USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > The history of Erie County, Pennsylvania, from its first settlement > Part 26
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bought by the county commissioners and placed upon the courthouse. After the new courthouse bell arrived in 1854, by a singular coincidence this old bell slipped from its hang- ings, and some mischievous persons purloined it. It was recovered after a few months, and bought for $105 by the city authorities.
Among the Pioneers of Erie County we find the name of James Tallmadge, who came in 1795, and died in Mckean township in 1855, aged eighty-two years.
Mr. James Blair, of Girard, also came to the county in 1795, and died in 1855, at the age of eighty-one. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and a man of rare worth, respected and beloved.
Captain James Pollock died at Waterford, in May, 1857, having lived in Erie County sixty years. He was one of the members of the Convention to amend the Constitution of Pennsylvania in 1836.
Mr. Giles Badger died at Lexington, a few miles south of Girard, in 1857, aged eighty-nine years, having lived in Erie County sixty years. Upon the surrender of Hull he entered the army, and served under Gen. Harrison. "He enjoyed the confidence and respect of his fellows, both as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a citizen ; and in peace and Christian hope passed away."
Mr. Stephen Oliver, a revolutionary soldier, died in Mc- Kean, in February, 1857, aged ninety-seven years. He was one of the survivors of the massacre of Wyoming, his name being inscribed upon the monument. He voted for Gen. Washington and Col, Fremont, and at every intervening Presidential election. He lived and died a Christian.
Mr. Thomas Dunn died in Mckean, in 1854, aged eighty-
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two years. He came to Erie in 1797, and settled upon the farm where he died.
Mr. Burrell Tracy died in 1853, having removed to Erie County in 1797.
Perry's Squadron was but seventy days in building. The timber was mostly taken from the third section. Captain Daniel Dobbins claims to have cut the first stick of timber with his own hands.
At a dinner given to Commodore Perry, before leaving Erie on his momentous mission, he expressed his determination to return a conqueror or in his shroud.
Commodore Perry had a propensity for fine horses. The one he rode in Erie was a superior but not showy animal, which he had purchased at Cattaraugus. Mr. Judah Colt bought him when Commodore Perry left, and he always went by the name of the " Commodore." He died in 1829 and was buried with due respect, with his shoes on, near the garrison ground. -
Peter H., a young gentleman of Meadville, came to Erie to volunteer with Commodore Perry, but when the decisive moment arrived and the squadron was to sail, altered his pur- pose and returned home. Wade, a law student of the same place, made this conduct the occasion for a practical joke, and in a week's time Peter H. received a communication through the postoffice, which he opened with due formality. Inclosed was a letter, a bank bill, and a tract or little book about three inches by four, such as the pious inissionary, Mr. Osgood, dis- tributed among the people. The letter purported to be from Com. Perry, stating that they had met the enemy and con- quered-had killed Tecumseh and taken his private library, and the little book was his apportionment, and the note (a counterfeit of the broken Gloucester bank) his share of the prize money.
Extract from a letter dated-
"MARION, O., November 13, 1860.
"The last few years of his life (Lieutenant Yarnall's, of Commodore Perry's flagship Lawrence), were spent in Nor- ton, a small town of Delaware County, where he earned a a small pittance by prescribing a few botanical medicines to the people of that vicinity, and telling fortunes or predicting
-
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the future of those who would reward him for the same, and pretending to be gifted with second sight, by which he could tell the persons calling upon him where to find property that had strayed away or been stolen from them. By these means he procured a livelihood for a number of years, and won for himself the name of old Pluto.
" He died about twenty years ago, and was buried with the honors of war. Many of the old veterans of the war gathered around the grave of the poor old man, when he was lowered to his last home, where ' he sleeps his last sleep,' and where 'no sound can awake him to glory again.' They shed tears over his grave as they remembered the time when they fought with him on the battle fields of their country.
"No monument, not even a slab, marks the last resting place of the old veteran. But his name is remembered by a people that know how to appreciate the liberty for which he fought.
J. N. S."
The survivors of the battle of Lake Erie as far as known (1861) :
Stephen Champlin, sailing-master and commander of the Scorpion ; now a post-captain, and residing in Buffalo.
J. B. Montgomery, midshipman in the Niagara; now a post-captain, and in command of the Pacific squadron.
Hugh N. Page, midshipman in the Tigress; now a post- captain, and resides in Virginia.
