A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 20

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 20

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for the Presbyterian youth of the colony, and in time he saw his work grow into the Manitoba College, which to-day is the most prominent of the several colleges comprising the University of Manitoba. Also, for years, he was in the employ of the government in the work of organizing the public school system of that province. Robert H. Bryce, third son of George Bryce, is a prominent and influential merchant of Manitoba. The fourth son, Peter H. Bryce, M. A., M. D., a graduate of Toronto University and other colleges, held several positions of honor in Canada, among which was that of chief executive health officer of Toronto, under the provincial government, which position he filled for a long term of years. Alexander Bryce, of Toronto, the youngest son in this family, also made a name for himself in his calling, he having been one of the first to enter into the supplying of dairy products to the city of Toronto, in a thoroughly scientific manner, in which business he was very success- ful. The only surviving daughter of the family is the wife of Dr. Mar- quis, of Brantford, Ontario.

Jolin Bryce was the second son. After completing his studies in the academy of his native village, he went to work in his father's shops, where he laid the foundation of that accurate knowledge of horses, which was extended by a full course of study at the famous Ontario Veterin- ary College of Toronto, founded by the Edinburg professor, Dr. Andrew Smith. After practicing his profession for a year or two in the city of Brantford, near his native place, he came to Erie. That was in 1872. Here he entered upon the practice of his profession, meeting with suc- cess from the first, and for years has maintained an acknowledged posi- tion at the head of veterinary ranks in Erie county. In connection with his practice, he has for years conducted a livery business. He started with a livery barn on French street, between Fourth and Fifth, and in 1887 purchased the site of his present establishment at Fifth and French streets, upon which he erected a commodious brick structure. In 1892 he bought of Elliott Bros. their stock and business at 130 West Twelfth street, and established the People's Hack and Livery Co. He made still another addition to his business, in 1894, when he purchased the livery stock at the old Knoll stables, at 20 West 18th street. The two latter stables, however, he afterward disposed of. For a number of years Dr. Bryce was a member of the Executive Committee of the Erie County Agricultural Society, and as such was a potent factor in advancing the work of that society. Also the Doctor has been influen- tial in Erie and Erie county in developing a taste for high class carriage horses, having brought here and sold many fine animals.

Dr. Bryce married in June, 1877, Miss Belle Forbes, elder daughter of the late Robert and Agnes (Gourley) Liddell, and granddaughter of James Liddell. The Gourley and the Liddell families came to Erie county about 1830. They became pioneers in the iron business at Erie, and the originators of what is now the Erie City Iron Works, the largest and most important industrial plant in Erie today. Dr. and Mrs. Bryce are the parents of three children: George Liddell, Roland Forbes and Marion.

Dr. Bryce is a member of all the Erie Masonic bodies and also of the board of trade and the chamber of commerce. He is secretary of the Veterinary Medical Association of Erie county, a branch of the state organization. His city home is at 821 Chestnut street but in the summer he finds pleasure, if not profit in looking after his farm situated

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in a picturesque location on the Kuhl road, in Greene township at the Harbor creek line.

WILLIAM B. FLICKINGER. A well known national figure in the field of insurance, William B. Flickinger, of Erie, is one of the strongest and most popular men in his line in the east, being an active member of the firm of Downing and Flickinger and manager of the department of accounts in the general agency of the Insurance Company of North America, at Erie, of which Mr. Downing is head. With all his suc- cesses in his chosen business, Mr. Flickinger has attained wide and ben- eficial influence in the public affairs of his city, county and state; has been a leader in numerous movements of a humane and charitable nature; is a Mason of high rank and a man of broad sympathies and liberal mind. Mr. Flickinger has given the best of his energies, his exec- utive abilities and his strength of thought and feelings to the develop- ment and higher progress of Erie. He is a native of the city, born on the 20th of April, 1859, son of the late George and Anna ( Major) Flick- inger, both natives of Hert, Rheinpfalz, Germany. The family located at Erie in 1852, and the father was there engaged in the manufacture of brick for many years. He died on the 16th of April, 1887, his wife having preceded him Angust 25, 1885.

