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 76
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AOTOH, LENOX TA.DEN FOUNDATIONS
Edward Branch, m.D.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
elections. He is a member of the United Brethren church, to which his wife likewise belongs, and both are members of the Grange.
DR. EDWARD CRANCH, one of the leading homeopaths of Pennsyl- vania, has been prominent as a physician and surgeon of Erie for the past third of a century. A native of New York City, born October 16, 1851, the commencement of his genealogy rests in one Richard Cranch, a rigid Puritan of Dartsmouth, Devonshire, England. He represented one of several generations of woolen manufacturers. Richard Cranch, his great-grandson, was the first of the family to come to America, set- tling at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1746, and there following his trade as - a watchmaker and in the later period of his life becoming postmaster, judge, colonial senator and a citizen generally of marked public influence. This American ancestor was born in Kingsbridge, Devonshire, October 26, 1726 ; married Mary, daughter of Rev. William Smith, and of their union was one son, William, born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, July 17, 1769. The William mentioned last was educated in the law; went to the national capital in 1794; was one of the first Commissioners of the District of Columbia and served for five years as associate justice of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, under appointment of his uncle. President John Adams, after which, at the unanimous request of the Washington bar, President Thomas Jefferson elevated him to the chief justiceship, which he retained until his death, September 1. 1855. His wife Nancy was a daughter of William Greenleaf, who was sheriff of Boston during the Revolutionary war and first read the Declaration of Independence in that city. William and Nancy Cranch, the grand- parents of Dr. Cranch, had thirteen children born to them-the seventh, John, at Washington, District of Columbia, on the end of February, 1802. This son, after graduating from Columbian University, in 1826, studied art in Paris, Rome and Florence for some four years, and then located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he painted the portraits of many cele- brated men of his time. On April 15, 1845. he married Charlotte, daugh- ter of Charles H. Appleton, of Baltimore, Maryland, and after their marriage they moved to Boston, where three children were born to them :- Hannah who married Thomas F. Moses, president of Urbana (Ohio) University, and Richard and John, who died in infancy. From Boston the family moved to New York City, where the father became a member of the National Academy of Design and had his studio in the old University building. Three years later they went to Washington. The father died at Urbana, Ohio, on the 6th of January, 1891. One of . the brothers of the deceased ( uncle of the doctor) was Christopher P. Cranch, the poet and artist.
It was while the family resided in New York, as stated, that Edward Cranch was born. In 1866 he was placed under the tutelage of his brother-in-law. Dr. T. F. Moses, pursuing his studies for two years in Hamilton county, Ohio, and afterward entering Columbian University. Washington. He graduated from that institution in 1871 with the degree Ph. B .. leading his class in scholarship. Although he completed a clas- sical course, he had already commenced the study of medicine in 1871. enlisting the same year in the United States army. He was at once ap- pointed hospital steward and served in the surgeon general's office for three years, completing his medical course in the New York Homeopathic College from which he graduated in 1875. The following year he was deputy superintendent and resident physician in the New York Homeo- pathic Surgical Hospital (now known as Hahnemann Hospital).
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In 1826, thoroughly equipped for both the medical and surgical prac- tice of his profession, Dr. Cranch located at Erie, Pennsylvania, where he soon gained a position in the front ranks of his associates and has since continuously advanced. For years he has made a special and thorough study of materia medica, and many of his papers are recorded in the transactions of the various societies of which he is a member. Among these is the national association of his school, the American In- stitute of Homeopathy. By appointment of successive governors, the doctor has served for fourteen years on the State Board of Medical Examiners, and is a member of the State and County Homeopathic Medical associations. He was one of the original members of the In- ternational Hahnemannian Association, an influential organization still existing.
In 1875 Dr. Cranch married Miss Rouette F. Hunt, daughter of Professor J. W. Hunt, of Washington, District of Columbia, where the ceremony occurred. Mrs. Cranch, who is a native of Boston, is the mother of Charles E., Arthur G., Raymond G., Walter A., Eliot G., Edith R. and Eugene T. Cranch. Both the doctor and his wife are members of the New Church (Swedenborgian), with which they united November 18, 1888.
