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 91
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And the subject of bands coming to the fore, some others are en- titled to be mentioned. One of the most famous of early days was Mehl's band, that enlisted at the beginning of the Civil war, first with the Erie regiment, and later with its successor, the Eighty-third. The name of the band was derived not alone from its leader but the family. members of which formed a large proportion of the musicians. It was a musical family that for years figured prominently in instrumental music in Erie, Mehl's band and orchestra being directed, successively, by M. W. Mehl, Charles F. Mehl, W. O. Mehl, and if memory is not at fault, by E. H. Mehl. Zimmerman's band was another of the ante- bellum organizations that went to the front from Erie. A favorite old time orchestra was that of John L. Tompkins, the veteran leader still a resident of Erie. Knoll's band, organized the end of the sixties, in- cluded, besides the director Anton Knoll, six sons and one grandson, and upon occasion, in concert work, two daughters. Later the band has been under the management of A. H. and of John Knoll, the former now a widely known cornet virtuoso, and the latter a band leader in Erie and composer of reputation. A daughter, Miss Maggie Knoll, for years conducted a ladies orchestra. The greater portion of Knoll's band filled a term of enlistment in the U. S. navy, serving on the Mich-
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igan, and as the Naval Band, became celebrated from Duluth to Buf- falo. Prof. Anton Kohler, from the time he organized the Philharmo- nia Band in 1813, to the present, has been a leading musician, and his organization has always been popular. Frank J. Demuling's band be- came prominent about 1896, and from that time on the bands that have won popular favor have been Lang's, Rea's, Brehm's and the Moose band, and Wiesbauer's, Kohler's, Bowers's, Friend's and Jackson's or- chestras.
The Erie Natural History Society, formed under the leadership of Prof. Gustave Guttenberg in 1879, for the study of the natural histo- ry of the county, and the formation of a museum, had a successful and useful existence for nearly twenty years. Its first officers were G. Gut- tenberg, president ; Mrs. Addison Leech, vice-president ; John Miller, secretary ; Mrs. T. D. Ingersoll, treasurer, and the board of directors included Dr. H. S. Jones, Prof. H. C. Missimer, Ottomar Jarecki, Dr. T. D. Ingersoll, and Miss Rosina Hayt. Sections were formed for study and work in different branches, and in that of botany especially, in which Prof. Guttenberg and Miss Hayt took an important part, much that was of value to the botanical world was accomplished. The society succeeded in forming the beginnings of a museum, including a fair collection of insects and a good herbarium, the latter a gift from Frank H. Severance, a member, and this collection turned over to the Public Library when it was opened in 1899, formed the nucleus of the natural history section of the present admirable museum of the library.
The Horticultural Society was organized in 1888, with L. H. Couse as president, G. Lyman Moody as secretary, and including in its mem- bership Peter Heydrick, Frank Henry and others, and during six years had periodical exhibitions of flowers and fruits, during one season hav- ing two flower shows and one of fruits.
The Chrysanthemum Club, organized in 1889, was promoted by Herbert Tong, of the Massassauga Gardens, a highly successful prop- agator of new varieties or strains of that popular flower. He was ably seconded by Henry Niemeyer, Dr. Schlaudecker. Mr. Buseck, and other cultivators and by many interested citizens, not professional florists. The annual exhibitions, covering a week, were held first in the Eleventh street skating rink, and afterwards in the Maennerchor Hall, and were continued until Mr. Tong's removal from Erie.
Among the independent social organizations, or with a special pur- pose, these have figured with prominence in Erie affairs :
The Caledonian Club. first formed in 1873, its annual games at Mas- sassauga Point attracting the largest gatherings of the year.
The Sommerheim Club, composed of German-American citizens, who established a fine club house on the shore of the bay, on the Tra- cy farm.
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The Erie Press Club, organized in 1887, was the means of securing the convention of the Pennsylvania State Editorial Association at Erie in 1888. After a few years the club ceased to be. In 1907, however, it was revived, including some who had been members of the old or- ganization, and on February 20 of that year the Press Club was incor- porated.
The Poultry and Pet Stock Association, organized in 1894, has held poultry shows with more or less regularity ever since.
The Erie Kennel Club, chartered in 1906, Dr. Otto F. Behrend, president ; Edward J. Liebel, vice-president ; D. S. Hanley, secretary, and C. E. Mabie, treasurer, has provided dog shows annually that have been popular.
