History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 94

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 94


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.


totally destroyed by fire December 12, 1871, having an insurance of $6,000. A temporary structure of three apartments was forthwith constructed, and the schools continued in this building until it was replaced in 1882 by a neat brick edifice of four rooms, at a cost of $6,000.


The school property at present consists of three handsome brick structures, known as the Hatch, Fairview and Washington Street Schools, and two small frame buildings on Concord street. At the Concord Schools are three teach- ers; at the Washington, three; at the Fairview, four; and at the Hatch, in- cluding Superintendent, Principal and Assistant of high school, nine. The schools are divided into primary, secondary intermediate, junior and grammar grades of two years each, and high school of three years. The high school permits the selection from three courses-Latin and English, German and English, and commercial. Ten classes, aggregating 148 members, have com- pleted the course. Frederick Hooker was elected Principal of the schoole in 1869; resigning the same year, he was succeeded by James McNaughton, who gave up the charge of the schools in May, 1871, and Miss G. M. Kent was ap- pointed to act as Principal of the High School. A. J. Crandall was elected Principal in 1871. The following year, A. B. Crandall, a member of the board, acted as District Superintendent. In 1873, V. G. Curtis was elected Principal and Superintendent, remaining ten years. His successor, A. D. Colegrove, is now serving his first year.


NEWSPAPERS.


Corry sustains three newspapers, the weekly Telegraph and the daily and weekly Herald. The Telegraph was established in 1865 by Joseph A. Pain, who still owns and edits it. The earliest newspaper venture in the place was by Stebbins & Larkins, who put forth No. 1 of the Corry City News on the 22d of October, 1863. Within less than two years, this journal changed managers four times and names twice, finally appearing as the Telegraph, when it fell into the hands of Mr. Pain. The latter gentleman published a daily edition of the Telegraph for about a year after getting control of the estab- lishment, and again he battled courageously for nine years, but unsuccessful- ly, in trying to keep up the Daily Blade. The Herald is to a certain extent the successor of the Union Mille Star, first issued in 1866, removed to Corry in November, 1867, and the name changed to the Republican. Its editors and owners have been Horace G. Pratt, Dan Scott, W. B. Gallegher, Henry C. Eddy, Pratt & Gail, S. Colegrove, W. A. Moore, and others. The weekly, which received its present name in 1877, was purchased by F. S. Heath De- cember 1, 1880. The daily edition was started February 5, 1883. Among journals that have died out, after a lingering illness, as the obituary writers say, were the daily and weekly Review, Commercial Advertiser, Democratic Press, Demo- crat, Daily Itemizer, Daily Whetstone, Temperance Vindicator, Daily Republi- can, and Enterprise.


SECRET SOCIETIES.


Probably no city of the same size in the United States equals Corry in the number of its secret societies. Almost every secret organization in the Union is represented, as will be seen by the following list:


Jonathan Lodge, No. 685, I. O. O. F., was instituted January 19, 1870, with the following nine charter members: H. L. Wyman, A. P. Friesman, J. W. Chipman, S. H. Johnson, Thomas Blackburn, J. H. Armstrong, T. P. Ober, A. O. Watson and E. W. Buss. The present membership is 111. Meetings are held each Wednesday evening.


Corry Encampment, No. 241, I. O. O. F., was instituted July 26, 1873.


James Siee


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CITY OF CORRY.


The charter members were J. E. Stubbs, W. M. Arnold, H. O. Mackres, Will- iam Mulkie, H. D. Clemons, H. O. Watson, D. W. Nutting and Charles Strick- er. Many others were initiated the evening of institution. The present mem- bership is about forty. The second and fourth Monday evenings of each month are the appointed times for meeting.


Corry Lodge, No. 365, F. & A. M., was chartered March 19, 1866. The membership is now 100, and meetings are held the first Tuesday of each month.


