Triangle Monument History
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Erie County (PA) Genealogy
Land Records
Triangle Monument History
Contributed by
Evelyn
Baker
Evelyn Baker
recently contributed a
photo of the Erie Triangle Monument in Springfield Township. She follows up
with this piece - the Triangle Monument Story. Anyone having
questions or comments concerning this material, please
send your inquiry directly to
Evelyn Baker
.
Sources of the monument story: Pa. State Archives; microfilm of the Erie
Daily Times at the Bayfront Library; microfilm of the Conneaut News Herald
at the Conneaut, Ohio Library. Special 'Thank You' to
Chris Sedler
for
researching the Springfield Census.
TRIANGLE MONUMENT HISTORY
The first terminal monument was placed on the Lake
Erie shore
in Springfield Township by surveyors of Pennsylvania?s
western boundary.
?
The stone was inscribed ? Pennsylvania 42
?
N.
?
1787 ?.
?
It was washed out to sea during a series of violent
storms.
A rise in lake level contributed to the loss of the
small stone.
It has never been found.
?
A second stone
was placed with an inscription of ?Ohio? on the west
side & ?Pennsylvania? on the east side.
Townsfolk hold that the stone was taken & buried
in the lighthouse pier
at Conneaut, Ohio.
A third obscure monument now sits on the lake bluff in
Springfield
Township, partially hidden in a wooded area.
?
Obelisk in design, with a
quadrangular apex, it stands approximately 6?
high.
?
It was cut from
Quincy granite & shipped to Springfield by
railroad from
Massachusetts quarries.
?
A brief history is inscribed on four bronze plaques.
It commemorates
a treaty signed by the Six Indian Nations, the Wyndot
& Delaware Indians,
?
and the United States Commissioners of Land.
It seems as though destiny decreed that 3 symbols
should be placed on the triangle territory.
Appropriation
In 1905, an act of the Legislature appropriated $500
for erection of the
third monument marking the terminus of the northern
boundary of Pennsylvania.
FRANK P. JONES
, Justice of Peace in
Springfield Township received the
enthusiastic support of the Secretary of Internal
Affairs, Assemblyman
SEYMOUR D. WARE
, and Surveyor General
ANDREW
ELLICOTT.
?
Location
In April 1907,
CHARLES
BOVEE
of North Springfield &
RALPH
BENEDICT
of West Springfield were appointed to supervise
the placing of the new monument. The location was made
a certainty
by digging beneath ground surface & finding the
259th mile stone,
which marked the distance from the Delaware
River.
?
The site chosen for placing the monument was the
HENRY KIMMEL
& son,
CHARLES
?
farm in Springfield Township, about 4? miles
east of the Pennsylvania / Ohio stateline.
In 2005, the monument has no public access
& is surrounded by privately owned land.
Dedication
Dedication of the Triangle Monument became an event of
national interest.
The date selected was the 94th anniversary of Admiral
PERRY
?s victory
on Lake Erie, September 10, 1907.
Major
I. B. BROWN
of
Corry, Pa. addressed the crowd
on a cool wind swept day on the banks of Lake Erie.
Excerpts of
BROWN?
s
speech
?Were it possible to turn back the restless hands of
time, & open our eyes
on the scene of this forest primeval, on the 8th of
October 1787,
there would be a strange spectacle. Coming from the
east, a procession of white men - engineers, surveyors & their attendants
with horses.
?
There comes jaded horses & representatives of the
oldest race on the
continent - the North American Indians.?
?With these were carried instruments for taking
astronomical observations
for locating the 42
?
north latitude designated as
the northern boundary of
Pennsylvania in the charter of King
CHARLES 11
of England
to
WILLIAM PENN
,
dated March 4, 1681.?
?While
WASHINGTON
never placed his feet on the soil surrounding
this monument, his name is signed to the deed
conveying the triangle land
to Pennsylvania.
Intense interest is added to this place because of
negotiations that were
made with Indians concerning land on both sides of
this line.
At Fort Stanwix near Rome, New York, the Six Indian
Nations made a
treaty with state & federal Commissioners.
In 1785 at Fort McIntosh, another treaty regarding
this same territory
was made with the Wyndot & Delaware Indians.?
?I shall make reference to two men that were prominent
in the
transactions concerning this locality.?
CORNPLANTER
, the Seneca Chief:
?He was a most powerful Indian & influential for
peace among all the
confederated tribes that had their hunting grounds
along the chain of lakes.
In every treaty which his people were concerned, he
was prominent in
council & strong in negotiations. Tradition places
him beside the youthful
WASHINGTON
in the fatal field of
BRADDOCK?s
defeat, where he
appears to have formed a friendship with
WASHINGTON
, which
lasted a lifetime. He was admitted to conferences with
President
WASHINGTON.
CORNPLANTER
carried grievances to Gov.
MIFFLIN
& was given a hearing by the supreme executive
council at Philadelphia.
He made a speech that abounds in that particular kind
of oratory
common to Indians. He made frequent appeals to the ?
Quaker Fathers
?.
He
?
addressed
WASHINGTON
as ?
Father
of the Thirteen Fires
?
referring to the 13 colonies.
