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 11
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In 1883 Mr. Daniels was united in marriage to Miss Ida E. Vaughn, who was born in Cussewago township, Crawford county, this state,
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and who is a daughter of Nathan and Ruth ( Mellott) Vaughn, well known citizens of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels have four chil- dien, namely : Benjamin F., Bernal I., Ruth K., and Edna P., all of whom remain at the parental home with the exception of Benjamin F., who is now a resident of Levi, New Mexico, where he is the own- er of a valuable tract of land.
WILLIAM J. SCHAAF, one of the well known citizens and business inen of Erie is engaged in the commission business at No. 1009 Ash street. He is a native of the city, having been born on July 1, 1858, in the old Schaaf homestead at No. 603 East Tenth street which he now owns and in which he resides. Mr. Schaaf is the son of Peter and Franciska ( Sanner) Schaaf, both of whom were born in the fatherland, the father in Schwarzwald, Rhenish Germany, and the mother in Alsace, same province. Peter Schaaf was born in 1818 and came to the United States in 1806, and as he first settled in Erie county was considered one of its pioneers. After his marriage, he located at what was called New Ger- many, near Mckean, but about two years afterward returned to Erie, and fixed his residence on State street near Twenty-fifth. He then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he learned the manufacture of old fashioned oil cloth, for this purpose leaving his family in Erie and residing about one year in that city. Returning to Erie, he built a factory on the site of the buildings now owned by his son, William J., and then engaged in the manufacture of oil cloth for several years. In the distribution of his product, he sent men by wagon and on foot to different parts of the country, as far south as Pittsburg, west to Chicago and east to Buffalo, even embracing various Canadian points in his selling operations. After the manufacture of oil cloth by machinery began he abandoned the in- dustry and then engaged in the brewing business with John Kalvalage in the old "Eagle Brewery" now incorporated as the Erie Brewing Com- pany. He continued in that line for a number of years and then went into the grocery business on the corner of Sixth and French streets. Later he removed to the corner of Seventh and State streets (the Hughes Block) : where he broadened out both as a wholesale and retail grocer under the firm name of P. Schaaf and Son, the son being George, who died at the age of twenty-seven years shortly after the firm was formed. This was during the Civil war period. In 1868 the senior Mr. Schaaf crected the building now occupied by William J., removed the business thither and continued at that location until his death in the spring of 1877. His sons. William J. and Peter, then conducted the business for about three years under the title of P. Schaaf's Estate, then purchasing it and conducting it until 1890. In the meantime they had added produce and commission to the scope of their operations, and when they dissolved part- nership, about 1895, Peter assumed the grocery business and William J. continued the commission trade.
The mother of the family died in 1894 at the age of seventy-eight years, and of her eleven children, three sons and two daughters are now living. The entire family was as follows: George, deceased ; Philip, who resides in Erie ; Maria, who married U. Schlandecker, also of that city ; Susan, who died as the wife of Captain Peter Schlandecker ; Josephine, deceased, who married John Mehl of Erie; Michael and John, also de- ceased ; Helen, who married Joseph Burger, and is deceased ; Peter, re- siding in Erie; Francis, who married Charles Gunther, of that city, and
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
William J., of this sketch, the youngest child. All the living members of the family are identified with St. Mary's Catholic church.
William J. Schaaf was first educated in the St. Mary's parochial school; then spent one year at the Sisters Academy, which was followed by courses in the public schools and at the old Hubbard and Woods Commercial School, the latter being the pioneer institution of its kind in the city. He left school when he was fourteen years of age; then be- came his father's assistant in the store and his continuous business prog- ress since, both in partnership and independently, has been already de- scribed. As a material addition to Mr. Schaaf's fine record, it should be stated that he served as a member of the city council many years ago, and that, although he performs his full duties as a good citizen, he gives his business the preference and mixes as little as possible with politics.
Mr. Schaaf's wife was Ida Vernon Kelsey, born at Conneaut, Ohio, daughter of Sidney and Mary (Gunnison) Kelsey. Her father was an old and well known journalist who died about 1901. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. William J. Schaaf : Bessie and Florence, both deceased; William J., Jr., Clarence K. and Vernon K. Schaaf.