On the 8th of June, 1897, Presque Isle Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized with these officers: Mrs. L. A. Morrison, regent ; Mrs. Jerome F. Downing, vice-regent ; Mrs. Charles S. Clarke, secretary ; Mrs. L. M. Little, registrar ; Miss Helen Ball, treasurer ; Mrs. William N. Johnson, historian. A charter was granted to the chapter on December 27, 1897. The Daughters have had a profitable and useful existence in Erie. Their place of meeting is the Women's Assembly Room of the Public Library which, besides its ele- gant furnishment has among its embellishments oil portraits of Gen. Anthony Wayne and Com. Oliver H. Perry, prominently associated with the early history of Erie. Erie Chapter was active during the Span- ish-American war, furnishing necessities to the soldiers in Cuba and the Philippines. It was the Daughters of the Revolution who erected the granite monument to Gen. Wayne that stands in the southwest corner of East Park, that records the fact that this hero of the Revolution, after the close of his great military services, first in the cause of Amer- ican independence and next in the work of establishing security to the settlers in the west from the hostile Indians, closed his life at Erie, within a fort that had been erected by his orders for the protection of our own pioneers.
The Erie County Bird Club was organized in the spring of 1909, its declared purposes being : The study of birds ; the protection of birds ; to take whatever steps may be available to attract birds to the neigh- borhood of homes and schools; to observe some suitable date each year as "Bird Day," and to review literature pertaining to birds. It is expected that the Erie County Bird Club will eventually be enrolled as a section of the Audubon Society. The first officers were: Miss Cora A. Smith, president ; Miss Estelle Hutchins, vice-president ; Miss Marian Gunnison, secretary ; Miss Marian Johnson, treasurer ; Turner W. Shacklett, historian. The club was organized through the efforts
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of Miss Cora A. Smith, science teacher in the High School, in response to what seemed to be a well established desire, and it is hoped that as a branch of the Audubon Society it will become permanent.
The Erie College Woman's Club was organized in August, 1902, with these officers: President, Miss Grace Stanton; vice-president, Miss Jennie Galpin; secretary, Miss Winnifred Riblet; treasurer, Miss Marian Gunnison. In 1905 the club became affiliated with the Federation of Pennsylvania Women. The membership at the begin- ning numbered 42, but fourteen of the original members have removed from the city. The presidents in succession have been : Miss Stanton, now Mrs. Dr. F. R. Love; Miss Barney, now Mrs. J. F. Downing ; Dr. A. B. Woods, Dr. Lucy H. Black. The present officers are: Dr. A. B. Woods, president ; Miss Jessie Wheeler, vice-president; Miss Maud Willis, recording secretary ; Miss Iva Brown, corresponding secretary ; Miss Susan A. Tanner, treasurer.
The oldest of the secret orders in Erie is that of Freemasonry. The first lodge constituted in Erie was in 1814, and was known as Lodge No. 124. Its officers were Giles Sanford, W. M. ; Rufus S. Reed, S. W. : John C. Wallace, J. W. It went down about the time that Anti- Masonry began to be a disturbing element in public affairs. A fresh start was made on March 13, 1849, when Presque Isle Lodge, No. 235, was constituted, with William Flint, W. M .; James C. Marshall, S. W. ; WV. W. Reed, J. W .; C. G. Howell, secretary ; Smith Jackson, treasurer ; WVm. Wyatt, senior deacon ; Daniel Dobbins, junior deacon, and John Lantz, tyler. The lodge disbanded in 1864.
Freemasonry came to stay when Tyrian Lodge was chartered on December 27, 1865. The meetings were at first held in the rooms of Presque Isle Lodge, I. O. O. F., on State street between Fifth street and the Park. On June 6, 1867, Perry Lodge No. 392, was chartered ; on July 19 of the same year, Temple Chapter No. 215, R. A. M .. was constituted, and on October 20, 1867, Mt. Olivet Commandery was or- ganized. The Noble block, now the Penn building, having been fin- ished the year before, a lease of the fourth floor was obtained and be- came Masonic headquarters for a number of years. Jerusalem Council, No. 33, R. and S. M., was chartered June 10, 1868, and Keystone Lodge was constituted January 13, 1870. After the completion of the building 914-16 State street in 1884, for I. A. Forman, the third floor and part of the second was leased and the building came to be popularly known as Masonic Temple, but about 1900 the Masonic bodies returned to the Penn building, which had been rebuilt after the fire of December, 1899. Presque Isle Lodge of Perfection, A. A. S. R., was chartered September 22, 1887. The rooms, from the first occupancy of the Noble block in the sixties have been under a joint organization representing the vari- ous Masonic bodies. A movement that had been in existence for a con-
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siderable time looking toward the building of a Masonic Temple, at lengthi crystallized, and in 1909, the Masonic Temple Association acquired the lot on the northeast corner of Eighth and Peach streets, and ground was broken during the summer of that year for a modern fire-proof building, to be the home of the fraternity.
