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 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
The following items taken from the North East Advertiser of June 1, 1906. give the reader an idea of the nature of the jubilee fes- tivities: "The Jubilee exercises began in the College Chapel at ten o'clock with Solemn Pontificial Mass by Rt. Rev. John E. Fitz-Maurice, Bishop of Erie. The sermon was preached by Rt. Rev. Bernard J. Mc- Quaid, Bishop of Rochester. Prominent in attendance were His Excellency Most Rev. Diomede Falconio, the Apostolic Delegate, from Washington. D. C., Rt. Rev. Ignatius Horstmann. D. D., Bishop of Cleveland, and Rt. Rev. Chas. H. Colton, D. D., Bishop of Buffalo, six Rt. Rev. Mon- signori, and one hundred and five priests."
The civic program in the afternoon was enjoyed by a multitude of people. It comprised a competition drill between the Erie and Roch-
356
IHISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
ester Knights. Then followed an exhibition of militia maneuvers and a sham battle by a company of Dunkirk militia. After this came the parade which, as the North East Breese expresses it, was "the most elaborate and grandest spectacle ever witnessed in North East or Erie county. This was the verdict of citizens, visitors and all." To conclude in the words of the North East Sun "the affair was a success from beginning to end and one of the greatest days North East ever had." The weather was ideal and never did the beautiful College Green and its picturesque grounds present a more lovely or attractive appearance than that. which greeted the thousands of admiring visitors on that last day of May. Truly they must have seemed to them, as the North East Sun puts it, "the finest grounds within seventy-five miles of North East," or as another paper expressed it, "between Buffalo and Chicago!"
MARVIN WIGHT. A well known and highly esteemed resident of Corry, Pennsylvania, Marvin Wight served his country bravely during the Civil war, and has since, just as earnestly and sincerely, performed the duties devolving upon him as an individual, and a law-abiding citizen. He was born, July 11, 1839, in Centerville, Alle- gany county, New York, a son of Benjamin Wight, and grandson of Daniel Wight. The emigrant ancestor of the family from which he is descended was born on the Isle of Wight, in the English Channel, from there coming, in 1632, to America.
Levi Wight, Mr. Wight's great-grandfather, migrated to New York state in pioneer days, in company with a band of people com- posed of his seven sons, three daughters, and their families, and some of their neighbors and friends, locating in what is now Center- ville, Allegany county. Purchasing a large tract of timbered land, these pioneers improved farms from the wilderness, in the course of a few years building up the prosperous little hamlet known through- out that locality as the "Wight Settlement." Daniel Wight, born, it is thought, in Oppenheim, New York, moved with his father and brothers and sisters to Allegany county, and on the land that he bought erected a log house for a dwelling, and one for a work shop. He was a natural mechanic, and in addition to improving and tilling his land, he made pails and barrels, and also made the first grain cradles manufactured in Western New York. He was patriotic, and served in the War of 1812. He married Mary Hewitt, who was born, probably, in Montgomery county, New York, the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. Both he and his wife died on their farm, in Centerville.
Born in Oppenheim, New York, August 30, 1813, Benjamin Wight was seven years old when the family removed to Allegany county. The country roundabout was then in its pristine wildness, deer, bears and wolves being plentiful, while the native Indians still made their home in the forests. On attaining his majority he married and lived in the same log house with his brother and sister, a frame addition being added. and afterwards, in addition to clearing the land and tilling the soil, worked during the winter seasons at the blacksmith's trade. Trading his land. in 1850, for forty acres of land in Higgins, the same township, he resided there until 1882. Coming then to Corry, he lived here, retired from active pursuits, until his death, in 1891. He married Jerusha Lyon, a daughter of James and Sarah (Brewer) Lyon, natives of the Mohawk valley, and of English and Dutch an-
357
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
cestry, respectively. She was born, September 17, 1815, in Oppen- heim, New York, and died, in 1899, in Corry. She reared eight children, namely : Marvin, Daniel, Edwin, Clinton, Orrissa, Melinda, Wesley, and Emery. The three older sons were all soldiers in the Civil war.