Columbus Chapter, No. 200, R. A. M., was instituted at Columbus, War- ren County, May 10, 1866, and removed to Corry January 13, 1870. It has fifty-five members, and meets Thursday evening, on or before the full moon.


Clarence Commandery, No. 51. K. T., was instituted January 22, 1874, with sixteen charter members. Forty-four is the present membership, and the second Tuesday of each month the regular date of meeting.


Corry Union, No. 2, Equitable Aid Union, was organized May 2, 1879, with about eighty members, now reduced to seventy-five. Meetings are held on the first and third Monday evenings of each month.


J. J. Andrews Post, No 70, G. A. R., was instituted in June, 1867, with about twenty-five members. It now numbers 140, and meets every Friday evening.


Corry Grange, No. 55, P. of H., was organized December 23, 1873. It meets the first and third Saturdays of each month, and now has a membership of about 140.


Corry City Lodge, No. 470, K. of P., was instituted October 16, 1880, with forty charter members. The active membership is now ninety, and meetings are held every Tuesday evening.


Lincoln Council, No. 75, Royal Arcanum, was instituted April 10, 1878, with fourteen members. Sixty-one is the present membership, and the first and third Wednesdays of each month the regular evenings for meetings.


Teutonia Lodge, No. 148, D. O. H., was organized August 17, 1867, with twenty members, now reduced to nineteen. Meetings are held each alternate Thursday.


St. Joseph's Branch, No. 4, C. M. B. A., was organized April 24, 1878, with sixteen members. There are now about sixty members, and meetings are held the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.


Ahaveth Sholem Lodge, No. 160, B'nai Brith, was organized May 30, 1871, and now has a membership of twenty-nine. Meetings are held each alternate Sunday.


Bliss Council, No. 3, R. T. of T., was instituted in April, 1879, and now has about 200 members. Meetings are held every Wednesday evening.


Hope Council, No. 55, R. T. of T., was instituted March 15, 1880, with about twenty-two members, now increased to fifty. Tuesday evening is the date of meeting.


Ely Lodge No. 45, K. of H., was instituted in November. 1874, and now has a membership of sixty-one; meetings are held the first and third Mondays of each month.


Humboldt Lodge (German), No. 51, K. of H., was instituted in February, 1874, with about twenty members. , The membership has not materially in- creased since. Meetings are held each alternate Tuesday.


Washington Lodge, No. 2, A. O. U. W., was organized in January, 1870, and has 137 members. Meetings are held every Saturday evening.


La Fayette Council, No. 2, Guardian Knights, was instituted December 8, 1879, and now numbers sixteen in membership. The first Tuesday of each month is the date for regular meetings.


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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.


Evening Star Lodge, No. 24, K. & L. of H., was instituted in March, 1878. It meets the second and fourth Fridays of each month, and has now a membership of about fifty.


Germania Lodge, No. 26, K. & L. of H., was organized March 26, 1878, with eighteen members. For a time the lodge met with Evening Star Lodge, but it procured the old charter, and meets the first and third Saturdays of each month. The membership is small.


GAS, GAS WELLS, PUBLIC HALLS.


Gas is furnished by a company with a capital of $50,000. Several quite extensive gas wells have been struck in the effort to find oil, but the supply gave out too soon to enable them to be utilized to any extent worth speaking of. There are two public halls, the Academy of Music, with a seating capac- ity of 1,000, and the Harmon Opera House, estimated to accommodate about 700.


RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.


The city is well supplied with churches. They include two Methodist Episcopal, two Catholic, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Congregational, one Episcopal, one United Brethren, one German Lutheran and one Jewish. There is a Universalist society, but it has no building.


