an organization in 1864, and built a church in 1865, changing its location, however, in 1866. The church was burned in 1872, and a new building erected immediately.

The First Congregational Society was organized in 1864 and in 1878 purchased of the Christian church the building that had been erected on Pleasant street. It was enlarged and remodeled in 1882.

Two Lutheran church organizations flourished. The German church was dedicated June 3, 1877, and the Danish church, established by Rev. A. L. Benze. of Erie, in 1890, worshipped in the German church.

The Hebrew congregation was formed in 1875, and in 1883 bought the building that had been used by the First Presbyterian church.

A Universalist congregation was organized on March 7, 1877.

St. Thomas's Catholic church was organized in 1860 by Rev. Father Lonnergan, and a frame church was dedicated in September, 1862. In 1872, the corner stone of new brick church was laid, but the building was not ready for occupancy until 1884. The church property was steadily added to, including shortly, a large parochial school and St. Thomas's Academy, the latter in charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

St. Elizabeth's Catholic church (German) was organized in 1875, and completed the church, which was begun at once, in 1876. Its con- secration occurred in September of that year.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

But Corry's chief dependence has from the beginning been upon its manufactories. While the city owes its existence to the somewhat acci- dental circumstance of two railroads crossing at that point, its real start was in the locating of Downer Oil Works there in 1861. It is now long since the city ceased to depend upon petroleum, and the smell of oil is no longer distinguishable upon its garments. Instead there have sprung up industries by the score along diversified lines. Some of the earliest undertakings fell through. This is true not alone of the great refinery which distinguished it in its early days, but the harvester works that was famous for a time, and other enterprises, went down under pressure of changing conditions. The first typewriter that was invented-the Caligraph-was made in Corry, and the tradition is that a prominent stockholder in the enterprise was Samuel L. Clemens, the "Mark Twain" of the literary world. There are those who are impressed with the be- lief that it was an unfortunate thing for Corry when the city lost the Yost interest, and the typewriter industry, the outcome of the Caligraph machine, with which Mr. Yost was connected. But there have been other shops and mills and factories to take the places of those that de- parted, or fell by the way in the battle for success.

One of Corry's largest industries is the plant of the J. W. & A. P. Howard Tanning Company, located just east of the city limits. It was established in 1867, and acquired in 1899 by J. J. Desmond and F. A. Loveland upon the death of Mr. Howard. The product is sole leather of the highest grade, and the daily capacity fifty hides. It is the boast of Corry that the best sole leather made on the continent is the product of the Howard Tannery, as numerous awards of medals bear testimony.

The Climax works was started in 1868, at first building agricul- tural implements and machinery, and later engines and oil well tools. It was bought in 1882 by R. S. Battles, who extended its scope, at length being devoted chiefly to building geared locomotives for use in lumber camps principally. The company was incorporated in 1904 and sends its product all over the world.

The Ajax Iron Works was established in 1877 in a shop 50x120 feet in area on the corner of Center street and the railroad. In 189? the company was incorporated under the same name, and the plant en- larged. Expansion has continued until modern buildings, equipped with modern appliances extend through to Washington street, covering 65,000 square feet of floor space. The product is the Ajax drilling and pumping engine.

The Corry Chair Company, incorporated in 1891, manufactures dining room chairs and rockers.

The Raymond Manufacturing Co., its product high grade wire springs, was incorporated in 1898.

C. A. Mahle & Son became a corporation in 1899. The product of this concern is bored and shaped brush blocks for brushes and brooms.

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The Corry Couch Company was incorporated in 1899, and makes patent spring leather and plush upholstered couches.

The United States Radiator Co. established its Corry branch in 1895. It is a large corporation of Pittsburg and West Newton, Pa., and in Corry succeeds, or has absorbed the Corry Radiator Co., which was chartered in 1893, for the manufacture of radiators and boilers.

The McInnes Steel Co., established its extensive plant at Corry in 1901. It originated at Emporium in 1895, but selected Corry because of its advantageous position as a shipping point. Its product is tool steel.

The Rex Manufacturing Co. was incorporated in 1902, and its product is a patent telephone and desk writing tablet, wire springs and metal novelties.

The Tuft Manufacturing Co., incorporated in 1904, makes cotton tufts for mattress manufacturers.

The Corry Condensed Milk Co. makes thirty brands of condensed milk. It has been a corporation since 1900.

The Corry Upholstering Co., chartered in 1906, manufactures the Leader cotton felt mattresses.

The Kurtz Brass Bedstead Co., incorporated in 1905, makes high grade brass beds.

The Oregon Indian Medicine Co. makes a number of proprietary remedies and was incorporated in 1884.

C. A. Auer's tannery business started in 1862, and has been suc- cessfully conducted ever since, the specialty being leather for hydraulic purposes.

