History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 61

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc > Part 61

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The "Erie & Western Transportation Company," better known as the "Anchor Line," handle large quantities of grain, and the general railroad business to and from the lake is enormous. The Transportation Company commenced business in 1868, the nucleus being one small elevator. built at Erie by Messrs. Noble, Brown, McCarter & Shannon, and from that modest. beginning it has grown to its present magnificent proportions. At this port the company own about forty acres of the finest dock property on the lakes, upon which it has two spacious, first-class elevators, with a combined capacity of 625,000 bushels; two large freight warehouses of sufficient capacity to store 3,000 tons of merchandise, together with all the necessary tracks and other ap- pliances for handling freight rapidly and cheaply. The " Anchor" fleet con- sists of seventeen propellers, one tug, and three schooners, viz .: the Clarion, Lehigh, Philadelphia, Alaska, India, China and Japan (all iron); the Juniata, Delaware, Conestoga, Lycoming, Conemaugh, Wissahickon, Gordon Camp- bell, Annie Young, Winslow, and Arizona (wood); the Allegheny, Annie Sher- wood, and Schuylkill (schooners); and the tug Erie, a total tonnage of 29,780 tons. During the season of navigation these vessels, both passenger and freight, leave the " Anchor Line" docks at the foot of Holland street, on their regular trips to Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and all Lake Superior ports. The effect of these facilities upon the city's future prosperity cannot be too highly considered, and must be the means of attracting capital for manufacturing purposes.

BAY, HARBOR AND PENINSULA.

The bay of Presque Isle is about four and a half miles long by one and a half miles wide, with an average depth of more than twenty-two feet over

526

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

the greater portion of it, and no shoal within the deep area to obstruct navi- gation. It is entirely land-locked, protected from the heaviest gales, and has the best character of bottom for anchorage. It is formed by the peninsula of Presque Isle, a sand-bar, from a few rods to a mile in width, which juts out from the main shore of Lake Erie at Massassauga Point, some four miles west of the city, runs two miles into the lake and makes an abrupt turn to the east, sweeping down the lake to the entrance of the bay, a point opposite the east- ern boundary of Erie. As the safety and welfare of the harbor depend upon the maintenance of this peninsula, much money has been expended by the Gov- ernment in closing breaches and protecting it from heavy seas. An erroneous impression exists that the peninsula is the property of the United States, and that it devolves upon the Government to protect it so that it shall not be cut away by the sea. Such is not the case; the United States has never accepted the gift, and the only object in constructing the works of protection is to pre- vent a breach which might endanger the harbor of Erie. No one has a right to live on it, however, save the keepers of the two light-houses and the crew of the life-saving station. It is covered with a dense growth of timber, shrubs and vines, which are not allowed to be cut down, and is penetrated in every direction by chains of small lakes or ponds connected with the bay by channels usually navigable for small boats. The peninsula is one of the finest spots around Erie for picnics, pleasure excurions and camping-parties, and affords admirable sport for gunners and fishermen. Wild fowl and fish abound both in the bay, in the peninsula ponds and in the lake outside, and are care- fully protected by the Northwestern Pennsylvania Game and Fish Association. The result is, that the peninsula, covering about 5,000 acres, and the bay about 4,000, form a natural preserve which will last for generations.

The ruins of a large brick house or fort, erected near the east end of the peninsula long prior to American occupation, were still to be seen in 1795; and in 1813 a block-house was built at Crystal Point, just west of Misery Bay, to defend the harbor entrance. This bay was so named by Lieut. Holdup, in 1814, on account of the prevailing gloomy weather and the comfortless condi- tion of the vessels anchored in it at that time. It is also called Lawrence Bay, after Perry's flagship, which was sunk in its waters, but subsequently raised and taken to the Centennial in 1876. Erie has always had jurisdiction over the peninsula, and in 1833 R. S. Reed was appointed Superintendent of it for five years, and a fine of $500, or imprisonment for a term not exceed- ing six months, was the penalty for cutting timber or setting fire to the shrub- bery thereon. In 1835, the borough resolved to proceed against any one who might erect buildings upon it. The Legislature passed an act, in 1841, im- posing a fine of not less than $10, nor more than $25, on any person who should gather cranberries on the peninsula between July and October. The 1st of October was "cranberry day," a great event in olden times. Large par- ties would cross the bay the night before and remain until morning. The marshes were full of cranberries, to a much larger extent than at present, and for that reason were well patronized by the people of Erie.

