Pomeroy Journals

Erie County (PA) Genealogy

Pomeroy Journals - circa 1820 to 1840

Contributed by Nancy Schlobohm


A web site visitor, Nancy Schlobohm, contributed the very interesting journal extracts shown below. She was searching for, and found, information about her ancestor, Medad Pomeroy and family. As a result, she provided the information that is shown below. Unfortunately, this information has been sitting in your web site coordinator's email box since July 2002. Fortunately, it has been found and is now being posted. Although the article mentions Conneaut Township, it also indicates Cranesville, which is actually a part of Elk Creek Township. As we do not have the "exact" location, this article will be listed associated with both townships.

Additional information concerning this family will be posted at a later date as some clarification is needed. However, since this material contains so many names, it is being posted now.


The following information is directly quoted from POMEROY HISTORY

 August 1939, by William Fisler Pomeroy:

 

From the HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, PA.:

             Conneaut Township had as first settlers in 1798, Arthur Crane and his brother Elihu Crane.

            The first Commissioners of Conneaut Township were Samuel Bradish, Matthew Harington, and Captain David Sawdy.

            Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Captain Sawdy was a blacksmith, a sailor on a whaling vessel, ship Captain, was taken prisoner in French and Indian War, sailed to West Indies, and operated drygoods store in Paris New York.  In 1819 he bought farm 1600 acres in Conneaut Township, Erie County, PA.  Opened a store, was appointed Postmaster in 1823 and held the office until it was moved to Pomeroy's Corners.  He was appointed to the State Legislature in 1837.  The foregoing biography of Captain Dawdy is not intended to connect him with Pomeroy history.  That he was a commissioner is what makes him interesting in connection with this story.

_______________________________________________

 

            In 1920, Joe Richardson, while rummaging through an old attic, found an account book which had lain hidden for many long years.  Joe was a Holland boy, having come to America about 3 years before.  Being well educated and a great reader, he found much that was interesting in the long narrow book which my grandfather, James Pomeroy, had used while engaged in running a tavern, in 1837, at Cranesville, Conneaut Township, Pennsylvania.  In 1939, I was fortunate in receiving a visit from Joe Richardson whom I had not seen for 18 years. Eighteen years before, he had visited his parents in Wagoningen, Holland.  His father induced him to stay in Holland and he became interested in the extensive wood manufacturing business which his father and brother operated.  The first thing Joe wanted to see was the old account book which he had found back in 1920.  Under the excitement of visiting, telling of his wife and 4 children, recalling happy memories and the loud talking which always accompanies such an occasion, there was not much chance for Joe to read the dim writing.  I showed him the story which I had written and, impulsively, promised to make a copy and send it to him after he had returned to Wagoningen, Holland.  Eighteen yers had changed Joe from a happy-go-lucky farmhand into a mature businessman of 44, who might have stepped from office or factory anywhere.  His scotch ancestry, for his grandfather emigrated to Holland from Scotland, had left its imprint upon him, although he looked more like an Englishman.  He spoke casually of wood from Sweden, Germany, Checho-Slovakia, and of cities, Brussels, Amsterdam, and other points in Europe.  the afternoon passed all too quicly and there remains but the brightness which he left behind him when he went away, and the task of copying the story, which in order to make it perhaps more interesting I have undertaken to adorn with a touch of fancy, here and there.       _______________________________________________

 

THE TAVERN

at Cranesville, Pennsylvania

1837

 

            Imagination must supply part of this story, although it will not be necessary to draw much from that source.  Beside me lies an old account-book in which James Pomeroy kept the records of his transactions a century ago.  this old book is long and narrow, tattered and torn from abuse, and the writing, while legible, is badly faded.

