FAMILY HISTORY: HOME, SITE MAP, CA & MJM BLILEY LIVES: INTRO, PART 1, 2, 3, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ||
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THE BUSINESS OF A FARMER'S WIFE |
Mary Jane Bliley, Circa 1883, Age 56,
and her notebook in 2005.Mary Jane Mead Bliley was the wife of a farmer who was responsible for a portion of the production of the family farm. This is evidenced by the use of a small, plain covered ledger-type notebook (11-1/4" x 5-1/4"). The notebook initially appears to be a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and miscellaneous notes about social and household activities. After closer inspection, it becomes apparent the notebook was a record of the sale of eggs, butter, poultry, and vegetables. It is assumed the records began in 1888, as that is the date printed on the cover. The earliest dated entry is 1890 and the latest is 1911, just two years before she died.
She appears to have been a frugal woman. She covered many of the early records at the beginning of the book with newspaper clippings and photos. The clippings include obituaries of family and friends, recipes, and other articles of interest.
In 1892, she and Charles retired as the proprietors of a working farm, and moved two miles north into the burgeoning village of Wesleyville, Pennsylvania. They bought a house and developed a large garden with a collection of fruit trees. Today, we would classify it as a very large garden, but to retired farmers, it was only a modest project which allowed them to continue growing some of their own food and sell the surplus. It appears their efforts yielded more than pocket change for many years.
She and Charles shared the gardening chores in their retirement years.
Sample of page from the 120-page notebook. Online Version of Complete Notebook
MEASURING TIME |
A cherished item in the house was the kitchen shelf clock. The clock in the Bliley's kitchen was an 8-day "beehive" type wind-up with a steel and brass pendulum finished with a rosewood veneer. It is believed to have been purchased in 1858.
The clock featured an "alarm" function that is set by rotating the brass dial in the center to as many hours ahead of the current time that you wanted to ring a bell. It has a separate spring for the alarm and a mechanical switch to turn it on or off.
On the back of a 1939 photo of the clock, Frank Anderson Bliley, their son, wrote:
"Charles Bliley's kitchen clock on the farm prior to 1892. This clock was made by E.C. Brewster & Son, Bristol, Conn. In January, 1939, I wrote to The E. Ingraham Company, Bristol, Conn., who were manufacturers of clocks and who have made a research of the clock in the early part of the last century. They inform me that this clock 'must have been made in 1855.'
Frank A. Bliley, April 6, 1939"
In 2005, the clock is in working order and in the possession of great grandson, Charles A. Bliley, of Pittsford, NY.
Daily Chores for Mary Jane
Even in her retirement, she raised chickens for the sale of eggs. Here she is in the backyard of the retirement house.
Circa 1908, Photo by Sam Wagner
FAMILY LIVING WITH CHARLES AND MARY JANE |
There were several people, besides their children, who lived with Charles and Mary Jane. The most important of whom was Charles' mother, Catherine Eich Bleile, who stayed with them until her death at the age of 96. She brought with her a distant family member, a young boy.
From Mary Jane's memoirs, "Charles' mother took Charlie Wilson when he was two years old. He was eight years old at the time of my marriage. He was a very good boy and kind to me. We raised him. When he was twenty years old he went to Renick, Missouri, and spent six months with his mother, Ellen Deer. Then he went to Iowa to the Dave Baemers and worked about three years when he enlisted in the Civil War. He was in the war something less than one year when he was stricken with fever and died. He was buried in New Orleans. We were grieved to learn of his death." [Online Version of Memoirs]
Inez, Mary Agnes & Sam Wagner
The daughter and grandchildren who lived with Charles and Mary Jane during their retirement years at the 3323 South Street house in Wesleyville.
Circa 1907, by Sam Wagner
Catherine Eich Bliley
Wife of Andreas Bleile, mother of Charles A. Bliley
B: 1794 (Germany)
D: 1891 (Erie, PA)(Undated Photo)
Larger View, 110kCharles and Mary Jane's daughter, Mary Agnes, married Charles Otis Wagner in 1879. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 35 in 1891; it was just a year before Charles and Mary Jane retired. Mary Agnes moved into her parents' home at the farm and then the retirement home on South Street in the nearby village of Wesleyville. Mary Agnes brought her two children, Samuel C. and Inez, with her. They virtually grew up in the Bliley household.
