USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 73
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103
June 30, 1891, Mr. Hyde married Miss Verna Emery, and their only child, Helen Hyde, was born November 18, 1892. Mrs. Hyde is a daughter of the late Hon. David Emery and Susan Angeline Emery, the former an extensive oil producer and merchant of Crawford county for many years, and known far and wide throughout this region as a inan of unusual ability and judgment.
Baltzer Gehr .- The original members of the well known family of Gehr were, Jacob, John, Joseph, Samuel, Adam and Baltzer Gehr. Four of this number, including Jacob, came to Crawford county in 1797. They were from Somerset county, but were natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Jacob Gehr settled at what is now known as Dennison Corners, but John, Joseph and Adam at what is still known as Gehr Schoolhouse. There is a remarkable strain of longevity in the family, many of the sons living to be ninety and over, the mother herself attaining the age of ninety-seven. The most favored, however, as regards age was Baltzer, whose useful life extended three years beyond a century.
Baltzer Gehr was born April 3, 1782. in Cocalico, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. In 1800 Baltzer rode across the mountains, on horseback, with his mother, to join his brothers, who had previously undertaken the saine journey into Crawford county. He purchased a claim in Sadsbury, which is now the southwestern part of Summerset. For sixty years of his life he engaged in general farming; his latter days were spent with his children, Samuel and Augustus.
When one hundred years of age Baltzer Gehr was a remarkably pre- served man. both physically and mentally, and still interested in the pastime of Izaak Walton, fishing. His century birthday was celebrated in a way to rejoice the heart of the recipient and to be long remembered by the vast number of relatives and friends who assembled to do him honor. Hundreds of them were feeble and old and could recall the time when, as children, he was too old to play with them. The speech of the day was delivered by the Hon. S. H. Richmond, of Meadville, and was a glowing tribute to the use- fulness of his long life, and the excellence of ancestry which had rendered it
702
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
possible. One year later there was another celebration at Conneaut Lake, where thousands met to marvel at the continued vitality of this eventful life. The late Judge Pearson Church delivered a splendid and stirring oration.
Baltzer Gehr was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Flemming, who died in 1872, twelve years before her venerable helpmate. Baltzer Gehr lived until 1884, to the age of one hundred and three years. His children were : Marie, born in ISII, and now living; Samuel, born in 1813, and living in Sadsbury; Joseph, born in 1815, died when very young ; John, born in 1817, died in 1895; Adam, born in 1819, is living in Pine Town: Josiah, born December 16, 1822, is the subject of the succeeding sketch; David, born in 1825, died in 1885; Baltzer, born April 3. 1832, died in 1884; Wilson, born in 1834. died in 1883 ; Augustus, born in 1836, is now living in Summit.
Josiah Gehr, a son of that remarkable man, Baltzer Gelir, was born at Sadsbury, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1822. When twenty years of age Mr. Gehr took a trip to Canada with a contractor for canal work, and, after his return, worked on a farm for two years. He then bought forty acres of wild land, which he cleared and which cost him three hundred and fifty dollars, and afterward bought fifty acres more, and this has since been his home. In connection with his farming interests Mr. Gehr operated a sawmill from 1850 until 1855. Since selling the mill, Mr. Gehr has devoted himself wholly to his farming interests and has been especially successful in the breeding of Norman horses.
In November, 1852, Mr. Gehr married Miss Elizabeth Wilson, daughter of Benjamin and Esther Wilson. Benjamin Wilson was born in 1782 and, coming from New Jersey in 1801, he settled in Hayfield and later, in 1820, in Sadsbury, where he lost his wife. He eventually married a second time, and his wife, Esther, died in 1867. Mr. Wilson himself lived until 1845. Their only son, Stewart Wilson, is a prominent banker of Linesville.
There are five children in Mr. Gehr's family: Esther is the widow of Walker Jackson, of Harmonsburg, who was an importer and breeder of Norman horses; Fannie married Calvin Brown, of Harmonsburg; Bertie is now Mrs. Emmet W. McArthur, and her husband is mayor of Meadville: Alice, married Frank Van Liew, cashier of the Bank of Linesville; and Linnie, married Mr. Frank Meyers of Sistersville, in western Virginia. Mrs. Gehr is a member of the Methodist church at Shermansville, which her hus- band is largely instrumental in supporting. Mr. and Mrs. Gehr are among the best known and highly respected people in the community. They are the happy possessors of a fine farm and home, which are the scene of a most lavish and charming hospitality.