JOHN J. GREDLER. Long identified with hotel interests in the city of Erie, Mr. Gredler is now owner of the Fuhrman House, at the corner of Twenty-sixth and Cherry streets, where he caters to a large and appreciative patronage and has a specially well ordered hostelry. He is a valued member of the select council of the city of Erie, in which he is a representative of the Sixth ward, and his personal popu- larity is well indicated by his incumbency of this important official po- sition, in which he has made an excellent record as a loyal and public- spirited citizen
John J. Gredler was born on the old homestead farm of his fath- er, in Greene township, this county, and the date of his nativity was December 25, 1874. He is a son of John and Catherine (Depinet) Gredler, the former of whom was born in Baden, Germany, in 1830, and the latter in the kingdom of Bavaria, that empire, in 1835. The paternal grandfather came with his family from Germany in 1837 and numbered himself as one of the sterling farmers of Erie county. He purchased land in Greene township, and there developed a valua- ble property. Both he and his wife continued to reside on this home- stead until their death, and the old farm is now owned by their son John, father of him whose name initiates this article. John Gredler was seven years of age at the time of the family's immigration to America, and he was reared to manhood in Erie county, where he is now known as one of the substantial citizens and representative agri- culturists of Greene township. Both he and his wife are devout com- municants of the Catholic church.
John J. Gredler passed his childhood days on the ancestral home- stead in Greene township, and early began to assist in the work of the farm. Ilis preliminary educational training was secured in the parochial schools of the locality, and when he was about twelve years of age lie came to the city of Erie, where he secured employment in a grocery store. In the meanwhile he also showed his ambition' by at- tending night school in the old Seventh street school building, where he gained knowledge which placed him in line for success in connec- tion with practical business affairs. He continued to be identified with
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the retail grocery business for a period of about fourteen years, and he then entered the employ of William F. Schulce, who was proprie- tor of the old South Erie Hotel. Later he was similarly engaged with John Heuer and August Schulce, and finally he became associated in the service of the Erie City Hotel, at the corner of Eighteenth and Peach streets. In July, 1906, Mr. Gredler, now fortified by long and varied experience, engaged in the hotel business upon his own respon- sibility, by purchasing the Fuhrman House, a commodious and well appointed hotel, at the corner of Twenty-sixth and Cherry streets. He lias since conducted this popular house with marked success and has gained a secure hold upon the appreciative support of his patrons. He has made numerous improvements on the hotel property and keeps all departments up to the highest possible standard.
In politics Mr. Gredler is arrayed as a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Democrat party and he has done effective service in the party cause. In February, 1907, he was elected a mem- ber of the select council of the city of Erie from the Sixth ward, to fill the unexpired term of Peter Wingerter. He has proved a valuable working member of the city's administrative body, and in the makeup of the council for 1908-09, he was assigned to the important committee of laws and franchises and was chairman of the committee on health, water and markets, and of the city hall committee. In the makeup of the council for 1909-10, he is chairman of the committee on streets and bridges, as well as that on health, water and markets, and is a member of the committee on laws and franchises and the city-hall committee. Through his official services he has amply justified the confidence of his constituents, and he maintains a deep interest in all that concerns the welfare and progress of the city in which he has so long made his home.
Mr. Gredler is identified with the local Moose lodge, and is affiliated with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, and the Knights of St. John. He holds membership in St. Alphonse's, Bavarian, and Maener- chor societies, the Eighteenth Street German Singing Society, the Cas- cade Park Club, the Keystone Club, the South Erie Turnverein, the Catholic Casino and the Erie Yacht Club; also the Chamber of Com- merce and the South Erie Improvement Association. He and his family are communicants of the Catholic church and are members of the Sacred Heart parish. In 1896 Mr. Gredler was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Liebel, daughter of Joseph Liebel, of Erie, and they have seven children, namely: Frank, Othmar, Joseph J., Marian, Louise, Cecelia, and Caroline.
