History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 85

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 85

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North East until recently has supported three banks, namely, The First Na- tional, the private firm of Short, Blaine & Co., and the People's Savings Insti- tution. The first banking institution of the borough was established on a small scale by A. W. Blaine about the year 1860, and was carried on at the corner of Lake and Main streets. This was merged into the First National Bank when it was organized in 1865. The First National Bank was opened in the building now occupied by that institution under the following officers and directors: William Griffith, President; A. W. Blaine, Cashier; Directors, Will- iam Griffith, John Greer, Amos Gould, George P. Griffith, A. F. Jones, J. S. Haynes and John McCord. The President of this bank is now W. A. Ensign and the Cashier is Charles A. Ensign. The capital stock has been $50,000 from the beginning.

The People's Savings Institution was incorporated in April, 1870, and opened for business May 1 of that year in Duncan Block on Main street. The first President was J. L. Brookins; Treasurer, John Greer, and Secretary, G. C. Cleveland. The present President is Alfred Short; Treasurer, B. C.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

Spooner. The firm of Blaine, Gould & Short, which subsequently hecame Short, Blaine & Co., opened in 1871 in the Graham Building on Main street. This institution stopped business May 14, 1883. to which the People's Savings Bank became successor, and moved into the building on Main street occupied by that firm as an office. The combined capital of these two banks is upward of $500,000.

The manufactories within the corporate limits are John W. Griffith's wagon and blacksmith shop; Fromyer's carriage and trimming factory, estab- lished by George French in 1865, and carried on by the Fromyer Bros. since May. 1873; Pease's tub and firkin factory, established in 1876 by David Pease and J. M. Cook; the latter going out in one year, the factory has since been carried on by Mr. Pease: Philetus Glass's foundry, established in the borough in 1851, by P. Glass and O. Chase, and the North East Fruit Canning establish- ment, which was started in the spring of 1880 by a number of enterprising men.

NEWSPAPERS.

The newspapers until recently were the Sun and Advertiser, both pub- lished weekly, and both well edited. The first attempt to establish a paper was by J. J. Barker, who commenced the North East Guard in 1855, but only printed it a few months. In August, 1867, the North East Herald was put forth by S. O. Hayward, who abandoned its publication at the end of a year. The North East Star was commenced September 26, 1868, by Brainerd & Cushman, both of whom are now practicing lawyers in Erie. Mr. Brainerd sold his interest in 1869 to L. B. Cushman. The name of the paper was changed to the Sun in March, 1873. The North East Advertiser was started in March, 1877, by W. E. Belknap & Co., and so published until May 2, 1883, when the two papers were consolidated, Mr. Cushman, of the Sun, purchasing. Since that period the two have been issued under the title of the Sun from the former building of the Advertiser, now the Sun building, on Lake street. In politics, the Sun is Republican. and has a circulation of over 1,500. It is the largest paper in the county, being a quarto, with fifty-six columns.

STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS.

The State and county officials furnished by North East Borough and Town- ship are as follows: Presidential Elector, John Greer, 1860. Congress, S. M. Brainerd, 1883-85 (resident of Erie when elected). State Senators, Henry Hurst, 1816-21 (resident of Meadville when elected); James D. Dunlap, 1845 (resident of Erie when elected). Assemblymen, James D. Dunlap, 1840-41 (resident of Erie when elected); Mark Baldwin, 1844; A. W. Blaine, 1850-51; Charles A. Hitchcock, 1876-77; Alfred Short, 1878-79. District Attorneys, S. M. Brainerd, 1872-75; A. B. Force, 1875-81; E. A. Walling, 1881-84. Sher- iff. E. W. M. Blaine, 1840-43. Coroner, John McCord, 1812-15. County Commissioners, James Lowry, 1804-06; Francis Brawley, 1808-11; Henry Taylor, 1811-17; Alex. McCloskey, 1823-26; John McCord, 1832-35; Amos Gould, 1857-60; Clark Bliss, 1871-75. County Treasurer, James P. Crawford, 1881-84 (resident of Erie when elected). Associate Judges, John Brawley, 1840-51; John Greer, 1856-66. Director of the Poor, Archibald Duncan, 1862-65. Steward of the Almshouse, Calvin Pool, 1863-72; George W. Griffin, 1872-80. Mercantile Appraisers, John D. Mills, 1860; James W. Crawford, 1864; R. L. Pierce, 1874. County Auditors, James Smedley, 1831-34; William H. Crawford, 1836-39; George W. Griffin, 1869 (one year).

