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 85
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foregoing record, it will be seen that four, at least, of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Matthias Spencer attained prominence in professional circles, two having been identified with the law, and two having been physicians, while George W., the youngest son, not to be out-classed by his older brothers, developed to a considerable extent his artistic talent, and is a musician of ability.
Obtaining a practical education in the district schools, George IV. Spencer began life for himself as a lumber manufacturer and dealer, until the breaking out of the Civil war shipping it in large quantities as far as the Ohio river. The war interfering with his oper- ations in that line of industry, he subsequently devoted his attention to farming and cattle dealing, building up and maintaining for many years a substantial business. Until 1905, Mr. Spencer resided in Wayne township, but since that time has lived in Corry, retired from active pursuits, enjoying the wealth obtained by years of earnest and honest labor.
On June 10, 1875, Mr. Spencer married Emily, daughter of Her- man and Jane (Smith) Abby. She was born, February 18, 1843, in Wayne township, Erie county, of pioneer stock, being a grand- daughter on the maternal side of Samuel Smith, who settled in Wayne township in 1797. Samuel Smith was born in Ireland, June 16, 1774, and with three of his brothers emigrated to the United States in 1796. For a few months they all lived near Philadelphia, but in 1797 came to Erie county, locating in what is now Wayne township, bringing all of their household effects with them. They bought four hundred acres of land, improved farms, upon which they lived until 1818, when they moved to another part of the township. With the other pioneers they suffered all the privations and hardships of frontier life, laboring with toilsome perseverance in winter's cold and summer's heat to place their land under cultivation. In 1822 one of the brothers, Wil- liam Smith, erected a log barn on his farm, a building one hundred feet long, and fifty feet wide. Not only as a matter of courtesy, but from necessity, all of the neighbors were invited to be present at the raising, and it is said, with good authority, that on that occasion the whole of a roasted ox, and a barrel of good whiskey, was consumed by the crowd that gathered there to assist. Samuel Smith married Jane Dickey, who was also a native of Ireland, her birth occurring June 12, 1772. She died September 4, 1859, being survived by her husband, whose death occurred November 17, 1862. Of the twelve children born of their union, eleven grew to years of maturity, name- ly: John, Elizabeth, William, Esther, Jane, Mary, Lavina, Samuel, Nancy, Sallie, Sophia, and James D. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer are the parents of four children, namely: Harriet B., born May 28, 1876; George W., Jr., born September 12, 1877, is successfully engaged in the practice of law ; Harry A., born April 1, 1879; and Earl M., born May 2, 1883. Mr. Spencer is a Democrat. He is a Mason and has been for fifty-one years, perhaps the oldest Mason in the county of Erie.
JOHN G. GRAY is a worthy and prosperous farmer of Wayne town- 1 ship, this county, where he owns and operates a farm of one hundred acres, a portion of which is devoted to the raising of general stock and poultry and another part to the breeding of fancy varieties of stock.
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Mr. Gray was born July 21, 1845, and is a native of Wayne township, where he was reared and educated, finishing his schooling at Water- ford Academy. In 1864 he joined the Union army as a member of the Twelfth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, serving therein for three years and passing uninjured through various important battles. He was a scout under "Little Phil" in the Shenandoah valley about eight months. He was honorably discharged on the 24th of July, 1865. After the war he was united in marriage with Mrs. Jane Smith, to whom one daughter, Mary A., was born. Mr. Gray has not always confined himself to farming. For over twenty-five years he was a resident of Erie, during which period he held the office of councilman and was a citizen of influence. Since returning to Wayne township he has resumed agricultural pursuits, but has taken no part in public or political affairs. For many years he has been identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and is an honored member of Post No. 67.
Mr. Gray, of this sketch, is a son of Matthew A. and Esther (Smith) Gray, the former being born on the Juniata river, in Penn- sylvania, in 1796. Both he and his brother James were soldiers in the war of 1812. It is claimed that the latter was the strongest man in Harrison's army and that one of the tests, which he successfully met, was the lifting of a cannon from the ground by main strength of hands and arms. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Gray were: William (deceased), Annie, Lavinia and Robert (both de- ceased), Jane, Susanna (deceased), Melissa, Dr. T. H., John G. (of this sketch) and Henry M. (deceased). The father of this family died May 16, 1877, aged eighty-one years and the mother passed away in 1902, ninety-nine years old. William Gray, the paternal grandfather, in 1810 migrated from the family homestead on the Juniata river, settling at Waterford, Erie county. There he took up about four hundred acres of land, which was divided among his chil- dren in later years. By his marriage to a Miss Allison he became the father of William, James, Matthew, Robert, John, Sally, Annie and Mrs. F. Gray. Mr. Gray is a Republican.