WILLIAM J. WILLERT. Among the representative business men of the city of Erie stands Mr. Willert, who here has charge of the interests of the Washburn-Crosby Flour Company, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is manager for this celebrated company's business in Erie and Craw- ford counties, and his selection for this office stands as voucher for the high reputation which he has attained for progressive ideas and administrative ability. As one of the able and popular business men of the younger generation in Erie county, he is well entitled to considera- tion in this publication; further than which such representation is due by reason of the fact that he is a native son of the county and a member of one of its honored families. He has gained success and prestige through his own well directed efforts, and his advancement has been
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
the result of ambition, close application and impregnable integrity of purpose.
William J. Willert was born on a farm in North East township, this county, October 21, 1879, and is a son of Herman F. and Frederica (Ohm) Willert, both natives of Germany, whence they were brought to America when children. The parents of the latter died in Germany, and she came to the United States with her paternal uncle, who settled in North East township, this county, where he became a successful farmer and where he passed the remainder of his life, as did also the paternal grandfather of William J. Willert. Herman F. Willert was reared to manhood in Erie county, and from his youth to the present time he has been identified with agricultural pursuits, in which con- nection he has been duly successful. He and his wife are now residents of Harbor Creek township, where he is the owner of a well improved farm.
William J. Willert was reared to the invigorating discipline of the farm, and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the public schools of the village of North East. To attend the village schools he walked each day to and from the village, which is four miles distant from the home farm on which his boyhood days were passed. When about fourteen years of age Mr. Willert came to the city of Erie and secured a position in a grocery store located at the corner of Twelfth and Chestnut streets, and he received in compensation for his services the first year the sum of fifty dollars and his board. Thereafter he continued to be identified with the grocery business as a clerk for a term of years, and in 1903 he engaged in this line of enterprise for himself, at the corner of Seventh and Poplar streets, where he built up a substantial trade and gained prestige as a reliable and progressive business man. In 1906, he became manager of the business of the Erie Wholesale Grocery Company, and here he made a splendid record for careful and progressive administration. He retained the incumbency until the 1st of May, 1909, when he assumed his present important office of manager of the business of the Washburn-Crosby Flour Company, of Minneapolis, in the counties of Erie and Crawford. HIe maintains his official headquarters in Erie, and the interests of the great concern which he thus represents are sure to be continuously ex- panded in scope and importance under his control of his assigned terri- tory. Mr. Willert is a valued member of the Erie Business Men's Exchange, is identified with various social organizations, and in politics hc gives a loyal support to the cause of the Republican party.
In 1901 Mr. Willert was united in marriage to Miss Marie Gross- holz, who was born in Germany, and who is a daughter of Adolph Grossholz, who is now one of the representative farmers of Fairview township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Willert have one child, Gertrude.
JAY C. GROVE, the general agent for the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Company and during the past sixteen years one of Erie's most prominent citizens, is a representative of one of the commonwealth's oldest families, he being of the sixth generation of the name in the state. Its founder in this country was David Grove, the great-great- great-grandfather of Jay C. This David Grove was born in Germany, but migrated to Holland at the time of the crusade, an about 1600 he came to America and located in Philadelphia. The paternal grand- father of Jay C. Grove was Abraham, who moved from Center to Mercer
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county in 1828, and there purchased a tract of land of the Dicks of Meadville and for many years was a teacher in private German schools. Abraham Grove married Elizabeth Mook, whose people migrated to Mercer county contemporaneous with the Grove family.
Jacob Grove, one of the children of Abraham and Elizabeth, was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1811, and he married Katharine Vorhees, who was born in Mercer county August 13, 1813, and was a daughter of Rheineer Vorhees who had moved there from Washington county when the former yet formed a part of Crawford county. He was descended from one of three brothers of the family of Van Vorhees who had emigrated from Holland in 1600 and located in New Amsterdam, while later their descendants came west into Penn- sylvania and other states. Jacob Grove was by trade a carpenter and he also did contracting, but in the main followed farming. Mrs. Grove, his wife, was killed in an accident on the Lake Shore Railroad March 10, 1813, and he died in Mercer county in the year of 1888.
