History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 96

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 96

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LANDS, VILLAGES, ETC.

Amity is in general a hilly township, but there are some magnificent flats along French Creek, the outlet of Lake Pleasant, the Hatch Hollow Alder Run and Deer Lick Run. The valley of French Creek ranges from half a mile to two and a half miles in width, reaching its greatest extent at the outlet of Lake Pleasant. The township as a whole is more suited for grazing than any- thing else. Great quantities of butter are made, and the raising of cattle is an important industry. It is doubtful whether as much wheat is reaped as the people consume, but oats, corn and potatoes are produced in excess of home needs. Apples thrive vigorously, but other fruits do not succeed so well. Valley lands are held at as high a rate as $75 an acre, but some swampy spots are not valued at more than $20. On the hills, the price of land ranges from $30 to $40. Perhaps one-third of the township is still in a wild state and covered with timber.

Milltown is a place of about thirty buildings, and nearly a hundred people, situated on the outlet, about a mile and a half below Lake Pleasant, and fourteen and a half from Erie. It got its name from the number of mills located there. The settlement possesses a schoolhouse but no church. Its post office title is Lake Pleasant. Half a mile west in Waterford Township, is a Baptist Church, of frame, which was built in the summer of 1877. Until re- cently, there had been an organization of the United Brethren in Christ, on Baldwin's Flats, which society was formed about the year 1857, by Rev. Mich- ael Oswald, but was disbanded in the summer of 1883.

Hatch Hollow, in the valley of the lower Alder Run, on the Union &

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Wattsburg road, is a place of less size than Milltown. In addition to the mills and schoolhouse, there is a Methodist Episcopal Church, a frame structure, which was completed and dedicated in 1859. The congregation was organized some years prior to 1835, and has, excepting a short period, been an appointment on the Wattsburg Circuit, of which it now forms a part. It was for a time connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Union City. Hatch Hollow derived its title from the numerous Hatch family in the neighborhood. It is the post office of the south part of the township.

The cemetery at Hatch Hollow embraces about three acres. It has been in existence about twenty-five years. There is a burying ground of about an acre on the T. Ashton farm, and a number of family graveyards are kept up in various parts of the township.

William Sanborn was elected to the Assembly in 1846 and 1847, and Fran- cis F. Stow, County Auditor in 1867.

EARLY SETTLERS.

The first lands taken up in Amity Township were by William Miles, the founder of Wattsburg, who located 1,200 acres on the outlet of Lake Pleasant, in 1796, but made his home in Concord. About the same time John Fagan cleared up a piece of land near Hatch Hollow, and a man named McGahan went in the same year. Fagan remained until 1807, when he changed to Mill Creek. Hazen Sheppard and wife located in the township in 1812; the old lady was still living in 1880, at the age of ninety-two. John Carron is said to have been the first permanent settler, but the year he went in is un- known. In 1816, Benjamin Hinkston settled in Greene Township from Ver- mont, but changed to Amity in 1818. In 1819, Charles Capron moved in from New Hampshire, and was joined the same year by Seth Shepardson and Timothy Reed. Capron's father and mother accompanied him. James Mc- Cullough and Capt. James Donaldson became residents of the township in 1820, the latter locating near Lake Pleasant. Capt. Donaldson was from Cumberland County. He went first to the P. H. Yost place in Venango, where he lived with his family a number of years. From there he moved to Mill- town. Other settlers went in as follows: In 1829, Jabez G. Hubbell, of Otse- go County, N. Y., with his wife and sons, Hiram and David, Royal D. Mason and Jacob Rouse; in 1830, the Duncombes, Pliny Maynard and Elias Patter- son; in 1831, William B. Maynard, son of Pliny; in 1833, George W. Bald- win; in 1847, John Allen, from Otsego County, N. Y.

CHAPTER XX.

GIRARD TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGHS OF GIRARD AND LOCKPORT.

T THE township of Girard was carved out of Elk Creek, Fairview and Spring- field in 1832, receiving its name from Stephen Girard, the Philadelphia millionaire, who owned a large body of land in the adjoining township of Conneaut, on which he had arranged just before his death to put up mills and make other important improvements which were expected to benefit the whole country around. The old line between Fairview and Springfield ran through the township parallel with the present line dividing Elk Creek and Conneaut.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

Girard Township is bounded on the north by Lake Erie, on the east by Fair- view and Franklin, on the south by Conneaut and Elk Creek, and on the west by Springfield. In the widest part it is six and a quarter miles from east to west, by seven and three-eighths from north to south. The population was 2,060 in 1840, 2,443 in 1850, 2,453 in 1860, 2,018 in 1870, 2,338 in 1880, inclusive of Miles Grove and West Girard, and 1,732 exclusive of those vil- lages. The only post office is Miles Grove. Most of the trading is done in the latter place and Girard Borough.