The first Methodist Episcopal congregation was organized in September, 1862, by Rev. George F. Reeser. The early meetings were held at private houses and at the schoolhouse until the erection at the southeast corner of Concord and Pleasant streets, during the summer of 1865, of a frame meeting house at a cost of $10,000. The building was dedicated October 27, 1865, and is now in use. The pastors at Corry have been as follows: 1864 and 1865, J. W. Wilson and G. W. Staples; 1866 and 1867, J. S. Lytle; 1868-69 and 1870, J. C. Scofield; 1871 and 1872, W. F. Wilson; 1873, W. H. Mose- man; 1874 and 1875, A. S. Dobbs; 1876 and 1877, N. Norton; 1878, A. S. Goodrich; 1879, J. W. Wilson; 1880-81 and 1882, A. G. Merchant; 1883, James G. Townsend. The present membership of the church is about 290.


St. Thomas Catholic Church dates its origin back to 1860, in which year Father Thomas Lonnergan came from Warren, Penn., and organized a small society. The early meetings were held at private houses until 1862, when a frame church was built on the southeast corner of Church street and Fourth avenue. It was dedicated in September, 1862, by Bishop Joshua M. Young, and has since been twice enlarged. Father Lonnergan has been the only pastor; his assistants have been Revs. J. Delaroque, J. M. Dunn, B. McGiv- eney, J. Brady, J. Meher and B. Donohue. The present membership includes about 200 families. The congregation has almost completed a handsome brick church structure, the cost of which will exceed $30,000. Its corner- stone was laid in 1872, and five years later the foundation was completed. It was placed under roof in 1883, and will be ready for occupancy it is ex- pected in 1884. The building stands on Washington street near the foot of First avenue.


The first Baptist services at Corry were held in the unfinished second story of a dwelling on the northwest corner of Washington and Wayne streets November 28, 1862. The congregation was organized with seven members October 18, 1863; Rev. J. R. Merriman became pastoral supply, and services were held in a hall on Main street until February, 1865, when the ball was rented to the Disciples. The Baptists were without a place of worship till later in the same spring when their present church edifice on the southwest corner of Second avenue and Pleasant street was built. It was first used April


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CITY OF CORRY.


19, 1865, for the public memorial services of the martyred President, and was dedicated April 26, 1865. Rev. A. D. Bush became pastor in April, 1864; Rev- W. R. Connelly succeeded in August, 1868; Rev. A. C. Williams in October, 1870; Rev. S. K. Boyer in March, 1872, remaining five months. The church was then without a pastor till September, 1873, when Rev. John Trowbridge was elected. He was succeeded in April, 1875, by Rev. J. B. Vrooman, who remained two years. Rev. E. F. Crane then served about two years and his successor, Rev. M. W. Dillingham, the present pastor, has officiated three years. The membership of the church is about 225.


The First Presbyterian Church of Corry was organized January 18, 1864, with the following nine members: Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Osgood, Charles Boyle, Mrs. Martha Boyle, Asel M. Davis, Mrs. Mary A. Davis, Mrs. Ellen M. Ben- nett, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Gridley and Miss Nancy J. Knight. Rev. J. Odell was engaged as temporary supply and served the church about one year; in- creasing in the membership to twenty-one. Rev. Hutchens acted as temporary supply for a few months, and in October, 1865, Rev. John C. Taylor became stated supply, remaining until March, 1867; when he left, the church member- ship was sixty-one. Rev. Alvan Nash then became stated supply, and died at the expiration of one year's service. In November, 1868, Rev. S. G. Hopkins was installed the first pastor, resigning in March, 1876, to accept a call to the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Ohio; Rev. D. V. Mays then served as pastor from June, 1876, to November, 1877, and was succeeded in the following December by Rev. B. M. Kerr, who remained two and a half years. Rev W. N. Sloan, the present pastor, entered upon his official rela- tions in October, 1880. The first Elders were E. S. Osgood and Charles Boyle; the present ones James Turner, T. A. Allen, Lewis L. Bliss and George H. Humason; the present Deacons are C. H. Bracken and Levi P. Hurd. The membership now numbers about 200. Services were held in the Concord Street Schoolhouse, Mckenzie's Hall and Cook's Hall successively, until the winter of 1865-66, when the congregation erected near the corner of Church and Center streets a neat, frame edifice which was enlarged two years later. During the winter of 1883-84, a handsome skeleton brick structure was reared on the southwest corner of Pleasant and Center streets at a cost of $10,000.


