History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 83

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 83

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ROADS, ETC.

The main public roads are the Buffalo and the Lake, in the north portion, crossing the township from Mill Creek to North East, and the Station road, commencing at Wesleyville and running in a general southeastern course into Greenfield. The Lake road extends through the township at a distance of from

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

a quarter to a half mile from the water, having one tier of farms between. The Buffalo road runs at an average distance of a mile and a half south of the lake. The Station road was laid out through Colt's Station to Mayville, N. Y., about 1813. The Lake Shore aud Nickel Plate railroads pass through the whole width of Harbor Creek Township from east to west, and the Phila- delphia & Erie road runs through about a mile of its western portion in a semi-circular direction at the gully of Four Mile Creek. The first two have stations at Wesleyville, Harbor Creek and Moorheadville. The last has no station in the township.

Near the close of the last century, the State of Pennsylvania made a dona- tion of 2,000 acres of land in the newly purchased Triangle to Gen. William Irvine for his services in the Revolutionary war, giving him the privilege of making his own selection. In 1795, while in the county to lay out the towns of Erie and Waterford, he took up a mile along the lake from Brawley's old tavern to the Greenwood Schoolhouse, embracing the mouth of Six Mile Creek, and running back a proportionate distance. In 1830, Gen. Callender Irvine, son of William, had 800 acres surveyed on both sides of the Buffalo road, and sold it off, reserving the water power, which was still regarded as of great value. About 1848, the balance of the reserve was disposed of by Dr. Will- iam A. Irvine, son of Callender.

WESLEYVILLE.

Four and a half miles from the Parks in Erie is the village of Wesleyville, containing three stores, three blacksmith shops, one shoe shop, one large grist mill (using both steam and water), two cider mills, a saw mill, a wind mill factory, a brick church and schoolhouse, some thirty or forty buildings, and between 150 and 200 people. Four Mile Creek runs through the village, and the Buffalo road is its main street. The schoolhouse is built upon the diamond, near the center of the village, which was donated by Gen. Kilpatrick to the public for the purpose. Wesleyville enjoys a good trade with the farm- ers of western Harbor Creek, Greenfield and eastern Mill Creek. The Lake Shore and Nickel Plate Railroads run just north of the place, and it is the point of intersection of the Station road with the Buffalo road. The alley on the west side of W. R. Kelley's store is the line between Harbor Creek and Mill Creek Townships. Wesleyville was laid out in 1828 by John Shadduck, who owned the farm and mill now widely known as Cooper's mill. He built a grist mill in 1823, and a saw mill two years later, both on the west bank of Four Mile Creek. It was named Wesleyville after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. The Methodist Episcopal Church, the only one in the village, was built by Mr. Shadduck in 1828, and rebuilt by the congregation in 1866. Mr. Shadduck's death in 1834 was a heavy blow to the place.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Wesleyville above referred to was a moderate sized one, and at a quarterly meeting held in it late in the fall thirteen were converted. Two young men, while at work in the brickyard making the brick for the above church, were awakened and converted, one of whom subsequently became an able preacher of the Gospel. From 1830 to 1834, this appointment was on the Erie Circuit. The latter year Wesleyville Circuit was formed. The apportionment of the church at Wesleyville for the support of the preacher in 1833 was $40. P. D. Horton and T. Benn were pastors in 1834; J. C. Ridout in 1881-82-83.

HARBOR CREEK AND MOORHEADVILLE.

The village of Harbor Creek is one of the pleasantest in the county. A

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HARBOR CREEK TOWNSHIP.

station was established here by the railroad company because it was half-way between Erie and North East. The village contains two stores, one hotel, a blacksmith shop, wagon shop, Dodge's shingle, handle and saw mill, Jonathan Troop's basket factory and cider mill, and 75 or 100 people. The post office at Harbor Creek was established about 1832, and was originally located some distance east of the village. It is fifteen miles from Erie to North East, and Harbor Creek is exactly midway by the Buffalo road.

