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 41
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Rufus W. Swift completed his early education in the Edinboro Normal School, after which he turned his attention to the occupation of his ancestors, residing on the home farm for three years. Purchas- ing then one hundred and three acres of the original Swift homestead, he has since met with most gratifying results as a general farmer, making a specialty of dairying, in which he finds both pleasure and profit.
Mr. Swift married, March 13, 1888, Alice T. Weaver, a daughter of Samtiel Weaver, and a grand-daughter of David and Mary (Zin- merman) Weaver, who spent their declining years in Armstrong county, removing there from Adams county. Samuel Weaver mar- ried Elizabeth King, who was born in Southern Pennsylvania, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Murphy) King. Samuel King served as a soldier in the Revolution, for awhile being stationed at Ft. LeBoeuf, Erie county. At the close of the war he returned to Arm- strong county, and was there a resident until his death.
Three children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus W. Swift, namely: Miriam, born October 26, 1889; Hazel F., born October 29, 1891 ; and Anna Marie, born January 12, 1899. Fra- ternally Mr. Swift is a member of the Protective Legion, and of the Knights of the Maccabees at Edinboro. Both he and his wife are prominent in the Grange, in which they have taken the sixth degree. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Swift are Presbyterians.
BERNON F. BLORE. An industrious and enterprising farmer of Venango township. Bernon F. Blore has started out in life with fair prospects for a prosperous future, his energy, ability and fine business tact bidding fair to place him ere long among the prominent and success- ful husbandmen of this part of Erie county. He is a native and to the manner born, his birth having occurred in this township, September 12, 1871. He is a son of the late Martin V. Blore, and grandson of William Blore, a pioneer settler of this county.
William Blore was born. September 30, 1800, in England, and as a young man emigrated to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania in the early part of the nineteenth century. He became one of the leading citizens of Wattsburg, Erie county, where he served for many years as justice of the peace, receiving his first commission as such in 1840. He married, October 13, 1828, Martha Chapin, whose birth occurred Sep- tember 2. 1800, and they reared four children, namely: Matthew R. and Martin V., twins ; Albert M .; and Mary A., who died in 1893. He died
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in 1873, and his widow, who survived him many years, passed away February 4, 1891.
Martin V. Blore was born December 30, 1833. in Wattsburg, Erie county, and died July 6, 1900, in Venango township. He was a farmer by occupation, owning two hundred and sixty-six acres of rich and fertile land, in the management of which he took great pleasure. He was a man of intelligence and sound judgment, respected for his integrity and ability, and his counsel and advice were often sought by his fellow-men. He was prominent in local affairs, filling several town- ship offices most satisfactorily. He married Sarah J. Smiley, a native of Chautauqua county, New York. She died January 28, 1875, leaving three children, namely : Albert M., William A., and Bernon F.
Brought up and educated in Venango township, Bernon F. Blore was well trained as a boy in agricultural pursuits, and naturally succeeded to the occupation followed for so many years by his more immediate ancestors. In 1904 he purchased his present farming estate, which con- tains two hundred acres of land admirably adapted to dairying, the purpose to which he devotes it, keeping a fine herd of Durham grade cows. On Mr. Blore's farm is the spring from which the early pioneers drank when they came from miles around to worship in the old Middle- brook church, which was erected in 1802, it being the first Presbyterian church organized in Erie county. This farm was formerly owned by J. Yost, and the barn which he built on the place eighty years ago is still standing.
On April 27, 1898, Mr. Blore married Anna E., daughter of Patrick and Anna (O'Neil) Keefe, who emigrated from Ireland to this country fifty years ago, and located in Erie county, where their daughter Anna was born, her birth occurring October 24, 1870, in Greenfield township. Mr. Keefe died October 6, 1883, aged fifty-eight years, and his wife died June 27, 1896, aged sixty-three years, leaving seven children, as follows : John, William, Mary, Hannah, George, Anna E., and Matthew, all of whom reside in Erie county. Mr. and Mrs. Blore are the parents of two children, namely: Leo B., born April 21, 1901; and J. Gerald, born August 3, 1903. Mrs. Blore was a student in Edinboro Normal and she taught in Greene, Greenfield and Venango townships, for eleven years and was a successful teacher. She is a member of St. Boniface's Catholic Church of Greene township. Mr. Blore is a Democrat and he and his wife are members of the Grange at Wattsburg, Pa. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Blore is known as "The Middlebrook Stock Farm."
