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 83
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CLARK A. RANDALL has been identified with the life and interests of Union City as a resident for thirty years, and during twenty years of that time he has been engaged in the manufacture of lumber. He is a practical and competent sawyer, and the greater part of his business life has been in connection with that line of work.
Born at Rosendale, Fon-du-Lac county. Wisconsin, in 1848, Mr. Randall is a son of Samuel J. and Polly (McFarland) Randall, pioneer farmers of the state of Wisconsin. During many years this brave young couple defied a frontier life among the Indians of the northwest, and there their two sons, George and Clark A., were born to them, and the elder is now a resident of Ohio. The wife and mother died in the year of 1848, when her son Clark A. was but a babe of three months, and the father subsequently marrying again had one son, Samuel, born of his second union, and he is now a physician in Milwaukee, Wis-
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consin. The father survived his second marriage but a short time, dying in 1851, when his second son was but a lad of three years, but he was tenderly reared and cared for by his grandmother, a good and pious old lady. Coming to Erie county, Pennsylvania, in 1853, Clark A. Randall has spent the greater part of his life time here, and although he has left at various times for travel in distant parts Erie county has remained his home from that early period in his life. In December of 1863, he enrolled his name as a defender of northern rights with Com- pany G, Nineteenth New York Cavalry, or as it was more commonly known with the First New York Dragoons. From the time of his en- listment until in July of 1865, he participated in thirty-seven hard fought engagements against the enemy, and although never actually wounded he was at one time struck by a spent ball, and at another time by a splinter knocked from a tree by a cannon ball, it almost seeming that he led a charmed life while at the front.
In May of 1868 Mr. Randall was happily married to Miss Eliza Fleisher, and three children have been born to gladden their hearts, namely: Ernest, born in 1871; Myrtle, in 1873; and Minnie, in 1875. The son married Miss Wealthy Richey in July of 1907. After a happy married life of many years Mrs. Randall, the mother of these children, died in 1886, and for his second wife he married Miss Alice Smith in 1892. Mr. Randall is an active and progressive business man and a public spirited citizen. He owns one good house in Union City, and in many other ways is identified with its interests. He is a past post commander in the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a Republican.
DAVID J. EDWARDS owns and resides on a beautiful estate of one hundred and sixty acres on the Concord road about one mile east of Union City. He was born in northern Wales in 1843, a son of Thomas and Mary (Jones) Edwards, both of whom spent their entire lives in their native land of Wales, and of their large family of nine children only one, David J., came to this country. He first received his educa- tional training in the common schools of his native land, and in due time served an apprenticeship of one year at the carpenter's trade. He thoroughly mastered that trade in all its departments, and after com- ing to the United States in 1869 he located in Corry, Pennsylvania, and worked at that calling for some time. In 1871 he became a car- penter for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and has since been continuously in their employ as a repairman in wood work along his route. In 1880 he came to Union township and to his present farm, and in 1896 he replaced the old house thereon with a splendid frame residence of his own construction.
In 1846 Mr. Edwards married Miss Sarah, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Holden, of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, which was the birthplace of their daughter Sarah in 1841. In 1857 the Holden family moved from that county to the farm of one hundred acres now owned by J. W. Holden. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are Mary, born in 1878, and Thomas J., born in 1879. The daughter married Paul E. Chapin in 1903, and their one child is Dorrance G., born in 1904. Mr. Chapin died in 1905. Mr. Edwards is numbered among the representative business men of this part of Erie county, a thorough American, true and loyal to its principles and institutions, and Union township claims him among her valued residents.
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LEAVITT NORTHROP traces his descent through a long line of dis- tinguished and representative ancestry to the mother country of Eng- land, from whence came Joseph Northrop to this country in 1637, and two years afterward he became one of the original settlers of Milford, Connecticut. His descendants are now scattered over the United States, Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and they can be found identified with all the leading professions and useful and hon- orable callings of this progressive age, while at the same time they have also proved their patriotism and loyalty in their participation in the various wars of the nation.
