 |
 |
 |
||
Part of the PAGenWeb Project |
||||
Links to:
ELDRED, Edgar J. - Spring Creek twp (page xxix, Brief Personals *)
Edgar J. Eldred was a son of George F. Eldred, who was born in London, England, in 1797, and came to America in 1819, and settled in Warren county in the same year. He married Laura Cady, who was born in Vermont. Edgar J. is one of the well-to-do farmers of Warren county, and now owns and occupies a farm of 507 acres; he is also largely interested in the raising of stock. He was married in 1862 to Helen M. Howard, and to them have been born four children — Agnes M., Grace M., Edith M., and Ethel M.. Mr. Eldred has served as constable for three terms, and has also held the office of school director, and also that of auditor, assessor, and commissioner. George F. Eldred was one of the early settlers of Spring Creek, and for many years cast the only Whig vote in the town.
ELDRED, Nathaniel Bailey - president judge of the new Eighteenth Judicial District (pages 639-643 *)
Nathaniel Bailey Eldred, the first president judge appointed
from the bar of Wayne county, was born at Dolsontown, Orange county,
N. Y., January 12, 1795. His early education was such as the local schools
afforded, supplemented by a diligent reading of all books that fell into his
hands. While yet a boy he formed the purpose of becoming a lawyer, and
about the year 1811 he went to Milford, then the county seat of Wayne, to
begin the work of preparation.
He first entered the office of Dan Dimmick, one of the leading lawyers of
the county, and subsequently completed his studies under the direction of
Edward Mott, deputy attorney-general for the county. Before his course of
legal study was finished the county was divided, and Milford became the county
seat of Pike.
January 27, 1817, he was admitted to the bar of Wayne. He continued,
however, to reside at Milford until after the death of Andrew M. Dorrance,
the senior of the two lawyers then practicing at the county seat of Wayne, in
April, 1818. Thereupon he took up his residence and commenced practice in
Bethany, which remained his home for the greater part of the next half century.
In thus commencing life, Mr. Eldred was favored with no advantages
except those bestowed by nature. Those however were sufficient to win rapid
advancement, especially in a community which recognized no conventional
standards or artificial distinctions. His mental constitution was a rare combination
of sturdy personal qualities, quick intelligence, keen powers of observation,
generous impulses, rigid integrity, and a ready adaptability to surrounding
conditions. He rapidly gained the appreciation and confidence of the people
of the county, both as a lawyer and a man, and in 1822, four years after he
had come among them, a stranger, he was elected to the Legislature. In the
following year he was re-elected.
Under the system of rotation in the district that prevailed, the nominees
were selected from Pike county for the next two years. When it again fell to
Wayne to secure the candidate, Mr. Eldred was re-elected for two terms more.
His fourth year's service completed, he declined a subsequent nomination.
Later when the system of public improvements constructed by the State was
put in operation, he accepted the position of canal commissioner, but declined a
second term. He was also a member of the board of commissioners appointed
by the State—Hon. John Ross and Hon. David Scott being his associates —
to treat with a like board appointed by the State of New Jersey in relation to
the navigation and control of the Delaware River, and aided materially in
the adjustment of all questions connected with this subject. In 1844 he was
chosen a presidential elector and cast his vote for James K. Polk. In the
spring of 1853 he received from President Pierce the appointment of naval
officer at the Philadelphia custom-house, a position which he held for four
years.
But it was in the field of his profession rather than in politics that his chief
distinction was won. During a practice of nearly twenty years, in competition
with such men as Amzi and Thomas Fuller, George Wolf, Dan Dimmick, Edward
Mott, Garrick Mallery, Oristus Collins, John N. Conyngham, and other
noted practitioners of that day, he rose to a high position at the bar, and for
nearly twenty years more he held a seat on the bench. By an act passed April
8, 1833, the counties of Potter, McKean, Warren, and Jefferson were erected
into the Eighteenth Judicial District, from and after September 1, 1835, and
the governor was required to appoint a president judge for the district. When
the time for making the appointment arrived Governor Wolf, who had often
met Mr. Eldred at the bar, and recognized his fitness for the position, commissioned
him president judge of the new district. In 1839 the death of Judge
Slupper made a vacancy on the bench of the Sixth District, composed of Erie,
Crawford, and Venango counties, and Governor Porter commissioned Judge
Eldred as president judge of that district.
| Nathaniel Bailey Eldred |
 |
| Portrait from History Of Warren County Pennsylvania |
In 1843 Judge Blythe, of the Twelfth District, composed of Dauphin, Lebanon,
and Schuylkill counties, resigned to accept the office of collector of customs of Philadelphia, and Governor Porter thereupon commissioned Judge Eldred as his successor.