Until seventeen years old, Marvin Wight assisted his father in the care of homestead, and in the shop, the following five years working as a farm hand in different places. On September 11, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, Fifth New York Cavalry, which was as- signed to the Army of the Potomac. Going to the front with his command, he fought at the second battle of Bull Run, at the battle of Gettysburg, and in many others of importance. At Hopewell Gap, October 17, 1863, he was taken prisoner, and confined at Belle Isle until March, 1864, then, after spending two months in the parole camp, was exchanged. Joining his regiment, he was honorably discharged, in October, 1864, on account of the expiration of his term of enlist- ment. In 1865 Mr. Wight located in Columbus, Warren county, and two years later went to Chillicothe, Missouri, which was his home for three and one-half years. Coming then to Corry, he was here employed as a wood turner until 1881, when he went to Rockford, Illinois, where for twenty-one years he was engaged in the business of wood-turning and pattern-making. Returning in 1902 to Corry, he has since resided in this city.
Mr. Wight married. October 16, 1866, Louisa U. Bracken. She was born in Columbus, Warren county Pennsylvania, August 10, 1846, a daughter of George W. and Angeline Bracken, of whom fur- ther notice may be found on another page of this volume, in connection with the sketch of C. H. Bracken. Mr. and Mrs. Wight have one daughter, Nellie E. Broad and liberal in their religious beliefs, Mr. and Mrs. Wight are Universalists. Mr. Wight is a member of J. J. Andrews Post, No. 70, G. A. R.
BYRON HOMER PHELPS, M. D. During the many years that Dr. Byron Homer Phelps has been located at Corry, he has had ample opportunity for practicing his profession, his patronage being ex- tensive, and has met with gratifying results as a physician and sur- geon, ranking among the leading practitioners of this locality. A son of Truman Oliver Phelps, he was born, March 16, 1844, in Wil- liamsfield, Ashtabula county, Ohio, coming from substantial New England stock.
Lyman Phelps, the doctor's grandfather, was a native, it is sup- posed, of Connecticut. Removing in pioneer days to Trumbull county, Ohio, he journeyed across the country with ox teams to Hartford township, where for a number of years he was employed in clearing and tilling the soil. Going from there to Ashtabula county, he bought a tract of wild land in Williamsfield township, and there resided until his death, when in his ninety-first year. He married Sophia Holcomb, who was born in Connecticut, and died, on the same day that he did, in Williamsfield township, aged eighty-six years. Of their children, five grew to mature life, namely: Truman Oliver, Lyman, Mary. Sophia, and Ann.
Born near Granby, Connecticut, Truman O. Phelps was but a boy when his parents removed to Hartford township, Ohio, where he
358
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
subsequently served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. Go- ing to Williamsfield, Ohio, at the same time that his parents did, he bought fifty acres of land adjoining that purchased by his father, and there in addition to following his trade superintended the clearing and improving of a farm. Subsequently selling that property, he re- moved to Andover. Ashtabula county, where he lived retired until his death, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. His wife, whose maiden name was Caroline Gardner, was born in Massachusetts, moved with her parents to Trumbull county, Ohio, when a girl, and died in Andover, Ohio, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. Of their union seven children were born, as follows : Norris T., Obed K., Byron Homer, Charles H., Addison B., Lyman C., and Sophia M. Three of their sons served in the Civil war. Charles H. went to Pennsylvania at the age of fourteen years, and there enlisted as a drummer boy in the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Being captured by the Confederates at the second battle of Fredericks- burg, he was confined in Belle Isle, Andersonville, and other Southern prisons for a year, after which he was exchanged. Joining then his command, he served until the close of the war, when he received his honorable discharge. Byron Homer, at the age of seventeen years, and his brother. Obed K., who was a little older, enlisted in Company C, Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, went to the front with their regiment, and participated in many engagements of importance. including among others those at Winchester, Cedar Mountain, and Port Republic. In the fall of 1862, Byron Homer was taken ill, and after being for awhile in the hospital, joined his regiment at Dum- fries, Virginia, but in the spring of 1863 he was honorably discharged from the service on account of physical disability.
