Emigrating from Ireland, Thomas Crowley Sr., born in 1789, came to Erie in 1821 or 1822, as did his brother Michael, in 1826. Thomas and his wife Ellen (Ahern) Crowley had several children in Ireland, and several more in Pennsylvania, as late at 1836. The families of these two brothers, Thomas Sr., and Michael, were among the richest landowners in the Erie region through the 1800s. They donated the land and funds to build St. Patrick's Church in the 1830s.
In 1827, Michael Crowley, Thomas’ younger brother, bought 399 acres of land along both banks of Four Mile Creek, in Lawrence Park Township, from the lake-shore to Buffalo Road. In 1830, Michael divided his land into five sections and sold some of the sections to his brother, but kept the section of East Lake Road that faced what was then Crowley Road, now known as Lawrence Parkway, or Water Street. In 1832, near the west bank of Four Mile Creek, Michael built the stone house that would become the Crowley Estate. This sturdy dwelling with its 18-inch-thick walls was built in the Greek Revival style and has stood, at the corner of East Lake road and Lawrence Parkway, resistant to the developmental pressure that has demolished much of the historical character of Erie County.
Michael Crowley married Mary (O'Neal) Crowley, who was from New York State. Michael was a farmer and the father of two children: Thomas, who was the oldest; and Mary, the youngest, who was accidentally killed while riding to school on a wagon with a neighbor. Thomas would become Erie’s Police Chief in the 1860s and 70s.
Michael Crowley died on August 28, 1854, but his wife, Mary, and their family lived there until 1872. It has long suggested that the stone house was a station on the Underground Railway prior to and during the Civil War. There was a tunnel leading to the bank of Four Mile Creek. From there, it was a short walk to the lake-shore where a waiting boat could take fugitive slaves to freedom in Canada. Recently discovered evidence of a tunnel gives credence to this speculation.
Michael’s son, Thomas, was born on May 24, 1830. Thomas attended the common schools and Erie Academy while being reared on the homestead, which was a farm, and Thomas followed that pursuit till 1860, when he went into the oil business for three years.
Thomas was elected Chief of Police of the City of Erie, he served as such from 1863 to 1870; then as a private detective from 1870 to 1876. In 1877, he was re-elected Chief of Police. Thomas was twice married, and had one child by each wife: Michael, an engineer on Pennsylvania & Erie Railroad; and Clara Bell, an employed at a grade school in Erie.
Thomas Crowley Sr. eldest son, Bartholomew, who was born in 1813, was living in the house when his daughter was killed during a home invasion and robbery, in 1893. Bartholomew, 80 years old at the time, and his daughter, Mary, were victimized when a team of violent intruders broke into their home. After the men had locked Bartholomew’s daughter into her bedroom, they began choking and beating Bartholomew. Failing to get his cooperation, they poured oil over Bartholomew and lit him afire, while threatening to cut his daughter’s rings off from her fingers. Bartholomew survived the attack, but his daughter, jumping from a second story window, was fatally injured. Bartholomew died four years later in 1897.
As time marched on and the Crowley family grew, the pioneers’ children moved on and the estate was purchased by another family.
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| Crowley's Stone House (1915) |
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| Crowley's Stone House (1918-1922) |
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| Crowley's Stone House (2009) |
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| Crowley's Stone House (2012) |
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