In 1849 the counties of Wayne, Pike, Monroe and Carbon were erected
into the Twenty-second District, and Judge Eldred, desiring a return to his old
home in Bethany, Governor Johnson commissioned him president judge of the
district. In 1851 the judiciary having been made elective by the constitutional
amendment adopted the preceding year, many of Judge Eldred's friends
throughout the State proposed his nomination for judge of the Supreme Court.
He declined however to become a candidate, preferring to remain on the bench
where his home was situated; and the desire to retain him was so general in
the district that he received the support of both parties, and was elected without
opposition. In April, 1853, the position of naval officer at Philadelphia
being tendered him by President Pierce, he decided to accept it and resigned
the judgeship. This closed his judicial labors, and, substantially, his professional
career.
On quitting the position of naval officer Judge Eldred returned to his home
in Bethany. The remainder of his life was passed in comparative retirement.
The advancing years were beginning to make their approach felt; he had begun
to suffer in health; and though frequently consulted in important cases, he
declined to resume active professional employment. The decade following
was spent mainly amid the tranquil pursuits and interests of rural life, and he
passed the limit of three score and ten, loved and honored by all. He died
January 27, 1867, just half a century from the day of his admission to the
Wayne county bar, at the place which had witnessed the beginning of his
career, and had for more than a generation been his home.
Judge Eldred was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of Dan
Dimmick, his earliest preceptor in his profesion. She died in 1824. His
second wife, who survived him, was a daughter of Dr. Samuel Dimmick, of
Bloomingburg, Sullivan county, N, Y. He left three daughters and a son.
The latter, Charles F. Eldred, studied law and was admitted to the bar in
1861.
In casting his lot among the people of Wayne connty, Judge Eldred identified
himself with them in purpose and action. He made their general
interests his own and strove by every means in his power to promote them.
In private and public life he was active in aiding the progress and development
of the county, both as to material interests and educational advancement. By
nature and by habit of thought and life he was essentially a man of the people,
and no man in Wayne county ever had a stronger hold on the popular heart.
The people of the county appreciated his services, and at all times gave him
an unwavering support. During the first decade of his residence among them,
the only office in their gift which he would consent to accept was bestowed
upon him again and again. They viewed his elevation to the bench with afeeling akin to personal satisfaction and pride. When his life closed, most of the generation which had witnessed his success and usefulness had preceded
him to the grave; yet his fame, though it had become largely a tradition, was
so enduring that his death was felt and mourned as a loss of no common magnitude.
As an advocate Judge Eldred was clear in argument, earnest and persuasive,
resting on the broad basis of equity, appealing largely to the natural
preception of right, and arousing an aversion to every form of meanness,
oppression, and wrong. He was a jurist of more than ordinary rank. On the
bench, however, he was little given to legal subtleties and refinements, or to
the habit of measuring questions of right by narrow technical rules. He
regarded the judicial function as designed for practical administration of justice,
and his decisions aimed at a fair and equitable adjustment of the difficulties
between the parties. He was well read in his profession, and possessed a
legal mind of high order; but a controlling sense of justice that responded
instinctively to all questions respecting rights as between man and man, predominated
over the strictly professional view of a case, and his conclusions,
even when not in strict conformity with technical rules and precedents, rested
on a firm and obvious basis of equity.
The essential justice of his purpose was so apparent as to command the
respect of the bar, even when error was alleged in his rulings on questions of
law. The people, without measuring his judicial action by professional tests,
accepted its results as in the main just and equitable; they recognized his
strong common sense, and clear judgment, and had abiding faith in his judicial
integrity. They gave him their confidence because they knew him to be upright,
impartial, and devoted to the administration of justice in its broadest
and noblest sense.
It will not be out of place to preserve anecdotes illustrating some of Judge
Eldred's characteristics. While he was on the Dauphin county bench a case
of assault and battery was tried. The evidence showed that while the defendant
and his wife were walking on the streets of Harrisburg, a rowdy used
some grossly insulting language toward the wife, whereupon the husband
knocked him down. Judge Eldred's charge to the jury was substantially in
the following terms: "Gentlemen of the jury, the defendant is indicted for an
assault and battery on the prosecutor. You have learned from the evidence
the character of the offense. In law, any rude, angry or violent touching of
the person of another is an assault and battery, and is not justified by any
provocation in words only. But if I was walking with my wife, and a rowdy
insulted her, I'd knock him down if I was big enough. Swear a constable."
