USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 81
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The first four years in the life of O. O. Squier were passed at his birth- place in Rockdale township, this county. He accompanied the family in its removals to Townville in 1863 and to the old homestead in Steuben township in 1804, and early learned the varied routine of agriculture and the proper management of a farm. To the ordinary education to be gained in the public schools he added wide information upon various topics, and by the perusal of representative periodicals and journals has kept himself thoroughly posted in matters affecting progress and the onward march of civilization. He is in har- mony with the platform of the Republican party, but has never been a poli- tician in any sense of the term.
April 9. 1885. Mr. Squier married Ettie M. Waid, daughter of D. S. Waid, of Steuben township. Mrs. Squier was born April 25, 1860, and died June 26, 1887. On the 28th of November, 1889, Mr. Squier married Lillian L., daughter of E. S. Walden, of Richmond township. She was born Sep- tember 8, 1862, and is a lady of excellent education and pleasing social qualities.
Charles H. Ley, the son of William K. and Emma ( May ) Ley, was born November 1, 1854, in Philadelphia. His father is of Holland descent and his mother of German. In the spring of 1865 he came with his father's family to Enterprise, Warren county, Pennsylvania, where he continued to live until 1884, when he moved to Titusville, where he has since resided. He has been engaged in the oil-producing business for many years. He has served in the common council of Titusville from both the first and second wards, making an excellent record as a member of that body. In 1885 he was mar- ried to Miss Dora, daughter of George P. and Barbara (Le Fever) Kepler, and of this union there are a daughter and a son, Rubie and Edwin.
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Miles IT. Quick was born in Cass county. Michigan, in 1842. Owing to sickness, his family moved to Ontario county. New York, where they con- tinued to reside until 1861, when he went into the army, becoming a member of the First New York Engineers. He was afterward transferred to the Signal Corps and continued in that branch of the service until the close of the war. In 1866 he became interested in the petroleum business, and he has ever since been engaged in some branch of the trade. (His oil history ap- pears elsewhere in this work.) Mr. Quick has contributed largely with his pen to petroleum literature, especially in attacking the abuses practiced in the speculation markets.
In 1872 he was married to Miss Amanda Fertig, sister of Hon. John Fertig.
Henry Culver Bloss, the son of Hon. William C. Bloss, of Rochester. New York, was born in that city, July 16. 1833. and died at his home in Titusville February 15, 1893. In early life he read law and was admitted to the bar in Rochester. In the winter of 1864 he came with his brother, William W., to Titusville, purchased the office of a weekly paper here and founded the Titusville Morning Herald and the Weekly Herald. Late in the following summer J. H. Cogswell became a partner in the establishment, with the firm name of Bloss Brothers & Cogswell: after about seven years W. W. Bloss retired. From that time until his death H. C. Bloss was editor-in- chief of the Herald, and since Colonel Cogswell's withdrawal, in 1883. Mr. Bloss was sole proprietor of the institution as well as editor of the paper. At his death, his surviving wife. Mrs. S. A. Bloss, became proprietor of the Herald establishment, and the older son, Joseph M .. has been the editor of the paper ever since.
In 1867 Mr. Bloss married Miss Sarah A. Mackie, of Wareham. Massa- chusetts, who bore him three children, Joseph Mackie, Edward Buell and Mary Francis Wentworth,-all now living.
The late Rev. Dr. Purdon said of Mr. Bloss: "He was a most graceful and accomplished writer. Few excelled him when he set his well-stored mind to the task. in producing an article tersely expressed and full of power. He was fond of art and had a keen eye for the beautiful wherever he saw it. He was a lover of his country and found pleasure in describing its future splendid possibilities. He possessed a warm and kindly disposition. and those who knew him best admired him most."
The writer of this sketch said in the American Citizen: "Mr. Bloss wrote too many years at the editorial table. He worked as a journalist too long and too hard for his constitution. His brain was too large for his body. Who that has read the Morning Herald for a quarter of a century and upward can realize the draft made upon the mental resources of the writer? It is the
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daily work for months and years that kills editors. The orange has been squeezed dry, but more juice is demanded, and the juice must come from some quarter. As a writer Mr. Bloss possessed perfect taste. His diction was singularly pure and his expression was always appropriate and felicitous."
