USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 100
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
In 1872 Dr. Roberts was elected the mayor of Titusville, and it was during his administration that the general public improvements of the city- waterworks, sewers, and pavements-were inaugurated. He was one of the leading spirits in the fight against the South Improvement Company, and when the Titusville & Buffalo Railroad was proposed he supported that project with a fifty-thousand-dollar subscription.
In January, 1872, Dr. Roberts, in connection with Colonel E. A. L. Rob- erts, organized the banking firm of Roberts and Company. In 1876 he was elected a member of the state legislature for a term of two years, and in 1878 was elected to the state senate for the term of four years. Dr. Rob- erts was several times the nominee of his county for congress, and in 1886 secured the nomination of the congressional district, but owing to factional fights in the party was defeated by a few votes at the November elections. In 1888 he was chosen delegate to the national convention at Chicago that nominated Harrison and Morton.
On the death of Colonel Roberts in 1881 the firm of Roberts Brothers became W. B. Roberts & Son, E. T. Roberts, the son of Dr. Roberts, having been taken into partnership in the various interests of Roberts Brothers. In the following year, in view of the large transactions in oil, two new banks were organized, the Commercial Bank, to which W. B. Roberts & Son sub- scribed one-third of the capital stock, and later in the same year the Roberts National Bank, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, with W. B. Roberts president and E. T. Roberts cashier.
Dr. Roberts, as well as his brother, Colonel Roberts, was identified with every movement for the benefit of the city of their adoption. When it seemed best to the citizens of Titusville to have an oil exchange worthy of their town, it was largely through the efforts of the Roberts Brothers, who subscribed to one-quarter of the stock, that the exchange was built. The Hotel Bruns- wick was erected by them, without regard to expense. Partly destroyed by fire in 1882, it was immediately repaired by Dr. Roberts and made into one of the finest hotels in the state and a permanent ornament to the town. Dr. Rob- erts was so intensely loyal to the city and people among whom his lot was cast that a great portion of his wealth was expended right at home in the city of Titusville. Yet it is not as the successful man of business and affairs that Dr. Roberts will be chiefly remembered by his fellow citizens, but as a man of generous and straightforward instincts, of large and public-spirited.ideas, and by many as a friend in their time of greatest need.
The ancestral history of the Roberts family is interesting. The great- grandfather of Dr. Roberts on the maternal side was Andre Everade Van Braam Houckgeest, chief director of the Dutch East India Company in China and their embassador to the court at Pekin. In this capacity he was one of the first Europeans to penetrate to any considerable distance in the interior
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of that country, and on his return to America published one of the first authen- tic and scientific accounts of the habits, peculiarities and customs of that won- derful people.
On the paternal side the great-grandfather of Dr. Roberts was Colonel Owen Roberts, a native of Wales and an officer of the British army, who, re- signing his commission, came to America and settled at Charleston, South Carolina, as a planter. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary war he was tendered a commission in his Majesty's service, but. believing the cause of the colonies just, he declined and declared his intention to stand by the fortunes of his adopted country. Commissioned a Colonel in the Fourth South Carolina Artillery, he was killed in battle at Stono ferry while leading his troops to prevent the British landing at that point. Mortally wounded by a cannon-ball, he was carried from the field while the battle still raged. His son, Richard Brooke Roberts, an officer in the same regiment, hearing of the disaster, has- tened to his father's side, who on seeing the emotion of his son said: "Take this sword, which has never been tarnished by dishonor, and never sheath it while the liberties of your country are in danger ; accept my blessing and return to your duty." The son continued in the army throughout the war and after- ward became a major and was retained in the United States army after the close of the Revolution. He died at the early age of thirty-nine, leaving a widow, the daughter of A. E. Van Braam, and three sons, the eldest of whom was Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus Roberts, the father of Dr. Roberts. This name was given him in honor of the Cincinnati Society, to which his father belonged.
On April 13, 1858, Dr. Roberts was married to Emily W. Titus, the daughter of Erastus Titus, a prominent merchant of the city of New York. Dr. Roberts had but one son, Erastus T. Roberts, who, graduating at Col- umbia College in 1881, became the business partner of his father in all the firm's various interests.