Immediately after the war of 1812, the Government asked Commodore Perry for his opinion as to the feasibility of removing the sand-bar which blocked the entrance to the harbor, and he reported favorably on the project. In 1819, a survey was made by the General Government, but nothing further was done at that time. In 1822, the State of Pennsylvania appointed Thomas Forster, Giles Sanford and George Moore, of Erie, a committee to survey the bay of Presque Isle and ascertain the depth of water in the bay, on the bar, and the anchorage outside the bar, and expended $15,000 toward improving the har-

AS Pilsbury

529

CITY OF ERIE.

bor. The project was then taken in hand by the General Government, which has since continued the work. It is said that in 1821 the peninsula was covered with timber from the mainland to the beacon light on its southeastern point, but that a few years afterward the heavy seas washed the timber off the neck, and subsequently made the breach through to the bay, which re- mained open for more than thirty years, partly by the assistance of the United States Engineers, who tried to make of it a western channel to the lake.

The present project of harbor improvement adopted in 1823, and amended from time to time as the demands of commerce called for an increased depth of water, consists of two break-waters extending from the main shore and from the end of the peninsula at the eastern extremity of the bay, with parallel piers, 350 feet apart, running from the ends of these break-waters to a depth of sixteen feet in the lake, the object being to contract the entrance, and by the increased velocity of the current to keep the channel scoured ont to the proper depth. In addition to this work at the entrance, the project also requires the protection of the shore at the neck of the peninsula of Presque Isle, which by its position forms the harbor of Erie, and which peninsula has been breached several times during the past fifty years.

The report of the Chief Engineer U. S. A. for 1881 in an interesting article says: " The original survey of this harbor under the chief of engineers was made in 1819, when there was a long, low sand-bar stretching across the pres- ent entrance, the channel being narrow and tortuons, with a depth of only six feet. By the act of March 3, 1823, a new survey was made, and a board of engineers consisting of Gen. Simon Bernard and Lieut. Col. J. G. Totten, submitted plans of improvement which were commenced in 1824. At that time the channel at the entrance was narrow and tortuous, with. a depth of only six feet, and the depth on the present line of. channel was only two feet. By 1827 vessels of ordinary draft were able to enter the harbor; by 1829, the depth of the entrance was from seven and half to fifteeu feet, and in 1833 there was a good channel with a depth of twelve feet from the lake into the bay, and this depth was maintained to 1839, when operations were suspended. In 1844, the piers were in a dilapidated condition; there was a depth of eight- een feet between them, but shoals were forming at each end. In 1864, there was still a depth of twelve feet at the entrance, but the channel was narrow and crooked and had been driven to the southward by the sand drifting around the north pier. In 1868, the channel was straightened and the depth increased to thirteen feet, with a width of one hundred feet. The width and depth have been increased from time to time since 1868, more or less shoaling taking place in the meanwhile, and at the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, there was a channel three hundred feet wide, not less than sixteen feet deep from the lake to deep water in the bay."

The first breach recorded in the peninsula appears to have taken place near "The Head" during the winter of 1828-29. Its extent is not reported, but the entire appropriation of $7,390 was used in closing it. In the winter of 1832-33, another breach occurred at the same point, and during the summer of 1833 Lieut. Col. J. G. Totten, by direction of the chief of engineers, examined the harbor. In November, Col. Totten submitted an elaborate report, where- in he suggested the possibility of maintaining entrances at both ends of the harbor, but recommended that the effect of the breach should be studied for a year or two before any complete plan was decided upon. In 1835, Lieut. T. S. Brown submitted plans for an entrance at the west end of Presque Isle Bay through the peninsula. The breach which had commenced in 1832-33 had greatly widened, so that where trees thickly stood when work began in 1824,