One of the descendants of Joseph Northrop, the emigrant, was an- other Joseph, who finally moved to Oneida county, New York, and thence on to Warren county, Pennsylvania, in 1808, where the family became numerous, and their names are enrolled among that county's earliest pioneers. Leavitt Northrop, who became the grandfather of Leavitt of this review, was born in Connecticut in 1794, and was a young man at the time of the emigration of his parents. He married Lusina Bushnell, from Herkimer county, New York, and of their children the names of four have been handed down to posterity, and one is Daniel B. Northrop, who in 1842 married Matilda Pierce. Of their children Niram Norton, the first born, enlisted in 1861 for ninety days and re-inlisted in 1862 as a member of the One Hundred and Forty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and he was taken prisoner at Chancellorsville and died in Douglas Hospital on Novem- ber 28, 1863. Leavitt. the second son of Daniel, married Esther Spencer, a daughter of Henry Spencer, in 1871, and three children were born to bless their union, Bertha, Ralph H. and Maud, but the wife and mother died in the year of 1881. For his second wife he married Mrs. Emma Schroeder, a daughter of Barnhard Dufner, in 1898, and their two children are Evelyn and Florence. Mrs. Northup also has a daughter, Ruth, by her former husband. Perry, the third son of Daniel B., married Charity Debutts, and their four children are Guy, Ray. Lynn and Thelma. This branch of the family reside in Girard, Pennsylvania. The two youngest sons of Daniel B. were Darius and Abraham, but Leavitt and Perry are his only surviving sons.
In 1850 Daniel B. Northrop came to Union township in Erie county, where he built him a house and barn in the woods and began the task of clearing his farm of two hundred acres. But he afterward made additional purchases of land, and he held various offices of trust and responsibility in his township. During forty-seven years he was a consistant member of the Methodist church, and he died as he had lived, a good, Christian man, in May of 1906. His wife pre- ceded him in death just twenty days, dying in the same month and year.
Leavitt Northrop was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, April 17, 1849, and was a babe of one year at the time of the removal of the family to Erie county. Thus nearly his entire life has been passed in this vicinity, and his farm is a large and fertile one of one hundred acres south of the Concord road and one hundred and twenty- five acres on the north side of the same road, and there he is engaged in stock raising and dairying. In 1905 he erected a beautiful and commodious farm residence, and pleasantly and artistically located
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as it is on a natural building site it is one of the splendid homes of the township. Mr. Northrop is a progressive and up-to-date farmer, and he is numbered among the reliable and highly esteemed residents of his community. Mr. Northrop is a Republican.
GLENN C. KAPPLE. One of the chief industries of Union township is the Cottage Hill Store and Creamery owned and conducted by G. C. Kapple, one of the township's most reliable business men. The creamery was put in operation in 1901, and five years afterward, in 1906, the store was added, and during the summer months Mr. Kapple landles about twelve thousand pounds of milk a day. His store is furnished throughout with the best and freshest stock in the market, coming direct from the factories.
He was born at Beaver Dam in Erie county, Pennsylvania, September 29, 1878, a son of George and Marjorie (Gray) Kapple, born respectively in Fredonia, New York, August 1, 1815. and in Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, in 1833. They were married in 1852, and in the same year came to Erie county, Pennsylvania, but a short time afterward in 1856, they moved to Illinois, but in 1861 they re- turned and located in Beaver Dam, where for thirty years or more Mr. Kapple, the father, served as the superintendent of the Beaver Dam cemetery, resigning only on account of failing health and strength. He died on the 3d of December, 1903. His children were as follows: Charles F., William, Alice and Glenn C., but Willie and Alice are deceased. Mr. Kapple is yet survived by his widow, who resides with her son Glenn.
Glenn C. Kapple was reared and educated in his native com- munity, and after the completion of his school days he took up the work of cheese making. During his fourteen years' connection with this industry he acquainted himself with every department of the business, being the superintendent, where he finally purchased the Cottage Creamery. In 1903 he was the important factor in the or- ganization of the Cottage Hill store, where he meets his patrons with that amiability of character which is a signal success to the the up-to- date business man.
On the 16th of April, 1902, he was happily married to Miss Adah B., a daughter of Edward and Juliette (Starkweather) Slye. Mr. Kapple is a member of the fraternal order of Odd Fellows (Lodge No. 220, Clement), Union City and of its Encampment, also in Union City. Ile is a Republican and active in its welfare. He has served his township as an auditor and as a member of the board of elections and has always taken great interest in the selection of competent men as officials in the Republican ranks, in Erie county.
