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WHO WAS WHO in PLUM TOWNSHIP
~ Titusville Herald
By H. W. Strawbridge ~ 1950s - 60s

THE LIFE OF UNCLE BILL MARKLEY

The Markley family is of German descent. The name was spelled Merkle in Germany. The Markley ancestor, Jacob Merkle, used the spelling, Merkle. Throughtout this biography, however, the present-day spelling of Markley will be used.
Jacob Markley, born Jan.12, 1827, and his wife, Barbara Christine Langiaer, born aug.5,1826, came to the United States from Germany in January, 1847. A voyage then lasted 60 to 80 days. Jacob’s brother and three sisters also came to this country. They settled in Buffalo, N.Y., or a locality known as Black Rock, which was within Buffalo.
The Markley family moved to Troy Township, Crawford County, around 1867. The second son, George Markley, was born Feb.13, 1850, in Buffalo. He was gifted at a number of occupations such as a cooper, blacksmith, farmer, carpenter and an agent.
George Markley was married to Mary Eddy of Troy township on Jan.11, 1871, at Erie, Pa. Mary was born March 17, 1850, in Plum Township, a daughter of Abiel A. and Patience August Eddy. She was a rather small woman with dark hair, and she was a neat and tidy woman.
Mary’s father Abiel Eddy, born Dec.5, 1794, in Vermont, was a veteran of the War of 1812. His first wife, Millicent Tripp Eddy, died in 1848. Abiel carpentered and farmed. His second wife, Patience, was born Nov.2, 1810. They first lived in Plum township, then they moved to Troy Township.
George and Mary Eddy Markley first lived with his parents, then they moved into a small house which once stood west of the creek in Troy Center, towards the cemetery. From there they moved onto the southeast corner of Troy Center in 1874. by 1877 they were living in a new cooper shop which George had built on his new farm of 50 acres which was located some distance on the higher plane east of Troy Center. By 1878 he had built the upright part of his new house, and that is where the family of eight children were reared.
Their eight children with the dates of births were as follows: Abiel Eddy Markley, Oct.22, 1871; William Henry Markley, March 6, 1873; Willard Leonard Markley, Feb.23, 1875; George Clifford Markley, Aug.2, 1877; Mary (Mae)Barbara Markley, Sept.16, 1879; Edith Patience Markley, Jan.26, 1881; John Gordon Markley, July 11, 1885; and Frank Jacob Markley, June 3, 1887.
The second son, William Henry Markley, subject of this biography, was born in the small house west of the creek in Troy Center. He was probably three or four years old when the family moved upon the farm.
Uncle Bill Markley attended the old White School which was located one mile southeast of the Markley home as the crow flies. However, by road it was upwards of two miles. Probably in good weather the Markley children cut across the woods and fields to the school. The names of three of his schoolteachers were Alice L. Minckley, Ella A. Baker and Carrie Altenburg.
Bill and his older brother, Abiel (Bide), occasionally stayed with their Grandfather and Grandmother Eddy out on the main road from Diamond to Troy Center. The failing old gentleman held daily worship in his home, and everybody was required to kneel during those times. While kneeling, the boys would steal some of their grandfather’s “Fine Cut” tobacco out of a pail from under his bed. The old gentleman wouldn’t do any work on “Sundays. Kindling was cut on Saturdays, as well as Sunday meals prepared on Saturdays. He died July 5, 1885, aged 90. Bide was then 13 and Bill was 12.
After his death the two older Markley brothers took turns staying with their Grandmother Eddy. They got very little education when they stayed there because their grandmother didn’t believe in schooling.
Bill’s youngest brother, Frank, once said that there used to be a tintype of Bide and Bill when they were boys. This writer has never seen that tintype.
The Markley sons loved to play baseball. In fact they kept their father rather busy buying window panes each spring to replace the ones broken by baseballs flying through them.
Their father once bought some young stock from some farmer. The Markley sons tried to make a yoke of oxen out of them. They had trouble keeping the young oxen from “turning the yoke”. Uncle Bill was the best one of the boys to train and drive oxen. He had the right knack of handling them. He once trained an ox to pull a buggy in the fields. Somehow he turned a horse collar upside down on an ox to do this.
Bill liked oxen. Once he bought a yoke of oxen from a Lewis family, location unknown. While he was driving them out the driveway, the Lewis boys, around 12 and 14 years old and rather rough lads, swore at him, telling him that that was no way to drive oxen.