There are many other industries that have not become incorporated. not a few of them very extensive. The K. P. L. Furniture Co., manu- facturers of dressers, wash stands, chiffoniers, etc .; the U. S. Chair Co., high grade chairs and rockers; H. Clark & Son, an extensive Corry branch of a Union City enterprise ; the Trill Indicator Co., steam engine indicators and appliances ; the Corry Boiler Works; the Corry Chemi- cal Co .; the Love Manufacturing Co., natural gas burners and castings ; Bonnell & Lambing, bed springs ; Rhodes & Carey, telephone arms; the Corry Pail Co. and D. & F. E. Westley, pails for butter, candy and other purposes; the Losee Wrench Works, wrenches and saw clamps ; H. E. Whittelsey & Sons, valve cups, axle washers, etc .; the Acme Milling Co., flour-all these, and others, contribute to the industries of Corry.

Nor is the word "finis" yet written to the history of manufacturing of Erie county's second city. The most recent are among the most prominent. The Corry Brick and Tile Co. was incorporated in 1908 with a capital of $100,000 and began business immediately in extensive vards in the west side of the city. The product is shale vitrified bricks for paving and building purposes, and tile for flooring. The sales during

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

the first half of 1909 amounted to 5,000,000 bricks, that were shipped to Boston, New York, Baltimore, Buffalo and fifty other cities. The gen- eral manager is D. Warren De Rosay.

The Waclark Titanite Explosive Co. was incorporated March 17, 1909, secured a site of twenty acres of ground, erected buildings, and before midsummer were shipping their new explosive. It is more pow- erful than any other explosive known, but can be handled with immunity in its ordinary form. It burns slowly upon the application of fire, is absolutely passive under the most violent impact, and is not affected by electricity, but when the cap, harmless in itself, is used to ignite it, the resulting explosion is terrific. The manufacture is by a secret process, which was purchased for the United States by U. S. Senator W. A. Clark, and, after correspondence, Corry was selected as the location of the works. Three grades of explosives are made, the first for metal min- ing : the second for quarrying, and the third for coal mining. W. L. Brotherton is the general manager.

The United States Brake Shoe Co. was incorporated in 1909, and is the successor of the Eagle Iron Works. The product is brake shoes for steam and street railway use, and sleigh shoes.

Corry newspapers have been numerous, and most of them very short- lived. The first venture in journalism was made in 1863, when the Petroleum Telegraph appeared. published by Baldwin & Day, and, short- ly afterwards the Corry City News, by Stebbins & Larkins. Both of these eventually came under the control of Joseph A. Pain, who estab- lished a wonderfully complete printing plant. The Itemiser, started in 1868, also fell into Mr. Pain's hands and had its name changed to the Blade, but publication was suspended when the hard times came in the seventies. The Telegraph was a name that stuck in Corry and this Mr. Pain continued to print weekly for many years. In 1885 he ventured into the daily field again, starting the Leader, which is still published, a son of Mr. Pain identified with its publication. The same year Wm. C. Plumb started the Flyer, which no man took seriously, perhaps not even Plumb himself, and it died young. The Saturday Democrat was started in 1890 as a weekly-which its name indicates. The Journal, an ex- cellent evening paper, has been published by D. M. Colegrove success- fully for ten years or more, and is still prosperous.

The Corry Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce, organized in 1895, became at once very serviceable to the growing city, and that effort was supplemented by the work, in 1908, of the Business Men's · Exchange, which opening an office on Centre street, near the railroad and engaging James P. Drown as secretary, began a vigorous campaign in behalf of a larger city and more business. The executive committee of the exchange includes F. L. Weeks, president; W. H. Duffy, A. L. Bush, E. C. Crapser, Glenn R. Davis. O. A. Swetland, Rush Miller, IV. W. Blair, D. Warren De Rosay, N. Stone and C. M. Ream.

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Another business organization is the Manufacturers Association of Corry, formed in December, 1908, with these officers: F. E. Whittelsey, president ; J. B. Patterson, M. M. Raymond and John King, vice-presi- dents; Arthur J. Lyons, secretary-treasurer, with James P. Drown as assistant secretary.

Citizens of Corry who have held public office were : associate judge, Hollis King; delegate to the Constitutional convention of 1873, C. O. Bowman; members of Assembly, C. O. Bowman, W. W. Brown, Isaac B. Brown, J. D. Bentley ; district attorney, C. L. Baker ; sheriff, T. H. Coggswell ; county commissioners, W. T. Brown, W. C. Shields; directors of the poor, G. Sid. Beavis, S. A. Beavis; jury commissioners, D. L. Bracken, H. L. Spiesman, Henry McCray; mercantile appraisers, L. E. Guignon, W. T. Brown, John W. Leech; oil inspector, A. J. Hubbard ; deputy state factory inspector, M. N. Baker.

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A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 63

Author: Miller, John, 1849- Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 926

Author: Miller, John, 1849-
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 926