703
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Charles Ridgway, a millwright, came from Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, to Titusville, June 20, 1799, at the age of twenty years, having been born in 1779. After looking about the primitive country, and building a mill for the Holland Land Company at East Titusville, he returned to Brownsville, and brought with him, the second time he came, Samuel Griggs, and selected the spot now known as Newtontown, as a site for a mill. Griggs was also a millwright. He bought two hundred acres of land at Newton- town and built the mill. After living there three years he sold the property to Major Alden, and moved to Franklin. There he bought ten lots and built a house and barn. He married Fanny Titus, the daughter of Peter Titus. He sold the Franklin property, bought several hundred acres of land at Hyde- town and came to live on it. He was a miller, as well as a millwright. He built at an early date, a mill above Hydetown, on Little Oil Creek, and oper- ated largely in lumber, as well as clearing land and cultivating a farm. He had nine children. They were Susan, who married William Witherop; Peter, who lived and died at Hydetown; Charles, who died in Oil Creek township a few years ago; Jane, who married Robert Witherop; Ruth, married Dr. Fisher : Alexander, who died at Madison, Iowa; John, Samuel and Titus, of Hydetown. Charles Ridgway, the father, died in 1854, and his wife in 1836.
Peter Ridgway, son of Charles, was born in Oil Creek, . November 25, 1825. He spent the greater part of his life in the lumber business and was successful. He was self-made, his father giving him only ninety-seven acres of land, without buildings. He was interested in business with Charles Hyde, the banker. He was county commissioner three years. He succeeded in having built four iron bridges, also in getting the railroad station changed. He was also interested in a store. He was instrumental with others in having Hydetown made a borough. He was married in Hydetown, in 1855, to Miss Louisa Carr, an adopted daughter of Charles Ridgway, who bore him one child, a daughter, Emma, who married Harry D. Huland, of Franklin, Pennsylvania. He possessed much energy. He retired from business over twenty years ago, but continued to take an interest in public affairs during the remainder of his life.
Francis Broughton .- This worthy citizen of Beaver township, Crawford county, is the owner of Maple Grove farm, one of the most valuable and best improved homesteads in this section. Everything about the place shows the watchful care and attention bestowed by the proprietor, who is thoroughly practical and progressive as an agriculturist. He is a veteran of the Civil war and has always been noted for his good citizenship and patriotism. It is a remarkable fact that there were six sons of his father's household, himself
704
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
and five of his brothers, who enlisted for service in the ranks of the Union army during the Civil war, and two of them paid for their devotion to their country and flag with their young lives.
Michael Broughton, the father of these heroes, was a native of Vermont, and continued to reside in that state until he arrived at maturity. He then went to New York state and settled in the neighborhood of Silver Lake. Later he came to Crawford county as one of Conneaut township's early pioneers; then, in 1850, moved to Beaver township and spent the remainder of his life there, his death occurring when he was in his seventy-second year. He was a stonemason by trade, at which he worked in connection with farm- ing. In his early manhood he was the manager and owner of a hotel for some time. A strong Republican, he was deeply concerned in his party's success, but never aspired to public office. Religiously, he was identified with the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, whose maiden name was Sallie Gillan, lived to be eighty-five years of age. Her family originally resided in Canada, but during the war of 1812 they removed to New York state, preferring to live under the American flag. Michael and Sallie Broughton were the parents of ten children.
Francis Broughton was born AAugust 12, 1844, in Conneaut township, this county, and was reared to farm management from his earliest boyhood. He continued to assist his father on the old homestead until the war broke out, when, in spite of his youth, he enlisted in the Second Pennsylvania Cavalry and served for three years, or until the close of the great conflict. Eli, his eldest brother, enlisted in the Sixth Wisconsin Infantry and at the end of eight months' service was obliged to be discharged on account of having been poisoned by drinking water from a spring near the camp. In 1862 he again volunteered, this time in the Second Pennsylvania Cavalry, with our subject. A year later, however, he was again honorably discharged, owing to physical disability. His death occurred in 1898. Truman, the next brother, enlisted in the Third Minnesota Regiment and for three years was in active service on the frontiers of the west. Henry was for ten months a member of the Twenty-ninth Ohio Regiment of Volunteers, at the expiration of which period he was discharged, owing to the state of his health. When he had recovered in a measure, he re-enlisted, this time in the Second Pennsylvania Cavalry, was captured at St. Mary's church and died in a rebel prison at Florence, South Carolina. Pulaski, a member of the Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteers, faithfully stood at the post of duty for three years and Addison, another brother, enlisted and had proceeded as far as Pittsburg with his regi- ment, on the way to the front, when he contracted the measles and died.
