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 62
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William Forbes, who is unmarried, is one of the most respected business men of Albion. After leaving school he engaged in plumbing for some three years and was then in the service of the Bessemer Rail- road for two years, after which he established his present business as a dealer in meats, in Albion.
CHARLES FORD. Well known for his identification with the Bes- semer Railway, Charles Ford, of Albion, is a native of Corry and has always been connected with the development of Erie county. He was born in that place, November 7, 1876, and is a son of Judd and Kate (Brewer) Ford, his father coming from Massachusetts and settling in the oil fields of Pennsylvania as a driller in the early days of the industry. Besides Charles, the children of the Ford family were Jennie, now the wife of Edward Spencer of Westfield, New York; Nellie, Mrs. George King, of that place ; William, a carpenter residing there .; Ed, a railroad man, also in Westfield; and Bert, a resident of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, in garage work. Mr. Ford's school days were finished when he was fifteen years of age and he continued to engage in farm- ing until he was twenty, when he became a lumberman, getting out timber and working in a mill for some seven years.
In 1901 Mr. Ford located in Albion as a brakeman for the Bes- semer Railway and thus continued until 1904, when he was promoted to the position of conductor, which he has since held. He is a member of the Society of Railway Conductors and an carnest Odd Fellow-a
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man who has made friends amongst his co-workers, by his genial and cordial life, and who has done his full share in advancing the interests of the brotherhood-and all interests akin to his co-workers.
In 1900 MIr. Ford was united in marriage with Miss Jessie L. Park, born at Panama, New York, July 29, 1881, daughter of Oscar and Jen- nie (McGower) Park, the former dying in 1899 at the age of fifty- three years and the latter residing at Jamestown, that state. The other children of the Park family were as follows: Daisy, who is now Mrs. George Wilson, of Greenville, Pennsylvania; Inez, wife of E. Stearns, of Panama, New York; Elva and Bernice, at home; Helen, who lives at Brockton, New York; and Myer and L. J., who are residents of Jamestown, New York. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ford are as follows: Loy G., born in 1900; Gladys Fern, in 1904; Ena May, in 1906; Helen L., in 1907; and Lyle Whitford, born September 25, 1909.
EMMA (McNEIL) MILES, widow of the late Samuel R. Miles, one of the best known locomotive engineers of Erie county, is a resident of Albion, with whose educational and religious progress her husband was so long identified. She herself is a native of Clearfield county, Pennsyl- vania, born October 19, 1869, daughter of Isaac and Mary J. (Davis) McNeil. Both her parents are living, residents of Ansonville, Pennsyl- vania, her father having been a farmer most of his life, and, at the age of sixty-five, still engaged in that calling. His .early manhood, until 1866, was spent in the lumber business, and the six following years were passed as proprietor of a hotel at Madera, Pennsylvania. Mr. McNeil is an active Republican and a member of the Presbyterian church. His wife, aged sixty-three, is the daughter of an old stone mason of Utah- ville, Pennsylvania. The other members of the McNeil family are as follows : Galitson, a farmer who is operating the old home farm; Grant, who is a merchant of Ramey, Pennsylvania; Ross, engaged as a clerk at Ansonville ; Araminta, wife of Charles Lewis, a contractor of Madera ; and John, a railroad man stationed at Utahville. The founder of the McNeil family in the United States was the paternal grandfather, Squire McNeil, who was a native of Ireland, came to Erie county and farmed at an early day. He was long a justice of the peace; a stanch Presbyterian and a sturdy pioneer in every relation of life. He died at the age of eighty-four years and his wife passed away when seventy- two.
Mrs. Miles received her education in the public schools of Clear- field, Pennsylvania, and on March 15, 1887, was married to Samuel R. Miles. He was also a native of Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, born February 13, 1864, son of Robert L. and Elizabeth (Curran) Miles. His father was a contractor, who served as a lieutenant in the Union army for three years, and died in 1906, a life-long member of the Bap- tist church. The grandfather, Samuel Miles, was a soldier in the war of 1812. After completing a common school education, Samuel R. Miles pursued a business course at a commercial college, and at the age of seventeen entered the railway service and was identified with it for the balance of his life. In 1899 he was promoted to be a locomotive engineer on the Bessemer Railway. After his marriage he moved to Pittsburg and later to Albion, where he died March 28, 1909, after an illness of three years. He bore his trials with the fortitude and cheer-
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fulness of a true Christian, being at the last a firm Methodist and a trustee of the Albion church. As long as his health permitted, he was an active Republican, serving on the school board for some three years. He was identified with the Knights of Pythias and for six years was secretary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers of Albion, his lodge passing the following resolutions of respect at the time of his death :
"Resolved. That Division No. 282, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, deplore the death of our brother ; that to the bereaved wife and sorrowing relatives we tender our profoundest sympathies ; that in this hour of measureless grief, when our hearts swell with emotion, our tears mingle with theirs and our hearts bow in sorrow and sadness under this great bereavement, there comes to us a ray of hope, a gleam of consolation-'Tis God's way ; let His, not ours, be done !