The first services of Emanuel Episcopal Church were held July 10, 1864, in Mckenzie's Hall. They were conducted by Rev. Calvin C. Parker, a Mis- sionary of the Board of Missions of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. The first Vestrymen were James Foreman, H. L. Wyman, O. S. Reynolds, F. A. Phil- lips, George H. Coney, S. A. Bennett and E. W. R. Buker. During 1865-66, the church edifice was erected. It was 100x45 feet in size and stands on the southwest corner of Center and Smith streets. The lot cost $500, the building $4,000. When the corner-stone was laid in September, 1865, there were but twenty communicant members. Rev. Parker resigned June 1, 1866. He was succeeded by Rev. John T. Protheroe, who resigned in May, 1871. Dur- ing that year the church was enlarged by the addition of side aisles, organ chamber, etc., at an additional expense of $5,000. Subsequent rectors have been Rev. Thomas Bell from October, 1871, to August, 1872; Rev. Robert W. Grange, June, 1873, to November 16, 1874; Rev. William G. W. Lewis, April, 1875, to August 31, 1877; Rev. Thomas A. Stevenson, January, 1878, to Au- gust, 1881; John L. Taylor, the present rector, who took charge in June, 1882. The present communicant membership is 110. The present Vestrymen are O. C. Holden, Senior Warden; J. B. Davis, Junior Warden; Charles Mid- dleton, Augustus Harrington, Frederick Stanford, R. C. Dawson and E. M. Bonnell.


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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.


In 1864, Rev. John W. Clark, preaching on the Bear Circuit, organized a small United Brethren class at the Little Red Schoolhouse. and in 1865 com . menced building on the corner of Pleasant and Lemon streets a frame house of worship. The year following, during the pastorate of Rev. J. Hill, the site of the building was changed and the unfinished structure was taken down, re- moved to the turnpike, and there completed at a cost of about $2,000. This building was destroyed by fire in 1872, and immediately another was erected, at an expense of $2,500, on North Center street, where services are now held. The membership of this society is about fifty. Its pastors since Rev. Clark have been J. Hill, 1865; W. Rittenhouse, 1866; O. Badgley, 1867; W. Cad- man, 1868-69; I. Bennehoff, 1870-71; J. Holmes, 1872; H. H. Barber, 1873; J. Hill, 1874; P. Butterfield, 1875; A. Peckham, 1876; S. Evans, 1877; W. Cadman, 1878; N. R. Luce, 1879; J. P. Atkins, 1880; L. L. Hager, 1881- 82; D. C. Starkey, 1883. Corry is a mission station.


About forty years ago, a Methodist Episcopal class was organized, and held meeting in a schoolhouse in Wayne Township; in 1860, it erected a meet- ing-house about one and a half miles north of Corry, and in 1870 the society was re-organized by Rev. J. W. Wilson, with about thirty-five members, and the house of worship was removed to Pike street, Corry, and has since been the home of the North Corry Methodist Episcopal congregation. The society is attached to Columbus, Warren County, Circuit. Among its pastors subsequent to 1870 have been A. A. Horton, A. S. Goodrich, S. S. Burton, William Rice, Rev. Fordon and Rev. Adams; Rev. J. W. Wilson is the present pastor. The membership is about sixty.


The first Congregational Church of Corry was organized in 1874. The early meetings were held in the Christian Church, located on the northeast corner of Fourth avenue and Pleasant street. This handsome building was purchased by the Congregational society in 1878, and it has since remained its place of worship. It is a brick structure, the dimensions of which are about 50x100 feet, its original cost being about $15 000. It was repaired in 1882 at an expense of $4,000. The Christian congregation, now defunct, formerly owned a frame meeting-house on the site of the above brick structure. It was destroyed by fire, and replaced, through the munificence of G. W. N. Yost, by the brick church. The pastors of the Congregational Church have been Rev. Joseph Adams, who remained two years; Rev. J. B. Davidson, three years; Rev. E. A. Squier, eighteen months; a temporary vacancy now exists. The membership is about 100.