On July 30, 1889, Dr. Roberts' active and busy career was brought to a close, and he died genuinely regretted by the entire community.
Edward A. L. Roberts, the inventor of the torpedo for oil wells, and one of the most striking personalities of the oil regions, was born in the town of Moreau, Saratoga county. New York, April 13. 1829. In 1846, in his sev- enteenth year, he enlisted, at Sandy Hill, New York, as a private in Colone! Pitcher's company for the Mexican war. Young as he was he showed him- self a good soldier, receiving the commendation of his officers, and after twenty-two months' service, at the close of the war, he was honorably dis- charged. He returned to his home in Saratoga county, still under nineteen years of age, and studied in the Academy of Amenia, Dutchess county, New York, for a year.
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Then, in 1851, he entered the dental office of C. H. & W. B. Roberts, at Poughkeepsie. Afterward he became the partner of his brother, W. B. Rob- erts, in a dental office in New York. His natural genius for mechanics and invention after a year of work in the office induced him to branch out for himself, and he opened a dental depot in Bond street, where he manufactured dental material. While here he made many improvements in materials and methods used in dentistry, receiving three gold and silver medals from the American Institute of New York. He invented the mineral compound which soon came into extended use for making what is known as "continuous gum teeth." In 1857 he patented a dental and cupeling furnace. The next year he patented a vulcanizing machine, which came into universal use. Infringe- ments followed and in protecting his patent he was subjected to such expensive litigation that he was forced to sell his invention to others, for $2,000,-a paltry sum considering the large interests involved. It is probable that if he had won in these rubber suits his fortune would have been greater than that which followed the successful sustaining of his rights as the inventor of the torpedo. In 1859-60 he perfected a powerful oxyhydrogen blowpipe, an ex- tensive description of which appears in Appleton's Cyclopedia under the head of "Blow-pipe and Platina."
In the war of the Rebellion he promptly lent his individual aid to the government by raising regiments and forwarding them to the scene of action. In 1862 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-ninth New Jersey volunteers and remained with it, often as its commanding officer, until after the battle of Fredericksburg. when ill health compelled him to resign and he returned to New York. In 1863 he helped to form the Eighty-fourth Regi- ment, New York National Guard, and was captain of Company C. In the New York riots of that year he was placed in charge of the Center street arsenal. In July. 1864. Governor Seymour called for volunteers from the National Guard for one hundred days, and Colonel Conkling, of the Eighty-fourth, offered his regiment. He was ordered to move to Washington without delay, Colonel Roberts accompanying the regiment as captain of Company C. The company was attached to Sheridan's division and continued with it until after the battle of Winchester.
On the expiration of the hundred days which the regiment had volun- teered to serve, Colonel Roberts returned to New York and completed the drawings of his torpedo for artesian and oil wells which he had commenced on in 1862, and in November. 1864. applied for a patent. His brother, Dr. W. B. Roberts, took a half interest with him and formed a company to intro- duce and develop the invention. Colonel Roberts came to Titusville to demon- strate the value of his torpedo. It was a matter of much labor to persuade any producer to allow a torpedo to be exploded, as the majority of the oil men believed it would destroy the well. Finally, in January, 1865, he obtained
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permission to explode two torpedoes in the Ladies' Well on the Watson Flats near Titusville. The result was highly successful and established beyond a doubt the value of torpedoes for increasing the capacity of oil wells. This suc- cess at once started others to lay claim to the invention and the patent office became full of applications for processes of torpedoing wells, so that two years were consumed fighting interference suits before the patent was finally issued to Colonel Roberts and priority of invention awarded to him. The trouble, however, did not end here, for infringements at once became frequent and vexatious, and to protect their rights the Roberts brothers entered into a litigation probably without a parallel in patent cases up to that time. The producers allied themselves into a strong association to test the legality of the patent, and the Roberts brothers fought for their rights to the full extent of their resources. Decision after decision from the court sustained the patent, but the infringers resorted to every expedient for keeping alive the contest. To such an extent was this true that while there were lulls in the legal battle the conflict still raged when the patent expired, in 1883, and there being nothing more at stake for either party the suits were dropped.