530

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

there was in 1835 an opening nearly one mile wide and daily increasing, 80 that the whole peninsula was threatened. Lieut. Brown's plan provided for partially closing the breach by crib-work, but left a channel four hundred feet wide, so that vessels might enter or depart from either end of the bay. In 1836, work was commenced upon the plan of Lieut. Brown; 420 feet of crib- work break-water was completed, strengthened by piling and partially filled with stone; barracks were erected for workmen, machinery purchased, and ar- rangements made for a vigorous prosecution of the work. Work was continued in 1837, 1,920 feet of crib-work was completed, making in all 2,340 feet, or one-third of the whole breach. The progress thus far in partially closing the breach was reported as very satisfactory. In 1838, under Capt. Williams, of the Topographical Engineers, 1,035 linear feet of crib-work was built, 570 feet being north of the proposed new channel piers and 465 south of them. In 1839, work was continued; the break-water on the south side of the proposed new channel was prolonged 690 feet, and 150 feet of the work built in 1838 was strengthened; 300 feet of crib-work was placed in position on the low ground at the northeast end of the work, north of the proposed new entrance, to prevent the lake from cutting through at that point. No appropriations were made nor work done during the years 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843. In 1841, an examination showed that the lake was making rapid encroachments upon the peninsula north of the works and threatened the destruction of the harbor.

In 1844, the condition of affairs was as follows: The peninsula, which in 1823 joined the main shore, had become an island. To prevent the destruction of the harbor, an extensive line of crib-work had been built, and plans had been prepared and work progressed for the purpose of opening a new channel. Part of this crib-work had answered admirably the purpose designed, but a portion left incomplete for want of funds in 1839 had been destroyed. The gap in the peninsula, which in 1835 was over one mile wide, had been reduced to a width of 3,000 feet, with a depth of from five to six feet. In 1844, the erosion in the vicinity of the barracks built in 1836 for workmen threatened their destruction, and 470 linear feet of crib-work was built for their protection. Nothing further was done at this locality until 1852. An examination made at that time by Maj. William Turnbull, of the Topographical Engineers, showed that the breach in the peninsula still existed, and that the crib-work protection built in previous years had been almost destroyed. In 1853 and 1854, efforts were made to prevent further erosion by protecting the shore with brush and stone, with very great success. Operations were continued during 1855-56, protecting the beach with brush and stone, with such success that there were strong prospects of restoring the original water line. In September, 1857, Maj. J. D. Graham reported the suspension of work through lack of funds, and nothing further was done until 1864, in which year Col. T. J. Cram was assigned to the charge of the harbor. His report stated that the breach at the west end of the harbor was entirely closed, nature having com- pleted the work during the interval of seven years of suspended labor, although about 500 feet of the peninsula was so low that high seae broke clear across it. This weak spot was strengthened in 1865, and since that time but one breach of any importance has occurred, viz., during a heavy gale in November, 1874. This was soon closed, under the superintendence of Col. Blunt, the officer then in charge, by what he termed " a bulk-head protection," constructed of piles and plank, the experiment of planting young trees on he neck of the peninsula resorted to in 1871-72, having entirely failed, nearly all of them being destroyed by the heavy winter gales. Since that time Col. Blunt's mode of protection, together with an abatis of brush and stones, has

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CITY OF ERIE.

been generally followed, but it has taken constant vigilance to keep these works in repair. There are two places where the neck of the peninsula is not more than 100 feet wide, and the crest only about three feet above the level of the lake, and where at times of very high seas, the water of the lake rolls across into the bay.

The winter of 1881-82 was an open one, and the beach was deprived of its usual revetment of heavy ice. A number of furious gales occurred during the fall and winter, and upon the opening of the season of 1882 the old bulk- heads were found to be seriously damaged, and the beach to have suffered more or less from the heavy seas. The water of Lake Erie was unusually high dur- ing the spring of 1882, and on March 21, the level of the lake was the highest recorded at Erie for a number of years. A strong northwest gale was blowing at the time, and the heavy seas rolled clear across .the lowest portion of the peninsula into the bay. The erosion at the time was still not sufficient to excite apprehension of immediate danger, but some steps were absolutely necessary for protection during the coming fall and winter. The engineer in charge submitted a project for the protection of the beach line with piles and plank, but afterward amended it upon the recommendation of the local engi- neer, Capt. Adams, and concluded to drive short intermediate piles between the old poles still standing, which formed a portion of the bulk-head protection.

