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 80
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GEORGE MYRON SAWDY. An industrious, practical, thorough-going agriculturist, having an excellent knowledge of the business in which he is occupied and showing good judgment in its management, George Myron Sawdy, of Elk Creek township, is proving himself a useful and worthy member of the community in which he resides. A son of Hi- ram and Hannah (King) Sawdy, he was born, February 10, 1879, on the homestead which his father assisted in redeeming from the wilder- ness, having cleared a part of it from its original condition, making it among the best in Erie county.
Brought up on the home farm, George Myron Sawdy attended the district schools of Elk Creek township until sixteen years of age, ac- quiring a substantial knowledge of the common branches of study. Subsequently working a few years with his father, he became familiar with the various branches of agriculture. Not content at that time to
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continue life as a farmer, he entered the employ of the Bessemer Rail- way Company, in that capacity living for a year in Albion. Returning to his old home, Mr. Sawdy married, and the same year assumed the management of his father-in-law's farm, the old Carpenter homestead, on which he has since resided. This farm contains one hundred and thirty acres of land, which he is carrying on in an intelligent and skil- ful manner, his labors being rewarded by the fine crops produced in his fertile fields, while from his large and well-kept dairy he receives an excellent income.
In 1899 Mr. Sawdy married Ethel Carpenter, who was born August 25, 1881, in Elk Creek township, on the homestead where she now lives, being the only child of Charles A. and Elizabeth (Harris) Carpenter. Her grandfather, Asahel Carpenter, was a pioneer of Erie county, coming to Pennsylvania from New York state, while her great grandfather, Silas Carpenter, was a life-long resident of the Empire state, and the son of a Revolutionary soldier. The emigrant ancestor of the Carpenter family came from England to this country in 1765, being accompanied by a brother and sister. They were orphans, and came to this country to obtain freedom from religious persecution, and relief from burdensome taxes as well as from the restraint of mon- archical government. Having heard glowing descriptions of the new world and its opportunities, these two brothers and sister had crossed the ocean to cast their lot with the few daring spirits that had set- tled along the Atlantic coast, locating first on Long Island. Subse- quently one of the brothers married, and settled in Wayne county, New York, near Sodus Point, on Lake Ontario. He proved himself most loyal to his adopted country, and on the breaking out of the Revolutionary war enlisted in the army, and was still serving in the army at the close of the conflict, but whether he served during the entire period of the war or not is unknown, although it is more than likely that he served in several short engagements. To him and his wife a large number of children were born, among them being a son named Silas.
Silas Carpenter was born in Wayne county, New York, and after his marriage with Phoebe Penny settled on a farm near Sodus. Many stories connected with their early life have been handed down to the present generation. furnishing material for many an evening's enter- tainment. Indians were then plentiful in that part of New York, the Iroquois and Algonquin tribes being at times particularly troublesome, barbarous and inhuman, terrorizing the people, who fled to the fort, or blockhouse as it was called in those days, whenever word was cir- culated that any large body of savages was in the neighborhood. One day while Mrs. Sawdy's great-grandmother, Phoebe (Penny) Carpen- ter, was alone five huge Indians walked unexpectedly into her house, their moccasined feet giving no warning of their approach. She spoke kindly to them, responded to their request for something to eat 'by placing some bread on the table for them, and bringing them a pan of milk from an adjoining room, her heart and hands so trembling with fear that she spilled the milk at every step. The red skins ate and drank ravenously, when through saying in broken English that they were glad she was so kind, for they were very hungry. Then, taking up a stick to which were fastened several scalps reeking with blood, they left the house without molesting her, although she had expected
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instant death when she saw the scalps. Her husband returned in a short time, and very soon after his arrival came a messenger ordering them to flee to the blockhouse, as a band of Indians was near by, plundering the settlements, and massacreing the people.
In the early days of the pioneer settlements, said Silas Carpenter to one of his descendants, prior to the Revolution, the people were very kindly disposed one to another, their common danger drawing them together. When war was declared, some adhered to the cause of the king, and some stood stanchly for the colonists, forming two parties, the tories and the whigs. Villages were hostile to villages. neighbors to neighbors, every town containing some of each party. When, therefore, the soldiers of the Colonial army had an opportunity to visit his family. as Silas Carpenter sometimes did, he had to take many precautions to escape the observing eyes of his tory neighbors. On one occasion, being discovered while visiting his loved ones, he went out one door while an enemy came in at another, and escaped their notice by hiding in a bin of wheat, that being but one of many incidents of interest that he used to relate. To him and his wife seven children were born.