Mr. Flickinger, of this sketch, began his insurance career on the 1st of April, 1882, when he accepted a position with the local firm of W. B. Warner and Company, and on January 1, 1884, entered the employ of the agency conducted as Downing and Crowell. The junior member withdrawing in the following year, a new firm was organized under the style of Downing and Flickinger, and from that time to the present the latter has been one of the most progressive insurance men in Pennsylva- nia. On December 1, 1906, he accepted service with the governing com- mittee of the "Union" at Chicago, as manager of the department of pub- licity. He resigned that position July 1, 1907, to return to Erie and be- come manager of the department of accounts in the office of J. F. Down- ing, general agent of the western departments of the Insurance Company of North America and Philadelphia Underwriters. Besides an active leader in the local insurance field, Mr. Flickinger has served as president of the State Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents for three terms and an active member of the executive, legislative and grievance com- mittees of the National Association, having been honored with the chairmanship of the last named committee for two years.

Mr. Flickinger has served with ability and honor in the city, county and state governments, having represented the Fifth ward of Erie in the common branch of the council, been auditor of the county and spent the legislative sessions of 1889 and 1891 as a member of the Pennsylvania house of representatives. His record as a fraternalist shows that he is a past master of Perry Lodge, No. 392 (A. F. & A. M.), past thrice illustrious master of Jerusalem Council, No. 33, and past grand master of the Grand Council, Royal and Select Master Masons of Pennsylvania; also past exalted ruler of Erie lodge of Elks and past district deputy of the order. He is identified with the Erie Cham- ber of Commerce and Board of Trade, and with the Erie, Country and Shrine clubs, and since the organization of the Northwestern Penn- sylvania Humane Society has been perhaps its most vital and persis- tent working force. Shortly after it was founded he became its sec- retary and so continued until 1906, since that year having served as its president. In his religious belief he is a liberal Unitarian. Mr.

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Flickinger's wife was Miss Katherine M. Kraft, daughter of J. P. Kraft, of Erie, and six children have been born of his marriage-Florence L., Walter E., Harrison W., Dale W., Carlton P. and Lucile G. Flick- inger.

REV. BERNARD KLOECKER. As pastor of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church of Erie, Rev. Bernard Kloecker is the spiritual adviser of a large congregation, who have implicit confidence in his knowledge, honesty and integrity, and often seek his wisdom in counsel, and hesi- tate not to follow his advice. A native of Germany, he was born Feb- ruary 17, 1852, in Weseke, Westphalia, where he obtained his first knowledge of books. In 1873 he was graduated from the Gymnasium in Munster, Westphalia, after which he entered the American College of St. Mauritz, at Munster, and subsequently, in the same city, took a course in philosophy and theology at the Royal Prussian Academy, pre- paring himself for the ministry.

On May 26, 1877, Father Kloecker was ordained a priest at Osna- bruck, Hanover. A few months later, he came to the United States, arriving in New York City November 2, 1877. His first appointment was that of assistant to Rev. M. A. De La Roque, of Warren, Penn- sylvania. The following year he was made rector of the Catholic church at Kane, Pennsylvania, where he also had charge of the Catholics in neighboring places in Mckean, Elk and Forest counties. While in Kane, he labored assiduously, in 1879 establishing a parochial school, in 1880 building a parsonage, and in various other ways advancing the material and spiritual welfare of his parish.

On August 4, 1887, Father Kloecker came to Erie to assist Rev. J. A. Oberhofer, Rector of St. Joseph's Church, whose health was then in a precarious condition. The Reverend Father died January 16, 1889, and two days later Rev. Father Kloecker was appointed his suc- cessor. During the score of years that have since elapsed, his labors have been successful and fruitful of good, and in witnessing the hap- piness and prosperity of his people he is each day reaping his reward as a just and conscientious keeper of his little flock.

REV. SEWERYN ERAZM LUTOMSKO-NIEDBASKI. Among those who are rendering devoted service in the priesthood of the Catholic church in Erie county is Father Niedbaski, whose important charge is that of Holy Trinity parish. With all zeal and consecration has he labored for the temporal and spiritual welfare of his flock, and his popularity in the community is not one of merely ecclesiastical order but is based upon his generous attributes of character, so that he has the high esteem of all who know him.