EZEKIEL E. CHAMBERS, is perhaps one of the best known residents of Erie county, and he is further honored by being a member of one of its earliest pioneer families. His paternal grandfather came with his brother to Erie county in an early period in its history, and locat- ing at Four Mile creek secured a farm of four hundred acres of timber land there from the Holland Land Company, and in time this land was cleared and improved and a portion of it is yet in the Chambers name. Norman and Rebecca Nash, the maternal grandparents of
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Ezekiel E., were another of the early pioneer families of Erie county. They were of Scotch descent.
David Chambers, his father, was born in Harbor Creek township, Erie county, and was a farmer throughout his entire business career. He owned fifty acres of the original Chambers tract, and his landed possessions aggregated one hundred acres in all, but this entire tract is now out of the family name. He died in 1871, at the age of seventy- two years, long surviving his wife, Mabel (Nash) Chambers, who passed away in 1845. She was a native daughter of North East township.
Ezekiel E. Chambers, the fourth of their six children, was born in Harbor Creek township of Erie county November 8, 1835, and he received a good education in the common schools and in the Allegany College, which he attended for two years. Remaining with his parents until the age of twenty-one he then began reading medicine with Dr. Moore of Weslyville, but putting aside all personal considerations dur- ing the Civil war he enlisted on the 29th of August, 1861, in Company C, Eighty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the medical department of the Army of the Potomac. He par- ticipated in all the battles of his regiment, and was honorably dis- charged on the 20th of September, 1864, at the expiration of his term of enlistment. Although he was never wounded throughout this long service he was ill for four months after returning to Erie county, and on recovering went to Oil Creek. This was during the oil ex- citement there, and he continued as an operator front 1865 until 1885, returning then to Erie county and locating at the family home in North East township. He had purchased on May 31, 1869, a farm of one hundred and twelve acres, on which he planted a vineyard of fifty acres, but he only now retains seventy-three acres of this tract, having sold the remainder. He is an extensive grower of grapes, and ships his product. He is also a stockholder and a director in the First National Bank of North East, and is one of the real estate operators in that city.
He married in March of 1866 Louisa Davis, born in North East, a daughter of William Davis, and they had two children, Louisa, the wife of W. A. Walker, of New York City, and Mary, who died in in- fancy. The wife and mother is also deceased, dying in January of 1900. He is a Republican, a Mason and a member of John Braden Post Grand Army of the Republic.
JEFFERSON SHUFELT. A man of scholarly tastes and ambition, who, through his own efforts, has obtained a vast fund of practical knowl- edge, Jefferson Shufelt followed the profession of a teacher many years, but is now extensively and successfully engaged in the dairy and creamery business in Pont, Erie county. A native of New York state, he was born, January 22. 1868, in Columbia county, in the town of Hillsdale. His father, Nicholas Shufelt, a farmer by occupation, spent the larger part of his active life in Columbia county, where his death occurred, in 1909, at the venerable age of ninety-three years. His wife, whose maiden name was Loxea Bushnell, died at the age of eighty-seven years, in 1908. They were the parents of four sons, one of whom is not living, the others being as follows: John, a farmer
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in Columbia county, New York; Peter, engaged in agricultural pur- suits in the same county ; and Jefferson, of this sketch.
From the age of fourteen years until reaching his majority, Jefferson Shufelt worked for wages as a farm laborer, and by dint of prudent economy saved the tidy sum of three hundred dollars. Wish- ing to further advance his education, he then attended Starkey In- stitute, in Eddytown, New York, for a year, after which he taught school for two years. With the money thus earned, he studied for a year at the Fairfield Military Institute, and then resumed his pro- fessional labors, teaching until he had saved a sufficient sum to enable him to enter Keuka Institute and College, where he completed the junior course in Latin and was a student four years. Forced to give up his studies on account of his health, Mr. Shufelt, feeling the need of an out-door life, resumed his agricultural labors, working on the farm during seed time and harvest, and teaching school during the winter terms for three years. He subsequently turned his attention to dairying, and for eight years operated a creamery in his native state and in Erie county, Pennsylvania, making butter and cheese. Coming to Erie county in 1905, Mr. Shufelt purchased the old Cold Spring creamery in Pont, equipped it with modern machinery and appliances, and has now one of the leading creameries in Erie county, handling over a million pounds of milk for the season.