Jay C. Grove, born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, August 8, 1853, attended the public schools and MIcElwain Institute, and for a time after the completion of this training he taught school. From the spring of 1821 until the fall of 1815 he was assistant postmaster at St. Petersburg in Clarion county, and in the last week of September, 1815, he accepted a clerical position in the service of the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Company, which wa's then known as the Shenango & Allegheny Railroad, at Harrisville, this state. From this clerical position he was advanced in a short time to agencies at various points on the line, later became clerk in the auditing department, still later became chief clerk in the general freight department, and climbing still higher was made traveling auditor and held that position for three years prior to his coming to Erie in 1893 to take charge of the Erie terminal of the B. & L. E. R. R. Company as freight and passenger agent. On the 1st of July, 1901, he was made general agent of the road in addition to his duties as local freight and passenger agent.
Mr. Grove married Satira J. Fry, who was born in Sharon, Penn- sylvania, to Louis and Hannah Frey, and their children are Dr. Chauncey W. Grove, a practicing physician in Geneva, New York, and Elizabeth Katharine. Mr. Grove is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade, and fraternally he is past master of Keystone Lodge No. 455, F. & A. M., past eminent commander of Mt. Olivet Commandery No. 30, K. T., past potentate of Zem Zem Temple and a member of the Shrine Club. He and his family are members of the Central Presbyterian church.
ROBERT EDWARD WESCHLER. The city of Erie numbers among her progressive business men and worthy citizens Robert E. Weschler, a shoe merchant and a member of the city's board of education. He entered upon his business career after a good educational training and graduation from Clark's Business College of Erie as a salesman selling the old Graphic newspaper. of which John Miller, the author of the work, was then the editor. From that line of work, he entered the em- ploy of M. A. Krug in the shoe business, and he was associated with that business house for thirteen years, and at the close of the period in 1901 he opened a shoe store for himself on State street. With the passing years his business has enlarged, and he is now proprietor of one of the largest shoe houses in the city of Erie, and is meeting with
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desired success. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Men's Exchange, and in 1907 he was elected a member of the city's board of education on the Democratic ticket to represent the second ward.
Mr. Weschler was born in the Third ward of Erie on the 2d of February, 1877, a son of Leo B. and Pauline (Kimmeth) Weschler, and on the paternal side he is a grandson of Jacob Weschler, one of the oldest citizens of Erie and one of its old time malt dealers. His son Leo was born in this city, but Mrs. Weschler was a native daughter of Germany, and came to the United States and to the city of Erie when a young woman, and still living, she has reached the age of fifty-four years. . Leo B. Weschler, her husband, died in the year of 1891. The six children born of their union are: Robert E., Charles L., Joseph S., Frank J., Harry J. and Frances. Robert E. Weschler attended the St. Joseph's school in Chicago, the Erie public schools, and as above stated is also a graduate of Clark's Business College. He married Mae C. Scharrer, of this city, and a daughter of one of its oldest residents, Jacob Scharrer. Mr. and Mrs. Weschler have four children, Joseph, Mildred, Robert E., Jr., and Anna Mae. Mr. Weschler has membership relations with the Knights of St. John, the Knights of Columbus and was one of the organizers of St. Mary's Ushers Society, in which he has filled all of the offices.
MAJOR JOHN W. WALKER, one of Erie's oldest native-born citizens, and a retired member of the bar, was born April 19, 1832, and is a son of the late John H. Walker. He graduated from Princeton College in the class of 1854, read law in his father's office, and was admitted to the bar in the same year. After practicing two years in Erie, he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where he practiced until 1860, and then returned to Erie, which has since been his home. In 1862 Mr. Walker raised Company K, of the One Hundred Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Regiment, of which he was commissioned Captain, and he commanded the company until after the Battle of Fredericksburg, at which time he was appointed paymaster in the United States army, with rank of major, and served in that capacity until the close of the war. He was mustered out with rank of lieutenant-colonel. He returned to Erie, but on account of ill health gave up the practice of his profession.