Samuel C. Wagner took up photography at a very young age. Many of the photos in this booklet are his work. Inez was an artist and worked with Sam to create dozens of photo albums in which they documented the lives of their family, friends and co-workers. They frequently gave albums away as gifts to family members. Their work blesses us today and is a tremendous legacy for many generations to come.
CHILDREN'S LIVES IN THE LATE 1800s & EARLY 1900s |
School Bells Ring!
Gospel Hill School1/2 miles Southwest of the Colt Station Road farm. Circa 1908
Photo by Sam Wagner
Daily Chores
A young Sam C. Wagner removing manure from the barn.
THE FAMILY OF CHARLES AND MARY JANE |
Bliley Family, Circa 1862
A Young Country Squire
Son, Frank Anderson Bliley, Age 5
Circa 1870
Bliley Family 1896, Gathered to Celebrate the 50th Wedding Anniversary
Four Generations L/R: Charles A Bliley, 62; Gertrude Bonnell, 9; Josephine Bonnell, 31; Catherine Eich (Bleile) Bliley, 90 July 10, 1885
THE YOUNG ADULTS' WORLD |
Privileges of Being Older
Russell Hiles (L) & Sam C. Wagner (R)
Relaxing on Sunday, April 21, 1907Sam Wagner Photo
Young Men Off to See the World
David Charles Bliley, Son of C.A. & M.J. Bliley
Believed to be sailor on USS Michigan (Wolverine),
Port of Erie, Circa 1865Postage-stamp sized tintype
New Technology & New Opportunities
Sam C. Wagner as a Chauffeur, April 1906
Sam Wagner Photo
Facing Death at Home
Family members laid out at home.
Charles A. Bliley, Died: November 15, 1906
Sam Wagner Photo
THE FAITH OF THE BLILEYS |
St. Alban R.C. Church
Bad Krozingen, Germany
Reconstructed in the late 1900sPhoto by John H. Bliley
St. Mary's R.C. Church
West 9th Street, Erie, Pennsylvania, Circa 1876
The Bleile family in Krozingen, Germany were Roman Catholics who attended services at Saint Alban's Church a block away from home. When they arrived in Erie, County, Pennsylvania, in 1834 there was no Catholic church for them to attend.
During the influx of German and Irish Catholic immigrants in the early 19th Century, Erie was part of the Diocese of Philadelphia, which covered all of Pennsylvania and part of New Jersey. Western Pennsylvania was a wilderness and overland travel was on foot or horseback on paths through the forest.
It is said that the first Catholic Mass in Erie was celebrated on Easter Sunday, 1827 by a visiting priest in the ballroom of the Washington Hotel on the corner of Second and French Streets. For the next several years a missionary priest or the Bishop would visit the area once or twice a year.
In 1837 the first resident priest was assigned to the Erie area. He built a combination rectory and chapel on the corner of Fourth and German streets. The parish priest served not only the Catholic community of Erie, but three additional counties: Crawford, Venango and Warren.
The German-speaking Catholic community built their own church, Saint Mary's, in 1839 on Ninth between Parade and German streets. The Bishop blessed the church and this became the first Roman Catholic Church in Erie. The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh was created in 1843 and covered all of western Pennsylvania; in 1853, the northern 13 counties became the Diocese of Erie. The second Catholic church, Saint Patrick's, was built by the Irish Catholics and blessed in 1849.
When Charles and Mary Jane took their solemn vows of matrimony on June, 8, 1847, the only church available was St. Mary's in Erie. (Read Mary Jane's memoirs for wedding details.) St. Boniface church at the intersection of Kuhl and Wattsburg roads, and near the Bliley homestead, was not established until 1857. All of the German Catholics in the greater Erie area attended St. Mary's church until their own local parishes were established.
History contributed by Carl Wolf
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