"Resolved. That as a token of our respect for our deceased brother, our charter be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days ; a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the records of this lodge ; a copy be forwarded to the bereaved family, and a copy be published in the Albion Nowes and the Greenville Evening Record.'
To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel R. Miles was born one child-Mary Elizabeth, born June 10, 1888. Their beloved daughter is a graduate both of the Albion high school and the Davis Business College, of Erie. and is the stenographer and bookkeeper for the Flower Electric Power and Milling Company of Albion. Besides the widow and daughter, five sisters survive the deceased-Mesdames Fannie Reynolds, Mollie Hughes and Julia Marshall, and Misses Ida and Dosia Miles.
SMITH DOUGLASS SAWDEY, a leading insurance man of Albion and an active and public spirited citizen generally, was born in Conneaut township, on one of the oldest and finest homesteads in Erie county, on the 14th of June, 1843. He is an adopted son of Captain David Sawdey and comes of a substantial Rhode Island family. His father was a na- tive of Providence : at the age of sixteen moved to New Bedford, Mass- achusetts ; was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade, but preferred life on the high seas. Becoming identified with the seamanship of the East India trade, he finally became captain and owner of a vessel. but his ship was captured by the English during their war with France and he himself was thrown into prison. Not long after his release he became a merchant of Paris. New York, and in 1821 disposed of his interests in that place and came to Erie county. Purchasing a large tract of land in Conneaut township, he located on his farm in 1822 and estab- lished the family in northwestern Pennsylvania. The "Sawdey farm" of three hundred acres comprised the town site of Lexington, which had been laid out in 1797, and in 1821 was quite a settlement gone some- what to seed. Several buildings were included in Captain Sawdey's purchase, and in 1823. besides improving his broad acres, he engaged in merchandise at Lexington and received the appointment of post- master. The Sawdey farm also became a favorite military training ground. The farm as it stands today is one of the finest pieces of country property in northwestern Pennsylvania. It now embraces five hundred acres and, besides being a valuable estate, has an historical interest, as among the buildings included in its improvements are several which were erected by Captain Sawdey three quarters of a century ago. Its
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present proprietor and operator is David A. Sawdey, one of the sons of the original owner. Captain Sawdey was a public character, as well as a successful promoter of his own interests. He served as one of the first commissioners of Conneaut township and Erie county and in 1837 was elected a member of the state house of representatives. His death occurred December 5, 1857, and thereby was taken away from earth a successful, kindly, generous and honorable pioneer, whose memory will always be cherished by the later generations of Erie county.
After exhausting the resources of the district schools, Smith D. Sawdey became a pupil at the State Normal, Edinboro, which he at- tended for three terms, after which he followed the carpenter's trade, in connection with farming, for sixteen years. At this period of his life he conducted a farm adjoining the old homestead. In 1880 Mr. Sawdey engaged in the insurance business at Albion, and has thus con- tinued, representing the following companies at present: Delaware In- surance Company, Philadelphia Underwriters, Michigan Commercial, Georgia Home, Sun of London, England, Providence, Washington, Crawford County Mutual in Western Erie County. He is also pres- ident of the Albion Mutual Telephone Company ; was an active member of the city council for many years (president five years ), and is in every respect a progressive and honored citizen. He is an old Mason, being now chaplain of the Western Star Lodge, No. 304, of Albion, of which he has also been master. Since 1866 .he has been an untiring and in- fluential worker in the Methodist church, having served almost con- tinuously as trustee or steward.