The verdict may readily be conjectured.
Another instance is related showing his readiness and fertility in resources.
On reaching the county seat at which the first term of court was to be held,on his appointment to one of the western districts, his commission was not to
be found, having been forgotten on leaving home, or lost on the way. It happened
that the sheriff of the county had just been commissioned, and was to
begin his official duties at that term of court Judge Eldred at once decided
on a line of action. Sending for the new sheriff, he told him that the practice
of reading commissions in court on assuming office was a relic of the ceremonial
established under a monarchy, and unsuited to the simplicity of republican
institutions, and that he should dispense with it in the courts of his
district; that the sheriff and himself having been duly sworn, nothing further
was required of them, and they should enter on their duties in a quiet,
unostentatious manner. Accordingly the new judge and sheriff went into
court together the next morning, took their respective places, and proceeded
to the discharge of their duties without further ceremony, no question being
raised as to their authority in the premises.
ELLIS, Benjamin - Chandler's Valley, Sugar Grove twp (page xxix, Brief Personals *)
Benjamin Ellis, hotel owner and proprietor, located at Chandler's Valley; was born in Gerry, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., in 1830. He was a son of William W. and Clarissa Foster Ellis; he was from Massachusetts, and she from Vermont. They married and settled in Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1824, and in 1845 settled in Sugar Grove, where they died, he in 1874 and she in 1876. They had a family of eleven children, four of whom are now living— Rowe W., Mrs. Whitcomb, Benjamin, and Mrs. G. R. Nobles. Benjamin married, in 1850, Sophronia Salmon, who was born in Warren county; she died in March, 1870, leaving two children — Edmund and Fremont. He married his second wife, Kate McLain, in 1871; they have one daughter, Jennie. Mr. Ellis was town commissioner six years, school director two terms, and a county commissioner six years. In early life he was a farmer and lumberman. In 1885 he erected his present hotel in Chandler's Valley, of which he is now proprietor. His grandfather, James Ellis, came to America with General Burgoyne in Revolutionary days, and soon deserted and joined General Washington's forces. He died in the service in the War of 1812. His wife was the mother of twenty-four children. The grandfather, Benjamin Foster, was a soldier in the Revolution.
[Warren County coordinator's note: Some random notes on the sons of Benjamin - Fremont and Edmund...
According to the 1900 census (Sugar Grove township), Fremont Ellis was a blacksmith, age 43, born September 1856. His family consisted of wife Letta, 38, daughter Margie B., born February 1885, sons Benjamin, 13, James, 12, Archie, 10, and Clyde, 5.
On the 1930 census (Wesleyville Borough, Erie County, Pennsylvania), he was 73, a widower, living with his son Benjamin, 44, and wife Ceile, 34. Benjamin F. Ellis married Cecile Hankins, according to marriage index book 6 covering the period 1909-1913. Fremont's grandchildren in the home were Kathryn, 16, and Norma, 14. Fremont Ellis, 1856 - 1939, is buried in the Cherry Hill cemetery, in Sugar Grove township.
Then there is this from the Warren Times Mirror newpaper, dated May 18, 1950:
"Mr. and Mrs. Don Ellis, of Garibaldi, Ore., were callers at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Graydon Franklin Sunday. Mr. Ellis said that he was born at the Franklin home, which they purchased from Albert Johnson several months ago. The house was built by Mr. Ellis' father, Edmund Ellis, and Don Ellis, who is now 70 years of age, left here when he was 13. His mother and father separated and he went to the western state with his mother. The Franklins told that an Ellis family lives in Chandlers Valley, and upon calling there the visitor discovered a half-brother in Harry Ellis, whom he did not know existed, although Harry Ellis did know he had a half-brother. Needless to say it was a happy reunion. Don Ellis is recently retired as a commercial fisherman, and had been appointed as a member of a three-man commission of the state. His wife Anne Ellis, is a member of the state legislature of Oregon. The couple traveled to Vancouver by boat, then by train to Detroit, where they purchased a new car, and are touring the eastern and southern states. Mrs. Ellis was born near Buffalo, and from here they were going to that city to visit."