The United States census of 1880, Jacob Bender enumerator, gave the fol- lowing results: With the exception of one person, a mulatto, the population is all white. In sex it is singularly evenly divided, there being 1,168 males against 1.170 females.

The acreage in tilled land is 13,845; permanent meadows, pastures, orchards, etc., 2,920; woodland and forest, 3,582; total, 20,347 acres. The principal crops are wheat, oats, barley, corn, buckwheat and potatoes. Total value of farm productions of all kinds, $217,080, divided among 240 farms.

The appraisement of 1883 gave the following results: Value of real estate, $1,354,587; of personal property, $47,523; money at interest, $51,855.

EARLY SETTLERS.

The first settlers within the limits of the township were William Silver- thorn and his son, Capt. Abraham Silverthorn, who came in 1798 from Fay- ette County. About 1799, Robert Brown, of Northumberland County, located at the mouth of Elk Creek, but in 1804 he moved to Weigleville, and from there to Erie. He was the father of William A. Brown and Mrs. George A. Eliot, of Erie City. These parties were followed in 1800 by Robert Porter, Isaac Miller and John Kelley. Mr. Kelley, who was from Mifflin County, moved to West Mill Creek in 1802, and died there the next year. In 1801, Jacob Coffman came from Somerset County, and located on the site of Lock- port; and about the same time Patrick Ward settled on the Lake road. Mr. Coffman, who was from Somerset County, was accompanied by his four sons. Conrad, one of the boys, went back to Somerset County about 1814, married there, and did not return until 1836, when his son J. C. was a young man of seventeen. The family were intimate in Somerset County with the famous Judge Jeremiah S. Black. William and Samuel McClelland and William Crane, natives of Ireland, took up lands in the northeast part of the township in 1802; John Miller, from Fayette County, and George Kelley, from Mifflin County, in 1803; Joel Bradish and brothers, from Saratoga County, N. Y., and James Blair, from Fayette County, Penn., in 1804; Martin Taylor, from Chau- tauqua County, N. Y., in 1813; William Webber, from Genesee County, N. Y., in 1814; Cornelius Haggerty, in 1815; Samuel Jenner and his son Peach, from Vermont, Justus Osborn and his son Philip, from Fredonia, N. Y., Abner Boder, from Connecticut, and Scott Keith and wife, from Pittsford, Vt., in 1816; Elijah Drury, from Genesee County, N. Y., in 1817; Ethan Loveridge and Nathan Sherman, from Oneida County, N. Y., in 1818; Joseph Long, from Massachusetts, in 1825; Matthew Anderson, from Chenango County, N. Y., in 1830; George Traut, from Columbia County, N. Y., in 1831; James Miles, from Union Township, and Titus Pettibone, from Wyoming County, N. Y., in 1832; and William Kirkland, in 1833. Among other early settlers, the date of whose arrival is not ascertained, were Messrs. Taggart, Pickett, Badger, Martin, Wells, Clark, Laughlin and Wolverton. The last four were the earliest who located on the site of Girard Borough, Mr. Wells having owned most of the land embraced within the corporate limits. James Silverthorn located

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among the first, and Thomas Miles about 1801. John Ralph kept a sort of tavern at the mouth of Elk Creek in 1804. John R. Ward was the first male child, and the late Mrs. George A. Eliot, of Erie, the first female child born in the township. The country does not appear to have been cleared up very rap- idly, as, according to Mr. Long, there was no road along Elk Creek when he reached there in 1825. The remains of William Miles and those of his wife and oldest son Frederick are interred in the family graveyard, north of Miles Grove. The old gentleman resided with his son James, near the mouth of Elk Creek, from 1841, the year of his wife's death, until his own demise in 1846. Girard Township can claim the honor of having had the second oldest person in the county -- Patrick Ward, who died at the age of one hundred and five. When one hundred and three years old, he walked from his residence to Girard (three miles), for the purpose of voting.

LANDS AND ROADS.

