USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 98
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owns and resides on the farm, for years the property of R. Cochran, which has been greatly improved under its present ownership.
Charles Day, Sr., of Sparta township, came from Whitehall to Sugar Creek, Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1826, where he was a farmer. Later he came to Titusville, where he carried on the blacksmithing business; and from there he moved to Rome township, where he engaged in farming and blacksmithing. He married Mary Ann Crosett. Their son John was born at Whitehall, New York, in 1819, and came with his father to Pennsylvania, where he married Sarah, daughter of William and Clarissa Davenport. They settled in Rome, where he followed his father's trade and afterward removed to Spartansburg (in 1865), and still worked at the blacksmith's trade. He had four children,-George F., Luther W., William, who died an infant, and Mary E. ( Mrs. Edwin Hoffman).
Edwin Hoffman, son of Thomas C. and Sarah ( Horton ) Hoffman, was born in Lockport, New York, October 14, 1844. In August, 1862, he en- listed in the Nineteenth New York Independent Battery of Light Artillery. He was color-bearer from 1863 till 1865, when he came home and learned the free-hand crayon portrait business, being naturally an artist. He came to Spartansburg in 1876, where he is well known by his crayon work. In local office he is justice of the peace, and for his wife he married Mary E. Day.
Andrew Blair, engineer, Meadville, was born in western Crawford November 16, 1844, a son of Andrew and Jane ( McKay ) Blair, natives of this county. The former died in 1844 and the latter in 1895. Their family con- sisted of two children: Andrew, above mentioned ; and Mary, wife of John Steadman. Atlantic, Pennsylvania. November 25. 1872. Mr. Blair married Anna L., daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth ( Trace) Brown. of Meadville. To this union have been born three children,-Nina E., Lula J. and Annie M. Blair.
Mr. Blair has always been a resident of his native county. In 1893 he began as a fireman for the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railway, and was for several years in the employ of the company as an engineer. In 1892 he accepted a position as engineer for the People's Incandescent Light Company, which place he now holds.
William D. Heath, a farmer of East Fairfield township, was born in 1827 and reared on the farm where he now resides, and for forty years has been the owner of the same. He is a son of Samuel Heath, a prominent citizen and farmer of Crawford county, who died at the age of seventy years. July 2. 1867, he married Lydia Burger of Westmoreland county, and to this union have been born six children, as follows: Charles, Mary E., Katherine Jane,
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Margaret, Emma and Lucetta Heath. Mr. Heathi has been actively engaged in farming pursuits for over half a century, and has never been outside his native county except upon two or three occasions during that period. He has held the office of school director for six consecutive years.
Burt G. Gable, proprietor of the New Gable House, Meadville, was born April 2, 1870, a son of Charles and Nancy ( Stainbrook) Gable. Mr. Gable the father, was for thirty-five years owner and manager of the Gable House. He removed from Mead township to Meadville in 1863 and opened this well- known hostelry, which he conducted until three months prior to his death, January 29, 1898. He was a Pennsylvanian by birth and spent the greater part of his active life in Crawford county. He was born in 1830.
Ilis only son, Burt G., continues the management of the hotel, and re- organized the same under the name of the New Gable House, refitting and refurnishing it throughout, making a modern hostelry with many features unexcelled only in the larger cities. Mr. Gable has had experience as clerk in the new Colt House, and four years as chief clerk in the Liebel House at Erie, Pennsylvania. He was educated in the public schools of Meadville and Allegheny College. and is a member of Meadville Lodge, No. 219, B. P. O. E.
S. S. Sikes, of Randolph township, came into the county when a boy of twelve years, with his parents, from Allegany county, New York, where he was born in 1823. In 1843 he married Mary, daughter of William and Ann Thompson, of Randolph. Their surviving children are Mary Ann, wife of William R. Shannon ; William P. and James Leroy. In 1864 Mr. Sikes en- listed in the Two Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was at the retaking of Fort Steadman and at Petersburg, serving as corporal of Company A. He states that he was the eleventh man to enter the works and the first to put up the flag at Petersburg. His brothers Horace and Selden served in the same company with him, and a son in the Eighty-third Regiment. Mr. Sikes is a member of the Congregational church. He has several pieces of land, amounting in all to one hundred and thirty acres.