MARQUIS S. SMITH. After many years of varied experience both west and east, all of which fashioned him into a broad, strong and prosperous man, Marquis S. Smith, proprietor of the splendid country estate known as "Smith's Ranch," returned to the scenes of his birth and boyhood and developed a model stock farm and dairy from the old place upon which his father settled in 1852. Not only did he ac- complish this after he purchased the four hundred and thirty acres forming the basis of his property, but he remodeled a spacious man- sion, fit to be the central figure in his collection of vast barns and other out-buildings, the entire homestead being among the most at- tractive and valuable in Erie county. The water which supplies his dairy, his great stock barns and his residence is forced over the estate by means of a modern windmill surmounting a seventy-five foot tower. Two living streams, Beaver Dam creek and Slaughter run, also meander over his property, adding both to its picturesqueness and its value as a stock ranch. Another attractive feature, which is also a source of considerable revenue, is the grove of sugar maples, 1,300 in number. It is safe to say, in fact, that altogether Smith's Ranch is the best equipped establishment of the kind in Erie county,
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its numerous and complete appointments being evidences of a master hand and mind. On the west side of the farm is said to be the best built barn in Erie county, being 100 by 100 feet in dimensions and erected in 1892. The stable for the cattle. 45 by 126 feet, was built in 1880, and accommodates forty head. But the most finished, even elegant building, provided for his live-stock is his horse stable, the ceiling of which is finished in matched southern pine and the wain- scoting and stalls of cherry. It is 40 by 60 feet in dimensions and was completed in 1899. The floors of all his farm buildings are of cement and his granaries are lined with sheet iron. The dairy con- sists of sixty Durham cows and all the arrangements for handling and preserving the milk are in accord with the latest sanitary and me- chanical requirements.
But Mr. Smith is seen at his best in his hospitable and handsome home, presided over with such charming dignity by his helpmate of a quarter of a century. There is revealed his many-sided individual- ity-his Scotch uprightness and straightforwardness and his Irish wit and buoyancy. Mr. Smith's great-grandfather was Scotch and was one of the first emigrants to America. His grandparents were Sam- uel and Jane (Dickey) Smith, who had twelve children. William Smith, the father, was born in Wayne township, this county, in 1801, his wife (nee Mary Nelson) being born in 1809. The children of their marriage were as follows: Ebenezer, who was born December 11, 1831, and died November 5, 1906; Dr. Samuel, who was born in 1833, was a surgeon in the Civil war and died in 1869; Nancy, born Feb- ruary 28, 1836; Nelson, born January 25, 1837, who was an officer in the Union army and met his death while leading a charge at a battle, on the 21st of October, 1864; Emily, who was born August 2, 1842, and died in July, 1903; Catherine, born November 4, 1844, and died January 30, 1897; Henry W., also a soldier in the Civil war, who was born June 25, 1847, and died February 4, 1896 ; and Marquis S., of this sketch.
Mr. Smith is a native of Wayne township, this county, born, March 29, 1849 ; received the most of his education at Edinboro Acad- emy, and followed agricultural pursuits until 1869. In that year he lo- cated at Central City, Colorado, where he engaged in various mining enterprises. In 1875 he returned to Wayne township and resumed farming until 1886, when he again became a resident of Leadville, Colorado, and remained there until 1904. Mr. Smith has been twice married-first, to Miss May Alden, daughter of Daniel and Harriet Alden, who died in 1880. On January 19, 1884, he wedded Miss Vic- toria, daughter of Solomon and Mary Sager, of Trumbull county, Ohio. There have been no children by either marriage. Mr. Smith is a Republican and is a member of Leadville Lodge No. 236, B. P. O. E.