Having saved his earnings, Byron H. Phelps used it in paying his expenses for two years at the Austinburg Academy. He subse- quently taught several terms of school, in the meantime working dur- ing the vacations in the harvest field, and when he had money enough to warrant him in so doing, entered the Kingsville Academy, from which he was graduated in 1867. The ensuing two years he was one of the instructors in the academy at Springfield, Erie county, Pennsyl- vania, where he began reading medicine. Entering the office of Dr, Webster, in Kingsville, Ohio, in 1869, he continued his studies for a time, after which he went to Cleveland, where, in 1871, he was grad- uated from the Medical Department of the Western Reserve College with the degree of M. D. Beginning the practice of his chosen pro- fession at Wavne. Ashtabula county. Ohio, he remained there four years, after which he was located for some time in Orwell, Ohio. Coming to Corry, in 1880, the doctor has here built up an extensive and lucrative practice, his professional skill and knowledge being well known and highly appreciated.
Doctor Phelps has been twice married. He married first, Decem- ber 23, 1866, at Amboy, Ohio, Philena C. Greenlee, who was born at that place, a daughter of Jacob and Rachel (- -) Greenlee. She died in Orwell, Ohio, February 11, 1878. Dr. Phelps married second. April 16, 1879. Alice C. Dungan, a daughter of Joseph and Amelia -) Dungan. The doctor had one son, Truman Otis, by his first marriage, and one son. Paul, by his second union. Truman Otis, a jeweler in Bradford, married Velna Gibbs. Paul is a student in the
359
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Corry high school. Fraternally the doctor belongs to the J. J. An- drews Post, No. 70, G. A. R., and is a member of the Masonic Order. Taking genuine interest in the welfare of city and county, he has never shirked the responsibilities of public office, but has served as mayor of Corry, as a member of the local school board, as a member of the United States Board of Examiners, and is now one of the Corry Hospital Staff.
JOHN M. MCLAUGHLIN stands at the head of the North East Preserving Works, one of the largest institutions of its kind in the state. He was born in Mooreheadville, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1870, a son of John N. and Sophia ( Bran) Mclaughlin. His paternal grand- father, John Mclaughlin, came from his native land of Ireland to the United States in 1825, and he established his home in Pennsyl- vania. Thomas Bran, the maternal grandfather, was a native of old England, but came to the United States and to Pennsylvania in 1820, and ten years afterward, in 1830, bought land from the government in Mooreheadville. He died at the good old age of ninety-three years. John N. McLaughlin and Sophia Bran married and located at Moore- headville, but they had previously resided in Mckean, this state. He died on the 22d of April, 1902, in North East, where he had lived since 1895, and his wife survived only until the 15th of May, 1903.
John M. McLaughlin, the tenth born of their twelve children, nine now living, attended in his early life the district schools, and when he had attained the age of twenty-two years he left his parents' home and with two brothers, William J. and George, engaged in the gro- cery business in North East, he succeeding his brother Frank in the business. He continued as a grocery merchant from the 1st of January, 1893, until the 1st of January, 1902, when he sold his interest to his brother George. In 1900, with Henry G. Fink, of Erie, Pennsylvania, he bought the North East Preserving Works. The factory consists of two buildings, one twenty-four by one hundred and eighty feet, two- stories in height, and the other is a one story building, forty by eighty feet. Since the purchase they have added to the building until the floor space is fifty thousand square feet, and the works have a capa- city of two hundred and ten cans of fruits and vegetables a minute. During the busy seasons they furnish employment to from two hun- dred and twenty-five to three hundred employes. They can all fruits and vegetables grown in this section of the country, and they ship their goods from the New England states to Duluth, Minnesota. They have also become the owners of the Sherman Canning and Preserving Company at Sherman, Chautauqua county, New York, which they pur- chased in the spring of 1908, and Messrs. Fink and Mclaughlin are its sole proprietors. They also lease land and raise factory products, having received as high as thirty-five hundred bushels of tomatoes in a day.
Mr. McLaughlin is a member of U. C. T. No. 216, of Erie, and also of the B. P. O. E. No. 67, at Erie. Religiously he is a member of St. Gregory's church.
Mr. H. G. Fink is one of Erie's most successful business men, and while he still resides in Erie, makes frequent visits to his North East interests.