Father Seweryn Erazm Lutomsko-Niedbaski is a native of Prus- sian Poland, where he was born in December, 1868, a scion of one of the old and honored families of his native land. He was afforded the advantages of the historic University of Breslau and in 1893 he came to the United States, where he completed his ecclesiastical education in the Polish Seminary in the city of Detroit, Michigan. He was ordained to the priesthood of the noble old mother church, at Victoria, Texas, in 1898, and his was the distinction of having been pastor of the Polish parish at Panna Maria, Karnes county, that state, the oldest Polish parish in the United States. This important incumbency he retained for a period of five years, at the expiration of which he came to Erie, where, on the 14th of October, 1904, he assumed the pastoral

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charge of Holy Trinity parish. His labors here have been prolific in the upbuilding of the parish, and his influence has permeated all depart- ments of the church work, where he has exercised the beneficent functions of liis calling with all of consecration and devotion. He shows a loyal interest in all that makes for the well being of the community, and his earnest labors have gained for him the affectionate regard of those to whom he ministers.

WILLIAM BRAHAM WASHIABAUGH, M. D. The medical fraternity of Erie has enrolled among its coterie of physicians and surgeons many able and efficient practitioners whose attainments and skill in the vari- ous departments of that profession give the brotherhood as high a rank here as in any city in the country. The demands made upon the medical practitioners in this day are strenuous, considering that this is an age for advancement, particularly along all lines of materia medica and surgery and that one is required to apply himself diligently and study in order to keep abreast of the times in the ever accumulating knowledge of the art and the ever recurring discoveries pertaining there- to. Worthy of mention among the younger men, who are devoting their lives to this most of all humanitarian vocations and who possess the qualifications necessary to a successful career, is Dr. William Bra- ham Washabaugh. During the comparatively brief period he has been active in the profession his application to his duties and the interest he has manifested in rendering medical services, have won him respect and established his reputation for integrity and efficiency. The doctor inherits his professional instincts and qualifications, his father being a prominent physician. He is a son of Dr. D. J. and Sarah J. (Braham) Washabaugh. The father, a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, graduated from the Miami Medical College, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and is now engaged in the practice of his profession at Grove City, this state. The Keystone state is also the birthplace of his son, Dr. William B. Washabaugh, his nativity occurring at Anandale, Butler county, Novem- ber 18, 1878.

The Grove City high school afforded Dr. Washabaugh his elemen- tary education privileges and after he had successfully mastered the branches of study taught there, at the age of seventeen years he was matriculated in Grove City College, where he pursued a classical course and was graduated in 1900. Being then prepared to enter upon the studies immediately pertaining to his chosen profession, in that year he became a student at Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania. By taking special work the doctor was able to complete the course of study in less time than usually required and he was graduated with his degree in medicine in June, 1903. The same year he passed the state board examination at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and, at once returning to this city. was appointed assistant surgeon of the Pennsyl- vania Soldiers & Sailors Home. Faithfully performing the duties that devolved upon him in this position until July 1. 1905, he resigned, and the following October opened an office at No. 920 East Twenty-first street. There he pursued exclusively a general private practice until Dr. Chapin, chief surgeon of the Pennsylvania Soldiers & Sailors Home. resigned October 1. 1906. when he assumed the work in his stead, and accepted the appointment as surgeon of the Home in December of the same year, serving until March 1, 1909, when he resigned. How- ever, Dr. Washabaugh, still carries on a general practice.

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The doctor's home life is happy in his marriage to Miss Elizabeth C. Mahon, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a daughter of George C. Mahon. The couple have three children: William, Elizabeth, and David. Dr. Washabaugh's political views find expression in the princi- ples of the Republican party, while religiously he is an adherent of the Wayne Street Methodist church. Profoundly interested in his pro- fession he seeks affiliation with related movements and organizations, among which is the Erie County Medical Society, of which he is treas- urer. The doctor has shown himself to be a sincere and earnest worker in his strivings to benefit humanity within the scope of medical knowledge and surgical skill and is justly entitled to the reputation he sustains as a practitioner.