At the age of 15 Bill worked for the Hamilton family at Hamilton Corners, Cherrytree Township, doing farm work. The Hamilton family also had a cheese factory at that time. Still later Bill worked on the farm of Dr. Hazen’s father at Venangoboro, Crawford County. Mr. Hazen was an invalid. Bill occasionally took Mr. Hazen to places in the Hazen buggy hitched to bill’s bay driving horse.
To show how good a person was Uncle Bill Markley, the youngster turned the money which he had earned working out on the farms over to his father.
During the summer of 1892 an interesting Sunday afternoon was held on the Markley farm. A group of carpenters from Buffalo were building or replacing a railroad bridge in Titusville which had been greatly damaged by the huge June flood that year. Having known both George Markley and his father, Jacob Markley, years previously in Buffalo, they drove out to Markleys in a covered rig similar to a tally-ho on that particular Sunday afternoon for a good time. A photograph was taken back in the pasture or fields of five of the Markleys along with their neighbor boys or young fellows and one young relative. Uncle Bill Markley is one in that interesting photograph of 10 persons. He shows to be quite tall in it.
It was while working at the Hazen farm outside of Venangoboro that he met Miss Edna B. Smith of that area. They were to be wed, but not immediately because Bill worked awhile in the Ohio oil fields before his marriage.
When the diamond I>O.O.F. Lodge No. 1083 was instituted on Feb.12, 1895, Bill was one of the 25 charter members. However, he didn’t even finish the degree work because he left at that time for the oil fields in Ohio. He was twice in the Ohio oil fields – once before his marriage and once after his marriage.
His place of work was said to be near Sandusky. When he first went out there looking for oil field work, he couldn’t find any work. So he took a job in the kitchen of a restaurant. He at least made enough for his room and board until he found an oil field job. It was while working in the kitchen that he weighed as high as 208 pounds. Probably he had access to as much food as he wanted.
He was a tooldresser, and he was said to have been one of the strongest men in the oil fields there. He lifted the heavy bits by himself, where it normally took two men to lift them. One day Uncle bill and Lee Daniels, a former Diamond area young man, got into quite a wrestle in the fields. The wrestled a long time until finally Bill got the best of Lee.
While in the Ohio oil fields, Uncle Bill had a nice cabinet photograph taken of himself at a little town called Prairie Depot. In the present day and age the town of Prairie Depot is knows as Wayne, located in Wood County. Prairie Depot, or Wayne, is about 35 miles southwest of Sandusky. It has been said that Uncle Bill was likely the best-looking of the Markley brothers when they were young fellows. Indeed the Prairie Depot photograph of him showed him to have been a nice-looking young man.
Uncle bill was thought to have been stronger than his brothers, Bide and Len. Bill was raw-boned, not fleshy, and probably weighed 185 pounds normally. Bide and Len were more fleshy and probably not as apt. Bill liked music very well but he could not play an instrument or sing himself.
One of bill’s younger brothers, John, once said he thought that he (John), Swede and bill were the same height, five feet, 11 and ¾ inches tall, though John said that Swede and Bill could have been a full six feet. He also said that Bill planted the maple tree which used to be in the Markley yard. The larger oak tree had been growing there before the house was built.
Bill Markley was married to Edna Smith on May 25, 1896, at Jamestown, N.Y. They posed for a nice cabinet photograph, and the photograph shows Bill again to have been a nice looking young man. They began housekeeping in a house he built in the hollow back of the later Patty Welsh place in Troy Township. He first had a shanty back there before building the house for the purpose of marriage. He purchased the windows for the new house in Titusville. While driving out with them one day, the horses became alarmed at something and jumped, causing bill to lose his balance and step on some of the windows, breaking them.
Uncle bill had bought this parcel of 30 acres on March 20, 1893, from Minnie and Walter Eddy for $400.00. Earlier the Orphans Court of Venango county (Bill’s parcel was in Crawford County) had set off this parcel to Lute Eddy who in turn deeded it to Minnie and Walter Eddy. Bill and Edna lived back on this place for a few years.
