Samuel Liley was a machinist and steam engine builder in Erie, Pa. After a stint as partner in a woolen factory, in 1861 he opened the Liley Machine Works at 1257 State Street to manufacture vertical steam engines. By 1879 the Works were being operated by S. Liley & Son, the son being James Liley. By 1880 Samuel had retired to farming. The business was small, having about 5 employees in 1873 and falling to only 2 people in 1879. In 1893 James's son, Joseph H. Liley, became a partner in the business which became Liley & Son. The business was still active in 1903, which is the last reliable data point we can find.

The Skinner Engine Co. started business under the banner of its founder, Le Grand Skinner, in a corner of the Liley Machine Works. The Skinner company would go on to become a much more substantial, and longer lived, business, surviving into the 21st century.

Information on the Liley Machine Works and its operators is exceptionally sparse. The following biographies of the three Lileys provide some context for the meager information we have on the business they operated.

Samuel Liley

Samuel Liley was born in England in about 1817. He married Ann and in about 1844 immigrated to the USA. By 1850 he was working as a machinist in Erie. In 1848 he leased a small plot of land in Erie with Benjamin Coates, John Thornton, Samuel Thornton, and lawyer David McCreary. The land, at the intersection of what is now Avonia and West Lake Roads, was leased from Samuel McCreary, father of David, who had operated a woolen mill there which had then been taken over by his sons. The Thorntons, David McCreary and Liley built a new woolen factory on the land and operated it as McCreary, Thornton & Co.

At some point the business of McCreary, Thornton & Co. was wound down and the factory was subsequently used by Morgan & Co. to make paper. We don't know when McCreary Thornton shut down but we can guess that it was in or shortly before 1861 when Samuel Liley established the Liley Machine Works.

Samuel disappears from the records after 1880. We found a brief mention of an 1884 incident on Lake Contrary in Missouri: a man named Samuel Liley was on a small boat with two other men plus "a jug of whisky". A fight broke out, the boat was capsized and all three men drowned. Could this be our Samuel Liley? It is an uncommon name, and although there is a Liley family plot in the Erie Cemetery, Samuel Liley is not buried there, nor can we find any other burial record for a Samuel Liley born abut 1817.

James Liley

James Liley, son of Samuel and Ann, was born in England in 1839 and came with his parents to the USA in about 1844. He seems to have been involved in the Liley Machine Works from its 1861 beginnings although we cannot confirm whether he was a full partner from the beginning. We know that he was a full partner by 1873. James married Catherine F. Riblet in about 1868. Son Joseph H. Liley was born in 1871. James died in 1909.

Joseph H. Liley

Joseph H. Liley was born in 1871 and trained as a machinist. He married Lillian A. Vey (1885-1977); they had one child, Catherine (1912-1975). Although Joseph lived until 1955 we do not have any information on him after 1895. He is buried in the Liley family plot in Erie Cemetery; we cannot find burial records for his wife or daughter.

Information Sources

• We learned of this maker from a YouTube video by David Richards that, beginning at about the 10:28 mark, shows part of the restoration of a steam engine from Liley Machine Works, Erie, Pa. Beginning at about 13:30 Richards offers a critique of the engine's design, comparing it to a similar design from Morris Machine Works of Baldwinsville, NY; the Morris engine can be seen in Richards' video 49.
• 1870 United States Federal Census lists the following.
  • Liley Samuel / [Age] 52 / [Sex] M / [Race] W / [Occupation] Machinist / [Real Estate] 10000 / [Personal Estate] 2200 / [Birthplace] England
  • Liley Annie / [Age] 52 / [Sex] F / [Race] W / [Occupation] Keeping House / [Real Estate] 3500 / / [Birthplace] England
  • Liley James / [Age] 31 / [Sex] M / [Race] W / [Occupation] Machinist / [Real Estate] 10000 / [Personal Estate] 2200 / [Birthplace] England
  • Liley Katharine / [Age] 22 / [Sex] F / [Race] W / [Occupation] At Home / / / [Birthplace] Peria? (Peoria?)
• 1873-4 Hamilton Child's Gazetteer and Business Directory of Erie County, Pa. "Liley's Machine Shop, with a capital of $10,000, employs 5 men in the manufacture of engines and machinery for mills and factories. S. Liley & Son are the proprietors." In the alphabetical listings are "Liley James (S. Liley & Son"; "Liley, S. & Son (James,) machinists, 1257 State.
• 1879-80 Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania lists iron foundries on page 72, including "S. Liley & Son Iron Works / [Number of persons employed] 2 / [Remarks] General repairing".
• 1880 United States Federal Census lists the following.
  • Liley Samuel / [Race] W / [Sex] M / [Age] 62 / [Occupation] Farmer / [Birthplace] England / [Birthplace of Father] Eng. / [Birthplace of Mother] Eng.
  • Liley Ann / [Race] W / [Sex] F / [Age] 60 / [Occupation] Keeping House / [Birthplace] England / [Birthplace of Father] Eng. / [Birthplace of Mother] Eng.
• 1883 Farley's Directory of Metal Works of the United States lists on p. 153, under Erie, Pa., "Liley, S. & Sons / Machinists."
• 1884-08-25 Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