MISCELLANEOUS.

The contribution of North East and vicinity to the Union army in the rebellion was fully as large as any section of the county. She furnished one

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FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP.

Captain to each of the Erie County regiments, viz .: N. L Terrell, Captain Company K, Eighty-third; John Braden, Company F, One Hundred and Eleventh; Dyer Loomis, Company C, One Hundred and Forty-fifth. The borough has been visited by three destructive fires. One on Sunday night, the 19th of December, 1858, consumed a row of buildings extending from the Presbyterian Church to the Union Block. Another on May 23, 1872, destroyed a number of wooden structures on Main street. The last one, in the summer of 1874, demolished some buildings that occupied the present site of the opera house. Rev. Thomas H. Robinson, sou of Thomas Robinson, one of the pioneers, has been pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Harrisburg many years. Dyer Loomis was elected Justice of the Peace in the spring of 1845, and held the office until the spring of 1880, a period of thirty-five years. North East A. Y. M., Lodge was organized in 1867. North East Lodge, I. O. O. F., was established in 1850.

CHAPTER VIII.

FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF FAIRVIEW.

HE first known settlement in Fairview Township was made in 1797, by TF Francis Scott, who had been in the employ of Thomas Rees, the surveyor, for a year previous. Nearly a year before-on the 25th of July, 1796-a com- pany of ten men was formed at Harrisburg, for the purpose of improving and populating the country near and adjoining Lake Erie. Their names were Richard Swan, Thomas Forster, John Kean, Alexander Berryhill, Samuel Laird, John A. Hanna, Robert Harris, Richard Dermond, William Kelso and Samuel Ainsworth. Each contributed £200 ($1,000), as a common stock for the use of the company, and the money was agreed to be used in the purchase of in- lots and outlots in the town of Erie and elsewhere, and for improving and set- tling such lands as might be bought. The company was styled the Harrisburg and Presque Isle Company. Thomas Forster was a native of Paxtang, born in 1762, brought up as a surveyor, served as Colonel during the Whisky Insur- ruction of 1794, an Associate Judge of Dauphin County, member of the Leg- islature in 1798; subsequently removed to Erie in the interest of the Harris- burg & Presque Isle Land Company, where he became thoroughly identified with its interests, and filled important positions, dying in 1836. Richard Swan was a native of Paxtang, born in 1757; served in the war of the Revolu- tion, and was a gentleman of influence in his locality. He removed to Erie County, and here many of his descendants reside. He died in April, 1808. William Kelso, the son of Joseph and Margaret Kelso, who located on the Susquehanna in Paxtang, prior to 1830, was a native of that township. He lived many years on the Cumberland Valley side, in the old Kelso ferry house, where he died May 22, 1807. He was the father of John Kelso, who went to Erie in 1802, there located, and the ancestor of the family in this county. Immediately after the first compact, Messrs. Harris and Kean were delegated to go to Carlisle, where public sale of the lots in the towns of Franklin, Erie, Waterford, Warren and Beaver were being made, and purchase such as they deemed proper in the interests of the company. This sale was on the 3d and

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

4th of August, 1796, and resulted in the company becoming the owners of nu- merous town lots in Erie and Waterford.