CORNPLANTER
& the Senecas met
ANDREW ELLICOTT
?s
party of surveyors at the
banks of the Allegheny.
For a time, the Senecas opposed their advance, but
CORNPLANTER
withdrew their resistance &
ELLICOTT
?s party was allowed
to continue in safety, to this place.
CORNPLANTER
lived to a wonderful old age,
far beyond a century.
He was placed to rest on the shores of the Allegheny.
A monument was erected by the state to commemorate
his friendship in the struggle to develop the
territories?.
General
RICHARD BUTLER
He was born in Ireland & immigrated to the
colonies with his brothers. All became officers in the Revolutionary War. He
was in command of the Fifth Regiment of the Pennsylvania line at Yorktown. He
located at Pittsburgh & represented the government in boundary line
matters. He participated in the Triangle settlement with the Indian Nations.
BUTLER
&
CORNPLANTER
formed such a strong bond, that
BUTLER
pleaded with the governor
to give
CORNPLANTER
& his Senecas the lands that the tribe occupied in
Warren County along the Allegheny River.
General
BUTLER
was
killed in battle with the Indians, known in history as
?
BRADDOCK?
s 2nd
defeat?.
??
Students of the Springfield Township schools were
invited to participate in the dedication ceremonies.
This is a partial list of students believed to have
been in attendance:
EDGAR ABBEY
,
HOMER ABBEY
,
JOHN ABBEY
ETHEL AUERBACH
OLIVE I. BARKER
,
BESSIE BEATMAN
,
ANNA BELNAP
,
FLORENCE BRINDLE
,
HAROLD BRINDLE
,
LOUISE BRINDLE
CYNTHIA BRISTOL
,
AMES BROWN
CLIFFORD CHENEY
,
?
EDNA CHENEY
ESTHER CROSS
ARNOLD DEVORE
,
?
FLORENCE DeWOLF
HOWARD EISAMAN
,
LYNN ELLIS
HARLEY ELDRIDGE
FRED FORNEY
THELMA GLEASON
,
JAY M. GRIFFEY
NEIL J. HARRIS
,
MARGUERITE HALL
LILLIAN HAZEN
,
LEORA HOPIE
RUSSELL S. KIRKLAND
MORT MAAS
,
ROLLA A. MARCY
,
LEE G. MARSH
ROLLA MERRITT
,
ANDREW A. McKEE
FRANK LEROY PERRY
,
FRED E. PETERS
RAYMOND PORTER
RADA RANDALL
,
MERLE ROSITER
EARL W. SEELEY
,
HUGH M. SEELEY
HARRY SCHUMACHER
,
GERTRUDE MAY
SHAFFER
EDGAR R. SHELDON
,
FLOY SHELDON
LEWIS E. SNOW
,
WALTER SUMNER
CHARLOTTE M. THAYER
,
ELMER R. THAYER
MILDRED THAYER
,
HERBERT TONY
GRANT WALKER
,
ROSE WEISS
,
ROSS WHEELER
NILES J. WELDON
,
CHESTER WELSH
ERNEST WHITNEY
,
SELAH WILSON
WALBRIDGE
J. DIXON WARD
Four Bronze Inscriptions Plaques
The north side reads:
The lands north of this line and easterly to the
western line of New York,
purchased from the Indians January 9, 1789 and
February 3, 1791
and deeded to the State of Pennsylvania by
GEORGE WASHINGTON
,
President of the United States, and
THOMAS JEFFERSON
,
as Secretary of State, March 3, 1792.
On the eastern side:
Easterly 516 feet from the monument stood the last
milestone,
the 259th from the Delaware River
On the southern side:
Lands in northwestern Pennsylvania included the
charter to
WILLIAM PENN
of March 4, 1681.
Purchased of Six Nations tribe October 23, 1784,
and from the Wyandot and Delaware Indians, January 21,
1785
On the western side:
Erected in 1907 by the State of Pennsylvania to mark
the location of the
Old State Line established in 1786 and 1787
October 1969,
BARNEY
SHILLING
, Editor of the Cosmopolite newspaper,
made a pilgrimage to what he referred to as the ?lost
monument??.
Thirty years later in May 1999,
EVELYN
&
SAM BAKER
led another
entourage down a one lane grassy path, through
pastures & cornfields
to the lake side monument. Those attending were:
SUE MOHR
of
?
Lake City;
NANCY BOWERS
&
BARB
TOY
of Erie;
NANCY DICKEY
&
RUTH
DeARMENT
of Girard;
BOB BLICKENSDERFER
&
JEAN
ALLDS
of Conneaut, Ohio;
KATHY SZYMPRUCH
,
CHRISTINA
SEDLER
,
Dr
. &
WANDA
ANDERSON
,
BILL MERRITT
,
JANET REGELMANN
,
PAT
POCHATKO
,
&
VIC
FETTEROFF
of Springfield Township.
VIC
was guardian
of the monument for 20 years, from the late 1970s to
1990s.
?
Townsfolk hold
that interest in the Triangle Monument peaks
about once every generation, then quiets down again.
This page was last updated on
Saturday, January 8, 2005
.
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