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 27
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George Arthur Reed, M. D., a leading physician of Erie, was born in Mill Creek township, February 27, 1869. He obtained his preliminary education in the common schools and at the State Normal at Edinboro, and then entered the medical department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, from which he graduated in 1895. He first located for practice at No. 2113 Peach street, Erie, whence he moved to his present office, No. 122 West Twenty-first street, which is also his handsome place of resi- dence. The doctor is an active member of the Erie County Medical Soci- ety. He married Miss Mable A. Love, daughter of James F. and Jeanette (Dunn) Love, of Erie county, and the two children of their union are Harrison, born January 29, 1895, and Richard, born March 31, 1900.
Joseph Wilbur Reed, third child and son of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Reed, is a leading farmer of Mill Creek township, born on the old family homestead, March 27, 1871. He was educated in the common schools and at the State Normal ; married Mary Jane Caughey, daughter of John F. and Lotta C. Caughey, and is the father of the following: Gilbert, born January 14, 1903, and Winifred Candace, born April 1, 1906. Mary Ellen, the fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Reed was born August 7, 1873, and Edith Jane, born September 16, 1876, are both unmarried.
James Ross Reed, the sixth and youngest child, was born February 24, 1880 ; received a grammar school and a high school education in Erie, and then completed both the literary and medical courses at the University of Michigan. After his graduation as an M. D. he became an interne in a Boston hospital, and next served for a year on the staff of the New York City Eye and Ear Hospital. In October, 1908, Dr. Reed located at Pasadena, California, where he is engaged in practice in partnership with his former college mate, Dr. Roberts.
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WILLIAM HAMILTON. In the breadth of his activities and abilities, William Hamilton of Erie represents the strongest type of the English- American ; for, although he has but just entered the middle period of life he is a leading factor in the iron industries of this part of the state, is prominent in the commercial field, and has done much in futherance of the public works of Erie and the development of its system of public schools. Mr. Hamilton, who is a native of Hexham, Northumberland- shire, England, was born on the 6th of September, 1865, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Stephenson) Hamilton, also natives of the Eng- lish county named. In July, 1869, the family emigrated to Canada, but after residing in the Dominion for two years located in Erie. There the father continued his trade as a blacksmith and, in time, became superin- tendent of the old Erie Car Works. He died in 1891, his widow surviv- ing him.
Mr. Hamilton, of this sketch, was educated in the Erie public schools, learned the trade of a blacksmith and machinist, and in 1889 succeeded his father as superintendent of the Erie Car Works. In December, 1894, with Julius C. Knoll, he purchased the plant, which had recently been de- stroyed by fire, and thus associated conducted the business until 1898, when it was re-incorporated under the name of Erie Car Works with Mr. Ham- ilton as president, Mr. Knoll as vice president, J. C. Kuhn as secretary, and C. F. McClenathan as treasurer. Upon the death of the president of the Burry Compressing Company Mr. Hamilton succeeded him as its head, and is now its vice president. He was one of the organizers and first president of the Morse Iron Works and continues to superintend its progress. Mr. Hamilton also served as the second president of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, as well as of the Business Men's Exchange; of the Y. M. C. A., is a director in that body and has served on the director- ate of the board of trade. His club connections are with the Kahkwa and Golf clubs ; his fraternal relations, with Masons, and his religious affili- ations, with the Methodist Episcopal church. Reference has also been made to Mr. Hamilton's prominence in the municipal service. In 1903 he was appointed a member of the city school board to fill an unexpired term, after serving which he was twice elected as a representa- tive from the Sixth ward, his present term expiring in June, 1909. In 1906 he was appointed a member of the Water Works Commission, in which capacity his business and mechanical ability was of great value to that branch of the public service. Mr. Hamilton's wife (nee Charlotte Ehret), who was born at Pleasantville, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, is a daughter of Robert and Catherine (Wagner) Ehret. The children of their union are Ruth, Robert, William, Jr., and Catherine Hamilton.
