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 82
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It was in this locality that George W. received his education, which was supplied by the district schools of the neighborhood. His training as a farmer and a dairyman was obtained on the old home place and, in the person of his good father, he had an efficient in- structor. His farm which consists of one hundred acres is one of the most thoroughly cultivated and valuable in the township. The old place was long the center of a happy household, the children of Mr. and Mrs. John Bishop being Gabriel, Abagail Maria, William B., Sa- rah. John, George W. (of this sketch), Adaline A., Mary and Harriet V. Bishop. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 974, at Waterford.
DAVID B. CANNING. Although David B. Canning, of Waterford, is the son of early settlers of this township and now resides on the old homestead, he has passed most of his manhood years at Denver and Leadville, Colorado. He is a native of Buffalo, New York, where he was born November 17, 1856. His parents were John L. and Elizabeth Anna (Boyd) Canning. Both parents were natives of county Derry, Ireland, the father born September 14, 1821, and the mother January 3, 1830, and early in life located with their parents near Buffalo, New York. There they were reared and married and three of their children born in that city, namely, William H., November 1, 1854; David B., of this sketch, November 17, 1856; and John L., November 21, 1858. About 1860 the parents removed to Waterford township where for several years the father plied his trade as a harness maker, after pur- chasing the farm of seventy-five acres which is now in possession of David B. For about four years they lived on Oak Hill afterward moving to the farm which had been sufficiently improved to make a comfortable home and there both parents died. Five children were born to them in Waterford township as follows: Wilson M .. now de- ceased, born January 16, 1861 ; Joseph, deceased, born January 4, 1863 ; Maggie, also deceased, who was born December 16, 1864; George S., born April 12, 1867 ; and James S., born November 22, 1869, a resident of Harrisburg.
David B. Canning was educated in the schools of Waterford town- ship and in his early manhood went west, being for many years in the employ of the Continental Oil Company with headquarters at Denver and Leadville. In 1904 he returned to the old homestead in Water- ford township which he has since conducted as a general farmer. Be-
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sides being equipped with convenient and substantial farm buildings and a comfortable residence, the estate embraces a fine orchard of seventy trees. He is a Republican in politics.
STEPHEN ROBERTS. The Roberts family has for several generations been identified with the development of agriculture in Waterford township being established in this section of Erie county by the grand- father of Charles N. Roberts, Dorsa. With his wife, formerly Ethel Sherman, he came from Collins, New York, and established the family in Waterford township when Stephen was a youth of sixteen. There the pioneers of the family remained until their death.
Stephen Roberts was born in Collins, Erie county, New York. and after removing to Erie county, Pennsylvania, continued farming there during his entire active life. He married Miss Levina Osborn, daugh- ter of Jared and Ruth Osborn, pioneers of this county, and six chil- dren were born to them: Merritt, deceased ; Jarett Ferdinand, Agnes, Hattie, Eli and Charles N. Jarett F., the oldest living child was born in Waterford township, July 26, 1850, educated in the district schools and has been all his life a farmer, being now the proprietor of a twen- ty acre place in this township. On November 28, 1878, he married Miss Emma G. Graham and their children are Iva, wife of John E. Patter- son, and Rawle Randolph.
Charles N. Roberts, the youngest of the family, was born June 11, 1868. He was educated in the district schools of Waterford township and is now engaged in general farming on a thoroughly cultivated place of fifty acres. He was married November 27, 1907, to Miss Hat- tie Briggs, a native of Erie county and educated in the common schools. Mr. Roberts is a Republican and fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F Lodge No. 964 at Waterford.
CURTIS H. HEIDLER, who for thirty years and more has been identi- fied with the life and achievements of the village of Fairview, was born on the old Heidler farm in Erie county February 13, 1840, and is a worthy representative of a sturdy ancestry who have been asso- ciated with the agricultural life of this community from an early pe- riod in its history. Curtis Heidler, his father, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, but moved from there in 1822 to Erie county, and locating on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres he resided there during the remainder of his life and cultivated his land to the highest extent. Before coming to this county he had married Eva Kaufman, and they became the parents of the following children: Susan, the widow of John Kreidler; Maria, who married Dan Butt and lives at Kingsville; Eliza, the deceased wife of Samuel Zin; Levi, also de- ceased ; Sarah, who married Frank Willis and is now living at Fair- view : Israel, deceased ; Fanny, the wife of Isaac Wolf, of Erie ; Leah, who married E. Wolf, and both are now deceased ; Matilda, the wife of Reuben Baer, of Erie; and Curtis H., mentioned below. Mr. and Mrs. Heidler were German Baptists in their religious faith, and he in politics was a Republican. Both now lie buried in the cemetery at Erie.