Capt. Swan moved his family to Erie County in 1802, and settled on Wal- nut Creek. He rented the company's mill for one year from April 11, pav. ing $250 rental, and agreeing to clear a piece of land. He managed the mill until his death in 1808. His widow bought a farm about one and a half miles from the mills. In 1817 her son Richard built the first frame house in Fairview Township. This house stood until a few years ago. When Col. Forster and Capt. Swan first arrived at the point where the mills were built, they were standing on a high bluff overlooking the lake, and the former ex- claimed, " This is the fairest view I have seen yet." The expression pleased them, and they named the future town Fairview. A log tavern was built in 1797, of peeled hemlock logs, and contained four rooms in the first story, be- sides a back kitchen and three rooms above. Capt. Swan, who rented the mills in 1802, also rented this tavern, paying $100 a year.

Among other early settlers who reached the township in 1797 were John and George Nicholson, John Kelso, Patrick Vance, Alexander, Patrick and John McKee, William Sturgeon and William Haggerty. The Nicholsons were born in Ireland, but emigrated to Lancaster County, where they remained a short time before coming to the lake shore. Mr. McKee remained in Fairview a few years, and then changed to Mill Creek. Gen. Kelso moved to Mill Creek in 1800, and from there in 1804 to Erie, where he died in 1819. In 1798, the colony was enlarged by the arrival of John Dempsey, of Dauphin County; and in 1800, by that of Thomas Kennedy, James Moorhead and Thomas McCreary. The latter was from Lancaster County, his brothers hav- ing come north at the same time and settled in Mill Creek. The settlers dur- ing 1802 were S. F. Gudtner, of Franklin County, William and James Ar- buckle, of Maryland, and Joseph M. Kratz, a Frenchman, who afterward re- moved to Erie. About 1801, Jacob Ebersole, of Lancaster County, moved in, followed in 1805 by James Ryan, of Dauphin County. Rev. John-

ston Eaton arrived the same year as Mr. Ryan, remained but a few months and returned for a permanent residence in 1806. Among other early settlers were John Caughey and Samuel McCreary, of Lancaster County. Mr. Caughey moved to Washington County in 1812, and came back in 1822, Moses Bar- nett, from Dauphin County, went in about 1816 ; Arthur Oney, from Otsego County, N. Y., in 1820; John Silverthorn, probably in the same year; David Russell about 1822; Samuel P. Allen, from New England, and Daniel Bear, from Lancaster County, in 1823. The first colonists, with the exception of Messrs. Ebersole and Gudtner, were of Protestant Irish stock, but at a sub- sequent date many Pennsylvania Dutch moved in, followed still later by nu- merous foreign Germans. Of the Pennsylvania Dutch, Daniel Waidler, from Lancaster County, made his settlement in 1834. Mr. Oney took up a 400-acre tract, at the rate of twenty shillings an acre.

In 1805 occurred the first death of a grown white person in the township, being that of John Gordon. The body was buried on the bank of the lake, near Manchester, and has never been removed.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

Fairview is one of the original townships of the county, but its size was largely reduced by the formation of Girard Township, which took place in 1832. It only embraces 16,198 acres now, making it one of the smallest townships. The old west line ran through Girard to a point near Miles Grove, parallel with the boundary between Elk Creek and Conneaut. The

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FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP.

south line ran parallel with the one between Elk Creek and Girard, from Springfield on the west to McKean on the east, embracing what is now the northern portion of Franklin. Fairview is bounded on the north by Lake Erie, on the east by Mill Creek and Mckean, on the south by Franklin, and on the west by Girard. Its shape is somewhat like that of a cross, and its greatest length is eight miles, with a breadth in the widest part of about six and a half miles. The population was 536 in 1820, 1,529 in 1830, 1,480 in 1840, 1,760 in 1850, 2,157 in 1870, and 1,482 in 1880. The post offices are Swanville and Avonia, and most of the trading is done in Fairview Borough. By the assessment of 1880, the valuation of the township was as follows: Real estate, $908, 750; horses, 403; cows, 516; oxen, 24; total personal property, $34,570; trades and occupations, $6,400; money at interest, $15,363.