On May 8, 1899, Sheriff George N. Wilcox of Crawford County put up for sale the goods, chattels, land and tenements of Minnie and Walter Eddy on the adjoining larger farm which was beside the Diamond-Troy Center Road. The sheriff sold this farm to R.D. Fletcher, a merchant of Titusville for $35.00! Fletcher had had an account of $180.20 against the Eddy couple. Awhile later Fletcher sold the farm to Bill Markley for $150.00. Consequently, Fletcher managed to get money enough for his account against the property. At that time there was a small frame house and orchard upon it. Bill and Edna had one daughter, Helen Eldora Markley, born Feb. 23, 1897. She was to marry Acel T. Hills on Oct.25, 1921, and they lived at Edinboro, then lived their remaining years in the Erie suburb of Kearsarge. They had two children, Paul Howard Hills and Marian Ethel Hills. Acel Hills died Nov. 14, 1973, and Helen Hills died June 14, 1983.
While a young man Uncle Bill developed rheumatism. He had always claimed that the very beginning of his rheumatism occurred at the barn raising of a neighbor, Amos S. Patterson, in 1899. Bill was then 26 years old. Towards evening that day he sat on the end of the porch in a draft, waiting for supper to be served. From that time forward he was troubled.
Digging that well and getting poison ivy in the lumber woods of Lynch across from the later Frank Markley farm helped to agitate the condition. He had limped to this woods when helping to cut it out. A few thought that working in the damp Ohio oil fields may have later caused his rheumatism. However, all of this was only speculation.
Uncle Frank Markley remarked in later years that Bill’s rheumatism may have started in his wrists. Bill was hewing timbers in that Lynch woods when his wrists became so lame. He wore leather bands around his wrists at quite an early time. Also, he had the disease early in one of his hips.

The Marriage Ended in Divorce
Due to the fact that Bill’s rheumatism was crippling him rather fast, and that he was getting to the point of having been unable to do manual labor, his wife, Edna, decided to leave him. Apparently she did not believe in the portion of the wedding ceremony where the vows state, “in sickness and in health”. She took their daughter, Helen, with her and finally a divorce was finalized between her and Uncle Bill.
Briefly, Edna later married a man named James Peiffer, and they had a family. Edna died in the fall of 1942, and her husband died in 1961. They are buried at Venango, Crawford County.
Having been unable to farm, Bill sold his entire farm acreage to Allen Wheeling for $1700.00 on Nov. 15, 1902. Edna also signed the deed. It could have been about that time when Edna left him. Bill then moved into his father’s home.
A brief paragraph in a Feb.26, 1901 news article stated that W.H. Markley, who had had inflammatory rheumatism, had taken a relapse. In may, 1903, he returned home from Buffalo, N.Y., after a two-months stay there for doctoring his rheumatism. Then the next month, mid june, he consulted different doctors about his condition. He returned from Roofsdale where he had been in consultation with a doctor. This writer does not know where Roofsdale was located.
He returned home from Cambridge Springs on Saturday, March 19, 1904, after receiving massage treatments for the rheumatism. He doctored for some time with the doctor in Townville. His brother, John, would get the horse and buggy ready, load Bill into the buggy, and Bill would drive himself to the Townville doctor.
It was likely in 1905 when he was elected tax collector of Troy Township. He held this position for 16 years. At least it was a job which didn’t require manual labor. Though it was at times difficult to get his horse hitched to the buggy to get on the job. In that day tax collectors drove to various homes to collect the taxes.
A brief item in the Nov.22, 1906 news stated that Bill, tax collector, moved to Troy Center, occupying the house vacated by Miss Woodruff sometime previously. The writer thinks that Bill did not live at that place very long.
During his earlier years of tax collecting, Uncle Frank Markley went along to help him. At times the roads were terribly muddy, and it was all the horse could do to pull the buggy through the worst places. During one cold day they had a blanket over their legs with a lantern underneath to keep warm. The lantern caused Bill’s pantleg to catch afire, and he yelped over that. That happened handy Higby Hill beyond Maple Hill.
During his tax collecting in the earlier days, he once stayed overnight with some tax money in the home of his brother, Len Markley, at Schreiner’s Corners (later Paul Johnson house). While they were sleeping that night they heard what they thought were footsteps on the stairway. They got a revolver and investigated. They were relieved to discover that it was a rat carrying an ear of corn down the stairway. It would drop the ear over each step. Uncle Len had had ear corn stored in one of the upstairs rooms.
For several years Uncle bill was also a machinery agent. Relatives in later years said that his main brands were International, Emerson and New Idea. He conducted this business at the home of his father. He once received a carload of new New Idea manure spreaders for selling. He once sold a new Westinghouse threshing machine to Orie Bower and Cliff Ghering who were at that time the threshers in their vicinity of Sunville, northern Dempeystown and Fairview.