Associated with Masonry in a sort of fashion best understood by the Freemasons themselves, is that order which sails under the alpha- betical combination A. A. O. N. M. S., popularly known as the Shrin- ers. Of this order Zem-Zem Temple, instituted April 13, 1892, was chartered August 15 of the same year. A handsome club house at 124 East Eighth street was dedicated in May, 1908, during the annual con- clave of the Knights Templar of Pennsylvania.
The Odd Fellows were introduced to Erie in 1845, Presque Isle Lodge, No. 107, having been organized in June of that year. The other lodges were instituted: Philallelia in 1849, Lake Shore in 1870, Erie City (German) 1874, Irwin in 1897, Fraternal about 1900. Heneosis Adelphon Encampment was founded in 1846, Lake Erie Encampment in 1881 ; Canton Erie, P. M., in 1899, Canton Nicholson in 1902 : Luel- la Rebekah Lodge in 1874, Laura Rebekah in 1897, and Sylvia Rebekah (German) soon afterwards. In 1902 the Odd Fellows Temple Asso- ciation was formed and a desirable location on the northeast corner of State and Twelfth streets was secured. Before building was under- taken the association was dissolved and the property sold, during the latter part of 1908. Early in 1909 Lake Shore Lodge bought a fine lot on the corner of Eleventh and Peach streets and erected thereon a handsome modern four-story building, completing it in the fall.
The Knights of Pythias in Erie date from December 20, 1871, when Erie Lodge No. 327 was organized. Six months afterward-June 20, 1872-Alvord Lodge No. 368 was instituted, the name of which was changed in 1873 to Northwestern Lodge. In June 1873, Oriflamme Lodge was organized. All three were merged under Erie Lodge char- ter in 1878. Olds's Hall was the home of the Pythians from 1872 to 1878, when, on the merger of the lodges Metcalf's hall was taken; in 1887 Olds's Hall was again taken and occupied until 1904, when the Forman block on State street above Tenth became Pythian Temple. Athens Lodge, No. 455 was instituted in 1894; Lake City Company, Uniform Rank, in 1884 ; Insurance Section 103, in 1878 ; Linton Temple, Pythian Sisters, in 1893 ; Arafa Temple, Knights of Khorassan, in 1899.
Erie Lodge, B. P. O. Elks was instituted May 28, 1887, and met first in the Germer building, Ninth and State, moving thence to the Ensign building, West Eighth street upon its completion. In 1908, Erie Lodge took possession of the handsome Elks building on the southeast corner of Eighth and Peach streets.
The first Erie post of the Grand Army of the Republic was organ- ized in 1867, and was named in honor of Gen. Strong Vincent, brevet-
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ted general from the colonelcy of the Eighty-third Regiment, who was killed at Gettysburg. For many years the work and expense of proper- ly observing Memorial Day fell to Post 67, the Fourth of July picnic at Massassauga Point, from which the funds for Decoration Day were chiefly derived being regularly associated with Independence Day. In the course of time, however, and by means of an enabling act of the Legislature, the city councils now make an annual appropriation in honor of the old soldiers. G. A. R. Hall on State street above Ninth. for nearly thirty years the headquarters of the Grand Army, was vacated in 1909 for the old Custom House building, granted to the veterans as a post room by the United States government. The encampment of the Department of Pennsylvania G. A. R., in 1908, was probably the last gathering of the kind to be held in Erie. Robert Wainwright Scott Post, G. A. R., organized in 1885, was merged in Strong Vincent Post in 1899.
The various secret orders, not already enumerated, that have be- come established in Erie, giving the dates only of the first body in each of the several orders, are these: D. O. Harugari, and Patriotic Order Sons of America in 1867-the latter, however, having fallen out for a time and returned in 1889; the temperance orders-the Sons of Temperance, Temple of Honor and Good Templars, flourished about the same time, but after ten years or so moved off the stage ; Knights of Honor in 1875; Royal Arcanum in 1878; Knights of the Maccabees in 1884 : Colored Masons in 1872 ; Junior Order United American Mechan- ics, National Union, Union Veteran Legion in 1887; Knights of the Golden Eagle, in 1886 ; Knights and Ladies of Honor in 1888 ; Protected Home Circle in 1889 ; Knights of St. John and Malta, Woodmen of the World, Colored Odd Fellows in 1892 ; I. O. Foresters in 1899.
