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WHO WAS - Thomas Miles
in Plum Township
Venango County, Pennsylvania
By Howard Strawbridge April 6, 1957

Thomas Miles, an early resident of the Wallaceville area, was born on Oct. 11, 1819, at North Middlesex, Mercer County. His parents were Lewis and Elizabeth Foster Miles. Thomas was the third of 10 children. He spent his childhood in Mercer County.

In 1839 the Miles family moved to Plum Township, settling on a 500-acre tract located immediately east of Wallaceville. The father contracted this land on May 11, 1839, from Samuel Dale, and he built the first set of buildings where the present Conrad Whitman farmstead is now. There was of course a good spring nearby. It was always the custom of the pioneers to build beside a strong spring of water.

On March 21, 1841, Thomas married Catherine Proper who was born on Sept. 19, 1819, a daughter of Andrew and Rachel Lees Proper, early residents of Troy Township. She was small in size. Thomas, or Tommy as many called him, and Catherine commenced housekeeping on the northeastern section of this 500-acre tract. Here Tommy built a set of buildings, again by a spring. The buildings sat on a southerly slope and were several rods from the public road. Eventually Tommy bought this farm of 60 acres from the Samuel Dale estate for $240 on Dec. 18, 1851. The east side of this farm bounded Benjamin Strawbridge's farm.

Parents of Ten Children

Tommy and Catherine were the parents of ten children, seven of whom lived to maturity, and were: Mrs. Audelia Grove, Andrew P. Miles, Lewis M. Miles, Mrs. Rachel Peebles, James Miles, Mrs. Lizzie Miles and Mrs. Martha Peebles. Two of the daughters married brothers - Rachel's husband was John Peebles, and Martha's husband was Robert Peebles. The late Robert and Martha Peebles have a daughter, Mrs. Harry Kleean, who lives in Oil City today. The three children who died were Melvin W. Miles, who died March 17, 1858, aged one; Lydia E. Miles, who died April 20, 1863, aged 4; and Clarissa J. Miles, who died April 22, 1863, aged 3. The latter died only 2 days apart, being stricken with an epidemic of some fever.

It is said that all of the family were good singers.

Tommy was a member of the Wallaceville M. E. Church during the earliest years of the organization. When he was an old gentleman, he regularly attended the Second Advent Church of Wallaceville.

He took a limited interest in the oil boom. He and five other men had interests in the Foster lease in Cherrytree Township. In May, 1864, Tommy received $200 from H. B. Gordon as the result of an agreement if a well on the Foster farm yielded 100 barrels, when tested of gas and oil in a 24 - hour period. His brother, Hiram Miles, also received $200 in this deal. On March 29, 1861, Tommy, Hiram and A. J. McIntosh made an agreement with Rouse, Mitchell & Brown concerning an oil lease.

Plum Township Assessor

In 1859 Tommy served as Plum Township assessor. Then he served again in 1884. It was the custom to elect an assessor each year. In the 1884 election he received 99 votes out of 166 cast for assessor, according to a Plum Township triplicate election return owned by Miller Thomas of Hydetown. Mr. Thomas' late father, Emanuel W. Thomas, was an inspector of election at the time.

In January, 1864 Tommy bought an additional 27 acres from his brother, Asa Miles. This was a part of the 500 - acre tract. The 1865 assessments show Tommy being assessed for 87 acres and a buggy.

Then on March 29, 1867, he bought his late father's homestead from Asa, paying $3,000 for it. Tommy's family moved to the old homestead and he lived here the remainder of his life. There were 125 acres on it. However, he kept title to his former 60-acre farm for many years. His son, Andrew, lived on it a few years. In 1894 Jasper Davison bought the place and had it when the house burned, sometime after the turn of the century. The house was never rebuilt. Then John D. Grove owned the place a few years but never lived on it. No buildings have been there for years. It is now State Game Lands. The spring is there yet, as well as the foundation of the old springhouse which was 10 x 12 feet in size. A huge white oak tree still stands beside the spring.

Mrs. Miles died on Feb. 6, 1876, from what was apparently a ruptured appendix condition. Tommy later married Miss Hannah Elisa Proper who was a sister of his first wife. She, too, died on May 20, 1888.

Family House Burns Down

Around 11 o'clock on a March day in 1883, the family home burned down. It was thought to have been caused by sparks from the chimney. The Miles men were working in the woods some distance away at the time. The women from the house shouted for the men to come. The men thought they were calling them to come to diner. They went on with their work, wanting to get a little more done before noon. Soon they looked up and saw the smoke, and ran for the burning structure.

A few articles were saved. For instance, the large Bible was thrown out the upstairs window and it was quite singed. It still exists, being owned by Mrs. Estella Miles Morse of Titusville. Her late husband, Heber Miles, was a grandson of Tommy Miles. Mr. and Mrs. Heber Miles sold the old homestead and moved in December, 1947, to Titusville where Mr. Miles died in January, 1952.

The Tommy Miles family built their new house in 1884, a year after the fire. It was built just east of the old house ruins and it was a double house with a solid partition between. Tommy and his second wife lived in the east half and his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Miles, lived in the west half. After the death of Tommy's wife in 1888, a doorway was made between the two parts, though Tommy maintained the east half the rest of his days.

It is said that Tommy once had what people then called 'spider cancer' on his shoulder. It covered an area as large as a man's hand and was spider shaped. He took certain medicine for it and it soon dropped off. His shoulder healed up fine. At another time, around 1881, he was seriously ill with congestion of the lungs.

He was always well respected. A rather fleshy man, his hair, when young, was reddish in color. However, it turned gray when he became old. He had blue eyes and also a beard like most old-timers of that era. He became quite stoop shouldered at last and walked with a cane. It is still remembered of the old fellow walking with his cane from Wallaceville to Fauncetown to visit at the home of a brother-in-law, Shubeal S. Proper. Towards the last, when sat around and wasn't able to do much, he would argue and argue with members of the family, especially over the Adventist doctrine. This would probably help to while his time away.

During his last years he had enlargement of the heart. This heart trouble finally climaxed with a severe attack from which he succumbed shortly on Sept. 20, 1897.

He is buried with his two wives and three small children in the Wallaceville Cemetery.

Transcribed by Penny Kulbacki Minnick
minnick862@verizon.net

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