Crawford County PA

Biography of Elias Emerson Morris

Elias Emerson Morris has for eight years been probate judge of Riley County. To that office he has brought a singularly fair impartiality, and ever since he entered upon his duties the people of the county have recognized that the interests of the widows and orphans have been most capably and honestly administered. Judge Morris is one of the old time educators of Kansas, and has long been identified with some form of official service in Riley County. He was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1859, a son of James S. and Mary (Chamberlain) Morris. His parents were … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Francis Lyon

Lyon, William Francis; merchant; born, Meadville, Pa., Aug. 16, 1868; son of Thomas and Johanna Corbett Lyon; Meadville High School, graduated in class of 1885; married, Cleveland, Oct. 26, 1892, Lisette Baus; issue, Marie, Josephine, William Francis, Jr., started in Cleveland, Sept. 9, 1885; elected sec’y and treas., May 24, 1897, of The Cady-Ivison Shoe Co., and pres. and gen. mgr. of same Company, Jan. 20, 1913; charter member of the Cleveland Association of Credit Men, and pres. from 1902 to 1903; member Knights of Columbus, and Catholic Mutual Benefit Assn; member Athletic Club. Fond of Horseback Riding.

Biographical Sketch of Audley P. McCallie

McCallie, Audley P.; Superior Peanut Co.; born, Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 15, 1888; son of Jack and Jennie Purcell McCallie; educated, Buffalo, N. Y., Grammar School and West Springfield and Meadville, Pa., High schools; managing partner of The Superior Peanut Co.; member Cleveland Athletic Club.

Biographical Sketch of James McCreary Gee

Gee, James McCreary; real estate broker; born, Kingsville, O., Dee. 24, 1875; son of Francis W. and Mary McCreary Gee; educated, common and high schools, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa.; Western Reserve University, Law Dept.; married, Marysville, N. Y., June 6, 1900, Helen Mills; issue, Francis, born March 30, 1901, Daniel, born Dec. 7, 1904, Nicholas, born Feb. 24, 1908, and Caroline, born May 9, 1911; member Corps of Cadets, Allegheny College; Republican; traveling salesman before settling in Cleveland; in 1902, engaged in the life insurance business as asst. supt. of The Prudential Life Ins. Co.; in 1904-1905, mgr. sales and … Read more

An Account of the Sufferings of Mercy Harbison – Indian Captivities

On the 4th of November, 1791, a force of Americans under General Arthur St. Clair was attacked, near the present Ohio-Indiana boundary line, by about the same number of Indians led by Blue Jacket, Little Turtle, and the white renegade Simon Girty. Their defeat was the most disastrous that ever has been suffered by our arms when engaged against a savage foe on anything like even terms. Out of 86 officers and about 1400 regular and militia soldiers, St. Clair lost 70 officers killed or wounded, and 845 men killed, wounded, or missing. The survivors fled in panic, throwing away their weapons and accoutrements. Such was “St. Clair’s defeat.”

The utter incompetency of the officers commanding this expedition may be judged from the single fact that a great number of women were allowed to accompany the troops into a wilderness known to be infested with the worst kind of savages. There were about 250 of these women with the “army” on the day of the battle. Of these, 56 were killed on the spot, many being pinned to the earth by stakes driven through their bodies. Few of the others escaped captivity.

After this unprecedented victory, the Indians became more troublesome than ever along the frontier. No settler’s home was safe, and many were destroyed in the year of terror that followed. The awful fate of one of those households is told in the following touching narrative of Mercy Harbison, wife of one of the survivors of St. Clair’s defeat. How two of her little children were slaughtered before her eyes, how she was dragged through the wilderness with a babe at her breast, how cruelly maltreated, and how she finally escaped, barefooted and carrying her infant through days and nights of almost superhuman exertion, she has left record in a deposition before the magistrates at Pittsburgh and in the statement here reprinted.