Thomas Brownell, sailing-master on board the Ariel, resides in Newport, and is lieutenant.
Usher Parsons, acting surgeon of the flagship, and of the squadron, resides in Providence, and is the last surviving commissioned officer of the squadron.
Hosea Sargeant, a volunteer from Gen. Harrison's army, was a gunner on the Lawrence ; lives in Boston.
W. T. Taliaferro, a volunteer from Harrison's army, now re- sides, as a physician, in Cincinnati.
Benjamin Talmon, gunner on the Caledonia.
John Tucker, powder boy of the Caledonia.
Benjamin Fleming, a sailor on the Niagara, lives in Erie.
Jonas Stone, carpenter on the Lawrence, resides near Mil- waukee.
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Alexander McClaskey, a volunteer from Erie, resides in Illinois.
Daniel Metzenburg resides in Erie; volunteered on board the Niagara; is now about seventy years of age, and has his medal.
J. Murray, a marine, resides in Girard.
The following, who were mostly volunteers from Harrison's army, are believed to be still living, to wit :
Thomas H. Bradford, Nathan Holburt, John Norris, Wil- liam Blair, James Artus, Rowland S. Parker, and James Lan- man.
Extract from the account of "The Inauguration of the Perry Statue, at Cleveland " :
" The cost of the Perry Monument was $8,000, as agreed in the contract made with T. Jones & Sons. Nearly $5,000 of this sum was obtained by voluntary subscriptions, and the City Council, on the receipt of a communication from the Chair- man of the Perry Monument Committee, stating the balance due to the contractors, September 25, 1860, passed the resolu- tion offered by Mr. Ballard :
" Resolved, That the sum of three thousand and eight dol- lars be appropriated from the city treasury to T. Jones & Sons, in full of the balance due them on their contract for the erec- tion of the Perry Monument, the same to be paid one third in six months and one third in twelve months. Adopted. Ayes, 18 ; nays, 1."
" October 30, 1860, the following action was had in the City Council, on the receipt of a communication from Harvey Rice, Chairman of the Perry Monument Committee, stating that he has received from O. H. Perry, only surviving son of Commodore Perry, a portrait in oil of the Commodore, copied by Mr. Lawson, of Lowell, from the original painting by Stuart. In compliance with the request of Mr. Perry, he presented the portrait to the City of Cleveland. In the note by Mr. Perry accompanying the portrait, he expresses his belief that 'so patriotic a people as the citizens of Cleveland will value the portrait of one they have been pleased to honor.'
"Received and filed.
" Resolutions of Mr. Clark :
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"That the portrait of Commodore Perry, presented this evening to the City of Cleveland, in the name, and at the re- quest of O. H. Perry, Esq., his only surviving son, be ac- cepted ; and that the City Clerk be directed to cause the same to be handsomely framed and suspended in Council Hall.
"That the thanks of the City Council be, and the same are hereby tendered to O. H. Perry, Esq., for so valuable and ac- ceptable a gift, and that the Mayor of the City be requested to communicate to him a certified copy of the foregoing resolu- tions.
"Adopted."
Inventions .- October 4, 1853, Ozias J. Davie and Thomas W. Stephens, of the City of Erie, obtained a patent for a punching and shearing machine. Improvements were after- ward made by them, and the machine exhibited at the Crys- tal Palace, where its operations attracted much attention. Munn & Co., editors of the Scientific American, make mention of it as one of the best inventions of the kind with which they are acquainted. Liddell, Kepler & Co., of Erie, are proprietors. A car spring was afterward patented by Walter F. J. Liddell, which is considered a very great improvement.
Captain Douglass Ottinger invented a lifeboat which was exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1853, and which is now in general use. From humane motives he refused to have it patented, but received, in 1858, a remuneration from Con- gress of $10,000.
J. W. Wetmore, Esq., invented a band railroad chair ; first patent, April 19, 1859 ; second patent, December 27, 1859. Sub-wedge railroad chair, which was first patented August 23, 1859, and a second time, May 15, 1860.
A legislative voting register, the object of which is to pre- vent the delay in taking the ayes and nays, was patented by him April 3, 1860. The gravimotometer was patented Feb- ruary 16, 1858, the object of the apparatus being to test or measure the effect of motion on attraction or gravitation. It is constructed by having horseshoe magnets attached verti- cally flatwise unto a wooden globe.