MARTIN C. HOWARD. The Howard family, of which Martin C. Howard, the popular and successful dairy farmer of Wayne township, is a worthy representative in Erie county, is of English and Welsh origin. About 1721 Isaac Howard, the founder of the American branch, emigrated to America and landed at Marblehead, Massachu- setts. Subsequently, he settled at Foster. Rhode Island, and in 1752 purchased what is now known as the Gorton Howard farm. For his
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first wife he married Martha Rice, of Coventry, that state, by whom he had eight children, viz .: John, Joseph, Thomas, Isaac, William, Christopher, Daniel, and an infant. His second wife, whom he mar- ried April 7, 1770, was a widow, Mrs. H. Darbie. This original emi- grant of the Howard family in America died November 4, 1776, aged seventy-five years. Captain William Howard, his fifth child, was born in Coventry, Rhode Island, in the year 1747; served in the Rev- olutionary war, and was also twice married. By his first wife, Debo- rah Sheldon (as she was known before marriage), he was the father of Mary and Stephen, and by his second (nee Hope Cook), of John G., Deborah, William H., Peter C., Danforth, Martha, Isaac, Philip, Joan- na and Amy. John G. Howard, great-grandfather of Martin C., was a native of Foster, Rhode Island, born on the 31st of March, 1781, and on June 4, 1804, married, as his first wife, Sally Whitford, the cere- mony occurring at Otsego, New York. His second wife was Miss Ze- bina Morrell. He spent his last years in Columbus, Warren county, Pennsylvania, where he died May 20, 1875, leaving Parmelia A., Dan- iel W., William C., Gorton G. and Huldah R. Daniel W., the grand- father, was born in Sherburne, Chenango county, New York, on the 29th of August, 1808; married Caroline Whitely, June 16, 1831, and in 1861 removed to Beaver Dam, Wayne township, Erie county, where he continued in mercantile pursuits until his death. His children were George W., Angeline, Charles G. (father of Martin C.), John W., Clark G. and Mark L. Charles G was born August 3, 1836 ; married Miss Louisa L., daughter of James Martin, on March 26, 1860, and be- came the father of the following: Martin C., born March 31, 1861; Frank M., born in 1863 and died in 1884 ; James J., born April 10, 1865 ; Carrie J., born in 1870 and died in 1873; Virgil R., born in 1876 and Carl S., born in 1878.
Martin C. Howard was born and reared in Wayne township, re- ceiving his education in its public schools and his practical training as a farmer, within its limits. His industry, economy and good manage- ment have made him the owner of a fine dairy farm of one hundred and forty-five acres of land, the product being obtained from twenty head of choice milch cows. Mr. Howard has also served his township as auditor for nine years, and is now (1909) in his sixth year as tax collector. His ability and usefulness therefore covers a wide range. On January 13, 1885, he married Fannie L., daughter of Jefferson and Amanda (LaSelle) Benjamin, and their children were as follows: Harrison, born in 1889; Edith, born in 1891, and Harold R., born in 1895. Mrs. Howard was born in Herkimer county, New York, August 22, 1865, her father being a native of the same county, born April 17, 1836. Her mother was born in Fulton county, New York, February 14, 1834, and has another daughter, Alice S. Mr. Howard is a Republican. Mrs. Howard is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
DAVID TUTTLE. Of pioneer stock, David Tuttle has the distinction of being one of the oldest native-born residents of Corry, his birth having occurred, December 12, 1839, in that part of Wayne township now included within the corporate limits of the city. His father, Thomas F. Tuttle, and his grandfather, John Tuttle, were both na- tives of New England, where their emigrant ancestor settled on com- ing from England to this country.
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In early pioneer days, John Tuttle came to Pennsylvania with his family, which consisted of his wife, four daughters, and two sons, Thomas F. and David. After spending a short time in Warren county, lie settled in Wayne township, Erie county, where, in company with his sons, he bought extensive tracts of land on both sides of Hare creek. Improving the water power, he built a saw mill on the present site of the city of Corry, it being without doubt the first manufactur- ing plant of any description within the city limits, erecting it in the midst of a heavily wooded tract of land. Hewing and sawing the giant progeny of the forest into lumber, these enterprising mill men rafted it down Hare and Brokenstraw creeks to the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, disposing of all that was not sold while on the way in Cincinnati. After being associated in this industry for a number of years, they sold out, and John Tuttle, the father, returned to Warren county, and there spent his remaining years, living with a daughter in Wrightsville.
Continuing his residence in Wayne township, Thomas F. Tuttle subsequently bought another tract of timber, erected a log house for a home, and having cleared a part of the land sold it at an advance. He afterwards dealt in land to a considerable extent, buying and sell- ing different tracts, residing in the township until his death. at the age of sixty-two years. He married Lucinda McIntire, who was born in Chenango county, New York, and came with her parents to Wayne township, Erie county, while that part of the country was still in its virgin wildness. She died at the age of three score and ten years, leaving seven daughters and one son, namely: Maria, Lucy, Helen, Olive, Margaret, Isora, Inez, and David.