Mr. Shufelt married, October 10, 1903, Myrtle Gifford, who was born in Fulton county, New York, August 11, 1875, a daughter of Levi W. and Algina (Sweatman) Gifford, the latter of whom was born at Cranberry Creek, New York. Levi W. Gifford is a glove manufacturer and distributer. Mr. and Mrs. Gifford have ten chil- dren, namely: Myrtle, wife of Mr. Shufelt; Edna, wife of L. Gilbert. a farmer; Bertha, wife of T. Gibbons, a dairyman in the state of Montana ; Charles, farming in his home town; Earl, engaged in min- ing in Colorado; Basil; Grace; Dayton; Beatrice ; and Stella. Mr. and Mrs. Shufelt have two children, namely : Milton, aged five years, and Grace, two years of age. Politically Mr. Shufelt is independent, voting according to the dictates of his conscience, without regard to party affiliations. Fraternally he is a member of Mayfield Lodge. No. 686, I. O. O. F., of Mayfield, New York, and religiously his wife belongs to the Christian church.
WILBUR DAVIS, a native born citizen of Erie county, was born in Amity township, May 13, 1846. He is the son of George W. and Marion (Findley) Davis, and grandson of Phineas Davis. Phineas Davis. a native of New York state, married Miss Root, and removed to Erie county, in 1841: his wife died. leaving one son, George W., and after her death Mr. Davis returned to New York state. Here he married his first wife's sister, by whom he had children as follows : Mary, now Mrs. Heinbough : Lydia, Mrs. Graves ; Phebe ; Experience ; Josiah : Charles : Adolphus and Edward.
George W. Davis was born in Madison county, New York, in 1821, and removed to Erie county, Pennsylvania, in 1841. He first purchased seventy-five acres of land and built a log cabin, in which the family lived for several years. By his industry and thrift he cleared his land for cultivation. and made many improvements in his estate. He sold his first farm and purchased one of twice the size.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
Ellen & Gifford
Jo Gifford
THE NEW YORK FBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX ALTEN FOUNDATIONS
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He was upright and honorable in his dealings with his fellow men, and an earnest member of the United Brethren church. He held the township offices of Tax collector, assessor and school director. He died July 29, 1903. His wife, Marion Findley, was the daughter of an early settler in Erie county, who located first at Beaverdam, Con- cord township, where the land was in its virgin state. The Findley family led the hard life of pioneers; the nearest grist mill was at Meadville, and the trip took up two or three days, so the neighbors made an arrangement whereby each took his turn carrying grist to the mill for the entire neighborhood. The Findleys settled in Erie county soon after the Mills. George W. and Marion (Findley) Davis were married June 19, 1845, and to them were born the following children : Wilbur, Victor, Ira, Ralph, Mrs. Ella Graf, Frank (de- ceased), Mrs. Ida Jordan, Mrs. Flora Jones, Mrs. Dora Clough and Ella (deceased).
Wilbur Davis was reared and educated in his native town, and was trained for agricultural pursuits; he has been successful in his undertakings and has now retired from active labor. In 1864, hearing and heeding the call of his country, he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served to the end of the war, at which time he was honorably discharged. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic of Union City, of which he is past commander ; he has been honored with nearly every office in the post, and is now serving as junior vice commander (1909). He has also represented his post in the following encampments: Buffalo, New York ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, D. C., in 1903; Gettysburg, in 1904; Denver, Colorado, 1905; Saratoga, New York, 1907; Toledo, Ohio, 1908. Mr. David is a respected and patriotic citizen, and enjoys the friendship and esteem of a large number of people.
Mr. Davis married, January 1, 1869, Ellen, daughter of Uriah and Emeline (Dunham) Carl, and to them was born one child, who died in infancy. Mrs. Davis was born in 1845, in Chautauqua county, New York. Mr. Davis is a Republican and he first voted for Lincoln in the ranks and voted the Republican ticket ever since. Both he and his wife are members of the United Brethren church.
