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 90
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consisted of upwards of 700 volumes, and was rated one of the best libraries in the state at the time in the possession of a society of its kind. It was this library that was turned over to the Y. M. C. A. in 1860, when that Association was organized and became in fact the successor of the Institute. The latest effort in behalf of a literary club was the Whittier Literary Association, formed in 1867, with M. H. Taylor as president, R. De Charmes vice-president, L. M. Bab- cock secretary, Frank Milligan treasurer, T. E. Wilson critic, and A. D. Fassett librarian. It will not be out of place to state that T. E. Wilson, the critic, was then of the editorial force of the Dispatch, from which he went to the New York Wl'orld, and for many years, and until his death, was editor of the World AAlmanac.
There were musical societies, also, the Germans being the pio- neers in this especial line, organizing the Arion Society in 1860, which in 1862 became the Erie Liedertafel, distinguished as much for its social feature as for its music. The Audubon Club, organized in 1865, with Col. J. H. Bliss, C. Siegel and Col. J. Ross Thompson as officers, represented a special line.
It was, however, through the field of sports and by the agency of the athletic clubs that the purely social organizations made their entry in Erie. This city has, in common with every other healthy community, had a liking for things athletic, and men and women of every station have been pleased to bestow upon associations of this sort an approving smile.
There was the Erie City Baseball Club for example, which had for its officers in 1866, Alfred L. Tyler, president; W. A. Baldwin, J. E. Houston, A. J. Cassatt, J. J. Lawrence and T. J. Viers, vice- presidents ; D. T. Francis, secretary ; W. M. Fleming, treasurer, and J. M. Hopson, captain. Men who afterwards occupied the highest posi- tions in the railroad world, it will be seen, were identified with the sport, then in its infancy. The fact is accounted for by the location in Erie at that time of the offices of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad Co. The Excelsior Baseball Club, a contemporary and rival, was more distinctively local, but included in its ranks men who came to occupy high positions in the professional and business world, including the president judge of the Erie district.
It was boating, however, that led the way to the distinctively social organizations. In 1865 the Undine Boat Club was formed. Its athletic membership was limited in number, but in other respects it was different, for, besides its contributing members, its supporters and sympathizers included as wide a circle as was possible in the city. A boat house was built at the harbor and equipped, and exer- cise was often supplemented by pleasure, the boats, the water, the inviting shores of the peninsula, the ladies who admired the sport
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and the athletes as well, and the always seductive summer evenings formed a combination that put a border of iridescence upon all the objects in view and added a glamour that could not be resisted. Re- gattas, too, that brought from a distance contesting crews, stimulated the social feature by the receptions and hops that were concomitants of the athletic meets. That it had a charm to the other sex was proven by the organization in 1869 of the Una Boat Club, composed of ladies. With the Undine Boat Club, the sociability and comradeship engendered by the gatherings at the club house and the practice spins on the water during the summer time, did not terminate when winter locked fast the waters of the bay. During the winter season the interest was maintained by frequent meetings and social functions. Even when interest in boating, the reason for the club's organiza- tion, had died out, the membership-or coterie, if you please-did not entirely disintegrate. It was out of the Undine Boat Club and its accretions that the McLane Light Guard was organized. And then, when soldiering had lost its charm, another step was taken, and the Erie Club was formed.
It was on January 10, 1882, that the Erie Club was incorporated. Its charter members were W. L. Scott, H. R. Barnhurst, R. W. Rus- sell, C. M. Reed, F. F. Marshall, J. L. Linn, Henry Souther, J. J. Wadsworth, WV. S. Brown, R. R. Wallace, S. D. Warner, P. A. Becker, D. M. Johnson, E. Camphausen, Thomas Brown, Geo. V. Maus, Frank Gunnison, F. H. Ball, L. S. Norton, J. S. Riddle, C. M. Tibbals, John W. Walker, John Dodge, T. A. Walton, J. P. Metcalf, Charles H. Burton, J. P. Loomis, F. B. Whipple, Chas. W. Prescott, Harry Gun- nison, Charles Marshall, MI. Haverstick. H. L. Perkins, E. L. Wads- worth, W. M. Wallace, Walter Scott, J. A. Reynolds, L. D. Davis, A. S. Brown, Edward Mehl, B. B. Brown, A. H. Jarecki, Edward Cranch, W. C. Evans, George Carroll, H. L. Rea, W. WV. Reed. J. S. Richards, Geo. W. Starr, A. E. Sisson, J. W. Galbraith, George R. Metcalf, T. M. Hemphill, W. J. McCarter, L. G. Reed, J. H. Bliss, J. C. Mackintosh, William Brewster, J. Ross Thompson, W. H. White- head, George P. Griffith, F. W. Metcalf, Chas. H. Strong, F. W. Grant, T. C. Wood, George A. Allen, J. M. Lewis, H. M. Hill, E. S. Rice, C. B. Curtis, R. W. Baird, F. W. Lamb, F. F. Cleveland, J. C. John- son, Arthur G. Gray, J. F. Downing, H. C. Stafford, John L. Gilson, Charles S. Clarke, James T. Franklin, Harry Vincent, Davenport Gal- braith, Thomas N. Penrose, J. L. D. Borthwick, Thomas S. Plunkett. This is a list that included most of those who were leaders in business and affairs in Erie at the time, and interesting as indicating the status of the newly chartered organization.