St. Elizabeth (German) Catholic Church was established in April, 1875, with about twenty-eight German families who had formerly been connected with St. Thomas' Church. Under the management of a building committee, consisting of H. L. Spiesman, J. Franz, J. Rehrich, Martin Huffman, Frank Rosboch and Henry Heineman, the congregation at once proceeded to the erec- tion on Pleasant street of a fine brick church, which was completed in 1876 at a cost of $7.000. It was consecrated in September, 1876. The society owns a parsonage, school and cemetery. Rev. F. Winters, the first pastor, remained in charge till October, 1883, when Rev. Reck succeeded him. The society num- bers about forty families.


The German Lutheran Church, a skeleton brick structure, 26x40 feet in size, located on the northeast corner of Concord and South streets, was erected in 1876-77, at a total cost of $2,140. It was dedicated June 3, 1877. The society was organized several years previous, by Rev. M. Kugler, the first pas- tor, and services had been held in various places. Rev. Kugler was succeeded in the autumn of 1877 by Prof. Herman Gilbert, of Thiel College, Greenville,


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CITY OF CORRY.


who has since conducted services here each alternate Sunday, and is present pastor. The church membership enrolls about fifteen families.


The Hebrew congregation at Corry was organized about ten years ago and has a emall membership. Its first rabbi was Rev. Galen, who was succeeded by Rev. Bernstein. Rev. S. Fielchenfield then took charge about seven years ago, and still serves the congregation. Meetings have been held in various buildings. In the autumn of 1883, the congregation purchased the old Pres- byteriau Church.


The Universalist Church of Corry was organized with thirty-three members March 7, 1877, by Rev. Aaron A. Thayer, who remained in charge about three Jears. The first officers elected were A. A. Aspinwall, Moderator ; W. Ed Marsh, Clerk ; C. G. Harmon, Treasurer ; L. Hammond, H. A. Baker and G. W. Pardee, Standing Committee. The membership increased to about eighty-five, but for a year past no services have been held. The congregation owned no place of worship, and met last in the Congregational Church.


MISCELLANEOUS.


The city has three cemeteries-Pine Grove, St. Thomas (Catholic) and the Jewish. The first named embraces a tract of ten acres near the northern ter- minus of Center street, purchased by a corporation of Amos Heath for $2,000 in 1866. About $8,000 have since been expended by the company in improve- ments. St. Thomas' Cemetery is in the southwestern part of the city, and covers about two acres. The Jewish Cemetery is a small inclosure in Wayne Township, near the north line of the city.


The following is a list of the citizens of Corry who have held elective State and county offices : Associate Judge, Hollis King, November 8, 1866, to November 17, 1871; Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1873, C. O. Bowman; Assembly, C. O. Bowman, 1869; W. W. Brown, 1872 to 1874; Isaac B. Brown, 1881-82, and 1883-84; County Commissioner, W. T. Brown, 1872 to 1875; Mercantile Appraiser, L. E. Guignon, 1875; William T. Brown, 1880; Director of the Poor, S. A. Beavis, 1869 to 1872; Jury Com- missioner, D. L. Bracken, 1879 to 1882.


W. W. Brown moved to Bradford, and was elected to Congress from the Mckean District in 1882.


The following Corry physicians had registered at the Court House in Erie in 1882: A. S. Bonsteel, Bellevue Hospital and Medical College, N. Y., 1872; C. B. Kibler, University of Buffalo, 1870; H. O. Mackres, University of Buf- falo, 1867; M. Pickett, University of Buffalo, 1869; D. Storer, practice of medicine since 1844; G. A. Elston, Medical Department University of New York, 1880; Emma L. Jordan, Eclectic Medical College, Philadelphia, 1879; John B. Chace, American Medical College, Cincinnati, 1855; S. R. Breed, practice of medicine since 1856; D. E. De Ross, Eclectic Medical College, Cincinnati, 1875; J. E. Weeks, Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1881; B. H. Phelps, Cleveland Medical College, 1871; H. S. Tanner, Cincinnati Ec- lectic Medical College, 1859; Mrs. F. H. Stanford, Boston University School of Medicine, 1878.