360
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
HENRY HAUSMANN SR., of Erie, who is the largest manufacturer of costumes, uniforms and lodge paraphernalia in northern Pennsyl- vania, has established and developed his business by ceaseless energy and industry and the application of sound and honorable principles. A native of Hesse, Germany, he was born July 7, 1857, and is a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Nusbickel) Hausmann, also natives of that section of the fatherland. The father was for many years a manu- facturer of hats and a dealer in furs, and was thus engaged at the time of his death in Germany, in 1858. In 1866 his widow emigrated to Erie, bringing her three sons, Charles (now deceased), Philip and Henry. When he thus located in that city, Henry Hausmann was able to read and write German but not English, and spent the fol- lowing two years in the public schools mastering the common tongue of his adopted country. When he was little more than eleven years old, however, he was obliged to drop his schooling and go to work as a bundle boy in George Becker's drygoods store on Peach and Six- teenth streets. He was connected with this establishment until 1876, and was then able to complete his education at the Erie Academy. He next spent four years with H. A. Walther and Nathan Cohen, and then became identified with the drygoods house of F. Walther for a period of seventeen years. In 1878 Mr. Hausmann entered the mercantile field as an independent merchant and began to deal in costumes on his own account. Starting with a dozen masquerading outfits he met, first the local competition, and then that of houses in Buffalo and Cleveland. but his honest, tasteful workmanship and straightforward dealings finally "won out." As the enterprise enlarged he was obliged to receive his brother Charles into partnership, and, under the title Hausmann Brothers, they conducted the business until 1890, their store being on State street between Eleventh and Twelfth. In 1893 Mr. Hausmann erected a factory on East Eighteenth street, considerably enlarging the enterprise, and three years later began the manufacture of lodge paraphernalia, regalia, badges, banners and uniforms for bands and foremen. Still broadening the scope of his trade, he included the manufacture of all kinds of interior and ex- terior decorations, and his business relations now embrace the entire country, especially in the line of secret order supplies. His average stock of goods is now valued at ten thousand dollars, and he is also the owner of his factory site at Nos. 177-9 East Eighteenth street and an elegant residence on the adjoining property.
Although hard pressed with business affairs, Mr. Hausmann takes time to devote to the public affairs of the city. In 1885 he was elected a member of the city council from the Sixth ward, and faithfulness and value of his services fully earned him his re-election in 1886. Later he removed to the Fifth ward and in 1890 was returned to the council by the voters of that community. During his incumbency he was instrumental in having Eighteenth street paved from Peach to Parade and in effecting a number of other improvements. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce ; is a Mason and an Odd Fellow (Encampment, Canton and Rebekas), and for the past ten years has been record-keeper of the Maccabees. As he is among the leading German-Americans of Erie, he naturally belongs to the Erie Maenner- chor and the South Erie Turn Verein. In a word, Mr. Hausmann is a vital asset to the commercial life of the city, and in his social and
TIL NEW YORK PROLIE INTRARY
Charlesamenteus.
361
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
domestic relations sustains his honorable character, which has been so signally manifested in the practical and hard-fought field of busi- ness. On the 30th of April, 1885, Mr. Hausmann was united in mar- riage with Miss Lucretia Loesel, of Erie, daughter of Frederick Loesel, the details concerning her family appearing in connection with the biography of Charles F. Loesel. Mr. and Mrs. Hausmann have one daughter, Emma, whose birth occurred in 1886 and who wedded Dr. Carl Kirschner, a leading physician, on February 3, 1907.
CHARLES A. MERTENS. Numbered among the representative young- er members of the bar of Erie county, Mr. Mertens is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in his native city of Erie, to which he has shown a son's unselfish loyalty and in which his popularity is of the most unequivocal type. He has represented his native county in the state legislature, and is one of the wheel-horses of the Republican party in this section of the old Keystone state.
Charles A. Mertens was born in the First ward of the city and Erie, on the 30th of May, 1815, and is a son of August and Louise ( Ester) Mertens, both natives of Germany, whence they came to America when young. Their marriage was solemnized in Erie, where they still main- tain their home and are held in high esteem by all who know them. Charles A. Mertens duly availed himself of the advantages of the ex- cellent public schools of the city of Erie, and was graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1893. In the following year he began reading law in the office of H. J. Curtze, of Erie, and he showed marked facility in the accumulation and assimilation of knowledge of the science of jurisprudence. In 1897 he was admitted to the bar of his native county, and since that time he has been admitted to practice in the state and federal courts. After being admitted to the bar he con- tinued to be associated in practice with his former preceptor, Mr. Curtze, until 1903, since which time he has conducted an individual pro- fessional business, with offices at 14 East Eighth street. He has shown distinctive ability as a trial lawyer and has proved a safe and conserva- tive counsel, as he has a wide and accurate knowledge of the minutiae of the law and continues a close and appreciative student of his pro- fession. His practice runs extensively into the line of real estate and Orphans' court practice on which subject he is considered an authority.
