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 69
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On Christmas day of the centennial year, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Shacklett to Miss Ida Adams, daughter of the late Dr. John A. Adams. a distinguished physician of Virginia and a lifelong friend of the Shacklett family. Mr. and Mrs. Shacklett have had no children of their own but have reared and educated two daughters of his sister, Mrs. H. Clay Barbee, of Delaplane, Virginia, who is his only near relative living. These foster children are Misses Eva Preston and Lucy Turner Barbee, the former being a trained nurse and graduate of the New York Hospital, New York, in which city she now practices her profession.
EMERY E. KIRKLAND. Long a familiar and respected figure in the hotel field of Girard and an honored citizen of that city, Emery E. Kirk- land has passed his life in the community which has given him a clear record. He was born December 8. 1864, son of Hosea Kirkland, a brave soldier in the Civil war and a respected merchant of Erie county. The family is Scotch as far as the records run, James Kirkland, paternal grandfather being a native of the ancestral land who settled in Girard township at a very carly day and built a house in the old Scotch way
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which stands to this day. The father was a butcher by trade and was always in the meat business, his chief locations being at Girard and Sharpsville, Pennsylvania. In the early and struggling days of bluff Dan Rice, before his circus venture had spread far beyond Pennsylvania, MIr. Kirkland was the chief meat purveyor to animals and men. In 1812 he located at Sharpsville and opened a market, which he conducted for five years, then selling his business and returning to Girard. Mr. Kirk- land served in the Union army as a member of Company I. One Hun- (red and Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and as a result of exposure and hard campaigning contracted a disease from which he eventually died in February, 1882, aged fifty-eight. To the last he was an interested member of the Grand Army post at Girard. His widow died August 28, 1909, being in her eighty-third year, and of the children born to her two are living-Elwilda, who is now the wife of F. Russell, a citizen of Girard ; and Emery E.
Emery E. Kirkland was educated in the Girard schools and accom- plished his first practical work as an employe of the Wrench Factory, pleasing the management so well that he continued to hold this position for nine years. Since leaving that concern he has been identified with the local hotel business, as clerk or manager, and has also been con- nected with other lines of business and enterprise. Mr. Kirkland is mar- ried to Eunice Saunders, born May 14, 1869, and daughter of Perry and Amanda ( Hart) Saunders, her father being an Erie county pioneer of substantial standing. The one child born to Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland was Frank, who died in infancy.
GEORGE TAYLOR was born on the farm on which he now resides, and he is a member of a family whose name is indelibly engraved on the pages of the history of Erie county from its earily pioneer settlement. Isaac Taylor Sr., his grandfather, made the trip from Massachusetts to Erie county on horseback in 181%, and stopping at Edinboro, he walked from here to what is now Cleveland, Ohio, to look over the land there. but not being pleased with the outlook he returned on foot to Washing- ton township and purchased a farm from Andrew Culbertson a mile and a half southeast of Edinboro. Returning then to Massachusetts for his family he came back with them in 1818, the trip, made with ox teams and leading two cows, consuming six weeks, and they took up their abode on the farm which the husband and father had purchased the year pre- viously. There he spent the remainder of his life and died on the 11th of May, 1849, while his wife survived only until the following year. In one of the rooms of their first log cabin was conducted the first school ever held in this part of the county, this being in the year of 1819, but shortly afterward a log school house was built on their property. He was a captain of militia in Massachusetts during the war of 1812, and he was well known and highly respected both at his home there and in Pennsylvania. Both he and his wife were members of the Christian church and both lie buried in the Edinboro cemetery. He was a son of Abram and Molly (Leland) Taylor, and she was a daughter of Moses Leland, prominent citizen in Worcester county, Massachusetts. Their union was blessed by the following children : Flora, Polly, Fanny, Sally and Isaac R., all born in Massachusetts.