H. C. Gauss in the Oil City Derrick said: "Mr. Bloss' life was a full and well-rounded one. He enjoyed travel, and had traveled extensively. He took a keen delight in literature and was of that poetic, sensitive temperament that while it is subject to moments of depression, possesses capacity for a deep and satisfying enjoyment. He was a delightful companion and a charming conversationalist, whose mental view took in a wide range of subjects. He had a happy home life and was bound up in the education and welfare of his children. He was a man of high ideals, of strong convictions, and gave to the world, as he sought from it, the best that was in his life."
Mr. Bloss was always an earnest Republican, and he gave to his party a generation of hard journalistic work.
William IT'. Bloss, the older brother of H. C. Bloss, who was the senior proprietor of the Herald during the first seven years of its existence, was born in Rochester, New York, March 25, 1831, and died in Chicago, Illinois, Sep- tember 3. 1892. ( His record as a journalist in Titusville is given elsewhere in this work.) He left Titusville in the spring of 1874, was afterward employed as managing editor of the Kansas City Journal and of the Kansas City Times. and during the last ten years of his life he was on the staff of the Chicago Graphic. In early life he did work on one of the Rochester dailies. In the early troubles of Kansas he was on the ground and took an active part on the side of the free-state men. In the Civil war he had a commission in the Union army, and was a lieutenant at the battle of Antietam.
While in Titusville he took an active part in municipal affairs. He served both upon the school board and in the common council. As an editorial writer he was exceptionally brilliant and versatile. He possessed excellent literary attainments and he was qualified to fill higher positions in literary work than it was his fortune to occupy the greater part of his life.
Joseph H. Cogswell was born September 2, 1828, in Brighton, Mon- roe county, New York, a descendant of patriotic stock, as both his grand- fathers and two of his great-grandfathers served in the Revolutionary war. He was educated in the common school and at the Clover Street Seminary, of his town. He set type in a Rochester (New York) printing office two years, and then taught school. In 1851 he was in a law office one year. Then he settled an extensive estate of a relative. In 1853 he resumed teaching and married Julia E. Brewster, daughter of Isaac W. Brewster, a lawyer of Onon- daga county, New York, and continued teaching several years. In 1862 he
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recruited Company A, One Hundred and Fiftieth New York Volunteers, to one hundred men and became its captain, serving in the Eighth Corps. Middle Department, Twelfth Corps, Army of the Potomac, including the battle of Gettysburg, and Twentieth Corps, Army of the Cumberland. Went with Sherman through the Atlanta campaign in 1864, then with him "from At- lanta to the sea," and in 1865 through the Carolinas to the final "round-up" of Johnston's army at the "last ditch." Was promoted to be major and lieu- tenant-colonel of his regiment, and brevetted colonel of New York Volunteers for "gallant and meritorious service during the war."
September 1, 1865, he came to Titusville and entered into partnership with his cousins, William W. and H. C. Bloss, as publishers of the Herald, the firm being Bloss Brothers & Cogswell. This firm was dissolved early in 1872, the senior Bloss retiring. Bloss & Cogswell continued as partners to publish the Herald until June 30, 1883, when H. C. Bloss became sole pro- prietor, Colonel Cogswell retiring.
Colonel Cogswell was postmaster of Titusville from May, 1869, continu- ously to April 1, 1886. He then went into the employ of the Tidewater Pipe Company and of the Standard Oil Company in 1887, and was agent of the Tidewater Oil Company at Boston, Massachusetts, from 1889 to 1892. He has since been in the insurance and real-estate business in Titusville. In 1895 he was secretary of the Oil Creek Valley Association, and declined re- election.
Hon. Moses W'arren Oliver, of Spring township, was born in South Dansville, Livingston county, New York, on June 8, 1833, and was brought to this state with his parents when less than three years old. His education was acquired at the common schools, supplemented by an academic course at the academy at West Springfield, in Erie county. Qualifying himself for a teacher he taught for twenty-two terms and was principal of the model department of the state normal school at Edinboro, Pennsylvania, for three years and six months. In 1862 Mr. Oliver closed his school and recruited Company B of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Regiment, became its captain and led it in service until he was taken prisoner at the battle of Chancellorsville, and confined in Libby prison. He was exchanged in time to participate in the battle of Gettysburg and continued in active ser- vice until November 24. 1863, when he was discharged on account of ill health.
For many years Mr. Oliver has taken great interest in agriculture, is a breeder of finely bred Devon cattle and ranks as one of the best farmers of this section. Mr. Oliver represented this county in the state legislatures of 1873 and 1874 and did good service as chairman of the committee on agri- culture and as chairman of the committee on education. He was elected a
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member of the state board of agriculture for three terms of three years each and was its vice-president for two years. He is the present president of the Amer- ican Devon Cattle Club. He conducted merchandising in Springboro for two years in connection with his brother Francis.