REV. ADOLPH L. BENZE. Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in and illumined the mortal tenement of Adolph Leo- pold Benze, late pastor of St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran church, in the city of Erie, where he labored with all of consecrated zeal and gave of the best of his strong and exalted nature for the uplifting of his fellow men. His strength was as the number of his days, and now that he rests from his labors there yet remain the definite results of his labors and influence, whose angle of beneficence must continue to widen through the further endeavors of those whose characters and lives he aided in moulding. His memory is revered in the city which so long represented his home, and it is most consonant that in this publication a tribute of honor be accorded him.
Adolph Leopold Benze was born in the historic old Fortress of Thorn. Prussia, on the 18th of September, 1833, and was a son of Frederick and Eva Maria (dePomalianski) Benze, the latter of whom was a represen- tative of a prominent family of the ancient Polish nobility. At the time of the birth of the subject of this memoir his father was a cavalry officer in the Prussian army. Later the father received his honorable discharge, with the rank of captain, and was then appointed prison inspector of a large district. He was the descendant and one of the heirs of an old and influential Brunswick family, whose history is authentically traced back to 1650, near the close of the thirty-years' war. The family seat was at Velpke. Brunswick, and there the venerable manse, of the typical Saxon architecture, is still standing, in an excellent state of preservation, though it was erected in 1725. As proprietors of extensive and noted sandstone quarries the male ancestors all became artisans with the chisel, and from their hands came the finest of ornamental stone carvings, many examples of which are still extant. The vicissitudes of military life caused Frederick Benze to become forever separated from the vocation followed by his ancestors for many generations, and he continued in official government service in his native land until within a few years of his death.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Adolph L. Benze secured his early educational discipline at Neustadt, Prussia, and after two years of travel in Hungary and Germany he came to America in 1854, at which time he was twenty-one years of age. He located at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and thereafter completed his classical education in Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, where he was gradu- ated. Having decided to prepare himself for the ministry of the Ger- inan Evangelical Lutheran church, he was soon afterward matriculated in the theological seminary connected with the same college, and here he was graduated as a member of the class of 1864, in which year he was duly ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran ministerium of Pennsylvania. His first call was to the pastorate of the Lutheran church at Warren, this state, where he remained for eight years and where he well proved his fitness for the holy calling in which he was destined to attain so much of success and prestige.
In May, 1842, Mr. Benze received a call to the pastoral charge of St. John's Lutheran Church in Erie, and here it was his lot to continue his labors until he was summoned to the life eternal, on the 18th of Jan- uary, 1891. Not only did he accomplish a splendid work in the advancing of the spiritual welfare of his parish, but he proved equally masterful in forwarding the material prosperity of his church, which, through his earnest and devoted efforts, came to represent the largest Protestant con- gregation in the city of Erie. The correlation of the spiritual and tem- poral affairs of the church was thoroughly appreciated by him, and well did he employ the talents committed to his keeping. He was a man of fine intellectuality, a natural student and one of contemplative mind. but this did not cause him to lose sight of the value of the practical side of religious work, in which his power of accomplishment was signally great. Ile was a most effective pulpit orator, eloquent, persuasive and dignified, and his every statement rang true of sincerity and well for- tified faith. His reputation as a speaker far transcended mere local bounds, and he became known as one of the leading clergymen of his church in Pennsylvania. His literary taste was chaste and refined, his diction pure and fluent, and in his various contributions to secular and church papers he showed not only a distinctive power in didactic writ- ing but also a deep sense of the relative values in the scheme of human existence. There was no obliquity of vision, and his view point was ever one of broad angle and clear definition. His ability as a writer on general topics led on more than one occasion to his being importuned to assume the editorship of one of the best known German papers in the United States, but he never wavered in his allegiance to the sacred voca- tion in which he felt lay his greatest opportunity for the accomplishment of good for his fellow men. His heart was attuned to sympathy, and he was tolerant in his judgment, as must be every man with so wide mental ken and so mature judgment. The versatility of his talents was further shown by his publication of a volume of songs, for which he wrote both the music and the words. He was most happy in metrical composition, and his poems and songs bear the impress of lofty thought and emo- tional power. His musical scores also have definite value from a critical standpoint and from the appealing beauty of their lyric quality.