The reason for the unexampled infringement of this patent is not far to seek. The business of torpedoing wells was a peculiarly novel and dangerous one. At first small charges of gunpowder were used, but the charges soon in- creased in size and the need was felt for a more sudden and powerful explosive. After many experiments Colonel Roberts boldly adopted the use of liquid nitroglycerin. This still remains the strongest practical explosive known, but so dangerous to handle and use in the liquid form, in which form alone is its full power developed, that its employment is still restricted to this one pur- pose of torpedoing oil wells. The first nitroglycerin was brought to Titusville by the Roberts brothers in a satchel, and experiments with this determined them to adopt it in spite of its dangerous nature. The first ship- ment by freight never arrived, as owing to a collision or accident of some kind the whole invoice, including the greater part of the train, went up in transit. Railroads refused to handle it thereafter. Colonel Roberts attacked this dilemma with his characteristic vigor and at once commenced the manufac- ture of nitroglycerin in the oil regions on a commercial scale, producing it in a special machine of his own invention, which turned out the product by the ton, where before it had only been produced in quantities of a few pounds. Colonel Roberts had previously fitted himself for this research by a special course of study in Europe under some of the most noted chemists of the time.
The great risk of the business, as well as the considerable cost of the actual material made torpedoes high in price, while the isolation of the wells in the midst of woods and far from the reach of prying eyes made it a strong induce- ment to infringe the patent by putting in a shot in the night time when the
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chances of discovery were a minimum ; moonlight shots they soon were named. Moonlighting became very popular and the expense the Torpedo Company was put to in order to get evidence of infringement of its patent was enormous. In fact, it is now known that the greater part of the company's earnings went into the expenses of this litigation, for the suits were numbered not by hun- dreds but by thousands. It seems a pity, from the point of view of an ob- server after the fact, that this great waste of money and energy on both sides had not been prevented by some mutual understanding between producers and the Torpedo Company : and, as a matter of fact, such an arrangement was tried whereby the producer patronized the company instead of the moonlighter and got a concession on the price of torpedoes. The proverbial difficulty of holding together a large number of men of different minds proved true in this instance, and the arrangement was not long-lived.
Did space permit it would be interesting to chronicle some of the ad- ventures and escapes that befell Colonel Roberts during his connection with the hazardous business of torpedoing wells. He never asked of others any risk he was unwilling to take himself and on more than one occasion came out uninjured from an explosion that proved fatal to others. Colonel Roberts perfected many improvements in explosive compounds and several patents were issued to him. A short time before his death he was working on a new inethod of vessel propulsion and an improved form of locomotive which on its trial trip developed phenomenal speed. There is no doubt that had he lived these would have been brought to perfection as well as many other useful applica- tions of science to the arts. for in this sphere of activity he was never idle.
The ancestry of Colonel Roberts has already been mentioned in the life of his brother, Dr. W. B. Roberts. On April 8, 1867, he married Ida But- terworth, widow of Thomas Chase, of Titusville. His death, which was en- tirely unexpected, occurred after a short illness on March 25. 1881. at the Hotel Brunswick, which he had made his home in his later years. Two children survive him .- Elizabeth C. and Mary L. Roberts .- both residents of Titus- ville.
Colonel Roberts was a man of many eccentricities and strong feelings. Always liberal, open-handed. generous and public-spirited. A man of tena- cious purpose and a strong fighter for what he thought were his rights, he attracted a host of friends and commanded the respect of his opponents. The city of his adoption, embellished by many marks of his liberality, had good cause to regret his untimely death.
Theodore B. Lashells, physician at Meadville, was born in New Berlin. Union county. Pennsylvania. March 20. 1839. a son of George E. and Eliza ( Baskin ) Lashells. He received his classical education at Jefferson College. in Washington county. this state, and his medical education at Columbia Col-
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lege, in Washington, D. C., at which institution he graduated in February. 1862, when he entered the United States service as assistant surgeon, Twelfth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry; was promoted to the rank of surgeon, and assigned to the One Hundred and Seventy-first Pennsylvania Volunteer In fantry, in which he served until the fall of 1863. He was taken prisoner of war and paroled, during which time and before his exchange he built and organized the St. Aloysius Hospital, at the national capital.