LANDS AND STREAMS.

With the exception of the gullies along Walnut and Elk Creeks, the sides of which are too abrupt to be tillable, there is hardly an acre of worthless land in the township. The lake shore plain attains a width of about two miles and a half. Its soil ie of a sandy nature along the lake, merging into a gravelly formation further back, and producing every kind of grain, fruit and vegetable that can be cultivated in this section. The back lands are usually clay and loam. varied by patches of gravel. Wheat prospers in every part of the township. Potatoes are cultivated in large quantities, and many car loads are shipped every fall from Fairview Station to the large cities. Apple and peach trees bear yearly. Lands range in value from $50 to $125 on the lake shore

plain, to $40 to $50 in the back districts. The chief streame of Fairview are Walnut Creek and Elk Creek, both of which have been described in the general sketch. Walnut Creek enters the township from Mill Creek, and, tak- ing a northwesterly course, empties into the lake at Manchester. Elk Creek comes in from Mckean, flows across the southern portion into Girard, and unites with the lake a little northwest of Miles Grove. The deepest part of the Walnut Creek gorge is in the vicinity of the Lake Shore Railroad culvert, where the banks are over a hundred feet high. A short distance above, and almost on the site of the Nickel Plate bridge, was the Walnut Creek aqueduct, once the wonder of this region, built to carry the water of the canal across the gully. It was constructed of timber, and was 104 feet high by about 800 feet long. The railroad culvert and embankment cover a space of about 600 feet, with width enough for three tracks. Bear Run is the principal tributary of Walnut Creek within the township. It heads on the J. Rusterholtz place, in the extreme eastern corner of Fairview, near the edge of Mill Creek, and falls into the main stream a short distance south of Weigle's griet mill, after a course of about four miles. Brandy Run rises near the center, on the farm of J. A. Kline, and after flowing seven or eight miles, joins Elk Creek, a little south of Girard Borough. Falls Run, another branch of Elk Creek, comes in from Franklin, on the south edge of the township, having a length of some three miles. It received its name from a beautiful cascade, near the Frank- lin stone quarry, where the water of the creek passes over a ledge fifty feet high. From there to Elk Creek its banks are 100 feet in height and almost perpendicular. Little Elk Creek rises in Franklin Township, runs through a corner of Mckean, and falls into Elk Creek proper on the John Sterrett place. Trout Run is an independent stream which rises on the east line near Mc- Kean, runs in a northwesterly course through Fairview Borough, and empties into the lake two miles beyond, at Lock Haven. Its length is between six and eight miles, and it is subject to sudden and damaging overflows. Beaver Dam

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

Run, a rivulet which tumbles into Walnut Creek about eighty rods below Bear's mill, received its name from an extensive embankment built by the beavers which formerly existed on what used to be termed the Barnett farm. Traces of their work were to be seen about forty years ago.

BRIDGES AND MILLS.

The principal bridges in Fairview Township are as follows: On Elk Creek -The Swalley, Ryan and Brooks (the latter of iron). On Walnut Creek- Manchester, Lake road (iron), N. Y. C. & St. L. R. R. (iron), Ridge road, Cross roads and Town line (built jointly by Mill Creek and Fairview Town- ships); also the Lake Shore Railroad culvert. On Bear Run -- One across the breast of the dam at Bear's mill. On Trout Run-Culverts, at the grist mill and at the paper mill. On Little Elk Creek-Silverthorn, Galusha and Town line (built jointly by Mckean and Fairview Townships).