Asahel Carpenter was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1809. As a boy he lived in the eastern part of New York state, being adopted by one of his mother's brothers, who had no sons of his own, and with whom he was a great favorite. He made frequent visits home, however, always keeping in close touch with his immediate family. When he was twenty-four years old, a young man named Maxon Ran- dall visited Pittstown, Rensselaer county, where he lived with his uncle, and among the friends that he made was Asahel Carpenter, who learned from Mr. Randall much about Pennsylvania, and decided that it was an especially fine place for a young man of industry and enterprise about to begin life. While in Pittstown, Mr. Randall mar- ried Elizabeth Boomer, and took her to his home in Erie county, her parents going there, also, to live. Three years later, about 1836, Asa- hel Carpenter married Elizabeth Townsend, of Pittstown, New York, and with quite a sum of money, some of which he earned, and some given him by his uncle, he migrated to Pennsylvania, going by way of the lakes to Erie City. Buying a tract of land lying just north of his friend's, Maxon Randall's, he cleared and improved a good farm. both he and his wife spending their remaining days on their homestead. They became the parents of seven children, four of whom survive. one living still on the old Carpenter homestead, the others residing in the West. Although Asahel Carpenter corresponded with his brothers and sisters in the early part of his residence in Erie county, but little is now known of their descendants. Some of them visited when they were young. Two sisters married and moved to Michigan, where they died while yet young, and one brother, a gifted young man, served under General Scott during the Mexican war, and died, among stran- gers, while on his way home.
Mr. and Mrs. Sawdy have two children, namely: Gladys Eliza- beth, born February 2, 1905 ; and Merl Burton, born August 13, 1906. Politically Mr. Sawdy is an earnest supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and has rendered service as judge of elections. Fra- ternally he is a member, and present vice commander, of Platea Lodge, No. 1141. I. O. O. F., of Platea ; and both he and his wife belong to the
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Daughters of Rebekah, in which she holds an official position. Relig- iously Mrs. Sawdy is a member of the United Brethren church. Mrs. Sawdy is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, being descended from a Revolutionary soldier.
JOHN HENRY HALL, a retired farmer and an honored citizen residing at North Girard, Erie county, was born in Springfield township, Erie county, on the 14th of February, 1835, and is a son of John and Mary (Kelly) Hall. The Hall family originated in Scotland, but the grand- father, Benjamin, resided in the United States in east Pennsylvania. The father, John, was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania; in 1804 removed to Erie county, buying a farm in Springfield township; and afterward returned to Mifflin county, where he married Mary Kelley, daughter of George Kelley, a farmer of that section of the state. With the exception of the period during which he served in the war of 1812, John Hall's life was spent as a farmer, and both parents died in Spring- field township-the father December 28, 1848, at the age of sixty-four, and the mother, in April, 1843, forty-eight years old. Their five chil- dren were as follows: Catherine C., who married M. A. Lawrence, and is now deceased; Elizabeth, the wife of Dr. Sawyer and a resident of Washington, District of Columbia; George K., a retired farmer of North Girard, Pennsylvania ; and John Henry Hall, of this biography. The parents of this family were faithful Presbyterians, Mr. Hall adher- ing firmly to the Whig party in his politics.
John H. received a thorough education, both high-school and com- mercial, his first business experience being as a bookkeeper for an Evansville (Indiana) house. Deciding then that he preferred the avocation, which is both the oldest and most important of the world, he returned to Springfield township and followed agriculture until his retirement, in comfortable circumstances, in 1897. He is not only one of the most substantial residents of this section of the county, but one of the most widely known and deservedly popular. In politics, he is a Republican, but has never figured in the campaigns of his party or in public affairs. He is an Episcopalian in his religious faith, a supporter of deserving charities, and a man of unswerving morality.