Moorheadville, on the Buffalo road, half a mile north of the railroad sta- tion of the same name, is not properly a village, but a cluster of neighborly farm residences. The locality received its name from the large number of Moorheads living there. It was first settled by Thomas Moorhead, in 1800, who was soon followed by others of the family from the eastern part of the State. The first Sabbath school held in Erie County was established in 1817, at this place, by Col. James M. Moorhead and Rev. Mr. Morton, in a log schoolhouse which was removed in 1857. Moorheadville is ten and one-half miles from Erie, and four and one half from North East, by railroad.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

The township contains six churches, viz .: Methodist Episcopal, at Wes- leyville; Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal, at Harbor Creek Station; United Brethren, on the road up Six Mile Creek, in the Clark settlement; Bap- tist, at Lowry's Corners, and another Methodist Episcopal, on the Ridge road, south of the Walker settlement. The Presbyterian congregation at Harbor Creek was organized May 26, 1832, with fifty-eight members set off from the church at North East. The first building was erected half a mile east of the present site, on a piece of ground donated by Judah Colt, who owned a large farm there. It was of brick, costing $2,089, and was dedicated November 7, 1834. The present beautiful edifice was built and dedicated in 1871, at a cost of $10,000. The first Elders of the congregation were Myron Backus, Samu- el Kingsbury and J. M. Moorhead. Rev. Giles Doolittle, of the North East Church, supplied the congregation during the first year of its organization. Rev. George W. Cleveland was installed as pastor of the new school branch August 26, 1849; continued after the re-union, and is still in charge of the congregation. There was quite a struggle between Harbor Creek and Moor- headville over the site of the new building, and when the former place was decided upon some of the congregation withdrew and attached themselves to the church at North East.

The Methodist Episcopal Church in the same village was erected in 1873, on ground donated by Rev. Noah Sullivan, at a cost of about $4,000; it was dedicated December 11 of that year by Rev. B. J. Ives, of Auburn, N. Y. For many years, Methodist preaching has been enjoyed in the village of Har- bor Creek and vicinity. This appointment has been on the Wesleyville Circuit.

The South Harbor Creek Methodist Episcopal Church in the Walker and McGill neighborhood is the outgrowth of a class organized in that vicinity at an early day. An early preaching point was at Lowry's Corners, in a school- house, which was the main place of worship until the building of the church in 1841 or 1842, which was dedicated by Rev. John Robinson. Erie Circuit was formed in 1830, and the first quarterly conference for the new circuit was held at Harbor Creek September 13, 1830. There were present Wilden B. Mack, Presiding Elder, Joseph A. Barrass and A. Young, circuit preachers. In 1834, Wesleyville Circuit was formed, and since that time the appointment at South Harbor Creek has been on Wesleyville Circuit; however, the word south does not appear in the minutes until 1836, yet the name Harbor Creek un-

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

doubtedly referred to the class at Lowry's Corners, as the class at Harbor Creek Station was not organized until a later day, and then for convenience' sake, many previously having been converted with that class. Among the members in 1833 may be mentioned Silas Walker and wife, Audley McGill and wife, William Allen, James Clark, David Nellis and wife, and Jesse R. Prin- dle and wife.

The Harbor Creek Baptist Church located at Lowry's Corners, dates back as far as 1822. It was organized in a schoolhouse near Hoag's Corners. The congregation subsequently moved to a schoolhouse at Lowry'e Corners, and later erected the church there. The charge is weak, and the congregation is now without a pastor.

The United Brethren congregation in the Clark neighborhood, was organ- ized in 1856, with a membership of about ten, by Rev. J. W. Clark; the building was erected the same year. This field of labor was then Erie mission, but one year later it became a part of Harbor Creek Circuit. J. W. Clark was pastor in 1857, in 1874-75, and in 1882-83.