Mr. Mertens has ever manifested a zealous interest in the cause of the Republican party, and in its behalf has rendered effective service. In 1900-1 he represented Erie county in the state legislature, where he made an excellent record as a careful and conscientious worker for effective legislation. In 1904-5 he was chairman of the Republican cen- tral committee of Erie county, and during the incumbency of this posi- tion he showed much ability and discrimination in marshaling the forces at his command. He and his wife hold membership in St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran church, and he is identified with the Erie Board of Trade, the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Country Club and other social organizations in his home city. His parents are valued members of Salem Evangelical Lutheran church, with which they have been identified for many years. His father is an old and valued employe of Jarecki Manufacturing Company, with which great industrial con- cern he has been identified from the time of its organization.
In 1902 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Mertens to Miss Anna Claus, daughter of Henry V. Claus, who was a representative citizen
362
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
of Erie, where he continued to reside until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Mertens have three children,-Frances Louise, Charles A., Jr., and Adolph A.
ARETAS P. MOUNT. Artistic in his tastes, endowed by nature with mechanical gifts of a high order, and at the same time being an expert in the use of tools, Aretas P. Mount, of Corry, occupies a position of prominence and influence among the foremost architects of Western Pennsylvania. Possessing good judgment, and having a thorough knowledge of his profession, he is kept busily employed, as a designer, drawing up plans for dwelling houses, stores. churches and large public buildings, his reputation for satisfactory work in that line being well established, and far extended. A son of William Mount, he was born, October 23, 1851, at Cherrycreek, Chautauqua county, New York.
Thomas Mount, grandfather of Aretas P. Mount, was born, bred and educated in New Jersey, where in early life he operated a dis- tillery. Realizing, however, the evils of intemperance, he gave up the business, putting the distillery out of commission, and moved to Montgomery county, New York, living for a time at Ames. Going from there to Cherrycreek, New York, he bought land that was in its original wildness, and having improved a good homestead, lived there until his death, in 1881, at the venerable age of ninety-nine years, having almost rounded out a full century of life. His wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Chamberlain, died in 1850. She bore him fifteen children, thirteen of whom married, and reared children.
Born in Ames, New York, October 3, 1829, William Mount began when but a youth to learn the carpenter's trade, working with an older brother. From 1852 until 1864, he was engaged in farming at Cherrycreek. Subsequently entering the employ of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, he was for a number of years super- intendent of its carpentry department, residing in Urbana, Ohio, until 1871. Locating then in Corry, he was here engaged as a contractor and builder during the remainder of his active life, and died in this city, in December, 1896. He married, October 24, 1850, Mary Frost, who was born in Chautauqua county, New York, in 1830. Her father, George Frost, an early settler of Chautauqua county, was a man of much energy and ambition, and was actively identified during his long life with numerous enterprises in that locality, being in turn farmer, hotel keeper, and merchant. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. William Mount, as follows : Aretas P., Emeline, and Ritta.
After completing his early education, Aretas P. Mount followed the bent of his natural inclinations in developing his mechanical talents, beginning life for himself as a contractor and builder, and later as an architect. Mr. Mount has been eminently successful in all of his undertakings, as an architect winning honor and distinction. Many of the handsomest and most substantial residences and public buildings of Erie county are the work of his brains and hands, and bear visable evidence of his architectural knowledge and skill. To him was awarded, by the state board, the contract to draw the plans, and superintend the construction, of the armories at both Corry, Warren and Grove City, his ability as an architect being thus publicly recognized.
363
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
On September 9, 1875, Mr. Mount married Kate L. Wetmore. She was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Augus- tus and Catherine (Kidder) Wetmore, both of whom were of honored New England ancestry, descendants of families there prominent in early colonial days. Mr. and Mrs. Mount are the parents of three chil- dren, namely : William P., Jewell E., and Clarence. William P. mar- ried Lida Vincent, and their only child died in infancy. Clarence A., married Cora West, and they have one son, Richard P. Mr. and Mrs. Mount are consistent Christians, and worthy members of the Baptist church. Fraternally Mr. Mount belongs to Corry Lodge, No. 470, K. P., and to Corry Court of Foresters.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.