Obtaining his early education in the district schools, and acquir- ing a good knowledge of agriculture while assisting in the care of the home farm, David Tuttle remained beneath the parental roof-tree un- til September, 1861. Enlisting then in Company I, Eighty-third Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, he went South with the regiment, and took part in many hard-fought engagements. From the effects of a severe wound received at the second battle of Bull Run, he lost an arm, and in February, 1864, was honorably discharged from the service. Returning to Wayne township, Mr. Tuttle remained for awhile on the home farm, after which he spent two or three years in the oil fields. He has since been a resident of Corry, his home being located in the north part of the city.
On September 13, 1876, Mr. Tuttle married Melissa Amanda Pat- chen, who was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, August 23, 1851. Left an orphan when young, she was brought up in the family of Amos Heath. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle, four children have been born, namely: Jessie P .; Florence; Leslie, wife of Daniel Depew ; and Thomas LeRoy.
EMBERT L. BELKNAP, a prosperous farmer of Concord township, was born April 29, 1850, and is the son of William H. and Anna (Gray) Belknap. The family is of English origin, and have always been held in high respect and esteem. William H. Belknap was born in Rensse- laer county, New York, April 2, 1824, and came to Erie county, Penn- sylvania about 1833, by way of the Erie Canal; he found employment in his new home, where he earned twelve dollars a month, and by
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saving for some time was able to purchase the nucleus of a farm. He first became the owner of sixty acres, and about this time married and built a home. He was a man of great determination and force of char- acter, energetic and ambitious, and by his thrift was able to buy more land from time to time, until he became possessed of three hundred and sixty acres of land in good condition ; about 1851 he built a fine, commodious dwelling. He was held in high esteem by his fellow- citizens, and held nearly all the township offices at one time or an- other ; he served from 1860 to 1863 as county auditor. In 1882 he en- tered mercantile life, opening and operating a general merchandise store at Aiken, in Mckean county, and here he remained four years. Later he removed to Kansas temporarily to buy land, and there he purchased a valuable grain farm, and still later removed temporarily to Ohio where he was in business and where he died June 9, 1891, very suddenly. During his residence in Concord township he was an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, serv- ing as one of the officers, and giving his material aid to the support of the organization. William Belknap married Anna, daughter of Mat- thew and Esther (Smith) Gray, December 10, 1845. She was born in Wayne township, August 14, 1826, and is now living at the age of eighty-three. Her father was the son of William Gray. William Gray married Mary Allison, September 12, 1782, and they had children as follows: Sally, born in 1783; James, 1785; Anne, 1788; William, 1790; Jane, 1793; Matthew, 1796; Robert, 1798 ; and John, 1803. Mrs. Gray died in January, 1823, and Mr. Gray married (second) September 22, 1824, Jane Taylor, by whom he had children as follows: Joseph, born in 1825; Benjamin, 1826; David, 1828; Samuel, 1830; Wilson, 1832 and Emily, 18344. The Gray family came from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, about 1800, and settled in Erie county, where they became possessed of about eight hundred acres of land. The father, William Gray, died January 11, 1841.
Matthew A. Gray was born February 23, 1796, and served in the war of 1812 ; later he became a farmer. He married, February 8, 1818, Esther Smith, born December 26, 1803, and their children were: Wil- liam A., born in 1821; Jane, 1824; Anna, 1826; Benjamin D .. 1828 ; Robert, 1830; Lavina, 1833 ; Susanna, 1835 ; Melissa M., 1838 ; Thomas H., 1841 ; John G., 1845 and Henry M., 1849.
William H. and Anna (Gray) Belknap had seven children, as fol- lows: Charles M., Embert L., Esther, A. J. (deceased), William A., Cassius H., and Ellen M. Embert L. and Cassius are the only ones residing in Erie county.
Embert L. Belknap is an enterprising and practical farmer, and owns two hundred and seventy of the three hundred and sixty acres of land which comprised his father's homestead. His education in the common schools was supplemented by a course at Waterford Acad- emy, and he has made a careful study of agricultural methods. He carries on a line of general farming, and is successful in the various lines of his undertaking, conducting his business with skill and judg- ment. He is unmarried. Politically he is a Republican, and frater- nally a member of Clement Lodge No. 220, I. O. O. F., at Union City.
BYRON J. HURLBUT, of Wayne township, is one of the busiest, most versatile and most successful citizens in this section of Erie county.