            Leaning over the bar and chatting with each customer in turn, James Pomeroy wrote:

           

            Oct 2 1837      Isaac Pomeroy Dr. to 10 1/2 beef @4        42

            Oct 25th 1837                        Bill of Witnesses & Referees

                                    Geo Stuntz                 1 Dinner                     25

                                    David Sawdy                        1 Dinner                     25

                                    Daniel Fleming                     1 Dinner                     25

                                    Wm Cross                  1 Dinner                     25

                                    Royal Jackson                       1 Dinner                     25

                                    Cal Davis                                           Paid

                                           Evans                                          Paid

                                    Esq. Hall                                            Paid

                                                Geo R. Cutler                        1 Dinner                     25

                                    Esq. Litchfield                      1 Dinner                     25

            Bill of  26th 1837                   To crackers and cheese                   37

                                                David Sawdy Lodging & Breakfast   31

                                                Geo Cutler          "                  "          31

                                                Esq. Litchfield    "                  "              31

                                                Wm. Cross          "                  "           31

                                                David B. Jackson    "             "          31

            27th                             David Sawdy Supper lodging

                                                        & Breakfast                                56

 

            Here the page is torn and we can only wonder what business brought together Esquires Ball and Litchfield, the referees and witnesses?  Perhaps it was land boundaries, or opening a road?

            James Pomeroy was in his prime, 42 years old, when he wrote on this page, now brown and mottled; while Harriet, then 16, went quickly here and there to wait upon the hungry men.  The timid child that ran bout the house; was Steve, my father, then a child of 3.

 

            Oct 8 1837                  Thos. McClean commenced boarding

            Sept 15                                   Peter McKenney commenced boarding.

            Oct 29                         Peter McKenney left boarding

            Oct 29                         Isaac Pomeroy to 12 lbs. beef @ 4 cents                48                               

            Sep 10 1837                Fowler Crane commenced boarding

                                                Left boarding May 3d 1838

                                                     35 weeks and one day 2.50 per week

 

            Sep 18                         Thos. Annis Dr. to 62 lb. beef                2.40

                                                to 1 drink whsk                                            .06

            Oct 2                           to 16 lbs. beef @4                              .64      total  3.10

            Sept 19                                   Thos. Annis Cr. by cash                         2.46

            Oct 30                         by potatoes                                       .64      total  3.10       

           

            Sep 19                         Abner Darlymple Dr.

                                                1 drink and supper                                      31

                                                2 drinks                                                          12

                                                to breakfast                                                   25

            Oct 6 1837                  Harmon Irish Cr. by one pair Oxen               45.00

                                                        the above settled

            Oct 19 1837                Abner Darlymple Cr. by 7 1/2 lbs. maple sugar            94

           

            Sep 20 1837                Sherman Haley to supper & lodging                    25

            Sep 21                         to supper                                                       25

                                                to 1 horse two days                                      75

                                                to 2 drinks whiskey                                     13

            Sep 25                         to one bushel potatoes                                            25

            Nov 1 1837                Hugh McBride Dr.     mail carrier

                                                to 4 quarts oats                                             9

                                                to 2 drinks brandy                                       13

                                                to 1 whsk                                                       6

            Nov 1 1837    Received $100 from Nathaniel Pomeroy which I agree to account for

                                                Emma Loomis to supper                                        25

                                                To crackers & cheese by referees & witnesses    25

                                                A King to supper                                         25

                                                Daniel Fleming to supper                          25

            Nov 2  1837               James Pomeroy 6 days to Erie coast expenses 4.50

                                                   paid Jackson .50

            Nov 4 1837                Samuel Halstead Cr. by 1 bushel corn                 50

            Nov 5 1837                Murphy Cr. by 15 1/2 bu. turnips                        94

            Nov 15 1837              Geo Hoxey Cr. by chopping 7 cords of wood     2.63    

            Nov 20 1837              Goodnow left 2.75  to pay tax against him  paid            2.75

            Nov 21                                   Paid Jackson                                                            1.00

                                                December Court                                                       1.50

            Dec. 27                                   Griswold Dr.

