A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 10

Author: Miller, John, 1849-
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 910

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 II > Part 10

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In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bayle to Miss Edith May Fargo, who was born in Fairview township, this county, and who is a daughter of William and Esther (Spence) Fargo, honored pioneers of that township. Mr. and Mrs. Bayle have only one child, William Fargo Bayle, who was born in 1889. He was graduated in Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, as a member of the class of 1905, receiving the

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

degree of Bachelor of Arts. He is now preparing himself for the priesthood of the Protestant Episcopal church, at Arden, North Caro- lina, where he was head master of Christ Episcopal School in 1908.

PETER HENRICHS. Many men excel in achievements and command success in some particular direction, but very few attain eminence in several lines of endeavor. In Peter Henrichs, one of the leading Ger- man citizens of Erie, we have a notable exception. As a dry goods mer- chant he won pronounced success; as an inventor he has met with public recognition and endorsement ; as a manufacturer his results have been positive and satisfactory ; and as a writer for the press his literary ability has been established. He is now especially engaged in manu- facturing, being at the head of the Exhibition Show Case Manufactur- ing Company, whose plant is located at No. 1816 German street. A native of Prussia, Germany, he was born February 16, 1839, a son of Joseph and Margaret (Armbruster ) Henrichs.

Emigrating with his family to the United States in 1845, Joseph Henrichs lived first in Cincinnati, Ohio, and afterwards resided for a time in Covington, Kentucky, following in both places his trade of a cabinet inaker. Coming to Erie, in 1852, he opened a cabinet maker's shop on Peach street, near Eighteenth street, and continued in his chosen occupation, obtaining an excellent start. In 1855, however, he was so seriously injured by the collapsing of the gallery in St. Patrick's Catho- lic church edifice that he died in March, 1856, while yet in the prime of life, being but forty-five years old, his birth having occurred in 1811. His widow subsequently removed to Mishawaka, Indiana, where she made a home with a daughter until her death, in 1888, at the age of seventy-nine years, her birth having occurred in 1809. Both parents were faithful members of the Roman Catholic church.

Receiving his educational training in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Coving- ton, Kentucky, Peter Henrichs came with his family to Erie, in 1852, and at once took a position as salesman in the old Sennett, Barr Com- pany's foundry, with which he continued until its failure in 1857. The following three years he was clerk in the dry goods store of William Bell. In 1860 Mr. Henrichs formed a partnership with Jacob Gobel, and embarked in the dry goods business, in the American block, be- coming junior member of the firm of Gobel & Henrichs. Buying out his partner in 1866, he managed the business by himself until 1872. In that year, he became manager of the cloak and suit manufacturing de- partment of Edson, Churchill & Co., and during the very same year in- vented a combination infant's chair, and formed a company for its manufacture. Subsequently Mr. Henrichs sold out his interest to the other members of the company, who continued the manufacture of his patent, paying him a royalty on all manufactures. Still keeping his inventive faculties in use, Mr. Henrichs patented, in 1877, a sectional exhibition show case, and, in company with J. W. Churchill, engaged in the manufacture of the same under the firm name of "The Exhibition Show Case Company," of which he has ever since been the active head and manager. Under his wise superintendence, the business has been materially increased, the company now manufacturing not only show cases, but a full line of store fixtures, its business being one of the largest and most renumerative of the kind in the city.

A writer of talent and ability, Mr. Henrichs has for a number of years contributed articles of interest to the press, principally along the

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

Vinis Kregning

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

lines of local history, with which he is familiar, and he is now engaged in the preparation of a voluminous work on the history of the German population in Erie county, which he designs to publish in book form at some future time.

On January 12, 1860, Mr. Henrichs married Catherine Preuss, a native of Prussia, and to them eleven children have been born, namely : Edward N. ; Amelia ; Leo, deceased ; Rosa ; Cornelia ; Virginia ; William ; Eugenia and Nova, twins; Katie; and Edith. Politically Mr. Henrichs supports the principles of the Republican party, and religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Henrichs are members of the Roman Catholic church.