While driving by on machinery business, he would occasionally stop at the home of this writer’s grandparents, Ben and Edith Strawbridge, with his sorrel horse and buggy. The Strawbridge children got the ironing board out for him to slide down from the buggy. Grandfather Strawbridge stabled the horse. Uncle Bill would later play pedro with the family members. Likewise, Uncle Bill stopped occasionally at the home of another sister, Mae Whitman, in Chapmanville. Some of the Whitman descendants recalled that sometimes he used crutches, while other times he did not.
Unfortunately, he lost considerable money in the machinery business because he trusted out too much money. At times it became necessary to sue to get his money.
Uncle Bill had twice been the Democratic candidate for Crawford County treasurer in the county primaries, but he lost the bids. On one of those occasions a man named Walton, who had lost his legs, got the bid.
In the meantime his rheumatism grew worse through the years. He went to Hot Springs and Mount Clemens, both in Michigan and noted for special baths for the afflicted. But he appeared not to get any relief out there.
Someone told him about “Gloria Tonic” pills, a patent medicine which was noted for positive results. But he was unable to locate that medicine for quite some time. Eventually he found an advertisement of it in a magazine, so he sent for the medicine from a western state. He got good help from it for some time. Other persons in the area afflicted with rheumatism bought some of the medicine from him and they were also helped. One was Riley Turner, the Townville mail carrier.
But the disease eventually came back, affecting him badly. There were times in the nights when he could be heard hollering. Every bone and joint in his body seemed affected. Even he held his head in a crooked position, and his jaws were affected. He could open his mouth only so far, and one dentist had to pry out a bad tooth because he couldn’t get the forceps into his mouth. His knees were similar to big balls, unshapely. Members of the family at times had to help dress him.
Yet through it all he kept going, going and going, as far as his business activity was concerned. Many persons didn’t know how he kept going.
He eventually bought a Model T Ford car. The late Scott Proper of Troy Center remembered that Uncle Bill once drove his Ford up the hill by the Lloyd Hollabaugh place, west of the four corners on the Fauncetown road. Perhaps he was either tax collecting or else on machinery business. Nevertheless, Bill’s car stalled, then it backed upon a bank and overturned. Fortunately Bill was not hurt.
At a time when Jim Kelly of Titusville worked in the city garage across from Titusville’s City Hall, he recalled working on Bill Markley’s automobile.
This writer has an old envelope postmarked in Meadville, Dec. 17, no year given, from the Meadville Messenger Printing Company. It is addressed to W.H.Markley, and it simply contains old Christmas stamps or stickers.
Sometime during his later years Bill posed for a nice formal photograph at a studio. It shows him having a thin face which even his earlier photographs show. This later photograph is within a brown cover. The writer also has four old snapshots which show him – one alone, another with this writer’s father, another one with his father and brother, Swede, and finally one with his father, Harry Whitman and this writer’s Grandfather Strawbridge. All the snapshots show him to have been tall.

Bill Bought Brawley House for Machinery Business
AT a Sheriff’s Sale held on Sept.12, 1921, Uncle Bill bought the old Brawley House property at 627 W. Spring St., Titusville, for $1500.00. A man named Guy G. Goodrich had lost the property because of a suit pressed against him by Henry and Alice Buxton of Cherrytree Township. Bill had the old building remodeled for his machinery business, and he also maintained his residence in the building. He opened hid farm implement store there on March 10, 1922.
Bill had printed billheads while he was doing business at West Spring Street, Titusville. The billhead give his telephone as 1054-L. Under his name, W.H. Markley, is the following: “Dealer in all kinds of farm machinery, gasoline engines, buggies, wagons, etc., Titusville, Pa.”
The writer has an old letter dated May 3, 1922, which Uncle Bill typed off to Grandfather Shriver who was also a machinery agent. Following is the letter:
Mr. J.M. Schriver
Diamond, Pa
Dear Sir:
Say Jake I wish you would order me the following repars.
One Squer Shaft box, 283B fertilizer and Empire grain drill one scraper bracket P-1501 for I.H.C. disc harrow.
I wish you would order these for me as soon as you can. I had forgot about you telling me that you would sen for this stuff for me. I have been sending some of my custimers to Gilson for repars. I would mutch rather have you order them, then to have Gilson order them for me.