It is a common remark that the land between Walnut Creek, in Fairview, and Crooked Creek, in Springfield, is the best along Lake Erie, and of this choice section Girard Township is claimed by its citizens to be the very cream. The lake plain is from three to four miles wide, running back by a succession of steps which give a pleasing variety to the country. Near the lake the soil is sandy, but on the ridge it becomes gravelly, and is very productive. Back of Girard Borough the land continues to rise, is much broken, and, except along Elk and Crooked Creeks, where there are some fine valley farms, is bet- ter adapted to grazing than grain, though this is to be stated with some nota- ble exceptions. The whole township is a splendid fruit country, and many acres have been planted to grapes and strawberries. The strawberry crop is to Girard what the grape crop is to North East, vast quantities being raised an- nually and shipped to all points of the compass. The farm improvements will average better than any other part of the lake shore, and the taste shown in some instances would be creditable to any locality. Land is valued at from $100 to $125 per acre along the Ridge road, from $60 to $100 along the Lake road, and from $35 to $60 in the south part of the township. During the construction of the canal, there was a sandstone quarry-a novelty for Erie County-at Elisha Smith's, east of Girard Borough, from which a quantity of stone was taken for the locks of the canal.

The main thoroughfares of Girard Township are the Lake road, the Ridge road-both ruuning direct to Erie-the two roads between Miles Grove and the borough, the road through Lockport and Cranesville to Meadville, and the Lexington road into Conneaut Township. The Ridge and Lake roads are thickly settled, and the first named especially is unquestionably the finest in the county, having a fine row of shade trees on both sides almost the entire distance from Girard to Fairview. The stage company had extensive stables at West Girard, which were burned in January, 1832, with the loss of fifteen out of sixteen horses. After the opening of the railroad in 1852, few persons cared to travel by coach, and the stage line was soon abandoned.

RAILROADS AND CANAL.

The Lake Shore Railroad traverses the whole township from east to west, crossing Elk Creek a short distance west of Miles Grove. The old wooden viaduct over this stream, built for the use of the railroad in 1852, was 115 feet high and 1,400 feet long. It was replaced in 1858 with a splendid culvert and extensive filling. The only station of this road is at Miles Grove, or Gi- rard Station as it is more generally known to travelers. The Erie & Pitts.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

burgh Railroad intersects the Lake Shore almost a mile west of Miles Grove, and runs southward across the township, parallel to and not far from the Springfield line. Aside from Miles Grove, it has but a single station in the township, the one known as Cross's, at the north end of Crooked Creek bridge, a long and uncomfortable looking piece of trestle work. This station is the depot for the village of East Springfield, from which it is a mile and a half distant. The railroad office is the only building at the station. Judge Cross, of Springfield, from whom it received its name, once lived there, and still owns 800 acres of land in the vicinity. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis Rail- road traverses the entire width of the township from east to west, crossing the Elk Creek Valley by a splendid iron bridge, within sight from Girard Borough. Its station is between the borough and Miles Grove, a little east of the latter place. The old Erie Canal entered Girard on the east from Fairview, along the foot of the first rise, cut through the ridge to Elk Creek, crossed that, stream by an aqueduct ninety-six feet above the water, and 500 long, and fol- lowed the valley of the Lockport Branch southward.

STREAMS, ETC.

The chief stream of Girard is Elk Creek, which comes in from Fairview, flows nearly through the center of the township from east to northwest, and empties into the lake about a mile and a quarter beyond Miles Grove, after a length of thirty to thirty-five miles. The West Branch rises in Elk Creek Township, runs north eight or ten miles and unites with the main stream near the Fairview line. Hall's Run flows through Lockport and falls in a little south of Girard Borough. Brandy Run heads in Fairview Township, about a mile further south; and Spring Run west of Miles Grove-each of them being of sufficient size to furnish water-power for one or two mills. The valley of the chief stream is narrow and precipitous in the eastern portion of the township, but further west it widens out, with steep, but beautiful bluffs on both sides. At the junction of the West Branch there is a high peak, re- sembling part of a Roman profile, with its base at the water's edge, which has received the peculiar title of "The Devil's Nose." A short distance south is the striking natural curiosity, famous over the western portion of the county as "The Devil's Backbone." The West Branch runs along the base of an almost perpendicular hill for a quarter of a mile, then rounds the bluff and comes back to a point opposite the one which it left, forming a sort of a loop. At the narrowest place, the crest or backbone is not more than two feet across, and the height being over a 100 feet, it is a severe test of a person's nerves to walk along the lofty pathway. The spot is a favorite resort of the people for miles around. Not far from the "Devil's Backbone" is the fruit farm of Asa Battles, which contains 6,000 apple, 1,000 peach, 600 or 700 pear and many quince trees, besides fourteen acres of strawberries and five or six of grapes. The other streams of the township are Crooked Creek and several rivulets flowing into the lake in the northeast. Crooked Creek rises near Lockport, runs through the southwestern portion of Girard and the north- eastern of Springfield, and empties into Lake Erie about three-fourths of a mile beyond the village of North Springfield. It has a course of about ten miles and there are some good lands in its valley.