JOSEPHI W. LOOMIS, deceased, was a member of one of the first families to establish their home in Erie county, and from those carly days to the present they have been prominent representatives of its business and public life. Dyer Loomis Sr., his grandfather, was born in Connecticut, but came to Erie county, Pennsylvania, in 1796, to join his brother Henry, who had come here years previously, and they together secured four hundred acres from the Population Company just east of the borough of North East. Dyer Loomis was prominent in the carly history of his community and held many of its offices. He was the first deputy sheriff of the county, and his death occurred in the year of 1842. He married a Miss Nancy Woods, from Rhode Island.
Among their children was Dyer Loomis Jr., who was born on October 1, 1810, and died on the 3d of December, 1901. He received
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his education in the Worthington and Milan, Ohio, Academies, and was one of the first school teachers of this county. He married Eliza M. Robinson. In their family was Joseph W. Loomis, born in North East, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1844. In 1862, during the Civil war, he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Infantry, with which he served for three years and was finally discharged for disability November 29, 1862. Returning to North East he was identified with the business interests of this community as a farmer and as the proprietor of a brick yard. During a term of six years he served as a prothonotary, and was also a deputy in that office, his death occurring very suddenly at the court house in Erie on the 20th of January, 1896.
He had married on the 15th of April, 1872, L. Almeda Wells, from Erie county, New York, born July 20, 1846, a daughter of Daniel J. and Lydia L. (Whitney) Wells, also from New York. They came from Greenfield township to Erie county in 1852, where Mr. Wells was a blacksmith, and from there they moved to Harbor Creek, thence to Wesleyville and finally to North East. He died here in 1886, his wife having passed away in 1882. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Loomis was without issue, and she now resides in the town of North East. Mrs. Loomis was educated in the common schools. Her pretty home is on Robinson street, North East, Penn- sylvania, and its hospitable portals are ever ready to welcome her friends.
' CARL F. BUCHHOLZ, who is engaged in the raising of grapes and in general farming in North East township, Erie county, is a native of the township named and was born July 28, 1875. He is a son of Ernest and Lezetta Buchholz, who were both natives of Mechlen- burg, Germany, and emigrated to Erie county about 1872. Indus- trious and hard working, they were employed by Mr. Phillips for about one year and by means of other employment collected a small capital so that they were enabled, in 1880, to buy fifty acres of farm- ing land in the northern part of North East township. Although their accumulations came slowly they were sure and eight years thereafter this faithful and hard-working couple added twenty-five acres to the original fifty and the entire amount now constitutes the homestead upon which the elder Mr. Buchholz still resides. There were three children in his family, of whom his daughter Anna still resides at home, while Henry John and Carl F., of this sketch, are independent farmers of this township.
Mr. Buchholz was educated in the German Lutheran and public schools of North East township and remained at home until his mar- riage June 10, 1902, to Miss Jessie S. Stone, a native of Erie county. Their three children are Dorothea, Carl and Thelma. After his mar- riage he purchased fifty acres of farming land near the home farm, of which he has cultivated twenty-eight acres to several fine varieties of grapes and other fruit. In 1904 he also had the good fortune to drill a productive gas well, the profits from which, added to his other resources, have brought him a comfortable competency. Among the various evidences of his prosperous condition is a fine modern resi- dence of twelve rooms, which he erected in the summer of 1907. He
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is a true Republican and voted for Blaine. He is a member of the Lutheran church and his wife is a Presbyterian.
JAMES BARRY, a well-to-do farmer of North East township, Erie county, is a son of the Buckeye state, born March 15, 1854. He comes of an old Irish family and is a son of Thomas and Catherine (Murry) Barry, his mother being a native of Waterford, Ireland. Their marriage occurred in Montreal, Canada, where the father com- menced business life as a railroad builder. Later he removed to the state of Ohio, where he lived until 185%, subsequently making his home at Dunkirk, New York, and near Ripley, the same state. \t all of these localities he was engaged in railroad work, but in 1863 located on a ten-acre farm lying on the lake shore in North East township. Here he passed his last years in comfort, dying October 11, 1812. His wife followed him on February 4, 1906.