                                                to 1 bu. buckwheat                                        .62

                                                to 1 bu. buckwheat                                        .62

            Jan 15 1837                 no name given Cr. by 3 1/2 lbs. butter                   .50

            Jan 20 1837                 Anson Canfield Cr. by 1 bu. oats                 .31

 

            June 28 1837              George Pomeroy Dr. to 1 bushel corn                  1.50

                                                Samuel Culver     Dr. to 1 bushel corn                  1.50

                                                Amos Bradish Debtor to A. Munrow bill of returns 3.00

                                                George Pomeroy Debtor to cash for Nathaniel Pomeroy 1.14

 

            June 1837                   Elihu Crane Dr. to 1000 ft. of hewed timber

                                                     @ 4 cents per foot                                                40.00

             1837               James Duncan Dr.

                                                to making wagon axle                                                1.50

                                                to framing axle tree                                         1.50

                                                5 meals victuals & lodging                            1.31

                                                Horses to hay 2 nights & 1 day                      .50

                                                to five pecks of oats                                         .62

                                                                                                Total       5.44

            Evidently James Duncan had broken his wagon axle and had halted his journey at the tavern while James Pomeroy, who also did carpenter work, made a new axle for him.

 

            1840                            Anson Crocker Dr. to 3 bu. of oats                              .25

                                                to 1/2 bu. oats                                             

                                                The oats had by DeWolf                                               .19

                                                to two bu. oats fed to Isaac Pomeroy's & Sherman's

                                                    teams oxen                                                                  .50

                                                to thirty yards factory cloth                        3.75

                                                to two axes                                                 1.25

 

Probably this cloth was used to make a wagon sheet for a covered wagon

 

            My eye falls upon an entry in a woman's handwriting, dainty and feminine, possibly written under the critical gaze of the customer.  In fancy I see a trace of color mounting her cheek as she makes the record:

            Aug the 7                   Dr. to 25 pounds of flower

                                                at 2  1/2 cents per pound                                  .62

                                                Dr. to washing                                             .06

                                                Ruth Pomeroy Cr. by 14 lbs. cheese

 

            The Tavern Keeper had given Ruth Pomeroy, who his sister-in-law, credit for one cheese weighing 14 lbs.

But there is more than the record indicates.  There must be.  As I turn the crumbling leaves I feel very near to these old names.  It seems as if they speak in gentle tones, low and sweet, while closer, closer round about me come the echoes of a day recorded on its faded page.  Waiting there, beside the pasture fence, the patient cows watched Ruth take down the bars.  She called out gently, each familiar name and patted them as they passed through the gate.  While carrying the heavy, brimming pail, a sentimental song rose in her throat.   Perhaps in a spring-trough the milk was cooled.  Then carefully the cheese was put to press.  Down in the stone-arched cave all cool and dark, she placed the cheese upon the shelf to age.  Ruth Pomeroy was 37 years old when she walked into the tavern carrying a 14 lb. cheese.  Ruth was the daughter of Elihu Crane and was born April 20, 1799; Eliza Crane (cousin) was born to Abiaither Crane, in same house on the same day, Conneaut Township, Erie Co., PA.

            Isaac Pomeroy and Ruth Crane were married and had 9 children; Alden, Clarinda, Mary, Hannah, Sarah, Lucy, Laura, Eliza, and Jerome (Civil War Vet.)  Isaac died in 1842.

 

            Alden Pomeroy was a farmer and had 169 acres of land.  He served 7 years as Captain of the Pennsylvania State Militia.

            Isaac Pomeroy was a brother to my grandfather James Pomeroy.

            It is not disappointing to note that none of the Pomeroys of our ancestry, since coming to America, rose to fame and high honor.  You can rest assured that the historians would have been quick to distinguish the names, if among them had been found those entitled to be recorded among the great.  And yet, there is satisfaction in thinking about the lives of our great-great-great--grandfathers, and how they lived in the outskirts of villages or perhaps chopped out trees at the edge of the woods in clearing a building place.  Hewing, building, soldiering, and farming, our predecessors met the challenge of life in a new world.  We can trace our genealogy back through the lives of these Early Americans, by the imprint which their rugged characters left on the communities in which they lived and died.  For 200 years our folks lived around Northampton, Mass., and at Suffield, Conn., and New Ashford, Mass.; then after the Revolutionary War, they joined the stream of emigration that flowed westward over the Allegheny Mountains, and settled in northwest Pennsylvania in Erie County.

