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 72
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Harry B. Randall married, June 3, 1896, Lillian D. McIntire, who was born in Corry, August 9, 1872, a daughter of Andrew and Addie McIntire. Mr. and Mrs. Randall have two children, namely: Clarissa A., born April 21, 1897, and Harold G., born January 10, 1899.
CLARK C. RICE was formerly the efficient editor of the Union City Evening Enterprise, a semi-weekly paper which enjoys a wide circulation. The first issue of this journal was published in 1906, on the 24th of May. and it continued on as a daily until the 11th of March, 1907, when it was changed to its present form of a semi-weekly. The Union City Evening Enterprise was organized on September 29, 1906, as a stock company with fourteen stockholders and a capital stock of ten thou- sand dollars, while its first editor was H. W. Palmer, and he was suc- ceeded by Morris Duncan, formerly editor of the Wattsburg Sentinel, which was later absorbed by the Enterprise. Mr. Duncan was succeeded in turn by F. W. Dillon, and he by its present editor, Clark C. Rice. On the 15th of October, 1908, the company was reorganized, and on the 26th of December, following, the Enterprise Company was formed. by A. B. Boyd, its president and manager; C. C. Rice, its treasurer and editor; W. E. Everson, its secretary, and two others, the three first named having the controlling interest. In politics the journal is independent.
Clark C. Rice was born in Union township, Erie county, Pennsyl- vania, December 24, 1871, and is the only child of John W. and Hannah (Doyle) Rice. The Rice family was the first family to settle at what is now known as Riceville in Crawford county. The father died in the year 1881. The son grew to years of maturity on his father's farm, and obtained his education in the schools of Union City and in Pro- fessor Luce's Business College in this city, and he also spent two years in a high school in Creighton, Nebraska. During the nine years fol- lowing his marriage he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, and then coming to Union City entered the employ of one of the chair company's manufactories. After one year there he turned his attention to the livery business, and after four years in, that vocation he entered the employ of the Shreve Company, where he filled various offices and re- mained until 1908, the year he accepted the editor's chair with the Union City Evening Enterprise. He served two terms as a member of the township's school board, and from 1906 to 1909 was a member of the Union City council.
On the 16th of March, 1893, Mr. Rice was married to Iris, a daugh- ter of John and Susan ( Middleton) Cupples, and their two children are Lawrence J. and Blanche M. Mr. Rice is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 220. and of the Knights of Pythias. Lodge No. 315, and also of the Union City Grange. He is chan- cellor commander of his lodge at Union City. He is a Prohibitionist and takes high grounds on the subject of temperance. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church in Union City.
PETTIBONE FAMILY. The first of the name in Erie county was Titus Pettibone, who came here from Genesee county, New York, al- though his birth had occurred in Connecticut. His wife, Cynthia Gridley, a member of the well known Gridley family, was also born in Connecti- cut, and it was just following their marriage that they came to Erie county, Pennsylvania, and took up land just north of the village of
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Girard. This was in the early and formative period of 1832. There they lived and died. He was at one time captain of the home militia, and he was active in the underground railroad just preceding and dur- ing the Civil war, thus aiding many a refugee to freedom. His death occurred in the year of 1865, at the age of seventy-one, and his wife survived until 1875, dying at the age of eighty years. Their union was blessed by the birth of seven sons, as follows: Henry, born September 15, 1813, died September 21, 1887; William, born April 14, 1816, died June 22, 1886; Isaac; Eli; James, who was a captain during the Civil war; and Charles, who served as a private in that conflict. The four younger sons were farmers and lived and died in Erie county. Titus Pettibone and his wife were earnest and devout members of the Baptist church, active and efficient in its work.