James Barry received his education in the district and Catholic schools of his home neighborhood and was early initiated into agri- cultural work. At the age of ten years he secured employment by the month on various farms in the vicinity, being thus employed during the summer seasons, and attending school in the winter. He has never married and he and his two sisters, Mary and Anna, now reside on the place which his father bought a few years before his death. Mr. Barry is engaged in general farming, although he has allotted two acres to the raising of grapes. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never sought public advancement. Mr. Barry and his two sisters are members of St. Gregory's parish at North East, of which Rev. Fr. D. Hanley is the pastor.
JAMES BEEBE STULL, who has been identified with the business interests of Erie county during a long number of years, was born in Painesville, Ohio, December 13, 1859, a son of James W. and Loreny (Beebe) Stull. James W. Stull served as a United States marshal in Nebraska, and died there while on duty at about the time of the birth of his son James. His widow, who was born in Silver Creek, New York, then came to North East, and married in 1862 C. D. Jameson, an undertaker for many years in this city. She died February 12, 1889.
James B. Stull attended in his early life Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and after leaving college spent three years in a law office at Warren, Ohio, but failing health then compelled him to give up the legal profession, and in 1889 he became an equal partner in the business of his step-father. Mr. Jameson had established his undertaking business here in 1848, and this has become the oldest establishment of its kind in the city of North East. In addition to this business Mr. Stull is extensively engaged in grape culture, annu- ally harvesting sixty-five acres of that commodity, and he is constantly enlarging the business. He owns one hundred acres of land on the Lake road, also twenty-two acres in another tract, and he rents sixty- five acres of his land. He is one of the directors and the vice president of the North East Heat and Light Company, and a director and the treasurer of the North East Gas Company. He is a past master in Masonic Lodge No. 399, and during four years he served his city of North East as a Republican councilman.
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BESTER DWIGHT TOWNE. During many years of his life Bester Dwight Towne was numbered among the business men of Erie county, revered and honored wherever known, and he was also a member of one of the county's honored pioneer families. He was born in the borough of North East on the 23d of September, 1855, a son of Bester C. and Juliett (Burdick) Towne, also from Erie county. They were farming people here for many years, but later in life moved to North East and he served as a justice of the peace of the borough for many years.
Bester Dwight, the third born of their four sons, began his busi- ness career in a drug store in North East, and he followed that busi- ness for several years. During his life time he was a great traveler, making a trip around the world, and also sojourning in Australia, and he thus acquired a vast knowledge which travel alone can bring. He owned a farm of one hundred and eight acres at Grahamville in Erie county, and his time was principally engaged in its cultivation. He married on the 16th of March, 1899, Jennie Slade, born in Waterford, Erie county, April 17, 1865, a daughter of Alphonso I. and Esther (McKay) Slade, natives respectively of Herkimer county and of Sher- man, Chautauqua county, New York. She is a granddaughter of John and Clarissa (Griffin) Slade, from Connecticut. They were born re- spectively August 26, 1799, and July 1, 1800, and they were married on the 23d of February, 1823, in Connecticut. Mrs. Towne is also a granddaughter of Alexander and Esther (Bowen) Mckay, the for- mer from Ireland and the latter from Vermont. She is a great-grand- daughter of Obediah and Sarah Slade, the former a son of Peleg Slade, from Swanzey, New Hampshire. Bester Dwight Towne died on the 20th of July, 1899, after a long and faithful membership in the Metho- dist Episcopal church. His widow now resides with her mother in the borough of North East.
ANDREW J. DAWLEY, a representative of the business interests of North East as a livery man, was born in Vermont, December 18, 1870, a son of O. E. and Mary R. (Wilcox) Dawley. They came to the township of North East with their son Andrew, who was but a babe of six months, and they were farming people here for many years. Finally in 1886 O. E. Dawley bought out the livery business of Albert Short in North East, and from that time until his death, March 4, 1906, was the leading liveryman of the town. From 1886 until the year previous to his death he also served in the office of constable. His wife still survives him, and is living with a daughter in North East.