A man so admirably equipped for leadership naturally would show his loyalty by a definite interest in public affairs, and this was significantly true in the case of Mr. Benze, who gave his aid and influence in support of all measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the
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community and who kept in close touch with the vital questions and issues of the hour. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party. When he was called from the scene of life's endeavors the city of Erie manifested its sense of bereavement and personal loss, and the church over whose destinies he had so long presided acknowledged by reverent grief the deprivation that fell to its portion. A gentle, noble, godly man passed to his reward and the compensation for his loss lies in the gracious memories of his labors, his winning personality and the fact that in all truth "his works do follow him."
On the 8th of September, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Benze to Miss Elizabeth Kiehl, who was born in Erlenbach, Hessen, Ger- many, on the 26th of October, 1839, a daughter of Jacob and Saloma Kiehl. She survives her honored husband, to whom she was ever a devoted companion and helpmeet, and the seven children of this union also survive the father, their names in order of birth being as follows : Charles Theodore. Gustav Adolphus, Leopold Otto, Marie Louise, Albert Louis, Emma C., and Frederick W.
REV. CHARLES THEODORE BENZE, eldest of the children of the dis- tinguished subject of above memoir, has followed in his father's footsteps and has thus shown himself fully appreciative of the precept and example of the late pastor of St. John's Lutheran church, to whom it must have been most gratifying that two of his sons should enter the ministry and carry forward the vigilant labor in the vineyard of the divine Master. Rev. Charles T. Benze is now incumbent of the pastorate of St. Stephen's Evangelical Lutheran church of Erie, and in his personality and sacerdotal offices is well upholding the honors of the name which he bears. He was born at Warren, this state. on the 19th of September, 1865, and his early educational advantages were those afforded by the public schools. He was graduated in the Erie high school as a member of the class of 1883. and thereafter he was for a number of years a teacher of the German language, first in the Erie grammar schools and later in the high school. In the field of pedagogy he was popular and successful, but he heeded the summons to a higher vocation and began the work of preparing himself for the ministry. In 1897 he was graduated in the Chicago Theological Seminary, and in the same year received the orders of ordination. after which he assumed the pastorate of Christ Evangeli- cal Lutheran church at Beaver Falls: Pennsylvania. In 1898 he became his brother's coadjutor in St. John's church, in Erie, where he served as associate pastor until 1906, when he accepted the call to St. Stephen's. a mission which had been established by Rev. Gustav A. Benze, his brother. Of this pastoral charge he has since remained incumbent, and his labors have not been denied a goodly fruitage, both spiritual and temporal. On the 15th of October. 1908. Mr. Benze started on a tour of inspection of the missions of the Evangelical Lutheran churches in India, and he remained abroad in this work until April, 1909. gaining valuable experience and many pertinent data relative to the work in the field mentioned. His investigations cannot but have potent influence in forwarding the interests of the church in India, as his reports and suggestions have been given forth to the various synods of his church in the United States. He is president of the Pittsburg synod. and is one of the prominent and influential clergymen of his church in Pennsylvania. He has inherited much of his father's gift of effective pulpit oratory as
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well as administrative ability, and his pastorate of St. Stephen's has been one marked by most successful work. He is a member of the Pennsylvania German Society, the Pennsylvania Prison Society, and the Erie County Historical Society.
Rev. Charles T. Benze was united in marriage to Miss Hermenia Ohl, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was born at Quakertown Pennsyl- vania, and they have one son, Winifred Theodore.
REV. GUSTAV ADOLPHUS BENZE, second son of Rev. Adolph L., whose memorial tribute precedes, succeeded his father in the pastorate of St. John's church, where he is proving himself altogether faithful and zealous in advancing the work so long entrusted to his loved father. He was born at Warren, this state, on the 11th of January, 1862, and, like his elder brother, is indebted to the public schools of Erie for his early educational discipline. He was graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1884. and in 1886 he was graduated in Thiel Col- lege, Greenville, Pennsylvania, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thereafter he was for two years a student in the theological seminary at Gettysburg, this state, and in 1889 he was graduated in the theologi- cal seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran church in the city of Phila- delphia. His ordination occurred in 1889, and his first charge was that of Drake's Mills and Corry, Pennsylvania, where he remained until Feb- ruary 18, 1891, when, upon the death of his father, he succeeded to the pastorate of St. John's church in Erie, where he has since labored earn- estly and effectively and with a deep appreciation of his stewardship. He is president of the Erie Conference and has held this office for the past decade ; is president of the Lutheran Home for the Aged, at Erie ; and a member of the Church Extension Society of Erie and vicinity. He also holds membership in the Erie County Historical Society and the Erie Chamber of Commerce.