Farming has been the life work of Curtis H. Heidler. although for thirty years his home has been in the village of Fairview. and he owns the old farm homestead where his parents lived and labored for
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so many years. Altogether he has four hundred acres in Fairview township. He married Miss Sarah A. Thomas, and of their children the first born died in infancy. Ida F., the only daughter, is the wife of George Garber, also of Fairview. In politics Mr. Heidler reserves the right to vote independently.
JOHN G. WEIBLEN. The name of John G. Weiblen has long been associated with the business life of the village of Fairview, but he is a native son of the fatherland of Germany, born there in the province of Wittenberg October 9, 1833. As a lad of sixteen he came with his father, Gotlieb, across the ocean to America, fifty-seven days passing ere their old-time sailing vessel reached the harbor of New York City, and from there they came to Erie county on the 4th of November, 1850. His mother, Jacobine, had died in Germany. Gotlieb Weiblen spent the remainder of his life in Erie county, dying at the home of his son in Fairview when ninety-three years of age. He had followed the manufacture of broadcloth in the land of his birth but his occupa- tion in this country was farming.
During the three and a half years following his arrival in the United States John G. Weiblen lived in Erie and served an apprentice- ship at the shoemaker's trade, and then coming to Fairview he has since followed that occupation, being a first-class cobbler and a famil- iar figure in the business circles of this village. His first marriage oc- curred in Fairview to Miss Louise Hauser, who became the mother of two children, but the only one living is Josephine, the wife of George Urquhart, of California, and the wife and mother is also deceased. He afterward married Miss Mary Harman, and they have had the follow- ing children: Emma, the wife of Harvey Johnson of Fairview town- ship; Gertrude, who married William Strick and lives in Erie; Wil- liam, deceased; Hattie, who married Marcus Hennessey and lives in Erie ; Nellie, the wife of George Alford, of Westfield, New York ; Car- rie, whose home is also in Erie; Winifred, at home with her parents ; Frank and Charles, twins, who reside respectively in Erie and in Min- nesota ; John, whose home is in Erie; and Fred, at home with his par- ents. Mr. Weiblen cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, and has ever since upheld the principles of the Republican party. Dur- ing twenty years he served as a justice of the peace in Fairview, while during the past four years he has been a notary public.
ADELBERT W. PROCTOR. Owning and occupying a part of the original homestead property of his father, the late Elijah Proctor, who came to Erie county in 1833, Adelbert W. Proctor, of Union township, is carrying on general farming and dairying with most satisfactory pecuniary results, year by year adding to his wealth, and, growing in the esteem and respect of his neighbors, is already a valuable member of the community. Noteworthy among the earlier settlers of north- western Pennsylvania was Elijah Proctor, who migrated from the east to this state, locating first at Columbus. A short time later. in 1833, he came with his family to Erie county, and having looked about for a favorable location bought three hundred acres of land in Union township. Clearing a large part of the land, he was successfully en- gaged in agricultural pursuits the remainder of his life. He was twice married, marrying first a Miss York, by whom he had seven children,
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as follows: Albert, Mary, Levi, John, Thomas, Harriet, and George. He married second Mrs. Olive (Portman) Coats, and of that union four children were born, namely: Eva M., wife of E. Bloss; Edwin Morris; Nelson C. ; and Adelbert W.
Born, January 21, 1874, in Union township, Adelbert W. Proctor received his early education in the district schools, and on the family homestead acquired a practical knowledge and experience of the art and science of general farming. Succeeding to the ownership of seventy- three acres of the parental homestead, he is managing his farm most profitably, paying special attention to dairying. He keeps on an aver- age fifteen cows, and since the installing of a creamery outfit, in 1906, has manufactured creamery butter, the neighboring farmers supplying him with sufficient milk to make the business a paying one.
Mr. Proctor married, in 1899, Martha B. Slye, and to them four children have been born, namely: Homer W., Clayton A., Marie L., and Lee E. Mr. Proctor is active in township affairs, and has served on some of the town committees, and as a member of the local school board. He is a Republican.