The same year, 1882, the Erie Club purchased the old Walker residence on West Seventh street and altered it to render it suitable. which was occupied until 1904. The club then bought the stately
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Reed mansion with the splendid grounds that surround it, at the cor- ner of Sixth and Peach streets. The new club house was taken pos- session of in January, 1905, when a new organization was effected with Frank Connell, F. W. Grant, David A. Sawdey, Fred H. Lee, George R. Metcalf, J. H. Richardson, Frank G. Maus. Albert McDon- ald, Harry L. Moore, Harry J. Leslie, and Edward G. Germer as a board of governors, and these officers were elected from the members of the board: Frank Connell, president ; Frank W. Grant, vice-presi- dent ; Harry L. Moore, secretary, and Harry J. Leslie, treasurer.
The very natural instinct that prompts a people when the torrid temperature renders the closely built city uncomfortable, to turn toward the open and seek for relief in the rural districts and on the shore, in due time wrought its good and perfect work in Erie. A cool and breezy place even when summer is its sultriest, as compared with other cities. Erie is nevertheless warm when the weather is warm, and warmer by far than the open or where the breeze comes fresh from the broad lake. There had been for years a resort to the shore to a rather limited extent ; some spending a brief vacation under canvas ; others building summer cottages, and yet others adopting the house boat. But something different was demanded, and it was not unnat- ural that at length the idea of a country club should take form. It originated definitely in 1893, and the individual to first suggest it was the late Evan Evans. While the summer was most ardent he broached the subject to J. Spencer Van Cleve, who was then engaged in the real estate business. Mr. Van Cleve was responsive. There were frequent meetings, and different plans outlined, till presently the idea seemed to take the form of a yacht club rather than anything else, and a can- vass of what seemed to be available led to the selection of a site just west of the Pittsburg docks. However, when others were invited in to confer, modifications came, a more extended canvass was made and numerous meetings held for discussion. The upshot of the matter was that the final decision was for a country club, pure and simple, and the yachting feature was abandoned. Toward the middle of the year the club was organized, and, when it was proposed to make it complete by obtaining a charter and a name was called for, it was de- cided upon the nomination of Mr. Berry to call it the Kahkwa Club. The name was suggested by the late Henry Catlin as suggestive, that having been the name of a tribe of Indians that it was alleged fre- quented these shores when the county was forest.
The charter was granted in 1893. There were 105 names on the roll, and the directors named in the charter are: H. F. Watson, J. P. Metcalf, C. W. Davenport, M. H. Taylor, George Talcott, Frank Gun- nison, George R. Metcalf and N. J. Whitehead. The first officers were H. F. Watson, president ; George Talcott, vice-president ; N. J. White-
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head, secretary, and J. S. Van Cleve, treasurer. Immediately a lease for ten years was secured for a piece of ground on the Tracy farm on the bluff overlooking the upper part of the bay, Chas. P. Cody was commissioned to prepare plans for a club house, and it was erected and ready for use by the early summer of 1894. The popularity of the Kalıkwa Club continued unabated, but, when the term of the lease had expired it was determined to build anew upon land owned by the club, one of the principal reasons being a desire on the part of a large con- tingent of the membership to secure a location adjacent to the newly laid out grounds of the Golf Club. Accordingly a purchase of the Reed farm, subject to the lease of the Golf Club, was made, and, in 1904 the new Kahkwa Club house was erected a short distance west of the city limits-a stately structure beautifully situated, commanding a splendid view of Presque Isle Bay, and maintaining its popularity as a summer resort in the country.