The Catholic orders first came in the years here given: Catholic Mutual Benefit Association in 1876; Ladies Catholic Benevolent As- sociation in 1890, in which year the national organization of the L. C. B. A., was formed with Mrs. Joanna A. Royer as Supreme Recorder, a position she has ever since filled, the business office of the order being, as a consequence, located in Erie. The Knights of Columbus were introduced to Erie in 1897; the Knights of St. John, and the Cath- olic Order of Foresters in 1900.
CHAPTER XIX .- HOTELS, THEATRES, SPORTS.
FROM THE LOG HUT TO THE MODERN HOTEL .- FROM A DINING ROOM TO A FULL FLEDGED PLAYHOUSE .- THE TURF, THE WATER,
THE DIAMOND.
Much of the life of old Erie centered about the village tavern, even in the earliest days, to dignify it, being called by the Frenchified title of hotel. The village inn was the only club house of the community. It was even more. It took the place of the newspaper of later days, for at these gatherings in the evening the people got from one another the local news, and from the stranger, if there chanced to be one, some intelligence from the world without. The hotel was an important in- stitution. In Erie it was more than that. The very first house erected here at the time the permanent settlers arrived, was a tavern, built in the summer of 1795 by Col. Seth Reed, and called the Presque Isle Hotel. It was a one-story log house, but served as a hospice for a year. The next season Col. Reed built a two-story log house at the corner of Second and Parade streets, which he placed in charge of his son, Rufus S., before changing his abode to the Walnut Creek valley. In this building Rufus Reed kept store and tavern until it was burned down in 1799, but it was soon rebuilt, and for years afterward was the center of business in Erie. Here the stranger was entertained, and here also the resident came to make his purchases of the necessi- ties of life which could not be wrested from the woods and the soil.
The same year that Rufus S. Reed rebuilt the hotel that had been burned-1800-a third public house was erected. George Buehler built his hotel at the corner of French and Third streets, and it was destined to be a place of great prominence. In Buehler's Hotel the courts for Erie were first held ; when Erie became a borough the meet- ings of the town council were held at Buehler's; when Commodore Perry came here to superintend the building of the fleet and organize the force with which it was to be manned, his headquarters were at Buehler's. In later years it became known as the Rees House and the McConkey House, but in time was forced to make way for progress.
Just before the war of 1812 John Dickson erected the three-story frame building on the southeast corner of Second and French streets that still stands, an antique monument of old Erie. It was in Dick-
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son's Hotel that the great public dinner was prepared, which was served in LaFayette's honor on the Second street bridge.
The Bell House, built by William Bell in 1805 at the corner of French and Sixth street, was a frame structure that stood until torn down in 1811 to give place to the Becker block erected that year.
The Duncan tavern, regarded so remote during the exciting times in the summer of 1813, that Gen. Kelso's family fled to it from their home on the top of the bluff, stood at the corner of French and Fifth streets, the site in future years of the Farmer's Hotel. It was built by James Duncan.
The American Hotel was the most imposing structure of its time. It was built in 1811, was three stories high and was constructed of stone-the bluestone that is quarried in this neighborhood. It stood on the south side of the beautiful ravine that crossed the parks and State street diagonally, and under many landlords, stood until taken down in 1875 to make way for the Dime Bank building.
The Laird House stood at the southwest corner of State and Eighth streets from 1829 until 1867, when Walther's block was built; and the Park House, a brick hotel on the site of the City Hall, built by John Morris in 1829, before it was torn down served as a barracks for the United States troops sent here to preserve neutrality during the Fenian excitement.
The third venture of the Reeds was the erection of the Mansion House at French street and the Park in 1826. Like the American Hotel, it stood on the side of the park ravine, that in those days was beautifully wooded, but was well nigh impassable, steep roads leading down to rustic bridges that crossed the stream. From the west wall of the Mansion House, a fine garden, the produce of which was de- signed for the hotel table, sloped down toward the fringe of hemlocks and alders that guarded the brook. The Mansion House was at once the chief caravansary of the town. At this hospice the stages stopped -it was a division terminus for the line of which Mr. Reed was a large stockholder and important officer. But it burned down in 1839, and with it were destroyed all the outbuildings containing the stage coaches, horses and other property. When Rufus S. Reed rebuilt, which was without any unnecessary delay, it was on a larger scale and the house assumed a new name. It was called the Reed House, and to this day the hotel at that location has the same name though the first Reed House was burned in 1864 and the second in 1872. Among the landlords of the Reed House have been Messrs. Guild. Keith, Gris- wold, Elliott, Upson, Wadsworth, Johnson, Ellsworth, Coleman, Rowe and Klein, the present proprietor.