In 1903 was celebrated the marriage of Rev. Gustav A. Benze to Miss Alice L. Fourspring, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and is a daughter of John H. Fourspring, now a resident of Erie.
THE JACKMAN FAMILY, which has been identified with the agri- cultural and civic progress of Wayne township for more than half a century, is of English origin, its American progenitor being James Jackman, of Exeter, who located in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1635. Richard, the youngest of his six sons, was born February 6, 1859, and on June 10. 1682. married Miss Elizabeth Plummer. Of this union were three children of whom James, the youngest (also a direct ancestor of the Jackson family in Wayne township, was born September 5, 1686. His wife (nee Mary French) bore him four children and the third, Daniel, was born on January 9, 1725. Daniel married Eleanor Merrill. February 28, 1753, and they had seven children, of whom Moses. the fifth, was born June 16, 1759. This son, in turn, wedded Miss Eliza- beth Carr, June 1, 1789, and the fruits of their union were five sons, of whom Daniel was born January 11, 1791: Moses F .. June 28, 1792 ; James, April 2, 1793 ; William, January 23, 1795 : and Levi, July 28, 1797.
Daniel, Jr., who was the grandfather of Corrin D., a representative of the present generation, married Jerusha Humphrey, the husband dying June 26, 1860, and the wife, July 4, 1873. To this couple were born the following children: Betsey. August 28, 1814: Nancy, January 2. 1816 ;
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Roxey, June 10, 1818; Selinda, May 14, 1821; Warren, July 19, 1823; Orsemus, May 24, 1821; Joseph, August 29, 1830: James and Gracia J. ( twins ), February 1, 1833; Darius, November 11, 1834, and Lucinda, November 10, 1840. Moses F. Jackman, an uncle of these children, married Phoebe Mallison, born July 30, 1190, and they became the parents of Jeremiah, born November 20, 1814: Sarah, August 9, 1819; Julia, February 18, 1823, and Lydia, January, 10, 1826. James Jackman, a brother of the above named Moses F., married Miss Gracia Beardsley, who was born April 28, 1803 and gave birth to the following children : Angustus, February 26, 1819; Warren, March 20, 1822: Rachael, July 11. 1824 : Rachel, February 12, 1821; Louise, August 28, 1832, and Wil- liam, August 11, 1835.
James Jackman, an uncle of Corrin D., married Miss Betsey A. Parsons, who was born September 28, 1838. Their union occurred March 5, 1860, and their children were as follows: Addie C., born De- cember 9, 1861: Frank, in 1864 (deceased) : Fannie, in 1866: Charles N., in 1862: George, in 1815 (deceased), and Edna L., in 1872. The mother of this family died on the 16th of November, 1900. James Jack- man moved from Columbus township, Warren county, Pennsylvania. to Erie county, in the year 1851. He first purchased and improved a tract of thirty-two acres, sold that property and then bought a farm of one hundred and three acres in Wayne township, which he has cleared. cultivated, improved and transformed into his comfortable and valuable homestead as it stands today. For forty years of this period he also worked at his trade as a carpenter and joiner, and as he has given a generous share of his time to the discharge of the duties connected with the offices of assessor, auditor, school director and road commissioner. it is evident that both his hands and his mind have been full of useful work.
Joseph S. Jackman, the father. was born August 29, 1830, and in 1851 married Miss Zylphia L. Doane. They became the parents of the following children: Mercy A., born June 9, 1853; Arthu- D., October 16, 1854; Afton L., February 1, 185} : Lee J., October 22, 1859, and died February 11, 1900 ; Kate L., born July 16, 1861 ; Byron D., May 14, 1863 ; Florence E., December 20, 1868 and Corrin D., born January 21, 1875. The father died some years ago, but his widow, born at Bear Lake, Penn- sylvania, November 8, 1832, is still living (1909) at the age of seventy- seven years.