The manufacturing industries of Fairview Township are as follows: On Bear Run-Nason's grist mill. On Walnut Creek-Weigle's grist mill, Lohrer's grist mill and Morgan & Co.'s paper mill, just below Avonia or Fair- view Station (the paper mill was destroyed by fire August 30, 1883), and Feidler's grist mill at the Lake road (now owned by McKee & Kermick). These are all run by water except, Feidler's mill and the paper mill, which have used steam in connection, but more recently water only. George Siegel has tile and brick works on the Andrews place, a mile south of the borough, and L. Vettner a tannery on the Lake road. The Walnut Creek Mills of Mr. Weigle were established at a very early day by S. F. Gudtner. In 1856, the flouring mill was rebuilt by Alexander Nicholson. Nason's mill was built by Daniel Bear in 1823, and fell into the hands of Mr. Nason in 1864. The second saw mill in Erie County was built at the mouth of Walnut Creek in 1797, under the supervision of Col. Thomas Forster, who added a grist mill in 1799, which was the first in the county. Both of these have gone down. In 1815, Samuel McCreary erected the first woolen mill in the county at the in- tersection of the Depot and Lake roads. He continued to operate it till 1841, when two of his sons succeeded him. In 1848, the firm became McCreary, Thornton & Co., and after that the mill had several changes of ownership until it was abandoned. The building was used as Morgan & Co.'s paper mill. The Lock Haven Woolen Mills, on the bank of the lake, were established by the Messrs. Caughey in 1842, who had built a saw mill the year previous. They disposed of the woolen factory in 1850 and of the saw mill in 1864, after which time they had various owners. The property was destroyed by fire in October, 1878. A number of saw mills once successfully operated have gone to ruin.

SCHOOLS.

From the venerable Richard Swan, Esq., who was born in 1796, we learn that the first schoolhouse in what is now Fairview Township, was erected in 1804, and stood probably a mile from the mouth of Walnut Creek (south and east). School was held in this building the first winter by John Linn, a Rev- olutionary soldier. The next teacher was William Gordon. The next school- house, or rather cabin, in which school was taught, was located on the land of Jeremiah Sturgeon, which was within the present limits of the borough of Fairview. School was kept at this place two winters, taught first by John Hays, then by Squire McCreary. This was probably as early as 1810. Will- iam Sturgeon erected a schoolhouse on the present site of the dwelling of William R. Sturgeon, about 1811 or 1812, in which Jacob Eckison and John Hays taught respectively. The next schoolhouse in this neighborhood

743

FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP.

stood about one mile west of the residence of Thomas Sturgeon. It was erected about the year 1816 or 1817, and was a frame structure. It was built by the neighborhood, and among the teachers who held sway there were a Mr. Brown, Charles Landon and Alonzo Strong. Later than the above house, another, built of logs, stood near the present dwelling of Johnston Eaton, in which school was taught by Abner Jackson and Francis Plum. There was a regularly built schoolhouse in the southeastern part of the township, near the line divid- ing the townships of Mill Creek and Fairview, at a very early day. The second school attended by Mr. Swan was in a cabin house which had previously been vacated by Alexander McKee, and stood about one mile east of the pres- ent residence of Richard Swan on the Lake road. Robert Maxwell taught here about the close of the war of 1812. Following is a list of the present schools: Swan, on Lake road, at Richard Swan's; Willis, on the same road, near Frank Willis'; Lake road, north of Avonia (a graded school-two rooms); Swan- ville; Vance, on Bear Run; Heidler, on Heidler road; Ruhl, on Mckean road; Sturgeon, near the cemetery; Rick, on the Girard road; Van Camp, near Elk Creek; Beckman, on the southwest, and Stuntz, south of the borough.

COMMON ROADS, RAILROADS AND CANAL.