824


HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.


CHAPTER XVIII.


WAYNE TOWNSHIP.


U P to the year 1821, that section of the county now embraced in Wayne and Concord was known as Brokenstraw Township, a name given to it in the act of organization. In the year stated, the title was changed to Con- cord, through the influence of William Miles. Wayne was set off from Con- cord in 1826, and was named after Anthony Wayne. Wayne embraces a por- tion of the Donation lands. The township of Brokenstraw (of which Wayne formed a part) constituted with Union one election district until 1821, ranking as No. 10 of Erie County.


Wayne is bounded on the north by Chautauqua County, N. Y., on the east by Columbus Township, Warren County, on the south by Corry City and Con- cord Township. and on the west by Amity and Union. It has been twice re- duced in size, first in 1863 by the creation of Corry as a borough, and second in 1866 by the act elevating that place to the dignity of a city. The char- ters of Corry took off a strip about one mile wide by two and a quarter long, from the southeastern corner, but what the township lost in territory has been more than made up in the increased value given to the balance by the growth of the city. The South line of the township is nearly uniform with the straight portion of Smith street in Corry. Wayne has an average width of about six miles, and a length of about eight, with a perfectly regular line on the north side, two slight jogs on the east and west, and more considerable ones on the Concord and Corry sides. The boundary between Pennsylvania and New York, which forms the north line of the township, was established by Commissioners on the part of the two States in 1785, who completed their work in 1787. They surveyed the entire boundary between the Delaware River and Lake Erie, marking each mile with stones on which figures were cut, showing the distance from the first-named stream. Their report was confirmed by the Legislature in 1789. The eastern boundary of the township was marked out in the act of 1800, incorporating Erie and Warren Counties. Wayne Town- ship contained a population of 197 in 1830, 738 in 1840. 1,122 in 1850, 1,224 in 1860, 1,295 in 1870, and 1,306 in 1880. There is but one post office within its limits, Wayne (at Beaver Dam). Before Corry grew to importance, Beaver Dam and Columbus, Warren County, were the trading places of the township. The assessment of 1883 gave the following results: Number of acres, 22,480; value of real estate $522,048; number of cows, 773; of oxen 26, of horses and mules, 320; value of the same, $35,462; value of trades and occupations, $3,935; money at interest, $21,577.


LANDS AND THEIR VALUE.


In general, Wayne is a hilly township, but it contains some handsome and fertile valleys along the South Branch of French Creek and Hare Creek, and Scioto, Beaver Dam and Spencer Runs. The hills attain an elevation of 200 to 400 feet above the French Creek Valley, and are cut by deep ravines especial- ly in the southern portion, which, however, have generally sloping sides, ad- mitting of easy cultivation. The summits of the ridges are irregular, but


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WAYNE TOWNSHIP.


there is little waste land in the township. The character of the soil adapts it best for grazing, and butter-making and cattle-raising are the staple industries of the township. It used to be thought that wheat could not be raised to ad- vantage, but of late a considerable amount of that grain has been harvested, and its cultivation is steadily on the increase. The principal timber is beech, maple and hemlock, though considerable tracts of pine, oak and chestnut once existed in the south part of the township. Much of the timber has been cut off, and what remains will soon disappear at the present rate of consumption. Apples bear profitably, pears give a fair yield, a few peaches are raised and fruits of other kind correspond with the average southern townships of the county. The price of land ranges from as low as $20 to as high as $50 per acre, being most valuable for farming purposes in the vicinity of Beaver Dam.




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