Mr. Oliver married first on June 29. 1859, Mary L. Sturtevant, of Spring township, who died on July 9, 1862. His second wife, nce Katherine D. Beach, was formerly of Knox county, Ohio. Their children were George Grant Oliver, educated in Washington and Jefferson College, this state, now a resident of Washington, Pennsylvania, where he has an interest in the glass works; and Charles M. Oliver, who died in 1880, aged thirteen years. He was one of the brightest boys of his age.
Mr. Oliver's father, Moses Warren Oliver, born in Massachusetts on September 21, 1805, was a farmer. By his first wife, nee Betsey Fisher, married on October 3, 1829, he had four children, Lucy B. H., Moses W., Francis W. and Charles, who lives with Moses W. Mrs. Oliver died Novem- ber 10, 1863. and Mr. Oliver married, secondly, on December 27, 1864, Mrs. Lavanta ( Bowman) Sturtevant. This Mrs. Oliver died September 10, 1881. and Mr. Oliver on September 17. 1891. Lucy B. H. Oliver married Ozias D. Sheldon. Their children are Francis J. and Mary F. Francis married Mary G. Eighmy. Their children are Clayton F. and L. Pauline. Her home lias been with Mr. and Mrs. Oliver from childhood. Mr. Oliver's grand- father. Calvin H. Oliver, born in Massachusetts August 17, 1782. died Jan- uary 29, 1824. His is an old Boston family. Peter Oliver, chief-justice of Massachusetts, who owned the first iron manufactory of Middleboro, also had a son. Peter, born in Boston on June 17, 1741. He became a physician in Middleboro in 1764. The Conneautville Olivers are Presbyterians and Mr. Oliver is an elder. He is also a free-silver Republican and a Grand Army man. European ancestry of family, Scotch, Irish and English.
Franklin Sumner Tarbell, whose oil history is given elsewhere in this work, was born at Oxford. Chenango county, New York, October 21. 1829. the son of William Tarbell, who was a native of Vermont and who served in the American army throughout the war of 1812. He was at all the import- ant battles on the Canadian frontier and the lakes, at Lundy's Lane, Chippewa, Fort Erie, Black Rock, Queenstown Heights. and others. Some time after the close of the war he moved from Vermont to Chenango county, New York, and while there he was appointed to the command of a rifle regiment. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel by the distinguished De Witt Clinton. gov- ernor of New York, and afterward by Governor Pollock, of the same state, he was appointed colonel. At about 1832 he moved from Oxford to Addison, Steuben county, where he lived until 1846, when he moved to Wattsburg, Erie county. Pennsylvania. In 1851 his son, Franklin S., remaining, he
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moved to a farm in Crawford county, a mile and a half from Conneautville. He afterward moved to Beaver township. Crawford county, where he contin- ued to live until his death, which occurred in his eighty-eighth year.
His son, the subject of this sketch, was married April 20. 1857. to Miss Esther A. Mccullough. whose father was a first cousin of the distinguished Ben Mccullough, of Texas. Of this union there were four children : Ida MI .. William W .. Sarah A. and Franklin S .. Jr .. who died in infancy; the other three survive.
William Walter Tarbell, the son of Franklin S. Tarbell. was born in Wattsburg. Erie county, Pennsylvania, July 1. 1860: came with his father to Titusville in IS68. which has since been his home. excepting the period from 1883 to ISS7, when he was in South Dakota. He was graduated at the Titusville high school in 1876. and at Allegheny College in ISSI. receiv- ing from the college the degree of A. B .. and afterward that cf A. M. In 1881-82 he read law in the office of Sherman & Grumbine, in Titusville. While in Dakota. he was engaged as attorney before the government land offices in settling claims. He also had a wiieat farm in South Dakota at the time.
On l'is return to Titusville he helped to establish the Valley Oil Pipe Line. among the first. if not the first, of the independent lines. since the absorption of the Union, the McCalmont and the Tidewater lines. During the next five years he was in the producing business, connected with the Valley Line. In 188; the Producers' Protective Association. out of which finally grew the comprehensive independent oil interests and enterprises. was organized. Mr. Tarbell was the secretary of the local assembly in Titusville. and in 1891 was active in organizing the original association. the Producers' Oil Com- pany. Limited. Since then he has been prominently identified in sustaining the independent interests, and he is now the general auditor of the independent oil associations, both in America and in Europe. Mr. Tarbell is a director of the Titusville Board of Trade.