Riley Pettibone, a son of Titus, the pioneer, was born September 8, 1825, and during his early manhood he worked in plaster mills, but leaving the mills he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and was a farmer during the remainder of his life. He married first Mary M. Hall, a daughter of Benjamin Hall, who is mentioned on other pages of this work. His wife Mary was a daughter of Patrick and Ellen (O'Con- nor) Ward, who came to this country from Ireland and lived for a time in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. From there they came to Erie county in about 1800 and located on what is now the Lake road. The farm which they secured at that time remained in the same name until the present year, when a portion of it was sold. Patrick Ward lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and six years, and both he and his wife were laid to rest in the Girard cemetery. Mrs. Pettibone died in 1866, after becoming the mother of the following children: Alice, who was born April 1, 1850; Myron C., born February 1, 1853, mar- ried Arria Taylor, and died October 30, 1881; Sarah C., born July 16, 1855, is the widow of Granger Moorehouse and resides in North Girard, the mother of two daughters, Ethel and Susie; George R., born August 11, 1857, is a farmer near Platea, Pennsylvania ; Ella M., born February 11, 1859, died on the 11th of May, following; Bennie, born January 28, 1860, died November 14, 1861; Anna M., born May 15, 1862, resides at North Girard; and Ulysses J., born July 1, 1864, died August 14, 1866. The wife and mother of these children died in 1866, and Mr. Pettibone was a second time married, this time to Miss Mary Cook, but this wife is also deceased, having died in 1905. Their two children were Mary S. and Clara Gertrude. The elder was born Novem- ber 15, 1867, and died July 15, 1891, and the younger, born July 29, 1874, died in 1905. Riley Pettibone after a long and useful life answered the call to the home beyond in 1903. Both he and his wife were devout members of the Methodist church, and his political affiliations were first with the Republican party, but later he was a Prohibitionist and took a firm stand on the subject of temperance.
THE SEELEY FAMILY is another of the old and honored ones in Erie county, and its founder was Austin Seeley, who came here from Otsego county, New York, about 1819. His home was first near Elk Creek, adjoining Lake street, but later he bought land on the east side of Lake street in what is now North Girard. When the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad was completed to this point he donated the land for its depot and also the railroad park, and he was the first station agent for the company. In many ways he aided materially in
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the upbuilding and advancement of his new home, and his name is prominently recorded on the pages of Erie county's carly and formative history. Born in 1219, he lived to the good old age of eighty-six, dying in 1865, and he now lies buried in the Girard cemetery.
Mr. Seeley married, in the state of New York, Phoebe R. Allen, and their children are as follows: Samuel A., born November 2, 1822. died in 1876; William A., born March 18, 1824, died November 3, 1907; Esther M., born November 27, 1825, died April 22, 1868; Susanna M., born July 4, 1821, died November 28, 1845; Lucy A., born June 23, 1831, died May 13, 1893; and Erwin, born February 18, 1841, is the only surviving member of this once large family and his home is in Iowa.
William A. Seeley, the second son of Austin, was born March 18, 1824, and after receiving the common school education of the early days he became identified with railroad work, and during thirty-six years was in the employ of the Michigan Southern Company, serving as the station agent here during eighteen years of that time. During his early life he was a farmer and lived with his father. His first marriage was to Miss Charlotte Lawrence on the 1st of March, 1846, but she died in July of 1847, leaving one son, Eugene A., born January 16, 1847, and who died August 8, 1861. On March ?4, 1868, Mr. Seeley married Mariva A. Robertson, born May 30, 1830, and she died on the 12th of March, 1890, without issue. His third marriage was to Miss Alice Pet- tibone on November 26, 1890. She was born on April 1, 1850, and her home is now in North Girard. Mr. Seeley died on the 3d of Novem- ber, 1907, after a long and useful life and as a faithful and earnest mem- ber of the Christian church. He now lies buried in the cemetery at Girard, the resting place of many another brave and faithful early resident of Erie county. He was in politics a Republican.
LEVI JONES. Many of the earlier settlers of Erie county were of New England birth and breeding, inheriting from their honored ancestors the honesty, integrity, and habits of industry and thrift that made them most worthy of becoming the founders of new and prosperous settle- ments on the frontier. Levi Jones, a life-long resident of Connecticut, born there September 23, 1749, and dying in 1807, was the father of three of the pioneers of this part of Pennsylvania, Jeremiah Jones, Levi Jones, and Abijah Jones, all of whom settled in Greenfield township, Erie county, in 1820.
Levi Jones Jr., one of these stalwart sons, was born in Connecti- cut, December 1, 1780, and came here with his family among its earlier pioneers. Taking up one hundred acres of heavily timbered land. he cleared and improved a good homestead, on which he resided until his death, November 3, 1859. He married Susannah Goodenough, who was born in Connecticut, September 16, 1782, and died in Greenfield township, Erie county, March 17, 1864. Their children were as fol- lows: Polly, born September 29, 1803: Willard, born in 1805; Ira, born in 1807; William, born in 1809; Bela H., born in 1811; David A., born in 1813; Buel, born in 1817; and Clarissa, born in 1822.