On September 28, 1864, Mr. Sawdey married Miss Mindwell Abbey, daughter of Harry and Sally ( Jaycox) Abbey, both of whom are de- ceased. The father was a well known carpenter of the early days, and was born December 14, 1795, in Burlington, New York, and died in 1856, while the mother, Sally Jaycox, was born November 8, 1802. Their marriage occurred on the 13th of November, 1821. Mrs. Sawdey died January 22, 1908, the devoted mother of two sons, a faithful wife and a gentle lady of unaffected piety. She was a devout Methodist, an active member of the Ladies' Aid and Missionary Society, and a steady in- fluence for good in whatever circle she moved. Two sons survive the lamented mother and departed Christian lady. Merton H., who was born in 1866, married Miss Ida M. Maynard and is the father of Harry, Hazel and Raymond. He is engaged in the real estate business at Erie. The younger son, Frank D., was born in 1876; married Miss Nelly Wait : has one child, Roy, and is a resident of Conneaut, Ohio.
Mr. Sawdey is a true Democrat and has always upheld those ster- ling principles of Democracy, which represent the principles of Jeffer- son, the "Sage of Monticello." September 1, 1909, Mr. Sawdey wedded Miss Hattie Wiley, a daughter of William and Harriett (Langdon) Wiley. Mrs. Sawdey graduated at the Edinboro State Normal Col- lege and taught in Erie county for a number of years. She is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church at Edinboro.
ROY A. MACCARTNEY, a prosperous druggist and pharmacist of Albion, this county, is a native of Blair county, Pennsylvania, born March 6, 1872. He is a son of John C. and Anna M. (Rose) Mac- Cartney, and his father, who died in 1880, was a leading merchant ať Altoona, Pennsylvania. The widow who is a resident of Altoona is
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also the mother of Benjamin F., and John F., both engaged in the real estate business at Altoona.
At the age of sixteen Roy A. entered the department of pharmacy of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and after completing his course located at Butler, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the drug business for five years. He then sold his stock and business and, after acting as a traveling salesman for two years, opened a drug store at Conneaut Lake. Mr. MacCartney remained thus engaged for two years, when he moved his stock and business to Albion. There he has since prospered in business and established his position in the community as a useful and enterprising citizen. He belongs to the Protective and Benevolent Order of Elks at Erie, No. 67, and votes the Republican ticket, although he has never entered the field of politics, not even locally
HERBERT M. DEWOLF, a widely known miller and farmer of Albion, Erie county, is a native of Conneaut township, born on the 4th of May, 1861. His family was early established at Plattsburg, New York, whence the paternal grandfather migrated in 1825 to Springfield town- ship, this county, his mode of transportation being by ox-team, the com- mon carriers of those days. He married Miss Eliza Freeman, daughter of Alfred Freeman, a pioneer shoemaker and worthy citizen of Craw- ford county. The grandfather died in 1881, aged seventy-five years. his widow surviving him until 1906, having reached the remarkable age of ninety-nine. Loren DeWolf, the father, taught school for three years before he located in Conneaut township, and later was employed in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. Notwithstanding the advanced age reached by his father and the phenomenal longevity of his mother, he passed away in September, 1865, when only thirty-two. His wife, who was formerly Miss Mary Jane Graves, daughter of William Graves, died in 1870, aged forty-five.
At the age of seventeen Herbert M., after completing his common school course, and upon leaving school permanently, entered the oil fields at Bradford, Pennsylvania. He was thus engaged for four years ; then learned photography at New Castle, that state, and established a gallery at that place. Disposing of his business, Mr. DeWolf became a weigher for the Allegheny Coal Company, and after being employed four years in that capacity entered the employ of J. M. Strong, whose old and well known plant is located north of Springfield. He was thus engaged at that point for some thirteen years, returning to Albion, in 1905, and connecting himself with the Flower Milling Company. Be- sides being widely known in that line, Mr. DeWolf is owner and oper- ator of a farm west of Albion, which is also his homestead. He is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Lake Erie Lodge No. 416, and the Grand Lodge of the State, to which he was elected in 1907. He is also identified with the P. H. C. of E. Springfield. and politically is a Republican, without political aspir- ations.