Very truly yours,
W.H. Markley

On another of his billheads, undated, among Grandfather Shriver’s papers, the following is written by Uncle Bill: “For low spread reverse apron 1 No. 334-S Worm Ghear (regular) 1 No. 335-S Worm Ship by mail to William Strawbridge R.1, Titusville, Pa.”
In February, 1923, Uncle Bill contracted influenza, and he seemed unable to get over it. In April he was lying sick in his home and unable to do anything. Members of the Markley family considered having him taken to the City Hospital. However, most thought that he would no get the proper care due to his crippled condition, so Grandmother Strawbridge consented to have him taken to the Strawbridge home a mile east of Diamond where she would take care of him. This was done and his bedroom was the northeast one in the house. His doctor was Dr. J.C. Wilson.
That spring the rose branches grew inside the window in his room and Bill said that that was the first time he had flowers like that for him. He also had anemia with his other complications. He was quite a charge as time passed by. Even he developed serious bowel problems. A brief news item appeared in the newspaper towards the latter part of June in which it stated that W.H. Markley was seriously ill at the home of his sister, Mrs. Ben Strawbridge. Grandmother in the end received some $90 for caring for him.
The end came at 9:55 o’clock, Sunday night, July 8, 1923. Willis L. Arnold, undertaker from Townville, was summoned. After he arrived he announced that he would need an assistant. The room was full of Markley kin. Everybody seemed to look at this writer’s father, Frank Strawbridge, who was then a young man, so it appeared that he was elected. He helped Arnold to embalm Uncle Bill in the bedroom. After all was done the casket was reposed along the west side of the front room prior to the funeral.
The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Tuesday, July 10, in the Troy Center M.E. Church with Rev. Fred D. Gealy, pastor of the Townville and Troy Center Churches, officiating. There was a large attendance of relatives and friends present. Beautiful floral tributes covered the casket. Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Ghering, Charles Jackson and Mrs. Jesse Sterling with Miss Hazel Eddy at the organ sang “The Home of Endless Years”, “Just Beyond” and “We are Going Down the Valley”.
Burial was in the Troy Center Cemetery with the pallbearers having been John, Frank, George and A.E. Markley, brothers, and Harry Whitman and Benjamin Strawbridge, brothers-in-law.
Present from a distance were Mrs.W.L.Markley of Aberdeen, Wash., MR. and Mrs. A.E. Markley of Brownsville, MR. and Mrs. Acel Hills of Edinboro, Mrs. Arba Smith of Saegertown, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Markley and Mrs. And Mrs. John Wagner of Erie.
Uncle Bill did not have a will. Letters of Administration in his estate were granted and issued to G.C.Markley, a brother who was the administrator. A bond in the sum of $1000.00 was taken with George Markley,Sr. (Bill’s father), and Frank J. Markley as sureties. The renunciation of Helen Hills, the daughter, was filed. The funeral bill amounted to $275.00.
On Aug.25,1923, an inventory of Bill’s effects was filed at the Crawford County Court House in the amount of $2872.94. Most of those effects included machinery such as harrows, Oliver plows, Pennsylvania Moles Co. grain drills, a few Buckeye machines, a couple of gasoline engines, countless parts, Phoenix roofing, a few odd pieces of machinery, tools, 1000 feet of maple lumber. This appraisal had been made by Ralph I. Ghering and Frank P. Allen.
Uncle Bill’s personal estate and rents of real estate were insufficient for his debts. The Orphans Court ordered on Feb.4, 1924, that the real estate in Titusville be sold by public venue or outcry on the actual premises. The sale was held on March 15, 1924, and Emory J. Edwards bought it for $2650.00. G.C. Markley, administrator, signed the deed on April 28, 1924.
On April 2, 1924, the newspaper announced that J.N. Holder had purchased the stock and business of Uncle Bill in the old Brawley House. Holder also added several carloads of agricultural machinery.
After all was said and done the total assets of the estate were filed May 31, 1924. They added up to $6677.25.
Undoubtedly the cost of a tombstone was taken from the assets because one sits over his grave at Troy Center.
This concludes the biography of a good man who had great obstacles to overcome during his troubled and suffering life of 50 years. - June 30, 1986.

Transcribed by Paula Harry
dharry@pa.rr.com

Disclaimer:there may be errors due to transcription of information from both early and late (current contributors) work.