In the fall of 1901, through the initiative of T. M. Hemphill, the Erie Golf Association was organized, and on November 12 of that year an option for 30 days on an extended lease of the 100-acre farm of C. M. Reed, just west of the city was obtained. The subscribers who formed the association were: M. H. Taylor, Joseph P. Metcalf, P. H. Adams, Mrs. C. H. Strong, Dr. W. J. Magill, Albert H. Jarecki. T. M. Hemphill, George R. Metcalf, H. N. Fleming, W. B. Sterling and Oscar Jarecki. Subsequently a lease of the Reed farm for ten years was effected, and the grounds were improved and links laid out. Soon the interest in the game extended, and in 1902, it was proposed that a club should be organized. This was effected in 1902, when the Erie Golf Club was incorporated with 160 subscribers and the following board of governors: George R. Metcalf, J. H. Richardson, R. W. Potter, L. M. Little and Hugh C. Lord. A club house was erected on the grounds the same year. About the same time the owners of the land, having an opportunity to sell a portion of it to the McCain Realty Company, the club gave its consent, the portion to be taken in no way interfering with the links, and the plot that came to be known as Ferncliff was ac- cordingly laid out in building lots. In 1904, again, there was a propo- sition looking to the sale of the remainder to the Kahkwa Club, subject to the Golf Club's lease. This, too, was effected, the golf links remain- ing undisturbed. The club maintains its independent existence and its enjoyment of the splendid grounds that have been laid out and im- proved by it are not likely to be interfered with for many years to come, if ever, by the new owner.
The Union Club was organized in August. 1898, with these direc- tors : B. J. Walker, Charles F. Miller, John F. Brown, J. C. Hoffstetter, Sam B. Kennedy, Absalom Reynolds and D. A. Sawdey. Its mem-
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bership was representative of the Masonic order in Erie, and suitable quarters were taken and elegantly fitted up in the Kneib building on State street south of Ninth. These were maintained in proper style and served their purpose well for a number of years, but toward the end of the ten years' term, the membership, seeking better things be- gan to look about for a chance to effect improvement. At length early in 1908 the club purchased the fine semi-modern residence of the late Dr. Brandes on East Eighth street. Possession was taken immedi- ately and in feverish haste the necessary alterations were undertaken, for it was desired to have it in readiness for the fifty-fifth annual con- clave of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Pennsylvania, to be held in Erie during the last week in May, 1908. It was completed in time and its formal opening was a feature of that important Masonic event. In December, 1908, an amendment to the charter was granted by the court, changing the name to The Shriners Club.
There is not on Lake Erie a location better suited to foster that most gentlemanly of all sports, yachting, than the beautiful bay upon which Erie is located, and it is remarkable that, with the pride taken in its bay by Erie people, the organization of a club that would foster the sport was not sooner effected than it was. Boating was always a pop- nlar pastime and the catboat fleet, kept for hire at the harbor, made expert sailors by the score. But, perhaps for the reason that boats were accessible for hire, private ownership in yachts did not develop. Indeed it was when the business in letting sailboats began to decline that ownership began. The first impetus toward organization came out of an open regatta arranged in 1888 by the late Eben Brewer. This regatta brought to Erie many of the most famous sloops and cut- ters that then sailed on fresh water, and besides, George W. Gardner, commodore of the Inter-Lake Yachting Association, not only favored the event with his presence as a spectator, but put forth good mis- sionary effort. Additional interest was awakened in 1892 when Dav- enport Galbraith brought to Erie from the seaboard the magnificent cutter Papoose, which, during that season met and defeated everything on Lake Erie, including the Alice Enright. Two years later a free for all regatta for Erie sailing yachts was so eminently successful that matters were brought to a head. George T. Bliss, after canvassing the matter for a while called a meeting for September 20, 1904, at the Reed House, and the result was the Erie Yacht Club was organized with Mr. Bliss as commodore; F. D. Lynch, secretary, and Walter S. Reitzell, treasurer. Funds were quickly raised, a club house was built at the anchorage, just east of the waterworks dock, and formally opened on July 4, 1895. The first big regatta of the club occurred August 5, 6, and 7, 1896, which brought to Erie the Canada and Vivia of Toronto ; the Dinah, Eva, Naudia, Myrna and Hiawatha, of Hamil-
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ton ; the Dorothy of Buffalo and the Knox of the Rochester Yacht Club. The Canada was the Canadian champion that was later to contest with the Vencedor of Toledo for the challenge cup.