Wedding Announcement on the Society page of the Warren Times-Mirror, September 14, 1956; page 5, columns 2-3: Laura Marie Ellis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry William Ellis, Chandlers Valley, married to Ronald William Donner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Donner, Jamestown RD 4. The bride was escorted and given by her brother, Edmund Ellis; matron of honor was the bride's sister, Mrs. Lenna Belle Frahm, Chandlers Valley. The bride graduated from Sugar Grove Farmington School in 1950.
There is more information in this detailed announcement; contact the Warren Library Association for a copy of the article.]
EMERSON, C. H. - Spring Valley p. o., Eldred twp (page xxix, Brief Personals *)
C. H. Emerson was born in Connecticut in 1817, and settled in Warren county in 1861. He was married in 1840 to Abigail Smith, of Chautauqua county, N. Y., who was born in 1820. They had a family of nine children, four of whom are now living— Mary Jane (Proper), Polly Lureta (Putnam), Milo, and Robert D. His parents were Abraham and Jane (Sanders) Emerson. They had a family of ten children, seven of whom are now living. Abraham served in the War of 1812, and died in 1838. C. H. Emerson is one of the representative farmers of his town, and now owns and occupies a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres.
ENGLISH, Claudius, Kinzua p. o., Elk twp (page xxx, Brief Personals *) See Kinzua twp for this family.
Claudius English was born in Lycoming county, and came to Kinzua about the year 1832. He married Betsey, a daughter of Jeremiah Morrison, and by her had a family of thirteen children, eleven of whom grew to man and womanhood. These children were Lebius, Margaret, Thomas, Sarah, Robert, Henry, Elizabeth, Rachel, Sylvester, Josephine, and John. Robert, one of these sons, still resides in Kinzua, on the Kinzua Creek. He married Caroline White, a daughter of Eben White, and by her had a family of seven children, all but one of whom is now living. Robert English is a self-made man. When he entered married life he had little or no capital, but by industry, energy, and economy he has built up a comfortable home, surrounded by family and friends. In the town he is universally respected by all who know him. He has frequently held town offices, but does not aspire to political preferment. By choice he is a Republican. He is not a church member, but his wife is a member of the M. E. Church society. Claudius, the father, died about twenty years ago.
ENGLISH, William - Kinzua p. o., Elk twp (pages xxix-xxx, Brief Personals *) See Kinzua twp for this family.
In the year 1821 there came from Lycoming county, to Kinzua, the family of John English. Besides the pioneer, John, there was his wife Mary (Hamlin) English, and their children — Mary, Elizabeth, William, Johanna. The children born after they settled here were Fanny, Sally, Susan, Rice H., James, and two or three others, who died while yet infants. John the pioneer, and Mary his wife, both died in 1868. William English married Mary Palmeter, who bore him seven children — Mary Ellen, Orrin, Solon, George W., Charles, Alice, and John. William English is to-day one of the leading men of Kinzua. His early life was spent in the lumber woods and on the river, and as time advanced he developed the land into a good farm. The oil production has also helped him. Mr. English has always taken a great interest in all town affairs, and has held various of the township offices. Both he and his wife are prominent and respected members of the M. E. Church, and contribute largely of their means to its support. Rice H. English, a younger brother of William, was born in 1832. He married Sarah E. Tuttle, by whom he had a family of four children. He too has been prominent in town affairs, having held the office of justice for nearly fifty years. They are both firm Democrats. These brothers commenced poor, as did the whole family, and their accumulations so far in life have been the result of their own personal industry and thrift.
ERICKSON, Frederick - Dugall p. o., Pittsfield twp (page xxx, Brief Personals *)
Frederick Erickson was born in Sweden in 1860. He is a son of Charles and Mary Elizabeth Peters Erickson; they were born and married in Sweden, and settled in Pittsfield in 1866. They have a family of nine children — Christine, Charles Oscar, Samuel, Andrew, Frederick, Hannah, Mary, Minnie, and Elizabeth. Frederick was appointed deputy postmaster in the newly-established post-office at Dugall in 1866, and his brother postmaster; they are engaged as general merchants at that place, the firm being Erickson Brothers.
EVANS, Henry H. - Tidioute p. o., Glade twp (pages xxx-xxxi, Brief Personals *) See Deerfield twp for this family [Glade twp is not located near Tidioute!]