The earliest chart in possession of the engineer in charge is that of Maj. Anderson, made in 1819, which shows that the peninsula then occupied about the same general location and direction that it does at the present time. A comparison of Maj. Anderson's map with Maj. McFarland's map of 1878 indi- cates that for about three miles from Massassauga Point the outer shore line has receded about 1,500 feet. Some errors are noticed in this map of 1819, however, and it may not be entirely reliable. A comparison of Lieut. Wood- ruff's map of 1839 with McFarland's map of 1878 shows a similar retrograde movement of the shore line. A comparison of the lake survey map of 1865 with McFarland's map of 1878 and Maj. Wilson's map of 1879 shows little or no variation in the position of the outer shore line. These maps seem to indi- cate that from 1819 to 1865 there was a general recession of the outer shore line, while from 1865 to 1882 there has been but little change in it. A com- parison of Woodruff's map of 1839 with McFarland's of 1878 shows that the mass of this part of the peninsula has materially increased during the interval of time between these surveys, for the distance from the 12-foot or 15-foot curve outside the peninsula to the curve of corresponding depth inside was in 1878 about double what it was in 1839, while no very great change appears to have taken place in that part of the neck which lies above the water level. This increase in width seems to have come chiefly from the shoaling of the water inside the peninsula, but from whatever cause it comes, it indicates that the danger of the formation of a breach at this point has not increased, but has decreased, in the last forty years.

Erie Harbor is in the collection district of Erie, Penn., and is lighted as fol- lows: A fourth order coast light on the northern shore of the peninsula, flash- ing red and white; a fixed red of the sixth order on the outer end of the north pier, and two sixth order fixed white lights to mark the range for the channel within the bay. There was also a light-house located on the main land east of the city, which has been abandoned. There is a fog-bell on the outer end of the pier, and the nearest work of defense is Fort Porter, ninety miles distant. The following appropriations have been made from time to time for this harbor:

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

March 3, 1823.

$ 150 00

August 30, 1852

$30,000 00

May 26, 1824.

20,000 00

Juue 23, 1866

36,961 00

March 25 1826

7,000 00

March 2, 1867

25,000 00

March 2, 1827

2,000 00

June 30, 1868.

40,000 00

May 19, 1828.

6,223 18

April 10, 1869.

22,275 00

March 3, 1829

7,390 00

July 11, 1870.

20,000 00

March 2, 1831

1,700 00

March 3, 1871.

29,000 00

July 3, 1832.

4,500 00

June 10, 1872

15,000 00

March 2, 1833

6,000 00

June 23, 1874.

20,000 00

June 28. 1834.

3,045 00

March 3, 1875

80,000 00

June 28, 1834.

20,000 00

August 14. 1876

40,000 00

March 3, 1835

5,000 00

June 18, 1878.

25,000 00

July 2, 1836

15,000 00

March 3, 1879.

25,000 00

July 2, 1836.

132 80

June 14, 1880

25,000 00

March 3, 1837

15,000 00

1881.

20,000 00

July 7, 1838.

30,000 00

August 2, 1882.

20,000 00

June 11, 1844

40.000 00

LIFE SAVING SERVICE.

The life-saving service of the United States was extended to the lakes about 187 -. Lakes Erie and Ontario constitute the Ninth District, and have been in charge from the first of Capt. D. P. Dobbins, of Buffalo, a native of Erie. There are four stations on Lake Ontario and five on Lake Erie. Those on the latter lake are at Buffalo, Erie (Station 6), Fairport, Cleveland and Marblehead Island. The surfmen were employed during the season of 1879- 80 as follows: 1879-July 1, to December 15; 1880-March 20, to June 30. The following is the record of disasters within the Ninth District during that season: Number of disasters, 55; value of vessels in trouble, $385,577; vessels lost, 5; actual loss, $71,675; lives lost, 1; shipwrecked persons sheltered at stations, 54; days of shelter afforded, 75.

The life-saving station at Erie has a crew of seven men under the com- mand of Capt. William Clark, making a force of eight men. Their work has been at times one of hardships, but of great efficiency, resulting in the saving of much valuable property and many lives, and calls for the heartiest com- mendation of the Government and the community, besides a better compensa- tion in wages.

