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Conneaut Township
is one of the original subdivisions of Erie County.
It is the extreme southwestern township of the county, and contains 25,540
acres. The population was 631 in 1810; 1,324, in 1830; 1,746, in 1840; 1,942,
in1850; 2,118, in 1860; 1,538, in 1870, and 1,545, in 1880. The decrease
between 1860 and 1870 was due to the incorporation of Albion
as a borough in 1861. The township is bounded on the north by Springfield and Girard, on the east by Elk Creek, on the
west by Ashtabula County, Ohio,
and on the south by Beaver and Spring
Townships, Crawford County.
Its greatest length is about eight and three-fourths miles from east to west,
and its greatest width six and one-fourth from north to south. Conneaut
contains the villages of Cherry Hill, Keepville, Tracy and Albion Depot,
all of which have post offices except the last. The township received its
title from Conneaut Creek, its principal stream. The word Conneaut is of
Indian origin, signifying "snow place," from the fact that the snow
used to lie longer upon the ice of Conneaut
Lake, Crawford county,
than anywhere else the country round.
The appraisement for 1883, gave the following results: Value of real estate,
$686,536; number of cows, 574; value, $14,250; number of oxen, 16; value,
$995; horses and mules, 423, value, $23,240; total value of personal property
assessed, $38,485; value of trades and occupations, $8,820; amount of money
at interest, $6,378. The census returns for 1880 show that there were 433
houses occupied by 453 families.
The First Settlers
The first settler within the bounds of the township was Jonathan
Spaulding, who reached there from New
York in the year 1795. Two years after the Population
Company sent Col. Dunning McNair on as agent, who established his
headquarters at what became known as Lexington,
and with a corps of assistants surveyed the country, laid out roads, made
preparations for disposing of the property. In 1798, Abiather Crane and his brother Elihu, from Connecticut,
located near Col. McNair, but neither remained long, the former moving to
Mill Creek in 1800, and the latter to Elk Creek in
the spring of 1800. Abiather first went into
Conneaut as a surveyor in 1797, but did not locate there until the ensuing
year. The arrival of other pioneers was as follows: In 1800, Matthew
Harrington, from Vermont; George
Griffey and Andrew
Cole, from Onondaga County, N. U., and Stephen Randall and his son
Sheffield, from Rensselaer County, N. U.; in 1801, Robert
McKee, from Cumberland County, Penn.; in 1802, Henry
Ball, From Fredericksburg, Va., Patrick
Kennedy, his son Royal,
and William
Payne from Connecticut; in 1808, Marsena Keep and son Marsena,
from Montgomery County, N. Y.; in 1804, Joel Bradish and brothers, from New York; in 1806, Lyman
Jackson, from Otsego County, N. Y.; in 1810, Michael
Jackson, son of Lyman, who remained but a few months, returned to New
York and came back five years later. The following persons settled in the
township at a later date: In 1815, George
Stuntz, from Barclay County, Va., and his son
E. W. Stuntz; in 1816, Medad Pomeroy, from Massachusetts, with his sons, Nathaniel,
Uriah, John,
Lyman, James,
George and Horace, and three daughters, together with James W. and G. Spicer,
from New York; in 1817, Benjamin Sawdy and Isaac
Pomeroy, from Massachusetts; in 1818, David Sawdy,
from Massachusetts, Abijah Barnes, from Cayuga County, N. Y., and Samuel
Bradish; in1910, Noah
Kidder and son Francis,
Edward De Wolf and Daniel
Rossiter, from New York, and Samuel
Sawdy (father of David and Benjamin),
with his sons John,
Job
and Daniel,
from New Bedford, Mass.; in 1820, Rodolphus Loomis,
from Chautauqua County, N. Y.; about 1824 or 1825, Harrison
Parks; in 1829, Jones
Lewis; in 1831, Thomas
Bowman, wife and family (including Ralph),
from Oneida County, N. Y.; in 1832, William
Cornell and John
Curtis; in 1833, Chester
Morley and Andrew
and Silas Morrison; in 1834, Christopher Cross, Edward Dorrence
and Hiram
Griffis; in 1837, Andrew
Swap, Daniel
Waters and Joseph
Tubbs; in 1838, Isaiah and Johnson
Pelton; in 1839, Marcus A. Bumpus.