In 1860 Mr. Hall was married to Miss Julia M. Miles, daughter of the widely known Judge Miles, of Erie county, and a representative of the family which numbers among its members the pioneers who first settled in this section of the state. In June, 1795, William Miles (grandfather of Mrs. Hall) and William Cook came with their wives. who were sisters, and settled in what is now Concord township, Erie county, but in 1801 removed to Union, where Mr. Miles erected both saw and grist mills. This noted father of the county had already passed through a romantic experience. As a child playing near his home near the junction of the Susquehanna branches he had been made prisoner in the French and Indian war and carried to Canada, where he was detained for some time. During this period of his cap- tivity he had been well educated, and upon his return to his Pennsyl- vania home he was well fitted to play his part in any station of life. He first came to the Western Reserve in company with his brother- in-law, David Watts, and participated in the original surveys and al- lotments of this part of the northwestern country. Messrs. Miles and Watts were especially identified with the survey of what was known as
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RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. EDGAR W. HEWITT JOHN MORGAN'S OLD HOME
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the Tenth Donation district and the laying out of the village of Watts- burg. Mr. Miles himself became the owner of a vast tract of land in Union township; built roads and bridges, and erected mills at what was long known as Miles Mills and afterward became Union City.
Among the children of William Miles was James, who purchased 1,600 acres of land around the mouth of Elk creek; attempted the plat- ting of a large city on his estate ; was one of the organizers of the Ag- ricultural College of Pennsylvania and of the railroad from Erie to the Ohio line which is now part of the Lake Shore System ; was long a di- rector of the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Railroad ; served as associate judge of Erie county from 1851 to 1856, and from 1850 to 1864 was pre-eminently the leading citizen of this section of the state. Toward the close of his life Judge Miles built a princely home on his estate lying along Elk creek, Miles Grove was made a near-by station on the Lake Shore road, and it was on this homestead that he died in 1868. Of the judge's family, William Miles made a brilliant record as a cavalry officer and sacrificed his life in the Union cause. James Miles, Jr., died in the early nineties, and John F. Miles, and two daughters (one of the Mrs. John H. Hall) still survive. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hall, viz .: J. Miles Hall, a farmer of Springfield township, who married Miss Louise Devore and is the father of Gertrude and James; and Eliza B., wife of John Holliday, a resident of New Jersey, and mother of Donald (who lives with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Hall), Sidney, Belle, Louise, John Hall and Ethel.
Mr. Hall is a true blue Republican. Both he and wife are mem- bers of the Episcopal church as well as their children.
EDGAR W. HEWITT, a well known farmer of Springfield township, this county, was born in North Springfield, August ?, 1866. He is a son of Capt. E. M. and Jeanette (Clark) Hewitt, his father dying in 1904, aged seventy-six years, and his mother in 1900, sixty-nine years old. The family is of Scottish origin, Joseph Hewitt, the great-grand- father, emigrating from the mother country and settling first in Can- ada and then in Vermont. The grandfather, Joseph Hewitt, married Mary Miller, a native of Niagara Falls, and when a young man started from Vermont with a yoke of oxen, bound, with his family, for the Western Reserve of Ohio. At the time he passed over the present site of Buffalo it was still little more than an Indian village. He entered the country of the Western Reserve when it was but a wilderness, and con- tinued to farm near the Ohio state line the remainder of his life. Grand- father Hewitt died August 12, 1893, at the age of ninety-four.
The father of Edgar W. left school when he was seventeen years of age, and for the succeeding three decades sailed the great lakes. Dur- ing a considerable portion of this period he was captain of a passenger and mail vessel plying between Buffalo and Chicago. Later, he built the "Golden Gate," a vessel which was wrecked and burned on the lakes. This completed his marine service.