When the affairs of the nation were beginning to adjust themselves peaceably, Francis Broughton, returning home, purchased the old homestead of the other heirs and has since carried on the place, which comprises one
705
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
hundred acres. He has made inany improvements and is numbered among the leading farmers of this district. For several years he has been a school director and for some eight years he officiated in the capacity of township supervisor. He has been quite active in the support of the principles and nominees of the Republican party, but has never sought official distinction. He belongs to the state police and is a member of Major Patten Post, G. A. R., of Springboro, Crawford county. He and his wife are valued members of the Christian church, he having been a deacon in the same for several years.
In 1867 Mr. Broughton married Miss Agnes Miller, who was born in Scotland, and their two children are Sadie, who is at home, and Jessie, who is the wife of Wayne Whitford, of this county.
Samuel Burwell .- The following is a biographical sketch of Samuel Bur- well, Findley Burwell, and Oliver E. Burwell, as far back as memory and records go, and extending down to the present date, January 2, 1899.
Samuel Burwell was born at Rockaway, New Jersey, in 1777, the exact date not being positively known. His father, Samuel Burwell, Sr., was the oldest son of Jolin Burwell, who removed from Jamestown, Virginia, in the year 1721, a relative of the extensive family of Burwells in this country, for- merly from Bedford and North Hampton, England. One of his ancestors was of the Virginia deputation, in the year 1646, to invite the fallen monarclı, James I., to come to America for protection against the rebellious Puritan subjects.
James Burwell, brother of the subject of this sketch, enlisted in His Majesty's service in the year 1776, at the age of twenty-two; served in the war of the American rebellion ( Revolution) seven years; was present at the bat- tle of Yorktown, Virginia, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington, and was there slightly wounded. After the war of 1783 he moved to Nova Scotia, where he remained three years; he then returned to New Jersey to take care of his mother, where he married, and' in company with his two younger brothers, John and Samuel, moved to Red Stone, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and thence moved to upper Canada, in the year 1796. He died at his home in Southwold, Elgin county, Canada, June 18, 1853, aged ninety-nine years and five months.
Returning to the subject of our sketch, we find him located at Red Stone, Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Hannah Paden, daughter of Isaac Paden, in 1798. Four years later he moved to Crawford county, Pennsyl- vania, his wife making the trip on horseback, carrying two children and part of their goods, and he on foot, carrying the balance. He settled in Linesville, where he supported his family by his trade, which was that of a weaver, and for some time had charge of the Linesville grist inill, until its usefulness be- came impaired by the dam washing out. He then moved to Conneaut town-
45
706
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
ship, bought a piece of land near Paden creek, built a house on it, took charge of his father-in-law's grist mill until the breaking out of the war of 1812, when he was drafted. He served under Commodore Perry on Lake Erie, when the great victory of the lakes was won, which ended the war between the United States and the mother country. Being a great singer, he is credited with the authorship of the once famous war song, "Perry's Victory."
On returning from the war, in 1814, he found poverty had crept into his home and his family must be separated. They decided to bind out three of their children: Isaac, to William Henry, of Hartstown; Findley and Hannah, to William Shellito of North Shenango. Shortly afterward he moved to North Shenango, and on July 6, 1819, bouglit one hundred acres of land of Archibald Davis, for the sum of two hundred and sixty dollars. He served as tax collector for the Shenangos for some time. He died July 31, 1822, aged forty-five years, leaving a wife and eleven children. His wife, Hannalı, died May 10, 1862, aged eighty years.