Besides the above places, religious services are frequently held in the schoolhouse at Gospel Hill, on the Station road. This place received its name because most of the early citizens were Methodists who were very de- voted to their religion. The graveyard on Gospel Hill has been in use for fifty-six years. The first bodies interred were those of two girls who were drowned in Six Mile Creek in 1823.

COUNTY OFFICERS.

The county officers from Harbor Creek Township have been as follows: Sheriff- John Kilpatrick, October 28, 1855, to October 21, 1858; John W. McLane, October 21, 1858, to November 16, 1861. Register and Recorder and Clerk of the Courts-William P. Trimble, November 10, 1857, to November 19, 1860. County Treasurer-James Chambers, January 4, 1853, to January 6, 1855. Clerks of the Courts-Robert S. Moorhead, January 1, 1883, to January 1, 1886 (resident of Erie when elected). County Commissioners -- James M. Moorhead, 1827 to 1830; Samuel Low, 1836 to 1840; James Chambers, 1864 to 1867. Director of the Poor-George W. Walker, 1840 to 1843. County Surveyor -- G. W. F. Sherwin, November 12, 1866, to February 22, 1869. County Auditors-Thomas Rees, 1821 and 1824; James Chambers, 1846; Jesse Ebersole, 1870; William P. Edwards, 1880 to 1883.

SCHOOL HISTORY.

Early in this century, a school was taught in the barn of Robert Hurst, which for some reason had been vacated; this was in the vicinity of the pres- ent site of Moorheadville, on the Buffalo road, and was attended by Walter Greenwood, from whom we get this information, when a small lad, as his first school. He was born in the spring of 1798. The master was Walter Patter- son. School was kept here but a short time. On the Col. Moorhead farm, probably a half mile east of the Hurst barn, a log schoolhouse was built, where the next school in that settlement was taught. This house was too far for the Harbor Creek settlement, which led to the building of another house on the farm of William Wilson, on the Buffalo road, just north of the Lake Shore Railroad. In this house, among the early teachers were a Mr. Fisk and Miss Clara Cain. In 1825, at Harbor Creek settlement, Miss Elenor Burgett taught a school. Where Wesleyville now is, at a point opposite Kelley's store, there stood a schoolhouse as early at least as 1811 or 1812, the first schoolhouse erected in that neighborhood, in which school was taught by a Mrs. Burrass,

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NORTH EAST TOWNSHIP.

Here the venerable James Chambers, who was born in 1805, learned his let- ters. Later teachers in this building were Nathaniel Lowry, Freeman Wing, W. Taggart and George Hampsou. The schoolhouses of the township are now thirteen in number, of which all but two are brick, the material of the Shaw School being stone, and of the Owen, frame. They are as follows: On the Lake road-Sbaw, near A. Shaw's, and Crowley neighborhood. On the Buf. falo road --- Wesleyville, in the village; Chambers, near Henry Chamber's; Elliott, near Harbor Creek Village; Ebersole, near Joseph Ebersole's, and Moorbead, near William Moorhead's. In other parts of the township-Gos- pel Hill, near John Bunnell's; Tuttle, near John Tuttle's; Owen, near Will- iam Cass'; Williams, near Hugh Campbell's; Lowry, near the N. D. Lowry place; Backus, near Edwin Cass'. The Elliott House was built for a graded school, and is two stories in height.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The venerable James Chambers, whose home is a little east of Wesleyville, is the oldest continuous Justice of the Peace in the county, and probably in the State. He was first commissioned by Gov. Ritner in 1837, and has held the office from then to the present time, with the exception of an interval of six years, during which he served a term each as County Treasurer and County Commissioner. Aaron Hoag, one of the pioneers, who died in 1857, was always in litigation, and it is stated as a fact, that after his demise, the law business of the court suddenly dropped off twenty five per cent. Elias Camp- bell died at the house of his son-in-law, Thomas E. Kendrick, October 8, 1882, aged ninety years; he emigrated to Washington Township with his mother in 1797.