Isaac R., a son of Isaac and Hettie (Gay) Taylor, was born Feb- ruary 25, 1813, in Franklin county, Massachusetts, and was but five
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years of age when brought by his parents to Washington township. In his youth he obtained a limited educational training, and remaining on the farm with his parents until 1822 he then moved to Edinboro and built a beautiful large brick residence on Meadville street. He was one of the early school teachers of Washington township, was also a sur- veyor and did much work in that line in this section of the county, and lie later became interested in a flour mill, a planing mill, a pump factory and attended to his farm. He was one of the public spirited residents of this city who donated land for the erection of the state normal school here, and it can be truthfully said of him that it was largely through his interest, influence and devoted work that this educational institution was secured for Edinboro. He took an active interest in all matters pertain- ing to education, and was always ready with his influence and means to help any worthy object and was regarded as one of the community's most influential residents. He was one of the organizers of the Edinboro Savings Bank and was for ten years its president, was a leader of the Democratic party in this section of Erie county and was a justice of the peace from 1850 to 1860. Mr. Taylor married on the 2d of November, 1831. Eleanor, a daughter of Jobe and Nancy (Campbell) Reeder, an- other of the prominent early families of Erie county, and they are men- tioned elsewhere in this work. The following children were born of this union : Dr. I. N. Taylor, a practicing physician of Meadville : John Mil- ton, who was killed on the 2d of July, 1863, at the battles of Gettysburg, a member of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry : Vernice, deceased ; Jobe, who was the manager of the Pump Manufacturing Company, and he died in 1871 ; George, mentioned below ; Oliver E., an attorney who died in the year of 1881 ; James B., who was preparing for the university at the time of his death in 1877: Joseph, who resides on a part of the old Taylor homestead; and Effie E., the widow of Francis Wade and a resident of Edinboro. Mr. Taylor, the father. died in November of 1890, and his wife survived until 1894. He was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, and for over twenty years was its ruling elder. During the last two years of his life he served as a justice of the peace.
George Taylor remained on the home farm and helped with its work until he was twenty years of age, and then spending a short time in Memphis, Tennessee, he worked for others at farm labor for twelve years. Returning then to Erie county he located on a part of the old Taylor homestead, where he has since been engaged in general farming and dairying. He married on December 9, 1884, Miss E. J. Morford, of Mercer county, this state, and they have one son, Paul. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Universalist church. In his political affiliations Mr. Taylor is a Democrat.
JEREMIAH STURGEON. The name of Sturgeon is known through- out Erie county, for here Jeremiah Sturgeon passed his entire life, and here also his father, Jeremiah Sturgeon, Sr., lived for many years. He was one of the first settlers of Fairview, which in the early days was called Sturgeonville in his honor, and he was also one of the earliest of the pioneers of Erie county, enduring the many privations and hardships which were the inevitable concomitants. and during the first six weeks here he was obliged to subsist entirely upon boiled wheat. He later returned to Lancaster, his former home, but after
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRAR
ASTOK, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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Mars J. D. Miles.
P. D. Miles
W YORK LIBRARY
OT 4, LENOX LOEN FOUNDATIONS
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a short time came again to Fairview and he spent the remainder of his life here.
Jeremiah Sturgeon, his son, was born in this village in February of 1811, and throughout his entire life he continued one of its most earnest supporters and leading citizens, honored and revered wher- ever known. He married Miss Catherine McCreary, a member of another of the well known families of Erie county. She was born in Millcreek township of this county in November, 1818, a daughter of Thomas McCreary, who came to Erie county from Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and located in Millcreek. They became the parents of Jeremiah Albert, a well known farmer who died in 1904, and Anna E., who lives with her sister, Jane M., and resides in Fairview. Mr. Sturgeon was a liberal supporter of the Presbyterian church, as well as of all moral, educational and social interests, an earnest worker for the benefit of humanity. He was a Democrat.
Mr. George R. McCreary, who is a resident of Michigan, was born in Erie county January 18, 1839. He was educated in the com- mon schools and is a farmer. He served two years and nine months and twenty-one days in the One hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and was in twenty battles. He is independent in politics.
PHINEAS DUNHAM MILES represents one of the very earliest families of Erie county, and the name which he bears is indelibly traced on the his- tory of its pages from early colonial days to the present. William Miles, his grandfather, was both a farmer and surveyor, and it was as a member of a surveying party under David Watts that he first came to Erie county. In 1795 he brought his family here, the family making the journey on horseback, and his son James, a babe of two and a half years, and his little daughter Marion were each put in large bags and thus suspended one on each side of a horse. To Mrs. Miles belonged the honor of being the first white woman in the county. The family located in what is now Union City, where William Miles farmed and followed surveying, and also with pack horses brought in provisions from Pittsburg to the early settlers. In those early days he built mills to grind their corn and on one occasion with two or three others he walked the entire distance to Pitts- burg to vote for one of the early governors. Both he and his wife now lie buried at Girard Cemetery.