Henry H. Evans, the oldest merchant of Tidioute, and is now engaged in the boot and shoe business, and also in the general clothing trade. He was born in Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1828, and settled in Tidioute November 4, 1856, and engaged in the mercantile business under the firm name of Evans & Kemble, and in 1865 the firm was changed to Evans Brothers, and again in 1867 back to Evans & Kemble. In 1871 they sold out and Mr. Evans became book-keeper for the People's Savings Bank, and in 1876 he became engaged in the sale of his present class of goods— boots, shoes of all grades, gents' and boys' clothing, and all grades of rubber goods. Henry H. married Mary Kemble, of Crawford county, January 1, 1852. They had a family of six children born to them — Mariett, Lydia A., Susan E., Mary, Alice, Gus B., and William P.. Lydia A. and Mariett were graduates of the State Normal school at Edinborough, Erie county, in 1875. They have taken a high stand as teachers, and are now holding prominent positions as teachers. The four others are graduates of the graded schools of Tidioute. Mr. Evans was school director for twelve years, was a member of the council for three years, assessor for two years, and postmaster for six years. Henry H. Evans was a son of Peter and Elsie (Hadley) Evans. Elsie was born in Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1810, and her husband Peter was born in Lancaster county in 1804. They were married on January 1, 1828. He died in 1882, and his wife in 1883. They had a family of eight children born to them, four of whom are now living— Henry H., Elizabeth, George, and Stephen H. (who enlisted in Company F, 145th Pennsylvania Vols., in 1862, served as first lieutenant, was disabled, and resigned in 1863. He was appointed postmaster upon the resignation of his brother, Henry H. Evans.
EWALD, Henry - Tidioute p. o., Glade Township (page xxxi, Brief Personals *) See Deerfield twp for this family [Glade twp is not located near Tidioute!]
Henry Ewald, dealer in watches, clocks, jewelry, silver ware, and musical instruments, and a practical watch maker, engraver, and jeweler, having served a four year apprenticeship in Germany. He was born May 21, 1847, in the city of Alzey, Rheinhessen, Germany. He came to New York in 1865 at the age of eighteen, followed a business call to Petroleum Centre in 1866, and settled in Tidioute in 1867, establishing the business in which he is now engaged. He was the only son of Fredrick Leopold Ewald, one of the government officers, who died in his native city in 1879. Henry married Alice A. Hadley, who was born in Adrian, Steuben county, N. Y., at Faxton, in 1870. They have had a family of seven children born to them — two sons, Fredrick Henry and John B., and five daughters, Effie, Rosamond, Winnie, Pearl and Julia.
EWER, Asa - Columbus township (page xxxi, Brief Personals *)
Asa Ewer was born in Cattaraugus county, N. Y.; August 9, 1824, and was a son of Asa Ewer, who settled in Columbus in 1848 as a carpenter, and later became a farmer, and in 1883 he retired from active life and settled in the borough. He was married September 1, 1851, to Nancy M. Howard, who was born in Columbus, Chenango county, N. Y., on February 2, 1832. They have had three children — Alston De Elmer, born in 1852; Isaac Mt. Vernon, born in 1861; and Lily Blanche, born March 31, 1868. Mrs. Nancy M. Ewer was a daughter of Isaac and Sally (Bassett) Howard. Sally was born in Sharon, N. Y., in 1800, and Isaac was born in Rhode Island in 1795. They were married at Shelburne, N. Y., in August, 1820, and settled in Columbus in 1827. Isaac died on October 1, 1880. They had a family of six children born to them, five of whom are now living — Mary E., Hiram D., William B., Nancy M., and Ivory F.. Mrs. Sally Howard was a daughter of Symon and Mary (Tillotson) Bassett, of Connecticut, who settled in Columbus, where they died leaving a family of four children, of whom Mrs. Sally Howard is the only one surviving.
[Warren County coordinator's note: From the Friday, October 12, 1900, edition of The Evening Democrat, page 2, column 5, under the heading "Columbus Cullings.": Mrs. Nancy Ewer, an old resident of this place, who has been visiting her son for the past few weeks, left for her home at Minneapolis Sept. 27th.]
* Source: History Of Warren County Pennsylvania with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, edited by J.S. Schenck, assisted by W.S. Rann; Syracuse, N.Y.; D Mason & Co., Publishers; 1887.
Return to Warren County Genealogy homepage | Township Index
A proud participant in the USGenWeb and PAGenWeb Projects
© 2010 - 2021 Penelope Repko and contributors
© 2008 - 2009 Bill Klauk and contributors