Among those who went in about the commencement of the century, are Bartholomew
Forbes, Howard,
John, Nathan,
David
and Charles Salsbury. Thomas
Sprague, James
Paul, James
Whittington, Thomas
Alexander, John Stuntz, Giles
Badger, Ichabod Baker and Jacob
Walker. A large portion of the settlers whose formers homes are not given
were from New York,
principally from the central counties. Henry Ball was a Captain in the war of
1812, and several of the others served against the British as privates.
Jonathan Spaulding's sons, David, John and George, were born in the township,
the first in 1802, the second in 1806, and the last in 1816. William
Harrington, the oldest son of Matthew, was born in 1805. William Paul went
into Elk Creek with Mr. Colton in 1797; returned to Connecticut, and came back about 1816.
George Stuntz was a local preacher of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Noah Kidder and son went to Springfield in 1817, but moved to Conneaut
two years after. Medad Pomeroy settled on Conneaut
Creek, about a mile north of Albion, where
he owned several hundred acres, extending into Elk Creek township.
The first male child was Henry Wood, born about 1798. The first female
children were Ruth, daughter of Elihu Crane and
wife, and Eliza, daughter of Abiather Crane and
wife, who were born in the same house near Lexington, on the same day, April 20, 1799.
Ruth Crane married Isaac Pomeroy, and became the mother of two sons -- Alden
and Jerome -- and seven daughters. Her cousin, Eliza, became the wife of
James Love, Jr., and moved to Mill Creek. The first recorded death was that
of Mrs. Thomas Alexander, who expired in 1801, and was buried "at a
point between two runs, about half a mile north of Albion."
The oldest lady who has ever lived in the township was Mrs. Thomas Bowman,
who died in the fall of 1862 aged nearly ninety-two years.
Creeks and Bridges
The chief stream of the township is Conneaut Creek, which rises
below Conneautville, in Crawford
County, flows in a general northerly
course to the Springfield line, then turns
abruptly westward, and continues into Ohio.
After changing its course, it forms the boundary line between Conneaut and Springfield, the former
lying on the south and the latter on the north. In Ohio, it continues
westward nine miles to Kingsville, then makes another sudden bend to the
east, and comes back eight miles to Conneaut, where it turns again to the
north, and after a further course of about a mile empties into the lake a
mile and a half from the boundary of Pennsylvania, forming Conneaut Harbor.
It is the most crooked of the lake shore streams, the length from head to
mouth by its windings being from seventy to seventy-five miles, which the
distance by an air line is not more than twenty-five miles. The valley of the
creek forms the route of the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad through conneaut Township, and was utilized for the same purpose in
laying out the old canal from Albion
southward. Its length across the township is fully twelve miles. The West
Branch of Conneaut Creek rises in Crawford County, near the Ohio line, runs
in a general northeasterly direction through the south part of the township,
and unites near Keepville, after a source of
between nine and ten miles. The East Branch heads in Crawford County, below
the Elk Creek line, runs past Wellsburg and Cranesville,
and enters Conneaut Township a mile or so northeast of Albion. It has a
length of not far from ten miles. At Wellsburg, it is joined by Frazier's Run, and at Albion by Jackson's Run. The latter takes its rise on
the Conneaut and Elk Creek line, near Crawford County,
flows north, then northeast, and is from four to six miles long. After
receiving Jackson's
Run, the East Branch continues about half a mile further, before merging with
the main stream. Marsh Run heads in the west, flows eastward, and empties
into the Conneaut about a mile from Albion Depot, having a length of four or
five miles. The dividing ridge between the waters of the lake and the
Allegheny turns to the south in Fairview
Township, and follows nearly the
line of Conneaut Creek into Crawford
County. The frequent
streams and their unusual crookedness are a source of heavy expense to the
tax-payers, the number of bridges and the cost of keeping them up being
undoubtedly greater than in any other township of the county. Not to name
those on the branches, there are, on Conneaut Creek alone, the Law, Griffith,
Porter, Perry and Salsbury bridges, along the Springfield line, and
the Pomeroy, Kennedy, Silverthorn, Keepville and Spaulding within the township proper. These
include the public bridges only, besides which the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad Company have
two more, known as the Sawdy and Kennedy second.
All of the township bridges are built of timber with stone abutments.
The valley of Conneaut Creek from Crawford
County to Springfield varies in width from a quarter
of a mile to a mile, and consists of a sandy loam, which is very fertile,
producing everything that can be raised along the lake shore. West of
Lexington, along the Conneaut and Springfield
line, there are occasional small spots of bottom land, but generally speaking
the hills run almost to the water's edge. A large tract of country, in the
southwest, near the Ohio and Crawford County line, still remains in forest,
being owned by the Pennsylvania Lumber company. Fruits of nearly all kinds
are grown readily. The price of land varies greatly, being as low as $15 an
acre in some localities and as high as $65 in others.