Findley Burwell, the second subject of our sketch, was born in Linesville, August 19, 1808. At the age of six, he and his sister Hannah were bound to Mr. William Shellito. Five years later his parents secured their release by paying eighty dollars. While with Mr. Shellito he was deprived of the privilege of attending school and had to put up with a great many hardships and very harsh treatment. After his father died he became the main support of the family. The farm being new and covered with timber, it required a great deal of labor to clear the land and prepare it for cultivation, and he proved himself equal to the task. After becoming of age he leased the farm from his mother for a few years and later on bought it. He was married to Miss Sarah Fonner, February 1, 1836, in a log schoolhouse, on Sunday after church services. His wife died August 15, 1896, after more than sixty years of married life. After his marriage, lie became a member of the Meth- odist church, and in turn held all the different offices of the church, and was a constant official member as long as he was able to attend to official duties. At the beginning of the century religious discussions played a conspicuous part in the early life of the settlers, and he found himself at variance with the Calvinists, who could not see any good in his way of thinking. He is a well preserved man, both physically and mentally, and has by his upright life won the respect of the whole community.
His children were: James F., a graduate of Allegheny College, Mead- ville, Pennsylvania, who became an experienced teacher, and died at Fairfield, Iowa, August 3, 1878; Nancy R., widow of the late Lieutenant D. A. Ben- nett, resides at Geneva, Ohio; Rhoda J., widow of Mandley Hollister, lives at Fairfield, Iowa; Benjamin, who enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, in August, 1862, was wounded at Fred- ericksburg, and died January 20, 1863, in the hospital at Washington, aged
707
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
twenty-two years; Elizabeth, a promising teacher, died January 14, 1864, at the age of twenty; Oliver E., who was born on the farm January 24, 1848, married Miss Carrie Webster of Jefferson, Ohio, December 28, 1870. He has always lived on the farm of his birth except two years, 1871 and 1872, when he purchased a small farm at Bennettville, with a sawmill on it, and was engaged in lumbering while there. He returned to the farm in 1873 to take care of his parents; built a house and engaged in the dairy business, which he has followed for over twenty years. In company with J. B. McNutt, he owned and operated a cheese factory at Stewartsville. He built the first silo in the township, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in poli- tics a Republican. His family consists of Agnes Irene, a graduate of the Meadville Commercial College, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, also of the local, Pomona and State Grange; and George Findley, a graduate of the New Lyme Business College, New Lyme, Ohio, and now a merchant and postmaster at Espyville Station, Pennsylvania.
Joshua Douglass, son of Joshua and Martha Douglass of New England, attorney and counselor at law, was born in Rochester. New York. August 1, 1826. His parents moved to Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1832, and settled on a tract of heavily timbered and unbroken land near Meadville. Joshua worked with his father, clearing and cultivating the land, attended district school winters and later the Meadville Academy. Was married in 1848 to Calsina L. Finch, who died in 1849. In 1850 he went overland to California, returned in 1851, taught district school in winter of 1851-2, and read law under the preceptorship of Hon. A. B. Richmond.
He was married in October, 1853, to Lavantia, daughter of Joel and Sophia Densmore of Blooming Valley, Pennsylvania. They have had five children : Marian, born in February, 1855, married December 7, 1875, Charles W. Lane, and they have two children,-Ralph Douglass, born May, 1877, and Elsie Britton, born December, 1878; Mrs. Lane and the two chil- dren reside in Brooklyn, New York; Ellen, born in July, 1856, in June, 1879. married Cornelius Van Horne, an attorney at law, and they have had five chil- dren,-Robert T., Cornelius (who died young), Richard, Ralph, and Doug- lass; the family reside in Tacoma, Washington; Robert, born in November, 1861, died in October, 1862; Mabelle, born in February, 1864, and married John C. Burns, a merchant of New York city, in August, 1892; and Ger- trude, born in November, 1866, married Percy Vernon Greenwood in May, 1891, who died in November. 1891. She has a daughter, Persilia Vernon, born February. 1892. Gertrude married again, this time wedding George W. Douglass, one of the editors of the Brooklyn Eagle, in December, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Douglass are members of the Unitarian congregation of Meadville. Mr. Douglass has long been one of the trustees of the Meadville Theological
TOS
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
School, also one of the promoters and directors of the Meadville Library, Art and Historical Association.