FRANK C. ROUSE. No branch of public service offered us by the United States Government has been of greater influence in determin- ing the status of our country, and bringing its people in close touch, not only with the states and territories within its own borders, but with the various nations of the world, than that inaugurated by the postal department. To successfully carry on the work thus inaugu- rated, men of energy, intelligence and sterling integrity are sought, and upon their trustworthiness depends the usefulness of the mail service. A man well qualified in every respect for the position which he is so satisfactorily filling is Frank C. Rouse, who has served the past seven years as a mail carrier in Union City, which for five years has been his place of residence. He was born, July 28, 1862, in Amity township, Erie county, which was also the birthplace of his father, Casper C. Rouse, whose birth occurred in June, 1830. He is of pioneer stock, his grandfather, Erastus Rouse, and his great-grandfather. Cas- per M. Rouse, having been among the earliest householders of Erie county.
The Rouse family originated in Holland, and were people of wealth and distinction. The emigrant ancestor came to this country at an early period of its settlement, locating in New Amsterdam, now Greater New York, and during the colonial struggle for freedom and independence rendered financial assistance by lending money to the colonies. The descendants of this ancestor are numerous, and are to be found in positions of trust and responsibility in various states. Cas- per M. Rouse, familiarly known among his associates as Judge Rouse, came with his family to Erie county as early as 1810, locating in that portion of Venango township now included within the limits of Watts- burg. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Phoebe Austin, seven children were born, namely: Rebecca, Erastus, Sallie, Austin, Albert, Maria, and Melancthon. He was a man of prominence in pub- lic affairs, and served as judge of the county court. Erastus Rouse was a farmer from choice owning about one hundred acres of land, which he carefully tilled. He was influential in the community, pro- moting to a considerable extent the interests of town and county, and
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filled with acceptance various township offices. Of his marriage with Sarah Connelly, twelve children were born, eight of whom grew to years of maturity, namely : Casper C., Margaret, Susan, Jefferson, Cordelia, Nancy, James, and Perry, all being born and reared in Erie county.
Casper C. Rouse has been successfully employed as a tiller of the soil during his entire life, and is now the owner of two valuable farms in Union township, one containing one hundred acres, and the other seventy acres. He has been twice married. His first wife, who lived but three years after their marriage, left one child, Eveline, now the wife of D. B. Hitchcock, Jr. He married second Harriet Godfrey, who passed to life beyond in 1899. She bore him four children, name- ly : Frank C., of this sketch ; Perry ; William M. ; and Guy.
Frank C. Rouse married, September 23, 1885, Cora, daughter of Levi and Lavina Proctor, of Union township, and into their pleasant household three children have made their advent, namely: Vina, born in 1886; Hazel, in 1891; and Charlotte, born in 1896. Mr. Rouse has met with success in life, first as an agriculturist, and later in his pres- ent position. He stands well in both social and financial circles, hav- ing acquired considerable property, owning among other things two residences in Union City, one on East High street, and one that is nearly completed on Prospect street. He is a Republican politically. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rouse are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Union City.
HENRY WHARFF. The manufacturing interests of Union City, Erie county, are extensive and valuable, giving employment to vast num- bers of enterprising men, and notably increasing wealth and growing prosperity of this section of the state. Prominent among the firms that are each year advancing these interests is the Shreve Chair Com- pany, of which Henry Wharff, whose name is placed at the head of this sketch, is a contractor, and superintendent of one of its more im- portant departments. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born, April 2, 1820, in Washington county, where he grew to man's estate.
Mr. Wharff is a mechanic both by nature and by trade, and an ex- pert in the use of tools. Since coming to Union City, in 1890, he has been identified with the chair manufacturing business of this locality, and for the past six years has been connected with the Shreve Chair Company. He has charge of the drying kilns, his special work, how- ever, being the manufacturing of chair seats, arms, and rockers, and preparing them for the assembler. He has thirty men under his su- pervision, and so manages his department as to make it a source of income, not only to himself, but to the firm.