John II. Peterman, deceased, of West Fairfield township, was born in West Fairfield township, February 25, 1836, where he died August 12, 1892; son of Conrad and Eliza (Gourley) Peterman, and resided a greater part of his life on the farm originally owned by his grandfather on the line between Crawford and Mercer counties. His father was a native of this county and was married February 27, 1834, reared a family of nine children, John H. being the eldest. His mother was a native of Ireland. December 16, 1858, Mr. Peterman married Miss Jane Chatley, and to this union were born nine children, seven of whom survive, viz .: Margaret, Martha, Emma, W. J.,
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Samuel, David and James. In 1874 he was elected justice of the peace, and again in 1880. for terms of five. years each. While he was engaged in farm- ing he was a carpenter by trade and built a large number of frame houses in the neighborhood. He served nine months in the Civil war, drafted October 16, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Regiment. He was a member of Silas W. Smith Post. G. A. R., and a consistent member of the United Presbyterian church. In politics he was a life-long Democrat.
James Leroy Sikes, of Randolph township, son of S. S. Sikes, was born in Randolph township in 1849. His first wife was Emagene, daughter of Moses Gilbert, Jr., by whom he had one child, Katie. His second wife was Eva, daughter of Clinton Satterlee, by whom he had one child. Mabel. His present wife is Millie, daughter of Job Madison. Besides farmning Mr. Sikes has been engaged, until the last few years, in the lumber business. He is a member of the Congregational church, and of the I. O. O. F.
G. P. Dudenhoeffer, proprietor of the Arcade House, in Meadville, is a native of Erie county, this state, born April 30, 1855. a son of Peter and Rosana ( Selingher ) Dudenhoeffer, natives of Germany now living in Erie county. Mr. Dudenhoeffer came to Meadville April 18, 1883, and first fol- lowed his trade, that of a carpenter, being for a time employed in the car shops and later in brewery and saloon business. In 1896 he became proprietor of- the Arcade, and has remodeled and modernized the same for a first-class patronage.
September 21, 1885, Mr. Dudenhoeffer was united in marriage with Miss Kate Rice, of Mead township, and to this union have been born four children, -Charles, Cunie, Henry and Frank. Mr. Dudenhoeffer is a member of the Catholic Mutual Benefit" Association and the St. John's Benevolent Society.
Joseph G. Consider, a farmer of East Fairfield, was born March 17, 1847, on the farm which he now owns, one mile northeast of Cochranton borough. The log house in which he was born is still standing and occupied by his inother, who has reached the advanced age of seventy-eight years. His parents. John and Mary Ann ( Girard) Consider, were natives of France. The former died at the age of seventy years, and the latter is living as above stated. Their family consisted of four children : John, deceased; Paul H .; Joseph G., our subject ; and Mary Ann, wife of N. R. Smith. He first married June 20, 1878. Mary K. Klinger, of East Fairfield township, who died September 12. 1886, aged twenty-four years; to this union were born four children : Annie B., Addie, Louis and Joseph. November 3. 1887. Mr. Consider married Pauline, daughter of Adelbert and Frances (Keaudot) Dupont : they have three children: Frances, Bertie and Clarence. Mrs. Consider is the sixth
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child in a large family of children, viz. : Joseph, who married Lizzie Merrill : Charles, who married Maggie Bell; Pauline, wife of Frank Hade: Alexander, who married Joana Bell ; James, deceased ; the wife of our subject ; Augustus ; Mary, married to Frank Basunson ; Augustus, married to Etta Holton ; Hugh, married to Ella Rockafellow : and Peter, who married Mary Williams. Adelbert Dupont served fourteen years in the French army. With the exception of ten years spent in the oil country. Mr. Consider has spent the greater part of his life on the home farm. He has been treasurer of the East Fairfield town- ship, and has greatly improved his environments.
Elmer E. McCauley, a stock-dealer and farmer of East Fairfield township. was born April 3. 1864, in Venango county, where he spent the most of his early life. removing to East Fairfield township, Crawford county, in 1886. He is a son of Robert and Jane ( Rogers) McCauley. The former died at the age of fifty-four years, and the latter in 1867. at the age of twenty-seven years. They were of Irish descent, the grandfather of subject. David Mc Cauley came from his native country and settled in western Pennsylvania at an early day. Robert McCauley, father of Elmer, was the oldest of a family of six children. His children are. Elmer E., the subject of this sketch : Vin- nie, wife of Oran Heath; and Alletta, wife of Frank Flemming. Mr. Mc- Cauley married. November 28. 1892. Mary, daughter of John and Ellen (Price) Councilmen, of this county. To this union has been born one child. Georgie Belle McCauley. Mr. McCauley is a progressive business man, a Re- publican in politics and a member of the Protected Home Circle.