Mr. Douglass was admitted to the bar in Crawford county in April, 1854. to the supreme court of the state in 1856, to the United States circuit and district courts in 1858, and later to the United States supreme court. He has enjoyed a large and active practice in the several courts named and many others in Pennsylvania and other states, and at this writing, in his seventy-third year. continues in practice with vigor. He was a delegate to the Free-soil conven- tion at Pittsburg in 1852 that nominated John P. Hale for President of the United States, and continued actively in the party until merged into the Re- publican party in 1856, and has continued a stalwart Republican to the pres- ent time, being now an active supporter of the administration, especially in its expansion policy.
Mr. Douglass is of Scotch origin, and has in his possession a carefully written history of the family, prepared by a member of the same, which em- braces many eminent names. The late Hon. Stephen A. Douglas (who dropped one s from his name) is a member of the family.
Hon. Henry Shippen, son of Colonel Joseph Shippen, in the Pro- vincial army and secretary of the Provincial council of Pennsylvania in 1762 until the Revolution, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1788, and was educated for the bar. In the war of 1812 he organized a company of volunteer cavalry, in which James Buchanan, afterward President of the United States, was a private. Mr. Shippen was made captain and ordered on duty Septem- ber 5, 1812, by Governor Simon Snyder, afterward first aide-de-camp to Major General Nathaniel Watson, commanding Pennsylvania Volunteers at Baltimore, September 16, 1814. (See volume XII of the Roll of Pennsyl- vania Volunteers in the war of 1812-14, page 18.)
In 1817 he married Elizabeth Wallis Evans, a granddaughter of Colonel Evan Evans of Chester county, who commanded a battalion at the battle at Trenton, New Jersey, and participated in the battle of Brandywine in Septem- ber, 1777. In 1819 he moved to Huntingdon, where he practiced law and became a member of the legislature. In 1825 he was appointed president judge of the sixth judicial district of Pennsylvania, then comprising the counties of Crawford, Erie, Warren, Venango and Mercer. He moved to Meadville in 1825, where he lived and served the district until his death, in 1839. It is said that he never had but one decision reversed by the higher court during all his years of service.
He was the great-grandson of Edward Shippen, the first mayor of Phila- delphia, and nephew of Edward Shippen, chief justice of Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Shippen, was in Braddock's army in 1755, and at the taking of Fort Duquesne. He was afterward colonel.
709
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Evans W. Shippen, third son of Judge Henry Shippen, was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and carried an infant in the arms to Meadville in 1825. He was educated in the common schools of the village and one year in the preparatory department of Allegheny College. At the age of twelve years his father remarked, "I have six sons and I do not know what one of them will be excepting that one (pointing to the subject of this sketch) ; he will become a mechanic." After his father's death he traveled the state in search of employment at iron works, and finally succeeded, in 1844, in becom- ing the manager of iron furnaces in Lancaster and York counties, where he remained for six years. Thence he went to Philadelphia, where he carried on the foundry business for twelve years. A specimen of his work may be seen in the fountain on the public square in Meadville, which he presented to the city in 1863, when he came here to live.
In 1861 he engaged in drilling wells on oil creek and built a refinery in Philadelphia, where he, in 1862, chartered the barque Catharine and shipped the first full cargo of oil to England, overstocking the market for nearly one year. In 1864 he organized a company for drilling wells in Venango county and struck a well producing one thousand eight hundred dollars' worth of oil per day, when he retired to a farm.
In 1869 he imported the first Percheron horses that came into Pennsyl- vania ; but becoming tired of the monotony of farm life he moved into the city, in 1873, where he has been engaged in various pursuits ; he is now pump- ing the old well drilled in 1864, drilling new wells and building new machinery for oil wells.
In 1851 he married Catharine Y. McElwee, daughter of Colonel McEl- wee of Philadelphia and great-granddaughter of Judge Jasper Yeates of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. What is very remarkable, he shows photo- graphs of eight generations, whilst his wife shows those of seven generations on her side, most of them taken from old portraits.
F. H. Aldrich, machinist, was born in 1850 in Corry, Erie county, Penn- sylvania, son of Welcome and Lydia (Hill) Aldrich. Mr. Aldrich is the youngest son of a family of eight children, five of whom are living, as fol- lows: Jefferson, Pontiac, Michigan; Sasindia, wife of Abram Hartman, Meadville ; Dr. E. W. Aldrich, Huntington, West Virginia; Henrietta wife of H. C. Poole; and Frank H.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.