In July. 1896, Mr. Wharff married Pearl, daughter of William and Rhoda Shafer, who came with his family to Union City in 1888. from Crawford county. As a soldier, Mr. Shafer took part in many of the . noted engagements of the Civil war, on more than one occasion dis- playing heroism and valor on the field of battle, and for his gallant services in that conflict now receives from the government a pension. Mr. and Mrs. Wharff have one child, Harold H., born April 2, 1900. Fraternally Mr. Wharff is a member of Clement Lodge, No. 220. I. O. O. F., and religiously he and his wife are valued members of the Baptist church.
PUBOK LIBRARY
ART LENOX TLEN FOUNDATIONS
BIRTHPLACE OF DENMAN THOMPSON, GIRARD, PA.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
MORRELL F. PRATT has long been numbered among the agricultural residents of Union township, where he owns and conducts a splendid and well improved farm of one hundred and fourteen acres. He is a member of a family that has been identified with the interests of Erie county from the period of its earliest development, and he was born in its township of Waterford October 14, 1839, a son of Timothy and Mary (Kendall) Pratt, born respectively in Massachusetts and Ver- mont. As early as the year of 1813 they established their home in Waterford township among the early pioneers of this region, and this was at a day long before the establishment of public thoroughfares when they had to hew their way to their forest home. A millwright by trade, Timothy Pratt in his day built several mills, and he owned and cleared fifty acres of land. He was also skilled in medicine, and his self acquired knowledge of that science proved of inestimable value to the early residents of his community. During thirty-five years of his life his father, Timothy Pratt, was before the mast, becoming in that time the mate of a vessel, but he finally gave up his sea faring life to become an agriculturist, his last days having been spent in Waterford township, where he died in the eighty-ninth year of his age about 1846. His wife survived him until about 1856. Mrs. Pratt's father was a pioneer, and he built the first woolen mill in the county, and in his day was one of the most prominent of the county's resi- dents. His wife was before marriage Mary Dunyon. Timothy Pratt also became well and prominently known through his connection with the life and interests of Erie county, for he was a man of considerable ability and influence, and he served as a justice of the peace and as a county commissioner. He was a member of the Christian church, and at one time served as a minister of that denomination, a good and pious man and honored and revered wherever known. To Timothy Pratt and his wife Mary were born children as follows : Rufus, Horace, Morrell F .. Harrison T., John Q. A., Lucretia, Elvira. Emily and Elzina.
Morrell F. Pratt, the seventh born of that family, was reared and educated in his native township of Union, but on reaching the age of maturity he went to Illinois and farmed there on rented land for a few years. Returning then to Erie county he located in Union City, where until within a few years ago he was extensively engaged in the lumber business in Ohio and near Titusville, Pennsylvania, retiring in 1896. On the 3d of June, 1860, he was married to Miss Frances Graff, whose father, Christopher Graff, came to Erie county during an early epoch in its history. The children of this union are as follows: Mertie, Ma- mie, Glennie, Winnie, Irma, Sidney, Maud, Clifford, Morrell Rex and the youngest of the children, Max.
Mr. Pratt is a Republican. He is a member of Clement Lodge No. 220 I. O. O. F and Encampment No. 248, and he has passed all chairs in both orders.
CHARLES WALLACE FOSTER, one of the most successful horticultur- ists of Erie county, is the owner of a fine farm of eighty-eight acres in Girard township which includes the old Denman Thompson place, forty-eight acres in extent. The old Thompson dwelling has been moved to the rear of Mr. Foster's door-yard and is used as a store house, serv- ing this useful purpose as well as keeping alive many kindly memories of the older settlers who still cherish with the warmest feelings the
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author of the "Old Homestead" and all his kindred. Charles W. Foster was born in Girard township, on the old Babbitt farm, January 29, 1860, and is a son of Lyman Luther Foster. The grandparents, Lyman and Sally (Dutcher) Foster, were the pioneers of the family in Erie county, settling on a tract of land near the Thompson place. There the grandfather continued to farm the remainder of his life, dying April 9, 1868. His wife passed away in June, 1887, at the age of seventy-nine years. The father, who was born in New York state, November 13, 1832, remained with his parents until his marriage in 1858, when he rented the old Babbitt farm, for a year. Upon his return from the Civil war, in the fall of 1864, he purchased the Denman Thompson home- stead, which he retained until his death. His services as a Union sol- (lier covered about a year, he being a member of Company G, One Hun- dred and Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. From Pittsburg the com- pany was ordered to Gettysburg, where it participated in the great bat- tles at that place. Mr. Foster was then sent to Virginia, and after nine months of guard duty in this state was honorably mustered out of the service in 1864. He had married Miss Mary E. Blair, born on the old homestead a few miles south of Girard borough, January 16, 1836, daughter of John Wallace and Candace (Strong) Blair. The Blair family, one of the oldest and best known in Erie county, was founded in this section by James and Mary (Wallace) Blair, who came from Fay- ette county, Pennsylvania, in 1803, and in the following year located on the land in Girard township which became the family homestead and the center of social and religious activities for a large area of surrounding country. Lyman L. Foster was earnest in the work of the Presbyterian church, of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Ancient Order of United Workmen; was a Republican in politics and a member of the township school board. He was the father of three children, one son (Charles W. of this sketch) and one daughter being alive; the latter, Nettie E., is now the wife of Fred C. Wimersberger, of Lundy's Lane, whose biography appears elsewhere.