The leading thoroughfares are the Lake and Ridge roads, extending across the whole width of the township from east to west-the former at an average distance of three-fourths of a mile, and the latter from one and a half to two and a half miles back from the lake; the Depot road from the borough to the lake; the Fairview and Waterford, running southeast into Mckean; and the Girard and Waterford, which intersects the latter at Sterrettania. A route along the beach of the lake was opened between Erie and the mouth of Wal- nut Creek as early as 1797. The Ridge road crosses the Walnut Creek gully at Weigle's mill by two quite steep inclines, which are a source of considera- ble anxiety to teamsters and pleasure seekers. The side hill at Walnut Creek was first cut down for a roadway by Arthur Oney, who received $100 for the job. He also built the first bridge across Walnut Creek on the line of the Ridge road. The Lake Shore Railroad passes through the township from Mill Creek to Girard at a short distance from the lake. The railroad stations are Fairview (or Avonia) and Swanville, both of which lie north of the towns they are intended to accommodate. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis Rail- road also crosses the township a little south of the Lake Shore road, and the Erie & Pittsburgh Company use the Lake Shore track for their trains between Miles Grove and Erie. The old canal followed nearly the same line as the Nickel Plate road across the township.

POLITICAL.

The following is a list of the citizens of the township who have held State and county positions: Assembly, Myron H. Silverthorn, 1879-83. Sheriff, Miles W. Caughey, November 12, 1846, to November 5, 1849; Andrew F. Swan, November 29, 1867, to November 4, 1870; Joseph W. Swalley (by ap- pointment), March 31, 1864, to December 6, 1864. Deputy Sheriff, Joseph W. Swalley, 1861-64. Register and Recorder, Daniel Long, November 12, 1872, to January 1, 1879. County Treasurer, Joseph W. Swalley (by appoint- ment), March 10, 1870, to December 23, 1870; Jacob Yeagla, December 27, 1872, to December 17, 1874; William C. Hay, January 7, 1878, to January, 1881. County Commissioners, George Nicholson, 1820-23, also by appoint- ment from August 6, 1828, until the ensuing October election; Isaac Webster, 1844-47; William W. Eaton, 1856-59; Myron H. Silverthorn, 1870-75.

744

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

Directors of the Poor, Curtis Heidler, 1845-48; M. M. Kelso, 1850-53; Alex. Nicholson, 1857-60; William W. Eaton, 1870-73. Clerk and Treasurer to the Directors of the Poor, D. W. Nason, 1879 to date. County Surveyor, Robert P. Holliday, November 5, 1863, to November 12, 1866, and February 22, 1869, to November 11, 1872. County Auditor, George Nicholson, 1809, and 1816- 19; Daniel Sayre, 1823-26; David H. Chapman, 1827-30; John J. Swan, 1830-33; Moses Barnett, 1841-44; H. H. Bassler, 1858-1862; Jos. W. Swal- ley, 1861-64; Oliver P. Ferguson, 1865-68. Mercantile Appraisers, Johnston Eaton, 1859; John McCreary, 1876.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

The following-named churches are located in the township: Salem Church of the Evangelical Association, Christian Church, United Brethren and St. Jacob's Evangelical United. Salem Church is the outgrowth of the Mission- ary labors of Rev. J. Siebert, whose labors began in this field in 1833. Other early missionaries in the county who also served this people were Revs. E. Stoe- vers, D. Brickley and J. Noecker. The house of worship, located in the eastern part of the township, was erected about thirty years ago. Rev. P. J. Fowl is the present incumbent. The circuit, since 1 .77, has been designated Fair- view Circuit.

St. Jacob's Evangelical United Church is located on the Ridge road about. a mile and a half east of the business part of Fairview Borough. The congre- gation was organized in the winter of 1852, and the church was built about. the same time at a cost of $1,000. The first pastor was the Rev. Michael Kuchler. The present pastor is Rev. C. Gavehling, who has been in charge of the congregation in connection with the one at Girard for the past four years.

The United Brethren Church is upon the road from Franklin Center to Sterrettania, five miles south of Fairview Borough. The congregation was. organized about 1857, and held meetings until some five years ago in the Van Camp Schoolhouse. Rev. Z. C. Dilley is the present incumbent. The church building was dedicated February 22, 1880, by Rev. J. Hill.

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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 85

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