Biographical Sketch of Frank A. Arter

Arter, Frank A.; retired; born, Hanoverton, O., March 8, 1841; son of David and Charlotte Laffer Arter; Hanover High School and Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa.; degrees, A. B. and M. A., Allegheny; married, Cleveland, Eliza Kingsley; issue, Mrs. Fred L. Taft, Mrs. Lewis E. Myers and Charles K. Arter; director First National Bank; Cleveland Steamship Co.; Cleveland Life Insurance Co.; Land Title Abstract Co.; vice pres. Children’s Industrial School; pres. Board of Trustees, Allegheny College; treas. N. E. O. Annuity Fund; director St. Luke’s Hospital; pres. Layman’s Ass’n, N. E. O. Conference; treas. First M. E.; member Union, Colonial, Wickliffe-on-the-Lake … Read more

Biography of Carlton D. Akin

Among the prominent men of Wallowa County, as also one of the leading property owners in the county stands the subject of this brief article and it is with pleasure that we accord to him a representation of this volume of the county’s history, both because he has achieved a success here that demonstrates his ability in the business world and also because commensurate with his general capabilities there have been manifested a stanch and well rounded character, moral qualities of intrinsic worth and integrity unswerving and continuous all of which demonstrate Mr. Akin to be a typical man and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John William Perrin

Perrin, John William; librarian; born, Eugene, Ind.; son of William Jasper and Susan (Allen) Perrin; A. M., Wabash College. Ind., 1889; studied Johns Hopkins, 1890-1892; graduate student and honorary fellow, University of Chicago, 1892-1893, Ph. D., 1895; married Harriet Naylor Towle, of Evanston, Ill., April 16, 1890 (died, Jan. 25, 1910); prof. of history and politics, Allegheny College, Pa., 1894-1898; prof. of history, Adelbert College, (Western Reserve University), 1898-1904; Albert Shaw, lecturer, American diplomatic history, Johns Hopkins, 1904; lecturer on American history, Allegheny College, 1905; librarian, Case Library, Cleveland. since June 1, 1905; organized, 1899, and chairman until 1903, conference … Read more

Caleb William Todd of Riceville PA

Caleb William Todd8, (Oliver R.7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born July 5, 1840, married Sept. 11, 1871, Henrietta Shaffer, who was born Nov. 21, 1842, died July 4, 1873. They lived in Riceville, Penn. Child: 1962. Clara.

Biography of Capt. John May Smith

Capt. John May Smith. An honored veteran soldier and officer of the Civil war, now living retired at Salina, Capt. John May Smith had been identified with Kansas for more than forty years and he devoted much of his rugged strength to the development of a Kansas homestead. He served his country well, had reared and provided for a family of capable children, and in the evening of life he enjoys the honor and esteem of a host of friends. Captain Smith was born July 26, 1838, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, a son of Charles and Jane (McClelland) Smith. His … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Franklyn Breed Tabor

Tabor, Franklyn Breed; sec’y the Telling Bros. Co.; born, Titusville, Pa., Feb. 23, 1868; educated in the public schools of Painesville, O.; supt. the Painesville Water Works Co., 1893-1898; upon purchase by the city, was elected sec’y; served until 1899, when he moved to Cleveland; auditor the Telling Bros. Ice Cream Co., 1900-1903; upon the re-organization of the company in 1904, elected sec’y; still serving; sec’y and treas. Cable-Trace Co., and interested in other business enterprises; Republican.

Biography of Richard Watson Argue

Richard Watson Argue, who died April 24, 1916, was very well and prominently known in the oil industry of the Mid-Continent field, lived at Independence a number of years, and Mrs. Argue, his widow, is still a resident there and had proved her resourcefulness as a business woman in looking after the extensive properties left by Mr. Argue at the time of his death. He was born near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 1, 1845, a son of John Wilson Argue, who was born in County Cavan, Ireland, went to America early in life, and followed farming in Canada. He died … Read more