Early in 1900 the Erie Yacht Club secured the old Sommerheim Club house near the head of the bay, and reconstructed it into one of the most delightful of water-side clubs. It was known as station No. 1. During the winter of 1901 the club house at station No. 1 was de- stroyed by fire, but its restoration was never undertaken. The Erie Yacht Club was incorporated in May, 1895, with these directors named in the charter : George Platt, W. P. Atkinson, George Berriman, W. S. Reitzell, E. A. Davis, Nicholas Leuschen, W. L. Morrison, George T. Bliss, C. B. Hayes, W. J. Robinson, C. C. Wicks, Wm. Nick, A. H. Henderson, George Hamberger, C. H. Harvey, E. B. Lynch, Charles Campbell.
Immediately upon the decision of the Kahkwa Club to move into new quarters, steps were taken under the leadership principally of John F. Brown to organize the Country Club, and secure a lease of the prop- erty about to be abandoned. The effort was entirely and promptly suc- cessful. Early in the year 1904 the Country Club was incorporated with these directors: J. B. Brooks, J. F. Brown, D. W. Harper, J. C. Hoffstetter, H. L. Munger, C. J. Haller, M. W. Shreve, F. E. Lawrie and Edward C. Moore. The first officers were, Edward C. Moore, pres- ident; E. F. Rockafeller, vice-president ; Fred W. Sapper, secretary, and J. F. Brown, treasurer. The refurnishing and equipment of the house was quickly effected and it was as though it had never been vacant. The Country Club was popular from the start, and loses noth- ing of that as it gathers age. A ten-year lease of the splendid property was secured, and improvements of various kinds have been made.
Not all the club organizations of Erie are founded solely upon the social idea. There are others that have as their animating motive the accomplishment of something that will be of benefit, not to the mem- bers alone, but to the community in general. The thought that after all the work may prove to be a thankless task, is never for a moment entertained, for there is a higher recompense than spoken thanks. Of this order is the Woman's Club of Erie, organized in December, 1897. It was composed of these members at the start: Mary E. Alverson, Maude Ardagh, Jean Inglis Black, Eda Camphausen, Jennie R. Cleve- land, Louisa B. DeWitt, Emma Slocum Hopkins, Nettie Olds Lamb, Emma S. Nicholson, Grace B. Payne, Julia E. Perkins, Jane W. Press- ly, Emma J. Selden, Louise S. Selden, Amelia P. Spencer, Maud A. Warner, Carrie T. Watson and Annie J. Wilson. The meetings were held in the Woman's Assembly Room of the Public Library, and, to en- sure its permanency, it was decided to incorporate the Woman's Club.
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In January, 1900, a charter was granted by the court, fifty members signing the application, and the following being designated as the first directors under the charter: Carrie T. Watson, Julia E. Perkins, Em- ma S. Hopkins, Jean Inglis Black, Louisa B. DeWitt, Margaret P. Me- hard, Mary S. Lee, Maude Allen Warner, Emma S. Nicholson, Mary E. Alverson, Louise S. Selden, Lulu C. Harvey, Grace R. Van Cleve, Eda Camphausen, and Annie J. Wilson.
Meanwhile the work had been begun-work along varied lines. The first thing to receive attention was kindergarten instruction. There had been a free kindergarten association organized in 1892. This ef- fort was taken in hand, and after it had been, in 1897, by the associa- tion introduced into the schools, the Woman's Club secured its adoption by the School Board in 1900. The condition of the poor was always a consideration, and for the alleviation of suffering a visiting nurse was secured and supported, Miss Clara Justice doing a world of good service through the instrumentality of the club. Efforts in behalf of a Juvenile Court were inaugurated early and continued until meas- urable success began to reward the labors, the Elmwood Home for Boys, incorporated July 20, 1908, being one result accomplished, while a home of detention for boys and another for girls is being labored for. Playgrounds for the children of the public came within the sphere of the club's action, and one was established on the west side in 1908 and another on the east side in 1909. Civic improvement came up for at- tention, the first tangible result being city house cleaning day, early in the summer of 1909, when the good accomplished was declared to be marvelous. The club is divided into three departments: Literature, Civics and Education, and Philanthropy, in each of which committees work to the accomplishment of purposes desired. The Woman's Club of Erie became federated with the General Federation in January, 1898, and with the State Federation in April, 1898.