LOUIS ROSENZWEIG. Of the many eminent lawyers that have hon- ored the Erie bar within the last quarter of a century Louis Rosenzweig is one of the more prominent, his legal knowledge, skill and ability hav- ing gained him success and distinction in his profession. He is a man of intellectual power and force, wise in all departments of law, and as a safe, prudent and sound counsellor has a large and lucrative patronage. A native of Georgia, he was born in the city of Macon, April 25, 1844. His parents, Isaac and Bena (Baker) Rosenzweig, were born in Germany, married in Philadelphia, and subsequently located in Georgia, where the father was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1846 the family came north to Erie, where the father continued in business as a merchant until his death, October 8, 1884.

Having completed his early studies in the public schools of Erie, Louis Rosenzweig was for a number of years employed as a clerk in his father's store. Ambitious, however, to enter upon a professional career, he read law with Edward Camphausen, Esq., devoting himself to his legal studies with the industry and persistency that has ever been characteristic of his life, and in due time was admitted to the bar. After practising his profession alone for a time, Mr. Rosenzweig formed a partnership with George A. Allen, and under the firm name of Allen & Rosenzweig continued in practice until the death of the senior member of the firm. Exceedingly successful from the start, this firm built up one of the most extensive and remunerative lines of practice in North- western Pennsylvania. As the firm's successor, Mr. Rosenzweig has con- tinued the business, which has in nowise deteriorated, but on the contrary has visibly increased in magnitude and importance, being one of the most noteworthy in the city.

Mr. Rosenzweig married, October 19, 1864, Minnie, daughter of the late Jacob Newberger, a merchant of Cumberland, Indiana, and of their union four children have been born, namely : Grant I., a graduate of Yale University, is now an attorney in Kansas City, Missouri; Bert R., living in Cleveland, Ohio; Eta, wife of Isadore Levi; and Harriet, wife of Fred Davidson of Schenectady, New York. Religiously Mr. Rosenzweig and his family are members of the Jewish Temple. Political- ly he is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, and though not an aspirant for official honors has served two terms as school director. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Order of Masons ; he was one of the organizers and one of the original members of the board of trustees of the public library.

REV. BENJAMIN J. RAYCROFT. The honored pastor of St. Anne's church in the city of Erie is one of the distinguished members of the priesthood of the Catholic church in his native state, and in his high Vol. II-5

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

calling he has accomplished a most successful work for the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. He is a man of fine intellectual attain- ments and his record has been the positive expression of a strong and deeply sympathetic nature.

Benjamin Joseph Raycroft, A. M., was born in the city of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Benjamin and Margaret (Flynn) Raycroft, both of whom were born in the fair Emerald Isle. Rev. Father Raycroft gained his early educational discipline in a school con- ducted by the Franciscan Brothers in his native city, and in the early 'TOs the family came to Erie county and located on a farm west of Edinboro, in which village Father Raycroft became a student in the Pennsylvania State Normal School, in which he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1880. In the same year he entered St. Vincent's College, in Westmoreland county, this state, where he remained a stu- dent for two years. He was then matriculated in Niagara University. near Niagara Falls, New York, and after remaining there one year he entered St. Bonaventure's College, at Allegany, New York, where he was graduated in 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He passed the ensuing three years as a student in the theological seminary connected with the college, and on the 24th of July, 1887, he was ordained to the priesthood.

Father Raycroft's first pastoral incumbency was as first assistant to Father Patterson, of St. Mary's church at Sartwell, Pennsylvania, and later he was pastor of the parish of the Sacred Heart, Sharon, Pennsyl- vania, for a period of three and one-half months. Thereafter he held charges at Warren and Oil City, this state, in which latter place he was assistant in St. Joseph's church until February 2, 1890, when he became identified with the parish of old St. Patrick's church in Erie. On the 11th of the following August Bishop Mullen assigned to him the charge of St. Boniface's parish, at Kersey, Elk county, Pennsylvania, where he continued his labors until the 3d of January, 1901, when he returned to the city of Erie and assumed his present pastoral charge. Here his labors have been most potent in advancing both the spiritual and temporal welfare of his parish. Through his earnest efforts, with the zealous co-operation of his parishioners, the fine new church edifice of St. Anne's was com- pleted in 1905, and while at Kersey he also erected a new church build- ing, which was completed and dedicated in 1894. In Erie Father Ray- croft has the high regard of all classes of citizens, and in his parish his indefatigable labors, his zeal, his devotion and his selif-abnegating spirit have won and retained to him the affection and regard of those to whom he ministers.