The United States Hotel (the first of that name in Erie) was brought into existence by the steamboat business. It was a large brick building and stood on the northeast corner of French and Second
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streets. Its principal feature was a long colonnaded portico that gave it a very dignified appearance, and for years it was a popular hostelry. Among its landlords were George W. Reed, D. P. Dobbins and H. L. Brown, Sr. But few who are now living remember this hotel.
And it is also true of Brown's Hotel that few now living remem- ber it, even by its latter-day appellation of the Ellsworth House. In 1836 there stood, fronting on the park with State street on its right flank, and on the opposite side of the park ravine from both the Man- sion House and the American Hotel, a tavern called the Eagle Hotel, kept by Hiram L. Brown, who had the year before come to Erie from North East. The Eagle Hotel was notable as the rendezvous of the Democratic party leaders; it was headquarters of the party in Erie, and a well authenticated story is to the effect that when the trees were planted in the East Park, Hi Brown insisted that in front of his door a hickory should be planted. So the hickory was planted and it is the only tree of the species in the park. The Eagle Hotel was burned in 1851, and Mr. Brown immediately erected a five-story building in its stead, and called it Brown's Hotel. He died in 1853, but for many years Brown's Hotel was a vigorous rival of the Reed House. In 1869 it came under the control of Col. F. H. Ellsworth, who changed the name to the Ellsworth House and after a time consolidated it in a fashion with the Reed House. In 1883 the property was bought by Hon. W. L. Scott who desired to convert it into a modern hotel. No plan submitted for the alteration suited, so he ordered the building torn down. He died before he had found the plan he wanted and to this day nothing remains of Brown's hotel and the Ellsworth House, save a hole in the ground.
The Liebel House, built by Michael Liebel and first opened to the public in 1887, was previously a frame building that for years had been known as the United States Hotel, the second of that name in Erie, probably erected as early as 1840.
In 1838 a frame hotel building was erected on South Park row near the American and for years was known as the Zimmerly House. In 1884 James D. Allen bought and rebuilt it and changed the name to the Park View Hotel, and the present owner, Louis Galmish, has enlarged and greatly improved it.
The Morton House was built in 1850; the National and the Liv- ingston in the fifties; the Arcade in 1870; the Wilcox was established in 1880; the Moore House, named after M. M. Moore in 1882; the Wilson House in 1887; the Palace in 1891; and the Metropolitan in 1893. The Kimberly was originally the Wetmore House, but the name was changed in 1891 when Mr. Kimberly assumed charge. The en- largement which furnished ground floor offices was built in 1908, and in 1909 Coggswell and Illig became proprietors.
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In the course of time "hotel" came to be a much abused word in Erie. There were hotels and hotels, some that lasted their brief space and went out, and some that even in the heyday of their career were never better nor more than small boarding houses. Some became landmarks, and at least one imparted its name to the little community of which it was the central part, for Eagle Village on Federal Hill had its name from the Eagle Hotel. Long ago that old-time hospice dis- appeared to give place to an inn that reversed the order, by taking the name of the town-the South Erie Hotel.
The theatre in Erie began with occasional performances in a ho- tel dining room by troupes of strollers who happened this way. There were no halls fit for public entertainments, and when it chanced that a lecturer came this way it was usual to open the courthouse for him and the people gathered at the ringing of the bell. All sorts of meet- ings (almost) were held at the courthouse, even church meetings. Theatricals, however, were barred. During the decade of the forties W. H. Harris kept hotel on lower French street-perhaps the LaFay- ette, or maybe the Dickson, at Second street-and he contrived at periods of perhaps no great regularity to have theatrical performances in his dining room. It is said that Edwin Forrest the greatest tragedian of his time, played in Mr. Harris's hotel. Someone has said that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was performed there, but that is a mistake, for the novel was not written until 1850.
About 1855 Park Hall was built. It stood on French street north of the Sanford residence and a short time ago gave place to an auto- mobile garage. It was built by Mr. Sanford principally to be a meet- ing place for Park church, then just organized, but was available for lectures, concerts and public meetings. It was not provided with a theatrical stage, and, while Park Hall was a great convenience and a step in advance, there was yet something left to be desired. To rem- edy this A. H. Gray and F. F. Farrar in 1860 erected a building on North Park Row, the upper part of which was finished for a theatre. It was called Farrar Hall; had a very respectable stage; a floor of considerable area, but flat, and a gallery around three sides. In this little theatre many of the notables of the period appeared, such as Laura Keene, Ristori, Edwin Forrest, Mrs. Scott Siddons and others.
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