Erie was a naval station from the time Perry's fleet was built until the year 1825, at which date it was completely broken up, but as this country, by treaty with Great Britain, is compelled to maintain a naval force on the lakes, the harbor has been the station for vessels so provided. The United States steamer Michigan, and the revenue cutter Perry, both make this their head- quarters, and always winter in the bay. The latter vessel was sold by the Government in the fall of 1883 to a firm in Buffalo, who took it in part pay- ment for a new revenue cutter which is now in process of construction. This will also be called the "Perry," but is expected to be superior to the old cutter in speed and other important particulars valuable in a vessel engaged in the revenue service.

THE HEAD.

The head of Presque Iele Bay, now the popular resort of the people of Erie and vicinity, does not extend so far west as when the town was laid out in 1795, the outer shore of the peninsula at the neck having gradually receded toward the east, while the inner shore kept growing in the same direction. A narrow sand beach commenced at the mouth of Millar Run on the Reed farm, one mile above "The Head", and extended down the lake a similar distance, from which the peninsula jutted out. Much higher up than now inclosed by the sand beach was a long, narrow pond, entirely cut off from the lake, up which

533

CITY OF ERIE.

the scows frequently ran from the bay, as late as 1840, to gather wood for steamboats. In 1796, some twenty or thirty Indian families, belonging to the once great and warlike tribe of Senecas, resided at the head of the bay. The beach was then much larger than it is to-day, and a heavy forest covered the low land nearest to the shore. The Indians had corn-fields southwest on the farms owned by J. C. Marshall, and the estate of E. J. Kelso. This Indian village was the last in Erie County, but they also gradually disappeared, and after their departure the site was occupied for awhile by a half-breed negro named Mckinney, who lived by fishing. He subsequently removed to the up- per Laird farm, where he met his death by a fish-bone lodging in his throat while eating. His daughter married Ben Fleming, who was the last survivor of Perry's fleet residing in Pennsylvania.

"The Head" was first taken up under the laws of the State, in 1800, by Eliph- alet Beebe, a ship carpenter, who looked upon the site as an available one for a ship-yard. In the course of a few years, it passed into the hands of Thomas Laird, who died in April, 1833, and by whose heirs it was held until its pur- chase by William L. Scott at Sheriff's sale. Mr. Scott erected thereon the Massassauga Hotel, and greatly improved the grounds, so that it was rapidly becoming a popular suminer resort for tourists, but in December, 1882, the house was burned to the ground, and has not since been rebuilt.

"The Head" is also called Massassauga Point after the tribe of Massassauga Indians who once lived in this vicinity, and bore tribal relations to the ex- tinct Eriez. It is claimed, however, by some writers that the name sprang from a species of rattlesnake known as the Massassauga-a short, thick look- ing snake that were numerous when Capt. Bissell erected the forts east of Mill Creek in 1795-96, but which have long since disappeared before the on- ward march of civilization.

In 1832, an iron ore bed was discovered on the south line of the Laird farm, which was used at the blast furnace of Vincent, Himrod & Co., of Erie, for several years. A furuace at Conneaut, Ohio, fell short of ore about this time and sent an agent to quarry this ore and ship it at "The Head". The scow schooners Jack Downing and Olive Branch ran in the iron ore trade for three seasons, or until the supply became exhausted. At that period the vessels on their downward trips came through the western opening in the peninsula, re- turning loaded by the eastern channel. The road from the schoolhouse to the shore of the bay, which ran till lately through the woods and down the side of the bank, was laid out for the purpose of hauling the ore to the vessels. This road has been used by the public ever since, though it still remains, as then, private property. The Jack Downing wintered in 1834-35 about fifty rods above where the Massassauga Hotel was built, and there tied up to a sycamore tree, where now the sand beach renders the approach of a vessel impossible.

FISHERIES.

When the pioneers located at Presque Isle in 1795, they had to resort to fishing in the log canoe for the purpose of obtaining food supply, and the soldiers under Capt. Bissell made a business of laying in a stock of fish for each season which they preferred to the government rations. Log canoes for fish . ing purposes were as much of a necessity to the early settlers along the lake, as log cabins to shelter their families, and each went fishing as his wants re- quired. The first man in the vicinity of Erie who followed fishing as a special business was the mulatto Mckinney, who has been previously mentioned in the article on " The Head," at which point he resided. He made the business a success, furnishing families who could not take the time to " go fishing," or

534

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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 61

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280