Land, Litigation and Pre-Historic Remains
John B. Wallace, of Philadelphia, made his
home in Meadville at an early day, to act as
attorney for the Holland
Land company. In that
capacity he located tracts in various places, among them being one of 10,000
acres in the western part of conneaut Township.
This property was sold by Sheriff Wolverton, on an
execution against Mr. Wallace, in 1825, and purchased by or in behalf of
Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia.
It was Mr. Girard's design to make extensive improvements by erecting mills,
opening roads, etc., but while his agent was arranging to carry out his
plans, news came in January, 1832, of the great millionaire's death. By Mr.
Girard's will, the Conneaut lands, with a large quantity of others, were left
in trust to the city of Philadelphia
on a perpetual fund for the maintenance of a college for orphans. After the
death of Mr. Wallace, in 1833, his heirs claimed that the Conneaut lands had
been wrongfully sold, because the title was in Mrs. Wallace, instead of her
husband. Suit was brought by Judge Thompson and Benjamin Grant in the name of
the Wallace heirs to recover the property, when a verdict was rendered for
the plaintiffs. The Moravian grant embraced between 400 and 500 acres in the
northwestern corner of Conneaut, extending over from Springfield, where the most of the
"Hospitality tract" lay.
On the John Pomeroy place, upon the second flat of Conneaut Creek, are the
traces of an ancient mound, such as exist in Girard, Springfield, Harbor
Creek, Fairview, Wayne, and other townships of the county. It is circular in
form, inclosing about three-fourths of an acre. The embankment, when the
country was cleared up, was about three feet high by six feet thick at the
base, with large trees growing upon it. One of these trees, a mammoth oak,
when cut down, indicated by its rings an age of five hundred years. Beneath
the tree the skeleton of a human being was taken up which showed to a verity
that giants lived in those remote ages. The bones measured eleven feet from
head to foot, the jawbone easily covered that of a man who weighed over 200
pounds, and the lower bone of the leg, being compared with that of a person
who was six fee four inches in height, was found to be nearly a foot longer.
Another circle of a similar character existed on the Taylor farm -- now owned by J. L. Strong.
On the John Pomeroy place is also a peculiar mound, about 100 feet long, 50
wide and 24 high. It stands on the south side of a small stream, upon flat
land, and is wholly detached from the adjacent bluff.
Railroad, Canal and Common Roads
The Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad, the only one in the township, runs
through its whole width from Girard Township on the north to Crawford County
on the south. The ridge between Crooked and Conneaut Creeks is overcome by a
deep excavation that is usually known as Sawdy's
Cut. After that the road follows the valley of the latter stream through the
township to its head in Crawford
County. The road
crosses the creak twice within Conneaut
Township, first by the Sawdy bridge, and second by the Kennedy bridge near Algion. The Sawdy bridge has a
span of about 100 feet and a fill of about fifty or sixty rods; the one near
Albion, a span of equal length and a trestle work of some twenty rods. Albion depot is the main station of the township. The
Pennsylvania Erie Canal -- now one of the things of the past -- entered
Conneaut from Elk Creek at a point between Cranesville
and Albion, and continued south by nearly the same route as the railroad, but
at a higher elevation. The once noted Eleven Mile Level, the longest on its
line, reached from near Lockport, through
Albion, to Spring Corners, Crawford
County. North of
Albion, the canal crossed the East Branch by a culvert forty-one feet high,
with a span of between thirty and forty feet, which still stands and is used as
a roadway.The main avenues of the township are the
Lexington road, from the latter place to Girard, opened about 1797; the State
road across the north part of the township, from Elk Creek to Ohio; the
Meadville road, from Lexington into Crawford County; the Albion and Cranesville road; the Albion and Wellsburg road; the road
from Albion due west to Conneaut Center; the Albion & Keepville;
"Porky street," from Cherry Hill south; and the Creek road from
Pomeroy's bridge to Crawford County.
Schools, Mills and Burial Places
No record remains of the earliest schools in the township. A winter school
was held in a cabin on the farm of Nathaniel Pomeroy, about one and a half
miles southwest from Albion about 1822, by Rodolphus Loomis. Anna Randall taught a summer term at
the same place. About 1823, a log schoolhouse was built in that neighborhood,
at which Mary Randall and John Spaulding were early teachers. A school near
the site of Thornton's
grist mill in Albion Borough was taught by Sophia Kennedy. Other taught here,
and the schoolhouse burned down about 1824. Among other early teachers at
Albion, was David Powell, whose parents were residents of Crawford County.