Father Raycroft has special talent in the field of literature, and is essentially a deep and appreciative student. He received from his alma mater, St. Bonaventure's College, the degree of Master of Arts, in 1889. He is the author of two books of sermons, and one entitled "Devotions to the Blessed Virgin," besides which he has written six very effective dramatic compositions, which have been presented on the local stage. His deep humanitarian spirit and his gracious personality gain to him friends among "all sorts and conditions of men," and his popularity in the city of Erie is of the most unequivocal order.

RUFUS L. PERKINS. The names and deeds of those who have wrought nobly in the past should not be allowed to perish, and it is in the making of perpetual record concerning such persons that a publi-

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

cation of this order exercises its supreme function. The family of which Rufus L. Perkins was a scion bears a name which is ineffaceably traced on the pages of our national history from the early colonial epoch to the present time. Strong men and true ; gentle and gracious women, have represented the name as one generation has followed another onto the stage of life, while the family escutcheon has ever been a symbol of integrity, honor and usefulness. In New England, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, and in divers other sections of the Union there have been many distinguished citizens to upbear the prestige of the name, and not the least of these was Rufus Lord Perkins, to whom this brief tribute is dedicated and who was known and honored as one of the represen- tative business men and sterling citizens of Erie county.

Rufus Lord Perkins, who died at his home in the city of Erie, on Wednesday, March 17, 1909, was born in the village of Athens, Ohio, on the 17th of December, 1819, and was a son of Dr. Chauncey F. and Lydia (Lord) Perkins. The original American ancestor in the agnatic line was John Perkins, who was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1590, and who landed at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1631. For two years he was a resident of Boston and at the expiration of this period, in 1633, he established his permanent home at Ipswich, Massachusetts. From this worthy ancestor the subject of this memoir was of the seventh generation in line of direct descent. Eliphas Perkins, grandfather of Rufus L., figures as the founder of the family in the west. He was a native of Norwich, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College, and after securing his medical education practised his profession in his native state for some years. In 1799 he removed to the wilds of Ohio and settled in the little pioneer village of Marietta whence he subsequently removed to Athens, where he passed the remainder of his life.

Dr. Chauncey Fitch Perkins was born at Canterbury, Connecticut, and his wife, Lydia (Lord) Perkins was a native of Norwich, that state. She was a direct descendant from Thomas Lord, who was born in England, in 1585, and who emigrated to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1635. Dr. Chauncey F. Perkins received excellent educational advantages and gained distinction as an able physician and surgeon. He was engaged in the practice of his profession at Athens, Ohio, until 1828, when he removed with his family to Pennsylvania and took up his abode in Erie. He was one of the pioneer physicians of this county, where he ministered to suffering humanity with abilty and self-abnegaton for many years and where he is held in reverent memory as one of the earnest and noble representatives of his profession in this section of the state during its formative period.

Rufus Lord Perkins was a lad of nine years at the time of the family removal from Ohio to Erie, and in the schools of the locality and period he secured his early educational discipline, which was later to be broadened to knowledge and appreciation of all that is best in literature. As a youth he secured a clerical position in the office of the Erie Railroad at Dunkirk, New York, during the period of the construction of that road, and after being thus engaged about two years he returned to Erie, where, in 1843, he engaged in the drug business in partnership with John H. Burton. This alliance con- tinned until May, 1849, when Mr. Perkins disposed of his interest in the enterprise and engaged in the manufacture of paper. He erected his mill at Mayside, this county, near the mouth of Walnut creek, and in 1850 he established his home at Mayside, where for more than a score of

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

years he was identified with the manufacturing of paper. For a portion of this period he had. as his associate in the business his brother-in-law, Samuel Selden, and later Colonel John H. Bliss became an interested principal in the enterprise.