James M. Mapes, mechanic, Cochranton postoffice, East Fairfield town- ship, is a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, and a son of William B. and Esther ( Smith ) Mapes, who died at the age of seventy-four and sixty- five years respectively. Of their children, five in number, four survive : James B., deceased : James M., our subject : Adelaide V., wife of George Klinger ; Charles T. : and May F., wife of William Wood. Mr. Mapes first married, in 1860, Emily, daughter of John DeHaven, of Corsica. Jefferson county; she died in 1867. To this union were born three children : Susan Adelia, wife of William Butts, Chagrin Falls, Ohio: George W., Clarion ; and Emily J., de- ceased. Mr. Mapes was later married to Elizabeth, daughter of Michael and Katherine ( Merriman) Mangus. The children of this union are: Charles H., married to Anna Hill. Jubianelia, wife of George Slingluff, Silver Lake ; Addie J., wife of John Richardson; and William Marion Mapes. Michael Mangus served in the civil war. George W. Turner, a cousin of our subject, was an interpreter in the Mexican war.
Mr. Mapes commenced his trade, plasterer and bricklayer, in 1863. in Jefferson county, where he served five years. Prior to this he spent some
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time in Illinois, locating in East Fairfield township, about 1869. He has been classed among the skillful mechanics. Among his most recent under- takings was the inside work of the new Smith block at Cochranton.
J. S. Bohin, of the firm of Bohn & Double, wagon manufacturers, was born in 1853, in Germany, and came to America and to Titusville in 1880. He began business the same year with Hannibal Double, with whom he has since continued. In 1891 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Emma Cole- man. To this union have been born three children, viz. : Kretchen, Charlotte and Helen. Mr. Bohn is a member of I. O. O. F. and the Maccabees.
Hannibal Double was born February 5, 1850, in Warren county, Penn- sylvania, and first began business as a blacksmith in his present location in 1872. In 1880 he formed a copartnership with J. S. Bohn, which still con- tinues, under the firm name of Bohn & Double, who are engaged in black- smithing and wagon business.
October 2, 1893, Mr. Double married. Miss Mary Smith, and they have two children : Edward and Henry. Mr. Double is a member of the Shepherd Lodge, No. 303, F. & A. M. ; of the I. O. O. F. and of the Knights and Ladies of IIonor.
George Frank Brown, attorney at law at Titusville, was born at Butler, Pennsylvania, studied law in the office of Roger Sherman, Esq., admitted to the bar of Crawford county, February 25, 1895, and was elected solicitor of the city of Titusville in June, 1898.
Robert McFate, deceased, of East Fairfield, was born in Cornplanter town- ship, Venango county, in 1816, and died in East Fairfield township, September II, 1894. His parents were Robert and Jane ( Culbertson) McFate. In 1844 he married Letitia McFate. who was born in Ireland, her parents being Robert and Elizabeth ( Black) McFate. She came to America with her sister Margaret, now Mrs. David McFate, and her brother Robert, at eighteen years of age.
Mr. McFate came to Crawford county in 1867, locating on a farm of ninety-seven acres, where he died as above stated. This farm under his man- agement was brought up to a high state of cultivation. He disposed of his farm in Venango county and removed to this place in 1865. He was a valued member of the United Presbyterian church at Cochranton and an excellent citizen. At the time of his death he bore the distinction of being the wealthi- iest man in the township, a man of kind disposition and was loved and re- spected by all who knew him. In his early days he was trained in the militia. He was a Democrat in politics. His widow survives and occupies the home farm, the results of faithful and persistent industry.
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J. K. Roberts, M. D., was born in 1856, a son of Enoch and Mary ( Cal- vin) Roberts, natives of Crawford and Mercer counties, respectively. They had four children .- John K., James D., George C., Meadville : and Elizabeth, deceased. August 30, 1882. Dr. Roberts married Jennie S., daughter of George and Elizabeth (Hay) Berry, natives of Scotland. Their children were Isabella, wife of David Shafer: Jennie S., above mentioned; Elizabeth. wife of Paxton Hart ; Samuel J. and John H. Berry. Dr. and Mrs. Roberts have three children,-Elizabeth May, George E. and Nellie J. Roberts. Enoch Roberts died May 13, 1893, and his wife, Mary, died June 18, 1896.