The value of land in Harbor Creek ranges from $200 an acre on the lake shore plain to $30 on the high ground south. Several valuable gas wells have been drilled in the township, but most of them are now yielding little or noth- ing

CHAPTER VII.

NORTH EAST TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF NORTH EAST.

`HE section of country now included in North East Township was known for several years as Lower Greenfield. It received its present title when the county was organized, and derived the name from its position as the northeast township of the original sixteen. Its limits were extended in 1841, by adding a wedge-shaped strip from Greenfield. The township has an area of 25,419 acres, with a frontage upon the lake of more than eight miles, a breadth of over seven milee in the widest part, along the New York line, and of a little less than five miles on the Harbor Creek line. North East Township is bounded on the north by Lake Erie, on the east by Chautauqua County, N. Y., on the south by Greenfield and on the west by Harbor Creek. Its lands average as well as any section of the county, and the township includes numerous intelligent and succesful farmers. The lake shore plain is about three miles in width, rising gradually from a height of about seventy-five feet near the water's edge to a hundred and fifty feet or more in the vicinity of the borough. An abrupt rise takes place in Harbor Creek Township, at Twelve Mile Creek, and this eleva-

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

tion continues across North East nearly to Twenty Mile Creek, where the land again falls to the general level of the lake shore. The greatest height is on the Bothwell farm, a mile east of North East Station, where the summit of the railroad is attained between Buffalo and Erie. The lake shore lande readily produce every kind of grain, fruit, flower and vegetable that can be raised in this latitude, and are equal to the most noted in the world. East of Sixteen Mile Creek, on the Lake road, they are nsually a sandy loam; west of that on the same road and on the Buffalo road they are of a gravelly nature. The hills in the south part rise gradually to the summit at Colt's Station, and there is scarcely any waste country in the township. The hill land is clay loam and gravel, and yields fine wheat, barley, etc. Land ranges in value from $50 to $125 an acre.

The population of the township has been as follows at the periods stated: 1,068, in 1820; 1,706, in 1830; 1,793, in 1840; 2,379, in 1850; 1,900,in 1860; 2,313, in 1870; and 2,152 in 1880. The assessment of 1883, gave the fol- lowing results: Value of real estate, $1,382,699; number of cows, 754; of oxen, 10; of horses and mules, 572; value of the same $64,835, value of trades and occupations, $25,900; money at interest, $19,087.

EARLY SETTLERS.

North East was the first of the lake shore townships to be settled, and by 1810 was pretty well covered with a hardy and worthy class of emigrants. The first settler to reach the township was Joseph Shadduck, who came in from Vermont, and took up a tract in 1794, near the center. He was joined in a few months by George and Henry Hurst from New Jersey. Although these parties located and made application for their lands in that year, they did not make an actual settlement until 1795. Henry Hurst, after a brief residence, moved to Meadville, and was elected to represent the five northwestern coun- ties in the State Senate. Shadduck also changed, going to Greenfield, where he remained until his death. The same year that Shadduck and the Hursts made their settlement, George Lowry went in and took up a tract of 400 acres, in or near the borough. He was followed in 1796 by his mother, Margaret Lowry, and her family, who located 2,800 acres more in the vicinity of George's land, of which they paid the State for 2,000 acres. Mrs. Lowry was of Scottish and Irish birth, but emigrated to Cumberland County, in this State, and came from there to this county. She was the mother of ten sons, of whom four -- Robert, Andrew, George and Morrow- married four daughters of James Barr, of Cum- berland County. From this stock descended Hon. Morrow B. Lowry, so famous as a politician. James and Bailey Donaldson arrived in 1795; Henry and Dyer Loomis in 1796; Thomas Robinson, Joseph McCord, James McMahan (all of Perry County), William Wilson, James Duncan, Francis Brawley and Abram and Arnold Custard in 1797; Thomas Crawford, with his sons, William, James and Robert, Lemuel Brown, Mathew Taylor, William Allison, Henry Burgett, and John, James and Mathew Greer in 1797-98. In the sum- mer of 1800, Robert Hampson, with his wife and one child, coming from Juniata County, settled in the township, where he lived until his death in 1851. Among those who reached the township about 1800 were Alexander T. Blaine, John and Andrew McCord, Samnel Graham, Robert Burrows, William Dundas, Mr. Campbell, Joel Loomis, James Barr, Timothy, Amos and Jerry Tuttle Timothy Newton, James Silliman, Thomas Mellen, Cornyn Shadduck, Heze- kiah and Tristram Brown, Robert McNeill, Stephen Sparrow, Perrin Ross, Charles Allen, John Russell, M. Brown and Hezekiah Brown. Of the later set- tlers, Henry Taylor located in the township in 1802; Wendell Butt, in 1810;