In 1873, after his retirement from the business just mentioned, Mr. Perkins returned to Erie, where he passed the remainder of his life and where for a number of years he continued to be actively associated with business interests,-for a time as agent for the Un- ion Mutual Life Insurance Company and later as the local represen- tative of the Bradstreet Mercantile Agency. During the later years of his life he lived retired and was permitted to enjoy to the full the attractions of his beautiful home and his large and select library. His circle of friends was circumscribed only by that of his acquain- tances, and no citizen had a more secure place in the confidence and esteem of the community than did he. From an appreciative arti- cle published in a local newspaper at the time of his demise the fol- lowing statements are taken :

"Mr. Perkins was a man of very marked Christian character, and had all his life taken a very active interest in his church and every- thing the church stands for. He united with the First Presbyterian church of this city in 1834. Upon his removal to Mayside he trans- ferred his membership to the Presbyterian church of Fairview, Penn- sylvania, where he became an elder. When he returned to Erie, in 1873, he united with the Park Presbyterian church, with which he continued to be identified until his death. The distribution of the Holy Scriptures as a means of extending the kingdom of Christ in the world, appealed to him very strongly, and, for many years, his support and co-operation had been given to the Pennsylvania Bible Society, of which he was a vice-president; for nearly twenty-five years he was secretary of the Erie County Bible Society, and at the time of his death was secretary and treasurer.

"From his boyhood his tastes were decidely literary, and even during the very active years of his business life he found time to write much for the papers and periodicals, and this habit he kept up almost to the last. He was an idefatigable student, and his mind was a veri- table storehouse of information, not only on matters of history and the world of letters, but also in regard to the news and vital inter- ests of the day. His disposition was bright and cheerful, and by his kindly manner and his abiding sympathy he attracted to him all who had the privilege of his acquaintance. His death came suddenly, but we can believe, as he did, that it was only the opening of the door into his heavenly home."

Even in so intimate an article as this review of the career of the honored subject of this sketch there can be no desire to intrude upon the sacred precincts of his home, in which his interests ever centered, in which the domestic relations were ever of idyllic character, and in which the noble and generous attributes of his character stood forth in stronger relief than in any other of the varied relations of life. In the city of Erie, on the 9th of September, 1845, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Perkins to Miss Mary Ann Lattimore, who was born in Painesville, Ohio, on the 24th of February, 1820, and who was a daughter of William and Rhoda Williams Lattimore. The first break in the family circle, and one which brought the maximum loss and bereavement in the life of Mr. Perkins, was that which occurred

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

when the devoted wife and mother was summoned into eternal rest, in January, 1883. They became the parents of six children, concern- ing whom the following brief data are consistently entered in con- clusion of this tribute: William Rufus, who was for a number of years a member of the faculty of Cornell University and later pro- fessor of history in the University of Iowa, died on the 27th of Jan- uary, 1895; George Williams was a member of the bar of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, at the time of his death, on the 7th of May, 1900; Hen- ry Lattimore, who was engaged in business in Erie, died on the 9th of January, 1903; Chauncey Fitch, who was general ore and coal agent for the Pennsylvania Company, with headquarters in the city of Pittsburg, died January 3, 1909; and Charles Lord and Julia Eliza- beth, the only surviving members of the immediate family, reside at the home on West Sixth street, in the city of Erie.

REV. ANDREW IGNASIAK. A man of earnest thought and sincere purpose, Rev. Andrew Ignasiak, pastor of St. Stanislaus Roman Cath- olic Church, in Erie, is a teacher and leader among his people, and through ties of sweet ministry and love has greatly endeared him- self to his parishioners. A son of John and Katarina Ignasiak, he was born, November 6, 1862, in Slawienko, near Obornik, Prussian Poland, and there received the rudimentary education that developed in him a taste for higher knowledge. He afterwards attended the Gymnasium at Posen, and then entered the American College at Lou- vain, Belgium, where he made a special study of theology.