Art in Erie existed in an unorganized fashion for many years, and some of it good art too. Moses Billings, for example, was a painter of portraits at the period when the only portraits obtainable were those painted, for the Daguerrean art was yet in the womb of the future. He painted excellent likenesses, and his work as an artist was excellent, save the one fault that. lacking an education in anatomy, his full length portraits were sometimes defective. Mrs. Gara, who, as Miss Calista Ingersoll, taught painting in the excellent school over which she and her sister presided, was acknowledged as an artist of merit. And there was Louis B. Chevalier, a general utility man, as they class such in the theatre-and it is proper to designate him thus, especially as he was best known as a painter of scenery for the stage. Later than all these came Miss Lovisa O. Card, who established an art school, and taught drawing and painting for several years, until at length her school be-
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came so thoroughly established that when she became Mrs. Henry Cat- lin the school was continued. Devoted to art-a lover of art for art's sake-she really was not averse to continuing as an instructor in art.
It was by Mrs. Catlin's initiative, seconded and encouraged by her husband, a noble, cultured gentleman, that at length an art organiza- tion was effected. By invitation about a score of persons, many of whom had been pupils of Mrs. Catlin, met in her studio on January 28, 1898, to consider the subject of forming an art club. The upshot was that on March 21, 1898, The Art club of Erie was fully organized, and officered as follows: Mrs. Henry Catlin, president; Mrs. C. A. Gara and Mrs. J. M. Force, vice-presidents ; Miss Florence Olds, treasurer ; Miss Sarah H. Woodruff, secretary, and these, with John W. Little, Dr. D. N. Dennis, Henry Sevin and George Perkins, constituted the first council. In May of the same year the first exhibition consisting of orig- inal work by local artists and art students was held in the Erie Acad- emy and was a perfect success. Meanwhile the membership which in- cluded sustaining and associate members grew rapidly. On February 16, 1899, in connection with the opening of the Public Library, an ex- hibition was given in the art gallery of that institution, which was con- tinued for four weeks, free to the public. It consisted of oil paintings by leading artists of America, and at once established the standing of the Art club in the fore-front among Erie institutions of public spirit. Steps were immediately taken to establish a permanent collection of high class works of art, the club taking the lead by purchasing a paint- ing by H. Bolton Jones, N. A., and obtaining for the same collection the gift by Mrs. A. R. Lee of a painting by F. S. Church. N. A. Reg- ularly thereafter, public free exhibitions, covering four weeks, and con- sisting only of the works of eminent American artists have been held, out of each one or more of the pictures remaining as part of the perma- nent collection, until Erie can now boast of an art museum represent- ing many thousand dollars in value, and educational from the fact that discrimination and judgment have been exercised, resulting in exam- ples of the various schools and styles of painting in oil and water col- ors. Competitive exhibitions brought to the permanent collection many meritorious pictures, by local artists, and now and again special exhibitions. Besides, reproductions of the works of world-famous ar- tists, bought by the club, have been used educationally in the public schools, and the monthly meetings, open to the public have had instruc- tion as their fundamental purpose. The club was incorporated in May, 1900, and numbers between 200 and 300 members, with Mrs. L. C. Cat- lin elected regularly as president.
Beginning in 1868 there flourished for a number of years a musical organization that won a higher degree of popularity than any other so- ciety of its kind was ever favored with in Erie. It was the Union Mu-
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sical Association, obtaining its name from the fact that at the start it was composed of members of the principal church choirs in Erie. The idea of forming the association had its origin in the success that had at- tended a number of musical conventions, the first conducted by W. B. Bradbury in 1855. Others succeeded, some of them after the society in Erie had been formed, the directors of musical conventions from first to last, after Mr. Bradbury, being Prof. Taylor, L. O. Emerson, J. P. Webster, H. R. Palmer and George F. Root. The Union Musical As- sociation was formed at a meeting, called for the purpose, in Walther's Hall, at which Henry Catlin was elected president, L. M. Little di- rector, and J. W. Little, assistant. From the very start it became evi- dent that more than the members of choirs would seek admission, and provision was accordingly made to accept applicants generally, the condition being that such applicants should demonstrate their ability to read music. The membership in a short time reached between 200 and 300; concerts were given that taxed the capacity of the largest theatre in the city ; works of diverse character and varied degree were undertaken, from the music of the oratorio to that of the cantata or of a program of folksongs and ballads to lend variety to the musical bill of fare. During the last years of the Association Prof. George F. Brierley was director, and when, about the year 1876, the Union Musical Asso- ciation went out, the Orpheus Society came in and continued for ten years or thereabout, Prof. Brierley directing. Prof. Brierley was the or- ganizer and leader of the Burdett band. composed principally of em- ployes of the Burdett organ factory, and an excellent band it was.
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