Charles N. Jackman, the fourth child and second son of James Jackman married Miss Nettie Munn, and they became the parents of Jessie, bern May 31, 1895; Mabel, in September, 1891, and Hazel MI .. March 19, 1901. Edna L., the youngest daughter of James and Betsey (Parsons ) Jackman, became the wife of L. York, of Warren county. Pennsylvania, in November, 1904.
Corrin D. Jackman, son of Joseph and Zylphia Jackman, was born in Columbus township, January 21. 1825. Warren county, Pennsylvania. but was reared and educated in Wayne township, and became a per- manent resident of Erie county in 1898. He is a practical and success- ful farmer. He has owned the fine dairy farm of one hundred and forty acres which he now occupies since 1900, his product being obtained from a select herd of Holsteins and his operations including the manufacture of a first-class grade of butter. In 1894 Mr. Jackman wedded Miss Mabel Raymond, daughter of Jack and Eva Raymond, and to this union were
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born the following: Vinora, September 15, 1900; Nina, September 17, 1902, and Joseph, September 21, 1903. Mrs. Jackman herself is a na- tive of Wayne township, born in 1871. Mr. Jackman is a Republican and a member of the Maccabees of Clymer, New York.
ROCK ASBESTOS ROOFING COMPANY, one of the important concerns of Erie with headquarters at 1221 State street, was established by H. .A. Wilbur, of that city, in 1900. At that time the plant was located at 1120 Peach street and was a small affair with a very limited capital. On February 3, 1906, the business was moved to its present location and the facilities of the plant were greatly increased. The company mann- factures the paints used in its roofing, the material for which is made according to its specifications, with the exception of the asbestos which is imported. Under the energetic and able promotion of Mr. Wilbur the house has reached the point where it has absorbed the bulk of Erie's business in the line of modern roofing, and also carries out large con- tracts in other cities. Recently, the company fulfilled a contract in Pittsburg which required the services of sixty-seven men in that city, as well as those of seventeen men in the home plant. One of the new and strong features of the business is a guarantee on work and ma- terial, which has run as high as ten years. In mechanical execution and business methods everything is so up-to-date and confidence-inspiring that the establishment is a recognized leader among the industries of Erie and is progressing both rapidly and substantially.
11. A. Wilbur, head of the Rock Asbestos Roofing Company, is a native of Ohio, born at Saybrook, six miles west of Ashtabula, Ohio. on July 8, 1811. The family came originally from New York state. the father, Abner. settling first in Franklin, Pennsylvania. From Frank- lin he moved to Saybrook and is now principal of the high school at Binghamton, New York, having been an educator since his early manhood. The son was reared in Ashtabula from the age of two years. After re- ceiving a high school education, he entered business as a collector for the E. G. Maynard Coal Company of that city, obtaining his first experience in the roofing business when he was eighteen years of age. He was employed in that line for some time by Willis Good and also conducted a business of his own. Realizing the need of more capital to place such an enterprise on a broad basis, he continued in salaried positions for several years before he located in Erie to successfully launch the Rock Asbestos Roofing Company, in 1890. Mr. Wilbur is a married man, his wife's maiden name being Kate Rose Herman and Baltimore her native city. They have one son, Herman Abner Wilbur. Aside from his busi- ness prominence, Mr. Wilbur is a well known member of the orders of Ben Hur and Odd Fellows, in the latter fraternity having been identified with New Castle ( Pennsylvania ) Lodge, No. 1118 and Canton Lodge, No. 12. of Erie.
DR. DAVID N. DENNIS, a practicing physician of Erie and a special- ist in the treatment of diseases of the eye and ear, is a native of Mas- sachusetts, born in Grafton, December 25, 1858. His family, coming from England, established in New England in 1630, is one of the oldest in that section of the United States. The doctor's parents, Edward Par- ker and Jessie (Moore) Dennis, were natives respectively of Somers and Oxford, Massachusetts. For a number of years his father was
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