Also letters patent were granted June 16, 1861, for improved means of propelling vessels in shoal water. The model was
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submitted by Mr. Wetmore to a committee in 1858, which con- cluded their article as follows :
"On the whole, this method of propulsion seems to us to be practicable. In our opinion it is a valuable invention for the use proposed. The advantages consist principally of a great saving of power in the propulsion of boats and the extension of the use of steamboats to rivers where navigation by paddle wheel boats is now hardly practicable. The large appropria- tions expended or proposed for the improvement of the navi- gation of the various rivers of the country, and the difficulty and expense of such improvements, show the utility and necessity of successful efforts to overcome the impediment in these channels of commerce. This plan seems to us to meet the necessity, and to be the best improvement yet devised for shoal water navigation.
" DOUGLASS OTTINGER, CHARLES M. REED,
" M. COURTRIGHT, JOSHUA FOLLENSBEE,
" JOHN A. TRACY,
WILLIAM A. GALBRAITH,
"P. METCALF,
A. H. CAUGHEY,
"A. SCOTT."
In the Buffalo Daily Republic of March 20, 1861, we find an article on the "Suspended Purchase," an invention of Mr. William H. Brown, of Erie. The editor remarks : "To us it seemed to be rather more than a purchase, it was really a combination of purchases. Every part sustains such a deli- cate and positive relation to every other part, that it seems as if human ingenuity could go no further in the development of the idea which has lived in the brain of the inventor for over eight years. To perfect machinery by which massive bodies, or large quantities, should be lifted and transported to any given distance, or deposited at points difficult to reach, has been the great object of the inventor. That he has accom- plished his undertaking, no one who has seen the performance of his model will undertake to question. For quarry- ing purposes, bridge building, and unloading of vessels, the ' Suspended Purchase' is invaluable ; in fact, it would require too much space to specify the purposes for which it may be successfully and economically used. In the work of construc- tion, especially, it will be found by engineers to meet a neces-
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sity which nothing but rude muscle and great mental labor have heretofore met. In the unloading of vessels Mr. Brown guarantees to discharge 150 tons of iron ore or coal per hour, with the number of hands necessary to keep up with the op- erations of his machinery."
Also, in the New York Times, July 29, 1861, under the head "Improvised Army Bridges," after a statement by the editor of the difficulties of making passable, at short notice, the or- dinary bridges of which the rebels have destroyed the super- structure, of rapidly transporting guns, stores, and horses over chasms which cannot speedily be bridged, the time re- quired to construct rafts, etc., he adds : " A recent apparatus (Brown's Suspended Purchase), which has been employed to some extent in carrying and depositing the material of bridges, and in raising ore and coal from vessels and dumping it some hundreds of feet off-an apparatus indorsed by com- petent engineering authorities, seems to possess the features required in military purposes. There is evidently the principle in this simple device for greatly aiding military op- erations by speedily repairing damaged bridges, improvising bridges, etc., and it is obvious that something of this sort will be specially useful in this campaign."
"The Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen," was incorporated by the act of Assembly, February 27, 1788. It is formed of members of the Episcopal church of the United Brethren or Unitas Fratrum -more generally known as the Moravian church.
April 17, 1791, an act was passed to grant this society 5,000 acres of land and allowance ; 2,500 acres to be located " on the River Conneought near the northwestern corner of the State," and 2,500 acres "on the heads of French Creek."
The inducement thereto is stated in the act to be the fact that the United Brethren had sent and supported missionaries and teachers among the Indians since 1740, and in furtherance of which the aforesaid society was incorporated in 1788. The society asked for public aid because the missions had become both numerous and expensive, and hitherto had been main- tained solely by the charitable contributions of the members of the Moravian church. The request was granted on the ground
1
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that the Commonwealth was " disposed to encourage all pious and charitable institutions, and the propagation of the Gospel, and the erecting and supporting schools among the Indian nations of America being of the first importance to this and other of the United States, and by the blessing of God con- ducive to the peace and security of the inhabitants and set- tlers of our frontiers by turning the minds of the savages to the Christian religion, industry, and social life with the citi- zens of the United States."
The patents are dated April 14, 1795.
The French Creek tract, called "Good Luck," contained 2,875 acres and allowance. Thirty-four pounds, eleven shil- lings and nine pence were paid for the excess above 2,500 acres.
The Conneaut tract, called "Hospitality," contained 2,797 92-100 acres and allowance, the payment being nineteen pounds, twenty-three shillings and ten pence for the excess.