Following is a list of the schools of Conneaut Township: Bowman, on the old
State road, in the L; Valley, on the Creek road, near Albion; Bumpus, on the Conneautville
road, to the southeast; Keepville; Kidder's
Corners; Harrington, on the West Branch; Cherry Hill, a little east of the
village; Center, a little south of the Town House; Brown, on the State road,
west of Cherry Hill; Brock, on the southwest; and Kimbell,
on the Ohio line.
The manufacturing establishments of the township are Spalding's saw mill, on
the West Branch; Brown's cheese factory, on the State road, east of Cherry
Hill (opened May 11, 1874); Kennedy's brick yard and tile factory, near
Kennedy's bridge; Robinson's blacksmith shop, and Brewster's and Case's wagon
shops, near Kidder's Corners; a blacksmith shop near Albion; and a number of
portable saw mills which have no permanent location. The Penn Lumber Company,
about two years ago, erected a large saw mill in the extreme southwest corner
of the township. The company owns 2,800 acres of land, has build a four-mile
railroad track to the E. & P. Railroad, and is extensively engaged in
sawing lumber, handles, etc., and shipping them to the market. Tracy is the post office
name of the settlement.
There is an old graveyard at Saulsbury's bridge,
where a number of early settlers are buried, and others at Keepville and on the Creek road, near Kennedy's bridge.
The oldest man known to have lived in the township was the father of
ex-County Commissioner Garner Palmer, who died several years ago, lacking but
little of a hundred.
Villages
The village of Albion
Depot is on the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad, twenty-six
miles from Erie
City, and a mile west
from Albion Borough. It embraces, besides the depot building, a grocery and
twelve or fifteen houses, most of which are occupied by employees of the
railroad. Keepville consists of a post office, store,
Methodist Episcopal Church, schoolhouse, cheese factory, shingle mill, and
several residences, at the intersection of two roads, near Conneaut Creek,
two and a half miles southwest of Albion Borough. It was named after Marsena Keep, Sr., who settled there in 1808. Keepville Wesleyan congregation was organized, with about
fourteen members, in 1854, Rev. John L. Moore being the first pastor. The
church building was erected the same year, at a cost of $1,500. In 1866 or
1867, a Methodist Episcopal society was organized from the Wesleyan society,
and now has for its pastor Rev. Fiddler. The charge belongs to Spring
Circuit, most of the appointments of which are in Crawford County.
The Wesleyan society still survives, but is quite small. The cheese factory
was built in 1878 by Amos K. Keep, H. Stoddard and Josiah J. Pelton, consisting $1,500. A Methodist Episcopal Church,
schoolhouse, two general stores, a blacksmith shop and twenty to thirty
houses constitute the village of Cherry Hill, on the State road, about half a mile
south of the Springfield line, and five miles
west of Albion. Porter's grist and saw mill
on Conneaut Creek, in Springfield
Township, are a little north of the village. Cherry
Hill stands on high ground, and the country about the village is
cold, hard to work, and not very productive. The church was organized with
about fifteen members, by Rev. J. W. Wilson, in 1858, and the building was
erected the same year at a cost of $1,250. The society was attached to Albion
Circuit till Lockport Circuit was formed, to which it now belongs. When Col.
McNair established his agency for the Population Company, in 1797, he laid
out a town plat of 1,600 acres, at the big bend of Conneaut Creek, near the
present Springfield line, which he expected to become a place of a good deal
of importance. At the suggestion of one of his surveyors, who was a
Kentuckian, he gave it the title of Lexington.
Roads were laid out, and, being the center of the company's operations in the
west, Lexington
in time became a village of no little pretension. At one period it has a
store, schoolhouse, hotel, distillery, and several residences. A post office
was established in 1828 with David Sawdy as
Postmaster. Not a vestige of Lexington
is now left. Its site is covered by the David Sawdy
and L. R. Strong farms.
Miscellaneous
The original line of Conneaut extended westward parallel with the southern
line of Girard Township
to Ohio,
taking in Conneaut Creek and more than a mile of country north of that
stream. This threw the whole burden of building and maintaining bridges upon
Conneaut, and about 1835 she ceded the territory north of the creek to Springfield, in
consideration of the latter township paying one-half of that item of expense. Springfield
made a considerable gain of land, and Conneaut relieved herself from
burdensome taxation.