GEORGE TRUSCOTT BLISS. Our restless, vigorous, forceful nation is the native home of men of brawn and brain whose influence has impressed itself along the winding channels of thought, progress and accomplishment. Conspicuous among this number is George Truscott Bliss, a prominent citizen and manufacturer of Erie, now serving as secretary of the Erie City Iron Works. He is essentially and broadly American, and his lineage is one that is traced back to early colonial times, the founder of the Bliss family having settled in New England about 1630. Among his Bliss ancestors, and likewise among the Ellicott family, from which he is descended, were heroes of the Revolution and men of prominence in the management of public affairs ; thus it may be seen that he comes of an ancestry in which the qualities of patriotism and loyalty to coun- try were predominating characteristics, attributes which are his birth- right, and have doubtless influenced him in his personal career. A son of the late John H. and Ellen (Christie) Bliss, he was born, May 21, 1864, in the city of Erie, of English stock.

John Bliss, grandfather of George T., was a son of Joseph Bliss, who served as captain of a company of artillery in the regular Contin- ental Army of the United Colonies during their struggle for independ- ence. He, himself, entered the regular army of the United States in the War of 1812, being first commissioned lieutenant, and afterwards being promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was a brave soldier, ever in the thickest of the fight, and at the Battle of Lundy's Lane was severely wounded. He died, December 22, 1854, in St. Augustine, Florida. John Bliss married Letitia Ellicott, whose emigrant ancestor emigrated from England to the United States about 1730, settling in Maryland. Her father, Major Andrew Ellicott, great-grandfather of George T. Bliss, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, January 24, 1754. Patriotic and public-spirited, he devoted the greater part of his life to the service of his country, and, although a member of the Society of Friends, commanded a battalion of Maryland militia in the Revolu- tionary war. In 1784 he was employed by the state of Virginia in fixing the boundary line between that state and Pennsylvania. Two years later he was commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsyl- vania to run the northern boundary of this state. In 1788 he was directed to make a survey of the islands in the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, within the state of Pennsylvania, a work that took him a year. He was then commissioned by the United States government to locate the western boundary of the state of New York, and ascertain the validity of that state to the territory which is now the northern portion of Erie county, and after much labor and many hardships succeeded

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in locating the present boundary line. The next important service ren- dered to the country by Major Ellicott was that of surveying the District of Columbia and the City of Washington, a work that he began in 1790. In 1796, the government was again in need of one in whom it could place implicit confidence, and General Washington, seemingly ever con- scious of the Major's sterling qualities, appointed him commissioner to fix the boundary between the United States and the Spanish-American possessions. Several years later during the very first months of Jef- ferson's administration, that president tendered to Major Ellicott the surveyor generalship of the United States, a position that he accepted subject to conditions of his own dictation. On September 1, 1813, the major was appointed professor of mathematics in the West Point Mili- tary Academy. Moving there with his family, he subsequently resided in that place until his death. August 20, 1820. He left a widow and nine children, one of them being Letitia, wife of John Bliss.

John H. Bliss was born in Fort Howard, Wisconsin, October 4, 1823, and was the first white male child born in the Northwest Terri- tory, and was the only child of the parental household to reach years of maturity. He fitted himself for the profession of a civil engineer in the Cincinnati College, and for two years thereafter was employed in the survey of the Erie extension of the Pennsylvania Canal. He subsequently studied law at Little Falls, New York, and in Buffalo, attended lectures at Harvard College, and on January 15, at Troy, New York, was ad- mitted to the bar. Afterwards returning to Buffalo, he gave up the practice of his profession, and remained a resident of that city for a time. Locating in Erie in 1855, he soon formed a partnership with Mr. George Selden, and established a felloe factory, which they operated for three years, when they also began the manufacture of oil barrels, then in great demand, continuing until 1864. In that year, in company with Mr. W. J. F. Liddell, under the firm name of Liddell, Seldon & Bliss, another change of importance was made. This firm purchased the Erie City Iron Works, of which Mr. John H. Bliss was the president for a number of years. A detailed account of his connection with this important industry may be found elsewhere in this volume, in the history given of these Iron Works.