Crawford County, Pennsylvania Census Records

1790 Crawford County, Pennsylvania Census Records Free 1790 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial  Hosted at A Genealogical Tour of Crawford County, Pennsylvania 1790 Crawford County as part of Allegheny County Combined index 1790, 1800, 1818, 1820 Hosted at Census Guide 1800 U.S. Census Guide 1800 Crawford County, Pennsylvania Census Records Free 1800 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial  Hosted at Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives Divisions 1800 Census Records Hosted at USGenWeb Census Project Divisions 1800 Federal Census Crawford County Hosted at A Genealogical Tour of Crawford County, Pennsylvania … Read more

Biography of Freeman R. Foster

Freeman R. Foster. One of the first men to set foot on the present site of the City of Topeka, and one of those who assisted in the platting of the town in 1854, was the late Freeman R. Foster. Although nearly twenty years have elapsed since the death of this early settler, he is still remembered as a man of sterling integrity, a helpful factor in the various movements which served to build up and advance the city of his adoption, and a citizen whose contributions to Topeka form a lasting monument to his memory. Mr. Foster was born … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Sitler, H.L.

H. L. Sitler, came to Dodge City, Kans., in 1868, and engaged in freighting for the United States government, and contracting, until 1876. He then engaged in the stock business, and continued until 1882. He is one of the stockholders of the Dodge City Bank. He has since the spring of 1882, retired from business. He was born in Crawford County, Pa., August 24, 1827, and lived in that county until 1865. He enlisted in the fall of 1861, to Company I, Second Pennsylvania Cavalry, and participated in all the battles of his command, and was made a prisoner at … Read more

Biography of Robert H. Childs

Robert H. Childs, now superintendent of the Petroleum Products Company plant in Independence, is one of the veteran oil men of America. His father was a pioneer in the oil fields of Western Pennsylvania, and Mr. Childs himself grew up in that environment, and took to the work as naturally as a New England youth goes to sea. There is probably not an important oil field in the country with which he has not been identified in some capacity or another. The Petroleum Products Company established a plant in Independence in 1908. The general officers of the company at Chicago … Read more

Biography of George Gorden Derby

George Gorden Derby is a comparatively young man but is old in the service of railroads. He began his career in Western Pennsylvania, where he was an employee and rose to large responsibilities with the Erie Railroad. About ten years ago he came West and had since been with the Santa Fe at different points and is now superintendent of the Oklahoma division, with headquarters at Arkansas City. Mr. Derby was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, January 14, 1876. His paternal ancestors were colonial settlers in Connecticut. His father, Lafayette Derby, was born in New York State in 1844, and … Read more

Biography of W. W. Kaney

W. W. Kaney. In the career of W. W. Kaney, of Chanute, there is found an excellent illustration of the rewards that may be attained through industry and perseverance, for his had been a life in which achievements have been self gained and in which outside assistance had played no part. With but an indifferent education he started out in the world to make his own way when he was but a lad, and had steadfastly worked his way to a position of prominence as one of the leading oil producers of this part of Kansas. Mr. Kaney was born … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Jacob Ernst

Jacob Ernst, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Humbolt; the subject of this sketch was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, March 30, 1839. He married Miss Julia Anna Joose Aug. 16, 1861 she was born in Baden, Germany, June 20, 1844; they had nine children, eight living, viz., George A., John M., Flora May, Mary A., Harry D., Willis E., Clarence and Jacob E.; Charlie died June 4, 1866. He lived in Germany about fifteen years, when he came to the United States and settled in Meadville, Penn., where he lived until 1855; he then moved to Owen Co., Ind.; thence to … Read more

Biography of Ira C. Buzick

Ira C. Buzick was one of the pioneer lawyers of Lincoln County. He was the first man elected to represent that county in the State Legislature after the county was formally organized in 1870. He had a long and active career as a lawyer and in public affairs, and the name is still continued on the professional rolls of the Kansas bar through his son, Alonson Ruckman Buzick of Salina. Ira C. Buzick was born June 21, 1841, at Dayton, Ohio. His parents were also native Ohioans. At the age of twenty-two he took up the study of law, and … Read more