Both tracts were subdivided and leased on "Improvement Leases," by the late William Miles, Esq., who for many years was the society's efficient agent in the improvement of these lands. Mr. Miles's health failing, his son, Judge James Miles, succeeded him in the agency of the "Hospitality" tract, and John Wood, Esq., in the " Good Luck " tract.
The lands were finally sold by the society in 1849, to N. Blickensdefer, Esq.
To the efficient care and superintendence of these gentle- men, particularly the Messrs. Miles, who were pioneers in the improvements, the society and the county are indebted for reclaiming from a wilderness a large portion of the best lands in Erie County-some 700 acres of " Good Luck" and 1,200 of " Hospitality" having been brought into a good state of culti- vation up to the year 1850.
The terms of the leases were, in general, the use of the land by the tenant for a series of years, usually seven, in considera- tion of clearing and fencing a small portion annually. Sub- sequently leases included agreements to build houses and barns.
The society were induced to sell principally from the con- sideration that the annual interest of the proceeds of sale would be a more effectual and available aid to their work than
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any system of farming by tenants. After its purchase by Mr. Blickensdefer it was again subdivided and resold to actual settlers, a few of the best tenants becoming purchasers. Both tracts are now well improved in suitable-sized farms, and will compare favorably with any lands in Erie County.
In Chapter IX. mention of an act to open a road from near the Bald Eagle's Nest, in Mifflin County, to Le Bœuf, in the County of Allegheny, was omitted. This act passed April 10, 1799, and appropriated $5,000 for the purpose.
The following on the subject of railroads, from Poor's His- tory, should be added : "In addition to the subscriptions made to the Philadelphia & Erie Road was $500,000 to the share capital by the Cleveland & Erie Railroad, at the time the Legislature of Pennsylvania confirmed the rights of this and the Erie & Northeast to the chartered privileges claimed by them.
" The Erie & Pittsburg Railroad was chartered as the suc- cessor of the Pittsburg & Erie Railroad, on April 15, 1858. In addition to the $400,000 subscribed to this by the Erie & North- east Road as one of the conditions by which it enjoys quiet right of way through the State, it has a floating debt of $250,000 (advances by the Buffalo & State Line Company), and $30,000 from individual stockholders.
"In 1857 an act was obtained from the Legislature of New York, authorizing the Buffalo & State Line Road to lease or purchase, by exchange of stock or lands, the Erie & Northeast Railroad. Under this act nearly all the share capital of the · Erie & Northeast has been exchanged for that of the Buffalo & State Line Road. Bonds have also been exchanged to the amount of $149,000. The funded debt of the Erie & Northeast Road is $400,000, in details as follows : First mortgage, seven per cent, coupon bonds $400,000, dated June 1, 1857, and pay- able, principal June 1, 1870, and interest semi-annually, June 1 and December 1, at New York. Of these bonds $149,000 have been exchanged for bonds of the Buffalo & State Line Railroad as a part of its own line; its earnings and expenses are em- braced in those for that road. The same dividends have been paid by the two companies."
At Junction (afterwards Corry), in Concord township, where
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the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad intersects the Phila- delphia & Erie, quite a cluster of buildings has arisen in the woods within the last three months. The Atlantic & Great Western connects with the New York & Erie at Little Valley, in Cattaraugus County, having the same gauge. A large quantity of petroleum passed over this road on September 9, 1861; twenty-three car-loads were shipped at Junction for New York City on that day.
March 1, 1781, the State of New York made a deed of cession to the United States of lands lying between the northern boundary of Pennsylvania and Lake Erie, or rather judged it expedient to limit and restrict the boundaries of this State. April 19, 1785, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts made a similar deed of cession.
At the Assembly of Internal Commerce, in Philadelphia, September 15, 1783, a resolution was carried to "examine the navigation of the Susquehanna to the source of the same, and ascertain, as near as conveniently may be, where the northern boundary of this State will fall, particularly whether any part of Lake Erie is within the State of Pennsylvania, taking par- ticular notes of the nature and geography of the country as to the practicability of roads, water carriage, air, soil, natural productions, etc."