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NORTH EAST TOWNSHIP.

Jesse Belknap, in 1812; Cyrus Robinson, in 1813; Justin Nash, Gilbert Belknap and W. E. Mason, in 1814; Harmon Ensign, Buell Phillips, Edmund Orton, Joseph Force, Joseph Law and Levi and Shubal Atkins, in 1815; Alex- ander Davidson, William Hall, Dr. Smedley, Clark Putnam and John Butt, in 1816; Arnold Warner, of Oneida County N. Y., in 1817; O. Selkrigg, in 1818; Hugh Beatty, in 1819; Clark Bliss, in 1821; Bester Town, in 1824; James Cole, in 1825; John Scouller, William Graham, D. D. Loop and N. C. Rem- ington, in 1830; Amos Gould about 1831; E. N. Fuller, in 1835; Calvin Spafford, in 1836; J. S. Haynes, in 1837; William Griffith and R. A. White, in 1840; Stephen Griffith, in 1846; Henry Wolf about 1857; William E. Marvin and Isaac Wolf, in 1859. James Barr moved to Harbor Creek in 1813, and from there to Mill Creek. Levi Atkins died in the township a few years ago in his one hundredth year.

Reference is made in the general history to the litigation between the Pennsylvania Population Company and the citizens, who claimed title by vir- tue of mere settlement. The burden of these troubles largely fell upon the settlers of North East. The Lowrys, Wilsons and Barr fought the claims of the company until the matter was settled by the decision of the United States Supreme Court.

FIRST THINGS.

The first church was organized under the auspices of the Presbytery of Ohio in 1801. The first brick house in the county outside of Erie was erected by James Silliman in 1809, about a mile east of the borough, and is still standing. The first Justices of the Peace were Timothy Tuttle and Thomas Robinson, the first being commissioned March 3, and the second March 23, 1799. Mr. Robinson was the Justice who married the parents of Gen. C. M. Reed in 1801. The sacrament of the Lord's supper was administered for the first time in the county according to the Protestant form, at the house of the William Dundas in 1801. The first grist mill in the township was built by Col. Tuttle on Sixteen Mile Creek in 1807. The first building used for a schoolhouse was built in 1798, on "the north side of the main road near the house belonging to the Brookins farm." The first road was cut through from Freeport to Greenfield in 1797. The first mail route between Buffalo and Erie was established in 1806. The first regular line of coaches was in 1820-21. The first telegraph line was put up in 1847 or 1848. The first regular passenger train passed through from the State line to Erie on the 8th of January, 1852.

RAILROADS AND COMMON ROADS.