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FRANK CONNELL, treasurer of the Skinner Engine Company and a prominent citizen of Erie, is a native of Wooster, Ohio, born September 24, 1855. He was reared in Lancaster, Fairfield county, that state, until he was eighteen years of age, beginning his business career in Pittsburg in 1873. Mr. Connell became a resident of Erie in 1885, when he became treasurer of the Skinner Engine Company, one of the important manu- facturing enterprises of the city. He has also been treasurer of the Union Iron Works since its establishment in the early 90's. He is a member of the board of directors of the Second National Bank ; and is also identified with the Erie Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade.
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CHARLES LEWIS CULBERTSON. The distinction of being the oldest living native son of the village of Edinboro belongs to Charles L. Culbert- son, and he was born on the place where he now lives March 7, 1832, a son of John Augustus and Clarissa (Harrison) Culbertson. John A. Culbertson was the first white male child born in this village, he having first seen the light of day in the same house in which his son was born, his natal day being the 26th of March, 1800, and his parents William and Mary Culbertson. They were married at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1294, and coming to Erie county located at what is now Edinboro in 1795. William Culbertson secured and bought one thousand acres of land, and erected the first grist mill and later the first saw mill here, he having operated those mills for many years. To him also belongs the distinction of platting the village and laying out and donating the land for Erie street, a thoroughfare one hundred feet wide, and he also donated the land for the old cemetery in the northern part of the village, and there this patriotic and revered pioneer of Erie county now lies buried with his family, his death occurring on the 11th of November, 1843. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and while serving as a justice of the peace it is said of him that he would often saddle a horse and ride for miles to see his parties and settle their troubles before they were brought for trial before him. He was known for his sterling qualities of honor, and was always ready and willing to help the needy and advance the welfare of his community. He was in politics a Whig and was a member and stanch supporter of the Presbyterian church. His first wife died on the 2d of March, 1802, and was the first person buried in the cemetery which her husband had founded. In January of 1806, he married Miss Margaret Johnston, from Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and she died on the 30th of June, 1820.
John Augustus Culbertson, a son of William and Mary Culbertson, supplemented school attendance with work on his father's farm and in his mill, and when but a lad of sixteen he went to Erie and became apprenticed to the cabinet maker's trade, working seven years for the same man. He spent four years as a journeyman, and then in 1827 he married and returned to Edinboro, his native town, and spent the remain- der of his life here, dying on the 16th of March, 1872, being at that time a man of considerable wealth and one of the largest real estate owners of the village. He was a Republican politically, and was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, as was also his devoted wife, whose death occurred on the 16th of October, 1862. Their children were as follows : Harrison, who was born September 25, 1829, and died at the age of eleven years ; Charles Lewis, mentioned below ; Johnson, born October 27, 1834, is deceased ; Porter, born March 1, 1837, is also deceased ; Emily, born March 24, 1840, married John Proudfit, and resides in Edinboro; and Edwin, born March 11, 1843, also resides in Edinboro.
Charles Lewis Culbertson after attending the schools of his native village learned and followed the carpenter's trade until he was twenty- one. During two terms thereafter he attended the academy at Girard. Pennsylvania, and then returning to Edinboro has since resided here. After following his trade for a time he turned his attention to butchering. later took up farming and then resumed work at the carpenter's trade. He has been very successful as a carpenter, and he erected the first build- ing on Meadville street, the lower floor of which he used as a shop and the upper as a public hall. During his identification with the carpenter's trade he has built and sold about twenty-six houses in Edinboro, and has
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also erected and sold about five houses in the city of Erie. The site of his present residence was in the early days the location of the first frame building in Edinboro, and it was used for both school and church purposes.