In the early seventies he purchased the old farm in Springfield town- ship on which was born the famous Confederate cavalry officer, John Morgan. It comprised two hundred acres of fine fruit lands, besides the buildings connected with the early life of Morgan. The family residence was mainly of brick, made from clay taken from the home grounds. In the rear was a sixty-foot extension of wood, which was the scene of Gen-
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eral Morgan's birth. This structure was afterward used for a poultry house. The main brick building had the typical large chimney rising through the center of the house, with three generous fire places, which, with the old fashioned kettles and irons, are still intact. On the grounds is also the massive barn in which Morgan's mother hanged herself when she learned of the failure of her son's famous raid north of the Ohio and of his capture by the Unionists. The woodwork of the Morgan residence was of heavy black walnut, with twelve-inch walls, and in the fire-place of the living room is an alcove, in which stood the old family clock, and a large cupboard, which answered the purposes of a safe for the storage of valuable papers by the head of the house. As stated, this historic, interesting and valuable homestead was purchased by the elder Mr. Hewitt, and for several years he operated the place with profitable results. Among his agricultural enterprises in this connection were a nursery of five thousand trees, a large vineyard and seven orch- ards. The elder Mr. Hewitt was also associated in the coal business with the late Mark Hanna and in the lumber trade with Rhodes and Com- pany. He was one of the builders of the Bessemer Railway, Hewitt station being named after him, and is now one of the most active busi- ness men of Springfield township. All-in-all he was a most active factor in the development of many enterprises which have influenced the pro- gress of Erie county. He stands high in Masonry, being one of the charter members of the Conneaut Lodge, and is a stanch member of the Baptist church.
After completing his common school education, Edgar W. attended the academy at Springfield for four terms ; was a pupil at the Conneaut (Ohio) Business College for two terms and then assumed charge of the old farm for a time. After his marriage in 1898 he lived for a year in Conneaut, Ohio, and then returned to his present homestead. On December 23, 1898, Mr. Hewitt married Miss Margaret Blanton, who was born in Drummondville, Canada, July 6, 1871, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Brown) Blanton. Her father was born June 20, 1834, in Cheltenham, England; came, as a boy, to Rhode Island, where he worked at the cabinet maker's and joiner's trade; and subsequently re- sided at St. Catherines, Canada, and Drummondville, Canada. He mar- ried Miss Margaret Brown, who was born in Scotland, April :, 1842, and died in 1895. His wife was the daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Ilorn) Brown, her father having been born near Chapel Hall, that country. The grandparents were Thomas and Margaret Brown. Mrs. Hewitt has a brother living, Dr. T. W. Blanton, and is the mother of one child, Margaret Jeanette. The daughter, who was born January 11, 1902, is the ninth Margaret to represent successive generations of the family. Mr. Hewitt is a true Republican and is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 416.
JOHN M. TAGGART. The name of Taggart has been associated with the history of Erie county from the days of its earliest settlement until the present time, and the name is one honored and revered through- out this part of the state. Its founder here was Cardiff Taggart, who came across the country on foot from Maryland in about the year of 1801 and located on the farm which is now owned and occupied by his grandson, William Taggart. He was a man of unusually hardy con- stitution. a typical frontiersman, and he made the journey to and from his old home in Maryland on foot, thus having covered the distance
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three times in that manner. In the early days he served as a member of the militia and took part in the war of 1812. He was an old-line Whig politically and for thirty years served as a justice of the peace, having been one of the first justices in Erie county. By his wife Polly McCreary he had the following children: John and Joseph, both of whom died in infancy, Cardiff, William and Alexander, and three daughters, Anna, who married William McClelland; Rebecca, who married David McCreary ; and Martha, who never married. Both Mr. and Mrs. Taggart were old school Presbyterians, and they were laid to rest in the Girard cemetery.
William Taggart was born in the old home in Erie county which sheltered his parents for so many years, and farming was his life occu- pation, death finally ending his useful labors on the 11th of December, 1859. His birth had occurred on the 10th of October, 1806, and his life's span thus covered but fifty-three years. He married Susannah Higbee, born at Pike, Allegany county, New York, and they became the parents of four children : John M., mentioned below ; William D., whose history is recorded on other pages of this work; Peter E., who died in 1867; and Enos Jackson, whose home is in Franklin township, Erie county. Mr. Taggart, the father, was a Republican in his political views, and he and his wife were members respectively of the Metho- dist Episcopal and of the Baptist churches.
John M. Taggart was born in the log cabin home which sheltered the family, born March 18, 1838, and his home was in the vicinity of this old farm until he retired and moved to North Girard in 1889. In March of 1865 he enlisted as a private in Company H, Ninety-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, for service in the Civil war, and he remained with his command until the close of the conflict. He is a member of the H. F. Lewis Post No. 359, G. A. R., at Fairview, and he is also a mem- ber of Nickle Plate Lodge No. 1125 at Girard. He votes with the Re- publican party, and during seven years he served in the office of asses- sor, was a constable for eleven years and for nine years was a member of the school board in Fairview township. He is a man well and fa- vorably known in his county, honored alike for his true worth and sterling characteristics.