In the fall of 1882 he was married to Miss Ella C. Scott, of Naperville. near Chicago, Illinois, and they have three children,-Esther Ida. Clara Caro- line and Franklin Scott.
Ida MI. Tarbell. sister of William W. Tarbell ( whose sketch precedes this ). has achieved a national reputation as a writer of history. She was born on the farm of her maternal grandfather. Walter Raleigh Mccullough. in Erie county, Pennsylvania. and came to Titusville with her father. F. S. Tarbell. in 1868. who has ever since been a resident of this city. Ida M. was graduated in 1874. took a post-graduate course at the same institution. con- pleting it in 1875 : entered Allegheny College. at Meadville, in the autumn of
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that year and graduated in 1880. In the fall following she took a position as a preceptress of the Poland (Ohio) Union Seminary, which she satis- factorily maintained for two years; then, in 1882, she returned to Titusville. In 1883 she went to Meadville, this county, where until 1891 she was asso- ciate editor of the Chautauquan. Next, for the purpose of pursuing higher studies, she went to Paris and remained there for three years, during which time she attended lectures in the Sorbonne and the College de France, at the same time contributing regularly to several American magazines and news- papers.
In 1894 she returned to America and in the fall of that year began the publication, in McClure's Magazine, of a short life of Napoleon Bonaparte. This work was put into book form in 1895 and at this date fully one hun- dred thousand copies have been sold. In the autumn of 1895 she began, in McClure's Magazine, the Early Life of Abraham Lincoln, which ran through thirteen numbers of that periodical, and which the publishers claim added over one hundred thousand subscribers to their magazine. In 1896 Miss Tarbell published, through Charles Scribner's Sons, a biographical study of Madame Roland, the material for which she had collected while a resident of Paris. In the fall of 1896 she undertook to edit, under the direction of Charles .A. Dana, his reminiscences of the civil war, and this work was pub- lished in McClure's Magazine, beginning in November, 1897. In December, 1898, Miss Tarbell began, in the same magazine, the publication of her Later Life of Lincoln. She is at present a resident of Washington, D. C., where she holds the position of the resident associate editor of McClure's Magazine.
Elisha K. Bowman, of Spring township, was born on January 13, 1824, on the old family homestead, which is part of the original four hundred acres located and settled upon by his pioneer ancestor. Obtaining his education at the district schools, Mr. Bowman was reared a farmer and has ever followed the culture of the soil.
On September 24, 1846, he married Mary Foster, and their children were Gilbert D. (died aged seventeen) ; Mary J. (died aged six) ; Frank F., Ralph H., Elisha L., Cora (died aged thirteen), and Perry F. Mrs. Mary Bowman died on March 22, 1893. Ralph married first Sadie F. Clover and had a daughter, Minnie M. His second wife, married on July 4, 1889, was Miss Minnie Casbohm, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania. They had three children, Lee C., who died at the age of eight months ; Ray L. and Lillian.
Elisha Bowman, father of Elisha K. Bowman, was born in Connecticut on March 31, 1788, and moved to the state of New York when eleven years old. Marrying Sally King, of Oneida county, New York, they came to this county in 1816 and at once located on the land spoken of above, which lies
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just north of Springboro. Elisha Bowman was a soldier of the war of 1812 and was stationed at Sackett's Harbor, New York. His father, also Elisha Bowman, was a captain in the army of the Revolution.
Ancestry of family, English, Welsh and German.
Edward Crorall, landscape gardener, Titusville, is a native of England, and was first identified with Titusville in 1871. Mr. Croxall was born in Cornwall, England, March 19, 1830, son of Samuel and Harriet (Dowrick) Croxall; the former died at the age of seventy-four years, the latter at the age of eighty-six years. For some years prior to their death they had been residents of Canada. Mr. Croxall was the eighth child of a family of nine children: Thomas, deceased; Lydia, deceased; John Bramton, Ontario; Mary Ann, deceased; James Whitby, Ontario; Elizabeth, deceased; Re- bekah, wife of Aaron Bagshaw; Edward, mentioned above; Harriet, wife of Charles Parish, Port Perry, Ontario. September 21, 1868, Mr. Croxall mar- ried Mary, daughter of John Wass, of Whitby, Ontario, and their children are John. Lydia, Harriet, Charles and Jabez.