James Miles, a son of this honored early pioneer of Erie county, was born in Northumberland county. Pennsylvania, and his wife, nee Eliza Dunham, was born possibly in Crawford county. In 1828 he left his parents' home and located on a farm at the mouth of Elk creek in Girard township, and there he spent the remainder of his life as an agriculturist, his death occurring in March of 1868. His political affiliations were with the Whig party, and he at one time served as one of the commissioners of Erie county. He was also associate judge of his county, and held many of the township offices. Mrs. Miles preceded her husband a few years to the home beyond, and both lie buried in Girard Cemetery. In their family were the following children: Mary J., deceased; Phineas Dunham, mentioned below ; Julia Maria, who married John H. Hall and resides in North Girard ; William W., who was killed in the Civil war ; Zeruah M., who is deceased ; John F., whose home is in Springfield town-
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ship, Erie county ; and Eliza R., the wife of A. S. M. Morgan, of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania.
Phineas D. Miles was born February 11, 1833, in the frame house which sheltered the family for many years, and his educational training was received in the primitive log school houses which marked the be- ginning of the splendid educational system of Erie county, and this train- ing was later continued in the academy at Girard. Farming has been his life occupation, but in 1893 he retired from the work and has since made his home in North Girard. He married a native daughter of Spring- field township, Miss Nancy Dixon, January 19, 1859, and their three children are Charles W., Clara and Henry Dixon, all at home with their parents excepting the son Henry D., whose home is in Buffalo, New York, and who married Alice Dunbar and has two children : Mildred D. and James D. Mr. Miles votes with the Republican party, and his wife and daughter Clara are members of the Episcopal church in North Girard.
DURWARD W. TANNER is one of the most progressive and successful of the Venango township agriculturists, and he is also one of its native born sons, his birth occurring August 28, 1858. In its schools he received his educational training, and early in life he took up the work of a teacher, but his principal occupation has been the tilling of the soil, in which he has been more than ordinarily successful and he now owns and occupies a valuable estate of one hundred and thirty acres, which is de- voted mainly to dairy purposes. He has a fine herd of eighteen cows.
Mr. Tanner is the son of Morgan B. Tanner and a grandson on the paternal side of William and Lydia (Foster) Tanner. William Tanner in his day was a large land owner, owning an estate of about two hun- dred acres, and he was a man of considerable means and importance in his community. His children were James, Morgan, Amos, Lydia, Jane and Mary. Morgan B. Tanner was born in Washington county, New York, in August, 1824, and he was married in New York state to Electa Whitney, who was born in September, 1824. They came to Erie county about the year of 1839, and their home was thereafter in Venango town- ship. Mr. Tanner was one of the early school teachers of this township, and he was a man of learning and influence, and was also a mechanic and farmer. He served nine months in the Civil war in the 168th Pennsyl- vania Regiment, Company T, and six months in Company E. 118th Penn- sylvania Calvary. He was an enthusiastic member of Gen. H. L. Brown Post, G. A. R., department of Pennsylvania. He was very patriotic and some of the most pleasant hours of his life were spent with his war com- rades. He was sixty-seven years at the time of his death and was buried by the members of the Grand Army post. He died on the 8th of July, 1891, at at his home in Venango township, which place had been his home for fifty years.
His wife, Electa (Whitney) Tanner, was born in the town of Mina, Chautauqua county, New York, September 7. 1824. She was one of twelve children and was wedded to Morgan B. Tanner on her twentieth birthday. September 7, 1844, and they began housekeeping in a small house which used to stand near where Cassius Turner now lives. Mr. Tanner being called to the war when it first broke out and again toward the close. this placed the arduous duties of caring for a family of six young children wholly upon Mrs. Tanner. but she bore the burden faith- fully. She was a dutiful mother, a Christian who consistently and thoughtfully read her Bible, a neighbor respected by all. She survived
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until the 5th of August, 1903. Their family numbered the following children : Emma, Ellen, Matilda, Lucinda, Lydia, Durward W. and Alice; but Lucinda, Lydia and Alice are deceased.