Abijah Jones, born in Connecticut March 3, 1292, came with his brothers to Erie county, and took up one hundred acres of land in Greenfield township, and from the wilderness reclaimed a good farm. Here he lived and died, his death occurring March 4, 1880. On Decem- ber 25, 1811, he married Clarissa Howard, who died in 1854, leaving
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three children, namely : Levi, born in 1812 ; Mahalah, born in 1815; and Clorinda, born in 1817.
Jeremiah Jones, second son of Levi Jones, of Connecticut, was born in that state in 1283. Coming to Greenfield township with his brothers in 1820, he purchased three hundred acres of land that was still in its original wildness, and by dint of industry and well-directed toil im- proved a valuable estate. A man of considerable intellectual force and ability, he taugh school here a number of terms, and held various town- ship offices. He married Sallie Warriner, who was born in New Dur- ham, New York, May 5, 1793, and died December 25, 1856. He died on the home farm, October 7, 1864. They were the parents of eleven children, namely : Laura, born September 11, 1811; Simon, born Janu- ary 8, 1814; Mary, October 18, 1815; Hiram, June 2, 1818; Warren, January 7, 1820; Lois, August 21, 1821; Luther, April 6. 1825; Wilson December 9, 1826; Joel, November 1, 1828; Charles, June 3, 1831; and Lucinda, January 13, 1834.
Wilson Jones, son of Jeremiah Jones, has succeeded to the occupa- tion of his ancestors, and is now numbered among the substantial and well-to-do agriculturists of Greenfield township. He has one hundred and forty-seven acres of choice and valuable land, which he devotes largely to dairying purposes. Mr. Jones has been twice married. He inarried first, July 14, 1863, Lucy A. Hopkins, who was born May 17, 1839, and died in 1889. By this union, Mr. Jones has four children, namely: Morris, born August 1. 1867; Almira, born September 21, 1869; Florence, born April 24, 1871; and Grace, born September 12, 1874.
Mr. Jones married second, August 19, 1891, Helen Young, a daugh- ter of Horatio N. Young, for many years a well known educator of Erie county. Mrs. Jones was born January 30, 1859, in Conneautville, and received excellent educational advantages. After her graduation from the Lake Shore Seminary, she was for several terms successfully em- ployed in teaching school. She is talented and accomplished, an artist of considerable note, her crayon work having captured prizes in more than one contest. Her brother. George W. Young, was a member of Company B, Second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, and spent eight months in Andersonville prison, where he literally starved to death. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have one child, Mary Y. Jones, whose birth occurred January 4, 1893. This daughter, Mary Y., is a young lady, who has inherited her talented mother's artistic ability and shows great aptitude in sketching and oil painting. She is a beautiful girl and her intellectuality is strong for one of her age.
GEORGE SAMMONS. The Sammons family is of Holland origin, a nation that has contributed much to the better element of society in America, and they trace their descent in a direct line to the American founder, Thomas Sammons, who located probably at New Amsterdam. He was born in the year of 1:12, and for his wife he married Petronella Schoonmacher, who was born in 1216. The next in direct line was Thomas Sammons, Jr., and his wife was Elizabeth Bush, and they became the great-grandparents of George Sammons of this review. Thomas Sam- mons served as a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and died in the service of the Colonies, and his only child was a son Cornelius, by trade a carpenter. The latter was also the proprietor of a tannery, and he became a wealthy man. He was born on the 17th of March, 1777, and
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for his first wife he married a Miss Anna Wood, born in 1783, and for his second wife he wedded Jane Gardinier.
Benjamin J. Sammons, a son of Cornelius, was born in 1801, in Ulster county, New York. He married Anna Hess, of German descent and born in Montgomery county, New York, in 1806. Their first home was in Schoharie, that state, where they lived until 1845; from that year until 1855 they were in Montgomery county, same state, and then coming to Erie county they located in Amity township, near Watts- burg. Five children were born of their union, as follows: Cornelius, now deceased, whose home was in Monroe county, New York; Mrs. Martha Ladd, deceased; George, of this review ; the Rev. Isaiah Depew, of East Springfield, Pennsylvania ; and Thomas B.
George Sammons was born at Sharon, New York, January 10, 1832, and he was reared and educated in his native commonwealth, and from there came with his parents to his present home in 1855. He has a splendidly improved farm of two hundred and forty acres, fine dairy land, and his methods of farming are of the most approved order and bring splendid results. He is a stanch and true Republican in his political affiliations, and has held several of the offices of his township.