Returning home in ill health, he began his practice in Meadville, where he still remains. In 1864 he was appointed surgeon of the board of enroll- ment for this congressional district, which position he held till the close of the war. In 1868 he was appointed surgeon for the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, now the Erie Railway. The Doctor has for some time been a mem . ber of the board of examining surgeons for pensions for this county.
October 1. 1863, he was married to Miss Jane Kellogg, stepdaughter of Major Sammel A. Torbett, and to this union have been born two children : Mar Bess, born July 20, 1865; and Edward Torbett, born July 3. 1860, now a practicing physician in partnership with his father.
Joseph W. Fogle, of Wayne township, came into the county at the age of four years from Union county, where he was born in 18.15. He lived in Meadville for several years and then moved to Wayne township. August 7. 1864. he married Nancy J., daughter of Daniel and Julia Ann Waggoner, who had been for many years residents of the township. The children by this union are Hannah Elizabeth, wife of Rev. William M. Wygant ; Julia E., wife of Phillip Beers; Daniel E., George William and Lewis. They have an adopted son, named Joseph Arthur. Mr. Fogle has been engaged for many years in the lumber business, runs a sawmill at Bousson Postoffice, and lives upon a tract of two hundred and ninety aeres, which he has cleared of timber. Mrs. Fogle's father and brother Jacob were soldiers in the Civil war. She and her husband are active members of the United Brethren church.
George J. Kunts, proprietor of the Erie Hotel, at Titusville, was born in 1871 in Titusville, a son of George F. and Matilda Kuntz, who came to this city in 1867. George F. Kuntz conducted this hotel for three years and pur- chased the same in 1870. Mr. Kuntz, the subject of this sketch, is the oldest son of a family of five children, namely : George J., Henry J., William F., Frederick J. and David. October 10, 1803, he was married to Ernestine Wagner, daughter of J. G. Wagner, of Titusville. Mr. Kuntz is a member of Shepherd Lodge, No. 463. F. & A. M., Rose Croix Commandery. No. 38, K. T., and of the Queen City Lodge, No. 304, I. O. O. F. Mr. Kuntz is also a member of the select council of the second ward and a member of the Demo- cratic county committee.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Earnest Medo, a farmer of East Fairfield township, is a son of Augustus and Nora (Vernie) Medo, now residents of Meadville, natives of France. Mr. Medo was born where he now resides February 22, 1861, and belongs to a family of four children, viz .: Selma, married to Alfred Miller, Meadville; Jennie, married to Fred Pequinot, East Fairfield township; Earnest, and Tille M. Medo, deceased. Mr. Medo was married. May 28, 1889, to Louise, ut daughter of John and Clementine ( Rebrasier) Beuchat, and four children have been born to this union: Lena A .; Lillie May, deceased; Esther M., deceased, and Ethel Medo. Mr. and Mrs. Benchat have been residents of Randolph township for several years. Mrs. B. followed the vocation of teach- ing for some time in Ohio. Mr. Medo owns the sixty-acre farm in East Fair- field township where he resides.
James M. Wheeler .- The just reward of a well spent life and active busi- ness career is an honored retirement from labor-a season of rest in whichi one may enjoy the fruits of former toil. This has been attained by Mr. Wheeler, who for many years was identified with the agricultural interests of Crawford county, but is now living retired in Espyville, where he has a pleas- ant home and is surrounded by many warm friends who esteem hin highly for liis sterling worth.
Mr. Wheeler is a native of the Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in Brookfield. Trumbull county, on the 4th of May, 1836. His father was a native of Vermont, but in early manhood removed to Trumbull county, Ohio, where he carried on agricultural pursuits for many years. He was quite suc- cessful in his business ventures, owing to his capable management, sound judg- ment and unflagging industry, and acquired a valuable property, including three hundred and sixty acres of rich farming land. He died at the age of sixty-eight years, at his home in Trumbull county, where two of his sons and a daughter still reside.