Durward W. Tanner married December 1, 1892, Miss Carrie, a daughter of Thomas McDowell, and they have a daughter, Mary E. She is a student in Wattsburg high school. Mrs. Tanner was born in Vermont January 1857. During six years Mr. Tanner has been honored with the office of school director. He is a member of the Grange, and he and his family are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Wattsburg. Pennsylvania. Mr. Tanner is a Republican.
SHERIDAN T. HAMILTON. A man of mechanical ingenuity and tal- ent, Sheridan T. Hamilton has wisely taken every offered opportunity for developing his natural tastes, and in his special line of work has achieved deserved success, as a contractor for the Shreve Chair Company, in Union City, holding a responsible position. A son of Leroy Hamilton, he was born in Belmont, Allegany county, New York, July 29, 1874, and was there brought up and educated. Leroy Hamilton married Isa- belle Mickle, whose father, G. Mickle, served as a soldier in the Civil war, and it is said, though it is a doubtful fact, that he likewise took part in the War of 1812. Three children were born of their union, namely : J. L., who served in the Spanish-American war, and is now engaged in business in Union City ; Jessie B., wife of T. L. Manley ; and Sheridan T., of this biographical sketch.
Beginning the battle of life for himself when a lad of fifteen years, Sheridan T. Hamilton put forth his best endeavors, laboring diligently and perseveringly to obtain such a knowledge of mechanics as should enable him to develop his latent talents, and for the past seventeen years he has been employed as a chair maker. For six years he has occupied liis present position as a contractor for the Shreve Chair Company, in Union City, his special work being to get the chair ready for the filler. His original contract called for more work than he is now doing, but finding it too laborious for him it has since been diminished about one half. Mr. Hamilton has eleven men under his supervision, and they turn out eighteen hundred chairs each day while the mill turns out thirty-five hundred chairs in ten hours, a seemingly immense supply for one firm.
On August 1, 1893, Mr. Hamilton married Bertha E., daughter of John and Susan Cupples, prominent residents of Union township, where her birth occurred September 27, 1875. Further ancestral history of her family may be found elsewhere in this volume, in connection with the sketch of Curt Cupples. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, namely : Marjorie M., deceased ; and Leon L. Mr. Hamilton belongs to the Coleman Hose Company, and is also a member of the patriotic society known as the Sons of Veterans. Mr. and Mrs. Hamil- ton are both connected by membership with the Baptist church of Union City. They have a beautiful and attractive home on South street, and there delight to entertain their large circle of friends and acquaintances, greeting each and every one with hearty hospitality.
CURT CUPPLES. A young man of mechanical ability and skill, Curt Cupples, of Union City, is actively identified with its manufacturing industry as a contractor for the Shreve Chair Company, with which he has been associated since 1906. A son of John Cupples, he was born on a farm in Union township, Erie county, in 1873, and was there bred,
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receiving his education in the district schools. John Cupples was engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout his active life, being a resident of Erie county until his death. He married Susan Middleton, who was born in Erie county, while he was a native of Ireland. Six children blessed their union, as follows : Verna, now Mrs. Hatch; Jennie; Middle- ton; Iris, with whom Mrs. Cupples resides, married C. C. Rice; Bertha E., wife of S. T. IIamilton, of whom a brief sketch appears on another page of this work; and Curt.
When ready to begin life as a wage-earner, Curt Cupples entered the Hatch Broom Factory, in which he worked steadily for four years. He was subsequently engaged in the livery business for a short time, but not finding the occupation congenial to his tastes, he accepted his present position with the Shreve Chair Company in 1906, and, with the assistance of the eight men in his employ, assumes the charge of getting the arms of the chairs ready for the finisher.
Mr. Cupples married Emma Duncombe, a daughter of John T. Dun- combe, and they have one child, Mildred Cupples, born in 1908. The Duncombe family was prominent in the early annals of Erie county, the first of the name to settle in this section of the state having been Dr. Duncombe, a pioneer physician. Dr. Duncombe married Mary Bennett, and they became the parents of five children, as follows: Mary, Eliza- beth, Wilbur F., John T., and Charles. John T. Duncombe bore arms in defense of the Union during the Civil war, enlisting first in Company C, Fourth New York Heavy Artillery, and at the expiration of his term of enlistment re-enlisted, and served until the cessation of hostilities. Dur- ing one of the later engagements of the war, he was taken by the enemy, and confined for many months in either Libby or Andersonville, the pris- oners in both places suffering untold horrors. When finally released, and honorably discharged from the service, he was so broken in health that for a time his recovery was doubtful. But he lived for many years an honored and respected citizen.