On the 31st of March, 1858, Mr. Sammons was married to Miss Frances A. Harrington, from Stanford, New York, and their children are: William H .; Frances B., the wife of George Reed, of Mill Creek township, and the mother of five children, Emma, Harold, Charlotte, Frances and Laura ; Martha L., the wife of U. S. Fuller, and the mother of Lawrence. George S., Francis H. (deceased), Justus and Marguerite; Fordyce, who married Pearl Parton, of Lincoln, Ne- braska, and Georgiana and De Witt B. at home with their father. De Witt B., who is now a farmer, was educated in the common schools and was also a student in Edinboro Normal. He wedded Jessie Tanner, and has two sons and two daughters, as follows: Edna A., a student in the Wattsburg high school and studying instrumental music ; Mabel S., who is in the tenth grade and also studying music; De Forest T., in the eighth grade ; and William Dana, in the fifth grade. Mr. Sam- mons and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, and he votes with the Prohibition party.
Mrs. Frances Sammons died on the 16th of November, 1888, and for his second wife George Sammons wedded. December 31. 1891. Jennie, a daughter of the Rev. B. S. Hill. and the one child of their union is Dorcas. Mrs. Sammons died on the 28th of April, 1899. Mr. Sam- mons is a member of the Presbyterian church, and he has served as its elder during a number of years. He supports every good and right- eous enterprise for the upbuilding of his community, and he not only believes in but exemplifies in his every day life the principles of the Golden Rule.
MARCENE SAMUEL LEWIS is a worthy and successful farmer of Amity township, who owns and operates one hundred and seventy-five acres of valttable land devoted to dairving. He has a herd of twenty graded milch cows, and it is an index of his standing and prosperity to know that the butter which he makes commands the highest price in the New York market. He has been the proprietor of his present fine farm since 1889, and for twenty years has operated it in a way to give his brother farmers a practical demonstration of modern and success- ful methods as applied to dairy agriculture. Mr. Lewis is a native
JEWIE MABABY
A. IRWIN LOOP FAMILY
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of Venango township, this county, and was born March 24, 1857, his family, which was originally from New York state, becoming a fixture in the township in 1832. Marcene S. was reared and educated in Ven- ango township, and quite early in life left his farming at home for simi- lar occupation in Kansas and Dakota. during a portion of his two years in the west being also employed in a slaughter house.
Upon his return to Venango township Mr. Lewis resumed farm- ing on his own land, and in 1889 purchased the farm which he now operates, and which is acknowledged to be one of the finest for its pur- poses in Erie county. On February 18. 1885, he had been united in marriage with Miss Carrie E. Maynard, daughter of W. C. and Salome (Brown) Maynard, of Amity township, and the child of this union, Leonard G., was born in 1887. He is a bright young lawyer of Clare- more, Oklahoma, but since his graduation from the Valparaiso ( Indiana) University in 1907 has served as principal of the United States Academy at Mekusukey, in the former state. Leonard G. Lewis graduated from the Wattsburg high school and the Valparaiso University ; received his law degree in 1907, and was admitted to practice in the courts of Indiana and the United States court. Soon afterward he started for Oklahoma and his prospective practice.
Marcene S. Lewis, of this sketch, is a son of H. E. and Mary A. F. (Tanner) Lewis, the father being a native of Unadilla, New York, born in 1824, and the mother of Washington county, that state. The former was brought by his parents to Erie county in 1832, when the family settled on a farm in Venango township which comprised one hundred acres of unbroken land. There H. E. Lewis spent the re- mainder of his life, as an industrious youth and man and a successful farmer. He died in 1902 and his wife, in 1886, they having become the parents of the following: Frank M., Irene S., W. T., Marcene S., Albert A., George E. and James M. Lewis. All of the foregoing are deceased, except the third and fourth mentioned. The parental grandfather was Stephen Lewis, and his children were Nathaniel. Betsey, Sarah, H. E., Martha, David, Samuel and one whose name is unknown. The maternal grandparents were W. W. and Lydia (Foster) Tanner, and they became the parents of James. Morgan B., Mary A. F., Jane E., Lydia and Amos F. James Tanner was married to Miss Martha Bradley, who bore him Myron. John B., Lena. Mary and Archie. Morgan B. married Electa Whitney, to whom were born Emma. Ellen, Matilda, Lucinda. Leward and Alice. Jane E. became the wife of S. Cliff and the mother of Edgar and Charles. Lydia married J. B. Bradley and was the mother of Jen- nie E., Ella and Lydia. Amos F. Tanner also married. Mr. Lewis has voted the Democratic ticket and also the Prohibition, and he is a mem- ber of the K. O. T. M. Mrs. Lewis is a member of the Christian church.