Mr. Culbertson married on the 31st of May, 1859, Miss Martha M. Proudfit, a daughter of Andrew Proudfit, and their children are as fol- lows: Clarabelle, who married Frank Pulling, of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, and their two children are Charles and Louisa ; Mabel, who married Charles Dundon, of Edinboro, and they have four children, Helen I.ewis, Lynn and Roscoe; Agnes, a bookkeeper in the Edinboro Savings Bank; H. E., a resident of Edinboro and one term postmaster, now a land agent; was educated in Edinboro Normal; Elizabeth, whose home is in Lewistown, Pennsylvania; and Andrew Augustus, a resident of Erie, the president of the Culbertson Coal Company, who married Miss Anna Reeder, a daughter of I. R. Reeder. Mr. Culbertson, the father, votes with the Democratic party, and he has served as a councilman of his village. Both he and his wife are honored members of the Presby- terian church.
HON. MILTON W. SHREVE, of Erie, an able member of the bar of Pennsylvania, a prominent Republican of the state and now serving his second term as a member of its house of representatives, is a native of Crawford county, that state, born May 3, 1858. He is a son of the late Rev. Cyrus and Florella (Nourse) Shreve, his father being a faithful and beloved Baptist clergyman of Crawford county and vicinity for a period of more than half a century. This revered disciple of Christ and tireless promoter of his cause was a native of Bloomfield township, of the county named, born July 23, 1825. He was a grandson of Richard and Margaret Shreve and descended, more remotely, from the English nobility. In 1798 the great-grandparents named came from Burlington, New Jersey, and settled at the head of Oil Creek lake (now Lake Cana- dohta). Their. son Israel, the grandfather of Milton W., was born in 1794 and married Elizabeth Bloomfield, daughter of Thomas Bloom- field-a companion of Richard Shreve, a Revolutionary soldier and such a prominent man generally that Bloomfield township was named in his honor. Israel Shreve died in 1866 and his wife in 1880, and eight children were born to them, of whom only one (Thomas B. Shreve, of Bloomfield) is now alive.
Aside from the groundwork of an education laid in the district schools of Crawford county, Cyrus Shreve obtained his mental training through his own exertions, and his culture and profound influence over men and women from the book of life. His power was that obtained by all simple, direct, disinterested souls, who are alive to the needs, sufferings and longings of others, and who, in their endeavors to assist and comfort, took no thought of self or personal progress. That such characters are revered by all is the greatest possible tribute to Christianity itself. Mr. Shreve modestly recognized his call to the ministry at an early age, and by self-instruction and prayerful thought had attained wide scholarship and deep spiritual insight at the reaching of early manhood. In the fall of 1851, when twenty-six years of age, he preached his first sermon, and two years later assumed his first pastorate as a Baptist clergyman, his charges being at Bloomfield and Rockdale. On September 10, 1853, he was ordained to the ministry, and the two years of his pastorate at the places mentioned were fertile of spiritual results. Although he resigned his charge in 1854, he soon returned to Bloom-
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field, and in 1855 was instrumental in erecting the church which stands there today. In 185? he resigned his pastorate at Bloomfield, for six years was in charge of the churches at Chapmanville and Cherrytree, and then, because of ill health, withdrew from his ministerial labors and resided for a time on his farm in Bloomfield. With fully recovered health he returned to the ministry with renewed zeal, and was thus engaged at various points until a comparatively late period in his life. His last charge, of nine years, was at Centerville, and he finally retired from the Christian field, on account of enfeebled health, to his own deep regret and the real sorrow of the many whose inspiration and comfort he had been for many years. On January 1, 1856, Rev. Cyrus Shreve was married to Miss Florella Nourse, whose parents were natives of Vermont. Their two sons, Hon. Milton W. and Dr. O. M. Shreve, were both born at Cherrytree, Pennsylvania. The father passed peacefully away at his old home in Bloomfield, July 3, 1908, and although he had then nearly reached his eighty-third birthday his entire life, with the exception of the last few years, had been marked by continuous physical and mental vigor : then it faded away as the result of no chronic and wearing ailment but from the weakening effects of an acute attack of the grip. The deceased will long be remembered as the father of the Oil Creek Baptist association, but longer still as a wise and sympathetic personal counselor and a gentle guide toward the spiritual heights.