MOUTH OF ELK CREEK.

The mouth of Elk Creek figured extensively in the early plans of internal improvement, as well as in the courts of the county and State. When the canal was under discussion, there was a bitter strife as to the adoption of the

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eastern route by way of Waterford, or the western one by way of Girard. The Legislature, at length, by recommendation of the chief engineer in charge, adopted the western route. Next came a dispute as to whether the terminus of the canal should be at Erie or at the mouth of Elk Creek, which was finally ' settled in favor of the former. On the third of March, 1837, pending the discussion of the proper terminus, a contract was entered into between James Miles, of Girard, Thaddeus Stevens, then a member of Gov. Ritner'e "Kitchen Cabinet," and Charles Ogle, a Congressman from this State, looking to the building of a city at the mouth of the creek. Miles was to dispose of 200 acres of land on both sides of the stream to Stevens and Ogle, in con- sideration of $5,000. on the 1st of August ensuing, and $95,000 from the sale of lots, while Stevens was to work for the adoption of the site as the terminus of the canal, and Ogle was to obtain an appropriation from Congress for the improvement of the harbor. The project failing, Miles sued Stevens and Ogle for the $5,000. The case was carried to the Supreme Court and decided in favor of the defendants. Some very curious testimony came out in the course of the trial. While the country was being cleared, the mouth of the creek was considerable of a shipping place for staves and lumber. A warehouse formerly stood on the lake shore for the convenience of trade. The water in the creek is probably deep enough at its mouth to float any sailing vessel, but there is a wide bar in the lake, which will effectually prevent its use as a har- bor until removed, which can only be done by a heavy expenditure of money. Quite a fishery is maintained there, and hundreds of barrels of fish are put up for shipment. A limekiln has also been maintained for some years, re- ceiving its stone from Kelly's Island.

MILLS AND CHURCHES.

The mills and factories of the township-not naming for the present those of Girard Borough, Lockport and Miles Grove-are as follows: On Elk Creek -Strickland & Nason's grist mill, at the mouth of Spring Run; the West Girard Grist, Saw, Cider and Plaster Mills, and a planing mill at the same place. On Spring Run, T. Thornton's woolen mill and Brown Bros.' hand rake factory and cider mill. A grist mill is said to have been established on this stream by Mr. Silverthorn, as early as 1799, being one of the first in the county. On the West Branch, Pettis' saw mill; on Brandy Run, Ros- siter's tannery; on one of the lake streams, Herrick's and Godfrey's saw mills. All of the above are run by water, but in some cases steam is also employed in the dry season. Pettibone & Morehouse have a limekiln on the lake road north of Girard. The first mill on Elk Creek, within Girard Township, was built at West Girard in 1814, by Peter Wolverton, and was owned successively by Dr. Rufus Hills, James C. Marshall and his brother-in-law, Addison Weath- erbee, George Rowley, L. S. Wright, Loomis & Horton and W. C. Culbertson. During Mr. Rowley's term, the mill burned down and was rebuilt.

The churches of the township are as follows: Methodist Episcopal, at Fair Haven, on the Lexington road, in the southwest part of the township; organized originally, January 7, 1815, at the house of Mr. Webber, and re- organized by Rev. A. Hall in 1860; building erected in 1861, at a cost of $3,000. Prior to its attachment to the Lockport Circuit, this charge was an appointment with the church at Girard. Another of the same denomination at Fairplain, upon the farm of C. Ziesenheim, on the Lake road, organized by Rev. J. H. Whallon, its first pastor, in 1840; building erected in 1841 at a cost of $800. Until quite recently, this congregation was served by the pas- tors from Girard. It is now connected with Fairview Circuit.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

Church of the United Brethren on the State road, near the Elk Creek Township line; organized in 1870 by Rev. D. Sprinkle, its first pastor; build- ing cost $1, 700.

The cemetery at Girard is the common burial place of the township, but a number of small graveyards occur in various sections.

SCHOOLS AND MOUNDS.

