Judge Walling's house at 552 W. 8th in Erie as it appears today. The windows on the second floor are where Marietta's and Marion's rooms used to be, as well as a sewing room where seamstresses used to come in to sew or repair clothes for the children. The solarium where Aunt Ettie used to stay is around the back. The ballroom was up on the third floor, though you can't really see it. Picture courtesy of Sandra Brydon Smith at the Erie County Bar Assoc.
Walling home at 552 W 8th St. Date taken unknown. Courtesy of Esther Sawdey Lennertz.
Subject: The Honorable Judge Emory A. Walling.
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 05:38:43 -0800 (PST)
From: jan bojarski
Hello Mr. Griswold,
My name is Janice Bojarski and my husband Alan and I own the house at 552
West 8th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania which Judge Walling built. When I
first discovered your Walling/Marshall family website there was a photograph
of our home. We have been researching the history of the house for a few
years now and it was a pleasant surprise to see that photograph and read
some of the stories of the memories your family has of the house. The
neighborhood has been through some up and downs over the years since your
great-great grandfather [?] lived here. But he had a wonderful solid home
built and we've been trying to maintain and even restore it. That is one of
the reasons I am contacting you. If anyone in the family may have
photographs of the house from years past which they could share with us we
would love to see them....
Sincerely,
Janice Bojarski
Subject: Walling Family & House
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 20:56:44 EST
Janice -
I see you've received a couple of letters about the house and the
Walling family, so I'll try to add what I know.
Emory Andrew Scott Walling was born in June 1854 in Erie County. Grace
Ellen Marshall was born in August 1859 in Erie County. They married in
April 1880. I don't know when they moved into the house.
Their first child was born in 1881 and named William. Then followed
Ralph, Laura, Marion, and finally Marietta in 1897. They all married
and had children.
Laura married Harry and they had five daughters - Jane, Grace, Anne,
Harriet, & Esther. Harriet & Esther live together in Millcreek. My
mother was Anne - who died last year. The memories I'll relate come
mostly from Esther, Harriet, & Anne. The memories aren't in any kind of
order.
Emory was an Erie County Judge, and then a judge on the PA Superior
Court. His picture is on the back wall of Courtroom No. 1 at the Erie
County Court House. He died in 1931 - just days before he would have
become the Chief Justice.
Grace lived in the house until she died in 1945. Esther was in the Navy
during W.W.II and remembers being in the house at the time of Grace's
funeral and being intimidated standing next to Navy Commander Ralph
Walling - both in their uniforms. The house was probably sold after
Grace passed away.
Harry & Laura and family lived close by at 710 Cherry until they had to
move during the depression in 1935. Marietta married Lewis and they
lived at 716 Cherry. William married Anna and they lived close by. So
there was a lot of family in the neighborhood.
Emory & Grace also owned a farm off route 89 just north of I-90. Each
of their children's families would spend a week there in the summer. It
was a great treat -- my Mother had many happy memories of the time spent
on the farm.
The farm was run by Dan Thomson. It was eventually sold to Dan &
Flossie Thomson - and it remains in their family. Dan passed away years
ago - Flossie about a year ago. Apples were the big crop on the farm --
and remain so. Next time you're food shopping, look for apples from
Thomson Fruit Farm. Esther & Harriet can still smell the Macintosh
apples which were stored in the basement of the house -- apples which
were undoubtedly grown on the farm.
Each New Year's Day, a reception was held in the house for the Erie
County Judges. One of the judges would perform magic tricks for the
grandchildren.
There was a large bear rug -- head and all -- from the front entryway
into the room on the right.
It was a very formal family -- the grandchildren called them Grandmother
and Grandfather. They had a maid named Vera. Vera lived on the third
floor. Vera was deaf, so she was summoned by lights instead of
buzzers. Grace had a button to push under the dining room table to
summon Vera.
Grace's sister Marietta lived in the house in a room on the first floor
in the back. Marietta married a man a few years older than she was who
was a Civil War veteran. He died in 1913. Marietta died in 1963 at the
age of 99 - so she was one of the last of the Civil War widows.
The Ball Room on third floor held good memories for my Mother. She
remembered dances being held there....
Scott Coyle
My mom says that Aunt Ettie received a small pension for being a Civil War widow. When she died there were 400 people in the country who were still getting Civil War pensions.
Subject: Re: Judge Walling
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:51:31 -0800 (PST)
Hello Scott,
Thanks for the email. We're doing our best to be good caretakers of the
house at 552 West 8th St. They don't build homes like these anymore. Of
course, it's a simple home in comparison to some of the mansions on Sixth
Street but it has character. We enjoy living in the house and raised our son
here. We would like someday, if possible, with the family's permission, to
display a photograph and history of your great-grandparents in tribute to
the original owners....
Sincerely,
Janice Bojarski
Esther LENNERTZ wrote:
...My cousin Natalie (Fred.s Mother) used to play in the closet under
the front stairs. Do you still have the ballroom on the 3rd floor. ...
At one time someone told us the house was made into apartments. When we
were young we lived on Cherry St between 7th and 8th.. We just crossed
Cherry and went down the ally to our grandparents house.
Etter
My mom says she used to like that closet under the front stairs because it contained a collection of National Geographics. They would let her cut pictures right out of the magazines for reports she made for school.
Subject: Re: 552 W. 8th St.
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 23:18:15 -0800 (PST)
From: jan bojarski
To: Esther LENNERTZ
Hello!
...
The closet under the stairs is still there and as a matter of fact, my son,
Jeff trapped himself in there one day while he was playing. He was only
about four or five years of age then and it was a bit traumatic to say the
least! But he recovered and now that he is twenty four, he laughs when we
tell that story. Here's a little bit of what I have come to know about the
house since your grandparents lived here....in the 1950s Mr. and Mrs. John
Rictor owned the house. Mr. Rictor was a car dealer. According to the city
directories I researched the house became a two family flat in 1960. Then in
1964 a Mr. Joseph Blinzler rented from the Rictors. When Mr. Rictor passed
away and Mr.s Rictor decided to sell, Mr. and Mrs. Blinzler bought the home
from her. [that was the early 1970s] They converted the house further into
furnished boarding rooms originally for Gannon students and they lived on
the first floor.Then they sold the home to my husband in 1976. He was onl y
18 years old at the time! His parents gave him the start-up money and the
house was purchased as an income property. But right from the beginning, he
moved in on the third floor and rented the rest of the house with the first
floor still one large apartment and the second and third floor boarding
rooms. I met Alan, we married and then moved into the first floor apartment
in 1978. Our son, Jeff, was born in 1979 and grew up here. Needless to say,
you can imagine that the house was full of hustle and bustle! We always had
the dream to someday convert the house back to single family and over the
past couple of years we have been slowly doing just that. Unfortunately,
when Mr. Blinzler converted the house to boarding rooms he changed the third
floor~changing the ballroom into three rooms. But in the past few months, my
husband and I have been renovating a bit at a time and hope to have the
ballroom restored by spring! ...
Sincerely,
Janice Bojarski