To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Grant, two chil- dren were born, Charles W. and Emma, wife of Mr. Cupples. Eliza Grant was a daughter of Charles Grant, who served in the War of 1812, and her grandfather, great-grandfather of Mrs. Cupples, was Rev. Isaac Grant, a Methodist minister, who fought bravely in the Revolutionary war, doing his duty as faithfully and willingly on the field of conflict as in the pulpit. He belonged to a family noted for its patriotism, being a son of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the soldier-president of the United States for eight years.
G. A. AUER. Prominently identified with the industrial resources of Union City, is G. A. Auer, an experienced and skilful engineer, now in charge of the power house of the Union City Chair Company. He is a man of more than average ability and intelligence, a close student of both books and men, and is well endowed with the energy, enterprise and push that invariably command success in any line of business. A son of the late C. A. Auer, he was born, January 13, 1858, in Licking county, Ohio, but was brought up and educated in Corry, Pennsylvania.
C. A. Auer was born in Germany, and died, in 1899, in Corry. A thorough-going German business man, his capacity to grasp an idea, and then to develop it into a practical and tangible reality was striking. He was a tanner by trade, thoroughly versed in its arts in every department. After spending some years in Ohio, he came, in 1863, to Pennsylvania,
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locating in Corry, where, in 1864, he built a tannery, the capacity of which was one thousand sides per week. He subsequently enlarged his plant, increasing its capacity to fifteen hundred sides a week, and continued its operations until 18:1, when he sold out at an advantage. With character- istic enterprise, he soon erected another tannery, with a capacity for six hundred sides per week, in this tanning upper and harness leather, only. This he managed with success and profit until 1889, when he met with a great disaster, being entirely burned out, and sustaining a complete loss of $35,000. This misfortune falling upon him when he was well advanced in years, so crippled him financially that he never rebuilt, but lived retired the remainder of his years.
An intelligent observer of men and events, he accumulated a vast fund of general information and useful knowledge, from which he could at any time draw for his own gratification, or for the enlightenment of others, making him a most congenial companion and friend. Liberal and charitable, he was one of the originators, and heavy stockholders, of the organization that purchased the Corry Cemetery, not for profit, but that it might be resold to would-be purchasers at a nominal price. He was influential in local affairs, and was elected at least five times as council- inan. He was a consistent and worthy member of the German Lutheran church, and belonged to various social organizations, including the Knights of Honor, the Independent Order of Foresters, and the Haru- gari, a German society. He married Christine Raus, a native of Ger- many, and they became the parents of eight children, as follows: C. A., a currier in Corry ; Harry, of Corry, an insurance agent; Mrs. Clara M. Osborne and Mrs. Emma Dean, both of Corry ; Mrs. Rose Horn, of Bal- timore ; G. A., of this sketch ; F. P., of Buffalo, New York; and W. R., of Erie.
After the burning of his father's tannery, in 1889, G. A. Auer found himself thrown upon his own resources, but his previous experience in the tannery made him comparatively independent, his acquired mechan- ical knowledge having fitted him for positions of trust and responsibil- ity. Immediately beginning his career as an engineer, he remained for a number of years in Warren county, first having charge for two years of a stationary engine for the Torpedo Lumber Company, and being sim- ilarly employed another two years with L. B. Wood, in Grand Valley. Subsequently returning to Corry, Mr. Auer was for five years engineer in the plant of Weisser Brothers. Removing to Union City in 1903. he has since had full charge of the power house of the Union City Chair Company. His engine is three hundred and fifty horse-power, with an electric generator of three hundred and forty-five horse-power. The engine, constructed in Erie, is of the Skinner make, and the electric out- fit is of the Crooker & Wheeler design, both standard manufactures. Mr. Auer married Miss Emma De Etta McIntire, and to them three children have been born, namely : Boyd, Maud, and Ethel.
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