The Lake Shore Railroad runs across the township from east to west, at an average of two miles from the lake, in nearly a straight line and with a very light grade. The road is almost straight between Erie and North East, and it is said that the signal lights can be seen at the Union depot a distance of fifteen miles. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad crosses the town- ship in the same direction as the Lake Shore road, and, generally speaking, at a distance of only a rod or so south of it. Both roads have stations at North East and Northville. The common roads which are most extensively traveled are the Buffalo road, running across the township at an average distance of about a mile and a half south of the lake, and the Lake road, which approaches the water's edge in the eastern part of Harbor Creek, and follows the bank of the lake through North East Township, almost to the mouth of Sixteen Mile Creek. From there to Twenty Mile Creek the direct road has been abandoned, but another road further back from the lake carries the route to the mouth of the latter stream, where it again follows the water eastward through New York.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

THE CREEKS.

North East is one of the best watered townships in the county, a great number of rivulets springing out of the high land in the south and uniting their waters before reaching the lake. The main streams are Twelve Mile Creek in the west, Sixteen Mile Creek in the center, and Twenty Mile Creek in the east, with Spring Creek, Spafford Run and Averill Run between. Twelve Mile Creek rises on the northern edge of Greenfield, flows in a general north- eastern direction and falls into the lake in Harbor Creek, after a course of about thirteen miles. Sixteen Mile Creek takes its rise in Greenfield Town- ship, within a mile of French Creek, passes the borough on its west side, and enters the lake at Freeport. Its length is about teu miles, and its general course due north. About two and a half miles south of the borough, Sixteen Mile Creek is joined by Graham Creek, which rises in New York, and is per. haps four miles long. At the point of junction, there is a " hog's back," which is nearly perpendicular on the east side. The gully at the "hog's back " is not far from 200 feet deep. The heads of Twenty Mile Creek are in Westfield and Sherman Townships, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., and its mouth is near the northeast corner of North East Township. It enters the State about a mile above the crossing of the Lake Shore Railroad, and must have a length of ten to twelve miles. The deep gulf of this stream, which attracts so much atten- tion from travelers, begins three or four miles south of the Lake Shore Rail- road culvert, and continues nearly to the lake, some three miles further by the windings of the creek. Its depth where the railroad crosses is about 100 feet. The culvert at this point is a mammoth work, and one of the finest pieces of masonry in the country. The Nickel Plate road has an iron bridge some distance above, which is a skillful piece of work. The gully on the head- waters of Sixteen Mile Creek, in the south part of the township, runs out in the vicinity of the borough, but begins again just below, and continues to the lake. It is nowhere as abrupt as that of Twenty Mile Creek, except at the junction above referred to. Twelve Mile Creek has steep banks from Moor- headville to its mouth, but above that the gully is less deep and striking than those of the other streams.

MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS.

Although North East may be said to be quite a manufacturing center, it is a curious fact that nearly all of the most important establishments are outside of the borough limits. Among the past and present mills and factories of the township are Gay & Beatty's grist, saw and shingle mill, in the gulf of Twenty Mile Creek, at the crossing of the Buffalo road; Rhodes' cider and vinegar mill, a large four-story building, near the same; Jones' grist mill, built by James Haynes, to which a distillery was added by B. C. Town. In the spring of 1883, this mill passed into the hands of A. K. & W. D. Wing, who have enlarged it. Grimshaw's woolen factory-built by Archibald Duncan in 1845 and burned in the spring of 1883-and Coffman's pump factory, all on Spring Run; a turning works, table factory, saw mill, the Franklin Paper Mill, Ezra Scouller's grist mill-the largest in the township-Bannister's brewery, Greene & Chase's cider and vinegar mill, now owned by Alfred Short; E. K. Nason's tannery, Green's door, blind and sash factory, Stetson's handle factory, a grape basket and fruit and cigar box factory, all on Sixteen Mile Creek; New Era Organ Factory-started in the spring of 1873 by a joint-stock company -. Jones' barrel factory -- established in 1864 by Bothell & Clark, and burned in 1881 -Applebee & Butt's steam saw mill and John Scouller & Tyler's large tannery --- built in 1875. All of these concerns, some of which are quite extensive, are

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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 83

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