In completing the information of a family nature, it may be added that Mr. DeWolf has a sister and two brothers living: Mabel, who is now the wife of I. R. Hotchkiss, a farmer of West Springfield : E. J., a farmer of Conneaut township, and Harley J. DeWolf. a miller of Noblesville, Indiana. Herbert DeWolf married Miss Mary A. Callag- han, who was born December 17, 1864, and is a daughter of James Cal-
RAWEW YORK WOALL LIBRARY
A LENOX TILDEN OUNUAT ONE
WILLIAM BURNLEY
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IHISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
laghan, a retired engineer. now deceased. The two children of this minion are Frances, born in 1898, and James L., who died in infancy.
WILLIAM BURNLEY. Among those who stand as distinguished types of the world's workers and who have introduced new eras of thoughit by inventions of great utility is recorded the name of William Burnley, the proprietor of a large establishment at North East for the manti- facture of the articles of his invention. He is a native of old England, born at Echelshill, Bradford, December 22, 1845, a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Snowden) Burnley and a grandson of Joseph and Mary (Jennings) Burnley.
Coming to the United States, Benjamin and Elizabeth Burnley established their home in the city of Erie in July of 1848, and there he followed his trade of a woolen manufacturer for about three years. Later buying a farın in Greenfield township, Erie county, he spent the remainder of his life there and died in 1896. His wife followed him to the home beyond in the following year. William was the fourth born of their ten children, seven sons and three daughters, and continuing in business with his father until he had reached his twenty-fourth year he then began farming for himself on rented land, continuing as a renter from 1870 until 1887. In the latter year he engaged in the manu- facture of electrical materials at Miamisburg, Ohio, but four years later went from there to Painesville, Ohio, where for eleven years he was engaged in business for himself, and in the meantime he secured a number of patents on the articles which he had invented. In 1907 he came to North East, moving his business here, and he is now at the head of a large establishment on Wall street, on the Lake Shore Rail- road, where he compounds his inventions. He is also the president of the Burnley Battery and Manufacturing Company, incorporated under the laws of Ohio at Painesville, and of which the treasurer is Clifford N. Graul and the secretary and manager F. B. Hess, with main offices in North East.
Mr. Burnley married January 1, 1869, Annie C. Hitchcock, from the state of New York, a daughter of Myron D. and Sarah (Wright) Hitchcock, of Oswego, that state. Their children are: Elizabeth, who died in 1896, at the age of twenty-six years; Nellie, who died at the age of twenty-five in 1895: Jennie, wife of F. B. Heath, of North East ; Nettie B., wife of John Kline, of Miamisburg, Ohio; Myron W., whose home is in Kansas City, Missouri ; Grace, the wife of C. M. Graul, the manager of the Painesville Telephone Company at Painesville, Ohio. Mr. Burnley endorses the principles of the Republican party, and he is a member of the order of Masons No. 399, of North East, and of the Knights of Pythias order at Erie, Lodge No. 327.
MRS. ADA A. FORTUNE, who was born on her present homestead in Conneaut township, Erie county, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1858, is a daughter of Anson Parson, during many years one of the most prom- inent residents of the county, and whose death occurred on the 25th of January. 1903. Coming to Erie county in 1840, he followed the car- penter's trade for some time, and also buying twenty-five acres of land he cleared the tract and added thereto until he owned a farm of eighty- five acres. During the Civil war he enlisted with the One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company K, at Albion, and during his entire service of four years he was a hospital steward stationed at
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the U. S. National Hospital in Baltimore. After his discharge from the army on the 1st of July, 1865. he entered and later graduated from the old medical university at Baltimore, and returning then to the old home- stead south of AAlbion, he engaged in both farming and the practice of medicine, his office being in the north wing of the old home. In 1812 Dr. Parson moved to Springboro and built a residence and a sanitarium near the spring, where patients came to him for treatment from all parts of the country. Ile was a member of the American Institute of Homco- pathy, of the Pennsylvania State Homeopathic Medical Society, and also of the fraternal orders of Masons and Workmen and of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Dr. Parson married first Delora M. Brainard on July 5, 1851. She was a sister of the Hon. Samuel M. Brainard, and a daughter of Samuel and Olive ( Nickelson) Brainard, the former a native of the state of New York. Ada was the last born of the doctor's seven children, and she has a sister and brother living, Frances P., the wife of William Jamison, of Pittsburg, and Herbert Parson, a salesman in Springboro. Mrs. Parson died in 1861, and later the doctor wedded Catherine Darlington, who died on the 26th of March, 1888. She was a daughter of William Darlington, M. D., LL. D., of Westchester, Penn- sylvania, and a granddaughter of General Lacy of Revolutionary war fame.