FRANK WILLIS. During many years Frank Willis was prominently identified with the farming interests of Erie county, and his name is recorded on the pages of its history from the period of its early de- velopment to latter day progress and prosperity. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, near Birdinhand, February 29, 1821, but at an early age he came with his parents, Thomas and Mary (Weidle) Willis to Erie county, and the home was established in the western part of Mill Creek township, where for many years Thomas Willis kept the old historic tavern known as the Half Way House, so named because of its half way position on the old stage road between the state line of Ohio and New York.
It was at that old Pennsylvania tavern that Frank Willis spent his boyhood's days, and after reaching mature years he engaged in the business for himself and for one year was the proprietor of the old "Bradshaw House," a log building, after which he conducted a hotel at Swanville. But after a time he gave up the hotel business, and mov- ing to Fairview township began farming on a tract of two hundred
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and eighty-seven acres, his home for forty-nine years, and from there he moved to the village of Fairview. It was there that his beneficent and useful life was ended in death on the 27th of February, 1901, and he was laid to rest in the Fairview cemetery. He attended the Pres- byterian church and voted with the Republican party, holding many of the important offices of his township.
On the 2d of March, 1847, Frank Willis was married to Miss Sarah Heidler, and they became the parents of five children. Rufus, the eldest, born on the 5th of June, 1849, died on the 2d of June, 1908. He had married Mattie Bell, of Eaton, and their three children are : Edith, who married Dr. Lloyd of Erie county; Elizabeth, the wife of Pearl Richardson, of Fairview ; and Rufus Linn. Mary L., born on the 28th of February, 1850, married Charles T. Waldo, of Erie, and their two children are Bertha, the wife of William Long, and Nellie, the wife of William Otto. Charles, born April 2, 1854, married Margaret Smith, and they had three children: Thomas (deceased), Charles Dana and infant. Charles Willis died on December 27, 1895. Nettie married Theo. J. Ely, of Girard, and they have four children, Adnor, Theodore, DeWitt and Fred. Minnie, born September 2, 1860, died March 31, 1876. Throughout his life Frank Willis took a deep and abiding interest in the welfare of his community, and at his death the community mourned the loss of one of its truest and best citizens.
MICHAEL STOLZ was for many years one of the prominent and well known agriculturists of Erie county. but he was born in the common- wealth of New York, a son of the John Stolz who is mentioned in the review of John A. Stolz elsewhere in this work. Michael Stolz mar- ried on the 2îth of September, 1870, Thecla Pistner, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Wamp) Pistner who came from their native land of Germany when young and lived in New York until their death. John Pistner was a carpenter. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stolz: Michael John, on July 27. 1871 ; Albert Pontaleon, on August 24, 1872; Denis Adam, October 31, 1873 ; Leander Fred- erick. December 31. 1874; Matilda Elizabeth, January 14. 1876; Charles Dennis, April 19, 1877; William Eugene, January 21, 1879; Frank Nicholas, October 10. 1880; Elizabeth Teressa, November 14, 1881 ; Joseph, January 23. 1883; Henry Leonard, March 23, 1885; Thomas Daniel, March 7, 1887; and Elizabeth Leona, January 6, 1889. Michael Stolz died on the 27th of February, 1890. and on the 9th of October, 1901, Mrs. Stolz married Benjamin Haibach. His father. Tohn Haibach, came from the fatherland of Germany to the United States and located in Erie county during an early period in its history. Benjamin Haibach died October 1, 1908. Mrs. Haibach is a member of St. Boniface's parish, of Greene township.
DANIEL STEEN. For many years engaged as a farmer, dairy man and saw mill proprietor, in Waterford township, this county. Daniel Steen is a native of Pittsburg. Pennsylvania, born August 28, 1842. He is also a veteran of the Civil war and in connection with the agri- cultural and business interests of the locality has served in many local public offices. His parents were William and Jane (Conley) Steen, who came from Ireland in 1831 and located in New York state. There the father established himself in the milling business and later re-
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