September 20th William Maclay, James Wilkinson, and William Montgomery, Esqs., were duly elected to perform the duties prescribed in the resolution. These commissioners arrived at Erie, October 8, 1787, and determined by scientific observations that there was no lake harbor inside the State, and also that the land was of a fair quality. On motion of Gen. Irvine, in Congress, February 25, 1788, the Geographer of the United States was directed to proceed to run a line and ascertain the western limits of the States of New York and Massachusetts, comformable to their acts of cession.
June 16, 1788, Tho. Hutchins, Geographer of the United States of America, addressed Lord Dorchester, Governor-Gen- eral of Canada, for permission to survey the most westerly bent or inclination of Lake Ontario, and to extend a meridian line from thence south to Lake Erie, etc.
September 4, 1788, by act of Congress the United States
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relinquished and transferred to the State of Pennsylvania "the land contained in the interval betwixt a meridian line run between Lake Erie and the State of Pennsylvania, and the boundaries of the States of New York and Massachusetts, at the rate of three quarters of a dollar per acre," bearing inter- est, when the quantity should be ascertained by actual survey. An estimate of other expenditures that might be incurred in the purchase from the Six Nations, amounting to £950, is in details as follows : Various suitables articles, £375 ; provisions, £100; wagonage, boat hire, etc., £150; pay of commissioners, hire of interpreters, runners, etc., £250; presents to great men, £75.
September 8, 1788, P. Muhlenberg, Vice-President of the Board of Treasury, transmitted to Hon. Thos. Mifflin, Speaker of the General Assembly, an act of Congress passed the 4th of the same month, by which the United States relinquished and transferred to the State of Pennsylvania all their right and title to the tract of land on Lake Erie. September 13, 1788, the State of Pennsylvania in General Assembly heard the report of the committee and resolved to accept, on the part of the Commonwealth, the contract made with the Board of Treasury of the United States, and recommended to the suc- ceeding House of Assembly fully to pay and discharge the consideration moneys due, at three fourths of a dollar per acre, as soon as it should be surveyed. Some estimated the number of acres (which proved to be 202,187) at 800,000, and others at 1,000,000. Provision was made immediately for the payment of £950 for contingent expenses.
October 1, 1788, Gen. Richard Butler and Gen. John Gibson were appointed by the Council of Philadelphia commissioners to negotiate and complete the purchase of the Lake Erie tract, and William Maclay and John Smilie to prepare and report to the board a draft of instructions to said commissioners. These instructions were in effect to make the purchase when they should find the Indians in a proper temper-at that time they were attending a convention at Muskingum.
The 9th of January, 1789, in open and public council, twenty-four chiefs and warriors representing the Senacas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, Onondagas, and Oneidas, of the tribes of
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the Six Nations, for themselves, tribes, heirs, and sucessors, and Richard Butler and John Gibson, Esqs., commissioners for and in behalf of the State of Pennsylvania (Onas) on the other part, made and concluded seven articles by which the Indians renounced their claims, and the title of the Presqu'ile lands vested in the State of Pennsylvania.
March 24, 1789, it was resolved by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, that not exceeding 3,000 acres be surveyed for the use of the Commonwealth at each of the following points: Presqu'ile, Le Bœuf, at the mouth of Conewango, and at the fort of Venango. And also in the country of Lake Erie, 1,500 acres for Capt. O'Biel or Cornplanter, whose Indian name was Gyantwachia.
Bankers and Exchange Brokers in the City and County of Erie, with amount of capital invested by each firm and indi- vidual respectively, as reported to the Auditor-General of Pennsylvania, agreeably to act of Assembly passed A. D. 1861 :
Capital.
M. Sanford & Co., bankers, Erie City $ 50,000
W. C. Curry, broker and private banker, Erie City. 100,000
Vincent, Bailey & Co., Erie City 25,000
Neiler & Warren, ¥ 5,000
Clark & Metcalf, 12,000
Benson & West, Waterford. '500
SUPPLEMENT.
SECTION I.
The Shipyard of the Griffon-Northern State Boundary-Ownership of the Peninsula-The Pontiac Conspiracy-Le Boeuf-Letters of a Surveyor, etc .- Scenery.
LA SALLE, born at Rouen in 1643, was of a good family, and at an early age evinced a taste for mathematics ; was for a period a teacher, and expected to become a priest. Self-will and ambition predominated, and he followed his longings for adventure, discovery, and conquest. The influence of his elder brother, a priest in New France, settled his purpose for explorations, reciting his own adventures in the new dis- covered countries, and studying the habits and dialects of the Indians.
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