JAMES P. GIFFORD, one of the prominent agriculturists of Harbor Creek township, is a native son of Erie county, born in North East township, June 10, 1845, a son of Ebenezer F. and Betsy (Loveless) Gifford, from eastern New York, and a grandson of David Gifford, from Connecticut, and David Loveless, from England. David Gifford served eight years in the Revolutionary war under Washington, and he was one of the first settlers of Harbor Creek township, Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he lived until his death in about the year of 1847. Ebenezer F. Gifford and Betsy Loveless were married in New York, which continued as their home for some years, the husband following farming, carpentering and blacksmithing. In 1830 they came to North East township in Erie county, where he owned and operated a mill and farmed, and he died there in the year of 1867. In politics he was a stanch Democrat. His wife survived him for many years and died in 1891. In their family were seven sons and four daughters, of whom five are now living : G. W., of Humboldt, Kansas; D. F., whose home is Vol. II-38
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in Oregon; A. J., who resides in Miller, Hand county, South Dakota; Martha M., the wife of G. B. Wright, of Sugar Grove, Warren county, Pennsylvania.
The old Gifford farm in North East township continued as the home of James P. Gifford as long as his parents lived, he conducting its work until moving to and buying a half interest in seventy-six acres in Harbor Creek township belonging to his wife's father, she owning the remaining half. The farm is splendidly adapted to the raising of fruit, and eighteen acres is devoted to grape culture, two acres to plums and prunes, one acre to peaches and two and a half acres to apples, the different varieties giving splendid returns to the owner.
On the 10th of January, 1871, Mr. Gifford was united in marriage to Ellen L. Green, who was born in Harbor Creek township, August 21, 1847, a daughter of Philo H. and Betsy L. (Gleason) Green, from New York, and a granddaughter of Charles and Catherine (Bowers) Green, born respectively in New York and Canada, and of William and Polly (Smith) Gleason, from Chautauqua county, New York. The six chil- dren of this union are: Ebben P., of Harbor Creek; Charles A., of Youngstown, Ohio; Russell J. W., of Erie, Pennsylvania; George H., who with his brother Ebben is the proprietor of a general feed store and cider mill; and Arthur W. and Albert P., both at home with their parents. Mr. Gifford, the father, is an independent political voter, and he has served two terms each as assessor and school director. Both he and his wife are members of the order of Patrons of Husbandry and of the National Grange. In the former he has served as master of the subordinate lodge No. 385 and as assistant steward in Erie county and of the Pennsylvania State Grange, and he is also a deputy to the state master in Erie county. During six years Mrs. Gifford has been Pomona of Pomona Grange in Erie county She is a poetical writer of local renown, and has contributed many splendid articles for memorial services in the county Grange.
DAVID KNOWLES, deceased, was for many years identified with the farming interests of Erie county. He was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, February 13, 1833. It was in the year of 1886 that he came to Erie county, but a few years afterward, on the 2d of December, 1893, he was called to the home beyond, and he was laid to rest in Beaver county.
Mr. Knowles married into one of the oldest families of Erie county. His wife, Susan D. Sturgeon, was a daughter of William R. and Eleanor M. (Allison) Sturgeon and a granddaughter of William and Jane (Calhoun) Sturgeon, names that are familiar throughout this county. William and Jane (Calhoun) Sturgeon were born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and located in Fairview, then called Sturgeonville, about 1804. He gave the name of Sturgeonville to the place, and ever remained one of its active supporters. Immediately following his arrival here he began cutting away the trees for a space on which to erect his little log cabin home, and after sowing some wheat he returned home and in the following spring brought his family here on horseback. His first holding of land was four hundred acres, which he cleared and improved, and in time bought another tract of one hundred acres. In his will he donated seventy acres of his land to the maintenance of the Presbyterian church at Fairview,
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for he was ever a loyal supporter of its interests, a true Christian gentleman. In the family of William and Jane Sturgeon were nine children, as follows: John; Margaret, who married John Ferguson ; Samuel; Eleanor, who married Levi Warren; Maria, who married Cyrus Plow ; William, mentioned below ; Thomas; Jane, who married Andrew Caughey ; and Judah.
William Sturgeon was born in Fairview in 1804, and throughout his entire business career he was a successful farmer. By his wife Eleanor M. Allison he had nine children, namely: Octavius, de- ceased; Nancy, now Mrs. Monroe and living in Oregon; Rosanna, deceased ; Mary Jane, the deceased wife of Rev. J. H. Vance ; Susan, who became the wife of David Knowles; William O, whose home is in Graham county, Kansas; Perry, of Fairview; Charlotte, who be- came Mrs. Hubbard and is living in Panama, New York; and Helen, who is Mrs. Hudson and a resident of Woodland, California. Mr. Sturgeon, the father, died September 14, 1861.
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