Dr. Roberts was educated at the Edinboro State Normal School, Univer- sity of Wooster, and Cleveland (Ohio) Medical College, graduating at the latter in 1880, and in 1881 began the practice of medicine at Custards, Craw- ford county, and removed to Cochranton in 1891. In 1894-5 he pursued a post-graduate course at the New York Medical College and continues a large practice. He is a member of the Crawford County Medical Society and an elder in the First Presbyterian church.
Joseph J. Berly, a farmer of East Fairfield township, was born Septem- ber 1, 1862, a son of John C. and Louise (DeMaison) Berly, of East Fairfield township. The former was a native of France and died January 16, 1892, aged seventy years; and the latter of Crawford county, and died January 29, 1892, aged fifty-three years. Mr. Berly was among the early settlers of the locality, having served seven years in the French army prior to his coming to America. He was quite an extensive land-owner in the vicinity of Stizer- ville during his active life, and sold the valuable farm to the late Robert Mc- Fate. which joins the one now owned by his son, the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Berly is the oldest child of a family of four children, viz. : Joseph J., our subject ; Leon, a resident of Randolph township; Levina and Edward, both deceased. March 4, 1889, he married Anna, daughter of Justin Brunot. of Frenchtown, Mead township. She died July 13, 1894. To this union were born three children: Karl, Oliver and Clarence. May 21, 1897, Mr. Berly married Flora Cox, of Mead township. He is the possessor of a fine farm of one hundred acres.
John Byham, Jr., a farmer of East Fairfield township, was born in 1829, in Randolph township, Crawford county, son of John and Abigail (Oakes) Byham, who came to this county in 1816 from Massachusetts. Our subject was the sixth child of a family of nine children, as follows: Stillman, de- ceased; Clarissa. deceased; Luther, East Fairfield township; Calvin, de- ceased: Charles, who died June 22, 1897; John, subject; Adeline, wife of John Armstrong; Lafayette, deceased: and Sarah Ellen, wife of William Flaugh. . Mr. Byham married Nancy, a daughter of John and Margaret
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(Daley ) Crouch, March 5. 1859. Mrs. Byham is the first child of a family of ten children, viz .: Nancy, wife of subject: Silas, Louisa and Betsy. all de- ceased; Lavilla: John; Marie: Fred. deceased ; Amanda, wife of Samuel Ilart, of East Fairfield township; and Aaron Crouch. John Crouch was a native of Penn Yan, New York, and Mrs. Crouch of French Creek township, Venango county, this state.
John and Abigail Byham were among the pioneers of Crawford county, and made their way by wagon from Massachusetts to the new county of Craw- ford amid peril and hardship. The children of our subject are: Ida, wife of John Weaver, Cochranton: Annie, wife of Charles Reese. Wayne township. and they have three children .- Nora, Clarence and Ora: Margaret, wife of William Horocks, of Cleveland, Ohio: their children are John B. and Ida ; Clayton, who married Ella Bovinger, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, now re- sides in Grant county, Indiana : they have one child, Ruth : John, Jr., married to Esther Nelson, of West Fairfield: they have one child. Howard: Abbie. wife of Robert Guy Murdock, of East Fairfield township; Samuel J. Tilden and Maud M. Byham. Mr. Byham is one of the progressive farmers of the township and has brought his farm of one hundred and ten acres up to a high state of cultivation amid circumstances not the most promising, out of which he has developed a model home and surroundings.
Simcon Merrell, of Meadville, was born in Flemington, Hunterdon coun- ty, New Jersey, March 27. 1847, and spent the early part of his life in his native place, engaging in the business of buying and pressing hay. In 1881 he removed to Meadville, where he established a hay press at the south end of Park avenue, and has built up a large and prosperous business. selling large quantities in the leading cities of the east. He was one of the largest stock- holders in the Paragon Oil Can Company at its incorporation, and served for six years as its general manager and treasurer. Their productions found a large market in the south and west of the United States, as well as through the eastern states and Canada.
Mr. Merrell has been a life-long member of the Baptist church, and dur- ing the past twelve years has been president of the board of trustees of the Baptist church of Meadville. When the Young Men's Christian Association was organized in Meadville Mr. Merrell was elected its president. He has always taken a deep interest in all movements having for their end the ad- vancement of moral and intellectual standards in Meadville. In politics he is a Republican.
Howard II. Burger, photographer, Cochranton, was born April 27, 1875. in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, a son of Robert and Margaret ( Zel- lers ) Burger, natives of this state : the latter died in 1895. Mr. Burger came
Est Ce huse
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to Cochranton in 1894 and purchased the photograph business of L. Whittling, and as an artist has more than maintained the reputation of the establishment in keeping abreast of the times.