A. IRWIN LOOP. one of the business men of North East, was born in North East township, April 12, 1859, the only son and child of Charles and Hannah (Dolph) Loop. born respectively in the township of North East, and in Schuyler county, New York. He is a grandson of Peter and Sena (Spencer) Loop, of the state of New York, and of Cyrus Dolph. also from the Empire state. Peter Loop was one of the early settlers of the township of North East in Erie county, and during many years he was numbered among its agriculturists, and Cyrus Dolph was another of the township's pioneers, coming here in 1832. He was both a farmer and weaver, and both families lived and died here. Charles and Vol. II-33
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Hannah (Dolph) Loop were married in North East township, but a short time after their marriage they left the farm and moved to the borough of North East, where he was a painter and the foreman of a brick yard. He died in 1896, and his wife died three years later, in 1899.
A. Irwin Loop, their only child, was a lad of sixteen when he left school and began work for himself. He had received an excellent education in the North East Academy and in the Lake Shore Seminary, and from that time until he reached his twenty-first year he conducted a fish boat on Lake Erie, and since that time he has been engaged in saw-mill work. He owns a valuable farm of one hundred and fifty acres. which is devoted to the raising of fruits of all kinds.
He married in August of 1880, Emma Phancoo, born in North East township, April 12, 1861, where her parents, John and Barbara (Dill) Phancoo, were well known residents, but their native land was Germany. He is a graduate of the Agricultural College of Cornell University Ithaca, New York, receiving the degree of B. S. A. in the class of 1905. The only child of this union is Howard Scott, at home with his parents. Mr. Loop is an independent political voter, and since 1899 he has served continuously as a councilman of the borough of North East. During three terms he was also a school director. He is a member of the fraternal order of Odd Fellows, Grape City Lodge No. 1273 of North East.
SAMUEL PHELPS is one of the most highly respected citizens of V'enango township, where he owns and resides on a valuable estate of one hundred and fifty-seven acres of fine dairy land. His entire busi- ness career has been devoted to agricultural pursuits with marked suc- cess, and in connection with his farm he also operates a dairy of nine- teen cows. Born in Allegany county, New York, in September, 1830, he was but two years old when brought to Venango township, Erie county, Pennsylvania, by his parents, Samuel and Polly (Brown) Phelps, both of whom were born in Vermont. But moving from there to Alle- gany county, New York, they lived for some time at the latter place, and finally came, as above stated, to Erie county in 1832.
On their farm in Venango township they reared their children to lives of usefulness and honor, and finally passed to their reward. Eleven children blessed their marriage union, namely: Julia, William, Scena, Polly, Sallie and Mary, all deceased; Betsy; Ephraim, also deceased ; Gardner, who died of disease contracted during his service in the Civil war; and George and Samuel. Samuel Phelps, the father, was a pros- perous farmer, a good neighbor and friend and a loyal and public- spirited citizen.
In 1859 Samuel Phelps, the son, was happily married to Miss Helen Page, but she died in 1894, without issue. Mr. Phelps is independent in politics.
DANIEL SAYRE, deceased, belonged to a family who was as closely associated with the history of Erie county as any other of its pioneers, and his own name is enrolled among those who developed this com- munity from its primitive state to its present prosperity and progress. Born in Bainbridge, New York, March 28, 1830, he was the only one of the children of Daniel and Sally ( Elithorp) Sayre born outside of the then boundaries of Fairview township, but which is now known as Gir- ard township, and he was a grandson of Charles and Diana (Stephens) Sayre.
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Daniel Sayre came with his wife to Erie county about the year of 1817, locating on the ridge road east of the village of Girard, about two miles, in what is now Girard township, and there he cleared a farm and in time became one of the large land owners and leading agriculturists of the community. But about the year 1829 he returned to the state of New York and lived at Bainbridge, the birthplace of his first born child, for about two years, coming again at the close of that period to Eric county and spending the remainder of his life here. In 1845 he built the two and a half story brick house on his farm which is yet standing and which was for many years the home of his son Daniel, one of the historic old landmarks of the county. There he died on the 3d of June, 1871, and a few years afterward, on the 9th of October, 1875, his wife joined him in the home beyond, both being laid to rest in the cemetery at Girard. In their family were the following chil- dren : George A., Henry E., Diana, Orphania, Lucretia, Amelia, Daniel and Hezekiah.
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