Andrew J. Dawley, the eldest of their four sons and three daugh- ters, was eighteen years of age when he began work as a fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad, his run being from Olean to Rochester, and he continued in that capacity for three years and eight months, when he was made an engineer on the run between Olean and Em- porium. In the year of 1900 he gave up railroading and going to Erie, Pennsylvania, embarked in the livery business on Seventh street, be- tween State and French streets, but selling his interests there in 1904 he bought the F. M. Cook barn at the corner of Eighteenth and Parade streets in Erie, but again selling, in November of 1906, he came to North East and took charge of his father's business, and he is the proprietor of a well equipped barn of twelve horses, and also conducts a draying and heavy teaming department.
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He married on the 1st of April, 1891, Susan L. Perry, born in Ripley, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Washington Perry. Their chil- dren are Flossie, Flora, Perry and Margery. Mr. and Mrs. Dawley attend the services of the Methodist church, and in politics he is an independent voter. He is a member of "The Loyal Order of Moose," Lodge No. 66, at Eric.
ROBERT DILL, a well known horticulturist of Erie county, Pennsyl- . vania, is engaged there in general farming, but principally in the rais- ing of fruit. He is a Canadian, a native of Toronto, born July 8, 1841, son of Alexander and Jane (McCormick) Dill, both natives of the north of Ireland, who came to Toronto in 1830 and were married in that city. The father became a prosperous tanner there and continued in that business until his death in 1852, his wife dying in 1873.
Robert Dill, of this sketch, is the sixth in a family of three boys and seven girls and at the age of nineteen, having obtained a public school education in his native city, he commenced the trade of a painter and decorator. Having mastered it he went to New York City and was thus employed in that city until 1811 when he removed to Buffalo. After one year at the latter place he located at Erie, his first important employment being in connection with the decoration of the mansion owned by Gen. C. M. Reed. Subsequently he estab- lished himself as a contractor with an office at 708 State street and continued in that line until 1889 when he disposed of his business and purchased one hundred and forty-five acres of land in North East township, two miles northeast of the borough of North East. Since that year he has devoted the bulk of his time to the development of this estate, of which one hundred acres is devoted to the raising of all kinds of berries and fruits, sixty acres being grown to grapes alone. The balance of his farm is given up to general farming. Mr. Dill is recognized as a practical and most expert horticulturist and has been president of the Keystone Grape Company of North East township since 1904. He has also served as vice president of the First National Bank of North East since its organization. His record as an agri- culturist and business man has been so substantial that the citizens of North East borough and his Republican friends have repeatedly called upon him to manage their affairs and besides serving as school director for a number of years he has been honored with membership in the common council of Erie for two terms, representing the Fourth ward in that body. In Masonry he is a member of Keystone Lodge, chapter and commandery of Eric.
On June 11, 1861, Mr. Dill married Miss Mary J. Mount, a native of New York City, daughter of Theodore and Lucretia ( Pulhannes) Mount, both natives of the Empire state. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dill have been as follows: Lottie, who died at the age of twenty-two months: William M., of Cleveland, Ohio, connected with a large corporation in that city ; Robert J., who is the active superin- tendent of the home farm ; and Harry II., in Cleveland with William. The mother of this family died in April, 1907. both herself and her husband having long been members of the Methodist church.
BENJAMIN F. TOWNE, deceased, was one of the early agriculturists of Erie county, and is numbered among its honored pioneers and
.
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business men. Born in Granville, New York, May 11, 1822, he was a son of Bester and Betsey (Martin) Towne, both also from the town of Granville.
Bester Towne, born in Granville on the 20th of August, 1794, was a son of Joseph and Hannah (Coleman) Towne. Joseph Towne was born February 22, 1761, and was a son of Israel, born February 12, 1221, and Nancy (Stebbens) Towne, and a grandson of Israel Towne, Sr .. who came to New England about the time of the landing of the Mayflower. Bester Towne remained with his parents in Gran- ville, New York, until 1824, and then came to North East and located on a farm of one hundred and thirty acres, but a few years afterward moved to a place near the town and conducted a tavern there called the Checkered Tavern, it having received its name from the manner in which it had been painted. Later, securing property on the corner of Main and Lake streets, he was the proprietor of a general mercan- tile business there until his death December 2, 1870, his wife surviving him until the 22d of January, 1872. He had purchased a home and five acres of land in 1839, and this is now owned and occupied by a daughter.