  Samuel Liley, John Oskis and Charles Nation, with a jug of whisky, went skiff riding on lake Contrary, six miles south of St. Joseph, Mo., got into a fight and upset the boat. All the men were drowned.

• 1885 document, Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, page 193. The Mexican Concentration company was incorporated at Erie, Pa., to extract gold from ore, with $20,000 capital and 2,000 shares. Le Grand Skinner, James Liley and Thomas C. Wood were among the subscribers with 200 shares apiece. Edward W. Stephens was majority owner with 1,200 shares.
• 1888 Atlantic Reporter, p. 972, reports on the "Appeal of Green et. al., Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, May 7, 1888". In the summary it mentions "That on the 8th day of May 1848, Samuel McCreary executed to Benjamin Coates, Samuel Liley, John Thornton, Thomas Thornton, and David McCreary a lease for a small plot of land, with the water privilege thereon, for the term of fifteen years... On February 11, 1852, said Samuel H. McCreary executed an agreement to lease to Samuel and Mark H. Beaumont an additional piece of ground, 'for the purpose of making a more permanent factory race, and said lease to continue for the same length of time as the factory lease;'..." Liley was not involved in any way in the lawsuit.
• 1889 Erie City Directory lists Liley S & Son; (Springcreek, Warren Co ??) / State & 14th / Manufacturers of Upright Engines; Job Work / Samuel Liley and James Liley, 913 German.
• 1896 book, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania.

  Liley Machine Works (engine builders), 1323 State street. James and Joseph H. Liley. Established 1861; changed to Liley & Son & 1893.

• 1898-99 Bards & Co.'s Classified Business and Professional Directory of Western New York (PDF) lists, under Erie, Pa., 'Iron and Brass Works' (p. 281): "Liley Machine Works, Engine Builders, 1325 State".
• 1903 Erie City Directory lists "Liley Machine works, engine builder, 1323 State / James Liley, h 913 German / Jos H Liley b 913 German".
• 1909 book A Twentieth Century History of Erie County Pennsylvania.

  The Skinner Engine Company had its origin in 1873 when L. G. Skinner moved to Erie from Chittenango, New York, and taking a corner of the small Liley machine shop on State street near Fourteenth, began the manufacture of portable engines...

• YouTube commenter Peter W. Meek relayed the following information from ancestry.com:
  Samuel Liley
  • Born about 1817 in England
  • Married to Ann
  • Immigrated from England about 1844
  • Samuel was Resident in Erie, West Ward, PA - 1850 US Census
  • Occupation Machinist
  Son James Liley
  • Born in England 20 Jan 1839; died 06 Apr 1904
  • Immigrated from England about 1844
  • Married Catherine F. Riblet (1847-1928) about 1868
  • Birth of son Joseph H. Liley (15 Aug 1871- 1955)
  • Occupation Engine Manufacturer (1900 US Census)
  • Residence 913 German St, Erie Ward 2, Erie, PA (1900 US Census)