Mrs. Ada Fortune attended school until eighteen years of age, and she then taught for three years, one term at the old Bumpus school near her present home. She. married on the 28th of May, 1881, Mark Fortune, who was born February 9, 1838, in Lynchburg, Virginia, a son of Darius and Elizabeth ( Hartwick) Fortune, the father a planter and timber land operator. The mother was a descendant of Lord Hart- wick, a ship captain of Revolutionary war fame. He was also an ex- pert horseman, and was killed on a wild ride by being caught by a grape vine. Mark Fortune during his service as Colonel in the Confederate army was captured by a Mr. Rumsey, who was later his partner in Chi- cago in a grain business. He lost his estate and one hundred slaves in Virginia through the Civil war, and going to the state of Iowa, he spent one year at Clinton and five years in Ames, buying and shipping grain along the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad. Moving then to Des Moines he was engaged in real estate operations there until 1887, and in 1890 he came to Springboro, Pennsylvania, and organized a company to sell mineral water from the spring owned by his wife's father. He later moved to Washington Court House in Ohio, and was the proprietor of the Arlington House there for five years. Returning then to the old homestead he retired from an active business life and died on the 14th of April, 1902, a member of the Southern Baptist church and a Thirty- second degree Mason of Pittsburg. Four children blessed the marriage union of Mark and Ada Fortune, and Delora Ada, the first born. is at home with her mother. Rudolph Frances, the second born, was named by R. Mccullough, the general manager of the Chicago & Northwest- ern Railroad Company and a personal friend of the family, who exacted a promise from the parents that if a boy he should be called Rudolph and if a girl, Rudolph Frances. She was born February 11. 1884, and after leaving school at the age of eighteen she took up bookkeeping at Washington Court House. She married on September 27, 1904, Walter R. McLean, who was also born in the year of 1884, a son of Warren
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and Lucretia ( Garlinger) McLean, who were farming people. Walter R. McLean after leaving school was engaged in farming and dairying for a time, and he is now with the Washington Milling Company. There is one son of this union, Richard Harold, born March 2, 1905. Mark Anson, the third child of Mrs. Fortune, was born in 188%, and is now managing the farm for his mother. He was four years in the U. S. navy, on the battleship Maryland in its cruise around the world. Ruth Elizabeth, the fourth and youngest child born to Mrs. Fortune, is also at home with her mother. She was born in 1892. Mrs. Fortune is a member of the Baptist church, and a prominent worker in its Ladies' Aid Society.
GEORGE NEWTON BOYD, a farmer of Elk Creek township, was born March 14, 1864, to Robert and Hannah A. (Clark) Boyd; the former was born May 25, 1835, and died June 23, 1903, and his wife who was born on September 15, 1836, died December 24, 1885. William Boyd, father of Robert, was born August 25, 1808, and died November 23, 1890, while his wife, Catharine Caldwell, was born March 10, 1804, and died April 27, 1882. He was a farmer, and settled at Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, a short time before his death. Robert Boyd was born at Enon Valley, and received an education to fit him for the ministry in the Presbyterian church, following that profession until his death, which occurred in Tipton, Indiana. Ife had children as follows: William C., of Los Angeles, California ; George N .: and Sarah Alice, wife of Dr. Burkhart, of Tipton, Indiana. Robert Boyd had a brother, Joseph, who starved to death in the Andersonville prison at the time of the Civil war.
George N. Boyd attended school until seventeen years of age and then learned the trade of painter, at Carnegie, Pennsylvania, following same two years, and then became brakeman on the Pittsburg, Chartiers, Youghiogheny Railroad, which position he held three years ; he spent another three years as fireman, and for fourteen years acted as engineer. In 1877 he settled at Albion, Pennsylvania, and in 1909 purchased the old Gregory farm of sixty-five acres : this farm is known for many miles around, as the "Sunnyside Farm," which he has been conducting suc- cessfully since. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder. He belongs to Western Star, Blue Lodge of Masons, No. 304, of Albion ; Oriental Chapter No. 187, of Conneautville ; Mount Calvary Commandery No. 67, of Greenville; and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, E. Richardson Division No. 282, at Albion. He is an enterprising, ambitious man, and has the respect of the entire com- munity.
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