John H. Bliss was twice married. He married first, in 1848, Mary Lovering. He married second. October 1, 1850, Ellen, daughter of Dr. Peter Christie, surgeon in the United States Navy. She died in 1893, in Philadelphia. After his active retirement from business, Mr. Bliss, removed, in 1901, to the Hawaiian Islands, and resided in Honolulu until his death, October 16, 1907. Of his union with his second wife, four children were born, namely: Anna, who married Rev. S. D. Mc- Connell, of the Episcopal church of Philadelphia: Horace John, died at the age of eighteen years ; Louise B., widow of the late Wallace Dewitt, of Harrisburg; and George T., of this biographical sketch.

Obtaining the rudiments of his education in the private schools of Erie, George T. Bliss went with his parents to Charlotte, North Caro- lina, just as he was entering his teens, and there for a year and a half attended the Carolina Military Institute. Returning to Erie, he con- tinued his studies in the Erie Academy, afterwards attending a private school three years. In 1879 he entered De Vaux College, and at the end of a year went to Gambier, Ohio, where he was for two years a student in Harcourt Academy, a boys' boarding school. Going then to Troy, New York, he completed his studies at the Polytechnic Institute of that

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city. In 1883, desirous of learning the trade of a machinist, Mr. Bliss entered the machine shop of the Erie City Iron Works. Although he liad the exceptional advantage of being an employe in the establishment of which his father was at the head, he performed with alacrity and fidelity all of the duties of his place, working for four consecutive years ten hours a day, and in almost every position in the shop, becoming familiar with the work in each department, and at all times studying closely steam engine construction. His value and worth being recog- mized by the firm, Mr. Bliss was made assistant superintendent of the plant in 1893, and upon its incorporation as the Erie City Iron Works, in 1894, he was elected secretary, a position which he has since most ably and satisfactorily filled. A lover of aquatic sports, Mr. Bliss is specially interested in boating, being a skilful yachtsman, and during his vacations finds his greatest enjoyment and recreation in cruising on the lakes. He was the moving spirit in the organizing of the Erie Yacht Club, in 1894, and was made its first commodore.

On January 16, 1894, Mr. Bliss married Grace, daughter of I. A. Forman, of Erie. Two children have been born to them: Meriam and John H. Mr. Bliss is a man of broad and practical sympathies, ever active in advancing the welfare of his native city, and is held in high esteem throughout the community. Both he and his wife are members of St. Paul's Episcopal church.

DR. JOHN J. BELL is a physician and surgeon of the Bay city. His education fitting him for the profession, is as wide as could be desired and in every particular he is eminently qualified to sustain the splendid reputation, which is already his, and to further extend his use- fulness in the alleviation of human suffering and attain to still greater eminence as a benefactor of mankind. His birth occurred in Harbor Creek township, Erie county, on August 19, 1868, and he descends from an ancestry, the members of which took part in many of the wars in which this country has been involved, his family being numbered among the pioneers of the Keystone state, who settled there prior to the war for American independence. His great-grandfather, Captain Arthur Bell, was born in Paxton, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1752, and was a distinguished soldier in the Revolutionary war, wherein he was raised to the military rank prefacing his name. With his family he removed to western New York in 1802, locating upon the land upon which the town of Westfield now stands. His wife was Elenor Mont- gomery and death terminated his activities on August 6, 1834. Wil- liam Bell Sr., the grandfather of Dr. Bell, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Northumberland county, March 14, 1791, and he, too, removed with the family to Westfield, New York, in 1802, in which locality he followed general farming pursuits in connection with running a grist mill and also a general merchandise establishment. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. having during that conflict, for his bravery and courage, been raised to the rank of colonel. His death occurred August 23, 18:2, while his wife, who was Nancy Shipboy, entered into rest January 13, 1842. Among his children was Alexander M. Bell, who wedded Rachel Wallace, these being the parents of Dr. John J. Bell. Mrs. Bell was a native of Scotland, born in 1845, who, when a girl of fifteen years of age, came to America to join her brothers, Mathew and Benjamin Wallace, at Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York.

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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 20

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