Mr. Towne married September 22, 1816, Betsey M. Martin, born in Shaftsburg, Vermont, June 4, 1790, a daughter of Benjamin and Ruth Martin, and in their family were the following children : Morris C., born February 1, 1818, and died July 31, 1892 ; Bester C., born June 16, 1820, and died August 28, 1898 ; Benjamin F., born May 11, 1822, and died October 22, 1891 ; William M., born April 11, 1824, and died July 30, 1825; John J., born October 12, 1826, and died October 9, 1907 : George W., born December 15, 1829, and died June 18, 1830 ; and Joseph I. The last named, the youngest of the family, was born on the 15th of April, 1831. and resides in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sassafras street. He married first, Ruth M. Andrews, born in North East, a daughter of James Andrews, and their only child was a son, John S. This wife died on the 2d of August, 1862, and he married second, Mary A. Loomis, born in Eric, this state, September 14, 1869. She died January 22, 1870. After his first marriage Joseph I. Towne went to Elgin, Illinois, where he spent one year in a bank, and going from there to Council Bluffs, Iowa, he bought a flour and saw mill, but sold the mill two years afterward and went to Geneseo, Illinois, and engaged in a dry goods business with a brother, John J. On the 2d of December, 1862, he returned east to Erie, Pennsylvania, and from a bookkeeper in the Keystone National Bank he worked his way up to the assistant cashiership and finally to the cashier, and remained in that high official position for twenty-five years and more. Resigning from the office in 1892 be was from that time until 1901 engaged in the manufacture of gas stoves in that city, and on account of failing health has since lived retired, residing a part of the time with his sister Mary in North East and the remainder with a daughter-in-law in Erie. Before his marriage he was for two years associated with his father in the dry goods business in North East.
Benjamin F. Towne came with his parents to this city in 1829, and with them settled in the then wilderness of northeastern Pennsyl- vania. The early years of his life were spent in assisting his father to clear and improve his farm, and some years later, as above men- tioned, the family removed to the outskirts of the village of North
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East and became the proprietors of the old Checkered Tavern, well remembered by the early residents of this vicinity. After his marriage Mr. Towne left his parents' home and became the proprietor of a mercantile business in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, but in 1870 he re- turned to his father's farm on the state road from Erie to Buffalo, a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, but with the exception of thirty acres this land has all been sold. His time from that time until his death, on the 22d of October, 1893, was spent in looking after his farm and in caring for his vineyard. His political affiliations were with the Republican party.
He married on the 18th of December, 1845, Elizabeth Pratt, born in Exeter, Otsego county, New York, March 30, 1830, a daughter of Asa and Mariett (Thompson) Pratt, the former from Burlington and the latter from Exeter, both in Otsego county. She was a daughter of Jeremiah and Jenett Pratt, of New York, and of Charles and Anna (Lewis) Thompson, also from that state. The children born to Benja- min F. and Elizabeth Towne are: Mariett, born June 12, 1847 ; Charles F., born July 30, 1849, and died April 30, 1901 ; Joseph I., born April 2. 1853, and died October 25, 1853 ; Bessie, born June 2, 1850, and died in 1860; Jessie M., born June 15, 1862, became the wife of Captain Don McDonald, and died in September, 1905 ; and Will J., born August 3, 1865, is connected with the cider works in North East.
JOHN LEARY. It is indeed a "far cry" from the position of a poor boy working at whatever occupation could be found, and at merely nominal pay, to that of a successful business man and influential and honored citizen of the community in which the immigrant lad from the fair Emerald Isle took up his abode when but fourteen years of age. This was the career of John Leary, who maintained his home in Erie for more than sixty years and who so directed his efforts as to attain a substantial fortune and so guided his course as to retain at all times the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men. In America the title of self-made man is the strongest patent of nobility and sterling character, and he who worthily bears it need leave no other heritage of honor and distinction.
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