Following is a complete list of citizens of Albion and Conneaut who have been
elected to Legislative and county offices: Assembly -- David Sawdy, 1838; Humphrey A. Hills, 1858-54 (now residing at East Springfield); Orlando Logan, 1875-75. Commissioner
-- Abiather Crane, 1803 to 1805; John Salsbury, 1825 to 1828; David Sawdy,
1841 to 1844; Humphrey A Hills, 1847 to 1850; Garner Palmer, 1862 to 1865,
and 1869 to 1872. County
Auditor -- W. J.
Brockway, 1875 to 1878. Mercantile Appraiser, Liberty Salsbury,
1872. Hon. George H. Cutler lived in Conneaut
Township for a time, and taught
school in Albion. He moved from there to
Girard, and served the county as State Senator from 1873 to 1876.
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The borough of Albion occupies an
elevated site at the junction of Jackson's Run
with the East Branch, near the Elk Creek line, a mile east of Albion depot,
and twenty-seven miles southwest of Erie
by the E. & P. Railroad. The first settlers at Albion
were Thomas Alexander, Patrick Kennedy, William Pain, Ichabod
Baker and Lyman Jackson. Michael Jackson, son of Lyman, who built the first
saw mill, did not become a permanent resident until 1815, although he spend a
few months there five years earlier. William Sherman settled at Albion in
1827, coming from Herkimer
County, N. Y. He died
on the 1st of February, 1883, aged seventy-eight years. Thomas Thornton came
from England at an early
age, and settled in Albion about 1857. Amos
King built the first grist mill and Lyman Jackson taught the first school.
The town was long known as Jackson's Cross
Roads, and the post office name has been successively Jacksonville,
Juliet and Albion. It is one mile from
Albion to Cranesville and Wellsburg (the three places
forming the points of an equilateral triangle), six to East
Springfield, eight to Girard, six to Spring and nine to Conneautville. The canal passed through the place, and to
the business that grew out of it Albion owed
most of its growth. The Denio Fork and Handle
Factory was located at Albion
until its destruction by fire in 1878, which resulted in the removal of the
business to Miles Grove. Of the prominent residents of the place, E. W. Stuntz settled there in 1815, coming from Kingsville,
Ohio; Dr. J. S. Skeels, in 1848, from Spring,
Crawford County; Dr. P. D. Flower, in 1855, from Harbor Creek; Dr. L. D.
Davenport, in 1850, from Ellington Center, N. Y., and Jeduthan
Wells, in 1857, from Wellsburg.
Albion was incorporated as a borough in 1861, taking in a section of Conneaut Township exactly a mile square. It
then contained 443 inhabitants. The population in 1870 was 452,
and 433 in 1880. The first borough officers were elected in March, 1861,
Perry Kidder being chosen Burgess. The religious denominations are Methodist
Episcopal, Disciple and Catholic.
Churches
The first Methodist Episcopal Church in this vicinity stood about
three-fourths of a mile west of Albion, and
was built more than fifty years ago. It was occupied until about 1855,
when the society was disbanded and the building removed. At Albion,
a society had been formed previous to the dismemberment of the above class.
It held services in the academy until about 1855, when the present church was
built. It cost $2,000 and was dedicated by Rev. Calvin Kingsley. The society
was a part of Springfield Circuit until 1854, when Albion Circuit was formed.
It embraces the societies at Albion,
Wellsburg, Cranesville and Pageville.
The first pastor was I.O. Fisher in 1854-55, and latterly C. W. Foulke, 1881-82. The society now numbers about eighty
members.
Catholic services have been held at Albion
for many years in McGuire's hall and the Disciple meeting-house. Thirty years
ago, the society was an old one. The membership includes about twenty-five
families. This charge was supplied at first by priests from Crossingville, but more recently they come from Conneautville, Crawford
County.
A Disciple congregation was organized in the spring of 1880 by Rev. Clarence
J. Cushman. He remained in charge two years. The
class is small but has a frame church edifice in process of construction.
Business, Schools and Societies
The business establishments of the borough consist of a hotel -- the Sherman
House -- three dry goods and grocery stores, two confectionery, one drug
store, two hardware stores, two shoe shops, two millinery stores, two barber
shops, feed store, clothing store and tailor shop, paint shop and two
blacksmith shops. The Sherman House was built in 1828 by Benjamin Nois. It passed into the hands of William Sherman some
time after, who continued as its proprietor some fifty years. The house is
now managed by his son, Mott Sherman.