Hon. Edward H. Chase, a son of Rev. Amos Chase, the first minister of Titusville, belonged to the Connecticut branch of the distinguished Chase family of New England, and in that state one member of the family held the dignified office of chief justice and also creditably served the commonwealth for years in the United States senate, while other members stood conspicuously in public service.
Edward H. was born in the grand old town of Litchfield, Connecticut, July 18, 1807. He was only eight years of age when his father moved his family to the wild woods of western Pennsylvania, locating first at Waterford, Erie county, but very soon making his home in Titusville. After an active period of youth he became the senior partner of the mercantile house of Chase, Sill & Company in Erie, but in 1839 engaged in extensive lumbering operations with his brother, Joseph I. Chase, with his residence in Titusville. From that time until his death, on June 18, 1878, he was one of the most conspicuous of the public-spirited citizens of Titusville. He was for fifteen years an efficient and acceptable justice of the peace and for numerous years a popular postmaster. When the development of the Drake and Barnsdall wells assured the rapid growth of the village, Mr. Chase became a prominent factor in all the measures adopted in bringing the primitive village orgamza- tion in touch with its changing progress and transition into a wholly rounded and cosmopolitan center, and until its career was consummated in a complete city government. In these measures he found ample scope for his rare energy, quickness of thought and wonderful versatility and powers of organization. His personal affairs were not neglected in his public duties, for with wise pru- dence and characteristic forethought he so judiciously managed the large landed interests under his control as to rapidly promote the prosperity of the city and to develop an advancing value to the Jonathan Titus estate, which formed so large a part of the territory of Titusville. His habits of thought and action were strongly judicial and they were publicly recognized in 1868 in his election to the office of associate judge of the county, which trust he held by re-election for nine years, until the day of his death.
On February 24, 1835, Judge Chase was united in marriage with Sarah A. Titus, the second daughter of Jonathan Titus, the honored founder of Titus- ville. She survived him, dying on March 3, 1897. Their children are: Mary A. Chase, married to Reuel Danforth Fletcher; Elizabeth Sheffield Chase, married to Gurdon Sill Berry, and Lanman Chase, married to Joanna Lanman Watson.
Judge Chase in many important respects was an extraordinary inan. His
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unassuming deportment, his kindly disposition, his generous heart and the universally recognized purity of his motives won him friends in all classes of the community, who were bound to him as if by links of steel. He was the peacemaker of this region and during his long career as magistrate and judge his labors in that relation bore rich fruit. He was the guardian of many orphans and the trustee of many estates, and it is said that such was his sys- tem and accuracy that the condition of the large number of these trusts in his hands at the time of his death were so clearly set forth on his books that his successor needed not to delay their settlement a day! Never could malice For envy whisper aught against the purity of his motives or his kindliness of heart. Integrity, strength and force of character, keen and alert comprehen- sion of affairs, quick decision and indomitable perseverance were among his marked characteristics. His detestation of wrong and oppression placed him in the front ranks of the workers in all causes tending to advance humanity or to ameliorate its condition. He possessed in a remarkable degree a legal mind and was an effective speaker. His presence was magnetic though dig- nified, his propositions were the result of clear, intelligent thought and dis- passionate reasoning, and they were announced with convincing force, strict fidelity to truth and with a logic that could not be controverted. The social side of his nature was charmingly developed, and in the various relations of son, husband, parent, friend and citizen, he rose to the highest ideals. When he was called from earth, sorrow visited the entire community and gloom rested on every heart.
Theodore L. Flood, D. D., editor and proprietor of the Chautauquan, a magazine, Meadville, was born at Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1842. He received his early education in the academy of his native town. afterward studying theology at the Biblical Institute at Concord. New Hamp- shire, now the school of theology in the Boston University. When eighteen years old he was licensed as an exhorter in the Methodist church, and two years later was licensed as a local preacher. He served nine months during the Civil war. He acted as superintendent of the public schools of Salem, New Hampshire, for one year. He joined the New Hampshire conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1864. and served as pastor of various Meth- odist churches in New Hampshire from 1864 to 1874, and was made presiding elder of the Concord district in the New Hampshire conference at the early age of thirty-two. In 1874 he was elected president of the state Sunday- school convention. In April. 1874, he was transferred to the Erie conference and stationed at Jamestown. New York, and from there he came to Mead- ville, where he became pastor of the First Methodist church, which is attended by the faculty and many students of Allegheny College. Here he delivered a series of three lectures, the subjects of which were, "Novels and Novel Read-
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