Milton W. Shreve obtained his preparatory education at the Edin- boro State Normal, for two years afterward was a student at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, and finally graduated from the Buck- nell University in 1884. He read law, was admitted to both the state and the United States courts, and has since been a prominent figure in both legal and public affairs. His practice, which of late years has been largely in business and corporate channels, has brought him financial interests in various financial and industrial concerns. He is a director in the People's Bank of Erie and in several manufactories, and has an active membership in the Erie Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, and the Country and Shrine clubs. In Masonry he is past eminent com- mander of Mount Olivet Commandery, K. T., and past potentate of Zem Zem Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. Shreve's chief public record covers the past ten years. In 1899 he was elected district attorney of Erie county, and in 1900 served as chairman of the Republican county committee. He was first elected to the Pennsylvania house of representatives in 1906; was re-elected in 1908, and has served during both sessions as a member of the committee on appropriations, in 1909 being honored by being chosen as chairman of the committee on mines and mining.
JUDSON E. TURNER. During many years Judson E. Turner has been identified with the agricultural interests of Greene township in Erie county, and he is numbered among the progressive business men and public spirited citizens of his community. He was born in Wayne township of Erie county July 22, 1861, a son of Byron Turner, who is mentioned more at length in the sketch of his son Daniel Deville, elsewhere in this work. After receiving a good education in the public schools of Wayne township Judson E. Turner learned the cheese maker's trade and followed that occupation for four years in Greene township. He spent four years in New York state and returning to Erie county, Pennsylvania, he purchased in 1887 fifty acres of his present homestead in Greene township, and with
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the passing years he has not only improved his land but has added to his possessions twenty-five acres more and follows general farming and dairying.
Mr. Turner married in 1881 Miss Flora Johnson, who received her education in the public schools of Wayne township, Erie county. Her parents, William and Sarah (Morton) Johnson, of Syracuse, New York, came to Wayne township, Erie county, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1866. They bought eighty-one acres of land there, and were prominent farmers of that township until their death. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Turner have been born the following children: Edith R., Roscoe C., Josalyn S. and William Byron. Mr. and Mrs. Turner are members of the Grange, in Greene township and Mr. Turner and his son Roscoe are also identi- fied with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 574 at Phil- lipsville, while Mrs. Turner and their daughter Edith are members of its auxiliary, the Rebekahs. Mr. Turner has been elected D. D. G. M. of Erie county, second district of the county, and he has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge. Mrs. Turner is N. G. of the Rebekahs and the daughter is treasurer of the lodge. Mr. Turner was treasurer of the order for ten years. He is a true blue Republican.
CHARLES BARTHOLOMEW LORENZ, commissioner of Erie county and ex-president of the select council of the city, is one of the most prominent Democrats of the locality. He is a native of South Erie, born April 9, 1857, and is a son of Emanuel and Appolonia (Kasper) Lorenz, both natives of Bavaria, Germany, who came to Erie in 1847, being married in that city during the following year. In his early life the father was a printer in an oil cloth manufactory. He died at Erie, April 2, 1876, his widow passing away in 1894, both as loyal members of the Roman Cath- olic church.
Charles B., of this sketch, received rather an incomplete education in the parochical and public schools of Erie, as in 1869, when only twelve years of age, he commenced work as a clerk in a butcher shop. This he followed until 1880 when he established his own business and before many years had accumulated quite a large property holding. He has not only made rapid and substantial progress as a business man but has obtained wide influence as a Democratic leader and a public man. From 1898 to 1902 he served as a member of the select council of Erie, being president of that body in the latter year, and from 1899 to 1902 he was also hon- ored with the presidency of the board of tax revision. In 1905 he became a member of the board of county commissioners and was re-elected by a flattering majority in 1908.
Mr. Lorenz was married in 1884 to Miss Elizabeth Leslie, a native of Waterford township, Erie county, and daughter of Cochran Leslie. They have become the parents of the following children: Henry Leslie, born October 1, 1884, and died November 5, 1885, and Margaret, born July 24, 1887.