The borough contains a good two-story school building and a Masonic Hall.
Albion Lodge, No. 376, I.O. O. F., was instituted September 14, 1849, with
the following eight charter members: Calvin Chaddock,
William Sherman, Orsan O. Potter, John Clark, James
McKendry, Ira S. Barber, Alonzo Sherman and E. E.
Stone. The lodge now has a membership of fifty-two. A fire in 1851 destroyed
its hall, charter and books. A second hall was erected, which also burned
down on the night of February 10, 1884, together with one store. Meetings are
regularly held every Saturday evening.
Western Star Lodge, No. 304, F. & A. M., was chartered December 1, 1856.
Its charter members were C. W. Cross, Stephen Munger,
William W. Skeels, B. H. Galpin,
John Turner, James Cross, Joseph Towner, A. B. Crumb and E.
Jackson. It owns the second floor of the building, built in
1874, in which the meetings are held. The lodge now numbers fifty-six members
and meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
Albion Lodge, No. 88, Ancient Order of United Workmen, was instituted March
10, 1875, with about twenty members. Its charter officers were George Nash,
P. M. W.; W. J. Brockway, M. W.; George Runyan, G.
E.; S. D. Sawdy, E.; E. W. Randall, Recorder; C. C.
Carter, Financier; C. S. Young, Receiver; J. M. Sherman, G.; A. H. Wells, I.
W.; G. N. Sawdy, O. W. The membership is
forty-nine, and regular meetings are held the second and fourth Saturdays of
each month.
Albion Union, No. 101. Equitable Aid Union, was chartered with thirty-one members May 27, 1880.
Its first officers were Dr. O. Logan, Chancellor; Mrs. Mary A. Sherwood,
Advocate; S. A. Sanders, President; Moses Williams, Vice President; H. H.
Adams, Auxiliary; B. E. Keep, Secretary; L. H. Salisbury, Treasurer; E. B.
Hathaway, accountant. Mrs. S. S. Keep, Chaplain; J. H. Carpenter, Warden;
Edward Froby, Sentinel; C. V. Lick, Watchman; O. P.
Mosier, Conductor. The Union now contains
ninety members, and meets the first and third Fridays of each month. The two
last-named orders are beneficiary in their object.
The school building was erected in 1868, at a cost, inclusive of furniture
and apparatus, of $7,000. Previous to that the borough school
were held in the academy, built in 1838.
Factories, Newspapers, Etc.
The manufacturing establishments are Thornton's
grist and woolen mills, Wells' oar factory, and Van Riper's
horse rake and wooden ware factory. All of these use steam. The water-power,
once quite good, has become unreliable since the clearing up of the country.
The flouring mill was built in 1828, by Amos King, and is now owned by Joshua
Thornton. The woolen mill was erected by W. H. Gray, in 1840, burned in 1876,
and rebuilt in 1880 by Thomas Thornton. Its present owner is William thornton. Michael Jackson built the rake factory in 1846.
It has been completely overhauled and much extended by George VanRiper & Co. The oar factory was built by Henry
Salisbury and Reuben McLallen in 1859. It burned
down on the 1st of March, 1868, and was rebuilt by Frank Wells the same year.
Jeduthan Wells is the present owner.
A newspaper, the Erie County Enterprise, was started June 15, 1877,
but failed in 1880 for want of support. Its publishers were J. W. Britton and
F. J. Dumars. The Albion
Blizzard, a weekly newspaper, was established by two of the young
business men of Albion Borough -- E. C. Palmer and E. F. Davenport -- May 25,
1882. The first four numbers were published as a two-column folio, at which
time the Post Office Department refused to allow it to pass as second-class
matter. After a week or two of suspension, the Blizzard was enlarged
to a quarto, June 29, 1882, and was entered properly in the mails as other newspapers.
Near the close of Volume I, the outlook was that the paper must cease to
exist, but the publishers made a canvass and received such encouragement that
they bought a new cylinder press and enlarged their paper to a seven-column
folio, issuing the first number July 12, 1883.
The borough has a general cemetery, which might be made a handsome place of
burial. The appraisement for 1883 showed the following results: Value of real
estate, $88,205; cows, fifty-two; value, $1,040; horses and mules, sixty-four;
value, $3,825; value of trades and occupations, $6,705; money at interest,
$4,997.
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