The schools are fifteen in number, as follows: Fairplain, on Lake road east; Clark's, on Lake road, farther west; Miles' near railroad junction; Cudney, on Ridge road west; Robertson, on Ridge road west; West Girard, in that village; Girard Station, at Miles Grove; Osborne, on Ridge road east; McClelland, two miles southeast of Girard Borough; Porter Bridge, one mile south of West Gir- ard; Anderson, on Lexington road; Fair Haven, on same road further south; Blair, on Creek road three miles south of Girard Borough; Miller, on Old State road near Lockport; South Hill. Besides these there is a Union School on the Franklin Line, occupied jointly by that and Girard Township. Among some of the early schools of the township were the following: A log schoolhouse stood in the southwestern part of the township, in which school was taught in 1819 or 1820 by Miles Bristol. This schoolhouse was destroyed by fire and another erected in the same locality. Fifty years ago, there stood a log schoolhouse about three-quarters of a mile south of the village of Lock- port. About 1822, a school was taught in a frame building that stood on the Ridge road at the foot of the Girard Hill, by Nancy Kelly. Another school was held in a private house, situated one mile east of Girard, taught in about 1823 by Desdemona Fuller.

Southeast of Girard Borough, the remains of an ancient mound are or were lately to be seen, which was one of a chain of four, extending in a south- westerly direction through East Springfield toward Conneaut Creek. These mounds are exactly alike, consisting of high, round earthwork inclosing a space of about three-fourths of an acre. with apertures at regular intervals. Similar ruins are to be found in Conneaut, Harbor Creek, Wayne and Con- cord Townships. On a hill between Girard and Lockport was an Indian burial ground. In 1882, the bones of a mastodon were plowed up on the farm of W. H. Palmer, many of which were in an excellent state of preservation. The size of the animal was estimated to have been fifteen feet long, exclusive of tusks, and about thirteen feet high.

MILES GROVE.

The pretty and growing village of Miles Grove, or Girard Station, as it is known to the traveling public, is situated on the Lake Shore Railroad, a little over a mile east of the intersection of the Erie & Pittsburgh, one and three- quarter miles north of Girard, fifteen and a half west of Erie and eighty east of Cleveland. It is four and a half miles from the depot to Fairview Station, five to Fairview Borough, six to Lockport, five to East Springfield, four to North Springfield, ten to Cranesville, eleven to Wellsburg, eleven and a half to Albion and twelve to Franklin. The population of the village by the census of 1880 was 471. The site of Miles Grove is one of the most suitable for a town in Erie County. The country is extremely fine and closely settled-so close, indeed, between there and Girard that it will not be many years till they are one town. The place was named after Judge Miles, who influenced the erection of the depot, the ground for which was given by Austin H. Seeley, who laid out the lots. It grew slowly for some years, but received a new impetus by the completion of the Erie & Pittsburg road, which

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caused it to be made a general stopping place for the trains. Another start was given to it by the location of A. Denio's fork and agricultural works, which furnish employment to about seventy persons. These works-now known as the Otsego Fork Mills-were brought to Miles Grove, part in 1874, and the balance in 1876, the citizens subscribing $4,000 to $5,000 to induce their removal. This important industry was established at Albion thirty years ago. The handle department burned down in the year of 1873, when the entire business was tranferred to Miles Grove, where a part of it was already in operation. The village contains, besides a good many fine resi- dences, an Episcopal and a Methodist Episcopal Church, a fine schoolhouse, with three teachers, an iron foundry, a hotel-built by A. M. Osborn in the spring of 1865-five or six stores, an express office, two shoe shops and two blacksmith shops. The Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1867. It is used in part by the Presbyterians, according to a condition in the subscription paper. James Sampson donated the land on which the building stands. The Methodist Episcopal Congregation has belonged to Girard charge ever since its organization.

The Episcopal Church was erected in 1877 (mainly with a sum of money left by Mrs. Bell, a daughter of Judge Miles) on a tract of land donated by J. Rob- ert Hall, agent of the latter's estate. The first services of this congregation were held in 1860, but no regular rector served the church until 1862. Rev. E. D. Irvine has been rector since June, 1877. The Lake Shore Railroad Company has valuable improvements at Miles Grove. These are a fine depot building, with tasteful parks east and west of it, a freight house, two water tanks, an engine house with four stalls, a turn-table and an extensive track yard for shifting freight trains. An enormous business is done in shipping potatoes, in which Girard and Fairview Townships are very fruitful, and great quantities of coal are sold from the line of the E. & P. Railroad. The home of the Miles fainily, in the hollow of Elk Creek, near its mouth, about a mile north of west from Miles Grove, is a stately brick mansion. When Judge Miles died, he owned 1,600 acres in one body, extending two miles or more along the lake. He was born in Northumberland County February 16, 1792, and died March 27, 1868. For seventy or eighty years there has been an eagle's nest on the farm of Riley Pettibone, half a mile north of Miles Grove. It was there when the country was cleared, and has not changed its position, except that the original trees were blown down, and others near by were chosen. Oc- casionally young eagles are captured, caged, and preserved as curiosities.

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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 96

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