Being graduated from that institution in 1886, Father Ignasiak was there ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic church, and given the mission to the diocese in Erie. Arriving in this city, Aug- ust 21, 1886, he immediately assumed charge of St. Stanislaus' church, with which he has since been actively identified. In his ministerial labors, Father Ignasiak has been eminently successful, his kindly spirit, beneficence, and sympathetic nature enabling him to touch the hearts and influence the lives of the unlearned as well as the cultured, bring- ing him into close personal relations with the members of his parish.

ALBERT N. DANIELS. Among the strong and honored figures in the business circles of the city of Erie is Albert Nathaniel Daniels, who is known as a worthy type of the steadfast, honorable and up- right business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen. Ex-secretary and superintendent of the Carter Smart Weed Company, an important industrial concern of Erie, he is a representative in the third genera- tion of one of the sterling pioneer families of this county.

Mr. Daniels was born in Cussewago township, Crawford county, this state, on the 14th of May, 1860, and is a son of David A. and Philura (Hills) Daniels, the former of whom was born at Gospel Hill, Harbor Creek township, this county, in 1822, and the latter of whom was born at Fabius, Onondaga county, New York, January 29, 1826. David Albert Daniels was a son of William Daniels, a native of the state of New Jersey, who came to Erie county in an early day and became one of the pioneers of Harbor Creek township, where he se- cured a tract of heavily timbered land and essayed the reclamation of a farm. He had learned the trades of shoemaker and tanner and in earlier years devoted his attention to the same, after which his vo- cation was that of farmer. When his son David A. was a boy Wil-

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY

liam Daniels removed to Crawford county, this state, where he fol- lowed agricultural pursuits during the rest of his active life and where his death occurred. For more than thirty years he served as captain of a militia company in Crawford county, and he was thus familiarly known by the title of captain. Upon his death his son David A. was appointed his successor in the captaincy, by Governor Mifflin, but the company, with others in the state service, was disbanded soon after- ward. The parents of William Daniels were born in Ireland and Holland respectively, and their marriage was solemnized in America, where the respective families were founded in the colonial days.

David A. Daniels became one of the prosperous farmers of Craw- ford county, where he was reared to manhood and where he ever commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. His death occurred on his old homestead in that county. in 1902. His devoted wife, who died in 1885, was a daughter of Obed and Alsemina ( Ba- con) Hills, both of whom were of English lineage. Obed Hills was a blacksmith and millwright by trade and in addition to having been engaged in the milling business he also operated largely in the hand- ling of lumber and became a successful farmer. He took up his resi- dence in Crawford county, this state, in 1837, but in 1866 he removed to Genesee county, Michigan, where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death.

Albert Nathaniel Daniels, passed his boyhood and youth on the old homestead farm in Cussewago township, Crawford county, and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. That he made good use of his opportunities is evident when it is stated that at the age of nineteen years he proved himself eligible and secured a teacher's certificate, after which he was a successful teacher in the district schools of his native county for several terms. Thereafter he was for a time en- ployed as a salesman of nursery stock. After his marriage, in 1893, he was identified with agricultural pursuits in Crawford county un- til 1889, when he assumed the position of a driver on a star-route mail and stage line, with which he continued to be identified for a period of four years. In 1894 Mr. Daniels came to Erie, where he forthwith was engaged as a salesman for the Carter Smart Weed Company. In this capacity he was employed for the first eighteen months, at the expiration of which he became a foreman in the plant of the com- pany in Eric. In 1898 he was promoted to the office of superintend- ent and also became secretary of the company, in which he served until May 2. 1909, when he retired from the business.

In politics, though never a seeker of official preferment, Mr. Dan- iels is a supporter of the Republican party. He has attained to no little distinction in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in whose affairs he maintains a deep interest. He has been affiliated with the order since 1891 and was one of the organizers of Fraternal Lodge, No. 188, of Eric, of which he was the first noble grand. In 1905 he represented this lodge in the grand lodge of the order in Pennsyl- vania, at the meeting held in the city of Scranton. He is now sec- retary of Fraternal Lodge, and is a valued member of Lake Erie En- campment, and Canton Nicholson, Patriarchs Militant,-representing advanced degrees in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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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 II, Part 10

Author: Miller, John, 1849- Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 910

Author: Miller, John, 1849-
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 910