At the age of eighteen, after the completion of his common school course, Charles W. Foster attended the State Normal School at Edin- boro two years and then taught district school two years. He then took a commercial course in Eastman's Business College, which was followed by a year of study at the Normal School, Valparaiso, Indiana. Three years upon the home farm were succeeded by a residence of two years at Wichita. Kansas, where he engaged in the real estate business. After assisting his father for another two years he went to southern Illinois, where he commenced the raising of fruit, returning to his old homestead in 1893. Four years later he moved to North Carolina and continued in that line until 1900, when he resumed the raising of fruit on the property which he now occupies. He also makes a specialty of potatoes as a farm crop. He has closely devoted himself to his horticultural and agricultural interests and, although a consistent Re- publican voter since he has attained his majority, has not meddled with politics or had any desire for office. In his religious faith he is a Presbyterian.
On May 31. 1893, Mr. Foster married Miss Nellie Wilson, a native of Centralia, Illinois, the adopted daughter of James and Jane Wilson. Mrs. Foster has two sisters living .- Alice, now the wife of Thomas Gar- side, of Reading, Pennsylvania, and Ida, Mrs. Henry Saul, of Centralia, Illinois.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
OREN BRUCE SHERWOOD is numbered among the well known and highly esteemed residents of Union City, and he is a descendant of an old English family who trace their ancestry to three brothers who were prominently identified with the early history of this country and its struggle for independence, and their names are enrolled with the list of heroes of both the Revolutionary and the war of 1812. The family was at one time numbered among the residents of Cayuga coun- ty, New York, but as early as 1813 they are found in Erie county, Pennsylvania, they having moved westward as the country became more thickly populated and as its representatives increased in num- bers. James Sherwood, the grandfather of Oren B., married Margaret Williams, and both were natives of the state of New York, but- they afterward located on what is now known as the S. B. Brooks farm in Erie county, Pennsylvania. Their children were Charles W., Julius. Mary A., Lyman and Sarah. Charles W. Sherwood, the eldest, was born in 1820, and his life's span covered seventy-two years, years de- voted to the work of the farm and the upbuilding and advancement of his community. Henrietta Shelmadine, whom he married in 1850, died on the 25th of December, 1900, thus surviving her husband but eight years. Their children, seven in number, were: Oren B., who is mentioned below ; Lillian, deceased ; Linnie, a twin of Lillian, born in 1854, and she married L. T. Humes and lives in Crawford county, Pennsylvania ; Frank, born in 1856, is deceased; Perry, born in 1860, is also deceased ; Edith, born in 1868, married in 1885 F. Hinkley and lives in Union township; and Guy, who was born in 1873, owns the old homestead farm, but his home is in Ohio. He married Lena Blair.
Oren B. Sherwood was united in marriage to Miss Almeda, a daughter of Josiah and Isabella Shreve, in 1872, and their union has been blessed by the birth of four children, Fred, Myrtle, Kittie and Clarence. Mr. Sherwood is an active business man in Union City, which has been his home for some time. He yet owns a farm in Union township containing eighty acres of valuable and well tilled land, and he also owns property in Union City, where he is at present engaged in the hardware business. He is a man of sterling worth and integrity, and his friends and acquaintances are many. Mr. Sherwood is a true blue Republican and he is a member of the I. O. O. F., Cle- ment Lodge No. 220 at Union City Pennsylvania.
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