James M. Whceler was reared on the old homestead in the county of his nativity, carly becoming familiar with the labors of field and meadow, and all other departments of farm work. He continued a resident of Ohio until 1865, when he came to Crawford county, locating on a farm a half mile south of Espyville, where he made his home until his removal to the village. He carried on general farming and stock-raising, and in both branches of his busi- ness met with good success. His energy and careful supervision were mani- fest in the neat and thrifty appearance of the place, in the substantial build- ings and improved machinery, while the excellent grades of stock which he raised indicated his progressiveness in that department of his business. His methods were systematic, his judgment rarely at fault and his diligence and perseverance enabled him to overcome many difficulties and obstacles, so that success eventually crowned his efforts and he found himself the possessor of
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a handsome competence, which now enables him to live a retired life. He made judicious investments in land, and in addition to the home place became the owner of two other farms, from which he derives a good income.
Mr. Wheeler was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Newcomb, who was born and reared in Trumbull county, Ohio, and with her family removed to Espyville only a short time prior to her marriage. Her mother is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-six years, and retains all her faculties in a remarkable degree. She bore the maiden name of Sarah Quick and was born in New Jersey, whence she removed to Trumbull county, Ohio. There she was reared and married, and when her husband went to the mines of California she was given full power of attorney to carry on the farm and transact all business in connection therewith. She has but one daughter, Mrs. Wheeler, and with her she is now living. She possesses excellent business and executive ability, and on leaving Ohio she sold her Brookfield farm and purchased a farm near Espyville, which she conducted successfully until her daughter's marriage, since which time she has found a pleasant home with Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler. She has long been a prominent member and active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a liberal contributor to its support.
Five years ago Mr. Wheeler put aside all business cares save the man- agement of his property, purchased a pleasant residence in Espyville and re- moved to the village, where he and his wife are now living, surrounded by many friends and enjoying the hospitality of the best homes of the com- munity. In politics Mr. Wheeler has always been a stanch advocate of the Republican party and is deeply interested in its growth and success, but has steadily refused all official preferments, desiring to give his undivided atten- tion to his business. Both he and his estimable wife are active members in the Espyville Methodist church, in which he is serving as steward, and their labors have contributed not a little to its advancement. They are rich in the possession of those qualities which endear them to the best people, and among the valued citizens of Crawford county they are numbered.
Professor H. V. Hotchkiss, Ph. D .- For the past fifteen years Professor Hotchkiss has been associated with educational affairs in Meadville, for two years as principal of the high school and since that time as superintendent of the city schools.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were Luke and Mary (Hath- away) Hotchkiss, early settlers of Crawford county. He is the eldest of the seven children of John and Sarah ( Waid) Hotchkiss, the others being as follows: H. J., of Townville; Lillian, deceased; Mary, wife of E. M. Cooper ; Margaret, wife of A. Morrison; Charles and Bessie.
In his boyhood H. V. Hotchkiss received a public school education, and was only sixteen when he commenced teaching in the country schools. Later
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he pursued a course of study at the Edinboro Normal, graduating in the class of 1880, after which he was chosen as principal of the Hydetown high school. In 1884 he was graduated in Allegheny College, and the following day he was elected principal of the Meadville high school. A post-graduate course of study entitled him to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, which was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater. Fraternally, he is identified with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1885 Professor Hotchkiss was united in marriage with Jessie, daugh- ter of George and Marian (Fordyce) Tier, of Meadville, and to this union were born four children, namely : Donald, Ruth, Robert and Harriet.
Allen E. Daily, Wayne township .- The great-grandfather and great- grandmother of Mr. Daily came from Ireland in 1800 and settled in Venango county. His father, Joshua, in 1862, married Katharine, daughter of Josepli and Leah Shaffer, their oldest child being Allen Emeral, the subject of this sketch. Other children are Laura A., wife of William F. McDaniel; Harry L., John F. and Frederick B. Allen came into the county about eighteen years ago, and October 22, 1826, married Laura, daughter of John and Mary Wheeling, of Venango county. They have two children,-Mary Ann and Bert Q.
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