HENRY V. CLAUS. Among the strong and honored figures in the business and civic circles of the city of Erie that of Henry V. Claus stood prominently forth, as he gained a definite success in his chosen field of endeavor, was loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, and so ordered his life as to retain the unequivocal esteem of the community which so long represented his home, and in which his personal popularity was based on his generous, kindly and honorable character. He was the architect of
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his own fortune and he used his forces not alone for self-advance- ment but also for the helping of others who were less fortunate. He died on the 11th of September, 1893, and his memory is cherished by the many friends whom he had "grappled to his heart with hooks of steel."
Henry V. Claus was born at Hamen, Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, on the 6th of November, 1840, and was a son of John and Hedwig (Kueshner) Claus, representatives of stanch old families of that section of the German empire. John Claus was a man of excellent intellectual attainments and was a successful teacher in the schools of his native land. In 185? he came with his family to America and both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in Pennsylvania, where he con- tinued to follow the pedagogic profession in connection with other avoca- tions. Henry V. Claus secured his early educational discipline in his fath- erland and was about twelve years of age at the time of the family removal to the United States. The parents located in Erie county, and here he was reared to manhood. As a boy he was employed on a farm in this county for a time, and he then came to the city of Erie, where for six years he was a clerk in the grocery store of the late Philip A. Becker. In this connection he gained valuable experience and well fortified him- self for the attaining of success in his independent operations along simi- lar lines in later years. After leaving the employ of Mr. Becker he was similarly engaged for one year in the store of F. L. Siegel, and then, in 1863, he initiated his independent career, which was destined to be one of marked success. He opened a grocery and liquor store at the corner of French and Fifth streets, and thereafter he continued to be identified with the business interests of the city until his death. His loyalty to his adopted country, however, was such that in the early part of the year 1865 he placed his business in charge of others and tendered his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted in Company K, Ninety-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and with this command he served until the close of the war, when he received his honorable discharge.
Upon his return to his home in Erie Mr. Claus resumed charge of his business, to which he gave his undivided attention. His popularity and resourcefulness caused the enterprise to expand in scope as the years passed, and he finally found his original store inadequate to accommodate his large and substantial trade. He accordingly purchased one of the old foundry buildings on State street, between Tenth and Eleventh streets, and by putting in a modern front and otherwise remodeling the building he made it especially eligible for the uses of his business, which was here confined to the handling of liquors and tobaccos at wholesale. He continued his original retail store on French street, as a branch of the new headquarters, until 1887, when he sold the property and busi- ness to Charles B. Wuenchel, and thereafter gave his undivided atten- tion to his extensive wholesale business until he was summoned from the scene of life's endeavors. He gained success by worthy means and ever held the confidence and respect of all with whom he had dealings. He was one of the best known of the German-American citizens of Erie, and his popularity was measured only by the circle of his ac- quaintances. He was prominent in musical circles and was for many years one of the leading members of the Liedertafel Society. He was also affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, the Knights of Honor, the Royal Arcanum and other social and fraternal organizations. His political support was given to the Republican party. He was gen- erous, kindly and public-spirited, and his integrity was of inviolable
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order. Liberal and charitable, he did much for others, invariably in an unostentatious way, and his memory will long be revered by those to whom he has shown the helpfulness of true friendship.
In the year 1870 Mr. Claus was united in marriage to Miss Fran- zeska Curtze, daughter of the late Frederic Curtze, Esq., of Erie, and of this union were born four children, namely: Frederick, deceased ; Adolph, who is secretary and treasurer of the Globe Iron Works and treasurer of the Heisler Locomotive Works; Anna, who is the wife of Charles A. Mertens, a representative attorney of Erie; and Herman, who died at the age of nine years.
GEORGE DAWSON REAVLEY. It was within the province of the late George D. Reavley to have wielded a large and beneficent influence in the commercial, civic and social affairs of the city of Erie, and he was exponent of that high type of manhood which ever stands indicatory of usefulness and subjective honor. He impressed his strong individu- ality upon the community in which he so long maintained his home and in which he was held in unqualified esteem, and it is fitting that this publication accord to him a tribute of perpetual appreciation as one of the representative citizens and business men of Erie county.
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