Mr. Walker became a Director of the Second National Bank of Eric, in 1869, which office he has filled continuously since that time, being the oldest member of the board, both in years and length of service. He has always been actively interested in public affairs, and was the nominee of the Democratic party for state senator in 1876, and again in 1880. In 1882
he was elected a member of the legislature, and was chairman of the committee on municipal corporations at that session. During the first administration of Presi- dent Cleveland, he was appointed treasury agent, and during Cleve- land's second administration he received the appointment for United States marshal for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Major Walker was a member and Past Commander of W. L. Scott Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and took an active part in the establishing at Erie of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, contributing time and money in the cause. He was the first Grand Regent of Pennsylvania for the Royal Arcanum order, and a member of the Grand Lodge of the Knights of Honor. He is a charter member of the Erie Club.
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Major Walker married, June 18, 1861, Anna H., daughter of Hon- orable Samuel S. Harrison, of Kittanning, Pennsylvania, member of Congress from that district. Major Walker and his wife are men- bers of St. Paul's Episcopal church.
PRESCOTT METCALF. It would be difficult to name a single move- ment or institution which promised to advance the business, industrial or civic affairs of Erie, which was uninfluenced by the practical inspir- ation, abounding energy and wise councils of the late Prescott Metcalf. Transportation lines, by land and water ; manufactories of various kinds ; banks, business properties, schools, public works and churches-all owe a large share of their development and working usefulness to his large brain and warm heart. He was, in a word, a city-builder, if any resident of Erie may be justly classed under that title of nobility. Mr. Metcalf was of old New England stock, born at Putney, Wentworth county, Vermont, and a son of Joseph Metcalf, who spent the later years of his life in Erie. Prescott came to the city in his early manhood, and first entered the employ of his brother-in-law, Ira W. Hart. A few years thereafter lie became associated with Rufus S. Reed, the great shipper and vessel owner and eventually had the active management of all his interests. This connection continued from 1840 to 1862, and during this period, as well as at a later date, he was prominent in the operation of a line of stage-coaches between Erie and Pittsburg, the construction of the Canada Southern Railway and the extension of the Erie canal and the Erie and the North-East Railroad. He was also one of the originators and incorporators of the Erie Cemetery, the Erie Gas Works, and the Dime Savings Bank, and was a trustee of the Erie Academy and the Park Presbyterian church. A mere mention of this fact is a faint indication of the breadth of his activities and influence. From 1860 to 1872 he was perhaps at the height of his standing as a public man and a promoter of real estate and property interests. In 1860, with Colonel Benjamin Grant, he erected the Wayne block on French street, and re- built the same, after its destruction by fire, in 1868. In 1866 he erected his fine residence on the corner of Ninth and Sassafras streets, and in 1872 put up the block on the west side of State street, between Seventh and Eighth. Mr. Metcalf was a member of the first common council of Erie in 1851; again served in that body in 1860; was on the board of education for many years, and was honored with the mayoralty in 1862-64. At a later period of his busy life he devoted much of his attention to the expansion of the city's industries. In 1872, with others, he established the Burdett organ factory, and in 1880 the Erie Malleable Iron Works. In the latter enterprise his associates were Capt. Douglass Ottinger, John Clemens and his eldest son, Joseph P. On June 9, 1846, Prescott Metcalf was married to Miss Abigail R. Wilder, who was born in his native town of Putney, Vermont,-a strik- ing and honored figure among the pioneers of Erie. Five children were born of this union, of whom Joseph P., the eldest, and George R., the youngest, were long associated with their father in the Erie Malleable Iron Works and other enterprises. Joseph P. Metcalf, who was born in Erie, April 15, 1847, was educated in the city schools, at Erie Acad- emy, Cleveland (Ohio) Institute and Eastman Commercial College, Poughkeepsie, New York. Until 1870 he was engaged in various rail- road projects in the vicinity of Erie after which he removed to Ne- braska City, there organizing the National Bank, of which he was
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