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He is a thorough farmer and a mechanical genius ; owns and operates a fine dairy farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres, and is also the proprietor and operator of a flourishing planing mill in Corry. With all his private enterprises, Mr. Hurlbut has not shirked public respon- sibilities, having served two terms as assessor in Wayne township.
Born in Clymer, Chatauqua county, New York, October 24, 1853, Mr. Ilurlbut was reared and educated in that section of the state, where also he resided until he purchased his farm in Wayne township in 1901. In his younger days he learned the millwright trade, which he followed for a number of years, drifting afterward into the carpen- ter's and joiner's trade. The fact that he became a "Jack of all trades," as well as master of all those with which he was connected. induced him to identify himself with the planing mill industry ; and his Corry enterprise has been growing from the moment its machinery com- menced to hum.
Mr. Hurlbut's first marriage was to Miss Addie Knowlton, in 1877, and by this he has become the father of Leo and Floyd. For his sec- ond wife he married Miss Ella M. Shultz, daughter of A. and Jane M. Shultz, the ceremony occurring in 1888. The five children of this mar- riage are Guy and Glenn (twins), Charles, Archie and Judson. Mr. Hurlbut's parents were Judson and Lydia (Wheeler) Hurlbut, the former being a native of Otis county, New York, and the latter of Meadville, Pennsylvania. The children of the second marriage were Annis, Ida, B. J., Jennie, Mary, Jessie and Nora, and by a former mar- riage Judson Hurlbut had become the father of six children: Olive, Charles, Laura, Sarah, Hiram and Lucy. B. J. Hurlbut is the only son of either family to reside in Erie county. Mr. Hurlbut is a Republi- can, but he takes high ground on the subject of temperance.
CAPTAIN J. A. DASH, who has followed the occupation of Captain on Lake Erie for thirty-five years, with good success, was born in Erie, in 1854. He is the son of John and Susan (Dietz) Dash, and grandson of John B. and Elizabeth Dash. John B. Dash and his wife were both natives of Germany, and emigrated to America in 1830, with their family ; their children were: John, Adam, Anna, Louise, Margaret, Josephine, Mollie, Mattie, Sophia and May.
John Dash, Captain Dash's father, was but a child when brought by his parents to America. He chose the profession of fisherman, and followed same for about thirty years. When he left the lake he lived on and cultivated a small farm. His wife, Susan, died in 1860, and for his second wife he married her sister, Rose Dietz, by whom he had five children.
Captain John A. Dash followed in the footsteps of his father, and became a boat owner ; he has found this occupation very profitable and is often employed by the government, as well as by the "Intake" peo- ple. He now (1909) owns and operates the tug "J. A. Dash," measur- ing sixty feet in length and twelve feet beam. His residence is Erie, and he is a public spirited and enterprising citizen, taking interest in all movements for the city's betterment.
In 1873, Captain Dash married Mary, daughter of Andrew and Henrietta Selig, and to them no children have been born. Mary Selig was born in Erie, in 1853. Andrew Selig and his wife came to Erie about 1840 ; he followed his trade of baker for a number of years, and Vol. II-39
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later kept a restaurant. He died in 1894, and his wife died in 1854, at the age of twenty-seven years. They were the parents of two chil- dren, John C., a marine engineer, now deceased, and Mrs. J. A. Dash.
GLENN R. DAVIS. One of the rising young business men of Corry, this county, Glenn R. Davis is the proprietor of a fine store for the sale of clothing and gents' furnishing goods, at No. 19 North Center street. The appearance of his establishment and the superior quality and completeness of his stock bear abundant evidence of his good taste, his enterprise and his thorough knowledge of the business in which he is so propitiously embarked. Mr. Davis was born at French Creek, Chautauqua county, New York, on the 15th of August, 1872, and re- ceived his main education at the Fredonia State Normal. In 1897 he came to Corry to reside and to make his first business venture, and all his experiences have been of so happy a nature that he has had no de- sire to change his residence.
Mr. Davis is a son of Lucius G. and Perley C. (Briggs) Davis, the former being a native of Onondaga county, New York, and the latter of Wayne township, this county. Three children were born to this union-Glenn R., I. L. and Myrtle E., now Mrs. M. Knight. The mother of Mr. Davis is a daughter of Russell and Eunitia (Lampson) Briggs. Her parents were early settlers of Wayne township, this county, migrating from Ashtabula county, Ohio, and settling on a farm about 1856. The father died October 23, 1865, the mother sur- viving him until November 5, 1892. The children of the Briggs family were as follows: Edwin A. (deceased). Lorenzo, Perley C., Harris R. and Mary E. (deceased).
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