Mr. Croxall began as a gardener in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and since he came to Titusville has brought about many changes in and about the city and has been identified with the beautifying of the most prominent homes of Titusville. Such men as Mr. Croxall are entitled to the credit of enhancing the beauty and worth of the natural habitation, and also bring out its value by many additional touches, such as come not alone from the hand of nature. A large majority of the beautiful homes of Titusville bear evidence of his work and skill.
John Crowe, architect and builder, Meadville, a native of Clare county, Ireland, was born in 1844. Mr. Crowe came to America with his parents, Patrick and Bridget (Downs) Crowe, when but a mere lad, and resided at Jamestown for several years, where he learned his trade and held a position with Carpenter & Mathews for some time, and since 1885 has carried on an extensive business. He removed to Meadville in 1870, and since that time has acted as foreman in the building of the court-house, St. Bridget's church and other prominent buildings of the city. December 6, 1868, he married Margaret, daughter of Daniel and Alice (Cousedine) McCabe, who were among the early settlers of Crawford county. Daniel McCabe was born in ISIO and died in 1883. Mrs. McCabe still survives, at the age of eighty- four years, and resides at Conneautville, this county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Crowe are Patrick H .; John L .; Martin W .; Mitchell T .; Robert E .; Edward F., and Mary Alice Crowe. Michael T. is pursuing a corre- spondence course in the International Architectural School, Scranton, Penn- sylvania.
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Hon. John C. Sturtevant of Conneautville was born in Spring township, this county, February 20, 1835. His early life was passed on the farm, and, educated in the public schools, he taught school eight winters. In 1861 and 1862 he was assistant sergeant-at-arms in the state legislature at Harrisburg, and was chief messenger of the same body in 1864. In 1864, also, he was elected a member of the state house of representatives, and re-elected in 1865, served in the sessions of 1865 and 1866, doing good work on the committees on railways, banking and education. He removed to Conneautville July I, 1867, and here he has held several borough offices. He has been ever an unswerving Republican, and in November, 1896, was elected a member of the national house of representatives ; and in the extra session of that body served on the committee on invalid pensions and claims.
Mr. Sturtevant is identified with numerous business enterprises. From 1867 till 1873 he was in company with Irwin S. Krick in hardware merchan- dising ; in January, 1874, he was made cashier of the First National Bank of Conneautville, and this position he filled with fidelity until 1878, when he was elected the president of the bank, and now holds the office.
October 12, 1871, Mr. Sturtevant married Sarah A. Gleason of Con- neautville, and their children (all sons) were Park, who died at the age of two years, Paul and Watkin P. Sturtevant. Paul is a student in Allegheny College at Meadville, and Watkin P. attends the public schools. Mr. Sturte- vant's father, Daniel W., was born in Vermont, May 2, 1806. When he was an infant his parents moved to central New York and to the homestead in the township of Spring, Crawford county, in 1818, when he was twelve years old. He received a common-school education, became a farmer, and about 1830 married Susan Hall of Spring township. Their children were Hon. Ritner H., Hon. John C., Emeline, Seth B. and Almera (Mrs. Irwin S. Krick). Daniel W. Sturtevant died in August, 1865, and his widow is now ( 1897) living. Mr. Sturtevant's grandfather, Timothy Sturtevant, was born in Vermont. The original home of the family was in the province of Alsace, in 1871 ceded from France to Germany. The first American ancestor came to America about 1640. Mr. Sturtevant's grandmother's ancestors (Billings) came to this country from England, locating in Massachusetts be- fore the Revolution.
Frederick J. Kebort, who is a well known business man of Meadville, is a member of the firm of Kebort & Schmidt. He is a native of Bavaria, Ger- many, born December 21, 1868, the third child in the family of Nicholas and Mary Kebort, who are now residents of Stringtown, this state. His brothers and sisters are: Nicholas; Henry; Charles; Linnie, wife of George Vatler ; Eva, deceased; and Anna.
In his youth F. J. Kebort attended the schools of his Fatherland for seven
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years. Upon coming to the United States he first lived with his parents in the western part of Crawford county. Pennsylvania, and in 1882 went to Conneautville. Three years later he came to Meadville, and for several years le clerked in various hotels here. On the 18th of May, 1895, he embarked in his present business, that of running a restaurant, at 170 and 172 West Chestnut street, in the Roddy block, near the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad depot, and in this enterprise he has met with the success which lie justly deserves, for everything connected with the place is neat and first class, winning the approbation of the public. September 10, 1898, his part- ner in business died and he bought his half interest from Mrs. E. W. Schmidt on the 27thi of that month.
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