_______________________________________________________

 

From History of Erie County Pennsylvania:

 

"WINTER SCHOOL was held in the cabin of NATHANIEL POMEROY about 1 1/2 miles NW of Albion, in 1822, by Rodolphis Loomis."  Nathaniel Pomeroy was a brother to Grandfather James Pomeroy.

 

 

After several entries in the first pages of the account book, he recorded an index:

 

A

David Atwood

John Alesworth

Thomas Acres

Thomas Annis

 

B

Walter Bradish                     Wm. Boardwell                    Amos Bradish

Francis Brock                        Stephen Beckwith    Reuben Benton

Nathan Barton                      Austin Beale             Wm. Bowler

Noah Ball                  Nathaniel Babit                    Nathaniel Battles

Richard Bradish                   Joshua Barron                       Charles Bagley

 

C

Fowler Crane                        Geo Cutler                 Jerry Collins

Anson Canfield                    Philip Coon               John Carter

Elihu Crane               Jonas Cutler              Walter Cady

Ephriam Crane                     Oliver Cook              F. J. Christy

Adoujeah Crane                   Jabez Cloak              

Robert Condon                     John Canada

Anson Crocker                      Horace Craz

 

D

Daniel Driscol                       Alva DeWolf

James Duncan                       James Dunn

Horace Darlin                       Hiram DeWitt

                                    Darlympl

                        Driskoll

 

E                                  G                                   H                               I

Esquire Jas. Eaton    David Graves                    Hillgore             Lewis Irish

Lyman Evans                        L. R. George              Hopkins                                 Harmon Irish

                                    Griffiths                     Philip Hays              

                                    Glenn                         Geo Hoxey

                                                                        Wm Hulburt

                                                                        Samuel Halstead

J                                   K                                 L. P. Howard                        L

Obid Jenks                Wm Kelly                  Jacob Hutchins                     Litchfield

Abel James                Anthony King                       Hamilton                   Sprague Lee

Isaac Johnson                        Jacob Keyser             Hogarty                                 Daniel Le Horn

Levi Joslin                 Alfred King               Hayman                                 Alfred Leatherby

Joseph L. Jackson     John Kingston                       A.L. Hathaway                     Patrick Long

                                    Aben Keep                T. Hedges                  James Lynch

                                    Julius Keepe                                                 John Le Horn

 

M                                            O                                 P

Wm Martin                            Michael O'Brien                   Sullivan Porter

Samuel Main                         Wm O'Neil                Michael Perry

Cornelius McBride              James O'Hara                        Elias Palmer

Lyman Maxon                                                                      Geo Pomeroy

Daniel Mansfield                                                     Francis Pierce

David Matthers                                                                    Isaac Pomeroy

Geo Montgomery                                                                 John Perry

Albert Matthers                                                                    Nathaniel Pomeroy

Robert McKalmy                                                                  Joseph Petro 

Rober Mac Commins                                                           Lewis Preston

Jesse Macumber                                                                   Orson Pond

Wm Morgan                                                              John Pomeroy

David Milks                                                              Isaac Pomeroy

John Mac Brader                                                                   Lyman Pomeroy

Willard Marifield                                                     George Petro

Cornelius Mahoney                                                 Harry Pomeroy

John Mina

John Maginty

Lyman Maxon

 

R                                             S                                  T

O.C. Randall                         Gravestone Sikes      Doctor Trowbridge

Patrick River                         Ezekiel Sanders

                                                Samuel Sherman

                                                James Swany

                                                Charles Spiller

                                                Abraham Spiller

                                                Israel Still

                                                Edward Sondergrass

 

Here the list ends, for the page is torn.

 

 


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